FatCamera/iStock(NEW YORK) -- In a new policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is urging doctors around the country to increase screening of women for perinatal depression, which affects women during pregnancy and up to a year after delivery.



The report, released Monday on the AAP's website, is the most recent guidance on perinatal depression offered by the AAP since 2010.



An estimated one out of every nine women in the U.S. suffer from perinatal depression, with some states reporting rates as high as one out of every five women, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).



Yet despite major medical organizations recommending screening for it over the past several years, half of all women in the U.S. remain undiagnosed and untreated, studies show.



The authors of the new AAP policy attribute the current low rates of perinatal screening depression to the stigma associated with mental health conditions, system level challenges when it comes to training providers and paying them to screen, and parents hesitation to admit to emotional struggles.



Mothers have their own fears -- fear of judgment for dealing with mental health issues or being seen as an inadequate mother, Dr. Barbara Robles, a psychiatrist and faculty at the Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio who was not involved in the AAP's new report, told ABC News.



The consequences of not receiving adequate care in a timely fashion can be serious for both mom and the baby.



We know that postpartum depression can be a form of toxic stress that can affect an infants brain development and cause problems with family relationships, breastfeeding and the childs medical treatment, Dr. Jason Rafferty, a coauthor of the report, said in a statement released by the AAP.

The AAP recommends doctors screen mothers for depression once during pregnancy and again at each of their baby's 1, 2, 4 and 6-month checkups. The organization also encourages pediatricians to identify community resources that can help mothers who screen positive for the condition.



The authors of the policy statement also say fathers can be in a vulnerable position following the arrival of a new baby.



Fathers also experience a high rate of postpartum depression and need to be supported, identified and referred for treatment," Dr. Michael Yogman, also a coauthor of the AAP's report, said in a statement.



Beyond physician screening, there are ways we can all help new moms and dads. Robles suggests starting by putting a check on our expectations of new parents.



Do not expect a new mother to be calling you to FaceTime or call you to go out to dinner frequently in those early months she said.



Robles also suggests we check in frequently with new parents and offer to be helpful by dropping off meals, watching the baby while the new parents nap and, most importantly, listening to them without judging.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.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LONDON, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May Monday faced a second no confidence vote at Westminster in the latest row over her Brexit deal.

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, tabled a confidence vote that would enable Members of Parliament (MPs) to decide if they have confidence in May as prime minister.

Media reports later said a vote of no confidence in the Conservative government had also emerged as a new threat to May, with the risk of a snap general election if she loses.

Corbyn told the House of Commons his move followed the failure of May to allow a debate by lawmakers on the Brexit deal she has struck with Brussels, accusing the prime minister of cynically running down the clock towards the Brexit deadline.

May told MPs that the vote on her deal would not take place until the week commencing Jan. 14, just 10 weeks before Britain leaves the European Union (EU) on March 29.

Parliament only sits until Thursday when it goes into holiday recess until Jan. 7

Corbyn is now awaiting a decision on when a no confidence debate will take place, but he said the government's refusal to allow a debate before the recess would demonstrate that May does not command the confidence of the House of Commons.

In a later development the Daily Telegraph reported Monday night that Labour may go further, and table a motion of no confidence in the government, not just May, if the original motion is not held Tuesday.

The Telegraph pointed out that a vote by the House of Commons of no confidence in May's Conservative government would be substantially more significant than a vote of no confidence in the prime minister, as it would trigger a general election.

With opposition MPs, such as the Scottish Nationalist Party, likely to support Corbyn, May's minority government would have to depend on the 10 MPs from Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

If it progressed to a vote of no confidence in the government, the DUP is likely to support the government, as are Conservative MPs, knowing that it could pave the way for a Labour government if Corbyn wins the vote.

Corbyn told MPs the confidence motion was aimed specifically at the prime minister and not at the government as a whole, adding it was the only way he could think of ensuring a vote on the Brexit deal takes place this week.

He added: "The prime minister has obdurately refused to ensure a vote took place on the date she agreed, she refuses to allow a vote to take place this week and is now, I assume, thinking the vote will be on January 14 -- almost a month away. This is unacceptable in any way whatsoever."

He tabled the motion to parliament, saying "that this House has no confidence in the prime minister due to her failure to allow the House of Commons to have a meaningful vote straight away on the withdrawal agreement and framework for future relationships between the UK and European Union."

Earlier in the debate, Corbyn told MPs Britain faced an unprecedented situation after the prime minister had led the country into what he described as a national crisis.

Referring to May's latest meeting with EU leaders, Corbyn said the European Commission has been categorical, saying it will not renegotiate the deal struck with May.

He said: "The deal is unchanged and not going to change. This House (of Commons) must get on with the vote and move on to consider the realistic alternatives."

May, who just survived a no confidence vote among her own Conservative MPs, in a speech confirmed the parliament intended to return to the Meaningful Vote debate in the week commencing Jan. 7 and hold the vote the following week.

She told MPs: "When we have the vote, MPs will need to reflect carefully on what is in the best interests of our country. We asked the British people to take this decision, and the British people responded by instructing us to leave the European Union."

She ended her message with a plea to politicians: "At this critical moment in our history, we should be thinking not about our party's interests, but about the national interest."

May will chair a meeting of her senior ministers at Downing Street Tuesday morning when top of the agenda will be a discussion on increasing preparations for a no-deal Brexit.



An opposition lawmaker has been assessed a fine for driving while intoxicated, court officials said Tuesday.







Rep. Lee Yong-ju of the minor opposition Party for Democracy and Peace was fined 3 million won ($2,652) for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI).







Lee was indicted last month for driving a distance of about 7-8 km in Seoul's Gangnam district.







The case drew public ire since Lee was among the lawmakers who co-authored a bill aimed at toughening punishment for drunk driving. That bill followed a drunk-driving accident in the southern port city of Busan that left a 22-year-old soldier killed.







The party suspended Lee's party membership for three months shortly after he was given a DUI citation.







The fine set by the Seoul Central District Court is the highest possible amount for DUI. Prosecutors had demanded a 2 million won fine for Lee. (Yonhap)

Three high school students were found dead and seven others unconscious at the resort house seen here, Tuesday. Yonhap





The students were found on the floor about 1:12 p.m., with some vomiting or foaming at the mouth. Yonhap





The site is locked down for investigation. Yonhap



By Park Si-soo



Three high school students were found dead and seven others unconscious at a toxic gas-filled two-story resort house in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, police said Tuesday.









The death toll could rise because some of the survivors are in critical condition, they said. The victims  all male  are reportedly senior students of Daesung High School in Seoul who were on a self-arranged field trip after finishing the state-administrated scholastic aptitude test for university entrance.



They checked in on Monday without a teacher. Before allowing their check-in, the rental house's manager called a parent to check the purpose of the students' visit, Lee Jin-ho, chief of the Gangneung Fire Station, told reporters at the scene. One of the students made the reservation on the lodging's website, he said.



The manager found the students on the floor about 1:12 p.m. Some were vomiting or foaming at the mouth, according to police.



Air in the house had a "high concentration of carbon monoxide," police said. Carbon monoxide inhalation can result in loss of consciousness or even death.



The students were heard talking and giggling at 3 a.m., police quoted the manager as saying.



"No coal briquette was found inside the house," a police officer said. "So at the moment we don't think the nature of this case is suicide."



Another official said "at the moment, it's considered an accident."



Police said the house has a gas boiler-based heating system, so investigators are looking into the possibility of a gas leak from the house's ventilation system or boiler.



They found no signs of foul play.





Rescue workers inside the house. Courtesy of Gangwon Fire Headquarters



Rescue workers carry an unconscious student to an ambulance for transfer to a hospital, after 10 high school seniors staying at a holiday home in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, died or lost consciousness due to a suspected gas leak, Tuesday. / Yonhap



By Kim Rahn



Three high school students died and seven were found unconscious at a holiday home in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, Tuesday. Two of the injured are reportedly in critical condition.



According to police and rescue workers, the owner of the accommodation facility found the boys collapsed in the room and reported it to the emergency authorities at 1:14 p.m.



The unconscious students were found frothing at the mouth and vomiting, while the four deceased also appeared to have suffered the same symptoms.



The students were sent to three different hospitals, and the two of them who are in critical condition are receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy.





Rescue workers check the holiday home where 10 students died or were found unconscious from a suspected gas leak, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Gangwon Fire StationPosters from the "King Moon Jae-in series" are seen on a notice board at Sejong University in Seoul, Dec. 9. The National College Students' Council posted them at 100 universities nationwide to complain about President Moon's policies. / Courtesy of National College Students' Council



By Jung Hae-myoung



Posters satirically calling President Moon Jae-in a "king" and criticizing his performance have been placed on more than 100 universities' notice boards nationwide, reflecting the prevalent negative perception of his policies among people in their 20s to 30s, predominately men.



The posters, titled "King Moon Jae-in series," display a sarcastic tone toward Moon's policies on the environment, the economy, North Korea and employment. One subtitle calls Moon the "King of the Economy," stating, "He ruined small business owners and permanently sacked part-time workers by raising the minimum wage to 8,350 won."



Another calls him the "King of Donation," claiming the President "donated" the whole country to North Korea by easing sanctions against it without any promise of denuclearization.





Rep. Lee Hak-jae, left, shakes hands with Kim Byong-joon, the interim leader of the largest opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), after joining the LKP at the National Assembly, Tuesday. Lee bolted from the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party, a split from the LKP's predecessor Saenuri Party, to the LKP to seek the unification of conservatives, he said. / Yonhap



By Park Ji-won



Rep. Lee Hak-jae of the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party (BMP), chairman of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee, announced his decision to defect to the largest opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), Tuesday.



Lee, who was an LKP member before joining the BMP, said more BMP lawmakers, frustrated with the party's leadership and "lack of vision," are preparing to move to the LKP.



Dozens of BMP members scuffled with Lee as he left a press conference after announcing his defection. They called Lee a "traitor" and "turncoat." The BMP demanded Lee's resignation as the Assembly committee chief, claiming the successor should be a BMP lawmaker.



Earlier, Lee hinted that he may rejoin the LKP to unify conservatives.



"I will focus on unification and reform of the conservatives back in the LKP," Lee said.



"I tried to revive the failed conservatives for the last two years outside of the party after the Park Geun-hye administration's sinking. But as you can see in the presidential election and local elections, it failed to get a consensus from the people."



Lee's defection came after the LKP fired several LKP lawmakers, including some loyalists of former President Park Geun-hye, from key posts with influence on the nomination process for general elections, as part of reform measures, Tuesday.



Many critics expect his defection was tied to the LKP reform drive so he can secure one of the key positions and take back his influence in the LKP.



There are eight more BMP lawmakers who were formerly members of the LKP.



All eyes are on whether other remaining BMP lawmakers would follow Lee's step. Insiders, however, didn't see it coming soon as the next general election is not looming in the near future.



Also, Rep. Kim Tae-heum of the LKP, a Park loyalist, questioned the LKP over welcoming a former member from the splinter party, insisting there is a contradiction between the LKP's reform measure and his defection, as the drive was meant to remove LKP lawmakers who were accountable for the party's division.

President Moon Jae-in speaks in an opening speech before being briefed about the trade ministry's 2019 management plans at the government complex in Sejong, Tuesday. / Yonhap



By Lee Min-hyung



Korea should make concerted efforts to preoccupy the market for hydrogen cars, as the industry is still in its infancy and the government is willing to turn the business into the nation's next growth engine, President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday.



"The government remains firm in its willingness to back up industries, such as hydrogen or electric vehicles, identifying them as the nation's next-generation growth engines," Moon said in a year-end meeting with officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.



Vehicles fueled with hydrogen are the talk of the global automobile industry, as hydrogen cars are eco-friendly and their fuel cost is cheaper than traditional cars powered by internal combustion engines. Unlike electric cars, the hydrogen vehicle is still in an infant stage of development.



The President underlined the need to remain swift in preoccupying the global hydrogen vehicle market by increasing its local demand and manufacturing capacity. By rapidly penetrating into the market, local automakers should also make efforts to gain price competitiveness in the industry, according to Moon.



"A state-level strategy is required toward the drive, with relevant parties  the government, automakers and parts manufacturers  handling their role sincerely on their side," the President said. "I am confident that Korea can secure its next growth engines and drive manufacturing innovation once we join hands over the plan."



This is not the first time that the President expressed his keen interest in the emerging automobile industry.



Moon tested Hyundai Motor's NEXO hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle on his state visit to Paris in October.



Since taking office in May last year, the President has continued stressing the need for growth in the local manufacturing industry, as it is the core pillar to prop up the Korean economy.



"The basic rule of the nation's economic policies is set in a way to continue strengthening industries that we are good at," he said in an opening speech of the meeting. "The Korean economy has advantages in manufacturing sectors."



Last week, the President also urged the need to develop the local manufacturing industry in a smart way.



"The key to manufacturing innovation lies in smart factories," he said while visiting small manufacturing firms in Changwon, Gyeongsang Province. "The reason that the local economy faces difficulties is because our traditional manufacturing business is losing steam. We need to vitalize the manufacturing industry to rev up the economy."



On Tuesday, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Ministry of Environment also briefed the President over their management plans next year.

The United Nations General Assembly / Korea Times file



By Kim Bo-eun



North Korea disputed its alleged human rights violations record Monday (local time) after the United Nations passed a resolution condemning it. This is the 14th consecutive year for the U.N. to approve a resolution calling attention to the human rights situation in the North.



Pyongyang reacted angrily to the resolution, which noted U.N. member states "condemn the long-standing and ongoing systematic, widespread and gross violations of human rights," claiming all the cases cited were made up.



Estimating that over 10 million of the population is undernourished, the U.N. said there was "an unacceptably high prevalence of chronic and acute malnutrition" in the North.



The resolution was drawn up by the EU and Japan, with contributions from member states including South Korea. Other countries including China, Russia and Cuba distanced themselves from the resolution, and many stated opposition toward singling out an individual country.



North Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Kim Song said his country rejected the resolution, stating it was made up of "the most despicable false words."



The ambassador also condemned Japan for "provoking confrontation by going back against the main trend on the Korean Peninsula."



Meanwhile, the North Korea mission circulated a statement on a meeting on human rights in North Korea to the U.N. press corps the same day the resolution was passed.



A week ago, the UNSC postponed its annual meeting on human rights due to failure in getting enough support to hold it this month. The meeting has been held in December every year since 2014.



The North's statement said the UNSC "is neither a place for discussion on any human rights issue nor a platform where a human rights issue is politicized to flare up confrontation."



North Korea's statement is seen as a means to generate public opinion in its favor.



The passing of the U.N. resolution comes at a time when denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington remain stalled.



Some analysts said the U.S. taking issue with North Korea's human rights situation could negatively affect the prospects for talks.



The U.S. Department of the Treasury earlier imposed sanctions on three top-ranking North Korean officials for their involvement in human rights violations.



"The human rights issue may exert a negative influence, as the two countries criticizing each other will undermine trust-building," Shin Beom-chul, a senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies said.



However, he pointed out the core issue concerns North Korea's report of its nuclear program.



Park Won-gon, a professor at Handong Global University also said "the human rights issue will likely exert influence, as one of many factors, on the denuclearization talks between North Korea and the U.S."





The image above is unrelated to the article story. / Courtesy of gettyimagesbank



By Kim Jae-heun



A 31-year-old female office worker surnamed Kim has been working at one of the country's top electronics companies for six years and is still perplexed at how her company treats men and women differently.



"I've seen many senior female staff leave the company. So far, I only met one female executive and she is unmarried," Kim told The Korea Times.



"The company prefers male workers to female ones because women go on maternity leave after having a child. Executives think it creates a vacuum at work. Also, the company wants men in high positions because women are often slighted when they meet executives from other companies. This is absolute nonsense in the 21st century," Kim said.



This situation is still very common here and pushes the level of Korean women's participation in the economy and politics to below world averages.



According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2018 released by the World Economy Forum (WEF), Tuesday, Korea ranked 115 among 149 countries on gender equality. This is an improvement of just three places compared to last year.



On the gender gap index (GGI) the number one indicates full gender equality.



The GGI for Korea in the category of economic activity presence and opportunity for women was particularly low at 0.532, well below the world average of 0.632. The report stated this is due to the serious income difference between men and women here.



This has been confirmed in joint research conducted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and Statistics Korea in 2017, which showed that only 26.4 percent of male workers were irregular employees, who usually get low salaries, compared to 41 percent of female workers.



The average monthly salary for women was 1.86 million won ($1,654), or 64.1 percent of that paid to men



Also, the employment rate for men was 71.1 percent in 2016 against 50.2 percent for women.



In addition, Korea's rank in the category of female political activity lagged behind.



The country ranked 102nd in the ratio of female lawmakers, and 119th in female Cabinet members.



Korea topped the ranking in terms of women's chance to get education from elementary to high school; but ranked 113th for higher educational levels.



The WEF predicted that it would take 108 years for the world to achieve gender equality, and 202 years to narrow the economic gap between men and women.



Meanwhile, Iceland topped the ranking of gender equality with a GGI of 0.858, followed by Norway and Sweden. The Philippines was the only Asian country to rank in the top 10 with a GGI of 0.799.



By Arthur I. Cyr





"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" That is how British author Charles Dickens begins his famous novel "A Tale of Two Cities," about the turmoil and bloody violence before and during the French Revolution. The plot and characters span the English Channel, which separates Britain from France, and the rest of Europe, then and now.



The book, published in 1859, can strike modern readers as melodramatic. However, developments in the plot directly address current conflicts and tensions in both Britain and France. Among them are the dangers of revolution out of control, and the heroic character of self-sacrifice for others.



Current dramatic political developments in both London and Paris cry out for context, as a Victorian author might write, insightfully in this case. Focus on the immediate and purely national dominates media reporting, while real understanding requires historical and transnational analysis.



In Britain, Prime Minister Theresa May on Dec. 10 delivered an intense speech in Parliament on the importance of leaving the European Union, known by the shorthand term "Brexit."



In a June 2016 referendum called by David Cameron, May's predecessor as Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader, British voters came down in favor of leaving the supranational economic organization, though by only a narrow margin. Cameron had expected victory, and in the wake of defeat, he resigned.



Theresa May succeeded him, and proceeded to compound the Conservatives' political problems by calling a surprise general election for June 8, 2017. Instead of winning seats the party lost their ruling majority.



Reduced to a minority, Prime Minister May and colleagues are able to govern only through an informal alliance with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland. That small but now pivotal group is unalterably opposed to Brexit.



Across the Channel, President Emmanuel Macron of France also made a major speech on December 10, in this case directly to the nation. He promised a higher minimum wage, lower taxes and  by implication  less arrogant leadership.



He is responding to large-scale, at times violent, public demonstrations against economic conditions. Demonstrators are called "yellow vests" because many wear the distinctive safety jackets French law requires be kept in vehicles.



France has a long history of political instability, though not since the rule of President Charles de Gaulle, who led France for a decade ending in 1968. The determined leader of the anti-Nazi Free French in World War II possessed unique prestige.



As head of France's government in the 1960s, De Gaulle employed a strategy encompassing image, institutions and foreign policy. He established the Fifth Republic, including a new constitution, which greatly empowers the president.



What is missing from the current conflicts is any evidence of the historic animosity between Britain and France, lasting into the 19th century. Two horrific wars in the twentieth century ended that sort of intense, militaristic nationalism.



Europe's economic community is a positive consequence of those wars, and well-planned efforts to integrate Germany in Europe through peaceful pursuits. Both war and bloody revolutions have been forestalled.





Arthur I. Cyr (acyr@carthage.edu) is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College and author of "After the Cold War."



In May 2017 when special counsel Robert Mueller began his investigation of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, the country strapped in for a long, strange trip. Destination? We'd know when we got there.



Mueller was tasked with finding any coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign, plus pursuing "any matters" arising from the investigation. So far, Americans have heard lots about those other matters, including serious legal trouble for Trump associates Michael Flynn, Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort. But no evidence has come to light yet proving collusion between the campaign and Russia to swing the election for Trump.



Much of the recently expended oxygen was over Cohen's guilty plea for campaign finance violations. Court papers reveal Cohen's also been sharing with Mueller's team his knowledge of "core Russia-related issues." The same goes for Flynn. He's been so helpful that Mueller recommends Flynn not get prison time for lying to FBI agents about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.



There are at least two reasons for Trump to be worried about the direction of the special counsel's investigation. The first is that Mueller's mandate is so broad. Typically, law enforcement authorities identify crimes and then pursue the culprits. Mueller, in effect, is working the opposite strategy. He was pointed in the direction of a coterie of campaign-related suspects  and, by association, the president  then was given permission to bore down as deep as he chooses to find crimes. Those crimes include lying to the investigators.



Mueller is already responsible for a slew of indictments and convictions. He hasn't finished, and with each step he takes, the shadow of scandal lengthens over Trump's presidency. The special counsel faces no time limit on his activity. He works independently from the Justice Department. When does Mueller wrap up? When does he determine he's no longer building a larger case but simply rooting out felonies as a means to its own ends? When Mueller says so, probably.



The risk of a special counsel probe becoming a perpetual prosecution machine is why the Tribune Editorial Board looks skeptically at calls for these independent investigations. They can get out of hand. Such mechanisms should be employed rarely, in situations where there's compelling evidence of a serious crime when normal law enforcement channels aren't available because of a conflict of interest. Mueller's probe passes our test because Russian meddling is a threat to democracy and because Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been leading the investigation.



If the first reason for Trump to be worried about his presidency is the breadth of the special counsel's mandate, the second reason is his own reckless conduct. After all, Trump himself is the reason Mueller is all up in the president's grill. If Trump had maintained discipline and allowed Comey to conclude the FBI investigation, there'd be no special counsel. But Trump couldn't help himself, fired Comey, blabbed about it and now can be reasonably accused  at least in the public's mind  of obstructing justice.



Once in swing, Mueller's investigation was empowered to pursue "any matters." In one major step, Mueller referred an investigation of Cohen to federal prosecutors in New York. That's what led to Cohen's guilty pleas on charges including campaign law violations for arranging payoffs to women who said they had affairs with Trump. Cohen implicated Trump in that crime, but the president denies it.



Proof of such reckless behavior by Trump could lead to his impeachment. Are there more allegations of crime in Trump's orbit for Mueller to identify? Will Trump be accused directly of illegal activity? These are questions Trump wakes up pondering each day and then rails about on Twitter  instead of focusing intently on his other responsibilities as president.



To Trump and his supporters, the Mueller investigation is a witch hunt. To foes of the president, Mueller appears to be making their case that this president is unfit to hold office. To the detriment of the entire country, Trump's administration appears distracted and prone to chaos. Getting caught in the sights of a long-running special counsel probe is a terrible look for a president.



Mueller is a trustworthy figure pursuing a legitimate assignment. He needs the independence to conclude his investigation on his own timeline, and then disclose the results. But the sooner he finishes, the better off the country will be.





The above editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune. It Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with delegates attending the third Understanding China Conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, on Dec. 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday met with delegates attending the third Understanding China Conference, pledging to press ahead with reform and opening up.

After listening to the speeches of former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of Denmark Helle Thorning-Schmidt, former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and former Director-General of the World Trade Organization Pascal Lamy, Li answered their questions and gave his opinions.

Li said he appreciated the delegates' efforts to promote China's exchanges with the world.

He said this year coincided with the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up. Over the past 40 years, China has achieved remarkable development progress, which was underscored by the Chinese people's hard work.

"China's past achievements were realized by the reform and opening up, and future progress can only be made by further reform and opening up," he said.

China will continue to deepen reforms, further press ahead the opening up, and commit itself to developing an open economy at higher level, he said, reiterating China's stance to create a fair business environment for domestic and foreign companies, and strictly protect intellectual property rights.

"China has the conditions and ability to cope with various risks and challenges, and promote its economy to achieve high-quality development," Li said.

The Chinese premier said that under the complex international situation, people should adhere to multilateralism and free trade, while treating problems in globalization and world trade from a development perspective.

China supports the reform and improvement of the WTO rules, Li said, urging for relevant reforms to be conducted while making rules that "stick to the general direction of trade liberalization, accommodate all parties' concerns and interests, safeguard the development rights of developing members, and facilitate the narrowing of the North-South gap."

Stressing that China would be a developing country for a long period, Li called on the world to understand more about a true China, hoping the delegates could be a bridge of communication and cooperation between China and the world, and make greater contributions to the common development of China and the world.

The delegates congratulated China on its achievements in various fields such as economic development, poverty relief and education, saying all countries should work together to promote the reform and improvement of global rules, safeguard multilateralism and free trade.

The three-day conference, which kicked off on Dec. 16, gathered nearly 600 people, including 40 global politicians, strategists and entrepreneurs.

By Timofey Bordachev





South Korean President Moon Jae-in's efforts to stimulate inter-Korean detente and the ongoing denuclearization talks between North Korea and the U.S. are both welcome by Moscow and essential for achieving Russia's policy priorities with regards to Northeast Asia and Asia in general. The reason for this is simple  Russia wants a peaceful Asia, as only this will support Russia's internal development goals.



The possibility of realizing Russia's plans for the development of the Russian Far East depends heavily on peace in Asia. For the success of its "Turn to the East" policy, Russia needs international cooperation, predictability and investment. Instability in Northeast Asia means the absence of these three conditions. Moreover, stability is an important argument in favor of the fact that Russian and foreign investors will come to the Russian Pacific region.



The outgoing 2018 was the year of the most important events for the Korean Peninsula and Asia as a whole. Throughout 2017, humankind experienced the fear of a big war in Northeast Asia.



In November 2017, I participated in a major international conference in Seoul. The atmosphere among the participants was grim. Russia and China came up with a joint plan for resolving the problem. However, without initiative from South and North Korea, the implementation of any plan was not possible. In addition, a prerequisite was the United States agreeing to the dialogue.



However, military confrontation, even minor hostilities, did not happen. Instead, we have witnessed several diplomatic breakthroughs. What seemed almost impossible in mid-December 2017 has happened. One can identify several factors that have played an important role here.



The most important factor of change was the determination of the President of the Republic of Korea to improve relations between the two halves of the peninsula. After his election victory, President Moon simultaneously showed firmness and readiness to resume the dialogue without any preliminary conditions. In September 2017, Moon joined the plenary session at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, calling on other countries of the region to promote peace on the peninsula.



The first days of 2018 already brought changes. Telephone communication between the North and the South was restored, and bilateral consultations began. Both countries formed a joint Olympic team to compete in 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang. On April 27, leaders of North and South Korea met for the third time.



However, of course, the beginning of a dialogue on the nuclear issue was impossible without the consent and participation of the United States, first of all, to direct negotiation with Pyongyang, for which the North Korean authorities have so long been striving. Important reasons were also needed for this agreement.



From a purely academic perspective, the other important factor that made this breakthrough possible was the change in the missile potential of North Korea. After numerous violations of the nonproliferation regime as well as bans on the developing of rocket technologies, the North Korean regime was theoretically able to threaten the territory of the United States.



It can be assumed that this was an important reason for the readiness of U.S. President Donald Trump to begin a direct dialogue with North Korea. Previously, the United States viewed the North Korean nuclear and missile issue as part of global politics and its relations with China.



Now Washington is looking at this issue from the point of view of its national security. This gives the U.S. determination to reach a peaceful settlement and potentially supports responsibility.



The meeting of President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took place in Singapore on June 12. It did not bring any breakthrough solutions, but it significantly changed the atmosphere around both Koreas. Now the efforts of Seoul and Pyongyang to establish mutual openness are occurring in a favorable international environment.



However, the fact that the Korean problem has become a matter of U.S. national security is also dangerous. In the event that the parties fail to make real progress, the incumbent or the next American president could return to considering the military scenario.



In the long term, Russia is interested in the peaceful unification of North and South Korea into one state. We understand that in order to achieve this, parties will have a long way to go. However, if you look at the map, it becomes obvious that Russia prefers to see near its Pacific capital Vladivostok a peaceful and independent strong neighbor.



In addition, many Koreans historically live in Russia. Such a diaspora can help strengthen economic ties. Russia's contribution to detente on the peninsula will be defined by its capabilities in the fields of energy and transportation as well as a potential market for the North Korean labor force.



At the same time, Russia has certain legitimate security considerations regarding the presence of the American military forces close to its borders. The relations between Moscow and Washington are not likely to become friendly anytime soon. Therefore, Russia will always maintain dialogue and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula and be careful that new threats and challenges do not arise.



Still, the most important thing for Russia is the influence of the Korean issue on Russia's own long-term goals. In the 21st century, Russia does not see itself as a military-political player in Asia. The main interest is the economy, and the integration of the Far East into the Asian market. And for this, peace and stability are the two most necessary conditions.





Timofey Bordachev is a member of the Advisory Committee of the President of the Eurasian Economic Commission. He is also program director for Asia and Eurasia at the Valdai Club Foundation and director for the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies of the National Research University (Moscow, Russia).



By Bernard Rowan





This year I've read stories about makgeolli, one of the more popular traditional Korean drinks. A controversy brewed about makgeolli expertise. Makgeolli receives praise for its rusticity. The drink has many inexpensive varieties. Its humble origins associate with the everyman (and woman). It's likely many visitors to Korea enjoy this wonderful alcoholic drink. However, I'm going to offer a column on its less celebrated but superior cousin  dongdongju. It's a better drink. What's dongdongju? Why's it the king of drinks for me?



Dongdongju is a fermented rice drink. It's typically served cold and in bowls. The name stems from the floating rice grains in the drink. I liked the italki.com answer provided by Park Joo-sung. It means "floating ant drink." Compared with makgeolli, it's going to taste more viscous. It's a tasty, fun drink to enjoy with friends. It goes well with many foods, and not just pajeon, the wonderful and savory pancakes found in restaurants and bars as appetizers.



Dongdongju's viscosity reflects its ingredients. I've read that dongdongju comes from yeast, nonglutinous rice and wheat powder. That's why it's thicker. Like makgeolli, there can be different forms of the drink depending on its constituent ingredients: rice, pumpkin, corn, ginseng, millet, deodeok, and other local varieties.



There likely remains a wonderful restaurant near the gate of the University of Seoul that serves this drink. I've enjoyed many good meals with it. On a hot day, it's thirst-quenching. One does need another bowl! Dongdongju is to my mind an unfiltered form of makgeolli, strengthened by the presence of ingredients to make it a heartier drink. I'm a fan of hard apple cider, which nowadays also comes in unfiltered varieties. Makgeolli looks strained and filtered into what could pass for skim milk. Dongdongju keeps a hearty and cloudier appearance.



Many Americans and others find kimchi an acquired taste. I find that it's better taken with other food, as in part of ssam (lettuce wrap) or consumed with dongdongju. The tastes complement each other.



I don't know what to make of the Korean Wine website that uses dongdongju and makgeolli as synonyms. The site gives users a recipe for making the drink. Another good site, Korean Folk Villages, praises a version of dongdongju named Gyeonggi Province's Intangible Cultural Asset #2, KFV chapsal dongdongju. I'm not sure it'll stand up as "characteristically free from hangover."



Another discussion of the topic online in English comes from an organization called the Libation Association of Northern Maryland. Its article on dongdongju is brief but comprehensive, including techniques for making the drink and makgeolli. It points out dongdongju's stronger alcohol content. I don't think this drink qualifies as a beer though. Maybe a stout in some sense, but that's a misnomer. I don't think it's right either to call dongdongju a version of makgeolli.



I'll repeat my advice that drinking is the best part of a meal and enjoyed with others. Lonely imbibing isn't a sin, but it tends away from the joy of a proper meal with friends or colleagues. My understanding of Korean dining is its connection with socialization. Even if thirsty, don't gulp down the dongdongju. It'll induce the wobblies and the hangover. Enjoy an urban setting with friends. Take time from the hectic pace of life in present-day Korea. Or enjoy a day trip to a rural, restful place. Rest awhile. Leisure means slowing down. It improves digestion.



Of course, in the pantheon of Korean drinks, dongdongju doesn't rank No.1. Soju, beer, scotch and makgeolli have more adherents. That's fine. After all, variety is part of life's spice, even for those enjoying alcohol. But, dongdongju is the unheralded king of drinks! Try some and enjoy!





Bernard Rowan (browan10@yahoo.com) is associate provost for contract administration and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University.

By Jacco Zwetsloot





Having registered our Korea branch office with the local Gu registration office, it was time to open our own actual space. Until now we had been working out of Robin's house, where he smoked nonstop, or coffee shops. For the task of opening a space I worked closely together with someone I will call Mindy. She looked Korean but grew up overseas, and spoke less Korean than I did, which caused some confusion every time we walked into a store. Koreans would address her and then have to deal with me.



My old friend Daniel introduced me to a friend of his who ran a business from a small office from an old building behind the Seoul Finance Center. We went to meet this friend and found that there was an empty office a few floors up. Actually there were two offices, but we could put a glass door in the dividing wall and make one big office with two rooms.



The interior of the building looked old and tired, so we decided to put in a new floor and wallpaper, and give the ceiling a fresh coat of paint. Each step of this involved visiting a number of businesses in Euljiro to look at materials and get quotes. The building management agreed to let us cover the terrazzo floors with fake wood paneling, on the condition that if we ever vacated the premises we would tear it up again. The same condition held for the glass door between the two rooms.



After the interior we had to buy office furniture and computers, horizontal blinds to control the sun, a printer and of course an office phone. Each little project was hard to accomplish, especially working in a language other than English, but each time we got something done it gave a small feeling of triumph.



We had a bank account and we were ready to go. Robin and I both applied to H University for a year's unpaid sabbatical to run the business. He was granted it, but I was not; no reason was given for the distinction. So I had to quit my university job in August 2007 and go on salary at our new company. Mindy joined full-time as our office manager.



We now had a product, a company, an office, a staff, but no clients yet. However, one was on the way to being signed. Through an old friend of mine, we were introduced to the head of organizational learning at a foreign bank in Korea, a man I will refer to as Max. His bank had a program for young employees with high potential, and was looking for a way to train them with the values and corporate culture of a global banking corporation. That's where we came in.



We signed contracts to do two things: 1) send our teachers to the bank's office early in the morning and after working hours to teach Business English to ordinary bank staff, and 2) take the high-potential employees overseas for the four-week intensive program of soft skills. The former would become the workhorse of our firm and its bread and butter income, while the latter was the gravy.



I can't remember whether we ran three or four of the programs for the bank, but towards the end of 2007 there was an internal dispute. Robin was kicked out of the company he had helped found because the other leaders assessed his liabilities to be greater than his strengths, and we tried to carry on without him. In a sense, Robin had the last laugh because he and Max immediately founded a new company of their own to teach the four-week overseas programs on rented sailboats. We'd lost the program that was the impetus for starting the company and its biggest earner, and were left with piecemeal Business English teaching. Robin also had control over our web address, forcing us to start again with a Korean URL, and had possession of company laptops that we didn't see back.



Although the company continued for several years under new management, and shifted its focus towards training presentation skills, negotiation skills, assertiveness (as distinct from aggressiveness) and crisis simulations, it never became a financial success. Each year saw us further from our goal of winning a big client that would help the three of us who invested money recoup our initial capital. In late 2012, we agreed to shut down the branch in Korea and deregistered the headquarters in Singapore.



Meanwhile, I had stopped working full-time for the company at the end of 2007 and took a job with the Korean government.





















By Baek Byung-yeul







LG Electronics opened a food science research lab in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, to develop more advanced refrigerators, ovens and other kitchen appliances, the company said Tuesday.







LG said its researchers specializing in food science will conduct studies of how to keep food fresh, ferment kimchi, and various cooking methods using its kitchen appliances.







The company said its food lab is built in a 630-square-meter site of the firm's home appliance manufacturing base.







LG said it will also conduct a study together with experts from government agencies such as the Rural Development Administration, the World Institute of Kimchi, the Korea Food Research Institute and university professors from Seoul National University and Konkuk University.







The firm said it will apply technologies developed in the lab to its kitchen appliances such as refrigerators, kimchi refrigerators, ovens and electric stoves.







LG has been operating a water science research lab in Changwon since February to examine water quality. The firm also opened another lab in October for studying air quality at its R&D center in Seoul.







With the opening of the food lab, LG now has research organizations specializing in studying water, air and food. "These labs represent LG's vision to offer the best healthcare products to customers," an LG official said.







LG has been a leading home appliance company here as it rolled out the country's first refrigerator in 1965 and the world's first kimchi refrigerator in 1984.







"Following the establishment of water and air science research labs, LG will keep investing in food science research in order to provide distinguished service to our customers," said Song Dae-hyun, head of LG's home appliance & air solution division.

A fire engulfs an energy storage system at a cement plant in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, Monday. / Courtesy of North Chungcheong Province Fire Service Headquarters



By Nam Hyun-woo



A series of fires in energy storage systems (ESSs) has been raising safety concerns, according to industry analysts, Tuesday.



With ESSs essential for optimizing energy efficiency, further accidents may compromise the feasibility of renewable power and hamper the government's bid to expand the use of cleaner energies.



According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, it recommended individuals, companies and other organizations to stop using 584 uninspected ESSs across the country.



The move came after an ESS at a cement plant in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, caught fire on Monday, causing 4.1 billion won ($3.63 million) worth of damage to the plant. The ESS was set up by LC Chem and LG CNS in January.



It was the 15th fire in an ESS in Korea this year, taking place amid the ministry's safety checks on 1,253 ESSs across the country. The ministry finished inspecting 669 ESSs as of Monday and the recommendation was issued on the remainder.



"The ministry decided to issue the recommendation recognizing the seriousness of the situation," a ministry official said.



Since solar, wind and other renewable energy sources have limits in their power production continuity, they are coupled with ESSs, comprised of large-scale batteries and other electric facilities assisting them. Including the Jecheon accident, Korea has seen 16 ESS fires so far and half of them were linked to solar power generators.



As fires continue, experts pointed out the government's "hasty" expansion of ESS use is responsible for the series of fires and those fires will deflate its bid to expand renewable energy across the country.



"As part of its policy to save electricity and expand renewable energy use, the government has given an excessive amount of subsidies to those who are using ESSs," said Jeong Yong-hoon, a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). "This led many entities to use the technology without enough verification of its safety and stability."



Jeong added that the government's bid to expand renewable energy use will lose momentum for a while, because calls for stronger safety measures will jack up the costs, additionally burdening the already expensive renewable energies.



"Since safety issues have emerged, ESSs are required to have stronger safety measures, such as a monitoring system," he said. "It will further raise the costs for using renewable energy, whose low feasibility is already one of the strongest disadvantages."



Renault's Twizy micro electric vehicle / Courtesy of Renault Samsung



Micro EV expected to invigorate Renault Samsung's plant



By Nam Hyun-woo



Renault Samsung will produce the Twizy electric vehicle (EV) at its factory in Busan for the next five years, the Korean unit of French auto giant Renault Group said Tuesday.



The company said it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Busan City Government and DongshinMotech (DST), one of Renault Samsung's parts suppliers, and agreed to have DST take charge of manufacturing the micro EV.



Currently, the Twizy is assembled in a Renault factory in Spain, and imported to Korea. Renault Samsung has been seeking to manufacture the EV to maintain assembly lines after production for the Nissan Rogue expires in September next year.



Following the MOU, Renault Samsung will bring facilities for making the Twizy from Spain and install them in its Busan plant, a Renault Samsung official said. The plant will be capable of producing up to 5,000 Twizys a year.



DST, which does not have a plant in Busan currently, will run the facility from September next year, with the goal of producing 15,000 Twizys in the next five years for the domestic, European and Southeast Asian markets.



"The successful hosting of Twizy manufacturing will also contribute to the government's efforts to improve rules and set up early stage market infrastructure," Renault Samsung CEO Dominique Signora said in a statement.



"Korea Post's introduction of micro EV also played a significant role in Twizy's arrival in Busan," he said. The state-run postal service plans to buy 10,000 micro EVs, including the Twizy, for its delivery service.



DST was established in 1995 as an auto parts company. It currently focuses on automobile chassis and battery pack cases for EVs.



"This is the first cooperation between the government, a midsize company and a foreign automobile maker," DST said in a statement. "And it will also be a model case for overcoming difficulties faced by domestic auto parts makers through cooperation."



Renault Samsung has been paying keen attention to its headquarters decision over allocating models to its global manufacturing bases. Since the volume of the Rogue accounted for nearly half of the total output of the Busan plant, the scheduled expiration was expected to drag down exports.



Renault Samsung's exports for November declined 41.6 percent from a year earlier, as the overseas shipments of the Rogue declined 30.7 percent.



The Renault Samsung official said the company is looking forward to producing more models in Korea, including new SUVs after 2020.





La Jolla resident and civic volunteer Cindy Greatrex pleaded guilty to grand theft and great takings (which carries additional penalties) in San Diego Superior Court Dec. 17, in the charge of stealing more than $67,000 from La Jolla Recreation Center funds.

Her legal representation and San Diego County District Attorney Gina Darvas negotiated a deal in the case, ordering Greatrex to pay full restitution totaling $68,272 to the La Jolla Park & Recreation 501(c)(3) board by her sentencing date of Jan. 29, 2019; serve 180 days home detention with a GPS-monitored bracelet; step down from any boards on which she is a trustee (she is currently a trustee on the La Jolla Community Planning Association and president of Independent La Jolla); and serve four years of probation.

Greatrexs deal is contingent on paying the full amount at the time of sentencing, Darvas told La Jolla Light. We were getting down to the nitty gritty and the facts were there to prove her guilt, she said.

According to charges in The People vs. Cindy Greatrex, filed in 2017, Greatrex made out checks from La Jolla Park & Recreation, Inc. board payable to herself  or cash  and cashed them into her personal accounts. The thefts took place between May 2016 and February 2017, according to court documents. Greatrex was president of the La Jolla Park & Recreation, Inc. board in 2015, but stepped down in 2017, citing conflicts with other board members.

Throughout court proceedings, Greatrex maintained her innocence and claimed the missing funds were used to reimburse herself for purchasing grant-writing fees over a long period of time on behalf of the Rec Center in her role as chair of the La Jolla Park & Recreation, Inc. board.

A three-day preliminary hearing was held in November 2017, at which time a key issue was determining the existence and legitimacy of the firm with which Greatrex said she entered into a contract with and paid to write grants: American Field Consulting (AFC), and its representative Jon Freeman. AFC is reportedly based in Chicago.

Greatrex maintained she gave more than $40,000 in cash to Freeman for these services over the course of a year (the remaining funds she is accused of stealing were reimbursements to herself for miscellaneous payments she made for services to the Rec Center).

After the charges were filed, Greatrex changed attorneys four times. During the preliminary hearing, Paul Neuharth represented Greatrex. But a month later, at her arraignment, Greatrex was being represented by John Kirby. Six months later, Greatrex was being represented by a third attorney, Sharon Appelbaum.

In August, Earll Pott was her attorney. Her most recent attorney was Mike Pancer. With the retention of each new attorney, Greatrexs trial date was postponed.

For most of the proceedings, Chandelle Konstanzer represented The People; but recently, Darvas assumed the role.

After the plea was entered, Mary Coakley-Munk, who was chair of La Jolla Park & Recreation, Inc. board for the last year-and-a-half, simply told La Jolla Light: The board is very pleased to have the issue resolved.

Greatrex did not respond to the Lights request for comment.A woman feeds her daughter at a temporary shelter in Xingwen county, Sichuan province, on Monday. A magnitude-5.7 earthquake struck Xingwen at 12:46 pm on Sunday. ZHANG SHIBO/FOR CHINA DAILY

The Ministry of Emergency Response is providing 1,000 tents to the earthquake zone in Xingwen county, Sichuan province.

The tents, from the relief material repository of the central government in Chengdu, Sichuan, have been sent to aid people affected by the quake in the county, which is experiencing rain and snow, the ministry said.

A magnitude-5.7 earthquake struck Xingwen, a county administered by Yibin, at 12:46 pm on Sunday.

On Monday morning, Huang Ming, the ministry's Party chief, chaired a video meeting with the Sichuan Firefighting Brigade and its Yibin branch.

Seventeen people received minor injuries in the quake. All of them were sent to rural township hospitals for treatment, and six of them have been discharged.

The provincial emergency response department said on its micro blog that nearly 36,000 people were affected by the quake, and more than 10,800 houses were damaged.

Power supplies were cut off in a town in Xingwen but resumed soon after the quake. Water supplies were not affected in any part of the county, said Li Min, chief of the publicity department of the Yibin committee of the Communist Party of China.

Xingwen has karst formations that tend to dampen earthquakes. Many of the wounded were hit by falling objects, Li said.

Some people in Chengdu, Leshan, Meishan and Mianyang cities in Sichuan, as well as in the province's neighboring Chongqing municipality, felt the tremor. But many in Yibin and Xingwen did not feel it at all.

Life went on as usual in Yibin where the Second China International Spirits Culture Festival kicked off on Monday, having drawn top-notch dealers and experts in the liquor and wine sector from China and around the wold.

"The festival is the talk of the town and it seems no quake has taken place. Sichuan has witnessed many major quakes since 2008 and people don't mind a minor one," said Zhang, a middle-aged taxi driver.

Yibin, which is known for Wuliangye, one of China's best liquors, draws dealers and experts in the liquor and wine sector for the festival every December.

A magnitude-8.0 earthquake jolted Wenchuan county in Sichuan on May 12, 2008, killing 69,226 people and leaving 17,923 missing. Two magnitude-7.0 quakes later devastated Lushan and Jiuzhaigou counties in Sichuan.

Sichuan province tops the list for geological disasters in China.They targeted Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham. Now they are turning to Tucker Carlson.

Media Matters for America, Sleeping Giants and other liberal activist groups are pressuring advertisers to drop Tucker Carlson Tonight on conservative-leaning Fox News after the host caused a stir last week when he described mass immigration as making the country poorer and dirtier and more divided. At least eight advertisers said they wont advertise on the show following his televised comments.

Its the latest example of how activists are using advertiser boycotts to protest controversial media personalities and ply economic pressure on the media companies that employ them. The tactic is especially effective in the polarized world of cable news, where advertisers face a volatile landscape in which commentators often make incendiary statements, followed by a swift social media backlash.

Its more important to protect the brand than promote the brand, said Jeff Greenfield, chief operating officer of C3 Metrics, a marketing research and data firm.

Advertisement

In what has become a familiar pattern, Carlsons on-air comments have prompted activists to use Twitter and other means to urge advertisers to drop the program.

Pacific Life Insurance was the first to pull its commercials, saying it would pause its ads and reevaluate its relationship with the show. IHOP, SmileDirectClub and Nautilus, the owner of Bowflex, also withdrew their advertising from the show.

At our core, we stand for welcoming folks from all backgrounds and beliefs into our restaurants and continually evaluate ad placements to ensure they align with our values, IHOP said in a statement. In this case, we will no longer be advertising on this show.

But several advertisers are sticking with Carlson, including Farmers Insurance, Mitsubishi, John Deere, Bayer and Sanofi.

Despite the advertiser flight, Fox News is defending Carlson, who is a ratings champion for the network.

It is a shame that left-wing advocacy groups, under the guise of being supposed media watchdogs, weaponize social media against companies in an effort to stifle free speech, said Carly Shanahan, a representative of the cable news network. We continue to stand by and work with our advertisers through these unfortunate and unnecessary distractions.

Advertisers who had dropped Carlson were redirecting their commercials to other shows on the network, and no revenue had been lost for the network, Shanahan said.

Media Matters denied that it is a partisan organization. We are clearly left-leaning. That doesnt mean we cant be honest, said Angelo Carusone, the organizations president, in an interview.

Tucker can say what he wants. But lets not forget that hes a business. Hes selling that time to advertisers.

On its website, Media Matters has described Tucker Carlson Tonight as a fascist program that is steeped in white nationalist rhetoric. Carlson has repeatedly dismissed such labels, saying on his show that his arguments over mass migration are based in economics, not race.

Sleeping Giants said that Carlsons comments are part of a larger narrative that he has promoted almost nightly. If you want to appeal to a diverse group of consumers and employees, why would you want to advertise on a show that denigrates many of them? the group said in a statement to The Times.

The activist group has singled out Breitbart advertisers in the past and has increasingly targeted Fox News sponsors. Its tweets are often picked up by Hollywood celebrities, who retweet them to their social media fans. The snowball effect can put advertisers on the defensive, prompting them to react quickly.

Greenfield, of C3 Metrics, said that the companies boycotting Carlson are not the shows top advertisers, and that they could actually benefit from taking a public stance. They are maybe looking to say, Hey, we can use this to garner some press for ourselves, he said.

Kantar Media said the top five advertisers on Tucker Carlson Tonight for the first half of 2018 were MyPillow, Rosland Capital, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem and AstraZeneca. None has indicated that they are dropping the show.

Carlson struck a defiant tone on Mondays prime-time edition, indirectly referencing the ad boycott.

The left would very much like you to stop talking and thinking about bad decisions theyve made over the years that they happen to be profiting from. Shut up, theyre screaming, including, to this show, he said.

Carlson devoted a segment of Mondays show to documenting the amount of trash generated by the migrant caravan that is currently stopped in Tijuana. He also commented on the impact of illegal immigration on the environment along the U.S.-Mexico border.

While we do not advocate boycotts, these same groups never target other broadcasters and operate under a grossly hypocritical double standard given their intolerance to all opposing points of view, Fox News said in a statement.

In some cases, the boycotts have been effective. Breitbart has seen numerous companies pull ads from the right-wing site after activists applied pressure following the 2016 presidential victory of Donald Trump. Boycotts also hastened the demise of The OReilly Factor on Fox News, following the sexual harassment scandal surrounding host Bill OReilly.

Yet activists havent succeeded in dethroning Hannity and The Ingraham Angle, which like Carlsons show rank as Fox News highest-rated prime-time programs.

Laura Ingraham landed in hot water in May when she criticized David Hogg, a gun-control activist and student at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., the site of a deadly shooting in February. Sean Hannity went through his own advertiser boycott last year following his coverage of the death of Seth Rich.

Tucker Carlson Tonight ranks No. 1 in its time slot, with more than 2.8 million in total viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Conservative activists have, to a lesser degree, also mounted advertising boycott efforts. They called on advertisers to yank commercials from CNN in an effort to target Kathy Griffin and Reza Aslan, both of whom were fired by the network.

david.ng@latimes.com

@DavidNgLAT

UPDATES:

4:07 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with comments from Media Matters, Sleeping Giants and Fox News.Los Balcones

Peruvian restaurant Los Balcones is opening a second location today, taking over the former Studio City site of Girasol. Polit Castillo, a veteran of that recently shuttered restaurant, is offering a different menu than at the Hollywood address, with dishes like short ribs slow-cooked six hours in beer; duck with huancaina feta sauce; and locro pappardelle with roasted pumpkin ragu.

11334 Moorpark St., Studio City, (818) 924-2323, losbalconesperu.com/new-location

Singkawang Cafe

This new El Monte Thai, Malay and Indonesian restaurant devotes a portion of its menu to cuisine from the Kalimantan region of Borneo, with varied dishes like jammien noodles, rujak salad, pork-and-chicken nasi campur and a Sunday-only chicken congee.

10404 Valley Blvd., El Monte, (626) 448-8886, facebook.com/pages/category/Restaurant/Singkawang-CAFE-2206036079466821

Advertisement

Blackship

This new restaurant is merging Japanese and Italian cuisines in West Hollywood. The kitchen, overseen by former Hinoki & the Bird sous chef Keiichi Kurobe, makes its own pasta for dishes like ramen carbonara, hamachi bolognese and shungiku gnocchi. On the drink menu: pear liquor- and Japanese gin-laced Commodore Perrys.

8512 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 734-7553, blackshipla.com

Fresh pasta at the new Blackship in West Hollywood. (Stephanie Irwin)

Haemaru

Haemaru is now open in Koreatown, concentrating on beef bone broth sul lung tang, as well as beef short rib galbi tang, incorporating ingredients like prime beef and Wagyu.

3498 W. 8th St., Los Angeles, (213) 315-5085, facebook.com/haemaruusa

Wax Paper

The Frogtown lunch nook that names its sandwiches after famous National Public Radio hosts now has a second location in Chinatown. In addition to several favorites from the original, expect four new exclusive sandwiches served on Bub and Grandmas bread, including those named for DJ Garth Trinidad and Ophira Eisenberg, with hours from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Or until everything is sold out.

736 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, waxpaperco.com

The Ophira Eisenberg sandwich at the new Wax Paper in Chinatown. (Lauren Lemos)

Joes Pizza

The Brooklyn-derived pizzeria popular for quick slices and whole pies continues its local expansion with the recent opening of a Sherman Oaks shop, a return to the city following the closure of a Riverside Drive location in 2016.

15030 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 646-0033, joespizzala.com

San Ysidro Ranch

Santa Barbaras historic San Ysidro Ranch hopes to gradually reopen both of its restaurants in mid-January, more than a year after their closures due to last winters destructive Montecito mudflows. For now, brunch reservations are open at the Stonehouse restaurant for Dec. 29 and 30. And a reservation-only dinner is also being offered at the propertys Plow & Angel restaurant on Dec. 27.

900 San Ysidro Lane, Santa Barbara, (805) 565-1700, sanysidroranch.com/santa-barbara-restaurants

food@latimes.com

@latimesfoodAt least one person was injured Tuesday afternoon when someone fired a gun at a bus traveling west on the 10 Freeway, near the 405 Freeway interchange, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Authorities responded to a report that someone had fired a gun at a green FlixBus, CHP Officer Siara Lund said.

At least one passenger was injured by shattered glass and taken to a local hospital by paramedics, she said.

Authorities have shut down the connector at the 10 and 405 freeways for about two hours, issuing a SigAlert, as they investigate the shooting.

Advertisement

FlixBus is a German-based company that provides intercity bus travel. The company began operating in the U.S. in May.

ruben.vives@latimes.com

For more Southern California news, follow @latvives on Twitter.Six days after the Woolsey fire broke out, killing two people and burning more than 98,000 acres and growing, five engines from Washington state made their way to California to help fight the blaze.

After working around the clock, defending homes and patrolling neighborhoods in the Malibu area, one group of firefighters decided to take a moment to rest. The crew pulled into a dirt area, north of Pacific View Drive and Houston Road. Most of the firefighters slept on top of the fire engine, but one took a nap on a grassy patch of land just 15 feet away from the truck.

It was almost midnight Nov. 14 when a scream woke everyone up. It came from the sleeping firefighter who had just been run over by a 2015 Dodge Ram 2500, a truck that can weigh more than 7,000 pounds.

The firefighter, a lieutenant, was flown by helicopter to a nearby trauma center only to be released a day and a half later. Shockingly, he suffered only minor injuries.

Advertisement

Details of the accident were released Monday as part of an investigation by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection into an accident that could have driven up the death toll of the fire.

Fire officials found that the civilian driving the truck had come across the fire engine, turned off its lights because it was trying to avoid waking the firefighters and drove around the firetruck, only to run over the napping firefighter.

The driver-side front and rear tires of [the civilians] pickup drove over [the lieutenants] chest, the report said. Firefighters immediately radioed for help and requested an air ambulance on their mobile radios travel channel.

In their findings, officials said the fact that the firefighter was lying in soft dirt probably decreased the severity of his injuries.

ruben.vives@latimes.com

For more Southern California news, follow @latvives on Twitter.On a misty night last week, the growl of heavy machinery and white-hot glare of floodlights were the only indications that engineers working for billionaire Elon Musk were digging a tunnel beneath the city of Hawthorne.

At a nearby dive bar on Prairie Avenue, a group of friends drained their bottles of Modelo and walked to their cars, wondering aloud about what was taking shape under their feet. A research lab? A new freeway? And would they ever get to see it?

We talk about it all the time, said Jorge Ortega, 21, as the clang of equipment echoed from the tunnels terminus two blocks away. I wish I knew more.

Two years after Musk complained on Twitter that Los Angeles traffic was driving him nuts and that he was going to just start digging to escape it, his newest venture, the Boring Co., is slated to unveil its first tunnel Tuesday.

Advertisement

The tunnel has been in the works for months, but Hawthorne residents have seen and heard almost nothing. The typically messy elements of construction have been confined to two private properties and shielded from view behind fences and tents.

(Los Angeles Times)

Information about the tunnel has been similarly controlled, with Boring Co. officials saying only that the tunnel will be used for research and development. Project updates have mostly popped up through Musks Twitter feed, rather than from Hawthorne officials.

Musk said earlier this month that Tuesdays event will be more than a tunnel opening, featuring modified but fully road legal autonomous cars that will be lowered into the tunnel.

The tunnel starts in a parking lot near SpaceX and runs for about a mile through a neighborhood between the 105 Freeway and Hawthorne Municipal Airport, ending at a shuttered cabinetry business on Prairie Avenue.

Its not a route thats in high demand. But Musk says he envisions a network in which commuters could board platforms the size of parking spaces called skates, which would sink like elevators and merge into the tunnels, whisking riders to their destinations at speeds of up to 130 mph.

A map the Boring Co. published last year showed a network of stations, including at the Getty Center, Union Station and Los Angeles International Airport. Musk also has announced plans for a 3.6-mile tunnel between Dodger Stadium and a Metro Red Line station.

Sleepy Hawthorne, residents say, could be at the center of it all.



You always hear about Elon Musk and Space X, and now, the Boring Co., and then, in really small print, theyre like, Oh, and its happening in Hawthorne, said Ruben Sanchez, president of the North Hawthorne Community Assn., which represents renters and homeowners. Were really going to stand out. This is going to put us on the map.

A map released last year shows a potential network for Elon Musks tunnel transportation system. (Boring Co.)

The hope, residents say, is that the tunnel will encourage a renaissance of sorts in a city that was hammered by deep cuts to federal aerospace spending in the 1990s. Recently, Hawthorne has attracted the headquarters of Urth Caffe and Amazons home security company, Ring, as well as two Marriott hotels.

Transportation planners question whether Musk can deliver on his promises.

Last month, the Boring Co. agreed to abandon plans to dig beneath Sepulveda Boulevard on L.A.s Westside after two homeowner groups sued. The tunnel also is shorter than the two-mile route that the Hawthorne City Council approved last year when it exempted the project from a potentially lengthy environmental review.

In the fall, officials approved two more waivers, for a futuristic elevator inside a garage, where employees will practice raising and lowering vehicles into the tunnel, and a spur to connect the elevator to the main tunnel along 120th Street.

Months before those plans were announced, the Boring Co. quietly purchased a two-bedroom house on West 119th Place through a mysterious limited liability corporation. In the neighborhood, word spread fast about the buyers true identity.

Everyones talking about it, like, Oh, did Elon Musk offer to buy your house, too? said Prescilla Vielman, 29, who lives across the street. Since then, she said, the tunnel has been at the center of neighborhood gossip.

Plans filed with Hawthorne officials show plans for an elevator shaft concealed inside a garage that will provide engineers access to a tunnel 40 feet below the surface. (Boring Co.)

The modest home has been repainted in gray and white, and fitted with a large padlock. The Boring Co. said there will be no signs that the garage behind it will conceal an entrance to a subterranean test track.

Vielman said she now sees people going into the house at strange hours of the morning while shes walking her dog, Snoopy. But so far, she said, the only real change is that the street where she grew up, wedged between the 105 and the airport, has found a bit of cachet.

Still, she said, it would be nice if she didnt have to keep Googling to learn whats going on beneath her feet.

The garage of a nondescript house on West 119th Place in Hawthorne will conceal the entrance to an access shaft to Boring Co.'s test tunnel 40 feet below ground. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Its a common refrain from residents, many of whom are intensely curious about the tunnel. The Boring Co. sent letters to some residents this summer and hosted community meetings, but by then, construction had been under way for months.

At a City Council meeting last week, residents lined up at the microphone to address their elected officials, complaining about airport noise, tow trucks, potholed streets and the derelict Hawthorne Plaza Mall. No residents and no elected officials mentioned the tunnel.

After the meeting, Mayor Alex Vargas said the tunnel is a source of pride for Hawthorne. The city held public meetings and sent out mailers about the project, but he added that secrecy is a good quality for the Boring Co. because then people dont know what theyre doing.

That future tunnels will be built as fast and unobtrusively as the one in Hawthorne seems unlikely, experts say. Digging in a county with 88 cities often requires crossing under freeways, sewer lines or other public works projects, requiring more oversight.

Musks crews avoided messy construction by starting their tunnel in a parking lot, burrowing deep enough to avoid water lines and telecommunications cables, and building a shaft on private property to extract portions of the digging machine.

But Musks vision for dozens of skates on public streets will almost certainly put engineers in conflict with utility lines. Relocating them can be one of the most costly and time-consuming elements of major construction projects in California.

A rendering shows passengers boarding a skate, with drivers pulling onto other skates in the background. (Boring Co.)

Musk told his followers twice this year on social media that the tunnels opening would be accompanied by free rides for the public. Whether that will happen is unclear.

The company told Hawthorne officials last year that no public use of the test tunnel would occur, and no people would be occupying vehicles located on the skates. But the company did not respond to questions about whether the tunnel will be open to the public, or whether it will be inspected by regulators first.

What is certain, city officials say, is that fans will arrive in droves.

When Musk hosted a meeting about his now-defunct Sepulveda proposal, young men in SpaceX fleece jackets and Boring Co. hats drove from as far away as San Diego, Riverside and Santa Barbara to hear him.

This is the most exciting thing thats happened here in a long time, said Levi Stockton, president of Jet Center Los Angeles and Advanced Air at Hawthorne Airport. Nobody else is digging tunnels and building rockets in the same place.

laura.nelson@latimes.com

For more transportation news, follow @laura_nelson on Twitter.A mother who was unable to obtain a travel ban waiver to visit her dying son in California has been granted a visa by the State Department, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Tuesday.

Shaima Swileh, a Yemeni national, has been separated from her family for months as they sought care for their boy, Abdullah. The State Department granted the waiver Tuesday morning after the familys story spread through social media and appeared in news reports, CAIR said.

The organization said it is working on getting her stateside as quickly as possible to be with her son. Swileh is expected to arrive at San Francisco International Airport on Wednesday evening.

Two-year-old Abdullah was born in Yemen and traveled to the United States with his father, Ali Hassan, a few months ago to receive treatment for a degenerative brain disease. Both are American citizens, CAIR said.

Advertisement

This is the happiest day of my life, Ali Hassan, 22, said in a statement. Just last week I was about to pull him off life support . This will allow us to mourn with dignity.

The boy spent his birthday in a bed at UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland, Hassan said.

When the parents realized Abdullah needed better care than what was available in Yemen, they had to travel to Cairo, where Hassan could petition for Swileh to receive a visa. The request was denied.

In October, they applied for a waiver. Hassan flew on to California with their son while Swileh waited for a decision.

Its a huge, huge relief, said Saad Sweilem, an attorney with CAIR who is representing the family. This young American family will get a chance to be together one last time.

Sweilem said he and Hassan found out about the waiver around 5 a.m. The two were together when Hassan received an email about his wifes case.

He just pulled up his phone and said, She got it! She got it! Sweilem recalled.

Shortly after, Swileh called her husband and confirmed that she had received a visa.

It was a really sweet moment between them. It was touching, Sweilem said. Its good to know they will have this opportunity to be with their son, and then they can grieve together.

Hassan feels grateful that his wife will be able to come to the U.S., the attorney said. He has spent his days at the hospital with Abdullah.

He was the one who brought his son here, thinking he was doing the best for him, and he found himself in this nightmare situation where he ended up feeling like he took his son from his mother, Sweilem said.

Members of Congress penned a letter to Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo on Monday, asking that the government expedite its decision on a waiver.

The Trump administration was forced to revise its original travel ban order twice since its rollout in January 2017 to resolve legal problems over due process, implementation and exclusive targeting of Muslim nations.

In June, the Supreme Court upheld the ban. The current version covers five Muslim-majority nations  Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen  as well as North Korea and some government officials from Venezuela.

Visa waiver applications are decided on a case-by-case basis, according to the State Department. There are three criteria outlined in the proclamation for a waiver: that denying entry would cause the applicant hardship; entry would not pose a threat to the national security or public safety of the U.S.; and entry would be in the national interest.

sarah.parvini@latimes.com

For more California news follow me on Twitter: @sarahparviniThe man charged with holding customers hostage inside a Trader Joes this summer insisted in court Monday that he was insane at the time of the incident.

Gene Evin Atkins  who is accused of engaging in a gun battle with Los Angeles police that ended with the shooting death of a store manager  arrived in a downtown courtroom not only as a criminal defendant but as his own attorney.

Im pleading insanity, said Atkins, 28, who faces 51 criminal counts, including murder, attempted murder of a peace officer and kidnapping.

Police say that on July 21, Atkins shot his grandmother, kidnapped his girlfriend and fired a gun at police officers from his car during a chase from Hollywood to Silver Lake. After smashing into a light post on Hyperion Avenue, Atkins ran toward the grocery stores entrance and fired from his hip, authorities say. Officers returned a barrage of bullets, according to dashboard video footage released by the Los Angeles Police Department a few days after the shooting.

Advertisement

A bullet from an officers gun fatally struck store manager Melyda Maricela Corado, 27, whose family filed a wrongful death suit against the city and two LAPD officers last month. Prosecutors charged Atkins with Corados death under the legal theory known as the provocative act murder doctrine, alleging his actions set off a series of events that led to the death.

In court Monday, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Teresa Sullivan asked Atkins if he had reviewed a list of the crimes hes accused of committing.

No, he responded.

Sullivan nodded, asking Deputy Dist. Atty. Tannaz Mokayef to read the criminal charges aloud.

As the prosecutor read the first count  Corados murder  a woman seated toward the front of the courtroom, who identified herself as one of the hostages, let out a long sigh. The second count read was the attempted murder of Mary Madison  your grandmother, the prosecutor told Atkins. He stared expressionless from behind a wooden partition.

Atkins asked to have his arraignment postponed, but the judge denied the request. Did he want to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty? she asked.

Insanity, he responded.

Sullivan again asked for a plea of guilty or not guilty.

Im pleading insanity, Atkins said.

The judge said she would enter a not guilty plea on his behalf, noting that Atkins was previously found competent to represent himself at trial.

Atkins, who wore yellow jail scrubs and had his hands cuffed in front of his waist, told the judge he had an extensive mental health record and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

I would like to set the matter for arraignment, Atkins said.

The arraignments happened, the judge said, telling the defendant that after the hearing he would receive a box of about 5,000 pages of evidence, which he could use to prepare his defense.

My defense has already been prepared, he said.

Atkins faces life in prison if convicted on all counts. He is scheduled to return to court on Feb. 15.

marisa.gerber@latimes.com

For more news from the Los Angeles County courts, follow me on Twitter: @marisagerberA UC Irvine faculty member was given a security escort to campus this week after she tweeted about feeling unsafe because of a fellow professors behavior.

In a public thread on Twitter, Kathleen Treseder, chair of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, said Monday that lecturer Richard Symanski was intimidating her after she and others publicly accused a former UCI geneticist of sexual harassment. Treseder said Symanski sent her a memoir that referenced similar accusations against him as well as a fictional character who massacres university academics.



For the record: An earlier version of this report misspelled UCI Chancellor Howard Gillmans last name as Gilman.

Treseder tweeted Thursday that she was staying home because a colleague was making her feel unsafe. On Monday, she posted a photograph of Symanskis memoir, Bad Boy Geographer, and attached a letter he had sent two months earlier.

Advertisement

That post drew the attention of Treseders thousands of followers and prompted UC Irvines School of Biological Sciences to release its own statement on Twitter.

UCIs School of Biological Sciences and administration intervened immediately as soon as we became aware of Professor Treseders concerns, the department said, adding that it acquired private security services for her for an unspecified amount of time.

The university said it could not share details of the situation because of its sensitive, personnel-related nature.

A statement from UCI School of Biological Sciences regarding Prof. Treseder. pic.twitter.com/IBKg53MSdV  UCI BioSci (@UCIBioSci) December 17, 2018

In Symanskis letter posted by Treseder, he suggests that because of her identification with the #MeToo movement, she read the part of his book about a sexual harassment charge made against him. He warns that a large part of the novel focuses on sex and prostitutes.

The letter referenced Treseders involvement in the universitys investigation of geneticist Francisco J. Ayala, who was accused of sexually harassing several faculty members and graduate students. Treseder was one of Ayalas accusers, and in June, the geneticist resigned.

In her tweets, Treseder included quotes from Symanskis memoir, which also referenced an unpublished crime novel he wrote featuring a main character who executes academics.

They were taken into a seminar room and, with one exception (a coward who jumped out the window instead of facing the killers humiliating charges), were killed with a sawed off shotgun, Symanski writes in the memoir, describing part of his novel. Nearly an entire academic department was eliminated.

Treseder said she found the comments unsettling.

I am his Chair. He wanted me to read this, she said on Twitter.

One math teacher in Oregon, Julie Wright, wrote a public letter to UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman and Biological Sciences Dean Frank LaFerla, requesting the university take action.

Wright referenced in her letter another portion of Symanskis book in which he says that men wanting to have sex with women is a compliment.

All these poor and victimized and oppressed and sensitive women dont have the intelligence to see that men saying they want to  them is an enormous compliment, Symanski said in the book. [Women] have their victimhood to worry about, and their quite fragile and angry feminist egos to worry about.

In an email to City News Service, Symanski said he was unaware of Treseders tweets, but acknowledged he sent a copy of his memoir that includes 10,000 words on a bogus sexual harassment charge against him in 1995. He said he wanted to show Treseder that theres another side to the sexual harassment accusations made against men.

Neither Treseder nor Symanski, who is scheduled to retire Jan. 7, could immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com

Twitter: @r_valejandraSonoma County has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit with the parents of a 13-year-old Santa Rosa boy who was fatally shot in 2013 by a sheriffs deputy who mistook the boys plastic gun for an AK-47.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, alleged that Sonoma County Sheriffs Deputy Erick Gelhaus acted unreasonably when he shot Andy Lopez, an eighth-grader, in a residential neighborhood. The lawsuit called the Oct. 22 shooting, which sparked protests and rallies in Sonoma County, a senseless and unwarranted act of police abuse.

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the settlement Tuesday.

My heartfelt condolences go out to the Lopez family because I cant imagine what its been like for them to go through this, Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said. In the end, the Sheriffs Office and the county decided the best answer was to settle this case. Bottom line, a 13-year-old died.

Advertisement

Gelhaus, a firearms expert, Iraq war veteran and a contributor to online forums dealing with guns and police use of force, was on patrol with another deputy when they spotted the boy and pulled their car behind him. Gelhaus jumped from the car, crouched behind the door and shouted: Drop the gun.

Authorities said as the teen turned toward him, Gelhaus fired eight shots, striking the boy seven times. An autopsy determined two of the rounds were fatal.

No charges were brought against Gelhaus, but the deputy was named in the lawsuit, which alleged excessive use of force and a violation of the 4th Amendments ban on unreasonable seizures.

The case had been cleared to go to trial after the Supreme Court in June denied the countys appeal seeking immunity for Gelhaus. A federal judge in Oakland had previously refused to grant the deputy immunity, and the 9th Circuit upheld that decision in 2017.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahnfryAt least three women say the former associate pastor of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Encinitas tried to seduce them.

The allegations rocked the congregation Sunday, when parishioners opened the church bulletin to find an apology from Bishop Robert McElroy to all who were subjected to this terrible mistreatment

There is no room in the Church or the priesthood for this reprehensible type of misconduct, McElroy wrote.

This message was a startling departure from the usual church bulletin fare, such as the Christmas Mass schedule and a notice about an upcoming marriage encounter retreat. McElroy, who this fall held a series of listening sessions for churchgoers disturbed by an ongoing clergy sexual abuse crisis, has preached the need to be more open about these scandals.

Advertisement

Father Ben Vincent Awongo, 55, left St. Johns on Sept. 1 after the diocese received the second allegation. The first was anonymous and its author could not be found. The second came in August, and led to Awongos dismissal.

A member of the Missionary Order of the Apostles of Jesus, a group composed primarily of African priests, Awongo was born in Uganda. He had been working in the San Diego diocese since December 2014.

Awongo was not accused of any criminal actions, so the diocese gave him his walking papers after the second allegation, said diocesan spokesman Kevin Eckery.

When a third allegation surfaced in November, information was forwarded to the independent review board that examines allegations of priestly sexual misconduct. The board recommended the bishop make an announcement to St. Johns parishioners.

Word spread during masses on the third Sunday in Advent, a season of penance and preparation for Christmas. St. Johns pastor, the Rev. Jim Bahash, solemnly addressed his congregation at the end of each service.

Father Jim got up on the pulpit and said, Listen I am not going to go into any details because there are children present. But theres something in the bulletin, said Jim Chodzko, a regular churchgoer at St. Johns.

Awongo was a popular priest, parishioners said.

I thought Father Ben was an excellent, intelligent, kind, skilled priest, said Nancy Morgan, a licensed marriage and family therapist who has attended St. Johns for decades. He just portrayed the best in the priesthood, from my perspective.

Chodzko was impressed by Awongo, too  I loved the guy, he said  but did not fault the diocese for publicizing these allegations.

I have full support of what the bishop is doing, he said. The church needs to grab onto these things and not sweep it under the rug.

Scandals involving predator priests have dogged the Catholic Church worldwide since at least 2002, when the Boston Globe conducted its Spotlight series. In 2007, the San Diego diocese agreed to pay a total of $198 million to 144 people who had been molested as children by priests and other church employees.

This year, a scathing grand jury report in Pennsylvania prompted numerous dioceses  including San Diego  to re-examine how they respond to clergy accused of preying on the faithful, whether children or adults.

The bishop has to do what the bishop has to  I dont blame him at all, said Morgan, the therapist. He has a responsibility in this day and age to be transparent.

Awongo, who remains a priest in the Apostles of Jesus order, is reportedly teaching at a seminary in Kenya.

What they are going to do, I dont know, Eckery said. But his ministry in San Diego is over.

A call to the U.S. regional superior of the Apostles of Jesus went unanswered Monday.

Awongo was ordained in 1990 in his native Uganda. He has a degree in business administration, holds a PhD in theology and speaks five languages: Swahili, Italian, Spanish, German and English.

At St. Johns, he was known for his insights into St. Pauls epistles.

Vicar general of his order from 2002-08, Awongo came to the U.S. in 2014, briefly serving as associate pastor at Vistas St. Francis of Assisi and as a chaplain at Tri-City Medical Center. In January 2015, he was attached to St. Mary in El Centro, moving to St. Johns in July 2015.

In McElroys statement, the allegations against Awongo are described only as aggressive advances.

The review board examined more detailed information, Eckery said, and found the stories believable.

There is no reason to sully someones reputation unless you believe it is credible, he said. You take seriously these kinds of allegations.

Church officials urge anyone with information about these allegations to call Lisa Petronis, the diocesan victims assistance coordinator, at (858) 490-8353.

Rowe writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

peter.rowe@sduniontribune.comThe ministers from the six Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) countries underlined on Monday the vital need of maintaining an open world economy and upholding the rules-based multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi(left 3) meets with 5 other ministers from the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) countries at the sideline of "the 4th Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meeting", Luang Prabang, Laos, December 17 2018. [Photo: fmprc.gov.cn]

In a joint press communique released after the conclusion of "the 4th Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meeting," the ministers from China, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam reaffirmed that the LMC will be based on the principles of consensus, equality, mutual consultation and coordination, voluntarism, common contribution and shared benefits.

They also reiterated respect for the United Nations charters and international laws, and in the spirit of friendship, openness and inclusiveness.

The ministers agreed to promote the synergy of national development strategies, bring into full play resource endowment and competitive advantage, promote rational flow and optimal allocation of production factors, and start discussion on concretization of jointly building a LMC Economic Development Belt for mutual benefit and shared prosperity, the communique said.

According to the communique, the ministers agreed to conduct high-quality production capacity cooperation and speed up the formulation of cooperation plan on connectivity among the Lancang-Mekong countries and development plans of cross-border economic and production capacity cooperation.

The ministers expressed the readiness to work together for the complete success and positive outcomes of the fifth LMC foreign ministers' meeting to be held in December 2019 in China and the third LMC leaders' meeting in January 2020 in Laos.Two members of Congress accompanied 15 asylum seekers from the Central American caravan to the Otay Mesa Port of Entry on Monday to observe how U.S. officials treat asylum seekers.

Reps. Nanette Barragan and Jimmy Gomez, both of the Los Angeles area, questioned Customs and Border Protection officials after they were told the port would process only the eight unaccompanied children, and the rest, including a mother with five children, would have to go to the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Officials at San Ysidro take a limited number of migrants each day for asylum processing, which has led to a backlog of thousands waiting in Tijuana.

For me, its clear. Were on U.S. soil, Barragan said, referring to a law that prevents the U.S. from returning people to Mexico after they cross the international line if they are from another country.

Advertisement

She said officials have told Congress that migrants can request asylum at any port of entry but what she is witnessing at Otay Mesa contradicts that. She called the situation unfortunate and disturbing.

The asylum seekers, organized by legal aid group Al Otro Lado, were selected to participate because they are particularly vulnerable in Tijuana, volunteers said.

They walked up to the port of entry about 2:30 p.m. in small groups to avoid being noticed by Mexican immigration officials who might send them away before they reached their goal, the United States.

When they stepped over the border boundary, the asylum seekers, all from Honduras, sat down in hopes that officials would allow them in for asylum processing. A group of attorneys, law students and other volunteers who are all U.S. citizens formed a human shield around the sitting migrants to keep anyone from trying to force them back into Mexico.

Though officials initially said they would take the unaccompanied children, the entire group sat on concrete outside the ports gate but past the international boundary for hours. A number of Customs and Border Protection officers with helmets stood nearby watching them and blocking one lane of traffic.

When a supervising officer told Barragan that they couldnt take the mother and her five children or the man who was traveling alone because of capacity, Barragan asked to see inside the port of entry to understand its limitations.

The officer disappeared back into the port of entry to talk with higher ranking officials. When Barragan asked for an update from officers at the gate an hour later, they were unable to give her new information.

When asked about the incident, Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, pointed to an increase in asylum seekers arriving at ports of entry along the southwest border over the last year. The agency has limited resources and a variety of factors can influence how much space it has for asylum processing on a given day, according to a CBP spokeswoman.

CBP processes undocumented persons as expeditiously as possible without negating the agencys overall mission, or compromising the safety of individuals within our custody, the spokeswoman said.

As we have done for several years, when our ports of entry reach capacity, we have to manage the queues, and individuals presenting without documents may need to wait in Mexico as CBP officers work to process those already within our facilities, she added.

Among the migrants sitting outside the Otay Mesa Port of Entry was a woman whose face became famous after she was photographed running with her children away from tear gas at the border weeks ago.

Attorney Nicole Ramos of Al Otro Lado stood over her.

Ramos has helped asylum seekers present at Tijuana ports of entry for years and observed as U.S. officials began sending them away a couple of years ago.

She questioned why the government hasnt done more to speed up processing since it has known about the growing backlog for at least a year.

Its not representative of what the government has the financial capacity to do, Ramos said.

After more than two hours, it was not yet clear what the outcome of the peaceful standoff would be. Both members of Congress promised to hold the agency accountable to U.S. and international law.

What were doing is observing, Gomez said. Time will tell.

Morrissey writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.On Saturday night, at the end of two weeks of meetings in Katowice, Poland, delegates from nearly 200 nations gave themselves a standing ovation for their accomplishments in combating climate change. But even though they no doubt worked very hard on a very difficult issue, the fact is that their enthusiastic self-congratulations were undeserved.

The steps taken in Poland were, as critics noted, too little, too late. In the climate emergency were in, slow success is no success, said Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development.

Honestly, were not trying to disparage the scientists and diplomats who spend their lives trying to avert the looming catastrophe of climate change. But it is disheartening that the best the United Nations body  called COP24  came up with was, in essence, a rulebook in which the participating nations will report, accurately and transparently, who is releasing how much greenhouse gas. The Katowice meetings did not lead to new agreements on the most pressing aspect of global warming  the fact that it is occurring even faster than had been expected, according to a recent and especially dire United Nations report. That study, like others before it, state in no uncertain terms that the goal established in the 2015 Paris agreement  to limit atmospheric carbon levels to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels  is insufficient to save us from some of the more drastic effects of climate change. Without significant action, global temperatures will rise by up to 5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, according to the U.N.s World Meteorological Organization, likely causing massive upheaval from rising seas, extreme weather, collapsing food chains, droughts and floods.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

Advertisement

It is no help, of course, that President Trump has announced his intention to pull the U.S. from the Paris agreement in 2020 and has pursued policies to increase production and burning of coal, oil and natural gas. In fact, intransigence by U.S. and three other leading oil-producing nations  Russia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait  kept the conference from fully embracing the dire climate report the U.N. issued weeks earlier.

Its difficult to overstate the need for urgency in addressing climate change, from setting national limits backed by hard policies, to adopting carbon taxes and other market mechanisms that will reduce reliance on fossil fuels, to changing consumer habits. None of this will be easy, but failure to rise to this challenge will make the current generation culpable in the ecological disasters, human upheaval and collapsed ecosystems of the future. Thats not much to applaud about.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or FacebookSunburst imagery has been around for centuries  for example, the distinctive pattern of lines radiating out from a central circle can be found in the early Catholic Churchs depictions of Christs halo. More recently, sunbursts were popular in the Art Deco and Pop Art movements. They also are a regular feature in the works of muralist Beau Stanton, including the giant portrait of Ava Gardner that adorns one of the exterior walls at the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools in Koreatown.

Nevertheless, some Korean activists and community groups see something personal and harmful in the Gardner murals sunburst: echoes of Japans battle flag in World War II. Never mind that the sunburst in Stantons mural has different colors and proportions, and that background images like it are common online. And never mind that the mural is also decorated with coconut-laden palm trees, Moorish arches and other references to the murals inspiration: the Cocoanut Grove, the Old Hollywood hangout that once stood on the grounds now occupied by the school.

The Los Angeles Unified School district initially agreed to the activists request to remove the mural, only to put the decision on hold Monday. That was wise. This isnt the L.A. Unified equivalent of a statue honoring a confederate general or a building named after a wealthy slave owner. Its not even a veiled shout-out to Japanese imperialists. Its an innocent homage to a celebrated local gathering spot that was demolished along with the Ambassador Hotel in the mid-2000s to make room for the school.

Stantons mural doesnt suggest the battle flag just because it uses a sunburst pattern any more than innumerable other works with a sunburst pattern do.

Advertisement

Removing the mural would send a chilling message to artists whose work might run afoul of public sentiment  including those who, like Stanton, had no intention of offending anyone. Recognizing that, renowned artist Shepard Fairey has said he would have his own mural of Robert F. Kennedy at the complex painted over in protest if Stantons work is removed.

There is no question that the flag used by the Japanese Imperial Army represents abhorrent things to the people brutalized during the war. Koreans are particularly sensitive and rightly so, given the atrocities visited upon them. And the schools location on Wilshire Boulevard in puts the image in front of many Koreatown residents daily.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

But contrary to its critics claims, Stantons mural doesnt suggest the battle flag just because it uses a sunburst pattern any more than innumerable other works with a sunburst pattern do. One infamous use of that pattern doesnt erase centuries of other uses, or poison all other uses going forward.

The episode is just the latest example of people seeking to erase something in the public eye that offends them, even when no offense was meant. We live in a time when our language and imagery have become minefields waiting to be detonated. Theres no lack of egregious behavior these days, including by newly emboldened white supremacists and Nazi sympathizers. We should focus our ire on real outrages, not perceived ones.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand FacebookIt long has been obvious that Russians used social media to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election  not only to sow confusion and exacerbate divisions, but also to elevate the candidate they favored, Donald Trump. But two studies released Monday by the Senate Intelligence Committee provide shocking specifics about the scope and sophistication of the outrageous effort by the Internet Research Agency, a Russian business linked to the Kremlin, to spread manipulative content online.

One report, by the Computational Propaganda Project at Oxford University and the social media research firm Graphika, demonstrates in granular detail how the IRA successfully harnessed social media to benefit the Republican Party  and specifically, Donald Trump and to dampen enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton among African American, gay and lesbian, and liberal voters.

The second report, by the cybersecurity firm New Knowledge, documents how the IRA targeted  and misled  African Americans, including by creating domains such as proudtobeblack.org. and donotshoot.us. One video on an IRA-created YouTube channel was titled: HILLARY RECEIVED $20,000 DONATION FROM KKK TOWARDS HER CAMPAIGN. (In February, a federal grand jury indicted the IRA and several Russian individuals on criminal charges related to election interference. The indictment didnt allege that any American was a knowing participant in the operation.)

It is clearer than ever that Russia interfered in the election.

Advertisement

The reports, based on data provided by Facebook, Twitter and other companies exploited by the IRA, contain several arresting details about the way the Russians leveraged popular internet services. It was already known that Russian disinformation flowed freely on Facebook, but the New Knowledge report notes that Instagram, a social media app where people share and comment on photos, was even more useful to the Russians. Its authors write: Our assessment is that Instagram is likely to be a key battleground on an ongoing basis.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

One lesson from these studies is that internet companies should help address the disinformation problem by cooperating with public agencies to detect and stop it, as the Oxford report advises, in a way that respects users privacy. The internet was once seen as an ally of democracy; we now know that it can also empower those who seek to mislead and manipulate.

But there is also a lesson here for Trump, who at times has struggled to acknowledge, let alone condemn, the brazen Russian meddling in our elections. He needs to publicly support efforts by Congress and the intelligence community to confront the threat posed by online disinformation aimed at disrupting democracy in this country.

Trump continues to characterize special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation as a witch hunt, raising concerns that the president might try to abort it. It is clearer than ever that Russia interfered in the election. Mueller must be allowed to complete his investigation into whether anyone associated with the Trump campaign knew about it.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand FacebookRemember the old saw about the salesman who loses money on every sale but thinks he can make up the shortfall by selling in volume?

Thats what comes to mind every time I hear people say that President Trump is being shrewd by pandering to his base.

Consider last weeks remarkable Oval Office meeting between Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Trump. (There is photo evidence, but no audio, to suggest that Vice President Mike Pence was also in the room.) What was supposed to be a brief photo-op turned into a dramatic confrontation when the president invited television cameras to stay for their conversation.

Last months midterms showed what a national election looks like when only Trump-enablers feel highly motivated to vote Republican.

Advertisement

As always happens after one of these political reality show spectacles, the chattering classes set out to score the bout. According to conventional rules, Pelosi and Schumer came out the winners. They got Trump to admit that if theres a government shutdown over border wall funding, it will be all his doing. (Just before the meeting, congressional Republicans were prespinning a Schumer shutdown.) Pelosi solidified her claim to the House leadership while Trump made future bipartisan deals with the Democrats  something he reportedly wants  less likely.

According to The Times Eli Stokols, even Trump realized he was taken when it was over: He stormed out of the meeting and threw a folder of briefing papers across the room.

Yet there was a loud contrarian analysis that said Trump came out a winner. Why? Because his base loves this stuff.

If you are a supporter of the presidents policies, wrote the Daily Beasts Matt Lewis (no Trump booster himself), this was an especially welcome display  a rare example of a president publicly fighting for his policy goal: a border wall. Across Fox News opinion shows and right-wing talk radio, the view that Trump won was nearly unanimous.

Even Yahoo News Matt Bai, a decidedly left-leaning observer, excoriated liberals for not understanding that Trump knows that every time he flouts the staid convention of the office, every time he does the thing that seems inappropriate among the political set, hes winning with the chunk of the electorate he still has. Sure. The problem is that chunk is not a majority.

Bais larger observation  that Trump is so embattled he cant afford to lose his hard-core supporters  is a good one in the context of gaming out how Trump can survive impeachment. When looking at what advances this administrations agenda or is good for the Republican Party, however, his base loves it doesnt score any points.

Worse, its self-fulfilling prophecy. As he sheds the mostly suburban voters who gave him his margin of victory in 2016, of course he clings more tightly to those who celebrate the behaviors that are bleeding the GOP of support. Theyre the only ones left. Proclaiming that his base loves it may be an explanation, but its no excuse. And it misses the point if you care about the GOPs long-term viability or even Trumps reelection prospects. Hes going to need more voters than his amen chorus.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute 

Last months midterms showed what a national election looks like when only Trump-enablers feel highly motivated to vote Republican. The GOP lost Orange County, the ancestral home of the conservative movement. New England now has more GOP governors than Republican members of Congress. In Iowa the GOP lost all of its House races save for uber-Trumpy Steve Kings. A party where only bigoted goons like King can thrive by fueling white resentment is destined for the dustbin of history.

The irony here is that Trumps base will forgive him for nearly anything. He easily could have used the wall as leverage to gain Democratic support for mandating that all employers use E-Verify to confirm a prospective employee has legal immigration status. This is what serious immigration hawks have implored him to do  and hed get credit for being the great deal-maker he claims to be.

But the larger irony is that his base-service has led him to this very predicament: shutdown or back down.

Most presidents try to expand their coalition while holding onto their base. He has shrunk his and laid the foundation for future shrinkage by forcing his party to endorse this behavior. Trump will be gone soon enough, but at this rate the party of Trump will be a rump party.

jgoldberg@latimescolumnists.comTo the editor: George Skelton offers some valuable presidential history, but his conclusion that theres almost no chance the next president will be from California because of this states liberal reputation carries little weight.

In dismissing the possibility of a Golden State president, Skelton notes two exceptions  Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan  who were successful because they transcended California. But John F. Kennedy transcended Massachusetts, and both Bushes transcended Texas.

Modern history offers few, if any, instances in which presidents were elected largely due to their home state or candidates who lost because of their geographic base.

In fact, our two most recent presidents, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, were effectively stateless candidates, suggesting that voters are not focused on where candidates are from, but where they seek to take the country.

Advertisement

James Devitt, Larchmont, N.Y.

..

To the editor: I first got to California in 1951 on my way to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. I changed trains in Los Angeles, where in the distance I saw snowcapped mountains. On the ride down to San Diego, I saw people enjoying the beach. Coming from a small town in Minnesota, I thought California was just for vacations.

I guess I have been on a 40-year vacation.

Yes, some states have lower taxes and a lower cost of living, but to me it is a case of having to pay for what you get. In California, I get a lot more than I pay because the things I like  being close to the beaches, the mountains and the desert  are simply unavailable in other states.

I once suggested to my wife that we should think about moving back to our home state during our retirement years. Although we both have a lot of great memories, I was advised that if I moved back, it would be by myself.

Allen F. Dziuk, Carlsbad

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and FacebookJared Kushner may finally get a win.

President Trumps son-in-law has been a drag on the administration for his friendship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman since the Oct. 2 killing of a U.S.-based dissident Saudi journalist. His family business continues to raise questions of conflicts of interest, he repeatedly has amended financial disclosure reports to remedy omissions, and he endured an embarrassing yearlong delay in obtaining a security clearance. Meanwhile, his chief assignment, a Mideast peace plan, is as elusive as ever.

Lately, however, Kushner has been instrumental in helping his father-in-law secure a rare bipartisan victory: a long-sought overhaul of the criminal justice system.

Both Republicans and Democrats whove worked on the bill in Congress credit Kushner as a key architect. He helped convince the two most powerful Republicans in Washington  his father-in-law and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, both of whom embrace the traditionally Republican tough-on-crime stance  to make the criminal justice system less punitive.

Advertisement

The bill cleared a procedural hurdle in the Senate on Monday evening, 82 to 12, a vote margin that belies the arduous effort to overcome initial opposition from conservatives. Final Senate passage is expected later this week and the legislation is expected to easily get through the House and to the White House for Trumps signature.

Called the First Step Act, the legislation would undo some of the sentencing crackdowns of the 1990s and create programs to reduce prisoner recidivism.

It would allow low- and minimum-risk prisoners to earn time credits for early release to either reentry centers or home confinement; reduce some mandatory minimum sentences, including those imposed by so-called three-strikes laws that automatically result in life imprisonment; and allow reviews of sentences that reflect significant disparities between harsh punishments for crack cocaine use, which disproportionately involve minorities, and lesser penalties for powder cocaine.

Kushner, driven by the experience of his fathers 14-month prison sentence for tax evasion and other crimes, has made prison and sentencing changes a priority since the beginning of the Trump administration. But unlike loftier goals Kushner has embraced, such as peace between Israel and Palestinians, criminal justice reform is likely to be signed by the president.

Kushner helped work on policy details and knew where the political fault lines would be, according to lawmakers. He was on the phone repeatedly with other advocates to discuss strategy and next steps. He personally lobbied senators, including McConnell, who openly was not eager to make time for a Senate vote. And he served as a bridge to conservative media, which could have blown up the effort with even a whiff of opposition.

There would be some very outspoken right-wing [opponent] and [Kushner] would tell me, I called him this morning. I straightened him out and now hes going to be OK, said Democratic supporter Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, declining to name the commentator. Im thinking, Who would have dreamed that a bill Im cosponsoring would be OK with this person?

Advocates of the criminal justice overhaul tried to pass a similar bill at the end of the Obama administration, only to be stymied by congressional Republicans. They had little hope of getting it through during the Trump administration given the presidents campaign rhetoric on crime, including a call to execute drug dealers, and because of the fierce opposition of his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions.

This is a president that ran on American carnage, said Jessica Jackson, a Mill Valley, Calif., City Council member who started the advocacy group #cut50 with liberal CNN host and commentator Van Jones. I thought everything was over.

Im a Democrat, Jackson said, but Jared is politically brilliant and hes relentless and hes also extremely loyal. If he tells you hes going to do something, he does it.

Kushner started early. He made his support for criminal justice changes known to the leaders of the bipartisan congressional effort  including Durbin, the Senates second-ranking Democrat, and Republican Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee  within weeks of Trumps inauguration.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), another architect of the plan, knew Kushner was taking the issue seriously when Kushner started dropping the very precise nomenclature thrown around by criminal justice reform geeks  for example, citing the relevant U.S. criminal code lines by their numbers.

While Kushners initial goal was prison reform, which is an easier sell with conservatives, it quickly became clear that had to be paired with sentencing reform to get the backing of Grassley and Durbin.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle was McConnells reluctance to bring up a bill that would unify Democrats and divide Republicans, handing the opposition a potential political cudgel in the 2020 campaign. He told a group of Republican advocates in September that he would bring the bill to the Senate floor only if it was endorsed by Trump and they secured 65 votes  five more than the minimum number needed to overcome procedural roadblocks.

Given the goal, Kushner relentlessly lobbied reluctant Republican senators to get on board, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

He called everybody  and often, said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, whose late endorsement was part of a groundswell that made clear that enough Republicans would support the legislation. He was dogged.

On numerous occasions he lobbied McConnell directly, even trying to figure out the Republican leaders dinner companions so that he could lobby them before their meal.

Advocates of the First Step Act also rallied high-profile celebrity supporters, such as Kim Kardashian West, which demonstrated to the media-obsessed Trump the positive publicity he could get. Kushner worked with Jones, and eventually got support from celebrities including Alyssa Milano and former Fox News host Eric Bolling.

Jared Kushner absolutely was one of the main conduits, Bolling said.

The dam broke this month when Trump tweeted go for it, Mitch and several noteworthy conservatives backed the bill, including Sens. Cornyn, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Ted Cruz of Texas.

Lee, the Republican senator allied with Kushner, said: One of the things Ive appreciated about him is he doesnt cut corners with this. I havent seen him abuse the position of trust as the presidents son-in-law. He doesnt throw that around.

Everyone in Washington knows Kushners trusted place in the Trump orbit; members of Congress return his phone calls and know he speaks for the president, at least as much as anyone can. Yet when Vice President Mike Pence came to a meeting of Senate Republicans to lobby on the bill last month, Kushner was deferential; attendees said he sat in the room but barely said a word.

The bill does have significant critics. Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) argue that it could allow dangerous criminals to get early release, and have proposed a series of amendments that could get votes this week. Still, passage is considered all but certain.

The latest from Washington 

jennifer.haberkorn@latimes.com

@jenhabSaying he could not hide his disgust, a federal judge publicly excoriated Michael Flynn, President Trumps first national security advisor, on Tuesday before unexpectedly postponing his sentencing for lying to the FBI.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ripped into the retired three-star Army general for lying about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to Washington shortly after the 2016 election  and for secretly working as a lobbyist for a foreign government during the campaign and the presidential transition.

Arguably, that undermines everything this flag over here stands for, Sullivan said in a blistering rebuke from the bench. Arguably, you sold your country out!

Flynn belatedly registered as an agent for Turkey after he was ousted from the White House in February 2017 after only 23 days as national security advisor. He was not charged with a crime in that case.

Advertisement

Sullivan also upbraided Flynn for lying to the FBI and to other officials. Im not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense, he told Flynn.

This is a very serious offense  a high-ranking senior official of the government, making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation while on the physical premises of the White House, he said.

Sullivan agreed to postpone sentencing Flynn until after two of his former business associates, who were charged Monday with illegally working on Turkeys behalf, go on trial. Flynn has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the case.

Im not making any promises about sparing Flynn from prison time for lying to the FBI, the judge warned.

The judges fiery language startled many in the packed courtroom and apparently caught both prosecutors and defense lawyers by surprise. At one point, Sullivan suggested Flynn may have committed treason, although he later said he did not intend to assert that.

Before the hearing, Flynn appeared relaxed, smiling slightly and waving to a spectator who had spoken publicly on his behalf. Later, after the judge had angrily reproached him, Flynns face appeared emotionless.

Five of Trumps former aides and associates  including his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and his former New York lawyer, Michael Cohen  have pleaded guilty as part of the investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

Flynn, 59, is the only one who worked in the White House or had access to some of the governments most closely held secrets as national security advisor.

Asked later Tuesday whether Trump was concerned that his former national security advisor had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and had worked as a foreign agent, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said those activities dont have anything to do with the president.

Muellers office had recommended the judge spare Flynn imprisonment. Prosecutors cited his decorated 33-year military career and his substantial assistance to prosecutors in three separate investigations, including the probe into possible coordination between Trumps campaign and the Kremlin-backed effort to interfere in the U.S. election.

Flynns lawyers also had urged the judge to show leniency, but their tactics may have backfired when they appeared to argue in a recent court filing that FBI agents had tricked Flynn into lying  an allegation quickly echoed by the White House and others who claim the Mueller investigation is unfair.

Instead, Sullivan grilled both Flynn and his attorney, Robert Kelner, about whether they were alleging government misconduct. Both denied it.

Questioned under oath, Flynn told Sullivan that he had intentionally lied to the FBI during an interview in his West Wing office on Jan. 24, 2017  four days after Trump was inaugurated  and that he knew it was a crime when he did it.

I was aware, Flynn said, standing stiffly before the judge in a charcoal-gray suit.

Pressed by the judge, Kelner said, No, your honor, when asked whether the FBI had entrapped Flynn or had violated his rights. Kelner added that Flynn stood by his guilty plea  an assurance that Flynn repeated.

Soon after, the judge transformed the hearing by castigating Flynns conduct in unflinching terms.

Sullivan emphasized that Flynn had lied not only to the FBI but to senior officials in the presidents transition team. Since those officials conveyed the lie to the news media, Sullivan added, Flynn also misled the American people.

Im going to be honest with you, Sullivan said, looking directly at Flynn. This crime [of lying to the FBI] is very serious  in the White House, in the West Wing. The presidents most senior national security aide; I cant minimize that.

After Sullivan granted a 36-minute recess so Flynn could confer with his lawyers, they told the judge they wanted him to postpone the sentencing. The judge made clear he would take into consideration any additional cooperation Flynn gives to prosecutors.

Sullivan, 71, a native of Washington, D.C., earned his undergraduate and law degrees at Howard University. He is regarded as an even-handed judge who is not predictably pro-prosecution or defense.

President Reagan first appointed Sullivan a Superior Court judge in 1984. President George H.W. Bush later named him to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. In 1994, President Clinton appointed him a U.S. District Court judge, the position he still holds.

In the year since Flynn pleaded guilty, he submitted to 19 interviews with federal prosecutors for the three investigations, according to a Dec. 8 sentencing memo filed by Muellers office.

One of the investigations led Monday to the unsealing of a federal indictment charging Flynns former business associates, Bijan Rafiekian and Turkish citizen Kamil Ekim Alptekin, with conspiracy and lying to the FBI.

They allegedly acted as illegal agents of the government of Turkey in a scheme to drum up U.S. support to extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in exile in Pennsylvania. Turkish authorities have accused Gulen of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt, allegations he has strongly denied.

Flynn, who is identified as Person A in the indictment, appeared to play a major role in some of the events described. Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack told Sullivan on Tuesday that Flynn could have been charged in the case but that he had assisted investigators.

Pressed by Sullivan, Van Grack said Flynn could face at least five to 10 years in prison if he were charged and convicted in that case. Under federal guidelines, by contrast, he could be sentenced to six months in prison for lying to the FBI.

In a Dec. 11 memo, Flynns defense lawyers urged the judge to sentence Flynn to a maximum of one year probation with minimal conditions of supervision along with 200 hours of community service for the lying charge.

The defense team said Flynn continued to accept responsibility for his actions. But the lawyers suggested misconduct when they asked why FBI agents did not warn Flynn before interviewing him at the White House that lying to federal agents is a crime. FBI agents are not required to issue that warning.

In response, Muellers team told the court last week that Flynn also lied to Vice President-elect Mike Pence and others regarding his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about the sanctions that President Obama had imposed on Moscow in December 2016 in response to Russian interference in the U.S. presidential race.

Prosecutors said Flynn also made a second series of false statements when he belatedly registered last year with the Justice Department as working for the government of Turkey in 2016.

In April 2012, Obama named Flynn to head the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagons chief spying arm. But Flynn was forced out two years later after repeated policy clashes with the White House and complaints about his erratic management.

After retiring from the Army, he formed Flynn Intel Group, which provided intelligence services for businesses and governments in ventures that sought to leverage his national security experience and contacts.

Flynn and his company received $530,000 for his work for Turkey in the fall of 2016, according to court documents. He also collected fees from Russia.

In December 2015, Russias state-sponsored TV network RT paid Flynn $45,000 to speak at its 10th anniversary gala in Moscow. Pictures showed Flynn sat one seat away from Russian President Vladimir Putin during the dinner.

Flynn joined Trumps campaign as a senior advisor two months later, surprising former military colleagues with his fierce partisan tone at rallies and events.

As a keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July 2016, Flynn called for jailing Hillary Clinton, leading the crowd in angry chants of Lock her up!

Both the FBI and CIA were reportedly alarmed by Flynns closeness to a Russian woman and concerns he may have been compromised by Russian intelligence. Obama warned Trump not to hire Flynn to his national security team when they met shortly after the election, advice Trump ignored.

On Jan. 26, 2017, two days after the FBI interviewed Flynn at the White House, the acting attorney general, Sally Yates, warned Don McGahn, the White House counsel, that Flynn could be blackmailed by the Russians for lying about his contacts with them.

Trump kept Flynn in the post for 18 more days.

david.willman@latimes.comPresident Trump has agreed to shut down his embattled personal charity and give away its remaining funds amid allegations that he used it for his personal and political benefit, the New York attorney general announced Tuesday.

New York Atty. Gen. Barbara Underwood announced that the Donald J. Trump Foundation is dissolving as her office pursues its lawsuit against the charity, Trump and his three eldest children.

The attorney generals suit, filed in June, alleged persistently illegal conduct at the charity and sought to have the foundation shut down. Underwood is continuing to seek more than $2.8 million in restitution and has asked a judge to ban the Trumps temporarily from serving on the boards of other New York nonprofits.

Underwood said Tuesday that her investigation found a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation  including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more.

Advertisement

This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone, she added in a statement.

The shuttering of Trumps charity comes after the Washington Post documented a series of apparent lapses at the foundation. Trump used the charitys funds pay off legal settlements for his private business, to purchase art that decorated one of his clubs and to make a prohibited political donation.

Trump denied that the organization had done anything wrong. In late 2016, he said he wanted to close the foundation, but the New York attorney general blocked that move while its investigation continued.

The settlement with Underwoods office represents a concession by Trump to a state investigation he decried as a partisan attack. The case is one of numerous legal inquiries into Trump organizations that have proliferated during his White House tenure.

Alan Futerfas, an attorney for the Trump Organization, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a court filing in New York, Underwood said that the foundations remaining $1.75 million would be distributed to other charities approved by her office and a state judge.

The attorney generals suit alleges that Trump used the charitys money as his own piggy bank  including using it to help his presidential campaign by paying for giveaways at Iowa rallies.

The Foundation was little more than a checkbook for payments to not-for-profits from Mr. Trump or the Trump Organization, Underwood wrote in the initial suit.

The Trump Foundation was never the most impressive part of Trumps portfolio: At its peak in 2009, the charity had only about $3.2 million in the bank, a small sum for a billionaires charity.

The real estate mogul used other peoples donations to build up the assets of the foundation. In recent years, the largest gifts came from the pro-wrestling moguls Vince and Linda McMahon, not Trump himself. Linda McMahon now serves as head of the Small Business Administration.

Trump gave away the money in his name and also used funds from the foundation to pay his business legal settlements. Federal law prohibits using charity money for personal gain.

The Posts reporting showed that Trump for years appeared to treat the foundation  which was, by law, an independent entity  as a checkbook for gifts that bolstered his interests.

The largest donation in the foundations history  a $264,231 gift to the Central Park Conservancy in 1989  appeared to benefit Trumps business; it paid to restore a fountain outside Trumps Plaza Hotel. The smallest, a $7 foundation gift to the Boy Scouts that same year, appeared to benefit Trumps family. It matched the amount required to enroll a boy in the Scouts the year that his son Donald Trump Jr. was 11.

The attorney generals probe turned up evidence that Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump  all listed as officers of the charity  had never actually held a board meeting. The board hadnt met since 1999. The charitys official treasurer, Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg, told investigators that he wasnt even aware he was on the board.

State investigators asked Weisselberg what the foundations policies were to determine whether its payments were proper.

Theres no policy, just so you understand, Weisselberg said.

At one point, Trump used the charitys money to make a $25,000 political donation to Florida Atty. Gen. Pamela Bondi. The charity didnt tell the IRS about that, as required  and instead listed that donation as a gift to a totally unrelated charity in Kansas with a similar name. Trumps team blamed accounting mistakes.

During the 2016 campaign, state investigators allege, Trump effectively ceded control of his charitys money to his political campaign. He raised more than $2 million at a fundraiser in Iowa that flowed into the foundation. Then, the state said, Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski determined when and where it would be given away.

Is there any way we can make some disbursements . . . this week while in Iowa? Lewandowski wrote in an email cited in Underwoods lawsuit.

Trump gave away oversized prop checks from the foundation at campaign events in the key early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, pausing his campaign rallies to donate to local veterans groups.

Federal law prohibits charities from participating in political campaigns. As president, Trump has called repeatedly for that law to be repealed.

The demise of the Trump Foundation still leaves one mystery unresolved: the fate of a large portrait of Trump that the future president bought for $20,000 in 2007, using money from the charity. What became of it after that is unknown.

In 2017, after the Washington Post wrote about the portrait, Trump listed it as an asset on his charitys IRS forms. He assigned it a value of $700. But he did not say where it was.

On this years tax forms, however, the paintings value was listed at $0. Trumps attorney did not respond to a query from the Post about why.A Huntington Beach man was killed when he was struck by two vehicles after being thrown from his motorcycle in a collision in Long Beach, police said.

The rider was identified as Edward Eldon Thorpe, 58, according to the Los Angeles County coroners office. The cause of death was not yet determined, the coroners office said Monday.

Thorpe was riding a 2002 Triumph America at 7:50 p.m. Thursday on eastbound Ocean Boulevard near Highway 47 when the motorcycle collided with the back of a 2008 Acura TL, also traveling east, Long Beach police said. The motorcycle may have been traveling at high speed, police said.

The crash threw Thorpe into westbound traffic and he was struck by two vehicles. Fire personnel pronounced him dead at the scene.

Neither of the westbound drivers stayed at the scene, and police are seeking further information on their vehicles  a dark-colored SUV and a silver pickup.

The driver of the Acura, a 33-year-old Long Beach woman, remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, police said. Drugs and alcohol are not considered factors in her role in the crash, police said.

julia.sclafani@latimes.comOctogenarian Li Hongzhan points to the forest he planted on a distant mountain. (Photo/Li Peiyuan)

An octogenarian has planted more than 80,000 trees around his remote village in northwest Chinas Qinghai province, since growing his first seedling at the age of 23.

In the 1950s, tree seedlings were hard for Li Hongzhan to find, so he cultivated the seedlings on his own by using seeds or tree branches, depending on the species.

In the early 1980s, seven young people joined Li to form a team. To get to their place of work, the eight of them woke up before dawn, carrying seedlings on their backs, as well as shovels and food for the day. In the winter, they had to brave the piercingly cold winds of northwest China.

Though the working environment was harsh, the team were full of enthusiasm. We usually carried a days seedlings about 10 kilometers. I carried seedlings weighing 20 kilograms on my back, Li recalled.

In just three years, the team of eight turned 53.33 hectares of barren land into a vast forest of willow and pine trees. The place, called Xialanggou, boasts the best vegetation in Lis hometown Caijiabao.

The promotion of afforestation in China, starting in 1985, meant Li no longer worried about the source of seedlings and contributed to the diversification of trees.

Now the 85-year-old refuses to rest at home as his children advise him to, saying that he will keep planting trees as long as he lives. Inspired, his fellow villagers now grow seedlings on roadsides and around local farmland.Emotions ranged from surprise to disdain from Glendale Unified board members last week, seven days after their property exchange proposal with a developer was nixed because of the Glendale City Councils rejection of a proposed apartment building.

The council voted, 3-1, with one recusal on Dec. 4 to reject an apartment complex proposal tied to the districts plan to swap its current headquarters, located at 223 N. Jackson St., for a larger property and parking lot located at 425 E. Colorado St.

Glendale Unified board members proposed an exchange five years ago. The current planning process had entered its 19th month and has cost the district roughly $500,000, according to board president Greg Krikorian.

Developer Carmel Partners planned to turn the Jackson Avenue property into a 207-unit residential development, with 41 very-low to low-income housing units, along with a small park.

Board members said the exchange was necessary because the headquarters lacks earthquake retrofitting and fire sprinklers and isnt compliant with the Americans with Disability Act.

City Council members rejected the project, which also halted the property transfer, saying an already overcrowded central Glendale area would be further burdened.

While the transfer isnt moving forward, the city counters that the exchange wasnt the issue.

[The city] denied a request made by a private developer to build a housing project that was twice as dense as the allowable zoning, Councilman Ara Najarian said after the school board meeting in an email.

With the most recent deal dead, school officials estimate the district has to raise at least $40 million for upgrades to the existing administration building  money it doesnt have.

The denial evoked a strong rebuke from the school board during its latest meeting on Dec. 11.

To say that Im not upset, disappointed and disheartened by our council members and our City Council would be an understatement, Krikorian said. Far too many times [the City Council] calls [and] they want our marching band, they want our choir, they want our school space, they want our gyms for adult programs.

Krikorian added that the districts response has always been, Yes, yes, yes. We, one time, ask for help and not only was it a no, it was a six-hour no.

The six-hour remark was in reference to the vote taken by the City Council, which took place after 11 p.m.

However, Najarian countered in his email: The city has been an excellent partner with the school district. To state otherwise would be to ignore our collective history.

Respectfully, you cant say you support affordable housing if you vote down a project that has affordable housing, board member Shant Sahakian said. You cant say you want green space in Glendale and vote down a project that has a public park attached to it.

He added, You cant say you support the Glendale Unified School District  our 26,000 students and the future of our schools  if you vote down a project you know the district needs to avoid spending $40 million. We do not have $40 million.

Board member Nayiri Nahabedian said she didnt understand how the council failed to recognize it was denying its constituents.

Weve got almost 26,000 students who are residents of Glendale and their parents who are residents of Glendale, and theres this false distinction between the city and the school district as if the students are not part of the city, Nahabedian said.

Every board member thanked Glendale Mayor Zareh Sinanyan for his lone vote of support for the transfer, while member Jennifer Freemon said she was grateful for district supporters.

It was a very frustrating evening, but I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to appreciate all of those who did stand with us, Freemon said. We filled that room and really showed what a great sense of community we had.

Krikorian said hes not going to quit plans to move forward, either remodeling the district headquarters or moving to a new building.

While board member Armina Gharpetian called on Carmel to resubmit a new proposal, Krikorian said he hopes the City Council would come to its senses.

How are we going to come up with $40 million when there are so many other projects, like the district pools, that need money? Krikorian said. Outside of the money, where are we going to find a large, vacant building for our needs? There arent many options in the city. I wish the City Council would have realized that.

At least one city official said she would be willing to work with the city on any future proposals.

I am open to reviewing a new development proposal, should the developer and the [Glendale Unified] submit one, Councilwoman Paula Devine said in an email after the school board meeting.

She added: I am open to working with the developer and [Glendale Unified] to reach a middle ground. It is my belief that ties will be repaired when both parties can have a rational and productive discussion that results in a middle-ground solution to the problem. I am more than than willing to participate in such a discussion.

andrew.campa@latimes.com

Twitter @campadresportsBoca Raton Bowl

ALABAMA BIRMINGHAM (10-3) VS. NORTHERN ILLINOIS (8-5)

at Boca Raton, Fla., 4 p.m. PST, ESPN

Alabama Birmingham is seeking its first bowl win in school history. The Blazers, whose program was reinstated last season following a two-year hiatus, won the Conference USA title for the first time. Northern Illinois is looking to end a streak of five consecutive bowl losses. The Huskies, who won the Mid-American Conference, are led on defense by junior end Sutton Smith, a first-team All-American who leads the nation with 15 sacks. Spencer Brown, a sophomore, has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in two straight seasons and needs 340 yards to become Alabama Birminghams all-time leading rusher.National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day this year falls on Dec. 21. Alaska Airlines will celebrate by allowing passengers who wear a holiday sweater  ugly or festive  go to the head of the boarding line. Thats right, your seat assignment or place in line just doesnt matter.

Come Dec. 21, ugly sweater fliers on Alaska and subsidiary Horizon Air across the country, including those at LAX, Burbank, John Wayne and Ontario airports, will have a shot at free early boarding during one of the busiest holiday travel times of the year.

However, the sweaters boarding magic only lasts one day, which is why you need a better travel strategy to get you through Christmas week.

By the numbers, roughly 69 million people will be traveling worldwide between Dec. 21 and 25 this year, according to a study commissioned by British-based gift experience seller Buyagift.

Advertisement

More than 700,000 passengers are forecast to be flying in and out of LAX during the five-day period, the study said.

If you are one of them, here are some tips that could help ease your travel.

 Allow plenty of time to get to the airport, two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international flight.

How to be sure youll get a parking space at LAX for the holidays: planning, a reservation and maybe a bit of luck 

 What, you cant find a parking spot at LAX? Dont let this happen to you.

The airports Lot C at 6221 W. 96th St. used to be a sure bet; it has the cheapest daily rates and a shuttle to get you to your terminal. But the number of spaces has shrunk in the past year because of airport construction and other activities.

Smart fliers who want to take no chances should reserve a parking space ahead of time at one of the 10 or so private lots. (Heres a list, with prices you can expect to pay.) Better yet, skip driving altogether by taking an Uber, Lyft, taxi or the $8 to $10 LAX FlyAway Bus.

 Feel free to bring gifts in your carry-on bag, just dont wrap them before you go through the security checkpoint. If you do, you may have to tear off the paper  and get coal in your stocking for holding up the line.

 Speaking of TSA screening, make sure your liquids are less than 3 ounces and fit inside a single 1-quart zip-top bag. If you arent sure whether an item can be taken on board, find out at the TSAs What Can I Bring? interactive Wweb page.

 Stay connected by using your airlines app and watching its Twitter feed and Facebook posts. Its often quicker than calling to find out about delays and cancellations.

travel@latimes.com

@latimestravelFlorida, Florida, Florida. The state that brought you mega-Mickey Mouse, appears not once, not twice, but three times in the top 10 destinations for the holidays, according to CheapOAir, a booking engine.

L.A. is No. 2 on the list, so that takes a little of the sting out of the snub of the rest of the Golden State, although Denver ranked ahead of the City of Angels.

No matter where youre going, the website says you may be able to find an OK airfare around the holidays. Just dont fly Dec. 20-23 and Dec. 26-29, it said, because youll pay more and youll be accompanied by several thousand of the 43.4 million people expected to fly between Dec. 20 and Jan. 6.

Besides Denver, L.A. and the Florida cities (Orlando, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale), the other top spots are Las Vegas, Phoenix, Seattle, Dallas and  wait, huh?  Minneapolis, where the forecast for Christmas Day is expected to be a blistering 23 degrees. (Note to readers: Park your parka.)

Advertisement

With a couple of exceptions (both in Canada), travelers will be heading for warm-weather international places for the holidays, CheapOAir said.

Cancun and Mexico City took the top spots, followed by:

--Toronto

--Kingston and Montego Bay, Jamaica

--Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

--Vancouver, Canada

--Nassau, Bahamas

--Paris

CheapOAir based its selections on reservations made through its booking engine for Dec. 18-29 in a report compiled Nov. 20.

travel@latimes.com

@latimestravelOn a wide stretch of land bisected by Indias Krishna River, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, guavas and commercial flowers once sprung from dark soil that people described as a farmers paradise.

But the leader of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh saw this as the ideal spot to build a new capital, and in the last four years the land has slowly been transformed.

The crops are nearly all gone now, the farmers having signed over their plots to the state government. Cows meander alongside freshly paved highways, motorized rickshaws haul construction materials instead of crops and giant concrete shells are rising from the earth as the sprawling city of Amaravati takes shape.

Staggeringly expensive and already behind schedule, the city represents Indias biggest attempt at casting off a reputation for urban chaos and pollution and creating a grand, ultra-modern city to match its global ambitions.

Advertisement

Other Indian leaders have sought to put their stamp on the emerging economic power by erecting mammoth statues, demanding eccentric color schemes or clearing slums to create middle-class promenades.

Nothing has matched the scale of Amaravati, which means abode of the gods.

Forced to identify a new capital when the state was divided in 2014, Andhra Pradesh leader Chandrababu Naidu turned to Singapore  Asias cleanest and most ruthlessly efficient city  to realize his $15-billion dream. It involves transforming 83 square miles of farmland  about 53,000 acres  into a futuristic cityscape of electric cars, green spaces and landmark buildings, including an assembly chamber shaped like a giant upturned funnel.

Within two decades, he expects the city, which had just 13,000 people in 2011, to house more than 11 million.

Perhaps most fantastical  in a country where urban commuters can often watch most of a three-hour Bollywood movie on their phones before reaching the office  Naidu says his new master-planned capital will place almost every employee within a 15-minute walk to work.

Im confident that we will build the best capital in India, Naidu said this year. Tomorrow, all over the world, people will talk about Amaravati.

Wide arterial roads mark the start of construction on Amaravati, a new state capital in southern India. (Shashank Bengali / Los Angeles Times)

Some critics call the dream a land grab that will benefit developers over ordinary citizens. Others say attempting to build a city of this size from scratch in Indias raucous democracy  with competing political power centers and a long record of mismanaging major infrastructure projects  is an epic folly.

Naidu has only fueled detractors with claims that, by 2050, Amaravati will be the best destination in the world for technology, infrastructure and also human resource development.

Mallela Seshagiri Rao, a farmer and activist who opposes the project, said Naidu ignored a government-appointed expert panel that advised against placing the capital on some of the best agricultural lands in the country. Some farmers have said they were coerced into giving up their lands under a land pooling program that promised them smaller, developed plots in the new city.

They have turned productive farmers into land speculators, Rao said. This was a green belt producing rice and vegetables for many other states. If you create another concrete jungle, where will that agriculture come from?

But Naidu from the start was seduced by the idea of a river running through Amaravati, like the cities he has listed as his models: Amsterdam, Venice, Tokyo, Singapore.

The 68-year-old chief minister, who cloaks his marketers zeal in simple, khaki-colored safari suits, touts his record in turning the onetime backwater city of Hyderabad, 800 miles south of New Delhi, into an information-technology hub starting in the late 1990s. Companies such as Microsoft and Oracle set up shop in a high-tech enclave outside the city that Naidu dubbed Cyberabad.

In 2014, Andhra Pradesh was split into two, and Hyderabad became the capital of the new state, Telangana. Naidu, who had been voted out of office as chief minister a decade earlier, returned as chief minister of the new, smaller Andhra Pradesh, bereft of its largest city  and his crown jewel.

If you changed the face of a city, brought in foreign investors, its an emotional thing for that to be snatched from you, said Tejaswini Pagadala, author of an appreciative 2018 biography of Naidu. I think he was looking to create a new legacy.

Chandrababu Naidu, center, is shown at the wedding of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambanis daughter Isha in Mumbai earlier this month. (AFP/Getty Images)

Around the world, purpose-built capitals  from Washington, D.C., to Brasilia in Brazil and Naypyidaw in Myanmar  have had mixed success. Building a new city on vacant land is especially tempting in India, where metropolises like Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi  itself a master-planned capital designed by the British architect Edwin Lutyens  are vortexes of traffic, endless concrete and failing public services.

Amaravatis planners say the city will use an extensive network of expressways, arterial roads, water taxis and mass transit. Where most Indian cities have spaghetti-like jumbles of exposed electrical cables and open sewers that must be cleaned by hand, utility cables and sewage lines in Amaravati will run underground.

Everywhere in India, development came first and infrastructure later, said Sreedhar Cherukuri, head of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority. We want to reverse this in Amaravati. Whatever is needed for the next 35 years, I want to build it now.

To create something different, Naidu formed a joint venture with the government of Singapore. Singaporean experts drew up Amaravatis master plan, and one of the islands leading urban planning companies, Surbana Jurong, is leading construction on the first of three phases of the city.

Its a much more complex political context than ours, but at the end of the day the principles of sustainable development are the same, said Khoo Teng Chye, executive director of the Center for Livable Cities, a Singaporean government agency involved in the effort.

Naidu has a longstanding fascination with Singapore, but when he visited a few years ago and took in the citys reclaimed Marina Bay from atop an iconic luxury hotel, Khoo had to temper his excitement.

I said, Mr. Chief Minister, this is the result of 40 to 50 years of planning, Khoo recalled. It doesnt happen overnight.

Construction has begun on residential towers for civil servants in Amaravati, India. (Shashank Bengali / Los Angeles Times)

That is quickly becoming clear in Amaravati, which looks unlikely to meet the 2020 target to complete the first phase of construction.

One brief delay occurred when Indian officials pointed out that Singapores first blueprint for the city did not align with vastu shastra, an ancient Hindu system of architecture designed to achieve harmony with nature. The directions of roads and position of some buildings had to be reworked.

In a more significant setback, the World Bank, which had promised a $300-million loan for Amaravatis construction, has deferred a decision until early next year on whether to launch a formal investigation into farmers claims of land grabbing and environmental harm.

Naidu, who faces reelection for another five-year term by May, has linked his political fortunes to his dream capital, and some worry about the projects fate if hes ousted from office.

The way he has envisioned this city, it now comes down to the implementation, said Pagadala, the author. Even if it doesnt come out as 100% of what he planned, it might come up to 50-60%, which is very good for India.

shashank.bengali@latimes.com

Shashank Bengali is Southeast Asia correspondent for The Times. Follow him on Twitter at @SBengaliAn award-winning economist whose work had been honored by the Egyptian government, Abdel Khalek Farouk was praised again and again for his writings and observations of his countrys economy, including a best-book citation at an event organized by President Abdel Fattah Sisis administration.

But the long list of accolades didnt give Farouk much immunity when he wrote a book critical of Sisis economic policies.

In late October, seven police officers came to his home in Cairos affluent suburb of El Shorouk and took him away. Seven days earlier, his publisher Ibrahim Khateib had also been detained by authorities.

They took me in a very decent way, he said, explaining that the officers at least refrained from handcuffing him. Still, Farouk went with them fearing hed likely languish in prison for several years while awaiting trial, the norm in Egypt. He was released after 10 days, pending an investigation.

Advertisement

His alleged crime? Spreading fake news, in Farouks case a book he wrote titled Is Egypt Really a Poor Country? The book argues that Egypts economic woes stem from the militarys grip on power since 1952 and that the country has squandered its ample wealth and resources.

Farouk is among scores of journalists, bloggers, social media users and others in Egypt who have been detained for disseminating false information.

From December 2017 to August of this year  a period when Sisi intensified his crackdown on perceived dissenters  there were 111 fake news cases in Egypt, according to Hussein Baoumi, Amnesty Internationals chief researcher on Egypt. He said it marked a roughly 50% increase over the number of fake news cases the prior year.

In the last year, Egypt jailed more journalists on legally defined fake news charges than any country in the world, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which tracks freedom of the press around the world.

Of the 28 journalists jailed this year on fake news charges throughout the world, 19 were in Egypt, the group said. When all potential criminal charges are considered  not just fake news charges  Turkey jails more journalist than any other country, followed by China and Egypt.

President Trump, with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi in 2017, has inspired autocrats around the world with his use of the term fake news, says an official with the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. (Associated Press)

In February, a reporter for HuffPost Arabi was detained after interviewing a campaign aide to Sami Anan, a presidential hopeful who had been arrested a month earlier as Sisi cleared the field of any serious rivals ahead of the elections. The aide was also detained after talking with the reporter and ultimately sentenced to five years in prison for spreading false information.

Egyptian TV host Khairi Ramadan, a popular television figure known as being pro-government, was arrested in March on suspicion of spreading fake news after a segment aired featuring a police officers wife complaining about low police salaries. Two journalists were detained in January while working on a story about the trams in Alexandria.

With the crackdown on the mainstream media in Egypt ongoing, the government this year started going after bloggers, activists and social media users.

In March, ahead of Sisis reelection bid, a hotline was established so that citizens could report anything they believed was fake news.

More than 500 websites have been blocked in Egypt since May 2017 and a cybercrime law went into effect in August, giving the government broad powers to block any website it regards as endangering national security or threatening the economy.

In July, Sisi said the proliferation of fake news had become such a problem in Egypt that in just three months his government identified 21,000 rumors that sought to undermine government stability. Sisi didnt elaborate on what he meant by rumors, but it was widely interpreted as being a synonym for fake news.

And in August, the government ratified a law mandating that anyone with more than 5,000 followers on social media sites be classified as a media outlet, subjecting them to possible prosecution for spreading fake news. Oversight of the social media platforms was put under the authority of the newly created Supreme Council for the Administration of the Media.

Under Egyptian law, spreading false news is considered a crime under a number of government provisions, including the penal code, a counter-terrorism law and the new media laws, said Mai Sadany, legal and judicial director at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. Depending on the context, she said, punishments range from a fine to up to 15 years in jail.

The fake news charge is most often used in conjunction with more serious charges, such as terrorism, that carry lengthy prison terms.

Nearly eight years after the January 2011 revolution, the level of media freedom is abysmal and Egypt is now one of the worlds biggest prisons for journalists, said Reporters Without Borders, which advocates for free speech and monitors journalists around the world who have been jailed or detained.

The group puts Egypt near the bottom of its annual world press freedom report card, along with countries including Libya, Yemen, Iran and Saudi Arabia. North Korea is last on the list, a country so restrictive that people are essentially kept in ignorance, the group said.

Sisis government insists it is targeting only those who are attempting to destabilize the country at a time when Egypt is focused on reviving its flagging economy and fighting terrorism. The president acknowledged the economic suffering of Egyptians after austerity measures were implemented in return for a $12-billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, but said its no excuse for undermining the government.

Egypt has faced years of political and economic turbulence after street protests ended the nearly 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak in 2011. The next year, the country voted in its first democratically elected president, the Muslim Brotherhoods Mohamed Morsi. But Morsi was ousted in 2013 in a military overthrow led by then-Gen. Sisi, who became president the following year.

Sensitivity to criticism has been a prominent feature of Sisis presidency since he came to power.

Be warned, he cautioned in January. What happened seven or eight years ago will not happen again in Egypt, referring to the Arab Spring protests.

During his tenure, tens of thousands have been imprisoned, protests and demonstrations have in effect been banned, and the clampdown on the mainstream media  and now social media  has steadily tightened.

An Egyptian man holds a portrait of then-Defense Minister Gen. Abdel Fattah Sisi outside a polling station during the vote on a new constitution in 2014. (Mahmoud Khaled / AFP/Getty Images)

The arrests this year included political activists Hazem Abdel-Azim and Shady Harb, both active social media users known for being critical of the government, and activist Amal Fathy, who was detained and sentenced to two years in jail after she posted a video on Facebook complaining about sexual harassment. A prominent blogger who campaigns against torture, Wael Abbas was recently released after seven months behind bars but only on the condition that he report to a police station every other day.

What were seeing is both an increased reliance on the spreading false-news charge itself, as well as a widening of the types of targets against which the charge is being brought, said Sadany, of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy.

The charge itself, which was likely conceived of in a narrow press-related sense when it was first written into the Egyptian penal code, is now being levied in many cases, is  in fact  one of the more common charges we are seeing and has extended well beyond journalists and bloggers to everyday social media users, political party organizers, human rights lawyers and even academics.

That this is all happening as President Trump continues to cry fake news and calls the press the true enemy of people in the U.S. is no coincidence, Sadany said.

President Trumps use of the term fake news has inspired autocrats around the world to themselves employ the language when making excuses for rights-constraining behavior, Sadany said. At a time in which use of the term fake news has seemed to resonate with some everyday people here in the U.S., it is hard for Egypt to see that example and not follow suit.

Despite his arrest, Farouk said he intended to continue writing and speaking out.

Im defending Egyptian citizens with figures that show that Egypt is a rich country, not a poor one like the president keeps saying.

Islam is a special correspondent.Jamal Khashoggi was one among many.

The Saudi opinion writers killing inside a diplomatic outpost may have been the years highest-profile fatal attack on a journalist. But in a report released Tuesday, the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders cited the slayings of dozens of people working in the media worldwide in 2018.

The group said at least 63 professional journalists were killed around the world in 2018, a 15% increase from the previous year. That tally increases to 80 when it includes media workers and citizen journalists, according to an annual compilation that the Paris-based nonprofit organization has put together every year since 1995.

Attacks against journalists  in the form of deaths, imprisonment or disappearances  have risen in all categories, said the group, which also goes by its French acronym RSF. In addition to those killed, it found that 348 journalists were being detained by authorities and 60 others held captive by non-state groups around the globe.

Advertisement

Seeking to put the threat in context, the report decried more and more vociferous verbal attacks on the profession by public figures, and noted the role of social media in amplifying such incitement.

Violence against journalists has reached unprecedented levels this year, and the situation is now critical, said RSFs secretary-general, Christophe Deloire.

The hatred of journalists that is voiced, and sometimes very openly proclaimed, by unscrupulous politicians, religious leaders and businessmen has tragic consequences on the ground, and has been reflected in this disturbing increase in violations against journalists, Deloire said.

Six in 10 of those journalists who died worldwide were deliberately targeted for their reporting, according to the groups findings. This year marked a contrast to the previous three years, during which the number of journalists in all categories killed in connection with their work had declined, RSF said.

For the first time, the United States in 2018 joined the groups list of the five deadliest countries for journalists, due in large measure to the June attack that killed five employees of the Capital newspaper in Annapolis, Md. Afghanistan topped the list of deadliest countries, followed by Syria, Mexico and Yemen, the group said. The U.S. tied with India for fifth place.

Echoing its findings from 2017, RSF said five countries emerged as the biggest jailers of journalists: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey.

The report singled out high-profile cases including the killing of Khashoggi, a Saudi national and Virginia resident who wrote columns for the Washington Post. He was strangled and dismembered inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on Oct. 2 when he went there to obtain paperwork he needed to get married.

The Khashoggi affair has roiled U.S.-Saudi relations and galvanized a confrontation between President Trump and U.S. lawmakers over the presidents reluctance to condemn Saudi Arabias de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the crown prince ordered Khashoggis killing.

This week, the Saudis denounced the Senates casting of blame on Mohammed, warning in an unusually strong statement against interference in the kingdoms internal affairs.

Other notable journalist killings included that of Jan Kuciak, a Slovak investigative reporter who was shot dead in February along with his fiancee. Kuciak was investigating potential links between organized crime and government officials.

But many other such deaths, jailings or disappearances go largely unnoticed by the outside world, the report noted.

The group cited the lengths to which authorities would go to silence voices like those of Reuters journalists Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone in Myanmar, who were sentenced this year to seven years in prison after investigating violence against the countrys Rohingya Muslim minority.

The alarm raised by RSF has been sounded by other press freedom groups as well. In October, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that at that point, at least 43 journalists had been killed around the world in 2018 as a result of their work, and cited 17 other cases in which the motive had not been confirmed.

RSFs Press Freedom Index this year downgraded the United States by two places in its global standings, to 45th place, at least in part because of Trumps frequent depiction of the news media as the enemy of the people.

Against the backdrop of worldwide attacks on fake news  a term that gained currency, especially among authoritarian leaders, after Trump popularized it in referring to mainstream news organizations  Time magazine this month designated journalists it called the Guardians as its Person of the Year for 2018.

The magazine commemorated four individuals and a group  all of which were cited in the RSF report  whose work was praised for exposing the manipulation and the abuse of truth around the world.

laura.king@latimes.com

@laurakingLATShennongshan Sightseeing Zone (Photo/Dahe.cn)

An online debate has begun after a scenic spot in central Chinas Henan province announced a promotional offer which allowed Huawei mobile phone users free tickets on Dec. 15.

According to the information posted by the Shennongshan Sightseeing Zone in Qinyang, Henan province, the users of Huawei and Huawei's sub-brand Honor can enjoy free access to the scenic area from Dec. 16 to 29.

Dahe.cn later verified the information and was told by a scenic spot employee that the practice would only be a short-term promotion, and no other free services would be offered.

The offer has received a huge amount of attention online. Some people believe that it's a standard promotion, while others, including industry insiders, explain that such an offer might harm equality, and is possibly even a form of discrimination.

A law expert explained in a video on a news site that this kind of promotion is not illegal and is understandable.

However, an insider noted that the scenic spot's decision is nothing but advertising to create a hype around Huawei. He later added that such practice could be a form of reverse discrimination.

A local tourism department said that they had received complaints, but had been told by the consumer association that such practice is not against the Law of the Peoples Republic of China on Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests.

The China National Tourism Administration said they would further investigate the issue.China holds a grand gathering Tuesday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the country's reform and opening-up, a great revolution that has changed the destiny of the Chinese nation and also influenced the world. (Photo: Xinhua)

China held a grand conference Tuesday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the country's reform and opening up that has changed the destiny of the Chinese nation and influenced the world.

President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the conference.

The Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council awarded personnel who have made outstanding contributions to the country's reform and opening up, 100 Chinese reform pioneer medals and 10 foreigners reform friendship medals.

Here is the list of the 10 foreigners given Chinas reform friendship medals:

Alain Merieux, president of Fondation Merieux, a French foundation working with China on public health care

Werner Gerich, a German who served as manager of the Wuhan Diesel Engine Plant in Hubei Province and the first foreign company manager in China after 1949

Klaus Schwab, the executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, who promotes Chinas economic cooperation with other countries

Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Panasonic, a company that participated in Chinas reform and opening up

Masayoshi Ohira, the 43rd prime minister of Japan, who promoted the normalization of relations between China and Japan and supported Chinas reform and opening up

Lee Kuan Yew, former prime minister of Singapore, who promoted Singapores participation in Chinas reform and opening up

Juan Antonio Samaranch, former president of the International Olympic Committee, who contributed to Chinas global role in the Olympics

Stephen Perry, chairman of Britain's 48 Group Club, who facilitates cultural communication between China and the UK

Maurice R Greenberg, chairman and CEO of CV Starr & Companies, who promotes economic cooperation between China and other countries and Sino-US friendship

Robert Kuhn, chairman of the Kuhn Foundation, a non-governmental organization which promotes US-China ties, and is dedicated to telling Chinas stories to the worldThis Stock Will Drive Americas 5G Buildout

Who sells the basics? Thats the first question I answer when evaluating an investment trend.



In markets, those who sell the basics get rich.



James Marshall was the first guy to pull a gold nugget out of the mud during the 1848 gold rush. James literally struck gold. And yet, he left California broke.



You know who got fabulously wealthy, though? Those who sold the basic tools needed to find and extract the gold.But heres the catch.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:But while the search disruption is over, there are other three technologies that are set to disrupt the market in the next decade. Each with its own equivalent of Google (GOOG) and Logitech (LOGI).One of them isI also made an in-depth analysis of this technology in my Great Disruptors report . My research shows that 5G could be one of the biggest disruptions of the next decade.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 Associationwhich represents 800 of the worlds largest mobile operatorsitll cost roughly half a trillion dollars to build out the necessary infrastructure!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.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.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 these chips 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 US 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.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 $87 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 three 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.

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.



Political Theater Goes into Overdrive as US Government Shutdown Looms

The Democratic party will be moving back into the control room in the House of Representatives.



Congress may commemorate the return to split government with a partial shutdown. The feud over construction of a border wall looks like it will not be resolved in time. It could be the first of many political dramas in 2019.



The debate over funding for the wall is theater, make no mistake.

Securing the border may be a worthwhile effort. However, the $5 billion the President is requesting is but a small down payment on what is needed to build a wall along the full length of the border.And Republicans have had total control of Congress under Trumps presidency so far, meaning if they really wanted to get serious about a wall, they would have done it by now.Most likely the shutdown will not amount to much more than some additional paid time off for certain federal employees. It will, however, set the tone for the next couple of years. Washington runs on strife.Republicans in the House will probably remember they care about deficits when they are out of power again. Expect them to start wailing about spending when Congress and President Donald Trump start wrangling over next years budget.The President will almost certainly make concessions and jack up deficit spending in order to get Democratic support for some of his other agenda items. Next years budget deficit could be a whopper -- particularly if there is an infrastructure program with bipartisan support.Another surge in spending could frustrate the Presidents conservative base, who urge him to reject bloated budgets for the Deep State that fund everything but the wall.The battle over healthcare is back in the headlines. A federal judge in Texas just declared Obamacare unconstitutional. The entitlement program could return to the Supreme Court, where it previously weathered attacks in 2012 and 2015.This time, however, the makeup of the Court has changed significantly and the justices recently appointed by Trump may get an opportunity to show off their conservative bona fides.The Mueller investigation should be winding down in 2019, but that will hardly be the end of the investigation free-for-all, which is just getting started. The militant Democrat officials coming back to power are promising a host of new inquiries.On the other side, there are investigations directed at the FBI and Justice Department, the Clinton Foundation, the crooked Uranium One deal and more. Partisan political weaponizing of hearings and investigations could degenerate into a Constitutional crisis. With Trumps presidency in jeopardy and trillion-dollar deficits looming, political risk looks set to accelerate in the months ahead.

By Clint Siegner

MoneyMetals.com

Clint Siegner is a Director at Money Metals Exchange, perhaps the nation's fastest-growing dealer of low-premium precious metals coins, rounds, and bars. Siegner, a graduate of Linfield College in Oregon, puts his experience in business management along with his passion for personal liberty, limited government, and honest money into the development of Money Metals' brand and reach. This includes writing extensively on the bullion markets and their intersection with policy and world affairs.

 2018 Clint Siegner - 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.



Natural Gas Breaks Lower Towards Our $3.00 Target

Just about seven days ago we alerted all of our followers to a massive breakdown move that was about to unfold in Natural Gas. At that time, we predicted the price of Natural Gas would break below $4.30 and fall quickly towards the $3.00~3.20 level. Taking a look at that call now, with the price below $3.60, it seems our analysis was perfectly timed.

This Daily Natural Gas chart highlighting our predictive Fibonacci price modeling system shows the downside price targets that are waiting to confirm price support and a potential deep V bottom formation. If you recall from our earlier research, we believe this downside move will end rather quickly with a deep V type of price bottom setting up near the end of 2018. This means we expect the price of Natural Gas to begin to rally into 2019 after reaching the $3.00~3.20 level soon.

This is an incredible move for skilled traders. We are watching a $2.50 price move in Natural Gas unfold right before our eyes  and it appears this rotation will complete before the end of February 2019. -$1.40 to the downside, then +1.20 to the upside. Just follow the predictive modeling systems and ride it out.

Well alert you when the bottom sets up and when the upside move it about to unfold, but for now, we are watching for NG to move into the support zone (near $3.20). Once that level is reached, a technical price bottom should start to set up and the new rally back towards $4.00 will likely start in early January 2019.

Want to learn how our advanced price modeling tools can make calls like this weeks and months in advance? Visit www.TheTechnicalTraders.com to learn about our research, services, daily videos, and more solutions to help skilled traders stay ahead of these market moves. Our advanced predictive modeling solutions and years of market research provide our members with a clear advantage you wont find anywhere else. Consider joining our services as a Christmas Gift to yourself!

Chris Vermeulen

www.TheTechnicalTraders.com

Chris Vermeulen has been involved in the markets since 1997 and is the founder of Technical Traders Ltd. He is an internationally recognized technical analyst, trader, and is the author of the book: 7 Steps to Win With Logic



Through years of research, trading and helping individual traders around the world. He learned that many traders have great trading ideas, but they lack one thing, they struggle to execute trades in a systematic way for consistent results. Chris helps educate traders with a three-hour video course that can change your trading results for the better.



His mission is to help his clients boost their trading performance while reducing market exposure and portfolio volatility.



He is a regular speaker on HoweStreet.com, and the FinancialSurvivorNetwork radio shows. Chris was also featured on the cover of AmalgaTrader Magazine, and contributes articles to several leading financial hubs like MarketOracle.co.uk

Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect.

Chris Vermeulen Archive

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.



Will US Government Shutdown Cause The Stock Market To Crash?

Last Monday, the market dropped over 70 points from its intra-day high to just below 2600SPX, and a reporter on television claimed it was due to the postponement of the Brexit vote. Yet, around mid-day, the market began to rally off its lows, and ended positive for the day. But, there was no substantive reason cited for this rally. The same television announcer simply noted that stocks are rising after a wild day in the market yesterday. Does that make wild days in the stock market a reason for a rally? I guess that is the best they could do when there was no news available to explain the rally.

But, could the market have rallied without news? I mean, nothing positive came last Monday to cause that turn-around in the market we saw that day!?

So, when you see markets rallying strongly without news, does it ever make you question whether there is something that drives the market besides for news? If not, it should.

Recently, we have experienced other exogenous shocks, yet the market rallied each time. Several weeks ago, we had a severe earthquake in Alaska, yet the market rallied over 70 points that day. The day I began writing this article, we had news of a terrorist attack in France, along with an earthquake in Tennessee, yet the market has rallied over 20 points in the face of these exogenous events.

Many of you question me about what happens if some event occurs that causes the market to tank. Well, those events usually are just coinciding with the market dropping rather than actually being the cause. Otherwise, how can you explain a market rally as being "caused" by a particular event, yet the market will also fall based upon the same event?

You have to learn to be a more discerning market participant, rather than simply buy into what you are told about markets. Rather than take reasons at face value, put some thought into what you are being told and ask yourself if this is an intellectually honest analyst you are listening to, or if they are simply providing you with a superficial perspective. The great majority of the time, you are listening to or reading a very superficial perspective about the market.

One such example is if you believe that a government shut down will certainly cause the market to collapse. Well, it certainly sounds good. It certainly makes sense since markets dont like uncertainty. And, it certainly would fit many pundits narratives, especially if the market does drop in the coming weeks coinciding with a shut down. Unfortunately, history that not support such a premise.

As you can see from the attached chart, markets have gone up on government shut downs and markets have gone down on government shut downs. In fact, out of the 18 times that the government shut down since 1976, 9 times the market rallied and 9 times it fell. If this was truly a cause of market declines, then we would not see an equal number of market rallies when the government shuts down. Either a government shut down is bad for the market or it is not. You cannot view this information and believe that government shut downs cause market declines.

The truth is that what mattered most about how the market would react to a government shut down was whether the market was in a bull trend or a bear trend at the time of the shut down. Nothing more and nothing less. That really means that these events are meaningless to the market.

In fact, consider what happened to the market during the last government shut down which is not even shown on the chart. The stock market rallied strongly into the government shut down this past January and continued to rally into the following week after the shut down was resolved. The funny thing is that the market topped out the week after the government shut down was resolved, and then proceeded to drop quite strongly thereafter. So, can we say that opening the government back up for business caused the S&P500 to drop almost 300 points?

For anyone who believes in exogenous causes for the stock market, you would almost have to conclude that the resolution of the government shut down in early 2018 caused the market to drop precipitously. So, does that mean we have more to worry about from the resolution of the government issues than an actual government shut down?

Of course not. It simply means that these exogenous events do not affect the market in the way many would expect from a logical perspective. And, do you know why that is the case? It is simply because the market is not a logical environment. Rather, it is an emotional one. And, exogenous factors are not as important to the market movements as so many erroneously believe.

Consider the conclusion presented in a paper entitled Large Financial Crashes, published in 1997 in Physica A.:

Stock markets are fascinating structures with analogies to what is arguably the most complex dynamical system found in natural sciences, i.e., the human mind. Instead of the usual interpretation of the Efficient Market Hypothesis in which traders extract and incorporate consciously (by their action) all information contained in market prices, we propose that the market as a whole can exhibit an emergent behavior not shared by any of its constituents. In other words, we have in mind the process of the emergence of intelligent behavior at a macroscopic scale that individuals at the microscopic scales have no idea of. This process has been discussed in biology for instance in the animal populations such as ant colonies or in connection with the emergence of consciousness.

In a 1988 study conducted by Cutler, Poterba, and Summers entitled What Moves Stock Prices, they reviewed stock market price action after major economic or other type of news (including major political events) in order to develop a model through which one would be able to predict market moves RETROSPECTIVELY. Yes, you heard me right. They were not even at the stage yet of developing a prospective prediction model.

However, the study concluded that [m]acroeconomic news bearing on fundamental values explains only about one fifth of the movement in stock market prices. In fact, they even noted that many of the largest market movements in recent years have occurred on days when there were no major news events. They also concluded that [t]here is surprisingly small effect [from] big news [of] political developments . . . and international events.

And, there have been many more such studies conducted over the last 30 years which have begun to pull back the curtain on what really drives our stock markets. Yet, many still hold fast to their old, outdated perspectives of market drivers, and are usually caught on the wrong side of a market move due to those expectations.

As I noted last week, the market has recently struck a top in the 2940 region when the fundamentals seemed to be strongest for the economy. So, when the market dropped over 300 points from that region, it certainly surprised many (while I had suggested to those following my analysis to move to cash on a break down below 2880SPX).

Currently, while I had wanted to see a larger rally take us above 2800 before we saw a bigger decline in the market, we are seeing signs that the rally to 2815 may have been all we see. Market resistance is now at 2635-55, followed by 2720. Unless the market can exceed those levels, and soon, we actually have a set up in place now to drop below the 2400-50 support I had wanted to see hold before a bigger rally takes hold. And, if this pattern triggers in the coming weeks, it will feel like a crash to many as we enter 2019. As always, we will be tracking this set up at ElliottWaveTrader as it continues to develop, and I have added a very detailed analysis this past weekend on what I am seeing in the market.

So, whether the government gets shut down or not, the market is in a precarious posture at this point in time. Moreover, it seems many who were not following our analysis about what the break of 2880SPX means to the market and did not see this potential drop coming are now trapped in their longs, wondering what to do, and hoping for a rally. Unfortunately, hope is probably the most dangerous four-letter word in an investors lexicon and the market may provide more pain to them before any rally is able to take hold.

Avi Gilburt is a widely followed Elliott Wave technical analyst and author of ElliottWaveTrader.net (www.elliottwavetrader.net), a live Trading Room featuring his intraday market analysis (including emini S&P 500, metals, oil, USD & VXX), interactive member-analyst forum, and detailed library of Elliott Wave education.

 2018 Copyright Avi Gilburt - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.



Right-wing Hungarian prime minister, Victor Orban has received a blow as a wave of protests has spread throughout the country. The protests have been triggered by a new piece of legislation, labelled the slave law, which was passed on 12 December. This vicious attack on Hungarian workers will allow employers to increase the amount of overtime they can ask of workers from 250 to 400 hours per year, which equates to roughly eight hours per week. Not only this, but there can be a delay in payment for this overtime of as much as three years.

Students with the workers against the Slave Law / Image: 444

Even before the law was passed, there were small protests outside the parliament building, demanding a rise in wages and for the government to reconsider this barbaric law. These protests have been steadily escalating over the last five days, culminating in a outpouring of over 15,000 people on Sunday 16 December, who marched on the state broadcasting headquarters in Obuda.

Meanwhile, a handful of opposition MPs, managed to enter the building and engaged in heated exchanges with security, but were ultimately unable to convince the television station to allow for the demands of protesters to be presented to viewers on air. One such lawmaker, Akos Hadhazy, entered the state broadcasting headquarters, and before being assaulted by security, he was quoted as saying: This is a bastion of their power... 80 percent of people get their information from the government.

The MPs demands were as follows:

Rescinding the so-called slave law

Decrease required overtime hours for police officers

The end of Fidesz-run separate courts

Hungary must join the European Prosecutors Office

A non-partisan, independent state broadcaster. The immediate firing of Daniel Papp from the leadership of the state broadcaster.

Peaceful protest covered in tear gas / Image: Hirhugo

Of course, this reflects their opportunism, and their attempts to demagogically hijack the movement for their own narrow means. Hence, their demands are limited in nature, but nevertheless they show, in a distorted manner, that a change is taking place in Hungary today. Amongst wide urban layers, the apathy of the previous period is dissipating, and a sense of optimism is in the air. By attacking the working class face on, Orban is also stirring the workers up, forcing them into the political arena. Nevertheless, the class composition of these protests is still mixed, with middle-class and student elements dominating. This is evident in the the number of EU and Hungarian national flags seen in the crowds. The slogans are fairly catch-all, like Orban, get lost!. However, now the trade unions are beginning to mobilise, and there is no indication of the movement coming to an end soon. So, the potential that these protests contain within them is of a much stronger character than they currently appear. This follows a similar trend throughout Eastern Europe, such as Albania and Lithuania, where a series of protest movements seem to be breaking the formerly calm surface of political life.We feel it is the last chance to stop the dictatorship, said Marton Bartha, 28, who was protesting outside the state media headquarters on Sunday night. Maybe dictatorship is a strong word. But our freedom is being shrunk.Unlike in previous protests, this time, the police have shown a clear lack of restraint: tear gas canisters were used against a crowd of about 2,000 outside parliament with little to no warning. Clearly, this shows the government fears what might come, perhaps there is a fear of yellow vest style rioting in Budapest. Zselyke Csaky, research director at the democracy watchdog Freedom House was quoted as saying:

Previously everyone was so well behaved. Even if 50,000 people participated in the protests for Central European University last year, there was an almost festive atmosphere. This time it is different. It remains to be seen what the conclusion of these protests will be but the mood on the ground is one of sharp criticism of Orban and a willingness to fight. They dont negotiate with anyone. They just do whatever they want. They steal everything. Its intolerable. It cannot go on, said one protester, Zoli, a transport worker.

Orban tries to tighten his grip

Despite the outcry, the completely unphased Orban was able to push this law through, because of his two-thirds supermajority in parliament. The ruling, right-wing coalition, FideszKDNP, is comprised of the old parties the Hungarian Civic Alliance (Fidesz) and the Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP), which have run on a joint ticket in every election since 2006. They held a commanding majority of over two-thirds of the seats since their first electoral victory since 2010. After controversially pushing through constitutional reforms, including decreasing the numbers of parliamentary seats, and altering election rules, they have twice won two-thirds supermajorities in both the 2014 and 2018 elections, despite winning less than 50 percent of the popular vote on both occasions.

Not only this, but in the same parliamentary session that approved the slave law, another contentious law, allowing the government to establish new administrative courts, was passed. These new courts will oversee sensitive issues such as electoral law, protests and corruption. As expected, Justice Minister Laszlo Trocsanyi, a close Orban ally, will oversee the courts.

"We are not slaves. Our souls are not for sale. Good decision: STRIKE. The shop workers union" / Image: Hirhugo

This is as yet another authoritarian measure by Orban to concentrate power in his own hands and those of his closest allies, just like he has been doing up until now through the suppression and buying out of opposition media outlets and the replacing of all political and judicial positions with oligarchs and Fidesz party members. Since 2010, Orban has manoeuvred and cemented his power. Everything has been rewritten, from land reform, banking reforms and the creation of an unelected, unaccountable media council, which acts as a mouthpiece for the government. He has replaced all political opposition that formerly occupied positions of power, as well as the looting of state assets. He also wrote a highly reactionary constitution, which was codified in 2011. The establishment of these new administrative courts marks yet another addition to the series of laws cementing Orbans authoritarian rule over the country. As expected, these new laws have been incredibly unpopular. The new slave law especially so. It has acted as a focal point for the general anger, disenfranchisement and frustration in the country, particularly in the capital Budapest. There has been real backlash and resentment, even from previous government supporters. The Republikon Institute, a liberal think-tank in the country, released a poll showing that even 63 percent of Orbans supporters disapprove of this new slave law, as do 95 percent of his critics. Another think-tank (Policy Agenda) provided similar findings: they claim that 83 percent of Hungarians oppose the law.

In an immediate response to the law passing, a small group of roughly 200 protesters came out onto the streets of Budapest. Within the parliamentary chamber itself, there were scenes of chaos, as opposition MPs sounded sirens, blew whistles and angrily confronted government ministers. But this just shows their desperation as a powerless minority. They even resorted to singing the national anthem in an attempt to delay the vote, but it passed: 30 to 52 with only one abstention.

We need an alternative

As evidenced by the pathetic results of the previous two elections, the opposition in Hungary has been completely impotent and fragmented over the past eight years. The previously ruling Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) remains the largest opposition party and leading party of the so-called left. But as it has acted like any bourgeois party, carrying out austerity and overseeing widespread privatisation, which have brought nothing but misery and hardship to the masses. Indeed, the party has been haemorrhaging support since its glory days post-1990. In the eyes of ordinary workers, the party has become completely discredited, particularly after its disastrous 2006-2010 government, which saw it carry out a programme of austerity and form a lame-duck parliamentary minority with the then-Prime Minister Gyurcsany; announcing his resignation due to him failing to manage the economic crisis of the 2008 recession.

Imre Komjathy: vice president of the Socialist Party manhandled outside parliament by the police / Image: Hirhugo

There is no real alternative in the country and no party with a clear programme, or demands that can capture the real mood of anger and desperation of the masses. Therefore, the many protests and movements that have taken place under Orban  notably the teachers strike that gripped the nation in 2016  have had no political leadership that could carry the movement forward and ultimately challenge and oust Orban. With this lack of a political outlet, this energy has been repeatedly squandered, and the fatigue of these defeats has caused mass political apathy. However, the slave law has once again provoked the workers, as this brutal attack is one too many to bear. Labour union leaders point out that Hungarians are already upset about low wages and poor workplace conditions. "And now to give employers, especially multinational companies who want even lower wages, so much more power over workers, it's very unfair," says Laszlo Kordas, head of the Hungarian Trade Union Confederation. The new law has been roundly condemned by every opposition party, bringing together the disparate and often feuding factions, alongside unaligned students, youth and others in the capital.

The reactionary government responds

The governments response has been typical and similar to previous responses. Xenophobic, and anti-semitic tropes have been conjured up as a way to discredit the movement. The government claims the movement is part of a small, conspiratorial cabal of trouble-makers mainly centred around Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros. A spokesman for the government, Zoltan Kovacs, dismissed the demonstrations, saying, We all know that theres no popular support behind what is happening. During the elections in the spring, Orban claimed that Soros was behind a conspiracy to "flood" Europe with Muslim asylum-seekers. Fidesz actually released a statement on Saturday claiming it was increasingly obvious that criminals have been part of the street riots organised by the Soros-network". The prime minister's allies are also blaming Soros for organising the protests against the overtime law. Gergely Gulyas, Orban's chief of staff, declared that the protesters display "open anti-Christian hatred." This rhetoric is used to whip up reactionary support for Orbans government, a tactic he has repeatedly used to divide the workers and create a state of hysterical fear, so that he can strip state assets and push anti-worker legislation.

The protest the government says has no support blocks the most of downtown Budapest / Image: Hirhugo

When some 400,000 people travelled through Hungary in the middle of the migrant crisis of 2015 on their way to Western Europe, Orban ordered fences put up to halt them. The European Commission then imposed a mandatory asylum quota for every EU state in response to the crisis, but Mr Orban refused to accept it. In 2015, 177,000 people sought asylum in Hungary but only a few hundred were accepted. Last year, the number of asylum claims fell to around 3,200. Because of this the European Parliament voted in September to initiate so-called Article 7 proceedings: a process that could culminate in sanctions, including a loss of Hungarys EU voting rights. This is highly unlikely, however, as the EU is too politically weak to enforce such sanctions, especially because European capital has been flowing into Hungary from Western Europe to take advantage of Hungary's relatively low wages.

Orbanomics

This investment in the economy and the exodus of Hungarys skilled workers to other EU member-states such as Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom, as well as the vast majority of its unskilled workforce having been pushed into government financed workfare, instead of receiving unemployment benefit, means that Hungary's unemployment rate is artificially low: about 3.7 percent. This is creating a labour shortage in the country, especially of skilled workers. Orban wanting to increase productivity, in order to overcome the labour shortage, while retaining the attraction of low wages in the Hungarian economy was the impetus for these slave wages.

One of Budapest's main thoroughfares full of protesters / Image: Hirhugo

Though the economy has been growing steadily, between 1-3 percent, over the last few years, which goes against the trend of other EU member nations. This is unsustainable, and it is unclear how long it can last. Furthermore, even those workers, whose own working conditions and wages are similar or lower than those in Hungary, find the country unattractive. Should they move abroad, they would choose Germany or other EU countries, rather than Orbans regime, which is very similar to their own.

In defence of the legislation, the government told CNN that the "voluntary changes to working hours" were "in the interest of the workers" and would allow people to work and earn more. However, the workers of Hungary are not so easily fooled and they can see this law for what it really is: an attack against their class.

What is next for Hungary?

Janos Ader, the President of Hungary, is under pressure from the streets not to ratify the slave law / Image: Hirhugo

Class contradictions in Hungary are extremely high, the masses are discontent with their conditions, but the lack of any political leadership in the form of a working-class party or bold trade union leaders, holds back the political expression of this mood. Thus, Orban maintains class peace by the threat of removing subsidies from poor families, the false threat of floods of migrants, and the threat of economic collapse. However, the present protests, that are still ongoing, have been escalating in numbers, locations and demands. Starting with a few hundred, and then a few thousand, the most recent demonstrations have been in the tens of thousands.

The six largest towns in the country have joined Budapest last Sunday and provided an added impetus to the struggle. In Szeged, the one remaining city in Hungary to be ruled by the so-called Socialist Party, people poured into the streets and speakers included not only politicians, but school students and working class leaders. All over the country, demonstrations involved forces that were totally new since the fall of Stalinism or have not taken part in protests for a very long time. This has culminated in the trade unions recent threat of a national general strike, if the president ratifies the slave law that has now been passed by parliament.

Where the present protests will lead is not yet clear. In the absence of a working class party they might dissipate or be derouted by bourgeois politicians. Nevertheless, what they represent is signs of a change in consciousness - a result of recent events - and the first tremours of the class struggles which lie ahead.

What is clearly needed now is for this discontent to be channelled into political demands and a call to break with capitalism. Hungary has a fierce revolutionary tradition of fighting against oppression and its fighters deserve a leadership that doesnt bend to reformism or get burned out from fatigue and failure. Only the ideas of Marxism can supply a leadership with the will to carry the Hungarian working class to victory. Only the ideas of Marxism can produce a programme that would enthuse the masses to carry this fight through. The call to break with capitalism and establish socialism, and genuine democracy, would vibrate through the country. In that scenario, not only would the mafia clique of Orban and Fidesz be swept away, but a new society could be established, free of exploitation and the misery of class oppression.

Orderly protest outside parliament / Image: Hirhugo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.History has always offered people the power of wisdom and moving forward during specific periods of time. For Chinas journey toward modernization, the two ordinary numbers, 1978 and 2018 represent essential time nodes, and connect the significant changes over the 40 years.

Starting in 1978, the old nation started its marvelous journey toward national rejuvenation. The 40 years witnessed the musical movement of Chinas reform and opening-up. The Communist Party of China is leading more than a billion people to work hard, keep pace with the times and embrace the world.

The policy of reform and opening up, the key that determines Chinas destiny today, opened the tightly-closed doors in peoples minds first of all. The wind of reform blew from rural areas. The implementation of the fixed farm output quotas for each household rejuvenated the stagnant villages. Rural enterprises sowed the seeds of industrialization in the villages. The free population flow between rural and urban areas created a huge demographic dividend. On the way, we have encountered various challenges and difficulties, such as the reform of state-owned enterprises, the Wenchuan earthquake, the SARS epidemic, the barriers in streamlining administration, and economic restructuring. However, the determination for reform has never receded, and the steps toward improvement have never ended. We firmly demolish any out-of-date thoughts and systematic disadvantages.

The door of opening up was first opened in special economic zones. Shenzhen learned from Hong Kong, the coastal areas learned from special economic zones, and the inland learned from the coastal areas. Financial crises, Sino-US trade friction, unilateralism and protectionism have affected China. But in the winds and waves, China has learned how to swim better. China always steps toward international society and embraces the world, holding the belief, Openness brings progress, while being closed leads to backwardness.

Reform and opening up gives a path of national rejuvenation for China.

This path is leading to a stronger China. We had a GDP surpassing 80 trillion yuan ($xx trillion) in 2017, from 367.9 billion yuan 40 years ago.

This is a path of prosperity. Some 740 million impoverished people in rural areas have now become the largest middle-income group in the world. This is a China miracle, which lets Chinese people believe that all our happiness is made by our own hands.

The rise of China has attracted attention worldwide.

The reform and opening up policy is a series of actions and renewals. Its an exploration for China to follow the common tide and achieve national rejuvenation. We encouraged productivity during these 40 years to enforce the great transformation from a planned economy to a market economy by breaking outdated mechanisms. This transformation we made resulted in the energetic country that we are now. In fact, the world is changing every second. China is trying to blend into the world by following the trend of economic globalization and modernization.

President Xi Jinping mentioned a fun story before. A Malaysian Chinese once asked Xi whether he is a Chinese or not during Xis visit to Sweden. Overseas Chinese barely met with their compatriot at that time since only a few Chinese can have a chance to go abroad. But you may come across Chinese again and again in Brussels, Belgium, today.

The story of overseas Chinese reflects the broad vision of China. In the past 40 years, China has achieved a great historical turning point from closed to semi-closed to all-round opening, and has become the world's largest outbound tourist country, the largest cargo trading country and a major trading partner with more than 130 countries. By continuously expanding its opening-up policy to the outside world, China has completely gotten rid of the danger of being left behind, not only developing itself but also benefiting the world. The construction of the Belt and Road has transformed from concept to action. The concept of a community of common destiny has resonated around the globe, and China, which is increasingly approaching the center of the world stage, continues to make greater contributions to mankind.

The torrent has been raging for 40 years, breaking the stagnation, breaking the closed and rigid, and releasing the countrys 40 years of vitality. American scholar Samuel Huntington said that the reform and opening up turned China around and made it successful.

The complicated and successful reform has also profoundly affected the world. More than one Western scholar has said that we can no longer use existing theories to explain China's development, and we must re-recognize the significance of China's development path to the world.

It has broadened the path of human modernization and has greatly stimulated the confidence of a number of developing countries to "take their own path." British scholar Martin Jacques said that China's development path is fundamentally different from that of the West. The rise of China is the rise of a new "modernization model. China's reform and opening up, one of the most important events of the 20th century, not only promotes the deep integration of a country with a population of more than one billion people into the world, but also proves to the world that there is more than one road to modernization.

The year 2018 is the 200th anniversary of Karl Marxs birth and the 40th anniversary of Chinas reform and opening up. The Communist Party of China solemnly commemorates these two major events, which have great and far-reaching significance and also an inherent logical connection. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the Marxism of modern China and a new development of Marxism in the 21st century, has a great influence in China.

The unique exploration, unique path, unique theory, and unique system have made China's reform and opening up not only the most important historical process in economic globalization and national modernization since World War II, but also the most profound historical chapter in the world socialist movement in the past 500 years.

From many peoples eyes, the most incredible thing about China's reform is that it always has to deal with the "world-class" problem at the "world-class" level. After 40 years, Chinas reforms still face many barriers. The complexity, sensitivity, and arduousness of advancing reforms have also brought reform to a new historical juncture.

In December 2012, President Xi Jinping came to Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, to present a flower basket to the bronze statue of Deng Xiaoping in Lianhua Mountain, expressing his courage and determination. Six years later, he came to Guangdong Province, the pioneering place of reform and opening up, once again and declared to the world, "The reform will not stop, and the opening up will not stop. China will surely have a new and greater miracle that will make the world look at it." The solemn declaration of President Xi Jinping is both an echo of history and a horn of the times.

(Compiled by Zhan Huilan, Wang Zi, Qu Qiuyan and Wang Xiangyu.)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.Xian and his chopsticks shop. (People's Daily Online/Morag Hobbs)

Editors note:

Following fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana's decision to cancel a major show in China due to a controversial advert in which they called chopsticks small sticks, the eating utensils, invented and used by Chinese people for thousands of years, have once again caught the worlds attention.

Though we use chopsticks daily, do you have any idea of the cultural connotations chopsticks possess? 69-year-old Xian Lianguang, Guangzhous last chopsticks craftsman, tells us the stories of his family and the art of designing and producing chopsticks, showing us how the so-called small sticks can endure the crushing weight of time, and how they serve as a carrier of Chinese culture.

Huddled in a quiet corner of Tiancheng Road in Guangzhou, Xian Lianguangs dimly-lit shop seems to be incompatible with its modern, brightly lit neighbors. The cramped shop, which can only hold two customers at a time, has been producing and selling handmade chopsticks for over a century. Occasionally, a passerby will stop at the shop for a minute or two, while Xian proudly introduces his beloved handiwork.

69-year-old Xian is not only a craftsman with a love of making chopsticks, but he is also one of the few remaining guardians of traditional Chinese culture. Locals have awarded Xian and his family the title of chopsticks masters for three generations, while his shop is the last place in Guangzhou where the ancient art of designing chopsticks still thrives.

Chopsticks have a life of their own, Xian explains with a soft Cantonese accent. Its simply a matter of waking up their soul, and then passing on the cultural connotations to our customers.

Sitting on a wooden stool, the same one on which Xians mother had sat and sewn clothes for the family during the shop's early days, and where his daughter had first learned the art of chopsticks design, Xian told us that the crushing weight of the past reminds him how important it is to continue traditions, adding that the art of designing chopsticks would reveal the passage of time.

Last chopsticks master, solitary perseverance

Xian's handmade chopsticks. (People's Daily Online/Morag Hobbs)

Xians chopsticks are longer than ordinary ones, with a length of 26.8 centimeters, as the spelling of the number in Cantonese sounds like wealthy all the way. Even the way that Xian displays his chopsticks contains an exquisite cultural connotation: they must be piled-up in the form of , a Chinese character meaning quality, as the old saying goes - people have morality, wood has quality.

Xian is extremely picky when it comes to choosing the right materials for his chopsticks. He only uses five kinds of wood, including ebony and padauk. Ebony has greater density compared with other wood, giving the chopsticks a hefty touch, while padauk is a rich purple color, delivering a sense of grace and prudence.

According to Xian, chopsticks are not only tableware, but also a carrier of Chinese culture. He believes that chopsticks play an essential role throughout the lives of Chinese people, serving as an inseparable heritage of Chinese culture.

Learning how to use chopsticks establishes our identity as a Chinese citizen; a pair of chopsticks is usually given as a gift to newly-married couples to represent unswerving and loyal love; and even when worshiping ancestors, Chinese people would use chopsticks as an offering. Needless to say, chopsticks are connected to the soul of Chinese people, Xian added.

Though he has been making chopsticks for his whole life, Xian has noticed the impact of modern society on his devoted career, especially in Guangzhou, a city that is famous for its international community and culture. Many investors reached out to him for cooperation, urging him to put his chopsticks into mass production, while others offered lucrative deals for his skills. Xian refused all business proposals, noting that making chopsticks is an art, rather than merely a business.

Mass production will not yield high-quality chopsticks. Many craftsmen want to make their business bigger and stronger, while I want to make mine smaller and more unique, said Xian.

Tradition may die out eventually, but not at this moment, not in my family, said Xian while looking affectionately at his daughter, the familys fourth generation of chopsticks master.Canadian academic and internet sensation Jordan Peterson has shot back at Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizeks recent criticisms of him. Apparently he wants to chat, heralding in a long-awaited debate between the two thinkers.

During an appearance at the Cambridge Union last month, Zizek savaged the Canadians pseudo-scientific references and purported inability to speak about women and marriage with mentioning lobsters, apes or whatever. Zizeks comments elicited laughter from his audience, but apparently, Peterson doesnt find his comments very funny.

Any time, any place, Mr. Zizek, Peterson tweeted on Monday, attaching a link to RTs write-up of Zizeks provocative remarks.

His tweet launched a barrage of meme-stuffed tweets, with many suggesting that a Peterson vs. Zizek matchup would be the best UFC fight ever  or at least a memorable battle of the minds. Peterson is an outspoken critic of the left and what he terms cultural Marxism, while Zizek is known for his radical left views.

Live on pay per view! In a steel cage! one Twitter user joked.

Meanwhile, some have apparently started taking bets.

Zizeks room is cleaner than yours. He will destroy you, one netizen tweeted back at Jordan, alluding to the Canadians well-known advocacy for orderliness.

Others have questioned whether a Peterson-Zizek debate would even accomplish anything.

They'll talk past each other, no one will have their minds changed and both sides will claim to have 'won' regardless of what actually gets said. Maybe I'm just a pessimist, and I don't think some sort of engagement between the two would be totally worthless, but I don't think a traditional debate-format would be all that great, a Reddit user wrote about the hypothetical clash of intellects.

Peterson has previously expressed interest in going toe-to-toe with Zizek. In late November he told an audience in Slovenia that it would be very interesting to have a discussion with Zizek. Perhaps if that can be arranged that could happen, he added.

Before that, Peterson had challenged Zizek to expand on the validity of my 'apparently' scientific theories. The angry barrage of tweets were mistakenly directed at a Zizek quote bot on Twitter, however.

to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media wont tell you.Malaysia filed criminal charges against Goldman Sachs and two ex-bankers over the multi-billion dollar looting of state fund, 1MDB. The US bank denies the accusation, claiming it was deceived by the previous Malaysian government.

The subsidiaries of the Wall Street banking giant and its former key employees, ex-chairman of Goldmans South East Asia, Tim Leissner, and ex-managing director, Roger Ng, are accused of giving false statements when helping to arrange bonds for 1MDB, Malaysias Attorney General Tommy Thomas announced on Monday.

Malaysia says the accused wanted to misappropriate $2.7 billion from $6.5 billion in bonds, issued by 1MDB and underwritten by Goldman Sachs, in three separate offerings between 2012 and 2013.

Malaysia also filed charges against former employee of 1MDB Jasmine Loo Ai Swan and local financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, who maintains his innocence. The prosecution believes the duo conspired with Leissner and Ng to bribe officials in order to procure the selection, involvement and participation of Goldman Sachs in these bond issuances.

Now Kuala Lumpur is seeking to take back the misappropriated $2.7 billion from Goldman Sachs as well as $600 million in fees received by the bank. The prosecution is demanding fines and up to 10 years behind bars for each of the accused. The fines may amount to at least 1 million ringgit ($240,000), according to the charge sheets, seen by Reuters.

Also on rt.com Abu Dhabi sues Goldman Sachs over central role in bribery scam

Billions of dollars from the Malaysian fund were reportedly used to buy everything from Beverly hills mansions, yachts and a private jet to artworks among other things in a fraud that allegedly involved former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

As Malaysia brought the charges, the bank hit back, claiming that it was the victim of deceptive Malaysian officials. The long-running scandal has already rocked the banks shares this year, which dropped more than 30 percent.

Certain members of the former Malaysian government and 1MDB lied to Goldman Sachs, outside counsel and others about the use of proceeds from these transactions, Goldman said in a statement cited by media. It added that the charges have no effect on its ability to conduct our current business globally.

Also on rt.com US sues UBS over alleged crisis-era mortgage security fraud

Analysts warn that the scandal is just the tip of the iceberg of the banks criminal deeds. Despite being investigated in several countries, including in the US, no matter the crimes, Goldman chiefs will never go to jail as they are too close to both sides of the US political aisle, Jack Rasmus, professor of political economy at St. Mary's College told RT. He also warned that the bank is driving the world to the next financial crisis.

They just havent been caught in the other places, Rasmus said in an interview to RT. Were on the verge of another financial crisis that will make the last one pale in comparison and Goldman Sachs and businesses like them are at the center of the cause of this.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business sectionSince the reform and opening-up, countless foreigners have come to China for all kinds of reasons. Years have passed, and many of them did not only come to but have thrived in China.

In their eyes, China represents a charming culture, infinite possibilities and also precious friendship.

I found it very strange 

To foreigners who came to China before the reform and opening-up, Chinas poor situation was shocking. Professor Colin Mackerras, an Australian drama professor, came to China in the 1960s. There were very few cars then and the trains were very slow on the whole. Most people went around by bicycle, Mackerras told Peoples Daily.

As emeritus Professor at Griffith University, Australia, sinologist and Guest Professor at Renmin University and Beijing Foreign Studies University in ChinaMackerras first came to China in 1964 and almost every year since 1977.

It is striking to Mackerras that China has become so modern and so quickly. In less than 20 years, Chinas total operating high-speed railway mileage had reached 27,000 kilometers by 2017, or 65 percent of the worlds tracks.

In his point of view, the policy changes, the hard-working, focused Chinese and the good leadership of the country contributed to Chinas soaring development.

Open both ways

In terms of opening-up, trade would be the first to come to mind. However, the people exchanges and communication had a more significant influence on the nations development of soft power.

China has placed greater efforts into embracing high talent experts, and Professor Alfred O. Mueck is one of them.

As a German professor of gynecology, endocrinology and clinical pharmacology, Mueck was invited to Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital (BOGH), Capital Medical University in 2009 to optimize patients' treatment and student research.

Mueck emphasized that with more and more overseas experts coming to China, Chinese doctors can better communicate with experts and help those from other countries.

Mueck was thrilled about the long-term visa he received in 2016, which he described as an important motivation for him.

He has become an advocate of Chinas overseas talent projects. He has hooked up five experts to Chinese universities.

I want to continue as long as I feel healthy in this special life in China, Mueck said.

China to meet the world with a new face

After taking a tour to southeast China in the early 1990s, Israeli ex-pilot Amir Gal-Or was fascinated with Chinese culture and, more importantly, he saw the huge potential of the country.

As the founder and managing partner of the Infinity Group, which focuses on real estate and lifestyle brands, Amir feels Chinas welcome through government support, such as grants, licenses, taxes and green routes.

Amir described his experience in China as a process of continuous learning. He learned that if a company wants to thrive in China, it has to be localized not only geographically but also in the shift in legal structures, systems, decision-making and communication.

From a totally different cultural background, Amir was impressed how creative China is in dealing with obstacles.

There is a open mind from colleagues, partners and government to try to find solutions to the problem, Amir said.

Instead of a Western style yes or no, people in China would say, lets try another way or another timing.

The communication is more soft, because the culture is more soft, Amir said.

China has achieved unprecedented development in almost all areas and in last forty years.

To some extent, the reform and opening-up enables China to meet the world with a new face.

The reform and opening-up has welcomed foreigners and they have played a special and important role in Chinas fast-paced development.

(Produced by Qiao Wai, Zhang Xiaowen, Zhao Dantong, Shan Xin, Bai Yuanqi, Bao Han, Wang Xiangyu)The US is currently unable to repel an attack from the hypersonic weapons that are being developed by Russia and China, as they can pierce most missile defense systems, a recent US government report has revealed.

China and Russia are pursuing hypersonic weapons because their speed, altitude, and maneuverability may defeat most missile defense systems, and they may be used to improve long-range conventional and nuclear strike capabilities, the report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reads.

The report also highlights the challenges to American security posed by Chinese and Russian anti-satellite weapons and stealth aircraft that could fly faster, carry advanced weapons, and achieve further distances. The rapid development of the cutting-edge technology could force US aircraft to operate at father distances and put more US targets at risk, the report notes.

Read more

Speaking at a Valdai Club session in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia surpassed its rivals in terms of hypersonic weapons, calling Russias prevalence in the field an obvious fact.

Nobody has precise hypersonic weapons. Some plan to test theirs in 18 to 24 months. We have them in service already, Putin said.

In March Putin unveiled several advanced weapons systems, including the Avangard hypersonic glider warheads and the Kinzhal or Dagger hypersonic cruise missile. The Kinzhal can fly at Mach-10 speed and has a reported range of 2,000 km (1243 miles). It was reported that Russias advanced Sukhoi Su-57 jet might soon be armed with a missile similar to the Kinzhal.

While the Avangard is about to enter military service, the Kinzhal has already been deployed with the force.

Faced with the unmatched hypersonic capabilities, the Pentagon has launched about a dozen programs to protect the US from hypersonic weapons. A project named Glide Breaker to develop an interceptor capable of neutralizing incoming hypersonic gliders has been in the works with The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Like this story? Share it with a friend!Russia cuts military flights in Syria to 4 a week  defense minister

Russia cuts military flights in Syria to 4 a week  defense minister

Russia has cut its military flights in Syria from more than 100 per day to fewer than four a week, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Tuesday. Moscow launched airstrikes in Syria in September 2015 and formally ceased its military operation in Syria a year ago after helping to clear it of militants. Shoigu told an annual meeting of top brass that Russias Air Force had seen a drastic reduction in the number of sorties in Syria, TASS reports. Flights have been reduced from 100-110 per day to two to four sorties per week, mainly for additional reconnaissance, he said. Shoigu told the meeting, attended by President Vladimir Putin, that Russia had completed the withdrawal of its main forces from Syria, not including those based at its Hmeimim airbase and Tartus naval base.Source : RT - Daily newsThe Russian parliament has passed a law which says foreign organizations meddling in any kind of election in Russia may be declared undesirable and ousted from the country. Election observers are exempt.

The law, passed on Tuesday, will make a small amendment to the legislation which regulates how a non-governmental organization (NGO) may be barred from operating in Russia.

The current rules say Russia may oust an NGO, which is considered a threat to Russias constitutional order, defense or security. The new piece of legislation, once signed into law, would clarify that such a threat may be posed by meddling in elections in Russia.

Also on rt.com UK psyops bigwig pushed plan to 'mine Sevastopol Bay' during 2014 Crimea crisis  leaked documents

The meddling is defined as promoting or obstructing candidates or issues for a referendum or affecting the outcome of a ballot, but does not include the activities or registered international observers monitoring the campaign.

Russia made the political activities of an NGO a valid reason for their removal in 2015. The decision to declare an organization undesirable is taken by the general prosecutor or one of his or her deputies after consultations with the Foreign Ministry. An NGO targeted in this way has to shut down its offices in Russia, is barred from financial services and cannot legally publish its materials for Russian audiences.

Also on rt.com Steele dossiers main claims likely false, admits journalist who helped launch Russiagate

The list of organizations ousted from Russia under these rules includes US soft power peddlers like the National Endowment for Democracy, the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute as well as George Soros Open Society Foundation.

Russian citizens and organizations acting on behalf of a banned foreign NGO may be fined. Repeat offenders face communal service and even prison terms of up to 6 years and a ban from holding a public office. But those who part ways with the NGO voluntarily get a pass and dont face criminal charges.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story![December 18, 2018] Bank of America Declares Preferred Dividends Bank of America Corporation today announced the Board of Directors has authorized regular cash dividends on the outstanding shares or depositary shares of the following series of preferred stock:



Series of Preferred Stock Dividend per Share

or Depositary Share1 Record Date Payment Date 7.25% Non-Cumulative

Perpetual Convertible

Preferred Stock, Series L $18.125 January 1 January 30 6.500% Non-Cumulative

Preferred Stock, Series Y $0.40625 January 1 January 28 6.200% Non-Cumulative

Preferred Stock, Series CC $0.3875 January 1 January 29 6.000% Non-Cumulative

Preferred Stock, Series EE $0.375 January 1 January 25 5.875% Non-Cumulative

Preferred Stock, Series HH $0.3671875 January 1 January 24 1 Each series of preferred stock, other than Series L, is represented by depositary shares. Dividend payments are made on a quarterly basis for each series of preferred stock. Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 67 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 4,400 retail financial centers, approximately 16,100 ATMs, and award-winning digital banking with more than 36 million active users, including nearly 26 million mobile users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom. Click here to register for news email alerts. www.bankofamerica.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005535/en/

[ Back To www.mobilitytechzone.com\LTE's Homepage ]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,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...

Were sure you already know, but lets repeat: Burlington is a city located in the Halton, Ontario area. It is...

A personal injury occurs when a person's body, mind, or emotions are injured due to the negligence, carelessness, or wrongful...

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Terrorism and foreign intervention are among the major obstacles to development in Africa, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said in a speech at the EU-Africa summit held in Vienna on Tuesday, where 26 African and European heads of state are participating.

The Egyptian president said that while the continent has managed to achieve high sustainable development levels, Africa's economic development has not yet reached its target goals.

The meeting in Vienna is the culmination of Austria's six-month presidency of the European Union.

The participants in the forum include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Guinean President Alpha Conde, AU Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and representatives from the UN, the World Bank, Google and BMW.

"The hard economic situation and the unsuitable trade and investment conditions, as well as challenges related to security and stability, have contributed to not achieving development goals and improving living standards in Africa," the Egyptian president said.

"Armed conflicts and inter-continental criminal and terrorist activities, as well as foreign intervention, are still major factors that affect the safety and stability of nations," El-Sisi added.

El-Sisi also said that the African continent is looking forward to enhancing cooperation with European partners on digital and technological transformation and the exchange of information to facilitate the transfer of services and merchandise.

Last month, Egypt held the 22nd round of the Cairo International Exhibition and Conference on Telecommunication and Information Technology (ICT 2018).

"Africa is more capable of dealing with advanced 21st century tools, especially since 60 percent of its population are below 25 years, although only 12 million join the job market annually," the Egyptian president said.

The president affirmed that technological and digital transformation is at the top of Egypt's priorities for the 2063 Agenda, which is the African Union's strategic framework for the socio-economic transformation of the continent over the next 50 years.

El-Sisi arrived in Vienna on Sunday for an official visit.

During a press conference with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Monday, El-Sisi stressed Egypt's humanitarian and moral commitment to the safety and welfare of all, including 5 million refugees living in Egypt, as well as Cairo's commitment to achieving stability in the Middle East.

El-Sisi also met with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen and the Speaker of the National Council Wolfgang Sobotka.

The president called on Austria to take advantage of investing in Egypt to reach African markets, especially considering Egypts upcoming chairmanship of the African Union in 2019.

Search Keywords:

Short link:

Pennsylvania Horticulture Societys Harvest program ends season with almost 19,000 pounds of produce donated and $30K raised to fight food insecurityEgypt's Minister of Health Hala Zayed has announced that nearly 19 million citizens have been screened for Hepatitis C and other non-communicable diseases as part of the '100 Million Lives' campaign, the largest-ever nationwide campaign to eradicate hepatitis C launched last October.

Zayed affirmed that a total of 6.5 million citizens have been screened for the virus since the launch of the campaign's second phase by the end of November.

The initiative aims to examine between 45 and 52 million citizens out of a population of 104 million.

The first phase of the three-phase campaign lasted until 30 November and included the governorates of Damietta, South Sinai, Matrouh, Port Said, Alexandria, Beheira, Qalioubiya, Fayoum and Assiut.

The second phase included Cairo, Beni Suef, Sohag, Menoufiya and Kafr El-Sheikh governorates.

According to 2015 statistics, 22 percent of the population carried hepatitis C.

Over the past three years, Egypt has been successful in the intensive use of a variety of new medications to combat the virus.

In 2016, the health ministry achieved a 96 percent cure rate of the disease nationwide. The health ministry has vowed to completely eliminate the disease in Egypt by 2021.

Search Keywords:

Short link:

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is part of the Italian-American Christmas Eve celebration, although it is not called that in Italy and is not a feast in the sense of holiday, but rather a grand meal.

While the tradition comes from Southern Italy, many from the region have never heard of the Feast of Seven Fishes. Italians call it by another name, La Vigilia (The Vigil), as it takes place on Christmas Eve, or the Vigilia di Natale. The practice of eating fish on Christmas Eve stems from a traditional Catholic custom of abstaining from meat on the eve of a feast day.

It is also unclear when the number seven was landed on. In the Italian tradition they dont count how many fishes are used, or how many dishes they create. Even in America it is not unusual to see the spread feature up to 13 varieties of aquatic aliment.

While some sources suggest restaurants developed the tradition of seven fishes, it is fitting for the occasion, as the number 7 is an important to Catholicism, signifying totality of perfection and completeness. Seven is mentioned over 700 times in the Bible and it is seen in the number of the days of the week, the Sacraments, and many of the signs in the Book of Revelation: seven churches, seven bowls, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven thunders and seven spirits.

If youd like to celebrate this early, Carrabbas Italian Grill is making it easy for guests to celebrate the Feast of 7 Fishes, an Italian holiday celebration, by offering an indulgent five-course feast experience on Wednesday, December 19th at 6:30 p. Guests at Carrabbas restaurants nationwide can enjoy paired wines with their five-course menu for $50 per person.

The five-course menu includes:

CALAMARI

Hand-breaded to order and served with our marinara sauce

Paired with Riondo Prosecco

SEAFOOD CHOWDER

Rich chowder made with vegetables, potatoes and white fish

Paired with Cecchi Chianti Classico

LINGUINE PESCATORE

Shrimp, sea scallops, mussels and spicy marinara sauce

Paired with Decoy Chardonnay by Duckhorn

SWORDFISH WITH LEMON BUTTER & BELL PEPPERS

Wild-caught swordfish, wood-grilled and topped with our lemon butter sauce and sauteed bell peppers served with lobster mac n cheese

Paired with Imagery Sauvignon Blanc

CANNOLI

Crisp pastry shell stuffed with sweet ricotta and chocolate chip filling, topped with pistachios and powdered sugar

Paired with Rosatello Moscato

To make a reservation at your local Carrabbas Italian Grill, visit http://reservations.thuzi.com/dinerewards/.Rosewood Gallery is looking for entries for the upcoming Works on Paper exhibition. Works on Paper is a juried exhibition for artists living within a 40-mile radius of Dayton, Ohio (this excludes Columbus and Cincinnati), working in or on paper. This includes, but is not limited to photos, prints, painting or drawings on paper, cast paper, paper mache, cardboard, etc.

ELIGIBILITY

 Entries must be original works in any media on or of paper, completed within the last four years

 Artwork must not to exceed 40 inches in width (image, not frame)

 Artwork must be created within the last four years

. Entry drop-off is Saturday, December 29, 10 a.m.  3 p.m. or Monday, December 31, 2 p.m.  5 p.m. View more information: https:// www.playkettering.org/ juried-exhibitions/

Jurying will take place from actual work. Pieces must be labeled with the tags provided, stating artists name and artwork title and corresponding to the entry form. Artists must drop off entries at Rosewood Gallery during the designated drop-off dates and times as listed on the reverse side of this prospectus. A non-refundable entry fee of $20 for up to three pieces must accompany each entry form. Multiple entries are permitted, and should include an additional entry form and fee. Please make checks payable to City of Kettering or make credit card payment over the phone by calling Rosewood Arts Centre at (937) 296-0294. Upon delivery, all 2-D work must be labeled, framed, wired, and ready to hang; all 3-D work must be labeled and ready to display (indicate display method: pedestal, floor, hang from ceiling, etc.). The gallery coordinator reserves the right to reject any work not prepared in a sound manner for hanging, or otherwise unpresentable for display. Submissions must include a completed entry form and $20 entry fee at the time of drop-off.Government to reduce E-levy from 1.75% to 1.5% ...Egypt's general prosecution has said that it is referring a police sergeant to criminal court over the murder of a Coptic man and his son in Upper Egypt's Minya last week.

In an official statement, the prosecution said police sergeant Rabie Mostafa Khalifa, who was assigned to guard the Church of Nahdet El-Qadasa, was referred to court in an emergency session for killing Emad Kamal and his son David.

The prosecution charged Khalifa with the premeditated murder of the two men using his service weapon after reviewing CCTV footage from the scene of the crime.

The prosecution said that Khalifa confessed to the crime, but did not reveal a possible motive.

On Saturday, the prosecution said that the killing was sparked due to a "verbal altercation."

The incident has sparked outrage among citizens and Church officials.

Coptic Christians make up around 10 to 15 percent of Egypt's 104 million Muslim-majority population.

Search Keywords:

Short link:

Connecticut Business and Industry Association President Joe Brennan joins the Morning Record to look ahead to the upcoming legislative session.

This is part of the Morning Record's series looking ahead to the legislative session, which starts Jan. 9.

Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or on Stitcher

Music: thegoodlawdz.bandcamp.com

msavino@record-journal.com

203-317-2266

Twitter: @reporter_savinoSports

Mathews hits ton as Sri Lanka defy NZ

WELLINGTON, Dec 18 (Agencies) | Publish Date: 12/18/2018 11:50:46 AM IST

Former captain Angelo Mathews continued his role as saviour on Sri Lankas tour of New Zealand as he and Kusal Mendis struck unbeaten hundreds to thwart the hosts push for victory on the fourth day of the first test at the Basin Reserve on Tuesday.

Mathews was on 117, while Mendis was 116 not out as they took their side to 259 for three at stumps, having batted together all day and created Sri Lankas highest partnership for any wicket against New Zealand with a marathon 246-run stand.

It was the first time in test cricket that a full days play had been completed without a wicket falling since the first day of the second match between South Africa and Bangladesh on Feb. 29, 2008.

The pairs stubborn resistance could prove to be match-saving with rain forecast for the final day on Wednesday.

They had resumed at 20 for three, needing another 276 runs to even make New Zealand bat again, after Tom Lathams maiden double century of 264 not out had powered the hosts to a massive first innings total of 578.

They frustrated New Zealands bowlers, who resorted to a short-pitched attack early on, changed to a fuller length towards lunch, then virtually shut down the scoring during the middle session with Ajaz Patel shoring up one end.

Nothing, however, worked against Mendis and Mathews, who were untroubled on a pitch offering little in the way of sideways seam movement, although left-arm spinner Patel got the occasional delivery to bite and bounce.

Mendis was the more fluent with some memorable drives down the ground before he brought up his sixth test century shortly after tea when he pulled a short delivery from Neil Wagner fine for his 12th boundary.

Mathews achieved his ninth century about an hour before stumps when he drove Colin de Grandhomme through midwicket for his 11th boundary.

He then proceeded to do some pushups mid-pitch  a potential riposte at the selectors who dropped him in September from the one day squad for fitness reasons.

It was the third successive innings in New Zealand that Mathews has resurrected his sides fortunes when staring at embarrassment.

The 31-year-old top-scored with 83 in Sri Lankas first innings of 282 and combined with Dimuth Karunaratne for a 133-run partnership after they slumped to nine for three inside the first four overs.

That innings followed on from his score of 128 not out in Sri Lankas only warmup game against an inexperienced New Zealand selection in Napier, when they had slumped to 104 for nine before he pushed them to 210 for nine declared.By Express News Service

MUMBAI: Debt-laden five-star hotel chain Hotel Leelaventure might get some much needed fund infusion from Canadian firm Brookfield Asset Management. As per media reports, Brookfield is in the final stages of buying at least four of the five luxury hotels and a land parcel owned by Leelaventure for Rs 4,500 crore.

The deal is expected to close early next year and will mark Brookfield's entry into the hospitality sector. The company has already made big ticket investments in the Indias commercial, office and residential segments and infrastructure projects.

When contacted, a spokesperson from Leelaventure did not comment on the development, only stating: We have been evaluating many offers of many buyers to get the best deal. There is no binding contract with any investor as on date either for investment in the company or for purchase of companys assets.

This is not the first time when the hospitality giant, which had a debt of Rs 3,799 crore as of March 2018, has attracted the attention of investors. Last month, it was reported that a consortium including Thailands Minor International and Trinity White City Ventures plans to invest about Rs 2,500 crore (or $350 million) in Hotel Leelaventure.

Hotel Leelaventure currently owns five luxury hotels in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai and Udaipur and boasts more than 1,400 rooms under its badge. It also manages four other luxury properties in India under the Leela brand.

The potential deal with Brookfield comes at a time when most of Indias big hotel chains are increasingly adopting an asset-light model and selling real estate to either fund growth plans or trim debt. The model enables hotels to manage hotel properties under their brands while not owning the real estate.By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan on Monday said that the government expects to complete 5G spectrum auction process by August next year and that the aim is to roll out the services by stipulated deadline of 2020.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has given a preliminary set of recommendations. Working committee at the DoT (Department of Telecom) is looking at them. The task force has also given broader spectrum bands on which we have to work. Everybody has said that since the ecosystem is not ready, 5G will be ready after July-August next year, Sundararajan said.

Meanwhile, leading telecom operator Vodafone Idea recently urged the telecom department not to hold spectrum auction till 2020, on the grounds that fresh need for quality radio waves will arise only once the 5G ecosystem is ready.

The operator had previously also asked the government to fix the financial health of the sector, which is reeling under massive debt.Sundararajan, however, said that they expect to complete due procedures by July-August 2019.

I cannot say whether it (spectrum auction) will happen by then, but we will be ready post the second half of 2020, she said.The secretary also clarified that 2020 deadline doesnt mean that the whole country will be 5G-ready.

When we say 2020, it doesnt mean the whole country will have 5G, but it will start. Field trials are going on, Sundararajan said.Telecom regulator TRAI on Sunday had recommended auction of about 8,644 MHz of telecom frequencies at an estimated total base price of Rs 4.9 lakh crore, which includes radio waves for 5G services. The 5G committee of the telecom ministry has said that about 6,000 Mhz of spectrum can be made available without delay for the next generation mobile service.

The Central government has been advocating for some time to launch the 5G on a par with global implementation, and not have a delayed implementation like 4G. Telecom minister Manoj Sinha had previously given a 2020 timeline for India joining the 5G services.

When we say 2020, it doesnt mean the whole country will have 5G, but it will start. Field trials are going onAruna Sundararajan, Telecom Secretary

Vistara, SpiceJet up for in-flight connectivity

Two private airlines  SpiceJet and Vistara  have shown interest in providing the soon-to-be started in-flight connectivity on their aircraft, Sundararajan said. She also said that global service providers are interested in facilitating in-flight connectivity services in the country.

There are some airlines that have equipment installed on the aircraft to perform in-flight connectivity operations. So once they get the licence, they will be able to provide the service, she said. DoT on Friday notified the rules for in-flight and maritime connectivity.Sreejani Bhattacharyya By

Express News Service

BENGALURU : The crowds that thronged the launch of Swedish furniture provider IKEAs first store in Hyderabad in August this year may not be a one-off craze, but reflective of a trend. Indian customer appetite for premium products is increasing. Competitive furniture and home solutions companies are cashing in on this with new products, attractive schemes and easy credit access. According to TechSci Research report India Furniture Market Forecast and Opportunities 2019, Indias furniture market is poised to cross $32 billion by 2019.

Similar to IKEA, Reliance Brands has tied up with American furniture and kitchenware retail company Williams-Sonoma and plans its first India store in Mumbai by 2020. Reliance will sell Williams-Sonoma brands such Pottery Barn and West Elm both online and offline.

Not to be left behind are Indian players: Mumbai-headquartered Pepperfry, with the launch of Pepperfry Bespoke stores, has entered end-to-end home interior design solutions just a few days ago. These stores  currently present in Mumbai, Gurgaon and Bengaluru  offer interior solutions by experts, 3D visualisation, budget planning and a variety of other options.

Ashish Shah, COO and founder, Pepperfry, says an important factor in entering this space is the increase in Average Order Value (AOV). The AOV for a furniture product is `20,000, but the AOV for a Bespoke order is `5 lakh, said Shah, adding, We plan to expand to other cities as well, with a target of opening 17 Bespoke studios in 10 cities and achieving a business of `350 crore Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) by March 2020.

IKEAs Hyderabad store sees about 10,000-15,000 footfalls on a weekday and 20,000-25,000 on a weekend. It plans to open a 5,00,000 square feet store in Bengaluru by 2020, which will be the companys third store in India. Its second offline store will be opened in Mumbai during the early part of next year. Also in the pipeline are more stores in Gurgaon, Pune and Ahmedabad, among other cities. The company is planning a strategy that will help create 25 customer touchpoints by 2025.

In India, the important thing for us is to meet customers demands. Previously, we used to meet customers only at the store. With the digital platform, we will be able to interact with them for longer, said Patrik Antoni, deputy county manager, IKEA India, recently.

Impact on existing players

Has the India entry of these big names affected the existing big players in the country? Shah does not think so. With IKEA coming in, more people are now talking about the furniture space, which is highly unorganised with local players are still in demand. With more companies coming up, the market is getting more and more organised. For example, when the IKEA store opened in Hyderabad, the footfalls in Pepperfry stores in the city increased as well, Shah said.

To seize the opportunities, e-commerce bigshot Flipkart is also investing heavily in the sector. Godrej Interio has launched its space-saving furniture range Transpose to cater to the rising number of small living spaces. It is expecting `100 crore from Transpose next year. Bengaluru-based Urban Ladder has decided to lower the price range of its products, gauging the competition.ENS Economic Bureau By

BENGALURU: Scooter sharing app Vogo, on Tuesday announced strategic partnership with cab aggregator Ola. As part of the deal ANI Technologies, which runs Ola will boost Vogos supply by investing in 100,000 scooters on the Vogo platform, worth $100 million.

"This infusion will give Vogo a strategic supply advantage without having to incur significant capital expenditure," the company said in a statement.

Additionally, Vogos offerings will also be available for Olas customer directly from the Ola app soon.

Ola is committed to building a robust mobility ecosystem in India, creating a deep impact on livelihoods and how citizens get around. Our investment in Vogo will help build a smart multi-modal network for first-last mile connectivity in the country," said Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder & CEO, Ola.

Earlier, Ola had invested in Vogo as part of the companys Series A fundraising which saw participation from Matrix Partners India and Stellaris Venture Partners. Hero MotoCorp chairman Pawan Munjal also had invested in Vogo.Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told the director-general of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Antonio Vitorino on Tuesday that his country hosts more than 5 million refugees from 58 different countries.

The PM made the comments in a meeting with a delegation from the IOM headed by Vitorino, who is currently visiting Cairo.

Madbouly stressed that refugees in Egypt receive health and education services as well as employment opportunities without discrimination and live freely among the Egyptian people, not in refugee camps.

The officials also discussed means of cooperation on the issue of migration.

During the meeting, Madbouly hailed the vital role the IOM is playing in supporting migration issues all around the world.

Madbouly congratulated the IOM officials on the newly signed international agreement to forge a stronger and fairer response to large refugee movements known as the Global Compact on Refugees.

More than 150 countries signed the agreement during an international conference that took place in Morocco on 10 and 11 December.

The countries have developed a roadmap to reach more effective mechanisms to manage migration issues, in addition to creating the required momentum for global cooperation in this area.

Madbouly pointed out that Egypt believes in the importance of taking into account the priorities of developing countries, who are hosting 80 percent of migrants, and the importance of focusing on medium and long-term solutions aimed at addressing the root causes of migration.

He also stressed the importance of the role that Egypt hopes the IOM will play in urging donors to assist migrants and refugees in Egypt.

Vitorino praised Egyptian efforts to develop mechanisms to deal with irregular migration, whether through developing the institutional capacities of the Egyptian state bodies working in this field, or establishing the appropriate legislative frameworks to deal with this phenomenon.

The director-general of the IOM expressed the organisations' aspiration to enhance cooperation with Egypt during the upcoming period, which will witness Egypt's presidency of the African Union.

Search Keywords:

Short link:

Samuel Merigala By

Express News Service

CHENNAI : A proposal to establish a virtual reality classroom in one of Chennai Corporations schools, will be tabled at the Chennai Smart City Board meeting on Tuesday. While a similar project proposed earlier was shot down because of lack of funds, officials are hopeful that underprivileged students will finally be able to get their hands on this elite technology, this time around.

According to officials in the civic body, the proposed virtual reality classroom will go beyond pairs of VR goggles and envisions a complete immersive environment. It is learnt that the VR setup proposed will also include chairs, state-of-the-earth goggles, headsets with motion tracking sensors and special interiors.

Teachers will be able to ingrain concepts in students minds easily with this technology, said a top corporation official, explaining experiencing how body parts work or seeing space in VR, would leave a lasting impression in students.

VR setups in the city, which are generally present in malls, are limited to gaming and cater to a very small section of society. We want to give students this modern technology even before private schools, said the official, claiming that the facility will be open to students from all corporation schools and can help broaden horizons.

Officials from the corporations Education department, also expressed confidence in the proposals potential to induce an affinity to technology. Students often think that engineering courses are just about coding. A virtual reality classroom can break that stereotype even as the market for VR and augmented reality grows around the world, said a senior official.

A Smart City official said this virtual reality classroom, inspired from the tinkering labs proposed by the Atal Innovation Mission, could be replicated across the city, based on the results and popularity of the pilot project that has been proposed.MUDITA Girotra By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Manjit Singh was a 10-year-old when his family members fell prey to the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre. They were among the 3,000 who were slaughtered during the pogrom. Thirty-four years to the day, he still has a vivid recollection of how he, along with his family members had to vacate their house after it was set on fire by a murderous mob. His mother kept arguing with the men, who were on a killing spree at their locality, Raj Nagar, in east Delhi.

Sajjan Kumars house in Delhis

Paschim Puri | Naveen Kumar

They climbed on a Gurudwara adjacent to our house and set it on fire. My husband and his brother were not at home at the time and my children were watching television. I was the only one out there protesting as they set fire to the Gurdwara. Soon, I was running for life with my family members, as everything around me went up in flames, 85-year-old Baint Kaur, Manjit's mother, told this newspaper.

The family found temporary shelter on a vacant plot opposite their house. Without food and water and with children, who were too small to realize what was happening around them, we stayed there for three days, frozen with fear. There were snakes and other reptiles around, but we couldnt less as we had no choice, Kaur recalled.

READ | 1984 Anti-Sikh riots: Congress leader Sajjan Kumar's conviction is third successful prosecution within a month

She said a majority of Sikhs living in Raj Nagar migrated to Punjab and other places. Manjit said even as years rolled and he grew into an adult, the fear and trauma never left him. He said the Delhi High Court judgment, convicting Sajjan Kumar for his alleged role in the 84 riots, cannot bring back the ones he lost.

Asked if he is satisfied with the verdict, he said, Its been 34 years. The judgment, after all these years, can barely atone for our losses. He is a politician and will be out on bail sooner or later. He doesnt have too many years to live.

A horror story retold

Now 45. Manjit Singh was 10 years old when a mob, on a killing spree in his then east Delhi locality, gathered outside his home and set fire to a gurdwara. They then set fire to his house.By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: An inter-state gang of fraudsters who targeted unguarded ATMs centers and looted money were nabbed by the Hyderabad police on Monday. The gang members followed a first-of-its kind modus operandi to create a technical error in the machine while withdrawing money, due to which they would collect the amount but the bank would registere it as an incomplete transaction. The accused would later register a grievance with ATM ombudsman claiming failed transaction and receive the amount from the ombudsman.

As many as 31 debits cards belonging to their family members and friends were recovered.

The accused have been identified as Akhlak Ahmed, Muntheej and Tofik of Haryana and Tasleem and Sakir Mohammed of Rajasthan. Three of them are studying ITI while one has completed 10+2 and the other is a farmer.

Modus operandi

Police said they would withdraw money from ATMs and switch off the machines power so that cash withdrawal entry was not recorded. The accused would then lodge a complaint with the banks that they didnt get money when they tried to withdraw it from ATM.

Hyderabad commissioner Anjani Kumar explaining the modus operandi said the gang came to Hyderabad a month ago and started targeting ATM kiosks which are not guarded. The gang operates in groups of two. Usually two members enter the ATM centre to withdraw money. One of them operates the machine using a debit card belonging to their friends, family members or relatives. When the money is about to be dispensed from the machine, the second person fiddles with the machine resulting in a technical error in the machine.

As a result the cash would be dispensed but the transaction in the bank server registers as a failed or incomplete transaction. Meanwhile, the person operating the machine collects the cash covering the camera on the machine to avoid being captured while collecting the cash, Anjani Kumar said.

Later they lodge a complaint with the bank stating that they could not withdraw the cash from the machine. The complaint will be forwarded to the bank concerned and further verification from the bank reveals that the transaction failed because of error in the machine. The gang later get the amount through banking ombudsman, as it mandates the bank of the ATM concerned to pay back the amount to the customer, considering them as victims of failed transactions.

Taking this technical lapse as advantage, the accused committed several such frauds. Seven incidents have come to our notice, of which two are confirmed in Nampally area, while the other five are under verification from the respective banks. They also made sure to deposit the amounts immediately into their accounts to avoid recovery if they are caught, he said.Manju Latha Kalanidhi By

Express News Service

Bollywood star Kangana Ranaut, whose historical biopic, Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, is scheduled for release on January 25, talks about how she feels the need to do a lot more films than her peers because of her excess energy.

Excerpts from a conversation with the actor:

Besides just starring in your upcoming film, Manikarnika, youve shouldered multiple responsibilities and overseen the post-production. There are very few instances of a Hindi film female actor doing so much heavy lifting for a big-budget film. Do you think you have set a precedent for all leading ladies in the film industry?

Thanks to my energy, I manage to do all of it. And I am happy that, as an artist, I have set a precedent  be it doing women-centric films or speaking up when the occasion calls for it. I believe that this helps in getting rid of prejudices against female artistes.

You are the medias darling for always speaking your mind. We have often seen your aggressive and expressive facet. But what is your go-to tool to get yourself back to a composed state?

Whenever I feel agitated, meditation and looking inwards comes to my rescue. I also suffer from excess energy. I need to channelise it into something productive and creative.

The last time I felt energy getting accumulated, waiting to explode, I signed up for a writing course in New York. This energy is the reason you see me writing, directing, singing, and what not? Many of those my age take it easy, but that doesnt come easily to me. I need to do a lot more than others to stay in form.

Kangana Ranaut as 'Manikarnika'. (Photo | Twitter)

You seem to have your own philosophy. What lessons has life taught you?

Life is not what happens around, but inside you. Whenever you want to understand if you are happy, stop and ask if your inner world is calm and satiated. Dont look at your bank balance or assets balance sheet. Those will only lie. What lies inside you defines you, your happiness.

Your last film in the south was the Telugu film, Ek Niranjan (opposite Prabhas, directed by Puri Jagannadh), which came out in 2009. You havent worked in the south since then...

Tell me about it! I worked in Ek Niranjan and nobody ever offered me a role again in Telugu or the south. I am stumped. Perhaps they think I am too busy with Hindi movies.

I am always open to working in the south. I still remember how Puri (Puri Jagannadh) offered me Pokiri, but I could not do as it clashed with the dates of my debut film, Gangster. Apparently, Puri even commented, Whats with that skinny, curly-haired girl? She is yet to debut and is already so busy that she cant give us dates?! But I am glad we worked together eventually. So heres a shout out to Puri saying I am always ready for a good movie.

You walked the ramp for designer Gaurav Gupta for the Blenders Pride Fashion Tour with the theme My Express My Pride. Is there some prepping you do when you are the showstopper?

Yes, I am his muse and he has given me a flattering red flared gown to walk down the ramp in this historic palace hotel. I was chosen as it takes a sense of attitude to display such a gorgeous ensemble. I think I have the pre-requisites so all that I do when I am a showstopper is to enjoy being there and that translates into what is expected of me.

Its raining weddings in the movie industry. Down south Samantha, up north Anushka Sharma, Sonam Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra. How do you cope with pressure on this front, with gossip websites repeatedly asking you about your wedding plans? Do you believe in marriage and the wedding brouhaha?

I am a big fan of fairytale weddings. I love the way the current crop of actors  all self-made and confident -are doing it in style. I felt the need to get married when I was 25. Now at 31, I dont feel like that. Although Sonam, Deepika and I almost got launched at the same right and they got hitched, it seems right to stay single now. I am going with the flow and feeling no pressure on any aspect of my life from any quarter.

Whats your wish list for 2019?

Three of my films will be released in 2019. They better be blockbusters. The next would be a talk show with relevant conversations and a healthy dose of entertainment. And an exotic vacation with my family.

By IANS

MUMBAI: Sara Ali Khan says she was disappointed that she couldn't share her labour of love, her debut film "Kedarnath", with the people of Uttarakhand -- the state where she started her journey as an actress.

During an interaction with the media here, Sara was asked how she reacted when the film failed to get a release in Uttarakhand due to objections from some sections over the alleged promotion of 'love jihad' in the film.

Sara said: "Yes, I am disappointed. It is a weird kind of disappointment which hasn't come from anything else other than the fact that the place Uttarakhand has given me a lot. Those 45 days (of shooting the film) in Kedarnath has given me a lot. The least I could have done for the people over there, giving them back 'Kedarnath', the film. But now, what to do."

ALSO READ: 'Kedarnath' movie review

Set in the hill station of Uttarakhand, the story of the film revolves around a Hindu girl falling in love with a Muslim boy and the societal opposition due to their different religions. It is set against the backdrop of a natural calamity.

The film got into controversy for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments and promoting 'love-jihad' from the beginning of its shooting.

Before the release of the film on December 7, the Uttarakhand government wrote to all district magistrates about the film and the controversies surrounding it.

ALSO READ: Seven districts in Uttarakhand ban Abhishek Kapoors film Kedarnath

The decision followed a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat that reviewed a report submitted by a committee headed by Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj.

The government asked the district administration to take a call on their own and left it to their discretion whether or not the film should be released in their respective jurisdictions. So, the film did not release in the state.

ALSO READ: 'Kedarnath' director Abhishek Kapoor urges Uttarakhand government to lift 'ban'

Directed by Abhishek Kapoor, the film also features Sushant Singh Rajput.

Sara's maiden performance won her a lot of praise from critics, the audience and her parents -- actors Amrita Singh and Saif Ali Khan -- as well as the Hindi film fraternity at large.

Sharing her mother's reaction to the film, Sara said: "My mother cried at the end of the film. But I would say parents and family will love and support me by default."A Sharadhaa By

Express News Service

The name Sanchith Sanjeev is familiar in the Kannada film industry. Over the past few years, this young talents name has been doing the rounds in Gandhinagar and the film fraternity. With seven years experience of working behind the scenes, doing short films, advertisement commercials, and closely associated in the films made under Kichcha Production house  the latest being Ambi Ning Vayassaytho  he is now all getting prepared to face the camera.

The budding actor, who did a two year course at the New York Film Academy was trained in film making, acting and cinematography. Sanchith reveals to us that he will be temporarily camping in Mumbai between January and March, where he will be training in MMA fighting and fitness.

Meanwhile, the young talent, along with his uncle Sudeep, has set a launch target. My training will start from January till March-2019. The project will go on the floors sometime in June and by the end of next year, I will hit the silver screen, he asserts.

Shared quite a candid moment with maama on the sets of 'ranna'. No better person to be with on a shoot.@KicchaSudeep pic.twitter.com/ka6OvDSpis  sanchith sanjeev (@sanchithsanjeev) February 24, 2015

Having the nuances of cinema, he is pretty confident. It is time I try something in front of the camera now. I will be getting trained with the person who coordinated fights for Sudeeps film, Pailwaan, in MMA. This is important in order to get my body in shape and get that flexibility. I want to come in my own scale and be ready for everything, as per the scripts demands, he says. While there has been talks about scripts, Sanchith is very particular in the character.

Sudeep, a couple of writers and he are working on the kind of role. I am not so keen to be starring in the regular commercial that has big fights and a whole lot of songs. I want my character to decide the story and that is what I insist on, which is taking a bit of time, says Sanchith. He adds, Script can be done, but what kind of role are people expecting from me? All these factors  the current generation, time, taste of audience and what they need right now  is something we are working on right now.

Ask Sanchith, as to what kind of character he thinks will do well, in his first film, and he says, Not yet decided, but I want to appeal to todays generation, an entertainer which will connect with the youth,he reveals.

To the man who has made me what i am,, who has taken me closer to my dreams.. HAPPY B'day deepumama @KicchaSudeep pic.twitter.com/I8Et0cTn6Q  sanchith sanjeev (@sanchithsanjeev) September 2, 2014

Sanchith admits that in spite of being in the industry for so many years, acting is completely new to him. However, he makes a point. I am not saying this with arrogance, but I should not be in a position where I dont want people to question me tomorrow. I know my job, I have done direction to editing, right till the end of the production phase. I was closely associated with various directors. I have done set work and costumes also. If I am trained in acting, I am sure to have an upper hand, that is something that makes me comfortable. If there is anything else I need to bring in any required change, I believe that will happen through experience, he says.By PTI

WASHINGTON: People who have low self-control -- indulging in impulse online shopping, downloading music and compulsive email use -- are more likely to become easy targets of cyber attacks, a study warns.

Scientists from the Michigan State University in the US examined the personality traits and behaviours -- both obvious and subtle -- that lead someone to fall victim to malware attacks.

ALSO READ | Guard your children against cyber grooming

"People who show signs of low self-control are the ones we found more susceptible to malware attacks," said Tomas Holt, lead author of the research.

"An individual's characteristics are critical in studying how cybercrime perseveres, particularly the person's impulsiveness and the activities that they engage in while online that have the greatest impact on their risk," Holt said.

Low self-control comes in many forms.

This type of person shows signs of short-sightedness, negligence, physical versus verbal behavior and an inability to delay gratification, Holt said.

"Self-control is an idea that's been looked at heavily in criminology in terms of its connection to committing crimes," Holt said.

"But we find a correlation between low self-control and victimisation; people with this trait put themselves in situations where they are near others who are motivated to break the law," he said.

The research, published in Social Science Computer Review, assessed the self-control of nearly 6,000 survey participants, as well as their computers' behaviour that could indicate malware and infection.

To measure victimisation, researchers asked participants a series of questions about how they might react in certain situations.

ALSO READ | Over 4 lakh cyber attacks in India from Russia, US and China

For computer behaviour, they asked about their computer having slower processing, crashing, unexpected pop-ups and the homepage changing on their web browser.

"The internet has omnipresent risks. In an online space, there is constant opportunity for people with low self-control to get what they want, whether that is pirated movies or deals on consumer goods," Holt said.

Hackers and cybercriminals know that people with low self-control are the ones who will be scouring the internet for what they want -- or think they want -- which is how they know what sites, files or methods to attack, researchers said.

Understanding the psychological side of self-control and the types of people whose computers become infected with malware -- and who likely spread it to others -- is critical in fighting cybercrime, Holt said.

What people do online matters, and the behavioural factors at play are entirely related to risks.

"There are human aspects of cybercrime that we don't touch because we focus on the technical side to fix it," Holt said.

"But if we can understand the human side, we might find solutions that are more effective for policy and intervention," he said.

Looking ahead, Holt hopes to help break the silos between the computer and social sciences to think holistically about fighting cybercrime.By PTI

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar's conviction and sentence to life for "remainder of his natural life" by the Delhi High Court on Monday is the third successful prosecution within a month relating to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases.

The judgement holding Kumar guilty in a case arising out of one of the worst genocides in the country comes 19 days after the High Court on November 28 upheld the conviction of 70 out of the 89 people who were awarded five-year jail term by a trial court in another case during anti-Sikh riots.

ALSO READ | 1984 anti-Sikh riots: HC blasts Delhi Police for active connivance in brutal murders

Before that a trial court on November 20 had awarded death penalty to convict Yashpal Singh and ordered life imprisonment to another, Naresh Sherawat, for killing of two men during the riots that followed the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards, leaving nearly 3,000 people dead.

The conviction of November 14 and subsequent punishment awarded to the duo has been challenged in the high court.

73-year-old Kumar is possibly the first big politician to be convicted after 34 years of the riots.

His conviction has come with a strong observation by the High Court which said the riots were a "crime against humanity" perpetrated by those who enjoyed "political patronage".

The case relates to killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar part-I area in Palam Colony in South West Delhi on November 1-2, 1984 and burning down of a Gurudwara in Raj Nagar part II.

Six accused, including Kumar, who was a Member of Parliament at that time, were sent for trial in 2010 and three years later, the lower court had convicted five of the accused but acquitted the Congress leader of all the charges.

ALSO READ | 1984 anti-Sikh riots judgment will act as a deterrent: Senior lawyer H S Phoolka

Before Kumar's case, the High Court while holding guilty 70 out of the 89 people on November 28 in another anti-Sikh riots case, had observed that it was a "dark chapter" in the history of independent India as the "law and order machinery had broken down".

Further, it had said: "The police forces, and the civil administration, did not take timely or effective action to prevent the riotous conditions from spiralling out of hand. The criminal law process began, but hesitatingly and belatedly."

The case pertained to rioting, looting and burning houses in various residential blocks in Trilok Puri between October 31 and November 3 in 1984 after the assassination.

The High Court had dismissed the 22-year-old appeals in the case.

After coming to power, the NDA government had constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) in 2015, to probe the cases of the carnage.

The first verdict in the case probed by the SIT had come with the conviction and sentence of Yashpal Singh (death) and Naresh Sherawat (life), for killing Hardev Singh and Avtar Singh in Mahipalpur area of South Delhi on November 1, 1984.

While that was the first death penalty after the SIT was formed, one Kishori was earlier given the death penalty by a trial court in as many as seven anti-Sikh riots cases.

However, the Delhi High Court confirmed death penalty only in three cases, which were later commuted to life-term by the Supreme Court.

As per the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the death penalty cannot be executed unless confirmed by the High Court.

The SIT is investigating nearly 60 cases related to the riots, while it has filed "untraced report" in 52 cases.

Of the 650 cases registered in connection with the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, 267 were closed as untraced by the Delhi Police.

Of these 267 cases, five were later taken up by the CBI.

The SIT also scrutinised records of 18 cancelled cases.

The SIT found 60 cases appropriate for further investigation and has filed "untraced report" in 52 cases in the last one-and-a-half years.

Out of the eight cases being investigated, charge sheets have been filed in five, while the status of three cases, in which Kumar is an accused, is 'pending investigation'.By Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's remarks on migrants from UP and Bihar taking jobs in the State at the cost of its residents has led to controversies. While, the BJP has demanded Congress president Rahul Gandhi's apology for the comments, ally Samajwadi Party also expressed its displeasure.

"Lot of industries are set up in which take people from other states, like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. I don't want to criticize them, but the young people of Madhya Pradesh remain deprived," Kamal Nath said, suggesting government incentives for industries who give 70 per cent of their jobs to people from the state.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who was missing from the ranks of opposition parties who attended the oath ceremonies of Kamal Nath and two other Congress chief ministers on Monday, sharply criticized the comments. "This is wrong. In Maharashtra, you hear questions like why have north Indians come here. Why are north Indians doing business here? The same questions come from Delhi. Now this is coming from Madhya Pradesh. If north Indians get together and decide then who will come to the center," Yadav.

Congress' Bihar ally RJD was also critical. The party's lawmaker and spokesman Bhai Virendra said such comments "should be avoided" as every citizen of the country was free to live and work anywhere.

Union Minister Giriraj Kishore of the BJP said Kamal Nath should clarify what he meant and "Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar".

He said: "The people of Bihar and UP work hard for development of the states they go to. Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the people of Bihar and UP or else people will give him an answer."

Taking umbrage at Kamal Nath's assertions, BJP national General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya accused the Congress of playing divisive politics.

"Kamal Nath was born in Uttar Pradesh and it doesn`t suit him to speak against people of the state where he was born. It is unfortunate that the Congress is indulging in divisive politics seeking to pit one region against the other," said Vijayvargiya.

This is not first such controversy in the backdrop of migrants from UP and Bihar. Recently, in October this year, thousands of such migrants fled from Gujarat following hate messages being circulated over social media leading to attacks on migrants.

It all began on September 28, when a 14-month-old girl in the Sabarkantha district of Gujarat was allegedly raped by a man hailing from Bihar. The accused was arrested but the incident created a rage among a section of Gujaratis, who mobilised small mobs to attack unrelated migrant workers.By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: With the Delhi High Court sentencing Congress leader Sajjan Kumar to life imprisonment, the focus now shifts to the new chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath, whose name was also linked to the infamous 1984 Sikh riots. According to lawyer H S Phoolka, who has been fighting the 1984 cases, there is strong evidence to prove Naths involvement in the anti-Sikh riots.

Phoolka alleges Nath had led a mob at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj near the Parliament House.

ALSO READ | 1984 Anti-Sikh riots: Congress leader Sajjan Kumar's conviction is third successful prosecution within a month

However, Nath maintains that there has been no complaint against him, and that he was absolved by Justice Nanavati Commission. Nath is alleged to have been present near the gurdwara when it was being attacked by a 4,000-strong mob.

He was then a first-time Congress MP from Madhya Pradesh.

We have testimonies of people who confirmed the presence of Kamal Nath at the place where riots broke out; our fight will continue. Well try our best to get cases registered against him. Nothing is difficult. Today, we have got the biggest catch and this adds to our morale to fight more, Phoolka said.

ALSO READ | 1984 anti-Sikh riots: HC blasts Delhi Police for active connivance in brutal murders

Soon after taking over as Madhya Pradesh CM, Nath dismissed all allegations of his involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as mere politics. When I became the Union minister for the first time in 1991, no one raised the issue. There is no case, FIR or charge-sheet against me in the matter, said Nath.

Its nothing but politics

No one raised it when I was in charge of the Congress in Delhi as national general secretary. Why now? Its nothing but politics, says Kamal NathEgyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met on Tuesday with Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank Kristalina Georgieva to promote cooperation, El-Sisi's spokesperson Bassam Rady said.

The meeting came on the sidelines of the Egyptian president's four-day visit to Vienna.

El-Sisi stressed Egypt's keenness to promote cooperation with the World Bank as a partner in the sustainable development process in Egypt, says Rady.

Georgieva stressed the bank's efforts to develop the consultation and coordination frameworks with Egypt to continue supporting the country's economic reforms and social reform programme.

She highlighted that the economic reforms implemented by the Egyptian government have achieved positive results reflected in raising growth rates, reducing the budget deficit and achieving macroeconomic stability.

The World Bank official also said that the business and investment climate has drastically been improved.

El-Sisi travelled to the Austrian city on Saturday to attend the EU-Africa summit which took place on Monday.

In October, Egypt agreed to a new $3 billion financing deal with the World Bank, which the Egyptian investment ministry said would help secure economic growth.

The World Bank currently has 16 projects in Egypt worth a total of $6.69 billion.

Some of the projects support Egypt's private sector, while others aim to support education reform in public schools.

Search Keywords:

Short link:

By PTI

MUMBAI: Civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde, named an accused by the Pune Police in the Elgar Parishad-Koregaon Bhima, Monday denied all charges against him, urging the Bombay High Court to quash the FIR against him.

Even as the police argued before the court that it had ample evidence that "implicated" Teltumbde in the case, the latter told a bench of Justices B P Dharmadhikari and Sarang Kotwal that he was not part of anything illegal and all his social and financial dealings had always been "above board".

Teltumbde's lawyer, senior advocate Mihir Desai, told the bench that on December 30 and 31 last year, his client was in Goa and not in Pune, or anywhere close to the site of the violence near Koregaon-Bhima.

Desai argued in support of a petition filed by Teltumbde through him seeking that an FIR registered by the Pune Police in October naming him as a co-accused in the Elgar Parishad-Koregaon-Bhima case be quashed.

"I (Teltumbde) wasn't present at the site of the incident.

I have been available for questioning, but the police is yet to summon me," Desai said.

"The police is only placing reliance on a bunch of letters that are not signed.

I have also never been a part of any fact finding committee for Gadchiroli (a Naxal-affected district in eastern Maharashtra).

And in fact, I have never been to Gadchiroli," he added.

Desai also argued that even if one were to assume hypothetically that Teltumbde was part of a fact finding team for Gadchiroli that did not make him a "terrorist".

Advocate Aruna Pai, who appeared for the Pune Police, however, objected to Teltumbde's plea, saying there was adequate incriminating evidence against the activist but he was yet to be arrested as the police were "busy" probing other accused.

The bench has heard a bunch of petitions filed in the case by Teltumbde, and his co-accused activist Gautam Navlakha-- arrested in August by the Pune Police for his alleged links to "Maoists" and an event, Elgar Parishad, held on December 31 last year.

Delhi-based Navlakaha was subsequently put under house arrest on the Supreme Court orders.

However, on October 1, the Delhi High Court ordered Navlakha's release.

As per the police, the Elgar Parishad event was funded and supported by Maoists.

At the event, held a day before the January 1 caste clashes at Koregaon-Bhima, located on the outskirts of Pune city, the activists made inflammatory speeches and provocative statements that contributed to the violence, the police said.

Several activists were named in the FIR.

Some of them, including Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj, P Varavara Rao and Navlakha were initially put under house arrest on the directions of the Supreme Court.

However, all of them except Navlakha were re-arrested and taken into custody by the Pune Police recently.

In October, another FIR was registered by the Pune Police on the same issue, naming eight more activists including Teltumbde and Stan Swamy.

Teltumbde and Swamy are yet to be arrested in the case.

While Teltumbde has been named as an accused, the Pune Police told the HC last week Swamy was still just a "suspect".

The bench reserved its verdict on Teltumbde's plea and as a consequence, the interim protection from arrest granted to him previously will be extended until the verdict.

Last week, Navlakha was granted similar protection till January 14.

PTI AYA RSY RHL 12172040 NNNNAnand ST Das By

Express News Service

PATNA: The scourge of caste-based discrimination in Bihar has permeated a government-run higher secondary school so deeply that its students have been made to sit in separate classrooms demarcated along caste lines for the past four years.

Authorities of Bihars education department were unaware of the regressive practice being followed at the GA Higher Secondary (Plus 2) School at Lalganj in Vaishali district so far. After the matter came to light following a recent inquiry by officials, a shocked state government ordered an inquiry on Tuesday.

While all students of the school usually come to the institute together and leave the premises together, they are made to sit in different classrooms as per their castes and religions according to a system followed for the past four years, said sources. Students from Dalit and Muslim communities are reportedly never allowed to visit other classrooms.

There are also separate sections and rooms for students belonging to Hindu and Muslim communities at the school, said sources. Similarly, separate classrooms have also been allotted for students of each class belonging to the upper castes, OBCs and Dalits. The school also uses separate attendance registers for different social groups of the students.

An inspection of the school made it clear that such a system indeed prevails there. We are sending a detailed report to the district education officer for instructions on suitable action on the matter, said Arvind Kumar Tiwari, the Block Education officer (BEO) of Lalganj.

School headmistress Meena Kumari, however, claimed that the social segregation of students has been proving useful in many ways. This system is in place in order to facilitate a smooth educational process and also to ensure that the execution of government schemes becomes easier. There is no discrimination on the basis of caste or religion, she said.

There have been no negative effects of this system at the school so far. Besides, there has never been a complaint against this system, which is running smoothly, argued the headmistress.

Bihar education minister Krishna Nandan Prasad Verma expressed shock upon learning of the segregation of students along caste and religious lines at a government-run school.

It is very unfortunate if it is really happening. I have ordered a thorough investigation of the matter. Appropriate disciplinary action will be taken against whoever is found responsible for it, he added.By PTI

NEW DELHI: The CBI Tuesday examined Hyderabad-based businessman Sathish Babu Sana to verify and corroborate his statement that had formed the basis of its case of bribery against its Special Director Rakesh Asthana.

Sana was called before a new team constituted by interim director M Nageswara Rao immediately after the government sent both CBI Director Alok Verma and Asthana on forced leave in the midnight of October 23 in the wake of an unprecedented feud between the two.

Rao, who has been made in-charge of the CBI, had reconstituted the team probing allegations against Asthana and transferred the members of the erstwhile team.

The new team Tuesday called Sana to verify his complaint and asked him to clarify "discrepancies" in his complaint, sources said.

Sana had narrated his meetings with various middlemen in New Delhi as well as Dubai before a magistrate which led to the FIR.

He had claimed that he was seeking relief from the repeated summons issued by the CBI team probing corruption case against meat exporter Moin Qureshi which was headed by Asthana.

Sana has alleged that investment banker Manoj Prasad had assured him that he would get relief from CBI summons if he agrees to pay Rs 5 crore as a bribe, the complaint, now part of FIR, alleged.

He also alleged that he was assured by Prasad that his brother Somesh manages investments of Asthana in London and he is in touch with two other senior officers of various agencies.

Sana had recorded a statement under Section 164 of criminal procedure code before a magistrate on October 4 and October 16.

The statement recorded before the magistrate is considered a confessional statement and in case the complainant withdraws from it, the prosecuting agency is well within its rights to file a perjury case.

Prasad was arrested by the agency on October 16, when he was returning from Dubai to allegedly collect an instalment of the bribe.

According to the CBI, it has detected five alleged payments to middlemen by Sana - Rs 1 crore on December 10, 2017, Rs 1.

95 crore on December 13, 2017, Rs 25 lakh on October 10, 2018, and two tranches of 25,000 Dirham and 3,000 Dirham on October 14.

The agency has also alleged that it has details of file movements and periodic relief given to Sana on the payment of each instalment of bribe which show a pattern of favours to the businessman, the sources said.

The CBI claims that it has corroborated details of payment with phone intercepts, WhatsApp messages recovered from the phone of middleman Manoj, and tower locations to buttress its charges.

The complaint filed by Sana mentioned that one of the middlemen made him to listen to a voice and later told him that it was Asthana, senior officer in the CBI.

However, there was no direct meeting between Sana and Asthana mentioned in the statement.

1984-batch Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Asthana was heading the Special Investigating Team handling crucial cases such as AgustaWestland chopper scam and loan fraud by business tycoon Vijay Mallya.

The team is also probing the Moin Qureshi case. Asthana in an exhaustive letter to the Cabinet Secretary on August 24 had given a list of 10 instances of alleged corruption by Verma in which it was alleged that Sana paid the CBI chief Rs 2 crore to get clean chit in the case, government sources had said.Amit Agnihotri and Richa Sharma By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: A day after DMK chief M K Stalin proposed Congress president Rahul Gandhi as Oppositions prime ministerial candidate in 2019, many other opposition parties flagged their reservations saying it was premature to talk about it.

Any decision on the PM candidate should be taken after the Lok Sabha elections, they said. The Trinamool Congress said there was a consensus among the non-BJP parties that any announcement on the PM candidate at this juncture would divide the opposition camp.

The broad understanding reached among opposition parties on the issue of name of PM was to take it up after elections, said party MP Derek OBrien. Stalin proposed Rahuls name on Sunday at a function to unveil DMK patriarch M Karunanidhis statute at party office in Chennai.

Several opposition leaders were present on the occasion. In the opposition camp, many senior leaders harbour prime ministerial ambitions.

ALSO READ | Union Minister Ramdas Athawale says no more 'Pappu', Rahul Gandhi now 'Pappa'

Congress sources cited the recent remarks of Rahul that the oppositions focus was to defeat the BJP unitedly in 2019 and the issue of prime ministerial nominee could be decided after the polls.

Veterans in the party, including MP Chief Minister Kamal Nath and the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, expressed similar views. Nath told a TV channel that Rahul had never insisted on the top post and the issue would be discussed with the allies without any pre-condition.

Azad evaded a direct reply to a media query and said the issue would be dealt with after the elections. Citing previous coalition governments, CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said it was in the nature of Indian democracy that a formation comes into existence post elections.

The united front government in 1996, NDA in 1998 and UPA-I in 2004, all came into existence after the elections. What proceeds now is unity of secular forces to ensure that an alternative secular government is formed at the Centre. We will decide the formation post-elections, Yechury said.

ALSO READ | Resurgent Congress leaves SP, BSP cagey in Uttar Pradesh?

According to sources, TDP, NCP, SP and BSP disagree dwith DMK chief and called it premature.

The Congress itself has said that the issue will be decided after the results. When Congress and other like-minded parties themselves have talked about it, there is no point in debating the issue now. All parties will take the decision after polls, said NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik.By ANI

NEW DELHI: Indian national Hamid Nehal Ansari's parents' long struggle for being reunited with their son, who was arrested by the Pakistan Intelligence agencies and local police from Kohat district in 2012, may bear fruit today.

The Pakistan Foreign Ministry on Monday announced to repatriate Hamid on the completion of a three-year sentence handed over to him by a Pakistani military court in 2015.

"The Pakistan High Commission has told us that the Pakistan authorities will hand over Hamid to the Indian Embassy there today, following which he will cross the border and be reunited with us," Fauzia Ansari, Hamid's mother said.

READ| Pakistan's decision to release Hamid Nihal Ansari due to pressure from New Delhi: Sources

The family, however, has not been apprised of the exact time when Hamid will reach India. "I would like to thank the Indian government for understanding our pain and extending complete help to us in bringing our son back. Even the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi helped us out and were responsive to our ordeal," Ansari opined.

Hamid's mother further appealed to the Pakistani government to free other individuals like her son who have been imprisoned, underscoring the painful experience the family went through due to his detention in the neighbouring country. "Their parents are also waiting for them and suffering," she stated.

Expressing gratitude to the government and media for helping her out, she said, "This wasn't our effort alone - the media was our voice and the government completely helped us. We can't thank god enough. Both the governments have been kind to us and dealt with us humanely. We thank everybody."

"Hamid will be with us today hopefully. I pray to God that he will be," she remarked while travelling in a bus en route to Attari-Wagah border, through which Hamid would be repatriated.

Hamid, a teacher at the Mumbai Management College, went missing in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in November 2012. His mother filed a habeas corpus petition in Delhi High Court, following which the news about his arrest became public.

On January 13, the high court was informed that Hamid was in the custody of the Pakistani Army and was being tried by a military court. The Pakistani security agencies had claimed that Hamid had used fake identity card in the name of "Hamza" and had entered Pakistan through Afghanistan without travel documents. They had charged him for "anti-state activities".Sana Shakil By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force should be relieved from duties of internal security and deployed only for border-related tasks, a parliamentary panel has said while stressing that internal security and anti-Naxal operations are draining soldiers from the border.

The report on the working conditions of Border Guarding Forces was recently submitted to the Rajya Sabha.

The ITBP, deployed at the rugged China border, has been raising the issue of being overburdened with non-border duties with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for quite some time.

The panel headed by former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said, The committee observes that the ITBP was raised for border security. However, some ITBP battalions are deployed for anti-Naxal operations and internal security as a result the jawans suffer in terms of training and rest.

This has been a long-drawn battle for ITBP whose personnel are deployed in extreme weather conditions and good rest is a must for them. They often complain of being sent for tasks of internal security during their rest period. This affects their training and welfare, a senior government official said.

Non-border duties of ITBP include VIP protection, anti-Naxal operations, security to diplomatic missions in Afghanistan, United Nations peacekeeping operations, disaster management, poll duty, security and communication cover during Kailash Mansarovar and Amarnath Yatra.

Out of the total 60 battalions in ITBP, 32 are deployed in border guarding, 11 in internal security, eight in anti-Naxal Operations and five are reserved for rest.

Last year, MHA had said that Central Reserve Police Force and ITBP will be relieved from protection work, adding that the job would remain with National Security Guard and Central Industrial Security Force.By Express News Service

PATNA: After staying away from active politics and shunning all RJD meetings for a month and a half, jailed party chief Lalu Prasad Yadavs maverick son Tej Pratap Yadav has resurfaced and is planning a youth rally in February.

The 30-year-old first-time MLA and former minister, who filed for divorce from his wife last month against his parents wishes, has not visited the 10, Circular Road residence of his mother and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi despite being in Patna for a week. He has been holding parleys with RJDs second-rung leaders at their houses and hotels, said sources.

Many in RJD were surprised when Tej Pratap appeared at the partys state headquarters on Sunday. Accompanied by nearly 20 supporters, he occupied the party chiefs chair and held a meeting.He discussed BJPs rout in the three states and wanted RJDs youth wing to guard up its loins to defeat the saffron forces in Bihar in next years Lok Sabha polls, said a leader close to him.

Tej Pratap had run into his younger brother and de-facto RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav and mother Rabri Devi at the wedding on Saturday, but they hardly exchanged a word. With the RJD-led Grand Alliance slated to begin seat-sharing talks in the next few days, Tej Pratap is reportedly keen to ensure that leaders close to him get tickets.

I was never away from the party. There are enemies both within and outside the party, and I will finish them off. I am going to work on a mission mode to ensure that RJD emerges as a big winner in the Lok Sabha polls, said Tej Pratap. He has clarified that he would not return to his parents house. I have requested the state government for a bungalow, he added. The next hearing of his divorce petition is slated for January 8.He praised Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and said he would organise a grand rally of RJDs youth wing in Patna in February, and invite Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav.

Family Differences

Tej Pratap Yadav, who filed for divorce against his parents wishes, has not visited mother Rabri Devi at the Circular Road home despite being in Patna for a week.By PTI

MUMBAI: The Mumbai Police Monday said they will examine the contents of a speech given by controversial Hindutva leader Sambhaji Bhide at a BMC school at Sewree in Central Mumbai.

Bhide, who is accused of inciting caste violence near Koregaon-Bhima village in Pune district earlier this year, was in the city Sunday.

"We will examine the contents of Bhide's speech, which was recorded by the Police and if we found anything inflammatory, action will be taken accordingly," an official said.

As the event was organised inside a school hall, it did not require police permission, he said, adding the organisers had obtained permission from the BMC for using the hall.

Initially, the event was scheduled to be held in Lalbaug in central Mumbai, but it was subsequently shifted to a school in Sewree (west) after police didn't grant a permission, a police official said.

"We also received an application from the Bhim Army, which sought an action against Bhide, organisers of the event, BMC officials and headmaster of the school for giving permission for Bhide's speech at the school hall," he said.

Supporters of Bhim Army had staged protests outside the hall, following which at least 28 of them were briefly detained under section 151 of CrPC, he said, adding no offence was registered against them.

Nitin Chougule, a senior leader of Shivapratisthan, had claimed that the protest were politically motivated.

"The violence near Pune had taken place almost a year back. No one could prove Bhide Guruji's involvement in it, still he has been frequently accused of being anti-Dalit," he had said.

Bhide was booked by the Pune rural police in the wake of caste clashes near Koregaon-Bhima village in January this year.

The violence had broken out when dalit activists had assembled to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Koregaon-Bhima battle in which Army of the Peshwas was defeated by the British forces, which according to some History accounts, comprised a large number of Dalit soldiers.

The Mumbai police had denied permission for Bhide's lecture on "history of forts" in January this year, immediate after the Bhima Koregaon violence, the official said.Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

The plans of US-based pro-Khalistan outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) to hold a Kartarpur Sahib Convention next year have set alarm bells ringing in Punjab.

The statement by SFJ seeking Pakistans help to liberate Punjab from India has exposed the nefarious designs of the organisation and its nexus with the Pakistani Army and ISI, said Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday.

In a hard-hitting reaction to the statement of SFJs Legal Advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, Amarinder said the cat is now well and truly out of the bag, and the truth of the deep-rooted connection between SJF and Pakistani Army is out in the open.

The statement has nailed SJFs lies that it is a peaceful movement to build momentum for a referendum on a separate state of Khalistan, said the Chief Minister, adding that it is more than evident now that the organisation, with the full support and backing of Pak Army and ISI, is striving to foment trouble in

Indian Punjab.

Through his statement, Pannu has made clear his intentions of going all out to force the secession of Punjab from India, with the backing of Pak Army and ISI, said the Punjab Chief Minister, rubbishing SFJs claims to the contrary.

He has also taken strong exception to SFJs plans to hold the Kartarpur Sahib Convention  2019, coinciding with the auspicious occasion of the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Sri Guru Nanak

Dev. This, he said, has lent credence to his fears that Pakistans decision to open the Kartarpur Corridor was an ISI game-plan to help forces inimical to India, including SFJ. It has also once again proved that the Pak government had always been, and continues to remain, a puppet regime, working at the behest of the Army there, he added.

The whole affair is a bigger conspiracy by the Pak Army, which is persistently trying to revive militancy in Punjab, Amarinder said, reiterating his stand on the issue. Captain Amarinder Singh also reiterated that Punjab, and the Indian Army, are well prepared to counter any such plans of the neighbouring country.

Punjab is today much better equipped than it was in the 80s and 90s when Pak-backed terrorism had swept the state, he said, warning Islamabad against extending any further support to SFJ or other such

outfits that are bent on disturbing the states hard-earned peace.

The Pak Army would do well to remember the ignominious defeats it had suffered at the hands of the Indian Army on every occasion it had tried to take on the might of the latter, right from the 1965 and 1971 wars to the more recent Kargil battle, warned Amarinder.By PTI

RANCHI: Two days after resuming political activities, Tej Pratap Yadav, the elder son of jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad, Tuesday met his father and claimed that he was advised to "take the party forward" by him.

The over two-hour meeting between Tej Pratap and his father took place at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, where the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief is undergoing treatment for various ailments after being convicted in fodder scam cases.

The former Bihar health minister had been keeping a low profile for several months on account of differences with younger brother Tejashwi Yadav and estrangement with his wife of six months.

It was a long time since I met my father. I became emotional. I love him. My father is my God---Krishna, Vishnu and Mahadev, Yadav told reporters.

He further claimed that the RJD chief had asked him "to take the party forward", reiterating that he saw Tejashwi as "Arjuna" and vowed to play the role of Lord Krishna who was the warrior prince's charioteer in the epic Mahabharata.

Asked about his divorce petition, Tej Pratap refused to divulge the details, saying the matter was in court.

Tej Pratap had on November 3 met Lalu Prasad after deciding to part ways with his wife. He had reportedly gone missing after filing for divorce.

However, on Sunday, he made a sudden appearance at the party's state headquarters in Patna and held a long discussion with youth and student wing workers and declared he was back to active politics.

After holding discussions with the party workers, he interacted with media and showered praises on Congress president Rahul Gandhi for leading the party to victory in the assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Meanwhile, D K Jha, the doctor treating Prasad at RIMS told reporters that Lalu Prasad was stable and his blood sugar and blood pressure levels were under control.

The former Bihar chief minister, who is suffering from a chronic kidney ailment, had suffered four infections during the last three and a half months, the doctor said.

We are giving anti-biotic (to Prasad) ten to fifteen days per month. We are also encouraging him to walk and his strength is increasing, the doctor said.Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met on Tuesday with Slovenia's Prime Minister Marjan Sarec in Vienna to discuss strengthening cooperation between the two countries, a statement by Egyptian presidential spokesperson Bassam Rady read.

El-Sisi and Sarec discussed boosting cooperation in fields of defence, security, combating terrorism and organised crime.

El-Sisi spoke to Sarec about Egypt's efforts to improve the business environment, encourage the private sector and attract foreign direct investment.

The meeting is part of El-Sisi's four-day visit to the Austrian capital to attend the EU-Africa summit.

During the meeting, El-Sisi praised Egypt's strong ties with Slovenia and highlighted Egypt's keenness to enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields, especially trade and tourism.

A joint committee headed by the foreign ministers of both countries is expected to meet soon in Cairo to boost cooperation, Rady said.

The Slovenian prime minister expressed his country's keenness to develop and strengthen its relations with Egypt, especially as the country represents a central pillar of stability and security in the Middle East.

They also discussed a number of issues related to the regional situation and ways of reaching political solutions to the ongoing conflicts in the region, as well as efforts to combat the phenomenon of irregular migration.

El-Sisi congratulated Sarec on his election as Slovenia's PM in September. He also hailed the success of the last legislative elections in Slovenia.

In November, Egypt and Slovenia signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in the field of developing infrastructure to distribute energy.

Search Keywords:

Short link:

By PTI

NEW DELHI: An Indian telecom export body has requested National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to ban purchase of equipment from Chinese companies like Huawei, ZTE and Fiberhome for government networks, claiming that they can pose a serious national security threat.

"Ban the procurement of any Chinese telecom equipment in any government telecom network (centre or state), including power, rail, defence and PSUs. We believe that indigenous equipment makers already have the products, IPR as well as manufacturing capability and capacity to address these needs," Telecom Export Promotion Council (TEPC) Chairman Shyamal Ghosh said in a letter to Doval.

The TEPC has been set-up by the government to promote telecom export from India.

Telecom industry body COAI, however, said that the TEPC demand to impose restrictions on Huawei and other Chinese firms is without any merit.

"We are also surprised to note that such allegations have been posed by TEPC without any proof and background check," COAI said in a letter to telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan.

When contacted, Huawei said it has not received any official communication and the statement issued against it is not backed by any proof.

"As a leading global supplier of telecom equipment, we remain committed to developing trusted and secure solutions for our customers. We continue to receive full support from the government and industry partners alike. Having a proven track record of doing business in the country, we continue to work closely with Government of India and other industry stakeholders," the Huawei spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that privacy and security are always first priority at Huawei.

Ghosh, former telecom secretary, shot off the letter following recents move by developed countries like the US, Japan, Canada, the UK, Germany, Australia and New Zealand to block purchase of equipment from companies such as Huawei, ZTE and Fiberhome, particularly for 5G networks.

"While it is common knowledge that telecom equipment from China pose severe security threat (especially for India), recent decisive actions by technologically savvy countries have confirmed this," Ghosh said.

He cited case of Estonia that faced DDOS (Distributed Denial of Services) attacks in 2007 and case Stuxnet which target SCADA systems and is alleged to have affected Iranian nuclear programme.

"It is in this context that I would like to bring to your kind attention, the perception of our members to a rising security threat of Chinese telecom equipment vendors being used in our telecom networks," Ghosh said.

He said that India is transforming into digital nation for which telecom network should be purchased from trusted source.

The TEPC Chairman alleged that there has been a sustained effort by Chinese equipment vendors to win all government and security-sensitive projects such as in power, railways, oil and gas, defense etc at any cost, by offering predatory pricing, so as to gain control of strategic assets in the country.

"Also, by offering low prices and long-term financing, backed by their state-owned banks, they are winning major part of the capex spends of private telecom operators in India," Ghosh alleged.

He said that with mounting international pressure against Chinese telecom equipment vendors, there is a strong possibility that they will increase their focus on India to garner more business and further aggravate cyber security risks in the country The TEPC requested Doval to create a phase-wise plan to replace all Chinese equipment from any security-sensitive network and any incremental procurement and upgrade should be done based on Indian equipment wherever possible or from a trusted partner country until Indian products become available.

"Private telcos should be strongly advised to avoid the use of any Chinese equipment in any security-sensitive area," Ghosh said.By PTI

PANAJI: After Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's much discussed visit to inspect two under- construction bridges, the Congress Monday said he should show the same efforts to unfurl the tricolour on December 19 to mark the Liberation Day of Goa.

Goa was liberated from Portuguese rule on December 19, 1961.

Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar said the party will appreciate if the chief minister unfurled the tri-colour on December 19 and delivered the Liberation Day address.

"To unfurl the tricolour is a much easier and honourable job than inspecting bridges," Chodankar said.

Earlier in the day, the BJP accused the Congress of politicising the health condition of Parrikar.

On Sunday, Parrikar inspected two under-construction bridges on Mandovi and Zuari rivers.

This was the first time the CM was seen in public since returning to Goa on October 14 post hospitalisation in Delhi's AIIMS.Ramananda Sengupta By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: On a day Hamid Nehal Ansari crossed over the Wagah-Attari border into India after serving a three-year sentence for espionage in Pakistan, officials in New Delhi said Indian diplomats in Pakistan faced tremendous difficulties in accessing not just the internet, but Indian government sites, which makes it extremely difficult for them to perform their official duties.

On December 12, the Indian High Commission in Islamabad issued a note, one of several over the past few months, to the Pakistan foreign ministry urging its intervention in resolving the issue.

Referring to a similar note sent November 14, the note said that The government of Indias official website (ending in gov.in/.in domain names) and the internet connection of the High Commission continue to intermittently blocked. Specifically, the website indianvisaonline.gov.in, used by applicants in Pakistan to apply for visas, is non-accessible for extended periods causing great disruption in the visa application process for the applicants

Noting that some instances of such complaints were enclosed with the note, the High Commission said the esteemed ministry is requested to ensure that the internet service providers in Pakistan may please be advised to stop blocking Government of Indias official websites and restore normal internet service to the High Commission at the earliest.

This is nothing new, but the fact that our High Commission has issued two notes in as many months implies that they are facing serious issues in just getting connected to the internet, leave alone connecting to Indian government sites, said an official who had served in Pakistan. Apart from delays in mail and other net-based services, this obviously leads to a lot of unnecessary tension since the main MEA site is usually where our officials get a lot of their information from. Even proxy servers are useless unless you have internet access to begin with.

The intermittent blocking had actually started way back in May last year and peaked in March this year, when the two nations traded charges of harassment of officials in each others countries. So far, some seven or eight note verbales on this subject have elicited little response, the official said. It also explains why a lot of Pakistanis are taking to Twitter to appeal to our external affairs minister for urgent visas.By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The KSRTC on Monday dismissed 4,071 empanelled conductors, the biggest mass sacking in the states recent history.

The orders were issued on the basis of the High Courts direction. The state government is remaining mum on its future plan with regard to the sacked employees, who include people who have chipped in as many as eight years of service.

On Monday, the High Court severely criticised the corporation for not obeying its order and warned of strict action against the top brass of the corporation. The HCs interim order was based on a petition by PSC-selected candidates waiting for an appointment. None of the 4,051 persons who received advice memo was appointed by the corporation.

10% services to be cut

TPuram: KSRTC will not be able to operate at least 10 per cent of the total services from Tuesday, a top officer said. A total of 815 services got disrupted on Monday. The corporation has sent appointment letters to about 250 candidates recruited by PSC.

ALSO READ | Government will abide by HC ruling: A K Saseendran

Transport Minister A K Saseendran said he was concerned over the running of the utility. Corporations CMD Tomin Thachankary said they would challenge the HC order at the Supreme Court. Sometimes, this temporary disengagement can lead to a permanent engagement for the employees, he said.

The corporation, along with its notices to all units to disengage the empanelled staffs, issued directions to pay permanent conductors extra for taking up additional duties, starting Monday.

The government and the KSRTC management are bound to move forward with the HC order, so the management has decided to implement the order. This decision for sure will affect the jobs of those employees who were depending on the corporation for their livelihood, Saseendran said.

As per a new order issued on Monday, the regular conductors will be paid more for additional duty. Earlier, conductors were paid the wages of empanelled staff. However, in view of the new development, this has been increased.

The management has come up with a solution to increase their remuneration for additional duty in order to encourage them to take additional duty, said KSRTC sources. The corporation will have to grapple with many issues.

The corporation has decided to disengage the empanelled employees from service. As these employees were assigned to fill the vacant posts of the permanent staffs, their disengagement will surely affect the corporations service operation, said Hena P N, KSRTC Deputy Law Officer.

The HC declined to accept the various arguments put forward by the corporation, including the need of more conductors during the ongoing Sabarimala season.By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After a seven-year battle for survival, Irfan, a survivor of the Karikkakom school bus accident of 2011, succumbed to injuries on Monday.

The 12-year-old had been suffering from complete memory loss and other injuries, besides the disability to walk, following the accident.

Irfan, an only child, experienced breathing trouble at 7 am on Monday. Though his parents rushed him to KIMS Hospital, he passed away around 9 am. The body was later taken to his residence for paying homage and was laid to rest at a mosque at Pettah at 3 pm.

Tourism and Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, AICC general secretary Oommen Chandy and his wife visited Irfans residence and consoled the family.

The fateful day

On February 17, 2011, a school van carrying 12 students to their school, Little Hearts Kindergarten in Pettah, plunged into the open Parvathy Puthanar canal near Karikkakom.

Five children  Arsha Baiju, Kiran, Rafiq, Ujjwal, Malavika Achu  and the maid Bindu died in the mishap.

The presence of weed in the canal had hampered rescue operations turning the accident fatal. Irfan, then five, was rescued by local divers and hospitalised.

Since then, he was wheelchair-bound and suffered memory loss due to brain damage. Though he underwent various treatment, including acupressure and physiotherapy, he was unable to walk without support.By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: The Centre on Monday sanctioned Rs 1023.59 crore for Odisha for restoration and rehabilitation works in areas hit by very severe cyclone Titli in October.The High Level Committee (HLC) meeting at New Delhi presided by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh approved the additional assistance from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to Odisha.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had taken up the issue with the Union Home Minister in a telephonic conversation on Saturday for undertaking repair and restoration work in the districts affected by the very severe cyclone. Rajnath had assured to release the amount immediately.

The Chief Minister had also written to the Union Home Minister for release of financial assistance on December 13. Titli with associated flood and landslides had severely affected a vast population of about 60.31 lakh in 128 blocks under 17 districts of Odisha.

The State Government had submitted a memorandum to the Centre seeking assistance of Rs 2023.13 crore against the total requirement of Rs 2779.32 crore for relief and restoration measures. In a letter to the Prime Minister on October 18, I had requested for release of an interim assistance of Rs 1,000 crore pending final decision of the HLC on the memorandum.

The inter-ministerial Central team made an on the spot assessment of the damages during first week of November 2018. However, we have not received any assistance, so far, from the Government of India, the Chief Minister said in the letter.

The Chief Minister said, `1,689.13 crore was released under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for relief and restoration measures. The entire amount has been exhausted and hence, assistance from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) is urgently required for replenishing the SDRF and undertaking the remaining work.

As many as 70 people were killed in the severe cyclonic storm and subsequent floods and landslides. A total of 60.31 lakh people in 17 districts were affected in the cyclonic storm. The committee also approved `268.63 crore for Tripura. Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan thanked the Union Minister Home minister for approving the additional assistance.S Kumaresan By

Express News Service

CHENNAI : Though the National leaders are claiming that the prime ministerial candidate will be decided after the counting of the votes of the parliamentary elections, the leaders of communist parties of Tamil Nadu, are ready to endorse MK Stalins proposal of Rahul Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate of the opposition alliance.

A question had arisen in the minds of political observers and members of communist parties in the State soon after Stalin, DMK president, proposed the name of Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition alliance, at the meeting held to unveil M Karunanidhis statue here on Sunday. He made a request to the leaders of all the political parties present at the dais, including communist parties, to extend their support to his proposal.

It may be noted, Sitaram Yechuri, general secretary of CPM, had said after his meeting with Stalin on November 13 at the latters residence that the prime minister should be elected only by the elected MPs. We need not to discuss the prime ministerial candidate before the election, he had said.

A similar view was also echoed by Sudhakara Reddy, CPI general secretary.

K Balakrishnan, state secretary of CPM, spoke to Express, There is no problem to share the dais with Congress and carry out a campaign along with them as we want to unseat BJP for the welfare of the country. Our ultimate aim is to unseat BJP in the next election.

Hence we will work together with DMK and Congress in Tamil Nadu, he iterated.

R Mutharasan, state secretary of CPI, told Express, MK Stalin has proposed his wish after considering the gravity of the political climate of the state and the nation. And it is a ground reality too. Hence, there is no problem to work on this agenda in Tamil Nadu. In order to unseat BJP, we have to get together to face the parliamentary elections, he said.

T Koodalarasan, a veteran journalist, said, The people of Tamil Nadu always tend to listen to the voices of Dravidian majors and they (Dravidian parties) only carry forward the alliance regardless of who their alliance partners are. Hence, communist parties cannot oppose MK Stalins decision even if they dont like it.By AFP

DHAKA: More than 20,000 Bangladesh paramilitary guards were deployed across the country Tuesday amid mounting deadly violence ahead of a December 30 general election.

At least six people have been killed in clashes over the past week during the bitter campaigning between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) spokesman Mohsin Reza said 1,016 platoons had been deployed in a bid to reinforce campaign security. Officials said there were about 20 guards in each platoon.

Election Commission secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed said thousands more troops would be deployed from Saturday.

The move came amid a worsening showdown between the two main parties who have accused each other of launching attacks.

The BNP says its candidates and supporters have been attacked by ruling party followers and accused the election commission of failing to ensure proper security.

"At least four of our activists have been killed and thousands have been injured in attacks by government supporters," Mohammad Salahuddin, a BNP official, told AFP.

He said 152 out of 300 opposition candidates have been attacked while campaigning. Salahuddin added that 8,732 activists, including 14 candidates, have been detained in the past month.

The party blamed police for the death of one campaigner in Dhaka who fell to his death from a rooftop. Police have denied any involvement.

Two Awami League activists were killed in brawls with opposition supporters last week.

The BNP boycotted the 2014 national election, also marred by widespread violence, claiming that it was rigged by Hasina's party.

Hasina, accused of presiding over growing authoritarianism, is seeking a record fourth term in office. BNP leader Khaleda Zia, a former prime minister, is serving a jail term for graft.

Around 100 million voters have registered for this ballot.By AFP

SHAH ALAM: The trial of an Indonesian woman accused of assassinating the North Korean leader's half-brother was put on hold Tuesday due to a row over witness statements, the latest delay in the case.

Siti Aisyah from Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam have been on trial for over a year, accused of murdering Kim Jong Nam by smearing nerve agent VX on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport.

The brazen assassination in February last year shocked the world but the women have denied murder, saying they believed they were taking part in a prank and were tricked by North Korean agents.

The women, in their 20s, went on trial together in October 2017 but proceedings have moved slowly due to the large numbers of witnesses and the fact hearings are held infrequently.

The defence stage of Aisyah's trial had originally been due to begin in November but was delayed to January after her main lawyer fell ill.

And on Tuesday proceedings in Aisyah's case were temporarily halted when the High Court refused to grant her lawyers access to some witness statements, and they decided to appeal.

Huong's trial is due to resume in March and the court will rule Friday whether it will go ahead, or be put on hold with Aisyah's.

The prosecution stage of the trial, during which the women appeared for hearings together, wrapped up in August.

The defence parts of their trials will be held separately.

Aisyah's lawyer Gooi Soon Seng said the witness statements were "essential" for the defence and he would appeal the ruling -- a process that could take months.

"Without (the statements) there would be a real miscarriage of justice. It would compromise our case," he told reporters at the court in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur.

The seven statements are from witnesses including people who drove Kim Jong Nam around in Malaysia and acquaintances of Aisyah.

Prosecutors have refused to hand them over, arguing they should not be made public.

Under current laws, the women will be sentenced to death by hanging if convicted of murdering the estranged relative of the North's leader, Kim Jong Un.

Malaysia's new government, which took power in May, has vowed to abolish capital punishment for all crimes, although parliament still needs to vote on the change.By PTI

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, who lost badly in his tussle for power with Ranil Wickremesinghe, is not ready to bury the hatchet with the triumphant Prime Minister, saying they do not see eye to eye on a number of issues, including on the release of LTTE political prisoners.

An embarrassed Sirisena, whose controversial actions plunged the island nation into an unprecedented political turmoil for nearly two months, reinstated Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister on Sunday, after sacking him on October 26 and appointing ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place and also dissolving Parliament, some 20 months early.

Sirisena was left with no other option following two separate decisions by the Supreme Court, which nullified his illegal moves.

Addressing the members of his United National Front, Sirisena, 67, reiterated that he does not like Wickremesinghe, despite having to reappoint him as the Prime Minister, Colombo Gazette reported.

He said that there were several issues between him and Wickremesinghe, 69, since 2015. He accused Wickremesinghe of abusing his powers as Prime Minister before Wickremesinghe was sacked in October.

Sirisena claimed that Wickremesinghe even usurped some powers of the President. He accused Wickremesinghe of failing to follow his instructions not to arrest monks and members of the military, the report said.

The President insisted that if members of the Sri Lankan military are to be arrested for committing war crimes, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam members and their supporters overseas must also be arrested for the same.

Sirisena also said that if the former LTTE (Tamil Tiger) cadres are to be released on the basis they are political prisoners then the military officers in prison must also be freed.

President Sirisena's prime ministerial appointee Rajapaksa led the military campaign to crush the Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009 when he was the president of Sri Lanka. He said he and Wickremesinghe differed on several differences since 2015.

Sirisena said he offered to reappoint Wickremesinghe as the prime minister as he respects parliamentary traditions and democracy. "A statement I made to say that I would not appoint Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister is a personal view of mine. That is my personal political view, but as a leader who respects Parliamentary traditions and democracy, I decided to invite Wickremesinghe and offered him the premiership," the President said.

President Sirisena claimed that the power to name a Prime Minister is vested with the Executive President according to the Constitution.

"Considering the request of the 117 MPs, they being the majority in Parliament and I being a civilised leader who respects Parliamentary democracy and traditions, I agreed with their decision," he said. Ex-strongman Rajapaksa resigned from the post on Saturday, a day after the apex court refused to stay another court order restraining him from acting as the prime minister.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said abolishing the executive Presidency and bringing about a political solution will be part of the agenda of his new Government.

In a special statement after being appointed as Prime Minister, Wickremesinghe said that discussions are ongoing with a number of political parties in respect to abolishing the executive Presidency. "We will have discussions with the Tamil National Alliance (Sri Lanka's main Tamil party) and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna to bring about a political solution in which all citizens can live in harmony in a unitary state," he said.

The Prime Minister said that his party is to form a broad alliance to protect democracy and it is only through a democratic environment in which the voice of the people is considered and the rights of the people are protected.

He also urged all sides to forget all differences and join hands with him in the broad alliance, for the sake of the motherland, democracy, rights of the people and to bring about a free country for the unborn generation.

He said the Prime Minister should have the maximum confidence of Parliament, Colombo Page reported. Without a majority support, a prime minister cannot bring forward the country.

Similarly, the prime minister and the ministers should vacate their posts when a no-confidence motion was passed in Parliament against them, Wickremesinghe said, referring to the repeated no trust votes against disputed prime minister Rajapaksa.

"In terms of the Constitution, no one has the power to dissolve Parliament until four and half years have lapsed after a Parliament is formed. It can only be done on a resolution passed by two-thirds majority in Parliament," the prime minister said.

He recalled that on the day he was illegally sacked by President Sirisena, he had said that the fight was for the sake of democracy, justice, protection of the Constitution, adherence of the rule of the law and civilized and moral conduct of society.

"I also said that we would win this fight. Even today I am telling the same thing. I will tell the same tomorrow too. I will abide by my word. I will do what I say. I say only what I can do," Wickremesinghe said.Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Antonio Vitorino said Tuesday Egypt offers a great model of dealing with immigrants and refugees.

Addressing a press conference in Cairo, Vitorino added that Egyptian expats also show readiness to integrate in their new communities.

He thanked the Egyptian government for its continued commitment to welcoming migrants and refugees and helping them integrate into a diverse society, despite challenges sometimes posed by their large numbers.

The IOM will remain committed to fully supporting the Egyptian government in its strategy of benefiting from migration as a tool that should contribute to the development of the country, Vitorino said.

While meeting the IOM chief, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly highlighted that Egypt hosts more than five million refugees in Egypt from 58 different countries.

Search Keywords:

Short link:

By PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said Tuesday that its vote in the UN General Assembly was wrongly counted in favour of a resolution calling for a moratorium on executions.

Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal issued a clarification about the Monday's voting which according to reports went in support of General Assembly resolution.

"Pakistan, in accordance with its consistent policy, voted against the General Assembly resolution calling for a moratorium on execution, with a view to abolishing the death penalty," Faisal said in a tweet.

Amnesty International reported on Monday that Pakistan was among the four UN members that changed their vote to support the resolution.

The other three countries were Dominica, Libya and Malaysia.

A total of 121 of the UN's 193 member states voted in favour of the seventh resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

Another 35 voted against the resolution while 32 members abstained.

Faisal said the vote was "inaccurately recorded due to technical issues" and the "Permanent Mission of Pakistan has taken up this matter with the UN Secretariat to put the record straight".

Pakistan followed moratorium on the implementation of capital punishment from 2008 but lifted it after the Peshawar School attack of in December 2014 which killed almost 150 people, mostly school children.

It carried out about 333 executions in 2015, which was one the highest in the world. 77 executions were carried out in 2017, according to Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Sunshine along with some cloudy intervals. High 59F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low around 35F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.Lebanon will probably have a new national unity government in place before next week's Christmas holiday, the finance minister said on Tuesday, raising hopes for an end to more than seven months of deadlock over cabinet posts.

Efforts to form the new government have been obstructed by rival groups' conflicting demands for seats in a cabinet that must be formed in line with a finely balanced, sectarian political system.

A source close to Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri told Reuters there was "reasonable cause for optimism" and the Hariri-owned al-Mustaqbal newspaper reported, "The road to the government has become open to a very large degree".

Heavily indebted and suffering from a stagnant economy, Lebanon is in dire need of an administration that can set about long-stalled economic reforms to put public debt on a sustainable footing.

"We are in the last phase and it is probable that the government will be formed before the Christmas holiday," Ali Hassan Khalil, the finance minister, told Reuters. "This will leave a positive impact on the financial and economic situation and open the way for a start to dealing this file," he added.

The final logjam has been over Sunni Muslim representation, with a group of Sunni MPs allied with the heavily armed Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah, Lebanon's most powerful group, demanding a cabinet seat to reflect gains in the May election, in which Hariri lost more than a third of his lawmakers.

Hariri, who remains Lebanon's leading Sunni despite his losses, had ruled out ceding one of his cabinet seats to any of the six Hezbollah-allied Sunnis, who are also known for their ties to the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad.

But under a compromise taking shape, the Hezbollah-linked Sunnis are expected to put forward names of ministerial candidates acceptable to them for inclusion in the government rather than insisting that they themselves should get the seat.

In exchange, they say they want Hariri to acknowledge their political standing as a group of Sunnis independent of his Future Movement by meeting them. The Hariri family has dominated Lebanese Sunni politics for decades.

The Sunni minister is expected to be named among a group of ministers allotted to President Michel Aoun, representing a compromise on the part of his Free Patriotic Movement which had been trying to secure control of 11 ministerial portfolios - more than one third of the new cabinet.

"In the coming hours, the country may see a new government," said Qassem Hashem, one of the Hezbollah-aligned Sunni MPs.

Search Keywords:

Short link:

Financial Secretary Paul Chan

In the Asia-Pacific region, there is a significant infrastructure financing deficit. According to data from the Global Infrastructure Hub, established under the G20 umbrella, the estimated investment needs for infrastructure projects are expected to average US$2.1 trillion per year over the five-year period from 2020. Against this background, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Finance Ministers suggested in the Joint Ministerial Statement that the investment needs could be "addressed by diversifying the available sources of long-term finance and fostering private sector involvement, including the creation of enabling conditions for attracting investment, generating pipelines of 'bankable' infrastructure projects and developing financing structures capable of attracting long-term institutional investor capital". And APEC member economies were encouraged to "adopt policy approaches that follow good practices, facilitate project transparency, ensure timely access to qualitative and quantitative project information, and promote opportunities to potential investors".

Bankable projects

I very much agree with the importance of "bankability" and "timely access to qualitative and quantitative project information". According to GIH, when assessing an infrastructure project, investors will look at whether they have efficient planning, an alignment of political will, a co-ordinated enabling environment, a reliable return, and sensible, shared risk allocation. If all the above criteria are met, investors may consider a project to be bankable.

So, one of the key determinants of the bankability of infrastructure projects is "sensible, shared risk allocation". Bankable projects must be in the first place sufficiently insured and reinsured such that risks are shared sensibly. Thus, increasing infrastructure projects in the region not only creates demand for financing but also demand for insurance and reinsurance to make them bankable. Insurers therefore play a very unique role in infrastructure development: On one hand, they are insurance providers enabling bankable infrastructure projects and, on the other hand, they are long-term institutional investors of such projects which generates stable returns.

The second important element is "timely access to qualitative and quantitative project information". Without accessible information, insurers and investors will not be able to assess the risks and returns of a project. In Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority set up the Infrastructure Financing Facilitation Office back in 2016 to provide a platform for banks, insurers, and construction companies to connect and collaborate on infrastructure projects under the Belt & Road Initiative.

I am very glad the Insurance Authority has just launched the Belt & Road Insurance Facilitation Platform for a similar purpose but with a clear emphasis on insurance. I am sure the two platforms will complement each other to ensure that partners on the two platforms can have "timely access to qualitative and quantitative project information" so that they can collaborate to enable such projects through financing and risk management.

Securitisation needs

The huge demand for infrastructure investment will logically stimulate innovation in infrastructure financing to expand lending capacity. Due to capital adequacy requirements, banks have limits in financing long-term infrastructure projects. Thanks to securitisation, banks' lending capacity can be expanded through securitisation of infrastructure loans, which enable banks to move long-term assets off their balance sheets and relieve pressure resulting from tighter capital requirement regulations. After offloading, banks can then have capacity to finance new infrastructure projects. For example, the Japanese bank SMBC (Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation) issued in 2016 its first project finance loan securitisation note to be sold to institutional investors. The loans were related to large-scale solar power plants.

I envisage that such securitisation will become more active in Asia in the light of a significant infrastructure financing deficit. The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited, again under the HKMA, is pursuing the proposition of securitising infrastructure loans to provide banks with opportunity to offload their loans to those long-term investors. That will facilitate additional cash flow into infrastructure projects.

In the insurance sector, securitisation of risks, such as natural disaster risks, has also been developing fast. On one hand, insurance-linked securitisation can be seen as an alternative to reinsurance, thereby enriching the risk management tools in the market. By securitising insured risks, reinsurers can transfer the risks to capital markets, so as to expand the capacity of the reinsurance market. In parallel, insurance-linked securities (ILS) provide institutional investors with an investment alternative that is not related to economic cycles, helping them to diversify the risk of their investment portfolio.

That is why the Financial Leaders Forum, which I chair, has suggested earlier this year that we should take steps to encourage the development of the ILS market in Hong Kong. I am glad that the Insurance Authority is working closely with the Government on the legislative framework to facilitate the formation of Special Purpose Vehicles specifically for issuing ILS in Hong Kong. The target is to introduce the legislative amendments into the Legislative Council in the 2019-20 legislative session. I am sure Hong Kong is well positioned to benefit from increasing interest in ILS in the region, especially given that Mainland insurers would be interested in using different tools to manage a range of risks, be they agricultural, natural disaster or infrastructural risks.

Hong Kongs advantages

Now let's move on to my Beijing trips. The first trip to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the country's reform and opening up prompted me to reflect on how Hong Kong has been facilitating the internationalisation and expansion of the Mainland financial markets. The first Mainland enterprise was listed in Hong Kong back in 1993. Today, more than half of the companies listed on our Stock Exchange are Mainland enterprises. Over the years, we have seen the development of Red Chip Shares and A+H shares, and the rolling out of mutual market access schemes, including the Stock Connects and the northbound Bond Connect. All these developments have exemplified the important role of Hong Kong in facilitating the development of the Mainland capital markets.

More recently, we are seeing Mainland companies with weighted voting right structure from the emerging and innovative sectors taking advantage of our reformed listing regime to list in Hong Kong. This is again a testimony of our position as China's leading financing hub. This role will not change as long as Hong Kong can act quickly in response to the changing financial landscape.

With the establishment of the Insurance Authority three years ago, we are more active in fostering co-operation between Hong Kong and the Mainland to spur further growth of the insurance industry. I envisage that the opening up of the Mainland insurance market will accelerate.

As you are probably aware, in April, the Mainland authority announced that the foreign ownership cap for life insurance joint ventures would be lifted from 50% to 51% and the cap would be removed completely in three years thereafter. And last month (November 25), the China Banking & Insurance Regulatory Commission announced that it had approved the establishment of China's first foreign insurance holding company. With the support of national policies, insurers in Hong Kong will enjoy competitive advantages in the course of the opening up of the Mainland insurance market.

One recent example of such support is the CBIRC's decision in July that when a Mainland insurer cedes business to a qualified Hong Kong professional reinsurer, the capital requirement of the Mainland insurer will be reduced. This preferential treatment will facilitate co-operation between the Mainland and Hong Kong in cross-boundary reinsurance business, and enable Hong Kong's reinsurers to enjoy competitive advantages over other offshore reinsurers.

Indeed, we see much opportunity for the Hong Kong insurance industry to help and participate in the development of the country. Therefore during my second visit in Beijing, together with Clement (Cheung), the CEO of the Insurance Authority, we raised with the CBIRC specifically the possibility of allowing Hong Kong insurance companies to set up after-sales service centres in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to better serve the residents in the area.

Although opportunities abound and Hong Kong is well positioned to capture them, we should not be complacent. We need to strengthen our fundamentals continuously. Currently, professional reinsurers and captives can enjoy 50% profits tax concession, meaning that the tax rate for them is only 8.25% in Hong Kong. We are also working on tax relief measures to stimulate the growth of marine insurance and the underwriting of specialty risks in Hong Kong.

But tax is just one of the many factors in determining where insurance contracts will be placed. Ready availability of professionals underwriting specialty risks, structuring insurance-linked securitisation and advising on captive arrangements will be instrumental in sharpening Hong Kong's competitive edge as an insurance hub. Nurturing, attracting and retaining talent is an area we should focus on to ensure Hong Kong's continued success. On this topic, the Government announced in September this year a Talent List, which helps us attract quality professionals in specific sectors to accelerate our development into a high value-added and diversified economy. The Talent List currently focuses on 11 in-demand professions, including actuaries. I welcome more ideas from the insurance industry on how Hong Kong can attract and retain top-notch talent for the industry.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan gave these remarks at the Asian Insurance Forum 2018 Keynote Luncheon on December 11.Chief Executive Carrie Lam today commended 84 companies at the 2018 Hong Kong Awards for Industries presentation ceremony.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mrs Lam said the Government is committed to innovation & technology.

We are investing $10 billion to establish two research clusters at the Science Park. One on healthcare technology, the other on AI (artificial intelligence) and robotics. Its also why we are setting up a $2 billion Re-industrialisation Funding Scheme. It will subsidise Hong Kong manufacturers, again on a matching basis, to set up smart production lines.

And a tax incentive proposal raised last year for R&D (research and development) became a reality in October. It means that the first $2 million in eligible R&D expenditure will enjoy a 300% tax deduction with the remainder at 200%.

She noted the growing participation of technology-related enterprises in the awards and she hopes the trend will continue.

I am delighted to see the expanded application of I&T among this years Grand Award winners, including robotics and the Internet of Things, 3D display, wireless consumer technology, industrial upgrading and app-driven customer service.

The Grand Award winners were Roborn Dynamics (equipment and machinery design), Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) - Retail Banking (customer service), Jing Mei Automotive (smart productivity), Marvel Digital (technological achievement), VPower Group International Holdings (upgrading and transformation) and the Audio Session Company (consumer product design).

A record-breaking 259 entries were received this year.

The award scheme recognises the outstanding achievements of Hong Kong enterprises in pursuit of advanced technology and high value-added activities.



A month before his scheduled departure after nearly two decades as Congo's president, Joseph Kabila received a procession of foreign reporters at his heavily guarded riverside palace for a rare series of interviews.





If the timing suggested a valedictory, the 47-year-old leader's words indicated otherwise. He vowed to remain in politics and, in one interview after another, left open the possibility of running again in 2023 when the clock resets on presidential term limits.





"My role will be to make sure that we don't go back to square one, square one meaning where we found the Congo 22 years ago," he told Reuters inside an ornate reception room with high ceilings and sweeping views of the churning Congo River.





"In politics, in life, you shouldn't rule out anything," he said when asked about a potential return. "There are still other chapters to write."





In the 18 years since a youthful, clean-shaven Kabila succeeded his slain father, Laurent, the now bulked-up president sporting a billowy grey beard has traced an unlikely trajectory from accidental and apparently reluctant leader to the defining Congolese figure of his time.





Whether the vote due on Dec. 23 brings down the curtain on the tumultuous Kabila era, which began when Laurent seized power in 1997, or triggers a new phase in which Joseph becomes the power behind the throne of his preferred successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, remains unclear.





It depends in part on how the Congolese reflect on his rule. There were early accomplishments - ending a regional war and holding the first open presidential elections - but also incessant conflict, lethal crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters and corruption that the government acknowledges siphoned off billions of dollars of potential revenue.





Foreign investment has propelled Democratic Republic of Congo to the status of Africa's top copper producer and the world's leading miner of cobalt, a crucial component of electric car batteries, but militia violence has persisted in the east.





Denis Mukwege, the Congolese doctor who shared this year's Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, said Kabila had a right to remain in politics but hoped voters would remember his broken promises.





"None of the elements needed to install a real democracy have been made during his time in power," he told Reuters.





Kabila's critics and some analysts say concerns about his personal security  his assassinated father's mausoleum stands below the presidential palace - and the fortune reportedly amassed by his family could account for a seeming reluctance to cede power.





A report last year by a research group at New York University found his family's businesses are likely worth tens of millions of dollars. Kabila has called such reports "stupidity".





He did not specifically respond to a Reuters investigation https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/congo-passports that showed nearly a third of the purchase price of Congolese passports goes to a company in the United Arab Emirates whose owner is believed to be a close relative of the president.





Even if Shadary, a former interior minister who many analysts say was chosen for his loyalty and lack of an independent political base, beats his two main rivals, Kabila has reason to worry about his ability to pull the strings.





He need only look next door to Angola, where President Joao Lourenco quickly marginalised Jose Eduardo dos Santos, his powerful predecessor who ruled for 38 years, by accusing family members of corruption.





"Kabila saw what happened in Angola. That's why he chose the person who is the most loyal and, above all, the least threatening to his personal power," said Manya Riche, who advised Kabila from 2008 to 2011.





Referring to an arrangement in which Vladimir Putin remained Russia's dominant leader as prime minister until he could run for president again, she said: "This isn't Russia. At a certain point here, it's the chief who's in the chair who is the chief."





Kabila was born in 1971 in eastern Congo in the bush headquarters of his father's rebellion against long-time dictator Mobutu Sese Seko but spent most of his early years in neighbouring Tanzania.





He returned to Congo to take part in Laurent's Rwandan and Ugandan-backed successful march on the capital Kinshasa. A period of military training in China followed and Joseph was back as army chief when a bodyguard shot his father in 2001.





The country he inherited at 29 was in disarray, fragmented between government and rebel territories, with tens of thousands of people dying each month from conflict, hunger and disease.





A former U.S. official who met Kabila during his first trip to Washington that year described the shy, awkward leader as a "deer in the headlights".





With his halting French and virtually non-existent Lingala - the language of the capital and the army - he struggled to connect with many Congolese. But his political instincts were surprisingly good.





He courted Western powers such as the United States and France, which his father's anti-colonial rhetoric had alienated. He passed a liberalised mining code that attracted foreign investment. He revived a stalled peace process, leading to a 2003 power-sharing deal that kept him in the presidency even though rebels remained active in the east.





"He managed to run the country, more or less," said Azarias Ruberwa, a rebel leader who joined the power-sharing administration and is now a government minister.





Kabila won both rounds of voting in elections held in 2006, which were generally viewed as fair, as well as the bouts of fighting that erupted after results were announced.





Those victories, followed by another vote in 2011 marred by widespread allegations of fraud, led to changes in his leadership style, according to people close to him.





"The president became less tolerant of the West," a former advisor said on condition of anonymity. "He saw them as imposing their ideas on him."





After the death in 2012 of Augustin Katumba Mwanke, his closest advisor and confidant, Kabila moved more assertively to chart his own course.





Kabila rarely speaks in public and is driven by mistrust of almost everyone outside a tight circle of family that includes his twin sister, Jaynet, and younger brother, Zoe, people who have worked closely with him said.





Public frustration with his government mounted as economic growth fuelled by copper production failed to deliver a semblance of infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa's biggest country, much of it covered by rainforest and only accessible by barge or motorcycle.





Kabila would occasionally tell collaborators he was frustrated by his inability to transform Congo into something more like other African countries he visited.





Although Kabila put most of the blame on the brutal legacy of former colonial power Belgium, Barnabe Kikaya Bin Karubi, a current advisor, said he sought to change "the Congolese mentality from people who like songs and dance and high life to people concentrated on hard work".

As the vote to replace Kabila at the end of his two official terms was repeatedly pushed back - officially due to conflict and logistical challenges - opponents accused him of seeking ways to cling to power and tried to organise protests.





Muted concerns from Western capitals over the flawed 2011 vote gave way to vocal criticism of alleged corruption and the killing of protestors.





Shadary is under European Union sanctions due to crackdowns by security forces. Deals with Israeli billionaire mining investor Dan Gertler, who American prosecutors say paid Congolese officials, including Kabila, more than $100 million in bribes, have received particular scrutiny. Kabila denies ever taking a bribe, and Gertler denies paying them.





Kabila left his options open for as long as he could. Shadary was nominated hours before the deadline to register candidates.





Whether it was Kabila's intention all along to step down, as allies say, or it was a concession to domestic and international pressure, the president's imminent departure thrusts him and his country into the unknown.





For now, Kabila appears serene.





"Look at my face. Do I look worried?" he told Reuters. "I am not worried."





(Giulia Paravicini reported from Kinshasa, Aaron Ross reported from Dakar and David Lewis reported from Nairobi; additional reporting by Gwladys Fouche in Oslo; editing by Alexandra Zavis and David Clarke)



(Newser)  A California woman says she was Woody Allen's secret teenage loverand is telling her story of adoration, disillusion, and threesomes with Woody and Mia Farrow. Babi Christina Engelhardt was apparently just 16 when she dropped a note at Allen's restaurant table in 1976 with her phone number: "Since you've signed enough autographs, here's mine!" Responding to his call, she began an affair at his Fifth Avenue penthouse but played by the 41-year-old's rules: no talk about his work and no meeting outside his place. "Knowing he was a director, I didn't argue," she tells the Hollywood Reporter. "I was coming from a place of devotion." Yet she was shocked four years later to learn he was dating Mia Farrow, who joined Allen and Engelhardt for a "handful" of threesomes.

story continues below

Unfulfilled after eight years, Engelhardt joined filmmaker Frederico Fellini's circle in Rome and later moved to Beverly Hills, where she's now a divorced mother of two daughters. At 59, she has no regrets despite the rise of #MeToo: "This is not 'bring down this man,'" she says. But she was hurt to become "little more than a plaything" and cried when his film Manhattan seemed to portray their relationship as "just a fling." She was also shocked by his marriage to Farrow's adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn: "Now he had no barriers. It was total disrespect." Allen later offered to visit her with Previn, but Engelhardt declined what seemed like an amorous proposal. "I used to dream of making love to Woody," she says. "Now I'm dreaming of him dying in my arms." Allen is yet to comment on the story, per the Boston Herald. (See what Previn has to say about her husband's controversies.)(Newser)  Rick Antosh ordered his usual at New York City's Grand Central Oyster Bar on Dec. 5, but on that particular day, his lunch came with something a little extra: a pea-sized pearl. Antosh got the $14.75 pan roast, which the New York Post describes as a stew-like dish that comes with six Blue Point oysters, and as he was eating, he felt something odd in his mouth. "For a fraction of a second, there was terror," Antosh recalls. "Is it a tooth; is it a filling?"

story continues below

Once he saw what it actually was, he took it home initially without telling the restaurant he'd found it. He later called to tell staff, and the executive chef said that in 28 years, this is only the second time he knows of that a diner has found a pearl. Antosh hasn't had his prize appraised yet, but an expert says that even with its imperfections, it could be worth up to $4,000. (Oysters can also be deadly.)(Newser)  When your security camera makes you feel less secure, there might be a problem. Especially when a voice emanating from the other end claims to be a "white hat hacker" from the "Anonymous Calgary Hivemind." That's what Andy Gregg tells the Arizona Republic happened a few weeks ago, when the real estate agent was in his Phoenix backyard and heard a voice speaking to him through the Nest Cam IQ camera inside his home, "in the creepiest way possible," per Motherboard. "Who is this?" Gregg asks warily in a video he took. The voice on the other end replies, "You've never met me, I'm a security researcher from Canada." Hence the "white hacker" nickname, which indicates someone who purposely infiltrates a system to warn users about its vulnerabilities, for their sake and others'. "There are so many malicious things somebody could do with this," the voice continues.

story continues below

The hacker also recited back to Gregg a password he'd used across multiple sites to highlight that if the password were obtained in a data breach from just one company, it could then be used to "break in" on other sites. Gregg can be heard expressing his appreciation to the apologetic hacker in the video, noting that it was "a wake-up call, for sure." The Republic notes this incident is just the latest involving wireless internet devices like Nest cameras or Amazon's Alexa, which some experts say have "glaring security vulnerabilities." Nest, owned by Google parent Alphabet, said in a statement that users of its cameras should set up two-factor authentication as an extra layer of security. Motherboard agrees, adding to switch up your passwords among sites. Gregg, meanwhile, has since unplugged his camera. (Security experts worry a Chinese company may be spying on people through its cameras.)The murder of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi in a year when more than half of all journalists killed were targeted deliberately reflects a hatred of the media in many areas of society, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Tuesday.

At least 63 professional journalists around the world were killed doing their jobs in 2018, RSF said, a 15 percent increase on last year. The number of fatalities rises to 80 when including all media workers and citizen journalists.

"The hatred of journalists that is voiced ... by unscrupulous politicians, religious leaders and businessmen has tragic consequences on the ground, and has been reflected in this disturbing increase in violations against journalists," RSF Secretary-General Christophe Deloire said in a statement.

Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.

Khashoggi's death sparked global outrage. Saudi officials have rejected accusations that the crown prince ordered his death.

The Paris-based body said that the three most dangerous countries for journalists to work in were Afghanistan, Syria and Mexico.

Meanwhile, the shooting of five employees of the Capital Gazette newspaper propelled the United States into the ranks of the most dangerous countries.

The media freedom organisation said 348 journalists are being detained worldwide, compared with 326 at this time in 2017. China, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt hold more than half the world's imprisoned journalists.

Search Keywords:

Short link:

(Newser)  A husband and wife in Utah are accused of a form of child abuse so cruel it is widely considered a violation of the Geneva Convention. Police say the Provo couple allegedly waterboarded a 9-year-old girl on at least three occasions, KUTV reports. The girl's father, 29-year-old Joseph Mitchell, and her stepmother, 28-year-old Ilaria Mitchell, have been arrested and charged with one count each of child abuse. A police affidavit states that the girl told police the couple would "would take her to the bathroom and tie her hands behind her back. They would then hold her down in the bathtub and place a towel over her face and pour water on it."

story continues below

"The 9-year-old stated that she cannot breathe and it hurts when this happens," the affidavit states. The Mitchells were investigated after the state Division of Child and Family Services notified police about possible abuse earlier this month, the Deseret News reports. Nurses raised concerns after the girl's father checked her in to a hospital last month. Police said the girl also told them about other forms of abuse, including being punched in the face by Ilaria Mitchell, and had marks on her wrists "that would be consistent with her hands being tied up." The girl's mother, Brittany Calabrese, lives in Texas. She tells Fox 13 that she hasn't seen her daughter since 2014 and it is "heartbreaking" to hear about the abuse. (Police say this father in California waterboarded his 10 children.)(Newser)  Roger Stone, the Trump confidant recently praised by the president for his truthfulness, has agreed to run ads in national newspapers apologizing for spreading lies. As part of a settlement in a $100 million defamation lawsuit brought by exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui, Stone has admitted using the conspiracy website InfoWars to spread false statements, the Wall Street Journal reports. Stone accused Guo of being a "turncoat criminal who is convicted of crimes here and in China" and claimed he had made illegal campaign donations to Hillary Clinton. Stone, who won't be required to pay damages if he retracts the statements, described his behavior as "irresponsible."

story continues below

Stone also claimed Guo was financing a White House bid by former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, NBC reports. Stone said in a statement Monday that he had "improperly" relied on former Trump campaign adviser Sam Nunberg instead of doing his own research. "Mr. Guo graciously agreed to accept my regrets and apology," Stone said. The defamation case isn't directly related to special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, though the settlement will give ammunition to critics who believe Stone was lying when he claimed that he had no idea that WikiLeaks would be releasing hacked Democratic National Committee emails before the 2016 election, the Washington Post reports. (Stone invoked the Fifth Amendment when asked to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.)(Newser)  El Salvador's Imelda Cortez is out of prison for the first time in more than a year and a half, and her freedom is being hailed as a potential landmark moment for women's rights in her country, reports AFP. Cortez's plight had drawn international attention: The 20-year-old was charged with attempted murder after giving birth to a premature infant in a bathroom. Cortez, however, says she hadn't even known she was pregnant, only that she felt something pass and then went to the hospital in pain. Authorities soon found the baby in the latrine, still alive, and prosecutors say Cortez's failure to summon help for the birth amounted to attempted murder. The other big part of the case: Cortez says she must have become pregnant by her stepfather, who she says had been sexually abusing her for several years. The stepfather is now under arrest and facing trial, reports the BBC.

story continues below

El Salvador has among the world's toughest laws on abortion, outlawing it in cases of rape and even when the woman's life is in danger. Those laws played a role in the charges she faced, but on Monday, prosecutors reduced them from attempted murder to abandonment. Then a court cleared Cortez of any crime at all, reports the Guardian. The judge ruled that she could not be blamed for what happened, given the "emotional and psychological damage inflicted by the sexual violence she suffered since childhood," in the words of the Guardian. Says a member of her legal team: "It took the whole world to make the judges and prosecutors see what we've been saying for years: An obstetric emergency is not a crime." (Read more El Salvador stories.)(Newser)  The number of Chicago police officers killed in the line of duty this year doubled in a single tragic incident Monday night. Police say officers Eduardo Marmolejo, 36, and Conrad Gary, 31, were struck and killed by a train on the city's South Side while investigating a report of shots fired, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Police say the two men were chasing a suspect up the train tracks when they were hit around 6:20pm by an eastbound train. "There was no stop at that location so the train was probably going somewhere between 60 and 70 miles per hour," Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters.

story continues below

"These brave young men were consumed with identifying a potential threat," Johnson said. He said a suspect was arrested at the scene and a weapon was recovered, the AP reports. Marmolejo and Gary, who were both fathers, are the third and fourth police officers killed in the line of duty in Chicago this year. Marmolejo had been with the department for 2.5 years and Gary for 18 months. "A devastating tragedy occurred tonight at 103rd and Cottage Grove," tweeted police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. He said bureau chiefs and commanders would join detectives to retrieve the bodies. This is the first time two Chicago officers have died in the same incident in the line of duty since two officers were fatally shot after responding to a domestic disturbance in 1990, the Chicago Tribune reports. (Read more Chicago stories.)(Newser)  President Trump has authorized the Agriculture Department to launch the second and final round of $11 billion in trade mitigation payments to farmers hard hit by tariffs. In a tweet on Monday, Trump said he is fulfilling a promise to protect farmers against "unjustified trade retaliation by foreign nations." "Our economy is stronger than everwe stand with our Farmers!" the president said. The Trump administration in July announced it would provide up to $12 billion to offset losses from Trump's trade disputes with China and other countries. The first round of checks went out in September.

story continues below

In total, producers of almonds, corn, cotton, dairy, hogs, sorghum, soybeans, fresh sweet cherries, and wheat will receive roughly $9.5 billion, the AP reports. Soybean farmers will get the largest share. China resumed buying American soybeans last week, although exports to the country are still down an estimated 97% for the year, CNN reports. Roughly $1.2 billion is earmarked for a food purchase and distribution program and $200 million to promote trade. "This assistance will help with short-term cash flow issues as we move into the new year," Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said in a statement Monday. (A soybean-laden US ship went in circles for a month waiting for tariffs to be reversed.)(Newser)  "It was sort of a kismet, perfect opportunity," SMILF creator Frankie Shaw told Deadline in June of the rise of her Showtime show amid the #MeToo movement. Through its conversations about women and abuse, it "happens to really resonate with everything that's going on right now." Her words have taken on new meaning, however, given misconduct claims on set. "She uses this idea of being feminist and a progressive as camouflage," one staffer tells the Hollywood Reporter. The allegations include improperly handled sex scenes, the separation of writers by race, and a generally troubled set. However, show producer ABC Studios investigated and found no wrongdoing on the part of Shaw, reports Variety. The issues with the intimate scenes involve actress Samara Weaving, in seasons one and two.

story continues below

In the first season, Weaving, who has a no-nudity clause, balked at performing nude, prompting Shaw to pull up her own shirt to show her it was no big deal, per the Hollywood Reporter. In the second season, Shaw wore underwear in an intimate scene with a nude male actor; both had complained about the scene beforehand, and while it was supposed to be a closed set, Shaw reportedly turned on monitors during the shoot. Weaving was later released from the show at her request. Says the 37-year-old Shaw: "I sincerely hope we can work together to resolve any and all issues, as I am committed to creating a workplace in which all people feel safe and heard," she says. Her lawyer denies allegations of separating writers by race. SMILF's second season premieres Jan. 20. (On the hit show Transparent, actor Jeffrey Tambor got into hot water.)(Newser)  The New York Times is standing by its Q&A with Pulitzer-winning author Alice Walker despite complaints about her comments on a book by an accused anti-Semite. The 74-year-old author of The Color Purple told the newspaper's By the Book column that was she was currently reading David Icke's And the Truth Shall Set You Free and called it "a curious person's dream come true." At Tablet, Yair Rosenberg writes that the book referencing The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a text accusing Jewish people of a plot for global domination, "is an unhinged anti-Semitic conspiracy tract written by one of Britain's most notorious anti-Semites." The Washington Post highlights this quote: "I strongly believe that a small Jewish clique which has contempt for the mass of Jewish people worked with non-Jews to create the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the Second World War."

story continues below

A Times rep says the column is a "portrait of a public person through the lens of books; it is not a list of recommendations from our editors," who might "dislike, disdain or even abhor" the books mentioned, per the Guardian. But Amy Russo at HuffPo notes the paper failed to provide context in an editor's note, "thereby allowing [Icke's] name to be promoted unchecked." Rosenberg argues the column only ensures "racism is disseminated to more people." Walker also said this of the book: "In Ickes books there is the whole of existence, on this planet and several others, to think about." Her comments are "especially corrosive because the anti-Jewish conspiracies she uplifted and adopted are part of the same white supremacist power structure she so deftly fought through her written work in the past," adds Jewish filmmaker Rebecca Pierce. (Walker once blocked an Israeli publisher from printing her book.)(Newser)  The oldest son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to take a bit of a break from Facebook over the weekend for a series of posts the social media platform said "included hate speech." The New York Times details some of what brought on the 24-hour ban against Yair Netanyahu, 27, who posted that Iceland and Japan are free from attacks because "coincidentally there are no Muslims" in those countries, and that he wished there was an Israel without Muslims. The only way there will be peace in Israel, he wrote, per Al Jazeera, is if "all Jews leave [Israel] or all Muslims leave," and "I prefer the second option." The younger Netanyahu also lashed out after the death last week of two Israeli soldiers at the hands of a Palestinian, noting he hoped their deaths would be "avenged" and that "there will never be peace with the monsters in human form known since 1964 as 'Palestinians.'"

story continues below

After being informed that he was temporarily blocked, Netanyahu took to Twitter to repost what he wrote on Facebook and accuse the latter site of "mind dictatorship," as well as of hosting "endless pages that call for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews." The Times notes the first son has long been vocal online about his hard-right views, including with posts that feature conspiracy theories and "anti-Semitic tropes," per the Jerusalem Post. In contrast to Netanyahu's assertions, Al Jazeera notes the pushback Facebook has received from Palestinian groups, who say they're the ones who get the short end of the stick on social media sites in terms of censorship. By Tuesday, Netanyahu was posting again on Facebook, including sharing a Tuesday morning tweet from President Trump about "bias" he thinks leans in favor of Democrats by Facebook, Twitter, and Google. (Read more Benjamin Netanyahu stories.)(Newser)  Though Denise Williams didn't pull the trigger, a Leon County, Fla., jury found her guilty on Friday of first-degree murder in the 2000 death of her husband, determining she did indeed help mastermind the plot. The 48-year-old was also convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and accessory after the fact, meaning she's looking at as long as life in prison. It's the culmination of a bizarre story that began when her husband, Mike Williams, went missing on Lake Seminole on Dec. 16, 2000. The initial line of thought was that he'd drowned and been eaten by alligators. In truth, the man Denise was having an affair withMike's best friend, Brian Winchestertried to drown Mike, shot him in the face, and buried him in a mudhole. Denise and Winchester had been having a three-year affair and ultimately married.

story continues below

Things later fell apart between them, and Winchester was convicted of kidnapping Denise in 2016. He was granted immunity from prosecution in this case in exchange for testifying against her. The Tallahassee Democrat reports her attorney argued the physical evidence against her was paltry: some concert tickets related to the affair, life insurance documents, and photos from the monthslong search for Mike. The prosecution, however, emphasized a recorded phone call between Denise and Winchester's ex-wife, who twice said Winchester told her the truth and she knew Denise was involved. Denise didn't directly answer but instead tried to shift the conversation. "It's not what she said, it's what she doesn't say," said Assistant State Attorney Jon Fuchs. Denise is to be sentenced next year, reports the AP. She plans to appeal. (Read more murder stories.)(Newser)  A lot of people have been abandoning Facebook lately, but one recent name carries more weight than most. Walt Mossberg, who's spent decades covering Silicon Valley for publications like the Wall Street Journal and Verge, is "one of the most respected technology journalists of our era," per Mashable. And on Monday, he announced he was leaving Facebook, as well as Facebook-owned apps Messenger and Instagram, after nearly 12 years. "I am doing this  because my own values and the policies and actions of Facebook have diverged to the point where I'm no longer comfortable here," he wrote to 266,185 followers before his account vanished. Though Mossberg didn't elaborate much, "his history of public writing left little doubt that his ire was aimed largely at the companys policies and actions on user privacy," per the New York Times.

story continues below

Facebook has faced intense criticism over security breaches, claims of ignored Russian propaganda, and more. Just last month, CEO Mark Zuckerberg had to address critics after reports that the company hired a company to smear critics. Mashable predicts Mossberg's exit "will send a ripple (however small or large) throughout the technology sphere. He's all-but-directly saying Facebook is a scourge." Still, Mossberg didn't suggest others follow his lead. "This is a decision I am making just for myself," he said. "If the company or the service change significantly for the better, in my view, or become effectively regulated, I may resume regular use." Mossberg, who plans to stay active on Twitter, is currently writing a book on the transformation of the tech industry over his career, with a release date set for next fall, per the Times. (Read more Facebook stories.)Lebanon is on track to form a new national unity government in the next few days, politicians said on Tuesday, raising hopes for an end to more than seven months of wrangling that has darkened the outlook for its struggling economy.

Efforts to form the new government, led by Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri, have been obstructed by conflicting demands for cabinet seats that must be parcelled out in line with a finely balanced, sectarian political system.

Heavily indebted and suffering from a stagnant economy, Lebanon is in dire need of an administration that can set about long-stalled reforms to put public debt on a sustainable footing.

"Matters are moving quickly and if things stay like this without obstacles - and I don't expect obstacles - the government will soon see the light," Major General Abbas Ibrahim, a top security official involved in efforts to end the impasse, said in a televised news conference.

Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil told Reuters the process was "in the last phase and it is probable that the government will be formed before the Christmas holiday". "This will leave a positive impact on the financial and economic situation and open the way for a start to dealing this file," he added.

Fitch Ratings on Tuesday changed Lebanon's outlook to negative from stable, citing a further deterioration in government deficits and debt dynamics and signs of rising pressures on Lebanon's financing model.

The May 6 national election, Lebanon's first in nine years, produced a parliament tilted in favour of the heavily armed, Iran-backed Shia Muslim group Hezbollah, which together with its political allies won more than 70 of the 128 seats.

Hariri, who enjoys Western backing, lost more than one third of his lawmakers, though he remained Lebanon's biggest Sunni Muslim leader and as such was nominated again as prime minister.

His Future Movement said it was now possible "to wager" on the government being formed before the holidays, saying this was "a pressing matter" due to "economic and financial challenges".

COMPROMISE

Efforts to form the government have faced a series of obstacles, the last of which surrounded Sunni representation, with Hezbollah demanding a cabinet seat for one of its Sunni allies to reflect their election gains.

Hariri has resisted the demand.

But under a compromise that has taken shape, the Hezbollah-linked Sunnis are expected to be represented in government by a candidate acceptable to them rather than insisting that they themselves should get the seat.

In exchange, they say they want Hariri to acknowledge their political standing as a group of Sunnis independent of his Future Movement by meeting them. The Hariri family has dominated Lebanese Sunni politics for decades.

"Within two or three days - God willing - you will hear the news that the Lebanese masses were waiting for," Abdel Rahim Mrad, one of the pro-Hezbollah Sunni MPs, said after meeting Ibrahim. "All the problems have been solved."

The Sunni minister is expected to be named among a group of ministers allotted to President Michel Aoun, a compromise on the part of his Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). "Every solution requires a concession and everybody has conceded," Gebran Bassil, the head of the FPM and Aoun's son-in-law, said.

Search Keywords:

Short link:

(Newser)  Michael Flynn's sentencing hearing is due to start at 11am Tuesday, a day that began with his former boss wishing him well. "Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn," Trump tweeted in reference to his first national security adviser, who pleaded guilty last year as part of the Mueller probe to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the US. "Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!" Flynn might not need too much luck: Thanks to his extensive cooperation with Robert Mueller, both the prosecution and the defense have asked for no prison time.

story continues below

CNN reports he's looking at zero to six months of prison time, with federal Judge Emmet Sullivan making the call. But the Washington Post reports the hearing may not be so "uneventful" after all. That's because Flynn's attorneys' sentencing submission suggests he was tricked by the FBI into making false statements because he did not receive advance warning from them that such lies would be a crime. The Guardian reports prosecutors didn't buy the argument: "A sitting National Security Advisor, former head of an intelligence agency, retired Lieutenant General, and 33-year veteran of the armed forces knows he should not lie to federal agents." Judge Sullivan asked for additional documents in response. The Post expects Flynn to press the judge for leniency in court. (Two of Flynn's associates have been charged.)(Newser)  Arizona's governor has named Rep. Martha McSally to replace Jon Kyl in the Senate seat that once belonged to John McCain, the AP reports. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey announced Tuesday that McSally will take over for Kyl, who was appointed after McCain's death from brain cancer in August but said he would only commit to serving until the end of 2018. McSally, a two-term congresswoman who was long considered for the Senate by the state's GOP establishment, lost the race for retiring GOP Sen. Jeff Flake's seat to Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema. "With her experience and long record of service, Martha is uniquely qualified to step up and fight for Arizona," Ducey said. McSally will serve until the 2020 election, when voters will elect someone to serve the final two years of McCain's term.

story continues below

Democrats are expected to target Arizona both in the presidential race and the contest for McCain's seat. By initially appointing Kyl, Ducey dodged tough political decisions that could have complicated his own re-election bid. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell then lobbied for Ducey to select McSally, who may have an advantage in 2020 given that most Democrats cited as possible Senate challengers are men. The first female combat pilot, McSally rose to the rank of colonel in the Air Force before entering politics. She carved out a reputation as a moderate who could win tough elections. During her Senate campaign this year, McSally played up her military record against a Democrat she accused of treason.

(Read more Martha McSally stories.)(Newser)  While it hasn't yet been established whether the Lasik-type eye surgery a 35-year-old meteorologist had in October contributed to her Dec. 12 suicide, Jessica Starr's death is putting the surgery's rare complications into the spotlight. The Lasik SMILE surgery Starr had was approved by the FDA in 2016 and first practiced in Michigan a year later; it uses both a different laser and technique than Lasik, though an eye surgeon tells the Detroit Free-Press the two procedures are "fundamentally the same." Starr, who had been with Fox 2 Detroit since 2012, had said she was struggling with dry eye and vision issues a month after the surgery and tweeted in mid-November about it being a "struggle" and a "challenging time."

story continues below

The Free-Press cites a June New York Times article that featured people who had experienced complications, among them a 35-year-old who says the aftermath is like having "paper cuts in her eyes" and a 36-year-old who likens his pain to "hot grease in my eyes, 24-7." CBS 12 speaks with Florida's Dr. Kenneth Maller, who specializes in treating those who have suffered complications. Among his past patients: a Canadian named Paul Fitzpatrick. Maller was able to mend his vision issues but not the pain; Fitzpatrick ended up committing suicide. Starr leaves behind a husband and two children, 5-year-old son Noah and 3-year-old daughter Riley. (Read more from the Times' article here.)(Newser)  A federal judge has tossed a lawsuit claiming sheriff's deputies and school officials failed to protect students during the Feb. 14 Parkland shooting. Claiming severe trauma and psychological injuries, 15 students of Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School argued their civil and due process rights were violated. "Viewed properly, the claim arises from the actions of [shooter Nikolas Cruz], a third party, and not a state actor," US District Judge Beth Bloom wrote in a Dec. 12 ruling, per NBC Miami, clearing Broward's school district and sheriff's office of any legal duty to protect students not in custody. At best, the lawsuit filed in July alleged "deliberate indifference" on the part of defendantsincluding campus monitor Andrew Medina and school deputy Scot Petersonwhich is "insufficient to constitute a due-process violation," Bloom said.

story continues below

While the judge noted "further amendment of these claims would be futile," she did allow a small portion of the suit, alleging a wrongful search by Peterson on the morning of the shooting, to move forward. A student claimed Peterson took $200 from him, suspecting the money to have come from a drug deal, when it was to be used to pay for a Valentine's dinner date, reportedly confirmed by the student's mother. "As alleged, the basis for Peterson's search was not reasonable," Bloom wrote. Peterson could still be on the hook in another suit brought by the family of shooting victim Meadow Pollack. A Broward Circuit judge last week rejected Peterson's argument that he had "no legal duty" to protect students and faculty at the school, per the Orlando Sentinel. Several lawsuits filed by parents of Parkland students remain in state court. (Peterson described "seven chaotic minutes.")(Newser)  Michael Flynn's fate was in the hands of Judge Emmet Sullivan on Tuesday, and the federal judge dished out a surprise twist: The sentencing ended up being delayed after Sullivan suggested Flynn could actually get prison time despite the prosecution's recommendation he get none. Sullivan was doing no coddling at the start. "Arguably, you sold your country out," is how he put it to President Trump's former national security adviser, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the US. Sullivan added he "can't hide my disgust, my disdain" at Flynn's misdeeds.

story continues below

CNBC reports Sullivan offered Flynn the option of postponing the hearing in order to cooperate further with Robert Mueller's probe. "If you want to postpone this, and come back at some later point ... thats fine with me," Sullivan said, advising him that the sentence could be different if he went that route. "I can not assure you that if you proceed today, you will not receive a sentence of incarceration," Sullivan said. After a recess, Flynn's attorneys requested such a delay. The AP reports Sullivan scheduled a status conference for March. (Read more Michael Flynn stories.)Country

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of ZimbabweA tribute was paid to the brave martyrs who fell in the line of duty since the establishment of Bahrain, yesterday. The martyrs sacrificed their lives for the sake of the homeland and fell in the line of duty as they were serving the nation, said His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. He saluted the national heroes who embody the value of courage and sacrifice, becoming a source of pride for Bahrain and role model for the coming generations.

HM King Hamad, the Supreme Commander, paid homage to the martyrs of duty as he patronised a ceremony marking the Commemoration Day. His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier attended the commemorative event at the Al Sakhir Palace.

HM, the King was received on arrival by BDF Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, National Guard Commander Lieutenant-General Shaikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa and Interior Minister Lt Gen Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa.

The 17th of December will always remain an honourable occasion in our national march, symbolising pride in those Bahrainis who fell in the line of duty, at home and abroad, for the sake of right and justice, he said. He paid homage to the martyrs of duty who sacrificed their lives to defend national security and sovereignty, combat terrorism and extend a helping hand to those in dire need in a dedicated move stemming from the Islamic teachings and authentic Bahraini values, thus following the steps of fathers and forefathers.

HM, the King paid tribute to the martyrs families which are as brave as their beloved who fell in the line of duty, defending their homeland, hailing their courage, resilience and patriotism.German Police on Tuesday raided a mosque in Berlin whose preacher was suspected of transferring funds to an Islamist fighter in Syria for the purpose of carrying out "terrorist criminal acts", prosecutors said.

Officers searched the As-Sahaba mosque in Berlin's northern district of Wedding where 45-year-old Ahmad A. - known to his followers as Abul Baraa - preaches, the General Prosecutor's Office said.

There was no immediate comment from the cleric or any lawyer representing him.

Search Keywords:

Short link:

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has reacted to the industrial action by the National Assembly workers. Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu...





The All Progressives Congress (APC) has reacted to the industrial action by the National Assembly workers.





Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, National Publicity Secretary of the party, in a statement Monday night, said the development is a sad reminder of what Nigerians witnessed under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration.





He said PDPs 16-year rule was characterised by such incidences of unpaid salaries, ghost workers and a shocking disdain for workers welfare.





The spokesman: While the minority PDP usurpers who parade themselves as the National Assembly leadership have promptly paid themselves their allowances, National Assembly workers under the umbrella of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) are owed their duly earned 28 per cent increase in their salaries since 2010.





Perhaps, if the National Assembly leaders have focused on their core legislative business and operations rather than resort to subterfuge with the sole intent of undermining the APC government, the welfare of parliamentary workers would not have been taken for granted.





Nigerians will recall that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in one of its first actions as a government approved federal government bailouts to states to settle salaries owed workers. That is the stuff of people-centred governance which the APC represents. A worker deserves his wages!





We have now learnt that the parliamentary workers have blocked all entrances into the National Assembly complex and cut off essential services like power and water supply; effectively crippling any form of activity within the premises.





The APC calls on the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara to do the needful by attending to the demands of the parliamentary workers.



Spain's Supreme Court held a preliminary hearing on Tuesday ahead of the start of a high-profile trial of 18 Catalan separatist leaders over their role in last year's failed independence bid.

The 18 defendants, among them former Catalan vice president Oriol Junqueras, did not appear at the Madrid court for the hearing, which will focus on technical issues.

A seven-judge panel is hearing from defence lawyers who want the case to be tried by a court in Catalonia instead of the Supreme Court.

The judges were expected to reject these arguments and to decide within a week.

The sensitive trial is likely to start at the end of January or early February -- more than a year after Catalan leaders in the northeastern region attempted to break away from Spain in October 2017 by staging a referendum despite a court ban.

They subsequently proclaimed independence but Spain's then conservative government moved swiftly to depose the Catalan executive, dissolve the regional parliament and call snap local elections in December.

Nine defendants are in pre-rial custody, including four who are three weeks into a hunger strike against what they see as their unfair treatment by the justice system. Prosecutors are seeking jail terms of up to 25 years at the trial that is set to last several months.

It does not concern seven other Catalan leaders who fled abroad after the independence bid, such as deposed regional president Carles Puigdemont, since Spain does not allow for trials in absentia.

Catalan separatist parties consider the defendants to be "political prisoners" and complain that their continued detention constitutes a violation of their human rights.

Search Keywords:

Short link:

President Muhammadu Buhari has accused the national assembly of inflating the debt of the federal government to states. The nation...





President Muhammadu Buhari has accused the national assembly of inflating the debt of the federal government to states.





The national assembly had approved the refund of N488.7 billion to state governments for projects they executed on behalf of the federal government.





But in a letter read on the floor of the upper legislative chamber by Senate President Bukola Saraki on Tuesday, Buhari said while the federal executive council (FEC) approved N487,842,888,574.74, the national assembly approved N488,743,526,204.77.





The president said the assembly approved N890,537,630,03 higher than the amount approved by FEC.





You may wish to refer to the letter from the national assembly REF:NASS/CNA/106/Vol.10/277 dated 27 th of July 2018 which communicated the approval by the national assembly of the promissory note programme and a bond issuance to settle inherited local debts and contractual obligations on refund to state governments on projects executed on behalf of the federal government in the sum of N488,743,526,204.77, he said.





The senate may wish to know that in view of the approval by the national assembly, the following were observed:





While the federal executive council (FEC) approved the total of N487,842,888,574.74 only, as reimbursement to the state governments, the national assembly approved N488,743,526,204.77, implying that the amount approved by the national assembly was N890,537,630,03 higher than the amount approved by FEC.





While FEC approved reimbursement to 25 states, national assembly approved reimbursement to 21 states.





National assembly did not approve any reimbursement for four states; Bauchi, Delta, Kogi and Taraba whereas the FEC had approved reimbursement for them.





The president said the amount approved by the national assembly for reimbursement for 21 states is higher than the amount approved by FEC for 25 states.





He said the amount presented to the national assembly by was duly approved by FEC.





Furthermore, I wish to request for review of the reimbursement earlier submitted in favour of Bauchi, Delta, Kogi and Taraba Sates. Meanwhile, the federal government shall proceed with the implementation on the following basis: Where the amount approved by the National Assembly is the same as the amount approved by FEC, the jointly approved amount will be reimbursed, Buhari said.





The states ate Adamawa, Jigawa, Kano and Niger. Where the amount approved by the National Assembly is higher than the amount approved by FEC, the amount approved by FEC will be reimbursed.



President Buhari marked his seventy-sixth birthday on Monday and received well wishes from political friends and foes alike. Buhari,...

President Buhari marked his seventy-sixth birthday on Monday and received well wishes from political friends and foes alike.





Buhari, while thanking everyone for their goodwill messages, revealed that his aides ambushed and surprised him on the occasion of his birthday.





Sharing the pictures on his official Twitter, handle, Buhari wrote, Im very grateful to everyone for their kind wishes on my 76th birthday today.





Those who ambushed me at the State House with a surprise celebration, and all of you who sent in greetings from around the country and the world.





Thank you very much. May the Almighty God bless you all.











President Muhammadu Buhari who marked his 76th birthday yesterday penned an appreciation note to all Nigerians thanking them for th...





President Muhammadu Buhari who marked his 76th birthday yesterday penned an appreciation note to all Nigerians thanking them for the show of love and prayers on his special day.





He also seized the opportunity to renew his pledge to serve Nigerians diligently and take the country to greater heights or as his re-election campaign will put it, the Next Level.





Read the personal letter of President Buhari:





Dear Nigerians/Friends 





Its been my joy and honour to serve our country, Nigeria, for most of my life.





As I turned 76 today, I am deeply grateful for all the prayers, goodwill messages and encouragement from Nigerians and friends, at home and abroad.





Life is better lived together in peace, unity and prosperity.





In all, I give glory to almighty Allah for mercies, and thanks to Nigerians for counting me worthy to serve them. It is something I have rededicated myself to, and will do to the very best of my ability.



Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has urged Muhammadu Buhari to immediately constitute the North East Development Commission (NEDC) so that the region can be developed and the people in the North East reintegrated.Speaking at constituency empowerment programme organized by Hon Binta Bello, Deputy Minority Whip in Kaltungo,Gombe State, the speaker also urged the electorate to vote for candidates that will work conscientiously towards their development and wellbeing.He also added that religious and tribal sentiments could becloud ones ability to choose performing representatives if used as yardstick for voting.Hon Dogara noted that having learnt that the secret to having a performing representatives is to choose one who can work for the growth and progress of his or her people irrespective of tribe or religion, his constituents reelected him thrice as thus, positioned him for the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.He noted that as a result of that, not only has Bauchi State benefitted from his being Speaker, but even the entire North-East has witnessed it too, with the most notable achievement being the creation of the NEDC which he personally sponsored.The speaker said, In my own constituency, there was a time that it was said that no member will ever be elected twice. Its a constituency consisting of more than 10 tribes in three local governments areas and comprising of adherents of both faith; Christian and Muslim faith, almost in equal number. So, it is always very difficult in times of election, to escape all the traps. If you escape the trap of tribalism, you will face the trap of religious sentiments but I tell you, because I have done fairly well in my representation, the entire people, whether Christian or Muslim, have accepted the fact that what they know in the government of Nigeria is that seat of House of Representatives and so, when it comes to my election, they put religion aside, they put tribalism aside, they returned me three times and that is why today, I am the speaker of the House of Representatives and by that singular position, it is not only Bauchi State or my constituency that has benefitted, even the entirety of the North-East has benefitted from that position because I can tell you here that if we had not put our feet on the ground, there is no way we would have come up the North East Development Commission and it is on account of the commission that God answered our prayer, even though the commission has not been constituted by Mr President, we are again, today, calling in very strong voice that he should immediately constitute that commission so that we really develop and integrate our people in the North East.He urged the people of Gombe South Senatorial district to vote for Hon Binta Bello, who he said has the yearnings of her people at heart and has been doing well in the National Assembly to the extent that she emerged as the deputy minority whip of the House of Representatives.The Coalition of United Political Parties on Tuesday withdrew its recent call on federal lawmakers to boycott the Wednesday joint session of the National Assembly during which President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to present the 2019 Appropriation Bill.The coalitions first national spokesperson, Imo Ugochinyere, in a statement made available to journalists said the CUPP changed its position on the matter following the intervention of the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; and two unnamed former Presidents.Ugochinyere therefore called on the lawmakers to scrutinise the document when eventually presented.Despite the withdrawal of the boycott order however, he said the CUPP stood by its earlier position that the present administration has been characterised by a reign of impunity.The statement read, The opposition coalition has yielded to the pressure of an early morning intervention by the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, calling on opposition coalition CUPP to sheath their sword and withdraw their call on opposition boycott.The opposition leadership, after reviewing the intervention of Senate President and the Speaker as well as other eminent leaders including two former Presidents, wish to announce a withdrawal of the call.The opposition coalition says they will continue efforts to ensure they deploy all lawful arsenal at their disposal to ensure the President is defeated and urges parliamentarians to scrutinise the budget documents when presented and ensure it reflects the wishes of the people.The opposition however holds strongly to the views expressed for the boycott over the three years reign of impunity of the President despite the call off.The opposition also condemns the IGP for illegally holding activist Deji Adeyanju and moving him by 4am to Kano in a plot to hold him behind bars over a case he has been discharged and acquitted by a court of competent jurisdiction.

MASSOB predicated its claim on Ekweremadus alleged inability to use his office to enhance the political and economic condition in the South-East.

In a statement by its Deputy leader, Mazi Ikechukwu Ekwe, the group faulted Ekweremadus failure to showcase his Igbo traditional attires and cultural heritage on the floor of National Assembly but prefers to cling Hausa- Fulani traditional and European attires.

MASSOB lamented that the Deputy Senate President has allowed his personal ambition and political ego to undermine the collective interest of the people of South-East.





The statement reads, We frown at the lukewarm and nonchalant attitude of the current highest Igbo political office holder, who has not utilized the opportunity and government access legally and constitutionally attached to his office as deputy senate president towards attracting fair and just betterment of the people.

How can MASSOB and other pro Biafra groups that have thousands of block votes, grass root support base and massive people- oriented command, support or vote for Igbo political office seekers into the National Assembly, state Assembly and as state governors, when people like Ike Ekweremadu and his Igbo colleagues in the National Assembly are mere political errand men to our oppressors?

MASSOB wishes to remind our people that Ike Ekweremadu, as the chairman of senate committee of constitutional review and amendment, has not deemed it fit as chairman of the highest committee and as deputy senate president, to push or influence an additional state to South East or influence the insertion of political referendum into the Nigerian constitution or push for massive infrastructural development of Eastern Nigeria.

MASSOB frowns that our brother, Ike Ekweremadu has forgotten to showcase his Igbo traditional attires and cultural heritage in the floor of National Assembly and cling to Hausa- Fulani traditional and European attires.The Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has accused his predecessor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, of wasting the N18bn Paris Club loan refund given to the state by the Federal Government.The governor, who spoke in Ado Ekiti on Sunday during the December edition of the monthly Meet your Governor programme, dismissed rumours that the two-month Fayemi administration had collected Paris Club loan refund totalling N30bn.The governor said, I have not collected any money in the fashion of road intervention or Paris Club loan refund. Former governor Fayose had the opportunity to pay bulk of the backlog of salaries and pensions. He collected N18bn out of the N21.5bn due to Ekiti in the fund. So, what is left for Ekiti is just N3.5bn which cannot pay a month salary of workers.I decided to delay appointment of politicians into government for me to be able to pay our workers. With this, Ekiti can now know who the real and honest friend of the masses is, he said.But Fayose, who insisted that Fayemi had collected billions of naira between October and now, charged the governor to stop ranting, but pay workers their salaries with the N30bn he received from the Federal Government.The former governor, in a statement by his Media Aide, Lere Olayinka, said there were conditions given by the Federal Government before the fund was released, adding that reports of the utilisation of the first tranche of the refunds was one of the conditions for the release of the second tranche.Fayose said, Besides, the fund was meant for both the state and local governments and it is on record that Ekiti fell into the hardship of inability to pay salaries regularly as a result of the debt incurred by the state during Fayemis first tenure and the loans restructuring done at the instance of the Federal Government and the Federal Economic Council.Nigeria spent N2.582 trillion on fuel importation in nine months, from January to September 2018, rising by 12.9 per cent from N2.289 trillion recorded in the first three quarters of 2017.The amount spent on fuel import in the nine-month period is 28.3 per cent of Nigerias N9.12 trillion budget for the 2018 fiscal year and 36 per cent of the N7.17 trillion proposed expenditure in the budget.This came as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, yesterday, said that the Federal Government has paid petroleum products marketers N236 billion, being first tranche of the outstanding fuel subsidy claims owed the marketers.Members of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, DAPPMAN, confirmed receipt of the payment, and stated that they would still seek clarifications on certain issues with the government.According to data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, Foreign Trade Statistics for the Third Quarter of 2018, Nigerias fuel import stood at N845.12 billion, N720.4 billion for the first and second quarters of 2018 respectively.However, in the third quarter of 2018, the report noted that fuel import rose sharply by 41.03 per cent from N720.4 billion recorded in the second quarter to N1.016 trillion in the third quarter of 2018.This, according to the report, was in comparison to fuel import of N802.4 billion, N744.28 billion and N742.82 billion recorded in the first, second and third quarter of 2018 respectively.In its month-on-month analysis of the Nigerias fuel import, the report showed that in January, February, March, April, May and June 2018, Nigeria imported fuel valued at N384.59 billion, N357.45 billion, N103.08 billion, N190.26 billion, N380.7 billion and N149.44 billion respectively.For July, August and September 2018, the NBS report stated that N343.25 billion, N378 billion and N295.03 billion fuel was imported respectively.The report further pointed out that fuel import in the third quarter of 2018, accounted for 24.4 per cent of Nigerias total imports in the period under review.Specifically, the report stated that total imports into Nigeria in the third quarter of 2018 stood at N4.172 billion, rising by 73.8 per cent from N2.4 trillion in the second quarter of 2018.The report further attributed the sharp rise in total import in the third quarter to the importation of an oil rig.Particularly, the report said the floating or submersible drilling or production platforms worth N1.159 trillion was imported from South Korea in August 2018.In the same way, there was a rise of 67.7 per cent when compared with the import value of the corresponding quarter in 2017. The huge increase in import value during the quarter, resulted into a decrease in the countrys trade balance from N2.103 trillion in the second quarter to N681.3 billion in third quarter representing a decrease of 67.6 per cent. The year to date Total Trade amounted to N23.14 trillion, it noted.SubsidyIn an interview in Abuja, Chief Operating Officer, Downstream, NNPC, Mr. Henry Ikem-Obih, disclosed that the payment, which was done through promissory notes, had been ready since last Wednesday, while the marketers were asked to come pick them up Monday.Ikem-Obih further stated that all the promissory notes for this tranche would mature in 2019, adding that the CBN had also promised to grant special status to the notes.He said: I can confirm that the promissory note has been issued. In fact, there were ready on Wednesday. The marketers got emails inviting them to come and receive them on Monday.By the end of Tuesday, there were actually ready from the Debt Management Office, DMO. We had a meeting with the CBN Governor on Thursday and they were informed officially. The Director General of DMO was there and said that they should pick up the promissory note.Most of them were waiting for that meeting with the CBN governor; it went very well. one of the things that CBN governor had taken the initiative to do is to ask the banks to freeze the interest on any loan that are related to that scheme, the outstanding payment, from end of June 2017 to date. Those are some of the additional concession that government has done.NNPC assuresIkem-Obih assured of steady and stable petroleum products supply during the Yuletide season and beyond, stating that the NNPC currently has over 2.7 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol.Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has officially endorsed the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress APC, in the...





Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has officially endorsed the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress APC, in the State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat.





Ambode said that both men were prepared for the campaign and ready to take on the task of moving Lagos to another level.





The Governor spoke at a stakeholders meeting held at the State secretariat of the party in Ogba on Monday.





He raised the hands of Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat before party leaders and faithful and wished them well in the March 2, 2019 election.





He said, As we are looking forward to February 16, 2019, we know it is the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket that the whole of Lagos will vote for.





As we proceed two weeks after on March 2, we also declare that it is the Sanwo-Olu/Hamzat ticket that will come to take over from me by the special grace of God.





I pray for them and bless them that they will take over from me successfully in good health and in good spirit, he said.





The first thing I want to say is to appeal to all our party members who, in one way or the other, have been wronged or aggrieved that they should find a place in their hearts to let it just be the same way that I have accepted the greatness of the party.





I want us to know that the party is supreme to all our individual interests because it has the common good for all of us and we must find a place in our hearts to let the party reign supreme.





I want to further appeal to all our leaders and our party leaders also that when there is a platform for reconciliation, we should proceed also to continue to reconcile and when there is a platform for compensation, we should also make those promissory notes so that all our aspirants who are not candidates must be ready to sacrifice for the overall collective of our party.





This is very important so that we can move this campaign forward because it is only when we win that we can compensate, it is only when we win that we can reconcile and so let us have that collective decision to move APC forward.





We are one party and we are one family and if we are one family and one party, then we should proceed and make APC the reigning party at the centre and the reigning party in Lagos.





So, all our stakeholders, all our elders I seek for your cooperation, your solidarity and your support for our candidate at the gubernatorial level, senatorial level, House of Representatives and Assembly and also Presidency.



The court of appeal sitting in Ibadan, Oyo state, has declared Ladi Adebutu the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party...





The court of appeal sitting in Ibadan, Oyo state, has declared Ladi Adebutu the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun state.





The judgement was delivered on Tuesday by a three-man appeal panel.





Adebutu and Buruji Kashamu, a serving senator, have both been laying claim to the ticket of the party.





Ruling on a suit filed by Adebutu faction, the court upturned the judgement of an Abeokuta high court which favoured Kashamu.





The panel headed by A. B. Bada, resolved the four issues raised for determination in the appeal in favour of the PDP, saying the appellants were not properly served in the case at the lower court.





Uche Secondus, national chairman of the PDP, had handed over the partys governorship ticket to Adebutu but the Kashamu faction also unveiled the senator as their candidate.



Top local, Arab and European institutions and companies are eyeing partnership with Egyptian companies in the upcoming International Property Show (IPS) Egypt, the Middle Easts biggest property show platform for local and international real estate markets, set to be held in Egypt from 10 to 13 January 2019.

The IPS Egypt conference and show, held under the auspices of Egypts Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, is being organised by Emirates Strategic Company for Organising Exhibitions and MREC Integrated Real Estate Services, which have organised a number of major international events and exhibitions.

IPS is held annually in the UAEs Dubai with the participation of 20 to 30 companies from different countries.

This is the first time the edition is being held outside the UAE in over 17 years. New Cairos Al-Manara International Conference Centre in the Fifth Settlement, New Cairo will host the conference.

More than 30 real estate developers from Arab and European countries, including the Dubai Land Department and Off-plan Sales or Rent Program (Wafi), which is affiliated with the Saudi Housing Ministry, will participate in the exhibition, according to Walid Farghal, director-general of the Strategic Company for Organising Exhibitions.

Mahmoud Abdel-Halim, chairman of MREC Integrated Real Estate Services, said that the companies participating in the IPS were selected carefully based on their experience and strong presence in the Egyptian market.

A large real estate conference will be held on the sidelines of the IPS with the participation of senior officials from the countrys Ministry of Housing, the New Urban Communities Authority, as well as officials from the UAE and Saudi Arabia to highlight available investment opportunities in the Egyptian real estate marker.

Search Keywords:

Short link:

The Ogun State Sector of the Federal Road Safety Corps has revealed it would collaborate with Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, to ease the gridlock on the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway during the Yuletide.Mr Clement Oladele, the Ogun State Sector Commander of the FRSC, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Ota, Ogun.According to him, a brief ceremony was held to remove the barriers earlier erected for the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway around Oremeji/Asese, up to Mowe.This is to enable traffic flow unhindered during this years yuletide special patrol operations and alleviate the pains and discomfort that many motorists will experience on the axis during the period, he said.Oladele said the team of FRSC personnel, together with the Federal Controller of Works and the Julius Berger Project Manager all collaborated in removing the barriers.The sector commander, however, advised motorists to note that despite the removal of the diversions, the entire area still remained a construction zone and, therefore, urged motorists to restrict themselves within the 50km/hour maximum speed limit and the prohibition on overtaking in the construction zones.He warned that any defaulter apprehended risks prosecution, including the confiscation of their vehicles until January.Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos state, has been endorsed by the Igbo commun...





Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos state, has been endorsed by the Igbo community in the state.





At an event held at the National Stadium in Surulere, Igbo residents gathered in their large numbers and pledged support for Sanwo-Olu and Obafemi Hamzat, his running mate.





also conferred Ugo Chinyere Eze title on Sanwo-Olu. The title means the greatest gift from God. H.N. Ohazurike, Eze Ndigbo of Lagos,also conferred Ugo Chinyere Eze title on Sanwo-Olu. The title means the greatest gift from God.





The event was attended by all Eze Ndigbo from all local government areas in Lagos, each pledging to mobilise Igbo residents in their communities to work for the success of the APC candidate.

Responding to the gesture, Sanwo-Olu described Igbo people as critical stakeholders in the Lagos project, promising to give Ndigbo a good representation in his government if elected.





The APC candidate said the story of the commercial nerve centre status which Lagos attained many decades ago would not be complete without the resilience of Igbo traders in the state, adding that the endorsement would be the beginning of a new mutually benefiting relationship between the government and Igbo community.





Sanwo-Olu said: I am expressing my profound appreciation to the Ndigbo community in Lagos for the traditional title bestowed on me, the Ugo Chinyere Eze. I thank you all from the depth of my heart for this honour and the endorsement you have just given me and my running mate.





We are starting another journey together in our effort to build a greater Lagos that will be prosperous for all residents. We will not discriminate against any ethnic groups in this journey. Every ethnic group represented in Lagos is a critical stakeholder and we will carry everyone along, as we have resolved to run an all-inclusive government. Just as you pronounced me to be gift from God, I promise to be a precious gift you will be proud of if elected as your governor.



A group, Oneon-One Nigeria, which is campaigning for the reelection of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 has said that its main reason for the support was that only Buhari presidency could guarantee the emergence of a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction in 2013.Addressing reporters in Awka, coordinator of the group, Chief Chido Obidiegwu observed that only Buhari had truly recognized Igbo as an important segment of the country, recalling that despite losing heavily in the South East during the 2015 election, the president had continued to address the Igbos most pressing needs, which bordered mainly on infrastructural development.President Buhari conferred with the title of Ochioha NdiIgbo 1 by South East traditional council of rulers led by Eze Eberechi Dick during his visit to Ebonyi State on 14th Nov 2017Obidiegwu, who was Governor Willie Obianos senior special assistant on events, recently led a group of Igbo people to the presidential villa to announce their support to the president for the 2019 election.He said: Post Biafran war kept Igbo in a despondent debilitating status whereby they were relegated to the 4th class status from their hitherto 1st class status in the .Nigerian traditional tripod.Successive military and civilian administrations could not do much to elevate the Igbo spirit as desired and deserved. It only took President Buhari who Igbo rejected at the polls, to address some of their key desires abandoned by previous regimes. President Buharis other national socio-economic and political interventions have also endeared him to well meaning Igbo people.In the light of the foregoing, we humbly and effusively invite and implore our brothers and sisters all over Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Delta and Rivers State, as well as those in Diaspora, to join us in this noble and laudable cause for the total emancipation of the Igbo race and restoration of the dignity of the Igbo man.We believe in Igbo cause and what we are doing is how to achieve the Igbo presidency. As far as we are concerned, the Igbo presidency will be achieved fastest if Buhari wins the president in 2019.According to him, through Igbo pitched tents with former President Goodluck Jonathan and humiliated President Buhari at the 2015 polls, a school of thought expected President Buhari to pay Igbo back in their own coin, but he did not do that.Rather, he added, Buhari began serious work on the long abandoned second Niger Bridge, the long abandoned Enugu- Port Harcourt express way, the Ziks mausoleum and Aba Independent Power plant, among other projects, which Igbo yearned for over 16 years, but could not realize.Obidiegwu said the One-on-One Nigeria group was resolute and unequivocal in its support for the presidents second tenure, adding that its action plans were already unfolding in the 1694 political wards in South-Eastern Nigeria, 95 local government areas, 15 Senatorial zones, the five South East states and parts of Delta and River states.The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that 461,988 Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) are still unclaimed in ...





The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that 461,988 Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) are still unclaimed in Adamawa state, a stronghold of the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, few months to the 2019 general poll.





INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state Mr Kasim Gaidam, disclosed this yesterday during the opening of a three-day workshop on election monitoring and support in Yola, the Adamawa state capital.





He expressed worry over lack of lukewarm attitude on the part of some registered voters in the state who have failed to come forward and collect their PVCs despite efforts made by the commission.





Gaidam, who said the state had a total of 1,992,146 registered voters captured for the 2019 general election, noted that poor collection of PVCs is the biggest challenge affecting the state office.





So far, there are 461,988 uncollected PVCs lying idle in the state, he added.





The INEC REC further said all governorship candidates in the state would sign peace accord on Thursday towards peaceful conduct of the 2019 poll.









The workshop was aimed at updating the commissions staff towards smooth conduct of the poll.



The Lagos State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, has responded to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who mocked him for adopting the freedom slogan for his 2019 aspiration.Tinubu had, while addressing members of the All Progressives Congress on Monday, said, Those who said they want freedom should go and learn tailoring and vulcanising and we will do freedom for them later.However, in a statement on Tuesday, Agbaje likened Tinubu to the biblical Pharaoh of Egypt who refused to allow the children of Israel to leave but kept them in bondage until God sent down 10 plagues that forced Pharaohs hand.Pharaoh, you must let our people go! Agbaje said.Apparently, the APC leader has lost touch with reality, Agbaje said in a press statement by his Director of Media and Publicity, Felix Oboagwina.Otherwise, he would know that, like the children of Israel, Lagosians are groaning under the taskmaster that Tinubu and his cronies have turned themselves into in this state that should rate as Nigerias foremost, he added.Recalling that the biblical Pharaoh finally granted liberty to the Israelites only after several vicious plagues, Agbaje said, Lagosians would be liberated after the people might have delivered an electoral disgrace to the APC in 2019.He also said that his campaign slogan mirrored the same spirit that moved Nelson Mandela to declare his long walk to freedom in an apartheid South Africa.Agbaje said, We identify with our vulcanisers, tailors and all craftsmen who have the joy of duly-earned freedom after their apprenticeship.But it is apparent that, unlike them, those who have gotten used to filthy lucre and the dividends of corruption cannot savour the joy that comes with the legitimate sweat and labour of hardworking artisans.He argued that Lagos State must be freed from the era of nepotism and corruption that saw a private firm maintaining a stranglehold on the states funds, contrary to global best practices.President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected the National Assemblys approval for refund of N488.7 billion to State Governments for projects they executed on behalf of the Federal Government.Buhari communicated the decision through a letter read by the President of the Senate, Sen. Bukola Saraki, at plenary on Tuesday.The president said he rejected the National Assemblys approval because it violated the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.He noted that whereas the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a total of N487.8 billion for the purpose, the National Assembly jerked up the figure to N488.7 billion.He said the amount approved by the lawmakers was N890 million higher than that approved by FEC.Buhari said a review of the NASS approval, communicated through a July 27, 2018 letter, also revealed discrepancies in the number of states submitted by FEC and those approved by the lawmakers.He said, While FEC approved reimbursement to 25 states, the National Assembly approved reimbursement to 21 states.The National Assembly did not approve any reimbursement to four states, that is, Bauchi, Delta, Kogi and Taraba, whereas FEC approved reimbursement for them.Note that the amount approved by the National Assembly for reimbursement to 21 states is higher than the amount approved by FEC for reimbursement to 25 states.The president added that the amount approved by the lawmakers for each of the 21 states was higher than that approved by FEC for each of them, except for Adamawa, Jigawa, Kano and Niger.He urged the Senate to note that the Public Procurement Act 2007 empowers the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to approve vendors for contract sums.According to him, the amounts presented to the national assembly for approval were duly certified for reimbursement by the BPP before they were approved by FEC.Buhari said this was after the projects had been inspected through a programme under the chairmanship of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing.The president noted that there was the need for compliance with the Public Procurement Act, 2007.I wish to request that you forward to us details relating to the amounts approved by the National Assembly for the 17 states in excess of what was certified by BPP, for necessary verification and approval.Furthermore, I wish to request for a review of the reimbursement earlier submitted in favour of Bauchi, Delta, Kogi and Taraba states, the president said.In the meantime, Buhari has told the lawmakers that the federal government will proceed with the implementation of the reimbursement on certain grounds.First, he said where the amount approved by the national assembly is the same as the amount approved by FEC the jointly approved amounts would be refunded.He identified the states in this category as Adamawa, Jigawa, Kano and Niger.Second, the president said where the amount approved by the National Assembly was higher than the amount approved by FEC, the amount approved by FEC would be paid.The benefiting states on this are Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Ebonyi, Benue, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Kwara, Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Plateau and Zamfara.He said the four states (Bauchi, Delta, Kogi and Taraba) excluded in the NASS approval would not be refunded until their consideration by the lawmakers.The ongoing strike of legislative workers is having an effect on activities at the national assembly. Although the police prevente...





The ongoing strike of legislative workers is having an effect on activities at the national assembly.





Although the police prevented the aggrieved workers from gaining access into plenary on Tuesday, many lawmakers were absent when the days proceeding began.





The staff are protesting their withheld entitlement including consolidated salary increments and allowances said to be owed since 2010.





Only 16 members of the house of representatives began plenary, against the provisions of the 1999 constitution.





According to the constitution, the house must form a quorum  which is one-third of the 360 members  before plenary can hold.





But when plenary started around 12:11am  more than one hour after official time for resumption  TheCable observed that only 16 lawmakers were on ground, 104 less than the required quorum: 120.





ILLEGAL SITTING?





Section 54(3) of the constitution states: If objection is taken by any member of the Senate or the House of Representatives present that there are present in the House of which he is a member (besides the person presiding fewer than one-third of all the members of that House and that it is not competent for the House to transact business, and after such interval as may be prescribed in the rules of procedure of the House, the person presiding ascertains that the number of members present is still less than one-third of all the members of the House he shall adjourn the House.





As of when this report was filed, 25 more lawmakers had joined their colleagues who commenced proceedings, putting the attendance at 41, still far less than the quorum.





WORRIES OVER LIKELY SHUTDOWN





When the sitting started, Femi Gbajabiamila, majority leader of the house, denied reports that the national assembly leadership is responsible for the workers grievances.





Their strike has nothing to do with the legislative arm of the leadership. It has to do with the national assembly management, he said.





And it is illegal to stop members of the national assembly from coming to work. And that even attracts very serious sanctions. So we are appealing to them as well; they are not only shutting down the national assembly but by extension, they are shutting down the nation no matter how good their intentions are.





Nicholas Ossai from Delta state also called on the staff to end the protest.





We are appealing on the workers to see reason to stop the strike and to appeal to the leadership of the chambers to liase properly with them, he said.





Thereafter, Yusuf Lasun, deputy speaker of the house who is presiding over the session, said the national assembly leadership has been making effort to avert a shutdown of legislative proceedings.





We are doing our best to address the issue. The legislative arm is the face of democracy and no attempt should be made to shut it down, he said.





The lawmakers also moved a motion admitting President Muhammadu Buhari to address a joint session of the national assembly during the 2019 budget presentation on Wednesday.



The Senate on Tuesday ordered the joint committee on police and judiciary to investigate the rearrest of activist and founder of Concerned Nigerians, Deji Adeyanju by the police.Adeyanjus rearrest was mentioned on the floor of the Senate by Senator Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West senatorial district, where the activist hails from.He said, Deji Adeyanju is a pro-democracy activist. He has been arrested twice by the Nigerian police for organising protests in the defence of democracy.This activist was arrested again by the Police, for a matter that took place 18 years ago. The judgement has been given. Deji Adeyanju and two others have been discharged and acquitted by the court.Mr. President, we are in a democracy. Our Constitution has given us the freedom of association, freedom of expression and freedom of the press.This is not acceptable to me; it should not be accepted by the Senate. It is time for the Senate to stand up and speak up in defence of Deji Adeyanju. We need to defend Deji Adeyanju, as we need to defend every Nigerian.He asked the Senate to constitute a committee to look into the matter.Melaye said, The Senate should constitute a committee to look into this. This is about our basic fundamental human rights.His motion was seconded by Senator Emmanuel Paulker, representing Bayelsa Central.The Senate President, Bukola Saraki while reacting ordered the joint committee to report their findings to the Senate in two weeks.He said, This young man has been arrested and rearrested. This is a country that is seen as a leader in the continent. The committee should look into this.Peter Obi, the vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), got most of his facts right at the TV debate on Frid...





Peter Obi, the vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), got most of his facts right at the TV debate on Friday, according to Valentine Obienyem, his media aide.





Obi came under intense scrutiny for the statistics he reeled out at the debate, which a fact checkers disputing most of his claims.





But in a press statement issued on Monday, Obienyem said engaging in what he called statistical fallacy was a mark of persons without honour and insisted that Obi did not do so during the debate as the sources of all the facts and statistics he put forward could easily be verified.





He itemised the points that Obi made during the debate and gave the source of Obis data, which he challenged those doubting their authenticity to verify.





THE VERIFIED FACTS

During the debate, Obi said that Nigeria used over 50% of her revenue to service debt. This can be verified from DMOs 2017 reports on Nigerias debt stock and total debt service. Obi said the countrys total debt stock was N22.7 trillion, about USD80 billion. This can be verified from DMOs June 2018 report on Nigerias debt stock, Obienyem wrote.





Obi said that Mexicos GDP was over USD1 trillion and its GDP per capita was over USD8,000. This can be verified from World Bank report on: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD?locations=MX&view=chart.





Obi said that South Africas stock market capitalisation was USD900 billion. This can be verified from Stock Market Clock (https://www.stockmarketclock.com/exchanges/jse). Obi said that Nigerian bank loans made up 15% of GDP. This can be verified from the World Bank (source: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/FD.AST.PRVT.GD.ZS?locations=NG&view=chart).





Obi said that Nigeria had the highest number of the poor at 87 million  growing by 6 persons per minute. This can be verified from Brookings Institute publication, The start of a new poverty narrative published by Homi Kharas, Kristofer Hamel, and Martin Hofer on Tuesday, June 19, 2018 (source: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2018/06/19/the-start-of-a-new-poverty-narrative/).





Obi said that the Misery Index in Nigeria worsened. This can be verified from https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/hankes-annual-misery-index-worlds-saddest-happiest-countries. Obi said that Nigerias Human Development Index (HDI) ranking moved from 152  157. This can be verified from http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2018_human_development_statistical_update.pdf.Obi said that the Misery Index in Nigeria worsened. This can be verified from https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/hankes-annual-misery-index-worlds-saddest-happiest-countries.





http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/doingBusiness/media/Annual-Reports/English/DB2019-report_web-version.pdf). Obi said that the FG budgeted N340 billion on health and paid over N1 trillion on PMS subsidy. Education budget was about N400 billion. This can be verified fromhttps://punchng.com/subsidy-on-petrol-hits-n1-4tn-per-year-says-fg/. Obi said that the ease of doing business ranking was currently at 146. This can be verified fromhttp://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/doingBusiness/media/Annual-Reports/English/DB2019-report_web-version.pdf).



Akbar Al Baker, the chief executive officer of Qatar Airways, says his company was not looking to be a core investor in the national c...





Akbar Al Baker, the chief executive officer of Qatar Airways, says his company was not looking to be a core investor in the national carrier project, Nigeria Air.





Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the ongoing 18th Doha Forum in Doha, Qatar, Al Baker said the Nigerian government only approached them for help on how to go about floating a national carrier.





While refuting rumours that the national carrier project was suspended for lack of investors, Hadi Sirika, minister of state for aviation had listed Qatar Airways and Ethiopian Airways as some of the potential investors of the national carrier.





We never applied to serve as core investor in the proposed Nigerian national carrier. The government of Nigeria only approached us on how to go about setting up the carrier. And we advised that Nigeria needs massive investments to float a national carrier, Vanguard quoted Al Baker to have said on Sunday.





Nigeria, being the largest country in Africa, cannot afford not to have a national carrier that competes, first in Africa, and then the global stage. Again, Nigeria must also have the airport that can accommodate modern aircraft that can drive competition.





He said his company also advised Nigeria on the type of aircraft to acquire for profitability and that Qatar Airways would rather encourage the Nigerian government to designate some airlines to Doha rather than pay royalties; pending the floating of the new national carrier.





Al Baker also said Qatar Airways will not fly into Abuja or other routes in Nigeria so as not to kill the domestic airlines in the country.



The Central Bank of Egypt board is mulling re-opening the door for licensing international banks' branches to join the Egyptian market in the coming period.

An official source from CBE told MENA Tuesday that the step will promote confidence in the Egyptian economy and the banking sector and contribute to boosting the sector's competitiveness.

The source noted that a number of international banks filed requests to join the Egyptian market.

He added that this will create a larger database of clients in the banking sector, especially in light of the huge network of relations which international banks have with heavyweight international investors, companies and institutions.

Search Keywords:

Short link:

The Platform is a collection of 3 dance performances, from the Cairo Contemporary Dance Companys professional training program

El-Nahda Centres theatre will host three performances from the MAAT-CCDC Contemporary Dance School, starting on Thursday.

Under the title of The Platform, the performances The Bubble, Again and Again and Again, and Fluttering are short-format, zero-budget productions by the students and alumni of the dance school.

The performances question content and form. Each runs for 25 minutes.

The Bubble is choreographed by Shady Abdelrahman and performed by Ahmed Maraie, to a musical excerpt from Oum Kalthoum. Abdelrahmans performance deals with the concept of the bubble - the isolated world we create for ourselves, with the things we love selectively. In this bubble we can avoid conflicts and judgements, and we may also find solutions.

Again and Again and Again is choreographed and performed by Islam Elnebishy and Islam El-Araby. It explores the relationship between two bodies that share the same space.

Each one searches for what is theirs  and what is thrust upon them by the other. Each one reacts differently, accepts or rejects the other, interacting and being influenced by them at times, and being forced upon them at other times, the description reads.

Choreographed by Ibrahim Abdo, Fluttering looks at dance as a means of resistance to the scarcity of opportunities and rush of daily life.

There will be a Q&A with choreographers and dancers after each performance.

MAAT Contemporary Dance Company was founded in 1999 by dancer and choreographer Karima Mansour, and is now being reintroduced in a new format that expands its scope.

Programme:

The performances run from 20 to 26 December, except 23 December, at 8pm

El-Nadha - Jesuit Culture Center, Cairo, 15 El-Mahrany Street, El-Fagalah, El-Azbakeyah, Cairo

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

Search Keywords:

Short link:

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed ways to boost economic cooperation and trade ties with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz during talks in Vienna, in the first such visit by an Egyptian president in over a decade.

During the talks on Monday, the second day of El-Sisis four-day trip to the Austrian capital, the Egyptian president stressed that his country is relying on Austria, currently the president of the Council of the European Union, to bolster Egypts ties with Europe, presidency spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement.

The EU is the biggest investor in Egypt, with member states' investments totalling 42.8 billion euros, according to a report published by the bloc last week.

The EU is also Egypt's main trading partner for both imports and exports, accounting for 29.7 percent of Egypt's trade volume in 2017.

Austria holds the rotating presidency of the Council until the end of this month.

The two leaders agreed to set up a joint economic and technical cooperation committee at the earliest opportunity in 2019 to discuss prospected projects in the two countries and to help increase commerce between them, the spokesman added.

The pair also discussed cooperation in tourism, digital governance, administrative reforms and automation of government services and touched on a number of regional and international issues of mutual interest including efforts to combat terrorism and illegal migration as well as recent developments in the Middle East.

They also witnessed the signing of bilateral deals on technology, entrepreneurship, investment and railways.

Search Keywords:

Short link:

Hefny was one of the most influential figures in the field of psychology in Egypt and the Arab world

Egypt's Supreme Council for Culture will commemorate the life and works of the late professor of psychology Kadry Hefny on Wednesday.

Hefny, who was born on 13 August 1938 and died on 6 May 2018, was one of the most influential figures in the field of psychology in Egypt and across the Arab world and held many academic positions throughout his life.

He graduated from Ain Shams University's Department of Psychology in 1959 and earned his PhD there in 1974.

He founded the Israeli Studies Unit at the Middle East Research Centre at Ain Shams University in 1974.

He also worked as a consultant for UNICEF in Egypt and Bahrain.

The professor authored many books, including Psychology and the Class Struggle, Incarnating the Illusion: A Psychological Study of the Israeli Character, and The Psychological Interpretation of History.

In 1973, he was awarded the Medal in Arts and Science from the Egyptian state, and in 2002 he received the Appreciation Award in Social Sciences from the Supreme Council for Culture.

Programme:

Wednesday 19 December, 6pm

Supreme Council for Culture

Cairo Opera House grounds, Zamalek

Search Keywords:

Short link:

Tiny homes for vets, major donation for YMCA

Summer Creek and Kingwood Park students are constructing tiny homes for veterans. The students already are beyond the planning and designing stages and have begun raising the walls on each campus.

 December BizCom packed with great progress and projects 

The students described their project at the Lake Houston Chambers Summer Creek BizCom Dec. 13 at Summer Creek High School.

We visited the tiny home community being built for the homeless in Austin and it transformed us, Kingwood Park senior Nick Logan told the group. It showed us what a tiny home can mean to those who have nothing and it showed us the pressing need in our own community. Its something we need to do.

Summer Creek Senior Blayne Adams said, after their visit to Austin, the students determined that they would focus on the needs of homeless veterans.

The Tiny Home Movement, usually considered under 500 square feet, was fueled by the 2007 financial crisis and the homes have been adopted as shelters for the homeless.

Summer Creek and Kingwood Park students worked with BRW Architects to design the two, 200- to 300-square-foot homes that are currently being built on each campus. Sarah Dalby, lead student architect at Kingwood Park, and Natalia Andrade, lead student architect at Summer Creek, displayed models of the tiny homes they built prior to beginning construction.

Once completed, the students plan to turn the homes over to an as-yet-unspecified not-for-profit for veteran housing.

This isnt a one-time project, said Adams. We want this to grow and were encouraging our business community to partner with us to build more houses.

The students encourage persons interested in the Tiny House movement to go to the Summer Creek website to view a YouTube video that provides more information, humbleisd.net/schs.

Also speaking at BizCom was Lone Star College-Kingwood President Dr. Katherine Persson, who said if she wasnt dressed up for her presentation at BizCom, shed be in jeans on the Kingwood campus helping to unload some 18 trucks with equipment for the six refurbished campus buildings that were destroyed by Hurricane Harvey.

Weve got to get ready for the 13,000 students we expect in January, Persson said. Weve got six buildings behind fencing right now but those fences soon will come down and well be ready to celebrate our grand reopening on Feb. 15. Were going to look like a new college.

Lake Houston YMCA Executive Director Chris Butsch had great news that he couldnt announce.

He lost his voice, said Talybra Hollings, membership director, so I get to announce that Joe Cleary and Insperity have both donated $250,000 each to our support campaign.

Those funds will increase the campaign total to almost $15 million, according to Hollings. The goal is $17 million.

The rebuilt and refurbished Lake Houston YMCA plans its grand reopening in March.

Summer Creek BizCom attendees learned that Technip FMC at Generation Park is the top fundraiser for the Greater Houston Heart Walk held in November. Employees Corey Caskey and Alli Craycraft reported that their company raised almost $400,000.

The Greater Lake Houston Heart Walk surpassed its goal earning $210,000 during the November 2018 Heart Walk, according to Ashley Adair, associate development director.

After being hosted by Lone Star College on their Kingwood campus for multiple years, Adair announced that the 2019 Heart Walk will be held at Generation Park.

A satellite of Humble Rotary Club  Satellite Club Summer Creek  is meeting the second and fourth Tuesdays each month at 8 a.m. at Summer Creek High School, Room 2204. To participate, contact organizer Garth Hentges, 281-436-1420.

The next Summer Creek BizCom will be Feb. 14 at Summer Creek High School. Look for the BizCom directional signs. For information about any of the four BizComs held at Summer Creek, Kingwood, Atascocita and Humble high schools, contact the Lake Houston Chamber, 281-446-2128 or lakehouston.org.Texas A&M Singing Cadets to perform in Humble Jan. 4

The Kingwood/Humble Area Aggie Moms Club is pleased to announce that the world-renowned Texas A&M Singing Cadets mens choir will be performing Friday, Jan. 4, at Northeast Houston Baptist Church in Atascocita, 18000 W. Lake Houston Pkwy.

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the link below or at the door. The night of the event, silent auction bidding, a raffle and refreshments start at 6 p.m. and the performance starts at 7 p.m.

Kingwood/Humble Aggie Moms Club has been in existence for over 30 years to raise scholarship money to benefit local students who attend Texas A&M College Station and Galveston campuses. Sponsorship opportunities are still available at levels ranging from $100 to $1,500. Sponsors receive complimentary tickets to the concert and will be recognized in the concert programs and on the clubs website, khaggiemoms.org.

This year is a very special one since the cadets are celebrating their 125th anniversary. The all-male chorus was established as the Texas A&M Glee Club in 1893 and renamed the Singing Cadets in 1940, since at the time, all men who attended the university were required to be members of the Corps of Cadets. During that tenure, the cadets have performed for every living president of the United States and their performances have even won an Emmy. Over the last 10 years, theyve traveled over 35,000 miles and performed over 700 concerts in many countries. They sang at a ceremony during the 2006 Winter Olympics and sang the National Anthem for a Yankees vs. Red Sox game at Fenway Park. This summer, the cadets will do an international tour in Greece.

David L. Kipp is the chorus director and has been with the cadets since 1995, creating entertaining programs with a diverse selection of music ranging from Broadway to patriotic and, of course, a few popular Aggie songs.

The 71-member chorus has performed

all over Texas. Each year, their January tour, done during the students winter break, goes to the Houston, Dallas and San Antonio areas.

Members of the Singing Cadets major in a wide range of academic fields and all members are actively involved with many other campus organizations and activities.

The Kingwood Aggie moms are proud that five of the cadets hail from the Kingwood area. Aaron Daniel and Drake Lewis are both seniors. Daniel is a Kingwood High School graduate and an aerospace engineering major in his fourth year in the Singing Cadets. He is also a member of The Aggienizors, a barbershop quartet group within the Singing Cadets. Daniel was recruited by former Singing Cadet Andrew Weinrich who graduated from Texas A&M in May.

He told me to consider auditioning for the group, and it seemed like a great way to get involved at Texas A&M while gaining some valuable life experiences, and it has far surpassed my expectations in both of these areas, Daniel said.

Weinrich and Daniel paid it forward, continuing to recruit Kingwood High School choir members who planned to attend Texas A&M. Josh Harris, an international studies major, and Zac Theimer, a mechanical engineering major, were soon recruited. Harris sang in the KHS Madrigals and said after talking to several Singing Cadets, he knew he would love being in the group. Theimer also sang in the KHS choir and said he could see the camaraderie in the cadets that went far beyond the music.

I knew this was something I wanted to be part of, he said.

The cadets newest member is Class of 2021 Cadet Keagan Hathorn.

Aggie Moms are very excited to host their biggest fundraiser of the year and bring this amazing talent to the Kingwood area. Tickets for the January concert are $15 available for purchase on Eventbrite: bit.ly/2E4a9Z9 as well as at the door. For more information or to become a sponsor, contact Rika Weinrich at 281-615-8703 or visit the Kingwood/Humble Aggie Moms website, khaggiemoms.org. Additional information about the Texas A&M Singing Cadets is available at singingcadets.tamu.edu.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.Investment Group in Talks with Resolute Forest Products to Acquire and Restart Fort Frances Mill Repap Resources Group, an investment firm, hopes to buy the shuttered Fort Frances pulp and paper mill in Ontario and convert its production from groundwood printing papers to packaging grades, i.e. sack kraft papers. Dec. 17, 2018 - The Mayor of Fort Frances (Ontario, Canada) announced that an investment firm, Repap Resources Group, is interested in buying Resolute Forest Products' shuttered Fort Frances paper mill and restarting the mill in 2019. We look forward to assisting Repap Resources Group in their bid to purchase the Fort Frances paper mill. Returning 263 new jobs in the Rainy River District is remarkable. It will not only reunite families will also provide long term opportunities for our youth. We thank Repap Resources Group for their interest in investing in the future of Fort Frances, said Mayor June Caul. According to the Mayor's office, Repap Resources Group is a private investment group that is partnering with 4Front Capital Partners Inc., an investment bank in Toronto. Repap's management team consists of professionals with more than 180 years of combined senior executive experience in the pulp and paper industries. Repap plans to produce packaging grades (sack kraft papers) from the mill. Resolute Forest Products announced the permanent closure of the Fort Frances pulp and paper mill in May of 2014. Resolute had idled the mill's last operating paper machine (PM 5) three months earlier. The machine had been producing groundwood specialty printing papers. The kraft pulp mill and another paper machine had been idled since November of 2012. Resolute, however, committed to heat 'critical areas' of the mill at the request of the Government of Ontario in order to protect the assets. Mayor Caul's office said that in addition to working out a deal with Resolute to buy the mill, Repap will have to successfully negotiate with the Province, access to the fiber currently assigned to the Fort Frances mill from the local Crossroute Forest. The Mayor's Office noted that in 2016, Resolute identified enough fiber was available to operate the Fort Frances mill during negotiations with another potential buyer. SOURCE: The Town of Fort FrancesAt the age of 16, Cyntoia Brown was the victim of sex trafficking with a pimp that threatened, beat, and raped her. In 2004 she was convicted of first-degree murder after killing 43-year-old Johnny Allen, who had hired the then teenager for sex, and sentenced to life in prison. Earlier this year, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for a minor to serve a life sentence, but after denying a petition for clemency the court has stipulated that Brown must serve 51 years of her sentence before she would be eligible for parole. By the time that happened she would be 67.

Cyntoia Brown's story is tragic and one of the many injustices symbolic of the failings of America's justice system. The subject of a 2011 documentary and a cause that has been taken up by the likes of Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, and Cara Delevigne, many have pointed to Brown's case as indicative of the cruel double standards that lay along gender and racial lines. As a point of comparison, convicted Standford rapist Brock Turner only served three months in prison before being officially released.

Now with outgoing Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam approaching the end of his term in January, Black Lives Matter Nashville is asking that governor grant Brown clemency before leaving office. Haslam has responded by saying that he is looking into the matter and currently weighing all the options, but has not given any indication on which way he might be leaning.

In a statement put out by Black Lives Matter Nashville, the organization said "a system that disproportionately and intimately harms People of Color, women, and other marginalized peoples is a matter of Human Rights."

The organization has called on Tennesseans and the broader community to contact Haslam, who can be reached at (615) 741-2001, and provided three different scripts for you to use.

Photo via Black Lives Matter NashvilleNews and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.Security Forces Arrest 28 Steel Workers In Ahvaz, Iran

12/17/18

Source: Radio Farda

Reports from Iran say that at 2:00 am on Monday security forces arrested thirteen workers of a steel factory in their homes and while onlookers protested, they arrested two more people.

Iran's Free Labor Union (FLU) reported that security personnel also raided other homes but the workers they were looking for were not at their residences.



The steel factory in question, located in Ahvaz, capital of the oil-rich Khuzestan province in the southwest, has witnessed labor strikes and protests for the past two months. Workers are demanding their unpaid wages.



On Monday morning a group of workers began a protest in the city against the arrest of their comrades. Security forces then arrested twelve more people.



"Perhaps you want to wear yellow vest tomorrow?!"

cartoon by Mohsen Zarifian, Iranian daily

The general manager of the National Steel Group that owns the factory has also confirmed the news of arrests in an interview with ILNA.



Labor unrest in the province has intermittently flared up since last December. Another major industrial complex, the sugar mill in Shush has also been on strike and large protests for weeks. Lately, some of their demands have been met and the situation is now relatively quiet.Five out of the seven Nigerian banks operating in the country have already met the Bank of Ghanas (BoG) new minimum capital requirement of GH 400 million for universal banks.



They are five are Access Bank, FBN Bank, GT Bank, Zenith Bank and United Bank of Africa.



However, the Graphic Business is reliably informed that the remaining two, First Atlantic Bank and Energy Bank, are almost through with their announced merger talks to consolidate their operations.



The merger, when successful, would help bring the banks closer to GH400 million mark. Both sides have already agreed to find a third source to plug the deficit.



The successful banks used various strategies, including private placements, transfers from surplus income and injection of fresh capital.



Strong Nigerian Banks



The recapitalization exercise by the BoG is not new to Nigerian banks, because their parent companies have gone through a similar processes in the past.



In 2005, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) undertook a similar recapitalization exercise that saw the minimum capital for banks in Nigeria raised to N25 Billion (US$192.2 million1) from N1 Billion (US$7.7 million1) for existing banks and N2 billion (US$15.4 million) for new entrants.



On completion of the exercise, the total number of banks in Nigeria reduced from 89 to 25.



This resulted in the transformation of the Nigerian banking industry into one with stronger banks that had the capacity to compete at a regional level, beyond Nigeria.



This marked the influx of Nigerian banks into the Ghanaian market due to their strong capital position.



It is, therefore, expected that a successful completion of Ghanas banks recapitalization exercise would build bigger banks to do bit ticket deals in the country.

Source: Daily Graphic









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 keeping silence for nearly a week, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) eventually responded on December 16 to the US new sanctions on three DPRK high-ranking officials, denouncing the move a provocative act.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on December 16 that the DPRKs Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement under the name of the policy research director of the Institute for American Studies.

The statement said that over the past six months since the US and DPRK leaders met in Singapore, Washington had taken sanctions measures for several times against the companies, individuals and vessels of not only the DPRK but also some third countries under the pretexts alleging that Pyongyang carried out money laundering, illegal shipping and cyber attacks.

Recently, the US administration made a further provocative act to add DPRK officials onto its sanction list for alleged human rights abuses, according to the statement.

The statement also noted that threatening, intimidation and suppression could never be the way out, and the DRPK proposed the two sides build mutual trust and start with things that are currently possible to improve their relations step by step.

On December 10, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions on three DPRK officials, including Choe Ryong Hae, director of the Organization and Guidance Department (OGD) of the Workers Party of Korea (WPK), alleging that the departments under their jurisdiction involve abuses of human rights.

According to Wang Junsheng, an associate research fellow of the National Institute of International Strategy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the US increased pressure on the DPRK by imposing sanctions on its high-ranking officials such as Choe Ryong Hae, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau and vice chairman of the Central Committee of the WPK, evidencing that Washington has never changed its maximum pressure policy against the DPRK.

Particularly, against the backdrop that the second Trump-Kim summit becomes a hot topic among the international community, Washington sent the signal asking Pyongyang to take substantive steps towards denuclearization.

Wang remarked that on one hand, the US direct sanctions on top officials like Choe Ryong Hae are unacceptable for Pyongyang, so the latter must seriously expressed its discontent for Washington, and on the other hand, the DPRK is taking active actions to promote economic development and thus hopes to break the ice in its relations with the US. In fact, it does not want the trend of peaceful dialogue to reverse. Perhaps this explains why Pyongyang didnt respond until nearly a week after the US announced the new sanctions.

Wang also commented that the US and the DPRK have fundamental differences in the sequence of security guarantee and sanction removal as required by the DPRK in the process of achieving substantive denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

The new sanctions result in a setback for recent interactions between the US and the DPRK, and signal that their contradictions are likely to escalate. This move may also be a bargaining strategy taken by Washington in its negotiations with Pyongyang.

In 2018, the hope for political settlement of the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula has been rekindled, with its ups and downs drawing great attention from the international community. At the end of this year, however, the situation got complicated again, adding uncertainties to the second Trump-Kim summit advocated by the US side.

Even if they are facing intransigent fundamental differences, the US and the DPRK shouldnt slammed the brakes on bilateral ties that has just been accelerated. They need to point themselves in the right direction and show sincerity to improve bilateral relations. In view that the two sides already lack mutual trust, vacillating attitudes can only make the situation worse.

What breakthroughs will be made in the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula in the coming year? Lets wait and see.

Disclaimer: The article was published on the PLA Daily on Dec. 18. It is translated from Chinese into English and edited by China Military online.With 13 days to the end of the recapitalization date, the Graphic Business is reliably informed that only five out of the 12 banks indigenous ownership have successfully met the GH400 million new minimum capital requirement set by the Bank of Ghana (Bo).



Out of the eight, the paper understands that three are also either in merger talks among themselves or in talks with other foreign banks to raise the needed capital in order to recapitalize.



Even with the three merger discussions currently ongoing, analysts doubt whether the processes involved in merging such banks could be completed within the stipulated period.



The fate of the remaining five banks, the Graphic Business at the time of going to press on December 17, was still unknown to the public, as the regulator and the banks involved remain tightlipped.



Support Mechanism



As deadline draws nearer, an economist, Mr. Daniel Ameteye Anim, said the central bank needed to introduce a support mechanism that would see it participate in the merger process of the struggling banks.



This, he said was crucial to help speed up the processes and procedures in order for the banks to keep their universal licences beyond the December 31 deadline.



I am of the view that this is the time that BoG must intervene in the merger process by directing the struggling banks to merge looking at their individual strength, focus and he deadline in general, he said.



The banks, according to him, need to also open up and approach BoG to ask for help in order to recapitalize successfully.



The local banks should also be clear themselves that, at this time it will be practically impossible to get fresh investors to help them cross the deadline and so, the only option is merge with other banks.



BoG should use every ethical and transparent means available to intervene in order to save the remaining eight banks that are presently racing against the deadline he said.



Maintain Confidence



The economist underscored the need for the financial sector to be given the needed support as that sector of the economy played critical role in the development of the country.



The sector also plays an intermediary role in mobilizing excess liquidity from the people to support other sectors of the economy, hence the need to handle it with care, he said.



He indicated that it would be very difficult should these banks lose their licences to operate as universal banks, especially at the time when some seven banks had been liquidated in the same year.



The implication, Mr. Anim mentioned was to reduce the confidence that the people presently reposed in the economy in terms of nurturing entrepreneurship if the local banks were not given the needed support.



How It Started



The central bank in accordance with Section 28 (1) of the Bank & Specialized Deposit Taking Institutions Act 2016 Act 930 announced for the information of banks and the general public that it had revised upward the minimum paid up capital for existing banks and new entrants from GH120 million to a new level of GH400 million.



In this regard, the banks were directed to meet the required minimum capital through fresh capital injection, capitalization of income surplus, a combination of fresh capital injection, and capitalization of income surplus.



They were not allowed to capitalize revaluation reserves, reserves on financial instruments through other comprehensive income, statutory reserves, credit risk reserves and unaudited profit.

Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoFormer President Jerry John Rawlings has commended Kojo Yankah, author of the book, The Trial of JJ Rawlings, for the role he has played to help pin down some very basic facts about events that led to May 15 and June 4 1979 uprisings.



He said Yankahs book had helped to confront the negative effects the efforts of some governments, institutions and personalities had made to degrade and misrepresent a very important part of Ghanas history, to the point of even sneaking some of the disinformation into school textbooks.



Responding to an invitation by the leadership of the National Theatre to the launch of the second edition of the book and a theatre production on December 31, 2018, the former President and architect of the May 15 and June 4 landmark events bemoaned the ease with which many can be so deceived by falsehoods and misrepresentations.





VOLATILE ATMOSPHERE



The former President added that the atmosphere on May 15, 1979 was so volatile he had to create an abortive situation, because had the move succeeded that day, the country would have exploded.



Giving a synopsis of the play, Mr. Yankah who was part of the delegation that called on Flt Lt Rawlings last Tuesday said, the uprising of May 15 and June 4 was not just about junior officers of the Armed Forces, but also symbolized the mood of ordinary people that were in Ghana at that time.



Yankah, a former Editor of the Graphic, and later Minister of State, said sometimes a lot of issues are taken for granted and most people do not know what the situation in Ghana was in 1979 when we were preparing for elections and it appeared elections were going to solve all our problems, with the same kind of canker that we had been upholding all those years.





EXPRESSION OF THE PEOPLE



So, the expression of the people on the ground is taken up by the junior officers to say no!



Yankah added, the play also highlights what happened after Flt Lt Rawlings was arrested on May 15 as well as what transpired at the trial. He recalls the arrested Flight Lieutenant having a handwritten scroll and how attempts were made to find lawyers to defend him and six other military men before the eventual jail break that erupted into the June 4 uprising.



Earlier the leader of the National Theatre delegation, Board Chairman Nana Fredua Agyeman Ofori-Atta said the production of the play, The Trial of JJ Rawlings had come at a significant period in the history of the National Theatre as it was celebrating the 25th year since it was established under the presidency of Flt Lt Rawlings.



Nana Ofori-Atta who was accompanied by Madam Emy Frimpong, the Executive Director of the Theatre, said the theatre was striving to restore its role of telling the history of Ghana.



The Board Chairman was hopeful the former President will grace the occasion and add his voice to the quest to accurately tell the story of Ghana. He informed the meeting that after the production at the National Theatre on December 31 and subsequently January 3-5, 2018 the production will move nationwide to cover all the universities.

Source: Graphic.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoVolta River Authority [VRA] and its Chief Executive Officer [CEO] have been awarded at the 2018 Ghana Energy Awards under the theme "Sustainable Energy For A Ghana Beyond Aid".



VRA was adjudged the Best Energy Company of the year  whiles its CEO, Mr Emmanuel Antwi-Darkwa won the Best Energy personality of the year, at an awards ceremony held in Accra.



The Volta River Authority (VRA) was established with the mandate to generate, transmit and distribute electricity under the Volta River Development Act, Act 46 of the Republic of Ghana.



In 2005, following the promulgation of a major amendment to the VRA Act in the context of the Ghana Government Power Sector Reforms, the VRA's mandate has now been largely restricted to generation of electricity.



Under the leadership of Mr Emmanuel Antwi-Darkwa, VRA has seen some tremendous transformations to revamp Ghanas energy sector.



The Energy Awards is held to acknowledge efforts, innovation and excellence stewards to celebrate the tremendous work of the players competing under various categories of the awards in Ghanas energy sector.



Ghana Energy Awards Scheme was instituted to recognize the efforts of individuals and organizations in Ghanas energy sector.



The second edition of the awards recognized the achievements of individuals and companies in the energy industry and was well attended by over 300 stakeholders.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoExactly 190 years ago today, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana was established. It was exactly 18th December, 1828, that the first batch of missionaries of the Basel Evangelical Mission Society in Basel Switzerland arrived in the Gold Coast with the main aim of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.



They toiled and labored to establish what has now become the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG).



This was contained in a press statement issued and signed by the Public Relations Officer of the PCG, Rev George Ezekiel Larbi on behalf of the General Assembly Council of the Church.



According to the statement 190 years after, the PCG can boast of twenty one Presbyteries, both home and abroad which include Asante, Akuapem, Kwahu, Dangme-Tongu, Ga, Ga West, Asante South, Central, Western, Brong Ahafo, West Brong, Sefwi, Sekyere, Akyem Abuakwa, West Akyem, Volta, Upper, Northern, North American /Australia, Europe and Asante Akyem.



The statement said the PCG has grown well to 294 Districts, and a total of 4,546 Congregations and Preaching Posts and still counting with nearly one million membership.



The Church which is one of the biggest churches in Ghana has a total of 5,701 agents, comprising 1,149 ministers, 2,329 Catechists, 2,143 Caretakers and 80 Evangelists.



The PCG over the years has contributed immensely to socio-economic development to Ghana through education at all levels from creche to university, health care delivery, agriculture, business, entrepreneurship and many more, the statement noted.



According to the statement the PCG now has 55 health institutions spread all over the country in Agogo, Bawku, Dormaa-Ahenkro, Donkorkrom, Bolgatanga, Salaga, Tease, Konongo, Duayaw-Nkwanta, Garu, Sandema, etc making it the third largest provider of health services in Ghana.



On Education the PCG currently has over 2,400 basic schools, about 30 Senior High Schools, 5 Colleges of Education, 3 Vocational Schools, 4 Nursing Training Colleges, a University, Two Research Institutes, and five Training Centers.



The Presbyterian Church of Ghana would continue to live up to its mandate as a true Bible-Believing and Practicing Church with a vision to spread the Word of God to the ends of the earth.



On this occasion of 190 birth day of the Church, the Moderator of the General Assembly, Right Reverend Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, the Clerk of General Assembly, Reverend Dr Samuel Ayete-Nyampong, and the General Assembly Council wish all members of the Church ayekoo for their contributions.



The leadership of the Church also takes this opportunity to pay tribute to all gallant men and women who sacrificed their lives, possessions and money to bring the Church this far.



As we celebrate Christmas the leadership of PCG wishes the entire membership of the Church a special Merry Christmas and a Prosperous Happy New Year.



ASOMDWEI NKA MO NYINAA. AMEN









Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoNaana Baiden Agyarko, wife of the late Member of Parliament for Ayawaso West Wuguon, Hon. Emmanuel Agyarko, has dismissed media reports that she is interested in succeeding her late husband for the vacant parliamentary seat.



According to a family spokesperson, Kwame Nsiah Poku, Mrs. Baiden Agyarko has no interest in succession plan for the late MP's seat.



Mr. Agyarko died on November 21, 2018, from a prolonged illness, and hes yet to be buried. While a date is yet to be fixed for a bye-election, posters of both widows have emerged with passionate supporters calling on the two wives of the late NPP MP to go for their late husbands seat as MP for Ayawaso West Wuogon.



Earlier this week, social media was flooded with posters of both widows of the late MP for Ayawaso West Wuogon, reportedly tussling over who succeeds the late MP as the party's preferred candidate for the area.



Additionally, some polling station executives and some constituents of the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, including some students of the University of Ghana and GIMPA, reportedly clashed at the NPP Greater Accra Regional Party Office each clamouring for one of the widows to replace her late husband.



They insisted the first wife of the late MP Naana Agyarko must be allowed to stand for the position solely or they would not vote.



Speaking on Okayfm's "Ade Akye Abia" Programme, Mr. Nsiah reiterated that Mrs. Agyarko is only interested in how her late husband will receive a befitting burial and be laid to rest peacefully.



Mrs. Naana Baiden Agyarko has not given permission to anybody to use her name or lobby for her to succeed the late husband. Her worry is how the focus has shifted from the burial and funeral rites of the great man to who will succeed him," he said.



He urged those going round in the name of Mrs. Agyarko to put a stop to it and rather sympathize with the bereaved family.















Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoFormer President John Dramani Mahama is baffled that the NPP government would prioritise flying blood with drones in the face of the numerous challenges confronting the health sector.



That choice is not a priority, John Mahama remarked to a loud cheers of from an NDC gathering after he filed his nominations form on Monday.



Instead of prioritizing the needs of the health sector, the NPP government chooses to acquire drones to fly blood.



Parliament on last week approved a $12,527,000 deal the Government of Ghana entered with US-based Fly Zipline Inc to distribute medical suppliers across the country with their drone equipment over a period of four years.



The Ghana Medical Association and some stakeholders have asked the government to cancel the deal because it is a priority of the health sector.



John Mahama agreed and demanded, Government should get its priorities right by spending the limited resources on more essential interventions other than copying innovations without relevance to therealities of Ghanas current needs.



The former president mentioned the no bed syndrome which he said is an indictment of leadership as well as health worker shortage among other chronic problem in our health service, and said these should have rather attracted the attention of the government.



He accused the Akufo-Addo-led government of abandoning health sector projects initiated by the NDC administration.



Unfortunately, many of these now stand unattended to, monument to the petty partisanship of the day while our people persist in their despair. It is beneath our dignity to allow this to continue.















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Minority spokesperson on foreign affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has alleged, the government has bought at an inflated $12m, a property in Norway to be used as an embassy.



He says the cost inflated claiming only a year ago, the property was bought for $3.5million. He presented documents on the floor of Parliament to back his claims of malfeasance at the Foreign Affairs ministry.



But the Speaker of Parliament Prof. Mike Oquaye rejected his evidence ruling they were unreliable.



The Foreign Affairs minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchway in a heated response outside the floor of Parliament has said an offer for the purchase of the building was made but it has not been accepted.



The MP has published a summary of his allegations reproduced below.



Summary of Facts:



Address: Sigyns gate 3, 0260, Oslo. Land Number: 215, Title Number: 522 Built in 1918 (100 year old property)



A 6 bedroom residence being converted into a Chancery for Ghanas new Mission in Norway



Contractors on site as recent as last week Thursday 13th December, 2018 carrying out renovations (Video evidence available)



Records show that a previous buyer Lillian Olsson bought the property in 2014 for 25,250,000.00 Norwegian Kroner (NOK)  equivalent to US$2,930,098.38



LISTEN: Audio: Mahama chides NPP govt over drone project



According to a Norwegian Financial Newspaper known as Finansavisen, Lillian Olsson sold the property in August 2017 to an unknown buyer for NOK 31,000,000.00  equivalent to US$3,598,108.00



Ghanas Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has made presentation to Parliaments Select Committee on Foreign Affairs that Ghana is purchasing this same building at a staggering NOK 105,180,000  equivalent to US$12,218,487.13



This latest purchase price by our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration appears to inflate the cost of the property by a whopping US$8,620,379.13.



The US$8,620,379.13 inflated figure by current exchange rate works out to someGHS 41,771,340.13.



The new purchase price has been described as UNETHICAL by Real Estate Brokers who have spoken to the Norwegian press on the matter. (Evidence available)



Other associated costs of this purchase presented to Parliaments Committee on Foreign Affairs have also been grossly inflated. Note for example, our checks in Norway for the cost of Registration of Documents is NOK 525 and not NOK 50,000 as claimed by the Ministry. (A rip off by some NOK 49,475  equivalent to 5,743.03)



Additional checks in Norway indicate that Structural and Evaluation Reports are not charged separately as that is part of the agency fees. Therefore, the NOK 40,000.00 (US$ 4,645.38) charged after a pricy NOK



2,500,000.00 (US$ 290,519.00) agency fee is another example of how scandalous this whole transaction is.



Another transaction cost found to be strange is the NOK 90,000 legal fees which our contacts in Norway tell us ought not to feature in this transaction. This explains why the second transaction  the purchase of the Ambassadors Residence has no legal fees in its cost breakdown.



Furthermore, it is most disturbing to note that despite this outrageously inflated transaction; US$16,500,000.00 is the amount brought to Parliament for approval as the total cost for the purchase of the two facilities (that is the Chancery at NOK105,180,000 and the Ambassadors Residence at NOK 25,775,000 = NOK 130,955,000  equivalent to US$15,197,995.62). This means clearly that the total cost for the transaction was also inflated by over US$ 1.3 million.



It is instructive to note that funding for these purchases is the US$50 Million loan facility bequeathed to the current Government by the former Mahama Administration. As per the Foreign Ministrys own documents to our committee, they are also purchasing a Chancery, Residence and paying for a Relocation Cost in Paris all at US$ 5,256,133.35. In Geneva they are purchasing a Chancery for US$ 3,024,706.00, a Residence in the Vatican for US$2,031,178.32 and a Chancery in Tel Aviv for US$ 4,500,000.00. It is curious that the Oslo transaction is outlandishly higher than all these in cities where properties are considered far more expensive than in Oslo.



Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance in a document submitted to the Foreign Affairs Committee reveals that on 20th October, 2018, an amount of GHS 15, 337,152.58 was released to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to cater for the Establishment of Diplomatic missions in Oslo, Norway and Consulate-General in Port Louis, Mauritius and Guangzhou, China.













Source: adomonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoThe bad economic policies of the Akufo-Addo government has plunged Ghanaians into dire straits to the extent that this years Christmas will be the driest ever in Ghanas history, former President John Mahama has said.



Addressing supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Monday, 17 December 2018 after filing his nomination to run for the biggest opposition partys flag bearer race, Mr Mahama said: I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year knowing fully well that most Ghanaian families are going to go through the driest Christmas Ive ever experienced in the history of Ghana because you are going through excruciating economic difficulties.



We will continue to put pressure on this government to push back on their insensitive economic conditions even as we offer hope for better times under the new NDC administration, which, God willing, will assume office on 7 January 2021, Mr Mahama said.



Mr Mahama, who is contesting seven other aspirants for the flag bearer slot of the party, also criticised the Akufo-Addo government for its decision to use drones to deliver medical essentials, especially to remote areas in the country.



Instead of prioritising the needs of the health sector, the NPP government chose to acquire drones to fly blood, he told the supporters at the International Trade Fair Centre in Accra.



The Ghana Health Service (GHS) introduced the drone deal to help deliver blood and essential medicines across the country, especially to rural communities. The transaction was approved by parliament on Tuesday, 11 December 2018, after three failed attempts.



Apart from the Minority in Parliament, civil society group such as IMANI Africa, have also kicked against the deal.



The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) is also calling for the suspension of the implementation, and has urged that there be broader stakeholder consultations on the use of this autonomous remotely piloted aircraft system (drones) in healthcare delivery in the country.



In Mr Mahamas view, This has been roundly condemned by the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) and the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists, adding that the government needs to execute the critical needs of the health sector first.







Source: 3news.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoThe Minority in Parliament has called for a full-scale probe into the purported procurement of a property at an inflated cost of $12 million in Oslo, Norway, for the Ghana mission.



It insisted that the state had made a financial commitment to the owners of the six-bedroom property which was to be used as a Chancery, and indicated that it was only an investigation by independent personalities that could get to the bottom of the matter.



Speaking at a press conference in Accra Tuesday, the Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, refuted the claim by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, that the government had not released any money for the procurement of the facility.



He displayed documents, some of which had been translated from the Norwegian language into English and others from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance, to support his claim of the government's agreement to purchase the facility and give specifications for the modification of the building.



In one of the documents, the Ministry of Finance purportedly released GH15.3 million to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration for the Ghana missions in Norway, China and Mauritius.



There was also a letter purportedly written by the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs requesting answers on the supposed transaction.



Mr Ablakwa referred to paragraph 419 of the 2019 Budget Statement to indicate that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had begun processes to own a property in Oslo.



He claimed that the Chancery and a residence were priced at $15.1 million but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented an inflated figure of $16.5 million to the Committee of Foreign Affairs.



He also showed a video showing people modifying some aspects of the supposed building in Oslo.



Mr Ablakwa, who is the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, said it was crucial for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to commission a national inquiry into the procurement of the property in Oslo to identify the people who recommended the purchase of the property.



He said it was important for the syndicate to be exposed and the perpetrators punished for their involvement in the deal.



He said it was also important to know the involvement of the Cabinet in the procurement of the facility in Oslo.



Demands



Mr Ablakwa rejected the claim by Ms Botchwey that she wrote a letter on December 12, 2018, asking for the suspension of the purchase.



He said Ms Botchwey's claim of suspending the purchase of the property was an afterthought.



He said Ms Botchwey's claim could not be true because on December 13, 2018, a Ghanaian delegation went to Oslo to inspect the property.



Mr Ablakwa said the Minority in Parliament was demanding evidence of the 12 December 2018, letter that Ms Botchwey purportedly wrote to the owners and other parties asking for the suspension of the transaction.



He again demanded to see the response of the parties, including the seller to the Minister.



Mr Ablakwa said the Minority in Parliament also wanted to know the full liabilities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the transaction.



Recall



Contributing to the debate on the approval of budget estimates for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Parliament last Monday, Mr Ablakwa said the current owner of six-bedroom property being converted into a chancery for Ghana's new mission in Norway, bought it at $3.6 million in 2017, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was procuring the property at $12 million.



He said the latest purchase price by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration appeared to inflate the cost of the property by a whopping $8,620,379.



"Records show that a previous buyer Lillian Olsson bought the property in 2014 for 25,250,000 Norwegian Kroner (NOK) equivalent to $3,598,108. According to Norwegian Financial newspaper known as Finansavisen, Lillian Olsson sold the property in August 2017 to an unknown buyer for BOK 31,000,000 equivalent to $3,598,108.



"Ghana's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration gas made a presentation to Parliament's Select Committee on Foreign Affairs that Ghana us purchasing thus same building at a staggering NOK 105,180 000 equivalent to $12,218,487.



He called for a probe of the procurement process because it was fraudulent.



Responding, Ms Botchwey explained that she had even suspended moves for the procurement of the property in Oslo due to the huge disparities in the valuation of the property



She said a state agency in Norway valued the property at $11 million but a newspaper in that country put the value at $3 million.



Not even one corner gas been spent on the property. We have not paid a penny for it.



"Last week I got wing of the fact that there was some discrepancy in the price of the property. The document that we received which was an article in a newspaper in Norway put the price very low in terms of the valuation", she said.



Ms Botchwey said when five high-level directors went to do the investigation they came back with a public document which put the valuation at $11.5 million.



"Immediately I asked them to stop or stay all proceedings on the transaction. As at last week, I had no intention of continuing the purchase.

Source: Graphic.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoTwo days before my 38th birthday on September 17th, I welcomed my first child, my son, Jayce. I look at him and I wonder why I waited so long to have a child. Ive never known love like this. I literally have tears in my eyes every time I look at him. I cant believe he came out of me. He is by far my greatest blessing and Im looking forward to navigating him through life!



Now to the reason why you are reading this. I argued with myself for a long time whether to put this out or notand finally decided it was a story I wanted to share. I've always been open about my life but I'm sharing details about my personal life mostly because of the girls who look up to me. The girls I have mentored, mentoring right now and plan to mentor in the future. Im very particular about our young girls and I have personally tried over the years to be an example in some way; tried to teach these girls how to fight for their dreams, how to live right and do right and then I go and have a child out of wedlock and that must be a little confusing to some of them and especially with so many untruthful stuff out there about me.

The most hilarious is that I had a child for a married man. Lol. Heres my answer to that! The married man that I will sleep with has not yet been born. If hes been born, he will die, be buried, rise and die again before he will lay with me. I dont do married men. The father of my child is a single man and his name is Sholaye Jeremi. To be honest, at some point I thought he was my final bus stop but you know how life happens...lol. Unfortunately he and I are a completely closed chapter. Sadly for our son Jayce, its the kind of chapter that cant ever be opened again.

One of the things many people have asked me is how I met this man because we dont run in the same circle. Well, I met him 3 years ago at Wheatbaker Restaurant in Ikoyi in December 2015 shortly after I moved to my home in Banana Island, Ikoyi. It was a day after Christmas and I was having dinner with friends when he walked in. He saw me and the rest is history. He claimed at the time that he had never heard of me which was seriously a turn-on for me because up until then Id only been meeting men who behaved like fans. At the time we met, I was 35 and he was 37 and Id been single for nearly 4 years. I was definitely searching and I fell in love almost immediately and so we became an item.

At the time I met him he lived in a 3-bedroom flat at what used to be 5th roundabout in Lekki after Mobil. I used to drive for almost two hours in traffic from my house to go see him. Most of the time, I carried my laptop to his home to enable me to work and at the same time spend the whole day with him.



It was a whirlwind romance. He was the funniest and most romantic guy Id met up until that point, so it was easy to fall in love and I truly believed the feeling was mutual. A few weeks after we met, it seemed like we were planning a future together. This man was already calling me Linda Ikeji Jeremi and making all these plans but then just like that, it was over between us. I went from waking up every morning to love text messages from him to no more calls. I was just thanking God for finally sending me my own man when all of a sudden we were no longer talking to each other. Later he would tell me what scared him off. My public life. He claims hes a private business man and didnt want the attention being with me would bring to him and I told him I understood and we went our separate ways. We tried to get back together in 2016 but it didn't work out so much so we separated again but stayed in touch (mostly him to be honest), stayed friends and that was how our back and forth started.



By mid-2017, we were both still single and we started seeing each other again quietly. There were times it was very intense and we talked about a future together, and there were times that I couldnt figure out what exactly I was doing with this guy. We were not suited for each other. Totally different lifestyles. And there was the problem of my fame. I walked away from this man a million times and he came after me a million and one times. No matter how much I pushed him away, he kept coming back and me, because I couldnt find anyone else, I kept going back. Lol. So I was basically going back to my ex because I couldnt find anyone else. *sigh*.



Then I fell pregnant. It wasnt planned, it just happened; though we talked about having a child together just two months before I fell pregnant. He said something about putting a billionaire baby inside me and I remember jokingly telling him that Im also a billionaire so our child was going to be a billionaire on both side...and we laughed. But after I fell pregnant, things became extremely weird between us. If I tried to explain what happened, I wouldnt be able to because it was confusing to me. We went from talking about the pregnancy and being okay with it; he even suggested I go to Dubai for my pre-natals as he didnt trust doctors in Nigeria, to literally not talking to each other anymore. Around when I was about three months pregnant, he did come to see my parents and actually became very cool with my dad. They were literally exchanging Whatsapp messages every day. He later agreed to a traditional wedding which he didnt follow through and then he switched. He began to treat me with so much hate and aggression that I and my family had to cut him off completely.



To be honest if anybody had told me when we met three years ago, considering how deeply we cared for each other that I would fall pregnant two years later and he would completely turn his back on me for most part of my pregnancy, I never would have believed it but thats what happened. I had to draw strength from myself, my family and close friends.



And Jayce...oh my son Jayce, he was my biggest strength. It was almost as if he knew his dad was acting up so he came through for his mum. He was gentle with me when I was carrying him. I had an extremely easy pregnancy. I pushed him out under 3 mins and was in the labour room for less than 30 minutes. And then my snapback was amazing. Three weeks later, it was almost as if Id never been pregnant. Jayce was my soldier when his dad turned his back.



But still, I have absolutely no iota of regret meeting Sholaye. Gosh, have you seen Jayce? How can I regret that? God doesnt make mistakes. If you believe that youre always led by God like I believe then I have to believe that God led me to this man for whatever reasons best known to Him. I thought God sent him as my life partner but I guess He just used him as a vessel for my greatest blessing. Now his part in my story is over. I know when to put my hands up and surrender. That God brought someone significant into your life doesnt mean they are supposed to follow you throughout your lifes journey. We should learn to know when peoples part in our story is over. Dont fight for closure, dont ask for explanations, dont chase answers, just let them go and know that if God meant for you to have them in your life, He would have given them to you. Sometimes people just come to serve a purpose in your life and are not meant to stay and theres no point holding on to them. This one is done and dusted. Its just Jayce and I now moving forward and I know life will be beautiful for us.



Being a single mum wasnt the dream I had for myself; Id prayed for the kind of happy home my parents built for us (theyve been together for 40 years). Nothing is more important to me than family. For years Id hammered on how much I was looking forward to getting married, having children and building my own family and I believed God was going to come through for me on that one, but I have come to understand that we have no control over what life throws at us no matter how much we plan, pray, or work. And we also have no control over the actions of other people towards us. One of the things I have learnt in my lifes journey is that your idea of how life should go might be different from the way life actually goes. Its called Life Happening. Sometimes it unfolds into something we never dreamed of but because we dont recognize the route we find ourselves on our journey through life, doesnt mean God wont get us to our destination. Remember, an uncertain chapter doesnt ruin the whole book. Life will happen whether we are ready or not. All we can do is keep our heads up and keep moving.



Family and close friends told me I owed no one any explanation about the circumstances that led to the birth of my son, but I knew without writing this, I could never stand in front of the young girls who look up to me and talk to them again. I could never go on my secondary school tour and speak with these girls again about living right and doing right. I would always feel like I have no moral right to do so. I went to 15 secondary schools in 2017 and talking to those young impressionable girls has been one of the highlights of my life. I cancelled this years tour because I was pregnant and I havent made any preparations for next years tour because I wanted to set things right first.



I have so many plans for young girls next year and in the coming years with the Selfmade finance and mentorship projects with international collaborations, so this was important for me to do, to explain myself to the young girls who look up to me and feel disappointed that I got pregnant and had a baby out of wedlock. For years, I have preached decency, morality and uprightness and despite what happened to me, I mean it from the bottom of my heart. That should be the only way to live. Thats the only way I live. Dont ever compromise your values. With this, I was led by my heart and my clock ticking and even though I have no regrets, Im sorry if I let any of you ladies down by the decision I made, and I hope you learn from my experience. I hope you do better than I did. The ideal thing would be to find a man you love, who loves you back and gives you stability, get married, have kids and raise a family, not being a single mum or a baby mama. I was 37 years old at the time I conceived and if I want to be honest, my age played a role in me allowing myself to be pregnant out of wedlock. I dont want to be having kids in my 40s or struggling with fertility later in life. This wasnt the plan but like I said before, life happens. You just have to find a way to make the best of what life throws at you. And so for any young girl this means anything to, I am truly sorry. I am not sorry I had Jayce, Im just sorry I didnt go about it the right way.



But you know, despite this crazy love experience, I still believe in love and I believe in happy endings and I cant wait to one day, God willing, have my fairy tale ending. The father of my child is the only man Ive given a chance to in 6 years. Lol. I swear. Im not really a relationship kind of girl. Im more a career girl. I can go for years without a man. Im one of those women who dont need a man to validate their existence but biko, Ive done the single life enough in the pastlol going forward Im looking forward to giving someone else a chance and try this love thing again. I was raised in a happy 2-parents home and thats what I want for Jayce. So I hope I meet a great guy soon until then Im enjoying motherhood. It rocks! Life has never been more beautiful!



Id also like to address a few other issues. Number one is this celibacy issue. So many people have trolled me over it and Id like to correct the misunderstanding. I have never ever in my life said people shouldnt have sex before marriage. NEVER EVER have I said that. I have even argued with quite a few people that it is not feasible in this day and age. What I have always said and I maintain till today is; Do not ever sleep with men for money because any woman with a brain and determination can get her own money herself. And theres nothing sweeter than your own money. I am 38 years old and I recently bought a N100million+ car; what the heck do you need to be sleeping with a man for? For designer bags, first class tickets and luxury holidays? GTFOH with sleeping with a man for rent money! You can give yourself all that and more if you apply yourself, fight for your dream and work your butt off. Men dont have the exclusive right to create wealth; women can also create wealth. Money is not male. Wealth is not male. Success is not male. We women just need to believe in ourselves more and get off our butts and stop relying on our looks and charm instead of our brain, mind, will, and our God given talent/gift. We can be rich, we can be successful, we can break barriers, do what was formerly termed impossible, do what men can do, be CEOs of conglomerates and billionaires without ever having to lie on our backs. Please ladies, we are powerful beyond measure and can do anything and be anything we want to be.



The other thing Ive always said is; do not sleep around with multiple men who just use your body for their pleasure; that is; too many one night stands, casual sex, many sex partners in a short period of time all in the name of relationships. Your body deserves better. I feel sex should only happen when youre in a loving, committed relationship with someone you love. I was celibate for many years until I met my sons father and fell in love. And instead of increasing my body count, I just went back to the same eggplantlol. My mistake was I should have walked away when the relationship became a waste...lol... but then again, Jayce wouldnt be here today if I had. So really, theres nothing that I have preached that I didnt practice. So you guys stop trolling me over this abeg! Lol.



Thank you for reading and thank you for your understanding.



Love and kisses to you and yours



Hugs



Linda









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 Photo)

By Xu Hui

The International College of Defense Studies of the National Defense University (NDU) of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) recently conducted a questionnaire among the foreign students about whether Chinas development is an opportunity or a challenge. The results show that the vast majority of students hold that Chinas development is an opportunity rather than a challenge to the world. Many of them acknowledged that China has created many opportunities for the world, and the reform and development of the Chinese military is conducive to maintaining world peace and prosperity.

What students said are true. At present, China is deepening the reform of its national defense and armed forces, striving to realize modernization of national defense and military by 2035, and to build the PLA into a world-class force thoroughly by the middle of 21st century. The resolution is based on the need to safeguard national security as well as the world peace.

However, Chinas justified and reasonable need to realize modernization of national defense and military is often demonized by certain people with ulterior motives. In those people's discourse system, China is described as a country seeking military hegemony and posing challenges to the international order. This replica of the China Threat Theory cant hold water in any way.

At present, the security environment surrounding China is complex and changeable. In order to cope with possible threats and violations of national sovereignty, China needs a well-equipped, well-trained quick reaction force. Moreover, the three forces of separatism, extremism and terrorism are eager for action; earthquakes, floods and other disasters also threaten the safety of peoples lives and properties. These complicated domestic security situations urge a strong armed force to shoulder its due responsibilities to protect the people.

Due to the intricate international and domestic situations, China has to develop necessary military strength to better cope with the security environment. The in-depth national defense and military reform to realize modernization of national defense and military is the road China must take to maintain national security. It has nothing to do with military hegemony, let alone challenging the international order.

The Chinese was, is and will be a peace-loving nation, and the concept of harmony is deeply rooted in Chinese political and cultural traditions. China weathered a hundred years of aggression by great powers in its modern history, which has left unforgettable painful memory on Chinese people. The nation, who has undergone humiliation and hardship, is now leaping from standing up, getting prosperous to getting stronger, and will never fall into the situation of national crisis due to the neglect of combat readiness, and will never impose the suffering they have experienced on other countries.

The culture of pursuing peace nourishes the "roots" of contemporary Chinese diplomacy. China always firmly pursues an independent foreign policy of peace and sticks to the path of peaceful development. China has always been a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order. In the new era, China has proposed a series of new concepts and new ideas. The Belt and Road Initiative, the global governance concept of consultation, collaboration and sharing, the correct viewpoint of righteousness and benefit, the new security concept, all these proposals reflect the firm position of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) and the Chinese government toward the peace-maintenance.

China is the country who contributes the largest number of peacekeeping military personnel among the five permanent members of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, and the second largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations. China has also built an 8000-strong peacekeeping standby force and will send more engineering, medical, transportation and other troops to participate in peacekeeping operations.

In addition, the Chinese Navy has dispatched more than 30 escort taskforces to the Gulf of Aden and the Somali waters and completed over a thousand escort missions. And many of the ships escorted are foreign merchant ships. The Chinese military has been taking an active role in international peacekeeping and offshore escort operations, which fully shows that the PLA is a peace-loving armed force and it does take corresponding practical actions to shoulder the responsibility for peace-maintenance.

The development of the Chinese armed forces is to forge a sword of peace to better safeguard Chinas security environment, and maintain the world peace and development. The modernization of Chinas national defense and military will strengthen the world power of peace and be a blessing for both China and the world.

Disclaimer: The author is Xu Hui. The article was published on the PLA Daily on Dec. 18. It is translated from Chinese into English and edited by China Military online.We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to formA group of asylum seekers arrive at the temporary housing facilities at the border crossing Wednesday May 9, 2018 in St. Bernard-de-Lacolle, Que. The number of irregular asylum seekers who crossed into Canada dropped in November to the lowest levels in over a year.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan RemiorzThis courtroom sketch depicts former President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, standing center, flanked by his lawyers, listening to U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, right, as he addresses Flynn and points to the American flag inside the federal court in Washington, Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. Sullivan agreed to postpone Flynn's sentencing so he can continue cooperating with the Russia probe. (Dana Verkouteren via AP)Alphabet's Google is investing more than $1 billion on a new campus in New York, becoming the second major technology company after Amazon to pick America's financial capital to expand and create thousands of jobs.

The 1.7 million-square-foot campus, called Google Hudson Square, will include leased properties at Hudson Street and Washington Street, the company said in a blog post Monday. The new campus will be the main location for Google's advertising sales division, the Global Business Organization.

Google hopes to start moving into two Hudson Street buildings by 2020, followed by a Washington Street in 2022 and will have the capacity to more than double its New York headcount, currently more than 7,000, in the next 10 years.

The company's plans to invest outside its home base mirror those of other U.S. tech giants such as Apple Inc, which said last week it would spend $1 billion to build a new 133-acre campus in Austin, Texas.

Last month, Amazon.com Inc said it would open offices in New York and the Washington, D.C. area, creating more than 25,000 jobs.

The Czech Republic's cybersecurity watchdog is warning against the use of products by Chinese electronics giant Huawei and another Chinese telecommunications company, ZTE.

The National Cyber and Information Security Agency said Monday their software and hardware pose "a security threat."

Huawei is the biggest global supplier of network gear for phone and internet companies.

The U.S. State Department on Sunday reminded North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that the leaders of the U.S. and North Korea promised to achieve complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula when they met in June.

"At the summit in Singapore, President [Donald] Trump and Chairman Kim made the first leader-level... commitment on denuclearization in history," a State Department spokesperson told Voice of America.

The remarks came in response to a warning from the North Korean Foreign Ministry that continued sanctions could "block the path to denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula forever."

"We remain confident that the commitments made by President Trump and Chairman Kim at their summit in Singapore will be fulfilled," the spokesperson added. "Our goal is to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of [North Korea] as committed to by Chairman Kim in Singapore."The European Union on Monday urged Korea to ratify key International Labor Organization conventions to improve labor rights and working conditions.

Korea has a free trade agreement with the EU, which polices labor rights among partner nations to avoid a backlash at home.

The ILO has eight key conventions that it urges member states to adopt. Korea has failed to ratify four of them so far -- the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, the Forced Labor Convention and the Abolition of Forced Labor Convention.

The four are in conflict with Korean law, which prohibits laid-off and unemployed workers and public servants from joining unions and allows conscript soldiers to be put to work in jobs unrelated to defense.

The EU says Korea is dragging its heels in guaranteeing full labor rights to keep labor costs down, and that this allows it to compete unfairly with EU products.

The EU's call is expected to work in favor of President Moon Jae-in, whose administration is generally pro-workers' rights and has been seeking to ratify the ILO conventions in the face of protests from businesses and conservative lawmakers.

The Labor Ministry issued a statement underscoring the EU's protest. Kim Dae-hwan at the ministry said, "If the country continues to reject the ILO conventions, its image could take a hit."

Busan customs officials said Monday that they discovered 64 kg of cocaine with a market value of W190 billion aboard a container ship last Saturday (US$1=W1,132).

Law enforcement authorities in Busan have seized the biggest shipment of cocaine ever discovered in the southern port city as it was being transported to China.

The drugs were packaged in 1.2 kg vinyl-wrapped bricks and hidden among copper ingots.

The container ship was en route from Ecuador via Mexico and docked in Busan last Friday before sailing on to Tianjin, China.

Customs officials said they had been tracking the container ship for more than 20 days after being tipped off by Mexican authorities.

Investigators questioned the ship's owner and crew and learned that the cocaine was merely being transported through Korea on its way to another country.Despite its Arabian fame, the name ath-Thuraya survives in no modern star name. However, this star cluster was anthropomorphized as a female figure with two expansive arms, and from these arms come the internationally recognized star names of Ceph, Mirfak, Menkib and Kaffaljidhma. The shorter arm was called the Amputated Hand (al-kaf al-jadhma) because it is the shorter one and lacks a proper hand. This is represented by a chain of stars that extends from ath-Thuraya to the star Kaffaljidhma in the Greek constellation of Cetus.

The other arm was called the Henna-Dyed Hand (al-kaf al-khadib) because one of its end stars is orange like the color of henna after it has dried. This arm extends through the dense starfields of the Milky Way, from ath-Thuraya through much of modern-day Perseus and Cassiopeia. The Henna-Dyed Hand was well-articulated with numerous named stars, some of which survive as modern star names like Ceph (hand, from kaf), Mirfak (elbow, from al-mirfaq) and Menkib (shoulder, from al-mankib). In addition to these were other named points that included the Shoulder Blade (al-atiq), the Upper Arm (al-adud), the Forearm (al-dhira) and the Tip (ibrat al-mirfaq) and Pit (al-mabid) of the Elbow. Between the Forearm and the Hand itself is a fuzzy patch of sky that was interpreted to be the Tattoo on the Wrist (washm al-misam) of ath-Thuraya. Binoculars reveal this nebulosity to be the famed Double Cluster of Perseus (NGC 869 and NGC 884).

The Two Hands of ath-Thuraya were attested in poetry by the time of the poet Dhu r-Rumma (d. 735 CE); their many parts may have been in use at that time as well, but this was surely the case by the time of the philologist Ibn Qutayba (d. 889 CE).

The story of al-Jawza and Suhayl

If you ask most Arabs today about al-Jawza, they will point you to the Greek zodiacal figure of Gemini. Yet, long ago, the Arabian figure of al-Jawza largely correlated with the stars of Orion, and in the beginning the figure likely included just the three brilliant stars that mark the modern-day Belt of Orion.

Like ath-Thuraya, al-Jawza is a long-used proper name, and its Arabic root conveys the sense of being in the middle of something else. It is likely that the name was applied on account of the visual appearance of a nearly perfect line of three stars spaced equidistantly, which together were located between two other pairs of bright stars that in time came to represent the hands and feet of al-Jawza. Indeed, it may have been that just the central star of the three was the first to bear the name al-Jawza. A similar but less bright line of three stars is found in the handle of our modern Big Dipper, the central star of which Ibn Qutayba also identified as al-Jawza.

An old Arabian legend tells the story of the woman al-Jawza, who had been promised to a man named Suhayl. This man lived across the river with his two sisters, known together as the Two Shira Sisters (ash-shirayan). When the wedding night came, something dreadful happened, and by morning al-Jawza was dead. Fearing for his life, Suhayl fled far to the south. One of his sisters crossed the river to be closer to him, and so she was called the Shira Who Crossed Over (ash-shira al-abur). His other sister stayed at home and cried her eyes out, so she was called the Little Bleary-Eyed Shira (ash-shira al-ghumaysa).

Like al-Jawza, the characters in this story correlate with stars in the night sky. Suhayl, who fled far to the south, is represented by the star known by modern astronomy as Canopus, the second brightest star in the sky. The Shira Who Crossed Over is the brightest star in the sky, known today as Sirius, and her sister, the Little Bleary-Eyed Shira, is the somewhat less bright star Procyon, whose light is dimmer because her eyes are filled with pus from crying so much.In these 50 years since Apollo, humankind has explored farther away from home. As we venture out, we continue to look back at our home world. In this issue, Emily Lakdawalla showcases some of the best self-portraits taken by robotic explorers, and Vicky Hamilton describes how OSIRIS-REx used its instruments to examine Earth during a flyby on its way to asteroid Bennu.

As we continue to explore, we seek answers to the fundamental questions about the origin of life and the origin of specieslike you and me. In The Making of Life, Michael Wong explains how life may have developed here on Earth and elsewhere.

These quests to find life in the cosmos and to understand our place in space are deep within us. Were curious, were tenacious, and were explorers. The Planetary Society was founded to keep humankind exploring. Through your passion, you prove public support for space exploration. Members like you are not only passionate about space; youre willing to act to advance exploration by spreading the word on social media, participating in letter-writing campaigns, volunteering, and financially supporting our projects and programs.

Because of you, were ready to fly LightSail 2, our solar sail spacecraft that is 100 percent funded by members and supporters (see Bruce Betts update on LightSail in this issue). Because of members like you, I am able to communicate with you here in The Planetary Report.

Your support also enables us to directly advocate for continued exploration to government agencies. A recent example of this was my participation in a Washington Post Live event with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. Unlike my previous informal discussions with the administrator, this one was in public with a large in-person audience and a live webcast. Planetary Society Vice President Heidi Hammel and I were on a panel with the administrator, and we talked about what we see as the opportunities in space today and in the near future. Heidi described the great value of planetary exploration: the more we learn about other worlds, the more we learn about our own. We agreed that discovering life elsewhere would be astonishing. Deflecting an incoming massive rock or block of ice (asteroid or comet) could be vital. Also, the International Space Station has a unique role in international engagement and diplomacy. We discussed the key to the future: the money (NASAs budget). I managed to remind everyone there that a big reason the worlds largest nongovernmental space organization (your Planetary Society) exists is to help lawmakers make the right decisions about missions and funds.

In the 50 years since Apollo and the 38 years since the founding of The Planetary Society we have accomplished a great deal, but the best is yet ahead. I am delighted you all have joined us. Lets explore!

Flying By HomeDAKAR, SENEGAL December 17, 2018, Merck Foundation the philanthropic arm of Merck Germany conducted the 5th Edition of Merck Africa Asia Luminary presided over by The President of The Republic of Senegal, H.E. MACKY SALL and in partnership with the Ministry of Health of Senegal in Dakar.

During the Luminary, Dr. Rasha Kelej , CEO of Merck Foundation emphasized, I am very proud that many First Ladies have partnered with Merck Foundation and accepted to be the Ambassadors of our unique and historic campaign Merck more than a Mother to empower infertile women and eliminate the stigma around infertility in their countries.

The First Ladies took the pledge during the opening ceremony of the Merck Africa Asia Luminary 2018.

The First Ladies also discussed the strategy to build healthcare capacity in the fields of cancer, infertility, diabetes and hypertension in their respective countries in partnership with Merck Foundation.

The First Lady of Botswana, H.E. NEO JANE MASISI, emphasized, This campaign is very critical for my country and for Africa at large. I am fully supporting this initiative as the First Lady of Botswana. I firmly believe in the importance to empower infertile women, who are mistreated and discriminated against in many cultures for not being able to have children and start a family.

The First Lady of the Republic of Burundi, H.E. DENISE NKURUNZIZA emphasized, Thanks to Merck Foundation for this unique campaign. It is the first time we have an initiative that empowers infertile women and takes care of them.

H.E. BRIGITTE TOUADERA, The First Lady of Central Africa Republic said, I happily accepted to be the ambassador of Merck More than a Mother in 2016. This is a historic campaign that I launched with them in my country.

The First Lady of Chad, H.E. HINDA DEBY ITNO said, Through this platform, together with all other ambassadors we can create a culture shift across Africa to empower childless women by creating awareness and a cultural shift.

The First Lady of Ghana, H.E.REBECCA NAA OKAIKOR AKUFO-ADDO said, I along with Rebecca Foundation will work closely with Merck Foundation to empower women and adolescents; we will tell women to value themselves, as they are more than just mothers, they are productive members of the society.

The First Lady of Niger, H.E. AISSATA ISSOUFOU MAHAMADOU emphasized, I have also accepted to be Merck more than a mother ambassador in Niger to help raising awareness about infertility prevention, management, male infertility and to break the stigma around infertile women to empower them, as they are not just child bearers.

The First Lady of Sierra Leone, H.E. FATIMA MAADA BIO said, I have heard and witness the stories of infertile women in my country, the attitude of the people towards these women is not progressive or informed. I am honored to be the Ambassador of Merck More than a Mother, through this campaign I intend to help the women of my country.

The First Lady of Zambia, H.E. ESTHER LUNGU said, Zambia will launch Merck More than a Mother campaign in the country and I am happy to be their Ambassador. There is a serious need for a cultural shift about infertility and its prevention, we will make this happen

Join Merck Foundation online community to exchange experience and information with other healthcare providers, researchers, students, policy makers and community members in Africa and beyond. Merck-Foundation.com free registration

About Merck More Than a Mother campaign:

In many cultures, childless women suffer discrimination, stigma, and ostracism. Their inability to have children results in great isolation, disinheritance, and assaults. Merck More Than a Mother empowers such women through the access to information, health, change of mindsets and economic empowerment.

As part of this Campaign, we started Empowering Berna project in Africa to help childless and infertile women starting their own business and thus achieve financial independence and become stronger and happier. The project has benefited more than 1,000 women across the continent.

Also, part of the campaign is our Merck Embryology & Fertility Training Program, a three-month hands-on practical course to establish the platform of fertility specialists across Africa and Asia.

Merck Foundation provided for more than 84 candidates, three months to six months clinical and practical training for fertility specialists and embryologists in more than 29 countries across Africa and Asia such as: Chad, Niger, Central African Republic, Cote DIvoire , Ghana, Ethiopia , Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania , Zambia , Nigeria, Benin, Mali, Burkina Fuso, Senegal, Guinea Conakry, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cameron, Rwanda, Botswana, DR Congo , Congo Brazzaville, Gambia , Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Merck Foundation is making history in many African countries where they never had fertility specialists or specialized fertility clinics before Merck More Than a Mother intervention, to train the first fertility specialists such as; in Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia, Niger, Chad, and Guinea.

Merck Foundation plan supported the establishment of the first public IVF centers in Ethiopia and Uganda through providing the clinical and practical training necessary for their staff. Merck Foundation also plans to support the establishment of the first public IVF in Tanzania soon.

Merck more than a Mother launched in 2015, is a program of the Merck Foundation, the foundation drives many of our initiatives and programs in the area of build health care and research capacity and improves access to equitable healthcare solutions.

About Merck Foundation:

The Merck Foundation (Merck-Foundation.com), established in 2017, is the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people and advance their lives through science and technology. Our efforts are primarily focused on improving access to innovative healthcare solutions in underserved communities, building healthcare and scientific research capacity and empowering people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) with a special focus on women and youth. All Merck Foundation press releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck Foundation Website. Please go to Merck-Foundation.com to read more and/or register online to interact and exchange experience with our registered members.

RelatedKorea's biggest instant noodle maker Nongshim expects record overseas sales this year.

Nongshim on Monday estimated that its overseas sales for this year will amount to US$760 million, up a whopping 18 percent from last year (US$1=W1,132).

All overseas branches including Japan and the U.S. achieved record sales. The biggest were in China with $280 million, followed by $225 million in the U.S., $59 million in Japan, and $21 million in Australia.

It exported products worth $175 million to other parts of the world. Instant noodles accounted for 80 percent of overseas sales at $600 million.

If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found hereCongress members walk out of Rajya Sabha after Chair rejects demand for discussion on issue of inflation.Chinese artist appeals for unity against global warming in Poland

From:chinadaily | 2018-12-17 15:00

Chinese artist Kong Ning conducted her performance art in front of the site of the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Katowice, Poland, on Dec 13.

She wore a red long dress sewn with 100 "red penguins", and a red penguin hat, advocating people to protect the earth and prevent global warming. The whole outfit is made of degradable materials, and the "red penguins" will be donated to kindergarten children after the performance, to further spread the environmental protection concept.

Kong said, "If the global warming continues, the glacier in the South Pole will melt, and lovely penguins won't survive anymore. I hope we humans can work together to avoid that and help the penguins live."

Kong devoted herself to environmental protection with performance art around 10 years ago and she plans to bring her artwork to the countries involved in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

She just finished her Little Blue Man global walking program in Budapest of Hungary. Standing in front of the ancient Matyas Templom and Budavari palota, Kong wore the "Little Blue Man" suit advocating her green value of adding no weight to the earth just like a drop of water.

So far, Kong has shown her art in countries such as France, UK, Monaco, Australia, South Korea, and her next stop is Czech Republic.Hanukkah, The Festival Of Lights

Happy early Hanukkah! This year Hanukkah started in November. We believe the last time it did was in 2013, on November 27 when it began...

Letters to the Editor

Land Of OpportunityStill To The Editor: I rarely take a car service in Queens. Mass transit is usually faster  and its become much cheaper...Hangar 4, which housed the Chanute Air Museum prior to its closure, is one of four hangars in the sales agreement between the village of Rantoul and Los Angeles businessman John Van Der Velde. The sales agreement has been delayed until Van Der Velde's bank can conduct its "due diligence" on the property, Village Administrator Scott Eisenhauer said.4 held in bank app loophole case

From:Shine | 2018-12-17 19:29

Four people have been detained for allegedly using a bank app loophole to gain over 28 million yuan (US$4 million) in collateral loans, Shanghai police said on Monday.

Police in Songjiang District began an investigation after a bank reported abnormal transactions in one of its accounts which resulted in a huge loss.

The four, led by a man surnamed Ma, are alleged to have takenadvantage of a loophole in the banks app to boost the amount of fixed deposits and used their face value as collateral to get loans from the bank disproportionate to the actual deposits.

With the loans, the four are said to have charged their membership cards at a website and resold them at a discountto others. Police said they had purchased luxury cars, watches and other expensive goods with their profits.

The four were apprehended on December 6, when police also seized over two million yuan in cash.

The group is alleged to have illegally purchased bank account information and related personal data.

Two people alleged to have been involved in the illegal trading of information have also been detained.

Police said their investigation was ongoing and they had asked the bank to fix the loophole in the app.Posted by Jeremy on at 11:24 PM CST

A special offer just popped up on our radar, thanks a report by to Toys 'N' Bricks . Shoppers of LEGO.com ( United States Canada ) and North American brand stores are getting the opportunity to receive a free box LEGOpolybagged minifigs (5005704) with a purchase of US$75 or more on LEGOproducts.The offer, which runs from start of business on December 17th to midnight (EST) on the 19th, overlaps with the LEGO Reindeer Ornanament that comes free with orders over US$75 - meaning you can two gifts with your purchase. And if you buy 75251 Darth Vader's Castle (US$129.99) you'll also get 5005376 Darth Vader Pod too.And the offer doesn't end there because in the box is a card with instructions on how to enter to be one of five lucky winners to get an exclusiveminifig, which could include a Platinum R2-D2, Sterling Silver R2-D2, or Signed & Graded TC-14.Note that you don't have to actually make a purchase to enter the contest, which is being run at starwarsbox.sureloyal.com , but you do have to be over 18and live in any of the 50 states and one district of the US or 9 provinces (sorry Quebec) of Canada to enter.Posted by Jay on at 01:01 PM CST

Marvel has sent out solicitations for their March 2019 titles, including 9comics and three TPBs!JODY HOUSER (W)  CORY SMITH (A)  Cover by PAOLO RIVERACONCEPT DESIGN VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLEPuzzle Piece Variant Cover by MIKE MCKONEMovie Variant Also AvailableA DESPERATE DIPLOMATIC MISSION FOR SENATOR AMIDALA! PADME sets out in secret to try to bring a neutral world into the Republic fold. Is this a genuine offer of alliance, or another trap for the outspoken Senator? And will rejecting the help of the JEDI be a deadly mistake?32 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T $3.99KIERON GILLEN (W)  ANDREA BROCCARDO (A)COVER BY GERALD PARELGreatest Hits Variant Cover by TBAAction Figure Variant Cover by JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHERTHE SCOURGING OF SHU-TORUN: ROAD TO REVENGE! How is LEIA going to scourge SHU-TORUN? Shell need an all-star team... ...and a plan they wont see coming!32 PGS./Rated T $3.99(of 5)DENNIS HOPELESS (W)  ISSUE #1 - PAOLO VILLANELLI (A)  ISSUE #2 - BRIAN LEVEL (A)CoverS by GREG SMALLWOODISSUE #1 - VARIANT COVER BY LEINIL FRANCIS YUISSUE #1 - Variant Cover by GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI & ELIA BONETTIISSUE #1 - Movie Variant Cover Also AvailableISSUE #2 - Variant Cover by GERARDO SANDOVALISSUE #1 - WHO IS DARTH VADER?He has been many things: a SITH warrior, a commander, a destroyer. DARTH VADER is to many throughout the GALACTIC EMPIRE a symbol of fear and mysterious, otherworldly power. But there are some who have seen the DARK LORD in a different light. There are some corners of the galaxy so dark and desperate that even Vader can be a knight in shining armor. The first issue of a new STAR WARS limited series, writer Dennis Hopeless (CLOAK AND DAGGER, JEAN GREY) sheds new light on the many sides of the galaxys greatest villain.40 PGS./Rated T $4.99ISSUE #2 - THE COST OF FAILURE. To command an IMPERIAL DESTROYER is a coveted position. But with such great responsibility comes grave consequences if you fail your mission. How far will one officer go to spare himself from the judgment of DARTH VADER?32 PGS./Rated T $3.99JODY HOUSER (W)  LUKE ROSS (A)  Cover by PAOLO RIVERAGREATEST HITS VARIANT COVER BY PEPE LARRAZCONCEPT DESIGN VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLEPuzzle Piece Variant Cover by MIKE MCKONEMovie Variant Also AvailableTHE FEARSOME SEPARATIST GENERAL STRIKES! In his hunt to kill Jedi, GRIEVOUS stumbles across a power greater than he imagined. What secrets will the killer cyborg find inside a lost Jedi temple? Can Grievous strike a blow against the very FORCE itself?32 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T $3.99(of 5)ROBBIE THOMPSON (W)LEONARD KIRK (A)Cover by DAVID NAKAYAMAVARIANT COVER BY TBABEHIND ENEMY LINES! HAN SOLO and his fellow cadets risk their lives to save one of their own. But not all of them will be coming back from this mission... ...and even if Han survives, will the Empire throw him in the brig or worse?32 PGS./Rated T $3.99(of 7)ROBBIE THOMPSON (W)WILL SLINEY (A)Cover by PHIL NOTODOUBLE CROSS! ENFYS NEST has HAN SOLO and his crew dead to rights... But will Enfys surprising revelation persuade Han to change his plans for the stolen coaxium... ...or will a betrayal in his crew be his undoing?!32 PGS./Rated T $3.99KIERON GILLEN (W)  ANGEL UNZUETA (A)COVER BY GERALD PARELACTION FIGURE VARIANT COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHERTHE SCOURGING OF SHU-TORUN: OPERATION VENGEANCE! KANCHAR returns, and hes still got an amazing cybernetic arm. Does QUEEN TRIOS feel regret over all shes done? Spoilers: She will soon, if LEIA has anything to do with it.32 PGS./Rated T $3.99SI SPURRIER (W)  EMILIO LAISO (A)Cover by ASHLEY WITTERGREATEST HITS VARIANT COVER BY ADAM HUGHESWORST AMONG EQUALS PART 5: WHEREIN: PUBLIC RELATIONS DISASTER! DOCTOR APHRAs race across an alien city continues, pursued by innumerable enemies  not least the EMPIRES villainous propaganda division. But with the timer ticking down on the bomb in her throat, the truest horror might come from some unscheduled soul-searching. Could it be that her psychotic droid companion TRIPLE-ZERO is the closest thing she has (or deserves) to a true soulmate?32 PGS./Rated T $3.99(of 5)DENNIS HOPELESS (W)  ISSUE #1 - PAOLO VILLANELLI (A)  ISSUE #2 - BRIAN LEVEL (A)CoverS by GREG SMALLWOODISSUE #1 - VARIANT COVER BY LEINIL FRANCIS YUISSUE #1 - Variant Cover by GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI & ELIA BONETTIISSUE #1 - Movie Variant Cover Also AvailableISSUE #2 - Variant Cover by GERARDO SANDOVALISSUE #1 - WHO IS DARTH VADER?He has been many things: a SITH warrior, a commander, a destroyer. DARTH VADER is to many throughout the GALACTIC EMPIRE a symbol of fear and mysterious, otherworldly power. But there are some who have seen the DARK LORD in a different light. There are some corners of the galaxy so dark and desperate that even Vader can be a knight in shining armor. The first issue of a new STAR WARS limited series, writer Dennis Hopeless (CLOAK AND DAGGER, JEAN GREY) sheds new light on the many sides of the galaxys greatest villain.40 PGS./Rated T $4.99ISSUE #2 - THE COST OF FAILURE. To command an IMPERIAL DESTROYER is a coveted position. But with such great responsibility comes grave consequences if you fail your mission. How far will one officer go to spare himself from the judgment of DARTH VADER?32 PGS./Rated T $3.99Written by KIERON GILLENPenciled by ANDREA BROCCARDO & ANGEL UNZUETACover by JAMAL CAMPBELLYou can escape the horror of the galaxy  but only for a while. In the wake of disaster, our heroes are on the run from a resurgent Galactic Empire. Unable to escape the patrols, they find themselves trapped on a distant world. But where have they been abandoned? And how can they possibly survive? While the rebels try to figure out their situation, romance might be in the air between Luke Skywalker and Tula  and also between Han Solo and Princess Leia! But theres little time for emotions for the stranded rebels  not when enormous, ravenous monsters are on the loose! And not when their hideaway turns out to not be so secret after all and old foes close in! Collecting STAR WARS (2015) #56-61.144 PGS./Rated T $17.99ISBN: 978-1-302-91449-3Written by DAN THORSLAND, RYDER WINDHAM, JAN STRNAD, ANTHONY DANIELS & MOREPenciled by BILL HUGHES, IAN GIBSON, IGOR KORDEY & MORECover by KILIAN PLUNKETTR2-D2 and C-3PO steal the spotlight! Even before joining the rebellion, everyones favorite droids had plenty of exciting adventures. With the Empire on the march, the squabbling duo find themselves in the middle of trouble in the Kalarba System  but is Corellian rogue Jace Forno friend or foe? On the smuggler planet of Nar Shaddaa, con artist Olag Greck has a brush with the law  the newly deputized droids! Then, with a new Ithorian master to follow, R2 is laid low by a computer virus! And thrill to planet-saving action co-written by C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels! Plus: Pirates, bounty hunters, rock monsters  and R2s day out! Collecting STAR WARS: DROIDS (1994) #1-6 and SPECIAL, STAR WARS: DROIDS (1995) #1-8, STAR WARS: THE PROTOCOL OFFENSIVE #1 and material from STAR WARS GALAXY MAGAZINE #1 and STAR WARS TALES #16 and #20.480 PGS./Rated T $39.99ISBN: 978-1-302-91809-5Written by ROBBIE THOMPSONPenciled by LEONARD KIRKCover by DAVID NAKAYAMAUntold adventures of a young Han Solo! How does a thief, accustomed to the chaos of back-alley brawls, adjust to the order and discipline of the Imperial Navy? Not very well! And Hans dream of becoming a pilot is quickly grounded when he realizes he may not even survive basic training. After a wild sequence of events lands him in the brig overnight, Han is given one last shot at flight school. But will he be top gun  or will he crash and burn? And who is his mysterious rival, ripped from the pages of classic Star Wars comics? Plus: Han enters real combat for the first time, but will taking a little hard-earned R&R at a casino prove to be even more dangerous? Never tell him the odds. Collecting STAR WARS: HAN SOLO  IMPERIAL CADET #1-5.120 PGS./Rated T $15.99ISBN: 978-1-302-91500Commemorative conference discusses Sino-US relations

By:Zheng Qian | From:english.eastday.com | 2018-12-18 09:28

A conference commemorating the 40th anniversary of China-US diplomatic normalization was held in the Jin Jiang Grand Hall of Shanghai Jin Jiang Hotel recently.

Experts discuss Sino-US relations on December 13. [Photo/ Eastday.com]



More than 100 people, including diplomats and academic experts, gathered at the site where the US and China signed The Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations in 1979 to discuss current bilateral relations.

Jointly organized by the Center for American Studies, Fudan University, Shanghai Institute of American Studies and the Shanghai Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the seminar was conducted in four sessions. Academic heavyweights from first class international institutions like Harvard University, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Johns Hopkins University expressed their respective concerns, discussed finding common solutions, and the resulting brainstorm greatly influenced the audiences.

Experts on the seminar held in the Jin Jiang Grand Hall of Shanghai Jin Jiang Hotel on December 13. [Photo/ Eastday.com]



Over the past 40 years, the international political environment has changed a lot and current Sino-US relations are suffering from turmoil due to Trumps trade war. But all experts at the conference believe that there are still some fundamentals regarding the bilateral relationship between China and the US that have remained the same; namely the strategic importance of Sino-US relations and the fact that China and the United States have both benefited from cooperation.

Academics from both sides appealed for strengthened cooperation and communication to have a better understanding of each other.Los Angeles, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/18/2018 --ExistBI were selected by the US Department of Justice, the enforcers of US law to deliver IBM Cognos training. The Justice Department required IBM Cognos analytics training, a five day course for core project team managers, analysts and developers. This is detailed training covers areas such as preparation of useable data, modelling, calculations, analysis, reporting and much more. They requested a training program with extensive hands-on activities to reinforce the skills and knowledge attained. This Cognos training was provided via a licensed virtual environment with a live instructor.



'My training with Bob went really well, thank you! Great instructor."

Lori - Project Manager, United States Department of Justice



Alongside the Justice Department, ExistBI have recently provided business intelligence analytics training and Big Data Consulting to a variety of industry sectors. In Media, Cox Communications and Channel 4. In retail and wholesale, for Costco, John Deere and Kroger. In finance, for Barclays, Zions Bancorps, Riverstone and CIBC. For Government: IRS, NHS, US Patent Office, State of Michigan, Ontario Government, Veteran Affairs and the Ministry of the Environment. For Technology companies such as DropBox and Salesforce. In Healthcare, for Highmark, Kaiser Permanente and Health Net. For Universities, such as Princeton, Duke, USC, UT and BYU just to name a few. This is an indicator of how all industry sectors highly value the need for data warehousing and business analytics.



To find out more about ExistBI's IBM Cognos training, visit their website: https://www.existbi.com/ibm-cognos-training/



About The US Department of Justice

The Justice Department first began as the Office of the Attorney General in 1789. Created to uphold the law in cases and participate in cases that concern the United States. The Attorney General's position initially started as a part-time post however, quickly grew in demand and statue. Offering advice and support to the President of the United States. Today the Justice Department is the largest law office in the world, employing over 110,000 people. With their motto; "Who prosecutes on behalf of justice".



About ExistBI

ExistBI solves their customers toughest challenges by providing unmatched data warehouse consulting and Big Data analytics services in digital, technology, finance, marketing, operations and enablement. With offices in California, Ohio, New Jersey, London and Zagreb, they partner with medium to large Companies and government organizations, driving innovation through intelligent data led initiatives. They have experience across most industries and all business functions to deliver transformational outcomes for a demanding new digital world.



Learn more at ExistBIFairfax, VA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/18/2018 --The Northern Virginia financial consultants at Incisive Financial Group released a blog discussing the contribution cap for the 529 College Savings Plan. The 529 contribution cap can have tax-related consequences if it is exceeded.



Families can begin saving money for their children's college educations by using the 529 College Savings Plan. These plans are sponsored by individual states or educational institutions and allow for monthly savings contributions. When money from these plans is used for college-related expenses, the money can be withdrawn tax-free. There are two types of 529 plans. Pre-paid plans help pay for the cost of in-state tuition for public colleges and universities, including tuition, fees, textbooks, and other expenses. They can be used at public or private schools, though there are more benefits to using them at public institutions. Savings plans, meanwhile, are more flexible and can be used in the same way at either type of college or university. The full value of the plan can be used at any institution, including some outside of the U.S.



People paying into 529 plans may contribute as much as they want per year, though payments over a certain limit are subject to gift taxes. These taxes are applied to transfers of money or property to another person when nothing is received in return. According to federal law, single taxpayers may contribute up to $14,000 per year to 529 plans and still avoid paying gift taxes. In Virginia, contributors can pay up to $70,000 for single taxpayers and then average that amount over five years to avoid gift taxes. Maryland-based contributors are subject to the same limitations. By avoiding the gift tax, your contributions will be less expensive, likely allowing you to contribute more to the plan and boost the account's savings.



Speak to the financial consultants at Incisive Financial Group for more information about 529 College Savings Plans. The company has years of experience in helping clients handle a wide range of savings plans, including the 529 plan, 401(K)s, profit sharing, tax deferred annuity, and more. IFG also offers custom savings packages and financial consulting. The firm can be contacted at 703-260-9625 or online at https://www.incisivefinancialgroup.com/. IFG is headquartered at 4023 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, VA 22030.



Securities and investment advisory services are offered solely through registered representatives and investment advisor representatives of Ameritas Investment Corp. (AIC), a registered Broker/Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC and a registered investment advisor. AIC is not affiliated with Incisive Financial Group. Additional products and services may be available through Incisive Financial Group that are not offered through AIC. Representatives of AIC do not provide tax or legal advice. Please consult your tax advisor or attorney regarding your situation.



Before Investing, carefully consider the investment objectives, limitations, risks, fees, and expenses of the product and any underlying investment options. This information can be found in the official statements. Copies are available from our office. Please read carefully before investing.Alexandria, VA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/18/2018 --Smart HR, a Northern Virginia HR consulting firm, recently debuted its new website design. The site has been redesigned to contain an improved user interface and better navigation that allows users to find information about the company's HR consulting services more easily than before.



The new home page includes the company's phone number, service areas, and social media buttons in a small banner across the top of the page. It also contains links to information about the company's approach, team, and value, as well as buttons highlighting three of Smart HR's main services. Users can continue scrolling down the page to see more content, including reviews, blogs, and a contact button at the bottom of the page.



Smart HR's page provides users with a significant amount of information at a glance. The top third of the page highlights the company's main services, while the middle section explains more information about the company's customized approach to each client, specialized team, and the cost savings of working with Smart HR. It also includes reviews from C-level executives who have worked with the company in the past. A message from the president of the company explains the types of companies with which Smart HR typically works and the benefits they can obtain, and the remainder of the page consists of boxes containing photos and links to HR-related blog posts.



The site is easy to navigate, helping users find information faster than before. Customers can scroll to get more information or use the navigation menus and buttons throughout the page, ensuring that information is readily available no matter how they choose to navigate the site. Smart HR's design also provides quick, memorable bits of information in each section, helping potential customers instantly understand the business and how it can be useful to them. After providing customers with enough information to help them feel confident in Smart HR's services, a contact form placed at the bottom of the page encourages potential customers to contact the company for more information.



Smart HR can be contacted at 703-952-3177 or online at http://www.smarthrinc.com/. The company is headquartered at 917 Prince Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 and serves businesses in the Northern Virginia, Washington D.C., and Maryland areas.T-Mobile US, Inc. (TMUS) and Sprint Corp. (S) announced late Monday that they have successfully received approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States or CFIUS for their proposed merger transaction.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Defense, collectively referred to as Team Telecom, submitted a filing with the FCC that it has reviewed the transaction pertaining to potential national security, law enforcement, and public safety issues. Team Telecom confirmed it has no objections to the merger and has withdrawn its request to defer action on the transaction.

The completion of the combination remains subject to regulatory approvals and certain other customary closing conditions, and is expected to occur during the first half of 2019.

John Legere, Chief Executive Officer of T-Mobile, said, "These approvals assure the strong partnership both companies have with the U.S. government will continue with the New T-Mobile. We look forward to continuing our discussions with the remaining regulatory agencies reviewing our transaction to share our story and subsequently achieve similar positive results."

In late October, T-Mobile US received shareholder approval for the proposed merger with Sprint.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business NewsRoyal Dutch Shell Plc (RDS-B, RDSB.L, RDSA.L,RDS-A) is in talks to buy Endeavor Energy Resources LP for about $8 billion, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. The amount is said to be much less than the $15 billion the Texas oil producer was expecting to fetch in a sale.

As per the report, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips also weighed bids for Endeavor, but they are no longer interested.

The talks are yet to reach an advanced stage. There are also complications regarding Endeavor Founder Autry Stephens's desire to retain a large quantity of its mineral rights, or ownership of untapped oil entitling him to royalties when drilled, the report said.

Endeavor is also considering going public in 2019.

Endeavor controls drilling rights on more than 300,000 acres of mostly undeveloped land in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business NewsGerman government-owned development bank KfW is testing the use of blockchain in the management of public finances in the West African country of Burkina Faso. This is being done on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

KfW is running a six-month pilot phase for a blockchain application TruBudget developed by it. The application makes it possible to trace all work and approval steps, including drafting contracts or tendering and disbursement processes in the implementation of a project.

The TruBudget platform creates transparency for the benefit of all parties involved and enables donors to deploy funds safely and directly via the structures of the partner country. It supports the use of development funds Burkina Faso receives.

All participants can view all processes and changes in real time to eliminate the complex manual processes to ensure that funds are used correctly.

The Burkinabe Ministry of Finance is supported by the technology consultancy firms BearingPoint and Accenture in the development and testing of a Burkinabe TruBudget platform.

The software was developed according to the open source principle and will be available to interested partners free of charge. Accenture has designed, tested and implemented a solution in association with KfW.

Meanwhile, BearingPoint is evaluating the technical requirements set out by the Finance Ministry and donor organizations for typical applications relevant in development cooperation.

For this project, KfW is also working in close cooperation with another partner, the French Development Agency, which is a public financial institution that implements the policy defined by the French Government.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business NewsRIZWAN BHATTI



KARACHI: Pakistan, on Friday, received another one billion dollar from Saudi Arabia under the agreed bailout package for balance of payment support.



The countrys foreign exchange reserves are on decline due to continued external debt servicing and higher current account deficit. During the week ending 7th December 2018, reserves held by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) were decreased by $242 million to $7.26 billion due to external debt servicing and other official payments.



In order to ease balance of payment crisis, in October this year, Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Saudi Arabia, China and the UEA for financial support to build the depleting foreign exchange reserves and finance the external account. During the visit of Prime Minister, Saudi Arabia agreed to provide a bailout package of worth $6 billion including $3 billion of financial support and another $3 billion in shape of deferred oil payment facility for one year.



Accordingly, first tranche amounted to $1 billion of pledged amount was arrived on November 19, 2018 and the second tranche of one billion dollar was released, on Friday, by Saudi Arabia under the agreed bailout package for balance of payment support.



An official of State Bank has also confirmed that another one billion dollar as financial assistance from Saudi Arabia has been transferred into the SBPs account.



Sources said that Saudi Arabia has placed these $2 billion with Pakistan for a period of one year, while another one billion dollar will be arrived next month and will remain with Pakistan for next one year.



Although, the official statistics of foreign exchange reserves are not available, but as per estimates with arrival of second tranche of financial support from Saudi Arabia, SBPs foreign exchange reserves may reach above $8 billion mark.



It may be mentioned here that according to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) singed by the Pakistans Finance Minister Asad Umar and his Saudi counterpart Muhammad Abdullah Al-Jadaan, Saudi Arabia will deposit $3 billion with Pakistan for a period of one year, besides worth $3 billion oil on one year deferred payment.



Pakistan is looking several other venues to build its foreign exchange reserves and a port of these efforts Prime Minister also visited China and UAE. In addition, Pakistan is also negotiating with International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a possible loan package for balance of payment crisis. First round of talks (technical level) with IMF officials was held second week last month in Islamabad.



Initially Pakistan was seeking a bailout package of $12 billion from IMF to overcome from this crisis, however with arrival of inflows from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan is most likely to ask the IMF for a $6 to $8 billion loan.



The newly elected government has also taken a number of measures to reduce the import bill and curtail the current account deficit. With these efforts Pakistans goods trade deficit declined slightly 2 percent to 14.5 billion dollar in first five months of this fiscal year.



Rent-A-Center, Inc. (RCII) announced that the company has terminated the agreement and plan of merger by and among the company and certain affiliates of Vintage Capital Management, LLC. Rent-A-Center did not receive an extension notice from Vintage Capital as of December 17, 2018, which was the deadline set forth in the merger agreement for either party to provide notice to the other of its election to extend the end date in the merger agreement to March 17, 2019. In light of the current financial and operational performance of the company, the Board of Rent-A-Center determined not to exercise its right to extend the end date and instead elected to exercise the company's right to terminate the merger agreement.

Rent-A-Center notified Vintage Capital of the company's termination of the merger agreement and noted Vintage Capital's obligation to pay the company a reverse breakup fee of $126.5 million within three days.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business NewsIt's one year since Bitcoin hit a record high. December 17 is a landmark in the history of Bitcoin. It was on that day that the world's largest cryptocurrency reached an all-time high of $19,600 on multiple exchanges. A year has passed, and the soft coin lost its gloss. As some crypto experts predicted, the "bubble" has burst, and Bitcoin is at its lowest level in 2018. BTC hit a 15-month low of $3,122 over the weekend. After a 4.09 percent rise in value this week, Bitcoin is currently trading below $3600.

Here is a summary of some of the widely followed stories on cryptocurrency and blockchain during the past 24 hours.



Coinbase rolls out crypto-to-crypto conversion feature

Major US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase rolled out a new feature called "Convert" which will enable conversion of one cryptocurrency into another. The new feature will be available on Coinbase.com and in the iOS and Android apps. The new feature will be gradually introduced in all 34 countries in which Coinbase offers native payment access.

UAE Banks Federation Considers Adoption of Blockchain in Banks

UAE Banks Federation or UBF, a non-profit organization representing 50 member banks in the country, is exploring the adoption of blockchain in its member banks, according to the Dubai-based newspaper Gulf News. The CEOs Advisory Council of the UBF discussed the use of blockchain to enhance know-your-customer or KYC processes at banks.

Germany's KfW Development Bank Tests Blockchain App TruBudget In Burkina Faso

German government-owned development bank KfW is testing the use of blockchain in the management of public finances in the West African country of Burkina Faso. This is being done on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). KfW is running a six-month pilot phase for a blockchain application TruBudget developed by it. The application makes it possible to trace all work and approval steps.

Blockstream Expands Bitcoin Satellite Service To Asia-Pacific Region

Blockchain technology firm Blockstream announced the expansion of its bitcoin satellite service, which lets bitcoin users transfer the cryptocurrency through leased satellites, to the Asia-Pacific region. The update also comes with a new messaging feature powered by Lightning Network, an open network built on top of Bitcoin to enable fast, cheap and private microtransactions.

Current Prices

As of this writing, Bitcoin is up 5.03 percent or $170.48 at $3,559.12 on Coinbase. Ethereum is rising 7.01 percent or $6.25 at $95.62.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.comDespite losing to Democratic Senator-elect Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., in last month's election, Congresswoman Martha McSally, R-Ariz., is still headed to the Senate next year.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced his appointment of McSally to the Senate on Tuesday following last week's news of the resignation of Senator Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.

"With her experience and long record of service, Martha is uniquely qualified to step up and fight for Arizona's interests in the U.S. Senate," Ducey said in a statement.

He added, "I thank her for taking on this significant responsibility and look forward to working with her and Senator-Elect Sinema to get positive things done."

McSally, who lost to Sinema by 50.0 percent to 47.6 percent in the race to succeed retiring Senator Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said she is "humbled and grateful to have this opportunity to serve and be a voice for all Arizonans."

Last week, Kyl announced he will resign from the Senate at the end of the year, just a few months after being appointed to replace the late Senator John McCain, R-Ariz.

McSally will hold the Arizona seat until at least a special election in 2020, with a full six-year term set to be up for grabs in 2022.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business NewsQuick Links SACI Facebook :

SACI Instagram: Statement from SACI Council on tertiary training in chemistry as a result of disruptions to the 2020 academic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the professional body representing the interests of all chemists in South Africa, we recognise the challenges that the current COVID-19 crisis presents to all our members in academia, research and industry. We also acknowledge the challenges the current situation presents to our tertiary institutions and specifically the challenges presented by moving to online teaching. We applaud the efforts of all our members who work at tertiary institutions who have adapted and innovated to ensure that we can continue as far as possible with our teaching and learning of chemistry even when on campus face-to-face contact is not possible. Our tertiary institutions play a critical role in not only training the next generation of chemists, but they are also tasked with the important responsibility of ensuring that many people from other professions and disciplines are trained in the fundamental principles of chemistry. We reaffirm our belief that this training is essential, as chemistry is one of the central sciences. Key to this training is the practical component and laboratory based skills development. While we accept that this critical component of our training is not possible under the current situation, we strongly urge that plans be put in place to preserve this component of training as part of the curriculum as far as possible. In some cases, virtual laboratory tools can facilitate learning, but we believe that in laboratory practical training particularly for senior level courses should be preserved. SACI strongly recommends that at least a critical minimum practical experience should form part of the plans to complete the 2020 academic year at our tertiary institutions. We believe that this is essential to preserve the validity and integrity of the academic training programmes in chemistry. Statement issued on behalf of the SACI Council, Professor Peter Mallon

President of SA Latest Updates: Pay your SACI membership fees with SnapScan New Interactive Electronic Version of the IUPAC Periodic Table of the Elements & Isotopes How do we know what the temperature of our planet was a million years ago, to better understand climate change? Where did Otzi the Iceman live as a child and an adult? What evidence gives doping agencies the gold standard to determine whether testosterone in an athletes sample comes from doping? How do we obtain 3D images of tumors in soft tissues? The answers to all of these questions and many more can be revealed through a deeper understanding of isotopes of the elements. Isotopes matter! These new resources are created for educators and students at secondary and post-secondary levels, and to inform the public about the many uses of isotopes in our lives. They are based on educational practices that encourage engaged and active learning by students. The new IUPAC interactive electronic periodic table and accompanying educational materials were created by a partnership between an , and researchers at the , and build on the work of a previous IUPAC project team to create a print version of the Periodic Table of the Isotopes. This project responds to requests by educators and students for resources highlighting the importance of isotopes in our lives, and that give students help in using interval atomic weights for elements. brings free engaging and interactive learning resources to the fingertips of students and educators around the world, says Task Group Co-Chair Peter Mahaffy, Professor of Chemistry at the Kings University in Canada, and co-director of the Kings Centre for Visualization in Science. And Norman Holden, retired Research Coordinator of the High Flux Beam Reactor (HFBR) and the Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor (BMMR) and a Guest Scientist at the National Nuclear Data Center (NNDC) of Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, adds: Its great when scientists and educators work together to create a vehicle to provide students with an understanding of fundamental scientific facts and accomplish this internationally. Following the global launch on August 17, 2016, the new IUPAC interactive electronic periodic table and accompanying resources can be accessed at . A print version of the periodic table of the isotopes and elements is available at . Further details will be published in the peer-reviewed IUPAC Journal, Pure and Applied Chemistry. Contact:

Dr. Peter Mahaffy, IUPAC Project Task Force Co-Chair

Co-Director, The Kings Centre for Visualization in Science

The Kings University, Canada

Dr. Norman Holden, IUPAC Project Task Force Co-Chair

Brookhaven National Laboratories, USA

Dr. Fabienne Meyers

Associate Director, IUPAC



SACI Ties, Scarfs and T-shirts Periodic table ties and ladies scarfs R130 each. Periodic table T Shirt Short sleeve R180, Long sleeve R200 Please contact head office to place orders. There is also a courier charge of R150 per order for delivery.

By SA Commercial Prop News

Its rough ride for Landlords as one of SAs oldest surviving retailers, Edcon Holdings which occupies big pockets of space in many shopping centres, is on the bring of collapse.



There is still no respite for Landlords as one of SAs oldest surviving retailers, Edcon Holdings which occupies big pockets of space in many shopping centres, is asking mall owners to chop rent.

The debt-laden retail giant, which owns Edgars Stores, Jet and CNA, is asking South Africas big shopping Mall Owners to reduce its rent in order for it to survive. Without this concession, the company could be put into liquidation.

The flagship brand, Edgars, operates as a major anchor, driving business to smaller retailers at many malls across the country. The retailer also accounts for 10% of occupancy in SAs major shopping malls.

CEO Grant Pattison said on Monday that the group was negotiating new leases with its landlords as a way to cut costs.

"Edcon is very close to announcing a complete recapitalisation of the business that should endure for the next few years. We cannot comment on the details as it is not yet finalised. Speculation and sensationalism will harm, not help the company," Pattison said in a statement.

The company which operates 1,350 stores, is said to have asked for a 41% reduction in rent as its seeks to secure funding to stave off liquidation.

It offered a 5% stake in the business in exchange for a two-year agreement on rentals, citing a letter to landlords. This would help Edcon secure R1.9bn ($132m) in emergency funding from banks and the Public Investment Corp, it said.

It has debt of R7bn and has had to fight hard to maintain its relevance in a clothing retail market that has seen local and foreign rivals such as Mr Price, H&M, Zara and new online shops that are eating into their market share.

The closure would affect dividend payouts to shareholders for most listed property groups.

Trading analyst Lester Davids said that landlords would likely find it difficult to fill the space currently occupied by Edcon stores around the country.

But Edcon going under would be even worse, he said.

The companys woes are symptomatic of an entire sector under pressure as many retailers are struggling across the country.

The closure of the company would put 140,000 jobs at risk and deal a massive psychological blow to the South African economy. This would make it by far the biggest single job loss ever in SA, said economist Mike Schussler.

The possible closure of Edcon would not only threaten the jobs of its employees, but could seriously threaten some of the countrys commercial property groups.

Meanwhile. the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) says the country cannot afford any more job losses. Saftu's Zwelinzima Vavi has urged Edcon to do all it can to ensure that workers' jobs are safe.

Mall owners Liberty Two Degrees and Hyprop Investments emerged as the biggest losers from the closure of Stuttafords Stores. The 150-year-old department store officially closed its doors last year amid tough economic challenges.

Edcon is southern Africas largest non-food retailer. It has been in business for nearly 90 years and operate in stores across South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Zambia.A Mumbai man, who spent around three years in a Pakistan jail, has been released and will return home on Tuesday, an activist said here.

"Yes it's really a great news. Hamid Nehal Ansari has been released from jail and will be handed over to India at the Wagah Border later this afternoon," Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) General Secretary Jatin Desai told.



Ansari's family members, including father Nehal and mother Fauzia, a large number of India-Pakistan friendship activists, officials and political personalities will be present at the border to welcome him.



Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activist and former legislator Krishna Hegde, who helped the family in the past few years, said they had gone to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi to complete the formalities and secure his repatriation.



Pakistan had alleged that Ansari, 33, an engineer, was an "Indian spy" who illegally entered the country, and accused him of involvement in anti-state crimes, forging documents, and jailed him.





For the Ansari family, it was an ordeal since November 2012 when he left the country for Kabul for employment and then was reported "missing".



He reportedly became friendly with a Pakistan girl on social media and reached Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to save her from a forced marriage.



On November 12, 2012, Ansari crossed over from Afghanistan border in Jalalabad to Peshawar in Pakistan where he was nabbed by Pakistan intelligence.



Later, a military court sentenced him to three years in jail.A guideline to assist service providers to cater for the needs of gender-based violence victims is essential, especially in times of emergency.

That is the recommendation of Marieta Ilalio, communication officer for the Samoa Victim Support Group (SVSG), at the conclusion of a four-day workshop facilitated by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Samoa Red Cross Society (SRCS), in partnership with the Ministry of Health.

So the goal for the future is to build a structure to guide the works done for those affected, so that nothing is confusing causing more harmbut all have one goal and each service know exactly what to do in those times, she said.

Ms. Ilalio said the workshop was an eye-opener for her, as she did not know that times of disaster were vulnerable periods for victims.

For us as an institution which is a center for violence survivors, this workshop is very important. Before this workshop, I didnt know this issue existed in Samoa. But now I learn there is a lot of violence that may happen in times of disasters, also learned that this is a result of poor evacuation planning for the people during times of crisis.

The UNFPA programme facilitator, Rania Abuelhassan, said the workshop programme was rewarding and she was happy with the outcome.

The training was very successful because the participants have learned a lot of ways to express themselves and conform to the international standards to use on a daily basis so I was so glad with some of their strategies at emergency times.

They know what they need to consider when they are planning and the response which is very sensitive to the need and the gaps of the system for GBV services and the benefit of survivors, she added.

A discussion linking health facilities, the police and the providers of social support with the survivors of violence was also held during the workshop, added Ms. Abuelhassan.

Astrid Koon Wai You from the SRCS, in her own observation of the workshop, said they learnt a lot over the duration of the programme.

After the four days I could really see that each and every agency, even our own staff and volunteers have learnt so much. Last day was probably the most fruitful as experiences were shared and many real life situations were brought in, she added.NEW YORK (AP)  Penny Marshall, who starred in "Laverne & Shirley" before becoming one of the top-grossing female directors in Hollywood, has died. She was 75.

Marshall's publicist, Michelle Bega, said Marshall died in her Los Angeles home on Monday due to complications from diabetes.

Marshall starred alongside Cindy Williams in the hit ABC comedy "Laverne & Shirley," which aired from 1976 to 1983. As a filmmaker, she became the first woman to direct a film that grossed more than $100 million with "Big," the 1988 comedy starring Tom Hanks. She also directed "A League of Their Own," ''Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Awakenings."A village council has moved to address the increasing use of Facebook to incite violence, by penalising families whose family members recently posted derogatory and threatening comments.

The Laulii village council has penalised five families in their village and slapped each one of them with a $5,000 penalty fee for allegedly making derogatory and threatening posts targeting chiefs in the village.

This was confirmed by Lauliis paramount chief, Fuamatu Samoa Oloaga Asuelu, in an interview with the Samoa Observer yesterday.

Fuamatu Samoa said during the village council meeting last week, the issue  where derogatory remarks were made towards a certain paramount chief by Laulii villagers who currently live abroad  was raised.

Five families have been penalised, given their family members were swearing, made derogatory and threatening remarks against a certain chief, said Fuamatu Samoa.

This did not sit well with the chiefs of the village, who then moved to penalise these families, and this is embarrassing for the village to be the subject to these types of incidents, he said.

Another chief, Fuamatu Kosetatino, noted that the other chiefs wanted the penalty increase to $10,000 and the families banished from the village.

However, village council elders appealed for the fine to be reduced to $5000.

Fuamatu Samoa further told this newspaper that of the five affected families, only one family member currently lives in Samoa.

These are issues those people overseas need to consider before they go on social media and disrespect the elders of the village.

We will not allow that. These are high chiefs of the village and we have zero tolerance for such unwelcoming behaviour, he added.

People who use Facebook to incite violence will also come under scrutiny according to Fuamatu Samoa.

This village will not allow that to continue.

These social media or Facebook or whatever, should not be made to be abused and for people to use it as a platform, to make derogatory comments and threatening remarks against chiefs in the village of Laulii or anyone for that matter.

We as the village council have a job to do and that is to keep the peace at the same time, the chiefs of this village will not be disrespected by people who are abusing social media, he added.

Fuamatu Kosetatino urged Laulii villagers living abroad to think twice before posting on social media, as their actions could have consequences for their families back home.

Thats why it is smart to think before putting anything on social media, because your actions have consequences and this case has affected your families living in Samoa who are now looking for money to pay for what was posted on social media, he said.

Fuamatu Samoa and his son Fuamatu Kosetatino said all they want to do is keep the peace and in doing so put some sort of control on what is posted on social media.Malietoa Faamausili Moli appeared in the District Court yesterday.

His Court appearance was in relation to an incident at his residence at Fagalii in October where a gun was allegedly discharged.

Malietoa appeared before Judge Fepuleai Ameperosa Roma.

During the proceedings, his lawyer, Taulapapa Brenda Heather-Latu, told the Court that to date, they have yet to receive anything from the Prosecution about the charges.

The Prosecutor, Lupematasila Iliganoa Atoa, of the Attorney Generals Office, asked the Court for an adjournment.

We are currently in a consultation with the Police on this matter and this consultation will determine how we will proceed, said Lupematasila.

Taulapapa also appealed to the Court to discontinue the bail condition for her client, where he has to sign in at the Police Station weekly.

The request was granted by Judge Fepuleai who also adjourned the matter until 29 January 2019.The Attorney Generals Office is yet to finalise the charges against Robert Ash, in relation to a separate incident involving Malaki Tauiliili, prior to the one that led to his death.

Ash appeared in the District Court yesterday for mention with his lawyer Tuatagaloa Aumua Ming Leung Wai, before Judge Fepuleai Ameperosa Roma.

Prosecution lawyer, Lupematasila Iliganoa Atoa, sought an adjournment from the Court to enable them to finalise the charges, while noting that Ash is also part of a murder trial currently before the Supreme Court.

But Aumua  in response to the prosecutions application  submitted that his clients case is separate from the murder trial.

Court for the record that my client is not involved in the murder trial in the Supreme Court, he said.

Aumua further submitted that there are two charges of the same offence (of common assault) which he hopes the prosecution will clarify when the matter is re-mentioned.

The Judge then informed Ash that he is remanded on bail with conditions until January 29, 2019 for the prosecution to finalise the charges.

Defendants Suapaina Savaiinaea and Herman Westerlund are jointly facing a manslaughter charge in connection with the death of Tauiliili.

They will appear for mention in the Supreme Court next Monday. Savaiinaea is currently in Police custody while Westerlund has been released on bail.The Samoa Victim Support Groups Campus of Hope was the recipient of a brand new washing machine donated by local company Island Rock yesterday.

Island Rock representative, Reverend Sealii Faigaa, said the donation was part of Island Rocks 25 days of the Spirit of Christmas Campaign.

The campaign is focused on the spirit of giving to those in need, like vulnerable families that were featured in the Samoa Observer section known as the Village Voice.

But it has also included organisations like Samoa Victim Support Group and Home of the elderly at Mapuifagalele.

The main reason why we are here is because your president Siliniu Lina Chang came to us for assistance and therefore we have heeded her call.

Hence the reason why we have come to present this gift to assist in caring for the children staying here at the campus of hope, Rev. Sealii said.

Rev. Sealii added that Christmas is all about the spirit of giving and love, it is also a time to share with others the meaning behind Christmas.

Deacon Toetu Alosio, who spoke on behalf of the president of SVSG, expressed their sincere gratitude at the donation by the company.

We thank Island Rock, management and staff for their generous contribution, who are we, these children that you have spared a thought for.

We pray that with your generosity, may the Lord continue to shower his blessings upon each and every one of you especially your company.

We do not have anything to repay the gifts but we truly believe that your blessings are with the Lord, Deacon Toetu said.

The Campus of Hope caters for children who are victims of abuse and come under the umbrella of the Samoa Victim Support Group. The campaign by Island Rock ends on December 24 and features a variety of programmes and activities.The National Council of Women of Samoa yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of its headquarters, popularly known as the House of Love.

The celebration was held at the TATTE Building yesterday whereas the building is located at Matafele.

Members of the organisation from both Upolu and Savaii gathered for the occasion.

Women leaders in the Government and private sectors as well as civil society attended the commemoration.

The guests included the Masiofo, Her Highness Faamausili Leinafo Tuimalealiifano, Su'a Julia Wallwork (Adventist Development and Relief Agency managing director), Afamasaga Faauiga Mulitalo (CEO of Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development), Lefaoali'i Unutoa Auelua-Fonoti (Samoas regulator), Telei'ai Dr. Lalotoa Mulitalo Seumanutafa (Samoa Law Reform Commission executive director), and Taituuga Maryann Lameko-Vaai (Bank South Pacifics Samoa country manager).

The Deputy Prime Minster and president of NCWS, Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, delivered the keynote address and highlighted the important role that the organisation continues to play in the country.

In 1953 the first ever non-governmental organisation called the NCWS was established as the national forum for women in Samoa, comprised of the wives of paramount chiefs and women representatives.

The main objective was for women to support the village council governance and decision making, which is the inroad for the needed force to support the roles of and advancement of women.

But also it was for the contribution of women in the health sector, hence there was a small clinic within the headquarters that caters for maternity, she added.

According to the Deputy P.M., the organisations headquarters was built in 1968 and came to be known as the House of Love.

The meaning behind the name is for all the works done by NCWS to be based on love for the people of Samoa. The land that the building is located was owned by the Catholic Church, but was later donated by Cardinal Pio Taofinu'u to NCWS.

It is significant for the NCWS to continue, due to the role each female representative plays within communities, villages, districts and our country as a whole through their collaboration with village councils and communities, she added.

The organisation has over 400 members from both Upolu and the Big Island of Savaii.Dont lose sight of why you are going to study is the message of Helen Lei Sam to those who will be studying under the Australia Awards programme next year.

Helen, from Sapapalii in Savaii and Fasitoouta in Upolu, graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, where she studied for four years under the same awards.

I leave next year to do masters in engineering. The second time around you know what to do. You are better equipped, better prepared, not only that academically, when you have work experience it helps you in school, she said in an interview with Samoa Observer.

Being the eldest of six, Helen has to ensure that she plays a good role model and that she succeeds in whatever she pursues.

I worked at the Samoa Water Authority, and now I am working for a private construction company, I am the project manager for the Apia Waterfront project, just waiting for time to leave for my scholarship.

I have worked more than four years. I have a lot of experience and wisdom to take with me to my studies. I wanted to do Engineering and Australia is the best place in the region to do it.

Growing up wishing to be a doctor, Helen said she faced all the challenges a student faces in university.

Home sickness, loneliness sometimes, academically there are many struggles, trying to balance my personal life with my academic life. Engineering is very demanding and stressful.

Helen looks forward to returning, and to help contribute to developing Samoa.

I think that my current and previous employers can attest to the fact that Ive contributed a lot in terms of the projects I have worked on, she said.WASHINGTON (AP)  The Senate's top Republican and Democratic leaders began negotiating Tuesday after the White House indicated President Donald Trump does not want a federal government shutdown over his demand for $5 billion for the border wall with Mexico.

During a meeting on Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell proposed $1.6 billion for border fencing, as outlined in a bipartisan Senate bill, plus an additional $1 billion that Trump could use on the border, according to a senior Democratic aide unauthorized to speak about the private meeting.

Democrats are likely to reject that, the aide said, characterizing the additional $1 billion as a "slush fund."

But the meeting between the top leaders, after the White House's willingness to back down from Trump's $5 billion demand, offered the first signs of a movement after days of impasse as the clock ticks down toward Friday's funding deadline.

Without a resolution, more than 800,000 government workers could be furloughed or sent to work without pay, disrupting government operations days before the Christmas holiday.

Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called it a "good sign" that the White House appeared to be backing off its demands.

Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have proposed $1.3 billion. That money would not be for a wall, but for border fencing.

As she entered a meeting in Schumer's office, Pelosi said the "slush fund" is not acceptable. "What they might want to do with that $1 billion dollars is problematic," Pelosi told reporters.

"Right now, what they've offered, we have not accepted."

The White House showed a willingness to budge earlier Tuesday as it became apparent the president does not have support in Congress for funding the wall at the $5 billion level he wants.

While Trump said last week he would be "proud" to have a shutdown over the wall funding, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday said are "other ways" to secure the $5 billion that he wants.

"At the end of the day, we don't want to shut down the government," Sanders said on Fox News. "We want to shut down the border from illegal immigration."

Sanders pointed to one bill, likely referring to the Senate's bipartisan appropriation measure for the Department of Homeland Security, which provides $26 billion, including $1.6 billion for fencing and other barriers. It was approved by the committee in summer on a bipartisan vote.

"That's something that we would be able to support," she said, as long as it's coupled with other funding, such as using defense money on border security.

What other funds could be tapped to satisfy the president's demand remains unclear. Asked about using military funds, Sanders said, "There's certainly a number of different funding sources that we've identified that we can use that we can couple with the money that would be given through Congressional appropriations that would help us get to that $5 billion that the president needs in order to protect our borders."

The fight over Trump's border wall has brought Congress to a familiar standoff, this time just days before Christmas.

It wasn't always like this, with Congress and the White House at a crisis over government funding. The House and Senate used to pass annual appropriation bills, and the president signed them into law. But in recent years the shutdown scenario has become routine.

A partial shutdown that could occur at midnight Friday risks disrupting government operations and leaving hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed or working without pay over the holiday season. Costs would be likely in the billions of dollars.

Trump was meeting with his team and getting regular updates, Sanders said. Trump has also tweeted to keep up the pressure.

Exiting a Senate Republican leadership meeting late Monday, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota said, "It looks like it probably is going to have to build for a few days here before there's a solution."

It's unclear how many House Republicans, with just a few weeks left in the majority before relinquishing power to House Democrats, will even show up midweek for possible votes. Speaker Paul Ryan's office had no update. Many Republicans say it's up to Trump and Democrats to cut a deal.

McConnell and Trump talk most days, but the senator's spokesman would not confirm if they spoke Monday about a plan. McConnell opened the chamber hoping for a "bipartisan collaborative spirit" that would enable Congress to finish its work.

"We need to make a substantial investment in the integrity of our border," McConnell said. "And we need to close out the year's appropriation process."

Meanwhile, more than 800,000 government workers are preparing for the uncertainty ahead.

The dispute could affect nine of 15 Cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Interior, Agriculture, State and Justice, as well as national parks and forests.

About half the workers would be forced to continue working without immediate pay. Others would be sent home. Congress often approves their pay retroactively, even if they were ordered to stay home.

"Our members are asking how they are supposed to pay for rent, food, and gas if they are required to work without a paycheck," said a statement from J. David Cox, Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the large federal worker union. "The holiday season makes these inquiries especially heart-wrenching."

Many agencies, including the Pentagon and the departments of Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services, are already funded for the year and will continue to operate as usual, regardless of whether Congress and the president reach agreement this week.

Congress already approved funding this year for about 75 percent of the government's discretionary account for the budget year that began Oct. 1.

The U.S. Postal Service, busy delivering packages for the holiday season, wouldn't be affected by any government shutdown because it's an independent agency.

___

Associated Press writer Laurie Kellman in Washington contributed to this report.The day after he turned 18, East County native Eric Lund got on a plane and moved to Hawaii with less than $100 in his pocket.

At 19, Lund set out for a whirlwind trip aboard a 53-foot yacht with a friend he made while in Hawaii. The two had plans to travel around the world on that boat called Champion  and thats exactly what they did, globetrotting on the water for more than three years.

Lund has surfed across the globe, was once a world-ranked paraglider and runs a DJ music operation on the side.

Now, 38 years later, Lund, 60, is heading for a new adventure.

Advertisement

The Grossmont High School and Grossmont College alum has been CEO of the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce for the past five years, earning an annual salary of about $72,000.

Lund announced his resignation from the chamber last week, effective Jan. 11.

He starts his next job Jan. 15. Lund said he did not want to divulge the location of his next stop until he signs the official contract.

He said he will become CEO of a destination and marketing organization out of the area. Lund added that he is keeping his El Cajon home and plans to visit.

Lund was a nonpartisan candidate for the San Diego County Office of Education District 3 seat but lost to Alicia Munoz in the June primary. The graduate of National University teaches online courses for Grossmont College and Southwestern College.

Lund and his wife, Georgia, have three adult children, four grandchildren, and regularly adopt shelter animals (they currently have three rescued dogs).

During his tenure as East County Chamber CEO, Lund helped the entity bounce back from the recession and prosper again, said his friend and Chamber Board Member Barry Jantz, CEO of the Grossmont Healthcare District.

Lund also took the chamber out of some of its traditional roles and into more community efforts, such as helping to establish the East County Homeless Task Force, Jantz said,

The task force has nearly 370 volunteers from around the community working to find solutions to reduce homelessness.

Eric has established himself as someone with vision, with leadership capabilities, someone who can resolve issues for businesses who may be concerned about something but dont know what to do, said Jantz, who has known Lund for about 25 years.

Lund previously worked for the San Diego Tourism Authority and before then was with the now-defunct San Diego East County Visitors Bureau for 14 years.

He said he took the job with the chamber because he saw it was struggling after the recession and I felt like I could help turn it around.

Lund says the chamber now has a three-month reserve, has diversified its programming and with 615 members is one of the largest business organizations in San Diego County.

The chambers vision is to provide leadership to improve business competitiveness, said board Chairwoman Stacy Mackey in a news release. (D)uring Erics five-year term, he played a key role in realizing that vision. When he took the helm, we had gone through a very difficult recession and have since emerged with more members and a stable financial footing, as well as overcome challenges to rebuild the organization into a premiere operation that benefits the members and community.

Eric has also established a high level of integrity, ethics and transparency and has helped to regain the confidence of the business community.

Mackey said that the Chamber board has a search committee working to identify the next CEO.

karen.pearlman@sduniontribune.comNew plays by both national talents and enterprising local community members will all be part of the celebration when the sixth edition of the Old Globes Powers New Voices Festival gets under way next month.

The free fest, set for Jan. 18-20, will take in four new American plays by rising professional writers  including Anna Ziegler, who has premiered two previous works at the Globe.

And it will kick off with Celebrating Community Voices, a showcase of work created by San Diego residents through the Globes arts-engagement programs Community Voices and coLAB.

Those readings  directed by Karen Ann Daniels and Katherine Harroff  will include The Last Signal Officer, by Max Daily; Not a Game (working title) by Eboni Harvey; Boundaries and Barriers by Johnny Lozano; The Best Insurance Company in the World by Renea Minyard; Whos Crazy by Richard Nichols; 3 Days by Maharani Peace; and The Ex Games by Miki Vale.

Advertisement

That program begins at 7:30 Jan. 18 in the Globes Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre in Balboa Park. The readings by professional playwrights begin the following day. Here are details and schedule notes on those works:

Welcome to Matteson by Inda Craig-Galvan, 4 p.m. Jan. 19: Moxie Theatre co-founder and top San Diego director Delicia Turner Sonnenberg stages this piece by Craig-Galvan, a writer for the ABC series The Rookie who has had plays produced across the country, winning a string of awards.

The blurb on the new work: A suburban couple hosts a welcome-to-the-neighborhood dinner party for their new neighbors  a couple forcibly relocated from Chicagos roughest housing project  and its anything but welcoming. A dark comedy about reverse gentrification and how we deal with the other when the other looks just like us.

The Great Moment by Anna Ziegler, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 19. The Globe has become a key artistic home for Ziegler, whose plays The Last Match and the Globe-commissioned The Wanderers premiered at the Balboa Park theater. San Diego Rep also staged the local premiere of her work Actually this year, and Zieglers Photograph 51 had a London run starring Nicole Kidman.

No director has been specified for The Great Moment. The story behind the play: As Sarahs grandfather is nearing the end of his life, her son Max is nearing the beginning of his. Globe favorite Anna Ziegler crafts a poetic meditation on beginnings and endings, birth and age, and the moments of transition that mark our journey from life to death.

Faceless by Selina Fillinger, 4 p.m. Jan. 20: Jennifer Chambers directs the work by Fillinger, a much-produced young writer whose other works include Faceless and The Armor Plays: Cinched/Strapped.

Susie Glenn, a white 18-year-old from the Chicago suburbs, was arrested at OHare International Airport for conspiring with ISIS. Recent Harvard Law grad and practicing Muslim Claire Fathi has been brought on to prosecute. Inspired by real court cases, Selina Fillingers crackling drama looks at two women fighting for justice in a world gripped by fear.

The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 20. FastHorse, who identifies as Sicangu Lakota, is a playwright, director and choreographer who has been produced across the country.

No director has been named for her new work. The blurb: In this satirical comedy, four well-intentioned teachers and actors set out to create a politically correct school play that can somehow celebrate both Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Month. Can they navigate historical fact, cultural representation and school district regulations to create a play that makes everyone thankful? Either way, the pageant must go on!

A number of plays showcased in past editions of the Powers Festival  named for major benefactors Paula and Brian Powers  have gone on to further life on stages here and elsewhere. They include three plays receiving full productions in the Globes current season: JC Lees What You Are, Laurel Ollsteins They Promised Her the Moon and PigPen Theatre Co.s The Tale of Despereaux.

Tickets to all readings in the 2019 fest are free, but reservations are required. Theyll be available beginning at noon Dec. 19 for for donors and subscribers, and at noon Jan. 11 for the general public.

To reserve, call (619) 234-5623.

jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @jimhebertIt was never easy for the graying barons who had long controlled Germanys conservative Christian Democratic Union party to be led by a woman  and after 18 years of Angela Merkels rule they were sure that she would be replaced by one of their own.

But the recent election of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to lead the Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, caused such shock and consternation that scores of men have quit and hundreds more have threatened to leave the party  the dominant political force in Germany since World War II.

There are many grumpy old men out there who wanted a man to lead them again and they were sure [Friedrich] Merz would win, said Gero Neugebauer, a political scientist at Berlins Free University, referring to the defeated challenger. He added there were a lot of men deeply frustrated that another woman has been picked to lead them.

They couldnt imagine another woman would beat their guy, Neugebauer said. Theyre shocked, bitter and disappointed now. They just dont want a woman to lead them. They cant get over it. Theres a lot of lingering resentment.

Advertisement

In remarks tinged with sexism, some male leaders have warned darkly of a future coup against AKK, as she is better known because of the difficulties even Germans have pronouncing a name with eight tongue-twisting syllables. They have said she is not automatically the conservative candidate to follow Merkel as chancellor in 2021  as would ordinarily be the case for the leader of the Christian Democrats.

Some have called for a break in tradition and suggested that Merz, the wealthy, 63-year-old businessman she narrowly defeated in a vote of 999 party delegates, could still end up becoming the countrys next chancellor. More ominously, some conspiracy theorists in the CDU accused party organizers of manipulating the microphone when Merz was speaking to the delegates to make him sound bad and training extra hot spotlights on him to cause him to perspire  all denied by party officials.

The CDU has 426,000 registered members nationwide. Two of the largest of Germanys 16 states, Baden-Wuerttemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia, have each reported dozens of members quitting the party over Merzs defeat. Other state organizations have reported smaller numbers of resignations.

Kramp-Karrenbauer, Merkels handpicked successor and the former governor of Saarland, has been in the headlines all week for her riposte against two powerful men casting aspersions on her leadership qualifications in a popular TV talk show. Host Anne Will had asked: Does Kramp-Karrenbauers victory mean that this was the end of the predominance of old white men in this country?

One of her guests, Wolfgang Kubicki, a leader of the centrist Free Democratic Party, directly addressed Kramp-Karrenbauer, who was also on the show, telling her that she had delivered a rhetorically impressive speech that was full of emotion.

Another man, retired business journalist Gabor Steingart, told Kramp-Karrenbauer that she had hardly accomplished anything as governor of Saarland, which he called small and pathetic. He questioned whether she was qualified to become chancellor, overlooking the fact that neither Merkel nor Merz ever ran a state government of any size.

Kramp-Karrenbauer called their remarks disrespectful and ignorant.

The way youre blathering on here is the kind of thing that Ive had to deal with my whole life, she began, adding she had heard this misogynist garbage too often before. Many of the men Ive worked with in politics are never asked And how do you manage with three children? Its like women are some kind of pitiable species. Women, lets not forget, make up more than half of the population.

The grousing over her ascension has not subsided  and viewership ratings have been high all week for shows that are eagerly trying to dissect and tap into the dissent. In another popular talk show Wednesday, an archconservative publisher, Helmut Markwort, belittled Kramp-Karrenbauers experience and even called her a leftist.

Sorry to say this, but the woman never worked in a company in her life, she has no business experience whatsoever, said Markwort, who is 82. Shes only been a politician.

Neugebauer, the political scientist, said there were a lot of men deeply frustrated that another woman had been picked to lead them. Considering the longevity and stability in German politics, with two of the last three conservative party leaders holding office for 43 of the last 44 years, it could mean many will never see a male leader again in their lifetimes. Kramp-Karrenbauer is 56.

German candidates for the Christian Democratic Union party leadership Friedrich Merz, from left, CDU Secretary-General Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Health Minister Jens Spahn take part in a debate in Berlin on Nov. 30, 2018. (Odd Andersen / AFP/ Getty Images)

The glass ceiling is thick in Germany. There are no women leading any of Germanys 30 largest publicly traded companies and women hold just 8% of those executive boards seats. The pay gap between men and women is wider in Germany than in most European countries, with women earning an average of 21% less than men, according to a recent survey in Der Spiegel magazine.

Merkel is a Protestant pastors daughter from formerly communist eastern Germany in a party dominated by Roman Catholic men from western Germany. Reflecting her improbable rise to the top, she was first considered to be just an interim party leader when elected in 2000  seen more as an accident of history at a time when the conservatives were stuck in opposition and bogged down by an ugly campaign financing scandal.

Her squeaky clean, youthful image and unflappable style helped repair some of the damage caused by the elderly male leaders. But she surprised many by holding on to the job, outfoxing Merz and a dozen other male rivals in subsequent years before leading the party back to power as chancellor in 2005.

With the inner-party debate on Kramp-Karrenbauer threatening to boil over in her first week as chairwoman  normally a honeymoon period filled with good wishes and goodwill  one of the strongest and most powerful backers of Merz urged the losers to settle down and accept their defeat.

Wolfgang Schaeuble, the 76-year-old president of Parliament and longtime former finance minister, told Bild newspaper: Those who are pining for a rematch or even vengeance have it all wrong. Thats not the way democracy works.

Kirschbaum is a special correspondent.Los Angeles school district officials on Monday backed off immediate plans to paint over a mural at a campus in Koreatown as they faced a growing chorus of objections.

The mural at the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools is dominated by an image of actress Ava Gardner. But it has run afoul of the Wilshire Community Coalition, a Korean-led group that objects to the sun rays in the background, which its members associate with the Japanese imperial battle flag.

Earlier this month, L.A. Unified announced its decision to paint over the mural after the Korean group pronounced the background as offensive as a swastika and threatened legal action.

The murals artist, Beau Stanton, has denied any connection between his artwork and the battle flag. The rays on the flag differ in number, thickness and color.

Advertisement

The leader of the Korean group, Chan Yong Jake Jeong, said he does not challenge Stantons good intentions, but his group still wants the mural gone.

The school complex is on the site of the Ambassador Hotel, where Kennedy was fatally shot in 1968. Stantons mural pays homage to the hotels famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub.

Over the weekend, artist Shepard Fairey said he would seek removal of his own mural at the school  of Kennedy  if Stantons work were removed. Both artists also have received statements of support from two of Kennedys sons.

As a result of the extensive input, there is a need to have additional conversation, Eugene Hernandez, administrator of operations for that part of the school system, said Monday. Therefore, we will not be taking immediate action on the mural at this time.

Last week, Hernandez defended painting over the mural, saying that schools belong to the community, which should be able to determine whether such works are appropriate.

But since then district officials have heard from a wider swath of community. Some teachers at RFK have stepped forward to say that the views of faculty and students were never considered.

On Sunday night, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. added his voice to an earlier statement sent by his brother Max in a letter to school board President Monica Garcia, who represents Koreatown, and senior regional administrator Roberto Martinez, in which he alluded not just to his father but also to President Kennedy, his uncle.

My father was sympathetic to cultural sensitivities, Kennedy said. But he understood that the central bedrock tenets of American democracy are freedom of speech and expression. As fiercely as they supported tolerance, and diversity, my father and my uncle loathed censorship.

Kennedy did not mince words.

My father and uncles considered people who destroyed art in the service of political agendas as the worst sort of scoundrels, he wrote. There is so much reprehensible and irrational about this scheme that one could write a thesis enumerating the idiotic flaws that catacomb the shallow arguments in its favor.

Martinez authorized painting over the mural. In an interview last week, he said Garcia and Supt. Austin Beutner were in the loop all along and endorsed his decision.

Garcia and Beutner declined to comment Monday. Both may have been preoccupied with other matters. They were heading into a closed-door session to discuss the confidential draft report of a fact-finding panel brought in after the district and teachers union failed to reach a contract agreement. A January teachers strike seems likely.

The district possibly has another problem related to the mural. As of midday, officials had been unable to locate releases from the artists.

It is district policy to obtain such releases, which give L.A. Unified full control over the artwork, General Counsel David Holmquist said. If the district cannot find such paperwork, its options may be more limited.

Even if releases are located, he said, the district will want to give serious consideration to the wishes of the artists.

Stanton said Monday that his attorney has contacted the district, threatening legal action if it proceeded with the plan to paint over the mural.

We wanted to stay the decision until the other stakeholders had a chance to speak their minds, he said.

Fairey has been busy seeking the support of Korean community members who disagree with the position of the Wilshire Community Coalition. His effort elicited a response from chef and restaurateur Roy Choi, famous for his Korean taco trucks.

Shepard called me asking in true humility if I saw the concerns brought up around this mural so he can understand it if it did cross a line, Choi wrote in an email. But to be honest, I dont see the issue. I went deep into the well of subconscious and still didnt see it. The rays felt more like radio signals to me than the rising sun flag and while the visual trigger may create the illusion of similarity, the piece does not represent that war-torn era of atrocities to me at all.

howard.blume@latimes.com

Twitter: @howardblumeMost people dont realize that  in the U.S. alone  more than 3 million adults and a half-million children have active epilepsy. More than 50,000 of these individuals are San Diego County residents. Of course, dealing with epilepsy is also a challenge for sufferers families  thus, many millions more are affected. Its a neurological condition that disturbs the brains electrical activity, causing seizures. As yet, there is no cure, but research is providing hope and leading to improved treatments.

Darwin Fishman, Buki Domingos, Caila Bacon, Cynthia Raimo, Marsha Selzer, Jerry Robinson (Photo by Vincent Andrunas)

Since 1954, the Epilepsy Society of San Diego County (ESSDC) has helped raise money for research, while providing free services to people struggling to overcome the challenges of living with epilepsy. The organization also works to educate the public about seizure disorders and to erase the stigma that was once associated with this condition. In the 1990s, late philanthropist Sally Thornton founded a festive annual gala to help raise funds for ESSDC. Titled Gingerbread City, the event has become one of Americas top gingerbread competitions, involving talented designers and artists who labor for literally hundreds of hours to create intensely imaginative and incredibly-detailed gingerbread structures which are displayed during the gala  and then auctioned off.

This years 25th anniversary event, themed Castles and Cottages, drew hundreds of guests to the posh Fairmont Grand Del Mar. They enjoyed wines and Champagne while viewing 17 astounding creations, divided into Grand and Petite categories. Melody Morse led the team whose Fantasy Castle won the Grand category. It took 400 hours to build, and although shes had multiple wins over the last 20 years, this will unfortunately be her last entry (shes moving).

Advertisement

Host Chef William Bradley and 10 other celebrity chefs dispensed truly stunning culinary creations from stations around the ballrooms perimeter. (Additionally, a dessert buffet featured sweet treats  but the gingerbread man cookies disappeared far too quickly!) A silent auction offered additional temptations.

Honoree host Dr. Michael Cunningham spoke eloquently. His mother died of seizure disorder complications back when little was known about the condition and it was something seldom spoken about. He praised ESSDCs mission to empower individuals and families impacted by epilepsy, the effectiveness of its programs, and the philanthropy of its supporters.

After a video illustrating ESSDCs work, emcee Clint Bells live auction sold six items (some twice!), totaling over $50,000. Soon after, paddle-raise pledges brought in more than $60,000. Afterward, Rebecca Jade & the Soultones returned to play for dancing till the evening ended.Two members of Congress accompanied 15 asylum seekers from the Central American caravan to the Otay Mesa Port of Entry on Monday to observe how U.S. officials treat asylum seekers.

Reps. Nanette Barragan and Jimmy Gomez, both of the Los Angeles area, questioned Customs and Border Protection officials after they were told the port would only process the eight unaccompanied children and the rest, including a mother with five children, would have to go to the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Officials at San Ysidro take a limited number of migrants each day for asylum processing which has led to a backlog of thousands waiting in Tijuana.

For me, its clear. Were on U.S. soil, Barragan said, referring to a law that prevents the U.S. from returning people to Mexico after they cross the international line if they are from another country.

Advertisement

She said officials have told Congress that migrants can request asylum at any port of entry but that what she is witnessing at Otay Mesa contradicts that. She called the situation unfortunate and disturbing.

The asylum seekers, organized by legal aid group Al Otro Lado, were selected to participate because they are particularly vulnerable in Tijuana, volunteers said.

They walked up to the port of entry in small groups around 2:30 p.m. to avoid being noticed by Mexican immigration officials who might send them away before they reached their goal, the U.S.

When they stepped over the border boundary, the asylum seekers, all from Honduras, sat down in hopes that officials would allow them in for asylum processing. A group of attorneys, law students and other volunteers who were all U.S. citizens formed a human shield around the sitting migrants to keep anyone from trying to force them back into Mexico.

Though officials initially said they would take the unaccompanied children, the entire group sat on concrete outside the ports gate but past the international boundary for hours. A number of CBP officers with helmets stood nearby watching them and blocking one lane of SENTRI traffic.

When a supervising officer told Barragan that they couldnt take the mother and her five children or the man who was traveling alone because of capacity, Barragan asked to see inside the port of entry to understand its limitations.

The officer disappeared back into the port of entry to talk with higher ranking officials. When Barragan asked for an update from officers at the gate an hour later, they were unable to give her new information.

When asked about the incident, CBP pointed to an increase in asylum seekers arriving at ports of entry along the southwest border over the past year. The agency has limited resources and a variety of factors can influence how much space it has for asylum processing on a given day, according to a CBP spokeswoman.

CBP processes undocumented persons as expeditiously as possible without negating the agencys overall mission, or compromising the safety of individuals within our custody, the spokeswoman said.

As we have done for several years, when our ports of entry reach capacity, we have to manage the queues and individuals presenting without documents may need to wait in Mexico as CBP officers work to process those already within our facilities, she added.

Among the migrants sitting outside the Otay Mesa port of entry was a woman whose face became famous after she was photographed running with her children away from tear gas at the border weeks ago.

Attorney Nicole Ramos of Al Otro Lado stood over her.

Ramos has helped asylum seekers present at Tijuana ports of entry for years and observed as U.S. officials began sending them away a couple of years ago.

She questioned why the government hasnt done more to speed up processing since it has known about the growing backlog for at least a year.

Its not representative of what the government has the financial capacity to do, Ramos said.

After more than two hours, it was not yet clear what the outcome of the peaceful standoff would be. Both members of Congress promised to hold the agency accountable to U.S. and international law.

What were doing is observing, Gomez said. Time will tell.A split between two Central American migrants groups came to a head Tuesday when the advocacy organization Pueblo Sin Fronteras called authorities to have a Honduran exile removed from the primary shelter in Tijuana where some 2,000 migrants are staying.

The man who was ejected from the El Barretal shelter, Alfonso Guerrero, made international headlines when he led a group to the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana and demanded in a letter that Honduran migrants be paid $50,000 each to return home to the country they fled in November.

Guerreros supporters said he was planning to return to the consulate Tuesday morning with 30 of his supporters but a larger group blocked them.

Municipal and federal police, in a press release, said they detained Guerrero for altering the public order by trying to organize a march to the border.

Advertisement

What he wants to do will hurt the entire caravan, especially the women and children, said Luis Cruz, 41, of Pueblo Sin Fronteras. That is why we stopped him and asked authorities to remove him from the shelter.

 Man who suggested $50,000 payout for caravan migrants removed from shelter. Video courtesy of Pueblo Sin Fronteras.

Tuesdays confrontation revealed an ongoing power struggle within the caravan. The group of migrants who removed Guerrero said he had no authority to speak on behalf of the caravan while his supporters say Guerrero stepped up when other leaders abandoned them.

The problem is that this man wrote a letter demanding $50,000, said Walter Coello Burtillo, 41, of Honduras. Here, nobody speaks on behalf of the entire caravan and if they do we hold an assembly first so the people can decide. The assembly rules.

Burtillo, who supports Pueblo Sin Fronteras but is not a member of the organization, said the caravan has not organized an assembly in the last two weeks. He insisted there would be an assembly in El Barretal Tuesday about 6 p.m.

There is no direction, there is division, he said. We need to organize.

Burtillo recorded a video of Guerrero, draped in an Honduran flag, being taken away. People shouted, out, out, as a police officer put him inside the vehicle.

Before Guererro was detained, he handed his phone and wallet to Deny Ramon Calix, 48.

Calix said Guerrero has a loyal following within the caravan and that outsiders wanted him detained as a way to influence the migrants.

They called the police and they took him away, he said. People dont want the caravan to be united. They want us divided.

Tension between Pueblo Sin Fronteras and Guerrero began as soon as Guerrero joined the caravan in Cordoba. Guerrero brought a political element to the caravan that the organizers were uncomfortable with, some of his detractors said.

Specifically, they said, Guerrero spoke out against Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez

The man was yelling about Juan Orlando, Cruz said. But we dont care about Juan Orlando. We care about the people who want to go to the United States because they can no longer live in their own countries.

Guerrero left Honduras in 1987 after being accused of planting a bomb in a Chinese restaurant that injured six U.S. soldiers in Honduras. Guerrero claimed the charges were false and, despite protests from the U.S. government, Mexico offered him political asylum. Now 54, he has spent the last 31 years living in Mexico City selling inexpensive jewelry. It is unclear what will happen to him now.

A few hours after police officers detained Guerrero, migrants began advertising the Tuesday night general assembly.

Burtillo walked around El Barretal announcing the meeting through a megaphone. He said people would be able to nominate migrants for a committee that would decide what the caravan would do next. Specifically, he said, they want to find ways of speeding up the U.S. asylum wait list.

Guerreros followers, mostly young men from Honduras, watched silently as Burtillo walked by with his megaphone. Still bitter over what happened in the morning, they refused to participate in Tuesdays general assembly.

He was the only one helping us and they took him away, Marvin Antonio Lagos, 24, said of Guerrero.

Lagos, who is from Honduras, said Guerrero established himself as a leader when the previous organizers stopped holding general assemblies in Tijuana. Whenever the migrants werent getting enough water or toilet paper, Guerrero would complain to the authorities and made sure the migrants got what they needed, Lagos added.

To members of the caravan not aligned with either side, Tuesday mornings events were more of a sideshow than a power struggle. Several groups of people have tried to take control of the caravan and failed, they said. Now migrants are skeptical of anyone who tries to organize.

I dont know if [Guerrero] was the leader because there have been a lot of people saying they are leaders, said Santos Hernandez, 36, of Honduras. They try to have assemblies but most people stay in their tents.

Hernandez doesnt plan to go to the general assembly. He recently applied for a work permit in Mexico and hopes to get a job as soon as the permit is approved.

For some, the caravans goal was to get them to the border. Now that they are here, they said, it is up to each individual person to figure out what to do next.

There is another group trying to organize but we are tired of it, said Juan Castro, 49, of Honduras. I dont care who the leader is because its more of the same.

Castro worked as a waiter in hotels and restaurants back home. Hed like to do the same in Mexico as soon as his work permit is approved. Until then, he finds sporadic work as a kitchen helper in a restaurant across the street from El Barretal.

He earns 250 pesos a day and saved up enough money to send 985 home to his two sons.

I came for them, he said. I suffer as long as they dont have to suffer.Two people working on high-tension power lines for Southern California Edison in Lake View Terrace were injured Monday when a utility pole came down, officials said.

Authorities received a call about 11:30 a.m. regarding a power pole falling and possibly trapping a person in the 12000 block of Lopez Canyon Road, a representative with the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.



For the record: An earlier version of this story described the workers as Edison employees. They are Edison contract employees.

Helicopters were called to assist because the workers were in an area that was difficult to access, the Fire Department said. One employee was airlifted to a hospital. Edison in a statement said the other worker was taken to a medical facility as well.

Two contract employees were working on a pole replacement project in the area when they were injured, SCE said in the statement. Both workers were transported to medical facilities. The extent of their injuries is not known at this time.

Advertisement

alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com

Twitter: @r_valejandraThe mother of a 2-year-old boy on life support in an Oakland hospital may not receive a travel ban waiver in time to say goodbye to her son, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Monday.

At a news conference in Sacramento, members of CAIR, community activists and faith leaders stood alongside the boys father and demanded that the Trump administration expedite the womans application for a waiver.

The ban, they said, is hateful and discriminatory.

My son Abdullah needs his mother, Ali Hassan, 22, said. My wifes calling me every day, wanting to kiss and hold our son for one last time.

Advertisement

Hassans voice cracked as he stood at the lectern. Through tears, he explained that his son just celebrated his birthday from a bed at UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital.

Abdullah Hassan was born in Yemen and traveled to the United States with his father a few months ago to receive treatment for a degenerative brain disease. Both are American citizens, CAIR said.

But Abdullahs mother, a Yemeni national currently living in Egypt, has not been able to obtain a visa to be with her son. Shaima Swileh has applied for a waiver, and multiple requests have been submitted to expedite the process, but her application is still pending, according to CAIR.

Doctors have said Abdullahs body may not be able to withstand staying on life support much longer.

Times running out. Please help us get our family together again, Hassan said as his attorney wrapped an arm around him.

CAIRs Sacramento Valley chapter said it planned to file a petition on Swilehs behalf asking the courts to force the government to speed up its response to her request for a waiver.

This is a very real case that really shows the effects of family separation, said Saad Sweilem, a civil rights attorney with CAIR who is representing the family. This is a United States citizen that is going to die away from his mother.

A representative for the State Department said it made 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 countrys borders, the representative said in an email.

The administration has been forced to revise the original travel ban order twice since it was first rolled out in January 2017 to resolve legal problems over due process, implementation and exclusive targeting of Muslim nations.

In June, the Supreme Court upheld the ban. The current version covers five Muslim-majority nations  Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen  as well as North Korea and some government officials from Venezuela.

Visa waiver applications are decided on a case-by-case basis, according to the State Department. There are three criteria outlined in the proclamation for a waiver: that denying entry would cause the applicant hardship; entry would not pose a threat to the national security or public safety of the U.S.; and entry would be in the national interest.

Sweilem said the war in Yemen pushed the family to try to move to the U.S. The conflict has thrust the country into what the United Nations says is the worlds worst humanitarian disaster, with millions of people on the brink of starvation.

And because of the war, there is no U.S. embassy, Sweilem said. So when Hassan and his wife realized Abdullah needed better care than what was available in Yemen, they had to travel to Cairo where Hassan could petition for Swileh to receive a visa. The request was denied.

In October, they applied for a waiver. Hassan flew to California with his son while Swileh waited to hear back.

When Abdullah left his mothers arms a few months ago, she never thought to give him a final farewell, Sweilem said. They are really trying to grieve together as a family. If this case isnt one that qualifies for a waiver, then you have to ask what case is.

sarah.parvini@latimes.com

For more California news follow me on Twitter: @sarahparviniAs a delivery driver was making his rounds in Redondo Beach during the busy holiday season, two people stole his van filled with parcels, police said.

But officers were able to stop the pair a short while later and retrieve the 230 packages worth $10,000, the Redondo Beach Police Department said. Richard Aleman, 24, and Marianna Archundia, 23, both of Hawthorne, were charged with grand theft auto and grand theft Monday.

Prosecutors say the pair stole the van from in front of a home in the 2000 block of Graham Avenue. Police found it five miles away in a residential area of Hawthorne. The two were moving boxes marked with Amazon shipping tape from the van into a nearby property, authorities said.

Aleman also was charged with the illegal use of a personal access card and identity theft, police said.

Advertisement

Officials took the incident as an opportunity to remind residents to be aware of package thieves and porch pirates during the holidays.

The Redondo Beach Police Department would like to remind citizens to be vigilant during the holiday season for thefts of packages and to take steps to minimize being a victim of property theft, police said in a news release.

alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com

Twitter: @r_valejandraAn Irvine doctor suspected of prescribing opioids and other powerful narcotics to people without medical exams  including a man accused in a DUI crash that killed an off-duty Costa Mesa fire captain  was arrested Tuesday morning, authorities said.

Dzung Ahn Pham, a 57-year-old Tustin resident who owns Irvine Village Urgent Care, was issuing an extremely high amount of prescriptions to drug addicts or people who sold drugs on the black market over a three-year period, according to the U.S. attorneys office. He faces two charges of illegally distributing oxycodone.

The criminal complaint comes after an undercover operation over the summer in which an investigator easily obtained narcotics from the doctor, including an opioid, a benzodiazepine and carisoprodol, drugs known as a triple threat or the Holy Trinity, prosecutors said.

Authorities said that, from 2014 to 2017, at least five people who received drugs from Pham died of overdoses.

Advertisement

Investigators found the doctors patients asked for specific quantities of certain drugs. At least 84 people had their prescriptions filled on the same day or within the next two days of their requests, sent via text message, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

Investigators also found a CVS pharmacy in Irvine stopped accepting prescriptions from Pham more than five years ago after he could not justify the number of pills he was prescribing.

Pham is accused of prescribing drugs that ended up in the hands of Ian David Long, the 28-year-old Newbury Park resident who killed 12 people in a shooting in Thousand Oaks last month.

Pham expressed concern after receiving information that the individual who fatally shot 12 people last month at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks had in his possession prescriptions for someone else, but which Pham had prescribed, court documents show.

Investigators also say Stephen Taylor Scarpa, who was charged with murder in connection with a DUI crash that killed Costa Mesa Fire Capt. Mike Kreza, was under the influence of drugs prescribed by Pham when his van struck and fatally injured Kreza, who was riding his bicycle at the time.

Pham deposited more than $5 million in a bank account shared with his wife between 2013 and 2018, the complaint says.

If convicted, Pham would face a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.

Neither Pham nor his lawyer was immediately available for comment Tuesday.

alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com

Twitter: @r_valejandraLong before the Camp fire raced through Northern California, claiming at least 86 lives and all but erasing the Gold Rush town of Paradise, state law required the three big power monopolies to file detailed strategies to prevent wildfires.

Under Senate Bill 1028, San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric were supposed to prepare annual wildfire mitigation plans for reducing fire threats and identify who specifically would be responsible for implementing them.

The bill, signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in September 2016, also called on the California Public Utilities Commission to review the filings every year, comment on the material and audit the companies to make sure the plans were being followed.

More than two years after the legislation was enacted, state regulators have yet to issue directives for the utilities to write the plans, let alone discuss or examine them for compliance  although SDG&E says its own fire plans comply with the law.

Advertisement

While the commission delayed enforcing the new law, wildfires suspected of being caused by overhead power lines and other utility equipment killed at least 125 people. They also destroyed 18,000 buildings and charred hundreds of square miles of the California landscape.

They have done absolutely nothing in those two years, state Sen. Jerry Hill, the San Mateo Democrat who introduced SB 1028, said of utility regulators.

The unfortunate thing is, we gave them that authority but we did not put a timeline on it, Hill said. We assumed it would be prioritized, but sadly it takes a tragedy to realign priorities.

Utilities commission spokeswoman Terrie Prosper did not respond to questions about why the agency has not required the plans.

In a response to a California Public Records Act request, commission lawyer Frederick Harris said regulators were in the process of developing procedures to implement Senate Bill 1028 when Brown signed a different wildfire-related bill in September.

As a result, the commission had not yet directed the utilities to submit wildfire mitigation plans in compliance with SB 1028, Harris wrote.

The new timetable was developed under Senate Bill 901, the wildfire legislation signed this fall. The schedule has PG&E, Edison and SDG&E filing annual mitigation plans by February. Regulators have little faith that the paperwork will make any immediate impact.

The commission does not expect to achieve perfection in the short time that will be available for initial review and implementation of the first wildfire mitigation plans, but will work with the parties to make the best use of that time to develop useful wildfire mitigation plans, an October report states.

For decades, state regulations have required power companies to maintain their equipment in ways that ensure safe and reliable electricity. They also are required to take corrective action when accidents happen.

As monopolies, they are permitted to collect as much money from ratepayers as they need to meet their obligations, with commission approval.

The mitigation plans required under SB 1028 are intended reduce the threat of wildfires and to help determine whether utilities will be able to shift liability for future wildfires from company shareholders to utility customers.

Part of SB 901 allows power companies to issue bonds to pay for future wildfire-related expenses. If regulators determine that utilities met the prevention standards in the mitigation plans and other rules, they will be allowed to pass the bond costs on to their customers.

PG&E, whose equipment is suspected of igniting the Camp fire and at least a dozen others since 2017, did not respond to questions about why it has not produced the mandated wildfire-mitigation plans.

The other major utilities said they fully complied with state laws, including fire- prevention plans required under previous legislation.

SDG&Es fire prevention plans are filed with the commission on October 31 each year and are compliant with the requirement to submit a wildfire mitigation plan for the past two years, spokeswoman Christy Ihrig wrote by email. Because we were required to submit both a fire prevention plan and a wildfire mitigation plan, we filed one plan that met both sets of requirements.

Edison, which operates the power line suspected of starting the Thomas fire that roared through Ventura and Santa Barbara counties last December, said it has several plans in place to prepare for and to mitigate the impact of potential wildfires.

It blamed regulators for not having the plan required by SB 1028.

At the time SB 901 was enacted, no CPUC rule-making on prior legislation had been established, an Edison spokesman said by email.

In October 2007, amid a crush of high winds and even higher temperatures, a transmission line owned by SDG&E sparked a brush fire just east of Ramona.

Within minutes the blaze grew out of control, driven by powerful Santa Ana winds and fueled by thick, drought-stricken vegetation that had not burned for years.

The Witch fire was just the first to strike San Diego County that week. Some 500,000 people would flee their homes before it was over. Two people lost their lives; 40 firefighters were injured.

Two other fires that erupted that week also were caused by SDG&E power lines, according to investigations completed in the aftermath.

In Fallbrook, hundreds of homes were lost to the Rice fire. A smaller blaze dubbed the Guejito fire broke out and quickly merged with the Witch fire, which eventually burned down more than 1,100 homes.

SDG&E pegged damages at more than $2 billion, exceeding its $1-billion insurance policy.

The utility later recovered hundreds of millions from a telecommunications firm whose cable had come in contact with the transmission line suspected of igniting the Rice fire and a tree-trimming company that was supposed to have removed dry vegetation.

Then in 2009, SDG&E sought permission to charge customers almost $400 million in leftover costs from the 2007 fires. Edison and PG&E joined SDG&E in asking to open special accounts to hold ratepayer funds to pay for future wildfire damages.

The utilities commission rejected the idea, and the monopolies persisted in working to curb their liabilities.

SDG&E appealed the commission ruling in court and lost. Just last month, utility executives announced they would appeal to the decision to the California Supreme Court.

Hills 2016 legislation was introduced in response to the power-line-caused fires in San Diego County  and SDG&Es years-long effort to charge ratepayers for the damages.

We were a little ahead of the curve, obviously, the San Mateo senator said.

Meanwhile, citing climate change and the intensifying nature of wildland fires, lobbyists for the monopolies began meeting with lawmakers to propose legislation that would insulate shareholders from billions of dollars in losses.

Their efforts were rewarded in Senate Bill 901. One provision sets aside $1 billion over five years to fund programs aimed at thinning California forests and other fire-prevention measures.

More important, the law granted PG&E special permission to borrow billions of dollars to pay for damages from a dozen or more 2017 wildfires that ravaged Sonoma and Napa counties  and to repay the loans with ratepayer funds.

Over the two-plus years since lawmakers passed SB 1028, California wildfires have grown increasingly common and deadly.

In June, state fire investigators announced that 12 fires from the October 2017 siege in Northern California were caused by PG&Es equipment. State officials took the unusual step of sending their findings to local prosecutors.

Cal Fires investigations have been referred to the appropriate county District Attorneys offices for review in eight of the 12 fires  due to evidence of alleged violations of state law, the agency said.

Utility regulators say they are investigating the recent fires but have yet to issue penalties due to violations cited by Cal Fire.

Some consumer advocates see the delays in civil enforcement by the commission  or a lack of citations in general  as a factor that has contributed to recurring utility-caused wildfires.

The problem is, theyre doing nothing to stop the fires, and they are stoppable, said lawyer Michael Aguirre, who has been investigating the commissions response to wildfires and other accidents since he served as the San Diego city attorney more than a decade ago. What the CPUC is focused on is funding the fires. We are trying to stop the fires.

While regulators have begun considering how to implement that latest law aimed at reducing the threat of wildfires, utility lobbyists have been meeting with commissioners and their staffs privately.

According to state-required disclosures, Edison lobbyists requested and received five meetings with three commissioners in November.

Meanwhile, commission President Michael Picker reported four meetings with PG&E and Wall Street investors, some of which attracted dozens of hedge funds and asset managers.

To ensure public safety in this time of increased wildfire occurrence, the commission is addressing wildfires in many settings and proceedings, Picker explained in his disclosure.

jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com

McDonald writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.While a few big books hogged the limelight this year (Michael Wolffs Fire and Fury, Bob Woodwards Fear), a handful of others went about their business helping us live more present, more deliberate, more empathetic, more purpose-driven lives.

Here are 10. Theyre all written by women.

How To Be a Happier Parent: Raising a Family, Having a Life, and Loving (Almost) Every Minute, by KJ DellAntonia: The former Motherlode blogger for The New York Times offers permission and encouragement for parents to prioritize their own joy and fulfillment, even (especially?) when their childrens lives arent picture-perfect. Get more sleep, she urges. Settle fewer sibling fights. Dive headfirst into your own hobbies. Im raising future adults, not perfect children, she writes. And future adults ought to prioritize the happiness of others as well as their own.

Interracial Relationships Between Black Women and White Men, by Cheryl Judice: Northwestern University sociology professor Judice tells the stories of black women dating, married to or divorced from white men  the highs, the lows, whether and when race factored into those highs and lows, what led them to date outside their race, how their families received their partners, how they were received by their partners families. It is my hope, Judice writes, that presenting their stories will cause more black women to intentionally seek to broaden their idea of suitable dating and marriage partners. Its a fascinating read and an invitation to question a lot of the stories we tell ourselves about love.

Advertisement

Beyond Birds and Bees: Bringing Home a New Message to Our Kids about Sex, Love, and Equality, by Bonnie J. Rough: After living in the Netherlands with her husband and young daughters, Rough had an epiphany. Not every society treats bodies as shameful and sex as offensive, she writes. I saw that many of my international friends were raising kids far more likely to have optimal sexual health and self-esteem, better sex lives and more advantages of gender equality than their average American peers. Id gone to see how they accomplished this, and most of all, while my kids were still little, to find out if I could reinvent my own philosophy about sex, clarify my guiding principles and discover approaches more practical and more effective than the old-fashioned birds-and-bees checklist. Her book is the result.

In Pieces, by Sally Field: In a searing memoir, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress opens her wounds and explores their permanence and their staying power. She reveals the sexual abuse she endured at the hands of her stepfather and the way her off-screen life was shaped by her on-screen roles. She gives us her life in pieces, even the devastating ones.

Enough as She Is: How to Help Girls Move Beyond Impossible Standards of Success to Live Healthy, Happy, and Fulfilling Lives, by Rachel Simmons: Yes, this is the most promising moment for girls in history, Simmons told me in an interview. At the same time, girls have more expectations and obligations than any time in history. Thats not an easy responsibility to bear. Be a STEM star, but with perfect makeup. Be class president, but with plenty of time for your friends. Be an athlete, but not too muscle-y. Her book offers a road map for parents and educators guiding young women toward balance.

Dark Chapter, by Winnie M. Li: a harrowing, courageous novel based on Lis experience of being attacked and raped in a Belfast park when she was 29. The book explores the lives of both Vivian, the victim, and Johnny, the perpetrator, and Li infuses each character with equal humanity. Ive never read anything like it.

Becoming, by Michelle Obama: a front-row seat to a remarkable womans life as first lady of the United States, but also as a mother, daughter, wife, sister, friend and citizen trying to juggle and honor every role with the care and weight it deserves. Theres a lot I still dont know about America, about life, about what the future might bring, she writes. But I do know myself. And thats what she shares in this book.

Vote Her In: Your Guide to Electing Our First Woman President, by Rebecca Sive: a weaving together of bold, barrier-busting women  Shirley Chisholm (the first African-American woman elected to the House of Representatives), Ida B. Wells (journalist, anti-lynching activist, co-founder of the NAACP) and, yes, Hillary Clinton (first female nominee of a major U.S. political party), and a call for us to build upon their stories. Enough year of the woman, Sive writes. Its time for a century of women. And then another. And another.

Voice Lessons for Parents: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Listen, by Wendy Mogel: Genius strategies for communicating with our sons and daughters at various developmental stages. One of my favorite tips is for sons, but Ive used it with my daughter as well. Some boys prefer to write down a big thought, confession or heartfelt sentiment and slip a note under your door rather than say it in person, Mogel writes. If you leave little notes every so often on his desk, night table or pillow, youve opened up an avenue of communication he hadnt realized was available and hell be more likely to do the same.

What If This Were Enough? by Heather Havrilesky: a book of essays that tap into the underlying sense of malaise and disconnection that colors so much of our day-to-day interactions. Face-to-face, real-time connection to others feels fraught and awkward compared to the safe distance of digital communication, she writes. Our worlds exist on our phones, which feels like a very isolating experience even though youre connecting with other people and can see other people are outraged with the world and whats happening in their lives.  Youre like this strange, isolated spectator surrounded by all these strange, isolated spectators. It breeds a certain level of madness.

Join the Heidi Stevens Balancing Act Facebook group, where she hosts live chats every Wednesday at noon. This week, shell be joined by social worker Caryn Curry from Lurie Childrens Hospitals Center for Childhood Resilience to talk about creating a healthy emotional climate at home.

hstevens@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @heidistevens13

18 (or so) people who inspired me to seek empathy, hope and justice in 2018 

I had to see my son be put in a body bag. Frankfort mom shows 8th-graders the heartbreaking aftermath of heroin overdose. 

Familys holiday card tradition takes them to photo booths around Chicago, from Ed Debevics to Double Door  and now Michigan San Diego County again had the fourth-largest homeless population in the country and there has been little change in the nationwide number of people on the street and in shelters since last year, according to a report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The numbers come from an annual one-night count taken in counties nationwide in January. While San Diego Countys homeless population of 8,576 was down by about 600 from last year, the dip wasnt significant enough to change its national ranking of fourth place, a position it has held since 2015. The county was ranked 12th in the nation in 2007, but its position steadily has risen since then.

As in the past several years, New York had the largest homeless population with 78,676 people, followed by Los Angeles with 49,955 and Seattle/King County, Washington with 12,112.

San Jose/Santa Clara City and County was fifth with 7,254 people.

Advertisement

In all, the annual point-in-time count found 552,830 homeless people nationwide this year, an increase of 0.3 percent.

San Diego County had 7,063 homeless individuals, the fourth-highest in the nation, and 1,513 homeless families with children, second only to Los Angeles.

The county also had the nations second-largest population of homeless veterans with 1,312 people. The number of local homeless veterans increased from 1,067 to 1,312 this year.

San Diego County also had the nations fourth-largest population of chronically homeless people at 1,991 and the fifth-largest population of unaccompanied homeless youth at 876.

HUD Secretary Ben Carson said in a Monday morning news conference that there has been progress made in addressing homelessness nationwide in the past several years. He explained the slight increase this year as partly driven by the nearly 3,800 people who were in emergency shelters because of hurricanes and other natural disasters the day of the count.

The 37,878 homeless veterans in this years count was 2,142 fewer than last year, a 5.4 percent drop. Carson noted that the number of homeless veterans has decreased by almost half since 2010, and homelessness overall is down by more than 13 percent over the past eight years.

Our state and local partners are increasingly focused on finding lasting solutions to homelessness, even as they struggle against the headwinds of rising rents, Carson said. Much progress is being made and much work remains to be done, but I have great hope that communities all across the nation are realizing the severity of this human tragedy.

Nationwide, the number of homeless families declined by nearly 3 percent since last year and 29 percent since 2010.

The number of people experiencing long-term homeless was up 2.2 percent since last year, but down 16.4 percent since 2010, Carson said.

Matthew Doherty, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, credited the overall decline to HUDs Housing First approach of providing homes to people without conditions.

HUDs national estimate is based upon data reported by approximately 3,000 cities and counties across the nation.

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Anthony Smith was frustrated with having to pay what little money he had on parking tickets and tired of police officers sometimes knocking on the door of his recreational vehicle at night to tell him to move along.

Those days may be over. Last week, he pulled into the first parking lot in San Diego that allows homeless people to legally park their RVs for free.

It means a lot, he said standing outside his 40-foot RV in the Encanto parking lot. It will help me get on my feet.

He was joined last Tuesday by fellow RV dweller Elaine Kelly, who had decorated the inside of his vehicle with a small lighted Christmas tree and other festive ornaments for the holidays.

Advertisement

Im blessed to be here, she said. Im making the best of my situation. I believe its going to get better.

The RVs are on a safe parking lot operated by the nonprofit Dreams for Change, which has operated similar lots for cars since 2010.

Dreams for Change founder Teresa Smith had never allowed RVs on the sites before, but is launching the new site as a demonstration project with hope of expanding it.

The population of homeless people who live in their cars and people who live in RVs can be different in several ways, and Smith had opted previously not to mix them.

Among those differences, many people who live in RVs dont consider themselves homeless, which makes identifying the number of homeless RV dwellers difficult to determine.

Nationwide, the number of unsheltered people, including people in vehicles, has increased over the past few years, according to a national report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The unsheltered population rose from 176,000 in 2016 to 193,000 in 2017, according to annual report, and rose slightly this year to 194,000, the latest report released Monday found.

Smith believes that the homeless population among RV dwellers also is increasing, including in San Diego County as affordable housing becomes scarce.

She also is hoping to offset some negative perceptions people may have about homeless RV dwellers, such as that they are just people who dont want to pay to be in a commercial lot.

The group that were targeting is really the ones who are doing it out of necessity, as their last option, she said.

To emphasize that the RV dwellers can be responsible people, Smith said she also is intentionally looking for people who are employed.

The lot she opened recently at 5605 Imperial Ave. has room for 50 spots, and she will reserve five of those for RVs. While people who live in their cars will have to vacate the site each morning, the RVs will be able to stay all day because they are harder to move and illegal to park on many public streets.

In a few months, Smith said she hopes to gather enough information about what kind of services are needed to run a safe parking lot exclusively for RVs and present a request for funding to the city, which recently received $14.1 million in a state Homeless Emergency Aid Program grant.

The site doesnt have electrical hookups for RVs, so Smith and Kelly have to make do with flashlights at night. Neither of their vehicles have power at the moment, and Smith said he would need to spend hundreds of dollars to get new batteries for his 1991 Serengeti Limited Edition, which he bought about a year ago for $2,000.

Smith, 52, said he spent 10 years in prison but was released five years ago and has tried to turn his life around.

Im trying to do the best I can, but people have been judgmental out there, he said. I go to church every Sunday. I go to work.

Smith sometimes preaches at his church where he also volunteers as a speaker with Gangs Be Gone, where he tries to try to steer young people away the life he once led.

He also has a job in security at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, but work is seasonal so he hasnt had a paycheck from there in months. His wife has a steady job and lives with him in the RV, but Smith said it has been hard for him to find work because of his record.

Kelly, 55, works a night security shift at BAE Systems and lives by herself with her cat in a 1983 35-foot Country Camper she bought three months ago with $3,100 she borrowed.

She said her husband died earlier this year and all her family members have moved away, and her new life is taking some getting used to.

Elaine Kelly, 55, sits by the Christmas decorations in the RV she lives in at the Dreams for Change safe parking lot in Encanto. (Hayne Palmour IV)

I ended up with this mobile home because I didnt want to be on the street, she said.

Kelly had been living in a rented mobile home in Lakeside, but was evicted because its owner was remodeling it. She tried to find a room to rent, but soon saw there was nothing she could afford.

The owner of the mobile home she rented allowed her to park her RV on his property until the opportunity to move to the Dreams for Change lot came along, she said.

This is a work in progress, but Im doing the best I can, she said.

Kelly said she takes public transportation to work, and her transfer is at 12th Street and Imperial Avenue, where many homeless people live on the street.

I know it could be a lot worse, she said.

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Claudia Patatas and Adam Thomas had long denied being leading members of the white-power group National Action, which is banned in Britain. But their family photos suggested otherwise.

There is the one of Patatas - reportedly from Banbury, England - holding their newborn while Thomas holds a flag emblazoned with the Nazi swastika.

And theres one of Thomas cradling the baby boy; the child is wearing polka-dot footie pajamas, his father the sort of hooded robe favored by Ku Klux Klansmen.

There is also the middle name that the couple chose to give to their son: Adolf.

Advertisement

At the end of a seven-week trial in Britains Birmingham Crown Court, Thomas and Patatas were convicted of terrorism charges after leading not-so-secret double lives. Both were found guilty in November of being members of National Action, the extreme right-wing organization that virtually deifies Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. Thomas was also found guilty of possessing instructions to make a bomb.

On Tuesday, Thomas was sentenced to more than six years in prison, according to the BBC. His wife will serve five years.

Thomas, a British warehouse security guard, and Patatas, a Portuguese-born photographer, were arrested in January with four other men and charged with being members of National Action, which was banned by the British government in 2016 and is labeled a terrorist organization.

The group hoped to start a race war that would rid Britain - or at least the county of West Midlands, halfway between London and Liverpool - of anyone who didnt happen to be white, according to police. When National Action was banned, after popular anti-Brexit campaigner Jo Cox was killed by a far-right extremist, the group re-branded, calling itself the TripleKMafia, a not-too-subtle allusion to the Ku Klux Klan.

But authorities said the groups members werent simply a bunch of selfie-snapping Nazi-philes with white-power insignia decorating their homes.

We now know they were a dangerous, well-structured organization, West Midlands Police Detective Chief Superintendent Matt Ward said in a statement. Their aim was to spread neo-Nazi ideology by provoking a race war in Britain and they had spent years acquiring the skills to carry this out.

They had researched how to make explosives. They had gathered weapons. They had a clear structure to radicalize others. Unchecked they would have inspired violence and spread hatred and fear across the West Midlands.

Underscoring the threat, police announced the conviction of two other members of National Action: Mikko Vehvilainen and Alex Deakin.

Vehvilainen, 34, a Finland native, was a lance corporal in the British army who had access to young men who could be radicalized and recruited into the group. He was an incredibly dangerous individual and a key part of the National Action strategy, according to Ward.

Thomas had tried twice to join the military but was rejected both times.

Patatas and Thomas had also tried to swell the ranks of National Action, putting up offensive stickers at Aston University in Birmingham.

National Action was the first extreme right-wing group to be banned in Britain after Cox was killed in summer 2016. During the trial, according to The Washington Posts Karla Adam, witnesses told jurors that white supremacist Thomas Mair shouted Britain first! then shot Cox three times and stabbed her 15 times.

Authorities said Mair was an avid reader of far-right literature. In his home, police found books about white supremacy and Nazi Germany. Coxs husband called her death a political act and an act of terrorism. Mair was sentenced to life in prison, and authorities added National Action to a list of more than 80 terrorist organizations banned in the United Kingdom.

According to the BBC, the ban was to both tackle the group itself and also eliminate a source of ideological inspiration.

But the ban didnt stop Patatas, Thomas and other adherents in West Midlands. The couples continuing fascination with Nazism and white supremacy was on display at their trial.

The BBC said the couple was part of a secret relaunch of the group as TripleKMafia, with the same agenda.

The couple kept an ax and a machete at home, and authorities found a crossbow near the newborns crib, the news organization said.

But they also had several items best described as Nazi memorabilia: a mug with an SS emblem and a cookie cutter shaped like a swastika.

Two couch cushions also bore swastikas, and a festive holiday sideboard in their living room had KKK figures and the words May all your Christmases be white.When United Nations and Yemeni officials announced that the countrys warring sides had agreed to an immediate cease-fire in the port city of Hudaydah, it was hailed as a rare moment of hope in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands and put millions at risk of starvation and disease.

But almost as if to underscore the fragility of that hope, clashes erupted last week and continued into Monday on the outskirts of the city, the entry point for most of the food aid into Yemen.

Both the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and the Saudi-led coalition behind President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi said they would honor the cease-fire hammered out during peace talks in Sweden, but starting early Tuesday.

Martin Griffiths, the U.N.s special envoy to Yemen, confirmed the Tuesday start of the cease-fire and said a monitoring committee set to oversee combatants withdrawal was expected to start its work swiftly to translate the momentum built up in Sweden into achievements on the ground.

Advertisement

The clashes were a disappointing contrast to the good news and message of hope Griffiths had presented to the U.N. Security Council on Friday. And they served as a sign that the agreements  which also include a prisoner exchange and efforts to slow fighting in Taizz, a city besieged by the Houthis  leave plenty of room for snarls in implementation. The deal also leaves out core details vital to ending the bloodshed and starvation in Yemen.

Negotiating a complicated war

Observers held little hope for a breakthrough when the sides assembled at a castle near Stockholm this month for talks meant to pave the way for full peace negotiations. There had been dozens of missed diplomatic opportunities since 2014, when the Shiite Muslim Houthis stormed the capital, Sana, and ousted Hadis government.

Those efforts grew more complicated after the Saudi Arabian-led coalition joined the conflict in 2015. With U.S. military assistance, the coalition launched a wide-scale bombing campaign on Houthi-controlled areas and imposed an air and sea blockade to stop what it said were arms coming to the rebels from Iran.

Since then, Yemen, which even before the war was the Arab worlds poorest country, has become the worlds worst humanitarian disaster.

In addition to tens of thousands killed or wounded in the fighting, an estimated 85,000 children may have starved to death, and 1.2 million people are suspected to have cholera, according to aid groups.

The conflict has become a political millstone for Saudi Arabia, increasing tensions in a relationship with the U.S. already strained by the kingdoms role in the slaying of the U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Last week, the U.S. Senate invoked its war powers authority to demand a halt to U.S. participation in the war.

Wars center of gravity

The cease-fire in Hudaydah was seen as the crowning achievement of the peace talks. Described by Griffiths as the conflicts center of gravity, the town has been the target of a months-long campaign by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The coalition deployed a force comprising thousands of soldiers, tribesmen, mercenaries and Al Qaeda-affiliated jihadis to storm the city.

Under the deal signed Thursday, combatants must withdraw from the port area within days and out of the city limits and the greater area of the governorate in 21 days, all under United Nations supervision. But much is left unspecified.

Undefined local security forces in accordance with Yemeni law are to provide security and grant the U.N. a leading role in inspecting and monitoring shipping.

Griffiths said retired Dutch Maj. Gen. Patrick Cammaert, who had served with the U.N. in Africa, was set to arrive Wednesday to monitor the withdrawal.

The pullback involves quite a few moving parts between two sides that dont trust each other, said Adam Baron, a Yemen expert with the European Council on Foreign Relations.

The cease-fire prevents a bloodbath, but now that the troops plan to withdraw and the U.N. will be managing the seaport, there is a question mark on the management of Hudaydah and issues of local governance, Fatima Alasrar, a Yemen analyst with the Washington-based Arabia Foundation, said in a phone interview Saturday.

Who will be exactly accountable for public services in the city? This is unclear.

Some of that lack of clarity was by design, said Griffiths: This is a humanitarian stopgap to save lives and turn the tide of war towards peace.

A question of money

Also unclear is who will receive the ports custom duties. The agreement stipulates they are to be channeled to the central bank of Yemen. But there are two central banks: one run by Hadis government and one under Houthi control in Sana.

The question is an essential one. Millions of civil employees in Houthi-controlled areas where food is available have no money to buy it, said Alasrar. Even people still getting paid have seen their salaries lose more than two-thirds of their value.

Central bank officials in Aden speak of efforts to prop up the rial, including prospective cash infusions to the tune of $3 billion from Kuwait and the UAE that followed a $2.2-billion deposit from Saudi Arabia in January.

But shifting the funds to the central bank in Aden would force employees in Houthi areas to travel cross-country to draw their salary; before the war it would have been a six-hour trip, but now, with a dizzying patchwork of groups running checkpoints, it would take 18 hours.

Prisoner exchange

In what is a more clear-cut part of the agreement, the prisoner exchange will involve 15,000 detainees, with a mass exchange of 4,000 as soon as mid-January, said Griffiths. But even that has families of prisoners tempering their hope with worry about the implementation.

Weve seen other prisoner release agreements and they were of no use, said Fatima Qahtan, the daughter of a prominent member of the Islah opposition party, Mohammad Qahtan, who was arrested in April 2015 by more than a dozen Houthi gunmen.

When he was picked up, he tried to reassure us, saying he would only be gone two or three days. Its been more than three years, said Fatima Qahtan, adding that repeated attempts and high-profile campaigns by groups including Human Rights Watch had failed to bring news of her father.

His name was on the prisoner exchange list, but she wasnt sure he was even alive.

With the Stockholm agreement, were holding on to hope despite the fact that we no longer believe the Houthis can fulfill their promises, she said.

The prisoner swap would come too late for Mohammad Dhabianis family. Dhabiani, a 32-year-old presenter at the pro-government Suhail channel that broadcasts from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, learned in August 2017 that Houthis kidnapped two of his brothers, Maamoun and Amin, from Sana.

Maamoun was released. But last December, Dhabiani learned 28-year-old Amin had been killed in a coalition strike on the Houthi base where he was held. Dhabiani read the news of his brothers death in an evening broadcast.

The Houthis used these people as human shields, Dhabiani said; he alleges prisoners were tortured, humiliated and had little access to food.

Though Dhabiani said the agreement could bring comfort to the families of those missing, he feared a ploy by the Houthis to obstruct the deal.

Many of those on the Houthis prisoners list arent prisoners at all, he said. He accused the rebels of putting names of militants killed in battle on the list so that when the other side cant produce the detainees, the Houthis would renege on their side of the agreement.

Doubts and finger-pointing

Both sides lauded the talks, but faulted each other for not doing more.

We didnt come out with everything from these talks, but theyre the best talks weve been through, Mohammad Abdul Salam, the head of the Houthi delegation, said in a news conference Thursday. He later blamed Hadi government officials for not offering concessions on reopening Sana airport, the countrys main international gateway.

Hadi government representatives offered a similar sentiment, with many saying it was a step forward but casting doubt on whether the Houthis would fulfill their side of the deal.

Its a loose agreement, and it has many clauses that are subject to interpretation, Mahmoud Shahrah, a media advisor for the Yemeni Embassy in Jordan, said in a phone interview Sunday, adding that the Houthis had reneged on no less than 75 local and regional agreements since 2004.

Any deal that is subject to so much interpretation cannot last.

nabih.bulos@latimes.com

Twitter: @nabihbulosA long procession of police cars, blue lights flashing, escorted ambulances carrying the bodies of two Chicago police officers to the morgue early Tuesday, hours after they were struck and killed by a train while answering a call of shots fired on the Far South Side.

As the ambulances turned into the parking lot, they drove under a large U.S. flag hoisted by a fire truck  a scene that had also played out just a month ago when another Chicago police officer was killed in the line of duty.

Officers Eduardo Marmolejo, 36, and Conrad Gary, 31, were conducting surveillance after a ShotSpotter sensor picked up gunfire near 103rd Street and Dauphin Avenue around 6:20 p.m. Monday, police officials said.

They spotted a suspect scrambling up to the Metra tracks and were pursuing him when they were hit by an outbound South Shore train, according to police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

Advertisement

Police recovered a weapon near where the officers were struck and were questioning a person of interest late Monday, Guglielmi said. Officers also found shell casings near the scene of the original shots fired call.

These brave young men were consumed with identifying a potential threat, police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters at a news conference late Monday at the department headquarters.

Both officers were fathers with young children. Marmolejo had been on the force 2 years and Gary 18 months, he said.

They were assigned to the Calumet police district, which covers several Far South Side neighborhoods. Johnson said the pair were working as partners Monday night.

(Chicago Tribune)

I am deeply saddened by this tragic event and ask that everyone keep their [families] and co-workers in their thoughts and prayers, Johnson said. An investigation is underway, and we will keep everyone updated as details emerge.

The officers deaths were similar to an incident on the West Side in 2002 when Officer Benjamin Perez was fatally struck by a Metra train on an embankment while conducting an investigation.

A devastating tragedy occurred tonight at 103rd and Cottage Grove where two #ChicagoPolice officers investigating a shots fired call were struck by a passing train. Please pray for the @ChicagoCAPS05 5th district. Details to follow. pic.twitter.com/0IfXTZf2Bs  Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) December 18, 2018

Four Chicago police officers have been killed on duty this year.

On Nov. 19, Officer Samuel Jimenez, 28, was killed in a mass shooting at Mercy Hospital & Medical Center. Two other people, Dr. Tamara ONeal, 38, and pharmacist Dayna Less, 24, were also killed before the gunman shot himself.

On Feb. 13, Cmdr. Paul Bauer, 53, was fatally shot while chasing a suspect.

Three other officers have died in the Calumet District this year. Two died from suicides outside the districts police station on East 111th Street. The third officer, 47-year-old Vinita Williams, died in July after collapsing at the station.

Johnson said the department is sending chaplains and counselors to the district.

The superintendent said the district had to deal with tragedy after tragedy this year. But the resolve of Chicago police officers always amazes me ... Theyre going to strap up, put on their uniforms and go out tonight to keep this city safe.

The deaths of Marmolejo and Gary mark the first time in almost 30 years that two Chicago police officers were killed in the line of duty during the same incident.

Grand Central District Officers Raymond Kilroy and Gregory Hauser were fatally shot on May 13, 1990, while responding to a domestic disturbance on the Northwest Side. They were scuffling with Roman Chavez when he grabbed Hausers gun and shot both officers. Chavez is serving a life sentence.

As Chicago police officers expanded the area of the crime scene on the tracks Monday evening, a rail car remained stopped on the overpass. Nearby, bystanders outside a Popeyes restaurant walked or ran to the tracks, some ducking under the yellow police tape.

A woman said she had been at her home nearby when she saw police officers driving through alleys west of the tracks. Less than an hour later, officers swarmed the area and a police helicopter hovered overhead.

Im going to pray for their families. Thats all I can do. And then these people on the train, trying to get home, said the woman, who asked not to be identified.

Brianna Medina caught the train at Millennium station with plans to get off at Hegewisch. It left minutes before 6 p.m. and stopped unexpectedly about a half hour later, she said.

It kind of felt like rocks, and it sounded like it was hitting rocks, she said. People near her didnt seem to react, figuring something was wrong but not knowing what, she said.

We were just sitting there in silence, Medina said. About two hours later, someone finally told us what was going on.

Obviously you feel for the families, Medina said. Before knowing, I was kind of just upset that I couldnt go home, but then after finding out you really  you feel sympathetic toward them. Its not about you anymore, its about what happened.

Like Medina, another passenger, Tiffany Johnson, said finding out why the train had stopped drastically changed her feelings about the situation.

It started buzzing that someone got hit by the train, she said. That rumor escalated to two people got hit by the train... a young man that was on the train, he actually has a friend thats CPD, so thats how the people in my area got the information.

To find out that these people were doing their job, and just to have that happen  Im just glad that Im making it home and I just hope and pray that the families, [that] theyre all right, Johnson said.

Chicago Tribunes David Heinzmann contributed.A child lit a candle too close to a Christmas tree, sparking a fire Monday night at an apartment complex in City Heights that sent four people to the hospital, fire officials said.

All four people were believed to have suffered injuries from smoke inhalation and were taken to UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest, San Diego fire Battalion Chief Rick Ballard said.

The blaze was reported at 7:40 p.m. at the Regency Center Apartments near the corner of Euclid and Home avenues, Ballard said. Crews from the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department arrived to find one unit on fire, with smoke spreading to other dwellings.

There were heavy flames coming out of that apartment, and heavy smoke rolling down the hallway, Ballard said.

Advertisement

Firefighters went into the burning apartment and pulled out at least one victim, Ballard said. In total, four people from the burned apartment and a neighboring unit were taken to the hospital.

It was believed all four were suffering from smoke inhalation, but it wasnt immediately clear if any had sustained burns.

There was no immediate information about how long it took for fire crews to knock down the flames because the firefighters were more focused on the rescues, Ballard said. Residents from several neighboring units were temporarily displaced but were later allowed to go back to their apartments.

Twitter: @Alex_Riggins

(619) 293-1710

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.comA 23-year-old Spring Valley store clerk believed to be intoxicated was arrested Monday night after authorities said he fought with deputies and bit one of them on the arm.

The incident began shortly before 10 p.m. when customers at the ampm on Campo Road near Bancroft Drive in Spring Valley called 911 to report a store clerk appeared to be under the influence and was threatening people with a knife, said sheriffs Lt. Dave Perkins.

Deputies contacted the man, found drugs and drug paraphernalia on him and determined he was under the influence of drugs, Perkins said. He was put in handcuffs and placed into a patrol car.

A deputy went to take the man out of the car for an unknown reason, Perkins said, and thats when the deputy realized the man had slipped his handcuffs to the front of his body.

Advertisement

The man began fighting with the deputy and lunged at him, trying to get his gun, Perkins said. He bit the deputy on the arm during the fight.

Other deputies came to his aid and were able to get control over the suspect. The deputy was treated for a bite wound and some abrasions, Perkins said.

The man was booked into jail on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, attempting to take a weapon from a peace officer, resisting an executive officer and attempting to escape custody, according to jail records.

Twitter: @karenkucher

(619) 293-1350

karen.kucher@sduniontribune.comFirefighters saved an injured woman from a fire that tore through a house, causing about $200,000 in damage, in Lakeside on Monday, fire officials said.

The blaze was the second injury-causing residential fire in less than 12 hours in the community of about 20,000 residents.

Neighbors reported the fire around 2 p.m. at a small home on Morena Avenue, just east of state Route 67, Lakeside Fire Protection District Division Chief John Hisaw said.

Firefighters arrived less than five minutes later and saw thick smoke coming from the homes roof, Hisaw said. Neighbors were already working to put out the flames and told crews there might be somebody inside.

Advertisement

#MorenaIncident Fire Attack reporting knockdown on fire. One victim rescued in acute status; firefighter-paramedics treating.  Lakeside Fire (LKS) (@LakesideFire) December 17, 2018

One victim was discovered in the back bedroom, Hisaw said. The fire was mostly contained toward the front of the home.

Firefighters pulled the woman outside and began advanced life-saving treatment for apparent smoke inhalation, Hisaw said. Paramedics then took the person to UC San Diego Medical Center, which houses a regional burn center.

Investigators with the Sheriff Departments bomb-arson unit are helping determine what caused the fire.

Earlier on Monday, Lakeside firefighters rescued a woman found dangling out of a second-story window after a fire broke out in her Lakeside apartment complex.

That blaze, which erupted around 3:40 a.m. at a complex on Mapleview Street near Channel Road, sent two people to the hospital and caused about $250,000 in damage, Hisaw said.

Twitter: @Alex_Riggins

(619) 293-1710

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.comCharles Andy Williams, a Santana High School freshman who fatally shot two classmates and injured 13 others in 2001, has asked the governor to commute his sentence.

Williams  who was 15 when he opened fire at the Santee school  was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.

Bryan Zuckor, 14, and Randy Gordon, 17, were killed in the campus shooting.

A spokesman for Gov. Jerry Brown declined to release the application Williams submitted seeking commutation. The spokesman said pending applications are not public records.

Advertisement

Charles Andy Williams (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)

After the District Attorneys Office received notice that Williams, 32, had filed the application, local officials began contacting victims in the case.

District Attorney Summer Stephans office issued a statement, saying it was opposed to the request.

We adamantly oppose the petition by this inmate, who senselessly slaughtered two children and shot and injured 13 others at Santana High School in 2001, the statement read in part. We have begun the process of notifying the numerous victims in this case.

Williams was initially sentenced to 50 years to life in prison in 2002  25 years for each of the shooting deaths. He has a parole hearing scheduled for 2025 under the provisions of Senate Bill 261 passed in 2015. That law required parole hearing for youths serving sentences of 25 years to life or more for offenses committed when they were under 23 years old  but only after they had served 25 years.

Williams was quoted in a Wall Street Journal story in June saying he has looked for possible explanations for the shooting, including incessant bullying, his small stature and being forced to move twice in a two years.

All I know is that I was hurting and that I wanted to hurt people, said Williams from Valley State Prison in central California.

Since 2011, the governor has issued a total of 1,189 pardons and 152 commutations. Commutations do not mean immediate release. Rather, it gives inmates the chance to ask a parole board to consider releasing them.

Twitter: @karenkucher

(619) 293-1350

karen.kucher@sduniontribune.comAt least three women say the former associate pastor of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Encinitas tried to seduce them.

The allegations rocked the congregation Sunday, when parishioners opened the church bulletin to find an apology from Bishop Robert McElroy to all who were subjected to this terrible mistreatment

There is no room in the Church or the priesthood for this reprehensible type of misconduct, McElroy wrote.

This message was a startling departure from the usual church bulletin fare, such as the Christmas Mass schedule and a notice about an upcoming marriage encounter retreat. McElroy, who this fall held a series of listening sessions for churchgoers disturbed by an ongoing clergy sexual abuse crisis, has preached the need to be more open about these scandals.

Advertisement

The Rev. Ben Vincent Awongo, 55, left St. Johns on Sept. 1 after the diocese received the second allegation. The first was anonymous and its author could not be found. The second came in August, and led to Awongos dismissal.

A member of the Missionary Order of the Apostles of Jesus, a group composed primarily of African priests, Awongo was born in Uganda. He had been working in the San Diego diocese since December 2014.

Awongo was not accused of any criminal actions, so the diocese gave him his walking papers after the second allegation, said diocesan spokesman Kevin Eckery.

When a third allegation surfaced in November, information was forwarded to the independent review board that examines allegations of priestly sexual misconduct. The board recommended the bishop make an announcement to St. Johns parishioners.

Word spread during Masses on the third Sunday in Advent, a season of penance and preparation for Christmas. St. Johns pastor, the Rev. Jim Bahash, solemnly addressed his congregation at the end of each service.

Father Jim got up on the pulpit and said, Listen I am not going to go into any details because there are children present. But theres something in the bulletin, said Jim Chodzko, a regular churchgoer at St. Johns.

Awongo was a popular priest, parishioners said.

I thought Father Ben was an excellent, intelligent, kind, skilled priest, said Nancy Morgan, a licensed marriage and family therapist who has attended St. Johns for decades. He just portrayed the best in the priesthood, from my perspective.

Chodzko was impressed by Awongo, too  I loved the guy, he said  but did not fault the diocese for publicizing these allegations.

I have full support of what the bishop is doing, he said. The church needs to grab onto these things and not sweep it under the rug.

Scandals involving predator priests have dogged the Catholic church worldwide since at least 2002, when the Boston Globe conducted its Spotlight series. In 2007, the San Diego diocese agreed to pay a total of $198 million to 144 people who had been molested as children by priests and other church employees.

This year, a scathing grand jury report in Pennsylvania prompted numerous dioceses  including San Diego  to re-examine how they respond to clergy accused of preying on the faithful, whether children or adults.

The bishop has to do what the bishop has to  I dont blame him at all, said Morgan, the therapist. He has a responsibility in this day and age to be transparent.

Awongo, who remains a priest in the Apostles of Jesus order, is reportedly teaching at a seminary in Kenya.

What they are going to do, I dont know, Eckery said. But his ministry in San Diego is over.

A call to the U.S. regional superior of the Apostles of Jesus went unanswered Monday.

Awongo was ordained in 1990 in his native Uganda. He has a degree in business administration, holds a Ph.D in theology and speaks five languages: Swahili, Italian, Spanish, German and English.

At St. Johns, he was known for his insights into St. Pauls epistles.

Vicar general of his order from 2002 through 2008, Awongo came to the U.S. in 2014, briefly serving as associate pastor at Vistas St. Francis of Assisi and as a chaplain at Tri-City Medical Center. In January 2015, he was attached to St. Mary in El Centro, moving to St. Johns in July 2015.

In McElroys statement, the allegations against Awongo are described only as aggressive advances.

The review board examined more detailed information, Eckery said, and found the stories believable.

There is no reason to sully someones reputation unless you believe it is credible, he said. You take seriously these kinds of allegations.

Church officials urge anyone with information about these allegations to call Lisa Petronis, the diocesan victims assistance coordinator, at (858) 490-8353.Michael Flynns former business partner is maintaining his innocence and headed to trial on charges that the two ran a secret, illegal influence campaign for the Turkish government.

Bijan Kians arraignment and not-guilty plea in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia Tuesday came as Flynn was set to be sentenced in D.C. federal court for lying to investigators with the special counsels office. The proceeding began, but was stopped and postponed after the judge said he could not guarantee Flynn would be spared prison time.

According to prosecutors, the Turkish government paid Kian and Flynns Flynn Intel Group consulting firm hundreds of thousands of dollars to lobby for the extradition of prominent dissident Fethullah Gulen, using a Turkish businessman as a conduit.

That businessman, Ekim Alptekin, also was charged in the indictment unsealed Monday. Alptekin has denied any wrongdoing, saying through a spokeswoman that he launched the anti-Gulen campaign on his own.

Advertisement

You dont anticipate hell be joining us anytime soon? Judge Anthony Trenga asked prosecutors Tuesday.

I do not, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Gillis replied. To the best of our knowledge, he is in Turkey.

Flynn has not been charged in the Turkish lobbying campaign, although as part of his guilty plea he acknowledged lying about the project. Special counsel Robert Mueller asked that Flynn get no jail time, citing his substantial assistance with both the Russia investigation and other ongoing probes.

Kians trial is set for Feb. 11. But prosecutors said they plan to introduce classified evidence, and his attorney, Robert Trout, said he would seek evidence from abroad. Both will almost certainly cause delays. A status hearing is set for Jan. 3.A federal judge Tuesday abruptly postponed the sentencing of President Donald Trumps first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, declaring himself disgusted and disdainful of Flynns crime of lying to the FBI and raising the unexpected prospect of sending the retired Army lieutenant general to prison.

Lawyers for Flynn, who admitted lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts, requested the delay during the stunning hearing in which U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan told the former Trump aide in a blistering rebuke that arguably you sold your country out.

I cant make any guarantees, but Im not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense, Sullivan said.

The postponement gives Flynn a chance to continue cooperating with the government in hopes of staving off prison and proving his value as a witness, including in a foreign lobbying prosecution brought this week. The possibility of prison had seemed remote for Flynn, who was smiling and upbeat as he entered the courtroom, since prosecutors had praised his extensive cooperation and didnt recommend any time behind bars.

Advertisement

But the judges upbraiding suggested otherwise and made clear that even defendants like Flynn who have cooperated in special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation may nonetheless be shadowed by the crimes that brought them into court in the first place. The hearing upset what had been a carefully crafted agreement and pushed months into the future a resolution of one of Muellers signature prosecutions.

This is a very serious offense. A high-ranking senior official of the government making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation while on the physical premises of the White House, Sullivan said.

He later softened his tone, apologizing for suggesting that Flynn had worked as a foreign agent, undermining everything this flag over here stands for while in the White House when that other work had actually already ended. He also backpedaled on an earlier question on whether Flynns transgressions amounted to treason, saying he didnt mean to suggest they did.

Flynn was to have been the first White House official sentenced in Muellers ongoing investigation into possible coordination between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia.

The hearing, though incomplete, marked a remarkable fall after a three-decade military career that included Flynns tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and oversight of the Defense Intelligence Agency during the Obama administration. Though he served only briefly in Trumps White House, he campaigned vigorously before the election and attracted attention for memorably leading a Republican National Convention crowd in a Lock Her Up chant about Hillary Clinton.

It all comes amid escalating legal peril for Trump, who was implicated by federal prosecutors in New York this month in hush-money payments involving his former lawyer to cover up extramarital affairs. Nearly a half-dozen former aides and advisers have pleaded guilty or agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Some, like Flynn, have been tripped up by concealing Russian contacts.

Flynns help in the probes, including 19 meetings with investigators, has been especially notable. Yet hes nonetheless enjoyed Trumps continued sympathy, thanks in part to a sentencing memo last week that tapped into the presidents suspicion of law enforcement and took aim at the FBIs conduct during the investigation.

Trump tweeted good luck to his first national security adviser hours before the sentencing and said: Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!

At the White House afterward, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked if the administration had changed its stance on Flynn or the FBI after his admissions and guilty plea.

Maybe he did do those things, but it doesnt have anything to do with the president, she said. Its perfectly acceptable for the president to make a positive comment about somebody while we wait to see what the courts determination is.

Sanders repeated her allegation that the FBI ambushed Flynn in an interview in which he lied. Of Trumps earlier criticism of the agency, she said, We dont have any reason to want to walk that back.

Flynns legal woes stem from transition-period calls with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that raised intelligence community alarms even before Trump took office.

During those conversations, Flynn urged against a strong Russian response to Obama administration sanctions for Russian election interference and also encouraged Russias opposition to a U.N. resolution on Israeli settlements.

But when FBI agents approached him in the White House on Jan. 24, 2017, Flynn lied about those conversations, prosecutors said.

Flynn has never said why he lied, but Sullivan nonetheless castigated him for a deception that was then parroted by other senior administration officials.

The tone of Tuesdays hearing startled Flynn supporters who hoped his lawyers arguments about the FBIs conduct  they suggested he was discouraged from having a lawyer present and wasnt informed it was a crime to lie  to resonate more than it did with Sullivan, who a decade ago tossed out the prosecution of a U.S. senator over government misconduct.

But while Sullivan tested those arguments, he was ultimately unmoved and Flynn mostly walked them back. He acknowledged that he indeed knew that lying to the FBI was a crime. Neither he nor his lawyers disputed that he had lied to agents.

Flynn attorney Robert Kelner asked Sullivan not to penalize Flynn for the sentencing memo arguments, saying they were mostly intended to differentiate Flynn from other defendants in Muellers investigation whod received prison sentences for lying. Though Sullivan said none of the other defendants was a White House official, Kelner suggested none had been as cooperative.

He made the decision publicly and clearly and completely and utterly to cooperate with this investigation, knowing that because of his high rank, that was going to send a signal to every other potential cooperator and witness in this investigation, he added.

After a prosecutor raised the prospect of Flynns continued cooperation with other investigations in the future, Sullivan warned Flynn that he might not get the full credit for his assistance to the government if he were sentenced as scheduled.

Sullivan gave a visibly shaken Flynn a chance to discuss a delay of the hearing with his lawyers. The court briefly recessed.

When they returned, Kelner requested a postponement to allow for Flynn to keep cooperating. Kelner said he expected Flynn would have to testify in a related trial in Virginia involving Flynns former business associates, and the defense wanted to eke out the last modicum of cooperation so he could get credit.

The judge set a new hearing date for March. Flynn left the courthouse hand-in-hand with his wife, climbing into a large SUV as protesters heckled and supporters chanted USA!

Associated Press writer Michelle R. Smith in Providence contributed to this report.The Trump administration Tuesday banned bump stocks, the firearm attachments that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire like machine guns and were used during the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

The regulation gives gun owners until late March to turn in or destroy the devices. After that, it will be illegal to possess them under the same federal laws that prohibit machine guns.

Bump stocks became a focal point of the gun control debate after they were used in October 2017 when a man opened fire from his Las Vegas hotel suite into a crowd at a country music concert, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds more.

The regulation was signed Tuesday by Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker. It will take effect 90 days after it is published in the Federal Register, which is expected to happen Friday.

Advertisement

Bump stock owners will be required to either destroy them or surrender them to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, a senior Justice Department official said. It is impossible to know just how many bump stocks Americans own because the devices arent traceable, but ATF has estimated that between 280,000 and about 520,000 have been sold since 2010.

Investigators expect most owners will comply with the new rule and ATF will take action against those who dont, the official said. But theres no surefire way to know whether owners are complying. The official briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Donald Trump was once again fulfilling a promise he made to the American people. Trump had promised the ban in March, saying the devices turn legal weapons into illegal machines.

Shortly afterward, the Justice Department started the process of amending firearms regulations to define bump stocks as machine guns. ATF received about 186,000 comments on the proposal.

The amended regulations reverse a 2010 ATF decision that found bump stocks did not amount to machine guns and could not be regulated unless Congress changed existing firearms law or passed a new one. In the aftermath of the Las Vegas shooting, some members of Congress sought to ban bump stocks, but no legislation was passed. At least 10 states have sought their own restrictions.

The amended rule was met almost immediately with resistance from gun rights advocates, including Gun Owners of America, which said it would file a lawsuit against the Justice Department and ATF to protect gun owners from unconstitutional regulations.

These regulations implicate Second Amendment rights, and courts should be highly suspect when an agency changes its interpretation of a statute in order to impair the exercise of enumerated constitutional rights, the organizations executive director, Erich Pratt, said.

The Justice Department official said the government will fight any legal challenge that may be brought

The National Rifle Association called on the Justice Department to provide amnesty for gun owners who already have bump stocks.

We are disappointed that this final rule fails to address the thousands of law-abiding Americans who relied on prior ATF determinations when lawfully acquiring these devices, said spokeswoman Jennifer Baker.

Police said the gunman in the Las Vegas massacre, Stephen Paddock, fired for more than 10 minutes using multiple weapons outfitted with target scopes and bump stocks. Paddock fatally shot himself after the shooting. There were 23 assault-style weapons, including 14 fitted with rapid-fire bump stock devices, strewn about his 32nd-floor hotel suite at the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel.

The largest manufacturer of bump stocks, Slide Fire Solutions, announced in April that it would stop taking orders and shut down its website. The remaining stock of the devices is now being sold by another company, RW Arms, based in Fort Worth, Texas.

Associated Press writer Lisa Marie Pane in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this report.Cleveland has written the latest chapter in the unfolding scandal of the American criminal justice system.

A report by the U.S. Marshals Service details a series of failures and abuses in Clevelands jails: Overcrowding. Frequent lockdowns to make up for understaffing. Food denied as punishment. Pregnant inmates sleeping on the floor. Mice-infested food storage. Young offenders thrown into the adult prison population. Inmates with mental illness denied treatment and placed in isolation.

A merger of Clevelands city and county systems was sold as a cost-saving measure. It resulted in a penal system in which there were 55 attempted suicides in one year. After the seventh inmate death from suicide or drug overdose, the reorganization was put on hold. The Marshals Service report found insufficient and unclear answers about recent inmate deaths. Im not saying it should be a hotel or a party, former inmate Cecil Fluker told the county council, but damn, can we come out alive?

With no other group dependent on government care does the discourse begin, Well, who cares? And there is no doubt that among the more than 2 million incarcerated Americans are some vicious and violent characters who deserve to be right where they are.

Advertisement

But there are several good reasons to care what happens in American jails and prisons.

First, this is a social stress test of sorts, measuring our commitment to human dignity. Do we believe that every life has value? Or do we judge some men and women less than human and beneath our concern?

I was instructed in these matters by the late Chuck Colson when I worked for him in the late 1980s. Colson had been a particularly ruthless and devious special counsel to President Richard Nixon. As a result of the Watergate scandal, he became prisoner 23226. While incarcerated, he found an extraordinary talent for relating to inmates across boundaries of class and race. And he accepted a Christian calling to speak to and for them, eventually visiting 800 prisons in 40 countries. Over time, a prison preacher became one of the most important social reformers of the 20th century, advocating for humane treatment of prisoners and alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders.

I watched Colson demonstrate the most radical and challenging teaching of Christian faith  a belief in absolute equality before God. He treated murderers and rapists as his equals in the need for grace, and his equals in their capacity to receive grace. And I watched people guilty of terrible crimes become models of moral maturity. If no one, in the end, is beyond Gods help, then no one should be beyond our concern.

But even if you find all of this to be pious rubbish, there is another reason to care about prison conditions: Because most prisoners  numbering more than 700,000 each year  will come back to communities. And how we behave toward them during their imprisonment matters greatly in determining their level of bitterness and criminality upon their return. An inmate treated like a caged animal is expected to walk through a gate and become a productive citizen. It is insanity.

A final reason to be concerned about conditions behind prison walls is because there are more lives and futures at stake than that of a prisoner. There are about 2.7 million children with an incarcerated mother or father. The children of prisoners are at high risk of future incarceration themselves. Writing off prisoners as worthless and hopeless has the effect of writing off many of their sons and daughters. It is moral malpractice with generational consequences.

There are proper political responses to Americas criminal-justice crisis  support for prison reform, for sentencing reform, for a general end to reliance on routine, mass incarceration. But there are also personal steps that can be taken. The prison outreach ministry Colson founded, Prison Fellowship, organizes an effort each year at Christmas called Angel Tree. It allows people to donate Christmas presents that are given on behalf of prisoners to their children, marked With love from Mom or With love from Dad. It is often a chance for inmates to reconnect with their families. And it is often the highlight of a childs Christmas  a sign they are still loved.

The most effective social activism matches political vision and personal concern. Those seeking a more just society should also care about the quality of Christmas morning for an inmates child.

Gerson can be reached at michaelgerson@washpost.com.

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.Two years ago, Mickey Kasparian, longtime president of the United Food and Commercial Workers 135, was sued by a former employee for allegedly pressuring her into a lengthy, unwanted sexual relationship and by another woman who alleged he attempted to sexually assault her  claims Kasparian rejected. A year ago, he resigned from the county Democratic Party Central Committee in a bid to keep his high-profile union job as the #MeToo movement exploded around him and around the nation.

On Friday, Kasparian became a footnote in that national movement after his resounding defeat by Todd Walters, the former vice president of Local 135.

Kasparian had settled both lawsuits on unannounced terms while denying the allegations. But the accusers stories seemed credible, given their specificity and other accounts of his behavior. And the union spent nearly $830,000 on legal services last year, well above previous recent years. Now UFCW members have settled his fate, showing a better sense of whats right and wrong than some Democrats who were slow to speak out against him.

Last December, several prominent local Democrats surveyed by a reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune resisted calling for Kasparian to resign from his Local 135 post. Due process is vital, but Kasparians defenders should be more vocal if another case emerges on their side of the spectrum.

Advertisement

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & OpinionTunnel vision in a leader can produce the intense focus that solves challenging problems. But tunnel vision that misses the big picture can also be futile.

This is the best frame with which to see President Donald Trumps growing threat to force a partial government shutdown at midnight Friday by refusing to sign a spending resolution unless Congress agrees to provide $5 billion for Trumps main obsession: building that border wall. This may resonate with the 40 percent or so of Americans who approve of Trump. But he doesnt have the support of Republican lawmakers, who realize that a shutdown will be blamed on them as well as the president.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, indicated in October they were ready  committed in McConnells words  for what Ryan called a big fight over the border wall. But since Republicans lost 40 seats in the House last month, theyve shown no sign of craving such a battle. Still, Trump may see a shutdown as a way to take the focus off his legal woes and a plunging stock market.

Funding is set for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and most of the government because of entitlement spending rules and already-approved legislation. But a partial shutdown would affect the Departments of Homeland Security, Treasury and Commerce as well as some lower-profile agencies.

Advertisement

Since Trump has no hope of winning this fight, what he plans to do is more akin to a tantrum than political hardball. If chaos results at airports and in financial markets, he should look in the mirror.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & OpinionRe Should Horton Plaza be preserved? (Dec. 16): It seems wrong for a few well-intentioned people, having no financial interest in Horton Plaza, to intervene in an attempt to designate the failing 35 year old shopping center as historic.

This designation could cause delays or changes in the planned development of an ultra-modern office park. The consequences of the historic designation could cost the developer millions of dollars.

Stockdale Capital Partners paid $175 million for the property coupled with its stated vision to develop the property into a high-paying jobs center. San Diego officials should welcome private investment and job creation for downtown and not discourage it.

By any stretch of the imagination, a 35-year-old building is hardly historic and city officials should move the project along without delay.

Advertisement

James Ziegler

University Heights

Whats wrong with you, Stockdale Capital Partners? Even without tenants as a retail center, Horton Plazas architecture contributes visual and historical life to downtown San Diego.

Find a way to preserve and work with it. It is a monument to the focused efforts that converted a once shabby derelict downtown to a world-class business center and visitor destination I know. I was there. I helped downtown San Diego succeed.

Marguerite (Margo) Fox Picou

Towanda, Pennsylvania

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.It is the end of an era and the beginning of a new one at San Diego City Hall where Council President Myrtle Cole was unseated in the November election by her former aide, Monica Montgomery.

With Cole out of office, her chief of staff Jimmie Slack has also found himself in a new role: retirement.

FILE PHOTO  Feb. 24, 1988  From left, Melinda Morrin, Jimmie Slack, of Supervisor Leon Wiliams' office, Chief Probation Officer Cecil Step and Judge Judith Sheridan Reed, presiding judge of the juvenile courts during a tree planting and dedication ceremony. File photo by Russ Gilbert/San Diego Union-Tribune

Slack is no stranger to change, however, given his role behind the scenes as chief of staff of one San Diego leader or another over the course of the last three decades  starting with his work with Leon Williams, the first African-American to be elected to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, back in 1982.

The San Diego State graduate then went on to serve as chief of staff for Councilman Tony Young in 2005 and then Cole in 2013.

Slack spoke to The Conversation at length about the history of District 4  which includes communities like Encanto, Rolando Park, Paradise Hills, Emerald Hills, South Bay Terrace, Valencia Park, Webster and others  and how it has evolved over the years.

Slack also talked about his work with Williams, whom he says was nicknamed the conscience of the board as a county supervisor.

Slack said he wasnt surprised that Montgomery defeated his now-former boss, Cole. He also talked about how the staff weathered Coles controversial remarks about policing in 2016.

Here are some highlights from the interview.

Q: Youve been working in District 4 for decades, how has the district changed over the years?

SLACK: Well, the district has changed over the years where theres a lot of improved government facilities that have been placed in the district, from libraries to fire stations, even though its a temporary one, as well as affordable housing as well as market rate housing. Lots of market rate housing in District 4. Very improved community I think it has the fourth or the fifth highest cost of living in the nine districts. It has a forward thinking middle class as well as upper class.

Q: Myrtle Cole was criticized in 2016 for remarks she made about racial profiling by police. Can you take us back to that year and tell us how the staff weathered protests and calls for her to resign? What was the office like at the time?

SLACK: Well at the time there were some staff members reacting to the public and the media, which is understandable. But having knowing that there was no, in any way that she was trying to say she was supportive of racial profiling or that racial profiling didnt exist, that was not the case. Unfortunately it was one of those where it was an emotional moment and she spoke from emotion regarding the fact that the day before, a couple of days before, there had been a shooting in front of district office and the person had missed the little baby by maybe inches but had of course killed the passenger.

But that was an emotional for her and she wanted the shooters caught. And that somehow got twisted into talk about police stopping people and so forth from that stand point. So she did apologize, and she did apologize immediately. And how we weather is the fact that when you have a belief in the person that youre working for, when you know in your heart and your mind, that there was no way she was saying that I want police to stop you because youre black or stop you because youre Hispanic. None of that was there.

Q: Were you surprised that Monica Montgomery defeated Myrtle Cole by the margin that she won, 11 points?

SLACK: No I wasnt surprised. Because as youve said Ive been involved in politics and indirectly involved in elections since 1980, so you see different trends. Monica ran a great campaign. She ran one that the district was looking for. It was energetic. It was excitement. It was buzz. It was all of those things was happening. And when you bring all that together, that makes a difference.

Other podcasts you might like:

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez

Listen to The Conversation on Soundcloud or wherever you get your podcasts.A staple in the San Diego bar scene, Orange County native Seth Marquez has shaken cocktails around the county, including stints at Ironside Fish & Oyster, Polite Provisions, Sycamore Den, and Campfire. His newest venture in mixology is taking shape at the Clara in Carlsbad, located on the second floor of the Village Faire.

Noting the popularity and clear-headed logic of low-ABV cocktails, Marquez invented a list of sessionable cocktails for patrons to enjoy throughout an evening without face-planting on the bartop. As a special touch, he also offers these cocktails and sherries in communal pourrons, Spanish vessels which allow people to drink from the same glass without touching their lips to the surface.

PACIFIC sat down at Marquezs bar to find out more about Clara, session cocktails and those funky-shaped pourrons.

PACIFIC: How did you get into the cocktail industry?

SETH MARQUEZ: I answered a Craigslist ad for a busboy at 320 Main in Seal Beach. I got hired on the spot, and this was the first place doing great cocktails in Orange County. I met Leigh Lecap there and it all came together. I wouldnt be here without being there.

What is different about Clara compared to your time at Campfire?

The biggest difference from Campfire is there we smoked and grilled a lot of things. For instance, I came up with The Smoked Coconut, using young Thai coconut. We took out the flesh, and smoked it, then we blended with coconut water, then steeped it in hibiscus strawberry tea and made a thick syrup, then used smoked rum, pineapple, and hibiscus salt, then mixed it with charcoal.

Here, I wanted to do low-alcohol cocktails to pair with the light, clean and fresh food. We use high quality, awesome sherries and fortified wines, keeping it light and simple. Also for people driving up from San Diego or down from Los Angeles, its nice to know you can come and have a nice cocktail without it being too boozy. I call them patio pounders, they are sessionable and very crushable.

What qualifies as a sessionable cocktail?

It doesnt have a full 1  or 2 ounces of a higher spirit. Here we cut that by using fortified wines or sherry, and you focus on the flavors more. So for the Iron Maiden, we use Manzanilla sherry, mint, cucumber and lime. At midnight, we put the Iron Maiden in pourrons and pass it down the bar.

So sometimes the higher spirit is cut, and sometimes its left out altogether?

Yes sometimes. For example in the Rosa Palermo, there is one ounce of gin in the cocktail, so theres enough booze in there, but the flavors come out with the strawberry, lemon and ginger.

The bar at Clara restaurant and bar in the Carlsbad Village Faire center. (Kimberly Motos)

How did you discover the pourrons you use?

The first time I saw them was on social media; its big in Chicago. Between bartenders, they are handed pourrons of sherry, and Ive never seen it in San Diego. Its a fun way to drink with friends and people you dont know, you pass it around, its a cool talking point, and its a lot of fun. People are nervous, but end up having so much fun with it.

How does it work?

The majority of whats poured is Manzanilla sherry. You get 3 ounces for $7 and then if someone wants a cocktail they can do that in a pourron too. We give them a little towel in case they spill, but they are having fun. We also serve Vinho Verde wine, and you can do beer too! We cracked a hi-life and tried it, it was fun.

Favorite spirit to work with?

Gin.

Favorite spirit to drink?

Rum. It can be funky, sweet; it can be all over the place. Sometimes when you taste rum you say, What? This is insane!

What you do when you arent inventing cocktails?

Recently, I started surf photography. Ive been shooting for years, but got into this. I love traveling too.

Whats up ahead for you and Clara?

A line of non-alcoholic drinks with shrubs, using local company, Nostrum. Im also working on brunch cocktails, I have one with pinot noir, lemon juice, Maurin, strawberry, and peach. It will be our Sangria riff.

Clara

Where: 300 Carlsbad Village Dr. #213, Carlsbad

Happy Hours: 4-6 p.m happy hour (with $7 cocktails) and try the late night happy hour specials from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.The Rev. Ben Awongo worked at several churches in the San Diego diocese between December 2014 and August 2018. Courtesy Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego

At least three women say the former associate pastor of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Encinitas tried to seduce them.

The allegations rocked the congregation Sunday, Dec. 16, when parishioners opened the church bulletin to find an apology from Bishop Robert McElroy to all who were subjected to this terrible mistreatment

There is no room in the Church or the priesthood for this reprehensible type of misconduct, McElroy wrote.

This message was a startling departure from the usual church bulletin fare, such as the Christmas Mass schedule and a notice about an upcoming marriage encounter retreat. McElroy, who this fall held a series of listening sessions for churchgoers disturbed by an ongoing clergy sexual abuse crisis, has preached the need to be more open about these scandals.

The Rev. Ben Vincent Awongo, 55, left St. Johns on Sept. 1 after the diocese received the second allegation. The first was anonymous and its author could not be found. The second came in August, and led to Awongos dismissal.

A member of the Missionary Order of the Apostles of Jesus, a group composed primarily of African priests, Awongo was born in Uganda. He had been working in the San Diego diocese since December 2014.

Awongo was not accused of any criminal actions, so the diocese gave him his walking papers after the second allegation, said diocesan spokesman Kevin Eckery.

When a third allegation surfaced in November, information was forwarded to the independent review board that examines allegations of priestly sexual misconduct. The board recommended the bishop make an announcement to St. Johns parishioners.

Word spread during Masses on the third Sunday in Advent, a season of penance and preparation for Christmas. St. Johns pastor, the Rev. Jim Bahash, solemnly addressed his congregation at the end of each service.

Father Jim got up on the pulpit and said, Listen I am not going to go into any details because there are children present. But theres something in the bulletin, said Jim Chodzko, a regular churchgoer at St. Johns.

Awongo was a popular priest, parishioners said.

I thought Father Ben was an excellent, intelligent, kind, skilled priest, said Nancy Morgan, a licensed marriage and family therapist who has attended St. Johns for decades. He just portrayed the best in the priesthood, from my perspective.

Chodzko was impressed by Awongo, too  I loved the guy, he said  but did not fault the diocese for publicizing these allegations.

I have full support of what the bishop is doing, he said. The church needs to grab onto these things and not sweep it under the rug.

Scandals involving predator priests have dogged the Catholic church worldwide since at least 2002, when the Boston Globe conducted its Spotlight series. In 2007, the San Diego diocese agreed to pay a total of $198 million to 144 people who had been molested as children by priests and other church employees.

This year, a scathing grand jury report in Pennsylvania prompted numerous dioceses  including San Diego  to re-examine how they respond to clergy accused of preying on the faithful, whether children or adults.

The bishop has to do what the bishop has to  I dont blame him at all, said Morgan, the therapist. He has a responsibility in this day and age to be transparent.

Awongo, who remains a priest in the Apostles of Jesus order, is reportedly teaching at a seminary in Kenya.

What they are going to do, I dont know, Eckery said. But his ministry in San Diego is over.

A call to the U.S. regional superior of the Apostles of Jesus went unanswered Monday.

Awongo was ordained in 1990 in his native Uganda. He has a degree in business administration, holds a Ph.D in theology and speaks five languages: Swahili, Italian, Spanish, German and English.

At St. Johns, he was known for his insights into St. Pauls epistles.

Vicar general of his order from 2002 through 2008, Awongo came to the U.S. in 2014, briefly serving as associate pastor at Vistas St. Francis of Assisi and as a chaplain at Tri-City Medical Center. In January 2015, he was attached to St. Mary in El Centro, moving to St. Johns in July 2015.

In McElroys statement, the allegations against Awongo are described only as aggressive advances.

The review board examined more detailed information, Eckery said, and found the stories believable.

There is no reason to sully someones reputation unless you believe it is credible, he said. You take seriously these kinds of allegations.

Church officials urge anyone with information about these allegations to call Lisa Petronis, the diocesan victims assistance coordinator, at (858) 490-8353.

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.Philadelphia, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/18/2018 -- Brennan and Company CPA, PC, the premier provider of financial consulting services in Philadelphia, has been selected for the 2018 Best of Philadelphia Award in the Certified Public Accountant category by the Philadelphia Award Program.



Each year, the Philadelphia Award Program identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community. These exceptional companies help make the Philadelphia area a great place to live, work, and play.



Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2018 Philadelphia Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Philadelphia Award Program, and by data provided by third parties.



More about Brennan and Company CPA, PC:



Providing accounting, attestation, and tax services for small businesses through Southeastern Pennsylvania since 1996, Brennan and Company CPA, PC is committed to helping clients effectively manage their finances. With a risk-averse approach to financial decisions, the company offers responsible tax guidance and direction, all with a dedication to integrity, security, and privacy.



For more information on Brennan and Company CPA, PC, please visit http://brennanandcompanycpa.com/.



About The Philadelphia Award Program

The Philadelphia Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Philadelphia area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.



The Philadelphia Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in the community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations, and other business advertising and marketing groups. The organization's mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy.Lewes, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/17/2018 -- China's economic growth has recently weakened despite showing no such trend in most of 2018. It is projected to decline in 2019-20 due to the weakening of industrial production, profits and revenues. Foreign trade flows will lose some momentum following the escalation of trade tensions with major importers like USA. The slowdown of activity also reflects the cutback of infrastructure investment by China, as local government debt has been subject to greater scrutiny, though it could rebound following the recent acceleration of debt issuance and announcement of new projects.



China's is easing monetary conditions to support it's economic activity. The escalation of trade tensions resulted in a fall of the exchange rate, which was halted by government interventions, and a decline in stock prices.



Goods exports and imports is expected to slow down, though import tariff cuts recently introduced by China and an increased VAT refund on exported products will mitigate the impact of trade tensions. Round tripping of exports destined to the USA market through third countries is not affected by tariff hikes and is already picking up. Also surging overseas tourism is expected to reduce the current account surplus.



China's trade frictions are expected to disproportionately affect smaller firms that are less able to maintain profit margins to accommodate the tariff hikes and some geographical regions that are more reliant on exports for their growth.



In World Bank's ease of doing business ranking Australia was ranked 46 out of 190 countries in 2018. China's ease of doing business ranking improved from 78th position in 2017.



China, an ancient, mysterious and beautiful land, is always appealing to adventurous foreign visitors China, officially the People's Republic of China, is a sovereign state located in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of over 1.38 billion. The PRC is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party, with its seat of government in the capital city of Beijing. It exercises jurisdiction over twenty two provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities, such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing, and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions, such as Hong Kong and Macau.



China had estimated population of 1382.71 million in the year 2016 and expected to reach 1432.26 million by 2022. China's unemployment rate was 4.02% of total labor force in the same year. China's real gross domestic product (GDP) was around CNY 74594.98 billions in 2016 whereas the nominal GDP was CNY 74539.62 billions. This resulted in GDP deflator 99.926. Per capita GDP was estimated at USD 8113.26 whereas purchasing power parity (PPP) based per capita GDP was estimated to be at USD 21291.77.



In 2016, Chinese government's revenue was CNY 21042.65 billions whereas the expenditure was CNY 23818.14 billions. This resulted Chinese government's net lending / borrowing negative at CNY 2775.49 billion in 2016 indicating that enough financial resources were not made available by the government to boost economic growth.



The current account balance for China was estimated to be at USD 196.38 billions for the year 2016 and is expected to decrease at a CAGR of 8.10% and reach USD 168.442 by 2022.



Scope of China  PESTLE Analysis and Macroeconomic Trends Report

- This report provides information about key macroeconomic indicators for China.

- This report provides PESTLE (political, economic, social, technological,legal and environmental) analysis for China.



For more information and to purchase China PESTLE Analysis & Macroeconomic Trends Market Research Report please visit: https://www.marketresearchreports.com/market-research-reports-inc/china-pestle-analysis-macroeconomic-trends-market-research-report



For more information and Other PESTLE Analysis Market Research Report please visit: https://www.marketresearchreports.com/pestle-analysis



About MarketResearchReprots.com

MarketResearchReprots.com is world's largest store offering quality market research, SWOT analysis, competitive intelligence and industry reports. We help Fortune 500 to Start-Ups with the latest market research reports on global markets which comprise key industries, leading market players, new products and latest industry analysis & trends.



Contact us for your market research requirements: http://www.marketresearchreports.com/contactLewes, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/17/2018 -- France's economic growth is expected to remain at 1.06% in 2019 before coming down to 1.50% in 2020. Business investment in France is expected to improve despite lowing external demand due to favourable financing conditions and business tax cuts. Job creation in France is expected to improve due to lower labour taxes, a more flexible labour market and improved training opportunities, notably for low-skilled workers, supporting household consumption.



In World Bank's ease of doing business ranking France was ranked 32 out of 190 countries in 2018. France's ease of doing business ranking slipped from 31st position in 2017.



France is the largest country in the EU, stretching from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. The landscape is diverse, with mountains in the east and south, including the Alpine peak of Mont Blanc (4 810 m) which is Western Europe's highest point. Lowland France consists of four river basins, the Seine in the north, the Loire and the Garonne flowing westwards and the Rhone, which flows from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean Sea.



France had population of 64.605 million in the year 2016 and expected to reach 66.399 million by 2022. France's 25.092% population was employed in 2016 and the unemployment rate was 10.042% of total labor force.



France's real gross domestic product (GDP) was around Euro 2120.39 billions in 2016 whereas the nominal GDP was Euro 2225.92 billions. This resulted in GDP deflator 104.977. Per capita GDP was estimated at USD 38127.65 whereas purchasing power parity (PPP) based per capita GDP was estimated to be at USD 42313.99.The output gap for France in 2016 was negative at 2.185% of the potential GDP.



In 2016, France government's revenue was Euro 1184.41 billions whereas the expenditure was Euro 1257.41 billions. This resulted France government's net lending / borrowing negative at Euro 72.997 billion in 2016 indicating that enough financial resources were not made available by the government to boost economic growth.



The current account balance for France was negative at USD 26.864 billions for the year 2016 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 215.22% and reach USD 13.026 by 2022. In future France's current deficit is expected to improve allowing France to lend money to other countries.



Scope of France  PESTLE Analysis and Macroeconomic Trends Report

- This report provides information about key macroeconomic indicators for France.

- This report provides PESTELE (political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal) analysis for France.



For more information and to purchase France PESTLE Analysis & Macroeconomic Trends Market Research Report please visit: https://www.marketresearchreports.com/market-research-reports-inc/france-pestle-analysis-macroeconomic-trends-market-research-report



For more information and Other PESTLE Analysis Market Research Report please visit: https://www.marketresearchreports.com/pestle-analysis



About MarketResearchReprots.com

MarketResearchReprots.com is world's largest store offering quality market research, SWOT analysis, competitive intelligence and industry reports. We help Fortune 500 to Start-Ups with the latest market research reports on global markets which comprise key industries, leading market players, new products and latest industry analysis & trends.



Contact us for your market research requirements: http://www.marketresearchreports.com/contactValley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/17/2018 -- Several countries across the world are either already facing or will face a demographic disaster in the near future. They will undergo severe socio-economic pressures due to a rapidly ageing population with not enough children being born to replace the workforce. This is particularly true in North America, Europe, Russia, South Korea & Japan. According to a government report compiled in Japan in 2012, 22% of the country is 65 or older and this is expected to rise to nearly 40% by 2060. In 2010, Japan had 30 million elderly individuals in old-age homes, but a serious dearth of caregivers to assist them. These countries are the mean reason that the eldercare-assistive robot market has come into existence. Over the past few years, eldercare-assistive robot R&D has become much cheaper, giving rise to helpers with more functionality & a cheaper price. It has also gained wider acceptance not only in Japan but also in the western nations.



Eldercare-Assistive Robots Market Drivers



The ageing population in developed countries is the main driver for the eldercare-assistive robot market. According to U.N data, the global over-65 population will grow by 181% and they will account for nearly 16% of the population by 2050. Caring for these individuals will be an enormous physical, mental & emotional undertaking. There will be a tremendous shortage of qualified & willing medical personnel for this. Eldercare-assistive robots have the potential to serve this demographic exceptionally well. They can use camera sensors to supervise the senior citizen, ensure that they take their prescribed medication at the right time & also prevent them from falling & injuring themselves. Another factor is the individualistic societies in western countries, as opposed to collective Asian ones. People prefer to live on their own as much as possible. Even in old age, they prefer the privacy, comfort & security of their own homes over that of an institutional caregiver like an old-age home. To address these requirements, eldercare-assistive robots can come in handy. Not only will they fulfil the role of medical practitioner, but they can also provide human-like companionship to the patient. They will be able to enhance the health & psychological well-being of the elderly in several ways. By reminding them off daily tasks & other important information, they could help dementia patients. With informal chit-chat, they might keep a senior citizen's mind sharp, reducing the probability of clinical depression, or Alzheimer's disease. Robots could also act as telepresence machines, bridging the gap between doctors and their elderly patients. These individuals might not always be able to travel to the hospital to seek treatment, & frequent nurse visits are also very costly. The doctor could check in with their patients through the robot's screen, even control the machine for simple tasks. These are some of the factors helping the eldercare-assistive robot market.



Get Sample Copy of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2409



Eldercare-Assistive Robots Market Restraints



There are a few challenges faced by the eldercare-assistive robot market. These robots must be able to manage & cope with more uncertain environments than industrial robots. This makes it a challenge to build safe & certified ones. Another issue might be human opposition. Either the elderly individual, their family or both might not be comfortable with the idea of a robot playing a caregiver role. Older people, in particular, might be very resistant to adopting high-tech equipment like eldercare-assistive robots to simplify their lives. Cost can also be a major restraint. While the price of these assistive robots has dropped over the last decade, they still cost thousands of dollars each. People from lower income or middle-class families might not see the benefit in adopting them as much. Even with many advances made in the eldercare-assistive robot market, it is estimated that it will be several decades before full assistive robotic care is possible.



Eldercare-Assistive Robots Market Key Regions



The main eldercare assistive robot markets are those regions which have an ageing population, i.e. North America (barring Mexico), the E.U, Japan, and China & South Korea. Japan is the largest eldercare-assistive robot market since it has the most rapidly ageing population along with very low immigration & birth rates. It also has several domestic players involved in making assistive robots. North America has also slowly but surely begun to warm up to the eldercare-assistive robot market.



Read Comprehensive Overview with TOC of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2409



Eldercare-Assistive Robots Market Key Market Players



Some of the companies involved in the eldercare-assistive robot market are Paro Robots, Aldebaran, Togo Seisakusyo Corporation, and Hasbro.This Page Is Under Construction - Coming Soon!

Why am I seeing this 'Under Construction' page?Guest of honor Chee Hong Tat

Among the nearly 500 guests representing government, travel agents and business partners, notable attendees included guest of honor Chee Hong Tat, senior minister of state for trade and industry and education. The Genting delegation was led by Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, chairman and CEO, and Colin Au, group president.

Founded a quarter of a century ago as Star Cruises, Genting Cruise Lines has been key to establishing ASEAN as an important cruise region and introducing innovative ships designed for the more relaxed Asian cruise market.

6.5m passengers on 7,500 calls in Singapore

Over 25 years, the company has carried more than 6.5m passengers during more than 7,500 ship calls in Singapore. In the last 12 months, Genting Dream, the only ship on a year-round deployment in the city, welcomed about 400,000 cruisers. Sixty percent of those were tourists, not local residents, helping Singapore become the port with the greatest number of international cruise passengers in Asia. With the majority of passengers flying to Singapore to embark, the city has benefited in terms of airlines, airport, hotels and shops since visitors normally stay before or after their cruise.

'Genting Cruise Lines is honored to have played a part in the evolution of Singapore to become one of the leading cruise hubs in Asia and we remain committed to the future growth of the city and the ASEAN region to become one of the most important and vibrant cruise regions in the world,' Lim said.

Joint marketing

The cruise business is one of the key pillars of Singapores tourism strategy, Chee Hong Tat said. In the area of marketing and promotion, the Singapore Tourism Board, Changi Airport Group and Genting Cruise Lines embarked on a S$28m collaboration in 2017 to promote Genting Dreams Singapore sailings. The three-year partnership, he added, is expected to bring in 600,000 overseas visitors and more than S$250m in tourism receipts.

With the completion of Marina Bay Cruise Centre in Singapore and China's policy of promoting cruising, Genting Cruise Lines ordered two 150,000gt ships for delivery in 2016 and 2017 to create Dream Cruises, catering to Asia's growing premium segment. Genting Dream and World Dream also have an all-inclusive luxury enclave, The Palace, with 140 suites and private amenities including a swimming pool, restaurants, gym and other facilities. Passengers in The Palace get butler service and refined Asian dining with an included menu of herbal soups, seafood, bird nest and other delicacies, along with Western luxury items like caviar and wine.

The acquisition of Crystal Cruises in 2015 also helped Genting Hong Kong capitalize on the growing demand for luxury cruising. Significant investment by Genting has driven a brand expansion including expedition yachts, river vessels and Crystal Luxury Air.

First Contemporary-class ship for Star in 2023

Genting Cruise Lines acquired shipyards in Germany, where MV Werften is building for its three brands. Endeavor-class expedition ships of 19,800gt will be delivered in 2020 and 2021, the first in a series of 200,000gt Global-class ships for Dream Cruises in 2021, a first 67,000gt Diamond-class ship for Crystal Cruises in 2022 and the first Contemporary-class ship for Star Cruises in 2023.

Genting earlier announced it would build a new series for Star but had not indicated a delivery date until now.

Accommodating up to 9,500 passengers, Dream Cruises Global class will be the world's largest cruise ships by passenger capacity and will consist of mainly large, family-friendly cabins with two bathrooms, bringing affordable cruising to mainstream travelers while also retaining The Palace luxury enclave, with 150 suites.

Details on Crystal's Diamond-class ship and the Contemporary-class vessel for Star are awaited.

'The last 25 years have passed quickly and we are looking forward to our next 25 years to provide our cruise option to the 150 million Asian tourists who travel all over the world,' Lim said. 'By the end of the next quarter century, we will have the most modern fleet in the world for our three cruise brands, offering the most variety of itineraries and destinations, providing best-in-class service and, most important of all, maintaining our uncompromising safety culture developed over the past 25 years.'Imagine being a gay or lesbian teenager thrown out of your home, living on the streets, finding out you're HIV positive, and trying to navigate the healthcare system your own. Or imagine being a homeless transgender teen getting jeered at by other patients in the waiting room of a community health clinic.

That was the reality for many of the clients served by the Ruth Ellis Center (REC) in Highland Park, says Mark Erwin-McCormick, director of development and advancement for the center.

The organization's drop-in center was already offering "low-barrier" access to food, showers, laundry facilities, recreation, and peer support. But when staff asked how they could better serve their clients, they found that the homeless LGBTQ youth they served were still facing significant barriers in accessing primary care services.

Youth at the Ruth Ellis Center wrote these descriptions of what the center means to them.

"We found out that not only were more than 90 percent not connected to primary care, about 40 percent were already living with HIV," Erwin-McCormick says. "When you don't have family support and you're experiencing identity-based rejection, it's really hard for a young person to navigate the healthcare system or enroll in Medicaid when you're 16 or 17."

Mark Erwin-McCormick.

REC staff responded by using private funding to add a health and wellness clinic to the ground floor of a building they were already using as a drop-in center. They also chose not to accept any federal funding, which would have required them to open the clinic to the broader community.

"The idea behind it was that we need this to be a safe space for LGBTQ young people," Erwin-McCormick says.

Dr. Maureen Connolly, the practitioner who works with homeless LGBTQ youth at REC, says she and other REC staff weren't sure how popular the health and wellness clinic would be, but the number of repeat visits by the same patients indicates it was sorely needed.

"I had a sense when we first started that these teens had so much going on in their life. Would they even have healthcare on their list of priorities? Was it something they want to make time for?" she says. "What we found was that if we make it accessible, yes, absolutely. They're concerned about their health and they follow up really well."

Dr. Maureen Connolly.REC is just one of many healthcare clinics around Michigan that are finding creative ways to address the social determinants of health and provide healthcare to Michigan's most vulnerable residents, the homeless.

Special health challenges for the homeless

Eric Hufnagel, executive director of the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness, says the organization's data from 2016 shows about 10 percent of homeless children and about 20 percent of homeless adults are dealing with some kind of long-term disability or chronic health issue, including physical illness, mental health issues, and substance use disorders.

Lacking insurance is a huge risk factor for falling into homelessness in the first place, and people who are homeless and uninsured experience higher mortality rates, he says.



Luckily, policy changes in recent years mean that most homeless adults and virtually all homeless children are covered by some type of insurance, usually Medicaid for minors. Unfortunately, insurance coverage alone doesn't solve the healthcare access issue.

Dr. Wendy Ringo, executive director of the Genesee Community Health Center (GCHC), says housing insecurity is at the root of many of the social determinants of health.

"If you're living on the streets or in shelters or you're couchsurfing, it's difficult to adhere to a blood pressure regime or have a refrigerator where you can make sure your insulin is cooled at a proper temperature," Ringo says.



Wendy Ringo.





Having a housing safety net is very important, Ringo says. If someone is putting all his or her energy into finding a stable home, health concerns will be put on the back burner. Once someone has housing, he or she will have time and energy to schedule a checkup or have a troublesome tooth examined.

As a woman experiencing homelessness in the Grand Rapids area, Maiya Copeland knows these challenges all too well. Copeland's 6-year-old daughter receives care at federally-qualified health center Cherry Health for allergies, breathing issues, and eczema. Copeland's daughter has a semi-permanent place to stay with friends, but Copeland copes with her lack of housing by staying with friends a few days a week and sleeping in her car the rest of the time.

When she was abruptly asked to leave her previous apartment, she had to hastily throw all her and her daughter's belongings into her car. It took Copeland some digging around to find her child's inhaler and eczema ointment. If her daughter's breathing issues worsen, the situation gets even more precarious.

"She has allergies, and they have her on a (nebulizer), and it's hard trying to keep that in a safe, cool area," Copeland says. "If she needs her breathing treatments, and she's living at somebody else's house, I have to hurry up and drive over there to help with that."

Copeland recently received a voucher for housing but was told there won't be an opening until November.

"My daughter's problems are worse in the wintertime," Copeland says. "Hopefully, this (housing opportunity) comes through, because I do not want to go through this in the wintertime."

Searching for successful strategies

Healthcare organizations across Michigan are implementing a variety of innovative strategies to make healthcare more accessible to Michigan's homeless. Most recently, GCHC bought a 16-passenger van and a smaller minivan to address transportation-related barriers to care. Transportation arrangements are integrated into the appointment-scheduling process, so a front desk staffer can set the appointment and arrange for transportation all at the same time.

Other GCHC strategies include offering ready-to-eat foods through a food pantry at every health clinic site, using social workers to assess clients' needs and connect them to other community resources, offering medicines to assist clients who want to stop drinking alcohol or using drugs, and using "geo-fencing" to send out smartphone alerts to people in a certain geographic area.

"We can send out specific messages to, say, around the bus depot, where we know a lot of homeless individuals are congregating," Ringo says. These alerts allow health center staff to send out the message that there's a free clothing giveaway or that the clinic is offering free flu shots.

Cherry Health CEO Tasha Blackmon says about 10,000 of the 80,000 clients Cherry Health served in 2017 were homeless. Of those 10,000, about 26 percent are under age 18, and 48 percent are people of color.



Cherry Health CEO Tasha Blackmon.

Cherry Health makes it a priority to establish clinics within walking distance of areas where potential clients congregate. They also co-locate many services, such as vision and dental exams, on one site so that clients don't have to drive to multiple locations for specialty care. Additionally, clients can pick up their medications in the same building where they were seen by the healthcare team.

Getting to the root of homelessness, in 2015 REC started a Family Preservation pilot program designed to help LGBTQ children and youth stay connected to their families so that they might not have to experience homelessness in the first place. The program trains Child Protective Services case managers to provide home-based family support services and identify abusive behaviors related to the child's identity and gender expression.

But for those who do experience homelessness and need help, there's an emphasis on colocation of services.

"We believe in bringing healthcare to these vulnerable people in a way that has not been done before, co-located with the drop-in center," Erwin-McCormick says. "The center has been there almost 20 years, and we've established a level of trust like nobody else."

The health and wellness center at REC doesn't only provide acute care and care for chronic illness but also provides "affirming care" for transgender youth, whether that's access to hormones or referrals for gender-affirming surgeries, a type of speciality care that isn't often included in a primary care health clinic setting.

Not just tolerated, but welcome

Beyond specific strategies and programs, many providers emphasize that homeless patients are sensitive to the attitudes of healthcare providers and community members.

At Cherry Health's Heart of the City center in downtown Grand Rapids, homeless folks are always sitting on benches around the health center and frequently come in to charge a cell phone or use the bathroom. They aren't just tolerated, but welcome, Blackmon says.

"It's important for us to treat people with dignity and respect, even if they're getting onto the elevator with you and talking to themselves," Blackmon says. "We don't want to be an organization that says you have to look or smell a certain way to be able to have access to quality, affordable healthcare. We want to meet you exactly where you are and provide interventions, if you want them, around food, housing, and healthcare. We're welcoming to all. We want to be a beacon."

Connolly says that although she witnesses hard things in her work, she wants people to know it's not all gloom and doom. She says she's impressed by the resiliency and creativity that her patients show in surviving and getting what they need.

"It can be sad and frustrating, because there's a lot that they're facing," Connolly says. "But what I see all day is people who understood who they are and are living their truth, their authentic lives, and that's more than you can say about a lot of people. There's a lot of positivity and community-building, and that's inspiring."



This article is part of the Culture of Health series about programs that foster a healthy, equitable culture in Wayne County. It is made possible with funding from Wayne County. Read more of the series here. It was originally published as part of State of Health, a series examining health disparities, how they affect Michigan's children and seniors, and the innovative solutions being developed to address them. It is made possible with funding from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund.

Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and editor in Ypsilanti Township. You may reach her at sarahrigg1@gmail.com.

Wendy Ringo photo by Mike Naddeo. Mark Erwin-McCormick photo courtesy of Mark Erwin-McCormick. Tasha Blackmon photo by Adam Bird. All other photos by Nick Hagen.Australian telco Telstra will join Southern Cross Cable Network's SX NEXT project as an anchor customer and take a quarter stake in the trans-Pacific underwater link operator.

Telstra will inject new equity for a 25 percent stake in Southern Cross Cables, joining Spark New Zealand, Singtel and Verizon Business in the operating company. It will also take substantial capacity on the existing cable and the new NEXT underwater link.

The US$300 million project will lay a new 12,250-kilometre cable to carry 72 terabits of traffic between Auckland, Sydney and Los Angeles. It's expected to be completed by the end of 2020 and will provide the lowest latency between Australasia and the US. Latency is a major component in 5G mobile technology, combining very low response times with ultrafast speeds. The expansion will be funded through a mix of capacity payments, equity injections, and finance.

Telstra last week invested A$386 million to secure radio spectrum to support its 5G roll-out in what it's flagged as an A$8 billion investment over five years to be Australia's leading 5G provider.

Today, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Telstra's enterprise division is mounting a major push into China, where it's the only foreign carrier with a licence to operate in and out of the Asian nation.

"This route is extremely important to our business as US to Australia traffic accounts for more than 80 percent of all the internet traffic to Australia," Telstra enterprise head Michael Ebeid said in a statement. "Southern Cross builds on Telstras existing footprint in Asia Pacific and creates a critical new path for Australia In and Australia Out connectivity."

Spark said Telstra's investment will dilute its stake in Southern Cross to about 37.5 percent. It will provide details once the financing arrangements for the NEXT project are finalised.

"Southern Cross NEXT will ensure that Southern Cross can continue to provide high-quality resilient connectivity to New Zealand, and serve our customers increasing demand for international capacity for decades to come," Spark's regulatory affairs general manager John Wesley-Smith said. "We welcome Telstra as a prospective shareholder alongside us in Southern Cross."

Spark this year said dividends from Southern Cross Cables will fall in 2019 as pre-purchased capacity from major users declines with the remaining life of the original network. In the June 2018 year, they contributed $50 million to Spark's earnings, down from $61 million a year earlier and $66 million in 2016.

New Zealand's biggest telecommunications company has adopted new accounting standards and is excluding contributions from Southern Cross Cables and other investments from its underlying earnings measure.

Spark shares fell 3 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $4.17 today, in line with a 0.6 percent decline on the S&P/NZX 50 index. Dual-listed Telstra was up 1 percent at $3.06 on the NZX.

(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:

Kiwi Property Group Limited (NZX: KPG) Signs Sale and Purchase Agreement with IKEA

2nd December 2021 Morning Report

The New Zealand Refining Company Limited (NZX: NZR) Launches Share Purchase Plan

Seeka Limited (NZX: SEK) Confirms Market Guidance

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (NZX: ANZ) Acknowledges Class Action Proceedings

1st December 2021 Morning Report

Livestock Improvement Corporation Limited (NZX: LIC) Appoints New Chief Executive

30th November 2021 Morning Report

Serko Limited (NZX: SKO) Announces Opening of NZ$10 Million Retail Offer

Rua Bioscience Limited (NZX: RUA) Rua to Accelerate Growth with Proposed Acquisition of Zalm

National grid operator Transpower has been referred to the electricity industrys Rulings Panel for its handling of a major power outage in the lower South Island last year.

The incident in March 2017 was caused when maintenance workers inadvertently shut the two main circuits supplying power from Clyde to Twizel. At the time, the only other supply north was also shut due to maintenance on the circuits between Livingstone and Naseby.

The shutdown triggered four major emergency systems to prevent a nation-wide cascade failure. Thousands of customers in the upper South Island were disconnected, as were some generators in the lower South Island. Load was also shed in the North Island as the high-voltage link between the two islands adjusted to the loss of generation.

Transpower, the Electricity Authority and the industrys Security and Reliability Council have reviewed the event during the past 21 months. Key concerns were how routine maintenance could have triggered such an event, but also why Transpower procedures were not followed when restoring generation and synchronising and reconnecting the two islanded grids that had resulted in the South Island.

Acting on the advice of an independent investigator, the Electricity Authority has referred Transpower in its role as system operator to the Rulings Panel on 12 potential breaches of the industry code. The state-owned company also faces four potential breaches in its role as owner of the grid.

Potential penalties include a warning, public reprimand or a fine of up to $200,000.

The alleged breaches are serious because they exposed connected generators to a high risk of asset damage, the Electricity Authority said today.

In the circumstances of such a major system event, it is important for the Rulings Panel to consider the application of the relevant code provisions to confirm responsibility and, if necessary, make pecuniary penalty orders to achieve better outcomes in the future.

While the shutdown lasted little over an hour, a key issue was the fact that Transpower staff reconnected the two parts of the South Island grid while incorrectly using the Autosync system  installed to help align voltage and frequency before such synchronisation efforts. Operators believed it was working when in fact it had to be manually enabled.

Transpower noted in a report in July that reconnecting the two islanded networks when their frequencies were significantly misaligned risked large instantaneous forces being applied to all the connected generators.

These forces attempt to immediately accelerate or decelerate the large heavy rotating mass of each connected generating unit. As a result, potential damage can be sustained by generating units.

No generator damage had been reported at that time, it said.

While the situation had been "very complex and fast-changing," Transpower identified a series of other weaknesses in its processes. They included: the initial failure to identify and isolate recently installed protection equipment at its Clyde switch yard; insufficient planning for the two outages in the area that day; poor communications with some participants during the emergency; and difficulty adapting its system software during such a major event.

It identified 13 remedial actions  many of which have been completed - including ensuring that engineers designing protection systems work with technicians to understand their on-going maintenance and testing requirements.

Another key action was a review of the companys Autosync tool, and improvements to its interface and the procedures for using it in order to assist operators when working under pressure.

(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:

Kiwi Property Group Limited (NZX: KPG) Signs Sale and Purchase Agreement with IKEA

2nd December 2021 Morning Report

The New Zealand Refining Company Limited (NZX: NZR) Launches Share Purchase Plan

Seeka Limited (NZX: SEK) Confirms Market Guidance

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (NZX: ANZ) Acknowledges Class Action Proceedings

1st December 2021 Morning Report

Livestock Improvement Corporation Limited (NZX: LIC) Appoints New Chief Executive

30th November 2021 Morning Report

Serko Limited (NZX: SKO) Announces Opening of NZ$10 Million Retail Offer

Rua Bioscience Limited (NZX: RUA) Rua to Accelerate Growth with Proposed Acquisition of Zalm

A key proxy analysis and recommendations firm widely used by New Zealand institutional investors is recommending that investors in Vital Healthcare Property Trust support resolutions put forward by three rebel institutions.

Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) advice directly contradicts the advice to unitholders of Vitals manager, Canada-based NorthWest Healthcare Properties Management. Vital invests in medical properties.

ISS is supporting the rebels view that the management structure of Vital creates a direct conflict of interest between NorthWest and Vitals investors and that NorthWests ability to fire at will is an unambiguous threat to the supposedly independent directors.

ISS also notes that the managers ability to unilaterally increase its management fees is a direct conflict of interest between NorthWest and Vital investors.

The three institutions, ACC, ANZ Investment Funds, and Mint Asset Management, which together own 10 percent of Vitals units, have proposed five resolutions at tomorrow's annual meeting aimed at removing these conflicts of interest and at giving Vitals investors more say in how their investment is managed.

NorthWest has caused Vital to co-invest in a 13.4 percent stake in ASX-listed Healthscope, with a view to buying some of its medical properties. It has borrowed $81 million from Vital in the process.

Since NorthWests management fees are based on Vitals gross assets, any purchases will increase NorthWests fees. The potential purchase of Healthscope properties by Vital highlights the need for urgent changes to the governance arrangements to manage this fundamental conflict and ensure a fair outcome for unitholders, ISS says.

The rebels fear NorthWest will have Vital pay too much for any Healthscope properties it buys, given that property prices are at or near the peak of the cycle and because there are rival parties eyeing Healthscope, setting up a bidding war.

Property giant Brookfields Capital Partners is currently conducting due diligence on Healthscope and that company has already repelled another suitor, a consortium led by AustralianSuper.

Another reason contributing to the rebel investors concerns is that Vital was already highly geared  its $670.1 million of drawn bank debt at June 30 took its gearing under its bank covenant to 38.7 percent, up from 29.3 percent a year earlier and NorthWest has committed it to more than $120 million of developments on sites Vital already owns.

ISS says NorthWests ability to fire the independent directors is an unambiguous threat which may potentially influence the behaviour of the independent directors, obstruct the exercise of their critical role and act as an impediment to recruit high-quality directors.

A week after former independent chair Graeme Horsley stepped down from the board on May 1 this year, NorthWest announced the Healthscope investment but kept investors in the dark about Vitals involvement until Vitals annual results were released in August.

Previously, the management companys chief executive, David Carr, had argued that any involvement by Vital wasnt material and therefore didnt need to be disclosed.

ISS says the fees NorthWest is charging Vitals investors are materially higher than those charged by other listed property vehicles and the lack of a tiered fee structure means that this differential will increase as the asset base growths.

It cites the fee structures of a number of other listed property vehicles including Goodman Property Trust, in which investors are charged 0.5 percent on the first $500 million of assets and falling to 0.4 percent thereafter. By contrast, Vitals investors are charged a flat 0.75 percent fee.

That analysis doesnt include NorthWests incentive and other fees which have allowed it to collect about $100 million in gross fees since it bought the management contract for $11.5 million in 2011.

Distributions to Vitals investors over that period have risen from 8.1 cents per unit to 8.56 cents.

For listed property vehicles with a tiered structure, the economies of scale that result from a larger portfolio are effectively shared with investors. In Vitals case, the flat fee structure means all of this benefit accrues to the manager, ISS says.

ISS is also recommending that Vitals investors support the director the rebels have proposed, Paul Mead, rather than vote for the director NorthWest has proposed, Graham Stuart.

It notes that Stuart has more than 30 years experience in senior executive and governance roles but that NorthWest is only allowing investors to choose one or the other director, despite the rebel investors pleading for the number of directors to be increased from five to six. Such an increase is allowed under Vitals governance documents.

Two of the current directors are NorthWest representatives, so even if the other directors were truly independent, NorthWest would still have disproportionate representation, controlling 40 percent of the board while owning a little under 25 percent of Vitals units.

Incidentally, that unitholding effectively gives NorthWest an iron grip on Vital since any vote to oust it as manager would need 75 percent of those voting to succeed and its holding makes that practically impossible.

Mead is also an experienced and well-regarded director and also has property, banking and finance experience, ISS says.

A vote for the election of Paul Mead is warranted, given that investors may only vote for one of the two director nominees and the institutional investor proponents of the non-binding proposals have provided a reasonable case to support those proposals.

As NorthWest has frequently noted, it wont be bound legally by the resolutions the rebels have proposed, even if a majority of investors support them.

(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:

Kiwi Property Group Limited (NZX: KPG) Signs Sale and Purchase Agreement with IKEA

2nd December 2021 Morning Report

The New Zealand Refining Company Limited (NZX: NZR) Launches Share Purchase Plan

Seeka Limited (NZX: SEK) Confirms Market Guidance

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (NZX: ANZ) Acknowledges Class Action Proceedings

1st December 2021 Morning Report

Livestock Improvement Corporation Limited (NZX: LIC) Appoints New Chief Executive

30th November 2021 Morning Report

Serko Limited (NZX: SKO) Announces Opening of NZ$10 Million Retail Offer

Rua Bioscience Limited (NZX: RUA) Rua to Accelerate Growth with Proposed Acquisition of Zalm

Reserve Bank chief economist John McDermott will be leaving the bank next year to join the economic research institute Motu as an executive director.

His departure comes a month after Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr set about creating a new senior leadership team. That saw McDermott accept the role of chief economist and a department head, as opposed to the assistant governor's role he held under the past two governors. The assistant governor and general manager of economics, financial markets and banking role is still to be appointed.

McDermott will remain the Reserve Banks head of economics department and chief economist until the end of February after the release of the February Monetary Policy Statement, the central bank said in a statement.

We wish John every success in his new role and thank him for the solid work and culture he leaves behind at the Bank, Orr said.

Motu said he will begin his executive directorship in early March 2019. He has been a Motu Associate since 2002.

At Motu he joins Arthur Grimes, who is a senior fellow. Grimes has also been RBNZ chief economist and was chair of the central bank's board.

Recruitment for a new RBNZ chief economist will begin in the New Year.

McDermott joined the central bank in 2007, heading its economic function and was assistant governor by 2008.

(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:

Kiwi Property Group Limited (NZX: KPG) Signs Sale and Purchase Agreement with IKEA

2nd December 2021 Morning Report

The New Zealand Refining Company Limited (NZX: NZR) Launches Share Purchase Plan

Seeka Limited (NZX: SEK) Confirms Market Guidance

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (NZX: ANZ) Acknowledges Class Action Proceedings

1st December 2021 Morning Report

Livestock Improvement Corporation Limited (NZX: LIC) Appoints New Chief Executive

30th November 2021 Morning Report

Serko Limited (NZX: SKO) Announces Opening of NZ$10 Million Retail Offer

Rua Bioscience Limited (NZX: RUA) Rua to Accelerate Growth with Proposed Acquisition of Zalm

The "very close relationship" between the government's exploration regulator and private security firm Thompson & Clark led the agency to become involved in surveillance activity involving two political parties - the Green and Mana parties, an inquiry for the State Services Commission found.

Releasing the report of an inquiry into the use of private security firms by government agencies during the past decade, State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes said it was "never acceptable for an agency to undertake targeted surveillance of a person just because they are lawfully exercising their democratic rights, including their right to freedom of expression, association and right to protest".

"That is an affront to democracy," said Hughes. He said he was asking the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to consider discontinuing 'Operation Exploration', which was set up in 2013 after legislation was passed making it an offence to be within 500 metres of offshore oil and gas infrastructure. The law was intended to stop protesters impeding the work of seismic survey ships and oil and gas recovery platforms.

MBIE's New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals unit had demonstrated "poor regulatory practice" by adopting an "uncritical" and "problematic" approach to surveillance of environmental activists, the inquiry led by Doug Martin of consultancy Martin Jenkins and Simon Mount QC concluded.

In particular, Operation Exploration's adoption of the concept of monitoring 'issues motivated groups' guided the design of enforcement activity "in a manner that was problematic".

Operation Exploration involved NZP&M, the New Zealand Police, Thompson & Clark and various private sector oil and gas companies involved in offshore Taranaki exploration and production.

A Minerals Exploration Joint Intelligence Group - MEJIG - was established "to consider intelligence and highlight activities that might potentially lead to interference with offshore petroleum and minerals exploration".

The MEJIG was under police leadership, but "the operating tempo of when that group met was often determined by Thompson & Clark", the investigation found.

In the course of participating in Operation Exploration, NZP&M uncritically accepted the labelling of the Green Party, represented in Parliament at the time, as what Thompson & Clark called an "issue-motivated group" for surveillance purposes, along with Greenpeace and other activist groups.

Greenpeace New Zealand's executive director Russel Norman, who was co-leader of the Green Party at the time, issued a statement condemning what he said was "Stasi-like" surveillance, referring to the pervasive surveillance of the lives of all citizens in pre-1990 Communist East Germany.

Greens co-leader Marama Davidson called the inquiry's findings a "wake up call".

We already know that big business has a heavy influence on politics through donations and corporate lobbying, but the collusion between government departments and private security firms with links to the oil and gas industry is a shock that must lead to culture change from the top down," she said.

The inquiry found that at least some of the information provided to the MEJIG had been gathered by surveillance undertaken by Thompson & Clark, "particularly surveillance of Greenpeace".

"It was clear to the inquiry that Thompson & Clark has undertaken significant and sustained surveillance of Greenpeace", including monitoring the training and state of readiness of the direct action groups that have long defined the global environmental activist movement's publicity activity. Norman was arrested in April last year and eventually discharged without conviction in September this year after protesting in the water within 500 metres of a seismic research vessel in April 2017.

The inquiry also noted that, compared to the close relationship with oil sector participants and with Thompson & Clark, NZP&M showed "limited evidence of any relationship" with environmental groups opposed to offshore exploration.

"It is with the benefit of hindsight that a failure to establish and maintain a relationship with diverse sector interests has been a misjudgement on MBIE's part," the inquiry found.

It found no evidence that David Smol, the MBIE chief executive at the time, had any relationship with Thompson & Clark "at all" and found that, judged individually, "the interactions between MBIE employees and Thompson & Clark were low-level and not sufficient to constitute a breach of the Code of Conduct".

However, the way Operation Exploration was set up was "more challenging".

"The enforcement approach enabled Thompson & Clark to embed itself as a crucial participant within the regulatory and enforcement function, despite the fact that they represented private economic interests," the report found.

In all, the inquiry looked into the use of private security consultants by 131 government agencies and found other breaches, including allowing Thompson & Clark access to New Zealand Transport Agency vehicle ownership records without effective oversight; secretly taping meetings relating to Canterbury earthquake victims' dealings with Southern Response, leading to a police complaint being laid by the SSC; and secondary employment undertaken by two ex-Ministry of Primary Industries employees for Thompson & Clark, which is now the subject of a Serious Fraud Office investigation.

"The inquiry uncovered system-wide failings across the public service, including a pattern of behaviour where public servants developed inappropriately close relationships with Thompson & Clark and some evidence of poorly managed relationships with other providers," said the SSC's Hughes. The commission had referred complaints about some of the security firm's practices to the police and the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority.

These included evidence of Thompson & Clark using an unlicensed private investigator, covertly attending and taping public meetings without disclosing their purpose or client, taping private or 'closed' meetings, and advising clients not to advise police of the source of inappropriately obtained information.

(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:

Kiwi Property Group Limited (NZX: KPG) Signs Sale and Purchase Agreement with IKEA

2nd December 2021 Morning Report

The New Zealand Refining Company Limited (NZX: NZR) Launches Share Purchase Plan

Seeka Limited (NZX: SEK) Confirms Market Guidance

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (NZX: ANZ) Acknowledges Class Action Proceedings

1st December 2021 Morning Report

Livestock Improvement Corporation Limited (NZX: LIC) Appoints New Chief Executive

30th November 2021 Morning Report

Serko Limited (NZX: SKO) Announces Opening of NZ$10 Million Retail Offer

Rua Bioscience Limited (NZX: RUA) Rua to Accelerate Growth with Proposed Acquisition of Zalm

Residential aged care and the tourism and hospitality sectors are at the front of the queue in offering to develop the local workforce in exchange for easier access to temporary migrant workers.

Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway today announced a number of changes to temporary work visas to create an employer-led framework and labour market tests. He wants the new system to make sure migrant workers are only used for genuine staff shortages and to raise the expectations on firms to hire and train more locals.

A consultation on the proposals is open for submissions until March 18. Among the changes is a proposal to negotiate agreements with specific sectors relying on low-skilled migrants. Employers would make commitments to take on more New Zealanders over time, reducing their reliance on migrant workers.

The three-year agreements would establish access to migrants setting out specific conditions for the employers. In return, those firms would have to commit to improving industry productivity, investing in training domestic workers, and/or raising conditions for staff.

"The aim is to create better jobs for New Zealanders and to incentivise changes that would increase productivity and reduce demand for lower-skilled workers in the sector, reducing the reliance on lower-skilled temporary migrant workers over time," Lees-Galloway said in a Cabinet paper.

He plans to start negotiations with the residential aged care and tourism and hospitality sectors in mid-2019, with an expectation to have agreements in effect by January 2020. That would be followed by negotiations with road and freight, and dairy farming sectors in 2020.

Galloway singled out hospitality as a sector that gamed elements of the system by describing lower-paid, less-essential supervisory roles as management-level jobs, which have easier access in the application process.

Other changes the minister is looking at include:

- a new gateway framework reducing the number of application pathways,

- replacing the 'essential skills in demand' list with a regional skills shortage list, and

- better aligning immigration with welfare and education systems.

Lees-Galloway anticipates the changes will place downward pressure on the number of employer-assisted temporary work visa applications, with a shift over time to higher-skilled jobs. The sector and regional tests will affect that pressure, and as many as 40,000 of the 47,000 visas approved in 2017/18 could face a tougher labour market test.

He estimates about 3,000 fewer lower-skilled and lower-paid migrants will be granted residence, although those who don't qualify will probably seek to stay in New Zealand on temporary visas.

Annual net migration has been falling from record highs in recent months, after being a major tailwind for economic growth at an aggregate level, if not on a per capita basis. Government figures last month showed net migration at 61,751 in October.

The Cabinet paper says the proposals support the coalition agreement between the Labour and NZ First parties in strengthening the labour market test to make sure migrants aren't doing jobs that locals can do, and for skills shortage lists to take account for regional needs.

NZ First immigration spokesman Clayton Mitchell said the announcement hit one of his party's longstanding policies to encourage immigration to places other than Auckland and the main centres.

"These regional skills shortage lists will inform migrants of the opportunities available in the regional areas which are desperately seeking extra labour," Mitchell said.

(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:

Kiwi Property Group Limited (NZX: KPG) Signs Sale and Purchase Agreement with IKEA

2nd December 2021 Morning Report

The New Zealand Refining Company Limited (NZX: NZR) Launches Share Purchase Plan

Seeka Limited (NZX: SEK) Confirms Market Guidance

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (NZX: ANZ) Acknowledges Class Action Proceedings

1st December 2021 Morning Report

Livestock Improvement Corporation Limited (NZX: LIC) Appoints New Chief Executive

30th November 2021 Morning Report

Serko Limited (NZX: SKO) Announces Opening of NZ$10 Million Retail Offer

Rua Bioscience Limited (NZX: RUA) Rua to Accelerate Growth with Proposed Acquisition of Zalm

The notice was given by BJP MPs Anurag Thakur, Nishikant Dubey, Dushyant Singh and Prahlad Joshi, accusing the Congress MP of "misleading" the House in a speech delivered in the lower house on July 20.

New Delhi: The BJP on Monday gave notices of privilege motion against Congress President Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha over the controversial Rafale fighter jet deal.

In his notice Thakur said that Rahul Gandhi had said that the UPA government agreed to purchase the aircraft at Rs 529 crore and Prime Minister Narendra Modi went France and "by magic the aircraft started costing Rs 1600 crore."

Thakur said that Rahul Gandhi's statement was untrue.

"The price comparison given by Rahul Gandhi is a figment of imagination, incorrect and utter falsehood. It was an attempt to mislead the House. By uttering falsehood before the House, Rahul Gandhi is guilty of breach of privilege," Thakur said in his notice.

During a debate on no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi had alleged that Defence Minister Nirmala Sithraman had lied to the country by claiming that India was bound by a secrecy clause in the Rafale fighter jet deal.

The Congress has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Rafale deal. The first week of the House was a washed out over the issue.In his notice, the MP accused Modi of deliberately "misleading" the apex court and the Parliament by presenting "wrong facts" about the fighter jet deal.

New Delhi: Congress MP K.C. Venugopal on Monday submitted a notice of breach of privilege against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly misleading the Supreme Court in Rafale fighter jet deal.

The notice was submitted to Lok Sabha Secretary General Snehlata Shrivastava.

"Under rule 222 or the rule of procedure of Lok Sabha, I submit to give a notice of breach of privilege against Narendra Modi ji for having deliberately misled the Supreme Court and the Parliament in connection with the recent judgment on the Rafale fighter jet deal," said the notice.

"It is clear now that to defend the controversial stand on the pricing details and guidelines of the defence deal, the government has presented wrong facts before the Supreme Court. And on that basis, the court made an assertion," it added.

Venugopal said the basis of Supreme Court verdict on the Rafale deal was based on report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), which in non-existent and not shared with Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament.

"This is a serious misrepresentation of the vital and significant fact to the Supreme Court. Thus, the government mislead the Supreme Court over the Rafale deal by placing wrong facts in the affidavit under oath, to hide their dubious role and also cast aspersion on Parliament."

Venugopal said that the judgement of the Supreme Court, as regards the pricing aspect, is based on the statement of the government that the CAG report had been examined by the PAC.

"If the CAG report is in fact available, the same ought to have been presented before the Parliament and it is the Parliament which should have referred the same to the PAC.

"Since the PM and the Ministry of Defence have told the Supreme Court that the CAG report is available and the same was shared with the PAC without placing the same before the Parliament, it amounts to breach of privilege," Venugopal said in his notice.

The Supreme Court had last week dismissed four petitions seeking court-monitored probe into the purchase of 36 Rafale jet fighters in ready-to-fly condition, holding that the decision-making process is not in doubt and that it cannot go into the question of pricing and choice of Indian offset partner by the French manufacturer Dassault.New Delhi: External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj held talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark Anders Samuelsen on Monday after the two leaders attended the second session of the India-Denmark Joint Commission Meeting (JCM).

Swaraj and her Danish counterpart took stock of ties and identified cooperation in renewable energy, agriculture, food processing, shipping, Smart Cities, digitisation and culture.: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost more than 70% of assembly constituencies where Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned during recent five-state assembly elections--Madhya Pradesh (MP), Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram--according to an IndiaSpend analysis of electoral data.

Modi spoke and campaigned at 30 places across 80 constituencies, of which the BJP won 23 and lost 57.

In MP and Rajasthan, where the PM held more than 70% (22 rallies) of his rallies, the BJP managed to win 22 out of 54 seats (41%).

In Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram, the BJP won just one of 26 constituencies, across which Modi held eight rallies.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath emerged as a lead campaigner for the BJP in the Hindi heartland states (MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh) and Telangana, Livemint reported on November 27, 2018.

Adityanath addressed 58 rallies across these four states, where the BJP won 27 seats and lost 42, our analysis showed.

Adityanath fared slightly better than Modi with a winning percentage of 39.13% compared to Modis 28.75%.

In MP and Rajasthan, after 27 public rallies addressed by Adityanath, the BJP won 21 of 37 constituencies.

In Chhattisgarh, the BJP won five of 23 seats where Adityanath held 23 public meetings.

(Alphonso, a post-graduate diploma holder in journalism from St Pauls Institute of Communication Education, Mumbai, is an intern with IndiaSpend.)

An Indiaspend story.



(Indiaspend.org is a data-driven, public-interest journalism non-profit. FactChecker.in is fact-checking initiative, scrutinising for veracity and context statements made by individuals and organisations in public life.)GSAT-7A, built by ISRO, will provide communication capability to users in Ku-band over the Indian region, the space agency said in a release.

: Preparations are on for the launch of the country's 35th communication satellite GSAT-7A onboard the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle GSLV-F11 on December 19, the Indian Space Research Organisation said Monday.

The countdown for the launch ofthe satellite with a mission life of eight years will begin Tuesday at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, it said.

ISRO is all set to launch the communication satellite onboard GSLV-F11 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Wednesday, according to a release from the space agency.

The GSLV-F11 will inject GSAT-7A into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.

The satellite will be placed in its final Geostationary Orbit using the onboard propulsion system.

GSLV-F11 is ISRO's fourth generation launch vehicle with three stages.

The four liquid strap-ons and a solid rocket motor at the core form the first stage of the launch vehicle, while the second stage is equipped with high thrust engine using liquid fuel, the space agency said on its website.

The Cryogenic Upper Stage forms the third and final stage of the vehicle.Besides, security was also strengthened in other parts of the district, including at the Collectorate where a large number of police personnel had been posted, as a precautionary measure in view of the violent protests witnessed in May this year demanding closure of the plant.

: Security has been tightened around the Sterlite Copper plant following information that attempts were on by some outfits to organise a major protest in the backdrop of the NGT setting aside a Tamil Nadu government order permanently closing it,officials said Monday.

Thirteen people were killed in police firing on May 22-23 after the 99-day long protest by the locals against Sterlite turned violent and government properties came under attack. The protesters were demanding closure of the plant citing pollution concerns.

While the Tamil Nadu government had on May 28 ordered permanent closure of the plant in the wake of the protests, the National Green Tribunal on Saturday set it aside, allowing an appeal by the Sterlite.

The state government has said it would file an appeal in the Supreme Court against the NGT order even as opposition parties attacked it for "negligent" handling of the issue.

An official on Monday said there was information that some religious and political outfits were trying to coordinate and organise a major agitation here against Sterlite."Let us not break faith with the British people by trying to stage another referendum," she will tell parliament, according to extracts from her speech released by Downing Street.

: British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday warned MPs against supporting a second Brexit referendum, as calls mount for a public vote to break the political impasse over the deal she has struck with the EU.

"Anther vote... would do irreparable damage to the integrity of our politics," May will say, adding that a second vote "would likely leave us no further forward".

Britain voted to leave the European Union in a shock referendum in 2016 and is set to leave on March 29 next year, although the prime minister is struggling to persuade parliament to accept a divorce agreement she struck last month.

May has said she is engaged in talks with the EU to seek "assurances" about the Brexit deal, but European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas on Monday said "no further meetings with the United Kingdom are foreseen".

The draft deal was agreed only after tortuous talks in Brussels that began in March last year and EU leaders have ruled out any renegotiation, while the British economy has been languishing due to uncertainty over Brexit.

May last week survived a confidence vote initiated by members of her own Conservative Party because of her Brexit strategy, but she is badly weakened after a third of her parliamentary party voted to be rid of her.

In the face of calls for a second referendum to resolve the impasse, she has argued that this would betray the 2016 result and undermine public confidence in politics.

The issue provoked an extraordinary public clash on Sunday between May and former prime minister Tony Blair, a leading supporter of continued EU membership and holding another poll.

May accused Blair of insulting voters and trying to undermine her government by meeting officials in Brussels.Page Content

PHILIPSBURG

 On Friday afternoon December 14th, Prime Minister Leona Romeo Marlin joined the many supporters K1 Britannia by donating to their 5th annual Christmas Angels program.

I would like to encourage as many persons as possible in the community to donate to this worthy cause and share in the Christmas spirit of giving back said Prime Minister Romeo-Marlin. K1 Britannia are hosting the Christmas Angels program at the entrance of the Government Building on Soualuiga Road #1, in Philipsburg from Friday December 14th until Sunday December 16th, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.

Person that contribute to this worthy cause will be grateful to know that their funds will go towards a number of organizations on Sint Maarten including the clients of Sister Basilia Center and the boys and girls at the I Can and UJIMA foster homes.System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe35dc290)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe3791f60)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe35dc290)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe3791f60)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe3cd1688)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe3791f60)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe3791f60)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fc3ad66d0)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe38145c8)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe38145c8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe3d29020)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe3f66648)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe3d29020)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe3f66648)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe3b8cef0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe3f66648)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe3f66648)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd472e508)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe3f66618)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe3f66618)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0War hero or murderer? Trump weighs in on military case



Washington, Dec 18 (AFP) Dec 18, 2018



A decorated officer in an elite US Army unit killed an unarmed Taliban suspect in Afghanistan. Of that, there appears to be no doubt.

What is less certain is whether Major Matt Golsteyn, who has admitted to the killing, should be considered a cold-blooded killer or a war hero.

The Army last week charged Golsteyn, a Green Beret special operations reservist, with premeditated murder in the shooting death of an alleged Taliban bomb-maker in volatile Helmand province in 2010.

Though highly unlikely, he could ultimately face the death penalty.

Golsteyn's case on Sunday was suddenly thrust into the spotlight, when President Donald Trump suggested he might intervene in the long-running legal saga.

"At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a 'U.S. Military hero,' Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder," Trump said on Twitter, having apparently seen a sympathetic segment about the case on Fox News.

"He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a Terrorist bomb maker while overseas," Trump wrote.

Army investigators looked into Golsteyn in 2011 after he took a lie-detector test as part of a job interview with the CIA.

He reportedly told agents he had killed an unarmed, suspected bomb-maker detained by his unit, who he believed was responsible for the deaths of two Marines who had died in a roadside bombing.

According to court document excerpts, Golsteyn worried that the suspect, who he was unable to detain for more than 24 hours, might make more bombs and kill an Afghan tribal leader who had identified him.

Investigators have said Golsteyn and another soldier eventually took the suspect back to his house and killed him.



- 'Unlawful command influence' -



Legal observers pounced on Trump's tweet, saying it could have a chilling effect on the prosecution and could amount to "unlawful command influence."

As the commander-in-chief of the US military, Trump can technically take whatever action he likes in the prosecution of a service member, including issuing a full and pre-emptive pardon.

But "he shouldn't be tweeting about it," said Rachel VanLandingham, a former military prosecutor and law professor at Southwestern Law School, "as it sure seems to be a signal to lower-level commanders not to prosecute."

"The president is not ensuring justice by his tweet. He is most likely obstructing it," she told AFP.

Golsteyn was stripped of a medal and given other reprimands following the 2011 probe, but he was not criminally prosecuted.

Then in 2016, during an interview on Fox News, he said he had killed an Afghan man, prompting the Army to re-open the case.

Golsteyn's attorney Phillip Stackhouse could not be reached for comment, but he told Fox the Army had sought initially to build a fake narrative in which his client "released this Taliban bomb-maker, walked him back to the house... and assassinated him in his house."

As to why Golsteyn is being charged now, Stackhouse said: "The prosecutor in this case has intimated to me that they have new evidence."



- Why prosecute? -



David "Bull" Gurfein, who runs United American Patriots, which is helping pay for Golsteyn's defense, blasted the prosecution.

"Right now we have rules of engagement that are actually in favor of our enemies, as opposed to providing our warriors the ability to address real-world threats," Gurfein told AFP.

Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter last week wrote to Trump asking him to look into Golsteyn's case.

"He is not a murderer," Hunter wrote.

"He is an elite warrior that was executing the mission he was trained to do. He engaged an Afghan bomb-maker, who had built the bomb that was responsible for the death of two Marines only days prior."

But VanLandingham noted that the Army has a legal duty to investigate war crimes allegations.

"If the major admitted to others that he killed a detainee in US custody, other than in self-defense, that's one of the most straightforward and long-standing war crimes there is, and the Army was legally bound to investigate," she said.

"President Trump as commander-in-chief likewise has a legal duty to ensure war crime allegations are investigated and appropriately prosecuted, a duty his tweet seems to show he fails to understand."

Military authorities have, to varying degrees of success, prosecuted dozens of cases against US troops accused of unlawful killings or prisoner abuse in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In some cases, military jury members are willing to grant wide latitude to defendants, whose alleged wrongdoings occurred while fighting a deadly insurgency under frequently shifting rules of engagement.

Trump has intervened in at least one other military case, when as a candidate he branded as a "traitor" Bowe Bergdahl, a US soldier and former Taliban captive.Iraq okays 3 new ministers, deadlocked over interior, defence



Baghdad, Dec 18 (AFP) Dec 18, 2018



Iraq's parliament approved three new ministers Tuesday but broke up before voting on the five remaining posts, leaving the deadlock over several key ministries unresolved.

The brief session brings to 17 the number of filled posts in Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi's 22-ministry cabinet. The other 14 were approved by parliament in late October.

New Higher Education Minister Qusay al-Suheil, 53, is a member of former premier Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law bloc.

Planning Minister Nuri al-Dulaimi, 51, is an Iraqi Islamic Party member while Minister of Culture Abdulamir Al-Hamdani, a 51-year-old archaeologist, is backed by pro-Iran force Asaib Ahl al-Haq.

After the speedy vote, legislators adjourned their session to Thursday afternoon.

The five empty posts include the powerful ministers of defence and interior, seen as the primary stumbling blocks to a full cabinet.

Abdel Mahdi has proposed Faysal al-Jarba and Faleh al-Fayyadh as ministers of defence and interior respectively, both backed by parties close to Iran.

But rival Sunni political parties are deeply divided over Jarba.

Saeroon, the coalition headed by populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the largest bloc in parliament, is fiercely opposed to Fayyadh's nomination.

Last week, he told journalists the ongoing dispute over the unfilled ministries was "not his decision."

"We were free to choose eight or nine ministers, and the rest are the results of political agreements," he said.

"When it comes to the interior and defence, these were the choices of the political blocs, not of the premier."

As government formation drags on, observers have wondered whether Abdel Mahdi could step down, further destabilising a country struggling to rebuild after three years of fighting against the Islamic State group.Nigerian soldier killed in latest Boko Haram attack



Kano, Nigeria, Dec 18 (AFP) Dec 18, 2018



Boko Haram jihadists killed one soldier and injured another in an attack on a military base in Nigeria's northeast Borno state, the latest attack in the region, military sources said Tuesday.

Jihadists in four trucks fitted with anti-aircraft guns stormed the base in Mairari village close to the garrison town of Monguno on Monday briefly seizing it, said the sources who asked not to be identified.

One source said "soldiers were dislodged from the base and some military equipment damaged" in the attack.

"One soldier was killed, one wounded and others missing in action. Search ongoing to recover the missing ones," he added.

The base was recaptured after reinforcements arrived from Monguno, 10 kilometres (six miles) away.

On Monday, a Boko Haram faction loyal to long-time leader Abubakar Shekau released pictures of an attack on a village near the Borno state capital Maiduguri, according to SITE intelligence which monitors jihadist activities.

The village was burned down, sending residents fleeing into the city.

The military said Monday troops repelled the attack in which a soldier and four insurgents were killed.

Boko Haram jihadists have recently intensified attacks on military bases in the northeast, killing scores of troops.

More than 27,000 people have died since the start of the insurgency in the remote northeast in 2009 and 1.8 million have been made homeless.German court jails far-right activist who sold arms online



Berlin, Dec 18 (AFP) Dec 18, 2018



A German court Tuesday sentenced a far-right activist to jail after he illegally sold guns online from Hungary urging potential buyers to defend themselves against immigrants.

Mario Roensch, 35, who was arrested in Budapest in 2016 on a European arrest warrant, received a term of two years and 10 months.

Because he can still appeal the verdict, he was allowed to leave the court but will have to regularly report to police.

Roensch in 2016 set up several websites labelled "Migrantenschreck" (Migrants' fright) on which he urged buyers to "arm themselves against refugees".

He sold 167 of the permit-requiring firearms which fire high-velocity rubber bullets that can hurt or even kill, earning almost 100,000 euros ($113,000), which were confiscated.

Roensch admitted to the internet sales but claimed ignorance he had broken German law and voiced no contrition or regret, the court found.

The judge pointed out that Roensch had advertised the weapons as capable of "taking down asylum seekers", a "seditious" sales pitch that took advantage of racist sentiments "in a particularly insidious way".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.English17/12/2018

DODIK: SUPPORT TO EU PATH, NO CONSENSUS ON NATO

SARAJEVO, December 17 /SRNA/ - BiH Presidency Chairman Milorad Dodik stated today in a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan that there is a consensus in the Presidency on European path, but no consensus on NATO.



Dodik has stressed that concerning this issue, Republika Srpska is not ready to go on, bearing in mind the Resolution on military neutrality of the Republika Srpska National Assembly.



He has said that in a meeting with BiH Presidency members, Sullivan passed a message of support to the Dayton Agreement, the European path of BiH and the path to NATO.



The meeting was attended by members of the BiH Presidency, Sefik Dzaferovic and Zeljko Komsic. /end/vos'ASIAN' = MUSLIM 99% OF THE TIME





The politically correct term 'Asian' is used by the leftist UK media as a way to cast suspicion on a wider group of people and take some of the negative attention away from the group usually responsible for committing the heinous acts.

A perfect example would be the Muslim grooming gang epidemic which are constantly referred to by the press and authorities as 'Asian' grooming gangs.

It isn't people from China, Japan or any Far Eastern Asian place.

Nor is it Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists,Christians Etc....

They are Muslims!!!!New data from these statistics will be published on the home page of the Income distribution statistics.

Published: 18 December 2018

Income differentials grew in 2017

Statistics Finland's total statistics on income distribution show that income differentials grew in 2017 compared with the previous year. Real income increased in all income deciles, but more for those with high income than for those with medium and low income. The income level of the population's highest-income decile rose by 4.4 per cent in real terms from 2016 to 2017. The income of medium income earners (income deciles V to IX) increased by 1.3 per cent and the income of the four lowest income deciles by 1.2 per cent. The income level of the lowest-income decile grew by 2.2 per cent.

Change in average real income (%) by income decile from 2016 to 2017

Income decile: the population is arranged according to income and divided into ten equal parts, each of which has around half a million persons. The first (I) income decile is the lowest-income decile and the tenth (X) is the highest-income decile. Income concept: equivalent disposable monetary income (incl. realised capital gains) of household dwelling-unit, average per person. Equivalent income: the household-dwelling units income divided by its consumption units (modified OECD-scale).

In 2017, the Gini coefficient describing relative income differentials received the value 27.7, which was 0.5 percentage points higher than in the previous year and almost on level with 2010. Compared with 1995, the Gini coefficient has grown by around 5.5 percentage points. Most of this is caused by the fast growth of income differentials at the end of the 1990s. The income differentials have been at their lowest in the mid-1980s. The Gini coefficient gets the value 0 if everyone receives the same amount of income and 100 if one income earner receives all the income. The higher the Gini coefficient, the bigger the relative income differentials are.

Development of income inequality 19662017, Gini coefficient (%)

Persons belonging to the household-dwelling population, the household-dwelling unit's equivalent disposable monetary income (incl. realised capital gains). Sources: 1995 to 2017 Total statistics on income distribution; 1986 to 1995: Income distribution statistics (sample); 1966,1971,1976,1981 Household Budget Survey. The missing intervening years (1967 to 1985) have been linearly interpolated.

Source: Total statistics on income distribution, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Veli-Matti Tormalehto 029 551 3680

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

Updated 18.12.2018

Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Total statistics on income distribution [e-publication].

Income development by area 2017. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 2.12.2021].

Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tjkt/2017/01/tjkt_2017_01_2018-12-18_tie_001_en.html.    -          .        .          .           .               .   2-3 ...Andrew Rehfeld, president and chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, is leaving his position to become the 13th president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), the Jewish Light has learned. Rehfeld will begin his new appointment with HUC-JIR on April 1, and plans to stay at Federation until March 31.

Were extremely sad to see Andrew go, but we certainly understand what a great opportunity this is, said Gerry Greiman, chairman of the board of Federation. He will be in a position to have a major impact on the Jewish world both nationally and internationally. We certainly wish him well.

Rehfeld, 52, who began his tenure with Federation on Sept. 1, 2012, succeeds Rabbi Aaron Panken at HUC-JIR. Panken, 53, died in May when the small plane he was piloting crashed about 70 miles northwest of New York City. He had been president at HUC-JIR for four years.

The appointment of Rehfeld marks the first time in HUC-JIRs 143-year history that the institution is not led by a rabbi.

We are honored and delighted to welcome Andrew Rehfeld as our new President, said Joy G. Greenberg, chair of the HUC-JIR Presidential Search Committee. A distinguished academic and creative thought leader, Andrew is uniquely qualified intellectually, spiritually and professionally to lead the College-Institute in our mission to transform the Jewish community and the broader world. Andrew brings to HUC-JIR a passion for teaching and scholarship, as well as exemplary leadership skills that have set him apart as a dynamic visionary and community builder.

Prior to joining the Federation, Rehfeld was a tenured professor of political science at Washington University in St. Louis.

As HUC-JIR President, Rehfeld will lead the international institution of Jewish higher education and seminary for Reform Judaism, which has campuses in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem. HUC-JIR educates leaders to serve as rabbis, cantors, educators and nonprofit management professionals. The school also offers graduate programs to scholars and clergy of all faiths.

Rehfeld, who plans to reside in New York City with his wife, Dr. Miggie Greenberg, will also hold a tenured faculty position as professor of political thought. In addition to overseeing the four HUC-JIR campuses, he will manage an annual operating budget of more than $41 million, 36 full-time tenured faculty and an enrollment of about 400 full-time students and 800 part-time education students, graduate students, and undergraduate students at HUC-JIRs partner institutions, University of Southern California and Xavier University.







HUC-JIRs 4,000 alumni serve the Reform Movements 1.5 million members and nearly 900 congregations, representing the largest Jewish denomination in North America and the growing Progressive Movement in Israel and around the world.

While I am humbled and excited at this new opportunity, it will be difficult to leave the work we have been doing here in St. Louis, said Rehfeld. We have worked hard over the last seven years to reposition Federation and we have a great team. Were doing really impactful work both here and internationally.

Among the accomplishments he cited as being most proud of are implementing a more collaborative, bottom-up, community-focused engagement approach at Federation; championing the 2014 St. Louis Jewish community demographic study  the first in 20 years; collaborating with the Jewish Community Center to mount in October the Sababa Jewish Arts & Cultural Festival, which he hopes becomes a biennial event; and helping to establish the St. Louis Jewish Light as a free-subscription model.

Rehfeld also explained that what most appealed to him was how the HUC-JIR position merged his three worlds  academics and university life with Jewish communal leadership and his own commitment to liberal Judaism.

Not only wasnt I expecting this, but when they first contacted me I was not expecting this to pan out, he said. Every student who is trained at HUC is going to lead the pre-eminent institutions of Reform Judaism, which is the largest branch in North America and increasingly in Israel. The ability to have this kind of influence to shape Jewish professional life for the Jewish people internationally is too good an opportunity to pass up.

While praising Rehfeld as a visionary and transformative leader who has done a fantastic job here, Greiman said he believes Federation is now stronger than it has ever been.

We have a clear path and direction, he said. We will be looking for someone who can continue that direction and upward trajectory. We dont have any preconceived notions. Were not necessarily looking for a traditional Jewish communal leader nor are we ruling that out.

Greiman added that he expects to convene a committee to conduct a national search for Rehfelds successor after the first of the year. He said further announcements will be made in the coming weeks regarding the search and interim arrangements for Federations professional leadership.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.They were accused of being delinquents, alcoholics and psycopaths, "degenerate" women with a tendency to infidelity, divorce or lesbian relationships. Many of them couldn't read or write and ended up being obliged to sign their criminal records with a fingerprint. Nor did they have a chance to defend themselves in the military courts and summary proceedings against charges as ambiguous as 'rebellion' or 'attacks on public morality', although in reality it didn't much matter because in most cases the Franco regime had already found them guilty and sentenced them.

Thousands of women were jailed for simply being related to a suspected subversionist, or sometimes simply for having been in the wrong place at the wrong time. They didn't go down in history, but they lived through the Civil War and post-war period with the same amount of pain, contempt and bloodshed as the men. In Malaga, only a small plaque in what is now the Local Police headquarters, the former women's prison, recalls that muted horror.

For decades the Caseron de la Goleta was a men's jail, with just one or two cells reserved for women, until the building fell into such disrepair that it had to be closed and a new one built in 1933. The new provincial prison which, as the press of the time were keen to point out, had running water, was inaugurated on 2 February 1934. At that time, there were 291 men and four women prisoners.

Malaga MP Victoria Kent, who was director of the prison system, had introduced improvements because she was convinced of the need to reform Spanish jails with a more humanitarian focus. When the Civil War began, however, that situation changed radically.

In 1937, after the Francoists took control of the province, there were massive arrests and the old Caseron de la Goleta had to be brought into use as a women's jail despite its run-down state. Around 4,000 prisoners passed through the jail, according to research by professors Encarnacion Barranquero, Matilde Eiroa and Paloma Navarro. In the 1990s they were able to access the prisoners' case files, which are now closed under the data protection laws. Historian Victor Heredia recalls that overcrowding in the women's prison "resulted in infrahuman conditions because of the lack of space and hygiene, and as a result illnesses spread".

The repression against women was especially cruel in Malaga, home to writers and openly republican intellectuals such as Isabel Oyarzabal, Maria Zambrano and Victoria Kent herself, all of whom were well-known for calling for equality and high levels of independence until well into the 1930s.

Those advances regressed under the narrow Francoist morality, which demanded submission to masculine wishes, as reported in publications from the Women's Section of the Falange: "When your husband returns from work, offer to take his shoes off for him. Minimise any noise. If you have a hobby of some type, try not to bore him by talking about it. If you need to apply face cream or hair rollers, wait until he is asleep before doing so. If he feels the need to sleep, so be it. If he suggests intercourse, then consent humbly, bearing in mind that his satisfaction is more important than yours".

In the women's jails, the authorities obliged the prisoners to go to Mass and to christen their children, who were often imprisoned with them. The poor hygienic conditions and lack of food created a desperate situation: exhausted prisoners without sufficient resources to look after their children. Some of those children died behind bars.

The prison in Malaga was no exception. The women were served hard 'almortas' (seeds from a member of the pea family which was banned for human consumption in 1967 because of their high toxicity) and vegetables which had been neither washed nor peeled. Suffering from ulcers and stomach pains, the women protested: they organised a hunger strike and succeeded in getting the potatoes and some other vegetables washed. Another protest obtained them a second shower, although there was never hot water.

"Life there was horrible. There were only eight women when I arrived, but it quickly filled up. The food, the guards, the deaths of other prisoners, the interrogations, the punishment cells...there are so many things to be told," said Luisa, one of the witnesses quoted in the book written by Barranquero, Eiroa and Navarro after talking to several of these women.

"We were amazed by these interviews, so surprised at the women's strength. They had the conviction that they had done nothing wrong, only fight for freedom and social equality," says Eiroa.

Political affiliation

About 38 per cent of the prisoners had told the authorities they were married, 18 per cent widowed and more than 17 per cent single. The marital status of the remainder is unknown. This lack of information, say the researchers, could be because many women wanted to keep quiet about their relationships, maybe because they weren't married to their partners or because of their political affiliation. Most of the women in the jail in Malaga were aged between 21 and 40, although the repression extended to all age groups ranging from between 13 and 85.

More than 60 per cent of the prisoners were from elsewhere in the province. The rest lived in Malaga city or had been sent to the prison from other provinces. The few women who could read and write used to teach the others, although those classes were not part of the official work schedule at the prison. That included tasks "suitable for their sex", such as sewing.

From 1940 the number of women sent to the jail for supposed crimes of rebellion dropped, and the number for "transgression of the socio-economic order" increased. In a city ravaged by hunger and typhus, the ruses used to obtain food became one of the most common reasons for arrest, although in many cases there was no record of the reason the women were imprisoned. Once inside, they would try to overcome their hunger by eating pieces of dry orange peel as if they were sweets. Today, the building still has the large courtyard which, together with the chapel, became the focus of prison life.

To obtain a reduced sentence the women had to show repentence and convert to catholicism. In 1944, the Jesus El Rico procession in the Malaga Easter processions freed 19 women as well as the usual male prisoner, although in fact most of them had already been granted their release .

"They chose the women who looked in the best condition", says Barranquero. "It was a way of whitewashing over what was happening. When the prisoners needed certificates of conduct, it was the priests who decided whether their behaviour in the jails had been good enough or not".

At the ceremony before the El Rico procession, the then director of Ecclesiastical Affairs, Mariano Puigdoller, gave a short speech: "You must be eternally grateful to the Caudillo," he told the women. "Pray to God that he is with us for many years to come".

The narrow cells, the uncomfortable beds and the incidence of illnesses and epidemics complicated the situation even more. "The mortality rate was high. Women died from TB or typhus. Their time in prison was also characterised by little chance of visits, despair and psychological and physical collapse" says Barranquero.

The children stayed with their mothers, if there were no other relatives to look after them, until they were three or six years old, in accordance with the law at the time. After that they were sent to state and religious institutions. The presence of the children in the jails is not recorded in the files, something which complicated subsequent research, although witnesses say that most of them were adopted or sent to became seminarians, with the aim of wiping out any relationship with the past.

Concepcion Gallardo was one of the women freed by El Rico, although in fact she had already been given her release letter and had to wait until the procession was held before she could leave the jail. Her son, Jose Sanchez, president of the Association against Silence and Oblivion, says that on the rare occasions that his mother received a visit from a relative, she would give them some of their clothes and ask them to disinfect them.

Before being transferred to Malaga, Concepcion had been arrested in Loja, imprisoned in Granada and then moved to Gerona. A nun had told her that a couple wanted to take her daughter, who was only a few months old, so she had given her to her mother-in-law. In her file, she is described as a "person of extremely bad conduct and an active communist".

Even when freed, life wasn't much easier. The stigma of having been imprisoned stayed with most of these women all their lives, and they usually had to try to feed their families while earning miserable salaries. Only after Franco died, once the regressive storm had passed, did some of these women receive any recognition. In 'Desde la noche y la niebla', communist leader Juana Dona, who was given a death sentence in 1947, criticised the fact that "barely a few lines have been dedicated to women in the river of books written about the Civil War".

In 'En el infierno', politician and author Lidia Falcon also paid tribute to women and criticised the fact that so many authors gave a purely masculine slant to their writings.

The women's prison La Goleta closed its doors in 1954, when the prisoners were moved to the provincial jail on the Cartama road. The building became the Penitentiary Geriatric Institution and, years later, the headquarters of the Malaga Local Police. That particular hell had come to an end.A Sotogrande charity is appealing for donations and volunteers to help look after a large number of abandoned cats. The Sotogrande Cat Care Society (SOCCS) works with local people and businesses to help manage the numerous cat colonies in and around Sotogrande.

www.soccs.es / contact@soccs.es

Volunteers currently feed around 140 cats a day as well as neutering the animals in order to help keep their populations down. Now charity bosses are asking for financial help from locals to deal with the large number of abandoned cats on the streets.

Judith Samson, the charity's social media coordinator, who is originally from Cheshire in the UK, told SUR in English: "What we need is for the community to step up and take responsibility. A lot of these cats are not feral, they are abandoned pets. Their owners have abandoned them after upping sticks and moving back to their home country.

"We are hoping that the cat lovers of Sotogrande hear about SOCCS and donate generously, so far we rely on a limited number of supporters and we are seriously short of funds."

Valerie Schultz, the neutering coordinator for the charity, explained that the average life expectancy of an abandoned cat on the streets is only six months as they are at risk of dog attacks, traffic accidents, bad weather and illness.

She added: "We are struggling for cash in order to neuter and feed the cats. We get good rates from the local vets for the neutering, but we have all had to dig deep into our own pockets."

Valerie, who is originally from the United States, added that the charity also needs help with fostering, fundraising and administration. SOCCS, which was started around a year ago and has around 25 volunteers, estimates that there are around 100 cats around Sotogrande that need to be neutered - at a cost of around 3,000 euros.

To help with these costs a raffle and quiz night will be held at The Dubliner Irish pub in Torreguadiaro this evening (Friday 16 November) from 8pm. Entry is five euros. Anyone wishing to donate money to the charity can do so via the group's Facebook page.Last week, during the annual National Ryan White Conference on HIV Care and Treatment in National Harbor, Maryland, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar announced that after the terms of the remaining members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) were prematurely eliminated just one year ago, HHS would reconvene with two new co-chairs: Carl Schmid, deputy executive director of The AIDS Institute, and John Wiesman, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., secretary of health for the state of Washington. In his remarks, Secretary Azar stated that PACHA would host its first meeting with all new members in March 2019, as one step in the process to developing a new strategy to update the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, as the most recent plan ends in 2020.

"As many of you know, this process has already begun, and it will include deep engagement with community leaders and those on the frontlines, which means all of you," he told the audience of attendees. "Developing the 2020 strategy will also involve the input of the President's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, the first meeting of which has now been scheduled for March." News of the PACHA announcement and the current administration's inertia on HIV was met with mixed reactions. Some congratulated the new co-chairs and see it as a way to move forward in working with an administration that has been difficult on health care.

The HIV, STD, and Hepatitis Policy Partnership (a policy advocacy coalition comprised of the National Coalition of STD Directors, National Alliance of State and Terrirorial AIDS Directors, NMAC, and Schmid's organization, The AIDS Institute) issued a statement celebrating Schmid's appointment and the reconstitution of PACHA, stating, "HIV is not a partisan issue and continues to be a public health threat that must have the right leadership and resources necessary to end new infections and ensure access to quality prevention and treatment for everyone who needs it."

Other HIV advocates were less than pleased, most expressing discomfort with a new PACHA in an administration that has attempted to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA), restrict legal status for immigrants if they access public services for health, housing, or food, and stop fetal tissue research, which caused an HIV cure study to shut down. Mark S. King, HIV activist and journalist, described the announcement as a joke: "From where I sit, bolt upright in my pontificating armchair, no advisory board is capable of offering counsel to leaders who have made it very clear they don't want it and who have, by the way, demonstrated again and again what their true intentions actually are. Reinstating PACHA is a cynical ploy."

When it comes to HIV and AIDS policy, President Trump's administration has been imbrued in discrimination and bigotry since the beginning. He may not have stated his disregard for the AIDS crisis in America, but he has made it clear that it's not a priority for him. From his refusal to appoint a director for the White House Office of National AIDS Policy to proposing a $59 million cut to the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program shortly after inauguration to directing the Defense Department to ban people living with HIV from the military, Trump has readily exposed his hand.

In addition to questioning the point of a PACHA in an administration that has expressed disdain for people living with HIV and the communities most vulnerable to the virus, some raised questions about the lack of diversity represented by the new co-chairs Azar appointed to PACHA, given the disproportionate impact on communities of color, young people, and transgender people. Both of the newly named PACHA co-chairs have expertise in HIV prevention, treatment, and care policy. It's not a question of credentials per se. Wiesman started his public health career in Connecticut in 1986 and was in its first group trained to provide HIV counseling and testing services. Schmid has been at The AIDS Institute since 2004. He is a former chair of the HIV Prevention Action Coalition and the Ryan White Reauthorization Work Group. He was a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS from 2007 until 2009. Both Wiesman and Schmid are, however, gay white men.

"Many have chosen not to legitimize this administration's hateful actions towards communities living with and impacted by the HIV epidemic; that's why we saw the PACHA 6 resign last year," said Naina Khanna, executive director of Positive Women's Network USA (PWN). "It's also part of the reason why there has been a mass community call to relocate the International AIDS Conference proposed to take place in San Francisco in 2020. Ultimately though, the appointment of two white cisgender men to chair a council responding to the domestic and global HIV crisis, which mostly impacts black and brown people all over the world, is not surprising, given this administration's approach."

DeMarc Hickson, Ph.D., M.P.H., executive director of Us Helping Us, People Into Living in Washington, D.C. first congratulated both Schmid and Wiesman on their appointments, noting, "Carl Schmid is a long-time ally in the fight against HIV wherein The AIDS Institute was a founding member of the National Black Gay Men's Advocacy Coalition, and Dr. Wiesman has a long-standing history of developing and implementing innovative HIV prevention and care models that are the underpinning of many End the Epidemic state plans." Hickson went further to explain that while he recognizes the long-term contributions to HIV that both co-chairs have made, the communities most impacted still need to be at the forefront of any national work to address the epidemic.

"Black gay and transgender representation must be significant on PACHA, and if it is not, it will be a step backward," he said. "We have worked long and hard to get the attention of the federal government on the health issues, like HIV, that disproportionately affect black gay men and transgender women, and there needs to be a true commitment to lift up black gay men and transgender women into leadership positions, which do not truly exist in this administration."

The next PACHA meeting will commence in March 2019. For more information or to sign up for the email list, click here.On November 13th and 27th, members of parliament and figures in the UK fashion industry came together as part of the Environmental Audit Committee to investigate the social and environmental impact of disposable fast fashion and the wider clothing industry.

according to Parliament The inquiry examines the carbon, resource use and water footprint of clothing throughout its lifecycle. It will look at how clothes can be recycled, and waste and pollution reduced,

Image credit: Pixabay

Across the two dates, representatives from huge high-street labels, designers at smaller independent brands, and others heavily engaged in sustainable fashion - from journalists to professors - all answered questions from a panel of MPs and shared their own experiences of the challenges faced by different types of fashion brands when addressing the sustainability of their business models.

here here As is to be expected given the sheer scope of the inquiry, many issues were discussed along with some potential starting points for solutions. If you wish to watch both discussions in their entirety you can do soand, but if not weve summarised three key lessons for you:

1. The current system is very new; we can still remember a time when it was different

Image credit : Pixabay

Perhaps the most important fact to recall from the inquiry is one of the simplest: whilst the industry is currently at a critical point in which many are beginning to realise quite how broken and unsustainable its system is, we are not so deep into it that we cannot recall and draw on the fashion systems of times gone by.

When asked about her vision for the fashion industry, Claire Bergkamp - Sustainability & Innovation Director at Stella McCartney Ltd - said:

The vision that I have for the industry at this point is one where we really can learn from what we have done in the past we know how we got here at this point. We are aware that the industrys impact is outsized. It is unnecessarily large and it does not need to be this way. We can actually remember a time before this. It is not that it has been going on for so long at this speed and at this rate of consumption and disposal. My vision is that we just take a step back and figure out a system where we do not work this way.

In the same vein, MP for Swansea West and chair of the All-Party Group on Air Pollution Geraint Davies rightly identified that the situation is that now microfibres go through the sewage system. They are caught, they are put in slurry , they are put on the land. They then dry, they blow and we inhale them, and this is on top of the stuff we are all inhaling in our houses every day when we put our clothing on.

Whilst that is a hugely worrying concept that must be addressed, Jane Grice, founder of Facebook group Waste Not, Want Not, highlighted that she remember[s] a time before microplastics.

What is clear, then, is that the main issues our fashion industry is currently facing are very new ones that have emerged in the quick but nonetheless strong development of fast fashion. Therefore, now is the best time to act because we can still remember the structures of the past that could give vital insight into provoking change in the current day.

2. There is currently no standardised framework regarding sustainable practices

Image credit: Pixabay

When it comes to using more sustainable organic cotton or recycled fibres , for example, legal framework and government incentives are lacking. With regards to their environmental footprints, all steps taken by the brands partaking in the inquiry were completely voluntary; Marks and Spencer has a voluntary target of 25% of their clothing having 25% recycled content by 2025. Boohoo has a voluntary goal of 100% organic cotton by 2022. ASOS was the only member of the panel to have signed up to the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan initiative, and currently uses 80% sustainable cotton with a 100% target in sight. Again, all voluntarily.

This means, then, that the only ramification for the companies not achieving these well-meaning targets are for the planet, not the businesses themselves.

3. Supply chains can be very difficult to track.

Graphic: Charlotte Torode; Information: Etica News

Simply put, issues including sub-contracting mean that for large companies which use multiple foreign factories, keeping track of the origin of their materials can be tricky.

Marks and Spencers Director of Sustainable Business, Mike Barry, asked whether any business say there is a zero kilogram of Turkmenistan cotton in their business having banned it?" He answered that "No, they cannot, but what you can do is rigorously enforce that back down the supply chain.

For Marks and Spencer, 100% traceability on the cotton they sell is the next big horizon - but Barry highlights the proactivity needed to ensure this: it is not just sending a standard down a supply chain from London and hoping for the best. It is about working with farmers to make a real difference out there.

Even the auditing process for supply chains - in other words, how companies keep tabs on their manufacturing processes - varies hugely between companies. Marks and Spencer works through tier 2, tier 3, and back to the cotton field; ASOS audits to tier 3 and is currently mapping tier 4; Boohoo currently audits tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers; Missguided audits just tier 1.

Transparency in the supply chain is key for improving the sustainability and ethics of our fashion industry, but right now the extent to which manufacturers and brands are being held accountable for their working conditions and environmental footprint is completely their own prerogative.

As is to be expected of such an extensive inquiry, a huge amount more was discussed beyond the environmental ramifications of the fashion industry and ventured into its commitments to human rights. While we cannot include all of the proceedings in our summary, we definitely recommend that you look it up to see what's being discussed and how it might affect you or the brands you frequently buy from.Namibia is home to at least 11 ethnic groups, from the Owambo - the most represented group - to smaller groups such as the Kavango, the Damara, and the San.

Perhaps the most intriguing of them all is the Kunene regions Himba people, a semi-nomadic and pastoral indigenous group that is committed to their long-standing traditions while their younger members are beginning to dip their toes into modernity.

Displaced by the Nama tribe, the Himba people crossed the Namibia-Angolan border in the early 16th Century as part of the Herero tribe. They chose northern Namibia, specifically Kaokoland, as their homeland, which was devastated by a relentless bovine epidemic three centuries later, leading to a great loss in cattle. Since they rely heavily on cattle for a living, some of the tribe opted to explore more southern regions to increase their chances of survival. Those who remained behind became the Himba.

Image credit: MaciejZiarko on Pixabay

Since then, the Himba have persisted through horrific droughts and brutal wars - notably the Herero Wars, during which the Herero population was almost wiped out by German troops.

between Today,20,000 and 50,000 Himba people reside in the north-west of Namibia and on the other side of the Kunene River in Angola.

An eye-catching appearance

otjize paste Himba women are famous for covering their bodies in, a combination of butterfat, red ochre, and often the aromatic resin of the oomuzumba plant, which gives their skin a striking reddish glow. This is not just for cosmetic motives but also to cleanse the skin for lengthy periods of time due to water scarcity, to protect the skin from the dry Namibian heat, to repel mosquitos, and to distinguish between men and women.

Image: Jovanel on Pixabay

Men, women, and children are easily distinguishable by their clothing, adornments, and elaborately braided hair, which is usually styled using otjize, straw, and goat hair.

Hairstyles, in particular, play a role in indicating age, clan, and marital status within the Himba community. A young Himba girl typically has two plaits named

ozondato

at the front of her head before puberty, and then braids covering her face during puberty, which are later re-styled towards the back of the head when she is ready to marry. Nevertheless, these hairstyles vary depending on the clan.

Once married for a year, or having given birth to a child, women wear the

erembe

a headdress on top of the head made from cow or goat skin.

Image: paul24 on Pixabay

On the other hand, men wear a single ondatu plait from a young age. When they are married, they wear turbans that are only removed at funerals or when their spouse passes away.

Traditional garments are often made from calfskins: loincloths for men and more elaborate skirts that are adorned with shells, iron, and copper jewellery for women. Occasionally, sandals with soles made from old car tyres are worn. In addition, Himba women wear beaded anklets known as omohanga , which is where they hide any money they may have and which also protects them from insect bites.

The importance of cattle

Cattle is an indicator of wealth. Due to the Himba subsistence economy, survival depends upon the Himba's cow and goat herds which provide milk, meat for special occasions, and leather for clothing. Cattle also provides the foundation of their housing, typical huts which are constructed from cattle dung and earth. They are incredibly basic because the tribes travel around based on whether there is enough grazing and water for their livestock.

Image: hjournal16 on Pixabay

Typically, it is the Himba mans duty to lead livestock to pasture, which means they are often away for days at a time, leaving women responsible for tending to children and livestock, milking, cooking, and collecting firewood, among other duties. Despite their seemingly set roles, all members of Himba tribes enjoy equal rights and decisions are divided between men and women. Overall authority is held by the men, typically the village leaders, yet financial decisions are determined by the women.

Their supreme being

As animists, the Himba people worship a God called Mukuru, with whom they communicate through the holy fire. This fire is seen as a bridge of communication between the dead and the living and is used to communicate with the Himba peoples ancestors, who are in direct contact with their supreme being. It is constantly kept alight until the death of the headman when it is left to burn down, and his family will mourn through dance.

The Himba people in a modernising world

Their way of life considered, it may be hard to believe that the Himba are not isolated from urban life and modernity. However, you need only to head to the Kunene region capital of Opuwo to witness the Himba community mix with other ethnic groups and make the most of the modern conveniences. In this town, it is commonplace to see Himba people in full traditional dress browsing supermarket shelves, using mobile phones, and drinking in side-street bars.

The younger generations of the Himba, in particular, are increasingly opting to leave their slow-paced village life for the hectic modern world. With more Himba children being enrolled at schools, their eyes are being opened to other ways of life, and some choose to abandon their traditions in exchange for Western clothing and salaried jobs.

BBC article In a, a young Himba businessman says, "When I'm in traditional clothes outside the village, I get strange looks. I have a few businesses and people treat me with more respect when I look like them, they take me more seriously."

article, Could this be the beginning of the end for Namibias Himba people? In the samea tribe chief from Omuhoro village hints that it could be, claiming that the allure to modern life is inevitable in a so-called changed world despite his aversion to their traditions disappearing.

"It scares me a lot. I would prefer to die before the traditions of my people finish," he says.INTRODUCTION

To be frank, "The Challenges of Power Transfer in Africa", is a loaded topic that will require a more exhaustive treatment than this article can explore. However, I will endeavor, within the limits of the article, to share my two cents worth on this very interesting and topical issue as honestly and forthrightly as possible.

On last week Wednesday, the VOA and other news outlets reported that the Budget Director of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had cast doubt on the holding of presidential elections in that country at the end of this year as agreed in negotiations brokered by church leaders . The Budget Director had announced that the DRC will not be able to fund the presidential elections. His boss, President Joseph Kabila's tenure expired in December 2016 but has been employing a host of shameless and unorthodox schemes to cling to power. Kabila's refusal to leave power as constitutionally required has occasioned a series of protests in which scores of his compatriots have lost their lives.

About a month ago, our West African neighbor, Gambia, teetered on the brink of political violence with huge ramifications for our sub-region when President Yahya Jammeh shocked the world by refusing to accept the results of the presidential election in which he had lost to Adama Barrow. Mr. Jammeh had previously accepted the result and phoned Mr. Barrow to congratulate him. To be honest, given the erratic, dictatorial and sometimes delusional manner in which President Jammeh ruled his country for over 22 years, what shocked me personally was not the fact that he later refused to accept the result. I was positively shocked when I heard that he had accepted the result in the first place. We can only say thanks to the unity, tenacity, and wisdom demonstrated by leaders of our regional body, ECOWAS, supported by the AU and the UN, which was pivotal in mediating a successful end to the crisis that saw the eventual departure of President Jammeh from Gambia and the inauguration of President Barrow without the loss of a single life.

Former Burkinabe President Blaise Campraore is today living a shameful life in exile after his plan to perpetuate himself in power met stiff resistance from the courageous and fed-up people of Burkina Faso. Campraore's attempts to use Parliament to secure another term in power, having ruled for nearly 30 years, triggered massive protest and the burning of the Parliament building by protesters. Today, former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo's freedom of movement is restricted by the walls and bars of a prison in the Hague as he is being tried for atrocities committed in Cote d'Ivoire caused largely by his blatant refusal to accept the results of democratic elections in which he lost to Alassane Ouattara. The Republic of Burundi is still experiencing after-shocks of politically motivated violence and killings as a result of President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to cling to power by using selfish ploys to remain in power after his tenure had expired. There are many other sad examples of attempts, at times successful, at times unsuccessful, by leaders to subvert the peaceful and democratic transfer of power in their countries.

My own country, Liberia, Africa's oldest Republic, is one of the many countries on our continent whose report card on the subject of peaceful and democratic political transition is littered with many red marks. From 1870 to 1980, Liberia was a de facto one-party state ruled by successive regimes of the True Whig Party (TWP). In 1980, the country imploded as a result of a coup d'etat led by Master Sergeant Samuel Kanyon Doe in which President William Tolbert, at the time the Chairman of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), was savagely murdered along with thirteen of his cabinet ministers who were publicly executed on a firing squad. Doe himself reneged on his promise to turn over power to civilians but instead installed himself as President through heavily rigged elections. A 'People's Popular Uprising" aimed at toppling Doe from power began in 1989 and was led by Charles Taylor. Unfortunately, the "Popular Uprising" turned Liberia into a hell-hole and left more than 200,000 persons dead. Doe himself was captured and tortured to death by rebels in September 1990. Taylor would eventually ascend to the presidency in 1997 but would himself flee into exile in Nigeria in 2003 when rebels opposed to his regime entered the capital city. Taylor is now serving a 50-year jail term in a British prison for war crimes committed during the Sierra Leonean Civil War.

Liberia is scheduled to hold presidential elections in October of this year and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, after serving for twelve years, is expected to turn over power to the newly elected President in January 2018. If everything pans out as planned, this would be the first time since 1944 for Liberia to experience a peaceful transition from one living President to another.

Brief History of "Sit-Tight" Leadership in Africa

The 1950s and the 1960s were historic decades for Africa as this was the period when most countries in Africa gained their independence after years of relentless and sometimes violent struggle for self-rule. Not surprisingly, the gaining of independence brought tremendous joy to citizens in the newly independent nations. The citizens now expected to breathe freely after years of political suffocation by the colonial masters. Most leaders of the independence struggle were charismatic and massively popular. Some were treated or treated themselves like deputy gods sent by the Almighty to liberate their people from the manacles of colonialism. Unfortunately, some of these very new leaders who had defeated the colonial masters began to revert to repressive practices similar to those used by the colonial masters to suppress dissent and consolidate power. Many of them transformed their countries into one-party states with no term limits for the presidency.

In a paper titled "Democracy Before Democracy", Alemayehu G. Mariam, Professor of Political Science at the California State University was not complimentary about the actions of the much-venerated former Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah that gave encouragement to the entrenchment on the African continent of the one-party political system under the rule of the "big man". Professor Mariam writes,

Despite Nkrumahs status as the unrivaled champion of Pan-Africanism and strong advocacy for a united Africa, he was also the single individual most responsible for casting the mold for the one-man, one-party dictatorship in post-independence Africa. Barely a year into his administration, the once fiery anti-colonial advocate of political rights and democracy had transformed himself into a power-hungry despot. He enacted a law making labor strikes illegal. He declared it was unpatriotic to strike. Paranoid about his opposition, he enacted a preventive detention act which gave him sweeping powers to arrest and detain any person suspected of treason without due process of law. He even dismissed the Chief Justice of Ghanaian Supreme Court, Sir Arku Korsah, when a three-judge panel Korsah headed acquitted suspects accused of plotting a coup. Nkrumah amended the constitution-making his party, the Convention Peoples Party, the only legal party in the country. He capped his political career by having himself declared president-for-life.

Many other post-colonial leaders, as good-intentioned as some of them might have been in other respects, also proceeded in a manner that would suggest that they actually believed that the reward they deserved for leading the march to independence was to be given the unquestionable right to lead their nation till their very death. Ahmed Sekou Toure of Guinea, Houphouet Boigny of Cote d'Ivoire, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Hastings Kamuzu Banda of Malawi, and many others were post-colonial leaders who could only relinquish power through death. President Hastings Kamuzu Banda of Malawi practically equated himself to God in justifying his suppression of opposition when he said, "There is no opposition in Heaven. God himself does not want oppositionthat is why he chased Satan away. Why should Kamuzu [President Banda] have opposition?''

To some degree, I feel guilty as a Liberian because my former President, William V. S. Tubman, a contemporary of many of the post-independence leaders like Nkrumah, Toure and others, might have given his colleagues some indirect encouragement to follow his lead because until his death in power in 1971, Tubman had ruled Liberia for twenty-seven unbroken years and was probably the longest-serving African President at the time.

Fortunately, post-independence leaders such as Leopold Sedar Senghor of Senegal, Amadou Ahidjo of Cameroon, and Julius Nyerere might have seen the writings even before they got on the wall and voluntarily turned over power after decades of rule. Kenneth Kaunda had to succumb to the demands of multi-partyism and set the enviable record of being the first sitting African leader to accept an election result in which he was declared the loser.

Many post-independence leaders of African states who resisted the introduction of multi-party democracy used a host of reasons to justify the maintenance of the one-party state and their firm grip on power. Some argued that African tradition of respect and veneration for elders and leaders was not accommodative of the fierce competition for power that the introduction of a multi-party state would engender. Another justification used by the apologists of the personalized one-party state was that African countries were deeply ethnic and therefore the introduction of multi-party democracy would only exacerbate division of the country along ethnic lines with huge negative implications for peace and stability. Some argued that what African countries needed more was a focus on development and the lifting of citizens from the deep dungeons of poverty. In short, in spite of the relentless clamor by opposition activists and civil society actors, sit-tight leaders and their supporters insisted that multi-party democracy was a luxury that African countries could not afford.

Military Takeovers

The acquisition of independence was greeted with euphoria by many Africans who harbored the notion that independence would lead to rapid improvement in their living conditions. However, when the harsh reality of governance set in, many of the post-independence leaders who had made highfaluting promises of a new day were found wanting in delivering on their promises. Instead, some post-independence leaders became very corrupt, selfish, and dictatorial. The military would soon capitalize on the growing disenchantment among the populace by seizing power in a spate of coup d'etat to "save the country from corruption and dictatorship". In some instances, former colonial powers were the hidden hands supporting elements of the military to take power.

The first two decades after independence were characterized by a spate of coup d'etat across the continent. This wave of military takeovers saw the seizures of power in Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Dahomey (now Benin), Algeria, Burundi, Congo, and many other countries. In some countries, the staging of the first successful coup d'etat was akin to eating the forbidden fruit and forever losing your innocence. Ghana and Nigeria have both experienced five successful coup attempts. In a paper titled "Democracy, Political Instability and the African Crisis of Underdevelopment" published in December 2013, authors Alhaji Ahmadu Ibrahim and Lawan Cheri write, 'On the whole, not less than 25 violent successful coup d'etat have taken place in the subregion since 1963." The authors further state that as at 2002, nearly all countries in the West African sub-region had experienced a coup d'etat.

Some Factors Explaining the Transition to Multi-party Democracy

If one were to doze off in a Rip Van Winkle-like sleep in February 1987 only to wake up in February 2017, one would see a completely new Africa - an Africa that is more stable, more democratic and open than the Africa of 1987. Today, ascending to power through democratic means is increasingly becoming the rule rather than the exception. ECOWAS and indeed the African Union (AU) are no longer the bad boys clubs dominated by sit-tight leaders who ascended to and maintain power by force of arms. Today all of the fifteen ECOWAS leaders were democratically elected and the region is considered by many as the beacon of democracy in which the previously unimaginable is now happening - sitting presidents are accepting the outcomes of elections in which they are defeated! The peaceful transfer of power in Nigeria by President Goodluck Jonathan to President Muhammadu Buhari in compliance with the results of a democratic election and the recent smooth transfer of power in Ghana from defeated sitting President John Mahama to his long-time rival Nana Akuffo Addo are two great examples that practically demonstrate the democratic credentials of Nigeria and Ghana and are sources of pride for every West African or African.

But how did we make this great transition where multi-party democracy rather than the rule of the big man now dominates the political systems across the African continent? The following factors may help explain this positive transition:



Advocacy by African Activists

In light of the glaring contradictions between the glowing promises of African strongmen before they ascended to power and the rapidly deteriorating socio-economic realities and political suffocation, their people suffered upon the strongmen assumption of power, disenchantment and a deep sense of betrayal enveloped many African countries. However, not everyone could passively accept this sad state of affairs. In spite of massive repression that sometimes included imprisonment and politically motivated killings, many courageous individuals or groups of individuals including politicians, religious leaders, civil society actors, journalists, academics, writers and student activists were unrelenting in their fight for political freedom and multi-party democracy. Whether it was through demonstrations or boycotts, speeches, plays, critical articles, sermons, or other overt or subtle forms of resistance, many patriotic and disconsolate Africans stood up to dictatorship in their countries in spite of immense risks. The selfless and perilous advocacy of pamphleteer Albert Porte of Liberia, Ken Saro Wiwa and Wole Soyinka of Nigeria, and many others across the continent helped in weakening the bulwarks of the rule of the big man and pushing their countries on the path of political freedom and multi-party democracy.

The End of the Cold War

The end of the Cold War that pitted the USSR and the USA is one of the key factors that explain the rapid adoption of multi-party democracy in Africa. During the height of the Cold War, many one-party, one-man rules across the continent were hugely supported by one of the Cold War Superpowers and their allies. As the two global powers jockeyed for influence across the globe, their overriding concern was to attract leaders within their orbit that would sign up as perfect lackeys and proxies on the African continent. The undemocratic or dictatorial credentials of these lackeys did not matter much to their Superpower sponsors. What mattered more was their loyalty to Washington or the Kremlin. The more loyal a leader was, the more Washington or the Kremlin felt obligated to protecting that leader. Former Zairean Dictator Mobutu Sese Sekou, who held power for more than thirty years and gained notoriety for his wanton and shameless looting of his country's resources, is a classic example of an African leader who was propped up and felt emboldened to ride roughshod over the legitimate concerns of his people because of support of one of the Cold War Superpowers.

In another sense, the Cold War might have also contributed to political instability in many African countries as many of the coup d'etats or political assassinations on the Continent were reportedly sponsored by a Cold War Superpower that wanted to protect or advance its national interest in a particular African country.

The end of the Cold War in the late 1980s and the break-up of the USSR meant that the erstwhile Cold War rivals had less interest in having proxies and lackeys on the African continent. The United States, in particular, could no longer afford to turn a blind eye to the wanton abuse of power by some of its former Cold War lackeys in Africa as there was no longer a strategic Cold War US national security interest that would trump such concerns.

Washington, therefore, became more aggressive in calling for the adoption of multi-party democracy and good governance.

All along there had always been some courageous political and civil society activists in many African countries who fearlessly clamored for the liberalization of the political space. Many of them were brutally suppressed. With the end of the Cold War, the US and its Western allies began to increase their support to civil society and other initiatives that would help liberalize the democratic space. Sometimes operating through International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and other donor agencies, the US and its allies even began preconditioning aid on the introduction of democratic reforms. Happening at the time when most one-party states on the continent were experiencing economic hardships, which threatened the absolute control of some of the "big men" in power, this aggressive advocacy for democratic liberalization could not have been more timely. The more a country was in need of donor assistance to address deteriorating economic conditions, the stronger the insistence from the West for the adoption of reforms. Suddenly, it now appeared that a new wave of democracy had begun to blow on the continent and that leaders who would resist the wave of change would do so at their own peril.

The Role of Continental and Regional Organizations

Organizations such as the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and ECOWAS that also depended on donor support to fund programmes and projects were themselves being put under some form of pressure to put democratic reforms on the front-burner of their concerns. The OAU, ECOWAS and some other regional cooperation frameworks began putting issues relating to the liberalization of the political space in member countries on the front-burner.

At an OAU Summit in 1990 held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, the Heads of State and Government issued a "Declaration on Political and Socio-Economic Situation in Africa and the Fundamental Changes Taking Place in the World" wherein they asserted:

We are fully aware that in order to facilitate this process of socio-economic transformation and integration, it is necessary to promote popular participation of our peoples in the processes of government and development. .. We commit ourselves to the further democratization of our societies and to the consolidation of democratic institutions in our countries.

At subsequent OAU meetings, the leaders of Africa continued to issue declarations recommitting themselves to the consolidation of democracy. Of all the instruments adopted by the OAU and its successor, the African Union (AU), to advance the cause of democracy on the Continent, none is as far-reaching and specific as the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance, which came into force on February 15, 2012. The Charter, among other things, states:

State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure constitutional rule, particularly constitutional transfer of power.

State Parties undertake to implement programmes and carry out activities designed to promote democratic principles and practices as well as consolidate a culture of democracy and peace.

State Parties shall strengthen and institutionalize constitutional civilian control over the armed and security forces to ensure the consolidation of democracy and constitutional order.

State Parties shall take legislative and regulatory measures to ensure that those who attempt to remove an elected government through unconstitutional means are dealt with in accordance with the law.

State Parties shall cooperate with each other to ensure that those who attempt to remove an elected government through unconstitutional means are dealt with in accordance with the law.

State Parties re-affirm their commitment to regularly holding transparent, free and fair elections in accordance with the Unions Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa.

The Charter explicitly identifies each of the following as constituting an unconstitutional change of government which shall draw appropriate sanctions by the Union:

Any putsch or coup detat against a democratically elected

government.

Any intervention by mercenaries to replace a democratically elected

Government.

Any replacement of a democratically elected government by armed

dissidents or rebels.

Any refusal by an incumbent government to relinquish power to the

winning party or candidate after free, fair and regular elections; or

Any amendment or revision of the constitution or legal instruments, which is an infringement on the principles of democratic change of government .

In any of the above occurs in a State Party and diplomatic initiatives meant to bring a State Party into compliance fails, the Charter provides that the AU shall suspend the right of said State Party to exercise its right to participate in activities of the Union and the suspension shall take immediate effect. It is worthy of note that the AU has been very strict in its application of sanctions on the Member States that have run afoul of the provisions of this Charter. At least there is a clear and unambiguous prescription on how to treat these democratic reversals and the AU, through its Peace and Security Council, has not hesitated to impose the sanctions on the non-compliant Member States. Countries that have suffered from the AU suspensions in recent times include The Gambia, on account of Yahya Jahmehs refusal to accept the results of the presidential elections; Burundi, on account of President Nkurunzizas decision to extend his rule beyond the constitutionally allowed limit; Egypt, on account of the overthrow of democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi.

At the level of our own regional body, ECOWAS, the document that mirrors the African Charter is the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. In Article I of the Protocol under what is dubbed the Constitutional Convergence Principles , ECOWAS Member States affirm, among other things, that every accession to power must be through free, fair, peaceful and transparent elections; and that there shall be zero tolerance for power obtained or maintained by unconstitutional means. This unequivocal Protocol has informed ECOWAS reaction to many unconstitutional takeovers of government in the ECOWAS region  the Gambian debacle being the latest.

I still vividly recall that in 2015 when I still served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia, ECOWAS came very close to taking a giant step on the path of democratic consolidation. Taking cue from the violent conflict in Burkina Faso caused by President's Campraore's attempt to manipulate the constitution in order to stay in power beyond his constitutionally allowed term and other similar incidents across the continent, the ECOWAS Commission had proposed an amendment to the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy to include an explicit provision that would have obligated ECOWAS Member States to "harmonize their national legislations to provide for a maximum of two (2) tenures for presidential term of office". The amendment was adopted by the ECOWAS Council of Ministers; but unfortunately, was not approved by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government at its 2015 Summit held in Accra.

Few Factors that Explain "Sit-Tight" Leaderships in Africa

There may be other factors that could explain the reluctance of some leaders to peacefully and democratically transfer power in Africa, but I consider Corruption and Cronyism and Dictatorship and Human Rights Abuse, as the most prominent.

Corruption and Cronyism

In many countries, sitting in the State House or Executive Mansion gives a person tremendous power and privilege. Some leaders with good intentions like Tanzanian President Magafuli use such power and privilege to empower their citizens and effect attitudinal and paradigm shifts that transform government and their country for the better. Unfortunately, others us similar power and privilege to shortchange their countries and enrich themselves, their families and their cronies. Some extremely corrupt leaders do not recognize any boundary between their personal income and the resources of the State. In such an environment, cronyism is so heavily entrenched to the extent that success in business and other forms of endeavor depends on personal connections to the leader or a close family member or political ally of the leader. The more colossal and pervasive the theft by leaders and their associates, the more such leaders dread the day reckon that could come when they can no longer control the machinery of the State. For instance, given billions of dollars that former Nigerian President Sani Abacha was found to have looted from Nigeria, one is left with little wonder why he tried to perpetuate himself in power through a host of mischievous schemes.

Dictatorship and Human Rights Abuse

Some despotic leaders use their time in power to not only suppress their people but also to eliminate or make to flee into exile their opponents, real or imagined. The hands of such leaders drip with the blood of many an innocent citizen. The more such despots eliminate opponents, the more they get consumed with fear that some aggrieved person(s) could eliminate them too. They, therefore, get on a slippery slope such that the more they commit atrocities, the more intense the fear that propels them to commit more atrocities. The insecurity of these psychopathic despots is compounded whenever they imagine what fate could befall them when they are no longer in power. Besides being very corrupt, former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh committed lots of human rights abuses over his 22-year stranglehold over his nation. It is reported that fear for prosecution for the many egregious human rights cases of abuse committed by him during his rule may explain why he decided to reject the election result after earlier accepting it.

What Should Be Done to Ensure the Smooth Transfer of Power in Africa?

To ensure a peaceful and smooth transfer of power across Africa, I would propose the following:

The Ruling Class must uphold the Tenets of Democracy.

For democracy to thrive, those in power must not only profess their commitment but must also ensure through genuine actions that democratic tenets such as freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of association are respected and upheld.

Elections must be Regular, Transparent and Credible

Although there are other processes that constitute major elements of democracy, the casting of the ballot is the best expression of the democratic right of a citizen. Therefore, elections must be held regularly and must be transparent and credible. The constitutions of most African countries set clear timelines and dates for the hosting of elections, but some African leaders find the most frivolous of excuses not to hold elections on the constitutionally mandated date. Such is the case in DR Congo where President Kabila flatly refused to hold an election when his tenure ended in late 2016. The regularity of elections reduces uncertainty.

Additionally, it is not sufficient for elections to be free, fair and transparent in fact; they must also be perceived by the electorates and other stakeholders to be free, fair and transparent. No doubt, what happens on Election Day is extremely important; but also important is what happens before and after Election Day up to and including the announcement of the election result. In this respect, the credibility, independence, and impartiality of the electoral commission is an absolute necessity.

Malcolm X once asserted, "The Ballot or the Bullet". I will paraphrase this to say that whenever the ballot succeeds, the bullet recedes. In short, if a person or a group of persons feels that their vote count, they will be patient enough to wait for the election to take their grievances to the ballot box. However, if they feel that their votes will be robbed, they do not put faith in the ballot. They may instead resort to "whatever means necessary" to bring about change, including resorting to armed rebellion. The violent political conflicts in Liberia in the past and those in many other African countries can be also explained by the deep faithlessness in the ballot as a tool to effect change.

The Judiciary Must Be Strong, Independent, and Impartial.

Elections are tension-packed activities that are characterized sometimes by disputes. Therefore, the role of a strong, impartial, and independent Judiciary in ensuring peace and order when issues emanate from the electoral process cannot be overemphasized. Judges must be able to rise above all selfish inclinations and uphold the truth no matter the circumstances. In order to gauge the strength and impartiality of the Judiciary, the crucial question we must ask is whether the Judiciary has the courage to uphold the election results when the facts at their disposal would justify such a decision or whether they would have the courage to annul an election result when the facts at their disposal justify annulment. After the 2012 elections in Ghana in which Nana Akuffo Addo lost to John Mahama, the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) did not go to the streets or resort to arms to express their disagreements with the result. They demonstrated faith in the judicial process by going to the Supreme Court. After many months of hearing the case, the Supreme Court affirmed the results. Had the opposition Party had no confidence in the independence of the Judiciary, they might have resorted to actions that might have injured the peace and tranquility of Ghana.

Build Strong Institution that Can Uphold the Rule of Law, Not the Rule of Man.

In some states, laws are made or implemented to conform to the selfish wishes of the ruler, instead of the ruler conforming to the dictates of the law. Such an environment is a fertile ground for corruption, cronyism, dictatorship, human rights and many other cases of abuse of power. Therefore in order to deal with these vices and their negative implications for the smooth transfer of power, African countries must build strong, countervailing institutions that will promote the rule of law. The Judiciary, the Legislature, and other state apparatuses meant to fight abuse such as auditing commissions, anti-corruption commissions, procurement commissions, human rights commission, etc must be strong and independent enough to resist the ruler, if and when necessary.

Make Life after Government Attractive

Many countries provide for pensions and other retirement benefits for former leaders in their constitutions and statutes. Maybe, in some countries, there may be a need to review such packages in order to make them more attractive. Besides pensions, former leaders should be treated with respect and given due courtesies and not be subjected to humiliation on account of frivolous and trumped-up charges of corruption and abuse of power as successors engage in "winner's justice" on their predecessors. Furthermore, reform of pension systems generally to make life after government attractive for people who served honorably in government, whether they are ordinary civil servants or legislators or ministers, may help smoothen power transfer across the continent. Oftentimes, the hesitance of an embattled leader to relinquish power is explained by the personal fears of not the leader himself but that of his cabal of diehard officials and cronies. In these last days, the leader may no longer be leading but may, in fact, be led by a cabal of supporters who are fearful of a material reversal in their economic and social statuses if their patron departs. Addressing legitimate concerns of individuals who surround the embattled leader may help to accelerate the relinquishing of power by an intransigent leader.

Consider Limiting Presidential Tenure to a Maximum of Two Terms

In the ECOWAS region, almost every country has provisions in their constitutions restricting presidential tenures to a maximum of two terms. I, therefore, propose the adoption of the amendment of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy to formally accommodate this reality. Such a positive lead from ECOWAS countries may ease the way for the adoption of term limits by all member states of the African Union.

CONCLUSION

Winston Churchill once said, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others." Overall, with the exception of a few problem spots across the Continent, power transfers in Africa today are getting more democratic, routine and seamless than a few decades ago. In fact, many countries on the Continent have enshrined in their constitutions provisions that provide for multi-party democracy and the assumption of power through free, open, and transparent elections. What is heart-warming is that momentum is on the side of democratic consolidation and as African peoples get used to democracy, they are less inclined to tolerate reversals. Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Liberia, and many other African countries are shining examples of vibrant democracies that are maturing by the day. In places where a few strong-men have attempted to torpedo the smooth transfer of power, they have been roundly condemned not only by Western countries or the UN; the condemnations and rejections from African countries themselves and the AU have been even more vociferous and categorical. One indicator of the strength of a democracy is the number of past democratically elected presidents who live freely and proudly in their own countries. In many countries across the continent, that number, though infinitesimal, is now beginning to increase.

In sum, with the evolution of time, African countries have on balance been taking front steps, not back steps, on the path of democracy and the peaceful transfer of power from one democratically elected leader to another. In this day and age, Africa cannot afford to turn back. Forward ever, backward never!



https://www.voanews.com/a/drc-budget-minister-casts-doubt-on-elections-in-2017/3727338.html. Clowes, W (2017, February 16). DRC Budget Minister Casts Doubt on 2017 Elections, VOA Africa, Available at Alemayehu, M Democracy Before Democracy Retrieved from: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/the-democracy-before-demo_b_434992.html "Transitions to Democracy in Africa." National Research Council. 1992. Democratization in Africa: African Views, African Voices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2041, Retrieved from: https://www.nap.edu/read/2041/chapter/4#14 OAUs Heads of State and Governments "Declaration on Political and Socio-Economic Situation in Africa and the Fundamental Changes Taking Place in the World" issued in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1990. Available at https://archive.au.int/collect/auassemb/import/English/AHG%20Decl%201%20XXVI_E.pdf African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Good Governance, entered into force Feb. 15, 2012 (Articles 5,12, 14,&17);Available at http://www.un.org/democracyfund/Docs/AfricanCharterDemocracy.pdf. Ibid, Article 23. Ibid, Article 25. ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance adopted in 2012, Article 1(b&c); Available at https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/RuleOfLaw/CompilationDemocracy/Pages/ECOWASProtocol.aspx



Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Cloudy with rain and snow in the morning changing to all rain in the afternoon. Some mixed winter precipitation possible. High 6C. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Rain and snow showers in the evening. Then becoming mostly cloudy late. Low near -4C. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 60%.Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.

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.By Trend





The steps taken by the European Parliament regarding Azerbaijan are really important and they were expected, Azerbaijani MP Samad Seyidov said, Trend reports.

He was speaking Dec. 18 at a plenary session of the Azerbaijani parliament while commenting on the adoption of a report on the protection of Azerbaijans territorial integrity and borders at a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Seyidov noted that the painful problem of the Azerbaijani people, the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, is reflected in the document of the European Parliament - the biggest and most authoritative structure, which has the possibility of exerting pressure and defining direction for Europe.

He said that the European Parliament has several results on the conflict, which should definitely be voiced.

Only two years ago, the European Parliament adopted an extremely negative anti-Azerbaijani resolution, and the current result was achieved thanks to the organized, consistent and logical work of the authorities and the Azerbaijani parliament, said Seyidov.

The report presented at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg reflects not only protection of Azerbaijans territorial integrity and borders, but also the importance of solving conflicts in the Eastern Partnership countries according to the peace principle on the basis of the territorial integrity of states.

In addition, the document also indicates the provision of assistance to refugees, IDPs and persons suffering from conflicts in the Eastern Partnership countries.

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.Emirates said it will introduce a daily A380 service for a temporary period between Glasgow and Dubai from April 16, 2019. It will be the first time the popular double-decker aircraft will operate on a scheduled basis to Scotland.



The larger capacity A380 will replace Emirates current twice-daily Boeing 777 service between Glasgow and Dubai from 16 April until 31 May 2019, during which time Dubai Airports plan to close Dubai Internationals (DXB) southern runway for upgrade works, and the single runway operations require airlines to reduce and adjust their operating schedules. The deployment of the A380 is to minimise the reduction of Emirates capacity from Glasgow to Dubai and beyond during this period.



The A380 flight will depart Dubai at 1450hrs and arrive in Glasgow at 1945hrs, while the return flight will leave Glasgow at 2130hrs and land in Dubai at 0755hrs the next morning.



From 1 June until 30 September, the double daily service will be reinstated on the route, with the A380 operating on the first flight of the day, and a Boeing 777 on the second, increasing capacity on the route during this period to meet seasonal summer demand.



Thereafter, the service will revert back to a twice-daily Boeing 777 operation. Launched in October this year, Emirates also offers a daily service to Edinburgh, bringing to three the number of daily flights between Scotland and Dubai.



The Emirates A380 will have a three-class cabin configuration, offering 14 private suites in First Class, 76 lie-flat seats in Business Class, and 399 spacious seats in Economy Class.



Emirates first operated the A380 to Glasgow as a one-off in April 2014, when the airline celebrated 10 years of successful operations to the city. This year also marks the 10th year of Emirates A380 operations. With an A380 fleet of 108, and with 54 additional aircraft on order, Emirates is the largest operator of A380s in the world.  TradeArabia News ServiceCentara Hotels & Resorts, Thailands leading hotel operator, has announced the appointment of two new members to its executive team.



Andrew Langston, a British national with over 34 years experience in hospitality management and development, joins as the new senior vice president business development in the companys development team and Saranya Chensukitphanit has taken on the role of corporate director of training and talent development.



Langston arrives with exceptional experience and a vast cross-discipline, global network. He has held senior management positions with major hotel groups such as Banyan Tree and Intercontinental Hotels group [IHG] and most recently he held the position of executive vice president, strategic advisory and asset management, at Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels & Hospitality Group, for whom he was based in Thailand and working throughout the Asia region. It can certainly be said that Langstons talents in the service industry were honed at the highest level, having earlier in his career served the British royal family as a footman at Buckingham Palace, a role which included looking after Her Majesty the Queen of England, Diana the Princess of Wales and Prince William amongst others. This natural aptitude in hospitality saw him move into the hotel industry where his steady advancement included responsibilities in Singapore, Philippines, Korea, Macau, China, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Thailand and Australia.



In her new role, Chensukitphanit will help Centara attract and develop talent, prepare them for growing responsibilities, and support the companys high-performance service culture.



Before joining Centara, Chensukitphanit was a human resources business partner in PepsiCos Asia Pacific Region. Her previous experience included HR management posts for Estee Lauder and the Dutch dairy giant Friesland Campina. She graduated with a degree in Chinese Language from Chulalongkorn University and received a Masters degree in Management from the University of York in the UK.



We are delighted to welcome both Andrew and Saranya to the team. Together, they will help us make great strides towards doubling Centaras revenues and number of properties as well as make Centara one of the best places to work in the hospitality industry," said CEO Thirayuth Chirathivat. - TradeArabia News ServiceAs part of the recent contract win with the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, which mandates the opening of visa application centres in 10 countries across the world, VFS Global has opened a Slovakia Visa Application Centre in Kuwait.



The new centre offers residents of Kuwait travelling to the Central European country greater convenience in accessing professionally managed visa application submission services.



In a statement, VFS Global said the Slovakia Visa Application Centre in Kuwait is the first to be opened in the Middle East region and the fifth Slovakia Visa Application Centre to launch globally. So far, VFS Global has launched one centre in Minsk, Belarus, and three centres in the cities of Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru in India.



Some of the key features of the Slovakia Visa Application Centre in Kuwait include longer operating hours, professionally trained staff fluent in the local language, an Automated Queue Management system for seamless submission procedures and a Premium Lounge for a more personalised application submission experience.



Inaugurating the new visa application centre, Martin Kardos, Charge daffaires ad interim of the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Kuwait, said: We believe that in close cooperation with professionals from VFS Global, Kuwaiti and other residents will find services at the new visa application centre more comfortable, helpful and convenient to submit their visa requests. We believe as a result we will witness a substantial increase of applicants wishing to visit our beautiful and hospitable country in the heart of Europe and explore its beauties.



Under the contract signed with the Slovak Republic, VFS Global will provide outsourced visa processing services in Kuwait, Belarus, Egypt, India, Kazakhstan, Palestine, China, Turkey, the UAE, and Russia, through 38 Slovakia Visa Application Centres.



Also commenting on the launch of the new Slovakia Visa Application Centre in Kuwait, Vinay Malhotra, regional group COO - Middle East, South Asia & China, VFS Global, said: With the opening of the new centre, our steadfast endeavour is to provide residents with seamless visa application submission services in a comfortable and professionally managed environment ensuring an enhanced customer experience. We are privileged and honoured to partner with the Government of the Slovak Republic and are committed to the continued expansion of the Slovakia Visa Application Centre network in the GCC region and globally.



The VFS Global Slovakia Visa Application Centre in Kuwait is located at Level 30, Arraya Center 1, Al Shuhada Street, Kuwait City, Kuwait. - TradeArabia News ServiceON THE MOVE: Janus Henderson Names Ho as Global Asset Head

Janus Henderson has appointed Michael Ho as its new global head of multi-asset and alternatives from UBS Asset Management. The former chief investment officer of investment solutions at UBS Asset Management in London will join the firm on 14 January next year, with responsibility for Janus Hendersons global asset allocation, multi-strategy and alternatives teams. Ho will also become a member of the executive committee at Janus Henderson Investors. His appointment is part of Janus Hendersons push to increase its multi-asset and alternatives activities, according to the firm.

If you have a new job or promotion to report, let me know at jdantona@marketsmedia.com

eFinancialCareers reported that Nomura has quietly brought hired a former Credit Suisse managing director as its new head of swaps trading. Arif Merali joined Nomura in September as a managing director in charge of GBP swaps trading for the Japanese bank. Before joining Nomura, Merali spent 15 and a half years at Credit Suisse. Prior to that, he was a vice president at Mizuho Capital Markets Corp., where he began his career in 1995 and stayed for seven and a half years.

genesis, the international capital markets software firm, has hiredSimon McDowell as its new Chief Commercial Officer and Darren Newby as Solutions Director; both will support the firms long-term strategy to help the capital markets community innovate at speed. McDowell joins from Fixnetix, a DXC company, where he was regional Head of Sales and Account Management. Previously, he was at Ullink, as Managing Director of Sales and Partner Operations. McDowell brings more than 30 years experience working within financial services, software and technology sectors, and a formidable track record of commercial success.

Newby brings 30 years of client-facing experience in financial services and technology, including senior tenures at leading global vendors Thomson Reuters (now Refinitiv) and Fidessa plc. Newbys most recent role was Director of Connectivity Solutions at Ullink, where he worked with McDowell.

BT announced the appointment of Kevin Brown as managing director of BT Security, where he will be responsible for the companys physical and cyber security activity around the world. Brown succeeds Mark Hughes, who is stepping down at the end of this year to take up a new position outside of BT. Brown joined BT in 2012, following a 20-year career in law enforcement. In his previous role, he the firms engagement with international governments, and managed its relationships with international law enforcement agencies such as Interpol and Europol.

Regal Assets, a leading alternative assets investment company, reported that Tyler Gallagher, its CEO, has joined the Forbes Finance Council, a hand-selected, invitation-only community of world-class founders, CFOs and CEOs in the finance sector. Gallagher was vetted and selected by a review committee based on the depth and diversity of his experience in the alternative assets industry. Criteria for acceptance include a track record of successfully impacting business growth metrics, as well as personal and professional achievements and honors.

1 2 next

For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:Concrete outcomes from UN climate change talks in Poland mean it is time to get to work



New York, Dec 17 When ministers concluded negotiations on Sunday morning, 30 hours beyond the allotted time frame, a final deal on climate action at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 24) in Katowice, Poland, was to some extent achieved.



The Katowice Climate Package is the name given to the basket of issues that have been negotiated and agreed upon. Together this makes up the majority of the rulebook by which the Paris Agreement can be implemented by countries around the world.



The key elements that were agreed upon include how countries will both define and provide information on national climate action under the Paris Agreement, how to measure cumulative global efforts by 2023, as well as a process to mobilize financing to support this action.



Yet several issues remained contentious, such as rules for carbon markets and trading, referred to under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which have been deferred until next year. Some were also critical that the text was not forceful enough in demanding more urgent and ambitious action.



UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres returned in the final days of the conference, reinforcing the message that climate change is the number one priority for the United Nations. In his speech he said We must beat climate change before it beats us. It is a race we can win. It is a race we must win.



Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, UN Assistant Secretary General and Director of UNDPs Policy and Programme Bureau, highlighted how UNDPs work is driving the climate action agenda through the support it provides across 140 countries: At UNDP we focus on the alignment between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda, recognizing that climate change not only threatens development outcomes but ambitious climate action can provide opportunities to unlock economic and social gains.



Throughout the two weeks of negotiations, UNDP shared its country-level programming experiences through numerous events, all aimed at advocating for three key ingredients needed to scale up countries action to meet their national pledges, or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). This is necessary in order to ensure the urgency and ambition needed to implement the Paris Agreement. Some of the highlights were as follows:



First, foster public-private partnership to scale up finance. With estimates suggesting 85 to 90 percent of Paris Agreement funding needs to come from the private sector, UNDP demonstrated ways to use limited public funds to unlock private investments. For example, together with the World Bank, and World Climate Ltd., UNDP developed and implemented the first ever Investment COP, convening investors and public sector actors to identify country-level business opportunities that advance climate action. In addition, initiatives such as Indonesias green sukuk  the first of its kind sovereign Islamic green bond  provided a prime example of how to bring additional, private finance into the climate change sphere.



Second, enhance adaptation. The recent IPCC report indicating the catastrophic impacts of our warming world put pressure on negotiators to not only take urgent mitigation action, but also to prioritize adaptation. UNDP engaged in over 15 adaptation related events throughout the two weeks of COP, often with other UN agencies such as FAO and UN Environment. Two flagship adaptation reports were launched, reflecting on years of country experiences in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Africa.



Third, leverage nature-based solutions. UNDP celebrated the 10th anniversary of the UN-REDD initiative, and advocated the need to engage non-state actors, particularly indigenous peoples, to leverage the benefits of forest and land use management, more broadly known, along with other approaches, as nature-based solutions. In this regard, a key outcome of the conference was the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform, putting in place a formal channel for indigenous peoples views and interests to be communicated to the UNFCCC process.



The outcomes of COP24 are lauded as an impressive achievement, given the scale of work negotiators were tasked with over these two weeks; yet, the work has just begun. With this new rulebook in place, it is now the responsibility of countries, with support from organizations like UNDP, to turn their pledges into concrete adaptation and mitigation action. This includes revisiting their national climate pledges by 2020 with the aim to increase ambition in order to meet the Paris goals. This will require mobilizing political will and leadership, becoming the focus of the SGs Summit in September 2019.



UNDP welcomes the progress made thus far, and welcomes the challenge and opportunity to deliver on Paris and Katowice, now and well into the future.

Media queries

In New York - Sangita Khadka, Communications Specialist, UNDP Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, sangita.khadka@undp.org; Tel: +1 212 906 5043

In Geneva- Sarah Bel, Communications Specialist, UNDP Geneva email: sarah.bel@undp.org; Tel. +41 79 934 1117Austrian chancellor calls for more European investment in Africa

VIENNA, Dec 18 (Xinhua) Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Tuesday called for significantly more European investment in Africa, Austria Press Agency reported.

The chancellor made the call prior to the opening of the High-Level Forum Africa-Europe which has gathered numerous European and African leaders as well as business people.

He said the forum should represent something of a "paradigm shift" in that along with existing development aid, and should begin to also incorporate increased economic development and investments.New Delhi, Dec 17 (UNI) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday welcomed Zambia as a member of

the International Solar Alliance and expressed hope for an early ratification of the Framework Agreement

by Zambia.

Interacting with the Parliamentary delegation from Zambia led by Dr Patrick Matibini, Speaker,

National Assembly of Zambia who called on him, here Monday, he also assured that India would do its best

to promote renewable energy including solar technologies to enhance incomes and to safeguard global

environment.

On India-Zambia bilateral cooperation, he noted that it extended to a variety of sectors such as health,

education, capacity building, energy and infrastructure. India, he said, is willing to extend cooperation in mutually

identified areas.

Mr Naidu also welcomed frequent exchanges between the two Parliaments and said such interactions would

be beneficial in sharing experience & learning from each others best practices. He said the Indian Parliament

would be happy to associate with the Zambian Parliament in any specific area, including training of its officials

in the institutional or technical human resource development.

He also thanked Zambia wholeheartedly for its continued support to Indias candidature to various international

forums and UN agencies. He conveyed his best wishes for the peace, progress and prosperity of Zambia and

well-being and good health of the friendly people of Zambia.

Referring to the warm and friendly relations shared by the two countries, he said both India and Zambia

are working together for the mutual benefit and prosperity of their people.

Mr Naidu said India was one of the first countries to recognise Zambia after its independence in 1964. 'Our

warm and friendly bilateral relations have evolved and strengthened over the years and the visit of President

of India to Zambia this year has given a fresh impetus to these ties,' he added.

The Vice President appreciated Zambias unwavering commitment to democracy since its Independence

and the peaceful transfer of power in Zambia after every election. He also lauded Zambia for maintaining

friendly and cordial relationships with all the 8 nations that surround it.

UNI SD SHK2024New Delhi, Dec 17 (UNI) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday extended support to Maldives efforts

and to work in close alignment with their identified priorities, saying 'India always stands ready to assist the

Republic of Maldives in all areas of cooperation'.



Noting that the security of India and Maldives is 'inter-dependent', Mr Naidu said that defence cooperation

between the two countries was one of the important foundations of our close relationship. Considering

the strategic location of the two Indian Ocean neighbours, he said 'we need to be sensitive to each

others security concerns. India is ready to fulfill the defence requirements of your country including

equipment sourcing, training and capacity building."

Interacting with Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih at Rashtrapati Bhawan here, he

referred to the slew of agreements/MoUs including Visa Facilitation Agreement signed by both countries

and expressed confidence that this will further enhance people-to-people contact.

The Vice President said that for years both our countries have worked together closely in a spirit of friendship

with mutual beneficial cooperation. 'We need to ensure that this special relationship remains strong as ever,'

he added.

India in the last few decades had made great strides in its socio-economic development and was happy

to share its knowledge and abilities with close friends like Maldives. 'I am glad to share that we have signed

several agreements in the field of health, education and agriculture,' he added.

In his view, focusing on people-centric development aimed at transforming the lives of the people

of Maldives was a noble mission.



Terming the Maldives leader's visit to India -- his first abroad -- as a 'great honour for us', Mr

Naidu said 'We were delighted that Prime Minister Modi visited Maldives to attend your swearing-in

ceremony and this demonstrates the importance we attach to our relationship with Maldives,' he said.

UNI SD ADG 1935Possibility to end Afghanistan conflict 'has never been more real' - UN Mission Head

United Nations, Dec 17 (UNI) The chance to negotiate a settlement to end the conflict in Afghanistan is highest now than at any time in the past 17 years, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Tadamichi Yamamoto said on Monday.

"The possibility of negotiated end to the conflict has never been more real in the past 17 years than now," Yamamoto told the UN Security Council.

Yamamoto noted that numerous efforts to secure peace in Afghanistan and the region are underway. He explained that the next step in the process would be for the Afghan government and Taliban representatives to hold a meeting.Three students found dead, seven injured at pension in Northeastern South Korea

Seoul, Dec 18 (Xinhua) Three high school students were found dead, with seven others injured on Tuesday afternoon at a pension in northeastern South Korea, local media reported citing police and firefighters.



Among the 10 male students, all of whom attend a high school in Seoul, three were found dead and seven were unconscious at around 1312 hrs local time (0412 GMT) at a pension in the city of Gangneung in Gangwon province. Two of them were reportedly in critical condition.Editor's Note: UTSA President Taylor Eighmy sent this email to UTSA faculty and staff today.

(Dec. 18, 2018) -- Dear Roadrunners,

The 86th Texas Legislature convenes for its 2019 session on January 8, and its sure to be action-packed. Because state funding can have a significant impact on UTSAs current and future programs, we have a vested interest in the Legislatures priorities and the political tides that impact higher education.

Back in September, all UT presidents shared their institutions legislative requests with UT System leadership, and my presentation gives a good overview of the priorities were putting forward for UTSA. For more detail, you can read through UTSAs full Legislative Appropriations Request.

I will spend a lot of time up in Austin this winter and spring, advocating as much as I can for UTSAs priorities with the help of Albert Carrisalez, Assistant Vice President for Governmental Relations. Higher education institutions will present their budgets to the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees in late January or early February. On February 13, we will bring a delegation to Austin for UTSA Day at the Texas State Capitol, and will join forces with the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce for VIVA Day at the Capitol on March 5. Both will provide opportunities to shine a light on San Antonio and UTSA with the help of our students, alumni, faculty, staff and community supporters. Our appropriations for the next biennium will be solidified by the time the session wraps on May 27.

I will report back frequently about this process. As always, you should feel free reach out to me with any questions or concerns at taylor.eighmy@utsa.edu.

My heartfelt wishes for a restful break and joyful holidays.



Taylor EighmyUW Launches Center for Business and Economic Analysis

UWs Center for Business and Economic Analysis, part of the new Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, will draw upon the expertise of faculty members and students in the College of Business. (UW Photo)

Part of the University of Wyomings newly established Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE), the Center for Business and Economic Analysis (CBEA) supports the economic growth and diversification of Wyomings economy through applied economic and business analytics for communities, industries and entrepreneurs who desire a thriving and prosperous Wyoming.

Throughout the United States, such centers are housed at universities and have been serving their communities for decades as key regional partners providing economic insight and data analysis. The need for such a center in Wyoming became apparent with Gov. Matt Meads ENDOW initiative and establishment of the IIE.

The IIE calls on innovators from throughout the state as it works to instill entrepreneurial thinking to graduate the leaders of tomorrow. Adding needed programs and drawing together all UW colleges, business services and entrepreneurship competitions, the IIE serves as the universitys front door for the states entrepreneurs.

As part of the IIE, the CBEAs mission is to: provide professional economic insight about Wyoming by tracking and interpreting regional conditions and supplying local and state economic forecasts; undertake economic impact assessments; conduct specialized analyses, studies and projects, including guidance for investors, policymakers and entrepreneurs; and study and disseminate population demographic and workforce conditions to support regional development.

We want to address regional and national questions for people in Wyoming, says UW College of Business Department of Economics Chair Jason Shogren. Any business, before they start, is going to have to decide where theyre going to set up, how many people theyre going to hire, how much capital theyre going to invest and where theyre going to invest it. Part of the process of the CBEA is to give them feedback on those numbers.

CBEA aims to be the trusted destination resource for information about Wyomings economy, to empower robust economic growth and diversification, to serve as a bridge of engagement between UW and the broader state community, and to be recognized nationally as a premier organization among its peers. As part of this mission, the CBEA plans to be flexible and responsive to the needs of the state and the university. The CBEA also will provide UW students with service and experiential learning opportunities that have meaningful impacts, increase student placement prospects and create opportunities for students to live and work in Wyoming upon graduation.

The idea is to give our students hands-on experience with how you crunch these numbers and try to understand different trade-offs because, once they leave here, businesses are going to want them to evaluate different proposals, Shogren says. If you get some experience with economic models, your skill set increases and makes you more attractive to employers.

The CBEA will serve as a conduit for channeling faculty expertise from all corners of the university into applied economic and business projects for the benefit of Wyoming. It also will develop deep working relationships and channels of communication with communities throughout the state and disseminate Wyoming economic insight and data.

CBEA projects underway include analysis of the economic impact of Laramie Jubilee Days on Albany County; and, jointly with the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, an economic impact analysis of the Casper Events Center.

Also underway is an analysis of the economic impact on Wyoming of federal funding for the IDeA Networks for Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) Program, which involves UW and the states community colleges.

The CBEA also provided an analysis of the pending closure of Western Sugar Co.s sugar beet processing plant in Torrington.

The projects are spearheaded by visiting Assistant Professor Benjamin Cook and College of Business Associate Professor David Aadland.

UW professors and students have been doing related state economics work for many years, and the CBEA brings the work together under one roof to harness its potential and create a visible resource for the people of Wyoming, Shogren says.You have permission to edit this article.

Edit CloseJohn Bolton, the new US National Security Advisor, has relaunched the Pentagons project for the destruction of the State structures in the Caribbean Basin.

We remember that in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the Secretary for Defense at that time, Donald Rumsfeld, created the Office of Force Transformation and nominated Admiral Arthur Cebrowski as its Director. Its mission was to train the US army for its new role in the era of financial globalisation. It was designed to change military culture in order to destroy the State structures of the regions which were not connected to the global economy. The first chapter of this plan consisted of dislocating the  Greater Middle East . The second stage was intended to perform the same task in the  Caribbean Basin . The plan was designed to destroy some twenty coastal and insular States, with the exception of Colombia, Mexico and as far as possible, territories belonging to the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Holland.

When he arrived at the White House, President Donald Trump opposed the Cebrowski plan. However, two years later, he has so far only been able to prevent the Pentagon and NATO from handing over States to the terrorist groups they employ (the  Caliphate ), but not to stop manipulating terrorism. Concerning the Greater Middle East, he has managed to diminish the tension, but the wars still continue there at lower intensity. Concerning the Caribbean Basin, he restrained the Pentagon, forbidding them to launch direct military operations.

Last May, Stella Calloni revealed a note from Admiral Kurt Tidd, Commander in Chief of SouthCom, exposing the operations aimed at Venezuela [1]. A second penetration was simultaneously implemented in Nicaragua, and a third, running for the last half century, against Cuba.

Working from several previous analyses, we concluded that the destabilisation of Venezuela - beginning with the guarimbas movement, continued by the attempted coup detat of February 2015 (Operation Jericho) [2], then by attacks on the national currency and the organisation of emigration - would end with military operations [3] led from Brazil, Colombia and Guyana. Multinational manoeuvres of troop transport were organised by the United States and their allies in August 2017 [4]. This was made possible by the election of pro-Israeli President Jair Bolsonaro, who will come to power in Brasilia on 1 January 2019.

The next Vice-President of Brazil will be General Hamilton Mourao, whose father played an important role in the pro-US military coup detat of 1964. He has made himself famous by his declarations against Presidents Lula and Rousseff. In 2017, he declared  on behalf of the Grand Orient of Brazil  that the time for a new military coup detat had arrived. Finally, he was re-elected with President Bolsonaro. In an interview with the magazine Piaui, he announced an impending overthrow of the Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, and the deployment of a Brazilian  peace  force (sic). Faced with the gravity of these statements, which constitute a violation of the United Nations Charter, elected President Bolsonaro declared that no-one had any intention of going to war with anyone, and that his Vice-President talked too much.

In any case, during a Press conference on 12 December 2018, President Maduro revealed that US National Security Advisor John Bolton was handling the coordination between the teams of Colombian President Ivan Duque and those of the Brazilian Vice-President. A group of 734 mercenaries is currently being trained in Tona (Colombia) in order to perpetrate a false flag attack, allegedly by Venezuela, against Colombia  thereby justifying a Colombian war against Venezuela. The war would be under the command of Colonel Oswaldo Valentin Garcia Palomo, who is today in hiding after the attempted assassination by drone of President Maduro during the anniversary of the National Guard on 4 August 2018. These mercenaries are supported by Special Forces stationed on US military bases in Tolemaida (Colombia) and Eglin (Florida). The US plan is to take over, from the beginning of the conflict, the three Venezuelan Libertador military bases of Palo Negro, Puerto Cabello and Barcelona.

The US National Security Council is attempting to convince various states not to recognise Nicolas Maduros second mandate (he was re-elected last May, but will assume power with the New Year). This is why the states of the Lima Group contested the Presidential ballot even before it took place, and illegally forbade Venezuelan consulates from organising it. Furthermore, the migration crisis turns out to be just one more manipulation  many of the Venezuelans who fled the monetary crisis believing that they would easily find work in another Latin-American country are today trying to return home. But the Lima Group prevents them from doing so, forbidding Venezuelan planes who are attempting to repatriate them to use their air space, as well as interdicting the buses which have come to help them cross the borders.

Everything is therefore happening as if we were watching a remake of the events which bloodied the Greater Middle East after the attacks of 11 September 2001. The main point is not the military actions, but the appearance of disorder that the events present. First of all, its intended to confuse people into making a silk purse out of a sows ear [5]. In the space of five years, Venezuela and Nicaragua, which used to enjoy a positive image abroad, are now being wrongly described as  failed states . While the history of the Sandinistas and their struggle against the Somoza dictatorship has not yet been re-written, it is taken for granted that Hugo Chavez Frias was a  Communist dictator  (sic), despite the fact that his country experienced a massive economical and political leap forward during his Presidency. It will soon become possible to destroy these states without anyone complaining.

Time is passing more and more rapidly. When, in 1823, US President James Monroe decided to close the Americas to European colonisation, he could not have imagined that 50 years later his decision would morph into an affirmation of US imperialism. Just as today, when President Donald Trump declared, on the day of his investiture, that the time for regime change was over, he did not imagine that he would be betrayed by his own people. Nonetheless, on 1 November 2018, his Security Advisor John Bolton declared in Miami that Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela formed a  troika of tyranny . Then his Secretary of Defense, General James Mattis, affirmed on 1 December, before the Reagan National Defense Forum, that elected President Maduro is an  irresponsible despot  who  has to go  [6].Minister for Defence Elisabetta Trenta (5-Star Movement), on the mike of a musical radio station, sang  Cera un ragazzo che come me amava i Beatles e i Rolling Stones  [1], and declared  This song makes me think about the value of peace, a priceless value that we must always preserve .

Ten days later, in Afghanistan, the military-garbed Minister praised  our armed presence outside of the frontiers of Italy, guided by the values of our Constitution, on a fundamental mission for peace .

The mission is Resolution Support, initiated by NATO in Afghanistan in 2015, after the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), a United Nations mission of which NATO had taken command by armed force in 2003.

So the US/NATO war continues in Afghanistan, now in its eighteenth year. It was launched by the USA on 7 October 2001 on the official motive of hunting down Oussama Ben Laden, accused of the attacks of 11 September, who was supposedly hiding in an Afghani cave under the protection of the Taliban.

The true reasons were revealed by the Pentagon in a report published one week before the beginning of the war -  There is a possibility that a military rival is emerging in Asia with a formidable base of resources. Our armed forces must maintain the capacity to impose the will of the United States on any adversary, in order to change the regime of an enemy State or occupy a foreign territory until US strategic objectives are realised .

In the period preceding 11 September 2001, there had been strong signals of a rapprochement between China and Russia, which were actualised when the two countries signed the  Treaty of Good Neighbourship and Friendly Cooperation  on 17 July 2001. Washington considered that this rapprochement between China and Russia was a challenge to US interests, at the critical moment when the USA were trying to fill the void left in Central Asia by the disintegration of the USSR  a region of capital importance both for its geostrategic position in terms of Russia and China, and for its border reserves of oil and natural gas in the Caspian. The key position for the control of this region is Afghanistan.

This explains the headstrong engagement in a war which has already cost the United States alone more than 1,000 billion dollars. The mission which is currently under way is presented by NATO as a  non-combat mission . But on the basis of official data, in the first ten months of 2018, the US Air Force dropped approximately 6 thousand bombs and missiles on targets over Afghanistan. As well as fighters and armed drones, they used B-52 heavy bombers equipped with rotary launchers, which increase by two thirds the already enormous destructive capacities of the aircraft by enabling it to drop as many as 30 powerful precision-guided bombs in one mission.

Apart from this visible war there is another, hidden, waged by US and Allied Special Forces, with the mission to assassinate Taliban chieftains, or those presumed to be chieftains, and other people who are considered to be dangerous. The result is disastrous for NATO  as the number of civilian victims increases, so the Taliban gain ground.

Italy has been participating in the Afghanistan war for more than 15 years, under US command and in violation of Article 11 of the Constitution. Its contingent is ranked third out of 39 participants, after the United States and Germany. Italian officers are deployed in Tampa, Florida with the USA Command, and in Bahrein as liaison personnel with the US forces there.

And while the war continues to crush its victims, our Minister of Defence declares - at the Herat Orphanage - that Italian soldiers gave about two hundred winter outfits to  young and less fortunate children .Granada University Students Learn About Gibraltar

The Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia recently briefed a group of students undertaking a course in Geopolitics, Geography and Territorial Management from the University of Granada.

He went over the administration of Government in Gibraltar and the workings of the Constitution, with a review of the economy, employment and our existing position in the European Union. Dr Garcia also explained the challenges of territorial management faced by a small territory. He said that the best way to understand Gibraltar was to visit Gibraltar and welcomed their willingness to learn more.

The address was followed by a lively question and answer session where issues like Brexit and decolonisation were also raised.

The students then visited the Gibraltar Parliament where they were addressed by the Speaker Hon Adolfo Canepa and then visited Her Worship the Mayor Kaiane Aldorino-Lopez at the City Hall.Museum Christmas Lecture  Dr Peter Evans on Conservation of European Whales and Dolphins

This years museum Christmas Lecture will be delivered by Dr Peter Evans, a renowned world expert on the conservation of whales and dolphins, on Wednesday 19th December at 7pm at the John Mackintosh Hall.

Dr Evans is Director of the UK research organisation, Sea Watch Foundation, concerned with monitoring European cetacean populations particularly around the British Isles. He is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Ocean Sciences, University of Bangor Wales. He has worked on marine mammals (and birds) for over four decades and is deeply involved in their research and conservation at an international level, advising governments, the European Commission and United Nations.

The title of Dr Evans talk is The Conservation of European Whales and Dolphins. Europe has a great diversity of whales and dolphins, with around one-third of the world's species occurring in its waters. However, human activities in the coastal zone of Europe in particular place severe pressures upon marine mammals. Some of these lead to direct mortality such as hunting and entanglement in fishing gear; others such as pollution and noise can have more subtle effects, whilst the more general impacts of climate change are starting to be seen in various parts of Europe. The talk will celebrate the richness of Europe's cetacean fauna whilst highlighting the threats they face and the actions we could take to address those.

Entry is free and all are welcome.Bills for Mutual Legal Assistance and Extradition Passed in Parliament

A Bill for the Mutual Legal Assistance (Council of Europe) Act 2018 and a Bill for the Extradition Act 2018 were unanimously passed in Parliament.

The Mutual Legal Assistance Bill, when extended to Gibraltar by the UK, will give effect to the Council of Europes European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters. Mutual legal assistance agreements between countries serve the purpose of gathering and exchanging information in an effort to enforce public or criminal laws. Gibraltar currently provides assistance to, and seeks assistance from, most European Member States under the European Investigation Order Regulations 2017.

The Mutual Legal Assistance Bill enables HM Government of Gibraltar to request the extension of the Council of Europes Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, made in Strasbourg on 20 April 1959, to Gibraltar, as it presently does not apply. The Bill was certified as urgent by the Honourable the Chief Minister stemming from Her Majestys Government of Gibraltars Brexit contingency planning, as the Convention has been identified by the United Kingdom as necessary to mitigate the effects of a potential no deal Brexit.

The Extradition Bill enables Gibraltar to request the extension to Gibraltar of the European Convention on Extradition 1957 and its four protocols. Extradition is the procedure by which a state, upon receipt of a formal request by another state, turns over an individual charged with, or convicted of, a crime. The Extradition Bill is based on the UKs Extradition Act 2003. Gibraltar is now in a position to offer a similar legislative framework, by adopting the UKs model for legal assistance in the fight against crime. The Bill enables Gibraltar to request the extension of the European Convention on Extradition 1957 and its four protocols. The Convention and the four protocols do not yet extend to Gibraltar. As with the Mutual Assistance Bill, this Bill was also certified as urgent for the same reasons.

The Government Law Office has been working with the United Kingdoms Home Office officials, who urged Her Majestys Government of Gibraltar to enact the necessary legislation, before the end of the year, if the United Kingdoms ratification of the Convention is to be extended to Gibraltar by exit day.

The Minister for Health, Care and Justice, the Honourable Neil F. Costa MP said: It is important that the world understands that our Parliament stands united in its solidarity to fight crime. The passing of these important Bills guarantee the elements of our criminal justice system that seek to ensure two important objectives. The first is to ensure that those who have to face trial, or sentence, cannot avoid the consequences of their criminality by fleeing from a jurisdiction. Our second aim is to ensure that the evidence to prove criminality that is located outside the state where they are facing investigation or prosecution is easily obtained by nations. I would like to sincerely thank Honourable Members of the House for the unanimous backing of these Bills, which serve to protect our community and empower Gibraltar further in the fight against crime. I also wish to thank our Government lawyers for their diligence in the drafting of the Bills.Ministry of Equality Raise Domestic Violence Awareness over the Christmas Period

The Christmas period is generally a stressful period for everyone. It is also likely to lead to an increase in domestic abuse including domestic violence.

As part of continuing to raise awareness, the Ministry of Equality has arranged for its posters raising awareness on domestic violence to feature on the rear back window of two city service buses of the Gibraltar Bus Company. This is part of the Ministrys ongoing Domestic Violence Awareness Campaign, which includes posters, television adverts aired on GBC and social media and also an exercise with all local schools promoting healthy and respectful relationships for the past couple of years. The TV advert will also run from now until the new year.

The adverts are now visible on these buses and its purpose is to raise visibility of the message that domestic abuse should not be tolerated. The Ministry of Equality wishes for this taboo subject to be put at the forefront of peoples mind so that any instance of abuse is identified and reported immediately.

The Hon. Minister for Equality Samantha Sacramento MP, said: It is vital that victims of domestic abuse speak out. There is no shame in being the victim of abuse and there is help. We think it is important for this community to discuss domestic abuse openly so as to de-stigmatise these issues. Anyone who is a victim of domestic violence should contact the Royal Gibraltar Police who will support and make referrals as necessary.

The Commissioner of the Royal Gibraltar Police, Ian McGrail, said: The RGP have a positive action policy on domestic violence and pursue it with vigour. We are very cognizant that domestic violence has been the cause of most of the serious cases we have dealt with in the past and therefore we apply ourselves fully with strict procedures and processes to address it. No victim should suffer in silence.

Anyone wanting to report any case of domestic abuse can contact the Royal Gibraltar Police on telephone number 199 (Emergency) or 20072500.Agreement on Equalisation with NASUWT

Government and Gibraltar NASUWT, formerly the Gibraltar Teachers Association, note with satisfaction that a long-standing claim tabled by the union has been resolved. The particulars of the claim was based on a discrepancy between the salaries of First and Middle School teachers.

First School Teachers are in receipt of a lower salary, which the Union considered is not in keeping with the exigencies of the role, ultimately reflected in the fact that both First and Middle Schools fall under the Primary Education umbrella.

"Through the positive and collaborative framework of the Social Partnership entered into by HMGOG and Gibraltar NASUWT, the relationship between both parties is growing from strength to strength," a Govt spokesperson said, "ultimately leading to such a positive outcome. On its part, HMGOG reconfirms its commitment to both First School Teachers in pursuit of their claim, and to the wider industrial relations agenda that seeks to address areas of legitimate industrial concern in Gibraltar."

The Minister for Education, Heritage, the Environment and Climate Change, the Hon. Dr John Cortes MBE MP took the opportunity to state: We have commenced a process, under the Social Partnership, of working through all outstanding claims in a renewed spirit of working together for the good of the children in Education. I am extremely pleased that we have been able to finally resolve this issue positively. We are currently embarked with Gibraltar NASUWT in reviewing a number of outstanding matters with a view to resolving quickly.

The Director of Education, Jacqueline Mason, commented: As a Department of Education we welcome this long sought after equalization which sees the lower and upper primary sector being remunerated equitably. We are pleased to be collaborating with NASUWT as part of a Social Partnership Forum to address the management structure of our teaching and learning responsibilities aligning these with our future requirements.

Gibraltar NASUWTs argument was that teachers in the First School Sector had been underpaid since the commencement of the Teaching and Learning allowances under the principle of equal work equal pay. This situation led teachers in this sector to feel undervalued, more so given the crucial role they play in pupils formative years in Education.

Mr Victor Gonzalez, President of Gibraltar NASUWT stated: As President of our Association I am proud of the work carried out by our Executive team leading to the success of this important claim and just as proud of our members in the First School Sector who have been resolute in the pursuance of this claim. A very special thanks is also owed to our Minister Dr Cortes and Michael Crome, the Industrial Relations and MOD advisor, for their continuous help and support.

Both parties have said they will continue to collaborate on matters of concern to Gibraltar NASUWT and its members and look forward to continuing to grow their strong and positive relationship.No Deal Brexit  Driving in the EU

In November, the European Union and the United Kingdom concluded the terms of an agreement for the orderly departure of the UK from the European Union. Gibraltar was part of that agreement. The Withdrawal Agreement includes a transitional phase until the end of 2020 which also covers Gibraltar.

This agreement is subject to ratification by the UK Parliament and by the European Parliament.

In the meantime, planning continues for the eventuality that the UK and Gibraltar leave the European Union without this agreement.

The guidance to the public below covers that eventuality in respect of driving in the EU.

Summary

How a driver in Gibraltar would be affected if UK leaves the EU without agreement (a no deal scenario).

Detail

If the UK leaves the EU in March 2019 without a deal, find out how this would affect:  Access to the EU for driver holding a Gibraltar driving licence.

Purpose

This guidance explains the additional documents you would need, as well as your driving licence, to drive in the EU after 29 March 2019 if the UK leaves with no withdrawal agreement.

Before 29 March 2019

Your driving licence is valid in the EU. As long as you hold a Gibraltar licence, you can drive for both work and leisure purposes throughout the EU without other documents.

If you move to another EU country to live you can exchange Gibraltar licence issued by the Gibraltar Department of Transport for a driving licence from your new home country.

You do not need to re-sit your driving test.

After March 2019 if theres no deal

Your driving licence may no longer be valid by itself when driving in the EU.

If you move to another EU country to live, you may not be able to exchange your licence after the UK and Gibraltar have left the EU.

What you would need to do Driving in the EU

If there is no deal with the EU, you may need to obtain an International Driving Permit (IDP) to drive in the EU. An IDP is a document which when carried with your driving licence means you would be able to drive outside of Gibraltar including in all EU countries. There are different types of IDP. Which one you need depends on which country you are driving in.

If you currently drive outside the EU, for example in some states of the USA and countries including Africa, you may already be used to obtaining an IDP.

You may be turned away at the border or face other enforcement action, for example fines, if you dont have the correct IDP.

You may also need an IDP to hire a vehicle when you are abroad.

There are 2 types of IDP required by EU countries. Each is governed by a separate United Nations convention.

One type is governed by the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic. The other type is governed by the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic.

The version of the IDP you would require depends on which EU country you are visiting and whether it is party to the 1949 or the 1968 convention.

Each type of IDP is valid for a different period.

The 1949 convention IDP lasts for 12 months. After 28 March 2019 in the EU, a Gibraltar issued 1949 IDP would be recognised in Ireland, Spain, Malta and Cyprus.

The 1968 Convention IDP is valid for 3 years, or for however long your driving licence is valid, if that is less than 3 years. As part of the exit preparations the UK ratified the 1968 Convention, and it will come into force on 28 March 2019. The Gibraltar Government is working with the UK for the 1968 Convention to be extended to Gibraltar and for it to come into force on 28 March 2019 at the same time as the UK. A Gibraltar issued 1968 Convention IDP will be recognised in all EU countries, and also Norway and Switzerland.

After March 2019, if you visit and drive in an EU country, for example on holiday, you would need both:

 your Gibraltar driving licence

 the appropriate IDP

You would need both types of IDP if you are visiting EU countries covered by different conventions, for example France and Spain.

You would need both a driving licence and an IDP whether youre driving in a private or professional capacity.

Obtaining an IDP

The IDP will cost 6.00

You can currently get the 1949 type IDP at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing counters situated at Eastern Beach Road.

As From 1 February 2019, the Government will begin providing IDPs. If the 1968 convention is extended to Gibraltar, from this date, you will be able to apply for both 1949 and 1968 types of IDP at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing counters situated at Eastern Beach Road.

From the date of application to getting your IDP will take 5 working days.

IDPs issued under the 1949 convention will be valid from the day of issue shown on the front of the document.

IDPs issued under the 1968 Convention will be post-dated to become valid on 28 March 2019, when the Convention comes into force, and then from the date of issue. This is because 1968 convention IDPs will not be valid for use until the 1968 Convention is in force in Gibraltar.

If you already have a 1949 Convention IDP you can continue to use it in all the countries in which it applies (including EU countries) for as long as it remains valid. However, from 29 March 2019, when the 1968 Convention is extended to Gibraltar, that convention will govern the arrangements for driving in most EU Member States, including Norway and Switzerland.

In the EU, 1949 convention IDPs will only be valid in Cyprus, Ireland, Malta and Spain after 28 March 2019.

When travelling outside the EU, if you already have a 1949 convention IDP that expires after 28 March 2019, you should check whether it will still be valid in the country in which you are planning to drive, as the 1968 format IDP will replace it from this date. Affected countries include Cuba, Jamaica, Turkey and Vietnam.

Moving to or living in the EU

If, after exit day, you become resident in an EU country you would not have the automatic right under EU law to exchange your Gibraltar licence for a driving licence from the EU country youre living in. Depending on the laws of the EU country you move to, you may need to take a new driving test in that country.

You can avoid this by exchanging your Gibraltar driving licence for one from the EU country you move to or live in before 29 March 2019. Gibraltar licence holders, who do this, will be able to re- exchange for a Gibraltar licence if they return to live in the Gibraltar.

Negotiations

UK will be seeking to negotiate a comprehensive agreement with the EU to cover the continued recognition and exchange of driving licences after exit.

In the event that they do not achieve a comprehensive agreement, they will also pursue agreements with individual EU countries. However, UK cannot guarantee that they will have individual agreements with all EU states by exit day in the event of no deal.

EU driving licence holders, visiting or living in Gibraltar after exit

After exit day on 29 March 2019, arrangements for EU licence holders who are visiting or living in the Gibraltar will not change.

For visitors, with driving licences from EU or non-EU countries, the same arrangements of today will apply. Gibraltar will not require visiting motorists, for example those coming to Gibraltar on holiday or who wish to drive on business, to hold a separate IDP to guarantee the recognition of their driving licence.

When non-EU licence holders come to live in the Gibraltar on a temporary basis, we would continue to recognise their driving licence as long as they have their relevant IDP.

EU licence holders can drive on their EU licence until it expires, or until they reach the age of 70. For EU licence holders who passed their test in the EU or EEA, Gibraltar would continue to exchange their licence as we do currently.

EU licence holders, who passed their test outside the EU or EEA have restrictions on licence exchange, may need to take a test to obtain a Gibraltar licence.

Vehicle insurance if theres no Brexit deal Summary

How Gibraltar drivers and motor insurance providers would be affected if the UK leaves the EU with no deal.

Detail

If the UK leaves the EU in March 2019 without a deal, how this would affect:

 motorists who would need a Green Card as proof of insurance;

 motor insurance businesses responsible for providing Green Cards.

It is important to note that motor insurance companies based in Gibraltar already issue Green cards for all Gibraltar vehicles.

However, the future use of such Green Cards in the EU in the event of a No Deal Brexit remains unclear.

Notwithstanding this, those companies based in Gibraltar that are representatives for the UK Motor Insurance Bureau would follow any agreements made by them.

More information

We will publish more information in the coming months. We aim to give businesses and individuals as much certainty as possible as soon as we can, and to ensure that any new requirements are not unduly burdensome.

This notice is meant for guidance only. You should consider whether you need separate professional advice before making specific preparations.Five Revenue Authorities of East Africa, namely Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, gathered in Nairobi, Kenya on 6 December 2018 for the second Regional Joint Coordinating Committee (RJCC) meeting of their Project on Capacity Development for Trade Facilitation and Border Control in East Africa.

This Project is implemented by the five East African Community (EAC) Partner States with support jointly provided by the WCO and JICA and aims at improving the efficiency of border procedures and enhancing border control. Through this Project, the five East African Revenue Authorities have been working together on (1) effective One Stop Border Posts (OSBPs) operation, and (2) Customs capacity building on three areas, namely (i) risk management (RM), (ii) post clearance audit (PCA), and (iii) Program Global Shield (PGS).

The meeting was hosted by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and was attended by the Commissioners General, Commissioners Customs and other senior officials from the Revenue Authorities of EAC Partner States, EAC Secretariat, WCO, JICA and Japan Customs. The RJCC reviewed progress made in the last six month that included the Master Trainer Program (MTP) on Post Clearance Audit (PCA) and activities to further enhance risk management capacity. The RJCC welcomed the reported progress of work and expressed their appreciation to the WCO and JICA for the quality support offered.

The WCO informed the RJCC on the recently announced theme of 2019, SMART Borders for seamless Trade, Travel and Transport. This theme aligns with the objectives of Trade Facilitation and Border Control Project, complemented by another Grand Aid Project offered by JICA. It is expected that the East African Revenue Authorities will be the lead in implementing SMART Borders.

At the end of the meeting, awards were given to the Most Active Master Trainers of the year 2018 to commemorate their excellent contribution to sustainable capacity building by sharing their knowledge and experience with their colleagues within the region.

The WCO and JICA reaffirmed their commitment and support for the Project through the WCO/JICA Joint Project towards more sustainable economic and social prosperities in the region.

For more information on this activity and the WCO/JICA Joint Project, contact capacity.building@wcoomd.orgThe 4th Meeting of the Technical Experts Group on Non-Intrusive Inspection (TEG-NII) was held on 13-14 December 2018 at the WCO Headquarters in Brussels. The meeting brought together close to 70 participants from Member Customs administrations and NII Industry members. Thorough discussions were held in two main sessions  a session on the Unified File Format (UFF) Development Programme and a session devoted to other NII-related topics.

In her opening remarks, the Director of Compliance and Facilitation, Ms. Ana Hinojosa, highlighted the linkages between the work carried out by the TEG-NII and the theme to which the global Customs community will be dedicating 2019 - SMART borders for seamless Trade, Travel and Transport. The development of a standard NII data format, aimed at facilitating interoperability of different NII equipment provided by different manufacturers, contributes to the transformation of frontiers into SMART borders. The work of the TEG-NII is also relevant to the development of the 2021 version of the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards and the Group can provide valuable inputs in that regard.

During the UFF dedicated session, the TEG-NII approved the UFF Phase 2 Pre-Pilot Test Report and agreed on the way forward for testing the UFF Phase 2 development by selected Member Customs administrations. The participants discussed the UFF technical description and launched the discussions on the scope and timelines of Phase 3 of the UFF Development Programme.

The second day of the meeting provided the opportunity to examine and share experience on a number of NII-related topics, such as the elements to consider when establishing or enhancing the set-up for Customs operations involving NII, testing and deployment of small scanning equipment, image analysis and emerging technologies.

The Group agreed on an update of the WCO Guidelines for the Procurement and Deployment of Scanning/NII Equipment and approved a survey questionnaire that will be sent out to Members with the objective of compiling a compendium containing information on the NII systems deployed by the Customs administrations worldwide.At the invitation of Ms. Paulina Nazal, Executive Secretary of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Chile 2019, WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya spoke at the symposium organized at the Informal Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) held in Santiago, Chile on 13 December 2018.

The President of Chile, Mr. Sebastian Pinera, kicked off the meeting by sharing with the audience a list of priorities for his country, namely the following : Digital Society; Integration 4.0 (connectivity); Women; Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Inclusive Growth; and Sustainable Growth. The ensuing symposium discussed and underlined the importance of Chiles priorities with a view to achieving APEC's theme of "Connecting People, Building the Future".

Dr. Mikuriya spoke about Integration 4.0 that would be greatly supported by connectivity at borders. He described the WCO's 2019 theme of "SMART Borders for Seamless Trade, Travel and Transport" and how it would contribute to economic integration in the era of digital technology. SOM members expressed an interest in Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programmes and how they could provide support for integration by SMEs into the global trading system, as well as the effects of technology on trade, including E-Commerce.

Secretary General Mikuriya also took this opportunity to discuss Chilean Customs reforms with the acting Director General of Customs, Mr. Pablo Ibanez, and senior officials from the Ministry of Finance.In response to a request with a view to building its capacities in the field of Post-Clearance Audit (PCA), the WCO organized a National Workshop for Sri Lanka Customs from 10 to 14 December 2018 with the financial support of the Customs Cooperation Fund of China (CCF/China). The workshop was held in Colombo.

In total 42 Sri Lanka Customs officials from PCA units and other related units benefited from participating in the workshop. The participants were introduced to the WCOs concept on PCA in order to increase the efficiency of controls and promote trade facilitation.

The workshop also provided some group exercises which thoroughly cover auditing practical knowledge and technics of targeting, Customs valuation, pre-audit research, making an audit strategy and conducting of audit, as well as several case studies from the experts home country. The participants enthusiastically discussed throughout the workshop and were able to learn practical techniques and develop the ideas to conduct audits effectively.

The participants are expected to utilize their newly acquired skills in their daily operations as well as to share them to other officials in their branches.At the invitation of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the WCO successfully participated in the Africa e-commerce week event, held in Kenya, Nairobi, from 10 to 14 December 2018.

The objective of the event was to bring together a multiplicity of actors, including senior government representatives, private sector, civil society and international organizations for a full week dialogue on e-commerce, with a great focus for the African continent.

Under the theme "Empowering African Economies in the Digital Era", the Africa e-Commerce Week, inter alia, discussed and examined ways to strengthen the ability of African countries to engage in and benefit from the exponential growth of e-commerce worldwide and the evolving digital economy.

During the second day of the conference participants had the opportunity to welcome Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta, the President of the Republic of Kenya. With a special presence of the UNCTAD Secretary-General, Mr. Mukhisa Kituyi, the Vice  President, and the European Commissioner for Digital Single Market and Vice President of the European Commission, Mr. Andrus Ansip, respectively, and other entities, Mr. Kenyatta made a distinct call for Africa to play its part in shaping international rule-making on e-commerce and the digital economy recognizing that e-commerce is growing globally.

The WCO was represented at senior management level by Ms. Ana Hinojosa, Director Compliance and Procedures, who was invited as guest speaker in different high level events, including round-table discussion on what governments can do to support a beneficial e-commerce in Africa and the High-Level Dialogue on Trade and the Digital Economy in Africa continent.

In the first panel, H.E. Alioune Sarr, the Minister of Trade of the Republic of Senegal, led the discussion and Ms. Arancha Gonzalez, the Executive Director of the International Trade Centre and a number of others participated. Ms. Hinojosa underscored that the WCO is working closer with Customs Administrations to ensure that they are able to better manage challenges and opportunities which emerged as result of the growing volume of cross border e-commerce goods.

Additionally, in the High-Level Dialogue on Trade and the Digital Economy in Africa continent which Mr. Kituyi and Mr. Andrus Ansip and other high level official in representations of various institutions also attended, the WCO Director, amongst other things, pointed out that risk management and the use of Non-Intrusive Inspections equipment are very important for Customs Administration to address some of the challenges that have emerged as result of the exponential growth of e-commerce. In response to a number of participants questions, Director Hinojosa provided a detailed explanation on the concept and rationale for de minimus thresholds, and emphasized that WCO Members must make a thorough economic impact study to be able to accurately assess the appropriate level of de minimus threshold for their respective country.

As the week continued the WCO participated in a number of technical panels on various aspects relating to e-commerce.If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now!

SubmitOne dead in shooting at west Tennessee high school basketball gameAdvertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Dec. 17, 2018 | PADUCAH

By West Kentucky Star Staff Dec. 17, 2018 | 07:10 PM | PADUCAH

The Paducah City Commission named Brian G. Laird as the departments next chief at a special called meeting Monday night.



Laird, 40, has served as Assistant Chief of the Support Services Division since May, 2018. He replaces Chief Brandon Barnhill, who will retire at the end of December. Laird assumes the leadership of the department on January 1st.



I am honored that the Paducah City Commission has placed their trust in me to lead the Paducah Police Department into the future, Laird said. Our department is among the best trained and most professional in the Commonwealth, and it will be my privilege to serve as chief of police.



Laird began his law enforcement career as a patrol officer with the Paducah Police Department in 2001. Since then, he has served and supervised in all divisions of the department as detective, sergeant, captain and assistant chief. Laird has a Bachelors Degree from Murray State University and a Masters Degree from the University of Louisville. He is a 2017 recipient of the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Association Leadership Trilogy Award. In 2014, he completed the 131st session of the Administrative Officers Course/Executive Leadership Program through the Southern Police Institute.



He also is a graduate of the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Executive Development Program and Academy of Police Supervision. In 2013, he received the Gary L. Reese Award for outstanding leadership and distinguished career service, and was the Paducah Police Departments 2006 Employee of the Year.



Laird is a member of the Downtown Kiwanis Club, where he currently is serving his fourth term on the Board of Directors. He is an alumnus of Leadership Paducah. He also is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Kentucky Association of Chiefs of Police, the Fraternal Order of Police, and a past president of the Paducah Police Collective Bargaining Unit.



Laird grew up in Metropolis, IL, and is the son of Barry and Lynn Laird of Metropolis. He and his wife, Jennifer, reside in Paducah with their two children.



In other business, the commission approved the adoption of the City of Paducah Mission Statement and Organizational Values, approved a demolition bid package in the amount of $32,000 for the Kresge building at 318 Broadway.



They also approved municipal orders adopting the Jackson Purchase Regional Multi-Jurisdictional Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan Update, approved submission of an application to the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency for the FY2018 Fire Prevention and Safety Grant for $63,683.25, and approved authorizing a $28,943.94 payment to Concord Fire District for annexed property.



In addition, the commission honored outgoing commissioners Sarah Stewart Holland and Allan Rhodes, Jr. for their service to the city, as the Monday meeting was the last for their terms as commissioners.Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Dec. 18, 2018 | PADUCAH

By West Kentucky Star Staff Dec. 18, 2018 | 09:52 AM | PADUCAH

A local domestic crisis center is set to receive more than $1.4 million in federal grant money.



The Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet has announced it will distribute more than $26 million in federal grant money to various programs across the commonwealth to assist victims of violent crime.



The funds come from two federal grant programs  the Victims of Crime Act and the STOP Violence Against Women Act. The cabinet is awarding $25.2 million in VOCA money to 116 Kentucky programs, including those focused on child advocacy, domestic violence, sexual assault, law enforcement, prosecutor-based advocacy and legal aid, among other services. An additional $1.3 million in VAWA funds will go to support victim services, prosecutors, law enforcement, and court-based programs.



Mary Foley, Merryman House Executive Director, told West Kentucky Star, "these funds will allow us to bring on seven additional positions, which will bring our staff up to 47. It will also help offset overhead cost with the outreach offices and expenses such as rent, client transportation, emergency hotel stays, clothing, and emergency food."



The Merryman House Domestic Crisis Center in Paducah is among the recipients included in the program, and will get more than $1.4 million in grant money.



Here is a full list of grant recipients:





VOCA Grant Recipients



 Office of Kentucky Legal Services Programs, Inc.  $202,463

 The NestCenter for Women, Children & Families  $234,573

 Jefferson County Attorneys Office  $152,451

 Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence  $49,655

 UofL Hospital SAFE Services  $66,165

 Merryman House  $1,439,158

 Womens Crisis Center  $828,496

 Hope Harbor, Inc.  $289,210

 L.K.L.P. Community Action Council, Inc.  $243,116

 ElderServe, Inc.  $137,500

 Northern Kentucky Childrens Advocacy Center  $399,462

 Mothers Against Drunk Driving  $104,521

 Family & Childrens Place  $538,902

 The Center for Women and Families, Inc.  $900,000

 Kentucky Refugee Ministries, Inc. (KRM)  $145,000

 CASA of Lexington  $239,308

 GreenHouse17  $1,200,474

 Childrens Advocacy Center of the Bluegrass  $405,007

 Graves County Child Advocacy Program  $75,143

 SpringHaven, Inc.  $287,639

 Mountain Comprehensive Care Center  $350,000

 Home of the Innocents  $240,456

 Legal Aid Society  $600,000

 Green County Fiscal Court  $57,000

 Silverleaf Sexual Trauma Recovery Services  $400,000

 Maryhurst, Inc.  $127,750

 Jessamine County Sheriffs Office  $73,981

 Cumberland Trace Legal Services  $635,136

 Frankfort Area Childrens Council (Sunshine Center)  $73,156

 CASA For Kids of Kenton and Campbell County, Inc.  $85,695

 Appalachian Research and Defense Fund of KY  $380,382

 NELCASA  $27,750

 Hardin Memorial Health Foundation  $165,000

 Family Nurturing Center  $264,646

 Child Watch Childrens Advocacy Center, Inc.  $290,000

 Buffalo Trace Childrens Advocacy Center  $42,475

 Brighton Center, Inc.  $75,938

 Safe Harbor of Northeast Kentucky, Inc.  $775,973

 DOVES of Gateway, Inc.  $400,000

 CASA of Ohio Valley  $144,000

 Barren County Fiscal Court  $49,522

 Kentucky River Community Care, Inc.  $141,251

 Judis Place for Kids, Inc.  $374,918

 Green River Regional Rape Victim Services  $673,836

 Boone County CASA  $49,828

 Campbell County Attorneys Office  $64,051

 Hopes Place, Inc.  $216,411

 Franklin County Fiscal Court  $57,750

 Christian County Attorneys Office  $61,756

 Lake Cumberland Childrens Advocacy Center  $198,792

 O.A.S.I.S, Inc.  $402,230

 Taylor County Fiscal Court  $61,301

 Jeffersontown Police Department  $50,000

 CASA for Bullitt County, Inc.  $25,531

 Gateway Childrens Advocacy Center  $101,320

 Pennyrile Childrens Advocacy Center  $97,997

 CASA of the Bluegrass  $115,019

 Purchase Area Sexual Assault Center  $1,700,000

 CASA of Knox & Laurel Counties  $40,907

 CASA of the Heartland  $66,228

 Cumberland Valley Childrens Advocacy Center  $292,566

 Fayette County Attorneys Office  $219,551

 Tri County CASA, Inc.  $83,955

 Fayette County Sheriffs Office  $160,000

 University of Kentucky Research Foundation  $275,063

 Legal Aid of the Bluegrass  $592,156

 Barren River Area Child Advocacy Center  $312,224

 Russell County Fiscal Court  $55,695

 Cumberland Valley Domestic Violence Services, Inc.  $213,960

 Sanctuary, Inc.  $400,000

 11th Judicial Circuit  $49,251

 Laurel County Attorneys Office  $89,028

 Adair County Attorney  $69,393

 Bourbon County Attorneys Office  $49,321

 CASA of South Central KY  $129,063

 Kentuckians Voice for Crime Victims  $71,456

 Louisville/Jefferson Co. Metro Government  $50,000

 Bethany House Abuse Shelter  $254,441

 Catholic Charities of Louisville, Inc.  $150,000

 CASA of Northeast Kentucky, Inc.  $83,040

 Georgetown Police Department  $62,976

 Williamsburg Police Department  $54,287

 Ramey-Estep Homes, Inc.  $92,785

 Kentucky River Childrens Advocacy Center, Inc.  $54,745

 Adanta Sexual Assault Resource Center  $170,000

 McCracken County Fiscal Court  $61,633

 Hart County Attorneys Office  $59,391

 Letcher County Attorney  $40,324

 Barren River Area Safe Space, Inc.  $650,000

 Knox County Fiscal Court  $59,394

 Pulaski County Attorneys Office  $83,907

 47th Circuit Commonwealth Attorneys Office  $25,000

 CASA by the Lakes  $92,227

 CASA of Madison County, KY Inc.  $50,000

 Daviess Co Attorney Office  $30,600

 Turning Point Domestic Violence Services, Inc.  $134,164

 Graves County Attorneys Office  $76,617

 Holly Hill Child and Family Solutions  $47,958

 Hickman County Attorneys Office  $48,500

 CASA of the River Region  $146,720

 Grayson County Attorneys Office  $62,169

 Childrens Advocacy Center of Green River District  $117,000

 Calloway County Attorneys Office  $66,375

 Department of Corrections  $25,000

 Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center DBA Ampersand SVRC  $925,000

 CASA for Bracken, Fleming & Mason Counties, Inc.  $53,197

 St. Joseph Childrens Home  $50,000

 Specialized Alternatives for Families and Youth of Kentucky, Inc.  $107,971

 NKY Childrens Law Center, Inc./DBA Childrens Law Center, Inc.  $166,465

 CASA Program of Hopkins, Webster, & Crittenden Counties, Inc.  $39,851

 Cumberland River Comprehensive Care Center;MH-MR Board, Inc.  $115,200

 2nd Judicial Circuit-McCracken County Commonwealth Attorneys Office  $31,595

 Lexington Fayette Urban County Government  Street Sales  $130,852

 Lexington Fayette Urban County Government  Street Sales  $48,305



VAWA Grant Recipients



 GreenHouse 17  $46,629

 The Nest- Center for Women, Children & Families  $60,253

 Sanctuary, Inc.  $53,271

 Hope Harbor  $67,667

 B.R.A.S.  $49,144

 Catholic Charities of Louisville  $51,145

 Chrysalis House  $50,630

 The Center for Women and Families, Inc.  $39,200

 DOVES of Gateway  $59,890

 Green River Regional Rape Victim Services  $32,461

 SpringHaven  $53,353

 Safe Harbor of Northeast KY  $61,426

 Bethany House  $42,000

 Letcher Co. CARES  $55,088

 Womens Crisis Center  $109,743

 The Nest- Center for Women, Children & Families  $60,253

 Appalachian Research and Defense Fund  $5,432

 Christian County Attorney  $78,230

 Jefferson County Attorney Office  $152,961

 Catholic Charities of Louisville  $51,197

 McCracken Co. Attorneys Office  $53,269

 Administrative Courts of the Office  $95,280

 Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence  $117,784

 Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs  $71,010

 Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs  $59,835

 Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs  $100,565

 KY Office of the Attorney General  $45,000

 Hardin Memorial Health Foundation  $56,095

 Merryman House  $44,457

 Purchase Area Sexual Assault Center  $66,858

 Lexington Fayette Urban County Government PD  $40.422

 Fayette County Sheriffs Office  $147.708

 Office of Legal Services/Internal Investigations Branch  $86,938.00

 Louisville/Jefferson Metro Government PD SVU  $61,401.00Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Dec. 17, 2018 | PADUCAH

By West Kentucky Star Staff Dec. 17, 2018 | 08:22 PM | PADUCAH

The Power Cost Adjustment (PCA), which is applied to all energy usage by Paducah Power customers, will increase slightly January 1st.



The PCA, adjusted quarterly to reflect power supply costs, will change from $0.00881 to $0.01052 per

kilowatt hour (kWh). The change will result in a $1.71 increase in the monthly bill of the typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh.



This is the first increase in the PCA in nearly five years. Since February 2014, the PCA dropped more than 70%, lowering residential customers bills more than 16%. The latest decrease came in October when it went from $0.00997 to $0.00881 per kWh, a drop of $1.16 in the monthly bill of a 1,000 kWh residential customer. The change in PCA reflects the difference between projected power costs and

actual costs.



Actual power supply costs are somewhat unpredictable because so much is dependent on market prices, said Doug Handley, PPS Director of Finance, Supply and Power Rates. Power costs for the months of July through October exceeded our projections by $1.1 million, with more than half of that variance in September.



PPS General Manager Dave Carroll said, While the PCA increase is minimal, its a reminder that we must stay focused on any opportunities to help lower the cost of power for PPS. One of our primary goals is to find a way to mitigate an increase in debt service we face in the year 2020 by restructuring or refunding some of the bonds issued through the Kentucky Municipal Power Agency.



PPS adjusts the PCA quarterly, so the next evaluation of the PCA will come in late March.By The Associated Press Dec. 18, 2018 | 05:59 AM | MURRAY

Murray State University is launching an initiative to boost student enrollment.

The Murray Ledger & Times reports the Yield Communication Plan is among the first of its kind implemented at a Kentucky university.

Vice President of Student Affairs Don Robertson says it gives the school an advantage in attracting students. The program calls school officials to make a concentrated effort to be more personal in mailings, texts messages and video messages. Another part of the program tracks statistical information on items including which potential students apply for scholarships and housing.

Robertson said the goal is to predict which students are most likely to enroll after being admitted "so we can maximize our efforts."

Enrollment at the western Kentucky school has declined over the last five years.

___

Information from: Murray Ledger & Times, http://www.murrayledger.comBy West Kentucky Star Staff Dec. 18, 2018 | 08:06 AM | MAYFIELD

A vehicle-pedestrian collision Monday night in Mayfield left one person dead and another facing charges.

According to the Graves County Sheriff's Office, the collision happened around 6 pm on US 45 North. Upon arrival, deputies found one person lying in the road unresponsive. Around that same time, Kentucky State Police received a call from a woman on Dorothy Lane who said she had hit a deer on US 45 North and needed to make a report.

Troopers went to Dorothy Lane and determined that the vehicle was involved in the pedestrian collision on US 45. During the investigation it was determined that Jasemine Rupcke, of Mayfield, was driving a minivan southbound on US 45 when she struck a pedestrian and continued driving to a friend's home on Dorothy Lane. Both Rupcke and her passenger told police they thought they hit a deer.

The pedestrian, Amanda Czerwien, of Mayfield, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Graves County Coroner. Deputies say Czerwien had just finished work at Pilgrim's Pride and was walking home when she was struck.



Rupcke was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident/failure to render aid/assist with death/serious physical injury, failure to produce insurance card, failure to register transfer of motor vehicle and no operator's license. Rupcke was lodged in the Graves County Jail.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.Witsie set to fly SA flag high at AU Youth Council

Dr Shakira Choonara is among eight young leaders from across Africa appointed to the inaugural African Union (AU) Youth Advisory Council.

Choonara, a research fellow in the Wits School of Public Health will fly the South African flag high as the only representative from the country to be appointed as a member of the council. The group will drive and advocate on youth development issues central to the work of young people in the AU and to support the AU Youth Envoy Aya Chebbi.

The 29 year old is no stranger to youth activism, having joined the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation Youth Leadership Programme in 2014 after grappling with issues that continue to face young people and a yearning to contribute in overcoming various social challenges.

Choonara has been part of global platforms like One Young World, Emerging Voices for Global Health and has most recently been part of the Obama Foundation Leaders: Africa programme for emerging leaders across the continent.

Dr Choonara explains that she looks forward to effectively using this opportunity to help develop future leaders on the continent drawing from her own challenges which have led to her latest appointment. I know what it is like to come from nothing with just a vision and determination, and that is the drive that has brought me here today, the post is all about giving back to the youth on this continent.

With a core interest in public health, Choonara has also been listed as the most powerful woman under the age of 40 in South Africa by Destiny Magazine as well as making it to News 24s 100 young Mandelas of the future list which was launched earlier this year.

She was appointed in the African Union Youth Advisory Council last month by the African Union Commission where she will be joined by young leaders from Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin, Mauritiana, Uganda, Senegal and Chad.



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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Florida's incoming agriculture commissioner says she wants to get a formal pardon for four young African-American men who were wrongly accused of raping a white woman in what is considered one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in Jim Crow-era Florida.

Nikki Fried said in a statement Monday she would bring up the Groveland Four's case at the first Florida Cabinet meeting she attends and try to expedite a review that could lead to their posthumous pardon at a clemency board hearing.

As agriculture secretary, Fried is one of four members on the state's clemency board, which also includes the governor, attorney general and chief financial officer.

The four men were wrongly accused of raping a white woman in the central Florida town of Groveland in 1949.

(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and the Russia investigation (all times local):

1:05 p.m.

A federal judge has agreed to delay former national security adviser Michael Flynn's sentencing so he can continue cooperating with the Russia probe.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan on Tuesday set a status conference for March.

Attorneys for Flynn asked the judge to postpone the sentencing. The stunning request came after Sullivan warned Flynn that if he were sentenced as scheduled Tuesday, he might not get all the credit for his cooperation with investigators that he is entitled to.

Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russia contacts. Prosecutors had recommended no prison time, citing his cooperation. But the judge's rebuke raised the prospect that Flynn could get a harsher sentence.

With final jabs at FBI, Michael Flynn heads to sentencing

WASHINGTON (AP) - Michael Flynn will likely walk out of a courtroom a free man due to his extensive cooperation with federal prosecutors, but the run-up to his sentencing hearing Tuesday has exposed raw tensions over an FBI interview in which he lied about his Russian contacts.

The former national security adviser's lawyers have suggested that investigators discouraged him from having an attorney present during the January 2017 interview and never informed him it was a crime to lie. Prosecutors shot back, "He does not need to be warned it is a crime to lie to federal agents to know the importance of telling them the truth."

On Monday evening, the dispute and a judge's intervention led prosecutors to publicly file a redacted copy of the notes from Flynn's FBI interview that largely bolster the case, showing he told agents things he later said were false.

Still, the mere insinuation of underhanded tactics has been startling given the seemingly productive relationship between the two sides, and it was especially striking since prosecutors with special counsel Robert Mueller's office have praised Flynn's cooperation and recommended against prison time. The defense arguments spurred speculation that Flynn may be trying to get sympathy from President Donald Trump or may be playing to a judge known for a zero-tolerance view of government misconduct.

"It's an attempt, I think, to perhaps characterize Flynn as a victim or perhaps to make him look sympathetic in the eyes of a judge  and, at the same time, to portray the special counsel in a negative light," said former federal prosecutor Jimmy Gurule, a University of Notre Dame law school professor.

Until the dueling memos were filed last week, Flynn had cooperated extensively and largely eschewed the aggressive tactics of others involved in the Mueller probe.

Prosecutors, for instance, have accused former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort of lying to them even after he agreed to cooperate. Another potential target, Jerome Corsi, leaked draft court documents and accused Mueller's team of bullying him. And George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser recently released from a two-week prison sentence, has lambasted the investigation and publicly claimed that he was set up.

But then came Flynn's sentencing memo.

Although Flynn and his attorneys stopped short of any direct accusations of wrongdoing, but they suggested the FBI, which approached Flynn at the White House just days after Trump's inauguration, played to his desire to keep the encounter quiet and as a result kept him from involving a lawyer.

They also insinuated that Flynn deserves credit for not publicly seizing on the fact that FBI officials involved in the investigation later came under scrutiny themselves. Former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who contacted Flynn to arrange the interview, was fired this year for what the Justice Department said was a lack of candor over a news media leak. Peter Strzok, one of the two agents who interviewed Flynn, was removed from Mueller's team and later fired for trading anti-Trump texts with another FBI official.

Mueller's team has sharply pushed back at any suggestion that Flynn was duped, with prosecutors responding that as a high-ranking military officer steeped in national security issues Flynn "knows he should not lie to federal agents."

Trump has made no secret that he sees Mueller's investigation as a "witch hunt" and has continued to lash out at prosecutors he sees as biased against him and those who help them. He's shown continued sympathy for Flynn, though, calling him a "great person" and asserting erroneously last week that the FBI said he didn't lie.

Flynn has not tried to retract his guilty plea, and there's every indication the sentencing will proceed as scheduled.

Arun Rao, a former Justice Department prosecutor in Maryland, said the defense memo is striking because it's "inconsistent" with Flynn's cooperative stance so far.

"You also wonder in this very unusual situation," he said, "whether it is a play for a pardon."

It's also possible that at least some of the defense arguments may resonate with U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who was the judge in the Justice Department's botched prosecution of now-deceased Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska. He dismissed the case after prosecutors admitted that they withheld exculpatory evidence, prompting the judge to say that in nearly 25 years on the bench, "I've never seen anything approaching the mishandling and misconduct that I've seen in this case."

In an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal last year, Sullivan said the case inspired him to explicitly remind prosecutors in every criminal case before him of their obligation to provide defendants with favorable evidence. He says he has encouraged colleagues to do the same.

In Flynn's case, he directed prosecutors to produce FBI records at the center of his case, including portions of the notes from his Jan. 24, 2017, FBI interview.

The notes, publicly filed Monday evening, show that FBI agents interviewed Flynn about his contacts with Russia, including his past trips to the country and his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, then Russia's ambassador to the U.S.

The notes show Flynn told agents he didn't ask Kislyak not to escalate Russia's response to sanctions imposed by the Obama administration in response to election interference. But Flynn admitted in court papers last year that he did.

The notes also show Flynn told agents he didn't ask Kislyak to see if Russia would vote a certain way on a United Nations resolution involving Israeli settlements. But in court papers last year he admitted that he did ask Kislyak to see if Russia would vote against or delay the resolution. Court papers show Flynn made that request at the direction of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.

It's unclear what impact, if any, the notes will have on Sullivan's sentencing decision.

Copyright 2018 Associated Press. All rights reserved.NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES



MONTREAL, Dec. 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PyroGenesis Canada Inc. (http://pyrogenesis.com) (TSX-V: PYR) (OTCQB: PYRNF), a TSX Venture 50 high-tech company, (the "Company", the Corporation or "PyroGenesis") a Company that designs, develops, manufactures and commercializes plasma atomized metal powder, plasma waste-to-energy systems and plasma torch products, is pleased to announce today that it intends to complete a non-brokered private placement financing (the "Offering") for gross proceeds up to $3,045,000, by issuing 5,250,000 Units at a price of $0.85 per Unit for which it has received conditional approval from the TSXV.

The timing of this financing may seem a bit unusual given recent press releases, said Mr. P. Peter Pascali, President and CEO of PyroGenesis. However, management decided to take advantage of this proposal given the opportunities before us, all of which we expect will become much clearer within the next 3 weeks.

Each Unit will consist of one common share in the capital of the Company and one full common share purchase warrant (Unit Warrant), each full Unit Warrant entitling the holder to acquire one common share of the Company at a price of $0.85 until December 18th, 2020.

The Corporation will pay a finders fee of 7% on a portion of the proceeds of this Private Placement. The Corporation will not issue any finders compensation warrants in connection with this Private Placement.

The proceeds from the Private Placement will be used by the Corporation for general corporate purposes.

The Private Placement is subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) as well as other customary closing conditions.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities of 1933, as amended, 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 PyroGenesis Canada Inc.

PyroGenesis Canada Inc., a TSX Venture 50 high-tech company, is the world leader in the design, development, manufacture and commercialization of advanced plasma processes and products. We provide engineering and manufacturing expertise, cutting-edge contract research, as well as turnkey process equipment packages to the defense, metallurgical, mining, advanced materials (including 3D printing), oil & gas, and environmental industries. With a team of experienced engineers, scientists and technicians working out of our Montreal office and our 3,800 m2 manufacturing facility, PyroGenesis maintains its competitive advantage by remaining at the forefront of technology development and commercialization. Our core competencies allow PyroGenesis to lead the way in providing innovative plasma torches, plasma waste processes, high-temperature metallurgical processes, and engineering services to the global marketplace. Our operations are ISO 9001:2015 certified, and have been since 1997. PyroGenesis is a publicly-traded Canadian Corporation on the TSX Venture Exchange (Ticker Symbol: PYR) and on the OTCQB Marketplace. For more information, please visit www.pyrogenesis.com

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words "may", "plan", "will", "estimate", "continue", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "in the process" and other similar expressions which constitute "forward- looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Corporation's current expectation and assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, our expectations regarding the acceptance of our products by the market, our strategy to develop new products and enhance the capabilities of existing products, our strategy with respect to research and development, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development, and uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process. Such statements reflect the current views of the Corporation with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Corporation's ongoing filings with the securities regulatory authorities, which filings can be found at www.sedar.com , or at www.otcmarkets.com. Actual results, events, and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Corporation undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward- looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor the OTCQB accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

SOURCE PyroGenesis Canada Inc.

For further information please contact: Clemence Bertrand-Bourlaud, Marketing Manager/Investor Relations, Phone: (514) 937-0002, E-mail: ir@pyrogenesis.comTALLAHASSEE, Fla. (The News Service of Florida) - Legislation filed at the state capitol would remove the statute of limitations for prosecuting rape cases involving victims who were under age 18 when the sexual assault occurred.

Under current law, a first degree felony case involving rape cannot be prosecuted more than four years after a crime is committed. The proposed bill would remove that deadline.

Democratic State Senator Linda Stewart is sponsoring the measure. She says many young sexual battery victims do not come forward when a rape happens for numerous reasons, including embarrassment, feeling ashamed and because the attacker is often an authority figure in the childs life.

By the time they reach adult age, it takes them that long to really consider what had happened to them and have the courage to come forward and tell people what had happened to them," said Stewart. "I dont think that there should be a time clock.

Stewarts bill will be considered during the 2019 legislative session which begins March 5. If approved, it would take effect next July 1.DONALSONVILLE, Ga. (WTXL) - The Donalsonville Police Department is searching for 43-year-old Sharon Michelle Crawford, who was last seen three weeks ago.

Crawford was reported missing on Nov. 27 from Donalsonville in Seminole County, Georgia.

She is described as a 43-year-old woman around 5-foot-7 tall weighing around 109 pounds.

Anyone with information abbot Crawford's location is asked to contact the Donalsonville Police Department at (229) 524-2175, Chief Investigator Greg Long.TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (The News Service of Florida) - With his fierce support of charter schools and voucher-type programs, former House Speaker Richard Corcoran has been a controversial figure in Florida education circles.

Corcoran used his power as speaker the past two years to push through bills that pleased school-choice supporters, but angered many teachers and public-school officials.

Now, Corcoran will be Floridas next education commissioner. The State Board of Education met Monday in Tallahassee, and unanimously approved the former Republican lawmaker to succeed outgoing Commissioner Pam Stewart.

Corcoran, who had the backing of Governor-elect Ron DeSantis, was the only candidate considered by the board.

We want to expand choice. The one size fits all doesnt work. Everyone has different modes of learning and different ways of succeeding," said Corcoran. "Who knows that best is parents. We need to empower the parents, empower the students, and give them opportunities to learn.

While the selection of the former speaker was hailed by many school choice proponents, others say many of the measures supported by Corcoran could be detrimental to traditional public schools and students.

Fedrick Ingram, President of the Florida Education Association, the states largest teachers union, said educators need more of a voice is shaping state policy.

Bring the teachers to the table so that we can converse, so that he understands. We want to educate Mr. Corcoran, because we know that he is not an educator," said Ingram. "The fact that he is not an educator doesnt mean that he cant do the job, but hes got some learning to do. Our teachers can do that.

The Commissioner of Education oversees 42 hundred K-12 public schools that serve nearly 2.7 million students, while also working with state colleges.The victim was originally found by a family member who was doing a wellness check and is believed to have died within the last 24 hours.

The body will be sent to the GBI office in Macon for an autopsy and the GBI is currently talking to witnesses, said Agent Jamy Steinberg.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 01:37:56|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The top UN envoy for Afghanistan on Monday saw a real chance of formal peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

"The possibility of a negotiated end to the conflict has never been more real in the past 17 years than it is now," Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN secretary-general's special representative for Afghanistan, told the Security Council.

He saw political will on the side of the Afghan government and continued international support.

"On the Afghan side, a peace plan was presented by President (Mohammad Ashraf) Ghani at the Geneva Ministerial Conference (on Nov. 28). A team to negotiate directly with the Taliban was appointed. A senior peace advisory board representing a broader set of Afghan politicians to support the peace efforts was also announced. On Dec. 9, a new head of the Secretariat of the High Peace Council was appointed," said Yamamoto, who is also head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

A key outcome of the Geneva Ministerial was the assurance of continued international support in the post-peace phase. The international community expressed their commitment to continue providing assistance to Afghanistan in the event that a peace agreement is reached with the Taliban, he said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 01:42:57|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

NICOSIA, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Israel and Cyprus have started a joint military exercise on Cypriot soil, the Cypriot Defense Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

It added that units of the Cypriot National Guard and Israeli aircraft will be taking part in the three-day drill.

Cyprus and Israel have forged close relations in several fields, including energy and defense.

The Defense Ministry statement said the exercise is being held in the framework of the annual military cooperation program between the two countries.

It added that Israeli planes will be flying within the Nicosia flight information region (FIR) and over Cypriot soil, some of them making passes at a low altitude.

Military cooperation between the two countries is aimed at providing protection to energy infrastructure in the eastern Mediterranean, where Israel and Cyprus are cooperating in the exploitation of joint resources or natural gas.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 01:53:00|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

JUBA, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- South Sudanese are hoping to count on Chinese technical support to boost its agriculture sector as the country tries to cut over-reliance on hydrocarbons to revive a economy battered by five years of conflict.

Sebit Charles, a 45-year-old agricultural mechanic who recently attended a training program provided by five Chinese technicians at Kapuri agricultural technology transfer center in Juba, said unlocking South Sudan's huge agricultural potentials requires investment in skills.

"I have benefited a lot in terms of skills because now I am able to operate and maintain the walking tractors and combined harvesters," Sebit told journalists during an interview on Monday. "Definitely I am going to teach more people so that they also go and teach others."

He said South Sudan needs to rely on technology to revive its agriculture, which has suffered setback due to conflict as well as crop pests and diseases.

Sebit can now operate several kinds of machines donated by the Chinese government to reinvigorate the agricultural sector and help guarantee a path to sustainable food security.

The 349 pieces of machinery donated by the Chinese government include grain combine harvesters, walking tractors, seeders, potato planters, and potato harvesters.

South Sudan hopes to be a regional food basket by implementing its five-year agricultural policy framework and a 25-year comprehensive agricultural master plan.

The country has vast arable land and 38 million livestock. Currently oil and mining dominates the economy in terms of revenues, accounting for 98 percent of the fiscal budget since the country's independence from Sudan in 2011.

Acuil Atak, 50, a worker with the Aweil rice scheme run by Chinese technicians in the northern Aweil State, said he intends to go back to his hometown and train his colleagues on how to use some of the equipment.

"I want to train more people in our state," Atak said, adding that 12 others from Aweil receiving training with the Chinese also hope to go back and train more people in their home state.

Atak hopes to visit China someday and learn more about its agriculture sector in the future.

Charles Sokiri, another trainee, said local farmers have been working with rudimentary tools to plough the land and that he hopes these state-of-the-art machines will help improve food production.

"These machines are very good because they are easy to operate and more of these types of machines should be brought to South Sudan," he said. "We need more people to train with these machines because we need to attract many people into agriculture."

Yang Mengjun, business manager of Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group, which conducted the training, said they are delighted to have trained South Sudanese on operation and maintenance of these machines and that they will continue training more people.

"This is just the beginning. We are here still to continue training and help more South Sudanese to acquire skills on using technology to improve the country's agricultural productivity," she said.

Onyoti Adigo Nyikuac, South Sudan's minister of agriculture and food security, said these machines will help many people and also support the government's bid to move away from the rain-fed agriculture to commercial farming.

He said the Kapuri agricultural technology transfer center needs to encourage more South Sudanese to acquire skills in research and innovation in agricultural sector.

Juma Stephen Lugga, Jubek state minister of agriculture, said this year, with a revitalized agreement ushering in peace, his state is aiming to increase food production.

"This year we want to produce much crops under this peace. We need to maximize these trained technicians so that more are trained," Lugga said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 01:53:01|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

Egyptian Immigration Minister Nabila Makram speaks during the fourth edition of the "Egypt Can" conference in Hurghada, Egypt, on Dec. 17, 2018. Egyptian Immigration Minister Nabila Makram announced on Monday the establishment of "Egypt Can" Foundation with the goal of gathering all Egyptian scientists abroad in one place. (Xinhua/Wu Huiwo)

HURGHADA, Egypt, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Immigration Minister, Nabila Makram, announced on Monday the establishment of "Egypt Can" Foundation with the goal of gathering all Egyptian scientists abroad in one place.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the fourth edition of the "Egypt Can" conference, the minister said the new foundation will have a board of directors who will contact Egyptian scientists abroad to learn from their expertise to contribute to the country's future development plans.

The two-day conference, dubbed "Egypt can by Education," sheds light on ways to improve education in Egypt.

The minister added that the conference runs in line with President Abdel-Fattah al Sisi's declaration of 2019 as the Year of Education.

The conference is meant to benefit from the knowledge of Egyptian scientists working abroad through sharing their visions on ways to develop the educational system in Egypt, the minister noted.

The conference is held in cooperation with Ministry of Immigration, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education alongside 11 entities concerned.

Around 30 Egyptian experts and scientists working abroad in the field of education take part in the fourth edition of the conference.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 03:43:24|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

TRIPOLI, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Libyan UN-backed government said on Monday that Islamic State (IS) militant group remains a threat to the national security despite its defeat in the city of Sirte in late 2016.

"The liberation of Sirte did not eliminate the terrorist organization completely," the government said in a statement on the second anniversary of its victory over the IS in Sirte.

"Some IS members have escaped, trying to regroup in other areas. There are also cells that await opportunities to carry out criminal operations," the statement added.

The Libyan government also called for uniting the country's army to defeat terrorism.

"Our war on terrorism will not end without uprooting it," it noted.

Sirte, located some 450 km east of the capital Tripoli, witnessed a vicious war in 2016 between the government forces and IS militants.

The fighting lasted more than eight months, killing more than 700 government troops and over 2,000 IS militants.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 04:18:32|Editor: mym

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Golden State Warriors players Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston will be back in the lineup for game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, the club confirmed.

Iguodala has been out of the last three games with tightness in his left hip, while Livingston missed Friday's game against the Sacramento Kings due to a minor injury.

Aside from those veterans returning to the lineup, center DeMarcus Cousins continues to work toward his season debut for the Warriors.

The defending champions now have 20 wins out of 30 games and rank second in the Western Conference.CALGARY, Alberta, Dec. 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CHAMPION BEAR RESOURCES LTD. (CBA.V) (Champion Bear or the Company) announced today that, as a result of a review by the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) the Company is clarifying the Technical Report on its Plomb Project filed on February 5, 2018 (the Report).



The Plomp Farm Report on file does not comply with the requirements of NI 43-101 and Form 43-101F1 and investors should not rely on the mineral resource estimate until the Company files a compliant technical report.

The Company is in the process of amending the Report as soon as reasonably possible in order to address all non-compliant and non-current disclosure issues identified by the ASC. Once an amended Report is available, the Company will provide an update to this news release and file the amended report on SEDAR.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy the securities in any jurisdiction. The securities offered have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons except in certain transactions exempt from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act.

Champion Bear is a mineral exploration company focused exclusively on the historically prospective regions of Ontario. The Company's primary targets are platinum group metals, precious metals, polymetallic base metals and pegmatite-hosted tantalum deposits. Champion Bear's aim is to create shareholder value through selective property acquisition followed by focused exploration emphasizing drilling. The Company has assembled a large land position in the Dryden and Sudbury areas, totaling over 16,000 hectares. Additional information about Champion Bear can be found on the Companys website at www.championbear.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com .

This news release contains forward-looking statements concerning the completion of the private placement, the use of proceeds of the private placement and the timing and composition of the exploration programs to be completed on certain of Champion Bear's mineral properties which are based on Champion Bear's current internal expectations, which may prove to be incorrect. These statements are not a guarantee of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that are common to junior mineral exploration companies. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, Champion Bear's need for additional funding to continue its exploration efforts, changes in general economic, market and business conditions; and competition for, among other things, capital and skilled personnel. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by applicable securities laws.

No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained in this news release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Champion Bear Resources Ltd.

Richard D. Kantor

Chairman and President

(403) 229-9522

www.championbear.comSource: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 07:59:10|Editor: Yang Yi

Video Player Close

HOUSTON, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- A photo exhibition commemorating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States will be held early next month in Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States.

During a press briefing on Monday, it is announced that the photo show, from Jan. 5 to Jan. 12, will be held together with an art exhibition of Chinese and American modern celebrity paintings and an exhibition to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the famous Chinese artist Zhang Daqian's birth.

Giving remarks at the briefing, Chinese Consul General in Houston Li Qiangmin said cultural and art exchanges have played a vital role in China-U.S. relations in the past 40 years. He encouraged Chinese communities in Houston to promote more cultural and art bilateral exchanges so as to deepen the understanding between the two peoples.

At the event, around 30 precious pictures will be exhibited, showing the historical stages and important achievements of Sino-U.S. relations over the past 40 years. At the same time, dozens of replicas of Zhang Daqian's works, as well as art pieces by American and Chinese artists will be exhibited.

The event was co-sponsored by the U.S.-China Cultural Exchange Association in Houston and the Houston Chinese Activity Center and was co-organized by several associations in the city.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 10:04:29|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- UN Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix on Monday called for restraint from Belgrade and Pristina.

"The recent developments in Kosovo have further deteriorated relations between Belgrade and Pristina, which have been strained for some time with no progress on the EU-facilitated dialogue. We are concerned at the risk of tensions on the ground, particularly in northern Kosovo," Lacroix told the Security Council.

"It is therefore crucial that Belgrade and Pristina avoid any steps that could further worsen the situation, but rather find ways to re-engage in the dialogue aimed at the normalization of their mutual relations."

The latest tension culminates on the adoption on Friday of three laws by Kosovo's parliament on the transformation of the Kosovo Security Force.

Belgrade condemned the adoption of the laws as "an act of political aggression against Serbia and a violation of Security Council Resolution 1244," said Lacroix.

Kosovo, which is dominated by ethnic Albanians, unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, which has not been recognized by Belgrade.

On Nov. 21, following Kosovo's failed bid to join Interpol, the government of Kosovo announced an increase of the tariff on goods imported from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina from 10 to 100 percent.

In response, the mayors of the four Kosovo Serb-majority municipalities of northern Kosovo announced their resignations and the decision of the respective municipal assemblies to cease all official communication with the Pristina authorities. The main Kosovo Serb political party, the Serbian List, has organized daily protests centered in North Mitrovica that have at times involved up to 5,000 people, said Lacroix.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 10:44:38|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

YANGON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- A team of Myanmar security police patrolling along the border with Bangladesh has been ambushed by an unidentified group located in the Bangladesh side with one police being injured, Myanmar News Agency reported Tuesday.

The Myanmar border guard force was attacked between border post No. 41 and 42 in region-2, Maungtaw township of Rakhine state on Monday at 3:15 p.m. local time, an initial report of the Myanmar Police Force was quoted as saying.

In its counter-attack on the attackers, one police received a bullet wound.

Myanmar border guard force has reinforced its force to keep the situation under watch.

Myanmar's border guard force has been regularly carrying out joint patrol with Bangladesh counterpart in effective preventing terrorist activities along the two countries' border as well as illegal immigration and trading.

Both sides claimed that joint patrols around some checkpoints have led to timely exchange of information and successful upkeep of the rule of law.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed at a ministerial meeting in October last year on 10 points relating to promotion of cooperation in strengthening border security and law enforcement.

The 10 points cover combating terrorism, illegal border crossing, repatriation and verification of citizenship for those people who were displaced to Bangladesh, triggered by conflict in Myanmar's western Rakhine state as well as opening of border liaison offices.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army extremists launched attacks on police outposts in Myanmar's Rakhine State on Aug. 25 last year, displacing a vast number of residents to border areas with Bangladesh.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 11:04:45|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

MEXICO CITY, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday that fuel theft makes Mexico lose between 2.9 and 3.9 billion U.S. dollars a year, vowing to combat the crime.

Lopez Obrador told reporters that he would soon unveil a plan to fight the growing scourge, saying "it is a serious problem because they steal between 60 and 80 billion pesos (around 2.95 and 3.93 billion U.S. dollars) a year" from state-owned pipelines.

"We have already appointed a coordinator ... and all government agencies are working together" on a strategy to tackle the problem, he said.

Fuel stealers include not only organized crime groups, but also corrupt employees of the state-owned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos (Penex), said Lopez Obrador.

"There are indications that theft is happening inside Pemex, the refineries and the fuel distribution centers," he added.

As a first step, the president proposed making fuel theft a serious crime that entails prison time with no possibility of bail.

The crime happens mostly in the central state of Puebla, where there is a concentration of oil pipelines leading from the Gulf Coast.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 11:09:46|Editor: ZX

Video Player Close

Delegates attend the signing ceremony of cooperative documents between Chinese and Thai companies in Chiang Saen port, Thailand, Dec. 17, 2018. Chinese and Thai companies signed three documents on Monday in a bid to develop boat trip service along the Lancang-Mekong river. China's Yunnan Provincial Tourism Investment Co., LTD and Thailand's New Chiang Saen Group Co., LTD are main signers of these cooperative documents, which cover marketing a current boat service on Mekong river that take tourists to see the scenery of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar in a single day trip. (Xinhua/Yang Zhou)

BANGKOK, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and Thai companies signed three documents on Monday at northern Thailand's Chiang Saen port in a bid to develop boat trip service along the Lancang-Mekong river.

China's Yunnan Provincial Tourism Investment Co., LTD and Thailand's New Chiang Saen Group Co., LTD are main signers of these cooperative documents, which cover marketing a current boat service on Mekong river that take tourists to see the scenery of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar in a single day trip.

They will also launch a boat service from Chiang Saen port in northern Thailand to Jinghong in China's Yunan Province and also to Luang Prabang of Laos and Kengtung of Myanmar.

"We are trying to connect tourist services and attractions along the Lancang-Mekong river," Xu Lianbiao, vice general manager of Yunnan Provincial Tourism Investment, said.

We also are developing a wild elephant center in northern Lao province of Xayaburi and also developing ecological tourism there, he added.

Thailand put forward a vision called "five Chiang cities four countries," which seeks close tourism cooperation and tourism facilitation between Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Jinghong (Chiang Rung in Thai language), Kengtung (Chiang Tung) and Luang Prabang (Chiang Thong), Xu noted their company's goal to boost tourism cooperation echoes with the vision of five Chiang.

"The joint patrol of China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand make it safe to sail on the Mekong river, making it possible for tourism routes linking these Chiang cities to grow," he mentioned.

Chiang Saen port used to be a cargo port before a new port was built there and thus the old port is planned to to be developed into a mega-tourism port, Mayor of Wiang Chiang Saen subdistrict municipality Chayagrit Nissaisook told Xinhua.

The mayor said the Tourism Authority of Thailand had made master plan to develop the port into a international airport scale with duty free shops and restaurants to welcome tourists, especially Chinese tourists.

"The investment will be at a minimum of 39 million baht (1.19 million U.S. dollars) to firstly realize the plan that we may be able to attract more than 100 million baht (3.06 million U.S. dollars)," he added.

Yunnan Provincial Tourism Investment launched their boat service here in Chiang Saen Port in October this year, tourists can now take a boat from here to see Myanmar and Laos along the river and also to do some shopping on Don Sao Island of Laos, a separate duty free zone.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 11:54:56|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

Honorary President of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and President of the National Assembly Samdech Heng Samrin speaks at the CPP's congress in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Dec. 18, 2018. The ruling CPP held its annual congress on Tuesday to review achievements in 2018 and to set targets for 2019. The congress was presided over by CPP's President Samdech Techo Hun Sen, who is the prime minister of Cambodia, and was attended by about 3,164 party members from across the kingdom. (Xinhua/Sovannara)

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) held its annual congress on Tuesday to review achievements in 2018 and to set targets for 2019.

CPP's Honorary President Samdech Heng Samrin said the congress aimed to evaluate general situation and to review achievements this year and to determine direction and measures for the implementation next year.

Over the course of three days, the congress was also expected to add some new members to the party's current 865-member Central Committee, he added.

"Our congress has been conducted in an atmosphere that our party has continued to lead the country solidly through a general election which went in line with the principle of liberal multi-party democracy," Samrin said in his opening speech.

The CPP won all 125 National Assembly seats in the July 29 general election.

"This truly reflects that the Cambodian people have put their hope in the CPP only to continue to lead the country," he said.

Samrin, who is also the president of the National Assembly, said that overall, political situation and business environment in Cambodia were good in 2018.

The congress was presided over by CPP's President Samdech Techo Hun Sen, who is the prime minister of Cambodia, and was attended by about 3,164 party members from across the kingdom.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 11:59:58|Editor: Yurou

Video Player Close

China and Japan hold the tenth round of high-level consultations on maritime affairs in Wuzhen of Jiaxing City, east China's Zhejiang Province, from Dec. 17 to 18, 2018. During the consultations, China and Japan have agreed to promote pragmatic cooperation in the marine field in accordance with the consensus of making the East China Sea a sea of peace, cooperation and friendship. (Xinhua/Yin Xiaosheng)

HANGZHOU, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- China and Japan have agreed to promote pragmatic cooperation in the marine field in accordance with the consensus of making the East China Sea a sea of peace, cooperation and friendship.

The agreement was reached during the tenth round of high-level consultations on maritime affairs between various government departments from the two countries, held from Dec. 17 to 18 in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang Province.

The two sides agreed to continue promoting maritime searches and rescue cooperation.

They exchanged views on establishing and opening a direct telephone under the air and maritime contact mechanism.

They also agreed to hold the second meeting of experts to discuss marine waste in 2019.

The two sides pledged to cooperate more in fishery, marine geology, Arctic affairs, as well as sea-related think tanks.

China and Japan also agreed to hold the 11th round of high-level consultations on maritime affairs in Japan in the first half of next year.In this handout photo provided by South Korea's Ministry of National Defence, soldiers of South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) greet each other within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), on Dec. 12, 2018. (Xinhua/South Korean Ministry of National Defence)

SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's military on Monday confirmed the disablement of 11 guard posts of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) after the on-site verification works last week.

Eleven seven-member verification teams from both South Korea and the DPRK conducted verification works on Dec. 12 to confirm whether the respective 11 guard posts in the DMZ, which has left the Korean Peninsula divided since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with armistice, were demolished as agreed upon.

The two Koreas reached a comprehensive military agreement during the Pyongyang summit in September between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un to reduce military tensions in border areas.

Under the agreement, the two sides pulled out weapons and soldiers from 11 respective guard posts and destroyed them on a trial basis. One of the guard posts was preserved each for their historical value.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement that its military confirmed a complete withdrawal of soldiers and weapons from the DPRK guard posts, noting that it reached a conclusion of the disablement of the guard posts.

Some of crenels, through which rifles can be fired, were detected near the guard posts, but they lost their function for battle, the JSC noted.

Excluding the demolished ones, South Korea and the DPRK reportedly have about 50 and 150 guard posts each in the DMZ.Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) and Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith attend the joint press conference after "the 4th Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meeting" in Luang Prabang, Laos, on Dec. 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

LUANG PRABANG, Laos, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The ministers from the six Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) countries underlined here on Monday the vital need of maintaining an open world economy and upholding the rules-based multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core.

In a joint press communique released after the conclusion of "the 4th Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meeting," the ministers from China, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam reaffirmed that the LMC will be based on the principles of consensus, equality, mutual consultation and coordination, voluntarism, common contribution and shared benefits.

They also reiterated respect for the United Nations charters and international laws, and in the spirit of friendship, openness and inclusiveness.

The ministers agreed to promote the synergy of national development strategies, bring into full play resource endowment and competitive advantage, promote rational flow and optimal allocation of production factors, and start discussion on concretization of jointly building a LMC Economic Development Belt for mutual benefit and shared prosperity, the communique said.

According to the communique, the ministers agreed to conduct high-quality production capacity cooperation and speed up the formulation of cooperation plan on connectivity among the Lancang-Mekong countries and development plans of cross-border economic and production capacity cooperation.

The ministers expressed the readiness to work together for the complete success and positive outcomes of the fifth LMC foreign ministers' meeting to be held in December 2019 in China and the third LMC leaders' meeting in January 2020 in Laos.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 13:40:17|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer and its U.S. counterpart Boeing announced on Monday they approved the terms of a joint venture to boost their share of the global aerospace market.

According to the companies, the joint venture will deal with only Embraer's commercial aircraft and service operations, not its military aircraft division.

Boeing will hold an 80-percent stake in the joint venture valued at some 5.26 billion U.S. dollars, and Embraer will own the remaining 20 percent.

"We are confident that this partnership will deliver great value to Brazil and the Brazilian aerospace industry as a whole," Embraer CEO Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva said.

"This alliance will strengthen both companies in the global market and is aligned with our long-term sustainable growth strategy," he added.

The deal still needs to be approved by regulation agencies and by the Brazilian government, which has veto power over such agreements involving Embraer.

Negotiations between the two companies began a year ago in response to the announced merger between two of their biggest competitors, Airbus and Canada's Bombardier.

Brazil's new government, due to take office in 2019, is unlikely to oppose the deal. Vice President-elect Hamilton Mourao said earlier on Monday that the joint venture was "essential" for Embraer to properly face competition.

Trade unions, however, voiced their disapproval over the deal, worrying whether jobs in Brazil will be preserved.VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLOBAL BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGIES CORP. (CSE: BLOC.U) (FSE: BWSP) (OTC: BLKCF) ("BLOC", or the "Company") announces that further to the previously announced proposed transaction between BLOC and X2 Games Corp. (X2 Games), as announced in press releases dated October 10, 2018, and December 3, 2018, BLOC has acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of X2 Games (the X2 Games Shares) by way of a three-cornered amalgamation (the Transaction). The Transaction introduced the leadership of Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell and Hollywood creative director and VFX visionary Zai Ortiz to BLOCs operations, as BLOC pivots to focus on gaming-related projects.



Pursuant to the terms of the Transaction, BLOC issued 330,519,541 common shares in the capital of the Company at a deemed price of $0.15 per share in exchange for all of the issued and outstanding X2 Games Shares, for an aggregate purchase price of $49,577,931.15. X2 Games merged with a wholly-owned subsidiary of BLOC, 1183493 B.C. Ltd. Following the closing of the Transaction, the subsidiary has assumed the name of X2 Games Corp. All intellectual property rights to X2 Games current game projects became part of BLOC, including four digital interactive games for Amazon Alexa. One of these games, titled St. Noire, has a pre-release date set for Q1 2019, with three other Amazon Alexa games set to be launched in 2019. A trailer of St. Noire can be seen at http://www.st-noire.com/amazon-alexa .

Shidan Gouran, President and CEO of the Company, commented, As a result of this transaction, we will have delivered three prosperous lines of business to our shareholders in just over a years time. Bringing Nolan and Zai, as well as their creative works into BLOC, enables us to build a stronger footing in the ever-growing interactive gaming space. Then, with expanded operations for FORK, and continued developments with our exchange operations in the Spinout, we have a wide range of business interests in our family of companies. We expect things to go well with each of these companies before 2018 is out, with some very exciting prospects on the horizon for 2019.

The Transaction was the approved by the shareholders of X2 Games (X2 Games Shareholders) at a special meeting of X2 Games Shareholders to approve the Transaction (the X2 Games Meeting) held on December 14, 2018. At the X2 Games Meeting, 74.1% of eligible shares were represented in person or by proxy, with all votes cast in favour of the special resolution authorizing the Transaction.

More information about X2 Games and its projects can be found at www.x2.games .

On behalf of the Company:

Shidan Gouran, President and CEO

info@globalblockchain.io

For more information, please contact:

Global Blockchain Technologies Corp. Investor Relations

ir@globalblockchain.io

800-689-8089

About Global Blockchain Technologies Corp.

The Company provides investors access to a basket of direct and indirect holdings within the blockchain space.

The Company is focused on streamlining the currently arduous, lengthy, and complicated process that interested investors must undergo to gain exposure to the blockchain space, with a view to becoming the first vertically-integrated originator and manager of top tier blockchains.

BLOC is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) and its common shares trade under the ticker symbol "BLOC." Additional information relating to BLOC is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, the CSE at www.theCSE.com, as well as on the Company's website at www.globalblockchain.io.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Generally, any statements that are not historical facts may contain forward-looking information, and forward-looking information 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 variations of such words and phrases or indicates that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to the Companys goal of streamlining the current arduous, lengthy and complicated process that interested investors need to undergo in order to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency space with a view to becoming the first vertically integrated originator and manager of top-tier blockchains and digital currencies. The Company has no assets and its business plan is purely conceptual in nature and there is no assurance that it will be implemented as set out herein, or at all. Forward-looking information is based on certain factors and assumptions the Company believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made, including but not limited to: statements and expectations regarding the ability of the Company to (i) successfully engage senior management with appropriate industry experience and expertise, (ii) gain access to and acquire a basket of cryptocurrency assets and pre-ICO and ICO financings on favourable terms or at all, (iii) successfully create its own tokens and ICOs, and (iv) execute on future M&A opportunities in the cryptocurrency space; receipt of required regulatory approvals; the availability of necessary financing; permitting and such other assumptions and factors as set out herein. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: risks related to changes in cryptocurrency prices; the estimation of personnel and operating costs; general global markets and economic conditions; risks associated with uninsurable risks; risks associated with currency fluctuations; competition faced in securing experienced personnel with appropriate industry experience and expertise; risks associated with changes in the financial auditing and corporate governance standards applicable to cryptocurrencies and ICOs; risks related to potential conflicts of interest; the reliance on key personnel; financing, capitalization and liquidity risks including the risk that the financing necessary to fund continued development of the Companys business plan may not be available on satisfactory terms, or at all; the risk of potential dilution through the issuance of additional common shares of the Company; the risk of litigation. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information set out in this presentation, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking 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. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 13:45:19|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Up to 36 militants have been killed in Miwand district of the southern Kandahar province as government forces from ground and air targeted Taliban hideouts over the past 24 hours, an army spokesman in the southern region Mohammad Sadiq Eisa said Tuesday.

One more insurgent, according to the official, has been captured alive during the ongoing crackdown.

Taliban militants have yet commented.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 14:00:22|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

SYDNEY, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- An Australian study, which successfully reversed dementia symptoms in mice, will now move to human trials, a research team announced here on Tuesday.

Dementia currently affects 400,000 patients in Australia and 40 million patients worldwide.

Scientists at the Queensland Brain Institute were recently able to fully restore brain function in dementia affected mice, by blasting away "toxic plaque" in the brain using non-invasive treatments and ultrasound.

Professor Jurgen Gotz said the results far exceeded the expectations of the team. The federal government has granted 7.1 million U.S. dollar to the team.

"Cognition was restored, so the mice were perfectly fine afterwards, which was a surprise to us, but obviously was extremely encouraging," Gotz said.

Thanks to the government funding, the method will now be tested on up to 10 patients suffering from early onset dementia.

Gotz said that the earlier the treatment is applied, the better.

"Inevitably there is a point of no return, so we want to treat as early as possible before all the damage has occurred," he said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 14:15:26|Editor: Chengcheng

Video Player Close

MAIMANA, Afghanistan, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Six militants including a Taliban judge were killed after Afghan force aircraft attacked a Taliban hideout in Dawlat Abad district of the northern Faryab province on Monday, said an army statement released here Tuesday.

"Mullah Rasoul the Taliban shadow judge for Faryab province was killed along with five armed insurgents after fighting aircraft targeted Taliban hideout in Firoza village of Dawlat Abad district on Monday afternoon," the statement asserted.

Three more militants were injured in the strikes, the statement continued.

Taliban outfit has yet to make comment.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 14:35:29|Editor: Liangyu

Video Player Close

SHANGHAI, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Sitting in front of his computer, Zhou Jianmin, who has been working in the photography industry for 40 years, can tell the age of a wedding picture just by what people are wearing.

"A wedding picture from the 1980s usually features the bride wearing a white dress, holding a plastic bouquet with a small yellow purse hanging on her right hand," Zhou said, pointing at the computer screen showing several couples dressed alike.

In 1978, when Zhou became a photographer in a state-run photo studio in Shanghai, wedding photos were much simpler, with plainly dressed newly weds just sitting in front of the camera.

As China initiated reform and opening up in the late 1970s, stylish wedding dresses and studio pictures prevailed, sweeping through the country in a wave of fashion.

"The advent of color photography, digital cameras, as well as changes in the operating models of photo studio brought huge changes to the industry," Zhou said.

China's opening up also gave more opportunities for overseas adventurers to explore the country.

Adrian Bradshaw, a British photographer, is one of those explorers. He landed in Shanghai in the 1980s and captured the awakening of the country's fashion through his lens.

In his pictures, there are five young men with big hair, wearing garish colorful shirts and bell-bottom trousers walking along the Bund. There are young ladies crowded in a rarely seen cosmetics counter in department store.

"I was more interested in everyday aspects of life, visually, one of the main things that changed was how people dressed, how they changed their hairstyles," Bradshaw said.

A few decades later, Shanghai started to hold its own international fashion festivals. Shanghai Fashion Week is a top international fashion week, with more than 40,000 industry insiders involved. And the city is ambitious to become a fashion hub with international influence, where international brands locate and debut their products.

"Shanghai has always been a bit different. When I came here there were more people making efforts to show that they had ideas," Bradshaw said.

His pictures still remind him of the time when dynamic changes were taken place in China.

Four decades later, with over 600 regional headquarters of transnational corporations and over 400 foreign R&D centers located in Shanghai, this leading city of shipping, trading and innovation has attracted hundreds of thousands of people from all around the world to visit, live and work in.

Mark Siegemund, a German architect and photographer, did not hesitate when he decided to move in Shanghai in 2010 after spending time in the city as an exchange student.

Siegemund sees Shanghai as a place where the modern and traditional intersect. He created an account on Instagram to let more people see pictures of Shanghai.

Bright neon lights contrast with a dark blue sky, skyscrapers just behind narrow alleys, the intense contradictions make his photographs unforgettable.

"Shanghai is a city of future," Siegemund said. He adds bold futuristic elements like super heroes and spaceships to his photos, which blend perfectly with Shanghai's cityscape.

As the city transforms, the representatives of old and new also change. Park Hotel, the rare tall building of Shanghai decades ago and a popular background scene in Zhou's old photos, has now vanished among large skyscrapers.

For the last two years ago, Siegemund has extending his enthusiasm to aerial photography, focusing on the high-rises along financial center Lujiazui and the Bund.

While hosting modern high-rises, advanced AI research centers and the plant of the world's leading electric car maker, Shanghai avoids losing its uniqueness by maintaining its heritage.

With new regulations protecting historic buildings and harsher punishments for destroying protected buildings under discussion, more traditional buildings will get the chance to be in Siegemund's photos.

"As the city pays more and more attention to preserving history, the contrast and blending of the modern and ancient creates a character that no other city has," Siegemund said.

The changes of Shanghai were captured through the lens of these photographers, and are embedded in their lives.

Zhou now preserves the history of Shanghai by restoring damaged old photos. Bradshaw's exhibitions featuring fashion and life of Chinese people four decades ago can be seen both in Shanghai and Oxford. A strong sense of belonging has urged Siegemund to make more innovative projects in Shanghai.

"Shanghai is more open to new ideas and creative thinking, with many more opportunities and fewer restrictions," said Siegemund. "It is the city of dreams."Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 15:05:35|Editor: Shi Yinglun

Video Player Close

NEW YORK, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The percentage of U.S. high school senior students using e-cigarettes nearly doubled from 2017, according to a new survey released Monday by the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Reported use of e-cigarettes specifically in the last 30 days nearly doubled among 10th and 12th graders, from 11 percent in 2017 to 20.9 percent in 2018, the survey said.

This was the largest single-year increase in the survey's 44-year history, the survey said.

The result was part of the 2018 Monitoring the Future survey, which studied around 45,000 students in the eighth, 10th and 12th grades throughout the United States to track trends in substance use by American teens.

The survey found that the percentage of all high school students who used e-cigarettes has risen by a third over the past year.

A total of 37.3 percent of 12th graders reported "any vaping" in the past 12 months, compared to 27.8 percent in 2017, the survey said.

More than 10.9 percent of 10th graders said they used e-cigarettes in the past year, the survey said.

The survey also found a significant jump in the perceived availability of e-cigarettes.

Around 45.7 percent of eighth graders and 66.6 percent of 10th graders said the vaping devices are "fairly easy" or "very easy" to get, the survey said.

Experts attributed the increase to newer versions of e-cigarettes which look like computer flash drives and can be used discreetly, according to the Associated Press (AP).

"They can put it in their sleeve or their pocket. They can do it wherever, whenever. They can do it in class if they're sneaky about it," Trina Hale, a junior student at South Charleston High School in West Virginia, told the AP.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 15:30:40|Editor: ZX

Video Player Close

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's envoy to the United Nations (UN) on Monday called for restraint from Belgrade and Pristina amid their latest tension.

"The parties concerned should refrain from any rhetoric or action that may complicate or escalate the situation and should create enabling conditions for a lasting solution to the Kosovo issue," Ma Zhaoxu, Chinese permanent representative to the UN, told the Security Council.

The parties should reach a mutually acceptable solution through dialogue within the framework of relevant Security Council resolutions, Ma said.

China respects Serbia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, understands Serbia's legitimate concerns over the Kosovo issue and commends Serbia's efforts to find a political solution, he said.

Dominated by ethnic Albanians, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, which has not been recognized by Belgrade.

Ma said China hopes the parties concerned will continue their practical, constructive dialogue, stay firmly committed to a political solution, implement the agreements reached, gradually enhance mutual trust, meet each other halfway and continue to build consensus for a lasting solution acceptable to all parties.

Tolerance, reconciliation and harmonious coexistence among all ethnic groups in Kosovo are in line with the fundamental interests and development needs of all nationalities, he said.

"We hope the parties concerned will prioritize the well-being of the people, protect the legitimate rights and interests of all ethnic groups, promote their economic and social development, and jointly safeguard peace, stability and prosperity in the Balkans," Ma said.

The Security Council should remain seized on the Kosovo issue and encourage the parties to engage in genuine dialogue in good faith, so the council can continue to play a constructive role in pursuit of a proper solution, Ma said.

The latest tension culminated over the adoption on Friday of three laws by Kosovo's parliament on transforming the Kosovo Security Force, which was condemned by Belgrade.

On Nov. 21, following Kosovo's failed bid to join the International Criminal Police Organization, the government of Kosovo announced an increase of the tariff on goods imported from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina from 10 to 100 percent.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 15:40:43|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

by Nguon Sovan, Mao Pengfei

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's economy is forecast to stay robust in the short-to-medium term despite the uncertainty of preferential tariff system granted to the country by several trading partners, said Economy and Finance Minister Aun Pornmoniroth.

"According to the prediction, Cambodia's economic growth is expected to grow 7.1 percent in 2019, comparable to the growth in 2018, pushing up the nation's GDP (gross domestic product) to 27.2 billion U.S. dollars," he told the parliament during a budget law debate recently.

The GDP per capita was projected to be 1,706 U.S. dollars in 2019, an expected rise of 9.1 percent from 1,563 U.S. dollars in 2018, he said.

The Southeast Asian country's economy has mainly been driven by garment exports, construction and real estate, tourism and agriculture.

The industrial sector, mainly garment and construction, is predicted to grow by 10 percent in 2019, while the service sector, mainly tourism, transport, telecom, trade and real estate, is expected to increase by 7 percent, and agriculture are projected to rise by 1.8 percent.

"Overall, we can say that Cambodia will still be able to continue achieving the economic growth of around 7 percent per annum in the short-to-medium term," the minister said.

UNCERTAINTY OF TRADE PREFERENCES

Pornmoniroth said the uncertainty of the preferential tariff system provided to Cambodia by some trading partners could pose a downside risk to the growth.

"The uncertainty of the Generalized Scheme of Preferences on international trade granted by some partners is causing a new challenge that requires close attention," he said.

The European Union (EU) announced in October that Cambodia could lose its special trade access to European markets under the Everything But Arms (EBA) preferential trade scheme after it conduct a six-month review of the country's duty-free status.

The bloc cited concerns over labor rights, among others, in Cambodia.

EU is a major trading partner for Cambodia, especially for the textile and footwear sector. As a Least Developed Country, Cambodia has, for decades, enjoyed exports of all products, except arms and ammunition, to European markets with duty-free.

Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, said in a statement in October that over 46 percent of Cambodia's total exports of apparel and footwear is to the EU.

The kingdom's export to EU was valued at about 5.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, according to EU data.

Some 1,000 garment and footwear factories in the country directly employed around 700,000 workers with more than 85 percent being female, Ken Loo said, adding that every month, over 150 million U.S. dollars was paid out as salary to these workers.

He added that another 2 million out of the kingdom's total population of 16 million economically depended on the sector.

"A temporary suspension of the EBA or any short-term unilateral sanctions may have long-term negative impacts on the lives of our workers and their families," Ken Loo said.

MOR INNOVATIVE IDEAS NEEDED TO SUSTAIN GROWTH

Mey Kalyan, a senior advisor to the Supreme National Economic Council, said generally, the fundamentals of Cambodian economy are quite robust, and the government has so far conducted the right policy to advance the economic development.

"However, more efforts and innovative ideas are definitely necessary in order to transform our economic structure smoothly, to a more balanced, diversified, and inclusive one, and to respond to many complex situations in the changing world," he told Xinhua.

"In particular, with the uncertainty of the global environment in combination with our open economy, we need to find ways to balance between achieving more growth and mitigating potential risks," he said. "Depending solely on a few commodities and a few markets is not a good idea."

Commenting on the uncertainty of the EBA trade preferences from the EU, Kalyan said if it happens, the withdrawal of EBA will surely have substantial impact on Cambodia's economy, particularly in the country's efforts to reduce poverty, which is still high.

"That is why, for medium-to-long terms, we need to diversify our economy, to a more balanced and inclusive structure," he said.

Chheang Vannarith, vice chairman of the Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies, said Cambodia's economy will remain quite vibrant next year due to continuing robust growth in construction, tourism, and textile industry.

"There is still a window of opportunity for Cambodia and the EU to reach an agreement in order to keep preferential trade treatment under the EBA scheme for Cambodia," he told Xinhua.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 15:40:43|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

KABUL, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Up to 55 militants have been killed in Afghan airstrikes in the militancy-battered country over the past 24 hours, officials said Tuesday.

In the latest sorties, military aircraft pounded Taliban hideouts in Aryub Zazai district of the eastern Paktia province in the wee hours of Tuesday, killing at least 13 insurgents, said an army statement.

The drone strikes, according to the statement, had also destroyed a Taliban vehicle and badly damaged their bunkers.

Similarly, air raids against Taliban hideout in Dawlat Abad district of northern Faryab province on Monday had killed six militants, including Mullah Rasoul, a Taliban shadow judge for the troubled Faryab province, another statement of army released in northern region said.

The Afghan security forces backed by aircraft have also targeted Taliban hideouts in Miwand district of the southern Kandahar province, killing up to 36 insurgents over the past 24 hours, an army spokesman in the southern region Mohammad Sadiq Eisa said Tuesday.

Afghan government intensified air attacks recently, and according to security officials, the airstrikes especially overnight operations have proved effective in defeating the anti-government militants.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 16:05:51|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

KIEV, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and European Council President Donald Tusk on Monday discussed the situation in the Azov region, the Ukrainian government press service said.

Groysman, who arrived in Brussels earlier in the day for a working visit, asked Tusk for help in de-escalating tensions in the Sea of Azov and support for the region.

In particular, he called on the European Union (EU) to provide targeted support for ports on the Azov Sea shore.

Tusk said the situation in the Sea of Azov remains in the EU's focus.

On Nov. 25, the Ukrainian Navy said Russian forces opened fire and seized three Ukrainian ships near the Kerch Strait, which separates the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, injuring six Ukrainian military sailors.

The navy said it had informed Russia in advance of the passage, while Russia said it had received no such report and the ships ignored multiple warnings by the Russian border guards.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 16:15:55|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Three high school students were found dead, with seven others injured on Tuesday afternoon at a pension in northeastern South Korea, local media reported citing police and firefighters.

Among the 10 male students, all of whom attend a high school in Seoul, three were found dead and seven were unconscious at around 1:12 p.m. local time (0412 GMT) at a pension in the city of Gangneung in Gangwon province. Two of them were reportedly in critical condition.

The students were on an excursion after finishing their scholastic aptitude test for college entrance.

The cause of the incident was still under investigation, but the firefighting authorities were quoted as saying that the students vomited and foamed at their mouth when they were found.

The level of carbon monoxide concentration at the scene was 155 parts per million (ppm), much higher than the standard 20 ppm.English Latvian

Corrected headline of the press release in Latvian. English version remains unchanged.





Preliminary consolidated results of JSC Olainfarm for November 2018 show that total sales of the Group have reached 10.9 million euros, which represents 8% increase compared to the same period of 2017. During the eleven months, sales of the Olainfarm Group have grown by 7%, reaching 112.6 million euros. In 11- month, period Olainfarm Group has sold its products in 52 markets worldwide.

Consolidated data

Consolidated sales data for November show that the fastest growth in November was recorded in the Netherlands, Moldova, Belarus and Kazakhstan, where turnover grew by 474%, 98%, 67% and 52%, respectively. Sales to Uzbekistan in November decreased by 34%; 15% reduction was also marked in Ukraine, which can be explained by the orderly nature of orders. In November 2018, Olainfarms largest outlets were Russia, Latvia and Ukraine. In total Olainfarm products in November were sold in 33 markets.

The fastest sales growth in eleven months of this year has been observed in Belarus and Tajikistan, where sales increased by 53% and 52%, respectively. A significant increase by 31% compared to the last year has also been achieved in Uzbekistan. Sales in Russia in 11 months have decreased by 5%, while sales in Latvia have risen by 18%, but in Lithuania by 23%.

November 2018, consolidated sales Sales, thsnd. EUR Changes to November 2017 Share in total sales Russia 3 454 -3% 32% Latvia 3288 24% 30% Ukraine 1309 -15% 12% Belarus 871 67% 8% Kazakhstan 291 52% 3% Uzbekistan 196 -34% 2% Germany 161 2% 1% Netherlands 145 474% 1% Lithuania 142 16% 1% Moldova 139 98% 1% Other 924 -1% 8% Total 10 920 8% 100%





11 months of 2018, consolidated sales Sales, thsnd. EUR Changes to 11 months of 2017 Share in total sales Russia 33 716 -5% 30% Latvia 31 827 18% 28% Belarus 13 336 53% 12% Ukraine 10 640 5% 9% Kazakhstan 3 070 5% 3% Uzbekistan 2 219 31% 2% Germany 1 768 3% 2% Lithuania 1 703 23% 2% Poland 1 385 8% 1% Tajikistan 1 300 52% 1% Other 11 591 -18% 10% Total 112 556 7% 100%

Unconsolidated data

According to the preliminary unconsolidated results, sales of JSC Olainfarm during November 2018 reached 7.97 million euros, which is similar to the 11-month sales results of 2017. The largest increase in sales in November was recorded in the Netherlands and Poland, where sales grew by 474% and 254%, respectively. In November, sales fell by 8% in Russia, while sales in Ukraine dropped by 19% compared to the last November. A decrease of 34% was also noted in Uzbekistan. In November 2018, Olainfarms products were sold in 30 countries worldwide.

According to unconsolidated 11-month results, sales of Olainfarm in Belarus have increased by 27%, in Latvia by 17%, in Ukraine by 5%, while sales in Russia have felt by 10% compared to 11 months of 2017. The largest increase in sales over the reporting period has been achieved in Tajikistan, Lithuania and Uzbekistan, where turnover grew by 59%, 35% and 31%, respectively. In total, during the eleven months of 2018, JSC Olainfarm products were sold in 46 countries.

November 2018, unconsolidated sales Sales, thsnd. EUR Changes to November 2017 Share in total sales Russia 2 923 -8% 37% Latvia 1 616 18% 20% Ukraine 1 249 -19% 16% Belarus 622 24% 8% Uzbekistan 196 -34% 2% Germany 160 17% 2% The Netherlands 145 474% 2% Lithuania 135 14% 2% Poland 122 254% 2% Kazakhstan 119 4% 1% Other 708 12% 9% Total 7 996 0% 100%





11 months of 2018, unconsolidated sales Sales, thsnd. EUR Changes to 11 months of 2017 Share in total sales Russia 29 124 -10% 34% Latvia 15 675 17% 18% Ukraine 10 970 27% 13% Belarus 10 430 5% 12% Uzbekistan 2 219 31% 3% Kazakhstan 1 990 0% 2% Germany 1 752 5% 2% Lithuania 1 573 35% 2% Tajikistan 1 267 59% 1% Poland 1 043 3% 1% Other 9 358 -18% 11% Total 85 401 2% 100%

Performance of daughter companies in November and 11- months period

Sales of pharmacies of SIA Latvijas Aptieka in November 2018 reached 2.1 million euros which represents an increase of 11% vs. the November 2017. 69 pharmacies were operating during September. Sales of Silvanols in November reached 0.51 million euros ans increased by 13%. Combined sales of Tonus Elast and its Russian sales arm Elast Medical were 1.05 million euros. Combined sales of healthcare companies Diamed and Olainmed in November reached 0.25 million euros. Sales of NPK Biotest in November 2018 reached 0.20 million euros.

Sales of pharmacies of SIA Latvijas aptieka in 11- months of 2018 reached 21.4 million euros, which represents an increase of 9% compared to the same period of 2017. Sales of SIA Silvanols in 11-months were 5.5 million euros and demonstrated a 16% increase in comparison to the same period of the last year. Sales of SIA Tonus Elast in eleven months period reached 9.2 million euros. Combined 11-month sales of healthcare companies Diamed and Olainmed reached 2.4 million euros, but sales of NPK Biotest  2.1 million euros.

According to the estimates of JSC Olainfarm, the unconsolidated turnover of the company in 2018 could reach 96 million euros, while the consolidated turnover - 130 million euros. According to the preliminary turnover figures published here, in the 11-months of 2018, 88% of the total unconsolidated turnover planned for 2018 and 83% of the planned annual consolidated turnover has been achieved.

JSC Olainfarm is one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in Latvia with more than 45 years of experience in production of medication and chemical and pharmaceutical products. A basic principle of company's operations is to produce reliable and effective top- quality products for Latvia and the rest of the world. Products made by the Group are being exported to more than 60 countries of the world, including the Baltics, Russia, other CIS, Europe, Asia, North America and Australia.

Information prepared by:

Inga Krukle

Board Member, JSC Olainfarm

Ph. +371 28698449Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 17:21:12|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

TEHRAN, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will leave Tehran to Geneva on Tuesday to attend a meeting on the formation of a Syrian constitutional committee, Iran's Foreign Ministry announced.

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura will host a joint meeting in Geneva with the high-level representatives from Iran, Russia and Turkey.

A source with the UN envoy's office said the efforts to establish a "credible, balanced and inclusive constitutional committee" have been the subject of continuing consultations.

The formation of the constitutional committee was agreed upon in January during inter-Syrian talks, brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey, in Russia's Sochi.

The committee is expected to have 150 members from both the Syrian government and the opposition.

On Dec. 20, the UN envoy will address the Security Council in New York for the last time before he steps down on the last day of this year.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 17:26:15|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

ISTANBUL, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities on Tuesday arrested 118 soldiers over their alleged links to a group believed to be behind a coup attempt in 2016.

The defendants, all soldiers in active service, were put behind bars for "being a member of an armed terrorist organization," the state-run Anadolu Agency said.

In the trial of a total of 191 detainees, a court in Istanbul decided to release 73 of them, including 42 soldiers, Anadolu noted.

Last Friday, police launched operations in 46 provinces across the country to catch the suspects on the order of the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Istanbul.

According to the report, 25 of those targeted in the operations remain at large.

The suspects have allegedly contacted via pay phone with the network led by U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.

The Turkish government blames Gulen and his network for masterminding the coup bid in July 2016, in which 250 people were killed, and has been pushing for his extradition.

Ankara has been tightening operations against suspects linked to the Gulen movement in recent days.

On Monday, Turkish prosecutors issued detention warrants for another 111 military personnel over the failed coup.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 17:51:22|Editor: Yamei

Video Player Close

NANJING, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Scientists have found new evidence of the world's earliest fossil flower from specimens unearthed in the eastern China city of Nanjing, dating the origin of flowering plants to 174 million years ago, or the Early Jurassic.

An international research team led by scientists from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology has made an observation of the specimens, which contain 198 individual flowers preserved on 34 slabs. They named the flower, which has four to five petals and looks like modern plum blossom, Nanjinganthus.

The research pushed the origin of flowering plants 50 million years earlier than the record of previously available fossils, which suggested flowering plants appeared about 125 million years ago in the Cretaceous, an era during which many insects such as bees appeared.

The Early Jurassic is known as the period that saw dinosaurs dominating the planet. The discovery reshapes the current understanding of the evolution of flowers.

Wang Xin, a researcher at the institute, said the abundance of specimens with flowers preserved in different states and details allow researchers to dissect the features unique to a true flower -- ovules or seeds enclosed inside an ovary.

The flowers preserved on the fossils are mostly concentrated in groups. A flower is 10 mm in diameter. Scientists cannot recognize the maturity of the seeds. There are one to three seeds in an ovary.

From oranges to apples, flowering plants produce most of the fruits and vegetables that we can see today. There are more than 300,000 varieties of flowering plants on the planet.

"It is incredible to make the fossil discovery in such a modern city," said Fu Qiang, a researcher at the institute, who was the first to discover the fossils in Nanjing in 2016.

The scientists hope further investigation would lead to more discoveries of the derivation pathway of flowering plants.

The research program was participated by scientists from the University of Vigo in Spain and the Queensland Herbarium in Australia.

The paper on the research was published on Tuesday by the British life science journal of eLife.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 17:56:22|Editor: Yamei

Video Player Close

ANKARA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Turkey will continue anti-terror operations in northern Iraq until the Kurdish militia has been completely defeated, Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Tuesday.

During his speech in parliament, Akar vowed that northern Iraq's Sinjar region will not be allowed to become a new stronghold for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"We expect the Iraqi government to cooperate with us in eliminating the PKK group's presence in the country," he noted.

The Turkish military has conducted airstrikes on the Kurdish militia since Thursday in Sinjar and Mount Karajak regions, 180 km away from the Turkish border, where PKK is using as their bases.

According to the statement released by the Turkish Defense Ministry on Thursday, the air raids participated with 20 aircrafts "neutralized" eight PKK members and destroyed over 30 targets, including housing facilities, shelters, caves, tunnels, and storage units.

On Friday Iraq's Foreign Ministry summoned Turkish ambassador to protest airstrikes in northern Iraq, rebuking Ankara had violated its national sovereignty.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 18:21:28|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

TIANJIN, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Airbus has delivered the 400th A320 Family aircraft from its Final Assembly Line Asia (FALA) in northern China's Tianjin Municipality, announced Airbus China Tuesday.

The A320neo airplane was delivered to Air China, the country's national flag carrier, representing another milestone of the industrial cooperation and partnership between Airbus and China's aviation industry, said Airbus China.

In 2008, a joint venture of the A320 final assembly line was set up in Tianjin to meet surging demand from Chinese customers. It is the third single-aisle aircraft final assembly line location of Airbus and first outside Europe.

Airbus has four A320 Family production facilities around the world, including in Toulouse in France, Hamburg in Germany, Tianjin in China, and Mobile in the United States.

China is the largest single-country market for Airbus, representing about one-quarter of its global sales.

In 2017, Airbus delivered 176 aircraft to China. The same year, the value of industrial cooperations between Airbus and China exceeded 640 million U.S. dollars, and the figure is expected to reach one billion dollars by 2020.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 18:46:36|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

NAIROBI, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Kenya Airways on Tuesday launched its daily direct flights from Nairobi to Somali capital Mogadishu, a move that is expected to boost trade between the two nations.

Aircraft Leasing Services (ALS), a Kenyan company that provides insurance and air leasing services to other airlines, will operate on behalf of Kenya Airways under a wet lease arrangement.

"We look forward to facilitating more commerce opportunities to and from Somalia with this new route," said Sebastian Mikosz, Kenya Airways chief executive officer, in a statement issued in Nairobi.

He said the new route now eases travel for thousands of Somalis who live in Kenya as well as those from the diaspora traveling to their native country.

According to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Somalia is one of the largest export markets for Kenya. In 2017, Kenya's exports to Somalia increased 33.5 percent to 10.7 billion Kenyan shillings (about 107 million U.S. dollars).Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 18:51:36|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

WELLINGTON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Scientific evidence in a new report on long-term wetland loss in New Zealand's Southland shows the country's wetlands urgently need better protection, Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage said on Tuesday.

Published online in the New Zealand Journal of Ecology, the scientific report detailed wetland loss in Southland by analyzing and comparing satellite images of wetlands taken in 1990 and 2012. This covers a longer timeframe than any other Southland wetland loss study.

"The study's timeframe is significant," Sage said, adding that after 1990, legislative tools were put in place to help protect the natural environment such as the Resource Management Act 1991, and agencies such as the Department of Conservation (DOC) and regional councils were formed.

Ideally, the rate of wetland loss would decrease with legislative protection, but in fact the report said the rate of wetland loss in Southland has been 0.5 percent per year since 1990, or a rate of 157 hectares lost per year, she said, adding, "If we add areas that have been partially drained, the rate goes up to a 1-percent decline per year."

The report showed that of the 32,814 hectares of wetland in the study area, 3,452 hectares have been completely lost and a further 3,493 hectares are at risk due to the presence of drainage and declines in vegetation. This represents a 23-percent decline since 1990.

Mapping indicates that conversion from wetland to agricultural and horticultural land uses accounts for 60 percent of the wetland loss, and 97 percent of the wetland loss or degradation has occurred outside conservation reserves and is predominantly on private land.

The minister said the report adds weight to evidence that more must be done to protect wetlands.

Wetlands are an integral part of a healthy landscapes and ecosystems, functioning as nature's "kidneys" to filter and protect water quality, she said, adding wetlands function as nature's sponges as they capture sediment and nutrients, slowly filtering water to drought-prone areas and providing home for rare and threatened wildlife and plants.

The DOC is investigating options for wetland sites to be protected under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and the department is also working with the Ministry for the Environment to develop policy to improve wetlands protection, Sage said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 19:01:37|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

LASHKARGAH, Afghanistan, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan air force launched airstrikes killing 8 militants loyal to the Taliban group in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, said an army statement released here Tuesday.

"The air raids carried out against Taliban hideouts in the turbulent Marja and Nahr-e-Saraj districts of Helmand province, over the last 24 hours, resulted in the death of eight militants and destruction of two of their vehicles," the statement of 205th Atal Corps said.

Taliban militants have not commented on the report.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 19:41:44|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

by Marwa Yahya

HURGHADA, Egypt, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian government has started its first steps to build new educational system for the country based on innovation instead of memorization, said Education and Technical Minister.

"The old education system is like a building about to collapse," Tarek Shawki said at an educational conference which started on Monday.

The two-day conference is being organized by the immigration, education and higher education ministries attended by 28 Egyptian scientists and experts and 11 related entities.

There are 22 million students in Egypt, 55,000 government-run schools and about 1.2 million teachers and employees working in education, according to official statistics.

"The old educational system in Egypt is not good, and should be changed to build better generations," Hany el-Kateb, a member of the consultancy council of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told Xinhua.

Developing the education could not happen in one day. The country is working on many aspects including raising the awareness of the students, teachers and parents, el-Kateb added.

"The government is firm on upgrading the education system as a national responsibility," he added.

"Egypt is seeking to develop a system of education that qualifies citizens, especially young people, to local and global labor market opportunities," said a speech, which was read out on behalf of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli at the conference.

The government is moving to develop and modernize the education in Egypt as the old system only relies on memorization that no more suits Egypt's 2030 sustainable development strategy, Madbouli said.

He reiterated the new education system will be linked to technology.

"Upgrading education is a national project that aims at building a generation capable of keeping abreast of the developments around the world," he added.

Shawki described developing the education system in Egypt as a "battle" for serving the citizens, and creating new generations that could cope with the modern life needs.

He explained the new system will not only seek collecting grades that qualify the students for a seat in university. It will rather focus on achieving balanced development of intellect, virtue and body.

The new curricula have been provided for foundation stages and primary schools to qualify the children for studying different subjects based on general knowledge and active learning besides Arabic and English languages.

Some 128,000 teachers are being trained to adjust the new system in 2018.

Since Egypt announced its new education system (2018-2030), and its position in the world education quality index has been improved from 137 to 100.

"There are various challenges that face the educational system. The toughest is the private tutoring, as 58 percent of students in Egypt depend on private lessons due to the large number in one class (could exceed seventy students)," Ahmad Adel, professor of methodology in Cairo University told Xinhua.

"Lack of skilled teachers is also a big challenge," Adel said, explaining that teachers within the national system take very low salaries and resort to increase their income by giving private tutoring.

However, he said the new education system has improved the old curriculum that was bombarded with a lot of unnecessary information to memorize.

He added the new system has similar characteristics to the international system that injects collaborative work among students, and changed the system to thinking and creating.

Sisi, on Sept. 19, said he would personally monitor the progress of the new system by visiting lots of schools.

"If we succeed in developing and improving our educational system, our country will move to a higher and better level," the president said.

The Egyptian government has signed a loan of 500 million U.S. dollars this year with the World Bank to reform the state school system over five years.

The loan will be spent on expanding qualified kindergarten education for 500,000 children, creating 500,000 jobs for teachers, and making over 1.5 million digital-learning facilities available to educators and students.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 19:46:46|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

SOFIA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Bulgarian law enforcement authorities have seized 10.345 kg of heroin at the country's Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint near the border with Turkey, officials said Tuesday.

The drug, split into 20 packets, was found early on Monday morning in the spare tire of a car entering from Turkey, the Prosecutor's Office said in a statement on its website.

Authorities estimated that the value of the heroin on the black market would exceed 540,000 U.S. dollars.

The driver of the vehicle, a 45-year-old Serbian citizen, was arrested at the scene, the statement said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

Bulgaria, a key transit route for drugs smuggled from Asia to Europe, seized 602.6 kg of heroin at its borders in 2017.Minneapolis, Minnesota, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- van Wagenen, North Americas leader in mortgage and auto insurance monitoring, today announced CUNA Mutual Group has selected the company to become a strategic partner in providing best-in-class mortgage insurance monitoring solutions through a comprehensive Collateral Protection program.



The Collateral Protection (CP) program guards the mortgage portfolio and mitigates risk for CUNA Mutual Group customers by tracking a borrowers personal insurance, managing communications, and determining when to place insurance.



Our trusted strategic partnership with CUNA Mutual Group is based on delivering an exceptional member experience, providing stakeholder value, and addressing the specific needs of CUNA Mutual Group customers, said Jay Gentile, President of van Wagenen. Our regulatory expertise, industry insight, and technological capabilities can provide CUNA Mutual Group insureds peace of mind in minimizing potential mortgage losses thus helping them improve their bottom line.



van Wagenens platforms are geared towards meeting the data-driven needs of CUNA Mutual Group clients, said Jay Isaacson, President of CUNA Mutual Insurance Agency. We see van Wagenen as a key strategic partner in delivering long-term solutions for our policyholders.



The mortgage insurance monitoring solutions offered through the Collateral Protection program include Hazard/Fire, Flood, and Wind.



About van Wagenen:



van Wagenen is the nations longtime leader in insurance management and claims administration solutions. For over 80 years, weve provided our customers with auto and mortgage insurance solutions that streamline their businesses, so they can be more efficient, productive, and profitable. van Wagenens superior products, innovative monitoring solutions, and compliance expertise helps lenders mitigate risk while freeing them from time-consuming insurance tasksso they can focus on what they do best, lending. van Wagenens corporate headquarters are located in the heart of the Midwest in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For more information about van Wagenen, visit www.vanwagenen.com.



About CUNA Mutual Group:



CUNA Mutual Group is a financially strong insurance, financial technology and investment company. For generations, weve partnered with credit union leaders to protect and grow their businesses, and help people plan, protect and invest for their future. CUNA Mutual Group offers commercial and personal insurance products; lending and payment security solutions; and retirement, investment and marketing services. Additional information about the company can be found at www.cunamutual.com.



CUNA Mutual Group is the marketing name for CUNA Mutual Holding Company, a mutual insurance holding company, its subsidiaries and affiliates. Life, accident, health and annuity insurance products are issued by CMFG Life Insurance Company and MEMBERS Life Insurance Company. Corporate headquarters are located in Madison, Wisconsin.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 19:51:47|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

KABUL, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The government-backed Afghanistan Peace Consultative Board (APCB) has advocated for talks between the government and the Taliban, a statement of the Presidential Palace said.

The statement comes amid intensifying efforts by Afghanistan's neighbor states to support the Afghan-led peace process, encouraging the Taliban to hold talks with the Afghan government.

A trilateral meeting among Afghanistan, Pakistan and China held in Kabul on Dec. 15 agreed to enhance trilateral efforts to bring about peace in Afghanistan and fight against terrorism in the region.

Similarly, a U.S. delegation held a meeting with the Taliban representatives in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday, according to media reports and Taliban sources.

Taliban militants, in the talks, discussed swap of prisoners, withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and formation of an interim government, according to media reports.

APCB in its meeting on Monday with President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on chair emphasized that holding meetings between government and the Taliban representatives can help find negotiated settlement to the country's prolonged conflict, said the statement of the Presidential Palace.

An Afghan government negotiating team led by Abdul Salam Rahimi has arrived in UAE capital Abu Dhabi to initiate talks with the Taliban, according to media reports.

However, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Majahid in contact with media has rejected holding any talks with the government.

Meanwhile, Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said on Monday that the government is the only authorized institution to negotiate for a peace deal with the Taliban, local media reported Tuesday.File photo shows workers go about their work at a construction site in Hawassa, Ethiopia, Feb. 3, 2016. (Xinhua /Michael Tewelde)

ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia welcomes more Chinese investment in its industrial parks, a senior Foreign Ministry official said here on Monday.

Dewano Kedir, permanent secretary at the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed admiration for China's fast economic transformation over three decades and called on Chinese firms to boost their involvement in Ethiopia's manufacturing sector.

"Ethiopia has registered double digit economic growth for the last decade and is striving to become the manufacturing hub in Africa, with involvement of extensive Chinese capital," Kedir told a Chinese delegation led by Yao Fukang, deputy director of Standing Committee of Luzhou Municipal People's Congress.

File photo taken on Dec. 8, 2018 shows Jimma Industrial park in Jima, Ethiopia.(Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Luzhou city is located in the southeast part of China's Sichuan province. It is renowned for its machine construction, chemicals, tourism, and agriculture industries.

Ethiopia has so far commissioned five industrial parks and plans to commission six more during the current Ethiopian fiscal year, which started on July 8.

Yao, for his part, said Ethiopia is a favored investment destination for Chinese companies and pledged to play his part in further strengthening trade and investment ties with Ethiopia.

He praised Ethiopia for its "well engineered investment policies and bright economic future."Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 20:06:53|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

MOMBASA, Kenya, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has partnered with African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) to launch a canine unit to nab traffickers of elephant tusks, rhino horns and pangolin scales at the Port of Mombasa.

Philip Muruthi, head of species conservation at AWF, said the unit dubbed K9 consists of four dogs of Malinois and German Shephard breeds with specialized training and modern kennel facilities to be stationed at the East Africa's biggest trade gateway.

"It's an important day for the country," said Muruthi during the launch of the unit at Mombasa Marine National Park on Monday.

The canines will be used in other stations, including the Standard Gauge Railway Station, Moi International Airport and at the borders.

The Port of Mombasa has been cited as one of the major conduits and exit points for ivory that is driving illegal trade in the international market.

Muruthi said the wildlife organization has also trained judicial officials on how to handle wildlife related crimes.

Charles Musyoki, KWS director general, said that the canines would also be used to protect endangered ocean species at the Indian Ocean.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 20:16:55|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

CAIRO, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League (AL) Council on Tuesday held an emergency session at the level of permanent delegates for discussing the recent Israeli escalations against Palestinian people, official news agency MENA reported.

The meeting came upon request by the Palestinian authority in light of the serious escalations in the occupied West Bank.

"The Arab League Council would also address the crimes committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinian people and their property in the West Bank," MENA added.

Acting Palestinian Ambassador to the Arab League Mohannad al-Alouk said "we are renewing the call for providing international protection to the Palestinian civilians."

He added the meeting will also seek to coordinate stances with Arab countries to take a decision to hinder the serious turn in the Brazilian stance regarding the Palestinian issue.

"We will discuss Brazilian president's anticipated recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in addition to a similar stance adopted by Australia," al-Alouk said.

President-elect Jair Bolsonaro on Nov. 1 said "I intend to transfer the Brazilian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israel is a sovereign state and we shall duly respect that."Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 20:26:58|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

CAIRO, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Arab League (AL) Secretary General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit held talks on Tuesday with Somali Finance Minister Abdirahman Duale Beileh on means of promoting Arab support for Mogadishu city.

Aboul-Gheit stressed the AL's commitment to supporting Somalia in order to establish security and stability, AL's spokesman Mahmoud Afifi said in a statement.

The two-day plenary meeting, which the AL hosts in its headquarters in Cairo, is meant to stand on the Somali government's needs and priorities in the coming years in order to achieve development, the statement added.

It added the AL will mobilize the Arab countries' efforts to support the Somali development plans.

The Somali minister voiced appreciation for the AL efforts, especially Aboul-Gheit's initiative to hold the plenary meeting.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 20:47:02|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

BERLIN, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany has dismissed several complaints from the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party against the government's immigration policy, the court announced on Tuesday.

In April, the AfD's parliamentary group had filed a lawsuit against the government's decision in 2015 to admit refugees at the German border. Since 2015, hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees had come to Germany via the so-called Balkan route in order to seek asylum. "We can do it," German Chancellor Angela Merkel famously responded to the refugee crisis at the time.

The verdict announced by the judges of the German constitutional court states that the AfD, which first entered parliament in 2017, had not sufficiently demonstrated that any rights had been violated by the decisions to offer shelter to refugees in 2015.

According to the court, the lawsuits filed by the AfD aimed "to prevent certain actions by the German government," and therefore the applications were inadmissible through this legal procedure.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 20:47:03|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

CAIRO, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League (AL) condemned the repeated Turkish strikes against posts in northern Iraq, said a AL statement on Tuesday.

"Such actions are violation to the sovereignty of the Iraqi state," AL spokesman Mahmoud Afifi said.

The AL voiced its rejection of the Turkish strikes, regardless of the motives behind them, affirming that the attacks contradict with the international law and the principles of good-neighborliness.

Turkey's constant disregard to the Arab stance indicated that Ankara does not care about keeping good ties with the Arab countries on the basis of respecting other states' sovereignty and rejecting interference in other states' internal affairs, Afifi added.

The Turkish military has conducted airstrikes on the Kurdish militia since Thursday in Sinjar and Mount Karajak regions, 180 km away from the Turkish border, where the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is using as their bases.

According to the statement released by the Turkish Defense Ministry on Thursday, the air raids participated with 20 aircrafts "neutralized" eight PKK members and destroyed over 30 targets, including housing facilities, shelters, caves, tunnels, and storage units.

On Friday, Iraq's Foreign Ministry summoned Turkish ambassador to protest airstrikes in northern Iraq, rebuking that Ankara had violated its national sovereignty.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 20:53:50|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

An Afghan policeman searches a vhechile at a security checkpoint on the way leading to Shindand district of Herat province, Afghanistan, Dec. 18, 2018. At least seven militants including two local leaders of the Taliban were killed as military aircraft targeted the militant group in Shindand district of the western Herat province on Monday, a statement of army said. (Xinhua/Elaha Sahel)Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 20:52:07|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

JAKARTA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The anti-terror squad of the Indonesian national police has nabbed two alleged terrorists who provided their houses for plotting terrorist strikes, a police officer said Tuesday.

The two were arrested separately in their hideouts in Makasar, the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, spokesman of the provincial police Dicky Sondani revealed.

"Both of them have provided their houses for secret meetings in arranging terrorist plots," the spokesman said.

The two sibling are believed to be the members of the terrorist network led by Abu Khanza and Risal who were arrested in August, said Sondani.

Although the police did not give specifics of the plot, chief of South Sulawesi province Inspector General Umar Saptono asserted that the arrests were undertaken after the police found clues which could culminate to the launch of terrorist strikes.

Earlier this month, the anti-terror squad arrested two alleged terrorists in Yogyakarta region who were believed to plan to lunch terrorist strikes during the Christmas holidays, according to national police spokesman Brigadier Generl Dedi Prasetyo.

The Indonesian police has stepped up security measures to prevent terrorist attacks during the Christmas holidays. A total of nearly 95,000 police personnel will be deployed to boost security.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 21:12:16|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

PARIS, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- A total of 17 individuals were detained overnight on suspicion of setting a toll station on fire in southern France as "yellow vest" protesters continue blocking motorways to oppose French government's economic and fiscal reforms, state-run France Info radio reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, the 17 individuals were put in police custody on charges of torching barriers of Bandol toll in Var late on Monday night. Demonstrators have occupied the station when they started their movement and blocked motorways a month ago to express their anger over higher living costs.

Following the fire, the A50 motorway was closed for an indefinite period, it added.

Since Nov. 17, people wearing yellow vests, the high-visibility jackets all motorists in France carry in their cars, and which later symbolizes the social uprising, have sought to disrupt traffic on highways and roundabouts, as well as taking to the streets in French cities over the weekends.

Vinci Autoroutes, which operates most of the motorways in the south of France, estimated that the blockades and damages to facilities would cost the company "tens of millions of euros".

In a press release issued on Sunday, the company noted that more than 250 sites were impacted daily by protesters' actions, causing "considerable damage to equipment and infrastructure."Dublin, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Automotive Sun Visor Market 2019-2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global automotive sun visor market size will grow by over USD 212.5 million during 2019-2023.



The rapid growth in the automotive industry, especially the premium automotive segment had propelled the demand for high-value automotive sun-visors.



High priced automotive interiors are installed in premium cars which are not offered in other vehicle segments.



The high sales of premium vehicles in developed economies due to ongoing trend of premiumization among consumers. This will result in increasing production of premium automotive interior parts for luxury cars.



The high growth in the sales of premium cars will further boost the demand for high-value automotive sun visor applications. Therefore, the increasing demand for premium vehicles will drive the growth of automotive sun visor market.



Improved safety features and comfort provided by sun visor



A sun visor blocks direct sunlight and helps to prolong the life of the vehicles electronic components. Therefore, to enhance driving experience provided by sun visors in expected to drive the market growth.



Incurring extra cost for designing apt sun visors



The automotive sun visor manufacturers need to design sun visor to match the dimension required by the consumers which incur R&D cost and pose a challenge for automotive sun visor vendors.



Key Players



Continental

Grupo Antolin

Kasai Kogyo

Piston Group

Toyota Boshoku

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



PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY TYPE

Market segmentation by type

Comparison by type

Passenger vehicle - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Commercial vehicle - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity by type

PART 07: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY SALES CHANNELS

OEMs

Aftermarket

PART 08: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE



PART 09: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE



PART 10: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY SALES CHANNEL

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 11: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES



PART 12: MARKET TRENDS

Use of eco-friendly material for making automotive sun visors

Growing preference for lightweight sun visors

Increasing adoption of sun visor-mounted HUDs and LCD sun visors

PART 13: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 14: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Continental

Grupo Antolin

KASAI KOGYO

PISTON GROUP

TOYOTA BOSHOKU

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/jwsfp9/global_automotive?w=12

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 21:26:02|Editor: ZX

Video Player Close

A staff member shows the commemorative stamps marking the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up at the post office of Liaoning provincial archives in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Dec. 18, 2018. China Post released a set of commemorative stamps and one souvenir sheet marking the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 21:17:16|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

BERLIN, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Germany supports the European Commission's plan to make the tobacco industry cover the costs of management and clean-up of cigarette waste, Environment Minister Svenja Schulze told the newspapers of the Funke media group on Tuesday.

"Those who produce disposable items, such as cigarettes, will have to take more responsibility for the garbage in the future," Schulze said. The tobacco industry could be involved, for example, by contributing to the costs of cleaning up beaches and parks.

In May, the European Commission first called for the tobacco industry to shoulder part of the clean-up costs of single-use plastic in cigarette filters.

"We will introduce a Europe-wide ban on unnecessary disposable plastic before the end of this year," Schulze said, adding "we have to resort to more drastic measures than before," in order to stop the pollution of the seas and the environment.

Anton Hofreiter, parliamentary group leader of the Green Party, has accused Schulze of playing a "double game" on the issue of plastics. Schulze would promise "a turnaround in the plastics trend in Berlin," while "watering down the necessary laws in Brussels," Hofreiter told the Funke newspapers.

The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers will discuss the new directive on single-use plastics in Brussels on Tuesday.

According to the Commission, the proposed directive would bring both "environmental and economic benefits." For example, it would help avoid the release of 3.4 million tons of carbon dioxide and prevent environmental damages worth 22 billion euros (25.1 billion U.S. dollars) by 2030.

With regard to microplastics in cosmetics, a fee on plastic bags, disposable packaging and coffee cups, Hofreiter complained that Germany was falling far behind other European countries, such as Austria, Sweden and Great Britain. Hofreiter called on the German government to follow up its "cheap words with tangible action".Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 21:17:16|Editor: Yurou

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping received the credentials presented by new ambassadors of seven countries to China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Tuesday.

The ambassadors are Rafael Dezcallar from Spain, Awale Ali Kullane from Somalia, Patty Chen from Surinam, Archil Kalandia from Georgia, Paulo Estivallet from Brazil, Eric Razafimandimby from Madagascar and Mohammad Keshavarz Zadeh from Iran.

Xi welcomed the ambassadors to China and asked them to convey his sincere greetings and good wishes to the leaders and people of their countries.

While stressing this year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up, Xi said China will stay committed to advancing reform and opening-up.

China will strengthen cooperation with all countries, jointly undertake the Belt and Road Initiative, elevate bilateral ties to a new height and make greater contributions to world peace and common development of humanity, Xi said.

He said the Chinese government will provide convenience and support to the new ambassadors' work and expressed his hope that they will help facilitate bilateral relations between China and their respective countries, and the friendship between the Chinese people and the people of their countries.

The ambassadors conveyed cordial greetings from the leaders of their respective countries to Xi, and spoke highly of Xi's remarks made during a grand gathering Tuesday morning celebrating the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up.

The ambassadors said their countries will continue to support and participate in China's reform and opening-up process, which has provided the world with huge opportunities, and jointly promote international cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The ambassadors pledged to commit themselves to enhancing exchanges and cooperation between their countries and China during their tenure in China.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 21:22:17|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

DUBAI, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Foreign Ministry of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) affirmed on Tuesday "full solidarity" with Saudi against the recent U.S. Senate decision or any attempts to undermine the kingdom's regional position, state-run WAM news agency reported.

"The UAE rejects any interference in the internal affairs of Saudi under any justification," the ministry said in a statement.

It also expressed "rejection for any baseless allegations, accusations and all attempts that would harm the kingdom's fundamental role as a major power that ensures security and stability in the Arab and Muslim countries."

The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to end U.S. military support for the war in Yemen and blamed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Saudi Arabia on Monday denounced U.S. Senate resolutions as based on unsubstantiated claims.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry warned that the kingdom would not tolerate any "disrespect" of its rulers, adding that "the U.S. Senate sends the wrong messages to all those who want to cause a rift in Saudi-U.S. relationship."

The UAE Foreign Ministry pointed out the Saudi contributions in leading the international efforts in combating terrorism in the military, security and financial and intellectual fields.

It reiterated the Saudi active role in the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State as well as facing Iran's activities that "seek destabilization of the region."Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 21:27:18|Editor: Yurou

Video Player Close

ROME, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Eyeing business opportunities from China-proposed Maritime Silk Road, Italy's port city of Trieste is adding more features so that it could serve as the gateway to the trade route, the port chief said.

"We are carrying out a project that has been talked about for the past 25 years, namely, that Italy must become a logistical platform for the Mediterranean Sea," Port Authority President and Vice President of the European Sea Ports Organisation Zeno D'Agostino told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Located in Italy's northeastern region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, this small city of about 200,000 inhabitants has been Italy's trade hub throughout history, and is now seeking to become the western end of the Maritime Silk Road -- a key section of the China-proposed Belt and Road for closer Eurasian connectivity.

The new industrial port now features direct road and rail access so containers can be unloaded and shipped much more efficiently. It is also expected to include a large quayside, a railway terminal, container deposit areas, offices, parking and a free zone that can be used not only for warehousing but also to assemble the goods.

Now Trieste is connected by rail with Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, and Slovakia, he added.

The key to a successful port, added D'Agostino, is not in the number of containers moved there, but in creating added value in relation to those containers.

The global container fleet is expected to grow 31.5 percent by 2019, and China "has taken on a dominant role" in the container shipping sector, according to the Trieste Port Authority's 2017-2019 Operating Plan. "In 2016, ...about one in two container movement took place in a Chinese port."

We want China's business, D'Agostino said, who has traveled to China on business trips at least 10 times. He cited a recent report showing that the Chinese market share of the container business is constantly growing.

His business strategy, D'Agostino said, is based on the notion of "winning without competing" -- meaning that Trieste doesn't want to fight for market share through fierce competition but rather create its own, entirely new market space.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 21:42:22|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian House of People's Representatives (HoPR) on Tuesday declared a national day of mourning to commemorate former Ethiopian president Girma Wolde-Giorgis.

Wolde-Giorgis, who was the East African country's president for more than a decade, passed away on Saturday at the age of 94.

The HoPR, the Ethiopian parliament's lower house, on Tuesday declared a day of national mourning on Wednesday across the East African country to honor Wolde-Giorgis and his legacy.

According to a motion presented before the house, as part of the national day of mourning, Ethiopia's flag will be flown at half-mast throughout the country, as well as Ethiopian embassies, consular offices and Ethiopian owned ships outside the country's territory.

The body of the late president is scheduled to be laid to rest on Wednesday at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

Members of the Ethiopian parliament's lower house have extended their "profound grief" over the death of Wolde-Giorgis, who had been Ethiopia's president from 2001 to 2013.

The Ethiopian government, soon after his death, had revealed preparations to honor the former long-serving president with state funeral amid mounting tributes from foreign leaders as well as Ethiopian government officials.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his message of condolence that followed the death of the veteran politician with more than 50 years of service in higher government posts, said that Wolde-Giorgis "will be laid to rest in a state funeral."

The office of the prime minister on Monday also said that various activities that aimed at honoring the legacy of the long-serving president are being arranged.

High level Ethiopian and regional officials, heads of international organizations, and foreign envoys are invited to pay their respects until late Tuesday, according to the planned schedule for the state funeral.

Ahmed in his message of condolence said that "it is with deep sadness that I share the passing."

"President Girma rendered his service to people and country through his knowledge and experience with an exceptional sense of service and determination, making him a role model for many," Ahmed said.

Ahmed also extended "sincere condolences" to the family of Wolde-Giorgis as well as to the people of Ethiopia.

Wolde-Giorgis, with a military background in the Ethiopian Air Force, had served his country in various senior positions since the imperial period of Haile Selassie I, the last emperor of Ethiopia.

Among his posts, Wolde-Giorgis was appointed as the director-general of the Ethiopian Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Planning following his service at the Ethiopian civil aviation.

Regarded as one of Ethiopia's long-serving leaders as well as a renowned philanthropy, Wolde-Giorgis was survived by his five children.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 21:47:24|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

NEW DELHI, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- India on Tuesday called for extending cooperation with Turkey through greater interaction among government agricultural institutions, experts, scientists and agro-business.

The country's Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh held talks with visiting Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan in New Delhi and urged both sides to prioritize the sectors for agri-cooperation.

The minister said that the Narendra Modi government had resolved to double farmers' income by the year 2022 through a series of focused programs, including "Soil Health Card," organic farming, crop insurance, irrigation, e-NAM and focus on strengthening post-harvest management so as to ensure better returns to the farmers.

He further stated that India had made tremendous progress in agriculture and allied sectors in the last few years. "India has achieved food security and become a net exporter of agriculture commodities," he said in a statement issued by his ministry.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 21:47:25|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Inter-clan clashes in Ethiopia's Southern Regional State has left 43 people dead since September, state affiliated media outlet Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC) reported on Tuesday.

In a press statement, Police Commission of Southern Regional State, said deadly inter-clan clashes in Gurage zone of the region since September has left 43 people dead and more than 32,000 displaced.

The deadly clashes involved the Mesqan and Mareqo clans of Gurage ethnic group, reported FBC.

The Police Commission said it has arrested 69 people, including local government officials suspected of involvement in the deadly inter-clan clashes.

The commission added an arrest warrant has been issued for another 115 individuals suspected of involvement in the inter-clan clashes in Gurage zone.

Ethiopia follows an ethnic federalism model, which has been credited with giving self-governance rights to more than 80 ethnic groups that make up the country's estimated 100 million people.

However, critics claim that the ethnic federalism model magnifies ethnic diversity at the expense of national unity, leading to occasional ethnic tension and clashes.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 22:02:30|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

KHARTOUM, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Tuesday reiterated his country's support for all initiatives to seek peaceful and political settlement in Yemen.

"Sudan's stance towards the issues of the Arab and Islamic nation is firm and it is ready to provide whatever is possible to contribute to achieving international security and peace and preserving the Arab national security," said al-Bashir when addressing a military graduation ceremony in Khartoum.

Sudan firmly supports all initiatives to seek peaceful and political settlement of the Yemeni issue, which will pave the way for the return of stability and peace in Yemen, and ending the suffering of Yemeni people, he noted.

He referred to Sudan's participation in the Arab alliance seeking to restore the legitimacy of the Yemeni government, which was forced into exile by the Houthi rebels in 2014.

Sudan has been part of the Saudi Arabia-led Arab coalition fighting the Houthi rebels in Yemen since March, 2015.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 22:12:32|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

TOKYO, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Japan on Tuesday approved new defense guidelines, part of which includes the controversial upgrading and deployment of aircraft carriers in a move unprecedented since the end of World War II.

Japan's new National Defense Program Guidelines, which also spans issues of cyberspace, outer space and electronic warfare as part of its plans to create what it describes as a "multidimensional joint defense force," has already drawn criticism from defense experts, the public and constitutional scholars.

They have maintained that the bolstering of a multidimensional and integrated defense force is a major step away from Japan's "defense only" posture, which is enshrined in its pacifist constitution.

At the heart of recent controversies and now outlined in the defense guidelines, covering a period from fiscal 2019, is the planned upgrading of the Izumo-class helicopter carrier to enable it to transport and launch F-35Bs multirole stealth fighters.

"We will refit Maritime Self-Defense Force multipurpose helicopter destroyers so fighter jets capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings can be deployed when necessary," the government said in its mid-term defense program, adopted at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday and endorsed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The defense guidelines, to appease a concerned public, maintain that the retrofitting of the Izumo helicopter carrier to be able to carry and launch F-35Bs, among other aircraft, is not so Japan can posses an attack aircraft carry and is not in breach of the constitution.

Defense analysts, however, have pointed out that under the current interpretation of the Constitution, Article 9 of which reads "land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained," the upgrading of Izumo into a contemporary "de facto" aircraft carrier, whether it permanently carries next-generation fighter jets or not, is in contradiction of Japan's pacifist charter.

Along with Cabinet ministers approving the purchase of 42 F-35Bs and 63 F-35As, the Pentagon's most sophisticated 5th generation multirole stealth fighters and most expensive weapons system, 18 of which will be allocated to the Izumo. Opposition parties have also taken aim at the guidelines for being in excess of Japan's defensive needs.

The Medium Term Defense Program comes with a price tag of 27.47 trillion yen (243 billion U.S. dollars) and compounds concerns from the international community about Japan's constantly rising defense costs since Abe took office in 2012.

Japan's defense ministry, as the country is mired in the highest public debt in the industrialized world at more than twice the size of its economy, has requested another record-high budget of some 5.3 trillion yen (47 billion U.S. dollars) for the next fiscal year.

This includes around 235 billion yen (2 billion U.S. dollars) to cover costs related to the installation of two Aegis Ashore missile systems, another military acquisition that has caused public uproar and major concerns from Japan's neighbors.TORONTO, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Densify, the leader in the Cloud Optimization software market, today announced the results and completion of its fiscal year ending October 31, 2018. With demand for its software exceeding company expectations, the growth in its hybrid cloud annual contract value (ACV) increased over 300% year-over-year. Additionally, Densify saw a 100% increase in inbound market interest as measured by software trial requests.



Cloe, our Cloud-Learning Optimization Engine, has been a runaway success from a hybrid cloud market interest and adoption standpoint, said Gerry Smith, CEO at Densify. The Densify team continues to do an extraordinary job at both innovating and bringing much-needed cloud optimization products to market. And, we thank our customers and partners for their continued assistance and support.

In addition to strong growth, Densify

Was recognized by Forrester as a market leader in its Cloud Cost Monitoring and Optimization Wave report

Was recognized by EMA as a Top Three Leader in its Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Optimizing DevOps, IT Operations, and Business

Achieved a Net Promoter Score of 53considered an excellent performance benchmark in the Cloud Optimization industry

Opened an APAC office in Melbourne, Australia to support customers and partners across Asia Pacific

Expanded into a state-of-the-art headquarters to support growth in 2019 and beyond

Added over 30 new partners and distributors to its channel, spanning over 10 countries.

Attained AWS Cloud Management Tools Competency certification

Added three c-level industry veteran executives Chief Marketing Officer Yama Habibzai joined Densify with 20 years experience specializing in aligning technologies with the right market buyers for IT and cloud solutions. Prior to Densify, Yama was an executive at IBM Cloud and has held executive positions with successful exits in a number of companies including ScienceLogic, SevOne, Infoblox, Netcordia, and Concord Communications Chief Financial Officer Scott Browne joined Densify with 25 years of experience as a financial leader in technology-oriented businesses. Prior to joining Densify, Scott was COO at Horizn, a SaaS company providing services to large financial and technology companies and prior to that was CFO at Longview solutions Chief Revenue Officer Brent Wells has had a long track record of successes in senior sales leadership and global enterprise account management roles across the software industry. Prior to Densify, Brent was most recently Vice President of Sales at Softchoice



Added Smith, As we march on to 2019, its clear that based on the markets response, our unique capabilities, including differentiators such as deep container technology optimization support and our newly-released optimization as code automation, are providing great value to our customers. We look forward to another stellar year as we focus on our hybrid cloud customers and their successes with Densify.

For more information, please see www.densify.com .

About Densify

Densify is the Next-Generation Cloud Optimization software company for CloudOps. Densify delivers Cloe, a machine-learning cloud optimization engine which makes applications self-aware and self-optimizingallowing them to automatically match their needs with perfectly fit cloud resources, 24/7. With 11 patents, Densify technology continuously learns your applications usage patterns, and automates the function of finding optimal cloud resources. Densify customers achieve 40-80% improvement in application stability, performance, cloud management automation, and reduction in their cloud spend.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 22:12:32|Editor: mmm

Video Player Close

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (R) talks with President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani prior to the High-Level Forum Africa-Europe in Vienna, Austria, Dec. 18, 2018. Jean-Claude Juncker on Tuesday urged Europe and Africa to intensify their cooperation. (Xinhua/Liu Xiang)

VIENNA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Tuesday urged Europe and Africa to intensify their cooperation.

"Europe needs Africa and Africa needs Europe," Juncker said in a speech during the one-day High-Level Forum Africa-Europe in Vienna, called by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who is chairman of the African Union for 2018, and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of Austria, which serves the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2018.

Juncker called for building a relationship on equal footing with joint responsibilities, arguing that previously there had been a "giver-taker" relationship, with Europe providing development aid.

In recent years, Juncker said, Europe-Africa relations had diminished somewhat, centering primarily around the migration crisis. For this reason the forum would not dwell on that issue, he added.

Juncker said the European Union must focus more on investment and trade, and do more to ensure that trade in Africa becomes "fairer and more sustainable."

European firms need to be encouraged to build a stronger presence in Africa, said the president, who believed that a more business-friendly environment can be achieved.

The forum aims to provide a space for European and African leaders, together with CEOs of major global companies, innovation champions, start-ups and other stakeholders, to act on what needs to be done to secure prosperity and competitiveness on both continents, with a specific focus on innovation and digitalization.File Photo: Chinese Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ma Zhaoxu speaks at the UN Security Council's open debate on the Middle East situation at UN headquaters in New York, on July 24, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's envoy to the United Nations (UN) on Monday called for restraint from Belgrade and Pristina amid their latest tension.

"The parties concerned should refrain from any rhetoric or action that may complicate or escalate the situation and should create enabling conditions for a lasting solution to the Kosovo issue," Ma Zhaoxu, Chinese permanent representative to the UN, told the Security Council.

The parties should reach a mutually acceptable solution through dialogue within the framework of relevant Security Council resolutions, Ma said.

China respects Serbia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, understands Serbia's legitimate concerns over the Kosovo issue and commends Serbia's efforts to find a political solution, he said.

Dominated by ethnic Albanians, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, which has not been recognized by Belgrade.

Ma said China hopes the parties concerned will continue their practical, constructive dialogue, stay firmly committed to a political solution, implement the agreements reached, gradually enhance mutual trust, meet each other halfway and continue to build consensus for a lasting solution acceptable to all parties.

Tolerance, reconciliation and harmonious coexistence among all ethnic groups in Kosovo are in line with the fundamental interests and development needs of all nationalities, he said.

"We hope the parties concerned will prioritize the well-being of the people, protect the legitimate rights and interests of all ethnic groups, promote their economic and social development, and jointly safeguard peace, stability and prosperity in the Balkans," Ma said.

The Security Council should remain seized on the Kosovo issue and encourage the parties to engage in genuine dialogue in good faith, so the council can continue to play a constructive role in pursuit of a proper solution, Ma said.

The latest tension culminated over the adoption on Friday of three laws by Kosovo's parliament on transforming the Kosovo Security Force, which was condemned by Belgrade.

On Nov. 21, following Kosovo's failed bid to join the International Criminal Police Organization, the government of Kosovo announced an increase of the tariff on goods imported from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina from 10 to 100 percent.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 22:27:35|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

NAIROBI, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Kenya has allocated 5.2 billion Kenyan shillings (about 50.7 million U.S. dollars) to promote balanced economic growth in the current financial year, officials said on Tuesday.

The Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) chairperson Jane Kiringai told journalists in Nairobi that the funds will be drawn from the Equalization Fund which receives the equivalent of 0.5 percent of last-audited and approved government revenues.

"The funds will be used by marginalized counties to improve the living standards of their residents," Kiringai said during the launch of a new formula for revenue allocation among the 47 counties.

The chairperson said that the funds will be divided by taking into account the county's population, land area, poverty as well as fiscal responsibility.

Kiringai said that 14 counties with a population of approximately five million have been identified as marginalized.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 22:27:36|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

CAPE TOWN, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- South Africa on Tuesday welcomed the balanced outcome of the recently concluded climate change talks in Katowice, Poland.

South Africa is comfortable that decisions adopted at the talks provide developing countries with flexible arrangements that allow space for institutional and technical capacity building on communication and reporting obligations under the Paris Agreement, Minister of Environmental Affairs Nomvula Mokonyane said in a statement.

The talks, known as the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC C0P24), was hosted by Poland, the COP Presidency, from December 2 to December 14 in the city of Katowice.

The outcome of the talks "resulted in balanced implementation guidelines for the Paris Agreement," Mokonyane said.

"In this regard supporting the development of capacity is a key enabling aspect of the Paris Agreement," she said, adding that South Africa particularly welcomes the decision to extend the mandate for capacity building support for reporting by developing countries by the Consultative Group of Experts (CGE) until 2026.

The CGE will play a vital role in enabling effective reporting by developing countries, thus enhancing transparency of climate action and support and ultimately enabling more climate action, the minister said.

During the climate change talks in Katowice, negotiators from nearly 200 countries agreed on a package of the implementation guidelines, or a common rulebook of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.

The agreed guidelines mean that countries can now establish the national systems that are needed for implementing the Paris Agreement starting from 2020. The same will be done at the international level.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 22:32:38|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

by Murad Abdo

ADEN, Yemen, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The ceasefire brokered by the United Nations took effect in Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah early Tuesday, bringing about relative calm to the conflict-battered city following days of intense battles.

Still, Yemeni government forces and the Houthi rebels accused each other of breaching the ceasefire, raising worries about a possible resumption of full-scale conflict.

But local residents confirmed to Xinhua that there were no sounds of heavy gunfire on Tuesday across the city, which had been hit by days of ferocious street fightings, forcing thousands of people to flee into other safe areas.

The relative calm came after leaders of the two warring sides reaffirmed their commitment to adhering to the ceasefire deal signed last week in Sweden, by ordering all their military commanders on-ground to lay down arms starting at midnight local time.

The Saudi-backed Yemeni government said in a statement that it respects its obligations to the text and spirit of the Stockholm agreement and has always sought to achieve real changes on the ground, to alleviate the people's suffering and find a lasting peace.

"The Houthis must adhere to the modalities stipulated, cease any further hostilities and show its full commitment for peace," the statement said.

The government said that it will continue supporting the UN efforts "to avert any humanitarian and food insecurity concerns fostered or exacerbated by Houthi misdeeds."

On the other side, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, spokesman of the Houthi rebel group, reaffirmed Houthis' "commitment to Stockholm's accord and the ceasefire in Hodeidah."

The ceasefire deal signed between the two warring rivals last week in Sweden called for full withdrawal of all armed groups from Hodeidah and its strategic seaport.

Under the deal, the UN will manage the port and supervise the redeployment of neutral forces there to prevent military escalation, while local forces will help support law and order in the city.

The two warring sides named their representatives who will join he Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC), the joint committee in charge of implementing the Hodeidah agreement according to the UN-backed ceasefire deal agreed in Sweden.

Hodeidah residents said that tense calm returned to the neighborhoods in the city, despite the deployment of the fighters belonging to the two warring sides in and around the city.

Thabit Ahmed, one of Hodeidah residents, told Xinhua by phone that "heavy artillery shelling stopped just a few hours after the ceasefire went into effect."

"The situation is calm now although tense because we don't really know what's going to happen in the next hours," he said.

He added that some stores and businesses reopened Tuesday while many workers started going to their work.

Local observers fear that the ongoing sporadic clashes did not stop and may lead to derailing the ceasefire completely, sparking a large-scale fighting again in Hodeidah.

Salah Bin Laghbar, a politician and observer based in Aden, said that implementing the UN-backed ceasefire will face many huge challenges.

"The Houthis are just lawless militiamen and it's not an easy task to convince them to put arms down because they only understand fighting everywhere and anytime," he said.

Mamun Mahjami, spokesman of the pro-government Giants Brigades, told Xinhua by phone that he believed that the Houthis are exploiting the ceasefire to mobilize and reposition their fighters in Hodeidah.

"The Houthis are escalating the situation militarily and some of their fighters attempted to change their sites and advance into our positions," the spokesman said.

He added that "some militiamen of the Houthi group don't abide by the orders coming from their leaders and keep attacking the positions of our forces despite the ceasefire."

Two days ahead of the ceasefire, fierce armed confrontation broke out between the two warring sides in different areas of Hodeidah, causing heavy casualties.

The Houthis launched a large military campaign and seized the capital Sanaa in late 2014 along with other main provinces, forcing Yemen's president and his government to flee into the southern port city of Aden.

A Saudi-led Arab military coalition intervened militarily in 2015 and began pounding the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa in a bid to restore the internationally-recognized Yemeni government.

The war in Yemen has aggravated the suffering of Yemenis and deepened the world's worst humanitarian crisis, where three quarters of the population, or more than 22 million people, urgently need humanitarian assistance.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 22:37:39|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

RABAT, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The China Cultural Center in Rabat was officially inaugurated on Tuesday in Morocco's capital.

Located in the downtown, the center, which covers nearly 2,500 square meters, has an exhibition hall, a library, a multi-functional theater and classrooms for language teaching, painting, music, dance and so on.

China's Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism Li Jinzao, Chinese Ambassador to Morocco Li Li, Moroccan Minister of Culture and Communication Mohamed El Aaraj, Moroccan Minister of Tourism Mohammed Sajid and some 100 guests attended the opening ceremony.

"It is of great significance for China and Morocco to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation in culture and tourism," said Li Jinzao on the ceremony.

"It is hoped that the China Cultural Center in Rabat will play a major role in promoting the communication between the two peoples under the Belt and Road Initiative," Li added.

Mohamed El Aaraj said that Morocco attaches great importance to the cultural exchanges and interactions with China, believing that the China Cultural Center in Rabat will play an important role in promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the two sides.

The guests visited a photo exhibition featuring the accomplishment over the five years since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by China in 2013, a show of chinese intangible cultural heritage such as tea art, brocade embroidery and lacquerware as well as traditional music performances from both countries.

China International Publishing Group (CIPG) donated more than 300 books to the cultural center which were enriched into the center's library. Moroccans will access to the books that introduce China in Chinese, Arabic, French and English in the library for free.

Chen Dongyun, cultural counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Morocco, said that after more than two years of efforts, the 36th China cultural center of its kind was officially launched in Rabat.

The cultural center will organize various cultural events such as exhibitions, film screenings, lectures, trainings and cultural performances for the Moroccan people to know more about China, she added.

The China Cultural Center in Rabat is jointly operated by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Chengdu Municipal Government.

China has started to establish cultural centers oversea since the 1980s in order to enhance cultural exchange for China and other countries.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 22:57:45|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

BAGHDAD, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi parliament Tuesday passed three more cabinet members out of eight needed to complete the 22 members in the cabinet of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi amid heated political row.

Up to 261 Iraqi lawmakers attending the 19th parliament session showed approval of the new ministers when Parliament Speaker, Mohammed al-Halbousi, read out their names one by one.

The lawmakers voted in majority for Qusai al-Suhail as higher education minister, Abdul Amir al-Hamdani as culture minister and Nuri Sabah al-Dulaimi as planning minister, while no confidence was given for the two female candidates for the Migration and Education Ministries.

The parliament will convene for a new session on Thursday.

Hassan Khalatti, a lawmaker from Sairoon Coalition, told reporters after the session that Abdul Mahdi would submit new candidates of migration and education portfolios to replace the failed candidates within 24 to 48 hours.

As for the remaining three portfolios of defense, interior and justice, Khalatti said "there is no political consensus yet about the candidates of these ministries as the political blocs still in negotiation about the names of the candidates."

On Oct. 24, Abdul Mahdi was sworn in as the new prime minister of Iraq after the parliament passed 14 out of 22 cabinet members as differences among the political blocs prevented the approval of eight other portfolios.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 23:02:48|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Li Jianhua, a former senior legislator in northwest China's Gansu Province, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and dismissed from public office over serious violations of discipline and laws, according to a statement by the top anti-graft body Tuesday.

The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the National Supervisory Commission conducted an investigation into Li, former deputy Party secretary and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of Gansu Provincial People's Congress.

The probe found that Li accepted banquet invitations that might have resulted in unfairness in his fulfillment of duties.

Li refused to tell the truth when responding to the supervisor's inquiry and interfered in the selection and appointment of officials, according to the statement.

Li was also found to have accepted gifts and money, taken advantage of his positions to seek personal benefits and engaged in sex trade.

"As a senior official of the CPC, Li lost his commitment to Party principles and neglected his responsibilities. The case should be dealt with seriously," the statement said.

Since Li reported his violations to authorities, returned all his illicit gains and showed sincere remorse, the CCDI proposed a lenient punishment.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 23:07:49|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

BEIRUT, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim said Tuesday that the new cabinet will be formed soon in Lebanon, local media reported.

Ibrahim made the announcement after holding discussions with six independent Sunni lawmakers about their representation in the new government, the MTV reported.

"We are on the right track. We will witness the formation of a new government very soon if we do not face additional obstacles," he said, without revealing further details.

Meanwhile, Kassem Hashem, one of the six independent Sunni lawmakers demanding to be represented in the government, also said in a televised interview on MTV that the cabinet formation will take place before Christmas.

After the general elections in May, the first in nearly a decade, Lebanese cabinet's formation has been repeatedly delayed due to the rifts among different political parties about their share in the new government.

The latest obstacle was that of the representation of the six independent Sunni Lawmakers in the cabinet, which was mainly rejected by Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri.

Hariri argued that the six Sunni lawmakers do not have the right of representation because they are not part of a unified parliamentary block.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 23:22:54|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

KIGALI, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) rescued 74 civilians who were abducted during Saturday's attack in Nyamagabe district in southern Rwanda, it said on Tuesday.

The mission started immediately after the attack and there are no more Rwandans missing, defence and military spokesperson Innocent Munyengango told Xinhua in a phone interview.

Unidentified attackers torched three passenger vehicles Saturday evening in Nyamagabe, near the border with Burundi, killing two and injuring eight, the army had said late Saturday.

The death toll has risen to four after two died from injuries, the Rwandan army said Monday in a statement, adding that they pursued the assailants and killed three while the rest escaped into Burundi.

The army also said the area is now secure.AVON, Conn., Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The small case market, defined as employers with between 10 and 99 employees, presents a sizeable opportunity for voluntary coverage as it encompasses over a quarter of all U.S. employees and over 90 percent of all U.S. employers. However, small case market employers are least likely to offer benefits on any funding basis as well as any voluntary benefits compared to larger employers. Only 53 percent of employers with 10-49 employees and 73 percent of employers with 50-99 employees offer at least one voluntary product. This compares to 78-87 percent of employers with 100 or more employees. The small employer segment continues to be ripe for introduction of new or additional voluntary coverage to fill unmet benefit needs.



Eastbridges Voluntary and the Small Case Market Spotlight Report aggregates data from several key surveys to produce an in-depth analysis of the small case market including the broker, carrier, employer and employee perspectives. The report looks at topics such as:

Top small market carriers based on sales

Products small case brokers offer in addition to voluntary

Number of voluntary carriers small case brokers use per enrollment

Which products brokers and employers offer most frequently

Preferred enrollment methods and platform preferences of brokers and employers

Number and type of voluntary products owned by employees

The study found, for example, that dental, vision, and long-term disability are the top voluntary products offered by employers, while the top products offered by brokers are short-term disability, accident, and term life. It also found that small case brokers use group meetings followed by one-on-one meetings as their most frequent enrollment method, and use of the Internet/web was infrequent, while employees said in the future they prefer to enroll on their own and give their paper application to HR to submit, followed by via the Internet/intranet.

The report is currently available for purchase for $2,000. For additional information or to purchase the report, e-mail info@eastbridge.com or call (860) 676-9633.

Eastbridge Consulting Group, Inc. is a marketing advisory firm serving insurance and financial services organizations in the United States and Canada.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Ginger Bates (803) 782-0560Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 23:32:58|Editor: Liangyu

Video Player Close

College graduates visit the stand of TECNO at jobs recruitment fair for Kenyan students in Nairobi, Kenya, on Dec. 18, 2018. More than 20 Chinese and Kenyan companies on Tuesday held a day-long fair to showcase employment opportunities for local youth who have completed post-secondary education. (Xinhua/Zhang Yu)

NAIROBI, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Judy Miriti grew up in the central Kenyan highlands where her entrepreneur parents taught her the virtues of fortitude, ambition and passion to facilitate a seamless plunge into adulthood that is laden with uncertainties.

The 26-year-old diploma holder has for the last three years earned a living through sales and marketing but is determined to chart a new career path once she acquires a degree in finance.

Miriti was among hundreds of Kenyan youth who turned up for the jobs recruitment fair organized on Tuesday by the Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi in partnership with Kenya-China Economic and Trade Association (KCETA) and the Kenya Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

The vivacious marketer told journalists that attending the job fair was a milestone since it enabled her to interact at length with Chinese enterprises based in Kenya and learn about their recruitment model for local skilled workforce.

"It is my first time to attend a career fair organized by Chinese companies and I would like to learn more about the attributes they look for while hiring local employees," said Miriti.

"There are many people out there who are ready to work for Chinese companies whose reputation for transferring skills to locals is quite inspiring," she added.

Miriti is currently doing sales and marketing for an indigenous food and beverages company but is open to switch careers that are more structured like administration and finance.

"So far, I have learnt about the thrills and challenges inherent in the marketing profession and would like to transit to formal careers once I am through with my undergraduate degree in finance," Miriti told journalists.

The third edition of job recruitment fair organized by the Confucius institute attracted skilled and talented youngsters who recently graduated from institutions of higher learning.

Joel Njogu, a 22-year-old ICT major at Nairobi's Zetech University that has a working relationship with Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, said he was convinced that working for a Chinese firm would reward him enormously in terms of income and career growth.

"My friends informed me about this jobs recruitment fair and later learnt about it on our campus social media platforms. I feel honored to engage executives from Chinese companies and I believe they value local talent," said Njogu.

His course instructor who works for Huawei on part-time basis has been encouraging the ambitious youngster to consider attachment in a Chinese firm where he can hone skills in ICT.

More than 20 Chinese and Kenyan firms participated in the 2018 job recruitment fair held at the courtyard of the University of Nairobi to promote interaction among recent graduates and potential employers.

Wang Shuwen, a representative of KCETA, said that career fairs have become a critical platform for fostering interaction between Chinese enterprises and local youth searching for gainful employment and an opportunity to upgrade skills.

"The fair is an important step to promote employment of Kenyan graduate students," said Wang, adding that job creation will cement Kenya-China friendship while promoting economic growth and stability.

Isaac Mbeche, deputy vice-chancellor in charge of administration and finance at the university, hailed Chinese companies for their contribution to job creation and skills development in Kenya.

The elegantly decorated exhibition stands belonging to Chinese firms captured the attention of Kenyan college graduates keen to secure employment and become self-reliant.

Julia Wambui, a 21-year-old business administration and information technology major at a private university, said the jobs fair was an inspiration to local youth in their quest to cement ties with Chinese enterprises that have established a large footprint in Kenya.

"A good number of my friends who work for Chinese companies have confided to me that they are contented and have wide latitude to enable them to climb up the career ladder," said Wambui.

"I believe working for a Chinese firm has many benefits least of all a stable income, training opportunities and exposure," she added.

Duncan Miranga, a 30-year-old post graduate student in project management, said that he was keen to work for Chinese companies engaged in the implementation of mega infrastructure projects in Kenya.

"I'm aware that Chinese firms prefer hiring people with multiple skills and that is one area I have been working on to boost my employment chances," said Miranga.

"I would like to work in the construction sector where Chinese companies are strong," Miranga added.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 23:32:59|Editor: Yang Yi

Video Player Close

Yang Jiechi(R), a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, meets with a delegation of the Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which is led by its deputy chairman Cevdet Yilmaz, in Beijing, capital of China, on Dec. 18, 2018. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

BEIJING, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Tuesday met with a delegation of the Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which was led by its deputy chairman Cevdet Yilmaz.

Yang, also director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, said China is willing to work with the Turkish side to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state during their sideline meeting at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires.

He said the CPC is willing to make joint efforts with the AKP to deepen the exchange on the experiences of managing the party and the country so as to promote bilateral ties.

Hailing China's achievements since reform and opening-up 40 years ago, Yilmaz said the AKP is ready to enhance communication and exchange with the CPC to promote bilateral cooperation in fields including the economy, trade, tourism, and anti-terrorism.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-18 23:43:01|Editor: Liangyu

Video Player Close

Greek Minister for Migration Policy Dimitrios Vitsas speaks at a press conference on the occasion of the International Migrants Day in Athens, Greece, on Dec. 18, 2018. Greek society has sent a clear message of solidarity to people seeking a better life away from their homelands, Greek officials told the press conference on Tuesday on the occasion of International Migrants Day, observed on Dec. 18 each year since 2000. During the eight years of the debt crisis, Greece has been working systematically towards the smooth integration of migrants in difficult circumstances. The country is seeking prosperity for all without discrimination, Greek Minister for Migration Policy Dimitrios Vitsas said at the event. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

By Maria Spiliopoulou

ATHENS, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Greek society has sent a clear message of solidarity to people seeking a better life away from their homelands, Greek officials told a press conference here on Tuesday on the occasion of International Migrants Day, observed on Dec. 18 each year since 2000.

During the eight years of the debt crisis, Greece has been working systematically towards the smooth integration of migrants in difficult circumstances. The country is seeking prosperity for all without discrimination, Greek Minister for Migration Policy Dimitrios Vitsas said at the event.

"Greece, as a country which has migrants all over the world (the number of Greeks living abroad is as big as its population) and which has received tens of thousands of migrants (over 560,000 are currently living here), is opening its arms and acknowledges their rights and tries to help them," the Greek minister told journalists.

Vitsas reiterated a plea to address xenophobia and boost cross-border cooperation to effectively solve a common challenge.

"Europe's problem is not migration, but inequality, social inequality," Vitsas stressed, decrying the rise of racism, while welcoming the first ever Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, which was adopted by the United Nations Intergovernmental Conference on Migration in Marrakech, Morocco, earlier in December.

"The international community has made a decisive step in the right direction to manage the global phenomenon of migration," he said, underlining that "the solution to the migration issue is legal and safe migration flows."

With more than half a million people, mainly from Balkan and eastern European countries, migrating to Greece since the 1990s, the country faced a major challenge in the past three years, when more than one million refugees and migrants from Asian and African countries landed on its shores.

People fleeing war zones and extreme poverty, seeking a better future, passed through Greece to the countries of central and northern Europe. Hundreds perished in the Aegean Sea as victims of smugglers, while thousands suffered in overcrowded reception camps on the Greek islands amid squalid conditions for several months.

After the closure of borders along the Balkan route in February 2016 the influx dropped dramatically, but still thousands keep trying to reach Greece from Turkey and 60,000 have been stranded here, according to official figures.

Greece "conveys a strong message against fear, hatred and racism against the foreigner. The stance most Greek people held in recent years in the management of the refugee-migrant issue fills us with pride," said Fotini Pantiora, special secretary for crisis communications management at the Ministry of Digital Policy, Telecommunications and Media.

Greek officials and representatives of international organizations acknowledged that numerous problems still need to be solved, but the trend was positive.

"Greek society is more and more ready to the task of offering dignified reception places for refugees and migrants," UNHCR Representative in Greece Philippe Leclerc said at Tuesday's event.

"Greece is committed and understands the problem of migration," added Gianluca Rocco, chief of the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) mission in Greece.

"Dreams do not have one home" was the main slogan of the event in Athens.

Mohammand Mahdi Hossaini, 18, a refugee from Afghanistan made the perilous journey to Europe with his family and reached Greece in March 2016. He saw people perish in the waters while they were crossing the Aegean Sea.

At the event he talked about his dream in fluent Greek and introduced himself with the Greek name he adopted: Orpheas.

"We had a country, we had homes, but we were forced to leave our motherland... We did not come here to steal anybody's country," he said.

"Those of us who wish to stay in Greece want to live in houses, see our children go to school, we want to become a work force for the country which welcomed us... There should be more cooperation between locals and migrants and refugees so that we can build a better country here," he stressed.

Orpheas has been staying in a reception center near Athens. He volunteers as a translator at the camp's clinic. He wants to become a neurosurgeon and hopes that soon he will be able to embrace his father again in Germany, as his request for family reunification is being assessed.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-19 00:03:08|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

by Naim-Ul-Karim

DHAKA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's two large rival political parties have rolled out their poll manifestos for the general elections slated for Dec. 30 with a set of promises to woo voters.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Bangladesh Awami League party in its election manifesto unveiled at a press conference in Dhaka on Tuesday promised more efforts for rural developments.

If voted to power for the third time, Hasina pledged to transform Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021, and a developed country by 2041.

Reading out her party's 80-page manifesto document titled "Bangladesh on Path to Progress and Prosperity," she said all the rural villages will be connected to the cities and towns via concrete roads while electricity will reach every household in rural areas.

In order to create more employment and make internet and information technology within reach of people everywhere, she said they will build mills and factories all around the country.

She also expressed her commitment to protecting the country against terrorism, militancy, drugs, communalism and corruption and maintain democracy and the rule of law if she retains power.

On the other hand, ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) also unveiled its manifesto on Tuesday with a set of promises, including making democracy its everyday practice and raising GDP growth to 11 percent.

Reading out the manifesto on behalf of Khaleda Zia who is now behind the bar, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir assured of taking no revenge against anyone if his party is voted to power.

The 9-page summary document of BNP manifesto promises include ensuring the balance between the powers of the president and the prime minister.

It said provisions will be made to prevent a prime minister from serving more than two consecutive terms.

According to the manifesto, foreigners working in Bangladesh will be prevented from laundering money.

Apart from them, the party also vowed to scrap what it said "black laws of this government" in order to ensure freedom of speech and expression.

Awami League, which rose to power with a landslide election victory in early 2009 and won its second term in 2014, is facing challenges from Zia's BNP and its allies.

As many as 1,841 candidates are contesting in the country's upcoming general election for 300 constituencies. According to the commission, out of total contesting candidates in the 11th national elections slated for Dec. 30, 1,745 are party candidates while 96 are independent candidates.

Tens of thousands of paramilitary troops were deployed Tuesday in Bangladesh capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country to thwart violence ahead of general elections.

The country's Election Commission had earlier announced to deploy army personnel from Dec. 24 as a striking force across the country.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-19 00:03:09|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

GENEVA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey said here on Tuesday that they have agreed to take efforts at convening the first session of the Syrian Constitutional Committee early in 2019.

In a joint statement read out here after the three ministers' meeting with U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura, they said the work of the new body "should be governed by a sense of compromise and constructive engagement".Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-19 00:08:10|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- A former senior official in northeast China's Liaoning Province has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and dismissed from public office over serious violations of discipline and laws, according to a statement by the top anti-graft body Tuesday.

Yang Xihuai, former deputy secretary of the Liaoning provincial discipline inspection commission and vice director of the provincial supervisory commission, is being investigated by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the National Supervisory Commission, said the CCDI statement.

The probe found that Yang failed to perform his duty correctly, leaked work-related secrets, accepted banquet invitations that might have resulted in unfairness in the fulfillment of duties, and interfered in judicial activities, the statement said.

"Yang lost his commitment to Party principles, took advantage of his posts to do favors for others and sought personal benefits. He showed no sign of restraint even after the 18th CPC National Congress. Yang should be harshly punished," the statement said.

Since Yang reported his violations to authorities, returned his illicit gains and showed remorse, the CCDI proposed a lenient punishment.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-19 00:23:13|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump issued an order Tuesday directing the establishment of "Space Command."

Trump said the new command will be created as a "unified combatant command," according to his memo to Defense Secretary Defense Jim Mattis, which was made public by the White House.

The Space Command will oversee all U.S. military activities in space, and the president has asked Mattis to recommend officers for the command's leadership, the memo said.

A comprehensive list of authorities and responsibilities for the Space Command will be included in the next update to the Unified Command Plan, it added.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-19 00:23:15|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

NAIROBI, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations migration agency is assisting Kenya in developing a migration policy that will help the country combat irregular migration, officials said on Tuesday.

Etsuko Teranishi-Inoue, a program manager at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Xinhua in Nairobi that it is providing Kenya with financial and technical support for its national migration policy which is expected to be in place in 2019.

"Once in place the policy will help Kenya tackle irregular migration into the country as well as illegal migration of Kenyans to the rest of the world," Teranishi-Inoue said on the sidelines of a forum to raise awareness on irregular migration and migrants' rights.

She said that Kenya needs a migration policy given that it has been identified as an origin, transit point and destination of illegal migrants.

Teranishi-Inoue added that the migration policy will also support Kenya's engagement with its diaspora community which has a positive impact on the national economic development.

She said that IOM is currently providing technical skills to immigration officials to identify document fraud as well as victims of human smuggling.

Mary Kezzah, assistant labor commissioner of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, said that Kenya is keen to tackle new and emerging migration trends caused by globalization as well as climate change.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-19 01:38:33|Editor: Yang Yi

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- As China celebrated the 40th anniversary of its reform and opening-up policy on Tuesday, the achievements it has made over the last four decades were hailed as a miracle.

Experts said that China's reform and opening-up not only is a milestone in the country's history but also holds global significance.

RIGHT PATH

Addressing a grand gathering Tuesday to celebrate the 40th anniversary, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the past 40 years eloquently prove the correctness of the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Robert Lawrence Kuhn, a leading American expert on China who was honored with China Reform Friendship Medal on Tuesday, said China's direction is clear, that is, socialism with Chinese characteristics, the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in all areas, putting people and their well-being and happiness first, and the need to further implement and deepen reforms.

Russian Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov said the reform and opening-up policy enacted by the CPC at the third plenary session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in 1978 planned China's development and raised China to heights unimaginable at that time.

"All the achievements that China has made is inseparable from the country's adherence to the leadership of the CPC and taking the socialist path," he told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Manoranjan Mohanty, former chairperson of the Institute of Chinese Studies in Delhi, said the reform and opening-up was a great revolution.

At one time it was called a "New Long March," which has two things in common with the Long March of the Red Army - one is the determination to unite maximum popular forces and the other is to innovate a strategy of revolution, he said.

QUANTUM LEAP

Describing the reform and opening-up as "a great revolution in the history of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation," Xi said a quantum leap has been made in the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Stephen Perry, chairman of Britain's business networking organization 48 Group Club, said China has undergone incredible transformation since its reform and opening-up in 1978 and the country is sure to achieve its long-term target.

Perry, also recipient of the China Reform Friendship Medal, said that he had seen China turning from a backward country where most of the population lived in countryside into a country where nearly 60 percent of the population now dwell in towns and cities.

During the period, China's grain output has doubled to over 600 million tons and modern technology is being developed in various industries, Perry noted.

William Jones, Washington bureau chief of the U.S. publication Executive Intelligence Review, told Xinhua in an interview that the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening-up is extremely important and is a pivotal moment.

China has moved from a relatively impoverished country to one of the most important economic powers in the world today, Jones said.

What is done has shown that the policy that was laid out in terms of the reform and opening-up has been a resounding success, he added.

China's reform and opening-up over the past 40 years has proven to be the "golden key" to reviving its society, said Jin Jianmin, a senior fellow at the Fujitsu Research Institute in Tokyo, believing that the ongoing process will never stop.

Shadrack Gutto, a political analyst at the University of South Africa, recalled that when talking about China 40 years ago, people would think of the "kingdom of bicycle."

But now automobiles made by China have been exported to the world market, said Gutto, adding that both in material and spiritual terms, Chinese people's standard of living has been significantly improved.

PROPELLING GLOBAL PROSPERITY

The 40 years of reform and opening-up has benefited both China and the world, said Jin, emphasizing that the great demand created by China's rapid economic growth has offered opportunities to the international community.

Farooq Sobhan, president of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, said the China International Development Cooperation Agency, along with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Silk Road Fund, represents the country's "firm commitment to promote and support economic growth, both globally and regionally."

These institutions will "benefit Bangladesh and other developing countries to meet their growing development and infrastructure requirements," said Sobhan.

Appreciating the China-proposed concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, Mohanty believed that "people all over the world wish the people of China even greater successes in pursuing the path of equitable and sustainable development."

(Xinhua reporters Hu Xiaoguang, Zhang Jianhua, Zhao Xu, Wang Huihui, Jin Jing, Gui Tao, Zhu Dongyang, Hu Yousong, Liu Chen, Jiang Qiaomei, Yang Ting, Jing Jing, Liu Chuntao, Yang Shilong contributed to the story)Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at an extended meeting of the Russian Defence ministry in Moscow, Russia on December 18, 2018. (KREMLIN PHOTO)

MOSCOW, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia's strategic nuclear forces have grown significantly stronger and it is necessary to further strengthen the potential of the country's strategic nuclear forces next year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.

"The nuclear triad, which plays a key role in maintaining global parity, has been noticeably strengthened with the share of modern weapons in it already reaching 82 percent," Putin told an extended Russian Defense Ministry meeting.

A nuclear triad is a three-pronged military force structure that consists of land-launched nuclear missiles, nuclear-missile-armed submarines and strategic aircraft with nuclear bombs and missiles.

Putin said that serious, breakthrough steps have been taken in the development of the newest and unparalleled weapons this year, including the start of the serial production of the Avangard scramjet glide vehicle, successful testing of the Sarmat missiles, test-alert duty of the hypersonic Kinzhal (Dagger) air-launched ballistic missile and of the Peresvet combat laser systems.

According to Putin, these weapons increase several times the potential of the armed forces and will reliably ensure the security of Russia in the coming decades.

A priority next year is to further strengthen the combat potential of the strategic nuclear forces, Putin said.

It is necessary to switch quickly to modern weapons, which have enhanced capabilities for overcoming promising missile defense systems, he said.

The next step will be continuing the serial production and delivery of the Avangard systems to the troops, he said.THUNDER BAY, Ontario, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On December 20, 2018, Pikangikum First Nation will become the first community to officially connect to the Ontario power grid via the Wataynikaneyap Power Transmission Line Project (the Project). The community will come together that day to celebrate this historic milestone in one of the most ambitious and transformative infrastructure projects in Canadas history. The Project is led by 22 First Nations communities and Pikangikum is one of 17 communities in the North to be connected to Ontarios Power Grid via the 1,800km transmission line under development.



Date: December 20, 2018

Time: 2:00 p.m.- 6:00pm Location: EENCHOKAY BIRCHSTICK SCHOOL Pikangikum First Nation Details: The event will include the final shut down of the communitys diesel generating station and official energization of the transmission line into Pikangikum. This significant moment will be marked by community Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony - the first such event in Pikangikums history - and followed by a community feast.

Media Contact:

Kristine Carmichael

FortisOntario Company

Kristine.Carmichael@FortisOntario.com

(905) 994-3637Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-19 04:39:14|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

YAOUNDE, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) has finalized plans to harmonize laws governing trade in the sub-region, Fatima Haram Acyl, vice-president of CEMAC said on Tuesday.

"We are going to harmonize so we make sure that somebody that is trading in Chad, in Cameroon, Central Africa Republic or anywhere in CEMAC actually operates under the same law," Acyl told reporters as trade ministers and economic experts from the CEMAC sub-region met in Cameroon's economic capital Douala to adopt a legislation on competition and consumers protection.

She said the intention was to intensify integration in the sub-region that already has a single market and free trade zone.

"The CEMAC is one market. We have the same people, the same currency and free movement of people. So this exercise is very critical," Acyl said.

The new legislation will attract more foreign investors and erase unhealthy competition and consumer exploitation that has retarded trade development in the sub-region for a long time, according to Acyl.

CEMAC is made up of Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea. With a total population of about 37 million, it was established to promote cooperation and exchange among its members.File Photo: South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs Lee Do-hoon shakes hands with U.S. special representative for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Stephen Biegun during their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea Sept. 11, 2018. (Xinhua/REUTERS)

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. special envoy on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will travel to South Korea later this week, said the U.S. State Department on Tuesday.

Stephen Biegun, U.S. special representative for the DPRK issue, will visit Seoul from Wednesday to Friday, when he will meet with Lee Do-hoon, South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, to further strengthen bilateral coordination on the peninsula denuclearization, said the department in a statement.

During his stay, Biegun and Lee will also co-chair a bilateral working group meeting to achieve the goal of denuclearization, including through inter-Korean cooperation projects, the statement added.

Biegun's visit came at a sensitive time when Pyongyang darted harsh words on Washington over the weekend for imposing sanctions against senior DPRK officials, criticizing the U.S. State Department for being "bent on bringing DPRK-U.S. relations back to the status of last year which was marked by exchanges of fire."

Meanwhile, Pyongyang and Seoul has been on the track of forming a closer relationship. The two sides will hold a groundbreaking ceremony next week at the Panmun Station in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong to modernize and eventually connect railway and road across the inter-Korean border.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said recently that China encourages the United States and the DPRK to advance denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-19 06:14:47|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

DAMASCUS, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- A state of alert and military movements were witnessed Tuesday by the Turkish and the Kurdish forces amid Turkish threats of a military action in eastern Syria, the latest escalation between Turkey and the Kurdish forces in northern Syria, according to a war monitor.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there is a state of alert by Turkish forces on the Turkish side of the border as well as on the Syrian side in the eastern bank of Euphrates River.

It said the military movement and alert come following recent remarks of Turkey to launch a military campaign against the Kurdish-led militia in the eastern countryside of the Deir al-Zour province.

The Britain-based watchdog group said the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are amassing forces near the borderline to beware of any surprise attack by the Turkish side.

In his remarks last Wednesday, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said "it is time to realize our decision to wipe out terror groups in the east of Euphrates."

"We will start the operation to clear the east of the Euphrates from separatist terrorists in a few days," Erdogan said, referring to the territory held by the Kurdish militia groups.

The Kurdish self-administration in northern Syria issued a statement last Thursday, calling for mass mobilization in areas under its control and urged the Syrian government to take a stance against the remarks of Erdogan.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-19 06:19:49|Editor: Liangyu

Video Player Close

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa speaks at a press conference in Harare, Zimbabwe, Dec. 18, 2018. Zimbabwe's military used disproportionate force in quelling post-election violence that occurred on Aug. 1 in Harare, resulting in the death of six people and damage to property, according to the Commission of Inquiry report released Tuesday. (Xinhua/Shaun Jusa)

HARARE, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe's military used disproportionate force in quelling post-election violence that occurred on Aug. 1 in Harare, resulting in the death of six people and damage to property, according to the Commission of Inquiry report released Tuesday.

Releasing the report's findings and recommendations to the media, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the death of the six people and injury of 35 people in the violence "arose from the actions of the military and police."

"The government deployed the military in accordance with the constitution and applicable law. However, the use of live ammunition directed at people especially when they were fleeing was clearly unjustified and disproportionate," the president said.

The report, however, observed that the deployment of the military to assist the overpowered police in containing the riots was justified given the rapid escalation of the situation in a very short space of time.

According to the findings, the post-election violence was pre-planned and well orchestrated. It was also not sanctioned by the police.

It was clear that many demonstrators became riotous and caused substantial damage to property and there was serious threat to public safety, the report noted.

"It was clear that had the riots not been curbed, the situation could have escalated resulting in disastrous consequences," said the report.

The report noted that military deployment could only have been avoided if the police were adequately experienced, better equipped, sufficient in numbers and more suitably organized.

"While recognizing that in the circumstances, the deployment was unavoidable, the Commission considers that it would have been preferable if the police had been able to deal with the situation on their own."

The report noted that while the deployment was lawful, the operational framework in terms of the law was not followed in that the deployed troops were not placed under the command of the regulating authority due to time constraints.

The Commission also found that fake, fabricated and biased news on social media contributed to the violence.

"Having considered all the evidence, the Commission found on a balance of probabilities that speeches made by political leaders, mostly the MDC Alliance before and after the elections, heightened tensions and played a part in inciting some member of the public to protest," the report noted.

The report recommended compensation to all the affected victims and dependents and urgent availing of medical support to all the injured.

It recommended registration of all political parties to ensure accountability of party leaders and enforcement of nationwide campaign to raise awareness and educate people on proper parameters for peaceful demonstrations.

The report also recommended the review of all laws relating to hate speech, abuse of cyber space and incitement to commit acts of violence.

In addition, police should be equipped with necessary skills and capacity for dealing with rioters while use of the military to assist police in maintaining public order should only be a last resort in extraordinary situations, the report noted.

Use of live ammunition as warning shots should also be discouraged, the Commission recommended.

The seven-member Commission was chaired by former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe. The Commission began its work in September and concluded in late November.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-19 06:24:49|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

KIEV, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine on Tuesday welcomed the adoption by the UN General Assembly a Kiev-initiated resolution on "militarization" of Crimea and parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, surrounding the peninsula.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote on Facebook that the resolution confirms that the international community supports the release of the Ukrainian ships and sailors captured during the Kerch incident.

Separately, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the adoption of the document demonstrated that the international community supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

The resolution will be used to restore stability in the Black Sea and the Azov Sea regions, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia does not agree with the resolution and regrets it was adopted, Russian Tass news agency reported.

In the resolution, published by the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN, Kiev voiced grave concern over Russia's actions in Crimea, Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, saying they "pose further threats to Ukraine and undermine the stability in the broader region."

Ukraine has accused Moscow of "aggressive actions" after Russia inaugurated a bridge over the Kerch Strait, separating the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, in May this year and started carrying out inspections of commercial ships sailing through the Kerch Strait.

Russia said the inspections of ships are aimed at ensuring security in the waters of the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait and do not violate the international law.

On Nov. 25, Russian forces seized three Ukrainian naval ships as well as 24 sailors on board attempting to sail through the Kerch Strait, alleging that they violated the Russian border.

Relations between Russia and Ukraine have been deteriorating since Crimea was incorporated into Russia in March 2014 following a local referendum. Ukraine says the peninsula was annexed.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-19 06:24:49|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

ALGIERS, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Algeria and South Korea agreed on Tuesday that a great potential can be exploited in their bilateral partnership.

The conclusion was drawn up at the end of the visit by South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon to Algeria Tuesday, after he co-chaired with his Algerian counterpart, Ahmed Ouyahia, the fifth Algerian-Korean Business Forum.

Ouyahia called on Korean investors to further strengthen their presence in Algeria, a gateway to Africa, Europe and the Arab world, vowing to offer multiple benefits and advantages to foreign investors, including long-term tax exemption, and customs duties exemption.

Ouyahia hailed development of partnership between the two countries, especially in electronics and automotive industries.

The South Korean prime minister, for his part, said that there are a large number of areas where the two countries can and must cooperate, for example, the manufacturing industry.

He also said that the two countries should boost cooperation in the fields of information and communication technology, renewable energy, industrial plants, power stations, refineries and environmental facilities for the treatment of water and wastes.

"We can create new opportunities and start institutionalizing dialogue between governments and institutions of the two countries, to pave the way for further meetings between Algerian and Korean businessmen," Lee noted, expressing the great interest of Korean companies to contributing to the Algerian economy.

On Monday, Algeria and South Korea signed five memorandums of understanding covering various fields.

The agreements involved environment protection, the modernization of customs, investment cooperation and renewable energies.

Earlier on Monday, an association pact was signed between the Korean auto giant Hyundai and the Algerian company of Global Group over the establishment of a truck and bus plant in Batna Province, 425 km southeast of the capital Algiers.Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-19 06:44:54|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

by Alessandra Cardone

ROME, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Three years ago, Sahal Omar from Somalia was just one of the many young asylum-seekers who had managed to reach Italy after surviving the crossing of the Mediterranean.

Laura Pinzani from Rome was a single mother of two, concerned about the rising number of people who kept arriving in the country to escape violence, war, or simply find a better life.

She decided to "do something", and so applied on a platform created by no-profit organization Refugee Welcome Italy on the Internet.

Since over eight months now, Omar and Pinzani have been living together in her apartment along with her 16-year-old son Riccardo, the only child who was still at home.

"Overall, it has been an enrichment for us," Pinzani said.

"I think my son is learning a lot, most of all from being in contact with someone of more of less his same age who cannot take things for granted."

Pinzani and Omar's experience was told to local and international media on Monday at a conference held by Refugee Welcome Italy at the Foreign Press association in the Italian capital.

The group unveiled its first official report on three years of activity since its inception in December 2015. Besides volunteers, speakers included UNHCR Representative for Southern Europe Felipe Camargo, and the chairperson of the Social Policies Dept. of the Municipality of Rome, Maria Agnese Catini.

According to the report, some 1,196 Italian families and 3,448 refugees have applied so far to the platform.

The association counted on the work of about 200 volunteers -- scattered in small groups across 18 cities and 11 regions -- to process requests, help families and refugees meet, and possibly find suitable "matches."

Up to November, some 120 refugees have found a hosting family. The number was small, the association acknowledged, especially if compared with the overall figures of recent immigration in the country.

At least 620,000 migrants and asylum-seekers in fact arrived in Italy from the Mediterranean between 2014 and 2017, putting the country's reception system under serious strain.

Italy was the world's third largest recipient of asylum requests in 2017 with 126,500 new claims, behind the United States (331,700), and Germany (198,300), according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

Recent data by the Interior Ministry also showed the country received 369,056 asylum requests between 2015 and mid-2018.

Yet, despite the limited forces, Welcome Refugee believed their experience might provide a valid contribution "thanks to the fact that we have identified a clear working process," Fabiana Musicco, co-founder and chairperson, told the conference.

The group in fact published specific guidelines on how to set up new groups, operate on the territory, select contacts, and facilitate cohabitations between Italian families and foreign guests.

"As UNHCR, we find this model of hospitality very relevant, although it has not to be seen as an alternative to the activity and responsibilities of the state," Camargo told reporters.

"The agency welcomes such initiatives, which are not just in Italy, but in other European countries, and in Canada... Now, we are now trying to promote the same project in various autonomous regions of Spain, for example," the UN official added.

The system was intentionally self-founding, although crowdfunding was sometime launched for specific goals, such covering the costs of an expensive medical exam the hosted refugee may need.

"In these three years, however, we have also had a financed project concerning families willing to welcome refugees who have just come of age," Musicco explained Xinhua.

"In this case, the families receive 300 euros (340 U.S. dollars) a month."

The average age among the 120 refugees so far involved was 26, the report stated. Twenty percent of them had refugee status and 6 percent had their claims still pending, while 16 percent had subsidiary protection -- for those who seek asylum but do not quality as refugees -- and 58 percent humanitarian protection.

The latter is a residual form -- for people who seek asylum but do not qualify for the previous two -- the Italian government abolished in November with a law introducing stricter rules on migrants.

The legislation -- named 'alvini law' after Interior Minister Matteo Salvini who submitted it -- fulfilled one major pledge made in the 2018 campaign by rightwing League party to curb immigration after years of massive arrivals.

Nonetheless, the Welcome Refugee's approach seemed not to be conflicting with the new national policy, and the group was planning to broaden its activity also in connection with local authorities.

Starting from 2019, it would launch a co-partnership with the municipalities of Rome, Palermo, Bari, Macerata, and Ravenna in order to test this model of hospitality in each of the five cities.

The project was among the 20 initiatives at national level admitted to financing by Italy's Interior Ministry in 2018, and would as such be supported through the Ministry's Fund for Asylum, Migration and Integration 2014-2020 (FAMI).Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-19 07:21:47|Editor: Yang Yi

Video Player Close

A researcher shows the flower fossils at Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Dec. 18, 2018. Scientists have found new evidence of the world's earliest fossil flower from specimens unearthed in the eastern China city of Nanjing, dating the origin of flowering plants to 174 million years ago, or the Early Jurassic. An international research team led by scientists from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology has made an observation of the specimens, which contain 198 individual flowers preserved on 34 slabs. They named the flower, which has four to five petals and looks like modern plum blossom, Nanjinganthus. The research pushed the origin of flowering plants 50 million years earlier than the record of previously available fossils, which suggested flowering plants appeared about 125 million years ago in the Cretaceous, an era during which many insects such as bees appeared. The Early Jurassic is known as the period that saw dinosaurs dominating the planet. The discovery reshapes the current understanding of the evolution of flowers. (Xinhua/Sun Can)SUA: Cel mai mare producator de deseuri din plastic la nivel mondial

Statele Unite sunt de departe tara care contribuie cel mai mult la poluarea cu plastic din lume, potrivit unui raport publicat miercuri si care solicita dezvoltarea unei strategii nationale pentru abordarea acestei probleme, transmite joi AFP. [citeste mai departe]NEW YORK, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Over the next 10 years, growth in the Latin American market will outpace the worldwide demand for MRO services, according to Aviation Week Network . The steady growth will lead to a healthy MRO market, growing to $6.7 billion by the year 2027.



Aviation Week Network's MRO Latin America (#MROLA) will be held January 16-17 at the Now Jade Riviera Cancun in Cancun, Mexico. Focused on commercial aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO), the event offers a forum for exchanging information and best practices, and networking among industry leaders representing airlines, regulators, suppliers, and service providers. More than 80% of the attendees are involved in the acquisition cycle as buyers, recommenders and influencers.

The event is designed to provide drill-down discussions, sessions, workshops, and business development opportunities in an intimate setting. More than 80% of the attendees are involved in the acquisition cycle as buyers, recommenders and influencers.

The MRO Latin America Showcase , which is sold out, will enable attendees to shop 40 solution providers showcasing tools, technology and services Anyone interested in attending the Showcase must register to attend.

MRO Latin America is produced by Aviation Week Network with APS , Embraer and StandardAero serving as Sapphire sponsors.

Speakers and topics include:

Latin America is a poised for rapid expansion in the MRO market. Those who want to join this evolution do not want to miss the leading MRO event in Latin America, said Lydia Janow, Managing Director/Events & Tradeshows, Aviation Week Network. This event gives attendees and exhibitors the opportunity to make contacts and meet decision makers in an intimate setting.



Additional 2019 MRO events can be found here.

ABOUT AVIATION WEEK NETWORK

ABOUT INFORMA



CONTACT:

Elizabeth Kelley Grace

561-702-7471

Elizabeth@thebuzzagency.netNEW YORK, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Levi & Korsinsky announces it has commenced an investigation of Sogou Inc. (Sogou or the Company) (NYSE: SOGO) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws.



In November 2017, Sogou commenced an Initial Public Offering, at a price of $13 per American Depositary Share. Then on June 7, 2018, Chinese news outlets reported that Sogou had been ordered by Chinese authorities to take down illegal content. Then on July 30, 2018, Sogou issued a press release announcing that it had suspended part of its advertising business for ten days commencing July 1, 2018. This is expected to result in a one-time reduction in revenues in the third quarter of 2018. Following this news, shares of Sogou fell from a close of $10.33 per share on July 27, 2018, to a close of $9.55 on July 30, 2018. To obtain additional information, go to:

https://www.zlk.com/pslra-1/sogou-inc-loss-form

or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at jlevi@levikorsinsky.com or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972.

Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, California, Connecticut and Washington D.C. The firms attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities and shareholder lawsuits. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.New Delhi: Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has cautioned that transfer of excess reserve to the government may bring down rating of the central bank.

Rating downgrade of the RBI from 'AAA' would make borrowing costlier for the central bank and will have implication for the entire economy.

Asked if the transfer of excess reserve by the RBI to the government could lead to downgrade of the rating, Rajan said: "It could...It depends on how much. It may not be an issue now...May be an issue at some point of time. That's one concern".

This is something both the government and RBI should discuss before reaching some conclusion, he told NDTV news channel in an interview.

"We are 'Baa' country. We are barely investment grade. Sometime, we need to undertake international transactions which require really high credit rating. For example swap we did in 2013. So, for that we need unimpeachable balancesheet. Why don't we keep the RBI as an unimpeachable balancesheet with AAA credit rating that requires certain amount of equity," he said.

Highlighting that profit of the central bank largely comes due to devaluation of Indian currency, Rajan said keeping a portion for the contingency reserves, RBI usually pays entire profit.

"RBI can pay profit and not whatever it holds for contingency reserves for movement up and down. For example, rupee that depreciated could also strengthen...So we should accommodate for that," he said.

There seems to be a tussle going on between the RBI and government over various issues, including transfer of excess capital of the apex bank.

Last month, the RBI board decided to set up a high-level committee soon for examining the Economic Capital Framework (ECF) to determine the appropriate levels of reserve the central bank should hold.

Asked whether he also faced pressure when he was the governor, he said there is always a pressure on the central bank to pay the government more.

"I had it as well. I wrote a letter to the RBI when I was Chief Economic Advisor saying perhaps the RBI should look at how much it needs to hold. When I came to RBI as governor I set up a committee which essentially said we have enough capital to pay out our entire profit.

"The three years that I was Governor, we paid the highest dividend in RBI's history to the government. The issue at stake is not that anymore. The issue is more than that. It's not just the profit, they want the excess. And the Malegam Committee had opined that you cannot pay more than the profit," he said.

Rajan, who was RBI governor for three years till September 2016, is currently teaching at the Chicago Booth School of Business.At Zee Business Dare to Dream Awards ceremony on Monday, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said that the NDA government is working on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of bringing India into the top 50 of ease of doing business ranking by 2022. Speaking to Zee Business Online on the sidelines of the ceremony, Shukla said that the government will support all hard working and honest entrepreneurs to achieve their goals. "PM Narendra Modi always wants to help such entrepreneurs," he added. He said that today's entrepreneurs are role models for country's youth and if any business is facing an issue, it should come and discuss the problem with the government.

Earlier in November, PM Modi, while addressing a meeting on ease of doing business ranking with the Indian industry, had set the target of breaking into the top 50 list and said that efforts are on to nearly double the size of country's economy to USD 5 trillion. He had said that international bodies like the IMF, World Economic Forum and UNCTAD are recognising India's position because of the country's consistent reforms trajectory.

Praising the Mudra scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 8, 2015, Shukla said that as many as 13 crore people have been benefitted by the scheme so far. He said that the scheme has helped more people to establish themselves as employers.

The scheme was launched by PM Modi in April 2015 with an aim to provide loans of up to Rs 10 lakh to non-corporate, non-farm small or micro-enterprises. The scheme aims to fund those businesses that aim to generate income from a non-farm activity like manufacturing, processing, or trading but don't have enough capital to invest.

The dare to dream event was organised to celebrate the success of home-grown entrepreneurs and was also attended by Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Giriraj Singh.

Minister Singh urged the young entrepreneurs to empower themselves and set an example for everyone else. He said that for the first time in India, startups have been given a platform by PM Modi and added that the focus is on using technology to create employment in villages.

(By Manas Tiwari)Denied permission for Rath Yatra in West Bengal by the state government and the Calcutta High Court, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has now decided to organise a pad yatra across the state. While the BJP is still awaiting a final order from the court, it has said that pad yatra will be organised in all districts of West Bengal till the nod is given for rath yatra.

The pad yatras will commence from the first week of January. The initially-planned rath yatra was slated to be spearheaded by BJP president Amit Shah, and planned to commence from Cooch Behar district.

Earlier this month, the Calcutta High Court had denied permission to the BJP for the rath yatra, scheduling the next date of hearing on January 9, 2019.

The West Bengal government had denied permission for the rally on ground that it might cause communal tensions. The states advocate general had informed the High Court about the decision of the government.

The government had informed the High Court that Cooch Behar superintendent of police had also refused permission for the rally, citing that the region was communally sensitive.

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.

(With PTI Inputs)In July 1960, over 225 persons died in a mental hospital fire in Guatemala, making it one of the deadliest hospital fires in the world. Kolkata AMRI Hospital fire in 2011 is another major hospital fire that claimed over 93 lives. Monday's Mumbai hospital fire has claimed eight lives so far.

Below, we present a list of deadliest hospital fire accidents across the country.

1. Kolkata AMRI Hospital fire

Death toll: 93

Year: 2011

The ghastly hospital fire incident at AMRI Hospital in Kolkata's Dhakuria claimed over 90 lives, left hundreds injured. The fire began in the basement of the hospital and was first noticed by local residents at around 3.30 am. It spread swiftly and the poisonous smoke was sucked by air conditioning ducts that carried it through the rooms of and the corridors of the seven-storeyed hospital located in a densely-populated area. Most of the victims were asphyxiated to death.

2. Bhubaneswar SUM Hospital fire

Death toll: 27

Year: 2016

At least 27 persons died and hundreds were injured after a massive fire broke out in SUM hospital on October 17, 2016. The blaze was reportedly triggered by an electric short circuit in the dialysis ward on the first floor of the private hospital which spread to the nearby Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The fire rapidly spread to other areas on the same floor of the four-storeyed hospital building. Many patients were rescued by breaking the window panes.

3. Erwadi Village Mental Home fire

Death toll: 28

Year: 2001

In a bone-chilling episode, 28 inmates  bound by chains to trees and beds  died after being unable to escape at Moideen Badusha Mental Home in Erwadi Village in Tamil Nadu on August 6, 2001. The faith-based asylum claimed to treat mental illnesses through unique methods. The cause of the fire is unknown. The charred remains of the dead remain unidentified to date.

4. Mumbai ESIC hospital fire

Death toll: 8

Year: 2018

A massive fire swept through state-run Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Kamgar Hospital at Marol in Andheri East around on December 17, 2018. It took more than three hours to extinguish the flames. Eight persons died and over 145 were injured.

5. Murshidabad hospital fire

Death toll: 3

Year: 2016

Three people were charred to death and over fifty injured after a massive fire broke out at Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital in the state of West Bengal in August 2016. Among the injured, fifty were children.

6. Bokaro hospital fire

Death toll: 3

Year: 2012

Three patients died of burns after fire broke out in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of KM Memorial Hospital at Bokaro in Jharkhand.NEW DELHI: In a fist, the Indian Air Force on Monday flew its first military flight, an AN-32 transporter aircraft, using blended bio-jet fuel in Bengaluru. The aircraft was flown by Experimental Test Pilots and Test Engineer from IAF's premier testing establishment ASTE.

The project is a combined effort of the IAF, DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization), Directorate General Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) and CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum.

This fuel is made from Jatropha oil sourced from Chattisgarh Biodiesel Development Authority (CBDA) & then processed at CSIR-IIP, Dehradun. IAF intends to fly An-32 aircraft using biojet fuel on 26 Jan 2019, in the Republic Day flypast. pic.twitter.com/iH65muEpLh  Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) December 17, 2018

Air Force Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa had on July 27 announced the intention to promote bio-jet fuel. Addressing a seminar on promoting indigenous technologies, Dhanoa had stated that Air Force intended to fly the AN-32 with 10 per cent bio-jet fuel during next year's Republic Day celebrations.

Indian Air Force carried out extensive engine tests on the ground. This is now followed by flight trials using 10 per cent bio-jet blended ATF. "This fuel is made from Jatropha oil sourced from Chattisgarh Biodiesel Development Authority (CBDA) and then processed at CSIR-IIP, Dehradun," the statement said.

In August, commercial airline Spicejet flew country's first ever bio-jet fuel-powered flight between Dehradun and Delhi.EDMONTON, Alberta, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Liberty Security completed two acquisitions to close out 2018. The first is a large account acquisition from one of its Dealers, and the second is the acquisition of Rolen Security, which has been operating in Edmonton since 1981.



We are very pleased with both of these acquisitions as they will provide a nice addition to our existing base of customers in Alberta, says Russell Keddie, Managing Partner of Liberty Security. We are particularly happy with the acquisition of Rolen Security. Rolen is a well run, well respected company in Edmonton, and the Krupka family has been wonderful to work with.

The Krupka Family, which has operated Rolen Security for over thirty-five years, would like to thank all of our customers for their many years of loyalty and support, says Carla Plican, owner of Rolen Security. We are pleased to have Liberty Security continue to serve our customers.

About Rolen Security

Rolen Security has been operating in the Edmonton area since 1981, providing home and business security, as well as central vacuum systems. After Len Krupka passed away, his daughter, Carla, has overtaken the business. Rolen Security prides themselves on maintaining long standing, quality relationships with their customers, and has entrusted Liberty to do the same.

About Liberty

Incorporated in 2005, Liberty is based in Edmonton, Alberta and provides security, automation, video surveillance and seniors care solutions to residential, commercial and healthcare customers across Canada. Liberty has installed over 60,000 residential and commercial systems in 9 provinces and 3 territories. Liberty also services over 100 Health Care facilities in Western Canada. With an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, Liberty is an Alberta Venture Magazine Fast Growth 50 and Growth (Profit) 500 Fast Growth Company.

Learn more about Liberty at http://www.libertysecurity.ca

Smart SecurityNew Delhi: Indian national Hamid Nehal Ansari`s parents` long struggle for being reunited with their son, who was arrested by the Pakistan Intelligence agencies and local police from Kohat district in 2012, may bear fruit today.

The Pakistan Foreign Ministry on Monday announced to repatriate Hamid on the completion of a three-year sentence handed over to him by a Pakistani military court in 2015."The Pakistan High Commission has told us that the Pakistan authorities will hand over Hamid to the Indian Embassy there today, following which he will cross the border and be reunited with us," Fauzia Ansari, Hamid`s mother told ANI.

The family, however, has not been apprised of the exact time when Hamid will reach India.

"I would like to thank the Indian government for understanding our pain and extending complete help to us in bringing our son back. Even the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi helped us out and were responsive to our ordeal," Ansari opined.

Hamid`s mother further appealed to the Pakistani government to free other individuals like her son who have been imprisoned, underscoring the painful experience the family went through due to his detention in the neighbouring country. "Their parents are also waiting for them and suffering," she stated.

Expressing gratitude to the government and media for helping her out, she said, "This wasn`t our effort alone - the media was our voice and the government completely helped us. We can`t thank god enough. Both the governments have been kind to us and dealt with us humanely. We thank everybody."

"Hamid will be with us today hopefully. I pray to God that he will be," she remarked while travelling in a bus en route to Attari-Wagah border, through which Hamid would be repatriated.Hamid, a teacher at the Mumbai Management College, went missing in Pakistan`s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in November 2012. His mother filed a habeas corpus petition in Delhi High Court, following which the news about his arrest became public.

On January 13, the high court was informed that Hamid was in the custody of the Pakistani Army and was being tried by a military court. The Pakistani security agencies had claimed that Hamid had used fake identity card in the name of "Hamza" and had entered Pakistan through Afghanistan without travel documents. They had charged him for "anti-state activities".NEW DELHI: Congress leader Sajjan Kumar on Tuesday resigned from the primary membership of the party. He has written to party president Rahul Gandhi submitting his resignation. "I tender my resignation with immediate effect from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress in the wake of the judgement of the hon'ble high court of Delhi against me," he said in the letter to Gandhi.

His resignation comes a day after the Delhi High Court on Monday convicted Kumar for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and sentenced him to imprisonment for life.

Earlier in the day, Sajjan had evaded questions about his conviction outside the famous Hanuman Temple in Delhi's Connaught Place. He walked past media persons and ignored repeated questions from reporters. He was accompanied by armed guards during his visit to the temple.

#WATCH Delhi: Sajjan Kumar evades question on his conviction in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case pic.twitter.com/MmYyqO25wE  ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2018

The Delhi HC held overturned his acquittal by the trial court and held that the violence was a "crime against humanity" engineered by politicians with assistance from police. The HC convicted him and five others saying that the "criminals" had escaped prosecution and punishment for over two decades.

"This court is of the view that the mass killings of Sikhs in Delhi and elsewhere in November 1984 were in fact `crimes against humanity`. They will continue to shock the collective conscience of society for a long time to come," a bench of Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel said. Kumar has been asked to surrender by December 31 and cannot leave Delhi till then.

"In the summer of 1947, during partition, this country witnessed horrific mass crimes where several lakhs of civilians, including Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus, were massacred. Thirty-seven years later, the country was again a witness to another enormous human tragedy. Following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, on October 31, 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards, a communal frenzy was unleashed. For four days between November 1 to November 4, all over Delhi, 2,733 Sikhs were brutally murdered. Their houses were destroyed. In the rest of the country too, thousands of Sikhs were killed," the bench observed in its 203-page order.

The court said: "A majority of the perpetrators of these horrific mass crimes enjoyed political patronage and were aided by an indifferent law enforcement agency."

He has been held guilty under various counts of Indian Penal Code (IPC) including murder, criminal conspiracy, delivering provocative speeches instigating violence against Sikhs, mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house and injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class.Beijing: A top official of China's state-run shipbuilding firm may face death sentence for allegedly passing secrets to foreign intelligence agents about the country's first homegrown aircraft carrier, a media report said on Tuesday.

Sun Bo, former general manager of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), who is under detention for corruption, is also being investigated for passing on confidential information about Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

It is unclear what level of confidential information about the Liaoning, Sun, 57, may have given to foreign intelligence agents, but the sources said he "could even face the death penalty" or "at least a suspended death sentence", the report said.

The report, however, has not identified the foreign country to whom Sun alleged to have passed on the secrets.

"It depends on the importance of the information Sun passed to the foreign agents. If it was highly confidential, then a death penalty is waiting for him," the report quoted an unnamed official as saying.

Another source close to the Chinese navy said that the Beijing leadership may want to use Sun's case as a "warning" to other senior officials amid President Xi Jinping's ongoing anti-corruption campaign, which has snared more than 1.3 million party officials at various levels of government.

"Sun was not only the deputy Communist party head of the state-owned CSIC, but also the general manager with comprehensive shipbuilding expertise. He was in charge of the shipbuilding company's aircraft carrier projects for more than a decade.

"Sun is very likely to face the death penalty because he was the core manager taking care of the Liaoning refitting project," the report quoted the official as saying.

Liaoning, a refit of the former Soviet vessel bought from Ukraine, was commissioned in 2012.

A recent official media report said China plans to operate five aircraft carriers in the near future including two nuclear powered ones.

A late entrant into the aircraft carrier-led naval battleship formations, China is keen to acquire aircraft carriers in a hurry as it rapidly expanded the navy, coupled with the acquisition of naval bases aboard to back up its growing influence especially in the Indian Ocean and the resource-rich South China Sea.

It has already operationalised its base at Djibouti in the Indian Ocean and acquired Sri Lanka's Hambantota port for 99 years on a debt swap. China is developing Pakistan's deep water Gwadar port in the Arabian Sea.

Last month, China clinched a deal to build multi-billion dollar port at the strategic Kyaukpyu in Myanmar which is located in the Bay of Bengal.The Russian-Belarusian contradictions have reached their apogee. During the meeting of the Union State Council of Ministers (integration community of Russia and Belarus, founded in December 1999) in Brest, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in the ultimatum form offered the Belarusian colleagues a choice of two formats for the development of Russian-Belarusian relations. Either preservation of the existing nature of cooperation without deepening integration to the level stipulated by the agreement on the creation of the Union State, or deeper integration, including the creation of a single emission center (Belarus should use the Russian ruble), a single customs service, court, the Accounts Chamber.



Medvedev's statement drew criticism from the authorities and the opposition in Belarus. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko gave a press conference to Russian journalists and said that it is useless to blackmail his country and Russia will never be able to divide it into areas and include in its territory. At the same time, the Belarusian leader does not deny that both countries are supposed to follow the path of integration. The political council of the oppositional United Civil Party, called Medvedevs rhetoric in Brest an offer to the citizens of Belarus to give up sovereignty and independence and involve the country in confrontation and war in the context of the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, confrontation with a significant part of the international community and failure of economic integration.

Lukashenko's unfulfilled dreams



The idea of the Union State of Russia and Belarus has been discussed since the 90s, and Lukashenko himself proposed it to former President Boris Yeltsin. In 1997 an agreement on the Union of Belarus and Russia was signed, and in 1999 sides signed an agreement on the creation of a Union State. These agreements provided for the creation of a federal-type state entity with a common parliament, government, judicial and tax systems, a common currency and a common political, economic, military, customs, currency, legal, humanitarian and cultural space. In the late 1990s, Lukashenko had ambitions to take the helm of the Russian-Belarusian federation and gain access to the natural wealth and finances of the eastern neighbor. However, the idea of creating a union state remained on paper, with the exception of the emergence of several supranational bodies and the media.



In 2005-06 Russia and Belarus were unable to agree on the introduction of a single currency. Moscow insisted that the Russian ruble should become the common currency of the Union State, and Minsk demanded solid compensation for the rejection of the Belarusian ruble. By 2011, the idea of the Union State of Russia and Belarus was ousted by the draft of the Customs Union, and since 2015 - the Eurasian Economic Union, which ideologist was President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. The opinion of the Belarusians themselves about the Union State has changed. If, at the 1995 referendum, 83.3% of the citizens of Belarus supported economic integration with the Russian Federation, then in 2009, according to a survey of the Institute for Strategic Studies, 20% of Belarusians supported the creation of the Union State and only 14% - joining Russia.



The Kremlin began to exploit the theme of the Union State in the ideological plane as a symbol of the revival of the USSR sphere of influence to meet its imperial ambitions. There is no expediency of including Belarus into Russia, since the country is already dependent on its eastern neighbor in the economic sphere, and sits tightly on the oil and gas needle. The Belarusian economy is focused on the Russian market. Moscow is the main trading partner of Minsk, and last year its share in foreign trade turnover was 51.7%. Russia is a major creditor of Belarus and has provided $ 6.3 billion in loans (the national debt of the country is $ 16.4 billion). In the opinion of the civil campaign European Belarus coordinator Dmitry Bondarenko, part of pensions and wages in Belarus are paid at the expense of loan funds. Lukashenko believes that it takes $ 1.2 billion a year to service Russian loans.

The eternal gas dispute between Moscow and Minsk



Recently, relations between Russia and Belarus are experiencing another cooling due to contradictions over the price of Russian natural gas. Medvedev's statement in Brest was being made a week later after the summit of the Eurasian Economic Union on December 6, where Lukashenko disputed with Russian President Vladimir Putin over this issue. The Belarusian leader was outraged by the fact that Russia sells natural gas for Belarusian consumers at a price of $ 129 per thousand cubic meters, while in the Smolensk region, it costs $ 70. Putin said that the gas for Belarus is much cheaper than for Germany - $ 250 per thousand cubic meters, and a single gas market for Moscow and Minsk should appear by 2025.

Russians do not want to act in favor of Lukashenko. In July 2018, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation predicted that in 2018-20 the price of natural gas for Belarus will be at the level of 132.2 dollars per thousand cubic meters, and by 2024 it will drop to 122.2 dollars. Last year, Belarus imported 19 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the Russian Federation at a higher price - $ 149 per thousand cubic meters. Russians do not see the point in making big discounts to Belarusian partners, because they dont even try to reduce their energy dependence on Russia. In the first half of 2018, Belarusians imported over 10.10 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the Russian Federation - a record high amount since 2013 (10.39 billion cubic meters). In addition, Russia plans to invest in the modernization of the gas transmission system of Belarus to reduce the volume of transit of natural gas through Ukraine. In June, Putin promised to invest about $ 2.5 billion in upgrading the Belarusian section of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline by 2020 and invest over $ 1 billion in the construction of new underground gas storage facilities. These costs need to be recouped.

Subject for bargaining of presidents



With his statement in Brest, Medvedev created a subject for bargaining at the upcoming talks between Presidents Lukashenko and Putin on December 25. The Kremlin understands that Lukashenko will not go for deeper integration with Russia, including switching to the ruble, but will oppose the idea of acquiring natural gas at a price that Germany pays. Apparently, the Kremlin owner will twist the Belarusian presidents hands and force him to be compliant on other problematic issues in bilateral relations, in exchange for agreeing to maintain the existing gas price.



Between Russia and Belarus there is a dispute about the mechanism of compensation to the Belarusian authorities for the budget losses due to the so-called "tax maneuver." In 2019-2024, the export duty on oil in Russia will decrease from 30% to 0% and the mineral extraction tax will increase when oil is extracted by the amount of reduction in export duties. Since Belarus already buys Russian oil on preferential terms and does not pay duties, the black gold from Russia will be more expensive for the Belarusian oil refineries. Despite talk of the need to diversify oil imports, Belarusian refineries continue to use Russian raw materials. Because of the tax maneuver in Russia, the budget of Belarus will lose 10.8 billion dollars.

Belorussian Prime Minister Sergei Rumas believes that Russia creates barriers for Belarusian enterprises to trade, imposes bans on Belarusian products, which has led to an increase in the negative balance of $ 3.3 billion in bilateral trade over the past 10 months. The most striking example of this trend is the "milk wars" of 2009-2018. From time to time the Rosselkhoznadzor imposes a ban on the import of Belarusian dairy products. The last such ban applied to 4 Belarusian enterprises in June-July of this year. Russia acts on the grounds of protectionism and is trying to influence the reduction in the supply of Belarusian products in the interests of Russian dairy plants that can not compete in the domestic market. According to Lukashenko, Russia is leading the "milk war" to establish control over the Belarusian dairy industry. Russian journalists Nadezhda Ivanitskaya and Maxim Shveits believe that Russian business was interested in buying 12 Belarusian dairy plants in 2009.

Possible blow to Ukraine



Demarche of Medvedev in Brest is widely highlighted in Ukrainian media. There were disturbing reports about Russia's desire to join our northern neighbor. In particular, our publications spread the opinion of the Belarusian journalist Denis Lavnikevich, who believes that Ukraine should be morally prepared for the appearance of Russian troops along the northern border if Lukashenko loses power.



However, this is more of the scary stories. But the real threat to the energy security of Ukraine is the prospect of Russia reducing the supply of petroleum products to Belarus and manipulating the tax maneuver. Russia is creating obstacles to the re-export of its oil products from Belarus in order to make an asymmetric blow to the energy security of Ukraine. Last year, Ukraines share in the export of petroleum products from Belarus was 29%. Oil products from Belarus account for 40% of the fuel import structure of Ukraine.

Ghost of Anschluss



The accession of Belarus to Russia is unlikely to occur, but this does not mean that this scenario should be written off. Until 2014, just a few people could have imagined Russia's aggression in Ukraine, but it happened. Belarusian journalist Denis Lavnikevich compared Medvedev's ultimatum with the Anschluss (the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938) and suggests a change of power in Belarus. In 2016, Oleg Volchek, a member of the Central Committee of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, admitted the likelihood of a referendum in Belarus on changing the text of the constitution and the possible inclusion of provisions on the Union State in the main law. He called "West-2017" military exercises the quiet occupation, during which a large amount of cargo of the Russian army was moved to Belarus. According to the Belarusian journalist Alexander Yaroshevich, referring to sources from the center-right party "Belarusian Popular Front", there are about ten organizations in Belarus that are associated with the Russian embassy, which can be used to destabilize the situation in the republic before an armed invasion.



This scenario has already been worked out in eastern Ukraine, when, after the annexation of Crimea, demonstrations of the Russian world organized by Kremlin agents who tried to overthrow local authorities began to be held in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Odesa, Mariupol. Until the beginning of the 2000s, the right-wing radical organization Russian National Unity operated in Belarus, in which ranks was Pavel Gubarev, one of the leaders of the Donetsk separatists.. According to a survey by the Independent Institute for Socio-Economic and Political Studies, in the event Russia attempts to seize Belarus by force, 19% of Belarusians are ready to defend independence with arms, while 47% are going to adapt to the changes, and 15% welcome the aggressors.



The scenario of the Russian Spring with the introduction of Russian troops in Belarus and the subsequent inclusion of the country into Russia under the pretext of building the Union State is possible as an extreme measure if opposition liberal-democratic forces come to power in Belarus and the country's foreign policy changes in direction to the EU and NATO. There is no single opinion about this. The leader of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, Nikolai Statkevich, believes that the Belarusian society is tired of Lukashenko. However, all the levers of governing the country and control over the power block are in the hands of the president and his entourage, and the influence of the opposition is minimized. After 1994, the Belarusian Social Democrats and representatives of other parties have never been able to bypass Lukashenko at elections.Open source

A few days ago, a grenade was thrown into a yard of a local environmentalist in Dnipropetrovsk region, southeastern Ukraine; a car and a roof of his apartment were damaged by an explosion. A man fought against the illegal logging, according to Tetiana Lampika, the chairman of the EcoPatrul (Eco-Guard) organization, the employee of which was subject to the attack. The police are conducting a pre-trial investigation into the explosion; all the versions, including professional activities, are being studied. This is not the first case of an attack against an ecoactivist in Dnipropetrovsk region: social activists are often the targets of intimidation and even physical violence in Ukraine.

December 11, an explosion took place at a private house in Sinelnikove, a small city in Dnipropetrovsk region, where a member of the EcoPatrul social group resides with family and children. At that time, the activist was in the house, so, fortunately, no one was hurt. The press service of the Department of State Drug Control in the Dnipropetrovsk region confirmed the incident, adding that the criminal proceedings under article 4 of Article 296 of the Criminal Code (hooliganism) was opened. The sanction of the article provides for imprisonment from 3 to 7 years. All the circumstances of the incident are being investigated, the police are working to identify the person or persons who might be involved in the offense. All versions are being worked out, including professional activities. The name of the victim is not disclosed for the security reasons.

Lampika draws parallels between the attack on her colleague and his professional activities. In particular with his revelations connected with the illegal logging of oak plantations in Sinelnikove. By the time EcoPatrul began to deal with this issue, 1.5 hectares of oak plantations had already been deforested. We began to resist [this scheme], but there was a clear, well-established business, the EcoPatrul public organizations chairman noted. The environmental organization handed over the following facts to the police. On November 3, unidentified persons were detained near Parne village; they sawed down the oaks (76 trees were milled. In accordance with the criminal proceedings instituted, two chainsaws and a car were seized. On the same day, two chainsaws of black lumberjacks were arrested in Vyshnevetske village. EcoPatrul activists contributed to the arrests on November 21 and 30, as a result, several other vehicles and chainsaws were arrested.

Last year alone, as a result of EcoPatruls activities, 20 criminal cases were initiated in connection with the environmental legislation violations. In particular, they have initiated an inspection of the prosecutor's office in the Dnipropetrovsk region forestry. Lampika commented on the situation: Our activity is communication between the responsible authorities, for example, between the State Service for Emergencies, the police, the environmental inspectorate."

EcoPatrul launched a mobile station to segregate household waste in Dnipro city. About 2 thousand families are already participating in the program. Members of the organization conduct lessons for students in Kamianske. They donated special bins for segregation of waste, which they serve themselves. In January, this a special awareness campaign in the schools of Dnipro city to be launched. The organization is funded by the charitable donations and from local budgets.

The members of the EcoPatrul were repeatedly threatened earlier, Lampika assures. In particular, the car one of the members was burned in Pavlohrad. There were verbal threats on Facebook, even death threats. "A year ago, threats, in connection with the activities of our organization, even came to my children and their classmates. We were forced to hold a press conference on this matter."

We note that cases of intimidation of social activists in Ukraine are a common thing. As Mayor of Hlukhiv, Michel Tereshchenko, his wife Olena Tereshchenko was actively fighting against illegal developers in Kyiv, and someone burned her car. In Olevsk (Zhytomyr region), the deputies of the city council and activist Oleksandr Nikolaichuk were attacked with the armature, because they fought against illegal mass mining of amber and helped journalists to make a story about the "amber affairs." And there are thousands of such cases in the country. As a rule, the attackers are not found.

The case in Sinelnikove will not stop the activists of the EcoPatrul, its chair assured. In 2019, we plan to turn our organization into an all-Ukrainian one and expand our activities to all of Ukraine. We have already held constituent assemblies in Lviv and Odesa regions, she said, noting that thousands of people support the organization. The members of the EcoPatrule are engaged in physical training and are certified by the police.

Read the original text at 112.ua.It is established that the former owners and officials of the financial establishment withdrew almost $35.850 through crediting of the companies controlled by them

Open source

The former owner of Standart Bank suspected in the embezzlement of funds of the financial establishment was put on the international wanted list as the press service of Deposit Guarantee Fund reported.

Thus, it is established, that in 2013-2015 the owners and officials of the Standart Bank organized the illicit scheme of the illegal financial operation on the issuance of the credit facilities with the involvement of the workers controlled by the bank. As a result, the range of the decisions on the provision of the credits in the sum of more than $32.4 million to companies with the signs of the fictitious nature was made.

Then the issued credit facilities were transferred to the accounts of the fictitious enterprises and front individuals for the conversion of the non-cash facilities to cash and their withdrawal at the bank cash departments, payments on the fictitious exchange contracts.

The funds were provided in accordance with the credit agreements, in fact, without the provision with the term of some kind of the delayed provision of assurance up to the end of the month. During the last days of the month, the assurance was processed on paper and it was released from the encumbrance in the first days of the month. At the same time, a few economic entities controlled by the bank usually stood as the mortgagors. Thus, on the basis of the mentioned credit agreements, the factual withdrawal (embezzlements) of the funds from bank took place and imitation of the assurance in form of the NBU, the fund said.

It was also noted that the credit of the legal persons are the substantial group of the bank assets and makes almost 98% of the confirmed liquidation mass  $31.1 million, while their market cost was established as 30 times lower - $1 million. Consequently, the cost of all banks assets on paper was almost $32 million and their estimated cost made 20 times lower  $1.4 million.

According to the illicit actions of the ex-owners and officials of Standart Bank on the misappropriation of the funds of this bank, the data on the commitment of the offenses was registered by Chief Investigation Department of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine and the head of the active operations department and acting Chairman of the Executive Board were notified suspicion. Moreover, the ex-owner of the bank was notified suspicion; he was put on the wanted list and the court allowed his arrest. He is wanted, including by Interpol, the message said.

On June 18, 2015, the National Bank of Ukraine made a decision on the recall of the bank license and liquidation of Standart Bank.

In 2016, head of one of the banks department was arrested. The Security Service of Ukraine established that the official withdrew more than $32.2 million of the contributors under the direction of TOP-management.Such decisions add to the confidence that Ukraine's been following the right path, - President Petro Poroshenko

The Board of Directors of the World Bank decided to assign USD 750 million in financial guarantees for Ukraine. Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian leader posted that on Facebook.

'I welcome the decision of the Board of Directors of the World Bank to let Ukraine the financial guarantees worth 750 million dollars. It is not only an important sign of the firm support of our state; it's also the authoritative institution's clear recognition of our tangible progress on the way to reforms, specifically those in the financial sector', Poroshenko said.

The President underlined that 'such decisions add to the confidence that Ukraine's been following the right path', and thanked the partners for their support.

Earlier, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said Ukraine hoped for another loan from the IMF in December.

The National Bank of Ukraine, too, expects for the positive decision of the Board of Directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the continuation of the cooperation with Ukraine and supply of the first tranche within new stand-by program until December 25. Yakiv Smoliy, the Head of the NBU, made such statement as Interfax-Ukraine reported.

The session of the IMF Board of Directors is planned for Tuesday, December 18, during which the Ukrainian issue will be considered. We expect the positive decision on the stand-by program instead of the current EFF program and expect that the next tranche will be supplied after the decision until the Christmas (December 25), Smoliy said.Just in time for the start of the presidential election campaign, Ukraine has a new, unified Orthodox Church. Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian president, is trumpeting the creation of the church as a boon to the national security, but the move could backfire for him before the March 31 vote.

In October, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, led by Bartholomew, the Patriarch of Constantinople, traditionally considered first among equals by other Orthodox Church leaders, reversed a 332-year-old decision to let the Moscow Patriarchate ordain Ukraines Orthodox leader, the Metropolitan of Kiev, and recognized the clergy of two splinter churches in Ukraine that Moscow regards as impostors. The churches were told to unite and bring on board as many priests loyal to Moscow as possible; the resulting unified church was promised independence, or autocephaly. The unified Ukrainian church is likely to receive official recognition from Bartholomew next month.

On December 15, Poroshenko attended the unification conference even though the Ukrainian Constitution ensures the separation of church and state. He told the audience of priests that spiritual independence was as important as the political kind. He described the prospective granting of autocephaly as a step toward Ukraines decolonization from Russia.

The president is being coy about his plans to run again; at a news conference on Dec. 16 he only said he wouldnt announce immediately after the church unification. Last summer, however, billboards appeared in Kiev carrying the legend, Army! Language! Faith! Were going our own way! We Are Ukraine. Petro Poroshenko. Even if this wasnt an election slogan, Poroshenko recently has stayed on message.

In October, the Ukrainian parliament gave its preliminary approval to a new bill that requires local media to have Ukrainian versions (until recently, Russian was the preferred language for internet and print media) and imposes fines for using other languages in a number of contexts. In November, following the Russian seizure of Ukrainian warships in the Kerch Strait, Poroshenko declared martial law for 30 days. Although the parliament reined in his extraordinary powers and the measures extent, this was an opportunity for the president to promote his credentials as commander in chief and his achievements in building up the countrys military; Ukraine has also banned all Russian men between the ages of 18 and 60 from entering, stressing again its determination to pull away from Russia.

Its December, time for the faith pillar, and Poroshenkos Facebook feed is full of pride in the new church. We have stopped the aggressor, we have saved the country, we have built a combat-ready military, he posted on Dec. 15. We promote the Ukrainian language -- a component of the Ukrainian peoples strength and success. Lately, we have become even more convinced that a united Orthodox Church is also a key element of Ukraines independence.

This strategy is fundamentally divisive.

About 30 percent of Ukrainians between the ages of 14 and 29, an age group that has been exposed to obligatory Ukrainian at school, speak Russian at home and a further 18 percent alternate between Russian and Ukrainian. Though most Ukrainians believe the national language should be the only official one, the new bill makes life harder for the many Russian speakers.

Imposing martial law didnt win Poroshenko many political points. A recent poll showed almost 60 percent didnt support it; many said it should have been introduced when Russia annexed Crimea and stoked unrest in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Support is considerably higher for Poroshenkos move in the more anti-Russian west of the country, but even that doesnt have majority backing. Polls still show Poroshenko in third place or lower among potential candidates, after former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and the comedian Volodymyr Zelensky.

The creation of a new church isnt an unambiguous win for Poroshenko, either. While, according to a recent poll, about 47 percent of Ukrainians support it, 24 percent say it will exacerbate the divisions. They likely are right.

Poroshenko and his aides had hoped that 10 Moscow Patriarchate bishops would attend the unification conference. In the end, only two did. This is the result of pressure, and certainly not on our governments part," Poroshenko said Dec. 16.

One of the two, Metropolitan Oleksandr Drabinko, explained in a Facebook post that he was joining the new church because the Moscow Patriarchate hadnt found in itself the desire to overcome the division among Orthodox believers in Ukraine. But he and the other attendee, Metropolitan Simeon Shostatsky, were assailed by the Moscow Patriarchys chief spokesman, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, who wrote: Lets not forget there was one Judas among the 12 apostles; had there been 90 apostles, one could expect there to be six or seven Judases, not two.

It could have been a strong move on the new churchs part to elect a former Moscow Patriarchate bishop as its head, signaling to others theyd be welcome to switch. Metropolitan Simeon, whose seat is in Poroshenkos home region, Vinnytsia, was rumored to be in the running. But the winner was 39-year-old Metropolitan Epiphanius Dumenko, a little-known cleric who had served as the right hand of Patriarch Filaret Denisenko, the head of the bigger of the two splinter churches. Epiphanius has long stood for Ukraines religious independence, and his diocese was especially active in supporting the Ukrainian military. Hes also a fluent Greek speaker, which endears him to Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew, now the arch-enemy of the Moscow-led church. Not, in other words, a unifying figure. Rather, he is someone Moscow Patriarchate priests will fear will be after their churches, monasteries and parishes with all the might of the state behind him.

Whether the nationalist platform will win the day for Poroshenko remains to be seen, but the president really has few other options. There arent many economic successes to talk up, and a recent study estimated that Ukraine loses $8.6 billion a year to corruption and mismanagement. Poroshenko has to stress that hes busy building a nation, and the rest can wait till more peaceful times. At least thats a clear argument and a tough one to run against.

Read the original text here.Server Mustafayev was detained on December 12; he stays at a remand center in Simferopol in the occupied Crimea

Open source

Server Mustafayev, the member of Crimean Tatar movement 'Crimean solidarity' has been brought to the asylum so as 'to define his sanity' - for one month. Lyudmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian Parliament's Envoy for Human Rights posted that on Facebook.

Mustafayev remains at a remand center in Simferopol in the occupied Crimea.

'The Russian government has been carrying on with the shameful tactics of the oppression of Crimean Tatars in the annexed Crimea', she commented on this situation.

The Ombudswoman underlined that this is an outrageous violation of Mustafayev's rights and the humiliation of human dignity, which 'could be dangerous both for his physical and mental health'.

'I turned to the Envoy for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatyana Moskalkova, asking to apply measures to stop the violation of rights of Ukrainian Server Mustafayev', the Ukrainian official reported.

Earlier, another Crimean Tatar Edem Bekirov was detained by the Russian law enforcers in the occupied Crimea on December 12. He was trying to enter the peninsula, coming from Ukraine's Chongar checkpoint. According to Refat Chubarov, the Head of the Mejlis of Crimean Tatar people, Bekirov was detained during the passport control procedure. The 'court' of the annexed peninsula decided to arrest Bekirov for two months. On December 14, the Ukrainian side reported that Bekirov's condition was critical.Air wings, which participated in the combat actions in Syria, are actively deployed beyond Ukraine's state border with Russia

Open source

Significant changes in the structure of the Russian troops are observed near the border of Ukraine. Vadym Skybytsky, the representative of Chief Intelligence Department of Ukraines Defense Minister reported that.

He noted that since December 1, 2018, the military detachments of the Russian troops, placed near the state border were put on high alert. Skybytsky emphasized that all of them can carry out the tasks, including those on the territory of Ukraine.

He also reported that the air component of the Armed Forces of Russia increased at the Ukrainian direction, too. Particularly, the military airfields are built up and modernized, with detachments that previously participated in the combat actions in Syria deployed on them.

Earlier, Viktor Muzhenko, the Head of the General Staff of Ukraines Armed Forces said that the amount of the Russian military equipment along the Ukrainian border dramatically increased.

Later, he added that it was the biggest military threat since the annexation of Crimea in 2014.Seattle, WA, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- CFN Media Group (CFN Media), the leading agency and financial media network dedicated to the North American cannabis industry, announces publication of an article discussing the cannabis industrys unique security requirements, and how 3 Sixty Secure Corp. is addressing those needs.



The global cannabis industry is projected to reach $146.4 billion by 2025, according to Grand View Research, representing a 34.6 percent compound annual growth rate. After legalizing cannabis on a federal level in October, Canada has become a world leader in the nascent industry. 3 Sixty Secure Corp. has become Canadas leading security provider, with clients like Canopy Growth Corp., The Ontario Cannabis Store, and The BC Liquor Distribution Branch. With plans to acquire a leading cannabis consulting service provider and go public in the near-term, investors may want to keep a close eye on the company as it continues its expansion in lockstep with the Canadian cannabis market.

Please click here to get a going public alert

Cannabis-Specific Services

There are many different security firms willing to help cannabis companies improve their security, however no other security company offers a seed-to-sale, pick-and-shovel security service in the cannabis space.

3 Sixty Secure Corp. is Canadas leading security service provider to the cannabis sector, including over 60 licensed producers. The companys staff of over 250 employees, and fleet of over 60 vehicles helps manage about 30 million sq. ft. of patrolled area, making it one of the largest cannabis security firms in the world. On average, 3 Sixtys dynamic security team is currently transporting more than C$250m in value of product per month.

The companys services span the entire seed-to-sale supply chain:

 Security Consulting: Site assessments, licensing advisory, and security design and buildout.

 Off-site monitoring: 24/7 professional CCTV monitoring of facilities.

 On-Site Security: Guard services and security systems, including remote monitoring, CCTV, and other services.

 Secure Transport: Unarmored and armored vehicles, air transport, and related services with real-time climate control.

 Corporate Security: International travel security, hiring security, investigations and training.

 Retail: Site assessments, store design consulting, licensing advisory, systems integration (including CCTV installation and monitoring facilities), and compliance audits for retail locations.

The transport services are specially tailored to the specific needs of the cannabis industry. When transporting plants, great care is taken to maintain plant health throughout the transport process. Vehicles are completely washed and disinfected following each delivery, ensuring that diseases and parasites will not be transferred between shipments. This is but one obvious differentiator for 3 Sixty when compared to more traditional security companies.

As the retail rollout continues across Canada, provinces are introducing new and varied regulations for consumer-facing stores. For instance, Ontario recently announced a comprehensive set of standards for retail operations in the province. Rules regarding surveillance equipment, employee access, proper handling and display of cannabis, record keeping, federal compliance, and even the destruction of outdated product are all covered here, presenting a complex set of requirements for cannabis retailers. 3 Sixty knows the space intimately and specializes in comprehensive security solutions, from design through implementation, that will ensure compliance. Ontarios own government-run Ontario Cannabis Store has contracted with 3 Sixty to provide cannabis transport services for its operations.

Please click here to get a going public alert

Experienced Executive Team

Thomas Gerstenecker founded 3 Sixty Secure Corp. after spending 25 years in the international security business. Prior to starting the company, Mr. Gerstenecker served as Chief of Security for the United Nations and served in the Canadian Special Forces/Joint Task Force 2. As the cannabis industry unfolded in Canada, he noticed a lack of industry-specific services to meet the ever-expanding regulations controlling the sector.

3 Sixty is acquiring Total Cannabis Security Solutions/David Hyde and Associates, a move that will help further establish its leadership presence in the space. With a greater than 55 percent market share among LPs, TCSS has developed a strong reputation among both customers and regulators, led by well-known Canadian cannabis consultant David Hyde. The move will expand the companys reach to more than 75 retail LP applicants, more than 60 producer sites, and more than 500 consulting customers.

The two companies plan to join forces in a reverse takeover of Petro Vista Energy Corp., creating a new publicly-traded entity on the Canadian Securities Exchange. The acquisition and RTO are expected to be completed in the very near term.

Looking Ahead

3 Sixty Secure Corp. represents a compelling investment opportunity in the Canadian cannabis industry with its industry-specific solutions and a large book of business. After building a market-leading presence in Canada, the company is also well positioned to expand its footprint into the United States and other international markets. Investors interested in building exposure to ancillary cannabis industries may want to examine the company ahead of its going public on the CSE.

Please click here to get a going public alert

For more information, visit their website: https://3sixtysecure.com

Please follow the link to read the full article:

http://www.cannabisfn.com/3-sixty-secure-aannabis-security/

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

CFN Media About Us

For Visitors and Viewers

CFN Medias Cannabis Financial Network (CannabisFN.com) is the destination for savvy investors and business people profiting from the worldwide cannabis industry. Viewers will see breaking news, exclusive content and original programming involving the people, companies and investments shaping the industry.

For Cannabis Businesses & Companies

CFN Media is a leading agency and financial media network dedicated to the cannabis industry. We help private, pre-public and public cannabis companies in the US and Canada attract capital, investors and media attention.

Our powerful digital media and distribution platform conveys a companys message and value proposition directly to accredited and retail investors and national media active in the North American cannabis markets.

Since 2013, CFN Media has enabled the worlds preeminent cannabis companies to thrive in the capital and public markets.

Learn how to become a CFN Media client company, brand or entrepreneur: http://www.cannabisfn.com/featuredcompany

Download the CFN Media iOS mobile app to access the world of cannabis from the palm of your hand: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cannabisfn/id988009247?ls=1&mt=8

Or visit our homepage and enter your mobile number under the Apple App Store logo to receive a download link text on your iPhone: http://www.cannabisfn.com

Disclaimer

CannabisFN.com is not an independent financial investment advisor or broker-dealer. You should always consult with your own independent legal, tax, and/or investment professionals before making any investment decisions. The information provided on http://www.cannabisfn.com (the Site) is either original financial news or paid advertisements drafted by our in-house team or provided by an affiliate. CannabisFN.com, a financial news media and marketing firm enters into media buys or service agreements with the companies that are the subject of the articles posted on the Site or other editorials for advertising such companies. We are not an independent news media provider. We make no warranty or representation about the information including its completeness, accuracy, truthfulness or reliability and we disclaim, expressly and implicitly, all warranties of any kind, including whether the Information is complete, accurate, truthful, or reliable. As such, your use of the information is at your own risk. Nor do we undertake any obligation to update the items posted. CannabisFN.com received compensation for producing and presenting high quality and sophisticated content on CannabisFN.com along with financial and corporate news.

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/The U.S. Envoy for Ukraine's Affairs and Ukrainian Defense Minister discussed the security matters in this country, specifically the Russian aggression in the Kerch Strait

Open source

Kurt Volker, the U.S. Department of the State's Special Envoy for Ukraine's Affairs met with Ukraine's Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak. The meeting took place in Kyiv on Tuesday, the Ukrainian authority's press office reported.

The sides talked through the issues of regional security, the situation in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, the Russian armed aggression in the Kerch Strait and the occupied Donbas.

The Ukrainian minister told Volker that as of December 18, most of the necessary measures were taken as foreseen by the martial law. Poltorak also thanked the U.S. for the 'solid stance' in terms of support of Ukraine.

Volker stressed that the Russian aggression in Ukraine was unacceptable, as the Twitter of the U.S. Embassy quoted him.

'Russia should release the Ukrainian crew members, return the Ukrainian ships and stop preventing the naval transit to and from the Ukrainian ports', reads the message.

Previously, the UN General Assembly passed the resolution 'The Issue of Militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol (Ukraine), as well as parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov'.The Prime Minister emphasized that Ukraine has never held any provocations

Open source

Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman called the statements of Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about possible provocations held by Ukraine as an attempt to justify the Russian aggression. He made such statement during the joint briefing with High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini on December 17, as Interfax-Ukraine reported.

How to comment on the words of Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation. My first reaction to your question is that he came up with it, then, he stood out and made it sound. Thirdly, what he is lacking, - he needs to implement his absolutely inadequate plan, Groysman said.

I think that it is another attempt of the Russian Federation to justify its savagery and undisguised armed aggression, he noted, reminding that Ukraine has never created any provocations.

Groysman has also urged Lavrov to do everything possible for the release of the Ukrainian sailors captured in Kerch Strait.

I think that his contribution to the peace and diplomacy will be very significant and respected in the world, Ukrainian Prime Minister emphasized.

Earlier Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Ukraines authority allegedly intended to commit an armed provocation on the border with annexed Crimea in late December. At the same time, Lavrov stressed that Russia was ready to give a determined response in case of Ukraines provocation on the border with Crimea.

He also added that Russia would not fight with Ukraine.

President Poroshenko said that Russian troops still might invade Ukraine. But if Russia does not do it, martial law will not be prolonged.

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: UEFA bans holding of matches at Ukraine's regions with introduced martial law

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:Earlier Roman Suschenko was transferred to the remand center, situated more than a thousand kilometers from Moscow

Illegally convicted in Russia Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko sent his first picture from the remand center situated in Utrobino village, Kirov Oblast, and spoke of his observations about the new place of his detention, as Ukrinform reported.

A few lines about routine. Over time passed since the transfer, I had to survive the cultural shock connected, first of all, not with the conditions and pleasures of the forced transfer (Stolypin car, poor sanitation, cockroaches about the size of a matchbox, ubiquitous rodents of all kinds, mold, humidity, outer darkness, malnutrition and cold), but the attitude toward people, who changed their social status due to the decision of the court, Sushchenko wrote.

According to the journalist, the aim of the workers of the remand center is to intimidate and humiliate the dignity of people, serving sentences.

Sushchenko noted that it is impossible to imagine the detention until a person experiences it. It is scary, disturbingly scary, he wrote.

The political prisoner also sent the new drawing to the colleagues, the lost Rouen Cathedral. Sushchenko drew it earlier but the drawing was lost for unknown reasons and his family did not get it. So, the journalist decided to draw a new one.

As Sushchenko said, the drawing is made with the help of Kirov pink kisel and pastel.

As is known, Ukrainian Roman Sushchenko, the reporter of Ukrinfiorm news agency, was detained in September 2016 in Moscow and accused by the FSB of espionage. For this, he faces 20 years in prison. Ukraine has appealed to Russia with a demand to release the Ukrainian journalist multiple times.

Moscow City Court of Russia has sentenced Roman Sushchenko, the citizen of Ukraine to 12 years in the hard labor colony for the espionage. Russias FSB believes that Sushchenko came from Paris to Moscow to visit his cousin in September 2016 to collect information on Mariupol attack. The court session against Sushchenko took place in the closed regime and the court announced only introductory and resume parts of the decision.The relevant decree was adopted at the Cabinet session on December 18

Ukraines government extends the ban on the entry of the approved list of the Russian goods to Ukraine till December 31, 2019. The relevant decree was adopted at the Cabinet session on December 18. Ukrainian News agency published the text of the document.

In particular, the Cabinet of Ministers amended its 2015 decree On the ban on the import of Russia goods to the customs area, according to which its effect was extended to December 31, 2019 (inclusively).

This decision was made to provide Ukraines national security as a reaction to the imposition of relevant trade bans and restrictions by Russia towards Ukraine.

At the same time, it provides that this decree will lose its effect since January 1, 2020, and after Russia stops using discriminating and unfriendly acts against Ukraine.

Here is the list of the Russian goods banned for import in the customs area of Ukraine: bovine, poultry and pork (fresh, chilled and frozen), meat and edible meat co-products, pickled or in brine, fish and shellfish, dairy products, melt cheese, coffee, tea, blended food, pastry, bakery products, potato, flavorings and spices, beer, alcohol, vodka, nutrition for cats and dogs, cigarettes with filters, products for skin washing, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, rodenticides, equipment for railways and tramways, diesel-electric locomotives.

It was noted that last year, this list also included polyethylene with the proportion of 0,94 and more, and pure polyvinylchloride, ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate with calcium or other inorganic substances, which are not fertilizers.

The decree of the Cabinet of Ministers on the ban on the import of specific Russian goods to Ukraine came into force in January 2016.The relevant decree was adopted at the session of the Cabinet of Ministers

The Cabinet of Ministers prolonged the decree that provides import duties for Russian goods for a year until December 31, 2019. The relevant decree was adopted at the Governments session, as Ukrainian News reported.

It is supposed that the reduced rates of import duties for Russian goods are set by Ukraines customs tariffs. At the same time, the preferential regime for this country is canceled.

Previously, it was reported that a group of smugglers used force against the patrol of Ukrainian Border Guard.

Earlier, officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Prosecutor General's Office blocked the export of smuggled amber with over one ton of weight from Zakarpattia region to Europe. The press office of the SBU reported that. Law enforcement officers found a local resident with illegally extracted sunstone in a van at Luzhnyky customs post. The stuff was placed in a trunk compartment andpacked into travel bags. Operational services established that one of the customs officers facilitated the smuggling of the amber across the state border of Ukraine, the SBU reported.Leader of the information broadcast and one of the most popular Ukrainian TV channels, 112 Ukraine became inconvenient for the politicians again. Particularly, Chairman of the political party Peoples Front Maksym Burbak demanded to close the TV channel after the journalist investigation

We think it is the pressure on the work of the journalists.

We state the attempt to use the administrative resource by the representatives of the parliamentary coalition.

We urge the politicians to stop and not to interfere in the work of the independent mass media.

We demand that Peoples Front and its leader do not use TV channel 112 Ukraine for the sake of their own PR campaign.

We state that all attempts to restrict the freedom of speech will be properly and legally estimated and the European Parliament will get another evidence of how the biggest and the most popular information TV channel 112 Ukraine sustains the attempts to destroy it.

The situation when the party, according to the social polls, has almost zero rating and demands the closing of the popular TV channel watched by millions of people raises only most unpleasant associations. If every person involved in the investigative journalism reacted to the facts expressed by the journalists in such a way, there would be no independent mass media in Ukraine. The words of Maksym Burbak are another provocative statement made for his own PR purpose. To urge for the closing of the TV channel due to the truthful investigations of the journalists is absurdly as well as the urge to close the party Peoples Front; however, the majority of the voters think that its leaders do not fulfill their campaign promises, said General producer of 112 Ukraine TV channel Artem Marchevsky

*****

112 Ukraine is an informational and analytical TV channel which broadcasts 18,5 hours per day on air and uses modern technologies to be the first channel to provide the unbiased information on important and interesting events going on in Ukraine and in the world. This is mentioned in the respective statement by Artem Marchevskyi, the Chief Producer, and Yehor Benkendorf, Director General of 112 Ukraine.Major Oleksandr Fomenko was killed in a recent accident, as his Su-27 fighter crashed during the landing

Oleksandr Fomenko, Ukrainian Air Force pilot Gordon

The officers' club of the military garrison in Ozerne town (northern Ukraine) held a solemn farewell ceremony. Relatives, friends and colleagues of the deceased Major Oleksandr Fomenko came to say goodbye to the experienced Air Force pilot.

The 'Centre' Air Force Command posted that on Facebook on Tuesday.

'The Air Force Command representatives, the 'Centre' Air Force Command, the staff of the aviation brigade and Ozerne garrison, the citizens, relatives and friends came to bid farewell to the defender of Ukraine, to thank him for the loyal service to the Ukrainian nation and express their grief and condolences to the family at the mourning meeting', the message says.

Major Fomenko was the First Class Pilot and the Chief of Fire and Tactical Training of the Tactical Aviation Brigade, which belongs to the 'Centre' Air Force Command. He participated in combat actions in Donbas in 2014.

Fomenko deceased during the training flight near Ozerne airfield in Zhytomyr region, northern Ukraine. The tragedy took place on December 15. The pilot was driving Sukhoi Su-27 fighter, which, for some reason, crashed during the landing.The Europeans remind that the lifting of the ban is an obligatory condition for the macro-financial aid in the amount of one billion Euros

The European Union urged Ukraine to lift the moratorium on the export of round logs, or roundwood. Interfax reported that, citing the results of the fifth session of the Ukraine-EU Association Council.

The EU urged Ukraine to continue the fight against the concealed interests for the improvement of the business and investment climate, to urgently eliminate the trade irritants, including the moratorium for the export of the round logs, the message said.

The sides urge to pay special attention to the efficient and timely implementation of the points of the free trade zone, further promotion of the trade and elimination of the technical trade barriers, including the spheres of the customs procedures, technical regulations, sanitary and phyto-sanitary requirements and the reforms of the food products safety system, system of the state procurement and protection of intellectual property rights.

The Ukrainian side confirmed its commitments regarding the reform of the technical regulation system, particularly, the necessity to accelerate the adoption of the sectoral legislation, including in the market supervision sphere, the message said.

The EU reminded that Ukraine has to fulfill the commitments provided in the Association Agreement and the Free Trade Zone, including the implementation of the proper EU legislation into the national legislation, implementation of the administrative and institutional reforms and provision of the functioning of the effective and transparent administrative system, necessary for the beginning of the negotiations on the Agreement on mutual recognition of the conformity assessment and admissibility of the industry products.

Earlier the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraines legislative body, has restricted domestic consumption of raw timber to the level of 25 million m3 annually for the term of the ban on exports outside of the customs area of Ukraine (exports) of unprocessed timber.

Particularly, the Code on Administrative Offenses suggests a provision that provides for unlawful cutting, transportation and storage of illegally cut trees is made punishable with a fine amounting to 15-30 non-taxable minimum citizens income, and to 75-150 non-taxable officials incomes. Currently, the liability is specified as five to ten minimum incomes and seven to twelve minimum incomes, respectively.112 Ukraine and NewsOne are the news channels which show not only the authoritys position but also alternative points of view of the politicians, experts and public figures, Yuriy Miroshnichenko says

The shutdown of the TV channels is unacceptable in a democratic state. Yuriy Miroshnichenko, the representative of Opposition Platform  For Life said this on air of 112 Ukraine, commenting on the possible shutdown of 112 Ukraine and NewsOne TV channels.

There should be no suppression of the freedom of speech in the state which claims to be a democracy. There cannot be any decision on the shutdown of the TV channels, there cannot be politicians dictatorship over media, as the media give the Ukrainians an opportunity to learn the various points of views. 112 Ukraine and NewsOne are those news channels which show not only the authoritys position but also the alternative points of view of the politicians, experts, public figures. Such decision of the Parliament is shameful not only for the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada but also for Ukraine in general. Even the European parliamentarians considered this question at their sessions, a resolution was adopted; more than 40 European parliamentarians state that the freedom of speech in Ukraine is under a threat, Miroshnichenko said.

As it was reported, the General Producer of 112 Ukraine TV channel Artem Marchevsky told NewsOne TV channel about the visit to the European Parliament and the details of the draft resolution on the freedom of the press in Ukraine.

Earlier, the first-ever draft resolution "On freedom of speech in Ukraine" was registered in the European Parliament.The visit of the reconnaissance vessel to the Black Sea takes place within the agreement of Ukraine and Great Britain

HMS Echo (H87) enters the Black Sea through Bosphorus Ukrainian military portal reported

The spy ship HMS Echo (H87) of the British Royal Navy entered the Black Sea through the Bosphorus on December 17, as Ukrainian military portal reported.

The visit to the Black Sea takes place within the agreement of Ukraine and Britain reached on November 21, 2018, during the visit of Ukraines Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak to London. Then, British Secretary of State for Defense Gavin Williamson announced, expressing the support to Ukraine, that HMS Echo (H87) will be sent to the Black Sea, the message said.

It is noted that the main designation of HMS Echo (H87) is holding of the research hydrographic or geodetic operations and support of the amphibious operations; besides, the ship can be used for the management of the naval operations, mine actions, search and identification of the undersea features.

The ship has the improved conditions of comfort for the crew, which is placed in the double cabins (except for the commander and his aide). Yhe vessel is equipped with the cutting-edge systems for the fulfillment of the assigned tasks: side-scan survey, multi-beam and single-beam echo sonars, equipment for the analysis of water samples taken at different depth and ground, pressure gauge, system of mapping and research of the seabed. Besides, it has one hydrographic boat, which can act in some autonomy from the mother ship.TORONTO, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited (BlackRock Canada), an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK), today announced a special cash distribution for iShares Core Balanced ETF Portfolio (formerly iShares Balanced Income CorePortfolio Index ETF) (CBD/XBAL1) and iShares Core Growth ETF Portfolio (formerly iShares Balanced Growth CorePortfolio Index ETF) (CBN/XGO2), and together with CBD/XBAL1, the iShares Funds). This special cash distribution is a result in the realization of net capital gains for each iShares Fund and will be incremental to the normal year-end distributions of each iShares Fund as described in the prospectus of the iShares Funds under Distribution PolicyYear-end Distributions. This special cash distribution is in connection with the approved proposed changes to the fundamental investment objective of each iShares Fund and certain related matters which were previously announced on December 7, 2018. Unitholders that have elected to participate in the iShares Funds distribution reinvestment plan should note that these distributions will not be eligible for the plan. Unitholders of record of an iShares Fund on December 27, 2018 will receive cash distributions payable in respect of that fund on December 31, 2018.

Please note that these are estimated amounts only as of December 15, 2018 and could change if the iShares Funds experience subscriptions or redemptions prior to the ex-dividend date or may change for other unforeseen factors.

Details regarding the per unit distribution amounts are as follows:

Fund Name Fund Ticker Estimated Cash

Distribution

Per Unit ($) iShares Core Balanced ETF Portfolio (formerly iShares Balanced Income CorePortfolio Index ETF) CBD/XBAL1 0.00000 iShares Core Growth ETF Portfolio (formerly iShares Balanced Growth CorePortfolio Index ETF) CBN/XGRO2 0.95671

1 The TSX ticker for the iShares Fund is expected to change from CBD to XBAL on or about December 20, 2018. The CUSIP of the iShares Fund will not change as a result of the implementation of the ticker or name changes. The iShares Fund also changed its name, effective December 11, 2018.

2 The TSX ticker for the iShares Fund is expected to change from CBN to XGRO on or about December 20, 2018. The CUSIP of the iShares Fund will not change as a result of the implementation of the ticker or name changes. The iShares Fund also changed its name, effective December 11, 2018.



BlackRock Canada expects to issue a press release on or about December 21, 2018, which will provide the final amounts.

Further information on the iShares Funds can be found at http://www.blackrock.com/ca .

About BlackRock

BlackRock helps investors build better financial futures. As a fiduciary to our clients, we provide the investment and technology solutions they need when planning for their most important goals. As of September 30, 2018, the firm managed approximately US$6.44 trillion in assets on behalf of investors worldwide. For additional information on BlackRock, please visit www.blackrock.com/ca | Twitter: @BlackRockCA | Blog: www.blackrockblog.com/can

About iShares ETFs

iShares unlocks opportunity across markets to meet the evolving needs of investors. With more than twenty years of experience, a global line-up of 800+ exchange traded funds (ETFs) and US$1.8 trillion in assets under management as of September 30, 2018, iShares continues to drive progress for the financial industry. iShares funds are powered by the expert portfolio and risk management of BlackRock, trusted to manage more money than any other investment firm1.

1 Based on US$6.44 trillion in AUM as of 9/30/18

iShares ETFs are managed by BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investing in iShares ETFs. Please read the relevant prospectus before investing. The funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Tax, investment and all other decisions should be made, as appropriate, only with guidance from a qualified professional.

Contact for Media:

Peter McKillop

T  212-810-3737

Email: Peter.McKillop@blackrock.com



The Cabinet will direct and coordinate the operation of these services through the Finance Minister

Open source

Ukraines Government adopted a decree on the creation of State Tax and State Customs services, as the press office of the Finance Ministry reported.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the decree on the reorganization of the State Fiscal Service, dividing it into the State Tax and the State Customs services.

The draft decision provides the division of State Fiscal Service into State Tax Service (which will include tax police units) and State Customs Service as separate central bodies of executive authority.

The Government will direct and coordinate the operation of these services through the Finance Minister.

There will be a commission to monitor the reorganization of the State Fiscal Service, led by Deputy Finance Minister Sergiy Verlanov.

The decree regards the recommendations of the IMF and tasks set by the medium-term Plan of the Governments priority actions till 2020.

Earlier, President Poroshenko signed the law on budget formation (No. 9260) on the amendments to the Tax Code.66 states upheld the document, 19 were against it, while another 72 abstained

The UN General Assembly supported the resolution On the issue of militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol (Ukraine) and parts of Black and Azov Seas. The event was broadcasted on the UN website.

66 states upheld the document, 19 were against it, while another 72 abstained.

The resolution urges Russia to withdraw its forces from Crimea and stop the illegal annexation of Ukraines territory. Besides, the resolution condemns the build-up of Russias military presence in Black and Azov seas, as the Ukrainian mission to the UN reported on Twitter.

The main provisions of the resolution state as follows:

- The presence of Russian troops in Crimea violates the national sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine and undermines the security and stability of the neighboring states and region of Europe;

- The document states concerns about progressive militarization of Crimea by Russia as an occupant state;

- The document states concerns due to the continued actions of Russia in some areas of Black Sea and Sea of Azov, including its militarization, which creates additional threats for Ukraine and undermines the stability of the wider region;

- The resolution expresses special concern about the dangerous conflict escalation and unjustified use of Russias forces against Ukraine on November 25, 2018, in the Black Sea, urges Russia to immediately release the vessels, crews, and equipment;

- Urges Russia to refrain from impeding legal implementation of navigation rights and freedoms in Black and Azov seas and Kerch Strait;

- Condemns the construction and opening of a bridge over the Kerch Strait between Russia and temporarily occupied Crimea and condemns increasing military presence of Russia in parts of Black and Azov seas including in the Kerch Strait and Russias suppressions against commercial vessels and restriction of the international shipping there;

- Urges Russia, as the occupant state, to withdraw armed forces from Crimea and stop the temporary occupation of Ukraines territory.

The resolution on militarization opens a new direction of countering the Russian aggression in Crimea, the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.

Ukraine news on 112.internationalA hybrid form of yoga that combines traditional yoga postures with modern yoga moves and a silk hammock. Pre-registration required.

Please note: Aerial Yoga at the Yoga Art Space studio requires pre-registration through our website at www.YogaArtSpace.com/calendar. If no one registers for a class, the class may be cancelled between 6-12 hours prior to the class start time. Though this event is shown as a regular, weekly class each week on the Alabi calendar, there are occasionally times when the class will be cancelled in advance such as for certain holidays. All updates and cancellations are on the studio calendar at www.YogaArtSpace.com/calendar.

What is Aerial yoga?

Aerial Yoga is a hybrid form of yoga that combines traditional yoga postures infused with modern yoga moves and an silk fabric hammock.

Do I need Previous Yoga Experience?

No previous yoga experience necessary to enjoy an Aerial yoga class. In fact it can be easier than normal yoga! The silk hammock acts like a support whenever you require it, almost like having your own personal yoga teacher giving you assistance throughout the entire yoga class! Another advantage of having the support of the hammock is that 90% of students are able to complete more challenging poses, such as handstands!

Can Everybody do Aerial Yoga?

Yes and no. Students who have had a previous injury can find Aerial yoga much easier to participate in then normal yoga. This is due to the the weight being evenly distributed between your body, the hammock and the earth.

People who suffer any of following contraindications are advised NOT to participate in an Aerial yoga class: if you have had recent surgery of any sort, if you suffer glaucoma, if you are pregnant, if you suffer a heart condition (including very high or low blow pressure), if you get vertigo, if you have had a recent stroke or a hernia, if you have osteoporosis or any bone weakness, if you have carpal tunnel syndrome, or if you have had botox in the last six hours.

What Should I Wear?

All jewellery items must be removed before participating, a t-shirt must be worn to cover the armpit area and leggings are advised to avoid the silk rubbing on the skin and creating irritation. Please have clean feet or, alternatively, bring a pair of socks with you.The New Mexico Humanities Council invites public entries for Stories on the Sleeve: Connecting with Album Cover Art. Deadline for submission is February 1, 2019.

Do you remember a music album cover that mesmerized you? That you contemplated endlessly? A cover that gave deeper meaning to the music? Perhaps there is an album you purchased because you simply loved the cover art.

Stories on the Sleeve: Connecting with Album Cover Art is seeking album covers and short stories that explain a personal fascination, relationship, or experience with a particular cover art. Your album cover will be displayed in the gallery with your story. All music genre will be considered. Entry is free and open to everyone 14 years old and up.

The exhibition will take place April 4  June 28, 2019 at the New Mexico Humanities Council, 4115 Silver SE, Albuquerque.

For entry instructions and the application form, please go to www.nmhumanities.org or call (505)633-7371.NEW YORK, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Attorney Advertising -- Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anonima ("Loma" or the "Company") (NYSE: LOMA) pursuant and/or traceable to Loma Negras Registration Statement filed in connection with its November 2017 Initial Public Offering (IPO). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firms site: bgandg.com/loma.



This class action seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1933.

The complaint alleges that Lomas Registration Statement contained materially false statements and omitted facts including: (1) downplaying and misrepresenting Loma Negras exposure to a massive, ongoing corruption scandal engulfing its majority owner, InterCement Participacoes S.A.; (2) misrepresenting a purported increased demand for Loma Negras cement and other products as a result of economic growth and government funding for public works projects in Argentina, as well as the purported benefits to Loma Negra from that increased demand; (3) misrepresenting events and trends in the Argentinian economy, as well as Loma Negras exposure thereto; and (4) including references to known risks that if occurring might or could affect Loma Negra, despite the fact that these risks had already materialized at the time of the IPO.

A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint you can visit the firms site: bgandg.com/loma or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Investor Relations Analyst, Yael Hurwitz of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 212-697-6484. If you suffered a loss in Loma you have until February 4, 2019 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a corporate litigation boutique. Our primary expertise is the aggressive pursuit of litigation claims on behalf of our clients. In addition to representing institutions and other investor plaintiffs in class action security litigation, the firms expertise includes general corporate and commercial litigation, as well as securities arbitration. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Contact:

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC

Peretz Bronstein or Yael Hurwitz

212-697-6484 | info@bgandg.com



A federal magistrate judge ruled Monday that the activist who scaled the Statue of Liberty on July 4th is guilty of three misdemeanors: Trespassing, interference with agency functions, and disorderly conduct, according to the NY Daily News. All together, the charges could result in a maximum of 18 months in prison.

Therese Patricia Okoumou climbed the statue in protest of the Trump administration's family separation policy, and although she never made it past the hem of Liberty's robes, the stunt still required intervention from the NYPD's Emergency Service Unit. Detectives had to remove Okoumou from the monument, and thousands of visitors were evacuated from Liberty Island.

According to the Daily News, Okoumouherself an immigrant from Congo, who secured citizenship in 2016stated Monday that she "just couldn't live with" the idea of her government keeping children in kennel-like conditions. "I've had nightmares. Night sweats," she added. As the Guardian points out, the human rights abuses at the border are reportedly ongoing, even though family separation itself has ostensibly been revoked. "Unfortunately, as long as our children are being placed in cages my moral values call for me to do something about it," Okoumououtfitted in a blue headband that read "I care," harkening back to Melania Trump's tone-deaf border visit outfittearfully said on the stand. Would she stage the same protest again, her lawyer asked? "Yes," she reportedly replied.

Breaking: Patricia Okoumou was convicted today of all charges in federal court for climbing the Statue of Liberty on July 4 to protest the detention of immigrant children. Here she speaks to supporters outside the courthouse. She will be sentenced on March 5. @prisonculture pic.twitter.com/jaogAZJ0QI  L.A. Kauffman (@LAKauffman) December 17, 2018

"Whether one sympathizes with the defendant's moral perspective is not at issue in this case," Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Kalikow argued. "The defendant chose to protest in a manner that risked harm to herself and others." The "act of climbing the base of the Statue of Liberty went well beyond peaceable protest, a right we certainly respect," he told NBC 4 in a statement.

Acknowledging that he did "not doubt the sincerity of her beliefs," Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein seemed to agree, and delivered guilty verdicts on all three of the charges against Okoumou. She will be free without bail until her March 5th pre-sentencing hearing.Kuzma/iStock(BRUSLY, La.) -- Two former Louisiana police officers were indicted after surveillance footage surfaced in which they appear to be slamming a teenager to the ground, but the child's family said the charges only amount to a "slap on the wrist."



Former Brusly Police Department officers Dan Cipriano and Anthony Dupre were indicted on Friday, accused of assaulting a 14-year-old boy in October while responding to a report at Brusly Middle School in central Louisiana, according to court documents.



The officers were called to the scene when the child allegedly got into an argument with an administrator and tried to leave a school detention office, according to local media reports.



School surveillance footage appeared to show the officers, who agreed to resign in November, beating the boy and slamming him at least twice before placing him in handcuffs. At one point, the boy attempted to move toward the door, and an officer wraps an arm around the student's neck and forces him to the floor as panicked administrators stand nearby.



Cipriano was indicted on a charge of simple battery and Dupre was indicted on a charge of malfeasance in office, but the boy's family said those penalties are too lenient.



"They feel the DA's office did an adequate job by bringing it quickly to the people, but feel it was a slap on the wrist based on the tape and what they saw done to their grandson," Kwame Asante, a lawyer for the student's family, told local news outlet The Advocate on Friday. "This young man will still be dealing with this for a long time."



Malfeasance in office is punishable by up to five years in prison, or a fine of up to $5,000, or both, according to the Louisiana State Legislature, while simple battery carries a punishment of up to six months in prison, or up to $1,000 in fines, or both, under state law.



It was not immediately clear if the former officers had hired attorneys.



Officials with the Brusly Police Department and the West Baton Rouge parish School District did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.



Asante said the boy's grandmother, in particular, "wanted to make sure someone was held responsible for what happened" and hoped for stiffer charges.



The teenager has returned to school and is in counseling following the incident, Asante said. The teen suffered unspecified physical injuries, and the family still is considering whether to pursue additional legal action against the police department.



"For a person who's gone through what he has," Asante said of the teen, "he's done well."

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Prada has agreed to set up an advisory council to address issues of "diversity, inclusion and culture," after the fashion company was accused last week of selling a line of accessories closely resembling racist blackface imagery.

The label pulled the Pradamalia merchandise on Friday, insisting in a statement that the items were "fantasy charms composed of elements of the Prada oeuvre." Chinyere Ezie, a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights who first brought attention to the "Sambo like imagery" in a Soho storefront, subsequently blasted the "non-apology apology."

"The fact that this was green-lit at headquarters tells me, indisputably, there are no black faces, no one who looks like me, in the company's decision making tree," Ezie told Gothamist. "This company is completely tone deaf when it comes to race and I don't think people should be shopping there anymore."

Perhaps in response to the threat of a looming boycott, Prada released a second statement on Sunday in which they vowed to take "immediate steps to learn from this." In addition to the advisory council, Prada promised to improve diversity training and to "examine the processes that led to such a product reaching the market in the first place."

The company also said they'd be donating profits from the Pradamalia line to a New York-based racial justice organizationthough the company didn't specify which one. The offending items, which remained on the website as of Friday, appear to have since been removed.

Meanwhile in What The Hell Is Wrong With People, an investigation by NBC New York's I-Team traced an abundance of racist products on eBay to a home in New Jersey, which they found "adorned with Confederate flags and blackface statues." The seller, who used a klanman1kkk email address, was suspended by eBay shortly after the site was contacted. He had 125 active listings, most of which were blackface statues.Opinion

Race is on to trace the COVID-19 variant

Governments around the world are urgently scouring databases for recent cases of COVID-19 infections, screening travellers and decoding the viral genomes of the new variant as they try to measure how far it has spread. The pace of

1. Fill in your name or an alias. Do not leave blank or use the name 'guest' or 'anonymous'.

2. No Nivul Peh. Profanity will be deleted.New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Considerable clouds early. Some decrease in clouds later in the day. High 79F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies during the evening. Fog developing overnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable.Mellado told EFE that it is "a project of about 400,000 euros (US$450,000)" for which the EU will provide 360,000 euros, while the rest is to come from four Peruvian organizations: Transparencia, Proetica, IPYS, and the Andean Commision of Jurists.

Mellado said that corruption and a lack of transparency are estimated to cost Europe 10 billion euros a year.

The president of Proetica, Jose Ugaz, said during the signing ceremony that last year Peru lost "US$2 billion to the paralysis of the Southern Gas Pipeline, which means that 150,000 Peruvians have not been able to escape poverty."

Ugaz, formerly Peru's chief anti-corruption prosecutor, said it was no coincidence that at a time when "corruption has increased significantly in the country," poverty has worsened, anemia affects nearly 47% of children in rural areas, and "very significant sums (of money) are being lost."?? Hoja de vida del titular del @MinCulturaPe, Rogers Valencia ? pic.twitter.com/JRluJpfRtb?? Hoja de vida de la titular del @MTPE_Peru, Sylvia Caceres ? pic.twitter.com/g4DxZE55bKThe Second Battle of Geddes Ridge

The dream house doctors lost in local courts. But they're fighting on-from California.

by Michael Betzold & John Hilton

From the November, 2018 issue

"I trust my friends to pay me back," Paul Cronin testified.



It was June 2017, and the U-M radiologist was being deposed in one of many lawsuits swirling around the construction of a dream house for his colleagues, Brad Foerster and Myria Petrou ("The Battle of Geddes Ridge," January 2018). Cronin testified that he had loaned the couple $130,000 and paid at least $20,000 of their legal fees. He'd even joined them in court a few months earlier to provide what he called "moral support."



Cronin presumably didn't expect to be paid back with a lawsuit demanding $15 million. But that's what Foerster filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles this September.



For readers of the couple's blog "Goosileaks," taken down from the Internet after a court order, Foerster's September lawsuit had a familiar ring: it claimed that the couple were being targeted by a criminal conspiracy--which was somehow linked to Russian money laundering and interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.



In previous versions, the central conspirator was alleged to be Petrou's mother, Maria Petrou, a retired school principal from Cyprus now living in Ann Arbor. In the California filing, Cronin is described as the conspiracy's "main controller" in Ann Arbor--and the mastermind of a "comprehensive plan to target and discredit" Foerster.



Foerster's suit blamed Cronin for the couple's eviction from the Geddes Ridge home in May--it claimed he'd promised to loan them the money to redeem it, then reneged. The 182-paragraph complaint also accused their former friend of hacking the couple, stealing their identities, and bribing and extorting their attorneys to undermine their legal defense. It further alleged that Cronin was really an architect with "a cover identity as a physician"; was "part of the Irish Republican Army"; and had "stated specifically that he works for Russian intelligence and has a direct line of communication to Vladimir Putin."



It's not clear when Foerster turned against his benefactor, but there is a clue

...continued below...

in two letters he included as an exhibit in the lawsuit. Sent in January and May this year to special counsel Robert Mueller, both allege that Foerster and Petrou are the victims of a racketeering network that concocts "criminal allegations aimed to discredit us." Only in the second letter, however, is Cronin said to be part of the conspiracy.Yet as recently as August, the suit alleges, Foerster texted Cronin to say that the couple was writing a book about the Russian conspiracy--and wanted him to contribute. Cronin replied he wanted no part of it because it was "fiction (and not factual)."In his response to the lawsuit, filed in October, Cronin agreed that this was an accurate account of his text. But he denied every one of Foerster's substantive allegations--and that same day, Foerster dropped the case.---Foerster had filed his lawsuit "in pro per," without an attorney. Cronin also represented himself. In that, he got off more lightly than many of the others the two doctors have tangled with in court during the dispute over the house, including their builder, architect, Maria Petrou, and some of their own attorneys. The couple lost every case--but not before running up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills on both sides.Washtenaw Circuit Court judges Carol Kuhnke and Archie Brown handled most of the many cases the doctors pursued. In separate judgments, they dismissed the couple's claims against the home's builder, Christopher Laycock, and architect, Teresa Angelini. Angelini alone was awarded nearly $300,000 in attorneys' fees and sanctions. In court documents, her attorney, Greg Thomas, noted that "the defense ... was extremely complicated as a direct result of plaintiffs' aggressiveness and scorched-earth pursuit of the unfounded claims."The couple lost another legal round on Sept. 14, when Kuhnke entered a default order restoring $236,000 that Petrou had taken from her parents' investment account. Maria Petrou's attorney, Jim Reach, says his client can get $128,000 of the judgment from the couple's bank account, because Kuhnke imposed a trust on it in May. The doctors have filed an appeal, but it was sent back by the court of appeals as defective. At press time, Reach said he was waiting to see if the appeal would be remedied.The house, meanwhile, is back on the market. In mid-October, it was listed at $1.775 million, with a sale pending. And its former owners seem to have parted ways with U-M and Ann Arbor. Petrou and Foerster now give an address in Monrovia, California.According to his September lawsuit, Foerster was terminated from his job at the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center last year. (He said an appeal was pending.) He also wrote that after he complained about fraud in research grant work at U-M and joined in a sexual harassment complaint filed by a colleague, he was forced to undergo a psychiatric evaluation by the university this summer--and that on Aug. 18 the U-M initiated termination proceedings against him.The U-M says it did not find any evidence of research fraud. It will not comment on other internal investigations or on the doctors' employment status. Petrou, however, says she recently resigned from her position there--in part, she says, because of the Observer articles.---In October, Petrou filed a libel lawsuit against the Observer. According to her complaint, "Dr. Petrou recently resigned from her faculty appointment at the University of Michigan effective 9/30/2018 in part based on the defamatory statements published by Defendant Ann Arbor Observer."She says that she was defamed by the January feature and follow-up articles about litigation over a neighbor's cat ( "Cat Fight," Inside Ann Arbor, April) and the couple's eviction from their home ( "Losing Geddes Ridge," Inside Ann Arbor, June). The suit seeks at least $15 million, plus punitive damages.Petrou claims that "The thesis of Defendant Ann Arbor Observers' defamatory articles are that Plaintiff Dr. Petrou files untrue and false statements to: 1) the courts, 2) law enforcement which includes the FBI and by association would therefore be a felonious act, 3) other governmental officials, and 4) others. Further, the Ann Arbor Observer advances the false narrative that Plaintiff Dr. Petrou steals neighbor's cats and refuses to return them, defrauds builders and attorneys, extorts her colleagues, terrorizes witnesses, forges signatures on court documents, and embezzles her mother's retirement funds."Defendant Ann Arbor Observer sets out to discredit Plaintiff Dr. Petrou who is a material witness to independent party witness testimony regarding a Russian money laundering operation in the state of Michigan as well as the subversion of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election."But the Observer did not "[set] out to discredit Petrou," and said none of the things she alleges. In reporting on the conflicts surrounding the construction of the couple's home on Geddes Ridge, the Observer accurately quoted both sides in their disputes and reported the outcome of the litigation as it was resolved.Petrou's complaint replays many of the arguments the couple made in those earlier court cases. For instance, she says that the Observer's statement that Laycock was "suing to collect liens for $274,000 in unpaid work" was "false and misleading" because in an early ruling Judge Brown had "set a bond for the liens for only $79K." She doesn't mention that Brown eventually awarded Laycock the full amount of his liens. The builder also won attorney fees, and a countersuit against the couple for defamation--more than $700,000 in all.---Laycock wouldn't talk to the Observer while the court battles were raging. But after he'd won, he sat down this summer for an interview in his office in his modest ranch home in Saline.Laycock says that he was quite proud of the way he completed the home after a previous builder bailed. A custom carpenter who's often worked on high-end remodeling projects, he says he came in under budget and even was hoping he'd win an award for his work. Instead, he says, he was "blindsided" when the couple disputed his final bill.He spent a year and a half fighting to get paid--while simultaneously defending himself against the couple's counterattacks. On their blog and in court, they accused him of bank fraud, violating their civil rights, and criminal conspiracy, alleging that he had plotted with their bank, architect, two title companies, Myria's mother, and others to deprive them of their dream house.Going to court is not good for any builder, much less being accused of a vast criminal enterprise, however outlandish. Laycock says that he often spent more time litigating than on job sites, but is now rebuilding his business.Like the couple's other legal adversaries, however, he is wondering how the couple will pay all the judgments against them. "I'm starting to believe we will never collect," he says. [Originally published in November, 2018.]YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Caretaker Minister of Justice Artak Zeynalyan has visited the Vardashen Correctional Facility on December 17, the ministry reported.

Zeynalyan toured the facility with his deputy Suren Krmoyan and Department of Corrections Director Artyom Mkhoyan. The officials viewed the institution, its administrative section, the special designation unit.

Zeynalyan also visited the territory formerly housing the Erebuni prison, viewed the building conditions and discussed issues concerning its re-commissioning in the event of a renovation.

On the same day, he also toured the Nubarashen facility and monitored the ongoing renovation works.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. For already a century, ARMENPRESS State News Agency has its special place and role within the Armenian news media arena.

For many decades the agency has covered the important events in the country, and at the same time has had a role in the development of public opinion.

Now, already in modern times, thanks to modern technologies the agency is operating not only in the role of responder and recorder, but is also offering new and innovative solutions ahead of modern news media-informational challenges. We sat down with Aram Ananyan, Director of ARMENPRESS, to speak about the past and vision for the future of the agency.

Mr. Ananyan, first of all let me congratulate on the jubilee  the 100th anniversary of ARMENPRESS. . The Armenian Telegraph Agency was created during a historic and at the same time difficult time period for Armenia, and is carrying out its activities for already a century. Whats the secret of longevity?

Probably the reason is that news agencies have been and continue being the most in-demand format of the news media. Both at that time and today, the main burden of news reporting, that is the reliable and operative preparation and supply of information to subscribers and readers, falls on the news agency. In this context, the decision to create a news agency, at that time a telegraph agency was demanded and aimed for the future. Today also we see that in the changing world the news agencies have strengthened their role even more, which we witness also with the example of all our partners.

Another important circumstance is the continuous care of the state toward the agency. We have felt and continue feeling that the work of ARMENPRESS for the country is important and highly appreciated .

Modern news agency and modern journalism isnt exclusively a profession of the human sciences sphere: in this work both journalist, technology and our perceptions regarding the future are united. In current times the informational formats are changing, developing very rapidly, and todays media consumption and media production greatly differs from the same process five or ten years ago. The situation of the recent years is very different, now in addition to traditional approaches and measures there are also new ones. The modern media consumer is a lot more demanding than in the past and these demands bring a certain positive pressure on the work of the news media and agencies are fated to literally not lose the pulse of time and not get left behind of time. These trends will continue in the coming decades too. Walking in line with time by maintaining leading positions isnt an easy challenge.

Being the oldest news agency of the modern period of Armenia, ARMENPRESS has been the only state news agency, and has maintained the same status also during Soviet years. Today, however, a broad competitive arena exists. What tasks are put before the agency for it to be able to not only proceed in line with changes, but also to lead them?

Competition in this case plays a more positive role than negative because the absence of competition is the direct pathway to stagnation. It is only within a competition that you can identify your advantages and strong sides. During the last years we saw that as result of efficiency, reliability and high professional standards ARMENPRESS strengthened its role as a news agency rendering reliable and quick information even more. This is highly important for a news agency, because simultaneously with speed, reliability is also important and you dont have the right to sacrifice one for the other. Today the race is about seconds

There was a time when printed press was the most important information source, that was followed by radio and television. However the latter, proceeding from format logics, were rendering information at specific times. Today, simultaneously with the development of IT, the logic of accessibility has changed. People can get information whenever they want, wherever they want, through any kind of device.

New technologies create a broad arena of opportunities for modern media, but at the same time bring new challenges.

I am glad to note that we are trying to also not stay behind in terms of technology in modern processes, however not staying behind must happen not at the expense of quality, i.e. as a traditional news agency we must be able to ensure internationally combinable qualitative standards, in order for our more than twenty international partners to be able to use this content. This fact brings a certain type of conservative element to our work, but in any next project that we implement we adopt more serious professional and qualitative standards as a starting point and therefore we advance. The realization of a number of projects during the past year is an example. First was the digitization of a part of ARMENPRESSs archives within the framework of the History: ARMENPRESS project, where digitized variants of more than 10,000 photographs are presented for the public. We carried this out with best professional standards, which we are proud of. Next was the creation of the French-language department. It became the fifth language that ARMENPRESS is reporting with. Today, in addition to Armenian, Russian and English, we are also creating news production in Arabic and French. We added these two languages in the past seven years.

The development of video content was a very interesting experience for us. We have much to do in this direction and our searches are aimed for getting more interesting and quality content because we see that a healthy and good competition exists in this sphere and we dont want to be weak and unprepared in this competition. We have made the first serious steps for entering this sector, but we are also seriously preparing in order to be able to have our weighty voice and role there also. ARMENPRESS was first to experiment with artificial intelligence tools. For several times Ive had the occasion to mention that an artificial intelligence software is participating in the development of our reporting news line. We will increase this work.

In January of 2018 the Republic of Armenia and Respublika Armenia newspapers were merged with ARMENPRESS. Today, we are working with our colleagues in the direction of reforming and developing reporting options. We are sure that we can achieve good results in this sphere also.

When did you start to use artificial intelligence tools?

We began using in 2016-2017, now we will increase this volume because we see great prospects in data reporting. A modern news agency also includes technological elements. We are trying to fill this gap. This will at the same time give us numerous opportunities.

Do you see a need to expand the list of languages?

The increase of languages happened by a very justified logic. When we opened the Arabic division, at that time the global spotlight was on the Middle East. We understood that many of our compatriots, who also read Arabic, have the need to received this information in Arabic, and at the same time they wanted to understand in the Arab world what people think in Armenia about the situation in Syria and the Middle East. French was associated with the Armenian chairmanship at the La Francophonie organization. In terms of other languages it is necessary to make an in-depth analysis and if needed necessary steps will be taken.

ARMENPRESS isnt limited only with the Armenian environment and is open for cooperation. International cooperation has been expanded in recent years. What plans do you have for the future?

There is always the fear whether these memoranda gain meat and blood. I am happy over the fact that in our case the signed memoranda dont simply remain on paper and the productivity indicator is quite high. Monitoring for more than two dozen of agencies shows that news about Armenia mostly reach their destination through ARMENPRESS. We also see increased international citations. This is also gladdening, because in addition to the Armenian media market the international media arenas are also important for us. For this, we focus on standardization of news, translational content, so that our partners dont look for alternatives.

ARMENPRESS is a member to several international news media organizations  the CIS Inform Council, the National News Agency Association of Black Sea Region, and is also an observer in the Association of National News Agencies of South-Eastern Europe and Baltic States.

From 2014 to 2016, ARMENPRESS chaired the Council of National News Agencies of the Black Sea Region. This was the first time that Armenia presided over an international news media organization. The 2014 sessions of the CIS Information Council were held in Yerevan. As a result, our visibility on the global news map grew. We were able to use the non-material, intangible advantage for strengthening our ties even more. We also have noticeable participation in the World Congress of News Agencies, we are discussing the possibility of joining that National News Agency Association of Europe, which is the best in the world today.

This is both a professional dialogue and exchange of experience where compared to the size of our agency our representation in international media arenas is incomparably greater. This is at the same time very good for our correspondents since it is molding them in professional terms. Why not also for video-correspondents, because in 2018 March we for the first time were courageous to create a bridge between ARMENPRESS and Ruptly in terms of exchange of video content. In this context no agency can be self-sufficient since we live in such a world where cooperation and exchange of experience is signified.

Every word has its place, every article  its purpose and boundary. We have numerously noted that it is necessary to treat readers with respect, moreover when today the opportunities of selecting news sources are big.

Certainly, readers must be treated with respect, because our strengths are our readers. We have a task of regularly learning, developing and not stopping for not a single moment because competition will not weaken. We see that social media isnt new anymore and it is taking its share from traditional media, we see that today fake news are increasing, not in terms of volumes but speed of distribution.

Journalism is threatened with numerous other technologies challenges. In this context the reporters work field is being narrowed down and we are facing a need to re-evaluate and re-organize our actions.

ARMENPRESS is first of all the people who are working and who have worked in the agency. They say that ARMENPRESS is a forge of quality staff with its unique handwriting, who are further able to be distinguished in the news media sector.

My colleagues like to joke that there are no former journalists of ARMENRPESS, and theres more truth in this than myth. We see the connection that exists between the agency and our veterans, our current partners, also our temporary former partners, why temporary because many return, which makes us very happy. ARMENPRESS is not only a forge where staff is prepared. We certainly understand that we nevertheless have assumed a part of this mission. By the way, not only us. Globally, national state news agencies are mainly carrying out this mission, but we are also gladdened with the return, meaning people perceive not only as a school, but a place where they can realize the skills that they gained and feel professionally accomplished. There are numerous other circumstances that we must do for this accomplishment not to remain only in the professional field. This connection only inspires and makes us happy and this centennial is more a celebration of every ARMENPRESS journalist in this context, the people who spent decades with the agency. Our devotees are numerous, now many of them are in the various fields on life  politics, economy, of course news media, and elsewhere. It is simply a big army of people, the overwhelming majority of whom are devotees of ARMENPRESS.

Interview by Lusine Mkhitaryan

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Police Chief of Armenia Valeri Osipyan sent a congratulatory letter to ARMENPRESS news agency on 100th anniversary of establishment.

The letter runs as follows:

Dear friends,

On behalf of the board of the Police of Armenia and personally myself I sincerely congratulate you on the 100th jubilee of ARMENPRESS news agency, one of the oldest and experienced information platforms of our Republic.

The information activity does not fit within the framework of providing the public with news: the media services are called to do more  to contribute to the formation and progress of the society, ideological field in the country, legal upbringing of the citizen and etc. The list of problems of the media field can continue, but there is one generalization: the media activity in any country serves for strengthening the statehood, developing the society and protecting the citizens rights. And the dedicated work of ARMENPRESS news agency in all decades of the three Republics of Armenia is a perfect example of a dignified and complete implementation of that mission. The staff members of ARMENPRESS have ensured the continuation of our statehood in their professional frontline, educated generations, created the media environment which fully ensures todays citizens right to be informed. I am convinced that the good working traditions, the professional adherence to the selected job and the respect towards the citizen will be the base and core of ARMENPRESS activity.

Once again congratulations on the 100th anniversary. I wish new centuries of working deed, and let your high professionalism always deserve the public expectation and love.

Armenias first ARMENPRESS news agency today celebrates its 100th anniversary.

ARMENPRESS news agency was established on December 18, 1918 when by the decision of the National Council of the first Armenian Republic an unprecedented state-run news agency, Armenian Telegraph Agency, was created. Currently, ARMENPRESS news agency operates as a Closed Joint-Stock Company the stocks of which are owned by the Republic of Armenia. The agency is the oldest in Armenia. At the moment it produces eleven newslines: official, politics, economy, society, regional, international, Armenian world, culture, sport, life, innovation, interviews and photo news.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Acting minister of foreign affairs of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan sent a congratulatory letter to Director of ARMENPRESS news agency Aram Ananyan and the whole staff on the 100th anniversary of the news agencys establishment.

The letter says:

Dear Mr. Ananyan,

I warmly congratulate you and the whole staff of ARMENPRESS news agency on the 100th jubilee. Throughout this period ARMENPRESS news agency has recorded the chronicle of the Homeland and the Diaspora, making it available today to the present and future generations.

During these years the first and the only state news agency of Armenia has received and educated several generations of journalists by consistently raising the professionalism bar, and today as well it keeps high the quality and honor of the native journalism in accordance with the latest demands by holding its unique place in the Armenian, regional and international media field.

Thanks to a dedicated work the news agency has earned and keeps confidently its reputation of being a reliable and famous source of information. It was not a coincidence that ARMENPRESS was the official news agency and photograph of one of the greatest events in our history  the La Francophonie Summit in Yerevan. We can confidently state that our cooperation will continue.

Today we can proudly note that the path passed by ARMENPRESS, the creative past with already a century-old history, is the wealth of all of us.

I wish your big family an inexhaustible energy and new professional achievements. I am confident the future generations of ARMENPRESS will continue to maintain and multiply the best traditions of the news agency, by fulfilling the responsible mission to always keep the public informed with an honor.

Armenias first ARMENPRESS news agency today celebrates its 100th anniversary.

ARMENPRESS news agency was established on December 18, 1918 when by the decision of the National Council of the first Armenian Republic an unprecedented state-run news agency, Armenian Telegraph Agency, was created. Currently, ARMENPRESS news agency operates as a Closed Joint-Stock Company the stocks of which are owned by the Republic of Armenia. The agency is the oldest in Armenia. At the moment it produces eleven newslines: official, politics, economy, society, regional, international, Armenian world, culture, sport, life, innovation, interviews and photo news.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. A total of 80 journalists were killed this year, which is more by 15 than the last year, according to the annual worldwide round-up of deadly violence and abusive treatment of journalists released today by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), reports Armenpress.

A total of 80 journalists were killed this year, 348 are currently in prison, and 60 are being held hostage, the report says.

The RSF round-up figures have risen in all categories. Murders, imprisonment, hostage-taking and enforced disappearances have all increased. Journalists have never before been subjected to as much violence and abusive treatment as in 2018.

This year has been marked by the number of journalists in all categories who were killed in connection with their work, a figure which increased by eight percent to 80, and by the 15 percent rise in the number of professional journalists killed, from 55 in 2017 to 63 this year.

The widely reported murders of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi and the young Slovak data journalist Jan Kuciak highlighted the lengths to which press freedoms enemies are prepared to go. More than half of the journalists killed in 2018 were deliberately targeted.

This year the most dangerous countries for reporters have been the followings: Afghanistan (15 killed), Syria (11 killed and Mexico (9 killed).

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan



YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Director General of BelTA news agency Irina Akulovich sent a congratulatory letter to Director of ARMENPRESS news agency Aram Ananyan on the 100th anniversary of the news agencys establishment.

The letter reads: Dear Mr. Ananyan, I congratulate you on this remarkable day  the 100th anniversary of the foundation of ARMENPRESS. Today ARMENPRESS is a powerful media structure, a reliable source of information about Armenias life. The rich experience, professionalism of its staff, the use of new technologies enable the agency to have a leading role in the countrys public life, actively develop the international cooperation. I wish you happiness, health and successful creative activity.

Armenias first ARMENPRESS news agency today celebrates its 100th anniversary.

ARMENPRESS news agency was established on December 18, 1918 when by the decision of the National Council of the first Armenian Republic an unprecedented state-run news agency, Armenian Telegraph Agency, was created. Currently, ARMENPRESS news agency operates as a Closed Joint-Stock Company the stocks of which are owned by the Republic of Armenia. The agency is the oldest in Armenia. At the moment it produces eleven newslines: official, politics, economy, society, regional, international, Armenian world, culture, sport, life, innovation, interviews and photo news.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Three people have been arrested by Armenian police in suspicion of robbing a Norwegian citizen in Lori, Armenia.

According to the Investigative Committee, the suspects snatched the Norwegian citizens backpack that contained 750,000 drams in cash, ID and credit cards.

The identity of the victim and the suspects was not disclosed.

The perpetrators were quickly identified and apprehended. All are residents of Lori province.

The suspects have confessed, police said.

The stolen money has been recovered.

Other details werent immediately clear.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Armenias first news agency, that has passed a glorious path by covering the urgent issues of time, the key events in the country and outside it, today celebrates its 100th anniversary, acting minister of culture Lilit Makunts said in the congratulatory letter addressed to the news agency.

Dear Mr. Ananyan, dear staff of ARMENPRESS news agency, I warmly congratulate you on the 100th jubilee of the establishment of the news agency, wish you constant and new achievements in the Armenian and international media field.

At this time of latest technologies, the agency walks in line with time by providing impartial, comprehensive, literate and multilingual news. During its one-century history ARMENPRESS has served as a perfect platform for the spread and popularization of the Armenian culture.

Armenia is a cradle of civilization, and you carry out the high mission to make the Armenian peoples cultural heritage recognized to the world, transmit that to the generations with an honor.

Once again congratulations, wish you productive work and good news.

Armenias first ARMENPRESS news agency today celebrates its 100th anniversary.

ARMENPRESS news agency was established on December 18, 1918 when by the decision of the National Council of the first Armenian Republic an unprecedented state-run news agency, Armenian Telegraph Agency, was created. Currently, ARMENPRESS news agency operates as a Closed Joint-Stock Company the stocks of which are owned by the Republic of Armenia. The agency is the oldest in Armenia. At the moment it produces eleven newslines: official, politics, economy, society, regional, international, Armenian world, culture, sport, life, innovation, interviews and photo news.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan



YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Dmitry Zhuk, director and editor-in-chief of the Belarusian Belarus Segodnya newspaper, has extended congratulations to ARMENPRESS director Aram Ananyan on the 100th anniversary of foundation of the Armenian state news agency.

Your agency, that was founded 1918 December 18 as the Armenian Telegraph Agency, has passed a glorious and profound path of chronicling its fatherland and nation during its great history. Today you are firmly maintaining the leading positions in the Armenian media sector, informing the world about the important events in your country and its development, with which you are having significant contribution in developing the global informational picture, he said, wishing all the best.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Russia is ready to contribute Armenia to solve its issues, Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin told reporters today, reports Armenpress.

The domestic political events, which have taken place and are taking place in Armenia, were not resulted in base changes in the Armenian-Russian relations which are of allied and strategic nature. The evidence of this is the intensity of the political mutual influence, including the high level dialogue and active development of trade-economic, cultural ties, the Ambassador said.

He said the passing year was unique for Armenia. Currently Armenia is at the new stage of development, and in this regard I would like to wish our brotherly people that this stage brings them stability, prosperity and solution of the issues facing Armenia. I would like also to wish success to the new parliament, the government to be on the rise in the solution of these issues, he said.

Ambassador Sergei Kopyrkin noted that Russia is ready to contribute Armenia to solve its issues, and of course, is inclined to do everything to strengthen and develop the relations of the two countries, the brotherly relations which have deeper historical roots.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Aram Sargsyan, who has served as Prime Minister of Armenia from 1999 to 2000, congratulated ARMENPRESS state news agency on 100th anniversary of foundation.

The letter runs as follows:

The history biographer

The 100th jubilee of ARMENPRESS is one of the key events of the 100th anniversary of the First Republic of Armenia. Its now difficult to imagine that on December 18, 1918 by the decision of the National Council the Armenian Telegraph Agency was created which later had to become an ARMENPRESS news agency and have an absolute priority in the media field for several decades in terms of official, political, economic, public, sport, regional, international, cultural and photos news.

During my term in office as a PM, ARMENPRESS still had that leading role and was covering the meetings and visits of the prime minister. I want to thank all reporters and photo journalists for covering the activities of the government during those years. Thanks to their work, the chronicle of one of the most dramatic periods of the life of the third Republic of Armenia has been conveyed to the history.

Today, when the modern technologies change our life day by day, and we are informed almost online about the ongoing events in the world, the news agencies continue remaining as a source of information, its almost a feat for which I want to congratulate the whole team of ARMENPRESS. I am confident that the 2nd 100th anniversary will be as responsible and productive as you are entrusted with the role of the chronologist of our statehood.

Armenias first ARMENPRESS news agency today celebrates its 100th anniversary.

ARMENPRESS news agency was established on December 18, 1918 when by the decision of the National Council of the first Armenian Republic an unprecedented state-run news agency, Armenian Telegraph Agency, was created. Currently, ARMENPRESS news agency operates as a Closed Joint-Stock Company the stocks of which are owned by the Republic of Armenia. The agency is the oldest in Armenia. At the moment it produces eleven newslines: official, politics, economy, society, regional, international, Armenian world, culture, sport, life, innovation, interviews and photo news.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. The Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) and the South American Common Market (MERCOSUR) on December 17 signed a memorandum on trade-economic cooperation, the EEC told Armenpress.

The memorandum was signed in Montevideo, Uruguay, on the sidelines of the MERCOSUR summit.

It was signed by EEC Member of the Board  Minister in charge for Trade Veronika Nikishina and the foreign ministers of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

This year in January-September the trade turnover between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and MERCOSUR member states increased by 8%, reaching 6.2 billion USD against the 5.7 billion USD of January-September of 2017. This, of course, is very little and is conditioned by the conservative structure of mutual trade which mainly consists of raw food. By not cutting the already existing trade flows, it is necessary to find cooperation development directions in the fields such as machinery building, production of devices, electronics and agricultural equipment. In addition, the EAEU and MERCOSUR have something to learn from each other on matters relating to domestic integration as the formation of mutual economic ties creates mainly similar issues and tasks which are solved differently. And here the exchange of experience is the key to overcoming the internal obstacles, Veronika Nikishina said.

According to the memorandum, the authorized agencies will hold broad-format dialogue on trade, customs administration, technical regulation and standardization, economic digitization, as well as on other issues of mutual interest. This will allow to reveal the potential which is mostly not exercised today.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. The Russian 102nd military base of Gyumri and Armenian law enforcement agencies are closely cooperating in the December 2 manslaughter of a local woman, Russias Ambassador to Armenia Sergey Kopyrkin said at a news conference.

A Russian serviceman is suspected in battering the woman to death.

The Russian military base and Armenian law enforcement agencies are closely cooperation, and it is carried out based on Armenian legislation. This issue should not be politicized. Of course, this is a horrible crime. Taking this occasion I am expressing my deep and sincere condolences to the family of the woman who died in the incident. Naturally, this crime must be investigated and the guilty must be held to account. But we find the politicization of this matter to be inadmissible. Politicization wont contribute to an objective and effective investigation, the ambassador said.

A Russian serviceman is currently under arrest for the death of a cleaning lady in Gyumri. The 57-year-old woman was working for the Gyumri City Halls street cleaning division. The servicemen is charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. The delegation of Armenias Police led by Police Chief Valeri Osipyan was hosted today by Georgians minister of internal affairs Giorgi Gakharia at the ministry, the Armenian Police told Armenpress.

The private talk of the two officials was followed by an extended format session of the representatives of the two structures.

The Georgian minister attached importance to the Armenian delegations visit, stating that its a great honor to fight against the current challenges together with the Armenian partners for the safety and security of the two countries and peoples.

Giorgi Gakharia assured that the Georgian side does everything for the cooperation to be more effective, and once again reaffirmed the readiness to further deepen and expand the mutual partnership.

In his turn Police Chief of Armenia Valeri Osipyan thanked for the warm reception and attached importance to the close cooperation and the results of partnering relations of the recent years. He said crime has no nationality and boundaries, and only through joint efforts it is possible to counter the current challenges of crime by justifying the expectations the public has from the law enforcement agencies.

During the session a wide range of issues of mutual interest were discussed.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Founder of the Heritage party Raffi Hovhannisyan sent a congratulatory letter today to Director of ARMENPRESS news agency Aram Ananyan on the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the news agency.

The letter reads: Dear compatriot,

Accept my sincere congratulations on the 100th anniversary of ARMENPRESS, the first state news agency of Armenia, and warm wishes to you, the current and former members of the news agency staff, as well as to all its readers.

During its one-century activity ARMENPRESS has always carried out its not so easy mission of unbiased, truthful news agency with an honor, by covering and internationally disseminating the key events for the country, the latest innovations in modernity. Today as well in line with the imperative of the time, ARMENPRESS continues maintaining the leading positions in the Armenian media field and worthy place in the worlds media diversity.

Once again congratulations on the jubilee, wish you prosperity, new creative achievements, and stable and productive process to the agency. Happy birthday, ARMENPRESS!

Armenias first ARMENPRESS news agency today celebrates its 100th anniversary.

ARMENPRESS news agency was established on December 18, 1918 when by the decision of the National Council of the first Armenian Republic an unprecedented state-run news agency, Armenian Telegraph Agency, was created. Currently, ARMENPRESS news agency operates as a Closed Joint-Stock Company the stocks of which are owned by the Republic of Armenia. The agency is the oldest in Armenia. At the moment it produces eleven newslines: official, politics, economy, society, regional, international, Armenian world, culture, sport, life, innovation, interviews and photo news.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Ambassador to Lithuania Tigran Mkrtchyan on December 17 met with countrys minister of economy Virginijus Sinkevicius, the Armenian foreign ministry told Armenpress.

The meeting was also attended by the representative of the Business Armenia Foundation in the Baltic countries Rena Saribekyan.

During the meeting the officials touched upon the timetables of the 2019 session of the Armenian-Lithuanian inter-governmental commission, as well as discussed the economic cooperation directions and opportunities to attract new fields.

Ambassador Mkrtchyan said Armenia is going to host the 2019 World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT), the DigiTecExpo 2019 will be held which are key IT events, adding that traditionally the Lithuanian companies are actively participating in these events. In this context the Lithuanian minister expressed his readiness to assist in awareness raising of these events among the Lithuanian companies and promoting their participation.

An agreement was reached to continue such discussions in the future for organizing the session of the inter-governmental commission and boosting the business ties.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, 18 DECEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 18 December, USD exchange rate up by 0.02 drams to 484.72 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 2.30 drams to 551.42 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.02 drams to 7.27 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 2.55 drams to 613.27 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 98.98 drams to 19350.01 drams. Silver price up by 0.32 drams to 227.53 drams. Platinum price down by 30.67 drams to 12186.77 drams.Remarks: My favourite Adele song to date. It was the #1 song in the US and UK for most of this month, November 2021. See also: songs: the 2020s Adele: Hell...

3 days agoYEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia Brock Bierman.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the official website of the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan highlighted the continuation and expansion of the effective cooperation with the USAID in different directions. According to Nikol Pashinyan, the Government will continue consistently and confidently the institutional reforms aimed at the development of democratic institutions and in this context emphasized the importance of the cooperation with the USAID.

The acting PM assessed the visit of Brock Bierman to Armenia a good opportunity for outlining the spheres of future cooperation. Our goal is turning political revolution into economic revolution and on this path of implementing those important changes we are interested in the active cooperation with the USAID. Our measures are directed at strengthening democracy, improving the business environment, attracting investments, development of the civil society, Pashinyan said, adding that Armenia is interested in developing economic relations with the USA and increasing trade turnover.

Brock Bierman first congratulated Nikol Pashinyan on holding the early parliamentary elections at a high level and added, Its an honor for me to meet with you, marking this historical page for Armenia. The U.S. Agency for International Development is ready to work with the Government of Armenia for further strengthening the democratic institution of the country, fighting against corruption and fostering trade and investments.

During the meeting the interlocutors agreed that concrete directions of bilateral cooperation will be soon clarified based on the discussions between the Armenian Government and the USAID office in Armenia.

Edited and translated by Tigran SirekanyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. General Director of Russian TASS news agency Sergei Mikhailov sent a congratulatory message to director of ARMENPRESS news agency Aram Ananyan on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the news agency.

I heartily congratulate you and the staff of ARMENPRESS on the occasion of the important event  the 100th anniversary of the news agency. Today ARMENPRESS is the leading news agency of Armenia, preserves its reputation as a reliable source for a broad audience, and creates firm fundaments for securing a key place for Armenia in regional and international media platforms.

The broad scope of information, from domestic political developments to photo news and video records, its successful participation in the fast changing media market and the comprehensive international cooperation have made the agency demanded and respected by the readers and subscribers both in Armenia and abroad.

We are confident that you and your friendly team will continue to preserve and multiply the existing professional traditions, using the best standards of journalism, and have a significant contribution to the strengthening of global informational arena.

Edited and translated by Tigran SirekanyanIt is billions of kina in debt, there are no cancer treatment facilities and no basic medicines, transport systems and roads are poor, there has been a resurgence of polio, malaria and other diseases, sorcery killings are numerous and education standards are dropping.

PNG is a country on the verge of failure and the appointment of Sir Gibbs Salika and Justice Ambeng Kandakasi is a step to rescue it from a total collapse.

I believe they will maintain the impartiality and neutrality of the judiciary, which most people see as the last bastion of hope for the country.

Both men are trusted by the legal fraternity and loved and respected by the general population.

WABAG - The recent appointment of Papua New Guinea chief justice Sir Gibbs Salika and deputy chief justice Ambeng Kandakasi was no coincidence but a divine intervention to save the country.

Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika (centre in striped shirt) with Enga Governor Sir Peter Ipatas and other leaders in Wapenamanda, Enga Province

It was significant of this breakdown that, angered by unpaid allowances, disciplinary forces stormed parliament in a destructive orgy immediately after APEC, an important international conference attended by some of the most powerful world leaders.

It is to be hoped the two top judges will maintain the independence and integrity of the judiciary which many people see as our last bastion of hope.

During a long career as a journalist, I have met many national leaders  politicians and bureaucrats.

I have come to respect and have high regard for those of them who appeared to me as simple, humble, relaxed, well informed and down to earth  people with whom I could easily converse and understand their actions.

People like Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, President John Momis, the late Bernard Narakobi, John Kaputin, Sir Paulias Matane, Grand Chief Sir Peter Ipatas, the late Iambakey Okuk, UPNG vice chancellor the late Dr Elton Brash, Jimson Sauk, Luke Kembol, Sam Abal and other politicians and bureaucrats truly deserve recognition from the masses as national leaders.

I would add to this list Sir Gibbs Salika and Justice Ambeng Kandakasi.

I first met the chief justice at the Highlands Lutheran International School in Wapenamanda many years ago. His children attended school there with other PNG children.

He was a simple man, laughing, clapping and mixing well with students and parents.

On another occasion I saw him dine at the next table at Ribito Hotel in Wabag with no hint of a VIP presence to show that he was then the deputy chief justice.

The man who has just been appointed the new deputy chief justice, Ambeng Kandakasi, also deserved his promotion because he mixes well with the people.

Kandakasi introduced himself to me at Kagamuga Airport in Mt Hagen a few years back. He had completed his court circuit and was returning to Port Moresby with his staff.

We knew each other as Engans through our work. He must also have read some of my writing but we had never met in person.

Other high ranking officials would have ignored me, especially when I did not notice him entering the departure lounge.

Months later, I was surprised to meet him again on Waigani Drive, just in front of The National newspaper offices in Port Moresby. After a brief exchange of greetings he hurried down the street alone with no security personnel in sight.

Justice Auka and Justice Ambeng Kandakasi with copies of my book, 'I Can See My Country Clearly Now'

Last year, he walked up to where I sat in the restaurant the Ipatas Centre, provincial administration headquarters, and introduced me to Wabag national court resident judge, Justice Auka.

They patiently waited for me to go home and collect two copies of my book I Can See My Country Clearly Now which I presented to them.

I have come across two other judges with similar traits, the late deputy chief justice Sir Mari Kapi and the late justice Moses Jalina.

The latter was the resident national court judge in Wabag for many years. He built a church at Pawas and raised pigs in that village, mixing well with the local people.

We lived on the same street on Premier Hill in Wabag and I would see him driving around alone in a utility pick-up truck. There was no tint on his car windows to obscure his presence.

I quoted both the late judges in I Can See My Country Clearly Now as they had both warned of deep rooted corruption, the high crime rate and poor governance which they said was eating into the fabric of established PNG society.

When deputy chief justice, Sir Mari Kapi warned of total anarchy and a breakdown of government systems because he said many leaders and others charged with maintaining the law were in conflict with it and only thinking about serving their own interests.

Sir Mari had warned: Many leaders have got into conflict with the laws. The respect for authority is at its lowest ebb.

This is the age of what some people elsewhere have described as a golden age of greed, the philosophy of me and age of individualism. I will get what I want regardless of what the law says.

And in 2007, during legal year celebrations in Wabag, Justice Jalina warned of Asian influence in the Royal PNG Constabulary.

He said police were standing by watching crimes being committed. No attempts were made to arrest the culprits. Police had become the drivers and body guards of unscrupulous Asian businessman.

He warned that if people just stood by and allowed foreigners to mess with the police force, the people themselves would end up losers.

Like the Ela Motors advertisement, When the going gets tough, the tough get going, he had said. And when the going gets tough, the tough foreigners will pack up and leave. You and I will remain here to face the consequences.

People are thinking, everything is going to be okay. But in 10-20 years time, PNG will not be the same.

Now, 11 years after these words, a new chief justice and new deputy chief justice have been appointed, an indication there is still hope for the country and a sign of changes to come.

I believe in the new chief justice because he had faith in the PNG education system and sent his children to the Highlands Lutheran International School when he could have easily sent them to Australian schools.

The quality of decisions a constitutional office holder makes and his actions in the public domain determines a mans character and strength - not how hard he tries to impress or pretends to be.

Papua New Guinea needs such men and women right if the country is to be rescued.DOMINICA ARE

GOROKA - I have a dream sometimes in which I go back to my childhood home in Mt Hagen.

It reminds me of Lucy Kopanas recent article of how Lae families are being callously evicted from their homes, often homes they have been paying off for many years.

My family suffered a similar fate in late 2000. Whenever and wherever this happens in our country, it is quite simply a cruel and inhumane thing to do to other human beings.

I especially hate that the victims are mostly honest hardworking citizens of this nation.

On 4 January 1985, my late dad (Dr Peter Are) started work with the health department as the provincial dental officer at Mt Hagen in the Western Highlands Province.

My dad came from from Gumine in Simbu Province, but he served the people of the Western Highlands and the highlands region with distinction until his death on 3 November 2008. He was one of the best dentists and surely the most loved.Berlin crime gangs of Arab origin have long earned infamy with violence and brazen robberies but now, police warn, they have targeted a new generation of refugees for recruitment. Known in the media as Berlin's "clans", whose founders themselves fled war in Lebanon in the 1980s, they have long controlled much of the city's illegal drugs trade, street prostitution and protection rackets. While East European and Asian organised crime and homegrown biker gangs are also active, the clans have been especially visible, given many members' love of gangster bling and muscle cars. The dozen or so Arabic and Kurdish-origin extended families, with their patriarchal structures and codes of honour, have also been mythologised by rap artists and portrayed in the TV series "4 Blocks". Now police warn that the clans have sought out new members from among the over one million asylum-seekers who have arrived in Germany since mid-2015, half of them from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The clans "are trying to get others to do the dirty work" such as selling drugs or committing small burglaries, said Benjamin Jendro of the GDP police union. Many refugees, he said, are "men who have arrived alone in Germany" and who "have not yet had to do with the justice system," making it less likely they will go to prison if caught. An undercover police investigator also told Die Welt newspaper that "above all, it is the young, physically strong men who are in the sights of the clans, who make them do the dirty work". - 'Parallel societies' - The migrant wave that peaked three years ago sparked a xenophobic backlash in Germany, and stoked heated debate about integration efforts and crimes committed by foreigners. This has thrown a new focus on the clans and raised questions about how Berlin's police could let them openly flout the law for so long in a generally fairly low-crime country. Germany's best-known rapper, Bushido, long boasted about his close ties to one Berlin clan -- until they had a falling out this year and he sought the protection of a rival group. Bushido's wife, Anna-Maria Ferchichi, told news weekly Stern that the couple now feared for their lives from gangsters who had formed "parallel societies right here in Germany". The clans' latest show of force was the September 13 funeral of an infamous underworld figure, when 2,000 mourners congregated in the Islamic section of a Berlin cemetery, watched over by some 150 police. In scenes Stern described as "worthy of a mafia movie", they paid their last respects to Nidal Rabih, a 36-year-old violent repeat offender who had been shot dead in front of his family days earlier. Rabih, a Palestinian born in Lebanon, had achieved cult status in the Berlin criminal underworld. Boasting more than 100 offences from robbery to attempted manslaughter, he had spent more than a decade behind bars but avoided a 2004 deportation attempt when Lebanon refused to issue him a passport. Days after his death, Berlin municipal workers guarded by police whitewashed over a wall mural at the murder scene that depicted Rabih in the style of a martyred Islamic fighter. - Guns and machetes - Sociologists say the story of Berlin's clans is a cautionary tale about failed integration. Their patriarchs mostly arrived in the 1980s as refugees from then war-torn Lebanon, among them Palestinians and members of Turkey's Arabic and Kurdish minorities. Many had only temporary protection status and "did not have access here to education or work", said Islamologist Mathias Rohe, arguing that this sped up the descent into delinquency. The extended families, aside from now running large chunks of Berlin's illegal economy, have also committed some of the city's most headline-grabbing criminal stunts. In 2010, masked men wielding machetes and guns robbed a poker tournament in the Berlin Grand Hyatt, making off with about 240,000 euros ($270,000). In 2014, robbers rampaged through Berlin's KaDeWe luxury department store, smashed glass displays and stole watches and jewellery worth 800,000 euros. And last year, clan-linked bandits stole a 100-kilogramme (220-pound) Canadian commemorative gold coin worth over 3.75 million euros from Berlin's Bode museum, around the corner from Chancellor Angela Merkel's apartment. - 'Spoiling their fun' - Berlin's police is now under fire for having long neglected the problem -- something researcher Ralph Ghadban blames partially on a "fear of stigmatising and discriminating against certain minorities". In recent months, authorities have started to hit back by stepping up raids of shisha bars and betting shops, many in Berlin's Neukoelln district, and confiscating expensive cars for speeding. In August, police and prosecutors seized 77 properties worth 10 million euros, alleged to have mostly been bought with proceeds from a major 2014 bank robbery. Some of the properties were officially owned by one convicted bank robber's 19-year-old brother whose only declared income was state welfare. The confiscations still have to stand up in court against challenges from the clan's expensive lawyers, but authorities believe they have struck a first blow. "We're stepping on their toes," said Berlin interior minister Andreas Geisel. "We're spoiling their fun in Berlin." The clans' latest show of force was the recent funeral of an infamous underworld figure, when 2,000 mourners congregated in Berlin Some 150 police were present at the funeralA backpacker may never walk again after she broke her neck diving into a pool during her dream holiday to Thailand.

Sophie Wilson was one week into her six-month adventure when she dived into the shallow waters in the northern town of Pai.

The 24-year-old, from Leicestershire, said she was in shock, stating she had no reason to believe the pool was going to be so shallow.

I couldnt feel my body, just excruciating pain in my neck, she told iNews.

I couldnt feel my legs.

The 24-year-old was just one week into her six-month adventure when the freak accident took place in Pai. Images: Facebook/Sophie Wilson

She was still conscious when another tourist pulled her from the water.

Ms Wilson was rushed to a local hospital before being transferred on to Chiangmai Ram Hospital.

But upon arrival, doctors at the privately-funded facility refused to operate until her family could guarantee the funds.

Making an unimaginable scenario even worse, Ms Wilsons travel insurance provider refused to cover the bills, saying her injuries were caused by her own reckless behaviour.

They have informed us they will not be covering the costs of the operations, any care she needs from this point onwards, or most importantly to us, getting her home to the UK, a GoFundMe page set up by her family stated.

Consequently, this has left our family faced with the prospect of paying for such fees.

Sophie Wilsons spinal chord was compressed, as she had broken her neck at C6 and C7. Image: GoFundMe

Upon learning the news Ms Wilsons parents, John and Jane, immediately flew out to Thailand to be by her side, where they were told that their daughter was lucky to be alive.

It was touch and go at one stage, as to whether she was going to live, due to her blood pressure dropping to dangerously low levels, they added.

Sophie has since undergone 10 hours of surgery in Thailand, both of which were successful and have gone on to maximise her chances of recovery.

Due to her delicate condition and need for a specialist medical flight home, the costs of Ms Wilsons treatment have soared past $100,000.

As of Wednesday morning, the GoFundMe page had raise more than $110,00.Les Moonves, the onetime head of CBS, was fired for cause and will not receive a severance package in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations, the television network announced Monday. Moonves, who transformed the corporation into the most watched television network in the country, was one of the most respected executives in Hollywood until he was first publicly accused. Two articles published by The New Yorker -- in July and in September -- detailed allegations against the 69-year-old television titan from 12 different women. He resigned in September. At the time, CBS said Moonves and the network would donate $20 million to supporting the #MeToo movement and equality for women in the workplace. CBS said a company investigation found Moonves guilty of "willful and material misfeasance," and said he refused to cooperate with the probe. He had been expected to receive up to $120 million as part of a severance package that will now not materialize, as it was dependent on the results of the investigation. Moonves's lawyer rejected CBS's findings, calling them "without merit." "The press was informed of these baseless conclusions before Mr Moonves, further damaging his name, reputation, career and legacy," attorney Andrew Levander said in a statement. "Mr Moonves vehemently denies any nonconsensual sexual relations and cooperated extensively and fully with investigators." While the investigation found that harassment and retaliation were "not pervasive at the network," it also uncovered previous incidents of "improper and unprofessional conduct." "The company's historical policies, practices and structures have not reflected a high institutional priority on preventing harassment and retaliation," CBS said, citing the probe. It said investigators found that "inadequate" resources had been allocated to human resources, training and development, diversity and inclusion. "Employees also cited past incidents in which HR and the company did not hold high performers accountable for their conduct and protect employees from retaliation," CBS added. But the network said it had already implemented corrective measures, naming a new "chief people officer" responsible for human resources and retaining outside expert advisors "to develop other initiatives for promoting a workplace culture of dignity, transparency, respect and inclusion." CBS has also seen other harassment claims. On Friday, it confirmed having paid $9.5 million to actress Eliza Dushku, who was written off the script of the series "Bull" after complaining of harassment by the lead actor. Les Moonves won't receive a severance package from CBS after sexual misconduct claims forced him out from his post as chairman and CEOHatred whipped up by "unscrupulous politicians" has contributed to the shocking rise in the number of journalists murdered in 2018, a media watchdog said Tuesday. Eighty journalists have been killed worldwide so far this year -- most notably the Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi -- with 348 in jail and 60 more held hostage, according to figures from Reporters Without Borders (RSF). "Violence against journalists has reached unprecedented levels this year, and the situation is now critical," said the organisation's head, Christophe Deloire. "The hatred of journalists sometimes very openly proclaimed by unscrupulous politicians, religious leaders and businessmen... has been reflected in this disturbing increase," he said. RSF did not directly point the finger at US President Donald Trump, who regularly rails against journalists and has branded some "enemies of the people". But Deloire said "expressions of hatred legitimise violence, thereby undermining journalism and democracy itself." - US joins blacklist - The US also became the fifth deadliest country in the world for reporters in 2018 after the shooting of five people at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Maryland in June. Afghanistan was the most dangerous country for journalists, with 15 killed including AFP's Shah Marai, followed by Syria with 11 deaths and Mexico with nine. Deloire said the hate stirred up against journalists is "amplified by social networks, which bear heavy responsibility in this regard." "Murders, imprisonment, hostage-taking and enforced disappearances have all increased," he said, with the death toll of professional journalists up 15 percent after three years of a falling casualty rate. "Journalists have never before been subjected to as much violence and abusive treatment as in 2018," Deloire said. The murders of Khashoggi in the Saudi embassy in Istanbul and the young Slovak data journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend "highlighted the lengths to which press freedom's enemies are prepared to go," he said. Khashoggi's murder in October caused an international outcry and showed the extremes to which "some people will go to silence 'troublesome' journalists", RSF said. More than half of the journalists killed were deliberately targeted, the other 31 were caught in violence. The RSF report said the number of non-professionals killed almost doubled from seven in 2017 to 13 this year. It said citizen journalists now played a key role in helping get news from countries at war or with oppressive regimes, "where it is hard for professional journalists to operate." The overall toll does not include 10 deaths of media workers that the RSF said it was still investigating. - China, Turkey worst jailers - China continues to be the world's top jailer of journalists, the report said, with 60 behind bars, 46 of them non-professional bloggers, some of whom are held in "inhuman conditions for nothing more than a post on social networks." The report also condemned "Turkey's despotic regime" for the "Kafkaesque trials in which journalists are accused of terrorism on the basis of a single word or phone contact." With 33 journalists behind bars, it has more professional reporters incarcerated than any other country despite a fall in the number in prison. The sentencing of three journalists aged 65, 68 and 74 to "aggravated life sentences... under the severest form of isolation, with no possibility of a temporary release or a pardon" was inhuman, it added. Egypt and Iran also made the blacklist of the worst offenders with 38 and 28 reporters and bloggers in prison respectively. The RSF condemned Egypt for the opaqueness of its military justice system, saying 30 reporters in detention had not been tried and others are still held even after the courts ordered their release. Eighty journalists have been killed worldwide so far this year -- most notably the Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi (C) -- with 348 in jail and 60 more held hostage, according to RSF Violence against journalists around the world, according to the latest report from Reporters Without BordersAn elderly man was devastated after his best friend, a beloved fox terrier cross, was put down after the pair were set upon by a pack of dogs.

Jim Morgan, 95, had been walking his pet Sandy near his home on Sunday morning in Kaikohe, on New Zealands north island, when half a dozen dogs grabbed Sandy by his shoulder and back leg, the New Zealand Herald reports.

At first it was thought Sandy might be able to survive the injuries if his leg was amputated, but the dog was put down on Monday morning.

Mr Morgan, who is described as nearly blind, was knocked to the ground during the attack and sustained bruising, but is now grieving the loss of his closest companion.

He would take Sandy, who was 12, for a number of walks each day.

A pack of dogs grabbed onto the elderly mans pet by a rear leg and shoulder. The dog could not survive its injuries and had to be put down. Source: Newshub

The pack of dogs had been off-leash at the time of the attack, according to the New Zealand Herald.

It is believed they were being exercised by a man who had been riding a blue quad bike.

A disabled neighbour had heard a noise like dogs hunting, so she got on her mobility scooter and went outside where she saw Mr Morgan on the ground surrounded by the pack, Newshub reports.

But she could not assist him so she called another neighbour named Cynthia Moran.

By the time my husband got there the dogs had gone and Jim had got himself up, Ms Moran told the New Zealand Herald.

We took him home, called police and animal control, then took them to the after-hours vet in Kerikeri.

Ms Moran said the elderly man lived for his dog and she had to pass on the devastating news that his beloved pet would not make it.

I just put my arms around him and I hugged him, and I told him he had to let Sandy go, Ms Moran told Newshub.

A Brazilian court has heard for the first time from the man accused of killing Sydney businesswoman Cecilia Haddad.

Mario Marcelo Santoro had his chance to explain why he returned to Rio de Janeiro just as his ex-lovers body was found in the Lane Cove River.

He claimed the trip had been booked in advance but took it earlier than planned because his father was sick.

Answering questions from his lawyer, he said at his pre-trial that he left Australia because he missed his children and wanted to see his ill father.

Mario Marcelo Santoro, left, is accused of the murder of Sydney businesswoman Cecilia Haddad, right. Source: 7News/AAP

Police in Australia and Brazil claim Santoro stalked and strangled Cecilia, but the brief of evidence that Sydney detectives sent to Rio just weeks ago has not been tendered yet.

The defence must join the evidence from Australia, defence lawyer Dr Mauricio Eduardo Mayr said.

That has not been attached to the case yet.

The defence is pushing to have the murder case moved to Brazils Federal Court because the crime happened in Australia.

Police in Australia and Brazil claim Santoro stalked and strangled Cecilia, his former lover. Source: 7News

If successful, it could see Santoro freed on bail.

While three judges consider that application, the court allowed the accused killer to call his family.

Ive been with him in the cells and telephoned his daughters, Dr Mayr said.

He spoke with the girls, he cried a lot.

It was an act of mercy from the judge. Its very unusual.

Santoro will be back in court in February.The trial of an Indonesian woman accused of assassinating the North Korean leader's half-brother was put on hold Tuesday due to a row over witness statements, the latest delay in the case. Siti Aisyah from Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam have been on trial for over a year, accused of murdering Kim Jong Nam by smearing nerve agent VX on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport. The brazen assassination in February last year shocked the world but the women have denied murder, saying they believed they were taking part in a prank and were tricked by North Korean agents. The women, in their 20s, went on trial together in October 2017 but proceedings have moved slowly due to the large numbers of witnesses and the fact hearings are held infrequently. The defence stage of Aisyah's trial had originally been due to begin in November but was delayed to January after her main lawyer fell ill. And on Tuesday proceedings in Aisyah's case were temporarily halted when the High Court refused to grant her lawyers access to some witness statements, and they decided to appeal. Huong's trial is due to resume in March and the court will rule Friday whether it will go ahead, or be put on hold with Aisyah's. The prosecution stage of the trial, during which the women appeared for hearings together, wrapped up in August. The defence parts of their trials will be held separately. Aisyah's lawyer Gooi Soon Seng said the witness statements were "essential" for the defence and he would appeal the ruling -- a process that could take months. "Without (the statements) there would be a real miscarriage of justice. It would compromise our case," he told reporters at the court in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur. The seven statements are from witnesses including people who drove Kim Jong Nam around in Malaysia and acquaintances of Aisyah. Prosecutors have refused to hand them over, arguing they should not be made public. Under current laws, the women will be sentenced to death by hanging if convicted of murdering the estranged relative of the North's leader, Kim Jong Un. Malaysia's new government, which took power in May, has vowed to abolish capital punishment for all crimes, although parliament still needs to vote on the change. Siti Aisyah is one of two women accused of murdering Kim Jong Nam by smearing nerve agent VX on his face at Kuala Lumpur airportAfter Auburn won a $10 million grant this year to revitalize its downtown, the region received more good news Tuesday: Central New York earned top performer honors at the state Regional Economic Development Council awards ceremony in Albany.

The Central New York Regional Economic Development Council will receive $88.2 million to fund 91 projects in Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga and Oswego counties. It's the largest award given to any of the 10 regional councils in the 2018 installment of the eight-year-old contest.

Over the past eight years, central New York has won more than $1 billion in state funding to support hundreds of projects in the five-county region. The total includes $500 million through the Upstate Revitalization Initiative, a separate competition held in 2015.

With the most recent win, the millions in state aid will support dozens of projects, including 17 in Cayuga County. Keith Titus Corporation, a trucking company in Brutus, will use in $1.2 million in state funding to establish a driver training center and open a health and wellness center for truckers. Cayuga Community College will receive a $1 million grant for a new workforce development center. A $150,000 grant will help the city of Auburn develop a marketing plan for the new Equal Rights Heritage Center.

CCC President Brian Durant expressed excitement that the college will be able to advance its project.

"This initiative will enhance and streamline workforce development services by bringing related agencies together at one location where they can better serve employers and the greater Cayuga County community," Durant said.

REDC Awards Here is a list of each region and how much they won at the regional economic development council awards ceremony Tuesday:  Central New York: $88.2 million  Mid-Hudson: $87.1 million  Finger Lakes: $86.5 million  Mohawk Valley: $85.4 million  New York City: $84.4 million  Long Island: $68.3 million  Capital Region: $67 million  Western New York: $66 million  Southern Tier: $65.4 million  North Country: $64.8 million

Before central New York's award was announced, a brief video was shown that featured clips of downtown Auburn and highlighted the opening of the Equal Rights Heritage Center. The $10 million facility opened in November.

The video also showcased businesses in the Syracuse area and the improvements at the New York State Fairgrounds.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who attended the awards ceremony alongside Empire State Development President Howard Zemsky, lauded the regional councils and Gov. Andrew Cuomo's economic development strategy. She recalled the struggles upstate faced when manufacturing plants closed and many areas suffered significant job losses.

"We felt the pain," she said. "But we also know what a comeback feels like."

Hochul singled out the benefits of the state's Downtown Revitalization Initiative. Auburn is one of 30 communities that have been awarded $10 million to improve downtown corridors.

She likened the Downtown Revitalization Initiative to the Academy Awards. With the $10 million grants, the communities "are now changed forever," she added.

Hochul and Zemsky handled the emcee and speaking duties at the ceremony. Cuomo, who appeared at every ceremony during the first seven years of the competition, was in New York City Tuesday. There were no public events on his schedule.

More than $763.1 million was awarded to the 10 regions. Along with central New York, the Finger Lakes, Mid-Hudson, Mohawk Valley and New York City were top performer award winners. Top performer winners receive a larger total than the five losing regions. The regions won between $85.4 to $88.2 million.

The Capital Region, Long Island, North Country, Southern Tier and western New York received between $64.8 and $68.3 million to fund projects.

"Some of you have been involved in this process since day one and you should be extremely proud of what you have accomplished," Zemsky said.

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

Love 5 Funny 2 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 1Consumers will receive refunds  and potentially free HBO or Showtime  after Charter/Spectrum reached a record settlement with New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood.

The $174.2 million settlement followed a consumer fraud investigation and lawsuit filed by the attorney general's office last year. Charter/Spectrum was accused of defrauding internet customers by failing to provide internet speeds the company pledged to deliver to its subscribers.

Charter/Spectrum also leased deficient modems and wireless routers to subscribers. The equipment, Underwood's office said, didn't deliver the internet speeds customers were promised.

The hefty settlement includes $62.5 million in direct refunds to consumers, which is believed to be the largest payout from an internet service provider to consumers in U.S. history. More than 700,000 active Charter/Spectrum subscribers will receive a share of the settlement. They will each receive between $75 and $150, according to a news release.

"This settlement should serve as a wake-up call to any company serving New York consumers: Fulfill your promises, or pay the price," Underwood said.

The settlement terms outline how the refunds will be paid out. Charter/Spectrum will pay $75 to each of the more than 700,000 active subscribers who leased an inadequate modem or wireless router, or subscribed to a Time Warner Cable legacy speed plan of 100 Megabits or higher.

Charter acquired Time Warner Cable in 2016. The purchase created the second-largest internet service provider in the U.S.

Charter/Spectrum will pay an additional $75 to approximately 150,000 subscribers who had an inadequate modem for at least two years.

The settlement requires the company to inform subscribers of their eligibility and disburse the refunds within 120 days. Subscribers who have already received refunds for inadequate modems won't be eligible for additional payments.

The refunds won't be the only relief provided to consumers. Charter/Spectrum will be required to offer either three free months of HBO or six free months of Showtime to subscribers receiving cable television and internet service. Active internet subscribers will receive a free month of Spectrum TV Choice service, which provides access to broadcast TV channels and 10 cable networks, and a free month of Showtime.

Charter/Spectrum has made improvements to its network, replaced modems and upgraded wireless routers since the attorney general's investigation commenced.

The company is also required to adopt reforms to its business and marketing practices. One of the major changes is describing internet speeds in promotional materials as "wired" and informing consumers that wireless speeds may vary.

As outlined in the settlement, Charter/Spectrum will be prohibited from making unsubstantiated claims about internet speeds for streaming, the reliability of its service and availability of wireless internet speed.

Charter/Spectrum must provide consumers with new equipment if the current modem or router is inadequate, and the company must train customer service representatives about factors that may affect internet speeds.

"We are pleased to have reached a settlement with the attorney general on the issue of certain Time Warner Cable advertising practices in New York prior to our merger, and to have put this litigation behind us," Charter/Spectrum said in a statement Tuesday.

Love 2 Funny 5 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 2Last month, AVN.com reported on an Australian professional wrestler, Dave Marshall, who is gay and who in addition to his profession as a grappler, produces his own gay porn videos for the site OnlyFans, which allows its users to upload and offer their homemade sex videos to any fan willing to pay a nominal fee to view them.

With Marshall, his homegrown porn gig was also a way to do some good in honor of his father, who committed suicide last year. Marshall donated about the equivalent of $3,600 in United States currency to the LGBTQ suicide-prevention charity Beyond Blue.

But thats when Marhsall, 29, got a rather unpleasant surprise. The charity rejected his donation, according to a report by Gay Star News. When reports surfaced of Marshalls intention to donate his OnlyFans income to Beyond Blue, he got a call from the charity.

The suicide prevention charity told Marshall they cannot accept his donations because they come from activities such as gambling, alcohol and pornography, reported Gay Star News, which examined an email exchange between Marshall and the charity. They say he used Beyond Blues name to promote the sale of products that he offers in the field of pornography.

Marshall said he was stunned when he received the call.

To me, money is money. It came from the heart, he said in a Gay Star News interview. He said that the site offered to keep the money as a personal donation as long as Marshall never mentioned that was donating to Beyond Blue, but that option did not work for the wrestler.

I dont want to be quiet about what Im doing. So it wasnt the charity for me, Marshall said.

Instead, Marshall took back his donation from Beyond Blueand donated the cash instead to Black Dog, a mental health charity, which he says accepted the cash with no issues. In fact, Marshall doubled the amount of his donation.

They are another of the bigger ones in Australia, Marshall said. As my father was one of the main factors in the choice of charity, its quite fitting.

Photo by Dave Marshall InstagramThe Japanese Times BY KUNI MIYAKE (Excerpt: read on Japanese education for Egyptian kids?)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi shake hands in Tokyo before starting a meeting on Feb. 29, 2016. The leaders announced their joint partnership on education during el-Sissi's visit. | KYODO

But to tell the truth, the city I really wanted to visit this time was Cairo because it was the first foreign city I visited as a diplomat. I came to Egypt in 1979 for my linguistic training, but it was almost torture for me to study Arabic in English at the American University in Cairo as neither was my native language.

I had a chance to walk around the center of downtown Cairo as I did 40 years ago, taking in the noise on the streets, drivers greetings by honking, and the scent of the city. As I expected, Cairo hadnt changed a bit, even after the 2011 revolution and 2013 counter-revolution. Egypt has been and will be the eternal gift of the Nile River.

Why hasnt Egypt changed much, even though many younger Egyptians have since 2011 dreamed of a freer, more democratic and more prosperous Egypt? Why hasnt the economy of now-democratic Tunisia not grown, like Japans, the way they wanted? The latter question was one that I was asked by a university student in Tunis.

My answer was cruel. I said, To make your capitalism succeed, your people need to be able to do the same things at the same time in the same manner with the same quality. Thats what Japan, South Korea and Taiwan did with their education. That is the only way in capitalism to concentrate capital and labor for growth.

The student was silent probably because Tunisian education system is so different from that of Japan. I regretted my answer since I was afraid such an idea may not be accepted in the Arab world. I was pleased, however, to find this wasnt true when I arrived in Cairo and learned that the Egyptians are trying to change their education system.

When Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi visited Japan in 2016, I was told, he insisted that Egypt and Japan should work closely together on educational partnerships by implementing the Egypt Japan Education Partnership (EJEP) in which Egypt introduces Japanese-style educational concepts into its education system.

In Egypt, EJEP encompasses not only early childhood and basic education, but also technical and higher education. In this ambitious program, the Egyptian elementary and secondary school kids are taught under the Japanese concept of whole child development, also known as tokkatsu, or special activities in Japan.

Can you imagine kids in Cairo study at a Japanese-style school to develop academic, social, emotional as well as physical skills by encouraging team work or creative thinking, or by unique Japanese practices such as cleaning the classrooms together or assigning students to be class leader for the day?

Each nation has its own educational philosophy. Japan seems to focus on social harmony while ensuring that each members individual values are duly protected. In this regard, the implementation of EJEP does not mean that el-Sissi is interested in introducing military-style discipline in Egyptian education.

An Egyptian visitor to Tokyo once said that the Japanese are a walking Quran. One time he saw an elderly Japanese lady waiting to cross a road at midnight. She had stopped at the crosswalk because the crosswalk light was red, even though there was no traffic, and nobody was watching her. El-Sissi might have heard this story somewhere.

Rome was not built in a day, and we should not expect that the Egyptian kids will soon start behaving like their Japanese counterparts. However, if some of them start cleaning public places together or doing community services in their neighborhoods, that could trigger a revolution in the social behavior of Egyptian youth.

There is another story about education and Arabs. A rich, young Arab student in a gulf state decided to study in the United States and went to the U.S. embassy. When the consul asked him to submit application forms, he told the consul, Why should I do it? Isnt that what you are here for?

This was not a joke. It was a true story. The Arab student may never learn anything important in life because nobody learns anything unless he or she is willing to learn from others. Proper education, however, may change the way people live their lives. Egypt and other Arab countries are no exception.

Japanese-style education for Egyptian kids just started. Recognizing the programs importance and its responsibility, the Japanese government  especially the Japan International Cooperation Agency  has been doing its best to make this ambitious joint project successful. May Allah bless the Egyptian children!

Kuni Miyake is president of the Foreign Policy Institute and research director at Canon Institute for Global Studies.High Wind Warning, Surf Warnings Continue on Oregon Coast; Floods in Portland (Video)

Published 12/18/2018 at 3:09 AM PDT - Updated 12/18/2018 at 3:59 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff





(Oregon Coast)  Dangerous storm surges, closed beaches and howling wind gusts around 80 mph or more on some headlands were recorded Monday along the Oregon coast, and more is likely through the middle part of Tuesday. Even more big waves are coming again this week. (Photo above: Tiffany Boothe of Seaside Aquarium caught the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse on Monday getting thoroughly battered by waves. Also see the video at bottom).

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a high surf warning and a high wind warning for the coast, along with a flood watch for that area as well as much as the inland state such as Portland or the Gorge.

This high surf warning remains in effect until this morning when it expires at 6 a.m. Waves as high as 30 feet may have hit the beaches overnight, and there have been eye-raising reports and video all day Monday of massive storm surges already.

The NWS said there will be a day of calmer waters and surf  but not by much and not for long.

Looking ahead, expect a brief lull in between systems for about 24 hours late Tuesday night into Wednesday evening, but the next front will arrive in the outer coastal waters late Wednesday night, the NWS said. Forecast models diverge a bit, but regardless expect seas to again build to 20 feet, perhaps up to 25 feet, and possible southerly gales by early Thursday.

Out to sea, combined seas are expected to reach 30 feet on Thursday, but its unknown if that could change the height of the surf coming onto land that day. On Friday, combined seas are predicted at 15 feet then rising again on Saturday to 21 feet.

A high wind warning remains in effect for the coastal beaches through noon on Tuesday. South winds of 30 to 40 mph per hour are expected in the communities with gusts up to 70 mph. On beaches and headlands, gusts up to 80 mph are quite possible again.

Even higher gusts are expected at elevated and exposed capes such as Cape Foulweather and Sea Lion Caves, the NWS said.

Winds greatly subside by Tuesday night, softening to not much more than 15 mph or less through the rest of the week.

There is a flood watch in effect through Wednesday afternoon for the Oregon coast, as well as for the Portland metro area, southern Washington, Columbia Gorge, and I-5 towns like Woodburn and Salem.

The NWS said long periods of moderate rain are in store for those, alternating with heavy inundations on occasion. Sharp rises on many rivers and creeks are expected on Tuesday morning. A total of 2.5 to 5 inches of rain are expected along the Oregon coast during this period.

Oregon Coast Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours

More Resources: See the Oregon Coast Web Cams. See Oregon Coast Weather. See Oregon Coast Oceanfront Hotels to watch the waves











Photo below: Tiffany Boothe, Seaside Aquarium. Video also courtesy Boothe







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Guest Post By Dr. William Oliver Hedgepeth

Faculty Member, Transportation and Logistics Management, American Public University

General Motors Corporation made headlines recently when it announced it was planning to close or alter production at five auto plants in the U.S. and Canada and lay off as many as 14,000 workers.

GM is abandoning many of its car models and [restructuring] to cut costs and focus more on autonomous and electric vehicles, the Associated Press explained. Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are dependent on Artificial Intelligence to function.

Writing in Techemergence, Daniel Faggella says defining Artificial Intelligence (AI) is difficult due to the various interpretations of what is intelligence. However, Merriam-Webster defines AI as a branch of computer science dealing with the simulation of intelligent behavior in computers and as the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior.

The words simulation and imitate are critical to understanding todays AV research and its return on investment (ROI). After all, we could be describing a robot when we talk about simulating or imitating human behavior.

However, the robot behind AVs consists of smart software, databases and network connections to the Internet of Things (IoT). All are meant to simulate or imitate human behavior behind the wheel of a vehicle or at the control system of a drone.

There are many advantages to autonomous vehicles. The advent of AVs will have multiple advantages. They include:

Automatic Braking and Reduction of Crashes

Several newer automobile models can automatically stop the vehicle before it strikes a parked car or the vehicle ahead that suddenly slows or stops. That is a safety feature that should be welcomed by the National Transportation Safety Board, traffic safety experts, and the police.

Driver Rest Opportunities

Fatigued drivers are prone to collisions. In an AV, the driver could doze during long commutes to and from work, drink a cup of coffee, or even read a newspaper. That driver might also check on email messages or text colleagues  if current state laws against texting while driving are changed. Currently, text messaging while driving is banned in 47 states.

Pollution Reduction

AVs could join electric car models and be powered by batteries, which would eliminate the pollution caused by burning gasoline. In fact, there would be no need at all for a muffler and other fuel systems on electric driverless vehicles; another boon for the environment.

Health Maintenance

AVs could improve health. Under normal circumstances, not having to actually drive could reduce current highway stress and perhaps assist in running persistent errands. In fact, driverless vehicles are already being used to deliver food in Japan and China.

The Negatives of AVs

While AVs have their advantages, there would also be some disadvantages that would need to be overcome, for example:

Proper Safety Programming

An AV might be a safer alternative than having a human behind the wheel. But even humans who know the rules of the road still sometimes fail to stop for a school bus, a stop sign or a traffic light turning red.

AVs would have to be programmed to obey visual highway instructions and know how to distinguish among them. Until all vehicles are AV and talk to one another electronically, accidents will continue to occur. Also, would an AV recognize and understand the perils of black ice on a highway or standing water in the road?

Obsolete Auto Parts

A modest downside of AVs would be the loss of tangential businesses. If AVs have no mufflers, for example, then manufacturing them would be redundant. Also, if AVs are able to talk to one another, there would be no need to equip cars with turn signals. Automakers are already modifying vehicles, manufacturing equipment and processes for hybrid cars, all of which affect their supply chains. There would need to be considerable retooling for AVs.

Who Is Doing Research into AVs?

Across the country, research into AVs and drone technology is ongoing. The Center for Innovative Technology, the Department of Aviation and the Autonomous Systems Center of Excellence are just three of the research facilities in Virginia.

Arm is another organization advancing the science and practical use of AVs. It is a research and development organization pursuing innovative ideas that range from new ways to use the Cloud to the Internet of Things (IoT).

Uber Technologies, Inc. is patenting a host of AVs and drones to deliver goods to your home or office. For example, Uber is working to create a meal delivery service, UberEats, to send meals to users within five to 30 minutes of an online order.

Amazon is experimenting with the use of drones to deliver its hundreds of thousands of daily orders faster to your doorstep.

Advances in Robot Technology

Robots today are more autonomous than ever. According to The Wall Street Journal, robots have been developed that resemble snakes, lizards, and other animals and insects. These small robots are more than just cute toys. They are being used for disaster relief and recovery missions and are designed to work without human intervention or connection to a central control station.

A snake robot, for example, was used in a 2017 earthquake in Mexico City. The robotic snake went into the cracks and holes of a collapsed building to look for trapped victims who may still be alive.

Switzerlands Biorobotics Laboratory has built four-legged creatures that can move on water and land. The lab has also built amphibious robots.

Carnegie Mellons Robotics Academy in Pittsburgh is another leader in robotics. It is part of their STEM curriculum, where students study and research the cultural implications of using robots as well as building robots.

The University of Pennsylvania has developed a six-legged robot called RHex that appears to be useful walking on sand without getting stuck, as a truck or vehicle might.

The AV industry is affecting segments of society in ways that will improve our lifestyles, safety, and security.

Artificial intelligence has become a foundation for almost all aspects of our daily lives, whether we are working or playing.

About the Author

Dr. Oliver Hedgepeth is a full-time professor at American Public University (APU). He was the program director of three academic programs: Reverse Logistics Management, Transportation and Logistics Management and Government Contracting. He was Chair of the Logistics Department at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Dr. Hedgepeth was the founding Director of the Armys Artificial Intelligence Center for Logistics.In the Ozarks, a Missouri court ordered a poacher to watch the movie "Bambi" over and over again as part of his sentence for a criminal scheme to illegally kill hundreds of deer.

From KansasCity.com

David Berry Jr. was ordered to watch the Disney classic at least once a month during his year-long jail sentence in what conservation agents have called one of the largest deer poaching cases in state history, the Springfield News-Leader reports.

"The deer were trophy bucks taken illegally, mostly at night, for their heads, leaving the bodies of the deer to waste," said Don Trotter, the prosecuting attorney in Lawrence County.

Berry, his father, two brothers and another man who helped them had their hunting, fishing and trapping privileges revoked temporarily or permanently. The men have paid a combined $51,000 in fines and court costs  but the judge ordered a special addition to Berry's sentence for illegally taking wildlife.

Court records show he was ordered by Lawrence County Judge Robert George to "view the Walt Disney movie Bambi, with the first viewing being on or before December 23, 2018, and at least one such viewing each month thereafter" while at the county jail.Flynn pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges, and is set to be sentenced on Tuesday.

On the eve of former Trump aide Michael Flynn's sentencing on felony charges, special counsel Robert Mueller has released a January 2017 FBI memo that details an interview with Flynn by agent Peter Strzok and another FBI agent.

Here is a PDF copy shared by USA Today.

In the interview described in the SCO memo, Flynn President Donald Trump's national security adviser at the time  lied about his contact with Russia's Ambassador to the United States at that time, Sergey Kislyak.

Flynn, writes Mueller, "does not need to be warned it is a crime to lie to federal agents to know the importance of telling them the truth."

This will be big.

Judge in Flynn case says that the memo, written by FBI agents following their interview with Michael Flynn at the White House, should be made public, with some redactions allowed, and will be relevant at his sentencing. This memo had only been filed under seal.  Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) December 17, 2018

From the Daily Beast's synopsis:

The document, dated February 2017, recounts Flynn's conversation with FBI agents at the White House in January of that year. The notes state that agents asked Flynn if he remembered asking Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak to refrain from retaliating against President Obama's expulsion of Russian diplomats for meddling in the 2016 election. Flynn responded by saying, "Not really. I don't remember. It wasn't 'Don't do anything.'" Agents also asked Flynn if he asked Russia and other countries to vote down a pending U.N. resolution condemning Israeli settlements and Flynn claimed the calls were only polling about "where countries would stand on a vote" and not an attempt to sway them. Mueller's office later charged Flynn with lying to the FBI on both counts. He pleaded guilty and is set to be sentenced on Tuesday.

You can read the entire document here.

On the eve of Michael Flynn's sentencing hearing tomorrow, the judge has ordered Mueller's office to publicly file a redacted version of the 302 (interview notes) that an FBI agent prepared after Flynn's Jan. 24, 2017 interview  the one he later admitted lying at pic.twitter.com/4RhdGvZrwF  Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) December 17, 2018

One of Flynn's lies described in the memo, came in response to the agents asking him about the US's expulsion of Russians.

He was asked if he had encouraged Kislyak not to retaliate. "Flynn responded, 'Not really. I don't remember.' It wasn't, 'Don't do anything,'" Flynn said.  Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) December 18, 2018

From the memo: "Flynn again stated that he appreciated the interviewing agents reminding him that he had another conversation with Kislyak."  Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) December 18, 2018

Here are the FBI's original reports on agents' interview of former national security adviser Mike Flynn. He's scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow. https://t.co/P3pKnZN7Lc  Brad Heath (@bradheath) December 18, 2018

That's the consensus now, but at the time, his calls had been publicly reported by @IgnatiusPost and there was lots of public discussion about whether he violated the Logan Act. Valid or not, he might very well have been concerned about it. https://t.co/vKwkHCyTFz  Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) December 18, 2018

Imagine what the FBI agents thought as they were in the middle of an explosive CI investigation that included Flynn and he lies to them?  Adam Goldman (@adamgoldmanNYT) December 18, 2018

The statement of offense Flynn pleaded guilty says: FLYNN called the Russian Ambassador and requested that Russia not escalate the situation and only respond to the U.S. Sanctions in a reciprocal manner.  Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) December 18, 2018

Indictments of Flynn business partners Bijan Kian and Ekim Alptekin are here https://t.co/iN3Nw0HfZ0  Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) December 17, 2018

I asked @Comey today to respond to criticism that the FBI interview of Flynn was not done properly. "Oh come on. Think about what's happening in the Republican Party. They're up here attacking the FBI's investigation of a guy who pled guilty to lying to the FBIThat's nonsense"  Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 18, 2018Lock him up.

Donald Trump's disgraced former national security advisor Gen. Michael Flynn went to court today to be sentenced for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Sergei Kislyak, the former Russian ambassador to the United States.

Flynn's sentencing will be delayed, to give him time to finish fully cooperating with federal prosecutors.

Judge Sullivan repeated a statement that he will not make any promises about no jail time when it comes time to deliver Flynn's sentence.

In the Washington courtroom, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan pressed Flynn and his attorneys aggressively during the hearing about the guilty plea, and his interactions with the FBI.

Prosecutors say Flynn may continue to help the government in ongoing investigations.

The judge began by basically calling bullshit on the last-minute court filings by Flynn's defense teams last week, which implied the former general was entrapped into lying by crooked FBI agents.

This was a bogus implication, and Judge Sullivan was not pleased.

The judge queried Flynn and his team, point by point, essentially asking them if they wanted to relitigate that part of the legal process  the FBI part.

In response, Flynn told the judge, "I was aware that lying to the FBI was a crime."

"Are you continuing to accept responsibility for your false statements," Judge Sullivan asked.

"I am, your honor," said Flynn.

Trump began the day of his former National Security Advisor's trial by wishing Flynn 'good luck.'

Not a good look for Individual-1.

After a series of interrogations from the judge, and responses from Flynn and attorneys, Judge Sullivan asks one final time, and still sounding skeptical:

"If you want to proceed because you are guilty of this offense"

Flynn replies that he is, and says wants to proceed.

Sullivan accepts Flynn's guilty plea.

One of many reasons this judge appears to be pissed  the utter gall of Mike Flynn, whom the judge says "sold our country out." Here is the infamous TheHill.com op-ed Michael Flynn secretly wrote on behalf of Turkey, while working in the Trump campaign. It was published *on election day* in the United States.

After pausing to review the plea agreement documents, judge Sullivan talks about Flynn's crime as a "very serious offense"  a high ranking government official lying to the FBI, and committing this offense "while on the physical premises of the White House."

Mueller prosecutor Brandon van Grack then haltingly speaks to Sullivan  van Grack says that it is a "possibility" that Flynn is still cooperating with the office of special counsel Robert Mueller.

(Um, yeah he is.)

Prosecutor Van Grack then tells the judge Flynn provided "substantial assistance" in that Turkey case announced yesterday, involving his work as an unregistered agent of Erdogan's government. Prosecutor says Flynn could have been charged in connection with that case, had he not assisted.

Judge Sullivan is giving Flynn yet another chance to delay  now telling him it's his "prerogative" whether to move forward  because he hasn't necessarily finished offering helpful information to the government that might mitigate a sentence.  Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018

Sullivan repeats the phrase "very serious offense" to describe Flynn's crime "in the West Wing!" "The aggravating circumstances are serious," Sullivan says.  Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018

SULLIVAN WARNS FLYNN OF A PRISON SENTENCE: "You were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the National Security Adviser to the president! "Arguably, this undermines everything this flag over here stands for! Arguably, you sold your country out!"  Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018

This is the part of the hearing where Sullivan gets super saucy.

Judge Sullivan says, "I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain, for this criminal offense."

He gives Flynn the chance to delay until he's finished cooperating.

Sullivan says he "can't promise anything" about the sentence he's about to hand down.

(In judge vibes, this means I AM GOING TO SEND YOU TO PRISON, maybe cooperate some more first, buddy, because I'm not clear you have cooperated enough to merit your sorry ass not going to prison).

And then, another shocker. Judge Sullivan asks the special counsel office's prosecutors if they had considered prosecuting Flynn with treason.

DID FLYNN COMMIT TREASON? Sullivan is now asking the special counsel's office whether it ever considered charging Flynn with treason. Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack struggles to answer, saying it wasn't considered.  Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018

Judge Sullivan now prodding prosecutor Van Grack whether Flynn defense memo takes away from the credit he gets for taking responsibility.  Evan Perez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018

Judge asks for a brief recess. After 20 minutes, Flynn returns to the courtroom, where he sits quietly in his chair between his lawyers. Not smiling.

All wait a few minutes for Judge Sullivan to re-enter the courtroom.

Sullivan is then reported to be speaking with Flynn's lawyers to confirm that they want to proceed with sentencing today.

Recess over. Flynn Atty Rob Kelner tells judge Flynn shouldn't be punished for a filing his lawyers made.  Evan Perez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018

Judge Sullivan then returns to the bench. He begins with a clarification: he did not mean to suggest that Michael Flynn committed treason, rather he was asking prosecutors about treason to get a sense of Flynn's offenses.

"I was just curious."

Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack says the government had no reason to believe Flynn committed treason.

"I felt terrible about that," Sullivan then says, after the prosecutor adds that Flynn's conduct as a foreign agent ended in mid-November of 2016.

"I'm not suggesting he committed treason," Sullivan says, further apologizing for his remarks in the prior session.

Judge Sullivan is back on the bench, says he misspoke in suggesting Flynn was a foreign agent while in the White House. And also says he never meant to suggest that Flynn committed treason. He says not to read too much into the questions he asks  Eric Tucker (@etuckerAP) December 18, 2018

And then: a very loud pause.

Flynn's lawyer told the judge they're prepared to delay sentencing to allow Flynn to fully finish cooperating with the government, noting that they expect he'll be asked to testify in the EDVA case unsealed yesterday.

Michael Flynn's sentencing will be postponed to give him time to finish fully cooperating with federal prosecutors.

Judge Sullivan repeats the statement that he will not make any promises about no jail time when it comes time to deliver Flynn's sentence.

Above, that famous video of Flynn yelling "lock her up" at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

And below, more of the live tweets from reporters in the courtroom.

Judge Sullivan notes Lt Gen Flynn accepted responsibility but that defense memo focused largely on circumstances of Jan 2017 FBI interview. Judge says Flynn suggests he was unguarded in FBI interview because he wasn't warned about lying.  Evan Perez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018

Flynn tells judge he doesn't want to challenge circumstance of FBI interview. He says he was aware that lying to FBI was a crime.  Evan Perez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018

Flynn, flanked by his Covington & Burling lawyers, says he still wants to take responsibility for false statements. Flynn says he still wants to plead guilty.  Evan Perez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018

Under a series of questions from the judge, Flynn says _ his sentencing memo notwithstanding _ that he doesn't want to challenge the circumstances of his interview with the FBI. Lawyer Rob Kelner says he doesn't believe Flynn's rights were violated during the FBI interview  Eric Tucker (@etuckerAP) December 18, 2018

Flynn's attorney says the reason the sentencing memo argued that he wasn't told lying was a crime and that he didn't have an attorney was to argue that Flynn's case is different from others  like G. Papadopolis.  Ginger Gibson (@GingerGibson) December 18, 2018

Significantly, defense lawyer Rob Kelner says he made the points in the sentencing memo that he did to distinguish Flynn from other Mueller cases in which defendants were informed it was illegal to lie to the FBI AND were joined by lawyers but nonetheless lied anyway  Eric Tucker (@etuckerAP) December 18, 2018

Saying he's "puzzled" by the documents he's seen, Sullivan makes it explicitly clear he was concerned by the circumstances of the FBI interview, but Flynn and his attorneys are *repeatedly* declining the judge's offers to delay or steer the proceeding off course.  Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018

Sullivan now asks Flynn's attorney if he believes his client was entrapped by the FBI. "No, your honor," says the lawyer.  Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018

Judge is still probing, asking Flynn's attorneys: "My question is, how is raising those contentions about the circumstances [of the FBI interview] consistent with his acceptance of responsibility?"  Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018

Judge Sullivan is going thru defense filing, says it raised concerns about whether Flynn still wanted to plead guilty. Flynn lawyer Rob Kelner says they aren't contesting false statements guilty plea as a result of any misconduct by FBI.  Evan Perez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018

NEWS: Michael Flynn just deflated Trump's contention that he was duped into lying to FBI. "I was aware" that lying to FBI investigators was a crime when he did so over interactions with Russians, Flynn tells judge "I do not" seek to withdraw the plea, Flynn tells the judge.  Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 18, 2018

Judge Sullivan has sent Flynn and his attorneys back to their table. He says he wants to now go over Flynn's plea agreement and the facts that went into it.  Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018

Judge asking Flynn if he wants to postpone sentencing until AFTER his cooperation is totally done, warns him that if he's sentenced now won't take into account any future cooperation he offers and the credit he would be entitled to for it  Eric Tucker (@etuckerAP) December 18, 2018

I gotta tell you folks, this is pretty good drama. It's a shame federal courts have decided the public shouldn't be able to see this on television.  Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018

Judge Sullivan tells Flynn that serving as unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as National Security Adviser means "arguably you sold your country out." Judge says he can't hide his "my disgust, my disdain." Flynn and lawyers seemed stunned.  Evan Perez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018

This process usually is shorter when both prosecution and defense recommend no jail time. Flynn quietly says "yes your honor," as Judge Sullivan rails about "very serious offense" he has pleaded guilty to.  Evan Perez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Judge tells former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn: "Arguably you sold your country out." Also says he can't "hide my disgust, my disdain" for Flynn's criminal offense  Eric Tucker (@etuckerAP) December 18, 2018

If Flynn, a purported model cooperator, is not given full credit for his cooperation despite having pleaded guilty early on _ wonder how that might affect the incentives of other would-be cooperators to go "all in" on their own cooperation  Eric Tucker (@etuckerAP) December 18, 2018

Flynn has reentered the courtroom, after taking the judge up on his offer to confer with his lawyers before moving forward to sentencing. We're waiting on Judge Sullivan to come back.  Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018

STORY, Part I: A Federal Judge Told Michael Flynn "Arguably You Sold Your Country Out" At His Sentencing https://t.co/nYpHgHGuLe  Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) December 18, 2018

Judge Sullivan appears to have seen some coverage during court recess, so he wants to clarify: he isn't accusing Flynn of treason; and clarifies that Flynn's work for Turkey ended before he became national security adviser. The judge has clarified himself.  Evan Perez (@evanperez) December 18, 2018

Re: Flynn's arg his case is different from Mueller defendants who pleaded guilty to lying and went to jail, George Papadopoulos and Alex van der Zwaan, the judge says he doesn't think the cases are analogous  neither was a high-ranking govt official who lied in the White House  Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) December 18, 2018

Flynn's lawyer Robert Kelner argues that on the flip side, when Flynn decided to cooperate, he did so knowing that his status would send a message. Sullivan asks if they want to proceed to sentencing, Kelner asks for a moment, jokes that he's "building up to it"  Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) December 18, 2018

A SIGNAL  Judge Sullivan says he disagrees with the plea agreement that saw Gen. David Petraeus avoid felony charges.  Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018

Judge Sullivan repeats he won't make any promises when it comes time to deliver his sentence.  Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018

Sullivan concludes the proceedings by wishing the parties happy holidays. And this dizzying sentencing-hearing-that-wasn't ends at 12:57pmET.  Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018This funny South African ad depicts an African explorer discovering Europe in the 1650s, a counterfactual to the 1652 arrival in South Africa of the Dutch. But it's upsetting people there and fast food chain Chicken Licken has withdrawn it due to the complaints.

South African Sandile Cele lodged a complaint with the Advertising Regulatory Board, arguing that the commercial made a "mockery of the struggles of the African people against the colonisation by the Europeans in general, and the persecutions suffered at the hands of the Dutch in particular".

Upholding the complaint, the board said: "While the commercial seeks to turn the colonisation story on its head with Big John travelling to Europe, it is well-known that many Africans were in fact forced to travel to Europe in the course of the colonisation of Africa.

"They did not leave their countries and villages wilfully. They starved to death during those trips to Europe and arrived there under harsh and inhumane conditions."Charter-Spectrum has settled a lawsuit brought by the New York Attorney General that accused the company of defrauding New Yorkers through false advertising about the data-speeds they could expect from their plans (among other things, the AG accused Charter of supplying customers with modems that were too slow to attain the speeds they'd paid for).



The settlement, for $174.2 million, is the largest ever paid by a US ISP. $62.5m will be refunded to 700,000 customers in cash; and $110m will come in the form of free premium cable TV and streaming for 2.2 million customers.

Earlier this year, Charter was ordered to leave New York, selling off its cable holdings to someone less crooked; it has been begging for its life ever since. Presumably this settlement is an opportunity to buy some goodwill while avoiding the bad publicity that a trial would create.



Per the attorney general's office, that money will be distributed largely to customers who rented a modem or router from Spectrum, as well as customers subscribing to a legacy Time Warner Cable plan (from before Charter purchased the company) of 100 Mbps or higher. Customers who fit those categories will get $75 back, with an additional $75 to the roughly 150,000 customers who rented an inadequate modem for 24 months or more. As for the streaming and cable services, Charter will be giving all customers who subscribe to both cable and internet either three free months of HBO or six free months of Showtime. Internet-only customers will get a free month of Charter's Spectrum TV Choice streaming service and a free month of Showtime. If you're eligible for any of the above, expect to hear from Charter sometime in the next 120 days for more information.



Charter-Spectrum reaches $174.2 million settlement in New York AG's speed fraud lawsuit

[Chaim Gartenberg/The Verge]Haisam Elsharkawi is a US citizen of Egyptian descent who was travelling to Mecca in 2017 when he was pulled out the boarding line for his flight from LAX by CBP agents who demanded that he unlock his phones; when he refused and asked for a lawyer, he was handcuffed and taken to an interrogation room where he was questioned and bullied until he unlocked his phones; the CBP officers spent 15 minutes paging through his emails, making snarky remarks about his Amazon purchase history and how many unread emails he had, and then let him go.



He missed his flight and was not offered rebooking by Turkish Airlines. The CBP did not have a warrant to conduct the search.

Elsharkawi is suing the CBP. He's seeking damages and an order that the CBP will not conduct searches in this manner in the future.



Elsharkawi is now suing the US government, the Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, CBP commissioner Kevin McAleenan, and four of the agents who questioned him in 2017, seeking damages and an order that would prevent the government from performing this kind of search in the future. He and his lawyers argue that CBP and DHS violated the First Amendment, which protects religious freedom and freedom of speech, because his phone contained "expressive content and associational information." His lawsuit also argues that they breached the Fourth Amendment, which bars unreasonable searches and seizures, and the Fifth Amendment, which protects against self-incrimination. "The search of Mr. Elsharkawi's phone was not supported by any real suspicion of ongoing or imminent criminal activity and as such no basis for a search existed," Elsharkawi's lawyers, who defined the incident as "outrageous," argued in the complaint.

American Sues US Government For Allegedly Pressuring Him To Unlock His Phone at Airport [Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai|/Motherboard]- 20-year-old Maya Hughes has reconnected with a man identified as Tom Periello, that saved her life when she was just five

- According to the viral story, Hughes was living in Sierra Leone in 2003 when she suffered a medical emergency and needed to go back to the US

- Her mother unable to go with her, approached Perriello, a complete stranger, at the airport and asked him to accompany her daughter

PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Briefly.co.za News on your News Feed!

A story of a young lady identified as Maya Hughes and Tom Periello, has since gone viral on social media. According to the story narrated by Hughes, four months after she relocated to their home country, Sierra Leone in 2003, she fell ill and her mum decided to send her back to the US.

However, her mum, Zee Sesay, couldn't go with her and to make matters worse, she couldn't find anyone to go with a then 5-year-old Hughes and out of desperation, begged a stranger now identified as Tom Periello, who was on his way to US for a funeral.

Speaking with Buzzfeed, Sesay said she rushed to the airport and asked a ticket counter employee to point out anyone who was traveling to the US. "I walked over to this gentleman and asked if he could travel with Maya. At first he said no, saying he was traveling to the US for a funeral.

PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app

Maya Hughes Source: Twitter

After a while of trying to convince him to accompany the youngster to the US to meet her relatives in Maryland, he finally agreed.

"I stood by and watched the plane took off and not realizing I had handed my kid off to a complete stranger,' she said. It was adrenaline, I wasn't in the right state of mind and I wasn't thinking properly ... and that was the end of it. I never again saw this man" she told Buzzfeed.

Click to see the full Twitter thread:

READ ALSO: Malema and Shivambu question payment made into journalist's bank account

Hughe who shared the story on her Twitter account, revealed that they never got his name and so for the next 15 years, her mum tried to locate the Good Samaritan. She eventually got his name and discovered a family friend worked for him.

Hughes revealed that her mum emailed him and he remembered everything. The man identified as Tom Periello is a representative from Virginia who worked with former President Barack Obama's administration.

Reacting to the story shared by Hughes on Twitter, Periello wrote: "One of the craziest experiences of my entire life is now a Twitter thread - and I could not be happier to know you are shining bright, @_themayan_ !"

In an interview with Buzzfeed, Perriello had this to say: "It's an incredibly vivid memory that seems like something out of a movie. It just wasn't clear if it was a happy movie or a sad movie. One of the happier moments in my life was seeing Maya run into her grandmother's arms."

Hughes and Sesay both revealed they are hopeful that they will someday be able to meet Perriello in person.

Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLY's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news!

Source: Briefly.co.za- Chad has made it clear that he is not leaving Kelly, despite what haters have to say.

- He said that she is the best thing to ever happen to him and they are happy.

- The two have been through a lot, it is clear that their bond is stronger than most thought.

PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Briefly.co.za News on your News Feed!

Despite all the warnings Chad Da Don has received about Kelly Khumalo, he is staying with her and there really is nothing you can do about it. So, pray away haters, you not going to win this war.

Chad is not worried in the slightest about Kellys past, and all the murder superstitions. He is focusing on the now and their happiness is all that matters.

In an interview with the Daily Sun, Chad let it all out. The man is in love people, let him be.

Briefly.co.za learnt that Chad has warned people to leave Kelly alone. He made it clear that shes the best thing thats ever happened to him and hes not about to let haters ruin it.

Everyone has an opinion, and thats ok, but dont expect Chad to leave Kelly, because he does not care what you have to say, hes happy.

PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app.

Nothing and no one can come between us, stated Chad.

After Chad introduced Kelly to his family, and they loved her, he put a ring on it. Yup, Kelly and Chad are engaged.

We got engaged two weeks ago after dating for three months, he said.

READ ALSO: Stranded man thanks his heroes: 'I was in awe of who God is'

With all that the two have already been through, it is clear that their bond is strong. From racist comment to cheating allegations, they have conquered it all.

This so for real people, stop wasting your time and let the happy couple be. Everything will happen as it needs to.

Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLY's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news!

Source: Briefly.co.zaNews / National

by Staff reporter

President Emmerson Mnangagwa threw out the contentious motion to up the presidential age limit from 40 to 52 years that had been reverently pushed by the war veterans and the ruling party women's league.The Zanu PF national people's conference declined to adopt the constitutional amendment to sideline opposition leader Nelson Chamisa from contesting the presidential elections in 2023.In his speech, Mnangagwa said "the future belongs to the youths.""To the women's league, youths league and war veterans, you have made your resolutions that we have taken note of as a government and as a party," Mnangagwa said.Deputy Information minister Energy Mutodi said there were no takers for the war veterans demand."The resolution to increase minimum age limit for presidential aspirants from 40 years to 50 years was raised by the women's league and war veterans."However,  Mnangagwa removed the resolution from the list of decisions to be adopted by the conference and Advocate Jacob Mudenda read out conference resolutions without that one proposing the presidential age limit adjustment," Mutodi told the Daily News."We felt the resolution if it had been included would portray a bad picture to the world at a time we are seeking various ways of entrenching democracy and economic prosperity."Mnangagwa has enunciated a vision for Zimbabwe to achieve an upper middle-class economy by 2030 and it would be a paradox if his administration crafted laws that excluded the middle class itself from higher leadership posts in both the party and government."There is also a view that those proposing a new minimum age limit for the president could also be working behind the scenes to introduce a maximum limit and we feel this is a dangerous game," Mutodi said.Ahead of the Zanu PF conference, war veterans and the women's league moved a motion to have the conference push for the ruling party to use its supermajority in Parliament to raise the minimum age for presidential aspirants from the current 40 years to 52.Widely seen as targeted at MDC Alliance presidential candidate in the just-ended harmonised elections  40-year-old Nelson Chamisa  who was beaten by a razor-thin margin by Zanu PF candidate Mnangagwa, this planned constitutional amendment will most certainly dent the youthful opposition leader's presidential aspirations in the 2023 polls."(We) call upon the conference to ask Parliament to amend the age limit of those who can contest on the presidential election from the age of 40 to 52 so that ages for contesting (sic) will be as follows, council and MP, 18 years upwards, senator 40 years upwards, president 52 years upwards," said the statement read by secretary-general of the influential Zimbabwe Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) Victor Matemadanda.News / National

by Staff reporter

The Labour Court ruled on Friday that the ongoing strike by doctors was legal.The Court threw out an application in which the Health Services board (HSB) sought to have the strike deemed illegal.In its application, the HSB condemned the doctors' industrial action arguing that they are not supposed to strike as their services are essential.However, the Labour Court dismissed the application on a technicality.In its judgment whereby the Zimbabwe Hospitals Doctors Association (ZHDA) is cited as the respondent, the court ruled that HSB's application was prematurely handled."The matter having been prematurely set down before the papers were regularised, it be and is hereby struck off," Justice Euna Makamure ruled.According to ZHDA's lawyer Munyaradzi Gwisai, HSB filed the application at the Labour Court but did not serve it to the doctors' legal practitioners as is required."We did not know about the application filed by the HSB till yesterday (last Friday) when we went before the judge. The board was supposed to serve its application to us but it did not," Gwisai told the Daily News.Gwisai advised that government should instead come to terms with their employees' demands for progress' sake."I think the HSB should just come to terms with our client's concerns so as to move forward. It's not true that they are not entitled to strikes as Section 55 of the Zimbabwean Constitution gives them the right to do so," Gwisai said.The striking doctors are protesting the severe shortages of pharmaceutical drugs at public hospitals, the selling of available drugs in foreign currency by retail pharmacies, the poor state of the country's hospital infrastructure and their "falling" salaries which they now want the government to pay in foreign currency.Government recently ordered striking medical doctors to return to work, rejecting demands for salaries in US dollars, with the workers' union also becoming inflexible in their negotiations.Health and Child Care minister Obadiah Moyo said government has ruled out doctors' demands to be paid in US dollars and castigated them for misplaced priorities. He said the doctors must "return to work" while the two parties continue negotiations."On the payment of salaries in US dollars, naturally, Cabinet does not feel like that is the right way to go either. Is it a correct way to think, especially in an environment where the US dollar is scarce?" Moyo asked rhetorically.The minister said it sounds awkward for doctors to demand salaries in greenback instead of pushing for the availing of US dollars required to purchase drugs.The strike, which began earlier this month, has provoked anger among Zimbabweans and put pressure on President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government.The doctors' union, which has about 1 000 members, wants the government to implement a deal agreed way back to give them a pay rise, hike allowances and address drugs shortages in hospitals. "The doctors, who earn a basic monthly salary of about $385 before allowances, are also demanding a hike in on-call allowances by 25 percent to $10 an hour paid in cash.News / National

by Staff reporter

Zanu-PF bigwigs who gathered in Esigodini for their party's annual conference last week pleaded with President Emmerson Mnangagwa to act quickly and decisively to stem the country's worsening economic rot and corruption, in the interests of long-suffering Zimbabweans and social cohesion.In their end of conference resolutions at the weekend, which were read by politburo member Chris Mushowe, the gathered party heavyweights also urged the government to stop insisting that the US dollar and the country's surrogate currency, the bond, were equal - as they felt that this was harming the economy."There is a de facto exchange rate even though the government has said there is parity (between US dollars and bond notes."Government should also eradicate the three-tier pricing system that is causing suffering among Zimbabweans ... The government should revoke the licences of those charging the three-tier pricing system."Government also seems to be paying lip service to economic malpractices. Government should act and deal with those involved," Mushowe said.This came after Mnangagwa himself had earlier admitted that his government was battling to fix the country's myriad economic problems, as manifested by the continually rising prices of basic goods and the acute shortages of foreign currency and fuel - among many other ills.However, the Zanu-PF leader said, his government was working hard to try and solve the multiple crises."Government, along with industry, continues to dialogue and interrogate the cost build-ups, towards finding lasting solutions which will bring permanent relief to consumers and greater stability to the economy."We also need to address the question of our own domestic currency once the correct economic fundamentals are in place," he said.With Zimbabwe's economy continuing to tank - and long-suffering citizens desperate for some respite - Mnangagwa also told the thousands of Zanu-PF delegates gathered in Esigodini that their focus must be solely on coming up with solutions to stem the rot.At the same time, he reminded the assembled ruling party bigwigs that elected officials were servants of those people who had voted them into power - and not the otherway round.He also, once again, ruled out any chance of him forming a government of national unity (GNU) with opposition leader Nelson Chamisa - whom he said he had defeated "cleanly and fairly".The party's conference took place against the backdrop of Zimbabwe remaining in the grip of a ginormous economic crisis, which has continued despite the country holding relatively peaceful elections on July 30.It had been hoped by many people inside and outside the country that the polls would bury many of the problems that had been encountered during the ruinous rule of ousted former president Robert Mugabe.The conference also took place in the midst of a damaging strike by public sector doctors, which has paralysed public health institutions in the past three weeks - as they continue to press for improved wages and working conditions."We are seized with the challenges in our health services sector. We appeal to those in the health services sector to always balance between matters of their welfare and the need to save lives."We noted that drugs are now in short supply and we are setting up NatPharm pharmacies in all provinces and prices of drugs will be affordable. We urge those in the health sector to be considerate," Mnangagwa said.Zimbabwe's health delivery system has for a while now been battling several problems as a result of the country's worsening economic climate.Apart from the urgent issue of the striking doctors, long-suffering Zimbabweans have also had to contend with rising prices of basic consumer goods and widespread shortages of items such as cooking oil - which have disappeared from supermarket shelves.Thousands of commuters have also had their travel plans thrown into chaos, due to the current fuel shortages being experienced in the country.As a result, Mnangagwa has come under growing pressure from disillusioned citizens over the worsening local economic situation - after having been feted in his early days in office for superintending over arguably the most peaceful elections since Zimbabwe's independence from Britain in 1980.However, the government's recent austerity measures - which are seen as the first steps towards reviving the country's economy - have not found resonance with the majority of hurting Zimbabweans.Meanwhile, Mnangagwa also announced in Esigodini that he would this week make public the findings of the commission of inquiry that he appointed to probe the deadly August 1 violence which left at least six people dead in Harare.The shootings commission, which was chaired by former South African president Kgalema Motlanthe, handed over its findings to Mnangagwa two weeks ago - surprising many people in the process for the speed with which it had completed its work.Apart from Motlanthe - other members of the inquiry were academics Lovemore Madhuku and Charity Manyeruke, Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) ex-president Vimbai Nyemba, Rodney Dixon of the United Kingdom, former Tanzanian chief of the defence forces General Davis Mwamunyange and ex-Commonwealth secretary-general Chief Emeka Anyaoku of Nigeria.Political analysts have also said the August 1 violence and the resultant deaths had done a lot of harm to Mnangagwa's quests to mend years of frosty relations between Zimbabwe and Western governments.The shootings occurred after millions of Zimbabweans had cast their votes in the polls to choose both a new Parliament and president - following the dramatic fall from power of Mugabe last November.The elections were the first since 1980 to be held in the country without Mugabe's participation, whose 37-year, iron-fisted rule was stunningly ended by a military intervention which triggered events that ended with his resignation.The elections also marked the first time that the main opposition MDC was not represented by its founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who lost his brave battle against colon cancer on Valentine's Day this year.News / National

by Mandla Ndlovu

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has agreed to meet the teachers under the banner of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ). This was revealed by the PTUZ Secretary General Raymond Majongwe on Sunday.In a letter dated 10 December the Permanent Secretary to the President W. Gwatiringa said, "Thank you for your letter dated 5 December 2018 requesting Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe to meet His Excellency the president. Kindly be advised that His Excellency the President has accepted to meet the union at state house on Friday 21 December at 10AM."Teachers under the banner of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe haD written a letter to President Emmerson Mnangagwa demanding an urgent meeting with him and discuss a number of issues relating to teachers and the teaching profession.News / National

by Mandla Ndlovu

Presidential advisor and War Veterans Leader Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa is reportedly pushing for the country to adopt a Transitional Authority to run the country.A top official from the Office of the President who spoke to Bulawayo24 on Sunday narrated to us the plan that has been unfolding behind the scenes commandeered by the embattled War Vets leader."Chris has been engaged in a spirited effort to make sure there is a Transitional Authority that runs this country. This came after his efforts of trying to get himself onto the Presidium through fighting Vice President Constantino Chiwenga failed. Hence you saw him even boycotting the conference because it was not in his interest." The source said."You will remember Chris also tried to mobilise a demonstration against fuel guru Kuda Tagwirei at the conference and his efforts were thwarted too. So now what he is doing is that he is burning the midnight oil meeting members of the opposition aligned civic society and church organisations trying to broker a deal that will see the country moving from being ruled by ZANU PF which legitimately won elections to a Transitional Authority that is composed of a number of people outside one party."Chris wants to emerge as a saviour of Zimbabwe at the end of the day which if his cards works well, will positing him as a darling of the people. If you were following well events leading to the military intervention in November 2017,Chris was vocal that the country needs a transitional authority to take over after the Mugabe administration."The source also claimed that the changes in the editorial team of Zimpapers were meant to advance the agenda of Mutsvangwas."As I speak to you now there are changes that are happening in the Zimpapers stable. You are going to see people like Jorum Gumbo and Tichaona Zindoga elevated. These people are supported by Amai (Monica) Mutsvangwa. The plot is that they will twist the editorial policy to create a narrative that gives acres of space to a transitional authority and bit by bit close out the presidential activities done by the President. So it's a well thought out plan that Chris is pushing to advance himself to become the President one day."Recently, Zimbabwe Independent revealed that former Kenyan chief justice Willy Mutunga arrived in the country and met senior MDC officials, including MDC president Nelson Chamisa. Mutunga is reportedly coordinating talks between the ZANU PF and MDC with a view of solving the national question.Opinion / Columnist

"Zanu PF is using MDC Alliance's refusal to acknowledge Mnangagwa as the winner (of the 30 July 2018 elections) to justify its "shoot to kill" against the nation. (Zanu PF is punishing the whole nation for its own sin of rigging the election) a case of collective punishment. As far as Zanu PF is concerned it is "paying back the opposition in the hard coin they have tossed us!" (quoting VP Chiwenga). This is the classical case of the bad wolf, up stream, accusing the lamb of mudding the water!" argued Patrick Guramatunhu in Bulawayo24Patrick is right, Zanu PF is the big, bad wolf, up stream, s***ting in the water and then threaten the lambs down stream with death if they dared to complain about it. Except in this case, we must never forget that we are human beings, who have chosen to be as helpless as the lamb before the big bad wolf. Yes, Zanu PF leaders have proven to be murderous thugs but we must never ever forget that they are mortal human beings, just like the rest of us.Zanu PF thugs have tormented us these last 38 years, denying us our freedoms and basic rights and have abused their usurped power over us to make our lives hell-on-earth! It is up to us to reclaim our rights and freedoms.The right to a meaningful say in the governance of one's country is a fundamental human right enshrined in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, notably articles 1, 2, 3 and 21.Article 1.All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.Article 2.Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.Article 3.Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.Article 21.(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.Zanu PF rigged the 30 July 2018 elections (has done this for the last 38 years) and thus fragrantly violating article 21 above and, as usual, is abusing state machinery to beat and even kill the people into submission.38 years of Zanu PF misrule has destroyed the country's economy, unemployment has soared to dizzying heights of 90% and 75% of the populous now live on US$1.00 or less a day. Zimbabwe's poverty is killing people and the need for good and accountable government has never been more urgent than it is right now.Zimbabweans have a hard choice; either they cow into submission like lamb to the bad big wolf and allow vote rigging Zanu PF to misrule the country and drag the nation even deeper into abject poverty, suffering and death. Or they can stand up to the Zanu PF thugs like man to another man and demand that the thugs respect the freedoms and rights of others and the rule of law.For the last 38 years many Zimbabweans has elected to appease Zanu PF thugs by pretending not to notice the blatant vote rigging by Zanu PF and letting them enjoy the absolute power they were after. The people have done this in the vain hope that Zanu PF will then leave the people alone. As we can see, that did not happen. Each time the people gave the Zanu PF thugs an inch they have taken a foot only to return again and again to take a yard, a mile, etc.Zanu PF's hunger for absolute power and the political influence and wealth it have brought to them is insatiable. Zimbabwe is the poorest nation in Africa and yet the country has the richest ruling elite of earth! The 75% are living in abject poverty because the national wealth that should have gone to build the nation for the good of all has been creamed off to buy mansions, fleet of posh cars, 45 gold watches, vast business empires, a lavish lifestyle, etc. for the filthy rich few.Appeasing Zanu PF thugs by letting them rig elections and rewarding them with absolute power was a false choice because the lawless thugs have never kept their end of the bargain to leave the people alone. The thugs have come back again and again to demand more from the people. The people have nothing and still the thugs are relentless in their demands.The wolf and lamb will never live side by side as equals, that is just nonsense!Zanu PF thugs do NOT have the divine right to govern Zimbabwe, denying the rest of the populous a meaningful say in the governance of the country; that too is nonsense! Zanu PF thugs are human being, same as the rest of us; not wolves amongst helpless lambs; and all of us are subject to the rule of law, the same laws.Zanu PF blatantly rigged the 30 July 2018 elections, denying the people a meaningful free, fair and credible vote. The party must be held to account for this treasonous act and not to be rewarding them by giving the keys to high public office and absolute power.Holding Zanu PF thugs to account for rigging the recent elections is not just another option for this nation, it is the only option. Given the seriousness of Zimbabwe's economic and political situation the only option is now a legal and moral obligation for us all.So, what is our reply to the regime's "shoot to kill!" policy? Simply this: The country's worsen economic meltdown is killing a hell lot more people every day than the seven the regime shot dead on 1st August 2018. Simple arithmetic proves we have more to fear from the worsen economic meltdown than the regime's trigger happy thugs!Zimbabwe's economic meltdown is socially, politically and morally unsustainable.Zanu PF's corrupt and tyrannical rule will and is collapsing just as other tyrannical regimes have collapsed. The only question yet to be answered is whether the collapse is an orderly and peaceful change or a violent and chaotic one. Zanu PF thugs must step down now if the change is to be peaceful and orderly. Time is running out and the window of opportunity for peaceful change is closing!Opinion / Columnist

Given the rate at which MDC leader, Nelson Chamisa, has been touting about how much he has allegedly been soiling the party for ZANU PF, one would expect President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the revolutionary party to flex their two thirds majority powers in Parliament and put the opposition leader in his rightful place.Hats off to President Mnangagwa for realising that he cannot be seen to be firing at fly in the image of Chamisa. Chamisa has been claiming that he has a crippling effect on the country's economy and well-being, but recent events since his declarations have shown that he no impact what so ever.Chamisa is not a brilliant planner as he would want to portray, but just an opportunist who has mastered the art of demagoguery and deception.If he had the supernatural powers to make life difficult for ZANU PF and Government, we could be inscribing something on the revolutionary party's tombstone. His exuberance and untamed appetite for power, leaves him with no moral considerations as evidenced by the vicious 'cobra' like attack on Dr Thokozani Khupe, Obert Mpofu and Engineer Elias Mudzuri.Despite failing to bury ZANU PF, there is nothing he has done to show that indeed he has the potential to derail ZANU PF except for the continued charade of the desire to do so. He has attempted to approach SADC with view of challenging the 30 July 2018 Presidential elections. The project failed to take off after indications from various political players that it is likely to be a dumb squib. In essence it suffered a still birth and the MDC tried to smartly abort it claiming that there is intense paper work going on in that regard, but up to now the paper tiger has not roared to life.The guys are literary on a try and error approach on the best way they can remove ZANU PF from power. They have tried to put Zimbabweans to the streets and send negative signals about the country. This ancient antic they know better, but have been failing to realise that violence is something that naturally lacks in the DNA of Zimbabweans.President Mnangagwa, being the presidential material he is, realised that Chamisa is more of a talker than he can possibly act. As such he shot down the proposal to increase the age limit for presidential aspirants at the just ended ZANU PF 17th National Annual Conference where he thundered that the future belonged to the youths.He made the most important observation that Chamisa is the problem and the rest of the youths cannot be punished because of this erratic individual who has found himself at realm of power by crook.Basically the ZANU PF National Annual Conference has provided Zimbabweans with a clear roadmap as to where President Mnangagwa and ZANU PF intend to take Zimbabwe to. It was indeed going to make Chamisa a hero, if the President had heeded the call by War Veterans to increase the age limit for presidential aspirants. The President having demonstrated that he is indeed 'as soft as wool', the ball is now the MDC youth's court to pray hard for a God ordained leader, not someone who is driven by emotions and suicidal principles that do not work to the benefit of everyone.With Chamisa, the MDC will remain stuck outside the realm of power. The guy has no tact and vision, he is just a dreamer. His aspirations haven't worked anywhere in the world. To think someone with a two thirds majority could have lost the presidential elections and let alone concede to just hand over power when the odds are favouring him is just a fallacy.Chamisa should stop wandering in the wilderness with his supporters blindly following. It is high time they realise they are moving in circles and no god will save them.By Jibran Ahmad and Abdul Qadir Sediqi KABUL/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - U.S. and Taliban officials have discussed proposals for a six-month ceasefire in Afghanistan and a future withdrawal of foreign troops as talks aimed at setting up peace negotiations went into a second day, Taliban sources said. The meeting in Abu Dhabi is at least the third time that U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has met Taliban representatives as diplomatic efforts to end the 17-year war have intensified this year. Taliban officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. delegation was pressing for a six-month truce as well as an agreement to name Taliban representatives to a future caretaker government. However the Taliban negotiators were resisting the ceasefire proposal as they felt it would damage their cause and help U.S. and Afghan forces. There was no comment from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. In a statement issued late on Tuesday, the Taliban said the talks had mainly concentrated on the "U.S. occupation", adding: "Nothing about interim government, ceasefire, election or other internal issues has been discussed". "Talks revolved around withdrawal of occupation forces from Afghanistan, ending the oppression being carried out by the United States and her allies," the movement's main spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a separate statement. An Afghan government delegation traveled to the city and met Khalilzad as well as officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan. However, despite U.S. insistence that any peace settlement must be agreed between Afghans, the Taliban have refused to talk directly with officials from the Kabul government, which they consider an illegitimate, foreign-appointed regime. The Taliban, seeking to reimpose strict Islamic law after their 2001 overthrow, say the presence of international forces in Afghanistan is the main obstacle to peace. Even as the peace process gathers momentum, fighting has continued with heavy casualties on both sides. SENIOR OFFICIALS The latest round of diplomacy comes about a year after the United States sent thousands of extra troops to Afghanistan and stepped up air strikes to record levels, with the aim of pushing the Taliban into accepting negotiations. The Taliban delegation was led by Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, head of the movement's political office in Qatar, and included members of the leadership group based in Quetta, Pakistan and the chief of staff of Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada. The presence in the delegation of senior officials close to the Taliban leader underscored the importance of the talks, which are shaping up as the most serious attempt to open negotiations since at least 2015. "It's a well coordinated meeting where members from the political commissions and Quetta shura are both participating for the first time," said one peace activist in close contact with the Taliban side at the meeting. An Afghan government team traveled to Abu Dhabi "to begin proximity dialogue with the Taliban delegation and to prepare for a face-to-face meeting between the two sides", government spokesman Haroon Chakansuri said in a statement. But there was no sign from the Taliban they were ready to accept talks with the government, and the Kabul delegation were based in an Abu Dhabi hotel away from the location of the talks. The United States says the aim of the talks is to facilitate an Afghan-led process and the inclusion of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Pakistan in the talks reflects a U.S. desire to bring in countries with an interest in Afghanistan. Previous meetings were held in Qatar, where the Taliban maintains a political office, but a push to include Saudi Arabia, which is hostile to the gas-rich Gulf state, prompted a change of venue to Abu Dhabi. (Reporting by Jibran Ahmad in PESHAWAR, Abdul Qadir Sediqi, James Mackenzie; Editing by Robert Birsel and Mark Heinrich)By Byron Kaye SYDNEY (Reuters) - A female star of hit television show Orange is the New Black leveled misconduct allegations against actor Geoffrey Rush, the second Australian actress to accuse the Oscar winner of behaving inappropriately during an Australian theater production. In a New York Times article entitled "The Cost of Telling a #MeToo Story In Australia", actress Yael Stone said the Pirates of the Caribbean actor danced "totally naked" in front of her in their dressing room in a "playful, clownish manner" and used a mirror to watch her showering during a Sydney production of The Diary of A Madman in 2010 and 2011. "I believe that it was meant with a playful intention, but the effect was that I felt there was nowhere for me to feel safe and unobserved," the New York Times quoted Stone as saying of the shower allegation. Stone was 25 at the time, the article added. https://nyti.ms/2QYKas3 Rush's lawyer was not immediately available for comment. The New York Times ran a statement from Rush which said Stone's allegations were "incorrect and in some instances have been taken completely out of context". "I sincerely and deeply regret if I have caused her any distress," Rush said in the statement. "This, most certainly, has never been my intention. When we performed in The Diary Of A Madman eight years ago, I believe we engaged in a journey as artistic comrades." Stone's agent in Australia, Lisa Mann Creative Management, told Reuters the actor declined to comment further and she stood by her public statements. The actress gave a television interview to the Australian Broadcasting Corp., to air on Monday evening. In previews of the interview, Stone said, "I immediately put myself at the bottom of the ladder. I didn't advocate for myself." The allegations coincide with a defamation lawsuit Rush has filed against News Corp's Australian arm over articles it published after another actress allegedly filed an internal complaint about his actions during a production of King Lear in 2015 and 2016. Hearings in that defamation action have concluded and the judge is due to deliver findings in early 2019. Media commentators and academics argue Australia's tough defamation laws make it difficult for people in the country to speak out about allegations of sexual misconduct by public figures in the same way they have in other jurisdictions. (Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Sam Holmes)It's time to run like a turkey at the annual CBC Edmonton Dudley Run.

The five-kilometre run through the river valley is part of our annual Turkey Drive campaign and pays homage to Dudley, the fundraiser's feathered mascot.

Join Edmonton AM fitness columnist Chris Tse Tuesday at 11 a.m. for a trot on the winter trails and help support the Edmonton Food Bank.

The run is accessible for all levels, but be sure to bundle up for the winter temperatures in Edmonton. And we will help you out. All participating runners will get a CBC Edmonton tuque.

Spots are limited so be sure to sign up ASAP. Runners are asked to meet at the CBC Edmonton studios at 11 a.m.

Even Dudley will be there to dash across the finish line.

Watch the highlights from last year's annual Dudley Run

Since 1995, Turkey Drive has raised more than $4 million in support of Edmonton's Food Bank. This year, the event is trying to raise $500,000.

Donations are appreciated and can be made online or in person at CBC Edmonton, 10062 102 Ave.

CBC Edmonton donation hours:

Weekdays: 7:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Weekends: Noon - 4 p.m.

For a full list of Turkey Drive events, visit the Turkey Drive events page.The use of the Internet of Things (IoT) in businesses allows for the recording and transferring of data to track key processeCBI member, Gatwick Airport has announced a new long-haul connection from London Gatwick to Shanghai off the back of record year on year growth of +20.8% during July.

The new service will be flown by China Eastern, which is Chinas second largest airline, and will increase capacity between the two hubs by over 70,000 new seats and more than 3,7000 metric tonnes of cargo.

London Gatwick CEO, Stewart Wingate said: I am delighted to welcome China Eastern to Gatwick and look forward to the start of this vital new link to Shanghai, which, like London, is undoubtedly one of the worlds most important cities and business hubs. Starting from such a strong position gives this new route every chance of success, as it will be popular with business passengers [] as well as leisure passengers keen to sample the excitement of Chinas largest city.

The launch of the new route follows the busiest July in Gatwicks history, which saw the volume of cargo handled by the airport grow by +28.8% y/y as a direct result of its soaring long-haul demand.

On top of this, Gatwick/s Asia routes grew by +134.8% compared with July last year.

Mr. Wingate said, Julys traffic figures demonstrate that Gatwicks long-haul network is driving the airports growth. These connections to China and other non-European countries will take on extra significance in a post-Brexit Britain as [the UK] becomes more reliant on them to generate vital growth through trade and by exploiting the other business opportunities that they provide.

China is taking on increasing significance in the aviation industry as size of the countrys middle class rapidly increases in number and develops an appetite for flying. It has been estimated that China will account for the largest number of out-bound travellers by 2030, with 260 million Chinese tourists set to make trips abroad over the next decade.

Please read more here.Suicide doesnt always make the news. However, we're aware of suicide  you might recall many young people who have taken this final step. In most instances social media was used as a weapon against them. We are not blind to this.

Bullying is a complicated matter. Its natural to want to cry for the blood of those responsible. Often bad parenting and neglect cause bullies to rise. Some bullies become that way after being pushed around by older siblings. Some bullies are just afraid. Eat or be eaten. Rather be a bully than be bullied.

Why is this such a problem in recent years? Is it just because were hyper-connected and hear about more of these cases or are more youth suicide cases happening?

Its not an illusion

The youth suicide results are damning.

Australian suicide statistics suggest that students who are bullied are 9 times more likely to attempt or at least contemplate committing suicide. In 2017 a report came out stating suicide rates for 15 to 24-year-olds are at highest rate in 10 years.

As the world waxes worse and worse, so does the ingenuity of young people inspiring other young people to take their lives. Bullying has become so multi-faceted now. You can have a video uploaded of you and a hundred people calling you a spaz and telling you to off yourself within hours. And then those at school can take that ammunition from online and push it further.

There is no escape. At home, you have the internet and the mocking of callous strangers. At school, you have people who know you more intimately reiterating the same truth.

No being made in the image of God. No understanding that life is precious. Just the chants of little devils saying end it.

Everyone has a bullying story

I have both been on the side of the bullies and been bullied. When I was ten I stood by as my best friend made a girls life a living hell. The girls crime? She was black.

I laughed. I went along with it. Id been sheltered so I didnt quite know what was happening, but if she committed suicide her blood would also be on my hands.

When I hit my teens I was bullied rather often. I was the odd one out in school and most of my classes. It was a miracle in itself that I was made of tougher stuff than the bullies.

Thankfully when I went home in the afternoon the bullies left me alone. Most of it was being left out; being the freak of the school I just endured nasty comments and was otherwise left alone.

Its even worse being a kid these days. Cyber bullying and gang stalking. It doesnt stop when the school bell rings. Its ongoing. Kids with too much time on their hands.

Solutions look bleak

Is there any way to solve this epidemic? Not without solving the problem of mankind.

Narcissism and a disconnect from having empathic feelings for others.

People often say that religion doesnt solve anything. That all it does is cause wars and wed be better off without it.

Only Christianity has the solution to the human heart. Callous narcissism which is a trait of almost all bullies and those who raised them, whether people want to admit it or not.

Moments of callousness or narcissism happen to us all. As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one. (Romans Chapter 3, verse 10).

The only hope is an inward renewal and the most successful in the business is Jesus.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans Chapter 12,verse 2).

Bridget Brenton is involved in Aboriginal and Islander based ministries, and enjoys tech stuff like making websites and making games in her spare time.

Bridget Brentons previous articles may be viewed at: http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/bridget-brentonTUESDAY, Dec. 18, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- The California farm where romaine lettuce was implicated in the recent nationwide E. coli outbreak said it is expanding its recall to include other forms of produce.

According to a company statement, Adam Bros. Farming Inc., in Santa Barbara County, said it is also recalling red and green leaf lettuce as well as cauliflower.

The company said it did so, "after it was discovered that sediment from a reservoir near where the produce was grown tested positive for E. coli O157:H7," the strain implicated in the outbreak.

As well, "the Adam Bros. recall has prompted a sub-recall by Spokane Produce Inc., of Spokane, Wash.," the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in its own news release issued late Monday.

Spokane Produce "recalled sandwiches and other products under the Northwest Cuisine Creations and Fresh&Local labels," the FDA said.

Federal health investigators announced on Dec. 13 that they had pinpointed Adam Bros. as at least one California farm implicated in the recent outbreak of E. coli illness tied to romaine lettuce. They said that more farms in the same area are probably connected to the outbreak.

So far, 59 people across 15 states have come down with the often severe gastrointestinal illness. Health concerns were so high that just before Thanksgiving, the FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked Americans to temporarily stop consuming all romaine lettuce while they investigated the source of the outbreak.

That investigation has now pinpointed Adam Bros. as a source, experts at the FDA and CDC have said.

"One of the samples tested by the CDC was positive for the outbreak strain by genetic fingerprinting, and was found in the sediment of an agricultural water reservoir at one ranch that is owned and operated by Adam Brothers Farming in Santa Barbara County, Calif.," said Dr. Stephen Ostroff, senior advisor to the FDA Commissioner.

He said the farm was cooperating with the investigation. The farm hasn't shipped romaine lettuce since Nov. 20, and Ostroff said the farm is "committed to recalling products that may have come into contact with water from the agricultural water reservoir."

That said, other farms in the area might still be implicated, so "people should still pay close attention to where their lettuce is from," he added.

Because of this and other recent outbreaks, romaine lettuce now sold in the United States has labeling indicating the place and date of harvest. If heads of romaine are sold loose, without affixed labels, retailers are being asked to post a notice showing place and date of harvest near the store register.

Most romaine sold in the United States is safe to eat. Right now, precautions are limited to romaine lettuce from just a few California counties, the FDA said.

"We continue to advise avoiding romaine lettuce from Monterey, San Benito and Santa Barbara counties in California," Ostroff said.

Hydroponically- and greenhouse-grown romaine also does not appear to be related to the current outbreak.

Illnesses from the E. coli O157:H7 strain implicated in this outbreak have sometimes been severe. Although no deaths have been reported, there have 23 hospitalizations and 2 cases of kidney failure, health officials said.

"The E. coli strain isolated from ill people in the current romaine lettuce outbreak is also closely related to the E. coli strain isolated from people in a 2017 outbreak linked to leafy green in the United States and romaine lettuce in Canada," noted FDA Deputy Commissioner Frank Yiannas.

So who's most at risk from E. coli?

Dr. Robert Glatter is an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City who's seen the effects of infection with the gastrointestinal bug firsthand. It's not a minor ailment, he said.

"In general, symptoms of E. coli infection generally begin about three to four days after consuming the bacteria, and may include abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, and watery or bloody diarrhea, along with fever," Glatter said.

And while healthy people who battle a bout of E. coli typically recover within five to seven days, the illness can be more protracted -- and even deadly -- for people already made vulnerable by chronic disease or advanced age.

"People with diabetes, kidney disease or those with cancer or autoimmune disease run the risk of a more severe illness," Glatter explained.

The particular strain of E. coli detected in the current lettuce outbreak -- E. coli O157:H7 -- is particularly nasty, he noted.

"Most strains of E. coli do not actually cause diarrhea, but E. coli O157 produces a powerful toxin that injures the inner lining of the small intestine, leading to bloody diarrhea," Glatter said. Even a tiny amount of ingested bacteria could spur this type of illness.

"It can make people much more ill, and may lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure, in some cases," he said.

In many cases, antibiotics are used to help beat back an E. coli infection, but these drugs can affect the kidneys, Glatter noted.

"Antibiotics may be necessary in certain cases, so it's important to see your doctor if you have continued and severe symptoms such as fever, bloody diarrhea, and you are not able to eat or drink," he said.

However, in the case of E. coli O157:H7, "taking antibiotics may actually increase your risk of developing kidney failure, so it's important to speak with your health care provider if you should develop severe symptoms," Glatter advised.

And if you do think you might be sick with E. coli, or any other foodborne illness, make sure you don't spread it to those near you.

The bacterium "can be transmitted person-to-person, so it's vital that anyone who is potentially infected wash their hands thoroughly and not share utensils, cups or glasses," Glatter said. "This also goes for bath towels. Linens also need to be washed in hot water and treated with bleach."

He noted that "ground beef, unpasteurized milk, fresh produce and contaminated water are common sources of E. coli bacteria."

More information

Find out more about E. coli illness at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The Union government has decided to give USD 1.4 billion to the island nation of Maldives. This decision came after Maldivian president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his 3-days visit to India.

This is Solihs first foreign trip after he was sworn in as the President of Maldives in a ceremony on 17th November 2018, which PM Modi had also attended.

Important Highlights of the Meeting:

The two countries have agreed to work for the stability of the Indian Ocean region.

Both the countries have reiterated their stands to not allow their respective territories to be used for any activity inimical to their interests.

India and Maldives have agreed to coordinate patrolling and aerial surveillance, exchange of information and capacity building for enhancement of the maritime security in the Indian Ocean region.

The four agreements signed between India and Maldives will enhance cooperation in areas of cultural, agri-business and information technology and will provide easy facilitation of visas.

Solih has committed to work closely with India and reaffirmed his governments India-First Policy.

The Maldivian president supported Indias demand for a reformed UN Security Council and Indias candidature for permanent membership of an expanded council.

Maldives has supported for Indias candidature for the non-permanent seat in the UN for 2020-21.

India and Maldives have agreed to work together for creating institutional linkages and also to cooperate in the areas of health, mutual legal assistance on criminal matters, investment promotion and tourism.

Both India and Maldives have agreed to increased cooperation in fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations in the Indian Ocean region and in the world.

India and Maldives have agreed to increase bilateral cooperation in the common areas of concern such as piracy, terrorism, organised crime, drugs and human trafficking.

Both the leaders also stressed on promoting the exchange of goods and services, information, ideas, culture and people between India and Maldives. The connectivity will be improved by the establishment of enabling infrastructure.

India has complimented Maldives decision to re-join the Commonwealth. Also, PM Modi welcomed Maldives decision to join the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) family.Indra Navy-18, a bilateral naval exercise, between India and Russia concluded on 16th December 2018. It was a 4-day maritime exercise that took place in the Bay of Bengal.

INDRA NAVY or India  Russia Navy Exercise is being conducted since 2003. The first edition of this exercise was conducted in May 2003 in India.

About Indra Navy 2018:

Ten warships from both sides participated in the Indra Navy 2018 exercise, which also included an Indian Navy submarine.

The exercise included search, and seize drills, underway replenishment at sea drills, and anti-submarine warfare drills along with other components.

The navies of India and Russia also conducted live-firings against aerial targets in the exercise.

The Russian Navys Pacific Fleet flagship Varyag participated in Indra Navy 2018. Admiral Panteleyev, which is an anti-submarine warfare ship, and Boris Butoma. which is a sea tanker, also were included by Russia in the exercise.

INS Ranvir, INS Satpura, INS Kadmatt, IN Ships Kuthar and Khanjar and INS Jyoti participated from Indian side.

The primary objective of Indra Navy exercise is to increase inter-operability amongst the navies of India and Russia and exchange best practices.

India and Russia are major defence partners and India is also a major importer of Russian defence equipments. Both the sides conduct regular exercises with each other. The last edition of Indra Navy took place in 2016 in the Bay of Bengal. The main goal behind conducting of such bilateral military exercises is the strengthening of friendly relations between the armed forces of India and Russia.India: Experts suggest species atlas no-stocking for Mahseer conservation

by Zafri Mudasser Nofil

December 18,2018 | Source: The Week

A mix of on-field strategies and policy decisions, a species atlas as a single reference point for information and doing away with the pseudo-conservation practice of stocking are some of the ways the threatened Mahseer fish can be conserved, say experts. They are also of the view that gaming in no way has impacted Mahseer populations but has in fact helped in its conservation and research.



According to Adrian C Pinder, who is director of research at Mahseer Trust, of the many threats to all species of the majestic fish are pollution, habitat destruction (particularly dam construction which changes habitat and stops migration to spawning grounds), overfishing with dynamite, poisons, small mesh nets and other non-sustainable methods. At the recent International Mahseer Conference in Bhutan, the main threat identified for mahseer was the pseudo-conservation practice of stocking the fish, he says.



"Several hatcheries are in operation and some have stocked the wrong species in the wrong river. This has led to the near extinction of the endemic hump-backed mahseer of the river Cauvery," Pinder told PTI. According to WWF-India, of the 47 species of Mahseer that exist in the world, India is home to 15. Of these, the golden mahseer (Tor putitora) is endangered and the giant hump-backed mahseer (Tor remadevii) is critically endangered.



WWF-India is identifying crucial river stretches requiring immediate protection for survival of the Mahseer. It is currently working with the Uttarakhand forest department on river Kosi (a tributary of the Ramganga river) near the Corbett Tiger Reserve. Additionally, studies to determine species specific flow requirements are being initiated through a radio tagging exercise along rivers Ganga-Nayar complex, says Asghar Nawab, senior manager (biodiversity) at WWF-India. He says a species atlas as a single comprehensive reference point for information on Golden Mahseer conservation is being devised for Uttarakhand in collaboration with Wildlife Institute of India and HNB Garhwal University.



"The atlas will act as a reference for professional and amateur conservationists and will be used as a tool to support the advocacy campaign to obtain legal protection for the species," Nawab says. While there is an overall understanding of the species and the need for its conservation among local communities, fishermen use methods such as bleaching, dynamiting and poisoning for fishing since decades, which in turn impacts the health of the river and its species, he says. Rajeev Raghavan, an assistant professor at the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, allays fears that Mahseer gaming has led to its decline.



"Mahseer game fishing has been particularly useful in understanding several aspects of the species (such as distribution, population abundance, threats etc) for which scientific information is not available. I would say that game fishing for Mahseer is the most important conservation tool for this threatened group of fishes," he says. Raghavan suggests that strategies like protection of critical habitats, developing 'no-take areas' and implementing 'no-take seasons', enforcing regulations on illegal fishing using banned gears (and dynamites), implementing catch quotas for effective conservation.



Many states have Mahseer as their 'state fish' and so state governments should develop policies to ensure the protection of the fish in the wild, he says. Pinder also endorses Raghavan's take on gaming. "There are lots of examples on Mahseer and other examples around the globe where catch and release fisheries contribute to conservation in a positive way. Mahseer specific research shows that the fish is particularly resilient to catch and release," he says. Veteran naturalist and conservationist Raza H Tehsin says reaching a length of 9 feet, Mahseer is one of the toughest freshwater fish and a formidable opponent to anglers with its powerful flanks and fierce attitude. "Once widely distributed, this fish that held a mythical status is wiped out from many regions and battling habitat destruction, water pollution, commercial fishing and myopic government policies. If this continues, the fish will indeed become a myth," he rues.West Bengal: Favourite fish, the hilsa, could soon be extinct as fishing trawlers flout laws

by Milan Datta

December 18,2018 | Source: First Post

There are laws but no implementation. The West Bengal government has notified a definite time period banning the fishing of juvenile Hilsa (jatka) to save the states favourite fish from extinction. But fishers do not obey the prohibition either in rivers or the sea. As a result, the production of Hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) in West Bengal is rapidly declining. Gourmands of West Bengal are now dependent on Bangladesh for large Hilsa.



From the estuary of the Ganga to deep in the Bay of Bengal, an estimated 14,000 trawlers are hovering in the migratory path of the Hilsa as the fish approaches the river to spawn, and on its way out. In spite of the ban on nets with mesh holes less than 90 mm in diameter, such nets are used most of the time. Some nets are over a kilometre long. A very large number of juvenile Hilsa are caught. The damage is twofold  the possibility of getting large Hilsa in the future is reduced, and it hampers the reproduction of the fish. However, in the near absence of government surveillance, juvenile Hilsa fishing goes on in full spate.



In order to increase the yield and production of Hilsa and other fish, the State Fisheries Department issues notifications every year to control fishing. According to these, from 15 April to 31 May, fishing is prohibited in the sea and adjoining areas. Moreover, a special ban is imposed specifically for the preservation of the Hilsa. From 15 September to 24 October, before and after five days of the full moon, catching any type of Hilsa is prohibited. This system was initiated for the undisturbed breeding of Hilsa. Besides fishing, selling, transporting and hoarding of Hilsa, less than 23 cm long Hilsa is prohibited. Bottom trawling is prohibited up to 12 nautical miles from the coastline.



Accepting that the ban is not obeyed by some fishers, State Fisheries Minister Chandranath Sinha told thethirdpole.net, We try to teach about all kinds of fish under an awareness campaign for fishers. We hold seminars and open discussions with the marine and river fisher organisations. Most of the fishers obey the ban but some do not. Sinha said the Panchayats of the villages on the banks of the Ganga have been helping implement the ban on catching juvenile Hilsa.



But fisherman Dipankar Roy narrates a different story. He fishes with a small boat round the year in the Ganga near Barrackpore (25 km upstream of Kolkata). In his words, I catch fish in the Ganga throughout the year. There are Hilsas also. Currently nets with very small mesh holes are used in large numbers. Some boats often hunt Hilsa weighing 8 to 10 grams, catching up to 6 kg in a day. Fishers know very well that the surveillance is inadequate. Some fishers use funnel-shaped nets (Binati Jal) to catch juvenile Hilsa and selling it in the name of Khoyra fish. In Digha estuary, this fishing of juvenile Hilsa is evident. If 500 kg of Hilsa is caught, 300 of that weighs 150 to 300 grams, all juvenile fish. A mature Hilsa weighs between 700 grams and a kilogramme.



Unapologetic trawler owners



In the Bay of Bengal, fishing goes on throughout the year, ignoring government restrictions. Almost admitting this, the secretary of the trawler owners organisation United Fishermens Association Shyamsundar Das told thethirdpole.net, Fish weighing below 300 grams may be hunted, but that does not matter. One Hilsa gives birth to some hundred thousand babies. However, we try to observe the prohibition on juvenile Hilsa.



Further charges against the big trawlers are that they bring up all types of fish through bottom trawling. Catches of juvenile Hilsa weighing less than 10 grams are thrown back into the sea. The fish is being destroyed in this way. Das says, We have got the modern instruments and how is it possible that those will not be used? At the same time, he accepts the need for the ban, and even wants it extended to the coast off adjacent state Odisha as well as the markets there. Otherwise, nothing can be done. When sale of juvenile Hilsa is stopped at Digha market (in West Bengal), it goes to the Odisha markets. Then it reaches the markets of Kolkata.



Artisanal fishers suffer



Artisanal fishers have a different take than the trawler owners. The joint secretary of small fishers organisation South Bengal Fishermen Forum, Debashis Shyamal, told thethirdpole.net, Destructive fishing and trawl fishing hampers Hilsa in the state. Not only Hilsa, but all kinds of fish are declining due to uncontrolled fishing. We the small fishers try to obey the ban. But the big trawlers can break all the rules with the power of their political connections.



It has been a longstanding allegation in all coastal states of India that trawlers are owned by politicians and their kin, directly or anonymously. Shyamal recommended that Bangladesh and India coordinate their Hilsa fishing ban periods and hold joint surveillance to ensure compliance.



Blocked path, dirty water



Apart from overfishing, a big problem for the migrating Hilsa is siltation at the mouth of the Ganga. This sea fish needs a clean and deep channel so that it can move upriver and spawn. But now there is no deep channel in the mouth of the Ganga except the one kept open by constant dredging, for the shipping to and from Kolkata port.



And not a single channel  deep or shallow  has any clean water. The pollution in the Lower Ganga is largely unchecked, and the bacterium E Coli (which causes diarrhoea or worse) has been counted at a million times the safe limit prescribed by the World Health Organisation. That, and an overall lack of fresh water due to dams and barrages upstream in the Ganga basin, has a highly adverse effect on the reproduction of the Hilsa. The increasing salinity of the estuary is an added cause. The Hilsa looks for fresh water to spawn, but does not find any.



Changed life



Asimkumar Nath, a fisheries expert in Sidho Kanhu Birsa University of West Bengal, has found another effect of this forced change in the life cycle of the Hilsa. Due to siltation, many fish find their way back to the sea blocked. Studies that include tagging some Hilsa have shown that some have remained in the Ganga and its tributaries for the last several years. He said some such resident Hilsa have been found as far upstream as Farakka, over 350 km from the mouth of the Ganga. Nath is confident that even if 20 percent of the Hilsa living and breeding in the rivers can be saved from overfishing, there will be no shortage of the fish in West Bengal.



Protection plans



Though its current plans to protect the Hilsa are yielding limited results, the West Bengal government has new plans to protect the fish. Fisheries Minister Sinha said his department has identified three spawning areas that will be declared sanctuaries. Special monitoring will be arranged in Raichak-Godakhali, Tribeni-Balagarh and Lalbag-Farakka, he told thethirdpole.net. Hilsa lays eggs in those places. Hilsa Research centres will also be built there.



The minister said scientists are trying to breed Hilsa in ponds. The Hilsa Conservation and Research Centre (HCRC) in Diamond Harbour will move that work forward. Nofima, a Norwegian institute for food, fisheries and aquaculture research, will work with HCRC. Nofima has been working on salmon production for 45 years and they have expertise in aquaculture. Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI) is also a partner in this project. Six water bodies have been identified in Falta near Raichak and East Kolkata Wetland to conduct the research. Nath says, There is no necessity to spend a huge amount of money to artificially breed Hilsa in ponds, if the juvenile [fish] are saved by increasing surveillance.Andhra Pradesh: Cyclone Phethai: Fishermen breathe easy; give full marks to Met office

by Santosh Patnaik

December 18,2018 | Source: The Hindu

Denizens breathed easy on Monday with Cyclone Phethais impact over the city being limited to heavy rain and strong gales. Fishermen were all praise for the continuous forecasts by the Met department and the timely advice from the Revenue department which helped them call off their fishing operations and anchor their boats at the docks well in time.



The fishermen said they did not venture into the sea for the past five days ever since news of the cyclone broke. A majority of the mechanised boats were anchored at the harbour while some fishermen who had ventured into the sea towards Odisha were directed to anchor their boats at Gopalpur and Paradip ports. Arasavilli Jagadish, a youth from Jalaripeta, one of the largest fishing hamlets, lauded the weather prediction system for its accuracy. However, some fishermen expressed resentment that there was no compensation for the loss of income suffered by them. We didnt embark on a voyage in our catamaran boats for the past four to five days. We are disappointed that the government has neither set up a relief camp nor provided us food, Badi Yellaiah, a fisherman of Mangamaripeta near Bheemili, told The Hindu.



Fishermen rue losses



Village revenue officer of K. Nagarapalem, Appalaraju, said though they had ordered a supply of 80 lunch packets from the city, delivery was delayed due to heavy rains. It is unfortunate that most of the cyclone shelters set up after the 1990 cyclone are in a deplorable condition, said Arjili Dasu, a resident of Pudimadaka and a leader of the Fishermen Youth Welfare Association. Tides surging to a height of five metres accompanied by strong winds held up operations at the Visakhapatnam Port. As a precautionary measure, Port authorities issued an advisory to ships in the outer harbour to stay in anchorage. Loading and unloading was minimal in the inner harbour due to strong winds and high tides. We expect to resume normal operations from Tuesday , VPT Deputy Chairman P.L. Haranadh said.Maldives government on Monday vowed to enforce the death penalty but only after adequately reforming the country's judiciary.





The government, in a sudden change of stand voted against a United Nations (UN) general assembly resolution in support of a moratorium on the death penalty.





The U-turn comes after presidents office minister Ahmed Naseem told a UN committee last month that the new government would change the Maldives vote to yes and uphold a 65-year moratorium on capital punishment.





"The government of Maldives will uphold the 65 year moratorium on the death penalty," foreign ministry announced on Twitter adding that Maldives would back the draft resolution on moratorium on the use of the death penalty at the United Nations (UN) general assembly.





However, Maldives' permanent representative to the UN, Dr Ali Naseer Mohamed explained at the general assembly that while the Maldives was proud of the moratorium, the penal code enacted in 2014 prescribed the death penalty for premeditated murder in accordance with Islamic shariah.





The reality is that the death penalty remains on the books. To favour its abolition without wider public consultation and referendum and without preceding domestic legislation to nullify its implementation would be both unconstitutional and undemocratic, he said.





The constitution states that Islam shall be the basis of all laws in the Maldives, he explained.





But the new administration will uphold the moratorium and pursue criminal justice reform without delay for the deliberate purpose of having an independent and impartial judiciary in the Maldives that commands the trust and confidence of the general public.





The decision to shoot down the resolution was lauded by several religious scholars in the archipelago.





Former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom before his election defeat to the opposition alliance had been pushing to enforce the death penalty after ending the de facto moratorium that has been in place in the country for over six decades.





In June last year, capital punishment regulations were amended to allow for hanging in addition to lethal injections as methods of execution.





The then government had also set-up an execution chamber in the country's main prison in Maafushi island and had announced plans for a second.





There are currently three convicts on death row who have been sentenced. They are Hussain Humam convicted of murdering Dr Afrasheem Ali, Ahmed Murrath convicted of murdering Ahmed Najeeb and Mohamed Nabeel convicted of murdering Abdulla Farhad.





Amnesty International had accused the then government of looking to enforce the death penalty to divert attention from the ongoing political turmoil in the archipelago.

 | 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Baoviet, BIDV, Bridgestone, Heineken and Coca-Cola are in Vietnams sustainable development listing for third year in a row.

Familiar names have dominated the list of top 100 firms in a sustainable development listing compiled by the Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD) and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

The top 100 were chosen from around 500 companies that participated in the evaluation program for sustainable development.

Big brands like Baoviet, BIDV, Bridgestone, Heineken and Coca-Cola made it to the list for the third year in a row.

The criteria for assessing sustainable development were consistent growth, rational exploitation, economical use of natural resources, and protection and improvement of habitat quality.

In the three years since the program began, the number of criteria used has fallen from 151 in 2016 to 131 this year.

This year's Corporate Sustainability Index (CSI), one of VCCI's initiatives to promote sustainability in the business community, has been adjusted in line with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and with Vietnamese law and international practice.

This is a set of indicators that can help Vietnamese enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), align themselves with key concepts of sustainable development, organizers said.

At a function held recently to announce the ranking, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue said Vietnam targeted both rapid growth and sustainable development.

He said rapid growth was needed to bridge the gap with other countries, but sustainable development was vital for building Vietnam into a "mighty, prosperous" nation.

Vu Tien Loc, chairman of the VCCI and co-chairman of the VBCSD, stressed that the business community needs to change its mindset and work toward sustainable development.

The concept of sustainable development emerged in the 1970s. In 1987, in the "Our Mutual Future" report by the United Nations World Council on Environment and Development, sustainable development was defined as one that meets realistic growth needs without interfering with the needs of future generations.

The World Summit on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992 and the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2002, identified sustainable development as a process that has a close, reasonable and harmonious combination of three aspects: economic development, social development and environmental protection.Parts of Hanoi's metro line will be invested by Japan's ODA. Photo by VnExpres

The World Bank is concerned about Vietnams slow use of official development assistance and hopes to work with it to find a solution.

World Bank Vietnam country director Ousmane Dione told reporters Monday that the country disbursed only 11 percent of over $9.5 billion in ODA loans it got last year, the lowest rate in a decade.

He said the reasons for the delay were the lack of counterpart funds, the governments concern over breaching the public debt limit. Vietnam has set the public debt cap of 65 percent of GDP.

He called on government agencies to have constructive discussions with the World Bank to find a solution.

The World Bank is not the only one to complain about Vietnams delays in disbursing ODA loans this year. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said in October many ODA projects had been delayed, including one section of the Ho Chi Minh City metro, two sections of the Hanoi metro and the Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project.

The delays were a result of the public debt cap and other policies issued in recent years to control public debt, JICA said in a statement.

Vietnam has so far signed deals to borrow $84 billion in ODA, and the outstanding foreign loans were worth $45.8 billion last year, or 20.25 percent of GDP.

Transport infrastructure, economic development policy studies and state management, human resources development, and environmental protection are fields given priority in the use of foreign capital.

In 2016-2017, Vietnam struck deals to borrow more than $9.19 billion, including $6.8 billion in ODA, $2.2 billion in other preferential loans, and $216.8 million in non-refundable aid.

More than 91 percent of ODA and preferential loans in the past two years have come from development agencies: 35 percent from the World Bank, 33 percent from JICA and 14.1 percent from the Asian Development Bank.

Vietnam has increased the the cap it has set for ODA loans from VND300 trillion ($12.87 billion) in 2016-2020 to VND360 trillion ($15.44 billion).Long lines of cars on Hanoi roads during rush hour are the new norm in the capital as more people ditch motorbikes for the four wheeler. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

Vietnam imported 72,650 cars this year, down nearly 20 percent over 2017, according to the Vietnam Customs.

The import value of cars exceeded $1.64 billion this year, up 21 percent year-on-year, the agency said.

Thailand and Indonesia remain major suppliers of Vietnams imported cars. From Thailand alone, Vietnam has imported more than 52,170 vehicles worth a combined $1.04 billion since the beginning of the year.

According to customs data, from December 7-13, car imports slowed down by 701 units from the previous week, totaling 2,833 vehicles. Total import value is reported to be $67 million.

Vietnams population is around 93 million, larger than South Korea, but car consumption is only around 300,000 units a year, Mike Dunne, an independent industry analyst who has spent more than three decades in Asia, told U.S. television channel CNBC recently.

Most cars sold in Vietnam are foreign brands assembled in the country from kits. But a series of free trade agreements have reduced import duties and are opening up the market. A 30 percent import tax on cars from other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries was scrapped this year.

There are only 358 businesses in the auto industry in Vietnam compared to 2,500 in Thailand, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The ministry also said that Vietnam imports over 90 percent of auto parts.After I gave a girl classmate a present, other students abused and threatened me via email they would tell the world Im weird.

This was among the stories participants shared at an LGBT talk show hosted by Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) at the U.S. consulate on Friday. LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.

"Do you know what LGBT is?" Victor Nguyen, the host and organizer of the show asked a curious audience.

Victor, a member of YSEALI, commenced the talk show with the Gender Unicorn to demonstrate gender and sexuality spectrums. The animation has been adopted and translated into many languages around the world.

Graphics by U.S.-based Trans Student Educational Resources expresses the diversity of gender orientation.

"You can use it to help explain to parents and friends who you are."

He himself once used the Unicorn to explain to his mother who had told him to get medical treatment for loving a man.

"I posted a lot of pictures of me and my boyfriend online and blocked my mother from seeing all of them," he told VnExpress International.

"One day, I decided to unblock her and she asked, whats wrong with you?. What followed was her demanding that I should go to the hospital because she thought I was sick."

Victor decided to stall the hospital visit by asking her out for lunch and a candid conversation. "I used the Gender Unicorn system to talk to her, and it worked. No more hospital visits."

He told the audience, "This model applies not only to LGBT people but to everyone."

This prompted several students to volunteer their stories.

Minh Ha, a Fulbright University student, was among those who confided in the audience: "It was in secondary school and I found myself attracted to a girl in class. I decided to give her a present. After that, other classmates threatened me via an email that they would tell the whole world that Im weird."

An apprehensive Ha then decided to find a boy to date, "first love."

"It was only recently that I found out he is also gay," she recounted the coincidence with a laugh.

Khanh Minh, another Fulbright University student, said: "When I identified myself as a bi in high school, I cut my hair really short and some people at school didnt want to talk to me. The girls said to me you are a lesbian and were afraid you will hit on us, while the boys avoided me because I didnt look like a boy or girl."

Instead of looking for a boy, she turned to academic excellence as a defense mechanism and ended up winning prizes and honors for her school in various competitions.

"I wanted to break the prejudice many teachers have about LGBT people that they dont care about school and only about being Be e." It originates from "Pe de," French slang for homosexual and a derogatory term used widely in Vietnam to attack gays.

Minh ended up being one of the first openly queer kids in her school to be treated with respect. She graduated high school with high achievemenes and many honors.

However, Minh acknowledged she did not have the best time of her life because she was not studying for herself but for other people expectations. "There is a common expectation for LGBT people that we have to excel academically," she added.

Victor Nguyen, standing on stage (left), and the audience listen to Minh Ha speaking about her mixed high school experience. Photo by Sen

Their experiences as young adults expressing their gender identity in high school prompted Minh and Ha to lead the Fulbright Pride and Alliance Club in university.

The club was formed to help organize dialogues, workshops and a safe zone for teachers and LGBT and heterosexual students to discuss LGBT and other gender issues.

Teachers struggle too

A teacher, known by his last name Le, recounted an event that he said gave him "goosebumps": "One time a female student of mine kissed another girl in front of me and other students.

"Its not that I found it disgusting, but I didnt know what to do at that point, so I just turned away."

Le is a former teacher at an international school. His concerns from an educators perspective dealing with LGBT issues at work sparked off a lively debate at the talk show.

Another incident that also perplexed Le involved a boy showing other boys how a perform oral sex using a banana right in front of him.

"I dont know how to react in these situations. Thats why I came to this event. Teachers are held responsible by the school and parents, especially in cases like that.

"If those two girls kissing or the banana eater were to be recorded on camera or seen by parents or teachers, they would hold me accountable for inaction," he said, alluding to the traditional mindsets of Vietnamese parents and school authorities.

While some of the audience praised the public display of affection by the two girl students saying it would go toward countering social stigma against LGBT couples in Vietnam, some raised the question of its appropriateness in a school context and safety.

A foreign psychologist, who works as a counselor at an international school in HCMC, joined the discussion, saying: "The two girls can be allowed to kiss if it is ok for a boy and a girl to kiss. The only exception is if they don't feel safe.

"It might unfortunately not always be safe for them to do that anywhere and they should be aware of that, but they should be the ones to choose and we should support them."

When asked whether LGBT-related dialogues and education exist in schools in Vietnam, the teachers in the conference room said there had not been any at least in the schools they work/ed at or know of.

Le said: "There are no courses or instructions for conduct for LGBT students, and thats why I came to this event to learn and listen to your thoughts. I hope that students can sympathize with teachers who are under particular pressure as educators in Vietnam."

Vietnam, where Gay Pride parades were held often in major cities in recent years, has been praised as a leader in LGBT rights in Asia. However, threats to the community still lurk in schools.

Surveys report that LGBT people in educational environments in Vietnam suffer from high levels of physical violence, sexual harassment and verbal abuse, according to a report by USAID and UNDP in 2014.

"There is a lack of relevant educational material and resources on LGBT issues, and social and counseling services," it said.

A survey on LGBT youth conducted by Save the Children and the Institute of Social & Medical Studies found that schools in Vietnam remained hostile for LGBT students, with 58.3 percent of them bullied or harassed by their peers and 23 percent saying their teachers and school staff also took part in the harassment.

The 2015 study surveyed 138 LGBT street children and youths aged 15-24 in Ho Chi Minh City.Police raided a bar in HCMCs Go Vap District Monday and found dozens of people high on drugs and in possessing them.

At dawn nearly a hundred officers from the drug, criminal and traffic units cordoned off a section of Nguyen Van Luong Street and went into the bar.

The revelers inside panicked and many attempted to escape, but were prevented by the officers. A lot of heroin and ecstasy and other tablets were found on the floor and tables. Some individuals had heroin concealed in their clothes.

More than 150 people were taken to the police station in an intoxicated state.

Most were released later while a few have been detained for questioning about trafficking.

According to the Go Vap District police, the bar has been a partying hotspot since it opened four years ago. It has been raided before and fined no less than seven times for heroin-related offenses.

"To evade [the police], bars constantly change owners, making it very difficult [for officers]," one investigator said.

Police raids at Saigon's restaurants and similar services for drug use and sex work have occured more often of late. Last month, hundreds of police officers raided a popular restaurant in the central District 1 and held around 70 drug users and sex workers for drug test.

According to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Saigon has nearly 22,000 registered drug users, nearly 10 percent of the countrys total.

Drug use is banned in Vietnam, and producing and dealing in drugs are criminal offenses.The United Nations General Assembly meets in New York on September 29, 2018. Photo by AFP/File

Vietnam has become a member of the United Nationss Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) for the first time.

With 157 out of 193 votes at an election held during the 73rd session of the U.N. General Assembly that opened Monday in New York, Vietnam was elected to be a UNCITRAL member for the 2019-2025 tenure.

This is the first time UNCITRALs membership has been chosen by voting because there were more contestants than seats allocated to the Asia-Pacific and Western European regions.

Officials said success in the election shows Vietnams rising prestige and recognition of its efforts and contributions to the international communitys common tasks, including international trade.

UNCITRA, established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1966, is the core legal body of the U.N., aiming to promote progressive harmonization and unification of international trade law.

Vietnams membership of UNCITRA marks a step forward in the countrys international integration process, especially in multilateral legal integration, after the election of Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Hong Thao as second vice chairman of the International Law Commission in 2016.Vietnam has established a VND300 billion ($13 million) fund to promote tourism that will operate as a limited company.

The company, under the management of Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism, will begin operations next February with VND300 billion from the state budget as its registered capital.

Every year, its capital will be augmented by funding from several sources including 10 percent of the countrys visa fee revenues, 5 percent of entrance fee revenues from tourist sites and contributions from tourism enterprises, organizations, individuals and other sources.

The company will invest in promotions, product development, training of human resources, and improvement of institutional capacity in the tourism sector. It has been set up in accordance with the Law on Tourism that was passed last June.

Vietnam's tourism marketing budget is around $2 million a year, just 2.9 percent of Thailands, 2.5 percent of Singapores and 1.9 percent of Malaysias, according to Forbes.

Vietnam received more than 14 million foreign visitors in the first 11 months this year, up 21.3 percent from a year ago. Tourism revenue in the first 10 months of 2018 is estimated at VND505 trillion (approximately $21.7 billion), an increase of nearly 21 percent over the same period last year, according to official statistics.

Vietnam ranks 80 among 136 countries in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2018, according to a report by the World Economic Forum.

However, its place is much lower than other countries in the region like Laos and Cambodia, which are ranked 53rd and 73rd, respectively.Thai authorities plan to prosecute a Vietnamese woman after finding 22kg of elephant tusks in her luggage.

Nguyen Thi Thanh, 43, from the central province of Ha Tinh, was stopped at the border checkpoint in Nakhon Phanom, a northeastern province in Thailand as she was sitting in a bus from Thakhek in the Lao province of Khammuane, the Bangkok Post reported.

When police searched her luggage, they found 930 items of elephant tusks and ornaments worth an estimated $60,340.

Thanh faces criminal charges for smuggling and possessing ivory without permission, and can be jailed for up to six years under the Thai Penal Code.

The woman told the police that she was paid $61 by an unnamed Lao citizen to carry the ivory products to a bus stop in Nakhon Phanom for another person to pick up, police said. However, authorities suspect she is a member of a smuggling syndicate.

The global trade in elephant ivory, with rare exceptions, has been outlawed since 1989 after populations of the African pachyderms dropped from millions in the mid-20th century to around 600,000 by the end of the 1980s.

Vietnam also outlawed the ivory trade in 1992, but the country remains a top market for ivory products which are prized locally for decorative purposes and for traditional medicine, despite there being no proof of its medicinal qualities.

Weak law enforcement in the country has allowed a black market to flourish, and Vietnam is also a busy thoroughfare for tusks trafficked from Africa destined for other parts of Asia, mainly China.Tourists are seen at a shopping mall in Singapore. Photo by Shutterstocks/Danny Tran

Four Vietnamese citizens were imprisoned Monday for stealing more than 1,400 items worth $30,000 plus from Singapores shopping malls.

Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, 31, who is pregnant and identified as the ringleader of the shoplifters, was sentenced to one year and 11 months in jail, while another woman, Tran Thi Phuong Thao, 29, will spend 22 months behind bars, the Strait Times reported.

Two men, Duong Tuan Dat, 27, and 30-year-old Van Tu Nguyen received the same sentence as Huong. All four suspects pleaded guilty to two counts of being in possession of fraudulently obtained items and one theft charge.

According to the indictment, the accused drew up a plan to come to Singapore and steal clothing items from shopping malls and sell them after returning to Vietnam. Before arriving, the gang prepared special shopping bags lined with aluminium to avoid being spotted by anti-theft sensors, prosecutors said.

The gang entered the island state on September 13 this year and targeted a Japanese retailer as they had heard that many pieces of clothing did not have sensor tags attached.

Two days later, all four went to a Uniqlo store in the Downtown East shopping mall on Pasir Ris Street and pilfered numerous clothing items.

The store manager called the police, saying that some items had been stolen from his shop . An employee had given chase, but the culprits jumped into the bushes and escaped.

Police arrested the gang on September 16 at Hotel Re along Chin Swee Road. From two rooms they discovered 1,454 items worth more than $30,000.

Investigations showed that the group had stolen clothing items from several shopping malls across Singapore and moved some of their loot from one hotel to another to avoid suspicion.

Some Vietnamese people are earning an unsavory reputation in several Asian countries like Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia by engaging in illegal acts like shoplifting. Over the last few months, several have been caught engaging in petty crimes.

Citizens of ASEAN member nations can travel within the region without applying for a visa and stay as tourists for 30 days.

The number of Vietnamese traveling to Singapore last year was more than 530,000, the ninth highest group of foreign visitors to the island nation.Waynes Coffee brand "Beverage quintessence" brings Swedens unique cultural feature to Vietnam

The cafe, at 37 Ton Duc Thang, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, has already welcomed Pereric Hogberg, the Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam, many young people, businessmen, artists to experience Swedish fika style, or having coffee like a Swede.

Waynes Coffee is one of the world-renowned brands from Sweden along with the band ABBA, Volvo cars, IKEA furniture, Absolut vodka, Ericsson mobile phones, and H&M fashion, Hogberg said.

"For Swedes, Fika isnt something that is luxury, classic. It is simply a part of everyday life. However, it is an indispensable aspect of the lifestyle of the people", the ambassador said.

"Sweden is a cold country, so coffee is a very important thing to help us warm up. Drinking coffee is also a way to meet friends, help stay awake to drive; that is fika, about a fast and relaxed break during the day.

Swede Ambassador in Vietnam - Mr. Pereric Hogberg.

"I am very happy to have the first Swedish coffee chain in Vietnam. I think it will be as successful as other Swedish global brands. Experience fika style, buy and take away, meet old and new friends in the same place".

Hogberg pointed out the similarities between the coffee cultures and coffee drinking preferences of people in Vietnam and Sweden.

"We all love coffee. In my mind, Vietnamese coffee always has a sweet taste, perhaps because Vietnamese like to add sugar and often have ice. In Sweden, we do not use much ice or sugar. Vietnamese coffee in a filter to drip is different from our coffee, which is often made using a coffee maker. I like Vietnamese coffee".

Wayne's Coffee Vietnam uses organic coffee certified by KRAV (Sweden and Europe) with the most stringent inspection of the natural planting and processing of the coffee without chemicals, ensuring the highest quality and safeguarding the health of consumers. Cakes, drinks (coffee, tea) are made by bartenders from Sweden right at the counter.

There is always Vietnamese coffee meeting for lovers of traditional coffee at VND29,000 ($1.25).

Wayne's Coffee in Vietnam, which is owned by Arya Consumer JSC and Vietnam-Oman Investment Fund, is the first of Wayne's Coffee in Asia.

As a strategic shareholder in the project, the VOI Fund, with a primary focus on contributing to society and creating values for the country and its people, sought to adopt this project with Arya Consumers JSC to continue its mission in Vietnam.

VOI is a joint venture between the State General Reserve Fund of Oman and the State Capital Investment Corporation of Vietnam. VOI pursues a philosophy of value investing and long-term investment.

Phuong NguyenIf it looks like a duckand massages like a duck

Foreign visitors enjoy a palm massage by ducks eating out of their hand in central Vietnam.

The "Duck Stop" is located near the Phong Nha - Ke Bang Cave in Quang Binh Province. It has become a very popular destination of late.

Western tourists enjoy a duck massage. Photo courtesy of Bianca Yorke - Davies

The Duck Stop Farm is a brainchild of 20-year-old Tran Van Quynh. The owner of the 120 ducks has also named the farm "Duck Heaven".

Quynh guides visitors for the first attempt at getting the duck massage, on how to hold a handful of seeds in their cupped palms and allow the ducks to munch them.

The experience is similar to the famous fish massage in Thailand where people put their legs in water tanks full of small fish that nibble at the skin.

Robyn, a tourist from Poland, said shed never laughed so much. "I never thought I would be chased by hundreds of ducks. It felt great to have them massage me," she said.

Tourists also have the opportunity to become a "leader" of hundreds of ducks. The "Duck Leader" section is introduced soon after tourists are massaged. They will still hold a handful of seeds in one hand, and hold a box in the other. Then they run around the cage shouting "quack quack quack," shaking the box.

On hearing the sound, the ducks give chase. After reaching one end of the cage, the tourist throws the seeds up in the air, allowing hungry ducks to devour them as they fall to the ground.

"The performance makes you look like a real captain," said James, a tourist from Australia.

"This is probably one of the most exciting things I've done in Vietnam," James said. "Now I have discovered a job I could do if I was unemployed in the future, leading a flock of ducks," he joked.

Sam Long, an American tourist, also said that becoming a duck leader needed a lot of effort and dedication. "Not everyone could make the ducks listen and follow," she said.

Sam enjoys the feeling of being the "leader". Photo courtesy of Sam Long

Besides the duck massage, tourists can ride buffalos in the rice field. The buffalo will go to shallow streams so that visitors can have a very authentic experience.

Naoise Fleming found information about the new experience on Tripadvisor. "Feeding ducks and having them massage you is the first experience I have had in Vietnam," he said.

The natural landscape and fresh air in the countryside makes a visit to this farm a delightful experience for many tourists.

"It is unbelievable that I only pay VND50,000 ($2.15) to ride and take pictures with a buffalo," one tourist said.

A tourist rides a buffalo. Photo courtesy of @ameliaandrianna

Before riding the buffalos, tourists are given a conical hat and a pair of sandals. A visit to this farm costs between VND150,000 ($6.47) and VND250,000 ($10.78), depending on the activities you choose.

"When you do not want to ride elephants in Southeast Asia, this is a good thing to try," said Ariana of Scotland.A strawberry field in Son La is producing a lot of fruit, and visitors can reap some fresh benefits.

The strawberry field is located at the foot of mountains in Dong Sang Ward, Moc Chau District, Son La Province, 5 hours northwest of Hanoi. It cultivates Korean and Japanese strawberry varieties.

The farm, six hectares in area, was formerly a rocky land filled with weeds, considered unsuitable for agriculture. But the weather is suitable for strawberry cultivation. This year, it is expected to harvest 50 tons of fruit, earning nearly half a million dollars.

The farms owner has worked to improve the soil quality. The berries are cultivated in two ways, hydroponics or directly in the soil.

The workers prune leaves, remove small fruits to save nutrition for the bigger ones, remove bugs and fertilize each root every day.

The strawberries are also grown in glasshouses and covered with plastic bags. The glasshouses are equipped with irrigation systems designed to prevent flooding.

Workers say red mites, thrips, black worms, green worms, leaf rollers, and other insects are common strawberry pests.

"If the damage is high, we have to use biological or botanical chemicals to treat it, but once the plant flowers and begins producing fruit, they are handpicked everyday," a worker said.

The plants are fertilized with organic fertilizers, microorganisms, and irrigated to create moderate moisture.

When the strawberry plant matures, it needs a large amount of nutrients because it is then that it starts bearing flowers and fruit.

Berries usually ripen in November after three months of planting and harvest season goes on for four months.

This strawberry farm deploys VietGap cultivation standards. It also welcomes visitors who are allowed to pluck fruits directly. Most of the fruit is sold to supermarket chains and clean food distribution channels.

"This is the largest strawberry farm in Vietnam. We estimate that this year, 50 tons of strawberries will be harvested, which will have a value of VND10 billion ($429,905)," said Vu Van Luc, the owner.

The farmer combines strawberry farming with tourism. Visitors are welcome to visit and pick strawberries. It is ideal to do so at the end of the year and right after Lunar New Year.

Visitors place the berries they have picked in containers to go. Since the beginning of this year, the farm has welcomed thousands of visitors.Poroshenko's Roshen again postpones launch of new biscuit factory outside Kyiv

The first stage of the factory was originally planned to be put into operation in early 2018.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+EnterUkrainian-flagged ships in Sea of Azov account for a mere 10%  PM Groysman

The Ukrainian prime minister calls for retaliatory action against Russian vessels.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+EnterWhat do you think about our new website?

Share your opinionEU to send mission to assess infrastructure in Pryazovia, eastern Ukraine  PM Groysman

The Cabinet has signed eight agreements with the EU in various fields, which are expected to receive substantial support from European partners.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+EnterUkraine's government splits State Fiscal Service into tax and customs agencies

Competitions to select heads of the newly created services will be held within three months after the approval of the Cabinet's resolution.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+EnterCooperation with IMF has positive impact on Ukraine's banking system  National Bank

A meeting of the IMF Executive Board on Ukraine program is scheduled for December 18.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+EnterUkraine's Anti-Raider Commission returns almost 6,000 ha of land to citizens

The abolition of illegal registration that led to the loss of real estate by baby food producer LLC Econia is among the Commission's high-profile cases.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+EnterWorld Bank approves financial guarantee to Ukraine worth $750 mln

Petro Poroshenko thanked the partners for supporting and believing in Ukraine.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+EnterTogether with the ECR in the European Committee of Regions and the Democratic Union of Slovaks and Czechs in Romania, the ECPM organized a conference about the role of minorities and the European Year of Cultural Heritage. The ECPM strongly believes that Europes richness lies in its cultural diversity.

Together with the ECR in the European Committee of Regions and the Democratic Union of Slovaks and Czechs in Romania, the ECPM organized a conference about the role of minorities and the European Year of Cultural Heritage, Thursday 6th of December. The ECPM strongly believes that Europes richness lies in its cultural diversity.



The very reason why the ECPM organises events like this, is to emphasize the uniqueness of numerous minorities and their added value in their countries and throughout Europe. The celebration of the European year of cultural heritage offers the opportunity to discuss more in depth about the role minorities in their countries to preserve peace and stability. Furthermore it shows how their cultural traditions can be preserved and the role of the EU in this. In the discussion we focused on the connection between minorities with their countries of origin and about relations with the same minorities in other EU countries or with other minorities in the same country.

As ECPM we do not believe that a society is based on individualism, but a society that is based on communities. The Democratic Union of Slovaks and Czechs in Romania (UDSCR) show how community and church play an important role in maintaining their identity.

The event in the Committee of Regions, was opened by Rob Jonkman (President of the ECR in the Committee of Regions) and Adrian Merka (President of the UDSCR), followed by a traditional dance performance by the Slovaks in Romania.

Besides Rob Jonkman and Adrian Merka , ECPM President Branislav Skripek (MEP, SK) was speaking in the panel as well. The meeting was moderated by Leo van Doesburg, ECPMs Director of European Affairs. After the discussion there was a cocktail with traditional Slovakian food.





   |    21  2001African migrants receiving assistance in Melilla. Antonio Ruiz

The Spanish government is this week taking to Congress a new strategy for Africa that focuses on investment, peace missions, a greater business presence, and what it terms orderly mobility between the continent and Spain.

Following a five-year hiatus on the issue, Spain is finalizing a new comprehensive plan for Africa, said sources at the Foreign Ministry. According to these sources, the Socialist Party (PSOE) government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wants to create a more productive relationship that looks beyond the issue of irregular immigration to address political stability, peace and security, economic growth, and sustainable development on the continent.

Barely 0.3% of Spains gross foreign investment went to Africa last year

The document does not use the word immigration, alluding instead to orderly mobility. One high-ranking ministry official said that we need to broaden the approach, because immigration is a shared reality. Of every five Africans who emigrate, four do so within the continent itself. Fewer than 20% arrive in Europe.

This is the first comprehensive Africa plan developed by a Spanish government since Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, also from the PSOE, produced one for the 2009-2013 period. Before that, there had been two plans, one in 2000 and another one in 2006, although these focused largely on containing immigration.

Due to its geographical proximity to the northern coast of Africa, where it has the exclave cities of Ceuta and Melilla, Spain has been a traditional entry point into Europe for migrants. Since November 1, 1988, 6,714 people have died or gone missing in the Strait of Gibraltar, according to a report by the migrant support group Andalucia Acoge.

The document does not use the word immigration, alluding instead to orderly mobility

The new plan, which lacks a specific budget, wants to promote Spanish investment in Africa, where there are currently only around 600 Spanish businesses in operation. The government wants to spend more on showcasing a vision of Africa that looks beyond the news stories of war, drought and dictatorship, to underscore the fact that the continent is less poor and more stable now than it was years ago.

Barely 0.3% of Spains gross foreign investment went to Africa last year, and half of that was aimed at South Africa, according to Economy Ministry figures. Other European Union members such as France and Italy have a greater presence in the region. The EU has come up with an investment tool that hopes to direct 44 billion at Africa, mostly in private funds, over the next few years. Meanwhile, China is multiplying its own investments on the continent.

English version by Susana Urra.Maria is a 33-year-old geography and history teacher at a public secondary bilingual school in Madrid. Its not a position she feels comfortable with. It doesnt make me anxious, but I dont think Im doing a good job, says Maria, who did not want to use her real name. I use irony and humor to get closer to my students and I cant do this in English because it is not my native language.

In 2013, after struggling to find work, Maria decided to get the certificate in advanced English (C1), which is required to teach English in the region of Madrid. It took two years to prepare for the exam and cost her 3,000 in classes. Since then, she has worked full-time as a substitute teacher.

This model segregates students according to their economic possibilities

Biology teacher Javier

The boom in public bilingual centers in Spain has been remarkable. In the 2010-2011 period, 240,154 students were studying in a bilingual program in one of Spains regions (except Catalonia, which does not provide data). In the 2016-2017 period, that figure had jumped 360% to 1.1 million, according to an EL PAIS study of data from the Education Ministry. Some 95% of Spanish students at bilingual schools have chosen to be taught in English.

But experts say there is not enough analysis or objective data on the effect of bilingual learning. They accuse regional governments of using students as a testing ground to meet electoral promises.

Families are often making misinformed decisions and choose these centers because they are socially prestigious. They set learning expectations that are not realistic, Ruben Chacon, professor of English language at the National Distance Education University (UNED), said at last weeks Biuned congress, where more than 100 national and international experts discussed the issue of bilingual education.

Bilingualism is here to stay and teaching professionals must adapt and educate themselves to move forward, he added.

Regional differences

There are notable differences between bilingual education in each of Spains regions, especially when it comes to the English skills required of teachers. In Asturias, where more students study in English than any other region (52.3% in elementary school and 33.7% in high school), teachers only need to have an intermediate level (B2). The same is true in Andalusia, where 30.5% of elementary school students and 28.6% of high school students study in English. In Madrid however, where 43.8% of primary school students and 27.6% of secondary students take classes in English, teachers must have an advanced level of English (C1).

The number of students who were held back a year was higher in non-bilingual schools, according to a report by the Madrid regional government

The popularity of bilingual schools has risen so dramatically that many regions have been unable to keep up with demand. In Andalusia, for instance, there are not enough teachers qualified to speak well, says Christian Abello, professor of English studies at the University of Seville. After the bilingual program was launched in 2004, the Andalusian regional government allowed teachers with a low intermediate level of English (B1) to teach classes in the first few years, says Jose Antonio Romero, coordinator of the bilingual program at the public school Miguel Servert in Seville.

We began without qualified teachers, and CLIL training  the European methodology to learn a new language through other subjects such as mathematics  is voluntary. The regional government did not supervise the teachers progress, he adds.

Another issue with bilingual schools is how students are divided according to their level of English. In the Madrid region, secondary students must take an exam and are then separated according to their results. Those who perform well receive at least 33% of classes in English and those who do not, receive just one class in the language.

Families often make misinformed decisions and choose these centers because they are socially prestigious

English language professor Ruben Chacon

Sandra, who also did not want to give her real name, is a geography and history substitute teacher at a school in Vicalvaro, a working class area of Madrid. She decided not to give her class in English, arguing it would be an aberration. There is a lot of abstract thinking in my subject and I feel like it would be a betrayal to my students, to those who already struggle in Spanish, she says. Sandra also believes it is unfair that bilingual schools have more resources, for instance the Global Classrooms program where student compete against other schools in a mock United Nations debate. They learn a lot [with Global Classrooms] but non-bilingual students are left out, she says.

Centers are in a kind of race with one another and this puts pressure on the teaching sector  Its a social experiment, says Isabel Galvin, head of education for the Madrid region at the labor union CCOO. During these three months, the union has received 365 queries  185 (nearly 50%) were related to bilingual teaching in Madrid.

A common problem is that the substitute who is covering their position is not trained, says Ana, a technical drawing teacher who did not want to use her real name. This 50-year-old educator was unable to get the C1 certificate and is now being moved from school to school.

Social segregation

But there are teachers who feel comfortable giving classes in English. Javier, a biology and geography substitute teacher, lived for a year in the United States. While he does not have problems with English, he says the system marginalizes students from less privileged backgrounds. This model segregates students according to their economic possibilities. Those who can pay for after-school tutoring do well, and those who cannot get increasingly worse results, says Javier.

According to Javier, many families chose bilingual schools for their social standing even if the students have trouble learning: Students often end up memorizing. Understanding such complex material in English is double the work.

In Asturias, where more students study in English than any other region, teachers only need to have an intermediate level of English

A report from the Autonomous University of Barcelona found that bilingual schools were creating selection processes that deepened social segregation. Students with more resources were accepted and those with more difficulties were left out, the report concluded. This was most apparent in Madrid, where segregation was comparable to Hungary and Romania, two countries with the highest levels of social division in the European Union.

On the other hand, a report by Madrid regional authorities found that the number of students who were held back a year was higher in non-bilingual schools  4.5% in primary and 12.5% in secondary school compared to 3.8% and 9% in bilingual centers.

In the 2016-2017 period, Madrids regional government invested 36 million in bilingual education  5% for teacher training and 69% to language assistants, typically university students from English-speaking countries who spend an hour every week talking to each student in the classroom.

In Asturias, students are not divided according to their English proficiency. The regional director of academic planning, Francisco Laviana, says our objective is not for them to speak like it was their native language, but to master it. The role of the teacher has changed. Now they are not just an expert in their field, they also have to feel comfortable with technology and languages. He adds, Its a work opportunity for teachers and an unstoppable trend.

English version by Melissa Kitson.(l-r) Catalan independence leaders Jordi Sanchez, Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Joaquim Forn, Jordi Cuixart, Josep Rull and Raul Romeva. OMNIUM CULTURAL

Four Catalan independence leaders who are on a hunger strike in prison awaiting trial for rebellion over their role in last years unauthorized referendum and subsequent unilateral declaration of independence have sent 40 letters to European Union authorities to denounce their situation.

In their message to the heads of European nations and EU officials, the four men detail how Spains Constitutional Court is, in their view, blocking all their appeals, in order to prevent them from getting their cases to the European justice system.

Our rights to the presumption of innocence and to a fair trial are being violated

Letter to EU leaders

Ex-Catalan government members Jordi Turull, Josep Rull and Joaquim Forn, as well as Jordi Sanchez, former head of the pro-independence civic organization ANC and currently a regional deputy, want to draw attention to their dire situation, said Pilar Calvo, their spokeswoman.

There are nine of us and we have been in prison without trial for over a year, accused of rebellion for calling a peaceful referendum. Our rights to the presumption of innocence and to a fair trial are being violated, says the letter, a copy of which has also been mailed to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

The letters say that their appeals to the Constitutional Court should normally be ruled on in 30 days, but have instead been on hold for over a year. For this reason, the activists say they will appeal the delay itself before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The Supreme Court is today deciding whether it has the jurisdiction to try the accused. Ballesteros (EFE)

Calvo described the hunger-striking men as strong, firm and determined. Only one of them, Turull, has required hospital treatment since the group began their protest around two weeks ago. All four have ties to Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia), the political platform headed by former regional premier Carles Puigdemont, who currently lives in Belgium after fleeing Spain to avoid arrest on the same charges as the others.

The other jailed secessionist leaders  Oriol Junqueras, Raul Romeva, Carme Forcadell and Dolors Bassa of the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), as well as Jordi Cuixart, head of the civic group Omnium  have refused to join the hunger strike. The ERC deputy inside the Spanish Congress, Joan Tarda, called it unnecessary.

The trial

On Tuesday, the Spanish Supreme Court began preliminary proceedings by holding a hearing to determine whether it has the jurisdiction to try the accused. The defense claims that it does not, and that their clients should be tried instead by the High Court of Catalonia.

No date has been set yet for the trial itself, but sources familiar with the situation said that it is likely to begin in January. A total of 18 people are facing charges of rebellion, sedition, disobedience and misuse of public funds.

Road to prison

On October 1, 2017 a separatist government led by Carles Puigdemont organized an independence referendum in defiance of a court suspension on the grounds of its unconstitutionality. The vote was made possible by a law passed inside the Catalan parliament that did not achieve the two-thirds majority required by Catalonias regional charter, the Estatut.

Carles Puigdemont, who fled Spain after holding the unauthorized referendum, now lives in Belgium. AFP

The day of the referendum produced unprecedented scenes of violence as National Police and Civil Guard officers were sent in to stop the vote from taking place, while the regional police force was accused of standing by. Later that month, separatist parties made a unilateral declaration of independence based on the outcome of the vote, which, according to the Catalan government, received 90% support for independence. Spain revoked the regions devolved powers and Puigdemont and several aides fled Spain to avoid rebellion charges, while other leaders who remained behind were arrested and placed in pre-trial detention.

Direct rule by Madrid ended shortly after Catalonia held a snap election in December 2017 that gave separatist parties 47.5% of the popular vote, although this translated into a slim majority of 70 seats due to a proportional representation system that favors rural dominance.

New leaders in Catalonia and in Madrid made initial overtures of friendship, but the relationship has become increasingly strained. Catalan premier Quim Torra recently defended the Slovenian way as a model for Catalan independence, alluding to a violent process that yielded dozens of casualties as the country split from Yugoslavia.

This coming Friday will newly test the relationship as PM Sanchez has decided to hold a Spanish Cabinet meeting in Barcelona that pro-independence groups are promising to boycott with extensive street protests. Thousands of police officers from national, regional and municipal agencies are being deployed to keep the peace in the Catalan capital and across the region.

English version by Susana Urra.Victim Laura Luelmo and the house of the suspect (r).

The Civil Guard made an arrest on Tuesday in the ongoing investigation into the death of Laura Luelmo, a 26-year-old from Zamora in Spain who disappeared last Wednesday from the town of El Campillo, in Huelva, southern Spain. Her body was located on Monday in scrubland by a volunteer taking part in the extensive searches to locate the schoolteacher.

Sources from the investigation have confirmed to EL PAIS that they have arrested a 50-year-old man named Bernardo Montoya in connection with the apparent killing. This morning, Civil Guard officers were seen carrying out searches in the street where Luelmo lived in a rented apartment. Montoya was living in the house opposite, which belonged to his father.

In 1995, the suspect killed an 82-year-old woman with a machete in her house

However, the same sources also explained that there is not as yet definitive proof that links him to the death. Sources have revealed that she was found with a blow to the head and marks on her neck, but the cause of death has yet to be announced.

Luelmos body was located just five kilometers from her new home in El Campillo, hidden by some branches and half-naked, according to sources close to the investigation. The volunteer who found her had been drawn to the spot after seeing clothes strewn about the scrubs. The physical attributes, age and a tattoo on the body made it possible to immediately identify it as Luelmos.

Victim Laura Luelmo.

The 26-year-old teacher was from Zamora but had moved to El Campillo just over a week earlier to begin a new job at the Vazquez Diaz secondary school in the nearby town of Nevera.

Luelmo was reported missing on Thursday, December 12 after she left her home to exercise on Wednesday and never returned. On Saturday, more than 200 volunteers and the Civil Guard began looking for the missing teacher.

The suspect in the case was being followed this morning by officers from the Civil Guard while he was driving his car. At one point, having realized he was being tailed, he left his vehicle and tried to escape on foot. After a brief chase, he was arrested in Huelva, according to Civil Guard sources, who did not specify the exact location of the detention.

Montoya is reported to be the twin brother of one of Luelmos neighbors

Montoya is reported to be the twin brother of another one of Luelmos neighbors, a man who has been identified as Luciano Montoya, and who, on the day of the schoolteachers disappearance, was in prison in Ocana (Toledo).

The main suspect, who was interviewed by officers last week according to sources from the investigation, has a long criminal record, as does his twin brother. Murder, forced entry, obstruction of justice, violent robbery, among other crimes, according to prison sources. Bernardo Montoya first entered jail in 1994, and was released in 2018 after having served 17 years of a 22-year sentence for murder, according to a ruling from the Huelva High Court in 1997, to which EL PAIS has had access.

On December 13, 1995, the suspect killed an 82-year-old woman with a machete in her house in nearby Cortegana. Montoya was trying to prevent the victim from testifying against him in court in a robbery trial. The court concluded that at the time of the killing he was under the influence of heroin and cocaine, to which he was addicted.

It only took Luelmo three days in her new house in El Campillo to get the impression that her neighbor across the street was untrustworthy, and said so to her boyfriend ahead of her disappearance. The man would reportedly sit by the door of the family house in which he was living, right in front of Luelmos rented property.

Many of the more than 2,000 residents of El Campillo were aware of the criminal past of Bernardo Montoya. In 2008 he attacked a youngster from town with a knife, explained a resident living close to Cordoba street. I believe it was when he was out on parole.

The murder has shocked Spain, which has seen several high-profile murders of women in recent years, including that of Diana Quer, an 18-year-old from Madrid who went missing in August 2016 while vacationing with her family in Galicia. In January of this year, the Civil Guard found the body of the 18-year-old inside a well at the site of an abandoned warehouse in Rianxo and arrested her suspected killer, a local man named Jose Enrique Abuin.

The suspects twin, Luciano, killed a 35-year-old woman in the year 2000. The modus operandi of Bernardos brother did not differ much from his own: he was sentenced to 15 years in jail for lying in wait for the woman, whom he also killed as a reprisal for having reported him over the theft of a purse.

In recent days several media outlets in Spain have pointed to Luciano as the main suspect in the killing of Luelmo. But this would have been impossible, given that he was in jail at the time of the disappearance, and was not released until the day the body was discovered.

English version by Simon Hunter.EIB to provide EUR 50 mln for transport infrastructure in Ukraine, EUR 10 mln for support of higher education

The European Investment Bank (EIB) agreed with the Ukrainian Government on a series of new financing operations, in particular, the sides signed an agreement on lending EUR 50 million to finance transport infrastructure improvements throughout the country and a grant of EUR 10 million to finance the implementation of the Ukraine Higher Education Project, the bank has said in a press release.

"The projects signed today will result in faster and safer transport infrastructure, better academic facilities and more resources for higher education programmes, all of which will strengthen the countrys competitiveness," the press service of the bank reported on Monday, citing EIB Vice-President Vazil Hudak.

The EUR 50 million EIB loan to improve connectivity in Ukraine and in the Eastern Neighbourhood provides support for transport projects expected to have significant positive local impacts. Road safety, connectivity, and traffic management and control projects are under consideration, with a view to contributing to the economic development of Ukraine.

The project's first phase will focus on the development of intelligent transport system on national roads, the construction of a missing section of the northern by-pass around the city of Ternopil forming part of the extended TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Networks), and a number of multi-level railway crossings.

Furthermore, the project will support the development of future investment in railway connections between the European Union and Ukraine.

"The project is backed by a EUR 14 million EU grant for the Ternopil bypass investment and a EUR 1.85 million EU grant for project preparation and implementation. Both grants are being provided under the Neighbourhood Investment Platform (NIP)," the bank said.

Ukraine and the EIB also signed the EUR 10 million grant agreement under the multi-donor E5P fund that supports municipal investments in energy-efficiency and environmental projects in the Eastern Partnership countries.

"The grant will help finance the implementation of a Ukraine Higher Education Project, which the EIB is already supporting. Furthermore, the EIB concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science for the preparation of a project to create several centres of excellence in the country," the bank said.

The Ukraine Higher Education Project has already received a EUR 120 million loan from the EIB and EUR 30 million from Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO), the EIB said.

The grant will be used to finance, in particular, seven universities in the cities of Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, Poltava, Sumy and Vinnitsa in order to significantly reduce the energy consumption of their buildings with positive environmental impacts.

The project is also supported by a EUR 3 million EU grant from the Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF) to assist implementation arrangements, the bank said.

According to the report, the agreements were signed at the EU-Ukraine Association Council meeting held in Brussels on Monday.The Cabinet of Ministers has extended until December 31, 2019 the embargo on a host of Russian goods and the import duties on other Russian goods that were introduced in 2016 in response to Russian trade restrictions against Ukraine.

The extension was approved without discussion at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Under a December 30, 2015 decision, the Ukrainian government subjected Russian goods to import duties set by Ukrainian customs effective from January 2, 2016. In addition, the preferences for Russian goods under the October 18, 2011 free trade agreement were canceled.

The Russian embargo on food products from Ukraine has been in effect since January 1, 2016. In response, Ukraine banned imports of Russian food products as well as a host of other goods whose total value equals that of the Ukrainian exports banned by Russia.

After dropping steeply in 2014-2016, bilateral trade began recovering in 2017: Ukraine boosted exports to Russia 9.6%, to $3.936 billion and imports from Russia rose 39.9%, to $7.204 billion.

In the ten months of 2018, Ukrainian exports to Russia dropped 7.1%, to $3.03 billion while imports from Russia continued growing, by 20.1%, to $6.629 billion. As a result, the trade deficit with Russia widened by 1.6 times in the ten months of 2018 year-on-year, to $3.599 billion.Exclusion zone around Chornobyl NPP visited by more than 63,000 people in 2018

The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine has registered a significant increase in the number of visitors to the exclusion zone around the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, Ecology Minister Ostap Semerak has said.

According to information from the Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry, the exclusion zone has been visited by over 63,000 people in 2018 while the number of visitors to the zone in 2017 was over 49,000 people and over 36,000 people in 2016.

"In 2014, the exclusion zone was visited by over 8,000 people," he said.The current situation in Ukraine is under the full control of the state and does not require a declaration of mobilization. However, if Russia launches a large-scale ground attack, it will be announced immediately, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"The current situation in the country is fully controlled. Our Armed Forces and all security forces ensure the safety of citizens," Poroshenko said during a meeting with the faculty and student activists in Ternopil on Tuesday.

He reiterated that mobilization will not be announced unless Russia launches a large-scale ground attack.

Poroshenko said, "all mobilization decrees are prepared" and it will not be necessary to "run and ask permission" from parliament to declare mobilization.

The president recalled the situation in the Ukrainian parliament during consideration of the decree on introducing martial law, when some deputies suggested conducting a sociological survey on whether to introduce it or not.

"Taking a poll  to decide whether or not to protect the state? So, this is how they think we should defend the country? The job of defending the state is the responsibility of the commander-in-chief and he is responsible to the Ukrainian people. I assure you that I acted and will act decisively to protect Ukrainian state. With our army, we will act effectively," Poroshenko said.

The head of state said conscripted servicemen are not being sent to the Joint Forces Operation zone in eastern Ukraine

"They are engaged exclusively in combat training and training. But if one of them expresses a desire to sign a contract, to undergo appropriate training voluntarily, he can take part in the JFO," said Poroshenko.An American-Iranian and a Turkish man, two partners of President Donald Trump's former national security advisor Michael Flynn were indicted Monday over an Ankara-backed scheme to remove Turkish dissident cleric Fethullah Gulen from the United States.

The Justice Department charged Bijan Rafiekian, aka Bijan Kian, 66, of San Juan Capistrano, California, and Kamil Ekim Alptekin, 41, of Istanbul, with acting as unregistered agents of the Turkish government and lying to the FBI over the 2016 scheme.

Kian is a well known figure in the Iranian community in the United States.

According to the indictment, Rafiekian and Alptekin made arrangements for the Flynn Intel Group to be indirectly paid $600,000 by the Turkish government to help turn US public and political sentiment against exiled Gulen.

The plan was developed at the height of the 2016 election campaign when Flynn was advising then-candidate Trump on foreign and security policy.

The goal, the Justice Department said, was to obtain Gulen's extradition back to Turkey, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had accused him of orchestrating the July 2016 coup attempt.

The deal with Flynn was approved at top levels of the Turkish government, the indictment said, with Alptekin keeping senior ministers apprised of its progress.

The indictment came one day ahead of the planned sentencing of Flynn, who was arrested last year over his secret dealings with Russian officials and Turkey.

Flynn admitted one count of lying to the FBI in a plea deal which led to him providing "substantial" information to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia meddling in the 2016 election.

Flynn's work with the Turks has been known since last year, when the Wall Street Journal reported that he, Rafiekian and Alptekin met Erdogan's son-in-law Berat Albayrak and Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in New York in September 2016.

At that meeting they discussed physically removing Gulen from his Pennsylvania home to Turkey without a legal extradition order.

The Journal cited former CIA director James Woolsey, who attended the same meeting and later told reporters he found the idea possibly illegal.

At the time the administration of president Barack Obama had not approved Ankara's extradition request for Gulen, and the Trump administration has also demurred on the issue.

"It's not under consideration," Trump told reporters on November 17.

But on Sunday, according to media reports, Cavusoglu said Trump recently told Erdogan that the White House is working on extraditing Gulen.

Reporting by AFPParis, Dec 17, 2018 (AFP)



French authorities called on Monday for "light to be shed" on the death of a "blogger and activist" imprisoned in Iran.

The French foreign ministry said in a statement that it had learned "with consternation of the death in detention" of Vahid Sayadi Nasiri, saying he had been imprisoned "for his political activity".

It said he had been on a hunger strike since October 13 to protest "the conditions of his detention and the disregard for his rights".

Iran announced his death on Sunday, but the chief prosecutor of Qom province, Mehdi Kahe, said he had died in hospital of liver disease, according to official news agency IRNA.

It said he had been in prison for "blasphemy", without giving details.

The semi-official ISNA news agency said Sayadi Nasiri died in hospital on December 12.

It said he was arrested in Persian year 1394 (between March 2015 and March 2016) and sentenced to five years for "terrorism" over his membership of a group supporting Iran's monarchy, which was overthrown in the country's 1979 Islamic revolution.

ISNA added that he had been released after 18 months under a pardon by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He was rearrested in July after "resuming his work with this terrorist group" including plans for a bomb attack, it said.

France's statement added that the death of Sayadi Nasiri, who was not well-known among activists in Iran, comes at a time of "mounting harassment of human rights defenders in Iran".The head of Irans Strategic Council on Foreign Relations Kamal Kharrazi has warned European countries on Tuesday that if they do not act on their commitments regarding the nuclear deal, they themselves will suffer.

Kharrazi is also a foreign policy advisor to Irans Supreme Leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Referring to European promises to set up a special trade facility called Special Purpose Vehicle or SPV, Kharrazi said, Everyone is hopeful that the special mechanism to become operational and Europe itself has promised as much.

Kharrazi who was speaking with Fars news agency in Tehran did not explain what he meant by Europe will suffer.

European signatories of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or the Iran nuclear agreement strongly disagreed with President Donald Trumps decision to pull out of the deal in May and reimpose economic sanctions on Iran. They vowed to save the agreement. But Iran insists that without economic benefits it has no incentive to honor the agreement limiting its nuclear activities. As a result, Europe has promised to set up a mechanism to facilitate trade with Iran, without the use of the U.S. dollars. Which would violate American sanctions.

Yesterday, another Khamenei confidant, Saeed Jalili also warned Europe to honor its promises. It seems Tehran is getting anxious as 2018 comes to an end, with having received word from European officials that the SPV will be in place by the years end.The secretary of a powerful watchdog body in Iran has said that financial transparency bills proposed by President Hassan Rouhani's administration are somewhat against the Islamic Republic's constitution and long-term general policies.

Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Expedience Discernment Council (EDC), said December 17 in Tehran that three out of four Palermo Bills go against the country's constitution and long-term high policies, but did not specify the points of contradiction

Meanwhile, an MP believes that the EDC has killed the spirit of the bills.

Rouhani's proposals collectively known as the "Palermo Bills" in Iran, if adopted, would pave the way for the country to meet FATF requirements -- as well as those of the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), and the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes -- in the hope of reducing international pressure on Irans deteriorating economy.

Originally proposed in November 2017, the bills have met with staunch resistance from hardliners, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who says the agreements were cooked up by foreign enemies.

Rezaei is a former senior IRGC commander and a trusted person of the Supreme leader.

The fate of the bills, already passed by parliament and amended according to the Guardian Council (GC) demands, are currently in the hands of EDC which has the final say.

Based on the Islamic Republic Constitution, all bills and parliamentary motions passed in Majles (parliament) should be endorsed by the GC. If the GC demanded amendments in the draft laws, parliament might obey or refer the disputed bills and motions to the EDC for arbitration. Then, the decision of EDC would be final.

While the fate of the Palermo Bills is not yet decided, several mid-ranking clergies, who are appointed by the Islamic Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the Friday Prayer Leaders across Iran, have openly attacked the bills, describing them as "against national interests".

In the meantime, a pro-reform MP, Mohammad Javad Fathi believes that the EDC has amended the Palermo Bills in a way that it has killed the spirit of President Rouhani's proposals.

The amendments make combatting money laundering practically impossible, Fathi has lamented, adding that the amended version might not meet FATF's demands and expectations.

Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has given Tehran until February to either endorse 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 is urging Tehran to endorse the bills.

Moreover, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also urged Tehran to endorse the bills, implicitly warning that, if not, it will meet more hurdles in its global banking transactions.

President Rouhani has also personally defended his plan to join international anti-money laundering conventions such as FATF.

Without cooperation with foreign banks, the cost of living would be 20 percent higher. Passing FATF bills mean costs would decrease 20 percent, Rouhani said on December 10 at a meeting with officials from the Roads and Urban Development Ministry, reported official news agency IRNA.

It is not acceptable that some organizations come up with rhetoric (against passing such bills) without telling people the consequences of not doing so, he added.

Is it possible to not work with foreign banks today? Rouhani asked, adding that some people are creating propaganda against the issue and saying signing the convention would lead to a weakening of Islam. If they understood Islam, they wouldnt say that, he added.

The opponents are mainly Friday Prayer leaders, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commanders, and other conservative allies of Khameneis. They argue that passing the bills will threaten Irans security, whereas analysts say the real fear in circles loyal to the Supreme Leader is that adhering to rules for financial transparency would prevent Tehran from funding the Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas militant groups.

While the heated debate over the bills is still going on, the Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh has insisted the probability of approving FATF related and money laundering bills is high.

The senior MP went on to say that he was present at the EDC's Saturday session which was dedicated to reviewing the bills, adding that the council is following the bills "seriously".

Iran and North Korea are the only countries on the FATF blacklist, but the Paris-based organization has suspended countermeasures against Tehran while it works on reforms.A former Iranian nuclear official and a confidant of Irans Supreme Leader has attacked the policy of relying on Europe to help Iran in trade, essentially circumventing U.S. sanctions.

Saeed Jalili, Ayatollah Ali Khameneis representative to the influential Expediency Discerning Council (EDC) said, "After seven long months, are the Western Europeans going to run the SPV and save the [nuclear] deal or not?"

Jalili was referring to a mechanism designed by EU to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive after Washington dropped it last May.

The Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is expected to act as a kind of clearinghouse that could be used to help match Iranian oil and gas exports against purchases of EU goods in an effective barter arrangement. However, no EU country has so far come forward as a potential host - delaying the plans.

"Do not keep Iran inactive, waiting to see whether a handful of European governments will register SPV, or not," Jalili told a gathering at Sharif University in Tehran on Monday.

He also attacked President Hassan Rouhanis administration for pushing Iran to adopt laws against money laundering and financing terrorism. "Hopefully you (President Hassan Rouhani and his cabinet) have concluded that the West is not the whole world. Therefore, do not argue that Iran should endorse an international convention for the appeasement of a handful of western governments."

Jalili, who as the secretary of the Islamic Republic's Supreme National Security Council (2007-2013) led the Iranian team in its nuclear negotiations with world powers, was referring to four bills (collectively known as the Palermo Bills) recently proposed by the Iranian government.

Rouhani's proposals, if adopted, would pave the way for the country to meet FATF requirements -- as well as those of the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), and the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes -- in the hope of reducing international pressure on Irans deteriorating economy.

Nevertheless, the bills have triggered a series of heated debates and disputes across Iran, and now it is up to EDC to decide their fate.

Meanwhile, EU's hesitation in implementing the SPV has once again set the scene for the conservative allies of Ayatollah Khamenei to renew their attacks on Joint Comprehensive Plan of action (JCPOA) or the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Jalil also asserted, "Did (the US Secretary of State John) Kerry's signature guarantee JCPOA, or not? Is JCPOA a shining sun, or a switched off lamp? Has there ever been a rational deal where one side respects all its commitments, while the other turns the tables?"

However, Jalili, whose doctoral thesis is entitled "The Foreign Policy of Prophet Muhammad", did not mention the fact that his successor in nuclear talks, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif led the Iranian team more successfully, neutralizing four UN resolutions against Iran, through talks that led to JCPOA, ending most of the crippling international sanctions, at least until May 2018 when President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of JCPOA.The lawyer of an Iranian-British dual citizen imprisoned in Iran told the official news agency IRNA that his client will ask for conditional release from jail.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in Tehran in April 2016, while visiting her family. She was convicted on an ambiguous charge of sedition and sentenced to five years in prison.

International human rights organization and the British government have pressed for her release, but Iranian authorities have so far denied any clemency for her.

The lawyer, Mahmoud Behzadi-Rad said that Zaghari-Ratcliffe has completed half of her sentence and according to the law she is entitled to a conditional release.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation  the media organizations philanthropic arm  is the mother of a four-year-old daughter and has not been an opposition activist.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt visited Iran in November and met with her family. Later he tweeted, "No child should have to go this long without their mother and added, "British-Iranian dual nationals wrongly imprisoned must be freed".

In August, she was allowed a three day leave from prison and she met her daughter and family.

Zaghari-Ratcliffes lawyer also told IRNA that she is ill and they have made a request for her to be transferred to a hospital.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

Trend:

Acting governor of the Astrakhan region of Russia Sergey Morozov will visit Baku today, Trend reports citing Russian media.

Morozov will hold talks with members of the government of Azerbaijan. The visit will lasts for two days, December 18 and 19. Negotiations and conclusion of agreements on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation are planned.

Resumption of air connection between Astrakhan and Baku is also not excluded. The parties will discuss investment opportunities, cooperation in the field of education and tourism.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.18

Trend:

The Azerbaijani state will provide descendants of martyrs funds in the amount of 11,000 manats, said Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev during the ceremony to give out apartments to servicemen in Sabunchu district, Baku.

The process of payment of these funds has already begun. About 10,000 families will receive this cash from the state, said the president.

It is a very significant day in the life of military personnel today. A total of 394 servicemen families are being provided with apartments by the state in this beautiful building. I sincerely congratulate you on this occasion and wish you continued success. I hope you live comfortably in this beautiful building. As you may know, I signed a decree a few years ago to enhance the social protection of servicemen. According to the decree, the state provides apartments to the families of military personnel with an impeccable service record. To date, the state has provided apartments to 1,279 families of military personnel. All apartments are beautiful. I have personally attended the opening of these buildings, and the apartments I have seen today are also very comfortable, spacious and renovated. Azerbaijan is one of a handful of countries where such programs are implemented. This is further evidence and yet another example of the attention our state is paying to military personnel, noted the head of state.

President Aliyev pointed out that conditions of service are also improving for military personnel.

In recent years, major repair work has been carried out in many of our military units. Many military units have been completely rebuilt. The conditions of service for our servicemen, soldiers and officers have significantly improved. Today, approximately 75-80 percent of our military compounds, military units and military bases fully meet the required standard. In the coming years, we plan to repair the military units that are still in need of repair. The state allocates and will continue to allocate funds for these purposes. I should also note that thousands of houses and apartments have been built and put into operation for the families of martyrs and those handicapped in the Karabakh war in recent years. This year alone, the state has provided apartments to 626 martyr families and those handicapped in the Karabakh war. At least 800 apartments will be provided next year. People of this category are also provided with the cars by the state. They have been provided with thousands of cars, said the head of state.

President Aliyev went on to add that the problems of compatriots affected by the war are also being addressed.

This year, 5,800 displaced families have been provided with new houses and apartments. This is a record figure in recent years. We will continue this policy next year. You are also aware that the first decree I signed immediately after the presidential election this year was associated with improving the financial situation of the descendants of martyrs. The state will provide descendants funds in the amount of 11,000 manats. The process of payment of these funds has already begun. About 10,000 families will receive this cash from the state. The lists are being updated now, and thousands of families will improve their financial situation as a result of this program. This is a sign of the attention the state is paying to the heroism of martyrs, the care for their families. However, as in all other spheres, the principle of justice should also be paramount in this area, said the president.

Further, the head of state noted that the process of army building in Azerbaijan is progressing fast.

Azerbaijan is among countries with a strong army. The material and technical infrastructure of our army is strengthening, the most sophisticated equipment and weaponry are being acquired. The two military parades held this year have demonstrated our military prowess to the whole world. Our army stands out on a global scale for the level of its technical equipment. Of course, our strong military potential is the key factor for resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The combat capability of our army is increasing. Today, our army is ready to perform any task, it is capable of doing that. The events of recent years clearly demonstrate that. I can say that this year, as a result of our armys successful operation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the Nakhchivan direction, 11,000 hectares of land completely passed under our control. We have taken over strategic heights. The capture of these heights allows us the opportunity to exercise full control over the strategic roads and communications on the territory of Armenia. Both the April fighting and the successful Nakhchivan operation once again testify to the high level of professionalism and combat capability of our army. There is a high spirit in our army and it can perform any task, said the president.

Of course, I want to say again that the paramount factor for resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, along with all other factors, is our military power and our strength. We are increasing and will continue to increase our strength. I should also note that very important contracts have been signed this year. As a result of the implementation of these contracts, the most modern weaponry and ammunition will be delivered to our country. The machinery and weaponry available to us today enable us to crush any military target of the invaders with high precision and great destructive power. Of course, the strength of any country, including those in a state of war, is determined first of all by its military might, President Aliyev added.

The head of state pointed out that of course, a special place in the process of army building is occupied by social protection of servicemen, the solution of their housing problems and the improvement of conditions of service.

The fact that this beautiful building will be home to about 400 families of military personnel is a good example and confirmation of my words. Once again, I congratulate all the military personnel who will live in this beautiful building on this occasion. I also congratulate you on the upcoming Day of Solidarity of World Azerbaijanis and wish you a Happy New Year. Thank you! the president concluded.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.18

Trend:

Azerbaijans strong military potential is the key factor for resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev during the ceremony to give out apartments to servicemen in Sabunchu district, Baku.

The process of army building in Azerbaijan is progressing fast. Azerbaijan is among countries with a strong army. The material and technical infrastructure of our army is strengthening, the most sophisticated equipment and weaponry are being acquired. The two military parades held this year have demonstrated our military prowess to the whole world. Our army stands out on a global scale for the level of its technical equipment. Of course, our strong military potential is the key factor for resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said the head of state.

President Aliyev pointed out that the combat capability of Azerbaijans army is increasing.

Today, our army is ready to perform any task, it is capable of doing that. The events of recent years clearly demonstrate that. I can say that this year, as a result of our armys successful operation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the Nakhchivan direction, 11,000 hectares of land completely passed under our control. We have taken over strategic heights. The capture of these heights allows us the opportunity to exercise full control over the strategic roads and communications on the territory of Armenia. Both the April fighting and the successful Nakhchivan operation once again testify to the high level of professionalism and combat capability of our army. There is a high spirit in our army and it can perform any task, added the head of state.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

Trend:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order providing funding for the renovation of Shimal, Janub, Sumgayit and Mingachevir power stations.

Under the presidential order, 30 million manats will be allocated to Azerenergy CJSC for renovating and equipping the four power stations.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

Trend:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has congratulated Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar.

On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my sincerest congratulations to you and all the people of your country on the occasion of the National Day of the State of Qatar, President Aliyev said.

I believe that the ties of friendship and cooperation between Azerbaijan and Qatar will always develop to the benefit of our peoples, he said.

On this festive day, I wish you the best of health and happiness, and the friendly people of Qatar peace and prosperity, the president added.

President Aliyev has also congratulated Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani, Deputy Emir of the State of Qatar.

I sincerely congratulate you and the people of your country on the occasion of the National Day of the State of Qatar, the president said.

On this remarkable day, I wish you the best of health and happiness, and the brotherly people of Qatar everlasting peace and prosperity, he added.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

Another plenary session of the Azerbaijani parliament will be held on Dec. 18, Trend reports referring to the parliament.

First, the MPs will discuss the bill "On approval of the Joint Statement on the Priority Areas of Economic Cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev" and the bill "On approval of the Agreement on Customs Control over the Commodities Transported via Pipelines and Power Lines between the Azerbaijani Government and the Russian Government".

Then, changes to the Housing Code, the Code of Administrative Offenses, the Law on State Registry and State Registration of Legal Entities, the Law on Automobile Transport, the Law on the Committees of the Azerbaijani Parliament will be discussed.

There are 15 issues on the agenda.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva have viewed conditions created at the Scientific-Research Medical Rehabilitation Institute of the Ministry of Health after renovation in Baku.

Minister of Health Ogtay Shiraliyev informed the head of state of the work done here.

The head of state then met with the Institute staff.

Addressing the meeting, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Today we are gathered for the opening of the Scientific Research Institute of Medical Rehabilitation after major overhaul. I sincerely congratulate the Institutes team on this occasion. I congratulate all our people on this remarkable occasion because this institute holds a special place in Azerbaijan. After the overhaul, the rehabilitation center, which is almost a century old, begins its second life. On these stands here, I have been familiarized with the previous state of the building and the photographs taken during construction. They are of great interest. Back in 1925, an instruction was issued to build the institute. It served the people of Azerbaijan for about 100 years. You as people working here are well aware that this institute holds a special place in the healthcare system of our country. I know that during renovation our people waited impatiently for the institute to be reopened in order to take advantage of its opportunities. Of course, the modern conditions available here now meet the highest standards. The repair and construction work has been done with high professionalism and taste. The modern equipment installed here will certainly allow you the opportunity to serve patients at the highest level. Those who wish to restore their health will definitely come here and recuperate.

The building of the Institute is also an excellent piece of architecture. Both the exterior and the internal design of the building are pleasing to the eye. The area of the institute is also quite large - it is 14,600 square meters. I want to say again that services will be provided here at the highest level. This is another manifestation of the attention being paid to healthcare in our country. This shows again that human health is the most important task for us. It is no coincidence that about 650 medical institutions have been built or overhauled at this level in the last 15 years. You can receive a high-quality medical service throughout our country today. The process of construction and overhaul of central city and district hospitals is almost over. Several hospitals are to be opened soon. I am sure that this issue will also be resolved in the next few years. This is a huge contribution to the healthcare system of our country, because medical facilities meeting the highest standards are functioning and providing services to our people in all our cities, in the vast majority of districts today. If we had not achieved this, had not created the material and technical infrastructure of the healthcare sector, we would have been unable to pursue the policy we are pursuing today. The healthcare reforms, which are an integral part of our social policy, and the investments we are making pursue the same goal: the people of Azerbaijan should be healthy and have access to high-level medical services. As you know, more than 5 million Azerbaijan citizens undergo free medical examination every year throughout the country, and then they receive treatment any identified diseases. Azerbaijan is one of a handful of countries to be implementing such a large-scale social project. I have repeatedly said that citizens of Azerbaijan should undergo medical examination at least once a year. I am glad that these appeals are being materialized. In particular, if we consider that there are opportunities for people to undergo such examinations everywhere, the fact that more than 5 million people have taken advantage of this is a victory for our policy.

The work our country is doing in this area is praised by international organizations. The work carried out within the framework of the UN Millennium Development Goals program, including the field of healthcare, deserves commendation. The World Health Organization praises our work as well. In a nutshell, the reforms carried out in this area and the funds invested by the state are producing results. And the results are that the people of Azerbaijan are healthy, the younger generation leads a healthy lifestyle and avoids bad habits. There are all the conditions in Azerbaijan to be healthy and receive treatment. I want to say again that the reopening of this institution is a very important step in this direction.

I congratulate you on this wonderful event and wish you happy upcoming holidays  the Day of Solidarity of World Azerbaijanis and the New Year. I wish you continued success. Thank you!

Minister of Health Ogtay Shiraliyev thanked President Ilham Aliyev for the work carried out to improve the healthcare system.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

Two Azerbaijani-Russian documents were put to vote and adopted at a plenary session of the Azerbaijani parliament Dec. 18, Trend reports.

The Azerbaijani MPs submitted for discussion the draft law On approval of Joint Statement on Priority Areas for Economic Cooperation between President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the draft law on approval of the Agreement between Government of Azerbaijan and Government of Russia on Customs Control of Goods Transported by Power Lines and Pipelines.

The MPs noted that relations between Azerbaijan and Russia are developing and are of a strategic nature.

It was also noted that these two documents will make important contribution to the development of relations between the two countries.

Speaker Ogtay Asadov noted that these documents are an indicator of the high level of ties between the two states.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

Trend:

The Azerbaijan-China friendship concert, featuring performance of the Azerbaijani classical music, has been held in Beijing.

The event was co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

The Azerbaijan-China friendship concert is one of a series of events promoting Azerbaijans rich culture and music in the Chinese land.

High ranking officials from the People's Republic of China (PRC), including President of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries Li Xiaolin, employees of the Chinese Communist Party, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of the People's Republic of China and other public agencies attended the event.

Speaking to a ceremony prior to the concert, Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov emphasized that the relationship between Azerbaijan and China, which dates back to the ancient Silk Road, are those of friendly and partner countries.

Ali Ahmadov noted that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to its relations with China. He said the political dialogue between the two countries, which is based on mutual respect and trust between President Ilham Aliyev and the Chairman of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, creates great opportunities for boosting bilateral relations. The Deputy PM also highlighted the active role the Heydar Aliyev Foundation headed by First-Vice President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva in expanding humanitarian ties between Azerbaijan and China and implementing various cultural projects.

Vice Chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Shao Hong said the ancient Silk Road has laid the foundation of friendly relations between the two countries.

The concert featured performance of works by famous Azerbaijani composers such as Uzeyir Hajibayli, Fikrat Amirov, Gara Garayev, Niyazi and others.

As part of the visit, the Azerbaijani delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov met with Vice Chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Shao Hong and President of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries Li Xiaolin to discuss the issues of bilateral cooperation.

During the visit, the delegation including Assistant to the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan, Executive Director of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Anar Alakbarov and Chairman of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora Fuad Muradov familiarized themselves with the museum of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

The steps taken by the European Parliament regarding Azerbaijan are really important and they were expected, Azerbaijani MP Samad Seyidov said, Trend reports.

He was speaking Dec. 18 at a plenary session of the Azerbaijani parliament while commenting on the adoption of a report on the protection of Azerbaijans territorial integrity and borders at a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Seyidov noted that the painful problem of the Azerbaijani people, the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, is reflected in the document of the European Parliament - the biggest and most authoritative structure, which has the possibility of exerting pressure and defining direction for Europe.

He said that the European Parliament has several results on the conflict, which should definitely be voiced.

Only two years ago, the European Parliament adopted an extremely negative anti-Azerbaijani resolution, and the current result was achieved thanks to the organized, consistent and logical work of the authorities and the Azerbaijani parliament, said Seyidov.

The report presented at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg reflects not only protection of Azerbaijans territorial integrity and borders, but also the importance of solving conflicts in the Eastern Partnership countries according to the peace principle on the basis of the territorial integrity of states.

In addition, the document also indicates the provision of assistance to refugees, IDPs and persons suffering from conflicts in the Eastern Partnership countries.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:

The report presented at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg was in the interests of Azerbaijan, co-chairman of the EU-Azerbaijan parliamentary cooperation committee, Azerbaijani MP Javanshir Feyziyev said Dec. 18, Trend reports.

He said that the report not only reflected the territorial integrity, protection of Azerbaijan's borders, but also the settlement of conflicts in the Eastern Partnership countries in line with the principles of peace and territorial integrity.

"In addition, the document mentioned helping refugees and forced migrants, as well as people suffering from conflicts in the Eastern Partnership countries," he added.

Feyziyev said that this time also Armenia traditionally reacted to the reports submitted to the European Parliament.

The proposal of the Armenian lobbyists was rejected with 525 votes against, he noted.

"All this is the result of an independent foreign policy pursued by Azerbaijan," he said. "As a result of the well-thought out foreign policy pursued by President Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan's position is supported in Europe. It is time to put an end to the policy of double standards in relation to Azerbaijan."Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Sara Israfilbayova - Trend:

Finding ways to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will remain the main task for Azerbaijan in 2019, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said Dec. 18 at a reception for heads of the diplomatic corps, dedicated to results of 2018, Trend reports.

One of the important tasks was to strengthen Azerbaijans independence, he said.

Mammadyarov added that he devoted most of the time to finding ways to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The main goal is to achieve some tangible results, he said, noting that this is not only his dream, but he also thinks that this is a dream of every Azerbaijani.

He said that at the last meeting in Milan with his Armenian counterpart, the sides reached some kind of mutual understanding for the first time over a long period.

Mammadyarov noted that next month there will be a meeting with the Armenian foreign minister.

The Azerbaijani foreign minister added that ways to resolve the conflict will be discussed. Azerbaijan stands for the peaceful resolution of the conflict, he said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

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 the author on Twitter: @IsrafilbekovaSBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

Trend:

Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu has been unanimously re-elected as chairman of the Board of the CIS Interstate Humanitarian Cooperation Fund, Vestnik Kavkaza reports with reference to TASS.

The election was held at a joint meeting of the Board of the Fund, the CIS Council for Humanitarian Cooperation and the Council of Heads of State News Agencies, held at the Moscow headquarters of the CIS Interstate Humanitarian Cooperation Fund.

The meeting was attended by co-chairman of the Board of the CIS Interstate Humanitarian Cooperation Fund, Special Representative of Russian President for International Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy, chairman of the Council for Humanitarian Cooperation, adviser to the President of Tajikistan Abdujabbor Rahmonzoda and other members of the CIS humanitarian cooperation governing bodies.

Stability doesnt hinder development, said Shvydkoy, congratulating Polad Bulbuloglu on his election as chairman of the Board of the CIS Interstate Humanitarian Cooperation Fund.Tehran, Iran, Dec.18

Trend:

The volume of Iran's fishery product exports during first five months of Iran's calendar year (started March 2018) were 39,000 tons, while the country exported other products including Trout and Sturgeon to Azerbaijan and other Caspian Sea states.

"The volume of canned tuna exports during first five months of the year were 350 tons, worth $1.6M, while annual canned tuna productions in Iran's provinces including Isfahan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Gilan are 800 million tons," Isa Golshahi, Iran Fisheries Organization's Director General for Quality Improvement, told Trend.

The second meeting of the Commission on conservation, rational use of aquatic bio resources of the Caspian Sea and management of joint reserve recently gathered in Baku.

One of the outcomes of the meeting was the decision to extend the ban on commercial fishing of sturgeon species in the Caspian Sea until the end of 2019 and the development of general recommendations for the restoration of their population.

"The meeting agreed to extend the ban commercial sturgeon fishing from the Caspian Sea. Naturally, the agreement would be in favor of preservation of Caspian Sea stock reserves. Since then sturgeon fish farming has improved, the established farms are rising in the international markets and all countries consider Iran's high quality products," Isa Golshahi said.

"The agreement would preserve the sea if all the Caspian Sea states remain committed to it and follow the rules that were intend to protect and restoration of sea stock reserves. Iran has always obeyed the procedures," he said.

He also spoke about Iran's fishery exports to Russia and Iraq.

"Iran exports fishery to Russia, and so far none of country's export cargoes were sent back, however, there were some complaints over the size of fish,'' he noted.

The official also noted the export to Iraq, saying that "Iran's fishery exports to Iraq have faced some challenges due to some reasons, so proper banking system, insurance and diplomacy can certainly help."Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Rashid Shirinov  Trend:

The share of commodities in the exports of Kazakhstan increased from 67.8 percent in January-September 2017 to 74.2 percent in the same period this year, the country's National Economy Ministry told Trend.

During the period, exports of commodities, including oil, natural gas, industrial and agricultural products, amounted to $33 billion.

In general, the trade turnover of Kazakhstan in January-September 2018 totaled $68.2 billion, an increase of 21.9 percent compared to the same period in 2017.

Exports from Kazakhstan in January-September 2018 amounted to $44.5 billion, an increase of 28.4 percent.

"The main export goods of Kazakhstan are crude oil ($27.9 billion, 62.7 percent of total exports), natural gas ($2.1 billion, 4.6 percent), copper and copper cathodes ($1.8 billion, 4 percent)," said the ministry.

Kazakhstans top 10 export products also include ferroalloys ($1.7 billion, 3.7 percent), petroleum products ($951.1 million, 2.1 percent), ores and copper concentrates ($868.7 million, 2 percent), uranium ($753.6 million, 1.7 percent), wheat ($664.8 million, 1.5 percent), flat-rolled products ($544.3 million, 1.2 percent), and raw aluminum ($427.7 million, 0.96 percent).

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @ShirinovRashidBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:

In the first six months of the current Iranian year (started March 21), Iran imported over 5.254 million tons of millet from three countries, Iran's Customs Administration (IRICA) said in a report, Trend reports via Iranian media.

Some $2.119 million were spent on the millet imports, according to IRICA.

Russia alone accounted for over three million tons of Iran's millet imports worth over $1.441 million.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Taleh Mursagulov - Trend:

The Azerbaijan Tourism Association (AzTA) is working to attract tourists from India to Azerbaijan, AzTA Chairman Nahid Baghirov told Trend on Dec. 18.

Baghirov noted that AzTA is currently negotiating with various Indian companies.

"The association took the initiative of filming scenes of an Indian film in Baku. It will be a big advertisement for Azerbaijan when the film is released. India is a big country and advertising through cinema will become a more effective method of demonstrating the capabilities of Azerbaijan. Such films will also affect the increase in the flow of tourists from India," Baghirov said.

Baghirov noted that presently, Azerbaijan is interesting for filmmakers, because one can find elements of such cities as Paris, London, Dubai, etc. in the Azerbaijani capital.

"We are also working on attracting video bloggers to Azerbaijan, in particular from Arab countries that have large audiences on social networks," he added.

Speaking about priorities for 2019, Baghirov underlined the active participation in the Indian market, as well as making efforts to maintain the Arab market.

As for the districts of Azerbaijan that are popular among tourists, Baghirov noted that the main influx of tourists is observed in Gabala.

He emphasized that Azerbaijan is a very safe country, and political and economic stability play an important role in attracting tourists to the country.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @TalehMursagulovBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

In January-November 2018, the number of Turkish citizens arriving in Georgia through the Turkish Employment Agency (ISKUR) in search of work fell by 95.29 percent compared to the same period in 2017, ISKUR told Trend on Dec. 18.

In January-November 2018, 18 Turkish citizens arrived in Georgia through ISKUR, which is 364 citizens less compared to the same period in 2017.

In November 2018, nine Turkish citizen visited Georgia through the Turkish Employment Agency.

In November 2018, a total of 2,122 Turkish citizens went abroad searching work via ISKUR.

According to the Agency, in January-November 2018, 22,285 Turkish citizens left the country via ISKUR, which is 19.64 percent more compared to the same period in 2017.

In November 2018, 108,954 Turkish citizens were provided with work in Turkey, which is 11.9 percent more compared to the same month of 2017.

In Turkey, in November, among those provided with jobs, 64 percent accounted for men, while the number of women accounted for 36 percent.

Among those employed in November 2018, 99.2 percent accounted for the private sector.

In January-November 2018, as a whole, 1,099,623 people were provided with jobs in Turkey.

A total of 3.296 million people were registered as unemployed in Turkey in November 2018. Fifty-one percent of them are women and 49 percent are men.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizogluBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Taleh Mursagulov - Trend:

Negotiations between the Russian company INTES and Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR on the supply of oil equipment have been postponed to mid-January, Yuri Bogachuk, director general of the company, told Trend.

On Dec. 17, the company INTES completed the last stage of testing its equipment at Azerbaijani oil fields.

Upon completion of the testing, negotiations with SOCAR were planned. At the first stage, the installation of about 600 units of equipment at Azerbaijani fields is considered.

INTES LLC was established in 2010. The company specializes in construction of exploration and directional wells, both in the traditional way with the use of hydraulic systems, and with the use of gaseous and foam agents. INTES performs as a contractor and coordinator of oil and gas services, produces intelligent systems for control of oil production.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @TalehMursagulovTehran, Iran, Dec.18

Trend:

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) announced that no contract has been signed between Iran oil industry and Russian oil company Rosneft , therefore the rumors of Rosneft quitting the Iran oil industry has no justification, NIOC said in a statement, Trend reports via IRNA.

Russian business daily "Vedomosti" recently quoted three sources close to Rosnefts top management that Russias largest oil producer has decided to halt projects in Iran, along with possibility of $30 billion worth of joint Russian-Iranian investments in oil and gas projects in Iran, due to US sanctions.

NIOC reacted to the rumors, saying the company has only signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Russia's Rosneft and there was no contract between two parties.

"Due to high interest of foreign companies after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and in order to attract foreign investment and technology, the National Iranian Oil Company signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with Rosneft for cooperation," the NIOC stated.

"Iran signed some MOUs with foreign companies after implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, that would be transformed into a contract after legal procedures. However, the memorandum with Rosneft never reached the contract stage," the company's message said.

After implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Russian Gazprom, Rosneft , Lukoil, Zarubejneft and Tatneft companies have signed memorandums to join Iran oil projects.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

Trend:

Rector of Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) Elmar Gasimov held a meeting with General Manager of SOCAR Foster Wheeler Engineering LLC (SOCAR-FW) Elmaddin Dadashov and SOCAR-FWs First Deputy General Manager Mario Castellano.

Welcoming the guests, the BHOS Rector said that SOCAR-FW exemplifies a dream job place for many Higher Schools students. Speaking about the BHOS latest developments, he told that cooperation with leading companies of the industry is a priority for the administration and expressed interest in further strengthening partnership with SOCAR-FW.

General Manager of SOCAR-FW Elmaddin Dadashov informed Rector Elmar Gasimov about the company main activities. In his words, the management pays special attention to developing relations with national universities and implementing internship and on-the-job training programs for students. First Deputy General Manager Mario Castellano emphasized that SOCAR-FW is particularly interested in hiring young chemical engineers and process automation engineers.

At the meeting, the participants discussed opportunities of employment at SOCAR-FW for the BHOS graduates. It was agreed that the company representatives would conduct a presentation for the Higher School undergraduates. It was also decided that after signing a memorandum, SOCAR-FW Human Resources department would invite the BHOS fifth-year students selected through a competition to participate in the company internship program. The most successful interns will be offered a job at SOCAR-FW after the graduation.

SOCAR-Foster Wheeler Engineering LLC is a jointly owned company focusing on Engineering, Procurement and Construction Supervision and Project Management Services associated with Refinery, Petrochemical and Environmental Projects.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Elnur Baghishov  Trend:

The discussions between Iran and the Central Bank of Iraq to carry out financial transactions by using rial and dinar are under completion, chairman of the Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce Yahya Al-e Eshaq said.

There are no problems with export of Iranian goods to Iraq, Trend reports referring to Tasnim News Agency.

Thus, during eight months of this Iranian year (started on March 21, 2018), the products worth $8 billion were exported, Al-e Eshaq said.

The discussions were held with the Iraqi side to simplify export procedures, he added.

If an agreement is reached following the talks between Iran and the Central Bank of Iraq, the banks of the two countries may open a letter of credit to each other, Al-e Eshaq said.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Taleh Mursagulov - Trend:

Azerbaijan's State Service for Management of Agricultural Projects and Credits is planning to support rehabilitation of the countrys credit unions, Head of the State Service Mirza Aliyev said, Trend reports.

He said that approximately 80 percent of loans issued through credit unions are problem loans.

Previously, the share of problem loans issued through credit unions reached 92 percent, he added.

He noted that in January 2019, there are plans to hold meetings with the credit unions of Azerbaijan jointly with the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FIMSA).

Speaking about the reasons for the large share of problem loans in credit unions, he noted that as these organizations dont have effective mechanisms for collection of the funds issued, and there are no lawyers working in credit unions, there are such problems.

Also, Mirza Aliyev noted that credit unions dont analyze and dont monitor the loans issued, and this leads to the use of these funds for other purposes.

About 70 credit unions are operating in Azerbaijan. In total, credit unions bring together about 30,000 entrepreneurs.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @TalehMursagulovBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Huseyn Valiyev, Rashid Shirinov  Trend:

The level of piracy in the software market of Azerbaijan in the next three years may decline by 25 percent, Elchin Mammadov, Microsoft product Manager at BestComp Group, told Trend.

He said BestComp Group is currently implementing a joint project with Azerbaijans Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, Azintelecom and Microsoft, which provides for the licensing of 20,000 computers in state agencies and 10,000 in higher education institutions.

"In addition, 155,000 licenses will be issued to students. Thus, over the next three years we will be able to reduce the level of piracy by about 20-25 percent from the current 81 percent," Mammadov noted.

He added that presently, 6 higher education institutions of the country are involved in the licensing project: ADA University, Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University, Khazar University, Western University, Baku engineering University and Azerbaijan State University of Economics.

"University students have their own domain tied to the Office 365 Suite. This allows them to register on the Microsoft portal and use Windows 10 Education with a lifetime license, as well as to get the Office licenses for five devices that can be used during their study at the university, Mammadov said.

He added that in the near future, Azerbaijan Medical University will join the project, and all universities of Azerbaijan will join it by the end of March 2019.

The total number of students reaches 155,000. Microsoft invests more than $80 million in the education of our students," Mammadov noted.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @h_veliyevBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Huseyn Valiyev - Trend:

Azerbaijans mobile operator Bakcell will present its own smartphone, the company CEO Nikolai Beckers told reporters in Baku Dec. 18, Trend reports.

He said that this is included in the companys plans for the first quarter of 2019.

It will be a quality product with a number of characteristics and functions, he noted.

The product will be offered at the most favorable terms, he added.

The companys plans for the coming year also include updating the concepts of all sales stores, he said.

The first store, which operates in line with the new updated concept, was opened Dec. 18 in Baku (at the Fountains Square), he noted.

Every customer who buys a phone in this store will get free and unlimited call pack and internet traffic for use during 2019, said Beckers.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Fikret Dolukhanov  Trend:

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines may connect the airports of the Netherlands, in particular Amsterdam Schiphol, with the airports of the countries of Central Asia, the Far East and India via Uzbekistan, Trend reports on Dec. 18 referring to the Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan.

On Dec. 14, 2018, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to the Benelux countries Dilyor Khakimov met with Director Alliances at KLM Jan Vreeburg.

The parties discussed the prospects for improving cooperation between Uzbekistan and the Netherlands in the sphere of air traffic and the emerging new opportunities amidst the liberalization of the tourism industry in Uzbekistan.

The ambassador noted that Uzbekistan Airways, in case of interest, could begin negotiations with the Dutch authorities on the possibility of starting flights from the Winter 2019/2020 season.

The parties also supported the idea of establishing flights to Uzbekistan from partner airlines, including the leading international low-cost airlines that fly to Schiphol. That would dramatically increase the number of tourists from the Netherlands by reducing the cost of tours to Uzbekistan, as well as improve business contacts of European entrepreneurs with the country.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanovThe European Union transferred a 6.5 million euro grant to the Central Treasury of the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic on Tuesday to support the social protection sector of the republic. The tranche will be received by the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic in the coming days, Trend reports referring to kabar.kg.

This is the second payment of 26 million euros allocated by the EU for the budget support program to help the Kyrgyz Government implement reforms in the field of social protection. The first payment of 4.25 million euros was made at the beginning of 2016. The final payment under the program is expected at the end of 2019, the European Union office in the Kyrgyz Republic reported.

The main objective of the support from the European Union is to expand the range and quality of social services, especially for children from risk groups, in the implementation of state policies for the protection of children, as well as ensuring their continuity.

In addition, as a supplement to budget support, the European Union provides consulting and technical assistance, and also trains employees of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development and the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic.Tuesday, December 18, 2018 Here Come The Judges, But When? Two Fed Vacancies Still Unfilled; Our Legal Beagles Are On The Case



Joe, Senators Udall and Heinrich and Rep. Pearce sent a letter to the President in May to recommend candidates for the two vacancies on the U.S. District Court for New Mexico. The White House moved forward with vetting two candidates - Mark Baker for the Albuquerque vacancy and Greg Wormuth for the Las Cruces vacancy. The vetting has been complete for a couple of months, but the president hasn't nominated either candidate.



There are only seven district court judges in New Mexico, so two vacancies is significant. And there's soon to be a third vacancy as Judge Judy Herrera submitted her intent to retire in mid-2019. The home state senators have a significant role in who the President nominates for these seats, as they have the power to block any nominee from Senate confirmation. Udall and Heinrich need to use their influence to get these vacancies filled.



Okay, so maybe Udall, Heinrich and Pearce can speed up the process but another of our Legal Beagles points to the Trump White House as the main problem:



My guess for the continued vacancies is that the Trump White House is truly dysfunctional  White House Counsel Don McGahn recently left, his replacement is not yet in place, and multiple people in the WH are heading for the exits. It is difficult to get work done when everyone is looking over his shoulder and consumed with gossip.



I do not think there is a movement against Baker or Wormuth. I think the simplest explanation is the correct one  Trump is focused on Mueller, and the Senate is focused on getting home for the holidays.



The best strategy to get these two confirmed is for NM Chief Federal Judge Chip Johnson to start yelling that the NM District is on the verge of implosion (it has the busiest criminal docket in the country because of Indian Country [the name which the feds use to describe the sovereign nations], and because of the border [drug trafficking and immigration]. If Chip wants to play a card which will resonate with the President, he should say that national security is being adversely affected because of the judge vacancies.



Good explanations on what's going on. Now we wait and see if the caseload becomes an issue and Chief Judge Johnson starts waving the warning flags.



WHOSE SPACEPORT?



We called it Big Bill's NM Spaceport Monday and we still think he is the one who deserves the lion's share of the credit (or blame) for the facility near T or C. But John Garcia, who served in the cabinet of GOP Governor Gary Johnson, differs:



Joe, Maybe I read this wrong, but it was Gary Johnson who started the Inland Spaceport project when NASA put out bids for an inland spaceport, not Big Bill! I was at an event this weekend and from the podium they announced that Richardson started the Film incentives; not true, again it was Johnson. Im waiting for the report that it was Big Bill Richardson who finally tracked down Billy the Kidlegend has it!



Both Bill and Gary are not known for their shyness in touting their accomplishments. Right now, though, they are waiting like the rest of us to see if the Spaceport will ultimately go in the accomplishment column or the one filled with duds.



This is the home of New Mexico politics.







Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.



( c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2018 Here comes the judge(s) but when? New Mexico is short two federal judges and that's a lot in a state that deals with pressing federal issues like immigration. Our Legal Beagles are on the case. First, one of them comes with an update on why two federal bench seats are gathering dust:Okay, so maybe Udall, Heinrich and Pearce can speed up the process but another of our Legal Beagles points to the Trump White House as the main problem:Good explanations on what's going on. Now we wait and see if the caseload becomes an issue and Chief Judge Johnson starts waving the warning flags.We called it Big Bill's NM Spaceport Monday and we still think he is the one who deserves the lion's share of the credit (or blame) for the facility near T or C. But John Garcia, who served in the cabinet of GOP Governor Gary Johnson, differs:Both Bill and Gary are not known for their shyness in touting their accomplishments. Right now, though, they are waiting like the rest of us to see if the Spaceport will ultimately go in the accomplishment column or the one filled with duds.This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Links HOME

E-MAIL ME

About Joe

Google News

Real Clear Politics

Huffington Post

Drudge Report

The Politico

NM TV stations

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham

NM Legislature Archives Select: 9/28/03 - 10/5/03 10/5/03 - 10/12/03 10/12/03 - 10/19/03 10/19/03 - 10/26/03 10/26/03 - 11/2/03 11/2/03 - 11/9/03 11/9/03 - 11/16/03 11/16/03 - 11/23/03 11/23/03 - 11/30/03 11/30/03 - 12/7/03 12/7/03 - 12/14/03 12/14/03 - 12/21/03 12/21/03 - 12/28/03 12/28/03 - 1/4/04 1/4/04 - 1/11/04 1/11/04 - 1/18/04 1/18/04 - 1/25/04 1/25/04 - 2/1/04 2/1/04 - 2/8/04 2/8/04 - 2/15/04 2/15/04 - 2/22/04 2/22/04 - 2/29/04 2/29/04 - 3/7/04 3/7/04 - 3/14/04 3/14/04 - 3/21/04 3/21/04 - 3/28/04 3/28/04 - 4/4/04 4/4/04 - 4/11/04 4/11/04 - 4/18/04 4/18/04 - 4/25/04 4/25/04 - 5/2/04 5/2/04 - 5/9/04 5/9/04 - 5/16/04 5/16/04 - 5/23/04 5/23/04 - 5/30/04 5/30/04 - 6/6/04 6/6/04 - 6/13/04 6/13/04 - 6/20/04 6/20/04 - 6/27/04 6/27/04 - 7/4/04 7/4/04 - 7/11/04 7/11/04 - 7/18/04 7/18/04 - 7/25/04 7/25/04 - 8/1/04 8/1/04 - 8/8/04 8/8/04 - 8/15/04 8/15/04 - 8/22/04 8/22/04 - 8/29/04 8/29/04 - 9/5/04 9/5/04 - 9/12/04 9/12/04 - 9/19/04 9/19/04 - 9/26/04 9/26/04 - 10/3/04 10/3/04 - 10/10/04 10/10/04 - 10/17/04 10/17/04 - 10/24/04 10/24/04 - 10/31/04 10/31/04 - 11/7/04 11/7/04 - 11/14/04 11/14/04 - 11/21/04 11/21/04 - 11/28/04 11/28/04 - 12/5/04 12/5/04 - 12/12/04 12/12/04 - 12/19/04 12/19/04 - 12/26/04 1/2/05 - 1/9/05 1/9/05 - 1/16/05 1/16/05 - 1/23/05 1/23/05 - 1/30/05 1/30/05 - 2/6/05 2/6/05 - 2/13/05 2/13/05 - 2/20/05 2/20/05 - 2/27/05 2/27/05 - 3/6/05 3/6/05 - 3/13/05 3/13/05 - 3/20/05 3/20/05 - 3/27/05 3/27/05 - 4/3/05 4/3/05 - 4/10/05 4/10/05 - 4/17/05 4/17/05 - 4/24/05 4/24/05 - 5/1/05 5/1/05 - 5/8/05 5/8/05 - 5/15/05 5/15/05 - 5/22/05 5/22/05 - 5/29/05 5/29/05 - 6/5/05 6/5/05 - 6/12/05 6/12/05 - 6/19/05 6/19/05 - 6/26/05 6/26/05 - 7/3/05 7/3/05 - 7/10/05 7/10/05 - 7/17/05 7/17/05 - 7/24/05 7/24/05 - 7/31/05 7/31/05 - 8/7/05 8/7/05 - 8/14/05 8/14/05 - 8/21/05 8/21/05 - 8/28/05 8/28/05 - 9/4/05 9/4/05 - 9/11/05 9/11/05 - 9/18/05 9/18/05 - 9/25/05 9/25/05 - 10/2/05 10/2/05 - 10/9/05 10/9/05 - 10/16/05 10/16/05 - 10/23/05 10/23/05 - 10/30/05 10/30/05 - 11/6/05 11/6/05 - 11/13/05 11/13/05 - 11/20/05 11/20/05 - 11/27/05 11/27/05 - 12/4/05 12/4/05 - 12/11/05 12/11/05 - 12/18/05 12/18/05 - 12/25/05 1/1/06 - 1/8/06 1/8/06 - 1/15/06 1/15/06 - 1/22/06 1/22/06 - 1/29/06 1/29/06 - 2/5/06 2/5/06 - 2/12/06 2/12/06 - 2/19/06 2/19/06 - 2/26/06 2/26/06 - 3/5/06 3/5/06 - 3/12/06 3/12/06 - 3/19/06 3/19/06 - 3/26/06 3/26/06 - 4/2/06 4/2/06 - 4/9/06 4/9/06 - 4/16/06 4/16/06 - 4/23/06 4/23/06 - 4/30/06 4/30/06 - 5/7/06 5/7/06 - 5/14/06 5/14/06 - 5/21/06 5/21/06 - 5/28/06 5/28/06 - 6/4/06 6/4/06 - 6/11/06 6/11/06 - 6/18/06 6/18/06 - 6/25/06 6/25/06 - 7/2/06 7/9/06 - 7/16/06 7/16/06 - 7/23/06 7/23/06 - 7/30/06 7/30/06 - 8/6/06 8/6/06 - 8/13/06 8/13/06 - 8/20/06 8/20/06 - 8/27/06 8/27/06 - 9/3/06 9/3/06 - 9/10/06 9/10/06 - 9/17/06 9/17/06 - 9/24/06 9/24/06 - 10/1/06 10/1/06 - 10/8/06 10/8/06 - 10/15/06 10/15/06 - 10/22/06 10/22/06 - 10/29/06 10/29/06 - 11/5/06 11/5/06 - 11/12/06 11/12/06 - 11/19/06 11/19/06 - 11/26/06 11/26/06 - 12/3/06 12/3/06 - 12/10/06 12/10/06 - 12/17/06 12/17/06 - 12/24/06 12/31/06 - 1/7/07 1/7/07 - 1/14/07 1/14/07 - 1/21/07 1/21/07 - 1/28/07 1/28/07 - 2/4/07 2/4/07 - 2/11/07 2/11/07 - 2/18/07 2/18/07 - 2/25/07 2/25/07 - 3/4/07 3/4/07 - 3/11/07 3/11/07 - 3/18/07 3/18/07 - 3/25/07 3/25/07 - 4/1/07 4/1/07 - 4/8/07 4/8/07 - 4/15/07 4/15/07 - 4/22/07 4/22/07 - 4/29/07 4/29/07 - 5/6/07 5/6/07 - 5/13/07 5/13/07 - 5/20/07 5/20/07 - 5/27/07 5/27/07 - 6/3/07 6/3/07 - 6/10/07 6/10/07 - 6/17/07 6/17/07 - 6/24/07 6/24/07 - 7/1/07 7/1/07 - 7/8/07 7/8/07 - 7/15/07 7/15/07 - 7/22/07 7/22/07 - 7/29/07 7/29/07 - 8/5/07 8/5/07 - 8/12/07 8/12/07 - 8/19/07 8/19/07 - 8/26/07 8/26/07 - 9/2/07 9/2/07 - 9/9/07 9/9/07 - 9/16/07 9/16/07 - 9/23/07 9/23/07 - 9/30/07 9/30/07 - 10/7/07 10/7/07 - 10/14/07 10/14/07 - 10/21/07 10/21/07 - 10/28/07 10/28/07 - 11/4/07 11/4/07 - 11/11/07 11/11/07 - 11/18/07 11/18/07 - 11/25/07 11/25/07 - 12/2/07 12/2/07 - 12/9/07 12/9/07 - 12/16/07 12/16/07 - 12/23/07 12/23/07 - 12/30/07 12/30/07 - 1/6/08 1/6/08 - 1/13/08 1/13/08 - 1/20/08 1/20/08 - 1/27/08 1/27/08 - 2/3/08 2/3/08 - 2/10/08 2/10/08 - 2/17/08 2/17/08 - 2/24/08 2/24/08 - 3/2/08 3/2/08 - 3/9/08 3/9/08 - 3/16/08 3/16/08 - 3/23/08 3/23/08 - 3/30/08 3/30/08 - 4/6/08 4/6/08 - 4/13/08 4/13/08 - 4/20/08 4/20/08 - 4/27/08 4/27/08 - 5/4/08 5/4/08 - 5/11/08 5/11/08 - 5/18/08 5/18/08 - 5/25/08 5/25/08 - 6/1/08 6/1/08 - 6/8/08 6/8/08 - 6/15/08 6/15/08 - 6/22/08 6/22/08 - 6/29/08 6/29/08 - 7/6/08 7/6/08 - 7/13/08 7/13/08 - 7/20/08 7/20/08 - 7/27/08 7/27/08 - 8/3/08 8/3/08 - 8/10/08 8/10/08 - 8/17/08 8/17/08 - 8/24/08 8/24/08 - 8/31/08 8/31/08 - 9/7/08 9/7/08 - 9/14/08 9/14/08 - 9/21/08 9/21/08 - 9/28/08 9/28/08 - 10/5/08 10/5/08 - 10/12/08 10/12/08 - 10/19/08 10/19/08 - 10/26/08 10/26/08 - 11/2/08 11/2/08 - 11/9/08 11/9/08 - 11/16/08 11/16/08 - 11/23/08 11/23/08 - 11/30/08 11/30/08 - 12/7/08 12/7/08 - 12/14/08 12/14/08 - 12/21/08 12/21/08 - 12/28/08 12/28/08 - 1/4/09 1/4/09 - 1/11/09 1/11/09 - 1/18/09 1/18/09 - 1/25/09 1/25/09 - 2/1/09 2/1/09 - 2/8/09 2/8/09 - 2/15/09 2/15/09 - 2/22/09 2/22/09 - 3/1/09 3/1/09 - 3/8/09 3/8/09 - 3/15/09 3/15/09 - 3/22/09 3/22/09 - 3/29/09 3/29/09 - 4/5/09 4/5/09 - 4/12/09 4/12/09 - 4/19/09 4/19/09 - 4/26/09 4/26/09 - 5/3/09 5/3/09 - 5/10/09 5/10/09 - 5/17/09 5/17/09 - 5/24/09 5/24/09 - 5/31/09 5/31/09 - 6/7/09 6/7/09 - 6/14/09 6/14/09 - 6/21/09 6/21/09 - 6/28/09 6/28/09 - 7/5/09 7/5/09 - 7/12/09 7/12/09 - 7/19/09 7/19/09 - 7/26/09 7/26/09 - 8/2/09 8/2/09 - 8/9/09 8/9/09 - 8/16/09 8/16/09 - 8/23/09 8/23/09 - 8/30/09 8/30/09 - 9/6/09 9/6/09 - 9/13/09 9/13/09 - 9/20/09 9/20/09 - 9/27/09 9/27/09 - 10/4/09 10/4/09 - 10/11/09 10/11/09 - 10/18/09 10/18/09 - 10/25/09 10/25/09 - 11/1/09 11/1/09 - 11/8/09 11/8/09 - 11/15/09 11/15/09 - 11/22/09 11/22/09 - 11/29/09 11/29/09 - 12/6/09 12/6/09 - 12/13/09 12/13/09 - 12/20/09 12/20/09 - 12/27/09 12/27/09 - 1/3/10 1/3/10 - 1/10/10 1/10/10 - 1/17/10 1/17/10 - 1/24/10 1/24/10 - 1/31/10 1/31/10 - 2/7/10 2/7/10 - 2/14/10 2/14/10 - 2/21/10 2/21/10 - 2/28/10 2/28/10 - 3/7/10 3/7/10 - 3/14/10 3/14/10 - 3/21/10 3/21/10 - 3/28/10 3/28/10 - 4/4/10 4/4/10 - 4/11/10 4/11/10 - 4/18/10 4/18/10 - 4/25/10 4/25/10 - 5/2/10 5/2/10 - 5/9/10 5/9/10 - 5/16/10 5/16/10 - 5/23/10 5/23/10 - 5/30/10 5/30/10 - 6/6/10 6/6/10 - 6/13/10 6/13/10 - 6/20/10 6/20/10 - 6/27/10 6/27/10 - 7/4/10 7/4/10 - 7/11/10 7/11/10 - 7/18/10 7/18/10 - 7/25/10 7/25/10 - 8/1/10 8/1/10 - 8/8/10 8/8/10 - 8/15/10 8/15/10 - 8/22/10 8/22/10 - 8/29/10 8/29/10 - 9/5/10 9/5/10 - 9/12/10 9/12/10 - 9/19/10 9/19/10 - 9/26/10 9/26/10 - 10/3/10 10/3/10 - 10/10/10 10/10/10 - 10/17/10 10/17/10 - 10/24/10 10/24/10 - 10/31/10 10/31/10 - 11/7/10 11/7/10 - 11/14/10 11/14/10 - 11/21/10 11/21/10 - 11/28/10 11/28/10 - 12/5/10 12/5/10 - 12/12/10 12/12/10 - 12/19/10 12/19/10 - 12/26/10 12/26/10 - 1/2/11 1/2/11 - 1/9/11 1/9/11 - 1/16/11 1/16/11 - 1/23/11 1/23/11 - 1/30/11 1/30/11 - 2/6/11 2/6/11 - 2/13/11 2/13/11 - 2/20/11 2/20/11 - 2/27/11 2/27/11 - 3/6/11 3/6/11 - 3/13/11 3/13/11 - 3/20/11 3/20/11 - 3/27/11 3/27/11 - 4/3/11 4/3/11 - 4/10/11 4/10/11 - 4/17/11 4/17/11 - 4/24/11 4/24/11 - 5/1/11 5/1/11 - 5/8/11 5/8/11 - 5/15/11 5/15/11 - 5/22/11 5/22/11 - 5/29/11 5/29/11 - 6/5/11 6/5/11 - 6/12/11 6/12/11 - 6/19/11 6/19/11 - 6/26/11 6/26/11 - 7/3/11 7/3/11 - 7/10/11 7/10/11 - 7/17/11 7/17/11 - 7/24/11 7/24/11 - 7/31/11 7/31/11 - 8/7/11 8/7/11 - 8/14/11 8/14/11 - 8/21/11 8/21/11 - 8/28/11 8/28/11 - 9/4/11 9/4/11 - 9/11/11 9/11/11 - 9/18/11 9/18/11 - 9/25/11 9/25/11 - 10/2/11 10/2/11 - 10/9/11 10/9/11 - 10/16/11 10/16/11 - 10/23/11 10/23/11 - 10/30/11 10/30/11 - 11/6/11 11/6/11 - 11/13/11 11/13/11 - 11/20/11 11/20/11 - 11/27/11 11/27/11 - 12/4/11 12/4/11 - 12/11/11 12/11/11 - 12/18/11 12/18/11 - 12/25/11 12/25/11 - 1/1/12 1/1/12 - 1/8/12 1/8/12 - 1/15/12 1/15/12 - 1/22/12 1/22/12 - 1/29/12 1/29/12 - 2/5/12 2/5/12 - 2/12/12 2/12/12 - 2/19/12 2/19/12 - 2/26/12 2/26/12 - 3/4/12 3/4/12 - 3/11/12 3/11/12 - 3/18/12 3/18/12 - 3/25/12 3/25/12 - 4/1/12 4/1/12 - 4/8/12 4/8/12 - 4/15/12 4/15/12 - 4/22/12 4/22/12 - 4/29/12 4/29/12 - 5/6/12 5/6/12 - 5/13/12 5/13/12 - 5/20/12 5/20/12 - 5/27/12 5/27/12 - 6/3/12 6/3/12 - 6/10/12 6/10/12 - 6/17/12 6/17/12 - 6/24/12 6/24/12 - 7/1/12 7/1/12 - 7/8/12 7/8/12 - 7/15/12 7/15/12 - 7/22/12 7/22/12 - 7/29/12 7/29/12 - 8/5/12 8/5/12 - 8/12/12 8/12/12 - 8/19/12 8/19/12 - 8/26/12 8/26/12 - 9/2/12 9/2/12 - 9/9/12 9/9/12 - 9/16/12 9/16/12 - 9/23/12 9/23/12 - 9/30/12 9/30/12 - 10/7/12 10/7/12 - 10/14/12 10/14/12 - 10/21/12 10/21/12 - 10/28/12 10/28/12 - 11/4/12 11/4/12 - 11/11/12 11/11/12 - 11/18/12 11/18/12 - 11/25/12 11/25/12 - 12/2/12 12/2/12 - 12/9/12 12/9/12 - 12/16/12 12/16/12 - 12/23/12 12/23/12 - 12/30/12 12/30/12 - 1/6/13 1/6/13 - 1/13/13 1/13/13 - 1/20/13 1/20/13 - 1/27/13 1/27/13 - 2/3/13 2/3/13 - 2/10/13 2/10/13 - 2/17/13 2/17/13 - 2/24/13 2/24/13 - 3/3/13 3/3/13 - 3/10/13 3/10/13 - 3/17/13 3/17/13 - 3/24/13 3/24/13 - 3/31/13 3/31/13 - 4/7/13 4/7/13 - 4/14/13 4/14/13 - 4/21/13 4/21/13 - 4/28/13 4/28/13 - 5/5/13 5/5/13 - 5/12/13 5/12/13 - 5/19/13 5/19/13 - 5/26/13 5/26/13 - 6/2/13 6/2/13 - 6/9/13 6/9/13 - 6/16/13 6/16/13 - 6/23/13 6/23/13 - 6/30/13 6/30/13 - 7/7/13 7/7/13 - 7/14/13 7/14/13 - 7/21/13 7/21/13 - 7/28/13 7/28/13 - 8/4/13 8/4/13 - 8/11/13 8/11/13 - 8/18/13 8/18/13 - 8/25/13 8/25/13 - 9/1/13 9/1/13 - 9/8/13 9/8/13 - 9/15/13 9/15/13 - 9/22/13 9/22/13 - 9/29/13 9/29/13 - 10/6/13 10/6/13 - 10/13/13 10/13/13 - 10/20/13 10/20/13 - 10/27/13 10/27/13 - 11/3/13 11/3/13 - 11/10/13 11/10/13 - 11/17/13 11/17/13 - 11/24/13 11/24/13 - 12/1/13 12/1/13 - 12/8/13 12/8/13 - 12/15/13 12/15/13 - 12/22/13 12/22/13 - 12/29/13 12/29/13 - 1/5/14 1/5/14 - 1/12/14 1/12/14 - 1/19/14 1/19/14 - 1/26/14 1/26/14 - 2/2/14 2/2/14 - 2/9/14 2/9/14 - 2/16/14 2/16/14 - 2/23/14 2/23/14 - 3/2/14 3/2/14 - 3/9/14 3/9/14 - 3/16/14 3/16/14 - 3/23/14 3/23/14 - 3/30/14 3/30/14 - 4/6/14 4/6/14 - 4/13/14 4/13/14 - 4/20/14 4/20/14 - 4/27/14 4/27/14 - 5/4/14 5/4/14 - 5/11/14 5/11/14 - 5/18/14 5/18/14 - 5/25/14 5/25/14 - 6/1/14 6/1/14 - 6/8/14 6/8/14 - 6/15/14 6/15/14 - 6/22/14 6/22/14 - 6/29/14 6/29/14 - 7/6/14 7/6/14 - 7/13/14 7/13/14 - 7/20/14 7/20/14 - 7/27/14 7/27/14 - 8/3/14 8/3/14 - 8/10/14 8/10/14 - 8/17/14 8/17/14 - 8/24/14 8/24/14 - 8/31/14 8/31/14 - 9/7/14 9/7/14 - 9/14/14 9/14/14 - 9/21/14 9/21/14 - 9/28/14 9/28/14 - 10/5/14 10/5/14 - 10/12/14 10/12/14 - 10/19/14 10/19/14 - 10/26/14 10/26/14 - 11/2/14 11/2/14 - 11/9/14 11/9/14 - 11/16/14 11/16/14 - 11/23/14 11/23/14 - 11/30/14 11/30/14 - 12/7/14 12/7/14 - 12/14/14 12/14/14 - 12/21/14 12/21/14 - 12/28/14 12/28/14 - 1/4/15 1/4/15 - 1/11/15 1/11/15 - 1/18/15 1/18/15 - 1/25/15 1/25/15 - 2/1/15 2/1/15 - 2/8/15 2/8/15 - 2/15/15 2/15/15 - 2/22/15 2/22/15 - 3/1/15 3/1/15 - 3/8/15 3/8/15 - 3/15/15 3/15/15 - 3/22/15 3/22/15 - 3/29/15 3/29/15 - 4/5/15 4/5/15 - 4/12/15 4/12/15 - 4/19/15 4/19/15 - 4/26/15 4/26/15 - 5/3/15 5/3/15 - 5/10/15 5/10/15 - 5/17/15 5/17/15 - 5/24/15 5/24/15 - 5/31/15 5/31/15 - 6/7/15 6/7/15 - 6/14/15 6/14/15 - 6/21/15 6/21/15 - 6/28/15 6/28/15 - 7/5/15 7/5/15 - 7/12/15 7/12/15 - 7/19/15 7/19/15 - 7/26/15 7/26/15 - 8/2/15 8/2/15 - 8/9/15 8/9/15 - 8/16/15 8/16/15 - 8/23/15 8/23/15 - 8/30/15 8/30/15 - 9/6/15 9/6/15 - 9/13/15 9/13/15 - 9/20/15 9/20/15 - 9/27/15 9/27/15 - 10/4/15 10/4/15 - 10/11/15 10/11/15 - 10/18/15 10/18/15 - 10/25/15 10/25/15 - 11/1/15 11/1/15 - 11/8/15 11/8/15 - 11/15/15 11/15/15 - 11/22/15 11/22/15 - 11/29/15 11/29/15 - 12/6/15 12/6/15 - 12/13/15 12/13/15 - 12/20/15 12/20/15 - 12/27/15 12/27/15 - 1/3/16 1/3/16 - 1/10/16 1/10/16 - 1/17/16 1/17/16 - 1/24/16 1/24/16 - 1/31/16 1/31/16 - 2/7/16 2/7/16 - 2/14/16 2/14/16 - 2/21/16 2/21/16 - 2/28/16 2/28/16 - 3/6/16 3/6/16 - 3/13/16 3/13/16 - 3/20/16 3/20/16 - 3/27/16 3/27/16 - 4/3/16 4/3/16 - 4/10/16 4/10/16 - 4/17/16 4/17/16 - 4/24/16 4/24/16 - 5/1/16 5/1/16 - 5/8/16 5/8/16 - 5/15/16 5/15/16 - 5/22/16 5/22/16 - 5/29/16 5/29/16 - 6/5/16 6/5/16 - 6/12/16 6/12/16 - 6/19/16 6/19/16 - 6/26/16 6/26/16 - 7/3/16 7/3/16 - 7/10/16 7/10/16 - 7/17/16 7/17/16 - 7/24/16 7/24/16 - 7/31/16 7/31/16 - 8/7/16 8/7/16 - 8/14/16 8/14/16 - 8/21/16 8/21/16 - 8/28/16 8/28/16 - 9/4/16 9/4/16 - 9/11/16 9/11/16 - 9/18/16 9/18/16 - 9/25/16 9/25/16 - 10/2/16 10/2/16 - 10/9/16 10/9/16 - 10/16/16 10/16/16 - 10/23/16 10/23/16 - 10/30/16 10/30/16 - 11/6/16 11/6/16 - 11/13/16 11/13/16 - 11/20/16 11/20/16 - 11/27/16 11/27/16 - 12/4/16 12/4/16 - 12/11/16 12/11/16 - 12/18/16 12/18/16 - 12/25/16 12/25/16 - 1/1/17 1/1/17 - 1/8/17 1/8/17 - 1/15/17 1/15/17 - 1/22/17 1/22/17 - 1/29/17 1/29/17 - 2/5/17 2/5/17 - 2/12/17 2/12/17 - 2/19/17 2/19/17 - 2/26/17 2/26/17 - 3/5/17 3/5/17 - 3/12/17 3/12/17 - 3/19/17 3/19/17 - 3/26/17 3/26/17 - 4/2/17 4/2/17 - 4/9/17 4/9/17 - 4/16/17 4/16/17 - 4/23/17 4/23/17 - 4/30/17 4/30/17 - 5/7/17 5/7/17 - 5/14/17 5/14/17 - 5/21/17 5/21/17 - 5/28/17 5/28/17 - 6/4/17 6/4/17 - 6/11/17 6/11/17 - 6/18/17 6/18/17 - 6/25/17 6/25/17 - 7/2/17 7/2/17 - 7/9/17 7/9/17 - 7/16/17 7/16/17 - 7/23/17 7/23/17 - 7/30/17 7/30/17 - 8/6/17 8/6/17 - 8/13/17 8/13/17 - 8/20/17 8/20/17 - 8/27/17 8/27/17 - 9/3/17 9/3/17 - 9/10/17 9/10/17 - 9/17/17 9/17/17 - 9/24/17 9/24/17 - 10/1/17 10/1/17 - 10/8/17 10/8/17 - 10/15/17 10/15/17 - 10/22/17 10/22/17 - 10/29/17 10/29/17 - 11/5/17 11/5/17 - 11/12/17 11/12/17 - 11/19/17 11/19/17 - 11/26/17 11/26/17 - 12/3/17 12/3/17 - 12/10/17 12/10/17 - 12/17/17 12/17/17 - 12/24/17 12/24/17 - 12/31/17 12/31/17 - 1/7/18 1/7/18 - 1/14/18 1/14/18 - 1/21/18 1/21/18 - 1/28/18 1/28/18 - 2/4/18 2/4/18 - 2/11/18 2/11/18 - 2/18/18 2/18/18 - 2/25/18 2/25/18 - 3/4/18 3/4/18 - 3/11/18 3/11/18 - 3/18/18 3/18/18 - 3/25/18 3/25/18 - 4/1/18 4/1/18 - 4/8/18 4/8/18 - 4/15/18 4/15/18 - 4/22/18 4/22/18 - 4/29/18 4/29/18 - 5/6/18 5/6/18 - 5/13/18 5/13/18 - 5/20/18 5/20/18 - 5/27/18 5/27/18 - 6/3/18 6/3/18 - 6/10/18 6/10/18 - 6/17/18 6/17/18 - 6/24/18 6/24/18 - 7/1/18 7/1/18 - 7/8/18 7/8/18 - 7/15/18 7/15/18 - 7/22/18 7/22/18 - 7/29/18 7/29/18 - 8/5/18 8/5/18 - 8/12/18 8/12/18 - 8/19/18 8/19/18 - 8/26/18 8/26/18 - 9/2/18 9/2/18 - 9/9/18 9/9/18 - 9/16/18 9/16/18 - 9/23/18 9/23/18 - 9/30/18 9/30/18 - 10/7/18 10/7/18 - 10/14/18 10/14/18 - 10/21/18 10/21/18 - 10/28/18 10/28/18 - 11/4/18 11/4/18 - 11/11/18 11/11/18 - 11/18/18 11/18/18 - 11/25/18 11/25/18 - 12/2/18 12/2/18 - 12/9/18 12/9/18 - 12/16/18 12/16/18 - 12/23/18 12/23/18 - 12/30/18 12/30/18 - 1/6/19 1/6/19 - 1/13/19 1/13/19 - 1/20/19 1/20/19 - 1/27/19 1/27/19 - 2/3/19 2/3/19 - 2/10/19 2/10/19 - 2/17/19 2/17/19 - 2/24/19 2/24/19 - 3/3/19 3/3/19 - 3/10/19 3/10/19 - 3/17/19 3/17/19 - 3/24/19 3/24/19 - 3/31/19 3/31/19 - 4/7/19 4/7/19 - 4/14/19 4/14/19 - 4/21/19 4/21/19 - 4/28/19 4/28/19 - 5/5/19 5/5/19 - 5/12/19 5/12/19 - 5/19/19 5/19/19 - 5/26/19 5/26/19 - 6/2/19 6/2/19 - 6/9/19 6/9/19 - 6/16/19 6/16/19 - 6/23/19 6/23/19 - 6/30/19 6/30/19 - 7/7/19 7/7/19 - 7/14/19 7/14/19 - 7/21/19 7/21/19 - 7/28/19 7/28/19 - 8/4/19 8/4/19 - 8/11/19 8/11/19 - 8/18/19 8/18/19 - 8/25/19 8/25/19 - 9/1/19 9/1/19 - 9/8/19 9/8/19 - 9/15/19 9/15/19 - 9/22/19 9/22/19 - 9/29/19 9/29/19 - 10/6/19 10/6/19 - 10/13/19 10/13/19 - 10/20/19 10/20/19 - 10/27/19 10/27/19 - 11/3/19 11/3/19 - 11/10/19 11/10/19 - 11/17/19 11/17/19 - 11/24/19 11/24/19 - 12/1/19 12/1/19 - 12/8/19 12/8/19 - 12/15/19 12/15/19 - 12/22/19 12/22/19 - 12/29/19 12/29/19 - 1/5/20 1/5/20 - 1/12/20 1/12/20 - 1/19/20 1/19/20 - 1/26/20 1/26/20 - 2/2/20 2/2/20 - 2/9/20 2/9/20 - 2/16/20 2/16/20 - 2/23/20 2/23/20 - 3/1/20 3/1/20 - 3/8/20 3/8/20 - 3/15/20 3/15/20 - 3/22/20 3/22/20 - 3/29/20 3/29/20 - 4/5/20 4/5/20 - 4/12/20 4/12/20 - 4/19/20 4/19/20 - 4/26/20 4/26/20 - 5/3/20 5/3/20 - 5/10/20 5/10/20 - 5/17/20 5/17/20 - 5/24/20 5/24/20 - 5/31/20 5/31/20 - 6/7/20 6/7/20 - 6/14/20 6/14/20 - 6/21/20 6/21/20 - 6/28/20 6/28/20 - 7/5/20 7/5/20 - 7/12/20 7/12/20 - 7/19/20 7/19/20 - 7/26/20 7/26/20 - 8/2/20 8/2/20 - 8/9/20 8/9/20 - 8/16/20 8/16/20 - 8/23/20 8/23/20 - 8/30/20 8/30/20 - 9/6/20 9/6/20 - 9/13/20 9/13/20 - 9/20/20 9/20/20 - 9/27/20 9/27/20 - 10/4/20 10/4/20 - 10/11/20 10/11/20 - 10/18/20 10/18/20 - 10/25/20 10/25/20 - 11/1/20 11/1/20 - 11/8/20 11/8/20 - 11/15/20 11/15/20 - 11/22/20 11/22/20 - 11/29/20 11/29/20 - 12/6/20 12/6/20 - 12/13/20 12/13/20 - 12/20/20 12/20/20 - 12/27/20 1/3/21 - 1/10/21 1/10/21 - 1/17/21 1/17/21 - 1/24/21 1/24/21 - 1/31/21 1/31/21 - 2/7/21 2/7/21 - 2/14/21 2/14/21 - 2/21/21 2/21/21 - 2/28/21 2/28/21 - 3/7/21 3/7/21 - 3/14/21 3/14/21 - 3/21/21 3/21/21 - 3/28/21 3/28/21 - 4/4/21 4/4/21 - 4/11/21 4/11/21 - 4/18/21 4/18/21 - 4/25/21 4/25/21 - 5/2/21 5/2/21 - 5/9/21 5/9/21 - 5/16/21 5/16/21 - 5/23/21 5/23/21 - 5/30/21 5/30/21 - 6/6/21 6/6/21 - 6/13/21 6/13/21 - 6/20/21 6/20/21 - 6/27/21 6/27/21 - 7/4/21 7/4/21 - 7/11/21 7/11/21 - 7/18/21 7/18/21 - 7/25/21 7/25/21 - 8/1/21 8/1/21 - 8/8/21 8/8/21 - 8/15/21 8/15/21 - 8/22/21 8/22/21 - 8/29/21 8/29/21 - 9/5/21 9/5/21 - 9/12/21 9/12/21 - 9/19/21 9/19/21 - 9/26/21 9/26/21 - 10/3/21 10/3/21 - 10/10/21 10/10/21 - 10/17/21 10/17/21 - 10/24/21 10/24/21 - 10/31/21 10/31/21 - 11/7/21 11/7/21 - 11/14/21 11/14/21 - 11/21/21 11/21/21 - 11/28/21 11/28/21 - 12/5/21 website design by website design by limwebdesignBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Huseyn Hasanov, Rashid Shirinov  Trend:

President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov congratulated Salome Zurabishvili on her election as President of Georgia, Trend reports citing the Turkmen government.

In his address, the head of state, highly appreciating the development of friendly relations between the countries, expressed confidence in the further development and strengthening of bilateral relations in the interests of the peoples of Turkmenistan and Georgia.

The Turkmen leader addressed wishes of good health and great success in all undertakings and activities aimed at the progress and prosperity of the Georgian people, says the message.

In November 2017, Ashgabat hosted a meeting of the Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov and the Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister of Georgia Mikheil Janelidze. Speaking about the energy policy of Turkmenistan, the parties expressed interest in consolidating efforts in the development of international energy cooperation.

Tbilisi earlier stated that Georgia is an important link in the South Caucasus transport and energy corridor and is ready to provide reliable and safe transit of energy from the Caspian basin and Central Asia through its territory.

In addition, Ashgabat and Tbilisi are studying projects on the creation of transport and transit infrastructure between the Caspian and Black Sea regions, the use of which will ensure broad interregional integration with the states of Europe and the Middle East.Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Dec. 18

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

A cargo motorcade, implementing test transportation on the route Lapis Lazuli (Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey) in accordance with the agreement on transit and transport cooperation of the participating countries, has arrived in Ashgabat, Trend reports with reference to the Turkmen TV channel Altyn Asyr.

Last week, the motorcade began its journey from the Afghan city of Herat. The motorcade is heading to the international sea port of Turkmenbashi city, where the cargo will be transported by ferry to Azerbaijan, and from there via Georgia will proceed to Turkey.

Afghanistan sends agriculture products to world markets. Having reached the destination point, the goods will find their consumers in Turkey and in the countries of Europe, and this will become a huge incentive for Afghanistan, a guarantee of the countrys entry into the international market.

The new route, most part of the infrastructure of which already exists, but requires some modernization and additional legal approvals, can give an effective impetus to the development of production in the region.

The railways and highways in Turkmenistan are a significant part of the Lapis Lazuli corridor, and connecting the Afghan Torghundi city to it was primarily aimed at increasing the economic integration of Afghanistan and increasing trade in the region.

The Serhetabat-Torghundi railway line (Afghanistan-Turkmenistan), built by Turkmenistan, has created additional prerequisites for the development of the economy of the neighboring country, opened up opportunities for activating small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in it, and for Afghan products to reach sales markets.Tehran, Iran, Dec.18

Trend:

Iran's customs administration has warned its citizens over signing any contracts with Afghan insurance companies that are not related to the Afghan Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.

"Iranian Foreign Ministry and Embassy in Kabul have warned the Iranian citizens and drivers to avoid signing any insurance contracts at Afghan customs with companies that are not connected to the Afghan Transport and Civil Aviation", director general of the International Customs Cooperation Office Hussein Kakkhi said, Trend reports via ILNA.

"The warning was issued according to the decision of Iran's Embassy in Afghanistan, and due to rising problems for some Iranian citizens, specially drivers and transporting companies which had accidents on Afghan roads that lead to financial and casualty losses," he said.

"The list of Afghan insurance companies that are linked to the Afghan Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation have been sent to the officials of Afghanistan borders," said Kakkhi.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:

In line with the agreements of Iranian economists with the Chinese side, bank transactions between the two countries had to start, but unfortunately, this issue hasnt been implemented yet, Co-Chair of Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce Asadollah Asgaroladi said in an interview with the Tasnim News Agency, Trend reports.

He said that in recent days, the Iranian ambassador visited China to eliminate bank problems, adding that the positive outcome of the discussions is expected.

He noted that next week Iran will start selling oil to China, and its money will be paid within a month.

The Chinese side should announce its second bank for transactions with the Iranian side during the next month, he said.

Earlier, Asgaroladi said that a Chinese bank will start implementing mutual transactions with Iran Dec. 2.Lebanon could have a new government this week, politicians said on Tuesday, raising hopes of an end to more than seven months of deadlock and wrangling over cabinet posts, Trend reports referring to Reuters.

The finance minister was quoted as saying the government will be formed within a few days if the positive direction continued, and one lawmaker at the heart of the last remaining dispute said a cabinet could be formed in the coming hours.

Efforts to form a new government have been obstructed by rival groups conflicting demands for seats in a cabinet that must be formed in line with a finely balanced sectarian political system.

A source close to Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri told Reuters there was reasonable cause for optimism and the Hariri-owned al-Mustaqbal newspaper reported that the road to the government has become open to a very large degree.

Heavily indebted and suffering from a stagnant economy, Lebanon is in dire need of an administration that can set about long-stalled economic reforms to put public debt on a sustainable footing.

Matters in the government file are moving in a positive direction. If the situation continues with this positivity we will have a new government within a few days, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil was cited as saying by al-Manar TV, which is run by the powerful Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah.

The final logjam has been over Sunni Muslim representation, with a group of Hezbollah-allied Sunni MPs demanding a cabinet seat to reflect gains in the May election in which Hariri lost more than a third of his lawmakers.

Hariri, who remains Lebanons leading Sunni despite his losses, had ruled out ceding one of his cabinet seats to any of the six Hezbollah-allied Sunnis, who are also known for their ties to the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad.

But under a compromise taking shape, the Hezbollah-allied Sunnis are expected to put forward names of ministerial candidates acceptable to them for inclusion in the government rather than insisting that they themselves should get the seat.

In exchange, they want Hariri to acknowledge their political standing as a group of Sunnis independent of his Future Movement by meeting them.

The Hariri family has dominated Lebanese Sunni politics for decades.

The Sunni minister is expected to be named among a group of ministers allotted to President Michel Aoun, representing a compromise on the part of his Free Patriotic Movement which had been trying to secure control of 11 ministerial portfolios - more than one third of the new cabinet.

In the coming hours the country may see a new government, Qassem Hashem, one of the Hezbollah-aligned Sunni MPs, told Reuters.Political considerations concerning Chinese investment in Israels third-biggest port may be the reason behind the Israeli governments decision to review a deal that gives Beijing a majority stake in the facility, analysts said, Trend reports referring to The South China Morning Post.

The assessment came after Israels national security cabinet was reported to be revisiting a 2015 deal between the Israeli Transportation Ministry and Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) involving the Port of Haifa.

SIPG has committed US$2 billion to the project and plans to transform the ports bay terminal into the largest harbour in the country. The deal with the Israeli government granted SIPG control of the port for 25 years.

Pressure was exerted by Washington, since the US Navy has acknowledged that its longstanding operations in Haifa may change once SIPG takes over the civilian Haifa port in 2021, the Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday.

Haifa is Israels largest port city, which regularly hosts joint US-Israeli naval drills and vessels. The SIPG deal has raised intelligence and security concerns that are only now prompting an Israeli inter-agency review.

Haifa is not the only Israeli port that involves Chinese money  a subsidiary of China Harbour Engineering won a contract to build a US$876 million port at Ashdod on Israels Mediterranean coast.

Under Beijings trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative  a blueprint announced in 2013 to increase trade and connectivity in Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond  China has significantly increased its global investments, particularly in maritime infrastructure.

Pioneering Chinese companies such as Cosco Shipping Ports and China Merchants Port Holdings are on a march to acquire shares or sign deals to build terminals at seaports overseas.

Oded Eran, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies and a veteran Israeli diplomat, said there was growing concern in many countries about the economic might of China and how that may be used in certain cases to achieve political goals.

In the case of Israel, concerns are mostly related to security  as global competition grows so there is a need to protect national assets, said Eran, adding that the Israeli government and the private sector valued cooperation with China in all economic and scientific fields.

Ehud Gonen, an expert on maritime policy and strategy at Israels Haifa University, said the sharp rise in Chinese investment in Israel had caused concern.

Due to the very significant scope of Chinese investments worldwide, public debate has been held in many parts of the world about the impact and motives of these investments, Gonen said.

Trade between China and Israel has surpassed US$11 billion, a figure 200 times larger than it was 25 years ago. In the same period  1992 to 2017  US-China trade grew 20 times, according to the US Council on Foreign Relations.

But Liu Naiya, associate research fellow with the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Israels review of the Haifa port contract was a purely political consideration.

The reason why the US wants its ally to review this deal is to try to obstruct cooperation between China and Israel. This is Washingtons consistent method in stifling Chinese international operations, Liu said.The European Commission has asked Italy for a further 2.5 billion euros-3 billion euros ($3.40 billion) in savings before approving the countrys 2019 budget, Corriere della Sera daily reported on Tuesday, Trend reports referring to Reuters.

Italy has sent an amended version of the disputed budget to Brussels and a spokeswoman for Economy Minister Giovanni Tria said on Monday he was working to reach a deal later in the day.

According to the daily, Tria had told EU Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis in a phone call that Deputy Prime Ministers Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio opposed further cuts because they did not want next years deficit target to fall below the revised level of 2.04 percent.Prime Minister Theresa May and her ministers will on Tuesday step up preparations for a no deal Brexit, an outcome made more likely by a deadlock in parliament over the British leaders divorce deal with the European Union, Trend reports referring to Reuters.

With just over 100 days until Britain is due to leave the EU, May is yet to win the support of a deeply divided parliament for the deal she struck last month with Brussels to maintain close ties with the bloc.

She has said a delayed vote on her deal will take place in mid-January, prompting some lawmakers to accuse her of trying to force parliament into backing it by running close to the March 29 exit day.

May, who last week survived a confidence vote within her Conservative Party, has warned lawmakers that the alternatives to her deal are leaving without an agreement or no Brexit.

Were going to be discussing no deal planning today, International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt told reporters. Its absolutely right that we step up no deal planning now. Not only do we need to prepare the country, but its also the best way that we will ensure that we get a deal.

This month, finance minister Philip Hammond said he had made more than 4.2 billion pounds ($5.3 billion) available for Brexit planning since the 2016 referendum and would be allocating a further 2 billion pounds to government departments.

Mays spokesman said that would be done shortly.

Britains economy has slowed since the 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU and there is no guarantee that businesses and consumers will retain tariff-free access to European goods after Brexit.Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has resigned amid pressure on his government after the largest party in his coalition quit over his support for the United Nations global pact on migration, AP reported Tuesday.

Charles Michel told Belgian lawmakers Tuesday that "I am taking the decision to offer my resignation. I am now going to see the king" to inform him, as quoted by AP.



"I realized that my appeal to the parliament was not convincing and that it was not heard. I must respect and take note of this situation. I made a decision to resign," Michel said as quoted by the RTBF broadcaster.

French custom officers keep watch on cars in La Turbie, southeastern France, near the Franco-Italian border, in spite of the EU's passport-free zone Schengen, as security measures are taken ahead of the G20 Summit of Cannes, Monday, Oct.31, 2011.

Charles Michel approved lat week the divisive UN compact on migration, which has resulted in the ruling coalition's breakdown, and left him in the minority government. King Philippe of Belgium approved earlier the resignation of three ministers and two state secretaries from the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), who left the ruling coalition because of disagreements over the UN migration accord.

The government crisis in Belgium was reportedly caused by the decision of the N-VA party to withdraw support for the UN migration pact, which the country's premier, in September, officially promised to sign. Five members of the government have resigned. Their mandates were redistributed among other ministers. The terms of the next parliamentary elections, scheduled for spring 2019, have not yet been changed.

The new coalition currently represents the minority in parliament.

The UN Global Compact for Migration, finalized on July 13 by all UN member states except the United States, represents the international community's attempt to establish a common global approach to all aspects of international migration. The pact comprises 23 objectives for better managing migration at local, national, regional, and global levels.

The landmark pact has raised controversy across Europe as certain countries believe the deal will put restrictions on their national migration policies.Israel has reportedly asked the US to push the Lebanese government into taking action against attack tunnels dug by the Hezbollah terror group under the border between the two countries, Trend reports referring to The Times of Israel.

Jerusalem wants the Lebanese Armed Forces to work with international UN peacekeepers in locating and destroying the sections of cross-border tunnels that lie inside Lebanese territory, the Beirut-based Al-Akhbar daily reported Tuesday citing unnamed Western diplomatic sources.

The IDF launched Operation Northern Shield on December 4 in an effort to find attack tunnels dug into Israel from southern Lebanon by the Hezbollah terror group. So far, the Israeli military has said its uncovered four such tunnels and believes there are more.

The United Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL on Monday confirmed the existence of four tunnels and said they violate a UN resolution that ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

According to al-Akhbar, Israel wants the US to threaten a halt in military aid to galvanize the LAF into action, since UNIFIL maintains the tunnels are beyond its mandate and that it is up to Lebanese authorities to deal with the issue.

The US already rejected an Israeli request to levy sanctions on Lebanon over its backing of Hezbollah, which sits in the Lebanese government, the Haaretz daily reported last week. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly cited the USs strategic ties with Lebanon and agreed instead to increase measures against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group.

On Monday, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri told UNIFIL commander Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col that Beirut remained committed to upholding UN Resolution 1701 and the Lebanese army would conduct patrols to deal with any flaw in the implementation of Resolution 1701 from the Lebanese side, official Lebanese state media outlet National News Agency reported.

According to al-Akhbar, Lebanon is refusing to discuss letting international forces intervene in dealing with the tunnels, and UNIFIL is skittish about taking any action that could create tensions with those living in southern villages along the border, or with Hezbollah itself.

The Beirut government has also been told by Russia to keep the peace along the border following a visit earlier this month to Moscow by senior IDF officers who presented the Russians with evidence of the Hezbollah tunnels, Channel 10 television reported Monday.

On Monday UNIFIL declared the tunnels a violation of the UN resolutionthat ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, saying it has confirmed that at least two tunnels crossed into Israel.

It was the first such pronouncement about the tunnels from the peacekeeping group, formally known as the UN Interim Force in Lebanon.

In a statement, UNIFIL confirmed the existence of the four tunnels that Israel announced it had discovered along the border. The peacekeeping force said it ordered an independent investigations of the passages, which has so far found that at least two of the four penetrated into Israeli territory

These constitute violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the statement said.

UN Resolution 1701 called for all armed groups in Lebanon besides the countrys military to remain north of the Litani River.

UNIFILs announcement came hours after Israeli and Lebanese troops verbally sparred along the border with guns drawn over the exact location of the border, after Israel placed concertina wire along the Blue Line as part of the ongoing tunnel-busting operation.

UN peacekeepers were at the scene, working to prevent conflict between the two sides.

Israel has for years claimed that Hezbollah has been violating Resolution 1701 by conducting military activities along the border. UNIFIL has largely rebuffed these allegations, and its announcement on Monday represented one of the few cases in which it has confirmed a violation of the UN resolution.

According to the IDF, Operation Northern Shield is taking place close to Lebanese territory, sometimes on the north side of the border wall, albeit still inside Israeli territory.

The operation has raised prospects of a possible fresh conflict on the volatile border, though Lebanon has downplayed chances of war so long as Israeli troops do not cross the border. UN peacekeepers have also stepped up patrols to ensure the frontier remains calm.

An IDF incursion into Lebanon could spark a major confrontation with Hezbollah, which bills itself as a defender of Lebanon against Israeli aggression.35 Nepali women rescued from Bangalore

Thirty five Nepali women, who were trafficked to India on the pretext of foreign employment in Kuwait and other Gulf countries, have been rescued from Bangalore of South India.The United States supports Bosnias ambition to join NATO, a senior US official said on Monday, dismissing Bosnian Serb objections and adding Washington would react strongly to any threat to the stability of the country, Trend reports citing Reuters.

Bosnia has long proclaimed integration with NATO and the European Union to be strategic goals. But the pro-Russian leader of Bosnias autonomous Serb region, Milorad Dodik, has called for the country to remain neutral and stay out of the US-led military alliance.

We discussed the US position which is as firm as it has ever been, supporting the decision that has been made by this government to pursue membership in NATO, US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan said after meeting Bosnias three-man inter-ethnic presidency.

NATO bombed dominant separatist Serb forces in Bosnia in 1995 to help bring an end to the war there, and the United States brokered the Dayton peace deal that followed.

This month NATO invited Bosnia to start working on a Membership Action Plan (MAP), which has been blocked for 10 years by the Serbs.

Dodik said he told Sullivan there was no consensus in the presidency regarding NATO membership. The Muslim Bosniak and Croat members support it.

Russia is strongly against the countrys membership in NATO.

We in the United States take that decision ... made by the government to pursue NATO membership very seriously, Sullivan said when asked about Dodiks reiterated objections.

We dont want any country, any country to interfere with government of this independent sovereign country, he added.

The US government will always react strongly to any threats to the stability of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The US sanctioned Dodik in 2017 for calling for the secession of Bosnias Serb region.

There is no change in his status under sanctions, Sullivan said. We are committed to protect this countrys sovereignty and territorial integrity in line with the 1995 Dayton agreement.

Sullivan said the United States would help Bosnia counter external forces that actively seek to make Bosnia ever more vulnerable to internal instability. He declined to name those forces.Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday the countrys civil militia had grown to 1.6 million members - more than tripling in size from the beginning of the year - and that its mission was to defend the country against external aggression,Trend reports citing Reuters.

Maduros speech to militia members, broadcast on state television, came less than a week after the socialist leader, without offering evidence, accused the United States of plotting to invade the South American country, which is experiencing a severe economic crisis.

We will arm the Bolivarian militia to the teeth, Maduro said, without detailing how many of the militia members were actually armed. An invading imperialist force may enter a part of our fatherland, but the imperialists should know that they will not leave here alive.

The National Bolivarian Militia is a reserve force composed of civilian volunteers, founded by former President Hugo Chavez in 2008 to assist the armed forces.

Maduro noted on Monday that he had given an order in April to boost the size of the reserve force to 1 million members. At the time, he said the militias had nearly 400,000 members.Brazils far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro said on Tuesday that he would take all action within the rule of law and democracy to oppose the governments of Venezuela and Cuba, Reuters reports.

Bolsonaro, who takes power Jan. 1, is a fervent anti-communist who has praised his countrys 1964-1985 military regime. He frequently targets Venezuela and Cuba for verbal attacks, a drastic change from Brazils governments under the leftist Workers Party that ruled from 2003 to 2016 and had warm relations with those regimes.

Brazils incoming president did not provide any details during the Facebook live video when he made his most recent comments on Venezuela and Cuba.

The United States is counting on Brazil under Bolsonaro to be a strategic ally.

In late November, U.S. President Donald Trumps national security adviser John Bolton met Bolsonaro in his Rio de Janeiro home to help cement ties.

Bolton said Bolsonaros election was a historic opportunity for Brazil and the United States to work together on security, economics and other issues.

Bolton hailed Bolsonaros election as a positive sign that Brazil would support U.S. pressure on Venezuelas left-wing government of Nicolas Maduro, which he describes as part of the troika of tyranny in the Americas, alongside Cuba and Nicaragua.A military police service has been successfully established in Syria, Head of the Russian Defense Ministrys Main Military Police Directorate Lieutenant General Vladimir Ivanovsky told reporters, Trend reports referring to TASS.

"According to military commanders, locals and observers, a military police service has been successfully established, tasked with carrying out humanitarian missions and peacekeeping operations," he said after a ceremony held at Russias Hmeymim air base in Syria, when Russian military police officers received awards before departing for home.

The general added that Russian military police officers had built a positive image among Syrian civilians, while the military police service had taken a final shape and gained vast experience.

Apart from Hmeymim, Russian military servicemen received awards at an observation point on the border of the Idlib de-escalation zone and in the demilitarized zone on the Syrian-Israeli border that Russian troops have been patrolling since September.

Military police officers currently make the bulk of Russian troops in Syria. They protect the Hmeimim airbase and the Tartus naval base, assist the Syrian authorities in maintaining order in areas liberated from militants and monitor the ceasefire in cooperation with the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Sides. In addition, they escort humanitarian aid convoys and protect humanitarian corridors refugees use to leave areas controlled by militants.Russian President Vladimir Putins annual news conference on December 20 will be held in its traditional manner, without any innovations but organizers will create conditions for a direct dialogue between the president and journalists, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, Trend reports referring to TASS.

"There can hardly be any innovations here," Peskov said answering a question. "The key goal of this event is to organize a barrier-free contact with federal, regional and foreign journalists with the head of state," he noted.

The Kremlin spokesman stressed that these big news conferences by the Russian leader are "an unprecedented format." "Few people in the world hold such sessions of communication with journalists," he said. "But we believe this is necessary for the purpose of providing full information to the media and with its help for all of society regarding the current situation and the outcome of the year," Peskov pointed out.

The presidential spokesman declined to predict how the news conference would be held this time. "It is evident that this is not an orchestrated event," he said.The military education system in Russia has been rapidly developing, President Vladimir Putin said at the Russian Defense Ministrys annual board meeting, summing up the years achievements, Trend reports referring to TASS.

According to him, more than 12,000 professionally trained officers have been assigned to the ground forces and the navy. "The selection of contracted soldiers has also improved: two-thirds of more than 60,000 people admitted to the armed forces this year have either college degrees or professional training," Putin added.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Militants of the Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorist group - PYD/YPG are digging trenches in Syrias Manbij city, Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said, Trend reports Dec. 18 with reference to the Turkish media.

Despite that the US promised Turkey that the PYD/YPG militants would leave Manbij, they still remain in the city, he said.

There is no doubt that the trenches dug by terrorists will become their graves, Akar added.

On Dec. 12, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Turkish Armed Forces would launch a new military operation within three days in northern Syria against PYD/YPG, the Syrian wing of the PKK terrorist organization.

On Jan. 20, the Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Free Syrian Army, launched the Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria.

On Aug. 24, 2016, units of the Turkish Armed Forces began the Operation Euphrates Shield against the "Islamic State" and with the support of the Syrian opposition liberated the border town of Jarablus in northern Syria, as well as al-Bab.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizogluBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

During the fight against terrorist movement FETO (movement of Fethullah Gulen) 180 of earlier detained 219 Turkish servicemen have been arrested in Istanbul, Trend reports citing the Turkish media.

Among the detainees are 85 officers.

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 servicemen were detained in Istanbul and 188 in Ankara, all of whom were accused of contacts with the Gulen movement.

Meanwhile, 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Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Some 1,934 people have been sentenced for life imprisonment for attempting a military coup in Turkey, Trend reports referring to Turkish media.

Reports noted that after the attempted military coup in 2016, 289 criminal cases were started, 239 of which have ended.

In general, 3,057 people were convicted of attempting a military coup, according to media reports.

Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar has earlier said that 15,153 people were dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces as part of the fight against the FETO terrorist movement.

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The United States has not shown any specific evidence of Russia's violation of provisions of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper, Sputnik reports.

"We strongly reject the US accusations of treaty violations by Russia. These accusations continue to remain completely ungrounded. For the five years of discussing this problem, the United States has not presented any concrete evidence of our guilt," Ryabkov said.

Moreover, Washington, through bilateral channels at a high political level, confirmed to Russia that the decision to withdraw from the INF Treaty was final, Sergey Ryabkov said.

"Washington stated publicly in October that it would withdraw from the treaty. Through bilateral channels, we received a confirmation at a high political level that this decision was final and was not an invitation to dialogue," Ryabkov said.

"We are forced to proceed from the fact that regardless of the opinion and actions of Russia, the other participants of the INF Treaty and third countries, the United States will purposefully move towards its denunciation," he said.

He said Russia would respond to US deployment of intermediate- and shorter-range missiles threatening the country in case the United States quit the INF.

Meanwhile, Moscow has not received a response from Washington to the proposal to discuss disagreements on the terms of compliance with the INF Treaty at the level of military, Ryabkov stressed.Former Prime Minister Tulsi Giri passes away at 93

Former Prime Minister and senior politician Tulsi Giri has passed away at his residence in Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu on Tuesday, after a prolonged battle with liver cancer, his family source said. He was 93.KYODO NEWS - Dec 18, 2018 - 21:18 | Feature, All, Japan

The number of foreign visitors to Japan in 2018 topped 30 million on Tuesday, marking an all-time record on an annual basis, as the country attracted a high proportion of travelers from its Asian neighbors, the Japan Tourism Agency said.

The figure, eclipsing the previous record of 28.69 million set in 2017, is expected to reach around 31 million by the end of this year, although the pace of increase slowed after a number of natural disasters, including earthquakes and torrential rains, hit the country this summer, agency officials said.

With a 30 millionth visitor expected Tuesday, a ceremony was held at Kansai International Airport in Osaka, the main international air gateway to the western Japan region.

Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Keiichi Ishii said the natural disasters caused a temporary decline in foreign visitors, but "overseas promotion paid off."

Japan is aiming to attract 40 million travelers in 2020 when Tokyo hosts the Olympic and Paralympic Games. To meet the target, the government has eased visa rules, expanded airports for budget airlines and promoted private lodging services to address a shortage of accommodation for tourists.

It is also stepping up efforts to create systems designed to send out more multi-language information at airports and train stations when disasters strike.

"Our goal of 40 million visitors in 2020 is now within our reach," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference.

Japan first received more than 10 million foreign visitors in 2013. The number exceeded 20 million for the first time in 2016.

Asian tourists, particularly from China, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong, again contributed to this year's increase, with the number of visitors in the first half already reaching about 15.89 million, up 15.6 percent from a year earlier, government data showed.

In September, however, the number on a monthly basis dropped 5.3 percent from a year earlier, recording the first contraction since 2013.

The fall was blamed on the magnitude 6.7 earthquake that rocked Japan's northernmost main island Hokkaido on Sept. 6, killing more than 40 people.

Also in September, a typhoon forced the temporary closure of Kansai International Airport. Visitors began to increase again in October.

Many foreign visitors who were affected by natural disasters, including flooding triggered by heavy rains in July and a powerful quake that struck northern Osaka Prefecture in June, have said Japan should provide more information in different languages, particularly concerning transport, in times of emergency.By Keita Nakamura, KYODO NEWS - Dec 18, 2018 - 21:15 | All, Japan

Japan decided Tuesday to pursue the deployment of aircraft carriers for the first time since the end of World War II and beef up its defense in new domains of warfare, such as cyberspace, under its new 10-year defense policy.

The latest national defense guidelines, which will enable Japan to modify helicopter carriers so they can launch U.S.-made F-35B fighter jets, were adopted as the government sees the security environment increasing in uncertainty amid China's expanding military activities and rapid advances in technology.

"We need to develop truly effective defense abilities, rather than simply expanding traditional ones," the government says in the policy, which covers a period from fiscal 2019 and is endorsed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet. The policy was last updated in 2013.

Swiftly reacting to the new guidelines, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying expressed the country's "strong disappointment and objection" over the documents and urged Japan to "act cautiously" in the military security field.

China was among the highlights in Japan's new defense guidelines, with the Japanese government saying China's military activities in the East China Sea and other surrounding waters are a source of "strong concern" in the region. It also warns of China's quest for military supremacy in space and the cyber domain that could enable the country to disrupt command and control systems.

As part of efforts to enhance the defense of islands in the Pacific Ocean and other areas where not many airfields exist, the Japanese government says it plans to upgrade Izumo-class flat-top helicopter carriers to enable it to transport and launch fighter jets, such as F-35Bs.

"We will refit Maritime Self-Defense Force multipurpose helicopter destroyers so fighter jets capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings can be deployed when necessary," the government says in its new five-year midterm defense buildup program, which was endorsed along with the defense guidelines the same day.

The idea, however, has already been criticized by some defense experts who call it a deviation from Japan's self-defense-only posture, which has been maintained under the postwar pacifist Constitution.

Apparently to reassure the public, the government stipulates in the defense buildup program that it has no intention of possessing an offensive type of aircraft carrier deemed to exceed the constitutional limit.

Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told a press conference that the ships will not constantly carry fighters and will continue to be used for transportation and other purposes even after modification, suggesting their operations will be defensive in nature and will not violate the Constitution.

He also admitted that U.S. fighter jets may land on and take off from the ships during emergency situations, Japan-U.S. joint military exercises and in cases when Japan is under attack.

In the guidelines, the government also places considerable emphasis on the need to deal with the fields of cyberspace, outer space and electronic warfare. It describes the areas as having the potential to "fundamentally change the shape of national security" that has so far mainly focused on conventional ground, sea and air domains.

Noting the increasing need for Japan's ground, maritime and air units to act flexibly across all kinds of domains, the government says it will aim to form a "multidimensional joint defense force."

The Self-Defense Forces are also expected to drastically improve their cyber defense abilities, such as by possessing the ability to obstruct the enemy's use of cyberspace when Japan is under attack, it says.

But it may require careful consideration for Japan to carry out such "counterattacks" as the country restricts the use of force for self-defense to certain conditions in light of the Constitution.

Further complicating the issue is that there is no established definition of cyberattacks internationally and that it is also believed to be difficult to identify the attacking source at an early stage.

Turning to outer space, where Japan is seen to be lagging behind other countries in the race to gain military superiority, a new unit will be created inside the Air Self-Defense Force to continuously monitor the space situation and to act for the nation's defense.

The government also plans to invest in artificial intelligence technologies and underwater drones.

To achieve the latest Medium Term Defense Program that covers a five-year period from fiscal 2019, the government says it expects to spend around a record-high 27.47 trillion yen ($243 billion).

The program includes a plan to buy a total of 18 F-35B short takeoff aircraft apparently to put them on Izumo-class carriers, as well as to install two U.S.-developed land-based Aegis missile systems to counter the North Korean nuclear and missile threat.

The government also decided Tuesday to purchase an additional 24 F-35Bs and 63 F-35A aircraft, which have conventional takeoff and landing capability. The decision will eventually enable Japan to build a fleet of 147 F-35s, including 42 F-35As already on track for deployment.

With Japan purchasing U.S. defense equipment mainly through the foreign military sales arrangement, the government says in the latest defense guidelines it will seek to "streamline" the process to procure the sophisticated armaments "efficiently."

Japan has been under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump's "Buy American" policy. The foreign military sales arrangement is used by Washington to prevent sensitive military technology from leaking, but critics say it is making Japan buy equipment at the asking price which is extremely expensive.

To secure enough SDF personnel as Japan's overall population ages and birthrates decline, the government says in the guidelines it plans to raise the retirement age of members and more actively recruit women.The survey says 18.7 percent men in rural areas and 21 percent men in cities consume alcohol in Kerala.ICYMI: Here are some of top stories of the day

Here are some of the stories you may have missed throughout the day.Indias Sutlej offers to sell Arun III power

SJVN Arun III Power Development Company is proposing to sell 10 percent of the energy available for export from the Arun III Hydropower Project to the Nepal government.Staff of Melamchi Water Project's Italian builder trying to flee, say police

Contrary to the reports that Melamchi Water Supply Project contractor Cooperativa Muratori e Cementisti di Ravennas officials were fleeing the country, an official familiar with the Italian groups work with the Nepal government has denied the allegations, saying there was no such attempt.Vietnams tourism strength: A realistic assessment

This month, Vietnam is expected to welcome the fifteen millionth foreign visitor of the year, an impressive figure for the tourism industry. However, industry insiders hold that the growth in visitor number is not an indicator of the internal strength of the tourism industry.









Foreign tourists at the Bach Dang Speed Ferry Terminal in HCMCs District 1



South Koreas biggest low-cost air carrier Jeju Air will open an air route between Daegu City and Danang City late this month, with seven services per week. Along with this new route, Jeju Air will increase flights between Muan and Danang to seven per week, taking the number of its air routes between South Korea and Vietnam to seven and the total number of flights to 63 per week.



Jeju Air has joined Vietnams aviation market for only four years, but its seat supply has increased very fast, from 150,000 seats in 2015 to 450,000 seats in 2017 and 720,000 seats in October 2018. Yang Seong Jin, public relations manager of Jeju Air, said three years ago, Japan, China and Thailand were three destinations that attracted the most Korean tourists, but Vietnam has now dethroned Thailand to become the third most attractive destination to Korean tourists, and Danang is the first place for their trips to Vietnam. Previously, we could not imagine that so many Koreans would visit Danang like now, Yang said. Our revenue from the Vietnam market is very good, second only to the biggest market Japan.



South Korea is the second biggest market for Vietnam tourism after China, but it has the highest growth rate. According to statistics of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, more than 2.8 million Korean tourists visited Vietnam in the first 10 months of this year, rising 48.3% over the same period last year. Nine airlines are operating air routes between the two countries, with 383 flights per week.



The massive arrival of Korean tourists in Danang and Quang Nam has changed the local tourism drastically. The Bay Mau Cam Thanh, a nipa palm forest listed as a historical site in the ancient town of Hoi An, is no longer a tranquil place with some coracles transporting western tourists for a leisure trip like it was several years ago. The number of coracles has now amounted to several hundred.



Hoi Ans business scene has also changed. A coconut seller can now say Sam man tong (VND30,000) to offer the stuff to a Korean tourist. The use of western languages to offer goods is a thing of the past. Local sellers have quickly adopted a new language, Korean, to serve tourists from the northeast Asian country.



The growth of Korean tourist arrivals partly reflects the impressive growth of Vietnam tourism industry. Last year, the country for the first time welcomed more than 12.9 million international visitors, an increase of 29.1% over 2016. If the fifteen millionth visitor comes this month as expected, 2018 will continue to be a year of hot growth for the tourism industry and show the strong attraction of Vietnam to international tourists.



After the International Travel Expo in HCMC in September, I led a number of Italian partners to Vietnam, among them are some big wholesalers which have yet to sell tours to Vietnam, said Dong Hoang Thinh, director of Dong Thi Limited Liability Company. About two or three weeks later, they have continuously made inquires to design tours. They said Vietnam is an emerging destination and they do not want to be late.



Weak internal strength



The strong growth in tourist number does not make many businesspeople feel satisfied, however, as there are a host of problems regarding tourist products, prices, planning and marketing to be solved to create sustainable competitiveness for a tourist destination.



Vietnam has yet to take initiative in tourist attraction. The market is heavily tilted towards Chinese and Korean tourists. Failure to take initiative in market exploitation and operation may lead to tourist decline like the experiences of Khanh Hoa and Binh Thuan provinces several years ago.



In the first 10 months of this year, the country welcomed more than 12.8 million international visitors, including more than seven million Chinese and Korean tourists. There are 383 weekly flights from South Korea and 500 weekly flights from China to Vietnam. Most of the flights are chartered flights bringing Korean and Chinese tourists to seaside spots operated by Chinese and Korean businesses. Things are the same with the Russian market. Russian travel firms hold a dominant share of this market. Some Russian businesses also operate other services like accommodation to offer a complete package. The rise or fall in Russian tourists depends largely on those enterprises; so the destination will take a hit when there is a change in this market.



A representative from a travel firm said the Russian market may falter, as Russian travel businesses have not received many customers as compared with early this year and have reduced chartered flights. A number of scheduled flights to HCMC have been canceled, and there is no plan to kickstart the market because of rising tour prices.



Early this year, the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Russian ruble was 55-60 rubles per dollar, but the rate has now increased to 65-68 rubles per dollar. Meanwhile, many hotels and some services in Vietnam are raising prices, which make tour prices higher. Fewer tour buyers have forced tour operators to cut flights to retain profit. However, management authorities have yet to realize the situation to come up with solutions to minimize the decline.



According to some travel companies, the annual price hike, few new products and lack of orientation for the market and services are problems adversely affecting the internal strength of the local tourism industry. The annual hike of tour prices is creating a big pressure for the competitiveness of Vietnams tourist destinations. Meanwhile, tourist products have so far adopted little changes. In addition to main products like seaside travel and sightseeing, travel companies do not have many new services to offer.



Bui Viet Thuy Tien, CEO of Asian Trails Co., said tour prices for the tourist season 2019-2020 may have to increase 3-5% because hotel prices in some destinations like Phan Thiet have risen by 3-5% and Phu Quoc 5-8%, and the transport cost has risen 5-10%. The continuous price rise makes it hard for a destination to attract tourists, she said, adding that the price of a room in a five-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur is US$120 per night while it must be US$300 for the same room in HCMC where there are few hotels of such standards.



Tien also mentioned the need for long-term campaigns to develop different customer segments and accompanying services. She said tourism management agencies should identify where to develop mass tourism and where to serve special tourists for appropriate investment to bring about better economic efficiency. For example, western tourists are very keen on Sapa but less have come to the hillside resort now because it is jam-packed with tourists. Tour operators therefore have to direct them to some nearby areas and Mu Cang Chai, but these places do not have enough accommodation and other services.



The lack of dynamism in marketing activities is also a chronic problem of the tourism industry. Marketing programs only introduce general destinations, while there are no promotions for each specific market as well as activities regarding businesses, which bring customers to a destination.



Meanwhile, neighboring countries are making constant efforts to attract tourists. Singapore has sent out a new message inviting sociable Vietnamese to visit bars and clubs and to experience the hectic nightlife in the island country. Representatives from tourism promotion agencies in Japan, Thailand and South Korea have continuously worked with Vietnamese travel firms to offer financial support for promotion and introduce seasonal tourism products. Most big events are exploited for promotion and introduction of new tourist products to kickstart the market. At the World Travel Market in the UK in early November, many partners were excited to know that the F1 Vietnam Grand Prix will be organized in Hanoi in 2020, Tien said. I think that events like this are very interesting and should be fully exploited for promotion and tourist attraction. Marketing and product launch should be executed right now.



SGTNirmala murder case: Mother files case against police for destroying proof, Yagya Raj resumes sit-in

Mother of Nirmala Pant, who was raped and subsequently murdered in Kanchanpur on July 26, filed a complaint at the District Police Office (DPO) on Monday against two sacked police officers and six other suspended officers for destroying evidence of the crime.Where you live in Canada may play a role in your risk of major diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer

Hamilton, ON (December 18, 2018) - Where you live in Canada may play a role in your risk of major diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.

Researchers at McMaster University have identified trends linking health and lifestyle factors like access to public transit, the variety of fresh fruits and vegetables in grocery stores, the prices of popular foods, the availability and prices of cigarettes and alcohol, and the promotion, or lack thereof, of healthy foods in restaurants.

The study findings, based on detailed data collected across Canada's 10 provinces, were published today in the journal Cities and Health. An interactive online map for public use showing the data by postal code is available at: http://cvcdcontextual.mcmaster.ca.

"We found there are significant differences in environmental factors that may contribute to health, and that these differed between urban and rural communities, as well as when we compared eastern with western, and northern with southern communities," said Russell de Souza, first author of the study and assistant professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at McMaster.

He is also a research associate at the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) of McMaster and Hamilton Health Sciences.

"We believe that this information shows there are factors outside of a person's control that influence the individual's health, and these factors likely differ depending on where they live."

The main findings of the study are:

provincial and urban-rural differences exist in availability of fruits and vegetables, and advertising differs between provinces more so than between urban and rural communities;

rural communities face higher food prices, are more subject to seasonal variation in fruit and vegetable selection, and generally see less promotion of healthy restaurant options and availability of nutritional information at restaurants than urban communities;

in-store advertising for sweet drinks, and junk food are more frequent than in-store advertisements for tobacco products;

cigarette prices are lower and the variety of brands is greater in urban than in rural tobacco stores; and are lowest in central Canada, where there is both more in-store advertising for cigarettes and signage prohibiting smoking in stores; and

alcohol prices are lowest in Quebec.

More than 2,000 on-the-ground assessments conducted in all of the provinces were collected by trained auditors between 2014 and 2016. The assessment tool was adapted from the McMaster-led Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study that simultaneously assesses multiple contextual factors within communities and has been used internationally.

De Souza said the research was driven by concern about health trends in the nation.

"The rapid increase of overweight and obese Canadians and the associated consequences, including hypertension and diabetes, is a major health problem and threatens to halt the declines in cardiovascular disease deaths that Canada has experienced in the past 30 years," said de Souza.

"Knowledge gaps exist regarding the impact of the built environment - or the human-made physical surroundings - on how someone develops risk factors like high blood pressure, and the variation of these built environments across Canada by region and rurality."

The researchers were unsurprised to find that the environmental factor trends aligned with health outcomes tracked in other studies.

"Previous Canadian studies have shown that people living in the east have a higher risk of developing heart disease than people living in the west," said de Souza.

"We also see people who live in rural environments tend to have poorer health than people who live in urban environments.

"This study helps us to understand what we call the 'causes of the causes' of diseases like cardiovascular disease. For example, what are the factors that lead to the development of high blood pressure, which can later lead to a stroke or high cholesterol, which later turns into a heart attack?"

De Souza said the researchers decided at the start of the study the data would be presented in an online, interactive map to convey the information from the community contextual health audits.

"We think presenting our data in this way offers a platform for policy makers, public health professionals and community members to collaborate to build healthier environments and fix the problems," de Souza said.

"By understanding how the built environment plays a role, we can intervene both at an individual level, as well as at a community level. It's one thing for your doctor to tell you that you need to eat more fruits and vegetables to lower your blood pressure, but what if your grocery store prices are so high that you cannot afford them? Or if to get to your grocery store, you have to drive for 30 minutes? If five to 10 servings of fruit and/or vegetables are recommended daily, we should advocate for everyone to be able to afford and access those servings."

The study was a component of the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM), led by Sonia Anand, professor of medicine at McMaster, senior scientist of PHRI, and vascular medicine specialist at Hamilton Health Sciences.

CAHHM is a multi-ethnic cohort study being conducted in Canada. The study aims to understand the association of socio-environmental and contextual factors, such as societal structure, activity, nutrition, social and tobacco environments, and access to health services, in relation to risk factors of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases.

"This study is unique because it will enable comparisons between communities within a region, province, and across the country. Place matters as our environment affects our health behaviours without our realizing it," said Anand, the Heart and Stroke Foundation / Michael G. DeGroote Chair in Population Health Research McMaster.

"We are making these data available to other researchers and health planners so they can further quantify the impact of the built environment on health, and to help in the building of healthier communities," she added.

As for the best place to live in Canada's 10 provinces based on study results, de Souza said it depends on your health habits and preferences.

"I would want to live somewhere that makes it easiest to change any behaviour that may be harming my health," he said. "For example, if I were a smoker, I would want to live in a place where it was hard for me to get cigarettes. If I were having a difficult time eating healthy, I would want to live somewhere where it was easy for me to walk to a grocery store and buy affordable fresh fruits and vegetables."

De Souza noted the three territories were not included in the study due to geographical limitations for the research team.

The CAHHM project is funded by Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) through the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium.

Anne Simard, chief mission and research officer of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, said: "This study demonstrates that rural, including northern and remote communities continue to face inequities with respect to access to healthy food options and even nutrition information in restaurants. This underscores the need for policies to improve nutrition in these communities."

Craig Earle, vice president of cancer control with the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, added: "The importance of these findings is that they highlight disparities that contribute to different health outcomes depending on where you live. There are things we can collectively take action on today."

###

In addition to McMaster University and PHRI, contributing researchers came from the Universite de Montreal, Simon Fraser University, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Harvard University, University of Toronto, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, St. Michael's Hospital, and Sunnybrook Research Institute.

Editors: Photos and video clips with Russell de Souza are available at http://bit.ly/2El78mq.

A backgrounder is provided below.

The research team is also able to provide more detail for individual provinces and provincial regions.

For more information:

Veronica McGuire

Media Coordinator

Faculty of Health Sciences

McMaster University

vmcguir@mcmaster.ca

905-525-9140, ext. 22169

Backgrounder

Results

A total of 2,074 community audits were undertaken by trained auditors between 2014 and 2016, including: 14% in eastern provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador, and Prince Edward Island), 58% in central provinces (Ontario and Quebec), and 27% in western provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba). The audits were done in forward sortation areas (FSAs) which are the geographic areas identified by the first three characters of a postal code. A total of 1,544 tobacco stores, 1,392 major chain grocery stores, 1,381 alcohol stores and 1,501 restaurants were audited.

Community Demographics

83.5% of Canadian communities are urban

Urban communities are more densely populated, more financially well-off, and closer to major cities

Urban communities are 4 times as likely as rural communities to have daily bus service

12% of urban Canadian communities are serviced by subways, compared with 0% of rural communities

Tobacco Store Assessments

Rural Canadian communities are 19% more likely to have a tobacco store than urban communities

The price of a 20-pack of a specific brand of cigarettes is about $1 cheaper in urban tobacco stores than rural stores

Tobacco stores in urban Canadian communities offer a greater variety of brands than do rural stores

Grocery Store Assessments

Rural Canadian communities are 19% more likely to have a chain grocery store in the neighbourhood than urban communities

A basket of foods is 7% more expensive in a rural grocery store than an urban grocery store

Rural households spend $249 more per year on a typical food basket than urban households

Junk food ads were seen in 7 out of every 10 stores, but 10% more frequently in rural stores

Alcohol Store Assessments

Rural Canadian communities are 19% more likely to have an alcohol store in the neighbourhood than urban communities

The prices of beer and wine are similar in urban and rural neighbourhoods

Restaurant Assessments

Rural Canadian communities are 11% more likely to have a family restaurant in the neighbourhood than urban communities

Rural restaurants are 28% less likely to offer nutritional information than urban restaurants

Urban restaurants are 5 times more likely to promote low-salt items and twice as likely to promote low-fat items on their menus

How to use the online map

The results of the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM) community audits are displayed as an online map, which is available to the public at: http://cvcdcontextual.mcmaster.ca.

The user enters a postal code or forward sortation area (FSA). If no postal code data is available, the query returns the FSA-level data, and displays the message "We do not have data at the postal-code level for this community. Please see this FSA-level data, instead". Unaudited postal codes or FSA values return a blank response.

When a valid query is entered, and the user presses to search, the screen displays the boundaries of the selected community. A tab-menu allows toggling between data on general community characteristics ("demographics"), and tobacco, grocery, restaurant, or alcohol assessments. Within these tabs, there is functionality to compare the selected community characteristic across communities, using either nearby communities (within a radius of approximately 30 km, but this varied by community size and location) as a reference, other communities in the province as a reference, or the country average as a reference.Two associates of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn were charged by federal prosecutors with acting as agents of a foreign government Monday.

Bijan Kian, Flynns former business partner, and Kamil Ekim Alptekin, a Turkish businessman, conspired to influence American politicians to extradite Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen. The indictment says their work was concealed as being between Flynns and Alptekins consulting firms, but in reality it was on behalf of the Turkish government.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long sought the extradition of Gulen, who many believe helped instigate a failed coup in 2016.

The defendants sought to discredit and delegitimize the Turkish citizen in the eyes of politicians and the public, and ultimately to secure the Turkish citizens extradition, reads the indictment from the Eastern District of Virginia, according to NBC News.

Flynn, who is described as Person A in the indictment, had a key roll in the lobbying campaign. Negotiations began in July 2016while Flynn was preparing for a role in the Trump administrationafter the Justice Department declined to extradite Gulen to the Turkish government, citing lack of evidence.

Flynn, Kian, and Alptekin drew up a contract in which Alptekins firm paid hundreds of thousands to Flynn Intel Group, Flynns consulting group, for delivering findings and results including but not limited to making criminal referrals against Gulen, The Washington Post reports. When Flynns company belatedly registered as a foreign agent in March 2017, it disclosed over $500,000 in payments from Alptekins firm, Inovo BV.

Kian and Alptekin were both indicted by a federal grand jury last week, CNN reports. Kian appeared in court Monday morning and was released without bail. He has another court appearance scheduled for Tuesday.

Alptekin, who resides in Istanbul, has not been arrested. He claimed innocence in 2017, tweeting, Gen.Flynn never engaged in lobbying work for me or my firm. And I never lobbied or contracted lobbyist on behalf of the Turkish Government.

Story continues

Flynnone of the first of President Donald Trumps associates to fall under Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigationpleaded guilty to lying to the FBI last year. As part of the plea, Flynn admitted to participating in this scheme.

Hes provided substantial assistance to the investigation since then, according to a court filing from Mueller earlier this month, leading the special counsel to recommend no prison time. Flynn is expected to be sentenced on Tuesday.

A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Kian was released on bail. Kian was released Monday without having to post bail.Paul Shechtman



On December 6, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Gamble v. United States. Gamble calls on the court to revisit the Double Jeopardy Clauses dual sovereignty doctrineto determine whether the clause bars prosecution by the federal government following a state prosecution for the same offense (or visa versa). Precedent favors the government, but a betting man should not wager too heavily against Gamble.





Background





If the Supreme Court overturns the dual sovereignty doctrine in Gamble, it will not be the first time that an unsavory character is the protagonist in the development of constitutional criminal procedure law. In 2008, Terence Gamble pleaded guilty in Alabama state court to robbery for using force during a theft. He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment but served nine months with the balance suspended. In 2013, he pleaded guilty to two domestic violence offenses. The first arose out of an incident in which he fired a gun when his girlfriend attempted to leave their home with their child after an argument. The second arose two months later, when he forced his way into the home of his then ex-girlfriend and attempted to assault her. He was sentenced to 180 days imprisonment on the two offenses, with all but 42 days suspended. In October 2014, he fired a handgun into a title-loan company with two people inside.



That brings us to the conduct underlying the Supreme Court case. In November 2015, while the title-loan-company case was still pending, Gambles car was stopped for a faulty headlight, and two bags of marijuana, a digital scale and a 9 mm handgun were found in a search. Gamble was indicted for state drug offenses and for a state firearm offensefor possessing a firearm while being a person convicted of  a crime of violence or a misdemeanor offense of domestic violence (Ala. Code 12-25-32(15)). In April 2016, he was indicted by a federal grand jury for being a felon in possession of a firearm (18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1)).



What followed, it seems, was a race to the courthouse. Shortly after the federal indictment was returned, Gamble pleaded guilty in state court and received a 10-year sentencea sentence that resolved the shooting charges, the drug charges and the firearm chargewith all but 12 months suspended (and with the possibility of his serving the 12 months in a work-release program). Once sentenced in state court, Gamble moved to dismiss the federal indictment on double jeopardy grounds. The motion prompted the local U.S. Attorneys Office to seek direction from Washington as to whether it should go forward or apply the longstanding Petite Policy, under which the government will pursue a federal prosecution after a state disposition only if the state case has left a substantial federal interest demonstrably unvindicated.



No doubt because of Gambles criminal history and relatively modest state sentence, Washington gave the green light, and the federal case proceeded. Gamble then pleaded guilty, reserving the right to raise a double-jeopardy claim on appeal. He was sentenced to 46 months imprisonment to run concurrently with his state sentence. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the conviction, and the Supreme Court granted Gambles petition.





Story continues

Dual Sovereignty and Double Jeopardy





The Supreme Court first enunciated the dual sovereignty doctrine more than 160 years ago and has reaffirmed it, in holding or dicta, some 25 times. But two terms ago in Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle, in which the court held that Puerto Rico and the United States were not separate sovereigns for double jeopardy purposes, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Clarence Thomas called for a fresh examination of the doctrine in an appropriate case. Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle, 136 S.Ct. 1863 (2016).



Gamble is that case, and it is fascinating for several reasons. Justice Thomas desire to reconsider the dual sovereignty doctrine springs from his Originalism. Gambles lawyers (a team from Jones Day) point to the 1775 case of King v. Roche, 168 Eng. Rep. 169 (K.B.) in support of their position. There, the court wrote that if A, having killed a person in Spain, were there prosecuted, tried and acquitted, and afterwards were indicted here  he might plead the acquittal in Spain in bar of an English prosecution. For Gambles lawyers, that is the original meaning.



But Gamble reminds us that interpreting early English cases can be fraught with difficulty. As the Solicitor Generals Office notes, the language in Roche can be viewed as dicta, and Roche himself subsequently withdrew his plea of prior acquittal and was tried in England and again acquitted. The more expansive reading of Rochethe one that Gambles lawyers urgerelies on an annotation that does not appear in the 1789 or 1792 versions of the decision; it apparently was added to the case by a later reporter after the framing era.



Then there is the history of the Double Jeopardy Clause itself. As Gambles lawyers observe, the original draft of the clause prohibited more than one trial or one punishment for the same offense, and Representative George Partridge suggested adding the words by any law of the United States at the end of the sentence. The proposed addition was rejected. Does that mean the Founders rejected a dual sovereignty exception, as Gambles lawyers contend?



There is no easy answer to that question. A failed addition is a notoriously dangerous ground on which to rest an interpretation of an enacted text. If it was understood that the Double Jeopardy Clause was directed at the federal government, and not the states, then the Framers may have thought that Partridges language was unnecessary.





Governments Argument





The government has its own argument based on founding-era history. It reminds the court that a prime colonial grievance was against the so-called Murderers Act, passed by Parliament after the Boston Massacre. The Act provided that any government or customs officer indicted for murder in America could be tried in England, beyond the control of local American juries. On Gambles theory of the clause, Massachusetts would have been precluded from prosecuting a British soldier who murdered an American if a London jury had already acquitted him or if he had been convicted there and received a light punishment. In the Solicitor Generals words, given this history, it would be extraordinary to construe the Double Jeopardy Clause as granting  a foreign country the ability to shield murderers of Americans think terrorists from U.S. prosecution by trying them first.





Amicus Brief





An amicus brief authored by law professors Paul Cassell and Stuart Banner raises another argument against the dual sovereignty doctrinethat it was created shortly before the Civil War to prevent free states from blocking the recapture of fugitive slaves. The history here is this: The Federal Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 made it a crime to obstruct the capture of a fugitive slave. In an effort to nullify the federal act, some northern states enacted statutes that prohibited the capture of a fugitive slave. In 1842, the Supreme Court put an end to the strategy: It held that the federal act preempted state laws that sought to impede the return of fugitive slaves.



As Professors Cassell and Banner tell it, abolitionists then conceived an alternative strategy: Instead of prohibiting the capture of fugitive slaves, the states could prohibit the harboring of fugitive slaves. If an abolitionist was first prosecuted for the crime in state court and acquitted (or convicted but punished lightly), a federal prosecution would be barred, provided there was no dual sovereignty exception to the clause.



In 1852, the Supreme Court decided Moore v. Illinois, 55 U.S. 13 (1852), in which the defendant was Richard Eells, a prominent abolitionist (Eells had died, and Moore was his executor), whose Illinois house was the first stop on the underground railroad for slaves escaping from Missouri. Eells had been convicted under state law for harboring a fugitive slave. In the Supreme Court, his lawyer argued that federal jurisdiction should be exclusive for harboring, or else a person could be twice punished for the crime. In ruling against Eells, the court took pains to make clear that a defendant convicted in a state court could not plead the punishment of the state in bar to a trial in federal court.



Moore was the first case in which the Supreme Court gave clear expression to the separate sovereign doctrine. That the doctrines origins can be traced to the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act is not a fact in its favor.



No doubt Justice Ginsburgs call for a reexamination of the dual sovereignty doctrine in Sanchez had less to do with Originalism than with her concern for defendants rights. In 1959 in Abbate v. United States, 359 U.S. 187 (1959), in which the Supreme Court reaffirmed the doctrine, Justice Hugo Black, joined by Chief Justice Earl Warren and Justice William Douglas, dissented. Justice Blacks dissent rings loudly: It is just as much an affront to human dignity and just as dangerous to human freedom for a man to be punished twice for the same offense, once by a state and once by the United States, as it would be for one of these two Governments to throw him in prison twice for the same offense. Justice Ginsburgs concurrence in Sanchez Valle picks up on that theme. In her words, permitting consecutive prosecutions for the same offense simply because different sovereigns initiate them hardly serves the principles of finality and fairness that the Double Jeopardy Clause was intended to protect.





Questions in Gamble





Perhaps the most intriguing question that Gamble raises is would it matter if the dual sovereignty doctrine were overturned? The test for successive prosecutions is the Blockburger test: Two offenses are different for purposes of the clause if each requires proof of an element that the other does not. Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299 (1932). That means a statute that proscribes burglary with a firearm is not the same offense as one that proscribes burglary at night. More to the point, the state law under which Gamble was prosecuted, which requires proof of a violent felony (not just any felony), and the federal law under which he was prosecuted, which requires proof that the firearm moved in interstate commerce, may be different offenses, if jurisdictional elements count in the Blockburger analysis. (The government has apparently forfeited this argument in Gamble.)



Take, for example, the Rodney King case. See Cassell, The Rodney King Trials and the Double Jeopardy Clause, 41 UCLA Rev. 693 (1993). In 1993, four police officers were convicted in federal court for brutally beating King (all captured on video) after being acquitted for the same conduct in a state trial. The state prosecution required proof of an assault (which the federal prosecution did not), and the federal prosecution required proof that the defendants had deprived King of a federally protected right with specific intent (which the state prosecution did not). Thus, the two were not the same offense for double jeopardy purposes, and, dual sovereignty doctrine or not, the federal trial would not have been barred.



In their brief, Gambles lawyers tell the court that, under Blockburger, it will  be the unusual case in which the federal and state governments may not bring some charge based on the same criminal occurrence. Suffice it to say, it is uncommon for a litigant to advocate a radical change in the law by telling a court that it wont matter much.





Stare Decisis





The oral argument in Gamble made clear that, for some justices, the doctrine of stare decisis might be reason enough to leave the dual sovereignty doctrine intact. Justice Elena Kagan put it elegantly:





You know, this is an 170-year-old rule, and its an 170-year-old rule that  close to 30 justices have voted at one time or another specifically for  . And, you know, part of what stare decisis is, is 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.





Reading the transcript of the oral argument leaves one thinking that Gamble is too close to call.



Paul Shechtman is a partner at Bracewell in New York and teaches evidence and criminal procedure at Columbia Law School.There's One Place Where VCs Chase Founders to Give Them Money

(Bloomberg) -- Yusuke Muranaka is ready to bet millions of dollars on entrepreneurs in Japan. Now hes got to find more qualified people willing to take his money.

While Japan has a reputation as a tough place to start a company, the conditions are improving with more incubators, programming schools and supportive government policies. People like Muranaka, an investor at DMM Ventures, are adding capital to the mix, another key ingredient for startup success. The 10 billion yen ($89 million) fund was launched in October by DMM.com LLC, a privately-held media and technology conglomerate.

Yet entrepreneurs are stunningly scarce in Japan. The country ranked dead last in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitors annual survey of 54 economies. Muranaka and his team spent two months sifting through about 60 applications and finally settled on just two investments. One is in Japan; the other is a Los Angeles-based startup whose founder happens to speak Japanese.

To be honest, we expected there to be more, said Muranaka, DMMs chief operating officer and the de facto head of DMM Ventures. The reserves of young entrepreneurs in Japan still seem to be a bit thin.

There are a number of reasons Japanese arent starting companies, according to Michael Cusumano, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Jobs are plentiful and the unemployment rate is the lowest among all developed economies save for the Czech Republic. And there is still a lingering stigma attached to failure. College students only get one chance to join a major firm or government -- right after graduation, so job hopping is rare.

In the U.S., MIT graduates go to a startup and work for a few years. And if it fails they will go to a big company, Cusumano said. In Japan, they cant do that.

DMM Ventures is the latest in a growing number of companies betting more entrepreneurs are on their way. WeWork Cos. set up a joint venture with SoftBank Group Corp. and opened 11 locations in Tokyo alone. Slush, the Nordic regions biggest startup meetup, has been holding annual events in the city since 2015.

Story continues

This is a great place for founders, said Kiyo Kobayashi, a partner at Tokyo Founders Fund. Compared with the rest of the world, we are blessed here.

Japan has come a long way from the time when you needed an equivalent of $100,000 in capital to register a company and venture investment was virtually non-existent, said Kobayashi, whose VC firm was started by eight local entrepreneurs using proceeds from their own startups. Now, the conditions are looking up: technical talent is plentiful, the Tokyo Stock Exchanges Mothers section for startup companies makes going public relatively easy and theres little overseas competition.

There are also self-made billionaires to serve as role models. Shintaro Yamadas Mercari Inc., Japans first unicorn startup, went public in June minting a slew of young millionaires. Yusaku Maezawa, the flamboyant 43-year-old founder of Japans second-largest online shopping site Zozo Inc., gained international attention after booking the first ticket on Elon Musks rocket to the moon.

Founders have more options for raising money. After years of slow-moving corporate venture funds, private firms like 500 Startups, DMM and Draper Nexus are helping create a more diverse pool of capital. Startups raised $2.5 billion in 2017, according to the Japan Venture Capital Association, up fourfold in five years.

You can no longer say that the money is tight, said Muranaka. What we need is more young people giving it a chance.

DMMs efforts suggest it is still outsiders who start businesses in Japan. Teplo is a startup developing a smart teapot that gets the brewing temperature just right and learns from user feedback. Kazunori Kawanobe, a 30-year-old engineer by education, founded the company with his classmate from India while studying at Babson College.

Los Angeles-based Happy Hour is a dating app that does away with endless swiping and plunges you straight into the first date via a 60-second video call. Founder Mike Eidlin was born in Japan and grew up in California. This is his fourth company.

There are fewer founders competing for money in Japan, said Eidlin, whose fluent Japanese helped him raise almost $1 million from mostly local angel investors.

DMM has long bought Japanese startups, often to get talented founders on board. With the VC fund, it is taking a longer-term view  invest in promising entrepreneurs and leave the door open for an acquisition in the future. Its targeting Japanese founders under 25 -- when it can find them.

Our message is its OK to start young, Muranaka said.

--With assistance from Jason Clenfield.

To contact the reporter on this story: Pavel Alpeyev in Tokyo at palpeyev@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Robert Fenner at rfenner@bloomberg.net, Reed Stevenson, Peter Elstrom

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2018 Bloomberg L.P.Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed his nation Tuesday morning from Beijing on the 40th anniversary of China's "reform and opening up."

Dec. 18 commemorates how China's former leader Deng Xiaoping spearheaded the restructuring of the economy in 1978.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Xi reached a temporary ceasefire earlier this month with the U.S. agreeing not to increase tariffs if the two countries can reach some resolution on a host of issues within 90 days.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to signal on Tuesday whether his idea of progress aligns with the West's increasingly vocal demands for less state control. That could have significant consequences for whether the U.S. reaches a trade deal with China by the end of its 90-day tariff ceasefire.

Xi began an address to his nation at about 10:45 a.m. in Beijing (9:45 p.m. ET Monday) on the 40th anniversary of China's "reform and opening up."

UPDATE: Xi called for his country to "stay the course" and emphasized that "no one is in a position to dictate to the Chinese people what should or should not be done." See CNBC's full story.

Dec. 18 commemorates how former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping spearheaded the restructuring of the economy in 1978, paving the way for individual ownership in many industries and allowing foreign companies some access. Many credit the policy change for helping lift hundreds of millions out of poverty and turning China into an economic powerhouse that now ranks second only to the United States.

However, many in the West say China did not achieve its success without stealing intellectual property and undermining global market forces with state support. Critics add that Beijing has benefited from joining the World Trade Organization in 2001 but has not followed commitments to reduce government control. After Xi assumed power in 2012, Beijing's initial policy was more market-oriented. But, in recent years, the direction has reversed and, as of this fall, reform is not moving forward in eight of 10 areas tracked by The China Dashboard, a joint project between the Asia Society Policy Institute and the Rhodium Group.

Story continues

"China's private sector is shrinking for the first time in two decades  an extraordinary development contrary to the hopes seeded by the 2013 economic reform objectives and decades of talk about withdrawing the state from the marketplace," the Dashboard said in its Fall 2018 report.

This year, Xi abolished the presidential term limit for his one-party-led country. The clause "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" was also added to the Chinese constitution, following mentions of former Chairman Mao Zedong's and Deng's contributions.

Meanwhile, the U.S. under President Donald Trump is stepping up pressure on China with tariffs on the bulk of the country's exports to America. Beijing retaliated with duties of its own, and the escalating trade tensions between the world's two largest economies have roiled global markets. Trump and Xi reached a temporary ceasefire earlier this month with the U.S., agreeing not to increase tariffs if the two countries can reach some resolution on issues such as forced technology transfer within 90 days.

However, differing accounts of the temporary deal by Chinese state media and the White House hint at potential challenges in reaching an agreement. This month's arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei, in Canada for alleged violation of U.S. sanctions has only increased tensions . Adding to geopolitical concerns is China's detainment of two Canadians in the last week.

China's leader may save the biggest pronouncements for negotiations with the U.S. on trade. Still, some hope the pressure from the West will push Xi to speed up restructuring of the economy and his remarks on Tuesday will be watched for signs of willingness to see "reform and opening up" as continued implementation of market-oriented policies. But if Xi chooses not to, he is likely setting China on a course that runs counter to an increasingly oppositional U.S., highlighted by Vice President Mike Mike Pence 's speech in October.

As The China Dashboard put it: "The United States is closing the door to the prospect of compromise with China over economic practices and henceforth insisting on a decisive return to the earlier spirit of reform and opening as it was understood internationally.





More From CNBC

NCP Standing Committee meet: Leaders close to Oli defend works of party leadership, government

Leaders of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) held a discussion on the political report presented by party chairmen KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal in the third meeting of the Standing Committee on Tuesday.LUXEMBOURG, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The European Court of Justice ruled on Monday that Poland must immediately suspend a new law that lowered the age of retirement of its Supreme Court judges, provisionally backing the European Commission in its battle with Warsaw.

The top court had already asked Poland in an interim judgment in October to halt the overhaul of its Supreme Court and to reinstate judges forced into early retirement. The court on Monday backed this ruling, saying the suspension of the Polish law was justified. (Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Foo Yun Chee)(Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc., Google and Twitter Inc. were slow to respond to Russian abuse of their services, and they dragged their feet when U.S. lawmakers investigated, leaving the industry more exposed to a regulatory crackdown.

Two reports released Monday by the Senate Intelligence Committee show Russias online meddling in U.S. politics was deeper than previously thought, and is still happening. The studies also called out the internet giants for responding slowly and sharing limited information with researchers throughout the investigation.

Slowing probes and betting on Washington gridlock to avoid new regulation is a common and successful tactic among corporations. Still, after a stream of bad news about data breaches and privacy lapses this year, the tech industry has used up much of its political goodwill.

The legislatures not going to be giving too much credence to what the industry says because of all these incidents and events that were learning about, pretty much every day, said Dipayan Ghosh, a researcher at Harvards Kennedy School who used to work on Facebooks public policy team.

After the Senate-commissioned reports came out on Monday, some lawmakers ratcheted up calls for stricter regulation of the industry.

It is time to get serious in addressing this challenge, Mark Warner, a Democratic senator from Virginia, said on Twitter. That is going to require some much-needed and long-overdue guardrails when it comes to social media.

The Democratic Party, which has few qualms about government oversight of private companies, is set to take control of the House of Representatives in January.

The Congressional Black Caucus, which represents African American legislators, tweeted out its own message for tech companies: If they cant stop the weaponization of their platforms, then Congress will.

U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, said he and other lawmakers urged internet companies to collaborate on an analysis of Russian activity that included major social networks and other online services. The firms were reluctant, making "our task far more difficult than it should have been, he said.

Story continues

Congress must hold these companies accountable in a manner commensurate with their public responsibility," Schiff added. Hes set to become chairman of the House Intelligence Committee when the new Congress is sworn in next year.

A spokeswoman for Alphabet Inc.s Google declined to comment. Twitter said it has made significant progress limiting abuses of its service and is working with investigators. Facebook said it had provided thousands of ads to lawmakers to help the investigation.

Previously, Facebook has said its open to regulation, as long as it is smart. In the meantime, the company has attempted to regulate itself, with mixed results. A new political ad identity verification system blocked some ads that werent political. It has also been shown to be easily manipulated by reporters and others.

So far, the only recent new federal regulation on tech companies is a law that makes websites liable if they knowingly facilitate sex trafficking. A top internet lobbying firm supported the bill but warned it could become a slippery slope. Using that same template but adding other types of content, such as misinformation, may be more damaging to the industry.

The main legislative threat is a strong federal privacy bill, according to Ghosh, the former Facebook policy team member. California has its a tough privacy law set to go into effect in 2020, so tech companies have an incentive to support a weaker federal bill that would supersede the state rules, he said.

From a commercial lens its the right thing for them to do to just slow-roll everything," Ghosh said. "Their calculation is theres going to be political gridlock basically forever."

(Updates with Facebook statement in eleventh paragraph.)

--With assistance from Selina Wang and Sarah Frier.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gerrit De Vynck in New York at gdevynck@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr, Andrew Pollack

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2018 Bloomberg L.P.(Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc., reeling from criticism about Russian influence campaigns on its platform, now faces calls for changes to its top management from a collection of 31 civil rights groups.

Organizations including Muslim Advocates, MoveOn, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National LGBTQ Task Force co-signed a letter asking Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg to step down from his role as board chairman. It also requested that Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg leave the board entirely. The groups are calling for three new directors to be added, representing their diverse user base, and the dismissal of policy executives Joel Kaplan and Kevin Martin.

We write to express our profound disappointment regarding Facebooks role in generating bigotry and hatred towards vulnerable communities and civil rights organizations, the group wrote. The public has given your company the benefit of the doubt for far too long and ignorance is no longer an excuse. Its become abundantly clear that, as currently constituted, your leadership team is unable to adequately address the valid concerns of the civil rights community.

Its the latest in a steady drumbeat of criticism of the company, as more is revealed about the Russian campaign. On Monday, a report commissioned by the Senate Intelligence Committee explained that on Facebook and Instagram, Russian operatives ran a campaign more extensive than previously understood, targeting specific groups of users, including black Americans, veterans and feminists.

Facebook said it undertook a civil rights audit, led by Laura Murphy, a civil rights and civil liberties leader, in May. As a result, the company updated its policy to expressly ban misrepresentations about how to vote. Other misinformation related to voting is sent to third-party fact-checkers for review, Facebook said in a blog post written by Sandberg.

The civil rights audit is deeply important to me, and its one of my top priorities for 2019, Sandberg wrote. Im committed to overseeing its progress and making sure that it is a well-resourced, cross-company effort.

Story continues

(Updates to include Facebook comment in final two paragraphs.)

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Frier in San Francisco at sfrier1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Robert Fenner, Reed Stevenson

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2018 Bloomberg L.P.China is the first country to approve roxadustat



First-in-class roxadustat offers a new, effective oral treatment

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FibroGen, Inc. (FGEN) today announced that FibroGen (China) Medical Technology Development Co., Ltd. (FibroGen China) has received marketing authorization from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for roxadustat, a first-in-class hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor (HIF-PHI) for the treatment of patients with anemia caused by chronic kidney disease (CKD) in patients who are dialysis-dependent (DD). The medicine can be prescribed to patients who use hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis.

Anemia caused by CKD is associated with cardiovascular disease, hospitalization, cognitive impairment, and reduced quality of life, and has been shown consistently to increase the mortality risk in patients with CKD.1 Anemia becomes increasingly common among individuals with CKD as their disease progresses, affecting nearly all patients at the dialysis-eligible stage.1

Thomas B. Neff, Chief Executive Officer, FibroGen, said: We believe roxadustat will make a significant difference for patients in China by addressing a substantial unmet medical need in the treatment of anemia associated with chronic kidney disease. This is an exciting milestone, as we are realizing our decade-long commitment to bringing innovative medicine to people in China. We look forward to bringing roxadustat to patients worldwide.

Chris Chung, Managing Director, FibroGen China, said: We are grateful to the patients and physicians in China who participated in our clinical studies. Almost ten years ago, FibroGen made the decision to develop roxadustat, a first-in-class investigational candidate, in China as a Domestic Class 1 Innovative Drug. It arose out of a commitment to give Chinese patients accelerated access to critically needed innovative medicines."

Roxadustat (China Approved Drug Name: ; Chinese brand name: ) is the first approved oral HIF-PHI medicine. This approval is supported by an open-label, active-control 26-week Phase 3 trial in DD-CKD patients with anemia who were previously treated with various forms of locally manufactured injectable recombinant erythropoietin products. In the trial, these DD-CKD patients were then randomized to receive either roxadustat or ESPO () brand epoetin alfa, manufactured and marketed by Kyowa Hakko Kirin.



Story continues

FibroGen China has also completed a roxadustat China Phase 3 placebo-controlled trial in non-dialysis-dependent (NDD) CKD patients. The addition of NDD patients to the label is expected once regulatory inspections of the clinical trial sites by the NMPA are completed.

Anemia commonly develops in association with CKD. Based on a large-scale cross-sectional survey performed between September 2009 and September 2010 and published in the Lancet, there are an estimated 120 million CKD patients in China, including estimated 0.5 million patients on dialysis who may be suffering from anemia, a number that is increasing significantly.2,3

AstraZeneca and FibroGen China are collaborating on the development and commercialization of roxadustat in China. FibroGen China, based in Beijing, is a subsidiary of FibroGen, Inc. that sponsored the development and registration of roxadustat as a Domestic Class 1 Innovative Drug. FibroGen China conducted the China Phase 3 clinical trials and submitted the New Drug Application for registration of roxadustat to the Chinese regulatory authorities. Following this approval, AstraZeneca will manage commercialization activities in China, and FibroGen China will manage commercial manufacturing and medical affairs as well as continued clinical development and regulatory affairs. AstraZeneca and FibroGen expect to launch roxadustat in China in the second half of 2019.

About Roxadustat

Roxadustat (FG-4592), discovered by FibroGen, is a first-in-class, orally administered small molecule currently approved in China for the treatment of patients with anemia from CKD on dialysis. Roxadustat is a HIF-PHI that promotes erythropoiesis through increasing endogenous production of erythropoietin, improving iron regulation, and overcoming the negative impact of inflammation on hemoglobin syntheses and red blood cell production by downregulating hepcidin. Administration of roxadustat has been shown to induce coordinated erythropoiesis, increasing red blood cell count while maintaining plasma erythropoietin levels within or near normal physiologic range in multiple subpopulations of CKD patients, including in the presence of inflammation and without a need for supplemental intravenous iron. Roxadustat was well tolerated in the China Phase 3 studies. The adverse events observed were consistent with underlying diseases in patients with CKD.

FibroGen, the originator, and AstraZeneca are collaborating on the development and commercialization of roxadustat for the treatment of anemia in the U.S., China, and other markets in the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. FibroGen and Astellas Pharma Inc. and FibroGen are collaborating on the development and commercialization of roxadustat for the treatment of anemia in territories including Japan, Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East, and South Africa.

About Anemia Associated with CKD in China

Anemia commonly develops in association with chronic kidney disease and is linked to significant morbidity and mortality in both the dialysis and non-dialysis populations. Although CKD may occur at any age, it is more common in aging populations, and its prevalence is increasing. CKD can be both a cause and a consequence of cardiovascular disease and is a critical healthcare issue. There is no treatment available that is curative, or has the ability to stop kidney deterioration.

About FibroGen

FibroGen, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, California, with subsidiary offices in Beijing and Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China, is a leading biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing a pipeline of first-in-class therapeutics. The company applies its pioneering expertise in hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) biology, and clinical development to advance innovative medicines for the treatment of anemia, fibrotic disease, and cancer. Roxadustat, the companys most advanced product candidate, is an oral small molecule inhibitor of HIF prolyl hydroxylase activity, completing worldwide Phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of anemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD), with a New Drug Application (NDA) now approved by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in China. Our partner Astellas submitted a NDA for the treatment of anemia in CKD patients on dialysis in Japan and currently under review by the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA). Roxadustat is in Phase 3 clinical development in the U.S. and Europe and in Phase 2/3 development in China for anemia associated with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Pamrevlumab, an anti-CTGF human monoclonal antibody, is advancing towards Phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and pancreatic cancer, and is currently in a Phase 2 trial for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). FibroGen is also developing a biosynthetic cornea in China. For more information, please visit www.fibrogen.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements regarding our strategy, future plans and prospects, including statements regarding the development of the companys product candidates pamrevlumab and roxadustat, the potential safety and efficacy profile of our product candidates, and our clinical, regulatory plans, and those of our partners. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about our plans, objectives, representations and contentions and are not historical facts and typically are identified by use of terms such as may, will, should, on track, could, expect, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, predict, potential, continue and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. Our actual results may differ materially from those indicated in these forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties related to the continued progress and timing of our various programs, including the enrollment and results from ongoing and potential future clinical trials, and other matters that are described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2018 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the risk factors set forth therein. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement in this press release, except as required by law.

 is a registered trademark of FibroGen, Inc.

References

1. Babitt JL, Lin HY. Mechanisms of Anemia in CKD. J Am Soc Nephrol (2012); 23:1631-1634.

2. Zhang L, Wang F, Wang L, et al. Prevalence of chronic kidney disease in China: a cross-sectional survey. Lancet 2012; 379: 81522.

3. China National Renal Data System (CNRDS), 2016.Goldman Sachs is leading the drop in US bank stocks, thanks to its deepening legal troubles in Malaysia. In the latest development, Malaysia filed criminal charges (pdf) today against subsidiaries of the New York bank and two of its former employees.

The charges stem from allegedly false or misleading statements related to the misappropriation of $2.7 billion of bond proceeds by 1MDB, a state-run fund. The debt, from three bond issues with a total face vale of $6.5 billion, was underwritten and arranged by Goldman Sachs in 2012 to 2013, according to a government statement (pdf).

Their fraud goes to the heart of our capital markets, and if no criminal proceedings are instituted against the accused, their undermining of our financial system and market integrity will go unpunished, wrote Malaysian attorney general Tommy Thomas.

Goldman Sachs has said it didnt know about embezzlement and bribery at the fund. US prosecutors, meanwhile, claim 1MDB was looted after the investment bank helped the state-backed fund raise money.

US authorities say billions of dollars were embezzled from the state fund to buy assets from art and property to a private jet. Najib Razak, Malaysias former prime minister and the founder of the fund, is accused of taking $700 million from 1MDB.

Although Goldman has been hardest hit, all bank stocks are under pressure right now. Since its peak in late January, the S&P 500 financials index has fallen more than 20%typically considered the threshold for the start of a bear market. Financial company shares have fallen amid concerns about economic growth and the increasing cost of borrowing money.

Goldman Sachs, whose renowned trading unit has at times been lackluster in recent years, has sought to revamp its business by diversifying into new arenas like consumer lending. It has also shuffled its executive ranks, as David Solomon took over from Lloyd Blankfein as CEO in October. Those efforts have recently been overshadowed by the 1MDB allegations.

Story continues

Anwar Ibrahim, seen as the likely future prime minister of Malaysia, has demanded reparations amounting to more than the $600 million that Goldman Sachs gained in fees from 1MDB, according to an interview last month with the Financial Times (paywall).

Malaysias attorney general says the fees from underwriting and arranging the debt issuance were several times more than prevailing market rates. Employees and directors at the investment bank also benefitted from the alleged misappropriation through large bonuses and enhanced career prospects, according to the statement. Former 1MDB employees Jho Low and Jasmine Loo Ai Swan were named in the charges, as were former Goldman Sachs employees Tim Leissner and Roger Ng.

Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news.

More stories from Quartz:Malaysia filed criminal charges against Goldman Sachs in the ongoing 1MDB investigation on Monday morning. Goldmans shares have been on the decline this quarter due to the 1MDB probe, and took a hit on Monday with the investment banking company facing new charges.

Goldmans shares dropped 34% this year, and by 9:30 a.m. ET Monday morning, the shares took another hit, dropping 2.4%, CNBC reported. The company is now trading at the lowest level since Oct. 17, 2016, according to Market Watch.

The criminal charges were filed by Malaysias attorney general against Goldman Sachs, and two employees, Tim Leissner and Roger Ng, as well as former 1MDB employee Jasmine Loo and financier Jho Low under the countrys securities laws.

The charges arise from the commission and abetment of false or misleading statements by all the accused in order to dishonestly misappropriate $2.7 billion from the proceeds of three bonds issued by the subsidiaries of 1MDB, which were arranged and underwritten by Goldman Sachs, Attorney General Tommy Thomas said in a statement.

Goldmans stocks rapidly plunged last month after Malaysias Minister of Finance said he would seek fines on the $600 million in fees received by Goldman on the 1MDB deals.

In a statement emailed to Reuters, a spokesperson for Goldman said the charges are misdirected, and added that the company is cooperating with authorities on the probe.Keurig Dr Pepper KDP has been in investors good books, owing to its strong performance in third-quarter 2018 and smooth progress on the integration of the merged companies  Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) and Keurig Green Mountain (KGM). Additionally, the companys promising outlook for 2018, and its strategy of making partnerships and acquisitions indicate that the stock should retain the ongoing momentum in the coming days.



This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company increased 7.1% in the last three months, outperforming the industrys decline of 6.4%. However, lower realized prices due to pricing actions initiated in the third quarter and unfavorable currency remain headwinds. The company is also not immune to the CSD category headwinds.





Here are some factors indicating that Keurig Dr Pepper has the potential for growth despite these headwinds.



Robust Q3 Performance



Keurig Dr Peppers top and bottom lines improved year over year while earnings beat estimates in the third quarter of 2018. The top line gained from robust volume/mix and significant market share gains across major categories while operating income growth and lower taxes benefited the bottom line. Notably, the company reported significant market share gains for the CSD portfolio, including Dr Pepper and Canada Dry as well as the coffee portfolio.



Further, the company expanded its coffee portfolio on the back of unit growth for single-serve pod category as well as improved market share for pods produced by Keurig Dr Pepper.



Outlook Looks Promising



For 2018, Keurig Dr Pepper continues to anticipate adjusted earnings per share of $1.02-$1.07. Net sales for the year are expected to increase 1-2%, with operating income growth of 7-8%.



For the long term, it expects to generate deal synergies of nearly $600 million between 2019 and 2021, with about $200 million savings anticipated every year. It also expects to deliver average annualized adjusted pro forma EPS growth rate of 15-17% between 2018 and 2021. Additionally, the company expects significant cash flow generation and rapid deleveraging, targeting leverage ratio of less than 3.0 in two to three years.



Partnerships & Acquisition Strategy



Focus on partnerships and acquisitions remains Keurig Dr Peppers key growth strategy. Since the completion of the merger, the company acquired Big Red and agreed to acquire CORE Hydration, adding these two partner brands to its owned portfolio. It also added Forto Coffee Energy Shots as a new partner and expanded distribution terms with Peet's for ready-to-drink Iced Expresso. It will distribute Forto throughout its network and Peet's, primarily through its network of convenience stores.



Additionally, the company recently signed a long-term agreement to sell, distribute and merchandise the Evian brand across the United States. It also added the iconic Canadian coffee brand, Tim Hortons, and the U.S.-based bakery-cafe brand Panera as Keurig partners. Furthermore, Keurig Dr Pepper exited FIJI Water and BODYARMOR drink brands as part of the recent reorganization of its allied brands. Consequently, the company currently has over 75 owned, licensed and partnered brands in the Keurig system.



Factors to Deter Growth



Though Keurig Dr Peppers strong quarter and strategy look good, lower realized prices and unfavorable currency offset gains from improved volume/mix for the Coffee Systems segment. Pricing actions initiated in the third quarter could not fully offset higher input costs and logistics. Notably, pricing continued to be moderate significantly on a sequential basis mainly due to strategic pod pricing investment.



Further, the company is not immune to the industry headwinds related to the CSD category and higher input costs, particularly for aluminum cans. Moreover, rising raw material costs, specifically aluminum, has been hurting its performance.



Bottom Line



While the near-term headwinds may persist, Keurig Dr Pepper is well positioned for growth backed by the aforementioned strategy. Further, the companys impressive long-term earnings growth rate of 17.1% supports our view.



Three Better-Ranked Consumer Staples Stocks You Cant Miss



Some better-ranked stocks are Monster Beverage Corp. MNST, Archer Daniels Midland Company ADM, and Church & Dwight Co., Inc. CHD, each currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



Monster Beverage delivered average positive earnings surprise of 1.4% in the trailing four quarters. The company has long-term earnings growth rate of 16%.



Archer Daniels delivered average positive earnings surprise of 26.9% in the last four quarters. Further, the stock has rallied 8.2% year to date.



Church & Dwight stock grew nearly 30.5% year to date. Moreover, the company has average long-term earnings growth rate of 10.1%.



3 Medical Stocks to Buy Now



The greatest discovery in this century of biology is now at the flashpoint between theory and realization. Billions of dollars in research have poured into it. Companies are already generating revenue, and cures for a variety of deadly diseases are in the pipeline.



So are big potential profits for early investors. Zacks has released an updated Special Report that explains this breakthrough and names the best 3 stocks to ride it.



See them today for free >>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Monster Beverage Corporation (MNST) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (CHD) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Keurig Dr Pepper, Inc (KDP) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment ResearchNepal may lose Indian tourists after currency restriction

In the budget for the current fiscal year, the government announced the 2020 Visit Nepal year with an aim to attract 2 million tourists, a significant chunk of them from India.(Bloomberg) -- The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, one of the oldest U.S. civil-rights organizations, has returned a donation it received from Facebook Inc. and is encouraging a week-long boycott starting Tuesday, Dec. 18.

The NAACP urged its members and supporters to log out of Facebook and sister platform Instagram in response to a report released Monday which found that Russian hacking of the 2016 election heavily targeted African-Americans.

Facebooks engagement with partisan firms, its targeting of political opponents, the spread of misinformation and the utilization of Facebook for propaganda promoting disingenuous portrayals of the African American community is reprehensible, NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement.

The NAACP is also asking Congress to further investigate Facebooks involvement in Russian hacking. In a tweet, the Congressional Black Caucus signaled its willingness, writing, "Last year we met with Facebook & other tech companies about this issue. If they cant stop the weaponization of their platforms, then Congress will."

The company said in a statement that it has provided thousand of ads to lawmakers and made progress in preventing interference during elections.

Facebook has been facing a barrage of criticism, with a collection 31 civil rights groups calling for changes to its top management. Organizations including MoveOn and Muslim Advocates want Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg to step down as chairman and for Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg to leave the board entirely.

In November, Facebook attracted the ire of Color of Change, which called for greater regulation of the company. The move by the the online racial justice group followed revelations that one of Facebooks Republican-allied consultants probed Color of Changes funding because of earlier criticism.

"They have too much power over our democracy and over our economy for them not to be fully held accountable," said Color of Change President Rashad Robinson on Monday, calling for a full accounting of how race was weaponized inside this last election.

Story continues

Also in November, an employee, Mark S. Luckie, went public with an account of his difficulties as an African-American employee at a company where only four percent of the U.S. workforce is black. The company said at the time it was "working diligently to increase the range of perspectives" in its workforce.

African Americans have a strong presence on social media: 70 percent of black U.S. adults use Facebook and 43 percent use Instagram, the Pew Research Center has found. African Americans are more likely to use Facebook to communicate with family and friends daily, Pews research found. Sixty-three percent use Facebook to communicate with family, and 60 percent use it to communicate with friends at least once a day, compared with 53 percent and 54 percent of the total population, respectively.

Our decision to return the donation to Facebook and logging out of the platform for a week is to bring attention to Facebook s failures in protecting the integrity of both our privacy and our vote, the NAACPs Johnson said. It is crucial that we bring awareness to the fraudulent and inflammatory ads placed on Facebook, the data privacy mishaps, and the damaging impact on African-Americans.

Tech giants, especially Alphabet Inc.s Google, have increasingly come under fire from some human rights groups that view them less as beloved and conscientious firms and more as threats to the values the groups seek to uphold.

(Updates with nonprofits letter in fifth paragraph.)

To contact the reporters on this story: Rebecca Greenfield in New York at rgreenfield@bloomberg.net;Sarah Frier in San Francisco at sfrier1@bloomberg.net;Ben Brody in Washington at btenerellabr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Janet Paskin at jpaskin@bloomberg.net, Robin Ajello

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2018 Bloomberg L.P.Nepali Congress Mahasamiti meet put off after district presidents go berserk

The Nepali Congress Mahasamiti meeting was put off on Tuesday after the situation became tense with the district presidents remaining adamant on not allowing the meeting to resume until the draft of party charter is presented.Lynn K. Neuner and William T. Russell Jr.



The Court of Appeals issued a significant ruling on expert proof in the asbestos arena, holding that the plaintiff in a mesothelioma case had not provided sufficient evidence of causation and affirming the vacatur of an $11 million jury award. In In the Matter of New York City Asbestos Litigation, plaintiffs deceased husband was an auto mechanic who claimed exposure to asbestos dust while working on brakes, clutches and gaskets sold or distributed by Ford Motor Company. The court concluded that the evidence was insufficient as a matter of law to establish that Fords conduct was a proximate cause of the decedents injuries and that Ford was therefore entitled to judgment as a matter of law under CPLR 4404(a).



The decedent, Arthur Juni, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2012. He had worked as an auto mechanic from 1966 to 2009 in two garages owned by Orange & Rockland Utilities servicing mostly Ford vehicles. He brought suit against a number of defendants, including Ford Motor Company, but died in 2014 before trial. His wife continued the lawsuit, asserting claims for negligence, products liability, failure to warn and loss of consortium. Before he died, Juni testified in a deposition, which was read to the jury during a 20-day trial. Juni testified that he was exposed to asbestos-containing dust in a variety of ways, including when he removed brake drums from Ford trucks, replaced brakes in a variety of Ford vehicles, scuffed new brakes with sandpaper, replaced clutches, cleaned gaskets, and swept up asbestos-laden dust generated by other mechanics. Over the four week trial, the jury also heard from experts in epidemiology, toxicology, medicine, occupational hazards, and environmental science.



Defendants experts testified that the chrysotile asbestos fibers in Fords products were transformed into a biologically inert substance, Forsterite, during the high-heat manufacturing process and the products subsequent high-heat use. Plaintiffs experts allegedly conceded that chrysotile activity can become virtually nil under high heat, that epidemiological studies on garage workers did not show a causal relationship with mesothelioma, and that no one knows whether the friction product dust to which Juni was exposed was toxic. The jury found Ford 49 percent liable for Junis injuries and Orange & Rockland Utilities responsible for the remaining 51 percent.



The trial court granted Fords motion to set aside the verdict on the ground that there was legally insufficient evidence to establish that Juni developed mesothelioma as a result of his exposure to asbestos-containing friction products sold or distributed by Ford. The Appellate Division, First Department affirmed, holding that plaintiff had failed to satisfy the standards set forth in Parker v. Mobil Oil, 7 N.Y.3d 434 (2006), and Cornell v. 360 W. 51st St. Realty, 22 N.Y.3d 762 (2014), which require that plaintiff provide, at a minimum, some scientific expression of the level of exposure to toxins in defendants products that was sufficient to have caused the disease. Then-Justice Feinman wrote a lengthy dissent, arguing that the jurys verdict was not utterly irrational and, accordingly, that the majority inappropriately substituted their assessment of the witnesses credibility for the jurys.



The Court of Appeals issued a Memorandum decision joined by Chief Judge DiFiore and Judge Stein in which Judges Fahey and Wilson joined in separate concurring opinions. The Memorandum decision stated without discussion that the evidence was insufficient as a matter of law to establish proximate cause pursuant to the standards set forth in Parker and Cornell. In Parker, the court established that an opinion on causation should set forth a plaintiffs exposure to a toxin, that the toxin is capable of causing the particular illness (general causation), and that plaintiff was exposed to sufficient levels of the toxin to cause the illness (specific causation). 7 N.Y.3d at 448. In Cornell, the court held that there must be evidence from which a factfinder can conclude that the plaintiff was exposed to the levels of the agent that are known to cause the kind of harm that the plaintiff claims to have suffered. 22 N.Y.3d at 784. Judge Faheys concurring opinion in the instant case states that, in his view, the evidence was legally insufficient to establish a connection between Ford and decedents exposure to asbestos and that he was not addressing issues of general or specific causation.



Judge Wilson concurred to highlight his opinion that the failure of proof related to general causation and not specific causation. Judge Wilson explained that, for him, a necessary link in the proof of proximate cause was missing because there was a gap in proof as to the toxicity of the products at issue. Essentially, Judge Wilson pointed to the fact that while Juni claimed exposure to asbestos-laden dust, Fords experts proffered reliable unrebutted evidence that the physical properties of the asbestos in Fords friction products had been so radically altered as to render conventional toxicology irrelevant. The First Department had similarly found that plaintiffs experts concessions about chrysotile in friction products so undermined their assertions of causation as to render those assertions groundless or unsupported. Interestingly, the trial judge noted that the plaintiffs expert had offered in a different case the opinion that visible dust emanating from an asbestos-containing product contained enough dust to be hazardous, but that such proof was lacking in Junis case.



Judge Rivera dissented in a spirited opinion, while Judges Garcia and Feinman did not participate in the appeal. (Judge Feinman had dissented in the First Department decision below.) Judge Rivera noted that she agreed with Judge Feinmans earlier dissent. She focused on the standard for setting aside a jury verdict: that the outcome must be utterly irrational, meaning that there is simply no valid line of reasoning and permissible inferences which could possibly lead a rational person to the conclusion reached by the jury. Judge Rivera believed that there was compelling evidence of Junis exposure to asbestos while working on Ford vehicles and products and inferred that the jury was unpersuaded by Fords experts. She did not further address the alleged transformation of active chrysotile into inactive Forsterite in Fords products.



The Juni decision presents an important development in the courts treatment of expert evidence in the asbestos personal injury field. The court essentially rejects the proffer of conclusory statements that visible dust contains active asbestos in the face of countervailing expert evidence that the active asbestos fibers in friction products have already been converted to biologically inert substances. The decision could be understood as setting up a burden-shifting scheme whereby the plaintiff must rebut the defendants expert testimony in order to survive a challenge under Parker and Cornell. With this guidance from the court, plaintiffs and the lower courts are on notice as to the evidentiary burden that must be met in order to establish causation.



William T. Russell Jr. and Lynn K. Neuner are partners at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.GENEVA, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey said on Tuesday that a new Syrian Constitutional Committee should convene early next year, kicking off a viable political peace process.

In a joint statement read out by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after the trio met U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura, they said that the work of the new body "should be governed by a sense of compromise and constructive engagement".

De Mistura stayed away from their press event and was to address reporters separately.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Kevin Liffey)Nepali Congress Mahasamiti meeting resumes

The Mahasamiti meeting of Nepali Congress has resumed from 3 pm Tuesday after party leadership assured district presidents of presenting the party charter.The Twitter logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., September 28, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Files

By Jim Finkle

(Reuters) - Twitter Inc shares fell almost 7 percent on Monday after the company said it was investigating unusual traffic that might be from state-sponsored hackers and, in what appeared to be an unrelated issue, a security firm said hackers used the platform to try to steal user data.

Twitter said in a blog that it discovered suspicious traffic to a customer-support forum while investigating a security bug that exposed data, including users' phone country codes and details on locked accounts. It said the bug was fixed Nov. 16.

Twitter observed a large amount of traffic to the customer support site coming from individual internet IP addresses in China and Saudi Arabia.

"While we cannot confirm intent or attribution for certain, it is possible that some of these IP addresses may have ties to state-sponsored actors," the blog said.

"We continue to err on the side of full transparency in this area and have updated law enforcement on our findings," it said.

A company spokesman declined to elaborate as Twitter shares posted their biggest drop in more than two months.

The Chinese government consistently denies any involvement in hacking or other forms of internet attacks and says that it is dedicated to cracking down on such behavior.

Speaking in Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China's position on internet security and attacks was consistent.

China hopes all sides can deal with this issue via talks and cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, she added.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter blamed the decline on concerns that news of a breach could hurt growth and user engagement.

"Clearly, a breach like this impairs user trust in the platform," he said.

Separately, security software maker Trend Micro Inc said in a blog earlier on Monday that attackers sent out two tweets in October in a bid to steal data from previously infected machines.

The hackers hid instructions in tweeted memes that secretly ordered infected devices to send information, including user names, screen images and other content, Trend Micro said.

The Twitter spokesman declined to comment on the Trend Micro report.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle in New York; Additional reporting by Vibhuti Sharma in Bengaluru, Angela Moon in New York and Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Sonya Hepinstall)New York Governor Andrew Cuomo wants to legalize marijuana.

In a speech on Monday outlining his priorities for the first 100 days of his third term in office, Cuomo highlighted the needless and unjust criminal convictions associated with the criminalization of marijuana as a motivation for making adult recreational consumption legal.

He also said he would focus on increasing funding for public transportation, reforming the states voting laws, cutting taxes for working families, and strengthening New Yorks gun laws.

This progressive agenda comes on the heels of a landmark victory for New York Democrats in Novembers election. The party took back the State Senate for the first time in a decade.

As recently as 2017, Cuomo called marijuana a gateway drug, but more recently said the facts have changed as other states have begun to legalize it. Ten states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana, including New York neighbors Vermont and Massachusetts.

It is unusual for a third-term governor to lay out a 100-days agenda. Cuomos speech has sparked speculation that he may be gearing up to run for President in 2020, although he has said publicly that he does not intend to run.STORIES YOU MIGHT LIKEQuake-ravaged Nuwakot palace to be restored from March

The reconstruction of the earthquake-damaged Nuwakot Durbar, also known as the seven-storey palace, will commence from March 2019.KANDAHAR, Afghanistan  Most days Sardar Wali, a young Afghan farmer in his 20s, does little.

He is addicted to heroin, the deadly drug derived from illicit opium that farmers like Wali produce in such abundance that for nearly decades Afghanistan has remained the worlds leading opium producer.

As he inhales heroine through a paper roll from the top of tinfoil heated by a match underneath, Wali reflects on his misery.

The drugs are cheap and sold everywhere, even in remote villages, he told Radio Free Afghanistan. We plant opium poppies here and then heroin is processed from it, which is then sold locally.

Even Wali is worried over the exploding addiction rates in Nagahan, an idyllic village in rural Arghandab district, which border Kandahar city, the capital of a large southern Afghan province of the same name. Arghandab is famous for its grapes and pomegranates, but many farmers have switched to opium poppies.

If the government had declared a crackdown on drug dealers and the military and police commanders, tribal leaders and members of local councils would not allow them to operate, and the situation here would have been much different, he said.

Addiction rates in Afghanistans conservative rural areas such as Kandahar are rising rapidly because cheap drugs are easily available as authorities do little to control soaring domestic drug use.

Since 2001, narcotics addiction rates have skyrocketed across Afghanistan. By 2009, one in 12 Afghans suffered from drug habits, according to the United Nations. Today more than 3.6 million Afghans or more than 11 percent of the countrys estimated 30 million population are drug addicts. Most drug addicts live in the countrys tens of thousands of villages.

Abdul Rashid, another drug addict in Nagahan, says the communities need to rid themselves of Saqis  a local term for drug peddlers. If they continue to operate freely, five people can get addicted daily, he told Radio Free Afghanistan. This number can quickly jump to 500 if nothing is done.

Haji Abdul Ahad, a tribal leader in Arghandab, however, says that combatting drug addiction requires a robust national effort.

We need to eradicate and ban poppy cultivation and destroy the makeshift labs where heroin is cooked, he told Radio Free Afghanistan. Then it will be difficult to buy or sell drugs, and the addicts will have no choice but to give up their habits.

Security officials in Kandahar are adamant that battling drugs is already a top government priority. We are ready to nab drug dealers or those involved in producing it, Kandahar Police spokesman Zia Durrani told Radio Free Afghanistan. We, however, need constant cooperation from our people.

But the unemployed youth in Afghanistan remain extremely vulnerable.

In Nagahan, Wali sees little hope. Everybody knows the problem, but few are ready to address it, he said.

Abubakar Siddique wrote this story based on Mohammad Sadiq Rashtinais reporting from Kandahar, Afghanistan.Superintendent Karen Brofft, who has led Lewis-Palmer School District 38 in Monument since the summer of 2014, will leave her job at the end of this school year.

Monday, Brofft said she plans to retire.

She submitted a resignation letter during a closed-door session with the five-member board two weeks ago, said D-38 spokeswoman Julie Stephen.

At a meeting Tuesday night, board members will decide whether to work with the Colorado Association of School Boards to search for a replacement.

Sometimes, you just know when the time is right, said Brofft, 59. I can retire and shift my focus to my family and some projects I care deeply about that cannot be accomplished while serving in the role of superintendent.

Being a superintendent is a time-intensive, challenging role that requires shutting down most other aspects of life, she said. What shes most liked about the job is the people shes worked with daily, from principals, teachers and other staff members to students and parents.

I have enjoyed identifying the most significant needs of our district and students and targeting support and programming to meet those needs, Brofft said, adding that shes constantly reminded of the amazing people we have in our community that continue to support our kids with their time in schools and serving our district.

The affluent, high-achieving Tri-Lakes district of 6,922 students has faced contentious times during Broffts leadership, with one board member resigning in April, claiming she had been bullied, which other members disputed.

In recent elections, party lines have been drawn by campaign financiers and candidate platforms, even though school board seats are nonpartisan. Three seats on the D-38 board will be open in the November 2019 election.

Brofft cites community growth as one of the districts challenges. She said she was disappointed that D-38 voters rejected two financing measures on the Nov. 6 ballot, to build an elementary school and make other improvements to prepare for increasing enrollment. But thats not why shes stepping down, Brofft said..

When we conducted a poll last spring, the phrase that seemed to resonate with most of our community was the idea that a quality school district keeps our community and local economy strong, she said. While many believe this, we still have a disconnect when we go to voters and ask to support our district with a financial commitment.

Some D-38 parents who identify on social media as fiscally conservative said they thought the tax increases would lead to overbuilding and excess, and the district would be better off repurposing existing buildings.

In previous years, D-38 parents have voiced concerns at the state level about student data privacy and led resistance to opting their students out of standardized testing.

Brofft cites as another difficulty shes faced, The polarizing rhetoric we hear in our community and in communities across the state and nation also presents a challenge and moves us further away from common solutions that can make a difference for our schools and communities.

A fall 2017 survey on Broffts performance from staff and families showed high confidence in knowledge of her job and encouraging a growth mindset, from staff.

But she scored between 58 percent and 68 percent on always  the highest answer  on such statements as Models and maintains a collaborative work environment and Provides structures and evaluates current processes.

Family respondents indicated lower confidence in Broffts abilities.

Among her accomplishments, Brofft cites daily progress.

Much of what we do is accomplished through integrated team efforts that include administrators, teachers, other staff and volunteers, she said, mentioning programs that promote supportive cultures in schools and empower students to form positive relationships.

Community outreach through D-38 Deliberates sessions and a new online Thoughtexchange platform, a two-year planning process to address growth and expanded programs to prepare for life after high school are among other achievements Brofft notes.{span style=font-family: georgia, serif;} {/span}

Many people will miss Brofft, said Walt Cooper, superintendent of Cheyenne Mountain School District 12 and Colorados 2018 Superintendent of the Year.

Shes been a strong leader for not only District 38, Cooper said. Shes a strong and articulate leader, and somebody who really understands what it takes in terms of striving for adequacy and equity across the state, not just in her own backyard.

Brofft co-chaired the Colorado Association of School Executives legislative committee last school year.

In May, she was named the 2018 Communicator of the Year by the Colorado School Public Relations Association for being a key leader across the state, not only for outstanding work in D-38, but also for her dedication to education reform, public policy and legislation in support of public schools and our state-wide funding challenges, according to the organization.

Brofft, the only female superintendent in the Pikes Peak regions 17 public school districts, is the fourth superintendent in the area to quit in the past year. Nicholas Gledich retired from Colorado Springs School District 11 in June. Andre Spencer abruptly left Harrison School District 2 in April. And Academy School District 20 Superintendent Mark Hatchell announced Oct. 1 that he will retire June 30, after this school year ends.

Brofft previously was assistant superintendent for Englewood Public School District.

Contact the writer: 719-476-1656.Whether you do yoga at the local YMCA, at a trendy fitness studio or with an app on your living room floor, you likely know there are plenty of ways to get into the flow. But figuring out which practice best suits your physical and mental goals can be tougher than holding half-moon pose, and a two-sentence description on a class schedule hardly can communicate what the myriad lineages and contemporary adaptations are meant to offer you.

Yoga  from the Sanskrit root yuj, meaning to yoke or to unite  dates back thousands of years to India. Western yoga began to boom in the U.S. a little more than half a century ago, becoming a fixture on the wellness scene and evolving into something we consider exercise.

Over the years, classical forms have been adapted to be more fitness-focused  and sometimes gimmicky. Now there are so many options, it can be difficult to keep up. Heres the breakdown:

Hatha yoga: This is probably the type that comes to mind when most people think of yoga. It focuses on basic postures such as downward-facing dog or the warrior. Sometimes the poses are combined into a set or series, such as sun salutations, with each pose held for several breaths. Breathing is rhythmic, with inhaling and exhaling as drivers of motion and a way to find stillness. Hatha is great for beginners.

Anusara yoga: Closely related to hatha, this type was developed in the late 1990s by American teacher John Friend, based on the idea that people have an intrinsic goodness we can experience through yoga. (Friend later was enmeshed in a financial and sex scandal.) Classes follow set sequences that are physically challenging and aimed at opening not only the body, but also the heart and mind.

Hot yoga: Different styles of yoga are designed to make you sweat. Bikram was named after another controversial founder, Bikram Choudhury (later accused of sexual misconduct), who popularized the series in the 1970s. Bikram is highly regimented: It consists of 26 postures, mostly done twice in a row, in a hot, humid room where temperatures can exceed 100 degrees. The idea is that the heat helps protect your muscles from injury while allowing you to deepen the poses.

Hot yoga is derived from Bikram but is flexible in format. It only means the room is warm, typically at 80 to 100 degrees, and might contain any range of postures or particular series. Classes might differ depending on where you practice.

Iyengar yoga: Pronounced eye-yen-gar, and developed by the esteemed teacher B.K.S. Iyengar in the 1970s, this practice is regimented, form-focused and prop-centric. Hundreds of sequences mean classes vary greatly, and it can be practiced by students at all stages. Poses are held for stretches of time and do not flow from one to the next. The goal is to achieve proper alignment and build strength and balance.

Vinyasa yoga: If youve ever been to a class where the instructor relied strongly on flow, it was probably a vinyasa class. This type of yoga emphasizes performing poses that are fluid from one to the next. The classes have no set series. Mindfulness of breath, and marrying your breath to movement, is a part of this practice, too. For those with injuries, keep in mind that vinyasa can be physically challenging. Even the basic flow can be tough.

Ashtanga yoga: Ashtanga is similar to vinyasa. Youll flow from one pose to the next and be guided to link your breath to the movement of your body. But the difference is that its always the same poses, in the same progression. Expect a good workout; youll challenge yourself and get sweaty.

Yin yoga: If youre looking for a practice that will help support you during other styles of yoga, and youre patient enough to stay in a posture for long periods, then yin might be for you. The instructor will have you hold a posture for several minutes, which helps connective tissue such as tendons, ligaments and fascia become more flexible. A long half-pigeon pose can be painful in the moment. But your body will thank you the next time youre holding Warrior II.

Restorative yoga: If you ever attended an unfamiliar yoga class and left wondering why you didnt move much, you might have been in a restorative class. The goal, good for students at all levels, is relaxation, rejuvenation and healing. It is a slow-paced, meditative style that focuses on stretching by holding poses for up to several minutes, sometimes with supportive props such as blankets and bolsters, and turning attention inward.

Aerial yoga: If a part of you regrets never running off to join the circus, aerial yoga, found in specialty studios, offers you the opportunity to feel as if youre swinging from a flying trapeze (or at least being suspended in midair under slightly less stressful circumstances). With its goal of stretching, aerial yoga adds elements of Pilates and dance to traditional poses, supplemented with a hammock so practitioners can hold the postures while hanging in the air.

Boutique yoga styles: As yoga becomes increasingly popular, boutique studios and fitness companies are coming up with new styles. One variation is Y7 Yoga, which pairs energetic flow sequences with heart-thumping hip-hop music (its a little like the Soul Cycle version of yoga). Paddleboard yoga is another emerging form. Balancing adds an extra challenge, and you might wind up in the water.The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission was in a quandary Monday as it began reviewing an ethics complaint against Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Former Republican Speaker of the House Frank McNulty, who filed the complaint, didnt attend the Monday hearing.

Hickenloopers lawyer, Mark Grueskin, had hoped to walk away with some clarity over a rebuttal McNulty filed Nov. 29.

He didnt get it.

That rebuttal cited what McNulty says are inaccuracies in Hickenloopers response to the initial complaint filed Oct. 12.

The complaint, which McNulty filed through his new Public Trust Institute, said the governor traveled on private jets owned by for-profit corporations both domestically and internationally and illegally accepted luxury hotel accommodations and expensive travel expenses from corporations.

Under Amendment 41, passed by state voters in 2006, elected officials are barred from accepting gifts worth more than $59, with some exceptions.

Grueskin responded to the complaint Nov. 21 by asking that it be dismissed. Hickenlooper paid for some of the travel cited, took trips unrelated to his official duties, or traveled for private or personal reasons, Grueskin wrote.

The Governor [paid] for certain expenses about which ethical concerns were raised, he wrote. The State paid for certain others that pertained to State business. And, as is permitted by law, personal friends absorbed a limited universe of other such costs.

Hickenloopers office has called McNultys complaint a political stunt and said its timing was aimed at influencing the Nov. 6 midterm election. Hickenlooper has been pondering a potential run for president in 2020, too.

But McNulty said the governors response provides a creative narrative for each restricted gift he has accepted over the past 12 months. However, Governor Hickenloopers excuses do not stand up to the facts and evidence now before the Commission.

The commission doesnt accept rebuttals from the original complainant, though, as Executive Director Dino Ionaiddes told McNulty last week.

The commission accepts a complaint and decides whether it has merit. If its found nonfrivolous, the accused person can file a response. Then an investigation can be launched, usually by the commissions executive director and sole employee, who determines the legal and factual issues.

Grueskin noted that McNulty posted his rebuttal on his Public Trust Institute website and on Twitter and sent it to the media, but he never gave a copy to the governor. Commissioner Bill Leone said both parties will be ordered to provide each other with all documentation.

The commission voted unanimously to tell McNulty to clarify by Friday whether his rebuttal is in response to Hickenloopers request to dismiss the complaint. Grueskin then will have until Jan. 4 to respond.

The commissions next meeting is Jan. 14, after Hickenlooper is no longer governor, and all parties have been ordered to appear. Thats partly because of Grueskins conversations with the commission, despite an interjection by a representative of the attorney generals office.

The lawyer said those conversations are ex parte and improper because McNulty wasnt present.

Despite that admonition, the commissioners and Grueskin continued to talk about the rebuttal until Commissioner Elizabeth Espinosa Krupa called for a halt to those discussions.

McNulty later said the rebuttal was sent to the commission to help it decide. More information is better than less, he said, and Hickenloopers response had holes in it.

McNulty pointed to costs related to the Bilderberg conference in Italy that Hickenlooper attended last spring. Hickenlooper said he paid for the travel and hotel costs but left unanswered who paid for the conference costs.

McNulty also said the explanation for the trip to Washington, D.C., for commissioning the USS Colorado, in which Hickenlooper traveled from Washington, D.C., to Denver on a plane owned by his chief of staff, Patrick Meyers, doesnt even pass the smell test.

The commission chose Krupa to be its hearing officer, overseeing all future discussions of the complaint. Hickenlooper appointed her to the commission last August after naming her to three other state boards or commissions. And Krupa contributed $250 to Hickenloopers 2014 gubernatorial campaign.

I think the commission will be judged by the seriousness and impartiality they devote to this investigation, McNulty said.

Weve identified several holes in Hickenloopers response that need to be investigated. The balls in their court.

A second complaint by McNulty related to a separate travel gift to Hickenlooper also was expected to come up for commission review Monday.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.Domestic Violence experts discuss a number of ways to help end abuse in Colorado Springs, but argue it will taken cooperation from the entire community to achieve. Our community has stepped up to do that, one official said.FILE - In this Oct. 4, 2017, file photo, shooting instructor Frankie McRae demonstrates the grip on an AR-15 rifle fitted with a bump stock at his 37 PSR Gun Club in Bunnlevel, N.C. Massachusetts is on its way to becoming the first state since the Las Vegas shooting massacre to outlaw devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to mimic fully automatic guns. The Massachusetts Senate voted 33-0 on Thursday, Oct. 12, to ban the sale of bump stocks and trigger cranks, attachments that increase the firing rate of a weapon. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File)Fuel smugglers beat up cops at Nepal-India border in Parsa

A clash ensued between police team and fuel smugglers at bordering area in Jagarnathpur Rural Municipaliy of Parsa district on Tuesday morning.A house on Wedgewood Court and surrounding trees was charred after a fire the morning of Dec. 7.Editor's note: Some of the photos with this first-person story from Colorado Springs native Tara Loo are graphic and may be disturbing.

On Dec. 12, 2009, I almost lost my life at the hands of my then-boyfriend. Hed been one of my best friends in high school, but wed lost touch after graduation and Id gone on to get married and have two daughters. Fourteen years later, we reconnected through Facebook. I had just gotten a divorce and was not looking to start dating, but since we knew each other so well, I figured why not give it a shot? Things moved very quickly.

At first, everything seemed perfect. He was caring and kind to my daughters. I liked his family, and mine thought highly of him. He always seemed so concerned about me and what was going on in my life. I didnt see red flags so we moved in together after a month of dating. Soon after, things began to change. I would later learn that concern for me was actually an attempt at controlling me.

It started subtly. He would get upset with who I was hanging out with but said it was only because he cared about me. He would criticize my choices, saying he only wanted the best for me. He started questioning where I was going and what I was really doing. He accused me of having an affair with my ex-husband. A month into living together his criticism became constant  I began to feel I couldnt do anything right to make him happy. He started calling me a slut, a drunk or a bad mom, and said I was lucky to have him because no one else would put up with me.

Deep down I knew none of the things he said were true, but I began to question myself anyway. After every argument, I would feel like I was going crazy. If I disagreed with him, I was wrong; if I agreed with him, I was still wrong. There is truth in the saying that if someone insults you enough, you start believing the lies about you are true. By month four I was crying every day, doubting myself and beginning to lose my entire sense of self. I knew it was an unhealthy relationship, but I never considered it abuse.

Its important to know that I came from a very loving home, and although my parents divorced, I never saw them fight. My dad has always been kind and loving and treated women with respect. I never witnessed abuse, nor was I educated in what an abusive relationship looks like. If you had asked me what it meant to be in an abusive relationship, I would have described it as physical abuse. I didnt know how damaging emotional and verbal abuse could be.

By December, my boyfriend had moved out but we were still trying to make things work. I had tried to end things with him multiple times, but he would always apologize profusely and promise it would never happen again or threaten to hurt himself if I didnt take him back. But I did end it on Dec. 12, after he accused me of being an embarrassment at dinner with friends. I told him to be out of the house by the morning and I went to bed  I didnt know that the most dangerous time for a woman in an abusive relationship is when you make the decision to leave.

The next thing I remember is waking up on the bathroom floor as he repeatedly punched my body with all his force. The bathroom was covered in blood. He had strangled me to unconsciousness while I was sleeping and then carried me to the bathroom to continue his violent attack. I had this gut-wrenching feeling I was going to die.

My abuser was a foot taller and 100 pounds heavier than me, I knew I couldnt fight back, so I began pleading for my life. I was staring into his blank eyes while he continued to punch me and then tried to cut my throat with a knife. I told him he was killing me and begged him to think about my girls growing up without their mother.

He responded, They would be better off without you. What he said next is forever burned into my mind: Ive gone too far, done too much. Im going to have to kill you. He put his hands around my throat and strangled me until I blacked out again. While I was unconscious, he sexually assaulted me.

I have no doubt that he believed I was dead when he carried my lifeless body outside, wrapped only in a bloody towel, and went back inside to clean up. But by what I can only describe as a miracle, I regained consciousness and was able to run away. When two neighbors didnt answer their doors, I collapsed in the shadows and screamed for help until someone found me and called 911.

I spent a week in the hospital recovering from hypothermia, internal and external bruising, a broken heel and wounds so deep it felt as if my body was being held together by staples and stitches: the fingers on my left hand were cut to the bone where Id tried to push the knife from my throat  27 stitches; there was a gash on my forehead  more stitches; I had a traumatic brain injury; and bruising that stretched from behind my ears to my chin that doctors said was caused by the strangulation.

They would later discover a 3-inch gash on the back of my head that was previously hidden by my blood-matted hair.

My abuser was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

As bad as my physical wounds were, nothing could prepare me for the mental and emotional wounds that followed. It took therapy, the support of family and friends, and years of finding myself again to heal.

Many people ask why I stayed as long as I did. The truth is, there are a plethora of reasons women stay in abusive relationships, and that looks different for each one.

We as a society need to change the narrative from, Why did she stay? to Why does he abuse? No one enters a relationship knowing it is going to be abusive. Abusers are master manipulators. My abuser was not physically abusive until I told him I was leaving. I know now that if someone is capable of emotionally, verbally or sexually abusing you, it is usually just a matter of time before they become physically abusive. Abuse does not get better over time, it only gets worse.

But awful as that relationship and that night was for me, I can honestly say I am stronger and wiser because of it. Ive learned the importance of trusting my instincts, loving myself and setting healthy boundaries. I am in a healthy and supportive relationship with a man who has shown me the true meaning of love. My daughters and I have grown closer and healed together. I became a certified confidential victims advocate, and I serve on TESSAs board of directors. I travel throughout Colorado and around the country sharing my story to raise awareness, educate and hopefully prevent others from going through what I went through. I have gone from victim, to survivor, to thriver, and I have learned there is life after abuse.Editor's note: This is part 2 of The Gazette's 4-part "Shattered Lives" series on domestic violence in El Paso County.

This story has been updated to reflect the new total of 43 domestic violence homicides in the county between 2013 -2018 after the El Paso County Sheriff's Office amended its numbers.

El Paso County has the second highest number of domestic violence cases in the state, with 43 domestic violence homicides in the last five years, yet its one of the hardest counties in which to win protection orders to guard against that abuse, according to experts and records.

In fiscal year 2017, there were 2,612 people who petitioned for civil protective orders against their intimate partners, the most in the state, excepting Denver, which does not specifically track those orders. Only about 19 percent of those requests were granted, Colorado Judicial Branch records show.

Even when advocates for TESSA, a nonprofit that helps victims of abuse, step in to assist in the process, the odds dont improve. From June 2016 to February 2017, the nonprofit helped with 74 contested protection order cases for victims of domestic violence or sexual assault. Less than half  29  were granted.

Unfortunately, we see that in our jurisdiction it is more difficult for women to get protection orders for reasons that are not clear, TESSA Executive Director SherryLynn Boyles said.

There are countless stories of victims petitioning for protection two or three times before the order is granted.

Some experts say the process is too hard  victims must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that theyre in great danger and that the behavior is likely to continue or even escalate, a standard much higher than probable cause. And all of that must largely be conveyed in only a couple of lines on the request form (in one section, victims can use up to a page).

Others say the process is too intimidating, forcing victims to go before a judge, with the offender often present, to testify about the abuse, because civil protection orders must be won in court. El Paso County Judge Douglas Miles, who oversees the domestic violence court, said many victims dont want to go through that or dont know how to safely, so they recant or drop the request or hold back evidence.

We say, now you have to get up on the witness stand with him watching you and you have to be perfectly honest and fearless. Thats absurd, Miles said. Offenders can be both men and women, but in his experience, most are men.

The Districts Chief Judge, William Bain, however, argues that our county is not different from the other most populated counties throughout the state. Were in the middle of the pack, he said.

No county can even come close to touching El Paso as far as protection order requests, and records do show El Pasos average rate for granting protection orders in the last 4 years isnt far off from most other parts of the state. Jefferson tied at 17 percent and Arapahoe granted 18 percent. But other parts of the state are doing better.

Adams, Pueblo and Weld counties hovered between 20-21 percent, and Mesa had 28 percent.

Most of the time when petitions are denied, Bain says its out of the courts hands. The court estimates that victims dont show up for the hearing 25 percent of the time, or they show up and want to drop the request. Other times protection orders are applied through other means so the civil order isnt needed or victims dont present evidence to support their claim.

The list could go on and on because there are so many reasons (protection orders) are not ultimately granted that have nothing to do with the merits at a full-blown hearing, Bain said. At the very least, what is not going on in Colorado is judges denying (protection order) requests because they are not sensitive to the terrible, cyclical nature of domestic violence.

MORE INFORMATION TESSA advocates are available to assist with the filing of Protection Orders for victims of intimate partner violence, sex assault and stalking. Find them Monday-Friday 8 - 9:30 a.m. in the courthouse self-help center, room S101.

No face, no case

Protection orders are a tool meant to prevent further violence, and if that violence continues the District Attorneys Office can step in to prosecute protection order violations or file other domestic violence charges. But the district doesnt have a good reputation for doing that, either.

Records show El Paso and Teller counties have one of the lowest rates for prosecuting protection order violations. Ten districts have higher numbers of violations, though fewer requests for protection, and many districts report more violations than petitions. But in this district, the ratio is about one violation to every 9 petitions for protection.

And in the latest fiscal year, which ended in June, those cases accounted for about 54 percent of the 890 arrests Colorado Springs police say they made on various protection order violations.

The district also is one of only six in the state that has seen a drop in protection order violations over the last 4 years, though numbers are starting to climb back up this year. Other lagging districts include those encompassing numerous small counties in the southeastern and northwestern corners of the state.

It could be that offenders here heed protection orders better than others parts of the state, but its more likely that the disparity comes from the districts stinginess in granting protection orders. If there isnt a protection order, there cant be a violation.

Bain said he couldnt comment without knowing what year the protection orders were issued versus when they were violated, but he thinks a policy change that went into effect last year could get the district back on track.

Previously, in criminal domestic violence cases, the court would automatically instate a protection order that lasted seven days. Now, that protection is extended throughout the duration of the case, unless the victim asks for it to be lifted.

El Paso, at least prior to the change in Sept. 2017, would have thousands (and possibly tens of thousands) fewer protection orders that could be violated, Bain said in an email. Without those thousands upon thousands of protection orders even in existence, of course, the number of violation of protection order cases is going to be far lower than the other jurisdictions.

We dont just give up

Criminal domestic violence convictions have an even worse record.

Miles said theres a huge population of cases where nobody gets convicted and cases get dismissed.

He estimated that over 80 percent of misdemeanor domestic violence cases are dismissed, most often for failure to prosecute, which he said usually means the victim refused to participate. He referred to the practice as, No face, no case, meaning if victims dont show up, the case gets dropped.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Lindsey said the term comes from defense attorneys who use it to get victims to act in a way that benefits their client. In the last six months, he said, the office filed for sanctions against an attorney who reportedly told a victim if they show up, their husband is going to jail for two years, but if they dont, everything will go away.

In some ways, the motto is true, because if a witness doesnt show up, that denies the defendant their right to confront those testifying against them. In that case, we cant proceed with a case, Lindsey said. But the office can occasionally move forward by calling witnesses to the abuse, bending the rules to the hearsay law or offering more lenient pleas to get a person in treatment if they cant get a conviction.

We dont just give up, Lindsey said. Were sort of the ones that are stomping our feet and pounding our fist on the table and saying this person needs to be held accountable.

Colorado law says that a prosecutor cannot drop domestic violence charges unless they believe it would be impossible to prove the case at trial. And sometimes, especially in the absence of physical abuse, there isnt enough evidence without a victims testimony.

Thats why domestic violence cases are inherently the hardest cases that we prosecute here in the DAs office, Lindsey said, because theyre he-said-she-said crimes and because victims do recant or refuse to show up, even under court order. Or, if they do participate, sometimes its for the defense.

Imagine sitting on a jury and hearing, you know what, that didnt happen. What I told the cop that night, didnt happen. I made it up. I lied or I hit him first  or I was trying to get him out of the house because I was mad at him because I was drunk, Lindsey said. Then a jury has to say, OK, which story do we believe? When its a toss-up, guess which one theyre going to say?

To prevent that, domestic violence advocates say judges and juries need to be better educated about why victims might recant their stories of abuse or refuse to pursue charges. Because sometimes victims need to be protected even if they cant ask for it.

TESSA Advocacy Manager Courtney Sutton said in her experience, juries tend to dismiss accusations by absent victims, assuming if they were really afraid theyd show up and speak, and certainly wouldnt stay with their abuser.

Thats not how it works, experts say.

Domestic violence is a pattern of abuse  emotional, verbal, financial or physical  used to coerce or control a person. It can leave victims feeling trapped in the relationship  maybe they dont have money to support themselves, maybe they have shared children or fear what their abuser would do to them if they tried to leave.

Theres any number of reasons why victims stay and try to mitigate or hide their abuse. Which is why Miles says victims need to first believe victims and then, We need to respect victims.

He understands the frustration of inconsistent victims but says thats the nature of the relationships. Theyre good one week, theyre bad one week.

Shes not being crazy or inconsistent, Miles said. Its very logical what shes doing  Victims understand what they need more than anybody.

The goal, he says, should not be to force victims to act, but to leave the door open so they can act when theyre ready and when they feel safe.

I think the system has to protect people even when we believe the people were protecting dont appreciate the level of risk theyre in, Miles said. When we treat a victim in a way that that victim says, Im never calling the police again, then the system has made that victim more vulnerable, more at risk.

Janice Nams desperate example

That journey toward safety can often start with getting a protection order, experts say, because its the court telling the offender to stop and to stay away. And sometimes that works.

Some abusers do heed the no contact order, and for those who dont, it gives police grounds to arrest them. Protection orders also can signal to the court how fearful victims may be and how dangerous offenders really are, because breaking a protection order is telling the court, I will not follow your orders, Deputy District Attorney Rachael Powell said.

This process only works, though, if victims have access to the protection.

One of the most memorable examples of the struggle victims can face in their fight to get protection involved Janice Nam.

Three times she sought protection from her estranged boyfriend Glen Galloway for reportedly harassing her, breaking into her house, abusing her dog and threatening to kill her.

I have a gun and Im not afraid to use it, I will kill you if you say another word, she quoted Galloway in her petition for protection, describing an encounter where police came to the home and confiscated three guns.

I have no doubts about him killing me, she concluded. The order was denied.

Two weeks later she tried again, accusing Galloway of chasing her out of a store and parking outside her house, despite police telling him to stay away. Im worried he will not stop until he kills me, she wrote. It also was denied.

The third time she described herself as a hostage in her home and said he left bruises on her arm during an encounter at their shared work. That protection order was granted, and quickly violated  Galloway would be convicted of stalking before eventually killing her.

Powell prosecuted that stalking case and said it wasnt just the court making the protection process difficult; Galloway was very cunning. He called co-workers to vouch for his character and attack Nams. He even filed a protection order against her, which was denied.

It wasnt until he killed Nam that coworkers admitted hed made death threats against her, though they said they never believed hed act on them.

Miles said he knows all the tricks offenders use to avoid taking responsibility for their actions. Hes worked with them intimately in domestic violence court for six years. He doesnt grant civil protection orders, but says his experience with offenders has taught him one thing:

First of all, we need to believe victims, Miles said, because victims dont put themselves through the inconvenience of going to court and testifying in front of and against their abusers just to get back at somebody.

Do protection orders protect?

Despite their name, protective orders are not fail-safes against future abuse. Actually, they can incite it.

Research shows that leaving a relationship is the most dangerous time for domestic violence victims. About 75 percent of domestic violence homicides occur after a person made the decision to leave a relationship, said Amy Pohl, with Violence Free Colorado, formerly the Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Leaving is also the point at which victims are most likely to seek protection. In a relationship based on one persons control over another, the action can be interpreted as defiance, leaving offenders desperate to regain control by any means necessary, including murder.

Since 2013, there have been 43 domestic violence killings in the county. Many of the victims had protection orders in place against their abuser.

Mark Peters reportedly mocked his wifes protection order against him before he shot her in July. He texted, You think youre protected but youre not, records said. He would use force to learn where she was hiding and disguise himself as a saleswoman to get her to answer the door before shooting her.

He remains jailed without bond, pending trial on first-degree murder and multiple associated crimes.

Maxwell Garihan also mocked his wifes protection order against him in 2015, reportedly telling her, A restraining order never stopped anyone. Research that ... A month later, he would shoot Margaret Temple Garihan in the head  she survived  and kill her boyfriend. Maxwell is serving two life terms in prison without parole, plus another 144 years.

And of course, Galloway mocked Nams protection order by repeatedly violating it, up until the day he killed her and another man in a murder spree for which he was convicted in June.

Powell said Nam did everything she could to stay safe. She fought for a protection order until she won. She took her abuser to court. She stayed with family for a time. And she developed a safety plan, which included installing security cameras and alarms at her house, buying two guns, constantly updating her family about her whereabouts, and even asking neighbors to watch for signs of Galloway.

None of it saved her.

Videos of Nams last moments in her house showed her turning on the alarm and double-checking that windows and doors were locked just a few hours before Galloway broke in and shot her in bed.

I dont think theres a surefire way (to protect yourself) and thats probably the saddest part of it all, Powell said. Honestly, she did all of the things I would think you would want to do to keep yourself safe.

The story is just one in a long line of tragedies that underscore the limits to the protections available to victims. But experts stress that doesnt mean that victims shouldnt pursue them.

Im not saying holding up the no contact protection order while someones coming at you with a gun is going to save your life, obviously, Powell said.

But having as many hurdles for the offender is what were looking for, because sometimes thats all we can do

Importance of a safety plan

Those other hurdles  protections  include things like enrolling in the Address Confidentiality Program, changing their identity, transferring schools or relocating to another state. But thats in the most extreme cases.

A simpler step victims can take is developing a safety plan so they know what to do when violence does happen. Do they have an emergency bag packed? Do they have a place to stay? Who can help them leave? Do they have transportation?

And resources such as TESSA can help with that. In the end, though, experts say theres only so much victims can do. Its up to the offender to make the decision not to abuse or to take steps to change their behavior. And, sadly, victims and their families are left to deal with the consequences.

Take Nams case  Galloway was sentenced to life in prison, but there still is no real justice for Nam or her family, Powell said. Shes still gone.

(Galloway) got his consequences, weve gotten the result, but that sorrow, that wishing that shes not another face or name in your list of women whove gotten killed by their offenders, just wishing that was never ever the case Powell said, her voice trailing off. Why do we have to be here to begin with?

Powell said she can only hope that stories like Nams lead to change so that maybe she will be one of the last names on the long list of domestic violence victims.

Maybe it saves somebody elses life. I hope to God it does, Powell said. I hope it saves all of their lives.

Editor's note: This story was edited to reflect that the standard in civil protection order cases is a preponderance of evidence.

Contact the writer at 719-636-0362 or find her on Twitter: @njKaitlinDurbin. Data expert Burt Hubbard contributed to this report.Will the Denver Broncos, currently 6-5 after Sunday's win over the Chargers, qualify for the playoffs?

You voted:Alexa, order bird seed. All of it, just keep it coming.

Rocco the African Grey parrot of Didcot, Oxfordshire, U.K. has taken to ordering himself snacks using his owner's Amazon Alexa device while he's out of the house. Man, I wish my dogs would do the same. "Why's that?" Um, talking dogs? They'd make me filthy rich.

So far [he's] demanded treats such as strawberries, watermelon, raisins, broccoli and ice cream.

He has also ordered a kite, light bulbs and even a kettle. Rocco likes to dance too and tells the voice-activated device to play favorite tunes. Sometimes they are slow numbers, but he generally prefers rock.

The snacks I get, but what the hell is he gonna do with a kite, light bulbs and a kettle? Is he trying to build a hot air balloon? Because he's clearly gonna need to order a king size fitted sheet if that's the case.

Thanks to Thaylor H, who agrees at least you can blame all your drunk purchases on the parrot.On the move

Migration, due to a lack of jobs or better pay abroad, is regarded as inevitable todayWISE Has Successfully Created Its Smart Contract

SAN DIEGO, CA, Dec. 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE - Gopher Protocol Inc. (OTCQB: GOPH) ("Gopher), a company specializing in the development of Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence enabled mobile technologies, including a global mesh network technology platform for both mobile and fixed solutions, announced today its technology has been successfully deployed by its licensee WISE Network S.A (WISE), which has created its smart contract on the Blockchain platform.

As announced in late November, Gopher and WISE collaborated on the implementation of Gophers licensed technology. WISE has now successfully created its smart contract built on the Ethereum Blockchain, based on the ERC20 standard. The repo link to GitHub where the smart contract can be scrutinized by any developer in the world is https://github.com/GBTTech/wise-erc20-token-smart-contract .

This means that WISE now has completed the token infrastructure and is ready to be launch six months before WISEs anticipated ICO takes place. The WISE smart contract was developed and completed using private funds to build confidence and trust in WISEs Blockchain programming abilities as well as its corporate responsibility towards future token holders in advance - https://youtu.be/eLeBC_aC_RQ.

This early launch proves WISEs commitment to its roadmap, which will soon be part of WISEs new site https://wise.cr .

Doug Davis, Gophers Interim CEO, stated: "We are proud to see implementation of our technology platform into the Blockchain space in partnership with WISE. While Gopher is not a cryptocurrency or Blockchain company, it is a leading supplier of Asset Tracking IoT and Global Mesh Network technology platforms that licensees such as WISE can use to enhance their Blockchain-based offerings.

About Gopher Protocol Inc.

Gopher Protocol Inc. (OTCQB: GOPH) (Gopher) (http://gopherprotocol.com/) is a development-stage company which considers itself a native IoT creator, developing Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled mobile technology platforms. Gopher has a portfolio of Intellectual Property that, when commercialized, will include smart microchips, mobile and security applications and protocols, and supporting cloud software. Gophers system envisions the creation of a global mesh network. The core of the system will be its advanced microchip technology that can be installed in any mobile or fixed device worldwide. Gopher envisions this system as a low-cost, secure, private mesh network between any enabled devices, providing shared processing, advanced mobile database management/sharing and enhanced mobile features as an alternative to traditional carrier services.

About WISE

WISE Network S.A. (WISE) is a Costa Rican corporation that has created the WISE Platform (http://www.wise.cr/). This Platform will be using the newly created WISE Token, for which WISE will also be conducting an ICO. WISE will have powered its Enigma Chip, based on Gophers licensed technology, which will be designed to deploy a radio wave based Blockchain system, enabling distributed ledger, robust security, and real-time, vast data handling for IoT and mobile domains. The chip hardware is accompanied with embedded software, and is designed to work through its private, secured network protocol. Enigma IC can use Wi-Fi or Cellular networks to communicate with other Enigma ICs. In addition, the microchip can communicate via its own radio waves in a wide variety of frequencies, in locations where there are no cellular or Wi-Fi services, thereby expanding IoT tracking of Blockchain-based assets globally. It is expected that this feature opens an entire world of IoT and network possibilities for remote locations. The Enigma microchip includes Gophers Avant! AI for Blockchain management and security.

A demonstration is available via an educational video released by Gopher and WISE -- https://youtu.be/3z0avXbYZoc

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission located at their website (http://www.sec.gov). In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, governmental and public policy changes, the Companys ability to raise capital on acceptable terms, if at all, the Companys successful development of its products and the integration into its existing products and the commercial acceptance of the Companys products. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release.OCALA, Fla., Dec. 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. (NYSE American: HEB), an immuno-pharma R&D and emerging commercial growth company focused on unmet medical needs in immunology, recently met with clinical patients at Hunter-Hopkins Center in Charlotte, N.C. undergoing treatment for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).



Herbert Cousins, SVP for Patient Relations, and Peter Rodino III, Director of Governmental Relations, spoke with patients and the clinician about the companys progress in expanding its U.S. Treatment Protocol/Expanded Access Program for ME/CFS, known as AMP-511. Cousins was recently hired to manage the companys communications with patients and patient advocacy groups.

Hemispherx announced the expansion of the program in June  allowing new enrollees for the first time in more than a year  after completing its first commercial-sized lot of its pipeline drug Ampligen, producing ~8,500 vials. A second commercial-sized lot was completed in July. Both lots passed release testing.

The patients were very happy to talk to us in person about the ME/CFS protocol under AMP-511, said Cousins. Together with Dr. Charles Lapp, the investigator at the Hunter-Hopkins site and his team, we answered all of their questions.

ME/CFS is a crippling disease that leaves people unable to live their normal lives due to the pain, fatigue and inability to focus that comes when performing even basic tasks. Many are so severely afflicted that theyre forced to live their lives bedridden, imprisoned in darkness and despair without any hope for a better future. More than one hundred thousand Americans are estimated to be totally disabled by the severe form of ME/CFS, said CEO Thomas K. Equels. This is why at Team Hemispherx we are totally committed to making an effective and approved therapy available to patients in the United States. Our recent progress in obtaining a commercial approval for severe ME/CFS from the Republic of Argentina, our expansion of the FDA-authorized compassionate care program (AMP-511) in the U.S. and the opening of our first Early Access Program for ME/CFS in Europe give us hope for meaningful progress in the future. Hemispherx is the only company with a late stage drug candidate for ME/CFS therapy in the U.S.

The compassion and attention that Dr. Charles Lapp and his team pay to each patient is special, said Rodino. They clearly care about the individual as a whole, not just the health of the patient. They are not just treating the illness, but are helping to improve lives.

Since the company has been able to expand the Ampligen treatment protocol, additional patients have been enrolled into the program at the North Carolina site.

Cautionary Statement

Some of the statements included in this press release may be forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Among other things, for those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements set forth in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We do not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof. This press release and prior releases are available at www.hemispherx.net. The information found on our website is not incorporated by reference into this press release and is included for reference purposes only.

Contacts:

Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc.

Phone: 800-778-4042

Email: IR@hemispherx.net

Or

LHA Investor Relations

Miriam Weber Miller

Senior Vice President

Phone: +1-212-838-3777

Email: mmiller@lhai.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2b6bec42-928f-4941-99d9-1f4b86483531NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC (KSF) and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until February 12, 2019 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against XPO Logistics, Inc. (NYSE: XPO), if they purchased the Companys securities between February 26, 2014, and December 12, 2018, inclusive (the Class Period). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.



What You May Do

If you purchased securities of XPO and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-xpo/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by February 12, 2019.

About the Lawsuit

XPO and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On December 12, 2018, Spruce Point Capital Management reported an investigation into XPO revealed concrete evidence to suggest dubious tax accounting, under-reporting of bad debts, phantom income through unaccountable M&A earn-out liabilities, and aggressive amortization assumptions: all designed to portray glowing Non-GAAP' results and financial irregularities that conveniently cover [the Companys] growing financial strain and inability to complete additional acquisitions despite repeated promises.

On this news, the price of XPOs shares plummeted.

The case is Labul v. Xpo Logistics, Inc. et al, 18-cv-02062.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com .

Contact:

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner

lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com

1-877-515-1850

1100 Poydras St., Suite 3200

New Orleans, LA 70163HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Erdene Resource Development Corp. (TSX:ERD; MSE:ERDN) (" Erdene " or "Company"), is pleased to announce the results of an independent Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) study for its 100%-owned Khundii Gold Project (the Project) in southwest Mongolia. The PEA was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) by RPMGlobal Asia Limited (RPM). The Company will be hosting a conference call today at 10:00 am EST to review these results. A presentation to accompany the conference call will be made available on the Companys website. Those wishing to join the call can do so using the telephone numbers listed below. The call will subsequently be made available on the Companys website at www.erdene.com.



Conference call date and time: Tuesday, December 18, 2018 at 10:00 am EST

Canada/US dial-in: 1-877-703-1560

International dial-in: 1-647-689-5569

PEA Highlights

After-tax Net Present Value at a 5% discount rate (NPV5%) and a US$1,200/ounce (oz) gold price of US$99 million and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 56%

Pre-tax NPV5% of US$135 million and IRR of 70%

Initial capital expenditure of US$32 million, using a contract mining fleet

All-in sustaining cash cost (AISC) of US$714/oz of gold recovered

Life of mine (LOM) head grade of 3.42 g/t gold

Average annual gold production of 51,200 oz and total LOM production of 412,000 oz

Mine life of 8 years plus one-year pre-production and two year mine closure periods

A payback of 2 years

Todays PEA confirms that the Khundii Gold Project is a high-return, low-capital and low-operating cost project that will form the cornerstone development in the emerging Khundii Gold District, said Peter Akerley, Erdenes President and CEO. The Project has the potential to provide strong returns to investors, bring industry and employment to a remote area of Mongolia and add to national gold reserves. We have a long history of operating responsibly in the Country and we look forward to creating value for all stakeholders as we continue to develop this exciting Project.

Next steps include a Pre-Feasibility Study carried out in parallel with mining license, construction and operating permit applications in early 2019, continued Mr. Akerley. In addition, we will continue efforts to add resources through follow-up drilling on the Khundii licenses and with further exploration in the highly prospective surrounding district. We will also opportunistically acquire additional licenses in the region as they become available.

PEA Overview

The PEA incorporates the maiden resource estimate for Erdenes Bayan Khundii gold project (Bayan Khundii) announced in September 2018 (see news release dated September 18, 2018), and the updated resource estimate, completed in May 2018, for the Companys Altan Nar gold project (Altan Nar), 16 kilometres northwest of Bayan Khundii (see news release dated May 10, 2018). The PEA includes 2.7 million mineable tonnes from the Bayan Khundii resource at an average head grade of 3.65 g/t gold, of which 98% are Measured and Indicated Resources. The Altan Nar deposit for the PEA contributes 1.9 million mineable tonnes at an average head grade of 3.11 g/t gold, of which 70% are Measured and Indicated Resources. These deposits are being developed as a single project and are discussed herein as the Khundii Gold Project.

The PEA envisions a high-grade, open-pit mine beginning at the Bayan Khundii Striker Zone, expanding into adjacent zones within Bayan Khundii, prior to incorporating resources from the Altan Nar deposit. The development incorporates a conventional gravity separation circuit and a carbon in pulp plant with processing capacity of 1,800 tonnes per day.

The base case assumes a gold price of US$1,200/oz. All references to dollars within this release are US Dollars (US$) unless otherwise stated. The Technical Report, pursuant to NI 43-101 guidelines for the Preliminary Economic Assessment will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days.

The PEA is by nature, a preliminary economic study, based in part on Inferred Resources. Inferred Resources are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves which is required for a prefeasibility or feasibility study. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized.

Key Project metrics are presented in Table 1 below. A site layout plan map of the Khundii Gold Project is attached to this release for reference (to view the attached map please visit: http://resource.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/375a9fc8-1658-434f-b547-a405e243c2dc).

Table 1. PEA Project Metrics

Assumptions Gold Price US$/oz 1,200 Production Profile Average Head Grade Over Life of Mine 1 g/t gold 3.42 Project Life 2 years 11 Operating Life years 8 Target Production Rate Per Day 3 tpd 1,800 Average Annual Saleable Gold oz 51,200 Peak Annual Saleable Gold oz 68,100 Total Gold Production LOM oz 412,000 Average Gold Recovery Rate Over Life of Mine % 82% Strip Ratio tonne:tonne 10.5:1 LOM Cash Cost plus Sustaining Cost (AISC) 4 US$/oz 714 Project Economics Pre-Tax Net Present Value 5% discount rate US$M 135 7.5% discount rate US$M 119 10% discount rate US$M 105 After-Tax Net Present Value 5% discount rate US$M 99 7.5% discount rate US$M 86 10% discount rate US$M 76 Internal Rate of Return and Payback Pre-Tax Internal Rate of Return % 70% After-Tax Internal Rate of Return % 56% Payback Period Post-Construction 5 years 2 Capital Requirements Pre-production Capital Cost, including contingency US$M 32 LOM Sustaining Capital Cost US$M 8

Average diluted head grade of mineralised rock fed to process plant. Project life includes one year pre-production period, eight year operating life and a two year mine closure. Assumes process plant operates for 8,000 hours per annum to achieve the target production rate of 600 ktpa. Operating costs reported in terms of saleable gold ounces, including Royalty and Refining Charges of US$62/oz. Payback period calculated on an undiscounted, after-tax cash flow basis.

PEA Sensitivities

The following table shows the change in the after-tax NPV and IRR over a range of gold prices and discount rates, demonstrating the impact of higher gold prices and the Projects resiliency to lower prices.

Table 2. PEA Sensitivities  After-Tax

Gold Price Sensitivity Analysis Units US$1,150 US$1,200 US$1,250 US$1,300 NPV (5% discount rate) US$M 86 99 111 124 NPV (7.5% discount rate) US$M 75 86 98 110 NPV (10% discount rate) US$M 65 76 86 97 IRR % 50% 56% 62% 68%

Mining

The PEA is based on an open-pit mining operation targeting 600,000 tonnes per year of feed material for the process plant. The total mineable mineralised plant feed is 4.6 million tonnes at an average diluted head grade of 3.42 g/t gold and strip ratio of 10.5:1 (waste tonne: plant feed tonne).

Mineralisation starts at surface and 70% of mineable resources are located within 115 metres of surface. The deposit structure, grades and depth suggest selective open cut mining will be utilized. Underground mining below the current open cut pit is not within the PEA scope of work but will be examined in future study.

Mining will use hydraulic excavators in backhoe configuration. Drilled and blasted material will be loaded into haul trucks, with waste rock deposited in engineered dumps adjacent to the pits, and ore hauled to a crusher or run-of-mine (ROM) pad adjacent to the processing plant. At Altan Nar the estimated 19 kilometre road distance to the processing plant means that ore hauled from the pit will need to be placed nearby and transferred into road-trains for haulage to Bayan Khundii.

Processing

The PEA study assumes processing of ROM material via a conventional gravity separation circuit and a carbon in pulp plant. The ore-processing plant will be located adjacent to the Bayan Khundii open pit and throughput will target 600,000 tonnes per year, nominally 1,800 tonnes per day. Total mineralized material processed in the plant over the course of the mine life is 4.6 million tonnes at an average diluted head grade of 3.42 g/t gold. Using an estimated mill recovery of 82%, total recovered gold over the Project life is 412,000 ounces.

Ore from the Bayan Khundii deposit is free-milling with an average recovery of 92% while the Altan Nar deposit, which includes arsenopyritic ore locally with associated low recoveries, will only include the free-milling portions of the resource with an average recovery of 62%.

Operating Costs

Operating costs are based on the mining and processing scenario outlined above and assumes contract mining. All other activities are assumed to be owner-operated. The contingency is estimated at 10% and applied to all cost centres except Royalty and Charges. The all-in sustaining cost (operating cost and sustaining capital cost) is estimated at US$714/oz.

Table 3. Operating Costs

Cost Centre Life of Mine (US$millions) US$/oz US$/tonne Mine Operating Cost 134 326 29 Processing Cost 76 183 16 Site G&A 30 73 7 Product Cost 2 6 1 Royalty (5% NSR) & Charges 26 62 6 Contingency 24 58 5 Total Operating Costs 292 708 64 Sustaining Capital 3 6 1 All-In Sustaining Cost 295 714 65

Capital Costs

The initial capital cost (Year 0), primarily comprising construction of the process plant and supporting infrastructure, is estimated at US$32 million. The PEA incorporates the use of a mining contractor utilizing mining equipment which if purchased outright would add US$38 million to capital costs for the life of the mine. All major facilities including the process plant are proposed to be located at the Bayan Khundii site. In Year 3 the supporting infrastructure for the Altan Nar site is constructed at an estimated cost of US$1 million, including the upgrade of the road to Bayan Khundii. The infrastructure and process plant estimates include a 20% contingency.

Sustaining capital of US$3 million is included in the mine plan and mine closure costs are estimated at US$4 million. Total capital expenditures over the life of mine are estimated at US$40 million.

Table 4. Capital Costs

Item Bayan Khundii Altan Nar Total (US $millions) (US $millions) (US $millions) Process Plant 16 - 16 Site Buildings 3 - 3 Accommodation Village 2 - 2 Airstrip 1 - 1 Roads 1 1 2 Engineering & Support 4 - 4 Engineering Contingency 5 - 5 Subtotal Plant & Infrastructure 32 1 33 Mine Closure 3 1 4 Sustaining Capital 2 1 3 Total 37 3 40

Opportunities to Enhance Project Value

The Company sees the following opportunities to increase value at the Khundii Gold Project:

Higher Grade Upside: The very high-grade nature of the deposit provides upside should continuity of the ultra high-grade zones be established during mining. The highest gold values in the block model supporting the PEA are 55 g/t, while more than 40 intersections ranging from 50 g/t to 2200 g/t gold were encountered during drilling.

Additional Resources at Bayan Khundii: Approximately 60,000 ounces of Indicated Resources and 70,000 ounces of Inferred Resources grading more than 4 g/t gold are located outside the designed mineable open pit for the PEA. The majority of these resources are contained within the West Striker Area, approximately 100 metres from the ultimate pit wall, situated at around 100 metres depth. Accessing these resources by underground methods will be considered in future study.

Additional Resources at Altan Nar: The majority of the resource contained at the Altan Nar Project remains undeveloped in the current PEA. Further drilling and metallurgical work is required to incorporate this material into development scenarios.

Exploration Potential: The Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar deposits are situated in a highly prospective region that has received minimal historical exploration. The Company, through its proprietary regional database and experience in the region, is well positioned to add resources through exploration.

Recovery Upside: The Bayan Khundii mineralized material has an average recovery of 92% in the PEA. However, master composite sample testing indicates that recoveries of up to 99% are possible for high-grade material. For Altan Nar material, an average recovery of 62% has been applied in the PEA due to arsenopyrite content of the ore. Master composite testing of representative samples from the Discovery Zone pit has returned recoveries of up to 88%. Further metallurgical testing could support higher recoveries.

Mine Planning: The PEA represents the first step toward addressing the viability of a mining operation at the Khundii Gold Project. Further work may identify cost saving opportunities such as improved pit sequencing through pit phasing, waste haul optimization including in-pit dumping, reduced dilution and loss through the application of more selective mining techniques and interim pit design targeting improved early grades.

Mine Equipment Selection: There is opportunity to consider Tier 2 suppliers for non-critical equipment, reducing capital and operating costs.

Land Acquisition: The Mongolian Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry has recently reopened the tender licensing system, and the Company expects prospective licenses to be released in 2019. The Company has identified multiple priority targets within the surrounding regional district and will be an active participant in the tender processes for these properties.

Related Mineral Resource Estimate

The PEA is based on independent NI 43-101 mineral resource estimates for the Companys 100%-owned Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar gold resources, located 16 kilometres apart. These resources are considered a single project and are discussed herein as the Khundii Gold Project. These deposits are shallow and high-grade, consisting of 751,000 ounces gold at an average grade of 2.3 g/t gold (Measured and Indicated), and 291,000 ounces gold at an average grade of 1.8 g/t gold (Inferred). At a higher cut-off grade of 1.4 g/t gold, the Khundii Gold Project contains 642,000 ounces gold at an average grade of 3.7 g/t gold (Measured and Indicated), including, 250,000 ounces gold at an average grade of 2.3 g/t gold (Inferred).

The PEA includes 2.7 million minable tonnes from the Bayan Khundii resource at an average head grade of 3.65 g/t gold, of which 98% are Measured and Indicated Resources. The Altan Nar deposit for the PEA contributes 1.9 million minable tonnes at an average head grade of 3.11 g/t gold, of which 70% are Measured and Indicated Resources.

Summary and Next Steps

The PEA demonstrates that the Khundii Gold Project is expected to be economically viable and RPM recommends that Erdene proceed to an independent NI 43-101 Pre-Feasibility Study. The Company has created a Mining Studies Group to carry out mining, geotechnical, metallurgy, waste management, environmental, social impact and hydrogeology work to support the Pre-Feasibility Study in 2019.

Erdene initiated the Mining License application process for Bayan Khundii earlier this year. Experts have been appointed by the Mineral Council to review and approve the application, and Erdene has provided the necessary information in support. Experts will complete a site visit prior to the Mineral Council meeting anticipated in Q1-2019. The Altan Nar filing will take place in early 2019.

It is estimated that the Project can advance through the final permitting approvals, feasibility and project finance by early 2020. At that stage, the Company anticipates being in a position to complete construction and commence production within a year.

Background on the Khundii Gold Project

Erdenes deposits are located in the Edren Terrane, within the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, host to some of the worlds largest gold and copper-gold deposits. Although epithermal gold and porphyry copper-gold deposits are well documented across the border in China and along the Belts westward trend, exploration in Mongolia was limited until the mid-1990s, when the country returned to democracy and opened its doors to foreign exploration. Exploration since that time in southeast Mongolia led to the discovery of the world-class Oyu Tolgoi gold-copper deposit. Erdene has been the leader in exploration in southwestern Mongolia over the past decade and is responsible for the discovery of the Khundii Gold District. The Khundii Gold District is comprised of multiple high-grade gold and base metal prospects, two of which are being considered for development: Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar. The Company has to date invested US$17 million in exploration and resource development on the Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar projects.

Qualified Person and Sample Protocol

The information in this press release that relates to the Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Khundii Gold Project is based on information compiled and reviewed by Mr. Igor Bojanic, who is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, and is an employee of RPM Advisory Services Pty Limited. Mr. Igor Bojanic has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which, he has undertaken to qualify as a Qualified Person, as that term is defined by National Instrument 43-101.

Mr. Igor Bojanic is not aware of any potential for a conflict of interest in relation to this work for the Client.

Michael MacDonald, P.Geo. (Nova Scotia), Vice President Exploration for Erdene, is the Qualified Person as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the approved the non-PEA and Mineral Resource estimate technical information contained in this news release on behalf of Erdene. All samples have been assayed at SGS Laboratory in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In addition to internal checks by SGS Laboratory, the Company incorporates a QA/QC sample protocol utilizing prepared standards, field and laboratory duplicates, and blanks.

About Erdene

Erdene Resource Development Corp. is a Canada-based resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious and base metals in underexplored and highly prospective Mongolia. The Company has interests in four exploration licenses and a mining license in Southwest Mongolia, where exploration success has led to the discovery and definition of the Khundii Gold District. Erdene Resource Development Corp. is listed on the Toronto and Mongolia stock exchanges. Further information is available at www.erdene.com . Important information may be disseminated exclusively via the website; investors should consult the site to access this information.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information regarding Erdene contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although Erdene believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Erdene cautions that actual performance will be affected by a number of factors, most of which are beyond its control, and that future events and results may vary substantially from what Erdene currently foresees. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration results, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. The forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The information contained herein is stated as of the current date and is subject to change after that date. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE CONTENTS OF THIS RELEASE.HIGHLIGHTS



INC Cashew processing transaction closed through related private entity

Production start-up contractor engaged

Necessary documentation with respect to the Change of Business (COB) under the new structure will be filed shortly with the Exchange

Planning to raise 12-months working capital as required under Policy 5.2 is underway

Progress continues at the Companys Mali Tilemsi Project

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Great Quest Fertilizer Ltd (TSXV:GQ) (the Company) is pleased to provide an update for shareholders on the developments within the Company during the trading halt required by the COB process.

The timeline required for the approval process of the TSX Venture would not allow the timely closing of the transaction. The board therefore decided to transfer its rights and obligations with respect to the transaction to a private entity 1184700 B.C. Ltd owned by Mr. Bruce McKean. Mr McKean is a director and shareholder of Great Quest Fertilizer Ltd and is also the holder of the convertible notes. The Company redeemed part of the convertible notes owned by Mr Bruce McKean, which funded the first payment with respect to the closing of the transaction. The transfer of the rights and obligations of Great Quest to the private company is conditional upon Great Quest retaining the right to acquire the private company at book value if and when approval is obtained from the Exchange and disinterested shareholders.

On November 8, 2018, 1184700 B.C Ltd closed the transaction. The directors of 1184700 B.C. Ltd are Jeddiah Richardson, current CEO and director of Great Quest, and David Shaw who is also a director of the Company. The operations, which include the start-up operations of INC, are managed by the current management team of GQ.

INC has engaged a local contractor to assist in the startup of the plant. The contractor has invaluable experience in commissioning and operating cashew processing plants in Cote dIvoire. Commissioning work is expected to start this week.

Great Quest will be submitting an application for a COB Transaction which involves the acquisition of 1184700 B.C. Ltd. This will be a non-arms length transaction.

Upon the completion of the COB Transaction, the Company will continue the business of INC. The COB Transaction is intended to constitute a Change of Business transaction pursuant to Policy 5.2  Changes of Business and Reverse Takeovers (Policy 5.2) of the TSX Venture Exchange (the Exchange).

The Company is currently working on a plan to raise financing in order to satisfy the 12-month working capital required by Policy 5.2. Part of this plan includes the divestiture of the Sanoukou and Dabia Ouest Gold permits in Mali. The company is currently in discussion with several interested parties.

With regard to the Tilemsi phosphate project, public hearings have been held in Markala, Segou to discuss the granting of land for our blending and granulation facility. The company is seeking an update to our environmental permit to include some modifications to our development plan. The Company has applied for a mining permit and expects to have a response in 2019.

Tilemsi Phosphate Project

Work on the Tilemsi phosphate project has progressed considerably. At the conclusion of geological work carried out on the Tilemsi phosphate project at the end of 2017 and results from assays of samples collected from the project (see our news release of March 8, 2018), the contracting geologists have been working on delineating an indicated and measured resource on the Tilemsi phosphate project. This will form the basis for the application of a mining permit with the Malian authorities. Shareholders will be advised as soon as the report is finalized.

Completion of the COB Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to acceptance by the Exchange and shareholder approval. There can be no assurance that the COB Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular to be prepared in connection with the COB Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the acquisition may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative.

The Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the COB Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

About Great Quest

Great Quest Fertilizer Ltd. is a Canadian agribusiness company focused on the development of African agricultural mineral projects for local production of farm ready fertilizers. The Companys flagship asset is the Tilemsi Phosphate Project, encompassing 1,206 km in northeastern Mali, containing high quality phosphate resources amenable to use as direct application fertilizer. Great Quest is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol GQ, and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol GQM.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF GREAT QUEST FERTILIZER LTD.

Jed Richardson

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

For more information:

Please call Jed Richardson at 1-877-325-3838 or email info@greatquest.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The statements that are not historical facts and are forward-looking statements involving known and unknown risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to vary materially from the targeted results. We seek safe harbor.Binod Ghimire covers parliamentary affairs and human rights for The Kathmandu Post. Since joining the Post in 2010, he has reported primarily on social issues, focusing on education and transitional justice.Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has condemned the Iranian governments chronic violation of human rights against minorities, including members of the Bahai Faith, in a resolution that was approved on December 17.



The resolution, introduced by Canada with 43 co-sponsors, adopted by a vote of 84 to 30 with 67 abstentions, voices "serious concern regarding ongoing severe limitations and restrictions on the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief."



It calls upon the Iranian government to "release all religious practitioners imprisoned for their membership in or activities on behalf of a recognized or unrecognized minority religious group, including the remaining imprisoned member of the Bahai leadership."



This UN resolution follows the unanimous passage last week of a resolution by the U.S. House of Representatives, Resolution 274, which condemned the government-sponsored persecution of the Bahais in Iran.



Although we are heartened by the efforts of the international community to address the persecution of the Bahais, said Mr. Anthony Vance, Director of the U.S. Bahai Office of Public Affairs, there are still over 90 Bahais held in prison on baseless charges, not to mention the economic, educational, and cultural deprivations that block the progress of thousands of Bahais in Iran every day.



Just recently, he added, the body of a deceased elderly Bahai woman was exhumed and left in the desert, days after her burial. Until degradations like this stop, and Bahais are accepted as full members of society, there is little cause for celebration.Quote:

The passage says clearly "Headaches can be effectively relieved" first line and again 6th line,"even if such medication can provide relief", so can eliminate c, e. Eliminate E as it is a pretty bold statement about the physician. A a general statement,strongly supported reasoning is required,hence B.



The shell game is basically an idea or concept is raised in the stimulus, and then a very similar idea appears in the answer choice, but the idea is changed just enough to be incorrect but still attractive.



For eg consider this question from Powerscore,

Which one of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the conclusion above?



(A) Most of the major carpet producers market other floor coverings as well.

(B) Most established carpet producers market several different brand names and varieties,and there is no remaining niche in the market for new brands to fill.

(C) Two of the three mergers in the industrys last ten years led to a decline in profits and revenues for the newly merged companies.

(D) Price reductions, achieved by cost-cutting in production, by some of the dominant firms in the carpet market are causing other producers to leave the market altogether.

(E) The carpet market is unlike most markets in that consumers are becoming increasingly resistant to new patterns and styles.



Here if you option C,a Shell Game is played with the details of the conclusion. The conclusion is about market share. Answer choice (C) is about a decline in profits and revenues. The two are not the same, and so the information in the answer choice does not weaken the conclusion.



Hope you got it.

Quote:

The shell game is basically an idea or concept is raised in the stimulus, and then a very similar idea appears in the answer choice, but the idea is changed just enough to be incorrect but still attractive.

Attachment:



shell_game.jpg [ 5.77 KiB | Viewed 10023 times ]



For info about the shell game, please refer to this post.Quoting suyashjhawar.:-D :-D :-DShell game -- a coin is placed in one of the three shell and the shells are quickly shuffled and the participants are asked to bet on the shell wherein they think the coin is present.See below.Particularly to be competitive at the top MBA programs, you probably need a relatively high GMAT score. Fortunately, if you want to score high on GMAT, there are some highly effective steps you can take to get yourself on track.Grand Old Partisan acclaims John Harris, born this day of 1825. Age twenty-two, he relocated from New York to Milwaukee. His career trajectory there went from merchandising clerk to realtor to bank president.

In 1863, Harris settled near Natchez and leased a cotton plantation. This "mildest and most temperate Republican" was delegate to Louisiana's constitutional convention. Upon re-admission to the Union, the GOP-controlled legislature elected the state senator a U.S. Senator. He voted for the 15th Amendment granting voting rights to African-Americans.

President Chester Arthur named Harris surveyor general for Montana. He settled there for the rest of his life.

Here is a Video Version of this article on YouTube: https://youtu.be/cMAe9eXzfU0

Michael Zak is author of Back to Basics for the Republican Party, a history of GOP civil rights achievement.

Each day, his grandoldpartisan YouTube channel and Grand Old Partisan blog celebrate more than sixteen decades of Republican heritage. And, see Speech Raves for audience feedback from his presentations in thirty-one states so far.

He also wrote the 2005 Republican Freedom Calendar.

Clarence Thomas cited Back to Basics for the Republican Party in a Supreme Court decision.

Buy the book at Amazon

See www.youtube.com/q?v=IzxKCiXc5Qc for a brief video of a Texas Republican praising Back to Basics for the Republican Party.

"This is the most amazing book about politics that I have ever read. The Overview should be required reading for anyone with even a minor interest in government. The remainder is an enthralling history lesson that I will never forget. For years, we have all been misled about the true nature of the GOP. This is the real deal! Read it and be proud!"

"Michael Zak wrote the definitive history of the GOP."

"Back to Basics for the Republican Party is the most significant contribution to the Republican Party in the last twenty years apart from Ronald Reagan."

"Back to Basics for the Republican Party is more important to our party now than ever before."

and

"one of the best books I ever read"Hawaii is arguing before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that its ban on the open carry of firearms is constitutional because its been around so long.

But Gun Owners of America, GOA has filed a friend-of-the-court brief pointing out that for most of the century and a half of the laws existence, Hawaii either was a monarchy or a constitutional monarchy.

The brief argues Hawaiis claim to be in a similar situation as New Jersey in a previous case fails, because New Jersey has been a state for 231 years and was a colony before that.

The dispute is between George K. Young Jr., who is challenging the states latest version of a ban on the public carry of weapons, and the state.

A panel at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the state, and officials petitioned for another hearing.

Lawyers Herbert Titus, Robert J. Olson, William J. Olson and others with William J. Olson P.C. filed a brief on behalf of Gun Owners of America, the Heller Foundation, Virginia Citizens Defense League, Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund and others opposing the states demand for another hearing.

Click here to see more GOA News articles like this one.

Hawaiis petition for rehearing triumphantly declares that Hawaii has regulated the public carry of firearms for over 150 years, pointing to various enactments in 1852, 1927, and 1934, the brief explains.

The state argues such restrictions have been widespread and longstanding.

This is quite an assertion.  For most of Hawaiis history, the island nation had no republican form of government  rather, it was a monarchy, ruled by kings and queens. Even after later transitioning to a constitutional monarchy, the Kingdom of Hawaii Constitution of 1940 did not recognize a right of the people to bear arms.

The Hawaii stranglehold on arms was easy to accomplish, since native Hawaiians had no experience with firearms prior to the arrival of Europeans in the late 1700s. Indeed, traders and settlers selectively doled out firearms in order to unite Hawaiis eight main islands into a single kingdom [under] Kamehameha 1.

This is hardly a noble pedigree to apply when determining the right of a sovereign people to keep and bear arms as a bulwark against tyranny, the brief explains.

Hawaii became a U.S. territory in 1898 and a state in 1959.

Hawaiis antiquated firearms regulatory scheme should be rejected out of hand  a relic of history, not unlike the sovereign prerogatives of King George, against which this countrys Second Amendment was designed to protect, the groups argue.

The groups point out the Second Amendment states the right to bear arms shall not be infringed.

Read More at World Net Daily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.The information below has been supplied by dairy marketers and other industry organizations. It has not been edited, verified or endorsed by Hoards Dairyman.

Illinois Milk Producers Association and University of Illinois Dairy Extension are co-sponsoring the annual Illinois Dairy Summit . Dr. Mike Hutjens, Dr. Phil Cardoso, and Dave Fischer will again team up with Tasha Bunting presenting three Illinois Dairy Summit meetings.

The meetings begin on Feb. 5 at Kaskaskia College in Centralia, the Asmark Institute in Bloomington, Feb. 6, and Feb. 7 at Highland Community College in Freeport. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Richard Wallace, DVM, Managing Veterinarian, Dairy at Zoetis, presenting Improving Reproduction Efficiency. Other topics covered during the program include feeding updates, Dairy RP, producer panel, and research updates.

Contact the Illinois Milk Producers Association by calling 309.557.3703 or by visiting the IMPA website at www.illinoismilk.org for more information.



Tika R Pradhan is a senior political correspondent for the Post, covering politics, parliament, judiciary and social affairs. Pradhan joined the Post in 2016 after working at The Himalayan Times for more than a decade.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Taking ctrl

For a secure and functioning Digital Nepal, the government should engage local programmers|

Hyundai has finally announced the name of its Maruti Vitara Brezza-rivalling sub-4-metre SUV that will be unveiled on April 17. The new model, which has been named as the Hyundai Venue, was until now..Tilathi locals protest over guards death in Saptari

Tilathi area in Saptari district remained tense throughout Monday after a security guard at Tilathi Koiladi Rural Municipality Office died in a gang assault on Sunday evening.1. Yes. The new strain spreads quickly; experts are concerned. It might be in our area soon.

2. Yes. The new variant may be vaccine-resistant, which would be a huge threat.

3. No. Health experts have moved quickly to contain it; it may not reach our community.

4. No. Even if the variant arrives in Texas, researchers may have some answers by then.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say until experts have had a chance to monitor it for a while.

Vote

View Results- Catriona Gray fulfilled the prediction of many experts that she would win Miss Universe 2018

- Janine Tugonon, who was first runner up at Miss Universe 2012, shared her thoughts on Catrionas performance

- According to Janine, Catriona is the most prepared candidate the Philippines has sent

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

Catriona Gray bagged the Miss Universe 2018 crown and Miss Universe Philippines 2012 Janine Tugonon has an explanation for the victory.

KAMI learned that Janine, who was first runner-up in Miss Universe 2012, praised Catriona on social media.

According to Janine, Catriona is a gorgeous, confident, and intelligent woman with a lot of heart. She added that Catriona is the best-prepared Filipina contestant ever.

And proud of how @catriona_gray answers genuinely with intellect, confidence and heart. MOST PREPARED MISS PHILIPPINES WEVE EVER SENT. MABUHAY KA, she wrote, as seen in the screenshots taken by PEP.ph.

Screenshots by PEP.ph

Source: Instagram

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!

As reported earlier by KAMI, Catriona was crowned as the Miss Universe 2018.

Catriona Gray is a Filipino-Australian actress and model who was born on born January 6, 1994.

She already joined and became a finalist in Miss World 2016 before winning Miss Universe this year.

POPULAR: Read more news about Catriona Gray

Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

Social Experiment: Do Manila Men Still Catcall? Anti-catcalling bill in the Philippines: should we support it and will it protect catcalling victims?  on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: Kami.com.ph- President Rodrigo Duterte supports the idea of legalizing medical marijuana in the country

- Therefore, the Palace said that it is just logical for the President to sign any bill allowing it

- The bill regarding the legalization of medical marijuana is still pending in the House of Representatives

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

The Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a media briefing that it is logical for President Rodrigo Duterte to sign any bill that is same with his stand. KAMI learned that President Duterte still firmly believes in legalizing medical marijuana in the Philippines.

"He (The President) is in favor of limited use of marijuana," said Panelo as reported by CNN Philippines.

Logically then he will support and sign any bill that would be consistent with his stand," he added.

Photo from Getty Images

Source: Getty Images

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 debate about the legalization of medical marijuana in the country has risen once again since Catriona Gray was asked about it in the Miss Universe 2018.

As previously reported by KAMI, Panelo said that the President could have influenced the answer of Gray in the prestigious international beauty pageant since they share the same opinion.

"I'm for it being used in a medical use but not so for recreational use," Gray answered.

"Because I think if people were to argue 'What about alcohol and cigarettes?' Well everything is good but in moderation," she added.

In September 2017, House panel approved the House Bill No. 6517 or the Philippine Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act which enables the use of marijuana for medical purposes. However, the bill is pending at the Lower House. Marijuana or cannabis is believed to treat some illness like epilepsy.

KAMI also reported before that aside from President Duterte, some senators are in favor to legalize marijuana in the country.

POPULAR: Read more news about President Rodrigo Duterte!

Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

Chambe Hit Song - Our Low-Budget Version. Alex Gonzaga, what an amazing song you have come up with! We can only try to reach the stars with our low-budget versions. But we are doing our best! - on KAMI HumanMeter Youtube channel!

Source: Kami.com.ph- Catriona Gray took home the crown at yesterdays Miss Universe 2018

- One of the beauty queens who praised her was Ariadna Gutierrez

- Many Filipinos remember Ariadna as the one who was mistakenly announced as Miss Universe in 2015 when it was Pia Wurtzbach who actually won

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

Catriona Gray, winner of Miss Universe 2018, has a fan in Miss Universe Colombia 2015 Ariadna Gutierrez, who was first runner-up to Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach.

KAMI learned that Ariadna called Catriona beautiful.

She also congratulated the Filipina on social media, based on screenshots by ABS-CBN News.

Congratulations to the beautiful Miss Philippines, Gutierrez wrote.

Screenshot by PEP.ph

Source: Instagram

Many Filipinos remember Ariadna as the one who was mistakenly announced by host Steve Harvey as Miss Universe in 2015 when it was Pia who was the actual winner.

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!

As reported earlier by KAMI, Catriona was crowned as the Miss Universe 2018.

Catriona Gray is a Filipino-Australian actress and model who was born on born January 6, 1994.

She already joined and became a finalist in Miss World 2016 before winning Miss Universe this year.

POPULAR: Read more news about Catriona Gray

Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

Social Experiment: Do Manila Men Still Catcall? Anti-catcalling bill in the Philippines: should we support it and will it protect catcalling victims?  on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: Kami.com.ph- Miss Canada Siera Bearchell has been very expressive in supporting Catriona Gray even before she was crowned as Miss Universe 2018

- According to her some were questioning her support towards Catriona

- Siera has an honest answer and revealed that she's been watching the Philippines' pride even before, especially during her Miss World journey

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

Miss Canada Siera Bearchell has an answer for those people who are questioning the support she's been showing for the newly crowned Miss Universe 2018, Catriona Gray.

In her Youtube video, she admitted that she's been hearing from some people who are accusing her that her support for Catriona is just to gain more attention from the Filipinos which she refuted.

"For those who kept saying that I was only supporting her to get more Filipino fans, you're very wrong," she bravely stated.

I have supported this girl from when she was at Miss World and I thought she should have won Miss World, but obviously she was on to bigger and better things," she added.

She also recalled the time when she defended Catriona when she experienced body-shaming before during her journey in Binibining Pilipinas.

The Canadian beauty queen also emphasized how deserving Catriona is for the crown that she has right now.

I have supported this girl for a long time and she has deserved every moment of this victory and it is very exciting.

Watch it here:

PAY ATTENTION: Using free basics app to access internet for free? Now you can read KAMI news there too. Use the search option to find us. Read KAMI news while saving your data!

In a previous report by KAMI, Ms Universe Canada 2016 reacts to Catriona Grays performance at prelims.

Catriona Gray is a Filipino-Australian actress and model who was born on born January 6, 1994. She already joined and became a finalist in Miss World 2016 before winning the Miss Universe Philippines this year.

Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

In this animation video by KAMI, we show the story of a woman who adopted a baby boy. As he grew up, he became more rebellious and wanted to meet his biological mother. In the end, he learned an important lesson on who his real mother is  on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: Kami.com.phYour tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all.

Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe

The Los Angeles Unified School District announced Monday that it would not remove a controversial mural depicting actress Ava Gardner at a school campus in Koreatown.

The announcement follows an ongoing dispute between artist Beau Stanton, the school district and community activists.

WHY DO PEOPLE WANT TO TAKE DOWN THIS MURAL?

Stanton painted the mural more than two years ago on a wall at the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools complex. The work shows a profile of Ava Gardner, along with imagery -- such as palm trees and a Grecian pillar -- intended to honor the legendary Cocoanut Grove nightclub, once located near the school complex. The mural also depicts red and blue rays of sunlight appearing to emanate from behind Gardner's head.

It's those rays with which community activists take issue: the Imperial Japanese Army's battle flag used similar-looking rays, but in red and white rather than red and blue.

University of Redlands professor Keith Osajima said the imagery could be disturbing, particularly to people of Korean descent.

"It is a reminder of the kind of terrible relationship between Japan and Korea that has happened historically," Osajima said. "During the war, the Japanese army went through Korea, they committed war atrocities and mistreated women and comfort women."

Osajima added that the fact that Stanton's mural went up directly next to Koreatown may have added additional pain.

WHAT WAS THE ARTIST'S INTENTION?

Stanton explained that he frequently uses imagery referencing rays of light in his work, and that in this case, it was an aesthetic choice, not a political one.

"The background design is pretty common in my work," he told KPCC's AirTalk. "I usually use it to create a sort of...dynamic sense, and to bring the viewer's attention to a focal point as well as to sort of project out this sort of sense of light."

LAUSD had acquiesed to activists who wanted the mural taken down or covered up, but over the weekend, artist Shepard Fairey got involved in the dispute. Fairey, who also painted a mural on the school's campus that went up over two years ago, announced on his Instagram that he would paint over his mural if the school followed through on the removal of Stanton's.

Following Fairey's intervention and the subsequent media attention, the school district revisited the issue and put plans to cover Stanton's mural on hold.

Eugene Hernandez, an administrator of operations for the district, sent a message to stakeholders Monday that said, in part, that the district will "not be taking immediate action on the mural at this time."

Nick Roman contributed to this story.

UPDATES:

Dec. 18, 5:29 p.m.: This article was updated with more background information about the dispute over the mural.

This article was originally published on Dec. 18 at 2:52 p.m.

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.Africa Seeks Commitments to Fight Climate Threat at World Climate Confab

Seyni Nafo, spokesman of the African delegation at the World Climate Conference taking place this week in Poland, is not one to mince words about the serious climate threat now facing the African continent.

We are the most vulnerable, we are the least responsible but we will suffer the most, the Malian-born Nafo summed up in an interview with the German news agency DW. The African continent is already experiencing the effects of climate change. In many places drought, torrential rainfall or flooding are regular occurrences.

The person on the street does not see the impact of what is decided here at the COP24 (Conference of the Parties), said Nigerian environmental activist Nnimmo Bassey. But people are seeing the real impact of global warming every day.

ADVERTISEMENT

The worst is still to come, the UN warns. In 2020, up to 250 million people could be affected by serious water shortages as a result of rising temperatures. If the rise exceeds two degrees Celsius, half the population of Africa could be affected by malnutrition. Climate change has the potential to destroy our development, Nafo warns.

Hopes that the conference can be a launchpad for meaningful action are viewed cautiously at best. For James Murombedzi, a climate expert with the UN Economic Commission for Africa, this is the most important climate conference whose goal is to reach agreement on a set of rules that would implement the decisions taken at the Paris conference of 2015.

Global warming, it was agreed, should be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This can only succeed if emissions of greenhouse gases cease entirely from 2050 onwards  and they must be drastically reduced in the years leading up to that deadline. However, experts agree that measures taken so far by the international community fall far short of that goal. Mandatory measures are needed, they say.

Fighting climate change means changing the way economic systems function and changing the lifestyle of entire societies, particularly where consumer behavior and mobility are concerned, says Murombedzi. Especially in the highly developed countries, there appears to be not enough political will to take on necessary costs.

Nnimmo Bassey is also skeptical about the chances of COP24 marking a new beginning. I hope the delegates, both ministers and technocrats, will actually begin to talk from their hearts and not just from political considerations. If that is not done, it will be just another COP and it will be like fiddling while the planet burns.Chiropractor Pleads in $150 Million Insurance Fraud Scheme

A 56-year-old chiropractor has pleaded guilty for his role in a massive workers compensation insurance fraud and conspiracy scheme, the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office announced today.

Paul Turley (dob 11/12/62) of Granada Hills made a factual basis plea on Monday to one count each of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, mayhem, insurance fraud and unlawful patient referral. As part of the written plea agreement filed with the court, Turley detailed his involvement in the scheme.

He faces up to eight years in state prison. Sentencing is set for June 14.

ADVERTISEMENT

Deputy District Attorneys Dayan Mathai, Catherine Chon, Karen Nishita and Kennes Ma are prosecuting the case.

Turley is among a dozen defendants who were indicted by a grand jury in 2015 for fraudulently billing tens of millions of dollars to insurance companies for fraudulent surgeries, prescription medications, fake MRIs, falsifying medical reports and office visits.

Prosecutors later divided the larger case into three smaller ones in an effort to streamline the complex litigation and refile several counts that previously had been dismissed. However, indictments remain against orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Munir Uwaydah, and his office manager, Wendee Luke, both of whom are fugitives.

The conspiracy allegedly included paying lawyers and marketers as much as $10,000 a month for illegal patient referrals, known as capping.

Nearly two dozen patients allegedly were deceived into having surgeries they thought would be performed by Uwaydah. Instead, a physicians assistant who never attended medical school, carried out invasive and sometimes unnecessary surgeries. Uwaydah was not present in the operating room for all surgeries, prosecutors said.

In addition, nearly two dozen patients have lasting physical scars and many needed additional surgeries to repair the original injury.

ADVERTISEMENT

Last year, co-defendant Marissa Nelson (dob 11/29/76) pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and admitted a special allegation of taking property of a value exceeding $3.2 million. She faces up to nine years in state prison when she is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 25.

The other 10 defendants are awaiting trial. Among the charges they each face are conspiracy, money laundering and unlawful patient referral. Some of the defendants also face aggravated mayhem charges.

The cases were investigated by the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Bureau of Investigation and the Organized Crime Division.Rep. Waters Statement on Texas Judge Ruling Obamacare Unconstitutional

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) released the following statement in response to the ruling of a federal judge in Texas that the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is unconstitutional:

I am deeply disturbed by the ruling of a federal judge in Texas  who was appointed by a Republican  that Obamacare is unconstitutional. This court case was brought before the court by a group of Republican governors and state attorneys general who are continuing the Republican Partys relentless campaign to repeal Obamacare and strip away its protections for people with pre-existing conditions. The case is further evidence that Republicans will stop at nothing to strike down Obamacare and take away health coverage from millions of Americans.

Ironically, this ruling comes barely a month after numerous Republicans stood for reelection while campaigning on the false premise that they actually cared about people with pre-existing conditions and were committed to protecting them. The American people were not fooled by these disingenuous claims, and many of these Republicans lost.

ADVERTISEMENT

I applaud the announcement that the State of California, along with several other states led by Democrats, plans to appeal the courts ruling. Obamacare has already survived several court challenges initiated by heartless Republicans, and I have no doubt it will survive this one.

Democrats just won a big victory in the 2018 midterm elections, after proving time and time again that we are the party that truly cares about the health and well-being of working families, seniors, veterans, the disabled and Americans with pre-existing conditions. As we take control of the House of Representatives, we will fight to protect the rights of all Americans to quality, affordable health care, and make certain that Obamacare and its protections for people with pre-existing conditions remain the law of the land.Monday, December 17, 2018

Phyllis Funk, a 77 year old woman living in New York City, has a master's degree from Columbia University, a pilot license, used financial advisors in both New York and in Maine, and previously freelanced for the Times. But when she crawled under her covers after the 2016 election, she claims she just wanted to shut the world out for a bit of time. Funk says she was not suicidal, but depressed. But when the manager of her building tried to evict her for not paying her rent for months, Adult Protective Services stepped into her apartment in March, 2017, and she entered the world of adult guardianship.

In the eyes of New York States, Funk is considered an "incapacitated person" and unable to manage her personal and financial needs on her own. In the state, anyone can petition to have someone declared incapacitated. A judge may then appoint a family member or a third party, often a lawyer, to be guardian over the persons physical needs, financial affairs or both. Its worse than incarceration, she said. At least in prison you have rights.

In November, the United States Senate Committee on Aging called for a major overhaul in the guardianship system. The Committee is worried that some guardians have used their position over vulnerable people and then liquidate assets and savings for their own personal benefit. Funk says she should have hundreds of thousands of dollars to her name, mostly inherited from her parents, but that she has "no access to her accounts."

In a country that guarantees the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, at what point does a person forfeit the right to make bad decisions?

See John Leland, I'm Petitioning... for the Return of My Life, New York Times, December 7, 2018.

Special thanks to Lewis Saret (Attorney, Washington, D.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/trusts_estates_prof/2018/12/new-york-woman-was-appointed-a-guardian-innappropriately-she-says.htmlAlmost 200 nations have agreed on a set of rules which they hope will breathe life into the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.

The agreement sets out how countries should report their emissions  pollutants released into the environment -- and efforts to reduce them.

But negotiators delayed other important decisions until next year. The delay has angered environmentalists and countries that wanted stronger actions.

Scientists are warning that the world must move away from coal, oil and other fossil fuels over the next 20 to 30 years.

Mohamed Adow is a climate policy expert at Christian Aid, a British aid group. He said, The majority of the rulebook for the Paris agreement has been created, which is something to be thankful for.

Adow said the lack of support for the recent climate conference shows that some countries are in denial about reality of climate change.

The talks ended late Saturday in the Polish city of Katowice. Officials agreed on common rules on how nations can cut emissions. Poor countries received promises of financial support to help them reduce emissions, overcome changes such as rising sea levels and pay for damage that has already happened.

Through this (agreement), you have made a thousand little steps forward together, said Michal Kurtyka, a Polish official who led the negotiations.

He said while each country would likely find some parts of the agreement it did not like, efforts were made to balance the interests of all groups.

He added, We will all have to give in order to gain. We will all have to be courageous to look into the future and make yet another step for the sake of humanity.

Scientists are increasingly worried that earths warming is continuing at a faster rate than governments are working to overcome its effects.

Last month, a study found that climate change will worsen disasters such as the deadly wildfires in the American state of California.

The study was the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC. The group reported that it is possible to limit the earths warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. But to do so would require big changes in the worlds economy, including a move away from fossil fuels.

Worried about efforts to include that idea in the final report of the meeting, the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait stopped efforts to endorse the IPCC report during the meeting. The move angered some island nations and environmental groups.

The final report failed to list internationally recognized targets for reducing carbon dioxide and other industrial emissions by the year 2030.

Alden Meyer is a policy expert with the Union of Concerned Scientists. He said the talks created support for the Paris agreement and could bring the U.S. government back into the deal by a future presidential administration.

Elliot Diringer is with the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, a research center based in Washington. He said, Overall, the U.S. role here has been somewhat schizophrenic pushing coalbut also working hard in the room for strong transparency rules.

The United States is still in the Paris agreement until 2020, which is why American officials attended the talks in Poland.

Canadas Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said the meetings were important if countries want to solve international problems.

She told The Associated Press, The world has changed. Still youre seeing here that were able to make progress. Were able to discuss the issues. Were able to come to solutions.

Im Jonathan Evans.

The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. The editor was George Grow.

Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

emission n. the act of producing or sending out something (such as energy or gas)

courageous adj.very brave

endorse v.to agree with

role n.a part, place or purpose of something

schizophrenic adj.the qualities of an extreme mental condition

transparent adj.able to be seen, openAndre Pittman and Gregory Cornes are on a campaign to remove unwanted, often harmful creatures from Washington, D.C.

Their target is not corrupt officials or backroom political operatives. It is instead an animal: the common Norway Rat.

The capital of the United States is facing a growing rat population. Two of the reasons are mild winter conditions and growth in the citys human population.

Washington's government is struggling to keep up with the growing number of rats.

On one recent day, Health Department employees Pittman and Cornes work near the U.S. Capitol building. They put pieces of dry ice into suspected rat holes. Another day, they were sent north of the White House, where homeowners have reported rat sightings.

On the grounds of a religious center, the two men quickly find the holes where rats hide. Cornes uses a long instrument to inject poison into a hole. Pittman watches to see if poison comes up from other holes and then covers those holes with dirt.

At the office building next door, the men receive a warm welcome from the security guard.

"We moved all garbage away from the door because that's where they would feed and party," says the guard. He added that the rats would run over the workers feet when they left the building at night.

Cornes says to him, "We're winning."

However, the numbers do not support his claim. The pest control company Orkin rates Washington as America's fourth "Rattiest City," based on the number of new service calls. It is just behind Los Angeles and New York City. Chicago has been No. 1 in each of the past four years.

While Washington does not have New York's famous super rats, evidence shows that the D.C. rats are on the march.

In September, an apartment buildings fire alarm sounded, forcing people to flee for safety. A security camera video showed a rat pulling the alarm.

Back on Washingtons M Street, Cornes and Pittman discover a number of holes in a large planter box in front of an office building. They inject poison, and the rats flee.

Gerard Brown is the head of Washington's rat control program. He says mild winters have helped fuel an increase in the rate of population. Cold winters do not necessarily kill the animals, but it cuts off their supply of food. During the winter, they stay warm by living in holes underground or under buildings.

Most Norway rats live only about eight months, but a full-grown female rat can give birth to 10 babies a month.

Washington is enjoying an expanding economy, and the citys population has been rising. The population just passed 700,000  more than the U.S. state of Vermont or Wyoming. Brown said the number of restaurants, bars and coffeehouses has increased 25 percent in two years.

"More people with more money means more restaurants, which means more garbage, which means more rat food," Brown said.

In several ways, Washington is an ideal environment for rats. It is filled with large, green places. The animals also like the waterfront. Part of D.C.s growth has resulted from development of areas along the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser has given an extra $900,000 to increase rat control efforts. The government is also offering financial aid for restaurants to buy garbage compactors to limit the rats' food supply.

As rat expert Robert Corrigan says, "80 percent of any rat control campaign is actually (garbage) management."

Corrigan advises Washington and other cities on rat problems and provides free classes in Washington for both city workers and homeowners.

He says the solution is for the city to collect the garbage at night.

"The usual early morning pickup plays right (to) the rats, which are active all night long," he said.

Several city officials said this would almost be impossible to carry out because of employment issues and late-night noise concerns.

Im Susan Shand.

The Assciated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. _________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

garbage  n. things that are no longer useful or wanted and that have been thrown out

alarm  n. a signal or warning notice

compactor  n. a machine that firmly boxes wastes

management  n. the act of directing or supervising somethingPlease enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue.

The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website:

We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service.BY NOBERT ATUKUNDA.

The Ministry of Health permanent secretary Dr Diana Atwine has asked blood banks to consider charging private hospitals service fees for supply of blood units.

She said private hospitals collect free processed blood from blood banks but sell it to patients claiming the payment is processing fees

Speaking at a handover ceremony of a donated van to Mengo hospital, DrAtwine added that the proposal to charge private hospitals processing fees is not intended to make profit but rather sustain the long procedure of processing blood.

She said it will also go a long way in sharing the burden of blood processing costs.

Dr Frank Kakuba, the head of Mengo Rotary Blood Bank, said they will discuss DrAtwines proposal and make a decision.

Processing one unit of blood goes for 40 dollarsMichael Dafel (University of Cambridge, Faculty of Law; South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law) has posted The Constitutional Rebuilding of the South African Private Law: A Choice Between Judicial and Legislative Law-Making on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

A tension arises whenever the South African private law fails to meet constitutional right norms. To remedy a deficiency, two law-making options are available. The first is for the judiciary to develop or change private law principles and rules in order to provide protection for the implicated constitutional norm. The second is for the judiciary to enforce an obligation upon Parliament to enact legislation to amend or replace existing private law rights and obligations so as to safeguard the norm against interference from a private individual or entity. The former is the more conventional option, but, in recent years, the law reports record an increasing reliance on the legislative duty to protect constitutional right norms in private legal relationships.

The thesis investigates the extent to which the latter phenomenon  which will be described as a pivot towards legislative remedies  exists, and the circumstances in which the courts pivot towards legislative remedies rather than developing private law of their own accord. The thesis finds that legislative schemes that give effect to constitutional rights are likely to contain an array of benefits that are absent from or reduced in the judicial law-making process. The judicial pivot towards legislative remedies is thus a strategy to enhance the process through which conflicting rights are resolved, as it allows for the constitutional rebuilding of private law in a way that the judiciary is unable to do on its own. Importantly, however, theories of judicial deference do not explain the pivot. On the contrary, the courts have exercised a strict level of control over the legislative law-making pathway. Through either statutory interpretation or the review of legislation, the courts require legislation to contain the essentials of the judicial law-making framework. From this perspective, the judicial law-making process produces the floor of the rebuilding project and the legislative law-making process enhances that framework.The Legislative Assembly (AL) of Macau is today expected to finalize the government-backed bill that seeks to bar employees of the gaming industry from entering casino floors while off duty. The rules will cover a total of around 54,000 Macau casino employees, including 8,000 junket operator staff members, as well as cleaning, surveillance and food and beverage employees. According to the proposed law, these workers will only be permitted to gamble in Macau casinos on the first three days of the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday period. The bill has found considerable support from legislators in the past as well as local workers associations.

Special subsidy to rise starting from January

The Special Subsidy (Special Assistance for Vulnerable Families) will be officially increased starting from January 1, according to a dispatch published in the official gazette. The subsidy will increase from the current MOP200, MOP400, and MOP600 for kindergarten students or pupils, secondary school students, and tertiary school students, respectively, to MOP300, MOP500, and MOP750. For residents who live alone in Macau or for those who have relatives in Macau, the nursery subsidy will go up to MOP1,200 and MOP1,000, respectively, from the current MOP1,000 and MOP800. Subsidies for people with disabilities who live alone and those who have relatives in Macau will also increase to MOP1,000 and MOP750 respectively.

Association urges child sexual assault to become public crime

The General Association of Chinese Students of Macao has urged the government to classify as a public crime the sexual assault of a child aged below 16 years old. The association believes that the recent frequently reported sexual assault cases against children indicate the need for enhanced punishment and prevention towards such crime. The current law requires the parents of the victims to report sexual assault cases on behalf of their children. However, the association believes that due to the traditional Chinese mindset, which rules that family shame should not be spread abroad, parents would likely choose to solve matters privately.Sands China Ltd. participated in the 2018 Macao China International Human Capital Forum at Sands Cotai Central, sending two of its top executives to represent the company.

Dr. Wilfred Wong, president of Sands China, and Wen Hongyan, the companys senior vice president of human resources, delivered keynote addresses at the forum, where they shared their insights about human resource management with business executives from Fortune 500 companies, the Top 500 Enterprises of China and local companies in Macau.

The two-day forums agenda also included a site visit and symposium with Sands China human resources executives to discuss the establishment and dissemination of the employer brand in the hotel industry.

Sands China is the Premium Sponsor of the 2018 Macau China International Human Capital Forum, which is focused on exploring the industrial advantages of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area in the areas of human resource management and talent development.

CTM brings festive spirit with charity center visit

To celebrate Christmas and the festive season, the CTM Volunteer Team organized a Christmas visit to the Fountain of Love and Joy Integrated Family Service Centre, delivering seasonal blessings and care to the beneficiary families.

According to a statement issued by the company, apart from giving out Christmas presents to the users of the center, the ten volunteer team members also conducted performances, including a singing and magic show.

CTM pledged to fulfill its commitment to corporate social responsibility by organizing a series of community activities, aiming to extend care and support to people in need and to build a harmonious society.

It also noted that it encourages its employees to participate in different community activities, so as to enhance the cohesion of society.With only one year remaining in Chief Executive (CE) Chui Sai Ons term, lawmaker Sulu Sou has called for a political reform plan after Macaus top official made no such mention of democracy during his 2019 Policy Address.

Sou highlighted that local residents are still unable to exercise full voting rights in the election of the CE, contrary to what is stated in Article 26 of the Basic Law, which stipulates that permanent residents shall enjoy the right to vote.

The current government has only one year remaining, but has yet to propose a political reform plan for the Chief Executive and the Legislative Assembly election. It seems that the current government has no intention of fulfilling the election commitments of the Chief Executive, said Sou in a written interpellation sent to the government.

The lawmaker recalled that Chui previously pledged to advance democracy in the SAR, specifying that in 2014 the CE mentioned in his policy address that he would steadily advance the development of democracy in Macau.

In this years and last years policy address, they also mentioned promoting the steady development of a democratic political system and promoting the development of democratic politics step by step, he recalled.

However, since the establishment of the SAR 19 years ago, according to the method of the Chief Executive, the vast majority of permanent residents in Macau are still unable to exercise full voting rights in the election of the Chief Executive, Sou added.

Sou criticized the citys highest official, claiming that Chui has no intention of fulfilling his electoral promise. Nevertheless, the lawmaker questioned the government as to whether, based on the pace of political and economic change, the SAR will conduct public consultation on political reform in the remaining one-year term, and whether it will still survey public opinion  as the CE had previously pledged.

In 2012, in the first session of the second round of public consultation on political reform, representatives of the civil service and the law supported the mainstream proposal (also described by media as 2+2 / +100 formula) to change the composition of the Legislative Assembly and the Chief Executive election committee.

According to the Basic Law, there were originally 27 legislators and then 29, with an additional two members directly elected.

In the 2013 election, the 2+2 / +100 formula was implemented, adding two more directly elected and two indirectly elected.

This election was the first of its kind to effect reform of the Legislative Assembly composition, which created four new seats: two new geographical constituency seats and two new functional constituency seats.

Today, out of the 33 seats, only 14 are elected according to universal suffrage under the highest averages method, while 12 are voted upon from the functional constituency, and seven are nominated by the chief executive. LVBy Damali Mukhaye.

The Minister for Kampala Betty Kamya has appointed the director engineering Eng Andrew kitaka as the acting director for the Kampala capital city authority.

His appointment comes days after the former ED Jennifer Musisi handed over the office to Kamya.

In a press statement released this afternoon, kamya says Kitaka will ensure continuity and smooth running of the city as they await the appointment of another director by President Yoweri Museveni.

She however says Sam Sserunkuruma who is the acting deputy director retains his title also until his replacement is announced.Germany has agreed to one-time payments for survivors, primarily Jews, who were evacuated from Nazi Germany as children, many of whom never saw their parents again, the organization that negotiates compensation with the German government said yesterday.

The New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany said the government had agreed to payments of 2,500 euros (USD2,800) to those still alive from among the 10,000 people who fled on the so-called Kindertransport.

This year is the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the transport of the children to Britain from Nazi Germany and elsewhere in Europe.

About 1,000 survivors are thought to be alive today, with about half living in Britain, and the payment is seen as a symbolic recognition of their suffering, Claims Conference negotiator Greg Schneider said.

In almost all the cases the parents who remained were killed in concentration camps in the Holocaust and they have tremendous psychological issues, Schneider told The Associated Press.

Following the Nazis anti-Jewish pogrom in November 1938 known as Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, the British government agreed to allow an unspecified number of Jewish children as refugees from Nazi Germany or territories it had annexed.

Jewish groups inside Nazi Germany planned the transports, and the first arrived in Harwich on Dec. 2, 1938, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The last transport from Germany left Sept. 1, 1939  the day World War II broke out with the Nazi invasion of Poland  and the final transport from continental Europe left the Netherlands on May 14, 1940, the same day Dutch forces surrendered to the Nazis.

In all, about 10,000 children from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland were taken to Britain, about 7,500 of whom were Jewish, according to the museum. About half were placed with foster families, while the others stayed in hostels, schools or farms.

In addition to those who remained in Britain, many resettled in the U.S., Israel, Canada, Australia and elsewhere, Schneider said.

Today, survivors are at least in their 80s and most continue to look back on their escape as the defining moment of their lives as they were put alone onto trains into the unknown, saying goodbye to parents and siblings often for the last time, Schneider said.

This money is acknowledgement that this was a traumatic, horrible thing that happened to them, he said.

Some survivors already received small payments in the 1950s but that will not bar them from receiving the new benefit, the Claims Conference said.

The Claims Conference carries out continuous negotiations with Germany to expand the number of people eligible for compensation.

Since 1952, the German government has paid more than $80 billion to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis.

In 2019, the Claims Conference will distribute approximately $350 million in direct compensation to more than 60,000 survivors in 83 countries, the organization says. In addition, it will provide some $550 million in grants to social service agencies that provide home care, food, medicine and other services for Holocaust survivors. David Rising, Berlin, APThe use of armed drones in the Middle East, driven largely by sales from China, has grown significantly in the past few years with an increasing number of countries and other parties using them in regional conflicts to lethal effects, a new report said yesterday.

The report by the Royal United Services Institute, or RUSI, found that more and more Mideast countries have acquired armed drones, either by importing them, such as Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, or by building them domestically like Israel, Iran and Turkey.

China has won sales in the Middle East and elsewhere by offering drones  otherwise known as UAVs or unmanned aerial vehicles  at lower prices and without the political conditions attached by the United States.

The Associated Press reported earlier this year that countries across the Middle East locked out of purchasing U.S.-made drones are being wooed by Chinese arms dealers, helping expand Chinese influence across a region vital to American security interest.

It noted the use of Chinese armed drones across Mideast battlefields, including in the war on Yemen, employed by the Emirati air force. Iran has also violated Israeli airspace with armed UAVs from bases in Syria, provoking armed Israeli response on the suspected bases.

The RUSI report , entitled Armed Drones in the Middle East: Proliferation and Norms in the Region, said that by capitalizing on the gap in the market over the past few years, Beijing has supplied armed drones to several countries that are not authorized to purchase them from the U.S., and at a dramatically cheaper price.

China, a no-questions-asked exporter of drones, has played and is likely to continue playing a key role as a supplier of armed UAVs to the Middle East, it said.

The report explored where and how each of the states have used their armed drones and whether they have changed the way these countries approach air power. It found that Iran, the UAE and Turkey all changed the way they employ airpower after they acquired armed drones.

For Turkey and the UAE, armed drones enabled them to conduct strikes in situations where they would not have risked using conventional aircraft, it said. Iran developed armed drones from the outset specifically to enable to project power beyond the reach of its air force, which is hamstrung by obsolete aircraft and sanctions, the report added.

The report said it remains to be seen whether and how the loosening of restrictions on the exportation of armed drones by the Trump administration will alter dynamics in the region. The administration in April permitted U.S. manufacturers to directly market and sell drones, including armed versions, although the government must still approve and license the sales.

Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, who authored the report along with Justin Bronk, said proliferation of armed drones in the Middle East is unlikely to stop and could in fact accelerate despite the changes introduced by the U.S. administration.

Over the past two years the sales have increased massively and they are likely to increase even more, she said. This kind of collaboration is just going to grow especially in cases where countries dont have the capacity to build them themselves. Zeina Karam, Beirut, APThe Sands Cares Ambassador programme is holding its year-long series of celebratory activities leading up to its 10th anniversary in August 2019, with the theme Spreading Love and Embracing Our Community.

This programme provides a platform for Sands China employees to respond to the various needs of the local community, serving it through a series of activities comprising four major pillars: reaching out to the community, enriching experiences, delivering festive joy, and happy outings.

Realizing that many team members were using their spare time to volunteer in the community, Sands China decided to formalize these efforts in 2009 through the establishment of the Sands Cares Ambassador programme.

The number of team members in the programme has increased from a couple hundred at its inception to its current membership of more than 3,300 volunteers.

The Sands Cares Ambassador programme is one of key initiatives in Macao under Sands Cares, the charitable giving programme of Sands Chinas parent company, Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Sands Cares integrates LVSs philanthropic work worldwide in four key areas: financial giving, community problem solving and collaboration, in-kind donations, and team member volunteerism.

A significant initiative of the Sands Cares Ambassadors is their work with the Macau Special Olympics (MSO) Healthy Athletes programme, which Sands China has sponsored since September 2014.

Each year, Healthy Athletes provides health examinations for people with intellectual disabilities, screens for health problems, and subsequently informs caregivers of precautions to be taken in daily life and of any medical follow-up treatment needed, which the programme subsidizes.

Sands Cares Ambassadors receive training from MSO to assist with the check-ups, and Sands China makes donations to the programme to support its work.

To date, the Healthy Athletes programme has sponsored 1,685 people with intellectual disabilities for checkups.

The programme has also subsidized 233 people with intellectual disabilities to have follow-up treatment.

MSOs Healthy Athletes programme has helped many of its members since its launch.

We have been trying to improve our system as Sands China really cares about the community so we understand and see what these families need. The ambassadors understand and feel what our clients go through; we will create a better society for the future when we have volunteers like this, said Hetzer Siu, chief executive officer of MSO.

Sands China provides us with manpower and they give us funding to support our clients to have follow-up treatment and that is important for us, he added.

Siu also thanked Sands China for its support to Macau Special Olympics since 2005. MSO has been in cooperation with Sands China since the establishment of the Ambassador programme, as MSO members have been invited to various activities including bowling, the Light the Night Run at The Parisian Macaos Eiffel Tower, and other events.

Echoing the same sentiments, president of the board of directors of the General Union of Neighborhood Associations of Macao, Ng Siu Lai, commended the gaming operator for its tireless effort in providing assistance for the past nine years.

Sands China has provided support to our single-living elderly with the Peng On Tung Tele-Assistance programme, and they also visit them and do cleaning initiatives during festive seasons and give them gifts every year, said Ng.

They also give us assistance in promoting how to take care of our elderly, she added.

Additionally, as part of the programmes ongoing celebratory activities, a group of 25 Sands Cares Ambassadors hosted 100 members of the Macau Autism Association December 8 at The Parisian Macao and The Venetian Macao, taking them to Qube Kingdom and the Keith Haring Maze Macao, and painting recycled bottles with them  providing opportunities for autistic children to interact and play with their parents, and gain creative inspiration.

The activity served to raise awareness of autism while exploring and demonstrating the potential of autistic children, helping them integrate into society.

The Sands Cares Ambassador programme was established in a bid to give Sands China team members a platform for serving the local community by organizing community activities and initiatives that work toward creating a better Macao. With membership comprising volunteers from across all Sands China properties  Sands Macao, The Venetian Macao, The Plaza Macao, Sands Cotai Central and The Parisian Macao  the Sands Cares Ambassadors have contributed 95,000 hours of voluntary community service since the programmes founding.

Dr. Wong, president of Sands China Ltd., said: The Sands Cares Ambassador programme will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year. Corporate social responsibility is at the core of Sands Chinas business philosophy, and we are very proud of the efforts of our Sands Cares Ambassadors. Through their caring, compassion, and service to others, they represent some of the best qualities of the human spirit. Their dedication to service benefits the local community, and that same commitment manifests itself in their interactions with our guests and with their fellow team members at work.

Over years of engaging societys most vulnerable, Sands China has initiated or supported a wide range of community outreach events.

Through a variety of activity formats, memorable and moving experiences are created for the volunteers and the beneficiaries.

Efforts include reaching out to communities through events like friendly competitions and creating arts and crafts with people with intellectual disabilities; acquiring enriching experiences like learning sign language and experiencing a silence workshop; delivering festive joy in visits to live-alone elderly during Chinese New Year; and enjoying happy outings that bring underprivileged families to various exhibitions at The Venetian Macao.

This article is sponsored by

Sands China Ltd.

What the sands cares ambassadors say

The company provides us a platform that gives us the opportunity to serve those people in need. It gives me inspiration serving those who are in need, as it is a very enriching experience; as a result, Im able to share with others how we can help and gather resources to make a better community.  Constance Cheang, associate director of business and event services for Venetian Macao Limited

Our volunteers gain more empathy and insight on how to improve harmony in society. From simple visits to participation in community events, the effect of volunteerism is magnified as our ambassadors spread these efforts through word-of-mouth. Thus, our volunteers, who are of different nationalities, have raised awareness on social inclusion  which is one of the programmes aims.  Annie Lam, director of community affairs for Venetian Macau LimitedThe U.S. military says it has carried out six airstrikes in the Gandarshe area of Somalia which killed a total of 62 al-Shabab extremist rebels.

In a statement issued yesterday, the U.S. militarys Africa Command said it carried out four strikes on Dec. 15 in which 34 people were killed and two more on Dec. 16 which killed 28. All the air attacks were in the Gandarshe coastal area south of the capital, Mogadishu, it said.

No civilians were injured or killed in the attacks, it said.

All six strikes were carried out in close coordination with Somalias government, it said. The airstrikes were conducted to prevent al-Shabab from using remote areas as a safe haven to plot, direct, inspire, and recruit for future attacks, it said.

Al-Shabab uses parts of southern and central Somalia to plot and direct extremist attacks, steal humanitarian aid, extort the local populace to fund its operations, and shelter radicals, said the statement.

With these attacks, the U.S. military has carried out at least 46 airstrikes so far this year against al-Shabab, which is allied to al-Qaida and Africas most active Islamic extremist group. Al Shabab controls parts of rural southern and central Somalia and continues to stage deadly attacks in Mogadishu and other cities.

The U.S. airstrikes have picked up dramatically since President Donald Trump took office and approved expanded military operations in the Horn of Africa nation. Airstrikes also target a small presence of fighters linked to the Islamic State group. APBy Ivan Ssenabulya.

Democratic Party have hit at FDC demanding that they withdrawal from the Inter Party Organization for Dialogue, if they cant respect the MOU of IPOD.

The party secretary General Gerald Siranda who was responding to FDC who absented themselves from last weeks IPOD summit, the summit is an organ of the organization they had to attend.

He has expressed disappointment for FDCs absence because they had fully participated in the earlier processes.

Siranda says the summit was a great opportunity for them to engage the NRM chairperson Yoweri Museveni on the long desired national issues.

Related Stories..

NRM blasts FDC at IPOD summitBy Damali Mukhaye.

Miss Uganda Quiin Abenakyo who was crowned as Miss World Africa at the 2018 Miss World finale in China returns back into the country tomorrow; with the Uganda tourism board slated to receive her back as a heroine.

The deputy chief executive officer of the board John Ssempebwa on Tuesday told journalists at the Uganda Media Center that she will be received as a heroine after she lifted the flag of the country high in China.

He said that after receiving her from Entebbe international airport, Abenakyo will be drive straight to State house to meet president Museveni and the first family

He said that the Minister of Tourism will then announce the position she will be holding in the tourism board among other benefits she will get from the government during her meeting with the President at State house.

Abenakyo lands at Entebbe airport at 1.30 pm Thursday.

Related Stories

Kadaga asks MPS to vote for Ugandas beauty starScanning electron microscope image of Vibrio cholerae. Credit: Wikipedia

The enormous adaptability of the cholera bacterium explains why it is able to claim so many victims. Professor Ariane Briegel from the Leiden Institute of Biology has now discovered that this adaptability is due to rapid sensory changes in the bacterium. Her research has been published in PNAS.

The Vibrio cholerae bacterium is the cause of cholera, a devastating illness that affects millions of people every year, particularly in Africa. Victims usually become infected after ingesting contaminated food or waste. The symptoms are severe diarrhoea and vomiting. One particular characteristic of the bacterium is its ability to thrive in very different environments, and to adapt rapidly to these environments. A research team from the Institute of Biology in Leiden and the Max Planck Institute, headed by Leiden Professor of Ultrastructural Biology Ariane Briegel, now states in PNAS that this rapid adaptation can be attributed to fast structural changes in the bacteria's sensory organ.

Enormously variable array of molecules

The cholera bacterium can navigate to its preferred environment. It scans the environment constantly and detects changes in the presence of nutrients, after which it moves in the direction of these food sources, using a system of rotating tails, known as flagella. "The bacterium is able to detect nutrients using a highly developed sensory organ made up of thousands of chemo-receptor molecules," Briegel explains. "These molecules are located close together in a hexagonal array." This arrangement, which probably occurs in all bacteria, has been studied for several decades in the E.coli model organism. Using the cryo-electron microscope at NeCEN (the Netherlands Centre for Electron Nanoscopy), we saw that the arrangement of the molecules is more variable in cholera bacteria than in E.coli."

The sensory organ probably also changes structure when the bacteria enter a human cell, or when they infects a person. According to the researchers, this is also the reason why it is so easy for the bacteria to infect its victims. This characteristic explains how the bacteria are able to make so many people throughout the world sick. For some people, especially children, the resulting dehydration can be fatal.

This discovery brings the development of new medicines to combat cholera a step closer, Briegel explains. "There are already medicines, such as antibiotics, but they have a lot of disadvantages. Antibiotics destroy healthy as well as unhealthy bacteria and there is also the problem of immunity. If you know more about the signals and the substances that the bacteria receive and then themselves excrete, you can probably also make substances that make sure that the bacteria are removed from the cell. This could be the basis for new medicines."

Explore further Researchers clearly image internal and external structure of bacteria

More information: Wen Yang et al. Baseplate variability of Vibrio cholerae chemoreceptor arrays, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2018). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Wen Yang et al. Baseplate variability of Vibrio cholerae chemoreceptor arrays,(2018). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1811931115Dena Dubal MD, PhD, senior author of the study (center). Credit: University of California, San Francisco

Around the world, women outlive men. This is true in sickness and in health, in war and in peace, even during severe epidemics and famine. In most animal species, females live longer than males.

Now, scientists at UC San Francisco have zeroed in on a possible genetic mechanism for this highly durable phenomenon, that  while it does not preclude the influence of other biological, social and environmental factors  suggests an important role for the second X chromosome, which is present in female mammals. The X chromosome contains many genes related to the brain, and it is crucial for survival. Without at least one X, an animal cannot live. The Y chromosome, present only in males, contains very few genes other than those that create secondary sex characteristics, like male genitals and facial hair, and it is not necessary for survival.

The researchers gave experimental mice four different combinations of chromosomes and gonads: the two found in nature  XX with ovaries and XY with testes  and two others created in the laboratory  XX testes and XY ovaries. The mice were genetically identical except for their sex chromosomes, but even when everything else about them, including their environment, was the same, having two X chromosomes promoted survival. When two X chromosomes were combined with ovaries, the mice lived to the furthest edges of the mouse lifespan.

"We've long wondered what causes female longevity," said Dena Dubal MD, Ph.D., associate professor of neurology at UCSF and senior author of the study published in Aging Cell. Dubal is the David Coulter Endowed Chair in Aging and Neurodegenerative Disease, and a member of the Weill Institute for Neurosciences at UCSF. "One can imagine nature has driven females to evolve this way. When you're living longer, you can really ensure the well-being of your offspring, and maybe even their offspring."

The experiment, conducted by Emily Davis, a student in the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program at UCSF, is the first mechanistic study to show that females live longer than males, and that XX largely governs this trait in aging mice. It took several years to complete, since the mice were observed until they either died or survived until 30 months. Dubal and her team used the Four Core Genotypes (FCG) model developed two decades ago and then championed by UCLA scientist Arthur Arnold, Ph.D., for rigorous study of sex differences.

The technique manipulates the Sry gene, which normally resides on the Y chromosome and causes testes and other masculine features to develop. In the FCG mice, Sry has been moved to a different chromosome that does not determine sex, so it can be inherited whether or not a mouse has a Y chromosome.

The researchers found that having both female sex chromosomes and female gonads extended life in mice that were 12 to 30 months old, the mouse equivalent of midlife to old age. But most of the effect came from the sex chromosomes. The XX mice lived longer than the XY mice, whether either one had ovaries or testes. But the mice that lived the longest had ovaries, in addition to two X chromosomes  in other words, they displayed natural female mouse biology.

"This suggests that the hormones produced by female gonads increase lifespan in mice with two X chromosomes, either by influencing how the mouse develops or by activating certain biological pathways during their lives," Dubal said.

When comparing the two different types of genetically female mice  those with ovaries and those with testes  the researchers found having two X chromosomes plus ovaries enabled mice to live longer, beginning at 21 months, which is toward the end of a normal mouse lifespan. But for the laboratory mice who were genetically female but hormonally male  two X chromosomes plus testes  the second X chromosome only protected them from dying earlier in life without extending their lives beyond the normal mouse lifespan. These benefits trailed off by the time the mice were 23 months old.

"For an expanded lifespan, the mice needed to have ovaries working with XX," said Iryna Lobach, Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF, who did the statistical analysis that found these cutoff points. "But in terms of living a normal lifespan, it didn't matter if they had ovaries or testes. As long as they had XX, they escaped early death during aging."

A neurologist and neuroscientist who specializes in healthy aging, Dubal is actively investigating how the X and Y chromosomes exert such far-reaching influences.

"We don't yet understand how the second X chromosome decreases mortality in aging," she said.

But there is much in the scientific literature to suggest the profoundly protective effect of having a second X chromosome. In females, half of the XX pair is randomly "silenced"  or turned off  in each cell of the body. So when there are defects, cells with the healthy X can compensate for those with the unhealthy X. And even without defects, the X that is silent still expresses itself somewhat, causing more X chromosome to be expressed in each female cell compared to male cells. Dubal said another possible explanation, which remains to be tested, is that the Y could somehow be harmful.

"When things go wrong in aging, having more of the X chromosome, along with its diversity of expression, could be really beneficial," Dubal said.

More information: Emily J. Davis et al. Female XX sex chromosomes increase survival and extend lifespan in aging mice, Aging Cell (2018). Journal information: Aging Cell Emily J. Davis et al. Female XX sex chromosomes increase survival and extend lifespan in aging mice,(2018). DOI: 10.1111/acel.12871Credit: CC0 Public Domain

In recent years, public health officials have warned about a rising epidemic of loneliness, with rates of loneliness reportedly doubling over the past 50 years. In a new study, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine put a specific, concerning and surprising face to the issue.

Publishing in the December 18 online issue of International Psychogeriatrics, a team led by Dilip Jeste, MD, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Neurosciences and director of the UC San Diego Center for Healthy Aging, found that moderate to severe loneliness persisted across the adult lifespan, but was particularly acute during three age periods: late-20s, mid-50s and late-80s.

Loneliness was also more prevalent than expected, according to the scientists. Three-fourths of study participants reported moderate to high levels of loneliness, using a well-established assessment scale. The figure represents a substantial increase from previously reported prevalence estimates in the U.S. general population, which have ranged from 17 to 57 percent.

"This is noteworthy because the participants in this study were not considered to be at high risk for moderate to severe loneliness. They didn't have major physical disorders. Nor did they suffer from significant mental illnesses such as depression or schizophrenia, in which you might expect loneliness to be problematic," said Jeste. "Though there were clear demographic limitations to the group, these participants were, generally speaking, regular people."

Specifically, the study was conducted in 340 San Diego County residents, between the ages of 27 and 101, who had participated in one of three earlier studies of aging and mental health. Persons with serious physical or psychological ailments, including diagnosed dementia, were excluded, as were persons living in nursing homes or requiring substantial living assistance.

The researchers assessed participants using multiple measures, including the well-established, 20-point UCLA Loneliness Scale, Version 3; a four-item, self-reported measure of social isolation developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the San Diego Wisdom Scale, created by Jeste and colleagues to assess an individual's level of wisdom, based on the conceptualization of wisdom as a trait with a neurobiological as well as psychosocial basis, and thus modifiable.

Excluding evidence of mild loneliness, which Jeste said is common and expected to occasionally appear throughout adult life, the researchers found that loneliness severity and age "had a complex relationship," peaking at specific periods in both men and women. There were no sex differences in loneliness prevalence, severity, or age relationships.

Concern about the individual and societal effects of loneliness have been much in the news, most notably related to its health implications. Former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has said a prevailing pall of loneliness in the United States poses a greater, more intractable public health crisis than tobacco use or obesity. Earlier this year, the United Kingdom established a Ministry of Loneliness to address the psychosocial and health needs of lonely people.

First author Ellen Lee, MD, a research fellow in geriatric mental health in the UC San Diego School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, characterized the study's findings as both bad news and good news. On the negative side, she said, moderate to severe loneliness appears to be highly prevalent throughout adult life. "And loneliness seems to be associated with everything bad. It's linked to poor mental health, substance abuse, cognitive impairment, and worse physical health, including malnutrition, hypertension and disrupted sleep."

On the plus side, Lee noted that the UC San Diego group found a strong inverse association between wisdom and loneliness. People who were deemed wiser were less lonely. "That may be due to the fact that behaviors which define wisdom, such as empathy, compassion, emotional regulation, self-reflection, effectively counter or prevent serious loneliness."

Clearly, said Jeste, more research needs to be done. These are early days for the emerging sciences of wisdom and loneliness. This study, according to its authors, is the first known to assess loneliness using multiple measures with a well-characterized sample and broad age range and which examined both negative and positive psychological traits and states.

"There are more gaps in knowledge than there are answers at the moment," said Jeste. "But these findings suggest we need to think about loneliness differently. It's not about social isolation. A person can be alone and not feel lonely, while a person can be in a crowd and feel alone. We need to find solutions and interventions that help connect people that help them to become wiser. A wiser society would be a happier, more connected, and less lonely society."

Explore further Study investigates link between loneliness and age in elderly New Zealanders

More information: Ellen E. Lee et al, High prevalence and adverse health effects of loneliness in community-dwelling adults across the lifespan: role of wisdom as a protective factor, International Psychogeriatrics (2018). Ellen E. Lee et al, High prevalence and adverse health effects of loneliness in community-dwelling adults across the lifespan: role of wisdom as a protective factor,(2018). DOI: 10.1017/S1041610218002120Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Due to their powerful tumour-killing effect, metal-based chemotherapies are frequently used in cancer treatment. However, it was hitherto assumed that they damaged the immune system, because of their cytotoxic (cell-damaging) effect even against dividing healthy cells. In a scientific review produced by the Translational Cancer Therapy Research cluster, established by the University of Vienna and MedUni Vienna, it has now been demonstrated that the opposite is true: metal-based chemotherapies can even boost the immune response against cancer and hence strengthen immunotherapies, because they render the cancer cells visible and eliminate inhibitory components of the immune system, amongst other things. The article appeared in Chemical Reviews.

In its review, the inter-university Translational Cancer Therapy Research cluster examined all the papers (more than 1,300 scientific articles in total) relating to the interaction between the immune system and metal chemotherapy drugs. As well as looking at publications from the last 30 years or so, lead author Walter Berger from MedUni Vienna and his colleagues also discuss new aspects and provide a comprehensive overview.

Combination therapies are the future

Walter Berger, Deputy Head of MedUni Vienna's Institute of Cancer Research, member of the Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) of MedUni Vienna/Vienna General Hospital and one of the two directors of the interuniversity research cluster explains: "Even viewed from a global perspective, we are one of the few translational research clusters where experts in synthesis chemistry, basic researchers in cell and molecular biology and clinical oncologists work directly together to develop new cancer treatments. And that is why we were invited to produce this review. The results clearly show that the combination of metal chemotherapy drugs and immunotherapies are among the most promising current and future treatment concepts."

Synergistic effects

The explanation behind this finding is this. Every cancer follows a long fight by the immune system against the potential cancer cells, which the immune system eventually loses. This happens because the tumour either manages to go undetected as something foreign or manages to control the immune cells and immobilise them. Metal chemotherapy drugs not only destroy tumour cells but preferentially also the "burnt out" or inhibitory components of the immune system. In response to this, the immune system renews itself from stem cells so that it is rejuvenated, as it were, and fully functional to resume the fight against cancer.

Metal-based chemotherapy therefore enhances the effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors. The reason for this is that cancer cells develop from the body's own cells. The immune system is trained to protect endogenous cells and therefore finds it difficult to detect tumour cells. Metal-based chemotherapies can now kill the tumour cells as they mutate during the process of disintegration. This "otherness" renders them once again visible to the immune system and therefore open to attack, a mechanism known as immunogenic cell death. In parallel, the tumour cells strive to combat the effect of the chemotherapy drug by increasing their mutation rate. However, each new mutation that is produced in this way can potentially be more easily recognised by the rejuvenated immune system. Hence the immune system seems to preferentially attack chemo-resistant tumour cell clones.

Explore further New transmission route discovered for malignant pleural mesothelioma

More information: Bernhard Englinger et al. Metal Drugs and the Anticancer Immune Response, Chemical Reviews (2018). Journal information: Chemical Reviews Bernhard Englinger et al. Metal Drugs and the Anticancer Immune Response,(2018). DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00396Mosquito larvae need a body of water to mature in. Credit: James Gathany, CDC

Notorious for spreading diseases like malaria and Zika virus overseas, mosquitoes contribute to thousands of cases of human disease in Australia each year. But only half of Australia's approximately 400 different species of mosquitoes have been scientifically named and described. So how are scientists able to tell the unnamed species apart?

Climate change means population change

Mosquito populations and our ability to predict disease outbreaks are likely to change in the future. As climates change, disease-carrying mozzies who love the heat may spread further south into populated cities.

As human populations continue to grow in Australia, they will interact with different communities of wild animals that act as disease reservoirs, as well as different mosquito species that may be capable of carrying these diseases. The expansion of agricultural and urban water storages will also create new homes for mosquito larvae to mature, allowing mosquitoes to spread further throughout the country.

Agents of disease

Mosquitoes like the native Common Banded Mosquito (Culex annulirostris) are known to spread human diseases such as Ross River virus, Barmah Forest virus, Dengue fever and Murray Valley encephalitis.

It's not the adult mosquito itself that causes the disease, but the viruses and other microbes that accumulate in the mosquito's saliva and are injected into the bloodstream of the unsuspecting victim during feeding.

The life cycle of a mosquito. Credit: www.shutterstock.com

The mosquitoes that bite humans are female, requiring the proteins in blood to ripen their eggs and reach sexual maturity. Male mosquitoes, and females of some species, are completely vegetarian, opting to drink nectar from flowers, and are useful pollinators.

The name game

Mosquitoes belong to the fly family Culicidae and are an important part of our biodiversity. There are more than 3,680 known species of mosquitoes in the world. Taxonomists, scientists who classify organisms, have been able to formally name more than 230 species in Australia.

The classification of Australian mosquitoes tapered off in the 1980s with the publication of the last volume of The Culicidae of the Australasian Region and passing of Dr. Elizabeth Marks who was the most important contributor to our understanding of Australian mosquitoes.

She left behind 171 unique species with code numbers like "Culex sp No. 32", but unfortunately these new species were never formally described and remained unnamed after her death. This isn't uncommon in biodiversity research, as biologists estimate that we've only named 25% of life on earth during a time when there is an alarming decline in the taxonomic workforce.

Dr. Marks' unnamed species are still held in Australian entomology collections, like CSIRO's Australian National Insect Collection, Museum Victoria and the Queensland Museum. Although all the major disease-carrying species of mosquitoes are known in the world, several of Marks' undescribed Australian species are blood feeding and may have the capacity to transmit diseases.

A 100 year old specimen of the native Common Banded Mosquito Culex annulirostris, capable of spreading Murray Valley encephalitis virus, one of 12 million specimens held in CSIROs Australian National Insect Collection in Canberra. Credit: CSIRO/Dr Bryan Lessard

How do we tell mozzies apart?

Naming, describing and establishing the correct classification of Australia's mosquitoes is the first step to understanding their role in disease transmission. This is difficult work as adults are small and fragile, and important diagnostic features that are used to tell species apart, like antennae, legs and even tiny scales, are easily lost or damaged.

CSIRO scientists, with support from the Australian Biological Resources Study, Government of Western Australia Department of Health, and University of Queensland, have been tasked with naming Australia's undescribed mosquitoes. New species will be named and described based on the appearance of the adults and infant larval stages which are commonly intercepted by mozzie surveillance officers. New identification tools will also be created so others can quickly and reliably identify the Australian species.

Scientists are now able to extract DNA and sequence the entire mitochondrial genome from very old museum specimens. CSIRO are using these next generation techniques to generate a reliable DNA reference database of Australian mosquitoes to be used by other researchers and mozzie surveillance officers to accurately identify specimens and diagnose new species. CSIRO are also digitising museum specimens to unlock distribution data and establish the geographical boundaries for the Australian species.

By naming and describing new species, we will gain a more complete picture of our mosquito fauna, and its role in disease transmission. This will make us better prepared to manage our mosquitoes and human health in the future as the climate changes and our growing human population moves into new areas of Australia.

Explore further A new way to thwart disease-spreading mosquitoes

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.Credit: Albert-Ludwigs-Universitat Freiburg

The brain is organized into a super-network of specialized networks of nerve cells. For such a brain architecture to function, these specialized networks  each located in a different brain area  need to be able to communicate with each other. But which conditions are required for communication to take place, and which control mechanisms work? Researchers at the Bernstein Center Freiburg and colleagues in Spain and Sweden are proposing a new model that combines three seemingly different explanatory models. Their conclusions have now been published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

The synthesis of Dr. Gerald Hahn (Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona/Spain), Prof. Dr. Ad Aertsen (Bernstein Center Freiburg), Prof. Dr. Arvind Kumar (formerly Bernstein Center Freiburg, now KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm/Sweden) and colleagues is based on the theory of dynamic systems and takes particular account of how the level of activity of the respective networks influences the exchange of information. The study combines three prominent explanatory models that have been proposed in recent years: synfire communication, communication through coherence and communication through resonance.

"We believe that our work helps to provide a better understanding as to how neuron populations interact, depending on the state of their network activity, and whether messages from a neuron group in brain area A can reach a neuron group in brain area B or not," says Arvind Kumar. "This insight is an essential prerequisite in understanding not only how a brain functions locally, within a limited area of the brain, but also more globally, across whole brain areas."

The scientists were particularly interested in what role activity rhythms occurring in the brainknown as oscillationsplay in communication. Typically these oscillations can affect anything from a large group of neurons up to entire brain areas and can either be slow, such as alpha or theta rhythms, or fast, such as the gamma rhythm. In their theoretical model, the researchers were able to show that the interaction of these rhythms with each other plays a significant role in determining whether communication between networks can take place or not. Certain types of interlocking of these rhythms could act as important control mechanisms.

"The possibility of exchanging information depends on many factors, for example whether the oscillations are fast or slow, the frequencies are similar or different, the relationship between the phases and so on," explains Ad Aertsen. "With our model, we are now able to make specific predictions for each of these cases. The next step will be to test these predictions in experiments."

Explore further How nerve cells communicate with each other over long distances

More information: Gerald Hahn et al. Portraits of communication in neuronal networks, Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2018). Journal information: Nature Reviews Neuroscience Gerald Hahn et al. Portraits of communication in neuronal networks,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41583-018-0094-0Russell de Souza, first author of the study and assistant professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at McMaster University. Credit: McMaster University

Where you live in Canada may play a role in your risk of major diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.

Researchers at McMaster University have identified trends linking health and lifestyle factors like access to public transit, the variety of fresh fruits and vegetables in grocery stores, the prices of popular foods, the availability and prices of cigarettes and alcohol, and the promotion, or lack thereof, of healthy foods in restaurants.

The study findings, based on detailed data collected across Canada's 10 provinces, were published today in the journal Cities and Health. An interactive online map for public use showing the data by postal code is available at: http://cvcdcontextual.mcmaster.ca.

"We found there are significant differences in environmental factors that may contribute to health, and that these differed between urban and rural communities, as well as when we compared eastern with western, and northern with southern communities," said Russell de Souza, first author of the study and assistant professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at McMaster.

He is also a research associate at the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) of McMaster and Hamilton Health Sciences.

"We believe that this information shows there are factors outside of a person's control that influence the individual's health, and these factors likely differ depending on where they live."

The main findings of the study are:

provincial and urban-rural differences exist in availability of fruits and vegetables, and advertising differs between provinces more so than between urban and rural communities;

rural communities face higher food prices, are more subject to seasonal variation in fruit and vegetable selection, and generally see less promotion of healthy restaurant options and availability of nutritional information at restaurants than urban communities;

in-store advertising for sweet drinks, and junk food are more frequent than in-store advertisements for tobacco products;

cigarette prices are lower and the variety of brands is greater in urban than in rural tobacco stores; and are lowest in central Canada, where there is both more in-store advertising for cigarettes and signage prohibiting smoking in stores; and

alcohol prices are lowest in Quebec.

More than 2,000 on-the-ground assessments conducted in all of the provinces were collected by trained auditors between 2014 and 2016. The assessment tool was adapted from the McMaster-led Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study that simultaneously assesses multiple contextual factors within communities and has been used internationally.

De Souza said the research was driven by concern about health trends in the nation.

"The rapid increase of overweight and obese Canadians and the associated consequences, including hypertension and diabetes, is a major health problem and threatens to halt the declines in cardiovascular disease deaths that Canada has experienced in the past 30 years," said de Souza.

"Knowledge gaps exist regarding the impact of the built environmentor the human-made physical surroundingson how someone develops risk factors like high blood pressure, and the variation of these built environments across Canada by region and rurality."

The researchers were unsurprised to find that the environmental factor trends aligned with health outcomes tracked in other studies.

"Previous Canadian studies have shown that people living in the east have a higher risk of developing heart disease than people living in the west," said de Souza.

"We also see people who live in rural environments tend to have poorer health than people who live in urban environments.

"This study helps us to understand what we call the 'causes of the causes' of diseases like cardiovascular disease. For example, what are the factors that lead to the development of high blood pressure, which can later lead to a stroke or high cholesterol, which later turns into a heart attack?"

De Souza said the researchers decided at the start of the study the data would be presented in an online, interactive map to convey the information from the community contextual health audits.

"We think presenting our data in this way offers a platform for policy makers, public health professionals and community members to collaborate to build healthier environments and fix the problems," de Souza said.

"By understanding how the built environment plays a role, we can intervene both at an individual level, as well as at a community level. It's one thing for your doctor to tell you that you need to eat more fruits and vegetables to lower your blood pressure, but what if your grocery store prices are so high that you cannot afford them? Or if to get to your grocery store, you have to drive for 30 minutes? If five to 10 servings of fruit and/or vegetables are recommended daily, we should advocate for everyone to be able to afford and access those servings."

The study was a component of the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM), led by Sonia Anand, professor of medicine at McMaster, senior scientist of PHRI, and vascular medicine specialist at Hamilton Health Sciences.

CAHHM is a multi-ethnic cohort study being conducted in Canada. The study aims to understand the association of socio-environmental and contextual factors, such as societal structure, activity, nutrition, social and tobacco environments, and access to health services, in relation to risk factors of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases.

"This study is unique because it will enable comparisons between communities within a region, province, and across the country. Place matters as our environment affects our health behaviours without our realizing it," said Anand, the Heart and Stroke Foundation / Michael G. DeGroote Chair in Population Health Research McMaster.

"We are making these data available to other researchers and health planners so they can further quantify the impact of the built environment on health, and to help in the building of healthier communities," she added.

As for the best place to live in Canada's 10 provinces based on study results, de Souza said it depends on your health habits and preferences.

"I would want to live somewhere that makes it easiest to change any behaviour that may be harming my health," he said. "For example, if I were a smoker, I would want to live in a place where it was hard for me to get cigarettes. If I were having a difficult time eating healthy, I would want to live somewhere where it was easy for me to walk to a grocery store and buy affordable fresh fruits and vegetables."

De Souza noted the three territories were not included in the study due to geographical limitations for the research team.

The CAHHM project is funded by Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) through the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium.

Anne Simard, chief mission and research officer of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, said: "This study demonstrates that rural, including northern and remote communities continue to face inequities with respect to access to healthy food options and even nutrition information in restaurants. This underscores the need for policies to improve nutrition in these communities."

Craig Earle, vice president of cancer control with the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, added: "The importance of these findings is that they highlight disparities that contribute to different health outcomes depending on where you live. There are things we can collectively take action on today."

Explore further The study shows implications of access to high-quality fruits and vegetables(HealthDay)Pediatric providers need to be aware of the impact of psychosocial factors on the health and wellness of children and youth with special health care needs and their families, according to a clinical report published online Dec. 17 in Pediatrics.

Gerri Mattson, M.D., M.S.P.H., from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in Raleigh, and colleagues note that medical home teams can partner with children and youth with special health care needs and their families to screen for, assess, and promote psychosocial health to increase protective factors and reduce risk factors.

The authors state that medical home teams can help promote protective psychosocial factors as part of coordinated, comprehensive chronic care. Such a team-based approach can include collaboration with behavioral health providers, specialists, child care providers, schools, social services, and other community agencies. Recommendations in the report include timely assessments of child social-emotional health, parental and/or caregiver depression, and social determinants of health. In addition, pediatric practices should be prepared to make referrals and conduct follow-up to ensure needed services are received.

"The American Academy of Pediatrics urges pediatricians to promote protective psychosocial factors as part of a coordinated comprehensive care for children with special needs and their families," Mattson said in a statement. "A team-based approach with community partners such as child care and schools can help with the mitigation of risk factors and promotion of protective factors such as healthy parenting techniques, stress reduction, and social services, to increase resiliency."

Copyright  2018 HealthDay. All rights reserved.In a tuberculosis screening and treatment initiative covering the entire population of Tibetan refugee schoolchildren in northern India, a team directed by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of Wisconsin says it has found not only a startlingly high prevalence of TB disease and infection, but also a potentially workable strategy to eliminate the disease in a large, high-risk group.

"Our innovative initiative includes population-level implementation of TB preventive therapy as part of a multipronged strategy to control and eliminate TB in an at-risk population in India," says lead study author Kunchok Dorjee, Ph.D., M.B.B.S. Dorjee is a research associate at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the Zero TB in Tibetan Kids projectan initiative implemented locally by the Delek Hospital in Tibet and the Central Tibetan Administration health and education departments. "With the support of local leadership and community mobilization, including support from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, we have demonstrated that TB control can be achieved on a population level. The findings provide a benchmark to measure and compare progress toward elimination in the future."

Findings from the first year of the initiative were published in the December issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Tibetan refugees in India have high rates of TB, and many children live in congregate settings such as boarding schools, say the researchers. For the study, program staff members first met with parents, educators and home mothers at boarding schools to gain their support. Then, they screened children in Tibetan schools class by class. Using the schools' administrative records, the researchers ensured that every student and staff member was screenedthey were screened for TB symptoms such as cough, fever and night sweats, and were interviewed about TB exposure history. Those presenting with TB symptoms were further evaluated using chest X-ray and laboratory testing. People with no prior history of TB also underwent tuberculin skin testing, a field-friendly screening tool that allows clinicians to diagnose TB infection by measuring immune response.

Between April 2017 and March 2018, the Zero TB in Tibetan Kids project conducted school-based screening for TB disease and infection among a total of 5,391 children and 786 staff members in seven boarding schools and four day schools in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Children ranged in age from 5 to 19. Active TB disease was found in 46 children and one staff member, for a prevalence in children of 853 per 100,000. An active TB case-finding campaign by the Johns Hopkins Center for Tuberculosis Research and the Delek Hospital in Tibet from 2011 to 2013 identified a prevalence of 394 cases per 100,000 among Tibetan schoolchildren in India, much lower than the current findings. For the current study, the researchers say that nearly one in five children in this population has TB infection. Worldwide, an estimated one in 28 children has TB infection according to a 2014 Lancet Global Health study.

TB infection without disease was detected in 930 of 5,234 schoolchildren (18 percent) and 334 of 634 staff members (53 percent). TB rates among children in the boarding schools in Dharamsala (which is in Himachal Pradesh) are about five to eight times higher than the average for India, China or globally. The rates are higher for a variety of reasons, says Dorjee, who was born and raised in the Tibetan refugee community. About 26 percent of students reported exposure to someone with active TB in the previous two years at school.

All those found to have active TB were treated with a standard six-month course of antibiotics, while those with drug-resistant TB received a prolonged course of combination drugs. A three-month course of daily preventive therapy (isoniazid and rifampicin) was provided to 799 of 930 (86 percent) schoolchildren and 101 of 334 (30 percent) staff members with TB infection. The Zero TB program paid for the study drugs, with support from the Johns Hopkins Center for Tuberculosis Research.

While treatment adherence tends to be a challenge in many populations impacted by TB, most participants in this study (nearly 95 percent, or 857) successfully completed their drug regimen for TB prevention. Less than 2 percent of the participants (12 people) were unable to complete the full recommended therapy, mostly due to side effects. Therapy was ongoing for 3 percent of the participants at the time of the study's publication.

The program staff is now conducting follow-up examinations of schoolchildren and staff members every six months, Dorjee says. In 2018, the program was expanded to screen Tibetan refugees living in monasteries and nunneries in the region.

"Through comprehensive approaches that include TB case-finding, treatment and preventive therapy, TB control in high-burden settings is achievable," says the project's principal investigator Richard Chaisson, M.D., professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Tuberculosis Research.

After China invaded Tibet in the 1950s, many Tibetans fled to India and settled in exile in Dharamsala, now home to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan central government, Dorjee explains. It is unknown whether the community previously had any immunity to TB, but exposure to the new environment in India, plus communal living in refugee areas and schools, and cold winter weather discouraging ventilation, provided a means for the infection to spread easily.

Approximately 1 million children worldwide develop tuberculosis and 250,000 die of the disease annually, the authors note. The average cost to treat the condition for a patient in the U.S. is $19,000 for drug-susceptible TB and $164,000 for multidrug-resistant TB. Globally, the average treatment cost is $1,224 for drug-susceptible TB and $7,141 for drug-resistant TB.

More information: Kunchok Dorjee et al. High Prevalence of Active and Latent Tuberculosis in Children and Adolescents in Tibetan Schools in India: The Zero TB Kids Initiative in Tibetan Refugee Children, Clinical Infectious Diseases (2018). Journal information: Clinical Infectious Diseases Kunchok Dorjee et al. High Prevalence of Active and Latent Tuberculosis in Children and Adolescents in Tibetan Schools in India: The Zero TB Kids Initiative in Tibetan Refugee Children,(2018). DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciy987Researchers who have undertaken the first systematic review of into the use of traditional, complementary and alternative medicines (TCAM) in Sub-Saharan Africa found its use is significant and not just because of a lack of resources or access to "conventional medicine".

Researchers from the Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in Australia conducted what they say is the first empirical study into TCAM in the region. The paper "Traditional, complementary and alternative medicine use in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review", in the journal BMJ Global Health, looked at 180 studies on TCAM use in the region between 2006 and 2017.

"Health departments and governments across the region must acknowledge that TCAM is here to stay and seek to understand the challenges and opportunities this presents for health care," says University of Sierra Leone lecturer and UTS doctoral candidate Peter Bai James, who led the study.

Their review found relatively high use of TCAM alone, or in combination with conventional medicine, in the general population and for specific health conditions such as pregnancy, cancer and malaria.

TCAM useespecially TCAM productswas "significant", the researchers found, with up to 94% of the population in Nigeria and Ethiopia and an average of just under 60% across the studies. The researchers acknowledged the available articles came from just four countries and were not always of the highest quality, highlighting the need for further public health research in this area.

Biological-based therapies such as herbal therapy were the most common TCAM used in Sub-Saharan Africa, followed by faith-based healing methods (prayer/spirituality) and mind-body therapies (massage, traditional bone setting, relaxation, meditation and yoga).

"TCAM is used due to its perceived low cost, alignment ... with sociocultural, religious and spiritual values, and dissatisfaction with conventional health-care," the researchers say.

Users in the general population were found to be more likely to be of low socioeconomic and educational status.

Most users failed to disclose their use of these medicines to their health-care providers because they feared they would receive improper care as a result, because of health-care providers' negative attitudes to TCAM, and because health-care providers didn't inquire.

The review indicated a relatively low prevalence of self-reported adverse effects compared with that reported outside Africa, but the researchers noted this might be related to the tendency not to disclose use.

"TCAM product safety regulation across Africa is still a challenge as many countries ... lack adequate regulatory framework to ensure the safety and quality of TCAM," the paper says. "The systematic collection and analysis of TCAM safety data is crucial in order to protect patients and the public at large."

Leading author Peter Bai James of ARCCIM at UTS says discussions around TCAM use globally are often based on assumptions.

"Assumptions about use in Sub-Saharan African have shaped lots of existing WHO and NGO policy," he says, and among those assumptions is the belief that its use is because of poor access to "conventional medicine".

"But our research shows that even as conventional health services become more prevalent, TCAM use also increases," he says.

"TCAM is often an afterthought in health policy discussions in Sub-Saharan Africa and that should not be the case. Our research has highlighted the critical role TCAM continues to play in providing primary healthcare across the continent.

"TCAM use in Sub-Saharan Africa is here to stay. Health departments and governments across the region must recognise this and conduct further research to understand the role of TCAM within their populations and consider the challenges and opportunities of TCAM within the wider health-care system."

Explore further New strains of hepatitis C found in Africa

More information: Peter Bai James et al, Traditional, complementary and alternative medicine use in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review, BMJ Global Health (2018). Peter Bai James et al, Traditional, complementary and alternative medicine use in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review,(2018). DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2018-000895Credit: CC0 Public Domain

New laws are required to control access to medical genetic data by law enforcement agencies, an analysis by University of Queensland researchers has found.

The academics from biology, policy and law say a Genetic Data Protection Act is needed to maintain public trust in medical genetics.

UQ's Dr. Caitlin Curtis said advances in technology meant genetic tests were increasingly revealing, providing information about health, predisposition to disease, and even behaviour and mental health.

"Police use of genetic genealogy databases was demonstrated by the widely publicised Golden State Killer case, and decisions we make about our DNA data can also affect our relatives," Dr. Curtis said.

"The science of predicting traits from DNA  or 'phenotyping'  has also advanced, with one company even offering a combined forensic genealogy and facial prediction service."

The researchers are concerned that law enforcement's ability to freely source genetic information could deter people from embracing the significant medical benefits that genetic testing offers.

"We want Australians to have confidence in using genetic tests to better look after their health, so it is important that we keep forensic genetics separate," Dr. Curtis said.

"It may be acceptable to receive a genetic health risk score from a doctor, but do we want law enforcement to be predicting the mental health of suspects, or for that information to be considered in court?"

The cross-discipline team said a Genetic Data Protection Act would determine how, when and why access to genetic data would be granted.

Dr. Curtis said such legislation would not prevent police from catching offenders, but would help to define appropriate, ethical and community-supported use of sensitive genetic information.

"There have been several suggestions of ways to protect genetic data from police access, but we argue that none of these go far enough, and existing laws don't fit well with genetic data," she said.

"Our view is that genetic data is different from other datait contains highly sensitive information that is unique to usand if our genetic data is compromised we cannot request a new genome.

"The issues around use of our genetic data are complex, and vulnerable individuals and their descendants must be protected."

Dr. James Hereward, Dr. Marie Mangelsdorf, Professor Karen Hussey and Professor John Devereux also contributed to the analysis, which has been published in Genetics in Medicine, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics.

Explore further Research group suggests it might be time to build a universal genetic database

More information: Caitlin Curtis et al. Protecting trust in medical genetics in the new era of forensics, Genetics in Medicine (2018). Journal information: Genetics in Medicine Caitlin Curtis et al. Protecting trust in medical genetics in the new era of forensics,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41436-018-0396-7Both moderate-to-large weight gain and weight loss, defined as a change of 10% or more in weight, among middle-aged and elderly Chinese Singaporeans are linked to increased risk of death, particularly from cardiovascular disease, and between them, weight loss was associated with higher risk than weight gain. Furthermore, excessive weight loss increased risk among participants who were overweight or obese to start with, and excessive weight gain might increase risk even among participants with low or normal body mass index at baseline.

Nested in the Singapore Chinese Health Study, the researchers used data from 36,338 middle-aged and elderly participants who were able to report weight and height during interviews at both recruitment (1993-1998) and follow-up 1 (1999-2004) surveys, and who had no history of cancer or cardiovascular disease. Weight change was computed as the difference between weights at baseline and the follow-up 1 surveys, after an average of 6 years, and classified as moderate-to-large weight loss (10%), small weight loss (5.1-9.9%), stable weight (5%), small weight gain (5.1-9.9%) and moderate-to-large weight gain (10%). The participants were followed for mortality through linkage with the Singapore Birth and Death Registry.

"This first study on a large population-based cohort of Singaporean Chinese aligns with findings from similar studies conducted among European, Japanese and Korean populations," stated Prof Koh Woon Puay, Principal Investigator of the Singapore Chinese Health Study, and Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School and Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health. "The findings suggest that moderate-to-large weight change in mid-life and older age should be monitored closely by health practitioners, and weight loss, especially, should be considered critically in elderly individuals as it may be related to loss of muscle mass, frailty and poor control of chronic diseases."

The researchers urge caution in the interpretation of the study results, highlighting that information regarding whether the weight loss was intentional and if the weight loss was due to loss of fat or lean mass was not examined in this study. Nevertheless, findings from this Singapore study and studies in other populations suggest that it is prudent to maintain stability in body weight within the non-obese range for middle-aged and elderly populations to reduce risk of mortality.

"The observational nature of our study means we cannot generalise our findings to potential interventions at this point," said Prof Koh. "Further studies are needed to understand the mechanisms underlying the association between weight change and mortality."

At a recent conference on ageing, longevity and health, co-organised by Duke-NUS' Centre for Ageing Research and Education (CARE), Prof Koh presented similar findings on weight change and cognitive impairment within the same study population.

Commenting on Prof Koh's study, Assoc Prof Angelique Chan, Executive Director of CARE, noted, "Singapore is among the world's fastest ageing societies, therefore it is critical to build on studies such as these so the government can develop appropriate policies and programmes to guide future health outcomes."

CARE is an academic research centre based in Duke-NUS Medical School that spearheads educational programmes to build competencies on ageing among research, policy and programme professionals, and actively engages with government and industry partners to meet the needs of population ageing.

Explore further Weight loss of 10 percent or more in seniors significantly raises hip fracture risk, study finds

More information: Pan XF, Yuan JM, Koh WP, and Pan A. Weight change in relation to mortality in middle-aged and elderly Chinese: the Singapore Chinese Health Study. International Journal of Obesity, 23 November 2018. Journal information: International Journal of Obesity Pan XF, Yuan JM, Koh WP, and Pan A. Weight change in relation to mortality in middle-aged and elderly Chinese: the Singapore Chinese Health Study., 23 November 2018. DOI: 10.1038/s41366-018-0259-yCredit: CC0 Public Domain

Monitoring a wound is critical, especially in diabetic patients, whose lack of sensation due to nerve damage can lead to infection of a lesion and, ultimately, amputation. Clinicians and healthcare professionals at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and other hospitals believe that the use of a new app, Swift Skin and Wound, which accurately measures and charts the progression of skin wounds, could potentially have a significant impact on clinical management and patient outcomes.

"Many of my patients are diabetic and are dealing with slow-healing foot ulcers; this app offers a way to clearly document and quantify the size of the ulcer to ensure it is actually healing, and if it is not healing, I can change strategies," says Dr. Greg Berry, Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Montreal General Hospital of the MUHC and Chief and Mueller Chair of the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at McGill University. "I can concretely show them that what we are doing is working. They get on board and are more devoted to the treatment plan because they see it is successful," he adds.

The app was the idea of Dr. Sheila Wang, a resident in dermatology in the Department of Medicine at McGill University and a scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC). Early in her medical career, she saw that there was a problem with the way that wounds were measured and went on to co-found the company, Swift Medical, which developed the smartphone software.

"When I was in medical school in Toronto in 2013, I noticed doctors and nurses relied on rulers to measure patients' wounds," she says, "resulting in widely varied descriptions, depending on who was doing the measuring. It didn't seem very exact, so I decided to do something about it."

Dr. Wang was first author on a paper, published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE, which shows that the app provides measurements of wounds that are more consistently accurate than those taken by using a ruler. They are as accurate as another measuring tool known as a digital planimeter, but using the app allows medical personnel to share and track wound information. She also recently published an article in the JMIR Dermatology that focused on understanding the type and location of skin and wound lesions found in long-term care facilities and mapping these on the body.

Swift Skin and Wound can be used remotely. Dr. Wang and her colleagues expect the app will play an important role in telehealth monitoring in the future.

"The app allows different health care workers to collect images and data from each patient and to follow the wound over time, something which is very important in the Northern regions, where there is a high turnover of staff," adds Dr. David Dannenbaum, Faculty Lecturer in the Department of Family Medicine at McGill University.

"This is one of the first wound measurement apps to be developed," says Dr. Wang. "Swift Skin and Wound is now used to monitor over 100,000 patients in over 1,000 healthcare facilities across Canada and the USA. Its ability to transform wound care, even when used by those with little experience, will make it an invaluable tool for health care workers."

Explore further Researchers create a more effective hydrogel for healing wounds

More information: Sheila C. Wang et al. Point-of-care wound visioning technology: Reproducibility and accuracy of a wound measurement app, PLOS ONE (2017). Journal information: PLoS ONE Sheila C. Wang et al. Point-of-care wound visioning technology: Reproducibility and accuracy of a wound measurement app,(2017). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0183139



Particularly during my sojourns in South Africa, it may not be possible for me to perform the moderation function speedily. I regret the necessity of moderation but it has been rendered inevitable by the behaviour of a particular commentator whose contributions will always and without exception be rejected.





No correspondence will be entered into regarding moderation decisions.

Readers are invited to comment on blog posts. All comments require to be pre-moderated by me, and I shall reject all (a) that are not related to the Lockerbie disaster or (b) that fail to meet my -- perhaps idiosyncratic -- standards of courtesy towards other contributors. Comments will not be rejected simply because I disagree with them or because I, or other contributors, find them irritating. But comments will be rejected if they distort or misrepresent the evidence; are defamatory; or if they risk embroiling me, as publisher, in defamation proceedings. I am perfectly relaxed about being sued in respect of material which I personally have posted -- but not in respect of material that others wish to post as comments and which, in any case, I often strongly disagree with.Important stuff you won't get from the liberal media! We do the surfing so you can be informed AND have a life!With the high price of mobile data and call tariffs in South Africa, communicating with loved ones can be an expensive habit to keep.

This is especially true for cellular voice calls, which remain the most expensive form of communication, trumping even video calls conducted over a mobile data connection.

While mobile phone users may have once been limited to these standard calling methods, smartphone owners can take advantage of a variety of applications and communication platforms which dramatically lower costs for everything from texting to calling.

One of the most popular methods for cheaper communications is a WhatsApp voice call, which is a call conducted over a data connection, making it ideal for users connected to Wi-Fi or with a mobile data bundle.

We compared traditional calling methods with those offered by modern platforms to determine how much you can save by switching to data-based calling methods.

Cellular Call

Standard cellular calls from a SIM on one mobile network to a SIM on another are the most expensive way to conduct a phone call.

Below are the per-minute calling rates for the default tariffs across the major mobile operators:

Vodacom  R1.53

MTN  R1.50

Cell C  R1.50

Telkom  R1.90

As Rain is a data-only mobile network, its users are not able to place standard calls.

Landline

Telkom still offers fixed-line calling despite the availability of VoIP packages, aiming the offering at users who just want to make good old-fashioned phone calls.

According to the companys current tariff calculator, a standard peak landline call to another landline is priced at around R0.63 per minute.

Calls placed from a landline to a mobile number are priced more aggressively, and will set you back around R1.30 per minute.

This is not much better than the standard call rates for smartphones, with landline users still required to pay for line rental.

VoIP  Mobile Data

Our previous tests showed that WhatsApp, the most popular messaging platform in South Africa, also offers one of the most optimised VoIP services.

Placing or receiving a WhatsApp voice call to or from another user consumes around 400KB of data every minute, which works out cheaper than cellular voice calling, especially if you have a mobile data bundle active.

Below are the results from MyBroadbands voice calling tests, which show that placing VoIP calls using mobile data is far cheaper than traditional methods.

Operator 1GB Bundle Price per MB Cellular Call  Per minute WhatsApp Call  Per minute Vodacom R149 R0.15 R1.53 R0.06 MTN R149 R0.15 R1.50 R0.06 Cell C R149 R0.15 R1.50 R0.06 Telkom R99 R0.10 R1.90 R0.04 Rain R50 R0.05 N/A R0.02

VoIP  Wi-Fi

While placing voice calls over a data connection using WhatsApp is extremely cheap, making WhatsApp calls when connected to Wi-Fi is ideal.

Modern ADSL and fibre connections provide data at much cheaper rates than mobile networks, meaning that your VoIP calls will be orders of magnitude cheaper than when you are using mobile data.

Using the same usage figure of 400KB per minute for WhatsApp voice calls, we calculated that if you were to purchase a 4Mbps 100GB fibre package from Afrihost for R577 per month and used it solely for VoIP calls, you would be paying around R0.002 per minute.

However, it would take you 174 days for you to use up all the data in this way.

Now read: Why you should never have answered a WhatsApp video call from a stranger2018 was a year of change for South Africa, with former President Jacob Zuma resigning to hand over power to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa was quick to make changes at state-owned enterprises like Eskom, SAA and the SABC, with new boards and leadership being appointed at these institutions.

Although these changes stopped some of the rot, they are still facing bankruptcy and are in dire need of bailouts to keep operating.

2018 was also the year when load-shedding made a comeback and cabinet reshuffles were linked to state capture.

On the tech front there were many developments, with 5G starting to gain momentum, Netflix starting to hurt DStv, and digital banks trying to disrupt the old guard.

Here are South Africas biggest tech stories of 2018.

In June, Rain Mobile launched commercial data packages with no contracts or regular monthly fees, and data that never expires.

Vodacom and MTN shows what 5G can do

Vodacom launched Africas first standards-based, commercial 5G service in Lesotho in August 2018, while MTN partnered with Huawei to conduct the first 5G outdoor trial in Africa in May.

2018 saw the launch of three new digital banks  Discovery Bank, Bank Zero, and TymeBank.

MultiChoice stopped broadcasting ANN7 on DStv after its contract ended on 20 August 2018.

A MyBroadband investigation revealed that unlawful WASP subscription resulted in disappearing airtime.

MultiChoice South Africa revealed in June that it had lost many DStv Premium subscribers during the past financial year due to increased competition from Netflix.

Many South African telecommunications companies have announced jobs cuts in 2018, including Telkom, Liquid Telecom, and Internet Solutions.

In November President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the Department of Communications and the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services will be merged.

Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams heads up the new merged department.

Financial services provider Liberty was hit by an IT systems breach where hackers obtained sensitive data about top clients.

In May, a South African database containing sensitive personal data which originated from a traffic fine platform was leaked online.

The National Assembly passed the Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill, which introduces new laws about social media messages with penalties that include up to three years in jail.

Special mention: The head of IT for Sars has failed epically in a live TV interview



Now read: The cheapest way to make a voice call in South AfricaSteve Moore, water systems manager for the city of American Canyon, is retiring after 37.5 years of service to American Canyon.

The City Council recognizes Moore for his dedicated service and contributions to the "health, safety, comfort and quality of life of the citizens of American Canyon."

Moore was hired by the city on June 16, 1981. He was promoted a number of times. He's held his current title since 2005.

Moore "is an invaluable historian for the city, a long-time resident of American Canyon, has been very involved in American Canyon Little League, and is an avid San Francisco 49ers and Giants fan," said a news release.

In other American Canyon news, city staff recently gathered for an annual luncheon to celebrate the holidays.

Staff donated more than $1,000 in gift cards to help victims of the Camp Fire. The Toys for Tots program also received a great supply of new toy donations to help brighten the holidays for some local families, said a news release.A lease can be an often skimmed-over document with most not concerned about its contents until a problem arises or the lease expires and you are wondering what to do next.

A lease agreement is a long-term contract bringing together two parties that details the relationship and what to do when it goes awry.

In part one, you learned how a lease is a contract that creates a relationship that gives the tenant a right to use a property owned by the landlord.

In part two we discussed the commencement date and the responsibility of paying the rent promptly.

We will continue our discussion on the 10-page CAR (California Association of Realtors) Residential Lease or Month-to-Month Rental Agreement.

We are referencing terms of tenant law in the state of California, but keep in mind I am not an attorney so be sure to consult with one if you have specific questions.

Here is what to know regarding security deposits, the condition of the premises, maintenance and damage.

The uses of

the security deposit

Tenants are asked to pay the landlord a security deposit that can be used to pay for any delinquent rent and fees during the lease term, for any repairs, cleaning the premises if was cleaned inadequately, or replace any personal property belonging to the premises upon vacating.

The deposit charged can be any amount up to an amount equal to two months rent for an unfurnished property or three months if furnished. No deposit can be deemed nonrefundable.

If the deposit is used to pay the rent and late fee for a given month, the tenant must replenish their deposit within five days of receiving notice of the occurrence.

The landlord may deduct repair expenses for excessive wear and tear, to clean the premises, or to purchase an item that was not returned such as a garage door opener when a tenant vacates.

The landlord must provide an itemized list of the expenses deducted from the deposit along with paying the balance within 21 days of vacating by the tenant.

Move-in condition, maintenance, and damages

The lease allows for the tenant to list any items in poor condition or in need of repair upon lease commencement or at the time of moving in.

Whether the landlord and tenant walk through the premises together using a checklist form or the tenant makes a list of the discovered issues after moving in it is essential to document and photograph all items found.

The tenant may end up being responsible for the cost to correct deficient items when vacating.

The lease is good at detailing who is responsible for maintenance and repairs so be sure to review so you are not surprised.

As a tenant, if the landlord is responsible for a repair, it is still your responsibility to inform the landlord promptly of the need to do so.

Burt M. Polson, CCIM, is an active commercial real estate broker. Reach him at 707-254-8000, or burt@acresinfo.com. Sign up for his email newsletter at BurtPolson.com.For more than 40 years, David Gaw has been helping Napans plan their estates. In 1976, with other partners, he co-founded well-known area law firm Gaw Van Male.

Today, Gaw has forged out yet again, this time on his own.

In November, Gaw officially launched a new enterprise: Gaw Estate Planning.

The business is described as a boutique law firm that exclusively does estate planning and related law.

Ive always had a dream that Id have a law firm that did nothing but estate planning and related law, said Gaw.

I just wanted to focus on that alone, he said. I saw the opportunity to do it now.

Gaws new offices are now located at 1500 3rd St., Suite F, in the building across the street from Alexis Baking Company.

The attorney said another advantage to running his own firm is that he can also focus on something hes particularly passionate about: teaching law.

In California, Ive become well known for teaching, he said. He is also the creator of the Gaw system, which is widely used by estate planning attorneys in California.

Educating his clients is critical to Gaw.

Rather than just boilerplate lawyer-ese, I want my clients to understand what they are doing, Gaw said.

They are dealing with everything they own. They still need to understand the process and how it operates. I want to teach them, too.

Gaw said he wanted to branch out from Gaw Van Male (or GVM as it is known now) because hes an entrepreneur at heart.

Theres a difference, between a law firm that has a specialty and a firm that does not, he said.

He already has plans to grow Gaw Estate Planning.

I want the opportunity to have three to four more lawyers here, that he can personally choose and train, Gaw said.

We have two lawyers now, and by the end of next year well have four to five lawyers, he said.

One of those attorneys will be his daughter, Courtney Gaw Young. She is taking the bar in February, he said.

Gaw reflected on how the local legal industry has changed over the decades.

When I came to Napa in 1972, no one did living trusts, he said. For a long time I was the only lawyer creating such trusts.

Back then, most attorneys didnt specialize, he said. Gaw estimated there in the 1970s there were only approximately 30 lawyers in town  and they were almost 100 percent male.

It was the good old boys, he recalled.

At the time, Almost every lawyer did public defender work. Wed see each other in court.

Napa was certainly more blue-collar, he said. People had good jobs, like at Kaiser Steel, at hospitals and at Mare Island. But there was no significant wealth, as there is today.

Today, there are also many more attorneys in Napa  both male and female  and many specialize in a particular type of law, he noted.

Gaw is now 73, But Im not going to retire, he said. I like this. Every day I come to work I enjoy it.

Im like a little kid. Im sitting here starting a new thing. Were creating a whole new business and thats exciting.

For details, visit gawestateplanning.com or call 707-681-5556.

The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.The St. Helena Hospital Foundation has awarded a three-year grant to both Rianda House and Collabria Care to support fitness and wellness programming for older adults in the upper Napa Valley.

The investment will help Rianda House offer Tai Chi classes, as well as programs to address brain fitness, Parkinsons Disease, caregiver support, and memory screenings. This grant award is part of the foundations effort to strengthen health care in the upper Napa Valley for older adults.

Over 31 percent of the population of St. Helena and 27 percent of Calistoga is comprised of adults age 60 or older  and that population is expected to grow by 50 percent in the next 20 years. Programs such as the ones funded by this grant will provide older adults with a proactive approach to long-term wellness and assist in avoiding costly emergency situations.

Were so excited about this opportunity to support programming for seniors in our community, said Susan Dix Lyons, president and CEO of the St. Helena Hospital Foundation. Rianda House is a community treasure and their collaboration with Collabria Care to enrich the lives of those they serve is both important and inspiring.

The Rianda House Board, staff, volunteers and participants are thrilled and extremely grateful to the St. Helena Hospital Foundation for their three-year investment in these popular wellness and fitness programs offered in St. Helena and Calistoga," said Julie Spencer, executive director of Rianda House.

"Combining the Foundations multi-year support with the collective strengths of Rianda House and our valued partners -- Collabria Care and Tai Chi Instructor Joan Comendant -- makes a supercharged nimble team that can meet the needs of our growing senior population for years to come," Spencer said. "This is a wonderful example of the power of collaboration.

We are pleased to partner with Rianda House to offer our expertise to provide these specialized programs to Upvalley residents, said Celine Regalia, Director of Operations of Collabria Care. Collabria Care is grateful to St. Helena Hospital Foundation for underwriting these valuable programs to support the wellness of older adults in our community.

Research on older adults demonstrates that the three building blocks of longevity are good physical, mental and social health, leading to a more fulfilling life and reducing medical costs downstream. The St. Helena Hospital Foundation will continue to review ways in which it can partner with local organizations to strengthen the healthcare safety network for older adults to support individual and community health.Tuesday, Dec. 11

0124  Report of a man on Saint Andrews Court banging on a door and saying let me in.

0239  Medical aid for an elderly woman with chest pain on Pratt Avenue.

0831  Medical aid for a person having a seizure on Allyn Avenue.

1155  The water wouldnt shut off in the new ladies room sink at Lyman Park. Public Works was notified.

1412  Report of a reckless driver speeding and burning out in a green Tacoma near Tainter/Oak.

1446  A loose poodle was found on Spring Mountain Road.

1525  An Amazon package was stolen from a mailbox on Chiles Avenue. The culprit stole the item inside  a book  but left the packaging.

1710  A caller asked to speak to an officer about a scary voicemail.

1906  Report of a Dodge burning rubber and driving recklessly on Railroad Avenue, putting pedestrians at risk.

Wednesday, Dec. 12

0644  A woman asked for help getting into her running car after she locked the keys inside. A tow truck was on the way, but it would take a while to arrive.

0727  Report of a construction crew starting as early as 6 a.m. every day on Pratt Avenue.

1324  A car got locked into the AT&T parking lot. Police contacted AT&T, which would help recover it.

1352  There was a large piece of tire in the southbound lane of Highway 29.

1609  Non-injury lift assist on Sylvaner Avenue.

1947  Report of people trying to break into a house through the windows on Edwards Street. They turned out to be friends of the tenant, who was also there.

2107  Non-injury lift assist on Spring Mountain Court.

2138  Report of a small golden brown dog running around Main Street and almost getting hit by a car. It was also seen on Adams Street. Police couldnt catch the dog, who ended up running toward Pope Street.

Thursday, Dec. 13

1044  Medical aid for a fall victim on Pope Street.

1052  Report of a possible homeless encampment near the Pope Street bridge.

1350  Medical aid for a person having an allergic reaction on Main Street.

1653  Report of an abandoned car on Meadowcreek Circle.

1956  Medical aid for a fall victim on Del Campo Court.

Friday, Dec. 14

0246  A Tainter Street resident heard suspicious noises outside her house. Police checked the area.

0749  A caller said he sold someone a work truck, but the new owner hadnt removed its business name or license. He was concerned the new owner was working using his business name. Police determined it was a civil problem.

1033  Report of a reckless driver on Silverado Trail.

1157  Report of a reckless driver on Pope Street.

1318  Report of a reckless driver at Main/Dowdell.

1548  A caregiver was concerned about an unsecured gun at a patients residence on Pope Street.

1608  A package from an unknown sender was left on someones front porch on St. James Drive.

1708  Police arrested a 28-year-old Manteca woman for two outstanding warrants.

1708  A woman fell at a Crinella Drive care facility. She wasnt hurt, but she needed help getting up.

1759  Non-injury accident at Oak/Spring.

1843  Medical aid for a person whod been released from the hospital but needed to go back.

Saturday, Dec. 15

0106  Report of a driver leaving the scene of a solo vehicle accident. Police arrested the 36-year-old St. Helena man on suspicion of DUI.

0833  Report of a downed tree blocking both lanes of Spring Mountain Road.

1055  Police were asked to check on a woman who appeared confused and unsteady on her feet near North Crane/Birch.

1141  Medical aid on Redondo Court.

1205  Police helped unlock a bathroom door at Lyman Park. Nobody was inside.

1415  A large coyote was seen in a residential area near Pope/Starr.

1622  Report of a suspicious man in a gray Corolla trying to contact two young girls. Police checked the area.

1759  Non-injury hit-and-run involving a car in a parking lot near Spring Street.

2314  Police responded to a loud music complaint on Chiles Avenue.

Sunday, Dec. 16

0210  Medical aid for a man having a diabetic problem on Redondo Court.

1919  St. Helena police covered the sheriffs office responding to a burglary call outside the city limits.

1932  Police contacted a man walking in the elm tunnel.

1949  Police found a car with front-end damage parked near Silverado/Pope.

2016  Report of credit card fraud.

2048  Medical aid for a woman possibly having a seizure on Spring Mountain Road.

2056  Police checked on a barking dog complaint on June Lane. A neighbor said its an ongoing problem.We have a new mayor, Dear Readers! Regardless of your political persuasion, if you see Geoff Ellsworth on the street or in line at Safeway, I encourage you to shake his hand and give him some words of encouragement. Its a tough job, and simply volunteering to do it is a laudable act of public service. Oh, and if you see Alan Galbraith around town, give him a handshake too. The campaign is over  we can all be friends again, right?

***

Geoffs election as mayor creates an opening on the City Council, and the city of St. Helena wants you (imagine those old posters of Uncle Sam pointing his finger) to apply for it. This is a rare opportunity to join the council without the hassle of a campaign. Youll have to apply by Jan. 3 and attend a special council meeting at 4 p.m. Jan. 8 to answer questions about your knowledge, qualifications and application details. You have to be 18 or older and living within the city limits. Applications are available at City Hall.

***

There was a packed house at last Tuesdays council meeting for the swearing in of Mayor Ellsworth and Councilmembers Anna Chouteau and Paul Dohring. Raising ones right hand and taking the oath of office makes for a special moment, doesnt it? A group of Napa County officials will be sworn in during a combined ceremony at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 26, on the second floor of the Hatt Building (Napa River Inn) at 500 Main St. in Napa. Judge (and St. Helena resident) Diane Price will administer the oath of office to Supervisors Diane Dillon and Brad Wagenknecht, Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk John Tuteur, Auditor-Controller Tracy Schulze, District Attorney Allison Haley, Sheriff John Robertson and County Superintendent of Schools Barbara Nemko. Congratulations to each of them.

***

OK, thats enough politics  its Christmas! Marielle Coeytaux is leading her annual evening of Christmas caroling starting at 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 21, at the Carnegie Building. Bring a coat, wear some red, and feel free to bring the family. Even if your singing skills are as negligible as mine, just bring your cheery Christmas spirit and youll be fine.

***

Marielle is also announcing here new Come Out of the Shower Community Choir for anyone interested in discovering, enhancing and sharing their singing capabilities. There will be weekly Monday night sessions culminating with an informal performance for family and friends. The fee is $100, and you can register online at cityofsthelena.org/parksrec, in person at the rec department office on Railroad Avenue, or by phone at 968-9222.

***

If youre like me ... that is all thumbs when it comes to wrapping presents ... plan on heading over to the St. Helena Chamber of Commerce office, 1320 Main St. from noon to 4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 22 for Complimentary Gift Wrapping, although donations are appreciated with will fund the Boys & Girls Club of St. Helena Teen Center.

***

Napa Valley College is spreading the word about a series of educational trips and tours in 2019, to enticing locations such as French Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador, the islands of New England, the Great Smoky Mountains, Morocco, and World War II memorials in France and England. To find our more, attend a free informational meeting at 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10, at the colleges main campus in Napa, Room 838. RSVP to 967-2940.

***

In closing, my condolences to the family of former Star editor Doug Ernst, who died last week of ALS. He was a good editor who was always kind enough to run my column while never once admonishing me about my occasional digressions and ungraceful turns of phrase. Thank you, Doug. In lieu of flowers, consider donations to the ALS Associations Golden West Chapter, Napa Emergency Womens Services, the Napa Valley College Foundation, or Mentor, Discover and Inspire.Our former boss and friend, Doug Ernst, died on Tuesday, Dec. 11 at his Napa home, following a brief struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS. He was 64. He was a Napa Valley journalist for 33 years from 1978-2011. Both Jesse and I remember him fondly.

Jesse Duarte

The first and only job interview of my life was with Doug Ernst.

Not having met any real-life editors, Id been expecting someone gruff and hard-bitten, along the lines of Jason Robards as Ben Bradlee in All the Presidents Men. But Doug was more like a big extroverted teddy bear  a mischievous one with an irrepressible zeal for holding public servants accountable, but still a teddy bear.

To say I was green wouldnt do justice to my greenness. Id worked for the campus paper at Pacific Union College, but Id somehow managed to do it without ever writing a single article. My only clips were from my handful of journalism classes, and I doubt any of them were Pulitzer-worthy.

But Doug gave me a job. He seemed to see something in me  either that or there were no other applicants. He always insisted it was the former, although I have my suspicions.

When I was still a part-timer, Doug came up to me on a Tuesday morning and said my full-time predecessor had just quit, so he needed someone to cover that nights Planning Commission meeting.

Sure thing, I said. What on earth is a Planning Commission? I thought to myself.

From then on, Doug always had my back, singing my praises (much too generously) to potential sources and encouraging me to keep at it during wretched, miserable assignments: false allegations of clerical pedophilia, a family killed in a plane crash.

When wed disagree on how to cover a story  and boy, would we ever  hed respect my point of view and tolerate my bullheadedness long past the point where some other bosses would have told me to clean out my desk.

Youre back in my will, hed say whenever I accepted an assignment.

God   hed start to bellow when something went haywire.   bless it, hed finish in a gentle tone.

What are we going to run, poetry? hed ask with horror whenever we were short on copy for the opinion page.

Hey, how the heck are ya, hed say when someone would call his office phone  even if it was 10 minutes before deadline on a Wednesday morning.

No problem, well give it a snappy headline, hed say when Id sheepishly turn in some convoluted, interminable story about the flood project.

Doug took the heat for me whenever somebody was ticked off about a story, played cribbage with me in his office during power outages, took me to Giants games (he was a peerless heckler), and could recite entire scenes from his favorite cinematic masterpieces, Airplane! and Blazing Saddles. When he was abruptly laid off from the paper, he mustered more dignity than I could have under the same circumstances.

And somewhere along the line  Im guessing about five minutes into that job interview that launched the career Ive grown to love  he became my friend.

Thanks for taking a chance on me, Doug. Ill miss you every day.

David Stoneberg

Without the late Doug Ernst  and his hiring of me when I needed a job  I probably would be out of journalism.

It was early August 2006 and I walked into Dougs office for what I thought was a conversation. I was making the rounds, talking to a lot of people, and trying to figure out what to do next. Two months earlier, I had left the daily Lake County Record-Bee, where I had been city editor for the past 10 years.

My job there was to read and rewrite copy, lay out pages, proof those pages and meet three deadlines a night: 9 p.m., 10 p.m. and 11:15 p.m. After the last deadline, I had to wait for the newspaper to come off the press, which usually meant I was able to head home at 1 p.m. or a little later.

I was pretty good at the job  there were months and years where my deadline percentage was in the high 90 percentile range  and although I enjoyed the work, the bosses became unbearable and I quit  without another job in the pipeline. I had been with that newspaper company for 19 years and thought Id retire from there, but that was not to be. It was a rough time for me, to say the least. Thank goodness for my wife Joni, who was and is my rock and my strong supporter.

I spent a few weeks figuring out what to do, working on my resume, and trying to find another newspaper job. One of the most critical issues was that Joni and I lived in Hidden Valley Lake and didnt want to leave our home  so I needed a job close enough for commuting.

Before my interview with Doug, I knew a little bit about him and I think I met him at one point when he worked for the Napa Valley Register and I was a reporter for The Weekly Calistogan in the early 1980s.

I dont remember much about that conversation with Doug, other than it turned out to be a real job interview. Little did I know that Doug was looking for a reporter.

As I recall, when he called me a few days later, he asked if I could start immediately. I said yes  but there was a catch. I needed to be off on the next two extended weekends, from Thursday through Sunday, because I was working at the historic car races in Laguna Seca. That apparently was OK.

At some point, Doug asked me how much I knew about wine and I told him the truth: Nothing.

No matter, he hired me, I learned about Napa Valley wines, and a year later he asked me to start a wine tasting panel. What did I know about running a wine tasting panel? Same answer: Nothing.

With help from the late Terry Hall from the Napa Valley Vintners, Stefan Blicker from BP Wine and Paul Dray and the good folks at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, we started the panel. Our first tasting was held in October 2007, we asked the panelists to tell us which wines went well with Thanksgiving turkey. It was a mixed bag  and 11 years later, were still at it.

So, thanks Doug for hiring me, for trusting in my abilities as a journalist, for the inspiration for the wine tasting panel and most importantly, for being a good friend, as well as a boss.

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.Three Napa County nursing homes whose patients keep ending up in the hospital too quickly will have Medicare reimbursements cut, according to a Kaiser Health News story.

The federal government is taking a new step to reduce avoidable hospital readmissions of nursing home patients within 30 days of their discharge by lowering a years worth of payments to these nursing homes.

Napa Post Acute (formerly Golden Living Center) will receive a 1.98 percent decrease in payments. The Napa Valley Care Center will receive a 1.90 percent decrease. Piners Nursing Home will receive a 1.89 percent decrease.

To some nursing homes, it could mean a significant amount of money, said Thomas Martin, director of post-acute care analytics at CarePort Health, which works for both hospitals and nursing homes. A lot are operating on very small margins.

These penalties will reduce federal dollars coming into Napa County that could impact not only senior care services but the economy in general, said Brian Kallio, the administrator of Piners Nursing Home.

At the same time, two Napa County nursing homes will see increases  referred to as bonuses in Medicare reimbursements for having low readmission rates.

The Meadows of Napa Valley will receive a .31 percent increase and the Veterans Home of Californias Skilled Nursing Facility will receive a 1.08 percent increase.

Nationwide, Medicare reimbursements to nearly 11,000 nursing homes declined. Payments rose to nearly 4,000 others.

These financial incentives, determined by each homes readmission rates, significantly expand Medicares effort to pay medical providers based on the quality of care instead of just the number or condition of their patients, according to Kaiser Health News.

Until now, Medicare limited these kinds of incentives mostly to hospitals, which have gotten used to facing financial repercussions if too many of their patients are readmitted, suffer infections or other injuries or die, the news agency stated.

The Medicare reimbursement payment system for SNFs (Skilled Nursing Facilities) is very complicated and we spend an inordinate amount of time to satisfy the rights of participation, said Wayne Panchesson, executive director at the Meadows of Napa Valley.

However, We are happy that Medicare is rewarding the Meadows SNF with a .31 percent bonus, said Panchesson.

Panchesson explained that as of Oct. 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has been withholding 2 percent of SNF Medicare payments to all facilities.

The CMS has set aside 60 percent of the 2 percent withhold for incentive payments to SNFs.

Roughly speaking, the industry will see between a 2 percent cut or a 1 percent increase in total payments, Panchesson said.

We are just very grateful we are receiving any increase in Medicare reimbursement, because what we (Nursing homes or SNFs) currently receive is still inadequate to cover our costs or expenses, said Panchesson.

However, every bit of extra Medicare revenue we receive will positively impact the care we provide for our seniors at the Meadows, and we never look a gift horse in the mouth.

Kallio at Piners said, I certainly see the intent of CMSs goal to reduce unnecessary and costly re-hospitalizations, while noting, We have care processes and re-hospitalization prevention measures in place.

However, this recent cut is based on data (from 2015-2017) and does not reflect current practices and was implemented based on data from a different time period, said Kallio.

Lindsey Sin, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Veterans Affairs, said, Our homes are committed to providing the same high quality of care for each of our veterans, regardless of their income or eligible reimbursements.

The Medicare reimbursement represents a very small portion of total revenue, so its not necessarily impactful regarding care, wrote Sin.

A representative from Napa Post Acute declined to comment.

Derrick Whitacre, administrator of the Napa Valley Care Center, also declined to comment but noted Napa Valley Care Center always has and always will provide the highest quality and compassionate care to our residents.

Napa resident Yvonne Baginski, who works with the senior population through local nonprofit Share the Care, observed that frequent hospital readmissions are also a problem with newly released nursing home patients who are sent back to their own homes.

What were seeing out here in the field is that the follow-up care when they return home isnt there, she said. They may get a home health nurse under Medicare to come out twice a week but they need somebody to be in the house taking care of them full time, and they dont have the money for (in home care), so they end up back in the emergency room.

The new Medicare program is altering a years worth of payments to 14,959 skilled nursing facilities nationwide based on how often their residents ended up back in hospitals within 30 days of leaving. Hospitalizations of nursing home residents, while decreasing in recent years, remain a problem, with nearly 11 percent of patients in 2016 being sent to hospitals for conditions that might have been averted with better medical oversight, Kaiser Health News reported.

Skilled facilities have been working toward this and knew it was coming, said Nicole Fallon, vice president of health policy and integrated services at LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit providers of aging services.

While most researchers say that readmissions can be reduced, some consumer advocates fear that nursing homes will be reluctant to admit very infirm residents or to re-hospitalize patients even when they need medical care.

It may end up causing great pain to residents who actually need to be hospitalized, said Patricia McGinnis, executive director of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform in San Francisco.

Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

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.SAN FRANCISCO  An Oakland man hoped to kill 10,000 Bay Area residents, according to court records that reveal a chilling plan of planting bombs around Oakland and UC Berkeley, blowing up a gay bar in San Francisco, setting arson fires around the Berkeley hills and distributing poisoned cocaine in local night clubs.

Amer Alhaggagi, whose last name is also spelled "Al-Haggagi" in court records, was caught on video discussing the plots with an undercover FBI agent.

Alhaggagi pleaded guilty in July to attempting to give material aid to a terrorist organization, stemming from when he helped set up propaganda social media accounts for people connected to the Islamic State, known as ISIL and ISIS. He also pleaded guilty to three identity-theft counts. He appeared in federal court Monday for a sentencing hearing, which was continued to next month.

"I want to make it to a point where every American here thinks twice or three times before he leaves his home," Alhaggagi said on the video, which was obtained by KQED. "Like, 'Is it necessary for me to leave right now?' That's how I want it to be."

But in a letter to the court, Alhaggagi claimed the purported plots were fantasies he concocted out of boredom and said he had no intentions of committing terrorism.

"Everything was a joke to me, ... I didn't think anyone was taking me seriously," Alhaggagi wrote to the court. "I do not support any terrorist organization, or any organization for that matter. It truly saddens me to acknowledge and own up to the fact that it took me to come to this calaboose to elevate my mind from the vacuous state that it was in. I feel really bad for the harm I've caused everyone and wasting the FBIs (sic) valuable time."

Alhaggagi faces up to 47 years in federal prison. Prosecutors asked for a sentence of 33 years, and defense attorneys argued for a far lower figure: four years in prison followed by federal probation.

This case is only the latest in recent memory that involved allegations of a Bay Area terrorist plot in the making. Last year, a Modesto man was charged with plotting a bombing and mass shooting at Pier 39 in San Francisco. He was sentenced to 15 years. In 2014, a San Jose man was implicated in a terror plot in Oakland.

Terrorist or internet troll?

According to court records, Alhaggagi was born in Lodi and attended Berkeley High School from 2008 to 2012. Afterward he worked briefly at Andronico's grocery store and took college classes. Several friends and family members -- including a Berkeley High teacher -- wrote letters of support to the court, calling him friendly and peaceful.

But online, Alhaggagi took on a different persona. He spoke of a desire to kill "gays and Jews" in particular and said he wanted to kill UC Berkeley students because "they think they are better than everyone else."

When agents searched his home, they reportedly found a note claiming responsibility for the planned attacks and saying they were done in the name of ISIS. He said the attack would have three phases: The first would be poisoning "infidels," then setting a gasoline fire in the Berkeley hills during the day, then a series of bomb attacks. He wrote that he hoped the attacks would inspire copycats.

"As for the final operation, it is only if I were to be exposed and unable to leave the country; if I were surrounded in an area; a direct confrontation with security; either the police or army, the end will be an explosive belt after the ammunition runs out," he wrote.

Alhaggagi's lawyer described his client as an internet troll who had a lifelong fascination with getting a rise out of people by coming up with offensive things to say. He said Alhaggagi took this to an extreme end on the internet, but those who knew him well say he would never actually harm others. The defense pointed out that Alhaggagi never bought bomb-making material, despite saying he would.

"Amer Alhaggagi is not a terrorist. He is neither radicalized nor dangerous," his attorneys Mary McNamara and August Gugelmann wrote in a sentencing brief. They later added: "He believed none of what he said, was surprised when anyone took him seriously and, in fact, is something of a coward. He is truly remorseful for (and mortified by) his atrocious online behavior and what he has put everyone through."

Federal authorities responded that any attempts to paint Alhaggagi's actions as "a lark" are "purely false" and that his "appetite for evil knows no bounds."

Cat and mouse game with the FBI

During the FBI investigation, Alhaggagi reportedly had internet chats with members of ISIS, including a 17-year-old who later admitted to authorities he was part of United Cyber Caliphate, a hacker branch of ISIL. He also spoke with an FBI informant who introduced him to an undercover FBI agent who claimed to have ties to Al-Qaeda.

Alhaggagi met with the agent multiple times and discussed in detail ways to kill hundreds or thousands of people. During their talks, Alhaggagi claimed his uncle in Yemen was a friend of Anwar al-Awlaki, a Yemeni-American imam described by U.S. officials as a recruiter and planner for Al-Qaeda. Al-Awlaki was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in 2011.

Prosecutors say Alhaggagi eventually became suspicious that the undercover agent wasn't who he claimed to be and questioned the agent -- who made several missteps -- about his knowledge of Iran and other subjects. When the agent expressed sympathy for Iran, Alhaggagi became suspicious, even more so when the agent failed to recognize the leader of Al-Qaeda by name.

At their final meeting in Oakland, Alhaggagi reportedly invented a ruse and ran from the agent, and they never crossed paths again. Federal prosecutors called this proof that Alhaggagi had figured out the agent's true identity, but Alhaggagi's attorney said it was evidence that Alhaggagi never intended to commit a terrorist attack.

In his letter, Alhaggagi said that after he met with the FBI agent, he began to believe the man was actually plotting terrorist attacks and became extremely concerned. He said his plan was to blow off the agent indefinitely. After the last meeting, he stayed off the internet for more than a month, he wrote, but then went "back to messing with people on the internet especially the ISIS guys."

"It was a mixture of imprudence and boredom and as I had stated in the very beginning of this paper, I was in a funk! What can I say but that I should of known better, but regretfully I didn't," he wrote.

But federal authorities say they have further proof Alhaggagi fully intended to carry out plots: After Alhaggagi was arrested on identity theft charges in November 2016 -- before the terrorism charge was filed -- two jail inmates came forward saying he had approached them about planning more attacks. The inmates' statements were filed under seal.

Alhaggagi will be sentenced on Jan. 8, according to federal prosecutors.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.The sky above Ron Beeny turned black.

The 71-year-old was stuck in traffic as he evacuated from his home in Paradise on the morning of Nov. 8.

Trees and brush lined both sides of the two-lane road. In the darkness, Beeny had no idea where the fire was. A former firefighter, he knew that getting trapped between walls of fuel could be deadly.

"[When] daytime turns to night, the fire is burning extremely intense," he said.

For more than an hour Beeny inched forward in his red Toyota pickup, heading west toward Chico. His home of 41 years was incinerated by the Camp Fire.

The blaze that destroyed Beeny's home is just the latest mega-fire in California -- and the cost of fighting such fires has risen dramatically.

California dwarfs other states in fire-suppression costs, an analysis by a Stanford journalism class has found. The Stanford class analyzed daily reports from the most expensive fires in every state from 2014 to 2017, and found that dense development at the border of wildlands -- in communities like Paradise, Cobb, and Santa Rosa -- helps explain California fires' exceptional damage and expense to put out.

A 2015 federal audit showed that fire suppression costs vastly more in these transition zones between wild and developed areas -- Wildland Urban Interface areas, or WUIs, for short.

The Stanford analysis of fire costs found that, among the states that spend the most on suppression, California fires overlapped far more with the WUI: More than 30 percent of the 2015 Butte Fire, for example, burned on WUI lands, destroying almost 1,000 buildings. Much of the state's WUI is made up of chaparral -- dry shrubland -- that burns fast and hot.

Policymakers differ on how state and local governments should intervene. But experts like Tom Harbour -- who served as National Director of Fire and Aviation Management before retiring from the U.S. Forest Service in 2016 -- agree that the growth of WUI has fueled a crisis.

"You've taken a lot of land in [California] ... that used to be ponderosa pine down near the bottoms of these drainages ... and now you put homes in there," Harbour said. "Well, the pine trees are still there. The bitterbrush is still there. The sagebrush is still there. The desire that Mother Nature has to burn is still there. But now your home is there."

Officials are worried about another tally, too: the ballooning cost of putting out such fires.

A strong economy and a state budget surplus mean that recent firefighting costs will not cut into other priorities this year, said California Assembly Budget Committee Chair Phil Ting, D-San Francisco. But Ting and other lawmakers are looking for ways to curb the destruction long-term.

"It's a major concern," Ting said. "We've had these two horrific wildfires up and down the state, two really bad summers, so we need to do whatever's possible to help."

By the end of August, California had burned through most of the $440 million in emergency funds that had been allotted for the 2018 fiscal year. One week later, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) requested an additional $234 million for firefighting efforts through November.

It was a prescient request -- but insufficient. November's Camp Fire alone would cost more than $150 million to suppress. Late last month, Cal Fire asked for about $250 million more in emergency funds.

Daily reports tracking estimated suppression costs show that the 20 most expensive fires in California from 2014 to 2017 cost nearly $1.5 billion to fight.

That's more than double the cost of fire suppression for the 20 most expensive fires in Oregon, the state with the next highest price tag, and more than triple that of third-ranked Washington's top fires. And the daily reports aren't even complete-- reports are missing for the Thomas Fire, California's costliest fire in 2017.

The most expensive fires to fight are not necessarily the largest.

The state's unusually high suppression costs coincide with a second measure where California leaves other states far behind: damage to buildings.

From 2014 to 2017, California's most expensive fires destroyed and damaged over 60 times more buildings than Oregon's priciest fires did, and over 10 times more buildings than Washington's fires.

By the measure of buildings destroyed, 41 of the 100 most destructive fires in the nation from 2014 to 2017 occurred in California.

At the edge of wildland and towns In 2015, the Butte Fire spread rapidly toward old Gold Rush towns in the Sierra foothills of California's Amador and Calaveras counties, fueled by chaparral shrubbery dried out in the summer heat.

By the second day of the fire, more than 6,000 buildings were at risk; by the fourth, 81 houses had been charred. More than 4,000 people joined the firefighting effort as agencies worked to contain the fire, protect homes and evacuate hundreds of people all at once.

"Suppression efforts had minimal impacts on perimeter control due to a high focus on structure defense," read the second of the Butte firefighters' Incident Status Summary reports, which detail fire conditions and resources in use at a given time.

Over a third of the Butte Fire burned in the WUI. By contrast, none of Washington's most expensive fires had more than 7 percent of their area overlap with WUI zones.

None of Oregon's most expensive fires overlapped more than 2 percent with the WUI in terms of area. An analysis of geospatial data shows that 18 of California's 20 most expensive recent wildfires overlapped with WUI areas, while in Oregon and Washington, fewer than half did.

Fires that threaten buildings are "always going to be more costly," said Rocky Opliger, a deputy chief for the La Verne Fire Department in Southern California who led Forest Service suppression efforts on major fires as an incident commander. "It costs more money when you're bringing in more expensive resources."

In 1990, California had more than 3 million homes in the WUI, according to Forest Service data. By 2010, that number had ballooned by more than a third to over 4 million -- 50 percent more than Texas, the state with the next largest number of WUI homes.

California had one of the highest building densities in WUI areas in the country in 2010, the latest year for which the Forest Service has data.

And people continue to move into the WUI. In El Dorado County, for example, the foothill town of Placerville has sprawled toward a national forest, said Scott Vail, former deputy chief for fire administration with the California Office of Emergency Services.

In the 1970s, Vail said, it "took forever" to get into Placerville from the forest. "Now, once you get out of the national forest, the city starts."

California's WUI is especially fire-prone, and that stacks the odds against developed WUI areas, said Michael Mann, a George Washington University geographer who has studied the overlap of California's WUI with high fire-hazard zones.

Chaparral, for instance, evolved with frequent wildfires and feeds fires so intense that they burn all the vegetation in their path.

These areas become even more likely to ignite when people arrive, said Char Miller, a professor of environmental analysis and history at Pomona College.

"When we move into these landscapes, we burn them," Miller said.

Cost of fighting fires in the WUI Fighting fires in the WUI costs $1,695 per acre, according to a 2015 Forest Service audit that examined several WUI fires from 2008 to 2010.

That's more than twice the cost of putting out fires in a forest, and nearly 30 times the cost of fighting fire in undeveloped grassland or shrubbery.

When people and their homes are threatened, agencies tend to marshal whatever resources are needed, said Opliger, the former Forest Service incident commander.

"I have yet to have an agency administrator really restrict me on what I need to do as far as getting the job done, especially when it involves direct protection of civilians, private and public property," he said.

Fighting fires becomes far more complex when firefighters are protecting populated areas, said George Huang, a San Luis Obispo battalion chief.

"It's like a huge chess game," Huang said. "We have fire engines ... trying to put out the fire ... a couple engines at homes to make sure that homes don't catch on fire, and at the same time we're working with the law enforcement to evacuate people out of their homes."

Development in rural areas also makes fire prevention tactics such as prescribed burns harder to carry out, said Tom Harbour, the former Forest Service official. The controlled burns produce smoke that can upset residents.

"I don't like that," Harbour said of the smoke produced. "You don't like it. The American public doesn't like it."

Limiting the damage Legislation passed in September takes some steps toward limiting damage from fires within the WUI. While California Senate Bill 901 focused primarily on forest management and the liabilities of utilities, the measure

also puts "a little bit more teeth" into community planning guidelines for fire-prone areas, said Cal Fire researcher Dave Sapsis.

Starting in 2021, local governments in areas with very high chances of fire will have to take more precautions previously required only for state lands -- for example, ensuring that roads are wide enough for evacuation.

But some experts doubt SB 901's changes will be enough to prevent the kind of widespread destruction the state has experienced in the WUI.

Miller believes one solution is for communities to establish programs, funded through municipal bonds, to buy up wild borderlands from willing private owners and limit development within them.

But local governments have had little financial incentive to prevent development: turning away new residents reduces their tax revenue, while state and federal agencies tend to bear the costs of wildfire suppression, said Kimiko Barrett, a researcher at Montana-based think tank Headwaters Economics who has studied WUI and fire risk.

"It's what we call a moral hazard ... [Cities are] able to approve certain decision-making processes without having to pay the consequences of those decisions," Barrett said.

State legislators have been reluctant to intervene in planning issues they consider the province of local governments, but some policymakers are exploring further statewide legislation.

Assemblyman Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, who co-chaired the development of SB 901, may introduce new legislation early in 2019, according to his spokesman Garo Manjikian.

Meanwhile, legislation passed in 2018 authorized the California Department of Insurance to create a "working group" to investigate potential market-based solutions to curb development in fire-prone rural areas. Yet no timetable has been established for their work.

The glacial pace of legislative action leaves experts frustrated.

On Nov. 29, University of California at Berkeley's Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment (CLEE) and the nonprofit Resources Legacy Fund released their joint recommendations for incoming Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Included was a proposal to create a wildfire-focused leadership position within the governor's office. The appointee would be charged with "developing and implementing state incentives for local governments to limit new development in high-risk areas."

"I think the state needs to play a stepped up role coordinating all the different agencies involved, trying to marshal the funding to do it, and then also trying to change local government land use decision-making," said Ethan Elkind, director of CLEE's climate program.

Even those knowledgeable about fires find it difficult to resist the call of the wildlands. Ron Beeny, the firefighter who escaped last month's Camp Fire, said he liked Paradise precisely because of its natural beauty.

"We just like the mountains. We like the trees," he said.

For most of his career Beeny was an engineer, driving a fire engine to fires of all kinds. He was frequently a first responder, fighting hundreds of fires over many years.

But on the morning the Camp Fire blazed into Paradise, his emergency plan was the same as everyone else's: "Get the hell out."

At first, Beeny thought he would rebuild his home in Paradise, but his son is encouraging him to settle elsewhere.

He's not sure yet where he will land -- Oregon is at the top of his list. But wherever he ends up, he will probably live in the WUI.

"I know how ridiculous it sounds," he said. "But that's the kind of country we like."WASHINGTON (AP)  A federal judge abruptly postponed the sentencing of President Donald Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, on Tuesday, saying he could not hide his disgust for Flynn's crime of lying to the FBI and warning that he could send the retired Army lieutenant general to prison.

Lawyers for Flynn, who pleaded guilty last year to lying to the agency about his Russia contacts, requested the delay during a stunning hearing in which U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan gave Flynn a blistering rebuke.

"Arguably you sold your country out," Sullivan told Flynn, who was flanked by his attorneys.

The judge added: "I can't hide my disgust, my disdain."

Sullivan's harsh words raised the prospect that he could send Flynn to prison  an unexpected development since prosecutors have recommended against prison time, citing his cooperation in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.

The hearing came amid escalating legal peril for Trump, who was implicated by federal prosecutors in New York this month in hush-money payments to cover up extramarital affairs. Nearly a half-dozen former aides and advisers  including Flynn  have pleaded guilty or agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Flynn became known during the Trump presidential campaign for leading chants of "Lock her up" during rallies, referring to Trump's rival Hillary Clinton.

Trump signaled his continued close interest in the case by tweeting "good luck" to Flynn hours before the sentencing hearing. He added: "Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!"

At the White House afterward, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked if the administration had changed its stance on Flynn or the FBI in light of his admissions and guilty plea.

"Maybe he did do those things, but it doesn't have anything to do with the president," she said. "It's perfectly acceptable for the president to make a positive comment about somebody while we wait to see what the court's determination is."

Sanders repeated her allegation that the FBI "ambushed" Flynn in an interview in which he denied contacts with Russian officials, and she said of Trump's earlier criticism, "We don't have any reason to want to walk that back."

The new delay in sentencing will allow Flynn to continue cooperating with the Russia investigation and get credit for it in his punishment. The change upset what had been a carefully crafted agreement, with Mueller's office saying Flynn had already provided "the vast majority" of information he could.

Flynn, who served as national security adviser for only a few weeks, was to be the first White House official sentenced in Mueller's investigation. Prosecutors had praised his cooperation and recommended against prison, and Tuesday's sentencing was expected to be relatively straightforward. Flynn had expected to walk out the courthouse a free man.

But the hearing turned on a dime. Sullivan lambasted Flynn for lying to the FBI in the West Wing of the White House and said he wouldn't allow Flynn to minimize the seriousness of his crime.

After a prosecutor raised the prospect of Flynn's continued cooperation with other investigations in the future, Sullivan warned Flynn that he might not get the full credit for his assistance to the government if he were sentenced as scheduled.

Prosecutors noted that Flynn had provided the "vast majority of his cooperation" already. But Sullivan gave a visibly shaken Flynn a chance to discuss a delay of the hearing with his lawyers, and the court went into a brief recess.

When they returned, Flynn lawyer Robert Kelner defended Flynn's cooperation but requested a postponement to allow for him to keep cooperating. Kelner said he expected Flynn would have to testify in a related trial in Virginia involving Flynn's former business associates, and the defense wanted to "eke out the last modicum of cooperation" so he could get credit in any sentence.

Kelner asked Sullivan not to penalize Flynn for arguments his lawyers made in sentencing memos that appeared to suggest the FBI had tricked Flynn into lying. He said they only included those to differentiate Flynn from other defendants in the case who had received short prison sentences for lying.

But Sullivan fired back.

"Neither of those individuals were a high-ranking official who committed a crime while in the West Wing and on the premises of the White House," the judge said.

At the hearing, Sullivan told Flynn that he would take into account his extensive cooperation with the government, which includes 19 meetings with investigators as well as a 33-year military career that included service in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he also said he was forced to weigh other factors, including Flynn's decision as national security adviser to lie to the FBI about contacts he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

The judge set a new hearing date for March. Flynn left the courthouse hand-in-hand with his wife, climbing into a large, black SUV as protesters heckled and supporters chanted "USA!"President Donald Trump will retreat to his Florida resort at the end of this week. Nearing the halfway point of his term in office, his political isolation in Washington is deepening. A slew of candidates balked at taking the job of White House chief of staff - a post of tremendous influence that has in the age of Trump become a poisoned chalice from which few want to drink. A funding spat with the Democrats prompted Trump to vow a government shutdown, much to the chagrin of members of his own party. And the legal inquiries into the president's campaign and businesses are mounting.

It's not just Trump's domestic agenda that's facing scrutiny. Last week, Trump received a stinging bipartisan rebuke from Congress over his administration's embrace of the Saudi-led war in Yemen and the particularly reckless royal holding power in Riyadh. The high-profile climate meetings that took place in Poland only underscored the extent to which this White House has alienated itself from the international mainstream on environmental policy - and highlighted, yet again, how the rest of the world is plowing ahead in spite of Trump, not with him.

Of course, Trump came to power vowing to be a disrupter on the global stage. He said he was intent on reforming a post-World War II international order that had outlived its usefulness for Americans. But the White House's efforts overseas - including its rejection of the Paris climate accord, the waging of trade wars, the unraveling of the Iran nuclear deal, the persistent belittling of allies and the perplexing coddling of autocrats - have unsettled Washington as much as they have disturbed American partners abroad.

To be sure, discussions about the waning of the United States as the world's sole superpower predate Trump. But two years of his tumultuous presidency have intensified Washingtonian angst about the future of American power and how America should seek to lead a more fractured planet - or whether it should try at all.

"It's historical fact that great nations and empires all have a beginning and an end," said James Jones, a retired U.S. general, former national security adviser to President Barack Obama and outgoing chairman of the Atlantic Council, speaking Friday in Washington at a forum hosted by his think tank. "There's a naive belief in our country that there's some sort of destiny, that the primacy of the United States is ensured for some reason forever. I don't think that's the case."

To that end, the Atlantic Council, an organization deeply invested in the furtherance of American leadership, is planning on floating a new set of principles to safeguard the "rules-based order" - the euphemism often used to explain the status quo authored by the United States more than half a century ago. It wants to "revitalize" and "defend" this order, not just from the rising authoritarian might of China, but in the face of Trump's own nationalist and protectionist agenda and those of his ilk.

At the forum, speakers warned of the White House's disregard for "values-based" foreign policy - seen both in Trump's cynical accommodation of figures such as the Saudi crown prince as well as his demagoguery over migrants and refugees coming to the United States. Washington, they feared, was seeing its credibility evaporate among allies. This sentiment was echoed by Jake Sullivan, a former Obama administration official and Hillary Clinton adviser, in a recent essay outlining what a liberal, post-Trump foreign policy ought to look like.

"An energized, inspiring, and ultimately successful foreign policy must cut through Trump's false, dog-whistling choice between globalism and nationalism," wrote Sullivan. "It must combine the best kind of patriotism (a shared civic spirit and a clear sense of the national interest) and the best kind of internationalism (a recognition that when your neighbor's house is on fire, you need to grab a bucket). And it should reject the worst kind of nationalism (damn-the-consequences aggression and identity-based hate-mongering) and the worst kind of internationalism (the self-congratulatory insulation of the Davos elite)."

But that's a tricky needle to thread. On the right, Trump and his lieutenants have spent their time in power casting the liberal pieties of the Obama era as supposed obstacles to the American national interest and see themselves at the forefront of a nationalist wave taking control across the world.

Among the Democrats, there's a burgeoning debate about what kind of counter to "internationalism" ought to be embraced: It's easy to scorn the "Davos elite," but it's another thing to pursue policies that target the power and privileges of influential multinational corporations or question the shibboleths of free trade and laissez-faire capitalism. It's sensible to urge American restraint in the Middle East and other geopolitical flash points, but it's harder to convince official Washington to eschew new military entanglements.

And though Trump and his political rivals may not agree on much, both may succumb to the old temptations of the Cold War.

At the Atlantic Council's forum, the specter of China loomed over proceedings. Adm. Michael Rogers, a former head of the National Security Agency, feared China could outpace the United States in its abilities to wage cyberwarfare. Sen. Tom Cotton, R.-Ark., a figure largely loyal to Trump, described China as "a unique adversary in the world." Though Cotton's hawkish views on Iran have earned him many detractors, there aren't that many lawmakers on the other side of the aisle who would disagree with his antipathy toward Beijing.

That the United States is almost inexorably lurching into a great-power confrontation with China ought to be a concern, suggested Emma Ashford and Trevor Thrall of the libertarian Cato Institute. "The growing consensus on China is troubling. Having identified China as America's biggest strategic challenge, neither party has identified a clear goal," Ashford and Thrall wrote. "Nor have they articulated how a new approach to China would provide a foundation for a broader vision of American foreign policy . . . The risk of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy on China - through confrontation without purpose - is real."

Analysts liken the febrile moment to an earlier era of 19th century politics, when Europe's industrializing, imperial powers entered into alliances that ultimately convulsed the world into conflict.

"What we are seeing today resembles the mid-nineteenth century in important ways: the post - World War II, post - Cold War order cannot be restored, but the world is not yet on the edge of a systemic crisis," wrote Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations.

A century ago, that crisis arrived. This time, the current crop of American politicians - Trump included - can still stave off calamity.

"Now is the time to make sure one never materializes, be it from a breakdown in U.S.-Chinese relations, a clash with Russia, a conflagration in the Middle East, or the cumulative effects of climate change," Haass continued. "The good news is that it is far from inevitable that the world will eventually arrive at a catastrophe; the bad news is that it is far from certain that it will not."

Ishaan Tharoor writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post. He previously was a senior editor and correspondent at Time magazine, based first in Hong Kong and later in New York.More Americans are predicting an economic downturn in the coming year, a shift that could affect President Donald Trump as he seeks re-election, CNBC reported.

Only 28 percent of Americans think the economy will get better in the next 12 months, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday. Meanwhile, 33 percent expect it will get worse and 37 percent believe it will stay about the same, the survey found.

Americans felt much better about the economy's prospects at the beginning of the year. In a January poll, 35 percent of respondents said they thought the economy would get better, while only 20 percent believed it would get worse and 43 percent felt it would stay about the same.

If voters sour on the economy, it would bode poorly for a president who has frequently pointed to it as a triumph. Trump, whose likely run for a second term in 2020 could be hamstrung by a poor approval rating, sees the economy as a central part of his appeal.

Many economists and executives have started to predict an economic slowdown, and even a potential recession as early as the end of 2019. It may leave Trump as the first president running for re-election during a recession since Jimmy Carter in 1980. Carter lost that election to Ronald Reagan.

George H.W. Bush lost to Bill Clinton in 1992 as the economy was recovering from a recession.World oil prices going up

558 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia humanitarian mission medical team delivers healthcare supplies to Aleppo medical facilities (PHOTOS)

Russia peacekeepers in Karabakh conduct training

Armenia FM in Stockholm, underscores proper, targeted response from international community (PHOTOS)

Blinken, Cavusoglu discuss situation in Armenia, Azerbaijan

Senator Markey expresses readiness to work in US Senate to facilitate release of Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan

Newspaper: Armenia police continue inspections regarding health ministers voyages

Newspaper: Armenia PM-Artsakh President tandem devises another operation

Travelers to face stricter Covid test rules when visiting US

UN Secretary-General urges to increase testing, and not to ban travel due to omicron strain

Castro becomes the first female president in Honduras

Lavrov: Russia is making efforts to resolve controversial issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan

EU Representative: Bayramov and Mirzoyan to meet in Stockholm on December 2

European Commission unveils its alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative

Macron says UK PM Boris Johnson is a clown

NEWS.am daily digest: 01.12.21

Embassy in Armenia: This year 16 Days of Activism align with US Summit for Democracy

US envoy: Armenia has some of the best produce in the world

Turkey already assessing economic benefits of opening Nakhichevan corridor

Dollar continues increasing in Armenia

All Armenian Fund: Working Group reported they received no credible evidence that funds were misappropriated

Luc Pierre Devigne: EU discussing with Russia conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Armenia former President Sargsyan: Artsakh issue is not resolved

Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan deputy PMs to meet in Moscow today

Russia MFA: OSCE plays useful role in promoting settlement of Karabakh conflict

Armenia Inspection Bodies Coordination Bureau: We cant fine PM, parliament speaker for not wearing face masks

Armenia State Revenue Committee: Indicators set by 2021 budget will be fulfilled

Heavy snowfall in Armenias Ashotsk

Armenia opposition lawmaker: Why should Azerbaijanis withdraw from Ishkhanasar hills?

Armenia opposition MP: Iran drivers can enter Goris-Kapan road, refuel their cars with Azerbaijan fuel

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan attending international videoconference (PHOTOS)

Armenia PM sacks head of his staff's foreign relations department

4 more die of coronavirus in Karabakh

President invites Romania colleague to Armenia

Armenia revenue committee chief: Our customs officers are already on Goris-Kapan motorway

502 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Russia peacekeepers in Artsakh ensure about 150 pilgrims safe visit to Amaras Monastery in 1 week

Armenia investigation of criminal case on high treason is over

Erdogan expects to discuss Ukraine with Putin

Armenia FM to head for Sweden

Armenia, Greece, Cyprus special forces hold joint exercises

Newspaper: Crimes with use of weapons increase in Armenia in 2021

Newspaper: Actual salaries decrease in Armenia

Armenia ombudsman: Azerbaijan army is able to monitor Kapan-Chakaten alternative road as well (PHOTOS)

Chairman of Armenia parliament probe committee: We will summon President and Prime Minister to ask questions

Armenian analyst states reason why Iran won't renounce exit to Black Sea through Armenia's territory

Charles Michel: Political dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan may lead to a sustainable settlement

Putin hasn't decided if he will run in the 2024 presidential elections

Armenia territorial administration and infrastructure minister meets with Russian deputy transport minister

Central Bank of Armenia becomes member of Sustainable Banking and Financing Network (SBFN)

Putin: If strike complexes emerge in Ukraine, Russia will give adequate response

Lukashenko: Visit to Crimea will mean recognition of it as Russian territory

Russia-based Armenian analyst: Implementation of agreements on Karabakh reached in Ashgabat not very likely

Qatar calls on Persian Gulf countries to cooperate with Iran

Aliyev, Pakistani minister discuss expansion of Azerbaijan-Pakistan-Turkey cooperation format

Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor Office lodges applications with ECHR under cases of captured Armenian soldiers

53-year-old Russian woman run over by Opel driver at Sakharov Square in Yerevan

Former head of ex-chief of Armenia Police is under arrest

Monument to victims of events of March 1, 2008 to be placed in Yerevan

Armenia PM receives representatives of Armenian Democratic Liberal Party-Ramgavar, Karabakh conflict touched upon

Pace of negative saldo of migration from Armenia by air grows by 33% in 3 months

PACE Committee calls on Yerevan, Baku and Tbilisi 'to guarantee the right to hold Gay Pride marches'

Armenia Supreme Judicial Council members discuss introduction of electronic systems with EU program reps

EU Ambassador to Armenia: Soldier's Home rehabilitation center is unprecedented institution

Armenia citizen commits suicide at Astghik Medical Center in Yerevan

Armenia National Assembly's new probe committee holds first session

NEWS.am daily digest: 30.11.21

French Senate: Paris needs to support the Armenian people

Armenia Judicial Department has new chief

Deputy PM: Railway roads and highways will be under Armenia's jurisdiction in case of unblocking

Consular consultations held between Armenian and Kazakh MFAs

Armenia ex-Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan to remain in custody

ECHR obliges Armenia to make a payment of EUR 24,000 to family of pupil who died after beating in school

14 officers killed in military helicopter crash in Azerbaijan

Ombudsman report on Azerbaijan army killing Karabakh civilians is disseminated at UN

Armenia ruling force MP: There was no 'corridor' agenda in Sochi talks

Armenian analyst: Statement signed on Nov. 26 poses risks to Armenia

Ruling power lawmaker: Azerbaijanis must leave sovereign territory of Armenia

Armenia health minister: Providing free medical services to country's primary figures is matter of national security

Dollar still gaining value in Armenia

Water tariff in Armenia to increase on January 1

Armenia parliament ruling majority does not decriminalize insult, slander

Armenia premier, EU Special Representative for South Caucasus discuss bilateral relations

MFA spokesman: China has expressed hope for settlement of disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Armenia health minister: People are vaccinated to such extent that restaurants will not suffer serious economic damage

Macron urges Tehran to hold constructive talks on nuclear program

Political scientist: Armenia PM will continue yielding to Azerbaijan

6 people killed in Turkish storms

Ruling power MP: Armenia special services were informed about transfer of terrorists from Syria to Azerbaijan

Deputy defense minister does not know grounds on which Azerbaijan planes cross Armenia airspace

Military helicopter crashes in Azerbaijan

Armenia deputy defense minister: No official ordered not to shoot

Have Azerbaijanis retreated from Ishkhanasar hills of Armenia?

Explosion hits Kabul

1 more person dies of coronavirus in Artsakh

Armenia migration service chief: 91,000 people displaced due to Azerbaijan military aggression against Karabakh

International Court of Justice to rule on Armenia lawsuit against Azerbaijan on December 7

398 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia MFA spokesman: Sochi statement reaffirms unblocking provision, refutes corridor thesesUsername: Password: or Register

Back to

Forum

Reply to

This post

Post New

Thread Thread Rating: 4 Vote(s) - 3 Average

1

2

3

4

5

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ive worked out Jesus was about five years old when he came back from egypt LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 478896

12-18-2018 08:13 AM











Post: #1 Ive worked out Jesus was about five years old when he came back from egypt

Advertisement

They had fled from Bethlehem after the wise men had visited. Jesus was just under 1 years old at this time he was described not as a baby but a young child.

And so having been warned in a dream by an angel they went into egyptain territory not run by Herod, probably on the Isreali coast.



Then they were told Herod and those who wanted to kill the child Jesus were dead



First thing they did when they came back was visit the temple at Jerusalem because they had never been to offer the sacrifice required for a first born after the days of purification were over. By that time they were years over! Jesus having been circumcised on the eight day.



While they were there Simeon a prophet who had been told he must see the messiah before his death, was at the temple waiting, knowing the prophet malachi recived the words from God that the messenger of the covenant The Lord whom they desired would suddenly come to the temple.



And so when Mary Jospeh returned from egypt he the child Jesus the messiah ran into simeon's arms and

Simeon praised God for having seen the messiah after waiting for so long.

Jesus was walking and was around five years old and simeon welcomed him into his arms

Gave him a hug!

Then they returned to their home town of Nazerath. Herod and those who wanted to kill him were deadThey had fled from Bethlehem after the wise men had visited. Jesus was just under 1 years old at this time he was described not as a baby but a young child.And so having been warned in a dream by an angel they went into egyptain territory not run by Herod, probably on the Isreali coast.Then they were told Herod and those who wanted to kill the child Jesus were deadFirst thing they did when they came back was visit the temple at Jerusalem because they had never been to offer the sacrifice required for a first born after the days of purification were over. By that time they were years over! Jesus having been circumcised on the eight day.While they were there Simeon a prophet who had been told he must see the messiah before his death, was at the temple waiting, knowing the prophet malachi recived the words from God that the messenger of the covenant The Lord whom they desired would suddenly come to the temple.And so when Mary Jospeh returned from egypt he the child Jesus the messiah ran into simeon's arms andSimeon praised God for having seen the messiah after waiting for so long.Jesus was walking and was around five years old and simeon welcomed him into his armsGave him a hug!Then they returned to their home town of Nazerath. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 478899

12-18-2018 08:16 AM











Post: #2 RE: Ive worked out Jesus was about five years old when he came back from egypt

Just remember jesus wants half of whatever is found there. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 478896

12-18-2018 08:18 AM











Post: #3 RE: Ive worked out Jesus was about five years old when he came back from egypt

The shepherds were the only ones to see Jesus as a baby.

The shepherds would be young men even children aged 12 to 16 or so. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 478896

12-18-2018 08:28 AM











Post: #4 RE: Ive worked out Jesus was about five years old when he came back from egypt

Mary abd Jospeh had no choice but to go to Bethlehem abd they webt late Spetember while shepherds were still watching sheep in fields. It was not winter when that happens.

But that time was very busy even for towns like bethlehem that was just south of Jerusalem and was higher than Jerusalem itself. Because their was a relgious festival aroubd that time of year so people would be coming and going staying with relatives to go to the fastivals of that time of year . Plus the census was called so lots of families were stating with relatives of their own house.

This was the case with Mary and Jospeh, they went to stay with relatives based in the city of David or the house of David, but there was no room in the upper room for the as their were so many relatives of the house of david already staying at that house.

So they had to put Jesus is the lower part a d they the selves sleep with the animals.



Animals were used for central heating, archeologists foubd no heatings in the houses of that period they cooked outdoors not indoors.

Even middle aged castles had only one room heated.

So animals body heat was used for the geating of the air in lower parts of the houses to get heat rising for the upper rooms where humans lived.

Houses in the hills of bethelhem were buolt this way and the word in greek translated wrongly as inn like a commercial inn was the word Jesus used for the last supper room an which meant either an upper room or guest room.



Jesus is the second adam so like God created Adam surrounded by animals , Jesus was born surrounded by animals also.. pacman

Banned

User ID: 439693

12-18-2018 08:34 AM



Posts: 3,171









Post: #5 RE: Ive worked out Jesus was about five years old when he came back from egypt

Nothing wrong with your critical thinking. I think he was born around 9-11. But five when he returned and taught as boy in the temple. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 478896

12-18-2018 08:34 AM











Post: #6 RE: Ive worked out Jesus was about five years old when he came back from egypt

Sheep were still in the fields and there is no way the ifficient roman would be stupid enough to call a census of any type in the dead of winter as people had to walk all over israel fir that census and it would have been chaos if it were december as temp around Jersualem plunge in winter.

So sheep still in fields and the census itself would be spetember after the harvest

Plus The birth of John the baptist , Jesus cousin , was in spring/ summer. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 473839

12-18-2018 08:35 AM











Post: #7 RE: Ive worked out Jesus was about five years old when he came back from egypt

We need to figure out the exact year of Jesus's birth LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 478896

12-18-2018 08:37 AM











Post: #8 RE: Ive worked out Jesus was about five years old when he came back from egypt

pacman Wrote: (12-18-2018 08:34 AM) Nothing wrong with your critical thinking. I think he was born around 9-11. But five when he returned and taught as boy in the temple.

He started doing the asking / teaching when 12

that is said in the scripture and he stayed behind and his parents lost track of him they went back looking where hed gone and found him still in the temple. He started doing the asking / teaching when 12that is said in the scripture and he stayed behind and his parents lost track of him they went back looking where hed gone and found him still in the temple. 9n

Sprinkles

User ID: 444981

12-18-2018 08:41 AM



Posts: 2,458









Post: #9 RE: Ive worked out Jesus was about five years old when he came back from egypt

LoP Guest Wrote: (12-18-2018 08:35 AM) We need to figure out the exact year of Jesus's birth

Right because that will help fix the world up. Right because that will help fix the world up. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 478896

12-18-2018 08:43 AM











Post: #10 RE: Ive worked out Jesus was about five years old when he came back from egypt

LoP Guest Wrote: (12-18-2018 08:35 AM) We need to figure out the exact year of Jesus's birth

Don t really matter but we know it was definitely not december 25 Th. Very likely September after harvest or early October possibly

Don t really matter but we know it was definitely not december 25 Th. Very likely September after harvest or early October possibly LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 478896

12-18-2018 08:45 AM











Post: #11 RE: Ive worked out Jesus was about five years old when he came back from egypt

He could have even been seven when he came back from egypt! To the temple. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 478896

12-18-2018 08:48 AM











Post: #12 RE: Ive worked out Jesus was about five years old when he came back from egypt

The Flight to Egypt



14So he got up, took the Child and His mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt, 15where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: Out of Egypt I called My Son . 16When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 478899

12-18-2018 08:49 AM











Post: #13 RE: Ive worked out Jesus was about five years old when he came back from egypt

LoP Guest Wrote: (12-18-2018 08:48 AM) The Flight to Egypt



14So he got up, took the Child and His mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt, 15where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: Out of Egypt I called My Son . 16When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi

I think i saw something about moses being an economist for pharao. I think i saw something about moses being an economist for pharao. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 478896

12-18-2018 08:50 AM











Post: #14 RE: Ive worked out Jesus was about five years old when he came back from egypt

Jesus was around one when the star got near bethlehem





3When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired where the Christ was to be born.



5In Bethlehem in Judea, they replied, for this is what the prophet has written:



6But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah,

for out of you will come a ruler

who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.a 

7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and learned from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8And sending them to Bethlehem, he said: Go and search carefully for the Child, and when you find Him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him.



9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the Child was. 10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with great delight. 11On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.



12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their country by another route. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 478896

12-18-2018 08:52 AM











Post: #15 RE: Ive worked out Jesus was about five years old when he came back from egypt

LoP Guest Wrote: (12-18-2018 08:49 AM) LoP Guest Wrote: (12-18-2018 08:48 AM) The Flight to Egypt



14So he got up, took the Child and His mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt, 15where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: Out of Egypt I called My Son . 16When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi

I think i saw something about moses being an economist for pharao.

Jesus is the firstborn of all creation Jesus is the firstborn of all creation Advertisement



Back to

Forum

Reply to

This post

Post New

Thread















By almost any measure, 2018 has been a disastrous year for democracy. Authoritarian leaders have made decisive moves to tighten their grip on power by eroding practices indispensable to a functioning democracy, such as the rule of law and a free press, and blithely ignoring or violently suppressing mass protests in places such as Hungary, Nicaragua, the Philippines and elsewhere, Washington Post columnist Frida Ghitis wrote.

But there are parts of the world where, quite unexpectedly, the struggle for democratic reform made giant strides  a reminder that the right mix of activism, leadership and circumstances can suddenly change the course of history. The good news came from starkly different countries, where undemocratic practices had been playing out in unique ways. Remarkably, whether toppling autocrats or reversing corrosive practices, the bold leaders and committed activists that shocked the system managed to achieve their goals without violence.

"Armenia has also experienced a similarly dramatic turnaround. When President Serzh Sargsyan, already in office for a decade, staged a power grab by changing the constitution and becoming prime minister, the journalist-turned-activist Nikol Pashinyan leveraged the peoples anger to drastically change the countrys direction. Pashinyan led a massive march followed by crippling demonstrations, paralyzing the country until the parliament  which had named Sargsyan prime minister  finally relented. The nonviolent people power of Armenians forced Sargsyan to resign and persuaded legislators to name Pashinyan prime minister. But the biggest shift was still to come.

A week ago, Armenians elected a new parliament, handing Pashinyans bloc an astonishing 70 percent of the vote. The previous ruling party, Sargsyans Republicans, didnt even manage the 5 percent minimum required to enter parliament. Bolstered by the vote of confidence, Pashinyan has now launched a comprehensive anti-corruption campaign aimed at cleaning up the system of government, " Frida Ghitis noted.The Economist called Armenia country of the year".

"Our annual country of the year award goes not to the most influential nation, nor to the richest, nor to the one with the tastiest food (sorry, Japan). It celebrates progress. Which country has improved the most in the past 12 months?

It is a tricky choice. A stellar performance in one year is no guarantee of future success. Last years pick, France, is now racked by riots. Myanmar, our winner in 2015, has regressed bloodily. Nonetheless, we must choose. For 2018, some of our staff facetiously suggested Britain, for giving the world a useful warning: that even a rich, peaceful and apparently stable country can absent-mindedly set fire to its constitutional arrangements without any serious plan for replacing them. Others suggested Ireland, for resisting a form of Brexit that would undermine Irish peace; and also for settling its vexed abortion debate democratically. Two Latin American states merit a mention. Whereas Brazil and Mexico are plunging into populism, Ecuador and Peru are strengthening institutions, such as the judiciary, that can curb a headstrong leader. South Africa has ditched a president, Jacob Zuma, who presided over the plunder of the state. His replacement, Cyril Ramaphosa, has appointed honest, competent folk to stop the looting.

In the end, the choice came down to three countries. In Malaysia voters fired a prime minister who could not adequately explain why there was $700m in his bank account. Despite Najib Razaks glaring imperfections, his sacking was a surprise. Malaysias ruling party had dominated politics since the 1950s and gerrymandered furiously to keep it that way. Yet the opposition triumphed at an election, and Malaysians enjoyed the delicious spectacle of police removing big boxes of cash, jewellery and designer handbags from their former leaders home. Malaysia might have made a worthy winner, except that the new prime minister, the nonagenarian Mahathir Mohamad, seems reluctant either to relax the countrys divisive racial preferences or to hand over power as agreed to his more liberal partner, Anwar Ibrahim, a former political prisoner.



Ethiopia had an extraordinary year. It is a huge place, with 105m people and a long history of tyranny and woe. A cold-war Marxist regime slaughtered and starved multitudes. The guerrillas who overthrew it looked to China for inspiration and loans. They had some success in rebuilding a desolate economy, but also shot protesters and virtually criminalised dissent. After tempers exploded following a rigged election in 2015, the ruling party this year picked a reformist leader, Abiy Ahmed, who has released political prisoners, largely unmuzzled the media and promised to hold real elections in 2020. He has made peace with Eritrea, opening a long-closed border and restoring access to the sea. He is even trying to liberalise Ethiopias debt-burdened, state-directed economy, where a phone connection is harder to get than in anarchic Somalia next door. If this were a contest for person of the year, Abiy might have won. But we did not choose Ethiopia because it is far from clear that the new prime minister will be able to curb ethnic violence. Separatists no longer fear being shot by the security services; some are now trying to create ethnically pure enclaves by driving minorities from their homes. Perhaps 1.4m people have been displaced so far. Autocracies, alas, seldom die quietly.

Yet in Armenia that is exactly what seems to have happened. The president, Serzh Sargsyan, tried to dodge term limits by making himself into an executive prime minister. The streets erupted in protest. Nikol Pashinyan, a charismatic and bearded former journalist and mp, was swept into power, legally and properly, on a wave of revulsion against corruption and incompetence. His new party alliance won 70% of the vote in a subsequent election. A Putinesque potentate was ejected, and no one was killed. Russia was given no excuse to interfere. A note of caution: Armenias nasty territorial dispute with Azerbaijan has not been resolved and could ignite again. However, an ancient and often misruled nation in a turbulent region has a chance of democracy and renewal. For that reason, Armenia is our country of the year. Shnorhavorum yem!" The Economist reported.Lunaticoutpost.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program , anaffiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.Amazon, the Amazon logo, MYHABIT, and the MYHABIT logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.Don't be a pest to the forum.No profanity in thread-titles or usernamesNo excessive profanity in postsNo Racism, Antisemitism + HateNo calls for violence against anyone..This website exists for fun and discussion only. The reader is responsible for discerning the validity, factuality or implications of information posted here, be it fictional or based on real events. The content of posts on this site, including but not limited to links to other web sites, are the expressed opinion of the original poster and are in no way representative of or endorsed by the owners or administration of this website. The posts on this website are the opinion of the specific author and are not statements of advice, opinion, or factual information on behalf of the owner or administration of LunaticOutPost.Com. The owners or administration of this website can't be hold responsible for content hosted on sites that posters link to in; including, but not limited to, posts, signatures, private messages and such. This site may contain content not suitable for minors and if you feel you might be offended by such content, you should log off immediately.This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Users may make such material available in an effort to advance awareness and understanding of issues relating to civil rights, economics, individual rights, international affairs, liberty, science & technology, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.In accordance with industry accepted best practices we ask that users limit their copy / paste of copyrighted material to the relevant portions of the article you wish to discuss (no more than 50% of the source material) provide a link back to the original articleIf you are a legal copyright holder or a designated agent for such and you believe a post on this website falls outside the boundaries of "Fair Use" and legitimately infringes on yours or your clients copyright please contact [email protected] This website is owned by :Marco ZwaneveldDrijfriemstraat 522516 XR The HagueNetherlands.I will not rent, sell, share or otherwise disclose your personal information to any third party.We might contact you from time to time regarding your purchases or the services (like forums and announcement lists) you have subscribed to.Some of the 3rd party advertisers on lunaticoutpost.com may use cookiesto track peformance and/or to serve relevant ads.If you wish to read more and/or opt out of such cookies, please visit: http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/23:21

British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn was accused of being a sexist and a misogynist and faced calls on Wednesday to apologise for apparently calling embattled Prime Minister Theresa May a "stupid woman" as they clashed in Parliament over her controversial Brexit deal.





The incident happened days after European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he did not personally insult Prime Minister May by calling her "nebulous" after footage emerged of a fiery clash between him and her in Brussels over a supposed jibe.





Opposition Labour Party leader Corbyn was caught on camera mouthing some words during a heated exchange in the House of Commons, which many believe was directed specifically at May but he insisted he had only said "stupid people".





Conservative Party MPs called on the Labour leader to be ordered to apologise but the Speaker of the Commons, John Bercow, said he could not "immediately" rule on it as he had not seen the incident in action.





"I did not use the words 'stupid woman' about the prime minister or anyone else, and am completely opposed to the use of sexist or misogynist language in absolutely any form at all," Corbyn later said in a statement in the House after being called on by the Speaker to clarify.





"I referred to those who I believe were seeking to turn a debate about the national crisis facing our country into a pantomime as 'stupid people'," he said.





His statement followed hours of parliamentary drama, during which the Speaker said he had employed the expertise of "lip speakers" at short notice in an attempt to curtail the row. He concluded that the Opposition Leader "must be taken at his word" and that it was not up to him to cast judgement on the matter.



Afghan Taliban Reports on 3-Day Meeting Including U.S. Envoy, Reiterates Refusal to Meet Afghan OfficialsIS' West Africa Province Claims Capturing a Nigerian Soldier in a 2nd Attack on the Same DayUsername: Password: or Register

Back to

Forum

Reply to

This post

Post New

Thread Thread Rating: 3 Vote(s) - 2.33 Average

1

2

3

4

5

A Complete Guide to All 17 (Known) Trump and Russia Investigations spo snouou

Vocem sine nomine audivit!

User ID: 350320

12-18-2018 10:28 AM



Posts: 67,593









Post: #1 A Complete Guide to All 17 (Known) Trump and Russia Investigations

Advertisement

Investigations by the Special Counsel The Russian Governments Election Attack

Status: 12 Russian military intelligence officers from the GRU indicted, 13 people indicted from the Internet Research Agency, alongside three Russian companies, and a guilty plea from one California man who unwittingly aided their identity theft. Manafort aide Sam Patten is cooperating with investigators.

WikiLeaks

Status: Both Trump aide Roger Stone and Corsi have said they expect to be indicted. Unclear if looming charges against Assange relate to Mueller investigation.

Middle Eastern Influence

Status: No public court activity yet, but two key figures are known to be cooperating: Middle East would-be power broker George Nader and Blackwater mercenary group founder Erik Prince. Paul Manaforts Activity

Status: Manaforts been both convicted at trial and accepted a plea agreement; lawyer Alex van der Zwaan pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about the Ukrainian work; Manafort associate Sam Patten has pleaded guilty to failing to register as a foreign agent; Kilimnik has been indicted for obstruction of justice. Known cooperators include Trump deputy campaign chair and Manafort business partner Rick Gates, who has also pleaded guilty to his own role in the money laundering scheme. The Trump Tower Moscow Project

Status: Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the status of the project and is cooperating with investigators.

Other Campaign and Transition Contacts With Russia

Status: Both national security adviser Michael Flynn and foreign policy aide George Papadopoulos have pleaded guilty to charges related to their campaign and transition contacts with Russia. Cohen and Flynn have both provided extensive cooperation to Mueller about the campaign and transition contacts. Obstruction of Justice

Status: No public movement yet, but court documents point to the fact that at least Manafort and Cohen have provided evidence useful to this case about their own contacts in 2017 and 2018 with the White House.



Investigations by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Campaign Conspiracy and the Trump Organizations Finances

Status: Cohen has already pleaded guilty, and National Enquirers David Pecker, its parent company AMI, Cohen, and Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg are all cooperating with investigators.

Inauguration Funding

Status: No public court activity yet beyond Patten, but he is cooperating with investigators. Trump SuperPAC Funding

Status: No public court activity yet, but Manafort aide Sam Patten is cooperating with investigators. Foreign Lobbying

Status: Rick Gates is cooperating with investigators.

Investigations by the US Attorney for the District of Columbia Maria Butina and the NRA

Status: Maria Butina has pleaded guilty and is cooperating.



Investigations by the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova

Status: Khusyaynova has been indicted.

Turkish Influence

Status: Michael Flynns plea agreement includes some details of the case. Flynn is cooperating with investigators.



Investigations by New York City, New York State, & Other State Attorneys General Tax Case

Status: Unknown .

The Trump Foundation

Status: Case is proceeding, having cleared initial court tests. Emoluments Lawsuit

Status: Subpoenas have been issued.





https://www.wired.com/story/mueller-inve...ete-guide/ LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 423870

12-18-2018 10:31 AM











Post: #2 RE: A Complete Guide to All 17 (Known) Trump and Russia Investigations

Nobody gives a flying Golly Gee Wilikers!!!

Tell that to your Pine Gap superiors asswipe. prosthetic brain

apothegmatic equanimity

User ID: 364412

12-18-2018 10:36 AM



Posts: 10,671









Post: #3 RE: A Complete Guide to All 17 (Known) Trump and Russia Investigations

spo snouou Wrote: (12-18-2018 10:28 AM) Investigations by the Special Counsel The Russian Governments Election Attack

Status: 12 Russian military intelligence officers from the GRU indicted, 13 people indicted from the Internet Research Agency, alongside three Russian companies, and a guilty plea from one California man who unwittingly aided their identity theft. Manafort aide Sam Patten is cooperating with investigators.

WikiLeaks

Status: Both Trump aide Roger Stone and Corsi have said they expect to be indicted. Unclear if looming charges against Assange relate to Mueller investigation.

Middle Eastern Influence

Status: No public court activity yet, but two key figures are known to be cooperating: Middle East would-be power broker George Nader and Blackwater mercenary group founder Erik Prince. Paul Manaforts Activity

Status: Manaforts been both convicted at trial and accepted a plea agreement; lawyer Alex van der Zwaan pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about the Ukrainian work; Manafort associate Sam Patten has pleaded guilty to failing to register as a foreign agent; Kilimnik has been indicted for obstruction of justice. Known cooperators include Trump deputy campaign chair and Manafort business partner Rick Gates, who has also pleaded guilty to his own role in the money laundering scheme. The Trump Tower Moscow Project

Status: Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the status of the project and is cooperating with investigators.

Other Campaign and Transition Contacts With Russia

Status: Both national security adviser Michael Flynn and foreign policy aide George Papadopoulos have pleaded guilty to charges related to their campaign and transition contacts with Russia. Cohen and Flynn have both provided extensive cooperation to Mueller about the campaign and transition contacts. Obstruction of Justice

Status: No public movement yet, but court documents point to the fact that at least Manafort and Cohen have provided evidence useful to this case about their own contacts in 2017 and 2018 with the White House.



Investigations by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Campaign Conspiracy and the Trump Organizations Finances

Status: Cohen has already pleaded guilty, and National Enquirers David Pecker, its parent company AMI, Cohen, and Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg are all cooperating with investigators.

Inauguration Funding

Status: No public court activity yet beyond Patten, but he is cooperating with investigators. Trump SuperPAC Funding

Status: No public court activity yet, but Manafort aide Sam Patten is cooperating with investigators. Foreign Lobbying

Status: Rick Gates is cooperating with investigators.

Investigations by the US Attorney for the District of Columbia Maria Butina and the NRA

Status: Maria Butina has pleaded guilty and is cooperating.



Investigations by the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova

Status: Khusyaynova has been indicted.

Turkish Influence

Status: Michael Flynns plea agreement includes some details of the case. Flynn is cooperating with investigators.



Investigations by New York City, New York State, & Other State Attorneys General Tax Case

Status: Unknown .

The Trump Foundation

Status: Case is proceeding, having cleared initial court tests. Emoluments Lawsuit

Status: Subpoenas have been issued.





https://www.wired.com/story/mueller-inve...ete-guide/

since you appear to be heavily invested in following these affairs im just curious as to where you think this will all end for trump , his family and his cohorts....



i keep getting the impression that they will all end so disgraced that they will all end up fleeing to russia as their escape plan since you appear to be heavily invested in following these affairs im just curious as to where you think this will all end for trump , his family and his cohorts....i keep getting the impression that they will all end so disgraced that they will all end up fleeing to russia as their escape plan Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.

 Alexis de Tocqueville



"True friends are rare to come by these days; a show of friendship very often hides some private ends. Man's mind is defiled by self-interest. So, becoming disillusioned, roam alone like a rhinoceros." --Gautama Buddha LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 478915

12-18-2018 11:09 AM











Post: #4 RE: A Complete Guide to All 17 (Known) Trump and Russia Investigations

A/C, you have been exposed. A leak earlier on the internet revealed you are a Hillary Clinton Sock and He-Man is Al Gore. Maybe it was the other way around. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 423870

12-18-2018 11:09 AM











Post: #5 RE: A Complete Guide to All 17 (Known) Trump and Russia Investigations

All this proves is that our cops are worse than our politicians. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 478918

12-18-2018 11:44 AM











Post: #6 RE: A Complete Guide to All 17 (Known) Trump and Russia Investigations

And not one piece of fukking evidence, you fukking Moron. spo snouou

Vocem sine nomine audivit!

User ID: 350320

12-18-2018 12:11 PM



Posts: 67,593









Post: #7 RE: A Complete Guide to All 17 (Known) Trump and Russia Investigations

prosthetic brain Wrote: (12-18-2018 10:36 AM) spo snouou Wrote: (12-18-2018 10:28 AM) Investigations by the Special Counsel The Russian Governments Election Attack

Status: 12 Russian military intelligence officers from the GRU indicted, 13 people indicted from the Internet Research Agency, alongside three Russian companies, and a guilty plea from one California man who unwittingly aided their identity theft. Manafort aide Sam Patten is cooperating with investigators.

WikiLeaks

Status: Both Trump aide Roger Stone and Corsi have said they expect to be indicted. Unclear if looming charges against Assange relate to Mueller investigation.

Middle Eastern Influence

Status: No public court activity yet, but two key figures are known to be cooperating: Middle East would-be power broker George Nader and Blackwater mercenary group founder Erik Prince. Paul Manaforts Activity

Status: Manaforts been both convicted at trial and accepted a plea agreement; lawyer Alex van der Zwaan pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about the Ukrainian work; Manafort associate Sam Patten has pleaded guilty to failing to register as a foreign agent; Kilimnik has been indicted for obstruction of justice. Known cooperators include Trump deputy campaign chair and Manafort business partner Rick Gates, who has also pleaded guilty to his own role in the money laundering scheme. The Trump Tower Moscow Project

Status: Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the status of the project and is cooperating with investigators.

Other Campaign and Transition Contacts With Russia

Status: Both national security adviser Michael Flynn and foreign policy aide George Papadopoulos have pleaded guilty to charges related to their campaign and transition contacts with Russia. Cohen and Flynn have both provided extensive cooperation to Mueller about the campaign and transition contacts. Obstruction of Justice

Status: No public movement yet, but court documents point to the fact that at least Manafort and Cohen have provided evidence useful to this case about their own contacts in 2017 and 2018 with the White House.



Investigations by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Campaign Conspiracy and the Trump Organizations Finances

Status: Cohen has already pleaded guilty, and National Enquirers David Pecker, its parent company AMI, Cohen, and Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg are all cooperating with investigators.

Inauguration Funding

Status: No public court activity yet beyond Patten, but he is cooperating with investigators. Trump SuperPAC Funding

Status: No public court activity yet, but Manafort aide Sam Patten is cooperating with investigators. Foreign Lobbying

Status: Rick Gates is cooperating with investigators.

Investigations by the US Attorney for the District of Columbia Maria Butina and the NRA

Status: Maria Butina has pleaded guilty and is cooperating.



Investigations by the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova

Status: Khusyaynova has been indicted.

Turkish Influence

Status: Michael Flynns plea agreement includes some details of the case. Flynn is cooperating with investigators.



Investigations by New York City, New York State, & Other State Attorneys General Tax Case

Status: Unknown .

The Trump Foundation

Status: Case is proceeding, having cleared initial court tests. Emoluments Lawsuit

Status: Subpoenas have been issued.





https://www.wired.com/story/mueller-inve...ete-guide/

since you appear to be heavily invested in following these affairs im just curious as to where you think this will all end for trump , his family and his cohorts....



i keep getting the impression that they will all end so disgraced that they will all end up fleeing to russia as their escape plan

Well Trump could very well get away with everything and set up his Trump branded US Empire as a dictator who will hand the presidency down to his children or something like this but in the penthouse of Trump Tower Casino in Moscow ala. Howard Hughes.



fked if I know really..

The lonely exile who drank himself to death: New biography reveals Cambridge spy spent his final days stuck in a drab Moscow flat, pining for Britain

He was flamboyant, treacherous and depraved. And this week our gripping extracts from a new book on Guy Burgess  drawing on a wealth of previously secret papers  have described his journey from Cambridge dandy to Russian spy. Today, in the final part, we chart the gnawing regret that plagued him in Moscow, as drink and a longing to return home finally overwhelmed him.



https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...itain.html Well Trump could very well get away with everything and set up his Trump branded US Empire as a dictator who will hand the presidency down to his children or something like this but in the penthouse of Trump Tower Casino in Moscow ala. Howard Hughes.He was flamboyant, treacherous and depraved. And this week our gripping extracts from a new book on Guy Burgess  drawing on a wealth of previously secret papers  have described his journey from Cambridge dandy to Russian spy. Today, in the final part, we chart the gnawing regret that plagued him in Moscow, as drink and a longing to return home finally overwhelmed him. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 442089

12-18-2018 12:13 PM











Post: #8 RE: A Complete Guide to All 17 (Known) Trump and Russia Investigations

What about the Hillary stuff?



Lets focus on that



Can you do that?



Distraction pieces abound here Laserz

let there be light

User ID: 361628

12-18-2018 12:16 PM



Posts: 41,142









Post: #9 RE: A Complete Guide to All 17 (Known) Trump and Russia Investigations

5 stars.



good info You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. ~ C.S. Lewis

Back to

Forum

Reply to

This post

Post New

Thread















Student translation project- Students Leia Ruebling, Benjamin Reese and Spencer Blake meet with Carola Daffner, German professor, to work on translation project (photo by Steve Buhman).

Students uncovering the forgotten stories of women who resisted the Nazi Regime

by Hannah Erickson

CARBONDALE, Ill. Since the moment World War II ended, most of the global conversations have focused on the countless men who heroically fought against the Nazi Regime. While their stories speak of bravery and valor, so do the many near-forgotten accounts of courageous German women who sometimes quietly, and sometimes boldly, stood against the evils of the Third Reich.

Concerned with historys depiction of these almost unknown women, three students at Southern Illinois University Carbondale are carefully researching and translating the remarkable tales of sacrifice, courage and bravery, and are gearing up to finally share the stories with the English-speaking parts of the world.

Uncovering stories of bravery, courage and sacrifice

The translation project first began as a class assignment under the guidance of associate professor of German, Carola Daffner. The students, Benjamin Reese, Spencer Blake and Leia Ruebling, were tasked with translating a set of biographies that a group, the German Resistance Research Council in Frankfurt, Germany, had gathered for a special exhibit.

At the beginning, the students did not anticipate much more than a normal homework assignment. However, as the translation progressed, the three grew amazed and enamored with the remarkable stories of the women they studied, and knew the legacy of these women needed to expand past the bounds of a single German exhibit.

For Reese, junior in the German education degree program, uncovering the bravery of so many women is not only inspiring, but also an important way to recognize the contributions these women had on the world.

A lot of people dont know it, but women played one of the biggest roles in World War II in Germany, Reese said. The truth is, these women would risk their lives to provide for their families.

As slightly less noticeable at the time, German women often had more freedom to work and venture outside of their homes. What is often forgotten is how many times these women took opportunities to assist others and work behind-the-scenes to resist the Nazi Regime. Even when faced with possible imprisonment, capture or death, many continued to stand against the pressure.

The women were actually the ones doing most of the hard labor at the time, Reese said. Thats something that a lot of people look over, but it is something that needs to be known.

Now, after so many years, Ruebling, senior in the German studies degree program, believes it is time to give these women the credit they deserve.

This is a really big stepping stone, because women werent talked about in World War II, Ruebling said. Often you only hear about the women who stayed at home or did nothing during the war, but this is the other side, portraying the women who fought and were actively resisting.

After realizing the larger implications of their work, the team of SIU students are devoted to finishing the translation and putting these women back in their rightful spot of history.

This is a piece of history that needs to be recognized, Reese said. And we are going to try and do just that.

Translating as a group to increase accuracy

Until now, these remarkable stories had never been available outside of Germany. The obvious challenge for the students is carefully and accurately taking the German exhibits, and translating each section properly into English. German words can often have four or five different meanings, Reese explained, so the easiest way to ensure accuracy is to work together until each piece is fully comprehendible.

When the students have differing opinions on the correct translation of a word, they bounce ideas back and forth until reaching a firm consensus.

Everybody has their own twist on translating, Ruebling said. When we all come together with our own logical ways that we translate, sentence by sentence or word by word, its like a big puzzle.

This is the first time these stories are being translated into English, Daffner explained, so the students process of group discussion and collaboration is an excellent way to preserve the validity, while also pushing the students in their own language development.

Each individual biography is outlined on a panel, and the students work story-by-story to unearth each womans experiences.

The translation itself is interesting, Blake, senior in the German education degree program, said. Because as you are learning about what all these women did, its almost uncovering itself as we go along. Its very informative and exciting.

Overcoming stigmas and educating their peers

Beyond the struggles of accurate translation, the students face a more unexpected challenge related to racial stigmas. For Ruebling, it is not just the language that is difficult, but also the many negative connotations that are still associated with it.

Its hard to tell people you speak German, because they will immediately bring up World War II, the Nazis or how angry the language sounds, Ruebling said. And that makes it difficult from a different aspect.

While this stands as one of the biggest roadblocks for the students, one of their goals is to use these stories to break down those mindsets in their peers.

Exhibit opening this spring

Similar to the exhibit the SIU students are working with, the German Resistance Research Council released an exhibit highlighting the remarkable stories of teenage resistance. In 2012, a group from the University of Missouri-St. Louis translated the exhibit, and it has been on display in various locations since then.

SIUs German section is set to bring that exhibit to campus in honor of SIU World Language Day, Apr. 4, 2019. The exhibit will be on display April 1-19 at Morris Library in the Hall of Presidents, and is free and open to the public.

On April 4, Reese, Ruebling and Blake will give a presentation on their upcoming completion of the womens exhibit, and provide participants with a sneak peek of their work. For more information about the exhibit or World Language Day, contact Carola Daffner at cdaffner@siu.edu.Eat This, Not That!

The New York Times reports more than 775,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and more than 48 million have had the virus. However, many others have likely had COVID but weren't tested or were asymptomatic and didn't realize they had it. While it's impossible to know if you've been infected without seeing a physician or getting tested, there are signs you've had it. COVID affects everyone differently, but according to virus and medical experts Eat This, Not That! Health spoke with, here are theThe share of U.S. electricity generated from alternative energy sources like biofuels, wind and natural gas has expanded rapidly over the last decade, supporting the nations efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To this end, technological advancements have played a critical role in bringing down the cost of electricity generation from alternative energy sources and storing the same.

Buoyed by such factors, stocks in the Zacks Alternative Energy industry have put up an impressive show so far this year, outperforming the broader market. Evidently, the industry has lost 0.7% year to date compared to the S&P 500 indexs 4.8% decline.

Catalysts Working in Favor

New onshore wind capacities, such as multi-year federal tax incentives combined with renewable portfolio standards, remain major drivers for alternative energy stocks. In particular, with wind power generating the maximum renewable electricity in the United States, it does not come as a surprise that the nation is the largest and fastest growing wind market worldwide. According to American Wind Energy Association, the U.S. wind industry installed 612 megawatts (MW) in the third quarter of 2018, reaching year-to-date installations to 1,644 MW. Meanwhile, per the U.S. Energy Information Administrations (EIA) October report, in the first half of 2018, net natural gas exports from the United States more than doubled from the average daily net exports in 2017.

Such encouraging statistics must have bolstered investors confidence in the alternative energy stocks, resulting in the solid year-to-date performance.

Alternative Energy Roadmap for 2019

Now the question is, will alternative energy stocks continue to excel the broader market's performance next year as well? Lets try and gain some clarity on that.

While its difficult to foresee the year, there's reason to believe that 2019 might turn out to be as good as 2018 for the alternative energy industry. In particular, if this winter (2018-2019) turns out to be colder than normal, the expected surge in electricity demand might boost the adoption of alternative energy resources.

Story continues

In view of the encouraging prospects, we have picked three alternative energy players with a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) for investors. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Our Choices

Evergy Inc. EVRG provides clean, safe and reliable energy in Kansas and Missouri, generating a substantial volume of electricity from wind assets. The Kansas City, MI-based stock, sporting a Zacks Rank #1, has an expected earnings growth rate of 15.8% for the next year. Over the past 60 days, the company has seen earnings estimates for 2019 move up by 0.7%.

Ameresco, Inc. AMRC is a leading renewable energy and energy efficiency company offering ESPC-funded energy solutions for public and private organizations. The Framingham, MA-based stock, with a Zacks Rank #2, has an expected earnings growth rate of 7.5% for the next year. Over the past 60 days, the company has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 earnings increase 2.5%.

FuelCell Energy, Inc. FCEL manufactures megawatt-scale fuel cell systems, serving utilities, industrial and large municipal power users. The Danbury, CT-based stock, with a Zacks Rank #2, has an expected earnings growth rate of 31.3% for the next year. Over the past 60 days, the company has seen the loss estimate for 2019 move 2% south.

In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 top tickers to buy and hold for the entirety of 2019?



These 10 are painstakingly handpicked from over 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. They are our primary picks poised to outperform in the year ahead. Be among the first to see the new Zacks Top 10 Stocks >>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Ameresco, Inc. (AMRC) : Free Stock Analysis Report



FuelCell Energy, Inc. (FCEL) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Evergy Inc. (EVRG) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.Congratulations, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) shareholders. You just got a nice raise.

Last week, the big pharma company announced that its board of directors had approved an increase in its quarterly dividend, from $0.34 per share to $0.36 per share. The dividend hike goes into effect with Pfizer's Q1 dividend, which is payable on March 1, 2019, to all shareholders of record as of the close of business on Feb. 1, 2019.

You might be thinking, "A couple of pennies per share extra isn't anything to get excited about." But Pfizer's latest dividend hike is better news than you might think. Here are three reasons why.

Magnifying glass with stacks of coins and small plants growing out of the tops of the stacks.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. The power of compounding

Yes, Pfizer's recent dividend increase is just under 6%. But it's not the one-time increase that is important, it's the cumulative effect of multiple increases over the years.

The dividend hike will boost Pfizer's dividend yield to nearly 3.3%. Thanks to the power of compounding, though, investors who bought and held the drugmaker's shares will enjoy much better yields.

For example, if you bought Pfizer stock 10 years ago at the beginning of 2009, your dividend yield at the time would have been around 3.6%. But if you held onto your shares, your effective dividend yield now (calculated by dividing Pfizer's annualized dividend level with the recent increase by the share price you paid in 2009) would be more than 8% -- more than double the level at which you started out. That's the power of compounding.

2. It's accompanied by a big buyback

Pfizer's latest dividend hike is kind of like a present you open and find two gifts instead of one. The company's dividend increase was accompanied by the board's authorization of a new $10 billion share repurchase program.

Share repurchases, also known as stock buybacks, are another way for companies to return profits to shareholders. The idea behind buybacks is that they increase the value of existing shares by reducing the total number of shares.

Story continues

Several years ago, NYU professor and valuation expert Aswath Damodaran proposed looking at yield in terms of dividends plus share repurchases. He called this an "augmented dividend." Damodaran's idea seems like a pretty good way of looking at buybacks. They're augmented dividends.

The word "augment" simply means "to make something greater by adding to it." And that's what Pfizer's new $10 billion buyback program does: It makes the company's dividend increase even greater by adding to it.

3. The streak continues

Suppose Pfizer paid a dividend this year then didn't pay one for several years. After a hiatus, the company resumed paying dividends for a year or two, then halted the program again. And let's say instead of a yield of around 3.3% like Pfizer now has, the yields in this scenario were significantly higher -- around 6%.

Would you rather have the Pfizer dividend of reality or the Pfizer dividend of this hypothetical scenario? My guess is that every shareholder would much prefer the solid dividend that actually exists today, even though the yield in the made-up scenario was a lot higher. The fact is that consistency makes a dividend -- and its underlying stock -- more valuable in the eyes of income-seeking investors.

With this in mind, consider that Pfizer's just-announced dividend will be the company's 321st consecutive quarterly dividend paid. That's more than 80 years of paying out a dividend every single quarter. Pfizer's streak continues. And the longer it goes, the more pressure the company has to keep it going even longer. As a result, Pfizer's dividend becomes more attractive.

More to Pfizer's story

While many investors like Pfizer primarily because of its dividend, there's more to the story for the pharma stock. Pfizer has generated a great return so far in 2018. Actually, with a little tailwind over the next few days, it's even possible that the stock could deliver its best gains of the 21st century this year.

Although Pfizer faces a few challenges, notably with declining sales for several older products, it also claims arguably its best pipeline in years. The company's current lineup includes big winners like cancer drug Ibrance and anticoagulant Eliquis, which is on track to become the No. 5 best-selling drug in the world.

Pfizer's long-term prospects appear to be quite good. And that should enable shareholders to enjoy their nice raise even more.

More From The Motley Fool

Keith Speights owns shares of Pfizer. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.A Russian cargo ship has run aground off a beach in Cornwall.

The vessel, thought to be a 16,000 tonne ship called the Kuzma Minin, became beached at around 5.40am on Tuesday morning.

According to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the 180m bulk carrier dragged anchor and grounded close to Falmouth Beach. Eighteen Russian crew are on board.

There is no cargo and no report of pollution.

The ship has grounded near Falmouth Beach

Falmouth resident Jess Hughes described this mornings weather on the Cornish coast as extreme.

As you come over the crest of the hill theres just this huge ship where there shouldnt be, she said.

Last night it was horrendously windy and now theres gravel up by the road so it was a good high tide, she added.

Graham Parker, 43, who owns a local student and holiday letting company in Falmouth, said the coastguard had attempted to rescue the crew from the tanker but feared the weather was too rough.

Handout photo taken with permission from the Twitter account of @NDK72 of lifeboats coming to the aid of the Kuzma Minin. (Twitter)

The 16,000-tonne Russian cargo ship ran aground off Gyllyngvase Beach in Cornwall. (Twitter)

The lifeboat crew were out there in minutes to see how they can help. Its amazing considering most are volunteers and they rely on donations, he said.

An HM Coastguard spokeswoman said: HM Coastguard is co-ordinating assistance to a carrier which dragged her anchor and grounded on the western side of the port entrance between Swanpool and Gyllyngvase beaches.

She has a list of 5 degrees but there is no report of any pollution.

Tugs are on their way to the vessel and a lifeboat is standing by at the scene. The Falmouth Coastguard Rescue Team have cordoned off an area around the ship.

Tugs will be attached to the vessel and as the tide rises, the plan is to re-float the vessel.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKIn terms of market size, the U.S. health care market is the largest in the world. Americas unparalleled purchasing power, massive demand for medical services, equipment, cosmetic surgeries and opportunity for innovation have lent it a competitive edge. However, macroeconomic issues, volatility in oil prices, trade war with China, geopolitical conflict with North Korea and Iran, three interest hikes by Fed and a soft global economy have been denting the economy as a whole, just at the threshold of 2019.

The Zacks Medical Product industry, which was once acclaimed for its high-paying jobs, and research and development opportunities, is also no exception here. The industry lost 1.8% on a year-to-date basis.

Thus, it is essential for the investors who are willing to park their money in the healthcare sector, to find the means that can dilute these woes. But before understanding how to make prudent investments for the year, lets take a look at the various developments that have taken place within the space.

Not-So-Happy New Year for Medical Product?

Trade-War Fiasco

The medical product space is confronted by short-term hurdles associated with the U.S.-China trade war. According to a survey conducted by the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA), the tariffs will cost medical product companies nearly $138 million every year.

Cyber Security Risks

A recent survey report by KPMG revealed that around 81% of health care organizations experienced data breach over a two-year period beginning 2015-end (per an article published on 24x7).

For instance, in April, the FDA had to issue a Safety Communication to inform the patients about the availability of an additional firmware update to combat the confirmed cybersecurity risks discovered in Abbott Laboratories ABT implantable cardiac product along with managing rapid battery depletion.

Regulatory Hurdles

The Unique Device Identification (UDI) system by the FDA has been quite costly and difficult to implement for medical product manufacturers.Adding to the woes, the medical-device tax repeal amendment is just a temporary relief for manufacturers. The tax will be back in effect on Jan 1, 2020.

Story continues

Screening Stocks

Buoyed by these trends, there are a few medical product companies that had a rather weak 2018. However, with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), these stocks hold immense promise for long-term growth.You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

5 Possible Outperformers of 2019

Chimerix, Inc. CMRX

This Zacks Rank #2 company lost 35.2% on a year-to-date basis.

The company has been progressing well with its oral and IV brinci platform, the small pox program. Further, Chimerixs newest molecule  CMX521  for norovirus has been providing it with a competitive edge in the niche space.

Per management, Chimerixs substantial work over the past three years has set the stage for 2019 to be a transformational year for the company.

MacroGenics, Inc. MGNX

This Zacks Rank #2 company lost 35.2% on a year-to-date basis.

However, MacroGenics has achieved major milestones with Margetuximab in the SOPHIA breast cancer trial. The companyssolid progress in the Phase 1b/2 gastric cancer study is encouraging.

Management also announced clinical advancement of MGA012 platform for its potential in treating solid tumor cancers. Additionally, the company has two bispecific DART molecule programs in progress.

We expect share prices of MacroGenics to soar in 2019 based on its exclusive products and solutions.

Rockwell Medical, Inc. RMTI

This Zacks Rank #2 company lost 50.9% on a year-to-date basis.

The company is gaining prominence in the global renal space,particularly in North America, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Rockwell Medical is also expected to gain from itsTriferic platform, the only FDA-approved drug indicated to replace iron and maintain hemoglobin in hemodialysis patients suffering from anemia.

The company also plans to launch its dialysates Triferic formulation inthe United States, in the first half of 2019.

TG Therapeutics, Inc. TGTX

This Zacks Rank #2 company lost 45.7% on a year-to-date basis.

Headquartered in New York, TG Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on commercialization of novel treatments for B-cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases in the United States.

Management at TG Therapeutics has formulated an early-stage pipeline to power the next-generation proprietary triple and quad combinations. This unique pipeline will harness the immune system with PD-L1 inhibitor, and the anti-CD47 and anti-CD19 bispecific antibodies.

Valeritas Holdings, Inc. VLRX

This Zacks Rank #2 company lost 87% on a year-to-date basis.

Valeritasis trying to expand its direct-to-patient marketing efforts. The company is a commercial-stage medical technology company, focusing on the development and commercialization of technologies to treat patients with Type 2 diabetes in the United States and China.

The companys clinical team continues to produce meaningful clinical and pharma-economic data, demonstrating the benefits of its flagship V-Go platform over conventional insulin injection therapy.

In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 top tickers to buy and hold for the entirety of 2019?

These 10 are painstakingly handpicked from over 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. They are our primary picks poised to outperform in the year ahead. Be among the first to see the new Zacks Top 10 Stocks >>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Abbott Laboratories (ABT) : Free Stock Analysis Report



MacroGenics, Inc. (MGNX) : Free Stock Analysis Report



TG Therapeutics, Inc. (TGTX) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Chimerix, Inc. (CMRX) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Rockwell Medical, Inc. (RMTI) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump backed off his demand for $5 billion in border wall funding Tuesday, but his subsequent offer was rejected by congressional Democrats, leaving the opposing sides struggling to avert a partial US government shutdown.

Trump had stood firm for days, declaring he needed the funds to build the controversial wall, defiantly proclaiming last week that he would be "proud" to stop some government operations cold after a midnight Friday deadline if he did not get his wish.

He appeared to ease that stance early Tuesday when the White House said it did not want a shutdown and was looking for "other ways" to obtain funding, including getting Congress to reprogram $1 billion in unspent funds so Trump could use them on his immigration policies.

"The president asked every one of his cabinet secretaries to look for funding that can be used to protect our borders," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi -- set to become speaker of the House when Democrats take control of the chamber January 3 -- and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer shot down the proposal, saying the $1.6 billion in border security funding in proposed legislation is sufficient.

"Leader Schumer and I have said that we cannot accept the offer they made of a billion-dollar slush fund for the president to implement his very wrong immigration policies," Pelosi told reporters.

"So that won't happen."

The deadlock leaves thousands of federal workers in limbo, wondering whether they will be sent home without pay one week before Christmas.

Trump said it was still "too early to say" whether a deal could be struck in time.

"We'll see what happens," he said at the White House. "We need border security."

If Republican and Democratic lawmakers fail to reach agreement on a spending package by midnight Friday, parts of the government will slide into a shutdown, paralyzing some federal operations.

Story continues

The exact impact is difficult to foretell. About 75 percent of the government is already funded through September 2019.

But a quarter of government operations still require spending agreements and could face disruptions, including the departments of justice and homeland security.

- 'Not a good option' -

Republicans presently control Congress, including 51 seats in the 100-member Senate. But a deal in the upper chamber can only advance with 60 votes, meaning Democratic support is vital.

Pelosi said the path forward remained unclear, and that a stopgap "continuing resolution," or CR, might be required.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell insisted he remained confident there would be no work stoppage.

"I think a government shutdown is not a good option," McConnell said, adding he was in discussions with the White House on ways forward.

But he acknowledged that a brief CR might be the likeliest move.

"If we end up going with a relatively short-term CR, we will end up, in effect, punting this year's business into next year," McConnell said.

Meanwhile, Sanders expressed optimism that the White House could find legal ways to obtain extra funding.

"There are certainly a number of different funding sources that we've identified that we can use... that would help us get to that $5 billion that the president needs in order to protect our border," she said on Fox News.In a turbulent political climate, the tense energy of the country can be felt throughout homes, businesses and communities. As more discussions surrounding volatile situations are sparked, people are more aware of acts of racism than they were before. Courtney Geter, a psychologist based in Georgia, says people see or experience racism on a daily basis. However, they might not always be aware that racism is occurring, or they may be engaging in it  whether intentionally or not.

While it is difficult accept how robust an issue discrimination continues to be, standing up for equality and human rights is not only important  its empowering. The greatest hurdle for most is understanding how to effectively voice support and combat racism without being inappropriate or stirring violence. This fear keeps many could-be activists from standing tall and firm, especially when they witness racist acts in person or digitally. With the right approach, there are meaningful ways to make a difference. Experts recommend the following ways of starting now.

Address any fears you are harboring.

Depending on the house you grew up in  or in many instances, the city and state  Geter says you might have internalized fears that have resulted in racism. Without fully understanding how you innately respond to certain people or situations, you could project these views through words or actions. Often, Geter says, we dont know why we have this fear in the first place, and its important to get to the heart of our own perspectives, especially before you impact others. This process of exploring your own internalized fear or past experiences can be scary for some and lead to vulnerability, she explains. If you are struggling, Geter recommends creating a supportive group of friends or finding a therapist where you can explore in a safe space.

Remember your responsibility.

Before you can help to curve the issue, licensed psychologist Sarah Schewitz says to define your why. By this, she means accepting the innate responsibility we all share to support those who are mistreated based on aspects about themselves they cant control  like the color of their skin or their ethnic background. While everyone should feel this duty, Schewitz challenges the majority group of the United States to step up. Its particularly important for Caucasian people to combat racism as we are ultimately the ones who perpetuated it for so long, she continues. Hearing a white person comment on inequality and racism has a lot more impact than when a person of color makes the same statement, because it comes off as less defensive.

Story continues

Be candid with your friends.

In your extended network, there are likely to be people you arent as close to or whose opinions you dont agree with. While this is common and to be expected, Schewitz says you shouldnt be afraid of calling out racism when you hear it or see it. You may worry about rocking the boat, causing a scene or coming across as dramatic, but you could be educating someone who doesnt realize the contagious poison their words carry. If you are at a party and somebody tells a racist joke or makes a racist comment, call them out. Tell them you find that kind of language inappropriate and far from humorous, she suggests. By approaching it in a nonconfrontational way and explaining how their actions directly impacted not only you, but a group of people, you may help them change their attitude. At the very least, they may think twice before they speak ill of minority groups in the future.

Challenge organizations to be more inclusive.

Whether it is your employer, the volunteer group youre part of or the leadership council where you sit on the board, part of combating racism is bringing the issue to the top. This is especially true if you are in a position of power. Schewitz explains you have the ability to make waves that ripple down into all levels of a company or an organization. This might look like asking your professional board or company to embrace diversity while hiring. It might look like giving your business to companies that have a diverse staff when given the choice between multiple companies, she suggests. Or it might look like asking your church to reach out to different neighborhoods in an effort to increase diversity in your congregation.

When in public, access the situation.

While Geter agrees with Schewitz about the importance of speaking up against racism within your network, in public situations, she stresses proceeding with caution. If you feel it is not safe to say something, then dont. Putting yourself at risk or creating a more hostile situation will not be effective, she explains. When youre at a mall or a restaurant and you witness racism, consider speaking with the manager or even calling the local chamber of commerce to voice your concerns. This is a way of pushing against discrimination without putting yourself  or your family or friends  in a dangerous predicament.

Demand equality be taught early on.

For many activists, education is the first step in solving many prevalent societal issues. Thats why Schewitz challenges communities to engage with younger generations. Call up your high school, college or graduate school and ask them to offer mandatory cross-cultural competency classes that teach all students about racism, white privilege and advocacy, she explains.

If you feel impassioned, you may even lead a neighborhood discussion and invite locals to attend. When taking this route, keeping an open mind is essential, according to Geter. If you never learned about racism and the micro-aggressions marginalized populations experience, then hearing real-life experiences may be foreign to you or not make sense. This is a time to further learn and expand your own knowledge, she continues. Dont discount another persons experience. Instead, ask them questions about that experience to better understand how it is racism.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.



John Marshall Law School, Atlanta. (Courtesy photo: John Marshall Law School)



The American Bar Association has placed Atlantas John Marshall Law School on probation, apparently dissatisfied with the schools response to a sanctions letter warning its accreditation was at risk last year.



The ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar issued the probation notice Dec. 13 after a November hearing in Atlanta to determine whether additional sanctions were warranted.



The council determined the 85-year-old private law school remained in substantial and persistent noncompliance with multiple ABA accreditation standards.



Those standards are the same ones cited by the ABA in an October 2017 warning letter to John Marshall. They include requiring the law school to:





Maintain a rigorous program of legal education that prepares students for admission to the bar and for jobs in the legal profession.

Provide academic support that would give students a reasonable opportunity to graduate and secure jobs as lawyers.

Not admit applicants who are unlikely to complete law school or pass the bar exam.





An ABA spokesman said that details of why the council placed John Marshall on probation are confidential. John Marshall Dean Malcolm Morris did not respond to a message left with his staff or to email from the Daily Report. But a statement posted on John Marshalls website under a link to the ABA council decision said the school is proud of its heritage of providing traditional and non-traditional students access to legal education.



Meeting this mission does not come without challenges, the statement said. The law school is committed to working with the American Bar Association to continue producing high quality lawyers who ensure all communities have access to legal services.



In October, John Marshall and the Savannah Law School, a branch of the Atlanta school, reported that first-time takers of the Georgia bar exam fell below 50 percent. John Marshalls first-time pass rate was 40.4 percentdown nearly 11 percentage points from the July 2017 state bar results. Savannah Law Schools first-time pass rate plummeted from 54.5 percent in July 2017 to 35.7 percent in July 2018.



Last March, John Marshall announced it was closing Savannah Law School, which opened in 2012. It sold the building and stopped taking new applications last spring.



The ABAs public probation notice requires John Marshall to turn over admission data for its fall 2019 acceptances, those who actually enroll, their LSAT scores and grade point average. The school also is required to report other factors it may have used in making admission decisions and state why it concluded that they were sufficient to overcome concerns inherent in the applicants academic qualifications and LSAT score.



The law school also is required to report 2019 bar examination results of graduates who take the bar in Georgia, including the number and percentage of first-time takers and repeat takers who passed.



The ABA will appoint a fact-finder to independently review admissions data, the overall rigor of the law schools legal education programs, school finances, tuition policies and projected budgets through 2021.



The council also requested the dean to appear at a hearing next May.



John Marshall was one of 10 law schools sanctioned by the ABA in the fall of 2017 as part of heightened accreditation scrutiny of for-profit law schools whose students were incurring significant debt but repeatedly failing to pass the bar or secure a job as a lawyer after graduating.



In its October 2017 sanctions letter, the ABA required John Marshall to submit a report by Feb. 1, 2018, demonstrating that it was back in compliance with ABA accreditation standards. At the time, Morris said the sanctions sprang from the schools first-time taker bar-pass rate which he acknowledged needed improvement.Welcome back to Ahead of the Curve. Im Karen Sloan, legal education editor at Law.com, and Ill be your host for this weekly look at innovation and notable developments in legal education. Just a heads up, Ahead of the Curve will take a break next week for Christmas but will be back in the New Year.



This week, Im talking with Judge Cynthia Martin, who is heading up the National Conference of Bar Examiners Testing Task Force, about the bar exam of the future. Next, well check out some early analysis around the web of the latest data on law school enrollment from the American Bar Association. Last, the faculty at Stanford Law School shares their must-reads in what I think is a charming holiday tradition.



Please share your thoughts and feedback with me at ksloan@alm.com or on Twitter:@KarenSloanNLJ





















Bar Exam Sound Off





What subjects should the bar exam test? How should the test be delivered? And at whats the best time to administer the bar? Those are a few of the questions the National Conference of Bar Examiners Testing Task Force is spending three years mulling over, in what is one of the most comprehensive evaluations of the all-important licensing exam on record. The task force is looking at the bar exam from just about every angle you can imagine. More specifically, it wants to know what skills new attorneys need to be successful in the 21st century practice of law and just how wellor notthe existing exam is doing gauging those skills. Thats what task force chair Cynthia Martin, whose day job has her sitting on Missouris Court of Appeals for the Western District, told me last week.



The bar exam has been making headlines once again (hello, Californias dismal 40-percent July pass rate) and the task force is coming up on its first year in existence, so I thought it was a good time to check in with Martin about where things stand and where the task force is headed. She told me that the group spent its first months laying out the parameters of its inquiry, ultimately deciding that everything is on the table and that they wanted to look at every aspect of the test. They hired two independent research firms to aid in their workthe group wanted to avoid any criticism that the NCBE was defending its own productand now the task force is moving into the first phase of its research, which focuses on stakeholder input.



The task force has scheduled a series of focus groups at industry events, including the Association of American Law Schools annual meeting, the Uniform Bar Exam Forum, and the American Bar Associations midyear meeting. The stakeholder engagement phase will run through at least June, Martin said. I was curious to know whom, exactly, the task force wanted to hear from, and Martin told me its casting a wide net. It wants input from: legal educators; bar examiners; practitioners, newly licensed lawyers; academic support faculty at law schools; bar administrators; state supreme court justices; and those who supervise new attorneys, among others. The task force is also soliciting written comments about the bar exam.



Once the task force has a gathered feedback on the bar exam, it will then turn its focus to the core competencies todays lawyers need. It will combine data from both phases of research to develop a series of recommendations to the NCBEs board about the future of the bar exam. Martin said there may be another public engagement phase once the primary research is complete. The task force aims to have its recommendations by 2021.



I was curious to know how much the low pass rates in recent years are driving the task forces work. But Martin said falling pass rates are the background for the inquiry, not the impetus.



Were certainly aware of the pass rates, Martin said. How could we not be? But I dont think it would be fair to say this work is motivated by that fact. The exam that is being administered now is essentially the same exam that has been administered for a long time. Whatever variables influencing pass ratesat least in my humble opinionare less driven by the exam and more driven by other factors and forces. But it underscores that this is an evolving profession.



The takeawayIts fair to say that some in legal education believe the NCBE will protect its exam at any cost. But I think Martin and her task force colleagues are truly coming at this inquiry with an open mind and desire to have an exam that is both relevant and feasible. I encourage those with issues and ideas about the exam to show up at a focus group or write a letter. Theres never been a better time to make your voice heard.





Story continues







Diving Into the ABA Enrollment Data





Last week brought the release of the official, national law school enrollment data from the American Bar Association. (Thats like Christmas when youre a reporter covering legal education, but with giant excel spreadsheets instead of presents. I realize that this analogy doesnt make my job sound very fun. But it is. I promise!)



The headline was that first-year enrollment went up 3 percent, which is the first significant annual increase since 2010. You can read my story about that here. But there is lots of other interesting data included in the ABAs release of 509 disclosures. Ill be wading into some of that in the coming weeks, but I want to point to some interesting early analysis of the numbers from around the web.



First up, the always astute legal education observer Jerry Organ has a look at national transfer data, concluding that the number of law students transferring to other campuses continues to trend down. His analysis on TaxProf Blog shows that a mere 4 percent of students transferred this fall, down from the peak of 5.8 percent in 2013. Certain schools still dominate the transfer market, including Georgetown University Law Center; George Washington University Law School; Arizona state University Sandra Day OConnor College of Law; and New York University School of Law.



Transfers may be down, but the number of non-J.D. students nationwide is soaring. The ABA reported an 8 percent increase in non-J.D. enrollment, which includes people in LL.M. and masters programs. (About one in seven enrolled students are not in a J.D. program.) Pepperdine law professor Derek Muller parsed the individual school data over at his blog Excess of Democracy to find which campuses have the most non-J.D. students. The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of the Law tops the list, where a whopping 78 percent of students arent pursing a J.D. Thats not terribly surprising, however. Not only does Arizona have an LL.M. and masters program, but its also the first ABA-accredited law school to offer a bachelors in law for undergrads. Regent University School of Law and Liberty University School of Law also had non-J.D. enrollment above the 50-percent mark, Muller found.



And lastly, attorney David Frakt looks at the LSAT scores and undergraduate grades of the new 1L classes to determine the 10 least selective schools. His blog post over at The Faculty Lounge concludes that Western Michigan University Cooley Law School had the lowest standards, with an acceptance rate of 86 percent and median LSAT score of 142despite running into trouble with the ABA last year over its admissions practices. Also on Frakts list of least selective schools are Southern University Law Center and Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law.





















Stanford Law Faculty: Grab a Good Book





Heres an annual tradition I can get behind. Before the holidays, the faculty at Stanford Law School offers up a recommended reading list. Dont worry, its not a plug for their casebooks. Its a mix of books on legal topics, biographies of interesting people, page-turning mysteries, and science fiction reads. Here are a few of the books that made the facultys list:



Professor Henry Greely recommends Kim Stanley Robinsons Mars trilogy, three (fictional) books published in the 1990s that track 200 years of humans colonization of Mars.



Professor Barbara Babcocks suggestion of Stanford Law alum Andrew Coans Prosecuting the President: How Special Prosecutors Hold Presidents Accountable and Protect the Rule of Law remains in the legal sphere.



Professor Nora Freeman Engstrom recommends John Carreyrousbestselling book about the rise and fall of biotech startup Theranos, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup



For mystery buffs, Professor Richard Thompson Ford suggests The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz.











Extra Credit Reading





The National Association for Law Placement has overhauled its on-campus recruiting guidelines this year, relaxing timelines for firms courting law students and how long students can keep summer associate offers open.



Come September, the Law School Admission Test will be fully digital, with Microsoft Surface Go tablets replacing the traditional paper and pencil exam.



Despite earlier reports, the number of Asian applicants to law school has not declined faster than other racial groups, according to a new study from the Law School Admission Council.









Thanks for reading Ahead of the Curve. Sign up for the newsletter and check out past issues here.







Ill be back in two weeks with more news and updates on the future of legal education. Until then, keep in touch at ksloan@alm.com



Username: Password: or Register

Back to

Forum

Reply to

This post

Post New

Thread Thread Rating: 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average

1

2

3

4

5

Russia will easily design new missiles to defend itself if US pulls out of INF LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 348173

12-18-2018 06:35 PM











Post: #1 Russia will easily design new missiles to defend itself if US pulls out of INF

Advertisement



The Russian president reiterated that Moscow did not violate the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), but if Washington ditches it, Russia will be left with no choice but to react accordingly to defend itself.



As you know, we do have sea and airborne [missile] systems and there will be no difficulty to carry out research-and-development and make them land-based if needed, Putin told a Defense Ministry conference on Tuesday.



Russias successes in developing sea- and air-launched missiles became a source of concern for our partners, prompting them to undermine the treaty. Putin had also praised Russias newest Kalibr cruise missiles which saw action against terrorists in Syria.



Over the past months, Washington has been repeatedly accusing Russia of violating the INF. Moscow, for its part, denied such accusations calling them unfounded.



But, Putin said, the US is violating the INF directly, as its actively building up Aegis Ashore facilities in Romania and Poland. Meanwhile, there are strike drones in the US military arsenals whose properties fall under the treaty.



Quote: They blatantly violate it and make hypothetical, unfounded claims against us.

The Russian president noted that the US and Russia  two signatories to the treaty  are not the only countries to possess short- and intermediate-range missiles. There are plenty of them  why dont they [the US] engage these countries?



Putin believes they dont do it simply because it apparently hampers certain aspirations and these aspirations are unlikely to be peaceful ones, while the US pullout is one step towards an arms race.



https://www.rt.com/news/446775-putin-new-missiles-inf/ Russia may easily respond to the US withdrawal from the milestone INF Treaty by developing new types of land-based missiles, Vladimir Putin said, warning that Washington's decision to pull out is one step towards an arms race.The Russian president reiterated that Moscow did not violate the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), but if Washington ditches it, Russia will be left with no choice but to react accordingly to defend itself.As you know, we do have sea and airborne [missile] systems and there will be no difficulty to carry out research-and-development and make them land-based if needed, Putin told a Defense Ministry conference on Tuesday.Russias successes in developing sea- and air-launched missiles became a source of concern for our partners, prompting them to undermine the treaty. Putin had also praised Russias newest Kalibr cruise missiles which saw action against terrorists in Syria.Over the past months, Washington has been repeatedly accusing Russia of violating the INF. Moscow, for its part, denied such accusations calling them unfounded.But, Putin said, the US is violating the INF directly, as its actively building up Aegis Ashore facilities in Romania and Poland. Meanwhile, there are strike drones in the US military arsenals whose properties fall under the treaty.The Russian president noted that the US and Russia  two signatories to the treaty  are not the only countries to possess short- and intermediate-range missiles. There are plenty of them  why dont they [the US] engage these countries?Putin believes they dont do it simply because it apparently hampers certain aspirations and these aspirations are unlikely to be peaceful ones, while the US pullout is one step towards an arms race.

Back to

Forum

Reply to

This post

Post New

Thread















Photo credit: Boeing

From Popular Mechanics

By now, we've gotten accustomed to sticker shock when it comes to the cost of brand-new bombers and fighter jets (hello, F-35). But the plane that would replace both the F-22 Raptor and F-15 Eagle could reach a staggering cost of $300 million per plane.

That figure comes from a new study called The Cost of Replacing Todays Air Force Fleet," which was published by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and first reported by Defense News . The report attempted to calculate the future cost of Penetrating Counter Air (PCA), which is the current name of the U.S. Air Forces next superiority fighter jet.

PCA is meant to replace the current fleet of F-22s and F-15s, taking its place as the services dedicated air-to-air fighter when it enters service in 2030. Unlike the Air Force's F-35A, which is meant to carry out both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, PCA will be focused solely on the skies, optimized to fight and win against current and future aerial threats including the Russian Sukhoi Su-57 and Chinas J-20 fighter.

Photo credit: VCG - Getty Images

The CBO estimated that the Air Force would require 414 new fighters in total. At that rate, the office estimates the per-unit cost of the PCA fighter at $300 million. For comparison's sake, the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter costs $94 million apiece at the time of publication.

Why so expensive? For starters, the PCA will need capabilities far beyond the planes it replaces. For example, the next-gen fighter will need an even more powerful radar than the F-22s AN/APG-77 active electronically scanned array radar in order to detect enemy stealth fighters. (When the F-22 was first fielded there were no enemy stealth fighters on the horizon). PCA will also need greater stealth, particularly against low frequency radars. One design characteristic that might make PCA more stealthy than her predecessors could be the lack of a vertical stabilizer, like the B-2 Spirit bomber (see Boeing's concept art at top.)

Story continues

Photo credit: Steve Thorne - Getty Images

Another feature of the new fighter lies in the name: the fighter will be optimized to penetrate enemy airspace. The return of big power warfare-and the need to infiltrate large, complex air national air defense networks like those in Russia and China-will place a premium on long range. PCA could escort the Air Forces new B-21 Raider bombers on long-distance flights deep into enemy territory, swatting away enemy interceptors so the bomber crews can hit their targets and return home. Longer flights over hostile airspace will also drive the need a larger internal weapons bay to accommodate more air-to-air missiles than the F-22 Raptor.

All of this means that PCA will be a bigger jet than the F-15 or F-22. Stealth aircraft cant carry external stores such as weapons and fuel, as hanging things off the wings and fuselage ruins a warplanes radar-evading profile and makes them easier to detect. Weapons and fuel must be stored within the airframe, increasing internal volume.

Photo credit: Mikhail Tereshchenko - Getty Images

Plus, stealth isn't cheap. The CBO warns that: Other stealthy aircraft, such as the B-2 bomber and the F-22 and F-35A fighters, have experienced cost increases that resulted in lower production rates and decreased total purchases. Containing costs for the PCA aircraft may be similarly difficult.

This astronomical price tag could become a serious problem for the Pentagon. The Congressional Budget Office warns that the PCA jet could become so expensive, the Air Force could decide that the PCA aircrafts cutting-edge design is unaffordable and instead opt to purchase more F-35As. Alternately, the Air Force could choose to modernize the F-22 airframe with newer F-35 electronics, as Lockheed Martin has proposed doing for Japan .

('You Might Also Like',)Alamos Gold Inc. AGI was a big mover last session, as the company saw its shares rise more than 7% on the day. The move came on solid volume too with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This stock, which remained volatile and traded within the range of $2.97 $3.65 in the past one-month time frame, witnessed a sharp increase yesterday.



The company has seen one negative estimate revisions in the past few weeks, while its Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter has also moved lower over the past few weeks, suggesting there may be trouble down the road. So, make sure to keep an eye on this stock going forward, to see if this recent move higher can last.



Alamos Gold currently has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) while its Earnings ESP is positive.

Alamos Gold Inc. Price

Alamos Gold Inc. Price | Alamos Gold Inc. Quote

A better-ranked stock in the Mining - Gold industry is Franco-Nevada Corporation FNV which currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.



Is AGI going up? Or down? Predict to see what others think: Up or Down



3 Medical Stocks to Buy Now



The greatest discovery in this century of biology is now at the flashpoint between theory and realization. Billions of dollars in research have poured into it. Companies are already generating revenue, and cures for a variety of deadly diseases are in the pipeline.



So are big potential profits for early investors. Zacks has released an updated Special Report that explains this breakthrough and names the best 3 stocks to ride it.



See them today for free >>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Alamos Gold Inc. (AGI) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment ResearchWASHINGTON  Americans have a clear message to Washington as the government hurtles toward a partial shutdown on Friday: Don't.

By a double-digit margin, 54 percent to 29 percent, those surveyed in a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll say they oppose the shutdown that President Trump has threatened if Congress doesn't agree to his demand for $5 billion in funding for a border wall.

Who would bear the blame?

By nearly 2-1, Americans would blame Trump and the Republicans, not congressional Democrats. Forty-three percent would blame the president and the GOP, while 24 percent would hold congressional Democrats responsible. Thirty percent would blame both sides equally responsible.

"Completely, it's Donald Trump's fault," says Dave Dobrin, 60, a retired computer programmer from Orange County, Calif., who was among those surveyed. A political independent, he voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016. "He has the emotional maturity of a 6-year-old, and he is going to have a tantrum if he doesn't get his way."

But Dwayne Pyle, 33, a Republican who voted for Trump, says the need for a wall to secure the southern border is crucial and blames Democrats for refusing to cooperate with the president. "We hired him to do a job," said Pyle, of Redding, Calif., who works in sewer-line maintenance. "We didn't hire him to make everybody happy or appease people."

More: Trumps border wall pledge may cost US taxpayers billions of dollars

President Donald Trump

There is, unsurprisingly, a sharp partisan divide about attitudes toward the shutdown.

Democrats are almost universally opposed to it, 83 percent-6 percent. Independents are also overwhelmingly against the idea, 56 percent to 22 percent. But two-thirds of Republicans support a shutdown; one in five oppose it.

The blame game also has a partisan cast.

Democrats (81 percent of them) place the blame on Republicans. Republicans (58 percent of them) place the blame on Democrats. And independents (43 percent of them) place more blame on both parties equally than on either individually.

Story continues

The nationwide survey of 1,000 registered voters, taken by landline and cell phone Tuesday through Sunday, has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

The partial shutdown, which would begin three days before Christmas, would be the third since Trump took office two years ago.

More: Another shutdown? Congress has until Dec. 21 to pass a spending bill

More: Government shutdown? You'll still get mail and packages, be able to travel

At the moment, there seems to be no clear plan to avoid the shutdown that looms at midnight Friday for the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies. Trump declared at a White House meeting with Democratic congressional leaders last week that he would be "proud" to take responsibility for shutting down the government if Congress refused to approve the funding he wants for a wall.

The Wall - Interactive map exploring U.S.-Mexico border

But that proposal almost certainly can't command the 60 votes it would need to pass the Senate. Even approval in the Republican-controlled House isn't assured.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called on Republicans to persuade Trump to back down. "They just have to have the guts to tell President Trump he's off the deep end here and all he is going to get with his temper tantrum is a shutdown," Schumer said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "He will not get a wall."

But Stephen Miller, a senior White House aide, showed no signs of compromise. "We're going to do whatever is necessary to build the border wall to stop this ongoing crisis of illegal immigration," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation." Including a shutdown? "If it comes to it, absolutely."

More: Fact check: The Trump-Pelosi-Schumer scuffle in the Oval Office

Presumptive speaker, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., listens while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and President Donald Trump argue before a meeting at the White House Dec. 11, 2018, in Washington, D.C.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Americans' message to Washington on the looming shutdown: Don'tLagos (AFP) - More than 3,600 people have been killed in clashes between farmers and herders in Nigeria since 2016, Amnesty International said on Monday, blaming the government's failure to punish the perpetrators for fuelling the violence.

The international human rights organisation said more than 2,000 were killed in 2018 alone, while the bloodshed had made thousands of other people homeless.

Violence between farmers and nomadic herders is on the increase in Nigeria over access to fertile land and water, which is becoming scarce in the face of drought and rapid population growth.

"The Nigerian authorities' failure to investigate communal clashes and bring perpetrators to justice has fuelled a bloody escalation in the conflict between farmers and herders across the country, resulting in at least 3,641 deaths in the past three years and the displacement of thousands more," Amnesty said in a statement.

It said that of the 310 attacks recorded between January 2016 and October 2018, 57 percent were in 2018 and were most frequent in Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Taraba and Plateau.

The rights group also accused Nigerian security forces of not doing enough to stop the killings.

"Security forces are often positioned close to the attacks, which can sometimes last for days, and yet have been slow to act," it said.

In some cases, forces were warned of an imminent raid but did nothing to prevent the killings, looting or burning of homes.

"The Nigerian government has displayed what can only be described as gross incompetence and has failed in its duty to protect the lives of its population," said Osai Ojigho, Nigeria's director of Amnesty International.

"Our research shows that these attacks were well planned and coordinated, with the use of weapons like machine guns and AK-47 rifles," Ojigho said.

"In some places, because of the failures of the security forces, competition over resources is used as a pretext to kill and maim along ethnic or religious lines," she said.

Story continues

"The conflict has been dangerously politicised by some state government officials who have inflamed tensions by embarking on a blame game along political party lines."

The Nigerian army on Monday rejected the Amnesty report, accusing the global watchdog of "unfounded allegations against the leadership of the Nigerian military".

Army spokesman Sani Usman said in a statement that Nigerians should ignore the report which he said was intended to "destabilise and dismember" the country.

"The Nigerian Army has no option than to call for the closure of Amnesty International offices in Nigeria, if such recklessness continues," he warned.

The farmer-herder violence is putting further pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari, who is battling a nine-year insurgency by the Boko Haram jihadist group in the northeast.

The 76-year-old retired general has come under fire for his inability to end the country's security challenges as he seeks a second term in February elections.

Boko Haram has stepped up attacks on farmers and loggers in recent months, accusing them of passing information about the group to the military.

In the latest attack, four farmers were shot dead as they slept in rice fields in a village outside the Nigerian city of Maiduguri, survivors and local militia said on Monday.

Last month, the insurgents killed nine farmers and abducted 12 others in Mammanti village, near Maiduguri.Cairo (AFP) - The Arab League on Tuesday adopted a resolution calling on Australia and Brazil to "abide by international law" concerning the status of Jerusalem.

It comes after Brazil's president-elect Jair Bolsonaro announced in November his intention to move his country's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

And on Saturday Australia announced its recognition of west Jerusalem as Israel's capital, although a contentious embassy shift from Tel Aviv will not occur until a peace settlement is achieved

Both Israel and the Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital.

The Arab League decided Tuesday to dispatch a "high-ranking delegation" to Brazil and Australia to inform officials there on the need to "abide by international law" concerning Jerusalem.

The decision was taken at an extraordinary meeting at the League's Cairo headquarters attended by delegates from member countries.

Israel seized east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, declaring the entire city its "eternal and indivisible capital", in a move not recognised by most of the international community.

Palestinians claim the eastern part as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

The Palestinian leadership has slammed Australia and Brazil over their plans.

In December the US administration of President Donald Trump decided to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and declared the city Israel's capital.

The embassy was transferred in May in a move that sparked outrage in across the Arab and Muslim world.

Most countries have avoided moving their embassies to Jerusalem to avoid hindering peace talks on the city's final status.

The Arab League also called on the UN Security Council to "assume its responsibilities by putting pressure on Israel... and stop its aggression against the Palestinian people".

Israel has carried out a string of operations in recent weeks after deadly attacks in the West Bank, also occupied by Israel since 1967.

Story continues

In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to "legalise" thousands of settlement homes considered unlawfully built, even by Israel.

On Tuesday he repeated his promise to "strengthen" settlement activity, during a visit to the site of a Thursday shooting attack that killed two Israeli soldiers.

"It's just a question of time until we find the killer," he said. "We will settle our accounts with him as we have settled with the others."

Israeli troops on Saturday demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of the May killing of a soldier.

Israel regularly demolishes the homes of Palestinians who carry out attacks against Israelis, arguing it is a deterrent.

Critics say it is counter-productive and amounts to collective punishment.Washington (AFP) - Arizona's governor on Tuesday appointed Republican Martha McSally to fill the state's US Senate seat being vacated at year's end, shortly after the retired fighter pilot lost her own close Senate race.

Governor Doug Ducey announced that McSally will replace Jon Kyl, who had been temporarily appointed to fill the seat long held by senator John McCain who died of cancer in August.

The pick revives McSally's political fortunes just six weeks after she narrowly lost her Senate race to Democratic rival Kyrsten Sinema.

Arizona, which had never elected a woman to the Senate before Sinema's victory, will suddenly be represented by two female senators.

The appointment will also boost the number of women in the Senate to a new record 25 out of 100 members when the new Congress is sworn in on January 3.

McSally, 52, said she "learned a lot" during her recent year-long campaign that saw her criss-cross the state speaking with voters.

She proclaimed herself a supporter of Donald Trump and hit the campaign trail in Arizona this year with the controversial president.

But Trump's bombastic style -- and his relentless nativist call to arms over the issue of illegal immigration -- likely turned off many Arizona voters, particularly women.

Despite losing the election, McSally will now join Sinema again in Washington. Both women are current members of the House of Representatives.

"I am humbled and grateful to have this opportunity to serve and be a voice for all Arizonans. I look forward to working with Senator-Elect Kyrsten Sinema and getting to work from day one," she said in a statement.

McSally is a 26-year military veteran and the first American woman to fly in combat.

"With her experience and long record of service, Martha is uniquely qualified to step up and fight for Arizona's interests in the US Senate," Doucey said.

Two other western states, California and Washington, currently have two women senators, as do Minnesota and New Hampshire. Arizona and Nevada will join that club in January.Tripoli (AFP) - One of Libya's largest oil fields has been out of production for more than a week, the state-owned National Oil Corporation said Tuesday, blaming a militia for the shutdown.

The NOC said early last week that an armed group had seized the Sharara site, prompting it to declare "force majeure" -- a legal measure exempting it from responsibility for failure to deliver on contracts.

A video posted online showed southern Libyans saying they were blocking the field to protest against marginalisation and shortages of electricity, fuel and money.

The group said Monday it would not allow production to resume until Libya's unity government met its demands.

"The closure of Sharara will be maintained until the GNA (Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord) meets the demands of the inhabitants of the marginalised south of Libya, which is severely deprived of services," said Mohamad Emeguel, who said he was a spokesman for the protesters.

"We call on the GNA to guarantee the supply of fuel (to petrol stations) and cash to banks, to pay more attention to the dilapidated medical sector, to reopen airports and to help disaster-stricken cities" in the south, he told AFP by telephone.

Libya was plunged into chaos following the NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

Two competing governments and a myriad of armed factions including the Islamic State group have since fought for influence, decimating the North African country's economy.

Violence and the ongoing economic crisis have made it impossible for many Libyans to access basic services, especially in the desert south.

Libya's vital oil installations have frequently been targets of protests and attacks by groups with a variety of demands.

Standoffs over control of Libya's oil sites are often resolved by negotiations between the authorities and tribal groups, but the Sharara situation appears more complex.

Story continues

The site, operated by a consortium of the NOC and four European energy firms, had been producing some 315,000 barrels per day, almost a third of Libya's current output.

The NOC said the force occupying the site belonged to the Petroleum Facilities Guard and ruled out negotiations, demanding the gunmen leave "immediately and without conditions".

But the unity government's military chief Major-General Abdulrahman Al-Tawil said on Monday that the guard had not been paid since 2014.

"They just want their rights," he told Libya al-Ahrar television.



Some problems never really go away. In the legal industry one such issue is the difficulties a claimant faces when attempting to sue a bank.



It might feel like this problem was solved years ago when law firms such as Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Stewarts sprung up with the resources and expertise necessary to properly challenge such large financial institutions. Crucially, these litigation-only firms do not have the banks as clients and so are able to take cases against them.



But in reality, the issue remains, due to the fact that banks have found a new way to frustrate firms like these. If they cant employ their old tactics of arguing the law firm itself is conflicted, theyll try to argue its lawyers are.



This argument was used a couple of years ago when Royal Bank of Scotland stopped City boutique Cooke Young & Keidan from acting on a Libor claim against it because one of the firms associates used to work at Clifford Chance. It was claimed the lawyer in question would have had access to confidential RBS documents while he worked there. The claim was enough to make the client nervous and Bird & Bird ended up taking over the case.



Other litigation boutiques do not want a repeat of that episode, so some have started seeking waivers from specific banks when they want to hire any lawyer who has ever acted for them. The waivers explain that the lawyer in question would never be involved in acting against the bank, but that the firm wants an assurance that the bank will not attempt to get the law firm thrown off a case simply because they employ that individual.



Predictably enough though, the banks are refusing. They have never been ones to help law firms that act against them.



To be fair, some banks will have legitimate concerns. How can they be sure that a lawyer that once had access to confidential information would not use it against them? Why would they take the risk if there is any chance the Chinese walls these firms put in place could fail?





Story continues

Banks are effectively saying: You should trust us, but we do not trust you'





Yet this argument would carry more weight if banks were not highly reliant on Chinese walls themselves. City workers have long questioned how banks can have departments selling shares while operating independent teams of analysts rating the same stock, for example. Sometimes stories come to light questioning banks motives when they advise investors on where to place their money, which could be into bonds or equities being issued by another part of the bank. And the complex and murky world of proprietary trading, where banks trade off their own balance sheet and could be tempted to trade ahead of clients, has been subject to intense debate.



By questioning the information barriers law firms put in place, banks are effectively saying: You should trust us, but we do not trust you.



Of course, the Chinese walls debate is not really the issue. If banks were really worried about that they would not use law firms that also advise their rivals. This is simply a new tactic they are employing to make themselves immune from legal challenges. And it would almost be worth praising their ingenuity if the repercussions were not so serious.



The effect of their actions is that the one route corporations and individuals have if they want to litigate against banks is at danger of being blocked. If a lawyer from a large firm has ever been close to advising a bank  and working for a large law firm this is likely  they will struggle to join a conflict-free firm, which has the clear potential to damage the business model of boutiques from Quinn Emanuel and Stewarts to Signature Litigation and Enyo Law.



And it is not just these firms that could suffer. With no chance to move to a conflict-free firm later in their careers, lawyers are unwittingly being made to choose their career paths very early on.



While it has long been rare for lawyers to switch from defending large corporations to acting against them, the choice has been more straightforward until now, as almost all the top firms were simply on the side of the banks. Now there is a selection of firms on offer, but many lawyers will have already chosen their path without knowing it.



And the biggest loser of all is every person and every company that is not a bank. Because they are the ones who might one day want to sue a bank and could find there is no top law firm able to do so.The footprints are so detailed you can see skin, claws and scales (SWNS)

A set of 85 dinosaur footprints, so detailed that researchers can see skin and scales, have been hailed as the largest and best-preserved ever found from the Cretaceous period.

Dating from 100 million years ago, the footprints are from several species of dinosaur, and were uncovered near Hastings after coastal erosion along cliffs.

The Sussex coast has been a rich source of dinosaur finds for 160 years.

The University of Cambridge researchers found the footprints beteween 2014 and 2018, and include prints from huge beasts including Iguanadon and Ankylosaurus.

A large iguanodontian footprint, with mud squeezing up between the toes found in Hastings, East Sussex SWNS

The Cretaceous is a geological period that spans 79m years from the end of the Jurassic Period and ended with the mass extinction of dinosaurs on the planet

Many of the footprints, which range in size from less than 2 cm to over 60 cm across, are so well-preserved that fine detail of skin, scales and claws can be seen.

MORE: Second EU referendum would break faith with British people, Theresa May warns

MORE: British man could face 15 years in Indonesian prison after being caught with cannabis oil

Anthony Shillito, a PhD student in Cambridges department of earth sciences, said: Whole body fossils of dinosaurs are incredibly rare.

Usually you only get small pieces, which dont tell you a lot about how that dinosaur may have lived.

A small theropod (carnivore) footprint found in Hastings, East Sussex SWNS

A collection of footprints like this helps you fill in some of the gaps and infer things about which dinosaurs were living in the same place at the same time.

As well as the large abundance and diversity of these prints, we also see absolutely incredible detail.

You can clearly see the texture of the skin and scales, as well as four-toed claw marks, which are extremely rare.

An ankylosaur footprint with skin and claw impressions found in Hastings, East Sussex (SWNS)

You can get some idea about which dinosaurs made them from the shape of the footprints.

When you also look at footprints from other locations you can start to piece together which species were the key players.

Dr Neil Davies, who conducted the study alongside Anthony Shillito, said: To preserve footprints, you need the right type of environment.

Story continues

The ground needs to be sticky enough so that the footprint leaves a mark, but not so wet that it gets washed away.

You need that balance in order to capture and preserve them.

The university say it is likely that there are many more dinosaur footprints hidden within the eroding sandstone cliffs of East Sussex.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKUsername: Password: or Register

Back to

Forum

Reply to

This post

Post New

Thread Thread Rating: 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average

1

2

3

4

5

Turkish Military Operation Against SDF/US Troops In E. Syria Within 24 Hours - Re DL SAVED INCIRLICK AFB

lop guest

User ID: 341236

12-18-2018 11:56 PM











Post: #1 Turkish Military Operation Against SDF/US Troops In E. Syria Within 24 Hours - Re

Advertisement



Ha ha ha suckers. I feel Russians will eventually destroy those rotten people who did 9/11 to us.



Use thread for deets, I didn't see a thread on this here, tho much sh*t flows down LOPriver to the seabed. I heard Russia convinced Turks that they wont eventually just toally invade Turkey.Ha ha ha suckers. I feel Russians will eventually destroy those rotten people who did 9/11 to us.Use thread for deets, I didn't see a thread on this here, tho much sh*t flows down LOPriver to the seabed. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 341236

12-18-2018 11:58 PM











Post: #2 RE: Turkish Military Operation Against SDF/US Troops In E. Syria Within 24 Hours - Re

I am not saying Turkish shits did 9/11 but they did love the event as did shithead Obummer and Val Jarrett his loathesome queen of hearts.



And the Turks dumbfucks did fly some hot shot aerobatics over new york freaking everyone the fu*k out that other day so that was a head-fake 9/11 moment.



so that's deserves reprisal. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 341236

12-19-2018 12:01 AM











Post: #3 RE: Turkish Military Operation Against SDF/US Troops In E. Syria Within 24 Hours - Re

Anyway Erdogollum says Trump "showed signs of approval" ha ha ha they are so full of sh*t. Anything Turks ever say is a lie. Mohammed is a dog, and good locations (stronghold) like Poland and Czech, you're gonna have top bring everything you got to get in there, they are hardening against your stupid antics.



Mohammed is not fit to lead one person, since he was a major asshole in defiance of goodness (Jesus). He keeps arabs and turks as stupid as the sand under them. He is like cancer to their whole people, they should excise him. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 449124

12-19-2018 12:01 AM











Post: #4 RE: Turkish Military Operation Against SDF/US Troops In E. Syria Within 24 Hours - Re

I thought you did 911 to you. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 341236

12-19-2018 12:04 AM











Post: #5 RE: Turkish Military Operation Against SDF/US Troops In E. Syria Within 24 Hours - Re

Anyway I have gamed it many many times and Russia will utterly eat Turkey eventually like a bagel, and then wil either humble mo ham head's people, or puss out to them like the weaklings they seem to be.



The USA however has fighting stupid asshead mohammedans as our founding value. Tom J had to put US Congress in a headlock to build the US Navy and go humble the dipshits on North Af5rican coasts. It wil be refreshing to do it again. boom boom boom BOOMERS



ha ha ha fu*k all the allies of evil. fu*k the alliance of communist shits and mohammed famous dingleberry on the ass of evil. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 341236

12-19-2018 12:06 AM











Post: #6 RE: Turkish Military Operation Against SDF/US Troops In E. Syria Within 24 Hours - Re

LoP Guest Wrote: (12-19-2018 12:01 AM) I thought you did 911 to you.

Hmm well allowing shits like Clinton Cult Crime Cartel and their frenemies BushCo to run things (like our dumbfuck voters did, personally I never voted for those turds) during the age of Internet Birth (1990 era) does cause to some cancerous portions.



Yes these are now ready to come out like weeds allowed to grow up with wheat. Yes Clinton hands are all over OKC the first WTC boimb (which is when they got the gold out actually I have [crime family removed] crime family inside info on this.



So you make a good point about the roots of evil in the USA power swamp. Mostly assholes from the mid east and other shits who did WW2. Hmm well allowing shits like Clinton Cult Crime Cartel and their frenemies BushCo to run things (like our dumbfuck voters did, personally I never voted for those turds) during the age of Internet Birth (1990 era) does cause to some cancerous portions.Yes these are now ready to come out like weeds allowed to grow up with wheat. Yes Clinton hands are all over OKC the first WTC boimb (which is when they got the gold out actually I have [crime family removed] crime family inside info on this.So you make a good point about the roots of evil in the USA power swamp. Mostly assholes from the mid east and other shits who did WW2. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 341236

12-19-2018 12:10 AM











Post: #7 RE: Turkish Military Operation Against SDF/US Troops In E. Syria Within 24 Hours - Re

The Clintons and Busch pollutants to America were never actually Americans and we all know this. Only tards even give a sh*t about executed criminal fu*k Geroge Bush, I am glad him and McCain got the military axe this year I hope Bill Clinton goes next f*ckin FBI anon (pre Q days) said Bill Clinton would die in 2016 likely, m f**kers a surviving piece of sh*t thats for sure.



But their whole edifice is build on the bones of children and is currently ungulfed in flames. YEEEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAA



As for Turkey, lol I love how in <ASH the TV show the [removed] writers always make the Turks out tobe such maniacal assholes. I think Turks are fine people if they could just kill all their muslim neighbors, quickly overnight. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 449258

12-19-2018 12:10 AM











Post: #8 RE: Turkish Military Operation Against SDF/US Troops In E. Syria Within 24 Hours - Re

You are aware all these muslim fanatics, except for the Iranian ones, all listen to Pentagon or CIA. Cos the US told Saudis to create all of them to destroy the Soviet Union, and now are used to do a host of other things ordered by US command.



Your country ain't fighting terrorists. They are spreading it and protecting them. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 341236

12-19-2018 12:13 AM











Post: #9 RE: Turkish Military Operation Against SDF/US Troops In E. Syria Within 24 Hours - Re

LoP Guest Wrote: (12-19-2018 12:10 AM) You are aware all these muslim fanatics, except for the Iranian ones, all listen to Pentagon or CIA. Cos the US told Saudis to create all of them to destroy the Soviet Union, and now are used to do a host of other things ordered by US command.



Your country ain't fighting terrorists. They are spreading it and protecting them.

Pfft weak sauce.



Russian have the Gulag Archipelago and they should all tread how evil works. Evil does not need to use some dumbfuch suckin on a sand slurpee named Mohammed (there's a sh*t ton of them named mohammed)



Mohammed is an irrelevant has been. Russians could be good once they kill a couple more oligarchs, put a sword through the Marxist bit*hes and they are a fine and good folk. I personally have no beef against the Cyrillic tongues/languages as the Muslimas and other haters of Russia do. I love all those lovely white folks. Pfft weak sauce.Russian have the Gulag Archipelago and they should all tread how evil works. Evil does not need to use some dumbfuch suckin on a sand slurpee named Mohammed (there's a sh*t ton of them named mohammed)Mohammed is an irrelevant has been. Russians could be good once they kill a couple more oligarchs, put a sword through the Marxist bit*hes and they are a fine and good folk. I personally have no beef against the Cyrillic tongues/languages as the Muslimas and other haters of Russia do. I love all those lovely white folks. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 341236

12-19-2018 12:15 AM











Post: #10 RE: Turkish Military Operation Against SDF/US Troops In E. Syria Within 24 Hours - Re

"Straight down Karl Marx Street"

Back to

Forum

Reply to

This post

Post New

Thread















Earnings from New Zealands third-biggest export sector, information technology, could be boosted significantly by distributed ledger technology.

According to a report released by New Zealands innovation agency, Callaghan Innovation, there is ample room for growth in the sector if the country embraces blockchain technology. Currently, the IT sector in New Zealand generates NZ$16 billion annually and employs nearly 100,000 people.

Technology is now New Zealands third-biggest export sector, bringing in more than $16 billion a year in overall revenue, with plenty more headroom for further growth. Technological innovation is the path to lifting our earnings and productivity,

a Callaghan Innovation executive, Erica Lloyd, said.

Besides IT exports the report titled Distributed Ledgers and Blockchains  Opportunities for New Zealand also cites other ways in which the Pacific country stands to benefit. This includes the injection of high-paying tech jobs into the economy.

Increased Income Tax Revenue

The report, however, notes that blockchain startups tend to have their workforce distributed across the world and thus New Zealand should strive to ensure that it is the country of choice as a residence for tech talent. This way the Pacific country will also benefit from the increased income tax base:

Regardless of the jurisdiction of the company providing the work, if the employee or contractor is a tax resident in New Zealand then an increase in local jobs will lead to an increase in tax revenue through PAYE (Pay as You Earn)

Additionally, the report states that distributed ledger technology will serve as a catalyst for other sectors and consequently spur economic growth. These sectors include finance, creative industries, education, supply chains, healthcare, transport and energy.

The report authored by Joshua Vial also noted that blockchain technology has the potential to transform public services in New Zealand by improving transparency, preventing fraud and establishing trust.

Story continues

Existing Hurdles

But in order for New Zealand to reap fully from blockchain technology, the report recommends taking various measures aimed at creating a conducive environment for the blockchain sector. This includes unblocking the access of blockchain firms to banking services.

The report, for instance, notes that such firms currently face numerous hurdles in accessing basic services from financial institutions due to the strict anti-money laundering regime. In this regard, the report calls for the countrys financial regulator and central bank to work together:

The Reserve Bank [of New Zealand] and the Financial Markets Authority could give consideration to producing guidelines to support a level of auditing appropriate to the risk exposure of individual blockchain companies, avoid blanket de-risking, and ensuring compliance costs are not onerous.

Images from Shutterstock.



The post Blockchain Technology Tipped to Boost New Zealands IT Exports: Report appeared first on CCN.

Trucks and cars entering the USA at the Customs and Border Protection Sweetgrass border crossing on Interstate 15 in Sweetgrass, Montana on August 1, 2017. 130,000 trucks and 260,000 passengers cars cross the border at Sweetgrass each year.

In a communication era built on mobile devices and 4G networks, humans are conducting increasingly more of their daily activities online.

Online shopping and same-day delivery mean bad weather, a cold or a busy schedule no longer equate to an empty fridge. Google Street View and 360 degree videos allow anyone with an internet connection to explore neighbourhoods and landscapes around the world. And, while it doesnt always lead to a degree or diploma, the internet offers seemingly endless opportunities for education.

So for the millions of Canadians who surf, download, stream and store data using the internet, is there specific set of rights to privacy when crossing borders with their smartphones and laptops?

You dont actually have a lot of rights when youre crossing the border, explains Toronto-based immigration lawyer Joel Sandaluk. What youre getting [when you cross the border] is a benefit. No body except for Canadian citizens has a legal or constitutional right to enter Canada.

In other words, national security trumps the individual right of people crossing the border. If a person refuses to comply with a border officer because they believe the officers request violates their rights, they dont cross the border.

For example, Canadas Customs Act allows Canadian Border Security Agency officers to search baggage and electronic devices without a warrant. This jurisdiction extends to people who arent planning to cross the border but are near it, in customs-controlled areas where domestic travelers might mingle with people and goods that havent been cleared by CBSA.





U.S. border officers are not allowed to intentionally access cloud storage, and CBSA officers are advised not to. U.S. officers are allowed to ask for the password to a laptop or mobile device, and the Canadian courts havent ruled whether Canadian officers can do the same or not.

According to the Office of the Canadian Privacy Commissioner, while Canadian officers should search personal devices only in cases where they believe evidence of contraventions may be found on the digital device or media, U.S. officers can search devices at will.

Story continues

And Sandaluk warns that while refusing a personal device search will certainly result in a traveller not crossing a border, it might also be considered grounds for seizing a device.

If an officer at a port of entry wants to seize your laptop or your smartphone they can, Sandaluk said. The most you can do is to withdraw your application, which isnt a right but a practice.

But the consequences of refusing a search dont end there. The decision to withdraw from crossing a border is one the Canadian Privacy Commissioner cautions may be recorded and could impact future travel.

Tips for smooth sailing

Aside from complying with searches, Sandaluk suggests some general best practices when crossing the Canada or U.S. border.

First of all, he says, travellers should respond directly and simply when questioned by officers at ports of entry. People who give long, rambling responses when asked about the purpose of their travels appear nervous, which Sandaluk says can make border officers suspicious. Its best not to give more information than necessary.

What happens it it appears youre being evasive which isnt whats happening at all. The simple thing is to just listen to the question thats being asked and answer exactly that question, nothing more, nothing less, Sandaluk says.





Sandaluk warns travellers who store sensitive or confidential files on laptops or mobile devices to remove them and store them elsewhere before traveling with those devices. Turning off Wi-Fi and data can also help prevent border officers from accidentally accessing cloud storage.

As a general practice, thats by and large, the smartest way to travel with a lot of devices, just out of abundance of caution, Sandaluk says, adding that people who have nothing unlawful to hide arent typically prime candidates for electronics searches.

The overwhelming majority of people have nothing to worry about.

Finally, Sandaluk says one of the most common mistakes he sees travellers make when crossing borders is to attempt to cross with medication that isnt permitted in the country theyre traveling to.

A lot of medications, especially for schizophrenia or significant or longterm pain, may be a scheduled substance and not eligible to bring in, he said.

Its usually a good idea if youre traveling with a particular heavy type of medication to call Health Canada and make sure youre not going to have any problems.Ottawa (AFP) - Canada's oil sector, hurt by low prices and a lack of pipeline capacity to get its product to new overseas markets, received Can$1.6 billion (US$1.2 billion) in government aid on Tuesday.

The federal monies include direct aid and export development loans to help the sector "diversify export markets for its resources beyond the United States," according to a statement.

Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi and Trade Minister Jim Carr at an announcement in Edmonton, Alberta also said additional funding is available to "address bottlenecks in the freight rail system."

"The oil and gas industry is core to Canada's economy," Sohi said.

"These investments will help protect jobs and restore competitiveness during this difficult time," he said.

Sohi added that "getting our resources to non-US markets is the long-term solution to ensuring every barrel of oil gets its full value."

The boost comes amid a particular difficult time in Canada's oil patch.

Canada is the world's fourth largest oil producer and exporter, but almost all of it goes to the United States.

Construction of new pipelines to US Gulf coast refineries and to the Canadian Pacific tidewater for shipping overseas have been held up by environmental protests.

Prices for Western Canadian Select were below US$15 in November before bouncing back slightly after Alberta annonced it would cut production, as well as buy tanker cars to move oil by rail until new pipelines can be built.

But at US$25 on Tuesday, Alberta crude oil was still heavily discounted compared to the benchmark West Texas Intermediate at US$47.50.

Alberta lawmakers have warned that Canada is losing tens of millions of dollars per day due to the price differential.JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African Airways (SAA) said on Tuesday that it had signed a deal with Emirates [EMIRA.UL] to expand an existing codeshare agreement, in a rare bright spot for the cash-strapped airline.

The state-owned carrier, which has not made a profit since 2011 and survives on government handouts, said the agreement would see the two airlines leverage each other's route networks, cargo services and flight schedules to boost passenger flows.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been at pains to stabilize ailing firms like SAA, but the extent of their financial difficulties has meant slow progress.

SAA, which hopes to turn a profit by 2021 by cutting jobs and routes, expects to make another large loss this financial year, despite a recent government cash injection of 5 billion rand ($350 million).

"The expansion of our commercial relationship will further strengthen key focus areas of the implementation of our turnaround plan," SAA Chief Executive Vuyani Jarana said.

(Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Adrian Croft and Alexander Smith)Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson says troops will be on standby in case of a no-deal Brexit

3,500 troops are on standby and ready to be called to deal with the fallout from a no-deal Brexit.

The Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, revealed that regular and reserve military personnel are now in a state of readiness should they be required during a chaotic exit from the EU.

It came as it emerged the Government has ramped up its planning for a no-deal, suggesting that Theresa May no longer believes she can get her Brexit deal through Parliament.

Manchester United have lost patience with Jose Mourinho and sacked him after a tumultuous two-and-a-half years at the club.

Mourinho frequently fell out with his own players and the clubs board, and a poor run of results  the clubs worst in the Premier League  made his position untenable.

Zinedine Zidane and Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino are among the favourites to take over.

A number of lorries have been overturned on a ferry sailing in high winds, toppling into one another and damaging other vehicles.

Several ambulances were sent to the scene along with police, the fire and rescue service and the coastguard, after six vehicles shifted on board the vessel as it sailed from Larne in Northern Ireland to Cairnryan in Dumfries and Galloway.

No one is reported to have been injured in the incident, which happened at around 7.30am on Tuesday, but some passengers were confined to their vehicles.

A kind-hearted widower neighbour secretly bought Christmas presents for his two-year-old neighbour to open for the next 14 years  which were finally delivered after he died.

Ken Watson, 87, carried out a final act of kindness by wrapping up a bundle of presents for Cadi Williams, who he had treated like his own granddaughter.

Cadis parents, Owen and Caroline Williams, were left in tears on Monday when the presents were delivered by Mr Watsons daughter to their house in Barry.Janelle Monae at the Vanity Fair Oscar after-party on March 4, 2018 Janelle Monae is famed for her love of capes on the red carpet and for the Vanity Fair Oscar after-party, the actress wore a slick red co-ord by Christian Siriano. The bejewelled bow, sweeping cape and slick shirt all caught our attention and for that, its one of the most memorable ensembles of 2018. [Photo: Getty]

We often turn to the A-list pack in search of sartorial inspiration whether its a red carpet ensemble thats made our Pinterest board or a street style pap shot thats inspired our latest shopping list.

Yet although armed with a celebrity stylist and wardrobe team, Hollywoods biggest names dont always hit the right fashion notes.

This year, the near-naked trend reigned the headlines and although a major talking point, the likes of Bella Hadid and Rita Ora failed to make some of our best dressed lists as a consequence.

2018 has also been a time of experimentation for a bunch of celebrities with Amber Heard trialling a couture swimming cap on the red carpet to Lady Gaga making Shakespearean ruffles a thing.

But if we had to give the award for this years most unusual wardrobe, actor Ezra Miller is a sure-fire winner thanks to that Moncler puffer dress.

From Rihannas pope-inspired Met Gala ensemble to Robert Pattinsons twist on the traditional tux, these were this years most unusual (and wonderfully weird) celebrity outfits.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for non-stop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyleUK.

Read more from Yahoo Style UK:

Best celebrity red carpet looks of 2018, from Lady Gaga to Dakota Johnson

Best dressed celebrities: Decembers top A-list fashion moments so far

Supersized celebrity red carpet dressesIt performed

A new test for cervical cancer that could "revolutionise screening" has been found to outperform current UK tests at a reduced cost, according to a study.

The "epigenetics-based" test detected 100% of the cancers that developed in 15,744 women in a screening trial led by Queen Mary University of London.

It performed "significantly better" than the Pap smear or human papillomavirus (HPV) test, and the study's authors believe it would be cheaper if fully rolled out.

The Pap smear detected one quarter, while the HPV test detected half of the cancers in the group of women aged 25-65 in Canada.

Lead researcher Professor Attila Lorincz, who also helped develop the world's first test for HPV in 1988, called it an "enormous development".

She said: "We're not only astounded by how well this test detects cervical cancer, but it is the first time that anyone has proven the key role of epigenetics in the development of a major solid cancer using data from patients in the clinic.

"Epigenetic changes are what this cervical cancer test picks up and is exactly why it works so well."

Cervical cancer screening is usually done through the Pap smear, which can only detect around 50% of pre-cancerous cells in the cervix.

The HPV test, which looks for the presence of cancer-causing HPV DNA, is more accurate, but does not identify women's risks of developing cancer.

Instead of checking for patterns in the DNA genetic code, the new test examines chemical markers that sit on top of the DNA, forming its "epigenetic profile".

Prof Lorincz added: "This really is a huge advance in how to deal with HPV-infected women and men, numbering in the billions worldwide, and it is going to revolutionise screening.

"We were surprised by how well this new test can detect and predict early cervical cancers years in advance, with 100% of cancers detected, including adenocarcinomas, which is a type of cervical cancer that is very difficult to detect.

Story continues

"The new test is much better than anything offered in the UK at present but could take at least five years to be established."

The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and Cancer Research UK and published in the International Journal of Cancer.

Its authors believe that detecting the disease from the start would reduce the number of doctors' visits and screening appointments.Photo: Jeff Roberson/AP



Charter Communications has agreed to pay $174.2 million to settle an action brought in 2017 by the New York Attorney Generals Office that alleged the cable and internet company promised customers internet speeds that it couldnt deliver.



The settlement includes the largest-ever payout to consumers by an internet service provider in U.S. history, according to a statement from the office of New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood. The accord calls for $62.5 million in direct refunds to more than 700,000 subscribers in New York.



Charter, which is based in Stamford, Connecticut, has also agreed to offer customers more than $100 million in temporary access to premium channels and streaming services as part of the settlement. The company will also make future investments to improve internet service and speeds in New York, including network enhancements and new modems and routers for customers.



Underwood said in a statement that the settlement should set a precedent for any other ISP or company that attempts to misrepresent its services to customers in New York.



This settlement should serve as a wake-up call to any company serving New York consumers: fulfill your promises, or pay the price, Underwood said. Not only is this the largest-ever consumer payout by an internet service provider, returning tens of millions of dollars to New Yorkers who were ripped off and providing additional streaming and premium channels as restitutionbut it also sets a new standard for how internet providers should fairly market their services.



The litigation is separate from the states lawsuit filed earlier this year by the state Public Service Commission, which sought to effectively kick Charter out of the state for allegedly failing to meet its promised targets to expand high-speed internet service to rural areas.



The settlement announced Tuesday may be a bellwether for a resolution in that litigation sometime soon. Filings in that case show the state recently approved another extension for Charter to apply for a rehearing on the matter before the PSC while talks of a resolution continue. Maureen Helmer, a partner at Barclay Damon in Albany, New York, who is representing Charter in the lawsuit, wrote in a filing last week that those discussions are ongoing.



Settlement discussions, as described in Charters and the Departments joint November 21,



2018 letter to the Commission, remain ongoing, and, accordingly, there is good cause to further



extend the deadlines so as to allow these discussions to continue, Helmer wrote.



That could mean Charter will pay millions more to the state than it already committed to customers in Tuesdays settlement. A spokesman for the PSC confirmed that, as of Tuesday, a settlement had not been reached in the case.



It wouldnt be the first time the company paid to settle complaints over its failure to expand internet access statewide. Charter paid regulators $13 million last June to settle the same complaint from the PSC, which approved the companys merger with Time Warner Cable in 2016.



The settlement announced on Tuesday was born from a lawsuit first brought in February 2017 by former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The case was led by several attorneys within the bureaus of antitrust, consumer fraud, and internet and technology.



Charter was represented by Christopher Clark, a partner at Latham & Watkins in Manhattan. Jason Burt, who is counsel at the firm, was also on the case. Neither attorney immediately returned a request for comment on the settlement.



A spokeswoman for Charter said in a statement that the company is happy to put the litigation to rest.



We are pleased to have reached a settlement with the Attorney General on the issue of certain Time Warner Cable advertising practices in New York prior to our merger, and to have put this litigation behind us, the spokesman said. Charter has made, and continues to make, substantial investments enhancing internet service across the state of New York since our 2016 merger, as acknowledged by the Attorney General in this settlement.



The spokeswoman also said the company is looking forward to continuing to provide internet, cable and telecommunications services to customers across the state.



If the company continues to operate in New York, it will have to implement a number of marketing business reforms to correct the errors that caused the litigation originally. The company will have to be clear in its advertising, for example, that internet speeds may vary, and will have to explain why they may vary based on the number of users and devices in a home.



The company will also be prohibited from advertising unsubstantiated claims about the speed required for internet activities, such as streaming, and will not be allowed to represent the reliability or availability of its internet services. Charter will also have to provide customers with equipment, such as modems and routers, that can produce the internet speeds they purchased.



Customers who may be eligible to receive a refund or free access to premium services from the company dont have to do anything to respond to the settlement as of now. Charter will be responsible for communicating directly with them about the payout if they are to receive one.



Customers who are deemed eligible for a refund will receive at least $75 from the company based on whether it leased them an inadequate modem or router, or if they subscribed to a Time Warner Cable legacy internet speed plan of 100 Mbps or higher. Customers who had an inadequate modem for two years or longer will receive an additional $75. Those refunds are expected sometime in the next four months.



The company will also offer free streaming services to approximately 2.2 million active internet subscribers, who can choose to receive either three months of HBO or six months of Showtime if they also receive cable. All other internet subscribers could be eligible to receive a free month of the companys streaming service with a limited number of channels and a free month of the Showtime premium channel.



READ MORE:



Charter Asks Court to Block AG's Request for Trade Association Communications



What NY Wants in Its Lawsuit Against State's Largest Internet Service ProviderCharter Communications has agreed to pay a record $174.2 million  and provide customers with months of free HBO and Showtime  to settle a fraud lawsuit claiming it knowingly delivered slower internet speeds than promised to its subscribers, the office of New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said Tuesday.

As part of the deal, Charter will directly pay $62.5 million to 700,000 customers  who will receive between $75 and $150 each  for providing internet service that fell well short of speeds it had offered. The payout is believed to be the largest consumer refund ever paid by an internet provider in U.S. history, according to Underwoods office.

Charter will also provide more than $100 million worth of streaming service and premium channels to 2.2 million customers for no additional charge. The company will offer all internet and cable subscribers a choice of either three free months of HBO or six free month of Showtime as part of its settlement.

Also Read: 'Dark Crystal' Series: Taron Egerton, Anya Taylor-Joy Lead Voice Cast of Jim Henson Prequel

This settlement should serve as a wakeup call to any company serving New York consumers: fulfill your promises, or pay the price, Underwood said in a statement. Not only is this the largest-ever consumer payout by an internet service provider, returning tens of millions of dollars to New Yorkers who were ripped off and providing additional streaming and premium channels as restitution  but it also sets a new standard for how internet providers should fairly market their services.

In 2017, the New York Attorney General charged Charter and Time Warner Cable, its predecessor, with knowingly delivering slower internet service than its customers expected, for five years. Charter knew it couldnt meet the speeds it promised customers, the Attorney Generals office argued, and in some cases provided internet speeds that were 80 percent slower than advertised  making it impossible for customers to use Netflix and other streaming services.

Story continues

Charter guaranteed subscribers would enjoy a seamless access to their favorite internet content, while simultaneously engaging in hardball tactics with Netflix and other popular third-party content providers, according to the Attorney Generals office. This ensured that subscribers would suffer through frozen screens, extended buffering and reduced picture quality.

Also Read: Charter Communications Banned From Doing Business in New York State

The company will notify customers within 120 days of their eligibility for refunds and free services, as part of its settlement. Charter shares were down 1.7 percent in early trading on Tuesday, hitting $304 per share.

Read original story Charter Will Pay Record $174.2 Million to Settle Fraud Lawsuit Over Netflix, Internet Throttling At TheWrapNEW YORK (AP)  Health officials in the U.S. and Canada told people Tuesday to stop eating romaine lettuce because of a new E. coli outbreak.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it is working with officials in Canada on the outbreak, which has sickened 32 people in 11 states and 18 people in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

The strain identified is different than the one linked to romaine earlier this year but appears similar to last year's outbreak linked to leafy greens.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the agency doesn't have enough information to ask suppliers for a recall, but he suggested that supermarkets and restaurants should withdraw romaine until the source of the contamination can be identified. People are also being advised to throw out any romaine they have at home.

The contaminated lettuce is likely still on the market, Gottlieb told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

He said FDA wanted to issue a warning before people gathered for Thanksgiving meals, where the potential for exposure could increase.

"We did feel some pressure to draw conclusions as quickly as we could," he said.

In Canada, officials issued similar warnings to the two provinces where people were sickened. They said there was no evidence to suggest people in other parts of the country had been affected.

Most romaine sold this time of year is grown in California, Gottlieb said. The romaine lettuce linked to the E. coli outbreak earlier this year was from Yuma, Arizona. Tainted irrigation water appeared to be the source of that outbreak, which sickened about 200 people and killed five.

The FDA's blanket warning in the current outbreak is broader and more direct than the ones issued in the earlier outbreak, said Robert Whitaker, chief science officer for the Produce Marketing Association. In the earlier outbreak, the warnings about romaine from Yuma might have been confusing, he said.

Whitaker said the industry group told members they should cooperate with the FDA and stop supplying romaine lettuce, especially since people have been told to stop buying and eating it.

Story continues

No deaths have been reported in the current outbreak, but 13 people in the U.S. and six in Canada have been hospitalized. The last reported U.S. illness was on Oct. 31, while and the most recent illness in Canada was early this month.

Tracing the source of contaminated lettuce can be difficult because it's often repackaged by middlemen, said Sarah Sorscher, deputy director of regulatory affairs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. That can mean the entire industry becomes implicated in outbreaks, even if not all products are contaminated.

"One of the problems with produce is that it can be very hard to trace back," she said.

She said washing contaminated lettuce won't ensure that harmful germs are killed.

Infections from E. coli can cause symptoms including severe stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. Most people recover within a week, but some illnesses can last longer and be more severe.

Health officials have also been reminding people to properly handle and cook their Thanksgiving birds amid a widespread salmonella outbreak linked to raw turkey. Last week, Hormel recalled some packages of Jennie-O ground turkey that regulators were able to tie to an illness.

But unlike with romaine lettuce, regulators are not warning people to avoid turkey. Salmonella is not prohibited in raw meat and poultry, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which overseas raw meat, said cooking should kill any salmonella.

___

The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.A defiant James Comey lambasted congressional Republicans, accusing them of covering for President Trump by refusing to allow the former FBI director to testify publicly about decisions he made during the 2016 presidential election and the first few months of the Trump administration.

So another day of Hillary Clintons emails and the Steele dossier, Comey told reporters at the conclusion of his closed-door testimony before a House committee, summing up the questions he faced. This while the president of the United States is lying about the FBI, attacking the FBI and attacking the rule of law in this country. How does that make any sense at all?

He continued: Republicans used to understand that the actions of a president matter, that the words of a president matter, the rule of law matters and the truth matters. Where are those Republicans today?

Former FBI Director James Comey speaks to reporters after testifying a second time before the GOP-led House Judiciary and Oversight committees. (Photo/AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

Republicans who control the House Judiciary and Oversight committees compelled Comey to deliver further testimony before Democrats will assume the gavel in the new year, and, according to Comey, used their time to push narratives pushed by the president.

At some point, someone has to stand up  and in the face of fear of Fox News, fear of their base, fear of mean tweets  stand up for the values of this country and not slink away into retirement, but stand up and speak the truth, Comey said. I find it frustrating to be here answering questions about things that are far less important than the values that this country is built upon.

Asked about the effect of the presidents tweet over the weekend that labeled his former lawyer Michael Cohen a rat for cooperating with federal investigators, Comey was adamant.

It undermines the rule of law. This is the president of the United States calling a witness who has cooperated with his own Justice Department a rat. Say that again to yourself at home and remind yourself where we have ended up.

The president accused the FBI of breaking into Cohens office, a portrayal that is at odds with the fact that the bureau first obtained a search warrant from a judge who ruled there was probable cause to conduct the raids.

Story continues

Remember, Michael Cohen only became a Rat after the FBI did something which was absolutely unthinkable & unheard of until the Witch Hunt was illegally started. They BROKE INTO AN ATTORNEYS OFFICE! Why didnt they break into the DNC to get the Server, or Crookeds office?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 16, 2018

For Comey, Trumps characterization of the FBI was a call to arms.

This is not about Republicans or Democrats, this is about what does it mean to be an American, Comey said, adding, Theres a set of values that represent the glue of this country and they are under attack by things just like that. We have to stop being numb to it.

Asked whether Mondays hearing amounted to a partisan exercise, Comey said he couldnt be sure what the committee was investigating.

The questions about Hillary Clinton and the Steele dossier strike me as more of the same. I didnt learn anything new in there, maybe they did.

Many conservatives have criticized Comeys answers to the House committee, noting that he failed in testimony last week to recall what they considered key events. Democrats have also railed against Comey over his handling of the investigation during the 2016 presidential campaign into Hillary Clintons use of a private email address and server when she was the secretary of state.

They got truthful testimony from me, Comey said when asked about that criticism. When youre the director of an organization of 38,000, sometimes you dont know what form people filled out. Thats silliness. And as far as hurting the FBIs reputation, I hope not. We had to make very hard decisions in 2016. I knew we were going to get hurt by it. The question was how do we reduce the damage.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:

The Department of Homeland Security has informed members of Congress that they cannot interview the Border Patrol agents who detained and processed a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl who died in their custody.

Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Tuesday are scheduled to tour the Lordsburg Border Patrol Station in New Mexico, where agents took Jakelin Caal Maquin and her father after they illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. The members had requested a chance to speak directly with the Border Patrol agents who arrested, detained and transported the girl and her father before she was flown to a children's hospital and died.

A Homeland Security spokeswoman said Monday that the agents will already speak with the department's Inspector General, which is conducting an investigation into the girl's death, and that they can't be forced to speak with members of Congress while that process is ongoing.

"While DHS respects the oversight role of Congress, it is important to allow the review process occur unimpeded by politics," spokeswoman Katie Waldman said in a statement. "It is important to preserve the legitimacy of a fair and impartial process out of respect to the agents' lifesaving mission and the family of the deceased."

Maquin's death has reignited a debate over the way Customs and Border Protection handles migrants along the southern border. The agency came under fire over the summer after the Trump administration unveiled a "zero tolerance" policy that led to thousands of family separations. And it was scrutinized for firing tear gas into a group of asylum-seeking migrants in Tijuana, Mexico, that included men, women and children.

More: Migrant girl dies in custody: What we know now and where it happened

Related: Family of migrant girl who died in Border Patrol custody disputes agencys account of death

In the case of the Guatemalan girl, CBP says its agents treated her as quickly and as effectively as they could after apprehending her and her father Dec. 6. The agency blamed the father for not alerting agents to her condition earlier. The father challenged that account, saying his daughter was fed and received water throughout their voyage and only became ill after being taken into CBP custody.

Story continues

Now, Congress has many questions.

About a dozen members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, including several who represent districts in border states, will tour the Lordsburg station on Tuesday and speak with CBP leadership there.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan demanding a more detailed timeline and accounting of what happened to Maquin during her time in custody.

"Please also preserve any and all evidence related to the death," she wrote.

And on Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee will get its chance to ask questions when Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen appears before that committee.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Congress told it can't interview agents who detained 7-year-old migrant girl who diedThe Honduran woman photographed last month pulling her diaper-clad children from tear gas along the U.S.-Mexico border has applied for asylum in the U.S., Rep. Jimmy Gomez announced on Twitter early Tuesday.

"After 7hrs, I can now confirm: Maria Meza & her kids  featured in this @Reuters image fleeing tear gas at the border last month  just filed for asylum," the California Democrat said on Twitter. "Theyre on American soil. @RepBarragan & I are still here observing conditions on the ground."

Reuters photographer Kim Kyung-Hoon captured the iconic image of Maria Lila Meza Castro, 39, on Nov. 25 when U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents fired tear gas into a group of migrants near the San Ysidro Port of Entry in Tijuana.

After 7hrs, I can now confirm:



Maria Meza & her kids  featured in this @Reuters image fleeing tear gas at the border last month  just filed for asylum.



Theyre on American soil.@RepBarragan & I are still here observing conditions on the ground. #RefugeesWelcome @fams2gether pic.twitter.com/t8cEDRtGIQ  Rep. Jimmy Gomez (@RepJimmyGomez) December 18, 2018

After the incident, Meza told BuzzFeed News that she was standing near the border fence with her five children when U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents fired at least three tear gas canisters in their direction.

"I felt sad, I was scared. I wanted to cry. Thats when I grabbed my daughters and ran," she told BuzzFeed. "I thought my kids were going to die with me because of the gas we inhaled."

Story continues

The image sparked worldwide outrage over the actions of U.S. border officials and appeared to contradict the Trump administration's narrative that the caravan of Central American migrants that Meza had traveled with from Honduras contained dangerous criminals.

"We have to tell the truth and tell the story by sharing pictures," Kim told The Washington Post. "I just captured the moment of what is happening there, and then it went viral. It became a chance for more people to think about these migrant issues."

The migrants hoped to apply for asylum in the U.S. citing the rampant gang violence in their home countries. But there are massive backlogs for asylum seekers along the U.S. southern border. Even before the caravan of roughly 6,000 migrants arrived, there were already about 2,800 asylum-seekers in Tijuana.

The Trump administration tried to block the migrants from applying for asylum, but a federal judge blocked the order, ruling President Donald Trump "may not rewrite the immigration laws."

The government offered its own explanation of what happened that day.

"Our agents were under assault," CBP Commissioner Robert Perez said in defense of the use of tear gas.

Trump, who has advocated the use of lethal force along the border, said the migrants "rushed" the border fence and CBP agents responded appropriately. He also claimed, without evidence, that some of the migrants traveling with children were not parents but "grabbers."

"They grab a child because they think theyll have a certain status by having a child," he claimed.

Contributing: Alan Gomez and David Jackson, USA TODAY; Rafael Carranza, Arizona Republic

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Congressman says migrant woman tear-gassed with kids in viral photo applies for asylumA couple had an unfortunate encounter with a fellow passenger. [Photo: Getty]

A couples plane journey from Sydney to Dubai turned into a terrifying ordeal after an encounter with a fellow passenger.

An anonymous woman revealed on Australian site Mama Mia how her and her then-boyfriend were held by the Dubai authorities.

The couple were flying from their home in Sydney to London, via a stopover in Dubai, when the woman decided to take a nap.

She wrote: I closed my eyes and reclined my seat. But as I started to drift off, I felt a rhythmic thudding, like someone was kicking my seat.

The man on the far left was tapping his foot. Thud, thud, thud.

After 10 minutes of trying and failing to sleep because of the vibrations, I turned to my boyfriend. Do you think you could politely ask that man to stop tapping his foot? I asked.

My boyfriend leaned across, lightly touched the mans arm with his index finger.

Excuse me, mate.. would you mind not tapping your foot?

The man leapt up like hed been shot out of a cannon.

This man hit me! he yelled.

A flight attendant came over to move the couple to a different row. However, the man kept accusing the womans boyfriend of hitting him  meaning the flight attendant had to report the incident.

I have tried to calm the gentleman down, he told us. But I am afraid he wants us to involve the police and we will have to honour that.

Youre kidding? my boyfriend burst out. I tapped him on the arm!

We had a two hour stop over in Dubai before our connecting flight to London. I just prayed we could get this ironed out as quickly as possible.

When the plane landed, staff escorted us and our accuser off first  uniformed officers were waiting for us. We were being treated like criminals!

My heart thudded in my chest as we were taken to the police station in the airport.

Things went from bad to worse as the womans boyfriend was pressured to sign a false statement admitting to the so-called crime.

A police officer spoke to my boyfriend in broken English while our accuser sat opposite us glaring. The officer was trying to get my boyfriend to sign a document admitting he hit the man. Then you can go, he said.

Story continues

Im not signing that, my boyfriend said. I didnt do anything!

Next a different officer took him into a separate room and tried again to make him sign the false confession. Again, he refused. As officers spoke amongst themselves, gesturing towards my boyfriend, ice cold fear spread inside me.

I looked at my phone. Our plane was due to board in 10 minutes. I had no idea where our gate was. We were going to miss our connection  and that was far from the worst of it.

Id held it together up until that point, but in that moment I dissolved. Tears spilled down my cheeks.

Finally, seeing her reaction, the accuser had a change of heart and agreed to drop his charges.

I looked up and into the face of our accuser. To my surprise, his entire demeanour softened.

When is your flight leaving? he asked me.

Any minute now, I sobbed.

Lets get these people out of here, he said.

While the couple thankfully did not suffer any further consequences, the woman describes how the incident has affected her long term.

Even once we were safe at home, the experience kept replaying over and over in my head. Its something I think about every time I get on a plane; it terrifies me the way conflict can escalate in such a confined space. And how much worse the consequences could have been.

While this couple were incredibly unlucky with their fellow passenger, another traveller was much more fortunate.

After losing his wallet on a flight to Las Vegas, Hunter Shamatt didnt think hed ever see his bank card or ID ever again  until a generous stranger carried out their good deed of the day.

A fellow passenger returned the wallet with an extra 46 cash stuffed into it.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for non-stop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyleUK.

Read more from Yahoo Style UK:

Plane passenger racked up 231 phone bill after failing to put phone on flight mode

Passenger notices strange in-flight menu warning on British Airways flight: Bullet fragments that could be found in this meal

Cabin crew members hilariously sassy safety routine goes viralBy Rahul Singh and Krishna N. Das NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A toxic pesticide that a U.N. agency wanted India to ban a decade ago contaminated food that killed at least 15 people at a temple last week, police said on Tuesday. More than 100 also had to go to hospital after devotees consumed portions of tomato rice blessed at the Hindu temple in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. A senior police officer told Reuters laboratory tests showed the presence of monocrotophos - a pesticide which attacks the nerves - in food and vomit samples. "We are trying to find out how the food got contaminated and not ruling out foul play. We have detained a few people and are enquiring further," said Chamrajnagar district police superintendent Dharmender Kumar Meena, without specifying the number of arrests. The same pesticide was responsible for the death of 23 schoolchildren in the eastern state of Bihar in 2013, one of India's worst mass poisonings. That was caused by cooking oil kept in a container previously used to store monocrotophos. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), swallowing just 120 milligrams of monocrotophos - the weight of about five grains of rice - can be fatal. In a 2009 report, the U.N. health agency urged India to ban the pesticide, as the United States, European Union and various other Asian nations have done. Its import is now illegal in at least 46 countries. But India plans to continue allowing its use in non-vegetable crops because it is effective and cheaper than alternatives, said a senior government official. Monocrotophos costs only about 50 rupees (70 U.S. cents) a kg, while a similar patented alternative would cost as much as 20,000 rupees, said Pranjib Kumar Chakrabarty, assistant director general of the state-run Indian Council of Agricultural Research. "Farmers want to keep using it," Chakrabarty told Reuters. "It's safe as long as best practices are followed and they are not used in vegetables." Monocrotophos controls a range of pests from aphids to caterpillars, mites, moths, stem borers and locusts on crops such as cotton, rice and sugarcane. Poisoning symptoms can include sweating, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision and foaming at the mouth. (Reporting by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)David Berry Jr has been ordered to watch Bambi while in prison (Picture: AP)

A deer poacher who killed hundreds of animals illegally has been ordered to watch Bambi repeatedly in prison as part of his sentence.

David Berry Jr, a hunter from Missouri, must watch the 1942 Disney animated classic at least once a month during his one-year sentence in jail.

The Springfield News-Leader reported that Berry was involved in one of the largest deer poaching cases in the states history.

The deer were trophy bucks taken illegally, mostly at night, for their heads, leaving the bodies of the deer to waste, said Don Trotter, the prosecuting attorney in Lawrence County.

Berry, his father, two brothers and another man who helped them had their hunting, fishing and trapping privileges revoked temporarily or permanently.

The men have paid a combined $51,000 in fines and court costs  but the judge ordered a special addition to Berrys sentence for illegally taking wildlife.

MORE: Second EU referendum would break faith with British people, Theresa May warns

MORE: British man could face 15 years in Indonesian prison after being caught with cannabis oil

Court records show he was ordered by Lawrence County Judge Robert George to view the Walt Disney movie Bambi, with the first viewing being on or before December 23, 2018, and at least one such viewing each month thereafter while at the county jail.

The deer poacher must watch Bambi on repeat while behind bars (Picture: Disney)

Berry was also sentenced to 120 days in jail in nearby Barton County for a firearms probation violation.

His father, David Berry Sr., and his brother, Kyle Berry, were arrested in August after a nearly nine-month investigation that also involved cases in Kansas, Nebraska and Canada. The Missouri Department of Conservation said information from the investigation led to 14 Missouri residents facing more than 230 charges in 11 counties.

Investigators say David Berry Sr.s other son, Eric Berry, was later caught with another person spotlighting deer, where poachers use light at night to make deer pause and easier to hunt.

The investigation into the Berrys began in late 2015, when the conservation agency received an anonymous tip about deer poaching in Lawrence County.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKSALT LAKE CITY (AP)  Democrat Ben McAdams has flipped a U.S. House seat in deep-red Utah, defeating Republican U.S. Rep. Mia Love by fewer than 700 votes in a race that took two weeks to settle.

McAdams defeated Love, the first black Republican woman elected to Congress, by a margin just over what would have been needed to require a recount, according to final results posted Tuesday.

McAdams' victory adds to the Democratic majority in a year when they have flipped more than three dozen Republican-held seats across the country to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The race had been too close to call for The Associated Press until the final votes were tallied. State election officials will certify the results next Monday.

McAdams declared victory Monday night after a release of ballots gave him a margin his campaign believed was insurmountable.

"This race was about connecting with Utah," he said. "This race was about who was best positioned to serve Utah and working to not get it caught up in a national, partisan election."

Love was seeking a third term. She said in a statement that she planned to call McAdams but didn't say if she would concede or congratulate him. She said she's traveling with family for Thanksgiving and won't speak about the race until Monday.

"Regardless of how you voted, I want to express my sincere appreciation to you for engaging in the process," Love said. "It is one of many reasons this is the greatest country on earth."

Love finished about 20 votes short of being able to request a recount in a race where about 269,000 votes were cast.

This is the second time she has lost a bid for Congress by a razor-thin margin. In her first run in 2012, Love lost to incumbent Democrat Jim Matheson by 768 votes. She went on to defeat Democrat Doug Owens in 2014 and again in 2016.

For McAdams, it's a victory that validates his reputation as an emerging political force in Utah.

Story continues

He pitched himself as a solid moderate, and not a typical Democrat, while calling Love a partisan who almost always votes with President Donald Trump. The strategy was aimed at independent voters who account for nearly four in 10 voters in the largely suburban Salt Lake City district and designed to overcome his built-in disadvantage in a district where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by nearly 3-to-1.

He is an attorney who graduated from Columbia Law School and practiced in New York before returning to his home state of Utah. He has been a political figure in the state for a decade. He was elected as one of the few Democrats in the GOP-dominated state Legislature in 2008 and successfully ran for the Salt Lake County mayor's seat four years later.

He became known for working with the state's Republican leaders on issues like homelessness, where he backed a narrow Medicaid expansion to cover treatment and once went undercover as a homeless person when the issue became a crisis downtown.

Though solidly conservative, Utah voters have long been uncomfortable with Trump's brash style and his comments about women and immigrants. That anxiety is especially pronounced in the suburbs of blue-leaning Salt Lake City, and McAdams' mayor position gave him solid name recognition with voters.

McAdams said during the campaign that he would not support California Rep. Nancy Pelosi as House speaker and insisting he'd be able to work with the president. He has already signed a letter, along with 15 other Democrats, vowing to oppose Pelosi.

He sharply criticized Love's support for the GOP-backed tax overhaul and said she had not been available enough to her constituents at town halls. Love pushed back hard, saying the tax overhaul has been good for people in Utah and defending her approach of meeting with voters in smaller groups, on the phone or online.

She highlighted the times she's stood up to the president, like when Trump used an expletive to describe her parents' home country of Haiti. She tried to separate herself from Trump on trade and immigration.

Trump didn't appreciate her approach, calling her out by name in a news conference the morning after Election Day, where he also bashed other Republicans who he said lost because they didn't fully embrace him.

Love seemed to struggle to find the right balance among conservative voters as she tried to keep her distance but stopped short of disparaging the president, said Damon Cann, a political science professor at Utah State University.

"It became very difficult to satisfy everyone," Cann said.

Voter turnout among registered voters was the highest for any midterm election in Utah since 1962 at about 74 percent, according to Justin Lee, state elections director.

McAdams was an excellent candidate and also probably benefited from displeasure with Trump and the Republican Party, Cann said.

"The winds were all at McAdams back," Cann said.

____

Associated Press writer Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this report.Democrats take control of the House on January 3 and are already planning their attack on the year-old Republican tax bill.

Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), incoming chair of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, plans to hold hearings on the legislation. And CNBCs Ylan Mui says that Democratic lawmakers will focus on two specific lines of attack against the tax overhaul: U.S. corporations that have laid off workers after receiving substantial tax cut windfalls, and blue states hit hard by changes to the state and local tax (SALT) deduction rules.

General Motors, which announced plans to lay off 15,000 workers and close plants in the U.S., and AT&T, which received an estimated $3 billion in tax benefits and is laying off more than 7,000 workers, are two likely targets.

Conservatives are preparing for battle, as well. Anti-tax advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform plans to launch a campaign to defend the reduction of the top corporate tax rate to 21 percent. "Taxpayers and taxpayer-friendly elected officials now must defend 21 percent as a bright line in the sand that cannot be crossed, said Grover Norquist, the group's president.

Like what you're reading? Sign up for our free newsletter.Weve lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. On the other hand, wed be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in OncoSil Medical Limited (ASX:OSL).

Do Insider Transactions Matter?

Its quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.

We dont think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. For example, a Colombia University study found that insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own companys stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers.

Check out our latest analysis for OncoSil Medical

OncoSil Medical Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Otto Leslie Battula made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for AU$300k worth of shares at a price of AU$0.12 each. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was at a lower price. The insider buying may not tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.

In the last twelve months insiders paid AU$500k for 4.17m shares purchased. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by OncoSil Medical insiders. They paid about AU$0.12 on average. To my mind it is good that insiders have invested their own money in the company. However, you should keep in mind that they bought when the share price was meaningfully below todays levels. The chart below shows insider transactions over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Story continues

ASX:OSL Insider Trading December 17th 18

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. I reckon its a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. OncoSil Medical insiders own 18% of the company, currently worth about AU$22m based on the recent share price. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

So What Do The OncoSil Medical Insider Transactions Indicate?

It doesnt really mean much that no insider has traded OncoSil Medical shares in the last quarter. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Insiders own shares in OncoSil Medical and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

If you would prefer to check out another company  one with potentially superior financials  then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.



The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.WASHINGTON  The sentencing for former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, scheduled for Tuesday morning, was unexpectedly postponed after a federal judge said Flynns conduct left him with disgust, and indicated he was considering a prison sentence  even though prosecutors had recommended no jail time for the retired three-star general.

Flynns admitted crime of lying to the FBI while occupying a top post in the Trump administration, and his acceptance of a six-figure lobbying contract from a foreign government while serving as a national security adviser to Trump during the campaign undermines everything this flag stands for, Judge Emmet Sullivan lectured the defendant in a blunt tirade that startled the packed courtroom.

Arguably, you sold your country out, the judge said. I cannot assure you if we proceed today you will not receive a sentence of incarceration. I cannot hide my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense.

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn arrives for sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Flynn had pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to the FBI regarding his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition. Sullivan pressed him on whether he knew he was lying at the time, and understood that it was a crime. Flynn said he did.

Sullivan later walked back one portion of his comments, acknowledging that he had wrongly accused Flynn of working as an unregistered agent of the government of Turkey while serving in the White House. In fact, Flynn had ended his work for Turkey before he joined the White House staff, although he has admitted filing false information about hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds he received from Turkey during the 2016 campaign, claiming his client was a foreign businessman rather than the government in Ankara itself.

Sullivans dressing-down of Flynn  who memorably shouted, Lock her up! about Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Republican convention  seemed to catch his lawyers, his family members in the courtroom and even prosecutors from special counsel Robert Muellers office by surprise.

Story continues

Muellers team had cited Flynns extensive cooperation with the investigation in calling for leniency from the judge. Exactly what Flynn disclosed is not public, and he has not been called to testify in open court. Sullivan pressed prosecutors on whether Flynns cooperation was completed, and noted it is rare to sentence a defendant before that point, inviting Flynns team to reconsider their agreement to be sentenced right now.

After a 30-minute break, Flynns chief lawyer, Robert Kelner, told Sullivan, We are prepared to take Your Honor up on his suggestion so [Flynn] can eke out the last measure of his cooperation in another case unrelated to Muellers investigation. That involves the indictment of two businessmen, unsealed by federal prosecutors in Virginia on Monday, for lobbying for Turkey in 2016 without registering with the Justice Department  a case for which Flynn is potentially a key witness as an unindicted co-conspirator and which could take months, if not longer, to litigate. Sullivan scheduled a status conference on the matter for March, but the actual sentencing will now likely be put off much longer than that.

For all the harsh condemnation of the conduct of the presidents former national security adviser, the proceedings today offered a glimmer of hope for the White House and its allies that the Mueller probe may be nearing its end.

Muellers prosecutors, in a sentencing memo two weeks ago, had praised Flynns cooperation in several federal probes, including providing first-hand information about contacts between the Trump transition team and the Kremlin  an issue that is at the core of the Russia probe.

But when Sullivan pressed one of Muellers prosecutors, Brandon Lang Van Grack, about whether Flynn had more assistance to provide the Russia probe, the prosecutor at first hesitated and then replied that the defendant had already given the vast majority of the cooperation that could be considered.

Kelner, Flynns lawyer, later emphasized the point, saying that Flynn has held nothing back from Muellers prosecutors, but that his assistance to the special counsel was very largely completed at this point. If true, that would suggest that Mueller does not plan to use Flynn, one of his most important cooperating witnesses, to provide testimony in criminal charges against other figures in the Russia probe, which could signify that the criminal investigation is nearing its conclusion.

Mueller could, however, use testimony by Flynn in a final report about his investigation, which he is required to write, although its unclear how much of it, if any, will be made public.

Flynn had originally pleaded guilty last December to one count of making a false statement to the FBI  a crime that carries a maximum of five years in federal prison  when he was interviewed by two agents in his White House office on Jan. 24, 2017, about two conversations he held with Kislyak during the transition, after President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Russia to punish the Kremlin for its interference in the 2016 election. Flynn denied to the agents that he had asked Kislyak not to retaliate. In a followup interview two days later, he denied recalling a second conversation in which Kislyak told him that Russia had decided to honor Flynns request.

In a statement of offense filed at the time, Flynn also admitted that he had lied to the agents about separate conversations he had with Kislyak urging Russia to oppose a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements on the West Bank. He also admitted filing materially false statements with the Justice Department about his lobbying work for Turkey, including omitting the role the Turkish government played in directing an op-ed he published in a Capitol Hill newspaper on Election Day calling for the extradition from the United States of an opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In the days before Tuesdays scheduled sentencing, the issues before Sullivan were clouded when Flynns lawyers filed a memo saying that, at the suggestion of then Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, Flynn had met with the FBI agents without being represented by a White House lawyer. Flynns defenders in the conservative media, led by the Wall Street Journal editorial page, insinuated that the bureau was trying to entrap him into lying. But Flynn and his lawyers put that issue to rest when Sullivan grilled them about it. Asked directly if he continued to accept responsibility for his false statements, Flynn answered forthrightly: I do, Your Honor. When Flynn asked Kelner if he believes Mr. Flynn was entrapped by the FBI, the lawyer replied: No, Your Honor.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:

The goal of this article is to teach you how to use price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). To keep it practical, well show how China Boqi Environmental (Holding) Co., Ltd.s (HKG:2377) P/E ratio could help you assess the value on offer. Based on the last twelve months, China Boqi Environmental (Holding)s P/E ratio is 4.66. That is equivalent to an earnings yield of about 21%.

View our latest analysis for China Boqi Environmental (Holding)

How Do I Calculate A Price To Earnings Ratio?

The formula for P/E is:

Price to Earnings Ratio = Price per Share (in the reporting currency)  Earnings per Share (EPS)

Or for China Boqi Environmental (Holding):

P/E of 4.66 = CN1.35 (Note: this is the share price in the reporting currency, namely, CNY )  CN0.29 (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2018.)

Is A High Price-to-Earnings Ratio Good?

A higher P/E ratio implies that investors pay a higher price for the earning power of the business. That is not a good or a bad thing per se, but a high P/E does imply buyers are optimistic about the future.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

Probably the most important factor in determining what P/E a company trades on is the earnings growth. When earnings grow, the E increases, over time. That means unless the share price increases, the P/E will reduce in a few years. So while a stock may look expensive based on past earnings, it could be cheap based on future earnings.

China Boqi Environmental (Holding) saw earnings per share decrease by 2.0% last year.

How Does China Boqi Environmental (Holding)s P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

We can get an indication of market expectations by looking at the P/E ratio. If you look at the image below, you can see China Boqi Environmental (Holding) has a lower P/E than the average (12.6) in the commercial services industry classification.

SEHK:2377 PE PEG Gauge December 18th 18

Its relatively low P/E ratio indicates that China Boqi Environmental (Holding) shareholders think it will struggle to do as well as other companies in its industry classification. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. You should delve deeper. I like to check if company insiders have been buying or selling.

Story continues

A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank

Dont forget that the P/E ratio considers market capitalization. In other words, it does not consider any debt or cash that the company may have on the balance sheet. In theory, a company can lower its future P/E ratio by using cash or debt to invest in growth.

Such spending might be good or bad, overall, but the key point here is that you need to look at debt to understand the P/E ratio in context.

How Does China Boqi Environmental (Holding)s Debt Impact Its P/E Ratio?

The extra options and safety that comes with China Boqi Environmental (Holding)s CN664m net cash position means that it deserves a higher P/E than it would if it had a lot of net debt.

The Bottom Line On China Boqi Environmental (Holding)s P/E Ratio

China Boqi Environmental (Holding) trades on a P/E ratio of 4.7, which is below the HK market average of 10.6. The recent drop in earnings per share would make investors cautious, but the net cash position means the company has time to improve: if so, the low P/E could be an opportunity.

Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. As value investor Benjamin Graham famously said, In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. We dont have analyst forecasts, but shareholders might want to examine this detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with modest (or no) debt, trading on a P/E below 20.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.



The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.Kyangwali (Uganda) (AFP) - They may have fled their homes six months or as much as 20 years ago, but few of them have any faith in the upcoming elections in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Until recently, Immaculate Nyakato, 65, lived in Ituri, one of DR Congo's eastern provinces that borders Uganda.

For a long time, she put up with the violence that has blighted the gold-rich region.

But a few weeks ahead of the December 23 ballot, when voters will choose a successor to President Joseph Kabila, she left her home, fleeing across the border to Uganda.

A member of the Hema minority, she felt threatened by the Lendu, another ethnic group.

They had come in the night and put a mark on her door and those of her neighbours, she told AFP. That was all the warning she needed.

Nyakato gathered her things and what little money she had and crossed to Kyangwali, a refugee camp in Uganda on the other side of Lake Albert.

"If there is still war, the elections won't make a difference," she remarked.

- Fleeing the violence -

She is one of around 123,000 refugees who have fled across the border in recent months.

Another is Kabagambe Mahanga, who until last month lived a peaceful life working as a baker in Jina, a village just north of Ituri's capital, Bunia.

"People in Jina were scared because they were burning houses at night," he explained, saying the Lendu were known for attacking their enemies with machetes.

Mahanga quickly left, taking muddy paths and trails to reach the shores of Lake Albert, where he made the perilous 30-kilometre (18-mile) crossing to the other side.

"On the boat, I thanked God I was leaving the war and coming to Uganda," he recalled.

"But it was so overloaded, it moved slowly and I thought we would die."

He is still following the developments back home, particularly the controversy over the touch-screen voting terminals, whose use has been denounced by many as an open door for fraud.

Story continues

"I'm happy if there are elections to allow people to vote," he said.

But it would be best if the vote went ahead "without machines".

- 'In war, elections mean nothing' -

At the camp in Kyangwali, recent arrivals rub shoulders with Congolese refugees who have been there for years.

Many have little faith in Sunday's election.

"I'll always be Congolese but for me the elections are nothing," says 25-year-old Jerome Mugisa. "If there is war, elections are nothing."

A French-English translator, he arrived in Uganda with his parents during a wave of violence that ravaged Ituri between 1999 and 2003.

His parents later tried to go back. But not him.

Figures from the UN refugee agency UNHCR show there are currently 782,000 Congolese refugees being hosted in African countries.

By far the largest percentage have fled to Uganda, which is sheltering 284,000 of them -- more than a third.

Unlike people fleeing eastern countries like Sudan and Eritrea, Congolese do not usually attempt the perilous trek towards Europe.

Instead, they seek refuge in one of the nine countries that border this vast central African country which covers some 2.3 million square kilometres (919,595 square miles).

For Jean-Bienvenu Likanzu-Mokolo from Kinshasa, safety meant fleeing across the Congo River to Brazzaville, capital of the neighbouring Republic of Congo.

Twin capitals, the Kinshasa is visible across the water from Brazzaville's southern districts -- which is why the 50-year-old prefers to stay in the northern part of the city.

"It's too painful to see Kinshasa," he says.

An associate of opposition heavyweight Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former warlord who went into exile in 2007, Likanzu-Mokolo fled Kinshasa a decade ago under cover of night, escaping in a wooden canoe.

Now head of an association of 15,000 DRC refugees, Likanzu-Mokolo had thought he could finally return home when Bemba announced his intention to run in the upcoming elections.

But with Bemba barred from running, Likanzu-Mokolo is now thinking of moving even further away.

- Deprived of a vote -

Deprived of voting rights, these refugees can only watch the vote from the sidelines, along with all their compatriots living elsewhere in the world.

"I can't vote because I am here in Zambia as a refugee, and it hurts me," said Martin Mputu Bakole, who used to live near Lubumbashi, DR Congo's second city which lies in the south-east, close to the Zambian border.

But 20 years ago he fled, and today he repairs watches in Lusaka.

Pierre-Marie Lukungu also left Lubumbashi in the 1990s for Lusaka. Today he is leader of the Congolese community in Zambia.

"From the time of independence up to this day, Congo has never had good elections," he said of a country which has never known a peaceful transition of power since independence from Belgium in 1960.

"Congo has never had a past president who is living. Presidents come into power through coups and leave through coups."

Which is why international observers are needed to ensure the elections are held properly, he says.

Without them, the elections would be "chaotic" and "dangerous for the Congo, our neighbours and the world at large".

So far, Kinshasa has accepted 200 African observers, but none from the European Union.Public Works Secretary Mark Villar

The Public Works Department granted the original proponent status to San Miguel Holdings Corp. for the P23.95-billion extension of Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway to San Juan, La Union. Its original proponent status for the TPLEx extension,Public Works Secretary Mark Villar told reporters. As the original proponent, San Miguel Holdings will have the right to match any offer of competing bidder who will participate in the Swiss Challenge for the project.San Miguels unsolicited project involves a 59.4-kilometer four-lane toll road from the exit of TPLEx in Rosario to San Juan. The Rosario section of the expressway is expected to be completed this year, while its Pozorrubio section opened in December 2017. The extension project would be divided into three segments, with the first segment spanning 18 km from Rosario to Tubao. The second segment will stretch 23 km from Tubao to Naguilian and the last segment will run 18.4 km from Naguilian to San Juan. San Miguel said the project aimed to promote the development of Northern Luzon and facilitate connectivity to Central Luzon and Metro Manila through a high-speed and secured access. San Miguel-led Private Infra Dev Corp. holds the concession for TPLEx, an 88.85-km, four-lane, high-speed toll road that connects Northern Luzon to Manila. It is designed to integrate with other major toll roads such as North Luzon Expressway and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.The construction of TPLEx began in 2010 in three phases. The first was completed in April 2014, running from Tarlac City to Carmen, Pangasinan. The second stretching from Carmen to Urdaneta was completed in December 2014. The third section from Urdaneta to Rosario, La Union is expected to be completed in 2018. TPLEx reduced travel time from Tarlac City to Gerona from 45 minutes to 10 minutes, benefitting 8,000 vehicles per day. It also reduced travel time from Tarlac City to Paniqui, Tarlac from one hour to 15 minutes and the travel time from Tarlac to Rosales from two hours to 30 minutes. It cut travel time from Tarlac to Urdaneta from two hours to 30 minutes and the travel time from Tarlac to Rosario from 3.5 hours to one hour.Photo credit: Jason Chute/UNICEF

From Popular Mechanics

For the first time ever on Monday, a drone delivered vaccines to a baby in the remote South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu.

One-month-old Joy Nowai is now the first person to be immunized by drugs delivered via commercial drone, thanks to the Australian Swoop Aero, which partnered with UNICEF to orchestrate the delivery. The vaccine-carrying drone is the latest development in a trend that's seen UAVs ferry medical supplies to rural communities in the US, and to parts of Africa. The delivery adds fuel to a growing industry intent using drones to supply medicine to the developing world.

Owing to its remote location and rough geography, Vanuatu is hard to access for medical professionals. The country is composed of 80 islands scattered in the South Pacific, with a limited network of roads connecting the population of roughly 26,000. According to UNICEF, 20 percent of the country's children haven't ever received their vaccine shots, which is why it's only right for UAVs to swoop in.

Photo credit: UNICEF

Using a drone was especially necessary in delivering the drugs to Nowai. She lives on the eastern side of the island in Cook's Bay, a region with no electricity or health center that's only accessible by boat or by traversing the craggy terrain on foot. After the drone landed there, Nowai and 13 other children and five women were vaccinated by a registered nurse.

Todays small flight by drone is a big leap for global health, said Henrietta H. Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. With the world still struggling to immunize the hardest to reach children, drone technologies can be a game changer for bridging that last mile to reach every child.

The successful delivery was the conclusion of two trial runs, carried out by Swoop Aero and WingCopter, both of which ferried test payloads in the two weeks prior. Swoop Aero passed the test when it landed within 6-feet of the target area after a 31-mile journey carrying the medical supplies.

Story continues

Getting a drone to deliver vaccines safely in Vanuatu's warm, tropical climate also posed a dilemma. Since vaccines have to be kept at a certain temperature to ensure their efficacy, the drone was equipped with styrofoam boxes with ice-packs and a temperature logger. An electronic indicator was also attached to the rig, to send an alert if any of the vaccines got too warm.

Henrietta H. Fore, UNICEF Executive Director, said the milestone could provide a blueprint for future vaccines delivered via UAV:

Todays first-of-a-kind vaccine delivery has enormous potential not only for Vanuatu, but also for the thousands of children who are missing out on vaccines across the world. This is innovation at its best, and shows how we can unlock the potential of the private sector for the greater good of the worlds children.

UNICEF says Vanuatu is interested in integrating the drone technology into its national immunization program, which could surely do a lot of good in promoting health in Vanuatu for generations to come.

('You Might Also Like',)Addis Ababa (AFP) - Ethiopian Airlines on Monday resumed flights to Moscow after a gap of 27 years stretching back to the demise of the Soviet Union, which saw relations with Moscow dive.

"Moscow is a vital addition to our European service, a very important region. It's going to take our total number of weekly flights to European destinations to reach 54 passenger flights a week," said the carrier's executive director Tewolde Gebremariam as the first flight took off from Addis Ababa.

Russian ambassador to Ethiopia Vsevolod I. Tkachenko welcomed the move.

"Im happy Ethiopian Airlines made a bold decision to re-start such flights because it will not only provide passenger flow, but also connect Russians with Ethiopian Airlines air services' global network" he told AFP.

The carrier will fly three times a week to the Russian capital.

Ethiopian Airlines which is 100 percent state-owned, is Africa's largest carrier.

Addis Ababa airport has recently undergone a large-scale revamp as a major continental aviation hub in a country run until 1991 by a communist military junta -- a regime which received substantial Soviet support in the 1970s and 80s.

Earlier this year saw a wing of a new $345 million passenger terminal at the airport, which is one of Africa's busiest.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, ties between the two nations slid. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Ethiopia last March and cooperation in several sectors, nuclear power included, have been discussed.Brussels (AFP) - EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini on Tuesday issued a stern warning to Serbia and Kosovo to put aside recent bickering amid a major flare-up in tensions between Belgrade and Pristina.

Talks led by Brussels to normalise ties between Serbia and Kosovo, which broke away from Belgrade in a 1998-99 war, have faltered and relations have been plunged into crisis in recent weeks, most recently by Pristina's decision to build an army.

At a tense press conference with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, Mogherini said the two sides' hopes of ever joining the EU depended on resolving their differences through talks and warned of the "very dangerous" alternative to serious dialogue.

Serbia refuses to recognise Kosovo's independence and their already fraught relationship took a serious blow last month when Pristina slapped a 100-percent tariff on Serbian goods in response to Belgrade's attempts to undermine its standing on the world stage.

Things went from bad to worse last week when the Pristina parliament voted to transform its small Kosovo Security Force (KSF), into an army with 5,000 troops, enraging Serbia and alarming many Western powers.

After talks in Brussels with EU officials, Brnabic warned the new army was "the single biggest threat to regional peace and stability" and defended Serbia's right to lobby countries not to recognise Kosovo.

"Does it make sense that Pristina can lobby countries to recognise independence of Kosovo but Belgrade cannot lobby some of the countries to withdraw their recognition?" she demanded.

This drew an exasperated response from Mogherini, whose talks on Monday with Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj made so little progress that a planned press conference was cancelled at the last minute.

"This shows exactly and perfectly well the choice that is in front of the two sides -- I do something, you do something, I respond to this, you respond to that. Fine, good luck. This has never led any region, forget the Balkans, towards something good," Mogherini said.

Story continues

Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci defended the decision to create an army as he headed to a UN Security Council meeting about the move, insisting it was "irreversible" and that he has the backing of the United States.

Mogherini pleaded with Belgrade and Pristina to persevere with talks, saying their hopes of joining the EU depended on progress -- as did the stability of the region.

"The alternative to having a serious meaningful dialogue with real engagement from both sides -- I think the alternative to dialogue is very dangerous," she said.Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt in Downing Street (Reuters)

Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has come under fire in Brussels for playing down the impact of a potential no-deal Brexit.

Hunt is among a group of cabinet ministers who are pushing the prime minister to pursue a so-called managed no-deal if MPs reject the current Brexit deal.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, he conceded that would cause disruption but argued the UK would still be able to flourish and prosper.

Weve faced much bigger challenges in our history, he insisted.

Hunts position has been interpreted by many in the UK as a bid to place him at the front of the pack of possible successors to Theresa May.

This is a desperate attempt by Jeremy Hunt to try and win favour with the Brexiteer wing of his party, said Conservative MP Virendra Sharma.

Now Hunts comments have been blasted by European Parliament Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt.

He said: Those, like Jeremy Hunt, who glorify a nodeal Brexit are totally irresponsible. It is not the job of politicians to make the people they lead poorer, remove opportunities, rights and make lives more uncertain. There is no such thing as a managed no deal.

Brexit supporting MEPs said it was a sign the EU side is rattled.

The row comes before the European commission sets out its latest preparations for the increasingly likely prospect of a no-deal Brexit on Wednesday.

European parliament Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt arriving at 10 Downing Street for a meeting with Theresa May in 2017 (Getty)

It includes plans for the EU to unilaterally extend existing arrangements, including those for transport and financial services, for a period of six to nine months.

EU officials insisted they were putting in place the bare minimum emergency measures rather than anything resembling a managed no-deal.

Full details of the emergency action plan will be published on Wednesday afternoon after the weekly meeting of commissioners.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier will attend the meeting to update commissioners on the latest developments on the UK side.

READ MORE: EU ramps up no-deal plans amid deep freeze in Brexit talks

Story continues

The commission has confirmed there are no further Brexit talks planned despite May having promised they would be taking place in the coming days.

Luminita Odobescu, the ambassador of Romania to the EU, said the EU is waiting for clarity from London on what assurances it needs to get the deal through the UK parliament.

There is an openness from the EU side to explain more but of course not to open the withdrawal agreement, she told Yahoo Finance UK. We have to see what are the concrete requests from the UK government.

The diplomats view is now significant because Romania are taking over the presidency of the European council from 1 January.

Asked whether they were ready for another emergency Brexit summit in January, she said: We are ready to call for any meeting needed.



Just like most festive traditions, sitting down to watch the Queens speech on Christmas Day is a staple for many people.

Officially referred to as the Queens Christmas Message, 7.6 million viewers tuned in to watch it in 2017.

But when did it all begin and when can you watch it this year? Heres everything you need to know.

When was the first broadcast?

The first Christmas Broadcast was delivered by Her Majestys grandfather George V in 1932.

The Queen gave her first speech on 25 December 1952 and the first televised message was shown in 1957.

Over time it has evolved and is now broadcast on radio, TV and online.

The Queen usually records her speech a few weeks before Christmas Day.

What time is the Queens speech on Christmas Day 2018?

The Queens Christmas Message in 2018 is on at 3pm on BBC1, ITV, Sky 1 and Sky News. It will last approximately ten minutes.

The Queen recording her Christmas message in 2012 [Photo: Getty]

MORE: What the Royal Family does at Christmas

MORE: What does the Royal Family buy each other for Christmas?

Has the Queen ever missed a speech?

Only once in 1969. Royal correspondent Victoria Murphy explains to Yahoo UKs The Royal Box: The Royal Family that year did a fly-on-the-wall documentary, which gave a real behind-the-scenes insight into royal life.

I think that maybe she felt theyd seen and heard enough, so she didnt do that that particular year, but every other year, its been a staple part.

That year the Queen issued a written message instead.

The Queen pictures after her first televised Christmas Day message in 1957 [Photo: Rex]

What will the Queen talk about this year?

The theme of this years broadcast has not been confirmed but Her Majesty usually reflects on the past year.

Its been a big year for the royal family with the birth of Prince Louis, Prince Harry and Meghan Markles wedding, Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbanks nuptials, Prince Charles 70th birthday and Meghans pregnancy announcement.

In 2011, she mentioned the marriages of her grandchildren Prince William and Zara Phillips, to Kate Middleton and Mike Tindall respectively.

It has been quite a tumultuous a year for the UK in terms of politics, so could the Queen mention Brexit in her message?

Story continues

Victoria Murphy says: Often theres very veiled mentions of things.

I think that could be something, a theme that comes up, sort of togetherness.

Theres usually very broad themes to the speech that people can attach what they want to onto it.

But shes [The Queen] never specific about anything, certainly nothing political. Theres always that sort of watch on will she mention the personal milestones?

Of course this year itll be the wedding, particularly Harrys wedding.

Its been quite a year for the Royal Family, pictured on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in summer 2018 [Photo: Getty]

Do the Royal Family watch the Queens speech?

Former royal butler Grant Harrold tells Yahoo UK that the royals do sit down and watch the broadcast after their traditional turkey lunch.

He says: From what I understand, she does, they watch it.

And I think anyone, if youve done something, youre going to want to watch it back to see how it comes across.





Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump's former national security advisor Michael Flynn was slated to face sentencing Tuesday over lies he told about his Russia contacts, with a judge expected to give him minimal or no jail time.

Flynn was one of the first to face charges in the sweeping Mueller investigation into possible collusion with Moscow in the 2016 election, reaching a plea deal announced just over one year ago.

Since then prosecutors say the decorated former Marine general has cooperated substantially in their investigation, earning a recommendation of no jail time from Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

It remains unknown what Flynn has told investigators about Trump, whom he served in the White House for just weeks in 2017 before resigning in the wake of scandal.

The former top aide was accused of hiding repeated contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States and conducting illegal paid lobbying for Turkey during the campaign.

Mueller filed a memo on how Flynn helped the investigation but it was heavily redacted -- though did refer to 19 interviews he gave.

He likely contributed to a separate case unveiled Monday in which his former Turkish-American partner and a politically well-connected Turkish citizen were indicted over a 2016 scheme to get the US government to hand over dissident Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen to Ankara.

Trump has maintained that Flynn was illegally tricked by FBI agents into his alleged lies as part of a broader scheme to damage Trump's presidency.

"Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn," the president tweeted early Tuesday.

"Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!"

- Angering Mueller? -

As a star Marine Flynn, 60, was credited for his battlefield intelligence operations and went on to become head of the powerful Defense Intelligence Agency.

Story continues

But he spent just two years in the position before being removed in 2014 by then-president Barack Obama for mismanagement.

After that he moved into politics on the far right and joined Trump's election campaign as a senior advisor.

In July 2016 he spoke at the Republican convention where he led a now-iconic, rousing chant "lock her up" directed at Trump's Democratic election rival Hillary Clinton.

His being named as White House National Security Advisor after the election was strongly opposed by the US intelligence community, where he was seen as someone given to bizarre conspiracy theories and possibly compromised by the Russians.

He had been paid several times to join Russian company events, most notably in December 2015 when he sat next to President Vladimir Putin at a gala for the country's state-run RT television.

In December 2016 he communicated numerous times with Sergei Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to Washington at the time, allegedly promising to lighten sanctions -- a stance seen as undermining the policy of Obama, who was still president.

Revelations of those discussions led to Mueller's probe of his actions.

Flynn may have angered investigators and the court last week when, echoing one of Trump's longstanding allegations, he suggested FBI agents tricked him into lying and alleged that the agents themselves had come under investigation.

Mueller's team sharply rebuffed Flynn, releasing the record of the interview and saying there was "nothing" in the FBI's actions that caused him to lie.It seems that Malta is about to get a bank that will finally begin servicing crypto

and blockchain companies as well as high net worth individuals, who until recently, have been shunned by traditional banks on the so-called Blockchain Island.

OK Groups investment arm, OK Blockchain Capital Limited, announced that it is the anchor investor in RnF Finance Limited, a Maltese based company applying with the Malta Financial Services Authority for authorization to act as a credit institution.

The CEO and founder of RnF, Roderick Psaila, has been in banking for 28 years and has started a number of banks in Malta over the past 10 years. Until recently, he was also the CEO of AgriBank  a Malta licensed credit institution.

Speaking exclusively to CCN, Psaila commented that when operative, the Bank planned to bring back proper banking services to clients.

The Bank shall engage into four main business streams: Offer banking services to corporates; Lending; Private Banking and Wealth Management. We are targeting big corporates and private clients and the mentality would be that no industries are vetoed beforehand but each application will be treated on a case by case basis.

This mantra should provide crypto exchanges and companies issuing security tokens an opportunity to be serviced like other companies, assuming that their due diligence procedures are sufficient, Psaila added.

The Bank intends to invest heavily in blockchain technology and artificial intelligence particularly during the first years of operations. This would enable the Bank to onboard clients in an efficient manner while making sure that a risk-based compliance assessment is carried out.

Ms. Tian Ying, Founding Partner of OK Blockchain Capital Limited, remarked, We are delighted to partner with Roderick and his team of bankers in this exciting project in Malta, and are excited to be involved in this new banking venture on Blockchain Island.

Mr. Tim Byun, Chief Risk Officer & Head of Government Relations of OK Group, remarked, Malta has been a first mover to comprehensively regulate the blockchain industry, and we are excited to be involved in this new banking venture with RnF Finance Limited. Maltas sound regulatory framework and support for new industries will cultivate many more opportunities on Blockchain Island.

Story continues

RnF is all set to start banking operations by mid next year, subject to regulatory approval.

Featured image from Shutterstock. Roderick Psaila picture from LinkedIn.



The post Exclusive: Malta To Get A Blockchain Bank appeared first on CCN.

Globe Telecom Inc. said Tuesday it borrowed P5 billion from China Banking Corp. to partially finance its capital expenditures. The telecom unit of Ayala Corp. said it signed a P5-billon term loan facility with China Bank to partially finance capex and general corporate requirements. Globe earlier signed a $40-million loan facility with Bank of the Philippine Islands to fund expansion and refinance debts. The company 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 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 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.How FIRE Movement Followers Do New Year

New Year's resolutions have become a rite of passage for many as we pass from one year to the next. They usually involve food (eat better) and exercise (as in, doing it with some regularity).

But for one groupthe FIRE community (which stands for "financial independence, retire early")the top goal is to save more money. And their enthusiasm for saving is catching on with the mainstream. According to market research company YouGov, saving money was tied with exercising more and eating well as the most popular New Year's resolution for the past year.

FIRE enthusiasts are all about lowering costs and increasing passive income so they can live free from the traditional 9-to-5 grind. As we head into the new year, we spoke with several people from the FIRE community about their plans to grow their wealth and increase their financial independence in 2019. While their circumstances may be vastly different from yours, seeing how others think about savings, investments and budgeting may be the spark to help you make some small but impactful changes to your own financial outlook in the new year.

Marc Andre: max out retirement accounts and invest in real estate

Marc Andre, 40, a blogger and founder of VitalDollar.com, has been pursuing financial independence for several years. He told us he has two resolutions for the new year.

First, he plans to max out his retirement contributions to his individual retirement account (IRA) and individual 401(k)also known as a solo 401(k)which he owns since he's self-employed.

If you're self-employed and under 50, the most you can contribute to your individual 401(k) in 2019 is $56,000up to $19,000 as an employee deduction and the rest as an employer contribution, since you're technically both. But the maximum amount you'll be eligible to contribute as an employer may be lower, depending on your business' gross income. Check out the IRS' guide to calculate your own solo 401(k) limits.

Story continues

Andre's second goal is to create passive income. "I'm looking at investing in real estate," Andre said. "That could be a rental property in my local area or investing through one of the real estate crowdfunding platforms." While there are no plans to retire in 2019, "I hope to reach financial independence within the next five years," Andre said.

Samuel Zhou: buy property

Samuel Zhou, 32, blogs about personal finance at Credit Cardio. He's been working toward financial independence since he was 25, and by his estimate, he's about 30% of the way there. "I used to focus on my money one day at a time, but as I've gotten better at [managing my] finances, I've looked at the future and planned months in advance."

Lately, Sam has been eyeing the markets, and he has a singular focus for his 2019 New Year's resolution: buying property. "My financial independence-related New Year's resolution is to save up to 50% of my net income for real estate," Zhou said. "I believe there will be a recession coming up, and there will be many opportunities to buy real estate or stocks at a reasonable price."

Zhou already owns a duplex, but if the real estate market cools as he expects it to in the coming year, he plans to purchase property in mobile home parks out of state to diversify his portfolio.

Todd Kunsman: save more and pay off student debt

"My current savings rate is closing in on 60%," said Todd Kunsman, 30. "I'm aiming to get that to 65% to 70% in 2019. This will help me continue to reach savings milestones and have money to invest in my future."

Kunsman started taking an interest in his finances four years ago, but he didn't know the FIRE community existed until last year. This past June he launched Invested Wallet to document his journey to financial independence and to help others. He doesn't plan on retiring earlyhe enjoys building and running websites too muchbut he does plan to have more than $100,000 saved or invested in 2019and enough to know he *could* retire by age 45.

Kunsman's second New Year's resolution is to pay off the final $5,000 of his student loan debt. "I will be completely debt-free at that point, and that extra cash can go toward saving," he said.

Like Andre and Zhou, Kunsman is also interested in real estate, although he doesn't plan to make as big an investment in 2019. "To get my feet wet, I'm looking at Groundfloor or Fundrise for real estate crowdfunding. Since I'm not an accredited investor, these are some of the best options I have. I won't be going all in, but using 5% to 10% of my total cash for this."

Kunsman recommends that those new to the FIRE community start by tracking their net worth. "I actually ignored this for a few years," he said. These days, Kunsman actively tracks his net worth and tells others to as well. "Don't be afraid of your net worth. Embrace whatever the number is and start improving it," he said.

Nick Le: build more revenue from my blog

While Nick Le, 23, is new to the FIRE community, he said, "I've always had the FIRE mentality, and have always tried to build side hustles that would allow me to be financially independent and eventually retire early."

About two years ago, Le, a photographer and filmmaker from Ottawa, Ontario, launched Gridfiti, a photography blog, and now he's working on building it into a full-fledged business. "It started off as an Instagram account that now has more than 100,000 followers, and I eventually created a blog which is now growing every day in organic search traffic," he said.

"My financial independence-related New Year's resolutions focus on creating more revenue-driven content for my blog," said Le. "This photography blog is my side hustle since I work full time for a startup right now." Le said that now that he'd earned some revenue from his blog, he could identify what pages would drive growth and double down on that. "This is something I've been doing for the past two months and have seen significant growth, so I'm looking to scale this in the new year."

Currently, Le reinvests all revenue from his blog back into the website to further grow it. "If I can continue to create more pieces of content like this while scaling the creation of these posts and driving more traffic via my social channels, I should be able to be financially independent by the end of 2019."

Lief Kristjansen: free up a line of credit for investments

Lief Kristjansen and his wife, Lina, are FIRE role models, even though they didn't know the community existed until about a year ago. While he enjoyed his job, Lief realized early in his career that he wanted to be financially independent and free to partially retire if he chose to. Lina, on the other hand, disliked her job and wanted to retire as early as possible. By buying and managing a number of rental properties, the couple reached their goal in just five years, and now they blog about it at Five Year FIRE Escape.

Like Zhou, Lief told us he's keeping an eye out for a future market downturn, but he's preparing for it differently. "My New Year's resolution is to pay off a line of credit I use to make investments," he said. "My reasoning for the goal is so that when there is a market crash someday, I have an empty line of credit sitting around to buy up a bunch of cheap stuff. It's one of the ways I invest since I don't like to have cash lying around waiting. Given a good opportunity, you can always do better than what you get charged on a line of credit."

A word of caution, though: Investors should be very careful about taking on debt to make an investment (apart from a traditional mortgage or business loan). But since the Kristjansens have already reached FIRE and they have a steady stream of passive income, they can afford to be a little more flexible.

"It lets me be very opportunistic," Lief said. "Even though I already hit FIRE, I still invest. It's just a part of my brain that I haven't figured out how to turn off yet. I guess it's for the best."Nicole

Nicole "Nikki" Heather Fried, incoming Florida commissioner of agriculture/courtesy photo



Floridas incoming agriculture commissioner said she wants to secure a formal pardon for four young African-American men who were wrongly accused of raping a white woman in what is considered one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in Jim Crow-era Florida.



Nikki Fried said she would bring up the Groveland Fours case at the first Florida Cabinet meeting she attends and try to expedite a review that could lead to their posthumous pardon at a clemency board hearing. As agriculture secretary, Fried is one of four members on the states clemency board, which also includes the governor, attorney general and chief financial officer.



The four men, Ernest Thomas, Charles Greenlee, Samuel Shepherd and Walter Irvin, were wrongly accused of raping a white woman in the central Florida town of Groveland in 1949. During their ordeal, Thomas was shot and killed by a posse, Shepherd was fatally shot by the local sheriff, Irvin was shot and wounded by the sheriff and a deputy, and Greenlee was wrongly imprisoned. Future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, then with the NAACP, represented Irvin during a second trial.



Both Greenlee and Irvin were eventually paroled after serving prison sentences.



The Groveland Fours story was recounted in Gilbert Kings Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Devil in the Grove.



The Florida Legislature last year formally apologized and asked Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet to posthumously pardon the four men. Neither Scott nor the other three members of the board have done so.



Fried, who will become a member of the Florida Cabinet after she is sworn in next month, said in a statement that she hopes to convince her colleagues that a pardon is the right thing to do. Fried is a Democrat and the Cabinets two other members, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and incoming-Attorney General Ashley Moody, are Republicans.



The families have suffered, the Legislature has spoken, and history shows that this was an undeniable injustice  racially motivated and a stain on the history of our state, Fried said. We must look to correct this grave injustice and denounce the abuses of the past.



Mike Schneider reports for the Associated Press.A SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from earlier this month - REUTERS

It was billed to be one of the busiest days in space history with four rockets scheduled to launch back-to-back in the space of just a few hours.

But the stars failed to align on Tuesday, with three out of four launches scrubbed due to high-altitude winds, technical problems and issues with one rocket's ground infrastructure.

Elon Musk's SpaceX was due to send a new US spy satellite into orbit at 2pm GMT today on its Falcon 9 rocket.

A mere 19 minutes later, rival Blue Origin, which is the brainchild of Amazon's billionaire founder Jeff Bezos, was expected to complete a research flight from its New Shepard 10 rocket.

The launch would have carried nine experiments for Nasa and will test a suborbital capsule.

However, both launches were postponed at the last minute.

Blue Origin said its launch was cancelled due to a "ground infrastructure issue." It will now launch on Wednesday morning.

SpaceX missed its launch window after an abort order was triggered by the flight computer on the Falcon 9 rocket. Musk's firm will now attempt he launch tomorrow.

The flights were due to be followed by a French launch of a defence satellite, which was also scrubbed.

Another launch, a classified US launch of a Delta IV heavy rocket carrying a spy satellite is expected to still take place at Vandenberg Air Force Base at 8:57 p.m. ET.

Despite today's delays, there have been more than 100 space flight launches so far in 2018, making it the busiest year for commercial space ventures and space exploration since 1990.

Billionaire investors including Mr Musk, Mr Bezos and Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson have all seen their rocket ventures begin to take flight.

The launch today represents SpaceX's first national security critical space mission for the company.

US vice president Mike Pence called the launch "an important step forward as we seek to secure American leadership in space".

Story continues

SpaceX has pushed to make space flight cheaper by developing rocket parts that can return to earth and be reused. SpaceX has made 20 launches alone in 2018, with some seeing rocket parts return to earth, touching down on autonomous landing pads in the middle of the ocean.

It has also successfully conducted a test launch of its new Falcon Heavy rocket in early 2018, which can carry bigger payloads at a cost of $90m per launch. Its first payload included a Tesla roadster which was fired into space.

Last week, Virgin Galactic successfully sent its first test pilots into space, marking a key milestone in the effort to put tourists into space with commercial space travel.

The test flight from the Mojave Space Port was the first time a human has reached space from US soil since the end of Nasa's space shuttle programme in 2011.

While 2018 has seen renewed impetus in the space race as countries and companies launch hundreds of satellites and Mr Musk talks up the future of space exploration, 2019 is expected to see even more launches. So far, there are 173 planned to go ahead next year.Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, appeared on Fox News Tuesday morning to play down the criminal case against Michael Flynn, President Donald Trumps first national security adviser and the highest-ranking Trump aide to be sentenced in the Russia probe.

Schlapp told Foxs audience that the charges against Flynn are mere infractions, not unlike pulling off mattress tags, jaywalking, parking tickets, according to a clip obtained by Media Matters.

Theyre finding anything they can  anything they can  to delve into these peoples careers, to kind of legally blackmail them into agreeing to some minimal crimes, the conservative activist claimed.

Schlapp said prosecutors were really charging Flynn and Trump of treason but had no proof.

Flynn, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general who once publicly called for Hillary Clintons incarceration, faces up to six months in prison for lying to federal investigators about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. as Trump transitioned into office.

He pleaded guilty to the charges last year. Because he cooperated extensively with special counsel Robert Muellers investigation on Russian interference into the 2016 U.S. election, Flynn is expected to receive minimal or no prison time.

Still, a judge who addressed the former adviser in court on Tuesday emphasized the gravity of his actions.

Im not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said in Washington.

This crime is very serious, Sullivan said. The judge purposefully walked Flynn through a series of questions that left no doubt he was pleading guilty because he was actually guilty.

Arguably, you sold your country out, Sullivan told Flynn.

Although the judge asked whether the crimes could be considered treason, prosecutors declined to respond.

Flynns sentencing has been delayed until March.

Related Coverage

Judge Rips Flynn, Asks About Treason Before Delaying Sentencing For Lying To FBI

Story continues

Robert Mueller Releases Memo On FBI Interview With Michael Flynn

Judge Delays Michael Flynn's Sentencing Until March

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Complaints to the Federal Trade Commission that mentioned the words free trial reportedly have doubled between 2015 and 2017. (Photo: Getty Images)

There are so many skin-care products out there, how are we supposed to tell what works? Maybe well go with the face cream a trusted celebrity endorses. Why not at least give it a shot, since you can order a free trial online right now? Thats the logical thinking that has cost some people hundreds of dollars a month in a scam called a subscription trap, according to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and the kinds of people falling for this trap may surprise you.

Free was too good to be true

I saw an ad for a face cream that was supposed to diminish lines and wrinkles, and blah, blah, blah, and it was a free trial, so I was like, What do I have to lose?  Debbie Wagner of Oak Park, Ill., tells Yahoo Lifestyle. The product was endorsed by an actress she admired. I thought, Well, if it works for these people, its gotta work.  It was somebody that I trusted.

When she got the cream, it was more like creamy water and did nothing, Wagner says. She called the company and was told she couldnt get a refund. She didnt mind being out the $7 or $8 shed paid for shipping and handling, though, and thought nothing more of it. Then a month later, another box of products from the company arrived. She called the company again.

She said, Well, you know, we just send out. Its an automatic thing,  Wagner recalls of her conversation, during which she was again refused a refund. This time the charge was $110. The boxes kept coming, and she kept calling.

It got to the point where they were getting really snotty with me, Wagner says. She realized that this company was charging her $110 every month and asked her bank to stop authorizing their transactions. The company offered only partial refunds, so finally she called the BBB.

A scam on the rise

These scams use internet ads to draw people to sites that claim celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres, Beyonce, Joanna Gaines or the Shark Tank panel swear by the product. But often the endorsements arent real  and are even exploiting celebrities without their permission. As a result, multiple celebrities have tried to sue to remove their likeness from the ads, only to see them pop up again for a different product. Sometimes the ads will look like a news article citing scientific research (with no links to actual studies) and testimonials. Then they will urge users to act fast to receive a free trial, for which they must still give credit or debit card information to pay for shipping costs. What theyre really signing up for is a pricey subscription service that is nearly impossible to cancel.

Story continues

It should be some small comfort to Wagner that shes not alone.

Complaints to the Federal Trade Commission that mentioned the words free trial doubled between 2015 and 2017, Steve Baker, an international investigations specialist for the BBB and the author of its latest report on subscription traps, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. The BBB has recorded 36,986 complaints, averaging $186 lost per person. In 14 cases that the FTC has resolved, victims lost a total of $1.3 billion.

Before you write off the victims of these operations as clueless older folks who just dont understand the internet, you should know that more people between the ages of 30 and 39 fell for the trick than any other demographic.

Millennials are more likely to be fraud victims, because they think, OK, were smart; were not like those stupid senile old people,  Baker says. Ive got friends whove fallen for this. Ive even had a couple people around the Better Business Bureau system confess to me that they either fell for it or their spouses have.

This is a global problem too. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre logged an 859 percent increase in such cases from 2016 to 2017, and in September 2018 the Australian Competition and Consumer Commissions Scamwatch noted a 400 percent increase in reports during the year. The numbers are probably much higher than that, since the FTC estimates that only about 10 percent of victims actually report their experiences.

By federal law (the 2010 Restore Online Consumer Confidence Act, or ROSCA), these companies are supposed to disclose in clear, understandable language the terms of the free trial (for instance, whether there will be a charge if something isnt returned within a set number of days) and state that the customer is signing up for a subscription service. Its also against the law to advertise false endorsements.

Obviously legitimate companies are going to comply with that, but crooks dont care about regulations, Baker says. The noncompliant companies will either not disclose the information at all or make the links to their terms difficult to find.

Often, people dont realize theyve paid for a subscription service for beauty products until its too late. (Photo: Getty Images)

What to do if youre a victim

Often when people finally realize what they signed up for, they cant locate contact information for the company to cancel their subscription or ask for a refund.

Eventually, the BBB helped Wagner get some of her money back. Baker says that the best recourse for most people is to contact their credit card issuer, though that doesnt always work either. Visa tells us it does give people chargebacks for this stuff, Baker says. But there are some companies that are not doing it.

A BBB survey of scam victims showed that of those who requested refunds from their credit card company, 44 percent got no refund and 14 percent got partial refunds. If your initial request to the credit card company is denied, Baker suggests gathering screenshots of the website where the product was purchased (if its still available) and providing as much other information (search for evidence of other victims of the company, such as complaints to the BBB) to back up your claim.

Filing a complaint with the BBB or the FTC is another important step, not just to resolve your own issue but to help the agencies prosecute the companies running these scams.

Wed like to see more criminal prosecutions of these operations, Baker says. The crooks dont like it when the FTC comes in and freezes their assets and puts them out of business, but they really dont like going to jail.  Its only after some of the [agencies] send people to jail that the message gets out that this [crime] isnt safe anymore.

How to shop safely

As a disabled retiree, Wagner still relies on shopping online for many of her needs, and now shes wary of who to trust. I learned a very expensive lesson, she says. I will only do Amazon  Macys, JCPenney, Kohls  you know, those reputable companies. In truth, wary consumers dont have to restrict their shopping to megacorporations as long as they do a bit of research and read the fine print first.

I would make sure to find the terms and conditions hyperlink and see what it says, because often thats where they hide these disclosures, Baker says. If they dont have a physical address anywhere on the website, you should run for the hills.

Baker also suggests looking up the company on BBB.org to see if there are complaints, as well as doing an online search of the company name and the word scam.

The good guys

Remember, there are lovely, legitimate subscription services out there too. For beauty products, Yahoos beauty editors love the Korean skin-care service Mishibox. You can get monthly deliveries from big companies like Sephora and discover new go-to products with others, like Glossybox and longtime favorite Birchbox. Best of all, unlike the criminal rip-offs out there, these subscriptions are in the $10-to-$20-a-month range, prices theyll let you know about up front.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.



Paris (AFP) - French police cleared "yellow vest" protesters from several occupied roads on Tuesday as President Emmanuel Macron looked to turn the page on more than a month of often violent anti-government protests.

Police removed protesters and makeshift wooden huts from roads and roundabouts in Normandy in the north, Brittany in the west and the central Burgundy region.

The operations early on Tuesday were carried out without any trouble, but violence was reported overnight Monday in the south of France where a motorway toll booth was set on fire near the town of Bandol.

Dozens of police have been injured during the protests, which began over fuel taxes and declining living standards and quickly ballooned into a revolt against the political establishment and big business.

Eight people have died in incidents linked to the demonstrations.

On Tuesday, parliament passed an amendment to the 2019 budget which grants each police officer involved in "yellow vest" protests a bonus of 300 euros ($340).

The move came as Interior Minister Christophe Castaner faced a new headache from unions representing police officers which are pressing long-standing demands for greater investment in the force.

Downplaying the threat of industrial action ahead of a meeting with union representatives, Castaner said: "I don't think that the police are 'yellow vests'."

The bonus for the police will cost an estimated 33 million euros, adding to the rising bill of defusing the biggest crisis of Macron's 19-month presidency.

In a televised address to the nation last week, the French leader announced a rise in the minimum wage, tax relief for pensioners and tax-free overtime pay for workers in a package expected to cost around 10 billion euros.

The government is now seeking to find savings to help plug the hole in its accounts next year, with the public deficit -- a measure of overspending -- forecast to grow to 3.2 percent of GDP in 2019.

Story continues

Macron was to assemble government ministers on Tuesday evening at the presidential palace to launch a three-month "grand national debate" about the economy and taxes.

The meeting is part of a new bid to involve grassroots groups and local leaders in government decision-making, following criticism of the president's highly-centralised top-down approach.

Companies too have been asked by the government to help purchasing power by offering Christmas bonuses to staff.

burs-adp/cb/pvhBerlin (AFP) - German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on Wednesday proposed that France give up its permanent seat on the UN Security Council and turn it into an EU seat to allow the bloc to speak with one voice on the global stage.

"I realise this will take some convincing in Paris but it would be a bold and smart goal," Scholz said in a wide-ranging Berlin speech on the future of the European Union.

To lessen the pain of losing the powerful seat, France could become "the permanent EU ambassador to the United Nations", added Scholz, who is also Germany's vice-chancellor.

France has been one of the five permanent Council members since the body was first established in 1945 in the wake of World War II to prevent another large-scale conflict.

The permanent members, including Britain, China, Russia and the United States, are the most influential countries in the 193-member United Nations because they hold the right to veto UN resolutions.

There have been repeated calls in the past to reform the UN Security Council, with large emerging nations in particular clamouring for a place at the table.

In 2010, then-US president Barack Obama voiced support for India's efforts to become a permanent Security Council member.

Brazil and Japan have expressed similar ambitions, while African nations have called for two permanent seats to better represent a continent they say has been historically overlooked.

- Europe at a crossroads -

French President Emmanuel Macron called on lawmakers in the German parliament last month to help create a "stronger, more sovereign Europe".

"Europe cannot play its role if it becomes the plaything of great powers and contents itself with a supporting role on the global stage," he said.

Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed Macron's speech, saying Europe was "at a crossroads" over its future.

In the past, she and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas have both called for individual EU countries' seats on the UNSC to be "europeanised".

Story continues

When Germany was selected to hold one of the 10 non-permanent seats for two years from January 2019, Maas promised Berlin would "interpret it in a European way."

"We want to show that we take the common European seat seriously. Because that remains our aim," he added.

Scholz's Wednesday sally was the latest way Germany has sought to dispel accusations it has failed to respond to Macron's ambitious hopes to reform the EU and the euro single currency.

While German leaders appear open to deeper cooperation in fields like defence, many have deep reservations about Macron's plans to equip the eurozone with a centrally-managed budget, fearing wealthy countries could end up footing spendthrift neighbours' bills.Consider three partners with the 2018 performance metrics shown in Table 1. Which one contributed most to firm profit? Partner A is a tax partner who worked hard serving clients willing to pay for the time billed; Partner B is a deal lawyer whose major client did no major deals last year; and Partner C is a junior litigator who discounted heavily to win a big case that then settled early.









Partner compensation committees throughout Big Law will grapple with this kind of question in the coming weeks. Many will incline to believe that Partner A (who kept busy on high realization work) contributed robustly to firm profits, while Partner B (who struggled to get busy and had average realization) contributed a little, and Partner C (with soft hours and very low realization) probably didnt contribute anything at all.



It would surprise many compensation committees to know that all three partners made equal contributions to the firms profit pool. How can this be? Simply put: partners intuitive sense of profitability overemphasizes the value of hours and realization, and undervalues leverage. This is particularly a problem at firms with wide ranges in partners practices on these metrics.



This profitability outcome rests on a basic principle: in determining partner profitability one should include only those factors that the partner controls. In MBA courses, this is referred to as aligning accountability with responsibility. This is critical for partners to have faith in the metric; if you do otherwise then partners simply get frustrated and disregard the result, thereby undermining the reason to measure profitability in the first place, namely to guide partners on how to improve it. This is an important principle too for comp committees who should be focused as cleanly as possible on the effects on profitability of decisions and actions taken by a particular partner, and should be blocking out the noise of decisions taken by administrators.



There are only three profitability drivers that partners control:





Story continues

Revenues realized from a client for a particular matter,

Time of lawyers of different seniorities deployed in delivering on the matter, and (to degrees that vary by firm),

How busy the relevant lawyers are kept. Partners do not control overhead expenses, e.g. rent, administrative staff compensation, IT, recruiting costs.





Table 2 lays out how this principle applies to the three partner profiles above. It starts with partner hours (line 1) and leverage (line 2); together these define associate hours (line 3). Multiplying these hours by rate card billing rates (assumed in this example to average $1,000/hour and $650/hour for partners and associates, respectively) yields the gross revenues (line 4).









Most firms have reasonably robust ways of assigning revenues by partner. That said, its not always without issues. The sharing of revenues between partners who source and execute (i.e. finders and minders) can be controversial. Ive seen firms leave this to negotiation between individual partners while others lay out guidelines (e.g. origination receives a robust percentage initially and then declines over time) and yet others augment the revenues to be credited if partners team to generate them. One thing Id discourage is giving credit in perpetuity for beginning a client relationship; it dissuades partners with the necessary skills for this critical activity from continuing to establish new relationships. Theres no perfect assignment methodology but, as with all else in management, something generally correct is better than nothing at all.



The next step is to apply a realization rate (line 5) to these gross revenues to get to net revenues or cash receipts (line 6). There is typically a timing challenge with this as cash receipts lag the recording of hours by two to three months. Most firms find using a 12-month trailing average to be an effective work around.



Following the principle above, we subtract only the compensation cost associated with the lawyer time that generated these revenues (line 7) to arrive at partner contribution (line 8). In traditional accounting, these compensation costs are referred to as direct costs (as they directly relate to the revenues) and partner contribution is referred to as contribution margin (as this is the amount these revenues contribute to coverage of the firms overhead costs and thereafter to creation of the firms profit pool).



The lawyer time encompasses all lawyers (or other timekeepers) except for equity partners. The lawyer cost is determined as the sum for all lawyers involved of their billed hours times their annual compensation cost (base and bonus) converted to an equivalent cost per hour. For partners who staff their matters from a dedicated pool of lawyers, the cost-per-hour should be based on the individual lawyers billing history; this is because in these circumstance partners have control over the lawyers hours and hence their hourly cost. For partners who can exert no such control (e.g. where staffing is done from a large pool) then a standard cost-per-hour by lawyer cohort (e.g. associate year) should be used. In the example calculations, this is approximated consistently as $162.50.



This approach diverges from those in use today in two areas. First, its common to subtract an allocation of overhead (in addition to lawyer compensation) to get to partner profitability. Firms are drawn to doing this so they have a full accounting of all their costs. Id propose that rather than allocate overhead, which always begets a battle, firms instead compare the partner profitability amount (i.e. the number arrived at after subtracting only the compensation costs) with a target amount that covers overhead and provides for the desired profit pool. This can be determined as revenues, less lawyer comp, per partner from the firms financial plan for the year. This target amount is assumed in this example to be $2.5 million (line 9); each partners margin is then translated to a percentage of this target (line 10). Partners who are contributing more than the firm average target will have percentages greater than 100 percent.



The second divergence is that many firms include as a cost the compensation of equity partners. They do this to capture any disconnects between the economics of a partners practice and their compensation. This is problematic primarily because partner compensation is profit, not cost. Its tricky too because it muddles together two very distinct things: how much a partner contributes to the profit pool through their actions and how much they are allocated from the profit pool as decided upon by the compensation committee. A better way to get at how well the economics of a partners practice aligns with their compensation is to compare two numbers: each partners contribution margin as a percent of the sum of contribution margin for all partners, and each partners compensation as a percent of the total partner compensation. If the former exceeds the latter, the partner is being undercompensated relative to their practices economic contribution, (fuller discussion here).



Closing thought



Of course, all that said, partner comp is about way more than economics. Long term firm building is hugely important, as is getting along with other partners and being perceived as being a good partner. But its an important elementlong, or sustained, variations are unfair and spell trouble. Its worth the relatively small of effort to get it right.



















Hugh A. Simons, Ph.D., is formerly a senior partner and executive committee member at The Boston Consulting Group and chief operating officer at Ropes & Gray. He writes about law firms as part of the ALM Intelligence Fellows Program. He welcomes readers reactions at HASimons@Gmail.com



More information on the ALM Intelligence Fellows Program can be found here.Trina eyes 6 MW of solar rooftops

posted December 18, 2018 at 08:05 pm by Alena Mae S. Flores December 18, 2018 at 08:05 pm

Trina Solar, the global leader in total energy solutions, on Tuesday launched its Trinahome solutions in the Philippines with the goal of setting up five to six megawatts of solar rooftop projects next year. The launch of Trinahome in the Philippines is in line with the nations target of becoming energy self-sufficient and having a cheaper and more reliable source of energy, said Trina Solar Philippines country manager Junrhey Castro. Castro said Trinahome is the first plug and play residential and commercial solution in the Philippines with warranties backed by an internationally bankable supplier.This solution is targeted towards residential and small to medium-sized commercial applications for distributed power generation. With Trinahome, we hope to give Filipinos an option to tap into a clean, sustainable and cheaper energy source, Castro said. Trinahome said it was in talks with distributors such as housing developers and other partners to install the target capacity by next year amid the anticipated increase in renewable energy demand.

COMMENT DISCLAIMER: Reader comments posted on this Web site are not in any way endorsed by Manila Standard. Comments are views by manilastandard.net readers who exercise their right to free expression and they do not necessarily represent or reflect the position or viewpoint of manilastandard.net. While reserving this publications right to delete comments that are deemed offensive, indecent or inconsistent with Manila Standard editorial standards, Manila Standard may not be held liable for any false information posted by readers in this comments section.While some investors are already well versed in financial metrics (hat tip), this article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE) and why it is important. To keep the lesson grounded in practicality, well use ROE to better understand Resolute Mining Limited (ASX:RSG).

Our data shows Resolute Mining has a return on equity of 11% for the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every A$1 worth of equity in the company, it was able to earn A$0.11.

View our latest analysis for Resolute Mining

How Do I Calculate ROE?

The formula for ROE is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit  Shareholders Equity

Or for Resolute Mining:

11% = 65.57  AU$709m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2018.)

Most know that net profit is the total earnings after all expenses, but the concept of shareholders equity is a little more complicated. It is all earnings retained by the company, plus any capital paid in by shareholders. Shareholders equity can be calculated by subtracting the total liabilities of the company from the total assets of the company.

What Does ROE Signify?

ROE measures a companys profitability against the profit it retains, and any outside investments. The return is the profit over the last twelve months. The higher the ROE, the more profit the company is making. So, all else equal, investors should like a high ROE. That means ROE can be used to compare two businesses.

Does Resolute Mining Have A Good ROE?

Arguably the easiest way to assess companys ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. However, this method is only useful as a rough check, because companies do differ quite a bit within the same industry classification. The image below shows that Resolute Mining has an ROE that is roughly in line with the Metals and Mining industry average (13%).

ASX:RSG Last Perf December 17th 18

Thats not overly surprising. ROE tells us about the quality of the business, but it does not give us much of an idea if the share price is cheap. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Story continues

How Does Debt Impact ROE?

Companies usually need to invest money to grow their profits. That cash can come from issuing shares, retained earnings, or debt. In the case of the first and second options, the ROE will reflect this use of cash, for growth. In the latter case, the debt required for growth will boost returns, but will not impact the shareholders equity. That will make the ROE look better than if no debt was used.

Resolute Minings Debt And Its 11% ROE

While Resolute Mining does have a tiny amount of debt, with debt to equity of just 0.067, we think the use of debt is very modest. The combination of modest debt and a very respectable ROE suggests this is a business worth watching. Judicious use of debt to improve returns can certainly be a good thing, although it does elevate risk slightly and reduce future optionality.

The Bottom Line On ROE

Return on equity is a useful indicator of the ability of a business to generate profits and return them to shareholders. A company that can achieve a high return on equity without debt could be considered a high quality business. All else being equal, a higher ROE is better.

But ROE is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, since high quality businesses often trade on high multiples of earnings. Profit growth rates, versus the expectations reflected in the price of the stock, are a particularly important to consider. So I think it may be worth checking this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

But note: Resolute Mining may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.



The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.Athens (AFP) - Greek lawmakers on Tuesday adopted the first budget free of foreign assistance in almost 10 years, predicting economic growth of 2.5 percent in 2019, better than the expected eurozone average.

The budget includes 900 million euros ($1.0 billion) worth of government support for Greeks in the form of family and housing benefits, tax cuts and reduced social charges.

The government had already said it would spare elderly Greeks further pension cuts after receiving European Commission approval for the move.

The budget was passed by 154 members in the 300-seat Assembly.

"Today were are voting on the first budget of the 'post-memoranda' era ... after eight years of austerity," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said, alluding to earlier budgets that were dictated by international institutions and donors.

Athens has received loans worth a total of 289 billion euros since 2010.

But Greece recently posted a larger-than-expected primary budget surplus, albeit one that excludes the cost of debt payments.

Athens has committed to maintaining that level until 2022, and is banking on a surplus of 3.98 percent this year.

Public debt has climbed to 335 billion euros, or 180.4 percent, of GDP in 2018 compared with 176.1 percent of GDP the previous year.

It is forecast to fall to 167.8 percent in 2019.Port-au-Prince (AFP) - A general strike shut down most of Haiti Wednesday as tension and uncertainty gripped the Caribbean country following deadly protests over the weekend and the president's unexplained absence from public.

Schools, shops and private businesses were closed in the main cities, heeding the opposition call for a general strike in the country, which is the poorest in the Americas and still battling to overcome a years-old cholera epidemic and the aftermath of a major earthquake.

As police patrolled otherwise empty main avenues in normally chaotic Port-au-Prince, burning barricades went up in some neighborhoods and sporadic gun shots set residents on edge.

"It's only when the streets are empty that politicians begin to see that there is a problem," lamented Alix Bernardin, 27, a resident of the capital.

"Too much blood has flowed in the country. Jovenal has to go," he said, referring to President Jovenel Moise.

At least three people were killed by gunfire during mass protests over the weekend demanding Moise's resignation, the national police said. The opposition said 11 people lost their lives.

Moise has said nothing since Sunday's protests.

He was supposed to speak to the nation Tuesday in a televised address but it was dropped several hours after being announced, with no explanation given.

"We had technical failures," Emmanuel Jean-Francois, an advisor to the president, said Wednesday after being reached by telephone.

"We are taking all measures to broadcast it this morning," he added, declining to give a time or say what it would be about.

In any case, said Haitian resident Jean Junior, 30, the president only makes "promises that he doesn't keep" while the people lack "potable water, hospitals, housing."

"We can no longer live like this, frustrated, because we know how people live in other countries," Junior said.

- Desperate for fuel -

Story continues

National police spokesman Gary Desrosiers said the force was braced for the aftermath of the protests.

"We remain on the ground to assure everyone's protection," he told AFP.

In the upscale Petionville neighborhood, the only two gas stations open were besieged by motorcycle taxi drivers desperate to refuel.

The breakdown in presidential communications was widely criticized on social media. Many refused to believe the delay was caused by technical problems, and others criticized the incompetence of the presidential services.

On Monday, the presidency released only a brief statement with a picture of Moise and Prime Minister Jean-Henry Ceant, surrounded by the heads of both chambers of parliament and the president of the supreme court of appeals.

The statement said the meeting had three objectives: "that the executive pursue dialogue with all sectors of national life, resolve problems linked to insecurity, and intensify programs of social relief."

Various opposition groups, arguing that the situation is out of control, have proposed ways to remove the president in order to resolve the crisis.

The protests were part of a sporadic movement that began during the summer over a scandal at the heart of a Venezuelan aid program known as Petrocaribe.

Through Petrocaribe, Venezuela for years supplied Haiti and other Caribbean and Central American countries with oil at cut-rate prices and on easy credit terms.

But investigations by the Haitian Senate in 2016 and 2017 concluded that nearly $2 billion from the program were misused.

A dozen of Haiti's former cabinet ministers -- all members of the current ruling party -- have been implicated but no legal proceedings have followed, sparking public anger.

Moise is seen as blocking any court action over the scandal.Jay Clayton, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, is growing increasingly concerned about Brexit. Photo: Tom Williams/Getty Images

The head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is warning the UK and European Union this week to take action to prevent a market disaster in the wake of a no-deal Brexit.

The SECs chairman Jay Clayton told the Financial Times he wanted to see clear actions to keep important market functions operating smoothly even if the UK falls out of the EU in March without a formalised deal.

Some period of adjustment would be good, he told the FT, noting that he was concerned about areas including investment management and non-centrally cleared derivatives contracts.

Clayton said he planned to assign more SEC staff to work exclusively on Brexit-related issues as he worries that the risks of a no-deal Brexit are rising.

Let me put it this way, I think its prudent for me to spend time thinking about what that means, he told the FT.

The Bank of England (BoE) has said for months that the biggest British banks could withstand a messy no-deal Brexit and have enough cash to keep operating.

BoE governor Mark Carney has repeatedly stressed that the UKs financial sector is resilient, though he has warned that the central bank would not be able to fully rescue the economy if the UK crashes out of the European Union in March 2019 with no deal.

The central bank has also raised concerns about the smooth operation of the massive UK derivatives market, which is intertwined with the EU.

Claytons new statements on Tuesday come after he warned publicly last week about the risks surrounding Brexit.

The potential adverse effects of Brexit are not well understood and, in the areas where they are understood, are underestimated, he said during a speech in New York.

He added it would be a tall order for the EU and UK authorities to minimise market disruption and costs.

With files from ReutersA whopping number of 13F filings filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been processed by Insider Monkey so that individual investors can look at the overall hedge fund sentiment towards the stocks included in their watchlists. These freshly-submitted public filings disclose money managers equity positions as of the end of the three-month period that ended September 30, so lets proceed with the discussion of the hedge fund sentiment on Kosmos Energy Ltd (NYSE:KOS).

Kosmos Energy Ltd (NYSE:KOS) investors should pay attention to an increase in hedge fund interest of late. KOS was in 18 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2018. There were 15 hedge funds in our database with KOS holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that KOS isn't among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.

In the eyes of most shareholders, hedge funds are assumed to be slow, old investment tools of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8,000 funds in operation at the moment, We hone in on the aristocrats of this club, about 700 funds. These hedge fund managers administer most of the hedge fund industry's total capital, and by paying attention to their first-class equity investments, Insider Monkey has figured out a number of investment strategies that have historically outperformed the market. Insider Monkey's flagship hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 6 percentage points a year since its inception in May 2014 through early November 2018. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 24% since February 2017 (through December 3rd) even though the market was up nearly 23% during the same period. We just shared a list of 11 short targets in our latest quarterly update.

Ken Griffin CITADEL INVESTMENT GROUP

We're going to take a look at the new hedge fund action encompassing Kosmos Energy Ltd (NYSE:KOS).

Story continues

What have hedge funds been doing with Kosmos Energy Ltd (NYSE:KOS)?

At Q3's end, a total of 18 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 20% from the previous quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards KOS over the last 13 quarters. So, let's examine which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.

KOS_dec2018

The largest stake in Kosmos Energy Ltd (NYSE:KOS) was held by SailingStone Capital Partners, which reported holding $112.8 million worth of stock at the end of September. It was followed by Millennium Management with a $22.3 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Citadel Investment Group, Arosa Capital Management, and Encompass Capital Advisors.

As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Diametric Capital, managed by Nick Thakore, created the most outsized position in Kosmos Energy Ltd (NYSE:KOS). Diametric Capital had $0.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle's Springbok Capital also made a $0.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Dmitry Balyasny's Balyasny Asset Management and Benjamin A. Smith's Laurion Capital Management.

Let's also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Kosmos Energy Ltd (NYSE:KOS) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Apple Hospitality REIT Inc (NYSE:APLE), Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo - SABESP (NYSE:SBS), International Game Technology PLC (NYSE:IGT), and Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG). All of these stocks' market caps match KOS's market cap.

[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position APLE,10,94675,-2 SBS,11,156926,1 IGT,37,963167,2 PAG,20,94346,3 Average,19.5,327279,1 [/table]

View table here if you experience formatting issues.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 19.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $327 million. That figure was $200 million in KOS's case. International Game Technology PLC (NYSE:IGT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Apple Hospitality REIT Inc (NYSE:APLE) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Kosmos Energy Ltd (NYSE:KOS) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard IGT might be a better candidate to consider a long position.

Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.

Related ContentMany of us are familiar with the famous catchphrase of the longest-running public service advertising campaign in the United States: "Only you can prevent wildfires."

Smokey Bear's campaign, started in 1944, continues to be especially relevant today as wildfires have burned more intensely and frequently in recent years.

Fighting these rampant blazes costs the U.S. billions of dollars each year, and it turns out that humans have caused a significant chunk of these destructive wildfires.

A 2017 report from researchers with the University of Colorado Boulder's Earth Lab revealed that human-ignited wildfires accounted for 84 percent of all wildfires analyzed over two decades.



Portugal wildfires 2017 - AP Photo

Villagers watch a firefighting plane drop water to stop a raging forest fire reaching their houses just a few dozen meters away in the village of Chao de Codes, near Macao, central Portugal, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

"Public dialog and ongoing research have focused on increasing wildfire risk because of climate warming, overlooking the direct role that people play in igniting wildfires and increasing fire activity," the report read.

In 2018, a gender reveal event in southern Arizona went wrong when an off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent shot at a target to reveal the unborn child's gender. Video from the U.S. Forest Service showed the target exploding and igniting the tall, dry grass in the area, according to the Associated Press.

The fire went on to ravage 73 square miles of state and federal land, costing $8 million in damages and firefighting costs.

Researchers from the 2017 study found that wildfires started by people "tripled the length of the fire season, dominated an area seven times greater than that affected by lightning fires and were responsible for nearly half of all areas burned."

As humans tend to play a huge role in the ignition of a large number of these often deadly wildfires, it's essential to know what you can do to prevent one from occurring in the first place.

Story continues

How to prevent wildfires from starting

If you're one of the more than 40 million people who enjoy the great outdoors and camping in the U.S., according to the 2017 American Camper Report, taking caution when lighting campfires can greatly minimize the chances of starting an out-of-control blaze.

"When camping or enjoying a fire outdoors, always make sure the fire is completely extinguished, including potential embers that could rise from the ashes and cause a threat," said Marie D. Jones, author of "The Disaster Survival Guide: How to Prepare for and Survive Floods, Fires, Earthquakes and More."

Jones noted that you should water down the fire or fire pit, even if the fire appears to be out. "Use a stick to dig up the ashes and make sure nothing is glowing," she said.

It's also a good idea never to use your outdoor fireplace or fire pit during dry, windy weather, as embers can easily spread.

"In my hometown of San Diego, wildfires are common and embers are almost as much of a problem as the actual fire of origin, especially during our windy, dry Santa Ana conditions," Jones told AccuWeather. "Embers from one fire actually floated and caught the tops of palm trees on fire, spreading the wildfire further and further into residential areas."

The American Red Cross recommends starting campfires or bonfires only in an appropriate fire pit that has been cleared of all vegetation and ringed by stones, and never leaving fires unattended, especially overnight.

Experts also recommend making note of and reporting any potentially dangerous activities in your neighborhood that might lead to a wildfire, including carelessly discarded cigarettes and smoking materials or use of fireworks.

You can also request a home safety audit from your local fire department.

"The safest, easiest fire [that firefighters] will ever fight is the one that they prevent," said Warren Burns, a regional practice leader with fire protection, security and life safety consulting company, Telgian Corporation.

"They will likely have reference material for you to take and study, and [they] may have a program to provide an inspection of your property for advice," Burns told AccuWeather.

It's also important to maintain a defensible space around your home and outbuildings, especially for people living in the wildland-urban interface. "Fire will use shrubbery, decorative trees and long grass as a bridge between the wildfire and your structures," Burns said.

Be sure to follow these additional tips to prevent a wildfire from igniting.



Infographic - Tips for preventing wildfires

For more safety and preparedness tips, visit AccuWeather.com/Ready.

Huawei is coming under pressure from US officials in Germany - Bloomberg

US diplomats have intensified pressure on their German counterparts over Huawei's involvement in the nation's 5G network.

Officials used private talks on Friday to raise their concerns about Huawei's role in Germany's upcoming fifth generation network auctions.

The Chinese telecoms giant is confronting global pressure, facing being blocked from 5G networks in the US, Australia and New Zealand as US officials issue security warnings about the company. US officials have said the company is too close to the Chinese state.

Huawei, which makes equipment for mobile networks and smartphones, has repeatedly denied its products are a security risk. Yesterday it said it was spending $2bn on cybersecurity to ease fears about its equipment.

The company says it is privately owned, with no direct links to Beijing, and has secured 25 global deals to supply 5G networks.

Huawei this week pushed back against the allegations. Huawei chairman Ken Hu called US concerns "speculation" at an event at a manufacturing facility in Dongguan, China.

"If you claim Huawei has security concerns, you should at least provide the evidence to support your argument," Mr Hu told reporters.

The security service of the Czech Republic has also warned against Huawei's link to China over rules it said required private companies to cooperate with China's intelligence services.

In Germany, telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom has said it will be reviewing its current procurement strategy.

"Deutsche Telekom takes the global discussion about the security of network elements from Chinese manufacturers very seriously," the company said. It currently uses equipment from Ericsson, Nokia , Cisco and Huawei.

The ramping up of international pressure comes two weeks Huawei's chief financial officer was arrested in Canada over allegations the company had breached US sanctions on Iran.

Huawei CFO Wanzhou Meng was released on bail. Ms Meng is one of Huaweis top executives and its deputy chairman.

The international sparring over Huawei comes as the US and China hold high level talks over a future trade deal between the two countries.BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP)  Several thousand people marched through Hungary's capital Sunday in a fourth day of demonstrations against new laws that critics say restrict workers' rights and undermine democracy.

Protesters chanted anti-government slogans amid sub-zero temperatures outside parliament as speakers denounced revised overtime rules that lawmakers approved Wednesday.

The crowd became increasingly angry as speakers urged demonstrators to remain dignified and peaceful. They yelled: "We've had enough!" and "Strike, strike, strike!"

The event's final speaker was more defiant. Anna Donath, daughter of an outspoken minister, lit a smoke flare and declared: "We will not tire. We won't go home. Today we are twice as many as yesterday. We are (growing) day by day. This is a mass community."

Police had detained Donath on Thursday for lighting a flare during a protest.

The labor code amendments that sparked the protests increase the maximum number of overtime hours that companies can demand from workers in a year from 250 to 400. The changes, intended to offset Hungary's growing labor shortage, also give employers up to three years instead of 12 months to settle payments of accrued overtime.

During four days of protests that began Wednesday night, the demonstrations have evolved to encompass complaints about other policies of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government, including legislation passed Wednesday that establishes a separate court for administrative matters.

A government spokesman, asked to comment on Sunday's demonstration, said in an email that citizens had a constitutional right to assemble freely as long as laws weren't broken in the process.

On Thursday, some protesters threw bottles and smoke bombs at officers in riot gear guarding the neo-Gothic parliament building. Police said two officers were injured.

The demonstrations have attracted disparate participants from across Hungary's political spectrum, including members of Jobbik, which started out as a radical right movement and has worked to reframe itself as a "peoples'" party. A clutch of left and liberal opposition parties, trade unions and supporters of a Budapest university founded by Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros have also joined in.

Story continues

Central European University announced this month it was leaving Hungary for Austria, saying it had been "chased out" by Orban's government.

After Sunday's official protest ended, hundreds of demonstrators marched across the Danube River, blocking at least two major road bridges and flanked by police. One faction, chanting for a free media, declared it was heading for the state television building, four miles away in a northwestern suburb of the Hungarian capital.

Officers began using tear gas seeking to control and disperse the crowd.

Orban's allies have denounced the protests as the work of liberal groups financed by Soros. Gergely Gulyas, the prime minister's chief of staff, called Thursday night's participants Soros's "kept people" displaying "open anti-Christian hatred."Doctors say that some children diagnosed with ADHD could actually be suffering from sleep apnea. (Getty Images)

Words: Gail Johnson

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common diagnoses in children. Sometimes, however, signs like impulsivity and attention problems might be the result of a sleep condition instead.

Melody Yazdani, a mother from Vienna in Vancouver, recently told the Canada Television Network that doctors suggested that her grade 1  the equivalent to reception in the UK  sons temperamental outbursts were due to ADHD. She wasnt convinced  and was also troubled by the dark circles under her sons eyes. Then she came across information about sleep apnea, which she said described her child word for word.

The little boy had surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids, to dramatic effect.

His behaviour improved drastically, Yazdani said. He no longer had tantrums in the morning.

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. Some people will still feel tired after getting a full nights rest.

The condition can be mistaken for ADHD in kids because of common symptoms, such as appearing irritable and distracted.

Dr. Indra Narang, director of sleep medicine at Torontos Hospital for Sick Children, says that the most common causes of sleep apnea are big tonsils, large adenoids (a mass of enlarged lymphatic tissue at the back of the nasal cavity) and obesity.

Sleep apnea results in drops in oxygen levels and brain awakenings, ultimately causing sleep fragmentation and sleep deprivation, Narang tells Yahoo Canada. It is this sleep deprivation that is the cause of symptoms such as disruptive behaviour, hyperactivity, and daytime sleepiness.

However, to make matters more complicated, some children will have no daytime symptoms at all.

A study published in the European Journal of Pediatrics in 2012 found that about 10 per cent of European children between the ages of six and eight have sleep apnea.

Dr. David Wensley, an investigator at B.C. Childrens Hospital in Vancouver, says that approximately 20 to 25 per cent of children who visit the sleep laboratory there are referred because of behavioural problems. Of those, almost half will be found to have sleep apnea.

Story continues

Teachers will often describe [these] children as not able to concentrate well and seeming to tend have short attention spans, says Wensley, whos also a clinical professor in the faculty of medicine at the University of British Columbia. They will be easily distractible, sometimes to the extreme where theyre acting out and irritable and have problems being able to settle and work within groups. Its not that dissimilar to things we see with attention deficit disorder.

He stresses that, while in no way are sleep problems to blame for all behavioural issues, its important to look at a childs sleep if he or she is showing having trouble focusing or staying calm.

To determine whether a child has sleep apnea, doctors will look for key signs such as disturbed sleep, snoring, or pauses in breathing during sleep.

An initial otolaryngology assessment (of the ear, nose and throat) will look for airway obstruction due to tonsils or adenoids. Often, removal of one or both is an effective treatment, as in Yazdanis sons case.

About five per cent of kids with sleep apnea, Wensley says, will be treated in the same way as adults, through continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). People wear a face mask while sleeping thats connected to a pump that forces air into the nasal passages at pressures high enough to overcome airway obstructions and stimulate normal breathing.

Parents who are concerned about their childs breathing at night and parents of kids who snore should see a doctor, who can decide whether a sleep study test is required, Narang says.

Getting a good nights sleep both in duration and quality is important for physical, mental and psycho-social well-being for adults and children, she adds.

Diagnosed conditions aside, Wensley reminds that kids need to be taught how to sleep; its not something that babies and young children simply pick up. No wonder there are so many parenting books on the subject.

Sleep is something that we learn to do within a social context, he says. Even in children with relatively mild behavioural abnormalities, its quite common to have a disrupted sleep pattern. Sleep is a learned behaviour.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for non-stop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyleUK.

Read more from Yahoo Style UK:

10% of children stay up past 10pm: Heres how to get children to bed on time

What your body is trying to tell you when you wake in the night

This is the time of day when you burn the most caloriesMRC Allied Inc. will construct a 550-kilowatt-peak grid-tied solar rooftop project for two rice mills in Northern Luzon. We are breaking ground in an area which would encourage agriculture production as a result of lower energy prices available to user, MRC president Augusto Cosio Jr. said. MRC earlier signed a memorandum of agreement with Edward Marcs Philippines Inc. for the design, supply, delivery, construction, installation, testing and commissioning of the solar rooftop project of the two rice milling plants which they did not identify. EMPI is expected to complete the design, supply, construction, installation, testing and commissioning of the agreed target capacity of solar rooftop system for the said project within 180 days. What we are setting up is a long term growth of cash flows in order to generate better shareholder valueWhen rice millers proportionally lower milling cost, they could lower the price of agricultural products, Cosio said. MRC will be the project developer and owner of the solar facility while the private entity which operats the two milling plants will be the power off-taker.The P34-million solar rooftop project is expected to be completed by May 2019. Cosio said MRC aimed to gain a foothold in the growing Philippine solar PV rooftop market by putting up 4 MW of solar rooftop capacity in two years. MRC said it planned to develop at least 1,000 MW of power generation capacity by 2022. MRC also signed a memorandum of agreement to put up a 1.1-MW solar rooftop in a mall in Mindanao.International Business Machines Corporations IBM solutions are enabling businesses to digitally transform and evolve their business processes. Recently, IBM Integrated Analytics System or IIAS suite of analytics services were selected by Catalina.



IIAS is a comprehensive high-performance data system with embedded data science tools. It enables users to work across multiple hybrid cloud environments. Notably, Catalina intends to utilize IIAS to offer its clientele with more meaningful and appropriate shopper insights.



St. Petersburg, FL based Catalina provides targeted digital marketing solutions to notable consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands by leveraging data analytics. Catalina attempts to digitally transform its business to aid brands and retailers to maintain a robust connection with customers irrespective of location and time.



IBM is enhancing services which facilitate digital transformation to boost customer engagement. This is anticipated to drive robust adoption and strengthen the companys growth prospects in the domain. Per a MarketsandMarkets report, digital transformation market is envisioned to witness a CAGR of 19.1% to $493.39 billion by 2022 from $205.99 billion in 2017.



Focus on Enhancing Data Mobility: A Key Catalyst



IBM is leaving no stone unturned to enhance IIAS suite of services. IBMs common SQL engine supports the IIAS suite, facilitating the clientele to seamlessly move workloads across a hybrid infrastructure (comprising both on-premise and public or private cloud environment).

International Business Machines Corporation Revenue (TTM)

International Business Machines Corporation Revenue (TTM) | International Business Machines Corporation Quote

This increased mobility of workloads aids the enterprises to automate their business processes by leveraging machine learning capabilities of IBMs IIAS.



The latest embedded feature being Data Virtualization which allows users to note down and access analytics queries across hybrid infrastructure.



IBM is anticipated to benefit by adding virtualization capabilities given the ongoing workspace trends of Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) and increasing mobile workers.



Additionally, new IBM fast data movement functionality of IIAS provides users with the option of moving data from Hadoop clusters to IIAS, in turn enhancing the performance capacity of the processing infrastructure.



Rapid Adoption to Benefit Top Line



We must note that the number of companies utilizing analytics and AI to automate their business processes is increasing. The companies want to leverage machine learning and analytics to obtain accurate customer insights in turn assisting them to make apt business decisions.



Increasing adoption of IBMs analytics services by notable companies including Catalina, is expected to bolster the companys Strategic Imperatives (which includes cloud, analytics, mobility and security) revenues, consequently driving the top line.



Notably, Strategic Imperatives revenues in the third-quarter 2018 grew 7% year over year at cc to $9.3 billion. Furthermore, IBMs analytics displayed a strong performance in the third quarter of 2018, driven by data science offerings and IBM Cloud Private for Data offering.



IBM is restructuring its business to explore new ways to provide enterprises with market leading hybrid cloud solutions enabling them to digitally transform their business applications. We believe increasing allegiance to emerging technologies over legacy stand-alone products will aid IBM to penetrate the high growth markets.



Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks



IBM carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Twitter, Inc. TWTR, Upland Software UPLD and Intel INTC are some other stocks worth considering in the broader technology sector. All the three stocks flaunt a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).



You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



Long-term earnings growth rate for Twitter, Upland Software and Intel is currently pegged at 22.1%, 20% and 8.4%, respectively.



3 Medical Stocks to Buy Now



The greatest discovery in this century of biology is now at the flashpoint between theory and realization. Billions of dollars in research have poured into it. Companies are already generating revenue, and cures for a variety of deadly diseases are in the pipeline.



So are big potential profits for early investors. Zacks has released an updated Special Report that explains this breakthrough and names the best 3 stocks to ride it.



See them today for free >>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Upland Software, Inc. (UPLD) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Intel Corporation (INTC) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment ResearchNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi pressed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to write off farm loans to help growers reeling from lower food prices, ratcheting up demands for debt write-offs ahead of a general election that must be held by May. Gandhi's Congress party, which last week beat Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in three key state elections, on Monday waived farm loans, a poll promise, in the central states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Congress is also likely to write off farmers' loans in the third of those states - the desert state of Rajasthan. "My message to farmers is that this country belongs to you and the Congress and other opposition parties will work together to ask Prime Minister Modi to write off your loans," Gandhi told reporters in parliament. "We'll not let him sleep until he waives your loans." The prime minister's office did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. India's 263 million farmers and their many millions of dependants form an influential voting bloc, with agriculture employing nearly half the 1.3 billion people and contributing about 15 percent to the $2.6 trillion economy, Asia's third largest. In 2008, the Congress party-led coalition government announced farm loan waivers worth nearly 720 billions rupees, helping it return to power with a bigger mandate in 2009. With the national election imminent, both Congress and the BJP are courting farmers who have staged protests in the capital New Delhi and the financial hub Mumbai to complain about rising farm operating costs and falling prices for their produce. Reuters last week reported that Modi's government is likely to announce loan waivers worth billions of dollars to claw back support among farmers after losing the three state elections. The plan could see as much as 4 trillion rupees ($56.5 billion) in loans written off, risking straining public finances and undermining already ailing state banks. (Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Nick Macfie)PGIM investments has launched its fourth actively managed ETF for the year 2018, namely PGIM QMA Strategic Alpha International Equity ETF PQIN. This ETF is sub-advised by Quantitative Management Associates (QMA) and seeks to achieve long-term growth of capital.

Inside PQIN

It seeks to outperform the returns of the MSCI EAFE Index over the long-term horizon. The fund does this by employing a systematic, proprietary process that selects stocks based on factors such as value, quality and volatility. Per etfdb, Industrials (19%), Financials (12%) and Consumer Discretionary (11%) occupy double-digit allocation sector wise. The fund comprises 494 holdings and has a large-cap bias (70%). Per etfdb, Japan is the sole country with a double-digit target of 35%. United Kingdom has a 9% allocation in the fund.

Since its inception on Dec 4, the fund has amassed $24 million (as of Dec 12) and has an expense ratio of 0.29%.

How Does it Fit into a Portfolio?

Retail sales happen to be a gauge for the strength of private consumption, which accounts for about 60% of the Japanese economy. In October, these grew at the fastest pace since December 2017. Further, the tourism industry got a boost in October as it surged by 1.8% on an annual basis after suffering in September owing to natural calamities (read: Should You Tap Japan ETFs on Strong Retail Sales in October?).

However, Japans economy contracted at an annualized rate of 2.5% in the third quarter, more than the initial estimate of 1.2% contraction. Per the published government data, weaker-than-expected capital spending by companies was the primary source behind the contraction in the economy.

These situations raise the opportunity for a smart-beta strategic play. These strategies allow investors an opportunity to diversify their portfolio, reduce risk and earn superior returns over time. Adding extra metrics like value, quality and volatility in security selection help to tap market inefficiencies in a transparent way. This is indicated by the solid interest the fund has garnered among investors in less than 10 days of its launch.

Story continues

In a recently published report of International Monetary Fund (IMF), a number of structural reforms have been suggested which coupled with corporate governance reforms and trade liberalization could "boost Japans real GDP by as much as 15% in 40 years," in comparison to the baseline view. This is an added advantage of investing in Japan (read: IMF Cuts Global Growth Forecast: ETFs in Focus).

Competition

The fund will face threats from popular ETFs like Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF VEA, iShares MSCI EAFE ETF EFA and iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF IEFA. All these ETFs track the MSCI EAFE index (see: all the Broad Developed ETFs here).

VEA targets the Japan market with 22% allocation followed by United Kingdom (13%). EFA and IEFA have 25% allocation each toward the Japan markets. VEA and IEFA are cheaper bets with an expense ratio of 0.07% and 0.08%, respectively.

Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox?

Zacks free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week.Get it free >>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



VANGD-FTSE DV M (VEA): ETF Research Reports



EMG MKT FREE AS (EFA): ETF Research Reports



PGIM-QMA SAIE (PQIN): ETF Research Reports



ISHARS-CR MS EA (IEFA): ETF Research Reports



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free reportMILAN (Reuters) - British hedge fund Caius has made a payment to UniCredit <CRDI.MI> to settle a dispute over complex financial instruments which Italy's biggest bank counts toward its core capital, the two companies said.

Caius had questioned UniCredit's CASHES securities, arguing they should not be classed as best-quality capital.

"Caius intends to take no further public, legal or regulatory action in respect of UniCredit or its securities," the firms said in a joint statement.

"Without any admission of liability or wrongdoing, Caius confirms that it has also made a lump sum payment to UniCredit."

UniCredit had filed a lawsuit against Caius in August seeking 90 million euros ($102 million) in damages.

As a result of the settlement, whose terms are confidential, UniCredit said it had dropped its complaint against Caius.

Caius had asked for the around 3 billion euros in convertible and subordinated hybrid equity-linked securities issued by UniCredit in 2008 and known as CASHES to be converted into ordinary shares, which would have meant a big loss for holders of the instruments.

In July, the European Banking Authority (EBA) turned down Caius's request to open an inquiry into the CASHES, which UniCredit restructured in 2012 to comply with EBA's guidelines.

(Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Adrian Croft)By Mike Spector (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson on Monday scrambled to contain fallout from a Reuters report that the healthcare conglomerate knew for decades that cancer-causing asbestos lurked in its Baby Powder, taking out full-page newspaper ads defending its product and practices, and readying its chief executive for his first television interview since investors erased tens of billions of dollars from the companys market value. J&J shares fell nearly 3 percent Monday, closing at $129.14 in New York Stock Exchange trading. That drop was on top of the 10 percent plunge that wiped out about $40 billion of the company's market capitalization following the Reuters report Friday. J&J also announced Monday that it would be repurchasing up to $5 billion of its common stock. Senator Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, on Friday sent a letter to the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration calling on the agency to investigate the findings in the Reuters report to determine whether J&J misled regulators and whether its Baby Powder products threaten public health and safety. J&J Chief Executive Alex Gorsky, in his first interview since the Reuters article was published, was scheduled to appear on CNBCs Mad Money with host Jim Cramer on Monday night. J&J knew for decades about the presence of small amounts of asbestos in its products dating back to as early as 1971, a Reuters examination of company memos, internal reports and other confidential documents showed. In response to the report, J&J said on Friday that "any suggestion that Johnson & Johnson knew or hid information about the safety of talc is false." A Monday full-page ad from J&J -- headlined "Science. Not sensationalism." -- ran in newspapers including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. The ad asserted that J&J has scientific evidence its talc is safe and beneficial to use. If we had any reasons to believe our talc was unsafe, it would be off our shelves, the ad said. J&J rebutted Reuters report in a lengthy written critique of the article and a video from Gorsky. In the written critique, posted on the companys website, J&J said Reuters omitted information it supplied to the news organization that demonstrated the healthcare conglomerates Baby Powder is safe and does not cause cancer; that J&Js baby powder has repeatedly been tested and found to be asbestos-free; and that the company has cooperated with the U.S. FDA and other regulators around the world to provide information requested over decades. Since tests for asbestos in talc were first developed, J&Js Baby Powder has never contained asbestos, Gorsky said in the video. He added that regulators have always found our talc to be asbestos-free. A Reuters spokeswoman on Monday said the agency stands by its reporting. Reuters investigation found that while most tests in past decades found no asbestos in J&J talc and talc products, tests on Baby Powder conducted by scientists at Mount Sinai Medical Center in 1971 and Rutgers University in 1991, as well as by labs for plaintiffs in cancer lawsuits, found small amounts of asbestos. In 1972, a University of Minnesota scientist found what he called incontrovertible asbestos in a sample of Shower to Shower. Other tests by J&Js own contract labs and others periodically found small amounts of asbestos in talc from mines that supplied the mineral for Baby Powder and other cosmetic products into the early 2000s. The company did not report to the FDA three tests by three different labs from 1972 to 1975 that found asbestos in the companys talc. The Reuters story drew no conclusions about whether talc itself causes ovarian cancer. Asbestos, however, is a carcinogen. The World Health Organizations International Agency for Research on Cancer has listed asbestos-contaminated talc as a carcinogen since 1987. Reuters also found that J&J tested only a fraction of the talc powder it sold. The company never adopted a method for increasing the sensitivity of its tests that was recommended to the company by consultants in 1973 and in a published report in a peer-review scientific journal in 1991. The ad J&J ran in newspapers Monday also pointed to an online talc fact page the company created with "independent studies from leading universities, research from medical journals and third-party opinions." That website has changed since early December, according to a Reuters review of online archives. The website, for instance, no longer contains a section headlined "Conclusions from Global Authorities" that as recently as Dec. 5 listed organizations including the U.S. FDA, the European Union and Health Canada as among entities that have "reviewed and analyzed all available data and concluded that the evidence is insufficient to link talc use to cancer." On Dec. 14, the day Reuters published its report, that section of the website had been removed. It is not clear exactly when the online page changed. The Canadian government released a draft report this month that found a "consistent and statistically significant positive association" between talc exposure and ovarian cancer. The draft report also said that talc meets criteria to be deemed toxic. A J&J spokeswoman said the company removed the website section after the Canadian government issued the draft report. We chose to be conservative while that draft is under review, the spokeswoman said. While J&J has dominated the talc powder market for more than 100 years, the products contributed less than 0.5 percent of J&J's $76.5 billion in revenue last year. (Reporting by Mike Spector in New York; Additional reporting by Lisa Girion in Los Angeles and Ankur Banerjee in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)Stephen Bodine tortured and killed a three-year-old boy before encasing his body in concrete (Picture: AP)

A man who abused and murdered his girlfriends three-year-old son before burying him in concrete has been jailed for 109 years.

Stephen Bodine, 41, encased the body of Evan Brewer in concrete in the garage of the rental home he shared with the boys mother, Miranda Miller, 37.

Prosecutors said the couple chained the boy in the basement and forced him to stand in a corner for hours in the months before his death in May 2017 at their rented home in Wichita, Kansas.

Evans body was found the following September by the landlord after Miller and Bodine moved out.

Bodine was convicted in October of first-degree murder, child abuse and other charges.

Bodine has been sentenced to 109 years in jail (Picture: AP)

Miller pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and other charges last month and is due to be sentenced in January.

Her plea deal required her to testify against Bodine.

Judge Steve Ternes sentenced Bodine to 109 years and six months after telling him during the hearing in Sedgwick County district court: Your acts were disgusting and cowardly and monstrous.

MORE: Second EU referendum would break faith with British people, Theresa May warns

MORE: British man could face 15 years in Indonesian prison after being caught with cannabis oil

Bodine, 41, did not address the court.

During Bodines trial, prosecutors presented a cache of 16,000 photos and video files collected by the couples home surveillance system that detailed the boys abuse.

Miller testified that Bodine made Evan stand against a wall for hours for not eating on May 19, 2017. When the boy collapsed, Bodine took the screaming boy into the bathroom and later came out with his wet and lifeless body.

Miller said Bodine mixed bags of concrete and buried the boys body in it.

When Evans body was found, it was so badly decomposed that a post-mortem examination couldnt determine how he had died. He had Benadryl in his system, and Miller said she thinks Bodine sickened him in the days leading up to his death by force-feeding him large amounts of salt.

Story continues

The murdered boys father, Carlo Brewer, wipes away tears during a court hearing in October in which Bodine was convicted (Picture: AP)

Evans father, Carlo Brewer, said he began seeking custody of his son after noticing signs that he had been abused, and authorities were alerted at least six times that Evan was being abused.

After the sentencing, Carlo Brewer said he was pleased with the sentence.

We dont have to worry about him getting out and hurting other people or children. Its turned into a pretty good day, he said.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKWhite House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders launched a scathing, unfounded attack on former FBI Director James Comey after he criticized Republicans for doing nothing about lying Donald Trump as the president subverts the rule of law.

The truth matters .... At some point, someone has to stand up, and in the face of fear of Fox News, fear of their base, fear of mean tweets, stand up for the values of this country and not slink away into retirement. But stand up and speak the truth, Comey said. His comments followed more than five hours of closed-door testimony before the House Judiciary and Oversight committees about the FBI investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons use of a private email server.

Within hours, Sanders tweeted a blistering attack, accusing Comey of tremendous corruption and calling him a shameless fraud. Comey has never been charged with corruption. Trump didnt fire him in 2017 for corruption but because of this Russia thing, the president said on national TV, leading to suspicions of obstruction of justice by the president.

Republicans should stand up to Comey and his tremendous corruption - from the fake Hillary Clinton investigation, to lying and leaking, to FISA abuse, and a list too long to name. The President did the country a service by firing him and exposing him for the shameless fraud he is  Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) December 18, 2018

There was no immediate response from Comey on Sanders attack.

Comey complained after his testimony that being questioned about issues that have been examined over and over again is a waste of time and a distraction from the real problems the nation faces.

Another day of Hillary Clintons emails ... this while the president of the United States is lying about the FBI, attacking the FBI and attacking the rule of law in this country. How does this make any sense at all? he asked.

Story continues

When a Fox News reporter asked Comey about the FBIs reputation taking a big hit, Comey snapped: The FBIs reputation has taken a big hit because the president of the United States ... has lied about it constantly. He also told the reporter that information peddled by her network is nonsense.

Comey also lashed the president for calling his former personal attorney Michael Cohen a rat for cooperating with the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

It undermines the rule of law. This is the president of the United States, calling a witness who has cooperated with his own Justice Department a rat, Comey said. Say that again to yourself at home and remind yourself where we have ended up.

Watch Comeys full comments in the video above.

This story was updated with Sanders comments.

Also on HuffPost

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Chicago (AFP) - Jesuit authorities for 20 US states on Monday released the names of 89 priests with credible allegations of child sexual abuse dating as far back as 1950.

The disclosures by the Jesuit provinces of Maryland and USA Midwest are the latest chapter in the ongoing sexual abuse scandal roiling the Catholic Church and come after 153 Jesuits were publicly identified by two other provinces earlier this month.

Maryland released 24 names with allegations dating back to 1950 and USA Midwest released 65 names dating back to 1955. Many of the individuals are deceased, and some were previously publicly known to be accused of sexual assault.

"On behalf of the Midwest Jesuits, I apologize to victim-survivors and their families for the harm and suffering you have endured. Many of you have suffered in silence for decades," Brian Paulson, head of the province headquartered in Chicago, said in an open letter.

Jesuits are the largest male religious order in the Catholic Church, with some 16,000 members worldwide. They operate 30 colleges and 81 schools in the United States and Canada.

The names made public Monday included dozens of priests with multiple allegations of abuse who served in educational institutions.

The priest with the most recent allegations was Donald McGuire who died in federal prison in 2017 while serving a 25-year sentence. His was among the names that had been previously publicized.

Numerous men have accused McGuire of molesting them when they were boys. The first allegations dated to the 1950s, when he worked at a Jesuit private high school in Chicago, and went as late as 2005.

"Most of the Jesuits on our list entered religious life from the 1930's through the early 1960's. In retrospect, our evaluation of candidates, as well as the training, formation, and supervision of Jesuits was not adequate," Paulson said.

Paulson added that the organization had learned from its mistakes, and has improved training for Jesuits and was holding them accountable if abuse allegations are made.

The latest revelations came as religious orders -- which do not fall under the same church hierarchy as diocese -- are starting to face similar scrutiny as the rest of the Catholic Church and embarking on efforts at transparency.

Earlier this month, provinces overseeing Jesuits in more than 20 western, southern and central US states released lists of 153 members accused of child sexual abuse.The Department of Labor and Employment suspended the inspections on establishments in an effort to avoid temptations that may turn the gift-giving season into a venue for corruption. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III directed all the DOLE regional offices to suspend all labor inspection activities in their areas of jurisdiction from Dec. 15 to Jan. 15, 2019. It is our duty to ensure the continued effectiveness of DOLEs enforcement of labor laws and standards and uphold the integrity of our labor inspection activities, specially this season with heightened chances of bribery and suspicions, Bello said. The period of suspension will be utilized for the disposition of all pending Labor Standards cases and preparation of the departments labor laws compliance monitoring program next year. However, complaint inspections, technical safety inspections, and Occupational Safety and Health Standards investigations are not covered by the suspension, as well as the urgent inspections of establishments directed by the labor secretary.Also, Bello assured of consolidated results of the labor inspections by the end of the year as all the regional directors are expected to upload the results of their inspections activities in the Management Information System to further track and improve the labor laws compliance monitoring program for 2019. As of September 2018, DOLEs campaign against illegal forms of contractualization has so far netted 342,467 regularized workers of which 254,452 workers were voluntarily regularized by their employers while 88,015 workers were regularized through inspection. DOLE has also inspected 134,263 establishments nationwide covering 8.306 million.Measuring Jiangsu Expressway Company Limiteds (HKG:177) track record of past performance is an insightful exercise for investors. It enables us to reflect on whether the company has met or exceed expectations, which is a powerful signal for future performance. Below, I will assess 177s recent performance announced on 30 September 2018 and compare these figures to its historical trend and industry movements.

Check out our latest analysis for Jiangsu Expressway

Commentary On 177s Past Performance

177s trailing twelve-month earnings (from 30 September 2018) of CN4.3b has jumped 14% compared to the previous year.

Furthermore, this one-year growth rate has exceeded its 5-year annual growth average of 12%, indicating the rate at which 177 is growing has accelerated. How has it been able to do this? Lets take a look at if it is only because of an industry uplift, or if Jiangsu Expressway has seen some company-specific growth.

SEHK:177 Income Statement Export December 18th 18

In terms of returns from investment, Jiangsu Expressway has fallen short of achieving a 20% return on equity (ROE), recording 15% instead. However, its return on assets (ROA) of 8.1% exceeds the HK Infrastructure industry of 5.2%, indicating Jiangsu Expressway has used its assets more efficiently. Though, its return on capital (ROC), which also accounts for Jiangsu Expressways debt level, has declined over the past 3 years from 15% to 13%. This correlates with an increase in debt holding, with debt-to-equity ratio rising from 30% to 50% over the past 5 years.

What does this mean?

Though Jiangsu Expressways past data is helpful, it is only one aspect of my investment thesis. Companies that have performed well in the past, such as Jiangsu Expressway gives investors conviction. However, the next step would be to assess whether the future looks as optimistic. I recommend you continue to research Jiangsu Expressway to get a more holistic view of the stock by looking at:

Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for 177s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for 177s outlook. Financial Health: Are 177s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why weve done it for you. Check out our financial health checks here. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the trailing twelve months from 30 September 2018. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.



The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.A federal judge on Tuesday agreed to delay sentencing for Michael Flynn, President Donald Trumps former national security adviser who has admitted to lying to the FBI.

Flynn, a Trump campaign supporter who stepped down from his adviser position in February 2017, will not be sentenced until March 13, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said. The extension was granted so that Flynn may finish cooperating with special counsel Robert Muellers team as it continues investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives.

Flynn reached a plea deal with Muellers team last December. Under the terms of the plea, he agreed to cooperate with the investigation and admit to lying to FBI agents.

Ahead of his announcement about the delay, Sullivan made it clear that prison time was a possibility for Flynn despite suggestions to the contrary from Muellers team.

This crime is very serious, Sullivan said.

Arguably, you sold your country out, he told Flynn.

Related Coverage

Trump Defender Alan Dershowitz Argues That Lying To The FBI Isn't A Crime

Twitter Users Erupt After Donald Trump Wishes 'Good Luck' To Michael Flynn At Sentencing

Sarah Sanders Touts False Claim That FBI 'Ambushed' Michael Flynn

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.WASHINGTON  A federal judge postponed sentencing Tuesday for Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, after warning he might be incarcerated for lying to the FBI about Russia contacts.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers had each recommended no prison time because Flynn, a former Army lieutenant general, cooperated with Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller.

But U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan asked prosecutors whether Flynn's crime amounted to treason. Prosecutors said they hadn't brought such charges.

Arguably, you sold your country out, Sullivan told a grim-faced Flynn. I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain.

Sullivan also warned that he may consider sentencing Flynn to a term of incarceration." Sullivan set a status report in March.

Flynn faces a maximum punishment of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

In requesting the postponement, Flynn attorney Robert Kelner said his client has held nothing back in cooperating with prosecutors. But Kelner acknowledged the judges earlier cautions about proceeding to sentencing while Flynns cooperation was likely not yet complete.

Kelner said Flynn would likely be called to testify at future trials of two former business associates accused of illegal lobbying on behalf of the Turkish government.

Im not promising anything, Sullivan told Kelner. The court was just being upfront with you.

Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack said the governments recommendation for leniency was warranted, saying that Flynn had taken full responsibility for his action.

Prosecutors said it was possible Flynn's further assistance would be needed in ongoing investigations.

As part of his plea, Flynn also had admitted to lying about Turkish lobbying and research work. He belatedly registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for the work weeks after he left the White House.

On Monday, federal prosecutors in Virginia charged two of Flynn's business associates in an illegal, covert effort to conceal the government of Turkey's effort to win the extradition of a Turkish cleric living in the United States.

Story continues

Absent the plea agreement, Van Grack said Flynn likely would have charged in that case.

Sullivan adjourned the extraordinary session with one additional comment: happy holidays.

Flynn, accompanied by his wife, left the courthouse, walking through a gantlet of protesters to a waiting car without comment.

The decision to postpone sentencing came after Sullivan ordered a 15-minute recess, to allow Flynn to confer with his lawyers.

This is a very serious offense, Sullivan said, noting that Flynn made the false statements to the FBI on the premises of the White House.

But after the break, Sullivan said that he had not meant to imply that Flynn had committed treason when he earlier asked prosecutors whether they had considered bringing such an offense.

Dont read too much into my questions, the judge told the court.

The sentencing was postponed after Flynn's defense lawyers filed a memo that agreed with prosecutors that deserved no prison time, but offered a new account of the Jan. 24, 2017, interview with FBI agents.

Flynn gave the interview without a lawyer present and lied about his contacts with Russia ambassador Sergey Kisylak. Before the interview, his attorneys said, FBI officials had decided that they would not warn Flynn about the criminal consequences for lying to federal agents.

"One of the agents reported that General Flynn was 'unguarded' during the interview and 'clearly saw the FBI agents as allies,' " the Flynn document stated.

Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, suggested Tuesday on Fox News Channel's America's Newsroom that FBI violated protocols in interviewing Flynn.

Look, were arguing that he was certainly ambushed and that the FBI, that we know, had clear political bias, weve seen that time and time again," Sanders said.

After the hearing, Sanders said the administration isnt aware of anything Flynn did that constituted treason.

The delay is something between Gen. Flynn and the courts, she said at the White House briefing. The things that may have taken place, thats for the judge to make that determination."

Sanders said Flynn's guilty plea didn't deal with Trump.

Maybe he did do those things, but that doesnt have anything to do with the president directly, Sanders said.

Prosecutors and Flynn's defense team told the judge they weren't challenging the interview or withdrawing his guilty plea.

Flynn told the judge that he had no intention of challenging the interview; he knew it was a crime to lie to the FBI and did not wish to withdraw his plea.

General Flynn fully accepts responsibility, attorney Robert Kelner told the judge, adding that his client was not suggesting that he had been entrapped by the FBI during the January 2017 interview.

Citing Flynn's "substantial" assistance to the Russia investigation and two other federal inquiries, Mueller's prosecutors earlier this month recommended that Flynn serve no prison time.

Flynn, 60, has met with investigators 19 times since pleading guilty related to his communications with the Russian ambassador during the run-up to Trump's inauguration.

Contributing: John Fritze and David Jackson

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Judge delays sentencing for Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, for lying to FBI about RussiaBambi (Credit: Disney)

A deer poacher sentenced to a year in prison will have to watch the Disney classic Bambi at least once a month for the duration of his incarceration, a judge in Missouri has ruled.

David Berry Jr., and three other members of his family, including his father, were at the centre of one of the biggest poaching cases in the states history.

Its thought that hundreds of deer were killed illegally over several years.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that Berry must view the Walt Disney movie Bambi, with the first viewing being on or before Dec. 23, 2018, and at least one such viewing each month thereafter, during Defendants incarceration in the Lawrence County Jail.

David Berry Jr (Credit: Lawrence County Sheriffs Dpt)

The deer were trophy bucks taken illegally, mostly at night, for their heads, leaving the bodies of the deer to waste, Prosecuting Attorney Don Trotter said.

Lawrence County Conservation Agent Andy Barnes added: It is unknown how many deer the main group of suspects has taken illegally over the past several years.

It would be safe to say that several hundred deer were taken illegally.

Berry Jr. was also given an additional 120 day sentence for a felony firearms probation violation.

In situations like this, with serial poachers who have no regard for the animals, rules of fair chase, or arent bothered by the fact that theyre stealing from others, its all about greed and ego, said Randy Doman, Missouri Department of Conservation Protection Division Chief.

Taking just the heads is their version of obtaining a trophy and leaving the carcass behind is merely an afterthought. While there are some cases where poachers go after the antlers for profit, with this bunch it was more about the thrill of the kill itself.

Read more

How Bumblebee links to Transformers

Dick Van Dyke says he paid Disney to be in Mary Poppins

How Mary Poppins Returns reinvents the nanny



European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker misses a step at a dinner in Vienna on Monday. Photo: Getty

The European commission has dismissed concerns over the health of its president, Jean-Claude Juncker, after images emerged which appear to show him stumbling at a dinner in Vienna.

Juncker was pictured being propped-up by Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney and an EU aide at a reception for the Africa-Europe summit being held in Austria on Monday evening.

The 64-year-old appeared to lose his balance after missing a step as he made his way to dinner.

Its not the first time the former president of Luxembourg has suffered with mobility issues at high profile events. He had to leave Julys Nato summit in a wheelchair after struggling to walk.

The commission explained at the time the incident was caused by a flare-up of the presidents long standing problem with sciatica, which causes cramps and severe pain in the back.

Addressing concerns Juncker was suffering fresh health problems, a commission spokesperson said: Photos sometimes lie, as they do in this case.

Juncker high fives with the prime minister of Croatia Photo: Getty

In this case the president is in full good health and in full throttle since yesterday evening representing the European Union at the Africa-Europe High Level Forum, she added. I was just in contact with him and hes all good.

Sometimes he has pain walking because he also had a very bad car accident. For those who do not know, that was in 1989 and it was a very bad car accident and for several days his life was even in danger. So thats the context when people look at such footage.

READ MORE: Junckers problems standing caused by painful attack of back problem

Juncker appeared in high spirits at Mondays event, being pictured giving a high-five to Croatian prime minister Andrej Plenkovic and hugging Estonian prime minister Juri Ratas.

He later gave a speech stressing the need for Europe and Africa to create a partnership on an equal footing based on shared responsibility by deepening trade in a bid to create sustainable jobs and growth.

The event came on the same day it was revealed a backdated Christmas pay boost for the commission president means Junckers monthly pay is now almost equal to the average annual wage for British workers.

Story continues

READ MORE: Christmas pay rise means EU chiefs make UK average annual wage every month



The mother of five has been charged with drink-driving (REX/Shutterstock).

Katie Price has been charged with drink-driving following her arrest in early October. The 40-year-old former glamour model was charged by postal requisition last week, two months after her arrest in south London on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Price is now due to appear at Bromley Magistrates Court on Monday, 7 January. If found guilty, she could serve up to six months in prison.

The mother of five allegedly crashed her bright pink Range Rover into a hedge during the early hours of October 10 in south east London after attending the 30th birthday party of her ex-boyfriend Kris Boyson.

Held at Plumstead Police Station for less than 24 hours, Boyson was also pictured at the station. Price is believed to have been released that afternoon.

At her time of arrest, Katie Price was undergoing a 28-year-day outpatient treatment rehab program at The Priory for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

This has been a turbulent year for Price. Once believed to be worth upwards of 40 million, she narrowly avoided bankruptcy this month and is reportedly desperate to sell her 2 million Sussex mansion. Price was forced to prove in court that she had an adequate debt repayment plan of a 22,000 tax bill.

She was also banned from driving for six months in February after driving 60mph on the 50mph on the A24. She reportedly handed herself into the police during this period for breaking the ban to take her disabled son Harvey to the hospital.

Then in May she announced her separation from her third husband Kieran Hayler, who she has two children with, Jett, 4, and Bunny, 5.





Read more

Peter Andre talks moving on from reality tv

Katie Price brands her own behaviour as disgusting

Katie Prices ex describes marriage as traumaticPristina (AFP) - Kosovo imposed a 100 percent tariff on Serbian imports Wednesday, after it blamed Belgrade for sabotaging its bid to join the international police organisation Interpol.

The massive tariff increase is a response to the "aggressiveness of Serbia against Kosovo by all means", Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj told reporters after the measure was approved in government.

The new tariffs also apply to Bosnian imports but exclude international brands.

The retaliation comes after Kosovo's application to join Interpol was rejected on Tuesday, a blow to its efforts to boost global recognition of its statehood.

Kosovo is a former province of Serbia that officially seceded in 2008 after a guerilla war, though Belgrade does not accept the split and has tried to block it from international organisations.

Kosovo's foreign ministry blamed the failed Interpol bid on Belgrade's "abusive" lobbying inside the international police organisation.

On Twitter, Deputy Prime Minister Enver Hoxhaj wrote that in addition to the new tariff, "further measures" would be announced soon in response to Serbia's "aggressive campaign against Kosovo".

The tariff hike drew sharp rebuke from the EU and Belgrade, where Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said it amounted to "an absolute ban of trade" between Serbia and Kosovo.

Speaking in a public television address, Vucic added that it could lead to "conflict and destabilisation of the region".

He called on Kosovo to "please withdraw the decision so we can sit down and talk," adding that Belgrade would not issue any countermeasures.

- 'Clear violation' -

Tensions had already been running high between the neighbours, who are under pressure from Brussels to normalise relations if they want to progress towards EU membership.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini swiftly condemned Kosovo's tariff move, saying it was "a clear violation" of a regional free trade agreement.

Story continues

"The Kosovo government has to immediately revoke these decisions," Mogherini said in a statement.

Serbia is Kosovo's biggest trade partner in the region, with its exports totalling more than 400 million euros ($454 million) annually.

Sanije Jusufi, an economic reporter for the Koha Ditore daily newspaper, said the new tariff was a "political" move that would likely hit ordinary Kosovars.

"There will be a rise in prices in Kosovo, and when prices grow the biggest burden will weigh on consumers," he said.

Earlier this month Kosovo introduced an initial 10 percent tariff on Serbian imports.

That measure has already cut the flow of Serbian exports by half, according to Kosovo Customs.

Kosovo says it is recognised as a sovereign state by about 115 countries, although it is barred from joining the UN because of vetoes from Serbia's allies, Russia and China.

Belgrade claims it has managed to convince a dozen nations to revoke their decision, which Pristina disputes.Pristina (AFP) - Kosovo's president said the country's decision to build an army was "irreversible" before heading to a UN Security Council meeting on Monday about the move, which has drawn the ire of former war foe Serbia.

The Kosovo parliament's Friday vote to transform a lightly-armed emergency force into a standing army was carried out with strong support from the United States, which hailed the move as historic.

But the decision has angered Belgrade and its key ally Russia, who both refuse to recognise the independence of the former Serbian province.

At Serbia's request, the UN Security Council will hold a public meeting on the issue Monday.

It will be the second meeting after a closed-doors emergency session was held Friday.

Before travelling to New York late Sunday, Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci told reporters that "regardless of upcoming discussions, the Kosovo army is an irreversible process".

"The right of Kosovo institutions to form a Kosovo army is historic, right and in accordance with the will of the people of Kosovo, all ethnicities," he added.

Since breaking away from Serbia in a 1998-99 guerilla war, Kosovo's security has been protected by international peacekeeping troops.

Belgrade insists the army violates a UN resolution that ended the war.

Serbia's foreign minister Ivica Dacic said Sunday that it was "important that the voice of Serbia and condemnation of Pristina's activities be heard".

Earlier, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic lashed out at Kosovo for "crossing the line" with the army move, while also blaming the US and other western countries who lent their support.

While it will take years for the army to be operational, Belgrade has cast it as a dire threat to a minority Serb population still living in Kosovo.

NATO and the European Union also criticised the vote as hasty and lacking the consent of Serbs, whose MPs boycotted the parliamentary session on the issue.

Story continues

Kosovo's independence, declared in 2008, has been recognised by more than 100 countries.

But it remains shut out from the UN, with Serbia's Russian and Chinese allies ready to veto any membership bid.

burs-ssm/dl



Risk-averse by trade, most lawyers easily recognise the line between appropriate and inappropriate professional conduct. But when dealing with clients, law firms are sometimes willing to blur that line.



Numerous women told Legal Week sister title Corporate Counsel that sexual harassment by clients is not uncommon in the legal industry, with stories ranging from uncomfortable comments to repeated unwanted propositions to assault.



Women often do not report these incidents, fearing retaliation or lack of support from their firms, many of which do not have policies against client harassment.



Women who did tell someone at their firm about business development-related harassment often had their concerns dismissed. That is what happened to one female lawyer, who requested to remain anonymous, when she reported an experience of inappropriate conduct to a firm colleague.



She was an associate pursuing partnership at a large law firm, interested in building a book of business. He was a senior lawyer at another firm who had referred a client to her and, based on her performance, said he looked forward to referring more work. The two met for drinks at his hotel to discuss additional business opportunities.



But things escalated when he pressed her for sex and became aggressive. She managed to escape, and relayed what happened to the senior partner with whom she had worked for almost a decade. Expecting support from her mentor and colleague, instead she said he brushed her off, saying her story was not credible because she was not that hot.



Almost every woman interviewed said they experienced or knew women who experienced client harassment. Only one said she had seen a firm drop a client, in a case of serious harassment.



I dont know any one of my female friends who have been in a law firm or even in-house who havent seen or experienced that, said Jean Lee, president and chief executive officer of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association.





Story continues

You want to be seen as smart and directive, but also kind and interesting to work with. It can be very tough





In 2017, around 20% of equity partners were women, a number that has changed little in recent years. Some women attribute this to the unique challenges female lawyers face when cultivating new client relationships, such as harassment and misinterpreted invitations to business-related dinners or drinks.



A lot of business is developed socially. So if Im a counsel or new partner and I really am seeking to build my profile in whatever my practice area is and Im taking potential clients out for dinners or lunches, a line can often be very blurry, said Gwen Mellor, a partner and law firm management consultant at the Zeughauser Group. And so I think all along the development of an lawyer, you can face challenges with regard to clients. You want to be seen as smart and directive, but also kind and interesting to work with. It can be very tough. Very tough.



In recent years, the pressure to build business has been particularly high. Many firms are just starting to see a post-recession increase in demand for legal services. However, there is more competition for that work than ever. Increasingly cost-conscious clients are handling matters in-house, automating legal work or turning to alternative service providers.



Lee said the harassment taken for granted as part of business development influenced her decision to leave firm work for an in-house position.



That was one of the number one drivers for why I didnt want to be at a firm, she said. I didnt want to do business development. Especially as an Asian-American woman ... there is a certain stereotype that follows you and when you speak up you get more backlash, because they dont expect you to do that.



A survey from the International Bar Association conducted by legal research firm Acritas found clients were behind nearly one in five instances of sexual harassment or assault, based on results as of November 2018.



But many lawyers do not report client harassment, fearing they will be forced off the case, kept off of future career-advancing opportunities and labelled a troublemaker. And such fears are not unfounded. One senior associate at a US law firm told Corporate Counsel that she had seen female lawyers experiencing client harassment who came forward and were blacklisted.



Reluctant to antagonise clients, few law firms have policies in place to address inappropriate client behaviour. Of the more than 50 law firms contacted about third-party harassment policies for this article, only four said said they have policies in place. The others said they did not have them, declined to comment or did not respond.



Lee said she has also not heard of in-house legal departments with policies specifically against the harassment of outside counsel.



Having clear policies with respect to what to do if youre harassed by a client is critical, and I think thats something many firms dont have, said Marcie Borgal Shunk, the president and founder of legal intelligence firm The Tilt Institute. Theyre not specifically having that conversation and explaining to their partners or their associates how to handle that type of situation.



For more, see:



The Philippines, which has been among the top 10 most gender equal countries since the World Economic Forum report was launched in 2006, only got better this year, as it improved two notches at eighth place. The country, which placed 10th overall in 2017, made the considerable leap due to its strong efforts to close the gender gap in political empowerment. In a report which was released December, the WEF ranked 149 countries based on 4 categories: labor force participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. The WEF report noted the country has managed to close about 80 percent of the total gender gap, which it said was the highest value ever recorded for the Philippines. It added that the Philippines remained in the top 10 on the back of strong scores on closing the Political Empowerment gender gap, in particular. But at the same time, the WEF said the Philippines still needs to extend more efforts on health and survival category, where there remained a gap for the second consecutive year. In measuring the health and survival indicator, the WEF studied the differences between womens and mens health based on life expectancy. It also studied the phenomenon of missing women in countries, including the Philippines, where families prefer to have sons over daughters. The Philippines actually slid considerably in the health and survival category, when it ranked first 12 years ago in the first year of the report among 115 countries, and now at 42nd out of 149 countries.The WEF also recorded the countrs performance in terms of economic participation and opportunity, as wages increased for womens estimated income and equal pay for similar work. This year, the Philippines ranked 14th out of 149 countries, per the WEF report, The report added that the gender gap in equality in terms of educational attainment in the Philippines remained sealed. In the East Asia and Pacific region, New Zealand holds the top spot as the most gender equal country, placing 7th overall among the top 10 countries in the report. European countries, meanwhile, took half of the top 10 spots, with Iceland keeping top spot for the 10th consecutive year, followed by Norway, Sweden and Finland. Nicaragua was ranked fifth, Rwanda sixth, and New Zealand seventh. respectively. Ireland is at 9th place, after the Philippines, while Namibia completed the top 10.By Tom Perry and Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon is on track to form a new national unity government in the next few days, politicians said on Tuesday, raising hopes for an end to more than seven months of wrangling that has darkened the outlook for its struggling economy. Efforts to form the new government, led by Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri, have been obstructed by conflicting demands for cabinet seats that must be parceled out in line with a finely balanced, sectarian political system. Heavily indebted and suffering from a stagnant economy, Lebanon is in dire need of an administration that can set about long-stalled reforms to put public debt on a sustainable footing. "Matters are moving quickly and if things stay like this without obstacles - and I don't expect obstacles - the government will soon see the light," Major General Abbas Ibrahim, a top security official involved in efforts to end the impasse, said in a televised news conference. Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil told Reuters the process was "in the last phase and it is probable that the government will be formed before the Christmas holiday". "This will leave a positive impact on the financial and economic situation and open the way for a start to dealing (with) this file," he added. Fitch Ratings on Tuesday changed Lebanon's outlook to negative from stable, citing a further deterioration in government deficits and debt dynamics and signs of rising pressures on Lebanon's financing model. The May 6 national election, Lebanon's first in nine years, produced a parliament tilted in favor of the heavily armed, Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah, which together with its political allies won more than 70 of the 128 seats. Hariri, who enjoys Western backing, lost more than one third of his lawmakers, though he remained Lebanon's biggest Sunni Muslim leader and as such was nominated again as prime minister. His Future Movement said it was now possible "to wager" on the government being formed before the holidays, saying this was "a pressing matter" due to "economic and financial challenges". In Washington, a State Department official said the United States hoped that Lebanon's next government would be willing to work with it "on areas of mutual interest" and expressed concern over Hezbollah's rising political clout in the country. The United States is the biggest backer of the Lebanese army, providing more than $1.5 billion in support since 2006. "We continue to have deep concerns regarding Hezbollah's growing political power inside Lebanon," the official told Reuters. "We are concerned about the efforts of Hezbollah's political allies that provide it with top cover and a veneer of legitimacy." COMPROMISE Efforts to form the government have faced a series of obstacles, the last of which surrounded Sunni representation, with Hezbollah demanding a cabinet seat for one of its Sunni allies to reflect their election gains. Hezbollah is expected to get three ministries in the upcoming cabinet for the first time, instead of two, including the health ministry. Hariri has resisted the demand. But under a compromise that has taken shape, the Hezbollah-linked Sunnis are expected to be represented in government by a candidate acceptable to them rather than insisting that they themselves should get the seat. In exchange, they say they want Hariri to acknowledge their political standing as a group of Sunnis independent of his Future Movement by meeting them. The Hariri family has dominated Lebanese Sunni politics for decades. "Within two or three days - God willing - you will hear the news that the Lebanese masses were waiting for," Abdel Rahim Mrad, one of the pro-Hezbollah Sunni MPs, said after meeting Ibrahim. "All the problems have been solved." The Sunni minister is expected to be named among a group of ministers allotted to President Michel Aoun, a compromise on the part of his Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). "Every solution requires a concession and everybody has conceded," Gebran Bassil, the head of the FPM and Aoun's son-in-law, said. (Additional reporting by Dahlia Nehme in Beirut and Lesley Wroughton in Washington. Editing by Andrew Heavens, Richard Balmforth and James Dalgleish)New Delhi (AFP) - The headless body of a three-year-old boy snatched from his home by a leopard in India was handed over to his parents on Tuesday, wildlife officials said.

Wasim Akram was in the kitchen with his mother when the animal snuck inside, pounced on the child and took him deep into the woods, officials said.

Local officials in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir have sought "elimination orders" from the state government.

It was the third such killing blamed on the leopard in the last two months, including an eight-year-old boy mauled to death in the area on December 7.

In the meantime a team of wildlife officials equipped with tranquiliser guns have been scouring the area to spot the animal.

"The leopard was spotted this morning but we could not trap it," Jammu regional wildlife warden Tahir Ahmad Shawl told AFP.

Wildlife authorities have also issued advice for people in the area to stay safe from animal attacks.

"This is a forested area and humans have entered into their (animals') habitat and not the other way round. Therefore these incidents happen," Shawl said.

Official estimates suggest there are between 12,000 and 14,000 leopards in India.

An estimated 431 leopards were killed in 2017, according to government figures. Most were killed by poachers for their hides and body parts.

Urban expansion has reduced their numbers as forest habitats shrink, bringing them into closer contact -- and conflict -- with humans.

There are no figures on the number of humans killed by leopards, but experts say there are hundreds of deaths each year.

Last week a Buddhist monk was killed by a leopard while meditating in a forest in the western state of Maharashtra, the fifth such attack in the area this month.By Ahmed Elumami and Ayman al-Warfalli TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Libya's state oil company NOC has declared force majeure at the country's largest oilfield, El Sharara, a week after announcing a contractual waiver on exports from the field following its seizure by protesters. El Sharara, which produces 315,000 barrels per day (bpd) for the OPEC member, was taken over on Dec. 8 by groups of tribesmen, armed protesters and state guards demanding salary payments and development funds. Officials in the North African country have been unable to persuade the groups to leave the partly unsecured site amid disagreements on how best to proceed, workers at the field said. Some officials favor offering quick cash payments to the occupiers, but NOC officials have warned that would set encourage more blockades, El Sharara workers said. NOC has described the occupiers as militia trying to get on the payroll of field guards. This is a recurring theme in Libya, where many see the seizing NOC facilities as an easy way to get heard by the weak state authorities. Pumping will restart only after "alternative security arrangements are put in place", NOC said in a statement late on Monday. "Production at Sharara was forcibly shut down by an armed group - Battalion 30 and its civilian support company - that claimed to be providing security at the field, but which threatened violence against NOC employees," NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said in the statement. His comments came after the chief of staff of the Tripoli-based government, Abdulrahman Attweel, described some of Sanalla's previous comments about the protesters as "irresponsible". "These people (guards) were there to protect the field without salaries and without any attention to them and their daily needs, not in terms of accommodation, supply, transportation and communication," Attweel told al-Ahrar channel. The blockade has been complicated by the presence of tribesmen, who have argued against quick cash payments saying they want funds to improve hospitals and other services. In an apparent bid to win over communities, a separate NOC statement said it had sent "108 trucks carrying 3.479 million liters of vehicle fuel, 1.493 million liters of diesel and five trucks carrying 100 metric tons of cooking gas" to the main southern city of Sabha. Distribution would be coordinated with communities to make sure fuel was sold at official subsidized prices, it said. The south suffers from fuel shortages because much is smuggled abroad. El FEEL The shutdown of El Sharara has not affected the El Feel oilfield, also located in the south. It continued to pump about 70,000 bpd, field engineers said. Its exports were being routed via the Melittah oil and gas port, which like El Feel belongs to a joint venture NOC has with Italian energy company Eni, another engineer said. A spokesman for NOC was unavailable. El Sharara crude is transported to the Zawiya port, also home to a refinery. NOC runs the field with Spain's Repsol, France's Total, Austria's OMV and Norway's Equinor, formerly known as Statoil. (Reporting by Mohamed El-Sherif, Ayman al-Warfalli, Ahmed Elumami and Ulf Laessing; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Jason Neely, Susan Fenton and David Goodman)Value investing is always a very popular strategy, and for good reason. After all, who doesnt want to find stocks that have low PEs, solid outlooks, and decent dividends?



Fortunately for investors looking for this combination, we have identified a strong candidate which may be an impressive value; Delta Air Lines, Inc. DAL.



Delta Air Lines in Focus



DAL may be an interesting play thanks to its forward PE of 9.6, its P/S ratio of 0.8, and its decent dividend yield of 2.6%. These factors suggest that Delta Air Lines is a pretty good value pick, as investors have to pay a relatively low level for each dollar of earnings, and that DAL has decent revenue metrics to back up its earnings.

Delta Air Lines, Inc. PE Ratio (TTM)

Delta Air Lines, Inc. PE Ratio (TTM) | Delta Air Lines, Inc. Quote

But before you think that Delta Air Lines is just a pure value play, it is important to note that it has been seeing solid activity on the earnings estimate front as well. For current year earnings, the consensus has gone up by 1.1% in the past 30 days, thanks to nine upward revisions in the past month compared to none lower.



This estimate strength is actually enough to push DAL to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), suggesting it is poised to outperform. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.



So really, Delta Air Lines is looking great from a number of angles thanks to its PE below 20, a P/S ratio below one, and a strong Zacks Rank, meaning that this company could be a great choice for value investors at this time.



3 Medical Stocks to Buy Now



The greatest discovery in this century of biology is now at the flashpoint between theory and realization. Billions of dollars in research have poured into it. Companies are already generating revenue, and cures for a variety of deadly diseases are in the pipeline.



So are big potential profits for early investors. Zacks has released an updated Special Report that explains this breakthrough and names the best 3 stocks to ride it.



See them today for free >>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment ResearchA retired Wisconsin sheriffs detective, Andrew Colborn, is suing Netflix for defamation, alleging that the hit docu-series Making a Murderer falsely claims he planted evidence to frame Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey for murder, Variety reports.

The suit, filed in Manitowoc County Circuit Court in Wisconsin, alleges that the series and its filmmakers omitted, distorted, and falsified material and significant facts in an effort to portray [Colborn] as a corrupt police officer who planted evidence to frame an innocent man. Defendants did so with actual malice and in order to make the film more profitable and more succesful sacrificing and defining [Colborns] character and reputation in the process.

Along with Netflix, Making a Murderer directors Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos are named as defendants, along with Netflix executives Lisa Nishimura and Adam Del Deo and editor Mary Manhardt.

In a statement Colborns lawyer, Michael Griesbach, said of his client, His reputation and that of Manitowoc County, itself, has been severely and unjustly defamed. He is filing this lawsuit to set the record straight and to restore his good name.

Colborn played a crucial role in Season One of Making a Murderer, which examined whether or not Avery and his nephew, Dassey, had been framed for the murder of 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach. Most notably, in Episode Five, the show highlighted Colborns testimony regarding a phone call he made to his dispatcher prior to the discovery of Halbachs car on Averys property.

In the recording, Colborn asks dispatch to run a license plate number, and after getting a hit for Halbach, who was listed as a missing person at that point, Colborn immediately replies, Ninety-Nine Toyota? During Averys trial, Averys lawyer, Dean Strang, quizzed Colborn on the call and suggested that his response made it seem that he was looking at Halbachs car at that moment (the car wouldnt be discovered for another two days).

Story continues

The lawsuit, however, disputes the way Colborns testimony is portrayed in Making a Murderer. Citing court transcripts, it alleges that Strangs suggestion that Colborn was looking at the car was objected to and sustained by the judge. It also claims that Colborns Yes response to Strangs suggestion  as seen in Making a Murderer  was actually taken from Colborns response to a subsequent question about running routine license plate checks.

Their manipulation of this crucial line of testimony falsely conveyed to viewers that plaintiff located Halbachs SUV somewhere other than at the salvage yard days earlier and likely assisted other law enforcement officers plant it there at a later time, the suit reads. The impression is false and gave to viewers the exact opposite impression of what plaintiff was asked and how he responded at trial.Michelle Manuel and Rose Johnson found themselves stuck in the Bahamas without passports when Johnsons sudden illness forced them off their cruise ship and into a hospital to seek medical treatment. (Photo: GoFundMe)

A couple in Lexington, Ky., thought they were embarking on their dream vacation when they boarded a Royal Caribbean cruise ship to the Bahamas on Friday, but the trip quickly turned into a nightmare when a medical emergency derailed them, leaving the couple stranded without passports in a country that wouldnt accept their health insurance plan.

Michelle Manuel and her wife, Rose Johnson, live on a fixed income but had always wanted to go on a cruise. Their friends Dillon Ray Roberts and Dewayne Hutton decided to give the couple the ill-fated getaway as a combination Christmas and honeymoon gift. We were looking forward to it. Weve been planning it since the summer and we were just really excited to leave, Manuel told CBS affiliate WKYT in Lexington. I know Ive always wanted to go on a cruise.

But midtrip, Johnson started vomiting and became deathly sick, Roberts told Yahoo Lifestyle. A doctor aboard the ship intervened and gave her medication for motion sickness and a shot for vertigo, Roberts said, but the treatment had no effect. So Johnson was transferred to a hospital in Nassau, Bahamas, where her U.S. Medicare was not accepted and she would be forced to pay out-of-pocket.

[The hospital] wanted me to give them $2,000 cash or else they werent even going to see her at all, Manuel told WKYT. They said I had to pay $750 dollars cash right then, or they wont even send her out for the CT scan. But Johnson and Manuel are on disability, and Roberts said he believes the women dont have access to such money from the Bahamas  or even at all. The only cash in their possession was a few hundred dollars theyd brought as spending money.

While doctors continued to run tests on Johnson to determine what was ailing her, the cruise ship was preparing to leave the port. Johnson would only be able to board the ship home with clearance from a doctor, but by the time it was pulling out doctors were still preparing to transfer her to a second hospital. We asked if [cruise directors] could just quarantine her, but they said no because they would be liable, Roberts said. So he lent the couple more cash, and Manuel was allowed onboard to retrieve their belongings and prepare to stay overnight in Nassau.

Story continues

Royal Caribbean told Yahoo Lifestyle that its Care Team provided transportation to the hospital and one night of accommodations for the women. A spokesperson confirmed, [Johnson] was initially treated in our medical facility, but required additional and urgent medical attention that could only be provided in a hospital in Nassau, Bahamas.

By Sunday, Johnson was diagnosed with an obstructed bowel, Roberts confirmed to Yahoo Lifestyle. He said that shes been released from the hospital in stable condition and ordered to return home for surgery, though shes still nauseous and vomiting. But the homecoming wont be that easy, as neither Manuel nor Johnson have passports in their possession. Royal Caribbean only required U.S. citizens to carry birth certificates on the three-day cruise; passports werent needed for entry into the various ports where the cruise ship docked, Roberts said.

So, since Dec. 15, Johnson and Manuel have been stuck in Nassau without cash or a way to get home  including no access to money for international plane tickets to the U.S., though Royal Caribbean told Yahoo Lifestyle its care team will assist with booking flights home and getting to the airport. The women were headed to the U.S. Embassy Tuesday morning to apply for passports, Roberts told Yahoo Lifestyle, but he hasnt heard whether they were successful. He said the U.S. Embassy accepts applications every morning except for Christmas and New Years Day.

In the meantime, Roberts set up a GoFundMe page to help the women get home and pay off the medical bills theyve accrued overseas. The page has a goal of $10,000 and has raised almost $4,000 as of Tuesday afternoon. Roberts says hes also been wiring the women money, but it can be hard for them to retrieve it on the island. He says the women are grateful for the funds but are very stressed as they fight their way out of the predicament. Theyre safe at a motel but theyre overwhelmed, Roberts said. [Manuel] says she feels like her head is about to blow up!

Manuel told WKYT that the most valuable takeaway from this incident  and the advice she wants everyone to hear  is to always prepare for the worst-case scenario. I guess, come prepared more for expenses that youre not expecting, she said.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.Michael Flynn leaves after the delay in his sentencing hearing at US District Court in Washington, DC - AFP

Donald Trump suffered a double setback on Tuesday as his former national security adviser Michael Flynn was accused of selling out his country in court and it emerged the presidents charity will be dissolved amid claims of shocking illegality.

Mr Flynn, who has admitted to lying to the FBI over his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States, was reprimanded for his very serious offence during a sentencing hearing in Washington DC.

In a blistering rebuke, Emmet Sullivan, a US District Judge, told to Mr Flynn that arguably you sold your country out, later adding: "I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offence."

At one point the judge even asked prosecutors whether Mr Flynns actions could be considered treason, though later walked back the remarks by clarifying that he was not making that suggestion himself.

Judge Sullivan also hinted that he was considering giving Mr Flynn a stint in jail despite his co-operation with special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the Russian election meddling investigation  something that seemed unlikely at the start of the day, given Mr Mueller was calling for leniency.

Donald Trump, left, and Michael Flynn during a presidential campaign event in September 2016 Credit: REUTERS/Mike Sega

Eventually the judge delayed the sentencing, indicating that he wanted to fully understand the extent of Mr Flynns cooperation with Mr Muellers team. No new date was set but a status report is due on March 13 2019.

The courtroom dressing down was another blow for Mr Flynn, a retired US general who became one of Mr Trumps most prominent supporters during the 2016 presidential campaign.

He was handed the plum role of Mr Trumps first national security adviser in January 2017 but was forced to resign just weeks later over his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, then Russian ambassador to the US.

Mr Flynn has admitted to lying to the FBI about conversations he had with Mr Kislyak during the transition period after Mr Trumps November 2016 election victory but before he took office. During that time Barack Obama remained US president.

Story continues

Mr Trump had wished Mr Flynn "good luck" earlier in the day. "Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him," he said in a tweet.

On the same day Mr Flynn was being criticised in court there were new developments in a lawsuit filed against the presidents charity, the Trump Foundation.

Barbara Underwood, the New York attorney general, announced that the Trump Foundation had agreed it should be dissolved and its remaining funds handed out to other charities, with her office overseeing the process. The deal needs to be approved by a federal judge.

It follows a string of Washington Post stories in recent years claiming that money from the charity had been used to pay legal settlements for Mr Trumps private business or purchase art from his clubs. Mr Trump has always denied wrongdoing.

Michael Flynn, former US national security adviser, exits at federal court in Washington, DC Credit: Aaron P. Bernstein/Bloomberg

He had planned to close down the embattled charity in December 2016 after he won the US election but the move was put on hold pending this investigation.

Mrs Underwood's office begun legal action in June against Mr Trump, his three children - who were on the board - and the charity itself, over accusations of misuse of funds.

She said on Tuesday that her investigation found a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation  including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more.

Mrs Underwood is continuing to seek more than $2.8 million (2.2m) in restitution and has asked a judge to ban the Trumps temporarily from serving on the boards of other New York nonprofit organisations.Former national security adviser Michael Flynn's onetime business partner and another associate were charged in an illegal lobbying effort aimed at winning Turkey's extradition of a cleric living in the USA.

Bijan Rafiekian, who served as a director and vice chairman of Flynn Intel Group, appeared in a Virginia federal court Monday where he was accused of failing to register as an agent for Turkey. Kamil Alptekin, a Turkish-Dutch citizen living in Instanbul, also was charged in the scheme in which he allegedly served as a secret conduit for the Turkish government.

The case, which alleges that Rafiekian and Alptekin sought to conceal the Turkish government's role in the effort to extradite Fethullah Gulen, was brought by federal prosecutors in Virginia, not Russia special counsel Robert Mueller.

Gulen, living in Pennsylvania, was accused by Turkey in 2016 in a failed coup attempt, prompting the government to seek the cleric's return from exile in the USA.

Flynn, who was not specifically named in the court documents Monday, is set to be sentenced Tuesday by Mueller's team in a separate case in which the retired three-star Army general pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI related to his communication with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Mueller's team recommended that Flynn serve no prison time because of his substantial cooperation in the Russia inquiry and his assistance in two other inquiries, probably including the case against Rafiekian and Alptekin.

Although Flynn was not charged in the Virginia case, he and his company were central to the Gulen extradition scheme, which was secretly funded by the Turkish government and involved payments totaling $600,000 to Flynn's company, prosecutors alleged.

Among their efforts to advance the project, according to court documents, Flynn, Rafiekian and Alptekin attended a meeting with two Turkish government officials Sept. 19, 2016, to discuss the project and "efforts to convince the U.S. government to extradite (Gulen) to Turkey."

Story continues

Throughout the 21-page charging document, Flynn is referred to as "Person A."

Prosecutors asserted that Alptekin disguised the Turkish government's role in the project by posing as Flynn's client and operator of a Dutch company through which payments from Turkey were funneled to the Virginia company headed by Flynn.

Under the alleged agreement, Alptekin's company in the Netherlands was to receive 20 percent in kickbacks from Flynn's company.

Rafiekian is charged with conspiracy in addition to serving as an undeclared agent of the government of Turkey. If convicted, he could face a maximum prison term of 15 years.

Alptekin is charged with conspiracy, illegal lobbying for Turkey and four counts of making false statements to the FBI.

If convicted on all charges, he could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

More: Robert Mueller: No 'coercion' in Michael Flynn FBI interview; urges court to reject attempt to downplay crime

More: Michael Flynn re-emerges as major witness in Robert Mueller's inquiry  and at least two others

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michael Flynn's ex-business associate charged in illegal lobbying effort to extradite Turkish clericFormer Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile vows to bring back the glorious days of fiery debates in the Philippine Senate as he noted an increasing practice of doing coffee table discussions of legislative measures instead of bringing it out for argumentation in the Senate floor. Out there in the Senate, where I stayed for 24 years, when I was there, nothing is passed without any debate. Unlike today, they go into a coffee table and they discuss it among themselves and thats it. Thats not a Senate. Thats not a deliberative assembly of the peoples representatives. A democracy must be open where issues are subject to intellectual dissection, said Enrile who is running for senator in the 2019 midterm elections. In fomenting open and public discussion of bills and resolutions filed in the Senate, Enrile said he always wants to make these issues of national interest transparent to the general populace. Nothing is hidden to make the people understand because the people are the ones that will suffer if the representatives make mistakes in their understanding and decisions of any matter that affects them. That, in essence, is the history of my involvement in politics today, Enrile said. According to the senator who is known for his show-stopping debates with colleagues to include the late Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago and Raul Roco, the desire to bring back open debates on issues that affect the nation is one of the reasons why he decided to run at the last minute. Im not after power. Ive had it, said Enrile who, aside from his stint as Senate president, also served as Minister of National Defense, Secretary of Justice, and customs commissioner in various administrations. I had no intention whatsoever to go back to public life, but during the last three years since I left the Senate in 2016, I immersed myself in reading to learn new things and understand whats going on in our globe.I read a lot of things that I never knew before. I understood the importance of geography to a nation. I studied the problem of scarcities that are coming. I studied the geopolitics that is affecting the planet, the relationships of regional hegemons among themselves and all the present violent events on our earth, he added Apart from this, the government has adopted several political positions and economic positions that interested me - one of which is the proposal to shift the form of government of this country from this present presidential, unitary condition into a more loose and less cohesive structure known as federalism. And so, I focused my world on studying all of these, and I came upon certain issues that I thought I should let the people know. Enrile said thats when he realized he needed the Senate floor as a forum to drumbeat all these local and national issues of importance that affect the nation and the world. I can talk on a corner but who cares to listen to an old man? he said. So, I said, here is an opportunity for me that is looming in front of my face that I could take in order to bring some of these things to the knowledge of the people, he said of his 11th hour decision to go for a fifth term in the Senate.Bijan Rafiekian was indicted on charges including failing to register as a foreign agent

The former national security adviser Michael Flynn is due to be sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI. Photograph: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

A one-time business partner of the former national security adviser Michael Flynn has been arrested and charged with illegally lobbying to have a Turkish exile returned from the US.

Bijan Rafiekian, who also goes by the name Bijan Kian, made an initial appearance on Monday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.

He was indicted on charges including failing to register as a foreign agent.

According to the indictment unsealed in court, Rafiekian was vice-chairman of Flynns business group, the Flynn Intel Group. The two worked throughout 2016 to seek ways to have the cleric Fethullah Gulen extradited from the US to Turkey.

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has accused Gulen of directing a failed coup in the country.

Flynn is referred to in the indictment as Person A.

Ekim Alptekin, a Turkish businessman regarded as close to Erdogan, was also charged in the indictment, the filing shows.

Meanwhile Flynn is to be sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI over his contacts with Russian officials after Donald Trump was elected president in November 2016.

The indictment accuses Rafiekian and Alptekin of illegally lobbying in the US to discredit Gulen and have him extradited. According to the indictment, Alptekin worked at the direction of the Turkish government, but the defendants worked to conceal that fact.

In the summer of 2016, when Flynn was working as an adviser to the Trump campaign, the three initiated what they called a truth campaign that compared Gulen to Irans Ayatollah Khomeini.

On 8 November 2016, election day, Flynn wrote an op-ed piece in the Hill newspaper titled Our Ally Turkey Is in Crisis and Needs Our Support. The column uses the same comparison between Gulen and Khomeini. The indictment noted Flynns column uses identical or very similar language to that prepared by Rafiekian in a draft op-ed.

Story continues

We all remember another quiet, bearded elder cleric who sat under an apple tree  in the suburbs of Paris in 1978, Flynn wrote in the op-ed, mimicking language provided to him by Rafiekian. He claimed to be a man of God who wanted to be a dictator.

Several days before the column was published, Rafiekian crowed to Alptekin in an email about the advantageous timing of the pending op-ed piece coinciding with election day. The arrow has left the bow!

Alptekin, who had complained a week earlier that the Flynn Intel Group had not done enough work to honor the contract, responded that Rafiekians op-ed was right on target.

Rafiekian and Alptekins prosecution is led not by the special counsel but prosecutors with the eastern district of Virginia.WASHINGTON  A judge tore into Michael Flynn Tuesday before delaying the sentencing of President Donald Trumps former national security adviser and prominent campaign supporter for lying to the FBI.

Flynn, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, was an early supporter of the Trump campaign, and infamously called for the incarceration of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during his speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

He came under scrutiny for a variety of potential criminal activities, and reached a plea deal in December 2017 with the special counsel team led by Robert Mueller. As part of the deal, he agreed to cooperate and admitted making fraudulent statements in an interview with FBI agents at the White House on Jan. 24, 2017. Flynn stepped down as national security adviser in mid-February 2017, less than a month into the Trump presidency, because the White House says he misled officials there about his contacts with the Russians.

Im not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in Washington told Flynn.

Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn has admitted to lying to the FBI. (Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Sullivan also walked through a number of procedural steps to make sure that Flynn was pleading guilty because he was guilty and not for any other reason. He seemed frustrated with many of the arguments from Flynns team that he suggested took away from Flynns supposed acceptance of responsibility for his crime.

Sullivan had Flynn admit, once again, that he had lied to the FBI and was pleading guilty because he was guilty. He gave Flynn ample opportunity to back out of his guilty plea, discussed with the prosecution the variety of other crimes Flynn could have faced, and said Flynns criminal exposure would have been significant had be been charged with the other offenses.

This crime is very serious, Sullivan said, noting that Flynn lied In the White House! In the West Wing! Flynn shouldnt minimize his very serious offense, Sullivan said.

Story continues

Arguably, you sold your country out, Sullivan told Flynn. He then asked the government whether undermining U.S. sanctions against Russia for their interference in the 2016 election could be considered treason, a suggestion the government didnt want to weigh in on. (Soon after, the judge said he did not mean to suggest Flynn committed treason.)

After nearly two hours in the courtroom, the judge ended up agreeing to delay sentencing Flynn so the former adviser can cooperate further with Muellers investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, as well as with a case against Flynns former business partner. Flynn will now be sentenced in March.

Flynns plea deal prevented his prosecution on a host of other potential charges. One example: An indictment against Flynns former business partner at The Flynn Group, Bijan Kian, was unsealed on Monday, the day before Flynns sentencing. That indictment, which refers to Flynn as Person A, says that Kian and Flynn worked together on an illegal campaign to do the bidding of the Turkish government, which was seeking to extradite a cleric living in the United States that the Turkish government accused of instigating a failed coup in 2016.

Flynns attorneys had argued for leniency ahead of his sentencing. Muellers team indicated it was open to a sentence in the range of zero to six months, but encouraged the court to reject Flynns attempt to minimize the seriousness of his crime.

A sitting National Security Advisor, former head of an intelligence agency, retired Lieutenant General, and 33-year veteran of the armed forces knows he should not lie to federal agents, Muellers team wrote on Friday. He does not need to be warned it is a crime to lie to federal agents to know the importance of telling them the truth.

Also on HuffPost

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.At former national security adviser Michael Flynns sentencing hearing on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan asked federal prosecutors if they had considered charging Flynn with treason for advocating sanctions relief for Russia after failing to disclose his meetings with the Kremlins ambassador.

Sullivan, who made the comments while expressing outrage at Flynns crime of lying to the FBI, clarified soon after that he didnt intend to accuse Flynn of treason and apologized. Sullivan walking back his remarks makes sense, since there isnt really any legal grounds to charge Flynn with treason.

Although treason has become a common epithet  which President Donald Trump has repeatedly used  the legal definition in the Constitution is much more precise: Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.

Flynns connections with Russia wouldnt fall under treason law simply because Russia is not technically an enemy of the United States, which the law narrowly defines as anyone that the U.S. is openly or declaratively at war with. A person can aid Russia to the detriment of the U.S. practically all they want, and though their actions may violate other laws, it would not be treason.

Former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn leaves a Federal Courthouse following a sentencing hearing in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 18, 2018. (Photo: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

But there is something Flynn did as national security adviser that does appear to have helped an enemy of the United States. After Flynn secretly received $530,000 in 2016 to represent Turkeys interests, he vetoed a U.S. plan in early January 2017 to attack the Islamic State militant group-held city of Raqqa, Syria. As a result of his actions, McClatchy reported last year, the military operation to take back ISISs de facto capital was put on hold for months.

Delaying the offensive against Raqqa was in line with Turkeys interests, as the Turkish government didnt want the U.S. to increase support and arms for the Kurdish YPG militia group that would be on the frontlines of the anti-ISIS operation. Although Turkey is a NATO ally and not an enemy, helping ISIS is something that could fall under the part of treason law that deals with giving enemies aid or comfort.

Story continues

But even if Flynn deciding to hold off on the Raqqa operation did help ISIS, legal experts say its still extremely unlikely that a treason case would hold up. Prosecutors would have to prove that it was directly Flynns intent to aid ISIS, rather than being just a byproduct of him supporting Turkish interests.

It would be very hard to show that what Flynn fully intended to do was to help ISIS rather than help Turkey, said Carlton F.W. Lawson, a law professor at UC Davis and expert on treason.

Here you have an American general who is in the pocket of Turkey. The case that he is trying to help Turkey seems a lot easier to understand with those facts than some intent to help ISIS.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Donald Trumps national security adviser Michael Flynn, lied about his contact with a Russian ambassador, a sentencing memo filed by Robert Mueller has confirmed.

The 60-year-old former army general last year pleaded guilt to one count of lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials, among them Russias former US ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The special counsel has said because of his cooperation, Flynn should receive no jail time.

Flynns lawyers, along with with Mr Trump, have accused the FBI of trying to entrap Flynn, something the special counsels office has rejected.

Last week, Mr Muellers office sent a note to the court, saying: He does not need to be warned it is a crime to lie to federal agents to know the importance of telling them the truth. The defendant undoubtedly was aware, in light of his many years working with the FBI, that lying to the FBI carries serious consequences.

On Monday night, hours before Flynn was due to be sentenced, Mueller published portions of the FBIs interviews with Flynn at the request of the judge hearing the case.

Support free-thinking journalism and subscribe to Independent Minds

The documents, which are once again heavily redacted, show that FBI agents interviewed Flynn about his contacts with Russia, including past trips to the country and his conversations with Mr Kislyak,

Flynn pleaded guilty to lying about the contents of those conversations with the Russian envoy.

BREAKING: Muellers team has filed the redacted 302 forms from the FBIs 1/24/17 interview of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. https://t.co/IMdomijR0D pic.twitter.com/HhquVPgl67  Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) December 18, 2018

The notes show Flynn told agents he did not tell Mr Kislyak not to escalate its response to Obama administration sanctions on Russia, though last year he admitted last year that he did.

Story continues

The filing of the memo came on the day that two of Flynns business associates were charged with illegally lobbying for Turkey as part of a campaign to pressure the nation to expel a Turkish cleric.

The Associated Press said Bijan Kian and Ekim Alptekin were accused in an indictment of conspiring to covertly and unlawfully influence US public opinion and politicians, while concealing the Turkish government was controlling their work.

The campaign took place during the final months of the 2016 presidential campaign while Flynn was a top surrogate for Mr Trumps campaign.

The AP said the case sheds further light on how Flynn and those around him worked to benefit a foreign country in the months before he became one of Americas top national security officials. The goal of the work was to get the United States to expel Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen from the country.

Mr Gulen, who holds a US green card and lives in Pennsylvania, is a rival of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Mr Erdogan has accused the cleric of directing a failed coup, and wants the US to extradite him. Mr Gulen has denied the allegations.Cristina Carvalho of Arent Fox. Nov. 9, 2015. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)



In a year that saw Big Law eagerly ship up to Boston, Washington, D.C.-based Arent Fox is arriving in Beantown in a merger with local, 55-lawyer Posternak Blankstein & Lund.



The merger, which the firms announced Tuesday, will officially go live Jan. 1, 2019, marking a major northeast expansion for Arent Fox and offering the latest evidence of Boston's hot legal market.



Still, Arent Fox firmwide managing partner Cristina Carvalho said the move was less about geography and more about the synergies between the two law firms.



We werent exactly looking at Boston specifically, Carvalho said. But Boston does meet our strategic goal of being in gateway cities with very strong practices where we excel in ... in that respect Boston checks the box, she added.



Founded in 1980 in Boston, Posternak specializes in business transactions and complex litigation. Carvalho noted that the firm, like Arent Fox, also has particular practice strength in real estate, finance and bankruptcy, as well as strong life sciences, intellectual property and biotech practices that are aligned with Bostons booming industries.



We have similar cultures and similar philosophies and similar practice focus, so the combination of Arent Fox and Posternak made complete strategic sense for both firms, Carvalho said.



With the merger, Arent Fox will now have more than 450 attorneys across its offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Boston focusing on regulatory, transactional, intellectual property and litigation work.



Posternak managing partner Ira Deitsch, who joined the firm just after its founding nearly 40 years ago, will continue to lead the group as Boston managing partner with Arent Fox.



Being a midsized firm, we dont have the breadth of practice or the number of people practicing in areas that Arent Fox has, Deitsch said. "For example, we have a lot of clients in life sciences, biotech industries who have needs that we cant serve from Boston.



If a client needed clearance from the Food and Drug Administration for a medical device, for example, Posternak couldn't provide FDA regulatory counsel from its singular office in Boston, Deitsch said. Arent Fox also has a broader IP platform that will let the office offer more support in patent and trademarks, he noted.



We look at it as were a smaller version of Arent Fox, and now we can become the bigger version that Arent Fox already is, Deitsch said.



Arent Fox's entry into Boston caps a busy couple of years for the city's legal industry.



In May 2017, Kirkland & Ellis opened an office in the city's Bay Back neighborhood. Hogan Lovells followed, merging with local litigation boutique Collora while Womble Bond Dickinson opened its own office with a trio of McCarter & English IP partners. Earlier this year, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan opened an office in Boston with three of its IP litigators



The combination between Arent Fox and Posternak also helps cement 2018 as a record year for law firm combinations.



Through the third quarter of 2018, there have been 79 law firm tie-ups announced, according to data released by Altman Weil. So far, there have been 21 law firm mergers in the final quarter of 2018, according to Altman Weil's MergerLine tracker.



READ MORE:



How Boston Became a Beacon on the Hill to Big Law



Mid-Market Moves, 'Serial Acquirers' Drive Law Firm Merger ManiaRabat (AFP) - Moroccan authorities on Tuesday arrested a suspect over the murder of two Scandinavian women in the High Atlas mountains, a popular trekking destination for tourists.

Other suspects are being sought over the killings of the Danish and Norwegian hikers who were found dead on Monday with cuts to their necks, the interior ministry said.

The bodies were discovered in an isolated mountainous area 10 kilometres (six miles) from the tourist village of Imlil in the High Atlas range.

Imlil is a starting point for trekking and climbing tours of Mount Toubkal, which at 4,167 metres is the highest summit in North Africa.

The suspect was arrested in the former imperial city of Marrakesh, a tourist hub located at the foot of the mountains about 60 kilometres north of Imlil, and held in custody for questioning, the ministry said.

The Moroccan authorities described it as a "criminal act" but did not give further details about the circumstances of the murders.

The Danish victim, Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, "had her throat cut," her mother Helle Petersen was quoted by the Danish newspaper B.T. as saying.

Her family had warned her against going to Morocco "because of the chaotic situation," she added.

According to her Facebook page, Jespersen had studied in Norway to be a guide.

- 'Every precaution' -

Norwegian media named the other victim as 28-year-old Maren Ueland.

"Her priority was safety. The girls took every precaution before going on this trip," her mother Irene Ueland told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

The two women studied at a university in southern Norway and had planned to travel together for a month, she said, adding that her last contact with her daughter was on December 9.

A Norwegian policeman from the embassy in Rabat is travelling to Marrakesh to act as a liaison between the authorities.

Security was stepped up in the region and hiking suspended following the discovery of the bodies, Moroccan media said.

Story continues

"It's very bad for the region. There will undoubtedly be cancellations," a local guide, Hossein, told AFP from Imlil.

Tourism is a cornerstone of Morocco's economy and the kingdom's second-largest employer, after agriculture.

The sector accounts for 10 percent of national income and is one of the country's main sources of foreign currency.

After several years of near-stagnation, Morocco welcomed a record 11.35 million visitors in 2017, exceeding the 11-million mark for the first time.Ankara (AFP) - Nearly 2,000 people have been sentenced to life in prison since the July 2016 attempted overthrow of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish state media reported Tuesday.

State news agency Anadolu said some 1,934 suspects have been told by the courts that they will spend the rest of their life in jail.

Of these, 978 people were jailed for life, Anadolu reported, while 956 were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment, which has replaced the death penalty in Turkey and carries harsher conditions than normal life imprisonment convictions.

A total of 239 out of 289 cases opened after the failed coup have been closed. The remaining 50 include 18 in Ankara and nine in Istanbul, Anadolu added.

Ankara accuses the US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen of ordering the 2016 coup attempt and refers to his movement as the "Fethullah Terrorist Organisation".

Gulen strenuously denies Turkey's claims and followers insist his movement promotes peace and secular education, ridiculing the description of themselves as a terror group.

More than 3,050 people in all have been convicted over links to Gulen, with 1,123 given different jail sentences ranging from over a year to 20 years in prison.

In one trial, Gulen's nephew Selman Gulen was sentenced to seven years and six months in jail for being a "member of an armed terrorist organisation", the agency reported Tuesday.

Kutbettin Gulen, brother of the preacher living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, was jailed for 10 years and six months on the same charge in October.

In recent weeks, there have been multiple police raids across the country against individuals suspected of links to the Gulen movement, especially in the armed forces.

The arrests of over 50,000 people and the sacking of tens of thousands of public sector employees since July 2016 has raised alarm in the West and among rights activists.

But Turkish officials insist the crackdown is necessary to remove fully the influence of the Gulen movement, previously referred to as a "virus" inside state institutions.A new study reveals in stark numbers just how many American families have been affected by mass incarceration.

Nearly half (45 percent) of adults in the U.S.  or 113 million people nationwide  have an immediate family member who has spent at least one night in jail or prison, according to a study released Dec. 6 by Cornell University and political advocacy group Fwd.us.

And about 1 in 7 adults has a close family member  defined as parents, children, siblings, partners or spouses  who was imprisoned for at least one year, the report found.

For the study, researchers at Cornell University partnered with Fwd.us to survey people ages 18 or older across the country in the summer of 2018. Fwd.us, which was founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, supports immigration and criminal justice reform.

The report was meant to highlight not only how many Americans have experienced the negative effects of incarceration but also how many people outside prison walls are also affected, given what families endure when a loved one has been taken away, the report reads.

Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. adults, for instance, has had a parent who was incarcerated, according to the study.

Im one of the 6.5 million Americans that currently have a loved one behind bars, Carlton Miller, a senior associate at Fwd.us, told HuffPost. His older brother is currently incarcerated.

The impact [is] not just on myself but ... on my mother and his children, and his absence in their lives, he added. Hes missed their first day of school, parent-teacher conferences, graduations, birthdays  just those critical milestones that sometimes we take for granted. He wasnt there.

(Photo: Fwd.us)

The report highlights the stark racial disparities in who is affected by the criminal justice system. Black adults were 50 percent more likely than white adults to have had an immediate family member incarcerated, and Latino adults were 70 percent more likely than white ones.

When it comes to longer-term incarceration, black adults were three times as likely as white ones to have had a close family member imprisoned for longer than a year (31 percent versus 10 percent).

Story continues

The studys findings reflect the widely known racial disparities seen in virtually all aspects of Americas criminal justice system: Black people are incarcerated in U.S. state prisons at more than five times the rate of white people, according to a 2016 report. And black men are sentenced to more time in prison than white men for committing similar crimes, a 2017 study found.

Miller said he hopes the report will help provide a sense of urgency about the effects of incarceration on families nationwide. Only by educating folks about this can you begin to work on ameliorating policies that have perpetuated racial inequity and pain.

Related Coverage

How States Can Help 5 Million Kids With A Parent Behind Bars

Black Men's Sentences 20 Percent Longer Than White Men's For Similar Crimes

Amid An Industry Boom, Incarceration For Weed Still Threatens Black Women

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III

The Department of Labor and Employment has issued implementing guidelines for the recruitment and deployment of more than 100,000 Filipino teachers to teach English in China. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said that many Chinese nationals can barely understand, much less speak English, and tapped the Philippines because it is known for its excellent English education program. The guidelines spell out the memorandum of understanding on the employment of Filipino teachers of the English language that the Philippines and Chinese governments forged in China last April, Bello said.In the joint guidelines, the qualifications of applicant were set, the roles and responsibilities of both governments defined, and the system of deployment and acceptance were laid down. Interested Filipino teachers must be employed in private higher education institutions in the Philippines or those not currently employed in public institutions in the country. In terms of education, an applicant must have obtained a bachelors degree from normal universities or in education or English language from Philippine educational institutions accredited by the Ministry of Education of the Peoples Republic of China. They must also have a valid certificate of registration above intermediate level and a professional license issued by the Philippine Board of Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (PBLEPT). Aside from these, an applicant should have not been charged or convicted of any crime or administrative offense, is in good health condition, and has no mental problem or pernicious habits such as drug addiction and excessive drinking.With regard responsibilities, the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) of the Peoples Republic of China, as the counterpart in the agreement, shall guide local administration of foreigners working in China in the approval, issuance, supervision, and quota usage of the Foreigner Work Permit (FWP) for Filipino teachers of English language. They shall also provide the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) with the list of duly accredited TEIs and ensure strict implementation of the standard employment contract. The Philippine Embassy and its Consulates in China shall serve as the contact window to address and resolve all labor-related concerns pertaining to the hiring and deployment of teachers, and those that may arise on site. The POEA, meanwhile, through its Government and Placement Branch shall provide adequate support in the recruitment, orientation, processing, and documentation of Filipino teachers-applicants. It shall also undertake the pre-screening of applicants and endorse a shortlist of pre-screened applicants to SAFEA, together with their application papers. Meanwhile, the number of Filipino teachers of English language to be accepted, as provided for in the guidelines, shall be based on the actual situation of market supply and demand determined annually through negotiation by both governments.Paris (AFP) - A group of NGOs including Greenpeace and Oxfam have launched a lawsuit against the French state accusing it of taking insufficient action to tackle climate change.

It comes after similar action was launched by farmers in Germany, and the Dutch government lost a landmark case brought by an environmental rights group on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

"The failure of the state in the fight against climate change reflects a lack of respect in its obligation to protect the environment and the health and security of the population," the NGOs said in a joint statement on Monday.

The French government will have two months to respond to the legal action.

"We are seeking redress for damages and asking the state to act straight away at all levels," Greenpeace campaigner Laura Monnier said.

The NGOs allege that France, where greenhouse gas emissions rose again in 2015, has not met its short-term climate objectives.

President Emmanuel Macron, who has attempted to paint himself as a leader in fighting climate change since his election last year, recently backed down on anti-pollution fuel tax hikes in the face of country-wide "yellow vest" protests.

In October, the Dutch government lost an appeal against a ruling which ordered it to slash greenhouse gases by at least 25 percent by 2020.

Environmental rights group Urgenda fought the successful case on behalf of some 900 Dutch citizens who accused the Netherlands of doing too little to prevent dangerous climate change.

In Germany, dismayed farmers who have suffered damage to their crops and dairy farms as a result of record drought have also filed a lawsuit, with the aid of Greenpeace, against Berlin to force action.

Last month the UN's Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) said in a report that warming is on track toward an unliveable 3C or 4C rise, and avoiding global chaos will require a major transformation.

A deal reached at the UN's COP24 climate summit earlier this month was criticised for not matching the ambition of the world's most vulnerable countries.Benghazi (Libya) (AFP) - At least nine security service members were killed in a suspected Islamic State group attack in the southeastern Libyan town of Tazerbo on Friday, a senior security official said.

Eleven other people including civilians and a security chief were also "kidnapped" by members of the extremist group, which attacked a police station in the oasis town, added the official.

The Tazerbo desert region is controlled by the forces of strongman Khalifa Haftar, who heads the self-styled National Libyan Army (ANL).

The capital Tripoli is the seat of a rival administration -- the internationally-backed government led by Fayez al-Sarraj.

The attack, which has not yet been claimed, is the second in less than a month targeting forces loyal to Haftar.

The first, claimed by IS, killed at least five people in October in the central Kufra region.

Another attack in August claimed by IS killed 11 people including nine members of the ANL.

Torn apart by power struggles and undermined by chronic insecurity, Libya has become a haven for jihadists since the ouster and killing of Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

IS took advantage of the chaos to gain a foothold in the city of Sirte in 2015 but forces loyal to a UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) resumed control of the city in December 2016 after eight months of deadly fighting.

Since then, some jihadists have returned to the desert in an attempt to regroup and reorganise.

In September, IS claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on the headquarters of the Libya's National Oil Company (NOC) in the heart of Tripoli which left two dead and 10 wounded.

Four months earlier, it also claimed an attack on the electoral commission headquarters which left 14 dead.By Ju-min Park and Hyunjoo Jin SEOUL (Reuters) - When Choi Ba-da pitched his car-sharing firm Luxi to Hyundai Motor officials in 2017, he told them there would be no future for South Korea's top automaker if it failed to embrace emerging technologies. His pitch worked: Hyundai agreed to buy a 12 percent stake in Luxi for $5 million, its first investment in a car-sharing firm as it joined rivals in the race for new-age transportation. But about six months later, Hyundai sold its stake after thousands of angry taxi drivers, worried about their jobs, threatened to boycott Hyundai cars, Choi told Reuters. Hyundai officials say they were also wary of laws limiting car sharing in South Korea. Hyundai's breakup with Luxi illustrates how rigid regulations, strong labor unions and a risk-averse culture among South Korea's giant family run conglomerates, or chaebol, have hindered the growth of start-ups in Asia's fourth-largest economy. President Moon Jae-in's administration says the country's decades-old growth model, powered by a handful of large exporters such as Hyundai and Samsung, has reached its limit in the face of Chinese competition and rising labor costs. To offset slowing growth in sectors such as autos, ships and chips, it created a new ministry for start-ups last year and has boosted funding to cultivate new technologies. But the government has been too slow to remove cumbersome regulations for start-ups, wary of upending the country's economic order or upsetting powerful labor unions, according to interviews with a dozen entrepreneurs, investors and executives. That has left South Korea surprisingly resistant to disruptive technologies despite its tech-savvy image, they say. "After agonizing, Hyundai officials told me that they had to go slow with the service, before eventually pulling out," Choi told Reuters. "But how on earth can a startup go slow?" In a statement to Reuters, Hyundai said it sold its stake in Luxi as the investment "did not fit a business model the company pursued", without elaborating. Hyundai's chief innovation officer Youngcho Chi also said South Korean restrictions on ride-sharing to unspecified "commuting hours" as one reason and said the automaker had concluded that Luxi was not going to work out. Instead, Hyundai pumped $275 million into Singaporean ride-hailing firm Grab this year. MOST STARTUPS ILLEGAL Hyundai and Samsung say they invest in both local and overseas startups. Close to the company's headquarters, South Korean startups are easier to communicate with, Hyundai said. Samsung told Reuters it has been running a startup support program for five years to raise local entrepreneurs. Still, some say chaebol are moving too slowly. "The Korean success has been built on a fast-follower strategy, but Chinese rivals are catching up very fast," said Hwang Sungjae, a co-founder of Fluenty, a South Korean artificial intelligence startup acquired by Samsung Electronics last year. "Companies now have no choice but to innovate and work with start-ups, but they are not investing quickly enough." "I think Korean companies are at a great risk of falling behind." Regulations are another challenge. South Korean laws would entirely or partially block about 70 percent of the worlds top 100 startups by investment size from bringing their services to the country, according to joint research by Google Campus Seoul and the Asan Nanum Foundation. Those include giants Airbnb, Uber, and China's Ant Financial. In February, top South Korean mobile messaging operator Kakao Corp bought Luxi for $25 million, but it remains stymied by carpooling regulations, and has yet to launch amid fierce protests from taxi drivers. One protesting taxi driver set himself on fire and died last week, and unionized drivers say they plan a huge rally this week. Kakao said it pushed back the launch schedule of its carpool service in the wake of the suicide. South Korea's transport ministry declined to comment. Regulations also prohibit venture capital funds from investing in financial, real estate, accommodation and restaurant sectors in South Korea. The government has proposed a new law to lift those restrictions, but a senior government official acknowledged it would be neither easy nor quick. "The bottom line is that we have to move toward innovation, but it takes a lot of time and is a difficult process to mediate existing interests, the government official at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups told Reuters. Realistically, we cant simply ignore existing interests. Theres no clear answer." He declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. 'ARE YOU DREAMING?' Many Korean ventures are focused on applications that would only apply locally, making them a hard sell for global companies, a Samsung Electronics executive told Reuters, asking not to be named as he was not authorized to speak to media. Since 2016, Samsung Electronics has acquired minority stakes in nine startups, only one based in South Korea, according to corporate research firm CEO Score. Hyundai Motor has invested a total 85 billion won ($75.11 million) worth of minority stakes in 15 foreign startups over the last three years, compared to 28 billion won spent on five local ventures over the same period, CEO Score said. San Francisco-based venture fund 500 Startups, one of the early investors in Grab, said it had looked at Korean ride-sharing firms for a possible investment, but decided against it because of legal restrictions. "The regulatory environment hasn't been favorable to the investors like us," Jeffrey Lim, who heads 500 Startups's Korea office, told Reuters. There were, however, Korean industries offering interesting opportunities, such as pop music, online games, and cosmetics, Lim said. 500 Startups has invested 6.5 billion won in 30 South Korean firms since 2015, including radio app Spoon which is now available in Southeast Asia and Japan. Other established foreign rivals have also backed South Korean start-ups despite the challenges. Japan's Softbank has invested in more than 20 tech companies in South Korea since 2012, according to venture capital data provider CB Insights, including a $2 billion stake in online retailer Coupang in November. South Korean startup Viva Republica, which operates money transfer app Toss, last week raised $80 million from U.S. investors including Kleiner Perkins and Ribbit Fund, valuing it at $1.2 billion. Korean conglomerates' tendency to avoid risk and shun outside partnerships makes them slower than foreign rivals to adapt to fast changing technologies, said Rhee Moo-weon, a management professor at Seoul-based Yonsei University, who advises Samsung, Hyundai and the South Korean government. In 2003, Samsung missed the opportunity to acquire the then small maker of the Android smartphone operating system, just two weeks before Google bought it for $50 million plus incentives, according to a 2013 book by Fred Vogelstein "Dogfight: How Apple and Google Went to War and Started a Revolution". When Android creator Andy Rubin pitched his firm to Samsung, a Samsung executive told him, "Are you dreaming? You and what army are going to go and create this? You have six people. Are you high?," according to the book. Samsung said it could not confirm the content of the book. THINK OUTSIDE KOREA As cash-rich conglomerates remain reluctant buyers, only 3 percent of South Korean startups were able to recoup their investments through trade sales in 2017, according to the Korean Venture Capital Association. That leaves IPOs as one of a few exit options, but it takes about 12 years for South Korean startups to go pubic - "an eternity" compared to Silicon Valley where it typically takes six to seven years, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Co. Only last year, South Korea introduced the so-called "Tesla listing rule" which allows loss-making startups to list on its junior, tech heavy Kosdaq market. It's named after the U.S. electric carmaker that remains loss-making eight years after going public in 2010, but is worth $63 billion. So far, only e-commerce platform Cafe24 Corp has used the Tesla rule to go public. Since its February listing, its shares have risen 25 percent. South Korean entrepreneurs say there is a long way to go. Government officials are trying to meet every stakeholder's demands in a way that doesnt lead to a solution," said Seo Seung-woo, a professor and entrepreneur who moved his self-driving start-up to Silicon Valley last year. I say, dont think about doing a startup in South Korea. Think outside Korea." (Reporting by Ju-min Park and Hyunjoo Jin; Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Lincoln Feast.)PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP)  North Koreans are marking the seventh anniversary of the death of leader Kim Jong Il with visits to statues and vows of loyalty to his son and successor, Kim Jong Un.

As snow fell Sunday, tens of thousands of people offered flowers and paid respects to the late leader at Mansu Hill in central Pyongyang, the location of huge bronze statues of the "Dear Leader" and national founder Kim Il Sung.

The anniversary observations were expected to continue through Monday across the country.

The death of Kim Jong Il on Dec. 17, 2011, thrust his son into power when he was still in his late 20s and a virtual unknown figure outside of the North.

Despite many predictions from outside experts that he wouldn't be up to the task, Kim Jong Un has consolidated his power, bolstered the country's economy in the face of intense international sanctions and attained a goal his father and grandfather could only dream of  he is the first North Korean leader to possess an arsenal of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles capable of reaching the United States.

With attention focused on the anniversary, there was little mention in the state media of the issues that have gotten the most attention elsewhere, including a flurry of speculation in South Korea that Kim might visit Seoul by the end of the year.

But the North's official Korean Central News Agency ran a lengthy commentary late Sunday that slammed the United States for "slander" and "sheer malice" against the country and for dragging its feet on efforts to improve relations after Kim's summit with President Donald Trump in Singapore in June.

The commentary deliberately focused its criticism on the State Department and administration officials, not at Trump, suggesting that Pyongyang remains open to another summit. Trump has suggested he could meet Kim again early next year.

With Kim's power base seemingly more solid than ever, and his recent effort to establish himself on the world stage through summits with Trump and others, North Korea watchers have been on the lookout for signs that his own personality cult is being bolstered.

Story continues

Virtually all homes and public offices in North Korea feature portraits of the elder Kims, who are also memorialized in countless statues, mosaics and cenotaphs around the country. North Korean adults wear pins over their hearts bearing the likenesses of Kim Il Sung of Kim Jong Il, or both.

The North has yet to come out with a Kim Jong Un pin or to order his image join the others on every wall, though Kim and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, have been referred to with increasingly lofty titles  "chairman" for Kim and "respected first lady" for Ri. A special portrait of the young chairman was unveiled recently at a ceremony to welcome the visit of Cuba's president, but none have appeared in public since. And unlike his father and grandfather, Kim's Jan. 8 birthday has yet to be declared a national holiday or even marked on calendars.

None of that should be assumed to be a sign of weakness, however.

Kim is generally afforded the same reverential treatment by the state media, and for maintaining a respectful step behind his predecessors, he is credited with showing humility and confidence.

___

Talmadge is the AP's Pyongyang bureau chief. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram: @EricTalmadgeJohannesburg (AFP) - South Africa's largest gold producer, Sibanye-Stillwater, on Thursday said one of its employees was shot dead in a violent strike that shuttered all three of its mines.

Called by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), the strike began late on Wednesday, shutting down all of Sibanye's mines which employ some 32,000 people, in the latest test for the country's struggling mining sector.

"There has been quite a lot of violence and intimidation. It is a charged environment and emotions are (running) high," Sibanye spokesman James Wellsted told AFP.

"One of our employees was killed during the night. There have been a number of other injuries, including workers in hospital with gunshot wounds and stab wounds."

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said the dead man, who was a union member, was attacked on a bus taking workers to the Beatrix mine in Welkom, Free State province.

"Attackers started by closing the security gates, throwing stones at the bus," an NUM statement said.

"One of our members was shot and killed and others sustained serious injuries."

South Africa has a history of mining strikes, with the 2014-15 labour dispute in the platinum sector causing severe damage to the industry.

"Our members are prepared to (strike) in order to achieve a living wage in this sector," AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa told local media.

The South African Minerals Council, which represents mine owners, estimates profitable gold reserves could be exhausted as soon as 2033.Washington (AFP) - Two partners of President Donald Trump's former national security advisor Michael Flynn were indicted Monday over an Ankara-backed scheme to remove Turkish dissident cleric Fethullah Gulen from the United States.

The Justice Department charged Bijan Rafiekian, aka Bijan Kian, 66, of San Juan Capistrano, California, and Kamil Ekim Alptekin, 41, of Istanbul, with acting as unregistered agents of the Turkish government and lying to the FBI over the 2016 scheme.

According to the indictment, Rafiekian and Alptekin made arrangements for the Flynn Intel Group to be indirectly paid $600,000 by the Turkish government to help turn US public and political sentiment against exiled Gulen.

The plan was developed at the height of the 2016 election campaign when Flynn was advising then-candidate Trump on foreign and security policy.

The goal, the Justice Department said, was to obtain Gulen's extradition back to Turkey, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had accused him of orchestrating the July 2016 coup attempt.

The deal with Flynn was approved at top levels of the Turkish government, the indictment said, with Alptekin keeping senior ministers apprised of its progress.

The indictment came one day ahead of the planned sentencing of Flynn, who was arrested last year over his secret dealings with Russian officials and Turkey.

Flynn admitted one count of lying to the FBI in a plea deal which led to him providing "substantial" information to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia meddling in the 2016 election.

Flynn's work with the Turks has been known since last year, when the Wall Street Journal reported that he, Rafiekian and Alptekin met Erdogan's son-in-law Berat Albayrak and Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in New York in September 2016.

At that meeting they discussed physically removing Gulen from his Pennsylvania home to Turkey without a legal extradition order.

Story continues

The Journal cited former CIA director James Woolsey, who attended the same meeting and later told reporters he found the idea possibly illegal.

At the time the administration of president Barack Obama had not approved Ankara's extradition request for Gulen, and the Trump administration has also demurred on the issue.

"It's not under consideration," Trump told reporters on November 17.

But on Sunday, according to media reports, Cavusoglu said Trump recently told Erdogan that the White House is working on extraditing Gulen.Paul Pogba posted a cheeky social media message after manager Jose Mourinho was fired

Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has poked fun at sacked manager Jose Mourinho with a provocative post on social media.

The now-deleted post shows the French World Cup winner sporting a cheeky and quizzical expression, with the tagline Caption this!

READ MORE: Manchester United sack manager Jose Mourinho

READ MORE: Manchester United sack Mourinho  Who are the favourites to replace him?

Manchester United marquee man Paul Pogba took to Instagram after Jose Mourinho was sacked

Prominent football commentator  and former United man  Gary Neville had his say on the post

The pair have had a series of public feuds all season, with Mourinho stripping Pogba of the Manchester United captaincy in September before dropping his talisman for several key encounters, including Sundays humiliating defeat to rivals Liverpool.

Mourinhos defensive style of play also received a dig from the 25-year-old, his #heretocreate hashtag a reference to the Frenchman feeling stifled in his role at Old Trafford as well as an Adidas slogan.

The tweet did not go down well with Manchester United stalwart Gary Neville, who tweeted back telling Pogba to do one as well.

Meanwhile Kyle Walker, who plays for inter-city rivals Manchester City, took a cheeky dig at Pogba after he was slammed for the post.

The 28-year-old defender, who deleted a tweet after the most recent Manchester derby originally mocking his rivals, took to Twitter to respond to Pogba.

Who deletes tweets these days!? read the simple post.

Who deletes tweets these days!? https://t.co/CnBnoXyM1m  Kyle Walker (@kylewalker2) December 18, 2018

Mourinho was sacked after 936 days in charge at Old Trafford and leaves the club following their worst ever start to a Premier League season.READ: Senate keen on

of parked porkBy Gabriella Borter (Reuters) - The Pittsburgh City Council began considering a package of gun-control laws on Tuesday, including a ban on assault-style rifles, nearly two months after a gunman shouting anti-Semitic messages killed 11 people in a synagogue. The measure would also ban certain types of ammunition and allow courts to ban gun ownership by people deemed to pose a significant threat of violence. Seven of nine council members agreed to co-sponsor the legislation at Tuesday's meeting. "As gun violence escalates across the country, it would be unconscionable for me to stand by and do nothing," Councilman Corey O'Connor, one of the legislation's authors, said in a statement. O'Connor represents Squirrel Hill, the neighborhood where the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue took place. Assault-style weapons, with the capacity to fire multiple rounds in a short period of time, have played a significant role in the series of deadly mass shootings the United States has experienced in recent years. A vote on the legislation is expected to held in February. Gun-rights advocates opposed the measures and threatened legal action if they passed. The Allegheny County Sportsmen's League and Firearm Owners Against Crime noted that a state law forbids local governments from enacting stricter gun laws than those in place statewide. The groups also said the proposal would violate the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Robert Bowers, 46, is accused of shooting and killing 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue on Oct. 27, using a legally purchased assault-style rifle and three handguns. He has pleaded not guilty. (Reporting by Gabriella Borter in New York; editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and James Dalgleish)Harare (AFP) - An inquest into the fatal shooting of six people in post-election violence in Zimbabwe squarely blamed the military and police on Tuesday, saying the use of live fire was "unjustified and disproportionate".

The victims were gunned down and dozens others were wounded when soldiers opened fire at protesters demonstrating in Harare on August 1 over delays in announcing the vote results.

"The commission's finding is that the deaths of those six people arose from the action of the military and the police," said a summary read out by President Emmerson Mnangagwa of the 1,290-page report.

"It's undisputed that the six people died as a result of gunshot wounds."

The commission found that 35 people suffered injuries and it recommended an investigation to identify those responsible.

"The use of live ammunition directly at people especially while they were fleeing was clearly unjustified and disproportionate," the report said, adding that the firing of live ammunition in the air was justified.

The probe team said the protests were pre-planned and that political leaders "heightened tensions", citing speeches by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.

The seven-member commission, led by former South African president Kgalema Mothlante, was instituted by Mnangagwa.

The shootings triggered international outrage and undermined Mnangagwa's attempts to present the July 30 election as a fresh start for Zimbabwe after the brutal reign of his predecessor Robert Mugabe.

The probe said the government had followed the law in deploying the army.

"Had the riots not been checked the situation could have escalated resulting in disastrous consequences," it said.

Army commanders who gave testimonies during the commission hearings claimed soldiers only fired warning shots into the air.

Mnangagwa, who has previously blamed the deaths on the MDC party, said the government would "study the recommendations and decide the way forward.

Story continues

"I am satisfied that the commission of inquiry diligently carried out its mandate," he said.

Mnangagwa took over from long-time ruler Mugabe who was ousted following a brief military takeover in November 2017, and won the election with just enough votes to avoid a second-round run-off.

He hoped the vote, which was also hit by fraud charges, would help end the countrys international isolation and attract foreign investors to revive the moribund economy.

The commission recommended government compensation for the victims' families and injured survivors.Moscow (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday laid out plans for Moscow to develop mid-range missiles banned under a Cold War treaty with the United States if Washington abandons the deal.

Tensions have raged over the fate of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF), with US President Donald Trump promising to walk away from the agreement and Putin threatening a new arms race.

Washington this month said it would withdraw from the INF within 60 days if Russia did not dismantle missiles that the US claims breach the deal.

The bilateral agreement forbids ground-launched short- and intermediate-range missiles, but not those launched from the air or sea.

Speaking at a defence ministry meeting, Putin said Russia's seaborne Kalibr and air-launched Kh-101 cruise missiles -- as well as cutting-edge hypersonic Kinzhal (Dagger) missiles -- would be converted for ground launch if Washington ditches the INF treaty.

"It probably won't be very difficult to conduct appropriate research and development and put them on the ground if need be," he said.

Putin once again touted the Kinzhal missile, which he first unveiled as part of an array of next-generation nuclear weapons in his annual state-of-the-nation address earlier this year.

"No one else has it yet," he said.

He said the deployment of Kalibr missiles during Moscow's Syria campaign proved useful, allowing the military to fine-tune "this very promising" weapon.

- Third countries to join? -

Putin also suggested he was open to the idea of other countries joining the INF treaty or to starting talks on a new agreement.

Signed in 1987 by then US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the treaty bans ground-launched missiles with a range of between 500 and 5,500 kilometres.

The deal resolved a crisis over Soviet nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles targeting Western capitals, but put no restrictions on other major military actors like China.

Story continues

"Yes, indeed there are certain difficulties with this treaty," Putin said.

"Other countries possessing short- and intermediate-range missiles are not party to it.

"But what prevents (us) from starting talks on their accession to the existing treaty or starting negotiating the parameters of a new treaty?"

Putin has said about a dozen countries were producing missiles of the type banned by the INF treaty.

Military expert Vasily Kashin said it would be fairly easy to convert Kalibr and Kh-101 cruise missiles for ground launch, though the Kinzhal hypersonic missile would need more work.

"This is not a threat, this is what will be unavoidable if there is no treaty," Kashin said.

He said ground-based intermediate-range missiles were cheaper, so Russia could place more of them in range of European targets, but added that Moscow wanted to keep the treaty to protect itself against a possible US attack.

Defence expert Alexander Golts said he doubted it would be possible to rescue the agreement and that expecting China to join the deal was "absolutely unrealistic".

"This is 90 percent of China's nuclear weapons capabilities," he said.

Former Cold War enemies Russia and the US have accused each other of being in breach of the agreement and Washington has said honouring it no longer made sense. Putin has said that Europe would be the main victim of a new US-Russia arms race.

The European Union has urged Russia and the US to save the deal.

A 60-day grace period -- granted by the US as a concession to European partners -- on the issue will expire in mid-February.By Stephen Nellis (Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc said it believes Apple Inc remains in violation of a Chinese court's orders to stop selling iPhones despite a software update that Apple pushed on Monday. Qualcomm on Dec. 10 said it had won a preliminary court order in China banning Apple from selling some older iPhone models that the court found violated two Qualcomm software patents. The same day, Apple said that all of its phones remained on sale in China. But on Dec. 14, Apple said that it would push a software update to its iPhones this week. The Cupertino, California-based company said it believed it was in compliance with the court's orders but that it would update its software "to address any possible concern about our compliance with the order." The update was pushed on Monday, Apple confirmed to Reuters. "Despite Apples efforts to downplay the significance of the order and its claims of various ways it will address the infringement, Apple apparently continues to flout the legal system by violating the injunctions," Don Rosenberg, Qualcomm's general counsel, told Reuters in a statement on Monday. Apple never publicly commented last week on why or how it believed its current iPhones for sale in China complied with the court's order, which concerned patents on software features for switching between apps on a smart phone and resizing photos before setting them as a wallpaper on a phone. Several media outlets, including CNBC, reported that Apple believed the court's orders applied only to iPhones running older versions of its iOS operating system. But the court's orders, a copy of which Qualcomm provided to Reuters, made no mention of operating systems and focused only on software features. Apples statements following the issuance of the preliminary injunction have been deliberate attempts to obfuscate and misdirect," Qualcomm's Rosenberg said in a statement on Monday. Qualcomm believes Apple is still in violation of the court's orders because Apple continues to sell phones and has not received an explicit order from the Chinese court allowing it to do so. "They are legally obligated to immediately cease sales, offers for sale and importation of the devices identified in the orders and to prove compliance in court," Rosenberg told Reuters in Dec. 14 in a statement. Asked by Reuters about Qualcomm's statements, Apple reiterated its earlier statements that it believes it is in compliance with the court order. (Reporting by Stephen Nellis; Editing by Greg Mitchell and Lisa Shumaker)Baby, Its Cold Outside has come in for some flack since the #MeToo movement, but some radio stations are still playing it. (Photo: Everett Collection)

A Kentucky radio station has decided to show its support for the newly controversial song Baby, Its Cold Outside, by playing it on repeat for two hours.

On Dec. 16, Louisvilles WAKY-FM played five different versions on loop from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. We just wanted a fun way to say, Hey, dont pick on the song! the oldies stations program director, Joe Fedele, tells Yahoo Lifestyle.

The song has faced controversy in the past two winters, as people began to scrutinize the situation portrayed in the lyrics. Written in 1944, it describes the exchange between a man and a woman, as the woman expresses her desire to get home and the man tries to persuade her to stay. At one point, the woman even asks, Whats in this drink?  probably the reason why some supporters of the #MeToo movement have expressed interest in banning the song.

This year, several radio stations have pulled the tune, but WAKY-FM decided to take the opposite tack.

We had heard that there were some radio stations banning the song, and we were curious about it, because wed been playing the song for years and years and years, with not a word about anything wrong with it, Fedele tells Yahoo Lifestyle. And so we heard that somebody had connected it with the #MeToo movement and partner abuse and sexual harassment. And we just figured, the song isnt anywhere close to that. So we wanted to kind of express our support for it.

The radio station announced its support of the song on Facebook on Saturday.

And it posted a reminder Sunday morning.

Most of the responses on Facebook have been positive.



Offline, the response has been mixed. I spoke to a social worker yesterday who disagreed with us playing it, and that was fine; we had a good conversation and just sort of agreed to disagree at the end, Fedele shares with Yahoo Lifestyle. But for the most part, people have been very positive about it and think maybe things are going too far in terms of people being politically correct, and we need to have a little more balance to it, I guess.

Story continues

Fedele consulted a female colleague in taking the decision, in addition to other DJs at the station. I also spoke to our general manager Rene Bell, and shes a pretty tough but fair-minded woman, and she was like, I see nothing wrong with this song, he notes. So we talked about it and said, Why dont we go ahead and do it?

The station isnt alone. Another Louisville station, WVEZ-FM  known as Louisvilles Original Christmas Music Station  hasnt stopped playing four different versions of the ditty.

San Francisco station 96.5 KOIT removed the song from its rotation on Dec. 4  but also invited listeners to weigh in on the change on a poll on its website on the same day.

KOITs listeners have spoken, and the overwhelming message is they do want to hear Baby, Its Cold Outside on our station, as they have throughout the years, the station said in a statement the following week. More than seven out of every 10 listeners who responded said, although some lyrics of the song may reflect a different era and a different sensibility than today, still they love the tradition and history of the song, and want to hear it as part of their holiday season, the statement said. At KOIT, we always listen carefully when our listeners take time to comment. In this case, it was very obvious what they wanted us to do.

A Canadian station followed suit. CBC Music, which operates in Toronto online and on 94.1 FM, explained in a Dec. 11 blog post that it had removed the popular song in recognition of the differing opinions pertaining to the lyrics. However, it began to change its tune once listeners expressed disappointment in that decision. Because we value our audience input, which was overwhelmingly to include the song, we have put it back on the two playlists where it had been removed, the corporations head of public affairs, Chuck Thompson, said in a statement.

WAKY isnt trying to be political. The station has been around for a long time, but we just try to be fun. If everyone wants to be serious, thats their business, but we just want to have fun. We dont want to be political, Fedele states.

In fact, its trying to do the very opposite. We want to make it lighter, he says. So many people get so uptight about things nowadays, its almost like theyre trying to be offended. And we want to say: Lets accept each other. If we have different opinions thats OK, we can still get along.

In defense of the song, Fedele broke down the lyrics. We just thought it was a romantic song about a romance thats just getting started, he explains. If you listen to the song, the woman starts out the song. As she goes through the song, she says, This evening has really been grand. You dont say that to somebody thats disrespecting you, Fedele points out. And she also says, not that theres anything wrong with him, but she was talking about fearing her family would find out and be all up in arms over it  that her reputation would be besmirched.

Fedele added that the song has a happy ending. By the end of the song, shes singing harmony with him and shes also singing, Baby, its cold outside, so she must agree with him, he reasons. The idea of somebody forcing it, I just dont think thats correct.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.



PARIS (Reuters) - Renault requested a full Nissan shareholder meeting, a source close to the company said - appearing to escalate the carmaker's standoff with its Japanese alliance partner in the wake of the pay scandal engulfing Chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn. Thierry Bollore, the French group's deputy CEO, issued the demand in a Dec. 14 letter to Nissan, the source said on Sunday, confirming a report in the Wall Street Journal. "We respectfully ask that the board consider calling an extraordinary general meeting of Nissan shareholders as promptly as practicable," Bollore wrote in the letter. A Renault spokesman declined to comment. Ghosn's arrest in Japan for alleged financial misconduct has shaken the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, with Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa calling for changes to weaken Renault's control. Renault owns 43.4 percent of Nissan, whose reciprocal 15 percent stake in its French parent carries no voting rights. Nissan in turn controls Mitsubishi via a 34 percent holding. The call for a shareholder meeting will likely be seen as an attempted show of force by Renault's interim management, led by Bollore and Mouna Sepehri, Ghosn's long-standing chief of staff who also heads legal affairs and communications. The letter made no mention of using the shareholder meeting to hire or fire Nissan board members but remained vague about its purpose, saying only that it would "allow for appropriate disclosure and discussion of governance and other matters". It added that the indictment of Nissan "creates significant risks to Renault, as Nissan's largest shareholder, and to the stability of our industrial alliance". At a Dec. 13 Renault board meeting, directors were briefed on the Nissan investigation that led to Ghosn's arrest. He was charged alongside Nissan this week over the company's failure to declare $43 million in deferred income he had arranged to receive. He and alleged accomplice Greg Kelly remain in custody. While Nissan ousted Ghosn days after his arrest, the Renault board reiterated its earlier decision to keep him in office. Directors have yet to be given access to the Nissan findings, which are being closely held by Renault lawyers. Bollore's demand for a Nissan shareholder meeting was a "management decision" that was not raised at the previous day's board session, the company source said, adding that it had been discussed subsequently with "all of the directors". Senior director Philippe Lagayette is standing in as chairman. The French government, Renault's biggest shareholder, is backing Michelin CEO Jean-Dominique Senard to replace Ghosn permanently as chairman, Le Figaro reported. (Reporting by Laurence Frost; editing by David Evans)Year in Review 2018: In Memoriam A look back at some of the famous faces we lost in 2018.

They were musicians, writers, politicians, chefs and groundbreaking scientists. We lost many of our most beloved heroes, creators and leaders in 2018.

Both the 41st U.S. president and the 41st U.S. first lady are also gone.

Several of the 20th centurys most awarded authors, from Philip Roth and Tom Wolfe to Ursula K. Le Guin and Neil Simon, were laid to rest.

Unfortunately, this was also a year marked by a number of high-profile suicides, including Anthony Bourdain, Kate Spade, Avicii and Verne Troyer.

Each of these losses was difficult in its own way. Click through the gallery above for a look back at celebrities we said goodbye to in 2018.Special counsel Robert Mueller released a memo late Monday summarizing the FBIs January 2017 interview with President Donald Trumps then-national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

In the interview, Flynn, who was also a senior adviser to Trumps presidential campaign, lied about his conversations with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. He is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday for lying to the FBI.

The memo was made public after U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan issued an order requiring prosecutors to release the document, citing the strong public presumption in favor of public access to judicial records.

The document shows two clear examples of Flynn lying to federal agents.

His first lie was telling the FBI that no, he had not sought to influence a Russian United Nations vote regarding Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The interviewing agents asked Flynn if he made any comment to Kislyak about voting in a certain manner or slowing down the vote  Flynn answered, No, the memo said.

Flynn later admitted to asking Kislyak to either delay or oppose the vote.

Per the memo, Flynn also lied about conversations with Kislyak regarding sanctions imposed by the Obama administration on Russia.

When asked whether Flynn had urged the ambassador to not escalate tensions between the two countries over the sanctions, Flynn responded, Not really. I dont remember. It wasnt, Dont do anything, the memo said.

Flynn later acknowledged that he had asked Russia not to retaliate over the sanctions  something the country agreed to do.

Flynn, a retired Army general, pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian government representatives.

He faces up to six months in prison for the felony offense. But Mueller, who is leading the Trump-Russia probe, has recommended that Flynn receive little or no prison time because of his cooperation with the investigation.

Read the memo here:

This post has been updated with more information about the memo.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.President Rodrigo Duterte does not feel alluded to by Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagles remarks that power should not be used for bullying people, the Palace said on Tuesday. No. He [Duterte] doesnt bully people. He expresses his sentiment on a particular matter, situation. He expresses dislike and he explains it. He threatens criminals, yes, to make them feel threatened and stop doing their criminal acts, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a Palace press briefing Tuesday. He made the remark after Tagle, in his homily during the first Misa de Gallo, said that a person in high office does not have the right to trample others and called bullies fearful and insecure. Panelo said that he agrees with the Catholic officials remark in a general context. Whom does he refer to? Because those in power would also apply to those in the Church. If you use the pulpit for bullying people, then its the same, he said. If the message is in the generic or general term, then I agree, he added. Tagles message during the midnight Mass service in Manila Cathedral on Sunday came after the President justified his remark that bishops are better off dead.In his speech last week, Duterte continued his verbal attacks against the Catholic Church. The president said that a bishop had prayed for his death before, so he has the right to do the same. If you priests, bishops, if you can say that to me, wish me theto die in a Mass, why will I not talk? You should, too. Anyway, who will believe that you will go to heaven? he said. Youre dreaming. All of us, well see each other in hell, he added, insisting that most of the clergymen are gay and into homosexual acts. The Palace, however, downplayed the Presidents remarks as mere expressions of hyperbole.By Andrew Osborn MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Monday it had built new barracks for troops on a disputed chain of islands near Japan and would build more facilities for armored vehicles, prompting a diplomatic protest from Tokyo. Russia's Ministry of Defence said it planned to shift troops next week into four housing complexes on two of the four disputed islands, known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan. Japan's defense ministry says 3,500 Russian troops are deployed on the two larger islands as part of a military buildup. The news came after the Kremlin said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might visit Russia on Jan. 21 as the two countries step up efforts to defuse the territorial dispute that has prevented them from signing a World War Two peace treaty. In Tokyo, Foreign Minister Taro Kono told a regular news conference that Japan would lodge a protest. Japan said in July it had asked Russia to reduce its military activity on the islands, a plea Moscow dismissed as unhelpful megaphone diplomacy at the time. "We plan to lodge a protest," Kono told reporters, adding that Japan would clearly state its position during negotiations. "The premise of the upcoming negotiations is solving the island issue and concluding a peace treaty," he said. Soviet forces seized the four islands at the end of World War Two. Russia and Japan both claim sovereignty over them. Despite the tension over the islands, the neighbors are discussing various other issues. At economic talks in Tokyo on Tuesday, the two sides said there was progress in areas such as energy and medicine, Kyodo news agency said. MISSILES Diplomats on both sides have spoken of the possibility of reviving a Soviet-era draft agreement that envisaged returning two of the four islands as part of a peace deal. President Vladimir Putin and Abe have held numerous meetings to try to make progress on the issue. Japan says it is concerned by what it regards as an unhelpful Russian military build-up on the islands - which has included warplanes, missile defenses and other deployments. Russia says it is perturbed by Japan's roll-out of the Aegis Ashore U.S. missile system, part of Japan's defense plans to counter China, North Korea and Russia. Russian politicians say they fear Japan might agree to deploy U.S. missile facilities on the islands if any are returned to Tokyo, and that Moscow could only countenance a deal if it received a guarantee that ruled out such a scenario. In the meantime, Moscow is fortifying the islands. Russia's Defence Ministry said on Monday it wanted troops and their families to move on Dec. 25 into two new housing sites on the island of Iturup (Etorofu in Japan), and into two other complexes on the island of Kunashir (Kunashiri in Japan). Troops moved into two similar facilities last year and three more barracks are planned for 2019, the ministry said. "Also on both islands we have modern and heated storage facilities for weapons and armored vehicles," the ministry said in a statement, adding that more such facilities were planned. (Additional reporting by Tom Balmforth in Moscow and Elaine Lies and Linda Sieg in Tokyo.; Editing by Christian Lowe, Mark Heinrich and Darren Schuettler)Moscow (AFP) - Russia has cut its military flights in Syria from more than 100 per day to fewer than four a week, the defence minister said Tuesday, in another sign the country's conflict is winding down.

Russia launched air strikes in Syria in support of long-term ally President Bashar al-Assad in September 2015.

Russian support helped Assad's forces reclaim swathes of territory once in the hands of opposition fighters and Islamic extremists.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told an annual meeting of top brass that Russia's air force had seen a drastic reduction in the number of sorties in Syria.

"Flights have been reduced from 100-110 per day to two to four sorties per week, mainly for additional reconnaissance," Shoigu said, without giving a specific timeframe for the reduction.

Related Video: Russia to Make Banned Missles if U.S. Exits Treaty

Shoigu told the meeting, also attended by President Vladimir Putin, that Russia "had completed the withdrawal of its main forces from Syria," not including those based at its Hmeimim airbase and Tartus naval base.

Shoigu announced a year ago that Russia had formally ceased its military operation in Syria after helping to clear it of jihadists.

However operations have continued, with Russia saying in November its planes had carried out air strikes on Syrian "terrorist groups" in the buffer zone in the northwestern province of Idlib.

Syria's war erupted in 2011 following a regime crackdown on anti-government protests, with more than 360,000 killed and much of the country left in ruins.

While much of Syria was once rocked by heavy fighting, separate offensives by pro-government and US-backed Kurdish forces have dislodged opposition and jihadist fighters from most of their former strongholds, leaving the northwestern province of Idlib as the last major rebel bastion.GENOA, Italy /MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's biggest builder Salini Impregilo and shipbuilder Fincantieri have won the contract to rebuild a bridge that collapsed in August, killing 43 people, in the port city of Genoa. The project will cost 202 million euros ($230 million)- excluding value added tax - and be completed in 12 months, Marco Bucci, the special commissioner appointed by the government to oversee the reconstruction, said on Tuesday, confirming what sources told Reuters earlier in the day. The concrete bridge, the responsibility of infrastructure group Atlantia's unit Autostrade per l'Italia, collapsed on Aug. 14, severing part of a motorway linking Genoa with southern France. That put at risk the activity of the port, which last year accounted for 1.5 percent of Italy's gross domestic product. "Twelve months to help re-launch Genoa ... that is the dream that we are hoping to give the Genoese before Christmas in memory of the victims of this terrible tragedy," said Pietro Salini, chief executive of Salini Impregilo. Public works will kick start the economy and create jobs again, Salini added. Famed Genoa-born architect Renzo Piano, who donated a proposal for the new viaduct, has agreed to supervise the works, Bucci, who is also the mayor of Genoa, said during a news conference. The government blamed Autostrade for the disaster and decided to exclude the business from the reconstruction project, even though it will have to pay for it. Autostrade and some of its top managers are under investigation for the collapse. Atlantia, controlled by the Benetton family, has put aside 350 million euros to cover the estimated cost of rebuilding. "We promised the families of the victims that Autostrade would not even place a stone and that's the case," Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said in Rome. Autostrade is planning to file a legal challenge against the government decree that excludes it from rebuilding the viaduct. Italferr, a unit of state-owned railway company Ferrovie dello Stato, will also be involved in the project, the transport ministry said in a statement. (Reporting by Paola Balsomini; Writing by Francesca Landini; Editing by Mark Potter)Riyadh (AFP) - OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced an expansionary budget for 2019 but projected a shortfall for the sixth year in a row due to low oil prices.

The new budget comes with the oil-rich kingdom reeling under strong international pressure over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the war in Yemen as it seeks to attract foreign investment to diversify its economy away from oil.

The world's largest crude exporter is also bracing for difficulties in 2019 as oil prices are expected to remain week after shedding a third of their value since early October despite producers having decided to cut output from January.

Saudi Arabia projects a deficit of $35 billion next year, or 4.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), about 32 percent lower than the estimated deficit of $52 billion for 2018.

Spending is estimated at $295 billion, the largest in the oil-rich kingdom's history, while revenues, mostly from oil, are estimated at $260 billion, up 24 percent on 2018 estimates, said a statement read by King Salman.

The kingdom, which has introduced economic reforms aimed at reducing its dependence on oil, has posted budget shortfalls each year since 2014 when crude prices crashed.

Between 2014 and this year, the accumulated budget deficits hit $313 billion, according to finance ministry figures.

To diversify sources of income, the kingdom has increased the prices of fuels and electricity, imposed a five-percent value added tax (VAT) and levied fees on 11 million expatriates.

"We are determined to pursue economic reforms, control fiscal management, bolster transparency and strengthen the private sector," the king said in a brief statement to the cabinet.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is behind the Vision 2030 to reform the economy, said the government would continue to "diversify the sources of income and consolidate fiscal sustainability through boosting non-oil revenues."

Story continues

Prince Mohammed said non-oil revenues increased from $34 billion in 2014 to $77 billion this year and are estimated to reach $83.5 billion or a third of total revenues.

The finance ministry said it collected $12 billion from VAT in its first year of introduction.

The ministry said the kingdom, which is pumping about 10.5 million barrels of oil per day, succeeded in reducing the estimated budget deficit in 2018 by 31 percent to $36 billion due to the partial rebound in crude prices.

It said actual spending for 2018 came at $275 billion and revenues at $239 billion, both much higher than projections.

The ministry also said the country's economy, which contracted by 0.9 percent last year, grew by 2.3 percent.

It expects growth to hit 2.6 percent in 2019.

The ministry said the Gulf kingdom would resort to drawing on state reserves and borrowing to plug the deficit.

Riyadh withdrew hundreds of billions of dollars from its reserves and borrowed tens of billions of dollars from the domestic and international markets to plug the budget deficit.

Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan told a news conference that public debt was projected to rise to 21.7 percent of GDP from its current level of 19.5 percent.

State reserves managed by the Saudi central bank have climbed to $523 billion from less than $480 billion a few months ago, the minister said.

He said that the kingdom had managed to gradually reduce the budget deficit and expected to reach a fiscal balance by 2023.New Shakepay Feature Turns Your Spare Change Into Bitcoin





Mobile cryptocurrency exchange and peer-to-peer wallet Shakepay has announced a new product that allows its Canadian customers to buy bitcoin with spare change. Dubbed "ShakePay Change," the pre-launch of the service was announced in a Medium post.



The new service connects to a user's bank credit and debit card, rounds up every purchase made to the nearest dollar and uses the resulting change to purchase bitcoins automatically. So, if you buy a latte for $2.97, Shakepay Change would use the $0.03 to invest in bitcoins or ether.

Each satoshi purchased will be added to the users Shakepay wallet, where it can be transferred to another bitcoin wallet or sold for cash. Shakepay charges a 0.75 percent transaction fee for buying or selling cryptocurrency, but it's free to deposit or withdraw funds.

"Were excited that Shakepay Change will allow every Canadian to easily own bitcoin, buying small amounts gradually over time. Many of our customers already buy bitcoin week after week for the purpose of long-term holding," Shakepay CEO Jean Amiouny told Bitcoin Magazine via email.

Montreal-based Shakepay operates with a Money Service Business license from the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada (FINTRAC) in all Canadian provinces and territories. The firm had also partnered with Schedule 1 bank, one of the few bitcoin-friendly banks in Canada, earlier this year. Amiouny said the new service will be available to all customers of major Canadian banks and credit unions, so Canadian users will be able to link their bank accounts to Shakepay Change once it launches regardless of their bank.

On the issue of security, Amiouny said the startup has built extra security features to protect customers, including "2-Factor authentication, email confirmations for outgoing crypto transactions, app PIN code, [and] login alerts, among other fraud detection programs internally."

He said that the majority of customer funds are held in an air-gapped cold storage system with only a small portion of funds held in the companys online hot wallet so that they are available for immediate customer withdrawals.

Story continues

Shakepay's round-up investment for cryptocurrencies is similar to what Acorns did to traditional assets. U.S.-based Acorns launched its micro-investment service three years ago, which became popular with millennials, enabling the company to grow to over 850,000 customers. Customers entrust the investing app with their credit card details; in return, the app automates their investment process on traditional assets.

Coinflash offers a similar service to American consumers through its mobile app. Unlike Shakepay, Coinflash pulls the data from your debit or credit card and uses the spare change to make purchases on Coinbase. Thus, users need a Coinbase account before they can fully profit from the automated investment process.

Shakepay Change, on the other hand, uses Shakepays own exchange, so it doesn't need to outsource this service.

A similar service, Lawnmower, which started as a roundup app for buying up bitcoin with spare change, was acquired by digital currency news outlet Coindesk in 2017. As with Coinflash, Lawnmower makes its purchases through an API integration with Coinbase. Lawnmower was subsequently acquired due to the ease of use and appeal of its cryptocurrency price charts.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.Square, the red-hot payments company founded by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey in 2009, has grown up a lot in the past 10 years.

Squares investors know it. The stock was up 72% through Dec. 14. Before the larger market pullback that began in October, shares were up 170% through the end of September. In just the past 13 months, Square has launched three new hardware devices: Register, an all-in-one point-of-sale system targeting larger sellers than Square serviced in the past; Terminal, a sleek brick for swiping, inserting, or tapping a credit card without needing an iPhone or iPad; and a new (Lightning-port compatible) version of its Reader, the flagship fob that plugs into a phone or tablet to take a card swipe. Speaking of cards, Square whittled down its chip-card processing time to 2 seconds flat this year.

Square also acquired catering service Zesty to bolster Caviar, the restaurant delivery app it bought in 2014; it acquired website-building platform Weebly; it saw enormous adoption growth of its peer-to-peer wallet Cash App, surpassing competitor Venmo in total downloads; and it made waves when it added the ability to buy bitcoin through Cash App.

For all this, Square is Yahoo Finances Company of the Year for 2018.

Graphic: David Foster/Yahoo Finance

In making this editorial decision each year, we take into account stock performance, sales growth, product innovation, and analyst sentiment. We also poll our readers on their pick; the top reader picks this year were Amazon, Apple, and Tesla, with Square at No. 8.

Square, with $26 billion in market cap and 2,300 employees, might look like a surprising choice compared to our picks in the past few years, all much larger companies: Facebook in 2015, Nvidia in 2016, and Amazon last year. But Square is rapidly making itself a force to be reckoned with in financial services. In November, the company forecast 60% growth for 2018 and more than $3.2 billion in revenue.

Yahoo Finance visited Square headquarters in San Francisco and spoke with Squares top executives, as well as a broad swath of analysts who cover the company. Read on to hear about Squares remarkable year, and why 2019 could be even bigger.

Story continues

Designing for a delightful experience

Square in its early days was associated with a single product: Square Reader, the white, square fob sticking out of an iPad or iPhone at your local indie coffee shop. (Along one wall inside Square headquarters on Market Street in San Francisco, theres a nostalgic display of 18 past iterations of the fob.) Square offers its magstripe-card Reader to merchants for free, and as Squares hardware lead Jesse Dorogusker says, Nothing beats free to get started. Its a really clean message, its consistent and persistent.

The devices design is also pleasantly self-explanatory: one look, and you know what it does.

But Square has diversified its hardware line over the years, and now offers an extensive range of software and services on top of its devices, from payroll to appointment booking to delivery to catering to lending. Weve finally achieved the ability to build all-in-one devices, says CEO Jack Dorsey, who only agreed to answer a select few questions via email. Square Register and Square Terminal each strengthen the reasons we think sellers chose Square: were fast, self-serve, cohesive, and elegant.

L-R: New Square hardware devices: Register; Reader with Lightning connector; Terminal. (Images via Square)

Square could have been a much more boring story. It could have been just a back-end, business-to-business company, explained simply: It provides hardware and software to more than 2 million sellers, and charges a flat 2.75% fee on every credit card swipe. But Square prioritized design, making it a brand that shoppers recognize.

Most people barely notice their point-of-sale experiences; they simply swipe or insert their card in whatever hunk of metal sits in front of them at the cash register. But people notice Square devices, and tend to enjoy using them. We want the products people use when they make payments to look as nice as the products they use in their personal lives, says Dorogusker. We try to not ignore the consumer and the store employee; its not just about the business owner. We want to give a delightful experience for all the constituents.

Sound like any other big tech company you know? No surprise: hardware lead Dorogusker spent eight years at Apple before joining Square. (The inside of Squares offices even looks like an Apple Store.) And like Apple, Squares services are growing; its no longer about just the hardware.

Square employees hang out on this giant staircase inside headquarters on Market Street in San Francisco. (Daniel Roberts/Yahoo Finance)

A very sticky network

The word you hear over and over when you speak to people at Square is ecosystem.

In the third quarter of 2018, Square reported $882 million in revenue; 74% of that was transaction-based revenue. (Square has beat expectations on revenue every quarter since it went public.) Square can be agnostic about which of its devices facilitates each transaction.

Whatever the entry point is for a seller, Square has become very good at luring that seller into the broader suite of Square products and services. Its revenue from subscriptions and services was up 155% year-over-year in the third quarter, driven by Instant Deposit, Cash Card (a debit-card feature through Cash App), and Square Capital, its lending business.

Square also reported its first quarterly profit in Q3 of $19.6 million, but the profit was entirely thanks to Squares investment in ticketing startup Eventbrite. Square made a partnership with Eventbrite last year to become its main payment processor and invested $25 million; this year, when Eventbrite went public, Squares investment converted to common stock and doubled in value, giving a gain of $37 million. Although Squares first profitable quarter was prompted by an atypical windfall, the Eventbrite investment is no outlier in terms of its business; partnering with a hot ticketing marketplace is another step that makes sense for Square.

The intention is to build a very sticky network, says Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri. Devices is not how theyre going to make their money. These are just a way to make their whole offering sticky. The big picture is about their services, and frequency of usage. PayPal is trying to do the same thing.

A small business, like a craft jewelry seller, may start out using only Square Reader, or using only Squares point-of-sale software paired with a non-Square cash register, then discover the ease of integrating with Squares other products, which all speak to each other.

Many small businesses stitch together products and software from multiple providers, like a credit-card reader from Verifone, software by Worldpay, and so on. But in many cases, says Squares seller lead Alyssa Henry, What were actually competing against isnt other software or hardware providers, its pen and paper. Its a basic cash drawer. And its just too hard for them to change to a new system, and theyre really, really busy, and many people just give up. We make it easy.

Squares ecosystem is still underappreciated, in the eyes of Wolfe Research analyst Darrin Peller: They attach other products and offerings around payments better than any company Ive ever seen.

Caviar, the food delivery app Square bought in 2014, also fits with the ecosystem. The startup launched in 2012 with the hook that it delivered from restaurants that did not previously offer delivery. We liked Caviar because of its deep relationships with restaurants, says Caviar lead Gokul Rajaram, widely known in Silicon Valley for his prior work on Google AdSense. That aligned with Squares philosophy.

Caviar has much smaller U.S. market share than GrubHub, Uber Eats, and DoorDash, but its big in San Francisco (27% share), and growing quickly. Its pitch to restaurants is the Square ecosystem: Caviar delivery couriers can get paid through Cash App, and now get free accident insurance from Square; restaurants on Caviar can get a small-business loan from Square Capital with three clicks, and Square uses Caviar volume as a predictor to assess the size of loan. (The average loan is around $6,000 and Square Capital has loaned more than $3.5 billion.)

We go in and say not just, We are an online ordering platform, says Rajaram, but Hey, we are part of this bigger company Square, and this ecosystem with online ordering, payroll, lending, that can all work for you. Everything has a way of plugging into the rest.

And the ecosystem was always the plan. Glenn Solomon, a partner at GGV Capital, which invested in Squares Series E round in 2014 before it went public, says that when he first met Dorsey in 2010, The way he laid out the story for what he wanted to build with Square is exactly consistent with where they are right now. It is one of the few companies Ive seen in my 20 years in venture capital that has been completely consistent with what they wanted to build.

Bigger merchants, bigger competition

Square defines any merchant with annualized payment volume of $125,000 or less as micro sellers, and anything above that level a larger seller. (That bar is lower than most other payment processors define it.) The micro merchant segment is Squares bread and butter, and among them, its brand is untouchable. KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Josh Beck says when he surveys micro-merchants that use Square, Youd be surprised the number that did not even consider anyone else. Its because they have such a strong brand and get so many referrals.

Now Square is increasingly going after larger merchants. Its Register and Terminal devices are part of that effort, and Square is making fast progress there: 52% of its gross payment volume now comes from larger sellers.

Im happy to say that Square has helped blur the line between sizes of businesses, says Dorsey.

But Square is now competing more head-to-head with big, back-end payments players like First Data, Global Payments, and Worldpay. It used to be that Square barely ever saw competition, says analyst Peller, because they were dealing with just small merchants. Square also has to worry about PayPaland not just PayPal-owned Venmo. PayPals $2.2 billion acquisition of European payments company iZettle this year was also a shot at Square, which has not yet expanded meaningfully into Europe.

A live map in the lobby of Square's San Francisco offices shows Square-enabled card swipes across America. (Daniel Roberts/Yahoo Finance)

As Square continues to pitch larger merchants that have used older payment providers for decades and might resist switching, it could find more resistance in adoption.

Dorsey, unsurprisingly, says Squares biggest competitor is always ourselves.

Cash App is surging

Adoption of Cash App, which first launched in 2013, was a particular high point in 2018. Square has not shared the apps monthly active user count since December 2017, when the number was 7 million. Venmo has never shared its number. Research firm eMarketer estimates Venmo at 23 million monthly active users and Cash App at 10 million.

But Square made enormous gains this year on Venmo. Nomura Instinet analyst Dan Dolev, using Sensor Tower mobile data, estimates 39.9 million total cumulative downloads of Cash App, compared to 37.1 million of Venmo.

Of course, downloads are not the same as monthly active users; Venmo is still ahead. (Dolev pegs Cash App at 13.6 million users.) In New York City, Venmo has better name-brand recognition; it is the default mobile wallet app that millennials know. But analysts say Cash App is bigger than Venmo in the Southeastand Google Trends backs that up. In states like Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas, Cash is king.

Google Trends data for interest in Venmo (blue) vs Cash App (red) over the last 12 months.

Dolev says Cash App downloads surpassed Venmo downloads for the first time in July. That was shortly after Square added a number of new features to the app, including bitcoin and boosts, which suggests that these features drove a wave of new buzz for the app.

Cash Card is a physical Visa debit card that carries the balance from your Cash App and isnt connected to a bank; boosts are a new feature this year that give cardholders an instant discount at participating stores of their choice, including Chipotle and Starbucks. Cardholders can only have one boost activated at a time and can easily swap out boosts inside Cash App.

Square announced in November 2017 it was testing a bitcoin-buying feature on Cash App; the stock popped 16% and crypto enthusiasts cheered Dorsey on. Thats certainly not why we did it, says Cash App lead Brian Grassadonia, whose own Cash Card is engraved with the bitcoin symbol. It comes back to democratizing access to financial tools that have historically been really complicated, intimidating, and stressful.

Analysts frame it in less wide-eyed terms: it was a marketing move. (It certainly hasnt been financially meaningful for the company yet: Square made $420,000 in bitcoin profit in the second quarter and $555,000 in the third quarter.)

They hopped on the crypto bandwagon, got tons of press, and it significantly increased awareness of Cash App and drove a lot of downloads, says analyst Beck. To me, it was a brilliant customer acquisition strategy.

[Read more about Squares embrace of bitcoin.]

Square doesnt buy into the Cash App vs. Venmo framing anyway, because it doesnt view Cash App as just a peer-to-peer wallet. Cash App is a play for the underbanked, which means it fits perfectly with Squares corporate mission of economic empowerment. (That mission comes directly from Dorsey, Square employees say.) Square is extremely proud that 85% of Square sellers are located outside the 25 most populous U.S. cities.

Cash App, with its rewards, direct deposit, and ease of use, is geared toward consumers who dont already have five credit cards in their wallet, and dont have many sources of reward points. Their alternatives may be a prepaid card, says Beck. Over time, Cash App can effectively become a bank account for underserved individuals.

2019 could be even better

Cash App is one of the businesses at Square that analysts are most bullish on for next year. I think the Cash app will be the big breakout for them in 2019, says Beck. Theyve planted the seeds.

Nomuras Dolev also believes 2019 will be an even better year for Square. He expects payment volume coming from large merchants to accelerate further, adoption of Cash App to grow across the U.S., and he is waiting for Square to expand more into Europe.

This is pretty much one of the only companies, Dolev says, that I can say with a great degree of certainty that theyre going to win over the next few years.

Square CEO Jack Dorsey is hugged on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after Square began trading on Nov. 19, 2015. Square co-founder Jim McKelvey is at right. (AP/Richard Drew)

Jack Dorseys double-duty

Theres no obvious bear case against Square right now, but there are potential trouble spots.

For starters, some analysts fear the stock went too high this year and is overvalued, even after shares took a 20% hit when Square announced CFO Sarah Friar was leaving for the CEO job at neighborhood social network Nextdoor. Friar was extremely popular with Wall Street, and was the face of the company apart from Dorsey; Square says replacing her is a top priority. (It has named Timothy Murphy and Mohit Daswani interim CFOs.) There are still some investors I talk to who are skeptical and worry that Sarah left because she had doubts, but I think thats all nonsense, analyst Peller says.

Peller enumerates another potential issue: a recession. Square has a high percentage of revenue coming from small merchants, which are thought to be especially vulnerable in a recession. Still, Peller projects Square revenue to grow by 45% in 2019.

Finally, theres Jack Dorsey. Lest anyone forget, he is pulling double-duty as the CEO of Twitter. Scott Kessler of CFRA Research calls that situation unsustainable and predicts that in 2019 Dorsey will step down as CEO from one of the companies, maybe to serve as chairman instead.

Squares top executives all balk at the question of whether Dorseys double-duty is an issue. I think if I didnt use Twitter and read about Twitter, I wouldnt even know, says Dorogusker.

That claim is a bit of a stretch, but certainly in 2018, as Twitter has become a lightning rod for political controversy, Square is less divisive and easier to evaluate: it is a massive success.



Daniel Roberts is a senior writer at Yahoo Finance and closely covers fintech. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite.

Read more:

Exclusive: The SEC tightens the noose on ICOs

Exclusive: Coinbase cuts staff

Payments company Circle: We never left bitcoin

Exclusive: Former FBI director Louis Freeh is going crypto

Why Squares bitcoin test trial mattersPresident Rodrigo Duterte repeated late Monday he was open to a possible reconciliation talk with the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group. He made the statement even as Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said Tuesday there will be no declaration of a holiday truce between the government and the communist rebels. The recommendation of the Defense Secretary still stands, [and that is] not to declare a truce, Panelo told reporters. Speaking during the activation of the 11th Infantry Division in Sulu, Duterte appealed to the terrorists to end the violence in the south. If they stop [their attacks], Im willing to go there, wherever that is, we will talk, Duterte said. I, as the commander-in-chief, cannot allow my soldiers to be killed and be ambushed, and this has been going on for the last so many years... The lives are wasted, the bullets are wasted, too when I could use the money to build houses. Duterte said he was also willing to meet Moro National Liberation Front founder Nur Misuari in the negotiating table and reach a possible agreement to achieve peace in Mindanao. We can talk anytime and let me know what are his plans, Duterte said.The government will be willing to compromise or even reach an agreement that could give him the dignity and integrity of the Tausug, Yakan and all tribes here on this island. Duterte said the lack of education of the Moro people was hindering the establishment of peace in the region, and that it was one of the reasons why conflict was persisting in the south. What is really lacking is the education of the Moro. For unless and until the Moro is educated in the proper way, to live in a world that we live in, and to come to terms and the reality of our lives today, then maybe, maybe with the mercy of Allah, we can achieve peace, Duterte said. Asked if Duterte had changed his mind about declaring a unilateral ceasefire with the terrorist groups following his remarks, Panelo said no. No, no word from him, Panelo said. Two weeks ago, the Communist Party of the Philippines declared a holiday truce from Dec. 24 to 26, 2018 and Dec. 31 to Jan. 1, 2019. But Defense chief Delfin Lorenzana said the government forces would not allow themselves to be fooled by the CPPs declaration, stressing they would not suspend the military operations against the rebels.In 2015 Zongjun Liu was appointed CEO of Starrise Media Holdings Limited (HKG:1616). This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. Then well look at a snap shot of the business growth. And finally  as a second measure of performance  we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.

See our latest analysis for Starrise Media Holdings

How Does Zongjun Lius Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing our data says that Starrise Media Holdings Limited has a market cap of HK$1.5b, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of CN456k. (This figure is for the year to 2017). It is worth noting that the CEO compensation consists almost entirely of the salary, worth CN441k. We examined companies with market caps from CN691m to CN2.8b, and discovered that the median CEO compensation of that group was CN1.9m.

A first glance this seems like a real positive for shareholders, since Zongjun Liu is paid less than the average compensation paid by similar sized companies. However, before we heap on the praise, we should delve deeper to understand business performance.

The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Starrise Media Holdings has changed from year to year.

SEHK:1616 CEO Compensation December 18th 18

Is Starrise Media Holdings Limited Growing?

Starrise Media Holdings Limited has reduced its earnings per share by an average of 114% a year, over the last three years. Its revenue is up 55% over last year.

Investors should note that, over three years, earnings per share are down. But in contrast the revenue growth is strong, suggesting future potential for earnings growth. Its hard to reach a conclusion about business performance right now. This may be one to watch.

We dont have analyst forecasts, but shareholders might want to examine this detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Story continues

Has Starrise Media Holdings Limited Been A Good Investment?

Since shareholders would have lost about 57% over three years, some Starrise Media Holdings Limited shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.

In Summary

Starrise Media Holdings Limited is currently paying its CEO below what is normal for companies of its size.

Its well worth noting that while Zongjun Liu is paid less than most company leaders (at similar sized companies), performance has been somewhat uninspiring, and total returns have been lacking. Many shareholders would probably like to see improvements, but our analysis does not suggest that CEO compensation is too generous. Whatever your view on compensation, you might want to check if insiders are buying or selling Starrise Media Holdings shares (free trial).

Or you could feast your eyes on this interactive graph depicting past earnings, cash flow and revenue.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.



The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.Jamel Myles, who took his own life at age 9. (Photo: kdvr.com)

Before sliding into 2019, Yahoo Lifestyle takes a quick look back at some of the years biggest stories, and whats happened since, with Rewind 2018.

Its been four months since Denver mom Leia Pierce lost her 9-year-old son to death by suicide. And while her Colorado community is slowly adjusting to this tragedy and what it has revealed, to this bereaved mother, not enough has changed.

Jamel Myles took his own life in August, four days into the school year. He had just come out as gay to his mother and classmates, and the media ran with the idea that he was bullied because of it, causing him to kill himself. But Pierce wants the world to see the bigger picture.

This wasnt just about Jamel being gay, Pierce tells Yahoo Lifestyle. It was about so much more.

Pierce believes bullying was a major player in Jamels struggle, but it had been going on since long before he came out. And the problem was that the school, Joe Shoemaker Elementary, did nothing about it, Pierce claims. We spent months before Jamels death begging for protection of my children from bullying, for help with other important things, and the school refused to talk with us in any meaningful way.

Jamel Myles with his sisters. (Photo: Courtesy of Jessica Peck)

This continued after his death, as well, she and her lawyer allege. In the aftermath of Jamels death, the school and Denver Public Schools (DPS) as a whole went into defensive mode and, as a result, this family was greeted with an almost absolute silence up until early December, Pierces lawyer Jessica Peck tells Yahoo Lifestyle. Without question: There were systematic failures here.

In response to Yahoo Lifestyles request for comment on the situation, Joe Shoemaker Elementary administration shared a copy of a memo it sent to the school community in December regarding Jamels death, and about its investigation into Pierces claims that the school could have done more to prevent it.

As many of you know, DPS conducted a formal review related to the allegations of bullying, including allegations in the media that the student was bullied after coming out as gay, principal Christine Fleming wrote. During the review, DPS talked with dozens of students, teachers, staff, and family members.  The review did not find evidence that this tragedy was rooted in bullying, including bullying based on the students actual or perceived status as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

Story continues

Pierce did not take this news well, especially because she says she wasnt included in this investigation.

It breaks my heart that our own school district would tell the media that it has concluded its investigation when it never bothered to call us up and discuss their findings, she said. Imagine if your child died in such a horrible, tragic way, only to later find out that investigators came up with their own theory as to how or why he died, without ever talking with you, never asking for your own records or your own input, as his parent?

A Rainbow Alley rally in November. It came about with Jamel in mind. (Photo: Courtesy of Rainbow Alley)

But according to administrators of other organizations, this tragedy has motivated the school district to try to make changes.

In the days and weeks after Jamels death, we got a lot of calls from schools and superintendents about how they can support their youth, Hope Anderson, MSW, program engagement coordinator at Rainbow Alley, Colorados only full-time LGBTQ-youth service organization, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. So weve offered support.

Adds Nadine Bridges, MSW, director of youth services at Rainbow Alley, One of the board members of DPS [department of protective services] came to Rainbow Alley and sat with our youth advisory board for a few hours to talk to them about what they needed to do. Our youth leaders partnered with the Denver school board to put out a memorandum of what they were going to do, especially in Denver public schools, to support the LGBT community.

Theres much more still to do, though, Bridges says. If youre in middle school and high school, we have more of an opportunity to talk with you. But anytime that we try to offer any type of training, anti-bullying training or understanding-gender training, weve been told we cant do it with the elementary-school-aged kids, she says, explaining that Rainbow Alley is up against stigma. They immediately equate it to something bad. Even if the school recognized there was anti-LGBT bullying going on, the odds that we would have been able to get in there to provide support is at a minimum. Out of the schools theyve heard from in the wake of Jamels death, she says, only one elementary school has asked them to come in to lead a training.

Rainbow Alleys November rally. (Photo: Courtesy of Rainbow Alley)

So while its great that the elementary schools are reaching out for guidance, Bridges and Anderson wish they could be allowed to do more; while they have 10 trainings set up going into the new year, none are in elementary schools.

But beyond the in-school programming, Bridges says the organization held a rally in November, pushed by the young boys suicide. It was a trans visibility rally, she says. Our youth led the whole thing, and we had about 150 folks and over 10 speakers. It came about with Jamel in mind.

Jamels death was not the first time bullying has resulted in youth suicide in Colorado. One year ago this month, Colorado lost a 10-year-old girl, Ashawnty Davis, to suicide, Adam Collins, the bullying prevention and education grant coordinator in the Office of Learning Supports at the Colorado Department of Education (CDE), tells Yahoo Lifestyle. Her family also reported that it was related to bullying.

But that time, there was a swift response, as the Colorado legislature passed Ashawntys Law, which tasked CDE with developing a model bullying prevention policy as guidance for school districts, Collins says. Schools will have access to these resources by July 1, 2019, which will hopefully keep children like Ashawnty and Jamel from feeling so defeated by bullies.

Colorado State Representative Leslie Herod, who had founded Caring 4 Denver right before Jamel took his life, took similarly swift action after his death. When I started Caring 4 Denver, I wasnt focused on suicide, Herod tells Yahoo Lifestyle. But Jamels death changed that. Now, Caring 4 Denver will raise $45 million per year to fund mental health and addiction services for children and adults, a large amount of which will go to aiding youth, including for suicide prevention.

Jamel had gone to a couple days of school. But his school counselor was coming Friday. He needed that counselor Monday or Tuesday, Herod says. And then we realized that we dont have enough mental health and addiction counselors in our schools. In fact we have more law enforcement than we do counselors in our schools right now. And that needed to change.

Pierce, meanwhile, wants the district to take accountability for neglecting her sons needs and for ignoring their pleas for help. A positive change would involve the school and the school district stepping up to the plate, admitting their mistakes, and making the changes that we need to see to feel confident that other kids will be protected in a way that Jamel wasnt, she says. As a way to try to make that happen, she and Peck are filing an appeal for an independent evaluation.

Says Peck, Jamels legacy, if nothing else, will be that transparency isnt optional when it comes to protecting the children of tomorrow.

Now, in between meetings with her lawyer, Pierce and her two daughters are relying upon a strong network of family, including Pierces mother, and a small circle of close friends, to move forward, Peck says. Some of her friends even put on a fashion show to raise money for the family, according to Fox station KDVR. Pierce has been thinking about starting a charity in her sons name. She hopes to spread a message of acceptance and anti-bullying, KDVR reported.

And still, Peck reports, the bullying hasnt stopped. The girls have been bullied and taunted by other students in the aftermath of Jamels death, and Leia is doing everything she can to ensure that schools hold bullies accountable, she says.

Pierce withdrew her younger daughter from Shoemaker, and were working with appropriate professionals to ensure that they are being provided adequate support to continue processing their brothers tragic death, Peck says.

Pierces life was turned upside down when Jamel died, and it has been constantly shifting ever since. Whether shes meeting with her lawyer, speaking out against bullying, mourning the loss of her son, spending more time with close family and friends, or making life changes for the sake of her daughters, one thing remains consistent: the pain. Nothing has gotten easier, she says.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.(Reuters) - T-Mobile US <TMUS.O> and Sprint Corp <S.N> have received approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) for their proposed merger, the companies said on Monday.

(Reporting by Philip George in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)By David Shepardson and Diane Bartz

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - T-Mobile US Inc and Sprint Corp have won backing for their $26 billion merger from two national security reviews on Monday, clearing key hurdles in their tie-up bid.

The deal got a nod from the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) in the United States as well as the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, and Defense Department -collectively referred to as Team Telecom, the companies said.

The merger between T-Mobile and Sprint had been expected to get an all clear from CFIUS after sources told Reuters on Friday that the firms' respective foreign owners, Deutsche Telekom AG and Japan's SoftBank Group Ltd, had offered to stop using Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] equipment.

People familiar with the deal said last week that U.S. officials had pressured Deutsche Telekom to stop using Huawei gear, and the companies believed they had to comply to win approval from CFIUS, headed by the Treasury Department.

Many governments around the world have shut out the Chinese firm amid worries its gear could facilitate Chinese spying. While T-Mobile and Sprint do not use Huawei equipment, Deutsche Telekom and SoftBank use some Huawei gear in overseas markets.

T-Mobile and Sprint, the third- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless carriers, said on Monday that Team Telecom, in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), indicated it had no objections to the merger after reviewing "potential national security, law enforcement, and public safety issues."

"We are pleased to achieve both of these important milestones in the journey to build the New T-Mobile," T-Mobile CEO John Legere said in a statement. The company has previously said it expects the deal to close in the first half of 2019.

"These approvals assure the strong partnership both companies have with the U.S. government will continue with the New T-Mobile. We look forward to continuing our discussions with the remaining regulatory agencies reviewing our transaction."

Story continues

The U.S. wireless carriers still need to win antitrust approval from the Justice Department and the FCC.

The U.S. government and its allies have stepped up pressure on Huawei amid concerns the company is effectively controlled by the Chinese state and its network equipment may contain "back doors" that enable cyber espionage, something Huawei denies.

Several telecom operators in Europe and Australia have said they will exclude the Chinese firm from their fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks.

The pressure on Huawei has heightened tensions between the United States and China over trade. Earlier this month, Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer and daughter of its billionaire founder, was arrested in Canada at the request of the United States, which has asked for her extradition.

U.S. prosecutors have accused her of misleading multinational banks about Huawei's control of a company operating in Iran. China has asked for her release.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; writing by Diane Bartz; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Himani Sarkar)Early in Mondays game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings, Taj Gibson lost his right shoe while scoring a bucket in the post.

After making the layup, the Timberwolves big man picked up his shoe and carried it while getting back on defense.

Kings attack one-shoed Gibson on offense

The Kings set up their offense and realized the advantage they had playing against a one-shoed Gibson, who didnt have the benefit of a clock stoppage to lace it back up.

Taj Gibson improvised against the Kings when he lost his shoe and didnt have a clock stoppage to lace it back up. (Getty)

Normally in these situations, a player would toss his shoe to the side until given the chance to replace it. But not Gibson.

The Kings got the ball on the perimeter to Nemanja Bjelica, who attacked the basket while covered by Gibson.

Towns comes up with the block

Gibson, shoe in hand, made an attempt to block Bjelicas shot. Bjelica was denied, but not by Gibson or his shoe. Karl Anthony-Towns arrived at the rim to help on defense and came up with the swat.

A whistle on the other end finally allowed Gibson to put his shoe back on.

The question, of course, is how would officials have ruled the play had Gibson successfully used his shoe to block the shot? Luckily for Gibson, Towns stepped in to make sure he didnt have to find out.

More from Yahoo Sports:

 Funeral appearance leads to HS coach getting fired

 Watch: Seattle kicker gives exactly zero effort on tackle

 Ex-Packer rips Rodgers: How good are you?

 Paylor: Time to panic about Patriots?

Prime minister Theresa May will discuss no-deal options with her Cabinet today, it has been reported (Picture: PA)

The government has stepped up its planning for a no-deal Brexit.

Cabinet ministers have agreed planning for a no-deal Brexit will be an operational priority within government, Brexit secretary Steve Barclay said.

Following a meeting of the Cabinet on Tuesday to discuss a no-deal scenario, Mr Barclay said: The governments priority is to secure a deal  that hasnt changed.

But alongside that, as part of our continuation of preparing for no deal, a responsible government needs to ensure that we are ready for that default option  which we dont want to happen  but we are ready in the event that it did happen.

Thats why at Cabinet today we agreed that preparing for no deal will be an operational priority within government, but our overall priority remains to secure a deal.

Downing Street said that advice on no-deal preparations will be going out to households by various channels over the coming weeks.

Businesses will be provided with a 100-plus page online pack to help them prepare and emails will be sent out to 80,000 of those most like to be affected over the next few days.

But justice secretary David Gauke fired a broadside at Tories who are open to the idea of a no-deal Brexit by saying it is a unicorn that needs to be slayed.

Justice secretary David Gauke leaving the Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street (Picture: PA)

Mr Barclay said tempo of guidance from government to businesses and households on how to prepare for a no-deal exit from the EU would increase.

We need to get over to business that this is something they have to prepare for, he said.

Mr Barclay said planning for a no-deal Brexit needs to be much more of a priority for businesses up and down the country.

It had been reported that prime minister Theresa May and her Cabinet would ramp up no-deal preparations on Tuesday, with just 101 days to go to Brexit.

Increasing no-deal planning would indicate that Mrs May no longer expects to get her Brexit deal through Parliament.

It comes after Downing Street accused Jeremy Corbyn of a political stunt after he tabled a non-binding motion of no confidence in the prime minister on Monday, demanding she hold a meaningful vote on the Withdrawal Agreement before Christmas.

Story continues

But the Labour leader stopped short of bringing a motion of no confidence in the Government under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act (FTPA) which, if the opposition won, could trigger a General Election.

Mrs May looked likely to win a vote after Brexiteer critics in her own party and the DUP said they would back her.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tabled a motion of no confidence in the prime minister on Monday (Picture: PA)

The Government would also have to allow Commons time for the confidence vote to take place this week and a Downing Street source challenged Labour to strengthen its attack.

They said: We wont allow time for what is a stunt.

The FTPA applies if Labour wants to put down a motion under the terms of that.

The Prime Minister had said the Commons would have the chance to debate her Withdrawal Agreement in the week MPs return to Westminster after Christmas on January 7.

The crucial vote  which was postponed earlier this month to avoid a heavy defeat  will take place the following week.

Mr Corbyn told Mrs May: A responsible prime minister would, for the good of this country, put this deal before the House this week so we could move on from this Governments disastrous negotiation.

He said it was unacceptable to delay the vote and confirmed he was tabling a motion that this House has no confidence in the Prime Minister.

The wording of the motion, targeted at Mrs May rather than the Government as a whole, would not trigger the process set out under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act which could eventually lead to a general election.

But Labour said it was clearly a confidence motion and should be allocated time for debate by the Government.

A House of Commons spokesman said: By established convention the Government always accedes to the demand from the Leader of the Opposition to allot a day for the discussion of a motion tabled by the official Opposition which, in the Governments view, would have the effect of testing the confidence of the House.

There are just 101 days until Britain is due to leave the EU (Picture: PA)

It will be for the Government to determine whether to schedule time for debate on this.

The smaller opposition parties have tabled an amendment to Mr Corbyns no-confidence vote in Mrs May that they say would beef it up into a full confidence vote in the Government.

The SNP, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party have backed the change, laid down on Monday night to trigger the legally binding FTPA provisions.

Meanwhile, a group of more than 50 business figures have called on the PM to back a second referendum to break the deadlock if she cannot persuade MPs to back her Brexit deal when the vote takes place next month.

Senior figures in the City including Sir Richard Sykes, the chairman of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and former Marks and Spencer chairman Lord Myners, have signed a letter, published in the Daily Telegraph, which suggests her deal is impossible to resuscitate and urges her to take (it) to the British people.



Addis Ababa (AFP) - Three Ethiopian students were killed and 34 injured after a fight on a campus escalated into deadly ethnic clashes in the west of the Horn of Africa country, the government said on Wednesday.

The unrest broke out on Tuesday after a fight at Assoa University erupted into wider violence between groups of students, Minister of Science and Higher Education Hirut Woldemariam said, quoted by Fana Broadcasting Corporate, which is close to the state.

While Ethiopia's new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has received international praise for his reformist agenda, a wave of intercommunal violence -- mostly over land issues -- has marred the first few months of his rule.

The minister did not give details about how the three students died or say to which ethnic groups they belonged. But activists on social media said fighting was between students from the country's two main ethnic groups, Oromo and Amhara.

"The unrest degenerated into deadly clashes because of the interference of forces intent on causing chaos," the minister said without giving any further details.

She said scores of people suspected of being involved in the clashes were arrested and university officials, local elders and student organisations were trying to ease tensions.

Ethiopia's higher education institutions have been a centre of dissent since the 1960s and helped overthrow the last Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I in 1974. Universities are often the site of ethnic, political and religious clashes.

Last month, at least 44 people were killed in fighting between rival ethnic groups in western Ethiopia when youths armed with rocks and knives forced thousands of people to flee their homes until security forces were deployed to calm the area.Ontario ice storm Cars drive along Torontos Lakeshore Drive as visibility diminishes through falling hail, snow, and rain in Toronto, Ont. on Saturday, April 14, 2018. (Photo from The Canadian Press/Cole Burston)

As global temperatures continued to rise in 2018, breaking heat records around the world, the year saw cases of disastrous weather events seemingly on the rise as well.

The 2018 wildfire season brought an extremely rare outbreak of fires north of the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia, including one at the Russia-Finland border on July 20.

This fire season has been pretty crazy, says Lynn Johnston, a forest fire research specialist with the Canadian Fire Service.

British Columbia experienced its second worst wildfire season ever, with only the 2017 season considered worse. California experienced its single largest fire on record, as well as a fire that destroyed more structures than any other in the states history.

With climate change, its hotter and drier, were seeing more extremes Lynn Johnston

Johnston warns summers like this one will be increasingly more common in the future, as hot, dry, windy conditions, storms and lightning become more common and more intense.

With climate change, its hotter and drier, were seeing more extremes in winds and really, really dry fuels producing really extreme fire behaviour, she said.

Wet weather also had a moment this year, burying parts of Ontario under ice in April and hammering West Africa, Cape Verde, Bermuda, the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada with hurricanes like Florence and Michael.

Then there were the major events precipitated by weather: the Thai cave rescue, the Morandi bridge collapse. In Montreal, 53 people died as the result of an intense heat wave.

Not all of 2018s extreme weather events were deadly, but they all generated a lot of interest among Yahoo Canadas readers. Here is a gallery of 10 of the most searched weather events of the year among Yahoo Canada readers.The Palace on Tuesday said the President ordered Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno to stay away from a congressional hearing on alleged budget anomalies to avoid the unparliamentary behavior of lawmakers but House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya said Congress must exercise its oversight function over the disbursement of government funds. Andaya, chairman of the House committee on rules, said the House will pursue its probe beginning Jan. 3 to ferret out the truth. Definitely, we will task the DBM [the Department of Budget and Management] for these questionable allocations. We will not stop in our investigation, whether Cabinet members appear or not in our hearings, Andaya said in a statement Tuesday. Andaya earlier disclosed a former Cabinet official seeking an elective post allegedly parked at leastin infrastructure projects in the national budget. READ: P300-million pork misuse bared Theallegedly facilitated by the Budget department could explain the huge increase allocated to flood mitigation projects from 2017 to 2018, Andaya said. The budget stood at P79 billion in 2017 but ballooned to P133 billion in 2018, he said. We will zero in on flood-mitigation projects, Andaya said in a mix of English and Filipino. It looks like this is where thego. Thats why the DBM allowed funding for flood mitigation projects to balloon by almost P54 billion from 2017 to 2018. For the proposed, out of the P544.5-billion budget allocated to the [Department of Public Works and Highways], P114.4 billion is for flood control projects or an increase to almost 24 percent, Andaya said. READ: 2019 budget laden with porkPin Andaya said not only mayors are spilling the beans on anomalous budget practices within the Budget department. Now, insiders within the department are providing us with information related to questionable budget allocations in the Bicol region. These DBM insiders intimated to me that under the leadership of Secretary Diokno, billions of [pesos in] projects in Sorsogon for 2018 started to be bid out as early November 2017. The bidding took place even as Congress was still deliberating on the 2018 budget submitted by the DBM, Andaya added. In the Palace, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said it was the President who prevented Diokno from attending the Jan. 3 hearing in the House. He was not allowed [to attend], Panelo said of Diokno. There is only one who [can] make him [not] go there. Its the President. So presumably its coming from the President. He reiterated a call to Congress to reciprocate the same courtesy that the Executive Department bestows on members of Congress. As a courtesy, we will always respond to any invitations. All we ask is, please give us the courtesy as we give the same to you, he said. READ: Rody ready to abolish Road BoardWashington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump took a swipe on Tuesday at America's tech giants, accusing them of having a liberal bias, and claiming Twitter was making it more difficult to follow his account.

"Facebook, Twitter and Google are so biased toward the Dems it is ridiculous!" Trump tweeted.

"Twitter, in fact, has made it much more difficult for people to join @realDonaldTrump. They have removed many names & greatly slowed the level and speed of increase. They have acknowledged-done NOTHING!"

Trump is a regular critic of social media and his criticism echoed another attack on Twitter as recently as October, when he again accused the platform of stifling the growth of his account.

The internet firms have consistently denied charges of political bias and many analysts have pointed to large social media followings of conservatives including Trump.

Twitter said in a statement it has been working to weed out accounts that hide a user's true identity or seek to manipulate the platform.

"Our focus is on the health of the service, and that includes work to remove fake accounts to prevent malicious behavior," Twitter said in an emailed statement.

"Many prominent accounts have seen follower counts drop, but the result is higher confidence that the followers they have are real, engaged people."

The criticism came a day after a report for the Senate revealed Russian agents had used social media in an attempt to sway the 2016 election in Trump's favor.

An analysis for the Senate Intelligence Committee described an organized campaign by the St Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency (IRA) to hurt Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee.

Troll accounts marshalled by the organization had inflamed right-wing conspiracy theories and suppressed the vote of traditionally liberal-leaning groups such as African Americans, the report said.

The IRA-created "Blacktivist" account sent out messages such as: "No lives matter to Hillary Clinton. Only votes matter to Hillary Clinton."

Story continues

Separately, a portion of the 3,841 IRA accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube studied by the researchers sought to provoke Republican-leaning white Americans to get out and vote.

The study showed the IRA US campaign began in 2015, aiming to mobilize conservative voters, with no specific backing for Trump at the time.

But as the then-candidate gained support, and especially when he drove his anti-immigrant message, the IRA posts turned in his favor.

While the study did not draw any lines between the IRA propaganda and the election results -- Republican Donald Trump stunned Clinton to take the White House -- post-election data suggests some impact.

According to the Pew Research Center, white voter turnout surged in 2016 while black turnout sank by five percentage points, to 59.6 percent, from four years earlier.On the eve of Michael Flynns sentencing for lying to the FBI, retired Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz joined the chorus of hyperventilating President Donald Trump supporters who claim that Flynn may have lied to the feds, but that doesnt mean he broke the law.

Flynn did not commit a crime by lying, Dershowitz said during a Fox News interview Monday. The lie has to be material to the investigation. And if the FBI already knew the answer to the question and only asked him the question in order to give him an opportunity to lie, his answer, even if false, was not material to the investigation.

Lying to the FBI is not a crime, Dershowitz added.

It should be noted that lying to the FBI is indeed a crime when the falsehood in question is material to an investigation, and prosecutors have determined that Flynns statements were.

Nonetheless, Dershowitzs assertion has become a favorite for critics of special counsel Robert Muellers investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Those critics believe the FBI tricked Flynn, a former Trump aide, into lying.

Michael Flynn will be sentenced Tuesday. (Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The idea came directly from Flynns legal team. In a memo last week, Flynns lawyers said he was not explicitly told there would be penalties for lying. (However, a recent Washington Post fact check on the matter chalked the filing up to some strategic spin. In reality, it noted, legal experts havent found Flynns treatment to have been unusual or unfair.)

Among those preaching the story are right-wingers like Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and Fox News Judge Jeanine Pirro, whove taken part in a sort of myth-making. But Mueller isnt buying the defense.

In his interview, Dershowitz doubled down on the narrative that Flynn isnt in the wrong, contending the former aide did not make a material misstatement in the investigation and predicting that his guilty plea could be nixed.

I think the judge has the authority to throw out the plea if he believes that the plea was not to a crime, and I think he should find, as a matter of law, that when you tell an untruth to the FBI about a matter that they already know the truth about, they already know the answer, when the only purpose of the question is to get you to lie, that thats not a crime.

Story continues

Dershowitz has cemented himself as a staunch defender of the president and released a book last summer titled The Case Against Impeaching Trump.

On Twitter, former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti dismissed Dershowitzs argument as deliberately deceptive.

Dershowitz often misleads the public through sleight of hand like this. His deceptive phrases are so carefully worded that I'm convinced he is deliberately deceiving people.  Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) December 17, 2018

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump did not commit during a meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan at the G20 summit two weeks ago to extradite a Muslim cleric based in the United States, a senior White House official said on Monday. "While meeting with President Erdogan at the G20, the president did not commit to extradite Fethullah Gulen," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Erdogan blames Gulen for a failed coup in 2016, when rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and helicopters, attacked parliament and shot unarmed civilians. Turkey has long sought the extradition of Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed U.S. exile for nearly two decades. On Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Trump told Erdogan at their meeting in Buenos Aires that the United States "was working on extraditing Gulen and other people." Gulen denies any involvement in the failed coup. Trump said last month he was not considering extraditing the preacher as part of efforts to ease Turkish pressure on Saudi Arabia over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Eric Beech; Editing by David Alexander and Alistair Bell)Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered the creation of "Space Command," a new organizational structure within the Pentagon that will have overall control of military space operations.

The command will be separate from Trump's goal to build an entirely new branch of the military called "Space Force," which has not received approval from Congress.

"I direct the establishment, consistent with United States law, of United States Space Command as a functional Unified Combatant Command," Trump said in a memo to Defense Secretary Defense Jim Mattis.

Speaking at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida's Cape Canaveral, Vice President Mike Pence said Space Command would integrate space capabilities across all branches of the military.

"It will develop the space doctrine, tactics, techniques and procedures that will enable our war fighters to defend our nation in this new era," Pence said.

SpaceCom, as it will inevitably come to be known, will be the Pentagon's 11th combatant command.

America's vast military divides the globe into various commands, such as Central Command in the Middle East or Indo-Pacific Command in Asia. The new Space Command would be on equal footing with these.

It will require a new headquarters, as well as a commander and deputy commander who will need Senate approval.

Trump in June said he wanted to create a "Space Force," which would be a sixth and entirely new branch of the military alongside the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force and Coast Guard.

He insists such a move is necessary to tackle vulnerabilities in space and assert US dominance in orbit.

But its creation is not a done deal, as it needs to be approved by Congress, and the concept has met with some skepticism from lawmakers and defense officials wary of the cost and added bureaucracy.

The creation of a new Space Force would also set off a turf war within the Pentagon, particularly with the Air Force, which currently is responsible for most space operations.

Story continues

- New satellites -

Pence spoke to an audience in Florida, where he had been expecting to watch the launch of a SpaceX rocket carrying a new generation of satellite, ordered by the US Air Force, that are much harder for adversaries to jam.

Additional "GPS III," or third generation, satellites will be launched in the coming years, creating a new constellation of the orbiting craft.

The Air Force asked for $1.5 billion for fiscal year 2019 for the program.

Space plays a vital role in just about every aspect of modern warfare, with many military technologies reliant on a network of orbiting sensors and satellites, and the Pentagon has warned that countries like Russia and China are working to build anti-satellite capabilities.

Tuesday's launch was scrubbed at the last minute due to an issue with some sensor readings, SpaceX said. It has been rescheduled for Wednesday morning.

In a series of tweets, Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said the creation of Space Command is a "critical step" in America's ability to manage space as a warfighting domain.

"US Space Command will allow us to accelerate our space capabilities to defend our National interests and deter our adversaries," he said.

Shanahan added that the Pentagon is working on a legislative proposal that would meet Trump's vision for a separate Space Force.Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump will attend the World Economic Forum in Davos next month, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Tuesday.

"The president will attend as he did last year," said Sanders, who added that Trump's daughter and advisor Ivanka would also participate as part of the US delegation to the annual talks held at a Swiss ski resort.

Others set to attend include Jared Kushner, Trump's advisor and son-in-law, along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.

It will be the second time the Republican president has attended Davos, after taking his "America First" agenda to the global business elite last year.

In a 15-minute speech at the climax of his debut appearance in the Swiss Alps, Trump offered "America's friendship and partnership" in both trade and security.By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump told his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan that Washington "would take a look at" the possibility of extraditing a U.S.-based Muslim cleric who Ankara suspects of being behind a 2016 coup attempt, but he made no commitment, the White House said on Tuesday. "The only thing he said is that we would take a look at it," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters. "Nothing further at this point beyond that ... nothing committal at all in that process." Turkey's foreign minister said on Sunday that Trump told Erdogan that Washington was working on extraditing the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, a former Erdogan ally who has lived in self-imposed U.S. exile for nearly two decades. Asked about the comment on Monday, another White House official said only that Trump did not commit to extraditing Gulen when he spoke to Erdogan at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires last month. The official offered no further detail on the conversation. Turkish officials blame Gulen for a failed coup in Turkey in which rogue soldiers attacked parliament and shot unarmed civilians. Gulen denies any involvement. The extradition of Gulen is just one of several issues that have strained the relationship between the two countries. The United States and Turkey, NATO allies, have gone through a rough patch in 2018, exacerbated by the Turkish detention of a U.S. pastor. Turkey's release of the pastor, Andrew Brunson, was a "tremendous step" toward improved relations, Trump said in October, while denying he made a deal with Ankara for the move. But tensions flared again last week over the two countries' positions on Syria. The Pentagon warned that unilateral military action into northeast Syria by any party would be "unacceptable," after Turkey said it would launch a new military operation in the region. Trump said last month he was not considering extraditing Gulen as part of efforts to ease Turkish pressure on Saudi Arabia over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by Tim Ahmann; Editing by Mary Milliken and Leslie Adler)By Fatos Bytyci PRISTINA (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has sent a letter to Kosovo counterpart Hashim Thaci urging him to do everything to reach a longstanding deal with Serbia two decades after their war ended, according to Thaci's official website. Serbia and its former province of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, committed in 2013 to a European Union-sponsored dialogue meant to resolve all unsolved issues but little progress has been made. "Failure to capitalise on this unique opportunity would be a tragic setback, as another chance for a comprehensive peace is unlikely to occur again soon," says the text of the letter posted on Thaci's website on Tuesday. "The United States has invested heavily in the success of Kosovo as an independent, sovereign state," it said. In Washington, the White House had no comment. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy in Kosovo's capital Pristina. Serbian-Kosovar tensions rose anew last week when Kosovo's parliament voted to approve the creation of a 5,000-strong standing army - only a week after Serbia's premier suggested such a move could provoke military intervention by Belgrade. In June this year, Thaci said he would seek a solution with Serbia by "correcting borders", but politicians and analysts in Kosovo said that means land swaps. But his plan rang alarm bells among Balkans neighbors and some Western governments who saw it as a move to take three Serbian municipalities inhabited mainly by ethnic Albanians, who make up more than 90 percent of Kosovo's population. If there would be a land swap then Serbia would get part of northern Kosovo populated mainly by minority Serbs who refuse to recognize the authority of the Pristina government. Britain and Germany have said they do not favor border changes but the United States said if these were agreed by Serbia and Kosovo, it would respect such a deal. The United Nations Security Council publicly discussed the issues between the two countries and recent tensions on Monday at a meeting attended by the presidents of Serbia and Kosovo. The letter posted by Thaci's website said Trump would welcome hosting the Kosovo and Serbian presidents at the White House as part of such an "historic accord". Kosovo is recognized by more than 110 countries, including the United States, but not by Serbia, Russia or China. Washington remains the biggest supporter of Kosovo both politically and financially. It was under U.S. command that NATO bombed Serbian forces in 1999 to halt killings and expulsions of Kosovo Albanians during a counter-insurgency operation. (Reporting by Fatos Bytyci, Additional reporting by Steve Holland in Washington, Editing by Mark Heinrich, William Maclean)Judge agrees to Flynns request and hearing set for 13 March

Arguably, you sold your country out  judges stinging rebuke

Michael Flynn sentencing  live updates

Michael Flynn outside court. The judge said: Im not hiding my disgust, my disdain, for this criminal offense. Photograph: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The sentencing of Donald Trumps former national security adviser Michael Flynn has been delayed during a live-wire court hearing filled with stunning reversals in which the judge accused him of having sold your country out.

Flynn had faced sentencing on Tuesday for the crime of lying to federal investigators about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition period.

But Flynn made the request after US district judge Emmet Sullivan noted that it would be rare for him to be sentenced before his cooperation with prosecutors is complete. A member of special counsel Robert Muellers team told the judge it was possible that Flynn, who has sat for 19 interviews with Muellers team, might not be done cooperating.

The request to delay followed a stern rebuke of Flynn by Sullivan and a warning from the judge that Flynn could go to prison.

In a lacerating lecture before the delay was granted, Sullivan told the retired three-star general: Arguably, you sold your country out.

He said: Im not hiding my disgust, my disdain, for this criminal offense.

Flynn left the court in Washington without making a statement. Demonstrators outside the courthouse chanted USA! USA!, apparently in protest of Flynn, as he got into his vehicle.

Sullivan agreed to delay the sentencing, with a status hearing scheduled for 13 March.

Trump wished Flynn good luck just hours before the sentencing, which under federal guidelines could have landed Flynn in prison for up to six months.

Arguably, this undermines everything this flag over here stands for. Arguably, you sold your country out Judge Sullivan

Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn, Trump tweeted. Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!

Story continues

But the hearing quickly took what seemed like a disastrous turn for Flynn  and by extension the president  as Sullivan, who was first appointed to the bench by Ronald Reagan in 1984, issued a stern condemnation of Flynns conduct.

I am going to be frank with you, Sullivan said. This is a very serious offense. A high-ranking senior official of the government making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation while on the physical premises of the White House.

You were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the national security adviser to the president, Sullivan continued, referring to secret payments Flynn had taken from an agent for the government of Turkey. Arguably, this undermines everything this flag over here stands for. Arguably, you sold your country out.

After a recess in the hearing, Sullivan backtracked on his characterization of Flynn as a foreign agent, noting that Flynn appeared to have ended his work for Turkey in November 2016  when he was still a Trump adviser, but before his brief White House tenure. I felt terrible about that, Sullivan said.

In a second sally he later retracted, Sullivan asked Brandon Van Grack, a prosecutor with Muellers team, whether a treason charge against Flynn had been weighed. That was not something we were considering, Van Grack said.

After the recess, Sullivan said he was posing the question out of curiosity. Im not suggesting he committed treason, Sullivan said. The constitution narrowly defines treason as making war on the United States or giving aid and comfort to an enemy in war.

Flynn would have been the first former White House aide to be sentenced in the Russia investigation. The former Trump aide Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison last week, while former aide Paul Manafort awaits sentencing on felony fraud and money laundering charges.

As the hearing opened, Judge Sullivan seized on a dubious argument Flynns legal team had made in a sentencing memo. While Flynn accepted guilt, the memo said, he had not been advised before an FBI interview that lying to the agents was illegal.

Sullivan expressed concern that Flynn had not accepted his guilt after all, asking Flynns lawyer, Rob Kelner, whether he believed Flynn was entrapped by the FBI. No, your honor, said Kelner.

Asked whether he was aware that lying to the FBI was illegal, Flynn replied: I was aware.

As part of his plea deal, Flynn admitted he had lied to FBI agents about discussing US sanctions on Russia with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador at the time, during the presidential transition. Flynn also denied conversations he had with Kislyak about a UN security council resolution condemning Israel.

Flynn further admitted to failing to file as a foreign agent for the government of Turkey and making misleading statements when he did file. A company headed by Flynn took in $530,000 in payments from a businessman connected with the Turkish government in exchange for Flynns failed efforts to get the US government to extradite the cleric Fethullah Gulen, prosecutors demonstrated.

Flynns business partner at the time, Bijan Kian, was indicted on Monday for failure to register as a foreign agent of Turkey. He entered a not guilty plea.

Flynn, 60, is a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency and a retired lieutenant general in the US army. He served briefly in the Barack Obama administration but was sidelined in part for his increasingly controversial views on Islam.

Flynn joined the Trump campaign in February 2016 as an adviser on national security issues. He was on Turkeys payroll when Trump made him national security adviser in November 2016.

At the Republican national convention in July 2016, Flynn became the first major Trump campaign figure to join the Republican crowd in a lock her up chant directed at the Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton.

We do not need a reckless president who believes SHE is above the law, Flynn said, at which the lock her up chant began.

Lock her up. Thats right, Flynn said. Yeah thats right, lock her up.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A day after reports detailed Russia's widespread use of social media to meddle in U.S. politics, President Donald Trump on Tuesday repeated his complaints, without offering evidence, about social media bias against him and accused Twitter of blocking his followers. On Monday, a pair of reports released by Republicans and Democrats in the Senate said Moscow's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election was more widespread than previously thought and aimed at dividing Americans. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia worked to influence the presidential vote in an effort to boost Trump and denigrate his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Russia has denied any meddling. In recent months, social media companies have worked to remove millions of suspicious accounts in the wake of the misinformation campaigns. Trump, an avid Twitter user, and other conservatives have repeatedly accused technology companies of being biased against them and of favoring liberals. In a post on Twitter on Tuesday, Trump did not address the latest findings about broad Russian interference in the election. Instead, he accused Twitter of blocking his followers and making it harder for people to follow him. "It is ridiculous," he wrote. "They have acknowledged-done NOTHING!" He accused Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc's Google and Twitter Inc of favoring Democrats, but offered no evidence. Representatives for the companies could not be immediately reached for comment. Congress is examining social media and other technology companies over a range of issues. Trump has also said he would consider working with Democrats to regulate the networks. (Reporting by Susan Heavey, Editing by Franklin Paul and Bernadette Baum)Tucker Carlson stood behind the contentious comments he made about immigration on Monday night as the number of corporations that have stopped advertising on his show continued to rise.

Nice people, no one doubts that, but as an economic matter, this is insane, Carlson first said on Thursday about immigration. Its indefensible so nobody even tries to defend it. Instead our leaders demand that you shut up and accept this. We have a moral obligation to admit the worlds poor, they tell us. Even if it makes our own country poorer and dirtier and more divided.

During Monday nights episode, Carlson slightly tweaked what he was saying by adding that he was referencing Tijuana, Mexico, based on a story he was reporting at the time about the migrant caravan chaos that is allegedly happening there.

The left says we have a moral obligation to admit the worlds poor, even if it makes our own country more like Tijuana is now, which is to say poorer and dirtier and more divided. Thats what we said. Its true, Carlson said on Monday.

At least 16 sponsors have pulled ads from Carlsons primetime Fox News show since his remarks, including Bowflex, Pacific Life, Nerdwallet, Ancestry.com, Jaguar Land Rover and IHOP, with CareerBuilder and Just For Man among the latest to drop out. Other companies, such Bayer, John Deere and Farmers Insurance are reportedly staying put for now.

Fox News responded to advertisers on Friday by saying: It is a shame that left-wing advocacy groups, under the guise of being supposed media watchdogs, weaponize social media against companies in an effort to stifle free speech. We continue to stand by and work with our advertisers through these unfortunate and unnecessary distractions.

Carlson has made it clear that he is not backing down.

Its a tactic, and a well-worn one, the Fox News host said of the outcry over his statements. Nobody thinks its real, and it wont work with this show. Were not intimidated. We plan to try to say whats true until the last day. The truth is unregulated mass immigration has badly hurt this countrys natural landscape.

Story continues

Carlson went on to highlight parts of Arizona near the border that are filled with trash, allegedly left by migrants. And he suggested that the left is profiting from the current immigration policy, so they just want the media to shut up and move on.

Those who wont shut up get silenced. You have seen it a million times; it happens all the time, Carlson said. The enforcers scream racist on Twitter until everyone gets intimidated and changes the subject to the Russia investigation or some other distraction.

Tucker Carlson Tonight airs weeknights at 8 p.m. on Fox News.

Watch Fox News host Jesse Watters read text messages from his left-leaning mother:

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, or leave your comments below."Can this government deliver on its promise?"

In early 2016, when he was still mayor of Davao City in southern Philippines, presidential bet Rodrigo Duterte promised during the campaign to end the drug menace in the country in three to six months. He won handily, with a margin of six million votes against his nearest rival. And even when he had yet to take his oath of office as president on June 30, 2016, news reports started to trickle in of drug busts by police in various parts of the country, no doubt the precursor of an impending all-out war against drug trafficking he promised during the campaign. Since June 2016 to October 30 this year, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has reported that almost 5,000 drug suspects have been killed in legitimate operations. In every instance, the police claim that the suspects chose to fight it out rather than to surrender. The body count, however, does not end there. A total of 23,518 homicides took place from June 1, 2016 to October 28, 2018, or an average of 33 per day. The police classify these as deaths under investigation, but human rights watchdogs consider these as extrajudicial killings or summary executions apparently by vigilante groups. The PNP has yet to disclose the results of the so-called deaths under investigation in the past two years. Meanwhile, jails are bursting at the seams with thousands of mainly drug users and street-level drug pushers arrested by the police in so-called buy-bust operations now awaiting disposition of their cases. If many Philippine jails had been severely overcrowded in the past because no new facilities have been built to accommodate criminal suspects and convicts, they are even more congested now with inmates packed like sardines, taking turns sleeping in cramped and dingy quarters. Despite the bloody outcome of the Duterte administrations war on drugs in the last two years, the drug problem persists. Even a cursory glance at newspaper headlines these days would reveal that the illegal drug trade is thriving. Police routinely arrest drug pushers in buy-bust operations, ranging from those caught selling from one or two grams of shabu worth hundreds to a few thousand pesos to those selling significant amounts of the contraband worth hundreds of thousands to millions of pesos to police assets.Duterte himself has publicy revealed the involvement of active and retired high-ranking police officers, local officials and even a few lawmakers as protectors of the illegal drug trade. But few have been brought to justice, even as there have been sensational cases of several town mayors named in the governments blacklist of drug coddlers killed by the police. The most damning evidence that the problem of illegal drugs has not been solved at all and may have even grown worse after more than two years is the smuggling of a large shipment of shabu worth P6.4 billion through the Bureau of Customs last year. This year, another P11 billion worth of the contraband also slipped past Customs, prompting the dismissal of the bureaus top official, a former police general. Part of the problem is that the institution tasked by Duterte to be in the frontline of anti-drug operationsthe Philippine National Policeis itself tainted by the involvement of some of its officers in the illegal drug trade. In October, the countrys top cop, Director General Oscar Albayalde, disclosed that a number of cops belonging to task forces created for the sole purpose of running after drug traffickers were themselves involved in the the illegal trade. These erring cops were later named in Dutertes blacklist of drug trade coddlers. Duterte temporarily stopped the war on drugs in late 2016 after cops were tagged as main suspects in the killing of South Korean Jee Ick-joo right inside Camp Crame. More than a year after taking office, Duterte publicly admitted that his administrations war on drugs had not achieved its target of ending the drug menace. On August 12, 2017 he said in the vernacular: Others couldnt do it. How much more for us? We cant control it. In an op-ed commentary in theon February 7, 2017, titled President Duterte is Repeating My Mistakes, Cesar Gaviria, the president of Colombia from 1990 to 1994, pointed out: The polls suggest that Mr. Dutertes war on drugs is equally popular. But he will find that it is unwinnable. We could not win the war on drugs through killing petty criminals and addicts. We started making positive impacts only when we changed tack, designating drugs as a social problem and not a military one...This means investing in solutions that meet the basic standards of basic rights and minimize unnecessary pain and suffering. Strategies that target violent criminals and undermine money laundering are critical. So, too, are measures that decriminalize drug users, support alternative sentencing for low-level nonviolent offenders and provide a range of treatment options for drug abusers...There is no doubt that tough penalties are necessary to deter organized crime. But extrajudicial killings and vigilantism are the wrong ways to go...The fight against drugs has to be balanced so that it does not infringe on the rights and well-being of citizens, Gaviria said. I wasnt too long ago that Duterte admitted that the war on drugs would not be won even after he steps down in 2022. But recently, he recanted this statement and said the country would be drug-free by the time he leaves office three and a half years from now. Can his government deliver on that promise? We really doubt it, considering that the drug menace is still prevalent after more than two years of a bloody war on drugs.The Trigger Happy star has opened up about his health diagnosis. (PA Images)

TV prankster Dom Joly has revealed that his aggressive snoring could have left him with brain damage.

In an interview with The Daily Mail, Jolly revealed that his father was an insomniac and how he felt lucky not to have inherited that from him.

But the prankster, best known for his hit Channel 4 show Trigger Happy TV, has instead become a heavy snorer over the years.

He joked about how hed sometimes wake up with his wife poised above him with a clenched fist, ready to punch him because of his snoring.

Id jokingly deny that I snored. But I now know its true, he said. Earlier this year, I trekked across Lebanon  I was brought up in Beirut  with a couple of friends. We shared a room and one of them recorded me one night and played it back to me the next day. Id had no idea. Boy, my snoring was loud.

Joly didnt know what was causing his violent night breathing until he found himself drinking with a man who turned out to be a sleep specialist.

After asking if there was a cure for his snoring, Jolly was invited to the specialists clinic where he then concluded that the prankster was suffering from sleep apnoea.

Sleep apnoea is a condition that involves the restriction of airways and pausing in breathing during sleep, causing sharp inhalations which can often be mistaken for snoring.

Joly then explained how he was stopping breathing up 90 times a night, depriving his brain of oxygen and forcing his heart to work harder.

He was told by specialists that it was a surprise that he hadnt suffered any form of brain damage, adding: If I didnt do something about it soon, in ten years time, if I was still alive, Id have developed a pronounced risk of having a stroke or heart attack. That really freaked me out.

Joly now wears a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine over his face at night and says that the diagnosis has changed his life.

Read more

Dom Joly reveals horror as classmate brought severed head into school

Simon Thomas says his son gave him a reason to live after the death of his wife

Katie Price charged with drink-drivingBy Suzannah Gonzales CHICAGO (Reuters) - A gunman shot a doctor to death outside a Chicago hospital on Monday before storming the facility and killing a pharmaceutical assistant and a police officer during an exchange of gunfire and dying in the rampage, officials said. The shooter knew the doctor he shot outside Mercy Hospital, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told a news conference, describing the initial killing as an act of domestic violence. The gunman was the ex-fiance of the doctor, Chicago media outlets reported, with one witness saying he demanded a ring back. The shooting sent doctors and patients streaming out of the facility, some with their hands up, as heavily armed police officers sought to secure the hospital. "The city of Chicago lost a doctor, a pharmaceutical assistant and a police officer, all going about their day, all doing what they love," Mayor Rahm Emanuel told reporters. "This tears at the soul of our city. It is the face and consequence of evil. The gunman, after killing the doctor, fired at arriving police officers with a single handgun, Johnson said. The gunman, whose name has not been released, then burst into the hospital. Officers followed him inside and exchanged gunfire with him for several minutes, Johnson said. Officer Samuel Jimenez, who joined the Chicago police force last year, died during the gun fight, officials said. The 28-year-old was married with children and the second Chicago officer killed in the line of duty this year. "Theres no doubt in my mind that all of those officers who responded were heroes and they saved a lot of lives, because we just don't know how much damage he (the gunman) was prepared to do," Johnson said. In a sign of the random nature of the rampage, the pharmacy assistant shot by the gunman just happened to be getting off an elevator, Johnson said. Her name has not been released. Media identified the doctor killed outside the hospital as Tamara O'Neal. The gunman also died but it was not immediately clear if he shot himself or was struck by a police officer's bullet, Johnson said. Another officer was spared injury when a bullet lodged itself in his holster. In Denver, another shooting left one person dead and four wounded on Monday. At least one suspect remained at large after the shooting on a downtown street corner while police said the injuries were "believed to be non-life threatening." (Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago; Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles and Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Clarence Fernandez)By Andrew Chung

(Reuters) - Scores of complaints accusing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of improperly conducting himself during his contentious Senate confirmation process have been thrown out by a panel of eight federal judges.

The judges said the complaints of misconduct, including accusations that Kavanaugh made false, unduly partisan and disrespectful statements to senators, must be dismissed because he has been confirmed to the Supreme Court and the federal law governing judicial conduct applies only to lower court judges.

Kavanaugh was a federal appeals court judge when President Donald Trump appointed him in July. He was confirmed in October.

In all, 83 complaints were filed against Kavanaugh by "lawyers, doctors, professors and concerned citizens, among others," according to Chief Judge Timothy Tymkovich of the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Some complaints also related to Senate testimony Kavanaugh gave in 2004 and 2006 when he was a nominee to become a federal appeals court judge.

"Congress has not extended the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act to Supreme Court justices," Tymkovich wrote for the panel of judges, part of the Judicial Council of the 10th Circuit.

As they piled up at the Washington appeals court, U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts in October transferred the complaints to be handled by that council.

During hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kavanaugh denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a California professor when the two were teenagers in Maryland in the 1980s. He leveled a partisan attack against Democratic senators, calling himself the victim of "a calculated and orchestrated political hit" fueled by anger on the left at Trump's 2016 election win over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

A bitterly divided Senate voted 50-48 to confirm Kavanaugh.

Gabe Roth of Fix the Court, an advocacy group that pushes for Supreme Court transparency, said the judicial misconduct law badly needs to be rewritten.

"Today's decision," Roth added, "underscores the need for the Supreme Court to adopt its own code of conduct or for Congress to write one if the justices cannot be bothered."

(Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon said on Monday two of four tunnels found close to the border with Israel crossed the frontier demarcation between the two countries, violating a U.N. resolution that ended a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said it had so far confirmed the existence of four tunnels which the Israeli army discovered in the vicinity of the border demarcation, known as the "Blue Line", adding the finds were of "serious concern". Israel says Hezbollah, Lebanon's most powerful armed group, dug the tunnels with the aim of launching attacks into Israel with backing from its regional sponsor Iran. Hezbollah has yet to comment. "UNIFIL at this stage can confirm that two of the tunnels cross the Blue Line. These constitute violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1701," the statement said. The U.N. peacekeepers said they would continue their technical investigations, describing the recent discoveries as "a matter of serious concern," requesting "urgent follow-up actions" by the Lebanese authorities. Israel and Hezbollah have avoided major conflict across the Lebanese-Israeli border since 2006, though Israel has mounted attacks in Syria targeting what it said were advanced weapon deliveries to the group. Israel has said it is up to UNIFIL to deal with the tunnels on the Lebanese side of the border, and its military said it held the Beirut government responsible for breaching Security Council resolution 1701. President Michel Aoun, a political ally of Hezbollah, has said Lebanon is committed to implementing 1701, which ended the 34-day war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah. The resolution banned all unauthorized weapons between the Litani River and the U.N.-monitored border between Israel and Lebanon. Under the resolution Lebanon's army is responsible for security on its side of the border in a zone from which any other armed force, including Hezbollah, is banned. (Reporting by Dahlia Nehme; Editing by William Maclean)Kiev (AFP) - Russia has seized three Ukrainian naval ships in waters near Moscow-annexed Crimea, raising fears of military escalation and prompting an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday.

In an unprecedented incident, Russia used weapons against the Ukranian ships which it claims illegally entered its waters before boarding and searching them, the country's FSB security service confirmed.

The crisis unfolded on Sunday as two Ukrainian small warships and a tugboat were heading through the Kerch Strait, a narrow waterway that gives access to the Sea of Azov that is used by Ukraine and Russia.

Ukraine said a Russian border guard vessel rammed the tugboat in "openly aggressive actions" and then fired on the ships, immobilising all three.

It said the Kerch Strait was blocked by a tanker and that Russian military aircraft were flying over the area.

The confrontation at sea is a dangerous development in the long-running conflict pitting Ukraine against Moscow and Russian-backed rebels in the east of the country.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the escalation, US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said. The meeting was requested by both Russia and Ukraine, diplomatic sources told AFP.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has asked parliament to vote Monday on whether to impose martial law on the country for 60 days, after his Military Cabinet recommended the move in a late-night meeting.

Throwing his weight behind the measure, which is not guaranteed to pass, he said it "in no way means that Ukraine will carry out any offensive actions".

"I want to emphasise separately that we have all irrefutable evidence that this aggression, this attack on the Ukrainian Navy's warships was not a mistake, not an accident, but a deliberate action," he said in a statement.

Ukraine said six of its soldiers were injured, two seriously, but Russia's FSB reported only three had suffered non-life threatening injuries and were given medical treatment.

Story continues

Protesters, some armed with flares, rallied outside the Russian embassy in Kiev on Sunday night in response to the latest development.

- West urges restraint -

The seizure has sparked alarm among Kiev's Western allies.

"We expect Russia to restore freedom of passage at the Kerch strait and urge all to act with utmost restraint to de-escalate the situation immediately," the European Union said in a statement.

NATO also urged "restraint and de-escalation", and called on Russia "to ensure unhindered access to Ukrainian ports in the Azov Sea, in accordance with international law".

Ukraine's foreign ministry said the "aggressive actions" were a violation of international law that would be met with "an international and diplomatic legal response".

Russia claims the waters off Crimea after annexing the peninsula in 2014.

"Having breached this morning the Russian border, the three Ukrainian ships -- the Berdyansk, the Nikopol and the Yani Kapu -- tried again on November 25 at 19:00 (Moscow time) to conduct illegal actions in Russian territorial waters," the FSB said on Sunday.

The FSB, which oversees the border guard service, also said the Ukrainian ships had failed to respond to the "legal demands" of the Russian authorities.

Russian politicians accused Ukraine of acting at the behest of its Western allies and deliberately attempting to escalate the conflict.

Crimean leader Sergei Aksyonov wrote on Facebook that he "was sure the Western masters of the Kiev regime are behind this act of provocation".

Pyotr Tolstoy, deputy speaker of the Russian parliament, warned on Facebook that "the Ukrainian puppet authorities... are risking unleashing a large military conflict".

"One thing is clear: Russia won't allow military provocations in its territorial waters."

- Increased Russian controls -

Ukraine said it gave Russia advance warning of its ships' route, which its vessels are obliged to take to reach the Sea of Azov.

In September, the Ukrainian navy complained about "acts of provocation" by Russian border guards against its ships taking the same route.

Ukraine has increased the number of navy ships and border guard patrols in the Sea of Azov after Russia deployed five more warships.

Kiev says its naval buildup is due to Russia stepping up controls in the area this year and carrying out lengthy checks on commercial shipping that were very costly for freight and port companies.

Kiev and the West have accused Moscow of deliberately blocking ships from accessing Mariupol, which has vital access to heavy industry in the region.

Mariupol is close to the region of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed separatists in a conflict that has caused at least 10,000 deaths since 2014.

The United States, a key ally of Ukraine, is opposed to Russia's takeover of Crimea and is looking to reduce Ukraine's dependency on Russian gas pipelines.LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will leave the European Union at 2300 GMT on March 29, 2019. Wednesday marks 100 days to departure day. Below is a timeline: WAS BRITAIN A FOUNDER MEMBER OF THE BLOC? No. Britain declined to join the European Union's forerunner, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), when it was founded in 1952. Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee told parliament in 1950 his party was "not prepared to accept the principle that the most vital economic forces of this country should be handed over to an authority that is utterly undemocratic and is responsible to nobody." There was also concern it might make close ties with the Commonwealth and the United States more difficult. Britain also stayed out of the European Economic Community when it was formed from the ECSC in 1957. Conservative Prime Minister Harold MacMillan reversed this position in 1961 and sought membership of the EEC. With Europe divided in the Cold War, he said the promotion of European unity and stability through the bloc was "so essential a factor in the struggle for freedom and progress throughout the world." But France led resistance to Britain's membership in the 1960s, with Charles De Gaulle blocking Britain's accession in 1961 and 1967, accusing the British of "deep-seated hostility" to the European project. (On the way to Brexit: https://tmsnrt.rs/2QMkbnu) (Britain's trade ties: https://tmsnrt.rs/2D0E8zS) WHEN DID BRITAIN FINALLY JOIN? Britain joined the EEC in 1973 after France dropped its objection's following De Gaulle's resignation in 1969. As he signed the treaty taking Britain into the common market, Conservative Prime Minister Ted Heath said "imagination will be required" to develop its institutions while respecting the individuality of states. 1975 - BRITAIN'S FIRST EUROPEAN REFERENDUM In 1975, new Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson, faced with splits among his ministers on Europe, decided to hold an "in-out" referendum on membership. He backed staying in after saying a renegotiation on terms of membership had "substantially though not completely" achieved his objectives. Britons voted 67 percent to 33 percent to stay in the European Union in 1975. WAS THE QUESTION OF EUROPE SETTLED AFTER THE 1975 VOTE? No. Although new Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher backed the campaign to stay in the bloc in 1975, her premiership saw her party become increasingly divided by the issue and her own relationship with EU leaders was tense at times. She attacked the idea of a single currency and too much power being centralized in EU institutions, telling the then-Commission President Jacques Delors "no, no, no" over his plans for more European integration in 1990. However, days later she was challenged for the leadership of the party by pro-European Michael Heseltine, and was forced from office when she failed to beat him outright in November 1990. Her successor, John Major, was forced to pull sterling out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) on so called Black Wednesday, Sept. 16, 1992. The ERM had been intended to reduce exchange rate fluctuations ahead of monetary union. Major was also beset by divisions over Europe, describing three euroskeptic cabinet ministers as "bastards" in 1993 after narrowly surviving a confidence vote over the EU Maastricht Treaty. After Labour's Tony Blair won the 1997 election, his finance minister, Gordon Brown, effectively ruled out euro entry by setting out five economic tests that had been worked out with his top aide, Ed Balls, in a New York taxi. CAMERON'S GAMBLE BACKFIRES The tenure of the next Conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron, was also, ultimately, defined by Europe. The Conservatives returned to office in 2010 after 13 years of Labour government. In a bid to shore up support for the Conservatives in the face of a split party and the small but staunchly euroskeptic UK Independence Party (UKIP), Cameron promised an "in-out" referendum on a renegotiated deal on membership in the party's 2015 election manifesto. Cameron said he was satisfied that negotiations with the EU gave Britain enough for him to back a "remain" vote. But though Britain's biggest parties backed the campaign to stay in, the people voted to leave by 52 to 48 percent on June 23, 2016. Cameron resigned the morning after the vote and was replaced by Theresa May. MAY DAYS May triggered Article 50, the formal EU divorce notice, in March 2017, setting the exit date of March 29th, 2019 for Britain to leave - with or without a deal. In a bid to gain backing for her Brexit plan, she called a snap election for June 2017. The gamble backfired. She lost her parliamentary majority and formed a minority government, supported by the euroskeptic Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). On Nov. 13, she reached agreement on the terms of Britain's departure from the bloc with EU leaders. But her plan to accept EU customs rules on goods while ending free movement of people has drawn criticism from both pro-EU and euroskeptic lawmakers from her own party, the DUP, and the opposition. Last week May pulled a vote on her deal from parliament, prompting a vote of no confidence in her leadership of the Conservative party. She survived that, but with the 100 day countdown to Brexit about to begin, Britain still doesn't know on what terms it will leave the bloc, whether May will be in office to see it through or whether it will be forced to delay or revoke the Article 50 process. (Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Janet Lawrence)Washington (AFP) - The United States, hoping to stem migration, said Tuesday it was ready to support $4.5 billion in investment in Central America and southern Mexico.

The United States promised to back new Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's push for development in Central America, the primary source of migrants whose unauthorized entry into the United States has become a central focus for President Donald Trump.

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), which offers government-backed favorable financing to US businesses, is prepared to support $2.5 billion in new investment in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras "if commercially viable projects are identified," the State Department said.

OPIC is also looking to mobilize $2 billion more for southern Mexico, the country's poorest region, a statement said.

The State Department said that OPIC already has $2.8 billion worth of projects in the pipeline in Mexico as well as $1 billion since last year in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras -- the so-called "Northern Triangle."

In a parallel announcement in Mexico, Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard told reporters that his government was "committed to promote strong regional growth, better-paying jobs and more opportunities for all our citizens."

- Democrats skeptical -

The US funding offer, made in a low-key written statement, comes in stark contrast to Trump's years of rallies demanding that Mexico pay for a vast wall on the border.

Trump, railing against unauthorized immigration ahead of last month's election, threatened via Twitter in October to cut off aid to Central America unless they stopped migrants.

Two months later, the US government is teetering on the brink of a shutdown with Trump demanding that Congress provide $5 billion for the wall.

Representative Eliot Engel, a Democrat who next month takes over the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was "skeptical" about the "rhetorical commitment" to Central America in light of the Trump administration's policies, including separating children from parents at the border.

Story continues

He said that Congress would look carefully at the next budget to "separate fact from fiction" and ensure that the United States is in fact supporting Central America.

In new government funding, the State Department said it would request an additional $180 million for the Northern Triangle in its request to Congress for the 2019 fiscal year.

While backing Trump's wall, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has acknowledged that development is a longer-term solution to migration from the Northern Triangle countries, which are among the world's most violent.

State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said the United States expected Central American countries to "hold up their end of the bargain" and work to improve the situation at home.Craig Wiggins, one-third of an independent analysis team called TheCannalysts, is dubbing 2019 the year of the vape. (The Canadian Press)

With a breathtaking year for cannabis nearly in the rearview mirror, investors are turning their attention to how the notoriously raucous sector will behave in 2019.

More reliable sales and revenue figures, new rules allowing edible and beverage sales in Canada, and growing support for legal adult-use markets in the United States are among the top trends to watch, according to experts who spoke to Yahoo Finance Canada.

Since the earliest public offerings, pot stocks at large have been cast as over-hyped and overvalued, not unlike the infamous dotcom bubble that saw todays blue chip technology titans separated from the likes of Pets.com. Greg Taylor, manager of the Purpose Marijuana Opportunities Fund, sees clearer distinctions between winners and losers snapping into focus in 2019.

I think the next six months or longer are going to be a little dodgy. For every one winner, you might have two losers. You are going to see some companies that just cant deliver. Theyre just going to fail, he told Yahoo Finance Canada.

At the same time, the space is going to go from companies that have massive market caps with no sales, to some companies with massive sales and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) numbers.



Bruce Linton of Canopy Growth Corp. (WEED.TO), a company with a market capitalization of about $14 billion that sold 2,197 kilograms and kilogram equivalents in its second quarter, warns his newer, smaller competition will face increasingly long odds in 2019.

Everybody whos just raising money right now, and beginning their build out so they can sell their first cannabis in 2019, is on a very challenging path, Canopys founder and co-chief executive officer told Yahoo Finance Canada.

Asked if a Canadian cannabis company launched in 2019 could replicate Canopys trajectory, he said, Regrettably, that opportunity is gone for Canada.

Linton expects the most promising opportunities in the Canadian market will be around leveraging research from the countrys vast federally-controlled medical program, and development of advanced intellectual property.

Story continues

The U.S. market  You just cant ignore it

Stateside, efforts to end national cannabis prohibition are picking up steam, and the 2018 midterm elections saw more states pass medical and recreational legislation.

This is the second year in a row where more than 50 per cent of Republicans now support adult-use legalization, with continued support for medical, Cowen analyst Vivien Azer told Yahoo Finance Canada, referring to a Gallup poll released in late October.

Taylor expects a more liberal U.S. regulatory climate will open the door to mutual funds, pension funds and other big institutional investors, which will in turn smooth out some of the stock volatility.

Given the potential size of a fully-legalized U.S. market, he also anticipates big U.S.-listed producers will be anxious to gain a first-mover advantage south of the border next year.

Cannabis companies on U.S. exchanges are banned from having American operations because the drug remains illegal at the federal level in that country.



You have to wonder when companies are going to say, Thats all well and good, but the U.S. market is going to be the biggest in the world by far in a few years. You just cant ignore it, he said.

Im wondering when one of these companies is going to say, At risk of losing our U.S. listing, or some banking relationships, we are going to run a big U.S. company and get in position for when that market opens up.

The year of the vape

One of the biggest events on the horizon in 2019 is the release of Ottawas regulations for selling edibles, beverages, and other alternative forms of cannabis. The rules are expected to be unveiled sometime before Oct. 17, 2019.

Azer said the absence of edibles and other novel form factors played into her conservative view of the Canadian recreational market post-legalization. She points to the popularity of such products in well-developed markets like California, where items like vape pens and cannabis-infused sweets account for up to 30 per cent of sales.

Craig Wiggins, one-third of an independent analysis team called TheCannalysts, is dubbing 2019 the year of the vape.

Grinding it up. Getting out a cone and stuffing it, or rolling it, is a ritual. But many people would prefer not to have crumbs of weed all over their coffee tables. They will go for the vape pen. It fits in your purse. It can slide into your pocket. Its quick. Its easy. It heats up immediately, he told Yahoo Finance Canada. Sucking combustion into your lungs isnt a good thing. Vape pens are going to be everywhere.

Canopy inked a $15 billion deal with beer and wine giant Constellation Brands Inc.s (STZ) in August. Linton expects thirsty cannabis consumers will drive drink-based domination of recreational sales once a tasty beverage with a reliable buzz onset similar to booze gets developed.

If we were able to figure out why we invented pottery, its probably because they need somewhere to store wine, he said. Drinks are the most social format.

Grams for grandma?

Perhaps the most profound change pertains to how a formally illicit substance, and those who consume it, are judged by society.

For decades, cannabis has been tied to counterculture and crime. The stoner, hippie, pot head, and burnout stereotypes are still alive and well, even as pot continues to gain legal acceptance and attract billions of dollars from legitimate investors.

Linton sees beverages, vapor devices and other non-smoking forms changing the way people think about cannabis in 2019. The joint, he said, will always elicit images of characters like Cheech and Chong. He expects the number of smokers to shrink to as little as 10 per cent of the market in the next year or two.

Wiggins sees attitudes beginning to change as well, at least in Canada.

When I say something like, Id rather have my three 20-year-old children responsibly using cannabis versus responsibly using alcohol, you dont get the looks in Canada like you do in the states, he said. In the states, you look like you have three heads.

As families gather for the holidays, he expects the cannabis crowd will get a slightly warmer-than-usual reception thanks to the developments of the past year.

There are going to be discussions about cannabis happening over turkey dinners, Wiggins said. I can talk to my 96-year-old grandmother about cannabis. Im trying to get her to take some for her migraines.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android."How about opposing the tyranny of the majority?"

I seldom endorse any political candidate but Ill make an exception in the case of Buhay Party-List Rep. Lito Atienza. He is undoubtedly one of the few standup guys in the House who will oppose bad laws from being railroaded by the tyranny of the majority. While other members of the House went along with the tide on the issue of federalism, Charter change and insertions in the national budget, Atienza stood his ground against these proposals that would benefit the congressmen. On federalism, Atienza decried the manner the move was passed in the Lower House at the exclusion of the people whom he said should have been consulted. Sans fanfare, the House members formed themselves into a Constituent Assembly on the pretext that it would save the government money if a constitutional convention is held. Save money? Atienza asked, pointing out that the government is wasting more funds on less important things, so why not spend on a participatory and democratic issue as Con-Con? Hopefully, he expressed the view that federalism wont pass in the Senate. He claimed that even most of the majority who approved it do not really understand the implication of federalism. Federalism is going to impact the lives of the people, not to mention the cost of carrying out the implementing rules and regulation or IRR, Atienza pointed out. The citizenry is already under heavy burden from the cost of living brought about by the TRAIN law and the excise tax on fuel. The nearly month-long protests on the street of Paris was triggered by the heavy tax on fuel, he pointed out as he voiced concern the same thing could happen here. Atienza is also against charter change which the House is pushing. Again, he laments that charter change is being done at the exclusion of the people. Fortunately, changes in the Constitution will still have to be submitted to the people for approval in a plebiscite. Atienza said he will take to the streets with the people to protest charter change which shelved the abolition of political dynasties.Political dynasties perpetuate a familys grip on power, making the same people stay in public office for the rest of their lives. Hence, we have the same last names of candidates on election ballots. Atienza also voted against the extension of martial law in Mindanao as he pointed the manpower resources of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police should be enough to fight the communist New Peoples Army and terrorists in Mindanao. That our law enforcers still needed another year of martial law in Mindanao attest to their underperformance. Asked why he did not run for mayor in Manila where he served two terms, Atienza joked, Im under age, as if to stress that the two main mayoral rivalsJoseph Estrada and Fred Limare 80 plus and 90, respectively. Dont ask me who of them wear pampers, he chuckled. Atienza also differed with Miss Philippines Catriona Gray who was recently crowned Miss Universe. While Im happy for Catriona winning and making every Filipino proud, I do not agree with her view on the use of marijuana even in moderation. Its recreational use is only a step away from trying the more serious illegal drugs. He said even for medical purposes, modern medicine has come up with new drugs to take instead of the addictive marijuana. Why did Atienza opt to stay on as party-list representative instead of making a return run as mayor of Manila? He replied that he could serve the countrys interest better if he is on a national level as member of the House considering the issues currently being pushed in the lower chamber. This is where it all starts; we have to head them off before these important issues reach the Senate or go into referendum whose results could still be manipulated by the powers-that-be. A veteran of the parliament of the streets during the Marcos martial law years, Atienza vowed to take to streets again if only to be on the side of the people. And that is why we the people need someone like Lito Atienza at the House of Representatives.41 million people around the world are vaping  but we don't yet know the long-term health consequences - Bloomberg News

In the past 20 years, the number of people who smoke cigarettes in the UK has steadily fallen year on year. According to data from theNHS around 28 per cent of UK adults were smokers in 1998; as of 2017, that figure had dropped to just 14.9pc.

To some degree, the drop can be attributed to various legislative moves, designed to persuade smokers to kick their habit. These include the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002, which banned the direct and indirect advertising of cigarettes, and the Health Act 2006, which prohibited smoking in public places.

While the number of people smoking cigarettes has clearly decreased, that isnt to say that people have turned their backs on smoking altogether. Since the early 2000s, more and more people have taken up vaping instead.

It's a trend reflected by a new study from the University of Michigan, which shows that in the US, the percentage of 17-18-year-olds vaping rose from 11pc to 21pc between 2017 and 2018. Researchers said that more teens of all ages are vaping nicotine.

Looking at the wider market, cccording to market research group Euromonitor, around seven million people around the world were using e-cigarettes in 2011, compared to 41m today.

In the UK, government statistics suggest that around 6pc of the countrys adult population use e-cigarettes. Adults aged 25-34, and 35-49 are the most likely to vape, with 8pc and 7pc doing so respectively.

The effects include addiction, priming for use of other addictive substances... and mood disorders

Vivek Murthy, former US surgeon general

For e-cig users, vaping is seen as a less dangerous alternative to traditional cigarettes: NHS data shows that 48pc of users are vaping as a precursor to giving up smoking, while 30pc say they do so because they believe there are less health risks associated with the practice compared to smoking.

That belief is confirmed  to an extent  by research into the effects of vaping. However, a growing body of scientific work is throwing light onto the health consequences of e-cigs  and the research suggests that it is far from a guilt-free habit. You may not need a lighter to drag on an e-cig, but it seems the old adage holds true: there can be no smoke without fire.

Story continues

What is vaping?

Vaping is the practice of smoking electronic cigarettes (known as e-cigarettes). The products work by heating a liquid solution (often referred to as an e-liquid) to form a vapour which the user inhales.

Ordinarily, that solution is made up of nicotine, flavourings, and a liquid called propylene glycol and/or glycerine, which acts as a solvent but also helps to thicken the vapour produced by the device.

The idea is that an e-cigarette contains the addictive element of a cigarette (nicotine) without containing tar or producing carbon monoxide, which are heavily linked to lung disease and cancer. The thinking goes that e-cigarettes allow smokers to get their nicotine fix in a manner that is healthier than cigarettes, and hopefully help them to quit entirely.

Is vaping safe?

Public Health England and the NHS both recommend using e-cigarettes to help give up smoking. Advice from both bodies mentions that e-cigarettes lack many of the harmful effects associated with smoking.

It is certainly true that e-cigarettes do not contain tar and do not burn to produce carbon monoxide. This mitigates the risk of contracting cancer or other lung-related conditions such as emphysema.

However, the trouble with vaping is that since the technology is reasonably new, the long term effects of using e-cigarettes is unknown.

As it stands, most of the fatalities and medical emergencies associated with e-cigarettes come from the risk of them overheating or exploding and causing burns and other injuries. This is often caused by malfunctioning lithium-ion batteries within poor quality e-cigarette products.

Is vaping safe... for children?

One of the major areas of concern is around children and young people vaping. While the consensus is that vaping is a positive decision for those who want to give up smoking traditional cigarettes, there is a growing trend for young people to take up vaping as a lifestyle choice.

This year a study from the University of Michigan found that across the US, more teens than ever are vaping. 6.1pc of 13-14-year-olds, 16pc of 15-16-year-olds, and 21pc of 17-18-year-olds said they'd used an electronic cigarette in the last 30 days, according to the survey.

It's also noteworthy that these are just the young people who admitted to vaping nicotine; marijuana vaping is also on the rise.

Richard Miech, the survey's lead author, commented:"Vaping is reversing hard-fought declines in the number of adolescents who use nicotine." The Monitoring the Future study surveys 45,000 American students every year and this marks the biggest single-year increase in its history, even surpassing even a huge surge in marijuana smoking in the 1970s.

A 2015 study from Liverpool John Moores University found that one in five teenagers aged between 14 and 17 had tried e-cigarettes. Of those, 40pc had either never smoked before or had tried it and didnt like it.

The worry is that e-cigarettes are acting as a gateway drug of sorts. Young people get addicted to the nicotine in e-cigarettes, and then go on to take up smoking as a result. Getting addicted at that earlier age can also lead young people to become more likely to take risks and abuse other substances.

Thankfully, this isnt a serious problem for the UK just yet. A 2017 survey from Public Health England found that only 3pc of young people aged between 11 and 16 vaped regularly. Of those, the vast majority were already smoking anyway. Of those whod never smoked, between 0.1pc and 0.5pc had taken up vaping, said the surveys authors.

Ultimately, basically every study into the matter confirms that vaping is vastly less dangerous than smoking. However, as scientists and researchers begin to conduct more studies into the potentially harmful effects of vaping, a clearer pictures of risks and benefits of using e-cigarettes is becoming clearer.

In the UK, people aged 25-34 or 35-49 are most likely to vape Credit: Jason Lee/Reuters

Immune system damage and lung disease

According to a 2018 study from scientists at the University Of Birmingham, vaping damages immune cells in the lungs, preventing them from being able to clear harmful bacteria. The study suggests that the vapour from an e-cigarette leaves the users lungs in a similar condition to a cigarette smokers.

It also found that the vapour can trigger chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This is an overarching term for diseases including severe bronchitis, asthma and emphysema.

To find this, the scientists behind the study took samples of lung cells from eight non-smokers with no history of lung disease. These samples were exposed to varying levels of e-liquid and condensed vapour.

The researchers found that the vapour boosts production of inflammatory chemicals in the lungs. Not only that, but it also disables lung cells which are designed to flush harmful particles out of the lungs.

Raised risk of cancer and heart disease

While vaping is often marketed as a safer alternative to smokingr, one recent study suggested that many of the same risks are present in both.

Researchers from the New York Society Of Medicine conceded (as so many others have) that vaping is significantly less harmful than smoking, but shared research which suggests that some of the same diseases and illnesses could affect vapers as smokers.

After exposing cell samples to the vapour from e-cigarettes for ten years, the scientists looked for DNA mutations in cells from animals and humans.

They found that e-cigarette vapour damages DNA and prevents the genetic code from repairing itself. This is because the nicotine in e-liquids break down into nitrosamines which are carcinogenic (cancer causing) chemicals.

In short, this means that there is a possibility that vaping could contribute to lung and bladder cancer. The study also mentions vapers have a higher risk factor for heart disease. Researchers concluded: Based on these results we propose that e-cigarette smoke is carcinogenic and that e-cigarette smokers have a higher risk than non-smokers to develop lung and bladder cancer and heart disease.

Addictive to children

While e-cigarettes do not contain many of the harmful chemicals found in cigarettes, the e-liquids inside them do contain nicotine. As mentioned above, this can help smokers to cut out cigarettes without giving them cravings for nicotine, which is a powerfully addictive substance.

Still, an addictive substance isnt necessarily a problem if theres nothing harmful in the thing youre getting addicted to, right?

The former US surgeon general, Vivek Murthy would disagree. In 2016, the top doctor issued a strongly worded report on the matter in which he warned that exposing developing brains to nicotine can lead to potentially harmful consequences. He wrote: The effects include addiction, priming for use of other addictive substances, reduced impulse control, deficits in attention and cognition, and mood disorders.

In addition, Murthy expressed concerns that young people taking up vaping as a fashion statement would lead to increased cigarette usage later in life.

As a result of these harmful effects, Murthy argued, no one under the age of 25 should take up vaping and the practice should be discouraged by parents, teachers, and carers.

This pronouncement came on the back off a UK based study in North West England which also found that young people who vaped were more susceptible to other forms of substance use and risk-taking behaviours.

Still much we dont know

In 2016, Researchers from Imperial College London shared a report which suggested that it could be ten or twenty years before the full effects of of e-cigarettes become apparent.

The report did openly state that the likelihood of vaping being worse for people than smoking was deeply unlikely, but warned that those who took up the practice were taking a bet. They were particularly concerned about the rise in people who had never smoked before but had taken up vaping.

The worry of popcorn lung

This particular study was less concerned by the e-cigarettes themselves, or even the nicotine in the liquid, but the flavourings used to give vapes a unique taste.

Specifically, the chemical Diacetyl, which is often used in food as a butter substitute, was the centre of the controversy.

The chemical was used in around 75pc of all flavoured e-liquids but is thought to cause inflammation, scarring and constriction of the tiny airways in the lung known as bronchioles, reducing air flow when inhaled, though it is thought to be safe to eat.

Several factories which used the chemical to make microwave popcorn were investigated by the United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which found that workers developed bronchiolitis obliterans after inhaling Diacetyl for a long time. Researchers then looked into other places the chemical was used and found that the vast majority of e-liquid producers put it into their solutions.

Diacetyl was subsequently banned for use in e-liquids by the UK government in 2017. It remains in use in other countries around the world though.

Still better than cigarettes

In 2015, PHE, Kings College London and Queen Mary London shared a joint report which argued that vaping is around 95pc less dangerous than smoking. Their research admitted that there were potential dangers around vaping, particularly with regards to the chemicals used to flavour the e-liquid. However, the group argued that in comparison to the risks around smoking, e-cigarettes caused a fraction of the harm.

The report estimated that if every smoker in Britain switched to vaping, around 75,000 lives would be saved every single year. In addition, the report suggested that e-cigarettes, once regulated, should be offered by the NHS to anyone looking to give up smoking.

Toxic to bystanders

As mentioned above, one of the reasons why vaping became so popular in the first place was due to the Health Act 2006 which banned smoking in enclosed public spaces such as pubs, restaurants, and trains. In contrast, vaping offered a quick, easy way to get a nicotine hit without the need to get up and go outside.

However, according to a report from the World Health Organisation in 2014, second-hand vaping might have harmful effects just like second-hand smoking. It encourages governments to ban vaping indoors just like smoking. So far, no federal governments have taken this advice, but individual organisations and various local and state governments have banned the practice in certain areas. The report says: The fact that (e-cigarettes) exhaled aerosol contains on average lower levels of toxicants than the emissions from combusted tobacco does not mean that these levels are acceptable to involuntarily exposed bystanders.

"In fact, exhaled aerosol is likely to increase, above background levels, the risk of disease to bystanders, especially in the case of some (e-cigarettes) that produce toxicant levels in the range of that produced by some cigarettes."Washington (AFP) - A decorated officer in an elite US Army unit killed an unarmed Taliban suspect in Afghanistan. Of that, there appears to be no doubt.

What is less certain is whether Major Matt Golsteyn, who has admitted to the killing, should be considered a cold-blooded killer or a war hero.

The Army last week charged Golsteyn, a Green Beret special operations reservist, with premeditated murder in the shooting death of an alleged Taliban bomb-maker in volatile Helmand province in 2010.

Though highly unlikely, he could ultimately face the death penalty.

Golsteyn's case on Sunday was suddenly thrust into the spotlight, when President Donald Trump suggested he might intervene in the long-running legal saga.

"At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a 'U.S. Military hero,' Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder," Trump said on Twitter, having apparently seen a sympathetic segment about the case on Fox News.

"He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a Terrorist bomb maker while overseas," Trump wrote.

Army investigators looked into Golsteyn in 2011 after he took a lie-detector test as part of a job interview with the CIA.

He reportedly told agents he had killed an unarmed, suspected bomb-maker detained by his unit, who he believed was responsible for the deaths of two Marines who had died in a roadside bombing.

According to court document excerpts, Golsteyn worried that the suspect, who he was unable to detain for more than 24 hours, might make more bombs and kill an Afghan tribal leader who had identified him.

Investigators have said Golsteyn and another soldier eventually took the suspect back to his house and killed him.

- 'Unlawful command influence' -

Legal observers pounced on Trump's tweet, saying it could have a chilling effect on the prosecution and could amount to "unlawful command influence."

As the commander-in-chief of the US military, Trump can technically take whatever action he likes in the prosecution of a service member, including issuing a full and pre-emptive pardon.

Story continues

But "he shouldn't be tweeting about it," said Rachel VanLandingham, a former military prosecutor and law professor at Southwestern Law School, "as it sure seems to be a signal to lower-level commanders not to prosecute."

"The president is not ensuring justice by his tweet. He is most likely obstructing it," she told AFP.

Golsteyn was stripped of a medal and given other reprimands following the 2011 probe, but he was not criminally prosecuted.

Then in 2016, during an interview on Fox News, he said he had killed an Afghan man, prompting the Army to re-open the case.

Golsteyn's attorney Phillip Stackhouse could not be reached for comment, but he told Fox the Army had sought initially to build a fake narrative in which his client "released this Taliban bomb-maker, walked him back to the house... and assassinated him in his house."

As to why Golsteyn is being charged now, Stackhouse said: "The prosecutor in this case has intimated to me that they have new evidence."

- Why prosecute? -

David "Bull" Gurfein, who runs United American Patriots, which is helping pay for Golsteyn's defense, blasted the prosecution.

"Right now we have rules of engagement that are actually in favor of our enemies, as opposed to providing our warriors the ability to address real-world threats," Gurfein told AFP.

Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter last week wrote to Trump asking him to look into Golsteyn's case.

"He is not a murderer," Hunter wrote.

"He is an elite warrior that was executing the mission he was trained to do. He engaged an Afghan bomb-maker, who had built the bomb that was responsible for the death of two Marines only days prior."

But VanLandingham noted that the Army has a legal duty to investigate war crimes allegations.

"If the major admitted to others that he killed a detainee in US custody, other than in self-defense, that's one of the most straightforward and long-standing war crimes there is, and the Army was legally bound to investigate," she said.

"President Trump as commander-in-chief likewise has a legal duty to ensure war crime allegations are investigated and appropriately prosecuted, a duty his tweet seems to show he fails to understand."

Military authorities have, to varying degrees of success, prosecuted dozens of cases against US troops accused of unlawful killings or prisoner abuse in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In some cases, military jury members are willing to grant wide latitude to defendants, whose alleged wrongdoings occurred while fighting a deadly insurgency under frequently shifting rules of engagement.

Trump has intervened in at least one other military case, when as a candidate he branded as a "traitor" Bowe Bergdahl, a US soldier and former Taliban captive.Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - When doctors told her that the six-month-old fetus she was carrying had severe brain damage caused by the Zika virus, Thamires Ferreira da Silva tried to commit suicide by jumping in front of a bus in Rio de Janeiro.

"I just wanted to finish it," said the 29-year-old Brazilian, crying.

But the bus driver braked in time and more than two years later, she is raising her son Miguel with the help of her husband Wallace, their families and medical specialists.

Miguel was the first child in Brazil to be diagnosed with the mosquito-borne illness, which at the time was an unremarked phenomenon but which soon grew to be the focus of a global health alert.

"I feel that we've been totally forgotten," Ferreira da Silva said.

Her son, aged two years and four months, suffers from microcephaly -- a condition in which the brain does not develop properly and results in a smaller than normal head.

He also has lissencephaly, where parts of the brain appear smooth, the rare Dandy-Walker syndrome that is characterized by deformation of the part of the brain that controls movement, kidney problems and epilepsy.

Despite being cross-eyed, the toddler can see, and he reacts to family voices. But he is unable to walk, sit or lift his head.

His parents follow a strict and costly regime that involves giving him six medicines every 12 hours and regular hospitalizations.

"It's difficult and it costs a lot. Families hide their child so society doesn't see it. But us, we want to be part of society," Wallace said.

He works at night as a computer technician to help pay the countless bills racked up for Miguel's care, including for his pediatrician, kidney doctor, physiotherapist and psychomotor specialist, spread across three different hospitals.

- Absent parents -

The Zika epidemic in Brazil that started in 2015 caused an exponential increase in the number of babies with microcephaly and other neurological defects, particularly in the northeast, the country's poorest region.

Story continues

Between November 2015 and May 2018, the health ministry registered more than 3,000 cases linked to Zika infections during pregnancy.

The government has taken several measures to assist mothers raising Zika-affected children, such as priority access to public housing and minimum-wage payments for the poorest families.

But often they still face difficulties getting access to municipal services because of a lack of information or the complicated bureaucracy.

"They do everything so you don't come back. There is a lot of bureaucracy so you just give up because you are overwhelmed with so many things," Ferreira da Silva said.

Initially, she and her husband contacted other families in the same situation to swap information and lobby authorities to make sure their rights were respected, such as the house they have just moved into in Rio.

But their standard of living and the attention they have managed to provide for Miguel is not the rule, they say -- and especially not for single mothers who have been abandoned by their partners.

"Miguel makes us fight, not only for him but also for the families. Because we know how difficult it is. We know that many families have an absent father," said Wallace.

Paradoxically, the biggest difficulty they faced was not receiving complex medical treatments but basic pediatric attention.

"In the public health system, doctors generally don't know the congenital syndrome (of Zika). So they don't manage to give basic pediatric care," Wallace said.

"Yet this same baby who has a congenital syndrome, who has microcephaly and other illnesses too will have, for instance, tooth pain and all those other normal problems other babies have."

- 'Live for today' --

The parents say they would like to have more children. But they are all too aware of the constant attention and resources Miguel requires. So they are putting that off until Thamires completes a nursing course she had to give up and is able to work again.

For now, Miguel is their sole focus. When they can, they take him to children's parties, and to the beach. For his last birthday, they invited other mothers with infants with microcephaly.

But there are many low moments. In Miguel's short life so far, he has already been admitted into intensive care eight times.

They find succor in the advice they first received from doctors: never give up.

"Live for today. Miguel could live for 10, 20 years -- or two or three. But if you don't live, you will feel frustrated in the future for all you didn't experience, they told me," Thamires said.

"So I will bathe him, kiss him, take in his smell. Because at any moment they could put him in hospital."Following far-reaching snowstorms from November and early December, a lack of Arctic air will generally limit the chances of a white Christmas to the northern tier states and the mountains of the West for Dec. 25, 2018.

The standard for a white Christmas is an inch of snow on the ground during the morning, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).



Historical white Christmas

This map shows the probability of a white Christmas (1 inch of snow on the ground or greater), based on climatology and not anticipated conditions for Dec. 25, 2018.

Most of the storms that have the potential to put down heavy snow in the days leading up to Christmas will roll in from the Pacific Ocean and blast the Cascades, Sierra Nevada and parts of the Rockies.

Along the West coast, the best chance for snow being on the ground will be at or above 3,000 feet in the northern Cascades and at or above 5,500 feet in the northern Sierra Nevada.

Most of the snow will already be on the ground prior to Christmas Day in the West, with some exceptions. A storm that dips southward across California from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day may spread some snow to intermediate elevations of the interior Southwest.

Farther to the east, a weak storm is forecast to produce some snow over the northern Plains with a wintry mix in part of the central Plains on Christmas Eve. This same storm will shift farther east during Monday night to Christmas Day over the Midwest and has a chance of bringing enough snow to fulfill the minimum 1-inch requirement near and north of Interstate 80.



White Christmas 3 am Wed Static

In the East, the best bet for a white Christmas will be over interior parts of northern New England. This will generally be from old snow.

However, it is possible that a weak storm brings snow showers that extend southward to parts of the central Appalachians from Sunday, Dec. 23, to early Monday, Dec. 24. That snow may have to survive temperatures at or above freezing for several hours.

South of these areas, along the immediate Pacific coast and much of the mid-Atlantic and southern New England coasts, a white Christmas is not in the offing at this time.

Story continues

Download the free AccuWeather app to check the Christmas forecast for your area.



TradeWx snow day banner

TradeWx offers protection against financial risks of snow accumulation and other weather events. Learn more on TradeWx.com.WASHINGTON  Shortly after President Trumps former top national security adviser Michael Flynn was excoriated by a federal judge on Tuesday morning, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders offered him warm wishes from the West Wing. Sanders made her comments at a White House press briefing when asked about Judge Emmet Sullivans decision to delay Flynns sentencing for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials.

The delay is something between Gen. Flynn and the courts, Sanders said, adding, In the meantime we wish Gen. Flynn well and will continue to focus on doing what we do here every single day.

Sanderss remarks in the briefing room were not the first kind words for Flynn from the White House. Ahead of the sentencing on Tuesday morning, Trump took to Twitter to wish Flynn good luck today in court.

Flynn, a retired general, joined the White House when Trump took office in January 2017. His tenure lasted less than a month, and he was fired in February 2017 after reports that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about his contact with Russias former ambassador to the U.S. In November 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements to the FBI during an interview with agents that was conducted while he was in the Trump administration.

As part of his plea agreement, Flynn has cooperated extensively with special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and other probes. At a Tuesday hearing in a federal district court in Washington, Sullivan postponed Flynns sentencing until next year to allow him to cooperate further with prosecutors. In a sentencing memo filed last month, Mueller told the judge he believed Flynn deserved a sentence that does not include jail time due to his cooperation with his investigation.

Despite Flynns work with prosecutors, Sullivan delivered a scathing assessment of his conduct, saying Flynns false statements to the FBI were even worse because of where they occurred.

Story continues

In the White House! In the West Wing. By a high ranking security officer who up to that point had an unblemished career of service to his country, the judge said. Its a very serious offense.  Arguably, this undermines everything this flag over here stands for! Arguably, you sold your country out!

Michael Flynn arrives for his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

Sullivan also questioned prosecutors about whether Flynn could be tried for treason for misrepresenting lobbying work he did on behalf of the Turkish government just prior to being named as Trumps national security adviser. The judge later clarified that he was not accusing Flynn of having committed treason.

At the White House briefing, Sanders said the White House was not aware of any reason Flynn could be accused of treason. She also criticized the FBI for its treatment of Flynn. Sanders was repeatedly questioned about why the White House has spoken positively about Flynn when Trump has slammed other former allies who have cooperated with Muellers team. She was specifically asked about the contrast between Trumps comments on Flynn and the presidents attacks on his former personal attorney Michael Cohen, whom Trump has dubbed a rat and liar.

We know Michael Cohen to be a liar on a number of fronts, and the presidents opinion is extremely clear on that front. I dont see any reason to go beyond that comment at this point, Sanders said.

Sanders was later pressed on whether she was disputing that Flynn had also lied, particularly since the ex-general was dismissed from the White House for making false statements. She tripped over her words several times as she carefully attempted to avoid characterizing Flynns misconduct.

Were disputing that any acts he engaged in had nothing to do with the president, that just because maybe he did do those things, but that doesnt have anything to do with the president directly, Sanders said.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders during Tuesdays press briefing at the White House. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Trump has repeatedly blasted Muellers probe as a partisan witch hunt. In the briefing, Sanders echoed arguments made by the president and other allies that the charges that have been brought against multiple members of Trumps campaign team show the investigation has strayed away from examining the president.

Lets remember what the whole thing that this started is supposed to be about and its whether or not Russia influenced the election and whether or not the president had anything to do with it, Sanders said, later adding, We also know that the president never colluded with Russia.

The U.S. intelligence community has concluded Russia interfered in the 2016 election in an attempt to boost Trump over his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. Thus far, Muellers team has not made any public statements indicating whether they have evidence indicating Trump or others in his orbit cooperated with these efforts. Trump and other allies have seized on this to suggest that the president has somehow been cleared and that the probe has strayed away from investigating this issue. However, Muellers investigation is ongoing, and court filings have indicated there are multiple separate lines of inquiry. For example, Muellers sentencing memo on Flynn said Flynn has assisted with several ongoing investigations.

Sanderss briefing on Tuesday was the administrations first for the month of December. Sanders last briefed reporters on Nov. 27. She also held only one briefing each in the two months prior, a marked departure from past administrations, which typically held multiple briefings each week.

As Sanders abruptly walked out of the briefing room approximately 20 minutes after she had entered, some reporters chastised her for appearing so infrequently.

Do your job Sarah! one shouted.

 Additional reporting contributed by Dylan Stableford

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:Value investing is always a very popular strategy, and for good reason. After all, who doesnt want to find stocks that have low PEs, solid outlooks, and decent dividends?



Fortunately for investors looking for this combination, we have identified a strong candidate which may be an impressive value; Honda Motor Co., Ltd. HMC.



Honda Motor in Focus



HMC may be an interesting play thanks to its forward PE of 7.2, its P/S ratio of 0.4, and its decent dividend yield of 2.9%. These factors suggest that Honda Motor is a pretty good value pick, as investors have to pay a relatively low level for each dollar of earnings, and that HMC has decent revenue metrics to back up its earnings.

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. PE Ratio (TTM)

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. PE Ratio (TTM) | Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Quote

But before you think that Honda Motor is just a pure value play, it is important to note that it has been seeing solid activity on the earnings estimate front as well. For current year earnings, the consensus has gone up by 3.1% in the past 30 days, thanks to two upward revisions in the past month compared to none lower.



This estimate strength is actually enough to push HMC to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), suggesting it is poised to outperform. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.



So really, Honda Motor is looking great from a number of angles thanks to its PE below 20, a P/S ratio below one, and a strong Zacks Rank, meaning that this company could be a great choice for value investors at this time.



3 Medical Stocks to Buy Now



The greatest discovery in this century of biology is now at the flashpoint between theory and realization. Billions of dollars in research have poured into it. Companies are already generating revenue, and cures for a variety of deadly diseases are in the pipeline.



So are big potential profits for early investors. Zacks has released an updated Special Report that explains this breakthrough and names the best 3 stocks to ride it.



See them today for free >>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (HMC) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment ResearchMagistrate judge Gabriel Gorenstein says Therese Patricia Okoumous political and moral motivations did not trump the law

Okoumou said: We stand on the right side of history. I am not discouraged. Photograph: Jeenah Moon/Reuters

An activist has been found guilty of a series of federal crimes after she climbed on to the base of the Statue of Liberty this summer to protest against the US policy of separating migrant families and holding children in detention.

Magistrate judge Gabriel Gorenstein convicted Therese Patricia Okoumou, who goes by Patricia, on Monday afternoon after a one-day bench trial in New York, asserting that the protesters political and moral motivations did not trump the law.

Okoumou had grown teary on Monday as she told a judge in New York about how the treatment of children at the US-Mexico border prompted her to scale the statue in a high-profile protest on the Fourth of July this year.

I wanted to send a strong statement that children do not belong in cages, said Okoumou, on Monday morning at the start of her trial at the Manhattan federal court.

But in convicting her, Gorenstein wasnt swayed, saying upon his guilty verdict that if he didnt uphold the law simply because of a lawbreakers motivation, than it would undermine law in general.

I would violate the oath of my office, he said.

After the trial, Okoumou stood outside the courthouse, thanking friends, her fellow members of the activist group Rise and Resist and supporters in an upbeat tone.

Speaking outside after her verdict: pic.twitter.com/DA4xy5yKod  Victoria Bekiempis (@vicbekiempis) December 17, 2018

We stand on the right side of the history. I am not discouraged, she said.

While migrant children who simply came to this country, like our ancestors did, to seek happiness, freedom and liberation. Instead of welcoming them like Lady Liberty symbolizes, instead of treating them with kindness, what we showed them is cages. So if I go in a cage with them, I am on the right side of history.

Story continues

Okoumou, an activist, climbed the Statue of Liberty on 4 July. Photograph: AP

Okoumou, a Congo-born naturalized US citizen who lives in Staten Island, was found guilty on charges of trespassing and interfering with government agency functions, as well as disorderly conduct, in relation to her climb. She pleaded not guilty.

The charges collectively carry punishment of up to 18 months behind bars. She will be sentenced at a later date.

Okoumous main concern  as it has been since her climb, when she had to be retrieved by law enforcement officers attached to ropes  is the children, she said.

Although an executive order last summer reversed the policy of separating children from their parents upon crossing the border unlawfully, the Trump administration reportedly continues to do so by various means, also detaining children who have crossed the border unaccompanied, in hopes of claiming asylum or joining relatives already in the US.

Several thousand migrant minors are being held at a growing detention camp near El Paso, Texas. Meanwhile, many children languish in deteriorating conditions on the Mexican side of the border.

And as Trump clamps down on asylum applications, many migrants find themselves in an administrative  and humanitarian  limbo.

It would never happen in my country  we dont treat children like political bait, she said. I just have had nightmares and night sweats.

One of Okoumous lawyers, civil rights litigator Ron Kuby, asked Okoumou whether she would make the climb again.

Yes, Okoumou replied.

Kalikow did not ask Okoumou  who wore a cobalt dress with the words Seeking Asylum is NOT a Crime for her court appearance  any questions.

Earlier in the day, opening statements foreshadowed the tenor of the trial  while prosecutors would focus on rules, Okoumous supporters would focus on conscience.

She knew that what she was doing was wrong and illegal, Kalikow said in his opening statement. Whether one sympathizes with the defendant politically and morally is not at issue in this case.

Kuby responded in his opening that the family separation policy created in her an imperative to act.

She did so on Americas most important day on Americas most important symbol.

Lawyer Michael Avenatti, who has joined Okoumous legal team, sat in the front row of the gallery.

The prosecution lauded Gorensteins verdict, calling Okoumous protest a dangerous stunt  that endangered herself and the NYPD and US Park Police officers who rescued and apprehended her.

Kalikow said: The act of climbing the base of the Statue of Liberty went well beyond peaceable protest, a right we certainly respect. It was a crime that put people at grave risk. We commend Judge Gorensteins decision to hold Therese Okoumou accountable for her dangerous and reckless conduct.

After the verdict, Hawk Newsome, who heads Black Lives Matter NYC, said: Its the government versus Patricia  it wasnt the people. If it was the people, she would be free.

Avenatti said the verdict was not surprising.

But sometimes you have to stand on principle. History will be incredibly kind to Patricia, he said.A bride read her husband a letter on their wedding day that she had written to him before they ever met. (Photo: Instagram via Lemon Tree Film House)

Love is a many-splendored thing.

One Australian woman, who recently got married, surprised her groom by reading a letter she wrote to him  three years before they met.

Victoria Laniakea, 28, informed the U.K. Daily Mail that she wasnt sure what compelled her to sit down and pen a love letter to a man she had never met before. Three years later, however, she was shocked to realize that her love letter fit a man she lived in near when she moved to Canberra, Australia, in 2015.

It just came to me one day, an idea just formed and I started writing, she told the Daily Mail. She was surprised at how well her letter described her future beau, Philippe Lorrain.

Its very personal, but I could not believe how perfectly it described Philippe and our story, the things hed later say to me, like how he was glad he hadnt met me sooner because we both needed to grow into the people we needed to be at the moment we finally met.

Laniakea said that her letter included many features that her husband has. Like how he is strong but gentle, he has and could weather any storm, but still takes insects he finds in the house outside instead of killing them, that he was close by but originally from much further away  which turned out to be Germany.

Story continues

In her letter, she even mentioned staring at the stars and feeling as though her future husband was looking at them too. Lorrain is a rocket scientist and does observe space often.

Laniakea wasnt the only one who experienced that feeling of fate, however. [Lorrain] left Germany to come to Australia in search of something he didnt understand either but trusted the feeling, so we are both perplexed by the how but just know theres something greater at work here, Laniakea said.

The couple, who are on their honeymoon in Japan, both unwittingly lived less than a half mile apart. According to the Daily Mail, a speech from the couples wedding revealed just how close they had come to running into each other several times before they met: Philippe collected his mail from the post office where Victoria worked, she used to run past his house every day, Victoria even had lectures in the same building that Philippe did his PhD in.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.



By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A microscopic examination of fossils from China has revealed that the fur-like body covering of pterosaurs, the remarkable flying reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs, was actually made up of rudimentary feathers. The surprising discovery described by scientists on Monday means that dinosaurs and their bird descendants were not the only creatures to boast feathers and that feathers likely appeared much longer ago than previously known. Pterosaurs were only distantly related to dinosaurs and birds. Birds need feathers to fly. That was not the case with pterosaurs. Short, hair-like feathers covered their bodies and wings but lacked the strong central shaft of avian flight feathers, the researchers said. They may have provided insulation and other benefits, as hair does for mammals. "They were not flight feathers," said paleontologist Baoyu Jiang of Nanjing University, who led the research published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. "They looked fuzzy, and they didn't have complicated feathers." The researchers examined beautifully preserved Jurassic Period fossils roughly 160 to 165 million years old of two small pterosaurs called anurognathids from northeastern China. Apparently forest dwellers and insect eaters, they possessed 18-inch (45 cm) wingspans, short tails and superficially frog-like faces. Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to master flight, followed much later by birds and bats. Scientists have known since the 19th century that pterosaurs had a fur-like body covering and there has been a long-running scientific debate about how to classify it. Many of the filaments, under the microscope, showed branching like in feathers but not hair. University of Bristol paleontologist and study co-author Mike Benton said four types of pterosaur feathers were observed: downy feathers; single filaments; bundles of filaments; and filaments with tufts at the end. Tiny pigment-related structures indicated these feathers were ginger-brown in color. Birds, many meat-eating dinosaurs and some plant-eating dinosaurs are known to have had feathers, though these looked different from those seen on the pterosaurs. "We feel the simplest thing for the present is to call them all feathers because they show branching, the fundamental distinguishing character of a feather," Benton said. Pterosaurs and dinosaurs both appeared roughly 230 million years ago during the Triassic Period. The researchers said the appearance of feathers in both groups suggests feathers first evolved perhaps 250 million years ago in a common ancestor of pterosaurs and dinosaurs. Pterosaurs, the biggest of which had 35-foot (10.7-meter)wingspans, went extinct along with the dinosaurs after an asteroid impact 66 million years ago. (Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Sandra Maler)Photo credit: Warner Brothers

From Popular Mechanics

Its been 100 years since World War I ended. To mark the occasion, director Peter Jackson took hundreds of hours of battlefield footage from the Imperial War Museum in London, updated it, and turned it into a moving documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old.

Since none of the footage had sound, Jacksons production company, Park Road Post Production, in New Zealand, added it in. We wanted the full gamut of sounds, Jackson says. From the wind in the trees to footsteps in the mud to the jangle of the equipment to the click-clack of the rifle bolts to the horse hooves and the squeak of the leather. Subtleties upon subtleties.

Jackson also wanted to hear from the soldiers themselves. He used hours of audio recordings of WWI veterans, preserved in the collections of the BBC and IWM, to create a narration. And then he turned to lip readers. Since many of the men in the film are speaking, Jackson wanted to include what they most likely were saying. Forensic lip readers provided a transcript, which was then reenacted by British actors, who, in order to get the accents right, were from the same regions as the soldiers would have been.

The footage itself was cleaned up by a company called Stereo D. Some of the films were copies of copies, and the quality reflected that. Studio D had to remove 100 years of dust, scratches, tears, and chemical splotches that had accumulated.

Because it was originally shot on hand-crank cameras, the footage was jerky, with a frame rate anywhere from ten to 18 frames per second. Modern films are presented at 24 fps, so Stereo D ran the footage through computer software to smooth it out by creating digital transitional frames.

Then came the color. For the backgrounds, Jacksons team traveled to many of the locations where the film was shot. They also worked with an historian to ensure that the uniform colors and other components were correct.

The last step was to convert all of the film to 3D.

Story continues

They Shall Not Grow Old is being screened tonight, December 17, and December 27 at theaters around the country. Click here to find movie times in your area.

('You Might Also Like',)"This is what the decision on the Revilla case tells us."

After four years of trial, the Sandiganbayan, First Division, rendered the much awaited decision acquitting former Senator Ramon Bong Revilla of the crime of plunder. The court said the prosecution failed to establish beyond reasonable doubt that he received, directly or indirectly, rebates, commissions and kickbacks from his Priority Development Assistant Fund or PDAF. However, Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the PDAF scam, and the senators staff, lawyer Richard Cambe, were found guilty as charged and sentenced to reclusion perpetua. The prosecution conspiracy theory revolves around the allegation that Senator Revilla was allotted a large amount of PDAF. Although he had no direct access to this money, he could trigger its release from the Department of Budget and Management. According to the prosecution, these amounts did not redound to the benefit of the people but instead went to line the pockets of a few, including the accused. The prosecution evidence reposed their full faith in the testimonies of witnesses Luy, Sunas, Sula and Baltazar who admittedly were also part of the scheme and would have been charged together with the accused had they not been admitted to the Witness Protection Program. Star witness Benhur Luy said he never personally transacted with Revilla, but claimed he was sure that the millions-of-pesos worth of kickbacks he handed over to Cambe still made their way to the senator. Prosecutors also obtained from the Commission on Audit (COA) a letter signed by Revilla confirming an earlier letter to auditors that the projects from his pork barrel were to be implemented by the Napoles NGOs. During the bail hearings, Desiderio Pagui, a handwriting expert examined the documents in open court and concluded that the signatures were forged. The main decision, penned by Justice Geraldine Faith Econg, devoted a lengthy discussion on why the opinion of the handwriting witness must stand. While Cambes participation in the PDAF scam was clear, that he carried out this task for and in the name of Revilla was not sufficiently established, according to the ponente. There was no evidence adduced that Revilla designated Cambe to represent him in the transactions. The fact that Cambe was under the senators employ for a long time was not sufficient evidence that he could represent him on the matter, the opinion added. In fact, the prosecution witnesses positively identified Cambe who transacted business with them and Napoles. However, there is no doubt, according to the opinion, that the prosecution failed to produce a single evidence that directly shows that Revilla received rebate, commission or kickback from the pork barrel scam. The circumstantial evidence presented was not enough to establish his guilt.The graft court gave credence to the assertion by Revilla that his signatures as appearing in the questioned documents were forgeries which assertion was supported by a handwriting expert. To the graft Court, even the AMLC Report stating that in a span of four (4) years Revilla and his family made bank transactions amounting to more than P81 million was mere circumstantial evidence which was not conclusive. The Court did not rule out the possibilities that these pieces of circumstantial evidence could possibly exculpate the accused. Justices Gomez-Escueta and De la Cruz registered their strong dissent to the majority opinion. The dissenters were primarily focused on 1. Credibility of the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses, specifically that of Luy; 2. The strong links which showed Revillas involvement in the crime particularly his endorsement of Napoles NGOs; 3. The thrust given to the confirmation letter purportedly given by Revilla to COA Assistant Commissioner to debunk the authenticity of his signatures in the questioned documents; 4. The authorization given by Revilla to Cambe to extend his participation to project implementation. All circumstances, according to the dissent, were enough to convict. While, to the dissent, the testimonies of Luy and other witnesses taken separately may not establish the authority given by Revilla to Cambe, if however taken as a whole it proves the scheme that Revilla was to receive 50-percent share of the PDAF allocation. It is virtually impossible to find a direct evidence on such authorization. The pork barrel scam would have remained undetected and could have bled the national coffers dry for years had it not been for the whistleblowers. Moreover, the AMLC Report, which was disparaged by the majority opinion as not being conclusive, is irrefutable proof of the burgeoning wealth of the accused. As a whole, the unexplained wealth of Revilla is one glaring fact to gloss over. Why should it not be doubted that the various sums deposited to the account of Revilla came from Napoles? Was it not Napoles who caused the recording of these kickbacks in her ledger? All told, the majority, in the opinion of the dissent, took the cudgels for the accused when the latter did not even lift a finger to refute certain issues raised during the trial. There are other graft and corruption cases against Senator Revilla. We will see they will be resolved. Suffice it to say that with this latest Sandiganbayan decision, our judicial system has been put to the test.By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Search company Yelp and lobby group Consumer Watchdog lost their joint bid to intervene in Google's challenge of a 2.4 billion euro ($2.7 billion) EU antitrust fine after a court said they had no direct interest in the case. The Luxembourg-based General Court also rejected applications from other Google rivals, according to a ruling on its website. The European Commission penalized Google, the world's most popular internet search engine, last year for favoring its own comparison shopping service. The case was triggered by British price comparison shopping site Foundem, while other European and U.S. rivals also filed complaints. U.S.-based Yelp and Consumer Watchdog had jointly sought to join the court proceedings so their rights and interests would be covered by the final ruling in the case. The General Court, however, backed Google's argument against Yelp's intervention, saying that while it took part as an interested third party in the EU investigation, it runs a different business from Google. "As Yelp does not operate a search service that specializes in comparison shopping results, it cannot be directly affected by the ruling regarding the contested act and thus does not satisfy the criterion laid down in the case-law," judges said. Yelp said the fight against Google was far from over. "It is unfortunate that U.S. consumer voices from this organization will not be included in this particular phase of the comparison shopping case," Yelp public policy senior vice president Luther Lowe said. "But we are ultimately heartened by reports that the Commission has opened an investigation into Google's anti-consumer behavior as it relates to local search." The court also dismissed lobbying group FairSearch's bid to intervene in the shopping case. Judges said FairSearch had failed to prove it is a representative body. They also rejected intervention bids from Prestige Gifting, Connexity, Pricegrabber.com Ltd and lobbying group ICOMP. This is one of two Google challenges against EU antitrust rulings, with the other related to Android. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Susan Fenton and Andrew Cawthorne)Sanaa (AFP) - Yemen's flashpoint city of Hodeida was calm on Tuesday following heavy clashes that erupted after the UN-brokered ceasefire started at midnight, pro-government sources and residents said.

"There has been complete calm since 03:00 am Yemen time (1200 GMT) in the city of Hodeida," a military source loyal to the government told AFP on Tuesday.

The ceasefire agreement struck at the UN-sponsored peace talks in Sweden came into effect at midnight Monday but heavy clashes and air raids continued after the deadline, pro-government sources and residents in the city told AFP.

The residents confirmed by phone that there has been no fighting between the government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition and Iran-aligned Huthi rebels since 03:00 am.

But it was not possible to determine if the halt in fighting was in response to the ceasefire or just a temporary stoppage.

Residents said that daily fighting would usually be fierce in the evening and at night, before coming to a standstill at dawn.

The two warring sides have however welcomed the truce in the strategic Red Sea province.

Both the defence ministry of the internationally-recognised government and that of the Huthi rebels said they would comply with the ceasefire.

The United Nations said on Monday that the deal was to be implemented at midnight, even though the agreement reached in Sweden last week included an "immediate ceasefire" in Hodeida and its surroundings.

A UN official, who requested anonymity, told AFP that the delay to the halt in hostilities was necessary for "operational reasons".Sanaa (AFP) - Yemen's flashpoint city of Hodeida was calm on Tuesday following heavy clashes that erupted after a UN-brokered ceasefire started at midnight, pro-government sources and residents said.

The truce agreed at the UN-sponsored peace talks in Sweden came into effect at midnight Monday, but sources said heavy clashes and air raids continued after the deadline.

"There has been complete calm since 03:00 am Yemen time (1200 GMT) in the city of Hodeida," a military source loyal to the government told AFP on Tuesday.

Residents confirmed by phone that there has been no fighting between the government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition and Iran-aligned Huthi rebels since 03:00 am.

But it was not possible to determine if the halt in fighting was in response to the ceasefire or just a temporary stoppage.

Residents said that daily fighting would usually be fierce in the evening and at night, before coming to a standstill at dawn.

The two warring sides have however welcomed the truce in the strategic Red Sea province.

Both the internationally-recognised government and the Huthi rebels said they would comply with the ceasefire.

The United Nations said on Monday that the deal was to be implemented at midnight, even though the agreement reached in Sweden last week included an "immediate ceasefire" in Hodeida and its surroundings.

A UN official, who requested anonymity, told AFP that the delay was necessary for "operational reasons".

- Hodeida residents 'hopeful' -

UN envoy Martin Griffiths said on Sunday that the UN was working with both sides to ensure the ceasefire accord was "implemented timely and properly".

The truce is supposed to be followed by the withdrawal of fighters from Hodeida, whose port is the entry point for the vast majority of imports to Yemen.

A prisoner swap involving some 15,000 detainees is planned and a "mutual understanding" was reached to facilitate aid deliveries to Yemen's third city Taiz -- under the control of loyalists but besieged by rebels.

Story continues

The two sides also agreed to meet again in late January for more talks to define the framework for negotiations on a comprehensive peace settlement.

Ahead of the ceasefire coming into force, residents in Hodeida city hoped Monday that it would lead to lasting peace.

"We are hopeful that things will go back to the way they were and that there would be no aggression, no airstrikes and lasting security," Amani Mohammed told AFP.

Another Hodeida resident, Mohammed al-Saikel, said he was optimistic the ceasefire would pave the way for a broader truce.

"We are hopeful about this ceasefire in Hodeida and one for Yemen in general," he said.

"We will reach out in peace to whoever does the same."

Impoverished Yemen has been mired in fighting between the Huthi rebels and troops loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi since 2014.

The war escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition stepped in on the government's side.

Since then some 10,000 people have been killed, according to the World Health Organization, but some rights groups believe the toll is far higher.Katowice, PolandOver the weekend, in this brutally freezing cold, quiet coal-fired city of Poland, it was definitely tough for more than 190 countries to reach an agreement on a set of rules meant to help curb global warming. Many countries which reinforce their ambitions to fight climate change admit that the action needed under the Paris Agreement which comes out into force in 2020 is good, but not good enough. Despite all the criticism of climate activists and the scientific recommendations for immediate action, the highly technical 24th Conference of Parties (COP24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change produced a 156-page rulebook which is divided into themeshow countries will report and monitor their national pledges to curb greenhouse gas emissions and update their emissions. Some of the crucial sticking points, however, were left for future negotiations such as the rules for mitigating climate change and important issues tied with finance and pricing carbon. Katowice has shown once more the resilience of the Paris Agreementour solid roadmap for climate action. The Approval of the Paris Agreement Work Programme is a basis for a transformative process which will require strengthened ambition from the international community, said UN chief Antonio Guterres during the closing of the climate talks. Climate Change Commission Secretary Emmanuel M. de Guzman, who led the Philippines delegation said world leaders to demonstrate climate action and leadership. Climate action and leadership resolve must be demonstrated by all. Now is the time for leadership, not cowardice. There is no excuse for inaction among the worlds most powerful nations, De Guzman said. The Philippines is among countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change such as rising sea levels, prolonged droughts floods and changes in rainfall patterns. Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama also called on all nations to demonstrate the political will needed to overcome the complexities of the challenge of addressing climate change.  Together, we can overcome the greatest threat humanity has ever faced, with the entire global community eventually emerging more prosperous and more resilient. Climate Reality Project Philippines Country Manager Rodne Galicha said that while the rulebook has been adopted after grueling hours of negotiations, climate activists said it is disappointing that it took huge crunches for other developed countries to accept the urgency of increasing ambitions based on scientific reports. May Boeve, Executive Director of 350.org said: Hope now rests on the shoulders of many people who are rising to take action like the inspiring children who started an unprecedented wave of strikes in schools to support a fossil-fuel future; the thousands of institutions that committed to pull their money out of coal, oil and gas; the many communities worldwide who keep resisting fossil fuel development and calling for a fast and just transition to 100% renewable energy systems for all. What should worlds governments concentrate on in the run up to the COP25 in Chile, next year? Here are some key takeaways from this years climate talks. 1. Pathway toward climate justice and loss and damage. Climate justice has to become the leading principle guiding future negotiations. Climate activists and vulnerable countries believe that Katowice was a missed opportunity for radical action. For them, climate change is a matter of justice. Financial means must be allocated in order for them to green their economies and cope with future climate impacts. In 2015, wealthy countries agreed to provide US$100 billion of new and additional fund each year to developing countries by 2020. But they have long rejected the idea of being legally liable for climate change as claimed by poorer nations. This thorny issue on finance, only requires in the set of rules that wealthy countries will continue to help them look for new money from 2025 onwards.Without a clear sense of what new grant finance is on the table, our governments are in impossible position where they are forced to choose between the urgent needs of our people and picking up the slack for rich country laziness, said Lidy Nacpil, Coordinator of the Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development. Worse still, rich countries are even trying to turn developing countries into donors, completely shifting the responsibility to those who have contributed the least to the climate crisis. 2. Political will and flexibility. Political agenda has always been the main barrier at the UN climate talks. With so many countries involved in highly technical and political negotiations about how to limit emissions, political will and flexibility must abound. Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed puts it fiercely, Set aside political differences, and come together with an open hand and an honest heart. We must work together to salvage what we can. All we seem to be doing is talking and talking and talking. We are not winning the battle. Thats why the Talanoa Dialogue put the issues on transparency and flexibility at the top of the agenda, emphasizing talanoa (participatory, transparent dialogue) as the way to lay the groundwork needed to hammer-out disagreements and operationalize the Paris Agreement. 3. Acknowledge science. While COP 24 adopted a weak set of rules to implement the Paris Agreement, the recent UN scientific special report on 1.5 degrees Celsius was not. The report gave a stark warning that the world needs to take drastic measures to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius to avert catastrophic events in the coming decades. But this report stirred a debate as it was blocked by some of the worlds largest oil-producing countries like United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait saying that the report must only be noted and not officially welcome it in the text. The IPCC report must stress that limiting global temperature increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius is not impossible but very challenging, said climate expert Rosa Perez who is also a lead author of the IPCC special report. It can go hand-in-hand with achieving other world goals such as the Sustainable Development Goals. Limiting global warming would also give people and the ecosystems more room to adapt and remain below relevant risk thresholds, Perez explained. 4. Involve Business. At COP24, 48 countries and regional governments supporting a global coal alliance agreed to accelerate clean growth and achieve the phase-out of coal power. This was also supported by 28 organizations from the business sector. The Powering Past Coal Alliance calls for more nations and businesses to join the alliance in phasing out unabated coal power as an important step in addressing climate change and meet countries commitment to keep global temperature increase well below 2 degrees Celsius, and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Before COP24 took place, business leaders were fully engaged in the Global Climate Action Summit to seize the opportunity for an exponential shift to a cleaner and more sustainable economy. At least 29 businesses and philanthropists pledged US$ 4 billion over the next five years to combat climate change. Agreeing on a set of rules is just a one step in a long process. In Chile next year, there must be another opportunity to clarify sticky issues and agree on a more comprehensive, robust and transparent rulebook to solve the global problem on climate change.I mean, Myvidster still alive and thriving.

So...

I'm gucci.

Reply

Thread

Link

Axel is my baby daddy.

Never thought I would see the day when a hot Korean dude would be Gay porn scene's new king.

Truly a blessing.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

wasn't he just accused of sexual assault by multiple men?

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Yaas tbh

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I forgot about em. They kept logging you out tho 

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Your icons always make me FEEL THINGS.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link





https://archonix.tumblr.com/post/181204124399/psa-if-your-blog-is-stuck-in-explicit-mode What fucking kills me is the fact that you can right click > inspect source AND CHANGE THE FUCKING CODE THAT HAS YOUR BLOG MARKED AS EXPLICIT

Reply

Thread

Link

For such a huge site, I don't understand how they do always seems so amateur hour.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

ever since people figured out what open source tumblr was using to flag their posts, i've been waiting for someone to make an extension to outwit their bot.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

im scared to use this bc when it comes to them finally reviewing why its flagged they might point out youve done this

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

That sounds way too competent for tumblr

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

They can't tell if you've used inspect, it's just impacting your browser, it's not like you're manipulating code on the backend.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lmao

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

My fan blog was marked explicit and im like ..HOW?!?!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

tumblr dev incompetence is always a delight

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

lmfao awww

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

tumblr is truly the biggest mess of all messes.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Fitting image.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

LiveJournal is now restricted by a Russian owner who recently implemented a ban on political and LGBTQ speech to comply with Russian law.



Does this just...not apply to ONTD? lmao

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

People are so fucking dramatic, lmao.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

'the death of tumblr is coming'

a christmas miracle

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

omg we and CHEERS TO THAT!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

it's funny bc i still have posts up of butts and nipples and nothing has happened. but i've had some removed too

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Burn baby burn



Wonder who'll get banned if they go after Nazis?



Also, does this mean the porn blogs reposting my friend's story about her assault are going down?

Reply

Thread

Link

Also, does this mean the porn blogs reposting my friend's story about her assault are going down?





I shouldn't be surprised at this, and yet I am. JFC how horrific.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Her theory was because she tagged it for potential triggers, it got picked up by a bot

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

What in the world!!

I'm sorry this happening.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

those blogs are disgusting. im sorry that happened to you and your friend <3

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

JFC

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

what in the unholy fuck is wrong with those porn blogs JFC

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

knowing tumblr, they'll most likely make an exception for those type of porn blogs!



really sorry for your friend, the website is a damn mess :/

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

THAT HAPPENED TO ME TO, WTFFFFFFFF

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i literally havent come across anything in the last few days. i never post to my blog anyway so maybe thats why seeing blocked things hasnt come up. i also dont follow porn blogs anyway so unless my fav architecture blogs start doing something random, this has zero effect on me





(though also like, shocking it's random algorithm is not working)

Reply

Thread

Link

Yeah I don't follow anything ~interesting so I haven't been affected either

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Yeah same im a designer and sometimes i go check relevant tags, never used it for anything that wasnt art related lol





Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I do see a lot of bans on artists for random shit (like drawings of cats etc) but any of the generic stuff like flowers or whatever I haven't seen anything

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

IDK I logged on and my tumblr seems fine, so maybe I lucked out. Some really dumb stuff has been marked explicit though and if it's just a reblog and not something you posted yourself you're sol in getting it unblocked. So um, thanks for saving Mindy Kaling's face from the world tumblr?

Reply

Thread

Link

Oh, the reblog doesn't effect me in any way, it's still there in my posts in that I can see it and it doesn't mark my blog as NSFW, it's just that no one else can see it.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I'm glad your blog is doing OK. I just scrolled around and I see zero difference. Nothing of mine has been deleted and blogs I follow also seem fine.



I have seen people complaining that photos of their cat were flagged, but so far it all looks normal to me.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I'm sad tbh. Tubmlr was the best place to find porn pics.

Reply

Thread

Link

My neighbors husband works for Tumblr & I feel bad if this might affect his livelihood. Otherwise though, good riddance to Tumblr, I could never even figure out how to use it (what are notes, how does one follow a thread of replies, does it not work like ONTD comments do?)

Reply

Thread

Link

Based on what i've heard about their enviroment, poor dude should have jumped.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

My boyfriend worked for AOL (hahahaha) before/during the Verizon acquisition and I think it was the Yahoo/Tumblr announcement that truly spurred him to leave. I do miss telling people that he worked at AOL, though

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Notes are useless figures tbh



especially when it gets tens of thousands of notes and it's a discourse post that goes a million directions but you're fooled that the post you see is majority's opinion bc of the numbers

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Same, I hate trying to follow a discussion on tumblr

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Their messaging also sucks. I hate that platform so much

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

LOL same, I was obsessed with tumblr years ago when I made graphics and I still go on it to search up a fave show that doesn't have much discussion elsewhere - I'm too old to find new sources for this tbh.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

mte

ot but your username lol, love it

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

tumblr could have been great if they'd figured out a way to quietly monetise (beyond offloading to yahoo), policed porn and listened to users' requests for functionality :/

but it was too inept for all of that. good riddance

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i agree

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

yeah thats a good point tbh

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

mte

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

mte

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I only browsed and followed people who reposted nsfw content so nothing has changed much

I dont even see the 'flagged' marks on posts on mobile

Reply

Thread

Link

Somehow my blog amazingly wasn't labeled explicit even though I had made a couple of photosets with boobs over the years, but it doesn't seem to matter because a ton of my posts got hidden anyway. At least half of them weren't even flagged or even inappropriate. I'm so annoyed. Hopefully 2019 brings the next photo blog platform that improves where Tumblr fucked up. #itstime (But not Pillowfort because that site name is just so goofy.)

Reply

Thread

Link

Weirdly my gifsets of adult women kissing fully clothed have gotten more flags than gifsets from Spartacus sex scenes. :/

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Losing lots of gorgeous Spartacus gifsets that I've reblogged over the years might honestly be what bothers me the most about this ban. Even a cute Varro gifset that I'd queued was flagged without warning after it got posted today. My Gaia tag must be a wasteland right now. :(

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

to my knowledge the only explicit posts I made were gifsets from the sex scene in Sommersturm over 5 years ago, and I went to check yesterday and they are all flagged NSFW but also, I have reblogged the very same posts and those are still visible o.O

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Bots still somehow manage to follow me on there. The've evolved to learning how the sfw tags work.



Still, this is the staff so inept at what they do they can't find a way to systematically strike down the CP on there so they enact a sweeping mess of a system in its place.



Plus, they're not cracking down on the alt-right still there. Tumblr deserves its downward spiral fully.

Reply

Thread

Link

It's ridiculous for them to be doing all this without including Nazi blogs in the purge.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Nnnn 3 porn bots followed me today

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i didnt see your comment but same! i got like 5 following me today wth?

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

they'll care about alt right stuff when that is what gets them kicked off the app store. this was never meant to be a real cleanse which is why it's done so half-heartedly (and lbr, why these boils have been allowed to fester in the first place).

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Bots keep following me, too. I mean, I block them almost immediately, but sill. The staff really is atrocious.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I've had a couple of gifsets flagged, both of adult women fully clothed kissing in a few gifs.

Reply

Thread

LinkAfter a weeks blockade by a militant group, Libyas largest oil field, Sharara, has been shuttered by a force majeure declaration by the National Oil Corporation. Reuters cited a statement issued by NOC, saying that production from the field will resume when alternative security arrangements are put in place.

This force majeure follows another one from last week that covered exports from the blocked field, which pumps more than 300,000 bpd, contributing almost a third of Libyas national total.

The latest problems for the field, which has already become the target of several production interruptions this year, began a week ago. Initial reports said the blockaders comprised local tribesmen and members of the Petroleum Facilities Guardthe group that until two years ago held control of Libyas four export terminals in the Oil Crescent, demanding payment from the government to allow crude to be exported, severely affecting production.

Later during the week things escalated when the PFG demanded money from the government to lift the blockade from Sharara. NOCs chairman warned this course of action would be ill-advised.

Mustafa Sanalla said that if the Libyan Ministry of Finance paid the militants, this would set a dangerous precedent that would endanger Libyas economic recovery. A day earlier, Sanalla said in a letter to the Prime Minister of the UN-recognized government of Libya that if a ransom was paid, NOC would not restart production at Sharara or lift the force majeure on the Zawiya export terminal and refinery, where the crude from Sharara goes, putting the government between a rock and a hard place.

"I want to be clear, this militia has to leave the field immediately, Sanalla said in a statement last week. We stand wholeheartedly with the people of the south and understand their concerns. At NOC we are doing all we can to improve the living conditions of the residents. Their legitimate demands and grievances however have been used by criminals who are only in pursuit of self-interest.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:In recent months, its been difficult to hear any positive statements coming from Irans troubled oil sector, particularly since President Trump decided in May to reinstate tough sanctions over what he sees as Irans non-compliance with the 2015 nuclear accord it reached with the U.S. and other western powers.

However, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh praised OPEC on Saturday over what he claimed was the oil-producing cartel's ability to reach an oil output agreement despite intense internal political differences. On December 7, the so-called OPEC+ group of producers, which includes production heavyweights Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC member Russia, agreed to trim production by 1.2 million b/p for six months, starting in January, with the deal to be revisited in April.

The move is intended to drain down global oil markets amid supply worries as the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Russia, the worlds top three oil producers, pump at record levels. It also comes as oil demand growth concerns persist amid ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and China. OPEC ... has shown the capacity in which members can hold talks and reach important results regarding their common interests despite having the most intense political disputes or even military conflicts (such as during the Iran-Iraq war), Zanganeh said on his Twitter account.

Irans positive spin

This is the first positive spin that Iran's media-savvy oil minister has put on OPEC developments in months. Though OPEC+ reached a deal on December 7, including waiving Iran from having to cut output given its problems with fresh sanctions, the upbeat tone simply wont last.

Vying for regional dominance

Both Iran (OPECs third largest producer) and Saudi Arabia (OPECs largest producer and de facto leader) are vying for geopolitical hegemony in the Middle East, mostly through proxy wars in Yemen and Syria. The two countries also have differing opinions on how OPEC should conduct itself as a unit, how it should respond to President Trumps seemingly constant Tweets calling for high OPEC output to keep a lid on oil prices, and more poignantly, how the cartel should work with Russia and other non-OPEC oil production partners. Related: These Countries Found The Most Oil In 2018

Saudi Arabia and Iran are also at odds over Tehran's ballistic missile development plans as well as the Islamic Republics controversial nuclear development program, an issue that will continue to fester as U.S. sanctions eat into Iranian economic growth, causing massive unemployment to spike and a continuing downward trajectory of its currency.

Irans renewed threats

Case in point, last Thursday, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), warned that Iran has the capability to restore 20-percent uranium enrichment if the 2015 nuclear deal is discarded by parties still remaining under the agreement. Enrichment is currently underway, but we would put aside the 300kg limit (set by the nuclear agreement) whenever we wish and would do the enrichment at any volume and level, he said in an interview with state TV on the sidelines of a visit to the Fordo nuclear facility. We currently have 1,044 centrifuges in Fordo, and if the establishment wants, we will restart 20-percent uranium enrichment in Fordo, he added.

UK and France voice concern

His comments come just a week after France and the UK, both signatories of the 2015 nuclear accord, warned Tehran that it may be in breach of United Nations obligations by testing medium-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying multiple warheads. UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said in a statement he was deeply concerned by Irans test firing of a medium-range ballistic missile. Provocative, threatening and inconsistent with UNSCR 2231. Our support for JCPOA in no way lessens our concern at Irans destabilizing missile programme and determination that it should cease.

French President Emmanuel Macrons office issued a similar statement, saying it was deeply concerned and the tests were provocative and destabilising. It urged Iran to stop all testing of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

By Tim Daiss for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Canadas federal government will provide a US$1.2-billion (C$1.6-billion) lifeline to Albertas energy industry, CTV News reports, adding that most of the funds will be used for job support.

The report comes on the heels of protests in Alberta against the lack of oil transport capacity that has seen the price of Canadian crude take a nosedive, hitting not just producers bottom lines but their workforce as well.

Ottawa has stopped all new pipeline capacity proposals but one, the Trans Mountain expansion, which, however, is being delayed again and again on strong opposition from British Columbia.

Yet this lack of new pipelines is hitting Canadas oil province hard. About a thousand people gathered for a protest outside the Calgary city hall yesterday, with the mayor of the city joining the protesters.

Our unemployment went from one of the lowest in Canada to one of the highest, Mayor Naheed Nenshi said, adding, Yes, climate change is real. Yes, climate change is happening. You should not take a non-renewable resource and sell it at a giant discount.

Another 1,500 people gathered to rally in support of more pipelines in Grande Prairie, in northwestern Alberta on Monday as well. That rally was organized by two pro-oil industry groups, Oilfield Dads and Rally4Resources.

"We aren't just a monumental cash cow for the government. We provide opportunities for families across the country," a pro-oil activist, Bernard Hancock, said at the rally, as quoted by CBC. "It puts chicken in the pot in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. It puts a roast in the oven in Miramichi, New Brunswick. It puts tortiere on the fork in Granby, Quebec. And it puts tofu on the table in Toronto and Vancouver!"

Pipeline shortages caused a slump of Western Canadian Select to West Texas Intermediate to as much as US$50 a barrel before Alberta Premier Rachel Notley enforced a production cut of over 300,000 bpd, effective January. Now, the discount has shrunk but not enough, according to the protesters.



By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has signed strategic cooperation agreements for oil and gas exploration offshore China with nine international companies including oil majors Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Total, and Equinor.

CNOOC and the nine companiesChevron, ConocoPhillips, Equinor, Husky, KUFPEC, Roc Oil, Shell, SK Innovation, and Totalwill share development opportunities in strategic cooperation areas located in the Pearl River Mouth Basin offshore China, CNOOCs exploration and production company CNOOC Limited said in a statement on Tuesday.

The agreements will facilitate the establishment of a long term and stable cooperation and share the development opportunities to a certain extent in the Strategic Cooperation Areas, creating conditions for the final signing of contracts, CNOOC said.

Chinese companies are trying to tap more resources at home to replace dwindling production at mature oil and gas fields while Chinas oil and gas demand continues to grow.

Earlier this year, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) advanced a strategic partnership with Brazils Petrobras and agreed to cooperate with Norways Equinor in oil and gas projects, in a push to boost its global footprint and Chinese gas production.

Chinas biggest energy producers are tapping more tight oil and gas wells, aiming to increase domestic oil and natural gas production at the worlds largest crude oil importer and what will soon be the worlds top natural gas importer.

As part of a government push to boost domestic energy supply, CNPC and Sinopec are raising investments to increase local oil and gas production and are accelerating drilling at tight oil and gas formations in western China. Domestic natural gas production has been rising in recent months, but the growth rate hasnt been even close to meeting the booming demand due to the cleaner-fuel/cleaner-air government policies.

Domestic oil production, on the other hand, has been falling due to the depletion of mature conventional oil fields. Desperate to meet this need, Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the state-held companies to boost domestic production of oil and gas, and firms are starting to follow the policy.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:France is extending the state guarantees for the Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects Yamal LNG and the Arctic LNG 2 projects, Russian media quoted Frances Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire as saying after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Maxim Oreshkin in Paris.

According to Le Maire, France will also provide longer terms for loan repayment for the two Russian LNG projects, in which French oil and gas major Total has stakes.

I confirm that we made a decision to give longer terms for repayment of loans, as for the state guarantees - this is a guarantee of the French state to the Yamal (LNG) project. All participants in this project requested it, Russias TASS news agency quoted Le Maire as saying on Monday.

This is a success and an economic signal, but behind there is a political signal that we want to strengthen our cooperation in the energy sector based on the Yamal (LNG) project. The same goes to the Arctic LNG-2 project - it is very important for us that the largest number of French companies could take part in it.

Total holds 20 percent in the Yamal LNG project led by Russias Novatek and also participated by Chinese CNPC and Silk Road Fund. Yamal LNG started operations at the end of last year. Operator Novatek said earlier this month that Yamal LNG had reached full capacity at the plants three LNG trains.

In May this year, Total expanded its partnership with Novatek with the proposed Arctic 2 LNG project. Total and Novatek signed an agreement under which Total would buy a direct working 10-percent stake in Arctic LNG 2 on the Gydan Peninsula in the north of Siberia.

Arctic LNG 2 will contribute to our strategy of growth in LNG by developing competitive projects based on giant low costs resources, Patrick Pouyanne, Chairman and CEO of Total, said at the time.

The final investment decision for Arctic LNG 2 is expected next year, with first train start up potentially in 2023.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:"Have a Blessed Christmas, wherever you may be in this season of our Lord."

Los AngelesMy wife and I are holed up in my brother-in-laws place in Harbor City, an LA suburb that seems farther away from the international airport than Id remembered. Ageing does have a way of telescoping ones memories. The trip over on a foreign airline wasnt bad. But after what seemed to me an unusually rough plane takeoff from our layover at the Taipei airport, I promised my wife that wed become PAL regulars again, for reasons that might be obvious to my readers: Seatmates you can schmooze with. Attendants with the unique Filipina touch. Comfort food even in the skies. And importantly, the peerlessly pacific air currents above our islands to which Ive become accustomed, after nearly two years of flying around the country to speak and train on federalism. Tomorrow were taking a local discount airline on our final leg to Philadelphia. I dont look forward to the brusqueness of the experience, although its a small price to pay for American efficiency. And after all, the very first long-distance Christmas trip by a Family of note wasnt that comfortable either: cold winter, rough transport, and overbooked accommodations that forced the Family elsewhere, into an animal stable. Like them, this trip for me is also about a special child: the baptism of my very first apo, who to my delight will carry the same name as my father, brother, and son. As age advances, I dont expect to be taking such long trips again, but this one promises to be memorable. Expect endless selfies! *** The recent repatriation of the bells of Balangiga from their exile in Montana provoked some spirited discussion about who should take the credit for it. Oldtimers reminded everyone that the process was started by FVR. Duterte diehards wanted to heap all the credit on him. But the current President has set a gracious example by saying that this victory really belongs to everybody. The return of the bells marks the latest high point in the Philippines most important trans-Pacific partnership. Regardless of all the sound reasons why we should be diversifying our alliances, its in the hearts of the Filipino people that Americans can find their biggest asset in this relationship. In an SWS survey, two-thirds of respondents said they believed that the United States would come to our aid if we were invaded by another country (no names mentioned, of course). Only one-third disagreed, and less than 10 percent had no opinion. Tellingly, this trust in the U.S. was stronger among respondents who claimed to be familiar with the details of the West Philippine Sea maritime dispute. This, despite the processual hedges built into the US-Philippine mutual defense agreement, as well as the Americans own hedging of late whenever theyre asked if their commitment would extend to the atolls and islets were disputing with China. Clearly, our aspirational Chinese friends are facing an uphill climb. Theyll have a hard time wooing us with trade, aid and investment when, at the same time, theyre flouting international rulings in our favor, building military runways only miles away from our contiguous territory, and occasionally harassing our sea-bound countrymen.Do they really want to win our hearts and minds when theyre so obviously dismissive of our own role in the world? One has got to be given up for the other. Wanting to have your cake and eat it too isnt a philosophy that endears. *** Another guy with the same philosophy about cakes used to be a Chinese ward himself before that country went capitalist. Thats the communist leader Jose Maria Sison, whose factors see absolutely nothing illogical about branding Duterte a puppet of both the Americans and the Chinese. But theres more. Responding to Dutertes executive order promoting localized peace talks, after the failure of national-level negotiations, Sison proclaimed that the EO seeks to weaponize the civil bureaucracy for the military suppression of the revolutionary movement of the people. His double talk is remarkable. After all, any government is certainly entitled to defend itself any way it can against its sworn enemies. And any peoples movement that really enjoys the kind of popular support Sison claims should be ecstatic over the prospect of firearms being put in the hands of the people, among whomto use their own picturesque languagethey should be able to move about as easily as fish in the sea. The likelier reason behind Sisons intransigencedespite his interminable protestations of peaceable intentionsmust be a well-founded fear of how effective localized peace talks might become. Reelectionist Davao city mayor Inday Sara set the tone by reaching out to her own homegrown guerrillas. Heres a toast to her and to other local government executives in conflict areas who can now do the deals they need to do for the sake of peace. *** What better way to wind up this column from abroad than to share what must now be the public joy back home over the proclamation of another Filipina, Ms. Catriona Gray, as the next Miss Universe? I read about it online just now, but the (delayed) telecast of the pageant is still going on. Time for me to take a break from writing and relish this high note on which the year will end for my countrymen. To all of them, to all of you: Have a Blessed Christmas, wherever you may be in this season of our Lord.Saudi Arabias crude oil exports jumped to a 22-month high of 7.70 million bpd in October, as OPECs biggest oil producer and exporter ramped up shipments ahead of the return of the U.S. sanctions on Iran.

According to data by the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) database, which collects self-reported figures from 114 countries, Saudi Arabias crude oil exports in October increased by 268,000 bpd from September to the highest level since January 2017, when the initial OPEC/non-OPEC production cut deal began.

Saudi Arabias crude oil exports in September had also increased from August  by 219,000 bpd from August to a high of 7.43 million bpd, Saudi Arabias self-reported data to JODI showed last month.

The high Saudi oil exports in September and October were in response to the U.S. pledge to drive Iranian exports down to zero, which market participants interpreted as an imminent supply crunch. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Russia moved in the summer to pump more crude to offset what was expected to be a significant loss of Iranian supply when U.S. sanctions on Irans oil return.

In November, the month in which the sanctions snapped back, Saudi Arabia massively increased its oil production to an all-time high. Crude oil production in Saudi Arabia surged by 377,000 bpd from October to 11.016 million bpd in November, according to OPECs secondary sources.

The U.S. sanctions in early November, however, came with waivers allowing eight Iranian customers to continue importing oil from Iran for another 180 days. The market turned its attention to the building oversupply with the increased production at OPECs Arab Gulf allies and Russia.

Earlier this month, OPEC and its Russia-led allies reached a deal to reduce their combined oil production by 1.2 million bpd for six months starting January.

In line with its pledge in the new OPEC+ deal and considering weaker seasonal demand, Saudi Arabia could cut its crude oil exports in January by 1 million bpd to 7.3 million bpd from the November export level of 8.3 million bpd.



By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:China fills gap left by US in Middle East military drone market, British think tank says

China plays a significant role in the supply of military drones to Middle East countries, especially those that are barred from importing them from the United States, a British think tank has said.

The Royal United Services Institute said in a report that China has filled a void left by the US, which has become more selective about exporting armed drones and related technologies to the region.

China has often been described as a no-questions-asked exporter of drones, has played and is likely to continue playing a key role as a supplier of armed UAVs to the Middle East, the report said.

The only two rules Beijing follows are dealing only with state actors and prioritising usage for counterterrorism purposes, it said.

China has sold advanced armed drones to several Middle Eastern countries, including Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, on the grounds they will be used to combat terrorism, the report said.

Beijing has stated on more than one occasion that it does not take sides on conflicts in the region. All countries are therefore potential clients.

China is not a signatory to the Missile Technology Control Regime, an international treaty signed in 1987 that seeks to control the sale of weapons such as missiles and armed unmanned aerial vehicles. For example, it restricts the sale of missiles and related technologies that are capable of carrying a 500kg (1,100lb) payload for 300km (186 miles) or more.

China applied to join the treaty in 2004 but was rejected. It has since pledged to voluntarily abide by its rules.

But military experts have said that some armed drones fall into a grey area under the agreement. For example, the CH-4B Rainbow, a UAV manufactured by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, has a range of just 150km if controlled from the ground but more than 1,000km if fitted with a satellite guidance function.

It is not known if the company has ever sold Rainbow drones with the enhanced capability to any of its clients.

Story continues

While US drones are generally regarded as technologically superior to their Chinese counterparts, buyers in the Middle East often do not have the option to buy the former and the latter are significantly cheaper.

Iraq, for instance, bought at least four Rainbow drones from China in 2015 after failing to complete a deal on US-made MQ-1 Predator models.

According to reports by the Iraqi air force, as of the second half of this year the drones had been used to carry out more than 260 strikes against Islamic State.

Similarly, the UAE bought two different models of the Wing Loong drone manufactured by Chinas Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group after it too failed to finalise a deal on Predators.

The think tanks report said China has also offered to help countries, including Saudi Arabia, to manufacture their own drones.

Proliferation in armed UAVs in the Middle East is unlikely to stop and could even accelerate, either through domestic production or reliance on external suppliers, such as Beijing, the report said.

This article China fills gap left by US in Middle East military drone market, British think tank says first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.Huawei phone users in China get free entry to tourist park as companies line up to support smartphone giant

Chinese companies are showing their support to Huawei in response to the recent arrest in Canada of the smartphone giants finance chief Sabrina Meng Wanzhou.

From this week until December 29, visitors to the Shennong Mountain Scenic Park in the central province of Henan can get a waiver on the 65 yuan (US$9.40) entrance fee if they have a Huawei phone.

Notice of the offer, which has caused controversy among the Chinese public, was published on the parks official WeChat account last Saturday.

It is the latest in a series of high-profile declarations of support for Huawei since chief financial officer Meng was arrested in Canada on December 1 at the request of US authorities.

According to the notice, tourists can show their Huawei or Honor phones at the door, follow the parks official WeChat account, and get free entry.

Use Huawei phones, shoot grand photos on the mountain, the notice said. We wish friends around the world who support Huawei success and bliss.

The offer was immediately questioned by Chinese social media users, asking whether it discriminated against other tourists and if it was in accordance with the law.

A staff member for the park confirmed the offer and said the promotion was not illegal.

We are sacrificing our own profits to provide this benefit for the public, she said.

When the South China Morning Post called the local tourism complaint hotline in Jiaozuo, Henan on Tuesday, a staff member said she had received similar complaints.

She said the tourism board had never encountered a similar incident before and had consulted a legal expert.

Our expert believes that it isnt an unfair rule. Because it is a promotional policy, it doesnt harm other tourists benefits, she said.

Because buying a ticket is the normal practice here, they arent harming anyone, but only offering a discount to a few, so we didnt call it off.

Story continues

This is not the first time companies in China have shown their support for Huawei amid the ongoing tensions between China and the US over the Meng case.

Some companies have expressed support for Huawei on social media, raising questions among the public about whether they are engaging in publicity stunts. Some internet users have also wondered whether nationalistic pride has been taken too far.

Last Monday, one of Huaweis suppliers, Shenzhen-based LCD display maker Menpad, said on its official website that it would fine any employee who bought an Apple iPhone.

It also said it would cease buying any American products such as office equipment, computers and cars, and would reward staff who bought Huawei or ZTE phones by giving them a 15 per cent subsidy.

This article Huawei phone users in China get free entry to tourist park as companies line up to support smartphone giant first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.Anti-government protests in Hungary hit the country's public broadcaster on Monday, with the opposition galvanised by the furious reaction to a controversial new labour law. Several thousand demonstrators gathered in the evening outside the Budapest offices of the MTVA broadcaster after two opposition MPs broadcast footage of themselves being thrown out of the building earlier in the day. One of the lawmakers had called for people to gather under the slogan: "If they throw us out the door, we'll come back in through the window". The MPs had demanded access to the studios to read out a petition against the government and what they call its "slave" labour law. MTVA security guards forcibly ejected independent MPs Akos Hadhazy and Bernadett Szel. The two MPs filed a complaint with police posted in front of the building and said as MPs they had a right to enter a public establishment. "This is not a private television station for Fidesz," the party of rightwing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, "but the television of the Hungarian people, financed by the people's taxes," said the MPs, who streamed the altercation live on Facebook. An anti-government protest on Sunday evening drew 15,000 people. The petition the lawmakers wanted to broadcast includes a demand to overturn the labour law - which has stirred protests by relaxing restrictions on overtime and by providing for delayed payments. A third MP was taken to hospital on Monday after another altercation with security at the building. The rallies were the latest in a wave of protests that has seen opposition parties join forces against Orban's nationalist government. A fierce nationalist, Orban has riled his EU opponents and domestic critics with a tough anti-immigration stance and populist rhetoric. - 'We are fighting the Orban regime' - The new legislation has triggered days of protests -- backed by the opposition -- since it was adopted on Wednesday. Demonstrators have clashed with police over the law, which they say undermines workers' rights. The opposition petition also demanded the annulment of another controversial law adopted on the same day, which paves the way for new "administrative courts" to oversee cases concerning matters such as public procurement or electoral disputes. Justice Minister Laszlo Trocsanyi, a close Orban ally, will oversee the courts. That prompted opposition warnings the premier could have near-total political influence over the judicial system. The petition also calls for more independence and objectivity in public media outlets and also demands that Hungary join an EU public prosecutor's office, a move the government has rejected. After the TV station refused to broadcast the petition on Sunday evening, some protesters threw smoke bombs at police, who responded with tear gas. Around 10 MPs from various opposition parties stayed within the MTVA building for much of Monday, pressing staff to read out the petition. They later left the building at the police's request, emerging to cheers from protestors. One of those who was inside the building, MEP Peter Niedermueller from the liberal DK party, said the protest aimed was at "restoring the freedom of the press". "It's ridiculous that the majority of the country doesn't even know what's happening in Budapest because public TV, on all its channels, is only talking about preparations for Christmas," he said. "Today we are not just fighting the two controversial laws but the whole of the Orban regime," ex-Prime Minister and DK leader Ferenc Gyurscany told the private Klubradio station. - Opposition unity - Apart from the opposiotion, unions have also backed the demonstrations against the reforms, which hike the annual overtime hours that employers can demand from 250 to 400 hours and allow payment to be delayed by up to three years. Tamas Szekely from Hungary's main confederation of trade unions told the rally on Monday that they would organise a general strike if the reforms are signed into law. The government says the changes are needed by employers short of manpower and will benefit those wanting to work extra hours. Over the weekend protestors also gathered in other parts of the country. In the third-biggest city Szeged, the socialist mayor called on businesses not to comply with the new overtime law.FILE PHOTO: Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno

MANILA, Philippines  Malacanang on Tuesday (December 18) said it may have been President Rodrigo Duterte who ordered Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno not to attend the next congressional hearing on the alleged insertions in the proposed 2019 National Budget.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Diokno was advised not to attend the next hearing on January 3, 2019 after the rude treatment he received from members of the Lower House during the question hour last week.

The basis would be the rude treatment that he had received and another reason is that, if you would be submitting questions to the resource person, you will not be asking them, so whats the use of going there, Panelo said.

The Palace slammed the lawmakers for their unparliamentary behavior towards Diokno and for disrespecting a fellow government worker.

Lawmakers grilled the Budget Secretary over the alleged pork barrel and anomalies involving government-favored contractors for infrastructure projects in Catanduanes and Sorsogon.

Meanwhile, Malacanang believes that the lawmakers are just diverting the issue and pressing Diokno on the matter because Senator Panfilo Lacson already discovered a number of pork barrels in the proposed national budget.

It was skirting the issue. Instead of him on the hot seat, I mean, them, its now Secretary Diokno, Panelo implied.

This is apart from Dioknos withholding of the Road Users Tax unless Congress abolishes the Road Board.

The Road Board allegedly serves as the cash cow of several lawmakers and a primary source of corruption among them.

President Rodrigo Duterte himself ordered to abolish the Road Board and asked Diokno not to release the Road Users Tax  Marje Pelayo (with reports from Rosalie Coz)

The post Malacanang bars Budget Sec. Diokno from facing House inquiry appeared first on UNTV News.WHO would have thought that what were originally leftover military jeeps from World War II would not only transform public transportation, but also become a cultural symbol in the Philippines?When American

WHO would have thought that what were originally leftover military jeeps from World War II would not only transform public transportation, but also become a cultural symbol in the Philippines?

When American troops left the country after the war some 73 years ago, hundreds of surplus jeeps were either sold or given to Filipinos.

At that time, there was no concrete plan yet for transportation development since the country was still starting to recover from the destruction brought about by the war.

The army green vehicles were altered and repainted with much more vibrant colors to give them a more local vibe.

Metal roofs were also installed for shade, and the seats were replaced with parallel benches to accommodate more passengers.

Like many provinces, Cebu was not exempted from the damage caused by the war. It, too, needed an accessible means of public mass transportation.

In the late 40s, altered jeepneys from Manila were brought to Cebu to expand the reach of the new mode of public transportation.

Because they were still new, the tartanilla (small horse-drawn carriage) business continued to prosper until the late 50s.

But since the 16-seater jeepneys can carry more passengers than the five-seater tartanillas, more units started to arrive in Cebu.

As an offshoot, the jeepneys became one of the major public transportation modes in Cebu. The number of operating tartanillas, on the other hand, was reduced to avoid traffic congestion.

With the widespread use of these jeepneys, the National Government began to regulate their use by requiring drivers to apply for a license, identifying routes and imposing fare rates.

From American military jeeps, the bulk of the jeepneys in Cebu are now built from second-hand Japanese trucks that were originally intended for cargo.

Public utility jeepney (PUJ) operators also started to add more quirks to their vehicles, ranging from sound systems, and television screens for movies and quick karaoke sessions.

Story continues

Music is part of every Filipinos life. I always get drowsy or bored when I drive without music. I also dont want my passengers to get bored, Mario, a PUJ driver plying the Bulacao-Colon route, told SunStar Cebu in Cebuano.

The PUJs have dominated thoroughfares without threat for nearly 70 years until recently.

In 2017, the Department of Transportation launched the Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) Modernization Program to make the countrys public transportation system efficient and environmentally friendly by 2020.

The program aims to replace jeepneys, buses and other PUVs that are at least 15 years old with other alternatives over the next three years.

At present, around 180,000 PUJ units are operating throughout the country.

Today, some 40 modern PUVs called Beeps will start ferrying passengers along two routes in Cebu City: from Cebu City Hall to Cebu IT Park and vice versa and from R. Duterte St. in Banawa in Barangay Guadalupe to Panagdait in Barangay Mabolo and back.

The blue air-conditioned vehicles, which are mini coasters, have a seating capacity of 24 and can also accommodate 10 standing passengers.

It is also equipped with a 72-hour functional dash camera, speed limiter device, global positioning system, and grants free WiFi access to passengers aboard. It also uses the same engine-type of PUVs in Europe.

The fare collection is automated and passengers will just have to swipe their fare cards to the point of sale terminals inside the vehicles.

The cards are re-loadable and will be made available soon in established retail stores.

Greg Perez, Pagkakaisa ng Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) Cebu coordinator, fears that modern PUVs like this will displace existing PUJ drivers.

Because of the PUV modernization, drivers might lose their livelihood. Slowly, PUJs will be gone and this will greatly affect small-time operators and drivers, he said.

Established in the 80s, Piston currently has over 100,000 members under its belt nationwide.

National Confederation of Transport Union (NCTU) vice president for the Visayas Romeo Armamento, on the other hand, said he supports the modernization program.

He said, though, that the government should intensify its education campaign on the matter.

I can personally see where the government is coming from, since the affected vehicles are already old and will continue to get older. However, there should be proper education for everyone to clearly see the goals of the modernization program, he said in Cebuano.

A PUJ operator himself for 23 years, Armamento said a second-hand unit needs at least P20,000 to maintain, and its the flooding in Metro Cebu that causes the greatest damage to their jeepneys.

Because of this, the NCTU has filed a petition for an additional P2.50 on top of the present P6.50 minimum fare rate.

If approved, commuters will have to pay P9 for the first five kilometers, and an additional P1 for every succeeding kilometer.

The modernization of PUVs, though, is not the only challenge Piston and NCTU are facing.

Armamento said that dishonest and troublemaking passengers are among their top concerns.

For Perez, the increase in prices of commodities, especially gasoline, adds burden to their members.

On average, an operator spends around P300,000 for a surplus PUJ unit, excluding maintenance. That is already costly. Thats why oil price hike is making it heavier for us, he said.Shear stress-strain curves of dense colloidal glasses obtained by computer simulations. The initial configurations are created by using the swap algorithm, which allows preparation of very dense, ultra-stable glass states. The system is slightly compressed before application of shear strain. Credit: Osaka University

Glasses are an enigma among solid phases. Like crystalline solids they are hard, but unlike crystals they are amorphous on the molecular scale. Because of this structural disorder, each piece of glass is technically out of equilibrium, and unique. As a result, its properties depend not only on its chemical ingredients, but on how it was cooled.

Their amorphousness makes it tricky to describe glasses with a general model. Now, however, a team led by Osaka University has used simulations to connect the annealing (cooling or compression) of a glass with its mechanical response to strain. In particular, their studypublished in Science Advances - focused on two key metrics of solid behavior, elasticity and plasticity.

When deformed by shear strain, an "elastic" solid returns to its original shape after the strain is released. Plastics, in contrast, permanently retain their new shape. This contrast between "reversible" and "irreversible" changes has implications for how materials respond to mechanical forcesin the body, in technical applications, and even on the geological scale.

"We modeled dense assembly of colloidsa type of amorphous solidmade of hard spheres," says study co-author Hajime Yoshino. "The spheres don't represent real molecules, but they do show whether such dense glasses are elastic. We simulated how they responded to shear and normal strains. Our large supercomputers fully mapped out the strain phase-diagrams of glass formers for the first time, to explore their rheology."

Stability-reversibility map of the dense colloidal glass. Credit: Osaka University

Each glass showed four basic trends. Under small strains they were perfectly elastic. At higher strains they became partially plastic, failing to recover the original state when the deformation was partly lifted. Eventually they face either of the two opposite fates at larger strains: total failure by fracturing (yielding) to release stress, or complete stop by jamming (becoming congested). The region between yielding and jamming on the phase diagram defined where the original glass remained stable.

"We can understand the responses as those of stable, partly stable and unstable glasses," explains lead author Yuliang Jin. "Interestingly, the size of the solid regionand its stable sub-zonedepends on how well the glass was annealed. Better annealed glasses have larger chances of jamming under shear. Our work is the first to demonstrate that ultimate fate of a glass under shear strain can be either yielding or jamming."

Condensed soft matter is found throughout technology and naturefor example, in foams, emulsions and biological tissues. Because such condensed soft matter, like glass, is amorphous, a deeper understanding of how to tailor the properties of glasses may have a wider impact on material design.

Explore further Are amorphous solids elastic or plastic?

More information: Yuliang Jin et al, A stability-reversibility map unifies elasticity, plasticity, yielding, and jamming in hard sphere glasses, Science Advances (2018). Journal information: Science Advances Yuliang Jin et al, A stability-reversibility map unifies elasticity, plasticity, yielding, and jamming in hard sphere glasses,(2018). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aat6387Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The Vikings invaded England in the 9th and 10th centuries. They plundered, raped and burned towns to the ground. Or at least, this is the story we know from school and popular culture.

Nevertheless, the reported plundering and ethnic cleansing are probably overrated. The Vikings simply had worse 'press coverage' by frustrated English monks, who bemoaned their attacks.

In recent decades, groundbreaking research in DNA, archaeology, history and linguistics has provided nuance to these written records and painted a much clearer picture. This research indicates that the Vikings were not the worst invaders to land on English shores at that time. That title goes to the Anglo-Saxons, 400 years earlier.

The Anglo-Saxons came from Jutland in Denmark, Northern Germany, the Netherlands, and Friesland, and subjugated the Romanized Britons. Thus, if the Viking Age is defined by numerous migrations and piracy (according to most scholars, Viking means 'pirate'), the Viking Age should start earlier than 793 ADit should really start around 400 AD.

Here, I outline the various sources that indicate a much more systematic colonisation that started with the Anglo-Saxons, and how recent research, when viewed in its entirety, offers a much clearer understanding of the impact that the Anglo-Saxons had before the Vikings arrived.

The Anglo-Saxons eradicated Celtic languages in England

One support for this contention is the impact, or rather the lack of impact, that the Viking Old Norse had on contemporary Old English language of the Anglo Saxons in the ninth and 10th centuries. This should be compared to the absence of Celtic language in England in the fifth and sixth centuries after the Anglo-Saxons had arrived.

In the fifth and sixth centuries, Old English wiped out the earlier Celtic language in a similar way that modern English eradicated the language of the Native Americans in U.S. in the 19th and 20th centuries. This is clear in the almost non-existent impact that Native American words have on the English spoken today in the U.S. Modern American English has retained around 40 Native American words. Similarly, only a dozen Celtic words made it into the Old English of the Anglo Saxons.

So did the Anglo Saxons have the same sort of impact on the Britons that 19th century Europeans had on Native Americans? And are we looking at ethnic cleansing from the fifth to the eighth centuries?

An Anglo-Saxon sells a horse to a Viking

If the Anglo-Saxons eradicated the Celtic language, the Viking's impact was significantly less. Linguists do see some influence from the Old Norse of the Vikings in the Old English language. But it doesn't come close to the eradication of Celtic by the Anglo-Saxons.

Old Norse did not eradicate the Old English language; Old English was simplified or pidginised because the Anglo Saxons and the Vikings were able to coexist for a time.

An example could be somewhere in Eastern England in the 9th century where an Anglo-Saxon met a Norseman.

The Anglo-Saxon wants to sell the Norseman a horse to pull a wagon. In modern English he'd have said the equivalent of "I'll sell you that horse that drags my wagon." In Old English it would have sounded like this: "Ic selle the that hors the draegeth minne waegn."

The Norseman on the other hand would say "Ek mun selja ther hrossit er dregr vagn mine."

One says "waegn" where other says "vagn," meaning wagon.

One says "hors" for horse, and "draegeth" for drag, while the other says "hros" and "dregr."

The point is that there are differences but they would have understood each other. What is lost in translation are the grammatical elements.

For example, it would be difficult for the Norseman to know if the Anglo-Saxon was speaking about one or two horses, as the Anglo-Saxon says "that hors" for one horse, but for two horses he says "tha hors."

Therefore, according to some linguists, English was simplified because of the meeting between two closely related languages. The plurals slowly became "-s." "Stone," which in Old English is "stan" in singular, and "stanas" in the plural developed to "stone" and "stones." Hors in the singular became "horses" in the plural.

An Anglo-Saxon helmet from the British Museum in London. Was the warrior who owned this helmut part of a more terrifying and brutal invasion than the Vikings? Credit: Shutterstock

Anglo-Saxons caused more change than the Vikings

The same process that changed the language spoken in Britain 1,200 years ago also led to of the pidginisation of languages in the old English and French colonies of Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, 500 years ago.

The language simplified, so one could 'do business' and communicate when people and languages met. They did not want to be cheated in the horse trade, so to speak.

Numerous archaeological finds of settlements and graves in England suggest that many Scandinavians settled in the Eastern part of England, in what they called Danelaw and in parts of Scotland.

On the other hand, the Old English of the 9th century was not assimilated into Old Norse, unlike the earlier irradiation of Celtic by the first Anglo Saxon conquests.

Put simply, the impact of Viking immigration was not as massive as the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in the fifth century. And this is now backed up by a large-scale DNA analyses of the modern British.

Anglo-Saxon apartheid and Scandinavian multi-ethnic culture

In fact, some scholars have suggested that the Anglo-Saxons practiced a sort of apartheid against the local Celtic-speaking people between the fifth and 9th centuries, where they probably lived apart, or only had limited interaction.

As we saw in South Africa from 1948 until Nelson Mandela came to power in 1994, apartheid was, however, hard to enforce long-term.

Ethnic cleansing by the Anglo-Saxons is a likely alternative scenario, as suggested by the fact that Celtic culture and language did not survive outside of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.

Additionally, the Romano-British were less well organised and lived in a vacuum after the Romans left Britain in the fifth century, whereas the later Anglo Saxon kingdoms of the 9th century were better organised. Thus, Anglo-Saxon England was harder to conquer in a similar way. The Vikings most likely married into Anglo-Saxon families over time, yes maybe the children of the Scandinavians were raised by Anglo-Saxon servants, as was the case among white American children in the southern states, where African slaves took care of white children.

In the U.S., white children often adopted words from African Americans, before they were sent to boarding schools in the North to learn 'proper' English.

Whether poor servants played a similar role among the Vikings in Danelaw England we do not know. But the lack of boarding schools for re-education back home could explain why Old Norse did not gain too much ground.

Additionally, by intermarrying there was no way to maintain the Old Norse language in England.

However, some linguists suggest that if Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons had not met up and in that process modified each other's languages, people in England today would speak something more similar to Frisian or Danish, depending on whether the Anglo-Saxons or Vikings had won the language clash.

Place names indicate the presence of Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons

Place names confirm the presence of Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon settlements in England.

Anglo-Saxon place names end in -ham, like Clapham, -stowe like Hawkstowe, and -ton like Brighton. The place names of the Scandinavians end in -by like Grimsby and Derby.

The word 'by' is in Sweden still a small hamlet as opposed to a 'stad', which is a city. -wick is also seen as of Scandinavian origin like in Swainswick, and -thorpe and -toft.

The last names suggest that the Scandinavians initially founded a number of field systems, which indicate that they settled on land that was more marginal. Later the fight for land increased.

The Viking's did not irradiate Old English -- a sign of their limited impact compared to the earlier Anglo Saxon invasion. But remnants of their influence are still visible in modern English. For example, north and east of the line that demarcates the Danelaw, you are likely to hear 'bairn' instead of 'child,' which is more closely related to the Danish 'barn.' Other similarities include armhole (Danish: armhole) for armpit and hagworm (Danish: hugorm) meaning adder. (Map: ScienceNordic, based on an original in'Word Maps. A dialect Atlas of England'). Credit: ScienceNordic

King Alfred stopped the advance of the Vikings

But all of this is not to underestimate the immediate threat that the Viking's posed to life in 9th century England.

In CE 878 the Viking invasions became so dire that the Anglo-Saxons were close to being overrun by the Scandinavians, just as their Anglo-Saxon ancestors had besieged the Britons 400 years earlier.

King Alfred of Wessex was forced into hiding in a bog in Somerset with a small group of men, and many omens suggested that the future England was going to be inhabited by Old Norse-speaking peoples.

However, Alfred succeeded in gathering an army from Somerset, Wiltshire, and Hampshire. He made a surprise attack on the Danes at the battle of Ethandune, a battle that to this day is commemorated by a large white horse carved into the hill.

After the battle, Alfred settled the dispute by the so-called Treaty of Wedmore. He forced the Danes to withdraw their army from Wessex. In addition, their leader, Guthrom, was christened.

His victory saved Wessex and perhaps even the English language.

Alfred drew a line across the country, behind which he settled to the South, and the Danes settled towards the Northeast. Everything behind the frontier was the Danelaw.

This frontier ran northwest along the old Roman road from London to Chester, west of Rugby, a Nordic place name, and south of present day Liverpool. Dialects still spoken throughout England today point to the dominance of a Danish speaking population east of this line.

Alfred's policies of identity kept the Danish language at bay

Alfred was now much more alert and he mobilised the English against the Danes. He also rebuilt a number of monasteries and schools.

He started using English instead of Latin as a basis for further education, and he initiated the first translation of Bede's 'The History of the English.'

He knew that without a history, the English had no identity against the Danes. Thus, he saved the English language against further pidginisation.

The Vikings had a bad (English) press

Even though the Christian chroniclers complained about the Viking invasions and written and archaeological sources confirm that the Vikings came in large numbers, with modern eyes and evidence, it seems that the Viking invasion was not as massive as the Anglo-Saxon invasion, 400 years earlier.

First, they did not take over the entire country of England, neither linguistically, materially, nor genetically.

Second, all analyses show that the present population of the East of England has more in common with the peoples on the North Sea coast (Northern Germany and Netherlands), one of the places of origin of the Anglo-Saxons, than they do with the present day population of Scandinavia. This is supported by all sources, including DNA.

Finally, the same study suggests that the flow of Anglo-Saxon immigration must have been so massive that they came to consist of up to 40 per cent of the population in England at the time. The Vikings did not come close to that. And where the earlier Anglo-Saxons apparently did not mix with the native Britons, the Vikings did exactly that with the now Anglo-Saxon English.

By these measures, the Vikings were not as bad as the name and the written sources suggest.

If the Viking Age is to be defined as the period when piracy, migration, and ethnic cleansing, was predominant, the period should start much earlier.

Of course, there is more to the Viking Age than piracy and pillaging. But this is another story for another day.

Explore further Why the idea that the English have a common Anglo-Saxon origin is a myth

This story is republished courtesy of ScienceNordic, the trusted source for English-language science news from the Nordic countries. Read the original story here.Credit: CC0 Public Domain

It may seem like one of the cruelest aspects of the natural world, but research has shown that infanticide is actually an instinctive behavior in many animalsand Catherine Dulac has begun deciphering the chemical and other sensory cues that drive the behavior.

The Higgins Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and the Lee and Ezpeleta Professor of Arts and Sciences, Dulac is the lead author of a new study that suggests infanticide in mice is triggered by a suite of factors, including the shape of the pup and a specific set of olfactory signals, or pheromones. The study is described in a December 13 paper published in Cell.

In addition to Dulac, the study is co-authored by Yoh Isogai, a former post-doctoral fellow in Dulac's lab who has now launched his own laboratory at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour in London, UK.

"For parents, the cry of a baby is an incredibly powerful stimulus to stop everything they are doing at the moment and care for their infant," Dulac said. "But the fact is that, for some animals, the signal associated with an infant drives this extreme form of aggression. The question we wanted to answer was: What is it that drives infanticide versus parental behavior? And what we found is a complex but fascinating set of features."

Male infanticide was in fact first described in the late 1970s by a Harvard graduate student in the Psychology Department, Sarah Hrdy, who realized that male langurs, a species of primates she was studying in India, often attacked and killed infants from other males.

Hrdy interpreted this aggressive behavior as an instinctive drive to get rid of the progeny of rivals and sire their own offspring. Indeed, although Hrdy's initial description of this shocking behavior in langurs caused some controversy, her observation was quickly expanded to a variety of primates, lions, rodents, and about half of mammalian species, but not humans nor generally monogamous species, in which animals of both sexes participate in the nurturing of infants.

In an effort to understand the triggers for that aggressive behavior, Dulac and colleagues began by targeting the vomeronasal organ, or VNO, a part of the olfactory system used primarily by many mammals to detect pheromones. Earlier studies had shown that blocking VNO signals in mice stopped infanticide, and that animals without a VNO don't engage in the behavior, and instead perform a wide variety of parenting behaviors.

"That suggested that there are two types of signals," Dulac said. "The ones that drive parenting, which do not require pheromones, and those that drive infanticide, which do."

In the process of trying to identify what those infanticidal signals might be, Dulac and colleagues found that male mice would attack even dead pupssuggesting that movement or even temperature weren't key factors in their aggression.

What did turn out to be significant, Dulac said, was shape.

"We made silicone casts of pups and then put chemicals on them to test whether males would attack it," she said. "The first was a perfect cast of a pup, and if we put salivary gland extract of a pup on it, males would attack."

In subsequent test, involving a plain brick of silicone and a blob shape that somewhat resembled a pup, there were no attacks. Interestingly, however, when researchers attached legs and a tail to the brick shape, male did attack the dummy.

Armed with that information, Dulac and colleagues set to work pinpointing the chemical cues that set off the attacks by first identifying seven pheromone receptors which are expressed by the VNO.

"What we found was that, actually, none of them are specific to pups," Dulac said. "That is both surprising and not surprising. It's surprising because we know that receptors for pheromones are typically extraordinarily specific.

"But it's not surprising because when we thought about it, if there were receptors specific to pups, it would mean there are chemicals that specifically identify pups, for them to be killed" she continued. "Evolutionarily speaking, why would a pup emit a chemical that tells a male, 'I'm a pup, you need to attack me?' The pups actually want to get rid of those cues and become a blank canvas, chemically-speaking."

What Dulac and colleagues found was that, rather than detect chemical cues that are specific to pups, attacking males are actually responding to a mix of shared maternal and infant cues.

"What happens is Mom licks the pup and they share a lot of chemical signals," Dulac said. "We identified two in particularone of them is a specific salivary protein. But the other is hemoglobin. There is bleeding that occurs during birth, and it turns out that this signal stays around for several weeks, betraying the presence of newborn infants."

The hemoglobin signal might be particularly important, Dulac added, because when pups bleed during an attack, the signal will get stronger, amplifying the aggression of the male.

On their own, Dulac said, those signalsboth the shape information and the chemical signalsdon't provoke attacks, but taken together, those allow males to form a full picture of their surroundings and identify pups.

Ultimately, she said, the study not only provides a detailed picture of the underpinnings of a controversial natural behavior, but also highlights the complex, push-and-pull relationship between pups and potentially aggressive males.

"The pup has two needsit needs to be recognized to be nurtured and it needs to not be recognized so it won't be attacked," Dulac said. "So there are these conflicting needs...the way the system has evolved, it's probably a tug of war where, chemically, the pup is trying to be a blank slate, but males detect chemicals associated with maternity and the physical traits of the pups."

Explore further Neuroscientists uncover sensory switches controlling infanticide and parental behaviorCredit: Zacarias Pereira da Mata / shutterstock

The latest UN climate talks, known as COP24, have just concluded. The supposed story this time was one of a grinding victory by the EU and developing nations over recalcitrant petro-states  Russia, the US, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. These four, condemned as "climate villains" over the past week, worked to block the adoption of a critical IPCC report that detailed how woefully inadequate current international action was for limiting future climate change to 1.5C.

Building on a previous COP in Paris in 2015, this meeting focused on writing the "rulebook" for the Paris Agreement, setting out how emissions will be measured, reported and verified. Absent at COP24 was any real discussion of how efforts to cut emissions would be increased, or targets raised from their current low level. This will be discussed at another meeting  another COP  in 2020.

More magical thinking

You could be forgiven for thinking this COP (short for Conference Of the Parties to the UN climate agreements) was no different to any of the previous COPs. As usual, there were a set of villains who were "holding up progress". There was another scientific report spelling out how little time we have and how bad climate change will be if nothing changes. There was rancorous debate on technicalities, a sideshow debate around carbon markets, and no action on what to actually do. So far, so normal. Throughout its history very little has actually been achieved at the COP.

As things stand, we are still heading for 3 or more of global warming. We do not have 12 years to "do something" about it as the IPCC insists. Increasing numbers of commentators, journalists, scientists and environmentalists are breaking ranks from the "hopeful", to argue that not only is far too little being done too late, but that dangerous climate change is already here.

Kevin Anderson of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, has consistently criticised IPCC reports for magical thinking, for assuming that at some point in the near future technology will be both invented and rolled out on a mass scale that will suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (so-called negative emission technologies). At the moment, there are none that are close to being ready to be mass produced. Take these out of the most recent IPCC report and instead of 12 years to stop dangerous climate change we have just three.

Given all this, it could be tempting to blame the state of things on the climate villains  who doesn't want to blame authoritarian or outright fascist government leaders for the world's problems? But the problem isn't bad leaders, but the entire system itself. The reality of climate change is that we need a radically different economic and political system if we are to limit future warming and ensure adaptation is fair and just.

It may make more sense to go after polluting firms rather than countries. Credit: bob63 / shutterstock

Nation-states wont fix climate change

The COP reveals the limits of using nation states as the basis for action. Wedded to geopolitical realities and economic competition, states have not changed their behaviour to match the demands of climate science. In many ways it is unrealistic and naive to demand they do so. After all, they are not, as sometimes imagined, ships under the command of a single captain, able to direct the nation one way or another, but rather, complex assemblages where a huge number of actors and interested parties compete for wealth, power, access and influence.

Let's be clear about what must be demanded of nation states: not some kind of minor adjustment or new zero-cost policy, but the end of economic growth. It would require legislating for de-growth, something that could be considered, after a decade of economic austerity, as electoral suicide.

Legislating for de-growth is the right government policy, but the wrong approach. If the nation state is the wrong climate change actor, then the national economy is also the wrong perpetrator. Yet this is what every plan to combat climate change focuses on: national emissions. But this focus hides massive inequities within national populations and, more importantly, obscures both who is responsible for carbon emissions and who has the power to arrest them.

It is really important that we  that is, the vast majority of humanity who will or already are suffering the effects of dangerous climate change  move past "national action plans" and start to take action immediately against two groups largely responsible for climate change. They are the 100 or so corporations responsible for 71% of global carbon emissions and the wealthiest 10% of the global population responsible for 50% of consumption emissions. To put the latter in perspective, if this 10% reduced their consumption to the level of the average European that would produce a 30% cut in global emissions.

Focusing on the wealthy and their corporations would enable us to bring about an immediate cut in carbon emissions. But it would also form part of a just transition, ensuring that the majority of the world's population do not have to pay for climate policy, a conflict we have already seen on the streets of Paris in recent weeks in the yellow vests movement.

As we hurtle into 2019, we need to immediately shift to actions against the ultra-wealthy and the uber-powerful. It is long past time for changing how we talk about climate change. At some point we will need social movements capable of changing everything, but right now we need to relentlessly focus our actions on that small group of people profiting off the destruction of the world, and not wait in vain on governments to do it for us.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article."Just like the war versus crime and illegal drugs, I believe that Manong Digongs war on corruption will be relentless and chilling, as well. "

Im quite certain that President Duterte will get to the bottom of the controversy over the continued irregularities in government agencies that award projects to favored contractors. The uproar was set off by the explosive privilege speech of House Majority leader Rolando Andaya Jr., taking to task Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno for multi-billion peso insertions surreptitiously earmarked for infrastructure projects. Although Andaya, a former budget secretary under Gloria Arroyo, must know what he is talking about, not quite a few congressmen themselves have figured in pork barrel scams. Its also important to note that the House of Representatives had passed the P3.757-trillion national budget bill before Andaya dropped the bomb. Its been a long and common practice in the past administrations, particularly those involved in infrastructure program, to favor a few contractors in awarding plum and juicy projects in exchange for hefty commission, kickbacks or tongpats for signatory officials and politician backers, as well. The same circumstances surround the case of CT Leoncio Construction and Trading Company from Sta. Maria, Bulacan, a little-known contractor of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) that cornered at least 30 public works projects worth over P2 billion from the proposed 2019 national budget yet to be concurred in by the Senate. Old hands at the DPWH attest that a few favored contractors are personal choices of the department heads or their chokaran lawmakers. Weeks or even months before the actual bidding schedule, the conspirators submit to the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) the name of their preferred contractor who eventually wins in the bidding of contract. My source added that the real criteria in choosing the contractor is simply its capability to pay advance commissions or kickbacks to the said officials even before any bidding is held, worse even when the funds have yet to be approved. Unlike ordinary contractors, these favored ones can afford to shell out 10 to 20 percent commission or even more, depending on how many agency officials down the line will be bribed, aside from the padrino lawmaker who gets the biggest piece of pie. Miss Virgie, a small-time contractor, went to my office last week to divulge that a DPWH district official in Compostela Valley province had flatly barred her from joining the bidding for the P30-million repair and rehabilitation of a bridge and a P15 million flood control project in the said province last December 10.She was also denied purchasing bidding documents, a requirement before one can join a government bidding program. Asked why she could not join in the bidding, the DPWH official claimed, congresswomancongrefercontractor. On a phone-patch interview over at Radyo Pilipinas the following day, the said DPWH district engineer denied the allegation, saying the contractor did not talk nor see her in her office during that time. But the contractor, who was on the other end of the line retorted,  Days after the bidding, a certain company bagged two juicy projects. My source said the winning bidder is personally close to two lawmakers. This company has always allegedly bagged the projects endorsed by the said House reps pork barrel funds. And is it true that the same scheme goes on over at the National Irrigation Administration under the administration of retired General Rolando Visaya? My source said that a certain firm appears to be the favorite contractor of NIA these days, cornering over P1 billion projects for the repair, rehabilitation, and construction of irrigation systems in the Panay Islands. My efforts to reach Administrator Visaya last Friday for comment proved futile as he is always out of his office reportedly doing inspections on some projects in the countryside. Continuing corrupt practices, like these leakages, commissions, kickbacks, or tongpats in public works projects, are what beset the Presidents program for genuine change. Andaya pointed out that DPWH Secretary Villar, as well as President Duterte, have nothing to do with the pork barrel insertions for these anomalous deals. Just like the war versus crime and illegal drugs, I believe that Manong Digongs war on corruption will be relentless and chilling, as well. In the meantime, lets wait and see.Using fossils such as this skeleton, researchers can determine the rate of new species formation as well as extinction. Credit: Colourbox

Scientists look to fossils and evolutionary trees to help determine the rate of evolution  albeit with conflicting results. A new model by ETH researchers has helped to resolve these contradictions.

The rate at which evolution produces new species of plants and animals, or at which existing species die out, is a subject of much interest  and not only to scientists. That's because the rates of speciation and extinction can tell us much about the history of our planet. If lots of new species emerge during an interval, this would indicate favourable conditions for life on earth. In contrast, extraordinary events can trigger mass extinctions, the most famous example of which was the event that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, probably caused by a meteorite impact.

Mysterious discrepancy

It is difficult to determine the frequency with which species in the past emerged and then went extinct again. "There was no one there to witness these processes as they occurred," says Rachel Warnock, a postdoc in the Computational Evolution research group at ETH Zurich. This is why scientists attempt to deduce the rates of speciation and extinction through indirect methods. Some information comes from fossils dated to different geological eras.

Another source of information comes from species that exist today. In particular, from what are known as phylogenetic (or evolutionary) trees of living species, which are based on DNA analysis. By applying statistical methods to these trees, scientists can determine how often new species emerged and old ones died off in the past. However, these two approaches are problematic in that they often produce conflicting results: the speciation and extinction rates derived from the fossil record are often much higher than those calculated through phylogenetic methods. To date, it has been unclear what was responsible for this discrepancy.

Combining different approaches

But now, in collaboration with other scientists, Rachel Warnock and head of the Computational Evolution research group Tanja Stadler have found an explanation. "The two methods are based on different assumptions about how new species are formed," Warnock says. This is why they arrive at different conclusions. But if they account for these different assumptions, then it is possible to harmonise the results.

The researchers were able to demonstrate this by looking at various groups of animals, such as whales, canines and bovines. Their success was due in part to a computer model they developed themselves: "Now we're able to unify both perspectives," says Warnock. The results of their work were published in the respected journal Nature Communications.

Insights into speciation

Current thinking maintains that there is not one, but rather multiple mechanisms by which new species emerge (see box). Each mechanism leads to different results; the process may produce one or two new species, while the original species either continues to exist or dies out. "When using the statistical methods to analyse phylogenies and fossils, scientists have thus far not taken these different possibilities explicitly into account," Warnock says. The new model now incorporates them, thus ensuring that fossil-based and phylogenetic information produce compatible speciation and extinction rates.

It also provides indications as to which speciation mechanism predominated in a particular animal or plant group. For example, the evolutionary tree and the fossil record of whales reveals that the most frequent mode may be anagenesis; that is, original species are gradually transformed into new ones (mode 3; see box). In consequence, the model could be used in future studies to gain new insights into the evolution of organisms. It also helps to harmonise the results of fossilbased and phylogenetic analysis better than before.

How new species can emerge

Budding: A new species branches off from an existing one, which continues to exist (1 new, 0 extinct). Cladogenesis: A species splits into two new species, with the ancestral form dying out (2 new, 1 extinct). Anagenesis: A species develops further into a new species, with the ancestral form dying out in the process (1 new, 1 extinct).

Starting with a single species, new species may emerge in any of the three ways. In their study, ETH researchers examined whether certain species gave rise to new ones in one predominant way.

Explore further Zoologist outlines how humans have altered evolution over past century

More information: Daniele Silvestro et al. Closing the gap between palaeontological and neontological speciation and extinction rate estimates, Nature Communications (2018). Journal information: Nature Communications Daniele Silvestro et al. Closing the gap between palaeontological and neontological speciation and extinction rate estimates,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07622-yVTT and LUT University alongside with Finnish companies have developed a method and guidelines for evaluating and communicating on the carbon handprint of products. The carbon handprint describes the positive climate impacts of a product.

Environmental impacts are often expressed through footprint indicators describing a negative impact, as in the familiar carbon and water footprints. Until now, companies have lacked the means to present positive effects.

Since the handprint is a new and evolving environmental indicator, Finnish companies have the chance to profile themselves as pioneers by communicating positive environmental effects. The use of the handprint clearly looks set to increase. For example, the carbon handprint can be used for marketing and communication purposes, and to make product development more climate-friendly.

The idea behind the carbon handprint is that the company develops products and services that allow its customers to reduce their carbon footprint. The calculation gives the size of handprint caused by the company's product: the bigger the handprint, the better. When a customer starts using the product, its own footprint decreases.

Actions such as improving energy efficiency, reducing the use of materials, making climate-friendly choices of raw material, developing product recyclability, reducing the amount of waste material, lengthening product lifespans and improving product usability can have an impact on a product's carbon handprint.

"The Carbon Handprint project has been highly useful from Nokia's perspective, since it has provided us with tangible assistance in evaluating the environmental impact of our products. VTT's calculation methods have made it easy to demonstrate reductions in carbon footprints due to new products in particular. Cooperation with VTT and other companies involved in the project has been smooth and helped us to understand the challenges faced in other industrial sectors," says Pia Tanskanen, Head of Environment, Nokia.

"The carbon handprint appears to be a useful tool for highlighting the climate benefits of lower-emission products, such as fuel made from renewable raw materials. Hopefully, highlighting positive carbon handprints will help consumers to make decisions and guide them in choosing more responsible products and services," says Asta Soininen, Sustainability Researcher, Neste, who was involved in the project.

The initiative for the development of a carbon handprint came from Finnish companies. It is based on existing, standardised life cycle assessment methodologies, such as the carbon footprint. The guide on calculating carbon handprints will provide companies with step-by-step instructions on carrying out evaluations.

The carbon handprint method and guide were completed between 2016 and 2018 on the basis of funding from Business Finland, VTT, LUT University and companies. The following organisations were involved in the development work: Nokia, Neste, KONE, Paptic, Gasum, Biolan, AO allover, AM Finland, Metallinjalostajat and Sitra.

VTT and LUT University will continue developing handprint methodologies alongside 16 companies, by expanding the carbon handprint approach to company and project level and to other environmental impacts, such as water, nutrients, air quality and resource efficiency.

Explore further Research finds large uncertainty in carbon footprint calculating

More information: Carbon handprint guidelines online: Carbon handprint guidelines online: www.vtt.fi/sites/handprint/The male smooth guardian frog taking tadpoles through the forest in search of the right pool of water where they cab mature into frogs. Credit: Johana Goyes Vallejos

Stay-at-home dads might find their spirit animal in the smooth guardian frog of Borneo. A new pair of research papers authored by an investigator at the University of Kansas shows the male of the smooth guardian frog species (Limnonectes palavanensis) is a kind of amphibian "Mr. Mom"an exemplar of male parental care in the animal kingdom.

"Sex-role reversal is basically when a male takes the role that you usually see with females in other species," said Johana Goyes Vallejos, a postdoctoral research associate with the Herpetology Division at KU's Biodiversity Institute, who led both studies. "The male provides care for the offspring. The females do the displaying partlike a peacock that has beautiful feathersthe female has those ornaments or behaviors you usually see with males."

The papers reflect three years' worth of fieldwork in Borneo, a vast island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean split among the nations of Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. Goyes Vallejos observed the frogs both in the wild and in outdoor enclosures at a field station.

In one of the papers, published in the Journal of Natural History, Goyes Vallejos offers new details about the prolonged parental duties of the male smooth guardian frog, behavior that had been studied very little until now. "In frogs, male parenting is more common," said Goyes Vallejos. "But in other frog species, males take care of eggs and offspring, but they continue to call to attract other femalesthey aren't missing opportunities to mate with females just because they have a clutch of eggs. So, sometimes they have two or three clutches of eggs from different females. But in the case of the smooth guardian frog, they only take care of one clutch and they don't call at that timethey aren't interested in attracting other females; they're very faithful fathers. That's unusual. Clearly, other frog species can do it, so why don't they? There's some reversal in the sex roles where the father becomes a very devoted parent while the female can go on to mate multiple times."

According to the KU researcher, the smooth guardian frogs are primarily terrestrial, living in the leaf litter on the floor of the tropical rainforest where they're most active at night, feeding on insects and other arthropods.

"Males produce advertisement calls to attract females to their location," said Goyes Vallejos. "When females approach, if they like each other, they have a mating ritual. The female lays 15 to 20 eggs on the ground, then the male is the one that stays with the clutch of eggs and the female takes offpossibly to mate with other males. The males stay with the eggs for 11 days on average, and when they hatch the tadpoles scramble on the back of the male. The male takes them throughout the forest to find small pools to be deposited where they can finish their development."

In the second paper, published in the journal Ethology, Goyes Vallejos wanted to know more about the kinds of strategies males used for depositing the tadpoles in these pools.

"They can be small puddles left by the rain, a fallen log or a tree stump filled with waterreally any small body of water," she said. "We don't know for sure, but it generally takes between three to four weeks for tadpoles to become frogs."

For the first half of the study, Goyes Vallejos observed male frogs in the study area as they searched for naturally available pools where their piggybacking tadpoles could develop into fully fledged frogs.

"I found they were very sparse and they couldn't find places where they could deposit tadpoles," she said. "This told me these tadpole pools are very rare and the frogs had to travel a long time. They can't put them anywhereit needs to have a lot of food; they feed on the little algae that grow on the fallen leaves in the bottom of the water. And it must be permanent enough so the tadpoles have time to develop. These places are scarce. The males are on a missionthey need to find these pools."

For the second half of the study, the KU researcher created artificial pools in the forest floor that each was a few inches deep and about the diameter of a dinner plateperfect nurseries for tadpoles. She wanted to see if, given identical pools, other factors might influence the male guardian frogs' pool-selection process.

"I measured different variables like how much leaf litter was around, how steep was the terrain, and how much coverage from the forest did it have?" said Goyes Vallejos. "I found it was more probable for a male to deposit his tadpoles on flatter rather than steep terrain. My explanation was that possibly males were looking for places that would hold wateryou wouldn't go places where pools empty out because the terrain is too steep and the tadpoles would be washed out under heavy rains, which are very common in the rainforest. Instead, they looked for places permanent enough for tadpoles to develop to completion."

Using the artificial pools for choice experiments, the KU researcher sought to find out if the presence of other organisms predators or competitorsaffected frogs' selection of tadpole pools.

"In most of the literature on frogs, you find that parents avoid competitors, and especially predators, at all costs, so that was my prediction," Goyes Vallejos said. "In my case, the predator was dragonfly larvaequintessential tadpole predators. The experiment consisted of having two artificial pools, one next to the other. One had predators, and one didn't. I looked to see if the male would avoid predators, and I expected males would deposit tadpoles in the empty pools without the predator. I was very surprised when I found they actually split the number of tadpoles between two pools. Say he had 14 tadpolesthen he would put seven in one and seven in the other. That was the most common strategy. In 12 deposition events I recorded, five out of 12 times they deposited the tadpoles split the number of tadpoles in both pools."

Long after the female lays eggs and departs to find other mates, the male smooth guardian frog looks after the clutch, waiting for them to hatch into tadpoles. Credit: Johana Goyes Vallejos

In the other experiment, Goyes Vallejos wanted to see if tadpoles of the same species already in one pool would affect deposition of new tadpoles.

"Maybe they'd see them as competitors or maybe see them as a sign they were safe there," she said. "In this case as well, the males split the tadpoles in the two poolsit didn't matter if there were tadpoles of same species or predators present in the pool they split them between the pools.

Goyes Vallejos said the experiments showed "the splitting behavior is the same as not putting all your tadpoles in one basket."

"If these pools aren't very common, and if you find them, you need to take advantage of this resource," she said. "Presumably, the males divide the number of tadpoles in different pools and hope that at least one pool will be permanent enough for the tadpoles to develop into frogs. It doesn't matter if a predator is in theretry to avoid it. It's better to have someplace for your tadpoles than no place at all. Tadpoles don't move a lot, so maybe they're relying on that behavior not to be affected by predators. The alternative is the males weren't aware there was a predator, but typically, frogs are good at detecting predators in the water. Those are a matter for further study, but in general, they're trying to find as many places as possible to deposit tadpoles."

Goyes Vallejos, who grew up in the mountains of southwest Colombia, became interested in frog research after earning her undergraduate degree in her home country when she had an opportunity to study frog signaling at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.

"I fell in love with them," she said. "I was blown away by the diversity of frogs, how they vocalize and all the different strategies they have to find each other and mate. One thing led to another, I moved to Connecticut to earn my Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut, and during that time I spent several years in the jungles of Borneo looking for frogs."

Explore further Foster tadpoles trigger parental instinct in poison frogs

More information: Johana Goyes Vallejos et al, Prolonged parental behaviour by males of Limnonectes palavanensis (Boulenger 1894), a frog with possible sex-role reversal, Journal of Natural History (2018). Journal information: Journal of Natural History Johana Goyes Vallejos et al, Prolonged parental behaviour by males of Limnonectes palavanensis (Boulenger 1894), a frog with possible sex-role reversal,(2018). DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2018.1539196Huawei has faced a tough year, with some of its services rejected in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Japan, France and Germany over security concerns

Huawei defended its global ambitions and network security on Tuesday in the face of Western fears that the Chinese telecom giant could serve as a Trojan horse for Beijing's security apparatus.

The company has been under fire this year, with Washington leading efforts to blacklist Huawei internationally and securing the arrest of the company's chief financial officer in Canada.

The concerns have mounted as countries begin to plan and roll out fifth-generation mobile communications, or 5G, the next milestone in the digital revolution, bringing near-instantaneous connectivity and vast data capacity.

The networks will enable the widespread adoption of futuristic technologies such as artificial intelligence and automated cars and factoriesadvances China is desperate to lead.

Huawei has faced a tough year, with some of its services rejected in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Japan, France and Germany over security concerns.

Addressing the suspicion that now surrounds its brand in Western capitals, the company took the unprecedented step Tuesday to open research and development labs to reporters and held a press conference with a top executive.

Huawei Chairman Ken Hu said customers continue to trust the company despite what he sees as efforts by some to fan fears against the firm.

"Banning a particularly company cannot resolve cybersecurity concerns," he said.

"Huawei's record is clean."

Hu emphasised the information-sharing and collaboration centres Huawei is building in Europe, Canada, and elsewhere to evaluate products.

Those are based on a cyber evaluation centre the company built in Britain a decade ago to share information with regulators, though it has not fully resolved concerns.

 2018 AFPThe logo of Huawei stands on its office building at the research and development centre in Dongguan in south China's Guangdong province, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. While a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei faces possible U.S. charges over trade with Iran, the company's goal to be a leader in next-generation telecoms is colliding with security worries abroad. Australia and New Zealand have barred Huawei as a supplier for fifth-generation networks, joining the U.S. and Taiwan. Last week, Japan's cybersecurity agency said Huawei and other vendors deemed risky will be off-limits for government purchases. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

The chairman of Huawei challenged the United States and other governments to provide evidence for claims the Chinese tech giant is a security risk as the company launched a public relations effort Tuesday to defuse fears that threaten its role in next-generation communications.

Talking to reporters who were invited to Huawei Technologies Ltd.'s headquarters, Ken Hu complained accusations against the biggest global maker of network gear stem from "ideology and geopolitics." He warned excluding Huawei from fifth-generation networks in Australia and other markets would hurt consumers by raising prices and slowing innovation.

Australia and New Zealand have barred Huawei in 5G networks on security grounds. They joined the United States and Taiwan, which have broader curbs on Huawei. Japan's cybersecurity agency says suppliers including Huawei that are deemed high-risk will be excluded from government purchases.

The curbs have had little impact so far on Huawei, which says global sales are on track to top $100 billion this year. But the normally press-shy company's decision to hold Tuesday's event appeared to reflect growing concern the accusations could hurt it in an emerging 5G market that industry analysts say could be worth $20 billion a year by 2022.

Hu, who appears at industry events but rarely gives interviews, talked for two hours and 20 minutes with American, European and Asian reporters.

"If you have proof or evidence, it should be made known," said Hu. "Maybe not to Huawei and maybe not to the public, but to telecom operators, because they are the ones that buy Huawei."

This shows Huawei research and development centre in Dongguan in south China's Guangdong province, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. While a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei faces possible U.S. charges over trade with Iran, the company's goal to be a leader in next-generation telecoms is colliding with security worries abroad. Australia and New Zealand have barred Huawei as a supplier for fifth-generation networks, joining the U.S. and Taiwan. Last week, Japan's cybersecurity agency said Huawei and other vendors deemed risky will be off-limits for government purchases. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Huawei, founded in 1987 by a former military engineer, rejects accusations that it is controlled by the ruling Communist Party or designs equipment to facilitate eavesdropping. But foreign officials cite a Chinese law that requires companies to cooperate with intelligence agencies and express concern telecom equipment suppliers might be required to modify products.

The emergence of 5G has heightened those fears. The technology is meant to support a vast expansion of telecoms networks to connect self-driving cars, factory robots, medical devices and power plants. That has prompted governments increasingly to view telecoms networks as strategic national assets.

"There has never been any evidence that our equipment poses a security threat," said Hu. He added later, "We have never accepted requests from any government to damage the networks or business of any of our customers."

Hu's comments echoed previous denials by company spokespeople. But they marked the first time such a senior figure has directly addressed foreign security complaints, underscoring the company's sensitivity to them.

Hu noted a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said Dec. 10 that no law requires companies to modify equipment to permit secret access.

"We haven't received any request to provide improper information," he said. "In the future, we will also act in strict accordance with the law in dealing with similar situations."

An information board for employees' shuttle bus is on display near the Huawei office building at its research and development centre in Dongguan in south China's Guangdong province, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. While a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei faces possible U.S. charges over trade with Iran, the company's goal to be a leader in next-generation telecoms is colliding with security worries abroad. Australia and New Zealand have barred Huawei as a supplier for fifth-generation networks, joining the U.S. and Taiwan. Last week, Japan's cybersecurity agency said Huawei and other vendors deemed risky will be off-limits for government purchases. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

The lack of public evidence to support accusations against Huawei has prompted industry analysts to suggest they are an excuse to shield U.S. or European competitors against the rise of a Chinese challenger.

Asked about that, Hu said reducing competition would hamper innovation and raise costs for consumers.

Hu cited what he said was a forecast by a research firm, Frontier Economics, that the cost of installing 5G wireless base stations in Australia would be 15 to 40 percent higher without competition from Huawei. He said the total cost could be several billion dollars higher.

"You can't make yourself more excellent by blocking competitors from the playing field," he said.

Despite "efforts to use politics to interfere with industry growth," Huawei has signed contracts with 25 telecom carriers for commercial or test use of 5G, according to Hu. He said the company has shipped more than 10,000 5G base stations.

"We are proud to say that our customers continue to trust us," he said.

A security stands watch as an employee walks out from the Huawei research and development centre in Dongguan in south China's Guangdong province, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. While a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei faces possible U.S. charges over trade with Iran, the company's goal to be a leader in next-generation telecoms is colliding with security worries abroad. Australia and New Zealand have barred Huawei as a supplier for fifth-generation networks, joining the U.S. and Taiwan. Last week, Japan's cybersecurity agency said Huawei and other vendors deemed risky will be off-limits for government purchases. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Huawei suffered another setback when its chief financial officer was arrested Dec. 1 in Canada in connection with U.S. accusations the company violated restrictions on sales of American technology to Iran.

Hu said he couldn't discuss the Iran accusations because the executive, Meng Wanzhou, is in the midst of court proceedings in Vancouver. Meng, the daughter of Huawei's founder, Ren Zhengfei, faces possible U.S. charges of lying to a bank to conceal Huawei's dealings with Iran.

However, Hu said Huawei is "very confident in our trade compliance management." Echoing earlier company statements, he expressed "confidence in the fairness and independence" of courts involved in Meng's case.

Asked whether Meng's arrest made Huawei executives reluctant to leave China, Hu laughed and said, "There is no impact on our travel plans. At this time yesterday, I was on a plane" returning from Europe.

Another Chinese company, ZTE Corp., was nearly forced out of business this year after Washington blocked it from buying U.S. components and technology over its exports to Iran and North Korea. President Donald Trump restored access after ZTE paid a $1 billion fine, replaced its executives and hired U.S.-selected compliance managers.

Asked whether Huawei would be hurt if it faced similar curbs, Hu said he couldn't talk about something that hadn't happened. But he said the company has a global network of 13,000 suppliers and a "diversified supply strategy" that allowed it cope with Japan's 2011 tsunami and other disruptions.

An information board for employees' shuttle bus is on display near the Huawei office building at its research and development centre in Dongguan in south China's Guangdong province, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. The chairman of Huawei called on the United States, Australia and other governments to provide evidence to back up claims the Chinese tech giant is a security risk as it launched a public relations effort to defuse fears that threaten its role in next-generation communications. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Huawei is China's first global tech competitor, making it politically important to a ruling Communist Party that wants to transform the country from a low-wage factory into a leader in fields from robotics to clean energy to biotech.

The company has a workforce of 180,000 and China's biggest corporate research-and-development budget. It operates in 170 countries and dominates developing markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Analysts have warned Huawei's political importance to Beijing would make any U.S. attempt to impose ZTE-style controls an explosive issue. Relations already are strained over Trump's tariff hikes on billions of dollars of Chinese imports in a fight over complaints Beijing steals or pressures companies to hand over technology.

Hu promised repeatedly to expand efforts to respond to "legitimate concerns" from regulators, telecom carriers or the public.

"We will step up our efforts in communicating and collaborating with governments around the world," he said.

Huawei has opened centers in Britain, Germany and Canada for governments to test its equipment and software. Its newest "security transparency center" is due to open in Belgium in the first quarter of 2019.

A Huawei mobile device is displayed inside a 5G sign at its research and development centre in Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong province, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. While a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei faces possible U.S. charges over trade with Iran, the company's goal to be a leader in next-generation telecoms is colliding with security worries abroad. Australia and New Zealand have barred Huawei as a supplier for fifth-generation networks, joining the U.S. and Taiwan. Last week, Japan's cybersecurity agency said Huawei and other vendors deemed risky will be off-limits for government purchases. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Huawei plans to invest $2 billion over the next five years to improve its software development, according to Hu. That follows a report in July by the board that oversees the testing center in Britain that faulted Huawei for weak software engineering.

Tuesday's event for reporters included tours of two research-and-development laboratories at Huawei's headquarters in Shenzhen, which abuts Hong Kong, and a cybersecurity testing center at a newly built campus in Dongguan, an hour's drive to the west. The company said it was the first time reporters had been allowed to see those facilities.

The cybersecurity lab's director, Martin Wang, said it has facilities used by customers including Spain's Telefonica to carry out their own tests on Huawei equipment and software.

"We are open to any discussion with customers about how we can improve cybersecurity," said the company's director of cybersecurity and privacy, Sean Yang.

Explore further Huawei defends global ambitions amid Western security fears

 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.Researchers at Brown University assemble an array of photomultiplier tubes for the LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter search experiment. The first of two photomultiplier arrays, which can detect faint flashes of light from particle interactions, arrived Friday at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota. Credit: Nick Dentamaro/Brown University

The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) dark matter detector, which will soon start its search for the elusive particles thought to account for a majority of matter in the universe, had its first set of "eyes" delivered Thursday.

The first of two large arrays of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs)powerful light sensors that can detect the faintest of flashescompleted a 2,000-mile journey by truck from Rhode Island to the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota, where LZ is scheduled to begin its dark matter search in 2020.

The second array will arrive in January. When the LZ detector is completed and switched on, the PMT arrays will keep careful watch on LZ's 10-ton tank of liquid xenon, looking for the tell-tale twin flashes of light produced if a dark matter particle bumps into a xenon atom inside the tank.

A team of researchers and technicians from Brown University has spent the past six months painstakingly assembling the two arrays, each about 5 feet in diameter and holding a total of 494 PMTs.

"The delivery of these arrays is the pinnacle of an enormous assembly effort that we've had to execute here in our clean room," said Rick Gaitskell, a professor of physics at Brown University who oversaw the construction of the arrays. "For the last two years, we've been making sure that every piece that's going into the devices is working as expected. Only by doing that can we be confident that everything will perform the way we want when the detector is switched on."

The Search for Dark Matter. Credit: Brown University

The Brown team has worked with researchers and engineers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and from Imperial College London to design, procure, test, and assemble all of the components of the array. Testing of the PMTs, which are manufactured by the Hamamatsu Corp. in Japan, was performed at Brown and at Imperial College.

"The delivery of the first array of PMTs for LZ to SURF is a critical milestone for the LZ Project," said Murdock "Gil" Gilchriese of Berkeley Lab, who is the LZ project director.

In preparation for the arrival of the PMT arrays, researchers at SURF had already been working with prototype arrays to practice connecting the PMTs to a complex sequence of cabling. The actual assembly of these cables to the PMTs will take place in a clean room at SURF.

Nobody knows exactly what dark matter is. Scientists can see the effects of its gravity in the rotation of galaxies and in the way light bends as it travels across the universe, but no one has directly detected a dark matter particle. The leading theoretical candidate for a dark matter particle is the WIMP, or weakly interacting massive particle. WIMPs can't be seen because they don't absorb, emit, or reflect light. And they interact with normal matter only on very rare occasions, which is why they're so hard to detect even when millions of them may be traveling through the Earth each second.

The LZ experiment, a collaboration of more than 250 scientists from 38 institutions worldwide, aims to capture one of those fleetingly rare WIMP interactions, and thereby characterize the particles thought to make up more than 80 percent of the matter in the universe. The detector will be the most sensitive ever built: 100 times more sensitive than the LUX detector, which wrapped up its dark matter search at SURF in 2016.

A researcher at Brown University installs photomultiplier tubes for a component of the LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter search experiment. Credit: Nick Dentamaro/Brown University

The PMT arrays are a critical part of the experiment. Each PMT is a 6-inches-long cylinder that is roughly the diameter of a soda can. To form arrays large enough to monitor the entire LZ xenon target, hundreds of PMTs are assembled together within a circular titanium matrix. The array that will sit on top of the xenon target has 253 PMTs, while the lower array has 241.

PMTs are designed to amplify weak light signals. When individual photons (particles of light) enter a PMT, they strike a photocathode. If the photon has sufficient energy, it causes the photocathode to eject one or more electrons. Those electrons then strike an electrode, which ejects more electrons. By cascading through a series of electrodes the original signal is amplified by over a factor of 1 million to create a detectable signal.

LZ's PMT arrays will need every bit of that sensitivity to catch the flashes associated with a WIMP interaction.

"We could be looking for events emitting as few as 20 photons in a huge tank containing 10 tons of xenon, which is something that the human visual system wouldn't be able to do," Gaitskell said. "But it's something these arrays can do, and we'll need them to do it in order to see the signal from rare particle events."

The photons are produced by what's known as a nuclear recoil event, which produces two distinct flashes. The first comes at the moment a WIMP bumps into a xenon nucleus. The second, which comes a few hundred microseconds afterward, is produced by the ricochet of the xenon atom that was struck. It bounces into the atoms surrounding it, which knocks a few electrons free. The electrons are then drifted by an electric field to the top of the tank, where they reach a thin layer of xenon gas that converts them into light.

A researcher at Brown University works on a photomultiplier tube array. The tubes are designed to fit into the holes drilled into the metal plate pictured here. Credit: Nick Dentamaro/Brown University

In order for those tiny flashes to be distinguishable from unwanted background events, the detector needs to be protected from cosmic rays and other kinds of radiation, which also cause liquid xenon to light up. That's why the experiment takes place underground at SURF, a former gold mine, where the detector will be shielded by about a mile of rock to limit interference.

The need to limit interference is also the reason that the Brown University team was obsessed with cleanliness while they assembled the arrays. The team's main enemy was plain old dust.

"When you're dealing with an instrument that's as sensitive as LZ, suddenly things you wouldn't normally care about before become very serious," said Casey Rhyne, a Brown University graduate student who had a leading role in building the arrays. "One of the biggest challenges we had to confront was minimizing ambient dust levels during assembly."

Each dust particle carries a miniscule amount of radioactive uranium and thorium decay products. The radiation is vanishingly small and poses no threat to people, but too many of those specks inside the LZ detector could be enough to interfere with a WIMP signal.

In fact, the dust budget for the LZ experiment calls for no more than one gram of dust to be contained in the entire 10-ton instrument. Because of all of their nooks and crannies, the PMT arrays could be significant dust collectors if pains were not taken to keep them clean throughout construction.

This rendering shows a cutaway view of the LZ xenon tank (center), with PMT arrays at the top and bottom of the tank. Credit: Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

The Brown University team performed most of its work in a "class 1000" clean room, which allows no more than 1,000 microscopic dust particles per cubic foot of space. And within that clean room was an even more pristine space that the team dubbed "PALACE (PMT Array Lifting And Commissioning Enclosure)." PALACE was essentially an ultraclean room where much of the actual array assembly took place. PALACE was a "class 10" spaceallowing no more than 10 dust particles bigger than 1 hundredth the width of a human hair per cubic foot.

But the radiation concerns didn't stop at dust. Before assembly of the arrays began, the team prescreened every part of every PMT tube to assess radiation levels.

"We had Hamamatsu send us all of the materials that they were going to use for the PMT construction, and we put them in an underground germanium detector," said Samuel Chan, a graduate student and PMT system team leader. "This detector is very good at detecting the radiation that the construction materials are emitting. If the intrinsic radiation levels were low enough in these materials, then we told Hamamatsu to go ahead and use them in the manufacture of these PMTs."

The team is hopeful that all the work they put in over the past six months will pay dividends when LZ starts its WIMP search.

"Getting everything right now will have a huge impact less than two years from now, when we switch on the completed detector and we're taking data," Gaitskell said. "We'll be able to see directly from that data how good of a job we and other people have done."

Given the major increase in dark matter search sensitivity that the LZ detector can deliver compared to all previous experiments, the team hopes that this detector will finally identify and characterize the vast sea of stuff that surrounds us all. So far, the dark stuff has remained maddeningly elusive.Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A new approach to restoring Brazil's Atlantic Forest could triple biodiversity gains while reducing costs by US$28 billion.

The findings, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, will be used by the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment and could guide restoration projects around the world.

A team of 25 international researchers, including Senior Lecturer in Conservation Science at Imperial Dr. Morena Mills, developed a customized software to determine the best route for restoration. Using this software, they identified the best way to divide space in Brazil's Atlantic Forest to maximize biodiversity and climate change mitigation while minimizing costs.

This approach would save approximately 745 animals and plants from extinction. As trees regrow, the forest would also capture twice as much carbon dioxide, taking in 1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over the next 20 years. This approach would also cut overall restoration costs by 57%.

Bernardo Strassburg, lead author of the study, from the International Institute for Sustainability and the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro explains: "These restoration targets, if achieved, will bring multiple benefits for people and nature. We show that science can help guide decisions about where to restore, multiplying benefits and saving billions of dollars in costs."

An ecosystem under threat

The Atlantic Forest, located along the coast of Brazil, is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. It once covered nearly 1.5 million square kilometres but today only an estimated 7-11% remains. To maintain the biodiversity within the Atlantic Forest, these levels need to reach 30%a measure established by Imperial scientist Dr. Cristina Banks-Leite, who was recently a runner up for a NERC Impact Award for her biodiversity research.

While this restoration solution is directly applicable to the Brazilian Government, their methodology could guide other restoration programs around the world.

The program the team used considered different priorities for land use: biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and farming. The program was able to prioritise the most valuable lands to restore, while at the same time focusing on the least valuable lands for farming.

Dr. Morena Mills explains: "People recognise the benefits of forest restoration for their wellbeing and for nature, and there are extraordinary efforts to restore forest happening around the world. Our study provides guidance on how multiple interests, in nature and agriculture, can be reconciled when developing forest restoration plans."

A graphic showing some of the main figures from the report: 745 native species that could be saved from extinction, 1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide that could be removed from the atmosphere over 20 years, and $28 billion dollars that could be saved.

Going forward

Given the team's success in optimising restoration for Brazil's Atlantic Forest, their research is now guiding plans for Brazil's other five major habitats, including the Amazon Rain Forest. However, the researchers say there is uncertainty about Brazil's environmental agenda following the recent presidential election.

Dr. Mills said: "Regardless of the political situation, this approach sets a foundation for better forest restoration efforts in Brazil and around the world.

"This is a great example of a forest restoration plan which is both good for the people and good for nature."

Explore further Maximizing the carbon and biodiversity benefits of restoration along rivers and streams

More information: Bernardo B. N. Strassburg et al. Strategic approaches to restoring ecosystems can triple conservation gains and halve costs, Nature Ecology & Evolution (2018). Journal information: Nature Ecology & Evolution Bernardo B. N. Strassburg et al. Strategic approaches to restoring ecosystems can triple conservation gains and halve costs,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0743-8Tyler Cooksey, a graduate researcher at the University of Houston, uses ORNLs Bio-SANS instrument at the High Flux Isotope Reactor to understand how micelles can be improved to create more effective drugs. Credit: ORNL/Genevieve Martin

Micelles are unique biological structures in that they are an assembly of molecules with properties that both attract and repel water. They form around other molecules to help them travel and "push" through wet environments, making micelles a key enabler of cellular function throughout the human body. Not surprisingly, their ability to transport molecules has made micelles a highly appealing topic to pharmaceutical companies.

To learn more about interactions between drug molecules and micelles, Associate Professor Megan Robertson and graduate students Tyler Cooksey and Tzu-Han Li from the University of Houston (UH) are using neutrons at the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

The researchers say understanding how micelles assemble around drug molecules could lead to improved drug delivery methods, as well as improvements in products like shampoos, detergents, and cosmetics, for which micelles also have applications.

"We want to understand how a drug molecule can impact the assembly of micelles," said Robertson. "The size of the micelles and the number of molecules that form the micelles are important parameters that we believe will be impacted by the presence of the drug molecule."

When medication is taken, drug molecules are released into the body and travel to the part of the body that requires treatment. Neutrons' unique ability to penetrate materials without damaging them, as well as their sensitivity to hydrogen, makes them an ideal probe for biological studies like this that require realistic environments and temperatures.

Using the Biological Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (Bio-SANS) instrument at ORNL's High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), the research team probed the micelles and investigated how the presence of drug molecules changed their structure and assembly.

The UH researchers and their collaborator, Louis Madsen, associate professor at Virginia Tech, also used nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry to reveal specific chemical information on the composition of the micelles. This, in addition to the structural data from neutron scattering, allowed them to compile a more complete picture of how different molecules interact with the micelles.

"We anticipate that when we look at micelles containing different drug molecules, we're going to see big differences in the assembly and the structural parameters of these micelles," said Robertson. "If we can understand how the drug molecule impacts the micelle, then it could be possible to develop more robust therapeutics."

Explore further A component of green tea can help deliver drugs to tumors in the bodyAbandonment of Pripyat, Ukraine after the Chernobyl disaster ushered in wildlife. Credit: Meunierd/Shutterstock

Where the Iron Curtain once divided Europe with barbed wire, a network of wilderness with bears, wolves and lynx now thrives. Commemorating 100 years since the end of World War I, people wear poppies to evoke the vast fields of red flowers which grew over the carnage of Europe's battlefields. Once human conflict has ended, the return of nature to barren landscapes becomes a potent symbol of peace.

These tragedies, which force people away from a place, can help ecosystems replenish in their absence. Though rewilding is typically considered an active decision, like the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park, abandoned rural land often returns to wilderness of its own accord. Today, as people vacate rural settlements for life in cities, accidental rewilding has meant large predators returning to areas of Europe, long after they were almost made extinct.

Sudden changes, such as the the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in 1986, result in wildlife recolonising exclusion zones in previously developed areas.

Warfare can also result in human exclusion, which might benefit wildlife under specific conditions. Isolation and abandonment can generate wild population increases and recoveries, which has been observed in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

The strange link between war and wildlife

Fish populations in the North Atlantic benefited from World War II as fishing fleets were drastically reduced. Fishing vessels were requisitioned by the navy, seamen were drafted and the risks of fishing due to enemy strikes or subsurface mining deterred fishermen from venturing out to sea.

The growth of oceanic whitetip shark populations during WWII is a grisly example of how war can sometimes benefit wildlife. Credit: OldakQuill/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

As a result, the war essentially created vast "marine protected areas" for several years in the Atlantic Ocean. After the war, armed with faster and bigger trawlers with new technology, fishermen reported bonanza catches.

A more gruesome result of World War II allowed opportunistic species such as the oceanic whitetip shark to flourish, as human casualties at sea proved a rich and plentiful food source.

Warship wrecks also became artificial reefs on the seabed which still contribute to the abundance of marine life today. The 52 captured German warships that were sunk during World War I between the Orkney mainland and the South Isles, off the north coast of Scotland, are now thriving marine habitats.

Exclusion areas, or "no mans lands", which remain after fighting has ended may also help terrestrial ecosystems recuperate by creating de facto wildlife reserves. Formerly endangered species, such as the Persian leopard, have re-established their populations in the rugged northern Iran-Iraq frontier.

An uneasy post-war settlement can create hard borders with vast areas forbidden to human entry. The Korean Demilitarised Zone is a 4km by 250km strip of land that has separated the two Koreas since 1953. For humans it is one of the most dangerous places on Earth, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers patrolling its edges. For wildlife however, it's one of the safest areas in the region.

The recovery of marine ecosystems in Bikini Atoll is despite nuclear testing and largely due to human abandonment. Credit: Everett Historical/Shutterstock

Today, the zone is home to thousands of species that are extinct or endangered elsewhere on the Korean peninsula, such as the long-tailed goral.

Miraculously, even habitats scarred by the most horrific weaponry can thrive as places where human access is excluded or heavily regulated. Areas previously used for nuclear testing, such as the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean have been recolonised by coral and fish, which seem to be thriving in the crater of Bikini Atoll, declared a nuclear wasteland after nuclear bomb tests in the 1940s and 50s.

War  still good for nothing

For all the quirks caused by abandonment, warfare overwhelmingly harms human communities and ecosystems with equal fervour. A review of the impact of human conflict on ecosystems in Africa showed an overall decrease in wildlife between 1946 and 2010.In war's aftermath, natural populations were slow to recover or stopped altogether as economic hardship meant conservation fell by the wayside.

Humans often continue to avoid a "no mans land" because of the presence of land mines. But these don't differentiate between soldiers and wildlife, particularly large mammals. It's believed that residual explosives in conflict zones have helped push some endangered species closer to extinction.

Todays European Green Belt traces the original route of the Iron Curtain. Credit: Smaack/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

However, where possible, accidental rewilding caused by war can help reconcile people after the fighting ends by installing nature where war had brought isolation. There is hope that should Korea reunify, a permanently protected area could be established within the current demilitarised zone boundaries, allowing ecotourism and education to replace enmity.

Such an initiative has already succeeded elsewhere in the world. The European Green Belt is the name for the corridor of wilderness which runs along the former Iron Curtain, which once divided the continent. Started in the 1970s, this project has sprawled along the border of 24 states and today is the longest and largest ecological network of its kind in the world. Here, ponds have replaced exploded land mine craters and forests and insect populations have grown in the absence of farming and pesticide use.

Where war isolates and restricts human movement, nature does seem to thrive. If, as a human species, we aim for a peaceful world without war, we must strive to limit our own intrusions on the natural paradises that ironically human warfare creates and nurture a positive legacy from a tragic history.

Explore further First mapping of global marine wilderness shows just how little remains

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.Credit: University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster

During three trips to London at the turn of the 20th century, Claude Monet painted more than 40 versions of a single scene: the Waterloo Bridge over the Thames River. Monet's main subject was not the bridge itself, however; he was most captivated by the landscape and atmosphere of the scene, with its transitory light, fog, and mist.

Eight paintings from this series of London fogs are the centerpiece of the Memorial Art Gallery's exhibition Monet's Waterloo Bridge: Vision and Process. A recognized master of landscape painting, Monet was an integral founder of the Impressionist movement, which embraced the philosophy of expressing the fleeting sensory effects in a scene.

But how does Monet depict the same scene at different times of day and in various conditions? And how does a viewer see an artist's brushstrokes of color as a cohesive image, and vastly different colors as the same bridge?

With each of the paintings in the series, Monet manipulates viewer perception in a way that scientists at the time did not completely understand. Today, research such as that conducted at the University of Rochester's Center for Visual Science, founded in 1963, provides insight into the complexity of the visual system, illuminating Monet's processes and the intricacies of his work.

How do our eyes and brain work together to allow us to see color?

The Memorial Art Gallery partnered with the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Worcester Art Museum to analyze the pigments of color Monet used in his Waterloo Bridges series. They found that Monet used a very limited color palette in his Waterloo Bridge series, but was still able to evoke a wide range of ambiances. How did he do this?

The answer involves how our eyes take in wavelengths of light, which our brains interpret, says David Williams, professor of optics at Rochester and the director of Rochester's Center for Visual Science. In the retina of the eye, there are three types of cones: blue, which is sensitive to short wavelengths of light; green, which is medium-wavelength sensitive; and red, which is long-wavelength sensitive. These trichromatic signals "are very simple, yet the myriad shades of color that we experience are derived from just those three," says Williams, whose laboratory, in the 1990s, was the first to image all three kinds of cones in a living human retina and identify how the cones are arranged.

From the retina, signals travel along the optic nerve to the visual cortex in the back of the brain. Signals are then transmitted back and forth between the visual cortex and other higher-level parts of the brain, including those involved in attention, memory, experience, and biases. The brain's job is to integrate sensory information from the eyes into pieceslines, shapes, and depthand construct them into objects and scenes.

How the brain sees color

Credit: University of Rochester

Credit: University of Rochester

How did the visual system get so complicated?

In order to illustrate this complexity of the human visual system, Duje Tadin often begins his class on perception by asking students which is harder: math or vision?

Most people say math.

"Of course, this is a trick question," says Tadin, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at Rochester, who studies the neural mechanisms of visual perception. "Math is harder for us because so little of our brain is devoted to that whereas about half the brain is devoted to perception." Take computers, for example. Computer vision programs still lag far behind what humans can do, yet even the smallest smartphones can perform complex calculations. "That's because math is straightforward and there's always a correct answer," Tadin says. "Perception is heavily interconnected with other aspects of brain processing. Your prior experiences, your expectations, the way you pay attention, all of these other things that are not necessarily related to perception actually affect how you perceive things."

Human vision, then, is "a massive reconstruction process," says Woon Ju Park, a former postdoctoral researcher in Tadin's lab, who helped put together the MAG's companion exhibit Seeing in Color and Black-and-White. "This makes our perception sometimes different from the physical world existing outside of us."

How do we perceive 3-D forms on a 2-D canvas?

One of the ways an artist like Monet exploits perception is in painting a three-dimensional scene on a two-dimensional canvas. The process is similar to what the eyes and brain do, Tadin says: our eyes are curved, but essentially a three-dimensional world gets projectedupside downto a flat retina. The brain has to connect the dots, turn the image right side up, and extract this missing third dimension. Monet "tricks" a viewer's brain by representing elements of light, shadow, and contrast to paint the "illusion" of a three-dimensional bridge.

"You may know it's an illusion but your brain automatically groups things and lets you know that it is a three-dimensional scene," Tadin says. Monet depicts things that are further awaysuch as the smokestacks in the Waterloo Bridges seriesas smaller and blurrier to give a sense of depth. The brain's grouping function also allows us to see the form of a bridge, river, and smokestacks before we see Monet's individual brushstrokes of color.

"The goal of our visual perception is not to give us an accurate picture of the environment around us but to give us the most useful picture," Tadin says. "And the most useful and the most accurate are not always the same."

How do we perceive light in Monet's paintings?

The illumination of an object, for example, can alter perception. That's because what arrives at our eyes when viewing an object is a combination of both the illumination falling on the object and the intrinsic properties of the object itself, Williams says. "Your brain has a real challenge, which is to figure out what is true about this object even though what arrives at your eye is radically different depending on how it is illuminated."

When you take an object like a white sheet of paper, it will almost always be interpreted as whitea phenomenon known as color constancyeven though the light arriving at your eye from the paper will be remarkedly different in color depending on how it is illuminated. For example, if you put the paper outside, it will still apear white in the morning light, in the middle of the day, and when the sun goes down, even thought "if we were to make objective measurements of the light entering your eye in those various circumstances, they would be very different," he says.

The Waterloo Bridge itself never changes color, but Monet paints it by mixing pigments of color that differ in brightness, hue (a color's relative lightness or darkness), and intensity (a color's saturation) to depict sunrise, direct sunlight, and dusk. The brain is able to take in the illumination washing over the entire scene, integrate information, and make inferences. If all the objects have a bluish cast, for instance, the brain is able to infer that it is most likely daytime with a blue sky. If objects have a reddish cast, the brain infers that sunset is most likely approaching, Williams says. Ultimately, "Monet's work emphasizes how different the same scene can be, depending on how it is illuminated. But any person with normal color vision looking at this series will know: the bridge is gray brick, no matter what time of day it is, because the brain has evolved clever tricks to estimate the true properties of objects despite the rich variety of illumination conditions we normally encounter."

Credit: University of Rochester

The phenomenon of color constancy, which vision scientists have studied for many years, received widespread attention several years ago in the infamous dress illusion, in which people viewing the same picture of a dress saw it as either blue and black or white and gold. While the dress itself was actually blue and black, people made differing assumptions about how the dress was illuminated, which, in turn, lead to differing perceptions of the color of the dress itself. "Many researchers up until that point had been assuming that everyone with normal color vision had more or less similar perceptions," Williams says. "The remarkable differences in people's interpretation of the dress was really an eye-opener, no pun intended, for many in the vision community."

Another thing to know about the perception of color is that it is relative: a color changes as it interacts with other colors around it. Monet often applies starkly different colors side by side, without blending them, a technique that exploits simultaneous contrast: the same color will appear differently when placed next to different colors. The rough brushstrokes, then, are each "like spots of light that stimulate our eyes," Park says. "Viewers can use their own reconstructive processes in the brain to integrate those patches into coherent objects that are meaningful to them."

While our eyes and brain work to put together a cohesive view of the world, an Impressionist artist like Monet is able to do the opposite to deconstruct a scene into individual brushstrokes, she says. "Monet breaks down his perceptual experiences into different basic units of visual processing," including color and shape, rather than focusing on the object of the bridge itself.

How does a colorblind person or person with vision or brain disorders view art?

One of the most important ways of understanding how human vision works to integrate parts into a whole is to understand what happens when it doesn't work. Tadin, for instance, works to more accurately treat and diagnose atypical visual discrepancies associated with autism and schizophrenia.

"We know that in schizophrenia, the visual perception changes," Tadin says. "A person with schizophrenia may experience visual hallucinations, but also their processing of incoming sensory information from the eyes is atypical, resulting in different visual experiences, affecting how one perceives and creates art."

The original viral image of #thedress, which caused many people to discuss how different people perceived color.

Williams and his colleagues are working on approaches to restore vision to the blind, either by replacing the cone photoreceptors sometimes destroyed by retinal disease or by converting other, undamaged cells in the retinawhich are not normally sensitive to lightinto light-sensitive cells that can substitute for the cones. "Color blindness can be thought of as a very mild form of these diseases, in which a person is missing typically just one of the three cones responsible for daytime vision," Williams says.

How the colorblind see art

There are three main types of colorblindness:

A protanope is red-green colorblind, lacks red cones, and has difficulty distinguishing between red, green, and yellow; researchers expect the color of their world to vary from blue through white to yellow with no perception of reds and greens.

A deuteranope is red-green colorblind, lacks green cones and, like a protanope, researchers expect the color of their world to vary from blue through white to yellow with no perception of reds and greens. Because they have cones sensitive to red light, red objects will look brighter to the deuteranope than the protanope.

A tritanope is blue-yellow colorblind, lacks blue cones, and has difficulty distinguishing between blue and yellow; researchers expect their world to appear various shades of red, white, and green.

Still, we can never know what another person sees, a conundrum that has also baffled philosophers and continues to occupy scientific research today. While most of us take vision for granted as an unconscious process allowing us to take in and interpret information, Tadin says, "it's a lot harder for us to study things that are easy for us."

Explore further New hope against disease that brings a colorless world"Why is President Duterte so hostile to the Catholic clergy?"

Minions of President Rodrigo Duterte are trying to contain the damage done by the Presidential Management Staffs attempt to make bishops and priests leave the Balangiga town plaza during the ceremonial turnover of the historic bells in Eastern Samar. This was the aftermath of a Facebook post made Saturday afternoon by the Diocese of Borongan Crispin Vasquez. He said that the archbishop of the military ordinariate of the United States and the Apostolic Nuncio were told to go out of the plaza. The post also said that the President wanted just his friend, Archbishop of Davao Romulo Valles, to be in the area. Some priests were even supposedly asked to take off their Roman collars so they would not offend Duterte, who had criticized Catholic priests and bishops in his previous remarks. To add insult to injury, seats were placed in front of priests seats to cover them. Obviously, the Presidents staff were out to prevent the President from seeing his critics in front of him. Except Valles, that is. The post, however, has been denied by Communications Secretary Martin Andanar. Which is the truth? I would rather believe the post of the Borongan bishop. But I cant blame Andanar, either. It is his duty to lie for the President. This incident leads us to question why President Duterte hates the Catholic Church so much. I cant believe this is all because of the clergys criticism of his bloody war on drugs, Duterte has shown his disdain for the Church from the start. Recall he even cursed Pope Francis for causing traffic during his visit here. He called the Church the most hypocritical institution. He later enumerated instances of corruption and sexual abuse by members of the clergy. We return to the questionwhy? In my 70 years as a journalist, I have never seen a president hating the Church so much. The late Jaime Cardinal Sin was the foremost critic of strongman Ferdinand Marcos, but even Marcos did not carry so much hatred. Despite this, I am not ready to judge President Duterte. Only God can do that. All I am saying is that the faith of millions of Catholics has not at all diminished. Its the Presidents credibility that is being diminished. I am not an alarmist, but the P20-billion project of the Department of the Interior and Local Government to install 12,000 closed circuit television cameras in Metro Manila and Davao City by China Telecom should be looked into. China Telecom is owned by the Chinese government. The agreement has reportedly been reached between DILG Secretary Eduardo Ano and China Telecom during the recent visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The funding would come from the controversial 2019 budget. Senate President Protempore Ralph Recto has in fact filed a resolution to investigate the project which was among the 29 deals agreed upon during Xis visit. Recto has raised the fear that the surveillance project could become a national security issue. He also said that this would cause the Chinese to gain access to Philippine National Police big dataand Filipinos will be paying for it. The administration needs to be transparent about other big-ticket projects it has entered into with China. Most Chinese firms are state-owned.  I congratulate Makati Mayor Abby Binay for the unveiling of the scale model of the Makati subway and its ceremonial drilling. This signaled the start of the work on the project. Abbys father, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is also running for Congress, was present to show support for his daughter. As I said before, this subway project may well be Mayor Abbys legacy. It will be the first of its kind in the metro. Once completed, the system will serve up to 27,000 passengers per hour per direction. The system also promises an interval of three to six minutes between trains. A small group of city councilors tried their best to derail the project, but they failed. Now these councilors are trying to hold hostage the plan of Mayor Abby to provide more benefits to senior citizens.  Warning: I am told that people around Regions 1, 2, and 3 and millions from Metro Manila seem to be going to Baguio City so much that it takes twice the time to get there, with Kennon Road closed. They also say the road going to the city proper has become a big parking lot. I will happily stay in Metro Manila during this holiday season.Daphnia galeata is a common species of plankton in the lakes of northern Eurasia. Credit: Elena Zuykova, Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals SB RA

A new study shows that the roots used by three close species of microscopic Daphnia crustaceans to settle across the territory of Northern Eurasia differed greatly. The findings shed light on how continental freshwater fauna formed. The results are published in PLOS ONE.

Branchcrus crustaceans (Cladocera superorder), live mainly in freshwater bodies. These microscopic animals are model objects of evolutionary biology, genetics, ecology, and other areas of the biological sciences. Most studies focus on crustaceans of the genus Daphnia. Despite being the most famous and widespread, Daphnia still holds some mysteries for biologists. For example, the distribution pattern of these crustaceans in Eurasia has been unknown so far. One of the reasons was lack of studies on the vast territory of Siberia. Recently, Russian scientists collected several species of crustaceans in Siberian waters and examined them in order to learn more about the history of their settlement in the continent.

Three species of Daphnia found throughout Northern Eurasia were selected for the study: Daphnia galeata, D. longispina and D. dentifera. Samples of crustaceans were collected in 35 ponds of the European part of Russia, Eastern Siberia, the Far East, Austria and Mongolia. All animals were photographed before the study in order to preserve data on their appearance, and then the DNA of some of them was extracted. Genetic comparison of populations from different regions was based on two mitochondrial genes.

Mitochondria are small "energy stations" of a cell. Mitochondrial DNA in all animals is transmitted only through the maternal line, while the DNA of the cell nucleus combines the genetic material of both parents. Therefore, the kinship between different populations is easier traced using the mitochondrial genes rather than the genes from the nucleus. The data gained during the study was finally compared to the GenBank international database.

The scientists identified differences in DNA in different regions of Eurasia and determined the genetic differences between populations and the approximate time of their divergence. It turned out that despite the proximity of the three species, they were differently settled in northern Eurasia. D. galeata spread in the region very quickly and relatively recently. The species D. longispina and D. dentifera were genetically very heterogeneous. The researchers concluded that during the Ice Age they survived in fragmented populations in the so-called refugiums (shelters) in Eastern Siberia in strong isolation from each other. As a result, each species have a strong genetic diversity.

"In this study, we applied phylogenetic and phylogeographic approaches, based on genetic data from native lines, which reveal the links between them and reconstruct the history of species spread through the whole European Union," says Alexey Kotov, the leading researcher at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution, and member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. "Although Daphnia genus is the most convenient model object for such works, we plan to study the demographic history of other genera of branch-crustaceans, as well as some other microscopic animals of continental water bodies. All these studies help us to create a single picture of what historical processes shaped the modern biological diversity of Northern Eurasia."

Explore further Study of the evolution of the micro-crustacean group Cladocera

More information: Elena I. Zuykova et al, Contrasting phylogeographic patterns and demographic history in closely related species of Daphnia longispina group (Crustacea: Cladocera) with focus on North-Eastern Eurasia, PLOS ONE (2018). Journal information: PLoS ONE Elena I. Zuykova et al, Contrasting phylogeographic patterns and demographic history in closely related species of Daphnia longispina group (Crustacea: Cladocera) with focus on North-Eastern Eurasia,(2018). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0207347

Provided by AKSON Russian Science Communication AssociationUniversity of Delaware alumnus Mariam Gharib (right) helps a Kenyan farmer verify the corn seeds authenticity by submitting the certification code listed on the seed packet to the manufacturer via a text from his cell phone. Credit: University of Delaware

For farmers, a productive harvest can mean money in the bank. Poor yield due to drought, pests and other environmental factors, on the other hand, can threaten livelihoods.

Improved seed varieties have been developed to address these problems for many agricultural crops.

Yet while agricultural production in the United States continues to rise, in areas of Africa, such as Kenya, gains in agricultural production have been more limited. This is particularly true of corn, or maize, productivity in the Nyanza Province, which occupies the largest share of the region's farmland compared to other crops and is a staple food for more than 90 percent of the area's population.

According to University of Delaware alumnus Mariam Gharib, a Kenya native, one possible reason for this production lag may be seed fraud, a practice where plant seeds marketed as high-performance have actually been tampered with or been replaced with inferior products.

"Farmers in Kenya typically do not know if the seed that they are buying to grow their crops is genuine," said Gharib, who earned a master's degree in agricultural and resource economics from UD's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) earlier this year as one of three inaugural Borel Global Fellows. The master's program, a partnership between CANR and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, is designed to build the capacity of African students to address problems related to food security in Africa's agricultural sector.

Estimates of how much seed fraud actually occurs in Kenya vary wildly. And although seed companies have started marketing improved seed varieties with novel features to ensure the product's authenticity, increased concern about the prevalence of fake seed often limits farmers, who have very small farms, from risking the investment in newer corn seeds.

Packets of seeds used in the research (above). An average packet of certified corn seed sells for around 550 Kenyan shillings (approximately $5.50 U.S.) in the Nyanza Province. Local seed is cheaper, about 100 to 150 Kenyan shillings, but not nearly as productive. Credit: University of Delaware

Farmers typically buy seed in local markets or at retail stores, called Agrovets, that carry goods like seeds, fertilizer and pesticides from suppliers. An average packet of certified corn seed sells for around 550 Kenyan shillings (approximately $5.50 U.S.) in the Nyanza Province. Local seed is cheaper, about 100 to 150 Kenyan shillings per packet, but not nearly as productive as certified seed specifically developed for the region.

"If they can get the money together to buy certified seed there could be a big payoff because it would be more productive, but if the farmer gets the money and the seed is inferior or fake, they risk losing money," said Leah Palm-Forster, assistant professor of applied economics and statistics and Gharib's adviser.

Understanding how farmers make decisions

To learn how the farmer's perception of fraud influenced their willingness to invest in high-quality seed, the researchers focused on understanding the value Kenyan farmers placed on certification features presently available on a popular brand of corn seed.

Palm-Forster and Gharib worked with local village chiefs, leaders and elders to identify study sites and village households to randomly sample, then surveyed over 260 farmers. Each farmer was paired with an individual who spoke Luothe local languageto guide them through an economic experiment designed to measure their willingness to pay for different packets of seed. Farmers received 900 Kenyan shillings for their participation, which they could later use to buy seed. Before stating how much they were willing to pay, half of the participants learned how to confirm that the certified seed packets were high-quality by watching a video the research team had developed with local partners.

Each farmer was shown six packets of corn seed: five packets of improved, certified seed and one local seed variety (typically recycled seed found in a local market). One of the five certified seed packets was purchased directly from the seed company headquarters in Nairobi; three of the four remaining certified packets (all from local community Agrovets) were damaged in some way.

Farmers typically buy seed in local markets or at retail stores, called Agrovets, that carry goods like seeds, fertilizer and pesticides from suppliers. Credit: University of Delaware

The farmers were asked how much they would pay for each packet, including any price reductions for damaged seed packets or those without certification features.

"When damage occurs, farmers don't have any way to know whether the cause is a harmless issue with transportation of the packets or if the packet has been split open, the seed poured out and a cheaper seed put in," Palm-Forster said.

Findings reveal training is key in noticing fraud

The researchers found that farmers were more willing to pay for certified seed that came directly from the seed company versus seed packets that came from local suppliers, suggesting that there may be a concern about what happens lower in the supply chain.

They also learned that training was key to whether or not the farmers discounted packets with ripped labels, tampered dates or scratched certification codes, suggesting that farmers without this knowledge are not paying much attention to these attributes of the packet.

And, while most study participants had a cell phone, few if any of the farmers knew how to use the certification labels on the seed packets. For example, scratch-off labels on the packets reveal certification codes that farmers can verify by sending a text to a special phone number. In return, the farmers receive a message confirming that the certification code is valid and stating the date that the seed was sampled at the seed company.

Leah Palm-Forster stands with their research vehicle stocked with the packets of corn seed used in their economic experiments. Nearly 1,000 pounds of seed were purchased for the project. Credit: University of Delaware

Language was a barrier, too. Information on the seed packets appeared in English, one of two official languages in Kenya, along with Swahili, but most of the villagers primarily spoke their local language. Many rural farmers cannot speak, much less read, English, Palm-Forster said, making it difficult for them to follow written instructions on the seed packet.

"Once the farmers understood how the certification features on the packet worked, the language barrier was less of a problem because they only needed to text numbers on the certification code to receive confirmation that their seed was valid," Palm-Forster said.

The researchers plan to share their findings with local partner organizations already working on this issue, such as Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and with pertinent research or government groups that inform agricultural policy in Kenya.

"The rewarding thing was to come up with policies that can be incorporated to protect farmers," said Gharib, who now works as a monitoring, evaluation and learning officer for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Kenya.

Explore further Improved selection of seed potatoes gives thirty percent more spudsThis artist rendering provided by COOKFOX architects shows a building conceived by COOKFOX architects at 550 Washington Street to house an expansion by Google on Manhattan's west side at the site of the former St. John's Terminal. It's part of a new office complex Google said Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, it was spending more than $1 billion to build, allowing the internet search giant to double the number of people it employs there. (Oxford Properties/COOKFOX Architects via AP)

Silicon Valley is becoming Silicon Nation.

Google announced Monday it will spend more than $1 billion to build a new office complex in New York City that will allow the internet search giant to double the number of people it employs there.

It is the tech industry's latest major expansion beyond the Seattle-San Francisco Bay corridor. It follows recent steps by Amazon and Apple to set up large operations well outside their home turf.

Tech companies are "coming to the realization that the Bay Area, which has traditionally been the major center of tech activity in the U.S., is getting expensive and crowded," said Andrew Bartels, principal analyst at Forrester Research.

"A lot of vendors are coming to the realization that 'We can probably find top talent elsewhere at a more affordable costs, and perhaps a better style of life for employees who may be struggling to make ends meet.'"

The Northeast is attractive because of its large concentration of highly educated young people. New York in particular also offers proximity to Wall Street and already has the second-biggest concentration of tech startups behind the Bay Area and a large base of tech employees, Bartels said. Facebook, based in Menlo Park, California, has over 2,000 employees in New York.

In this Dec. 4, 2017, file photo, people walk by Google offices in New York. Google is spending more than $1 billion to expand operations in New York City. Ruth Porat, senior vice president and chief financial officer at Google and Alphabet, said in a blog post Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, that Google is creating a more than 1.7 million square-foot campus that includes lease agreements along the Hudson River in lower Manhattan. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Google, based in Mountain View, California, will fashion a complex of more than 1.7 million square feet along the Hudson River in the city's West Village neighborhood, Ruth Porat, senior vice president and chief financial officer, said in a blog post.

Google opened its first office in New York nearly 20 years ago and now employs 7,000 people in the city. Its footprint is expanding rapidly. Google said earlier this year that it would buy the Chelsea Market building for $2.4 billion and planned to lease more space at Pier 57, both along the Hudson about a mile north of the newly announced complex.

Porat telegraphed Google's plans to double down in New York a month ago during a technology conference.

"Not everybodybig surprisewants to live in Silicon Valley, so we want to make sure we have the opportunity to build vibrant centers across the country," she said.

This artist rendering provided by COOKFOX architects shows a building conceived by COOKFOX architects at 550 Washington Street to house an expansion by Google on Manhattan's west side at the site of the former St. John's Terminal. It's part of a new office complex Google said Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, it was spending more than $1 billion to build, allowing the internet search giant to double the number of people it employs there. (Oxford Properties/COOKFOX Architects via AP)

The news follows Seattle-based Amazon's announcement a month ago that it would set up new headquarters in New York's Long Island City neighborhood and in Arlington, Virginia, creating upwards of 25,000 jobs in each location.

But it's not just the East Coast that is benefiting from the expansion. Apple, based in Cupertino, California, said last week that it plans to build a $1 billion campus in Austin, Texas, that will create at least 5,000 jobs.

Even as it looks elsewhere, Google is still buying offices and drawing up plans to construct new campuses near its headquarters, as it tries to build upon its success in internet search, email, web browsers, digital mapping, online video and smartphone software to make money in other markets such as health care and internet-connected homes.

The company recently agreed to pay more than $100 million for a swath of land in downtown San Jose, California, for a big new campus that will include employee housing.

A security camera is mounted on a wall near a building, center, that has been chosen by Google as part of its expansion plans, Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, in New York. Google is spending more than $1 billion on a new campus along the Hudson River that will allow it to double the number of people it already employs here. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Microsoft likewise is overhauling its headquarters in Redmond, Washington, with an 18-building construction project that will make room for an additional 8,000 workers. It currently employs about 47,000 in the area.

But the competition for programmers is driving salaries higher, which in turn is catapulting the average prices of homes in many parts of the San Francisco Bay Area above $1 million. Many high-tech workers are choosing to live elsewhere, forcing major tech companies to look in new places for the employees they need.

Google hopes to move into the new campus by 2020. Porat said that the company's most recent investments give it the ability to more than double the number of Google employees in New York over the next 10 years.

Tech companies see New York as a way to gain a new perspective, one that is different from that of Silicon Valley, which can be seen as an "out-of-touch echo chamber," Bartels said.

This artist rendering provided by COOKFOX architects shows a building conceived by COOKFOX architects at 550 Washington Street to house an expansion by Google on Manhattan's west side at the site of the former St. John's Terminal. It's part of a new office complex Google said Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, it was spending more than $1 billion to build, allowing the internet search giant to double the number of people it employs there. (Oxford Properties/COOKFOX Architects via AP)

"New Yorkers consider themselves to be more in tune with the reality of life in U.S. urban centers and believe this helps them innovate products and services that are more closely aligned with the needs of the average American," he said.

A building, right, that has been chosen by Google as part of its expansion plans is near a graffiti-covered wall, Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, in New York. Google is spending more than $1 billion on a new campus along the Hudson River that will allow it to double the number of people it already employs here. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

People walk by a building that has been chosen by Google as part of its expansion plans, Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, in New York. Google is spending more than $1 billion on a new campus along the Hudson River that will allow it to double the number of people it already employs here. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.Daniel Ciobanu, associate professor of animal science at the University of NebraskaLincoln, led an eight-year research project to identify the gene associated with pigs susceptibility to porcine circovirus 2. He is pictured with team member Lianna Walker, graduate student at Nebraska. Credit: Craig Chandler | University Communication

After eight years of gathering data from more than 1,000 pigs infected with porcine circovirus 2, University of NebraskaLincoln researchers have identified the gene associated with pigs' susceptibility to the deadly swine disease.

Based on the research, genetic tests can now be developed to help the swine industry identify pigs more resistant to the virus, said lead researcher Daniel Ciobanu, associate professor of animal science at Nebraska. Early identification of pigs susceptible to the virus should improve the general health and welfare of swine populations worldwide. This discovery may also have broader implications across species and viral pathogens, Ciobanu said.

Despite being the smallest virus known to infect mammalian cells, porcine circovirus 2 is one of the most detrimental to the swine industry. The virus is found in all swine populations across the world, costing U.S. swine producers more than $250 million annuallymostly in the form of vaccines. Though the virus is found on all swine farms, only a few pigs show signs of infection. Because no methods are available to differentiate susceptible from tolerant pigs, producers are forced to vaccinate all of their pigs. By blinding the immune system, the virus also makes swine susceptible to other pathogens, Ciobanu said.

The research team started by monitoring 1,000 infected pigs at the university's Animal Science Complex. The researchers analyzed the pigs both for basic genetic information and indicators of disease, such as the number of viral copies in blood, presence of antibodies and weight loss during infection. Statistical analyses interrogated relationships between DNA markers located across the genome and indicators of disease susceptibility.

Those efforts allowed the researchers to associate PCV2 susceptibility with a specific DNA variant and a gene called Synaptogyrin 2. The discovery also solved a puzzle of swine biology: why certain pigs, but not others, were tolerant to the infectious disease.

"The research integrated the largest data set ever generated to understand the role of host genetics in PCV2-related illnesses," Ciobanu said. "We found that a pig's own genetics can impact the ability of the virus to multiply and cause disease."

The results of the study were recently published in PLOS Genetics.

Explore further Genetically modified pigs resist infection with the classical swine fever virus

More information: Lianna R. Walker et al. Synaptogyrin-2 influences replication of Porcine circovirus 2, PLOS Genetics (2018). Journal information: PLoS Genetics Lianna R. Walker et al. Synaptogyrin-2 influences replication of Porcine circovirus 2,(2018). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007750MIT researchers used their new tissue preservation technique to label and image neurons in a brain region called the globus pallidus externa. Neurons that express a protein called parvalbumin are labeled in red, and neurons labeled blue express a protein called GAD1. Credit: Young-Gyun Park, Changho Sohn, Ritchie Chen, and Kwanghun Chung

MIT chemical engineers and neuroscientists have devised a new way to preserve biological tissue, allowing them to visualize proteins, DNA, and other molecules within cells, and to map the connections between neurons.

The researchers showed that they could use this method, known as SHIELD, to trace the connections between neurons in a part of the brain that helps control movement and other neurons throughout the brain.

"Using our technique, for the first time, we were able to map the connectivity of these neurons at single-cell resolution," says Kwanghun Chung, an assistant professor of chemical engineering and a member of MIT's Institute for Medical Engineering and Science and Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. "We can get all this multiscale, multidimensional information from the same tissue in a fully integrated manner because with SHIELD we can protect all this information."

Chung is the senior author of the paper, which appears in the Dec. 17 issue of Nature Biotechnology. The paper's lead authors are MIT postdocs Young-Gyun Park, Chang Ho Sohn, and Ritchie Chen.

Chung is now leading a team of researchers from several institutions that recently received a National Institutes of Health grant to use this technique to produce three-dimensional maps of the entire human brain. "We will be working with the Matthew Frosch group at MGH, the Van Wedeen group at MGH, the Sebastian Seung group at Princeton, and the Laura Brattain group at MIT Lincoln Lab to generate the most comprehensive brain map yet," he says.

Preserving information

Brain tissue is very delicate and cannot be easily studied unless steps are taken to preserve the tissue from damage. Chung and other researchers have previously developed techniques that allow them to preserve certain molecular components of brain tissue for research, including proteins or messenger RNA, which reveals which genes are turned on.

However, Chung says, "there is no good method that can preserve everything."

Chung and his colleagues hypothesized that they might be able to better preserve tissue using molecules called polyepoxidesreactive organic molecules that are often used to produce glues. They tested several commercially available polyepoxides and discovered one that had distinctive structural traits that made it ideally suited for their purposes.

The epoxide they chose has a flexible backbone and five branches, each of which can bind to certain amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), as well as other molecules such as DNA and RNA. The flexible backbone allows the epoxides to bind to several spots along the target molecules, and to form cross-links with nearby biomolecules. This renders individual biomolecules and the entire tissue structure very stable and resistant to damage from heat, acid, or other harmful agents. SHIELD also protects key properties of biomolecules, such as protein fluorescence and antigenicity.

To protect large-scale brain tissues and clinical samples, the researchers combined SHIELD with SWITCH, another technique they developed to control chemical reaction speed. They first use the SWITCH-OFF buffer, which halts chemical reactions, to give the epoxides time to diffuse through the entire tissue. When the researchers move the sample to SWITCH-ON condition, the epoxides begin to bind to nearby molecules.

To speed up the clearing and labeling process of SHIELD-protected tissue, the researchers also applied a randomly changing electric field, which they have previously shown increases the transport rate of the molecules. In this paper, they showed that the entire process from preservation to labeling of biopsy tissue could be performed in just four hours.

"We found that this SHIELD coating keeps proteins stable against harsh stressors," Chung says. "Because we can preserve all the information that we want, and we can extract it at multiple stages, we can better understand the functions of biological components, including neural circuits."

Once the tissue is preserved, the researchers can label a variety of different targets, including proteins and mRNA produced by the cells. They can also apply techniques such as MAP, which Chung developed in 2016, to expand the tissue and image it at different size scales.

In this paper, the researchers worked with Byungkook Lim's group at the University of California at San Diego to use SHIELD to map a brain circuit that begins in the globus pallidus externa (GPe), part of the brain's basal ganglia. This region, which is involved in motor control and other behaviors, is one of the targets of deep brain stimulationa type of electrical stimulation sometimes used to treat Parkinson's disease. In the mouse brain, Chung and his colleagues were able to trace the connections between neurons in the GPe and in other parts of the brain, and to count the number of putative synaptic connections between these neurons.

Better biopsies

The speed of SHIELD tissue processing means that it also holds promise for performing rapid, more informative biopsies of patient tissue samples, Chung says. Current methods require embedding tissue samples with paraffin, slicing them, and then applying stains that can reveal cell and tissue abnormalities.

"The current way of doing tissue diagnosis hasn't changed in many decades, and the process takes days or weeks," Chung says. "Using our technique, we can rapidly process intact biopsy samples and immuno-label them with really specific, clinically relevant antibodies, and then image the whole thing at high resolution, in three dimensions. And everything can be done in four hours."

In this paper, the researchers showed that they could label mouse kidney tumor with an antibody that targets proliferating cancer cells.

"The stabilization and preservation of biological information within tissue samples is essential in experiments for optical microscopy," says Liqun Luo, a professor of biology at Stanford University, who was not involved in the research. "The achievement of SHIELD is not a large advance in just one category, but rather marked improvements across the board, in preserving proteins, transcripts, and tissue structure, as samples are processed through the harsh techniques prescribed by today's best labeling and imaging protocols."

Explore further New technique can reveal subcellular brain details and long-range connections

More information: Young-Gyun Park et al. Protection of tissue physicochemical properties using polyfunctional crosslinkers, Nature Biotechnology (2018). Journal information: Nature Biotechnology Young-Gyun Park et al. Protection of tissue physicochemical properties using polyfunctional crosslinkers,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/nbt.4281

This story is republished courtesy of MIT News (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation and teaching.Space plays a vital role in just about every aspect of modern warfare, with many military technologies reliant on a network of orbiting sensors and satellites

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered the creation of "Space Command," a new organizational structure within the Pentagon that will have overall control of military space operations.

The command will be separate from Trump's goal to build an entirely new branch of the military called "Space Force," which has not received approval from Congress.

"I direct the establishment, consistent with United States law, of United States Space Command as a functional Unified Combatant Command," Trump said in a memo to Defense Secretary Defense Jim Mattis.

Speaking at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida's Cape Canaveral, Vice President Mike Pence said Space Command would integrate space capabilities across all branches of the military.

"It will develop the space doctrine, tactics, techniques and procedures that will enable our war fighters to defend our nation in this new era," Pence said.

SpaceCom, as it will inevitably come to be known, will be the Pentagon's 11th combatant command.

America's vast military divides the globe into various commands, such as Central Command in the Middle East or Indo-Pacific Command in Asia. The new Space Command would be on equal footing with these.

It will require a new headquarters, as well as a commander and deputy commander who will need Senate approval.

Trump in June said he wanted to create a "Space Force," which would be a sixth and entirely new branch of the military alongside the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force and Coast Guard.

He insists such a move is necessary to tackle vulnerabilities in space and assert US dominance in orbit.

US Vice President Mike Pence, pictured in November 2018, said Space Command would integrate space capabilities across all branches of the military

But its creation is not a done deal, as it needs to be approved by Congress, and the concept has met with some skepticism from lawmakers and defense officials wary of the cost and added bureaucracy.

The creation of a new Space Force would also set off a turf war within the Pentagon, particularly with the Air Force, which currently is responsible for most space operations.

New satellites

Pence spoke to an audience in Florida, where he had been expecting to watch the launch of a SpaceX rocket carrying a new generation of satellite, ordered by the US Air Force, that are much harder for adversaries to jam.

Additional "GPS III," or third generation, satellites will be launched in the coming years, creating a new constellation of the orbiting craft.

The Air Force asked for $1.5 billion for fiscal year 2019 for the program.

Space plays a vital role in just about every aspect of modern warfare, with many military technologies reliant on a network of orbiting sensors and satellites, and the Pentagon has warned that countries like Russia and China are working to build anti-satellite capabilities.

Tuesday's launch was scrubbed at the last minute due to an issue with some sensor readings, SpaceX said. It has been rescheduled for Wednesday morning.

In a series of tweets, Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said the creation of Space Command is a "critical step" in America's ability to manage space as a warfighting domain.

"US Space Command will allow us to accelerate our space capabilities to defend our National interests and deter our adversaries," he said.

Shanahan added that the Pentagon is working on a legislative proposal that would meet Trump's vision for a separate Space Force.

 2018 AFP"There are only two autonomous regions recognized by the Charter."

 Catriona Gray has been named Miss Universe 2018. Her mother is Filipino and her father is Australian, which leads many to askis she truly a Filipino? This may well be asked of the others who brought home the crown: Pia Wurtzbach, who has a German father, and Margie Moran and Gloria Diaz, who both had Spanish origins. But being Filipino is to have mixed origins, because we had so many colonizers. Catriona is a true Filipina. * * * I have doubts on the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Organic Law. In fact, the Philippine Constitution Association or Philconsa filed a petition before the Supreme Court on Dec. 11, challenging its constitutionality. The Philconsa assailed Republic Act 11054 creating the BOL to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as a result of the peace deal between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the government. My doubts stem from the fact that Article X, Sections 18 and 19 of our Constitution recognizes only two autonomous regionsthe ARMM and the Cordillera Autonomous Region. The replacement of this requires an amendment of the 1987 Constitution. Philconsa pointed out the basic fact that only the Constitution will allow the creation of an autonomous region. Political participation through the ARMM was part of the 1996 final peace agreement between the government and the MILF, a group that broke away from the Moro National Liberation Front of Nur Misuari. The Philconsa petition was direct to the point saying that an exercise of power by the legislature and the executive departments or any of their respective functionaries beyond that as circumscribed by the Constitution and law is unconstitutional and a nullity. The Philconsa also cited the deliberation of the constitutional commission that drafted the 1987 Charter, which it said was crystal clear that the ARMM and the CAR were the only autonomous regions recognized by the Constitution. It is therefore logical that when Congress created an autonomous region like the BAR, it countered the provisions of the Constitution. I rest my case. * * * Santa Banana, there must be something wrong about the opposition. In all the poll surveys, only one senatorial candidate is being mentioned as a possible winnerformer Transportation secretary and presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II. Not even reelectionist Bam Aquino is in the Magic 12, myThis seems to me a clear indication that the people have grown tired of the opposition. This is unfortunate because we need oppositionists in the Senate in addition to Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros, Francis Pangilinan and Lilia de Lima.It may be argued that its still early to make an assessment of the 2019 polls. This may be so, but it seems the majority in the Magic 12 are pro-administration. This finding indicates 2 things: First, there is no viable opposition candidate who resonates with the people. Second, the people do not like the return of the Yellows. I say it is unfortunate because the Senate is ideally an independent institution, not composed of minions of the Executive. * * * I would say that the admnistrations push for federalism is dead in the water. I do not know when it will come up again, if ever, because of the fact that most Filipinos are not aware of what federalism is about. People are indifferent to it, actually. It would be in the interest of the administration to NOT make it an issue in the 2018 polls. The bottom line is, it is not yet time for the country to make a leap into the unknown. People should be educated and informed about what federalism is about. As it is, there are now fears that federalism can lead to separatism. We are an archipelago composed of people with different dialects, culture and traditions. Aside from this, the Philippines has other basic problems to attend to: Poverty, joblessness and rising prices. First things first, Santa Banana! * * * I congratulate SM for being in business for 60 years. I also commend its founder Henry Sy Sr. and his children for making SM a by-word for most households. Imagine there are now 71 SM stores all over the Philippines and four SM outlets in China! I happen to know how SM started. Sy was a young man who sold export surpluses from Boston on Carriedo Street. The first SM was at the corner of Avenida Rizal and Plaza Goiti. SM stood for the initials of Sys best friend, Senen Mendiola. Foreigners were not allowed to do retail. Sy is a good friend. When he opened SM Makati, I used to have coffee with him at Elysse Cafe. He told me he wanted to have an SM in every nook of the country. And he did it! He may be the richest Filipino but he certainly does not forget his friends. Thank you Henry and Merry Christmas to the family."Miss Gray has many shades."

Catriona Elisa Magnayon Gray will be the best ever Miss Universe in the pageants 66-year history. Classy, elegant, truly talented, and with fast-clipped English, Gray rebrands and revitalizes the Miss Universe brand (after Donald Trump) and brings to the world stage the Philippines Albay province as a brand for being the home of climate change resilience, world-class beauty queens, infra modernization, volcano tourism, and first class human capital where every home has a college graduate, thanks to its longtime governor, Congressman Joey Salceda. On Dec. 17, 2018, Catriona Gray, 24, easily outclassed a record 93 other national beauty queens to walk away with the Miss Universe title and give her native Philippines arguably its best Christmas in 30 years. She was chosen by an all-woman panel. Previously, Gray won the Miss Philippines 2018 title in March 2018 and the Miss World Philippines 2016 crown in October 2016. She was in the Top Five Miss World finalists 2016. Gray is the fourth Filipina Miss Universe after Gloria Diaz (1969), Margie Moran (1973), and Pia Wurtzbach (2015). Miss Gray has many shades. She draws and paints, she models and acts, she sings and composes, she is a martial arts black belter, and she teaches 3Rs to the poor kids of Tondo slums. She is half-Filipino (born in Cairns, Queensland to a Bicolana mother, Normita Raagas Magnayon from Oas, Albay) and half Irish-Australian (her father is Ian Gray). She received a degree in Music Theory from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and has a certificate in Outdoor Recreation and a black belt in Choi Kwang-Do martial arts. After finishing high school in Australia, Gray then moved to Manila where she worked as a commercial model. * * * On another front, the Philippines has finally gotten back the three bells of Balangiga, after a lapse of 117 years. Previous presidents, Gloria Arroyo and Fidel V. Ramos, tried to recover the bells seized as war booty by the US army in 1901 to buttress their claim that they, not the Filipinos, won the Battle of Balangiga. Credit goes to four peoplePresident Duterte, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Babe Romualdez, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, and US Defense Secretary James Mattis.Give us back those Balangiga bells, President Duterte said in his second State of the Nation Address on July 24, 2017. They are ours. They belong to the Philippines. They are part of our national heritage, he declared. Please return them. Their loss is painful to us, the President pleaded in Filipino. Duterte made the demand in the presence of US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim, among the dignitaries who attended the SONA. The Balangiga bells were used as signal for the Filipino freedom fighters to kill 48 of 74 American soldiers who had occupied the town in 1901. It was the worst defeat by the US military in any battle overseas. The battle was marked by deceit and ruthlessness by both sides. In retaliation, the Americans created a howling wilderness resulting in the massacre of thousands of Filipinos, age 10 and above. Wikipedia places the toll at between 2,500 and 50,000 civilians. The massacre was worse than the My Lai Massacre perpetrated by US troops in Vietnam in March 1968. The mastermind of Howling Wilderness, then Col. Jacob Smith, was court-martialed but got away with a little more than a slap on the wrist. He simply was retired. Samar is a province of 600 sq miles. Here is how Wikipedia describes the epic massacre: A sustained and widespread massacre of Filipino civilians followed. Food and trade to Samar were cut off, intended to starve the revolutionaries into submission. Smiths strategy on Samar involved widespread destruction to force the inhabitants to stop supporting the guerrillas and turn to the Americans from fear and starvation. He used his troops in sweeps of the interior in search for guerrilla bands and in attempts to capture Philippine General Vicente Lukban, but he did nothing to prevent contact between the guerrillas and the townspeople. American columns marched across the island, destroying homes and shooting people and draft animals. The exact number of Filipino civilians killed by US troops will never be known. Littleton Waller, in a report, stated that over an 11-day period, his men burned 255 dwellings, shot 13 carabaos and killed 39 people An exhaustive research made by a British writer in the 1990s put the figure at about 2,500 dead; Filipino historians believe it to be around 50,000. On Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2018, Babe Romualdez joined US Ambassador Sung Kim and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, together with Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, in welcoming the bells when they arrived at Villamor Air Base. The bells were flown home in a US Air Force C-130 plane named Spirit of MacArthur that came from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Southeast Asia Joseph Felter and INDO-PACOM Commander Admiral Philip Davidson and Colonel Leo Leibrich of the Pentagon were also in attendance. On Nov. 14, 2018, Secretary Mattis told the men in uniform in Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, it was time to move on from that dark chapter in 1901. History teaches us that nations with allies thrive. History also teaches us that all wars end. In returning the bells of Balangiga to our ally and our friend, the Philippines, weve picked up our generations responsibility to keep the respect between our peoples, he said. In his PhilStar column, Ambassador Babe related: It was certainly opportune that at this significant chapter in the shared history of the United States and the Philippines, the two men at the helm of the Defense portfolios in their respective governments happened to be James Mattis and Delfin Lorenzana. Undoubtedly, the return of the Balangiga bells marks a new era in the relationship between the two nations. As our friend Ambassador Kim said during the handover ceremony in Villamor Air Base, the return of the bells underscores the enduring friendship between our countries, our shared values, and shared sacrifices. Secretary Lorenzana also said, it was a time for new beginnings, renewed friendships, and a stronger brotherhood.Minutes after Catriona Gray won the Miss Universe 2018 crown for the Philippines on Monday, armchair critics emerged from the woodwork to begin picking away at her victory.

As is often the case, they took to Twitter to share their two centavos worth about how they felt Gray romanticized poverty when she replied to the last query posed to her in the contests Q&A portion. What is the most important lesson youve learned in your life, and how would you apply it to your time as Miss Universe? she was asked. Gray replied that she had worked a lot in the slums of Tondo, where she witnessed how life was difficult. While she sympathized with Filipinos who lived in that condition, she said she would always look for beauty in it. Ive always taught myself to look for the beauty in it, to look for the beauty in the faces of the children, and to be grateful. I would bring this aspect as a Miss Universe to see situations with a silver lining, and to assess where I could give something, where I could provide something as a spokesperson. If I could teach also people to be grateful, we could have an amazing world where negativity could not grow and foster, and children would have a smile on their face. Thank you, Catriona said. Twitter user @jiatirol said people should stop romanticizing poverty as resiliency and gratefulness while @rizadivinee said Gray should immerse herself among the masses when she returns to the Philippines. We shouldnt romanticize poverty [and highlight] smiles in (sic) childrens faces despite their situation How about children smiling because their lives are in order, and they can go to school, eat properly and live in decent housing? she said in a mix of English and Filipino.Another Twitter user, @MilllennialOfMNL, said Gray should be taught that seeing the beauty in everything is not enough and that what the poor Filipinos need is empowerment to get out of poverty. Sadly, it seems, some Filipinos simply cannot take a win for what it is and need to inject a dose of negativity from their lofty positions behind a computer screen or mobile phone. The crab mentality is alive and well. What these armchair critics dont realize, perhaps, is that even before joining her first national pageant, Gray had already started her own charity project called Paraiso: The Bright Beginnings Project, which aims to raise funds for a preschool in Tondo, Manila. She also supports the Love Yourself PH project, which advocates HIV/AIDS awareness, and volunteers as a teachers assistant to the students of Young Focus NGO. How many of her critics who rushed to judge her can truly say they have done as much? Can they truly and fairly begrudge her positive outlook? In this age of social media and instant opinions, its easy to get ahead of the facts. Traditional and online media can aggravate the situation by cherry picking and highlighting controversial opinions and passing them off as news. But as Clint Eastwood, playing the cop Dirty Harry, dryly observed, opinions are like the orifices on posteriors. Everyone has one. That doesnt make them particularly noteworthy or newsworthy.Catriona Gray was crowned Miss Universe on Monday, capping a two-year long journey from her heartbreaking loss at Miss World.

Catriona has risen as a visionary beauty queen and social media star overnight with just 600 thousand followers on Instagram a few days before the pageant to an army of two million followers a few hours after her coronation in Bangkok, Thailand.

Caption

The 24-year-old Filipino-Australian won the Philippines' fourth Miss Universe crown, pulling all the stops from a giant lantern strapped to her back, a slow-motion twirl in a hot pink bikini, and a long gown inspired by the lava of the majestic Mayon Volcano.Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson have written a number of books on antiques. Do you have an item youd like to know more about? Contact them at Joe Rosson, 2504 Seymour Ave., Knoxville, TN 37917, or email them at treasures@knology.net. If youd like your question to be considered for their column, please include a high-resolution photo of the subject, which must be in focus, with your inquiry.This report was compiled by Lisa Andre. You can reach her at landre@leecentralcoastnews.com. Follow her on Twitter @LAndreSYVNewsgiannimarchetti/iStock(ST. LOUIS, Mo.) -- A Missouri judge has found a creative way to possibly conjure remorse from a poacher he sentenced to jail.



A man who was convicted of participating in a group that illegally killed hundreds of deer has been ordered to watch Walt Disney's "Bambi" repeatedly while serving his sentence, online case records show.



David Berry, Jr. is one of four family members who would kill bucks as trophies, taking the heads and leaving the bodies to rot, Lawrence County Prosecuting Don Trotter said in a statement released by the Missouri Conservation Commission.



The deer were trophy bucks taken illegally, mostly at night, for their heads, leaving the bodies of the deer to waste," Trotter said.



Berry pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of killing, possessing of and disposing of wildlife illegally on Oct. 11, according to online records. On Dec. 6, he was sentenced to one year in prison and while there must watch "Bambi" at least once per month, starting on or before Dec. 23, the records showed.



That means Berry will have to experience the emotional scene where Bambi's mother is killed by a hunter at least 12 times in the next year.



Lawrence County Judge Robert George included the special addition to Berry's sentence due to the egregious nature of the case, according to the Springfield News-Leader.



Berry's father and two other family members were also involved in the poachings, which spanned over three years and prompted an investigation from state and federal governments, as well as authorities in Canada, the conservation commission said.



The investigation resulted in 230 charges that occurred in 11 Missouri counties, according to the release. Berry's three family members collectively served 33 days in jail for their charges, the News-Leader reported.



At least several hundred deer were killed by the family, said Lawrence County Conservation Agent Andy Barnes.



"It is unknown how many deer the main group of suspects has taken illegally over the past several years," Barnes said in the statement



Berry's conviction is the "tip of a long list of illegal fish and game activity by him and other members of his family," the conservation commission said. His sentencing finalized one of the state's largest-ever poaching investigations, according to the release.



The Missouri Conservation Commission has revoked Berry's and his father's hunting, fishing and trapping licenses for life, it said in the statement. The other two family members' licenses were not revoked for life but were suspended for a combined 26 years, and another man who "took wildlife illegally and assisted the Berrys" had his hunting privileges taken away for five years.



Berry was also given a 120-day sentence in Barton County Circuit Court on Dec. 13 for a felony firearms probation violation in that county, according to the statement.



He is being housed at the Lawrence County Jail. ABC News could not immediately reach his attorney for comment.



The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.A Czech cyber-security agency is warning against using Huawei and ZTE technologies because they pose a threat to state security.



The Chinese nightmare is rapidly spreading among European countries, now a Czech cyber-security agency is warning against using the equipment manufactured by Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE because they pose a threat to state security.

The main issue is a legal and political environment of the Peoples Republic of China, where (the) aforementioned companies primarily operate, reads a statement issued by the Czech National Cyber and Information Security Agency.

Chinas laws, among other things, require private companies residing in China to cooperate with intelligence services, therefore introducing them into the key state systems might present a threat,

According to the Czech News Agency (CTK), the Czech branch of the Chinese Telco giant Huawei refused any accusation and asked the agency to offer proof of the alleged espionage activities for the Chinese intelligence.

The warning comes on the heels of a Czech intelligence report which warned about increased spying activities of Chinese diplomats in the EU and NATO member state of 10.6 million people. reported the AFP press.

The US first, and many other countries after, have decided to ban network equipment manufactured by the Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

In November 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US Government was urging its allies, including Germany, to exclude Huawei from critical infrastructure and 5G architectures.

The Chinese firm was already excluded by several countries from building their 5G internet networks. The United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan announced the exclusion of Huawei technology for their 5G internet networks.

The United States is highlighting the risks for national security in case of adoption of Huawei equipment and is inviting internet providers and telco operators in allied countries to ban the company.

Now Germanys IT watchdog has expressed its opinion about the ban of the Huawei technology, it has highlighted that there is no evidence that the equipment could be used by Chinese intelligence in cyber espionage activity.

On Friday, the head of Germanys Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Arne Schoenbohm admitted that since now there is no proof espionage activity conducted through Huawei technology.

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs  Chinese intelligence, cyberespionage)

Share this...

Linkedin

Share this: Twitter

Print

LinkedIn

Facebook

More

Tumblr

Pocket





Share On Convicted poacher sentenced to watch Bambi (really) ... and imagining other crime and Disney movie pairings | Main | Brennan Center releases its latest (encouraging) accounting of crime in 2018 

Given that both the Special Prosecutor and Michael Flynn were advocating for him to receive a sentence without any incarceration, I thought his sentencing today could have ended up being a staid affair. But, as reported in this BuzzFeed News account, US District Judge Emmet Sullivan had different ideas:

Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, decided to delay his sentencing on Tuesday after a judge harshly criticized him for lying to the FBI and acting as an unregistered agent for Turkey, and warned him that he might get a better sentence if he finished his cooperation with the government first.

It was a stunning turn of events two hours after what was supposed to be Flynn's sentencing hearing began. Throughout the proceedings, US District Judge Emmet Sullivan had repeatedly asked Flynn if he wanted to go ahead with sentencing, given his lawyers' comments about the conduct of the FBI agents who interviewed him and the fact that he might not be completely finished cooperating.

Flynn each time said he wished to proceed. But following a particularly harsh string of criticism from the judge about the crimes he'd committed, Flynn asked for a break to speak with his lawyers. When they returned, Flynn's lawyer Robert Kelner said they wanted to postpone sentencing to give Flynn time to complete his cooperation. The judge agreed. The parties are now due to file a report with the court on the status of his case by March 13.

Flynn's change of heat came after Sullivan warned him that he couldn't guarantee Flynn wouldn't get prison time, given the seriousness of his crimes. Sullivan noted that Flynn had lied to the FBI while serving as a senior official in the White House, and had acted as an unregistered agent for the Turkish government. (The judge initially implied that Flynn did work for Turkey while he was in the White House, but later said he misspoke; the prosecutor said Flynn's work for Turkey ended in November 2017.)

"Arguably, that undermines everything this flag over here stands for," Sullivan said, gesturing to an American flag displayed behind his chair. "Arguably you sold your country out." Sullivan continued: "I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense."

Flynn at that point took up the judge's offer of additional time to consult with his lawyers. Before the judge took a break, however, he asked special counsel prosecutor Brandon Van Grack if Flynn could have been charged with treason for his conversations with now-former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in December 2016, after then-president Barack Obama had entered sanctions against Russia for interfering in the election.

Van Grack replied that given the evidence prosecutors had, treason was not something that the government was considering charging Flynn with at the time. Sullivan pressed him, asking if they could have charged Flynn with that crime. Van Grack demurred, saying he was hesitant to answer that question because the offense was so serious.

After the recess, Sullivan said that he hadn't meant to imply that Flynn might have committed treason, he said he was just probing the extent of Flynn's offenses and "was just curious." Van Grack said the government had no reason to believe Flynn committed treason.

Flynn pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 2017, to one count of making false statements. He admitted lying to FBI agents about his communications in December 2016 with Kislyak while he was serving on Trump's presidential transition team. (He was later accused of lying to Vice President Mike Pence about those contacts as well and resigned). Flynn agreed to cooperate with the government as part of his plea deal; over the past year, according to court filings, he's met with special counsel prosecutors and other Justice Department offices 19 times, for a total of nearly 63 hours.

Flynn was set to become the fifth person sentenced in connection with Mueller's investigation. Cloture vote on FIRST STEP Act gets super-majority support in Senate | Main | After hinting prison term might be in works, federal judge delays Michael Flynn sentencing to allow further cooperation 

December 18, 2018

Convicted poacher sentenced to watch Bambi (really) ... and imagining other crime and Disney movie pairings

A couple of helpful colleagues have already made sure I did not miss this local story of a Missouri sentencing. The press account is headlined "'Bambi' as punishment? Sentence in SW Missouri poaching case includes mandated viewings," and here are the details:

Four members of a southwest Missouri family have been caught in a multi-year poaching case where authorities say hundreds of deer were killed illegally. The deer were trophy bucks taken illegally, mostly at night, for their heads, leaving the bodies of the deer to waste," said Lawrence County Prosecuting Attorney Don Trotter. Conservation agents are calling it one of Missouri's largest cases of deer poaching. The case was so egregious that Lawrence County Judge Robert George ordered a special addition to the jail time one of the poachers received. Court records show the defendant "is to view the Walt Disney movie Bambi, with the first viewing being on or before December 23, 2018, and at least one such viewing each month thereafter, during Defendants incarceration in the Lawrence County Jail." The southwest Missouri case involves David Berry Sr. of Springfield, David Berry Jr. of Brookline, and Kyle Berry of Everton. The trio were involved in a multi-year investigation by state, federal and Canadian law enforcement agencies and conservation officers involving suspects in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Canada. David Berry Jr. is the defendant who was ordered to watch Bambi.... On Thursday, Dec. 13, David Berry Jr. received a 120-day sentence in Barton County Circuit Court for a felony firearms probation violation. On Dec. 6, he received a one-year jail sentence in Lawrence County Associate Court after pleading guilty to taking wildlife illegally on Oct. 11. The 120-day sentence Berry Jr. received in Barton County Circuit Court will be served in addition to the one-year sentence he received in Lawrence County. These convictions were made with information obtained from Operation Game Thief, a hotline sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Conservation Federation of Missouri. It is unknown how many deer the main group of suspects has taken illegally over the past several years, Lawrence County Conservation Agent Andy Barnes said. It would be safe to say that several hundred deer were taken illegally. Prior to the July 2016 interviews, David Berry Sr. and Eric Berry, 20, Everton, were convicted of taking gamefish by hand in Dade County. During the 2017 firearms deer season, while awaiting his court appearance for violations from the 2016 investigation, Eric Berry and an accomplice were caught spotlighting in Lawrence County. To date, this group of poachers has paid $151,000 in bonds and $51,000 in fines and court costs and collectively served 33 days in jail. David Berry Sr. and David Berry Jr. had their hunting, fishing and trapping privileges revoked for life by the Missouri Conservation Commission. Eric Berry and Kyle Berry had hunting and fishing privileges revoked for 18 years and 8 years, respectively. Jerimiah Cline, of Republic, who took wildlife illegally and assisted the Berrys, had hunting privileges revoked for five years.... Why take just the deer heads and leave the rest to rot? "In situations like this, with serial poachers who have no regard for the animals, rules of fair chase, or arent bothered by the fact that theyre stealing from others, its all about greed and ego," said Randy Doman, MDC Protection Division Chief. "Taking just the heads is their version of obtaining a 'trophy' and leaving the carcass behind is merely an afterthought. While there are some cases where poachers go after the antlers for profit, with this bunch it was more about the thrill of the kill itself."

The report that some of these defendants had previously gotten in trouble for "taking gamefish by hand" has me thinking (only half-jokingly) that they should have been ordered to watch Disney's Little Mermaid. And, of course, Disney's Lion King should be a must-watch for that infamous guy who went hunting illegally for Cecil the Lion.

Especially when we all could use an extra bit of levity in our lives, I have in the title of this post sought to encourage everyone to come up with clever crime and Disney movie pairings. Would it be so wrong to suggest that Michael Cohen should have been ordered to watch Disney's Robin Hood? Or that anyone convicted of conducting illegal experiments has to watch Disney's Lilo & Stitch? (I know that last one is really a stretch, but I wanted to suggest I will no judge silly efforts to spotlight a lesser-known Disney movie in this parlor game).

So, dear readers, what crime and Disney movie sentencing would you find fitting and amusing?

December 18, 2018 at 10:42 AM | Permalink

Comments

Post a commentMANILA, Philippines  The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed on Tuesday (December 18) that there were no Filipinos affected by the recent blast at a restaurant in Toyohara District, Sapporo, Japan.

Investigation is underway as to the cause of the blast after residents complained of a gas-like smell following the explosion.

Sapporo in Hokkaido Island has a population of two million people.  UNTV News and Rescue

The post DFA: No Filipinos affected in Japan blast appeared first on UNTV News.How Nuren Group, Fave, and DahMakan are shaking up the Malaysian digital marketplace ecosystem



As with all traditional forms of trade, when it comes to eCommerce it is important to gauge consumer behaviour. This ranges from what consumers want to what consumers need, and bridging those interest points with capturing a market thats actually willing to make a purchase.

This is the beauty of eCommerce: it revitalises conventional markets by introducing new and innovative ways to deliver products and services anchored on wants and needs. More importantly, eCommerce puts these products and services in a digital platform, making it accessible and convenient to use.

In the attempt to harness the power of digital as a means of powering Malaysias growing economy, three startups are coming up with ways to innovate the marketplace through smart solutions and to revolutionise customer experience.

Digital platforms enable businesses to cut costs and offer goods affordably

One problem thats being solved by a startup is is the need for healthy meals amid a fast-paced and busy lifestyle. Because of societys growing demands, people have less and less time to prepare food for their daily meals. DahMakan, a startup from Malaysia, seeks to solve this problem by providing hassle-free, high quality everyday meals to make peoples lives easier.

They achieve this by delivering affordable and ready-to-eat meals at the push of a button through their purely digital platform, cutting out traditional F&B business costs. This allows them to regulate their prices and make sure their products stay affordable.

Starting in Malaysia was the best choice we made. There is so much support from the ecosystem and people are generally curious and super supportive of new ideas and concepts. Malaysia is truly outstanding compared to the many other countries Ive visited, said Jonathan Weins, CEO and co-founder of DahMakan.

Weins credits much of his success to the collaborative help he has received from various entities. He enthusiastically adds, the ecosystem and government linked organisations such as Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) are doing an outstanding job, and we are excited about the many upcoming initiatives!

Story continues

Also read: How Malaysia helps bolster the less glamourous side of tech

DahMakan has expanded to Thailand with their Thai office growing twice as fast as the one in Malaysia. Weins said, The best way to deal with cultural differences and customer types has been to approach a new country with a completely open mind and without any assumptions.

The food delivery startup was part of Y Combinators summer 2017 programme  the first-ever Malaysian company to participate in Y Combinator. It has since raised $1.3 million seed round in 2017, and a $2.6 million pre-series A in February this year.

He added, we are about to close another funding round which will give us additional capital to continue attracting incredible talent, and to make high quality food accessible for everyone.

Important for startups to have a strong sense of identity

Another thriving Malaysian startup is the Nuren Group, the largest female engagement platform in Southeast Asia.

Guiding women through their journeys of wedding and motherhood, Nuren Group operates content-driven marketplaces, which enable thousands of small, medium, and large global brands to sell their products and services. On top of that, they also run digital content and activation campaigns with their community of female influencers and celebrities.

The idea behind the company was simple: three years ago, they started as a wedding platform. But as their customers aged and shifted to different interest points (from wedding to motherhood), they knew there was an untapped market waiting to be addressed.

Their platform allows the company to retain existing clientele through a simple paradigm shift. What had to be consistent was making sure that their products and services always empowered women and catered intrinsically to their best interests.

There are many opportunities and challenges ahead for eCommerce. Domestic players are facing competition from marketplaces that heavily subsidised and offer cross border cheaper OEM products. Merchants and platforms like us will have to master the combination of showrooming and webrooming, events, product demos, in-store experiences  focusing on after sale customer service, said Petrina Goh, CEO and co-founder of the Nuren Group.

We also foresee ecommerce companies that use data to predict consumer spending and trend setting to perform above the peers, she added.

Nuren Group currently maintains a solid community of over 1,000,000 moms, 5,000 wedding businesses and 1,000 babys and childrens brands. With their regional presence in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, they are assessing borderless transactions that enable their sellers to sell and fulfill across the countries.

Supporting the old by harnessing the new

The third startup we spoke to doesnt appear to fit the eCommerce model that we know, but they are also certainly revolutionising the market in their own unique way.

Fave is a startup that focuses on helping offline businesses to succeed, by bringing them to new customers (Fave Deals), retain their existing customers (FavePay, Fave stamp cards), and reengage customers who havent come back to their stores, as well as leverage on their customers behaviour, trend and demographics. In addition, Fave provides comprehensive merchant solutions (FaveBiz) to enhance their understanding their businesses, and drive further growth.

Essentially, Fave digitally optimises brick and mortar retail stores that do not have the understanding and the capacity to digitalise their business practices. Doing this helps offline businesses to take advantage of data and tech in gathering new customers and retain old ones.

Its been great experience so far. We have built up a team of 200 people in Malaysia where all our products, technology, innovation, data, and so forth are performed from Malaysia for the region, said Chen Chow Yeoh, co-founder of Fave, which has expanded its brand to Singapore, Indonesia, and built some presence in the Philippines, and Hong Kong.

MDEC has been instrumental in helping us through this journey, especially in facilitating the process to enable us to bring in quality knowledge workers to join the team here, and make Malaysia our hub, he added.

As of today, Fave is doing over 100 million USD worth of sales per year within its first two years of starting up. They are currently gunning to find breakthroughs that will score them their first billion-dollar sale.

Next steps for Malaysias eCommerce

All three startups agree that some work still needs to be done. Goh said Malaysia could provide more support through projects, endorsements, and recognition. There should also be more collaborations or partnerships between conglomerates and startups to support innovation and growth, she added.

This sentiment is echoed by Weins who believes that better terms should be made between investors and startups. He said the current investment frameworks tended to be unfair, which reflects poorly on how money is being funnelled into businesses  and the kind of businesses that are willing to accept those investments.

Also read: Navigating through Southeast Asias startup industry the Malaysian way

Investment terms should be standardised, similar to other global ecosystems. I have heard from other entrepreneurs in Malaysia about very erroneous terms from investors. We have to change this mindset here regarding this, said Weins.

Yeoh on the other hand thinks there should be more industry-relevant academic training for tech-based professionals at a university level. He believes this would help the pool of talent in Malaysia become more startup aware.

Ultimately, all three startups are happy with many things that they have experienced in the Malaysian framework. Much of their success derives from support received from other startups in the ecosystem, as well as government-sponsored initiatives under MDECs helm.

This paints to a hopeful future for Malaysias startup ecosystem, and consequently enhances the positive view of the nations vibrant digital economy bolstered by its eCommerce sector.

The post eCommerce: Revitalising conventional forms of trade in Malaysia appeared first on e27.Hongkongers promised free tour of Maldives in return for smuggling 7kg of cocaine into city, police say

Three Hongkongers were arrested for trying to smuggle 7kg of suspected cocaine into the city after being promised a free tour of the Maldives in return, police said on Tuesday.

Two men, aged 21 and 23, and a 21-year-old woman were intercepted at the airports customs clearance counter at about 9am on Monday after they collected their check-in luggage.

Senior Inspector Chan Mei-shi of the forces Narcotics Bureau said 16 bags carrying the drugs were in secret compartments of the mens suitcases. She said the consignment had an estimated street value of HK$8 million (US$1 million).

We believe the men were hired by a drug trafficking syndicate and were responsible for bringing the haul into Hong Kong from the Maldives, she said.

On Tuesday afternoon the two men were charged with drug trafficking and the woman was charged with conspiracy to traffic drugs. The trio was scheduled to appear at West Kowloon Court on Wednesday.

Chan said an initial investigation showed the three were recruited by a syndicate via a friend.

They were offered free return tickets to the Maldives together with free accommodation and food, she said, adding the trio were paid from HK$10,000 to HK$50,000 each as a reward and provided with a tour of the archipelago nation.

With the approach of Christmas and the new year, Chan appealed to youngsters not to fall for criminal get-rich-quick schemes.

Criminals will offer youngsters huge rewards to lure them into bringing illegal drugs into or out of Hong Kong, Chan said.

Drug trafficking is a serious offence and carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a HK$5 million fine.

According to the latest statistics, local authorities seized 537kg of cocaine in the first 10 months of this year, up 78.4 per cent compared with 301kg in the same period last year.

This article Hongkongers promised free tour of Maldives in return for smuggling 7kg of cocaine into city, police say first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.Four Vietnamese individuals were sentenced to jail yesterday after they pleaded guilty to looting Uniqlo stores in Singapore. More than 1,400 items of clothing were nicked, including hundreds of brassieres, and the total amount was worth about S$44,600.

Each of them pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing fraudulently obtained items and one theft charge, reported The Straits Times. Van Tu Nguyen, Duong Tuan Dat, and Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, aged 30, 27, and 31 respectively, each received a one year and 11 month jail sentence, while 29-year-old Tran Thi Phuong Thao was sentenced to one year and 10 months behind bars.

Channel NewsAsia said that the two men and two women had plotted to pilfer Uniqlo stores here as Vietnamese nationals did not require visas to travel to Singapore. The court stated that the group were intending to re-sell products they stole from the Japanese brand in their home country.

According to Deputy Public Prosecutor Shana Poon, the shoplifters set their eyes on that particular chain of stores because they had heard most items did not have sensor tags. Before coming to Singapore with social visit passes on Sept 13 this year, the gang lined special shopping bags with aluminium to carry the stolen goods out of the stores without triggering the alarms. They also arrived with empty baggages to bring back their haul.

It was at the Downtown East outlet of Uniqlo that the group got caught after they repeatedly walked out with bags full of about 50 pieces of winter clothes. When the security alarm sounded, they fled and managed to escape, even though the stores employees gave chase.

However, once the police were alerted, the culprits were hunted down and arrested on Sept 16 at Hotel Re along Chin Swee Road. Officers discovered 818 items worth about S$21,600 stolen from different Uniqlo outlets across the island, but the group claimed they could not remember when and where the crimes took place. Four days later, 636 more items valued at S$23,000 were found in a Hotel 81 branch at Jiak Chuan Road.

All four were not represented in court on Monday, but Van mentioned his intention to appeal against his sentence.

This article, Jailed: 4 Vietnamese shoplifters who stole items worth about $45k from Uniqlo stores in Singapore, 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.Japan will get its first aircraft carriers since World War II and buy dozens of fighter jets under a new defence plan approved Tuesday that is intended to counter China's growing military power. The new five-year defence plan calls for the upgrade of two existing helicopter carriers so that they can launch fighters, and is the latest in a series of steps under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to boost Japan's military. Abe's government argues the efforts are necessary given growing defence challenges in the region, including tensions with North Korea, and particularly "strong concerns" about the expansion of China's military footprint. But the move is controversial, with critics arguing it shifts Tokyo further away from its commitment to strictly defensive capabilities under Japan's post-World War II pacifist constitution. "We will secure both the quantity and quality of defence capability that is necessary... to meet the rapidly changing security environment," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular press briefing on Tuesday. "We believe this is within... what is allowed under the constitution." The five-year plan approved Tuesday assumes record defence spending of 27.47 trillion yen ($244 billion) through March 2024. It calls for the defence ministry to upgrade two flat-top Izumo-class destroyers to enable them to launch fighters with short take-off and vertical landing abilities, like the F-35B stealth fighter. In a separate plan also endorsed by the cabinet Tuesday, Japan said it would buy 42 F-35s over the next decade, with the F-35B variant widely considered the likeliest candidate. It also plans over the same period to buy 105 F-35As, a variant of the advanced jet which performs conventional takeoffs and landings and cannot be used on the retrofitted destroyers. Local media have said the purchases could total more than one trillion yen ($8.8 billion). Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said Japan's concerns about Beijing's military are "not conducive to the development and improvement of Sino-Japanese relations". Beijing has already expressed its "strong dissatisfaction and opposition" and "urges Japan to adhere to a purely defensive policy", she added at a regular press briefing. Last year, China unveiled its first domestically built aircraft carrier as it continues to assert its vast claims to the South China Sea. Beijing's first carrier, the Liaoning, is a second-hand Soviet ship built nearly 30 years ago and commissioned in 2012. - 'Defence-oriented' - The new plans come after pledges from Japan to buy more US military equipment, under pressure from President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly complained about Washington's huge trade deficit with Tokyo and also urged Abe to expand the country's defensive capacity. Abe has aggressively expanded Japan's alliance with the United States. He has campaigned for years to amend Japan's pacifist constitution, arguing that it ties the hands of the country's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) even in protecting the country's allies from attack. Government officials were at pains to make clear the policy did not represent a shift away from the country's long-standing focus on defence. "The Izumo-class destroyers will continue to serve as multi-function, multi-purpose destroyers. This mode of operation falls within the realm of an exclusively defence-oriented policy," Defence Minister Takeshi Iwaya told a regular briefing. The remodelled ships and new fighter jets will "increase operational flexibility" for Japan's military as China boosts its naval footprint in southern waters that are home to several remote Japanese islands, a defence official said. "We have a very, very small SDF footprint" in the area between Okinawa and Taiwan, he added. But he said it was a "misunderstanding" to believe that the upgrades would create "full-fledged aircraft carriers" capable of staging offensive action in distant regions. And the new fighters would be stationed at existing ground facilities, not on the ships, he said. "We are not creating carrier air wings or carrier air squadrons" like the US navy, he added. "That's not going to happen."The United States, hoping to stem migration, said Tuesday it was ready to support $4.5 billion in investment in Central America and southern Mexico. The United States promised to back new Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's push for development in Central America, the primary source of migrants whose unauthorized entry into the United States has become a central focus for President Donald Trump. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), which offers government-backed favorable financing to US businesses, is prepared to support $2.5 billion in new investment in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras "if commercially viable projects are identified," the State Department said. OPIC is also looking to mobilize $2 billion more for southern Mexico, the country's poorest region, a statement said. The State Department said that OPIC already has $2.8 billion worth of projects in the pipeline in Mexico as well as $1 billion since last year in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras -- the so-called "Northern Triangle." In a parallel announcement in Mexico, Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard told reporters that his government was "committed to promote strong regional growth, better-paying jobs and more opportunities for all our citizens." - Democrats skeptical - The US funding offer, made in a low-key written statement, comes in stark contrast to Trump's years of rallies demanding that Mexico pay for a vast wall on the border. Trump, railing against unauthorized immigration ahead of last month's election, threatened via Twitter in October to cut off aid to Central America unless they stopped migrants. Two months later, the US government is teetering on the brink of a shutdown with Trump demanding that Congress provide $5 billion for the wall. Representative Eliot Engel, a Democrat who next month takes over the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was "skeptical" about the "rhetorical commitment" to Central America in light of the Trump administration's policies, including separating children from parents at the border. He said that Congress would look carefully at the next budget to "separate fact from fiction" and ensure that the United States is in fact supporting Central America. In new government funding, the State Department said it would request an additional $180 million for the Northern Triangle in its request to Congress for the 2019 fiscal year. While backing Trump's wall, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has acknowledged that development is a longer-term solution to migration from the Northern Triangle countries, which are among the world's most violent. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said the United States expected Central American countries to "hold up their end of the bargain" and work to improve the situation at home.Xi Jinping pays tribute to his predecessors, but were any of them invited?

President Xi Jinping paid tribute to each of his predecessors in a speech marking the 40th anniversary of Chinas reform and opening up on Tuesday  though none of them were actually there.

Some 3,000 Chinese and foreign guests, most of them officials and embassy representatives, attended the event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Flanked by the 20 Beijing-based Politburo members, the president remained seated throughout his 1-hour speech  unlike Hu Jintao when he addressed the 30th anniversary event in 2008, and Jiang Zemin a decade earlier, both of whom stood for their speeches.

But the biggest departure from past practice was the absence of retired members of the supreme Politburo Standing Committee.

When then president Hu hosted the ceremony 10 years ago, it was attended by a line-up of retired state leaders that is rarely seen, and is usually aimed at sending a message of unity from within the ruling Communist Party.

That 2008 event was attended by Hus predecessor, Jiang, and retired members of the 16th Politburo Standing Committee including former vice-president Zeng Qinghong, as well as Wu Guanzheng and Luo Gan. Other big names included former National Peoples Congress chairman Li Peng and former premier Zhu Rongji, both from the 15th Politburo Standing Committee.

None of them were at the ceremony on Tuesday, and there was no explanation given as to why retired state leaders had not been invited.

Instead, Xi honoured 110 reform pioneers  100 of them Chinese and 10 foreigners  for their contribution to Chinas development and its opening up to the West.

The president also highlighted the continuity of party leadership, paying tribute to the achievements of his predecessors one by one.

On Mao Zedong, Xi said he not only founded the Peoples Republic of China, but also laid the foundation for the political system. While he acknowledged that the decade of turmoil during the Cultural Revolution had brought the country to the verge of economic collapse, Xi said the party had still made enormous achievements despite the serious repercussions of the Mao era.

Story continues

During the process of exploration, although [the party] experienced serious repercussions, the party bore fruits in original theories and made enormous achievements, providing precious experience, theoretical preparation and the material foundation to advance socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new historical era, he said.

The president went on to talk about Deng Xiaoping, saying he had led the focus on economic development and helped to answer questions on how to push forward Chinas socialism, and set up a timeline and strategy for modernisation in the 21st century. Xi also highlighted Dengs contribution in correcting the mistakes of the leftists during and before the Cultural Revolution.

On Jiang, Xi said his theory of the three represents had defended Chinas socialism at a complicated time, saying he had laid out the countrys reform goals and framework and set up an allocation system for wealth, ushering in a new chapter for opening up.

Xi also spoke about Hu, saying his scientific development theory had brought new ways to build a prosperous society. The president also credited Hu with improving Chinese livelihoods, social welfare and sustainable development, as well as promoting a harmonious society.

A decade ago, Hu also praised Mao for founding the Peoples Republic of China and Deng for his reforms  but he spent less time paying tribute to his predecessors than Xi.

Beijing-based historian Zhang Lifan said Xis tribute was about unity at a time when support from within the party is crucial.

Externally there is the China-US trade war, Zhang said. Internally, there has been so much opposition and frustration inside the party during the six years of [Xis] rule.

So Xi needs to highlight the power of the party and ask [all cadres] to go through this difficult time together  He is putting himself together with [the fate] of the party, he said.

Zhang also said he believed the party elders had not been invited to the event.

None of them showed up, so I think they were not invited at all, he said.

Several high-profile business leaders from the private sector such as Alibabas Jack Ma, Tencents Pony Ma, Baidus Robin Li Yanhong and carmaker Geelys Li Shufu, took up seats usually occupied by political elites. (The South China Morning Post is owned by Alibaba.)

This article Xi Jinping pays tribute to his predecessors, but were any of them invited? first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.

More from South China Morning Post:According to Alfonso Cuaron, Roma is the movie he was always meant to make, and most critics (including Slates own) agree. The story of a live-in housekeeper based on the writer-directors childhood nanny, Roma is intensely, even obsessively, personal, with Cuaron apparently determined to put as much of his early years as possible on screen, down to the mounted dog heads at a vacation hacienda and the make and model of his fathers car. But we can also consider Roma as something other than a work of introspection.

Advertisement

The Netflix release is the highest-profile, but nowhere near the first, Latin American feature made by a filmmaker who found a muse in his or her caretakerand something to indict in the class hierarchies that keep employers and employees under one roof but inhabiting wildly different worlds. In fact, Roma isnt even the first black-and-white film in this subgenre. Brazils Santiago (2007) and The Second Mother (2015) and Chiles The Maid (2009), among others from Argentina and beyond, also re-examine the ways systemic inequalities seep into and warp household dynamics. In Santiagos case, the film even calls attention to the limits of art made by the middle and upper classes about the less advantaged, particularly when the latter are or were under the artists employ. That these films all arrived in the 21st century, when live-in domestic help is in many places going out of fashion, seems fitting: Things are always easier to see, and condemn, in hindsight.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Topping dozens of Top 10 lists, Roma is the most lauded film of the year, but it isnt without its dissenters. In a tweet, the New Yorkers Richard Brody, for example, deplored the formula of upper-middle-class filmmakers depicting heroic manual laborers as deprived of discourse, as strong silent (terse and quiet) types calling this trope a failure of observation and imagination. Elsewhere, critic Christopher Llewellyn Reed lambasted the film as a tone-deaf paean to class-based hierarchies that glorifies the sacrifices of domestic servitude.

Advertisement

Santiago calls attention to the limits of art made by the upper classes about the less advantaged.

Cleo is indeed a circumspect protagonist, but I disagree that Cuarons appreciation for his former maid, Liboria Libo Rodriguez, amounts to a blinkered nostalgia. Its closer to an atonement. Roma is above all an expression of gratitude and, secondarily, an indictment of the casual indifference with which the central family treats its two housekeepers. But it is less a failure of imagination and observation than it is about the familys failure of imagination and observation. Cleo is tireless, or forced to be, while domestic chaos slowly consumes her employers. Cuaron and his family might have taken for granted all that Rodriguez did, but by forcing himself to see his childhood through her eyes, based on his own interviews with her, he isnt anymore.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Roma would make for a fascinating double billing with the first-person documentary Santiago, by Joao Moreira Salles (brother of Walter). In 1992, Salles spent five days interviewing his parents former butler of 30 years, Santiago Badariotti Merlo. The result, according to the director in voice-over, was the only film he never finished. Thirteen years later, Salles revisited the footage he had shelved more than a decade earlier to figure out why hed given up on the project. The filmmakers postmortem ultimately reveals a tragic truth: Around his subject, Salles had never stopped acting like (as he puts it) the owners son.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

If Cleo is too quiet for some critics, Santiago never stops talking. Its easy to tell from his monologues why Salles pursued him as a subject: The cultured, multilingual butler was a glamorous eccentric. An Argentine who spent part of his childhood in Italy, he toiled as an amateur historian for more than five decades, penning 30,000 pages about seemingly every aristocrat in written history, from Switzerland to India, and China to Ethiopia. The film suggests that Santiago chose to serve Salles influential Rio de Janeiro clan because of his veneration for the powerful, whom he describes as cruel but true saints who did very well for humanity. Thats why I wonder why these people die, he says. Those who are good should not die, right? Santiago calls his historical research a joyful tomb. Salles seems to realize only years later that the butlers obsessive cataloging was also his idiosyncratic way of dealing with his fear of death. Santiago revived those long-forgotten noblemen in his writings, it appears, to keep alive the possibility that the deceased will be remembered.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The Second Mother is interested in the internalized classism that helps frame domestic service as something akin to a calling.

Santiago died between the time of the interviews and Salles revisit. The directors recognition of his childhood butlers fearsand the memorial that the film thus becomesgives it a rare poignancy. But the reason that Santiago never stops talking is that Salles never allows him to. Salles acknowledges that his habit of ordering around the then-retired Santiago meant that his subject never felt able to express himself freely or step outside of the confines of their former relationship. Its the kind of epiphany that encourages viewers to reappraise everything theyve watched thus far, and perhaps look for the invisible power structures that govern other portraits and stories.

Advertisement

Can any movie made amid affluencewhich, its no secret, is most moviesfully capture the sentiments and struggles of the working class? Anna Muylaerts The Second Mother probably comes closest to such a feat. Based in part on Muylaerts experiences with her former nanny, the drama, like Santiago, is interested in the internalized classism that helps frame domestic service as something akin to a calling. Middle-aged Val (Regina Case) is fine cleaning after her Sao Paulo employers and doting on their thoroughly unexceptional college-bound son, Fabinho (Michel Joelsas), who prefers the maids company to his parents. But Val is forced to question her place in the home, as well as her beliefs about how the world works, when her estranged daughter, Jessica (Camila Mardila), an architecture prodigy who has defied all odds to have a fighting chance at the same top-tier university Fabinho hopes to attend, comes to stay with her. Vals affection for Fabinho is uncomplicated. Her relationship with Jessica is much thornier, as the teenage girl openly rebels against the upstairs-downstairs rules and appears more at home among the cosmopolitan upper crust than with Val in the maids cramped quarters.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

In Roma, the young Cleo never has to make the difficult decision that has marked the older Vals relationship with her only child: putting her employers family ahead of her own daughter. Vals employers are a study of the sometimes fine line between snobbery and oppression. When Jessica arrives, the Southerners make fun of her Northeastern accent, and both father and son immediately assume the teens sexual availability. Those subtler prejudices are married to more pernicious understandings about where the (darker-skinned) Val and Jessicas places are in the household and where theyre not (the dinner table, the pool). I dont know where you learned these things, Jessica spits about her mothers instinctive deference and self-effacement in her employers presence. Was Val born knowing how to act properly, as she proclaims, or have her years as a live-in servant, in which shes outnumbered by those who comport themselves as her superiors, distorted her sense of self and her possibilities?

Advertisement

Unlike the other films, The Maid doesnt take it as a given that domestic servants will be, well, subservient.

These larger questions are couched in Muylaerts sharp-eyed observations of the way power suffuses each minute of Vals then Jessicas lives. On the girls first morning, the lady of the house quietly puts Jessica in her place by handing her a plastic tumbler while sipping from a glass cup herself. Unlike the uncomplaining Cleo, Val often mutters to herself about the little things that annoy her, such as someone returning empty ice trays to the freezer. But its both funny and sad to witness her clearing the table while all three family members stare at their cellphones over their half-eaten dinners, or retrieving and opening a soda can for a man standing right next to the fridge. Such precise details help make The Second Mother the superb film that it is, and they render Vals final decision, in which she resolves to imagine something for herself beyond housework and sacrifice, all the more satisfying.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Roma, Santiago, and The Second Mother all assume diligence among domestic servants as a given. That makes thrilling Sebastian Silvas The Maid, which imagines its titular character, Raquel (Catalina Saavedra), as something of a subversive, even as shes being slowly poisoned by her job. Dedicated to Silvas two childhood maids, the black comedy finds the overworked Raquel sabotaging the additional maids her employers attempt to bring on, lest she be replaced, and taking her anger out on one of the familys teenage daughters. (Its tempting to think that The Maid originated with the impish filmmaker wondering, How would I act if I were a domestic servant, then landing on: a jerk.) As Raquel slowly befriends the one helper she cant get rid of, it becomes clear that her rage stems from her loneliness and her alienation from the family she works for, even as she fights tooth and nail to cling to her position.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

In the other movies, theres never any doubt about the fondness the domestic workers have for the employers children. But with The Maid, Silva creates a delicious tension by playing with the bosses supposition that every female servant will feel a maternal affection for their wards. Even when the maid wakes up the teen extra early on a test day, depriving her of sleep, or does away with the cat the girl received as a gift from her boyfriend, Raquels mistress initially refuses to believe that her housekeeper hates her daughter, because who ever heard of such a thing? And Raquel makes for such a compelling antiheroine because she professes repeatedly that she couldnt live without the children she serves, but her actions routinely belie her words. In fact, she weaponizes her declarations of love for the children against her employers. They couldnt fire someone so devoted to their offspring, could they?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Raquel is far from a revolutionary. But with her sullen, petty antics, she reveals her job as, well, a jobnothing more than a transactional exchange of services for compensation. And while Raquel has the luxury of taking out her disaffection against her employers in quiet ways, its only when she finds something outside of her work, in the other helpers friendship, that she has anything to hope for. The Maid isnt meant as a systemic critique, and it doesnt have to be. Its main observationthat theres nothing innately meaningful about domestic serviceis apparently long overdue.Since the moment Stephen Miller appeared on Face the Nation to push more white supremacist garbage, the inside of my head has abandoned its usual loop to obsessively alternate between two images, both Simpsons-related. In one of them, a smile of delight is slowly spreading across Homer Simpsons face as he realizes how hilarious Millers new look is. In the other, Bart Simpson is writing the following on a chalkboard:

Its wrong to make fun of other peoples appearance.

Its wrong to make fun of other peoples appearance.

Its wrong to make fun of other peoples appearance.

Its wrong to make fun ofyou know what? Theres no sense being a hardliner about this when the other people in question are building a white nationalist ethnostate as quickly and violently and cruelly as they can possibly manage. So as far as Im concerned, we can all watch Trevor Noah drag Stephen Miller for his unfortunate hairstyling decisions with a clean conscience:

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Shoot it straight into my petty, petty veins! The footage of Miller on Face the Nation is such a delight in its own right that all Noah really had to do was roll it, point at it, and ask the audience if they noticed the hair, but he really went above and beyond here. Still, Im not sure I 100% agree with his police work here:

Advertisement

Advertisement

You know whats crazy about this whole situation? Trump hates it when his people look bad on TV. He hates it when people look weird, when they look stupid, when they get mocked, which means this might be the only thing that could get Patch Adams over here fired. Tomorrow the presidents gonna call him in like, Im sorry, Stephen. Theres no place in this White House for someone with dumb hair.

Advertisement

Noah is right that the president hates it when people mock his employees, but given the heroic, ridiculous efforts Trump has made in his own vain quest to not be bald, its hard to see how hed fault Miller here. The most likely outcome for a Trump employee who willingly sacrifices his own dignity in order to pretend he has a full head of hair is the kind of fatherly chat Eric and Don Jr. can only dream of, followed by a promotion. Which means this is probably not the last time Stephen Miller will appear on television with a ridiculous, ridiculous hair situation. Cue Homer Simpson smiling.This article is published through a partnership with New York Medias Strategist. The partnership is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. Every editorial product is independently selected by New York Media. If you buy something through our links, Slate and New York Media may earn an affiliate commission.

It can be tricky to find the best gift for a coffee lover, even if you do consider yourself a serious coffee snob. You dont want to accidentally give them a different version of a coffee maker that they already own, or a version of a pour-over dripper or French press thats so last-seasonbut you also want to make sure your present is actually useful, something that will make their coffee-making routine a little easier.

To help you find the right gift for the coffee-obsessed person in your life, we talked with baristas, coffee roasters, and other coffee nerds about their go-to gift ideas for coffee lovers and the best coffee gifts theyve ever given or received.

Kettles

At the top of my list this year is the Stagg EKG kettle from Fellow Products. Its the ideal brewing kettle for any coffee enthusiast; with its temperature stability and variable settings, it allows you to hold the water at 200 degrees for up to an hour. This means that every time I make a pour over at home, I know that my water will be consistently hot throughout the brewing process. (If youre curious why water is so important in brewing, just remember that coffee is 99 percent water!)  Noah Goodman, barista, Nobletree Coffee

If youre looking for a slightly less expensive alternative to this electric kettle, Fellows pour-over kettle is a still-stylish option. According to former Grub Street editor Sierra Tishgart: I have a small apartment, with the kitchen in plain sight of, well, everything, so I like to put pretty things on my stove top. (Plus, it works great, and the whistle and built-in thermometer never fail.)

My wife and I have been using the OXO Adjustable Temperature Pour Over Kettle.

Its by far the most cost-effective kettle on the market and one I strongly recommend for home use.  Paul Schlader, co-founder and co-owner, Birch Coffee

If the coffee lover in your life doesnt make pour-over coffee, they dont need an electric kettle with a thin gooseneck. This one from KitchenAid is nice because its colorful, and you can dial in the exact temperature for French-press coffee or whatever else you might need.

Coffee Grinders

For serious home brewers, Id also recommend the OXO Conical Burr Coffee Grinder. A burr coffee grinder is an important investment and will provide you with a consistent grind size to brew the perfect cup of coffee time after time.  Schlader

The Baratza Encore allows for an impeccable grind, really bringing the coffee to its full potential.  JP Iberti, president and co-founder, La Colombe

According to writer Ashley Mason, Unlike regular grinders that simply blitz the coffee into a coarse meal, the Breville Smart Grinder Pro lets me adjust the fineness based on popular brew methods like French press, espresso, stovetop percolator, and drip. This is a game changer because your typical $20 coffee grinder really only grinds for a drip coffee machine. And it will be appreciate by anyone who drinks a lot of coffee.

This stainless-steel coffee grinder is a great gift for someone who prefers a manual coffee grinder, or a coffee lover who travels a lot, like travel writer Andrew Parks, who keeps this grinder in his to-go coffee-making kit.

Coffee Makers and Machines

Ceramic French-press coffee makers retain heat fairly well, making this a great gift for a coffee lover who also loves hosting brunch.

If they want something a bit more high-tech than a regular French press, but doesnt uses pods, this KitchenAid coffee maker will do the trick, with a built-in scale and timer to help you keep track of your brew.

Because we often work from home and are spoiled with the best coffee, we love using our KitchenAid pro series espresso machine. Not only is it a beautiful piece of art for your kitchen, but this espresso machine is as close to the real thing as you can get! Perfectly pulled shots and frothy foam from your very own home will have you skipping your morning coffee run.  Elisa Marshall, founding partner, Maman

A more affordable, but still stylish, espresso-making machine is this Nespresso Pixie Espresso Maker, which Grub Street editor Alan Sytsma describes as the best gift he ever gave his parents.

This pour-over coffee kit is the same that the baristas at Black Fox Coffee use to make their brew. The extraction it delivers is even and consistent when used with skill, according to co-owner Kris Wood.

If you want a slightly fancier, not-plastic option for your pour-over coffee maker, try this copper one, also made by the Japanese company Hario.

And dont forget the paper filters, no matter what type of Hario pour-over machine you gift.

If your coffee lover would prefer a filterless pour-over coffee maker, this one from Grosche is handsome enough to leave on any kitchen counter.

This pour-over brewer that doesnt use paper filters is ideal for the coffee lover who constantly complains about the quality of their office brew. According to writer Caitlin M. OShaughnessy, My deskside coffee tastes identical to what I buy when I stop at the cafe on the way to work  smooth and rich, without any bitterness.

The Technivorm Moccamaster is the best coffee maker for people who want to drink professional-grade drip coffee. One hyperenthusiastic Amazon reviewer raved, It took my coffee and added more layers to the flavors, much like a good wine might have. On a practical side, its also ridiculously fast at brewing. Ideal in the morning when you want to crank it out and get on with the day.

Coffee Mugs and Thermoses

Our dear friend and coffee roaster Cesar Vega, from Cafe Integral, created these bowls for his cafe on Elizabeth Street in Nolita. Theyre a dream to drink your morning (or afternoon) coffee from. Combining the comforting feeling of drinking from a bowl, but with the practicality of drinking from a cup. And as each one is handcrafted, theyre a beautiful piece of art to sit on your shelves as well.  Russell and Roberts

This travel-mug-slash-brewer is a great gift for a coffee lover on the go, and unlike other travel French presses, this one doesnt have an unsightly plunger that gives it away. Plus, since youre brewing and drinking coffee from the same vessel, youre saving on the amount of gear you need to wash.

This stylish glass bottle has a built-in infuser basket, perfect for making cold-brew overnight and then taking it on the go.

The best travel thermos for keeping coffee hot is the Zojirushi, which a coffee lover will appreciate after putting so much effort into making their brew. (It should be noted, however, that this thermos is also good at keeping cold coffee cold.)

Other Coffee Gifts

A case of Pure Black is a great gift for anyone who loves coffee. Its balanced and smooth, making it a great cold coffee you can dress up in so many ways.  Iberti

For a couple of friends who own record players and are heading up to Portland, Maine, this spring and need a reason to stop at a great cafe: the Tandem Coffee vinyl and coffee subscription.  James Freeman, chief product officer and founder, Blue Bottle Coffee

As the owner of a growing coffee business, Im always trying to think of ways to stay ahead of the curve, and I find inspiration all around me. Its silly for me to think that I can remember everything, so everywhere I go, I always bring a trusty durable notebook. Moleskine has been my go-to and I have my fair share of filled notebooks on my shelf.  Jeremy Lyman, co-founder and co-owner, Birch Coffee

Made with coffee grounds, sunflower oil, and safflower oil, the scrub smooths rough winter skin, writes Ashley Weatherford about this body scrub. And it smells like coffee, too, making it a perfect wake-up call on frosty mornings.

Slate has relationships with various online retailers. If you buy something through our links, Slate may earn an affiliate commission. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. All prices were up to date at the time of publication.A Missouri judge ordered a 29-year-old man to watch the movie Bambi once a month during his year behind bars, authorities announced on Monday. David Berry Jr. had pleaded guilty to the illegal taking of deer in what the Missouri Department of Conservation is calling one of the states largest-ever poaching investigations. Berry is also serving a 120-day sentence for violating his felony firearms probation.

Prosecutors say that Berry, his brothers, and their father were part of a group that illegally killed hundreds of deer over a three-year period. In some cases, the group allegedly took the heads of the deer and let their bodies decay. After Berrys guilty plea, County Judge Robert E. Greene ordered him to watch the 1942 Disney film Bambi, a cartoon in which hunters kill the titular fawns mother, on a monthly basis. Are unconventional punishments like this legal?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Its a gray area. Judges have been handing down gimmicky punishments, typically meant to shame offenders, for decades. In 2003, a judge in Kentucky gave an abusive father the choice between spending 30 nights in jail or sleeping in a doghouse, as he allegedly forced his 11-year-old stepson to do. The next year, a judge in Georgia instructed a man to buy a casket and keep it in his home as a constant reminder of the consequences of drug addiction. Judge Michael Cicconetti of Ohio has gained a reputation for doling out unconventional punishments, ordering offenders to complete tasks like shoveling manure, wishing mothers Happy Mothers Day at a church, and visiting a morgue to look at the corpses.

Advertisement

Legal advocates have long argued that these creative sentences violate the Eighth Amendments prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Lawyers for a man named Shawn Gementera, who was made to wear a sign reading, I Stole Mail. This Is My Punishment outside a post office, asked the Supreme Court to find the practice unconstitutional in 2005. However, the justices declined to take up the case. The court has generally limited the scope of the Eighth Amendment and the types of punishments it covers. Federal appeals courts have also upheld unusual punishments, and its defenders claim that shame has long been a part of the justice system and that no corporal cruelty is involved.

Advertisement

The fact that these punishments may escape constitutional sanctions does not mean that they are appropriate for judges to impose, says Jonathan Turley, professor of public interest law at George Washington University. It plays to an inclination of some judges to act like little Caesars.  It really runs against the grain of a system based on the rule of law. Turley points out that the vast majority of judges in the U.S. do not take such a sensational approach to sentencing and are often appalled at prospect.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Most judges who mete out these sorts of punishments are elected state officials. The unusual sentences help to raise their public profiles and endear themselves to a segment of the voting population that is enthralled by these zany judicial stunts. Turley surmises that the Bambi punishment in Missouri was very likely tailored to public relations rather than a sincere effort to reform the offender. The judge cannot possibly believe that watching Bambi is going to produce an epiphany in this mans life, says Turley. That leaves two possibilities: that the judge is trying to make a mockery of the defendant or is simply trying use the defendant for a type of public joke.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Its unlikely that the Supreme Court or lower federal courts will be the ones to put a stop to these punishments. Instead, Turley says, state bar associations and people in legal professions should be actively discouraging this behavior on the part of judges. Lawyers in places like Missouri need to bring charges against these judges. The state judges as a whole need to make clear statements against the use of these types of creative or shaming punishments, he says. The failure to do that is almost as shocking as these sentences.

Advertisement

Advertisement

June Tangney, professor of psychology at George Mason University, agrees that shaming punishments are not likely to reform offenders. Our research says that shame in general does not inhibit re-offense, whether its criminals or fifth-graders, Tangney said, adding that the Missouri case seems particularly humiliating and disrespectful.

Tangney, who has been researching restorative justice and the psychology of rehabilitation for about 30 years, claims that shame often angers offenders and causes them to blame other people for their situation instead of accepting responsibility. People blame outwards: That stupid judge, the stupid laws, my brother-in-law who got me involved in this,  Tangney said. There is also little evidence that shame punishments have a deterrent effect on other potential offenders since it is difficult to conduct studies on actions people didnt take.

According to Tangney, punishments that instill guilt and truly encourage convicts to think about their own actions are more productive than those intended to humiliate them. She does think that theres a possibility of devising creative sentences that are truly effective, which would involve legitimate community service tied to the crime, such as helping out at the scene of car accidents if youre convicted for drunk driving.CBS announced Monday it will not pay former CEO Leslie Moonves any of the $120 million severance package included in his contract after he was forced out in September amid allegations of sexual assault and harassment. The network launched an investigation into the allegations about Moonves conduct and the broader culture at CBS and determined that the longtime chief executive will be fired for cause after he misled the company about multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and tried to hide evidence as he made a frenzied attempt to save his legacy and reap a lucrative severance, the New York Times reports.

Advertisement

The possibility that Moonveswhose conduct looked worse by the daywould receive a golden parachute on the way out of CBS caused outrage. The two law firms hired by CBS to conduct the investigation interviewed 11 of the 17 women who had accused Moonves of misconduct and determined their accounts to be credible. Moonves, through his lawyer, has denied having nonconsensual sexual relationships and said he had cooperated fully with the investigation.

The CBS board met last week to discuss the findings from the investigation and decided there was sufficient evidence to withhold Moonves exit payment. We have determined that there are grounds to terminate for cause, including his willful and material misfeasance, violation of company policies and breach of his employment contract, as well as his willful failure to cooperate fully with the companys investigation, the CBS board said in a statement on Monday.On Sunday, President Trump tweeted that he would be reviewing the case of a U.S. Military hero  charged with murder.

It is a bizarre case: a decorated Green Beret confessed to killing an Afghan man, was investigated but not charged with a crime, confessed again three years later in a Fox News interview, was charged with premeditated murder, and now, thanks to the attention of Fox & Friends, the presidents favorite television program, may become the latest cause to be championed by Donald Trump and his conservative supporters.

Advertisement

At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a U.S. Military hero, Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder. He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a Terrorist bomb maker while overseas. @PeteHegseth @FoxNews  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 16, 2018

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Trumps meddling would only make Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyns case stranger. Its highly unusual for a president to intervene so openly in a matter of the military courts, and as the New York Times noted, the comment has some Afghans and human rights advocates worried that any unjustified violence by U.S. soldiers will go unscrutinized and unpunished. Others fretted that it symbolized Trumps disregard for separation of powers and the integrity of the military justice system.

Advertisement

Advertisement

But most people have simply been confused: This strange case of alleged murder, while notable, didnt rise to the top of the news cycle until Trump watched Fox and tweeted about it. For those who missed the story, heres what you need to know about Golsteyns case.

What do we know about Golsteyn?

Golsteyn, a former Green Beret, was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 during a heavy period of fighting. He is alleged to have murdered a suspected Taliban bomb-maker after two Marines working with Golsteyns team were killed by a roadside bomb in February of that year.

We know about these allegations because Golsteyn himself admitted to them in a 2011 polygraph test as part of a CIA job interview. The confession triggered an Army investigation, but because of a lack of evidence, it did not result in any charges when it closed in 2014. (He was stripped of his Silver Star, the nations third-highest award for valor, according to the Army Times.) Golsteyn would have then been safe from any future charges, but in late 2016, he appeared in an interview on Fox News and again confirmed that he had killed the Afghan man. The Army then opened a second investigation, which concluded there was enough evidence to charged him with premeditated murder.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

What do we know about the killing?

Most details come from Army documents from the first investigation, which was conducted in 2011. According to the documents, Golsteyn told the CIA that after the explosion that killed two Marines (an incident he was present for), he and his team found explosive materials in a home nearby. They seized a local manidentified as a male of apparent Afghan descent known as Rasoul, according to NBC Newswho they believed to have possessed the materials and took him back to their base. Afterward they had a tribal leader identify Rasoul as a member of the Taliban. The tribal leader told the Americans that he was afraid that if Rasoul were released, he would report him to the Taliban, almost guaranteeing his death.

Advertisement

Advertisement

When, later that day, Rasoul was set to be released (the reason for this isnt known, but it could be because of lack of evidence) Golsteyn, too, became worried that the man would report the tribal leader, he told the CIA. He also said he was concerned the Afghan man would kill American soldiers.

Golsteyn and another American soldier then took Rasoul to his home, but instead of releasing him, they shot him and buried his body in a shallow grave. Later that night, he and two other soldiers dug up the body and burned it in a trash pit on the base.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Why was he charged the second time but not the first?

Its possible that new evidence has turned up in the case. NBC reported that one source said new evidence has cast doubt on Golsteyns version of events.

Advertisement

What is Golsteyn saying now?

His lawyer has argued that the Army files do not accurately reflect what he told the CIA. He has said in the past that it was a fantasy that Golsteyn confessed to shooting an unarmed man, according to the Army Times. According to NBC, Golsteyn also quibbled that the Army documents quote him as saying he assassinated the Afghan man, when he did not. He told NBC that the assassination line was cut and pasted into every subsequent report and used to justify his punishment in 2014.

Advertisement

Setting aside disagreements over facts in the case, Golsteyn maintains he did nothing wrong in killing the man, NBC reported. Hes not alone: California Rep. Duncan Hunter, who in an unrelated matter has been indicted on federal charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, falsification of records, and misuse of campaign funds, attacked the Army investigation as retaliatory and vindictive, according to the Army Times, and called for Army leaders to fix this stupidity.

Advertisement

Advertisement

What happens if Trump intervenes?

The president has the ability to pardon Golsteyn upon his conviction, or even before the case makes its way through the court system.

But any other intervention before the sentencing could count as unlawful command influence, given Trumps position as the commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces. That could mean the case against Golsteyn is thrown out, according to the Associated Press.

One Defense Department official told the New York Times that it is assumed the case will continue, but the presidents tweet has put the military in an unusual position.

Is there any precedent for Trumps tweet?

Not much. As the New York Times pointed out, President Nixon tried to intervene in the case of William L. Calley Jr., who was convicted of killing 22 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai massacre.

Trump, as a candidate, went the other way in the case involving Bowe Bergdahl, who he called a dirty rotten traitor who deserved to be shot. When Bergdahl was dishonorably discharged but not given any jail time, Trump tweeted that the sentence was a complete and total disgrace.

Other recent presidents have refrained from intervening in military trials.Martha McSally is heading to the U.S. Senate after all. The Arizona Republican, who lost a contentious Senate election in November, was tapped on Tuesday by GOP Gov. Doug Ducey to serve the next two years in the late Sen. John McCains final six-year term. She will replace Sen. Jon Kyl, whom Ducy appointed as a temporary fill-in for McCain earlier this year but who made it clear from the start that he was unlikely to stick around beyond the end of this year.

Advertisement

McSally is getting a free pass to the Senate, but shell have her work cut out to stay there: Shell need to win a 2020 special election to remain in the upper chamber for the final two years of McCains term, and then would need to win a regular election in 2022 to earn a full, six-year term of her own. Neither of those achievements is a given after she lost to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema this fall in a battleground race that both parties made a top priority. It was the first time a Republican lost a U.S. Senate race in the state since 1988, and the seat was one of just two nationwide that flipped from red to blue in the 2018 midterms.*

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

McSallys prospects for appointment appeared to dim in recent days. Ducey was reportedly unhappy that her campaign tried to pin the blame for her midterm loss on external factors beyond her control, and some of McCains family publicly voiced their opposition to her appointment. However, this appeared to be Duceys fallback plan all along. Here, for instance, is what I wrote when the GOP governor unexpectedly tapped Kyl three months ago:

By appointing the 76-year-old Kyl, a known quantity from his nearly two decades in the Senate and someone who is currently shepherding Brett Kavanaugh through his confirmation process, Ducey has given Mitch McConnell a reliable yes vote (more reliable than McCains) at a time when Republicans hold a narrow one-seat edge in the upper chamber. And then if and when Republicans finish jamming Kavanaughs confirmation through the Senate, Kyl can return to his high-paying gig at Covington & Burling, the D.C. law firm he joined in 2013 after leaving the Senate the last time, and Ducey can replace him with whomever the GOP establishment thinks has the best chance of holding the seat in 2020possibly U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, if shes defeated this November in her bid for Arizonas other Senate seat.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

(Kyl is expected to return to the private sector, though he has not said, exactly, where hell be working this time around.)

McSally has been a longtime favorite of Mitch McConnells, who along with the GOP establishment helped propel her to victory in her three-way primary earlier this year against a pair of conservative firebrands: Kelli Ward, who tried to troll her way to the nomination, and Joe Arpaio, the disgraced former Maricopa County sheriff who would have served jail time if not for a Trump pardon.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Of course, terms like establishment and outsider are of limited value in Trumps GOP. McSally was elected to the House in 2014 as a relatively moderate Republican. She had shown willingness to compromise on things like immigration and originally kept her distance from Trump, criticizing him for his Access Hollywood boasts about sexual assault and refusing, to this day, to say whether she voted for him. But after entering the Senate race, McSally tacked hard to the right and happily embraced the president and his America First agenda. She also indulged in Trump-style tactics during the general election, at one point accusing Sinema of supporting underage prostitution and literal treason. Awkwardly, McSally will now serve alongside Sinema. Welcome to the Senate, you two!In late 2017, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn agreed to plead guilty to lying to the FBI about his phone calls with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 presidential transition period.

The obvious explanation for why Flynn lied is that he was trying to cover up the fact that he and other Trump officials, possibly including Trump himself, had undermined the Obama administrations imposition of economic sanctions against Russia while Obama was still in powera move that could have been part of a quid pro quo with the enemy state that had just helped Trump win the election. A rich vein of right-wing commentary, however, has since suggested that what really happened is that the FBI Deep State tricked and entrapped Flynn into a slight misstep of memory so that unscrupulous thugs like James Comey and Robert Mueller could blackmail him into denouncing our great president. Figures like Fox News talking head Jeanine Pirro and conspiracy enthusiast Jack Posobiec had even convinced themselves that federal Judge Emmet Sullivan might toss Flynns case out of court when he appeared for sentencing Tuesday morning:

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

When Flynn gets released on Tuesday pic.twitter.com/ng7hb7z2Am  Jack Posobiec  (@JackPosobiec) December 16, 2018

That theory took a hit when documents unsealed Monday indicated that Flynns lies to FBI agents were actually quite extensivethat he didnt just deny speaking to Kislyak about sanctions but in fact created an entire false cover story (which is apparently disproven by confidential phone intercepts and other documents) about not having known that sanctions were a pressing U.S.-Russia issue at all.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The theory took an even bigger hit Tuesday when Flynn appeared in court and Sullivan asked him and his lawyers directly about suggestions, made not just by right-wing pundits but by Flynns own lawyers in a request for sentencing leniency, that he had been mistreated by the FBI because its agents didnt instruct him to have a lawyer present for his interview or warn him that lying to federal investigators is a crime.

Sullivan now asks Flynn's attorney if he believes his client was entrapped by the FBI.



"No, your honor," says the lawyer.  Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Sullivan asks Flynn if he was aware that lying to the FBI was illegal.



"I was aware," Flynn says.



He is NOT taking Sullivan's offer to withdraw his guilty plea.  Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018

Advertisement

Advertisement

Sullivan asks Flynn if he wishes to challenge the circumstances under which he was interviewed.



Flynn says NO.  Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) December 18, 2018

Advertisement

Advertisement

Sullivan went on to note that Flynn has also admitted to lying about working as an unregistered agent of the Turkish government in 2016. Arguably, you sold your country out said the judge, who added that he felt disgust and disdain regarding Flynns lies to investigators.

So, it didnt go great for Flynn, to the extent that the judge offered him the chance to delay sentencing further in order to, essentially, continue earning brownie points by cooperating further in the federal investigation into Turkeys covert influence campaign. (Muellers team had actually suggested a sentence that didnt include jail time, but Sullivan didnt appear eager to be so lenient.) Flynn, after conferring with his lawyers, agreed to the delay; hes due in court again on March 13.Slates expanded voting rights coverage is made possible by the support of Slate Plus members and readers like you.

North Carolina Republicans are in trouble. On Nov. 6, voters elected Anita Earls, a civil rights attorney, to the state Supreme Court, cementing a 52 progressive majority. One week later, voting rights advocates filed a lawsuit in state court alleging that North Carolinas gerrymandered legislative districts run afoul of the state constitution. Because the case revolves around the North Carolina Constitution and does not even touch on federal law, Republican legislators would seem to be stuck in the state judiciary, hurtling toward Earls court. There is simply no federal question for federal judges to adjudicate.

Advertisement

The North Carolina GOP, however, has never let a legal principle stand in the way of its will to power. And so, on Friday, lawyers for the General Assemblywhich is dominated by Republicans thanks to the gerrymander in questionattempted to remove the case to federal court, which has no authority to hear it. This patently frivolous endeavor is not actual lawyering; it is a bald faced effort to run down the clock and prevent the North Carolina Supreme Court from ruling in time for the 2020 election. In effect, Republicans are trying to exploit the federal courts to preserve their own illicit gerrymander for as long as humanly possible.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

There is no real doubt that North Carolinas current legislative districts were carved up along partisan lines to favor the GOP. (Todays districts were redrawn in 2016 and 2017, after the Supreme Court ruled that both congressional and legislative maps were tainted by an illegal racial gerrymander.) Republican Rep. David Lewis, who oversaw the committee in charge of the maps, explained his redistricting philosophy this way: I think electing Republicans is better than electing Democrats. He hired the same partisan map-maker, Tom Hofeller, who admitted that he drew the earlier unconstitutional districts to ensure Republican majorities in the House and Senate. Lewis compelled the use of election data in drawing new legislative maps and shot down an amendment that wouldve barred the manipulation of districts to create partisan advantage. The result is a map that gives Republicans a significant advantage across the state.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The bad news is that the U.S. Supreme Court does not seem interested in taking on partisan gerrymandering, despite its likely illegality. The good news is that the North Carolina Supreme Court can take action now. Like many state constitutions, the North Carolina Constitution protects voting rights more robustly than the U.S. Constitution. Its Equal Protection Clause guarantees all citizens substantially equal voting power and the right to vote on equal terms. And its Election Clause commands that [a]ll elections shall be freethat is, not rigged by lawmakers to predetermine the outcome. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently ruled that a similar provision in its own state constitution outlawed partisan gerrymandering, explaining that a diluted vote is not an equal vote. It seems quite likely that the North Carolina Supreme Court, led by Earls, will reach the same conclusion after hearing this lawsuit.

Advertisement

Advertisement

GOP lawmakers are terrified of such a ruling, since it would threaten the legislative majority they entrenched by diluting Democratic votes. So after Common Cause and the North Carolina Democratic Party filed their lawsuit in November, the General Assemblywhich has given itself the power to defend its gerrymander in courtdid not defend its map on the merits. Instead, it filed a motion to remove the case to federal court. Federal judges are not typically permitted to hear cases that exclusively involve interpretation of state law. The General Assembly, however, argued that the plaintiffs are asking the state to violate the Voting Rights Act, the 14th Amendments Equal Protection Clause, and the 15th Amendments bar on race-based voting restrictions. It asserts that because the relief sought would infringe upon federal law, the federal judiciary may snatch the case out of state court.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

How, you might ask, would it be a violation of the central voting rights protections our nation has for a state to undo a partisan gerrymander that dilutes the votes of hundreds of thousands of voters? The claim is absurd for so many reasons that it is difficult to count them all. But its worth highlighting a few. Start with the General Assemblys own words earlier this year in a federal challenge to the very same legislative map (brought under the U.S. Constitution). In a bid to delay resolution, Republican legislators were then trying to remove the lawsuit from federal court to state court because that specific case tangentially implicated state law. A federal district court, is foreclosed from ruling on contested issues of state law, since an unsettled issue of state law  is more appropriately directed to North Carolina courts, the final arbiters of state law, GOP attorneys wrote at the time. It would be, they claimed, a revolution in federalism to let a federal court resolve this dispute.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Republicans profound opposition to federal courts hearing gerrymandering cases mysteriously disappeared after Earls election. Now they seem to believe that federal courts are the only proper venue for such cases, even when the legal issue at hand is an interpretation of the state constitution alone.

The claim is absurd for so many reasons that it is difficult to count them all.

It gets worse. Republicans now insist that they cannot redraw the legislative maps without violating the 14th or 15th Amendments. But these amendments would not be violated unless the legislature were to intentionally draw districts or dilute votes along racial lines. The General Assembly is essentially arguing that it is incapable of drawing new maps without actively discriminating against minorities. And it is suggesting that the North Carolina Supreme Court will also be unable to draw maps without engaging in racial discrimination. By this logic, the 14th and 15th Amendmentsratified to protect the rights of newly freed slaves after the Civil Warprevents state courts from protecting equal voting rights enshrined in a state constitution. Why? Because the legislators being challenged in state court intend to violate the 14th and 15th Amendments if they lose.

Advertisement

Advertisement

I am frankly unsure whether the legislatures lawyers actually understood the implications of this argument, because if they did, they would surely be too embarrassed to commit it to paper.

Advertisement

The coup de grace, though, is the General Assemblys assertion that a new map would infringe upon the Voting Rights Act. In short, GOP attorneys suggest that they drew the current map to comply with the VRA by preserving the power of minority votes, and that a new map would dilute that power. A strange argument on its own termsbut an outlandish one given that the General Assembly already told a federal court that it did not draw the current map to comply with the VRA. Seriously: In a 2017 filing, Republican attorneys declared that the Legislature did not consider race in drawing a new map because it did not conclude that the Voting Rights Act obligated it to.

Advertisement

Were these lawyers lying in 2017? Are they lying today? Either way, the Common Cause plaintiffs rightly argue that the General Assembly should be legally prohibited from making a claim that it flatly contradicted in court one year ago.

Its easy to see whats going on here. The General Assembly must know its arguments are meritless. It recognizes that, at some point, the North Carolina Supreme Court will probably invalidate its gerrymander. So it is trying to put off that decision for as long as possible by using the federal judiciary to gum up the works.

Republicans motion for removal has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan, a moderate George W. Bush appointee. She should reject it as quickly as possible. North Carolina voters deserve fair districts in 2020, and there is no legal impediment to the state Supreme Court creating them before the next election. The General Assemblys latest machinations are not sly or shrewd or clever. They are just pathetic.Nearly two years ago, counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway introduced the country to the notion of alternative facts. The coinagean Orwellian euphemism for lyingseemed to represent a new turning point in the wider breakdown in Americas shared understanding of the nations social and political realities: If some Americans believed traditional facts and others believed alternative facts, then where would that leave us collectively? There is no lack of contributing causes for this apparent divergence, from social media bubbles to diminishing trust in traditional sources of expertise to the growing alignment of political and social identities.

Advertisement

We worry, however, about the extent to which the representation of American society as deeply polarized can be self-fulfilling and self-defeating. Too often, we exaggerate the extent to which we are divided and discount the resources and contexts that connect us. Polarization is not just an observed fact but also a political agenda that needs to be resisted. Here, then, is some slight good news from Kentucky.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Bowling Green is a purple college town in red Warren County, which went 59 percent to 35 percent for Donald Trump in the 2016 election. (Coincidentally, Bowling Greens population is more than 10 percent Muslim, mostly because of Bosnian refugee resettlement in the 1990s). In February, we held an online town hall in the area using a tool called Polis, in which more than 2,000 people participated. The structure of a Polis conversation is simple: People make short statements via a kind of online messaging system and respond to the statements of others. They can agree, disagree, or pass. As the statements and responses accumulate, the results look like survey data. Unlike typical surveys, the shape of a Polis conversation is determined by the community. You dont know what youll get, but what you get reflects participant concerns.

Advertisement

Advertisement

We wanted to know what people thought might make living and working in Bowling Green better. We worked with the local newspaperthe Bowling Green Daily Newsto connect the discussion of community concerns to the work of local journalism, which plays an important role in representing those concerns. We worried that the conversation could be derailed in any number of waysby excessive polarization or incivility, by intentional misinformation campaigns, or simply by lack of interest in this sort of civic exercise. None of those things happened.

Advertisement

There were clearly divisive issues in the community, including immigration, the need for additional protection of LGBTQ rights, marijuana legalization, and minimum wage laws. The most divisive statement was about immigration, specifically whether a city should have the right to declare itself a sanctuary city. Overall, 31 percent agreed, 41 percent disagreed, and 27 percent passed.

Advertisement

Polis also sorts respondents into voting blocs thatin Bowling Greens caseloosely distinguished a liberal Group A from a slightly larger and more conservative Group B. In the sanctuary city case, Group A was strongly in favor of the statement, while Group B was even more strongly opposed. This is the shape of a polarizing issue.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Marijuana legalization followed a similar pattern:

But heres what surprised us: Across more than 600 statements, there were very few that generated such polarized responses. The overwhelming majority received strong consensus support. These covered a wide range of issues, including traffic problems, local development, cable and broadband services, jobs programs, and government accountability. The Polis representation of this consensus looks a bit like a beehive, with the large body of consensus statements on the left and the handful of divisive statements trailing off to the right.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The consensus issues had some notable similarities. All were subjects over which local government had some control. Most were subjects that appeared rarely in social or national media but regularly in local media. Some were literally pedestrianalmost nobody is happy with the traffic situation in Bowling Greenand the frequency with which traffic came up suggests that it shouldnt be underestimated as a political concern. Some statements revealed communication gaps between the community and local institutions, such as the lack of awareness of the local power utilitys exploration of residential broadband service. Still others reflected surprising alignments of opinion across the major political divides.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

There was also more alignment than might have been conventionally assumed on issues like opioid addiction, which a substantial majority of the population prefers to treat as a health issue rather than a criminal one.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Because all participants could add statements, rather than just vote on what was already in the system, the Polis conversation also teased out distinctions that might not be visible with traditional surveys. For instance, one of the most divisive statements involved a prospective fairness ordinance that would prevent businesses from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Given expected political breakdowns, the results were perhaps not that surprising. But a similar statement opposing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in general received support across group lines.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Taking a step back, the Bowling Green Polis raises the question of whether it matters if we think of ourselves as fundamentally divided or mostly in agreement about the range of issues we encounter in our daily lives. We think it might. The former invites confrontation and defensiveness, while the latter suggests a basis for dialogue about more challenging issues, such asin Bowling Greenthe difference between nondiscrimination as a matter of law and nondiscrimination as a matter of private morality, or the gradation of options around drug policy and sentencing.

Does an exercise like the Bowling Green Polis strengthen the sense of shared interests in ways that diminish partisan digging-in and enable progress on these issues? Again, we think it might. As social media displace local news organizations as primary information sources, residents of the same area have fewer ways of seeing themselves as communities, structured by commonalities as well as differences. Good local journalism has traditionally played this role, but local journalism is in deep trouble in America, facing challenges to its financial sustainability and pressure to move toward, not away from, reporting models that play to divisiveness.

As we try to step back from the edge of a major social and political crisis, we will need to find more ways to strengthen and sustain the connection between local journalism and communities. We will need to create more spaces for good dialogue, virtual and in-person, instead of putting our hopes in the willingness and wisdom of social media companies to exclude the bad.

The Bowling Green Polis left important questions unresolved. How can community opinion data play that representational role? How can the process of representing the community to itself be made more durable, repeatable, and inclusive? How can such conversations lead to solutions to the problems they identify? Were still working on that.

In the meantime, the Bowling Green Polis is an interesting experiment in depolarizationone that uses social media techniques to find common ground in a community, not just the real and imagined differences.

All charts courtesy of Polis.As the metaphorical noose tightens around Donald Trumps corporeal neck, he is turning to his ever more inevitable legal defense: I cant have broken the law because I dont actually understand the law. This isnt being advanced in a court of law; its a play for the court of truth and public opinion, and thats the only reason it could work.

The past two weeks have brought plenty of signs that legal accountability is closing in on Trump: Michael Cohen was sentenced. We learned the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York had entered into a nonprosecution agreement with American Media Inc., in which AMIowner of the National Enquireracknowledged that it deliberately engaged in catch and kill practices by purchasing the rights to a story from a woman about an extramarital relationship with Trump, in order to suppress the womans story so as to prevent it from influencing the election. At this moment, the Trump campaign, the inauguration committee, and the family businesses are all under investigation.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

And in response, on Thursday, the current president tweeted this:

I never directed Michael Cohen to break the law. He was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law. It is called advice of counsel, and a lawyer has great liability if a mistake is made. That is why they get paid.

The tweeting went on, but you get the gist: The president is apparently claiming that the extremely wealthy cannot form the requisite mental intent to commit campaign financerelated crimes, because they pay expensive lawyers who protect them from doing so. As my colleague Ben Mathis-Lilley immediately observed, its not the case that the president is off the hook because his lawyer knew about the crimes. We dont yet know what the president knew, but his arguments that he knew absolutely nothing grow more threadbare by the day. Smart lawyers are now making the case that it is no longer plausible that Trump did not knowingly and willingly participate in some of the campaign financerelated crimes to which Cohen has now pleaded guilty. As former federal prosecutor Mimi Rocah explained at some length on Amicus, you can be charged as part of conspiracy even if you didnt have meetings or phone calls with you co-conspirators, so long as you took action to forward the aims of the conspiracy. Each time the president tweets no collusion, he introduces language that deliberately distorts the actual crimes being investigated. Also, just because Trump doesnt understand federal conspiracy law doesnt make him innocent, as he continues to assert. Even Fox News senior legal analyst is clear about stating that these are potentially serious criminal allegations.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

We are rapidly arriving at the place where Trumps sole remaining defense will be that he isnt guilty because he just doesnt understand the law. As Elie Mystal pointed out more than a year ago, this appeared to be Trumps chief defense to charges of obstruction of justice, too:

Advertisement

Advertisement

What comes through here is, again, that Donald Trump doesnt know what obstruction of justice is. Take the red line thing. If you walk him through all of the elements of obstruction of justice, hell say yes to all of it. Yes, hed only hire people who promised to make Russia go away. Yes, hed fire people who investigate him or his family. Yes, he thinks Jeff Sessions, James Comey, Robert Mueller, and Rod Rosenstein were put on this Earth to help him avoid charges stemming from his own dealings. But if you asked him plainly, would you obstruct an investigation, hed say no. OBSTRUCTION, hes been told, is a big word that he should avoid at all costs.

Advertisement

Trump is now bending a version of this same defense around the big word collusion and the hush money claims. Hes essentially trying to argue that this is all not relevant to him, because the only way he could have known that these private transactions, as he calls them, were actually crimes is if his lawyers told him.

Advertisement

Advertisement

This is nonsense. One can commit criminal acts even if ones attorneys fail to warnplus, it remains to be seen whether Cohen advised Trump these payments were illegal. But to Trump, none of this sticks to him, its all Cohens fault. Hes again saying, Im not a details guy. I pay others to form my knowledge and intent. This isnt a new move; Paul Rosenzweig flagged this argument in 2017 when he noted how Trump defenders liked to suggest that there could be no obstruction because the president was acting like a corporate CEO and not the president, and that he simply did not know how the Executive Branch functioned. Rosenzweig thought that this might prove Trumps most effective defense. It may even be the case that the president can ride his Im-a-bonehead defense all the way through this inquiry. Again, this isnt a legal argument so much as a meta-claim about why law doesnt apply to him.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Watch for the pattern: The president is both too big and too small to be held to legal account. He is too busy and too important.

When Trump tweeted a bunch of crazy crap Sunday morning about Saturday Night Live and collusion, he was again signaling that he doesnt understand anything. When his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, went on the Sunday shows and said that Michael Cohens repeated lies matter more than Trumps because, er, the presidents not under oath. And the president tried to do the best he can to remember what happened back at a time when he was the busiest man in the world, he is again invoking the busy man defense, except now its to say that Donald Trump was not only confused about the law, but also about the facts, and also he only needs to be truthful under oath. And Giuliani helped nobody when he tried to explain that under the Law of Trump, the direction of payments to silence women was not a big crime because nobody got killed, nobody got robbed. That one was so bad that just two days later, Giuliani walked it all back. CORRECTION: I didnt say payments were not a big crime, he tweeted.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Watch for the pattern: The president is both too big and too small to be held to legal account. He is too busy and too important. But also, he doesnt understand, and he cannot recall. The crimes werent big. The presidentin this conceptionexists on some astral plane that courts, and facts, cannot touch. Its as if weve arrived at a point in the Mueller probe where all of federal law must be reduced to something a small child could color over a long car ride for Trump to be expected to understand it. This is a PR play that works only as long as we all accede to the central principle that this one man is aboveor belowthe law. That isnt something the courts, or Bob Mueller, or Rudy Giuliani can adjudicate. Its the thing well at some point have to determine for ourselves.A Yemeni woman trying to see her 2-year-old son in Oakland, California, once more before he is taken off life support has said the Trump administration is not allowing her into the country, no matter how desperate her pleas, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday.

The boys father, Ali Hassan, a 22-year-old U.S. citizen who lives in Stockton, told the Chronicle that he brought their son, Abdullah, to the UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland five months ago for care. Abdullah, who was born in Yemen, has a rare brain disease that quickly accelerated until he was soon unable to breathe on his own. He is not expected to live much longer.

Advertisement

His mother, Shaima Swileh, a Yemeni citizen currently living in Egypt, has petitioned the State Department for a waiver to get a visa. The Council on American-Islamic Relations told the Chronicle it had filed a formal letter with the State Department and with the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to request the government expedite her request for a waiver. Hassan told the Chronicle he has been reaching out to the the State Department for updates regularly for a year, with no progress to show for it.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

According to the Chronicle, Hassan met his wife in Yemen and lived with her and their son for about six months before returning to California, where he had lived since he was a child. They planned to have Swileh and their son follow eventually, but as Abdullahs health deteriorated, Swileh moved to Cairo, and Hassan met them there in 2017 to obtain a passport for their baby. They quickly secured a passport for Abdullah, but Swilehs visa application was denied under the travel ban. Unable to wait any longer to get medical help for their son, Hassan flew back to the U.S. with Abdullah, and they waited for Swilehs waiver to be accepted.

The Trump travel ban, in its current form, forbids travel to the U.S. by citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, as well as North Korea and Venezuela. Citizens of those countries can request waivers, but approval is rare.

According to the Chronicle, Abdullah is unconscious and will never wake up again. Swileh is still urgently trying to get to the U.S. just to hold him once more before he dies.This piece was originally published on Just Security, an online forum for analysis of U.S. national security law and policy.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has just released two new reports on Russian disinformation, revealing in unusually rich detail the scope of Russias interference not only in the 2016 U.S. presidential election but also in our day-to-day democratic dialogue since. One report was prepared by New Knowledge and the other by the University of Oxford and Graphika. Each reports specific findings are well worth close study by anyone concerned with foreign interference in U.S. elections and our broader democratic processes; so is an excellent summary offered by New Knowledges co-founder Renee DiResta. (Full disclosure: Renee and I both serve on the editorial board of Protego Press.)

Advertisement

But the most extraordinary aspect of these vital new reports transcends any particular finding. Its the institutional origins of these reports. It took a congressional committee commissioning reports from outside entities (private and academic) to produce, almost two full years into the Trump presidency, the fullest public accounting the American public has received of the serious new threat our democracy faces. Thats downright remarkable.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Its also inexcusable insofar as the executive branch is concerned. At the most basic level, the American people deserve to know what happened in the 2016 election, whats been happening since, and what the new threats are that were facing. Whats more, the spread of disinformation is the rare type of national security threat for which informing the public actually can diminish the threat: If Americans know what to look out for online and what not to accept at face value on social media, the power of disinformation deliberately spread by hostile actors is reduced. (Theres some comparison to be made here to terrorism, whose second-order effects can be mitigated by public education and cultivated resilience. But the comparison is imperfect, as theres still a direct lethality to acts of terrorism.) In France, schools are teaching students how to spot disinformation on social media. But, here in the United States, the president periodically refuses even to acknowledge the threat. Indeed, he often aggravates the threat, by amplifying and disseminating disinformation, but thats not my focus here. Rather, as we sift through these reports extensive findings, we must remind ourselves that were now set to enter the third year of flat-footedness on the part of this administration when it comes to addressing disinformation spread by foreign adversaries. In that sense, the very issuance of these reports and the novelty of what they still reveal serve as an indictment of the White Houses persistent inaction. And, while its not clear whether technology companies would share with the executive branch exactly the same data provided to Congress for purposes of producing these reports, surely the executive branch could produce something comprehensive and informative based on the data to which it does (or could) have access.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The Trump administrations shortcoming on this issue is no mere oversight on the presidents part, of course. Trump seems to have made clear to those around him that even acknowledging the threat posed by foreign election interference is unacceptable, lest doing so calls into question the validity of Trumps own victory in 2016. A few months ago, National Security Adviser John Bolton claimed that the president has taken command of this issue, but weve seen precious little from Trumps executive branch to substantiate that before or after.

That sin of omission makes it all the more important that the Senate Intelligence Committee has taken a bipartisan approach to investigating this particular set of issues and now has provided all of us with these two compelling, if disturbing, new reports. When a president refuses to protect and defend our nation from a new type of national security threat, others must. The new reports make for astonishing readingbut, at the end of the day, whats most astonishing of all is that we havent seen this before from our own executive branch.

More From Just Security:

Why It Doesnt Matter Whether Itd Be Constitutional to Indict Trump

The Senate Strikes Back: Checking Trumps Foreign Policy

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.Robert Gilpin, R.I.P. - The Washington Post : His greatest book was written in 1981, but the main theory in it is perhaps more trenchant now...The increasing number of countries dealing with the health treatment of migrants and refugees, according to Jozef Bartovic from WHO Regional Office for Europe.

News: Receive favorite authors articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

Migrants and refugees import dangerous, exotic, and previously unseen diseases, people tend to believe. Fake news websites do not hesitate to reinforce the myth, but the fact is that it is more often regular travellers, tourists or health care workers who bring unwanted souvenirs from their trips, according to Jozef Bartovic from the WHO Regional Office for Europe.

Read also:

Read also: Migrants face problems when it comes to health care. Mainly myths Read more

In this interview, Jozef Bartovic talks about:

-What health problems migrants and refugees face

-The most common myths about migration-related health risks and how WHO dispels them

-What countries can do to change and improve their approach towards the medical treatment of migrants

The Slovak Spectator (TSS): What is the general approach of countries towards the medical care of migrants? Do they consider this area important?

Jozef Bartovic (JB): Since the adoption of the European Strategy and Action Plan, more and more countries are working in this area. The adoption of the strategy as well the demographic patterns and trends in population movements have definitely been an impetus for action and countries are starting to understand that it is common sense to address the health needs of refugees and migrants. It is important to protect the health of this population group as well as the public health in host countries.After last year's scandal over EU funding for R&D centres, the ministry may still end up paying millions to dubious firms.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

A company makes minimum revenue and lacks research experience, but still gets millions of euros to build up an R&D centre. In a nutshell, this is how the scandal revolving around EU funding arose in the summer of 2017, causing ex-education minister Peter Plavcan to resign.

As soon as he stepped down, new Education Minister Martina Lubyova of the Slovak National Party (SNS) pledged to do everything she could to fix his misconduct.

The police even initiated criminal proceedings for dubious allocation of money from EU structural funds, but they have not yet been concluded. No one has been charged, either.

Veronika Remisova, MP for Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLaNO), recently pointed to the fact that the Education Ministry has still failed to distribute the EU money for research and innovation.

"Taking into account information from the Finance Ministry and our estimates, Slovakia will lose up to 100 million," said Remisova.

The reason is because Slovakia draws money from the European Union slowly.

Every year, Slovakia should draw a given amount. In 2018, we were to spend 238 million, but we have managed to use only 138 million.

Precitajte si tiez:

Precitajte si tiez: What is the Plavcan scandal all about? Read more

Contracts are still valid

Last year's 600 million scandal concerned two calls for tenders that the Education Ministry published.Tesco, Kaufland, and Lidl will pay the levy as of January 2019.

A special levy on retailers comes into force in January 2019. (Source: TASR)

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

Big international retail chains will have to pay tens of millions of euros to the state budget. As a result, people may spend more on food at supermarkets from January.

Slovak National Party (SNS) Chairman Andrej Danko criticised retailers for the few Slovak products on their offer and high profit margins. At its December session, the parliament adopted a special levy of 2.5 percent on retailers' net sales. Analysts believe an increase in food prices may follow.

The new rules are not as strict as expected. The initial SNS-authored draft bill was supposed to affect up to 90 percent of retailers in Slovakia.

The list of the retailers who are to pay the new tax was shortened after several MPs implemented several amending proposals into the final law. Smaller retail stores as well as big retail stores in poorer regions have dropped out of the list.

Here are the answers to seven questions people are asking about the levy and its impact on their lives.Tips for the top 10 events in the capital between December 20 and December 30, plus regular services in different languages, training, temporary exhibitions and highlights of the year.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

These tips are prepared in cooperation with Eventland. Download the app and see what's going on around you wherever you are ( Android , iOS ).

Top 10

MARKET: Christmas markets at Fresh market

CONCERT: Christmas and New Year's Concerts at the Slovak Philharmonic

CONCERT: Beatles stars

GALA NIGHT: Talk double Dutch

CHILDREN: Christmas party at Kids Point

PARTY: Glitterball

PARTY: X-mas DnB show

MARKET: Grand bazaar - Christmas edition

RUN: Christmas run

PARTY: Indie Hits Xmas Special

Religious Services for non-Slovak speakers

Galleries in Bratislava: Temporary exhibitions

Training in English

Highlights of the year (selection of events for which it's advisable to obtain tickets early)

TOP 10

Christmas market at Fresh Market

Fresh Market, Roznavska 1A, Bratislava, until Saturday, December 22, 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Enjoy Christmas markets at Freshmarket, where you can also do Christmas shopping. There will be fish, trees, decorations, cabbage, honey and other raw materials for your Christmas table. And you can look forward to traditional snacks.

Christmas and New Year's Concerts at the Slovak Philharmonic



Reduta, Bratislava, on Monday December 31, 16:00 and Tuesday January 1, 19:00

Festive concerts of the Slovak Philharmonic will culminate on New Year's Eve. Members of the Slovak Philharmonic will be under the baton of Leos Svarovsky.

More info: SlovakPhilharmonicBA

Slovak Philharmonic, Reduta. (Source: Courtesy of SF)

Beatles stars

ROCK CAFE M.Sch. Trnavskeho 2/C, December 21, 2018, 20:00, admission: 15-20

Fantastic THE BACKWARDS and their Christmas show BEATLES STARS are again at Rock Cafe! So do not hesitate and come enjoy the biggest hits of the legendary Beatles band, performed by their best Slovak revival.

video //www.youtube.com/embed/N76mXU1RLqk

Talk double Dutch

Teatro Wustenrot, Trnavske myto 1, Dec 20, 2018, 18:30 - 21:00, admission 20-25

The folk ensemble Zivel invites you to a gala evening - 5 years in Zivel. The event is the culmination of the Talk double Dutch project, which was realized by the Folk ensemble Zivel in 2018 on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of its founding.

video //www.youtube.com/embed/CvZukla7tvs

Christmas party at Kids Point

Kids Point, Stromova 54, December 21, 2018, 17:00 - 19:00, admission 9

What would the end of the year be if we did not arrange a traditional Christmas party with live carp? Who will also take a scaly friend home, as well as beautiful decorations and good moods? We are curious! We also have to unpack some new toys from Santa at Kids Point so we look forward to all the Christmas helpers!

Glitterball

UHU Club, Safarikovo namestie 7, Bratislava, December 21, 2018, 20:00, admission: 10

Two floors full of club classics & pure house music With Star DJs from around the globe... Come and spend an unforgettable time!

More info on Facebook.

X-mas DnB show

Majestic Music Club Karpatska 2, December 22, 2018, 20:00, admission: 18

Special Christmas gifts in the form of quality foreign headliners. Even the Christmas tree cannot stand still! Come and enjoy a great Christmas experience.

Grand bazaar - Christmas edition

Stara trznica, Namestie SNP, Bratislava, December 22, 2018, 9:00 - 15:00

Last minute Christmas gifts? Not a problem! We are preparing a special Christmas edition of Grand Bazaar on the Saturday before Christmas Eve. This is the place to look for something original that you can not find in stores. Antiques, vintage and retro - all this is offered by the Old Market Hall along with food market and children theater.

Christmas run

Botanicka 11, Karlova Ves, December 24, 2018, 9:30, admission: 0-10

It is again Christmas time, time for our 8th annual Bratislava Christmas Run. More information on Facebook.

Christmas run 2017 (Source: TASR)

Indie Hits Xmas Special

Subclub, Nabrezie armadneho generala Ludvika Svobodu, Bratislava, December 25, 22:00, admission: 5

A Classic Xmass Special Alternative & Indie Music Night @ Subclub Bratislava. Come and celebrate the Christmas time in indie style.

More info on Facebook.

The Subclub (Source: Sme - Gabriel Kuchta)

TRAINING: Pilates in English; Starts: Every Monday evening, 20:30

TRAINING: Yoga in English on Thursdays; Starts: Every Thursday, 18:30

TRAINING: Yoga in English at Indian Embassy; Starts: Monday to Friday, 11:00, 16:00, 18:00

TRAINING: Pilates in English The class is in English, suitable for men and women, beginners and advanced, Slovaks and foreigners. The venue is equipped with Pilates requisites, a shower and a kitchen. (you do not need to bring a mat). Andreas classes are a mix of Pilates exercises for a strong core and and flexible body, as well as yoga exercises for stretching stiff muscles caused by a sedentary lifestyle. Her classes end with the all-important relaxation of body and mind. She also uses highly qualitative essential oils (doTerra) during the class. Refreshments, tea, fruit are included in the price. Starts: Every Monday evening, 20:30; Open Mind centrum, Mickiewiczova 2. Admission: 8 (one-time charge). More info: www.internationals.sk.

TRAINING: Yoga in English on Thursdays - You need to make reservation via yoga@internationals.sk. This is a beginners & intermediate class and you do not need any pre-knowledge. We will practice Dynamic Flow yoga. Take a look at one of our sessions: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalsBratislava/videos/1604953649521444/ Tea, water, fruit, showers are available to use for free. In these classes we will perform exercises that make us stronger, more flexible, obtain balance and have fun while doing it. Starts: Thursday 18:30; Open Mind Centrum, Mickiewiczova 2. Admission: 8 (one-time charge) or 59 for a 10 session ticket you can use within 12 weeks. More info: www.internationals.sk.

TRAINING: Yoga in English at Indian Embassy - The Embassy of India in Bratislava is happy to announce the commencement of Yoga classes. The classes will be conducted by Ms. Jaiwanti, Yoga Teacher. The classes will cover Asanas, Pranayama, Meditation and Relaxation techniques. People interested in joining the Yoga Classes are requested to fill in the attached Registration Form. The Registration Form may then be sent to email: eindia.iccr@mail.telekom.sk. For any clarification/further information, you may contact Ms. Jaiwanti at Tel: +421-2-5296 2916/7/8 or email: eindia.iccr@mail.telekom.sk. Admission is free. Starts: Monday to Friday, 11:00, 16:00, 18:00, Dunajska 4, Bratislava. More info: www.indianembassy.sk

SLOVAK NATIONAL GALLERY

The eights; Open: Tue  Wed 10:00  18:00, Thur 12:00  20:00, Fri  Sun 10:00  18:00 until Dec 31, 2018

Useful Photography. Photography in Contemporary Slovak Art; Open: Tue  Wed 10:00  18:00, Thur 12:00  20:00, Fri  Sun 10:00  18:00 until Feb 17, 2019

DANUBIANA

Adam Szentpetery: Geo Codes; Open: Tue  Sun 10:00  18:00 until January 13

Milan Lukac: Paintings and Sculptures; Open: Tue  Sun 10:00  18:00 until January 13

Peter Roller: Messages; Open: Tue  Sun 10:00  18:00 until January 13

Karol Kallay: Unforgettables; Open: Tue  Sun 10:00  18:00 until January 13

KROKUS GALLERY

Erik Sille: Black Melon; Open: Wed-Sat 14:00  18:00 until December 21

TEMPORARY EXHIBITION IN SLOVAK NATIONAL GALLERY:

The Eights - The exhibition project The Eights is unconventionally conceived for the atrium as a series of small exhibitions for the anniversaries of the eights: February 1948, August 1968 and October 1918. The basis of the exhibition is a long, 3-meter high wall - "gallery noticeboard" - on which visual collages will be rotated according to the anniversaries. The results will be a draft or materialised Pinterest board, a reminder of socialist "noticeboard culture". The collages will consist of artistic materials of various types (paintings, photographs, documents), primarily from the collections of the SNG. The final layout, the conflict of the artworks next to each other, and their juxtaposition will speak about the nature of the historical event. Open: Tue  Wed 10:00  18:00, Thur 12:00  20:00, Fri  Sun 10:00  18:00 until Dec 31, 2018. More info: www.sng.sk

Useful Photography. Photography in Contemporary Slovak Art  This exhibition will not present photography as a useful, fast recording medium, "a document of the period", or as an instrument of digital manipulation, but as a tool that is suitable for a wide range of use in contemporary art. In their response to the era of digital technology, artists use the photo medium much more freely but in a more sophisticated way. Appropriated documented reality is constructed, arranged, staged anew, but with the use of purely photographic methods and classical approaches. The collection will focus on events in the past 10 to 15 years, examples of artistic techniques and strategies within the wide spectrum of possibilities of this medium. It will also take into consideration a relatively new phenomenon - the impact of foreign training and long-term stays on the work of Slovak artists. Open: Tue  Wed 10:00  18:00, Thur 12:00  20:00, Fri  Sun 10:00  18:00 until Feb 17, 2019. More info: www.sng.sk.

TEMPORARY EXHIBITION IN DANUBIANA

Adam Szentpetery: Geo Codes - This individual exhibition of prominent Slovak artist Adam Szentpetery features a retrospective view of his painting career in the visual language of geometry. Line, colour and plane are the basic building blocks of his visual system. Over the course of four decades Szentpetery has created a monolithic painting program in the field of geometric abstraction which is the essence of mental contraction, rational practices and protestant economy of form. The exhibition presents basic themes and series of works, but without any linear sequence. On the contrary, they run parallel to each other or emerge in a later period in a transformed shape. Open: Tue  Sun 10:00  18:00 until January 13, Vodne dielo Cunovo. More info: www.danubiana.sk.

Milan Lukac: Paintings and Sculptures - Sculptor Milan Lukac is one of the most well-known artists in Slovakia and his name resonates in a wider European context, particularly in France and Austria. Thanks to the universal language of his paintings and sculptures he can address a broad audience as his work conveys a convincing testimony of the state of the world in its endless forms and shapes. Sometimes it has an eminently intellectual and even philosophical charge with distinctive human overtones; at other times it interprets the fragility of interpersonal relations, but frequently it casts a lighter view of the endless realm of nature, its mysteries and its metamorphosis. Open: Tue  Sun 10:00  18:00 until January 13, Vodne dielo Cunovo. More info: www.danubiana.sk.

Peter Roller: Messages - Peter Roller is an inventive Slovak sculptor who has mastered space, form and material itself. Since entering the art world in the 1970s, he has created a special associative and metaphoric language of sculpture. He equally enjoys working with stone, wood and metal. Light has played important role in his work from the very beginning. For Roller, the material shaping of sculptures and objects is a philosophical utterance whose outer expression is dependent on the inner construction. The light of the environment, which turns the sculptures surface into shadows, emphasizes and complements the quality of the form by its various intensity. Open: Tue  Sun 10:00  18:00 until January 13, Vodne dielo Cunovo. More info: www.danubiana.sk.

Karol Kallay: Unforgettables - Karol Kallay entered the world of Slovak photography in his own way. In 1942, at the age of sixteen, he won his first award (gold medal for first place) for his photograph entitled Asfalteri / Asphalters at a national competition. In 1950, he definitely decided to devote his life to photography, and he began to work as a freelance photographer and travel the world. In the mid-1950s he brought motion to fashion photography by taking models outside and away from photo studios and breathing life into his shots. His work was well received in Germany and France; he even received an offer for cooperation from Moscow. Open: Tue  Sun 10:00  18:00 until January 13, Vodne dielo Cunovo. More info: www.danubiana.sk.

TEMPORARY EXHIBITION IN KROKUS GALLERY

Erik Sille: Black Melon - Erik Sille (1978), painter and graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, has been nominated for the Tatra Banka Art Award 2018 for his solo show error at Kunsthalle Bratislava in 2017, and the monograph Erik Sille  Happiness Is Within Reach (published by Krokus and Slovart) is in the final selection of the National Design Prize 2018. Open: Wed-Sat 14:00  18:00 until December 21, Namestie 1. Maja 3. More info: www.krokusgaleria.sk.

Religious Services for non-Slovak speakers

SERVICE: Apostolic Church; Starts: Sundays, 9:30, Bratislava City Church, Trnavske myto 1, English

SERVICE: Bratislava International Church, Starts: Sundays 10:00 English, Maly kostol, Panenska Street (entrance from Lycejna Street)

SERVICE: Brotherhood Church (Cirkev bratska); Starts: Sundays 10:00, Cukrova 4, English

MASS: The Church of Saint Ladislav; Starts: Sundays 11:00, Spitalska, English

MASS: Church of St. John of Matha; Starts: Sundays 9:00 Latin

MASS: St. Martins Cathedral; Starts: Sundays 7:45 German, 9:00 Latin

MASS: Church of the Merciful Brothers; Starts: Sundays 11:30 Italian

SERVICE: Small Evangelical Church; Starts: Sundays 9:00 Hungarian, 10:00 English, 11:30 German, Maly kostol, Panenska Street (entrance from Lycejna Street)

SERVICE: Citylight Church, Starts: Sundays 10:00 English, Namestie 1.maja 1

SERVICE: Bratislava International Fellowship, Starts: Sundays 10:00 English, Trnavske myto 1, (Istropolis)

SERVICE: International Baptist Church; Starts: Sundays 10:00 English, Sulovska 2

JEWISH SERVICE: Synagogue on Heydukova Street; Starts: Friday evening (before twilight), Saturday morning (usually at 9:00), and during feasts, Hebrew

Highlights of the year

CONCERT: Glenn Miller Orchestra; Starts: January 15, 19:00

CONCERT: Steven Wilson: To the Bone Tour 2019; Starts: February 10, 20:00

CONCERT: Nicki Minaj & Future; Starts: February 22, 2019, 19:30

EVENT: Lord of the Dance; Starts: Mar 1, 20:00

CONCERT: Paul Kalkbrenner; Starts: Mar 7, 19:30

CONCERT: Eros Ramazzotti; Starts: Oct 5, 2019

CONCERT: Glenn Miller Orchestra - The original American Glenn Miller Orchestra was founded in the thirties of the last century. Founder Glenn Miller is considered one of the greatest shining stars of the American jazz scene for more than 35 years. Glenn's career lasted only five years, but this time was long enough for Glenn Miller to become a leading personality of the world's most popular swing orchestra, which remains under the name of "Glenn Miller Orchestra". Dutch conductor and keyboardist Wil Salden has been conducting the orchestra for several decades. You can enjoy his amazing talent and work live on January 15, 2019 in Bratislava. They will play favourites such as Sunrise Serenade, Moonlight Serenade, Moon Love, Over The Rainbow, Blue Orchids, Careless, When You Wish Onon, and Imagination. Starts: January 15, 19:00, Istropolis, Trnavske myto 1. Admission: 45-59.

CONCERT: Nicki Minaj & Future  World hip-hop icons Nicki Minaj and Future have their first shared tour, NickiHndrxx. The show is great for those who love hip-hop and mainstream music. The award-winning musicians are well-known for their hits that reach top places in the music rankings. Together, they will bring an unforgettable show to the stage. Starts: February 22, 2019, 19:30, Ondrej Nepelas Winter Arena, Odbojarov 9, Bratislava. Admission: 69-109. More info: www.ticketportal.sk.

CONCERT: Steven Wilson: To the Bone Tour 2019 - Steven Wilson, composer, musician, producer and leading personality of contemporary progressive rock, will perform for the first time in Slovakia. His successful show, To the Bone enriched by Porcupine Tree, will be presented on February 10, 2019 in the Bratislava refinery gallery. Steven Wilson has published more than fifty albums over his thirty-year career. The current, To the Bone, is his most successful record. After being released in August last year, he reached third place in the UK Album Chart, 2nd in Germany, and even in August 2017 his was among the 10 best-selling albums in Europe. To the great pleasure of intelligent progressive rock fans, Steven Wilson continues his successful worldwide tour To the Bone in 2019. Starts: February 10, 20:00, Refinery Gallery, Vlcie hrdlo, Bratislava. Admission: 39.5 - 50.5. More info: https://listocheck.sk/en/detail/steven-wilson.

EVENT: Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games  the Famous Lord of the Dance returns to Slovakia to perform in front of our public. Their last visit in 2017 was rewarded with record audiences. A brand new dancing performance, great visual technology, sound, beautiful costumes, new music by composer Gerard Fahy and 40 talented young artists from around the world are the core of Dangerous Games. Starts: Mar 1, 20:00, Viedenska cesta 3-9, Incheba arena. Admission: 23-78. More info: www.ticketportal.sk.

CONCERT: Paul Kalkbrenner - Paul Kalkbrenner is ranked among the best electronic musicians in the world. The DJ from Berlin caught the attention of Slovakia in 2012 and after seven years he is returning to Bratislava with new work. The best electronic concert of the year 2019 will be played at the Refinery Gallery and you must be there! Starts: Mar 7, 19:30, Refinery Gallery, Vlcie hrdlo, Bratislava. Admission: 39. More info: www.ticketportal.sk.

CONCERT: Eros Ramazzotti  Italian pop-rock star Eros Ramazzotti has announced his world tour and also a new studio album. Slovaks can look forward to well-known songs such as Fuoco nel fuoco and Piu bella cosa, LAurora, Un altra te, Dove c e musica, Se bastasse una canzone. Starts: Oct 5, 2019, Ondrej Nepelas Winter Stadium. Admission: 39-79. More info: www.ticketportal.sk.The second year of the march again raised some controversy.

News: Receive favorite authors articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

As many as 150 people in Krampus masks paraded through the town of Piestany (Trnava Region) during the second march. There was an increase in numbers compared with last year, when about 40 devils paraded the streets.

Most of them came from Austria; there were seven Austrian groups, which represents 100 devils, while the rest came from Slovakia and the Czech Republic, said the organiser, Jan Romanek, as quoted by the TASR newswire.

Contradictory responses

As last year, this march was also preceded by a petition against it. However, the new official representatives of Piestany want to collaborate with the organisers and make the march a tradition for the pre-Christmas period.

We decided to repeat the event because the first year was successful and drew many visitors to Piestany, Romanek said, as quoted by TASR, adding that the attitude of the town has also changed. When you start something new, people approach it with concerns. These have not been realised and the town now has a different outlook on the event.

The tradition of the devils march comes from the Alpine countries like Austria and Germany. It later spread to other countries like Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and Italy.

However, devils are no strangers to our culture, explained Jarmila Hluchova, ethnologist of the Balneological Museum of Imrich Winter, as quoted by TASR.

Read also:

Read also: Devils marched in Piestany, Krampus tradition hundreds of years old Read more

They marched tied in chains and in cages, which was to symbolise the tying up evil, Hluchova said, as quoted by TASR. For Christians it meant that evil forces would be forced to leave.

Moreover, devils are irreplaceable in Slovak culture. Though the current march is a commercial event and is open to the penetration of other cultures, it is a natural process when we realise that such cultures are blending together, she added.People will be able to take it home until Christmas.

News: Receive favorite authors articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

People can come and take the Peace Light of Bethlehem from churches in Slovakia again this year. A delegation of scouts brought the light to President Andrej Kiska on December 16 in Poprad, and it was later given to other places in the country too.

Listen to the podcast about Slovak Christmas traditions:

https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/547272525&color=%23096f52&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true

The scouts delivered the light to people during a holy mass at the Holy Saviour Church in Bratislavas Main Square at 16:30, where it will be at the disposal of the populace until Christmas. It can also be found in most Slovak churches, said Marian Suvak, the coordinator of the Peace Light of Betlehem, as quoted by the SITA newswire.

During the last weekend before Christmas, on December 22, scouts will distribute the light across Slovakia via train. They will deliver it to more than 330 towns and villages, as well as to places without train connections.

The Peace Light of Bethlehem was also lit on Lomnicky Stit peak, the highest inhabited place in the country. In addition, it will be brought to households, hospitals, asylum facilities, social care houses and churches by hundreds of scouts, reported SITA.

The light was brought to Slovakia on the evening of December 15 by Slovak scouts, who received it from Austrian scouts during a ceremony held in Linz. They later passed it on to Polish and Ukrainian scouts.But the criminal prosecution still continues.

News: Receive favorite authors articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

The regional prosecutors office in Trencin dropped the charges laid by an investigator against 12 Greenpeace activists, who protested against coal mining and placed a banner on the mining tower in Novaky (Trencin Region) in late November.

With their actions, the activists did not threaten any publicly beneficial facility, the prosecutors office said. The mining tower on which they hung the banner is not used to transport miners, but to transport extracted coal from the underground to the surface. There are one more routes in the mine to transport coal. Not even the operation of the power plant in Novaky was threatened.

Read also:

Read also: Slovak court saw threat in Greenpeace activists Read more

However, the criminal prosecution is not over yet. The investigation will now focus on whether the crime of general endangerment was committed, and whether there was a threat to life, health and property. This means that the police will secure new evidence and then say whether it will press any charges for this crime, re-classify the case to offence, or close the investigation, Greenpeace Slovensko informed in a press release.

This means that the activists are considered suspects, do not have any right to look into the investigation file or have information about the evidence.

We reject any possibility that in the non-violent protest, during which the activists hung the banner on a mining tower in the Novaky mine, endangered people or property, said Ivana Kohutkova, head of Greenpeace Slovensko, as quoted in the press release.

She hopes that the prosecutors office will eventually say that nothing more than an offence was committed.Theres a new threat to the growth of Arabica coffee in Colombia. Its not climate change or leaf rust or unsustainably low prices. Its Robusta.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Robusta hasnt exactly been popular amongst Colombian coffee growers, going so far as to call it reviled in the country that invented Arabica snobbery. The revulsion, according to the article, comes from the perceived inferiority of the coffees flavor compared to that of Arabica. The article doesnt outright say Robusta doesnt taste good; the WSJ lets Andrew Hetzel do it.

People say it tastes like tires. Like petroleum barrels, said Andrew Hetzel, a consultant in the specialty coffee industry. Ive even heard it described as the tears of children.

But the economics of growing Arabica are becoming less and less tenable, especially in the face of a viable alternative. Colombian Arabica averaged a price of $1.39 per pound, over half a dollar above the average Robusta price of $.87. But Robusta is easier to grow with a higher yield (and more disease-resistant) than Arabica. Couple that with the fact that Asia, the fastest growing coffee market, is dominated by Robusta and the move starts to make sense.

In the face of this changing market, some Colombian farmers and scientists are experimenting with Robusta. Nestle has shipped 3,000 Robusta seedlings to Colombia that agronomists with the Agriculture Ministry are currently tending to under hyper-sanitary lab conditions; think sanitary smocks, hairnets, iodine foot baths, and three-stage entry to keep out insects and microbes. One businessman, Diego Lopez, has been the last decade planting small amounts of Robusta around Colombia to find the conditions where it grows best.

And while the country originally balked at the idea of growing Robusta lest it taint the perception of their coffee quality, the Colombian government has since espoused growing it, thanks in no small part to an increase in Robustas quality. In fact, Sustainable Harvests Chief Coffee Official Jorge Cuevas says that a good Robusta can be creamy and intense, with a full, syrupy mouthfeel.

[Cuevas] put it this way: If robusta and arabica walked into a bar, arabica would blend in, but robusta would be bigger, louder, funny and charismatic. It would draw a lot of attention. You cant miss it.

Soon enough, specialty Robusta may be a much more common sight than it currently is. Imagine a coffee shop promoting 100% Colombian Robustathat could be your childrens future. Fucking climate change is real yall.

Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.

Top image from What Is Natural Coffee? Lets Find Out From Counter Culture Coffee Expert Tim HillEmployees of Shorelines Slots at Kawartha Downs breathed a collective sigh of relief on Monday (Dec. 17), as they were informed that the gaming section of the Peterborough-area raceway will be re-opening this week.

According to an article by the Peterborough Examiner, Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott made the Monday announcement, which explained that the slots area will re-open on Wednesday (Dec. 19) after having been abruptly closed since October 15.

The article goes on to explain that the shutdown was initially expected to last two weeks, but that timeline was stretched to roughly two months due to the finalizing of a deal between Kawartha Downs and the government.

When reached for comment, Kawartha Downs General Manger Orazio Valente praised Scott. According to the Peterborough Examiner, Valente stated that the local MPP has been a "great supporter" of the facility since Day One.

Valente also went on to say that Scotts goal was to see the facility retain some slots in light of Shorelines Casino Peterborough opening, and "that's where we got to." Valente also showered some praise on officials within the Ontario East Limited Partnership, which operates the gaming facilities at both venues.

"We would like to recognize and thank all who have been involved in the re-opening process, said Ron Urquhart, on behalf of the partnership, including our local team, the Province of Ontario, OLG, AGCO (Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario), and Kawartha Downs.

This is the second time that Kawartha Downs has been in the news in recent days, as Valente recently conveyed his confidence that his track will be granted 21 race dates for the 2019 season, which would be up from the 18 dates that the track hosted this year.

(With files from the Peterborough Examiner)Coktail Jet, a stallion that showcased the success of mixing American and French bloodlines, has passed away in France at the age of 28.

Coktail Jet was a top trotter in his generation. He won both the 1996 Prix dAmerique and Elitlopp at age six, and, as a result, received an invitation to the 1996 Breeders Crown Open Trot. Based on his exploits in Europe, he was the race-time betting favourite in the Crown, but couldnt overcome starting from Post 9. The race was won by CR Kay Suzie and Coktail Jet finished sixth after getting stuck in a sluggish second tier and spotting the pacesetting Suzie almost nine lengths at the half.

Coktail Jet was retired with money-winnings of 1.9 million euros (approximately $2.9 million). Coktail Jet took his success on the track to the breeding shed and became equally accomplished and created generations of horses with mixed French-American blood. He is a son of the French stallion Quouky Williams and is out of the Super Bowl mare Armbro Glamour. His fourth dam was Cassin Hanover, who produced 1965 Elitlopp winner Elma.

Coktail Jet was bred by the partnership of Jean-Pierre Dubois and owner Daniel Wildenstein. Dubois and Wildenstein campaigned him on the track as well.

For a couple of years during the 1980s, the French breeding association permitted a certain number of American-blooded trotters to be bred and registered in France. Coktail Jet sired 1,732 foals in France and his top performer was Love You, a three-time French champion who has become known in North America as the sire of stakes winner International Moni.

Pleas join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of Coktail Jet.

(Harnessracing.com)An investigation by Daraj has revealed that members of the regime security services have benefited from loans provided by UNRWA.

Daraj has obtained dozens of documents and accounts that prove that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has distributed loans to members of the Syrian intelligence agencies and militias active in Syria. This has also been reinforced by certificates. Official bodies within UNRWA, concerned with this issue, have been contacted, and promised to respond to our questions 12 days ago, before the publication of this investigationthis has still not occurred.

According to the 2017 annual report published by UNRWA, the number of beneficiaries from the small loans program in Syria was 11,094 (an increase of 17 percent since 2016). However, the number of Palestinian refugees benefiting from these loans was just 288, comprising 2.5 percent of the total number of beneficiaries for the year. The total value of the loans disbursed was 2.7 million dollars, which marks an increase of 40 percent from the previous year. The share for Palestinian refugees of these loans was about 79,000 dollars, or no more than 2.9 percent.

According to the statistics issued by UNRWA in their annual report, the number of loans disbursed in Syria since 2003 (the year the program was launched) was 111,983 loans, at a value of 57.3 million dollars.

Murad is a field employee in loan distribution for the small loans division in UNRWA. In his view, this program has helped many Syrians and Palestinian refugees secure the necessary funds to secure their basic needs with reasonable guarantees, which have encouraged them in their work and in their lives in general. He explained to us that this program, although it is under the umbrella of an agency concerned with refugees, also offers small loans to Syrian citizens, who comprise the greatest portion of the loans, which is a condition, for the program to operate within Syria, between the state and UNRWA.

However Murad was a victim of the war. Murad and 80 other employees were fired, after being told that there was insufficient funding, after most of the UNRWA small loan centers in affected areas were damaged or looted by opposition groups and the regime army.

Regarding the period before 2011, Samer, a beneficiary of the loan program near Damascus, said that before the crisis, he received a loan from UNRWA. Everything was going fine, until he encountered financial difficulties, and the agency began to pressure him to pay back the loan, which was 40,000 Syrian pounds in 2010equivalent to about 852 dollars at the time. Samer remembers meeting staff from the agency, and after informing them that he was unable to make the repayments, he was told, You need to pay anyway you canthis program is under the auspices of the First Lady.

Samer says, I couldnt do anything but smile. But I understood the tone of his threat. I had to borrow the money from a friend, and use that to repay the agency, ending the loan.

Beginning to Attract Employees Working With Security Agencies

Sara, a field employee, who occupied an administrative post, said that the type of employees began to change after 2011. One day, the place in which she was working started to resemble a security office. There were dozens of security members who were walking around and waiting for their turn to fill out a loan application. At that time the program began to take advantage of its internal system, giving anyone (Syrian or Palestinian), employed or retired, who was carrying a personal ID, a new type of loan. These loans were for the purchase of consumer needs, granted to those with a special salary statement. In the case they were unable to provide this, a written statement of income was relied upon.

Convoys of staff from the Syrian Interior Ministry began to come to the small loans office, which were limited to just four branches in Damascus, Tartous, Lattakia and Suweida, as the conflict intensified. This expansion of loan applicants came in 2013Sara addsafter an additional 1.6 million euros of funding obtained was by UNRWA from the European Union. The new clients ranged from police forces to the various security branches, especially Political Security. Given that most of the residents of these provinces in the new branches were the main human reservoir for the regime, in addition to the weak influence on the ground in the ongoing war, the number of loans began to increase notably, registering more than 9,000 loans. Within this number, the number of borrowers from branches of the Syrian Interior Ministry were about 3,000, according to Saras estimates.

Threats From Some Security Employees

Sara says recalls an employee coming to her in a state of severe fright, and when she asked what happened, he said that one of the borrowers (an investigator in State Security) had threatened him with arrest when he asked him to make repayments on the late loan.

She added that in general, employees of the Interior Ministry are clients who make repayments, despite continuous delays and attempts to obtain more loans, especially given that the loan system is tied to the extent of the previous repayment, and then the new loans are granted at a higher ceiling, which can go as high as one million Syrian pounds.

In this context, we were able to speak with an employee in the field. Munir, a temporary employee in this program since 2013, said that granting loans to Interior Ministry employees was normal, as most Syrians had moved into military and security work as a result of the war, and that before that the number was not so large. However, he did not support the granting of loans to the National Defense militias, since he considered them mercenaries. Expanding on this issue, Munir says that giving loans to them would serve as a major threat, and would contribute to the war in his view.

Heavily armed National Defense members come from all sides to UNRWA bases and exchange their made-up stories about the war and obtain money. Then after attending for a period, they disappear, and then later we see images of them hanging on a wall in al-Amin Street in Damascus, Munir says.

Giving Loans to Intelligence Agents Not Limited to Syria

Munir also informed Daraj that the UNRWA program covers Syria, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, and the West Bank, and in each of these areas, loans are given to members of the Interior Ministry or armed militias. For instance, in the West Bank, loans are given to members of the Preventative Security Services in Gaza, as well as to some members of the Hamas movement and Islamic Jihad, which is significantly hostile to UNRWA but some of whose members accept working in some free professions on UNRWA loans. In Jordan, the General Intelligence are given loans.

Those who benefit from the UNRWA loans also include retirees, as UNRWA cannot give loans to those who are older than 75. Accordingly, a number of retirees from the intelligence agencies, police or army have rushed to obtain these loans.

Both Sara and Munir say that UNRWA has verbally made it known to employees not to include the names of recipients from the security or intelligence agency on their electronic databases, without knowing to what extent this order was followed. If we receive any paper request for a client within a government sector, the possibility that this employee could be with a security or intelligence agency is very high.

Regarding retired members of the security and intelligence agencies, their professions are included on the paper application and on the electronic program as retired, which makes it hard to track this type of loan.

UNRWA Relations With the Regime in Syria and the Financial Crisis

The General Authority for Arab Palestinian Refugees governed by Ali Mustafa, serves as a fully Syrian security agency and has relations with UNRWA. The agency works under a social and development pretext, and is funded by the Syrian government, with a total spending for 2017 at about 127 million dollars.

The financial crisis related to the small loans program at UNRWA is not new. The recent cut to funding by the Trump administration has compounded their financial hardship. According to a report on the economic and social situation and damage assessment which was issued in cooperation with the European Union in 2013, The program made a significant loss of 3.64 million dollars due to exchange rate losses, escalating provisioning expenses for doubtful loans and a declining portfolio. During this period the program wrote off 1,111 loans valued at 18.94 million Syrian pounds. In order to reduce losses, in 2013 the program also reduced its workforce by 20 percent.

This overlapped with the reports made to Daraj by employees. The agency also prepared an emergency plan to open three new offices in areas that were more secure at the time, in Tartous and Lattakia and Suweida, while continuing loan operations at the al-Amin street branch in Damascus. The new branches began to operate in June 2013, but the department was only able to continue in 2014 with a grant of 1.66 million euros from the European Unionraising new questions over whether the EU really knows how the funding it provides to the UNRWA program is used.

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.Jamil Hassan has been accused of committing human rights abuses and has been sanctioned by both the EU and the US writes Zaman Al Wasl.

Well-informed sources said head of the Air Force Intelligence, Major General Jamil Hassan, is in a critical condition following a stroke.

The war criminal, 65, was taken by ambulance from his office in Damascus to al-Shami Hospital in the upper-class suburb of al-Malki.

This is the second time in three months that Hassan has been transferred to the hospital. He was transferred to hospital in mid-September following kidney failure.

Last year, Bashar al-Assad extended the military duty of his key aide for another year, delaying the retirement of Hassan for the seventh time.

Hassan was sanctioned by the European Union on May 9, 2011, because of his war crimes against the Syrian people during the war in Syria. On Jun. 29, 2011, the United States also imposed sanctions on him due to his involvement in human rights abuses in Syria.

Hassan replaced Abdul Fatah Qudsiya as head of Air Force Intelligence in 2009.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.God bless Gov. Greg Abbott and the State of Texas. And the State of Israel.

Via CNS.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced a lawsuit Monday challenging legislation in Texas which prohibits government agencies from contracting with or investing in companies that boycott Israel.

CAIRs legal defense fund is supporting a speech therapist whose attempt to renew her contract with a school district in an Austin suburb hit a hurdle when she refused to sign a document affirming she does not boycott Israel.

Ms. Amawi advocates for boycotts of Israel due to Israels continuing violations of international law in its treatment of Palestinians, the suit says. Specifically, Ms. Amawi boycotts products created in Israel in support of the peaceful Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.

As an advocate for Palestinian rights and justice, she cannot in good faith certify or state that she does not boycott Israel, and will not engage in a boycott of Israel.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last year signed into law legislation prohibiting state entities from entering into contracts for goods and services unless the entity concerned verifies in writing that it does not boycott Israel and will not boycott Israel during the term of the contract..

On Monday, Abbott sounded a defiant note on Twitter: Texas stands with Israel. Period.

CAIR, which calls itself the nations biggest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, claims the BDS movement is in support of Palestinian human rights.

Other prominent backers include the first two Muslim women to be elected to the U.S. Congress, Rep.-elect Ihlan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rep.-elect Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)

Critics view BDS as inherently anti-Semitic, on the grounds that it targets only the Jewish state and none of the other nations around the world embroiled in territorial disputes.

In an address to an anti-BDS conference in New York last year, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said, how tragic is it that, of all countries in the world to condemn for human rights violations, these voices [from college campuses to the U.N.] choose to single out Israel.

We should boycott North Korea. We should sanction Iran. We should divest from Syria  not Israel, she said. It makes absolutely no sense. And it has no connection to any reasonable definition of justice..Dedicated to the Restoration of Progressive Democracy5 hours ago

From Square to Block: Another tech company changes its name

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Theres a new Silicon Valley corporate name change on the block. A month after Facebook renamed itself Meta, Square Inc., the payments company headed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, is changing its name to Block Inc.

Read ArticleHaving praised Donald Trump last week as "one of the best American presidents", Michel Houellebecq, the ageing bad boy of French letters, may have another shock up his sleeve.

Having praised Donald Trump last week as "one of the best American presidents", Michel Houellebecq, the ageing bad boy of French letters, may have another shock up his sleeve.

The controversial writer, who made his reputation with bestselling novels about sex tourism, swingers clubs and everyday misogyny, has called his next novel after the "happy chemical" which engenders well-being and happiness.

"Serotonin", which will be published in French on January 4, and then in Italian a week later, comes months after Houellebecq married for a third time, to a Chinese woman some two decades his junior.

Wags on social media have joked that with such a feelgood title, the arch-miserablist may be softening his notoriously cynical view of life in his old age.

But others have warned that the nihilism that marked novels such as "Atomised", "Platform" and the Prix Goncourt-winning "The Map and the Territory" is unlikely to have been dented by three months of nuptial bliss with Shanghai-born Qianyum Lysis Li.

Critic Nelly Kaprielian, of the French magazine Les Inrockuptibles, says the story grapples with globalisation and the crisis gripping provincial France.

It features a "typically lone Houellebecqian narrator haunted by his past and failed loves, kept alive by an anti-depressant drug based on serotonin."

With the contents of the book supposed to be strictly under wraps until it goes on sale, Kaprielian called it a "fine twilight novel, perhaps the most sombre by the author."

- Channelling popular anger -

With his well-publicised loathing of the EU and liberal causes, Houellebecq became something of a pin-up for the French far right after his last highly-controversial novel, "Submission", which imagined life under sharia law after the election of an Islamist as French president in 2022.

It appeared the same day jihadists attacked the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris in January 2015, killing 12 people, including one of the writer's closest friends.

Houellebecq, 62, cancelled his promotional tour after the massacre and went into hiding, later reappearing to give a tearful interview on French television.

But according to Kaprielian, in "Serotonin" his politics veer more towards the far left, "if you had to categorise them, or rather towards the angry and 'apolitical' yellow vests" protest movement, which has shaken France in recent weeks.

Houellebecq sparked much eye-rolling on social media last week with an article in the US magazine Harper's declaring Trump a good president even if he was "an appalling clown".

The writer rejoiced in the belief that his presidency would herald the end of American imperialism.

"The United States of America is no longer the world's leading power. This isn't necessarily bad news for Americans," he wrote.

"It's very good news for the rest of the world. The Americans are getting off our backs. The Americans are letting us exist," he added.

Houellebecq's publishers Flammarion said they are printing 320,000 copies of "Serotonin" for its first run, an exceptionally high number for France.

His last book "Submission" sold around 800,000 copies in France alone.Prime minister Xavier Bettel provided a report to members of Luxembourg's parliament on the main issues discussed at the latest EU summit that took place last Thursday and Friday.

On Monday morning, the MPs making up the parliamentary commission on foreign affairs had a meeting with Bettel in order to discuss the main takeaways of the EU summit.

The prime minister spent an hour in the meeting with the parliamentary commission. The topics predominantly discussed on Thursday and Friday included the next EU budget, migration and the issue of rising antisemitism, and finally, a proposed financial transaction tax. Concerning the last issue, Bettel was firm in stating that this would counteract Luxembourg's interests.

The main topic at hand was, of course, the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union. Brexit dominated the talks at the EU summit (and Xavier Bettel went viral himself with his response to a UK reporter) and this was reflected in the parliamentary commission meeting as well.

Although much of the discussions concerning Brexit remained behind closed doors this Monday morning, the conclusion is that Brexit could go any way and Luxembourg must prepare itself for every single option.

Bettel stressed that he could not provide any guarantees as to the outcome of the meaningful vote in the British parliament.

Claude Wiseler, the vice-president of the parliamentary commission on foreign affairs, reiterated that Luxembourg should prepare itself for each and every situation and how these situations might impact the Grand Duchy.

In the case of no deal, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean Asselborn will be in charge of creating a plan for the Grand Duchy for both its citizens in the United Kingdom and the British citizens in Luxembourg.

Asselborn will meet with the parliamentary commission on Wednesday to provide an update on this plan B.Jean-Claude Juncker, the former Luxembourg prime minister and now European Commission president, attracted negative coverage from some sections of the UK press after he was seen to stumble and fall before dinner Monday at a top level EU-Africa summit in Vienna.

The pro-Brexit newspapers Daily Mail, the Sun and the Express were among newspapers splashing images of the 64-year-old Juncker's mishap across their pages and websites.

"Jean-Claude Juncker was once again seen struggling to navigate a small set of stairs at a key international summit today," reported the Daily Mail.

"The European Commission President, who last week told the Prime Minister the EU would offer no further concessions on her Brexit deal, was photographed seemingly losing his balance and having to be held and helped by a pair of aides," the right-of-centre newspaper went on to write.

"It is the latest of several high-profile events, including a NATO summit, at which the politician has looked unsteady on his feet."

Juncker's office has advanced a medical explanation of sciatica for his unsteadiness, and firmly rejected the idea that he was drunk in public.

The newspaper goes on to note "Later in the event Mr Juncker, whose previous job as Prime Minister of Luxembourg (pop. 590,000) seemed in high spirits, high-fiving, kissing and hugging fellow world leaders."

Juncker high-fives with Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. /  AFP President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (R) hugs Estonia's Prime Minister Juri Ratas. /  AFP President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (R) hugs Estonia's Prime Minister Juri Ratas. /  AFP The photos published on this site are subject to copyright and may not be copied, modified, or sold without the prior permission of the owner of the site in question.

For more of this and a lot more photos, see the Daily Mail story in the links below.

See also an earlier incident of Juncker stumbling where the sciatica explanation was advanced.The finance and budgetary parliamentary commission met with the financial and economic committee on Tuesday morning to explore various scenarios which could have a negative impact on Luxembourg's economy.

The committee presented a variety of negative scenarios in the meeting on Tuesday morning and explained how these scenarios could affect the Grand Duchy over the next few years. Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna stressed that the country's current economic standing and trajectory are healthy, but the opposition party, CSV, requested more caution in light of a number of unpredictable situations - particularly Brexit.

The United Kingdom's exit from the European Union could affect the Grand Duchy beyond the positive news that financial and investment institutions are moving to Luxembourg. To make up for the loss of the United Kingdom, Luxembourg may have to contribute an extra 200 to 300 million euros to the European budget as of 2021.

A further financial burden could occur if Luxembourg becomes responsible for cross-border job-seekers, which could make up an extra 100 to 200 million euros per year. Another situation explored is the increase in excise duty, which could lead to a loss of 75 million euros in the state's financial coffers. Finally, the state would lose a further 600 million euros per year if the Grand Duchy has to adhere to a European minimum tax base.

These are all potential negative scenarios as compiled by the financial and economic committee, but Gramegna was confident that catastrophe is not imminent. He confirmed that Luxembourg is prepared for all situations and highlighted the positive trends as well, especially as some of these negative scenarios are now out of date as revenues increase.

Regardless, the opposition called for increased caution. CSV MP Gilles Roth explained that politicians must make thoughtful and responsible decisions based on the latest economic data and its evolutions for the next few years. ADR MP Gast Giberyen also referred to a number of decisions that Luxembourg's parliament will have to make in the next six to twelve months and called for caution and patience before tackling new projects that could add to the state's expenses.Moroccan authorities on Tuesday arrested a suspect over the murder of two Scandinavian women in the High Atlas mountains, a popular trekking destination for tourists.

Other suspects are being sought over the killings of the Danish and Norwegian hikers who were found dead on Monday with cuts to their necks, the interior ministry said.

The bodies were discovered in an isolated mountainous area 10 kilometres (six miles) from the tourist village of Imlil in the High Atlas range.

Imlil is a starting point for trekking and climbing tours of Mount Toubkal, which at 4,167 metres is the highest summit in North Africa.

The suspect was arrested in the former imperial city of Marrakesh, a tourist hub located at the foot of the mountains about 60 kilometres north of Imlil, and held in custody for questioning, the ministry said.

The Moroccan authorities described it as a "criminal act" but did not give further details about the circumstances of the murders.

An image grab from a video broadcast by Moroccan news channel KECH24 on December 18, 2018 shows cars and an ambulance at the site where the bodies of two murdered Scandinavian women were found in the High Atlas mountains /  KECH24 Moroccan News Channel/AFP

The Danish victim, Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, "had her throat cut," her mother Helle Petersen was quoted by the Danish newspaper B.T. as saying.

Her family had warned her against going to Morocco "because of the chaotic situation," she added.

According to her Facebook page, Jespersen had studied in Norway to be a guide.

- 'Every precaution' -

Norwegian media named the other victim as 28-year-old Maren Ueland.

"Her priority was safety. The girls took every precaution before going on this trip," her mother Irene Ueland told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

The two women studied at a university in southern Norway and had planned to travel together for a month, she said, adding that her last contact with her daughter was on December 9.

A Norwegian policeman from the embassy in Rabat is travelling to Marrakesh to act as a liaison between the authorities.

The High Atlas mountains are a popular trekking destination for foreign tourists visiting Morocco /  AFP/File

Security was stepped up in the region and hiking suspended following the discovery of the bodies, Moroccan media said.

"It's very bad for the region. There will undoubtedly be cancellations," a local guide, Hossein, told AFP from Imlil.

Tourism is a cornerstone of Morocco's economy and the kingdom's second-largest employer, after agriculture.

The sector accounts for 10 percent of national income and is one of the country's main sources of foreign currency.

After several years of near-stagnation, Morocco welcomed a record 11.35 million visitors in 2017, exceeding the 11-million mark for the first time.Wonder Caves: Ideal Spot for Hikers and Cave ExplorersThe need for aid in the occupied Palestinian territory has increased, following a year that has seen a serious deterioration in the humanitarian situation, said Jamie McGoldrick, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the region, in a statement on Monday.

Mr. McGoldricks comments were released as part of the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan for the occupied Palestinian territory, which calls for $350 million to assist 1.4 million people, the maximum number of people that the UN can, he said, realistically reach in the current non-conducive political and resource climate.

Our plan for 2019 prioritizes assistance for people assessed as being most in need of protection, food, health care, shelter, water and sanitation, said Mr. McGoldrick. It enables us to maximize limited funding. But much more is needed, and we stand ready to do more, if funding and operational space are improved.

The Humanitarian Coordinator described 2018 as a challenging year for UN agencies and aid workers in the region, particularly in Gaza. There were recurrent outbreaks of violence and a significant rise in casualties from demonstrations at the border fence between Gaza and Israel, referred to by Palestinians as the Great March of Return.

Since March, over 150 Palestinians have reportedly been killed, and more than 10,000 injured, by Israeli forces in connection with the demonstrations. Consequently, the funding requested for health services in 2019 has gone up, reflecting the surge in demand on an already overburdened health sector in Gaza.

The economy of Gaza is also a cause for concern, he added, recalling that the World Bank described it as being in freefall in a September press release, with unemployment, poverty and food insecurity on the rise. Mr. McGoldrick said that an increase in partner funding is expected, in order to meet the most urgent needs of those living in the occupied territories, to protect the rights of those living under occupation, and provide basic services for the most vulnerable.Authorities in Nha Trang, a resort city in the south-central Vietnamese province of Khanh Hoa, have approved a plan to lower the number of rental chairs and umbrellas along local beaches to ensure sufficient space for residents and tourists.

The municipal Peoples Committee has recently announced the decision after examining the current situation and collecting feedback on the scheme.

The administration has signed deals with 46 businesses since 2013, allowing them to rent out a total of 680 umbrellas and 1,360 chairs in a combined area of 15,200 square meters at Tran Phu and Pham Van Dong Beaches.

The Peoples Committee said the numbers are rather high and the objects have taken up a lot of public space.

Some of the firms did not follow regulations as they operated the rental services, which negatively affected the environment and cityscape.

According to the newly-approved plan, the total area for such rental services will be narrowed down to 11,400 square meters.

The number of umbrellas for lease will be 300, decreasing by nearly 60 percent.

All of the rental chairs and umbrellas have to meet general standards in terms of size, height, and color.

The umbrellas must have the logos of corresponding businesses and must be numbered.

Service operators are not allowed to set up fences around their rental areas, kiosks or any other type of object that obstructs local residents and tourists.

They are also banned from advertising and promoting commercial products on the beaches.

According to Ngo Khac Thinh, deputy head of Nha Trangs Urban Management Office, the scheme is aimed at providing more space for the community as well as for visitors.

People come to the beach to swim, sunbathe, and have fun, thus sufficient public space has to be ensured, Thinh stated.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!Here are todays leading news stories:

Society

-- Several male students of the Thanh Son Middle School in the northern Vietnamese province of Phu Tho have opened up to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper about the traumatizing experience when they were sexually abused by the schools principal, who was arrested last weekend.

-- A 25-year-old woman in the southern province of Binh Duong was apprehended on Monday morning after robbing a local gold shop and attempted to escape on her motorbike.

-- Dozens of farmers in Dinh Quan District in the southern province of Dong Nai have suffered heavy losses after a large amount of fish raised along the La Nga River died on Sunday and Monday.

-- The Peoples Court in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong on Tuesday begins the trial of five suspects who were caught mixing a battery-dyed compound of gravels and coffee bean skins into black peppers to sell for more profit.

-- A 33-year-old man was electrocuted to death as he was helping a neighbor fix an electrical problem on the roof of her house in Binh Duong Province on Monday.

-- Police in Dong Nai Province have initiated an investigation after a man and a woman, who previously resided in Ho Chi Minh City, fled the locality after owning VND250 million ($10,750) to local veggie farmers.

-- The Peoples Committee in Nha Trang, a report city in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, has approved a plan to reduce the number of rental chairs and umbrellas along the local beaches.

-- The Peoples Committee in the south-central province of Binh Thuan is reviewing the responsibility of competent authorities in the beach city of Mui Ne for letting the Muine Hills Hotel, located in Ham Tien Ward, operate illegally over the past nine years. The project was not approved but has been open to tourists since 2009.

Business

-- A series of new buses, each costing nearly VND1 billion (US$43,000), of a transport cooperative in Ho Chi Minh City are now left unused after being operated for only a few months due to ineffective and loss-making operation.

-- The State Bank of Vietnam has announced some draft amendments to current regulations, highlighting that individuals and organizations that trade and exchange foreign currency without a legitimate license would only be fined up to VND20 million ($860) instead of the current VND80 million ($3,440) to VND100 million ($4,300) penalty.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!



Sine ira et studio.  Tacitus: Annales

Description is neither advocacy, nor dismissal. It is what it is. The best possible description of events.

The below essay focuses on foreign powers intentions and actions toward the former central European communist countries. The conclusions presented below are solely mine, and do not represent any governmental or other bodies views. These are admittedly from a Visegrad 4, or to be more precise a Hungarian point of view, our fellow Czech, polish, and Slovak allies may disagree with some, but definitely not most points.

Ambiguity, and/or lack of clear mutually accepted goals towards this region especially towards Hungary was visibly present in US policy after 1990. Poland was always an exception from US point of view due to the large and well organized polish community, not to mention the influence of Mr. Brzezinski, a polish noble whose family was exiled by the soviets. Going towards the lesser resistance was probably the primary motivating factor like the late General William Odom has said: "The socialists have a sense of guilt (sic!) and are eager to cooperate with the US."  explained. "This is such an advantage which would be foolish to miss. The ex-communists of Hungary comply to anything we say just like they did with their soviet masters. And are usually surprised that it is easier to come to terms with us."

Based on the above it is obvious why previous conservative govts with a clear intent to have at least some say in the bilateral relations, usually in support of the Hungarian minorities abroad, did not have too much of leverage. Especially after the govt. of Mr. Antal, the first freely elected prime minister in 1990 won the election against the hopes of a small local party disguised as anti-communist, and clearly an American favourite: Szabad Demokratak Szovetsege (Alliance of Free Democrats). Sporting a clearly neoliberal/human rights ideology, and at the same time representing the biggest eastern-european jewish community (some 100 000 in a 10 million country), they had excellent connections to US decision makers, and after some self-description attempts by the benevolent, but completely naive and unprepared govt., the cabinet was quickly labeled fascist, and right-wing extremist. PM Antals father was a well-known Christian democrat, a minister of interior, an internationally acclaimed protector of refugees in WWII and a Righteous Among the Nations title holder. His son allegedly was an ardent anti-Semite. For sure. Yet this narrative was quickly accepted and US ambassadors acted accordingly, especially after the coalition of the ex-communists with the Free Democrats in 1994. This double standard made all Hungarian conservatives sour. It was a very hard thing to swallow, that our liberators suddenly and completely sided with their sworn enemy the (ex-)communists, and that principles about human rights and protection of minorities were only selectively applied. Of course we were also naive thinking that principles are more important than interests.

Neoliberalism ran amok after that leading to a small, but decisive conservative victory in 1998. At the peak of the Balkan wars the joy of joining NATO overhelmed the society and the elite alike but sobering was quick to follow. In the effort of getting rid of soviet made weapons, and enhance alliance ties a package of aircrafts and equipment was offered to the newly joined members (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland). Slovakia was deemed to be under too much Russian influence at that time. Oh by the way because of this sped up process we were the only land locked NATO member isolated geographically from the alliance until Slovakia joined in 2004. So the offer was evaluated, and it caused some head scratching among experts, when it was realized that these would be ageing, reactivated, early production F-16 A/Bs from the Arizona aircraft boneyard, with capabilities only superficially surpassing the already in service Mig-29s acquired from Russia, ex-factory, some 5 years before as a compensation for outstanding debt from soviet times. To add injury to the insult the price of this not really advantageous package was suddenly doubled in the last round of negotiations. To the surprise of the US delegation both the Czech and the Hungarian partners refused these terms, only the poles went along. The long sought successor of the MiGs suddenly became the Swedish Gripen (which uses licensed US engine and weaponry of almost exclusively of US origin, but that is another story). This has clearly outraged Pres. W. Bush, and relations took such a blow that they have not recuperated ever since.

After a surprise defeat the social democrat turned ex-communists and their free democrat partners came back, led by a communist deputy financial minister, who was enamored in the French to such an extent that his services have earned him a French Legion Of Honor. Not too much laurels for American businessmen either. His successor made headlines when in a leaked speech he openly admitted lying, and faking statistics thus rigging the elections. Russian influence peaked when this guy, does not even worth mentioning his name, used Russian operatives to scour after conservative minded members of Hungarian intelligence services. Nobody was really surprised when the opposition has won the 2010 elections. PM Orbans actions ever since are visibly are based on his previous experiences.

They say your enemy defines who you really are. In that case Mr. Orban is a world stage player since his awowed enemy is nobody less than the worlds biggest, or at least most famous hedge fund manager George Soros. In an odd twist of fate Mr. Soros is of Hungarian origin and Mr. Orban had a Soros scholarship way back in 1989. As the Open Society Foundations (OSF) goals are clearly not what the overwhelming majority of the Hungarian voters want it should come as no surprise that PM Orban felt empowered to tilt back the civil societys seriously left leaning playground. When the Norwegian states Norwegian Fund and attached parts of allegedly independent organizations were raided by shock police in 2014 after the second election won by overwhelming 2/3 majority, it came as surprise for both sides. For the Left and the eurocrats such bold moves were unimaginable, for the Right the published names of these Norwegian and EU organizations leaders, consisting almost exclusively of US citizens clearly connected to Mr. Soros. The deeply interentwined network of neoliberal controlled governmental, non-governmental and civil society, previously were thought to be a mere conspiration theory has only heightened anti-US sentiment since in most occasions it was really difficult to separate US, or better put Deep State interests from Soros. If you add that Mr. Soros was named as a global threat (along with Bin Ladin and Pablo Escobar) in a very often overlooked and more often misunderstood book by the Chinese senior colonels Wang and Xiansui titled Unrestricted Warfare you easily come to the local govts point, that from then on anything of US origin was treated as highly suspicious. The Obama govt. and especially Hillary Clinton wasted no possibility to bash the officially announced illiberal trends in Hungary to be honest with some reason since Mr. Orban has clearly moved away from the western economic-political system, where economy moves politics to a clearly eastern system where politics has supremacy over economy, especially foreign financial interests. Only after the third consecutively won election in 2018 has the Hungarian govt felt himself strong enough to openly confront Mr. Soros, although a billboard campaign was launched in 2016 saying Stop Soros and the illegal migration creating yet another uproar from the Left for allegedly being anti-Semite yet again. Fortunately even the Israeli ambassador and a Hungarian religious jewish community leader stood up against this nonsense. The so called Central European University, the flagbearer of the OSF has functioned on dubious foundations issuing US and Hungarian degrees alike for the same education. Such close is the relation of US and Soros interests, that even after the election of Pres. Trump and the arrival of his personally appointed Ambassador, Mr. Cornstein this issue was causing tensions. Finally the CEU was forced to move, and continue his beneficial activities somewhere else.

In a rare peak into true power politics Amb. Cornstein let the janissary schools (CEU) issue go quite easily in a recent interview, where he stated that even though Pres. Trump and PM Orban has a lot in common some steps from our side are missing to facilitate their personal meeting, developing relations that is. It could be a defense agreement, a step to decrease unilateral energy source dependence, or helping to solve the Ukrainian situation.  he said. Yet all of these would require significant sacrifices from us.

Like the 1999 case with the F-16s shows buying American weapons for billions of dollars is a risky business and would put significant strains on the country, which is among the poorest in Europe. Buying US liquid natural gas would increase energy prices by 50-70% percent obviously leading to popular dissent Allow the forceful assimilation of 150 000 hungarians in Transcarpathia, because of obscure and unknown American interests or just because we ask. Well that would also cause significant interior uproar and a significant loss of support for the govt.

The above is even more shocking in comparison to Russian way of dealing, especially since it shows that there is no way such a small country may strike a fair deal with the US even in favorable times. Dont misunderstood me the russian modus operandi also makes you feel the relative positions, your weakness that is. You have to first make a gesture, a bona fide step which they ask of you in advance. In order to prove yourself and to show that they are in a better position. This is usually a small diplomatic support or the selling/giving up some international/national position. If you do that what comes after is usually a mutually beneficial cooperation. In case you are dealing with US officials the terms are dictated and you have the only option of saying yes. Should you say no you are immediately made the consequences felt. Yet advancing ones interests is not a one way street. The above method may have worked when the threat of an all consuming Soviet Union always loomed on the horizon and more importantly a communist revolution was likely. Not today. Like Human League sings in their song Heart like a wheel: You cant make friends with an M-16.

As of today western alignment serves our interests better but as shown above steps are already made to loosen these ties, as the relation has become too one sided, demanding too much for little in return. This is also true towards our other important ally, the EU and especially Germany whose steps will be discussed in the next chapter.Rebel Wilson and David Wenham will head up the cast of a new 10 part ABC drama, Les Norton.

Based on the novels by Robert G. Barrett the series follow the exploits of Les Norton, a country bloke from outback Queensland in 1985. On the run from a troubled past, he blows into Sydney where he lands a job as a bouncer at a notorious illegal casino in Kings Cross. A classic fish out of water whos desperate to get home, he soon finds himself seduced by the citys illicit charms and dragged into a web of underground criminality.

The title role is to be played by Alexander Bertrand (pictured, Australian Gangster, Hide & Seek).

Produced by Daniel Edwards and John Edwards from Roadshow Rough Diamond, it will be directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse (The Dressmaker, Proof), Fadia Abboud (Australian Gangster), David Caesar (Dead Lucky, Underbelly) and Morgan ONeill (Drift, Solo).

It has been created for television by Morgan ONeill, working alongside writers Christopher Lee (Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo), Samantha Winston (Wentworth), Shanti Gudgeon (Wolf Creek), Malcolm Knox (Romper Stomper), and Jessica Tuckwell.

Les and his reprobate mates are caught up in a Sydney that was at its most debauched in the 80s, and the shows blackly hilarious as a consequence, John Edwards said.

ABCs Sally Riley says: We are over the moon that Les Norton has lured such a stellar cast and creative team to bring the novels to life. Les Norton is shaping up to be an enviable addition to the ABCs 2019 drama slate.

Head of Content at Screen Australia, Sally Caplan said: Les Norton is an affable character that has proven popular with audiences in the best-selling book series. What excites me about this TV adaptation is that the creative team have included a slew of new female roles to go head on with the male characters established in the books.

Create NSW Acting Director of Screen Investment, Engagement & Attraction Sally Regan said, This adaptation of Robert G. Barretts classic Aussie larrikin character will undoubtedly bring a smile to a wide audience across the country. Backed by a strong production team, Roberts popular books are perfect for screen adaptation and we look forward to seeing Les fish out of water escapades unfold.

Les Norton is a Roadshow Rough Diamond production for the ABC. Major production investment from Screen Australia and the ABC, in association with Create NSW. International sales by Sonar Entertainment Distribution. ABC Head of Drama, Comedy & Indigenous Sally Riley will work as Executive Producer with Andrew Gregory; Deeper Water Films John Schwarz and Michael Schwarz; and John Singleton and Jack Singleton.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu Monday told the parliament that US authorities have been arresting members of FETO organization of Pennsylvania-based Turkish cleric Fetullah Gulen accused by Ankara for orchestrating the July 2016 botched military coup against President President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Cavusoglu, addressing the Parliament plenary session for the presentation of the 2019 central government budget, said the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has begun investigation in 15 states on members of the Turkish oversea organization, viewed by Ankara as terror group, Daily Sabah reports.

The FBI told us that they have begun to see the dark side of the FETO through their findings. Arrests have also been made in some places like New Jersey, Cavusoglu said.

The Turkish top diplomat also indicated that Ankara has handed over to President Donald Trumps administration names of 84 people allegedly connected to the Gulen movement.

The announcement about investigations and arrests came after Trump told Erdogan Saturday that his administration has begun working on Gulens extradition.

Both leaders, Cavusoglu said, discussed the case of the former Erdogan ally who has gone into self-imposed exile since 1999.

Our president brought it up in Argentina [at his meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the G20 Summit]. Trump specifically said we are working for the extradition of the FETO terrorist leader, Trump was quoted as saying by the Turkish official.

Ankara has been pressing for Gulens extradition. Turkish authorities have held the man and his organization, which runs dozens of schools, businesses around the world, responsible for the July 2016 failed coup that aimed to topple Erdogan.Australian actress Samara Weaving has been released from SMILF following a complaint she made about having to perform a sex scene naked.

Weaving made a complaint to actress Rose ODonnell and a director during Season Two of the ABC Studios production. Weaving and co-star Miguel Gomez were eventually told they could film the scene in their underwear.

ABC completed an investigation into alleged misconduct by Frankie Shaw, creator and star of the series, but concluded that there had been no wrongdoing on Shaws part.

Weaving was released from her contract at her request, and is not expected to join the show for a potential third season.

Shaw has also been accused of discriminatory behaviour toward the shows African-American writers but maintains, I am now and always have been open to hearing and addressing all concerns and issues that fall within my control. It pains me to learn that anyone felt uncomfortable on my set. I sincerely hope we can work together to resolve any and all issues, as I am committed to creating a workplace in which all people feel safe and heard.

SMILF airs in Australia on Stan.

Source: VarietyEXCLUSIVE: Seven is not proceeding with more of The Blake Mysteries in 2019, all but signalling the end for the Doctor Blake franchise.

The network has cited lack of time slots in its 2019 schedule as the reason behind its decision.

A Seven spokesperson told TV Tonight, The Blake Mysteries performed very well. The numbers keep building and confirm the commercial success of the movie length episode. The cast delivered superb performances, developing the continuous story themes beautifully.

At this stage, our 2019 schedule is firming up and we simply dont have appropriate time slots for a series.

Sadly the show, and indeed the network, has been caught up in events working against it.

After the December Media show was axed by ABC, Seven threw it a lifeline with a plan for 4 telemovies. But following headlines involving star Craig McLachlan it scaled back to one telemovie with Nadine Garner as the newly-wedded Jean Blake, testing the waters as the lead in A New Beginning.

Isolated on the final Friday in the ratings year the drama was certainly up against it.

It drew 450,000 in overnight viewers and another 143,000 in 7 day timeshifted viewing -a not-unexpected result given it had no series momentum and limited audience awareness. But it was a long way from the 900,000 plus who had backed the show on ABC.

Despite the initial backing of the franchise, Sevens dilemma has been twofold: the unforeseen absence of its leading man at the same time as it greenlit another ABC spin-off in Ms. Fishers Modern Murder Mysteries.

Suddenly the network found itself with 2 mystery dramas, both with female sleuths in Victoria in the 1960s. But only one was dogged by headlines.

The news will disappoint loyal Blake Army international fans whose passion for the show, with social media campaigns and petitions, was crucial to the shows future at Seven. Their support for McLachlan, yet to face any police charges, has been unwavering. Despite being torn over their high regard for Nadine Garner it has only ever been McLachlan they want to see in the title role.

Now it appears untested allegations from a stage production in Adelaide have killed off any hope of either doing just that.

Garner will be seen in 2019 in 10s upcoming comedy Mr. Black alongside Stephen Curry, while McLachlans defamation case begins in February.

Updated: Producers Tony Wright and George Adams said, What a personal privilege its been to bring you this show from Season one until now, and what a delight it was to create this telemovie for Channel 7.

Nadine Garner and the entire cast and crew were indeed superb. Once again, thanks to all of you who got behind it.Many fans of The Apprentice consider The Interviews as the highlight of the series. By this point in the process, we have seen the Candidates fall or fly in a series of tasks, where they work alongside their fellow Candidates and often rely on the blame-game to get them through the process.

But in The Interviews, the Candidates face Lord Sugar's most trusted allies, including Claude Littner, one on one and have no one but themselves to help get them through. As is a tradition the Candidates were given time to prepare their business plans, before handing them in to be scrutinised.

The Interviews

The Candidates were understandably nervous as they sat in the lobby waiting to be called for their interviews, but for Camilla Ainsworth and Daniel Elahi, the nerves brought us two hilarious moments both involving Claude. First up was Camilla who entered Claude's interview room with a "Yoohoo," to which Claude's only response was a disappointed "Yoohoo?"

Next was Daniel, the only boy left in the process who told his fellow Candidates "I'm going to shake his hand," as he left to have his interview with Claude. But to the surprise of only Daniel, Claud simply stared at Daniel's outstretched hand and told him "Sit down." Since taking over from Nick Hewer, Claude has become fan favourite with his no-nonsense responses and permanently disappointed look.

Kadjia Kaliffa also earnt herself a spot on the best moments of the series as she began to shout at Linda Plant, an outspoken fashion designer who gave back as good as she got. Previously in the series, Lord Sugar had compared Kadija to "Kim Jong-un," which she took as a compliment despite not knowing who he was.

There were also tears in this year's interview process, as Kadija broke down as she opened up to Claudine Collins about her reasons for being in the process and what it would mean to her to win.

Meanwhile, Sian Gabbidon was brought to tears by fellow Leeds girl Linda Plant, who told her "You can build a brand living in Leeds," which overwhelmed Sian, especially coming from a woman in the fashion design industry.

Triple firing

It was no surprise to longtime fans of The Apprentice that The Final Five would quickly become the Final Two as the Candidates faced, what for three of them would be their final boardroom.

The Candidates were once again left nervous and waiting as the interviewers visited Lord Sugar, Karen Brady and Claude Littner in The Boardroom, while the Candidates sat outside.

Unlike most boardrooms, this one was not as intense as it appeared that Lord Sugar had made up his mind, although he still let each Candidate have one last chance to try and sway him. Sabrina Stocker was first to lose her place after her habitual cancellations in her current business put Lord Sugar off.

Kadija's unobtainable upscaling of her business was enough to get her fired as Lord Sugar and his associates were unable to visualise Kadija's business plan in the same way that she did. Last to lose a place in the final was only boy Daniel, who's hangover recovery drink led Lord Sugar to fire him, as he did not want to be seen as an advocate for excessive drinking.

Camilla Ainsworth, a Nut Milk Brand Owner, and Sian Gabbidon, a Swimwear Designer became The Final Two and were now in a head to head battle to win Lord Sugars 250,000 investment.Sajan Kumar is an important leader of the Congress party who is regarded as a Gandhi loyalist. He has been a party member for over 40 years and has represented Delhi in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament.

Sajjan Kumar due to his proximity to the top echelons of the Congress party namely Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi (now deceased) was able to evade the long arm of the law for 34 years. He was accused of orchestrating the killings of hundreds of Sikhs in 1984 after the Sikh bodyguards of Indira Gandhi assassinated the Indian prime minister. The Times of India has reported that the court has observed that "political patronage" is the cause of Sajjan Kumar remaining scot-free for so long.

Sajjan Kumar

Sajjan Kumar led a charmed life, and even the lower court failed to convict him. This was because of the political patronage he enjoyed in the Congress party. The acquittal was appealed in the High Court, and a two bench has set aside the verdict of the lower court and sentenced the Congress leader and former member of Parliament to life in prison till his natural death. Sajjan Kumar has said he will appeal to the Supreme Court which some time back set aside triple talaq. As per Sikh leaders, the Supreme Court is unlikely to give relief to Sajjan Kumar.

The shame

With 2019 election around the corner, the Congress party is in a dilemma. It had not bargained for the conviction of a senior member of the party in the killings of the Sikhs.

Independent India which recently opted for the S-400 missile system carried out one of the worst massacres ever in World history when over 3500 Sikhs were murdered or burnt alive, and numerous Sikh women dishonored while their husbands were burnt. One wonders how India will live down this shame. The sad part is that the Congress party organized this massacre and party leaders exhorted the cadre and lumpen elements to kill Sikhs.

Sajjan Kumar reportedly exhorted the crowds to kill Sikhs as the bodyguards had killed the " mother." The BBC has reported that the high court judgment is a milestone conviction over the 1984 Sikh killings.

Sikh killings

The Sikh killings are a sore point with the Sikhs worldwide. More so as after 34 years only a handful of men have been convicted for killing thousands of Sikhs.

Partly this was because of the political cover by the then ruling party, the Congress. It's sad that a party that spearheaded the freedom movement with an apostle of peace and love like Gandhi stooped to this level in organizing mass killings.

The Delhi High Court has struck a telling blow, and some of the Sikhs may feel happy but many feel that 34 years is too long a time to wait for a verdict and tens of other leaders of the Congress party are roaming free. Sajjan Kumar's appeal will be heard by the Supreme Court which some time back upheld the death sentence of Nirbhya rapists and killers.hyuga aircraft carrier japan navy rimpac

Public Domain

Japan has revealed plans for a first aircraft carrier and increases in spending and weapons capability in the years ahead, citing potential threats from North Korea and China as part of new defense guidelines adopted Tuesday.

The Cabinet approved guidelines call for refitting an existing helicopter carrier into a ship that can deploy over 40 F-35B stealth fighters.

The new guidelines say Japan needs to be well-prepared and demonstrate its strength against threats, noting weak points from frequency of natural disasters and its long coastline, dotted with vulnerable nuclear power plants.

The new guidelines underscore Prime Minister Shinzo Abes push to expand Japans military role and capability.

TOKYO (AP)  Japan adopted new defense guidelines Tuesday that include plans for its first aircraft carrier and increases in spending and weapons capability in coming years, citing the need to counter potential threats from North Korea and China.

The guidelines approved at a Cabinet meeting call for refitting an existing helicopter carrier into a ship that can deploy 42 expensive F-35B stealth fighters capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings  part of Japans planned purchase of 147 F-35s over the next decade.

The guidelines would replace Japans current defense plan halfway through and underscore Prime Minister Shinzo Abes push to expand Japans military role and capability to make Japan what Abe has called a normal country. Abe has long wanted to revise Japans U.S.-drafted constitution that renounces war and has already broadened the concept of self-defense, the sole role of its armed forces while the U.S. has fulfilled Japans security needs since its occupation after World War II.

Defense officials say Japan needs higher deterrence and increased missile defense and fighter capability to cope with threats from North Korea and China and other changes in the regions security environment. The new guidelines say Japan needs to be well-prepared and demonstrate its strength against threats, noting the archipelago is vulnerable to natural disasters and its long coastline is dotted with vulnerable nuclear power plants.

Story continues

Officials say the Maritime Self-Defense Forces helicopter carrier Izumo, a 250-meter (820-foot)-long, flat-top destroyer that can carry 14 helicopters, is set to be refitted as an aircraft carrier. Japan has relatively little land on which to build runways long enough for conventional F-35s, and an aircraft carrier would be particularly useful in the western Pacific, where Japan wants to play a greater role as part of the U.S.-Japan alliance.

Critics say possession of an aircraft carrier would give Japan a strike capability in violation of its pacifist constitution that limits use of force to self-defense only. Japan, under the new defense guidelines, also plans to possess cruise missiles designed to hit enemy targets, which opponents say could go beyond Japans pacifist principle.

Defense officials brushed off the criticism, saying Izumo will be a Multifunctional warship used as aircraft carrier only when necessary for national defense.

The guidelines say Japan needs to beef up its air defense capability in the Pacific, while expanding surveillance in the area. The Defense Ministry says Japan plans to purchase 105 conventional F-35s and 42 F-35Bs to replace some of its fleet of F-15s.

The big price tag for the jets  a F-35B costs about 10 billion yen ($90 million)  will drive up Japans defense spending, which has already climbed steadily for six straight years since Abe took office at the end of 2012. Japan plans to spend 235 billion yen ($2 billion) to buy a pair of land-fixed U.S. missile defense system, Aegis Ashore, as well as other American missile interceptors.

The Cabinet, under the guidelines, also approved a new Medium Term Defense Program requiring a record five-year defense spending of 27 trillion yen ($240 billion) beginning 2019, up more than 2 trillion yen ($17.6 billion) from an earlier five-year defense budget.

As Japan comes under pressure from President Donald Trump to allow more exports from the U.S., purchases of costly American weapons would be a way to reduce the U.S. trade deficit, while enhancing military cooperation between the allies.

Buying more American weapons, however, would be a setback for Japans defense industry and its hopes to develop its own replacement of F-2 fighter jets are uncertain. The guideline did not mention whether the F-2 successor would be made made-in-Japan or jointly developed.

NOW WATCH: Over 100 Hollywood films use the same scream  here's how it became the go-to sound effect for action movies

See Also:tiger air

Reuters

Australian police say they're investigating a "potential threat" which forced a plane to turn around an hour after taking off.

Tigerair flight TT271 from Sydney to Melbourne took off around 7 p.m. but landed back in Sydney at around 8 p.m.

New South Wales police told Business Insider they were called at 8:30 p.m. local time and attended the plane with other agencies.

A Tigerair spokesperson told the Daily Mail: "The Captain made the decision to return to Sydney following an incident onboard."

Police and Tigerair declined to explain what exactly the threat was.

Australian police are investigating a "potential threat" aboard an Australian budget flight which forced it to turn back after an hour in the air.

New South Wales Police told Business Insider that officers were called to Sydney Airport at 8:30 p.m. local time on Monday night.

FlightRadar path Tigerair

FlightRadar24.com

They were responding to what officers call a "potential threat" on Tigerair flight TT271 which was heading to Melbourne, a journey of around one hour and 35 minutes.

The Airbus A320 aircraft turned around mid-air and landed back in Sydney an hour after taking off, NSW police said.

sydney airport

PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images

A police spokesman said: "A domestic flight which left at about 7 p.m. bound to Melbourne became aware of a potential threat and as a precautionary measure the plane was turned around an landed at Sydney."

Officers said passengers were kept on the runway for several hours after the plane landed, but were allowed out around 11:30 p.m. local time. Officers said there were no arrests or injuries.

A Tigerair spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: "The Captain made the decision to return to Sydney following an incident onboard."

"In line with standard procedures, the Australian Federal Police met the aircraft on arrival."

Business Insider approached Tigerair for comment, but has yet to receive a response.

Story continues

NOW WATCH: This fish was sold for $1.8 million  here's why bluefin tuna is so expensive

See Also:A video posted to Twitter on December 17 shows refugees at a UNHCR Emergency Transit Center in Romania celebrating after being informed that their applications for resettlement in Norway had been accepted.

The clip was tweeted by the UNHCRs senior regional communications officer, Zoran Stevanovic, and shows the group, recently evacuated from Libya, rejoicing at the good news. Credit: UNHCR via StoryfulReports detail how Russia used social media to sow US divisions

Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election on social media was more widespread than previously thought and included attempts to divide Americans by race and extreme ideology, reports released Monday said.

The reports by private experts were released by US senators from both parties.

The Russian governments Internet Research Agency, based in St. Petersburg, Russia, tried to manipulate US politics, said the reports, one by social media analysts New Knowledge and the other by an Oxford University team working with analytical firm Graphika.

The twin reports largely verified earlier findings by US intelligence agencies, but offered much more detail about Russian activity going back years that continues even now, said the reports and senior lawmakers.

For instance, one Russian troll farm tried to encourage US secessionist movements in California and Texas, the New Knowledge report said.

This newly released data demonstrates how aggressively Russia sought to divide Americans by race, religion and ideology, said Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, in a statement.

The Russian agency worked to erode trust in US democratic institutions and its activities have not stopped, he said. The committee collected data from social media companies that was used by the private analysts in their analysis.

Senator Mark Warner, the committees top Democrat, said, These reports demonstrate the extent to which the Russians exploited the fault lines of our society to divide Americans in an attempt to undermine and manipulate our democracy.

These attacks... were much more comprehensive, calculating and widespread than previously revealed, he said.

'Conspiratorialist and... junk political news'

Oxford/Graphika said the Russians spread sensationalist, conspiratorialist, and other forms of junk political news and misinformation to voters across the political spectrum.

The group said Russian trolls urged African-Americans to boycott the election or to follow wrong voting procedures, while also encouraging right-wing voters to be more confrontational.

Story continues

Since Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, it said, Russian trolls have put out messages urging Mexican-American and other Hispanic voters to mistrust US institutions.

The report from New Knowledge said the Russians ran comprehensive Anti-Hillary Clinton operations, such as efforts to organize Muslims to stage a pro-Clinton demonstration.

The report said Russian hackers also targeted Republican senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham and the late John McCain, as well as former FBI chief James Comey, special prosecutor Robert Mueller, and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

A US intelligence report in January 2017 said Russian President Vladimir Putin directed a sophisticated influence campaign including cyber attacks to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and support Trump.

The Kremlin has denied the allegations of meddling. Trump has denied any collusion between Russia and his campaign.

The matter is being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, whose long-running inquiry has clouded the Trump presidency and netted guilty pleas and indictments against former close Trump associates.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)Madagascar goes to the polls for the second round of its presidential elections on Wednesday in a run-off between two ex-presidents, Marc Ravalomanana and Andry Rajoelina, who clashed during the countrys 2009 political crisis.

The two candidates know each other well, having had a longstanding political rivalry. In January 2009, when Ravalomanana was president, the mayor of the capital Antananarivo, Rajoelina, denounced attacks on civil liberties and made himself the figurehead of a protest movement.

Over the course of the following month, the presidential guard suppressed a series of demonstrations by Rajoelinas supporters, killing around 100 people. After the army abandoned its support for him, Ravalomanana resigned on March 17 and went into exile in South Africa. That same day, the army bestowed full powers on Rajoelina.

This second-round run-off is really a rematch, noted Gaelle Borgia, FRANCE 24s Madagascar correspondent. It didnt happen in the 2013 presidential elections because neither could put forward their candidacy. But this election gives the two of them the chance to go face off against each other at the ballot box for the first time.

Neck-and-neck

Indeed, Ravalomanana and Rajoelina were banned from taking part in the 2013 elections because of the international communitys fears that a showdown between them would revive political violence. In their absence, Hery Rajaonarimampiana won at the polls and ascended to the presidency. But as the incumbent, he crashed out in the first round of this years elections, coming third, with a mere nine percent of the vote.

Rajoelina came top with 39 percent, ahead of Ravalomanana, who won 35 percent. According to Borgia, one should not make too much of the formers lead: it could be reversed in the second round if Ravalomanana forms the right alliances, she said.

They really are neck-and-neck; the outcome is very uncertain, and the presidential campaign hasnt made much difference to that, added Christiane Rafidinarivo, a Madagascar specialist and researcher at Sciences Po in Paris, in an interview with FRANCE 24.

Story continues

Attempting to win votes from supporters of candidates eliminated in the first round, the two ex-presidents have travelled across the country, wantonly disbursing gifts. Indeed, the two candidates share some striking similarities. Theyve both made fortunes as self-taught businessmen, and theyve both got a very strong political base in Madagascar, Borgia observed.

On the other hand, they have very different approaches to economic development in Madagascar. Rajoelina supports a programme focused on urban planning, with government investment to build new cities and reduce unemployment  although he doesnt say where the money will come from to pay for this, said Rafidinarivo. Ravalomanana, on the other hand, advocates a much more decentralised development strategy, driven by funds from big foreign donors and investors.

Fears of another political crisis

According to the World Bank, three-quarters of the population of Madagascar live on less than 2 a day. The country has been impoverished since independence and has repeatedly undergone economic crises since 1960, despite bounteous natural resources, Jean-Michel Wachsberger, a sociologist specialising in African economic development at the University of Lille, told FRANCE 24.

Whichever of the two ex-presidents comes out on top in Wednesdays vote, there is likely to be a high abstention rate. It is up by ten points from the last election, which shows that there are a lot of disengaged voters  one in two voters didnt turn out, said Wachsberger.

Just a few months ago, between April and June 2018, Madagascar was shaken by opposition demonstrations, demanding that Rajaonarimampianina leave office, on the basis of allegations that he was trying to silence his rivals before the elections. In order to break the deadlock, the countrys highest court ordered the appointment of a new prime minister and a government of national unity.

Some observers fear that if the results are tight, the losing candidate will contest the outcome and plunge Madagascar into yet another political crisis.

Time will tell, said Wachsberger. There are some very strong grievances in Madagascar that are just waiting to be expressed.

This article was adapted from the original in FrenchAn official of the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) of the Economic Commission for Africa has urged African leaders to honor their commitment to allocate 10 percent of their budgets to agriculture to improve the continents food security, reduce poverty and spur economic growth.

The ATPC Program Management Officer, Batanai Chikwene, who was peaking at the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) held last week in Cairo, said that with the continent on the cusp of great things with the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), more resources were needed to support agriculture and smallholder farmers.

The AfCFTA will be of immense help to small scale farmers and start-ups on the continent. In addition to providing them with 97 percent market access and a framework for trade facilitation, it will eliminate barriers inhibiting their growth, he said, insisting that as access to finance is important, it is time to urge African leaders to recommit themselves and build that capacity for farmers to increase productivity.

Mr. Chikwene said with the AfCFTA, Africas farmers need to be ready not only to feed people in their own countries but the entire continent and also to penetrate international markets.

The private sector also has a crucial role to play in helping to finance the sector, he said, adding Africas small scale farming was key to the continents economic success hence the need for leaders to refocus on the sector.

African leaders agreed in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2003 to refocus national attention to building stronger, more dynamic agriculture sectors. In the Maputo Declaration, they agreed to re-invest at least 10 percent of their national budgets to improve food security, reduce poverty, and spur rural development.

So far just a few of our countries have kept their promise. Our farmers need the support if the AfCFTA is to make the huge difference that we expect it to make on the continent, said Mr. Chikwene.Taylor Kirby already knew Saturday was going to be a memorable day. But the University of North Georgia graduate couldn't have predicted tears flowing even before her morning commencement ceremony began.

Kirby's father, Army Col. Norman "Chip" Kirby Jr., made a surprise visit on a short leave from active-duty military service in the Middle East. Only Kirby's mother, Jan Kirby, knew her daughter and the rest of their family were in for a reunion five months earlier than expected. Both of Taylor Kirby's parents are 1993 alumni of UNG, and Chip was a member of UNG's Corps of Cadets.

As shocked family members smiled and ask questions about who knew what, Taylor Kirby stepped into her father's embrace and began crying tears of joy. Her father had told her he would be watching the ceremony online.

"I'm excited to graduate anyway," Taylor Kirby said. "And then he gets to be here."

Chip Kirby called it "the best experience of my life."

Jan Kirby said the family had expected her husband to be back for their son's high school graduation in the spring, but after his deployment in September, seeing him at their daughter's ceremony was originally doubtful.

"This is great," Jan Kirby said. "I really appreciate all the help he received getting here."

UNG President Bonita C. Jacobs met with the family to congratulate Taylor and thank Chip for his service.

"Col. Kirby, like many of our alumni, is currently deployed to the Middle East as an active duty soldier, and we are grateful to him for his service and that he was able to attend this important celebration in the life of his family," Jacobs said.

Coverage of the surprise for the Kirby family was shared by CBS46, FOX 5 Atlanta, 11 Alive, AccessWDUN, and The Gainesville Times.

Taylor was one of more than 600 students who received their degrees at UNG's two fall commencement ceremonies Dec. 15.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and University System of Georgia Board of Regents member Erin Hames were the commencement speakers at the Saturday ceremonies in the Convocation Center on UNG's Dahlonega Campus.

Separate commissioning ceremonies were held Friday for 26 members of the Corps of Cadets entering the armed forces as second lieutenants.Children in San Bernardino, California are getting extra festive this year by celebrating the holiday season with a Shop With A Cop event. With local law enforcement officials sponsoring the event to help children and their families scoop up some beloved holiday presents at their local Walmart, reportedly hundreds of gifts have already been bought.

Community leaders and police officials note that the popular event is a way of building rapport between law enforcement officials and the people theyre protecting, and the event has been going on for well over a decade now.

The Walmart Corporation is directly involved in the event and has contributed more than $300,000 to the initiative since its partnership with local police forces began.

Through the San Bernardino Sheriffs Employees Benefit Association, some 14 Walmarts in San Bernardino County opened their doors to eager children hungry for some holiday cheer. Those lucky kids who are nominated to the event get paired up with a volunteer, oftentimes a law enforcement official, and receive a voucher for $200 worth of holiday goodies.

"It's a great way to get in touch with the community and give back to those that are less fortunate," Deputy Steve Kuskowski told ABC 7. "And being able to show a little extra love to the little ones."

Popular event

The holiday event is particularly welcome in San Bernardino County following a tough year of fighting intense wildfires, which drew international news coverage owing to their harsh severity.

The LA Times has noted that wildfires throughout the state of California have already devastated nearly 200,000 acres of land, with over 30 people having been killed thus far.

Shop With A Cop events hope to deliver a little good news just in time for the holiday season, especially since those children nominated to the event are typically from low-income households that struggle with holiday spending and have to use a money saving website to make ends meet.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

Sheriffs deputies help children throughout the store locate everything from toys and school supplies to new clothing and bicycles.

More events around the country

San Bernardino County isnt the only host of a Shop With A Cop event; the increasingly-popular initiative is gaining traction with law enforcement agencies around the country because of its roaring success.

With local community members and media organizations lauding the police involved in the giving opportunity, the trend is likely to continue growing.

San Bernardino Countys initiative is unique insofar as its focused on children over the age of 10, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Office.Vivo Energy and the Zakoura Foundation have signed a partnership agreement with the Ministry of National Education to bolster environmental education in Morocco.

The aim of this innovative partnership is to unite efforts for the Mama Tabiaa environmental education program. The Mama Tabiaa program (Mother Nature) will be generalized in the primary cycle in order to benefit a maximum of pupils, Vivo Energy said in a press release.

To support this objective, an online training platform has been created to enable teachers to complete comprehensive program training through tutorial videos (MOOCs).

It offers comprehensive training on the educational content of the environmental education program. This online platform is free and guarantees a quality training fast and certified by Zakoura Academy. It is accessible at www. mamatabiaa.ma, the press release added.

We are proud of the Mama Tabiaa initiative, launched with the Zakoura Foundation in 2015. To date, nearly 150 public primary schools have rolled out this program, with more than 6,000 children between the ages of 8 and 11 being sensitized. The new takeoff that it is taking place today is the commitment to this initiative, which is our commitment to contribute to the future of tomorrows Morocco, said Asaf V. Sasaoglu, CEO of Vivo Energy Maroc.

Based on innovative teaching methods, which combine interactivity and learning through play, the Mama Tabiaa program seeks to develop eco-citizen behavior among primary school students. The digitalization of the Mama Tabiaa training offers teachers the pedagogical tools they need to deliver this program in their classes. Through this new platform, nearly 130,000 public primary school teachers will benefit from this training.

The development and launch of a training platform dedicated to the Mama Tabiaa environmental education program reflects our common desire, with our loyal partner Vivo Energy Maroc, to democratize our actions in a sustainable perspective. With the support of the Ministry of National Education, this innovative and enriching extra-curricular program can be integrated into a larger number of public primary schools and thus raise awareness to the environment, President of the Zakoura Foundation, Jamal Belahrach, said.

As a reminder, it was in February 2015 that the environmental education program was launched in some public schools in Casablanca and non-formal education schools of the Foundation.

The program was later extended to other cities in Morocco. So far, nearly 6,000 children and their relatives have been sensitized to environmental issues.Georgian Activist from Occupied Tskhinvali Awarded for Human Rights Protection

By Tea Mariamidze

Tamar Mearakishvili, Georgian activist based in the countrys occupied Akhalgori area, has been awarded by the Embassy of Netherlands with the Human Rights Award for her activities in occupied Akhalgori.Embassies of the Netherlands and France in Georgia awarded organizations and activists in Georgia in connection to the Human Rights Day, marked on December 10.The Netherlands Embassy issued the prizes for the first time this year and the priority was to identify local community activists.The Embassy of the Netherlands also awarded Guliko Khangoshvili, chairman of the Women's Council of Pankisi.Besides, two ethnic Azeri young men from Sadakhlo, Kamran Afandiyev and Arias Dashdemirl, who founded various educational centers, including Georgian language learning courses, won the awards.As for the winner organizations in the field of human rights, the French Embassy awarded them. These organizations are Kakheti Regional Development Fund, as well as organization Imedi handicap and organization Sokhumi.Mearakishvili is a journalist and a human rights activist, who faces four different charges, raised against her by the puppet regime of South Ossetia for fabrication and falsification of documents and defamation towards the ruling party United Ossetia.Last year she faced illegal detention twice but was later released. The activist was deprived of all ID documents and has been restricted to leave the occupied territory.In spring the Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria nominated Mearakishvili, Georgian for the United Nations Human Rights Prize and Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize for her "outstanding contribution to defending the rights of the conflict-affected population.Lomjaria wrote that activist and blogger Mearakishvili has been reporting on the critical human rights situation in the occupied town of Akhalgori and the violation of the rights of local people by the de facto authorities, "at the risk of putting her own life, health and safety in danger.She also urged the Georgian government to pay the utmost attention to Mearakishvili and her familys social situation and to protect their rights.Lomjarias statement reads that by nominating her for the United Nations and Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prizes, the public defender is expressing her gratitude to Mearakishvili for her contribution to the protection of the rights of the conflict-affected population.Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey appointed Rep. Martha McSally to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jon Kyl. Ducey's office made the announcement on Tuesday. Kyl's departure is effective at year-end; McSally will presumably be seated when the new Congress convenes the following week.

Kyl was appointed by Ducey after Sen. John McCain's death in August. McCain's seat is next up for a full six-year term in 2022. The timing of the initial replacement requires a special election to be held in November, 2020, for the final two years of that term. Given that McSally was just on the ballot for Arizona's other U.S. Senate seat - she lost a close race to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema - we'd expect her to run in that 2020 election.Joanna Biggs at the LRB:

Plath grows up in Cold War America, deceived by a God who let her father die, wanting more than anything to be a writer and to marry a man who would make her feel like she had a vodka sword in her stomach, always. And she gets it when she arrives in Cambridge in 1956, meets her black marauder and marries him in mothers gift of a pink knit dress three and a half months later. (When I got married at 28 to the man I met at Oxford at 19, I married in pink partly under the influence of Ted and Sylvia, partly because my mother had also married, though not knowing or caring about Plath, in a pink knitted dress in 1977. I liked the resonances, then.) But the world, even when it gives her what she wants, also doesnt. Literary success is baseless, fleeting; the marriage dissolves in betrayal, arguments, abandonment. The hard work has come to ash. Awake at 4 a.m. when the sleeping pills wear off, she finds a voice and writes the poems of her life, ones that will make her a myth like Lazarus, like Lorelei. But now she knows that her conception of her life, psychological and otherwise, is no longer tenable, and never was. Now what? I love you for listening, Plath, abandoned and alone, tells her analyst Ruth Beuscher in a letter late in 1962. The rest of us are listening at last.

more here.NGOs Assess the Prosecution Reform Results

The Parliament of Georgia adopted the Organic Law on Prosecution with the third reading on November 30. The reform was based on the Constitutional reform of 2017-2018, which put the organizational setup and functions of the prosecution system in a new framework. The objective of the Constitutional reform of the prosecution system was ensuring its independence and political neutrality.In the process of harmonization with the Constitutional reform, the draft Organic Law on Prosecution was to create a legal mechanism for organizational setup, functioning and accountability that would be able to meet the objectives of the Constitutional reform and aid in creating an independent and politically neutral system.A working group comprised of representatives of various interest groups was set up by Parliaments Legal Affairs Committee to work on the prosecution reform. Various interest groups and experts submitted their reports and legislative initiatives to the Parliament and public meetings were held.Despite the involvement of the interest groups and exchange of opinions at the initial stages of the reform process, the Parliament initiated draft changes to the Organic Law that did not reflect a single one of the critically important suggestions that were essential for meeting the objectives of the Constitutional reform. Regrettably, subsequent stages of the reform were conducted in haste and behind closed doors. The Legal Affairs Committee heard the initiated draft on the second, and most important, hearing on October 31, without publishing a prior notice of the hearing, and hence without the participation of the interested public. The draft was heard in its third reading in Kutaisi in the period between plenary sessions, and the information regarding the planned Committee hearing was not published in the timeframe stipulated by the regulations.Assessment of Specific Issues of the Law- Prosecutorial Council - Composition and AuthorityOne important aspect of the Constitutional reform is strengthening the Prosecutorial Councils role in the prosecution system. According to the new Constitution, the Prosecutorial Council is the body that should ensure the independence, transparency and effectiveness of the whole structure. With this provision, the Constitution fundamentally altered the existing role of the Prosecutorial Council and gave the main directions for a future detailed legislative regulation.Defining the scope of the Prosecutorial Councils authority is largely dependent on the rules of its composition. The various proposals for the composition and appointment of the Council members made to Parliament by various interest groups at different times aimed at creating a politically neutral Council on the basis of consensus, which would then serve as a firm guarantee for the Prosecutors Offices s independence and openness.Regarding the authority of the Prosecutorial Council, the Coalition member organizations main proposal aimed at replacing the unilateral decision-making role of the Prosecutor General regarding important systemic and organizations matters with decisions discussed and adopted by a collegial body.The Parliament of Georgia did not adopt almost any of the major proposals and comments regarding the Prosecutorial Councils composition and authority made by interest groups. In the draft that was supported by the Parliament, the Council composition, rules for appointment and authority remain unchanged. With the final version of the law, political actors and the party quotas are maintained, which are considered undesirable by international recommendations. The mandate of the Minister of Justice is also maintained in the process of the Prosecutorial Councils composition. To ensure compliance with the Constitution, only a technical change was introduced according to which the Minister of Justice nominates one candidate to the Council, who is then appointed by the Parliament. In the circumstances of complete detachment of the prosecution service from the Ministry of Justice and the Cabinet, the participation of the Justice Minister in the composition of the Prosecutorial Council is completely unfounded.The international experience and recommendations in this regard clearly point out that the main reason for Prosecutorial Councils establishment is ensuring politicization and autonomy] of the prosecution service from all branches of government. This objective cannot be met with the current rules of the Councils composition.Although the Parliament took into consideration some proposals regarding the Prosecutorial Councils functions, the adopted legislation does not significantly alter its authority. With the current model, the Prosecutorial Councils main authority is still the selection of the Prosecutor Generals candidacy. The Parliament did not entrust the Council with determining staffing and disciplinary policies, which are usually such Councils direct function and in line with international experiences. The Parliaments argument in limiting the Councils functions is that administration and management of prosecution go beyond the competence of the Council since the Prosecutor General is the person who is to ensure the systems effectiveness. With this argument, the parliament unequivocally negated the Prosecutorial Councils Constitutional function. The new Constitutional provision defines the Councils role by giving it three main spheres of authority, and directly states that the Prosecutorial Council is the body responsible for the Prosecutions effectiveness.The laws finalized version allows for the creation of another collegial consultative body in parallel with the Council. The Parliament shifted disciplinary and specific personnel issues into the sphere of this bodys competence. However, this body, unlike the Prosecutorial Council, will be under the General Prosecutors direct supervision. Such a consultative body already exists, but there are many legitimate questions regarding its independence.- The issues related to the selection of Prosecutor GeneralThe final version of the law has not significantly altered the procedure for appointing the Prosecutor General. Under the adopted law, selection of the Prosecutor General is the Prosecutorial Councils major function. The reform missed an opportunity for comprehensive legislative changes that would create a regulation safeguarding the process of appointment of Prosecutor General from one-sided decisions. The final version of the law does not significantly differ from the provisions of the law that was in force prior to the Constitutional reform. That law was often criticized by various groups for creating a high risk of one-sided political decisions.The Coalition member organizations proposals were aimed at improving the procedure. In the final version of the law, the parliament included a requirement to justify decisions. However, the selection procedure is still ambiguous. The Parliament did not consider the Coalition member organizations recommendation to substitute consultations, an unclear procedure established in the law for the selection of a Prosecutor General with an open competition. The amendments require the development of specific regulations for the selection of the Prosecutor General in the form of bylaws. It is not advisable or reasonable to regulate the selection of high-level public officials by means of a sub-statutory act. Also, contrary to international best practices and relevant recommendations, the law still allows multiple appointments of the same person as a Prosecutor General.- Accountability of Prosecutor General and other issues regulated in the lawThe legal order existing in the country and relevant experiences suggest that the only effective mechanism for ensuring an external control of independent bodies is to develop clear rules of their accountability. To avoid a situation in which a Prosecutors Office with the status of an independent body becomes fully alienated and uncontrolled by the society, an effective legislative mechanism should be put in place. The law should establish the reporting format and criteria to ensure accountability.The final version of the law considered several components of accountability. More specifically, the law requires the Prosecutor General to present an annual report. It also defines the scope of the report. Under this regulation, the Prosecutors Office is obliged to inform the Parliament and public about the criminal situation existing in the country, types of widespread crimes, trends and other issues.The Parliament made a step forward by considering the stakeholders attitudes toward the criminal justice policy. After the enforcement of the law, the Parliament of Georgia will be directly responsible for defining the criminal justice policy.ConclusionThe process of reforming the Prosecutors Office was an important stage in the full-scale enactment of constitutional changes to create solid institutional guarantees for real independence of the Prosecutors Office. Despite the initial openness and eagerness of the Parliament to cooperate, the process of reform demonstrated that the Parliament did not consider the essential and crucial proposals and postponed discussions of these issues to a later stage. Hence, the adopted law does not address critical issues that create major challenges for the system. These issues are the politicization of the composition of the Prosecutorial Council and excessive authority of Prosecutor General.The process of work on the organic law and its results have demonstrated that the Parliament is not ready for fundamental and radical changes. Correspondingly, the reform was confined to mostly technical and insufficient amendments. Such small-scale changes and revisions do not ensure harmonization of the law with the constitutional reform and do not correspond to its intention to ensure independence and effectiveness of the Prosecutors Office through a depoliticized collegial body, the Prosecutorial Council.During the working process, the Parliament made it clear that it will revisit the most important issues, such as the composition of the Prosecutorial Council and its authority after receiving the opinion of the Venice Commission. It is regrettable that the process did not ensure the Venice Commissions involvement at an earlier stage to provide the Parliament and stakeholders with the Commissions assessments prior to the adoption of the law.The Coalition calls on the Parliament to revisit the fundamental reform of the Prosecutors Office during the Spring Session, and in the meanwhile to continue working on this topic in a working group with the involvement of stakeholders. The adopted amendments do not meet the objectives of the constitutional reform. Hence, further changes must ensure full compliance of the law with the Constitution. This requires an essential revision of the composition and functions of the Council.'Little library' at Roncalli Elementary dedicated to teacher who died

Jeanne Webb taught the fourth grade and could always be found with a book in her hand.The proportion of U.S. high school seniors who are vaping tobacco products nearly doubled in the past year, with more than 1 in 5 now saying they have vaped to get a hit of nicotine in the past 30 days, according to a new study.

The prevalence of nicotine vaping nearly doubled among 10th-graders as well, with nearly 1 in 6 using the electronic devices, researchers reported Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The findings suggest that the total number of high school students using tobacco surged by 1.3 million between 2017 and 2018. This increase was driven solely by nicotine vaping, the researchers wrote.

The figures are based on a nationwide survey of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders who participated in the Monitoring the Future study, which has tracked teen use of tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs and other substances every year since 1975.

In all that time, the researchers who conduct the survey have never seen a drugs popularity explode the way vaping did in the past year.

The absolute increases in the prevalence of nicotine vaping among 12th-graders and 10th-graders are the largest ever recorded by Monitoring the Future in the 44 years that it has continuously tracked dozens of substances, wrote a team led by Richard Miech, who leads the study at the University of Michigans Institute for Social Research.

When electronic cigarettes first took hold among U.S. teens nearly a decade ago, public health experts fretted that the slick devices would lure a new generation of kids into tobacco use.

The new report vindicates their fears.

Makers of vaping devices say their products are intended for use by adults, particularly smokers who would like to cut back on regular cigarettes by switching to a less-toxic alternative.

Juul, the company that now dominates the market, says its mission is to create a world where fewer people use cigarettes, and where people who smoke cigarettes have the tools to reduce or eliminate their consumption entirely, should they so desire.

Unlike traditional cigarettes, which burn tobacco, e-cigarettes use a battery to heat a liquid that is inhaled in an aerosol form. That liquid usually contains nicotine along with a mixture of chemicals and flavorings. Juuls starter pack includes pods with flavors like mango, mint and creme.

Other e-liquid flavors seemed to be squarely aimed at kids, with packages that resembled frosted cookies and sour candies.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered online retailers to stop selling such products in September as part of a broad initiative to reduce teen vaping. At the time, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said vaping had produced an epidemic of nicotine addiction among Americas youth, with a prevalence that was simply not tolerable.

The Monitoring the Future researchers agreed that stronger action was needed to keep vaping devices beyond the reach of minors. Regulators will need to pay close attention to the fast-changing market and be ready to modify their policies if necessary, they said.

Miech applauded the FDAs recent focus on kid-friendly flavors of vaping liquids. He also praised the agency for paying particular attention to Juul; the companys devices have become so popular among middle and high school students that juuling is now synonymous with vaping.

The sharp increase in teen vaping was revealed in surveys completed by a nationally representative group of 13,850 students. The eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders completed their questionnaires at school during a normal class period.

The 2014 edition of the Monitoring the Future study was the first to report that vaping had replaced smoking as the most popular way for teens to consume tobacco. Even as other forms of tobacco use declined among students, e-cigarettes continuously bucked that trend.

Still, the increase in the past year was striking.

Among 12th-graders, the proportion of students who said they had vaped a nicotine product in the 30 days before they took the survey soared from 11 percent in 2017 to 20.9 percent in 2018. Among 10th-graders, it jumped from 8.2 percent in 2017 to 16.1 percent in 2018, and among eighth-graders it rose from 3.5 percent last year to 6.1 percent this year.

The survey also asked about vaping of liquids that contained just flavoring, in order to track students who may have consumed nicotine without realizing it. When both categories of vaping were combined, the researchers found that 25 percent of high school seniors, 20.3 percent of sophomores and 9.7 percent of eighth-graders used e-cigarettes in 2018.

The use of any kind of nicotine-containing product  including traditional cigarettes, cigars and smokeless tobacco  by 12th-graders grew from 23.7 percent in 2017 to 28.9 percent in 2018.

This increase was driven solely by nicotine vaping, given that the use of each of the other six nicotine products declined, the researchers wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In other words, the rise of vaping has reversed recent progress in turning kids away from nicotine, Miech said. Researchers have found that high school students who vape are much more likely to become cigarette smokers than their classmates who dont vape.

These results suggest that vaping is leading youth into nicotine use and nicotine addiction, not away from it, Miech said in a statement.

Students growing attraction to vaping extended to marijuana, which increased by at least 50 percent across the board. In 2018, 7.5 percent of seniors, 7 percent of sophomores and 2.6 percent of eighth-graders said they had vaped marijuana in the past 30 days.

Use of other illicit drugs  including cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, ecstasy and hallucinogens  did not change substantially in the past year, and according to the survey results.

Although overall alcohol use didnt change, high school seniors were less likely to engage in binge drinking in 2018. The proportion of students who said they downed five or more drinks in a row at least once in the previous two weeks fell to 14 percent, from nearly 17 percent in 2017.

Monitoring the Future is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.Riccardo Giacconi, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who was known as the founder of X-ray astronomy, a discipline credited with opening a new window into the cosmos, died Dec. 9 in San Diego. He was 87.

A daughter, Anna Giacconi, confirmed his death and said she did not yet know the cause. Giacconi was born in Italy but worked primarily in the United States, where he spent most of his life. At the time of his death, he was listed as a faculty member in the physics and astronomy department at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

In 2002, the Nobel committee awarded Giacconi a share of the physics prize for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, which have led to the discovery of cosmic X-ray sources. The other half of the prize recognized Raymond Davis Jr. and Masatoshi Koshiba for the detection of cosmic neutrinos.

Giacconi was widely known as the father of X-ray astronomy, and the leader of the International Astronomical Union called him a determined, strong-minded visionary.

World astronomy bears a huge debt of gratitude to Riccardo Giacconi, IAU General Secretary Teresa Lago said in a statement.

For centuries, humans knew no more about the stars than their eyes could tell them. The starry universe seemed calm and immutable. But X-ray astronomy has helped create a new view, of turbulence, cataclysm, birth and death, creation and destruction.

Much of the modern understanding of the nature and dynamics of stars and galaxies, and the charged particles streaming between them, has been provided or supported by X-ray astronomy.

X-rays, although invisible to the eye, own just as firm a place on the electromagnetic spectrum as the light we can see. X-rays possess high energies and tell in turn of the high energy processes by which they are produced.

While they have streamed across the void of space for eons, only recently have scientists succeeded in capturing them, analyzing them and reading the messages that they carry about cosmic events at unimaginable distances.

The expansion of astronomy beyond visible light created a stir in science and beyond. Beyond the knowledge it provides of the cosmic environment in which we inhabit, X-ray astronomy is credited with yielding spinoff applications in industry, medicine, security and environmental monitoring.

Blocked by Earths atmosphere, the X-rays emitted by the stars and galaxies have been detectable only by reaching high elevations or by launching observing equipment into space.

Giacconi and his colleagues developed telescopes suited to gathering the faintest X-ray signals from the far reaches of the universe. In addition to recognizing and analyzing their meaning, the scientists showed patient diligence in obtaining the support needed to place their equipment on the appropriate spacecraft.

Among the challenges in creating an X-ray telescope was the high energies of the rays. Optical telescopes employ mirrors to reflect visible light. X-rays would tear through the mirrors, making them unusable.

Ultimately, geometries were devised so that X-rays would arrive at angles small enough to allow them to bounce off reflectors, rather than penetrate them.

Since the middle of the last century, what scientists have come to call the X-ray universe has been explored by the use of rockets and satellites, with the progress coming so rapidly that detector sensitivity has increased one billion times.

Giacconi was principal investigator for NASA satellites that orbited the Earth and trained their eyes on X-ray sources. He was a key mind behind the Uhuru X-ray satellite, which found what the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics described as the first evidence for a black hole, as well was the Einstein Observatory, the first imaging X-ray telescope.

He was credited with playing a major role in the launch and operation of NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory. Launched in 1999, it received credit for a profusion of scientific discoveries. In one notable achievement, Chandra found a cloud of hot gas that extended throughout a galactic cluster several million light-years across, with temperatures as high as 40 million degrees.

Riccardo Giacconi was born in Genoa on Oct. 6, 1931. After his parents separated, he lived for most of his youth in Milan with his mother, a high school teacher of math and physics.

Although a sometimes difficult student  by his account, he cut school and reveled in correcting his teachers  he was attracted to physics, particularly the study of elementary particles and cosmic rays.

He received a PhD in physics from the University of Milan in 1954 and began research in cosmic rays early on. A recipient of a Fulbright fellowship, he soon left for brief stays at Indiana University and then at Princeton.

After Princeton, he was brought to American Science and Engineering, a private research company, to start a program in space science. In his 14 years at AS & E, from 1959 to 1973, he was credited with creating what became the new science of X-ray astronomy.

He held leading roles in succeeding years at important scientific institutions and on major research projects. Among these were the Space Telescope Science Institute at Johns Hopkins. He served there from 1981 to 1992. At the institute he had responsibilities for operating the Hubble Space Telescope.

His reasons for leaving the telescope institute were disclosed in the biography he submitted years later for the Nobel committee. It suggested the depths of human emotion that exist beneath what may seem the austere exterior of science.

In 1991 my son Marc died in an automobile accident, he wrote, and the telescope institute, Hubble and the city of Baltimore, were continued and painful reminders of devastating grief. 

He jumped at the chance to become head of the European Southern Observatory. It was based in Germany, and he headed it from 1993 to 1999.

In 1999 he began five years as the president of Associated Universities Inc., a Washington-based manager of laboratories.

He was a recipient of NASAs Distinguished Public Service Award and of the National Medal of Science, which President George W. Bush awarded to him in 2003.

Giacconis survivors include his wife, the former Mirella Manaira, of San Diego; two daughters, Anna Giacconi of San Diego and Guia Trutter of Lake Forest, Illinois; and two grandchildren. The biography that he prepared for the Nobel committee in 2002 was dedicated to his wife and daughters. He also wrote that it was in memory of his son, Marc Antonio.Reports of anti-Semitic incidents in New Mexico have jumped since 2015, when eight were reported, to 24 thus far this year, according to Scott L. Levin, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks such activities.

At the same time, hate crimes in New Mexico, as reported to the FBI by local law enforcement agencies, fell from 26 in 2016 to seven last year.

Unfortunately, said Levin, there were likely many more unreported hate crimes but just how many is hard to say because out of 121 law enforcement agencies in New Mexico, only 17 actually report such crimes.

The reason, he said, is many law enforcement agencies say they dont have the support, the systems, the time or money.

If you dont measure it, youre not going to be able to manage it, Levin said Monday during a visit to Albuquerque.

The ADLs Mountain States Regional office covers Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. Levin is based in Denver.

Anti-Semitic incidents could include harassment such as racist or bigoted language in spoken or written form, but which do not rise to the level of a hate crime, which could include events such as assault or vandalism.

Levin shared a number of incidents that have occurred in New Mexico:

A written note was left at the Jewish Hillel house on the University of New Mexico campus, which was housing a Muslim student. The note read: Kill all sand (N word).

Also on the UNM campus a Jewish woman reported that she was targeted by Christian proselytizers who saw her wearing a Star of David necklace.

She said the proselytizers surrounded her and told her to convert or she was going to hell to atone for her sins. They further added that those who died in the Holocaust deserved to die because they did not accept Jesus Christ as their savior, and that shes beyond Gods grace and the only way to cleanse the world of her presence was by spilling her own blood, that she should kill herself, Levin said.

A parent reported to ADL that both of his children attend Cottonwood Classical Preparatory School, where they experienced anti-Semitic bullying. The parents 7th grader in particular not only encountered anti-Semitic slurs, but suggestions that she should kill herself, Levin said.

A New Mexico Holocaust educator reported that a website he created with a Holocaust survivor was hacked, apparently by a white supremacist who posted a message saying there was no Jewish Holocaust. Its sad that you actually believe your own lies. The hacker then went on to accuse Jews of killing million of gentiles in just the last century, as well as causing the black death, the bubonic plague pandemic that devastated Europe and Asia in the 14th century.

Anti-Semitic incidents are a bellwether of whats happening to groups of color, the LGBTQ community, to Muslims and others, as well as a harbinger of more serious hate crimes, Levin said.

He said groups that espouse racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia or Islamophobia appear to feel more emboldened since Donald Trump became president, but these elements have long existed in our country and Trump did not cause them.

He added that some issues taken up by the Republican Party appeal to the white supremacists and haters out there, and the fear is that the issues and language surrounding them are becoming mainstream politics.

We expect our children to model what they see from their parents and their community, as well as our national leaders, who are failing us by modeling bad behavior and attacking the institutions of our country, he said.

Part of the ADLs response, Levin said, is to provide educational resources and materials to schools, as well as track incidents and report the more serious ones to law enforcement agencies.

The other thing we do is demand our leaders speak out against it, Levin said. When it happens on college campuses, we want the college president to speak out; when it happens in cities, we want mayors and governors and civic leaders to not normalize it.

Americans have the constitutional right to say the most ugly things, Levin said, but those who oppose those things also have First Amendment rights to speak out against them.New parents who work for the city of Albuquerque may soon qualify for months of paid time off to spend with their kids.

The City Council on Monday approved revising the personnel policy to grant city employees up to 12 weeks of paid leave when they, their spouse or domestic partner have a baby, or become adoptive or foster parents.

The parental leave legislation, sponsored by Councilor Pat Davis, will take effect in 10 days unless vetoed by Mayor Tim Keller. But Kellers administration voiced support for the plan Monday.

We believe strongly that paid parental and sick leave is key to leveling the playing field for working families, Keller spokeswoman Alicia Manzano said in a written statement late Monday.

A budget analysis estimates the annual costs anywhere from $157,000 to $538,000. That includes about $50,000-$75,000 the city would spend on overtime or temporary workers to cover for those on leave. But the bulk of the cost is unrealized salary savings the city has been achieving when employees took parental leave without pay.

Currently, employees with new children can take 12 weeks of unpaid leave through the federal Family and Medical Leave Act or use other time off, such as accrued vacation or sick days.

We were essentially saving money on the backs of our employees by forcing them to take unpaid leave when they choose to have a child, Davis said of those who have used FMLA in the past. We can do better and, quite frankly, we can afford it.

Bernalillo County doesnt offer paid parental leave for its employees, according to a county spokeswoman.

We only do FMLA, said spokeswoman Tiffany Chamblee.

City economist Christine Boerner said some studies have shown that workers are more likely to return to a job that provides paid parental leave than one that did not, meaning the city could avoid some expenses associated with possible personnel turnover.

To qualify for paid parental leave, employees must have worked for the city at least a year. They must use the leave within six months of the birth or adoption.

If both parents work for the city, each can take 12 weeks.

Pamelya Herndon, CEO of the KWH Law Center for Social Justice and Change, advocated for the bill on Monday, saying it could help boost New Mexicos dismal child well-being rankings.

Its giving parents a chance to bond with their children; it lets employees feel comfort in knowing they are present for their children when their children need them most, she said. And it gives a peace of mind to employees knowing they have job security when they and their family need that job security the most.

Davis credited his policy analyst, Sean Foran, who has a young child, for writing the legislation. The councilor said the policy can help the city attract and keep younger workers who seek such benefits.

We are competing with other, more flexible workplaces now for a new generation of employees who want something different, he said. They want and value community and family; they look for employers that recognize and reward those values.Nearly a dozen members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are visiting the New Mexico border to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a 7-year-old girl from Guatemala after she was taken into custody by Border Patrol agents earlier this month.

Congressman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and Congresswoman-elect Xochitl Torres Small, D-N.M., will be part of the delegation. Joaquin Castro, chairman-elect of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, will lead the 11-member group, which also includes Democrats from California, Texas and Illinois.

The group will tour Antelope Wells, where Jakelin Caal Maquin and her father were taken into custody Dec. 6, along with a group of 163 migrants, after they crossed the border illegally. The delegation will retrace the journey to the Lordsburg Border Patrol station where agents had to revive Caal after she stopped breathing during an hour-and-a-half bus ride.

Torres-Small visited both Antelope Wells and Lordsburg on her own Sunday to gather information, according to a statement released by her office.

The death of Jakelin Caal Maquin is a tragedy. The administration failed to plan for and provide the resources we need on our border to keep children and families safe, allow agents to do their jobs, and protect all of our border communities, Torres-Small said in the statement.

Jakelins death raises serious questions about how this administration is treating those who seek refuge at our borders, Lujan said in a statement. Every human being should be treated with dignity. Thats why were going to Lordsburg station, and its why Congressional Democrats are going to keep holding this administration accountable.

Following their border tour today, the lawmakers will brief the press on how these stations are equipped to protect the health and safety of those seeking refuge at our borders, according to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

But the members of Congress will not be able to talk directly to the Border Patrol agents on duty in New Mexico the night the child became deathly ill and had to be airlifted to a hospital in El Paso, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

While DHS respects the oversight role of Congress, it is important to allow the review process (to) occur unimpeded by politics, said DHS Spokeswoman Katie Waldman. The Office of the Inspector General is investigating the childs death now.

DHS has made available the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, the Deputy Chief of the Border Patrol and the El Paso Sector Chief, in addition to local leadership, Waldman said.

Lawyers for the girls father, Nery Gilberto Caal Cuz, rescheduled their news conference about the childs death for Wednesday morning in El Paso.A coalition delivered a petition with 1,500 signatures collected from the UNM community in recent months to President Garnett Stokes office recently in support of a goal that the university pursue 100 percent renewable energy by 2050.

Were here to make it clear that we have the power to create a more sustainable future, Environment New Mexicos Erin Pang in a statement. Fifteen hundred UNM community members have signed our petition, showing overwhelming support for UNM becoming a leader in sustainability in New Mexico.

Those delivering the petition, besides Environment New Mexico, included University of New Mexico faculty members, student government representatives and student group leaders.

During a news conference on campus, students and faculty members unveiled a Renewable Energy 101 toolkit, fact sheets detailing tools that universities can use to transition to renewable energy, and case studies of universities that have used the tactics.

The UNM student senate recently passed a resolution in favor of the goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2050.BELEN  Despite criticism of her artwork, internationally renowned artist and Belen resident Judy Chicago is continuing plans to open a museum in the Hub City.

Not only has a GoFundMe campaign been established to raise money for the art space, but Belen Mayor Jerah Cordova said he will be donating one years salary  a little more than $10,000 after taxes  to help support the museum.

Im going to donate my city salary for 2019 to support the museum, Cordova said. The mayors position is a part-time position, and when you run for public office, youre not doing it for the money; youre doing it for the community.

Cordova said that when the opportunity comes up to help the community, he will and has, and this project is one that he says is an investment for Belen.

According to the New Mexico Economic Development Department, if the city had paid for a part-time employee and shared the profits from the museum, Belen could have profited from $300,000 in direct revenue from the museum and $600,000 in tax benefits.

It seems like a smart investment, the mayor said. Were going to be able to grow the local economy, support locals with an overall quality of life because well have more tax money to invest in big projects for the city.

While there are many other important projects and organizations in the Hub City, Cordova believes a museum to honor Chicago and her husband, photographer Donald Woodman, will help everyone.

I support as many (local organizations) as I can and I have certainly donated to other causes in the past, but I believe this project will have a huge, positive impact on the city now and in the future, he said. If this museum is successful, it will attract people to this community for years to come.

Unfortunately, we couldnt get this done as a city, but I hope I can effect some change as an individual, and Im certainly willing to step up to do that for the community.

Chicago and Woodman were initially approached by Cordova and Councilor Ronnie Torres to partner with the city to open a museum, which would feature their lifes work. But when several people publicly objected to Chicagos artwork  some describing it as pornographic  and government funding of a part-time employee during at least two recent City Council meetings, Chicago and Woodman withdrew their offer.

Although we deeply appreciate the support and good intentions of many in our community, after watching the proceedings of the city council meeting, and some of the uninformed and insulting Facebook posts in the comments  the board of Through the Flower has decided that it does not wish to partner with the city, Chicago wrote in an email. Please do not proceed any further. Thank you.

Instead, Chicago, Woodman and the Through the Flower board of directors have decided to move forward with the project on their own. Chicago said the board will be meeting in early January to discuss what it wants the museum to be and when it will be open.TULAROSA  Ultra Healths medical cannabis growing operation and distribution site near Tularosa is expected to be ready by Jan.1.

Right now, were doing some construction at the facility, Ultra Health Communications Manager Marissa Novel said. For the future, were really thinking that this production facility could be a major hub for cannabis commerce.

Ultra Health is working on continual production licenses for hemp growth for both their Tularosa growing facility and their Bernalillo growing facility.

Once the licenses have gone through, the facility should have plants in the ground, Novel said. The estimated time for that to happen is Jan. 1, she said.

We have plans for the Tularosa to be a major production and processing facility for the southern half of New Mexico, Novel said. This is particularly for, not only hemp farmers that are starting to grow hemp after the first of the year, but also for medical cannabis cultivation and for cannabis cultivation for adult use in the future.

The Tularosa facility is the only major facility in southern New Mexico, Novel said.

We believe that our Otero County facility will be providing product and different processed materials to cannabis dispensaries as far east as Clovis and even as far west as the New Mexico border, Novel said.

Our primary concern is making sure that we have plants in the ground for hemp, so we can have product to later extract, Novel said.

A grand opening-type event has not been scheduled, Novel said.

Monetary benefits to Otero County include some gross receipts taxes and this will be the epicenter for cannabis commerce for this part of New Mexico, Novel said.

This is because the facility will be distributing to dispensaries and Ultra Health dispensaries will be helping farmers process hemp, she said.

Gross receipts are definitely a factor, but this is where everything is going to happen when it comes to cannabis in southern New Mexico, Novel said. There were some hemp guidelines that were proposed in the 2017 state legislative session that were originally vetoed by Gov. Susana Martinez.

However, the vetoes were overruled by the state Supreme Court in April 2018 after finding the vetoes were unconstitutional.

Ultra Health is planning on growing three forms of cannabis for hemp: for feed, for fabric and for industrial. They will also be extracting the plants extracts for oils.

Novel also discussed adult-use recreational cannabis, predicting that Januarys legislative session will be the most promising for cannabis legalization in history.

Especially given the opportunities with adult use given that southern New Mexico has the longest continuous running border with Texas, Novel said. We are anticipating that once New Mexico legalizes cannabis for adult use, a lot of Texans will be coming to New Mexico to buy their cannabis and a lot of that will be coming from the Otero County facility.

Novel said that Ultra Health is going to have representatives at the state legislative session this January.

The session starts Jan. 15 and ends March 16. Bills can be prefiled starting Monday, Dec. 17.

The facility is expected to hire 100 local employees and house the nations most diverse cannabis cultivation operation.

It will include 20 acres of indoor cultivation in 20 air-supported, wind-assisted style greenhouses, 80 acres of outdoor cannabis fields, 100 acres of outdoor hemp fields and 120,000 square feet of production buildings.

The facility has been in the works since early 2018.



2018 the Alamogordo Daily News (Alamogordo, N.M.)

Visit the Alamogordo Daily News (Alamogordo, N.M.) at www.alamogordonews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.FARMINGTON  The proposed Village at Wolf Creek has been on hold for decades as the developer and opponents spar over a land transfer that would have allowed the development to be built near Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

Over the past 30 years, conservationists and the would-be developer have fought about the proposed development. Opponents of the Village at Wolf Creek state that the development would negatively impact a critical wildlife corridor that is important for the Canada lynx.

The developer hit another roadblock on Tuesday when the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected its appeal of a court ruling that the land transfer approved in 2015 had been based on an environmental analysis that violated federal law. The appeals court ruled it did not have jurisdiction to hear the case.

The development was intended to create a unique outdoors and wilderness experience that would complement the Wolf Creek Ski Area and bring jobs to the region, according to the Village at Wolf Creek website. The website describes it as a high quality boutique base village.

The website states the litigation is about access to land rather than whether the Village at Wolf Creek will be built. Without the land transfer, it will be more expensive for the developer, Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture, to build the village.

Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture owns 300 acres in the Wolf Creek area that is completely surrounded by U.S. Forest Service land.

After a land exchange with the U.S. Forest Service was blocked by courts, which found the environmental analysis had violated federal laws, the developer applied for an access road to property it owns.

The Forest Service had argued that the land transfer was needed to give the private property owners access to their property. The law requires private property owners be given access to their land.

The debate dates back to 1987 when the developer traded 1,631 acres of land in a different part of Colorado for 420 acres near Wolf Creek Ski Area. The final appraisals reduced that 420 acres to 300. The small parcel no longer had direct access to U.S. Highway 160. While a dirt road provided access to those acres, the Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled that it doesnt meet the requirements for access to private land because it is a seasonal road.

Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture stated in a press release earlier this year that the public has enjoyed access to the land once owned by the developer, however it has been denied the use of its land near Wolf Creek Ski Area.

In July, the Forest Service issued a draft record of decision that, if approved, would give Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture the ability to construct a road to access the private land. A final decision is expected in early 2019.



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.CHICO, Calif. - The Chico City Council will reconsider a proposal to use a property for simplicity village, a set of tiny homes for homeless seniors.

Action News Now reporter Laura Eng visited the proposed location off of Notre Dame Boulevard and spoke with the Chico Housing Action Team co-founder Robert Trausch to find out what people need to do to apply.

"There are certain criteria about the background, criminal record, all of those things we look at that," Trausch said. "We do vetting, a very intense vetting to make sure the people we're getting are worthy. I hate using the word worthy, but worthy of being helped."

The plan calls for construction of 33 tiny homes, a multi-purpose community building, a covered outdoor dining and food prep area, and an ADA restroom and shower.

"I think all people are worthy of being helped but I think our particular village to make sure it's safe and successful, we need to do a deep, thorough vetting of anyone," Trausch said.

If the council approves simplicity village using the Notre Dame Property, the city manager will negotiate a lease with the property owner.

The council declared a shelter crisis a few months ago, which mean that the city must control land with buildings considered for housing.

To view the main Simplicity Village blueprints, CLICK HERE.

To view the Simplicity Village Fire Safety and Evacuation Map, CLICK HERE.CORRECTION: Sierra Nevada Brewery is donating 100 percent of the sales from the beer to Camp Fire relief efforts.

---

BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. - The IPA, which is raising money for Camp Fire relief, hit shelves on Monday in Butte County and across the country.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is donating 100 percent of the profits from "Resilience Butte County Strong IPA" to Camp Fire relief efforts.

Officials at the brewing company told Action News Now that a delivery team is dropping the beer off at several locations around Chico Monday. Shipments across the country are also beginning Monday.

The canned beer has already sold at the Sierra Nevada Gift Shop but is still available on tap.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company also challenged other brewers to make the beer and donate all proceeds, and so far has convinced over 1,400 breweries across the country to partake.

To find a location where you can purchase the beer, use Sierra Nevada's beer locator by CLICKING HERE.One of Butte County's Most Wanted Behind Bars

One of Butte County's Most Wanted criminals is behind Anderson police say Jacob Osborne of Paradise was wanted on felony abuse charges. Officers arrested him last night after he gave his cousin's name and refused to show ID during a traffic stop.

Location Changed for FEMA Trailers in Chico

FEMA has changed location for Camp Fire evacuee trailers and debris sites. City councilmember Sean Morgan said the lot Eaton Road and the Barber Site will no longer be used. We are working to learn more about what sites they plan to use instead.

Camp Fire Business Recovery Forum Monday

Tuesday, the Chico Chamber of Commerce will host a Camp Fire Business Recovery Forum at Bidwell Presbyterian Church. They'll talk about how local business owners can get back on their feet after the disaster from 10 a.m. to noon.

Chico City Council Reconsiders Simplicity Village

Tuesday night, Chico City Council will meet to reconsider building tiny homes that would be available for survivors of the Camp Fire. The council first approved Simplicity Village last month as transitional housing. However, it rejected the use of land on Notre Dame Boulevard for the project. Now, all of that will be reconsidered by the council.

Chico City Council to Consider Low-Barrier Shelter

Another item the council will consider is opening a 24-hour low-barrier shelter. Council members say the city's current shelters offer fewer than 300 beds on any given night. Given the rise in need, council members want to consider a Low-Barrier Shelter to offer up to 200 additional beds. The meeting is Tuesday night at 6 p.m. in the Chico City Council chambers.News18.com, one of Indias top breaking news websites, today held the second edition of Indias only Tech and Auto Awards amidst the presence of industry veterans. The awards ceremony celebrated and honoured Technology and Automotive products and innovations that have set the bar high in the respective sectors. Apple iPhone XS Max was adjudged the Smartphone of the Year whereas Audi RS5 was announced as the Design of the Year. The event was attended by dignitaries like Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Manoj Sinha, Minister of Communications who also presented few awards to the winners in different categories.

Commenting on the occasion, Manish Maheshwari, CEO, Network18 Digital said, Over the years technology has redefined mobility and changed our lives and at News18.com, we see technology and automobile as an extension of each other. After the spectacular success of the first edition of the awards last year, we are back with the second edition where we aim to grow bigger and better as we celebrate the best of technology and automobile innovations in 2018. We would like to thank all our partners and brands who were associated with us in this journey.

Honorable Minister Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India said, Automobile industry is very important for the country as this is the industry which is going to create a lot of employment potential. At the same time, our export for automobile spare parts and car is going to increase. As far as transport ministry is concerned, we are very much committed for the policy that is import substitute, cost effective, pollution free and indigenous. We are giving priority for the development of bio fuels, electric, ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, bio CNG and we have a lot of successful experiments.

Selected by a Jury that included veterans from the auto and tech industry, the awards night witnessed brands like Maruti, Honda, Ford, Volvo, Hyundai, Audi, Mercedes and others go head-to-head for coveted awards like Hatchback of the Year, Sedan of the Year and more. While Tech brands like Apple, OnePlus, Samsung, Google Pixel, Xiaomi, Oppo and others were seen fighting it out for awards in the Smartphone of the Year, Design of the Year and other categories.

The keynote speaker for the awards Mamatha Chamarthi, Chief Digital Officer, ZF Friedrichshafen AG spoke at length about digital taking the drivers seat and digitizations disruptive impact on automotive industry.

Talking about the awards, Subhajit Sengupta, Editor  Technology, Auto and special projects, News18.com said, Tech and auto are the two verticals which are being followed as well as loved by the masses. With this award, our aim was to reach out to those who believe in taking informed decisions before opting for any kind of technology. This is the second edition of the award and we, with utmost dedication, brought forward the top technologies in both the categories keeping in mind our consumers.

The Tech & Auto Awards 2018 brought the best of Technology and Automobile industry on the same platform and were trending on #TechAndAutoAwards18.

Winners of Tech & Auto Awards 2018:

Category Winner Tech Awards Smartphone of the Year Apple iPhone XS Max Technology That Changed Lives Qkopy Best Camera Phone of the Year Huawei P20 Pro Budget Phone Of The Year (Under Rs15,000) Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro Gadget Of The Year Sony Bravia A9F OLED TV Design Of The Year Dyson V10 Cyclone Vacuum Cleaner Computing Device Of The Year HP Spectre x360 - 13 Auto Awards Design Of The Year Audi RS5 Hatchback Of The Year Hyundai Santro Sedan of The Year Honda Amaze SUV/MPV Of The Year Maruti Suzuki Brezza Luxury Car Of The Year Volvo XC60 Motorcycle Of The Year Ducati Panigale V4S Commuter Two Wheeler Of The Year TVS Ntorq

Jio was the Digital Partner whereas other partners for the awards night included Banking Partner- Yono (SBI), Gifting Partner- Kalyan Jewellers, Auto Art Partner- Cartist, Mobility Partner- MapMyIndia, Motorplace Partner  Droom.in and Outdoor Partner  Minimax and JR Creations.Content marketing today is a necessity. With Internet reach in India exploding and more and more brands finding direct access to their target audience, content marketing has become key to the survival and expansion of any and all. But what is the recipe for great mobile content and how would one ensure that once created, it reaches its target audience in the best way possible? These were some of the issues taken up for discussion by Vivek Bhargava, CEO, DAN Performance Group, in conversation with Debadatta Das, Head of Branded Content, Moneycontrol.com, in the session titled Creating great mobile content and its amplification strategies at Adgullys The Mobile Media Summit 2018, held in Mumbai.

Debadatta Das commenced the discussion by asking Vivek Bhargava about the best kind of campaign and its amplification that one could come up with in terms of content. To this, Bhargava noted that these changes werent about digital marketing. According to him, Digital marketing is a catalyst which helps in brand communication, information dissemination, consumer trends and so on. He differentiated between the role of digital in marketing and role of content in marketing, where he designated a higher position to the role of content. Here, Bhargava mentioned about the divisions of media such as paid media, social media, SEO, etc, that lead to digital marketing and added that there was hardly any outcome of any organisation that didnt involve digital marketing. He claimed that a brand must have a goal set for digital outcome for a successful business outcome. Understanding a product is also a business outcome and there are three pillars  paid media, organic media and social media  and content plays a role across all these three pillars, he added.

Continuing further, Bhargava noted that while content reduced the cost of data advertising, digital increased it. He explained how in SEO, by using the correct content for correct TG led to more traffic. This means that correct content for the right TG is directly proportional to the traffic. Today, it isnt about digital strategies, but about content strategies. Correct content covers all the aspects of digital marketing.

This led to the question of what is the right kind of content and what are the important things one need to keep in mind while creating the right content for a campaign.

According to Bhargava, the first thing is to determine what kind of content to create to have the desired business outcome and whether digital could help create the right kind of content. Here, he gave the example of Google to further elucidate his point. He stated there are about 6 billion searches done on Google every month, and in a way Google is the closest manmade machine that could pre-empt what one was thinking or looking for. Digital marketers can know what the world is thinking through Google and what people are doing on social media, which can be used to create content. Once you are aware about what people are searching for, you know what kind of content they consume on social media, he added.

Here, Debadatta Das interjected by asking Bhargava to share his key learnings in the digital field.

Bhargava remarked that his biggest learning in 20 years was to not keep the consumer at the center, rather keep the clients interest at the center. He pointed out the difference between the digital objective and the business objective of an organisation, stating that there are requirements in a business like revenues, profit, sales and commercials, which shouldnt be with the digital objective and rather be part of the business objective. He added that once the business objectives are met, in process the consumer demand is already satisfied.

Having such a perspective towards business is not without its challenges. When asked by Das to highlight these challenges, Bhargava shared that his biggest challenge has been that even though the digital age is here, the digital mindset is yet come. Everyone is aware of traditional media and what it can do for brand communication. If one TV campaign goes wrong, it affects their careers. However, digital allows for more trial and errors, say from 100 different things tried out, 3 work and people invest in them and ignore the other 97 things that have failed, he added.

Bhargava further said, If you think you cant fail, then digital is going to be impossible. People tend to work on particular methods, but digital doesnt work that way. Digital is about taking a compass in your hand, and as long as you have a vague idea and a direction, you start walking in that direction. Hence, it is a compass strategy vis-a-vis a blueprint strategy. Today, there is the concept of HIPPO, which means Highest Paid Persons Opinion. When someone comes for a decision, the HIPPO decides.

Continuing further, he said that data driven decisions are a challenge and people dont take it. Another challenge is the encouragement of mistakes, where companies admit that there are mistakes, but when theyre asked about them they dont know, as theyre either ashamed of it or they dont have the guts to accept it, he lamented.

For Bhargava, it was important for the transformation process that organisations are not hesitant of making mistakes and learning from them, but this is a challenge as of now. Another challenge is that digital workshops dont know how SEO is to be done. It is all about creating a culture online, he affirmed.

Here, Debadatta Das raised the point that, When we are talking about content creation, what about its amplification? There are many formats of content, which according to you is the best?

To this, Bhargava replied by presenting a hypothetical case, If there is a video which attracts consumers and gives 100 views, costing Rs 100. If the content is something that the consumer wants, for instance education, then the cost will come down with the growing number of views. Thats how amplification works. The content relativity can lead to its creation at no cost while giving the same outcome. There is a mindset change as to how you advertise on paid media effectively, but supporting it with the right content and the right TG.Havas Group India has appointed Manas Lahiri as General Manager Havas Gurgaon. Lahiris mandate includes bringing in new business and managing overall operations of the Delhi branch, leveraging Havas Groups integrated capabilities.



With over 16 years of experience in advertising, Lahiri has worked with agencies like Contract Advertising, McCann, Ogilvy & Mather and Creativeland Asia. Working across sectors which include IT, Telecom, FMCG and Auto, he has managed renowned brands like General Motors, Google, Dabur Samsung, Motorola, Lenovo, Amazon, Shell, Acer, NIIT and Reliance.

Commenting on the appointment, Rana Barua, Group CEO, Havas Group India, said, For Havas Indias advertising operations in the North, we needed a driven and capable leader who is not only aligned with our vision of exponential growth in terms of winning new clients, attracting versatile talent, and demonstrating our integrated strength, but is equally comfortable leading a strong Havas team and our partnership with Reckitt Benckiser. In Manas, we have the perfect leader who will help me drive both mandates and make our operations stronger, more relevant both externally and internally.

I am very excited to be part of the Havas India team. The concept of Better Together truly comes to life here with our various offerings from Havas and our partnering companies from Vivendi Group. We now need to strengthen our communication solutions to local and global clients. My focus will be on driving on aggressive business growth, creating exciting work for our clients and building a team that lives up to Havass global standards of creativity, said Lahiri on his new role.India News Punjab on Sunday, organized its Uddyami Samman Awards in Punjab at Hotel JW Marriot, Chandigarh to honour the extraordinary contribution of MSMEs in the development of Punjab. The event was graced by Shri. Manpreet Singh Badal, Honble Minister for Finance & Planning, Punjab.

The event witnessed three key sessions, which touched upon various key issues of the state, such as- Impact of Industrial Growth on Social Economic Development; Challenges before MSME in Punjab and an exclusive one-on-one session with the Finance Minister of Punjab, Shri. Manpreet Singh Badal. During the event, Shri. Badal also felicitated the people from the business fraternity of Punjab with Uddyami Samman Awards.

During an exclusive one-on-one session with Shri. Manpreet Singh Badal Honble Minister for Finance & Planning, Punjab, Shri. Badal said that He will do everything to change the fate of Punjab, on the issue of farmers loan, he said that Farm loan waiver should not be considered as a populist scheme On the issue of GST, he added that Present GST structure is not feasible and there is a need to overhaul it, and Petrol, diesel & electricity should come under the GST.

Another session on the Impact of Industrial Growth on Social Economic Development, the panellists were, Mr Daljit Sandhu, Additional Director Industries, Government of Punjab; Dr. Ranjeet Singh Ghuman, Professor of Economics, CRRID and Mr. Kamaljit Singh Mahal, Industrialist, where Dr. Ranjeet Singh Ghuman talked about the need to review economic policies and further mentioned that There is a lack of skilled Punjabi youth in Punjab.

The next session was on the Challenges before MSME in Punjab, which was led by, Mr D P S Kharbanda, Director - Industries & Commerce, Government of Punjab; Dr. Jatinder Singh, Asst. Professor of Economics, CRRID & Book Author; Mr Anupam Gupta, Director  Marketing, Gupta Builders & Promoters. The panellists discussed on the challenges faced by MSMEs in the state, where Dr. Jatinder Singh said that The migrant workers in Punjab are not skilled, and Mr. Anupam Gupta said that Industries demand capital, so availability of credit is an issue.

The Uddyami Samman Awards, were given in various categories including, Most Premium Real Estate Projects of Punjab, presented to Mr. Anupam Gupta, Director  Marketing, Gupta Builders & Promoters; Excellence in Fashion Industry, presented to Mr. Kuntal Raj Jain, Director, Duke Fashions (India) Ltd.; Innovation in the Cycle Industry presented to Mr. Mandeep Pahwa, Director, Avon Cycles; Excellence in Pharmaceuticals presented to Dr. Sanjeev Juneja, MD, SBS Biotech Group; Excellence in Dairy Products, presented to Mr. Dev Raj Garg, CMD, Murli Desi Ghee; Excellence in Auto Services presented to Mr. Sanjay Dahuja, Owner, Berkeley Group; Excellence in Processed Food Industry presented to Mr. Sartaj Singh Brar, CEO, Pagro Frozen Food Pvt. Ltd; Excellence in Agriculture Practices presented to Mr. K V S Sidhu, MD, Patiala Horticulture Pvt Ltd; Excellence in Clean Energy, presented to Dr Shekhar Jindal, Synergia Metier Pvt. Ltd.

The event was attended by policymakers, entrepreneurs, corporates and esteemed members of the civil society.The film promotions for Adventures of Jojo embarked into fun, frolic and adventure when the makers released the animal mascots into different parts of the city to interact with city goers and usher them into the festive mood.

The mascots were dressed in costumes of two famous animal friends of Jojo ( of Adventures Of Jojo) : Noni , the Elephant and Chenghiz, the tiger. These mascots are seen interacting with kids and their families and handing out goodies in city locations like shopping malls, amusement parks and various other pockets of Kolkata. They would be further visiting schools, while accompanying Jojo , to interact with students and engage them in some fun activities.

The mascots have already garnered a number of positive responses from the people of the city, especially the kids. Children were seen gathered around them, trying to click pictures, enjoying the goodies distributed by them and breaking into festive song and dance!

Ecstatic to see the mascots making a difference to the mood of the people, director Raj Chakraborty said: The animal characters from my film- Noni & Chenghiz are very close to my heart. Its simply wonderful to see their colourful mascots parading the city and bringing smiles on everyones face!

Happy to see the reaction of city-goers, spokesperson from SVF, said: This is the first-time animal mascots have been used as means of promotion for any Bengali film and we are very happy that our mascots are being appreciated by kids and grownups alike. The city is vibrant and abuzz with the festive spirit

Adventures of Jojo, directed by Raj Chakraborty, starring Jashojeet Banerjee, Samiul Alam, Rudranil Ghosh, Padmanabha Dasgupta, Manali Dey , Jeetu Kamaland others releases this 21st December .Emerged as a reigning player in the business news genre, ZEE Business has shown remarkable growth in recent times. The avg market share of the channel grew from an avg of 23% in Q4 17-18 to over 35% in Q3 18-19. The channel has been extremely aggressive in relooking at its programming as well as marketing.

Anil Singhvi, Managing Editor, Zee Business says the channel has relooked at the programming keeping consumer and credibility at the core of it. Our intent is to add value to our viewers by bringing the best business news analysis. We have also introduced segments like instant profit making tips looking at the market opening.

On overall stock market programming, Singhvi says it has been focused on small and new traders enabling them to trade or invest comfortably. We are shifting viewers habit from saving to investment and helping to fulfill their financial inclusion agenda.

The channel has some of the successful new initiatives like Aaj Ke 2000 (a segment planned for intraday traders with limited money to book profit), Investment Gurukul (making the viewer comfortable with stock market operations), F&O Ki Pathshala (enabling traders for derivative trading in easy language), Desh ki Baat (a unique style political debate show in prime time). All these shows / segments have become very popular in short time and have really fueled the growth.

Commenting on the new marketing campaign, Sujeet Mishra, Head Marketing, ZMCL says Zee Business will keep strengthening its relationship with viewers and partners by constantly reinventing programming and communication. We have great content lineup and the best of business news analysts. The splendid growth of viewership is reflection of our growing trust and the campaign stunningly captures the spirit.

The channel also did some special shows recently like Zee Business Travel Awards in partnership with Mauritius Tourism, and multicity Dare to Dream Awards in partnership with SAP which were hugely successful. Now based out of the financial capital of India, Zee Business is all out to bring the best of content, analysis and experts for viewers.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.Despite some legal and financial hurdles, the U.S. Department of Energy remains "confident" it can get 1 metric ton of defense plutonium out of South Carolina by 2020, according to a newly filed court update.

"At this time DOE anticipates being able to ship the 1 metric ton of defense plutonium to other sites for interim staging prior to the deadline in the court order," the DOE's update, filed Dec. 14 in a U.S. district court, reads.

No amount breakdowns or timelines were provided.

That said, the repackaging and removal process  in compliance with safety regulations  is already well underway at the Savannah River Site, according to the update, which is signed by David Bowman.

NNSA chief of staff: Some SRS plutonium needed for national security missions One metric ton of weapons-grade plutonium slated for removal from the Savannah River Site  and the state of South Carolina as a whole  is in

Bowman is the DOE's deputy associate administrator for counterterrorism and counterproliferation.

"As the report describes below, the department has devoted significant resources and attention to complying with the court's injunctive order while at the same time ensuring that the removal of defense plutonium occurs as safely as possible in compliance with all applicable laws," the update reads.

In late December 2017, U.S. District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs ordered the DOE to get 1 metric ton of weapons-grade plutonium out of South Carolina by 2020 at the latest. In October, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction. Appeals Judge Robert B. King, in a 45-page opinion, described the injunction as "carefully" and "appropriately" crafted.

The removal effort involves sending the plutonium to Nevada and Texas for staging and then later to New Mexico for nuclear stockpile integration, according to an environmental assessment issued by the National Nuclear Security Administration.

That's a cross-country venture, which runs the bill up: "Shipping the material to an interim staging location increases costs to the government," the update reads.

The NNSA is a semiautonomous DOE agency in charge of the nation's nuclear outfit. The NNSA operates at SRS.

The plutonium would, more specifically, go to the Nevada National Security Site, the Pantex Plant and then Los Alamos National Laboratory, according to the NNSA's assessment.

The state of Nevada, though, is trying to prevent at least one part of that from happening.

Federal appeals court upholds plutonium removal order from 2017 The U.S. Department of Energy appealed the matter shortly after the injunction was issued.

On Nov. 30, Nevada  led by state Attorney General Adam Laxalt  filed a complaint against the DOE and requested a related preliminary injunction to enjoin any transfer of weapons-grade plutonium to NNSS.

The suit, still in its early stages, is mentioned in the DOE's Dec. 14 update. It's seemingly shrugged off.

Another status report will be filed in six months.

This December update was noticeably shorter in length compared to the previous one, which was filed mid-June and was six pages long.CAIRO  News has been propagating about constitutional amendments that would extend the term of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in order to prepare the citizens for such prospects. Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper published Dec. 9 a report about presidential pressure on Al-Azhar to back the constitutional amendments. Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria announced in a Dec. 5 interview on TEN satellite channel his support for the constitutional amendments, in case it was needed.

Mada Masr cited Nov. 22 sources  which the website claimed were from the General Intelligence Service, parliament and the presidency  saying on condition of anonymity that the amendments aim at extending Sisis current term, without specifying the number of years that the amendment asks for.

According to the sources, the proposed amendments would effectively grant Sisi immunity from any decisions made by any future president, since one proposed amendment grants him a life-time appointment as head of a High Council for the Protection of the Constitution." This council, proposed under the new amendments, would be given wide-ranging powers to protect national identity, national security and the constitution. These powers that are broadly defined would allow the council to block any decision by the president or parliament, especially if the president or any parliamentary bloc opposes the regime in place.

The amendments have yet to be officially submitted to parliament for discussion, but the sources told Mada Masr they would be submitted in the first quarter of 2019. After approval by two-thirds of parliament, the amendments would be put up to vote at a national referendum.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed stated Dec. 3 that the amendments aim at keeping Sisi as president until 2040, by specifying the renewal of the presidential term twice instead of once. Each presidential term would consist of six instead of four years. A transitional article allows all former Egyptian presidents who were in office before the constitutional amendments, including Sisi, to run again.

Most supporters of the constitutional amendments are affiliated with the parliamentary majority bloc, Support Egypt, which is close to Sisi. On Nov. 4, parliamentary spokesman Saleh Hasballah told Ahmed Moussa, host of "Ala Masouliyati" on Sada el-Balad satellite channel, that, as an Egyptian citizen, if he was asked to amend the constitution in a referendum, he would accept.

He said, Why are there fears of amending the constitution as long as willpower is in the hands of the people who are considered a source of authority?

The parliamentary majority seems to favor extending Sisis term through constitutional amendments; however, the majority's position over the formation of a supreme council to protect the constitution  similarly to the Iranian Guardian Council of the Constitution  remains unknown.

Ismail Nasreddin member of the parliamentary Housing Commission, told Al-Monitor that he submitted a demand to parliament to discuss amending the constitution to extend Sisis term several times, but he never proposed establishing a council for the protection of the constitution.

Parliament preferred to postpone the discussion because the issue is thorny. However, the majority is expected to side with the amendment, he said.

Nasreddin added, We do not need such a council [to give Sisi the authority] to protect the constitution because the previous elections have shown Sisis popularity, which will push many Egyptians to agree to extend the presidential term in the constitutional amendments. The current constitution dates to 2014 under different circumstances that do not resemble the current economic, security and political crises in the country or the expansive development plans. They must be completed, and Sisi is the only guarantee for that.

Still, many members of parliament oppose the amendment, including parliamentarian Haitham al-Hariri who is part of the 25-30 majority opposition bloc. He told Al-Monitor, I believe the constitutional amendments are rejected by most Egyptians. And if a true democratic referendum on the amendments is held, I think the majority would oppose them given Sisis dwindling popularity.

Hariri said that the constitutional amendments have not been discussed officially in parliament yet. He did not rule out some figures to propose the idea of establishing the constitutional council like Iran's Guardian Council of the Constitution, which can impede any candidate from running in the elections. With that, the parties calling for constitutional amendments can avoid the 2018 elections scenario where Ahmed Shafiq or Sami Anan presented their candidacies, he added.

A parliamentary source from Support Egypt told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the alliance unanimously supports Sisi and backs all his security, economic and political decisions. However, the coalition did not come to a final decision in regard to the constitutional amendments.

The source noted that these members of parliament, including former leader of Support Egypt Mohammed al-Suwaidi and current leader Abdul Hadi al-Qasabi, delayed discussions until further notice, when the amendments were first proposed in 2016 and 2017. Many citizens were reluctant to constitutional amendments and their risk on alternation of power.

The source noted that the constitutional amendments  whether on extending the presidential term or creating a constitutional council  are not up for official discussion in parliament or in the ranks of the coalition. The news agencies are just spreading rumors aimed at causing a buzz or are speculating. No official bill for constitutional developments will be proposed before 2020 or 2021, when Sisis vision regarding development and the security state becomes clearer. Only then will we know whether there is a national need for Sisi to remain in office or if there is a substitute who can perpetuate Sisis gains, the source explained.

The head of Al-Karama Party and member of the 50-member committee that drafted the constitution in 2013 and 2014, Mohamed Sami, told Al-Monitor that the current amendment is useless because the constitution has only been functional for less than five years and cannot be judged yet.

He noted that making constitutional amendments each time Egypt faces a crisis or is in need for a large development plan, like Sisis, would imply the failure of the state institutions to maintain constitutional stability and ensure power rotation. He said that eight years are enough for any president to implement his electoral program. The constitution can later be amended, when some people are less insistent on pleasing the president at the expense of constitutional stability.

Sami said the peoples approval of the amendments during any referendum depends on the presidents popularity and the publics view on how his policies affect their social and economic conditions.

A source close to Amr Moussa, the head of the 50-member committee, told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, Moussa does not favor amending the constitution for the same reasons that Sami stated. Moussa does not expect parliamentarians or parties to amend the constitution, because it [the constitution] gave them the opportunity to preserve the gains of Sisis projects by forming a government that Sisi himself can head, if they so wished, even in the presence of another president. They can even form a party or presidential group led by Sisi but supporting another candidate, which allows Sisi and his policies to remain present for a long time under constitutional ways, without the need to extend the presidents term or form a constitutional committee.When US national security adviser John Bolton unveiled the Donald Trump administrations new Africa strategy at the Heritage Foundation on Dec. 13, his comments about great power competition with Russia and China stirred much excitement. But remarks every bit as controversial on an obscure, half-century-old dispute between Morocco and Algeria over the status of Western Sahara slipped by unnoticed.

Bolton said the future of more than half a million Sahrawis who inhabit the phosphate-rich former Spanish colony sitting on the edge of the Sahara should be decided in a referendum. Bolton asserted, All we want to do is hold a referendum for 70,000 voters. Its 27 years later, the status of the territory [is] still unresolved  Is there not a way to resolve this?

Why it matters: Coming on the heels of inconclusive UN-led peace talks in Geneva on Dec. 5-6, Boltons remarks could be interpreted as siding with Algeria against Morocco, a traditional US ally. And this, some analysts contend, should no come as a surprise.

When Bolton was appointed earlier this year, there was open concern in Rabat, as he was already seen as a conservative figure close to the Polisario. His statement runs directly against stated Moroccan policy, noted Marc Pierini, a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe and a former EU ambassador to Morocco.

Algeria firmly backs the Polisario Front, a Sahrawi rebel movement, and its demands for a plebiscite. The UN also endorses a referendum.

Morocco does not. In 1974, it annexed Western Sahara, prompting tens of thousands of locals to flee to Algeria. A cease-fire brokered in 1991 is still holding. Morocco has poured billions of dollars into Western Sahara to win over locals. But Rabats continued opposition to a referendum suggests it questions their loyalty. It advocates autonomy for them within Morocco instead.

An estimated 170,000 Sahrawi refugees live in squalid camps in the Algerian desert, often without electricity. Joblessness and the resultant disaffection among youths, who have known no other life, render them ripe for radicalization.

Will the real Washington stand up: As Pierini told Al-Monitor, the significance of Boltons comments rests in whether it represents the official United States policy vis-a-vis Morocco or not. In any case, the statement in itself is likely to deteriorate the climate between Washington and Rabat.

Constructive ambiguity: Responding to Al-Monitors request for clarification, a State Department spokesperson asserted in an email, The United States strongly supports Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General Horst Kohler as he works to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution that will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. But the official did not offer an opinion on the referendum per se. For the NSC Advisors remarks we defer to the NSC, the official said.

Colin Powell in 2003 aired support for a now-defunct UN plan crafted by his predecessor James Baker (who at the time was working for the UN) that foresaw a popular vote to determine the status of Western Sahara. Bolton previously served as Bakers adviser, and his reputation as "pro-Algerian" has lingered ever since. In 2007, however, Morocco proposed its autonomy plan, which the United States has since called serious, realistic and credible.

Yet, as Claire Spencer, an academic specializing in North African affairs observed in an April 2018 note for Chatham House, The US under the presidency of Donald Trump has proved more transactional and self-interested than before, and makes no bones about Algerias role being as valuable to the administrations counterterrorism strategy as Moroccos role in supporting G5 military cooperation among North Africas Sahel neighbors.

More penny-pinching: Boltons outburst on the referendum was part of a broader diatribe on the financial burden and inefficiency of UN peacekeeping missions the world over. I pick Western Sahara, Bolton noted, as my favorite example. Bolton was referring to the UNs monitoring mission in Western Sahara, known as MINURSO.

What's next? The United States is the biggest contributor to the force. In an ominous sign, its renewed mandate was reduced in April from a year to six months. And, as Bolton acknowledged as assistant secretary for international organization affairs at the State Department in 1991, he participated in the writing for the mandate of MINURSO. Judging by his performance at Heritage, it sounds like he is ready to oversee its demise.

Know more: Read Al-Monitors award-winning lobbying series for the lowdown on the longtime lobbying war between Morocco, Algeria and the Sahrawis for influence over US policy on Western Sahara. And check out our coverage from inside the camps.

- Amberin ZamanIran's hard-liners and conservatives appear to be maneuvering to jointly form a new grouping ahead of the 2020 parliamentary and 2021 presidential elections. Planning for such a move would entail resolving the differences among the senior figures of the camp.

In 2017, before the presidential elections, hard-liners and conservatives established a group called JAMNA, the Persian acronym for Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces. The name of the group was in line with hard-liners' attempts to label their rivals as disloyal to the pillars of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. However, this probably stemmed from their own concerns, and it was possibly just a method for making sure that votes were not lost to the Reformist-backed incumbent Hassan Rouhani.

JAMNA consisted of a large number of main conservative and hard-line parties. However, at the time, a number of parties, including the Islamic Coalition Party, were critical of the group while also joining it. Meanwhile, the hard-line and influential Endurance Front, led by Ayatollah Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, did not join JAMNA. While the Endurance Front and Mesbah are not popular among conservatives, they are powerful and have great influence over a number of important power centers. The reasons for this unpopularity include the front and Mesbah's lack of cooperation with their fellow parties, an issue that has been addressed by prominent hard-line Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, a spiritual leader of conservatives.

Ahead of the 2017 presidential election, JAMNA held an internal vote to decide whom to back. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a conservative who was then the mayor of Tehran, and hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi were given JAMNA approval to run for president. But the problem was that even these two senior figures were unwilling to recognize JAMNA and repeatedly stated that their decision to register to run in the elections was not rooted in JAMNA's green light.

The group was so entangled in disagreements that the other conservative candidate, Mostafa Mirsalim, a member of the Islamic Coalition Party, disregarded JAMNAs calls for him to withdraw in favor of Raisi. Even Ghalibaf, who eventually exited the race in favor of Raisi, indicated that he didnt care for JAMNAs decision and signaled that his withdrawal was because of pressures imposed on him by the old guard of the conservative camp.

Now, a little over a year before the 2020 parliamentary elections, a new group has been formed under the name of the Council of Unity. The formation and function of the council were seemingly supposed to be kept as a secret, but Mosalas, a magazine close to moderate parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, has published some details about the council. What should be noted here is that Larijani has been almost banished from the conservatives' camp for his support for Rouhani during the past six years. In fact, conservatives now look at Larijani as a column of the moderation camp, which was established by the late Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

"Reports indicate that the political summits and get-togethers have reached a good result. Seemingly, the center of this structure will be [managed] by a council tasked with seeking unity," Mosalas wrote Sept. 24.

Based on conservative figures statements, two dozen groups and parties have joined the council and its purpose isnt solely electoral; it will probably act as the headquarters of the conservative camp.

Conservative analyst Naser Imani said the council will set policies, including the grand strategy of conservatives and their long-term plans. "The Council of Unity is attempting to successfully mobilize the Principlists [conservatives] and set the strategies," Imani said Dec. 8.

Apparently, a few meetings of the council have been held with the attendance of top conservative figures, including Raisi, Ghalibaf, former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and three-time presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaie. However, no details of the meetings have been leaked to media.

What is important here is that the hard-line Endurance Front has also joined the council. While the group was a staunch enemy of JAMNA, it stood behind Raisi in the 2017 elections and most of the top figures of Raisi's campaign were chosen from the Endurance Front.

"I'm not aware of [the Endurance Front's possible] conditions.  However, God willing, the meetings will continue and reach a conclusion. I believe this is a wise [plan] that can have positive results," Mehdi Chamran, an attendee of the meetings, said Oct. 17.

It seems that the new conservative headquarters is determined to resolve the quarrels and disputes plaguing the camp prior to the upcoming elections. If the council is successful, other conservative groups  including JAMNA  likely would be dissolved or at the least turned into a subset of the council. However, the statements of a figure close to Ghalibaf indicate that the council may not reach its goals.

Hossein Ghorbanzadeh, an adviser to the former Tehran mayor, confirmed his superiors attendance at the council's meetings along with Raisi and other conservative figures, and described the gatherings as aimed at "consultations": This is a word that may signal that the council is not being taken seriously or that a number of top conservatives are not willing to limit themselves to its decisions.

"Right now, people  dont care about Principlism or reformism. When the purchasing power of people declines by one-third in six months, we should not expect them to come and say that they [love] this or some other current," Ghorbanzadeh said Dec. 9. Of note, following the 2017 presidential elections, Ghalibaf raised the topic of "new conservatism," slamming the top decision-makers of the camp and asking for urgent reform within the current.

Indeed, disagreements over initial issues may have already erupted and disrupted the council's activities. According to the moderate Nameh News site, the council was supposed to release its first public statement Nov. 4, but this plan did not go forward as expected  an issue confirmed by Chamran, who said the statement was not issued owing to "lack of time for coordination."

While the top figures of the conservative camp are supposed to sit around the Council of Unity's table, it seems that they have a bumpy and difficult road ahead as they have serious disagreements with one another. Against this backdrop, one can only wait and see what unfolds in the coming months.Ever since President Hassan Rouhani's government signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with six world powers in July 2015, little domestic consensus has materialized over the deal  which has aroused concern, criticism and accusations from his relentless hard-line rivals. The heated debate over whether the decision to strike the accord was right has now resurfaced as conservatives find the government an easier target following the May 2018 US withdrawal from the agreement.

The latest attack comes from a man who himself once led unsuccessful nuclear negotiations with the West under former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Saeed Jalili (2007-2013) was addressing a Dec. 17 conference in Tehran, which commemorated Mustafa Ahmadi Roshan, one of the nuclear scientists Iran says was assassinated by Israeli agents in 2012. Admiring the "martyr," Jalili could not withhold sarcasm against the Rouhani government. "Our nuclear martyrs are great in that they did not idolize the West. They died for our nuclear rights, but certain people deprived the country of its right to nuclear research and development upon requests from the West."

Following US President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the JCPOA, Iran has been in close negotiations with the European signatories to the deal to salvage the pact. The Rouhani administration is now awaiting a payment mechanism known as the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which is meant to facilitate Iran-Europe business and circumvent US sanctions. But casting doubt and pessimism on the SPV, Jalili repeated the broader stance of conservatives about mistrust in Europeans and advised the Iranian government not to "waste the country's time for seven months only to see whether they [Europeans] will ratify it [the SPV] or not."

In addition to pursuing the SPV, the Rouhani administration has been seeking continued international trade and investment by pushing the Iranian parliament to ratify a bill on CFT (Combatting the Financing of Terrorism), related to its efforts to permanently remove the Islamic Republic from the Financial Action Task Forces blacklist. Government supporters say that if ratified, the CFT bill would bring about transparency in Iran's banking ties with Europe. But this has already taken the battle to new fronts. In his remarks, Jalili criticized the government for "making scarecrows out of those countries [Europeans]" and bowing to their pressure over the CFT.

Despite parliament's approval on Dec. 5, the fate of that bill is now hanging in the balance. The powerful supervisory Guardian Council has sent part of the document back to lawmakers for revisions, who have in turn refused to make changes. The Expediency Council, responsible for resolving disputes between the two sides, has now taken up the matter. But the Expediency Council's secretary, Mohsen Rezaei, has explicitly confirmed the Guardian Council's argument that parts of the bill violate the Iranian Constitution. The legislation, however, has yet to be decided by the Expediency Council's collective vote. On this matter, the Reformist chairman of parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, insists that the likelihood of the bills approval is higher than rejection.

Nevertheless, the pressure from the anti-Rouhani camp shows no sign of abating. The Justice-Seeking Movement, an association of hard-line students, has written a public letter to the Expediency Council demanding that the CFT bill be immediately taken off its agenda, claiming that its referral to the Expediency Council is in breach of the constitution.

Moderates and Reformists, on the other hand, are sticking to their guns. "We acted with complete wisdom and righteousness by deciding to sign the JCPOA," said Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri, a heavyweight politician, former parliament speaker and close ally of Rouhani. Elsewhere, Hessamoddin Ashna, a top adviser to the president, hailed the JCPOA as "a valuable asset for regional peace and stability."

Despite the intense sniping, there are important voices in favor of solidarity. "The country's problems can be resolved through consensus," said one of Tehran's Friday prayer leaders, Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabifard. "If the [Rouhani] government had spent on national consensus only half of the time it allocated to negotiating with the outside world, the JCPOA would have been much better off now."Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was noticeably late when he arrived at the Likud Knesset factions weekly meeting on Dec. 17. The Knesset was packed with journalists and Likud activists, who started to suspect that something big was happening behind the scenes. Some of them raised the possibility that Netanyahu was planning to issue a statement attacking the ministers who participated in the right-wing demonstration against the government a day earlier.

All the leaders of the settler movement attended the demonstration, which took place outside the Knesset. It was organized in response to the recent wave of terror attacks in the West Bank that left two soldiers and a four-day-old baby dead. It should have irked Netanyahu that nine coalition ministers from the Likud, HaBayit HaYehudi and Kulanu, including Zeev Elkin, Yariv Levin, Naftali Bennett, Ayelet Shaked and Yoav Galant, participated. No matter how one looks at it, these ministers were demonstrating against the defense policies of the very government in which they serve, and in which Netanyahu is also the defense minister.

That some of these ministers are also members of the security cabinet only intensified the absurdity and the commotion in the coalition. The chairman of HaBayit HaYehudi, Naftali Bennett, announced that it is time for Israel to start winning again, even though he is a senior member of the current government.

Bennett and Shaked did not stop at bellicose speeches at the demonstration but continued to challenge Netanyahu at the cabinet meeting, which took place in an already tense atmosphere. They used the occasion to demand once again that the prime minister appoint Bennett as defense minister and announced that they would abstain from a vote to put Netanyahu officially in the office. While the prime minister dismissed them with derision, he did make much of a fuss.

Under normal circumstances, Netanyahu would fire the HaBayit HaYehudi ministers immediately, reprimand the Likud ministers who took part in the demonstration, dissolve the government and hold a new election. After all, the polls show that he will probably put together the next government anyway.

But Netanyahu isnt just any prime minister. The police have already recommended that he be indicted for bribery in more than one case. Furthermore, since Avigdor Liberman resigned as defense minister, Netanyahu has been reliant on a narrow coalition of just 61 seats to block the opposition. Bennett and Shaked both understand how sensitive Netanyahus situation is are taking advantage of the chance to ramp up the rhetoric against him. They know that Netanyahu would not dare fire them, since he would then be accused of bringing down a right-wing government and make them martyrs for the right. Deep down, they may actually hope that their attacks will put Netanyahu off balance enough to fire them, just as he did to ministers Tzipi Livni and Yair Lapid back in 2014.

Netanyahu understands exactly where the HaBayit HaYehudi ministers are trying to take him and is exhibiting self-restraint. When it comes to wooing voters on the hard right, he and his coalition partners are caught up in a balance of terror. They know that whoever breaks up the government is likely to lose the next elections. Their supporters on the right simply wont forgive their leaders such a move.

All that is why, at the start of this weeks faction meeting, Netanyahu did not attack his ministers for participating in the demonstration. Instead, he briefed them on his efforts to demolish terrorists homes as part of his overall war on terrorism. I am now looking at the existing procedures to see if there is anything we can do, considering the legal restrictions in place, said Netanyahu, explaining that international law makes it difficult for Israel to demolish the homes of Palestinian assailants. The statement was intended to reduce the settlers' anger toward him and neutralize Bennett and Shakeds insinuations that he is too paralyzed by fear of the International Criminal Court to order the demolitions.

Obviously, Netanyahu will not allow his base to abandon him, particularly now, in an election year. Nor will he allow Bennett to run an election campaign at his expense. So he announced Dec. 13 in his capacity as defense minister that he would adopt a series of measures to boost security in the West Bank. They include increasing the military presence on the main roads in the West Bank, setting up new checkpoints and denying work permits to the families of Palestinian attackers or of anyone who aids and abets terror.

In Netanyahus immediate circle, Bennett has become a subject of ridicule. He is often called the high schooler, a term invented by Netanyahu himself. Following Shakeds demand that Netanyahu transfer the defense portfolio to Bennett, the Likud stated, The security of Israel transcends politics. The role of defense minister is not some post that can be set up to ensure that Naftali Bennett has a job.

As for the ministers from the Likud, Netanyahu has long stopped taking them into consideration. Nevertheless, he allowed them some freedom of action, even if it damaged his own prestige somewhat, particularly ministers who maintain close relations with settlers in the West Bank. Netanyahu believes that he will also benefit from these relations as head of the Likud in the next election.

But more than anything, Netanyahu needs the backing of his Likud ministers in his impending legal battle. As long as the party remains united behind him at this critical juncture, he can continue his fight for political survival, and so he is now thinking about transferring two of the ministries he holds  Foreign Affairs and Absorption  to politicians from his own party.

All that we are seeing now is the reflection of an internal battle within the right-wing camp between Bennett and Netanyahu, said one senior Likud minister on condition of anonymity, summing up the absurd situation in the government. They are fighting over a limited pool of voters, which Netanyahu dominated in the last election. Since then, Bennett has decided not to let that happen again. The situation will only get worse, but it will not bring down the government. If I had to bet, I would say that Netanyahu despises Bennett so intensely that he will do everything he can to keep him out of the next government, if at all possible. He would prefer to sit in a government with [former IDF chief] Benny Gantz instead.The IDF started Operation Northern Shield Dec. 4 to neutralize the border tunnels dug by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israeli territory. But the goal of Israels operation is apparently not only to protect residents of northern Israel from Hezbollah fighters.

Indeed, at a meeting with the heads of the towns and villages in the region on Dec. 11, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu painted a horrific scenario in which on some rainy, foggy day, Hezbollah emerges from the tunnels and kidnaps our people. But according to the prime minister, there is more to the the tunnel network he'd said earlier on Dec. 4 is part of a regional and global network of terror and aggression directed and funded by Iran. The operation on the border with Lebanon is targeted at Irans terror arm in Lebanon," he emphasized. Seated next to Netanyahu at that same event, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot promised to keep hitting the Iranian entrenchment in the northern arena.

Although Hezbollah has had access to the tunnels for two or three years, the organization has not used them. Israels intelligence community believes Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah has no interest in attacking Israel as long as his forces are deployed in Syria and his precision missile project is in its infancy. Although Hezbollah relies on Iran, it is first and foremost focused on internal matters. Like other groups that have become established movements, such as Sinn Fein in Ireland, it bears responsibility for the welfare of civilians if it wants to exert control and maintain its power.

In fact, ever since Israel withdrew its troops from Lebanon in May 2000, Nasrallah has initiated no war against Israel. Right after the Second Lebanon War in 2006, he declared that had he known Israel would land such a heavy blow on Lebanon, he would have foregone the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers that set off the deadly Israeli reaction.

This time, Hezbollah has wisely avoided giving Israel an excuse to strike Lebanon and is letting the Israelis celebrate their victory at the mouth of each tunnel it unearths. Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Beri said on Dec. 11 that the Israel Defense Forces can do whatever they want within their territory, but not within Lebanon. In a Haaretz opinion piece on Feb. 7, Ronen Dangoor, the former deputy head of research in the prime ministers office, warned that Israel and Hezbollah would each pay a heavy economic and social price if they go to war again, and the status quo would be restored until the next round of violence.

A verbal dispute that erupted on Dec. 17 between Lebanese and Israeli soldiers, with rifles drawn on both sides, demonstrated the volatility of the situation. A hasty reaction by a soldier could trigger a major conflagration. Dangoor suggested that instead of beating the drums of war, Israel should ask a third party such as Russia, which has displayed a growing interest in the region, to act as a hotline between Jerusalem and Beirut. Rather than risking lives, he added, the two sides are better off in negotiations to settle their ongoing disputes over the strip of land on the Israel-Lebanon-Syria border known as Shebaa Farms and over control of offshore gas reserves. However, the Israeli government believes that what cannot be achieved by force can be achieved by more force. On Dec. 13, Netanyahu expressed this philosophy in typically sharp, simplistic fashion: Whoever attacks us and whoever tries to attack us will pay with his life. Our enemies know this and we will find them."

Israels enemies know that the IDF is the strongest military force in the Middle East. Presumably, they read reports citing foreign sources and assume that the large complex outside the southern town of Dimona is not a production facility for perfume atomizers. This knowledge explains Tehrans restraint in the face of repeated Israeli attacks on its targets in Syria and was presumably the main incentive for members of the Arab League, including the Palestine Liberation Organization and members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, to adopt the Arab Peace Initiative in 2002, offering Israel peace and normalization in return for its withdrawal to the 1967 border lines with certain agreed border adjustments.

Netanyahu, however, refuses to recognize the lands for peace formula. At a Dec. 16 meeting with Israeli ambassadors, Netanyahu said, "The Arab states are looking for links with the strong, adding, Cultivating strengths gives us diplomatic power that enables normalization with the Arab world even without progress in negotiations with the Palestinians. The hope that such progress would pave the way for Israeli ties with Arab states was shelved under Oslo governments, he said, referring to the Labor-led governments that adopted the Oslo Accords in the 1990s.

Successive Israeli governments under Netanyahu, together with Palestinian rejectionist organizations, spare no effort to ensure that the hopes engendered by the Oslo process remain shelved. As always, the people of both nations are the ones who pay the price. Netanyahu asked the heads of local councils in Israels north to imagine the killing sprees Hezbollah fighters would have launched through the tunnels. Residents of Israeli settlements in the West Bank do not have to imagine killers emerging from beneath their doorsteps. For them, they are an almost daily occurrence. How does the government propose to change this reality? As always, by expanding the settlement enterprise, which makes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a laughingstock in his peoples eyes and strengthens his domestic and external rivals.

While Israel takes forceful action against what Netanyahu describes as Irans entrenchment in the northern arena, his government is helping the same enemy entrench along Israels southern front. Israels cease-fire arrangement with the Gaza Strip last month stabilized the regime of the Hamas movement, which enjoys the support of Iran and its satellites. From the besieged Gaza Strip, the road is short to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Encouraged by Israel, Qatar, which supports Hamas and has a special relationship with Iran, is increasing its influence in the territories. The strengthening of the Hamas state in Gaza and perpetuation of Israels policy of separation between Gaza and West Bank Palestinians hasten the collapse of the Palestinian Authority under Abbas leadership and destroy prospects of peace. Sadly, there is no glimmer of light at the end of this tunnel.The governments only strategy is to "go from one use of force to the next without considering any measure, idea or tool that could restore calm. The only tools it uses are those that lead to further deterioration. This was how the former head of Israels Mossad, Shabtai Shavit, described on Dec. 17 the approach of the government in the face of the violent escalation in the West Bank. Shavit, interviewed on Kan Radio, argued that decisions such as expelling terrorists families from their homes or bulldozing their homes, allegedly aimed at deterring potential terrorists, are unacceptable by international law, and their damage to Israel could far outweigh their benefits.

Indeed, by using more and more force, Israels right-wing government doggedly refuses to draw the obvious inference from its policies  deeper occupation, settlement expansion and destabilization of the Palestinian Authority (PA)  and the price Israel is paying and will be forced to pay for generations.

The decision adopted on Dec. 16 by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation was perhaps the strangest measure taken by the government recently, in that respect  a bill that has nothing to do with terror deterrence and everything to do with advancing the West Bank settlement ideology. In fact, the proposal simply exploits the current West Bank escalation for advancing that ideology. The ministers overwhelmingly approved the bill that was proposed by far-right Knesset member Bezalel Smotrich of HaBayit HaYehudi. If approved by the Knesset plenum, it would legalize more than 60 outposts and settlement neighborhoods built illegally on private Palestinian lands over the past 20 years. The bill also calls for the government to provide residents with municipal services and freeze all plans to raze their homes. Whats more, it authorizes the finance minister to guarantee mortgages taken out by settlers to buy homes in the newly legalized outposts.

Advancing this controversial bill was the governments way of reacting to a string of Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis in the West Bank over the past week, especially the Dec. 13 shooting death of two soldiers adjacent to the outpost of Givat Asaf some 4 kilometers south of the established settlement of Beit El.

But how are these outposts actually being established? How do settlers manage to create a new reality on the ground? This week, former commander of the West Banks Binyamin District and one-time head of Israels Civil Administration in the West Bank Maj. Gen. (res.) Ilan Paz provided a step-by-step explanation on his Facebook page of how the settlers exploit the victims of terror attacks to create permanent settlements and how the countrys right-wing governments give in to them. He chose as a case in point the history of Givat Asaf.

This is what he wrote:  In January of 2001, Asaf Hershkovitz was murdered in a terror shooting near the Palestinian village of Bitin.  Uri Ariel, then the head of the Beit El council (and currently the minister of agriculture from HaBayit HaYehudi), came to me and asked me to establish a temporary outpost (in his memory) for the seven days of the mourning, promising that he personally would ensure the settlers would leave at the end of week.  But the week became a month, and the month became an eternity. When I asked Uri Ariel to honor his promise and vacate the outpost, Ariel shrugged his shoulders and said it was out of his hands. Three times the division was about to forcibly vacant the outpost, and each time the Defense Ministry suspended the action.  Within a short time, a ritual bath (mikveh) was built at the site, housing caravans were brought and the temporary outpost became a settlement. Several attempts were made to present purchase certificates of the land, all out turned to be fake.  The settlement is located on private lands of the Palestinian residents of Bitin.

The government, however, not only took advantage of such events to beef up settlements and legalize outposts, but it also promoted additional measures against the better judgment of the heads of Israels security agencies and the governments attorney general. On Dec. 16, the governments Committee on Legislation approved a security Cabinet decision to advance legislation authorizing the expulsion of relatives of Palestinian terrorists from their West Bank homes, probably to the Gaza Strip. Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman warned the ministers that their decision would have the opposite effect from the one they intended and would lead to further deterioration. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit warned them that the bill infringes on constitutional rights and would generate international difficulties.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu already made one mistake on expulsion when he insisted on expelling to the Gaza Strip some of the Palestinian inmates freed from Israeli jails in a 2011 deal with Hamas in return for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Netanyahu essentially gave them a free hand to operate from Gaza, far from the PAs security apparatus and the watchful eyes of the Shin Bet. According to Shin Bet assessments, since their expulsion to Gaza, some 200 of these heavy inmates  who have strong ties to the West Bank  have helped rebuild the Hamas military wings operations in the West Bank that Israel crippled during the second intifada (2000-2005). They issue instructions from Gaza to operatives in the West Bank, transfer funds and ensure training, and they were probably involved in last weeks terror attacks.

However, Netanyahu, Education Minister Naftali Bennett  who is pushing for the expulsions law  and other members of the security Cabinet do not seem interested in implementing the lessons learned from the second intifada. They ignore the need to distance Palestinian civilians as much as possible from armed activities. Israel implemented this policy successfully during the wave of terror attacks launched in 2015 when military Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot insisted on refraining from collective punishment of the Palestinian population. He argued that collective punishments would only drag the Palestinian population into the circle of violence and increase the motivation for revenge.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu himself has ordered authorities to speed up the destruction of terrorists homes, despite the controversial nature and questionable efficacy of this measure. On Dec. 17, the army demolished part of the family home of Ashraf Naalwa, who murdered Israelis Kim Levengrond-Yehezkel and Ziv Hajbi on Oct. 7 at a factory in the Barkan Industrial Zone where he was employed. The timing was designed to signal to right-wing voters that Netanyahu and his government are fighting terrorism with an effective deterrent. With a hairbreadth parliamentary majority of 61, Netanyahus government is on shaky ground. It is more interested in pacifying its right-wing constituents than considering the disastrous consequences of its actions.

The governments task now should be to restore calm, not fan the flames. Continued use of force against the Palestinians in the West Bank would actually have the opposite effect, as Shavit warned.Moscow is showing renewed interest in Libya, perhaps piqued by the question of whether the country could end up with another Gadhafi in charge.

On Dec. 4, Mikhail Bogdanov, Russias deputy foreign minister, received in Moscow a Libyan delegation representing Seif al-Islam Gadhafi. The delegation was headed by Mohammed al-Ghoddi, a former minister of infrastructure under dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Seif al-Islam was the late Gadhafis favorite son and heir apparent before his father was toppled in the summer of 2011 and killed Oct. 20 of that year.

Asked by Al-Monitor if Moscow promised any particular support for the son, Ghoddi said, The Russians stand at the same distance from all [Libyan factions] and have received many delegations from Libya. He was referring to Moscow welcoming on Nov. 7 Gen. Khalifa Hifter  commander of the so-called Libyan National Army, who represents the government in Tobruk  and the March 2, 2017, visit of the prime minister of the Government of National Accord in Tripoli, Fayez al-Sarraj.

The Dec. 4 visit was the first time since the end of the first Libyan civil war (February to October 2011, also known as the Libyan Revolution) that Russian officials have publicly met with representatives of Gadhafi. In the current civil war, rival groups have been fighting since 2014 to control the country.

But Moscow always maintained a back channel with Gadhafi supporters. Ali Bujazia, former information minister during the Moammar Gadhafi era, told Al-Monitor, The Russians are interested in the Libyan dossier and always wanted someone from the Gadhafi family to visit Moscow.

Bujazia, who spoke by phone from Germany where he lives in exile, said, Russians sometimes appear inactive in contacting former regime supporters because of the divisions among the latter.

Explaining the purpose of the visit, delegation member Mohamed Gilushie told Al-Monitor, We went to deliver a message from Seif al-Islam to President [Vladimir] Putin and also to thank him for welcoming us to discuss the Libyan situation.

Gilushie confirmed in an email message to Al-Monitor that in his message to Putin, Gadhafi presented his vision of solving the Libyan crisis according to the United Nations plan without any foreign interference. Without disclosing details of Gadhafi's vision, Gilushie said it is similar to an idea put forward by the late leader.

In May 2011, a conference of tribes adopted an idea proposed then by the elder Gadhafi calling for an inter-Libyan conference to end the war and form a transitional government of technocrats until general elections were held, but the idea was rejected by Western-backed rebels who were demanding that Gadhafi leave power without any negotiations.

UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame is now floating a similar idea as part of his plan to end the protracted conflict that has been ravaging the North African country for the last seven years. Salames plan calls for an inter-Libyan conference as soon as mid-January 2019 in Libya, but no specific date has been set.

The proposed meeting, which has been dubbed the National Libyan Conference Process, is supposed to work as a safety net for elections that are planned for sometime in the spring. Salame hopes the conference participants would serve as guarantors of election results, making sure the results are accepted by all parties to form a united and stable government in the divided country.

Officials from the UN mission in Libya have scouted possible locations for the conference, including Bani Walid southwest of Tripoli. The selected city has to meet certain criteria including security and accessibility to every participant despite tribal divisions. No decision has been made yet.

It took Russia quite a while to revive its presence regarding the Libyan crisis, and it did so in incremental steps  peaking with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedevs participation in a conference on Libya that convened Nov. 2 in the Italian city of Palermo.

During the months approaching the Palermo conference, Russia maintained regular contacts with different Libyan parties, including Gadhafi. Lev Dengov, head of Russias Contact Group on Libya, told Russias Sputnik news agency Nov. 14, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi today contacts us regularly as a participant in the Libyan settlement process. The ambitious Gadhafi seems to be seeking a role in the reconciliation process among Libyans, which Russia reportedly has said he will have.

Another source within the Russian Foreign Ministry told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, Russia thinks Gadhafi is very positive and commands large support in Libya. It is therefore imperative to talk to him and include him in any settlement in Libya.

Bogdanov  who is also Putins special envoy to the Middle East and Africa  notes the hurdles Gadhafi, 46, would still have to deal with before he could run for office in the next elections. He is still wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which accused him of committing crimes against humanity in suppressing the revolt against his father. The ICC issued a warrant for his arrest in June 2011. He only received his freedom in June 2017 after being held prisoner by a militia for six years.

Gilushie dismissed the ICCs arrest warrant, saying, Everybody knows that the warrant was politically motivated and Seif al-Islam played no military role [in the 2011 war], so how could he commit crimes against humanity?

Just last month, the ICC denied Gadhafi's request to have his arrest warrant dropped.

When Al-Monitor asked Gilushie if Gadhafi plans to participate in the next Libyan elections  whenever they take place  he said, That is up to him to decide.

Over the past few years, Russia has been busy with the Syrian crisis both politically and militarily  but is not giving up on Libya. It's true Moscow didn't use its veto power to protect Libya when the council in March 2011 authorized the use of force against the regime. The NATO military intervention that followed prolonged the fighting and destroyed the Gadhafi regime.

Drumming up international support for the late dictator's son is an ongoing process, according to Ghoddi. While Gadhafi enjoys solid support inside Libya, international acceptance of him is equally important; Moscow is vital in this.

But, Ghoddi added, We [the political team supporting Gadhafi] have visited other countries and will visit more. He didn't mention which countries but confirmed they are in Europe.

So it remains unclear if Gadhafi will run for election or if his supporters might contest legislative elections in the spring. "It's too early to say since the election law has yet to be passed by the Libyan parliament, Ghoddi said.

Whatever happens, direct public contact between key countries like Russia and former regime supporters is critical for any political settlement in Libya. Supporters of the former regime, no matter how divided they are, are still a sizable force inside Libya, and they have to be taken into consideration by international powers interested in stabilizing Libya seven years after the country was destabilized and became dominated by militias and chaos.

It's also unclear whether Gadhafi can play a role in a new Libya. Specific numbers are unavailable, but there are many indications that he enjoys strong support among Libyans as a moderate voice potentially able to reconcile the country's differences.The Palestinian ambassador to Australia, Izzat Abdulhadi, knew that he had his hands full when Liberal Party candidate Dave Sharma, a former ambassador to Israel, won the by-elections for the Wentworth seat in east Australia Sept. 13.

Wentworth is home to Australia's wealthiest electorate and one ot its largest Jewish communities. The vote also affects the thin majority held by the government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

The Australian government, led by Morrison from the Liberal Party, was depending on a single-vote majority to stay in power. General elections are due to take place next May. We are aware that the Labor Party has a good chance of winning the elections next summer, Abdulhadi told Al-Monitor. We are sure that the Labor Party will carry out its promise to recognize the state of Palestine. Polls show the Labor Party way ahead of the Morrison coalition.

In the meantime, Australia's local politics appear to have affected international politics.

Speaking to Al-Monitor by phone from Canberra, Abdulhadi said he had been following the statements of Sharma, who was the Australian ambassador in Tel Aviv from 2013-2017.

Sharma expressed his support for US President Donald Trump's controversial embassy move to Jerusalem in an editorial published in the Sydney Morning Herald in May 2018. Now the United States has broken the taboo, as a pragmatic and solution-oriented nation Australia should be prepared to lend our support to this common-sense proposition," he wrote. "We should consider recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, without prejudice to its final boundaries and while acknowledging East Jerusalem as the expected capital of a future Palestinian state.

Sharma was running against Kerryn Phelps, who is Jewish, but who, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, does not have the big end of town or the established eastern suburbs Jewish community throwing money at her. She is largely funding her campaign from her own pocket, with support from a small but enthusiastic army of volunteers.

Although Sharma had won the by-elections in September, Phelps eventually won the final round of elections on Oct. 20. But, in the meantime, Prime Minister Morrison, whose government had a razor's edge advantage, made a promise to the Jewish community to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Morrison has credited Sharma with influencing his thinking on the Jerusalem issue, noting that Sharma is changing the way in which the issue is conceived.

The Palestinian ambassador told Al-Monitor that he had decided to work with Arab and Muslim ambassadors in Canberra to oppose a move, with special attention focused on the Indonesians. Australia and Indonesia were working on a major trade agreement. They both announced the substantive conclusion of negotiations on the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in August 2018.

When it became clear that the Morrison administration intended to move the embassy to Jerusalem, Abdulhadi talked to his Indonesian counterpart. He told Al-Monitor that while he cant take credit for a decision by Indonesia to suspend the $16.5 billion agreement, he is certain Jakarta did the right thing.

Indonesia's principled position, coupled with the opposition of Arab governments, seems to have persuaded the Morrison government to dial back its original plans. The statement that came out on Jerusalem was substantially different from Trump's statement. It stressed that Australia only recognizes West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and that East Jerusalem would be the capital of the Palestinian state and that the move of the embassy from Tel Aviv will only take place once a resolution is found based on the internationally accepted two-state solution.

The Morrison move, however, did not please Palestinians. A statement issued by the Palestinian Embassy in Canberra Dec. 15 noted that open-ended postponement of an embassy move seems to acknowledge that political representation anywhere in Jerusalem would only legitimize the one city status quo, which continues to be cemented via fait accompli.

Abdulhadi said that while the Australian government had substantially dialed down its previous threats, it was important that their action  which contradicts those of the entire world community  is not allowed to stand. With general elections due to take place in May 2019, it was important that Palestine's opposition to the unilateral stand of Canberra be clear, Abdulhadi said.

Of concern to the Palestinian side, according to Abdulhadi, was that Australia did not say that it would recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine at a later stage. Abdulhadi noted that Morrison mentioned a capital for Palestine in East Jerusalem, emphasizing the term in Jerusalem, thus potentially deviating from the accepted borders of East Jerusalem. Press reports say that the US peace plan suggests having the Abu Dis neighborhood of Jerusalem represent the Palestinian capital.

And while the Australian statement did acknowledge the aspiration of the Palestinian people to have their own state, [it] did not recognize our legitimate right to self-determination, he said.

Palestinians want to make sure that other countries considering making a Jerusalem move to please Washington do not make such a move. Palestinians are eyeing the possibility of such a move coming out of Brazil and possibly Georgia, sources in Ramallah told Al-Monitor.

PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat issued a statement Dec. 15 questioning Australia's commitment to the two-state solution. Australian PM Morrison mentioned that the decision was made in light of alleged Australian support for the two-state solution," he said. "In fact, Australia has chosen to join Trump, [Benjamin] Netanyahu, and two other governments, in voting against the two-state solution, in a UN resolution supported by 156 nations.

The Pandora's box that was opened by Trump has whetted the appetite of many countries wanting to show favor to the United States or to address domestic political groups. The Australian example is proof of how a domestic political issue has been elevated to a major foreign policy decision with international implications. Palestinian leaders are working overtime to put out various fires in different parts of the world. But this doesnt absolve them of the need for national unity and a more effective national strategy  a strategy that will send a strong message to all concerned not to cross the red lines established by the international community in order to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as articulated in the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which was adopted by Organization of the Islamic Conference in 2003.As a barrage of rockets continued to explode around them in the early hours one morning in the middle of June 2013, Betul Abras and her family were preparing to leave their home in Syria for the safety of Turkey.

The bombardment had lasted for nearly 24 hours and Abras mother could no longer bear the frightening situation. Leaving their village, located near the Turkish border, was a difficult decision for the family, but they had only planned to go for a few days in order to escape the onslaught.

Having made the crossing illegally with her brother and sister while her parents  who were the only ones with passports  went through the official border control, Abras arrived in Kilis, the southeastern Turkish border town.

Nearly six years later, Abras remains in the border town where she has provided crucial psychological support to victims of the war. This summer she published her first book Memories Scattered by War," documenting 10 heartbreaking cases she has dealt with, in the hope of humanizing a conflict that has devasted the lives of millions of Syrians.

In the city of Aleppo, becoming a teacher was the most popular ambition among young Syrians, Abras, 29, told Al-Monitor. Her dream had been to work as a child psychologist after graduating from the University of Aleppo.

After finishing my degree in 2012, my first job was working with children who showed signs of behavioral and social disorders, she said.

However, that year the United Nations officially declared Syria to be in a state of civil war, and, as the conflict intensified, Abras family moved from their home in Aleppo to Haritan, a village north of the city. In June 2012, Abras was forced to leave her job as she found herself fleeing the violence that had taken over Syria.

There had been bombings from morning until night, she said. And at 2 a.m., as we all sat in the safest room of the house discussing the prospect of leaving, there was yet another loud explosion and my mother just said, 'Thats enough, we need to go.'"

The plan had been to leave for around 10 days, so Abras packed just some clothes and her laptop. However, when the situation in Syria deteriorated, they could not return.

Those first few months were so hard. I cried every day and suffered from depression. I felt like I had lost everything. We had left everything that we had behind, she said. "After three months  just as our money was about to run out  I found a job and things improved.

Abras began working for the International Blue Crescent Relief and Development Foundation, treating victims of the war at a temporary field hospital in Kilis.

For the next three years, Abras treated men, women and children of all ages and backgrounds, all of whom had endured pain and loss as a result of the war. At the height of the conflict, she saw more than 30 patients in a week.

It was difficult work, but I was glad that I could help people from my country who were suffering so badly, she said.

One of her particularly distressing cases, titled Bring Me Sunshine in her book, was a woman who had lost her only child.

She and her husband were unable to conceive for a long time, but after 10 years the wife suddenly became pregnant  it was a miracle for them, Abras said. The mother described her daughter as the love of her life, but when the daughter was a young girl the house was bombed and she was killed. A remarkable detail in the story is that her mother found a note in the pocket of the girls pants. She had written, Mom, Dad, dont be scared of the rockets. Im not scared because I love you so much.

Abras said the mother, who also had surgery to have a metal splint inserted to fix her broken leg, was traumatized to such a degree that she had been unable to speak for some time. She told me her life was over when her daughter died. Even now, thinking about that case upsets me a lot, she said.

She added, When you see people like this woman you feel a responsibility to help this person come back to life.

The woman has since returned to Syria after spending seven months in Kilis.

Another case, titled Mom! My Father Sold Me," involved a girl who lost her mother when she was 11 years old. The family fled to Turkey and she was forced by her father, who prioritized his financial stability during the war over the welfare of his daughter, to smuggle cigarettes across the border. When she was 14, her father married her off to a wealthy businessman.

I really felt compelled to work hard to help her to hold on to life again. She lost everything, Abras said. We are still in contact  she is now stronger and happier.

Other cases detailed in the book include organ theft, the story of a couple who were separated for several years after the husband lost his memory and could not remember his home or his wife, and the account of a man who was brutally tortured while imprisoned in a Syrian jail.

Now working as a monitoring evaluation officer for Malteser International aid agency, Abras work has been tough and the harrowing nature of each account has had a huge impact on her own mental well-being.

Last year, she began to write about the cases she had dealt with while working at the hospital. It has become a form of personal therapy for her. In August, she published her first 500 copies in Arabic, which are currently for sale in Turkish and Syrian bookstores. Abras has self-printed 46 copies in English, but now hopes to publish an official version in English and German. She is also discussing with a Turkish film director the production of a short film about one of the cases.

Abras obtained permission from the patients and families whose stories are featured in the book; their names and identifying information have been changed and Abras has adapted some of the endings.

The patient at the center of the story Mom! My Father Sold Me said she agreed to telling her story, because she wants to raise awareness of the suffering many Syrians have endured. She told Al-Monitor, Its important to show that the Syrian people are not just numbers, we are humans and we have suffered a lot."

The war in Syria has resulted in around 5.6 million refugees fleeing their country, while 6.6 million Syrians are internally displaced. Research led by Man Cheung Chung, a British psychology educator, found that 30% of Syrian refugees suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and mental illnesses.

These people have usually witnessed executions, the kidnapping or disappearance of family members or friends, women being raped and often their own lives were in danger, Chung told Al-Monitor.GAZA CITY, GAZA  The National Islamic Commission for Development and Social Solidarity (Takaful) announced the start of the implementation of a major health project in the Gaza Strip in a Nov. 29 press conference in Gaza City. The megaproject is funded and supported by the UAE Red Crescent Society.

Takaful is a humanitarian commission established in the Gaza Strip in 2013 by Fatahs Reformist Movement in Gaza, founded by dismissed Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan. Dahlan has been exiled from the movement since June 2011 and is currently residing in the UAE.

Following the rapprochement between Hamas and Dahlan at the end of 2014, Takaful expanded to include five Palestinian factions, including the pro-Dahlan Fatah movement, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

This relief project is the biggest and the first of its kind in the coastal enclave and serves as an emergency resource to save the deteriorating health situation in Gaza, as the Palestinian Authority and government have been shirking their responsibility toward the Hamas-controlled Strip. This has caused a major health crisis with the lack of many medicines, medical supplies and equipment in medical institutions and centers in Gaza, Jawad al-Tibi, head of Takaful medical committee, told Al-Monitor.

He explained that the megaproject is made up, of 10 different projects, including the disbursement of medicines and medical supplies for patients, especially those with chronic diseases free of charge, as well as providing the health sector and public hospitals with needed equipment and medical supplies. Tibi said the project will also provide financial coverage for surgical operations for poor patients including eye surgery and treatment for patients suffering from renal failure.

Tibi said that the project will also provide supplies for people with disabilities and special needs, such as wheelchairs, hearing aids, prostheses, shoes, orthopedic shoes and other consumable items such as adult diapers.

The project will cover low-income patients as well as university students, and will be implemented through public and private medical centers in the Gaza Strip.

Tibi thanked the UAE Red Crescent Society and the UAE for all their support for this relief project through Takaful.

The commission is headed by Majed Abu Shammala, a Palestinian leader who was dismissed from Fatah along with 34 other Fatah leaders in September 2017 by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over their loyalty to Dahlan.

Takaful had previously conducted several relief and humanitarian projects for various Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip. In August 2017, the commission offered financial assistance for Gazan workers, amounting to 200 shekels ($55) per person. In October of the same year, another project supported poor patients with special needs and in November, the commission helped pay off university fees to help poor graduates obtain diplomas withheld pending payment.

Because of the enmity between Abbas and Dahlan over organizational differences with the Fatah movement, Takafuls projects do not go through the PA but are directly implemented in the Gaza Strip through Egypt or Israel, which have good relations with the UAE.

The Palestinian government insists that any aid to the Gaza Strip must go through the Ramallah-based government rather than directly to Hamas.

A PA official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, The PA is angry at the UAE over the project it is carrying out in the Gaza Strip through Takaful, affiliated with Dahlan, and not through the PA.

The source added that the UAE funds the commission with $15 million monthly, noting, The PA is currently reviewing the decision to freeze all financial assets of Takaful deposited in Palestinian banks, and to ban official and government institutions from dealing with it. This is because the commissions work has political motives, not humanitarian ones.

The official said the political objective behind these projects is to pass the US 'deal of the century' that seeks the separation of Gaza from the West Bank and to undermine the legitimacy and sovereignty of the PA.

The PA believes that any foreign aid sent directly to Gaza without any coordination with Palestinian government supports Hamas' control over the Strip and promotes the separation between the West Bank and the coastal enclave.

Hamas leader Yahya Moussa told Al-Monitor, Dahlan and his current are doing humanitarian and not political work in the Gaza Strip. Their work aims to ease the Israeli siege imposed on Gaza and the sanctions PA President Mahmoud Abbas has been imposing on Gaza since 2017 to pressure Hamas.

He added that Hamas welcomes this role, and considers it a national position that goes in line with the stances of most Palestinian factions that reject the PA sanctions against Gaza.

Political analyst and writer for the Palestinian Al-Ayyam newspaper Talal Okal told Al-Monitor that the aim of this project and previous humanitarian ones conducted by al-Takaful and backed by the UAE is to mobilize popular support for Dahlan at the expense of Abbas in light of the differences between the PA and the UAE."

Okal explained, The dispute between the two parties emerged following Dahlans dismissal from the PA and after the UAE welcomed him. As a result of the dispute, the UAE halted its direct support for the PA and offered support to Palestinians instead through UNRWA and Takaful, which was established by Dahlan."

Regardless of the conflict, the ongoing humanitarian work conducted by Takaful in Gaza is helping ease the harsh living, health and economic conditions in the besieged enclave. Many on the Palestinian street believe Dahlan will return to the Palestinian political scene in force after Abbas is gone and will be a potential presidential candidate.When Mark Milley first led a US training mission 14 years ago, he was ordered to school an Afghan unit on Soviet-era weapons at a military installation that was little more than dirty ground. Most of the recruits didnt have bank accounts to cash their paychecks, and colleagues remember that Milley had to haggle with Afghan contractors just to get American troops fed.

We went into a parking lot behind a warehouse, we looked around, and we said, This looks like a pretty good place to establish a base camp, Milley recalled in a 2007 interview. And there was nothing but trash, but that was what we did.

The first Security Force Assistance Brigade, a Milley-led invention to pick US military trainers from the regular Army instead of the elite Special Forces, wrapped up its first Afghan deployment in the fall. Now, as President Donald Trumps pick to lead the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Milley will take the top job in the military with a chance to expand his experiment to North Africa and the Middle East, where the US Army is focusing on training instead of combat missions to fight terrorism.

Where we go to do work is dependent on where we need to grow partner capacity, then-Brig. Gen. Brian Mennes, who led the development of the Security Force Assistance Brigades, said at a Washington Institute event in March. So right now, the emphasis is on the Middle East. A US military official confirmed that the next deployments are likely to be beyond Afghanistan.

The concept could help relieve US Special Forces units fighting in the Middle East that have sustained a relentless operational tempo since the Sept. 11 attacks. Since then, US Special Forces have had a mixed track record standing up foreign troops in the region.

In Syria, the Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have succeeded in dismantling much of the Islamic States physical caliphate in the war-torn country, even as the Arab-Kurdish force remains beset with threats from Turkey. Meanwhile in Yemen, US-trained units mostly dissolved after the Iran-backed Houthis took over the nations capital in 2015. Some of the American-backed fighters are now fighting under the command of the nephew of slain former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on the Red Sea coast, a former US official told Al-Monitor.

Milley has a long track record of deploying to Middle East warzones, leading the multinational observer force in Egypts Sinai desert and becoming an early adopter of counterinsurgency tactics championed by Gen. David Petraeus in Iraq. As a colonel serving in Baghdad after the fall of Saddam Husseins regime, Milleys 2nd brigade of the 10th Mountain Division helped rebuild Iraqs infrastructure and protect voters going to the polls in 2004.

He has seen the tactical challenge of working with partner forces that are in very nascent stages of development. Hes seen the whole range of developmental challenges, said David Sedney, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense. Just teaching people to shoot straight is not good enough.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis pushed Milley to accelerate the Security Force Assistance Brigades last year after seeing an intimate partner relationship between US and Iraqi units on the ground in the battle of Mosul, said Mennes, now a two-star Army general.

But the new training units had to shift their objectives as violence surged in Afghanistan earlier this year, raising concerns that the new units could come under fire in the Middle East. In March, several of the new US teams were re-deployed from their Afghan training missions to defend Kabul, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction wrote in a report earlier this year.

The first one was going to be a little rocky, said Jim Dubik, a retired lieutenant general who once led US military training in Iraq. At the tactical level they are helpful and continue to be helpful.

Milleys elevation comes as theres more demand for the advisory brigades to relieve combat units in Africa. Maj. Gen. Roger Cloutier, the US Armys Africa chief, told Army Times in October he would welcome an Africa-based unit, and Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., asked the Army to explore the idea in an April letter. The idea is to free up brigade combat teams, the Armys building block, for potential battles with China and Russia.

But the services requirements for a heavier footprint when it comes to basing, supplying and protecting conventional US troops might make those plans unrealistic, retired Army Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc told Al-Monitor. I found in Africa that the army policy is that conventional forces cant live with their partners, said Bolduc, the former commander of US Special Forces on the continent. Youve got to set up everything for them.

Yet Milleys focus may be drifting away from the region, even as a second training brigade is expected to be deployed early next year. As Army chief of staff, Milley has pushed the land service to refocus on building new long-range missiles and armored vehicles to handle rising threats from China and Russia, even as military officials raised concerns about a dwindling US presence in the Middle East. In August, US Central Command submitted a report to the Joint Staff to Recalibrate Middle East Presence, which will inform next years budget, according to congressional testimony. CENTCOM faces increased risk resulting from reduced posture and presence as the Middle East deals with sectarianism and cross-border conflict, Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, tapped to lead the command, wrote to Congress earlier this month.

For Jason Dempsey, a retired US Army infantry officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, the brigades may be too little, too late to help in a war on terror thats been going on for 17 years.

Hats off to Milley for doing this, he said. [But] its kind of like the firemen showing up to your house three hours after its burned.ANKARA, Turkey  Turkish TV channels gave prominence today to the US-backed deployment of Syrian Kurdish militia along the Turkish-Syrian border, saying it could obstruct Turkeys plans to send its army into northeast Syria.

NTV and CNNTurk screened archive photos of the militia, the Rojava Peshmerga, firing mortar bombs and heavy machine-guns, and a long line of US armored cars driving along a dirt road.

Seven to 10 thousand Rojava Peshmerga have been trained by the US in northern Iraq, the pro-government journalist for Hurriyet newspaper, Abdulkadir Selvi, told CNNTurk. These developments are being watched carefully in Ankara.

The reports came a day after the US special envoy for Syria, James Jeffrey, spoke out against Turkeys plan to invade northeast Syria to crush the Peoples Protection Units (YPG). Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the plan Dec. 12, stressing his forces would not attack the roughly 2,000 US soldiers in Syria, but would clear the east of the Euphrates from separatist terrorists.

Speaking at an Atlantic Council seminar Monday in Washington, Jeffrey said, We think that any offensive into northeast Syria by anyone is a bad idea.

President Donald Trump spoke with Erdogan about Syria on Friday. The details of the call have not been released, but Jeffrey said US opposition to an incursion is something that everybody from the president on down has conveyed to Ankara.

The Rojava Peshmerga and the YPG belong to separate political groups. While the YPG is the military wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which currently dominates northeast Syria, the Rojava Peshmerga are aligned with the Kurdish National Council, a Syrian entity backed by the Kurdistan Democratic Party of the Barzani clan in northwest Iraq. The Kurdish National Council, which has been supported by Turkey, is an archrival of the PYD.

The TV channels said the deployment of Rojava Peshmerga along Turkeys border with northeast Syria would act as a buffer between the Turkish army and the YPG. It is argued that the United States is doing this to deter Turkey from entering northern Syria, NTV presenter Oguz Haksever told viewers.

But the number of Rojava Peshmerga on the northern Syrian border is only 100, hardly enough to stop the Turkish army. However, they have gone there with the backing of the United States as well as their Syrian rivals, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)  a US-armed militia comprised largely of YPG fighters.

Jeffrey said the Rojava Peshmerga deployment was done with our understanding but also with the understanding of the SDF, adding it was one of a number of steps that Washington was taking to reassure Turkey about security in northern Syria.

Turkey sounded anything but reassured Tuesday.

Making no distinction between the SDF and the YPG, Numan Kurtulmus, deputy chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), said the government sees the YPG as a threat just as Israel sees Iranian-backed Hezbollah as a threat on its Lebanese border.

Jeffreys statement about the YPG is unacceptable, said Kurtulmus. The United States should ally itself with Turkey, not with the YPG.

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said the United States had not kept its promise to remove the YPG and its Turkish sister group, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), from northern Syria. This operation will not end until all these terrorists have been cleared away.

And Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, Were obliged to destroy the terrorist organizations beyond our borders.

Hurriyet journalist Selvi said that the Turkish army had lined up all the necessary troops and equipment along the Syrian border and that Turkey was now waiting for the political order to start the operation.

Erdogans critics have accused him of orchestrating an offensive into Syria to mobilize support before March 31 local elections. In Turkey, local elections tend to be a midterm test of the governments popularity, and the poor state of the economy has caused Erdogans job-approval rating to fall to a point where he has more critics than supporters.

Today, the main opposition party, the Republican Peoples Party (CHP), announced its candidates for mayor of Ankara and Istanbul. The decision followed weeks of negotiation with the smaller opposition party, Iyi, which has endorsed the two nominees.

For Ankara, the alliances choice is Mansur Yavas, who ran for the position in the 2014 municipal elections. Liberal Turks believe he was cheated of victory by fraud, but an appeal to the electoral board was dismissed. A notable feature of his previous campaign was a plan to construct a pedestrian green belt from one side of the city of 5 million people to the other.

We have to win this election to crown the trust (you have shown in me), Yavas said today in a tweet. May the road be easy.

For Istanbul, the alliance chose Ekrem Imamoglu, 48, a relatively young and fresh-faced politician who currently runs the citys Beylikduzu district. Imamoglu has said Istanbuls 15 million inhabitants want a "people-friendly" city.

The AKP, which controls both cities at the moment, will contest the elections in alliance with the far-right National Movement Party (MHP). The parties have chosen Mehmet Ozhaseki, a former mayor of the provincial city of Kayseri, to be their candidate for Ankara. Their candidate for Istanbul has not been announced, but it is expected to be Binali Yildirim, the former prime minister.The Trump administration has officially banned bump stocks, devices that allow semi-automatic rifles to fire like fully automatic weapons.

Bump stock owners will have 90 days to turn them in to the ATF or otherwise destroy them from the date that the final rule is published in the federal register, which will likely happen Friday, according to CNN.

Bump stocks, which can be purchased legally for $99 to $299, allows a shooter to fire as many as 400 to 800 rounds a minute with a single squeeze of the trigger. The devices had been under scrutiny since 2017 when they were used by a gunman to kill 58 people and injure more than 800 concertgoers in Las Vegas.

Current law bans the purchase of fully automatic weapons manufactured after 1986. However, in 2010, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ruled bump stocks were considered a part and therefore would not be regulated as a weapon.

As many as 520,000 of the devices have been sold nationwide since they were first approved by the ATF almost a decade ago. Eleven states - California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington  have already banned the devices.The clock is ticking on another government shutdown.

Unless the president and Congress reach a spending deal, many government agencies will shut down as of midnight Friday. The president is threatening the shutdown over some $5 billion in funding for his border wall, with Democrats saying they wont pay for the project.

Unlike past shutdowns that hit almost every agency, this shutdown would be limited in that many operations were funded by earlier appropriation bills. Hundreds of thousands of other federal employees, however, will face furloughs and delays on paychecks if Washington cant reach an agreement.

Heres what you need to know

What agencies wont shut down

The departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Energy and Veterans affairs are already covered under funding agreements and wont shut down on Dec. 21.

What agencies will shut down

The departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, State, Interior, Agriculture, Treasury, Commerce, Homeland Security and Justice, as well as independent agencies, will close when the existing continuing resolution ends Dec. 21, GovExec reports.

How many could be furloughed

About 850,000 employees work at agencies subject to shutdown. About 41 percent of those employees would be subject to furloughs. Furloughed employees are not guaranteed they will receive back pay though Congress has traditionally included that in appropriation bills.

Impacts in Alabama

Alabama has some 53,000 federal workers, the vast majority of whom  more than 25,000  work for the Army, Air Force or Department of Defense. Those people wont be subject to furlough, nor would the 6,300 who work for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The biggest impact in Alabama would be at NASA in Huntsville. NASAs shutdown plans call for 95 percent of employees to be furloughed, sending thousands of Marshall Space Flight Center home without pay.

Critical space operations would continue, according to NASA officials.

In previous shutdowns, we have maintained personnel to support the International Space Station and its crew, and currently operating space missions, such as satellites, landers, and rovers, to ensure theyre safe and secure, spokesperson Jennifer Stanfield, Senior Public Affairs Specialist told AL.com newspartner WHNT. This includes the payload operations integration center at NASA Marshall which conducts round-the-clock space station science support.

What about post office operations?

Mail will still be delivered in the event of a shutdown.

Postal Service operations will not be interrupted in the event of a government shutdown, and all Post Offices will remain open for business as usual. Because we are an independent entity that is funded through the sale of our products and services, and not by tax dollars, our services will not be impacted by a government shutdown, a spokesman said.

What about other critical services?

Air traffic will continue as normal, with air-traffic controllers and customs and border agents on duty. Social Security benefits, Medicare Services, food stamps and other social welfare programs will continue.A man charged in the shooting that led to a police killing of a black man in a crowded Alabama shopping mall on Thanksgiving is asking a judge to lower his bond.

An attorney for 20-year-old Erron Brown has filed a request to reduce his bail from $125,000 to $60,000. A motion filed Monday in Birmingham says Brown has no felony convictions and would abide by an electronic monitoring system.

Prosecutors haven't responded to the request.

Brown is jailed on an attempted murder charge in the wounding of a teenager who was shot at a mall in suburban Birmingham. An officer who heard the gunfire shot and killed 21-year-old Emantic EJ Bradford Jr., apparently believing he was the shooting suspect. Protesters are pushing for the arrest of the still-unidentified officer who killed Bradford.Birminghams pension board is expected to hear from Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA) next month as it struggles with ways to reduce costs and increase contributions to the city managed fund.

The citys nearly $1.4 billion Retirement and Relief Pension System is underfunded by $378 million, city officials say. If the shortfall isnt fixed, the fund could run out of money in 30 years.

To fix the problem, Daniel Coleman, an unpaid advisor to Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, said the city needs an extra $12 million to contribute to the pension fund each year for the next 30 years.

As of July 1, 2017, 3,118 people were drawing a monthly benefit from Birminghams retirement system with an average monthly benefit of $2,119.

The Birmingham Mayors Office of Public Information said a projected number of retirees over the coming decades wasnt available for release, though the city must have the information if its estimated the pension fund may run out of money in 30 years.

Moving Birminghams pension under the management of the RSA, could potentially save the city $4 million a year, Coleman said.

RSA is one of the 20 largest internally funded pension funds in the world. Under the direction of CEO David Bronner, RSA manages three large funds - the Teacher Retirement System, Employee Retirement System and Judicial Retirement Fund. Together, they represent $36.7 billion. Altogether, RSA manages 23 funds with $41.5 billion in assets.

Morgan Stanley, which has managed Birminghams pension fund for about 14 years, charges the city about $4.7 million a year, according to the city. RSA would charge the city approximately $600,000 a year.

Here is the breakdown of Morgan Stanleys fees, according to the city:

 Approximately $400,000 for Morgan Stanley fees, as the investment advisors.

 Approximately $3.3 million to investment managers.

 Approximately $300,000 more for professional fees (custodian, actuarial, etc.).

 Approximately $700,000 for administrative expenses.

During a Pension Board of the City of Birmingham Retirement and Relief System meeting on Dec. 12, a Morgan Stanley representative said the firm would reduce its fees by 10 percent.

Bronner stated in a Dec. 12 letter to Woodfin that RSA doesnt care whether the city joins RSA or not. But he wanted to note that RSAs funds largely outperform the City of Birmingham Retirement and Relief System.

He said the RSA outperformed the city fund in the last year and five years. One year returns for the city fund was 11.5 percent while the RSA came in at 12.57 percent. Over the last five years, the city received a 8.29 percent return while the RSA came in at 10.54 percent. The citys fund did outperform the RSA over the last 10 years with 5.81 percent compared to RSAs 4.98 percent.

Morgan Stanley revealed similar numbers to the pension board on Dec. 12.

In three years, the city fund earned a 6.95 percent return while the RSA brought 7.92 percent, according to Morgan Stanley. Five-year returns were at 8.54 percent on the city fund and 10.04 in the RSA.

According to Morgan Stanley, city returns on their pension fund was at 6.10 over the last 10 years while the RSA earned 4.88 percent.

Pension board member Phyllis Carr, who represents current city employees, said she wants the board to approve issuing a request for proposals for another company to manage the pension fund. She said shes been making the request since 2012, but theres never been enough votes.

Carr said she simply wants to know how Morgan Stanleys rates compare to other firms.

Board member Marty Leonard, who was appointed to the board by the Jefferson County Pension Board, said he isnt opposed to an RFP, but because of all the services Morgan Stanley provides, bidding it out may be too complicated.

RSA hasnt confirmed whether a representative will be able to attend the next Birmingham pension board meetings set for Jan. 14 and Jan. 16.A New Jersey law, which bans the use of wild and exotic animals in traveling circuses, is named for Nosey, an elephant that was seized by Alabama animal control officers last year.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, signed Noseys Law on Friday. The new law had bi-partisan support in the state legislature, NJ.com reported.

Nosey is a 36-year-old African elephant who was used in a small circus traveling across the country. In late 2017, Nosey was seized from her owners  who operate the Great American Family Circus  in Lawrence County, Alabama.

The elephant had an "inadequate food supply" and showed "signs of stress," an animal control officer said in court records. The national People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals organization said the elephant was tightly chained and forced to stand in her own bodily waste.

The elephants owners, Hugo and Franciszka Liebel, of Florida, are charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty. However, their criminal cases are on hold pending the outcome of a civil action. The Liebels are appealing a judges decision to grant custody of Nosey to Lawrence County Animal Control Officer Kimberly Carpenter. Carpenter had placed Nosey at a sanctuary with other elephants in Hohenwald, Tennessee, about 90 miles of Moulton, Alabama.

Anyone who violates Noseys Law" in New Jersey could face civil penalties. Alabama doesnt have a law like "Noseys Law.A passenger is missing from a Mobile-based cruise ship.

Citing reports from passengers, Cruisehive reported announcements were made on board the Carnival Fantasy last night about a missing guest. The passenger was still missing as of Monday as onboard security searched the vessel.

The Fantasy is currently on a five-day western Caribbean cruise after departing from Mobile on Dec. 15. Cruisehive reports the passenger went missing as the ship was sailing towards its first port of call of Progreso on Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula. The ship is scheduled to be in Cozumel, Mexico tomorrow before arriving back in Mobile on Dec. 20.

Carnival confirmed the reports in a statement.

"While Carnival Fantasy was en route to its scheduled call of Progreso, Mexico, a male guest was reported missing. Several announcements have been made and a ship-wide search is underway to locate the guest. All appropriate authorities have been notified and Mexican authorities are providing assistance with the shipboard search.

The reported incident is the second involving a Carnival passenger in recent weeks.

The Coast Guard recently called off a search for a man who apparently went overboard on the Carnival Victory.

Thomas McElhany, 26, was a passenger aboard the ship when he went into the waters just south of Islamorada on Friday.

Room-by-room and floor-by-floor searches were conducted and air and water teams covered about 2,100 square miles of the ocean over a 32-hour period but McElhany wasnt located.

I have been in contact with members of Mr. McElhanys family throughout our search efforts and know this is a very difficult and painful time for them, Cmdr. David Aldous, Coast Guard 7th District search and rescue mission coordinator, said in a news release. ."Suspending a search is one of the most difficult decisions we have to make as first responders, and it is never made lightly."

The Victory is stationed in Miami.Just before a public hearing on the possibility of the City of Pleasant Grove adopting a district-based government was set to begin Monday night, the city council voted to close the hearing, citing federal lawsuit filed against the mayor and city councilors last week.

The public hearing was set to happen during Monday nights city council meeting. The city council chambers were packed with residents ready to ask questions about what a district-based city government would look like in Pleasant Grove. Every seat was full with more residents standing along the back and side walls of the chambers. Around 60 or 70 people attended.

Many residents were visibly surprised and frustrated the hearing was canceled.

The city is under fire after the NAACP Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit challenging the citys at-large voting method. In Pleasant Grove, five council members are elected at-large. Each council member represents the entire city and individual members serve on different city committees.

The LDFs lawsuit, filed on behalf of two black Pleasant Grove residents, argues the citys at-large voting method has prevented black candidates from being elected and prevented black voters from electing candidates of their choice.

Mayor Jerry Brasseale made a motion to close the public hearing, which Place 1 counselor Philip Houston seconded. Place 5 counselor William Bullion was not in favor of closing the public hearing.

I do not want to prevent people from speaking their peace, Bullion said.

Place two counselor Robert Crumpton was not present.

The public comment portion of the meeting was still held. Many residents voiced concerns and asked questions about municipal elections in Pleasant Grove. One woman asked the council to explain the difference in the citys current at-large voting method and a district-based voting method.

City attorney J.D. Terry said neither himself nor the council could not answer her questions.

One woman said she had to get off work early and fight traffic to make it to the public hearing only to learn it couldnt be held.

Im disappointed, said Rep. Merika Coleman, who represents Alabamas 57th congressional districtwhich includes Pleasant Grove. I came to hear what the proposition would be. What Ive decided, mayor, is that Im going to host a town hall and have the state to come in. What Im going to ask is if we can get our state people come down and explain to all of us the different types of voting. Then we can make an informed decision about what should happen.

Residents applauded when Coleman proposed holding a town hall meeting. Some even yelled thank you.

Coleman argued theres nothing preventing the city attorney from explaining the difference in at-large and district-based voting.

This is not new, she said, adding the LDF contacted her regarding the citys at-large voting method about seven years ago. This is not about sore losers. We need to come together and do what is best for the city.

Former city council member Priscilla McWilliams stood up and explained at-large voting during her time to address the city council. McWilliams previously served on the council after she was appointed in 2016, but lost her seat when she unsuccessfully ran as an incumbent in 2016.

Resident A. Faye Calhoun said she is frustrated the city has been unable to answer her questions about its dealings with the LDF.

This has been going on for months. Why does it have to come to this (a lawsuit)? Calhoun said, before Terry again said he could not answer her questions.

I just pray that the day will come when I can leave with some satisfaction, answers or resolve, Calhoun said.

Coleman said details about a town hall meeting would be shared on social media.

The lawsuit

The LDF first sent a letter to the city on March 22, urging the city to draw and adopt single-winner districts.

We have been having ongoing discussions with the council. The council has still not adopted new maps and theyve had at this point nine months to take a vote or propose an alternative. Thats why were filing now," Deuel Ross, Assistant Counsel at LDF, told AL.com last week.

The lawsuit, which was filed Thursday, alleges the citys at-large voting method violates the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and may be denying black voters, who account for more than 40 percent of the citys electorate, the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice and fully participate in the political process, Legal Defense Fund attorneys said.

The complaint includes three maps showing five, single-winner districts that could be adopted. LDF attorneys say the three maps both contain majority-black single-member districts and that do not place any of the current incumbents in the same single-member district.

Although black candidates have run for both the office of mayor and various seats on the city council, no black candidate has ever been elected.

A black woman, Priscilla McWilliams, was appointed in 2014 to replace James G. Pete Mosley, who vacated the Place 2 seat to move to Hoover. In the 2016 election, she ran as an incumbent for the Place 2 seat, but lost to James Crumpton, a white male.

McWilliams was joined by four other black candidates in 2016 -- Audrey Rutledge Boles, Yolanda Lawson, Maria McKinney and Robert Sellers. They also lost to white candidates.

Three black candidates ran unsuccessfully for mayor and city council positions in 2008. Veda Agee ran unsuccessfully for Mayor. Sherian Minor ran unsuccessfully for city council Place 4. Angela Lewis ran unsuccessfully for city council Place 2.

For far too long, Black voters in Pleasant Grove have been denied the chance to elect their preferred representatives, said Bernard Simelton, President of the Alabama NAACP. We are fully committed to working with the City Council to ensure that its electoral system is fair to everyone."The Trump administrations federal school safety commission laid out nearly 100 wide-ranging policy recommendations for improving school safety in their final report, released Tuesday. Among those recommendations is a call for children to have better access to mental health services and for states to consider implementing provisions to temporarily restrict access to firearms for dangerous individuals.

Calling the commission's work "not pleasant, but necessary," U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said, "No parent should fear for their child's life when they go to school and no student or teacher should ever have to worry about their safety at school."

DeVos, on a press call, said the commission recognized that "no one size fits all," and state and local officials should work with local school leaders, teachers, parents and students to determine which of the commission's recommendations best address each community's challenges.

The commission, created by President Trump in March after the shooting deaths of 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14, spent nearly a year conducting visits and holding listening sessions where they heard from state officials, experts and community members about concerns and solutions to improve school safety.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos served as chair of the Commission. Other members included former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

The 180-page report, posted on the U.S. Department of Educations website, contains 19 chapters divided into three sections: prevention, protect and mitigate, and respond and recover.

The wide-ranging recommendations include:

providing better access to mental health services for children,

arming highly-trained school personnel,

state adoption of extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs) to temporarily restrict access to guns for those who are found to be a danger to themselves or others,

encouraging schools to find ways for law enforcement officers and veterans to serve in various roles at school,

fostering a climate of connectedness for students,

making character development a priority, and

fostering social-emotional learning for students.

Gov. Kay Ivey, provided this statement to AL.com about the report: "The Final Report of the Federal Commission on School Safety, which was presented to President Trump today, much like the final report of the SAFE Council, offers balanced, evidence- and research-based practices for ensuring the safety and security of our children while they are at school. I am very proud to have hosted the final Federal Commission on School Safety meeting that resulted in several of Alabamas best practices featured in the report. We are eager to see all states focus on a three part strategy of physical security, increased mental health and threat assessment services and training, and coordinated training and planning.

State Superintendent Eric Mackey said the recommendations will be useful as schools continue to work to secure their campuses. From the physical safety and surroundings of our schools, to dealing with the social and emotional support that some of our students truly need," Mackey said, "this [report] offers sound, researched, practical solutions and will serve as a cornerstone to our preventive and supportive measures. One student saved or one tragedy adverted warrants all of our efforts to create safe and healthy learning environments for our children.

After months of research, visiting successful programs & hearing presentations, today the Federal Commission on School Safety will present its final report to @POTUS which details best practices and policy recommendations for improving school safety. https://t.co/AP3k9KmXbM  US Dept of Education (@usedgov) December 18, 2018

The report recommends media consider implementing standards of the No Notoriety Campaign" where school shooters are not named nor pictured, and coverage instead focuses on the facts and the victims.

Senior administration officials said the commission does not recommend the use of federal funds to arm school personnel, but encourages states to augment funding for school resource officers (SROs).

The commission stayed away from gun safety issues like universal background checks, pushed by the student-led March for Our Lives organization, but in addition to advocating for ERPOs, recommended states conduct training to promote safe storage of guns, stating, Most school shooters obtain their weapons from family members or friends rather than by purchasing them.

The commissions most controversial move is recommending the U.S. Department of Education rescind Obama-era guidance on racial disparity in school disciplinary practices. In the 2014 guidance, federal officials said the federal Office for Civil Rights could initiate an investigation into a school or district if the number of disciplinary actions show a disparity between black students and white students.

School officials have said the guidance made it more difficult to deal with aggressive or violent students and the report states that school administrators, in an effort to lower the disparities between the groups of students may have driven their discipline policies and practices more by numbers than by teacher input.

The report states the Trump administration is committed to ensuring no discrimination occurs, but will not base action on numbers alone.

Civil rights groups are criticizing the move, saying it gives schools leeway to continue discriminatory exclusionary discipline practices.

In a joint statement, former U.S. Education Secretaries Arne Duncan and John King denounced the commissions recommendation to rescind the guidance. Once again, the Trump administration turns its back on our most vulnerable and underserved students, the statement read. Todays recommendation to roll back guidance that would protect students from unfair, systemic school discipline practices is beyond disheartening.

The Commission held its final listening session in Montgomery on Aug. 28, where commission members heard from Alabama educators, agency heads and elected leaders who emphasized the need for better mental health access for students.

In the Aug. 28 meeting, Gov. Kay Ivey highlighted her Sentry Program, allowing schools to keep a firearm on campus but to be accessed only by a trained administrator. The Sentry Program is mentioned in the commissions report as one of several examples of effective training programs, but it is unknown if any Alabama schools are participating in the program.UAB supporters can show off a redesigned license plate in 2019.

The Alabama Department of Revenue said the newly designed specialty plate will be available for issuance on Jan. 1, 2019. A shipment of plates has been ordered for each license plate based on number of current registrations. There are currently more than 3,100 UAB license plates on Alabama vehicles.

The current UAB tag features a green bar at the top and the letters UAB on the left. The new license plate replaces UAB with a fire-breathing dragon, the Birmingham universitys mascot.

Its the plates first redesign in five years.

While UABs plate is getting a redesign, another state school is getting a new tag.

License plates for Auburn University at Montgomery will be available at some licensing offices starting Jan. 1, 2019.

The AUM plates feature the schools colors, orange and black, and its mascot, the Warhawk.Two women were arrested over the weekend at separate Alabama prisons in an ongoing effort to stop contraband for entering the state lockups.

Alabama Department of Corrections officials announced the arrests of Jamilia Kiarra Ware, 21, of Docena, and Latonya Renee Presley, 40, who lives in Georgia but is from the Birmingham area.

Presley was arrested Saturday at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. Authorities said before entering the prison to visit an inmate, agents searched her vehicle with a K-9 team and found marijuana and other illegal contraband.

Presley, officials said, admitted to having the items and was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was booked into the Escambia County Sheriffs Office and released on an appearance bond.

Latonya Renee Presley

Ware was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, and promoting prison contraband. Authorities said she was arrested during an attempted visit with an inmate at the St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, also on Saturday.

A prison K-9 unit found Ware in possession of several packages wrapped in black tape that contained a controlled substance. Officials also found marijuana, a bottle of vodka, and a 9mm handgun concealed inside the suspects vehicle, which the suspect had a permit to carry. Ware was taken to the St. Clair County Jail where she was booked.

The public is asked to contact the ADOC Investigations and Intelligences Division at 1-866-293-7799 with information that may lead to the arrest of anyone attempting to introduce illegal contraband into state prisons. The public may also report suspicious activity to law enforcement by going to the ADOC Website at http://www.doc.alabama.gov/investigationrequest.Authorities have released the name of a woman killed Monday morning in a head-on crash in east Birmingham.

The Jefferson County Coroners Office identified the victim as Barbara Ann Bryant. She was 64 and lived in Birmingham.

The crash happened at 7:10 a.m. in the 100 block of Edwards Lake Road. Authorities said Bryant, who had two small children in the vehicle with her, was driving a Buick Rendezvous that was in the collision with a Ford Windstar.

Bryant was taken to St. Vincents East where she was pronounced dead at 8:19 a.m. The two children in the vehicle suffered minor bleeding.

The driver of the Windstar, also a female, was taken to the hospital with minor injuries as well.The Hoover City Council on Monday approved nearly $60,000 in tax incentives to a Hoover-based medical device company that is planning a $2 million expansion that would create 60 additional jobs.

BioHorizons, headquartered in Hoovers Riverchase Corporate Park, employs 185 people in Hoover. The 60 additional jobs being created come with a $50,000 average salary.

The company, which produces oral reconstructive devices, came before the council seeking tax abatements to offset construction-related costs and the purchasing of new machinery. The incentives would cancel out $52,500 in sales and use taxes and $6,747 a year over 10 years in personal property taxes, the company said.

BioHorizons would still be paying $60,000 in property taxes with the city of Hoover collecting $13,000. The city would also collect $25,000 in personal property taxes.

Were very excited to remain here in the city, company President Steve Boggan told the council.

The council unanimously approved the deal at its Monday night meeting.

In other business, the council also approved the fifth of six annexations of the former Riverchase Middle School, owned by the Hoover City Board of Education, into the city limits.

The school is set to reopen in August as the Riverchase Career Connection Center, which will instruct students in a number of trades and disciplines, ranging from culinary arts to construction trades to computer science.A Hoover mans vacation with his wife took an unexpected turn when he saw a Tennessee state trooper being attacked on the side of an interstate and stopped to help.

The ordeal began just before 10 a.m. on Nov. 25 and ended with a juvenile rape suspect handcuffed and jailed.

Ken McFarland, the 55-year-old owner of City Auto Sales in Hueytown, and his wife, Sherri, were driving back from Pigeon Forge that morning when they got to Cleveland, Tenn. A wreck on the interstate had slowed traffic, and thats when McFarland noticed a state trooper had pulled over a car and was in a struggle with a male.

They were in a pretty serious fight, McFarland said. I just felt compelled to get out.

By the time McFarland jumped into the fray, the trooper and the suspect were both on the ground and in a muddy ditch about 10 feet off the roadway. The trooper was beaten from the top of his head, McFarland said. I was able to get his (the suspects) left arm out and slow him down a bit.

The trooper then put (the teens) head in the mud, but when he let him up for air, he was still combative, he said. The troopers radio was caked in mud, but he was still able to push his emergency button for backup.

A second trooper arrived and, together, the trio got the situation under control. They all moved up toward the patrol car, and I stopped for a minute and tried to figure out what had happened, McFarland said. I was confused about the trooper bleeding. I really didnt get an answer for three weeks.

Just last week, McFarland was honored by Tennessees Department of Safety and Homeland Security for his actions that day. It was then he learned more details about what had gone down.

Both troopers had pulled over a vehicle for speeding, but one of them got called away to the nearby wreck. A female was driving the suspect vehicle. The trooper quickly figured out the male passenger, 17, had an outstanding felony warrant for rape. As he got the teen out of the vehicle, the fight erupted.

Thats when McFarland stepped in.

He said he really didnt think about it  he just knew what he had to do. Afterward, he recalled a video he had recently watched online that showed a Texas lawman attacked by a group of people. They took him to the ground and shot and killed him.

I dont know if that was part of it or not, I just knew he was in trouble, McFarland said. I shared that story with the state trooper I helped and he said, Ive watched that video probably 20 times.

McFarland said he was honored by the ceremony and the plaque presented to him. They were very kind to me, he said. It made me feel appreciated.

Hes even more thankful, however, for the way things turned out. Im just glad that everybody got to go home, he said. I realized during the whole process how things can turn really bad really fast.

McFarland said he hasnt spent much time thinking about the danger he put himself in, or other what-ifs. My wife and I talked about that, he said. I couldnt have driven past that and not stopped and then gotten home to find out something terrible happened.

Were here for a reason, he said. You take life as it comes.This is an opinion piece from Mike Oliver who writes about life and health issues for AL.com.

Obamacare is not health care reform. It's a Band-Aid at best.

You could call it an attempt at insurance reform. And it has helped some people who had no insurance obtain insurance. But who are we kidding?

We have more than 28 million uninsured people in this country. The percentage of uninsured went down at first under Obamacare from about 44 million. But now the rate of uninsured is going up again.

A HealthCare.gov website advertises open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act. (Photo by Devlin Barrett, The Washington Post)AP

Last Friday, a federal judge in Texas ruled the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. And the case could go to the US Supreme Court.

But Medicaid expansion, much of what Obamacare is about, is not health care reform. Let's get serious and move the conversation to something substantial.

I want to know what is the case against a single-payer system? Id really like to know why a single-payer system is not legitimately considered an option in this county.

Im saying this as someone diagnosed at 56 with a fatal brain disease, Lewy body dementia. Im 58 now, they say the average lifespan for this type of dementia is 4 to 8 years after diagnosis.

I'm asking as someone who has covered health care for years as a reporter and editor in Alabama, Florida and California, as one who covered First Lady Hillary Clinton's health reform attempts as it went down in flames.

Im looking for real reasons why a single-payer option is not the way to go. Just so we are clear, the answer of the above question is not that it is socialistic or socialism. Thats an observation or opinion as to what type of government policy it is.

Medicare might be described as socialistic. The Department of Transportation might be described as socialistic. After all, we collect and re-distribute tax dollars to build roads and bridges. But we have decided as a nation of some shared needs so our government heads up those multi-billion-dollar endeavors.

But there's already too much government in our lives I hear opponents of a single-payer system say. I say: We are the government.

So, please, help me understand why it is a bad idea. I go back to Medicare. It, too, is a multi-billion dollar endeavor, making up something like 15 percent of the federal budget. In general Medicare (not to be confused with Medicaid) gets pretty good marks for efficiency. Most folks have seen their parents or grandparents on Medicare, and they haven't joined the communist party.

In one version of a single-payer system, we would open Medicare up to everybody who needs it regardless of age. It seems like this would cost more money initially, and maybe so, but in the long run we will have a healthier, happier nation and less money going to high percentage profits of the health care industry.

And that will ultimately mean less spending on health-care. (If only political leaders looked long-term.)

Here's the Medicare expansion idea. And here are four other models in which variations are used in England, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, etc.

The truth is the United States has universal coverage right now. That's right. It's just that there are many who use the emergency room as their doctor's office. Their unpaid charges get passed on to paying customers, a phenomenon called cost-shifting. So medicines and treatment rise for the insured patient. Even those with insurance often have high deductibles that deflate the incentive to make a doctor's appointment.

They get treated one way or another. Others wait to get better but end up getting worse -- a cancer that could have been stopped is now too far along, for example.

I was doing a ride-around with an ambulance service in Orlando, FL, years ago and asked the driver about the health care of the people they pick up to take to the hospital.

"Health care for people out here is calling 911 " was his response.

I think there are two things that help to understand why this is such a sticky and difficult problem. Typical business economics behind health care don't operate in the interest of the patients or their outcomes. Think about it. The institutional financial interest is to treat more, test more, scan more, prescribe more.

Now good doctors may be outraged that I would insinuate their decisions are financially driven. And I believe doctors should have as much freedom as possible to make prognoses and treat patients.

Heres a scenario: A hospital on one side of town -- Hospital A -- buys an expensive laser treatment for brain tumors. It costs many millions but they have the only one in town. They figure they can charge $10,000 per treatment based on how many will use the treatment. On the other side of town, another hospital notices the business that the laser is getting, so they buy one. All good capitalism and competition, right?

The problem is there is a ceiling on the pool of patients. So hospital A starts seeing less patients because Hospital B picked them off. Economically, the overall revenue is down so Hospital A must increase the cost of the treatment or increase the patient population.

What they need is a good brain tumor epidemic. That's a horrible thing to enter the psyche of a hospital or health care organization.

The other anomaly about health care reform is that there are huge financial interests which work against significant reform. I covered Hillary Clinton's attempt to reform health care. It was not pretty. Too many cooks in the kitchen spoiled the broth, as the thick document that contained the policy was seized upon and ridiculed, probably rightfully so. Throwing an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink document out there was a major mistake, politically. Holding closed sessions with myriad special interests and academic experts was another political mistake.

Thats old news now.

Hillarycare like Obamacare was not systemic health care reform anyway. It tried to please everybody from consumer groups to insurers, from hospitals to the pharmaceutical industry. The result: Hillarycare died.

And now Obamacare has been ruled unconstitutional.

I wonder why we cant create some new news. Call it Peoplecare.

I would start with a question:

Why not single-payer health care reform?Looking back at the path taken by this country over the past four decades, its easy to realise that freedom is not easily earned and once you have it, you never want to lose it  never again.

Beijing, China  In October 1978, Chinas late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping paid his first official visit to Japan. After being shown around the steel, automobile and electronic factories, Deng was apparently so mesmerised by the modern Japanese technology that once he returned home he convened the third plenary session of the Communist Partys 11th Central Committee.

That very session on December 18, 1978 sent an exhilarating signal to the countrys then-one billion people: China has been poor under ill-planned economy for too long. Now, its time to change.

In fact, Chinas leaders had long felt the urge to reverse decades of political turmoil, famine and poverty, and in that pivotal meeting exactly 40 years ago they decided to steer the countrys path off communism by starting the experimental integration of market elements into its centrally planned economy, or as they called it Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.

The transformative reform and opening up policy set China on the course for nationwide economic reforms and fundamentally changed peoples lives across the country  including my familys.

Bo Gu and her parents in Beijing during a summer trip in 1981 [Bo Gu/Al Jazeera]

I was born one month before that landmark decision in the eastern province of Jiangsu. The following year, my mother migrated from the countryside to a city in Jiangsu. Compared to the majority of Chinas rural population, upgrading to an urban setting was a big leap forward for both of my parents: my mother by becoming a school teacher and my father by joining the army in the far northeastern province of Heilongjiang.

They only saw each other twice a year until I turned seven.

Our first city dwelling was barely a 100 square-feet room in a small city in Jiangsu province. I was just three-years-old but this one memory had been carved deep into my mind: we had to move the bedsheets off the bed so we could use it as a dinner table whilst sitting on our little plastic stools.

In 1981, we moved to a bigger apartment in the same city that came with no private toilet or shower. It was still tiny but we had a proper dining table.

That was two years after Deng and the leadership had decided to allow private business, but not entirely  we still had to use meat, rice and oil coupons to buy daily necessities. In fact, coupons were needed to buy virtually everything from food, clothes and bikes to watches and sewing machines.

But changes, big ones, were soon afoot.

The building Bo Gu and her parents lived in from 1981 to 1989 [Bo Gu/Al Jazeera]

In 1984, we bought our very first TV set. One of the earliest electronic goods made in China, it was made in the eastern city of Suzhou under the proudly branded name of Peacock.

The TV set was black and white but we managed to make it multicolour: we glued see-through red, yellow and blue tapes on the screen  problem solved. Occasionally, someone had to stand up and hold the antenna so the screen wouldnt turn into snowflakes.

That was also the time when pop culture from Hong Kong, the very symbol of decadent capitalism, quietly but decisively swept north into mainland China. I would watch the popular Hong Kong kung-fu TV series Legends of the Condor Heroes along with my young neighbours.

A Peacock TV set made in Suzhou [Bo Gu/China]

In 1985, China hosted its first concert by a Western band: British pop duo Wham!, in the capital Beijing.

In 1986, my family bought a real-colour TV set. In that same year, we also purchased a cassette player, which I would use later on to learn English.

In 1987, we bought our first refrigerator.

In 1989, my parents bought their very first apartment that came with a modern porcelain toilet and a shower tub.

Just a few years later, China started to abandon the use of coupons. People began calling each other sir or madam instead of comrade.

At time passed by, we had our first telephone, first camera, first air conditioner, first pager, first mobile phone and so on. I would become the first person in my close family to go to college and later, the first in my parents extended family to study in the United States.

My father had three brothers and two sisters, and my mother had two brothers and one sister. I had zero siblings  thanks to Chinas one-child policy that started at the same time as reform and opening up. The one-child policy was only abolished in 2016.

Millions of Chinese families went through similar changes like my family did. We didnt quite understand the concepts or principles of private and planned economy, or how those crucial decisions were made by a few people that would affect our lives in every aspect. But looking back at the path taken by this country, I know that freedom is not easily earned and once you have it, you never want to lose it  never again.

I still hope in my lifetime that I will be able to cast my first vote.Dr Adnan Abu Amer is the head of the Political Science Department at the University of the Ummah in Gaza.

Its been more than a year now that the Trump administration has been talking about the deal of the century to bring some form of settlement to the Palestinian question in the Middle East.

Bits and pieces of the deal have been leaking: the siege on Gaza is to be lifted, its residents provided with humanitarian aid, while East Jerusalem and West Bank settlements are to be recognised as Israeli territory; Palestinian refugees will have to give up their right of return.

President Donald Trump and his Middle East team, led by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, seem to have secured an implicit backing of the deal by strategic players in the Arab world such, such as Saudi Arabia.

Recent diplomatic initiatives by Israel in Gulf states have borne fruit and it is increasingly clear that they have set out on a course towards normalisation of relations.

The murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the US midterm elections and a number of other factors delayed the unrolling of the deal but it cannot be postponed for that long. Israel is set to hold parliamentary elections in November 2019 and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sees the deal as a political victory that could guarantee him another premiership.

Thus, the Trump administration is likely to press forward with the deal sometime in the first half of 2019. And on the eve of this certain disaster for Palestinians, the Palestinian political leadership stands disunited.

Relations between Fatah and Hamas  the two main political factions in Palestine  are at an historic low and seem to be getting worse.

It has been 12 years since the two parties clashed in Gaza in the aftermath of the legislative elections, effectively creating two axes of political power in the Palestinian territories. And its been 11 years since Arab states started trying to broker a reconciliation between the two. Every time  in Mecca (2007), Sanaa (2008), Cairo (2011), Doha (2012), and Gaza (2014)  an agreement was signed but never implemented.

There was hope that the last Israeli assault on Gaza in November this year would bring the two sides together and would enable them to get over partisan and personal interests. Therefore, Egypt, which is currently leading another attempt at reconciliation, called on the leadership of both movements to come together for new talks and invited delegations from both sides.

But its efforts ended in failure after Fatah and Hamas exchanged hostile statements, accusing each other of wrongdoing.

181101082522575

Fatah declared it would not reconcile and participate in a unity government with Hamas until the latter rolls back the coup it carried out in 2007. It also signalled that it would look into imposing additional sanctions on the Gaza Strip, adding to the ones that have been in effect since 2017, to press Hamas to give up power. The Hamas leadership responded that its government is legitimate, as it won the 2006 elections, and accused Fatah of playing politics of arrogance and trying to undermine its power in Gaza.

Thus, Egypts reconciliation efforts ended yet again in a regrettable failure, and no new initiative is expected to be launched in the foreseeable future.

One of the main points of contention currently between Fatah and Hamas is the ongoing negotiations over a truce between the latter and Israel. A number of local, regional and international bodies have been trying for some time to bring about an agreement between Hamas and the Israeli government for a more permanent ceasefire and some form of lifting of the debilitating siege imposed on Gaza for the past 11 years.

Fatah  and by extension the Palestinian Authority (PA) it controls  sees this arrangement as highly problematic because it deals with the Gaza Strip as a separate geographical entity from the West Bank. And given that the mass expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank over the past few decades has made a declaration of a Palestinian state in its area impossible, Fatah and the PA leadership fear Gaza could be given that status.

This would effectively mean the complete sidelining of the party and its leadership (given that the Strip is under Hamas control politically and militarily) and the relegation of the PA to an administrative authority (and not a sovereign state structure), managing the affairs of the Palestinian population in the remaining pockets of territory outside Israeli settlements.

To preclude such a development, Fatah has demanded that a unity government is formed, whereby Hamas relinquishes control over the government, economy and security in Gaza and the model of governance currently in place in the West Bank is transferred to the Strip. Hamas has outright rejected these demands because they effectively mean that Gaza would slip out of its grip.

The group insists that it should participate in the unity government as an equal partner, along with other Palestinian factions, and rejects the extension of the PAs security policies and model (especially cooperation with the Israeli security apparatus) into the Gaza Strip. It has also made it clear that it will resist any pressure from the PA to disarm its military wing.

The persistent squabbling and disunity between Fatah and Hamas are detrimental to the Palestinian cause and are resulting in increasing disillusionment among the general Palestinian population. Although both factions claim to have the legitimate right to power, political legitimacy is difficult to gauge in Gaza and the West Bank, given that there havent been legislative elections since 2006 and PA President Mahmoud Abbas has not faced a vote after his term expired in 2009.

As Fatah and Hamas trade accusations of aiding the deal of the century, their political disunity is what would ultimately allow for its implementation. Hostility between the two factions would facilitate the political separation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, in which Egypt is likely to take over economic and security supervision of the former, while Jordan will have some form of authority over the latter.

This would not only preclude the declaration of a viable Palestinian state that satisfies Palestinian aspirations and solidify Israels denial of the Palestinian right to return but would also deal a major blow to the popularity and legitimacy of both Fatah and Hamas. At this time, it is clear that it is in their best interest and that of the Palestinian people that they overcome their disagreements and stand united.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.Across Europe and North America, governments have gone to great cruelty to stop migration.

During a Thanksgiving Day teleconference with members of the US armed forces, US President Donald Trump took the opportunity to exult over the intensified militarisation of the nations southern border in response to the US-bound Central American migrant and refugee caravan:

We have the concertina fencing and we have things that people dont even believe. We took [the] old, broken wall and we wrapped it with barbed wire-plus  Were fighting for our country. If we dont have borders, we dont have a country.

Nevermind that the United States disregard for other peoples borders is a major cause of Central American migration in the first place, as US political and economic meddling in the region continues to increase poverty and violence.

A certain Nazi practice

Now, the barbed wire-plus scheme has resulted in a situation in which thousands of asylum seekers are stuck on the Mexican side of the border waiting to have their cases processed, with black numbers written on their arms as part of an informal tracking system.

Even the ultra-Zionist Times of Israel  another country well known for its manic and deadly border fortification projects  felt compelled to note that the marking of asylum seekers recalled the Nazi practice of tattooing prisoner numbers.

Nor has barbed wire-plus worked out well for some of Trumps fellow citizens as 32 people were recently arrested at a pro-migrant demonstration on the border, organised by a Quaker group. Time Magazine explains that the protest was meant to launch a national week of action called Love Knows No Borders: A moral call for migrant justice, which falls between Human Rights Day on [December 10], and International Migrants Day on December 18.

And as we mark this years International Migrants Day, right-wing efforts rage on to selectively criminalise not only migration but also human solidarity and empathy. After all, the prevailing capitalist system  in which the financial tyranny of the minority is predicated on the severance of interpersonal bonds  cant really handle love.

Meanwhile in fortress Europe

Across the Atlantic, European countries are flaunting their own borders, as xenophobia and the demonisation of the other are ever-handy means of detracting public attention from domestic malaise.

Take Italy, for example  a primary landing point for migrants from Africa and elsewhere and a wellspring of racist political rhetoric. During his successful campaign for president of the region of Lombardy earlier this year, Attilio Fontana warned Italian radio listeners about the perils of immigration: We must decide whether our ethnicity, our white race, our society should continue to exist or should be erased.

Meanwhile, far-right leader Matteo Salvini, who in 2018 acquired the posts of Italian interior minister and deputy prime minister, set about propagating the idea that Italy was under attack by Muslims. This apocalyptic scenario, he claimed, had been foretold by Oriana Fallaci, late Italian journalist-nutcase who had also excoriated US universities for allowing persons by the name of Mustafa and Muhammad to study biology and chemistry despite the threat of germ warfare.

Salvini pledged to deport half-a-million migrants as part of his vision of a mass cleaning of Italy. Upon assuming office, he declared Italian ports closed to migrant rescue vessels  the transparent murderousness of which policy was made clear by news headlines from around the same time: Mediterranean: more than 200 migrants drown in three days.

Eradicating virtuousness

In October, Domenico Lucano  mayor of the Italian town of Riace, which made a name for itself and flourished by welcoming migrants  was arrested, charged with abetting illegal immigration, and banned from the town.

The Guardian quoted Italian writer Gioacchino Criaco on the fundamental reasons for the arrest: Efficiency and humanity are not welcomed in a cynical system. This is a system that only takes consensus from politics of fear. In this respect, examples of virtuousness must be eradicated.

Elsewhere in Europe, too, eradication proceeds apace. In August, Sara Mardini  the Syrian refugee swimmer who along with her sister saved a boatload of refugees from drowning in 2015  was thrown in prison in Athens for allegedly aiding illegal immigration. She was only recently released on bail.

This month, 15 activists in the United Kingdom were convicted for nonviolently blocking a deportation flight from London Stansted Airport in 2017. Ludicrously, theyve been slammed with a terrorism-related charge that entails a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

So much for virtues.

Also this month, Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, announced that it and its partner SOS MEDITERRANEE had been forced to terminate operations by the search and rescue vessel Aquarius, credited with rescuing 30,000 people in international waters since February 2016.

Talk about toxic

MSF says that the decision came after 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  [T]his campaign has undermined international law and humanitarian principles.

An Al Jazeera article on the demise of the Aquarius observes that, in November, 24 people associated with the ship 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.

But if we want to talk about toxic, it seems a border-obsessed world of gross inequality is as good a place as any to start.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.In closely watched speech, President Xi Jinping calls for implementation of reforms but offers no specific details.

President Xi Jinping has said that no one can dictate Chinas economic development path, in a closely watched speech marking 40 years since the opening up of the Chinese economy to the rest of the world, a move that has transformed the worlds most populous country into a global economic powerhouse.

His address on Tuesday came as China is locked in diplomatic spats and a bitter trade war with the United States amid pressure to accelerate changes on the economic front.

Addressing Communist Party members for nearly 90 minutes, Xi promised to press ahead with economic reforms but offered no new specific measures.

We must, unswervingly, reinforce the development of the state economy while, unswervingly, encouraging, supporting and guiding the development of the non-state economy, Xi said, while making it clear that Beijing will not deviate from its one-party system or take orders from any other country.

The great banner of socialism has always been flying high over the Chinese land, Xi said. The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the greatest advantage of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, he added.

Al Jazeeras Adrian Brown, reporting from the Chinese capital, said Xis wide-ranging address had lots of vague promises and platitudes but very little specific detail.

The reason why everybody was watching this speech so closely is that they were looking for hints of any possible concessions that Xi was prepared to make to try and ease the current trade friction with the US, said Brown, noting Beijings recent agreement to buy more soybeans from the US and reduce tariffs on US cars.

Those concessions didnt happen, other than a vague promise from Xi for Chinas economic reforms that began 40 years ago to continue, he added.

More, this was a speech about Chinas identity and position in the world.

Reform and opening up policy

Xi, who has become the countrys most powerful leader since Mao and secured this year a potential path to lifelong rule, delivered the speech to mark the 40th anniversary of Chinas reform and opening up policy at the imposing Great Hall of the People off Beijings Tiananmen Square.

The brainchild of late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, the programme was ratified at a Communist Party summit on December 18, 1978, breaking with the policies of his predecessor, Chairman Mao Zedong.

The reforms ditched Maoist-style collectivisation that left the nation impoverished and backward, launching a new era which led to double-digit annual growth that pulled millions out of poverty.

Exactly 40 years ago, Deng outlined the start of an experiment that no Communist government had ever tried before  that you would simply end the planned economy but you would keep the communist system  a communist system managing effectively a capitalist system, said Brown.

181217233316583

This is when China began to tiptoe into capitalism, and of course the impact of what started here 40 years ago is still being felt today, he added.

The worlds second-biggest economy, behind the US, China now also boasts the most dollar billionaires in the world with 620, according to Shanghai-based magazine publisher Hurun Report. However, about 80 million people are still living on less than $2 day.

The economic transformation has not brought changes to the Communist Party-controlled political system, however, with authorities harshly cracking down on the Tiananmen protests in 1989 and activists complaining of a deterioration of human rights in recent years.

Reform and opening up let the Communist Party maintain its dictatorship and let it keep its rule from collapsing after the Cold War and survive, Beijing-based political analyst Wu Qiang told the AFP news agency.

I think China now is state capitalism under a one-party dictatorship, or party-run capitalism, he said.

Chinas parliament in March scrapped presidential term limits, paving the way for President Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely [Jason Lee/Reuters]

US trade spat

In recent months, an escalating trade war between the worlds two largest economies has seen the US and China exchanging tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods.

The two sides have agreed to a 90-day truce as they seek to negotiate a solution, with Washington is keen on a reduction in its massive trade deficit as well as deeper reforms in Beijing to stop the alleged theft of intellectual property.

China is also facing a debt mountain and a slowing economy, which grew by 6.9 percent last year and is expected by the government to slow to around 6.5 percent this year.

Despite the challenges, Brown said Chinese leaders are eager to point to the economic transformation during the past four decades as evidence of being able to grow an economy without democracy, without a free internet, without free media and without being overly concerned about human rights.

They will see that as a success and of course we will hear plenty of words today  that the reforms that began by Deng Xiaoping four decades ago are going to continue and deepen  yet really since Xi Jinping became president we have in many ways seen an almost opposite strategy.

Fraser Howie, a Singapore-based independent analyst, said Xis inclination is one of control, not one of openness.

He has brought in a system where he is very much at the centre of the Communist Party, and the Communist Party is becoming ever more central to the economy and the society, so hes actually backtracking on many of those reforms, Howie, coauthor of Privatising China: Inside Chinas Stockmarkets, told Al Jazeera.

They are celebrating today 40 years of reform, and clearly Xi wants to try and take Dengs mantle of being this great reformist leader, but the reality is that under him the reform has largely stopped  the institutional reform, the openness, that direction of travel has very much changed.

Domestic issues

Howie also said that the trade war with the US could not come at a worse time for China, which is trying to tackle a number of domestic economic problems.

For the past five to eight years or so, China has been hugely dependent on credit growth to drive the economy, he said. There is [an] excessive level of debts across all aspects of the economy and the Chinese leadership, at last, realised that they need to rein this in. So this deleveraging process is draining credit for much of the economy and thats causing a large part of the slowdown.

Wu said the trade war with the US could be a chance for China to enact more changes.

180309141431670

If the Communist Party is smart enough, it may transform it into the starting point of a second reform and opening up and change the role of the party and the state, Wu said.

When the party enacted the reforms, China was still suffering from famine and was emerging from the Cultural Revolution, a period of intense social and political upheaval launched by Mao.

This new revolution started in the countryside, where authorities began to decollectivise land and dismantle communes, but it quickly spread to cities.

Wary of an opposing power base in economically powerful Shanghai, Deng chose the extreme south of the country as the guinea pig for his reforms.

Southern cities including Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong and was still a fishing village, were designated Chinas first Special Economic Zones that became powerhouses and models for the rest of the country.

Shenzhen has become a global technological hub, with Chinas internet giant Tencent and telecom titan Huawei choosing the city for their headquarters.

The poverty rate among the rural population dropped to 3.1 percent last year from 97.5 percent 40 years ago.Clashes appear to have subsided after UN-brokered truce took effect in port city, a lifeline for millions of Yemenis.

A fragile calm has taken hold in Yemens western city of Hodeidah, just hours after a UN-brokered ceasefire deal between Houthi fighters and forces loyal to the government came into effect.

Residents in the city told Al Jazeera that fighting had subsided by 12:00 GMT on Tuesday, despite the sound of sporadic gunfire ringing out in parts of the city.

The situation is calm, but its important to remember that even on a normal day you can hear the sound of gunfire, said Salem Jaffer Baobaid, deputy director of Islamic Relief in Hodeidah.

After a week of consultations in the Swedish town of Rimbo, representatives from the Houthi movement and the Saudi-UAE-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi agreed to pull back their fighters from Hodeidah and allow the deployment of UN-supervised neutral forces and the establishment of humanitarian corridors.

181215205243978

Baobaid, who lost his wife after she was diagnosed with an autoimmune liver infection, a treatable illness, said residents were praying the truce would hold.

The humanitarian situation is beyond horrible. The majority of people dont know where they will get their next meal and the number of malnourished people is shockingly high.

Women cant produce milk for their children. People are dying every day. The humanitarian situation is very bad and residents here need urgent help.

Military experience needed

Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths hopes a UN Security Council resolution, drafted by the UK, will endorse the agreements reached in Stockholm including the need for a UN body to supervise port administration and mutual troop withdrawals.

More than 22 million people in Yemen are in need of aid, including 8.4 million who are at risk of starvation.

The UN Security Council has previously expressed its deep concern over the fighting and UN officials have warned of a risk of famine.

181213221327787

According to the UN, both parties are expected to withdraw from the city within the next 21 days and international monitors, led by retired Dutch Major-General Patrick Cammaert, will be deployed.

Sources told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that members of the monitoring mission could be on the ground as early as Wednesday.

Al Jazeeras diplomatic editor, James Bays, said the monitoring team will look at what functions they need to perform and then decide on the form  the number of monitors theyre going to need to come from UN members states.

People with military experience will be needed but they will operate on the ground in an unarmed capacity, he said.

As part of the ceasefire agreement, the three ports of Hodeidah, Ras Isa and Saleef will fall under the control of local forces, who would then send the ports revenues to the Central Bank of Yemen.

Yemens Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani has declined to specify whether the forces will be state security forces, instead saying they would report to the central authority.

Vaguely worded agreement

Al Jazeeras Mohamed Adow said there are several obstacles that could prevent the vaguely worded agreement reached at the UN-backed talks in Sweden from working on the ground.

For example, it doesnt say who are going to be the neutral forces that are supposed to take over once these militias from both sides leave the city, he said.





Its also been suggested that the two groups will form joint units  which is almost impossible  and then there is a plan for the Houthis to hand over a map of the city showing landmines, improvised explosive devices, as well as booby-trapped compounds and where they are  something that could prove to be a stumbling block.

Yemen, the Arab worlds poorest country, has been devastated by a multi-sided conflict involving local, regional and international actors.

The conflict began with the 2014 takeover of the capital, Sanaa, by the Houthis, who toppled President Hadis government. A Saudi-UAE-led coalition allied with Yemens internationally recognised government has been fighting the Houthis since 2015.

Since then, more than 60,000 people have been killed in the fighting, according to estimates by rights groups, and as many as 85,000 children may have starved to death.

Speaking on Sunday at an event in the Qatari capital, Doha, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that if Yemens humanitarian situation did not improve, 14 million people would need food aid in 2019, six million more than this year.

There is a high level of hunger in Yemen, he said.

The fact that famine was not yet declared does not in any way diminish our huge concern with the very high level of hunger that exists in Yemen with a number of people dying in very dramatic circumstances.Tech giant rejects accusations it is controlled by Chinas Communist Party or designs equipment to facilitate spying.

The chairman of Huawei has challenged the United States and other governments to provide evidence for claims the Chinese tech giant is a security risk as the company launched a public relations effort to defuse fears that threaten its role in next-generation communications.

Talking to reporters invited to Huawei Technologies Ltds headquarters, Ken Hu complained on Tuesday that accusations against the biggest global maker of network equipment stem from ideology and geopolitics. He warned that excluding Huawei from fifth-generation networks in Australia and other markets would hurt consumers by raising prices and slowing innovation.

Australia and New Zealand have barred Huawei in 5G networks on security grounds. They joined the United States and Taiwan, which have broader curbs on Huawei. Japans cybersecurity agency says suppliers including Huawei that are deemed high-risk will be excluded from government purchases.

If you have proof or evidence, it should be made known, said Hu. Maybe not to Huawei and maybe not to the public, but to telecom operators, because they are the ones that buy Huawei.





Banning a particular company cannot resolve cybersecurity concerns, he said. Huaweis record is clean.

The lack of public evidence to support accusations against Huawei has prompted industry analysts to suggest they are an excuse to shield US or European competitors against the rise of a Chinese challenger.

Booming sales

The curbs have had little impact so far on Huawei, which says its global sales are on track to top $100bn this year. But the normally press-shy companys decision to hold Tuesdays event appeared to reflect growing concern the accusations could hurt it in an emerging 5G market that industry analysts say could be worth $20bn a year by 2022.

Huawei, founded in 1987 by a former military engineer, rejects accusations that it is controlled by the ruling Communist Party or designs equipment to facilitate eavesdropping.

But foreign officials cite a Chinese law that requires companies to cooperate with intelligence agencies and express concern telecom equipment suppliers might be required to modify products.

The emergence of 5G has heightened those fears. The technology is meant to support a vast expansion of telecoms networks to connect self-driving cars, factory robots, medical devices and power plants. That has prompted governments increasingly to view telecom networks as strategic national assets.

There has never been any evidence that our equipment poses a security threat, said Hu. We have never accepted requests from any government to damage the networks or business of any of our customers.

181206130850129

Blocking competitors

Hu said the cost of installing 5G wireless base stations in Australia would be 15 to 40 percent higher without competition from Huawei, estimating that the total cost could be several billion dollars higher.

You cant make yourself more excellent by blocking competitors from the playing field, he said.

Huawei suffered another setback when its chief financial officer was arrested on December 1 in Canada in connection with US accusations the company violated restrictions on sales of American technology to Iran.A US judge fiercely criticised President Donald Trumps former national security adviser Michael Flynn on Tuesday for lying to FBI agents and delayed sentencing to ensure Flynn cooperates fully with an investigation into possible collusion between Trumps 2016 campaign and Russia.

During the sentencing hearing, US District Judge Emmet Sullivan told the retired lieutenant general that he arguably had sold out his country. Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to FBI agents about his conversations with Sergei Kislyak, Russia ambassador to Washington at the time.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller, leading the investigation, had asked the judge not to sentence Flynn to prison because Flynn already had provided substantial cooperation to prosecutors over the course of many interviews.

But Sullivan told Flynn his behaviour was abhorrent, noting that Flynn had also lied to White House officials, who in turn lied to the public.

Arguably, you sold your country out, Sullivan said. Im not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offence.

The judge also noted that Flynn was operating as an undeclared lobbyist for Turkey even as he worked on Trumps election team and prepared to be his national security adviser. He appeared ready to sentence Flynn to prison but then gave him the option of a delay in his sentencing so that he could fully cooperate with any pending investigations. Flynn accepted that offer. Prosecutors said Flynn had already provided most of the cooperation that he could, but it was possible he might be able to help investigators further.

181217164630594

The judge did not set a new date for sentencing but asked Muellers team and Flynns lawyer to give him a status report by March 13.

Flynn served as a high-profile adviser to Trumps election campaign team, and at the Republican Partys national convention in 2016, he led Trumps supporters in cries of Lock her up! directed against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. He became national security adviser when Trump took office in January 2017 but lasted only 24 days before being removed.

He told FBI investigators on January 24, 2017, that he had not discussed US sanctions against Russia with Kislyak, when in fact he had, according to his plea agreement.

Trump has said he fired Flynn because he also lied to Vice President Mike Pence about the contacts with Kislyak. But Trump has said Flynn did not break the law and has voiced support for him, raising speculation the Republican president might pardon him if he is sentenced.

Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn. Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion! Trump wrote on Twitter on Tuesday morning.

171201142258411

Muellers investigation into Russias role in the 2016 election and whether Trump has unlawfully sought to obstruct the probe has cast a shadow over his presidency. A series of former Trump aides have pleaded guilty in Muellers probe, but Flynn was the first former official of Trumps White House to plead guilty.

Trump has called the investigation a witch-hunt and has denied collusion with Moscow. Russia has denied meddling in the election, contrary to the conclusion of US intelligence agencies that have said Moscow used hacking and propaganda to try to sow discord in the US and boost Trumps chances against Clinton.

Several protesters were at the court on Tuesday as Flynn arrived, along with a large inflatable rat.

Lying to the FBI carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison. Flynns plea agreement stated that he was eligible for a sentence of between zero and six months.Tourists were found with their throats cut in an isolated area on the way to North Africas highest peak of Toubkal.

Moroccan authorities have arrested a suspect in connection with the murder of two Scandinavian tourists in the High Atlas mountains, the interior ministry said.

The man was arrested in Marrakech, the largest tourist hub in Morocco.

Other suspects were being sought over the deaths of the women, a Dane and a Norwegian, whose bodies were found with their throats slit, the ministry said on Tuesday.

The Danish victim, Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, had her throat cut, Danish newspaper BT cited her mother as saying.

Her family had warned her against going to Morocco because of the chaotic situation, she added.

Norwegian media named the other victim as 28-year-old Maren Ueland.

Her priority was safety. The girls took every precaution before going on this trip, her mother Irene Ueland told NRK.

Their bodies were found in an isolated area on the way to North Africas highest peak of Toubkal.

Toubkal is a popular trekking and hiking destination 82km south of Marrakech.

According to NRK, both were students at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN) and they were on a trip to Morocco for Christmas holiday.

They were planning to spend a month in the country, according to Petter Aasen, rector at USN.

An investigation has been opened to determine the circumstances of the criminal incident. The police reportedly blocked the roads in the region where the killings occurred.

A Norwegian policeman from the embassy in Rabat is travelling to Marrakesh to act as a liaison between the authorities.

Bad for the region

Security was stepped up in the area and hiking suspended following the discovery of the bodies, Moroccan media said.

Its very bad for the region. There will undoubtedly be cancellations, a local guide, Hossein, told AFP news agency from Imlil.

Tourism is a cornerstone of Moroccos economy and the kingdoms second-largest employer, after agriculture. The sector accounts for 10 percent of national income and is one of the countrys main sources of foreign currency.

After several years of near-stagnation, Morocco welcomed a record 11.35 million visitors in 2017, exceeding the 11-million mark for the first time.The statement comes on the same day that the Nigerian military threatened the closure of the watchdog.

Nigeria is concerned about Amnesty Internationals activities in the central African country, a spokesperson for President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu has said, just days after the government briefly banned UNICEF over claims it was training spies sympathetic to Boko Haram.

The federal government is increasingly concerned about the role that Amnesty International is playing in the war against terror in Nigeria, Shehu said in a statement on Monday, adding that The organisations operations in Nigeria seem geared towards damaging the morale of the Nigerian military.

It often appears as if the Nigerian government is fighting two wars on terror: against Boko Haram and against Amnesty International.

The statement comes on the same day that the Nigerian military threatened the closure of the global rights watchdog in a statement posted on Facebook.

Army Public Relations Director Brigadier General Sani Usman said Amnesty was determined to destabilise Nigeria through the fabrication of fictitious allegations of alleged human rights abuses and clandestine sponsorship of dissident groups to protest.

It also said the NGO was on the verge of releasing a new report against the military.

Isa Sanusi, a spokesperson for Amnesty in Nigeria, sent Al Jazeera a statement, saying the aid group would continue its efforts.

We believe these threats from the Nigerian army are just a way of diverting attention from the real issues: the issue of failure of Nigerian government to protect the lives of Nigerians, which lead to the murder of almost 4,000 people in the last three years, the statement read.

Threats of closing our office will not stop us, we will keep making efforts to bring human rights violators to justice. This is not the first time Nigerian army is using this tactic to divert attention from allegations of human rights violations.

Whenever we are launching a report, they will come up with allegations to divert attention from the real issues. They did exactly this in May a day before we launched our report on sexual violence against Internally Displaced Persons in northeast Nigeria. We are all Nigerians and we remain here to protect the rights of Nigerians, the statement added.

#Nigeria's government failures fuel escalating conflict between farmers & herders as death toll nears 4,000. Hundreds are still displaced in many parts of the country. @MBuhari @ProfOsinbajo @IntlCrimCourt, it's time to #EndHarvestOfDeath. pic.twitter.com/n0JxJZg3al  Amnesty International (@amnesty) December 17, 2018

A battle against international organisations

The military has in the past been critical of international organisations operating in the country and has hit out at organisations reporting that it committed rights violations and war crimes during its fight against Boko Haram.

The uprising in northeast Nigeria began in 2009 and has spread to neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger, killing at least 27,000 people and leaving millions dependent on aid for survival.

181215055121127

On Friday the military banned UNICEF from operating in the country over claims it was training spies who support Boko Haram.

The military said the organisation had been training people to sabotage its counterinsurgency efforts by reporting alleged human rights abuses by soldiers.

It retracted the ban within hours following an intervention by well-meaning and concerned Nigerians, according to an army spokesman.

In April, Nigerias military declared three UNICEF employees persona non grata in connection with alleged leaks about soldiers sexually abusing children in the northeast, people familiar with the matter told the Reuters news agency.

The declaration was rescinded days later after pressure from diplomats.

President Buhari, who came to power in 2015 pledging to end the violence, is under increasing pressure to act as he gears up to seek re-election in a February ballot.

The 76-year-old former army general has come under attack for previously claiming the jihadists were technically defeated.A 15-percent death toll rise reflects a hatred of the media by politicians and businesses, media watchdog says.

More than half of all journalists killed this year  including Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi  were targeted deliberately, reflecting a hatred of the media voiced in many areas of society, according to a media watchdog.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Tuesday that at least 63 professional journalists were killed while doing their jobs around the world in 2018, a 15-percent increase from last year.

The number of fatalities rises to 80 when including all media workers and citizen journalists, the non-governmental organisation said.

The 2018 killings bring the total global death toll of professional journalists from the past 10 years to 702.

The hatred of journalists that is voiced  by unscrupulous politicians, religious leaders and businessmen has tragic consequences on the ground, and has been reflected in this disturbing increase in violations against journalists, Christophe Deloire, RSFs chief, said in a statement.





The murders of Khashoggi and the young Slovak data journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend highlighted the lengths to which press freedoms enemies are prepared to go, he said.

Khashoggi, a royal insider who became a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and began writing for the Washington Post after moving to the US last year, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.

Khashoggis death sparked global outrage. Saudi officials have rejected accusations that the crown prince ordered his death.

Most dangerous

The Paris-based body said the three most dangerous countries for journalists to work in were Afghanistan, Syria and Mexico.

Meanwhile, the shooting of five employees of the Capital Gazette newspaper propelled the US into the ranks of the most dangerous countries.

The media freedom organisation said 348 journalists are being detained worldwide, compared with 326 at this time in 2017.

Among those is Al Jazeeras Mahmoud Hussein who has been detained in an Egyptian prison for 728 days without charge.

More than half of the worlds imprisoned journalists are held in China (60 journalists), Turkey (33), Iran (28), Saudi Arabia (28) and Egypt (38).

RSF called on the United Nations to push for the establishment of a special envoy for the protection of journalists.Yemeni mother of a toddler on life support in a US hospital is being prevented from seeing her son due to Muslim ban.

A Yemeni mother whose two-year-old son is on life support in the United States has been barred from travelling to the country due to President Donald Trumps controversial travel ban.

Shaima Swilehs husband Ali Hassan appealed to the US State Department on Monday to expedite his wifes application for a waiver so she could say goodbye to their dying son, Abdulla.

My wife is calling me every day, wanting to kiss and hold her son for one last time, the 22-year-old US national said as he broke down in tears. Time is running out. Please help us get my family together again.

Abdulla has a rare degenerative brain disease and may not be able to withstand life support for much longer, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement last week.

Swilehs visa was rejected last year because of the travel ban, which has been dubbed the Muslim ban by many, under which the Trump administration imposed restrictions on people from several Muslim-majority countries.

The 21-year-old mother, who lives in Egypt, applied for a waiver, but has been waiting to hear back for more than a year, despite repeated requests to expedite her case, CAIR said.

Now we see the Muslim bans effect in the most dehumanising way, said Basim Elkarra, a campaigner at CAIR, on Monday.





We are calling on the Department of State to issue a Muslim ban waiver, to allow Shaima Swileh, the wife of a US citizen, the mother of a US citizen, to hold her child one last time and to allow her to mourn with dignity.

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday, Hassan said Abdulla would not survive a journey to Egypt to see Swileh.

The couple met and married in Yemen, according to the Chronicle. Their son was born in Yemen, nearly two years after the countrys civil war began.

The conflict has killed more than 10,000 people and pushed the impoverished country to the verge of famine, prompting the United Nations to call the situation there the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Rights groups and a war monitor have put the death toll at more than 60,000.

Swileh left Yemen for Egypt when Abdulla was eight months old. Hassan met her in Cairo and obtained travel documents for his son from the US embassy, the Chronicle said.

He was forced to leave Swileh and travel to his hometown of Stockton, California because of Abdullas deteriorating condition.

The State Department does award waivers, but very rarely. It has declined to comment on the case.

In addition to nationals of Yemen, the third version of Trump administrations travel ban prohibits entry to the US by most people from Iran, Libya, Somalia and Syria. It also affects visitors from North Korea and some travellers from Venezuela.

Rights groups sought to overturn the ban in the US Supreme Court, claiming it was biased against Muslims. But the top court rejected the petition in June.The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura is set to hold talks with foreign ministers from Iran, Russia and Turkey in Geneva to discuss setting up a committee to draft a new constitution for the war-torn country.

The high-level officials will be seeking the UNs blessing on their joint proposal on Tuesday and they are expected to propose names for the constitutional committee.

The meeting comes after diplomats from the three countries, who support different sides of the war  now in its eighth year  said on Monday they are close to an agreement to form a committee.

The talks are meant to form a credible, balanced, and inclusive committee to draft a new constitution for Syria and usher in elections, a UN statement read last week.

De Mistura, who announced he would be stepping down by the end of the year, has tried since January to clinch an agreement on the identity of 150 members of a new constitutional committee to revitalise a dormant peace process following a Russian-hosted Syrian peace conference in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.





Syrian President Bashar al-Assads government and the fragmented opposition fighting to topple him have each submitted a list of 50 names, but the three nations have haggled over the final 50 members from civil society and independent members, diplomats said.

The three countries are coming with a proposal for the third list, which has been the heart of the problem, said one diplomat.

Turkey and other nations would consider working with Assad if he won a democratic election, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday, two days before visiting Geneva to meet Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and Irans Javad Zarif.

Turkey supports opposition fighters, namely, the National Liberation Front (NLF), an umbrella organisation of Turkey-backed rebels that includes the Free Syrian Army.

They control Idlib, the last rebel-held bastion in northwest Syria, and have agreed to comply with a Russian-Turkish agreement to withdraw heavy weaponry from a buffer zone that stretches from neighbouring Latakias northern suburbs all the way to the outskirts of Aleppos northwest region.

The zone has managed to stave off a large-scale assault on Idlib by the Syrian government and Russia by creating a 15-20km buffer zone last October.

Heavy pressure

De Mistura said the constitutional committee could be a starting point for political progress.

It does touch, for instance, on presidential powers, it could and should be touching on how elections are done, on division of power, in other words, a big issue, he said.





De Mistura will be under heavy pressure to accept the trios proposal to complete the make-up of the constitutional body, but may leave the decision to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York later this week, the diplomats noted.

The last word is with us, with the UN, not with any country, as good and as powerful as they may be, he said on Sunday.

Last month, Syrias warring sides and mediators meeting in Kazakhstan failed to agree on the formation of a constitutional committee.

Assad previously said his government would only consider amendments to the current constitution, in defiance of the Sochi agreement to have the government, opposition and independents draft a new document.

Syrias war has killed more than 360,000 people since it started in 2011 with the police crackdown on anti-government protests.

The Syrian government has regained control over the majority of the countrys territory since the Russian military intervened in 2015, backing Assads government.Saudi officials familiar with government-sponsored bodys work say it is unlikely to hold anyone accountable.

Saudi Arabias human rights commission is investigating the alleged torture of womens rights activists including accusations of electrocution and waterboarding, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Citing government officials and other people familiar with the activists situation, the US publication said Saud al-Qahtani, a close adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), had overseen some aspects of the torture, threatening one of the activists with rape and death.

A former adviser at the royal court, Qahtani was dismissed in the aftermath of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdoms consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Qahtani, who directed the crown princes media operations, was one of 17 Saudi nationals sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in connection with Khashoggis murder.

Members of the commission began questioning some of the detainees over the past month in Jeddahs Dabhan prison, including 29-year-old activist Loujain al-Hathloul.

Saud al-Qahtani threatened to rape her, kill her and throw her into the sewage, one of the sources privy to the testimony told the newspaper.

At least eight of a total 18 activists have been subjected to some form of physical abuse, it said.

Other victims of torture include Aziza al-Yousef, a 60-year-old university professor, Eman al-Nafjan, a mother of three, and Samar Badawi, whose brother Raif Badawi has also been detained on charges of insulting Islam.

Accountability measures

Lynn Maalouf, Middle East research director at Amnesty International, told Al Jazeera if reports of the investigation taking place are true, it is important that the commissions work is carried out in an impartial and transparent way.

We need to know that the families of the activists are in the know of the process of the investigations, how this is being reported on, and any steps that are going to be taken afterwards based on the findings  so that means any accountability measures, said Maalouf.

People who have been found responsible for these abuses should be held accountable and redress for the victims.

Formed under the leadership of the late King Abdullah in 2005, the human rights commissions work, which has avoided highlighting politically sensitive issues in public, is unlikely to lead to criminal charges.

181129113259702

I dont see how they will hold anyone accountable if they already publicly denied that the torture ever happened, said one of the Saudi officials who is aware of the commissions work.

The Saudi government has dismissed the allegations as wild claims and denied security officials tortured the detained activists.The requested page is currently unavailable on this server.

Back to [RTHK News Homepage]Despite the forced reinstatement of Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lankas political turmoil likely to continue, experts say.

At the time of his stunning election victory in 2015, Sri Lankas President Maithripala Sirisena claimed he would have been buried six feet under the earth had he lost that vote to incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa. Yet, almost four years later, Sirisena was administering the prime ministers oath to his predecessor.

The October 26 move plunged the South Asian country into a protracted political crisis, with the sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had helped Sirisena win the presidency, crying foul and refusing to step down.

For the next few weeks, Sri Lanka held its breath as tens of thousands rallied around the deposed leader, protesting against Sirisenas unconstitutional power grab, and the ruling United National Party (UNP) fought successfully to prevent Rajapaksa obtaining a parliamentary majority.

Sirisena, however, remained defiant.

The stubborn and arrogant Wickremesinghe, he said, was not only highly corrupt, but had also failed to investigate an assassination plot against him. I will not stay on in office for even an hour if Ranil Wickremesinghe becomes prime minister, he reportedly said.

And when it became clear Rajapaksa did not have the parliamentary backing to form a government, Sirisena dissolved the 225-member House and called snap elections nearly two years ahead of schedule. Once again, the presidents moves prompted allegations of constitutional violations and the Supreme Court stayed that decree.





The restored parliament immediately passed two no-confidence motions against Rajapaksa. Still, Sirisena refused to back down.

I will not make [Wickremesinghe] prime minister  not in my lifetime, he said in late November.

Then, on Sunday, nearly two months after he triggered the turmoil, Sirisena, humiliated by a series of court interventions, walked back on his vow and reinstated the deposed prime minister.

The country breathed a sigh of relief and tens of thousands of green-clad UNP supporters turned out to celebrate in the capital, Colombo.

The return of a constitutionally-sanctioned government in Sri Lanka, and the ultimate defeat of a slow-moving coup, was a major victory for the countrys embattled democracy, said Alan Keenan, Sri Lanka project director at the International Crisis Group.

But Sri Lankas struggles are far from over, he said. Peace is clearly not restored.

Thats because the three key players in the conflict  Sirisena, Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa  remain at loggerheads amid enduring differences  particularly over economic policy and constitutional reform, as well as accountability for war crimes and corruption.









Unrepentant

The current deadlock was only broken following a series of rulings by the Supreme Court.

In a unanimous decision last week, the top court found Sirisenas decree to dissolve parliament illegal. The seven-member panel said the parliament, which sat for the first time in August 2015, could not be sacked until four-and-a-half years had passed since its election. The next day, in a separate case, it upheld an interim decision by a court of appeal to bar Rajapaksa and his cabinet from holding office, owing to the no-trust motions.

The embattled former president, who still remains popular with Sri Lankas Sinhalese majority for ending the countrys 26-year-war against Tamil separatists, finally resigned on Saturday.

But he vowed to thwart Wickremesinghes reform agenda, which he claimed included a draft constitution that proposed devolving power to nine federal provinces  a move members of the Tamil minority have long lobbied for.

We will bring the forces opposed to the country down to their knees by organising the people, Rajapaksa, who served as president from 2005 to 2015, said.

Rajapaksa (left) and Sirisena (right) were likely to disrupt the UNP government, say analysts [File: Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters]

Sirisena, too, appeared unrepentant. In a statement hours after Wickremesinghes reinstatement, he said his opinion on the newly returned prime minister has not changed. He said he only invited the deposed leader to form a government because he respects parliament traditions and democracy.

Even if I am impeached and even if I am imprisoned, history will judge me favourably for making the right decision, he added.

Relations between the pair were not always this way. In 2015, Sirisena and Wickremesinghe took over government promising to crack down on corruption and ensure justice for wartime atrocities. But their relationship soured as they clashed over economic policy, with the president unhappy over Wickremesinghes proposals to sell off state assets, such as key ports, to foreign companies. At the same time, Wickremesinghe was linked to a corruption scandal in which a central bank governor he appointed was accused of manipulating bond auctions, causing millions of dollars in losses to the state.

Amid the infighting, Sri Lankas debt-saddled economy slowed further, leading to widespread anger.

181108014228212

Sirisena, meanwhile, moved to shield soldiers accused of war crimes during the countrys bloody war, which ended in 2009. He said Wickremesinghe had arrested only government troops, and not looked into prosecuting former Tamil rebels living outside the country.

Things came to a head in October, when an activist, citing information from a senior police officer, spoke to reporters of an alleged plot to kill Sirisena. It was Wickremesinghes alleged refusal to investigate that plot, according to Sirisena, that led to his dismissal.

They [the authorities] displayed utter lethargy, he told the Ceylon Today newspaper in November.

The president on Sunday maintained that his decision to sack Wickremesinghe was in the interest of the country, but now, he said, he would like to work with this government without conflict.

Tactical retreat

However, given the breakdown in relations, it is hard to see how Sirisena and Wickremesinghe could work together again, said Asanga Welikala, a Sri Lankan law professor at the University of Edinburgh.

Describing Sirisenas decision to reinstate the deposed prime minister and Rajapaksas resignation as a tactical retreat, Welikala said the pair will now go back to politics as usual. Their strategy until the next general elections, due in late 2020, will be to create chaos and derail the UNP government, he said.

Shreen Saroor, a Muslim human rights activist, agreed.

This is going to get ugly. Its going to be very tough, she said. The opposition is going to block everything and make the country ungovernable. Thats because the UNP does not have the parliamentary strength to buck the opposition, she said.

The party commands the backing of 103 legislators, but does not have the two-thirds support  even when counting votes from the 14-member Tamil coalition, which allied with the UNP on the motions against Rajapaksa  to push through its economic and constitutional reforms.

Wickremesinghes (centre) government faces a difficult path ahead [Eranga Jayawardena/AP]

That could paralyse the UNP government, which could lose any edge it may have gained over the past seven weeks.

Saroor, who led civil society protests against Sirisenas moves for seven weeks, said she also feared Rajapaksa may also turn to demonising and terrorising the minority Tamil and Muslim communities to improve his electoral prospects with the countrys Sinhalese majority, who make up 74 percent of the islands 21 million people.

Faced with the prospect of an unruly opposition, the UNP could take two paths, analysts said.

If the party wished to retain its recent growth in popularity ahead of the 2020 elections, it must take concrete steps to reduce economic pressures on the countrys poor, crack down on corruption within its own ranks, and provide reparations to victims of war and conflict.

That Wickremesinghe can do without Rajapaksa or Sirisena, said Saroor.

But Keenan, at the Crisis Group, cautioned: This will not be easy.

The ideal scenario and the sensible thing, said Welikala, at the University of Edinburgh, was for Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa  even if its without Sirisena because he has been weakened  to sit down and come to an agreement to abolish the executive powers of the presidency and hold general elections.

But I do not know who can mediate that. It doesnt look very good, he said.

Additional reporting by Rathindra Kuruwita in ColomboA story of human rights defender on Manus Island in his own words

Al Jazeera speaks to Abdul Aziz Muhamat, who has been held captive on the island by Australia for over five years.Inside Tajikistan: The front line of the war on drugs

While Tajikistan says it has been able to control the situation, the UN drug agency accuses it of not doing enough.Individuals who own the devices will have 90 days from the date the rule is published to surrender or destroy them.

The Trump administration has moved to officially ban bump stocks, which allow semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like automatic firearms, and has made them illegal to possess beginning in late March.

The devices will be banned under a federal law that prohibits machine guns, a senior Justice Department official said on Tuesday.

Bump stocks became a focal point of the national gun control debate after they were used in October 2017 when a man opened fire from his Las Vegas hotel suite at a crowd at a country music concert below, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds in the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

The regulation, which was signed by acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker on Tuesday morning, will go into effect 90 days after it is formally published in the Federal Register, which is expected to happen on Friday, the Justice Department official said.

The official wasnt authorised to discuss the matter publicly before the regulations formal publication and spoke to the Associated Press news agency on condition of anonymity. Other US media publications also reported the news of the regulation.

In March, President Donald Trump said his administration would ban the devices, which he said turn legal weapons into illegal machines.

Shortly after the presidents comments, the Justice Department announced that it had started the process to amend federal firearms regulations to define bump stocks as machine guns. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sought public comment on the proposal, drawing more than 35,000 comments.

171002111143485

The amended regulations reverse a 2010 ATF decision that found bump stocks did not amount to machine guns and could not be regulated unless Congress changed existing firearms law or passed a new one.

In the aftermath of the Las Vegas shooting, there was a growing push by some members of Congress to ban bump stocks, but no legislation was passed. At least 10 states have sought their own restrictions on the devices.

Individuals who own bump stocks will be required to either surrender them to the ATF or destroy them by late March, the official said. The change has undergone a legal review and the Justice Department and ATF are ready to fight any legal challenge that may be brought, the official added.

Small, but important step

Many gun control advocates welcomed the new rule, but some called on more regulations to be put in place.

Giffords, a gun reform group founded by Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords who was shot in 2011, celebrated the administrations move, but tweeted, Shame on the majority of Congress who, more than a year after Las Vegas, has still not held a vote on any legislation to #BanBumpStocks.

Kudos to ATF for listening to the overwhelming majority of comments from Americans in favor of banning bump stocks. Shame on the majority in Congress who, more than a year after Las Vegas, has still not held a vote on any legislation to #BanBumpStocks. https://t.co/cJEcWQ0ayK  Giffords (@GiffordsCourage) December 18, 2018

Democratic Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty tweeted that Americans have been bleeding and dying, waiting for Washington to act to help save lives.

171111162521074

She added, Banning bump stocks is a small, but important step towards gun sense and gun safety. Now its time for Congress to take bold action!

The amended rule was met almost immediately with resistance from gun rights advocates, including Gun Owners of America, which said it would file a lawsuit against the Justice Department and ATF in order to protect gun owners from the unconstitutional regulations.

171005092319867

These regulations implicate Second Amendment rights, and courts should be highly suspect when an agency changes its interpretation of a statute in order to impair the exercise of enumerated constitutional rights, the organisations executive director, Erich Pratt, said.

Police said the gunman in the Las Vegas massacre, Stephen Paddock, fired for more than 10 minutes using multiple weapons outfitted with target scopes and bump stocks. Paddock fatally shot himself after the shooting and there were 23 assault-style weapons, including 14 fitted with rapid-fire bump stock devices, strewn about the room near his body on the floor of his 32nd-floor hotel suite at the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel.

The largest manufacturer of bump stocks, Slide Fire Solutions, announced in April that it was going to stop taking orders and shutting down its website. The remaining stock of the devices is now being sold by another company, RW Arms, based in Fort Worth, Texas.Decision comes after lawsuit by New York attorney general claimed Trump misused foundation to advance his 2016 campaign.

US President Donald Trumps namesake charitable foundation has agreed to dissolve under court supervision following a lawsuit by New Yorks attorney general claiming Trump misused the foundation to advance his 2016 presidential campaign and his businesses, the attorney general said on Tuesday.

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, a Democrat, said the Donald J Trump Foundations assets will be distributed to charities vetted by her office. The deal is subject to approval by a New York state judge.

Underwood sued Trump and his adult children Donald Jr, Eric and Ivanka on June 14, after a 21-month probe that she said uncovered extensive unlawful political coordination between the foundation and Trumps campaign. That lawsuit will continue, with Underwood seeking $2.8m in restitution and a 10-year ban on Trump and his three eldest children running any charities.

This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone, Underwood said in a statement. Well continue to move our suit forward to ensure that the Trump Foundation and its directors are held to account for their clear and repeated violations of state and federal law.

Tuesdays decision came less than a month after Justice Saliann Scarpulla of the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan rejected Trumps motion to dismiss Underwoods lawsuit.

The motion had argued that the US Constitution immunised Trump from Underwoods claims alleging breach of fiduciary duty, improper self-dealing and misuse of assets belonging to the Foundation.

180615062427456

Trump had long pledged to dissolve the foundation and donate its remaining funds to charity, but his lawyers said they were thwarted by the attorney generals office, which wanted oversight of the process. Foundation officials first announced their intention to shut down more than a year ago.

The White House and a lawyer for the foundation could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesdays announcement. Trump, a Republican, has previously said on Twitter that Underwoods lawsuit was a concoction by sleazy New York Democrats.US president authorises Department of Defense to create the new command to oversee and organise space operations.

US President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Tuesday, authorising the Department of Defense to create a Space Command, a new organisational structure within the Pentagon that will have overall control of military space operations.

The command will also be tasked with accelerating technical advances and finding more effective ways to defend US assets in space, including the vast constellations of satellites that US forces rely on for navigation, communications and surveillance.

Trumps order is separate from his oft-stated goal of creating a Space Force as an independent armed service branch, but its considered a step in that direction. Critics of a Space Force have said it is misguided and money should instead be spent on initiatives and programmes on earth, including education and improving access to healthcare.

Tuesdays move will launch a long and complicated process, requiring the Defense Department to pull together various space units and agencies from across the military services into a more coordinated, independent organisation, the Associated Press reported earlier on Tuesday, citing two unnamed US officials.

The US Air Forces existing Space Command would be a key component of the new joint entity, raising space to the same status as US Cyber Command.

180810085611224

The move will recreate a US Space Command, which existed from 1985 to 2002. It was disbanded in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks so US Northern Command could be established.

The Space Commands functions were absorbed by US Strategic Command, and the Air Force retained its lead role in space through Air Force Space Command.

Critical step

Joe Buccino, spokesman for Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, said that establishing Space Command is a critical step in accelerating our space capabilities and posture to defend our vital national interests and deter our adversaries. This combatant command will lead space operations and develop space warfighting doctrine, tactics, and techniques.

180611125859346

He added that the Pentagon will continue to develop a legislative proposal to meet the presidents vision for a space force.

The first steps next year will be to nominate top leaders for Space Command, including a four-star general and a deputy. The command would likely at least begin to take form in Colorado, where the current Joint Functional Component Command for Space is already located. But there has been no final decision on a location.

The new command could cost as much as $800m over the next five years. Funding will be included in the budget for the fiscal year 2020, which will be unveiled in February.

The military has been trying for decades to reorganise and accelerate technological advances in space. Some blame the Air Force for underinvesting in space because it prefers spending on warplanes.

The militarys role in space has been under scrutiny because the US is increasingly reliant on orbiting satellites that are difficult to protect.

US intelligence agencies reported earlier this year that Russia and China were pursuing nondestructive and destructive anti-satellite weapons for use during a future war. And there are growing worries about cyberattacks that could target satellite technology, potentially leaving troops in combat without electronic communications or navigation abilities.Ministers agree to roll out all contingency plans for a no-deal departure as the UKs March 29 EU exit date approaches.

London, United Kingdom  The government of the United Kingdom has ramped up preparations for a no-deal departure from the European Union amid widespread criticism of British Prime Minister Theresa Mays Brexit deal.

In a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, ministers approved 2bn ($2.5bn) worth of funding for government departments to help them prepare for the UK leaving the 28-member bloc without a formal agreement on the terms of its withdrawal.

All departments must also move to fully implement their emergency no-deal contingency plans, the cabinet agreed. Thousands of letters will be sent to businesses throughout the country advising them how to prepare for such a scenario.

Cabinet agreed that with just over three months until our exit from the European Union, we have now reached the point where we need to ramp up these [no-deal] preparations. This means we will now set in motion the remaining elements of our no-deal plans, a spokesperson for May said.

The UK is scheduled to depart the EU on March 29 next year, almost three years after 52 percent of Britons voted to quit the bloc during a divisive referendum held in June 2016.





Economic forecasts suggest a no-deal departure could have a catastrophic impact on the UKs economy.

The Bank of England, the UKs central bank, has warned Britains gross domestic product could shrink by up to eight percent in such a scenario. The government, meanwhile, has forecast a potential economic slump of more than nine percent in the wake of a no-deal Brexit.

No-deal fears escalate

Fears of a no-deal departure have been heightened by widespread parliamentary opposition to Mays EU withdrawal plan, brokered after months of arduous negotiations with her European counterparts.

At the heart of the contention is the plans backstop proposal, a safety-net provision that guarantees no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the event that post-Brexit trade negotiations between the UK and the EU prove unsuccessful.

The clause proposes that the whole of the UK, including Northern Ireland, remain in a customs union with the EU unless and until the bloc agrees there is no prospect of a return to a hard border.

181207115812443

Critics in the UK parliament argue the measure could tie Britain into the EUs orbit indefinitely.

On Monday, May announced a vote on her deal would take place in the UKs lower chamber House of Commons in the week beginning January 14 next year. She pulled a previously scheduled ballot on the plan last week, acknowledging it would have been roundly rejected by MPs.

In a bid to assuage concerns, the 62-year-old travelled to an EU Council summit in Brussels on December 13  a day after surviving a confidence vote in her leadership triggered by disgruntled Eurosceptic members of her ruling Conservative Party  to seek reassurances from European leaders on the backstop.





No-confidence motion

In a speech to parliament on Monday, May said she had won private assurances from EU officials at the summit that there was no plot to keep the UK in the backstop and that their intention was to avoid having to activate the safety-net provision.

Leader of the main opposition Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn, however, accused May of achieving nothing at the EU Council meeting and leading the UK into a national crisis.

Corbyn also suggested May was trying to run down the clock as the UKs EU departure date moves closer and tabled a motion of no confidence in the prime minister in a bid to force a vote on her Brexit deal this week.

Crucially, the motion did not call for a confidence vote in the government as a whole, meaning Mays administration is not obliged to set aside parliamentary time to debate it.

Other opposition parties  including the Scottish National Party and Liberal Democrats  have called on Corbyn to push for a no-confidence vote against the government as a whole.Decision comes amid public outrage & lawsuit accusing US of keeping mother from seeing her son who is on life support.

After public outcry, the United States has granted a visa waiver to a Yemeni woman whose dying son is on life support in a California hospital, the familys lawyer said on Tuesday.

Shaima Swileh is expected to arrive in Californias Bay Area on Wednesday evening, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Sacramento Valley (CAIR-SV).

This is the happiest day of my life, said Ali Hassan, Swilehs husband, an American citizen.

Just last week I was about to pull him off life support  This will allow us to mourn in dignity, he said in a statement.

Swilehs case prompted widespread outrage this week after reports surfaced that the young mother had been waiting for more than a year for a decision on a visa waiver.

181218085931255

Swilehs visa application was rejected last year because of travel restrictions introduced in the so-called Muslim ban, which bars individuals from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.

Hassan had previously said that he had requested that the Department of State expedite a decision on Swilehs visa waiver plea so she could say goodbye to their son Abdulla, who has a rare degenerative brain disease and may not survive much longer.

Sham process

On Monday, CAIR-SV filed an emergency federal lawsuit on behalf of the family. The suit alleged that the US embassy in Cairo, Egypt, where Swileh lives, purposely delayed a decision on her visa application until the travel ban went into effect. US authorities then told Swileh that she had been denied visa due to the ban.

This case is the perfect example of how the waiver process is a sham, said Jennifer Nimer, one of the familys attorneys.

The lawsuit filed yesterday clearly details for the court how the embassy callously ignored over 28 desperate pleas for help from the family over the past year and even the expedite requests filed by the prior attorney which contained medical documentation showing that the child was on the verge of death, she added in a statement.

Ms Swileh met all the criteria for a waiver yet they refused to take any action for over a year until public pressure mounted and forced them to take action.

A spokesman for the State Department told Al Jazeera that it could not discuss the details of individual cases, but makes every effort to facilitate legitimate travel to international visitors.

Hassan brought Abdulla to the US due to his deteriorating condition [Courtesy of Council on American-Islamic Relations, Sacramento Valley]

Swileh and Hassan met and married in Yemen, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Their son was born in Yemen, nearly two years after the countrys ongoing civil war erupted in 2015.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands and pushed the impoverished country to the verge of famine, prompting the United Nations to call the situation there the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Rights groups and a war monitor have put the death toll at more than 60,000.

Swileh left Yemen for Egypt when Abdulla was eight months old. Hassan met her in Cairo and obtained travel documents for his son from the US embassy, the Chronicle reported.

He was forced to leave Swileh and travel to his hometown of Stockton, California, because of Abdullahs deteriorating condition.

In addition to nationals of Yemen, the most recent version of US President Donald Trumps travel ban prohibits entry to the US by most people from Iran, Libya, Somalia and Syria. It also affects visitors from North Korea and some travellers from Venezuela.

Rights groups sought to overturn the ban in the US Supreme Court, claiming it was biased against Muslims. But the top court rejected the petition in June.At Security Council meeting Serbian president called on the UN to tame Kosovo and take on a bigger role in dialogue.

The presidents of Kosovo and Serbia have faced off in the United Nations Security Council, days after Pristinas parliament voted to transform their existing security force into a fully fledged army.

All parties in Kosovos 120-seat parliament, excluding the Serbs who boycotted, voted on Friday in favour of laws establishing a defence ministry, transforming the existing Kosovo Security Force (KSF) of 3,000 into an army and regulating the service.

Kosovos President Hashim Thaci said on Monday there was nothing extraordinary about the decision and that it was a natural step to establish an army to cement Kosovos status as a sovereign nation.

If Kosovo made a mistake, its only that we waited for five years to establish an army, Thaci said.

Kosovo soldiers will be soldiers of peace and Kosovos army will be a contributor of stability to the region, he added.

Thaci said the degree of UN involvement should be reviewed, as the attention of the international body is needed elsewhere to address real problems facing the world today.





Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, however, called on the UN to curb and tame Kosovo, and take on a bigger role in the dialogue between the two groups in future. He also dismissed the so-called sovereign right of Kosovo to form their own military.

Serbia continues to claim predominantly Albanian Kosovo as its own, despite the region having declared independence nearly 11 years ago.

Vucic said he was very much worried, very much concerned and even a bit afraid about the implications of a Kosovan army for the region.

Ethnic Albanians rebelled against Belgrades rule in 1998-99 in a war that eventually drew NATO to intervene against Serbia. A NATO-led peacekeeping force has been in Kosovo ever since.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci addressed the UN Security Council on Monday [Craig Ruttle/AP]

Recognising KSFs transition

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed concern over the plans to strengthen the Kosovo Security Force, noting in a statement that any restriction to the security responsibilities of the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping mission would be inconsistent with the UN Security Council resolution that regulates KFOR.

Russias UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said expanding the army was a blatant violation of Security Council resolutions and called the creation of the army illegal.

Russia is traditionally the protecting power of Serbia, from which the primarily Albanian-populated Kosovo broke off in 2008.

181214112921620

The current and incoming European Union members of the UN Security Council recognised the transition of the KSF as Kosovos sovereign right, in a joint statement. Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and Sweden were among the countries calling on Kosovo to make the transformation of their armed forces transparent and inclusive and in close cooperation with NATO.

They also called on both Pristina and Belgrade to lower tensions and resume dialogue, noting that a comprehensive normalisation agreement to set out the conditions of the future relationship between the two sides still needs to be reached.

Recent tensions between Kosovo and Serbia have frustrated an EU-brokered normalisation process.

Last month, Serbia blocked Kosovo from joining the Interpol law enforcement agency and Pristina responded by imposing trade tariffs on Serbian goods, drawing scorn from the EU.

Prime minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, said that the tariffs were in retaliation to Serbias destructive policies and promised further measures.

NATO has also voiced concerns over Pristinas plan for an army.A popular Christmas carol is O Little Town of Bethlehem. In keeping with the Christmas season, and the ongoing efforts by the Washington, D.C. elites and ruling classes to destroy anything and everything related to President Trump, its time to review some current opinion polls.

Rasmussen Reports, acknowledged by media mavens as, one of the most accurate polling operations in the 2016 election has a daily presidential tracking poll. Not only for the current president, but also for the last one. It generally shows middle of the road rankings for President Trump, as it did for President Obama, with some positive ones.

But many news organizations fall under President Trumps moniker of Fake News including the Washington Post and CNN. A recent Washington Post opinion piece happily declared, as if finding a pony under the Christmas tree, As Trump slides in a new poll, reality begins piercing the bubble.





Screengrab, Washington Post

They cite a CNN poll showing Trump with a 39 percent approval rating. This was based on a random sample of just over a thousand adults. Are they likely to vote? Registered to vote? American citizens? Or just random adults who happened to answer the phone when CNN was calling? It's not easy to tell from the information given.

How does this poll compare to Rasmussen, the most accurate pollster? Rasmussen conducts a daily poll of likely U.S. voters, rather than a poll of random people who simply answer a telephone.

Friday, December 14 was their most recent polling date. President Trump had a 48 percent total approval rating. This number has been hovering in the mid- to high 40s, to low 50s, for most of the past year, despite the nonstop negative news barrage from the media and continued claims that everyone hates Trump and regrets voting for him.

How did the medias favorite, Barack Obama, the smartest guy in the room, the ultimate diplomat with the sharp crease in his slacks, fare in the same poll at the same point in his presidency? CNN may forget but the internet remembers.

On December 14, 2010, exactly eight years ago, then President Obama had a total approval number of 45 percent, 3 points lower than Trump.

How could this be? Media coverage of President Obama was mostly positive, compared to media coverage of President Trump which was almost all negative.

Trump, his family, and anyone who ever knew him or worked with him, finds themselves under investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the New York State Attorney General, and House Democrats, all eager to indict and impeach the duly-elected president because they dont like him.

New York Attorney Gen.-elect Letitia James says she plans to launch sweeping investigations into President Trump, his family and "anyone" in his circle who may have violated the law. https://t.co/vgFqDFBTyf  MSNBC (@MSNBC) December 16, 2018

The unwarranted and partisan investigations into Trump continue and are ramping up. No one was investigating Obama and his associates despite a list of scandals eclipsing anything Trump may have done. Along with investigations, media cranks continue to commission statistically weak polls, designed solely to influence rather than reflect popular opinion.

Why are they doing this? The midterms are over with the next election almost two years away. The answer is simple: Trumps enemies have nothing else with which to hurt him.

He remains popular with half the country despite a nonstop two-year effort to separate Trump supporters from Trump. Robert Muellers witch-hunt has gone nowhere. Sure, he has some indictments or plea deals. Indictments of Russians who will never see the inside of a U.S. court room. Plea deals from Trump associates to crimes committed before the Trump campaign or presidency, having nothing to do with Trump except for the unfortunate and unfair fact that those indicted happened to be in Trumps orbit. Or else process crimes for not accurately remembering two-year-old details. If Hillary Clinton was president, no one would care a whit about Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, or Jerome Corsi.

The latest outrage against Trump is that he paid two women for signing nondisclosure agreements. Just as candidate Obama did with his embarrassing pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. CNN political hack Kristen Powers believes these payments, before Trump was even a candidate for president, are somehow relevant.

She said, Yeah, I dont believe that the average Trump voter actually knew a lot of this about Donald Trump. All because her former network, Fox News, didnt cover it.

Bull. Everyone knew about Donald Trump, his two previous marriages, and his randy lifestyle. He was elected despite all that. For those who didnt know, the Access Hollywood tapes made his past quite clear. Few voters missed the nonstop coverage of that October surprise.

Yet Trump is still here and at around 50 percent in the polls. How can this be? This is what the media and establishment ask themselves every day. They throw kryptonite at Superman Trump and instead of weakening him, he simply grows stronger.

Its his approval numbers they want to weaken, although thus far they have been unsuccessful. So now its time to lie, to make up polls that reflect their desire to separate Trump supporters from Trump. They have two years until the next election and are wasting no time starting their mission today.

Their polls support their biases and beliefs, having little basis in reality. It's pretty obvious this is a bid to bolster their echo chamber, through calls to arms to bring down a president, solely because they dont like him. And by hook or by crook, they will institute regime change, just as the U.S. has called for in countries around the globe. This time its in the United States.

One might say emotions cloud judgment. Or emotions cloud logic. Thats certainly the case in the modern media world. Fortunately, there are honest and legitimate pollsters, such as Rasmussen, still in the business of assessing rather than shaping opinion. For the rest of the media, however, there are the less accurate but more pleasing polls and pollsters, and their media sponsors will remain undeterred by facts, continuing to bow to bogus polls.

Despite it all, Trump is still standing, pushing his agenda forward, earning the support of half the country. Borrowing again from the Christmas carol, Yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting Light. Or said another way, where there was once darkness, there is now light.

Thankfully there are a few media organizations willing to buck the anti-Trump bandwagon and report fairly, without malice or bias. May their light continue to shine well beyond the Christmas season.

Brian C Joondeph, MD, MPS, a Denver based physician and writer. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Image credit: YouTube screen grab with additions by Monica Showalter.The FBI calls its report of a given interview a 302. This Luddite insistence on a written summary in the age of easy voice recording opens the door to all manner of misinterpretation.

In the case of the 302 that recreated the initial interview with Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn in January 2017, that misinterpretation may not be innocent. To have any value, a 302 must be prepared within five days of the actual interview. That is FBI protocol as well. Last week, when Judge Emmett Sullivan ordered the Robert Mueller legal team to turn over the 302 for the Flynn interview, however, Mueller produced a 302 prepared seven months after the interview.

As Sidney Powell observes in the Daily Caller, there is ample evidence in the infamous Lisa Page-Peter Strzok texts and in the most recent Mueller filing that the FBI had prepared a 302 in a timely fashion. Strzok, in fact, conducted the original interview. That original 302 apparently has been lost or destroyed.

This is not the first time that the FBI -- or some entity with power over the FBI -- has manufactured a 302 in a politically sensitive case. In the case of TWA Flight 800, the 747 destroyed off the coast of Long Island in July 1996, the FBI and/or CIA manufactured second interviews with the three most critical eyewitnesses.

In fact, the CIA built its infamous zoom climb animation around a fully imaginary second interview with Mike Wire, the man on the bridge. In Wires case, no second 302 was put in his file, but someone did put counterfeit 302s in the files of other two key witnesses.

CIA animation

FBI Witness 32, Dwight Brumley, a U.S. Navy master chief, was looking out a right-side window on USAir 217, a plane heading northeast thousands of feet above TWA 800s path. As recorded on his original 302, Brumley told the FBI he saw a flare like-object moving from right to left, very nearly perpendicular to the path of TWA 800. In a later presentation to officials from the FBI and CIA, CIA analyst Randy Tauss insisted that Brumley observed flare ascending which moved left to right (italics added).

This supposed flare, Tauss concluded, matches aircraft trajectory. In other words, what Brumley saw was TWA 800 in crippled flight after an imagined fuel tank explosion. Brumley, the CIA claimed, was said to have admitted as much in a second interview.

In truth, Brumleys second interview was created out of whole cloth. No one spoke to Brumley after the first week of the investigation. There was never a second interview with me by either the FBI, the CIA or any other government official, Brumley firmly told researcher Tom Stalcup in a recorded interview. I always maintained that the object moved from my right to left, and I never said otherwise.

Careless or reckless or both, authorities left Brumleys original 302 filed in the NTSB docket and manufactured a new one with the original date for his CIA file. It was only after the CIA file surfaced that the fraud became obvious.

FBI Witness 73, who has requested anonymity, may have been the best eyewitness of all. On July 17, 1996, Sandy -- not her real name -- was visiting friends on Long Island. They were relatives of her fiance who was working in New York City. That evening Sandy and her two friends drove to a beach near the Moriches Inlet on the South Shore of Long Island.

Just a few minutes after sunset, the FBI would report in its original 302, She observed an aircraft climbing in the sky, traveling from her right to her left. This would have been from the west, JFK airport in New York City, towards the east, eventually Paris, the original destination of the ill-fated 747 with 230 souls on board.

The sun was setting behind her. While keeping her eyes on the aircraft, the FBI report continued, she observed a red streak moving up from the ground toward the aircraft at an approximately 45 degree angle. The red streak was leaving a light gray colored smoke trail. The red streak went passed [sic] the right side and above the aircraft before arcing back toward the aircrafts right wing.

According to the FBI, Sandy described the arcs shape as resembling an upside-down NIKE swoosh logo. The smoke trail, light gray in color, widened as it approached the aircraft. Agent Lee Butler interviewed Sandy at her North Carolina home three days after the disaster and wrote down Sandys account on a 302.

She never took her eyes off the aircraft during this time, the 302 continued. At the instant the smoke trail ended at the aircrafts right wing, she heard a loud sharp noise which sounded like a firecracker had just exploded at her feet. She then observed a fire at the aircraft followed by one or two secondary explosions which had a deeper sound. She then observed the front of the aircraft separate from the back. She then observed burning pieces of debris falling from the aircraft.

Weeks before the FBI and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were able to piece together the break-up sequence of the aircraft, Sandy had nailed it. She was the perfect eyewitness. She worked in the travel industry. She had a long-standing interest in aviation. She tracked the plane and the flare as separate objects. She read no more into the explosion than what she could observe.

At the Moriches Inlet, she was as close to the actual site of the explosion as any other witness, less than ten miles away. And she was not grandstanding. Just the opposite. Her friends and her fiance were dead set against her cooperating with the FBI.

As the TWA investigation progressed past November 1996 and Bill Clintons successful re-election, the CIA got serious about fulfilling its unprecedented mission, namely discrediting the eyewitnesses to a domestic airline crash. By failing to interview a single one of the more than 250 eyewitnesses to report an apparent missile strike, the New York Times made the CIAs job a whole lot easier.

According to a theory the CIA concocted, an internal explosion blew the nose off the doomed 747. The noseless fuselage then tilted back and rocketed upright for nearly a mile. According to the CIA, this zoom climb confused hundreds of credible witnesses into merely thinking they had seen a missile.

Only one person stood in the CIAs way of selling this preposterous scenario to a willfully ignorant media. That was the head of the FBI missile team, Steve Bongardt. Bongardt demanded to know why the CIA analysts failed to account for the eight witnesses who saw an object hit the aircraft or the numerous witnesses who saw the object move from east to west, the opposite direction of TWA 800. In all, he cited some thirty problem witnesses whose accounts did not begin to square with the agency scenario.

In his conclusion, Bongardt hit the CIA hard. He recommended that the CIA withdraw its conclusions until it could meet several conditions, any one of which would have unraveled the CIA scenario. These included the integration of radar data, the validation of key witnesses, and the reconciliation of the thirty problem witnesses with the zoom climb scenario.

At the time, Bongardt likely did not know that the newly minted CIA director George Tenet had already signed off on the CIA theory. A month earlier, the politically wired Tenet had sent FBI director Louis Freeh a letter assuring him that what these eyewitnesses saw was the crippled aircraft after the first explosion had already taken place.

CIA will continue to look at problematic witnesses, the CIAs Tauss responded. He got to work quickly. On the very day Tauss sent this memo to his superiors, April 29, 1997, a second 302 was prepared for the most problematic of the FBI eyewitnesses, Witness 73.

In this second interview, Witness 73 conceded that she had been drinking Long Island Ice Tea cocktails before witnessing the explosion, a concession that undermined her original testimony. As Sandy told me years later, she did not know what a Long Island Iced Tea was, did not drink, and, like Wire and Brumley, did not give a second interview.

As a coup de grace, whoever put the second 302 in Witness 73s file put Bongardts name on it. The Deep State was playing hardball even then.As the slow-motion drama of the Michael Flynn prosecution winds slowly toward sentencing today, it has become increasingly clear that the conservative commentariat feels conflicted. On the one hand, they can't approve of what appear to be lies on the part of Flynn -- inexplicable as this appears to have been in the circumstances (Flynn knew that the FBI had a recording of his conversation with the Russian Ambassador).

On the other hand, there seems to be something distinctly fishy about the entire case against Flynn. The evidence of investigative and prosecutorial misconduct -- possibly including criminal acts -- has become overwhelming. Nor has Robert Mueller's reply to the Flynn response to the sentencing memorandum allayed any of those misgivings -- quite the contrary, as Scott Johnson (one of the Powerline bloggers) puts it:

I find the reply memo to be a shocking document. Something does not compute.

Something is clearly wrong with it all. Whether or not Flynn lied, it all seems so unfair, including the very way in which the agents conducted the interview. Another of the Powerline bloggers, Paul Mirengoff nicely sums up what we instinctively know was going on:

Theres no mystery about what happened to Flynn. Towards the end of the Obama administration, this decorated General and top intelligence official left the government and became the leading critic of the administrations national security policy. Compounding his offenses against the deep state, Flynn joined the Trump campaign team. ... For the deep state, this was the last straw. Once Flynn was named Trumps national security adviser, it sought revenge. ...

Yet, the question arises: Is there a legally principled way to address the Flynn situation, one which does justice to Flynn -- despite his misconduct -- but preserves the integrity of our justice system and, crucially, of our courts? I believe there is and addressed it this past Saturday.

The solution should, in fact, be glaringly obvious, but has escaped notice -- most likely because it requires an examination of the basic principles underlying law enforcement in our constitutional system. In our system of law, the State is not authorized to simply test its citizens -- citizens are entitled to be left alone unless law enforcement has some articulable reason for approaching them. Let me state this very bluntly, with application to the Flynn case, before examining it in more detail:

False statement traps are not official FBI business. The FBI has no authority to interview random people to see whether they will lie. They must have an articulable reason for the interview to begin -- one that flows from their official duties. All else must follow from that.

In light of this principle, the first question that arises with regard to the FBI's approach to Flynn is clear: What reason did the FBI have to interview Flynn?

Presumably they could have asked him about any of the matters for which Flynn was being investigated -- but they didn't. They had no articulable official reason, for the simple reason that Flynn's contacts with the Russian ambassador were perfectly proper and legal. Thus the vagueness of the rationale that McCabe presented to Flynn before he sent the two agents to the White House:

I explained that in light of the significant media coverage and public discussion about his recent contacts with Russian representatives, that [FBI] Director [James] Comey and I felt that we needed to have two of our agents sit down with the General and hear from him the details of those conversations. [emphases added]

This is absurd. Is the FBI in the PR business for the White House, or even for the Intelligence Community? Is the FBI some sort of watchdog over foreign policy? Why should the FBI want to hear the details of the perfectly proper conversation from Flynn -- second hand -- when they already had a recording of the conversation? In any event, listening to Flynn's second-hand account could add no further details. In fact, Flynn's second-hand account would certainly be less reliable and accurate than the recording of the conversation. And that was the point that the gullible Flynn missed. Mirengoff states it succinctly:

Because the agents knew the contents, it was unnecessary to ask Flynn about them. The purpose of the interview surely was to see if Flynn would lie.

Further, if Flynn were being interviewed because of a criminal violation on his part -- the only valid reason for interviewing him in the circumstances -- then the agents should have pursued a line of questioning that tracked the elements of some criminal offense. But they didn't. Instead, they proceeded with a preset strategy that they hoped would elicit statements -- any statements -- that could be interpreted as false. The interview was a test for Flynn, a trap, as Mueller himself makes crystal clear in his Reply Memorandum, that document that Johnson says "does not compute":

During the interview, the FBI agents gave the defendant multiple opportunities to correct his false statements by revisiting key questions. When the defendant said he did not remember something they knew he said, they used the exact words the defendant had used in order to prompt a truthful response.

"To prompt a truthful response?" Regarding "something they knew he said" and Flynn knew they knew? The FBI already knew the truth! Put yourself in Flynn's position. How would you like to be interviewed by the FBI regarding a conversation you had had that was perfectly proper and which they had recorded? Wouldn't you wonder what business it was of theirs, for starters, and why they needed to get your account anyway? And yet how many people would submit to the interview, thinking apparently like Flynn, well, it's the FBI -- I guess I have to go along with this! And then it turns out that it's simply a test -- a test of your "truthfulness"!

And so the answer seems clear: the interview was designed as a false statement trap. This appears to have been confirmed by McCabe himself, during his testimony to the House. The Hill's account of the report provides interesting details:

Although Deputy Director McCabe acknowledged that the two people who interviewed [Flynn] didnt think he was lying, [which] was not [a] great beginning of a false statement case, General Flynn pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements on December 1, 2017, a newly unredacted part of the report reads. The document also says top government officials had conflicting reports about why the two agents were interviewing Flynn in the first place. The committee received conflicting testimony from Comey, McCabe, then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mary McCord about the "primary purpose" of the interview, the report states. The report claims that these top FBI and Justice Department officials had different answers regarding whether the agents were investigating misleading statements to the Vice President, which the Vice President echoed publicly about the content of this calls; a possible violation of the Logan Act; or a desire top obtain more information as part of the counterintelligence investigation into General Flynn.

Let's begin at the top: "not a great beginning of a false statement case." In other words, the visit of the agents to Flynn's office was the beginning of a false statement case. But the FBI is not authorized to go around testing the veracity of random citizens: they must have an articulable official reason. Consider this hypothetical that I hope will present the issue in an even broader light.

Suppose you're an FBI agent. At lunch one day you leave your office and go around the corner to, let's say, a hardware store. The proprietor knows you to be an FBI agent. You ask for his recommendation for some article and he responds, praising a particular product with inflated claims. You purchase it but are soon dissatisfied, believing that the proprietor deceived you. Did the proprietor "lie to the FBI?" Should you, the agent, open an investigation against the proprietor for making a "false statement to the FBI?" Clearly not. And why not? Because you didn't purchase the product as part of your official duties, even though you were on official duty at the time -- you had left the office with your full complement of Bureau-issued paraphernalia, badge and gun and were vigilant for any criminal activity as you walked to the store.

The two agents who interviewed Flynn certainly presented themselves as being on official duty, pursuing an official task -- but were they really? The answer must be: No. They were simply testing Flynn, without pursuing a line of questioning that pertained to any suspected crime or other matter that fell under the FBI's responsibilities. The interview was a pretext of acting in the course of official duty; it was a setup, not an investigation.

The testimony of the other officials confirms this. Their inability to offer consistent rationales indicates that, even months later when they had had ample time to get their stories right, they were unsure of any justification. Reports of Yates' anger at Comey's precipitous decision to set a false statement trap for Flynn make perfect sense in that light: a competent attorney for Flynn would have attacked the case from this standpoint. What were the conflicting rationales that they offered?

Misleading statements made by Flynn to the Vice President, Mike Pence. That was wrong of Flynn, no doubt, and ended up being grounds for Flynn's dismissal, but it's notable that those misleading statements were not used as the basis for any indictment. After all, would we really want to outlaw all politics, all bureaucratic infighting and posterior-covering? Where would be the end of it?

The Logan Act. Again, there's a good reason why that wasn't pursued. The same reason that other public figures who, for example, travel to foreign countries to plead for the release of captives are not prosecuted. Not to mention constitutional problems.

The ongoing counterintelligence investigation into Flynn. In that case, why did the agents not question Flynn on that subject?

Clearly the rationales offered to the House were no more than CYA excuses, made necessary by the FBI's ill-considered action. Of course, Flynn had behaved badly -- as he had done with regard to his foreign agent consultancy -- but this was a matter for the White House to sort out, as it did soon enough. But our point is simple: the FBI had no official reason to test Flynn's recollection of a conversation that the FBI already possessed in recorded form. Therefore, if a prosecutor should bring a case based on an FBI "false statement test," any court should refuse to take notice of the case. The case should be dismissed as failing to show that any crime has been committed.

No court should allow the FBI to set itself up as a self-appointed tester of the truthfulness of the citizenry, absent an articulable reason related to the FBI's official duties. It's not about approving Flynn's conduct. It's about preserving our basic constitutional rights and preventing unprincipled FBI and DoJ officials from turning out country into a police state.

Mark Wauck is a retired FBI agent who blogs on philosophy, religion, and national security at meaning in history. In his previous life he had over two decades of experience in counterintelligence matters.While I am not suggesting that we should experience schadenfreude, the LGBTQ enforcers attempt to viciously destroy the career of comedian/actor Kevin Hart for tweets he made nine years ago is encouraging. Finally, even leftists are beginning to see the take-no-prisoners intolerance and bullying LGBTQ enforcers have been applying to everyone who does not celebrate their lifestyle.

Many of us have been sounding the alarm for years that LGBTQ enforcers are relentlessly targeting Christian businesses for destruction; solely for the purpose of forcing Christians to betray their God by bending a knee in worship of leftists' god of debauchery.

German pastor Martin Niemoller was imprisoned in Dachau concentration camp from 1941-1945. In his famous poem, Niemoller laments that when they came for the Communists, Socialists, Trade Unionists, and Jews he did not speak out because he was none of these. Niemoller wrote, And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.

Not only did leftists not speak out against LGBTQ bullying, they cheered when LGBTQ bullies came for Sweet Cakes by Melissa. The Christian bakery happily served their lesbian customers for several years. When they asked them to bake a cake for her lesbian wedding, the owners said to do so would betray their faith. The husband and wife bakery owners with five kids were driven out of business.

Well now, LGBTQ enforcers have come for Kevin Hart who many leftists consider one of their own.

Leftist Snoop Dogg, who shot president Trump in the head in his music video passionately expressed his support for Hart. Several leftist celebs are expressing their support for Hart. As I stated, the good news for America in the Hart attacks is leftists are waking up and smelling the tyranny coming from their side of the political aisle by LGBTQ enforcers.

The Devil's greatest achievement is convincing people that he does not exist. LGBTQ enforcers' greatest achievement and deception is convincing people they are the victims and we, mainstream Americans, are the aggressors.

Kevin Hart was scheduled to host the Oscars. In a video, Hart said, I swear man, our world is becoming beyond crazy. My team calls me, Oh my God Kevin. The world is upset about tweets you did years ago. Oh my God. LGBTQ enforcers deemed Hart's nine-year-old tweets anti-homosexual.

Hart received a call from the Academy telling him to apologize again for his old tweets or be replaced as host of the Oscars. Hart said he has repeatedly addressed the issue and acknowledged the rights and wrongs. Hart said he has evolved since making the tweets years ago. Hart said to apologize again for something so far in the past would be a step backwards rather than moving forward. Therefore, he chose to pass on hosting the Oscars.

The American left's response was mixed. Many rallied behind Hart. Others were furious over Hart refusing to apologize, calling him defiant. Leftist Kathy Griffin disturbed millions with her photo in which she held a bloody severed head of president Trump. In response to Hart refusing to apologize again, Griffin said, F*** him.

Hart did not realize that LGBTQ enforcers have zero-tolerance for anyone who does not fully embrace the lifestyle. Anyone who dares to dis the LGBTQ lifestyle in the slightest must fall on his face and beg forgiveness or suffer complete personal destruction.

Many Americans believe the LGBTQ community is 23% or more of the population. The truth is, they are 3.4 percent.

Witnessing LGBTQ enforcers' relentless media assault on Hart and their efforts to destroy him, I could not help thinking, Welcome to our world, Mr. Hart. This is the tyrannical assault on free speech Americans face every day by the LGBTQ thought police. Again, I take no pleasure in seeing Mr. Hart suffer.

It was stunning to hear even extreme leftist Joy Behar and leftist women on The View say the attack on Hart puts all comedians at risk. Numerous other high-profile leftist voices are speaking out in agreement.

Folks, LGBTQ enforcers attacking Hart is a real eye-opener for many Americans -- a small victory in the war between totalitarian political correctness and constitutional free speech.

Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American

Help Lloyd spread the TruthThe Trump administration is set to abandon the race-based school discipline policies created by President Obama that stressed leniency to minority students who misbehave.

Those rules emerged when studies showed that minority students received suspensions and expulsions at a greater rate than white students.

The administration efforts to repeal the rules grew out of a commission set up to examine school shootings and other violence.

New York Times:

The federal governments paramount obligation is to guarantee student safety, including when it is acting to ensure that educational programs and policies are administered in a racially neutral fashion, the commission wrote. However, where well-meaning but flawed policies endanger student safety, they must be changed. Disability and civil rights advocates will almost certainly denounce the latest policy maneuver. The Obama administration policies were adopted after strong evidence emerged that minority students were receiving more suspensions and tougher punishments than white students for the same or lesser offenses, while disabled students were too quickly being shunted into remedial or special-education programs. Safety is a red herring intended to raise fears about our own children, said Eve Hill, a disability rights lawyer at Brown, Goldstein & Levy who worked on the Obama-era discipline guidance while a lawyer in the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division. The Education and Justice Departments plan to send a joint letter this week announcing the rescinding of policy statements dating to 2014, according to a draft letter signed by Kenneth L. Marcus, the Education Departments head of civil rights, and Eric S. Dreiband, assistant attorney general for civil rights. The 2014 Obama policy advised schools on how to dole out discipline in a nondiscriminatory manner and examine education data to look for racial disparities that could flag a federal civil rights violation. Though the guidance is nonbinding, critics have argued that the edict pressured districts to keep suspensions low at the expense of student safety.

Not just student safety, but the safety of faculty as well. The Obama rules presupposed that suburban white kids and inner city minority students misbehaved in the same way at the same rates, but the minority kids were punished more severely with suspensions. Race, not class, was the determining factor. Rather than risk a civil rights action by the Justice Department, school systems adopted more lenient disciplinary standards that, predictably, led to greater violence against students and teachers.

No doubt there will be a lawsuit to keep these policies intact. But Obama's race based rules in education will be hard to completely eradicate given how widespread their effect has been.One of the biggest civilian development project that Libyas ex-president Muammar Gaddafi undertook during his forty-two-year rule was the Great Man-Made River. Gaddafis dream was to provide fresh water for everyone, and to turn the desert green, making Libya self-sufficient in food production. To make this dream a reality, Gaddafi commissioned a massive engineering project consisting of a network of underground pipes that would bring fresh water from ancient underground aquifers deep in the Sahara to the drought suffering Libyan cities. Gaddafi called it the Eighth Wonder of the World. The western media rarely mentioned it, and whenever it did, it was dismissed as a vanity project calling it "Gaddafi's Pet Project" and the pipe dream of a mad dog. But truth is, the Great Man-Made River Project is a fantastic water delivery system that has changed lives of Libyans all across the country.

Photo credit

Libya is one of the sunniest and driest countries in the world. There are places where decades may pass without seeing any rainfall at all, and even in the highlands rainfall seldom happens, like once every 5 to 10 years. Less than 5% of the country receives enough rainfall for settled agriculture. Much of Libya's water supply used to come from desalination plants on the coast, which were expensive and therefore used only for domestic purposes. Little was left for irrigating the land.

In 1953, while searching for new oilfields in southern Libya, vast quantities of ancient water aquifers were discovered. The exploration team discovered four huge basins with estimated capacities of each ranging between 4,800 and 20,000 cubic km. Most of this water was collected between 38,000 and 14,000 years ago, before the end of the last ice age, when the Saharan region enjoyed a temperate climate.

After Gaddafi and the Free Unitary Officers seized power in a bloodless coup in 1969, the new government immediately nationalized the oil companies and started using the revenues from oil to set up hundreds of bore wells to bring fresh water from the desert aquifers. Initially, Gaddafi planned to set up large-scale agricultural projects in the desert where the water was found, but when the people displayed reluctance to move, he conceived a plan to bring the water to the people instead.

Schematic drawing of the project. Photo credit

In August 1984, Muammar Gaddafi laid the foundation stone for the pipe production plant at Brega, and the Great Man-Made River Project began. Around 1,300 wells were dug into the desert soil, some up to 500 meters deep, to pump water from the subterranean water reserve. The pumped water is then distributed to 6.5 million people living in the cities of Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirte and elsewhere through a network of underground pipes 2,800 km long. When the fifth and final phase of the project is complete, the network will have 4,000 km length of pipes that will enable 155,000 hectares of land to be cultivated. Even with the last two phases yet to complete, the Great Man-Made River is the world's largest irrigation project.

The pipeline first reached Tripoli in 1996, at the completion of the first phase of the project. Adam Kuwairi, a senior figure in the Great Man-Made River Authority (GMRA), vividly remembers the impact the fresh water had on him and his family.

"The water changed lives. For the first time in our history, there was water in the tap for washing, shaving and showering," he told BBC. "The quality of life is better now, and it's impacting on the whole country."

The project was so well recognized internationally that in 1999, UNESCO accepted Libyas offer to fund the Great Man-Made River International Water Prize, an award that rewards remarkable scientific research work on water usage in arid areas.

US citizens protesting against US military action in Libya in Minneapolis, on March 21, 2011. Photo credit

In July 2011, NATO bombed the Great Man-Made River water supply pipeline near Brega including a factory that produces the pipes, claiming that the factory was used as a military storage facility and that rockets were launched from there. NATOs attack on the pipeline disrupted water supply for 70% of the population who depended on the piped supply for personal use and for irrigation. The country now reeling under civil war, the future of the Great Man-Made River Project is in jeopardy.

Back in 1991, at the opening of the first phase of the project, Muammar Gaddafi had prophetically said about the largest civil engineering venture in the world:

After this achievement, American threats against Libya will double. The United States will make excuses, but the real reason is to stop this achievement, to keep the people of Libya oppressed.

Photo credit

Fleet of more than one hundred transporters has altogether travelled a distance equal to the distance between the Earth and Sun. Photo credit

Transport of pipe segments. Photo credit

Work on trench digging for waterpipe. Photo credit

Photo credit

Photo credit

Photo credit

Photo credit

Photo credit

Sources: Scoop / Global Research / Human rights investigations / BBC / The EconomistFor nearly half a century, the Canadian province of Nova Scotia has been sending a gift to the people of Boston in the form of a Christmas tree. This annual tradition of holiday goodwill goes back to 1971, but the events that led to it is older still and was one of great tragedy.

In 1917, the port city of Halifax in Nova Scotia was a bustling scene of activity. The Great War in Europe was in its third year and Halifaxs strategic location in the Caribbean-Canada-United Kingdom shipping triangle made it an integral part of Allied war efforts not only during the First World War but the second one as well. The ports protective waters sheltered convoys from German U-boat attack, while Halifaxs railway connection and world class port facilities enabled supplies, munitions and troops to be assembled from all around Canada and the US before they headed out into the open Atlantic Ocean and to the Western Front.

The Boston Common Christmas Treea gift from Nova Scotia to Boston. Photo credit: Keith J Finks / Shutterstock.com

While the war brought unspeakable horrors in Europe, for many in Halifax it was an era of wealth and opportunity. Millions of tons of supplies passed through the port, arriving by rail and departing on ships towards the war. In addition to vessels of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Navy, hundreds of merchant ships from around the world converged at Halifax, needing repair or resupply. Jobs became plentiful. Migrant workers arrived in search of available work at the dockyards, railyards, the sugar refinery and other factories. Streets were filled with soldiers and sailors and local businesses boomed. The citys population swelled to more than 60,000.

On the morning of December 6, a Norwegian ship SS Imo left Halifax destined for New York where she would pick up relief supplies for war-torn Belgium. At the same time, a French cargo ship SS Mont-Blanc loaded with explosives was entering the harbor intending to join a convoy which would depart for Europe. In her hold was 2,300 tons picric acid (used for making artillery shells), 200 tons of trinitrotoluene (TNT), 10 tons of gun cotton, and several drums of fuel.

SS Imo was late that morning because she had to wait for her coal to arrive. In order to make up for the lost time, the ships captain pushed the throttle down lurching the ship forward at an unsafe speed. As she navigated through the Narrows, the harbor's tightest section, she encountered several incoming ships causing her to be pushed further and further away from her path and into the lane of the incoming SS Mont-Blanc . After a moment of confusion regarding who had the right of way, both ships cutoff their engines but their momentum carried them forward until the ships slammed into each other. The damage to the Mont Blanc was not severe, but the fuel barrels in her hold toppled flooding the deck and the hold below. Minutes later the fumes ignited and the ship was engulfed in an inferno. The crew quickly abandoned the ship and tried to tell anybody who would care to listen about what was going to happen.

Vincent Coleman, a railway dispatcher in the nearby railway yards (photograph on the right), started to flee when he remembered a train from Saint John, New Brunswick, was scheduled to arrive that morning. As the Mont-Blanc burned, Coleman stayed at his post tapping out a message in the final minutes of his life. His message read: Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbour making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye boys. The message sent to the stations up the line saved the lives of hundreds.

But only few people understood the seriousness of the situation. In the harbor and on the streets curious onlookers gathered to watch the spectacular plume of black smoke rising towards the sky.

Shortly after nine-o-clock, about twenty minutes after the collision, Mont Blanc s hazardous cargo exploded and the resulting shockwave tore through the city at more than 3,600 km per hour. The blast wave toppled buildings and collapsed roofs and ceiling upon their occupants. The pressure of the shockwave crushed internal organs and exploded lungs and eardrums of those standing close to the explosion. Others were picked up and thrown against buildings and lampposts like rag dolls. Hundreds of people who had been watching the fire from their homes through their windows were blinded when the blast wave shattered the glass panes in front of their eyes.

Map showing the extent of the impact and destruction caused by the Halifax Explosion of Dec. 6, 1917. Graphics by Chris Brackley/Canadian Geographic

Mont-Blanc's half-ton anchor landed over three kilometers away, where it still remains, and one of her 90 mm gun barrel was sent flying across the city even further some 5.6 kilometers away. Every building within a 2.6-kilometer radius was destroyed or badly damaged. Fires from overturned stoves erupted everywhere.

The explosion displaced all the water around the ship momentarily exposing the harbor floor. Seconds later, water came surging in to fill the void and created a tsunami that rose 60 feet above the high-water mark. The tsunami obliterated a community of Mi'kmaq First Nation who had lived in the area for generations.

The Halifax explosion released an energy equivalent to 2.9 kiloton of TNT. For comparison, the nuclear bomb detonated over Hiroshima was sized at 15 kiloton, only five times stronger. About 1,600 people died instantly from the Halifax explosion and some 9,000 were injured. Roughly 400 more died from their injuries in the days that followed.

A section of Mont Blancs anchor that landed on this park is preserved in this monument. Photo credit: Vonkiegr8/Wikimedia

Relief from Boston

One of the first cities to respond to the accident was Boston, located more than a thousand kilometers away. Boston Mayor James Michael Curley sent a message to the U.S. representative in Halifax hours after the explosion. Curley wrote: The city of Boston has stood first in every movement of similar character since 1822 and will not be found wanting in this instance. I am, awaiting Your Honors kind instruction.

Curley and Massachusetts Governor Samuel McCall organized a relief effort and asked people to contribute. Within the first hour, they raised $100,000. Thirty of Bostons leading physicians and surgeons, 70 nurses, a completely equipped 500-bed base hospital unit and a vast amount of hospital supplies were loaded onto a train and left for Halifax within 24 hours of the explosion. When it arrived the morning of December 8, it was the first non-Canadian relief train to arrive at Halifax. In less than a day, a fully-equipped and running impromptu hospital had been set up in a former military officers residence. By the time a second train arrived on December 9, Halifax already had enough doctors and clothing for its immediate needs. Massachusettss total contribution was at over $750,000.

A view across the devastated neighbourhood of Richmond in Halifax, Nova Scotia after the Halifax Explosion.

The next year on Christmas, Nova Scotia sent a small token of appreciation to Bostona Christmas tree. This became a tradition from 1971. Most people are honored to donate their trees, and sometime families compete against each other to have their tree chosen. The cutting of the tree is a ceremonial event attended by many dignitaries of the province including the United States Consulate in Halifax and hundreds of locals. The tree then travels by truck across Nova Scotia, crosses the Bay of Fundy by ferry, and then continues the rest of the journey by truck until it reaches Boston. At places along the highway people gather to cheer and get a glimpse of the tree.

The tree usually arrives in Boston in late November or early December, upon which it is erected at the Boston Common Park and decorated with thousands of lights. The event attracts tens of thousands of people.

The gifting of the tree is no small commitment for a small province like Nova Scotia. When the Canadian Broadcasting Corp gathered all the bills for expenses incurred during the 2015 shipment of the tree, they found that it cost the taxpayers $179,000 to cut, transport, and sponsor all the pomp and celebration around the trees lighting.

While that might sound huge, the media coverage the province gets in return provides Nova Scotia a pretty good value for the money spent, believes Ed McHugh, who teaches business and marketing at Nova Scotia Community College.

Mary Tulle, tourism director for Cape Breton Island, echoes his opinion. Tulle recalled how her grandmother, living three hours from Halifax, watched the dishes shake during the explosion.

Why do we have to stop saying thank you? Tulle said.

Smoke cloud from the Halifax Explosion, probably taken off McNabs Island.

The Norwegian steamship Imo aground on Dartmouth shore, after the Halifax Explosion.

Wrecked homes in Halifax.

Soldiers standing guard in the midst of the devastation on Kaye Street east of Gottingen Street, Halifax.

House damaged by the Halifax Explosion.

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion.

Ruins of Army & Navy Brewery operated by Halifax Breweries Limited at Turtle Grove, Dartmouth.Chinese technology juggernaut Huawei is preparing for possibly its largest Western crisis of the century and has lawyered up amid a variety of controversies and clashes with the United States government which recently culminated in an arrest of its Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on behest of the stateside Department of Justice. Following months of escalating tensions, Huawei reportedly hired two high-profile law firms  Lewis and Bockius LLP, Jones Day and Morgan  to represent it in numerous cases tried by stateside courts. While specifics on the initiative remain slim, Huawei is understood to have retained the services of the said companies in order to tackle any kind of litigation alleging it poses a national security risk to American citizens, government, or any other actor or entity in the country.

No more Mr. lobby guy

The new legal effort Huawei is mounting coincides with its decision to essentially kill off its Washington fund intended for lobbying purposes. While the Shenzhen, China-based company repeatedly accused the U.S. government and Congress of being biased against competition from the Far East to the point that theyre prepared to manipulate the playing field to benefit their domestic manufacturers across a variety of industries, its said to still have faith in the stateside judicial system, which is why its now seeking to defend its strained reputation in the court of law or ten.

Advertisement

What the new reports on the matter arent clarifying is how Huaweis supposed positive view of the U.S. justice system coincide with the fact that President Donald Trump recently openly admitted hed be prepared to intervene in Ms. Mengs case if doing so would be beneficial for Washington in its ongoing trade talks with Beijing which already caused a full-blown trade war between the worlds largest economies thats presently on hold for some ten weeks, as per a truce agreed between the two sides at a late November G20 summit in Argentina. The communist government already used its media to openly accuse Canada of being a U.S. puppet and interpreting President Trumps comments as evidence that the U.S. judicial system isnt biased and instead only serves as yet another tool for furthering the American governments agenda against Chinese technologies.

Hidden satellites, secret ties, and one nuclear country

While Huawei isnt a state-owned company, its ties to Beijing run deep seeing how even its founder Ren Zhengfei is a former engineer and official of the Peoples Liberation Army. Ms. Meng, 46, is also one of his three children whos been with the company since its early days in 1993. The Department of Justice accused her of personally organizing a banking scheme and defrauding financial institutions with the goal of violating stateside trade sanctions imposed against Iran. The transgression is alleged to have been made via Skycom Tech, a Hong Kong company believed to be a secret Huawei subsidiary that Ms. Meng introduced as a fully independent entity to banks involved in transactions between the two. Skycom is said to have attempted selling Huawei solutions utilizing American tech to Iran and while its still unclear whether it was successful in that endeavor, the very act of trying to circumvent the Commerce Department embargoes constitutes fraud punishable by up to 30 years in federal prison.

Advertisement

The Justice Department has until early February to submit a formal extradition request for Ms. Meng and is most likely to already do so this month. Huawei already signaled its prepared for an elongated legal battle and its CFO even managed to win a publication ban, a court order severely impeding the medias ability to obtain and report on many details of ongoing cases. The veteran executive is presently under a limited house arrest in Vancouver and had to surrender her password after being labeled a flight risk, in addition to agreeing to wear an ankle bracelet. Her attorneys previously argued she would never defy an active court order and flee the country but a Vancouver court that set her bail at the equivalent of $6.5 million USD promptly disagreed.

Do as I say, not as I do

Both the Beijing-based administration and Huawei itself called for a level playing field for Chinese companies operating in the West but opponents of that idea are always quick to point out that if fair competition is everything theyre concerned about, theyre always welcome to open their own market to foreign investments in critical infrastructure such as wireless equipment, particularly solutions meant to enable the fifth generation of mobile networks, a new mobile service technology promising to allow for countless new products and services, thus creating millions of new jobs and generating an economic boom on a global level.

Advertisement

5G is precisely the segment where Huawei is currently desperately trying to expand its footprint but faces fierce opposition from the U.S. government. This years spending bill enacted by Capitol Hill contains a provision specifically banning federal purchases and licensing of any and all technologies merely associated with Huawei or ZTE, another Chinese telecom giant, albeit one thats directly controlled by a state-owned company. ZTE itself already found itself on the verge of bankruptcy earlier this year after failing to adhere to conditions of a 2017 settlement that saw it plead guilty to a conspiracy to violate the Commerce Departments trade sanctions placed on  again  Iran.

The current status quo is unlikely to change anytime soon, though Ms. Mengs arrest already sparked a diplomatic incident that saw Beijing go on a fierce media offensive against the Justice Departments allegations. Huawei and the Chinese government are currently calling for Canadian prosecutors representing U.S. authorities at a Vancouver court to immediately release the detained CFO less theyre prepared to out any kind of concrete evidence implicating her of wrongdoing. Moving forward, Huawei is unlikely to make significant progress on its mission to launch a large-scale business in the U.S. but as things stand right now, it may even end up taking a massive blow if one of its top and longest-serving executives ends up going to prison for breaking American laws, something the tech giant has often been accused of doing in the past.A new report out of South Korea claims that both Samsung and LG will introduce their first-generation 5G-capable smartphones at Mobile World Congress 2019 in Barcelona scheduled this February. Furthermore, the publication claims that the two companies plan to launch their devices by March 2019. For Samsung Electronics, this latest report contradicts some of the earlier rumors which state that the company will launch its 5G-capable handset later than the other models of its flagship smartphone lineup, the Samsung Galaxy S10.

Also according to the report, LG initially wanted to launch its 5G handset in South Korea and the United States in May 2019, although the new managers that lead its mobile phone business decided to launch its latest devices sooner to take advantage of the launch of 5G services with the hopes of turning around the fortunes of the unit. While there is little information available about LGs upcoming 5G smartphone, rumors claim that the company will launch an update to LG G7 ThinQ at the MWC 2019.

Background: Numerous rumors have shown that Samsung Electronics will launch four models of the Galaxy S10. Reports claim that three of these models will be 4G-only devices, and earlier leaks state that Samsung will name the smartphones like the Galaxy S10 Lite, the Galaxy S10, and the Galaxy S10 Plus. Meanwhile, recent rumors claim that there will be two models of the 5G-capable Galaxy S10 and that Samsung will sell the handset in South Korea and the United States. Aside from the rumored 5G capabilities, this handset will also reportedly ship with hardware features not found in other variants of the Galaxy S10 series. For example, the 5G Galaxy S10 is rumored to include four rear cameras and two front-facing shooters. The presence of dual shooters should result in improved spatial perception and richer image colors compared to the competition. Moreover, according to reports, the 5G Galaxy S10 will have 12GB of RAM and 1TB of internal flash storage, which are both significantly larger than the RAM and storage capacities found in the three 4G-only variants of Samsungs upcoming smartphone lineup.

Advertisement

Little is known about LGs 5G smartphone, although like the companys previous flagship devices, the handset will feature the Snapdragon 855 chipset and the Snapdragon X50 5G modem from Qualcomm. The Snapdragon 855 chipset includes the octa-core Kryo 485 CPU and the Adreno 640 GPU, and it also features the fourth-generation AI engine which offers three times the performance in artificial intelligence tasks compared to the chipsets predecessor. On the other hand, the Snapdragon X50 modem coupled with the Snapdragon 855 SoC supports both the sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G networks, although the chipset also comes with the Snapdragon X24 LTE modem, which still allows handsets to achieve multi-gigabit speeds over existing LTE networks. This chipset will also likely power the model of the 5G Galaxy S10 that Samsung will sell in the United States.

Impact: LGs decision to launch its 5G smartphone earlier than initially reported shows that the companys mobile phone division, headed by Hwang Jeong-hwan since late 2017, is taking steps to regain market share and make the unit profitable, and consumers should expect more changes from LG Electronics soon. On the other hand, while more sources report the existence of the 5G Galaxy S10, there is little information on when the device will launch, and the deployment of 5G networks by Samsungs carrier partners could influence the availability of the smartphone.A number of United States regulators cleared the proposed merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, the two wireless carriers confirmed. The telecom giants won official approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and the so-called Team Telecom  the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland security. The duo promptly notified the Federal Communications Commission of the development, requesting the agencys consolidation review process proceeds as quickly as possible. The FCC put the review deadline on hold several months back following an action deferment request from Team Telecom which has now been withdrawn.

Four down, two to go

The first wave of regulatory approvals brings T-Mobile and Sprint much closer to their ambition to combine their operations. The only two remaining government hurdles they have to clear are reviews from the Department of Justice and the FCC, neither of which have yet clarified how close they are to approving the tie-up. The DOJ is a particularly large unknown for the carriers seeing how the current administration exhibited some largely unprecedented stances on big-business M&A activity ever since taking the reins of the country early last year. The most obvious example of that break from the norm is the DOJs legal battle with AT&T over its acquisition of former Time Warner, now WarnerMedia. Despite being a vertical purchase that didnt directly eliminate any competition from the market, the $85.6 billion deal was met with an antitrust lawsuit from the DOJ, though the effort was promptly dismissed in court. Regardless, by formally objecting to an acquisition type that historically saw little opposition from Washington, the Trump administration signaled it isnt burdened by conventions when it comes to interpreting competition law.

Advertisement

That may still spell good news for T-Mobile and Sprint given how the all-stock swap deal valued at around $26.5 billion theyre proposing would have likely been shot down by previous administrations due to the fact that it further streamlines a market that already lacks meaningful competition in many parts of the U.S. Thats particularly true for the prepaid segment, though T-Mobile and Sprint already vowed to keep their existing prepaid brands separate and continue their efforts to keep such plans versatile and accessible. However, none of those promises are legally binding less the DOJ or FCC insist on formally labeling them as concessions in their ongoing talks with the two network operators.

No national security complaints  kind of

The green light given by Team Telecom confirms stateside regulators have no complaints about the proposed merger in regards to national security issues, as well as subjects related to public safety and law enforcement. The development comes shortly after numerous industry watchers raised concerns about the deal due to Sprints parent SoftBank, i.e. its ties to Chinese telecom giant Huawei thats been repeatedly labeled as a national security threat by the American intelligence community. The Shenzhen-based company has been one of the pioneers in the emerging field of fifth-generation mobile communications and while it repeatedly attempted entering the stateside wireless market on a large scale, it has been essentially blocked in its efforts to do so as the U.S. administration repeatedly refused to rely on Chinese technologies for its critical infrastructure, citing spying risks and related concerns.

Advertisement

A number of conservative analysts recently pointed to a possibility that T-Mobile and Sprint stay buying Huawei gear after combining in order to save on 5G rollout costs, unburdened by Washingtons stance on the Chinese firm. In response to those warnings, Deutsche Telekom and SoftBank stopped using Huawei-made technologies several days back, sacrificing their relationship with the Chinese telecom juggernaut as a concession to the federal government so that the review of their subsidiaries consolidation attempt may continue. Huawei has yet to comment on the development in any capacity, though its overall stance on the matter has already been outlined on countless occasions, with the conglomerate dismissing all security concerns surrounding its equipment as baseless and attributing them to the U.S. administrations insistence on skewing the wireless playing field in favor of American companies.

International tensions rising between Gs

With the world still being between two Gs as the fifth generation of mobile networks is only now emerging in the form of rollout-ready standards, this period is Huaweis one and only chance to ensure its wireless business continues growing. Even as the company managed to score some two dozen 5G deployment contracts around the world, international pressure from the U.S. government is now starting to have an effect on its allies; Australia already indirectly banned Huawei-made wireless equipment, with South Korea and Japan being expected to follow suit in the coming weeks. Deutsche Telekoms decision to drop its gear is also a massive blow to the company seeing how the German telecom giant is largely expected to lead the next wireless revolution on the Old Continent.

Advertisement

At the same time, Washington appears to be increasing its scrutiny of Huawei in other departments, as evidenced by the early December arrest of the companys Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver which was requested by the stateside Department of Justice, sparking a diplomatic incident and further escalating political tensions between the U.S. and China. The DOJ is suspecting the 46-year-old executive and daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei of personally setting up a secretive Hong Kong satellite and defrauding several banks with the goal of circumventing the Commerce Departments trade sanctions imposed against Iran. If the full extent of the allegations is proven in the court of law, Ms. Meng could be facing up to 30 years in federal prison.

Before anything of the sort happens, the DOJ first needs to convince Ottawa to extradite the veteran executive whos already out on bail, albeit placed under a limited house arrest after being deemed a flight risk by a Vancouver court. The American prosecutors are expected to formally request her extradition by the end of the month. In the meantime, Beijing continues accusing Canada of acting as a U.S. puppet, having repeatedly requested that Huaweis executive is released immediately and unconditionally.Posted on: December 18, 2018 11:24 AM

My Fellow Ugandans,

Im reaching out to you today to wish you a very happy Christmas. In the midst of all your final preparations of shopping and cooking, please take time to remember Jesus, who is the reason for this season.

The Bible says, God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3.17). Thats why both the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke make sure to tell us that the child born to Mary will be called Jesus.

The name Jesus is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Joshua, which literally means the Lord saves. The meaning of Jesus name tells us who He is. Hes the only one who can save us.

As we come to the end of the year and reflect on the past year, many of us can see how we have tried to save ourselves from the challenges we face in our lives. We have tried to be our own saviours. Have you realised yet that it doesnt work?

We cant be our own saviour. And thats why God sent his Son, Jesus, to save the world. To save you and me.

Fundamentally, Ugandas problems are spiritual. We have allowed evil to flourish in Uganda at all levels, including our families. This is why we have made the past two years in the Church of Uganda the Year of the Family. The transformation of our country begins when individuals and families recognise they cant be their own saviour, when they invite Jesus to rescue them, and when they pursue righteousness and holiness in their families.

This Christmas, I urge you to stop trying to be your own saviour and to surrender your life to Jesus as the only One who can save you.

I want to remind you that the Provincial Assembly declared 2019 to be the Year of Children. As we conclude the second Year of the Family, we want to focus next year specifically on children as great gifts that God has given us. Children are among the most vulnerable members of our society and the challenges they face reveal to us how so many of Ugandas problems today are fundamentally spiritual issues.

And, Christmas tells us where to find the solution to these big spiritual problems we have.

Far too many children suffer because of bad decisions by their parents.

We want to challenge parents to give more time to their children. There are many children who are left on their own or often in the care of maids and teachers. Parents have abdicated to others their God-given role of raising children.

Children who grow up watching a drunk parent or abusive parents continue the cycle of violence and abuse.

There are many Children who are traumatised after death of a parent and get mistreated or abused by the step-parent and, at times, relatives.

Many children go to school on an empty stomach and end up facing the wrath of teachers for performing poorly simply because they couldnt concentrate because of hunger.

There are many cases of defilement that go unreported because many adults prefer to keep it a secret so as not to bring shame on the family. This is very bad because it further victimises the child who has already been a victim of defilement.

Many youth and teenagers, who face physical changes in their bodies, receive guidance too little or too late on how to honour God with their bodies; they end up in teenage pregnancies, early marriages, and victims of homosexual predators. In the end, we are perpetuating poverty and not breaking the dysfunctional dynamics of generational sin in our families.

Furthermore, we must continue to speak out against all the ways the UNs pro-promiscuity, pro-gay, and pro-abortion sexual agenda is trying to infiltrate Uganda, both through re-writing government policies as well as through UN-funded NGOs. Specifically, we are opposed to incorporating their programme on Comprehensive Sexuality Education into Ugandas national curriculum. We fully support UJCCs efforts to intervene on this matter.

Too many parents and other adult relatives are so greedy that they go to the shrine and engage in witchcraft that puts children at risk and, even worse, causes children to be sacrificed. This must stop!

Faced with all these and many more challenges the theme for the Year of Children will be Take Care of this Child (Exodus 2:9). As the Church we want put the improved welfare of children at the centre of every ministry so that every child is given an opportunity to grow and excel.

My brothers and sisters, these are only a few of the spiritual issues facing Uganda today. We cannot save ourselves. Only the One who was born 2,000 years ago in a feeding place for animals in the small town of Bethlehem  the One who was named The Lord Saves  only Jesus can rescue and save us from these problems.

Will you turn to him today and make this Christmas the beginning of another revival we so desperately need.

I send warm Christmas greetings to His Excellency, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of Uganda, Hon. Janet and their entire family and all our government leaders. All the Bishops and their wives, the Clergy, Lay Readers and Christians of the Church of Uganda. I also send my sincere greetings, along with prayers for a blessed Christmas for our Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Pentecostal brethren, and all those who have looked in hope for the coming of the One who will save people from their sins, Jesus the Christ.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!

Signed,

The Most Revd Stanley Ntagali

Archbishop of Church of UgandaPosted on: December 18, 2018 1:23 PM

The first woman to be consecrated to the office of bishop in the Church of England, Libby Lane, is to become a diocesan bishop. Currently the Suffragan Bishop of Stockport in the Diocese of Chester  a role she has held since 2015  Bishop Libby has been chosen as the next Bishop of Derby. The bishop made history when she was consecrated in York Minster in January 2015. She will take up her new role after Easter 2019.

I am excited and privileged to have been called to serve as Bishop of Derby, she said today after the announcement of her appointment was made by 10 Downing Street, the office of the UK Prime Minister. I grew up here [in Derbyshire] and my vocation was fostered here. Derbyshire nurtured me and brought me to faith and I want to love Derbyshire back.

I want to lead a church in Derbyshire where people find hope because they know they are loved by God in Christ, and I pray that hope sets us free to live our lives in ways that bring change for good.

She described the county as the place that holds my heart. She grew up in Glossop in the north-west of Derbyshire and was selected for ordination while working in the parish of St Thomas Brampton in Chesterfield.

Welcoming the news, the Dean of Derby, Dr Stephen Hance, said: I am thrilled that Libby is coming to be our bishop. Her roots are here in Derbyshire, and we are all very much looking forward to welcoming her home and working with her in the months and years ahead.

This announcement presents us with an opportunity to think afresh, about who we are and who we hope to be, about the opportunities and challenges that face us as we move forward.

Diocesan bishops in the Church of England are selected by the Crown Nominations Commission, a statutory body whose members are appointed by General Synod and the diocese in which a vacancy occurs. Its recommendations go to the government and an announcement of the appointment is made by the Prime Ministers office after the Queen approves the appointment in her role as Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

In a largely ceremonial practice which confers the legal authority of the role, the cathedral chapter is convened to elect their new bishop before a legal ceremony in London confirms the election. Those steps will take place early in 2019 prior to her installation in Derby Cathedral after Easter.

As a diocesan bishop, Libby Lane will become eligible to sit as one of the Church of Englands 26 members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the UK Parliament. Under transitional arrangements, she will leap-frog her male counterparts in the queue for a seat once a vacancy occurs.

As todays announcement was made, Bishop Libby was visiting a number of communities in the Diocese, beginning in Glossop, her childhood home-town where her parents still live. She was accompanied by her husband, George, and their two grown-up children, Connie and Benedict.

She was also visiting a C of E junior school in Bolsover, where she was taking part in an assembly; and revisiting her former church of St Thomas in Brampton, to meet women in their Knit and Natter group and men in their Thoms Blokes social group. She will go on to meet members of the farming and agricultural communities in Alderwasley, before a reception at Derby Cathedral, where she will meet local faith and community leaders before joining the congregation for Evening Prayer.Posted on: December 18, 2018 12:45 PM

The Nippon Sei Ko Kai (NSKK), the Anglican Church in Japan, has celebrated 20 years of womens ordination to the priesthood with an overnight retreat and celebratory Eucharist. The retreat, at the Anglican Community of Nazareth in Tokyo, was led by Ajuko Ueda, a priest and theologian, before the Eucharist at St Andrews Cathedral in Tokyo. The Primate of the NSKK, Archbishop Nathaniel Makoto Uematsu, joined several bishops in the congregation for the service, which was presided over by Atsuko Fumoto, the provinces most recently ordained female priest.

More than 200 people for all over Japan took part in the Service. Atsuko Fumoto was assisted by the cathedrals Dean, Maria Grace Tazu Sasamori; and was surrounded in the sanctuary by provincial clergy and a number of visiting female priests from the Anglican Church of Korea.

The sermon was given by the Anglican Communions Director for Women in Church and Society, Canon Terrie Robinson. Quoting Isaiahs exhortation do not fear!, she said: we have come from a place of exile, but we still hear those words echoing through the Scriptures and across the centuries.

Do not fear! This was Gabriels greeting to a bewildered Mary, before her life was changed forever. It was also the angels message to the grieving women at the empty tomb, before they hurried away to become the first evangelists. . . Do not fear! Dare to sing a new song to the Lord! Dare to let go, and dance to a different tune!

The Womens Desk Coordinator at the NSKK, Kaoru Yoshitani, said: Canon Terries message gave us courage to proceed forward and it touched many devoted ones and their hearts. Many women clergy were standing and serving as priests in the Eucharist alongside men clergy, and everybody felt a new lively movement of the Holy Spirit.

After the Eucharist, Archbishop Uematsu spoke at a reception, and said: I look forward to the time when we will not need to talk about women clergy anymore; rather we can simply talk about clergy.

The anniversary marked the milestone ordination of Margaret Yoshiko Shibukawa in December 1998, the first woman to be ordained in the NSKK.

In these latter days, many women are actively committed to various areas of ministry, Kaoru Yoshitani said. However, there are problems and issues that we still have to face and prepare for, for example when womens ordination is rejected or when women are excluded from decision-making processes.

We stepped out towards a new day after the struggle of both joy and pain over 20 years. We look forward to building together more abundant partnerships and we pray for each talent lived out in diverse ministries  so that we do not fear and we hope everyone will sing a new song.Jordi Sanchez, president of the JxCat group in Parliament, sent a letter to Catalunya Radio on Monday, in which he encouraged President Quim Torra, Vice President Pere Aragones, and Minister of the Presidency Elsa Artadi, to "facilitate a meeting with a delegation from the Spanish government" on Thursday the 20th, taking advantage of the dinner organized by Foment, or on Friday the 21st, coinciding with the controversial Council of Ministers being held at the Llotja de Mar building in downtown Barcelona. Sanchez, who has been on a hunger strike for 17 days, is worried that protests on Friday could end with images of violence that would negatively affect Catalan independence. Last Saturday, in an interview with ARA, the ex-leader of the ANC was very explicit: "If we lose the story of non-violence, we lose everything."

It would be a paradox, and ominous news for the independence movement, if with four prisoners on hunger strike the news were not of this non-violent yet forceful and impactful form of protest, but rather of street violence, the instigators of which are very hard to identify. For that reason, it is urgent, as Sanchez asks, that the two administrations lower the tension and agree on a meeting format that will allow them to calm their tempers and broadcast the message that dialogue and negotiation is the only way to resolve the Catalan question.

From this point of view, it is the Spanish President who has to take the most important steps. Especially to demonstrate to Catalan public opinion that the meeting of the Council of Ministers in Barcelona is not, as it might seem, a provocation, but a sincere attempt to continue advancing on the path of detente and dialogue between administrations. It certainly does not help that it coincides with the first anniversary of the 21-D elections, convened for the first time from Madrid by Mariano Rajoy thanks to the application of Article 155.

That is why it is important that the meeting is not a simple photo opportunity, but that it has concrete and tangible content, an agenda of topics to address that shows that the PSOE's calls for dialogue are more than empty statements. For example, why not give the Generalitat more leeway in its finances by changing the spending rules in the budgetary stability law?

What Sanchez cannot aspire to is that those in favor of independence applaud him only because his character is different from that of Rajoy. Fortunately, it seems that both presidents' teams are working in these final hours to find a format that satisfies both sides. Pedro Sanchez has the right to hold a Council of Ministers in Barcelona, but he must accept that thousands of people, in their legitimate right to freedom of expression, can protest about what they consider to be a serious injustice: forced exile of the pro-independence leaders who organized the 1-Oct referendum. And the Catalan government is obliged to guarantee public order and security for the meeting, but it also has the right and the obligation to demand that it serve for something more than to speak in vague generalities or about the gothic architecture of the Palau de la Generalitat. A difficult meeting, as can be seen, but necessary.The 75% consensus that the prime minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, is asking Catalan society for this week already exists. The alleged division is non-existent: the public wish to democratically settle their legitimate differences at the ballot box. They want politicians to do their jobs; while rejecting the judicialization of politics. The opinion poll published in todays ARA is clear on this matter: 80.4% of Catalans are in favour of a referendum agreed with Spain as a way out of a situation that has led to exile and prison for politicians and pro-independence Catalan grassroots leaders. In fact, there is also a broad consensus about the injustice implied by the latter: 78.1% of Catalans are against detention without bail and 77.5% believe that the charges of violent uprising are unfounded.

Specifically, Pedro Sanchez has called for Catalonias social consensus to be translated into agreements in the Catalan Parliament, in Barcelonas Parc de la Ciutadella. If he is sincere in his proposal, he ought to take the initiative by having the PSC ensure the Catalan chamber is able to respond to this social majority. Such a move would not prove too difficult since, in fact, contrary to what their leaders say a majority of the PSCs voters favour a negotiated referendum: 71% of those who voted socialist in the last election in Catalonia support the idea. And if we look at those who oppose independence, 61% would agree to a mutually-agreed referendum. Where does the problem lie, then? Who refuses to reach an agreement? Who is afraid of the ballot box? It is hard not to believe that all this talk of a split in Catalan society is politically motivated, out of a desire to cause a rupture, in the hope of hiding the real consensus surrounding a referendum.

The Spanish president is due to hold a cabinet meeting in Barcelona this Friday, coinciding with the anniversary of the 21 December election. If it turns out to be nothing more than an empty gesture, it will result in a new missed opportunity to understand the hopes of Catalan society. The independence movement, with prisoners on hunger strike, will take to the streets to make itself heard, while the government of Catalonia ought to agree to a meeting between the Catalan president and the Spanish PM. It would be a positive step if a meeting were to take place and if it were used to initiate genuine political negotiations that respond to Catalan societys desire to be understood, with a negotiated referendum as a future goal, since even among those who favour independence, unilateralism is only supported by a minority of 38.4%. It would also be helpful if the protests by those in favour of independence prove to be as respectful as they are determined. Catalan society is stubbornly civic-minded and in favour of peaceful coexistence, this is its strength. This is also reflected in its majority, wide-ranging support for an agreed referendum.The larger capacity A380 will replace Emirates current twice daily Boeing 777 service between Glasgow and Dubai from 16 April until 31 May 2019, during which time Dubai Airports plan to close Dubai Internationals (DXB) southern runway for upgrade works, and the single runway operations require airlines to reduce and adjust their operating schedules. The deployment of the A380 is to minimise the reduction of Emirates capacity from Glasgow to Dubai and beyond during this period.

The A380 flight will depart Dubai at 1450hrs and arrive in Glasgow at 1945hrs, while the return flight will leave Glasgow at 2130hrs and land in Dubai at 0755hrs the next morning.

From 1 June until 30 September, the double daily service will be reinstated on the route, with the A380 operating on the first flight of the day, and a Boeing 777 on the second, increasing capacity on the route during this period to meet seasonal summer demand.

Thereafter, the service will revert back to a twice daily Boeing 777 operation. Launched in October this year, Emirates also offers a daily service to Edinburgh, bringing to three the number of daily flights between Scotland and Dubai.Flydubai will operate up to five flights a week to Naples from 04 June 2019 becoming the first UAE carrier to offer direct flights. Daily flights to Budapest will start on 27 June 2019 and will be in addition to the current service offered by Emirates. Emirates will codeshare on both routes and further illustrates the strength of the partnership which aims to provide more options for travel to passengers. Both routes will operate from Terminal 3 at Dubai International (DXB).



Ghaith Al Ghaith, chief executive officer said: We are delighted to be launching flights to Budapest and Naples. These destinations provide our passengers with more choice on our network while reaffirming our commitment to the vision set by us to create free flows of tourism and strengthen direct airlinks with the UAE.The award-winning airline has launched 23 destinations since the start of the blockade, and continues with its significant programme of expansion of new routes to further connect passengers around the globe.

Qatar Airways Group chief executive officer, Akbar Al Baker, said: One of the advantages Qatar Airways enjoys is having the flexibility of different aircraft types in our fleet, which gives us a massive competitive edge. We have identified many routes that our competitors have not yet considered, and we look forward to continuing our rapid expansion as we start the new year.

A key indicator of the airlines sustainability and resilience is the addition of 23 new destinations over the past 18 months, something which has never been achieved by any other airline. Just this month alone, Qatar Airways has launched flights to Mombasa, Kenya and Gothenburg Sweden, with services to Da Nang, Vietnam to begin on 19 December 2018. New routes to both Isfahan, Iran, and Valletta, Malta, have already been announced for 2019. This is further testament to our growth, and we will continue to announce further new and exciting destinations in 2019.

Al Baker also addressed the airlines proven track record of creating a large hub in the midst of tough competition, and emphasised the tremendous potential the airline sees in launching new routes to under-served countries in Africa and Asia, to connect passengers around the world via the airlines home and hub, HIA.The artists Mai-Thu Perret and Lili Reynaud-Dewar, along with the curator Chus Martinez, signed the petition statement published on the Mediapart news website in early November, saying that Jean De Loisy is near retirement and the symbol of a hegemony, adding: We ask that our voices are heard, denouncing the hold that conservative [views] still exert on the cultural policy of France today, despite a desire for renewal.  The Art NewspaperTeams from Ashurst and Herbert Smith Freehills worked closely together advising the Department of Defence; Allens advised Bae Systems Australia; and Baker McKenzie advised ASC Group.

The Ashurst team was led by projects partner Steve McKinney who said this is a very significant transaction for the Commonwealth.

It will re-shape the naval shipbuilding industry in Australia over the next 30 years. It is one of the most complex Defence projects undertaken, involving complex IP arrangements, a privatisation of a Government Business Enterprise, infrastructure development, workforce restructuring and IT system development," he said.

The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by partner Natalie Bryce who said the timeframe was tight.

It was announced on 29 June and completed on 14 December. We were very conscious of the need to support the Governments deadlines for commencing construction on the Hunter Class Frigates and delighted to achieve completion on schedule before the end of 2018, she said.Melissa Keane will join the partnership at Allens starting 1 January.

Promoted from managing associate, Keane has extensive experience in transactional projects, particularly energy projects. She will relocate to the firms Hanoi office.

I am delighted to welcome Melissa as partner. Her experience in commercial projects work  especially across renewable energy projects  complements the demand we are seeing from clients with their pipeline of work, said Richard Spurio, Allens managing partner. Melissa has previously spent many years working in Vietnam and Japan, and has developed strong market knowledge and client relationships. She will be a terrific addition to (the) team in Vietnam.Simple, secure purchase & transfer Once payment is complete, we then transfer the domain to your account.

Trusted by customers globally With 80+ million domains under management, we have more experience than anyone.MMI

ICE

EV

HP

As we've previously mentioned, the GT is well put together and even has seatbelts. So we're not surprised to see that a few people were allowed to drive it after the world premiere.Perhaps fearing that automotive journalists would put the 590 horsepower powertrain to the test or that they wouldn't be interested in the tech, Audi handed the e-tron GT over to tech people instead. For example, the senior editor at Engadget showed us the interior, which is fully functional.You can check out Audi's idea for the gear selector, which is a sliding "stone." Also, the flat steering wheel is almost production-ready, and even the air conditioning works. Of course, it's not a real licensed automobile yet, so it had to be escorted by the police and given special driving permits.It's nice that Audi has done its own thing with the interior instead of referencing Tesla too much. Original touches include the monochromesystem and extensive use of fabric that's made from recycled fishing nets. There's a weather monitor screen on the roof next to the mirror.Not everybody likes the minimalist design of the Tesla Model 3, and the e-tron GT makes the transition fromto electric a bit more manageable. With large intakes and bold creases, it wouldn't look weird placed to a Panamera or a BMW 8 Series.You can expect to see the production version of this car in 2020. It will be Audi's third pureand shares its platform with the Porsche Taycan . We think the specs need revising because the range isn't all that special right now while 590isn't really required.Have you ever wanted to fly around the world? Just imagine the organizational nightmare of it: You would need to book dozens of flights and land in many foreign countries, each with its own language, laws, rules, customs, and regulations. Add to that the dreaded idea of extended traveling with strangers to stranger lands. And after all is said and done, it still could not be said that you actually flew all around the world, because in all likelihood you did not fly over the North Pole, not to mention flying over the South Pole. For most people, this would be a logistical, physical, and financial impossibility. Now, imagine making just such a flight in a plane that youve built in your garage. Sound impossible?

For one kit aircraft builder, it was not. For pilot and RV-8 builder Michel Gordillo of Madrid, Spain, this around the-world flight was both a dream and a nightmare as he overcame many obstacles in order to fly around the world the hard wayover the North and South Poles. This accomplishment makes Gordillo among the very few who have taken this journey and the only person who has done so in such a small aircraft. The 61-year-old pilot departed from Madrid for the first of his long flights in his RV-8, which carried him around the world and over 47,000 miles.

Although Michel had envisioned this flight for a long time, the idea became a reality when the personal project of building the RV-8 bonded with his study of black carbon particulates in the atmosphere. This became a collective dream with scientific, aeronautical, and personal objectives. And that dream became known as Sky Polaris (The North Star).

With the help of his daughters and a few friends, Michel built the RV-8 over a period of several years. It is powered by a 180-hp XP IO-360 turning a two-blade, 74-inch Hartzell constant-speed prop. The engine is equipped with a LASAR electronic ignition system for increased fuel efficiency.

The two-seat aircraft turned into a one-seater with the addition of an extra fuel tank in the back seat, and Michel also had to move the landing light to the wingtip because the craft now has a wet leading edge for even more fuel. Total capacity is 192 gallons (730 liters), which gives the RV-8 an endurance of 24 hours at cruise speed.

That still was not enough for the flight to Antarctica, as Michel estimated that he had to land two to three times for refueling in order to keep safety margins for wind and weather conditions. A Garmin 430 (integrated with a TruTrak autopilot) and Garmin 496 with 2 iPads were used for navigation, with a Vision Micro VM-1000C on the panel for an engine display. An Icom 706 transceiver for HF communications and a pen-size camera were linked to a central recorder inside the cockpit. Finally, the key device for the environmental side of the flight, the Aethalometer, was installed on top of the rear fuel tank. The Aethalometer was designed by Magee Scientific Corporation and measures light absorption through suspended aerosol particles, identifying the quantity of black carbon in the atmosphere. Air reaches the device through a pitot tube placed on the left wing.

The Flight to the North Pole

Having the skills to build and fly a plane is apparently not enoughespecially, when you plan on flying over Antarctica. There are mandatory political procedures that must be fulfilled in order to get clearance, which takes a huge amount of time and effort. Because Sky Polaris was a project with scientific goals, it needed clearance not only from the Spanish Polar Committee, but also support and authorization from many other countries and committees. A scientific flight has to overcome two concerns to be accepted: first, the impact on the environment, and second, it must be approved by the Spanish government as a bona fide scientific project. If the scientific aspect of the flight was not approved, another option was a request that the flight be approved for tourism. This means only the environmental aspect has to be approved.

Delays by Antarctic officials caused issues, but gave Michel and the Sky Polaris team more time to work on the safety of the flight itself. Heavy turbulence and icing can be a deadly threat, and either can put a stop to a well-planned project, so the routing had to be perfect. As Michel solved the many procedural problems, he faced another very real threat the frustration from having to deal with bureaucracy. Many times he thought his plan would be killed by politicians who did not understand adventure. But to Michel, finding funding and solving clearance issues were at the top of his list, as he had confidence in his aircraft, flight plan, support team, and his own ability to endure long flights.

At the very last moment, before the flight officially began, clearances were not arriving. In addition, the iridium tracking system was not workingit was calculating lower speeds. The antenna for the iridium system was placed on top of the Aethalometer, which works with laser, and that was supposedly creating an obstacle for the iridium system to work properly. But the departure time had arrived, and any more delays would cause more problems with overflight clearances and weather.

On February 20, 2016, Michel departed from Jerez, Spain, at 6:45 a.m. local time for the first leg of the momentous flight. The flight from Jerez to Dakar, Senegal, lasted almost 11.5 hours, covering over 1700 ice-laden (at the beginning) and turbulent miles. Michels goal of sampling atmospheric carbon particles in remote areasand to break the FAI C1C record for long flights in a small aircraftwas finally underway.

Spain to Senegal

Prior to takeoff, bad weather was forecast over Africa during the next few days. It was better to takeoff from Jerez and fly during the night and land at daytime. The plan was to depart IFR and, while over the Strait of Gibraltar, cancel IFR and go VFR in order to fly low under the ice-bearing clouds.

The takeoff was good except for the aircraft rolling to the left indicating some kind of imbalance; however, the aircraft flew perfectly after 15 minutes of flight in very turbulent conditions. Compared to bureaucracy, politics, and clearance issues, Michel felt more comfortable with turbulence; the heavy showers and strong headwinds almost seemed comforting. Bad flying conditions are something a good pilot can overcome, but pompous officials who love having the power to say no are an entirely different force to deal with.

The groundspeed of 110 knots was too slow, so Michel shifted to IFR and climbed to 8000 feet once the bad weather diminished. He was getting 155 knots true airspeed at 59% power, and fuel flow was 6.9 gallons (26 liters) per hour, but the headwinds were still there.

Michel switched to the rear fuel tank, increased power for a bit more speed, and fuel consumption rose to 7.9 gallons (30 liters) per hour. There wasnt much time to take photos or to enjoy the view. One controller asked Michel if he wanted to land. He replied, No sir. My plane is small, but its a long-range airplane. I will not need to refuel anywhere, I hope!

By now, Michel had switched to the external wing tanks, and things were looking goodhundreds of miles of desert scenery and a lot of places for an emergency landing. For the time being, coffee and pastries kept him comfortable.

The same controller told Michel that he could not fly over Mauritania without a permit. But in fact, Mauritania was the first country that gave him overflight clearance! Fortunately, the permit was somewhere in Michels luggage and the issue was solved. Then, the recurring bureaucracy beganagain. Morocco wanted a clearance number; Michel was fighting to stay awake and remain cool, but he managed to resolve the issue over the radio and by satellite phone.

Michel crossed the Senegal border, and in order to make things easier for ATC, he was required to shoot an ILS approach, flying a long path. But finally, the control tower was cooperative and cleared him for a visual approach, flying left downwind for Runway 36. It was not a roomy approach because he was prohibited to fly over the city, but it was easy because the runway was long enough to turn base before reaching its end. Michel landed at Dakar at 16:45 Zulu (5:46 p.m. Sky Polaris time), tired and excited, knowing that a good nights rest was in order. Total flight time was 11 hours, 16 minutes and average fuel flow was 7.2 gallons (27.2 liters per hour). Not bad for a journey that had just begun.

Senegal to Brazil

The next leg of the flight was exceedingly dangerouscrossing the unforgiving Atlantic Ocean, which is a graveyard to hundreds of aircraft and ships. The possibility of mechanical or electronic failure was one of the biggest risks, not to mention health issues and violent weather. Many seasoned pilots avoid flights where they have to fly for 13 hours straight, crossing 1800 miles of ocean with no place to land, but many places to sink. This particular RV-8 was designed for this kind of endurance, but it would be a very demanding flight for Michel. While airline passengers at 34,000 feet above him got to lean back, relax, sip glasses of wine, and spend the transatlantic flight sleeping, none of that happened to Michel. He had to constantly correct heading, altitude, and attitude. Meanwhile, he had to manage fuel and communications, as well as keep himself hydrated and fed, while also taking care of other bodily functions.

No doubt about it, flying a single-engine, single-pilot aircraft for 1800 miles is hard work! No matter how well built and proven the machine is, theres still a human pilot behind it who must stay calm and logical, and must know everything about the machine and be ready to anticipate anything that could go wrong. Apart from lasting a grueling 13 hours, the flight itself was perfect and uneventfulwith the exception of a major bureaucratic snafu that caused a 3-hour delay before takeoff.

Michel landed successfully at So Gonalo Airport near Natal, Brazil, but the brutal flight had drained his energy reserves, and he needed rest. Much to his surprise, the customs and immigration procedure was fast, so he could retreat to a beautiful hotel at the beach between Natal and a natural park. Sleep is a rare commodity during these kinds of feats.

While the aircraft had to be cleared for the next flight, Michel made plans to meet two scientists, Judith Hoelzemann and Lena Montilla from the Atmospheric Science Department at Natal University that evening. Michel learned how Sahara Desert sand is carried by the winds into the Amazon River basin, where it feeds the plants of the forest, providing them with minerals. In addition, he also found out that the Natal shrimp specialty known as Camarons are a delightful treat.

After a short power nap, a TV news team was waiting for Michel. At 06:00 he arrived at the airport, giving them an interview and a 10-minute flight demonstration, performing a slow roll as tribute to the TV crew.

At about 1:30 p.m. Sky Polaris time, Michel departed Natal for the city of Belm, Brazil. This was a flight of about 1000 miles. Michel flew over the dense jungles and forests of Brazil known as the Gateway to the Amazon. There he was greeted by a huge thunderstorm. The controller asked the airliners in the airspace around Natal about their endurance left. Twenty-five minutes, answered the first one. Thirty minutes, said the second one. With a big grin, Michel answered the controller, Five hours, sir!

Michel landed at Belm ahead of schedule at 7:04 p.m. Sky Polaris time, giving him more time to explore the river city.

After a much-needed stay at Belm, Michel was finally rested and ready to take on the flight to Santarm, Brazil, which was just a short hop in the RV-8, but would take more than 20 hours in a Land Rover. But the exhausting flight to Santarm was just the tip of the iceberg. Following the Amazon River was not easy for survival.

Next stop was Manaus, Brazil, solo flying again over 381 miles of raw jungle. Flying over the jungle is perhaps the most dangerous of all flights because in case of an emergency landing, your best betor perhaps prayeris to crash land in a clearing, not in the trees or in any of the many crocodile-infested rivers.

A clearing, however, is a rarity in a rain forest jungle. Of course, Michel had essential survival gear, but it was not something you would see in Star Trek just pretty basic stuff, but effective. Still, flying over the jungle is preferable, unless you want to take a 33-hour drive.

A hammock, a few cold drinks, and some amazing barbeque awaited Michel, and that was good motivation. He spotted the red runaway between patches of the dense forest, and a quick landing was easy. Michel was greeted with questions, beverages, and a lot of big smiles. The hospitality of Brazil had a relaxing effect on him.

Brazil to Mexico

Michel flew from Manaus to Boa Vista, Brazil. He then had to fly to the north for the next leg of the flight, planned at 60 degrees W longitude. He would be crossing the equator, which would be a reference for the Fdration Aronautique Internationale (FAI) to the mandatory 120 degrees for the flight to be considered for a record.

That was not the main issue though. In order to reach his destination, Medelln, Colombia, he would have to cross some pretty tall mountains, and that was his main concern. First, he would be flying at 13,000-15,000 feet without oxygen. Second, the RV-8 is a small plane with a small engine, so there wasnt much mountain-crossing power here. As the saying goes, May the wind be at your back, but that was exactly what Michel was hoping would not come to pass, as he wanted no wind at all. Downdrafts can be a serious issue, especially when you are close to the mountain slopes.

0)]

The flight from Boa Vista into Medelln is close to 1100 nautical miles. To get there, Michel had to cross Venezuela, which was not providing an overflight clearance number, just a verbal clearance. As much as Michel feared downdrafts, he feared antiaircraft guns even more! In fact, many planes have been shot down, which is why getting the clearance was absolutely necessary. Flying at high altitude meant that the RV-8 would be slower and exposed to those AAC guns even more.

Michel had to think everything over before the next leg of the historic flight while waiting in a crowded Boa Vista airport. After paying the airport taxes, refueling the RV-8, and fulfilling long airport procedures, Michel was ready to meet the challenge ahead: Medelln.

Michel planned to use IFR (I follow roads) when crossing the mountains; its always a safe idea to follow the roads when crossing mountains. Expected departure time was changed from 10:30 to 13:00 Zulu, but Michel was happy that he could now fly, instead of spending hours getting permission to fly.

It would not be an easy flight. The possibility of engine problems posed a serious threat, and Michel also had to consider nausea and headaches due to the high altitude and lack of supplemental oxygen. While on this flight, Michel did manage to accomplish one of his bucket list items: wetting his wings flying through Angel Falls. This was a dream come true for him. Then later, he had to cross the Andes mountain range, threading the RV-8 around severe thunderstorms waiting for him in his route.

1)]

Since the flight to Medelln was a small triumph, now it was time to go to Guatemala. This route took Michel over Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. After landing, it was time for the 50-hour maintenance aircraft check where the oil and oil filter were changed, plugs were cleaned, and an oil leak at the forward crankshaft seal was fixed. The aircraft was now airworthy once again.

Next on the list was the Mexican port of entry at Tapachula, from which Michel would fly to Huatulco and then into Toluca. He was concerned about the days ahead though, because flying at high altitudes over the tall mountains meant extreme cold, and Michel was not ice proof.

After a short 200-mile hop from Guatemala City to Tapachula, Michel flew another 200 miles to Huatulco, where a local news team was waiting to interview him. He couldnt know that a few unforeseen problems were lurking there as well.

Mexico to the Bahamas

Europeans do not need a visa to visit the United States unless they fly in a private plane. Michel had plans to attend the Sun n Fun International Fly-in and Expo at Lakeland, Florida, but his plans were foiled when he found out that he needed a visa to bring his aircraft into the USA. After many phone calls between Michel, the Sky Polaris team, and U.S. Customs, he relocated from Mexico City to Reynosa, Mexico, just a few miles from the U.S./Mexican border, in hopes of legally solving the issue in time so he could attend the event.

Michel took every possible action as directed to him by the authorities, but sadly, his efforts were in vain. One U.S. Border Patrol official had ignored simple alternative solutions and stubbornly would not allow the RV-8 to enter into the U.S. This triggered a ripple effect that caused delays for the flight and other serious problems.



2)]

An explorer is ready to take on deviationseven big onesbut not being allowed into the U.S. was a devastating problem for the flight. Because of this, the flight had to be re-routed to the Bahama Islands. The friends, officials, newspaper reporters, magazine writers, and dozens of others who hoped to meet and interview Michel at Sun n Fun would not be able to see him. Michel was also supposed to receive more survival equipment (flare gun, parachute, etc.) for the North Pole legs while in Lakeland, but it was not to be.

After departing Reynosa, Michel skirted the U.S. border along the Gulf of Mexico and flew directly over Lakeland, Florida, where he was able to broadcast to the ground crew waiting 10,000 feet below him. They heard him, but he could not hear them. So close.

The Bahamas to Canada



3)]

After one quick day in the Bahamas, Michel departed Freeport, Grand Bahamas Island, and flew non-stop, covering 1100 miles in 9.5 hours. He landed in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, where the temperature was 2 F (-17 C) as he was descending for the approach. It was quite a change from the tropical weather just that morning. The light clothing Michel was wearing didnt help either, but a cup of coffee given to him by airport staff warmed him a little. Michel had built this aircraft to be able to cross continents and oceans, and because of his abilities, the journey went on.

Michels travels made the earth look smallat least for him. He departed Windsor, landing next at Red Lake, Ontario. The plan was now to fly to Churchill, Manitoba, near Hudson Bay. This would serve as a staging point for the semi-grand finale of the first part of the flightflying over the North Pole. Most people cant even imagine the vast distances covered by Michel, but he makes it look easy because of his piloting skills and the capabilities of the RV-8.



4)]

After a stop at Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, the northernmost territory in Canada, the weather became the most important factor. As all pilots know, icing on any surface of the airplane is hazardous, and even more so because Michels RV-8 was already loaded to the maximum weight with fuel, pilot, and survival gear. Michel had to be careful to not allow icing on the wings, tail, and propeller; flights from here on required the utmost attention to detail as even a single mistake could cost Michel his life.

The next stop was Resolute, Nunavut, about 850 miles from Michels current position. It will cost you $1,500 is not the ideal welcome you want to hear when you have traveled thousands of miles through multiple dangers and unending bureaucracy. But this was the cost of a nights stay for the RV-8 in an unheated hangar in Resolute, a remote town high up on the Hudson Bay. Perhaps that is a typical fee for a millionaires Gulfstream, but for the average person, that fee would be the end of the trip.

North Pole and Beyond



5)]

From Resolute, Michel planned to refuel, fly across the North Pole, and into Norway. Michels safety was in jeopardy because this flight was dangerous, with weather, mechanical, and human factors that could affect the aircraft and the pilot. The ground crew and watchers around the world were very anxious, but Michel was confidenthe was looking forward to this challenge, as it was one of the main goals of the flight.

The Arctic is all ice, frozen tundra, and small frozen lakes that are both never ending as well as unforgiving. Michel needed to cross them before reaching the North Pole and flying under the North Star. The goal was well within Michels grasp, and only a handful of pilots have achieved what Michel was about to do.



6)]

Unlike the South Pole, the North Pole is in the middle of a frozen ocean. There are no landmarks with billboards saying Welcome to the North Pole. Its all iceno polar bears like in the cartoons, no Santa Claus, no humans, no time zoneonly ice. An emergency landing here is dangerous to say the least, and rescue would take many days to arrive, if Michel could be found at all.

Finally, at about 22:50 Zulu (01:50 Madrid time), Michel crossed the North Pole. It was an achievement that was accomplished by Michels immense determination toward engineering, endurance, and a passion for flying like no other. He had built an aircraft in his garage and flown thousands of miles, overcoming physical, emotional, financial, political, and administrative barriers. Yet he achieved something that was deeply embedded in his heart, and that deserves more than a bit of celebration. However, time is always ticking, and Michels only celebration was to make a few victory laps around the North Pole. He made one for each of his major sponsors. By doing this, he was able to fly around the world many times in just a few minutes!



7)]

Unfortunately, all GPS navigation was lost when overflying the North Pole. The systems were not programmed for 90 degrees latitude. Just before going off, Michel was reading 3000 knots GPS groundspeed. Then he used the sun to provide his heading into Svalbard, Norway, his destination.

From 90 degrees north, Michel headed south (any direction is south). It was all downhill. After stopping in Norway, then Germany, he headed back to Madrid where he would rest for a few days, then start the next leg of the flight. It was time to head southand across the South Pole.

Part 2

This article originally appeared in the February 2018 issue ofKitplanesmagazine.

For more great content like this,subscribe toKitplanes!Amazon is caught in a surprise grassroots battle with local critics who are furious that it's been promised billions of taxpayer dollars to put jobs in New York, Arlington and Nashville, the winners of its search for a second headquarters.

Why it matters: Amazon won the top-down battle, with support from governors, mayors and economic development organizations. But its now confronting bottom-up outrage from activists and local lawmakers who were cut out of the bidding process.

The big picture: Jeff Bezos empire is no stranger to fights, having taken out retail rivals with brute force and neutralized Washington, D.C., threats with grand gestures like backing a $15 minimum wage for its employees. Still, it has struggled to head off these local fights  all while Google and Apple plan major expansions in crowded cities without the backlash.

Google on Monday announced it will spend $1 billion and lease 3 new properties (on top of the $2.4 billion purchase of Chelsea Market this year) to more than double its NYC workforce, already at more than 7,000 workers.

Apple last week announced a $1 billion, 5,000-employee expansion in Austin.

How Amazon's HQ2 choices are playing out around the country:

In New York, members of the city council took turns brutalizing Amazon executives over the tax incentives that are part of the deal for the company to set up shop in Queens. They also harshly questioned Amazon's engagement with the legislative body and the necessity of a helipad that could accompany its office.

From outside NYC's city hall, Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs criticism of the company has been echoed by progressive activist organizations emboldened by her election win.

Activists in Nashville and Virginia  the other HQ2 winners  are organizing around their own concerns about how Amazons negotiations will affect their communities. (Nashville isn't one of the two HQ2s, but Amazon is developing a new operations center there.)

I dont think they expected the level of public, grassroots outcry and the level of pushback from elected officials, neighborhood residents, the critical look that was taken at them by the press in New York City. I think they were surprised.

 City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, a critic of the tax incentives

Across the winning locales and the losing cities, the criticism is the same: The entire process was shrouded in secrecy.

"One of the things that the majority of people who ran for local office ran on is transparency, but then we woke up one day to find out that Amazon is coming to town, said Odessa Kelly, an organizer in Nashville.

In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson said the company is excited to work with New Yorkers over the coming months and years to bring a new Amazon headquarters to Long Island City and help support the community."

The spokesperson noted, "We expect our new headquarters to generate more than $20 billion in new tax revenues for community improvements and the people of New York."

The company has also pointed to the fact that it will not receive many of the incentives unless it delivers on its promise to create jobs.

Amazon has responded to the criticisms by hiring more lobbying firepower in communities where it could face backlash to the office deals.

Since October, Amazon has registered four more lobbyists in Virginia, according to public records.

The New York Times reported

Yes, but: The opposition to Amazon is making lots of noise, but it lacks legal authority to shut down the new satellite offices.

Amazon also has buy-in from key officials, including governors, mayors and many federal lawmakers.

According to a Quinnipiac University poll, 57% of New York City voters approve of Amazons headquarters project in Queens' Long Island City while 26% disapprove. They are more split on whether they support the tax incentives used to lure the project.

What to watch: Lawmakers in New York are looking to hold more hearings with Amazon, and activists in Nashville and Virginia are seeking out allies in city governments.

The bottom line: "This backlash is serious, said Nate Jensen, a professor at UT Austin who studies tax incentives. We haven't seen this kind of resistance at the grassroots."In the latest sign of a global oil industry shifting on climate change, ConocoPhillips is now helping fund a multi-million dollar political advocacy campaign that's lobbying Congress for a tax on carbon emissions.

Why it matters: The move aligns the worlds largest independent oil and gas producer with ExxonMobil, the worlds biggest publicly traded oil company, which recently contributed $1 million. Given the industrys deep-pocketed influence with Republicans, this backing increases the odds Congress could eventually back the controversial policy.

Driving the news: Houston-based ConocoPhillips has committed $2 million over two years to a political advocacy group called Americans for Carbon Dividends. At $1 million per year, that represents almost half of Conocos annual lobbying budget in recent years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said in a statement to Axios that his company has been involved in climate discussions for more than a decade. The company is happy to join these efforts and continue the dialogue around carbon price policy development in the United States, Lance said.

Conoco was the only U.S.-based oil company to take part in a coalition a decade ago that supported the last big climate policy Congress considered.

a coalition a decade ago that supported the last big climate policy Congress considered. In March 2017

The big picture: This industry backing for a carbon tax comes at a politically tumultuous time. I spent the past week in the coal-mining city of Katowice, Poland, where world leaders gathered to negotiate details of the 2015 deal.

Ahead of that annual United Nations conference, a U.N. science panel released a report saying pricing carbon dioxide emissions is essential to reducing emissions to levels that avoid the worst impacts of a warming world.

Yet the topic on many people's minds at the conference was the violent protests in France over, among other things, rising fuel taxes, which are part of that nations climate agenda.

We dont have to look that far to see countries that are experiencing challenges, Catherine McKenna, Canadas environment minister, said at the conference. Canada, which is rolling out a federal carbon tax next month, will be the latest test case and could affect Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus reelection next year.

Some provinces already have carbon-pricing systems, but for those that dont, the federal government will impose a tax and rebate the proceeds back to citizens.

Thats going to ensure that households are protected from the impact of energy price increases, Patricia Fuller, Canadas climate-change ambassador, told me in Katowice.

The U.S. policy that Conoco, Exxon and several other energy companies back also sends money back to consumers. Supporters say thats an important distinction. In a Washington state carbon pricing initiative that voters just rejected, the money would have been mostly used to fund clean energy.

To be sure, the oil industrys shift on climate policy is uneven.

Companies with big natural gas reserves stand to benefit financially, at least in the short term. A carbon tax would boost demand for gas, which burns more cleanly than coal.

Most big oil companies now publicly support pricing carbon, but BP and Chevron were among those spending $30 million to oppose the Washington state initiative.

Most producers are members of trade groups whose positions have long resisted climate policies.

Some of the oil companies have certainly begun to change their posture, Al Gore told me at the conference. The former vice president and long-time climate activist added: One of the new fronts in this battle is going to be truth in lobbying.

With its funding of the tax push, Conoco is also joining a connected initiative, called the Climate Leadership Council, whose corporate members include Exxon, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total.

That group, whose founders are leaders from previous Republican administrations, doesnt lobby or receive corporate contributions. Its a forum to craft policy details. Another new member: The World Wildlife Fund, which organized events at the climate conference.

Its about opening up spaces where we can actually have conversations with all the players that are going to be part of the decision to get us on a different trajectory, Lou Leonard, a senior vice president at WWF, told me in Katowice.

Whats next: Climate change is sure to be a bigger focus for Congress next year with Democrats controlling the House. Whether the issue emerges with bipartisanship or more polarization is uncertain.For WIRED, Garrett M. Graff compiled the full list of 17 known investigations targeting President Trumps world from various federal, state, and local prosecutors.

Be smart: The president should be worried after his Sunday tweet about "rats." There are known cooperators in almost every single one of these 17 open cases, from Michael Cohen to National Enquirer chief David Pecker to former Manafort aides Sam Patten and Rick Gates, Graff tells Axios readers.

Investigations by special counsel Robert Mueller:

Russian governments election attack (the Internet Research Agency and GRU indictments)

(the Internet Research Agency and GRU indictments) WikiLeaks

Middle Eastern influence: Potentially the biggest unseen aspect of Muellers investigation is his year-long pursuit of Middle Eastern influence targeting the Trump campaign.

Potentially the biggest unseen aspect of Muellers investigation is his year-long pursuit of Middle Eastern influence targeting the Trump campaign. Paul Manaforts activity

Trump Tower Moscow project

Other campaign and transition contacts with Russia

and transition contacts with Russia Obstruction of justice

Investigations by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York:

Campaign conspiracy and Trump Organization finances

and Trump Organization finances Inauguration funding

Trump super PAC funding

Foreign lobbying

Investigations by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia:

Maria Butina and the NRA

Investigations by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia:

Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, the alleged chief accountant of the Internet Research Agency who was indicted separately earlier this fall, charged with activity that went above and beyond the 2016 campaign. Why she was prosecuted separately remains a mystery.

the alleged chief accountant of the Internet Research Agency who was indicted separately earlier this fall, charged with activity that went above and beyond the 2016 campaign. Why she was prosecuted separately remains a mystery. Turkish influence: Michael Flynns plea agreement includes some details of the case, and he is cooperating with investigators.

Investigations by New York City, New York State and other state attorneys general:

Tax case: In the wake of an N.Y. Times investigation that found Trump had benefited from more than $400 million in tax schemes, city officials said they were investigating Trumps tax payments, as did the New York State Tax Department.

In the wake of an N.Y. Times investigation that found Trump had benefited from more than $400 million in tax schemes, city officials said they were investigating Trumps tax payments, as did the New York State Tax Department. The Trump Foundation

Emoluments lawsuit: The attorneys general for Maryland and D.C. sent out subpoenas earlier this month for Trump Organization and hotel financial records relating to their lawsuit that the president is in breach of the "Emoluments Clause" of the Constitution, which appears to prohibit the president from accepting payments from foreign powers while in office.

And there's a mystery investigation from an unknown office:Googles search engine project for China, Dragonfly, "effectively ended" after Googles privacy team found out engineers were secretly gathering peoples searches in China to produce a prototype for a censored search engine and confronted Google executives about it, per a report from The Intercept.

What happened: The engineers were largely moved to different projects or told to stop using those searches from China, which has "stopped progress" on the project, one source told The Intercept. Per Google, many privacy and security engineers have been consulted in the process. Google declined to comment specifically on The Intercept report and pointed to CEO Sundar Pichai's testimony last week on Capitol Hill.Two months after President Trump threatened to withhold aid from Central American countries for failing to stop a migrant caravan heading toward the U.S. border, the administration has pledged $5.8 billion worth of private and public development funding for Central America and $4.8 billion for southern Mexico, the AP reports.

Why it matters: The goal of the aid is to promote more stable security and economic conditions to encourage potential migrants to stay in their host nations instead of making the dangerous trip to the U.S. border. It's not yet clear if Mexico will provide anything in return for the billions of dollars worth of aid. The Washington Post has previously reported that Mexico and the U.S. have been working on a deal that would force all U.S. asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico until their applications are processed.Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who has served in the Senate since 2003, announced Monday that he will not be running for re-election in 2020.

Why it matters: The Tennessee Republican chairs the Senate HELP committee and is considered one of the few members capable of striking deals on health care. This also leaves his Senate seat up for grabs in two years.

Background: Alexander had a tough primary in 2014, per the Washington Post.A federal judge suggested during a sentencing hearing Tuesday that Michael Flynn, President Trump's former national security adviser and a retired three-star general, sold out his country.

The big picture: Flynn, who requested his sentencing be delayed until his cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller is complete, pleaded guilty last year to lying to the FBI in January 2017 about the nature of his conversations with then-Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. When he pleaded guilty, he also admitted that some of his lobbying work was done on behalf of the Turkish government, which he had long denied.

On Monday, Mueller's office released redacted notes of the FBI's interview with Flynn, revealing what exactly the former national security adviser lied about.

Flynn told the FBI that in his conversations with Kislyak during the presidential transition, he did not attempt to influence Russia's vote on a UN Security Council resolution concerning Israeli settlements. He admitted in his charging document in Mueller's case that a senior member of the Trump transition team directed him to contact Kislyak to learn where Russia stood and urge them to vote against the resolution.

Flynn also told the FBI that he did not ask Kislyak to refrain from escalating tensions in response to steps taken by Barack Obama over Moscow's election meddling, which included expelling alleged Russian spies and closing two Russian diplomatic compounds in the U.S. Flynn later admitted that, acting on behalf of a senior member of Trump's transition team, he contacted Kislyak to ask that Russia show restraint. Vladimir Putin ultimately elected not to escalate the situation, a move Trump called "very smart."

Though he admitted to violating lobbying laws by failing to register as a foreign agent on behalf of Turkey for hundreds of thousands of dollars of consulting work, Flynn was not charged for those crimes and has attempted to receive leniency from the Mueller investigation by offering extensive cooperation. Two of his former business associates have now been indicted for their work on Turkey.

On Election Day in 2016, Flynn wrote an op-ed in The Hill criticizing cleric Fethullah Gulen, an enemy of Turkey's president living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, as a "radical Islamist" and "shady Islamic mullah." The Wall Street Journal later reported that Flynn and his son twice met with Turkish representatives to discuss kidnapping Gulen and forcibly extraditing him to Turkey.

Go deeper: The number that scares Trump1 big thing: Conoco backs carbon-tax push

In the latest sign of a global oil industry shifting on climate change, ConocoPhillips is now helping fund a multimillion dollar political advocacy campaign that's lobbying Congress for a tax on carbon emissions.

Why it matters: The move aligns the worlds largest independent oil and gas producer with ExxonMobil, the worlds biggest publicly traded oil company, which recently contributed $1 million. Given the industrys deep-pocketed influence with Republicans, this backing increases the odds Congress could eventually back the controversial policy.

Driving the news: Houston-based ConocoPhillips has committed $2 million over two years to a political advocacy group called Americans for Carbon Dividends. At $1 million per year, that represents almost half of Conocos annual lobbying budget in recent years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said in a statement to Axios that his company has been involved in climate discussions for more than a decade. The company is happy to join these efforts and continue the dialogue around carbon price policy development in the United States, Lance said.

The big picture: This industry backing for a carbon tax comes at a politically tumultuous time. I spent the past week in the coal-mining city of Katowice, Poland, where world leaders gathered to negotiate details of the 2015 deal.

A topic on many people's minds at the conference was the violent protests in France over, among other things, rising fuel taxes, which are part of that nations climate agenda.

We dont have to look that far to see countries that are experiencing challenges, Catherine McKenna, Canadas environment minister, said at the conference.

Canada, which is rolling out a federal carbon tax next month that sends money back to consumers, will be the latest test case and could affect Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus re-election next year.

The U.S. policy that Conoco, Exxon and several other energy companies back also sends money back to consumers. Supporters say thats an important distinction. In a Washington state carbon pricing initiative that voters just rejected, the money would have been mostly used to fund clean energy.

With its funding of the tax push, Conoco is also joining a connected initiative, called the Climate Leadership Council, whose corporate members include Exxon, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total.

Read the whole column.By sending two nuclear-capable bombers to Caracas for a week of joint operational flights with the Venezuelan air force, Vladimir Putin awarded Nicolas Maduro a propaganda victory and irked the U.S. with a new incursion into the Western hemisphere.

Why it matters: Maduro is set to be sworn in for a new term on January 10, 2019. With Western democracies planning not to recognize his new mandate and to take further diplomatic actions, Maduro needs all the international support he can get to prop up his claim to legitimacy.

Background: Russian-Venezuelan operational flights also took place in 2008 and 2013, but the stakes are higher in light of the Trump administrations rhetoric about a Venezuela-led Troika of Tyranny in Latin America and the sanctioning of Maduro's government.

The operation also gave Maduro an important consolation prize after he failed to secure new financial investments on a recent trip to Moscow.

Between the lines: Putin's assertive symbolic gesture pushes back against Washington and creates uncertainty about the limits of Moscows action on behalf of a U.S. adversary.

Secretary of State Pompeo, who has defended the Monroe Doctrine White House received clarification that the bombers would not participate in joint exercises or stay in the country longer than a week.

White House received clarification that the bombers would not participate in joint exercises or stay in the country longer than a week. The U.S.Russia spat follows sparring between the U.S. and China over the legitimacy of efforts to influence development in Latin America  a quarrel that centered on Venezuela.

Where it stands: Recent yet unconfirmed media reports of Russian interest in hosting its bombers at an airfield on Venezuelas La Orchila island have created new suspicions about the Kremlins intentions to establish a more permanent military presence in the Caribbean.

The bottom line: Neither Moscow nor Beijing have long-term hopes that Maduro can provide stability or prosperity, though his hold on power suggests their bets are safe for now.

Michael McCarthy is a research fellow at American Universitys CLALS, an adjunct professor at George Washington University's Elliott School for International Affairs, and the founder and CEO of Caracas Wire.For the first time, the United States is one of the worlds deadliest countries for journalists after six reporters were killed in the line of duty in 2018, according to Reporters Without Borders' annual report.

The big picture: The report states there is an "unprecedented" level of worldwide hostility against members of the media, highlighting that the number of journalists killed while doing their jobs spiked 8% to 80 in 2018. In addition, 348 journalists are currently in prison across the globe, and 60 are being held hostage.

Afghanistan was the worlds deadliest country for journalists in 2018 with 15 killed, followed by Syria (11), Mexico, (nine), Yemen (eight), and the U.S. and India (six).

Four of the deaths in the U.S. occurred during the Capital Gazette shooting in Maryland  two others occurred while covering Subtropical Storm Alberto in North Carolina.

Some deaths of prominent journalists this year also had wide-ranging international impacts, which are highlighted in the report, including Saudia Arabia's Jamal Khashoggi and Slovakia's Jan Kuciak.

The bottom line from the report: "Amplified by social networks, which bear heavy responsibility in this regard, these expressions of hatred legitimize violence, thereby undermining journalism, and democracy itself, a bit more every day."

Go deeper: United States ranks 45th in press freedomBy Trend

Azerbaijan's State Service for Management of Agricultural Projects and Credits is planning to support rehabilitation of the countrys credit unions, Head of the State Service Mirza Aliyev said, Trend reports.

He said that approximately 80 percent of loans issued through credit unions are problem loans.

Previously, the share of problem loans issued through credit unions reached 92 percent, he added.

He noted that in January 2019, there are plans to hold meetings with the credit unions of Azerbaijan jointly with the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FIMSA).

Speaking about the reasons for the large share of problem loans in credit unions, he noted that as these organizations dont have effective mechanisms for collection of the funds issued, and there are no lawyers working in credit unions, there are such problems.

Also, Mirza Aliyev noted that credit unions dont analyze and dont monitor the loans issued, and this leads to the use of these funds for other purposes.

About 70 credit unions are operating in Azerbaijan. In total, credit unions bring together about 30,000 entrepreneurs.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) at the Special Communication and Information Security State Agency of the Special State Protection Service of Azerbaijan has once again been elected to the Board of Directors of the CERT of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC-CERT), the local CERT told Trend.

The election to the Board of Directors for a two-year term took place at the 9th congress of the organization, held in late November in Iran.

Along with Azerbaijan, the Board of Directors includes CERTs of Oman, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, Iran and the UAE.

CERT Azerbaijan became a member of OIC-CERT in 2013. The main goal of OIC-CERT is to create a platform for member countries to research and develop joint initiatives and possible partnerships in cyber security issues.

OIC approved and adopted the resolution on "Collaboration of CERT among the OIC member countries" in 2008. The OIC-CERT members are Malaysia, Bangladesh, Turkey, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Iran, Egypt, the UAE, Libya, Morocco, Indonesia, Brunei, Syria, Oman, Jordan, Sudan, etc.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Laman Ismayilova

An event dedicated to the 109th anniversary of the birth of Azerbaijani national artist Sattar Bahlulzade was held at the artist's house-museum.

The museum collection has been enriched with new exhibits related to the artist, , Trend Life reported.

Among the new exhibits are Sattar Bahlulzades autobiography, a certificate from the art college in which he studied, letters addressed to the master brush, kelaghai, donated by the workers of Amirjan settlement for his 50th anniversary, reproduction of paintings stored in the State Tretyakov Gallery (Russia) and other items.

Director of the House-Museum Irada Abdinova provided detailed information about the museum`s activity and new exhibits.

The founder of contemporary Azerbaijani landscape painting, Sattar Bahlulzade skillfully put on the canvas his impressions about the fast-changing world.

Strong passion for art since childhood gave him the drive to begin his professional education at the National Art Institute in Baku (1927-1931).

In 1931, he began to work in the "Kommunist" newspaper as a "graphic artist" under the direction of great national artist and cartoonist Azim Azimzade.

Bahlulzade entered in 1933 the department of graphic arts of Moscow Institute of Arts named after V. Surikov, where he studied at the workshops of famous Soviet graphic artist Vladimir Favorskiy.

For the rest of his life, the artist felt the enormous influence of his teacher, who inspired a love of beauty in his student.

Sattar's legacy includes countless works that have been exhibited all over the world, including personal exhibitions in the U.S., Britain, Turkey and Russia. Many of his works include specific areas of Azerbaijan, for example, a series of landscapes dedicated to Guba area (in the north-east of Azerbaijan,): "The Shore of Gudiyalchai", "A Road to Gyz-Benevsha", "The Valley of Gudiyalchai", and "The Green Carpet".

The first personal exhibition of Bahlulzade was held in 1966 in Prague.

It was the first personal exhibition of a soviet Azerbaijani artist in Europe.

In 1940, Bahlulzade worked on his final project "Revolt of Babek", dealing with a great hero of the 7th-century struggling against the Arabic invasion.

He also created around 30 sketch diaries that contain his reflections on life and art.

Bahlulzade died in 1947 due to the blood poisoning. Unlike other prominent art workers, he was laid to rest in his native village of Amirjan, next to his mother's grave.

The 34th UNESCO General Assembly issued a resolution to mark the 100th anniversary of Sattar Bahlulzade in 2008-2009.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Acting governor of the Astrakhan region of Russia Sergey Morozov will visit Baku today, Trend reports citing Russian media.

Morozov will hold talks with members of the government of Azerbaijan. The visit will lasts for two days, December 18 and 19. Negotiations and conclusion of agreements on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation are planned.

Resumption of air connection between Astrakhan and Baku is also not excluded. The parties will discuss investment opportunities, cooperation in the field of education and tourism.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order providing funding for the renovation of Shimal, Janub, Sumgayit and Mingachevir power stations.

Under the presidential order, 30 million manats will be allocated to Azerenergy CJSC for renovating and equipping the four power stations.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Leman Mammadova

In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of women involved in agriculture. However, women, as the heads of the farming business, are almost invisible, although woman labor is used in all these households, most of which are owned by male entrepreneurs.

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will support development of women farmers in Azerbaijan, Head of FAOs Partnership and Liasion Office in Azerbaijan Melek Cakmak told Report.

Cakmak said that these goals will be implemented under the project "Azerbaijani Agrarian Woman". The budget of the project is about $ 800,000.

She noted that the main goal is to improve the technical skills of female farmers and to improve their access to the market.

FAO's support for the food and agricultural sector of Azerbaijan is determined by the priorities set out in the new Country Program Framework, developed jointly with the Government of Azerbaijan, adapted to the requirements of "Azerbaijan 2020: Vision for the Future" and other national strategic documents.

The Current Country Program Framework covers the period 2016 - 2020, combining advanced international practices and global standards with national and regional experiences.

It should be reminded that recently FAO organized the workshop on two projects for the development of sheep farming and the improvement of cattle breeding.

Azerbaijan has been a member of FAO since 1995. The organization's office in the country has been operating since 2007. The FAO's Partnership and Coordination Office in Azerbaijan was established in 2015. An Agreement on the Adoption of the Partnership Program between the Government of Azerbaijan and FAO was signed in 2015.

The "Azerbaijan Room" was opened at the headquarters of the FAO in Rome on September 25.

As many as 23 projects were implemented by FAO in Azerbaijan in 1995-2015.

FAO implements projects in Azerbaijan on strengthening phytosanitary inspection and diagnostic services, preparation of a national land consolidation strategy and respective pilot project, capacity development on preparation, monitoring and evaluation of agricultural policies and programs, program development for climate change adaptation, forest resources assessment and monitoring to strengthen forestry policy and knowledge framework, improvement of the locust management in the country.

The implementation of these projects will continue in 2019 as well.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Another plenary session of the Azerbaijani parliament will be held on Dec. 18, Trend reports referring to the parliament.

First, the MPs will discuss the bill "On approval of the Joint Statement on the Priority Areas of Economic Cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev" and the bill "On approval of the Agreement on Customs Control over the Commodities Transported via Pipelines and Power Lines between the Azerbaijani Government and the Russian Government".

Then, changes to the Housing Code, the Code of Administrative Offenses, the Law on State Registry and State Registration of Legal Entities, the Law on Automobile Transport, the Law on the Committees of the Azerbaijani Parliament will be discussed.

There are 15 issues on the agenda.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  Cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus popped up in countries on opposite sides of the world Sunday and many governments rushed to close their borders even as scientists cautioned that it's not clear if the new variant is more alarming than other versioBy Trend

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and his spouse, First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva have attended the inauguration of the third building of Azerbaijan National Museum of Art after major overhaul.

Minister of Culture Abulfas Garayev informed the president and the first lady of the conditions created in the building.

----

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Leman Mammadova

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) AG and DESFA SA which is responsible for the management, operation, maintenance and development of the National Natural Gas System (NNGS) of Greece, have signed an agreement on the maintenance of Greek section of the TAP pipeline, Trend reports citing TAP AG consortium.

According to the agreement, DESFA will be responsible for the maintenance of TAP facilities along the 550 km of the Greek section of the pipeline, extending from Kipoi in Evros close to the Greek-Turkish border, to Ieropigi, Kastoria, on Greeces border with Albania.

The maintenance agreement covers a five-year period after the commencement of commercial operation of TAP in 2020, and also provides for pre-operational support.

The agreement was ratified by the Regulatory Authority for Energy of Greece (RAE) on December 12.

Nikas Sotirios, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of DESFA, stated that DESFA joins one of the most important energy projects around the globe by taking on an important and active role.

This is an important milestone in the overall development of the TAP project, which is already 82 percent completed, and is an important step in the completion of the project and starting commercial operations in 2020. The stage of TAP is the construction and operation of the 105-kilometer offshore part of the pipeline, said TAP managing director Luca Schieppati.

TAP President Walter Peeraer noted that TAP focuses on operational preparation and commercial operations by 2020, saying This agreement is the beginning of long-term cooperation with DESFA. It is also important for the safe delivery of natural gas to Europe during the operational phase of the TAP, as well as contributing to the energy supply and diversifying sources.

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 TAP schedule.

As of 14 November 2018, Trans Adriatic Pipeline (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 to act as the maintenance service provider for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline on the territory of Albania.

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).

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 Leman Mammadova

In January-November of 2018, 20.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas was transported via gas pipelines in Azerbaijan that is an increase of 5.3 percent compared to the same period of 2017, AZERTAC reports citing State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan.

As many as 35.7 percent of gas (7.5 billion cubic meters) transported via the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (South Caucasus Pipeline - SCP) pipeline during reporting period, that is 12.6 percent more than the same period in last year.

Totally, 35.5 million tons of crude oil and 27.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas were produced in Azerbaijan in January-November of current year. Marketable natural gas made 17.4 billion cubic meters from this volume, which is 4.9 percent more than the same period last year.

The total value of production in the mining industry in the first 11 months increased by 0.2 percent compared to January-November of the previous year, amounting to 32.3 billion manats ($19.01 billion).

Azerbaijan exported 6.45 trillion cubic meters of gas worth $ 1.26 trillion. Compared to the same period last year, this figure was $ 100 million (8.66 percent) more, while in terms of volume, amount of gas was less by 443.6 million cubic meters (6,43 percent).

It should be also noted that, to date, 750 million cubic meters of Azerbaijani natural gas has been transported to Turkey by the TANAP pipeline. By the end of the year this volume will be about 1 billion cubic meters. TANAP will transport 2 billion cubic meters in 2019, 4 billion cubic meters in 2020 and 6 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Turkey in 2021.

TANAP, together with Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which provides for the transportation of gas from the Azerbaijani field Shah Deniz to Europe.

Shah Deniz is a giant gas condensate field, reserves of which are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas and 240 million tonnes of condensates. Within the second stage of field development, the volume of gas production can be increased to 24 billion cubic meters per year, according to forecasts.

The main objective of the project is delivery of Caspian gas supplies to European markets via SGC that will help to increase Europe's energy security. Europe's energy policy is based on diversification of the energy supplies to overcome energy dependence on one source, as Russian gas meets the energy needs of most European countries at present.

The discovery of the giant Shah Deniz field and the successful implementation of the Shahdeniz gas project, Azerbaijan is a country that exports a large amount of natural gas to the world.

97 billion cubic meters of gas and 24 million tons of condensate have been produced from Shah Deniz, since the start of production.

The Shahdeniz gas field is still the biggest discovery of BP after the Prudhoe Bay oilfield in Alaska. SOFAZ (Azerbaijani Oil Fund) has so far earned $ 2.5 billion from development of Shah Deniz.

Shah Deniz Consortium has spent $ 1.558 billion on the development project of the Shah Deniz gas condensate field located in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.

The agreement on the exploration, development and shared production of promising areas of Shah Deniz was signed on June 4, 1996. The agreement on the division of production was ratified on October 17, 1996.

The project participants are BP (operator - 28.8 percent), AzSD (10 percent), SGC Upstream (6.7 percent), Petronas (15.5 percent), LUKOIL (10 percent), NIKO (10 percent) and TPAO (19 percent).

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Abdul Kerimkhanov

The situation around the CSTO continues to heat up as the scandal around the former secretary general of the organization turned the new appointment an unsolvable problem.

Political short-sightedness and inadequacy of the Armenian leader Nikol Pashinyan led to the fact that the CSTO was left without a secretary general for an indefinite time.

Armenians blame President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko for this situation. They claim that the Belarusians wanted to get the post of Secretary General and, in agreement with the Kazakhs, decided to oust the Armenians.

The problem with the prolonged appointment of the new CSTO Secretary General was not created by Belarus, stated President Alexander Lukashenko at the meeting with representatives of the Russian media community on December 14. "It is a shame that we cannot elect a chief officer of the CSTO," he said.

Lukashenko directly accused Nikol Pashinyan of the problem. This problem would never exist if this issue was resolved quietly. "But Nikol Pashinyan plunged us into internal political problems," the Belarusian president added.

Lukashenko made it clear that his country did not seek to take the post of secretary general. Just further alphabetically follows Belarus, so the president of Kazakhstan, and then Russia, supported this option. Moreover, as Lukashenko stated, Armenia was against it, but practically it was agreed. And then followed a sharp reaction from Nikol Pashinyan.

Finally, a wise Belarusian politician advised the head of Armenia to show wisdom in such matters.

The issue of appointing the CSTO Secretary General has been postponed indefinitely. At the request of the Armenian side, discussions scheduled for December 6 were also postponed. Pashinyan, as usual, denied everything and blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin of the delay.

Anyway, the situation is clearly developing not in favor of Armenia. Pashinyan really lacks wisdom and foresight, and indeed political experience to get out of the crisis without image losses. Although now it will certainly be very difficult. It would be much more reasonable to solve everything in Astana. Armenia would lose the post of secretary general, but it would save face. And now there will be neither one nor the other.

President Lukashenko touched upon the conversation with the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, where he responded to his dissatisfaction with the sale of weapons to Azerbaijan. He told Pashinyan that the top three arms exporters to Azerbaijan are Russia, Israel and Turkey. Belarus takes only the 4th place taking into account the export of Polonez. Thus, Lukashenko expressed bewilderment of Pashinyan for his criticism of Belarus on this issue.

Then Lukashenko said at a meeting with journalists that the voluntary return of seven regions around Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan as a compromise from the Armenian side could save Yerevan from excessive expenses and start the peace process. "When Serzh Sargsyan was the head of Armenia, I asked him, why should not the country, bending under the weight of its own unsolvable problems, ease its fate?" he said, adding that these regions are empty and Sargsyan should return them to Azerbaijan.

Lukashenko noted that this issue was discussed in Yerevan at one of the CSTO summits when Serzh Sargsyan was the President of Armenia. Lukashenko called on the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to solve this problem together, making compromise decisions.

However, Sargsyan rejected Lukashenkos voiced proposal.

Such a position of Sargsyan caused surprise to Lukashenko. "Why do not they want? Five regions are empty. This is the first step. And then both Azerbaijan and Armenia would be in the CSTO and EEU. It was a condition under which Azerbaijan can join these organizations. Why did you refuse?" the Belarusian leader stressed.

Indeed, the Belarusian President does not understand the way the Armenian colleague, who personally took part in ethnic cleansing and the Khojaly genocide, adheres. It is difficult for the leader of an established state to understand people who have never had statehood and suddenly received it on foreign lands.

Taking advantage of the chaos and anarchy in Azerbaijan in 1992-1993, Armenia does not have any idea what to do with occupied lands. To settle and rebuild the lands of others, it has neither financial nor human resources. Armenia itself is on the verge of depopulation. Both Sargsyan and others are well aware that no security belt will save the occupying army if Azerbaijan decides to use force. In Armenia, they still shudder, remembering how quickly and far Armenian soldiers and residents of front-line villages fled in April 2016. And it was only a counterattack, not an offensive operation.

It is worth noting that Nikol Pashinyan senses the situation more adequate than Sargsyan, and if there were no such fierce resistance of nationalists inside his own country, the situation could get off the ground. But how long will he stay in his post if he agrees to start a peaceful compromise process?

Now Nikol Pashinyan worries for his power, not realizing that, while maintaining the post, he is losing Armenia.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Abdul Kerimkhanov

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Turkmenistan held an exhibition of export goods of Turkey on December 15-17, 2018.

The specialized review is an effective platform for demonstrating a wide range of products produced by Turkish partners and exchanging the latest developments. It is intended to give new impetus to the trade and economic cooperation between the two countries and significantly expand the scope of business activity.

A delegation arrived in Ashgabat to participate in the review, which included representatives of Turkish government agencies, managers and specialists from 70 companies interested in the ongoing development of fruitful cooperation with Turkmenistan.

The multifaceted review at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry expo presented a wide range of products exported by Turkish manufacturers. Among them were equipment and components for industry and agro-industry, building materials, household appliances and electronics, upholstered furniture, textiles, household chemicals, perfumery, various food products industry and household goods.

Attracting foreign investment in the national economy, the strategy of its full-scale modernization and diversification determine the rapid integration of Turkmenistan into the international economic space. Close cooperation with foreign business circles, an attraction of innovations and investments are becoming key factors of economic development.

Turkey is among the trade and economic partners of Turkmenistan, whose enterprises presented their products at a specialized exhibition. Among the participants of the review are manufacturers of electrical equipment (Vatan Kablo A.S., Cagdas Pano, Askomak gida degirmencilik), pipe and plumbing products (Elmas irrigation systems).

Various technologies for import-substituting production were presented by the company STK Makina, Pimak professional kitchen. Achievements of the textile industry presented the company Astas tekstili, Oztas ic Giyim, perfume products - Monty parfum. EM-KA Celik Konstruksiyon, Cemina, Dogus Firca and others represent the production of building materials, metal structures and components for various objects.

Increasing the production of ecologically clean food products, providing vitamin products for Turkmen residents all year round is a priority task facing the country's agro-industrial complex. In all regions of Turkmenistan, construction of greenhouse complexes has been launched. In this aspect, of interest are technologies represented by Turkish companies Sistem-suntek sera, Metas, Erenoglu Muhendislik, Genc Gucsan, etc.

Numerous visitors, representatives of contracting companies and specialized agencies, and private business got acquainted with interest with the product samples and offers from Turkish manufacturers presented at the exhibition.

Turkey is one of the largest trade and economic partners of Turkmenistan. In 2017, the total trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $4.66 billion.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Fishermen have caught 1,800 tons of shrimp off the coast of Iran's Hormozgan Province, Director General of the Fisheries Organization of Hormozgan Mohsun Yektapour said.

During shrimp season (from Oct. 2 to Nov. 13), 1,100 fishermen used 129 boats to catch shrimp, Trend reports referring to IRNA.

Last Iranian year (started March 21, 2017), 2,030 tons of shrimp were caught off the coast of Hormozgan.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

The share of commodities in the exports of Kazakhstan increased from 67.8 percent in January-September 2017 to 74.2 percent in the same period this year, the country's National Economy Ministry told Trend.

During the period, exports of commodities, including oil, natural gas, industrial and agricultural products, amounted to $33 billion.

In general, the trade turnover of Kazakhstan in January-September 2018 totaled $68.2 billion, an increase of 21.9 percent compared to the same period in 2017.

Exports from Kazakhstan in January-September 2018 amounted to $44.5 billion, an increase of 28.4 percent.

"The main export goods of Kazakhstan are crude oil ($27.9 billion, 62.7 percent of total exports), natural gas ($2.1 billion, 4.6 percent), copper and copper cathodes ($1.8 billion, 4 percent)," said the ministry.

Kazakhstans top 10 export products also include ferroalloys ($1.7 billion, 3.7 percent), petroleum products ($951.1 million, 2.1 percent), ores and copper concentrates ($868.7 million, 2 percent), uranium ($753.6 million, 1.7 percent), wheat ($664.8 million, 1.5 percent), flat-rolled products ($544.3 million, 1.2 percent), and raw aluminum ($427.7 million, 0.96 percent).

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

A business delegation of Saudi Arabia, led by Bader bin Bahishan Al-Busais, visited Turkmenistan with a working visit to study investment opportunities, Trend reports with reference to Arab News.

A series of meetings of the Saudi delegation with the leadership of Vnesheconombank, the ministries of industry and trade, and the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan took place in Ashgabat.

It was earlier reported that Turkmenistan is of investment interest for oil companies of Saudi Arabia, such as Saudi Aramco. The company considered investing in oil and gas production, including countries with access to the Caspian Sea, such as Turkmenistan, which owns the largest mineral resources.

It is worth noting that Saudi Arabia supports the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, which started in December 2015. Deliveries are expected in 2020.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

In the first six months of the current Iranian year (started March 21), Iran imported over 5.254 million tons of millet from three countries, Iran's Customs Administration (IRICA) said in a report, Trend reports via Iranian media.

Some $2.119 million were spent on the millet imports, according to IRICA.

Russia alone accounted for over three million tons of Iran's millet imports worth over $1.441 million.

Country Customs Goods Weight (tons) Value (rials) Value (USD) Russia Astara, Anzali Free Zone Millet 3,673,017 60,310,819,053 1,441,369 Azerbaijan Astara Millet 877,000 13,622,782,092 339,111 Germany Mashhad Millet 704,250 13,431,485,700 338,138



---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Iran's customs administration has warned its citizens over signing any contracts with Afghan insurance companies that are not related to the Afghan Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.

"Iranian Foreign Ministry and Embassy in Kabul have warned the Iranian citizens and drivers to avoid signing any insurance contracts at Afghan customs with companies that are not connected to the Afghan Transport and Civil Aviation", director general of the International Customs Cooperation Office Hussein Kakkhi said, Trend reports via ILNA.

"The warning was issued according to the decision of Iran's Embassy in Afghanistan, and due to rising problems for some Iranian citizens, specially drivers and transporting companies which had accidents on Afghan roads that lead to financial and casualty losses," he said.

"The list of Afghan insurance companies that are linked to the Afghan Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation have been sent to the officials of Afghanistan borders," said Kakkhi.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, upon the official invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will visit Ankara and take part in the fifth meeting of the Turkish-Iranian High Level Cooperation Council (HLCC), deputy head of Communication and Information center at Presidential Office Parviz Esmaili said, Trend reports referring to the website of the Office.

Hassan Rouhani, together with the Iranian delegation of political and economic representatives, will visit the Turkish capital on Wednesday.

The visit will last two days.

The fifth meeting of the HLCC will be held with the participation of Iranian and Turkish presidents.

"Some important political, economical and cultural documents will be signed as part of the visit," Esmaili said.

Esmaili noted that Rouhani will be back to Iran on Thursday afternoon.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Narmina Mammadova

The Azerbaijan Tourism Association (AzTA) is working to attract tourists from India to the country, AzTA Chairman Nahid Bagirov said on December 18.

The Association is currently negotiating with various Indian companies in this direction, the head of AzTA said.

"The Association took the initiative of filming Indian movie scenes in Baku, which ended relatively recently. When this film comes out, it will be a big advertisement for Azerbaijan. India is a big country and advertising through cinema will become a more effective method of demonstrating Azerbaijans possibilities. Such films will also affect the flow of tourists from India," said Bagirov.

The head of AzTA noted that today Azerbaijan is interesting for filmmakers, because elements of such cities as Paris, London, Dubai, etc. can be found in the Azerbaijani capital.

"We are also working on attracting video bloggers to Azerbaijan, in particular from Arab countries that have a wide audience in social networks," said Nahid Bagirov.

Speaking about priorities for 2019, Bagirov noted that this is an active participation in the Indian market, as well as efforts to preserve the Arab market.

"We notice that there is some decline among Arab tourists, particularly among tourists from the UAE. Arab tourists are very popular among other countries. Almost the whole world wants to attract Arab tourists to their country, who spend their money there," Bagirov added.

As for the regions of Azerbaijan that are popular among tourists, Bagirov noted that the main influx of tourists is observed in Gabala.

"The infrastructure is very developed in Gabala, there are a lot of hotels, modern ski resort located there. And this area is popular among Arab tourists. Today, Indian tourists also went there. It's nice that an Indian restaurant has already been opened in Gabala. This is evidence of something," said the head of AzTA, while noting that other regions of the country, such as Ganja, Mingachevir, Lankaran, need to be developed, which will increase the number of nights tourists spend in hotels of Azerbaijan.

In addition, Bagirov emphasized that Azerbaijan is a very safe country, and political and economic stability play an important role in attracting tourists to the country.

Recently, Azerbaijan Tourism Association (AZTA) and the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation.

The memorandum which was signed during the international tourism fair SATTE 2018 in Delhi on February 3, 2018 is of great importance.

Chairman of AZTA Nahid Baghirov said that this collaboration will boost mutual tourism exchange, as well will contribute to the development of economic relations between the two countries.

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) was established in 1951 by a group of twelve leading travel agents, who aimed to create an Association to regulate the travel industry in India along organized lines and in accordance with sound business principles. The Association has more than 2500 members.

Azerbaijan Tourism Association (AzTA) is one of the leading organizations operating in the tourism industry. The organization unites tourism companies in the country, coordinates their activities.

The Association, which has been operating since 2009, is currently one of the largest non-governmental organizations providing training and development solutions for tourism and hotel sector in Azerbaijan. It includes more than 100 travel agencies and more than 80 hotel complexes.

It is a member of the World Tourism Organization.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved $2.9 billion for Morocco Under the Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL) that will provide insurance against external risks, support Moroccan efforts to reduce fiscal, external vulnerabilities and promote more inclusive growth.

Despite a sharp pick up in global oil prices, Moroccan authorities have reduced fiscal and external vulnerabilities and implemented important reforms with the support of three consecutive 24-month PLL arrangements, said the IMF.

The new PLL arrangement will provide insurance against external shocks and support the authorities efforts to further strengthen the economys resilience and promote higher and more inclusive growth.

The PLL was introduced in 2011 to meet more flexibly the liquidity needs of member countries with sound economic fundamentals and strong records of policy implementation but with some remaining vulnerabilities.

Morocco has made significant strides in reducing domestic vulnerabilities in recent years. Growth remained robust in 2018 and is expected to accelerate gradually over the medium term, said Mr. Mitsuhiro Furusawa, IMF Deputy Managing Director.

Moroccos external imbalances have declined substantially, fiscal consolidation has progressed, and the policy and institutional frameworks have been strengthened, including through the implementation of the recent Organic Budget Law, stronger financial sector oversight, a more flexible exchange rate regime, and an improved business environment, added Mr. Mitsuhiro.

He also said that Moroccos reforms of education, governance, the labor market, and continued improvement in the business environment will be essential to raise potential growth and reduce high unemployment levels, especially among the youth, and to increase female labor participation.Contributing columnist Justin Salters writes on politics and current events; the views expressed are his own. His column appears on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. Reach him on Twitter @justinsalters or email him your thoughts: justin@justinsalters.com.A group of U.S. State Attorneys General, who visited Morocco recently, said they witnessed the popularity of King Mohammed VI and the effects of his wise, progressive leadership on the countrys socioeconomic development and on regional influence.

Since his accession to the throne in 1999, the Monarch has embraced technological advances to modernize the nation while preserving its core principles and traditions, said the Attorneys General, Sean Reyes and Lawrence Wasden, who visited Morocco to learn about the countrys efforts to counter human trafficking, cyber terrorism and transnational organized crimes.

In a column published lately in Salt Lake Tribune, the two law enforcement officers said that during their trip to the North African Kingdom, they found a country that cares deeply about security and rule of law, in a region hostile to both.

We also saw firsthand how Moroccans are using innovative methods to curb radicalism and violent extremism, and we believe we contributed to the ongoing strength of a valuable diplomatic friendship, underlined the senior US justice officials and elected representatives, who visited Morocco part of a delegation of members of the Conference of Western Attorneys General.

In their column titled United front with Morocco supports security across the globe, they recalled the historic, longstanding ties existing between the two countries, saying these ties remain of the highest importance today, especially in the global fight against terrorism and extremism.

We learned how a Muslim majority nation is addressing these challenges, against threats both foreign and domestic, and promoting shared interests and ideals in a region growing increasingly unstable, said the U.S. Attorneys General.

During their stay in Morocco, the U.S. delegation visited the Mohammed VI Institute for Imam Training. This center trains imams, both male and female, from Morocco and beyond and promotes a moderate version of Islam, one at peace with the non-Muslim world, which respects the rights of minority faiths and peoples and upholds the rights of women.

We also discovered that Morocco has been training for over a decade young women as morchidates (female preachers) who also contribute to promote the moderate values of Islam throughout the kingdom while neutralizing radical extremist thinking, said the Attorneys General.

Nowhere in the region do our interests and our values coincide more than they do in Morocco, affirmed the Attorneys General, underlining the importance of Morocco as a major U.S. ally in the region and as a global leader in the fight against extremism.

We must stand by the North African Kingdom as it continues to lead the way in the region in terms of reforms and as an exporter of peace while at the same time addressing the challenges brought by increased regional instability, rising extremism and external threats from Iran, said the U.S. Attorneys General.Lil Wayne fans lined up before sunrise for a chance at free tickets to see the rapper in Houston.

A long line snaked around the Sprint store at Westpark and Buffalo Speedway starting early Monday morning. There were college kids. People with babies. People with dogs. Folding chairs and blankets.

Police patrolled the area as puzzled non-Wayne fans carried groceries from the nearby Kroger to their car.

GIDDY UP: RodeoHouston is mixing country with pop, hip-hop and EDM

Lil Wayne announced the free show last week as part of a Tidal competition. He performs tonight at House of Blues.

It's unclear how many tickets were initially given away. House of Blues has a a capacity of 1,000 people.

But just after noon Monday, Tidal tweeted that fans would have to move to a new location.

"Weezy's Houston fans don't play! Thanks to everyone who came out! Due to overwhelming demand, we've moved the ticket pick up for @LilTunechi's Houston show. TIDAL members will get an email with the new pickup location. #TIDALXLilWayne"

The new location was eventually revealed to be House of Blues. Fans raced over there, and a long line quickly materialized there, too.

Houston was selected as part of the Tidal X: Lil Wayne I Ain't Sh*t Without You Fan Appreciation Tour contest. Fans voted for their cities, and four were selected.

The tour kicks off in Houston, followed by Atlanta, Washington D.C. and Chicago. Wayne will perform new songs, classic hits and promises a few surprises.

Lil Wayne released 12th album "Tha Carter V" in September. He performed last month at Travis Scott's inaugural Astroworld Festival.The Nederland Volunteer Fire Department is asking the public to help a fellow firefighter and his wife after his she became critically ill Monday night in Chicago, according to information from the department.

Fire Fighter Troy Nichols and his wife, Nancy, were in Chicago to watch their daughter graduate from the Navy boot camp. Monday night Nancy became unresponsive and was rushed to a local hospital, where she has since been on a ventilator in the intensive care unit, the department said.Nicholas Breaux, who turned 17 on Friday, was the kind of guy friends counted on to "find a way to make others happy." Natalee Merriman, also 17 but rebounding from a tragedy beyond her years, seemed happy and "finding her place in the world." Waylon Paul, a couple of years younger, appeared in photographs as a carefree teenager who enjoyed motorcycles and ATVs.

Impromptu eulogies for the three friends, who perished early Sunday in a car wreck that injured two others, echoed the grief-stricken remembrances from just three months ago when another traffic accident on a country road in Hardin County claimed three other Southeast Texas young people.

Sunday's crash in Woodville remains under investigation, but police believe the Nederland teens had been visiting property outside of Tyler County belonging to a relative of a passenger. There is no suspected alcohol or drug involvement, Woodville police Capt. Mike McCulley said.

The single-car wreck occurred around 5:30 a.m. A Hyundai sedan carrying five passengers southbound veered from U.S. 287, then overcompensated and struck a telephone pole near the Nellius Street intersection, McCulley said, citing preliminary reports.

Three of the victims were trapped and had to be removed by the jaws of life.

Paul, 15, Merriman and Breaux were pronounced dead at the scene, McCulley said.

The driver, Christopher Wedgeworth, 20, was transported by medical helicopter to Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital, where he remains in critical but stable condition.

Another passenger, Kristopher Kaye, was taken by ambulance to a Tyler County hospital with minor injuries and released later in the day, McCulley said.

RELATED: Speed cited in wreck that claimed teens

The weekend started out on a high note for Breaux, his girlfriend of more than a year, Lindsey Sheridan, said.

"He just turned 17 Friday and was just so happy and was ready for Christmas," she said. "He loved his family and all of his friends so much. He just had so much love for life and everyone else.

"No one expected this tragic incident. Everyone is just taking it so hard right now."

Amanda Mock, whose son was a close friend of Merriman's, said the wreck has been devastating for her family.

"Natalee was a very sweet young lady always found a reason too smile even when people weren't so nice," she said. "If she loved you, she loved you deeply. She was always there for my son."

Shelby Engelbrecht, a longtime friend, told the Enterprise that Merriman had struggled with anxiety and depression following a 2015 motorcycle crash that led to a premature birth and the loss of her infant son.

"She struggled," Engelbrecht, 18, said. "But it seemed like she was happy, finding her place in the world, and then this happens."

She added, "If there is a heaven out there, she's there with her baby."

Others on Facebook took solace in the thought of the young mother reunited with the son she lost.

Paul was remembered by a former co-worker as an easygoing sort, and somewhat of a character.

"Wasn't mean or disrespectful or even hated," Jake Duncan said in a text. "You couldn't hate him, he was a genuinely good guy."

Merriman's services have been set for 2 p.m. Thursday at Broussard's Mortuary in Nederland, followed by burial at Oak Bluff Memorial Park.

Paul's services will be Thursday at 6 p.m. at Melancon's Funeral Home in Nederland.

Services were pending for Breaux.

Just three months ago, the community mourned three other young people killed in a four-car crash. Failure to control speed was declared the cause of the Sept. 9 wreck that claimed Alix Neel, Caringtin Mosley and Garrett Saulters, all 18, on FM 787 near Saratoga.

Photos: Balloon release honors Hardin County teensTucker Carlson. Photo: Rich Polk/Getty Images for Politicon

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has lost at least six advertisers in the five days since he disparaged immigrants by saying theyre making the U.S. poor and dirtier, but on Mondays show, he showed no contrition for his bigotry.

The left would very much like you to stop talking and thinking about bad decisions theyve made over the years, he said Monday. Shut up, theyre screaming, including to this show. Obviously, we wont and you shouldnt either.

He went on to explain what he meant when he said immigrants make the U.S. dirtier: They litter and Carlson is, apparently, an environmentalist now.

Tucker Carlson addresses the advertiser exodus, saying that "it won't work for the show, we are not intimidated. We plan to say what's true until the last day"



He then defends his remarks: "Thanks to immigration, huge swaths of the [Southwest] are covered with garbage and waste" pic.twitter.com/pSW00MnSNA  Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) December 18, 2018

Pacific Life, which had an ad run immediately after Carlsons remarks on Thursday, was the first to abandon him. Last Friday, it announced that it was pulling commercials from his show. Our customer base and our workforce reflect the diversity of our great nation, something we take great pride in, the insurance company said in a statement.

On Monday, five more companies followed. They are the jobs website Indeed; the online marketplace Minted; SmileDirectClub; Nautilus, Inc. which makes the Bowflex; and the personal finance website NerdWallet.

Whenever we receive feedback about advertising on specific programs, we evaluate it on a case-by-case basis, a NerdWallet spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter. If our review determines that a certain shows content doesnt align with our company values, we take commensurate and appropriate action.

Some advertisers have decided to continuing standing by Carlson, the Daily Beast reports:

Farmers Insurance, one of the programs advertisers, said in a statement to The Daily Beast that the companys ad buying decisions should not be portrayed as political.

Farmers invests in advertising across a broad range of networks and programs that reflect the diversity of opinions and viewpoints found across the nation, the company said in a statement. Advertising decisions made by Farmers should not be construed to be an endorsement of any kind as to a shows content or the individuals appearing on the show.

Mitsubishi, another advertiser, told The Daily Beast it did not consider politics as a factor when making ad buys.

Fox News is defending Carlson in his time of need. In statement, a spokesperson said: It is a shame that left-wing advocacy groups, under the guise of being supposed media watchdogs, weaponize social media against companies in an effort to stifle free speech.State Rep. Joe Deshotel wants to provide more state funding for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, and no coastal resident would deny that its needed. Yet Deshotel is trying to do this by legalizing casino gambling and diverting some of the profits to the windstorm agency, and that approach will not succeed.

Even Deshotel, D-Beaumont, might admit privately that he doesnt have the votes in the House or Senate to legalize casinos  just as he didnt in the 2015 session, when he proposed a similar bill. But veteran lawmakers like Deshotel know that sometimes it takes several attempts to move the Legislature on something controversial, from concealed carry to the end of straight-ticket voting.

What really matters here, however, is the reason for this bill  generating more money to boost the states underfunded windstorm insurance agency. If it takes a high-profile issue like casino gambling to focus attention on this longstanding need, its worth the effort.

The Windstorm Insurance Association has been called the insurer of last resort for coastal residents, and its better than nothing. But over the years its rates have crept too high and its response after disasters has frustrated countless policy holders. Like any agency in state government, that kind of low performance cannot be tolerated.

But if the Legislature and Department of Insurance could encourage (or require) more insurance carriers in Texas to offer windstorm coverage, fewer coastal residents would need to rely on TWIA. With more windstorm policies, either through private carriers or TWIA or both, premiums would stabilize. In turn, those affordable rates would encourage more residents and businesses to get that coverage, keeping the positive momentum going. Thats the way insurance works, whether on cars or buildings  sharing risks to help everyone.

If lawmakers wont support Deshotels casino bill  and again, they probably wont  then they should focus on getting private carriers to help more coastal residents protect themselves. Other Gulf Coast states require major insurance companies to offer windstorm coverage with their broad range of coverage such as life, home, auto, etc. If these companies knew that was a requirement for operating in the large and lucrative Texas market, theyd get on board.

More private carriers have been doing this lately, and the uptick is welcome. But coastal residents need more than good luck or a friendly agent to get this basic coverage. It should be affordable to all of them. Joe Deshotel is trying to make that happen, and more of his colleagues in the House and Senate should, too.Tampa, Fla.-based Physician Partners of America opened a pain relief group at its new Merritt Island (Fla.) Medical Pavilion, Space Coast Daily reports.

Here's what you should know:

1. Pain management specialist Jorge Fernandez-Silva, MD, heads the Merritt Island pain practice.

2. The pain relief group expects to treat many patients from out of state.

"We are one of the few medical companies that accept patients with valid out-of-state ID," Dr. Fernandez-Silva told Space Coast Daily.

3. Merritt Island Medical Pavilion houses multiple specialties in 6,872 square feet. It will expand to include 7,318 square feet of medical office space; a 9,824-square-foot ASC with two operating rooms and one procedure suite; a catherization lab; and pharmacy, laboratory and imaging services.

More articles on anesthesia:

10 new recommendations for infection control in anesthesiology

Physician facing 45 charges for alleged pill mill & fraud scheme  7 insights

Anesthesiologist involved in Thai cave rescue named a 'Time' hero of 2018

Welltower acquired a medical office building in Lynbrook, N.Y., for $48.1 million, Long Island Business News reports.

Here's what you should know:

1. The 105,000-square-foot medical office building is five-stories tall and features a surgery center.

2. The building was constructed in 1982 but turned into a medical office building with a surgery center in 1998.

3. Welltower entered into an agreement with the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency, which is requiring Welltower to work to keep the building staffed with 307 full time equivalents. Currently, 439 FTEs work at the site.

4. Hempstead's IDA CEO Fred Parola said in a statement, "The investment in this building by Welltower  is a tremendous vote of confidence in the town of Hempstead and its economy."Clemmons, N.C.-based Wake Forest Baptist Surgery Center sold its real estate, according to a Triad Business Journal report.

Here are four things to know:

1. Healthcare Reality Solutions plans to purchase the 12,500-squre-foot space that includes Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's surgery center.

2. NorthMarq Capital, a commercial real estate mortgage banking firm, provided funding for the deal, which financed at more than $5.7 million.

3. The surgery center opened in December 2017 in partnership with Surgical Care Affiliates. The facility includes three operating rooms and focuses on gynecology, orthopedics, ENT, plastic surgery and general surgery.

4. Construction of the building took 10 months and it cost $8.1 million, according to the health system's press release.Joe Ollayos, administrator of Tinley Park, Ill.-based Ingalls Same Day Surgery Center, outlines three important business concepts for ASC operators and where his focus will be next year.

Mr. Ollayos will share his expertise as a speaker at the Becker's ASC 26th Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, Oct. 24-26, 2019 in Chicago. To learn more and register, click here. For more information about exhibitor and sponsor opportunities, contact Maura Jodoin at mjodoin@beckershealthcare.com.

Question: What are your three core concepts for being successful in business?

1. Make patient care a shared mission. Surgeons and their office staff are customers, and we are marketing operating room minutes, but it all goes back to serving the patient. Quality outcomes, patient satisfaction and an effective revenue cycle  convenient scheduling, accurate benefits verification, collection of patient-due balances starting with time-of-service copays  are all enhanced by patient engagement.

2. Take care of your employees. Studies show that competent, properly trained, engaged staff are the No. 1 driver of surgeon satisfaction as well as patient (consumer) confidence.

3. Safety first. A dynamic and growing trend in healthcare is the development of the high-reliability organization. Patients need to feel safe to have a great experience. Surgeons want their patients to have great outcomes, which starts with a safe environment. Avoiding liability by preventing accidents and injury speaks for itself.

Q: What is the top focus for you and your ASC in 2019?

Surgeon recruitment and alignment. In our specific case, our hospital joint venture partner has merged with a larger health system. Our No. 1 opportunity for growth in the next year is engaging the health system's employed physician group and working with their surgery and endoscopy departments to bring appropriate cases [to the ASC]. We offer a classic ASC value proposition: quality, safety, convenience, economy, personalized service, accommodating patient (consumer) choice  and fast turnover times between cases.

To participate in future Becker's Q&As, contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com.

For a deeper dive into ASC operations, attend the Becker's 17th Annual Future of Spine + Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management-Driven ASC in Chicago, June 13-5, 2019. Click here to learn more and register.Amy Allard, BSN, MPH, RN, administrative director for Ramapo Valley Surgical Center in Ramsey, N.J., discusses three key business concepts for successful ASC owners and operators.

Question: What are your three core concepts for being successful in business?

1. Choosing the right people who will project the image you are trying to project. You need to foster and support the staff to achieve the company goals.

2. The anesthesia in any surgical setting is highly underrated. Positive patient outcomes are largely dependent upon the specialized anesthesia.

3. Surgeon satisfaction is a priority in this setting.

Q: What is the top focus for you and your ASC in 2019?



No. 1 is trying to keep up with and comply with the multitude of regulations that are thrown our way.

To participate in future Becker's Q&As, contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com.

For a deeper dive into ASC operations, attend the Becker's 17th Annual Future of Spine + Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management-Driven ASC in Chicago, June 13-5, 2019. Click here to learn more and register.Here are 22 statistics to know on the ASC market:

Healthcare spending on outpatient services and long-term care increased from 2001 to 2015, according to Deloitte's 2018 Global Health Care Outlook Report.

Here are statistics on expenditure across Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries:

2001

1. Hospital inpatient services: 38 percent

2. Outpatient services and long-term care: 31 percent

3. Other (includes drug spending and government services): 31 percent

2015

4. Hospital inpatient services: 26 percent

5. Outpatient services and long-term care: 46 percent

6. Other (includes drug spending and government services): 28 percent



The number of Medicare-certified ASCs nearly doubled from 2000 to 2017, according to Avanza Healthcare Strategies' Outpatient Statistical Snapshot. Here are statistics on changes in the outpatient market over the past four decades:

Medicare-certified ASCs

7. 2000: 3,028

8. 2017: 5,634

Total Medicare payments to ASCs

9. 2010: $3.3 billion

10. 2015: $4.1 billion

Medicare payments to ASCs per fee-for-service beneficiary

11. 2010: $104

12. 2015: $122

Total Medicare outpatient FFS payments to hospitals

13. 2006: $29 billion

14. 2015: $58 billion

Outpatient costs

15. Average net cost per hospital-based surgical procedure: $4,337

16. Average net cost per freestanding, ASC-based procedure: $2,429

Number of hospitals

17. 1981: 6,933

18. 2016: 5,534

Average hospital outpatient visits per 1,000 people

19. 1999: 1,817 visits

20. 2015: 2,251 visits

Total community hospital outpatient visits

21. 1994: 383 million

22. 2014: 693 million

Note: Avanza gathered data from Advancing Surgical Care, Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, American Hospital Association, Blue Cross Blue Shield, CDC, Franklin Trust Ratings, Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, Moody's Investors Service and The New York Times .The University of Vermont Health Network-Elizabethtown (N.Y.) Community Hospital is notifying 32,000 patients after an unauthorized individual breached an employee's email account in October.

Here are four things to know:

1. The unauthorized individual remotely accessed one hospital employee's email accounts. The hospital's computer networks and EMR were not affected.

2. Potentially compromised information included names, dates of birth, addresses, and limited medical information such as medical record numbers, dates of service and a brief summary of services provided. The account also contained Social Security numbers of 1,200 individuals.

3. The hospital has no evidence that any information contained in the account was viewed or used, but the hospital's investigation is ongoing.

4. "While we havent determined that any individual record was accessed, we are taking a broad approach in notifying anyone who could possibly be affected by this incident so they can take proactive measures to protect their information," the hospital's notice states. "Through our ongoing investigation, it's possible that we'll find that fewer individuals were affected."Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson unveils his plan to add work requirements to the states Medicaid expansion on March 6, 2017. Photo: AP/REX/Shutterstock/AP/REX/Shutterstock

Nearly 17,000 people have now lost Medicaid coverage in Arkansas due to the states onerous work requirements, according to state data released Monday. Thats up from 12,277 in October, continuing a trend that analysts directly attribute to the structure of the states Arkansas Work program. While the programs defenders in state and national government describe Arkansas Works as a model for other states, as well as for federal policy, their motivations for doing so should now be obvious. The states version of means-testing  policy that ties the level of social welfare a person receives to their income bracket or employment status  has penalized thousands of people for being out of work or for working irregular hours. Arkansas saves money on welfare, but as other, similar means-tested reforms demonstrate, needy people will bear heavier burdens as a result.

As KUAR Public Radio reported, Arkansas implemented an idiosyncratic version of Medicaid expansion. Many Republican-leaning states chose not to expand their populations. Arkansas did, but instead of simply expanding Medicaid, it used mostly federal funds to purchase private health insurance for those lower-income individuals, KUAR explained. Arkansas also applied for and received a waiver from the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to attach work requirements to its program. Beneficiaries must work at least 80 hours per month and submit proof of work, study, or community service to the state every month online in order to remain enrolled in Medicaid. If a person doesnt meet these requirements three months in a row, they lose coverage, and must reapply the following January.

In theory, the state can grant a good cause exemption to beneficiaries who can prove that mitigating circumstances prevented them from meeting work requirements. But in practice, the state appears to have handed out few such exemptions, even though structural challenges sometimes prevent beneficiaries from accessing the states computerized reporting system. Many low-income people lack reliable internet access, especially in rural areas of the state. Officials only allowed people to report the hours they worked over the phone in December. Thats the same month the state began advertising Medicaid expansion to residents  a full six months after the program technically launched.

The National Health Law Program, along with Legal Aid of Arkansas and the Southern Poverty Law Center, filed a suit to block the states work requirements in August, arguing that the policy counters Medicaid expansions intended purpose, which is to make health care more affordable for the poor. Two of those groups  the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Health Law Program  filed suit against a similar work requirement program in Kentucky. In that suit, a federal court initially ruled against the state and sent Kentuckys planned work requirements back to the Department of Health and Human Services for review. The Trump administration proceeded to reinstate Kentuckys work requirements in November. In an approval letter, HHS proclaimed that there is little intrinsic value in paying for services if those services are not advancing the health and wellness of the individual receiving them, or otherwise helping the individual attain independence.

Arkansass Republican governor, Asa Hutchinson, expressed a similar conviction in January, when he announced that CMS had approved the states waiver. Arkansans understand the dignity of work, he said in a press release; work requirements would, he added, go a long way to create opportunities for able-bodied working-age Arkansans to enter into training or employment and ultimately climb the economic ladder. But the act of requiring a person to work does not create a job for them at the same time; there is no magic here, only sleight of hand. Poor people know that theyre poor. Why else apply for Medicaid? The subtext  that the poor need to be reminded to sell their labor for profit  is loud, and it makes for punitive policy. Hutchinson has rejected that characterization of the states work requirement regime, but the implications are clear. The policy works as intended, and the intention is to punish the poor for perceived failures.

But Arkansass program is still useful in one respect. It illustrates perfectly the cruelty of using healthcare, or any survival need, like a carrot to bait the poor. Some versions of means-testing are less draconian than others, but they all exists on the same policy spectrum; a line connects Bill Clintons version of welfare to work to Asa Hutchinsons Medicaid innovations. The truth is that as long as policymakers treat poverty like a moral condition, which can be relieved by goading low-income individuals into making better lifestyle choices, immense structural inequalities will persist. There is not a welfare policy on the planet that can distinguish, fairly, between the deserving and the impure. Employment or lack thereof is no measure of character.

What we do know, however, is that means-testing leaves thousands of needy people unable to access basic social services. Clintons Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which converted federal welfare funds to block grants to states, and implemented work requirements, failed to meet the challenges of poverty. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities reported in November that since 1996, the year Clinton created TANF, its reach has declined dramatically.  In 2017, for every 100 families in poverty, only 23 received direct financial assistance from TANF  down from 68 families in 1996. This TANF-to-poverty ratio (TPR) reached its lowest point in 2014 and has remained there, CBPP continued.

As was the case for welfare reform, the consequences of booting people from Medicaid may take years to fully reveal themselves. Arkansas may provide quite a bit of data in the future. The state designed its work requirement regime to be phased in, age bracket by age bracket. Starting in January, Arkansans ages 19 to 29 will be subject to the same requirements that have already booted thousands of older residents off the program.From reimbursement landscape challenges to dwindling patient volumes, many factors lead hospitals to file for bankruptcy.

Here are 14 hospitals and health systems that filed for bankruptcy since Jan. 1, beginning with the most recent:

1. Pineville (Ky.) Community Hospital Association filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Nov. 29. PCHA owned and operated Pineville Community Hospital, now called Southeastern Medical Center, until entering an agreement with Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Americore Health in 2017. PCHA still owns the hospital real estate, but it entered a long-term lease deal and sold non-real estate assets to Americore.

2. Promise Healthcare Group, a hospital and nursing home chain based in Boca Raton, Fla., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Nov. 4. Promise and more than 40 of its affiliates entered bankruptcy after years of financial troubles. In bankruptcy court documents, Promise reported more than $565 million in combined debt.

3. Doctors Hospital at Deer Creek, a physician-owned hospital in Leesville, La., entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy Oct. 18. In documents filed in the bankruptcy case, a managing member of the hospital said a former hospital administrator is to blame for the hospital's financial troubles.

4. Sonoma West Medical Center, Inc., which formerly managed a hospital in Sebastopol, Calif., entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy Sept. 26. The decision to enter bankruptcy came after Anthem and its affiliates in nine states sued SWMC and the company that managed the hospital's toxicology program June 1. The lawsuitalleges SWMC engaged in a fraudulent billing scheme.

5. The hospital district that operated Coalinga (Calif.) Regional Medical Center before it closed earlier this year filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy Sept. 5. At that time, Coalinga Regional Medical Center CEO Wayne Allen said the hospital owed $5 million to unsecured creditors  $250,616 of which it owed to 115 employees for accrued vacation and sick time.

6. El Segundo, Calif.-based Verity Health operated six hospitals in California when it entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy Aug. 31. Santa Clara County (Calif.) acquired two hospitals from Verity in December.

7. Magee (Miss.) General Hospital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Aug. 24. The hospital entered bankruptcy protection to reorganize its debt, and officials said the facility will remain open during the bankruptcy process.

8. Knoxville, Tenn.-based Curae Health and its three hospitals in Mississippi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Aug. 24. The three Mississippi hospitals included in Curae's bankruptcy case are Gilmore Memorial Hospital in Amory, Panola Medical Center in Batesville and Northwest Mississippi Medical Center in Clarksdale.

9. Rockdale, Texas-based Little River Healthcare, its parent company and several of its affiliated entities entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy July 24. The health system shut down Dec. 4.

10. Florence (Ariz.) Hospital at Anthem entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late May after it failed to contest an involuntary bankruptcy petition from creditors within the required 21-day timeline. The hospital closed June 18.

11. Gilbert (Ariz.) Hospital, which is affiliated with Florence Hospital at Anthem, entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late May and closed June 16.

12. The Miami Medical Center, a 67-bed hospital that suspendedservices in October 2017, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection March 9. The hospital was sold in auction in late June.

13. Iron County Medical Center, a critical access hospital in Pilot Knob, Mo., filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy Feb. 21. The hospital is owned by the Iron County Hospital District.

14. Surprise Valley Health Care District, which operates 26-bed Surprise Valley Hospital in Cedarville, Calif., filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy Jan. 4.

More articles on healthcare finance:

UPMC Pinnacle to close hospital

Private equity pushes into healthcare: 9 latest deals

CMS updates hospital price transparency requirement  againHere are six expert revenue cycle management tips, published by Becker's Hospital Review after Nov. 21.

1. Deborah VanCleave, vice president of revenue cycle at St. Joseph, Mo.-based Mosaic Life Care, recommended hospitals focus on the patient's perspective.

2. Ms. VanCleave also recommended that hospitals view the revenue cycle as a brand ambassador.

3. Dan Berger, national director of healthcare at AxiaMed, a healthcare financial technology company, advised hospitals to take steps to ensure compliance with HIPAA and payment card industry requirements with regard to patient payment collections.

4. Gerilynn Sevenikar, vice president of revenue cycle at San Diego-based Sharp Healthcare, said hospitals need to make sure they give their patients personal, customized service.

5. Parag Shah, president of practice solutions at Integra Connect, a provider of technologies and services for value-based specialty care, advised specialty medical practices to focus on performance optimization and risk management to ensure their revenue cycles meet new value-based care requirements.

6. Elaine Dunn, vice president of system integration for Craneware, a value cycle company, said it is critical that hospitals and health systems examine how the organization's clinical systems integrate with the chargemaster.

More articles on healthcare finance:

For-profit hospital stock report: Week of Dec. 10-14

Farm bill would allow rural hospitals to refinance debt

Insurance premiums increasing faster than hospital prices, analysis findsIt has been a big year for Dignity Health, as the health system finalized a merger agreement with Catholic Health Initiatives and entered into other interesting partnerships.

San Francisco-based Dignity Health, one of the largest health systems in the nation, agreed to merge with Englewood, Colo.-based CHI in late 2017, and the deal is set to close by the end of this year. Last month, Dignity and CHI unveiled the name for the $28.4 billion system their merger will create: CommonSpirit Health.

Dignity Senior Executive Vice President and CFO Daniel Morissette, who will serve as CFO of CommonSpirit, recently discussed the merger with Becker's Hospital Review. He said that after the transaction with CHI closes, one of his top priorities for next year is to help the combined system complete its strategic initiatives and maintain a stable financial position.

"We have $5 billion in debt, and CHI has about $9 billion in debt. We take very seriously the fact that not only are we going to need more access to capital in the future, but to make sure we're running a financially stable operation," he said.

In addition to moving forward with the CHI merger, Dignity saw its financial position improve this year and became one of the first health systems in the nation to pilot Apple's medical records system.

"The partnership [with Apple] came about, in part, because we're very engaged in the tech community and we're located in the Silicon Valley in San Francisco," Mr. Morissette said. "We had always had relationships with Apple, and when the opportunity came, we were so excited to be one of the first systems  the first cohort of systems to join with Apple."

Mr. Morissette said the most appealing part about introducing Apple's health records feature is how it benefits patients.

"The reason we were interested in it, primarily, is because it empowers patients to have more control or more information about their own life. Now, people can access their own health records on their iPhone. That part, we're really excited about," he said.

When it comes to Apple, Google and other technology companies pushing more into healthcare, Mr. Morissette thinks healthcare providers need to be more flexible.

"This is a very traditional business. In fact, if you looked in an old dictionary at traditional business, you'd probably see a picture of most of the health systems there," he said. "One of the good things about working with Apple  and smaller startup companies  is there's no walls. They just say, 'Hey, what about this? What if we try this?' Some of the things we can't do because of patient safety or other reasons, but a lot of it, we're like, 'Okay, let's try it.' I think in that sense, it's something we really need to embrace because they have figured out how to make consumers generally happy otherwise."

More articles on healthcare finance:

Financial updates from Banner, Kaiser, Mayo + 3 other health systems

14 latest hospital bankruptcies

Average cost per inpatient admission tops $22KCharles City, Iowa-based Floyd County Medical Center is requesting $500,000 from Floyd County after losing $239,319 in the first five months of fiscal year 2018, according to KCHA News.

Between 70 percent and 73 percent of the hospital's patients are enrolled in either Medicaid or Medicare. Floyd County Medical Center has not received county tax funding in 20 years.

"It was a little staggering, but it's realistic probably in what they're asking for," said Linda Tjaden, chair of the Floyd County Board of Supervisors. "I think our biggest concern is what can we do when we get all the budget numbers put together, in being able to support Floyd County [Medical Center]."CMS' final inpatient payment rule for 2019, hospital closures and bankruptcy filings were among the healthcare finance topics that piqued the interest of readers this past year.

Below are the 10 most popular finance stories published by Becker's Hospital Review in 2018.

1. CMS' final inpatient payment rule for 2019: 9 things to know

CMS released its annual Inpatient Prospective Payment System rule Aug. 2, which increases price transparency for patients and boosts payments to acute care hospitals.

2. Tennessee health system files for bankruptcy, says it owes CHS $28M

Knoxville, Tenn.-based Curae Health and its three hospitals in Mississippi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Aug. 24.

3. Walmart will require workers to travel for spine surgery in effort to cut healthcare costs

Walmart is aiming to lower healthcare spending by requiring employees to travel to certain hospitals for spine surgeries.

4. Michigan hospital rejects woman's heart transplant, recommends she raise $10K

After rejecting a 60-year-old woman's request for a heart transplant for lack of "a more secure financial plan," Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Spectrum Health recommended that she start a $10,000 fundraiser to come up with the money.

5. 450 hospitals at risk of potential closure, Morgan Stanley analysis finds

More than 15 percent of U.S. hospitals have weak financial metrics or are at risk of potential closure, according to Business Insider, which cited a report from Morgan Stanley.

6. Texas health system files for bankruptcy

Rockdale, Texas-based Little River Healthcare, its parent company and several of its affiliated entities entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy July 24. The health system shut down Dec. 4.

7. A Walmart-Humana giant scares hospitals: 5 reasons why

A potential deal between Walmart and Humana would strengthen Walmart's position as a competitive threat to hospitals, industry consultants and executives told The Wall Street Journal.

8. Operator of 22 freestanding ERs files for bankruptcy

Houston-based Neighbors Emergency Center, which operates 22 freestanding emergency rooms, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August.

9. Anthem's new imaging policy likely to hit hospitals' profits

An imaging policy rolled out by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield in several states could cut into hospitals' profits.

10. Miami hospital files for bankruptcy: 4 things to know

The Miami Medical Center, a 67-bed hospital that suspended patient services in October 2017, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection March 9.

More articles on healthcare finance:

UPMC Pinnacle to close hospital

Private equity pushes into healthcare: 9 latest deals

CMS updates hospital price transparency requirement  againBuffalo, N.Y.-based Catholic Health tapped William B. Pryor to serve as chief administrative officer, a newly created role.

Here are four points:

1. Most recently, Mr. Pryor served as chief human resource officer at Cape Fear Valley Health System in Fayetteville, N.C.

2. He has held executive positions at Mercy Health System in Cincinnati, Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., and Greater Baltimore Medical Center.

3. He will assume his new role in early 2019.

4. As chief administrative officer, Mr. Pryor will oversee human resources, marketing, public relations and communications.As CEO of Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health, Robert Garrett knows innovation is essential to success, but also understands that discerning which innovative proposals to support is as important as coming up with ideas in the first place.

Mr. Garrett joined Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center in 1981. He rose to become president and CEO of Hackensack University Health Network until a 2016 merger with Meridian Health led him to become co-CEO of the newly formed enterprise. He earned a master's degree in health administration from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton.

Mr. Garrett recently spoke with Becker's and answered our seven "Corner Office" questions.

Editor's Note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Question: What piqued your interest in healthcare?

Robert Garrett: When I was a graduate student, I had an internship with Sister Mary Jean Brady, who had been the president and CEO of Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Center, N.Y., for many years. She was a family friend, and she always tried to get me interested in healthcare. She convinced me to do a summer internship, and the rest is history. I really enjoyed connecting with the people, hearing directly from patients and understanding some of their challenges. She was a real people person and said it was all about the people and the culture. She ended up being a great role model for me, so that definitely piqued my interest. From there, I pursued my degree in healthcare administration. I owe a lot to Sister Mary Jean for getting me involved in the hospital to see what really goes on.

Q: What do you enjoy most about Edison?

RG: I appreciate Edison's central location for our health network. Within an hour's drive, you can get to anywhere in our network, but of course that doesn't consider New Jersey traffic [laughs]. I love New Jersey because there's so much to do here. It's a great state; you have New York to the north, Philadelphia to the west, the Jersey shore and the mountains. It's a very diverse state in every sense of that word, and I enjoy that a lot. It was very important for my wife and I that our kids went to public schools and got a diverse education. I think that really helped them as they went into the real world. I know the state sometimes gets a bad rap, but I think Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi are trying to help with that, and honestly I still get psyched about New Jersey.

Q: If you could eliminate one of the healthcare industry's problems overnight, which would it be?

RG: One of biggest challenges is playing in two different worlds. We're moving from a volume-based environment to a value-based environment, but we still have hospitals to run that need to be solvent, so we're still getting reimbursed on a fee-for-service basis to a large extent. If I had my druthers, it would be to make a definitive decision: either stay in fee-for-service or go into that value-based world. I would vote for going into that value-based world where all the incentives are aligned, and physicians and hospitals are rewarded for achieving the best outcomes for the people we serve.

Q: What is your greatest talent or skill outside of the C-suite?

RG: I think it's probably just meeting new people. I enjoy forming new partnerships and getting involved with different groups outside of the C-suite. The future of healthcare is certainly all about partnerships. Whether it's your personal or professional life, relationships are the key to success.

I am a person who is very curious, and I think that translates into innovation and creativity. I really enjoy learning more about people, their business and what makes them tick, and I also feel that in leadership an important trait is listening. It's an underrated skill, but an important one.

Q: How do you revitalize yourself?

RG: Family is certainly very important to me  it's the centerpiece of my life, whether it's spending time with my wife or my two sons. My one son just got married. For most people, when their child gets married they go to one wedding, but in my case it was two. He married a beautiful young woman of Indian descent, so we had a traditional Indian wedding and a traditional American wedding back-to-back. That was just double joy there, it was so great. Traveling is also important to me. It's great to get away and see other cultures. I learn more every place I go, within New Jersey, the U.S., or abroad.

Q: What's one piece of advice you remember most clearly?

RG: There are a few people I look to as role models and mentors. Steve Jobs is one of them, and I often think about a quote of his: "People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things."

I like that quote so much that I have it framed in the hallway right outside my office. There are thousands of opportunities, and you have to be careful to pick ones that fit into your strategic plan, goals and objectives.

Q: What do you consider your greatest achievement at Hackensack Meridian Health so far?

RG: We've done a lot in a very short period of time, and I give my team credit for that. I'm blessed with an amazing team. The one achievement that stands out most is starting a new medical school from scratch  the first new, private medical school in the state of New Jersey in over 60 years. Because it's new, we are able to innovate in ways that wouldn't be possible at a school that's been around for a long time.

The innovation that's going on at the school is amazing, whether it's inter-professional academics where medical, nursing and allied health students attend class together and break down barriers, or students adopt families in underserved communities and learn first-hand about the challenges those families have staying healthy. We are also implementing a three-year program where students can save a fourth year of tuition and be guaranteed a residency here in New Jersey. Those are just a few examples of how we've innovated as a new school. I'm just so proud because it took a lot of work and effort, and I think it will be a huge game changer.Many congressional Republicans have been hesitant to rally around a recent court ruling that deemed the ACA unconstitutional, The Hill reports.

Though Republicans attempted to repeal the ACA in 2017, during the 2018 midterm elections, Democrats successfully attacked them over their attempts to weaken protections for pre-existing conditions. GOP Senate leader Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said he expects Democrats to do the same with the court ruling.

"The thing to remember about the judge's ruling is it has no immediate impact," said Mr. Blunt on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Healthcare will be used as a political issue way beyond the ramifications of one district judge making a ruling that has no immediate impact."

Mr. Blunt would not say whether he supported the federal judge's decision this week in Texas, according to The Hill.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., incoming speaker of the House, said that while an independent judge made the decision, it was enabled by Republican policies.

"Republicans are fully responsible for this cruel decision and for the fear they have struck into millions of families across America who are now in danger of losing their health coverage," said Ms. Pelosi.Texas Hospital Association CEO Ted Shaw called on state hospitals to unite and communicate more often with lawmakers in collective advocacy efforts in a recent blog post. The post is a reprint of an article published in the Winter 2018 issue of Rural Matters magazine.

Texas saw the 20th rural hospital close in December, spurring Mr. Shaw to write the article.

"Because human nature is competitive and sometimes self-serving and becomes more so when resources are limited, we need that reminder that the only way to succeed is by banding together," he wrote. "I don't think that's ever been more true for Texas hospitals."

The pressures hospitals face are many, according to Mr. Shaw. Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements continue to be below the cost of providing care, while "the basics of hospital financing and operations are not well understood" by lawmakers. Meanwhile, these lawmakers must listen to the needs of every industry, not just healthcare.

"For these reasons, Texas hospitals need to be vocal and consistent and frequent in our communications and engagement with lawmakers and not shy away from talking about hospital operations and finances and what all Texas hospitals need to be sustainable in order to provide the very best patient care," he wrote.

Read the full post here.

More articles on leadership and management:

24-year-old Proscia CEO: '10 years from now, digital pathology will just be pathology'

Trump pushes for new federal health law after Texas ACA ruling

Kentucky bill would make abortion a felonyWarning letters sent by the Food and Drug Administration to physicians who are providing potentially harmful services are now monitored by California's medical board, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Here are four things to know:



1. A recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/MedPage Today investigation found 73 physicians nationwide had recently been the subject of an FDA warning letter, though only one was disciplined. The letters accuse the medical license-carrying physicians of serious problems during a five-year period.



2. Some of the warnings included fertility clinics that failed to test egg and sperm donors for communicable diseases. Others involved physicians who didn't follow patient protection rules when patients volunteered for clinical trials.



3. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/MedPage Today said California's medical board began receiving the warning letters after the publications sent inquiries to the board. Spokesperson Carlos Villatoro told the publications via email that since June, "The Board reviews the letters and if they contain information regarding physicians licensed by the Board, the Board looks into the matter."



4. The FDA can only regulate products, but not the practices of medicine. It also can't discipline physicians. That's the job of state medical boards. However, the two sides don't often communicate, according to the Journal Sentinel.



For the full report, click here.



More articles on integration and physician issues:

9 important issues hospitalists should discuss with ED counterparts

Florida hospital CEO: 'Misunderstanding' led to outcry over new policy

More physicians support assisted suicide, 6 other survey findingsOver it. Photo: Yuri Gripas/Getty Images

On Monday and Wednesday this week, Donald Trump will leave the Oval Office in the West Wing in the late afternoon and walk eastward to the White House residence, where he will meet Melania Trump. Together, they will head downstairs at 5:15 to the Grand Foyer, a gilded hall directly past the main entrance, where they will be greeted by 600 people. Melania at his side, he will wave and smile at his guests, shake their hands, pose for photos, and engage in small talk. She will say Merry Christmas and he will deliver unscripted remarks. He will wave and smile and shake hands and pose and engage in small talk some more. After about two-and-a-half hours, they will ascend the stairs and return to the residence. Just before 8:30, the whole ordeal will start again. Smile, wave, pose, shake hands, make small talk. Merry Christmas! Unscripted remarks. Smile, wave, pose, shake hands, make small talk.

By the 26th, he will have attended 21 Christmas parties, clocking in at more than 52 hours of festivities in total, or about 10 percent of his waking hours this month.

This is the life of a modern president of the United States in the month of December  and Donald Trump hates every minute of it. While he is known to enjoy hosting large social events and rallies, current and former White House staffers say he regards presidential Christmas parties with a special loathing and goes out of his way to escape early. Making Christmas great again may have been a pillar of his presidential campaign  Were going to start saying Merry Christmas again, he often promised  but the war on Christmas is now raging inside of him.

One person close to the White House told me, It makes perfect sense that Trump hates the entire production surrounding Christmas, because its not about him! This person added, If it were about him, hed love it. Christmas is not about him.

Its just a lot, a senior White House official told me. Theyre hosting all these people, half of whom they dont know, the official said. He just gets impatient. He likes to go go go. Sitting through things, he gets restless.

For his first Christmas as president, the White House parties featured a procedure for guests to enter a line and take a photo with Donald and Melania, an excruciating and monotonous ritual endured by most modern presidents since the early 1960s. It can, and often does, go on for hours. But Trump seems to have less patience for it than his predecessors. At one party, Trump grew so annoyed that he began complaining openly to one of his aides. He said, Im supposed to be the president, but now all I do is stand there and take pictures all day. Theres no telling whats going on in the world right now. Id never know, the former aide told me, recalling the conversation.

While shaking hands with guests and standing for photos at another party last year, Trump spotted Mike Pence in the crowd. According to a second White House official, he forced the vice-president to take his place. He and Melania left and subbed in the vice-president for the photo line, the second official said.

To keep Trumps Christmas spirit intact this year, few parties besides those held for the Secret Service and law enforcement feature a formal photo line. He definitely gets impatient with the photo taking because that is literally, at times, two hours of standing there and taking pictures, the senior White House official told me. And because he is the ultimate host, he talks between clicks.

He was frustrated last year. I think anybody would be, the senior official said. This year hes been fine and I think its because last year so many of the parties [had] photos, so this year we have way fewer photo lines  This year has been much, much better. Much better, in terms of his being fine with things and in a much better mood  Hes said a couple of times that this year is way better than last year.

Christmastime was not always a season of forced merriment for the president. The first White House Christmas party was held in 1800 by President John Adams and his wife Abigail, according to the White House Historical Association, but it wasnt until the administration of President John F. Kennedy, well after American concerns about paganism had given way to the commercial embrace of the holiday and all of its symbols, that celebrating became a matter of First Family tradition. President Ronald Reagan even dressed up as Santa Claus in 1983.

But Trump is not the first president to bristle at the hostile, tinsel-draped takeover of his schedule. In 2012, Vanity Fair published a bizarre item in which the writer Todd S. Purdum criticized Obama for not shaking as many hands or posing for as many photos as his predecessors did during the holidays. Obama, Purdum wrote, mostly posed for photos at the parties for the media and members of Congress. As an example of someone Obama should have tried to emulate, Purdum shared a horrifying story about Abraham Lincoln holding, near-constant public receptions during the depth of the Civil War (including one on the night his young son, Willie, lay dying upstairs).

It seems lame to complain about having to go to parties in the White House, so I wont, but we were busy generally and particularly at that time of year, Dan Pfeiffer, who served as a senior adviser to Obama, told me. There were several years in a row where we were dealing with some congressionally generated crisis at the exact moment we had to go say Hi to lots of people either at night or in the afternoon. He said he thought the decision to cut down on photo-taking was just practical. Having a photo line extends the time of the event and limits the number of people you can invite, he said.

Anecdotally, what Pfeiffer said stuck out most about Christmas at the White House was a certain kind of guest. The oddest parts of the events were when people who thought Obama was the anti-Christ  like Sean Hannity and Darrell Issa  would show up to eat some Bo-shaped cookies and get a picture with the president.

Things are different now. This year, there is no party for members of the press, for instance (and good riddance). But the oddest part of Trumps Christmas events may be Trump himself.

I wouldnt characterize it like hes a grumpy Grinch. I would characterize it that they are given a lot to do, the senior White House official said, adding that the president has never complained about hosting or taking photos with members of law enforcement or Secret Service agents.

The second White House official said that the parties are better without the line for pictures, anyway, and surely nobody could blame a person for preferring not to spend several hours greeting a procession of mostly strangers: Hes kind of a germaphobe, so I heard that was a concern, too.The National Labor Relations Board has agreed to hold evidentiary hearings regarding a complaint filed by a coalition of labor unions against Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente.

The complaint alleges that Kaiser violated federal law by refusing to negotiate a new contract that covers 85,000 employees in eight states and the District of Columbia, according to the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions. The coalition  which filed the complaint and comprises 11 unions in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Hawaii, Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia  is also accusing the healthcare giant of setting negotiating conditions that would prohibit unions from political action against Kaiser.

"The [NLRB's] decision confirms what has been clear to workers for months now: Kaiser isn't the labor-friendly employer it claims to be, nor is it as committed to patient care as it claims to be," said Lanette Griffin, a laboratory assistant at Kaiser in South Sacramento, Calif. "If Kaiser was committed to improving patient care, you would expect it to want to negotiate a contract to retain and attract the outstanding caregivers who have driven the corporation's success."

In March, the coalition split into two groups "due to disagreements among its union members over what partnership means," said John Nelson, vice president of communications at Kaiser. Some unions remained in the coalition and others went to a new partnership group called the Alliance of Health Care Unions. This happened the day before bargaining was slated to begin, and negotiations did not move forward at that time.

Mr. Nelson said the disagreements came after the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West union filed a ballot initiative in California to prohibit health insurers from hiking rates on "covered policies" if the insurer has reserves that are equal to or exceed a specified cap. The initiative was ultimately withdrawn.

SEIU-UHW, along with other unions in the remaining coalition, subsequently filed a complaint with the NLRB regarding the negotiations.

A new three-year agreement between Kaiser and the Alliance of Health Care Unions has been ratified by all locals in the Alliance, and is in effect. SEIU-UHW's contract does not expire until October.

"As we have said in the past, our preference is to be in partnership with the unions who represent our employees, but for unions who prefer a traditional union-employer relationship to a partnership, we will continue to work fairly and constructively," said Mr. Nelson. "We will continue to bargain with each union in good faith, and we look forward to resolving the issues raised in the NLRB matter."

Kaiser said the NLRB decision is not a verdict but rather the start of the evidentiary hearing process to discuss the case in front of the board. Hearings are expected to start in the spring.

More articles on human capital and risk:

Pennsylvania hospital nurse strike looms

4,000 Kaiser mental health clinic workers launch 5-day strike in California

Massachusetts hospital alleges voter fraud in November union voteFrom a Pennsylvania health system resolving False Claims Act allegations to a federal judge in Texas ruling the ACA is unconstitutional, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines:

1. Federal judge in Texas rules ACA is unconstitutional: 8 things to know

A federal judge in Texas ruled that the entire ACA is unconstitutional, and a fight against the ruling is expected to ensue.

2. UnitedHealth fights lawsuit accusing insurer of underpaying mental health services

UnitedHealth Group filed a motion to dismiss a class-action lawsuit claiming the health insurer unlawfully underpaid reimbursements for mental healthcare.

3. Pennsylvania health system, CEO will pay $12.5M to resolve billing probe

Allentown, Pa.-based Coordinated Health and its founder and CEO Emil DiIorio, MD, entered into an agreement with the federal government to settle False Claims Act allegations.

4. Ascension sued by city officials to keep DC health system open

The District of Columbia attorney general's office filed a lawsuit against St. Louis-based Ascension on Dec. 14, claiming the Catholic health system's move to shutter Washington, D.C.-based Providence Health System violates the terms of Providence's hospital license.

5. Aurora Health will pay $12M to resolve improper compensation claims

Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care agreed to pay $12 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act and Stark Law.

6. Feds join lawsuit accusing Sutter Health of Medicare Advantage fraud

The Department of Justice intervened in a lawsuit against Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health, alleging the health system and an affiliated medical foundation violated the False Claims Act by submitting inaccurate information about Medicare Advantage beneficiaries.

7. Ex-auditor claims Lee Health inflated physician pay to drive referrals

A former auditor at Fort Myers, Fla.-based Lee Health filed a federal lawsuit alleging the health system paid certain physicians inflated salaries in exchange for patient referrals.

8. Target to pay $3M after allegedly refilling prescriptions without patient OK

Target will pay $3 million to resolve allegations that the company automatically refilled Medicaid recipients' prescriptions without explicit request in Massachusetts.

9. California nurse claims she lost job due to racial discrimination

A Latina former nurse at Pasadena, Calif.-based Huntington Hospital filed a lawsuit against the facility Dec. 7, alleging managers demonstrated racial discrimination and fired her on false claims of unprofessional conduct.

10. 6 Michigan physicians charged in $464M billing fraud scheme

A grand jury in Michigan returned a 56-count indictment Dec. 4 that charges six physicians in a $464 million healthcare fraud scheme.

11. US Supreme Court bows out of states' fight against Planned Parenthood

The nation's highest court decided not to hear appeals from states seeking to bar Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood.

12. 2 physicians charged in $4.7M billing fraud scheme

Two physicians and another man were charged with violating the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and conspiring to commit healthcare fraud Dec. 10.

More articles on legal and regulatory issues:

Hospitals sue HHS over site-neutral payment policy

Tennessee nurse pleads guilty in $65.7M telemedicine fraud scheme

Ex-CEO of medical debt collection firm convicted in $1.5B fraud schemeAuthorities charged the former CEO of a Tennessee-based behavioral healthcare provider with submitting false claims to government insurance programs, according to the Department of Justice.

According to a Nov. 7 indictment, Margaret Fisher, the former CEO of Fishield Behavioral Medical Services in Madison, defrauded Medicare and Medicaid by falsely billing for psychotherapy services that weren't provided or supervised by a provider.



The Justice Department claims Ms. Fisher defrauded Medicare and Medicaid of $1 million. She was charged with four counts of healthcare fraud and two counts of identity theft, as she forged a provider's signature for reimbursement checks, according to the indictment.



Ms. Fisher, who was arrested Dec. 13, could face up to 12 years in prison if convicted on all counts.



More articles on legal and regulatory issues:

UnitedHealth fights lawsuit accusing insurer of underpaying mental health services

4 biggest Anti-Kickback settlements involving hospitals in 2018

Ascension sued by city officials to keep DC health system openWaterloo-based Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-Iowa will end certain reproductive services to meet Catholic guidelines, according to local news station KWWL.

The health system, a part of St. Louis-based Ascension, will no longer schedule patients for vasectomies or tubal ligations. Health system representatives told the news station they have met with providers and staff to ensure services adhere to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.



"We have been meeting with our providers and colleagues to ensure the medical services we provide are in accordance with these guidelines for Catholic healthcare services," the health system told KWWL. "Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare remains committed to caring for the patients and communities we serve in the spirit of our Catholic values."Just over two years ago, Aetna hired Firdaus Bhathena as chief digital officer to lead the health insurer's technology strategy.

Mr. Bhathena, a startup veteran with more than 20 years of experience in the field, told Becker's Hospital Review he's excited about Aetna's software production.



"It's not often you get to build technology and solutions to enable members to lead healthier lives," he said.



Here, Mr. Bhathena answers three questions for Becker's on the future of health insurance and Aetna's technology strategy.



Responses are lightly edited for clarity and length



Question: How will insurance signup look in the future?



Firdaus Bhathena: The biggest change will be a shift in focus to open enrollment. The future is going to be more like, "Here are the kinds of experiences we're going to enable. What do you need?" People are going to be given a lot more choice and incentive to engage in healthcare experiences that are more effective and less expensive.

We won't always get this right, but we'll double down on what's working. Our push is to take the work our data science team does and bring it to life.



Q: How will artificial intelligence, telemedicine and connected devices drive change in healthcare?



FB: Healthcare needs to be high value and easy to use. My wife is a pediatrician in Boston. In the summer, Lyme disease is a big concern for her patients. She gets a lot of texts with pictures with captions like, "I saw this black dot. Can you tell me if this is a deer tick?" and "Should I take my child to the ER?" She does her best to help them out and give them advice.

In my opinion, we're not going to be doing that for much longer. Fast forward: AI and deep learning will do that initial triage for us. A patient will open up their health app and send a picture through that. If patients have further questions after the app determines a diagnosis, they can initiate a virtual care visit with a provider.



Q: What is the future role of the payer?



FB: I think insurance as a standalone business will change dramatically. The key is being there to assist a member when they're having a healthcare issue.



It's about moving healthcare to the kitchen table. In that vein, Aetna is transitioning to a health and wellness partner for our members. The only way we're going to bend cost curves is by partnering with consumers. That means not just being there when they break their leg. What we do for members on a day-to-day basis can keep them out of high-cost categories, like ER visits.Fourteen patients contracted Legionnaires' disease during an outbreak linked to the water system at UW Health's University Hospital in Madison, Wis., and three of those patients have died, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

The three patients who died all had serious, life-limiting health conditions, a hospital spokesperson told the Wisconsin State Journal. Only one patient remains in the hospital for ongoing treatment, and the other 10 have been discharged and are doing well, the spokesperson said.

In late November, UW Health reported several cases of Legionnaires' disease, a type of pneumonia, and linked the outbreak to a change to its hot water system. Lab testing confirmed that the three patients who died had the same strain of Legionella bacteria previously found in the hospital's water system. The other patients could not provide samples for testing, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

After the outbreak was discovered last month, the hospital flushed its hot water system with high levels of chlorine to eliminate the bacteria.

"Testing completed so far continues to show the expected reduction in the bacteria," the hospital said in a press release, according to WISC-TV. "UW Health will continue intensive monitoring of its water system to ensure patient safety."

Legionnaires' is caused by bacteria that are usually present at low concentrations in tap water. People contract Legionnaires' when they inhale droplets of water in the air that contain the Legionella bacteria, according to the CDC.

In 2016, about 6,100 cases of Legionnaires' disease were reported nationwide. Until last month, no cases of the disease had been acquired at UW Hospital in 23 years, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

More articles on clinical leadership and infection control:

CDC confirms record number of AFM cases: 4 things to know

Olympus settles federal scope investigation for $85M

Stethoscopes carry broad range of bacteria  even after cleaningSurgeons at Chicago-based Northwestern Memorial Hospital completed 54 heart transplants in 2018, setting a new record for the health system, according to ABC 7.

The health system celebrated Dec. 17 with the transplant recipients and their families.

"I think there are more organs available to us with some adjustments in the listing system and we are just happy we are able to provide care to the patients," Allan Anderson, MD, a cardiologist at Northwestern, told ABC 7.

More articles on clinical leadership and infection control:

2 killed, 1 injured in Texas ambulance crash

Tennessee hospital will exhume patient's body after her burial without family's OK

5 hospitals in the spotlight for patient safety issues  and how they're fixing themMost nurses  58 percent  rate their hospital's end-of-life care unfavorably, and they may hold the key to improving care quality, a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found.

"Even the best hospitals have significant room for improvement when it comes to providing better care for patients at the end of life," said lead study author Karen Lasater, PhD, RN. "Hospitals are failing to capitalize on an already available cadre of skilled end- of-of-life care providers available for every patient in every hospital  registered nurses at the bedside."

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing's Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research in Philadelphia, describes the quality of end-of-life care in about 500 U.S. hospitals, using nearly 13,000 bedside nurses to inform care quality.

The most common quality issue nurses cited (53 percent of nurses) is patients in their hospital often undergo painful procedures that probably won't change their clinical outcome.

Additionally, more than one-third (37.7 percent) of nurses say they are discouraged from discussing alternative care options with patients and their families. A similar percentage of nurses reported they often don't agree with their physician colleagues about end-of-life care decisions and feel these decisions are not made as a team.

End-of-life care is best in hospitals with effective nurse-physician teamwork, the study found. In these hospitals, authority is delegated to nurses to act on their expertise; nurses have manageable workloads; and nurses are actively engaged in hospital decision-making.Memphis, Tenn.-based Methodist University Hospital is exhuming the body of a patient after she was buried without her family's consent, according to Fox13.

Rowena Burton died in August after complications from surgery on her foot. She suffered a stroke afterward and died Aug. 29.

It wasn't until Nov. 16 that Ms. Burton's sister, Eartha Duncan, was notified that Ms. Burton had been buried in October, although Ms. Duncan told Fox13 that the family did not give the hospital permission to bury Ms. Burton.

The family told the station that they had been waiting for the results of an autopsy and a death certificate to take care of funeral arrangements themselves, but they kept getting the runaround from the hospital. That's when they asked for the station's help.

Ms. Duncan told Fox13 that the hospital was exhuming Burton's body.

"It means the world to us, even though its devastating all over again. It means that we can have some form of closure," Ms. Burtons mother told Fox13.

The health system gave Fox13 a statement indicating it is working directly with the family to address their questions and concerns.

More articles on clinical leadership and infection control:

5 hospitals in the spotlight for patient safety issues  and how they're fixing them

Major food companies pledge to use antibiotics responsibly

How a 3D model helps Penn State Children's give better heart careWith the National Institutes of Health's hold on fetal tissue acquisitions, researchers seek a fetal tissue alternatives and are coming up short, according to STAT.

Three things to know:

1.The NIH contacted Madison-based University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and public Health about purchasing some of its laboratory mice. The mice contain leftover immune system cells from newborn babies after they have heart surgery. These "humanized" mice might offer scientists with a fetal tissue free alternative to conduct research, but are "highly experimental."

"The consensus is that there are certain things about fetal tissue that make [it] unique," said Paul Knoepfler, MD, a professor at the University of California-Davis School of Medicine. "Certain experiments can really only be done on actual fetal tissue.

2. There is not a fetal tissue alternative that can serve the same purposes as fetal tissue. But the NIH is allocating about $20 million to fund research on creating fetal tissue alternatives. Francis Collins, MD, director of the NIH, argued fetal tissue use is "justified."

"There is strong evidence that scientific benefits can come from fetal tissue research, which can be done with an ethical framework," Dr. Collins told Science.

3. Following the fetal tissue acquisition freeze, the NIH offered three general alternatives, which include stem cells, organoids and different kinds of humanized mice. Researchers already are using humanized mice and organoids to test and study drugs and disease.

More articles on clinical leadership and infection control:

Flu shot rates on the rise for kids, adults

Machine learning can help predict hospital infection risk, study finds

Black teenagers less likely to get flu shots, study findsTeachers and students participate in the March for Public Education rally in Los Angeles on December 15, 2018. Photo: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

Tens of thousands of Los Angeles public school educators and their allies marched on Saturday to demand smaller class sizes, a 6 percent pay raise and the hiring of more school nurses, counselors, and librarians. (While the teachers union, the United Teachers of Los Angeles, estimated a crowd of 50,00 ,Los Angeles School Police Chief Steven Zipperman put it at 10,000.) UTLA told the Associated Press that its been negotiating with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) for 20 months, but bargaining is now at an impasse. The school district says UTLAs demands will increase its deficit; UTLA, meanwhile, argues that the district has a cash reserve of $1.8 billion that it could use to pay teachers a higher wage and hire more support staff. Its unconscionable to hold on to that money acting like kids dont need it now. We need it now, UTLA president Alex Caputo-Pearl told the AP. The union is preparing to go on strike in January; it would be the districts first strike in 30 years.

Saturdays marchers wore red, an explicit callback to the Red for Ed movement that began with West Virginia teachers in February and quickly spread to Kentucky, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Colorado in the spring. In several of those states, teachers cited the prospect of privately-run charters siphoning funds from traditional public schools as a reason to protest; Los Angeles educators have similar concerns. UTLA is demanding stricter regulation for charter schools, and leaders are especially critical of Los Angeles school superintendent Austin Beutner, a former investment banker with ties to the charter school movement. LAUSD has more charter schools than any other school district in the nation, and charter advocates and operators currently control the city school board, which leaves UTLA in a less-than-desirable bargaining position.

A LAUSD strike would broadcast these conflicts to new audiences, much as the West Virginia walkout put the states staggeringly low teacher pay in the spotlight. LAUSD is the nations second-largest school district, serving about 640,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. A strike would affect just under 500,000 students enrolled both in traditional public schools and unionized charter schools. There are, by contrast, about 265,755 public school students in West Virginia, where the only state-wide walkout occurred. A UTLA strike wouldnt be the biggest Red for Ed action  walkouts in Arizona and Oklahoma affected around 530,698 and 500,000 students respectively  but it would still be significant, as the biggest teacher strike to hit a largely Democratic state in years. (The strike at Acero charter schools in Chicago earlier this month occurred in a mostly Democratic state, but it did not spring organically out of the Red for Ed movement. After Acero teachers nearly went on strike in 2016, the Chicago Teachers Union subsequently timed 11 charter school contracts to expire at the same time.)

UTLA teachers might not be the only educators to walk out in January. Teachers in Oakland, California are also readying for a potential strike, and Virginia educators are planning a Red for Ed march in Richmond on the 28th to demand more funding for public schools. The teachers strike wave looks set to continue into 2019, and theres no reason to expect momentum to slow, either; Edweek reported on December 14 that 55 percent of teachers nationwide say theyre dissatisfied with their salaries, and public support for higher teacher pay increased significantly in states that witnessed walkouts this year, rising from 47 percent in 2017 to 63 percent in 2018. As long as strikes keep working, and public education remain underfunded, teachers are going to keep walking out.The new president of Londonderry Chamber of Commerce has vowed to harness the potential of the region "on the doorstep of Europe".

Brian McGrath, who is currently the chief executive of Foyle Port and Harbour, has been appointed as the 76th president of the Chamber of Commerce.

Mr McGrath was appointed at the chamber's annual general meeting last week. He is taking over from outgoing president, Jennifer McKeever, who is a co-director of transport firm Airporter.

In his address to members, Mr McGrath highlighted the challenges that 2019 will bring, in particular Brexit.

But he said there were also opportunities from continuing work to develop a City Deal proposal for the north west region.

In his Budget earlier this year, Chancellor Philip Hammond said negotiations would be opening up on a City Deal for Londonderry.

Mr McGrath will be supported in the role by Redmond McFadden, the head of Danske Bank's western region finance centre, who becomes the chamber's new vice president.

Speaking after his appointment, Mr McGrath said:"It is an honour to be elected as the new president of the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce.

"I would like to pay tribute to our outgoing president, Jennifer McKeever, who has done a tremendous job in representing our membership over the last year."

He said he expected 2019 to be a challenging year. "The next 12 months will bring unprecedented upheaval for businesses right across Northern Ireland and it is hugely important that they have a strong voice during these uncertain times," he said.

"We will be listening intently to the membership during this time.

"Over the next year, I would like to ensure that the chamber continues to provide strong guidance, leadership and support to its members.

"I will also be keen to demonstrate that the north west city region remains open for business despite the uncertainties, and I am determined to meet these challenges head on.

"Our geographical location on the doorstep to Europe is going to be critical for us, and this must be both promoted and harnessed in the coming months."

Mr McGrath's counterpart on Belfast Chamber of Commerce is Rajesh Rana, the director of hotel group Andras Hotels, who was appointed in June.A German renewable energy firm is expected to appeal a decision by Causeway Coast and Glens Council to refuse planning permission for six wind turbines in north Antrim.

ABO Wind sought permission to build the 150-metre structures on Croaghan Hill, close to Armoy and around five miles south of Ballycastle.

The company, which is involved in four other wind projects in Northern Ireland, said the scheme would be capable of generating just under 20MW of power.

An economic case for the wind farm also indicated it could generate 8m in business rates over 25 years, powering 27,412 homes.

ABO Wind said the project would involve spending 33m, including 1.8m in wages. It also planned to create a fund worth 1.2m for the community over 25 years.

Planning officials at Causeway Coast and Glens said the proposal was considered unacceptable at the location in the context of the local authority's area plan.

Planners raised public safety concerns over the proximity of the wind farm to homes.

They also upheld concerns from the Historic Environment Division, part of the Department for Communities, which said the proposal would "have an adverse visual impact on the integrity of the setting of Armoy Round Tower", a listed state monument.

A spokesman for the German firm told Business Telegraph: "Of course we are disappointed in the decision and we are currently reviewing our options."

ABO Wind first set up in the UK in 2006.

It moved into Northern Ireland in 2010, establishing a head office in Belfast. It is currently involved in five wind projects across Northern Ireland.

ABO Wind has already taken a number of projects to Northern Ireland's Planning Appeals Commission (PAC).

Its biggest project, a wind farm with 14 turbines at Evishagaran, near Dungiven in Co Londonderry, was eventually approved in April 2016 after the company took the case to the PAC.

The company also took its proposal to build 10 turbines at Carnalbanagh, near Glenarm in Co Antrim to the PAC.

However, the commission refused planning permission in June 2016.

At the time, ABO Wind said it was disappointed by the decision, but has made efforts to redesign the scheme to take account of landscape and visual concerns.

Another project for 12 turbines at Hilltown in Co Down (Gruggandoo) is currently being considered by the Department for Infrastructure (DfI).

The firm's smallest project, Castlegore wind farm near Kells in Co Antrim, was granted planning permission in July 2015. But permission was granted only after ABO Wind reduced the scheme from six turbines to four.

The company's website summed up its experience here, stating: "Northern Ireland has a very good wind resource.

"However, continued investment in the grid is required to ensure satisfactory integration of renewable energy to the grid."The Paper Owl team on location filming the Shaping the Coast series about the creation of the Antrim Coast Road

Gavin Halpin, the managing director of one of Northern Ireland's most successful creative media firms, says he does his job for the love of it rather than the profit.

But regardless of non-mercenary motives, Holywood-based Paper Owl Films, which he set up with his two business partners in 2012, has "hugely improved its turnover" in recent years and has plans to almost double its staff and move its headquarters in 2019.

Its success is global too, with its Pablo series - a children's animation based on a five-year-old boy who is on the autistic spectrum - something of an "international calling card", beckoning even more deals.

And it counts CBeebies, RTE, Netflix, Universal Kids, Nat Geo, Nickelodeon and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) among its clients.

It was also nominated for a Children's Bafta this year and recently won Best Marketing Campaign in the European Diversity Awards for Pablo.

Born in Drogheda, Gavin, a father-of-two, moved around a lot when he was younger to accommodate his father's accountancy career. Meath, Galway, Letterkenny, Dublin and Belfast all play a big role in his life but Letterkenny is where he calls home.

But do attributes developed to cope with moving around a lot come in handy in his career today? "I always like new things and change and I'm always able to make friends quite easily. It's given me good social skills, being that new boy at school every second year," he says.

And it is those social skills that are the foundation of his ability to attract funding and contracts with new clients, he says. They're also the backbone of the company's ability to tell stories across a range of genres - from Pablo to Irish language series and over 45 television documentaries.

"Our identity is not defined by the genre but more by the philosophy of the stories we want to tell and that gives us ability to work quite passionately," says Gavin. "If you were doing what we're doing for money you'd be mad but that's not the main driving force," he continues.

Gavin has always been passionate about the creative industries.

He recalls his childhood watching Westerns with his father which led him to apply for a degree in film and broadcasting at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) where he achieved first-class honours.

"My main focus then was practical. I wanted to shoot and edit documentaries and DIT's philosophy is to produce graduates who are employable. While the course is academic, it offers a good bit of practical skills," he says.

It was when Gavin's technical flair was challenged by industry changes in 2007, as post-production technology became more available to the masses, that he moved from the practical side of work to put his own ideas into action. Among the projects that followed were visual campaigns for economic development agency Invest NI.

A multi-skilled creative, Gavin's abilities saw him continue to work on many other projects, winning prestigious commissions in the Republic.

An Irish speaker, Gavin's other ambition was to create an Irish language series, which became the firm's first production - Bia Linn - a 26-part children's cookery series which still airs on TG4.

It was the title that started the firm's upward trajectory, which today amounts to around 150 episodes of children's television and "well over 20 hours broadcast documentary" including a three-piece series, Shaping the Coast, the unknown story of the creation of the Antrim Coast Road.

It's no mean feat considering the business was set up at a kitchen table in 2014 with nothing more than a laptop and a "50 printer".

Four years later and, on reflection, Gavin admits that a certain amount of risk-taking paid off for the founding trio, which also includes Grainne McGuinness and Stephen Petticrew. "When we look back at all those risks, that weren't very strategic, it paid off," he says.

"We worked up ideas on how to get funded and got a few things off the ground quite soon because we had, as individuals, a good set of credits in the eyes of the broadcasters, even though we didn't have infrastructure or even a decent printer. There was good faith from those people and that was what built a good platform."

Today Gavin can be found travelling the world to sell and seal deals with some of the biggest channels on TV. It's a role that calls on those interpersonal skills that he developed so well when he was moving around as a child, he says.

But it's also the part of the job that he finds the most challenging as he leaves his wife and two children, Fionn (5) and Sean (2) behind.

"You're trying to get people excited by your ideas and you need to convince them that your show has an end audience and define what makes it different.

"There is a myriad of questions to answer when you pitch and it can take three or four attempts and when you're travelling a lot it is hard.

"I had to explain to Fionn why I go away recently and I said 'I talk to people to raise money to make more Pablos' so he shuffled off and came back with his piggy bank to try and help."

Funding from NI Screen has allowed Paper Owl to draw up concepts and designs which it can then bring to the international market.

It also contributes to transport costs when the firm attends international shows. Other funding is then sourced from a "cocktail" of broadcasters, distributors and UK tax credits.

The capital raised for Pablo is what Gavin deems the highlight of his career so far. He says that finance was the biggest commercial deal it's done so far.

"That's the highlight for commercial reasons because that finance allowed us to move to Holywood and grow our staff and none of those things would have been possible without Pablo. It gave us the ability to create a solid infrastructure." There's no doubt that Pablo is the production firm's biggest success story, and will be, for many years.

In fact Gavin refers to it as the company's "international calling card". A second season has already been commissioned by CBeebies and Pablo has also paved t he way for another stream of revenue - merchandising and books.

"The book deal is almost signed and is in development and we are looking at a theatrical show - Pablo the musical - that can travel around the world. That will also bring merchandising opportunities," adds Gavin.

Pablo's success, and its USP, is its message.

"We know what the editorial perspective is and these programmes should be nourishing and I think we do have to guard against a plethora of mind-numbing nonsense and educate and inform," says Gavin.

"It has to be entertaining and funny but also send a message subliminally that you don't bully an autistic child. Pablo is unique in that he is a champion for autism and if he raises awareness, around the world, for autism, then I feel my job is done."

But Paper Owl's job is far from done. The future for the firm and its sector is filled with potential, Gavin believes - thanks to blockbuster TV series Game of Thrones, which is filmed here.

"It's a brilliant time for the creative industry in Northern Ireland. Game of Thrones has really put us on the map and that's had a knock on effect for any company talking to international broadcasters.

"Northern Ireland isn't some backwater that hasn't been heard of. It is finely regarded in the industry and everyone benefits from that. What we want now is for the industry to get stronger. We want to let talent know that you don't need to go to London or LA, you can achieve a global reputation from here.

"We could benefit from a collegiate ecosystem whereby we could help each other share contacts and from my perspective if we can help each other it will come back to us in a way. Gone are the days of covering your homework."Footfall on Northern Ireland's high street is down 6.2% on last year as fears mount for both online and bricks-and-mortar stores over Christmas.

Menswear chain Blue Inc, which has closed five stores here in recent weeks, has become the first victim of a tough retail environment.

The chain, which entered administration last week, has said its five remaining Northern Ireland stores will stay open as discussions take place about its future.

Ladieswear and interiors firm Laura Ashley is also to close 40 of its 160 stores. It has four here - Belfast, Omagh, Bangor and Coleraine.

The company said yesterday there is no timetable for closures and no list has been prepared.

Meanwhile, online retailer ASOS warned its full-year profits will be lower, blaming a "significant deterioration" in November trading. However in Co Down, fashion retailer Guess has opened a new store in Banbridge's The Boulevard.

According to information service Springboard, the weekend's bad weather brought a 6.2% decline in footfall on NI's high streets year-on-year. That's compared to a fall of just 0.1% UK-wide.

It comes as retailers gear up for what has been billed as Super Saturday this weekend, when shoppers are expected to spend 1.65bn on the final Saturday before Christmas.

According to the Centre for Retail Research, 1.38bn will be spent on gifts and festive food and drink, while 4.8 million will spend 268m online.

But analysts at Springboard are projecting that footfall will drop even further in the coming week.

Despite the gloomy outlook, the director of Belfasts CastleCourt shopping centre has said he remains positive for the future of the complex.

After suffering a 50% drop in footfall in the wake of the Primark fire in August, CastleCourt has still managed to attract a number of new brands.

Along with the new pedestrian access tunnel in front of Bank Buildings, the latest additions have thrown it a much needed lifeline in the build-up to Christmas.

On Thursday, Danish fashion retailer Vila opened its NI flagship store on the ground floor of CastleCourt. It follows Matalans move into the centres 24,000 sq ft anchor unit last month, its first Irish city centre store. Irish coffee chain Insomnia has also moved in.

Centre director Paul McMahon revealed that his leasing team is in active talks with other retailers for the new year.

There are retailers still coming to the high street and some of them are choosing CastleCourt as their first in Northern Ireland, he said.

We were like the rest of the city, we were impacted by the fire but theres no doubt the opening of the tunnel has had a positive effect, both in terms of footfall and the flow of people around the city. I think its also got the message out that Belfast is open. Its part of a psychological message that we are open for business.In the time it would take you to grab a bite to eat with a friend or buy a new outfit, you could be saving a life this Christmas by donating blood. The Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service (NIBTS) requires 115 new donors to come forward every week but Andrea Copithorne, senior marketing officer for NIBTS, says that while "a single blood donation can help save three patients, only 6% of the eligible population actually give blood".

Northern Ireland people are more likely to donate money to charity than any other part of the UK, yet when it comes to donating something that is readily available and doesn't cost us any money, why are we so reluctant to give blood?

For years I had been thinking about giving blood. I even registered online as a donor, but for some reason never got around to going through with it. I guess it was a combination of fear and lack of knowledge about what it would involve. Did I need to book in advance? How could I tell if I was a suitable donor? In retrospect, it would have been very easy for me to make a phone call and ask someone in the blood transfusion centre, but I didn't, and giving blood was always postponed until another time.

This Christmas, following the latest campaign by NIBTS to recruit blood donors, I decided to stop putting it off. With a click of a button all the information I needed was found on their website. No, I didn't need to book ahead, yes, as a healthy individual aged between 17-65 I was a suitable donor, and it would only take 45 minutes. Encouraged, I decided that there was nothing to prevent me from becoming a donor, other than my fear.

I'm not particularly afraid of needles as I have a diabetic son, and injections are part of our daily life, but it's that fear of the unknown. In order to rationalise my fear I tried to focus on the blood recipients, those children with leukaemia, cancer patients, victims of road traffic collisions and the many patients undergoing lifesaving surgery. Who was I to complain?

I'm fortunate that I live within a stone's throw from Belfast City Hospital and the headquarters of the Blood Transfusion Centre, so access to a donor centre was never an issue for me. This centre is open to donors Monday to Thursday from 9.45am to 8pm, and Friday from 9.45am to 4.45pm, with free parking offered to donors to allow ease of access. For those unable to travel to Belfast the service operates three mobile units at around 250 locations throughout Northern Ireland, and you can find a list of ongoing blood donation sessions online at www.nibts.org.

When I arrived at the centre I was directed to the second floor, where some personal details were taken about my medical history and general wellbeing. After a short wait a nurse took me through to a room where the iron levels in my blood were checked via a small and painless finger prick test. The nurse was very thorough in going through my medical history with me, and ensuring that I was indeed a suitable candidate for giving blood. It's important that, on the day of giving blood, you feel well, have eaten properly and aren't planning to do any strenuous activity later that day.

The room where you donate blood is much like a bay in a hospital ward, with beds laid out on each side. I was immediately put at ease by the friendly chatter of the nurses and, knowing that this was my first time to give blood, they were very good at explaining everything to me, as I lay up on a bed and placed my arm on a small cushion. The site on my arm was cleaned with antiseptic to reduce the potential of introducing bacteria during collection, and the actual process of getting the needle inserted took seconds and felt like a small scratch on the inside of my arm. Once in place, a nurse stayed with me to check on the flow of blood, which is collected in sterile blood packs, and the only thing I could feel was a slight pressure on my arm from a blood pressure monitor.

There were only two other people giving blood at the same time as me and, when I enquired about the low numbers, the nurse said that it is more difficult to get donors at this time of the year due to winter illnesses. This was verified by Andrea Copithorne, who said: "Unfortunately blood donation can drop during the winter months because of seasonal colds and flu, weather conditions and other activities in the run up to the festive period."

This makes it even more crucial that donors come forward during these difficult periods.

Expand Close Good deed: Olivia Rana with Rose McMullan Freddie Parkinson / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Good deed: Olivia Rana with Rose McMullan

At each donation the standard amount of blood taken is only 470mls, which is less that a pint, and this is usually transfused to someone in need within three to four days of donation. For me, the time and effort it took to withdraw this amount of blood was insignificant, and when the process was finished the needle was carefully removed from my arm and I was asked to continue lying for 10 minutes in case I felt dizzy. When I finally sat up, I didn't feel any weakness and was offered a glass of juice and a biscuit in the relaxation area, which was a very welcome gesture. This also gave me the opportunity to talk to some of the amazing donors, and find out what their experience had been like.

Mark O'Neill, a teacher at Derrychrin Primary School, Coagh, told me that he has been donating blood for 35 years, and has gained a silver badge from the NIBTS for his achievement. As he has a rare blood type, which is therefore in short supply, he had been contacted by the transfusion centre in Belfast and travelled all the way from Cookstown to donate blood. Mark's own dad benefited from a blood transfusion several years ago, which has encouraged him to continue donating.

Similarly, another donor, Eric Dawson, from Lisburn, started donating blood after his wife underwent a blood transfusion. Eric has now progressed to donating platelets, a process that requires donors to attend a donation session every four weeks. Hooked up to a machine, Eric's platelets were being harvested from his blood, and then his red blood cells returned to his body.

This process takes around one hour, and, such is the demand, Eric had been advised on this occasion that someone in the cancer unit was currently waiting on his platelets. A true hero, this was Eric's 98th time to donate, and he assured me that he feels absolutely no pain or discomfort during each session, and is happy to relax and read the newspaper during this time.

I was completely in awe of these two donors, who have given so much time and effort in order to do something for other people. As Mark said 'You never know when you or someone in your family might need blood', which of course is true, and their first-hand experience of having family members who needed blood transfusions supports this outlook.

From speaking with the nursing staff, it was clear that the commitment of these donors is very much appreciated. They understand that it can be difficult for people to make the decision to become a donor, but everyone at NIBTS is there to make the process as simple as possible.

Expand Close Good deed: Olivia Rana with Rose McMullan Freddie Parkinson / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Good deed: Olivia Rana with Rose McMullan

Many of the staff in the blood transfusion centre, and also those operating the mobile units, work tirelessly in collecting, testing and distributing more than 56,000 blood donations each year. One nurse told me that while the unit may be scheduled to close at 8pm, if there are 20 people waiting to donate blood at that time, they continue to work. An eligible donor will never be turned away.

Giving blood was a straightforward and wholly rewarding experience for me, and I felt pleased that I'd finally taken that step, particularly at this time of the year when we should be thinking more about giving gifts that really matter. I also felt a little guilty that it had taken me so long, as I could have been donating blood for years.

However, it's better late than never and, as a female donor, I can now donate blood every 16 weeks. Next time I will have no hesitation.

Expand Close Good deed: Olivia Rana with Rose McMullan Freddie Parkinson / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Good deed: Olivia Rana with Rose McMullan

If you have considered becoming a blood donor and have any questions please phone the NIBTS on 08085 534 666 or to register text 'BLOOD' to 60081. Olivia Rana's debut novel, Elastic Girl, is available at amazon.co.uk in paperback or Kindle version

The importance of blood donations

Facts and figures

The Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service (NIBTS) collects, tests and distributes more than 56,000 blood donations each year.

The NIBTS operates three mobile units at around 250 locations throughout Northern Ireland.

At its headquarters at Belfast City Hospital, almost 1,000 donation sessions are held each year.

Blood donation

During a donation session, approximately 470ml is taken - just under half a litre.

This lost fluid is quickly made up in the body - plasma in 12-18 hours, cells in a few weeks.

It takes only about 10 minutes to extract the blood. However, 45 minutes is allowed for the overall process which includes completing a form and questionnaire, a health check and a short period of rest after giving blood.

Female blood donors can give blood every 16 weeks (every four months or three times in a 12-month period).

Male blood donors can give blood every 12 weeks (every three months or four times in a 12-month period).

How your blood saves lives

Massive blood loss caused by traffic accidents and severe obstetric haemhorrage are the clearest indication for the transfusion of red cells.

In cancer care, blood transfusion therapy is very important and includes the use of specialised blood components such as platelets to address low platelet counts following chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment.

Blood transfusions can also be used when modest blood loss occurs during surgery.

Blood transfusion therapy and the ready availability of banked blood have enabled surgical procedures to be adapted and the range of surgical procedures to be extended.

Another important use of blood transfusion is in the care of very premature, severe low birth weight infants.

Source: www.nibts.orgIt would be a preposterous act of betrayal of the British people if a second referendum was called in an endeavour to resolve the Brexit shambles. This is true whether you are a Remainer or a Leaver. Parliament ordained the referendum and, at the same time, gave a solemn promise that theyd abide by the result.

The fact politicians have got themselves in such a mess trying to implement the referendum result in favour of quitting the EU cannot ever be used as an excuse for defaulting on the original undertaking.

To her eternal credit, the Prime Minister refuses to bow to the clamour for a second referendum.

She hit out at Tony Blair, accusing him of insulting the British people and the office of Prime Minister by undermining Brexit talks with calls in Brussels for a second referendum.

In a pointed swipe at the Labour heavyweight, the Prime Minister said a second referendum would amount to parliament abdicating responsibility.

Mrs May said: For Tony Blair to go to Brussels and seek to undermine our negotiations by advocating for a second referendum is an insult to the office he once held and the people he once served. We cannot, as he would, abdicate responsibility for this decision.

Parliament has a democratic duty to deliver what the British people voted for. I remain determined to see that happen. I will not let the British people down.

The trouble is that the people who really matter  the great British electorate  are being fobbed off with contradictory stories about what is going on behind the scenes. Some are insisting that the Cabinet is involved in its own civil war about whether to have a second referendum, while others insist this is completely untrue.

Meanwhile, those calling for another poll are claiming that those who voted for the UK to leave the EU did not appreciate what this would involve.

How patronising. Of course, most people realised that the EU negotiating team would try to squeeze every drop of blood out of the UK in what has approached the level of bullying the Prime Minister partly, no doubt, to frighten any other member states which might be considering following in the UKs footsteps.

Its as if the elitists simply assume  arrogantly  that they know better than the people they are supposed to serve (and are paid handsomely for it).

Some of the reasons given by those demanding another referendum are bizarre  to put it mildly. Sir Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat leader, has said the Remain campaign during the original referendum fell far short of even being effective.

Well, that is laughable and is no reason for going to the polls again.

The simple truth is that the British voters, on both sides of the argument, deserve better of their politicians than this.

n Theresa May is fighting her corner against a stubborn and obdurate team of negotiators in Brussels, who are finding her a much tougher opponent than theyd probably expected.

But there are those who would like to see a little more drama and aggression on the part of the UK team.

In similar circumstances, Margaret Thatcher (above) would thump the table and brandish her famous handbag, frightening the lives out of the Brussels team.

Theresa May cannot match that  but she is adamant not to surrender and is to be commended for that.

But what is urgently required is some kind of magic to sort out the shambles in the House of Commons, where at the moment getting a majority on anything appears to be a major problem.

Somehow, all this has to be resolved and the Leavers get what they voted for in the referendum in a fair and honourable way.

n When all this is over, major surgery will be required to restore the shattered Conservative Party back to rude health. It may well take a new leader to do that.

As you might expect, the usual suspects, like Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt (above), have both indicated they will be in the running.

But in politics, it is often not the obvious names who get the crown.

Has anyone thought of David Lidington  the quiet man who is Theresa Mays de facto number two? He is the dark horse to watch.

But there is going to be a lot more discord before that position is reached.Boris Johnson lookalike Drew Galdron, who styles himself as Faux Bojo, stands on the Irish border with an anti-Brexit sign

Prime Minister Theresa May answers questions after making a statement to the House of Commons yesterday

Nigel Dodds has said the DUP will not support Jeremy Corbyn's motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Theresa May, describing it as "parliamentary theatrics and game-playing".

Last night the DUP Westminster leader said his party was "not interested" in the "play-acting" of the Labour leader.

Read More

Mr Corbyn yesterday tabled a long-threatened motion of no confidence in Mrs May after she set out the timetable for MPs to pass judgment on her deal with Brussels.

But the vote faced being opposed by Mrs May's opponents in her own party and the DUP, and the Government would have to allow Commons time for the confidence vote to take place this week.

But Downing Street ruled out allowing parliamentary time "for what is a stunt".

And it effectively dared Mr Corbyn to bring a vote of no confidence in the Government in a bid to seek a general election instead of targeting the PM.

Earlier, Mrs May said the House of Commons would have the chance to debate her Withdrawal Agreement in the week MPs return to Westminster after Christmas on January 7.

The crucial vote - which was postponed earlier this month to avoid a heavy defeat - will take place the following week.

Labour leader Mr Corbyn said it was "unacceptable" to delay the vote and said he was tabling a motion "that this House has no confidence in the Prime Minister".

He told Mrs May: "A responsible prime minister would, for the good of this country, put this deal before the House this week so we could move on from this Government's disastrous negotiation."

The wording of the motion is targeted at Mrs May rather than the Government as a whole. As such it is largely a symbolic political move on Labour's part.

Even if it was successful, the motion would not trigger the process set out under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act which could eventually lead to a general election.

While Labour insisted the motion should be allocated time for debate, Mr Dodds suggested the DUP will not be distracted from its priority - the removal of the Brexit backstop.

"We are not interested in the parliamentary antics or play-acting of the Labour Party," he said in a statement.

"For our part we are focused on the meaningful vote and the need to secure the necessary changes to ensure we have the right deal for the United Kingdom."

Mr Dodds also told Sky News: "We wouldn't be supporting that motion, we don't think it's the right time. It's a bit of parliamentary theatrics and game-playing."

Hours earlier, the North Belfast MP had called for clarity about what concessions Mrs May is seeking from the EU over the backstop.

The 10 DUP MPs are adamantly opposed to the inclusion of any backstop in the withdrawal treaty because they believe it could separate Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.

The Prime Minister is reliant upon them under a confidence and supply deal which has been subject to considerable pressure and tension recently.

Mr Dodds said: "There is a need for clarity from the Prime Minister about exactly what she is asking for to deal with the key concerns about the legally binding indefinite nature of the backstop with no right for the United Kingdom to exit on its own terms.

"The EU's response to the summit was not surprising, but the Prime Minister must decide whether she will stand up to such tactics or once again accept a deal on Europe's terms alone."

He added: "Following the summit last week the European Council have talked about clarifications and reassurances but ruled out renegotiating, contradicting or reopening the legal text.

"They also even struck out text which stated the backstop didn't represent a desirable outcome for the EU27."

Mr Corbyn's move appeared to galvanise Tory ranks, with key Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg - the ringleader of the recent Conservative attempt to oust Mrs May - surprisingly offering his assurances that she "commands my confidence too".

He had previously said that despite seeing off the Conservative Party's internal motion of no confidence in the PM by 200 votes to 117, Mrs May should resign as soon as possible.

Mr Rees-Mogg's European Research Group (ERG) also said it would "of course be voting with the Government on this meaningless Labour motion".

Amid ongoing Westminster deadlock, the SDLP yesterday threw its weight behind fresh calls for a second Brexit referendum.

"The SDLP have said repeatedly that we will support any opportunity to stop Brexit including another referendum," said Claire Hanna MLA.

"The problem isn't with the current deal on the table, but with Brexit itself.

"There is no magical way to reconcile Brexiteer promises with the UK Government's legal obligations to the island if Ireland."

Mrs May, in a warning to campaigners calling for a second referendum, has said that it would "break faith with the British people" and would do "irreparable damage to the integrity of our politics".A leading Irish economist has warned that "we are 100 days away from disaster" if a solution to the Irish backstop is not found.

Dan O'Brien, chief economist at the Institute of International and European Affairs, also claimed the Irish Government and EU have miscalculated their approach to the controversial customs issue.

He said it was a mistake for negotiators to put the issue on the table in the first place.

"It was always my view that the British political system would simply not be able to digest what's in the backstop," Mr O'Brien said.

"If you put something on the negotiating table that you know your opposite number can't digest, you increase the risk that everyone walks away with no deal."

He said there is now a real risk that the very thing the backstop arrangement is trying to prevent will come to pass.

"We need to think about it again," he said. "We are now facing a disaster, we are 100 days from a disaster, and we need to start looking at alternatives."

Speaking on Radio Ulster yesterday, the commentator said if neither side adapts its position "we will have a hard border" in Ireland. Mr O'Brien suggested three alternatives, including his call for a Northern Ireland-only referendum for the people to decide the way forward.

He asked: "Do they want to be part of the UK customs territory or the EU customs territory?" While he did acknowledged the "toxic and divisive" nature of such a poll, he also said a no-deal Brexit would produce the same outcome and lead to "deterioration" in the "relationship between the two communities".

Mr O'Brien also suggested the establishment of an alternative toll booth-style "business border" in the Republic which would require the Irish Government to seek legal assurances that Westminster would not conduct similar checks of goods in Northern Ireland.

A third alternative he proposed is for Dublin to seize upon "a power vacuum" left by the absence of influence from Brussels and seek a "bigger role" in the governance of Northern Ireland.

See Business Telegraph, page 12Northern Ireland's two main unionist parties have thrown their weight behind the Prime Minister after she dismissed calls for a second referendum on Brexit.

Theresa May told the Commons yesterday that a new national poll would do "irreparable damage" to the integrity of British politics.

Backing Mrs May, DUP MP Gavin Robinson said those calling for another public vote on Brexit were insulting democracy.

"In June 2016 a democratic vote was taken. Democracy must be upheld. Re-running referendums because of a particular result is an insult to those who have faith in the democratic processes," he said. "It's time to deliver on the outcome of the referendum, ensuring a good deal for the whole of the UK rather than continuing to a repeat vote. The next suggestion will be that we should have the best of three."

Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann MLA said his party does not support a second referendum. "In our view it would be divisive rather than healing," he added.

Sinn Fein MP Chris Hazzard said that in the wake of an increasingly likely no-deal Brexit, a referendum on a united Ireland should be called. But he added: "If there was to be a second referendum, Sinn Fein is not opposed to that and would campaign actively to remain in the EU. However, Sinn Fein does not believe a second referendum is necessary. The majority of people in the north voted to reject Brexit and remain in the EU."

SDLP Brexit spokesperson Claire Hanna MLA said her party "will support any opportunity to stop Brexit, including another referendum, as the fact remains that the UK Parliament is in deadlock with no majority for any form of Brexit, and no pathway to resolving this".

Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry said there was strong and consistent evidence that a majority of voters do not want Brexit.

"This is an unprecedented political crisis for the UK. The Prime Minister needs to be clear that if a negotiated Brexit is to occur then this Withdrawal Agreement, including the backstop, is the only option. Right across the House of Commons, MPs need to stop chasing delusions," he said.

"The only coherent alternative is a second referendum.

"The Prime Minister's increased emphasis on ruling this out is both arrogant and foolhardy."Cash-strapped health bosses have spent more than 600,000 on relocating doctors.

The Western Trust had the highest spend, shelling out almost half of the total relocation fees for doctors in Northern Ireland between 2014 and 2018, figures show.

Read More

Health officials cover the cost of a variety of expenses incurred by doctors when they relocate to help fill vacant posts.

Figures reveal that while the Western Trust spent 298,617 over the five years, the South Eastern Trust spent 28,555.

The Northern Trust paid 41,214, the Southern Trust spent just over 72,000, while the Belfast Trust paid 195,869.

The figures were released by the Department of Health's permanent secretary Richard Pengelly in response to questions by SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan.

It was explained that there is a maximum that can be claimed by staff when they relocate.

They can only claim 1,000 if the employment contract is up to 12 months or if it is longer than 12 months and they do not sell their former residence as a result of taking up the new job. They can claim up to 8,000 if the employment contract is longer than 12 months and they sell their former home.

Mr McCrossan hit out at the spend, particularly by the Western Trust, and called for NHS officials to press ahead with a proposed medical school in Londonderry.

It has been claimed that it will be easier to fill vacant posts in the Western Trust if doctors are training in the region.

However, the medical school is one of a series of Department of Health policies, strategies and capital developments being held up by the political impasse.

Mr McCrossan said: "The fact the Department of Health has spent so much money relocating doctors is a symptom that something major is wrong with the training and recruitment of doctors across the North.

"Our doctors, nurses and healthcare staff are working under immense and intolerable pressures.

"They are delivering, in many instances, against the odds.

"It comes as no surprise the Western Trust spends most, given that Altnagelvin and Enniskillen are facing major shortages in staffing, both doctors and nurses.

"This is inevitably adding more pressure to the existing dedicated, hard-working and superhero staff we have.

"It's clear we have a massive issue in the west and north west, but there is a clear solution - a new postgraduate medical school in Derry. The effort put into this project must be redoubled and I believe the Department of Health should heavily contribute to make that happen."

The Western Trust did not respond to the comments made by Mr McCrossan, while the Department of Health said it was unable to comment.Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP/REX/Shutterstock

Donald Trump and his allies have spent two years spinning elaborate conspiracy theories about an alleged deep state conspiracy to frame the president and his campaign for imagined crimes revolving around cooperation with Russia. The most recent iteration of these theories have centered around Michael Flynn, Trumps former national security adviser, who has already pleaded guilty to federal charges. Flynn, Trumps supporters claim, had done nothing wrong and was trapped into telling an inconsequential lie to FBI agents desperate to use him against Trump.

Flynns sentencing hearing today showed that this theory, like every previous exculpatory theory devised on Trumps behalf, is an absurd fantasy.

The precise extent of Flynns crimes remains largely redacted. But the response of the judge, Emmet G. Sullivan, gives some indication of their severity. Sullivan lectured Flynn, Arguably you sold your country out  Im not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense. He mused that Flynn may have committed treason, before later acknowledging that treason only applies to assisting foreign enemies that are in a state of war with the United States (which Russia and Turkey were not.)

What makes this turn of events so devastating is that conservatives have held out Sullivan as the judicial hero who would vindicate their theories. Fox News legal pundit Jeanine Pirro called him a jurist unafraid of the swamp, a judge who has a track record of calling out prosecutorial misconduct, a man who does not tolerate injustice or abuse of power. Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel praised Sullivan as a judge who is wise to the tricks of prosecutors and investigators  His reputation is for being no-nonsense, a straight shooter, an advocate of government transparency.

Anticipating just such a triumph, Eli Lake published a column this morning speculating that Flynn had been entrapped and was owed an apology.

Instead, Flynns judge reeled in shock at the severity of his crimes, hinting that he might hand down prison time despite Robert Muellers recommendation that Flynn go free due to his cooperation. For this reason, Sullivan offered, and Flynn accepted, a 90-day delay, so that Flynn might have more cooperation to show in order to bargain down his sentence. In the meantime, Sullivan dealt a death blow to the theory that Flynns crimes were minor, let alone that he had been mistreated by prosecutors.

Two more mysteries remain. The first is just what crimes by Flynn Muellers prosecutors found. The second, even larger, is what Flynn gave them on Trump. If his offenses were as serious as Sullivan indicated, and Mueller still suggested he skip prison, it stands to reason that the evidence he turned over concerning other figures is devastating.

Flynn was not set up. He was charged for committing serious crimes. And he is probably going to escape prison because the crimes committed by the people he worked with and for are even more serious.Motorists who may have clues about the murder of Jim Donegan have been urged to come forward by police.

The 43-year-old was shot dead while sitting in his red Porsche Panamera on the Glen Road on December 4 while waiting to pick up his 13-year-old son.

He was killed by a lone gunman who shot him dead in broad daylight.

Detective Chief Inspector Pete Montgomery said: "I would like to hear from anyone who was driving in the area of the Glen Road and Clonelly Avenue around 3.10pm and just afterwards as I need to eliminate your car from my enquiries.

"I also need to see any dash-cam footage which could be of use to my investigation.

Please come forward to police by calling 101 without delay as your dash-cam footage could hold vital clues.

Jim Donegan's Porsche had the registration JDZ34.

Since Mr Donegan's murder it has been reported that the father-of-two was involved in the drugs trade.

Speaking ahead of his funeral, his family called for no retaliation to his death.Police have appealed for two victims to come forward after fears they were both defrauded by the same man.

Detectives in Bangor received two reports of fraud on March 14 involving members of the public in the Holywood area.

It was reported both victims had been befriended by a man who convinced them both to lend him money.

In one report the victim was convinced to give money to the man to help develop a business idea. He further convinced her to lend him another sum of money.

After a lengthy period, the woman had received just a fraction of the money she lent him. She never received the remainder.

In the other report, the victim was persuaded to hand over cash and his car, which the man agreed to buy, paying fixed sums every month.

However, after a period the payments for the vehicle stopped and the car was sold on and the victim was left significantly out of pocket.

Detective Constable Horner said that police believe there may be other victims.

"Both of these victims placed their trust in this man, lending him their money in good faith and in the belief they would get back what they were owed. However, that didn't happen and both victims lost considerable sums of money," he said.

"Unfortunately, we believe there may be others out there who have fallen victim to this man and his scams, and I want to make a direct appeal to them to come forward to us.

"In particular, I want to appeal to anyone who believes they may have come into contact with this man when he ran a business in the Holywood area between 2015 and 2018. Do you believe you were befriended by this man and asked to invest money in his business, or loan him money which he promised to pay back with a substantial return? "

He appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

"If you think you were, or if you have information you believe would assist our investigation I would appeal to you to get in touch with us. Anyone who can help should could detectives on the non emergency number 101, quoting reference number 1180 of 14/03/18," Detective Constable Horner said.

"Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime."

"Scammers are creative and will do whatever they can to con people out of money. Police would advise people to always err on the side of caution when it comes to people asking for the loan of money or asking for your personal details.

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is and, in the case of these two examples in Holywood, that's exactly what happened."What the refurbished seclusion room at Muckamore Abbey Hospital looks like / Credit: Belfast Trust

The Belfast Trust has released the first images of a controversial seclusion facility at the scandal-hit Muckamore Abbey Hospital.

Responding to speculation about conditions in the room, a representative from Belfast Trust said it was not padded and included an intercom allowing patients to communicate.

On Monday evening the head of the Department for Health Richard Pengelly apologised to the families of patients at the hospital, which provides care for those with learning difficulties and behavioural problems.

A report given to families this month, which has not been made public by the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, has made serious criticisms of the treatment of vulnerable adult patients.

Given the public interest around the seclusion room at Muckamore Abbey Hospital, the Trust wishes to share these pictures of the seclusion room and de-escalation suite.



(Before works) pic.twitter.com/RrVzkn5sTC  Belfast Trust (@BelfastTrust) December 18, 2018

One key element the report highlighted was the use of the seclusion facility in the hospital's Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), with descriptions of the conditions in the room and the frequency it has been used with patients.

The Trust undertook a scheme of works to create a de-escalation area in 2017. Work commenced in March 2018 and was completed in May 2018. The seclusion room itself was re-painted in May 2018 and otherwise remains the same.



Full statement: https://t.co/3BMrLH9qRC



(After works) pic.twitter.com/do0TdIYurA  Belfast Trust (@BelfastTrust) December 18, 2018

Speaking to the BBC, the mother one of patient said: ""I saw a room 12 by eight, with padded walls, and a leather chair sitting in the middle of it."

Images released on Tuesday evening show the room before and after a refurbishment.

In a statement on Tuesday, Belfast Trust said it was responding to the public interest which has grown in recent days.

Works were carried out to create the de-escalation area in 2017, with work commencing in March of this year and being completed in May.

Only fresh paint was added to the seclusion room, with this also being carried out in May.

The window in the seclusion room includes an integrated blind which allows for privacy.

In total the de-escalation area which includes a de-escalation suite, an en-suite bathroom and a seclusion room takes up 59m square.

"In line with Trust policy, and based on national guidance, seclusion may be used as an emergency management procedure to contain severely challenging behaviour which is likely to cause harm to the patient themselves or to others," the spokesperson Trust said.

"Its appropriate use is sometimes practised in certain contexts of learning disability inpatient services. Its usage is constantly reviewed and it should only be used for the shortest time possible with patients being kept under constant review.

"A patient is assessed by a nurse in charge and monitored at all times whilst in seclusion.

"The seclusion room is not padded and there is an intercom. Prior to the completion of work in the area earlier this year there had been an en-suite facility adjacent to the seclusion room. There is now direct access to this en-suite from the seclusion room itself."One of the most senior Catholic members of the RUC has said it is critical the PSNI receives support right across society, after one officer revealed the high personal cost of policing in Northern Ireland.

Peter Sheridan was speaking after the Catholic officer in Londonderry told BBC Radio Foyle he has had to cut ties with some family members since joining the police.

Mr Sheridan, now the chief executive of Co-Operation Ireland, served 32 years in the police here, firstly as an RUC officer, before retiring in 2008 as a PSNI Assistant Chief Constable.

He said he too had to make sacrifices and his decision was difficult for his family at the time.

But he added that "in terms of job satisfaction and knowing I was helping people it was worth it".

He added: "Despite all of the difficulties and challenges, I met a lot of good people along the way, inside and outside the job.

"It was difficult for my family and it was something we talked about. I would encourage anybody to join the police - the challenges facing Catholic police officers are challenges for wider society.

"Policing is at its best when it is reflective of society, so these are challenges for wider society, for the Policing Board, the Executive when it's in place, Government agencies, public and private sector - these are not just challenges for the Chief Constable.

"We need to continue working at this, will all need to support people who join policing, because it is in all our interests."

The officer who spoke to the BBC said: "The only place I wanted to work was the city - you have to be from the city to appreciate Derry folk.

"There are lots of people here who want to do the job but they are afraid of the comeback on it with their family living in Derry.

"I have had to make sacrifices, it involves not coming home to Derry, you just have to cut off your ties with your family, not just for yourself but for them as well. My family have never been targeted, but that's always in the back of your mind and that's one of the reasons why you have to cut off ties."

Kate Carroll, whose Catholic PSNI constable husband Stephen (48) was murdered by dissident republicans in March 2009, said it's "ridiculous" that there's still a stigma attached to being a police officer in Northern Ireland.

"When Steve was here he didn't have to break ties with his family, but he had to lie," she said. "I remember the lies that we had to tell and the places that we would loved to have gone but couldn't go to for safety reasons.

"And we were always worried about something happening to his dad and grandmother, who lived near us, because Steve was in the police.

"We didn't tell anyone what Steve's job was. We always told people he was a personal trainer.

"You felt disloyal lying, but you didn't know who you could trust. You just didn't know and you had to be very careful about speaking - careless talk costs lives.

"In this day and age it should not be that way. The police force should be respected as protectors of the community, but in reality they don't really have a life."

Chief Inspector Alan Hutton said that despite the challenges, Catholic recruitment, particularly from strongly republican and nationalist areas, is increasing.

He said: "Catholic representation within the police is only part of the story - we are seeing nationalist and republican Catholics who are joining the police, which means we are more representative. What you are seeing is perhaps, not a massive shift in percentage terms, but you are seeing people from communities who would have traditionally not joined the police coming in.

"A Catholic from Portstewart or Bangor may have joined the police previously but now we are seeing Catholics from working class republican areas joining and loving it. That's when you know you are winning. In spite of all the risks we face, people are still stepping forward and doing it and they are coming from areas that 20 years ago would have been unheard of."

DUP MP Gregory Campbell called for greater support from the nationalist community for those considering signing up.

"They do not deserve to be picketed and protested against and threatened which is what has happened in the past," he said.

"Both Sinn Fein and the SDLP need to take a stand and show their tangible support to these people that they think they are doing the right thing by choosing a career in policing."

SDLP policing spokeswoman Dolores Kelly said: "It is imperative that Mr Campbell and his party colleagues engage in honest conversation around the past and the policing of the past which has hampered Catholic recruitment. If only the DUP would do the right thing by victims and give full support for the mechanisms for dealing with the past, then we would see an increase in recruitment of officers from Catholic backgrounds."The DUP's Gregory Campbell has called for leadership from the Catholic community on policing in Northern Ireland.

The East Londonderry MP was speaking after the story of a police officer from Londonderry emerged in the media, saying nationalist and republican politicians "need to move beyond sound bites".

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle during the week the officer said he had cut ties with some members of his family for their safety, and it had made it difficult for him to return to his home city.

"Once you join the job, for someone from Derry, it is very hard for them to socialise with family or come back into the city," the officer said.

In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Campbell said he wished to see a police service which was broadly representative of the backgrounds of the people living in Northern Ireland and said the report was "deeply alarming but sadly unsurprising".

"Institutionalised sectarianism within the nationalist and republican community has been used as an excuse for attacks on officers," he said.

"Political and civic leadership is needed. If we want a society that moves away from violence, intimidation and fear then accepting the rule of law and those there to uphold it  the police - must be the starting point," he said.

"Nationalist and republican parties need to move beyond sound bites and advocate the police as a career option for people from the Catholic community, and stand with those who apply to join.

"Peadar Heffron, who joined the police and suffered grievously as a result of a car bomb attack, was ostracised by his GAA club and could not take part in activities as a result of his career path. This is not the way forward for any society."

Mr Campbell also noted Chief Constable George Hamilton had told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in June of this year that losing friends and family was one of the reasons Catholics were not joining the PSNI in greater numbers.New DNA profiles and suspect fingermarks have been uncovered by detectives investigating the Armys notorious IRA agent Stakeknife.

Bedfordshire Police Chief Constable Jon Boutcher is investigating the high-ranking Army mole who reputedly led the republican organisations nutting squad, an internal security unit which brutally interrogated and murdered suspected spies during the Northern Ireland conflict.

Dozens of detectives are probing more than 50 murders. Suspects including members of the security forces and the Provisional IRA are being brought in for questioning.

We are using ground-breaking techniques to review and uncover forensic evidence which was not previously available and that has allowed us to drive this investigation further than has been previously possibleBedfordshire Police chief Jon Boutcher

In 2003, Stakeknife was widely named as west Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci, but he has always strongly denied the allegation.

The chief constable said: We are using ground-breaking techniques to review and uncover forensic evidence which was not previously available and that has allowed us to drive this investigation further than has been previously possible.

We have managed to obtain a number of new DNA profiles and unidentified finger marks which are highly likely to belong to offenders. This evidence is all helping us to piece together a picture of what really happened to allow us to finally get to the truth.

This investigation has been hugely complex and, at times, challenging, but the team has been steadfast in its approach to gathering every possible piece of evidence.

The probe is centred on possible crimes by paramilitaries, agents and Army and police handlers linked to Stakeknife, allegedly the militarys highest-ranking spy within the IRA.

Multiple murders, attempted murders, torture and unlawful imprisonments are included.

Expand Close New DNA profiles and suspect fingermarks have been uncovered by detectives investigating the Armys notorious IRA agent Stakeknife, Bedfordshire Police chief constable Jon Boutcher said (Brian Lawless/PA) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp New DNA profiles and suspect fingermarks have been uncovered by detectives investigating the Armys notorious IRA agent Stakeknife, Bedfordshire Police chief constable Jon Boutcher said (Brian Lawless/PA)

Earlier this month Scappaticci, 72, avoided prison after admitting two counts of possessing extreme pornography.

12,000 documents examined

1,000 statements taken

129 interviews conducted

6,000 investigative actions made

Operation Kenova, the name for the independent police investigation into Stakeknife, has gathered more than 12,000 documents, secured 1,000 statements and conducted 129 interviews with witnesses, victims and families resulting in more than 6,000 investigative actions for the team.

Mr Boutcher, who is leading the investigation, recalled: I said at the outset that this would be a wide-ranging investigation and that is exactly what it has been.

At the heart of the investigation and the reason we are doing this, are the families  without exception they have each shown incredible strength, bravery and humility in speaking to me and supporting Operation Kenova despite various setbacks and disappointments they may have had over the years.

I made a promise to those families that I would do everything in my power to get the truth for them and that very much is what this investigation is about.

These offences were committed by cowards and its time the truth about those involved came outBedfordshire Police chief constable Jon Boutcher

Most of those whom detectives have spoken to have been victims or witnesses but various suspects have been identified, the senior officer added.

Investigators based in London and Belfast also conducted full forensic reviews on numerous murder and abduction cases which have led to 199 requests for new forensic examinations, resulting in a number of new DNA profiles and suspect finger marks.

Mr Boutcher said he intended to submit full files to the Director of Public Prosecutions in Northern Ireland next year and appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

These offences were committed by cowards and its time the truth about those involved came out, he said.John Linehan as May McFettridge in Jack And The Beanstalk at the Grand Opera House

John Linehan as May McFettridge in Jack And The Beanstalk at the Grand Opera House

Two men have been arrested after a sold-out pantomime at Belfast's Grand Opera House was marred when a glass was thrown at star of the show May McFettridge.

Police were called and held the pair during Saturday evening's performance of Jack And The Beanstalk in front of more than 1,000 people, including many children.

The panto dame, played by John Linehan, was in a special effects helicopter that 'flew' out into the auditorium above families in the stalls when the glass was hurled.

It's understood it was thrown from a private box above the side of the stage.

It shattered on impact and a member of the audience said the musical director and a number of people in the front rows appeared to have been showered with glass.

Linehan, who has played the lead May McFettridge role in the Opera House panto for 29 years, was unhurt and the show continued until the interval, just minutes after the incident.

It's understood that Opera House staff rushed to the assistance of people in the stalls and confronted two couples in the box.

The PSNI was immediately alerted.

Yesterday it said: "Police received a report that a glass had been thrown onto the stage during a performance at the Grand Opera House in Belfast on the evening of Saturday 15th December.

"Officers attended and spoke to a number of individuals, resulting in the arrest of two men aged 32 and 35 on suspicion of a number of offences including criminal damage and disorderly behaviour.

"Both men were later released on bail pending further enquiries."

The second half of the panto was delayed for a short time.

It's understood that people who were in other parts of the theatre, away from the stalls, were unaware of exactly what had happened.

The Grand Opera House released a brief statement to the Belfast Telegraph yesterday afternoon, but cast members didn't comment.

It said: "We can confirm that the Police Service of Northern Ireland was called to the theatre on Saturday 15 December following an incident involving an audience member at a performance of the pantomime Jack And The Beanstalk. As this is now a police matter, we will not be making any further comment at this time."

It's not clear if the box at the centre of the police investigation was booked on a one-off basis or if it was a corporate booking.

But it's understood that management at the Opera House have been reviewing what measures can be taken to ensure that there's no repeat of Saturday's incident, which sources say is being treated "extremely seriously".

Health and safety officials have also been consulted.

It's thought there may now be a total ban on glasses and bottles being used inside the auditorium.

Theatre-goers in parts of the Grand Opera House are allowed to bring pre-show and interval drinks into the auditorium in plastic glasses.

But hospitality packages offered to patrons who book seats in the stage-side boxes can include canapes and drinks, such as bottles of Champagne or Prosecco.

The theatre's website says the "stunning, ornate, gilt boxes perfectly frame the stage, offering a private seating area dressed in opulent red velvet".

One woman who attended Saturday's panto said: "They shouldn't allow glasses in at all. It's disgusting that a glass was thrown.

"It would have been bad enough at any performance, but the fact that this happened during a pantomime made it even worse, especially as so many children were enjoying a magical night out.

"It could all have ended in tragedy. Someone might have lost an eye from the glass falling down on top of them.

"Why anyone would want to do something like that is beyond me.

"The helicopter scene was mesmerising. It looked like a real helicopter and everyone was ooh-ing and aah-ing as it hovered on stage before flying out into the theatre. It was an amazing stunt.

"You couldn't see any wires or supports for the machine.

"May McFettridge was brilliant. She couldn't have known what was going on, but she held it all together like a real trouper."Carlos Ghosn is in trouble. Photo: Junko Kimura-Matsumoto/Bloomberg via Getty Images

As I have read about the criminal charges against former Nissan chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn, I have been confused about the nature of those charges: that he had been lying about how much Nissan was paying him.

The context of the charges made clear that he had kept not just the Japanese government (and the public) in the dark about the size of his compensation package, but also much of Nissans board. How was this possible? How could a company be unaware of how much it was paying its own CEO?

A remarkable, in-depth Wall Street Journal report fills in some details, and reflects the importance of having a board that always monitors a CEOs practices, not just when his management strategy falls out of favor. This is especially remarkable:

Only a handful of people at the company knew what was going on, Nissan says. There was no compensation committee of the board to oversee executive pay, and Mr. Ghosn had almost sole authority to decide how much money top officials made.

This is a very bad way for a major corporation to oversee executive pay. One of the key functions of a board of directors is to set the terms of the CEOs employment. There should be a compensation committee of independent directors that does this.

As the Journal describes, Ghosns scheme to underreport his pay involved deferring much of his compensation, and then deciding that compensation that was deferred didnt have to be reported yet. The Journal says he had accrued over $80 million in deferred compensation through this strategy, over the objection of auditors from Ernst & Young.

I am still confused about how this scheme was supposed to work in the long run. At some point, Ghosn was going to retire, and then presumably he would seek to collect the $80 million in deferred payments that only a handful of people at the company knew about. How was that going to work?

The Journal story also describes a second abuse, for which Ghosn has not yet been indicted:

At the end of 2010, Nissan created a company named Zi-A Capital BV in the Netherlands, which [Ghosn associate Greg Kelly, who has also been indicted] told Nissans board would be used to make venture investments, according to company filings and people familiar with the matter. Zi-A, which eventually got $82.8 million in funding, became the vehicle through which Nissan would buy additional homes, including the one in Beirut, through multiple layers of shell companies registered in offshore locations.

Additional homes, that is, for the use of Ghosn and his family, including a four-bedroom, beachfront apartment in Rio de Janeiros Copacabana neighborhood. Beirut and Rio are not major operation centers for Nissan, but they are places where Ghosn has extensive personal ties.

The Journal describes how junior and senior employees at Nissan grew increasingly discontented in recent years with the strategic choices Ghosn has made. Their view was that Nissan was being used to prop up its less-profitable corporate cousin, the French automaker Renault. This grievance motivated Nissan managers to look more deeply into Ghosns financial management practices; for example, figuring out what on earth that Zi-A Capital subsidiary was doing, a question the Journal says E&Y had been asking annually. A group of managers, including the boards compliance auditor, only discovered earlier this year that the Ghosn family house in Beirut was owned and paid for by Zi-A.

Its good that they eventually figured out what was going on, but this timeline demonstrates the importance of formalized and independent corporate governance structures that monitor a CEOs actions and how he is compensated, whether he is in or out of favor within the company.

Ghosn was once a legend, widely credited with saving Nissan from bankruptcy in the 1990s. So long as he was revered, he could disregard the advice of Nissans accountants and do what he wanted. Youre not supposed to become subject to board oversight and the law only after youve fallen into disfavor because of your strategic choices.Two further staff members at Muckamore Abbey Hospital have been suspended, the health trust has confirmed.

Historical CCTV footage from the Co Antrim facility is being screened. The PSNI is also investigating.

The news comes as the civil servant running the health service here apologised to families of Muckamore patients, which provides care for those with learning disabilities or behavioural problems.

A report, which has not been made public by the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, has made serious criticisms of the treatment of vulnerable adult patients.

The trust said: "Belfast Trust will hold any individual staff member to account and take robust disciplinary action if their behaviour falls short of acceptable practice.

"We continue to view historical CCTV footage at Muckamore Abbey Hospital, and as of Friday two further members of staff at Muckamore Abbey Hospital have been suspended."

The families of those affected met the permanent secretary at the Department of Health, Richard Pengelly, yesterday.

Mr Pengelly said: "It was important to me to apologise to families face-to-face for what happened to their loved ones while in the care of Muckamore Abbey Hospital.

"I'm both appalled and angered that vulnerable people were let down.

"At the same time, action is urgently needed by the HSC system as a whole in response to the recommendations of the Serious Adverse Incident (SAI) review."

He said Muckamore would return to being a hospital providing acute care and not simply a residential facility.

"To make that happen will require investment in both specialised accommodation and staff training to meet the complex needs of people who no longer need to be in hospital."

Mr Pengelly said he expects the resettlement process to be completed by the end of 2019.An independent figure is to be appointed to advance a compensation campaign by victims of Muammar Gaddafi-sponsored IRA violence, the Foreign Office said (PA)

An independent assessor from a legal background is to be appointed to advance a compensation campaign by victims of Libyan-sponsored IRA violence, politicians in Northern Ireland have said.

The work would include assessing how many people could potentially qualify and what levels of redress should be requested.

Suzanne Dodd, whose police officer father Stephen Dodd was killed in the Harrods store bombing in 1983, said the measure did not go far enough.

It is one small step forward, in the last five years of me campaigning this.

This is all very complicated and delicate work, but is necessary to move things forwardSir Reg Empey

This week marked the 35th anniversary of the IRA bomb at the London store where six people were killed and 90 injured.

Ms Dodd added: Yes it is a small step but what we have to deal with at the moment is I am one of the youngest victims of the Harrods bombing and I am 42 years old.

My father, for instance, they have all gone.

It has a big knock-on effect, that everyone is getting older and the British Government are just waiting for us to die.

The campaign by victims of IRA blasts using Libyan Semtex plastic explosives, including at Harrods, has been running for years.

Expand Close This week marked the 35th anniversary of the IRA bomb at the Harrods store in London where six people were killed and 90 injured (PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp This week marked the 35th anniversary of the IRA bomb at the Harrods store in London where six people were killed and 90 injured (PA)

The bereaved and injured are pressing for UK Government support for their bid for compensation paid out of the large number of frozen assets seized from the toppled Gaddafi administration.

Dictator Muammar Gaddafi armed the Provisionals with massive amounts of weaponry, extending the Northern Ireland conflict and causing enormous human suffering, MPs have said.

These also included bombings at a Remembrance Day ceremony in Enniskillen in 1987, Warrington in 1993, and Londons Docklands in 1996.

The DUP and Ulster Unionists met Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt this week.

The Foreign Office said it would be writing to MPs to set out the next steps.

Expand Close Commemorations this week marking the anniversary at Harrods (Joe Giddens/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Commemorations this week marking the anniversary at Harrods (Joe Giddens/PA)

UUP peer Sir Reg Empey welcomed the progress.

This is all very complicated and delicate work, but is necessary to move things forward.

South Belfast DUP MP Emma Little-Pengelly added: There was some positive news in the meeting and a step forward for the campaign.

Mr Hunt agreed to draw up terms of reference for the appointment of an independent person who would work with closely with the Government and with victims to advance the campaign.

Jonathan Ganesh, president of the Docklands Victims Association, said: We are very pleased that finally after years of campaigning for equality the UK Government appeared to have made a meaningful commitment to the victims of Gaddafi/IRA terrorism.

It was undoubtedly the worst moment in the UK history as the UK, France and German governments fought for their victims and we were abandoned by our government.

Hopefully we will rectify this appalling injustice that devalued the life of every UK citizen.The level of online abuse faced by women in Northern Ireland has been revealed.

The level of online violence against women in Northern Ireland has almost doubled over the past year.

There have been 1,220 reports of online violence towards women in Northern Ireland since 2015.

Information obtained by Amnesty International through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests has revealed the threat faced by women online.

Incidents reported to police over the last four years include harassment, stalking and death threats.

The total could be even higher than the figures suggest as not all crimes specified the gender of the victim.

Have you been affected by online violence? Contact us at newseditor@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

There was a large increase in online abuse directed towards women in Northern Ireland in 2017/18 with 433 incidents reported, compared to 276 in 2016/17.

In 2014/15 265 reports of online violence were received, with 246 in 2015/16.

There were 64,492 cases of online violence across the UK since 2015, based on information from 38 police forces.

In May Belfast City Council voted to call on Twitter and other social media companies to address their failure to address the threats of violence and abuse directed against women.

Northern Ireland programme director of Amnesty International Patrick Corrigan called on social media companies to address threats and abuse directed towards women.

These police figures show that social media has become a toxic space for too many women, where they face misogynistic abuse and threats of violence," Mr Corrigan said.

The fact that many women are feeling so threatened by online violence and abuse that theyre having to ask the police for help shows how serious a problem now exists, and these figures likely just scratch the surface of a much larger problem.

Amnestys previous research, including in Northern Ireland, has shown that for far too long, social media spaces like Twitter have been allowed to become places where women can too easily be confronted with death threats, rape threats and more."

Mr Corrigan said that women should not be forced off social media by such threats.

Social media can play an important role in public debates and in movements like #MeToo, but the online space must be made a safer place where women can express themselves freely without fear of violence," he said.

We cannot let the trolls win by silencing women and driving their voices out of public conversations."

Sinn Fein MLA Michaela Boyle has expressed grave concern at the surge in abuse,

Online abuse should be reported to the PSNI and internet providers - we need a joint effort to eradicate online abuse," the West Tyrone MLA said.

I would appeal to anyone who is suffering from online bullying to reach out and seek help.Adrian Olteanu is accused of stealing from multiple Tesco stores.

A man accused of stealing more than 15,000 worth of alcohol and other goods in raids on Tesco stores across Northern Ireland has been granted High Court bail.

Adrian Olteanu, 34, is to be released from custody on charges linked to an alleged six-day shoplifting spree.

Prosecutors claimed Olteanu was part of a three-man team of Romanian nationals who repeatedly loaded trolleys full of drink, covered them with towels and walked out without paying.

Tesco stores in Lisburn, Newry and Banbridge were allegedly targeted between September 23-28.

A Crown lawyer revealed the total value of goods is expected to rise above 15,000 once final stock checks are completed.

Olteanu, with an address at Mount Rochford Drive, Balbriggan in the Irish Republic, faces charges of theft, attempted theft, going equipped for theft and handling stolen goods.

According to the prosecution the three men stacked up on bottles of alcohol, left the stores and either loaded a nearby car or else abandoned the trolleys if they were being watched.

The trio then returned to steal again during the spate of raids, it was claimed.

They were arrested after police stopped an Audi A4 car on the A1 near Lisburn.

Large quantities of alcohol with security tags still attached was discovered in the boot.

Mr Justice Colton was told more than 9,000 worth of the stock has not been recovered.

Defence barrister Mark Farrell argued that Olteanu should be released due to potential delays in the case.

Granting bail to an address in Belfast, the judge imposed strict conditions, including a night-time curfew and electronic tagging.

He barred the defendant from contacting his co-accused, ordered him to surrender his passport and prohibited him from driving any car without first notifying police.Money has been stolen from an ATM machine in Belfast.

Police have appealed for information after money was stolen from an ATM on Belfast's Castelreagh Road on Tuesday morning.

Shortly after 3:30am, it was reported that an ATM cash dispenser had been broken into close to an off-licence in the area.

A substantial amount of money was taken during the incident. It is believed that those involved were seen heading towards the Wayland Street area.

Enquiries are continuing and we would appeal to anyone with any information or who saw anything suspicious in the area to contact detectives on 101, quoting reference number 377 18/12/18," Detective Sergeant McPhillips said.

"Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime.DUP MP Emma Little-Pengelly has found herself under fire again on Twitter after she appeared to tell an academic that she was more qualified to understand the Brexit withdrawal agreement than they were.

Dr Katy Hayward from the sociology department at Queen's University had commented on a speech given by Co Antrim-born Labour MP Kate Hoey over the weekend.

"How bold. To speak out on behalf of Northern Ireland, while standing beneath the slogan: 'Believe in Britain'," Dr Hayward had written.

Mrs Little-Pengelly criticised the academic and in the ensuing debate she tweeted: "Withdrawal agreement is a legal text.

"With the greatest of respect, I will trust my judgement as a barrister to understand it rather than Katy, who may be qualified as an academic but who is a sociologist with an arts degree from Ulster University."

She added in a further response: "Obviously my knowledge of the law is greater as a Barrister rather than Katy as a sociologist??"

While her original tweet was quickly deleted, it was still spotted by other former Ulster University graduates who took exception.

The South Belfast MP later appeared contrite, tweeting that she had actually taught and lectured at the university.

"It was a badly worded tweet that did not say what I was intending to, hence I deleted it immediately" she said.

"We all word things badly at times.

"I know people want to use it to attack me nevertheless."

Author and Ulster University graduate Claire Allan called on politicians to think carefully about what they're saying before posting on social media.

"The nature of Twitter is such that it's all too easy to react in a knee-jerk fashion and hit send without really thinking about the nuances of your language," she said.

"A lot of us have done it.

"However, there should be an extra onus on elected officials to think about the impact of their words."

The DUP said: "Mrs Little-Pengelly was responding to a specific comment challenging her relative capabilities on this issue.

"She acknowledged the tweet could have been misread and removed it in less than a minute after responding.

"In a previous role, Mrs Little-Pengelly taught and lectured law in the Ulster University and continues to work closely in support of the university.

"No offence was intended in any way."

Professor of law and social justice Grainne McKeever, who is also co-director of the Ulster University law clinic, described Mrs Little-Pengelly's tweet as "very disappointing".A psychiatric nurse who broke a patient's nose when he punched him three times was yesterday handed a nine-month prison sentence.

Jailing Patrick Maguire at Craigavon Crown Court, Judge Patrick Lynch QC said it was "with some regret" that he was sending him to jail.

He added: "The public must have confidence that patients, difficult as they may be... will, whatever the circumstances, be treated as dignified human beings and not subject to violence or humiliation by those into whose care they're entrusted.

"Being assaulted by such patients is unfortunately the lot of the profession.

"But retaliation such as here cannot be tolerated and it must be reflected in deterrent sentences."

At an earlier hearing Maguire, from Tollymore Brae in Newcastle, admitted causing actual bodily harm to the male mental health patient, wilfully neglecting him by failing to get immediate medical attention and attempting to pervert the course of justice on October 27 last year at the Bluestone unit of Craigavon Area Hospital.

The man, who suffers from biploar disorder, was standing against a wall in the corridor when Maguire took him by the elbow to guide him back to bed, but the patient "threw a punch at the defendant".

It was then however that Maguire "punched him three times, full blows" to the face, causing his nose to bleed profusely.

A nurse was told that the man was accidentally hit in the face by a knee and Maguire made a report, but he "repeated the lying account".

Judge Lynch said that by pleading guilty, Maguire had acknowledged he had "fallen from the high standard expected of care workers".

He added: "It is, however, with some regret that I must say that the public interest in maintaining confidence in care workers must be reflected in the sentence imposed by the court."The recently published report was compiled jointly by Northern Ireland's Department for the Economy (DfE) and the Republic of Ireland's Department of Education and Skills (DES).

Northern Ireland students studying in the Republic could face higher university fees post-Brexit, new research has revealed.

A joint government analysis on cross-border enrolments also found the number of students from the Republic of Ireland studying in Northern Ireland since 2011 has fallen by more than a third.

The recently published report was compiled jointly by Northern Ireland's Department for the Economy (DfE) and the Republic of Ireland's Department of Education and Skills (DES).

According to the figures, the number of students from the Republic studying in Northern Ireland's Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) fell from 3,520 in 2011/2012 to 2,195 in 2015/2016 - a 38% drop.

DfE figures covering 2016/2017 show there was a further drop of 100 students from the previous year.

The number of Northern Ireland students enrolled at Republic of Ireland HEIs increased from 970 in 2011/12 to 1,200 in 2015/16 - a rise of 24%.

The analysis warned that post-Brexit this picture could change, however, as fees for non-EU students studying in the Republic are much higher.

"Despite the many benefits of cross border student flows, there are challenges coming downstream; not least the planned exit of the UK from the EU," the report said.

"For instance, NI students coming to ROI HEIs to study may in the future be liable for non-EU fees, which can be considerable. This may reduce the flow of students from NI to the ROI in the aftermath of the UK exit from the EU.

"Issues such as this need to be given serious consideration by policy makers both sides of the border."

Currently, students from Northern Ireland in the Republic pay the same fee, in the form of a 'student contribution', as students from the Republic of Ireland. That fee is capped at 3,000 a year.

Fees for non-EU students studying in the Republic are considerably higher, ranging anywhere from 9,750 to 54,153 annually, according to the Education in Ireland information website.The funeral of Irish political leader Sean Garland has taken place in Dublins Glasnevin Cemetery.

The former Workers Party president died from cancer in Co Meath on December 13, aged 84.

Hundreds of people followed the hearse into the cemetery, as Uilleann pipes played Raglan Road.

Many thanks to all our comrades who came along yesterday to pay their respects to Sean Garland. There will be a small send off from Liberty Hall today from 11.30-12.30 & ceremony at Glasnevin crematorium at 2pm.



Ni bheidh a leitheid aris ann.



Photos: https://t.co/BBGcguWCRx pic.twitter.com/TW3qvc0qZw  The Workers' Party (@workersparty) December 18, 2018

His Belfast-born widow Mary, who he met while living in Glasgow, followed close to the wicker coffin with his daughter Caoimhe, which was covered in both the Tricolour and the Starry Plough flags.

A colour party of Workers Party members followed the hearse, holding the same flags.

Marian Donnelly recited a eulogy to the socialist, internationalist and revolutionary during the humanist ceremony.

Mourners were told of the much-loved grandfathers life and dedication to his political ideals, including an assassination attempt in 1975 that saw him shot six times in front of his wife, and an American arrest warrant that claimed he had conspired with the North Korean government in the late 1990s to distribute fake $100 bills.

The folk ballad Joe Hill was sung by Eilis Ryan, and a poem written by Walt Whitman was recited to mourners by Elaine Rush.

Mr Garlands last message to his comrades read: I would like to thank you for your loyalty, continued friendship and comradeship over the years.

In our continued struggle for a Secular Socialist Republic, I urge you all to continue the fight and remember without unity and loyalty to each other we are nothing.

Expand Close The order of service (PA) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The order of service (PA)

Mr Garland took part in the IRAs border campaign in the 1950s, but after the cessation of violence was a leading proponent of the socialism which split the organisation and led to the rise of the Provisionals.

He was involved in an attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary barracks in Brookeborough in Co Fermanagh on January 1 1957, which led to the deaths of fellow IRA members Sean South and Fergal OHanlon, an event marked by song and lore in republican circles.

Mr Garland was part of a group of senior republicans, including Cathal Goulding and Tomas Mac Giolla, influenced by internationalist communism during the 1960s.

Throughout the violence of the 1980s and 1990s, the Workers Party promoted dialogue about peaceful co-existence in Northern Ireland.

The Official IRA split with the Belfast-led Provisionals in 1970. Mr Garland was a key figure in the Official IRA ceasefire in 1972.

Dublin City Councillor Mannix Flynn was among those present as Mr Garlands funeral.Serious questions have been raised over the suitability of a Sinn Fein council election candidate who has repeatedly sparked controversy on Twitter.

Blogger and academic Catherine Kelly is to stand for Fermanagh and Omagh District Council in next May's election.

Her candidacy was announced by Sinn Fein West Tyrone MP Orfhlaith Begley in a recent tweet, and confirmed last night by the party.

According to Ms Begley, Ms Kelly will stand alongside new Sinn Fein candidates Padraigin Ni Cheallaigh and Kevin McColgan.

Ms Kelly, who is understood to have spent time living in the United States, was last year the subject of a harassment complaint alleged by a minister in the Republic in relation to online articles and social media posts.

Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty contacted gardai in connection to comments made by Ms Kelly after she published an article about the collapse of a company Ms Doherty had run with her husband.

It was reported that Ms Kelly was subsequently approached by gardai while passing through Dublin Airport, who cautioned her about her social media posts and online articles referencing Ms Doherty.

In 2015, Ms Kelly posted tweets about IRA victim Ann Travers, whose sister Mary was shot dead and father Tom seriously injured in an IRA gun attack as they left Mass at a south Belfast church in April 1984.

Ms Travers said Ms Kelly had made reference to her return to Twitter after online abuse from users previously forced her to leave the platform temporarily.

Ms Travers said she reactivated her Twitter account on the advice given by a close friend before she passed away from cancer.

One tweet, which has been viewed by the Belfast Telegraph, shows a post by Ms Kelly describing Ms Travers - who is herself a cancer survivor - as an "another attention seeker whose 'poor me' tactics fell flat on face (sic)".

Appearing to refer to Ms Travers' return to Twitter, she continues: "And she did it because someone with cancer would have told her to (sic)."

Another tweet read: "Did Ann Travers close her account, tell the press then reopen the account when she got no attention?"

Ms Travers said she had no option but to subsequently 'block' Ms Kelly's account.

"At the time I was really upset. I had been receiving a lot of abuse regarding my own family," Ms Travers told the Belfast Telegraph.

SDLP councillor Mairia Cahill, who yesterday posted screenshots of Ms Kelly's tweets, said she believed the party had learned nothing from recent controversy surrounding former West Tyrone MP, Barry McElduff.

Mr McElduff posted footage on Twitter of himself posing with a Kingsmill-branded loaf on his head on the anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre - an IRA atrocity which saw 10 Protestant workmen lined up and shot by gunmen.

Earlier this month Mr McElduff, who has always maintained that he not realise the date and denied it was intended to offend, revealed he will also stand as a candidate for the upcoming council elections - just 11 months after he quit as MP in the wake of the Kingsmill the controversy.

Ms Cahill has been an outspoken critic of how Sinn Fein handled her allegations that she was sexually abused by a member of the IRA as a teenager.

"What she has tweeted about Ann was despicable," said Ms Cahill.

She also condemned a tweet by Ms Kelly three years ago when she told another user to "dry up and blow away" after they described what happened to Belfast mother-of-10 Jean McConville - who was abducted, killed and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972 - as an "act of murder" and not an "act of war".

Ms Cahill said the tweets required attention from Sinn Fein president Mary-Lou McDonald, asking: "Does (she) stand by the content of these tweets?"

In response, a Sinn Fein spokesperson said: "It will be for the electorate of Mid Tyrone to decide who will represent them."Hundreds of Poles march to protest changes to the countrys judicial system in Krakow on August 6, 2018. Photo: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Polish president Andrzej Duda on Monday signed a law formally reinstating over two dozen of the countrys Supreme Court judges, who had been removed from the bench earlier this year under a new law cutting their mandatory retirement age from 70 to 65.

The purge of the judges, which Duda approved last December and which came into effect in July, was seen as another step in the campaign by the ruling Law and Justice party to assert control over the Polish judiciary, solidifying its power and helping advance its right-wing nationalist agenda. Leaders of the party, which came to power in 2015, have cast the judiciary as an obstacle to reform and justified the purge by saying it was removing judges originally seated in the Communist era.

The decision was met with protests in more than 60 cities and was condemned internationally, including by the European Union, which was already at odds with the Law and Justice over its previous moves to undermine democracy and the rule of law. Last year, the European Parliament censured Poland and threatened it with sanctions, up to and including the loss of its voting rights, in response to Dudas judicial overhaul.

The chances of that ultimate sanction ever coming into force are essentially zero, however: While the E.U.s founding treaty allows the bloc to strip a member state of its voting privileges, it has never done so, and this measure requires the assent of all 27 other members. Any attempt to punish Poland would be vetoed by Hungary, whose prime minister Viktor Orban, a central figure of Europes authoritarian neo-nationalist movement, is a kindred spirit of Dudas. Poland plays similar interference for Hungary, which has drawn fire from the E.U. for its attacks on academic freedom.

In October, the European Court of Justice issued an interim ruling in response to a complaint by the European Commission, ordering Poland to suspend the application of the law. After initially threatening to disregard that ruling, Warsaw said it would abide by it and agreed to reinstate the judges. The commission isnt dropping its case against Poland, however, and the ECJ will still hear it and issue a final ruling early next year.

While the Polish government decided to follow the high courts order, theyre not happy about it and will likely argue before the court next year that their changes to the judicial system do not in fact contravene E.U. law. Polish deputy justice minister Marcin Warchol criticized the court on Monday, saying: The tribunal is  testing on our country certain ideas that are, unfortunately, connected to a superstate and creating a supranational system that the E.U. is.

Warchols evocation of superstates speaks to one of the core arguments of Euroskeptic parties like Law and Justice, which is that supranational institutions like the European Commission and the ECJ effectively undermine national sovereignty by forcing countries to take actions with which their governments dont agree and to which their populations did not consent. The argument has resonated with publics dissatisfied with the fruits of the postCold War order, facilitating the rise of right-wing populism from Poland and Hungary to the U.K., Italy, and France. These institutions, liberal and internationalist by nature, are now fighting to maintain their legitimacy in the face of a retreat into conservative and parochial attitudes throughout the continent.

If Law and Justice is taking a conciliatory posture toward the E.U., its not because the party has changed its position on the judiciary or on European institutions all of a sudden. All politics are local (i.e., domestic), and the party is fighting to sustain its popular support after a bribery scandal brought down the chairman of the countrys financial markets regulator, a Law and Justice appointee, last month. A recent poll put support for the party at 33 percent, down five points from 2015. Thats still comfortably ahead of its rivals, thanks in large part to a strong economy and low unemployment, but its fights with the E.U. and flirtations with the far right have begun to put dents in its appeal.

Support for the E.U. is remarkably high in Poland, with opinion polls in the past year finding anywhere from 65 percent to 92 percent of Poles in favor of remaining in the union; while the country has benefited significantly from its membership since joining the E.U. in 2004. Despite the Law and Justice partys Euroskeptic posture, its leaders have long maintained that they intend to keep Poland in the E.U.; nobody is talking about Polexit. Nonetheless, being a part of the E.U. means accepting certain principles, including the primacy of European over domestic law, which the partys nationalist ideology implicitly rejects.

For now, the Polish ruling party can walk the line between obeying Brussels rules and demagoguing against them (indeed, that conflict might be politically expedient for them), but the long game is to change the rules. Whereas rich countries like Britain and France have reacted to the perceived overreach of E.U. institutions with calls to opt out and go it alone, middle-income countries like Poland and Hungary have more to gain from co-opting the E.U. than from leaving it.

In its attempts to bolster its image, Law and Justice has its eye on Polands parliamentary elections next autumn, but also on European Parliament elections coming up in May. It is in those polls that Hungarys Orban is hoping the neo-nationalist right will take control of the E.U., oust its liberal elites, and begin undoing 50 years of liberal consensus in favor of his illiberal vision of Christian democracy, which embraces the tyranny of the majority and uses it to enforce conservative social norms and suppress minority rights.

The odds of a full-blown nationalist parliament emerging from the European elections are exceedingly slim, but the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) alliance, of which Law and Justice is a member, is campaigning on a vision of a scaled-back, flexible and decentralized E.U. that grants more powers to national governments.

ECR is currently polling in sixth place, but could gain in prominence if more right-leaning parties decided to join it. Even a moderately anti-federalist coalition could loosen the control the union exercises over its members, giving populist strongmen like Duda and Orban more flexibility to carry out their agendas. Polands nationalists may have lost this battle with the E.U., but in the long run, they still have a distressingly good chance of winning the war.Army bomb experts at Carnfunnock Country Park at Ballygally near Larne where police uncovered a terrorist hide in 2016

The arrest of a 29-year-old in the north west area on Tuesday on terrorism offences is believed to be linked to the case of disgraced Royal Marine Ciaran Maxwell.

The man was arrested by members of the PSNIs Terrorism Investigation Unit on suspicion of being involved in the preparation of acts of terrorism.

He is being interviewed by detectives in Musgrave Serious Crime Suite.

The arrest relates to the discovery of arms dumps in the Carnfunnock Forest Park, Capanagh Forest area and a number of site around Larne.

Ciaran Maxwell was arrested in August 2016 after the discovery of two dissident arms dumps.

He was handed an 18-year jail sentence in July 2017 after pleading guilty to a string of terror offences.A woman convicted of attempting to murder police in Northern Ireland is to face a retrial after the Appeal Court judges cast doubt on her pleas.

Christine Connor, 32, was jailed for 16 years and four months at Belfast Crown Court last year after being convicted of a number of dissident republican terrorist offences, including the attempted murder of a police officer in the city.

She was accused of posing as a Swedish model to entrap men into taking part in a terror plot that involved blast bomb attacks on police in north Belfast in May 2013.

On any showing the pleas were heavily qualified, ambiguous and equivocalAppeal Court judges

Guilty pleas to six charges were accepted by a judge in Belfast Crown Court in May 2017 ahead of passing sentence.

However, Ms Connor, from north Belfast, challenged those pleas in the Court of Appeal, arguing they were ambiguous or equivocal. She contended that her pleas were involuntary and the result of being subjected to pressure by her legal advisers.

Her lawyers denied those claims during the appeal case.

When asked to enter her pleas in court, on each occasion Ms Connor had said she was not guilty but added on advice I will plead guilty.

Referring to principles applicable to pleas, the Court of Appeal judges said where a defendant says something that qualifies a guilty plea the court should seek clarity on whether he or she genuinely intended to plead guilty.

Expand Close Christine Connor faces a retrial (PSNI/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Christine Connor faces a retrial (PSNI/PA)

Neither the judge or the lawyers questioned the nature of Ms Connors plea.

In their judgment, the Appeal Court judges said the failure to seek clarity was inexplicable.

In these circumstances we do have doubt as to whether a confession was intended, said the judgment.

On any showing the pleas were heavily qualified, ambiguous and equivocal.

The judges added: We consider that in these circumstances a conviction resting solely on such a plea of guilty cannot be regarded as safe. The prosecution in resisting this aspect of the appeal and has relied heavily upon the suggestion that the case against the appellant was overwhelming. Whether that be so or not, and we express no view, a conviction resting solely on the heavily qualified pleas entered in this case cannot be regarded as safe.

The judges quashed the convictions and ordered a retrial.There were angry scenes in the Dail after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar warned a Sinn Fein TD that his balaclava had slipped.

The comment came as Pearse Doherty questioned Mr Varadkar over the eviction of a family from a repossessed house in Co Roscommon last week.

He described the eviction as appalling and an act of thuggery.

Thats a cause of significant concern to any right thinking people, Mr Doherty said.

Expand Close Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty questioned Taoiseach Leo Varadkar over the eviction of a family from a house in Roscommon last week. (Oireachtas/PA) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty questioned Taoiseach Leo Varadkar over the eviction of a family from a house in Roscommon last week. (Oireachtas/PA)

What happened in Roscommon was a disgrace, it was unjustified and brought to mind the scenes of our past where families were being evicted and thrown on to the side of the road.

He urged the Taoiseach to support families, and not financial institutions.

Mr Doherty also called for the laws around security staff who conduct evictions to be reviewed.

Mr Varadkar responded by saying the decision to evict was taken by the High Court.

No one likes to see anyone evicted under any circumstances and particularly in the run up to Christmas, but the High Court does not issue eviction orders lightly in Ireland, he said.

In Ireland 116,000 mortgages have been restructured, 116,000 people have sought help and had their mortgages restructured yet there has only been 400 eviction orders executed in the last year.

The High Court has a very high barrier for allowing eviction orders to be issued.

The Taoiseach added that he agreed that proper regulation was needed around the security staff who conduct the evictions.

The minister for justice acknowledged that yesterday, he has established a departmental group to examine it with a view to them reporting to him in January, he said.

Expand Close Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was involved in a stormy exchange with Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty in the Dail on Tuesday. (Oireachtas/PA) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was involved in a stormy exchange with Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty in the Dail on Tuesday. (Oireachtas/PA)

Mr Varadkar went on to query why Mr Doherty had not condemned an attack on security staff working at the site on Sunday night.

Eight people were injured and a dog was killed during the incident early on Sunday at a house and farm in Falsk near Strokestown.

I find it very concerning that you have nothing to say about that, you have not condemned that, Mr Varadkar said, amid shouting from Mr Doherty.

Mr Varadkar added: When it comes to Sinn Fein and the rule of law and public order and condemning violence, it doesnt take very long for your balaclava to slip.

It took several minutes for Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail to return the Dail to order.A murder trial jury has heard that a doctor admits stabbing her three-year-old son in their south Dublin home and told gardai "a power" had made her go to a drawer and remove a knife.

The Central Criminal Court heard that the boy, Omar, was stabbed 20 times.

Four stab wounds penetrated his lungs and heart, severing an artery, the court heard.

At the opening of the trial of Maha Al Adheem, prosecuting counsel said psychiatrists for both prosecution and defence agreed she fulfilled the criteria of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Ms Al Adheem (43), with an address at Riverside in Kimmage, Dublin, is charged with murdering Omar Omran on July 10, 2017 at the same address. She has pleaded not guilty.

Michael Delaney SC, prosecuting, said Ms Al Adheem, originally from Kuwait, moved to Ireland in 2010 for an arranged marriage to a man called Khalid Omran who was living in Dublin.

They separated in May 2014, a few months after Omar was born. In March 2017, a month after her son was diagnosed with autism, Ms Al Adheem was admitted to the psychiatric department of St James's Hospital with suicidal thoughts and was detained for five days.

On the day of the killing, Mr Delaney said Dublin Fire Brigade got a 999 call from a woman who said her baby was dead.

Paramedics were unable to get in and a sledgehammer was used to break the door.

Omar's body was found lying on a single bed in the bedroom.

A post mortem was conducted by deputy state pathologist, Dr Linda Mulligan. The court was told Dr Mulligan identified 20 stab wounds, mainly to the trunk of his body.

Four stab wounds were significant as they had penetrated his lungs and heart, severing a vital artery. There were also signs of defensive injuries to the boy's right hand.

The trial, before Ms Justice Eileen Creedon and a jury of nine men and three women, is expected to last three days.A pensioner killed in a freak accident at a Co Donegal garage yesterday morning was showing mechanics his car when the tragedy occurred

A pensioner killed in a freak accident at a Co Donegal garage yesterday morning was showing mechanics his car when the tragedy occurred.

Mervyn Orr died when he became trapped in equipment at the garage on the outskirts of the village of St Johnston, a few miles from the border.

Mr Orr, aged 77, had arrived at the garage to have his car serviced.

He became entangled in machinery at the garage when his Citroen C4 car surged forward and he suffered fatal injuries.

Emergency services, including the Northern Ireland air ambulance were summoned, but Mr Orr died at the scene.

Mr Orr, who lived with his wife in the nearby village of Carrigans, was a well-known figure in the area.

A motorcycle enthusiast, he was a father-of-three and also had grandchildren.

Local county councillor Paul Canning said the entire community was devastated by the tragedy.The widow of one of the six people killed when an IRA bomb exploded outside Harrods in London 35 years ago said "it broke my heart forever" as she marked the anniversary yesterday.

Karen Salvesen-Sykes, whose husband Kenneth Salvesen was killed in the attack, returned to the UK for the memorial service.

She said: "I think it's important to come and stand with the other people who went through that experience, to honour him, to let people remember and show that we don't forget, and that these things matter, so hopefully it won't happen again."

Six people were killed and 90 injured when a car bomb ripped through the Hans Crescent entrance to the busy department store on December 17, 1983.

At 12.45pm the IRA sent a warning that the bomb was imminent, but the area was not evacuated and it exploded at 1.30pm.

Three Metropolitan Police officers - Inspector Stephen Dodd (34), Sergeant Noel Lane (28) and WPc Jane Arbuthnot (22) - were killed along with a police dog named Queenie.

Three members of the public - Kenneth Salvesen (28), Jasmine Cochrane Patrick (25) and Philip Geddes (25) - were also killed.

Mrs Salvesen-Sykes arrived at Heathrow Airport from the US the following day with their four-year-old son to spend Christmas with her husband, but Mr Salvesen, who was working in London, was not there to meet them.

"Of course Ken did not meet the plane as we had expected and then the story really unfolded after that," Mrs Salvesen-Sykes said.

"It was quite unreal and just to think back on it, it was just unbelievable, it broke my heart forever."

Superintendent Mark Lawrence, who laid a wreath on behalf of the Metropolitan Police, said the "face of terrorism" may have changed since the attack but the repercussions remain the same.

"I think although the face of terrorism has changed over the years the results haven't," he said.

"And the fact that we lost three colleagues 35 years ago, and that we continue to lose colleagues and members of the public today, means we can never ever forget the tragic events that happened 35 years ago.

"We are still sadly in a position where nothing has really changed.

"Terrorism comes from a different place now but what it leaves behind hasn't changed."

Victims' families, survivors and representatives from the emergency services attended the service and laid wreaths in front of two commemorative plaques in Hans Crescent.

Reverend Gary Piper, who is chaplain of Harrods, called on the public to teach the next generation that violence is not the way to solve conflict.

"It's a terrible thing that happened in 1983 and such things are still happening around the world," he said.

"I think we all have a duty to pray and to work and to teach our children and our grandchildren, our great grandchildren, our nieces and nephews, that this is not the way to solve our conflicts.

"I have two grandsons. I want them to be able to walk the streets in safety, not just when they're children but for the rest of their lives, and I want the same for you."Police investigating an Aberdeenshire care home have made three arrests (Yui Mok/PA)

Three people have been arrested after a police investigation into concerns over care at a residential home.

Muirhead Care Home in Aberdeenshire has been the subject of an inquiry after concerns were raised about the welfare of residents prior to its closure earlier this year.

Police Scotland said a 79-year-old man and two women aged 78 and 56 have been arrested.

Inquiries are continuing and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.

Detective Inspector Davie Howieson said: I would like to thank all those who have provided information and assisted with what has been a lengthy enquiry, supported throughout by our partners including Aberdeenshire Council and the Care Inspectorate.

Muirhead Care Home near Alford closed at the end of August following a court application from the Care Inspectorate.

A 16-year-old woman was previously charged over the alleged assault of a female resident in June.Officers are appealing for witnesses after the death of Pc Dean Morrison (Police Scotland/PA)

Detectives have made an urgent appeal about the final movements of the police officer who was found dead in a burn.

The body of Dean Morrison was discovered at Barry Burn in Carnoustie at approximately 12.40pm on Sunday.

Although officers say the death is not being treated as suspicious, a witness appeal has been issued to try and piece together his last moments.

As well as urging anyone who saw the 40-year-old before his death, officers are now calling for help in their search for a scarf he was wearing when he was last seen on Saturday night.

Senior investigating officer, Detective Inspector Ray Birnie, said: We are treating his death as unexplained and at this stage there is nothing to indicate it is suspicious.

We need to find out what happened to Dean so that we can provide his family with the answers they both need and deserve.

We urgently need to speak to anyone who may have seen Dean between 11.12pm on Saturday 15 December and 12.40pm on Sunday 16 December.

If you think you may have seen him, perhaps walking in Carnoustie or within a licensed premises, then please get in touch.

We need to find out what happened to Dean so that we can provide his family with the answers they both need and deserveDetective Inspector Ray Birnie

He added: Dean was wearing a dark grey puffer jacket, scarf, dark shirt, black trousers and brown shoes.

We are searching for the scarf which we know he was wearing when he was last seen. The scarf is made by Next and is multi-coloured striped including brown, green and silver.

If anyone finds a scarf matching this description in Carnoustie, please leave it where it is and call us.

Carnoustie residents are being told to expect increased police activity in the days ahead including search officers, uniformed officers and the use of a drone.

Detectives believe Mr Morrison caught a taxi from Broughty Ferry, near Dundee, on Saturday night to the Angus town.

Renewing his call for the driver to come forwards, Mr Birnie said: Despite widespread media coverage and previous police appeals, we are again appealing for the taxi driver to contact us.

It is absolutely vital that we find this driver. We know the driver picked Dean up at 11.13pm on Saturday 15 December in Fort Street/Brook Street in Broughty Ferry and may later have dropped him off in Carnoustie.

The taxi itself was a black people carrier style with a sliding rear door and an orange light on the roof.

We urgently need to speak to the taxi driver to find out where he dropped Dean off.

The man who died at Barry Burn #Carnoustie yesterday, has been named as PC Dean Morrison. Ch Supt Todd said : Dean was a highly respected officer who was extremely well liked & popular with his colleagues. Our thoughts are with his family & friends pic.twitter.com/EHyKtinzP5  Tayside Police (@TaysidePolice) December 17, 2018

Police Scotland said Mr Morrison had 16 years of service covering the Tayside area.

Chief Superintendent Andrew Todd, Divisional Commander for Tayside Division, added: Dean was a highly respected officer, who was extremely well liked and popular with his colleagues. He was thoroughly professional in his work.

His death is a great tragedy and he will be sadly missed by all who knew him and we will do all we can to support them during this distressing time.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

Anyone with any information is asked contact Police Scotland on 101 quoting 1960, or speak to any police officers.

Alternatively people with information can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via their anonymous online form at crimestoppers-uk.org.Yes, really. Photo: ZoneCreative S.r.l./Getty Images/Westend61

The flip side of the deeply horrifying news that Russian trolls meddled in the 2016 election in an effort to help Trump is that the strategies employed by said trolls  at least some of them  were almost laughable. In the Im laughing because the grimness of all this would be too much to bear kind of way. The latest revelation: According to a new report from the Senate Intelligence Committee, one tactic employed by the Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency involved an anti-masturbation hotline, posted to a bogus Facebook pages for Christians. The plan was to collect personal information  like struggling with sexual behavior  that the IRA could potentially exploit down the line. (The IRA also reportedly set up hotlines for people struggling with their sexuality.)

From the Verge:

The report includes three examples of IRA posts: one posted to the fake pro-LGBT Facebook page LGBT United and two posted to the faux religious group Army of Jesus. The former was a straightforward offer of support to struggling gay, lesbian, or transgender teens. The latter two apparently pointed to a hotline for guilty masturbators. Struggling with the addiction to masturbation? Reach out to me and we will beat it together, said one post in a quote attributed to Jesus. You cant hold hands with God when you are masturbating, said the other. Use our hotline if you need help.

Reports from earlier this year showed that more than half the ads used by the IRA were focused on race. Mondays Senate Intelligence report follows a study from 2017 which also included images of some, lets say, interesting, ads the IRA used during the run-up to the election. A buff, scantily clad cartoon of Bernie Sanders. Jesus arm-wrestling with Satan to keep him, and Hillary Clinton by extension, from winning. Some  emphasis on some; many of the ads were gross and hateful  funny stuff. Again, were laughing to keep from screaming.A US federal judge has agreed to delay former national security adviser Michael Flynns sentencing so he can continue cooperating with the Russia probe.

Attorneys for Flynn had asked District Judge Emmet Sullivan to postpone the sentencing. The judge will hold a review conference in March.

The request came after Judge Sullivan warned Flynn that if he were sentenced as scheduled on Tuesday, he might not get all the credit for his cooperation with investigators that he is entitled to.

Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russia contacts. Prosecutors had recommended no prison time, citing his cooperation. But the judges rebuke raised the prospect that Flynn could get a harsher sentence.

Expand Close Michael Flynn (Carolyn Kaster/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Michael Flynn (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Judge Sullivan earlier lashed out at Donald Trumps first national security adviser, saying I cant hide my disgust, my disdain at his crime.

Arguably you sold your country out, he said.

Flynn, who served as national security adviser for only a few weeks, will be the first White House official sentenced in special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into possible co-ordination between Russia and the Trump campaign.

The hearing took place amid escalating legal peril for the president, who was implicated by federal prosecutors in New York this month in hush-money payments to cover up extramarital affairs.

Nearly half a dozen former aides and advisers  including Flynn  have pleaded guilty or agreed to co-operate with prosecutors.

Mr Trump signalled his interest in the case by tweeting good luck to Flynn hours before the sentencing hearing.

He added: Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!

Judge Sullivan told Flynn he would take into account his extensive co-operation with the government, which includes 19 meetings with investigators as well as a 33-year military career that included service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But he also said he was forced to weigh other factors including Flynns decision as national security adviser to lie to the FBI on the premises of the White House about contacts he had with the Russian ambassador to the US.Vladimir Putin says Russias new weapons have no foreign equivalents and will help ensure the countrys security for decades to come.

The Russian president, speaking during a meeting with military chiefs in Moscow, specifically mentioned the new Kinzhal hypersonic missile and the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, saying they have significantly bolstered Russias military capability.

Kinzhal has already been commissioned by the military. Defence minister Sergei Shoigu said aircraft carrying the missiles have flown 89 patrol missions this year.

Mr Shoigu said the Avangard will enter service next year.

Expand Close Vladimir Putin speaks to his military chiefs (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo/AP) AP / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Vladimir Putin speaks to his military chiefs (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo/AP)

Mr Putin said Moscow would have to respond to the planned US withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).

He reaffirmed a strong denial of Washingtons claim that Russia had violated the pact, and blamed the US for breaking it.

Mr Putin also rejected the US claim that Russia had developed a new cruise missile in violation of the INF, arguing that Moscow has no need for such a land-based weapon because it already has similar missiles on its ships and aircraft.

Washington warned this month it would suspend its obligations under the INF in 60 days if Russia did not return to full compliance. The US claims the 9M729 cruise missile breaches the INF, which bans all land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles.

It has probably made our partners worry, but it doesn't violate the INF treatyVladimir Putin

Mr Putin said the Russian military has successfully tested air-launched Kh-101 and sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles with a range of 2,790 miles in combat in Syria.

It has probably made our partners worry, but it doesnt violate the INF treaty, Mr Putin said.

He said the treaty signed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev did not limit sea and air-launched cruise missiles, which the Soviet Union did not have at the time and the US did in significant numbers.

The Russian president argued that the pact represented unilateral disarmament for the Soviet Union, adding: God only knows why the Soviet leadership did it.

He emphasised that with Russian strategic bombers and navy ships now armed with long-range cruise missiles, it makes the development of similar land-based weapons redundant.

It makes no difference whatsoever if we have a Kalibr-armed submarine or aircraft carrying missiles or similar weapons ashore, he said. We can strike any targets within the range of 4,500 kilometres from the territory of Russia.

He added, however, that Russia could easily build such land-based missiles if the US opts out of the INF, which he described as a key stabilising factor.

If we have similar air and sea-launched systems, it wouldnt be that difficult for us to do some research and development to put them on land if needed, he said.It takes courage to be a police officer, but it takes a special kind of courage for a Catholic from what would be regarded as a strongly nationalist or republican background to join the PSNI

It takes courage to be a police officer, but it takes a special kind of courage for a Catholic from what would be regarded as a strongly nationalist or republican background to join the PSNI.

The officer from Londonderry whose story is featured in this newspaper today outlines in stark detail the sacrifices he has had to make to follow his chosen career.

It is indeed wrong that he should have to cut ties with some members of his family because he doesn't want any harm coming to them as a consequence of him being a police officer. However, that is the reality that many Catholic officers from areas like Derry face.

Dissident republicans have recently been targeting the homes of Catholic officers' families in the city with hoax bomb scares.

Indeed, after the formation of the PSNI they killed two Catholic officers, Stephen Carroll and Ronan Kerr, and grievously injured another, Peadar Heffron.

That aped the tactics of the Provisional IRA, which also deliberately targeted Catholic officers. At the height of the Troubles it was little wonder that only 8% of the huge number of officers in the RUC were Catholics.

With the formation of the PSNI and the introduction of a 50/50 recruitment policy, that figure was to rise to 31%, a huge improvement but still well below the 50% that would be representative of the demographic breakdown in the province.

In recent times the PSNI has introduced initiatives to encourage more young men and women from nationalist areas to join the force, including having part of the recruitment process online to prevent them being seen entering police stations at an early stage and making themselves targets.

But, as former senior Catholic officer Peter Sheridan says, there needs to be a wider civic and political response to this problem.

Being a police officer must be presented as a very worthwhile career, one that is vital to the creation and maintenance of a peaceful and inclusive society and which should have the total support of all sections of that society.

Sinn Fein and the SDLP, as the main political voices of republicanism and nationalism, and who have signed up to support policing, must be at the forefront of those encouraging young people from their community to become police officers.

It is a stain on our society that officers still have to deny what they do for a living.Were you lied to growing up in the church? Its actually a possibility. While this seems like a scary thought, it turns out there are many misconceptions about Jesus and His teachings in todays Christian sphere. There are certain beliefs that have been deemed as being Christian values; however they have no Biblical foundation. In reality, some of these beliefs actually go against what Jesus really wants for us. Many of the beliefs are intended to guide Christians to do good, but when taken the wrong way can lead down a slippery slope. They twist the Word of God into thinking we can earn Gods love, or that God favors some Christians over others, for example. Walking with Jesus isnt always easy, and doing so believing these false stigmas only makes it more difficult. Here are some values Jesus wouldnt support, and the Biblical ideals that we should be focusing on instead.

Christian Value #1: Never Doubt or Question God Shutterstock.com The idea that a true Christian would never doubt God is a pretty scary thought. Life naturally will have ups and downs, and in the down times people might question their faith. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. God wants us to be able to come to Him with our questions, concerns and fears. If we think we arent allowed to do so, our image of God gets twisted. Instead of thinking of Him as our loving Father with open arms, we become fearful He will abandon the doubters, wont be patient with us, or doesnt care to hear our problems. We become afraid to talk to the Lord because we think He is angry at us, and we are afraid to talk to other Christians because we think they will judge us. This pushes us further away from the Lord, and gives Satan the opportunity to whisper lies into our ear. The belief that God hates those who doubt Him simply isn't true, because Jesus walks with the broken, hurt and confused. He is ready to answer all of the questions we have with patience and understanding. The Bible tells us of Christians that questioned God and His motivations, and were met with love from God rather than anger. When we speak with God about our doubts and fears, we actually develop a better relationship with Him.

Christian Value #2: Always Have Perfect Church Attendance Shutterstock.com You have probably experienced this persistent ideal in Christian culture. A true, faithful Christian doesnt miss worship services, ever. They dont miss their small group, church functions or volunteer opportunities. They are present for every event and are active members of the church. They are prompt, ready to listen and contribute. While attending church is an important aspect of the Christian life, we shouldnt put it above every other priority in life. Its possible to have a poor relationship with the Lord and still go to church every Sunday; much like perfect attendance in class doesnt mean you will get good grades on your test. What should be priority for you is building a meaningful, strong relationship with Jesus Christ. God is more concerned about where your heart is focused and less where your physical body is going. For example, you may have just moved and haven't found a church you feel fits you and your family yet. That's OK, and you shouldn't force yourself to go somewhere you aren't happy. Furthermore, Dont put your familys needs off to the side because you feel God will punish you for not attending your Wednesday night church meeting. He knows the true intentions in your heart, and thats all that matters.

Christian Value #3: Christians Always Follow the Rules Shutterstock.com Some Christians believe that following the rules all the time is what God considers good and righteous. They will never go against the law because they believe the rules have some level of authority. While many rules are in line with true Christian values, there are some issues with thinking rules can never be wrong. Firstly, righteousness doesnt equate to law. Righteousness should always equate to Jesus. Some rules, simply, are unfair and unjust. The authoritative bodies that put rules into place, whether they are for a country or a school classroom, arent always Christian or follow the Bibles teachings. Following the rules because you think God would want you to is a misconception. There are many rules that Jesus wouldn't support, and He would rather you support true Christian beliefs and Him. Furthermore, this thought can lead down a slippery slope where some Christians will believe they are better than others. Being perfect at following all the rules doesnt make someone more Christian or in better favor with God. God loves all His children just the same, no matter what sins they have committed. Even the person who is in jail because they committed theft isn't looked down on by God, and they shouldn't be looked down on by you. If God is willing to look past the rule-breakers and forgive them for their transgressions, you should be willing to do the same.

Christian Value #4: Always Say Yes Shutterstock.com Christians are always ready to help others in any way possible, right? Wrong. While Christians have a calling to be servants of Jesus, that does not mean they have to take on every task asked of them. God knows and understands that you have limits, and taking on too many tasks will lead to burnout, take time from your family, and can even put a wedge between your relationship with Christ. Saying yes to a toxic friendship, 3rd volunteer position at your church, or the like will eventually break you down. He understands that your mental health is important! Saying no is not immediately considered bad in Gods eyes, because He believes certain things have to take priority over saying yes to someone requesting help. Dont push your prayer time aside because your church needs a new adult volunteer to help out with watching the teens during youth group, for example. God knows in your heart if how you feel about the situation. While saying no can be difficult, sometimes its an important word to utter. Do so when you know you're at your limits, and other Christians will respect your decision.

Christian Value #5: Real Christians Know the Bible Inside and Out Shutterstock.com This is another value that can lead down a slippery slope, where one Christian thinks they are better than another. Knowledge of the Bible does not equal righteousness. The teen that is just beginning to develop their relationship with Jesus still gets the same love as someone who has spent years becoming a preacher. Its important to learn Gods Word and spend time with the Bible, because it is a great tool to help your spiritual journey flourish. However there is so much more to being a Christian than reading text. Being a Christian is about a relationship with Jesus, and knowledge of His teachings is just one part of the bigger whole. God knows what your heart is focused on. If your heart is trying to build a relationship with God, and strives to know Him more, God will see that. However God also sees when your heart only cares about your ego. Other Christians can be see this fakeness, too. Knowledge of the Bible without any real love for Jesus is easier to spot than you might think. Are you someone who goes around flaunting random facts you know about the Bible, or always correcting others who are wrong? If so, you might be spending time with the Bible for the wrong reason.

Are you basing your faith off of these misconceptions? While these values are rooted in good intentions, they dont actually come from the Bible. They are not teachings from Jesus Christ, and He wouldnt support you basing your faith off of these values. Jesus should be our main focus, and His life is the perfect example we can try and model our lives off of. Try to follow His example, and take the time to understand the true Christian values the faith is based on.The argument that scientific theory is essentially incompatible with religious belief has been gaining traction in recent years. In fact, according to a 2009 Pew Research Center survey, American scientists are about half as likely as the general public to believe in God or a higher, universal power. The survey found that the percentage of scientists that believe in some form of a deity or higher power, though, was still a strong 51 percent. Scientists throughout history have relied on data and observations to make sense of the world. But there are still some really big questions about the universe that science cant easily explain. Is it possible for the two realms to work together? Even in science, there takes a certain amount of faith to understand our universe. Here are what some of the top scientists in our history have had to say about God, religion, and Christianity.

Aristotle Public Domain Aristotle was a strong theologian, and conceived of god as outside of the world. For Aristotle, god was known and described as the first thing that moved, or the thing that moved without being moved by anything prior. He was talking about the start of the universe, which must have happened if the universe was to have a beginning. This was against the common view of the time that the universe always had, and always would exist. For Aristotle, this "Prime Mover" was in no way humanlike and in no way personable, so was a tad different from the idea of the Christian God today. Aristotle studied under Plato, and they had some differences on the meaning of life. Whereas Plato distrusted the senses, Aristotle believed that truth would be found through the senses. For Aristotle, meaning doesnt come down from the heavens, but it comes from observing the things we can see, hear, feel, taste, and smell. His method of learning was not about revelation or waiting for a voice from heaven, he was all about observation and the scientific method.

Stephen Hawking Public Domain After years of hinting at it, physicist Stephen Hawking confirmed to the press in 2014 that he was an atheist. The physicist, who died at age 76, wasnt expected to see his 25th birthday, after being diagnosed with the incurable neurodegenerative condition ALS at age 21. Though Hawking beat the odds for more than five decades, the scientist told the Guardian in 2011 that death was never far from his mind. I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail, he told the Guardian. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark. Hawking furthered his view by saying that miracles of religion arent compatible with science. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Hawking said: Before we understood science, it was natural to believe that God created the universe, but now science offers a more convincing explanation. Despite these feelings, Hawking did still believe that the universe and life had meaning.

Galileo Galilei Public Domain Galileo Galilei, the father of modern science, was also infamous for his controversy with the church. In Rome in 1633, Galileo was forced to stand trial and found vehemently suspect of heresy, mainly for his support of the heliocentric view of the universe. By publicly renouncing his opinion, Galileo managed to avoid the death penalty but was forced to spend the rest of his life under house arrest. Despite his disputes with the faith, he was really a devout Christian who saw not a divorce of religion and science but only a healthy marriage. He once said: "God is known by nature in his works, and by doctrine in his revealed word." Galileo, however, did condemn the practice of taking biblical passages at face value without critical thinking and deeper reflection. He believed that abandoning reason and evidence was a sign of both spiritual and intellectual laziness. He said: "But I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason and intellect has intended us to forego their use and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by them. He would not require us to deny sense and reason in physical matters which are set before our eyes and minds by direct experience or necessary demonstrations."

Charles Darwin Public Domain Charles Darwin's views on religion have been the subject of much interest; given his work in the development of modern biology and evolution theory have sparked major debates in the scientific and religious fields. Darwin was actually rather silent about his religious views. However in 1879 he responded to a letter, saying that he had never been an atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a god, and that generally "an Agnostic would be the more correct description of my state of mind." He went as far as saying that "Science has nothing to do with Christ, except insofar as the habit of scientific research makes a man cautious in admitting evidence. For myself, I do not believe that there ever has been any revelation. As for a future life, every man must judge for himself between conflicting vague probabilities." Though he may have questioned Christianity, Darwin attended a Church of England school growing up, once had a desire of becoming a clergyman, and played a leading part in the parish work of his local church later in life.

Albert Einstein Public Domain Albert Einstein is one of the most well-known physicists of all time. He was born into a secular Jewish family, but as an adult tried to avoid religious labels. He rejected the idea of a personal God, but at the same time separated himself from fanatical atheists whom he believed were unable to hear the music of the spheres. He preferred to call himself an agnostic or a "religious nonbeliever." Einstein also stated he did not believe in life after death, adding "one life is enough for me." In a 1954 essay for NPR, Einstein wrote: The most beautiful thing we can experience is the Mysterious  the knowledge of the existence of something unfathomable to us, the manifestation of the most profound reason coupled with the most brilliant beauty. I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, or who has a will of the kind we experience in ourselves. I am satisfied with the mystery of lifes eternity and with the awareness of  and glimpse into  the marvelous construction of the existing world together with the steadfast determination to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the reason that manifests itself in nature. This is the basics of cosmic religiosity, and it appears to me that the most important function of art and science is to awaken this feeling among the receptive and keep it alive.

Sir Francis Bacon Public Domain Known as the founder of the scientific method, Sir Francis Bacon believed that gathering and analyzing data in an organized way was essential to scientific progress. However his love of science didn't turn him away fro religion. An Anglican, Bacon believed in the existence of God. In an essay on atheism, Bacon wrote: God never wrought miracle to convince atheism, because His ordinary works convince it. It is true, that a little philosophy inclineth mans mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth mens minds about to religion. For while the mind of man looketh upon second causes scattered, it may sometimes rest in them, and go no further; but when it beholdeth the chain of them, confederate and linked together, it must needs fly to Providence and Deity.

Isaac Newton Public Domain Sir Isaac Newton was more than just an admired scientists. He was also a dedicated theologian. For Newton the world of science was by no means the whole of life, and he actually spent more time on theology than on science. Newtons understanding of God came primarily from the Bible, which he studied for days and weeks at a time. He took special interest in miracles and prophecy, calculating dates of Old Testament books and analyzing their texts to discover their authorship. Even in his famed Principia, Newton exhibited his dedication to God. He writes: "This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being....This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over all..." For Newton, science was the preferred way in which we could understand and discuss God. He said: "Since every particle of space is always, and every indivisible moment of duration is everywhere, certainly the Maker and Lord of all things cannot be never and nowhere....God is the same God, always and everywhere."

Some of the most famous scientists of all time were actually believers in Christianity. Others were at least open to the idea of a higher power or religious. This goes to show that science and religion can work together, and that they do not have to be mutually exclusive beliefs. Both require us to critically think in order to understand our world on a greater scale.The security picture in Southeast Asia was far more stable this year than tumultuous 2017, when Islamic State (IS) militants took over the Philippine city of Marawi for five months. While there were attacks and attempted attacks by militants across the region, most had lower levels of lethality and professionalism, and no group really gained any traction.

Ironically, the two most significant attacks in 2018 may in fact reflect growing concern from within the jihadist ranks. The May suicide bombings in Surabaya, Indonesia involving two entire families, as well as the unprecedented suicide bombing by a foreign fighter in Basilan, Philippines, may have been attempts to goad others into action; representing internal debates and frustration over the loss of momentum and commitment to the jihadist cause.

And the impact of ISs loss of more than 90 percent of its territory in Syria and Iraq could have implications for Southeast Asia as the region adopts a global insurgency model. Although IS has declared the establishment of an East Asian Wilayat  or province  there is little evidence this has had a major bearing on the flow of foreign fighters or resources into the region.

Fears of a centralized and unified IS presence in Southeast Asia are over-blown. What is now commonly referred to as Islamic State East Asia (ISEA) remains a loose constellation of small groups and cells divided by geography, competency and egos.

The Philippines

The security situation in the Philippines remains poor, imperiling peace and development within the country but also having regional security implications.

On the one hand, the peace process between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is proceeding. The Philippine Congress passed the implementing legislation in mid-2018, after a three and a half year delay.

Preparations are being made for a January 2019 plebiscite for inclusion in an autonomous Muslim region in the south. If all goes to plan, an autonomous government with a new political system will be in place by mid-2019.

This is important because MILF controls significant territory in Mindanao, and the onus will be on them to deny militants and foreign fighters sanctuary. They have to prove themselves responsible stakeholders.

And the MILF will face the challenge of getting adequate buy-in from their rival, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which sees this accord as undermining their own 1996 agreement with the government.

But the peace process is not a panacea.

Indeed, there was an uptick of bombings in central Mindanao in mid-2018, by the rival Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, which broke away from MILF 10 years ago. In addition to these spoilers is the reality that the funding for demobilization, disarmament, and rehabilitation programs for MILF combatants remains inadequate.

The Philippine south is awash in young men with arms and little in the way of job prospects. Pro-IS groups, including the Maute band, which led the Marawi siege, are actively recruiting from MILF ranks.

And they are benefitting from the slow, top-down reconstruction of Marawi, an issue that continues to alienate the local population, many of whom remain were displaced by the siege and ensuing battle between the militants and the Philippine military.

Mid-2018 saw a series of clashes between government forces and Maute remnants. There are clear signs that the Maute group is itself rebuilding, tapping into local grievances.

The Philippines remains the only place in Southeast Asia where IS can actually control physical space. That will continue to be a draw for foreign fighters, who may bring some technical expertise, but more importantly, in the Philippine context, they can also bridge parochial divides and rivalries among groups.

The Abu Sayyaf Group continued to engage in kidnapping for ransom. For the most part, they targeted local Filipinos, who tend to pay ransoms quickly.

But late 2018 saw a revival of maritime operations. A Malaysian and four Indonesian fishermen were abducted in two operations, while a Malaysian tugboat crew was able to thwart a third attack.

Trilateral maritime policing between Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, which began in 2017 after a spate of maritime kidnappings in 2016, had an immediate impact, deterring subsequent attacks. And yet, militants are once again feeling confident enough to target vessels.

Meanwhile, violent incidents from the communist New Peoples Army kept rising, spreading the poorly resourced Philippine security forces very thin.

In December, the Philippine Congress passed the second extension of martial law in portions of Mindanao that has angered the local population and has allowed the Philippine military to act with greater levels of impunity.

Indonesia

Indonesia saw a range of attacks in 2018. The majority were amateurish, conducted by lone wolves inspired by IS propaganda.

These included a grenade attack on a police station in Makassar, and a students machete attack at a Yogyakarta church that wounded six. A group of eight sword-wielding militants killed a policeman in Pekenbaru; four were killed. In May, police arrested two men in Palembang, in possession of TATP, an explosive materiel. In December, police arrested two militants in Yogyakarta for plotting to attack churches on Christmas.

Also this year, there were two separate prison riots involving terrorism detainees, at the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police headquarters outside of Jakarta. Several terror suspects were either killed or arrested en route to joining the uprisings.

But the headline attacks of the year were a series of suicide bombing in Surabaya, in May, that included two entire families. A family of six, including four children aged 9-18, carried out three suicide bombings on a trio of churches there, killing at least a dozen people and wounding scores more.

It was the first successful female suicide bombing in Southeast Asia. Another family set off to detonate their IED at a police housing complex. The bomb went off prematurely, killing the parents and their son; a daughter survived.

As a result of the Surabaya bombings, Indonesias controversial Counterterrorism bill that had been stalled in parliament for nearly two years, was hurriedly passed. The new law criminalizes joining terrorist groups overseas and lengthens jail sentences for terrorism-related crimes.

But it has many controversial provisions, including the ability to strip citizenship, preventative detention, and gave the armed forces (TNI) a formal counterterrorism role.

Parliament allocated funding for the elite counter-terrorism police force, Densus 88, to double in size to 1,300 men, from 16 to 34 detachments deployed in all 34 provinces of the archipelago.

The new legal authorities and resources led to a surge in arrests in the second half of 2018. Over 200 had been arrested since the Surabaya attacks.

In July, an Indonesian court banned Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), which has morphed from an umbrella grouping for IS cells to a terrorist organization in its own right, while another court sentenced the spiritual leader of IS, Abdurrahman Aman, to death.

Indonesia continues to face a range of other counterterror challenges, including how to deal with the over 600 nationals who traveled to Iraq and Syria, as well as the pressing issue of penal reform.

Some 60 terror suspects were released in 2018, while some 140 are expected to be released in 2019. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda militant supporters who were responsible for a reign of terror during the first decade of the century, have laid low, quietly rebuilding their ranks.

Malaysia

Counter-terrorism police remained very busy in Malaysia. Unlike Jemaah Islamiyah, which never actively targeted Malaysia, IS groups have repeatedly tried to perpetrate violence. But the real line of effort was in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah, which remains a key transit point for foreign fighters traveling in and out of the southern Philippines.

Most cells that police disrupted in 2018 were relatively unsophisticated but focused on attacking Christian and Hindu minorities. The one exception to this was a five-man cell of Shia arrested in August that was plotting to attack Saudi Arabia from Yemen, according to Malaysian police.

Since February 2013, the polices counter-terrorist special branch has arrested 425 suspected militants, including 44 women. Of those, 314 are Malaysians while the others are foreigners from the Philippines (39), Indonesia (35), Iraq (8), Bangladesh (5) and Yemen (4). The government said it had stopped 18 terror plots. Over 50 Malaysians remain in Syria.

Despite the tight budget that the Pakatan Harapan government inherited following its surprise electoral victory in May, the government has pledged to continue to make Sabah security a priority.

Malaysia has stepped up resources for the inter-agency Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM), as well as provided more resources for the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency. The MMEA has stepped up patrols in the Sulu Sea and engaged suspected militants thought to be planning kidnapping raids into Sabah.

The Pakatan Harapan government has still not made clear what it intends to do with several controversial laws, including the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act (2012) and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (2015).

Thailand

The insurgency in the three Malay-dominated provinces of southern Thailand, entering its 15th year, has seen a sharp decline in violence.

The low levels of violence (there were under 100 deaths, and some 150 wounded in 2018) is at a rate that the government can attribute it to criminal activity.

The pattern of violence, a decline in more indiscriminate bombings and more targeted shootings, suggests that violence is now very calculated and in response to government actions.

While a decline in violence is positive, it also minimizes any pressure on the government to make any meaningful concessions, despite its lip service to continue talks with the umbrella grouping MARA Patani. The main rebel group, Barisan Revolusi Nasional, continues to sit out the talks despite Malaysian and Thai government pressure.

There are also concerns that younger militants in the Deep South have grown frustrated with the current stasis. The year 2018 saw two Thai nationals, both with ties Deep South-based rebel groups, arrested in Malaysia in conjunction with terror cells, including one Johor-based IS cell.

The Rohingya crisis

After launching a series of attacks that led to a ferocious backlash by Myanmar security forces, which, in turn, drove more than 700,000 people into neighboring Bangladesh, the Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Army has largely gone underground, unable and unwilling to take responsibility for the massive human suffering it has caused.

Myanmar security forces have held a series of negotiations with their Bangladesh counterparts to allow for the repatriation of some Rohingya refugees, but, without full legal protections and citizenship, there have been few takers.

More than 100,000 Rohingya who remained in Myanmar are living in what can only be described as concentration camps, while government pogroms continue.

Despite concerns about terrorism, calls from transnational jihadist organizations to exact revenge on the Myanmar government it have been nothing but lip service.

There remains slim hope for any resolution of the humanitarian crisis.

The plight of Rohingya remains one of the real wedge issues within ASEAN, and the Myanmar government is able to rely on key backers to give it the diplomatic cover and financial backing that it needs to withstand international opprobrium, including charges of genocide by the U.N.

Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and the author of Forging Peace in Southeast Asia: Insurgencies, Peace Processes, and Reconciliation. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College or BenarNews.Indonesian troops attend the inauguration ceremony for the Natuna TNI Integrated Unit in Riau Islands province, Dec. 18, 2018.

The Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) commander on Tuesday inaugurated a military unit in the Natuna islands near the South China Sea that will be tasked with warding off threats such as illegal fishing and transnational crimes.

Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto announced the formation of the unit, currently comprising a few hundred personnel including members of army engineering corps.

The Natuna Integrated TNI Unit is part of our strategic plans to develop our strength to provide deterrence against threats, especially at the borders, Hadi said in a statement released by the military.

The South China Sea unit in the Riau Islands province will be equipped with a surface-to-air missile defense system, the military said. Other facilities include a port, a hangar to support military aircraft and a hospital.

The unit will become part the Regional Defense Joint Command and will eventually include army, air force and navy personnel.

Clashes

Indonesian navy patrols have clashed with Chinese fishing boats in waters off Natuna in recent years as the nation increased its crackdown on illegal fishing in region and accused the Chinese of fishing in the countrys Exclusive Economic Zone.

China responded by calling the waters traditional fishing grounds. Tensions between China and its neighbors have risen as the superpower has sought to assert its control of the South China Sea in the face of competing territorial claims from countries in the region.

China claims most of the sea as its own while Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping claims to territories.

Muhammad Arif, a researcher at the Jakarta-based nonprofit Habibie Center, said he sees the military unit as part of the Indonesian governments response to threats in the area.

Such threats need to be addressed both militarily and diplomatically and require a change in TNIs deployment in the border area near the South China Sea, he told BenarNews. This shows that the TNI is serious about protecting Indonesias territorial borders and responding to instability in the region.Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, president of the United Malays National Organization, greets supporters as he arrives at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency in Putrajaya, Oct. 10, 2018.

The president of Malaysia's longest-ruling party relinquished his duties Tuesday, after 17 of its 54 members of parliament abandoned the party over the last six months in what analysts said showed its failure to adapt to being in the opposition.

UMNO, the acronym for United Malays National Organization, had been Malaysias dominant political force since the country gained independence on Aug. 31, 1957.

But it emerged in tatters after elections in May, winning only 54 seats in the nations 222-seat parliament in a devastating electoral defeat that saw the four-party Pakatan Harapan (PH) bloc take power. Since then, several of UMNOs top leaders have been investigated for corruption.

Based on the crisis enveloping the party today, I am making the decision to entrust to the deputy president to carry the duties of the president, UMNO leader Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said, referring to his deputy, Mohamad Hasan.

I feel there is a discontent among some UMNO leadership who are worried that they will be pressured, investigated and accused again and again like how I endured, said Zahid, the former deputy prime minister of Malaysia.

Zahids statement came a day after lawmaker Nurul Izzah Anwar sent shockwaves throughout the Muslim-majority nation when she quit as vice president and state chairman of Peoples Justice Party (PKR), the leading party in the ruling PH coalition.

Nurul Izzah, 38, is the daughter of PKR president Anwar Ibrahim  who is expected to be Malaysias next prime minister  and Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the current deputy prime minister.

She did not make clear what triggered her resignation, but local reports said there were signs she may have objected to UMNO bigwigs crossing over to the ruling party.

Our party was attacked before by defections, she tweeted on Sunday. Wouldnt want that kind of pain and antics upon anyone else. There is no meaning to democracy if Malaysia is governed by elite-based politicking.

On Sunday, UMNO cancelled its monthly Supreme Council meeting, as party officials reportedly scrambled to deal with the mass exodus and calls for Zahid to resign.

Last week, UMNOs bloc in Sabah, which claims a 100,000-strong membership, was rocked when more than 30 state leaders and office holders announced that they would leave the party.

UMNOs Sabah chairman, Hajiji Mohd Noor, said the party includes non-Muslim members and the current Islamist leanings of the UMNO leadership had put the support from that bloc in jeopardy.

On Dec. 8, several UMNO leaders, including Zahid, shared a stage with the Islamist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) at a massive rally in Kuala Lumpur to protest the governments proposal to ratify a United Nations convention against racial discrimination.

It is for this reason that we have decided to take the initiative to chart our own political future, Hajiji said during a news conference in the state capital Kota Kinabalu.

They will survive

Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur Tuesday, Zahid said he would continue to hold the post of president but without executing any of its duties.

This decision is a middle ground to save UMNO, especially when there are intentions among members of parliament and division leaders, and also to prevent any more crossings and incidents of party hopping, Zahid said, adding that his deputy would hold full authority for a period of time.

Awang Azman Awang Pawi, a professor at the University of Malaya, said that the party would survive the crisis.

It is a sign of UMNO leaders failure to adapt to life as members of the opposition after being accustomed to the trappings of leadership for so long, he told BenarNews.

They will survive, but perhaps as a much smaller party, he said.

All of the countrys prime ministers had been members of UMNO  until the partys stunning defeat in the last elections ushered in a triumphant political re-entry for Mahathir Mohamad.

Ahmad Marthada, a former academician, said the growing rapport with the conservative Muslim party PAS had played a role in the mass exodus of UMNO members.

PAS and UMNO are different. They cannot be in a coalition, Ahmad told BenarNews. PAS wants an Islamic State with Shariah laws, but not UMNO.

UMNO is more towards securing Malay power, not religion, he said.

Tainted

Zahid, like former Prime Minister Najib Razak, faces multiple charges of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering. Several other former officials are also being prosecuted.

Chandra Muzaffar, chairman of the nonprofit foundation Promoting National Unity, said the party had become too closely associated with corruption, as the new government pushed forward in investigating the 1MDB investment fund scandal and other cases.

More than a lack of direction, it is perhaps the multiple charges of corruption, criminal breach of trust and money laundering, among other instances of power abuse  that have eroded the confidence of these legislators and other UMNO personalities in the party, he said.

When the men at the helm of an organization are so badly tainted and tarnished with allegations of crimes of such magnitude, one should not expect the people around them to remain loyal to their authority, Chandra said in an opinion column published Monday by the Free Malaysia Today.

He said partys internal hemorrhage could also be linked to the psychological setback inflicted against its leaders after they lost the perks and privileges of high office that they used to enjoy when UMNO, the mainstay of the Barisan Nasional coalition, lost power after more than 60 years.

This is why some of them are keen on getting back to power and are allegedly engaged in maneuvers in that direction, he said. It is also said that they and others are also hoping that some deal can be made with individuals in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government that may help to keep UMNO bigwigs out of jail or at least lessen their travails.Illustration: Intelligencer

File under yeah, we know: A new study from Amnesty International analyzing tweets directed at female politicians and journalists found that, well, people online arent particularly nice to female politicians and journalists. Working with Element AI, an artificial intelligence software company, Amnesty International looked at 228,000 tweets sent to 778 women politicians and journalists in the UK and the U.S. in 2017. Several thousand volunteers  deemed the troll patrol  helped in sorting through the content. Their findings seems to be consistent with what any woman with a public-facing profession who has spent time online would tell you about their experience. Which is to say  its bad.

During the course of the year, the women in the study received 1.1 million abusive tweets, as estimated by Element AI. That translates to one abusive tweet every 30 seconds. (About 7.1 percent of all of the tweets analyzed, if you want to get technical.) The journalists came from a number of different outlets, including the New York Times, The Sun, and Breitbart, and politicians were of varying party affiliations. Across the board, women of color were 34 percent more likely to face abusive tweets, and black women were particularly targeted. They were 84 percent more likely to be sent hateful tweets than the white women in the study. Twitters failure to crack down on this problem means it is contributing to the silencing of already marginalized voices, Milena Marin, senior advisor for tactical research at Amnesty International, said in a release.

The point of the study was not, as it might seem, to point out the obvious: that Twitter, despite its goods, can be a hotbed for abuse and violence and hate. Amnesty International hopes it can work with Twitter to help make it a more hospitable place. The organizations regquests include greater transparency from Twitter, and that the company make(s) available meaningful and comprehensive data regarding the scale and nature of abuse on their platform, as well as how they are addressing it. They asked this earlier in 2018 after conducting a similar study which found that Twitter violates womens human rights. Twitter, though, has still not addressed the request.President Rodrigo Duterte has added additional forces on Jolo island in the southern tip of the Philippines, bringing to 10,000 the number of troops in the region tasked with crushing Abu Sayyaf militants, military officials said Tuesday.

Duterte activated the Armys 11th Infantry Division to take on the estimated 300 to 500 Abu Sayyaf fighters after giving the militant group an ultimatum to hold peace talks or face defeat.

If they will stop, Im willing to go to their place  lets talk, Duterte said in a speech delivered in Jolo on Monday, portions of which were provided to media on Tuesday. I cannot allow my soldiers to be ambushed and killed while I am the commander-in-chief. And this has been going on for the last so many years. We are wasting bullets.

Dutertes call for peace talks went against a long-existing government of policy of not negotiating with militants in a region that has a history of terror attacks.

In May 2017, senior Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, the emir of the Islamic State (IS) in the Philippines, led militants in taking over the city of Marawi. He died five months later as the military recaptured the city.

Since then, military officials have said the threat of militancy exploding elsewhere in the south remains high.

In November, a clash between troops and the Abu Sayyaf on Jolo left five soldiers dead and two dozen others wounded. The clash was the biggest in recent months in the restive south, and it forced Duterte to move troop positions in Mindanao.

Gun battles last week killed at least one Marine and several Abu Sayyaf fighters  one day after the legislature approved Dutertes request to extend martial law in the south until next year.

Abu Sayyaf is one of the most brutal militant groups operating in the southern Philippines. It has been engaged in banditry, kidnapping and bombings.

The group is wanted for beheading hostages, including a German national and two Canadians during the last two years. It was blamed for blowing up a passenger ferry on Manila Bay in 2004, killing more than 100 people.

Once allied with al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Sayyaf later forged alliances with IS, through Hapilon.

A faction operating on the nearby island of Basilan in July carried out a bombing that left 10 dead. The IS had claimed responsibility for the attack, saying a Moroccan operative carried it out, but the army discredited the claim and charged several Abu Sayyaf militants.

Previously, military spokesman Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo said a new military unit had been created to focus on counter-terrorism operations against the militant group and its sympathizers.

We cannot always discount the possibility of supporters and sympathizers that continue to lurk in the island. The unit shall be oriented, armed and equipped to address the peculiarity of the enemy, weather and terrain, Arevalo said.

Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. speaks to troops in Marawi after assuming command of the 103rd Infantry (Haribon) Brigade, Dec. 18, 2018. (Richel V. Umel/BenarNews)

New Marawi commander

Meanwhile, Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., who led troops in fighting militants in Marawi, assumed the role of commander of the military forces in the area on Tuesday.

He said his job was to focus on defeating stragglers who survived the five-month Marawi battle, and prevent them from recruiting more followers in far-flung, impoverished areas.

The brigade has contributed to the neutralization of so many members of the Maute ISIS group. Neutralization is not only killing them but would also mean catching them or surrender, Brawner said, using another acronym for IS.

The Maute group provided manpower and weapons to Hapilons group during the Marawi siege.

Brawner acknowledged his promotion comes at a critical time  just a month before the Muslim south, including Marawi, goes to the polls to ratify a Muslim autonomy law signed by Duterte last year. Military intelligence has reported that militant groups opposed to democratic elections could create chaos.

We will ensure that the environment here will be secured and peaceful so the rehabilitation will go unhampered, he said.

Brawner, 50, comes from a family with a long history of serving in the Philippine military. His uncle was the commanding general of a brigade once assigned to Marawi.

Mark Navales in Cotabato contributed to this report.On this exclusive, members-only event, Bill breaks down what you need to know about The Real Joe Biden. Who is he and how will he directly affect you and your family?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesFor Immediate Release, December 18, 2018 Contact: Noah Greenwald, (503) 484-7495, ngreenwald@biologicaldiversity.org Trump Administration Denies Protection to 13 Imperiled Species Wrongfully Rejected Species Threatened by Habitat Destruction, Sea-level Rise WASHINGTON The Trump administration today denied protection to 13 rare and imperiled species under the Endangered Species Act, including the Florida sandhill crane, Cedar Key mole skink and San Joaquin Valley giant flower-loving fly. By denying lifesaving protections to 13 species at once, the Trump administration is trumpeting its extreme contempt for imperiled wildlife, said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. These denials are shocking, even with former oil lobbyist David Bernhardt basically running the Interior Department. Many of these species will continue to decline, and some may even be lost without protections. One has already gone extinct. The 13 species face varying degrees of threat, but for some, scientific evidence clearly shows they need protection. The Cedar Keys mole skink and MacGillivrays seaside sparrow, for example, both occur in coastal areas of the Southeast and will lose much of their habitats to sea-level rise. The Ozark pyrg snail was denied protection because it was found to have gone extinct while waiting for protection. It was identified as needing protection in 1991 and last seen in 1997. It is the 47th species that has gone extinct waiting for protection. The snail once lived in the North Fork White River in Arkansas, where water quality is affected by nutrient loading and sedimentation from livestock, land clearing and gravel dredging. When a species goes extinct we lose a piece of our future, Greenwald said. We can and should do better. The loss of this snail due to the degradation of its freshwater habitat shows how delaying protection has tragic, permanent consequences. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services program for listing species has long been underfunded and too slow. But under the Trump administration, progress has ground to a near halt. The Endangered Species Act requires decisions about species protection to take two years, but on average it has taken the agency 12 years. To address a backlog of more than 500 species awaiting protection decisions, the Fish and Wildlife Service developed a seven-year workplan in late 2017. The Trump administration is now behind on decisions about lifesaving protections for 60 species. We want the Fish and Wildlife Service to be able to do its job and protect endangered species, said Greenwald. But under the Trump administration, all were getting are delays and wrongful denials of species badly in need of protection. Another species denied protection today  the San Joaquin Valley giant flower-loving fly  has lost seven of eight of its known population. The last remaining population faces threats from sand mining and other development. And the Tinian monarch, a songbird, occurs only on the island of Tinian in the northern Marianas. The bird is threatened by development by the U.S. military and recently lost much of its habitat to super-typhoon Yutu. Five of the species were found to warrant protection by previous administrations, though such protection was delayed. Those are the striped newt, Fremont County rockcress, Frisco buckwheat, Ostlers peppergrass and Frisco clover. The Trump administration has abruptly reversed course and found these species dont warrant protection, Greenwald said. We just dont buy the thin justifications offered for these reversals, which could condemn these species to further decline.

For Immediate Release, December 18, 2018 Contact: Elise Bennett, Center for Biological Diversity, (727) 755-6950, ebennett@biologicaldiversity.org

Derek Goldman, Endangered Species Coalition, (406) 721-3218, dgoldman@endangered.org Report: Nation's Largest Salamander Among Species Threatened by Trump Administration WASHINGTON The eastern hellbender, North Americas largest salamander, is among 10 species threatened by the Trump administration and its plans to weaken the Endangered Species Act, according to a new report out today. The administration is on the cusp of finalizing rules drafted by the U.S. Department of the Interior designed to make it harder to protect imperiled wildlife and important habitat. The proposal would devastate already-declining species such as the manatee, two sea turtles, a rare bumblebee and the hellbender, according to the report, Extinction Plan: Ten Species Imperiled by the Trump Administration.



The Center for Biological Diversity nominated the hellbender for the report because the proposed rules would make it harder for the species to gain lifesaving protections. The species, which has suffered significant declines, is threatened by habitat destruction and pollution. The hellbender is one of the most fascinating salamanders in the United States, and the Trump administration is sadly putting its future in doubt, said Elise Bennett, a Center attorney dedicated to protecting imperiled reptiles and amphibians. This rare salamanders struggle is an unmistakable signal that our rivers and streams are in trouble. But rather than helping, the Trump administration is making it harder than ever for the hellbender to get the protection it needs. This year the Trump administration proposed regulations that would allow the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to consider economic impacts when deciding whether to protect wildlife under the Endangered Species Act. If approved this policy change would mark a dangerous shift away from the agencys current practice of basing its decisions solely on science. The change could inject unnecessary controversy and slow or stymie protections for imperiled species like the eastern hellbender. Known by colorful names like devil dog, snot otter, grampus and Old Lasagna Sides, the eastern hellbender grows up to 2 feet long. Its nicknames describe the loose, frilly skin along its sides and the mucus-like secretions it expels when frightened. The hellbenders range includes New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. The hellbender is a wild and weird part of our countrys natural heritage, Bennett said. A few corporate interests should not be able to influence whether it lives or disappears forever. Hellbender populations have dropped by as much as 70 percent across most of the species range due to water pollution, dams and disease. The hellbender is particularly vulnerable to water contamination because of its permeable skin and sensitive eggs, which it lays in water. The Center petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the hellbender under the Endangered Species Act in 2010, and scored a legal victory in 2013 to accelerate those protections. The hellbender is still under review for those protections. Background

The new Extinction Plan report highlights 10 species nominated by the Endangered Species Coalitions member groups and reviewed by a committee of distinguished scientists. Species include: California condor, giraffe, hellbender, Humboldt marten, leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles, red wolf, rusty patched bumble bee, San Bernardino kangaroo rat, West Indian manatee and western yellow-billed cuckoo. The full report, along with photos and additional species information can be viewed and downloaded at http://endangered.org/extinction-plan. Although the Trump administration and some members of Congress have sought to weaken the Endangered Species Act, public opinion research indicates that the law continues to maintain broad, bipartisan public support. A 2015 poll conducted by Tulchin Research found that 90 percent of American voters across all political, regional and demographic lines support the Act.



In 2017 more than 400 organizations signed a letter to members of Congress opposing efforts to weaken the Endangered Species Act, noting the law has saved 99 percent of wildlife under its protection from extinction. Those include some of the countrys most iconic species like bald eagles, humpback whales, American alligators, Channel Island foxes and Tennessee purple coneflowers.



The Endangered Species Coalition produces an annual top 10 report with a different theme each year. Previous years reports are available on the coalitions website.For Immediate Release, December 17, 2018 Contacts: Kristen Monsell, (510) 844-7137, kmonsell@biologicaldiversity.org

Rebecca Noblin, Earthjustice, (907) 277.2500 x7103, rnoblin@earthjustice.org

Patrick Davis, Friends of the Earth, (202) 222-0744, pdavis@foe.org Lawsuit Challenges Trump Approval of Offshore Oil Drilling Project in the Arctic Administration OK of Hilcorp's Liberty Project Violated Federal Law, Ignores Climate Change ANCHORAGE, Alaska Conservation groups today filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administrations approval of the first offshore oil drilling development in federal Arctic waters. Hilcorp Alaska received approval in October to build and operate the controversial Liberty project, an artificial drilling island and underwater pipeline that risks oil spills in the sensitive Beaufort Sea and threatens polar bears and Arctic communities. Todays lawsuit was brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Defenders of Wildlife, and Pacific Environment, all represented by Earthjustice. They say the Liberty approval violated federal laws and ignores the causes and effects of climate change. The project is in the heart of polar bear habitat. We cant let this reckless administration open the Arctic to offshore oil drilling. It threatens Arctic wildlife and communities and will only make climate chaos worse around the world, said Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director with the Center for Biological Diversity. Liberty is the bad step down a very dangerous path. An oil spill in the Arctic would be impossible to clean up in a region already stressed by climate change. Ironically, construction of the Liberty project has already been delayed by a lack of stable shoreline sea ice in the rapidly warming Arctic region. The past five years have been the hottest on record, the administration announced this month, as the Arctic heats up at twice the global warming rate. Climate change is driven by excessive fossil fuel consumption. When it rubber-stamped this project, the administration illegally failed to consider the consequences it will bring for imperiled polar bears. It misled the public about this projects contribution to climate change. According to the agencys fuzzy math, drilling for oil will actually reduce climate change, said Rebecca Noblin, staff attorney with Earthjustice. Nor did it account for climate-change impacts like permafrost melt, sea-ice melt and increasing storms that make this an exceedingly dangerous prospect and increase the potential for oil spills. The Liberty project involves construction of a nine-acre artificial island with a 24-acre footprint in about 20 feet of water and a 5.6-mile pipeline under Arctic waters to send the oil into onshore pipelines. In a rush to drill for oil in Alaskas pristine Arctic coastlines, Donald Trump is flouting the law and endangering some of the most delicate coastlines in the world, said Marcie Keever, legal director at Friends of the Earth. This project is just one in a series of giveaways to oil companies looking to enrich their CEOs and investors on Americas public lands and waters. Drilling for new oil off our shorelines and on our public lands, especially in the Arctic, puts the health of our children and their future on this planet into jeopardy. The Trump administration has proposed drastically expanding offshore oil leasing in the Arctic and other U.S. oceans and relaxing offshore drilling safety regulations adopted in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The administration plans to offer another lease sale in the Beaufort Sea in 2019. "The Liberty project must be stopped because it poses dangerous oil spill risk that threaten Arctic communities and subsistence activities. This danger is even more worrisome given Hilcorps appalling record of safety and environmental violations, said Kevin Harun, Arctic program director at Pacific Environment. "As Alaskans and Americans, we need to stand up to the Trump Administration's ill-conceived, slapped-together and fast-tracked proposal to open our Arctic waters to its moneyed friends in the oil industry. Concerns about Hilcorps ability to build and manage the project were heightened last year when its underwater gas pipeline in Alaskas Cook Inlet leaked for nearly four months because the company said the presence of sea ice prevented its repair. Earlier this month, a Hilcorp contract oil worker died in an accident on Alaskas North Slope and there was an oil spill from one of the companys wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Hilcorp has been the most heavily fined oil company in Alaska in recent years, with state regulators writing disregard for regulatory compliance is endemic to Hilcorp's approach to its Alaska operations. Polar bears and all Arctic wildlife are already under stress from climate change. Now the Trump administration is putting them at greater risk with their relentless efforts to open new areas to oil exploration, said Jason Rylander, senior counsel with Defenders of Wildlife. We cannot allow these sensitive marine environments to become sacrifice zones for the fossil fuel industry. There is no such thing as safe Arctic drilling. It doesnt matter if its Hilcorp or Shell trying to exploit the melting Arctic for profit  an oil spill in the Beaufort Sea would be impossible to clean up, said Tim Donaghy, Greenpeace USA senior research specialist. The latest climate science is crystal clear that we can no longer allow the expansion of the oil industry into new regions if we want to limit global warming to safe levels. The fate of the climate, Arctic wildlife, and communities in Alaska is too important to leave in the hands of a company with a questionable track record, and a reckless administration that doesnt accept climate science.

ABB, a pioneer in power grids and electrification manufacturer, on Monday signed a deal with Japan's Hitachi to sell its Power Grids division at a transaction enterprise value of USD 11 billion for 100 per cent of power grids. The joint venture will be headquartered in Switzerland, with Hitachi retaining the management team to ensure business continuity.

The Zurich-based company said that it will report Power Grids in discontinued operations in Q4 2018 until closing. Effective April 1, 2019, ABB will simplify its organizational structure by shaping four customer-focused, entrepreneurial businesses - electrification, industrial automation, robotics & discrete automation and motion.

Here are three things you should know about the deal:

Hitachi to become owner of Power Grids

Initially, ABB will retain a 19.9 per cent equity stake in the joint venture, allowing a seamless transition. The transaction agreement includes a pre-defined option for ABB to exit the retained 19.9 per cent share, exercisable three years after closing, at fair market value with floor price at 90 per cent of agreed Enterprise Value. Hitachi holds a call option over the remaining 19.9 percent share at fair market value with floor price at 100 per cent of agreed Enterprise Value.

Power Grids will strengthen Hitachi as global leader in energy infrastructure

With the acquisition of Power Grids business of ABB, Japanese conglomerate Hitachi will expand its global footprint as a leader in energy infrastructure, having access to new and growing markets as well as financing. Hitachi intends to accelerate Power Grids to the next stage of its development, building on the solid foundation achieved under ABB's previous ownership.

Who will make how much from deal

As per the deal, the agreed price represents a transaction Enterprise Value of USD 11 billion for 100 per cent of Power Grids, the equivalent to an E V/op. EBITA multiple of 11.2x, before share of corporate cost. ABB will initially realise a levered consideration of nearly USD 9.1 billion from the sale of 80.1 per cent of Power Grids, including pre-sale net leverage (intercompany loan net of cash transferred), before one-time transaction and separation related costs as well as cash tax impacts.

Edited by Chitranjan KumarFor Immediate Release, December 18, 2018 Contacts: Julie Teel Simmonds, Center for Biological Diversity, (619) 990-2999, JTeelSimmonds@biologicaldiversity.org

Kurt Beardslee, Wild Fish Conservancy, (425) 788-1167, kurt@wildfishconservancy.org Lawsuit Launched to Help Protect Salmon for Starving Orcas Southern Resident Population Drops to 74 as Trump Administration Ignores Role of Salmon Fishing SEATTLE The Center for Biological Diversity and Wild Fish Conservancy today notified the Trump administration that its mismanagement of West Coast salmon fisheries is harming critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales, in violation of the Endangered Species Act. That orca population has dropped to just 74 individuals, mostly because declining salmon runs have left them without enough to eat. The notice letter gives the administration 60 days to consult with wildlife officials to assess and mitigate the impact Pacific Ocean salmon fishing has on endangered orcas before the groups consider filing a lawsuit. The letter follows Washington Gov. Jay Inslees proposal last week for a $1.1 billion program to protect these orcas and restore salmon runs. These orcas will go extinct if federal officials dont ensure theres enough wild salmon available to eat, said Julie Teel Simmonds, an attorney with the Center. We cant allow business as usual in the salmon fisheries while Southern Resident killer whales are starving to death. We have to move fast because time is running out. The population of Southern Resident killer whales reached a 34-year low this year after the loss of a newborn calf and a young female orca. None of the calves born in the past three years has survived, adding a sense of urgency to improve recovery efforts. In addition to lack of prey availability, the orcas are harmed by boat traffic and noise, which disrupts their feeding and communications, and water pollution. In August the Center sued the Trump administration for failing to protect the Southern Residents full West Coast habitat. The Center launched another lawsuit in August to establish a whale protection zone to shield orcas from boat noise and disturbance in the heart of their Puget Sound habitat. Theres growing evidence that Chinook size and abundance are closely related to the survival and reproductive success of Southern Resident killer whales. Yet federal fishery managers responsible for protecting this endangered population have ignored data showing how ocean harvest management contributes to the decline of both Chinook salmon and Southern Resident killer whales, said Kurt Beardslee, executive director of the Wild Fish Conservancy. Todays notice letter spells out the administrations obligation to update its salmon fishery management policies to comply with the Endangered Species Act. It calls on the National Marine Fisheries Service to update its outdated biological assessment of Southern Residents. Good fishery management starts with good science, and thats what were asking for, Simmonds said. Saving West Coast orcas requires taking bold action immediately to reverse their troubling and drastic decline.NeuClone's Perjeta (pertuzumab) biosimilar is partnered with Serum Institute of India (Serum). Under the partnership, NeuClone and Serum are developing ten biosimilars for global markets.

NeuClone Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (NeuClone), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company exclusively focused on developing high-quality biosimilar products has disclosed the sixth biosimilar being developed in its pipeline of monoclonal antibody (mAb) products. The product is a biosimilar candidate of Perjeta (pertuzumab) currently in preclinical development.

Perjeta (pertuzumab) is FDA and EMA approved as a treatment for patients with HER2-positive early or metastatic breast cancer and is authorised for use only in combination with trastuzumab. In addition to the pertuzumab biosimilar, NeuClone is also developing a biosimilar of Herceptin (trastuzumab) currently in clinical development.

NeuClone's Perjeta (pertuzumab) biosimilar is partnered with Serum Institute of India (Serum). Under the partnership, NeuClone and Serum are developing ten biosimilars for global markets.

"We believe biosimilar combination therapies referencing Perjeta and Herceptin represent an exciting development in the future of biosimilars," stated Dr. Noelle Sunstrom, CEO of NeuClone. "Current combination treatments of mAbs, while often clinically superior to monotherapies, are extremely expensive when available. We are determined to dramatically expand the number of patients able to receive these life-changing combination therapies by offering lower-priced biosimilars of both mAbs."

"Biosimilars are fast becoming a very important part of our pipeline," says Adar C. Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India. "NeuClone's biosimilar technology coupled with our low-cost, large-scale business model, will enable us to supply these critical antibody therapies to those previously unable to receive treatment."

Pertuzumab is an IgG1 humanized mAb that targets human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Approximately 20% of women diagnosed with breast cancer test positively for HER2. According to La Merie, Perjeta recorded global sales of $2.3 billion in 2017.

Dr. Noelle Sunstrom and other NeuClone representatives will be attending the 37th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco from 7-10th January 2019. As part of NeuClone's strategy for biosimilar products the company is seeking commercialisation partners.Soni currently serves as director of Pulse Biosciences, Inc.

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced the appointment of Manmeet S. Soni as a non-executive director. Soni is a highly accomplished senior finance executive with extensive experience in the life sciences industry.

"Manmeet brings deep financial and business expertise to the board, and we are thrilled to welcome him," said Tina Nova, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Arena. "His leadership abilities and senior finance experience within the life sciences industry will be instrumental as we strategically advance Arena towards its next stage of growth."

Soni has served as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since May 2017. From March 2016 to February 2017, he was Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly-held biopharmaceutical company, when ARIAD was acquired by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. Previously, Soni served as Chief Financial Officer of Pharmacyclics, Inc., a publicly-held biopharmaceutical company, until its acquisition by AbbVie, Inc. in May 2015. He first joined Pharmacyclics in September 2012 as corporate controller and served in various increasingly senior roles prior to being appointed Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer in February 2014. Prior to joining Pharmacyclics, Soni worked at ZELTIQ Aesthetics Inc., a publicly held medical technology company, as well as PricewaterhouseCoopers, in the Life Science and Venture Capital Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers India, providing audit and assurance services. Mr. Soni currently serves as director of Pulse Biosciences, Inc. He is a certified public accountant and completed his Chartered Accountancy from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Arena Pharmaceuticals is driven to deliver novel, transformational medicines with optimized pharmacology and pharmacokinetics to patients globally. Arena's proprietary pipeline includes multiple potentially first- or best-in-class assets with broad clinical utility. Etrasimod (APD334), with potential utility in a broad range of immune and inflammatory conditions, is being evaluated in later-stage clinical programs in ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease, as well as in programs for primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and atopic dermatitis. Ralinepag (APD811) is being evaluated in a Phase 3 program for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Arena is also evaluating olorinab (APD371) in a Phase 2 program for gastrointestinal pain. Arena continues to assess other earlier research and development stage drug candidates, including APD418 for decompensated heart failure.

In addition, Arena has several partnerships including with Everest Medicines Limited (ralinepag and etrasimod in Greater China and select Asian countries), Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH (undisclosed target - preclinical), Outpost Medicine, LLC (undisclosed target  preclinical), and Eisai Co., Ltd. and Eisai Inc. (BELVIQ - marketed product).Tata Steel and Germany's Thyssenkrupp on Monday appointed Andreas Goss, currently Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Thyssenkrupp's Steel division, as the future Chief Executive Officer of the proposed European steel joint venture between the two companies.

"Tata Steel and thyssenkrupp have today decided on the members of the future Management Board for the planned European steel Joint Venture between the two companies," Tata Steel said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Earlier in June this year, Tata Steel and Thyssenkrupp AG signed definitive agreements to combine their European steel businesses in a 50/50 Joint Venture.

The proposed new company, to be named Thyssenkrupp Tata Steel B.V., headquartered in Amsterdam area will be positioned as a leading pan-European high-quality flat steel producer, Tata Steel said.

The Joint Venture is subject to merger control clearance in several jurisdictions, including in the European Union.

Hans Fischer, the CEO of Tata Steel Europe, will be the Deputy CEO & Chief Technology Officer of the Joint Venture.

Among others, Sandip Biswas, the Group Executive Vice President Finance of Tata Steel, is the designated Chief Financial Officer, while Premal Desai, the Chief Financial Officer of thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, will be the Chief Strategy Officer of the Joint Venture.

Apart from the above appointments, it is planned to announce the next management level for the Joint Venture early in the new year, Tata Steel said in the exchange filing.

The company further said that Management Board and the future top leadership team will be responsible for the planning and execution of the post-merger integration and the long-term business strategy once the planned Joint Venture has received the necessary regulatory approvals and after closing.

Both companies remain committed to constructive engagement with the European Commission as part of the ongoing regulatory review process, Tata Steel said, adding that both parties are working together to ensure the success of this transaction as soon as possible.

Until the completion of the Joint Venture process, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe and Tata Steel in Europe will continue to operate as separate companies and as competitors and the incumbent organisation of the respective companies will continue to operate as currently.

The members of the designated Management Board will continue in their existing roles within their businesses until the formation of the Joint Venture post all regulatory approvals, Tata Steel said.

Edited by Chitranjan KumarAstrological Significance Of This Vaikunta Ekadasi Day Faith Mysticism oi-Lekhaka

"If you need dramatic results in your material wealth, you will have to go to Vishnu. He is the God of Wealth and Material Prosperity. Vishnu readily gives boons to people who come to him."- Dr. Pillai

This Vaikunta Ekadasi is very rare and unique, as this falls when the planets Mercury and Jupiter will exchange their strong signs, forming an auspicious yoga (Parivarthana Yoga), which occurs once in 12 years.

This exchange between Mula Trikona signs is considered stronger than the exalted position in Vedic Astrology - it is an optimal day for spiritual awakening and money miracles.

Your actions to obtain material wealth through strategic and smart action are enhanced when Mercury is placed in the sign Sagittarius, the house of Fortune ruled by Jupiter - the planet of wealth, and Jupiter in turn is placed in the sign of Mercury (Virgo), which represents intelligence and smart thinking.

LIVE at 6.00 AM on 08th Jan, 2017

Astrology Significance of The Vaikunta Ekadasi Day

On this day, the Moon will be in Bharani star, ruled by Venus and sharing a sign with Ketu and Mars. The star Bharani represents the cycle of creation (birth) and dissolution (death). On this day, annihilate your pessimistic thoughts about money and sow the seeds of prosperity. A strong intent to do so will become fruitful on the powerful day of this star.

Planet Mercury, presided over by Lord Vishnu, will be in the 9th House from the Moon, activating this planet to shower enhanced blessings of fortune. Worshiping Lord Vishnu in the form of Vaikuntanathar is auspicious to get your boons granted. He is the protector of the universe.

BENEFITS OF ASTROVED'S SPECIAL VAIKUNTA EKADASI CEREMONIES

According to the scriptures, Vaikunta Ekadasi is the only day of the year when Vishnu gives you access to his Celestial abode Vaikunta, where Goddess Lakshmi resides with Vishnu in abundance and prosperity. AstroVed has created a sacred Vedic ritual package for you to connect powerfully with Vishnu and petition him to bring you wealth.

Read More & Participate

GET THE BEST BOLDSKY STORIES! Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, January 8, 2017, 9:00 [IST]"One done, two to go," tweeted Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, after Madhya Pradesh's new Chief Minister Kamal Nath waived off short term farm loans of up to Rs 200,000 taken from nationalised and cooperative banks.

Soon, the newly appointed chief minister of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel too followed suit and waived off farms loans worth Rs 6,100 crore of around 1.66 million farmers in the state. Though Rajasthan has not announced any waivers yet, Gandhi's tweet hints it might soon.

Farm loan waiver is a certainty in these three states, where Congress-led government made a comeback unseating BJP government early this month. At least the announcements.

The quantum of funds that is needed for such an exercise and the ability of the governments to fund such one-time expense are the questions that remain. The amount that will be needed to waive off farm loans in each of these states will depend on what the fine print is. We need to know the conditions that farmers will have to satisfy to qualify for such loan waivers, and their numbers and the cumulative amount that finally add up to in each state.

If the recent experience of loan waivers in two states--Karnataka and Punjab--where non-BJP government came to power recently are any indication, clarity on these aspects and the real impact of the loan waiver announcement, will emerge only after several months. Even in the BJP-ruled states such as Uttar Pradesh, where farm loan waiver were announced as the fulfilment of poll promise, the actual payout was not as significant as compared to the total income (SGDP) generated by the state.

In fact, the mother of all farm loan waivers was announced by the Congress-led UPA government in 2008. Riding on the promise to waive off farm loans of about 44 million farmers, the ruling coalition of that time rode back to power for a second consecutive term that year.

Even during the current regime, states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu had announced farm loan waivers that were estimated to be in the range of Rs 6000 crore to Rs 43,000 crore. The additional burden of one off expenses on state finances was evident, when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its study of state budgets report early this year pointed out that the revised estimates for 2017-18, reveal a gross fiscal deficit (GFD)-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of 3.1 per cent, thus, crossing the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) threshold for the third consecutive year.

The deterioration of 35 basis points in the GFD-GDP ratio, RBI report said, was essentially on the revenue account. Outstanding liabilities of states continued their double digit growth with a rising share of market borrowings in 2017-18.

In other words, it is not the size of the loan waiver that might trouble the incumbent governments in these states, but the slowing pace of its revenue growth. "A slippage of 0.40 percentage points of GDP in the consolidated revenue deficit and 0.35 percentage points of GDP in the GFD occurred on account of overshooting of revenue expenditure by 13 basis points (bps), mainly due to farm loan waivers and pay revisions, exacerbated by a shortfall of revenue receipts by 27 bps mainly due to states' own taxes declining by 0.33 per cent of GDP vis-a-vis the budget estimates," RBI notes.

The decline in states' tax revenues is essentially associated with the pending accounting issues related to GST implementation.

There could be lack of clarity on the amount that these governments will eventually shell out as farm loan waivers, but the grim reality that is certain is that their revenue streams are not exactly robust, and until GST collections settle, states will have to curtail its expenses elsewhere if it needs to fund farm loan waiver.PR Newswire

MADRID, Dec. 18, 2018

MADRID, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Within the framework of the international seminar "Grandes desafios de Iberoamerica" (Great challenges of Iberoamerica), sponsored by the International Foundation for Freedom -headed by Literature Nobel Prize Winner Mario Vargas Llosa- Guatemalan businessman and communicator Dionisio Gutierrez made a presentation where he exposed the issues of the Central American region.

During the forum, Gutierrez declared that "Central America has great social and economic problems; but the true issue is politics, we are not prepared to govern () In the last 40 years we have had transitional and felonious governments, consequently we can't build a project of nation with a long-term vision". Therefore, he explained, he founded in Guatemala the project "Escuela de Gobierno" (School of Government), which has graduated nearly 200 students at a Masters degree in Public Management and Leadership.

Moreover, he indicated that the Central American elite has been apathetical regarding political issues in their countries, "especially the business sector with little engagement, suffering an alarming political autism; such as the academy that is locked in their libraries, far away from the politic life."

Later, Gutierrez held a meeting with Brazilian judge Sergio Moro, in which they exchanged reflections regarding corruption in Latin America and the fights that Brazil and Guatemala have fought in an attempt to extinguish it.

During the forum, Moro stated that "It is necessary to bring an institutional response to those cases of great corruption" and that "once guiltiness is proved, it is necessary to have those convicted pay, no matter how powerful they are". He added that "the guilty should not only be condemned, but incentives to avoid corruption have to be created".

Dionisio Gutierrez pointed that "the detachment to the political system, the lack of trust in institutions, and above all, the terrible results of our governments have made us envision politics as a mechanism that produces corruption and poverty."

He concluded saying that: "Liberal values, freedom, rule of law, and democracy need to be rescued to straighten the way to the future of Latin America".

Other leaders who exposed about the issues of the region were: Antonio Ledezma, former Major of Caracas, Cristian Larrouleet, former Minister of Presidency of Chile; Alvaro Vargas Llosa, writer and journalists; Manel Valls, candidate for major in Barcelona 2019, among others.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dionisio-gutierrez-meets-with-judge-sergio-moro-at-an-event-in-madrid-300768522.html

SOURCE Fundacion Libertad y DesarrolloIdorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd. / Idorsia's P2Y12 receptor antagonist - selatogrel - Phase 2 clinical studies meet their objective . Processed and transmitted by West Corporation. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Allschwil, Switzerland - December 18, 2018Idorsia Ltd (SIX: IDIA) today announced that Phase 2 clinical studies with selatogrel (recommended INN for ACT-246475), Idorsia's P2Y12 receptor antagonist, in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) and patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have met their pharmacodynamic objectives of significantly inhibiting platelet aggregation.

Subcutaneous administration of selatogrel has demonstrated a rapid onset of action, within 15 minutes, with the height of its effect extending over 4-8 hours, depending on the dose. The predefined extent of platelet aggregation inhibition was seen in at least 89% of the patients in both chronic and acute situations across doses. Selatogrel was safe and well tolerated in both studies and there were no treatment-emergent serious bleeds.

The company is now preparing for the end of Phase 2 meetings with Health Authorities where it will discuss the Phase 3 study. Results of the studies will be shared at upcoming scientific congress and published in scientific literature.

Notes to the editor

Phase 2 study in adults with stable CADIdorsia has completed a multicenter, double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study assessing the pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, tolerability and safety of a single subcutaneous injection of selatogrel in adults with stable coronary artery disease. In this study, 346 patients receiving conventional background oral antiplatelet therapy (e.g. acetylsalicylic acid, P2Y12 receptor antagonists) were randomized to receive either selatogrel 8mg, 16 mg or placebo. The primary objective of the study was to characterize inhibition of platelet aggregation relative to placebo after a single subcutaneous injection of selatogrel either in the thigh or in the abdomen at 2 different doses in patients with stable CAD.

Phase 2 study in adults with AMIIdorsia has also completed a multi-center, open-label, randomized, exploratory study to assess the onset of platelet aggregation inhibition after a single subcutaneous injection of selatogrel in adults with acute myocardial infarction. In this study, 48 patients with confirmed diagnosis of AMI and time from onset of symptoms of more than 30 min and less than 6 hours were randomized to receive either selatogrel 8 mg or 16 mg in addition to conventional antithrombotic treatment (e.g., acetylsalicylic acid, oral P2Y12 receptor antagonists, anticoagulants). The primary objective of the study was to assess the inhibition of platelet aggregation 30 minutes after a single subcutaneous injection of selatogrel in patients with AMI.

About Idorsia

Idorsia Ltd is reaching out for more - We have more ideas, we see more opportunities and we want to help more patients. In order to achieve this, we will develop Idorsia into one of Europe's leading biopharmaceutical companies, with a strong scientific core.

Headquartered in Switzerland - a biotech-hub of Europe - Idorsia is specialized in the discovery and development of small molecules, to transform the horizon of therapeutic options. Idorsia has a broad portfolio of innovative drugs in the pipeline, an experienced team, a fully-functional research center, and a strong balance sheet - the ideal constellation to bringing R&D efforts to business success.

Idorsia was listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ticker symbol: IDIA) in June 2017 and has over 700 highly qualified specialists dedicated to realizing our ambitious targets.

For further information, please contactAndrew C. WeissSenior Vice President, Head of Investor Relations & Corporate CommunicationsIdorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Hegenheimermattweg 91, CH-4123 Allschwil+41 (0) 58 844 10 10www.idorsia.com

The above information contains certain "forward-looking statements", relating to the company's business, which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "estimates", "believes", "expects", "may", "are expected to", "will", "will continue", "should", "would be", "seeks", "pending" or "anticipates" or similar expressions, or by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions. Such statements include descriptions of the company's investment and research and development programs and anticipated expenditures in connection therewith, descriptions of new products expected to be introduced by the company and anticipated customer demand for such products and products in the company's existing portfolio. Such statements reflect the current views of the company with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.PR Newswire

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas, Dec. 18, 2018

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A once homeless New Braunfels, Texas family who slept in their car and in a local storage facility finally has a fully furnished home to call their own thanks to Clayton, a leading builder of prefabricated and site built homes, and Ashley HomeStore.

The owners of a mobile roadside assistance company, Mona Lisa and Oscar De Paz tried to live their dream of owning a business and providing for their family of five. However when receiving payments from clients proved to be a challenge, the De Paz family with their three boys under the age of 12 suddenly found themselves without a place to live.

Fortunately, the manager of the storage facility where the De Paz family lived and kept their belongings suggested they contact Family Promise, a national nonprofit organization helping homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence through a community-based response.

In three months, the family successfully completed the program's requirements, secured steady employment and housing and achieved sustainable independence.

"The family is a shining example of perseverance in the most challenging of circumstances," says Gary Seals, CEO of New Braunfels-based Hill Country Holdings, licensee of 34 Ashley HomeStore locations in Texas, Seattle, Oregon and Idaho. "When we learned about the opportunity to complete their dream of home ownership, we jumped right in."

Besides donating furniture for the family room and bedrooms, the Ashley HomeStore team added accessories with inspirational messages based on the De Paz family story.

"We wanted the family to have a real connection to their new home furnishings," Seals said.

Helping a New Braunfels family was particularly significant for Hill Country Holdings, Seals added, given the company's presence in the community where it operates its corporate offices, a regional distribution center and an Ashley HomeStore location.

"New Braunfels is our home," he said. "It means a lot to help out a neighbor."

About Hill Country Holdings

Hill Country Holdings, one of the largest independent owners of Ashley HomeStores, operates 35 stores throughout Texas, Seattle, Oregon, and Idaho. Ashley HomeStore locations in Texas can be found in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and the Rio Grande Valley. Seattle area locations include Silverdale, Burlington, Tukwila, Tacoma, Olympia, and Richland. Oregon HomeStores are located in Portland.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/just-in-time-for-the-holidays-ashley-homestore-helps-once-homeless-new-braunfels-texas-family-300768507.html

SOURCE Ashley HomeStorePR Newswire

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 18, 2018

Successful plant-based, sustainable learning program for children announces plans for international expansion

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- MUSE Global, a leader in innovative early childhood education, announced today it is now offering franchise opportunities throughout the United States and internationally. The Southern California-based schools, founded by James Cameron, Suzy Amis Cameron, and Rebecca Amis, provide effective, passion-based learning on sustainable campuses, instilling values of self-efficacy and respect for one another and the planet.

"MUSE began because I wanted a genuine educational experience for my children that nurtured their passions and truly engaged their curiosities," said Suzy Amis Cameron, cofounder of MUSE Global. "With my sister Rebecca's help, we have been able to cultivate and deliver a truly unique experience that focuses on the child, the community and the planet. We've always dreamed of offering this amazing program to children around the world, and now we can through our franchise opportunities."

The MUSE program is a passion-based learning model that enhances communication and interconnection among students ages 2.3 through kindergarten. MUSE understands that children have varied learning habits and communication styles and that traditional learning programs can often overlook some of these intricacies. It also places a priority on sustainability as a core value, providing 100 percent organic, plant-based lunch programs.

Educators and prospective business owners around the world who invest in MUSE have the opportunity to expand this innovative learning experience and make it available to children in their communities. A MUSE School franchise, dedicated to helping children explore their passions while learning core academics, offers many specialist educational programs such as Seed-to-Table, Maker Space and World Languages.

"One of the five pillars of our communication model is to create equity across children with various personality types, interests and passions," said Rebecca Amis, cofounder and chief innovation officer of MUSE Global. "As an educator, it's inspiring for me to motivate and communicate with students in alignment with their identified personalities. Now as the MUSE family grows, we'll be able to impact even more children around the world and create positive change for our communities - and the planet - through meaningful and engaging education."

For more information about franchise opportunities or enrollment a MUSE Global School, please visit https://www.museglobal.org/

About MUSE GLOBALMUSE GLOBAL is an international child-centered educational system offering effective, innovative and passion-based learning experiences within a plant-based, sustainable environment. Founded in 2005 as MUSE School by James Cameron, Suzy Amis Cameron and Rebecca Amis, the school quickly grew to two campuses and has now relaunched as MUSE Global, an international franchise system dedicated to sharing its vision of educating and inspiring our future leaders to live consciously with themselves, with one another and with the planet. To learn more about MUSE Global, enrollment and franchise opportunities, please visit https://www.museglobal.org/.

MEDIA CONTACT:Heather RipleyOrange [email protected]PR Newswire

NEW YORK, Dec. 17, 2018

NEW YORK, Dec. 17, 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 Owens Realty Mortgage, Inc. ("ORM" or the "Company") (NYSE American: ORM) for possible breaches of fiduciary duty related to the sale of the company to Ready Capital Corporation ("Ready Capital"). Under the terms of the proposed transaction, ORM shareholders are only anticipated to receive 1.441 shares Ready Capital for each share of ORM that they own.

Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/owens-realty-mortgage-inc. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.

The investigation focuses on whether ORM 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 ORM 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] 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.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/shareholder-alert-monteverde--associates-pc-announces-an-investigation-of-owens-realty-mortgage-inc--orm-300767747.html

SOURCE Monteverde & Associates PCPR Newswire

TINTON FALLS, N.J., Dec. 18, 2018

TINTON FALLS, N.J., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- World Insurance Associates LLC, a fast-growing independent insurance agency headquartered in Tinton Falls, NJ, has been named in the annual Best Places to Work in Insurance program by Business Insurance Magazine. The award recognizes employers for their outstanding performance in establishing workplaces where employees can thrive, enjoy their work, and help their companies grow.

"We are honored to be named a 2018 Best Place to Work by Business Insurance," stated Rich Eknoian, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of World Insurance Associates LLC. "As we continue to grow, it's important to retain and develop a distinguished team of insurance professionals who not only serve our diverse client base, but also enjoy the work they do every day."

Frank Costa, Principal and Chief Operating Officer, said, "We highly value our team members, and as a company we prioritize engaging them and providing all the tools they need to succeed."

"Being named to Business Insurance's list of the Best Places to Work in Insurance for 2018 demonstrates that World Insurance Associates LLC has built a culture in which employees are supported and engaged, which benefits their customers and the employers' financial performance," says Business Insurance Publisher Peter Oxner.

Best Places to Work in Insurance is an annual feature by Business Insurance and Best Companies Group that lists the agents, brokers, insurers and other providers with the highest employee engagement and satisfaction. The 2018 report features companies of varying sizes that all share a strong commitment to attracting, developing, and retaining great talent. Best Companies Group conducts a simple and thorough two-part assessment to gather data about the participating companies. The first part is a questionnaire completed by the employer about company policies, practices, and demographics. The second part is a confidential employee survey on engagement and satisfaction.

World Insurance Associates LLC is an independent insurance agency headquartered in Tinton Falls, NJ. It offers extensive, cost-effective personal and business insurance solutions in 46 states. The company specializes in transportation, hospitality, self-storage facilities, construction (surety), manufacturers, and law firms. World Insurance Associates also provides group benefits and property and casualty insurance to companies of all sizes in a variety of industries in addition to insurance services for individuals, focusing on coastal properties and high net worth clients. World Insurance Associates began business in 2012, has completed 34 acquisitions, and serves its customers from 22 offices in NJ, PA, NY, CT, RI, ME, OH, FL, and Washington, D.C. The company is ranked #15 on the 2018 NJBIZ 50 Fastest Growing Companies in NJ and #6 in New Jersey's Top Insurance Brokerages, also by NJBIZ. World Insurance Associates made the 2018 Inc. 5000 list at #1680, has been named a Top 100 Independent Property/Casualty Agency by Insurance Journal, and is a Business Insurance 2018 Best Place to Work. For more information, please visit www.worldins.net.

Business Insurance is the authoritative news and information source for executives concerned about risk and the impact on their business. With information for risk managers, insurers, brokers and other providers of insurance products and services, Business Insurance delivers in-depth analysis on new and emerging risks, case studies of successful programs, market intelligence on trends, and guidance on how to capitalize on opportunities and overcome challenges. In addition to a monthly print magazine, Business Insurance provides essential news via its website, BusinessInsurance.com; daily and weekly e-newsletters; and breaking news via email news alerts. To subscribe, please contact Business Insurance at [email protected]

Best Companies Group works with partners to establish "Best Places to Work," "Best Companies," and "Best Employers" programs on a national, state-wide and regional basis. Through its thorough workplace assessment using employer questionnaires and employee satisfaction surveys, Best Companies Group identifies and recognizes companies that have been successful in creating and maintaining workplace excellence.

Media Contact: Rich Eknoian, World Insurance Associates LLC, 732-523-2106, [email protected]

News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com

SOURCE World Insurance Associates LLC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The Ashoka Buildcon stock jumped as much as 8.25% to Rs 137.70 per share after the company said its unit raised Rs 150 crore from Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure for city gas distribution.

The small cap stock has gained after three days of consecutive fall. The stock opened with a gain of 5.66% at 134.40 compared to its previous close of 127.20 on the BSE.

The stock has lost 19.14% since the beginning of this year and fallen 17.56% during the last one year.

Ashoka Buildcon's unit Unison Enviro Private based in Mumbai which operates city gas distribution networks across cities and towns in India will receive funds from Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure.

Ashoka is one of country's leading infrastructure developers with a portfolio that includes 11 toll road projects and 11 road annuity projects. The company's unexecuted engineering, procurement & construction (EPC) order book stands at Rs 9,763.70 crore as on September 30, 2018.

Welcoming the investment, Ashok Katariya, chairman of Ashoka said, "We are delighted to announce this partnership with Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure to build a nationwide city gas distribution business. We commend the government's focus on increasing the share of natural gas in the overall energy mix as it is a clean and green fuel. The gas sector will see tremendous growth in the coming years and this partnership has come at the right time to take advantage of this transformational shift in India's energy mix."

Meanwhile, the Sensex and Nifty were trading higher by 63 points and 20 points to 36,333 and 10,907, respectively.

Edited by Aseem ThapliyalThe Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST) department has detected a fraud of Goods and Service Tax (GST) and Input Tax Credit (ITC) in the metal scrap business across Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

The fraud amount is likely to around Rs 200 crore, an official said.

Also Read: Aadhaar to be voluntary for mobile connections, bank accounts

According to officials, the fraud was committed during the past one-and-half years through bogus business and fake invoices and e-way bills.

An official associated with the investigation told PTI, "In the case, more than 1,100-crore of metal scraps business of more than 400 firms across three states are under the purview of our investigation. We suspect illegal benefit of Rs 200 crore through input tax credit."

He, however, said the real fraud amount would be known after the investigation.

So far, statements of 14 people have been recorded, the official added

Meanwhile, a CGST press release said officials have raided 17 places in Madhya Pradesh's Indore, one place in Bhopal and two places in Jabalpur during the past four days.

Besides, two campuses in Mumbai, five in Thane in Maharashtra and five places in Gujarat's Bhavnagar district were also raided, it added.

Also Read: MP CM Kamal Nath gives nod to farmer loan waiver up to Rs 2 lakh

Also Read: Ujjwala Yojana: Govt now extends LPG scheme to all poor householdsOnline classified platform Quikr Monday announced the acquisition of Chennai-based India Property Online Pvt Ltd as part of its strategy to strengthen its real estate transaction and classified business.

Quikr has acquired many companies in real estate space, including Commonfloor and HDFC's subsidiaries HDFC Realty and HDFC Developers.

Also Read: Aadhaar to be voluntary for mobile connections, bank accounts

Quikr in a statement said that it has acquired India Property Online, a leading full-stack real estate platform. It, however, did not disclose the deal value.

"The move is another important step in Quikr's strategy of building transactions on top of classifieds," it said.

Real Estate contributed to 35 per cent of Quikr revenue in FY17-18 and is a profitable vertical for the company. The business is on track to again grow more than 100 per cent in FY18-19, the company said.

"With USD 180 billion market potential, Indian real estate is one of the largest sectors of the economy. Since verticalisation of our business, we have looked at both organic and inorganic ways to go deeper in this strategically important category.

"The strong base of India Property in southern states and its full-stack model will help us grow our transaction business while also adding to our classifieds base," said Pranay Chulet, founder and CEO, Quikr.

In December last year, Quikr acquired HDFC's two subsidiaries HDFC Realty and HDFC Developers in an all stock deal for an estimated Rs 357 crore.

Before that, Quikr in January 2016 merged CommonFloor.com with its real estate vertical QuikrHomes. Then acquired home rental startup Grabhouse in November 2016.

Some of the other acquisitions include Indian Realty Exchange (IRX), a mobile-first aggregator of real estate brokers, and RealtyCompass, a platform that provides builder rating and project analysis. It also made a strategic investment in A N Virtual Tech that offers detailed real-life imagery of streets and buildings across India.

The latest acquisition, India Property, offers solutions that simplify property buying, selling and renting. It lists over 6 lakh properties and 8,000+ verified builder projects across 15+ cities in India. The company monetises on both the demand and supply side of the market, with solutions enabling property search, diligence, financing, and transactions.

The Chennai-based firm has also built a powerful analytics platform using street-level transaction data for residential properties covering about 5 million properties in South India. India Property is backed by leading VC fund Bertelsmann India Investments and Mayfield.

Quikr said the company is now the largest transactional player in real estate with two growing models - a co-living business to offer shared rentals to millennials, and a brokerage business for home buying.

Both businesses derive their supply and demand from Quikr's sizable classifieds base in QuikrHomes and Commonfloor. In the co-living business, Quikr said it is the largest player in the country with over 70,000 tenants at the end of November.

With 30 million monthly users, Quikr is India's largest classifieds platform with a valuation of over Rs 10,000 crore. It runs multiple vertical businesses across real estate, automobiles, education, jobs, services and goods sectors.

Quikr's investors include Tiger Global Management, Kinnevik, Warburg Pincus, Matrix Partners India, Norwest Venture Partners, NGP Capital, Steadview Capital, Omidyar Network etc.

Also Read: MP CM Kamal Nath gives nod to farmer loan waiver up to Rs 2 lakh

Also Read: Ujjwala Yojana: Govt now extends LPG scheme to all poor householdsAn Indian telecom export body has requested National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to ban the purchase of equipment from Chinese companies like Huawei, ZTE and Fiberhome for government networks, claiming that they can pose a serious national security threat.

"Ban the procurement of any Chinese telecom equipment in any government telecom network (centre or state), including power, rail, defence and PSUs. We believe that indigenous equipment makers already have the products, IPR as well as manufacturing capability and capacity to address these needs," Telecom Export Promotion Council (TEPC) Chairman Shyamal Ghosh said in a letter to Doval.

Also Read: MP CM Kamal Nath gives nod to farmer loan waiver up to Rs 2 lakh

The TEPC has been set-up by the government to promote telecom export from India.

Telecom industry body COAI, however, said that the TEPC demand to impose restrictions on Huawei and other Chinese firms is without any merit.

"We are also surprised to note that such allegations have been posed by TEPC without any proof and background check," COAI said in a letter to telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan.

When contacted, Huawei said it has not received any official communication and the statement issued against it is not backed by any proof.

"As a leading global supplier of telecom equipment, we remain committed to developing trusted and secure solutions for our customers. We continue to receive full support from the government and industry partners alike. Having a proven track record of doing business in the country, we continue to work closely with the Government of India and other industry stakeholders," the Huawei spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that privacy and security are always first priority at Huawei.

Ghosh, former telecom secretary, shot off the letter following the recent move by developed countries like the US, Japan, Canada, the UK, Germany, Australia and New Zealand to block the purchase of equipment from companies such as Huawei, ZTE and Fiberhome, particularly for 5G networks.

"While it is common knowledge that telecom equipment from China poses a severe security threat (especially for India), recent decisive actions by technologically savvy countries have confirmed this," Ghosh said.

He cited the case of Estonia that faced DDOS (Distributed Denial of Services) attacks in 2007 and case Stuxnet which target SCADA systems and is alleged to have affected Iranian nuclear programme.

"It is in this context that I would like to bring to your kind attention, the perception of our members to a rising security threat of Chinese telecom equipment vendors being used in our telecom networks," Ghosh said.

He said that India is transforming into the digital nation for which telecom network should be purchased from a trusted source.

The TEPC Chairman alleged that there has been a sustained effort by Chinese equipment vendors to win all government and security-sensitive projects such as in power, railways, oil and gas, defence etc at any cost, by offering predatory pricing, so as to gain control of strategic assets in the country.

"Also, by offering low prices and long-term financing, backed by their state-owned banks, they are winning major part of the capex spends of private telecom operators in India," Ghosh alleged.

He said that with mounting international pressure against Chinese telecom equipment vendors, there is a strong possibility that they will increase their focus on India to garner more business and further aggravate cybersecurity risks in the country

The TEPC requested Doval to create a phase-wise plan to replace all Chinese equipment from any security-sensitive network and any incremental procurement and upgrade should be done based on Indian equipment wherever possible or from a trusted partner country until Indian products become available.

"Private telcos should be strongly advised to avoid the use of any Chinese equipment in any security-sensitive area," Ghosh said.

Also Read: Aadhaar to be voluntary for mobile connections, bank accounts

Also Read: Ujjwala Yojana: Govt now extends LPG scheme to all poor householdsAs bike thefts continue to spike in Brandon, the provincial government announced on Monday it will invest $65,000 in combating bicycle thefts and reducing recidivism.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Advertisement Advertise With Us

17122018 Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister speaks during an announcement regarding funding to reduce crime across Manitoba at the Brandon Police services headquarters on Victoria Avenue on Monday. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

As bike thefts continue to spike in Brandon, the provincial government announced on Monday it will invest $65,000 in combating bicycle thefts and reducing recidivism.

As part of Manitobas share of forfeited funds from federally prosecuted Criminal Code offences, Brandon Police Service will receive $43,100 toward Brandons Bicycle Theft Prevention Strategy and $22,100 for the Recidivism Rate Reduction Strategy.

"These are very exciting projects," Premier Brian Pallister said during a funding announcement in Brandon, adding the strategies were built off ideas put forward by front-line workers in the community who are seeing the issues first hand.

"These are proceeds of crime-funded announcements with a preventative aspect thats going to make Westman, Brandon and Manitoba safer."

Brandons Bicycle Theft Prevention Strategy will look at creating an online bicycle registry through Project 529 Garage, a bike registry app, to help improve the chances of returning stolen bikes to their owners.

Brandon Police Service Chief Wayne Balcaen speaks during a provincial announcement regarding funding to reduce crime across Manitoba at the BPS headquarters on Victoria Avenue on Monday. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

The strategy also aims at building partnerships among the City of Brandon, local bike shops, educational institutions, the Brandon Bear Clan and other organizations to distribute and discuss bike theft prevention information.

"The goal is to do a better job of marking and identifying bicycles," Pallister said. "Having had my bike stolen not once but twice in the last five years, I can tell you it does make you feel really vulnerable. If I could have got my bike back through some sort of an identification system like were talking about, it would have been great."

Bicycle parking will also be improved in high-traffic areas.

BPS recorded 92 bikes stolen in 2016, Chief Wayne Balcaen said. As of Dec. 11, there have been 265 bikes stolen in 2018  a 188 per cent increase.

"Our intelligence has actually shown (bikes) are being used as a street commodity for the purchase of drugs," Balcaen said. "A lot of times bikes will be stolen, and they can be worth approximately $1,500 to $2,000, and theyll be traded off for $10 to $20 worth of methamphetamine or other drugs. So theres a lot of victims in this crime."

Funding for the Recidivism Rate Reduction Strategy will help offenders released from the Brandon Correctional Centre find employment and develop the skills they need to successfully reintegrate into the community.

The pilot project will target 10 repeat offenders looking to break the cycle of crime in their lives and connect them with community partners, including the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation, the John Howard Society of Brandon, the Brandon Literacy Council and the Samaritan House Employment Centre.

"This is an additional investment, particularly dealing with the recidivism of repeat offenders," Justice Minister Cliff Cullen said. "We want to make sure that people have the resources they need so that they can get back into society  whether that be education or training in terms of getting access to jobs, thats the key thing  If they can get into the work force and keep their hands busy, then they can be (in the community) to support both themselves and their family."

Almost $450,000 through the Proceeds of Crime Fund has been allocated to support 14 projects across the province.

Rivers Police Service received $3,100 toward their Rivers Police Cadet program, which focuses on crime prevention through positive and proactive interaction with the police.

Portage la Prairie RCMP also received $25,000 to create The Portage Hub  a new Community Mobilization Project that will use professionals to proactively detect harm or risk in individuals or families before it occurs.

Brandons Community Mobilization Unit has been a huge success, especially in dealing with people who have been involved in the criminal justice system, Cullen noted.

Winnipeg Police Service will receive approximately $243,000 in funding toward multiple projects, including Bear Clan Patrol infrastructure improvements, community-based "Complex Trauma" educational videos for school-aged children exploring what leads to alcoholism, drug use and gang involvement, and developing an "interactive crime prevention and reduction" mobile app.

 edebooy@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @erindebooyMembers of the Rivers Collegiate Institutes band program packed up their instruments and headed to Brandon for a concert at Shoppers Mall on Sunday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Members of the Rivers Collegiate Institutes band program packed up their instruments and headed to Brandon for a concert at Shoppers Mall on Sunday.

The students in grades 11 and 12 donned their best Santa hats as they played Christmas tunes for harried shoppers near the entrance to the new Shoppers Drug Mart.

As they led themselves through the songs, music teacher David Wolfe said the students had been tossing around ideas on stuff they could play.

They decided to do Christmas carols, Wolfe said.

"I thought of the mall. They dont get to play very often outside of Rivers."

That doesnt mean they dont play outside the classroom.

Last year, the students attended the Optimist Band Festival in Winnipeg, where an adjudicator determined they were good enough to go even further  further east, that is.

In May, they will be heading to Ottawa to play in the prestigious MusicFest Canada nationals, an invitation-only event for musicians from across Canada.

Adjudicated performances for concert bands and orchestras will take place between May 13 and May 18 at Babs Asper Theatre in the National Arts Centre.

Wolfe said the band has been holding fundraisers to help defray the students costs of travelling to Ottawa.

Theyve had two fundraisers already and another is set for early February.

In addition to performing, the students will have an opportunity to tour the Parliament Buildings and visit the Canadian Museum of History during their stay.

So are they excited about the prospect of going to Ottawa?

"Students at this age kind of live in the moment," Wolfe chuckled as the young musicians played for shoppers.

"As we get closer to it, Im sure that the optimism will increase," he said.

 brobertson@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @BudRobertson4OTTAWA - The restoration of delivery service guarantees by Canada Post  three weeks after striking postal workers were forced back to work  proves the shipment backlogs Ottawa used to justify legislating an end to rotating walkouts were "fiction," says the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canada Post rural suburban mail carrier Anita Baric, right, rallies outside Canada Post headquarters prior to Canada Post hosting its Annual Public Meeting in Ottawa on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA - The restoration of delivery service guarantees by Canada Post  three weeks after striking postal workers were forced back to work  proves the shipment backlogs Ottawa used to justify legislating an end to rotating walkouts were "fiction," says the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

The Crown agency announced Tuesday it had caught up on most parcel delivery backlogs that had been created by the sporadic labour disruptions that began Oct. 22.

As a result, the corporation said its normal holiday service commitments were being restored across most of Canada, except the West Coast.

"With continued progress, we are now in a position to restore our normal holiday delivery service guarantees for much of the country," Canada Post said in a statement.

"This means Canadians can expect normal holiday delivery timelines for parcels. The exception remains items headed to or departing Vancouver as backlogs there continue to cause additional delays."

The announcement came as the mediation process aimed at bridging the impasse between the post office and its unionized employees came to an abrupt end.

The federal government legislated an end to job action by postal workers on Nov. 27 after Canada Post complained that a backlog of parcels had reached historic levels ahead of the crucial holiday shopping period.

At the time, Canada Post warned the backlog could take until the end of January to clear up.

The fact that service delivery guarantees are being restored just three weeks after back-to-work legislation was passed proves the parcel backlogs being claimed by Canada Post were an illusion, said CUPW national president Mike Palecek.

"The reports that we've been getting, and are still getting, is that our plants are not even operating at capacity," Palecek said in an interview.

"We have places where (Canada Post) is offering members leave without pay to go home because they don't have work. So I wouldn't just question the backlog, I would say it was total fiction."

Canada Post said it delivered about four million packages between last Friday and Monday of this week, and will likely be able to deliver items ordered online in time for Christmas.

It credited a lack of incoming packages  rather than a non-existent backlog  for the faster-than-expected pace of deliveries.

"Incoming holiday parcel volumes continue to be down over 2017, and significantly below projections for this year," the agency said.

"As a result, our fully-enacted holiday delivery plans, which were built to deliver the projected double-digit parcel growth from online shopping this holiday season, continue to help our operations catch up."

Still, the corporation warned, whether packages arrive before Christmas will also depend on where the parcels are coming from. Some shipments from outside Canada might only be delivered in early January.

During the walkouts, Canada Post requested that its foreign partners halt deliveries to Canada while job action was underway. That request was lifted after postal workers were legislated back to their jobs.

Under the back-to-work bill, a mediator-arbitrator was appointed to attempt reaching new collective agreements at Canada Post.

But a week of talks aided by former Canada Industrial Relations Board chair Elizabeth MacPherson were halted Tuesday with both sides too far apart to extend the negotiations for another seven days, as was an option under the legislation.

Palecek said there was no movement on the union's key demands, which include health and safety concerns and calls for equality measures, during the talks.

A spokeswoman for Labour Minister Patty Hajdu said the government was "disappointed" the two sides were unable to reach negotiated agreements, but noted the bill sets out a path to bring the dispute to an end.

"The legislation outlines guiding principles for a new collective agreement, which will ensure that a fair and balanced deal is arbitrated for the parties," Veronique Simard said in a statement.

MacPherson is now expected to begin a process in January that will result in arbitrated settlements being imposed on Canada Post and its 42,000 urban carriers and 8,000 rural and suburban employees.TORONTO - An overwhelming majority of those who weighed in on Ontario's sex education on the first day of public consultations opposed Premier Doug Ford's repeal of a modernized curriculum introduced by the previous Liberal government.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford arrives to speak in Toronto on Wednesday December 12, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

TORONTO - An overwhelming majority of those who weighed in on Ontario's sex education on the first day of public consultations opposed Premier Doug Ford's repeal of a modernized curriculum introduced by the previous Liberal government.

Respondents identifying themselves as students, parents and social workers flooded the ForTheParents.ca website with messages hours after it opened in late August, following weeks of controversy over the fate of the curriculum.

Roughly 1,600 submissions obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom of information request show the vast majority called for the modernized 2015 curriculum to be reinstated. About two dozen messages spoke in favour of the Progressive Conservative government's decision to repeal the document and temporarily replace it with one based on the 1998 curriculum.

"With the changes you have made to the curriculum you are putting children at risk. Not all parents are comfortable teaching their children the proper anatomical names and body safety but this is crucial," wrote one person who said they were a parent and a child protection worker for the Children's Aid Society.

Another person noted that their child attends an elementary school that has a trans student and worried about children not receiving lessons on acceptance.

"They will lack understanding and acceptance of all people regardless of sexual orientation. Please do not allow this to happen," they wrote.

"Teach the new curriculum," another submission read. "My tax dollars funded the research to come up with it and it's not horribly out of date like the one from the 90s. Any teacher that teaches from the old curriculum is a liability towards the safety of our community."

The government launched the submissions website in August after Ford pledged to revoke the modernized curriculum established under his predecessors and conduct what he called the largest consultations in the province's history to create a new lesson plan.

Critics noted that the 1998 curriculum that temporarily replaced the scrapped document didn't address themes like gender identity, consent and cyber-safety.

Just days before the start of the school year, the government said it had drafted a lesson plan to address those criticisms. Experts said, however, that the lesson plan contains only passing mention of modern concepts such as the internet and cellphones and largely reverts to the vague language and broad topic outlines used in the 1998 curriculum.

The 2015 curriculum touched on issues such as online bullying and sexting, but opponents, especially social conservatives, objected to parts addressing same-sex relationships, gender identity and masturbation.

Many of the respondents to the online consultation, whose identities have been withheld, questioned the expense and necessity of the submissions website after the previous Liberal government spent months consulting parents and experts to create their lesson plan.

Some singled out Ford, accusing him of promising changes to appease social conservatives within the party's base.

"Please don't turn back time," one wrote. "Our kids deserve better  they need to learn consent, diversity, how to navigate social media. This is bullying the majority to satisfy a religious minority. It's not OK to harm our kids for political gain."

Dozens of respondents used the forum to mock the Ford government and the consultation process itself, which Ontario's Elementary Teacher's Federation had dubbed a "snitch line" that encouraged parents to report teachers who refused to teach the 1998 curriculum.

Those who supported repealing the 2015 curriculum expressed concerns that children were being taught things they considered inappropriate, such as gender diversity and same-sex relationships.

"Sexual preferences should not be taught in school," said a respondent. "Every family has its own values. LGBTQ is trendy right now, and many teens buy into it because it gives isolated teens an instant group of friends. It is not acceptable to voice your opinion to the contrary. We can deal with it because we are adults. But please don't indoctrinate kids."

When asked about the results of the consultations, which ended Saturday, Education Minister Lisa Thompson said the government will be looking at all of the data in January, then writing and testing a new curriculum throughout the spring. The new document will be introduced in time for the new school year for the fall, she said.

"We're going to be listening and looking at every single submission that has come in," Thompson said. "When we look through the tens of thousands of submissions, digital surveys and the results of our telephone town halls, you're going to see we're going to be putting the right foot forward for our elementary curriculum next year."

Interim Liberal leader John Fraser said he felt vindicated by the first batch of results, noting that extensive consultations were conducted when his party brought in the modernized curriculum.

"It seems to be a really incredible waste of time and probably money for the government to do this," he said.

If the initial submissions are indicative of the remaining responses, the Progressive Conservatives can no longer justify their decision to temporarily revert to an older version of the lesson plan, he said.

Ford's opposition to the updated sex-ed curriculum first came to light during the Progressive Conservative leadership race earlier this year. His stance won him the support of social conservatives within the party base, helping him to victory over longtime legislator and current health minister Christine Elliott.

 with files from Lucas Timmons.OTTAWA - Canada's spy service collected some information about peaceful anti-petroleum groups, but only incidentally in the process of investigating legitimate threats to projects such as oil pipelines, says a long-secret federal watchdog report.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A federal watchdog says Canada's spy service collected some information about peaceful anti-petroleum groups, but only incidentally in the process of investigating legitimate threats to projects such as oil pipelines. First Nations and anti-pipeline groups rally outside the TD bank in downtown Vancouver, Friday, March 10, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

OTTAWA - Canada's spy service collected some information about peaceful anti-petroleum groups, but only incidentally in the process of investigating legitimate threats to projects such as oil pipelines, says a long-secret federal watchdog report.

The newly disclosed report from the Security Intelligence Review Committee acknowledges concerns about a "chilling effect," stemming from a belief that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service was spying on environmental organizations.

Advocacy and environmental groups Leadnow, the Dogwood Initiative and the Council of Canadians are mentioned in the thousands of pages of CSIS operational reports examined by the review committee.

But after analyzing evidence and testimony, the committee concluded the fears of CSIS surveillance were unjustified.

The heavily censored review committee report, completed last year and kept under wraps, is only now being made public because of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association's challenge of the findings in the Federal Court of Canada.

In its February 2014 complaint to the CSIS watchdog, the association alleged the spy service had overstepped its legal authority by monitoring environmentalists opposed to Enbridge's now-defunct Northern Gateway pipeline proposal.

It also accused CSIS of sharing this information with the National Energy Board and petroleum industry companies, deterring people from expressing their opinions and associating with environmental groups.

The review committee's dismissal of the complaint has been known since September 2017, but a confidentiality order by the committee prevented the civil liberties association from releasing the report. As the association fights to overturn the dismissal, redacted versions of the detailed findings and related documents are being added to the public court record.

The association, which became concerned about CSIS activities through media reports, told the committee of a chilling effect for civil society groups from the spy service's information-gathering as well as comments by then-national resources minister Joe Oliver denouncing "environmental and other radical groups."

A CSIS witness testified the spy service "is not in the business of investigating environmentalists because they are advocating for an environmental cause, period."

Still, another CSIS witness spoke of the need for "domain awareness" to identify "potential triggers and flashpoints"  in part to ensure the service is aware of what is happening should a threat arise, the report says.

Ultimately, the review committee concluded CSIS's information collection fell within its mandate, and that the service did not investigate activities involving lawful advocacy, protest or dissent. The report indicates that any information on peaceful groups was gathered "in an ancillary manner, in the context of other lawful investigations."

The report also says there was no "direct link" between CSIS and the chilling effect groups mentioned in testimony before the committee.

The civil liberties association considers some of the findings contradictory, pointing to the 441 CSIS operational reports deemed relevant to the committee's inquiry, totalling over 2,200 pages.

For instance, one of the largely censored CSIS records, now disclosed through the court, says the reporting was further to "the Service's efforts in assessing the threat environment and the potential for threat-related violence stemming from (redacted) protests/demonstrations."

Another refers to the Dogwood Initiative as a "non-profit, Canadian environmental organization that was established in 1999 'to help communities and First Nations gain more control of the land and resources around them so they can be managed in a way that does not rob future generations for short-term corporate gain.'"

The passages before and after the description are blacked out.

"It's our view that these documents demonstrate that CSIS was keeping tabs on these groups, even if they weren't formal targets," said Paul Champ, a lawyer for the civil liberties association.

"But we maintain it's unlawful to keep information on these groups in CSIS databanks when they are only guilty of exercising their democratic rights."

The committee report says CSIS should review its holdings to ensure it is keeping only information that is strictly necessary, as spelled out in the law governing the spy service.

The report cites "clear evidence" CSIS took part in meetings with Natural Resources Canada and the private sector, including the petroleum industry, at the spy service's headquarters, but says these briefings involved "national security matters."

The committee also concludes CSIS did not share information concerning the environmental groups in question with the National Energy Board or non-governmental members of the petroleum business.

Even so, the perception of CSIS discussing security issues with the oil industry can "give rise to legitimate concern," the committee report adds. "This needs to be addressed."

The committee urges CSIS to widen the circle of its public security discussions to include environmental and other civil society groups.

 Follow @JimBronskill on TwitterOTTAWA - Cutting corners to avoid arresting a Chinese executive at the request of the Americans simply was not an option to keep Canada out of a difficult political situation, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland listens to a question from the media following a signing ceremony in Shanghai, Thursday September 1, 2016. Freeland tells The Canadian Press that the government had no choice but to grant the American request to arrest Meng Wanzhou of Chinese firm Huawei Technologies because bending the rules to avoid the current political turmoil with China and the U.S. would only undermine the rule of law at a time when it is under threat on so many fronts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - Cutting corners to avoid arresting a Chinese executive at the request of the Americans simply was not an option to keep Canada out of a difficult political situation, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Freeland said that type of tactic would erode Canada's commitment to the rule of law at a time when it is under threat across the globe.

"I think people need to be very careful when they start to suggest that corners be cut when it comes to the rule of law and when it comes to international treaty obligations," said Freeland.

"That is one of the core foundations of everything that's great about our country, one of the core foundations of our democracy," she added.

"It's not an accident that among our heroes are the RCMP."

Two Canadians have been detained in Beijing since the Dec. 1 arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, by the RCMP.

Some business leaders and analysts have suggested Canada should have found a way to circumvent its treaty obligations with the United States under the Extradition Act to avoid the current political turmoil with China and the U.S.

Freeland rejected that notion outright, saying it would undermine Canada's credibility with other countries, including Canada's "extradition partners."

The Chinese government and state-run media have vilified the Canadian decision to arrest Meng, and ridiculed the rule-of-law argument. U.S. President Donald Trump also undermined Canada's position when he mused in an interview last week he might intervene in the Meng case if it would help him get a trade deal with China.

"You might call it a slippery slope approach; you could call it a salad bar approach," Freeland said.

"The rule of law is not about following the rule of law when it suits you."

Freeland said it is important that John McCallum, Canada's ambassador to China, has been able to meet in recent days with the two detained Canadians, the entrepreneur Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who is on a leave of absence from Global Affairs.

But she said the access is only a "first step" in providing assistance to them and their families.

"It's important to Canada that we were able to see them. We know where they are," Freeland said. "We are really throwing everything we have at this."

Freeland said she has also spoken personally to families of the two men.

"I also hope that Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor will hear my comments too, ultimately. We are incredibly seized with this case."

Former diplomats said the fact that Canada was granted access to the two men relatively quickly is a positive sign.

Gar Pardy, a retired director general of the consular affairs bureau of Canada's foreign ministry, has said it was "quite extraordinary" for Canadian officials to gain access to citizens detained in China within a matter of days.

Meng has since been released on bail and is to return to court in February for what most legal observers predict could be a long, drawn out legal process.

The Meng incident has cast a shadow over the Trudeau government's desire to deepen trade with China as the cornerstone of a broader strategy to diversify into Asian markets.

On Friday, Tourism Minister Melanie Joly cancelled a planned trip to China to mark the end of a special year of tourism exchanges.

But that same day, China's ambassador to Canada, Lu Shaye, sounded a more conciliatory note about the bilateral relationship, saying there was potential for Canada to take part in his country's massive international infrastructure project known as the Belt and Road Initiative.

"Although achieving a China-Canada Free Trade Agreement faces new obstacles due to reasons known to all, the two sides can strengthen policy co-ordination and adopt trade and investment facilitation," Lu said in a speech at Ottawa's Carleton University that was posted on the Chinese embassy's website.

"It is also of great significance for China and Canada to strengthen people-to-people co-operation by promoting exchanges so as to enhance mutual understanding and trust of the two peoples."

Lu's tone was far more positive than the column he wrote in the Globe and Mail newspaper the previous day when he called Meng's arrest in Canada "a miscarriage of justice" that has "chilled" the feelings of the Chinese people towards Canada. Lu said Canada was complicit in a U.S. "witch hunt."

The Chinese embassy has said Lu is not available for interviews.OTTAWA - Donald Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs contradict a key component of the new North American trade agreement  the pivotal section on autos  which will ultimately lead to their demise, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right to left, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, President of the United States Donald Trump, Mexico's Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, and President of Mexico Enrique Pena Nieto participate in a signing ceremony for the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA - Donald Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs contradict a key component of the new North American trade agreement  the pivotal section on autos  which will ultimately lead to their demise, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says.

U.S. businesses are making that argument, and Freeland told The Canadian Press that gives momentum to Canada's ongoing efforts to have the levies lifted in 2019.

The minister said Canada's fight to remove the tariffs, imposed by the U.S. president, is being aided by the broader calls from American business to have them to be lifted before the new continental trade pact is ratified.

Their argument centres on the fact that a major section of the new agreement  known as the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA  focuses on raising the content requirements of North American-built cars, Freeland said. The rules on origin for automobiles were a key sticking point throughout the contentious 14-month renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

During the negotiation, Trump also imposed a 25-per-cent tariff on Canadian and Mexican steel and 10-per-cent on aluminum, using a section of U.S. trade law that gives the Oval Office the authority to do so under a national security provision.

Freeland and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have assailed the so-called section 232 tariffs as illegal and insulting given the close military and security relationship between Canada and the U.S.

Freeland said that U.S. businesses are having a hard time swallowing the fact that there is a tariff on a key component of autos  steel and aluminum.

"There is an internal contradiction in having tariffs on Canadian steel even as there is a built-in requirement for North American steel. So I do feel the Canadian case, which has always been very strong, is only getting stronger," Freeland said.

Canada, the United States and Mexico signed the new agreement on Nov. 30 but it needs to be ratified by each of their legislatures  which could make for a bumpy ride through the U.S. Congress after the Democrats recently won control of the House of Representatives.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada has plenty of support among U.S. lawmakers and business as it continues to press for the removal of the tariffs.

"We have a broad alignment both on the benefits of trade between Canada and the United States, the negative impacts of tariffs that we hear from members of Congress, from business leaders and governors  how much they are very much aligned with us in trying to remove these unfair tariffs on steel and aluminum," Trudeau said interview last Friday with The Canadian Press.

Last week in Washington, Freeland said she and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan made the case for tariff removal once again with their counterparts, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Jim Mattis.

She said Sajjan pushed the issue hard with Mattis. "His voice is very relevant because after all there is a national security pretext."

Freeland also met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, her counterpart in the NAFTA talks, to push the point.

Ultimately, it will be the U.S. Department of Commerce that decides the tariff question, but Freeland said Ottawa's approach is "to keep banging away" at multiple U.S. departments.

"Because the national security pretext is the rationale, this is not solely a conversation with USTR or commerce. It's also a conversation with state and defence and we are not shy about raising it."

Trump's ambassador to Canada, Kelly Craft, said the commerce department is actively engaged in making a decision on the tariffs.

"It's an ongoing conversation within our commerce department, and I know that they are actively engaged in trying to make a decision," Craft told a small group of reporters in Ottawa last week.

She said the recent signing of the new trade agreement was a good sign. "Now that it has been signed, and we've had dialogue on steel and aluminum, that in itself is goodwill."The government of the United States of America has issued a warning to Ghana and five African countries, to be wary of two cryptocurrency fraudsters who are using investment mechanisms to defraud innocent people.



The Head of the United States Cyber Crime Unit, John P. Hooks, in a communique, warned thus: I would like to inform the public, especially in the following African countries and their government: Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, DRC Congo that one Mr. Junior Capputti and Mr. Emerson Pires in the name of president and vice-president respectively, in one programme that they call a company that is known as Mining Capital Coin (MCC).



The above-mentioned names are con artists running a non-existence company to lure the public into investing their hard-earned money in the cryptocurrency market, which they promise unrealistic ROI and other benefits.



Our intelligence have information that the named persons in question have been, for a long time, working alongside a fugitive known as Mr. Danillo Santana, the owner of D9 clube one of the deadliest organised scam of all time.



If you see them in your countries, report to your nearest police station or call our hotline Interpol number below. 33472447163.



The warning comes just a few days after Ghanas state-owned Daily Graphic reported that exactly 109, 259 Ghanaian investors have been scammed by Global Coin Community Help (GCCH), a cryptocurrency investment syndicate.



The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has questioned the two directors of GCCH for allegedly swindling the investors of GHS135 million.



Mr Kwaku Damete Kumi and Mr David Opatey were released on bail by the state investigative body after several hours of interrogation last Tuesday.



The Executive Director of EOCO, Mr K. K. Amoah, confirmed their arrest in an interview with the Daily Graphic on Tuesday, 27 November.



Yes, we have arrested them and released them after thorough interrogations and we have asked them to report again next week to continue with them, the EOCO boss said.



We get a fresh list of depositors who have been swindled one way or another every day and so the 110,000 figure is likely to go up by the end of the week and the amount of deposits would likely go up.



There are several other syndicates of this type we have arrested and they are being questioned and very soon they will be arraigned, he added.



Mr Amoah said the directors were accepting deposits from the public without a licence from the Bank of Ghana.



Background checks on the tall list of some depositors seen by the Daily Graphic showed that majority of them were military personnel, medical doctors, policemen, immigration officials, teachers and traders.



Some of the depositors have formed pressure groups to pile pressure on the government to assist them to retrieve their locked-up lifetime savings.

















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OTTAWA - The Ontario-based company that is selling $15-billion worth of armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia is warning the Liberal government that cancelling the deal will it cost billions of dollars in penalties.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Ontario-based company that is selling $15-billion worth of armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia is warning the Liberal government that cancelling the deal will it cost billions of dollars in penalties. A General Dynamics LAV 6.0 is seen behind people as they gather around a scale model of a the same vehicle at the CANSEC trade show in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 30, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA - The Ontario-based company that is selling $15-billion worth of armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia is warning the Liberal government that cancelling the deal will it cost billions of dollars in penalties.

General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada said in a statement Monday that cancelling the contract would also hurt its workforce.

The statement comes as the federal government is reviewing the controversial contract.

Canada is reviewing all arms sales to Saudi Arabia and won't issue any new export permits until the review is complete.

The October murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi after he entered a Saudi consulate in Turkey has sparked international condemnation against Riyadh.

Khashoggi's murder has also renewed public outrage in Canada over Ottawa's controversial $15-billion deal to sell light armoured vehicles to the kingdom.

"We are continuing to execute our valid and binding contract," General Dynamics said in a statement.

"Were Canada to unilaterally terminate the contract, Canada would incur billions of dollars of liability to General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada.

"In addition, terminating the contract would have a significant negative impact on our highly skilled employees, our supply chain across Canada, and the Canadian defence sector broadly."

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Saudi Arabia's explanations for Khashoggi's death are not credible and there needs to be an independent investigation.

"In the past Canada has suspended existing export permits and that has always been something that we're prepared to do again as the situation merits," Freeland said in an interview on Monday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said the penalty for cancelling the contract would be "in the billions of dollars."Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi and International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr will be at an Edmonton college campus to unveil a support package for oil and gas companies to reach new markets. Minister Sohi stands during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Six stories in the news for Tuesday, Dec. 18



FEDS TO ANNOUNCE $1.6B BOOST FOR OIL PRODUCERS

Canada's battered energy industry will get a $1.6-billion boost from Ottawa today to try to slow the political and economic bleeding. Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi and International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr will be at an Edmonton college campus to unveil a support package for oil and gas companies, which are reeling from record-low oil prices. The funds will be divided among several different programs, including money to help companies invest in clean growth, loans, and other financial supports to help companies find new markets away from the United States, as well as investments in training and new technology.



CANADA RANKS 16TH ON ANNUAL GENDER GAP LIST

Canada has landed the 16th spot in the World Economic Forum's annual gender gap ranking. This is the second year Canada has placed 16th in the international organization's list, which measures economic, educational, health and political disparities experienced between men and women in more than 100 countries around the world. Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland took the top spots, but Canada ranked above Latvia, Bulgaria, South Africa, Switzerland and dozens of other countries.



STRICTER DRUNK DRIVING LAWS TAKE EFFECT TODAY

As of today, Canadians will find it harder to get away with impaired driving. New rules that increase penalties and expand police powers to demand breath samples take effect across Canada. Legislation, which passed in June at the same time as new rules for drug-impaired driving, is intended to curb injuries and death by helping police catch drivers with more than the legal limit of alcohol in their bloodstreams. It gives police officers the right to ask for a breath sample from any driver they lawfully stop, lowering the bar from the previous legislation, which required that an officer have reasonable suspicion that a person had been drinking.



ANOTHER PIPELINE LAWSUIT BEING READIED

A Vancouver-based environment charity is readying itself to go back to court if  or they believe when  the federal government re-approves the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion next year. The Wilderness Committee returned $25,000 in participant funding to the National Energy Board last month citing the short timeline for the board's new review on the marine impacts of the proposed expansion. Peter McCartney, climate campaigner for the committee, says the timelines are so short it underscores his belief the government is doing this just to fulfil the Federal Court of Appeal's concerns with the original review, rather than to seriously reconsider the approval given to the project.



SENTENCING DECISION EXPECTED IN MILLARD TRIAL

A judge is set to deliver her sentencing decision today for a Toronto man found guilty of killing his father. In September, Justice Maureen Forestell found Dellen Millard guilty of the first-degree murder of Wayne Millard, whose death was initially ruled a suicide. It was the third such conviction for Dellen Millard, who was previously convicted for murdering his former lover Laura Babcock and Hamilton man Tim Bosma, a complete stranger.



SPIRIT OF SANTA STAND-IN INSPIRES TOY DRIVE

Hundreds of toys and gifts are being handed out to children this year in memory of Winnipeg's most well-known Santa stand-in. Brian Sanderson wore a bright-red suit and grew out his white beard to play Santa in malls, seniors centres and movies for the last 26 years. After his death at age 77 in October, his friends and family stepped up to make sure his Christmas spirit would continue. Mrs. Claus and Sanderson's real-life partner Lillian Harris says he wanted to make sure every child felt the magic of Christmas.



ALSO IN THE NEWS:

 Case of truck driver Jaskirat Sidhu, charged with dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing bodily injury in a fatal crash involving the Humboldt Broncos team bus, will be in court today.

 Kathy Dunderdale, a former premier of Newfoundland and Labrador who sanctioned the Muskrat Falls hydro project, is scheduled to testify today at an inquiry looking into the controversial project.

 Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart will release a report on his emergency overdose taskforce and will outline quick-start recommendations to prevent overdoses and save lives.

 Statistics Canada will release its monthly survey of manufacturing for October today.OTTAWA - "Do you want them cut or burned?"

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Deb Ironbow, who was coerced into having her fallopian tubes tied during a C-section in 1995, sits for a photograph in her home in Saskatoon, Saturday, December 15, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards

OTTAWA - "Do you want them cut or burned?"

Deb Ironbow says she was light-headed, powerless and strapped to an operating table when a doctor asked her how he should proceed with her tubal ligation.

"I said, 'I don't know what am I supposed to do?'" she said. "'Just burn.'"

More than two decades later, Ironbow wants to know why she was asked about a "life-destroying act" when she was about to be cut open for a caesarean section  an experience she describes like an out-of-body occurrence.

She also fears a working group to examine the issue, announced last week by the Trudeau government, does little to honour her trauma.

"We need to have the women believe and have faith that we are not speaking this and sharing this to the wind that this is going to go somewhere, that this will change a life," she told The Canadian Press.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is defending his government's response to a chorus of Indigenous women coming forward with allegations of coerced sterilization at the hands of doctors.

During a roundtable interview with The Canadian Press on Friday, he called the practice "heinous." But he stressed the importance of the working group of senior officials to oversee measures to improve cultural safety in health systems. And he warned that any unilateral imposition of a solution  no matter how well-meaning  will fail.

"This seems, on the face of it, to be an obvious case of a terrible lapse in judgment by the medical community but having known an awful lot of doctors, I know that you don't become a doctor because you want to hurt people," he said.

"There are complex issues that feed into this and we have to at least get a handle on many of them to understand exactly that question 'How could this happen?'"

Last week, two of Trudeau's ministers Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott and Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor  sent letters to the provinces, territories and medical community citing "recent reports with troubling information" regarding Indigenous women who report that they have been sterilized without their consent.

The letters came after Canada was ordered earlier this month by the United Nations Committee Against Torture to stop the "extensive forced or coerced sterilization" of Indigenous women and girls  a finding that sparked calls for additional federal action by human-rights groups and the federal NDP.

All allegations, including recent ones in Saskatchewan, must be impartially investigated and those responsible held to account, the committee said, adding the state needs to take legislative and policy measures to stop women from being sterilized against their will.

A clear action plan led by women affected by coerced sterilization needs to be implemented, said Sen. Yvonne Boyer, a Metis lawyer who co-published an external review in 2017 on Indigenous women coerced into tubal ligations  the severing, burning or tying of the Fallopian tubes that carry eggs from the ovaries to the uterus  after childbirth in the Saskatoon Health Region.

"If that is not part of the (government's) action plan, then I worry about the whole guardian and ward process being implemented to address these problems and that would be the bureaucracy saying what's best or determining what's best for Indigenous women," she said, noting women affected by sterilization were at the forefront of her review in Saskatoon.

Boyer also said she has proposed that the Senate human rights committee study the scope of the issue, adding she hopes for a positive decision on this in January.

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett, who worked as a family physician in downtown Toronto, said in an interview that the medical community has been put on notice that coerced sterilization is not acceptable.

Consent does not mean asking women during active labour if they would like to be sterilized, Bennett added.

"I think a lot of these women thought they were alone and I think the reporting on it and the investigation into it really makes this country safer for almost immunizing women at the time of their greatest vulnerability," she said.

About 100 women have now come forward to report they have been forcibly sterilized, according to a law firm leading a proposed class action lawsuit  a jump of 40 women since The Canadian Press published a story in November detailing a push from Boyer to examine the issue nationally.

At 51, Ironbow said she still lives with the pain associated with her sterilization.

But she does find some comfort in hearing other women come forward to share what they've endured.

"It is healing to know now I can talk about it, now I know it was an injustice," she said.

"Now I know it didn't just happen to me."

Follow @kkirkup on TwitterHALIFAX - A Nova Scotia judge has ordered fishermen to stop blocking survey vessels hired by a pulp mill, in a decision that came after protesters chanted their opposition to the firm's plans to pump effluent into the Northumberland Strait.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Protesters gather outside Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018 to show their opposition to plans to dump effluent from a mill into the Northumberland Strait. Lawyers for the Northern Pulp mill are due in court to seek an injunction that would prevent fishermen from blocking survey boats hired to examine a route for an effluent pipeline. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

HALIFAX - A Nova Scotia judge has ordered fishermen to stop blocking survey vessels hired by a pulp mill, in a decision that came after protesters chanted their opposition to the firm's plans to pump effluent into the Northumberland Strait.

The temporary injunction, granted by Justice Denise Boudreau in the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, was the latest round in an increasingly tense conflict over a proposal by Northern Pulp to dump over 62 million litres per day of treated waste into the rich fishing grounds.

The company, a subsidiary of Paper Excellence, has said the effluent will meet federal regulations for emissions, but opponents counter there's a lack of firm scientific evidence of how the waste will affect the long-term health of the lucrative lobster and crab fisheries.

Northern Pulp plans to return to court Jan. 29 to seek a long-term injunction.

Allan MacCarthy, one of the fishermen ordered to cease blocking the company's seismic vessel, said outside court that he'll abide by the order. However, he referred to the decision as merely "a skirmish" in his industry's long-term battle with Northern Pulp.

Hours earlier, protesters chanted outside the courthouse: "All I want for Christmas is no pipeline."

Fishermen and members of Pictou Landing First Nation said they'll renew their efforts to stop the pipeline from proceeding.

Warren Francis, a 49-year-old fisherman and member of the Pictou Landing First Nation, said other protests are coming.

"I don't think it will stop us. My First Nation will have to step it up. There's others willing to do the same thing these guys have done," said Francis, referring to the three fishermen appearing in court.

When a small group of pro-pipeline protesters arrived at the scene, police had to intervene as the two sides faced off in a yard in front of the courthouse.

Ben Chisholm, a 65-year-old business agent for the Pipefitters Union, said he came to support the mill's actions because millions of dollars in economic activity could be lost if the mill closed.

"There's more support for keeping the mill open and cleaning it up than there is for closing it," he said in an interview.

In her decision, Boudreau said that while the fishermen have the right to "lawful protest," they don't have the right to prevent the survey vessels from doing their work.

"Lawful protest doesn't include the description of what has been put forward in the evidence," she said during her decision.

She also agreed with the company that the issue is an increasingly urgent matter, as the survey vessels need to do their work before winter ice creates a delay that would last until the spring.

The Nova Scotia government has committed to stopping the flow of effluent to the heavily polluted Boat Harbour lagoon by Jan. 31, 2020. The lagoon is next to Pictou Landing First Nation.

The lagoon has been referred to by a Liberal cabinet minister as one of Canada's worst examples of "environmental racism."

Boudreau cited evidence presented by Northern Pulp's lawyer, Harvey Morrison, of video footage showing blockades of the seismic vessels.

"They have described events as harassment," Boudreau told the court.

"In October and November of 2018, the difficulties were accentuated, the difficulties became more aggressive."

She also noted evidence of threats made both on the water and in social media.

One of the affidavits from Northern Pulp claims the fishermen at one point shouted at the survey vessel that "20 boats were coming to kill," the seismic boat's employees.

The allegations haven't been proven in court.

The judge also said she accepted that stopping the blockade was "urgent," and there was evidence of a serious economic impact if the plant were to eventually close because of the fishermen's actions.

"I accept, at least on an interim basis ... there could be harm here that would be irreparable," she said.

An affidavit submitted by mill manager Bruce Chapman says if the mill closed it would mean the layoff of 277 employee, while 40 nursery and woodlands employees with affiliated companies would lose their jobs.

Chapman said there would be no work for the approximately 600 employees of contractors who harvest wood for the mill.

In addition, the affidavit said the mill supplies about 40 per cent of the logs used by major sawmills in central and eastern Nova Scotia. As well, the mill purchases almost all of the wood chips produced by the major sawmills in the province.

The mill is the Port of Halifax's largest shipper, paying about $78.3 million for wood chips, hogfuel and pulpwood, and provides $44 million to private woodland contractors, according to the company's submission.

 Follow (at) mtuttoncporg on Twitter.OTTAWA - Canada's battered energy industry will get a $1.6-billion boost from Ottawa on Tuesday to try to slow the political and economic bleeding.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi and International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr will be at an Edmonton college campus to unveil a support package for oil and gas companies to reach new markets. Minister Sohi stands during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA - Canada's battered energy industry will get a $1.6-billion boost from Ottawa on Tuesday to try to slow the political and economic bleeding.

Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi and International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr will be at an Edmonton college campus to unveil a support package for oil and gas companies, which are reeling from record-low oil prices.

A source who provided the figure to The Canadian Press says funds will be divided among several different programs, including money to help companies invest in clean growth, loans, and other financial supports to help companies find new markets away from the United States, as well as investments in training and new technology.

It is a package based, in some ways, on those offered to softwood, steel and aluminum producers after the United States dealt them direct blows with new import tariffs.

Canada's oil patch isn't facing that kind of pressure, but it is still the U.S. behind much of its pain.

With pipelines at capacity and some major refineries down for maintenance this fall, the price for Alberta crude plummeted in the fall, hitting a panic-inducing $11 a barrel in late November.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley's plan to buy more rail cars to help ship additional oil, as well as her decision to force a production cut from the biggest oil producers starting in January, helped push the price back up, trading above $26 a barrel at the end of last week.

But that is still significantly less than the U.S. price and Canada's economy is losing as much as $80 million a day because of the discount.

Canada's almost total reliance on the U.S. as an export market contributes to the problem. Almost every drop of oil that is not refined and used in Canada is exported to the United States. Without more pipelines to the coasts where oil tankers could theoretically then ship oil overseas, Canada's oil producers are at the mercy of the Americans.

The only current proposal to increase pipeline capacity to the coasts is the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which is in limbo following a court ruling overturning its federal approval. Ottawa is trying to get that project back on track with more consultations, but if that does happen, it will be several years before oil actually starts to flow.

The impasse has left a sharp divide between Alberta and Ottawa.

Although Tuesday's announcement comes in the Alberta capital, neither Notley nor anyone from the Alberta government is scheduled to be there for the announcement.

Premier Notley has made no secret in recent weeks of her desire to have Ottawa help the province buy new rail cars to ship two additional trains full of Alberta crude out of the province every day.

Alberta is already negotiating with an as-yet-unnamed third party to buy the rail cars, but Canada has not indicated any willingness to share the cost of the purchase yet, and rail cars are not part of Tuesday's announcement.

Earlier this month, Sohi asked the National Energy Board to do a review of existing pipeline capacity to make sure it is being used in the most efficient way and also to figure out whether there are any short-term steps that could maximize rail capacity to ship more oil.

Days later, the NEB responded to Sohi and said it will provide him with a full report in February.CALGARY - Angry protesters demanding that Canada build new pipelines interrupted speeches by Calgary's mayor and councillors at a downtown rally on Monday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Oil and gas industry supporters gather at a pro-pipeline rally at city hall in Calgary, Alta., Monday, Dec. 17, 2018.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

CALGARY - Angry protesters demanding that Canada build new pipelines interrupted speeches by Calgary's mayor and councillors at a downtown rally on Monday.

City council had passed a resolution declaring its support for the oil and gas industry as well as calling for solutions to a low oil price crisis blamed on a lack of pipeline export capacity.

But loud boos rose from the protesters at any mention of Quebec or free trade.

Rally organizer Cody Battershill of Canada Action stepped up to ask the crowd of about 1,000 to stop shouting when Mayor Naheed Nenshi began to speak in French  a message the mayor said was aimed at the people of Quebec.

"It's important to remember that standing up for Canadian energy doesn't mean we don't believe in and care about climate change," said Nenshi to shouts and boos.

"For those of you saying, 'No, I don't believe in climate change,' good luck changing any hearts and minds, because we have to be able to say there's no difference between standing up for the economy and standing up for the environment.

"We can do both and that's what people in the oil and gas sector do every single day."

A volley of boos also rang out when Coun. Peter Demong pointed out that Quebec City council supports pipeline construction and, therefore, Calgary residents should buy Canadian cheese, not take part in trade boycotts.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault recently said that there was "no social acceptability" in his province for a "dirty energy" pipeline from Alberta.

"We have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot as Canadians and we have to start supporting our energy sector, the foundation of our economy," said Battershill.

Tim Vader, who said he is an under-employed well-site geologist, said he attended the rally to protest and send a message to Ottawa.

"We've had enough of the globalist elite determining how the rest of the world and average Canadians are going to live," he said. "I'm tired of it."

There was a scattering of yellow construction vests in the crowd, but none of the people interviewed said they are associated with the anti-United-Nations Yellow Vest Canada group that held rallies in Calgary and other cities across Canada on Sunday.

Vader, who was wearing a vest, said he identifies with vest-wearing French workers in Europe who have been recently staging sometimes-violent protests against their government.

There have been a number of protests aimed at heading off federal actions expected to make building pipelines more difficult. They include Bill C-69 to revamp the National Energy Board and Bill C-48 which would ban oil tanker traffic on British Columbia's northern coast.

The anger expressed at the rally didn't surprise Alberta Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd, who said she agrees with Nenshi's message of educating the rest of Canada to win support for the oil industry.

"People are angry, you know. It's an industry we hold so important and it is somewhat hurtful when people don't appreciate it," she said after the rally.

"When we're divisive, we're not going to get anywhere ... we need to work together on this and let's be more Canadian about it."

 Follow @HealingSlowly on TwitterA Quebecer who pleaded guilty in Australia to smuggling cocaine aboard a luxury cruise ship has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Quebecer who pleaded guilty in Australia to smuggling cocaine aboard a luxury cruise ship has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison.

Andre Tamine, 65, was sentenced Tuesday by Judge Kate Traill in New South Wales District Court. Felicita Benedikovics, a spokeswoman for the court, confirmed the sentence of eight years, five months to The Canadian Press.

The man was one of three Quebecers convicted in a crime made famous by the online exploits of his two co-accused. Isabelle Lagace and Melina Roberge widely shared photographs of their travels on Instagram before their arrest when the MS Sea Princess docked in Sydney in August 2016.

Earlier reports said Australian authorities using sniffer dogs found more than 90 kilograms of cocaine worth an estimated $30.5 million in the trio's suitcases.

Tamine, the third passenger arrested that day, pleaded guilty last February to importing a controlled substance  cocaine  in commercial quantities. Under Australian law, the crime could have resulted in a life sentence.

His sentence will run until January 2025, but he will be eligible to request parole in March 2022. Lagace was sentenced to 7-1/2 years in November 2017 while Roberge was sentenced to eight years last April.

Roberge told the court she initially refused to take part when her unnamed "sugar daddy" asked her to carry drugs on the cruise. But she later agreed when told she could enjoy a free vacation while helping the group.

In a letter to the court, Roberge wrote that she had been motivated by a desire to "take photos of myself in exotic locations for 'likes' and attention, and hurt so many people in the process." Lagace told the court she took part to settle a debt in Canada.REGINA - Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he will apologize to survivors of the '60s Scoop in January.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Premier of Saskatchewan Scott Moe during a media event in Saskatoon on October 4, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards

REGINA - Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he will apologize to survivors of the '60s Scoop in January.

About 20,000 Indigenous children were seized from their birth families and relocated to non-Indigenous homes starting in the 1950s until the late 1980s.

The practice stripped children of their language, culture and family ties.

Moe's government concluded sharing circles with survivors last month.

The government says it has an agreement with an association of '60s Scoop survivors that compensation will not be part of the apology.

Alberta and Manitoba have already apologized for their role in the apprehensions.

Saskatchewan had promised to deliver an apology during this legislative session.

The apology is to be delivered on Jan. 7.TORONTO - Ontario Premier Doug Ford is suggesting the results of an online consultation on sex education were skewed by "certain groups" in the early stages of the process.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO - Ontario Premier Doug Ford is suggesting the results of an online consultation on sex education were skewed by "certain groups" in the early stages of the process.

The premier was asked Tuesday whether the province would respect the outcome of the consultation after documents obtained by The Canadian Press showed an overwhelming majority of those who weighed in on the first day opposed his repeal of a modernized sex-ed curriculum introduced by the previous Liberal government.

Out of roughly 1,600 submissions to the ForTheParents.ca website obtained through a freedom of information request, roughly two dozen supported the Progressive Conservative government's decision to repeal the document and temporarily replace it with one based on the 1998 curriculum.

"Did certain groups flood it right at the beginning? (They) did," he said, though he did not elaborate on the nature of those groups. "We're going to run through the 35,000 responses ... and make a decision."

The government launched the submissions website in August after Ford pledged to conduct what he called the largest consultations in the province's history to create a new lesson plan.

At the time, the premier said teachers who used the repealed curriculum would face consequences, prompting critics to dub the website a "snitch line."

The 1998 curriculum that temporarily replaced the scrapped document was panned by critics who said it didn't address themes like gender identity, consent and cyber-safety.

The government later announced it had come up with an interim lesson plan that addressed those issues but experts said it contains only passing mention of modern concepts such as the internet and cellphones.

The 2015 curriculum brought in by the Liberals covered topics such as online bullying and sexting, as well as others  such as same-sex relationships, gender identity and masturbation  that opponents objected to.

The official Opposition said they expect the rest of the submissions will follow the same lines as the initial wave in expressing support for the modernized lesson plan.

"I think what this tells us is that if the government continues to move backward on the sex-ed curriculum, it's going to be because the premier is listening to a very small number of his friends," NDP legislator Marit Stiles said.

Some online submissions said Ford's repeal of the modernized curriculum was putting children at risk while others said they were worried students were not receiving lessons on acceptance and understanding.

Many also questioned the expense and necessity of the submissions website after the previous Liberal government spent months consulting parents and experts to create their lesson plan.

The government has said it will be looking at the consultation data in January and writing and testing a new curriculum through the spring. The education minister has said the new document will be introduced in time for the new school year in the fall.Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bring back some rules into schools

People who chose to work for a faith-based private school system should be following the set guidelines and not bending rules to suit their own lifestyles. Remember that these organizations have many people who also pay taxes.

What do they teach in schools?

While waiting in line at a local grocery store I witness a lady in front of me pay cash for her groceries. The young cashier could not figure out how to count this money and called another young person to help her; he also could not do it. After a few minutes of fumbling, they gave the money back to the customer and she counted it out for them. Really? I felt sad for these young people!

Facing rising cost reality

We have no option but to face the reality. Manitobans have lived in a financial vacuum with spendthrift governments for the last five decades going back to the Ed Schreyer government in the 1960s. We have provided a great social net for Manitobans. The problem is we can not afford our social nets nor can we tax our citizens anymore. Whats next?

Its a balancing act

Its a good thing Trudeaus federal government announced a few days ago major increases in transfer payments to Pallisters Manitoba because it is the only way the PC government has even a faint hope of balancing its budget. It was announced at a meeting of finance ministers that Manitoba would receive $2 billion in equalization payments this year, an increase of $217 million over last year and almost $2.3 billion next year, a further increase of $218 million over the current year. This is more than any other province receives except Quebec. It wont be enough to wipe out Pallisters $521-million deficit, but it will make the provinces books look slightly less awful. Of course, he could spoil those gains by finally keeping his promise to cut the retail sales tax. That would pretty much wipe out any gains from increased federal funding. Pallister could also make Manitobas financial situation worse by throwing in his lot with those other Conservatives in other provinces who want to change the equalization program so Manitoba receives less funding.Jamas nos callaran



Fisica y culturalmente



Nec plus ultra, nec variatur



Precio del Brent To get the BRENT oil price, please enable Javascript.

Precio del WTI To get the oil price, please enable Javascript.

Paginas vistas en total

Dolar USA Vs Euro

Sin ellas, no seremos



Deja vu



Nada que celebrar



Hasta cuando?



Colombia Hoy



Para nunca olvidar



'Parasite' painted on a statue of Queen, Elizabeth in Kent, England



Sin palabras



La UE le apunta a la paz



Cada vez mas solo



Precio del Oro To get the gold price, please enable Javascript.

LULA y su Pueblo



Bye Bye



Homenaje al genial Quino



Fueron ellos



Una imagen que resume



Tan bajo ha caido que se deja tocar el trasero?



Porky y el Nene (archiconocido narcotraficante)



Ladrones al poder



Asi mira el perrito a su amo



Crazy



Clamor popular



La nueva inquisicion



Bolivia



Chile Hoy



Eso es todo amigos!



Piensalo!



Pinerachet



No More Trump



Adios Macri, hasta nunca



La Marioneta se desinfla



Asi o mas cinico



Almugre



Mexico en 1794



Mas arrastrado imposible



Hasta cuando!



La pura verdad



Solidaridad con Palestina



Serie Capitalismo



Espejismos de la clase trabajadora



Asi es!



Comerciantes o delincuentes



No pasaran!



Asi es la vida



USA HOY



01/01/1959



La avaricia no tiene limites



AYUDA HUMANITARIA?



Chile Hoy



Asi son las cosas



Mapa Electoral de Venezuela



Patagonia argentina?



Un aniversario mas del mayor genocidio de la Humanidad



Retrato del franquismo en Espana



Visca Catalunya!



El Chulo de Madrid



Cuando la policia se roba la democracia



Una imagen dice mas que mil palabras



La purita verdad



Asi gobierna la maldita burguesia



Mi pobre clase media



Como Chavez nadie



Comparte La Colmena via twitter Twittear

Programa de la MUD



Asi o mas clarito



Por que Trump no ataco Corea del Norte?



Hace 15 anos Por que la OEA no se pronuncio?



Una verguenza nacional



La luz que nos guia



La Union Europea Premio Nobel de la Paz?



Feudalismo ayer y hoy



Obama, el mentiroso



Curiosa coincidencia



Un mundo de cerdos



No es extrano?



La Marioneta



Los ricos protestan, los pobres celebran



MARICORI Y OBAMA



Cuantas muertes este ano?



USA TODAY



USA HOY 6



USA HOY 5



USA HOY 4



USA HOY 3



USA HOY 2



USA HOY (1)



Insaciable



Cronologia de un agresor



Guarimbear en USA



Mexico hoy



Bolivar y Chavez



Primero Amargado



Dios los cria y ellos se juntan



USA hoy (III)



USA hoy (II)



USA hoy



Mexico hoy



Mexico hoy



Mexico hoy



Obama



La verdad sea dicha



Los ricos



Que no nos vea Obama



Pobre Obama



SOS PALESTINA



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



Archivo del blog Archivo del blog marzo (4) abril (9) mayo (8) junio (10) julio (11) agosto (10) septiembre (17) octubre (11) noviembre (15) diciembre (10) enero (9) febrero (10) marzo (8) abril (5) mayo (6) junio (8) julio (13) agosto (10) septiembre (7) octubre (12) noviembre (8) diciembre (15) enero (17) febrero (11) marzo (11) abril (12) junio (6) julio (11) agosto (15) septiembre (5) octubre (15) noviembre (14) diciembre (11) enero (13) febrero (9) marzo (10) abril (8) mayo (7) junio (12) julio (12) agosto (8) septiembre (8) octubre (4) diciembre (8) enero (35) febrero (20) marzo (29) abril (19) mayo (21) junio (27) julio (21) agosto (28) septiembre (40) octubre (47) noviembre (21) diciembre (34) enero (62) febrero (81) marzo (117) abril (141) mayo (114) junio (111) julio (126) agosto (98) septiembre (160) octubre (234) noviembre (493) diciembre (319) enero (219) febrero (267) marzo (230) abril (291) mayo (347) junio (223) julio (179) agosto (191) septiembre (239) octubre (350) noviembre (406) diciembre (353) enero (284) febrero (202) marzo (274) abril (250) mayo (232) junio (251) julio (188) agosto (249) septiembre (230) octubre (178) noviembre (141) diciembre (164) enero (187) febrero (147) marzo (211) abril (190) mayo (199) junio (164) julio (162) agosto (174) septiembre (182) octubre (225) noviembre (114) diciembre (132) enero (223) febrero (147) marzo (133) abril (108) mayo (387) junio (465) julio (785) agosto (748) septiembre (485) octubre (681) noviembre (754) diciembre (805) enero (708) febrero (896) marzo (735) abril (831) mayo (723) junio (555) julio (658) agosto (619) septiembre (457) octubre (455) noviembre (295) diciembre (269) enero (534) febrero (556) marzo (205) abril (119) mayo (194) junio (255) julio (294) agosto (182) septiembre (207) octubre (340) noviembre (351) diciembre (281) enero (114) febrero (128) marzo (216) abril (195) mayo (116) junio (141) julio (182) agosto (181) septiembre (50) octubre (72) noviembre (104) diciembre (88) enero (168) febrero (102) marzo (151) abril (207) mayo (43) junio (72) julio (35) agosto (146) septiembre (54) octubre (46) noviembre (48)

Chavez Cuanto te queremos!



Por culpa de Chavez



Cerveza Polar







Algun dia Colombia volvera a la ideologia de Bolivar







Translate













LOS REVOLUCIONARIOS NO TOMAN CACA-COLA No se trata solamente de un capricho, sino de una sana actitud en todos los sentidos. Desde la solidaridad con el pueblo colombiano donde la empresa Caca-Cola ha cometido los mas grandes abusos contra sus trabajadores incluyendo el presunto secuestro y asesinato de los dirigentes del sindicato, hasta la proteccion de la salud de nuestros hijos, enviciados por ese jarabe de cola y azucar, que les produce obesidad prematura. Pensemos tambien los revolucionarios, que ese dinero que gastamos en los refrescos es utilizado por esas empresas para financiar el terrorismo en nuestro pais. Es cierto, no se trata solo de la Caca-Cola, sino tambien de la cerveza, de los cigarrillos y todos esos articulos innecesarios y mas que eso, daninos para nuestra salud. Podriamos incluso pensar en un dia de parada para cada uno de ellos. Es cuestion de irnos organizando. Pero para empezar, que tal si dejamos de comprar Caca-Cola y sus similares?



























Cuando lo extraordinario se vuelve cotidiano...



Discurso del Acto de Grado en Barinas en 12 de Febrero del 2005 Queridos Graduandos:



Mas que un discurso, quiero dirigirles algunas palabras que escribi anoche, despues de visitar en las clinicas, a los estudiantes heridos, a consecuencia de los enfrentamientos con la policia de hace apenas dos dias.



Me ha tocado por razones del destino, ser la persona que les otorgue el titulo que bien merecieron con sus estudios. Y me siento sumamente orgulloso de serlo. Me consta que la Universidad de Los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, a pesar de lo dicho por los enemigos de esta universidad, es una universidad de primera.



No tendremos la mejor planta fisica, en los salones hace calor. En el comedor hace calor. Pero no es en lo material que las cosas deben valorarse. El mayor capital es el ser humano. Y en eso, nuestra UNELLEZ, lo digo con conocimiento de causa, esta sobrada. Los llaneros venezolanos son nobles, valientes, de coraje.



En la UNELLEZ hacen vida, en este momento, aproximadamente 67000 personas. El 97% de ellas son estudiantes. Jovenes que, como Ustedes hasta el dia de hoy, buscan ese titulo, que constata los anos de dedicacion y de estudio.



Los jovenes son el rio de la vida, ustedes graduados deben ser los capitanes de esos barcos que naveguen por el rio de la vida.



Nuestra Patria atraviesa momentos muy dificiles porque decidio dejar de ser esa matrona de edad vetusta y complaciente, para ser joven, rebelde y altanera. Nuestra imagen ya no es la de una acaudalada ricachona mayamera. En nuestro rostro brilla ahora la sonrisa del Che Guevara, con su diente delantero torcido, su pelo largo y su boina con la estrella.



Entender esto, a mi me ha tomado practicamente toda la vida. Tengo 53 anos, y ya perdi mi oportunidad de derramar sangre joven a causa de un ideal.



Ustedes son jovenes, estan en la flor de la vida. No cometan por favor el error de renunciar a su instinto de rebelion. El Che Guevara fue Ministro de a Economia en Cuba. Los billetes y las monedas se adornaban con su rostro. Nada de eso le importo. Primero fue a Angola donde paso un penoso ano de combate. Despues se fue a Bolivia, donde encontro la muerte. El Che era el ultimo que comia, el que cargaba la mochila mas pesada. Siempre se sacrificaba por los demas en un estoicismo que mas parecia fervor religioso que ideologia marxista.



Si quieren un modelo de vida. Ahi lo tienen.



Dije hace unos momentos que el 97% de la poblacion de la UNELLEZ es estudiante. Se imaginan Ustedes la Universidad que podriamos tener si todos los estudiantes tuvieran la abnegacion, la combatividad del Che?



Los momentos que se avecinan van a requerir de una gran unidad del pueblo venezolano. La alternativa de continuar siendo libres o regresar a la pobreza se nos planteara en los proximos dias de forma enmascarada, o quizas peor, desenmascarada, vestida con uniforme de soldado del Imperio.



Por nuestra parte podemos esperar lo mejor. La macroeconomia no podria ir mejor, la justicia social ha mejorado notablemente. Las misiones ocupan un papel muy importante en el pago de dicha justicia social. Aqui en Barinas ya hemos cumplido con dos de las misiones, la mision Robinson y la mision Sucre. No hay analfabetismo y no hay exclusion en la educacion superior, en estas tierras de Zamora.



Pero ay malhaya! Son precisamente estos exitos los que nos hacen mas antipaticos al Imperio. Para ellos, somos inclusive un mal ejemplo que se esta contagiando al resto del continente y cuidado sino al resto del mundo.



Nunca venceremos al Imperio. Estara siempre ahi, acechando. Por lo menos hasta que el mismo no se autodestruya. Porque, sepanlo senores, el neoliberalismo es canibal. Cuando le ataque el hambre, se devorara a si mismo.



Ustedes, queridos graduandos, a partir de hoy pasan a conformar la elite profesional que debe sostener este pais en los proximos cuarenta o cincuenta anos. Anos decisivos para el logro de nuestra libertad y del rescate de nuestra Soberania.



No se dejen comprar. No se dejen corromper. No se dejen gritar. No se dejen pisar. Que nadie les diga que comer, o que vestirse, o que leer. Sean siempre autenticos, rebeldes, contestatarios. Pero eso si, profundamente patriotas, dignos de ser hijos de Bolivar.



Muchas gracias y que Dios los bendiga.





Alguna duda?



Medio siglo de Holocausto Palestino



Oscar Zanartu Nacio en Caracas en 1960. Ha realizado exposiciones individuales en las galerias Minotauro, Clave y San Francisco, y en salas de Coro, estado Falcon, y Puerto Ordaz, estado Bolivar. En Paris su obra ha sido exhibida en el Centro Cultural Tanagra, en la Exposicion Cite Internationale des Arts, en las galerias De Mars y Arver Space, al igual que en la Galeria Municipal Levallois, en Levallois Perret (Francia). En muestras colectivas, su obra se ha expuesto en Belgica, Francia, Estados Unidos y Venezuela; en Caracas intervino en la exposicion "Del genesis a la memoria", 1995, organizada por la Fundacion La Previsora. En 1982 obtuvo el Premio Nacional Critven y en 1990 la Mencion de Honor Jose Antonio Paez, en la Embajada de Venezuela en Paris. En 1991 se le concedio el primer premio de Pintura Itinerante, en Levallois Perret, Francia.



OZ1



OZ2



OZ3



OZ4



Homenaje a Jason Galarraga



La Victoria de Samotracia



Odalisca



Mas fotos de la nevada del pasado agosto 2008



























La Sierra Nevada de Merida



Nuestro precioso Churum Meru



Homenaje a Picasso



Autoretrato



Sabes lo que bebes en una Coca-Cola?

La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.

Mi profesion?

Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.

Sal en la Coca Cola?

A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.

De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:

Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gusto

Acido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)

azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)

Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantas

Mucha Cafeina

Conservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o Potasio

Dioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebe

Sal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracion

El uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.

Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.

Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.

En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).

Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.

La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.

Bebidas Light?

Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el

Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.



Publicado por loretahur



En realidad, la formula secreta de la Coca-Cola se puede detallar en 18 segundos en cualquier espectrometro optico, y basicamente la conocen hasta los perros. Lo que ocurre es que no se puede fabricar igual, a no ser que uno disponga de unos cuantos millones de dolares para ganarle la demanda que te metera la Coca-Cola ante la justicia (ellos no perderian).La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gustoAcido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantasMucha CafeinaConservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o PotasioDioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebeSal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracionEl uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el aspartamo , despues de tres semanas mojado, pasa a tener gusto de trapo viejo sucio.Para evitar eso, se agregan una infinidad de otros productos quimicos, uno para alargar la vida del aspartamo, otro para neutralizar el color, otro para mantener el tercer quimico en suspension porque sino el fondo de la gaseosa quedaria oscuro, otro para evitar la cristalizacion del aspartamo, otro para realzar el sabor, dar mas intensidad al acido citrico o fosforito que perderia su sabor por el efecto de los cuatro productos quimicos iniciales... y asi sucesivamente.Un consejo final !!Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.Publicado por loretahur

MARGARINA o MANTEQUILLA La margarina fue producida originalmente para engordar a los pavos; cuandolo que hizo en realidad fue matarlos.Las personas que habian puesto el dinero para la investigacion quisieronrecobrarlo asi que empezaron a pensar en una forma de hacerlo.Tenian una sustancia blanca, que no tenia ningun atractivo como comestible,asi que le anadieron el color amarillo, para venderselo a lagente en lugar de la mantequilla.Que tal esa?... Ahora han sacado algunos nuevos sabores para vender mas alos incautos como usted y yo.CONOCE USTED la diferencia entre la margarina y la mantequilla?Siga leyendo hasta el final... porque se pone bastante interesante!Comparacion entre mantequilla y margarina:

1.- Ambas tienen la misma cantidad de calorias.

2.- La mantequilla es ligeramente mas alta en grasas saturadas: 8 gramos,comparada con los 5 gramos que tiene la margarina.

3.- Comer margarina en vez de mantequilla puede aumentar en 53% el riesgo deenfermedades coronarias en las mujeres, de acuerdo con un estudiomedico reciente de la Universidad de Harvard.

4.- Comer mantequilla aumenta la absorcion de gran cantidad de nutrientesque se encuentran en otros alimentos.

5.- La mantequilla provee beneficios nutricionales propios mientras lamargarina tiene solo los que le hayan sido anadidos al fabricarla.

6.- La mantequilla sabe mucho mejor que la margarina y mejora el sabor deotros alimentos.7.- La mantequilla ha existido durante siglos mientras que la margarinatiene menos de 100 anos.

Ahora... sobre la margarina:

1.- Es muy alta en acidos grasos trans. (Si, esos que recien ahora loscientificos descubrieron que son malisimos y los gobiernoscomenzaron a prohibirlos) .

2.- Triple riesgo de enfermedades coronarias.

3.- Aumenta el colesterol total y el LDL (el colesterol malo) y disminuye elHDL (el colesterol bueno).

4.- Aumenta en cinco veces el riesgo de cancer.

5.- Disminuye la calidad de la leche materna.

6.- Disminuye la reaccion inmunologica del organismo.

7.- Disminuye la reaccion a la insulina.

Y he aqui el factor mas inquietante (AQUI ESTA LA PARTE MAS INTERESANTE! ):A la margarina le falta UNA MOLECULA para ser PLASTICO...!!Solo este hecho es suficiente para evitar el uso de la margarina de porvida, y de cualquier otra cosa que sea hidrogenada (esto significaque se le anade hidrogeno, lo cual cambia la estructura molecular de lassubstancias).Usted puede ensayar lo siguiente:Compre un poco de margarina y dejela en el garaje o en un sitio sombreado.Dentro de unos dias notara dos cosas:

* No habra moscas; ni siquiera esos molestos bichos se le acercaran (esto yale debe decir a usted algo).

* No se pudre ni huele mal o diferente porque no tiene valor nutritivo; nadacrece en ella. Ni siquiera los diminutos microorganismos puedencrecer en ella.Por que? Porque es casi plastico!!



No a la guerra, Si a la Paz



Misterios de la ciencia...



Los costos de la guerra



medicos y capitalismo...



Capitalismo...



medicos (2)



Quien educa a nuestros hijos?



Los Medios...



Sin Palabras...



Chistes feministas

- Cual es el problema, Eva?

- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz...

- Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.

- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...

- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.

- Que es un hombre?

- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.

- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.

- Cual es el truco?.

- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.

- Cual?

- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.





Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Un dia, en el Paraiso, Eva llamo a Dios: Tengo un problema.- Cual es el problema, Eva?- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.- Que es un hombre?- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.- Cual es el truco?.- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.- Cual?- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Ellas...



Ellas (2)...



Tres venganzas femeninas VENGANZA NUMERO 1

Hoy mi hija cumple 21 anos y estoy muy contento porque es el ultimo pago de pension alimenticia que le doy, asi que llame a mi hijita para que viniera a mi casa y cuando llego le dije:

-Hijita, quiero que lleves este cheque a casa de tu mama y que le digas que: Este es el ultimo maldito cheque que va recibir de mi en todo lo que le queda de su puta vida!!! Quiero que me digas la expresion que pone en su rostro.

Asi que mi hija fue a entregar el cheque. Yo estaba ansioso por saber lo que la bruja tenia que decir y que cara pondria.

Cuando mi hijita entro, le pregunte inmediatamente: -Que fue lo que te dijo tu madre?

-Me dijo que justamente estaba esperando este dia para decirte que no eres mi papa!



VENGANZA NUMERO 2

Un hombre que siempre molestaba a su mujer, paso un dia por la casa de unos amigos para que lo acompanaran al aeropuerto a dejar a su esposa que viajaba a Paris.

A la salida de inmigracion, frente a todo el mundo, el le desea buen viaje y en tono burlon le grita:

- Amor, no te olvides de traerme una hermosa francesita Ja ja ja!!

Ella bajo la cabeza y se embarco muy molesta.

La mujer paso quince dias en Francia.

El marido otra vez pidio a sus amigos que lo acompanasen al aeropuerto a recibirla.

Al verla llegar, lo primero que le grita a toda voz es:

- Y amor me trajiste mi francesita??

- Hice todo lo posible, - contesta ella - ahora solo tenemos que rezar para que nazca nina.



VENGANZA NUMERO 3

El marido, en su lecho de muerte, llama a su mujer. Con voz ronca y ya debil, le dice: - Muy bien, llego mi hora, pero antes quiero hacerte una confesion.

- No, no, tranquilo, tu no debes hacer ningun esfuerzo.

- Pero, mujer, es preciso - insiste el marido - Es preciso morir en paz.

Te quiero confesar algo.

- Esta bien, esta bien. Habla!

- He tenido relaciones con tu hermana, tu mama y tu mejor amiga.

- Lo se, lo se Por eso te envenene, hijo de puta!!!



machismo y cibernetica



Chiste machista La NASA ha enviado al espacio una mision experimental tripulada por dos monos y una mujer.Apenas abandona la atmosfera, se establece comunicacion con Houston.

-Atencion, simio 1, verifique sistemas hidraulicos, controle adecuada presion de los propulsores de arranque. A 60.000 pies disminuya un 25% la velocidad.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, simio 2, nivele al cruzar la estratosfera y active sistemas anticongelantes. No olvide monitorear sistemas de comunicacion e indicadores de presion. Comprendido?.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, Houston llamando a mujer: no se olvide.

-Mujer: Si, si, ya se! -interrumpe enojada- que no me olvide darles de comer a estos monos de mierda y que no se me vaya a ocurrir tocar nada!.



.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti.

Un abogado mantiene un romance con su secretaria.Al poco tiempo, esta queda embarazada y el abogado, que no quiere que su esposa se entere, le da a la secretaria una buena suma de dinero y le pide que se vaya a parir a Italia.Esta pregunta: Y como voy a hacerte saber cuando nazca el bebe ? El abogado responde: Para que mi mujer no se entere, tan solo enviame una postal y escribe por detras: Spaghetti. Y no te preocupes mas, que yo me encargare de todos los gastos.

Pasan los meses y una manana la esposa del abogado lo llama al bufete, algo exaltada: Querido, acabo de recibir el correo y hay una postal muy extrana viene desde Italia. La verdad, no entiendo que significa.El abogado, tratando de ocultar sus nervios, contesta:Espera a que llegue a casa, a ver si yo entiendoCuando el hombre llega a casa y lee la postal, cae al suelo fulminado por un infarto.Llega una ambulancia y se lo lleva. Ya en el hospital, el jefe de cardiologia se queda consolando a la esposa y le pregunta cual ha sido el evento que precipito tan masivo ataque cardiaco.

Entonces la esposa saca la postal y se la muestra diciendole: No me explico, doctor; el solamente leyo esta postal. Vea usted mismo lo que trae escrito.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti."Tres con salchicha y albondigas y dos con almejas



Gol !!!!



Chistes de Borrachos Entra un borracho a su casa todo manchado con lapiz labial por todos lados hecho un desastre, y la mujer le pregunta:-Hombre que te paso?Y el borracho le responde:-No me vas a creer, me pelee con un payaso!



Este es un borracho que entra en un bar y le dice al camarero:-Me da cinco copas de whisky?Al rato:-Me da cuatro?Al rato:-Me da tres copas?Despues:-Me da dos copas?Luego le dice:-Me da una copa?Y le dice al camarero:-Ves? Cuanto menos bebo, mas borracho estoy!

The Dalata Hotel Group has said it has seen no negative effect on trading levels from ongoing Brexit uncertainty.

The largest Irish hotel group, which owns the Clayton and Maldron chains, added that trading in the final four months of the year has been as expected and that group earnings for the year will be in line with market expectations.A farmer has agreed to comply with High Court orders to vacate 50 acres of land he owns.

The High Court heard today Tom Morrin will surrender vacant possession, remove all machinery and livestock from 50 acres of land at Caragh, Naas, Co Kildare owned by Mr Morrin to a bank-appointed receiver appointed over the property.

He has also agreed to cease interfering with agents of the receiver Mr Tom Kavanagh of Deloitte Ireland from carrying out their duties in respect of the property.

Mr Morrin appeared before the court after Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds ruled last week that she was "satisfied beyond reasonable doubt" Mr Morrin is in breach of orders made against him by the High Court in July 2017.

The judge in her judgment also dismissed applications by Mr Morrin of Poplar Square, Naas, Co Kildare, to have the receiver's case thrown out, on the grounds it was frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of process.

The Judge further dismissed Mr Morrin's bid for an order preventing Mr Kavanagh's and his agents from trespassing on his property.

Ms Justice Reynolds was informed Mr Morrin had agreed to orders including that he would remove all machinery and livestock from the lands, and not interfere with the receivership.

He also undertook not to appeal last weeks decision and withdraw his appeal against the orders made against him in 2017.

It was also agreed that a stay is to be placed on those orders until February.

Previously the court heard that Mr Kavanagh was appointed as receiver over the lands in 2013 by Bank of Scotland Ireland arising out of a mortgage agreement alleged entered into between it an Mr Morrin in 2006.

The loan was subsequently acquired by a financial fund Pentire DAC.

The receiver then brought proceedings against Mr Morrin for his ongoing contempt seeking orders including that the farmer be attached and brought before the court for his alleged ongoing contempt of the 2017 orders.

Mr Kavanagh, represented by Stephen Byrne Bl, claimed the defendant had flouted the order, on which no stay has been placed.

Mr Morrin had remained in occupation of the property and continued to farm the lands, it was claimed.

It was also claimed that on a number of occasions security firm personnel engaged by the receiver had engaged difficulties.

On certain days cattle were seen on the lands and agents the receiver had employed were told to leave the property by a person purporting to be an employee of the defendants.

The matter will return before the court in February.A bill targeting a ban on all future drilling for oil and gas in Irish waters has hit a wall after a draft report on the motion was voted down.

The joint Oireachtas committee on communications, climate action and the environment has rejected recommending People Before Profits bill to the Dail after a tied vote.

The bill is entitled Petroleum and Other Minerals Development Climate Emergency Measures Bill.

While the draft form was voted down, the bill remains live and at committee stage pending proposals on how to proceed, potentially with certain amendments. The committee next meets on January 22.

In opposing the bill in its current form, senator Michael McDowell said a ban on future exploration would be deeply irresponsible as Ireland will be dependent for a considerable period of time on either imported or domestically-exploited fossil fuels.

He said it was the primary duty of government to keep open the option of availing of domestically-generated fossil fuel.

Fine Gael senator Joe OReilly said that a stop to exploration could damage Irelands perception from an inward investment point of view and damage the countrys security of energy supply.

Rural affairs and natural resources junior minister Sean Canney reaffirmed his opposition to the bill saying, while well-intentioned, it could create more problems than it solves.

The architect of the bill, People Before Profits Brid Smith said more jobs would be at risk in the marine industry from future drilling than in the exploration sector from a ban.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said the really irresponsible action would be to continue with oil and gas exploration and produce yet more carbon emissions.

He called a ban a huge issue of principle.

Also in favour of the bill, Fianna Fails Timmy Dooley accused the exploration industry of a bit of scaremongering over security of supply claims, adding there is no guarantee of future oil and gas finds.

Mr Ryan said if the bill was not supported it would show where Ireland stands on the climate change issue. He called for a principled stand to be taken on tapping into wind energy and claimed the prospect of major oil and gas finds are minimal despite a number of major drilling rounds scheduled over the next few years.Ryanair claims it could lose 5m a year because of a "peculiar" Irish taxation provision which means its non-Ireland based staff are effectively taxed on the double.

It also says the punitive nature of the provision was a factor in its decision to close its base in Romania after aircrew there found themselves paying 70 per cent of their earnings in tax and resignations followed.

A Romanian pilot on a 150,000pa salary would come out with just 38,700 after he/she had paid tax/social insurance locally and PAYE plus USC here, the airline said.

The claims are made in Ryanair's High Court action against the Minister for Finance and Revenue seeking the striking down of the taxation provision, Section 127B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.

It was first applied in 2011 but, Ryanair says it has had the effect of singling out its aircrew due to changes to their taxation treatment in their home countries.

Section 127B makes the income of any individual "whether resident in the State or not" taxable from any employment aboard an aircraft and where the aircraft is operated by an enterprise whose management is in this State.

Ryanair wants this provision struck down or disapplied because it says it is contrary to EU law.

It says the Revenue was wrong to refuse Ryanair's requests last month to release the airline from its obligations to withhold PAYE and USC from non-Irish tax resident crew who are paid from Ireland.

Although there are double taxation agreements (DTAs) between Ireland and other EU countries, Section 127B is the method Revenue uses to gives effect to those DTAs.

Section 127B is a "peculiarity" of the Irish system and contrary to normal international principles, Ryanair says. Normally, a person can claim an exemption from tax here on income broadly derived from duties performed in a country with which Ireland has DTAs. The UK and the Netherlands are the only two countries not affected.

Ryanair says in states where social insurance are very high, often to compensate for lower income tax rates, its aircrew are subjected to "sometimes punitive" taxes.

Using an illustrative gross salary of 150,00 for all pilots, Ryanair gives examples of what pilots in the following countries receive after tax: Hungary 63,400; Italy 79,300; Poland 71,200; Lithuania (from next year) 83,100 and Ireland 85,200. Romania has the most punitive marginal rate of 83 per cent in tax and social insurance.

If Section 127B did not operate, those pilots would see their take home pay substantially increase from between 82,500 (Romania) to 120,000 (Lithuania).

Ryanair also says it is being put at a competitive disadvantage to Aer Lingus as its main competitor's only foreign bases are in the UK.

It says Section127B is,among other things, discriminatory and conflicts with equal treatment rights under the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.

It also deprives aircrew of a real and effective right to engage in or pursue freely their chosen occupation in contravention of their EU fundamental rights.

It also distorts the market and confers an advantage on its competitors, it says.

On the application of Martin Hayden SC, the case was admitted to the Commercial Court list.

Mr Justice Robert Haughton rejected opposition to its admission by Noel Travers SC, for the State, who argued it was a constitutional rather than a commercial matter.

The judge said it was a matter which clearly affects 1,000 Ryanair employees across the EU and the airline had said it has a potential to cause potential losses of 5m a year.

He adjourned a separate application by Ryanair to have the matter referred to the Court of Justice of the EU. Mr Travers, for the State, said his clients may appeal the decision to admit the case to the Commercial Court.The flagship Victoria's Secret store in Dublin clocked up average daily revenues of 64,666 in its first 60 days of opening here.

That is according to new accounts for the Grafton Street store which show that the business enjoyed bumper sales in the first two months of opening in December 2017.

The store was opened to much fanfare with a queue of over 500 shoppers - mainly women - waiting outside the 2,700 sq metre store on December 5, 2017.

As the ribbon was cut at 10am on December 5th, patient Victoria's Secret enthusiasts were chanting VS Dublin and that enthusiasm has translated into hard cash for the lingerie retailer.

New accounts for L Brands Fashion Retail Reland Ltd show that the business enjoyed revenues of 3.88m between opening day on December 5 last to February 3 of this year.

This translates to average weekly sales of 456,470 per week or 64,666 per day taking into account the stores closure for Christmas Day during the period.

The Victoria's Secret business enjoys a global profile boosted by its annual Victoria's Secret show featuring Victoria's Secret models, Bella Hadid, Kendall Kardashian, Adriana Lima and Gigi Hadid.

The Grafton St store business recorded an operating profit of 389,000 in the year to February 3rd last and interest payments of 381,000 resulted in a modest pre-tax profit of 8,000.

Along with lingerie, the store sells beauty and personal care products and accessories under the Victoria Secret and Victorias Secret PINK retail brands.

With late night opening to 9pm and 10pm most nights of the week currently at the store, the directors state that they are seeking opportunities to maximise sales in Ireland.

The US retailer is in the high profile retail location previously enjoyed by BT2 and the new accounts show that the retailer spent 2.076m -or 39,169 per week - on lease costs over the 53 week period.

However, the rental costs for the Grafton Street store will represent only loose change for the global L Brands business which enjoys worldwide sales of $12.63bn in the 53 weeks to the end of February 3rd 2018.

The company operates 3,075 company-owned speciality stores in the United States, Canada, the UK, China and here and its brands are sold in more than 800 additional franchised locations worldwide.

The accounts show that on May 12th of this year, the business received a cash injection of 12m from its parent firm and receiving a cash injection of 4.5m in the 12 months to the end of January 2017.

On February 3rd last year, the company had shareholder funds of 4.5m while its cash pile totalled 13m. The value of the firms tangible assets had increased from 1.67m to 20.6m last year.

The directors report for the Dublin firm states that the principal risk faced by the company is the ability to effectively execute day to day store operations in accordance with company instructions to satisfy customer demand.

IT states that the company must focus on retaining and developing the best talent to ensure that it effectively supports the business and meets customer needs.Neighbours of a doctor who is on trial accused of murdering her three-year-old autistic son have told a jury that she was beyond a caring mother and did everything for him, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Maha Al Adheem (43) has admitted stabbing her son and told gardai that a power had made her go to a drawer and remove a knife.

The boy was stabbed 20 times and four stab wounds had penetrated his lungs and heart, severing a vital artery.

Opening the trial on Monday, prosecuting counsel Michael Delaney SC said the defence of insanity is being raised on behalf of Ms Al Adheem.

This applies where the accused is suffering from a mental disorder at the time, he said, so as not to be held legally responsible for her actions.

The barrister stated that expert psychiatrists for both the prosecution and defence are in agreement that Ms Al Adheem fulfils the criteria of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Ms Al Adheem, with an address at Riverside, Poddle Park, Kimmage, Dublin 12 has pleaded not guilty to murdering Omar Omran on July 10, 2017 at the same address.

Mr Delaney told the court this afternoon that he was tendering two witnesses at the request of the defence.

Siobhan Murray told Patrick Gageby SC, defending, that she was Ms Al Adheem's neighbour and found her bubbly and a bit hyper as well as beyond a caring mother to her son.

She was amazing, she did everything for him morning and night. I never heard her raise her voice once or correct him, remarked Ms Murray.

The witness said a black cat with no tail hung around their apartment complex and Ms Al Adheem did not want her calling the cat over.

Ms Murray agreed with Mr Gageby that the accused thought the cat was an evil spirit and the cause of a lot of bad things that were happening to her.

Ms Murray said that Ms Al Adheem gave her a blow by blow account about a smashed mirror in her apartment on July 7, which she maintained the cat had caused.

She thought that when anything was not going right the cat seemed to be there. It was a worrying thing for her, she said.

The witness agreed with Mr Gageby that the accused had told her that a man made her have sex with him whenever the cat was around.

Aingle Ni Cheallaigh told defence counsel Anne Rowland SC that she also lived at Riverside and found Ms Al Adheem so friendly when she first met her in 2010 but could see the accuseds difficulty with her son being demanding.

However, the witness said her "best friend" was extremely caring and protective of Omar.

Ms Rowland put it to Ms Ni Cheallaigh that her client had devoted herself to her sons care.

She was his only care that I knew. The only time she got to put out the bins was when he was asleep," she replied.

The witness said she had noticed Ms Al Adheem become paranoid a few months before the incident and told the court that her friend was afraid the spirits of dead people would inhabit the cat and use this cat to hurt her.

Ms Ni Cheallaigh further agreed with the defence that the accused was a kind, good and decent mother.

A statement by Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Linda Mulligan was read into evidence by Mr Delaney.

Dr Mulligan said she conducted a post mortem on the deceased on July 12 and the cause of death was multiple stab wounds to his chest, abdomen and trunk as well as to his right thigh.

There were 20 stab wounds in total and four of the stab wounds had been fatal as they had penetrated his heart and lungs, severing a vital artery.

The remaining stab wounds to his back, abdomen and right thigh contributed to overall blood loss and death. Two incised wounds to his hand were consistent with defensive type injuries.

Earlier, former garda Diarmaid Kelly told Mr Delaney that he was attached to Sundrive Road Garda Station in July last year.

He was the driver of an official patrol car on the Crumlin Road on July 10 when he was informed by Dublin Fire Brigade that a child was in cardiac arrest at Riverside, Poddle Park in Kimmage at 6.52pm.

Members of the fire brigade were preparing to leave the scene when Mr Kelly arrived as they had tried to gain access to the accuseds apartment but there was no response.

Mr Kelly said he made several attempts to knock on the door of the apartment with some members of the fire brigade and rang the callers number who had previously dialled 999.

The court has heard that Dublin Fire Brigade got a 999 call from Ms Al Adheem at 6.40pm and she said that her baby was dead and then hung up. The person who took the call phoned the caller back but she hung up again.

Mr Kelly said there was a red smudge mark on the left-hand side of the apartment door which he believed was blood.

A resident approached Mr Kelly while he was trying to gain access and told him that a female and her child lived there and pointed to a blue Micra car in the carpark which he said belonged to the woman.

The fire brigade used a ladder to look through the balcony window but the curtains were drawn and the balcony door was locked.

Mr Kelly said two firefighters breached Ms Al Adheem's apartment door using a sledgehammer which activated an intruder alarm.

I also noticed a chub lock had been put on the door as well, he said, adding that he was first to enter the apartment.

The witness testified that Ms Al Adheem was standing in the hall directly in front of him and looked panicked. He identified himself as a member of An Garda Siochana.

Ms Al Adheeem held her hands up and said no, no, no and backed away into the living area where she sat on a couch, he said.

Mr Kelly said he observed a large amount of blood on her hands, her right hip and her clothing. The accused was in her pyjamas and wearing a headscarf.

He called for the assistance of paramedics and a doctor who had accompanied them to the scene.

The witness said he soon became aware of a degree of commotion coming from the bedroom of the apartment and went to see what the cause of this was.

Mr Kelly said he observed the body of a young male lying on his back in the middle of the bed with his head towards the foot of the bed.

There was a substantial amount of blood at the scene and paramedics had connected an ECG monitor to the child, he said.

The witness said he noted several puncture wounds to his torso and his legs. A silver metal knife was also on the bed.

Paramedics informed Mr Kelly that the child was unresponsive and had no pulse before he returned to Ms Al Adheem in the living area.

Mr Kelly said he asked the accused repeatedly what had happened and she replied: I did it, I stabbed my son and then stabbed myself.

Ms Al Adheem was initially reluctant to be examined by staff and held a cushion to her side where her injuries were. Eventually, she allowed a doctor to examine her before she was brought by ambulance to St Jamess Hospital at 7.40pm.

Under cross-examination by Patrick Gageby SC, defending, Mr Kelly agreed that one of the pieces of information he was able to access from the Pulse record was that Ms Al Adheem had the benefit of a safety order in her favour.

He further agreed with counsel that it is very common that a safety order is conveyed to the local garda station as gardai will give effect to it.

Mr Kelly agreed with Mr Gageby that he had entered the apartment in uniform and members of Dublin Fire Brigade were also dressed in uniform. Mr Gageby said Ms Al Adheems reaction to this was no, no, no" and the witness agreed with this.

Detective Garda Riana OSullivan gave evidence that she attended St Jamess Hospital with Ms Al Adheem as she had three small puncture wounds on her abdomen.

Det Gda OSullivan said the accused told her in hospital that she had killed her son and her bed was full of blood.

She said the spirit goes to bed with me, at 12 oclock I take the knife and start hitting him and myself, I want to die', said Det Gda OSullivan.

The witness said the accused also told her that her husband had autism and had given the disease to their child saying: He could not understand this disease so he left.

Sergeant Brendan OHalloran told the prosecution that he arrested the accused at 10.05pm in the psychiatric unit of St Jamess Hospital on July 12 and conveyed her to Crumlin Garda Station where four interviews were conducted with her.

When the murder charge was put to her she replied: yes it was my knife, my hand, it was not me, the power.

Ms Al Adheem said to gardai in her first interview how can I kill my son, the only thing in my life I lost.

She told gardai that her son had been playing the ipad on the couch and she was reading before she grabbed a knife and stabbed him the bedroom.

The accused said she did not answer the door to gardai as she thought they were fake people and she knew Omar was already dead.

When gardai informed her that a post-mortem had been carried out on her son and the results showed he died of multiple stab wounds including to the heart and lungs, she replied: I want to die, I want to die.

Under cross-examination by Mr Gageby, defending, Sgt OHalloran agreed that Ms Al Adheem said in interviews a number of times that she wanted an explanation for what had happened.

The trial resumes tomorrow before Ms Justice Eileen Creedon and a jury of nine men and three women.A man who fraudulently claimed over 40,000 of Jobseeker's Allowance in his brother's name and was caught as a result of facial-imaging technology has received 200 hours of community service.

Owen McKeever (63) of Durrow Road, Crumlin, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to fraudulently claiming jobseekers allowance in the name of Brendan McKeever on dates between 2009 and 2013.

McKeever had been sent forward from the District Court on signed guilty pleas to 50 sample counts of social welfare fraud. He was also making a legitimate social welfare claim in his own name at the time.

Judge Karen O'Connor ordered that he serve 200 hours of community service to be completed over a 12-month period beginning from today's date in lieu of serving a sentence of two years and three months of imprisonment.

Garda Ian Abbey told James Dwyer BL, prosecuting, that facial-imaging technology was introduced in the Department of Social and Family Affairs in 2013. A match was later discovered between a genuine photograph of McKeever and a photograph of McKeever purporting to be his brother.

Gda Abbey said he interviewed McKeever who immediately made full admissions and told him: I put my hands up.

McKeever's brother had been home from the UK for a time and began signing on for a claim in his name which McKeever continued when his brother returned to the UK.

The total loss to the Exchequer was 41,871. McKeever told gardai he did not think the total was as much as it was, but accepted it.

Cathal O'Braonain BL, defending, said McKeever had run a number of businesses, including a delivery business, which had failed as a result of the recession and his vehicles had been repossessed. He said he did not have significant debts as a result, but it had led to change in lifestyle for him.

He asked the court to take into account his client's immediate co-operation and full admissions, which he said had saved the State time and resources in what could have been a technical and lengthy trial.

Counsel said his client was someone who was of previous good character and was remorseful once confronted. He said his client was a single man and was the sole carer for his 87-year-old mother.

He told the court that 4,700 has already been paid to revenue and that a further 3,500 has been given by McKeever to his solicitor who would ensure it was also paid back.

Judge O'Connor acknowledged that his signed guilty pleas saved considerable court time and were a particularly powerful form of mitigation. She said his family circumstances and his age were also mitigating factors in the case.The father of a six-year-old boy who was killed after being struck by a van breaking a red light at a pedestrian crossing has told the driver his family forgives him.

James O'Brien (37) of Kilbogget Grove, Cabinteely, Dublin was jailed for four years today after he pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing the death of Cian Marren at Shanganagh Road, Shankill, Dublin, on July 28, 2017.

At a sentence hearing last week, Cian's father, Liam, read from his victim impact statement and told O'Brien that despite the unbearable pain, hurt, suffering and anguish, and the life sentence of loss we are living, the one emotion we don't have is bitterness.

We want James O'Brien to know that our son Cian forgives you, he said, before adding that the rest of the family forgave him also.

He described seeing his son in a neck brace, unconscious but still breathing at the scene. He said paramedics told him his child was very, very ill and 20 minutes later a hospital consultant broke it to the family that there was nothing that could be done to save him.

The shock and the terror was unbearable. Even though we were told there was no hope, we prayed for a miracle, Mr Marren said.

Garda Barry Cormack told Karl Finnegan BL, prosecuting, that the child, his two sisters, then aged eight and 11 years old, and his aunt had been returning home to their granny's after a day out at the cinema and McDonalds.

He said the little boy had been anxious to press the pedestrian crossing button for the green man. Once the green man came up, he stepped out onto the road and was immediately struck by O'Brien's van.

O'Brien stopped his vehicle further up the road and returned to the scene. He later met with Mr Marren there and apologised for the accident, saying he didn't see the red light.

Gda Cormack told Mr Finnegan that drink, drugs and mobile phone use were ruled out as contributory factors in the investigation. He said the weather had been bright and dry on the day.

In his victim impact statement Mr Marren said: The person who suffered and lost most is our 6-year-old son.

He is the ultimate victim. He lost his life, his future, he lost his hopes and his dreams.

When Mr Marren had finished reading his statement, Judge Melanie Greally thanked him and extended her deepest condolences.

I don't know how you've done what you've done, but thank you very much, she said.

O'Brien, has 32 previous convictions at District Court level, including drink driving and a three year driving ban from 2012.

Sentencing O'Brien today Judge Greally noted that Cian was struck within moments of stepping off the footpath and was left with fatal head injuries.

He carried out to the letter all he had been taught to do before crossing the road, Judge Greally said before she noted that Cian didn't leave the pavement until the green man illuminated.

The judge noted that the lights were red for three seconds before the accident and amber for three seconds prior to that, it was a straight stretch of road with which O'Brien was familiar, it was daylight and the driving conditions were good.

It is impossible to say what passed through his mind in those three seconds, Judge Greally said before she noted that O'Brien was driving at 10 Km above the speed limit. She said this speeding was an aggravating factor.

She accepted that he remained at the scene until both gardai and emergency services arrived and expressed immediate concern for Cian.

Judge Greally accepted that O'Brien is racked with remorse but said he had unheeded a red light during which pedestrians have an expectation of being safe. She sentenced O'Brien to four years in prison.

Judge Greally concluded her sentencing remarks by expressing her deepest sympathy to the Marren Family and all of those who were close to Cian and have been affected by his death.

She noted that Mr Marren had carried out the impossible task of expressing in words what they have been through and added that the family had demonstrated an extraordinary and admirable generosity of spirit in expressing forgiveness towards O'Brien.

It is a fitting tribute to their son and their brother, Judge Greally said.

She said the most aggravating feature of this tragic case was that a six year old child was lost and his family have been left broken and bereft as a result.

She further noted that his aunt and two older sisters, witnessed the accident and were themselves also in danger.

Additional evidence

Mr Marren described phoning relatives to tell them they only had a few hours to say goodbye to Cian. He said he brought his daughters to the hospital the next day.

We simply said that Cian was never going to wake up and he would be going to heaven later that day, he said.

Mr Marren told the court that though his daughters were so young, they had the horror and anguish of any adult when hearing that news.

He said he and his wife suggested the girls draw pictures for Cian and tell him stories as they lay beside him to hug and cuddle him for the last time.

Mr Marren said he told his daughters Cian would be donating his organs, so when they said goodbye, they said goodbye to their real life hero.

He said on the Sunday morning relatives put their hands on his son's still beating heart before he was wheeled away to theatre.

The funeral of Cian Marren at St. Anne's Church, Bohernabreena in August 2017.Pic Collins Photos

This will haunt us forever, Mr Marren said. He added that his family is broken.

He described how that Christmas their family opened Cian's presents by his graveside and that he and his wife visit his grave every night to read him a bedside story.

He acknowledged that his daughters' childhoods had been severely impacted and that they know their mum and dad are not the same.

Gda Cormack agreed with Orla Crowe SC, defending, that O'Brien was in great state of distress and had asked to be remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing date.

Ms Crowe said her first instruction was to offer her client's deepest condolences to the Marren family on their unbearable loss.

She described the victim impact statement ready by Mr Marren as a model of charity towards her client.

She said O'Brien has had problems with alcohol and that his father was also a heavy drinker. She told the court that his wider family was devastated about what happened.

She submitted that O'Brien couldn't sleep at night thinking about the death and that he had arranged for prayers to be said for Cian and the Marren family.

She said a psychological assessment had placed O'Brien in the extremely low range of intellectual functioning.Update 7.14pm: The body found in a burnt out car near Ballincollig, Co Cork yesterday evening is that of a woman in her 50s, gardai confirmed.

A post-mortem on the woman's body has been completed.

Gardai are treating the incident as a personal tragedy.

A file will be prepared for the Coroners Office.

Update 7.01am: Gardai in County Cork are investigating after a body was found in a burnt out car near Ballincollig.

The blaze broke out at around 6.15pm yesterday evening in a field off the R618 Inniscarra Road.

It was later extinguished by emergency services.

A post-mortem is due to take place later today on the body, which has not yet been formally identified.

Gardai say the results will determine the course of their investigation.

They are also appealing to anyone who was on the stretch of road between 5.30pm and 6.15pm last night to contact them.The man accused of causing a fatal two-car collision may have been driving more than double the speed limit at the time of the impact, a jury has heard.

It is alleged that Michael Jones (24) was driving an Audi A3 which broke a red light at speed before crashing into the side of a Mitsubishi Colt driven by Hong Qing Qu.

The collision happened around 1am on November 17, 2015 at the top of a slip road close to Blanchardstown shopping centre in west Dublin.

Mr Jones, a professional roofer from Whitestown Drive, Dublin has pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Mr Qu at Blanchardstown Rd. south on November 17, 2015.

On day eight of his trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court Garda Patrick McIlroy told the jury that based on factors including the angle of the impact and the places both cars ended up after the collision, he was able to determine that the Audi A3 had been travelling between 115km/h and 137km/h prior to the collision.

Gda McIlroy said that the speed limit for all roads in the area was 60km/h.

He said he was able to determine that the front of the Audi A3 collided with the side of the Mitsubishi Colt based on the area of concentration of the worst damage to both cars.

There was extensive damage to the front of the Audi A3 and that the rest of the car was relatively untouched.

Gda McIlroy said that the Audi A3 mounted the kerb of a traffic island and collided with two traffic light polls and two protective railings before coming to a halt.

Garda Alex McDermott-Roe told the jury that he interviewed Mr Jones in the hospital a few hours after the collision.

Gda McDermott-Roe said that Mr Jones confirmed that the Audi A3 belonged to him, but denied he had been driving the car at around 1am that morning.

The trial continues before Judge Patricia Ryan and a jury.Gardai have charged a 42-year-old man in connection with an international money laundering investigation.

The alleged offences relate to a total of nine international transfers with a combined total of approximately 1.95m.

The transfers were received into four separate bank accounts controlled by the man at various Irish financial institutions between May 2014 and November 2015.

The investigation was carried out by Gardai attached to the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau.

The man will appear before the Courts of Criminal Justice this morning.A manhunt is underway after a man was stabbed in his home on the northside of Cork city by an attacker who forced his way into the house and demanded cash.

Alert neighbours in an estate off Cathedral Road in Gurranabraher raised the alarm around 6.30pm after calling to the mans house to investigate suspicious sounds.

It is believed the suspect answered the door to them and claimed to be a visiting relative.

They pressed him for answers before they spotted the homeowner inside in a distressed state. It was clear that he was bleeding from the legs and face.

The suspect again tried to dismiss the neighbours by claiming the man had had an accident in the house.

But the neighbours knew something was wrong and they retreated to raise the alarm.

Locals said gardai, including members of the armed regional response unit, arrived on the scene within minutes but the suspect had fled the scene on foot.

Gardai are searching the area this evening for the suspect who is believed to be in his early 30s.

Gardai have confirmed that they are investigating an assault incident in the area.

Gardai said a man in his 60s has been taken to Cork University Hospital after suffering an apparent stab wound.

His injuries are not believed to be life threatening.

No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.

The incident has shocked locals who remember the killing of Gussie Hornibrook nearby just over 11 years ago.

Mr Hornibrook, a vulnerable pensioner who lived alone, was found dead in his home on Templeacre Avenue in Gurranabraher in November 2007.

An inquest later returned a verdict of unlawful killing.

The killing remains unsolved. The garda investigation remains open.A grand nephew of Michael Collins has accused the National Museum of trying to 'hide the horror of the civil war' in removing the cap he was wearing when gunned down at Beal na Blath from public display.

Robert Pierse, who heads a legal firm in Listowel said Michael Collins' cap should be immediately put back on display with his greatcoat which is exhibited at the museum.

The museum removed the cap which had been on display for decades for ethical reasons as it had visible signs of blood and 'organic' brain matter.

Audrey Whitty of the museum told the Irish Examiner: "The blood on the great coat is more subtle and not as graphic."

Blood and organic matter residue, are visible on the back of the cap at the point where the fatal bullet entered Collins's head.

Dr Whitty said the decision to remove the cap from public exhibition was taken when it was relocated from the museum in Kildare Street to the new exhibition located in Collins Barracks.

She said the decision was in line with modern museum ethics and was made out of consideration for the sensitivities of General Collins' descendants.

Mr Pierse said he was never contacted by the museum about the removal of the cap from the Collins exhibition and the family had no problem with having the cap remain as part of the exhibition.

"It should be on display to remind us of the horror of the civil war and what people can do to each other, brother against brother," he said.

What the National Museum have done is all part of political correctness rubbish.

"They talk about ethics; what is ethical in hiding the truth. The words 'ethics' and 'love' are the most abused words in the English language.

"The cap shows Michael Collins was shot in the back of the head and you can't hide the reality of the dreadful things that happened during the Civil War.

"Collins would never have thought that he would be shot by one of his own."

The cap is preserved at the museum which said it can be made available for private viewing if an advanced request is made.

Collins' greatcoat and cap were handed over to the National Museum by WT Cosgrave after the Civil War.A new group that will assess threats to State security is to be established by the Cabinet today.

It was one of 157 proposals made by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland.Third-level colleges have not yet agreed a shortened timeline for offering places to Leaving Certificate students, seven weeks after it was hastily announced by two Government ministers.

Education Minister Joe McHugh and Higher Education Minister of State Mary Mitchell OConnor said on November 1 that the State Examinations Commission (SEC) would get exam results out a day earlier than usual next August.

They also said the Central Applications Office (CAO) would make its main round of offers for college places on Friday, August 16, three days before it would ordinarily do so, as part of a plan to enable Leaving Certificate appeals to be lodged and marked quicker.

But the revised timeline has still not been approved by the CAO which runs the application-and-offer process on behalf of 38 colleges.

At a CAO board meeting on December 7, no decision was made to adopt the new calendar which includes what CAO described to the Irish Examiner as the proposed" 2019 schedule for its offers and acceptances process.

Some colleges are understood to have difficulty being able to provide weekend helplines or other supports to prospective students or their families seeking information in the days after the planned Round 1 offers on a Friday.

One education source said that technical details are being worked out, with some colleges believed to be pushing for the offers to be made on a Thursday, instead of a Friday, to facilitate such supports and advice for students before the weekend.

But the time needed by college admissions officers and CAO staff to generate offers based on applicants' Leaving Certificate grades would then require finalising Leaving Certificate results a day earlier again. This might also mean changes to SEC logistics to get results to students on Monday, August 12 instead of the next day as currently planned.

The CAO said its operations group - which includes a representative from each college - usually determines the schedule of offers and acceptances. But if a significant change is proposed, it is normally brought to the attention of the CAO board.

The proposed changes were discussed by the operations group on November 15 and the board discussed the proposal on December 7, the spokesperson said.

There are no current plans for a meeting of the CAO board on the subject, and the agenda for its next meeting has not yet been set.

CAO and [higher education institutions] are working through the details and information, and the offer schedule will be provided well in advance of the offers' season for the coming year, the CAO said.

The ministers' announcement on November 1 coincided with their lodging of appeal papers in relation to aspects of a High Court ruling in September in the case of Wexford student Rebecca Carter. Mr Justice Richard Humphreys had directed that next years Leaving Certificate students should get appeal results before third-level courses begin.

He found that Ms Carter was treated unfairly by being expected to wait until mid-October for her appeal to be decided by the SEC. She was subsequently offered and accepted a place on the veterinary medicine degree at University College Dublin after the High Court ruled that the SEC must fast-track the remarking of her business exam.

Under the arrangements announced seven weeks ago, students would still not have appeal results until after most college courses start in 2019.

But universities and institutes of technology have agreed to delay beginning any programmes until at least the second week of September, meaning the most tuition time that could be lost by any student offered a place arising from an upgrade should be two weeks, compared to a possible six weeks up to and including this year.A jury has convicted a serving garda of careless driving causing the death of an elderly pedestrian four years ago.

Warren Farrell, 35, a garda serving in Clondalkin, Co Dublin was on duty as the driver of a marked patrol car that was responding to a panic button call at a Topaz garage when the car struck Elizabeth Core.

He had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing the death of the 75-year-old as she crossed the Fonthill Road South, Dublin, on August 28, 2014.

Today, Judge Cormac Quinn advised jurors that they could convict Gda Farrell on a charge of dangerous driving causing death or of careless driving causing death.

This afternoon, after around four hours of deliberations, the jury of six men and six women returned a majority verdict, finding him guilty of careless driving.

Earlier Judge Quinn told the jury that careless driving could be described as driving that falls below the standard of care and attention expected of a reasonably competent driver, creating a risk of harm to others.

The defendant exhaled heavily and hung his head briefly after hearing the verdict. Judge Quinn remanded him in continuing bail to February 22 for sentence.

James Dwyer SC, prosecuting, had asked the court to give the prosecution time to prepare victim impact statements. Members of the Core family, who were present in court throughout the trial, nodded that this date suited.

Judge Quinn thanked the jurors for their service in what he said was a difficult case. He extended his sympathy to the Core family for their tragic loss.

In his closing speech on Monday Mr Dwyer told the jury that Gda Farrell made an assumption that Mrs Core was aware of the garda patrol car which the State contend was travelling at around 56 to 58 kmh at the point of impact on a road with a 50 kmh speed limit.

He said this was an assumption he couldn't make, citing that the Garda's Response Driving Course manual states It must never be assumed that the sounding instrument will be heard by other road users and pedestrians.

The jury heard there was conflict in the witness accounts as to whether the siren was active when the patrol car was on the Fonthill Road.

Mr Dwyer said that Gda Farrell had a clear view of the pedestrian from 200m before the point of collision but that heavy braking only began at 10 to 13m before this point.

Having seen her he decided to continue to drive at the same speed. We have 187m to 190m of driving before hard braking takes place.

Having seen her in the road, he didn't decide to ease off. His failure to slow down, or to stop, or to drive at a speed which allowed him to react, is dangerous driving by any standard, he said.

Closing the defence case Patrick McGrath SC told the jury that this was a terrible tragedy but that no crime was committed.

There are many situations where a tragedy occurs and no one is at fault, he said.

He said this was a case where somebody made an honest, and what they believed at the time to be a reasonable, decision which turns out to have consequences which they never intended and never foresaw.

He urged the jurors to look at the decision-making process of a man who was being asked to respond to an incident as quickly as possible.

He told them that the State's own forensic expert concluded that Gda Farrell believed that Mrs Core would not continue crossing the road and he was surprised when she did.

The evidence was this cost in the order of 2 to 2.5 seconds before he began braking and reduced the distance available to him and reduced his ability to avoid the collision.

You cannot be satisfied that the decisions made were outside the range of decisions which a reasonable garda driver asked to respond to this emerging and potentially dangerous situation would make.

He went out to do this duty. He no doubt regrets every single day of his life what happened that day, Mr McGrath said.A man with autism caught minding over 600,000 worth of heroin and cocaine in a car park at Dublin Airport must wait to hear the outcome of an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Alyn Maginn (41) with an address in Drumhillery Road, Keady, Co Armagh, but who currently lives in Spain, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing the drugs at Dublin Airport on July 7, 2017.

Detective Garda Chris Brady told prosecuting lawyers that Maginn had arrived in Dublin on a flight from Malaga, Spain, and was spotted leaving Terminal 2 as part of routine profiling by customs.

Maginn got into a Seat Ibiza vehicle parked in an airport car park. He remained there for over two and a half hours before getting out again and walking away, whereupon he was arrested by a customs officer.

The car was searched and found to contain bags of powder, a weighing scales, bags, cellophane and mixing agent.

The drugs were analysed and found to comprise heroin valued at 140 a gramme worth a total of 591,752 and cocaine at 70 a gramme valued at 16,833. The total value of the drugs seized was 608,585.

The court heard Maginn had not imported the drugs, but they had been in the car already.

A co-accused, Martin Gilroy (34) of Dernanaught Road, Galbally, Dungannon, Co Tyrone, owned the drugs and was jailed for seven years. Gilroy handed himself into gardai the day after Maginns arrest, the court heard.

Holding that it would be unjust to jail Maginn, Judge Martin Nolan imposed a wholly suspended five-year sentence on him on February 23, 2018.

The Director of Public Prosecutions is now seeking a review of Maginns suspended sentence on grounds that it was unduly lenient. The three-judge Court of Appeal reserved its judgment.

Counsel for the DPP, Lisa Dempsey BL, said it was a most unusual case and Maginns role was that of a minder.

She submitted that the DPPs real grievance was the fact the sentence was suspended in its entirety.

Maginn, who had no previous convictions, lives in Spain with his wife and two young children. A psychological report showed Maginn has borderline cognitive ability, is on the autism spectrum disorder and is easily led.

His barrister, Ronan Munro SC, said Maginn's involvement in the crime was low and his moral culpability was greatly diminished.

It's a tragic tale, Mr Munro said.

President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice John Edwards and Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, said the court would reserve its judgment.

Sentencing Maginn at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Nolan said he was a man who was easy to manipulate.

He's got particular psychological problems, he has limited intelligence, he's on the autism spectrum, the judge said.

He was put upon by his friend who took advantage of him.

Because of his particular psychological make-up, it would be unjust to jail him for this particular crime.Now, companies will buy produce directly from farmers in Haryana

Himachal Cabinet gives consent to fill 100 posts of clerk

171 fined in Gurugram for violating anti-pollution norms

Diaspora

Bibi Jagir Kaur honored by World Peace Diplomacy Organization USA for her outstanding performance in the SGPC

Aparna Satheesan receives National Natya Shiromani Award in USA

Sahaita partners with Atam Pargas to support 70 families of farmers who have passed away in Delhi protest40 children with special needs will fly into Dublin Airport this lunchtime to spend Christmas away from the damaging effects of Chernobyl.

It is a tradition which sees host families from around the country open up their homes to children living in state-run orphanages in Belarus - three decades on from the world's worst nuclear disaster.

Adi Roche from Chernobyl Children International (CCI) says Ireland is the only country in the world that holds such a unique bond with the children - and grandchildren - of Chernobyl.

"The humanitarian footprint of Irish volunteers and donors is truly immeasurable, but has improved the life-chances and outcomes for tens of thousands of children who have been affected by Chernobyl over the past 32 years, said Ms Roche.

ONE MORE SLEEP! 



Tomorrow, at 13.55, our Rest and Recuperation children arrive into @DublinAirport for their health boosting stay with our volunteer host families.



We will share a big 'cead mile failte' with the group, who come from the Chernobyl affected regions of Belarus. pic.twitter.com/bWCZ5iitFl  Chernobyl Children International (@Chernobyl) December 17, 2018

"This is the true meaning of Christmas  its about family and sharing.

"The positive impact these stays have on the children is a testament to three generations of truly remarkable Irish volunteers.

Tomorrow, President Michael D Higgins will welcome a group of the children and their host families to Aras an Uachtarain for a Christmas celebration.

"For these children, nothing as magical as this will ever have happened in their lives," Ms Roche said.

We cannot express how grateful we are to President Higgins for welcoming the children and their host families to Aras an Uachtarain. Its an incredible honour.

Among the children visiting this Christmas is 17-year-old Igor Shadzkou who will receive a brand new, custom-built wheelchair.

Igor has a range of physical and developmental disabilities and has outgrown the chair that had been provided by CCI.

CCI contacted Sligo-based Luke Conway who immediately responded and was able to give Igor this very special Christmas gift.GAA President John Horan and Cork County Board chairperson Tracey Kennedy issued a brief joint statement today regarding Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

A scheduled meeting of the Board of Directors of Pairc Ui Chaoimh took place on Monday evening chaired by GAA President John Horan, who was nominated to chair the board at its first meeting in November.

Michael OFlynn and Tom Gray, both board directors, have been asked by the board to examine figures and clarify the costs relating to the stadium redevelopment.

The meeting also confirmed that remedial work will take place on the playing surface to ensure that it will be capable of hosting games fixed for Pairc Ui Chaoimh in 2019. This work will be completed ahead of the commencement of the Allianz Leagues and it is not expected that a replacement of the pitch will be needed in the short term.

GAA President John Horan said: I am delighted that the GAA has such a positive asset in Cork and I am optimistic about the future of what is a state of the art facility.

Cork GAA Chairperson Tracey Kennedy added: It is fantastic for us to be able to call on the experience and expertise of Croke Park to work with us in the operation of our stadium, and I know this will be a huge positive for Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

Following last weeks exclusive in the Irish Examiner regarding the final cost of the redevelopment there has been intense speculation about that figure, and the main takeaway for observers is that directors Michael OFlynn and Tom Gray will now focus on that.

However, there is an implicit acknowledgement that the playing surface will need to be replaced in the medium term, while Cork chair Kennedys reference to working with Croke Park may not entirely assuage doubts on Leeside that Cork officials are in charge of their own stadium.A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a "lookalike" of Friends star David Schwimmer after he failed to attend court in the UK.

Abdulah Husseni, 36, of Spencer Road, Slough, had been summonsed to appear at Blackpool Magistrates' Court today accused of theft and fraud.CBS Corp's board denied a $US120 million ($167 million) severance payment to former chief executive Les Moonves, capping the dramatic descent of a long-time Hollywood mogul felled by accusations of sexual harassment and assault.

In deciding to refuse Moonves's pay, CBS said he flouted company policies and failed to comply with an internal investigation. The move followed a more-than-four-month investigation that also delved into the corporate culture at the broadcast network.

Les Moonves was forced out in September. Credit:AP

"We have determined that there are grounds to terminate for cause, including his wilful and material misfeasance, violation of company policies and breach of his employment contract," the New York-based company said in a statement Monday.

The ex-CEO agreed to step down in September in the wake of a dozen complaints of sexual harassment. His severance was contingent on the outcome of an investigation by two law firms hired by the company.Google has announced it will spend more than $US1 billion ($1.4 billion) to build a new campus in New York City, a major expansion that could add more than 7000 jobs to the area.

The announcement comes just days after Apple said it would build new offices across the United States, a plan that includes adding hundreds of jobs in New York. Amazon.com said earlier that it would establish another headquarters in Queens, pulling in tens of thousands of highly paid workers. (Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

Google's New York campus, dubbed Google Hudson Square, will span more than 1.7 million square feet. Credit:AP

"New York City continues to be a great source of diverse, world-class talent - that's what brought Google to the city in 2000, and that's what keeps us here," said Ruth Porat, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Google and parent company Alphabet.

Google's New York campus, dubbed Google Hudson Square, will span more than 1.7 million square feet, encompassing multiple leased buildings on Hudson and Washington streets, Porat said in a blog post.A Peppa Pig chainsaw, an electric train and multiple toy bow and arrows are among the toys NSW Fair Trading has issued a warning about this Christmas.

Eleven toys with small parts or unsafe battery lids were among the 24 toys found to be non-compliant with safety regulations.

Fair Trading investigators made their way through more than 560 stores in NSW during the blitz, with a particular focus this holiday season on pop-up shops and two dollar stores.

Toys bearing unlicensed images from beloved shows such as Peppa Pig, Pokemon, Thomas the Tank Engine and Paw Patrol not among those found to be non-compliant, and the offending toys were mostly found in Sydney's west.An unfair dismissal claim by an employee of an IGA supermarket who survived domestic violence was dismissed by the Fair Work Commission this month after the employer was found to have done more than would be expected to assist.

Experts say the decision shows the need for law reform to protect people whose employment is affected by domestic violence.

The Fair Work Commission did not uphold a claim for unfair dismissal. Credit:Michele Mossop

The operator of the IGA supermarket employed the worker for more than ten years but she was dismissed earlier this year after receiving a series of warnings over an extended period about issues to do with her attendance.

The employee was counselled at work on various occasions about being late and absent from work.Chefs at the Australian restaurant fronted by Heston Blumenthal are being underpaid as much as $30,000 each per year, according to new estimates provided to the workplace watchdog.

The international restaurant empire fronted by Blumenthal was revealed in an investigation by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald to be run through a series of notorious offshore tax havens while also substantially underpaying staff at its high-end Australian eatery.

Individual chefs have been underpaid as much as $35,000 a year, according to new estimates.

Now the Fair Work Ombudsman has been handed information on two chefs at the high-end restaurant, Dinner by Heston, who were underpaid significant amounts due to excessive unpaid overtime.

One was underpaid $20,000 to $25,000 a year, according to estimates, and another chef received $30,000 a year less than due under the award, according to the information provided by a lawyer for the Hospo Voice union.An aspiring actress who had a sexual relationship with Woody Allen as a teenager has spoken for the first time about their affair, describing her shock to find that she partially inspired the character played by Mariel Hemingway in his film Manhattan.

Babi Christina Engelhardt was 16 in 1976 when she began an eight-year relationship with Allen, who was 41 at the time. The age of consent was 17.

Christina Engelhardt has revealed the details of her relationship with Woody Allen when she was a teenager. Credit:IMDB

She approached the director in a restaurant in New York City and passed him her number. He called, and they began meeting regularly at his Fifth Avenue penthouse, even though he knew she was still at school.A man accused of being involved in a smuggling syndicate with Michael and Fadi Ibrahim claims he accompanied the pair to Bangkok and Dubai on a promise they would go to the party island Ibiza.

Convicted killer Moustafa "Michael" Ibrahim, who is the brother of Kings Cross nightclub owner John Ibrahim, pleaded guilty before Central Local Court on Tuesday to five charges, including conspiring to import a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, dealing with instruments of crime and dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Michael Ibrahim. Credit:Edwina Pickles

Michael Ibrahim and his brother Fadi, who is also fighting charges, were arrested in Dubai along with others in August last year.

Simultaneous raids resulted in arrests in Sydney and the Netherlands over the alleged importation of 1.9 tonnes of MDMA, cocaine, ice and millions of illegal cigarettes.An alleged "high risk domestic violence offender" will remain behind bars over multiple charges of sexually assaulting four women and holding them against their will between 2009 and 2017.

Aron Goodrem, 28, was arrested at Gosford police station on Monday, where he was charged with 54 historical sexual assault, kidnapping and domestic violence-related offences.

Aron Goodrem was arrested at Gosford police station on Monday. Credit:Facebook

Court documents revealed the 28-year-old's lengthy rap sheet, which listed the 54 violent offences that allegedly took place over the eight years to 2017.

The charges included three counts of taking or detaining a person with intent to obtain advantage occasioning actual bodily harm, six counts of intentionally choking a person with recklessness, stalking intending fear of physical or mental harm, and aggravated sexual assault.Time limits should be imposed on members of independent planning panels to stop them forming improper relationships with property developers, according to a sweeping review of the states planning rules sent to the Berejiklian government.

The review, headed by former deputy police commissioner Nick Kaldas and handed to the Planning Department late last week, has made a string of recommendations to target any possible property developer corruption in the planning system.

Nick Kaldas will recommend the Planning Department review and strengthen rules surrounding local development applications. Credit:Peter Rae

Mr Kaldas recommends strengthening rules about how long members are allowed to serve on the committees, known as Independent Hearing and Assessment Panels (IHAP), and how often they must be rotated to avoid becoming too close to developers.

Sources briefed on Mr Kaldas recommendations, which were handed to Planning Minister Anthony Roberts last week, told the Herald the review also called for mandatory probity checks on community representatives, not just the chairs of the independent panels and any experts present.Michael Ibrahim has admitted to being involved in an international tobacco and drug smuggling ring in which his younger brother Fadi is also allegedly a player.

Michael, who is also the brother of Kings Cross nightclub owner John Ibrahim, pleaded guilty to five charges, including conspiring to import a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, dealing with instruments of crime and dealing with proceeds of crime.

Michael Ibrahim. Credit:Edwina Pickles

Michael and Fadi were arrested in Dubai on August 8, 2017, along with two other men.

Fadi, whose case is going to trial in the District Court next year, is only charged in relation to allegedly importing tobacco products.A prison guard who was allegedly beaten at a Queensland prison will undergo surgery on the "serious" facial fractures he suffered during Tuesday's attack.

The 45-year-old man was allegedly bashed at Woodford Correctional Centre about 3pm by an inmate who was serving a sentence for assault causing grievous bodily harm.

A rescue helicopter was sent to Woodford Correctional Centre on Tuesday afternoon. Credit:Seven news

The man was allegedly hit and kicked in the head by an inmate. He was flown by helicopter from the prison to Archerfield Airport and then taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.

Queensland Corrective Service commissioner Peter Martin visited the officer, his family and colleagues on Tuesday night and described the alleged assault as disgraceful.High levels of cobalt found in sea turtles and their food in reefs off north Queensland may force the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to change its testing of chemical run-off.

In 2012, turtles in Upstart Bay near Townsville were discovered with cobalt levels up to 25 times higher than those in populations eating and nesting away from the bay.

Mass stranding of turtles in Upstart Bay are linked to cobalt poisoning, report suggests.

WWF Australia, supported by scientists from James Cook University, the University of Queensland and Griffith University, wants the GReat Barrier Reef Management Authority to introduce annual testing for trace metals in the reef's rivers and bays after a four-year study confirmed high levels of chemicals in north Queensland's green turtles, which died in a mass stranding in 2012.

The technical studies released between 2015 and 2017 reported high levels of cobalt, antimony and manganese in seagrass and algae eaten by the coastal turtles.Melbourne Express, Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Were sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later.

DismissRevellers enjoy a warm Christmas Day at St Kilda beach last year. Credit:Darrian Traynor

After a tumultuous month of weather that has seen raging bushfires and flash floods, relieved Victorians are set to enjoy a warm, dry and sunny Christmas day.

Melburnians can expect a pleasant top of 29 degrees and a low of 17 for Christmas this year, with light winds and dry conditions.

In the north of the state, the temperature is expected to soar into the mid-30s.

"It looks like a fairly settled day right across the state," said Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Richard Carlyon.A teenager who admitted to not stopping after running over a motorcyclist and dragging him under a stolen car for nearly 100 metres, leaving the victim fatally engulfed in flames, will likely be deported a court has heard.

Keith Stevens, 33, died in hospital following the incident in a suburban street in Mitcham on November 8, 2017, which came before the accused and three friends continued an alleged crime spree.

Keith Stevens, here pictured with his partner Amanda Wilson, died in the incident.

The accused, who is 18 but was 17 at the time of the offence and cannot be named, faced the County Court in Melbourne on Tuesday for a plea hearing before he is sentenced in January. Both the prosecution and defence agreed the juvenile maximum of four years jail for the offence was not long enough punishment for the teenager.

The teenager and three friends were in a stolen BMW just after 4pm when he thought he could beat Mr Stevens on his motorcycle through an intersection. In an intercepted phone call to a friend after the incident the accused said: And then, like, I saw it, and, like, f--- I can beat it, so I put my foot flat".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.A woman has been sexually assaulted by two men who convinced her to get into their car after they told her they were ride-share drivers.

The woman was out with friends in the Melbourne CBD on July 29 and was travelling around the city between 11pm and 3am.

The vehicle involved is believed to be silver, mid-2000s model Toyota Yaris hatch, similar to the car pictured. Credit:Victoria Police

She was walking and catching public transport throughout the night when she strolled past a car under the Queens Bridge about 3.30am.

Police believe she was then approached by two men who were in the vehicle.A federal Labor government will pursue the recognition of Palestine, a treaty banning nuclear weapons and an increase to foreign aid - but final decisions will be left for cabinet under an agreement struck between the party's factions.

Three controversial issues in the foreign relations portfolio were settled in backroom deals on Tuesday morning to ensure there were no contentious votes and Labor leader Bill Shorten ended the party's national conference on a united note.

Labor leader Bill Shorten will avoid fights over foreign policy after deals were struck early on Tuesday morning. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The changes to Labor's platform urge the next Labor government to recognise Palestine as a sovereign state as an "important priority", but leaves the final decision to cabinet acting on expert advice.

Labor has also given in-principle agreement to the United Nations nuclear ban treaty - but only after taking account of whether nuclear-armed states had signed up (so far none have) and whether they were abiding by the treaty's terms.Federal funding of remote housing in Indigenous communities is shaping up as a sharp policy difference between the government and opposition ahead of next year's election.

A final $121 million remote housing payment from the federal government was accepted by the WA government earlier this month.

Both federal parties have now revealed their stance on future funding, with the current Liberal-National government refusing to commit any more cash.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said funding remote housing is a state obligation. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Federal Finance and Public Service Minister Mathias Cormann, who brokered the final payment deal with the WA government, said the Coalition would not provide any more funding to states.There was a fair bit of eye-rolling at Labor's national conference when Scott Morrison tried to overshadow proceedings by announcing a new governor-general.

And they laughed when the sex scandal surrounding Andrew Broad provided a different kind of distraction.

"We are ready": Labor leader Bill Shorten used the conference to cement unity. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

But the people doing their best to keep Labor's national conference out of the headlines were Labor themselves.

Much work was done behind the scenes between negotiators to strike deals on contentious policy matters and prevent divisive and potentially dangerous fights on the conference floor.Liberal National Party vice-president David Hutchinson has been chosen to take on the mantle of acting president at a meeting of the state executive.

LNP president Gary Spence last week announced he would resign his position, blaming Labor's property developer donation laws.

Outgoing LNP president Gary Spence, incoming acting president David Hutchinson and LNP leader Deb Frecklington at the Queensland LNP state convention. Credit:AAP Image/ Glenn Hunt

Mr Spence said the laws, which prohibit donations from property developers at a state and local government level, would prevent him from fundraising in the lead-up to next year's federal election.

"The job of an LNP president is to raise funds to fight the incoming election, and I just simply cannot afford the risk of being prosecuted and going to jail," he said.Washington: Claudia Patatas and Adam Thomas had long denied being leading members of the white-power group National Action, which is banned in Britain. But their family photos suggested otherwise.

There is the one of Patatas - reportedly from Banbury, England - holding their newborn while Thomas holds a flag emblazoned with the Nazi swastika.

Claudia Patatas and Adam Thomas pose with their son, whose middle name is Adolf. Both were convicted of being members of a banned neo-Nazi group. Credit:West Midlands Police

And there's one of Thomas cradling the baby boy; the child is wearing polka-dot footie pajamas, his father the sort of hooded robe favoured by Ku Klux Klansmen.

There is also the middle name that the couple chose to give to their son: Adolf."Of course he's not a private person; he is being paid for by the Israeli taxpayers," Tal Schneider, the political and diplomatic correspondent for Globes, an Israeli financial newspaper, said in an interview. Schneider noted that at age 27, Yair Netanyahu still lives with his parents, in the Prime Minister's official residence in Jerusalem, and is provided with a state-funded car and a secret service escort wherever he goes. "He's an adult," she said. "It's not like he's a child." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, centre, prays with his sons Yair, background, and Avner, right, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City in 2013. Credit:AP Social media has already amplified Israel's evermore toxic discourse, but this latest spurt by the younger Netanyahu comes as his father, beleaguered by corruption investigations and facing possible bribery charges, is in an election year. He is fighting for a fourth consecutive term in office, and a fifth overall.

Loading Some Benjamin Netanyahu critics have been waiting for the father to disavow his son's latest posts, something that has occasionally happened in the past. But there has been mounting speculation in the news media over whether the younger Netanyahu's posts may actually reflect his father's own sentiments. Some wonder what kind of values the son has soaked up at home and what sort of conversation might take place at the family's Friday night dinner table. "This is, I think, one of closest people to the Prime Minister," Schneider said. Whatever Yair Netanyahu says, she argued, may indicate what he's hearing at home, or conversely, what he's bringing home. "It goes in two directions," she said. Some of Yair Netanyahu's social media posts, she said, like one a month ago, when Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition was teetering, turned into official talking points of the Prime Minister and his conservative Likud Party within hours. Charged with fraud: Sara Netanyahu. Credit:AP

Saturday's Meet the Press program on Israel's News Channel devoted nearly 15 minutes to a panel discussion of whether Yair Netanyahu's messages harmed his father or helped him by serving as "trial balloons for his base". It highlighted several recent examples of Netanyahu's pronouncements echoing his son's Facebook posts, sometimes almost word for word. One member of the panel, Nissim Douek, a strategic consultant, said many Israelis were "disgusted" by Yair Netanyahu's extremist, divisive rhetoric. Aviv Bushinsky, a former media adviser to the Prime Minister, defended the Netanyahu family, pointing to wayward children of other veteran politicians. Bushinsky accused the Prime Minister's opponents of using Yair Netanyahu as a tool to batter his father. What "the child" had to say, Bushinsky contended, was "not interesting and not relevant." The Netanyahu family's spokesman declined to comment publicly on Yair Netanyahu's status or his spat with Facebook. Facebook said in a statement that it had removed his three posts as it would "for anyone posting similar content about any protected characteristic." Reposting the screenshot, the company said, "is the same as writing the hate speech all over again. Facebook does not allow hate speech on the platform and will continue to enforce its policy."

The company rejected Yair Netanyahu's assertions that it was censoring his criticism of it. Loading After a period of unemployment, the Prime Minister's son began working in recent months as the social media manager of Shurat HaDin, a law centre that describes itself as "utilising court systems around the world to go on the legal offensive against Israel's enemies." The line between public and private has also been muddied by Israel's first lady, Sara Netanyahu, who faces charges that she misused some $US100,000 ($139,000) in public funds in her management of the official residence. Two domestic workers have won damages in lawsuits accusing her of abusing them. When Sara Netanyahu has been put under an unflattering spotlight, compared at times to Marie Antoinette, the news media has been urged to leave her alone on grounds that she is not a public figure. But this month she travelled with an official Foreign Ministry delegation to Guatemala, a visit the Prime Minister's office described as being of great "diplomatic importance."Washington: President Donald Trump has agreed to shut down his embattled personal charity amid allegations that he used it for his personal and political benefit and will give away its remaining funds, the New York Attorney-General announced on Tuesday.

Attorney-General Barbara Underwood announced that the Donald J. Trump Foundation is dissolving as her office pursues its lawsuit against the charity, Trump and his three eldest children.

The lawsuit, filed in June, alleged "persistently illegal conduct" at the charity and sought to have the foundation shut down. Underwood is continuing to seek more than $US2.8 million ($3.9 million) in restitution and has asked a judge to ban the Trumps temporarily from serving on the boards of other New York non-profits.

Underwood said on Tuesday that her investigation found "a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation - including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and wilful self-dealing, and much more".Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Royal Caribbean Cruises is not responsible for the overboard death of a US man who was reportedly served the equivalent of 30 drinks, a federal jury in Miami has found.

Todd and Lisa Skokan, parents of Nathaniel Skokan, along with brothers Samuel and Zachary, had sought more than $US75,000 ($104,000) in damages from the Miami-based cruise line.

The Independence of the Seas, from which Nathaniel Skokan (inset) fell overboard after reportedly being served the equivalent of 30 drinks. Credit:AP, Supplied

Nathaniel Skokan, 22, died on December 22, 2016, on the last day of a five-day cruise out of Port Everglades aboard Independence of the Seas.

His parents, from Omaha, Nebraska, charged that the cruise line served him an excessive amount of alcohol as part of its all-inclusive drink package and "knew or should have known" he was a danger to himself or others.Latest News Rate action continues with NAB next to make major move Major rate action as cheapest fixed rates become most expensive

AFG buys out BrokerEngine Big news for brokers as aggregator purchases majority stake in key workflow management tool

A shift in lender appetite, coupled with a decline in property values, saw caution spread throughout the investor market in 2018. In September, ABS figures confirmed the monthly value of new investor housing commitments had fallen to its lowest level since July 2013.

In fact, that month housing finance commitments to investors were down by 33.8% on their April 2015 monthly peak. Further, over the near 30 months the cash rate has been on hold, investor mortgage rates have increased as much as fifty basis points.

Dont panic, says Tony Hayek, CEO and founder of Bluewealth.

Never have clients needed their brokers to be as clear, insightful, educated and calm, as they do now. The broker is obligated to bring reason to their clients lives and its difficult for them to do that when they are living under a cloud of uncertainty, he adds.

While Hayek says the current market conditions are likely to continue throughout 2019, recovery will begin once the dust has settled from the royal commission and election.

The potential introduction of Labour and their changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, I think [those factors] will have people behaving cautiously and driven by fear for most of next year, he says.

However, that doesnt mean to say 2019 will be a lost year for investors. According to Hayek, markets such as Brisbane will continue to perform well and there is plenty of opportunity elsewhere, too.

The irony of the situation of course is that an environment like this one is when the best investment opportunities actually appear. As Warren Buffet said, be courageous when others are fearful and be fearful when others are courageous, he says.If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE).Latest News Rate action continues with NAB next to make major move Major rate action as cheapest fixed rates become most expensive

AFG buys out BrokerEngine Big news for brokers as aggregator purchases majority stake in key workflow management tool

As the end of the year draws closer, so does the date for many banks introducing changes to brokers' upfront commissions.

Bank of Queensland announced yesterday that from 1 January it will make the changes to broker remuneration in line with the reforms agreed to by the Combined Industry Forum and recommendations from ASIC and the Sedgwick Report.

All four of the major banks have confirmed with Australian Broker they either have already made the changes or are planning to do so by 1 January.

Banks will no longer calculate upfront commissions on the settled amount, but rather on funds drawn down under the facility net of balances held in an offset account, although banks differ on the day they will calculate this.

Natasha Kelso, head of BOQ broker, said, These changes reflect the importance BOQ places on ensuring our customers obtain loans which are appropriate in both size and structure, are affordable and meet their individual needs and objectives at the time of borrowing.

Upfront commissions for construction loans will continue to be based on the settled limit.

NAB and Commonwealth Banks commission changes came into effect in November.

Westpac and ANZs changes will come into place on 1 January. Westpacs changes will be reflected across St George, Bank of Melbourne, and Bank SA as well.

Virgin Money also announced last week its broker commission changes would come into effect on 1 January.

Other banks to have made the change include Suncorp, MyState Bank, ING and Adelaide Bank.

Bankwest made the changes earlier in the year and they came into effect in July.Latest News Rate action continues with NAB next to make major move Major rate action as cheapest fixed rates become most expensive

AFG buys out BrokerEngine Big news for brokers as aggregator purchases majority stake in key workflow management tool

Franchises from one brokerage are now using the companys new cloud-based broker platform, enabling them to write loans faster and improve customer experience.

Mortgage Choice invested $3.4million into the platform, which aims to reduce data entry across multiple systems, for a smoother loan submission process.

Mortgage Choice CEO Susan Mitchell said, We are delighted to unveil our new broker platform, which has been built to meet the specific requirements of brokers and improve productivity, so they can continue to grow their businesses.

Designed and built in-house by a talented team of technology professionals, the new broker platform easily integrates with multiple systems to reduce data entry, to deliver good business outcomes for our brokers and improve the customer experience.

Prior to the launch, Mortgage Choice ran a pilot program with a group of 85 franchises across the country.

In pilot testing, brokers found the platforms software significantly reduced the time it took to write and submit a home loan, to improve broker efficiency by 30%.

Jason Puxty, local Mortgage Choice broker in Orange, Bathurst, Dubbo and the Central West took part in the pilot and was impressed by the systems speed and ease-of-use.

He said, The new broker platform is intuitive and has some great features that will improve the customer experience.

As the foundation of my business, it enables me to more efficiently model a transaction and structure a scenario to understand a customers borrowing capacity.

"The product catalogue allows me to quickly and simply select a suitable home loan product. Its very visual, so its easy to engage the customer and talk them through the home loan application process.

It was important to me as a broker that Mortgage Choice ensured the new broker platform could cover off all of the tasks that the previous Discovery system could do.

They also managed a seamless transition to the new system, which included face-to-face training and webinars. This was important to my team and I because we could start to write loans from day one.

Under the hood of the broker platform there are a number of features which enable Mortgage Choice brokers to run their businesses efficiently.

These include dashboards to understand sales performance and sales pipeline, comprehensive transaction modelling to understand customers borrowing capacity, a detailed product catalogue for all lender products on the Mortgage Choice panel and pipeline displays to quickly see the status of inflight loans.

Mortgage Choice said it will continue to invest in its technology to enhance the platform, with process automation the next cab off the rank.

Mitchell added, After a year of review and change necessary to recalibrate the business for a long-term sustainable future, things have changed for the better at Mortgage Choice and there are exciting times ahead.

As part of our company-wide change program, the introduction of our new broker remuneration model and new broker platform underline our vision and capability as a franchise group to deliver to the needs of our growing franchise network.

We are also focused on growing the Mortgage Choice Financial Planning business, which not only enables our brokers to diversify their revenue, but will also enable us to achieve our vision to be Australia's leading provider of financial choice and advice.While North Austin Street is open for two-way traffic, the construction crews arent gone quite just yet at least for a few more months.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Johnson & Johnson on Monday scrambled to contain fallout from a Reuters report that the healthcare conglomerate knew for decades that cancer-causing asbestos lurked in its Baby Powder, taking out full-page newspaper ads defending its product and practices, and readying its chief executive for his first television interview since investors erased tens of billions of dollars from the company's market value. J&J shares fell nearly 3 per cent Monday, closing at $129.14 in New York Stock Exchange trading. That drop was on top of the 10 per cent plunge that wiped out about $40 billion ...Close connection among universities

According to Associate Professor Dr. Pham Xuan Da, Head of the National Office in the Southern Region, the trend of innovative startup obviously possesses more advantages compared to the traditional tendency of starting a business, accounting for more than 59.6 percent of the surveyed people. The former trend depends on cutting edge technologies or new business models, and thus has its own market segmentation as well as impressive growth. Therefore, fostering these activities while creating more connections among startup-supporting organizations is a must, along with hosting programs to improve the ability for startup people.

The startup community does need specific products that are globally competitive, commented Dr. Pham Xuan Da.

As said by Mr. Nguyen Anh Thi, Director of the Software Park under the Vietnam National University  Ho Chi Minh City, universities play a great role in the startup ecosystem since this is the place to provide the capable human resources, technological solutions, necessary facilities and laboratories for startup people to approach state-of-the-art technologies.

However, only 2  3 percent of all students in universities have startup plans, and the proportion that truly carries out those plans is even lower.

Ms. Nguyen Phu Hoa, Director of the Center for Technology Business Incubation under Nong Lam University  Ho Chi Minh City, shared that there was a dire need of sufficient funds to support startup businesses and students in the process of piloting new products, of incentive policies on quality testing expenses, and of special commissions for those products when being launched in supermarkets or shops.

All delegates of the conference reached the consensus that startup ecosystems in the Southern region, especially in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) are very promising. If universities are able to encourage their own students and lecturers to join in startup activities, these systems will reap even more impressive success.

Tremendous boost for startup activities

Lately, the government has paid much attention and issued specific policies to foster startup activities. In particular, it has introduced the Project 844 to support the national startup ecosystem or the Project 1665 to aid students to startup.

HCMC alone has organized various startup activities and formed supporting centers for startup people or investment funds. All are gradually contributing to boosting the startup spirit in the community.

However, according to Mr. Huynh Kim Tuoc, CEO of Saigon Innovation Hub (under the HCMC Department of Science and Technology), despite the great number of activities held citywide, the startup community does lack a clear guidance from major businesses, which thoroughly understand all the needs of the current market. A product order from those giants will save startup people great time of surveying the demands of consumers while innovative products are still highly welcomed for they meet the needs of buyers.

Another issue is the implementation of incentive policies is quite slow. There is not any advantageous mechanism for investment into startup businesses or withdrawing capital from them. The commercialization of innovative products are not truly effective to encourage people to participate in startup activities.

It is necessary, then, to improve related policies and the trading environment so that startup people find it easier to approach the targeted market, to improve the quality of the human resources, to train the business spirit and startup culture. In other words, startup businesses cannot be considered similar to normal ones.

Dr. Pham Xuan Da pointed out various limits in the connections between scientists and businesses or the commercialization process. In other countries like Finland, companies normally raise an issue and order a solution from scientists via contests, leading to the creation of practical products and the formation of various corresponding startup businesses. Vietnam should do the same.

The survey on startup needs in the Southern region and HCMC showed that there were 104 demands from 78 individuals (accounting for 75 percent) and 26 organizations (25 percent). Surveyed people are students (making up 19.4 percent), independent business people (43.9 percent), startup businesses (27.6 percent), and re-startup businesses (9.2 percent).

By BA TAN  Translated by Yen Nhihas voiced appreciation for the "flexibility" shown by its "strategic partner" the US in exempting the project, being developed by India, from its tough sanctions against Iran.

Last month, the administration exempted India from imposition of certain sanctions for the development of the strategically-located in Iran, along with the construction of the railway line connecting it with

The US had imposed "the toughest ever" sanctions on a defiant Iran aimed at altering the Iranian regime's "behaviour". The sanctions cover Iran's banking and energy sectors and reinstate penalties for countries and companies in Europe, Asia and elsewhere that do not halt Iranian oil imports.

However, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said that eight countries -- India, China, Italy, Greece, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey -- were temporarily allowed to continue buying Iranian oil as they showed "significant reduction" in oil purchase from the Persian Gulf country.



ALSO READ: Govt plans to begin interim operations at Chabahar port in Iran soon

"The remains an important gateway for providing commercially viable access to the sea linking the Indian Ocean with Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond. In this regard, we appreciate the collaboration and flexibility of our strategic partner, the United States to work with Afghanistan, Iran and India towards exempting the port from its Sanctions, Afghanistan's Permanent Representative to the UN Mahmoud Saikal said Monday at a Security Council on the situation in

Saikal said since last year, Kabul has operationalised air-cargo corridors with India, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Europe, Russia, UAE, Saudi Arabia and China, leading to a substantial increase in export of Afghan products abroad.

The year 2018 also witnessed the implementation of the Afghanistan section of the TAPI gas pipeline project, "which will revolutionise the energy sector in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India".

A State Department spokesperson had said that the fate of Chabahar Port that the "exception relates to reconstruction assistance and economic development for Afghanistan. These activities are vital for the ongoing support of Afghanistan's growth and humanitarian relief."



India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Tanmaya Lal told the Security Council meeting that New Delhi is working closely with Kabul in implementing development projects.

In May 2016, India, Iran and Afghanistan inked a pact which entailed establishment of Transit and Transport Corridor among the three countries using Chabahar Port as one of the regional hubs for sea transportation in Iran, besides multi-modal transport of goods and passengers across the three nations.

The port in the Sistan-Balochistan province on the energy-rich nations southern coast is easily accessible from India's western coast and is increasingly seen as a counter to Pakistan's Gwadar Port, which is being developed with Chinese investment and is located at distance of around 80 kms from Chabahar.

The Chabahar Port is considered a gateway to golden opportunities for trade by India, Iran and Afghanistan with central Asian countries besides ramping up trade among the three countries after Pakistan denied transit access to India.



India also criticised the inability and unwillingness of the international community and the Security Council to deal effectively with the source of deteriorating security situation and growing terror attacks in the war-torn country.

"The sanctuaries and safe havens provided to these terror networks for years are well known. The activities of Taliban, Haqqani Network, Da'esh, Al Qaeda and its proscribed affiliates including the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed have to be stopped," Lal said.

He also strongly criticized the Security Council sanctions committee for refusing to designate new leaders of the Taliban or to freeze the assets of the slain leader of Taliban, saying the powerful UN body is falling short of what is expected of it by the Afghans and international community. 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.Seeking to give girls and women in rural areas a platform to raise voice against sexual harassments, a mobile app has been developed by a group of city-based activists, for such victims, who otherwise do not have much access to social media.

The app is slated to be officially launched in Patna on Wednesday, in the presence of renowned international activist Paula Donovan, co-director of AIDS-Free World and its Code Blue Campaign; and noted lawyer Indira Jaisingh, among others, Patna-based Gender Alliance, said.

Bandhan Tod 2.0 app is an upgrade of its earlier version, which only catered to cases of and The main, new additional feature of the app is 'Chuppi Tod', meant for airing grievances related to

"We have now completely revamped our old app, and especially after the # movement in the country, so many people opened up about their previous cases, on Twitter and Facebook. But, that is only a very select urban sample of the cases, such incidents are also happening in rural areas," a senior official of NGO told PTI.

And, this new app seeks to give girls and women in rural areas, "a voice, a platform to vent their angst and frustration", when they feel helpless, she said.

"But, how many in rural areas are social media-savvy or use Twitter or Facebook, the way an urban population does. So, we felt the need to overhaul the app, and thus 'Chuppi Tod' feature was born. As it was in the old app for cases, a victim can raise an SOS through a button," she said.

The official said the app, now available in Hindi only, can be downloaded by any user of a smartphone, rural or urban, adding, smartphone penetration is there in rural areas too, so "we expect an outreach".

Plan is also to launch an English version to target non-Hindi-speaking states, another official added.

"The 'Chuppi Tod' feature (tab) has three components, a user can discuss an issue in a public forum; message privately after which a counsellor will call her back and offer guidance; or raise SOS, which then comes to us," she added.

"We will then first vet the allegation, and then actions accordingly, which could either be a legal intervention or counselling in person or connecting her with the Women Commission," the official said.

The Gender Alliance official said, its team has already met with the Bihar police chief and he has encouraged its use to address such cases, adding seven cases have already been reported through 'Chuppi Tod' before the formal launch of the app.

Users can also know about what constitutes sexual harassment, the act, mannerisms and innuendos, so that they can become alert when faced with such situations.

"People using it can also take a quiz to see if they have understood the issue," she said.

Bandhan Tod aap, launched in 2017, in its previous avatar had helped save a 13-year-old schoolgirl in a village in Bihar's Darbhanga district from becoming a victim of child marriage, after she had raised an alert.

The girl, Rinki from Benipur block, about 30 km out of Darbhangha district headquarters, was later felicitated by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for bravely resisting the evil practice.The CBI Tuesday examined Hyderabad-based businessman Sathish Babu Sana to verify and corroborate his statement that had formed the basis of its case of bribery against its Special Director

Sana was called before a new team constituted by interim director M Nageswara Rao immediately after the government sent both CBI Director and Asthana on forced leave in the midnight of October 23 in the wake of unprecedented feud between the two.

Rao, who has been made in-charge of the CBI, had reconstituted the team probing allegations against Asthana and transferred the members of erstwhile team.

The new team Tuesday called Sana to verify his complaint and asked him to clarify "discrepancies" in his complaint, sources said.

Sana had narrated his meetings with various middlemen in as well as before a magistrate which led to the FIR.

He had claimed that he was seeking relief from the repeated summons issued by the CBI team probing corruption case against meat exporter which was headed by Asthana.



Sana has alleged that investment banker Manoj Prasad had assured him that he would get relief from CBI summons if he agrees to pay Rs 50 million as bribe, the complaint, now part of FIR, alleged.

He also alleged that he was assured by Prasad that his brother Somesh manages investments of Asthana in and he is in touch with two other senior officers of various agencies.

Sana had recorded a statement under Section 164 of criminal procedure code before a magistrate on October 4 and October 16.

The statement recorded before the magistrate is considered a confessional statement and in case the complainant withdraws from it, the prosecuting agency is well within its rights to file a perjury case.

Prasad was arrested by the agency on October 16, when he was returning from to allegedly collect an installment of the bribe.

According to the CBI, it has detected five alleged payments to middlemen by Sana - Rs 10 million on December 10, 2017, Rs 1.95 crore on December 13, 2017, Rs 2.5 million on October 10, 2018 and two tranche of 25,000 Dirham and 3,000 Dirham on October 14.

The agency has also alleged that it has details of file movements and periodic relief given to Sana on the payment of each installment of bribe which show a pattern of favours to the businessman, the sources said.

The CBI claims that it has corroborated details of payment with phone intercepts, messages recovered from the phone of middleman Manoj, and tower locations to buttress its charges.

The complaint filed by Sana mentioned that one of the middlemen made him to listen to a voice and later told him that it was Asthana, senior officer in the CBI.

However, there was no direct meeting between Sana and Asthana mentioned in the statement.

1984-batch Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Asthana was heading the Special Investigating Team handling crucial cases such as chopper scam and loan fraud by business tycoon The team is also probing the case.

Asthana in an exhaustive letter to the on August 24 had given a list of 10 instances of alleged corruption by Verma in which it was alleged that Sana paid the CBI chief Rs 20 million to get clean chit in the case, government sources had said.A Tuesday extended till January 11 the protection from arrest granted to former Union minister P and his son in the Aircel-Maxis scam.

Special Judge O P Saini extended the relief granted to and his son Karti after the CBI and the ED submitted that new material has been recovered which needs to be collated.

It also granted time till January 11 to the CBI to get sanction to prosecute some of the people accused in the case.

The CBI had on November 26 told the court that the Centre had granted sanction to prosecute P

The case relates to alleged irregularities in grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval in Aircel-Maxis deal.

There are 18 accused in the case. Besides Chidambaram, sanction is required for the prosection of five public servants.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chidambaram, had earlier requested the court to extend the protection of the former Union minister and and co-accused Karti in the both the cases filed by the CBI and the ED.

The father and the son had recently denied the allegations of both the agencies that they were evasive and non-cooperative during the probe in the case. They said the allegations against them were "unsubstantiated" and there was no need of their custodial interrogation.

The CBI and the ED, in their replies to the anticipatory bail pleas of Chidambarams, had alleged that they were not cooperating in investigation.

P Chidambaram had filed his anticipatory bail application in May this year. His protection from arrest has been extended from time to time.

The agencies have sought the custodial interrogation of both the accused, saying they have not been cooperating and, therefore, making it difficult to complete the investigation in a time-bound manner as directed by the Supreme Court.

The senior leader and his son have come under the scanner of investigating agencies in the Rs 35-billion Aircel-Maxis deal and the INX Media case involving Rs 3.05 billion.

In its charge sheet filed earlier in the case against former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother and others, the CBI had alleged that P Chidambaram granted FIPB approval in March 2006 to Mauritius-based Global Communication Services Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Maxis.

The Maran brothers and the other accused named in the CBI charge sheet were discharged by the special court, which said the agency had failed to produce any material against them to proceed with the trial.

The ED is also probing a separate money-laundering case in the Aircel-Maxis matter, in which P Chidambaram and Karti have been questioned by the agency and currently their anticipatory bail is pending.The commerce and industry ministry is working on a new policy to boost the fast-growing online retail as well as protect the interest of small retailers, sources said.

The government has already set up a group of secretaries to look into the issues of the sector.

The ministry is committed to preparing the policy to boost the growth of the sector, sources said.

The move came after concerns were raised on some proposals of the draft policy, which was prepared after consultations with several stakeholders, including industry chambers.

The draft policy had suggested several steps to promote the growth of the sector. It had stated that online retail firms may have to store user data exclusively in India in view of security and privacy concerns.

It had also said that any group company of an online retailer or marketplace may not be allowed to directly or indirectly influence the price or sale of products and services on its platform, a move that could completely restrict e-tailers from giving deep discounts.

The draft had suggested to introduce a pre-set timeframe for offering differential pricing or deep discounts by e-commerce players to customers.



Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu informed the formulation of e-commerce policy is under consideration of the government for which no timeline has been fixed.

Traders body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has time and again raised concerns over heavy discounts being provided by certain online-

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that they have written to finance and commerce ministers suggesting them to take steps to check these discounts as they are leading to predatory pricing.

"We have recently met officials of the ministry, who are making the new e-commerce policy. We have urged to put certain clauses to check e-commerce firms giving huge discounts and freebies as it is damaging the trade fabric of the country," he said.

He added that e-tailers are giving discounts for the last four-five years and these were seriously damaging small

Framing of a new policy also assumes significance as rich member nations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are pushing to frame global norms for e-commerce trade.Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Tuesday ordered a probe into the fire at the ESIC Kamgar Hospital in suburban Mumbai in which eight people were killed.

The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said Fadnavis spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Health Minister J P Nadda in connection with the mishap.

"Fadnavis has ordered an enquiry into the fire incident at the ESIC Hospital," the CMO said in a tweet.

"The chief minister expressed grief over the loss of lives and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured and assured that all required assistance will be given," it added.

Eight people, including a six-month-old girl, were killed in the blaze in the government hospital Monday.

Besides, 176 injured people, including three firemen, were injured and undergoing treatment in different hospitals across the city.

The 325-bed ESIC (Employees State Insurance Scheme) Kamgar Hospital at Marol in suburban was built in 1970s.

Nearly 375 people, including patients and visitors, were in the five-floor hospital during visiting hours when fire and smoke were reported on its fourth floor around 4.03 pm on Monday. The fire was extinguished at 7.35 pm. The hospital authorities have shut down the facility till further notice.

The hospital did not have the final no-objection certificate (NOC) for fire compliance.

A fire official said the blaze appeared to have erupted after a short-circuit near the rubber rolls stored on the ground floor.The farmer from Nashik, who had sent his onion sale earnings to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to highlight low returns, has alleged that the district authorities wrongly described his produce as of "low quality".

Sanjay Sathe, from Niphad tehsil in Nashik district of Maharashtra, on Monday wrote a letter to the PMO in which he said the authorities prepared a report about his onion produce without any inquiry and that it was "false".

Sathe had earlier sent Rs 1,064, his earnings from onion sale in the wholesale market, to Prime Minister on November 29 as a protest.

However, a report later submitted to the Maharashtra government by the district deputy registrar office said the farmer's onions were of "medium to low quality" and "blackish" in colour.

Refuting the claim, Sathe, in his letter to the PMO, said, "I sold 750 kg onion and earned Rs 1,064. But without any inquiry, the state government officials in their report stated that my onions were blackish and of low quality. It is false and officials are misguiding you."





"I hope you will understand that if authorities can lie to you, what challenges a common man would be facing in government offices," he said in the letter sent from the local office of India Post.

Almost every onion grower was facing the same situation of low rates and the state's "apathy" towards it, Sathe claimed, and requested the prime minister to find a solution to it.

Notably, authorities of the Lasalgaon Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) had said last week that the report submitted by the district deputy registrar office to the state government was "false".

No official of the district deputy registrar office had met the APMC authorities in connection with the farmer's case, they said.

Nashik district in north Maharashtra accounts for about 50 per cent of onion production in India.

The Lasalgaon APMC in Nashik is the country's largest wholesale onion market.This is an article from Head to Head, a series in which academics from different disciplines chew over current debates. Let us know what else youd like covered  all questions welcome. Details of how to contact us are at the end of the article.

Rob Bellamy: 2018 has been a year of unprecedented weather extremes around the world. From the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Japan to the largest wildfire in the history of California, the frequency and intensity of such events have been made much more likely by human-induced climate change. They form part of a longer-term ...Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on December 18, 2018

2018/12/18

Q: It is reported that the First Meeting of the Advisory Council of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was held in Beijing. Could you give us more details?

A: Regarding this issue, the Foreign Ministry has issued relevant information, including the list of the members of the Advisory Council. I would like to say a few more words about this.

First, the Advisory Council is a non-profit and international policy advisory body which is composed of international celebrities from all over the world, including former dignitaries, former heads of international organizations, prominent scholars and people from business communities. They join the Advisory Council in a personal capacity instead of representing any country or institution.

Second, the establishment of the Advisory Council aims to widely solicit opinions and suggestions from all relevant parties with the principle of seeking shared benefits through extensive consultation and joint contribution so as to provide intelligence support for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. The whole process of its establishment is open, inclusive and transparent. We have picked the brains of all relevant parties and notified the foreign embassies in China of the relevant information. After getting the consent of all the Advisory Council members, we announced the name list. The operation model and the rules of procedure of the Advisory Council are decided by all its members through discussions.

Third, the First Meeting of the Advisory Council is very successful. The members reviewed the progress in jointly advancing the Belt and Road Initiative and spoke highly of the positive role of this initiative in enhancing connectivity of different countries and regions, promoting world economic growth, building an open world economy and implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. All the members support deepening and substantiating the Belt and Road Initiative and hope that the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will send out the positive signal of championing multilateralism, openness, development and win-win outcomes. They have also put forth constructive suggestions and proposals on macro-policy coordination, the development of practical projects and cooperation guarantee mechanism.

Q: The social media site Twitter said that it detected suspicious activities coming from IP addresses of Saudi Arabia and China. Do you have any comment? What the suspicious activities might be?

A: I suppose what you mentioned is an earlier report by the Reuters. Yet this morning, the Reuters has corrected its previous erroneous report. The new report said that the IP addresses that are used to visit Twitter seem to come from China and Saudi Arabia, but they are probably not hackers working for the governments of relevant countries.

As you know, the position of the Chinese government on cyber security is consistent. We hope that when it comes to this issue, all parties can follow the spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit to address this global issue through dialogue and cooperation.

Q: We noted that the Chinese government issued a policy paper on the European Union (EU) this morning. Is it of any special significance to the China-EU relations under the new circumstances?

A: The Chinese government issued its third policy paper on the EU today, following the previous ones in 2003 and 2014 respectively. The policy paper is an important proclamation of China's policy on the EU, which elaborates the goals of China's policy on the EU in the new era and the important measures to strengthen the dialogue and cooperation in various areas between China and the EU going forward.

The EU makes a vital strategic force in the international landscape. China values the EU's role and influence in the regional and international affairs, and developing the relationship with the EU has been among the priorities of China's diplomacy all along. In recent years, the building of the China-EU partnership for peace, growth, reform and civilization has continued to make new progress. The China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has continued to grow in both width and depth, forming a sound pattern of all-dimensional, multi-tiered and wide-ranging exchanges and cooperation. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the 20th anniversary of the China-EU Summit, when the China-EU relations face a new prospect and key opportunity for further development. The Chinese government hopes to deepen and broaden comprehensive cooperation with the EU, move forward the China-EU relations and jointly build the world peace, contribute to global development and uphold the international order.

Q: On December 18, the Japanese government adopted the new National Defense Program Guidelines and the Medium-Term Defense Readiness Plan at a cabinet meeting, which stipulate that the defense budget will increase by about 10% in the next five years. The relevant documents include China-related contents and show strong concern to China's moves in the field of military security. What is your comment?

A: The China-related contents in these documents released by the Japanese side are nothing but a string that's been harped on many times before. They are making irresponsible remarks and levying groundless accusations on China's normal national defense building and military activities and inciting the so-called "China threat" with Cold War mentality. Such move by the Japanese side is not conducive to the improvement and development of China-Japan ties or the peace and stability in the region. China is strongly dissatisfied with and opposed to that, and has lodged stern representations with the Japanese side.

Due to what happened in history, Japan's moves on the military security front have been closely followed by its neighboring countries in Asia and the international community at large. We urge Japan to keep its commitment to the "purely defensive defense" strategy, stay committed to the path of peaceful development and act cautiously in the area of military security.

Q: My question is similar to the previous one. The Japanese government today decided to transform a frigate of its Self-Defense Force into an actual aircraft carrier. What is your comment?

A: Due to what happened in history, Japan's moves in the field of military security have been closely followed by its neighboring countries in Asia and the international community at large. We urge Japan to keep its commitment to the strategy of "purely defensive defense", adhere to the path of peaceful development and act cautiously in the area of military security.

Q: According to reports, White House National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro said that the US wants China to buy more from the US through the trade talks, but much more importantly are the structural changes. What is your reaction?

A: Regarding the issue of China-US trade talks, I would like to refer you to the Commerce Ministry for the specifics. What I can tell you is that the economic and trade teams of the both sides stay in close communication on the consultation in accordance with the spirit of the consensus reached by the two heads of state at their summit. We hope the teams from the two sides will faithfully implement the consensus reached at the meeting of the two heads of state, and step up consultations in a bid to remove all additional tariffs for mutually beneficial and win-win results under the precondition of mutual respect, equality, promise-keeping and matching words with deeds.

Mr. Navarro said he wants China to conduct structural reforms, but I want to advise him and other relevant officials and persons that share similar ideas with him to conscientiously read the important speech delivered by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the gathering in celebration of the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up this morning. The Chinese civilization is brilliant, the only one that has continued for over 5000 years without interruption in the history of mankind. There is no textbook or golden rule to follow for reform and development in China, a country with over 5000 years of civilization and more than 1.3 billion people. No one is in the position to dictate to the Chinese people what should or should not be done. What to reform and how to go about the reform must be consistent with the overarching goal of improving and developing the system of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and modernizing China's system and capacity for governance. We must resolutely reform what should and can be changed, and resolutely not reform what shouldn't and can't be changed.Prime Minister is reaching here Tuesday on a day's visit to in which he will launch infrastructure and housing projects worth about Rs 410 billion in the state, officials said.

Soon after landing at Mumbai, Modi will attend an event organised by a TV channel and later release the book 'Timeless Laxman' at Raj Bhavan.

The PM will then lay the foundation stone for the Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan metro 5 and Dahisar-Mira Bhayander metro-9 at Kalyan in adjoining district.

The Kalyan event will also see the launch of Navi Mumbai town planning authority City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra's (Cidco) mass housing scheme worth Rs 180 billion, which offers around 89,771 affordable homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Modi will later proceed to Pune, where he will lay the foundation stone for the third metro line between Hinjewadi and Shivajinagar, being implemented by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority on a public-private partnership basis.

The Rs 83.13-billion 23-km long third metro line in Pune between Hinjewadi and Shivajinagar will connect the busy information technology (IT) part with Shivajinagar, where the other two metro lines will also join.

Modi will fly to Delhi from Pune Tuesday night, an official said.Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday the government would make efforts to bring 99 per cent of items under the goods and services tax (GST) into the 18 per cent slab or lower. The next GST Council meeting is four days away. Only 0.5 to 1 per cent of the items  luxury goods such as aircraft, cigarettes, alcohol and SUVs  will be taxed at 28 per cent, Modi said.

Currently, 39 items, or about 3 per cent, of about 1,280 items that draw the GST attract a levy of 28 per cent. If Modis announcement turns into reality, only up to 13 items would ...On Tuesday, Singh hit back at his critics  including his successor  stating that he was never afraid of talking to the press during his 10-year tenure, and not only met journalists regularly but also addressed on-board press conferences after his return from overseas visits. The 86-year-old made the comment at the launch of a five-volume set titled Changing India, which is the compilation of his work as an economist, in the bureaucracy, ...

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will resume flights to Pakistan from June 2019 after a period of 10 years, the airline announced on Tuesday.

"Direct flights from London Heathrow to Islamabad's new airport to start in June," said British High Commissioner Thomas Drew in a video on Twitter.

"A further boost to links between the UK and Pakistan, especially on trade and investment."

The first flight will touch down in Islamabad, said a official at a press conference alongside the Pakistan Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Zulfi Bukhari.

halted its operations to Pakistan 10 years ago, said Bukhari, terming the announcement "groundbreaking".

In September 2008, British Airways suspended all its flights to Pakistan because of security fears after a blast outside the Marriott Hotel that claimed more than 40 lives.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.Nobody can know if, when Deng Xiaoping launched his strategy of Reform and Opening Up 40 years ago, even he could have predicted the near-miraculous transformation of the Chinese economy that would follow.

In the years since then, hundreds of millions have been lifted out of abject poverty and into the ranks of the global middle class; Chinas industrial heartland became the workshop of the world; and the Peoples Republic has muscled its way into the first rank of global powers. Yet the tone with which Chinese Communist Party functionaries look back on ...Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX Corp is set to raise $500 million at a $30.5 billion valuation, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the fundraising plan. The company is raising the capital from existing shareholders and new investor Baillie Gifford & Co, who is also the third-largest shareholder in Musk-led electric carmaker Tesla Inc . The company plans to invest the fund in the company's satellite internet service, Starlink, WSJ said. ALSO READ: Elon Musk derides SEC, says I don't respect US financial ...The closure is expected to be completed by December 31, 2019, the company said in an exchange release. "This is to inform that as approved by the Board, the Company has given its consent by signing the Shareholder's Resolution of its subsidiary in Indonesia i.e. PT Five Star Textile Indonesia ("PTFS") on December, 2018 for closure of the same." the release ...

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After a 24 per cent run-up on the bourses from its October low, the stock of UPL fell about 3 per cent on Tuesday. Fresh concerns over growth in Europe (due to drought there) has the Street worried over the agrochemicals and industrial chemicals entity.

European sales have been sluggish for most of this year and after completion of the acquisition of Arysta, its dependence on Europe is expected to increase. The region contributed about 24 per cent to UPLs sales in 2017-18. Analysts see an impact on demand for fungicide in Europe, given lower rainfall and higher temperatures, ...In an unfortunate incident that took place at Australia's Moonee beach on Monday, two Indian nationals drowned whereas another is still missing.

All the three deceased belonged to the same family and have been identified as residents of Telangana.

The accident occurred after the trio jumped into the water to rescue drowning the children (from family) but were caught in the currents. The children were saved by a rescue team and taken to the hospital.

Nazreen, sister of Junaid who is still missing, spoke to ANI over the phone saying: "My brother Mohammed Abdul Junaid, 28 years old, went to Australia in the year 2014 for completing his masters and since then he was staying in Sydney. Yesterday, Junaid along with his father-in-law Mohammed Ghouse Uddin, his two daughters Easha (17), Ramsha (12), one son Mohammed Aaqib (15) and his cousin Rahat went to Moonee beach near Coffs Harbour for a holiday".

"Three children were playing near the seashore when they got troubled in the waves. On seeing this Junaid, along with his father-in-law Ghouse Uddin and cousin Rahat sprung into the water to save the children. All of them were facing difficulty in the water and were drowning when a rescue team reached the spot and saved the three children."

The rescue teams were also able to rescue Ghouse and Rahat from the sea but were unable to revive them.

Junaid, however, could not be found.

The search operation for him had started yesterday but was stopped due to low light. The search operation resumed in the morning.

The three children Easha, Mohammed Aaqib and Ramsha are currently undergoing treatment in Coffs Harbour hospital.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)"No one had thought four years ago that Congress leaders accused of 1984 anti-Sikh riots will get punished and people will get justice," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, while making his first comments in the wake of Delhi High Court verdict convicting Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riot case.

Prime Minister Modi made these remarks while delivering a key note address at Republic Summit organised by the Republic News channel.

Prime Minister Modi also attacked Congress over the Rafale issue and outlined that it is for the "first time that a charge of corruption on a government was rebuked by the court".

"It has been a psychology here, that whenever someone approaches the court with an acquisition on the government, it is considered that the government must be wrong and the complainant must be right. Whether it is a scam or a corruption charge, the mentality has been same. However, this is for the first time when some people approached the court, levying charges of corruption on the government but received rebuttal from the court that whatever work has been done, has been done with complete transparency. No one could have thought four years ago that such a thing can also happen in our country," said the Prime Minister.

Emphasising over the growth story of India in the last four years, he added: "Had anyone thought four years ago that India will come on 77th position from 142nd position in the Ease of Doing Business ranking? India is moving forward to come in top 50 positions. In India, more people will start traveling by aeroplane than AC train,"

Further making a comparison of the country's enhanced cleanliness in the last four years, Prime Minister Modi said: "We have the country's pre-2014 image in front of us when the ambit of cleanliness was less than 40 per cent. Now by the end of 2018, this has reached about 97 per cent. This is the difference between past and present. We are presenting before the world a strong image of surging India."

He also asserted that all this is happening now because today there is policy-driven governance in the country and the government is moving ahead on the foundation of Predictable Transparent Policies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Fatehpur Sikri's BJP MLA Udaybhan Chaudhary on Monday threatened a Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Garima Singh.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Chaudhary had gone to meet the SDM over farmers' issue.

In the video of the verbal spat between the legislator and the administrative official, Chaudhary could be seen reminding SDM Singh about his 'powers' under the rule of democracy.

"You are talking to me in this way, are you trying to show me that you are the SDM? Don't you know I am an MLA? How can you talk to me like this? You don't realise my power, you don't realise the power of democracy," says Chaudhary in an intimidating demeanor.

Following the verbal confrontation, the supporters of the legislator also began raising slogans against the administrative official.

During the brief incident, the SDM can be seen uncomfortably registering her protest over the treatment being meted out to her.

After the incident, the SDM issued a press release stating that objectionable language has been used against her.

In may this year, during another incident of MLA's high handedness in Uttar Pradesh, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Harshvardhan Bajpayee was found threatening the Superintendent of Police in Allahabad after the latter failed to recognise him at an event.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has asked Chandigarh's department to file a report within three days on a complaint against Navjot Singh Sidhu for gifting Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh a stuffed black partridge.

"I have received a letter from Animal Welfare Board and they have asked for a report on it within three days in the matter," confirmed Debendra Dalai, Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden.

The Punjab cabinet minister, Sidhu had brought the bird from neighboring Pakistan.

According to the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, it is mandatory to have proper documentation and customs clearance to keep a protected bird or its parts.

"If a person possesses these protected animals or birds they must have proper papers. Customs clearance is very much required. I am not aware if the person has any certificate stating the source of this bird," added Dalai.

On Dec 14, a case was registered against Sidhu for violating Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 for allegedly possessing a stuffed black partridge.

During a meeting with the CM recently, Sidhu had presented him the bird.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Belgium's Prime Minister Charles Michel announced his resignation from the post on Tuesday (local time).

Calls for his resignation were made on December 16 when over 5,500 anti-migration protestors took to the streets in Brussels to demonstrate against Belgium being a signatory to the non-binding UN pact, the 'Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration'.

They claimed that the pact would boost migration to the European Union (EU), which has strict migratory policies. The police had to resort to using water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds that had gotten violent after being asked to leave, according to France 24.

Counter-protests also took in the city at the same time in support of the UN agreement, that was worked on after a million migrants arrived in Europe in 2015 after fleeing war and strife in their nations.

Before this, the far-right N-VA party had pulled out from the coalition government in protest of the Prime Minister's decision to sign the UN pact on migration, leaving the Michel-led government in jeopardy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) will stage a protest in Delhi on January 8 demanding hike in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of paddy and implementation of MS Swaminathan Committee recommendations.

Targeting the Centre for "failing to fulfill the promises made to farmers", senior BJD leader and Rajya Sabha MP Prasanna Acharya during a presser in Bhubaneswar yesterday, said, "The Centre is insensitive towards the farmers. The Central Government is not keeping its promise of increasing paddy's MSP made during last 2014 general elections."

He also criticised the Centre for not implementing MS Swaminathan Committee reports.

Cornering Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly "betraying farmers" , Acharya said, "Odisha Assembly also passed the resolution on paddy farmers MSP issue but Prime Minister Modi has no time to hold a meeting to discuss farmers issue with the Odisha Assembly House Committee."

The BJD demanded that the MSP of paddy should be hiked to Rs 2,930 per quintal for Odisha farmers.. The BJD MPs, MLAs along with hundreds of party workers will leave for New Delhi in a special train on January 6.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The British government on Tuesday rejected the no-confidence motion tabled by the Leader of Opposition Jeremy Corbyn against Prime Minister Theresa May.

The motion was passed in the British Parliament on Monday after May pushed back the date of the parliamentary vote on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement to the week of January 14, reported CNN.

Speaking at the House of Commons, where the parliamentarians were set to vote on the Brexit agreement on December 11, May defended her decision saying that she would lose the vote "by a significant margin" and would now hold talks with the EU leaders to discuss the matter.

Reacting to this, Corbyn tweeted: "It is unacceptable for the country to wait another month before Parliament has the chance to vote on Theresa May's botched deal. Therefore, I have tabled a motion of no confidence in the PM this evening, so Parliament can take back control".

In the House of Commons, Corbyn asserted that the motion was based on the Prime Minister's "failure to allow the House of Commons to have a meaningful vote straight away on the Withdrawal Agreement and framework for future relationships between the UK and European Union."

The motion was directed towards May rather than the whole government. The motion, therefore, would not have forced the administration to step down even if it were to be approved by the Parliament.

The Labour Party ahead of the move had expressed that the government must take time to debate the motion, adding that "if they don't it's clear they believe she does not retain the confidence of the House of Commons.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday ordered an investigation in the fire at Andheri's ESIC Hospital in which nine people were charred to death. He also promised all possible assistance to the injured.

The death toll in the blaze rose to nine on Tuesday, with one more person succumbing to his injuries overnight, police said. Around 158 persons were injured in the fire out of which 57 have been discharged from the hospital so far.

As per the preliminary report, the building material lying at the ground floor of the hospital for renovation work caught fire on Monday afternoon, which led to the generation of smoke. "People died due to suffocation," police said.

Union Health Minister J P Nadda also spoke to Chief Minister Fadnavis and urged him to take requisite measures to help out the needy. Fadnavis has also expressed grief over the loss of lives and prayed for speedy recovery of those who sustained injuries in the fire.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour and Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the families of those who lost their lives in the fire, Rs 2 lakh for those critically injured and Rs 1 lakh for the injured.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A day after the Delhi High Court sentenced him to life imprisonment in a 1984 Anti-Sikh riots case, Congress leader Sajjan Kumar chose to evade questions on his conviction.

Questions were posed to Kumar when he visited Delhi's famous Hanuman Temple in Connaught Place on Tuesday morning. He, however, walked past media persons and ignored repeated questions seeking his comments on the High Court judgement.

The Congress leader was accompanied by armed guards during his visit to the temple.

During Monday's ruling, the bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel asked the 73-year-old former Member of Parliament (MP) to surrender before December 31. The Court also directed him to not leave Delhi and levied a fine of Rs 5 lakh on him.

The case pertains to the murder of five Sikhs in the Delhi Cantonment area during the large-scale violence that occurred following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. During four days of carnage, about 2,700 Sikhs were killed in the capital alone.

Earlier in 2013, the Karkardooma trial court had acquitted Kumar in the case and convicted five others. The appeal against the said order was filed by those convicted in the case, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the family of victims.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)HOLLYWOOD, Md.

(December 06, 2018)Some of the Commissioners of St. Mary's County supported a statewide bill that would lower the required age to work on a medical marijuana growing facility from 21 to 18, but not enough to send a letter to support its passage in the Maryland General Assembly.Three commissioners including Eric Colvin, Todd Morgan and Mike Hewitt decided not to support the measure when it came up for discussion Tuesday with other legislative proposals headed to Annapolis.Morgan wanted more time to get more information on medical marijuana growing while Hewitt flatly declined support."I'm a 'no'," Hewitt said.Commissioner John O'Connor, who has in the past voiced opposition to locally growing medical marijuana, said he supported the measure because of the economic development opportunities it could afford the county."In Maryland it's a $100 million industry already," O'Connor said. "I don't think we should miss the boat."O'Connor was the one to introduce it to the commissioners for a vote this week.Commissioner President James "Randy" Guy also voiced his support."I have no problem with this," Guy said. "This is going to happen at the state level."The impetus behind the drive for local support came from a local medical marijuana dispensary owned by Charles Mattingly, Southern Maryland Relief ( somdrelief.com/ ).Mattingly said in an interview with The County Times that while they only now have the license to dispense medical marijuana, he was confident the state would soon allow him to operate a secure growing facility.He said a growing facility here, which would not be outdoors but in a secured in-door facility, could employ as many as 100 workers."This industry is growing each day," Mattingly said. "This isn't about cannabis, this is about horticulture in general."Mattingly argued that fewer and fewer young people getting out of college were pursuing agricultural or manufacturing jobs.By giving them lucrative agricultural jobs earlier, it might spur them to consider jobs that dealt more with agriculture, said Mattingly."We can get farming up and about again," Mattingly said, adding that younger workers could be employed in the planting process, such as preparing soil, without coming into contact with cannabis plants.Mattingly said the medical cannabis his dispensary dealt with was high in CBD or cannabidiol which had wide ranging medicinal purposes from reducing the affects of dementia to relieving seizures.Cannabidiol differed from THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, which was the active ingredient in marijuana that induced a narcotic high.The death toll in Mumbai's Andheri hospital fire incident has increased to eight from six.

A massive fire broke out at ESIC Kamgar hospital on Monday injuring more than 100 people.

Ten fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the blaze while a rescue van and 16 ambulances were also rushed to the spot for necessary assistance.

The injured were shifted to Cooper Hospital, P. Thakrey Hospital (Trauma), Holi Spirit Hospital and Seven Hills Hospital for treatment.

Taking note of the incident, Fire Officer of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), MV Ogale said that the hospital did not obtain a final No Objection Certificate (NOC).

"They (hospital authorities) have applied for the final NOC but compliances were not in line with the provisions of the act and hence they have not been given final NOC by us. Our building proposal department has also not given final occupation certificate," Ogale told media on Monday.

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada has warned Canada that the nation would incur penalties to the tune of USD 747 million if they were to terminate the USD 15 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia.

This comes a day after Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hinted at ending the deal signed with Saudi Arabia in 2015, in the wake of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

"Were Canada to unilaterally terminate the contract, Canada would incur billions of dollars of liability to General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada," the manufacturer mentioned, according to Sputnik.

"Terminating the contract would have a significant negative impact on our highly skilled employees, our supply chain across Canada and the Canadian defence sector broadly," the company further said.

Earlier, footage revealing the Kingdom's usage of the arms supplied by Canada in the Yemen crisis came to the fore in 2017, sparking an international outcry.

The middle-eastern nation is currently in the midst of an international storm raked up by Khashoggi's death, with many believing in the Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman's involvement in the scribe's killing despite constant and strong denials by the Kingdom.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bharatiya Janata Party's Delhi unit spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga is on an indefinite hunger strike here demanding removal of Kamal Nath as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister for his alleged role in 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

"Our fight will continue until Sikhs' murderer Kamal Nath is removed from his post," Bagga told ANI. Bagga is on an indefinite hunger strike since Monday.

Chorus over Kamal Nath's involvement in the riots has intensified over the last two days after Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was convicted in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

Bagga further said that Sajjan Kumar and Tytler were given tickets by the Congress in 2004 but withdrew decision after protests.

"They also had to roll back the decision of appointing Nath as in-charge of its Punjab unit. By appointing him as MP CM, Congress has rubbed salt into wounds of Sikhs," he added.

The Delhi High Court on Monday overturned a lower court judgement and convicted Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case sentencing him to life imprisonment.

The bench of Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel asked the 73-year-old former Member of Parliament (MP) to surrender before December 31. The court also directed him not to leave Delhi and levied a fine of Rs 5 lakh on him.

The case pertains to the murder of five members of a Sikh family in the Delhi Cantonment area during the large-scale violence that occurred following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. During four days of carnage, about 2,700 Sikhs were killed in the capital alone.

In 2013, the Karkardooma trial court had acquitted Kumar in the case and convicted five others. The appeal against the said order was filed by those convicted in the case, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the family of victims.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The workers of BJP Purvanchal Morcha on Tuesday staged a protest against Chief Minister Kamal Nath, for accusing people from neighboring Uttar Pradesh and Bihar of migrating to Madhya Pradesh and stealing local jobs.

Nath, soon after taking oath as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh on Monday, had said that priority would be given to the natives of Madhya Pradesh in terms of employment. "Our schemes of providing incentives of investment will only be imposed after 70 per cent people from Madhya Pradesh get jobs. I've signed file for this. People from states like Bihar, UP come here and locals don't get jobs," the newly elected Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister had said.

The BJP Purvanchal Morcha organised the protest outside Nath's residence in the capital.

The angry protesters blackened the nameplate at Nath's residence and also raised slogans demanding an apology.

Nath's statement also drew flak from Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who slammed the former for insulting people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

"He (Kamal Nath) had insulted north Indians by his comment that people from states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were responsible for unemployment in Madhya Pradesh," Akhilesh said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said his government is mulling over a new electric vehicle policy to reduce pollution in the capital.

"We are working on reducing pollution in the capital and an electric vehicle policy is being developed for the city. A draft policy has already been made and we are further holding talks with the experts, NGOs and other concerned people. We are planning to buy around 1,000 electric buses," Kejriwal told ANI.

Last month, the Delhi government had released a draft of the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy 2018 for feedback from the public.

The policy recognised that a new approach is required to kick-start EV adoption in the capital, and therefore, seeks to put in place several measures that address the key hurdles to EV adoption and target 25 per cent of all new vehicle registrations to be electric by the year 2023.

As per the government, the new policy will also seek to promote large-scale job creation in driving, selling, financing, servicing and charging of electric vehicles.

The development of a new policy to tackle pollution in the national capital comes at a time when air quality in the region has deteriorated owing to the onset of winter.

According to the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the overall air quality of Delhi was recorded at 323 on Tuesday morning, falling under the 'very poor' category.

AQI between the range of 51 to 100 is considered as satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 falls under the category of poor. 300-400 is considered as 'very poor' and 401-500 falls under the 'hazardous' category.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Indian national Hamid Nehal Ansari's parents' long struggle for being reunited with their son, who was arrested by the Pakistan Intelligence agencies and local police from Kohat district in 2012, may bear fruit today.

The Pakistan Foreign Ministry on Monday announced to repatriate Hamid on the completion of a three-year sentence handed over to him by a Pakistani military court in 2015.

"The Pakistan High Commission has told us that the Pakistan authorities will hand over Hamid to the Indian Embassy there today, following which he will cross the border and be reunited with us," Fauzia Ansari, Hamid's mother told ANI.

The family, however, has not been apprised of the exact time when Hamid will reach India. "I would like to thank the Indian government for understanding our pain and extending complete help to us in bringing our son back. Even the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi helped us out and were responsive to our ordeal," Ansari opined.

Hamid's mother further appealed to the Pakistani government to free other individuals like her son who have been imprisoned, underscoring the painful experience the family went through due to his detention in the neighbouring country. "Their parents are also waiting for them and suffering," she stated.

Expressing gratitude to the government and media for helping her out, she said, "This wasn't our effort alone - the media was our voice and the government completely helped us. We can't thank god enough. Both the governments have been kind to us and dealt with us humanely. We thank everybody."

"Hamid will be with us today hopefully. I pray to God that he will be," she remarked while travelling in a bus en route to Attari-Wagah border, through which Hamid would be repatriated.

Hamid, a teacher at the Mumbai Management College, went missing in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in November 2012. His mother filed a habeas corpus petition in Delhi High Court, following which the news about his arrest became public.

On January 13, the high court was informed that Hamid was in the custody of the Pakistani Army and was being tried by a military court. The Pakistani security agencies had claimed that Hamid had used fake identity card in the name of "Hamza" and had entered Pakistan through Afghanistan without travel documents. They had charged him for "anti-state activities".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In an aim to strengthen media relations between the two countries, India and China will hold a high-level media forum on Friday during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to India.

The inaugural session of the event would be addressed by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Chinese counterpart.

There will be three sessions in the forum -- Towards Enhanced Understanding: Challenges and Opportunities in India China Media Cooperation, Role of Indian and Chinese Media in Promoting Closer Developmental Partnership and India China - A Roadmap for Media Cooperation. Noted journalists from the two countries would participate in the sessions.

Wang will pay a visit to India from December 21 to 24 to co-chair the first-ever meeting of India-China High-Level Mechanism on Cultural and People-to-People Exchanges with Swaraj. The meeting will focus on strengthening bilateral relations between the two Asian nations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India's permanent representative at the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin here on Tuesday said that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed is somebody whom India will never forgive for his "imminent role" in the deadly terror attacks that took place in Mumbai on November 26, 2011.

Akbaruddin also added that only justice waits for the evil mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind. "Hafiz Saeed is somebody India will never forgive or forget. What waits for him is justice. You can be certain, sometime or the other, justice will be met," Akbaruddin said in his statement.

"We will never forget his role as the evil mastermind of what happened in Mumbai," Akbaruddin added. India has provided a number of dossiers of evidence, maintaining that the bilateral relations cannot improve until Pakistan punishes all those involved in the crime.

India has particularly been pushing for action against Saeed, who is roaming freely in Pakistan despite being declared an international terrorist. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government at the Centre has emphasised that terror and talks cannot go together.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Indian Hamid Nehal Ansari, who was arrested eight years back after he came to Pakistan to meet a woman he had befriended through social media, has returned to India after completing his three-year prison sentence in Pakistan jail.

It was an emotional reunion for the Ansari family at the Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday, whose long struggle ended and eventually their efforts bore fruit.

His mother, Fauzia Nehal Ahmed Ansari, who called her son's release "a victory of humanity", said that he had no "bad intentions".

"My son went with noble intentions. Hamid had no bad intentions, but initially went missing and was later caught and framed. He shouldn't have gone without a visa. His release is a victory for humanity," Hamid's mother told ANI on Monday.

Ansari was awarded three-year imprisonment by a military court in December 2015 after being slapped with charges of espionage and involvement in anti-state activities on him.

The court gave the verdict after Pakistan's Ministry of Interior appraised it that Ansari will be repatriated to India after completion of his prison term on December 15.

The Pakistani security agencies had claimed that Hamid had used fake identity card in the name of "Hamza" and had entered Pakistan through Afghanistan without travel documents. They had charged him for "anti-state activities".

A former teacher at the Mumbai Management College, Ansari went to Pakistan in 2012 to meet a woman whom he had befriended through social media. Ansari went missing after he was apprehended by the Pakistan intelligence agencies and local police from Kohat district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan in November 2012.

His mother filed a habeas corpus petition in Delhi High Court, following which the news about his arrest became public.

Following the news of his release, India on Monday welcomed Pakistan's decision to repatriate him, saying that it came as a "great relief for the family members".

"We have received a note from Pakistan today that they are releasing Indian Hamid Nehal Ansari tomorrow. It is a matter of great relief, especially for the family members, that six years of incarceration of the Indian civilian in Pakistan jail is coming to an end. We hope that Pakistan would respond and organise an early visit of the Joint Judicial Committee so that the issues of prisoners can be dealt with in a humanitarian and timely manner," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 40-year-old para-teacher, who was protesting outside a state minister's residence in Dumka, died on Monday night after allegedly falling victim to the cold spell.

The deceased, identified as Kanchan Das, was agitating outside state minister Louis Marandi's residence for the regularisation of services.

Speaking to ANI, Dr D Kumar, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDO) stated, "Das was brought dead to the hospital" and added, "the postmortem report will soon reveal the actual cause of his death."

JMM legislator Sita Soren from Dumka's Jama assembly constituency expressed sorrow over the incident and questioned Chief Minister Raghuvar Das. He also demanded that the state government give proper compensation to the family of the deceased.

Moments after the incident, security was heightened outside Marandi's house. The local administration also declined the protestors' request to pay homage to their deceased co-worker.

Since November 25, the para-teachers working across the region have been protesting outside Jharkhand Welfare Minister Louise Marandi's house seeking regularisation of their services along with other demands.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)This home on Horse Shoe Road in Clements has been declared a public nuisance for the years of complaints of drug activity there. (Image via Google Maps)

HOLLYWOOD, Md.

(December 06, 2018)A home in Clements that has long been the focus of numerous drug investigations and warrant raids has been declared a nuisance after the county attorney's office successfully prosecuted a case in District Court in November.Several county law officers testified that the home, 24550 Horse Shoe Road, had been a nexus of drug activity, including storage and sales, for several years.The ruling by Judge John Slade III included barring four people who once resided at the house from ever returning and compels the owners of the home, Juanita Chase and Francis and Carol Price, to come up with a plan to ensure the property will no longer be a nuisance to the public that must be submitted to the court in 30 days from the time of judgement.If the owners do not comply, they could be held in contempt, according to information from the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office, and the property could eventually be sold under certain conditions.Attorney James Tanavage filed the civil complaint on behalf of the county and pursued it in court."We originally thought about going after it under the blight ordinance," Tanavage said. "We kind of stumbled on the nuisance statute to be honest."Tanavage said the home had been the subject of two successful warrant searches for drugs and paraphernalia already this year, with the latest being in April.That raid recovered a major haul of illegal narcotics, said Tanavage."There were [drug] calls going to that house dating back to the 1980s," Tanavage said of police testimony. "The evidence was pretty overwhelming that the house had been used to store and sell drugs for the past seven or eight years, at least."The people who had been living in the house were family members of the owners, said Tanavage.Of the four people forbidden from returning to the home, Tanavage said, two were already in prison serving lengthy sentences related to narcotics.Manchester United has announced that its manager Jose Mourinho has left the club with immediate effect.

In a statement, Manchester United thanked the Portuguese "for his work during his time" and "wished him success in the future."

"A new caretaker manager will be appointed until the end of the current season, while the club would conduct a thorough recruitment process for a new and full-time manager," the statement added.

Mourinho's departure comes after the 'The Red Devils' made their worst start to a league season since 1990-91.

Manchester United currently languishes in sixth place in the Premier League, following their 1-3 defeat at the hands of table-toppers Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday welcomed the court's decision to convict Congress leader Sajjan Kumar.

"I welcome the court's decision of convicting Sajjan Kumar. The victims were delivered with justice after 34 long years but it's always better late than never," Kejriwal told ANI.

The Delhi High Court had on Monday overturned the trial court's judgement and convicted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, sentencing him to life imprisonment.

"Just like this (Sajjan Kumar's conviction), the culprits involved in the case and also in other cases of riots like Muzaffarnagar or 2002 should also be punished," the chief minister added. He also said that people of India believe in harmony and want to live in peace. "It is the politicians who indulge in such activates and these (riots) are nothing more than a politically charged event," Kejriwal asserted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday became the country's main opposition leader in Parliament, days after he resigned as the disputed prime minister that threw the island nation into unprecedented political chaos for nearly two months.

The 73-year-old leader was appointed to the post by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, replacing Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R Sampanthan, Colombo Page reported.

Rajapaksa's appointment comes after United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was reinstated as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka earlier this week that ended a 51-day political stand-off in the island nation.

During the power struggle, Rajapaksa left the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) party and obtained the membership of the Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP).

The island nation was engulfed in a constitutional turmoil after President Maithripala Sirisena, on October 26, abruptly ousted Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister and appointed Rajapaksa as the new premier. Sirisena later dissolved the Sri Lankan Parliament, almost 20 months before its term was to end, and ordered a snap election.

However, the country's Supreme Court overturned Sirisena's decision to dissolve Parliament and halted the preparations for snap polls.

Rajapaksa also lost the no-confidence motion twice, after he failed to prove his majority in the Parliament.

A Sri Lankan court had also passed an interim order against Rajapaksa which barred him from holding the Prime Minister office.

His son, Namal Rajapaksa, had said that his father was stepping down from the post to "ensure the stability of the nation".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Special Task Force (STF) of Bihar Police arrested an individual accused of murdering former Mayor of Muzaffarpur Sameer Kumar earlier this year.

The accused, identified as Govind, was arrested from Patna airport on Tuesday afternoon.

Acting on specific inputs, the police laid a trap and arrested the accused, who is reportedly a sharp-shooter.

The police is interrogating Govind to ascertain the involvement of others accused in the case and their whereabouts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A group of investors in Nepal have been on a hunger strike in front of the Nepal Stock Exchange here demanding the resignation of Finance Minister Yubraj Khatiwada, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Chiranjibi Nepal and three officials.

The strike, which began on Monday, is being led by investors Tilak Koirala and Hari Dhakal as part of a pressure group formed by the community.

Agitators are demanding the resignation of Chairman of Securities Board of Nepal Rewat Bahadur Karki, Chairman of Nepal Stock Exchange Laxman Neupane and Chairman of Insurance Board Chiranjibi Chapagain.

"The promises which the government authorities have been making for the improvement and upliftment of investors for last three-four years have not been fulfilled. We demanded swift implementation of measures to protect the interests of investors but the government did not pay any attention. As a result, we have started the hunger strike to pressurise the government," Koirala, a former economic journalist, told ANI.

Koirala alleged that the Finance Ministry and other concerned authorities did not show its readiness to bring reformation in the stock market. "Finance Minister Dr Yubraj Khatiwada and the head of other regulatory bodies do not want to expand and improve the finance market because of which we are now forced to go on a hunger strike demanding for their resignations," he added.

The group of investors has also published its 14-point demands concerning reformations in the capital market, protection of investors and creating a conducive environment for investment.

"The veteran economist (Khatiwada) is himself the Finance Minister. However, this has become a horror. He is well aware of the issues but is acting indifferently. He has been ignoring 1.7 million share investors," alleged Sushma Dhungana, one of the investors in Nepal stock market.

"Previously during an event of the Nepal Stock Exchange Board at Bhrikutimandap (Kathmandu), he (Khatiwada) had mocked saying 'I deposited my money in fixed deposit and my friend invested in bonds. Now you look at me and look at my friend, it seems better to do this rather than invest in the share market'. An economist turned Finance Minister who is driven by the hunger of interest has been causing this problem to us. We are not heard anywhere," she added.

The Finance ministry had reportedly formed a committee to discuss the investors' issue and a report was to be prepared. However, the ministry denied it.

The group of investors has now vowed to continue their protest until their demands are met.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari has called for the third session of the Parliament from next week. The winter session of the Federal Parliament of Nepal will begin at 4 pm on December 26, after it was adjourned on September 27.

A letter from the President's Office calling for the commencement of the Parliament has been registered at the Parliament Secretariat and preparations for the meeting on the slated date has started The notice calling for the parliamentary meeting will be formally released on Wednesday.

The deadline to pass and revise existing laws that contradict the new Constitution of Nepal, promulgated in 2015, falls on March 4, 2019. The Parliament will have to modify as many as 174 Acts out of 339.

Out of the 174 Acts, 36 new laws are to be formulated. Additionally, eight bills are awaiting approval in the Parliament since it was adjourned three months ago.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Marking 40 years of economic liberalisation, Chinese Premier Xi Jinping here on Tuesday said that no one can dictate China's economic development.

Chinese Premier addressed the Communist Party members on the occasion of China's "reform and opening up" policy at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, where the leader promised the people of the country with more economic reforms in the near future, Al Jazeera reported.

Clearly stating that China would neither opt out of its single-party regime nor allow any other country to give orders to China, Xi noted said, "We must, unswervingly, reinforce the development of the state economy while, unswervingly, encouraging, supporting and guiding the development of the non-state economy."

"The great banner of socialism has always been flying high over the Chinese land," Xi said. "The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the greatest advantage of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics," Premier Xi added.

The statement by Xi came as the Asian country, which has become one of the leading economies the today, is stuck in a trade war with the United States.

Adding to the pressure, Huawei Chief Financial Official Meng Wanzhou was also arrested on December 1 while changing planes at Vancouver International Airport in Canada, following which a diplomatic row started between China and Canada.

However, Meng was released on a bail of 10 million Canadian dollars, which includes seven million Canadian dollars in cash from her husband and the remaining three million Canadian dollars from sureties.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced financial aid of Rs 10 crore for establishment of Odiya Cultural Centre in Gujarat's Surat for their social celebrations.

Speaking at Odisha Mahotsav organised by Odiya Pravasi Samaj residing in Surat on Monday, Patnaik said the Odisha government will request the Centre to start a direct flight between Surat and Odisha.

A few days back, Patnaik had written a letter to Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal demanding the introduction of a direct flight service between Bhubaneswar and Surat and two new daily trains between Berhampur and Surat.

Patnaik also requested Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani to allot a land for the establishment of a community centre in Surat to meet the requirements of Odia community for their social celebrations. According to state government, more than seven lakh people from Odisha are residing in Surat.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Cyclone Phethai, which is currently causing havoc in parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh, has caused destruction of paddy and cotton crops in Odisha, Joint Relief Commissioner Pravat Mohapatra said on Tuesday.

"Government had already alerted farmers to harvest paddy and keep it safe and covered. In Mandis, steps have been taken to cover them but still, damage has been done to cotton and paddy. The damage is being accessed by the agricultural department," he said.

Due to the cyclonic disturbance, heavy rainfall was witnessed in many parts of Odisha on Monday. Jharsuguda district witnessed the highest rainfall with 76.3 mm average, while nearly 100 blocks all over the state received more than 50 mm rainfall, the official said.

Mohapatra further informed that about 10 lakh people in the Gajapati district were moved to safer locations from the makeshift houses they were living in, owing to the destruction of their houses during Cyclone Titli.

Meanwhile, Odisha's Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi said the district administration is mulling over how farmers can be compensated for the losses incurred.

"It is expected that the situation will improve in another few hours. We have asked the District Collectors to assess the damage and see how we can compensate the farmers. Farmers who have suffered 33 per cent damage are eligible for compensation. Input subsidy is also admissible. Civil supplies department will expedite the procurement process," he told ANI.

Cyclone Phethai made landfall in Andhra Pradesh on Monday and brought significant damage to standing crops. Moreover, gushing winds at nearly 75 kilometers per hour have wreaked havoc along and off central Andhra Pradesh coast, with trees and mobile towers being uprooted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In a major turn of events, Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), the US-based pro-Khalistan organisation that has been desperately trying to propagate pro-Khalistan sentiments across the globe, wrote to Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan to "politically support Referendum 2020 movement to liberate Punjab" so that Islamabad can avenge "1971 fall of Dhaka".

This, many believe, has clearly exposed Pakistan's close nexus with pro-Khalistan extremists based in the West.

SFJ, allegedly operating at the behest of Islamabad and funded and aided by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has been carrying out Referendum 2020, an anti-India campaign across the globe. However, failure to lure the Sikh community has turned them desperate for Pakistan's open support.

"Pakistan has a moral responsibility to support the Sikh community, which has been under siege in India since 1947," Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the legal advisor of SFJ wrote to Khan.

"Now it is the time that Indian Army under Bipin Rawat should be forced to sit across the surrendering table," he added in his letter, hinting at the 1971 surrender of more than 90,000 Pakistani troops after India liberated Bangladesh from Islamabad's rule in merely 13 days after Pakistan forces attacked India.

Pannun is considered to be an ISI agent by the international community and, according to experts, is baffled at the fact that the SFJ has managed zero traction despite pumping millions of dollars for their so-called movement.

Not merely a letter to the PM, the SFJ has also put out posters making an open appeal to support the secessionist campaign to "avert 1971".

SFJ Referendum 2020 campaign that kicked off in London, instead of bringing popular support from Sikhs living abroad that they expected, made them a laughing stock at the international level and also exposed Islamabad's support to the terror outfit.

Pannun and SFJ, however, did not stop, and on the occasion of the 449th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, posted banners and posters demanding Sikhs' support. They also announced the opening of a permanent office in Lahore to facilitate voting for Khalistan, which they have announced to carry out on the auspicious occasion of Guru Nanak's 150th birth anniversary next year.

Their attempts still did not get any traction amongst the Sikhs living over and now they want the Pakistani government to openly support their secessionist campaign. Imran Khan, the Pakistani Prime Minister is yet to respond to the letter from Pannun.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)WASHINGTON More than a year after a controversial end-of-life law went into effect in the District of Columbia, advocacy groups say they are now seeing a higher public response to its efforts to ensure city residents know the law exists.



How many people have used the law will become clearer in an upcoming February report. As of last April, no patient had yet used the law, according news accounts.



The Death with Dignity Act allows mentally capable, terminally ill adults with six months to live to request lethal doses of prescription medication so they can die peacefully and comfortably in their homes or any place where they have been granted permission to do so.



One of the law's main proponents, Compassion & Choices, has helped the District of Columbia Council advocate for the legislation and educate Washington residents about the new option for patients with terminal illnesses.



The administrative side of the end-of-life process apparently has dissuaded physicians, pharmacists and patients from using the law, but local public service announcements have helped spike interest and attention, Sean Crowley, spokesman for Compassion & Choices, told Capital News Service in an interview.



His group declined to say how many doctors in the District registered to use the law, as it did not have access to such records. But as of last April, only two doctors among the roughly 11,000 doctors in the city had registered to use the law and just one hospital had approved doctors for the practice, according to The Washington Post.



The District of Columbia Department of Health is set to release a detailed report in February on how many patients have utilized lethal drugs and how many physicians have administered them. But to date, no patients have volunteered to go public with their stories.



During September, Compassion & Choices distributed television public service announcements promoting the end-of-life law, featuring prominent Washingtonians Diane Rehm, a former WAMU radio show host, and Dr. Omega Silva, a retired physician.



The announcements, which began Labor Day weekend, aired on various Comcast stations. Compassion & Choices reported that there were 229 visits to the group's page during September, compared to only 56 for the same month a year agoa 400 percent increase.



In addition to the District, six states have end-of-life, or physician-assisted dying laws: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, according to the nonprofit Death with Dignity National Center, based in Portland, Oregon.



Efforts to pass a similar law in Maryland have been unsuccessful.



Since the District's end-of-life bill was introduced in 2015, organizations such as Right to Life and conservatives in Congress have opposed it and tried to defund it.



Rep. Andy Harris, R-Cockeysville, introduced an amendment in 2017 to defund and repeal the law. The amendment failed to pass the House Appropriations Committee.



Harris, a physician, criticized what he called "the so-called Death With Dignity Act," saying "most people don't associate suicide with dignity in any way shape or form."



"It sends a strong message that regardless of the many types of disease you might have and the many types of treatment that may be available, there is one common pathway that in this case the District would say is perfectly acceptable, it is legal," he said. "It's actually to go to a physician and ask if they can participate in your suicide. That doesn't lead to more choicethat leads to one choice."



The House will be controlled by the Democrats next month, making the prospects for repealing the District bill more remote.



In any case, Crowley said that "lawmakers from outside the District should not dictate to district lawmakers what laws they should pass for their local constituents."



"Other states would never allow lawmakers from outside their state dictate what their states can do," he said. "Why should they be allowed to dictate in D.C.?"



Since its founding as the seat of the federal government, the District of Columbia has not had voting representation in Congress, although it has some limited autonomy. Even so, Congress has the power to review and repeal District laws.



"That Congress thinks it should substitute its judgment for the judgment of the residents of the District of Columbia is odious enough," said Councilmember Mary Cheh, who sponsored the end-of-life bill. "That it would presume to substitute its judgment for the judgment of people who are dying is unconscionable. Such an action is fundamentally undemocratic and it should not stand.""My son went with noble intentions," said Fauzia Nehal Ahmed Ansari, mother of Indian Hamid Ansari who is going to be repatriated back to India today after completing his three-year prison sentence in Pakistan jail.

"Hamid had no bad intentions, but initially went missing and was later caught and framed. He shouldn't have gone without a visa. His release is a victory for humanity," Hamid's mother told ANI.

Hamid Ansari was awarded three-year imprisonment by a military court in December 2015 after being slapped with charges of espionage and involvement in anti-state activities on him. The court gave the verdict after the Ministry of Interior appraised it that Ansari will be repatriated after completion of his prison term on December 15.

A former teacher at the Mumbai Management College, Ansari went to Pakistan in 2012 to meet a woman whom he had befriended through social media. Ansari went missing after he was apprehended by the Pakistan intelligence agencies and local police from Kohat district in November 2012.

She added to her statement that initially, they were not in touch with Hamid for almost three years.

"We were ourselves not sure whether he was dead or alive because there was no contact between us," Hamid's mother said. But through his friends over the social media, especially Facebook and by the help of media people in Pakistan they came to know that their son stayed in a hotel for sometime before disappearing.

Hamid's mother also added that a Habeas Corpus petition was filed in the Peshawar High Court, followed by a military trial on December 15, 2015, and three years of prison sentence. On January 13 the Court informed that Ansari was in the custody of Pakistani Army and was being tried by a military court.

Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had in August 2016 asked Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad to seek Consular Access to Ansari.

Despite, reiterating, time and again that her son did not travel across the border with any bad intentions, Hamid's mother noted that it was the fault on the part of her son that he went to Pakistan without carrying any valid document as a proof. At the same time, she also thanked both the Indian and Pakistani government's help in resolving the dispute and repatriating her son to India.

The Pakistani security agencies claimed Ansari had used fake identity card in the name of "Hamza" and he had entered Pakistan through Afghanistan without travel documents. They charged him for "anti-state activities." Ansari later filed a petition challenging the allegations of being a spy and sought better treatment in prison.

Social activist Jatin Desai, who had helped the Ansari family in repatriating Hamid back to India, also noted that people residing on both sides the border who want peace and reconciliation between India and Pakistan, do not want such detentions to happen in the near future.

"Hamid went to find his love. There was no evil in his intentions. We hope that both the countries should look forward to a new beginning," Desai told ANI.

He further added that especially after Imran Khan took over as the Prime Minister of Pakistan contentious situations between India and Pakistan seems to be on the verge of reconciliation, the latest example being of the opening of Kartarpur corridor. And in that pretext, Hamid Ansari's return to India is an important move for both the countries. "I would like to appeal that the prisoners in both the countries should be released similarly," Desai added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) seeking Pakistan's help to 'liberate' Punjab from India exposes nefarious designs of the organisation and its nexus with Pakistani Army and Inter-Services Intelligence

(ISI), Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said on Tuesday.

In a hard-hitting reaction to the statement of SFJ's legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, Captain Singh said, "The cat is now well and truly out of the bag, and the truth of the deep-rooted connection between SJF and Pakistani Army is out in the open."

"The statement has nailed SJF's lies that it is a peaceful movement to build momentum for a referendum on a separate state of Khalistan," said the Chief Minister, adding that it is more than evident now that the organisation, with the full support and backing of Pakistan Army and ISI, is striving to foment trouble in Indian Punjab.

"Through his statement, Pannu has made clear his intentions of going all out to force the secession of Punjab from India, with the backing of Pakistan Army and ISI," said the Chief Minister, rubbishing SFJ's claims to the contrary.

The Chief Minister has also taken strong exception to SFJ's plans to hold 'Kartarpur Sahib Convention-2019', coinciding with the auspicious occasion of the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Sri Guru Nanak Dev.

This, he said, has lent credence to his fears that Pakistan's decision to open the Kartarpur Corridor was an ISI game-plan to help forces inimical to India, including SFJ. "It has also once again proved that Pakistan government had always been, and continues to remain, a puppet regime, working at the behest of the Army there," he added.

"The whole affair is a bigger conspiracy by the Pakistan Army, which is persistently trying to revive militancy in Punjab," said the Chief Minister, reiterating his stand on the issue. Captain Amarinder Singh also reiterated that Punjab, and the Indian Army, are well prepared to counter any such plans of the neighbouring country.

"Punjab is today much better equipped than it was in the 80s and 90s when Pakistan-backed terrorism had swept the state," he said, warning Islamabad against extending any further support to SFJ or other such outfits that are bent on disturbing the state's hard-earned peace.

"The Pakistan Army would do well to remember the ignominious defeats it had suffered at the hands of the Indian Army on every occasion it had tried to take on the might of the latter, right from the 1965 and 1971 wars to the more recent Kargil battle," warned Singh.

Asserting that he was all in favour of the Kartarpur corridor to fulfill the long-pending aspirations of the Sikh community in India, the Chief Minister said: "It was the misuse of the initiative that he was opposed to. If Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was truly in favour of opening the doors for long-lasting peace with India through this corridor he should not only unequivocally condemn the SFJ statement but should also ensure that Pakistan soil is not used by the anti-India outfit to further its campaign."

"Let the two countries build a corridor of peace in the true sense of the word, without the auspicious occasion of the 550th Prakash Purab being allowed by Islamabad to be abused by anti-Indian forces," said the Chief Minister.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday refused to comment on the conviction of his party colleague Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

"I have made my position on the riots very clear, and I have said this before. This press conference is about the farmers of the country and that Mr. Modi refuses to waive off even one rupee of loan," Gandhi told reporters here when asked to comment on the verdict delivered by the Delhi High Court yesterday.

The bench of Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel overturned a lower court judgement and convicted Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case sentencing him to life imprisonment.

The court asked the 73-year-old former Member of Parliament (MP) to surrender before December 31. The court also directed him not to leave Delhi and levied a fine of Rs 5 lakh on him.

The case pertains to the murder of five members of a Sikh family in the Delhi Cantonment area during the large-scale violence that occurred following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. During four days of carnage, about 2,700 Sikhs were killed in the capital alone.

In 2013, the Karkardooma trial court had acquitted Kumar in the case and convicted five others. The appeal against the said order was filed by those convicted in the case, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the family of victims.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bollywood veteran Dilip Kumar's wife Saira Banu, who had claimed that a builder- Samir Bhojwani- was threatening her husband, said the builder was taking advantage of her husband's illness.

Speaking to ANI, Saira said "I want the Prime Minister to pay attention to this matter. Chief Minister (Devendra Fadnavis) is making efforts into this, we hope some good result will come after the Prime Minister also intervenes. Bhojwani is taking advantage of Dilip Sahab's illness."

Meanwhile, Kumar's lawyer Chirag Shah claimed that Bhojwani is an affluent individual, adding: "Opponent has great political connections and money power to file cases time and again even after losing so many times. After Saira ji's complaint, he was arrested for 130-132 days. It seems like apart from Saira and Dilip ji, he has harassed and cheated other people too."

Earlier this month, Saira had tweeted from her husband's Twitter handle urging the Prime Minister to intervene in the property case.

"Request from Saira Banu Khan: The Hon'ble @PMOIndia Shri @narendramodi Sir, Land Mafia Samir Bhojwani realeased from Jail. No Action Taken despite assurances by CM @Dev_Fadnavis

Padma Vibhushit betrayed, Threatened by money n muscle power. Request meeting wth u in #mumbai," the tweet read.

After Saira's tweet to Prime Minister Modi, an official from the office of Fadnavis said the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) took note of the issue. Fadnavis also assured to look into the matter.

In an FIR lodged on January 4 this year, Saira alleged that Bhojwani, on the basis of forged documents, illegally staked ownership of land in Pali Hill, Bandra, the rights of which were acquired by Dilip Kumar on September 25, 1953.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Delhi's Patiala House Court on Tuesday adjourned hearing in the Sunanda Pushkar death case till December 20 for further compliance under Section 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) which pertains to providing the accused with a copy of police report and other documents.

Furthermore, an order on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy's plea to assist the court in the trial will be pronounced on Thursday.

On December 10, the Delhi court deferred the order on two applications of Swamy seeking direction to the Delhi Police to produce a report of a vigilance inquiry conducted after Sunanda Pushkar's death and also to assist the prosecution in the case.

The court's order came after Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's counsel Vikas Pahwa and the public prosecutor opposed Swamy's application.

Tharoor's counsel had filed the application under Section 207 of Criminal Procedure Code seeking direction for reconciling of the data stored in three hard disks submitted by the Delhi Police in the court. The hard disks, which have more than 900 GB of data, were filed in the court in the form of Folder F comprising numerous CDs, pen drives, hard disks, memory sticks, etc. The data stored in these three hard disks was prepared in July 2018.

During the court proceedings on December 6, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) allowed the application and directed the investigating officer to sit with the counsels and start the process of reconciliation.

Pahwa had challenged the locus standi of Swamy saying that he is a stranger to the proceedings and cannot be permitted to participate in the criminal trial in any manner. He also cited numerous judgments of the apex court and Delhi High Court in support of the argument. The Special Public Prosecutor also vehemently objected to the application saying that the Delhi Police does not want any assistance from Swamy.

However, Swamy had argued that the charge sheet against Tharoor in Pushkar's death is incomplete and against the interest of justice.

After the prolonged hearing, Swamy said that he will not press his prayer for assisting the prosecution but insisted that his plea seeking the vigilance inquiry report should be allowed so that the same can be considered by the court during the framing of charges.

This plea was also opposed by Tharoor's advocate on the ground that the prayer amounts to directing further investigation under Section 173(8) of CrPC, which is not permissible in law particularly when the court has already taken cognisance in the case.

Sunanda Pushkar was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a suite of a Delhi hotel on the night of January 17, 2014. The couple was staying in the hotel as their house was undergoing renovation.

Tharoor was summoned by the court in June this year, observing there was sufficient ground to proceed against him.

The Congress leader was charged under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 498A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He, however, dismissed the charge sheet terming it "preposterous".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday said that every youth would have to be the messenger of Srimad Bhagvad Gita for the welfare of the world.

"For this, every youth would have to adopt the message of at least two 'shlokas' of the Gita in their lives every day," she said, while speaking as the chief guest at the 'Vaishvik Gita Paath Karyakram' organised in the concluding day of the International Gita Mahotsav 2018 here.

She said that for the third time, 18,000 students have recited 18 'shalokas' of 18 chapters of the Gita together, thus creating history again. Not only this, 108 experts recited Srimad Bhagvad Gita Paath at Jyotisar.

Union Minister Swaraj said that Srimad Bhagvad Gita is the biggest philosophical text as this is only text which shows the way of living the life and paves way for solving all problems in the world. "Each shloka in the Gita makes a person cultured," she added.

She said that as the result of the efforts of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Gita Jayanti has been celebrated as the International Gita Mahotsav for the last three years, which has brought Kurukshetra on the world map. "The International Gita Mahotsav is being celebrated not only in Kurukshetra but in each district of the state also," she added.

Odisha Governor Professor Ganeshi Lal said that Gita is inspirational for youth, senior citizens and soldiers alike. He said that Srimad Bhagvad Gita inspires us to perform the action without worrying about results. Haryana Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Krishan Kumar said that the Srimad Bhagvad Gita not only shows the meaning of Dharma but also shows the path of attaining salvation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A transgender delegation which was stopped from entering the Sabarimala temple by police on December 16 has been granted permission after discussions with the chief priest.

On Sunday, the Kerala police allegedly stopped a group of four transgenders heading towards the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.

Ananya, who was accompanied by three more persons, had claimed that the police officers on duty allegedly threatened and discouraged them to proceed further.

However, the police had denied the allegations saying that the team had voluntarily returned after being told about the situation.

The Sabarimala temple and surrounding areas witnessed a string of protests after the Supreme Court lifted the ban on entry of women in the age group 10 and 50 years inside the temple.

Till now, no woman of the previously-forbidden age group has been able to enter the temple due to widespread protests.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Triple talaq, Rafale, and 1984 anti-Sikh riots were some of the issues which dominated BJP's parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday, Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said.

Briefing media persons after the parliamentary party meeting, Tomar said: "Triple talaq, Rafale deal, and ant-Sikh 1984 riots were discussed during the meeting. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad briefed the meeting about Triple talaq."

"The bill that we introduced in the form of an ordinance has to be passed. It is a major priority for our government. The recent verdict by the Delhi High Court on 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the Supreme Court's verdict on Rafale deal were also discussed during the meeting," he said.

"The previous proceedings of the ongoing Winter Session of the Parliament were also reviewed and all the parliamentarians of the party were asked to ensure their maximum attendance during the Parliament session," Tomar further said.

This was the second Parliamentary party meeting of the BJP during the current Winter Session. The party holds the meeting of the Parliamentarians on every Tuesday whenever the Parliament is in session. "The meeting concluded with the remarks of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh," added Tomar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The United Nations (UN) has condemned the "gross violation of human rights" in North Korea in a resolution that was passed by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Monday (local time).

The North Korean envoy to the UN, Kim Song, strongly refuted all allegations and labelled them as "most despicable false words" that have been spread by criminal defectors, according to Yonhap News Agency.

North Korea targeted Japan, one of the writers of the resolution while saying, "My delegation expresses deep concern and surprise to the fact that criminal state Japan, which committed A-class crimes against humanity, such as kidnapping and forced drafting under sexual slavery in the past, is talking about human rights issue in the DPRK instead of liquidation of its dirty human rights record and official apology and compensation to victims."

Meanwhile, the passed resolution "encourages" the UN Security Council to "take appropriate action to ensure accountability" from the nation, while calling for sanctions on individuals "who appear to be most responsible for human rights violations". The council has, since 2014, called for these measures against North Korea.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has approved, with a 2/3 majority, a resolution introduced by Ukraine asking Russia to cease restriction of international vessels in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

"The result of the vote is as follows: in favour - 66, against - 19, abstention - 72. The draft resolution is adopted," a United Nations official at the meeting announced, according to Sputnik. The document is titled 'Militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine), as well as parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov'.

The adoption of the resolution comes in the wake of the Kerch Strait incident where three of Ukraine's vessels were impounded by Russia when they entered the Kerch Strait, despite warnings issued by the Russian side. All Ukrainian crewmen on board were also detained.

The US and the EU have put their support behind Kiev on the matter and have called for the Ukrainian crewmen's freedom.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A group of diverse but like-minded individuals, the members of ARC have come together in their common desire to fight hatred, bigotry, intolerance and violence because of the harm these antisocial behaviors cause to our society. In that effort, we will not use or sanction the use of illegal actions (such as violence or intimidation) in pursuit of our desired aims and if we learn of anyone who does use these unethical methods we will report those individuals to the authorities. Instead, we will use the guarantees found in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that ensure freedom of legal speech and expression.ANNAPOLIS

While the Trump administration's National Climate Assessment ( nca2018.globalchange.gov/ ) released last month said Maryland had begun feeling the consequences of climate change, lawmakers and state agencies already are taking steps aimed at combating it.From 1901 to 2016, the global average temperature has increased by about 1.8 degrees, according to the report, and "without significant reductions" in emissions of greenhouse gases, the annual average global temperatures could increase by 9 degrees by the end of this century.Those 1.8 degrees have resulted in documented issues in Maryland, including, but not limited to, warmer weather, rising sea levels and poorer air quality."There are several findings that raise concern," Ed McDonough, spokesman for the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), told Capital News Service in an interview. "One is the potential effects on our seafood and agriculture industries. Another is increased flood potential around much of the state and also the loss of coastal lands in some areas around the Chesapeake Bay. Finally, there is the potential for increased health-related issues."President Donald Trump dismissed the report's dire warnings."I've seen it, I've read some of it, and it's fine," he told reporters. As for the severe economic impacts of climate change, he said, "I don't believe it."All evidence, the 1,600-page report states, points directly to human activities as the cause of climate change. Without drastic action, meteorological conditions and noticeable impacts will continue to worsen, the report warns."In Maryland, we are facing climate change effects that place our ecosystems and our economy at risk and threaten to transform the coastlines many of our citizens call home," Maryland Environment Secretary Ben Grumbles said in a statement."The continued protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay also relies on a healthy climate," he said. "It is crucial that we continue to work to address climate change through collaboration between our fellow states and the international community."Maryland lawmakers and agencies appear to be focusing on mitigating the looming threats that citizens could face.Both Republican and Democratic legislators in the Maryland General Assembly plan to propose the Maryland Clean Energy Jobs Act next session. If passed, the act would set a new statewide standard committing Maryland to using 50 percent renewable energy by 2030. Currently, the standard is set to 25 percent by 2022, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration.In addition to moving away from fossil fuels, the bill also envisions economic benefits for Maryland, according to Sen. Brian Feldman, D-Montgomery, one of the measure's lead sponsors.By the end of 2030, Feldman said, the state would gain 20,000 additional solar jobs and $400 million in direct economic benefits every year going forward, beginning in 2030."To have 13 federal agencies, all with a consistent message, which is 'if we do nothing and stand pat, we've got huge, huge problems down the road, both economically, as well as with the climate and the implications of that,' it is a call to arms," Feldman said."So, there is renewed interest in bringing in legislation in Annapolis and I don't think we are going to be the only state," the lawmaker said. "I think we are going to have action all over the United States on this subject."To help "coordinate mitigation, response and recovery activities" in Maryland, MEMA held a retreat last month that included nearly every state agency, according to McDonough, as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Governors Association and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan's Executive Council."We will continue our efforts to mitigate the effects of these changes," McDonough said. "Agencies involved with natural resources, the environment, land use, insurance regulation, public health, and disaster response and recovery all play a role in making Maryland more resilient."MEMA also started the "Know Your Zone" campaign this year in areas of Maryland subject to tidal flooding or storm surge, working to simplify the evacuation process in case of flooding.According to the federal report, flooding events are expected to become more frequent as a result of climate change."The danger is imminent if we don't do anything," Feldman said. "We need to take action right now in 2019; we can't wait until 2020, 2022, etc.""The report that the federal government outlined includes things that we hadn't even thought about, like (more) insects and (less) agricultureall the negative implications of just standing pat," he said. "I'm most concerned if we as a state do nothing."The United States of America will pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, confirmed Russia's deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

According to RT, Ryabkov said, "Washington publicly announced its plans to withdraw from the treaty (INF) already in October. Through high-level bilateral channels it was confirmed to us that this decision was final and wasn't an attempt to initiate dialogue."

"We'll be forced to come up with effective compensating measures. I'd like to warn against pushing the situation towards the eruption of new missile crisis. I am convinced that no sane country could be interested in something like this," he added.

He further underlined that Moscow would take retaliatory measures if the US were to station missiles in Europe that threatened their security.

"Russia isn't threatening anybody, but have the necessary strength and means to counter any aggressor," Ryabkov said, according to RT.

US President Donald Trump, in October this year, had announced the US' decision to withdraw from the nuclear treaty.

Signed by then Soviet Union Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan in 1987, the agreement is deterrent in nature and was largely designed to prevent prospects of a full-scale nuclear war in Europe.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday vociferously said that he won't let Prime Minister Narendra Modi sleep until the farmers' loans are waived off.

"We will not let Prime Minister Modi sleep till he waives off loans of farmers, all opposition parties will unitedly demand this. Till now, PM has not waived off a single rupee of farmers," the Gandhi scion said stepping up his attack on the Prime Minister.

It is learnt that the party leadership had made it clear to the newly appointed chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh that the first file they would move should be of farmers' loan waiver.

On Monday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath shortly after taking oath waived off farm loans of Rs 2 lakh each. Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel, too, soon after taking charge yesterday announced that his government will waive off farm loans within 10 days as promised.

Gandhi, while speaking to media, also called demonetisation as the "biggest scam" in the world, adding that people have been lied to and traders looted.

"JPC, Rafale, farm loan waivers, demonetisation, typo errors will soon emerge in everything. People have been lied to, farmers and small traders are being looted. Demonetisation is the biggest scam in the world," he said.

On November 8, 2016, the Centre had declared Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes as non-legal and introduced new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes. Since then, various opposition parties have been highly critical of the Centre's move, while the members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies have backed the decision.

When asked about the conviction of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, Gandhi said: "I have made my position on the riots very clear, and I have said this before. This press conference is about the farmers of the country and that Mr. Modi refuses to waive off even one rupee of loan."

The Delhi High Court on Monday overturned a lower court judgement and convicted Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case sentencing him to life imprisonment.

The bench of Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel asked the 73-year-old former Member of Parliament (MP) to surrender before December 31. The court also directed him not to leave Delhi and levied a fine of Rs 5 lakh on him.

The case pertains to the murder of five members of a Sikh family in the Delhi Cantonment area during the large-scale violence that occurred following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. During four days of carnage, about 2,700 Sikhs were killed in the capital alone.

In 2013, the Karkardooma trial court had acquitted Kumar in the case and convicted five others. The appeal against the said order was filed by those convicted in the case, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the family of victims.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Madurai AIIMS entails cost of Rs 1264 crore and Telengana at Rs 1028 crore

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved establishment of two new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Madurai, Tamil Nadu at a cost of Rs 1264 crore and Bibinagar, Telangana at a cost of Rs 1028 crore. The AIIMS will be set up under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).

The Union Cabinet has also given its approval for creation of one post of Director in the basic pay of Rs 2,25,000/- (fixed) plus NPA (however pay + NPA would not exceed Rs 2,37,500/-) for each of the above two AIIMS.

Benefits:

* Each new AIIMS will add 100 UG (MBBS) seats and 60 B.Sc. (Nursing) seats.

* Each new AIIMS will have 15-20 Super Specialty Departments.

* Each new AIIMS will add around 750 hospital beds.

* As per data of current functional AIIMS, it is expected that each new AIIMS would cater to around 1500 Outdoor patients per day and around 1000 Indoor patients per month.

Establishment of new AIIMS involves creation of Hospital, Teaching Block for medical & nursing courses, residential complex and allied facilities/services, broadly on the pattern of AIIMS, New Delhi and other six new AIIMS taken up under Phase-I of PMSSY. The objective is to establish the new AIIMS as Institutions of National Importance for providing quality tertiary healthcare, medical education, nursing education and research in the Region.

The proposed institution shall have a hospital with capacity of 750 beds which will include Emergency / Trauma Beds, AYUSH Beds, Private Beds and ICU Speciality and Super Speciality beds. In addition, there will be a Medical College, AYUSH Block, Auditorium, Night Shelter, Guest House, Hostels and residential facilities. The establishment of the new AIIMS will create capital assets for which requisite specialized manpower will be created, based on the pattern of the six new AIIMS, for their maintenance and upkeep. The recurring cost on these Institutions shall be met through Grant-in-Aid to them from Plan Budget Head of PMSSY of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The timeframe for establishment of the new AIIMS Tamil Nadu and AIIMS Telangana will be 45 months, broadly comprising a pre-construction phase of 10 months, a construction phase of 32 months and stabilization/commissioning phase of 3 months.Cost of construction and running of the new AIIMS would be met by the Central Government under PMSSY.

Setting up new AIIMS in the states will lead to employment generation for nearly 3000 people in various faculty & non faculty posts in each of the AIIMS. Further, indirect employment generation will take place due to facilities & services like shopping centre, canteens, etc. coming in the vicinity of new AIIMS.

The construction activity involved for creation of the physical infrastructure for the various new AIIMS is also expected to generate substantial employment in the construction phase as well.

The AIIMS in Tamil Nadu was announced in the Budget Speech of Finance Minister in 2015-16 and Ministry of Finance conveyed its in-principle approval for establishment of AIIMS in Telangana in April, 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.)India recorded the highest growth of 7.2% in Q3 of CY2018

Growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) in the G-20 area eased to 0.8% in the third quarter of 2018, compared with 1.0% in the previous quarter, according to provisional estimates released by OECD.

GDP contracted in four G-20 countries in the third quarter of 2018, following growth in the previous quarter. Turkey recorded the sharpest contraction (minus 1.1%), on the back of the Lira's significant depreciation in August, followed by Japan (minus 0.6%, compared with 0.7% in the previous quarter), Germany (minus 0.2%, compared with 0.5%) and Italy (minus 0.1%, compared with 0.2%).

GDP growth slowed in a majority of the remaining G-20 economies for which data are available. Growth slowed significantly in Australia (to 0.3%, from 0.9%), and, to a lesser extent, in India (to 1.5%, from 1.8%), Canada (to 0.5%, from 0.7%), Russia (to 0.3%, from 0.5%), China (to 1.6%, from 1.7%) and the United States (to 0.9, from 1.0%). It also slowed in the European Union (to 0.3%, from 0.5%).

On the other hand, growth rebounded in Mexico and South Africa, to 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively in the third quarter of 2018, following a contraction of 0.1% in the previous quarter in both countries. Growth also picked-up significantly in Brazil (to 0.8%, from 0.2%), and, to a lesser extent, in the United Kingdom (to 0.6%, from 0.4% in the previous quarter, albeit latest estimates for the UK for October point to a slowdown from Q3) and France (to 0.4%, from 0.2%). GDP growth was stable in Indonesia (1.3%) and Korea (0.6%).

Year-on-year GDP growth for the G20 area slowed to 3.6% in the third quarter of 2018 (from 3.8% in the previous quarter), with India recording the highest growth (7.2%) and Japan the lowest (0.1%).

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Suresh Prabhu, today said that India was striving hard to resolve all pending issues relating to trade with Turkey before his planned visit to Turkey along with a business delegation in February 2019.

Addressing the 'India-Turkey Business Forum', jointly organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and DEiK (Foreign Economic Relations Board) of Turkey, Mr Prabhu said that several issues that were hindering the augmentation of trade between the two countries had come up for discussions with the visiting Turkish Minister for Trade, Ms Ruhsar Pekcan. These included setting up of banking facilities in both countries and the tapping of construction opportunities in India and issues relating to increasing commodity products like boric acid and poppy seeds exports from Turkey to India.

He said that bilateral trade relations would have to be made sustainable. "We cannot just export, we have to import from Turkey too," he added. Mr Prabhu said the proposal to trade in local currencies was now with the Finance Ministry and he was hopeful that this would be dealt with soon.

Ms Ruhsar Pekcan, Minister for Trade, Republic of Turkey expressed the hope that a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries could be finalised soon to ensure sustainability in trade relations.

Discussions were on, she said and added that Turkey would explore all opportunities to have an FTA in place.

She said that the bilateral trade volume was US$ 7 billion in 2017 and going by the trade figures of first 11 months, the trade was all set to reach USD 8 billion mark in the coming financial year. Turkey would like the figures to be much higher along with balanced trade, she added. Ms Pekcan was optimistic that issues such as non-acceptance of Turkey's letters of credit and the absence of a correspondent bank in India would be resolved before the forthcoming visit to Turkey of Minister Prabhu.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)NMDC revised prices of lump ore at Rs 3,250 per ton and fines ore at Rs 2,860 per month with effect from 13 December 2018. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 December 2018.

Tata Steel and thyssenkrupp have decided on the members of the future management board for the planned European steel joint venture between the two companies. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 December 2018.

Andreas Goss, currently chief executive officer (CEO) of thyssenkrupp's steel division, will be the future chief executive officer of the planned joint venture and chair the management board of thyssenkrupp Tata Steel B.V.. Hans Fischer, currently the CEO of Tata Steel Europe, will be the Deputy CEO & chief technology officer of the joint venture. Sandip Biswas, currently the group executive vice president finance of Tata Steel is the designated chief financial officer while Premal Desai currently the chief financial officer of thyssenkrupp Steel Europe will be the chief strategy officer of the joint venture. Apart from the above appointments, it is planned to announce the next management level for the joint venture early in the new year. The management board and the future top leadership team will be responsible for the planning and execution of the post-merger integration and the long-term business strategy once the planned joint venture has received the necessary regulatory approvals and after closing.

Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Company announced that its board approved closure of its subsidiary in Indonesia, PT Five Star Textile Indonesia ('PTFS'), on 17 December 2018. PTFS was incurring losses for many years hence; this is in line with the strategic move to close this subsidiary. All the financial risks related to this subsidiary have been provisioned in the past years reported financial. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 December 2018.

Sadbhav Infrastructure Project announced that ongoing litigation amongst the company, Sadbhav Engineering (collectively referred as Sadbhav) on the one side and Montecarlo on the other have arrived at amicable settlement. Hence, both the National Company Law Tribunal and High Court of Gujarat was pleased to dispose of the matter. Accordingly the said legal matters now stands closed. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 December 2018.

Jet Airways (India) will be watched. With reference to news items captioned, "SBI orders forensic audit of Jet's accounts from April 2014 to March 2018" and another news item captioned, "SBI orders forensic audit of Jet Airways' books," Jet Airways (India) clarified after market hours yesterday, 17 December 2018, that as per the directions of State Bank of India, a forensic audit of specific transactions of the company for the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2018 is in progress. The company is fully cooperating with the auditors and providing them all the information, as is being sought in this connection. The company has been regular in making the required disclosures in accordance with Regulation 30 of the Listing Regulations. The company is, however, unable to comment on the reasons for the decrease in its share price on the stock exchanges.

Graphite India will be watched. Pursuant to the observations made by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) during the inspection conducted on 19 September 2018, the company had vide letter dated 16 November 2018 informed KSPCB of the completion of all steps necessary (including the revamping work) in compliance of the observations and requested KSPCB to depute their officials to conduct an inspection of the plant to verify the compliances. Accordingly, the inspection of the plant was conducted on 23 November 2018 by KSPCB officials.

Pursuant to the said inspection, KSPCB renewed the "consent for operations" for a period up to 30 June 2020 only with condition to shift the unit from the existing location. The operations to be carried out in the plant are the same as was being done in recent years (except impregnation) and in line with the application made to KSPCB for the consent. The condition will not have adverse impact on the production capacity of the graphite electrode division as a whole in the medium and long term.

The said consent would be placed before the board of directors of the company for its perusal, discussion and directions on the way forward taking into consideration all factors into account, including the fact that test results conducted for stack emissions are all within the stipulated limits. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 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.)PM reiterates Union Government's vision of "Housing For All" by 2022

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unveiled important projects related to housing and urban transportation during his visit to Maharashtra. At a public meeting in Kalyan, the Prime Minister laid the Foundation Stone of two important metro corridors. These are the Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan Metro; and the Dahisar-Mira-Bhayander Metro. The two corridors, once completed, will greatly facilitate public transport in the area. Also in Kalyan, he launched the 90,000 units EWS and LIG Housing scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

The total worth of projects for which the Foundation Stone was laid in Kalyan today is about Rs 33000 crore.

In Pune, the Prime Minister laid the Foundation Stone of Pune Metro Phase-3.

Addressing the gathering in Kalyan, the Prime Minister highlighted how the pace of infrastructure and public transport development had been accelerated by the Union Government. He reiterated the Union Government's vision of "Housing For All" by 2022.

Addressing the gathering in Pune, PM said the government is placing great emphasis on connectivity infrastructure. He said the focus is on providing next generation infrastructure, and integration of the transport sector. He said that through Startup India, and Atal Innovation Mission, India is emerging as a centre for technology.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tata Steel rose 0.28% to Rs 524.50 at 10:01 IST on BSE after the company and thyssenkrupp announced executive leadership for the planned joint venture.

The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 December 2018.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 165.53 points, or 0.46% to 36,104.54.

On the BSE, 96,000 shares were traded in the counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 7.19 lakh shares in the past two weeks. The stock had hit a high of Rs 526.20 and a low of Rs 520.10 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 747.25 on 31 January 2018. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 486.90 on 11 December 2018.

Tata Steel and thyssenkrupp have decided on the members of the future management board for the planned European steel joint venture between the two companies.

Andreas Goss, currently chief executive officer (CEO) of thyssenkrupp's steel division, will be the future chief executive officer of the planned joint venture and chair the management board of thyssenkrupp Tata Steel B.V.. Hans Fischer, currently the CEO of Tata Steel Europe, will be the Deputy CEO & chief technology officer of the joint venture. Sandip Biswas, currently the group executive vice president finance of Tata Steel is the designated chief financial officer while Premal Desai currently the chief financial officer of thyssenkrupp Steel Europe will be the chief strategy officer of the joint venture. Apart from the above appointments, it is planned to announce the next management level for the joint venture early in the new year. The management board and the future top leadership team will be responsible for the planning and execution of the post-merger integration and the long-term business strategy once the planned joint venture has received the necessary regulatory approvals and after closing.

Tata Steel and thyssenkrupp AG signed definitive agreements in June 2018 to combine their European steel businesses in a 50/50 joint venture. The proposed new company, to be named thyssenkrupp Tata Steel B.V., headquartered in Amsterdam area will be positioned as a leading pan-European high-quality flat steel producer with a strong focus on performance, quality and technology leadership. The joint venture is subject to merger control clearance in several jurisdictions, including in the European Union.

Both companies remain committed to constructive engagement with the European Commission as part of the ongoing regulatory review process. Both parties are working together to ensure the success of this transaction as soon as possible.

Until the completion of the joint venture process, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe and Tata Steel in Europe will continue to operate as separate companies and as competitors and the incumbent organisation of the respective companies will continue to operate as currently. The members of the designated management board will continue in their existing roles within their businesses until the formation of the joint venture post all regulatory approvals.

Tata Steel's consolidated net profit jumped 206.18% to Rs 3116.20 crore on 33.94% rise in net sales to Rs 42946.98 crore in Q2 September 2018 over Q2 September 2017.

Tata Steel is currently the world's second-most geographically diversified steel producer.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Afghanistan has welcomed the exemption from the Iran sanctions given by the US for the India-developed Chabahar Port project.

"We appreciate the collaboration and flexibility of our strategic partner, the US to work with Afghanistan, Iran and India towards exempting the port from its sanctions," Afghanistan's Permanent Representative Mahmoud Saikal told the Security Council on Monday at its meeting on his country.

"The Chabahar Port remains an important gateway for providing commercially viable access to the sea linking the Indian Ocean with Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond," he said.

India is investing $500 million in the port project in Iran and the road link to Afghanistan, which gives the land-locked nation where the US is heavily invested an alternative sea outlet.

Despite President Donald Trump's animosity towards Iran, the US had to give the exemption to Chabahar to enable Indian assistance to reach Afghanistan, where Washington is mired in a 17-year-war against the Taliban, the Al Qaeda and their allies.

Without access to Chabahar, Afghanistan would be forced to depend solely on Pakistan for a sea passage.

Last month, Washington imposed harsh restrictions on trade relations with Iran, threatening sanctions on those violating the embargo.

This followed Trump pulling out of the nuclear deal signed during former President Barack Obama's tenure between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and the European Union, to end sanctions in return for Tehran stopping nuclear weapons development.

Announcing the US exemption for the Chabahar Port, a State Department spokesperson said last month that it "relates to reconstruction assistance and economic development for Afghanistan. These activities are vital for the ongoing support of Afghanistan's growth and humanitarian relief".

India has sent 1.1 million tonnes of wheat through the port to Afghanistan, where the eastern region has suffered a drought.

Trump's South Asia strategy "underscores our ongoing support of Afghanistan's economic growth and development as well as our close partnership with India", the spokesperson added.

Last year, Trump assigned a "critical" role for India in his country's South Asia strategy for fighting terrorism, building up a safe Afghanistan and appealed for help from New Delhi.

Chabahar would be essential for any large-scale assistance from India to Afghanistan.

With the prospects of peace negotiations with the Taliban improving, Saikal took a conciliatory approach to Pakistan, which he had sternly accused in the past of being complicit in cross-border terrorist attacks.

"We have always asserted that the government of Pakistan has a particularly important role to play, given its leverage over key Taliban figures," he said.

Taliban leaders and Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, met in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday for talks facilitated by Pakistan.

At the trilateral meeting of Foreign Ministers, Salahuddin Rabbani of Afghanistan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi of Pakistan and Wang Yi of China in Kabul last weekend, " we reiterated our request from Pakistan to do what is necessary to facilitate direct talks", Saikal said.

"And in regards to security, we asserted that mutual trust and confidence is only possible when we see a reduction in violence, and more tangible measures against terrorist elements," he added.

(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.)European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Tuesday urged Europe and Africa to intensify their cooperation.

"Europe needs Africa and Africa needs Europe," Juncker said in a speech during the one-day High-Level Forum Africa-Europe in Vienna, called by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who is the chairman of African Union for 2018, and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of Austria, which serves the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2018, Xinhua reported.

Juncker called for building a relationship on equal footing with joint responsibilities, arguing that previously there had been a "giver-taker" relationship, with Europe providing development aid.

In recent years, Juncker said, Europe-Africa relations had diminished somewhat, centring primarily around the migration crisis. For this reason the forum would not dwell on that issue, he added.

Juncker said the European Union (EU) must focus more on investment and trade, and do more to ensure that trade in Africa becomes "fairer and more sustainable."

European firms need to be encouraged to build a stronger presence in Africa, said the president, who believed that a more business-friendly environment can be achieved.

The forum aims to provide a space for European and African leaders, together with CEOs of major global companies, innovation champions, start-ups and other stakeholders, to act on what needs to be done to secure prosperity and competitiveness on both continents, with a specific focus on innovation and digitalisation.

--IANS

pgh/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)WASHINGTON

The decision by a federal court judge on Friday to strike down the Affordable Care Act strengthens the case for "Medicare for all," according to Dr. Adam Gaffney, president of the Physicians for a National Health Program."The end of the Affordable Care Act would strip health coverage from millions of Americans, potentially causing the deaths of thousands of people a year," Gaffney told Capital News Service in an email. "No doubt, we have to push back against them. At the same time, these sorts of attacks are only further galvanizing people behind the cause of improved Medicare for all."Gaffney's 20,000-member doctors' group is an advocate for government-sponsored health care.U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor ruled on Friday that the Obamacare law was unconstitutional, an argument made by a number of states including Texas. It appears likely the ruling will be appealed to the Supreme Court.The ruling in a Texas courtroom is the latest milepost in a debate that played out in the midterm elections with progressive Democrats campaigning on a Medicare for all platform that would guarantee health care for everyone. That debate appears to be intensifying with new efforts to push legislation in Congress and with the approach of the 2020 presidential election.Exactly one week after the midterms, the 150,000-member National Nurses United union sponsored a nationwide conference call.Energized by what the nurses believed was a shift in attitudes during the campaign, the group launched a grass-roots effort to transform American health care. The union is marching under the Medicare for all banner.First stop on the crusade: Capitol Hill, to move the legislative agenda forward.One of the speakers on that post-election call was Rep. Pramilia Jayapal, D-Washington. She addressed the importance of the moment."It's not going to be enough to just say you support the billput your name on it, because we're going to be pushing for it, said Jayapal, who is co-founder of the House Medicare for All Caucus that she says has grown to 77 members.The call for Medicare for all excited progressive Democrats in the midterm elections much like fears of a migrant invasion motivated "build the wall" conservatives. Those same conservatives also are opposed to what they say is a government takeover of health care.At a CNN town hall event last year, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said, "if you want Medicare for all, you're going to wind up with Medicare for nobody."Whatever the view inside the Beltway, public opinion is now in favor of broad health care reform. According to an August Reuters-Ipsos poll, 70 percent of Americans (85 percent of Democrats and 52 percent of Republicans) now support Medicare for all legislation.In a post earlier this month on the prestigious Health Affairs blog, Don Berwick, a physician and the former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and his co-authors, conclude Medicare for all is finally "within the realm of political possibility."Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, jump-started the latest chapter of the health policy debate during his 2016 run for the White House.His oft-repeated theme that the nation should build a universal system by expanding Medicare, primarily a program for the elderly, captured the imagination of many millennial and progressive voters."This is going to be an inside, outside strategy," said Sanders, who was also on the nurses' call. He urged Democrats to maximize the opportunity afforded by their midterm election successes."We know that the fight for health care justice is growing, but if we're going to win, we've got to go deeper," Bonnie Castillo, executive director of the nurses' union, said during the call. "We cannot simply rely on the electoral process to make it happen."Castillo's comment is a telling reminder that even though the Democrats flipped the House, gaining a majority in that chamber was just one step toward making the American government the single payer of almost all medical bills.That, in sum, is what Sanders' bill in the Senate would do. It has 15 cosponsors and its close companion measure in the House has 123 backersall Democrats except Sanders."We have a ways to go, but we're moving forward," says internist David Himmelstein, a distinguished professor of public health and health policy at Hunter College in New York City. A champion of single payer reform for decades, Himmelstein said he is encouraged by the growing ranks of progressive politicians.Katie Hill, a 31-year old activist, used health care as an issue to defeat a Republican incumbent in California's 25th Congressional District. Voters in Wisconsin returned Medicare for all backer Tammy Baldwin to the U.S. Senate.However, the midterms also resulted in some big progressive disappointments, like the Texas Senate race and contests for governor in Georgia and Florida. In the Maryland governor's race, unsuccessful Democratic challenger Democrat Ben Jealous made a state version of Medicare for all a primary issue in his campaign."There is a groundswell of grassroots support for improved Medicare for all," wrote Gaffney."Every candidate had to respond to this groundswell one way or another," he said. "That being said, not as many embraced it as I would've liked."Meanwhile, progressives who insist on Medicare for all reform worry centrist Democrats like former California Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman. He fears that "single payer or else" advocates may split the party and hurt its overall chances of winning back both houses of Congress and the White House in 2020."What bothers me is that a lot of people are saying that I'm going to be for single payer or I'm going to be for Medicare for all," Waxman said. "That's fine, but they shouldn't lose sight of all the things they can be doing, by doing what they would aspire to do."During his 40-year forty year career in the House, Waxman put his watermark on virtually every major piece of health care legislation. While he agrees health care is a right, he said a Medicare for all fight would be counterproductive now."That's aspirational, and it cannot be done all at once," he said, adding that the first priority should be rebuilding and improving the Affordable Care Act. In spite of Republican efforts to undo it, Obamacare has reduced the ranks of the uninsured between 17 to 20 million Americans.While it's been getting a lot of attention recently, the single payer idea isn't new.Running as a progressive candidate for president in 1912, Theodore Roosevelt proposed a plan to expand health care nationally.President Franklin Roosevelt wanted to include universal health care coverage as a part of Social Security legislation during the Great Depression but felt it was politically unfeasible.President Harry Truman tried to get a national insurance plan adopted after World War II but it didn't happen. In fact, Truman attended the signing ceremony for Medicare legislation in 1965part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs that also created Medicaid insurance for the poor.Since then, every president has proposed some way of increasing access to coverage, but progressive Democrats believe government should guarantee health care as a right and pay for it, something Republicans condemn as "socialized medicine."Foreshadowing a potential veto of any future single-payer legislation, President Donald Trump attacked Medicare for all legislation in an October USA Today op-ed piece: "Every American will be harmed by such a radical shift in American culture and life.""Virtually everywhere it has been tried, socialism has brought suffering, misery and decay," the president insisted."The key point is that the United States has been staggering toward broader coverage for a century, taking fitful periodic steps, not quite getting to the finish line, while other countries have done so in many and various ways," writes Henry Aaron, a health care economist with the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "'Single payer' is a mind-numbing slogan without clear meaning."According to a New York State Department of Health study, 32 nations currently provide universal health health care, although their individual approaches vary. Norway was the first to do so in 1912. Japan followed suit in 1938, and the United Kingdom inaugurated its National Health Service in the wake of World War II.By contrast, American health insurance evolved as an employee benefit, not a government commitment.However, even though 30 million Americans are uninsured and premiums continue to rise, Aaron believes fixing Obamacare is preferable to diving into the unknowns of a single-payer system."The idea of turning upside down one-sixth of the U.S. economy and using up what inevitably is going to be a large proportion of the energy and physical capacity of the country to address just this problem is a severe misallocation of political and economic resources," Aaron said in an interview.Even though Aaron predicted that single-payer cost controls would mean less lower pay for doctors, more physicians are thinking Medicare for all would will be the change that finally revolutionizes U.S. health care.That is 25-year-old Alec Feuerbach's fervent hope."I had this ethical belief that your ability to pay shouldn't limit your access to care," Feuerbach said in an interview.Originally, he was looking forward to medical school at the University of Colorado, where he could combine his studies with ski trips to the Rockies. Instead, he chose a college in New York City because he saw it as a place where his professional ambition matched his personal philosophy of providing care to the poor."The demographics in medicine are shifting, perhaps not as fast as they should be," said Feuerbach, now a fourth-year medical student. Because of concerns he could be misconstrued as an institutional spokesman, Feuerbach didn't want his medical school identified.A poll done last year by Merritt Hawkins, a physician-recruiting firm, found that 56 percent of doctors now favor single-payer health care, compared to 2008 when 58 percent were opposed.At a national meeting last June, a group of young doctors pressured the American Medical Association, the largest doctor trade group, to consider the merits of a single-payer systemsomething the AMA has opposed for decades as economically unsustainable."It's all about money," said Dr. Jim Curran, dean of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a former official at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The whole system is corrupted by, 'Let's see what we can get.'"In Curran's view, American health care is deteriorating as companies and academic health centers consolidate the practice of medicine in the name of greater profits.While Curran said the government should expand coverage to everyone, he believes the chances of a Sanders-type reform are "fanciful."Not surprisingly, dollar estimates of putting single-payer health care in place vary widely depending on who is making the prediction.Proponents of Sanders' program say their approach, if enacted now, would cost $6 trillion less than the current system during the next 10 years.However, Aaron estimated Medicare for all would cost $1.4 trillion more per year.A study from by the conservative Mercatus Center at George Mason University said that Medicare for all would increase government health care expenditures by $32 trillion during in the next 10 years."We have not yet figured out how we're going to pay for the benefits of the over-65 population," said Gail Wilensky, who ran the Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs in the George W. Bush Administration. "It's just unbelievably irresponsible to talk about expanding the access to Medicare when we're just clueless about how we're going to pay for what we've already promised."But Dr. Oliver Fein, an associate dean at the Weill Cornel Medical College and past president of the Physicians for a National Health Program, said overhauling the current health care model would address that concern."There is evidence out there that if we moved toward a single-payer approach we would actually be able to reduce the cost of health care in the United States, which is double other industrialized countries largely because of the administrative costs in our system," Fein said.Fein recalled that in 2009, when President Barack Obama was crafting the Affordable Care Act, a single-payer advocate wasn't even at the table. That's when Fein got on the phone to complain and was subsequently offered an invitation by the White House to participate in the discussion.Obama wasn't converted at the time, but Fein has taken the long view."I hope to see a real understanding of single-payer that could be more meaningful," Fein said. "There may be a growing awareness of that in the next decade and possibly transformative."In a September speech, Obama noted Democratic candidates were "running on good ideas like Medicare for all."After successful electoral outings in three states, even as the Congress is on the upswing as it braces to take down the Narenda Modi government at the centre in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the two other key players - the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) - are busy rethinking their prospective grand alliance with the Grand Old Party, at least in UP.

In May, flash bulbs popped with maddening frenzy as opposition leaders converged at Bengaluru at H.D. Kumarswamy's swearing-in as the Karnataka Chief Minister. However, the buzz was missing at the oath-taking cerremonies in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh earlier this week as both the regional satraps from Uttar Pradesh - Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati skipped the events.

This, despite the fact that both BSP and SP extended their support in government formation in MP. What is both interesting and intriguing is that the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) also skipped the ceremonies despite Ajit Singh's sole legislator helping the Congress get a majority in Rajasthan.

While many reasons are being floated for their absence, from sprain in the leg to delayed flights, insiders here say there is more than meets the eye in the absence. Sources in the opposition camp say that with a "common minority vote bank at stake", the SP and BSP both are "uncomfortable with the prospect of coming together with the Congress, which might eat into the Muslim votes".

A senior BSP leader told IANS that while the rivalry with the SP was a "thing of the past" and that both parties had "almost arrived at a seat-sharing formula for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the chances of Congress being on board were almost negligible. The problem, he pointed, out was the possibility of UP's Muslims changing track to the erstwhile weak and lost Congress in Muslim-majority parliamentary constituencies as they feel it is a better option in national elections.

A reliable source said that 'Behen ji' (Mayawati) had offered 40 seats to SP and would contest an equal number of UP's 80 Lok Sabha seats. The Dalit powerhouse had made it clear to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav that if he thought Congress should be on board, he would have to cede seats from his quota to both the Congress and the RLD.

With the Congress now making a string comeback in the Hindi heartland, the SP-BSP leaders are jittery about a vote transfer of Muslims to the Grand Old Party, a development that could cost them dearly in the general elections.

The BJP had won 73 seats along with its ally Apna Dal in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. With the support of the backward classes and the Jats, it had swept western UP. A Similar voting trend was seen in the 2017 state assembly polls. It has been an accepted norm for some years now that the RLD and the BJP have the Jat vote bank, Mayawati draws the Dalit votes and the Muslims go to the Congress, the BSP and the SP.

There are 35 seats in Uttar Pradesh where Muslims, who constitute 19 per cent of the state's 22 crore-plus population, play a crucial role. The Muslim voter population is more than 30 per cent in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies. It is more than 40 per cent In constituencies like Moradabad, Bijnore, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur and between 30-40 per cent in Kairana, Baghpat, Meerut. Ghaziabad has 25 per cent Muslim voters, while Nagina and Bareilly also have sizeable Muslim voters as do Sambhal and Rampur.

This vote could in 2019 till in favour of the Congress, the original preference of the Muslims, but the party had, in the past 10 years, lost out to the BSP and the SP.

A senior leader pointed out that RLD, which fought the election with Congress in Rajasthan and even won a seat from Bharatpur, is leaning towards the BSP-SP combine, which it feels, could not only prevent a split votes in western UP, its pocket borough, but will also get its vote bank transferred to it where the RLD contests.

While Congress leaders in the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) were initially clamouring for a space in the proposed 'Maha Gathbandhan' in the state, it now appears to be on a trip of its own. The recent wins in the state assembly elections has pumped in enough adrenalin in the Congress camp for its leaders to say it was "not dying to be in the grand alliance".

"We want a respectable seat share or else we, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi will fight on our own," a veteran Congress leader said while pointing out that in the 2009 general elections, the Congress beat doomsday sayers and won 20 plus seats.

Whatever be the case, the prospects of the grand alliance seem to be getting bleaker with every passing day.

(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in)

--IANS

md/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath came under fire from the Samajwadi Party (SP) on Tuesday for his comments that the people of his state have the first right over job opportunities in the state and that their jobs are being usurped by the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said this statement of the newly-sworn in MP Chief Minister is not in good spirit and that it echoed the sentiments of anti-north Indian rant often heard from some leaders in Maharashtra.

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also said that people should now ask the Central government for their opinion on the matter.

The 45-year-old leader said that by targeting the people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Kamal Nath is not doing any good and that the Congress leader should realise that people from these two states play a pivotal role in formation of the Central government.

"UP aur Bihar ke logon ko nishana banana theek nahin hai, yahan ke log hi kendra ki sarkar banaate hain," he said apparently suggesting to the Congress veteran to watch his words as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have enormous political muscles to flex.

The MP Chief Minister had said that he wants more job opportunities to its youth rather than allowing people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to come and take these employment opportunities.

The statement has been slammed by many on the social media and has enraged the political class, specially in Uttar Pradesh.

--IANS

md/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)With a wide range of Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools at its disposal, Amazon Web Services (AWS), the Cloud arm of online retail giant Amazon, is busy helping its customers in India, bringing to their doorsteps innovative solutions that address the challenges they face.

Amazon Internet Services Private Limited (AISPL), the Indian subsidiary of the Amazon Group that undertakes the resale and marketing of AWS Cloud services in India, brought to the country earlier this year a digital innovation programme headed by Madhusudan Shekar.

"In a heterogeneous country like India, the scope of innovation is tremendous," Shekar, Head of Digital Innovation at AISPL, told IANS here, pointing out the diversity of needs in a country of over 1.2 billion people.

According to him, while start-ups are by nature quite innovative in their approach, the risk of inertia to innovation seeping in is higher in large enterprises.

"But large enterprises are always looking for innovations in areas such as optimising operational costs. We can help them find innovation solutions in these areas too," Shekar noted in an interview on the sidelines of the Amazon AI Conclave held here last week.

"With the availability of a wide range of AI, ML, analytics and Internet of Things (IoT) tools and pre-trained models with AWS, the cost and time required for innovation come down drastically," he explained, adding that businesses just need to fine-tune these models according to their needs, thereby saving time spent on building them from scratch.

Among the start-ups that showcased their innovative solutions at the event was ChironX, a Gurugram-based company which is using AI and Deep Learning for medical diagnostics.

The AI model that the company has built analyses retinal fundus images in seconds to detect several diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, hypertensive retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema.

"Our solution is now used by several hospitals in India," said Rito Maitra, Vice President for Product at ChironX, adding that its data infrastructure needs are supported by AWS.

AWS, which is betting big on AI and ML for its growth, has over hundreds and thousands of active customers in the country.

"Every customer conversation that we have today has an element of AI and ML in it -- whether they are enterprises, start-ups or other organisations," Navdeep Manaktala, Head of Business Development, AISPL, told IANS, adding that over 85 per cent of what AWS does is driven by customer needs.

AWS has a broad portfolio of AI and ML services in areas such as text-to speech conversion, image analysis and document analysis, among others.

Shaadi.com, one of the world's largest online matrimonial services, and Woo, a dating app, are among the company's two biggest customers from India that use Amazon "Rekognition" -- a Deep Learning-based image-analysis service.

The matrimonial website believes that with the use of "Rekognition", it could reduce the time it takes for a picture to appear on a user's profile by 95 per cent as a lot of time spent on manual moderation of the picture to see whether it matches the description in the profile can be cut.

"Amazon Rekognition APIs (application programming interface), particularly 'DetectFaces', provide rich image metadata that we can use to apply our business-specific quality guidelines to. Utilising information such as number of faces, size of faces, and estimated age range, we were able to remove photo-level manual curation work entirely," said Sumesh Menon, Co-Founder of Woo.

Manaktala said that ML is also helping AWS better understand the customer needs, helping them secure their data. "The pace of innovation, in spite of our size, is tremendous," Manaktala added.

With services such as Amazon "SageMaker", the company also allows developers and data scientists to build, train and deploy Machine Learning models.

It also has what is known as AWS Partner Network (APN), a global programme focused on helping APN Partners build successful businesses or solutions by providing business, technical, marketing and go-to-market support.

Overall, the company offers over 125 fully featured services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, ML and AI, IoT, mobile, security, hybrid, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), media, and application development, deployment, and management.

(Gokul Bhagabati can be contacted at gokul.b@ians.in)

--IANS

gb/na/sac

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Renewing speculation of Apple's self-driving car, the Cupertino-based tech giant has hired former Tesla senior designer Andrew Kim.

Kim worked extensively on Tesla Model 3, S, X and Y along with the Roadster V2 and the Semi.

"His LinkedIn profile says that he joined the company in December of this year, while his Instagram confirms that his first day working at Apple Park was last Tuesday," according to a report in The Verge on Monday.

Kim's hiring comes after Doug Field, Tesla's chief vehicle engineer, returned to Apple in August.

He also worked on the design of Microsoft Windows 10 UI and products like HoloLens and the Xbox One S.

In an interview published last year, he said that his focus at Tesla was on designing the cabin space inside the Model 3, a challenge that had to balance the needs of a car that could be driven by both a human and, eventually, a computer.

CNBC earlier reported that Apple has hired several former Tesla employees over the course of 2018.

The Cupertino-based company has largely remained silent on its plans about the Apple Car.

Many industry watchers have called the Apple Car the worst-kept secret of the Silicon Valley.

Apple is currently testing number of autonomous Lexus SUVs in California.

The company has also partnered with Volkswagen to help create a fleet of self-driving employee shuttles for its Cupertino campus.

--IANS

na/ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A school in Bihar's Vaishali district has been alleged to have been segregating student based on religion and caste that has prompted the government to launch an inquiry.

The government-run GA Plus 2 School in Lalganj has been segregating students into different sections and rooms based on their religions and caste, Bihar Minister Krishnandan Prasad Verma said, ordering an inquiry into the matter.

He assured those found guilty would be punished.

"It is unfortunate and wrong if such situation exists in any school. It is against the law to divide students on the basis of their religion and caste in any school," Verma said.

Lalganj Block officer Arvind Kumar Tiwari said he has visited the school after complaints were lodged about the practice.

"Prima facie it appears to be true. We are sending a report to the District Officer in this matter and action will be initiated," he added.

School Principal Meena Kumari, though, said such arrangements of segregation were made to ensure smooth working and implementation of different schemes.

"There was no protest against it by parents and students," she said, adding "Till date no discrimination has been made in the school on the basis of caste or religious identity."

According to reports, students belonging to Muslim and Hindu are made to sit in different sections and rooms. There are separate classrooms for Dalits, OBCs and upper caste, Tiwari who visited the school said.

The matter also becomes clear from the school attendance registers.

The attendance register for students are also separate as per religion and caste. It is so arranged that Dalits and Muslim students hardly get any chance to visit other classrooms.

Outside the school, however, all students cutting across religion and caste lines play together, arrive to school together and return home along with their schoolmates.

--IANS

ik/in

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The opposition Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday promised to waive all farm loans in the state, if they are voted to power in the 2019 elections.

"The party would waive the agricultural loans in the state if it comes to power in 2019 elections. Besides, the party would make provisions for interest-free loans to farmers," said BJP state unit president Basant Panda.

Panda said the party will organise 'Mandi Chaala Abhiyan' from Tuesday to January 7 across the state. He alleged that there were gross irregularities in the paddy procurement centres (mandis) in the state.

During the march, the party workers will stage demonstrations and burn effigies of Food Supplies and Cooperation Minister Surya Narayan Patro in front of all the mandis across the state.

The opposition Congress also tried to cash in on the farmers' issue as it announced to write off the agriculture loans if voted to power in the ensuing elections.

"The day Congress assumes power, it will announce a farm loan waiver. It is only because of the debacle in recent assembly elections the BJP has declared a waiver of farm loans," said Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik.

He also promised to increase the MSP on paddy.

"Within 10 hours of forming government in Chhattisgarh, the Congress increased the MSP from Rs 1,700 to Rs 2500. It's our solemn promise to the farmers of Odisha that when we form government in Odisha in 2019, we will do the same for them," said Patnaik.

Reacting to the opposition, Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy said they are only making statements without any basis.

He said the Naveen Patnaik government has taken several welfare measures for the farming community and will take other steps in the coming days.

IANS

cd/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party to provide three tentative dates for its proposed Rath Yatra in Bengal and submit a list of self-restrictions to be followed during the rally.

The BJP had moved court with a fresh plea on Monday after the Bengal government denied permission for the statewide rally, also known as 'Ganatantra Bachao Yatra' (save democracy rally), earlier this week, stating there was "grave apprehension of major breach of peace and communal violence during and in the aftermath" of the programme.

The single judge bench further instructed the Advocate-General of the state to submit video recordings of the meeting held between the state government officials and a BJP delegation on December 13 to find a solution to the impasse.

Hearing in the matter is slated to continue on Wednesday.

The saffron outfit was originally scheduled to hold three 'rath yatras' from north Bengal's Cooch Behar, South 24 Parganas district's Gangasagar and Birbhum district's temple town of Tarapith on December 6, 9 and 14 respectively but was denied permission by a single judge bench of the Calcutta High Court.

The party then moved a division bench of the High Court which directed the West Bengal chief secretary, the home secretary and the director general of police to hold a meeting with a three-member BJP delegation to take a decision on the matter.

Following Tuesday's hearing, the Bengal BJP leadership said they are hopeful to get a positive verdict from the court.

"The Trinamool Congress government is hellbent on stopping our programmes. But we are hopeful that we will be able to get a positive verdict from the court to hold the save democracy rally," said state BJP leader Jay Prakash Majumdar.

The ruling Trinamool Congress, however, ridiculed the BJP, claiming the party does not have enough supporters to hold rallies of such magnitude.

"The BJP would have taken out the Rath Yatra if they had the manpower. But do they have the support base to hold such programmes? They themselves are scared," said Panchayat Minister Subrata Chatterjee.

"It is up to the government to give permission for political programmes. Aren't the other opposition parties holding their programmes in the state? But if there is a possibility of communal tension and violence due to a particular programme, the government cannot permit that," he said.

--IANS

mgr/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The CBI on Tuesday examined Hyderabad-based businessman Sathish Babu Sana to verify and corroborate his statement on the basis of which the agency had filed a bribery case against its Special Director Rakesh Asthana in midst of his ugly spat with Director Alok Verma.

A new Central Bureau of Investigation team constituted by interim Director M. Nageswara Rao asked Sana to clarify "discrepancies" in his complaint against Asthana, sources said.

The team was formed immediately after the government sent Verma and Asthana on forced leave on October 23 in the wake of a feud between them. Rao had reconstituted the team and transferred the members of erstwhile team.

The CBI questioned Sana to verify his October 4 and October 16 statement before a magistrate under Section 164 of Crimianl Procedure Code about his meetings with various middlemen in New Delhi as well as Dubai that led the agency to lodge an FIR. The statement recorded before the magistrate is considered a confessional statement and in case the complainant withdraws from it, the prosecuting agency can file a perjury case.

An accused in meat exporter Moin Qureshi case, Sana has sought relief from court from the repeated CBI summons issued against him. A CBI team probing a corruption case against Qureshi which was headed by Asthana claimed by Sana was issuing summons against him.

Sana has alleged in a complaint to CBI, which is part of FIR, that investment banker Manoj Prasad had assured him of relief from CBI summons if he agreed to pay Rs 5-crore bribe.

The Hyderabad businessman has also alleged that he was assured by Prasad that his brother Somesh manages investments of Asthana in London and he is in touch with two other senior officers of various agencies.

Prasad was arrested by the CBI on October 16 when he was returning from Dubai to allegedly collect a part of the bribe.

As per the CBI, it has detected five alleged payments to middlemen by Sana -- Rs 1 crore on December 10, 2017, Rs 1.95 crore on December 13, 2017, Rs 25 lakh on October 10, 2018 and two tranche of 25,000 Dirham and 3,000 Dirham on October 14.

The CBI claims that it has corroborated details of payment with phone intercepts, WhatsApp messages recovered from the phone of middleman Prasad, and tower locations to buttress its charges.

--IANS

rak/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday approved new tourist and trekking routes in Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, a government statement said.

The new tourists routes are Merak-Lema Bend, Chushul-Kartsangla-Mahe, Durbuk-Shahikul-Tharuk-Sato Kargyam-Parma-Erath-Chusul and Loma-Hanley, Korzok-Nurbo-Sumdo-Parangla-Kazaand, and Agyam-Shayok-Durbuk.

The proposed new trekking routes are Phyang-Dokla-HunderDok-Hunder, Basgo-Ney-HunderDok-Hunder, Temisgam-Largyap-Panchathang-Skuru and Saspol-Saspochey-Rakurala-Skuru.

"Buoyed by the success of many tourism initiatives under Prime Minister's Development Package-2015, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has taken yet another leap by proposing to open up more tourists/trekking routes in Ladakh with the aim of recapturing the glory, rich culture and beauty of the region," said the statement.

With the objective of giving fillip to the tourism sector and enhancing the economic activity in the "Land of High Passes" (Ladakh), the Home Ministry has approved the proposal of Jammu and Kashmir government to open up more tourists and trekking routes in the region.

"To ensure smooth movement of the tourists within the Leh district, the validity of permit system for tourists visiting Ladakh region has been increased to 15 days from previous limit of seven days. To ensure safety and security, the tourists/ trekkers shall not be allowed to night-stay on all trekking routes.

"For effective management of the new routes, Jammu and Kashmir government has been advised to constitute a Coordinate Committee at the district level chaired by Deputy Commissioner, Leh, with the representatives of Army, state police, ITBP and other security agencies. The Committee will meet once in three months to ensure smooth management of the existing as well as new routes," said the statement.

--IANS

rak/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Mika Brzezinski, co-host of the television political talk show Morning Joe is under heavy criticism for using what some have called an anti-gay slur.

The slur came as Brzezinski was questioning U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeos stance regarding Saudi Arabias murder and mutilation of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Is that a patriot speaking or a wannabe dictators butt boy?, Brzezinski asked her colleague and husband Joe Scarborough.

The outcry from conservatives was swift with U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell calling Brzezinskis comments outrageous.

This is totally unacceptable & deeply disturbing. Sexualizing gay people this way is designed to control them and minimize our worth, Grenell tweeted.

Brzezinski apologized Wednesday, tweeting her choice of words was SUPER BAD and adding she should have described Pompeos role as that of a water boy.

Parallels were quickly drawn to the recent controversy involving actor Kevin Hart, who withdrew as host of the Academy Awards over homophobic tweets.

This is disgusting! tweeted Donald Trump, Jr. How can @KevinHart4real essentially be forced to lose his Oscars gig for comments he made years ago as a comedian, but Mika can make a seriously homophobic slur on a major news station, have the network try to cover it up & its not an issue? Give me a break!

President Trump called Brzezinski crazed but doubted she would lose her job.

She will probably be given a pass despite their terrible ratings, Trump tweeted on Thursday.

Pompeo, appearing on the television program Fox & Friends declined to say if he believed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salmans explanation for the killing. Pompeo dodged questions and said some of the reporting of the incident had been inaccurate.

MSNBC did not censor Brzezinskis butt boy comment and the network has declined comment.Chinese President on Tuesday vowed that his country will not develop at the expense of other nations, in a speech marking 40 years of reform.

In his speech from the Great Hall of the People in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, Xi said despite China's growth, it would "never seek global hegemony" and also highlighted Beijing's contributions towards a "shared future for mankind", the BBC reported.

Late leader Deng Xiaoping's campaign of "reform and opening up" was initiated in 1978 and the program was ratified on December 18 that year.

Xi spent much of his long speech listing examples of China's progress over the past decades, praising them as "epic achievements that moved heaven and earth".

He said that given its success, "no one is in a position to dictate to China what to do or not to do".

At the same time, he stressed what he described as Chinese efforts to work towards the greater global good, saying Beijing was a "promoter of world peace," a "defender of order" and holding "a leading role in dealing with climate change".

Xi described Deng's reforms as a "break from the shackles" of previous mistakes.

The reform path turned the country away from the old style communism of Mao Zedong when collectivisation had led to an impoverished and inefficient economy.

He said the last 40 years had been a "quantum leap for socialism with Chinese characteristics," driving China's "great rejuvenation in modern times".

The transformation focussed on agricultural reform, private sector liberalisation, industry modernisation and opening to trade, the BBC quoted the President as saying.Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday vowed that his country will not develop at the expense of other nations, in a speech marking 40 years since China introduced major economic reforms.

However, he also said that the global superpower would not be told what to do by anyone, the BBC reported.

Late leader Deng Xiaoping's campaign of "reform and opening up" began four decades ago. The resulting growth has made China the second-largest economy in the world.

Hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty but in recent years, China has struggled with mounting debt and slowing economic growth.

Xi said despite his country's economic achievements, China would "never seek global hegemony" and also highlighted its contributions towards a "shared future for mankind".

He did not mention the current trade dispute with the US.

China continues to crack down on political dissent and is accused of locking up hundreds of thousands of Muslims without trial in the western region of Xinjiang.

Its militarisation of islands in the South China Sea -- home to vital shipping lanes -- has sparked concerns among Asian neighbours that it seeks to dominate the region.

Critics also say that while China is helping to build much-needed infrastructure across Asia and Africa, it is saddling countries with billions in debt in a bid to gain strategic influence.

Xi spent much of his lengthy speech listing examples of China's progress over the past decades, praising them as "epic achievements that moved heaven and Earth".

He said that given its success, "no one is in a position to dictate to the Chinese people what should or should not be done".

At the same time, he stressed what he described as Chinese efforts to work towards the greater global good, saying Beijing was a "promoter of world peace", a "defender of international order" and holding "a leading role in dealing with climate change".

China's economic reform was initiated by then leader Deng Xiaoping in 1978 and the programme was ratified on December 18 that year.

The reform path turned the country away from the old-style communism of Mao Zedong when collectivisation had led to an impoverished and inefficient economy.

The transformation focussed on agricultural reform, private sector liberalisation, industry modernisation and opening to international trade.

Xi Jinping described the reforms as a "break from the shackles" of previous mistakes.

He said the last 40 years had been a "quantum leap for socialism with Chinese characteristics," driving China's "great rejuvenation in modern times".

The Chinese President made no direct mention of the current trade dispute with the US but stressed his country's contribution to economic globalisation and international order.

Despite the economic reforms, the past decades have not brought change to China's rigid one-party system of communist rule.

The Chinese President gave his speech on Tuesday in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, where calls for political reforms were brutally crushed by the military in 1989.

Xi Jinping is widely seen as China's most influential leader since Mao Zedong. In 2017, he cemented his power, enshrining his political views in the constitution.

In his address, Xi reiterated his belief in strengthening the party leadership and praised Beijing's crackdown on corruption.

Critics say the rule of Xi Jinping has been marked by an ever-intensifying crackdown on political dissent and any groups that the Communist Party sees as a threat to its authority, such as unofficial Christian churches and labour activists.

--IANS

pgh/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Chinese university had reportedly cancelled Bollywood's actor Aamir Khan's fan meet, citing the organiser's failure to seek permission to use the campus.

Khan is currently in China to promote his latest movie "Thugs of Hindustan".

The event, which was to take plac eon Monday, in Guangdong University of Finance and Economics (GUFE) in Guangzhou was for the promotion of the movie which is slated to release in China next week.

According to the Chinese media, the school did not know about the promotional event until Monday.

"The message was spread only among a small group of students through social media. The school only knew about it when students talked about the event hours before it was about to take place," the Global Times quoted an employee of the varsity as saying.

However, the Weibo account that promotes Khan's films announced the school had cancelled the event "unilaterally" as the "the students were overly enthusiastic".

The post angered many students, who said the university did not know about the event at all before Monday.

Many students said they waited outside the event site for over an hour.

"It is obviously the organiser's fault for not applying to the school to use an on-campus building," net user Swim Xinzhu, a student from GUFE, said.

"We have held similar events before and there would be no issue if the organiser had reported in advance," an employee of the varsity said.

The organiser's deputy manager, a Beijing-based film-promoting company, reposted the Weibo post by Khan's film account, saying they were contacting the film crew and the school to figure out what caused the poor communication.

The fan meet was soon relocated to a Four Seasons hotel not far from the campus and ended at around 11 p.m. on Monday night.

--IANS

gsh/ksk/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said here on Tuesday that the northeast became 'Congress mukt (free)' following the Mizoram Assembly polls and the region would become a stronghold for the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

"As the Congress kept the northeastern states in the dark for more than 60 years, the people of the region removed the party from all the eight states making the region 'Congress Mukt'," he told the media.

Sonowal said that of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the eight states, the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies would secure almost all.

"The NDA government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given top priority for the all round development of the region. Surface communication, other connectivities and all round growth has eliminated its backwardness," the Chief Minister said.

Sonowal arrived here on Tuesday to address the media on the Rafale fighter jet deal.

"Under the directions of the Prime Minister, all the Union Ministries have taken exemplary initiatives for the all round development of the eight northeastern states. The frustrated Congress party after its repeated defeats in the northeast, unleashed a misinformation campaign against the BJP. Like other parts of India, the Modi government already transformed the region.

"Due to the betrayal of the Congress, the party is now nowhere to be seen in the eight states," Sonowal said.

Demanding an apology from Congress President Rahul Gandhi, the BJP leader said that the party should disclose its source of "misinformation and misleading facts" about the Rafale fighter jet deal.

Tripura BJP leaders including Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma accompanied Sonowal during the press briefing.

--IANS

sc/ksk/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday said the Congress was running away from a debate on Rafale as its party chief Rahul Gandhi cannot look the BJP in the eye and tell the truth if such a debate was to be held in Parliament on the defence deal.

"Mr Rahul Gandhi, we are willing to have a debate in Parliament on Rafale deal. Don't run away from the debate. The Congress party today squandered a debate in Lok sabha and Rajya Sabha," Prasad told reporters outside Parliament.

"You owe an apology to the country as the Supreme Court today, after detailed analysis, has exposed the lies that were attempted to be spread in the country on the Rafale jet deal.

"I know why the Congress is running away from the debate. It is because if the debate happens, many skeletons in the cupboard of the Congress party will come out in defence deals," he said.

The Minister was responding to the Congress chief's remarks who earlier said the government was scared of a probe in the Rafale deal.

The Congress and other opposition parties have been demanding a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) into the Rs 59,000 crore Rafale fighter jet deal with France.

Prasad said a JPC cannot be formed "to satisfy the ego of a half-learned leader".

"Moreover, they must come for a debate even for a JPC," he added.

He also took strong exception to Gandhi's remarks who said he would not let Prime Minister Narendra Modi sleep.

"This is a new low in the public discourse. But nothing better is expected from Rahul Gandhi whose party ensured that people of the country did not sleep for 60 years due to corruption, malgovernance and patronage of selected people. The entire saga of suffering of farmers is too well known," Prasad said.

He also alleged that Vijay Mallya's loans were "restructured" during the Congress-led UPA government.

--IANS

mak/in/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Admitting using Section 7 of the RBI Act to force a discussion with the central bank on liquidity and credit issues, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said he could not have let the economy starve for liquidity.

As for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s economic capital, he said it was never the main issue between the government and the RBI and that the government does not want any money from the bank's reserves to fix its fiscal deficit.

"The main issue was not the economic capital framework. It's an issue for a medium term. But the immediate issue is we can't allow our economy to starve (on liquidity)," Jaitley said at a summit hosted by television channel Republic TV here.

Stating that his government had the best fiscal deficit track record, he declared that even in the current year, he will meet the announced fiscal deficit target within the available resources.

"I don't want any money from the Reserve Bank's reserves at the moment. The only question which was raised were really two...there were several questions around two important facts -- first relating to liquidity in certain sectors of the economy and availability of credit," he said.

In his tiff with the RBI, which ended with Governor Urjit Patel resigning last week, Jaitley said he always respects the bank's autonomy, but as a sovereign and accountable government, he had to flag the liquidity issue for which he used all tools available.

"We used every instrument available to our advantage to force a discussion and whatever steps we took -- informal plus formal and statutory -- were really to flag the issue of liquidity and credit," he said hinting at the Section 7 of the RBI Act, which was never used earlier.

The section empowers the government to give directions to the central bank on matters of public interest even if the RBI or its Governor holds a different view.

Stating that there was never a breakdown in his relationship with the central banker, Jaitley said he wanted the autonomous and independent RBI to hold stakeholder consultations and resolve the problem, which was related to monetary policy.

"I say I have read some books, some data, some research papers, some statistics and I am forming an opinion. The empirical evidence in the market would be entirely different... All these institutions must be autonomous but must never be isolationist. If they are isolationists, there is a fair chance they will go wrong," he added.

--IANS

mgu/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Enforcement Directorate is likely move an application before a city court on Wednesday seeking custody of Christian Michel, the middleman who was extradited to India from the UAE earlier this month in the Rs 36 billion AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, said sources.

The agency's move is expected as the 57-year-old British national's CBI custody ends on Wednesday, the day he is to be produced before special judge Arvind Kumar in Patiala House courts for further hearing. The ED wants Michel's custody as it has been investigating financial irregularities in the procurement deal of 12 AgustaWestland VVIP choppers.



Michel's name surfaced in 2012 as one of the three middlemen for swinging the deal in favour of AgustaWestland and making illegal kickbacks to the Indian authorities. The other two middlemen are Ralph Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.

The special judge on December 15 allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation to quiz Michel till December 19. The CBI is grilling Michel since December 4 when he was extradited from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Sources said the CBI needs more examination of Michel who is being confronted with documents the agency has as evidence of the corrupt practice during the deal.



The CBI has informed the court that voluminous documents have been received from five countries pursuant to the Letters of Request and a number of documents are yet to be confronted with the accused.

According to the CBI, Rs 9.23 million was given to some Air Force officers and Michel, through his shell companies, to bear the air expense of two serving/retired Air Force officers during 2009-2013 which needs to be verified.

Michel's custody is also required for the CBI as it wanted him to be confronted with witnesses to corroborate different versions.

The CBI said that Michel was not cooperating in the probe and was evasive.Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who resigned from the prime ministerial position on December 15, was appointed Leader of Opposition by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on Tuesday amid a row.

The parliament convened on Tuesday for the first time since the reinstatement of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, putting an end to a political impasse, that erupted since his sudden dismissal on October 26.

Jayasuriya said since President Maithripala Sirisena's United People's Freedom Alliance is the largest opposition party, he recognised Rajapaksa as the Leader of Opposition even as the ruling United National party (UNP) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) objected to the decision.

TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran said Rajapaksa could not be appointed as he had resigned from the United People's Freedom Alliance and joined the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.

He urged the Speaker to appoint a committee to probe Rajapaksa's appointment.

Sumanthiran was asked to hand over his complaints in writing to be considered on Friday.

The island nation was plunged into a political crisis since October, when President Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe as the prime minister and appointed Rajapaksa to the post.

Sirisena later appointed a new caretaker government, amid objections from Wickremesinghe and his UNP, who said the sudden move was illegal.

After a nearly two-month political turmoil, Rajapaksa last Saturday stepped down as the prime minister to pave way for Wickremesinghe's reinstatement.

--IANS

in/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An FIR was lodged here on Tuesday against five persons, including the security guards of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, for violently assaulting a TV cameraman a day earlier.

Footage on Monday showed Syed Wajid Ali, the cameraman of Samaa TV, lying on the ground outside the parliament building after a security guard allegedly shoved him for coming in Sharif's way while recording him, reports Dawn news.

Another guard was then seen rushing towards the cameraman and kicking him in the face.

The guard, as per the footage, then escapes the scene in one of the vehicles of protocol.

The cameraman, who lost consciousness due to the kick, was shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims).

According to doctors, Ali had sustained injuries on his lip, where he was administered three stitches, and on his head.

Sharif, while speaking to the media, described the incident as unfortunate and assured that "every measure will be taken in accordance with the law", Dawn said.

The former leader regretted the incident but claimed that the assaulted cameraman had first hit his guard with his camera.

"That is no way (to behave)," Sharif said. "(But) the cameraman had hit the guard on his forehead with his equipment."

--IANS

ksk/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea of National Students' Union of India's Sunny Chillar challenging the election of former Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) president Ankiv Baisoya.

Justice Yogesh Khanna dismissed Chillar's plea who has challenged election of Baisoya alleging he has used forged documents to secure admission in the university.

Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand told the court that if any major office-bearer's post falls vacant only two months after the elections, the Vice President may be promoted to the post of President, as per the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee.

The Lyngdoh Committee says that in the event of the office of any major post of office-bearer falling vacant within two months of elections, re-elections should be conducted. Otherwise, the Vice President may be promoted to the post of President and Joint Secretary to the post of Secretary, as the case may be.

The court was hearing Chillar's plea seeking action against Ankiv Baisoya, who had used forged certificates for securing admission into the university.

Baisoya resigned from the post of president after he was expelled by university for submitting fake documents for securing admission into the university.

Chillar was the presidential candidate in this year's Delhi University Students Union election, losing to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad's (ABVP) Baisoya.

Baisoya belonged to the the Department of Buddhist Studies and defeated Sunny Chhillar of Shivaji College by a margin of 1,724 votes on September 12.

On November 14, the university expelled Baisoya for submitting fake documents from Thiruvalluvar University at Vellore in Tamil Nadu to secure admission in the university.

On November 15, Baisoya in a Facebook post said he was resigning from his post. The ABVP, too, suspended him.

The ABVP had won the posts of President, Vice President and Joint Secretary in this year's DUSU election.

--IANS

akk/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)More than 150 LGBT elected officials from across the nation signed a letter last week urging Congress to make LGBT rights a priority.

These elected officials attended Victory Institutes International LGBTQ Leaders Conference with the goal of ensuring the incoming Congress prioritizes four LGBT equality initiatives.

The first initiative is the Equality Act, a major bill that would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation in places of public accommodation. The three other initiatives include policies to reduce the spread of HIV, protect transgender people, and improve the U.S.s commitment to LGBT rights globally.

This letter of priority intent will go to the next session of Congress, which is scheduled to reconvene the first week of January.

Signatories include councilmembers, state senators, representatives, mayors and more. Locally Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Steven Glassman signed the letter. Elsewhere in Florida signatories include Carlos Guillermo Smith, Florida State Representative and Jennifer Webb, Florida State Representative-Elect.

As part of the Rainbow Wave, an analysis of the midterm elections show that over half of the elected LGBT candidates won their races in November.

Lastly the letter calls several actions of the current administration anti-trans, including the ban on trans people in the military, and the revocation of federal guidelines specifying that trans students can use public restrooms.

#victoryinstitute #southfloridagaynews #Thehill #SFGNThe Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and Delhi government to respond to a plea seeking permission to put up a statue of former South African President Nelson Mandela on a road named after him in the city.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V. Kameswar Rao asked Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Urban Development and Delhi government to file their replies on the application by the Honorary Consul of Republic of South Africa through senior advocate Rupinder Singh Suri.

In the plea, senior advocate Suri has sought directions to the authorities to permit putting up the statue of Mandela on the Nelson Mandela road in the national capital.

A similar application was filed by Vikramjit S. Sahney, the Honorary Consul of South Africa in the Supreme Court in 2016, which was hearing a matter related to encroachments of public places by religious structures, before the BRICS summit in the city.

Sahney has told the court that despite all requisite clearances from the various civic bodies, the Ministry of Urban Development was not allowing it to put up the statue.

In January, the apex court transferred the matter to high courts directing them to deal with issues related to any other development connected with it.

--IANS

akk/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An Indian worker said that he was grateful to Dubai for hosting him and thousands of other workers and for safeguarding labour rights in their workplaces.

Acting as a representative of thousands of workers, Uday Kumar, 30, addressed top officials and managers at a ceremony here on Monday to honour companies for protecting labourers rights, Gulf News reported.

"I came to Dubai before one year to achieve my dreams. The company provided good facilities for us with best accommodation and food. I'm happy in UAE," Kumar said during the ceremony to honour the winners of the Taqdeer (appreciation) Award Programme, an initiative that recognises companies which implement best global practices in safeguarding labour rights in the workplace.

Kumar said he has nothing but "appreciation to Dubai for the joy and progress that we proudly give our families back home".

In its third year, the award has managed to include more than one million workers and has come to witness a 77 per cent growth in the number of participating companies in different sectors.

--IANS

ksk/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi said that he will complete filling his 22 cabinet members at next parliament session slated for Thursday despite intense political differences.

"Thursday session of the Council of Representatives (parliament) will witness completing (approval) of candidates of remaining ministries, and I'm ready to submit new names to the vacant ministries," Xinhua quoted Abdul Mahdi as saying to reporters on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi decided that the next parliament session to be held on Thursday after the lawmakers approved three more ministers of Abdul Mahdi's cabinet.

The lawmakers voted in majority for Qusai al-Suhail as higher education minister, Abdul Amir al-Hamdani as culture minister and Nuri Sabah al-Dulaimi as planning minister, while no confidence was given for the two female candidates for the Migration and Education Ministries.

The latest voting brought to 17 the number of filled posts in Abdul Mahdi's 22-ministry cabinet.

Hassan Khalatti, a lawmaker from Sairoon Coalition, told reporters after Tuesday's session that Abdul Mahdi would submit new candidates of migration and education portfolios to replace the failed candidates within 24 to 48 hours.

As for the remaining three portfolios of defense, interior and justice, Khalatti said "there is no political consensus yet about the candidates of these ministries as the political blocs are still in negotiation about the names."

On Oct. 24, Abdul Mahdi was sworn in as the new prime minister of Iraq after the parliament passed 14 out of 22 cabinet members, while differences among the political blocs prevented the approval of eight other portfolios.

--IANS

vin/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Mumbai man, who spent around three years in a Pakistan jail, has been released and will return home on Tuesday, an activist said here.

"Yes it's really a great news. Hamid Nehal Ansari has been released from jail and will be handed over to India at the Wagah Border later this afternoon," Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) General Secretary Jatin Desai told IANS.

Ansari's family members, including father Nehal and mother Fauzia, a large number of India-Pakistan friendship activists, officials and political personalities will be present at the border to welcome him.

Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activist and former legislator Krishna Hegde, who helped the family in the past few years, said they had gone to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi to complete the formalities and secure his repatriation.

Pakistan had alleged that Ansari, 33, an engineer, was an "Indian spy" who illegally entered the country, and accused him of involvement in anti-state crimes, forging documents, and jailed him.

For the Ansari family, it was an ordeal since November 2012 when he left the country for Kabul for employment and then was reported "missing".

He reportedly became friendly with a Pakistan girl on social media and reached Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to save her from a forced marriage.

On November 12, 2012, Ansari crossed over from Afghanistan border in Jalalabad to Peshawar in Pakistan where he was nabbed by Pakistan intelligence.

Later, a military court sentenced him to three years in jail.

--IANS

qn/ksk/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Hamid Nehal Ansari, the man from Mumbai who was released from a Pakistani jail after six years for alleged espionage charges, crossed over to the Indian side at the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab on Tuesday.

A weary looking bespectacled Ansari in a jacket, muffler and a Pashtun cap, was welcomed by his parents, Nehal and Fauzia, who were waiting at the border along with a large contingent of India-Pakistan friendship activists and officials.

Stepping on to the Indian side, the 33-year-old along with his family knelt down and touched the soil of his motherland with their foreheads.

As Ansari stood up, he first hugged his mother and then embraced his father in an emotional reunion.

The three were then whisked away by the authorities without allowing any interaction with the media.

In Mumbai, Bharatiya Janata Party activist and former legislator Krishna Hegde, who helped the family in the past few years, expressed happiness following Ansari's return.

"Very happy for Hamid, specially his parents who have worked very hard for his release and his family," Hegde said.

He also thanked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and officials from both India and Pakistan.

"A special mention should also be made for his lawyers, media and NGOs who have supported his parents for the past six years," Hegde said.

Pakistan had alleged that Ansari, an engineer, was an "Indian spy" who illegally entered the country. Islamabad accused him of involvement in anti-state crimes, forging documents, and jailed him.

For the family, it was an ordeal since November 2012 when he left the country for Kabul for employment and then was reported "missing".

He reportedly became friendly with a Pakistan girl on social media and reached Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to save her from a forced marriage.

On November 12, 2012, Ansari crossed over from Afghanistan border in Jalalabad to Peshawar in Pakistan where he was nabbed by Pakistan intelligence.

Later, a military court sentenced him to three years in jail, a term that he completed on December 15.

On Monday, the External Affairs Ministry said it has received a note from Pakistan that they would be releasing Ansari on Tuesday.

"It is a matter of great relief, especially for the family members, that six years of incarceration of the Indian civilian in Pakistan jail is coming to an end," Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

--IANS

ab-qn/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Hamid Nehal Ansari, the Mumbai man who was released from a Pakistani jail after six years for alleged espionage charges, crossed over to the Indian side at the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab on Tuesday.

A weary looking bespectacled Ansari in a jacket, muffler and a pashtun cap, was welcomed by his parents, Nehal and Fauzia, who were waiting at the border along with a large contingent of India-Pakistan friendship activists and officials.

Stepping on to the Indian side, the 33-year-old along with his family knelt down and touched the soil of his motherland with their foreheads.

As Ansari, stood up, he first hugged his mother and then embraced his father in an emotional reunion.

The three were then whisked away by the authorities without allowing any small talks with the media.

Pakistan had alleged that Ansari, an engineer, was an "Indian spy" who illegally entered the country. Islamabad accused him of involvement in anti-state crimes, forging documents, and jailed him.

For the family, it was an ordeal since November 2012 when he left the country for Kabul for employment and then was reported "missing".

He reportedly became friendly with a Pakistan girl on social media and reached Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to save her from a forced marriage.

On November 12, 2012, Ansari crossed over from Afghanistan border in Jalalabad to Peshawar in Pakistan where he was nabbed by Pakistan intelligence.

Later, a military court sentenced him to three years in jail, a term that he completed on December 15.

On Monday, the External Affairs Ministry said that it has received a note from Pakistan that they would be releasing Ansari on Tuesday.

"It is a matter of great relief, especially for the family members, that six years of incarceration of the Indian civilian in Pakistan jail is coming to an end," Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

"We would like Pakistan to take action to also end misery of other Indian nationals and fishermen whose nationality has been confirmed and who have completed their sentences, but continue to languish in Pakistan jails."

--IANS

ab/in

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)New Zealand will hold a referendum in 2020 to decide on the legalisation of recreational marijuana, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced on Tuesday, a week after Parliament gave the green light to its use for medicinal purposes.

"We need to fine-tune some details, but we are informing the Election Commission when it has to be held," the Minister told the media, adding that the referendum will be held alongside the 2020 general election.

Among the details still being discussed is the wording of the question that will be posed in the referendum, which comes as part of the agreement with the Green Party, one of the partners in government.

Leader of the opposition National Party, Simon Bridges slammed the decision to hold the referendum at the same time as the elections, considering it a "cynical" gesture that seeks to distract the electorate from "central issues" such as governance and the economy.

The New Zealand Parliament on December 11 approved the medical use of cannabis, which will soon be available in the country with a prescription for patients with chronic pain.

The amendment to the Drug Abuse Law, which passed the third and final reading in the legislature, eliminates the definition of cannabis as a controlled drug and converts it into a prescription drug.

Fifty-two per cent of New Zealanders aged between 15 and 45 have used cannabis at some point in their lives, of which 16 per cent are frequent users, according to NORML NZ, an organisation seeking legalisation of this substance in New Zealand, one of the countries with the highest rate of consumption.

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday sought a report from the Maharashtra government on the death of eight people in a fire at a hospital in Mumbai, while not ruling out negligence by the hospital administration.

Taking cognisance of the Monday blaze at the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital in Andheri East, the Commission issued a notice to the Chief Secretary calling for a detailed report including the outcome of the probe "reportedly mentioned by the city Mayor".

"The Commission would like to know whether the building has a valid 'No Objection Certificate' from the Fire Department and whether the fire audit was conducted. A report from the DGP, Maharashtra, is also expected to intimate about registration of an FIR, if any, and status thereof," the NHRC said in a statement.

Observing that "the possibility of negligence by the hospital administration cannot be ruled out in the incident", the Commission has also sought a report from the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment under whose jurisdiction the hospital falls.

In its notice to the Secretary, Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, the NHRC called for a detailed report in the matter within four weeks, including action taken against the guilty and steps taken/ proposed to be taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur.

"The Commission has also observed that the patients, who generally approach the ESIC hospitals, belong to economically weaker sections, employed with various private sector units, who cannot afford treatment at private hospitals," it added.

Reports say over 150 people were also injured in the incident, of which 25 are critical.

--IANS

and/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Thailand-based budget airline NokScoot on Tuesday announced that it will launch a non-stop flight service connecting New Delhi and Bangkok.

The airline said four flights per week will commence from December 19, 2018 between New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport and Bangkok's Don Muang International Airport.

According to the airline, the new service will be operated with a Boeing 777-200 wide-bodied, twin-aisle jet.

Further, the joint venture airline announced a special promotional one-way economy class fare starting from Rs 7,200 ($99), inclusive of taxes and surcharges.

"The special promotional fares are available from today to December 31, 2018 for travel between December 19, 2018 to March 30, 2019," the airline said in a statement.

NokScoot was launched in 2014 and is a joint venture between Scoot and Thailand's regional LCC, Nok Air.

The airline operates medium-to long-haul routes from Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport with Boeing 777-200 aircraft.

It currently flies to Narita and Osaka in Japan, Taipei in Taiwan, Nanjing, Qingdao, Shenyang, Tianjin and X'ian in China.

--IANS

ravi-rv/pgh/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar was in favour of buying Sukhoi SU-30MK1, which were cheaper and as good as French Rafale jets, then why did Prime Minister Narendra Modi strike an expensive deal for the latter aircraft, Goa Congress spokesperson Ramakant Khalap said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference at the state Congress headquarters here, Khalap also said that the mystery of Rafale deal was embedded in a geographic triangle of Paris, Delhi and Goa, and said now that the ailing Chief Minister was on his feet, he should be answering queries related to the controversial deal.

"In Rajya Sabha in July 2015, he had said that the agreement for 126 aircraft is being withdrawn and negotiations for 36 aircraft will be started. Prior to that in February 2014, he had said that instead of Rafale, Sukhoi SU-30MK1 be purchased because they are as good as Rafale and cheaper than Rafale. This was the view expressed by Manohar Parrikar in his capacity as Defence Minister of India," Khalap said.

"This is to Mr. Parrikar... Now that he is moving around, the press would be fully justified in asking for a personal meet-up with him. He can throw more light on the issue," the former Union Minister of State for Law said.

Khalap, while accusing the Central government of lying to the Supreme Court of India, said that the key to the Rafale mystery lay in three geographical regions.

"So we have Delhi, we have Paris and we have Goa. A triangle, which perhaps holds the mystery of this Rafale aircraft. If no JPC (joint parliamentary committee) is formed (for probe into Rafale deal), the future of the present NDA will be written in perhaps French letters, in the French language," Khalap said.

--IANS

maya/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Maharashtra government on Tuesday ordered a probe into the devastating fire in a Mumbai government hospital which claimed eight lives, an official said here.

Another 176 injured were being treated at various hospitals. At laest 25 of them is said to be critical.

The blaze broke out on Monday afternoon at the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital in MIDC, Andheri East, and spread to engulf the third and fourth floors.

As per preliminary investigations, some material stored for renovation purposes caught fire generating massive smoke and creating panic.

Among the eight fatalities in the conflagration, a majority of the victims died due to suffocation, and at least one had panicked and jumped from the third floor to his death.

While 142 injured continue their treatment in over half a dozen public and private hospitals, 26 have been discharged so far, said the official.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the tragedy and spoke with Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda.

Union Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar and Nadda will arrive here later in the day to visit the victims' families and the survivors.

The Labour Ministry has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the next of kin of the dead and between Rs 1,00,000-Rs 2,00,000 for the minor and seriously injured.

Gangwar held a meeting with his officials and a team of doctors from ESIC Delhi has been rushed to Mumbai to help with the calamity.

The fire was first noticed near the operation theatre of the five-storey hospital located at Marol MIDC, an industrial hub in Andheri East.

The blaze, due to a suspected short-circuit, quickly spread horizontally and vertically, trapping around 155 people in the building with a glass facade.

While the firemen used ladders, other rescuers deployed ropes and saris tied as ropes to bring down the wailing and screaming victims trapped on the third and fourth floors of the hospital.

Mumbai has witnessed over a dozen major fires in residential and commercial premises this year, claiming over 50 lives and injuring several hundreds, besides damage to properties worth crores of rupees.

--IANS

qn/in

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Conversations in India rarely revolve around the subject of climate change. The discussions around the topic are largely limited to the highest offices and international forums, while the countrys citizens remain mostly disassociated from it. And yet it is no secret that the country will be the worst affected in the world once the full-scale repercussions of the global crisis are realised.

The UN report by the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released earlier this year noted that a mere increase in global temperatures by 1.5C will "disproportionately affect disadvantaged and vulnerable populations through food insecurity, higher food prices, incomes losses, lost livelihood opportunities, adverse health impact, and population displacements".

These sombre warnings show why India will be one of the most significantly-affected nations, given its huge population, inequality and poverty levels. The country's vast coastline also puts a large number of livelihoods at risk. Apart from rising sea levels, deadly heatwaves and catastrophic cyclones are also becoming more frequent, which are manifest evidence of climate change. With this background, the climate change negotiations that were recently concluded at Katowice in Poland should be enthusiastically welcomed.

The 24th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP24, involved fortnight-long negotiations between 196 countries to finalise a rule book that had been under formulation since 2016 as a follow-up to the 2015 Paris Agreement. The countries were supposed to ensure that the rule book is finalised so that all provisions of the Paris Agreement become operational by the intended date of implementation, January 2021.

The successful achievement of a compromise among the countries, firstly, comes as a relief. Since the announcement by President Donald Trump in 2017 that the US would be withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, the very survival of the climate pact stood in jeopardy.

Under the Paris Agreement, global cooperation was required on three fronts: first, the nations had to set carbon-reduction targets for themselves; second, the countries were to be held accountable for meeting these targets; and finally, the rich states were meant to subsidise the transition of developing nations to a carbon-free future. But, most of it was feared to be difficult to achieve with the withdrawal of US.

In fact, over the last few years, rising right-wing nationalism upset the global solidarity that was crucial to avoid an inevitable catastrophe. The US renegading on the deal has encouraged others to behave along similar lines. Saudi Arabia, for instance, played a key role in attempting to ensure that the summit does not "welcome" the IPCC report. Last month, even Brazil chose a climate-change denier as its Foreign Minister and the nation pulled out of hosting COP25.

In the face of such dangerous manifestations, the outcome of COP24 seems promising. The rule book ensures that from 2020, the fight against climate change will be driven by actions rather than promises. The agreement defines the responsibilities of each of the 195 signatory states for tackling climate change, report progress and intensify their efforts in the future. The very act of reaching an agreement shows that even if multilateralism has been desecrated in the last few years, it is not yet dead.

The negotiators at the summit believed that the rule book is a robust tool to combat the worst effects of climate change. But the reality is not as promising. Against the Paris Agreement's long-term goal of limiting the increase in global average temperature to well below 2C, the current pledges put the world on track for up to 4 degrees of warming.

It might disappoint many that COP24 could not urge governments to commit to more ambitious targets, especially after the findings of the IPCC report. All eyes will now be on the next deadline in 2020 when countries are expected to demonstrate that they have met their previous targets and set new tougher ones for themselves.

India, on its part, is on track to meet at least two of the three commitments it made in Paris. The intensity of the country's greenhouse gas emissions was to be reduced by 33-35 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Second, 40 percent of its power capacity was to be based on non-fossil fuel sources. Third, India promised to create an additional 'carbon sink' of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes through additional forest and tree cover by 2030. India is well on its way to achieve the first two targets.

It is heartening that most of the countries around the world are resolute in their commitment to the fight against climate change. Katowice has once again reaffirmed that belief. The world now has a solid road map for the actions it needs to take to carry on the fight. What is missing is strong leadership, the sense of unified urgency and scaled-up national ambitions. Hopefully, 2020 will change that. As Greta Thunberg, the 15-year-old Swedish activist said at COP24: "Until you start focussing on what needs to be done rather than what is politically possible, there is no hope."

(Amit Kapoor is chair, Institute for Competitiveness, India. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at amit.kapoor@competitiveness.in and tweets @kautiliya. Chirag Yadav, senior researcher, Institute for Competitiveness, India has contributed to the article)

--IANS

amitk/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actor Robert De Niro says he would never want to meet US President Donald Trump.

The actor expressed his views in an interview to CNN International, read a statement.

"I know what kind of person this guy is. He's a New Yorker who I never would want to meet, and now he's president. The reason I wouldn't want to meet him is because of the kind of person he is as we all know now - it's nothing new," De Niro said when asked about Trump.

"It's disgraceful, but we'll get past it. It will be one of those things that will be like a nightmare that you remember. We will be five years from now saying, remember all that stuff how terrible it was? And at least I lived to see the time when this will all pass, like any nightmare," he added.

Talking about his ninth collaboration with filmmaker Martin Scorsese with "The Irishman", he said: "It started over 11 years ago with a book called 'I Heard You Paint Houses', which is really what the title will be. Everyone refers to it as 'The Irishman', but it really - but that's the title.

"And I think that Marty wants to use that title, which I like better really, though, 'The Irishman's' a good title. It's very specific about Jimmy Hoffa's killing -- Al Pacino plays Hoffa, Joe Pesci plays a character named Russell Bufalino, who was a big part of all of this, and the three of us are very close and friends. And I'm - don't want to give it away I suppose, but anyway then you'll see."

--IANS

sug/rb/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Russia will have to take additional measures to boost its security if the US withdraws from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

US withdrawal from the INF Treaty may ruin the entire arms control system, said the Russian President.

"Such a step will have the most negative consequences, and will noticeably weaken regional and global security," Putin said while speaking at an extended meeting of the Russian Defence Ministry board, Xinhua news agency reported.

"In fact, in the long term, the talk is about the degradation and even collapse of the entire arms control architecture and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," he added.

For a long time, the US has been using unsubstantiated accusations that Russia had violated its obligations under the treaty as a pretext to withdraw from it unilaterally, thus violating the treaty itself, Putin said.

He agreed that the INF Treaty did not involve other countries which have medium and shorter range missiles.

"But what prevents us from starting negotiations on their accession to the current agreement, or starting to discuss the parameters of a new treaty?" Putin said.

The treaty, in modern conditions, plays the role of a stabilising factor, which allows maintaining a certain level of predictability and restraint in the military sphere, he said.

He recalled that the INF Treaty signed in 1987 involved the elimination of medium-range and shorter-range (500-5,000 km) ground-based missiles. At the time, the USSR had no other missiles, while the US had sea-based and air-launched missiles.

Russia, since the signing of the treaty, has developed sea-based and air-launched missiles, which was the cause for Washington's concern, Putin said.

According to Putin, it will not be difficult for Russia, if necessary, to create appropriate land-based systems as a response to the US withdrawal from the INF.

However, Russia is always open to any proposals and initiatives that lead to the strengthening of universal security including the prevention of a new arms race in the interests not only of Russia, but of the US and the whole world, Putin said.

--IANS

pgh/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Central government and Tihar Jail authorities to respond to a plea alleging inhuman treatment to Kashmiri separatist leader Aasiya Andrabi and her associates inside the prison.

The plea said Andrabi, who heads the proscribed Dukhtaran-e-Millat, and her aides are kept in solitary confinement.

Justice Najmi Waziri posted the matter for January 14, 2019.

The court was hearing a plea by Andrabi and her associates seeking its direction to immediately shift them to ordinary cells and to provide them with proper food and medical relief.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had on November 14 filed a chargesheet against Andrabi and her associates Sofi Fehmeeda and Naheeda Nasreen accusing them of waging war against the state and delivering hate speeches in Jammu and Kashmir.

Lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail, they are accused of actively running the Dukhtaran-e-Millat, banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

The NIA on April 27 registered a case against Andrabi, Sofi Fehmeeda and Naheeda Nasreen under various sections of Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and arrested them on July 6.

In the plea filed in the Delhi HC, Andrabi and her associates have alleged that they are not getting the basic facilities in the jail.

"There are no windows in the cell... the food is slipped to them inside the cell in polythene bags," Andrabi told the court.

"Andrabi and her associates are kept in solitary confinement under the garb of high-risk prisoners which is extremely unfair and unjust," the plea filed by advocates Satish Tamta and Dhruv Tamta said.

The counsel told the court that 56-year old Andrabi was suffering from various medical ailments.

"There are rats, lizards and other insects crawling inside the cell. Toilets do not have full doors and have not been cleaned for months," said the plea.

--IANS

akk/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Celebrity photographer and film producer Atul Kasbekar is all praise for veteran actress-activist Shabana Azmi, and says she is ridiculously good.

Kasbekar worked with Shabana in "Neerja" -- a biopic on Neerja Bhanot, the valiant Pan Am flight attendant who saved a number of lives when terrorists hijacked a plane to Karachi in 1986. The film was helmed by Ram Madhvani.

"The only person that Ram did not work with was Shabana Azmi. Because she is so ridiculously good! He kept pulling stunts on her, and finally she lost her calm and told Ram to do whatever he needed her to do instead," Kasbekar said in a statement.

"She is a work of art. I've never seen such a high level of nuance before. The famous speech at the end of 'Neerja' which is shot in a classic way had 7 retakes, and whoever was listening had tears streaming through their eyes," he added.

Kasbekar spoke about "Neerja" when he introduced "Miss Sloane" for the third edition of &Prive HD's &Prive Soiree, a regular on-ground engagement by the channel.

Talking about the process of filming "Neerja", he said: "So, Ram would tell Sonam to learn a Rajesh Khanna song, and she would ask him why so. He would just say, you'll know tomorrow."

"He would tell Jim Sarbh to go there, basically bully her and ask her to sing something. If you now see the movie after me telling you this, you will now understand the mastery of this," he added.

--IANS

sug/rb/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India's border guarding force SSB has increased its deployment on the India-Bhutan border in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, not far from the mountainous terrains of Diban, Dua-Delai and Lohit valleys along the China border in the Tibetan region, following last year's Doklam standoff.

In the run-up to raising security, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) established 18 new Border Outposts (BOPs) in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh which have started functioning this year.

"Three new BOPs in Sikkim and 15 in Arunachal Pradesh were established and they have started functioning this year to provide better security and patrolling in the areas bordering Bhutan. The three new BOPs are in Western Sikkim which touches Bhutan border," SSB Director General Surjeet Singh Deswal told IANS.

Deswal, who was speaking on the sidelines of the 55th raising Day programme of the SSB, however, clarified that his force has nothing to do with the operations along the India-China border. The 18 new BOPs are among those 72 which began functioning this year, he added.

The SSB's action comes months after the troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day Doklam standoff -- the tri-junction of India-Bhutan-China -- from June 16, 2017 after the Indian side stopped road construction by China's People's Liberation Army in the area. The standoff ended on August 28.

At present, 53 battalions of SSB are deployed on the 699 km Indo-Bhutan and 1,751 km India-Nepal borders as part of its primary task to provide security with establishment and operationalisation of 708 BOPs along the borders of the two countries.

Another SSB official said that 176 operational BOPs are functioning along the India-Bhutan border that runs along the states of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam while 533 are along the India-Nepal border that runs across the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim.

The SSB is deployed along the borders of the two countries and is instrumental in safeguarding and promoting a sense of security among the people living in the border areas and also in preventing trans-border crimes like smuggling, human trafficking and other illegal activities.

Speaking on the occasion, SSB DG said the force has received a substantial expansion in its cadre from the Central government with the sanction of 19 posts of SSB officers -- two in the rank of Inspector General, four Deputy Inspector General, two Deputy Commandant and four Assistant Commandant.

This year so far, the DG said the SSB has seized narcotics, fake Indian currency, wildlife and forest product worth more than Rs 260 crore. "The force has also destroyed over 500 acres of illegal poppy cultivation in Bihar and Jharkhand."

The SSB has apprehended 6,573 persons with large cache of arms and ammunition, which includes high tech weapons and explosives such as AK-56 rifles, LMGs, 5.56 mm rifles, MK II rifles, .22 mm pistols, hand grenades, explosives and live cartridges this year so far, the DG said.

"The SSB has also cracked down on the menace of human trafficking this year and has rescued 782 victims of human trafficking, which includes 426 men and 356 women. A total of 263 human traffickers have also been apprehended under 180 human trafficking cases," he added.

(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in)

--IANS

rak/vsc/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday seemed to disagree with DMK president M.K. Stalin on projecting Rahul Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate of a united Opposition, terming it as "his own opinion".

The former UP chief minister said that many opposition leaders such as NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee were attempting to bring like-minded parties to come together and stitch an alliance against the "unpopular BJP."

To a pointed query on Stalin batting for the Congress president for the PM's post, the 45-year-old leader said that "if someone is expressing an opinion, it need not necessarily be the opinion of the alliance".

There is growing unease in the SP leadership as well as its cadre on speculation about it joining hands with the Congress for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. While the party is keen to be seen on the same page as the Congress, obviously to safeguard its Muslim vote bank in UP, political observers feel the SP chief is slowly distancing himself from the Congress. He did not turn up at the swearing-in ceremonies of the MP and Rajasthan chief ministers, both from the Congress.

While the two parties joined hands for the 2017 state assembly elections in UP, they were routed and the BJP stormed to power.

--IANS

md/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Not just people in cities, but even farmers in the vast rural hinterland are approaching local authorities seeking urgent solutions to the exploding bovine population that is destroying crops, causing traffic hazards and making life difficult for all.

On road crossings and busy streets, herds of stray cattle move around menacingly. The bulls have been charging at people and causing injuries almost every day.

The police say they are helpless. Municipal officials say there is no space for captured animals.

After the ban on cow slaughter by the Uttar Pradesh government, the number of animals on roads and public parks has increased alarmingly.

"Since no one is willing to feed the stray cows, these animals are eating all the garbage, including polythene bags and waste leather. When in agony, even the cows go berserk and start attacking anyone," says local resident Jugal Kishore.

This is a huge problem that government officials have failed in Braj area to address, along with the simian nuisance.

People are now demanding forced sterilisation of animals to keep their numbers in check.

In Mathura district, more than 100 private "gaushalas", or cow shelters, are already filled to capacity. In Radha Kund, a German lady is running one with more than 1,700 cows and bulls.

"Vrindavan is desperately in need of a cow hospital, but the gaushala that is currently most active in treating injured street cows has not been able to raise the funds for a hospital building and urgently needs more surgical supplies," said a Vrindavan official, who did not want to be named.

In the past fortnight, several people have been seriously injured and an elderly man died as a bull charged at people in a crowded market.

The lanes are full of stray animals -- dogs, monkeys and cows. Bulls have been attacking tourists even outside the Taj Mahal and Akbar's tomb at Sikandra.

"The Agra Municipal Corporation is supposed to capture these animals and house them in enclosures, but the officials are not at all serious," complained Vijay Nagar Colony resident Sudheir Gupta.

"Our colony is daily visited by dozens of cows and bulls. This is in addition to monkeys and dogs," he added.

The faithful feed bananas to the monkeys and green leaves and spinach bundles to the cows on the Yamuna Kinara road early in the morning. Later, these animals enter the busy market places and start attacking people, said temple priest Nandan Shrotriya.

In Mathura and Vrindavan, the bovine menace has taken alarming proportions. Truckloads come from the rural hinterland to dump the unwanted animals.

Hundreds of bulls and cows also die or get injured in road accidents while moving in search of food.

The government had announced opening of gaushalas and cow sheds in a phased manner. Recently, the government again announced a plan to establish "gau-ashrams" for homeless cattle. But the crisis remains.

(Brij Khandelwal can be contacted at brij.k@ians.in)

--IANS

bk/mr/tb

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Irritants in India's trade with Turkey will soon be removed, and efforts are being made to address the issue of Turkey's trade deficit with India, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Tuesday.

Addressing the India-Turkey Business Forum here organised by industry chamber Ficci, Prabhu said as part of improving trade relations with Turkey, the Indian Finance Ministry was also looking at a proposal from that country on allowing bilateral trade to be carried out in local currency.

"We have discussed all issues and we will resolve those so as to promote trade and investments between the two countries," Prabhu said following a meeting here with visiting Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan.

"A proposal to trade in local currencies is now being discussed in the Finance Ministry and we are hopeful that this would be dealt with soon," he said.

On the issue of their trade deficit with India raised by Turkey, Prabhu said that bilateral business relations would have to be made sustainable.

"We cannot just export, we have to import from Turkey too," he said.

Prabhu said discussions with his Turkish counterpart revolved around issues such as setting up of banking facilities in both countries, tapping of construction opportunities in India, and increasing Turkish commodity exports to India of products like boric acid and poppy seeds.

Earlier this year, the Indian Cabinet approved an agreement between both countries to ensure quick and transparent processing of poppy seed imports from Turkey.

Prabhu also said he is slated to visit Turkey as the head of a business delegation in February 2019.

Speaking on the occasion, Pekcan noted the bilateral trade volume last year was $7 billion and going by the data of the first 11 months, the figure is all set to reach $8 billion mark next year.

"Turkey would like the figures to be much higher along with balanced trade," she said.

The Turkish Minister expressed hope that issues such as non-acceptance of Turkey's letters of credit and the absence of a correspondent bank in India would be resolved before Prabhu's forthcoming visit to Turkey.

Turkey continues to remain excluded from India's liberalised visa regime, with e-visa facilities having already been granted to over 160 countries.

--IANS

bc/pgh/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Turkey supports an expected UN plan to form a Syrian constitutional committee and rewrite the country's constitution, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.

Speaking to lawmakers at Turkish Parliament, Cavusoglu said Turkey has opened a final window of opportunity for a political solution over Syria issues, Xinhua news agency reported.

Cavusoglu reiterated determination to fight against Kurdish rebels in Syria, including the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) and its Syrian wing the People's Protection Units (YPG), following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's warnings to launch new batch of military operation in northern Syria.

Turkey, Iran and Russia diplomats gathered in Geneva on Monday for the talks at the UN, hosted by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, regarding the formation of the Syrian constitution.

The Syrian constitutional committee is expected to have 150 members from both the Syrian government and opposition.

--IANS

pgh/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The British cabinet met to discuss whether to ramp up preparations for a no-deal Brexit amid uncertainty over the fate of Theresa May's proposed EU exit deal on Tuesday.

With 101 days left until Brexit and many MPs still opposed to the government's withdrawal agreement, ministers met for two and a half hours -- for a longer-then-usual cabinet meet, the BBC reported.

Although they were focusing on preparing, in case of the UK leaving the EU in March without a negotiated deal with the EU, a no-deal Brexit is thought to be opposed by a majority of MPs.

Ministers were hearing how much money each department was being given to prepare, should the UK leave the EU on March 29 without a formal agreement, the BBC reported.

MPs will not vote on the May's deal until the third week in January.

Labour, which has tabled a Motion of No Confidence, has accused May of trying to "run down the clock".

Number 10 Downing Street, though, has dismissed the motion, which was unlikely to be debated until early 2019, as "silly political games", the BBC report said.

A cross-party group of 60 MPs have written to May, saying it would do "unnecessary economic damage".

In the autumn of 2017, The Treasury earmarked three billion pound for 'no deal' planning.

In March, Chancellor Philip Hammond said half of that had been allocated to 20 government departments, with the Home Office, transport, the environment and business among the largest recipients.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC that he had ordered full 'no deal' planning across the National Health Service.

Communities Secretary James Brokenshire told the BBC that there would be "consequences" of a no-deal exit but "a lot of work" was going into minimising the disruption if it happened.

"We have been taking 'no deal' seriously for quite some considerable period. It's not what we want to do, it's not what we still expect to do... but I think it is right and proper that we maintain our work on preparing for no deal, however reluctantly."

--IANS

in/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In a bid to boost India-Africa trade ties, the ninth edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investment Summit 2019 will celebrate Africa Day on January 19.

Talking to reporters, SJ Haider, principal secretary, Tourism said, "On January 19th, we will be celebrating the Africa Day, marking the trade ties between India and African countries."

"Over the last four years, the exports from the ports of Gujarat have doubled. Gujarat is exporting its products in 51 out of the total 54 African countries. We will be focussing on around 14 sectors where trade between the two sides is good," Haider informed.

"More than 12 MoUs will be signed during the event, most notably in healthcare, education and mineral development sectors," he added.

As many as 32 African countries are participating in the summit.

"32 out of 54 countries have confirmed their participation and other are expected to join," said Haider.

The trade show at the exhibition centre will have an African Pavillion, featuring various projects' progress carried out under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Gujarat and over 20 African countries.

"The VGGIS will be inaugurated on January 17, most probably by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The significant addition in this year's edition of the global trade show will be business through buyer-sellers meet. For the first time we will have a reverse buyer-seller meet and vendor development sections," Haider stated.

A bullet train simulator will also be placed at the trade show. Also, there will be a display of Innovation and technology with Robotic and Laser cutting. There will also be a display of digital economy and disruptive technology.

The trade show will be spread across 2,00,000 square meters with 5 pavillions where 1500 participants will be displaying their stalls and products. There will also be 15 partner country pavillions and Indian states pavillions and pavilliions featuring central government's flagships programs like 'Make In India', Digital India', Start-Up India', ITES, Sagarmala, Ayushyaman Bharat and Indradhanush.

The VGGIS will also have trade shows focussed on the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. There will be a special MSME zone.

Besides, the global trade show will also see a fashion show based on 'Farm to Fabric' theme.

--IANS

amit/desai/vin

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In an apparent dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is yet to hold a press conference, his predecessor and Congress veteran Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said as a Prime Minister, "he was never afraid of speaking to the press".

Speaking at the launch of his book "Changing India", the former Prime Minister also asserted that India was destined to become a major economic global power.

A set of five volumes, "Changing India" details his life as an economist as well as his 10-year period at the helm of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime.

"I was not the Prime Minister who was afraid of talking to the press. I met the press regularly, and on every foreign trip that I undertook, I had a press conference on return.

"There are large number of those press conferences which have been described in the book," he said at the event.

"People say I was a silent Prime Minister, but these volumes will speak for themselves. I don't want to boast about my achievements as a Prime Minister, but the events that took place are well described in these volumes," he said.

His remarks follow that of Congress President Rahul Gandhi ridiculing Modi for not holding a press conference ever since becoming the Prime Minister in 2014.

Talking about future of the country, Manmohan Singh said despite all the hiccups, India was destined to become a major global powerhouse.

"The emergence of India as a major global power is one such idea whose time has come and no power on earth can stop such an idea," said Singh quoting Victor Hugo, whom he had quoted as the then Finance Minister during his historic 1991 budget speech.

--IANS

and/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In an apparent dig at Prime Minister who is yet to hold a press conference, his predecessor and Congress veteran on Tuesday said as Prime Minister, "he was never afraid of speaking to the press".

Speaking at the launch of his book "Changing India", the former Prime Minister also asserted that India was destined to become a major economic global power.

"I was not the Prime Minister who was afraid of talking to the press. I met the press regularly, and on every foreign trip that I undertook, I had a press conference on return.

"There are large number of those press conferences which have been described in the book," he said at the event.

A set of five volumes, "Changing India" details his life as an economist as well as his 10-year period at the helm of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime.

"People say I was a silent Prime Minister, but these volumes will speak for themselves. I don't want to boast about my achievements as a Prime Minister, but the events that took place are well described in these volumes," he said.

Modi has not once faced the press ever since he became the Prime Minister in 2014.

Talking about future of the country, said despite all the hiccups, India was destined to become a major global powerhouse.

"The emergence of India as a major global power is one such idea whose time has come and no power on earth can stop such an idea," said Singh, quoting Victor Hugo, whom he had quoted as the then Finance Minister during his historic 1991 budget speech.

Asked if the farm loan waivers by the new Congress governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were not bad economics, Singh said the commitments need to be fulfilled.

"Whatever it is, the commitments that have been made have to be honoured," he said speaking with media on the sidelines of the event.

Commenting on the ongoing RBI turmoil, the former Prime Minister hoped that the government would find a way to work in "harmony" with the RBI.

"We need a strong, independent RBI which has to work in close cooperation with the central government. I hope the RBI and the government would find ways to work in harmony," Singh said.

Earlier, he recalled how once on his advice, former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao bypassed the Cabinet decision to devalue the rupee.

"He (Rao) signed on a handwritten note which I have preserved to this day," he said, recalling many more anecdotes in his long journey within the Union government.West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said her government is equally considerate towards all minorities and the state never denies shelter to anyone.

On the issue of migration, she said: "Today is International Migrants Day. It is our humanitarian obligation to give refuge to migrants.

"In Bangla we will take care of anyone who seeks shelter in our state, to the best of our abilities."

She added that her government does not differentiate between people in their hour of need.

"Today is Minority Rights Day. We are all equal and united. Unity in diversity is our strength," Banerjee tweeted.

Highlighting her Trinamool Congress' contribution towards the minorities, she said: "You will be happy to know that in Bangla, we have distributed scholarships to over 1.7 crore minority students, the highest in the country."

--IANS

bnd/bdc/in/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The editorial Beyond waivers (December 18) was apt. It is sad the promise of loan waivers has become a tool for political parties to win elections. The recent win in three states by the Congress on the promise to waive farm loans has serious ramifications for the future.

Political parties with only short-term vision will use the ploy of loan waivers in their election manifestos. Over the past decade, we have seen various governments at the state and the central level pointing at waving off farm loans. Has it helped the farmers? All it has done is spoil the ...Congress leader has written to party president Rahul Gandhi submitting his resignation from the primary membership of the party, sources in the party said on Tuesday.

On Monday, the convicted Kumar for his role in the 1984 and sentenced him to imprisonment for life.

"I tender my resignation with immediate effect from the primary membership of the Indian Congress in the wake of the judgement of the hon'be high court of Delhi against me," he said in the letter to Gandhi.No, it certainly will not. That is the short and forthright answer to the question is digitalisation alone enough to attract youth to agriculture?

IGI Global, an international academic publisher, defines digitalisation as the integration of digital technologies into everyday life by the digitisation of everything that can be digitised. This suggests that the digitalisation of agriculture will therefore mean integrating technology into almost all aspects of agriculture. This sounds very impressive, but it will not work like a magic wand on Africas youth.

The issue of getting youth into agriculture has never been about an absence of technology. African society has always subliminally reserved the agricultural value chain for the semi-literate, illiterate and poor. We dont know how this happened, but it did. For some reason, anyone who says they work in agriculture is looked at twice, from head to toe. This stigmatisation of people in agriculture, especially farmers, cannot be trivialised. Youth (especially the educated youth) think about this when faced with the choice of venturing into agriculture. What will people think of me? When seated with friends over drinks, will I really want to introduce myself as a farmer? Not even Wi-Fi-enabled Wellington boots will make this an easy decision. Even farmers dont expect their educated children to end up on the farm, because they want their children to have better lives than they have had.

In most African countries, farming or agriculture related activities generally occur outside of urban areas, and urban youth tend to be uncomfortable with moving out to Africas rural provinces. This leaves us with just rural youth who are willing to embrace agriculture and unfortunately they are only just getting used to using technology. There have been instances where we have spent an entire day training youth on how to log in to an enumeration platform that would make their work much simpler. That was just to log in  imagine how long it would take to train them to actually use the platform.

Given the option, a lot of rural youth would prefer to go non-digital, to avoid being embarrassed by technology. In some communities we had to revert to using paper forms and pens because the users (mostly youth) were really struggling with the technology.

With technology becoming a more inherent part of our daily lives, the digitalisation of agriculture is definitely a good way to start grabbing the attention of youth. A couple of digital processes here and there will turn the heads of youth, but dont expect to keep those heads turned for long. A lot of time needs to be invested in education and the stigma associated with agriculture needs to be eradicated. Africas urban youth need incentives to move into the provinces and find employment in agriculture. Their more natural knowledge of technology will mean that they will embrace digitalisation and hopefully, before long, rural youth will then become more comfortable with the idea of farming and using technology. Not because they love agriculture or digitalisation, but just because they want to be like the urban youth.The issue echoed here at a meeting of the BJP parliamentary party with a Uttar Pradesh MP demanding enactment of a law for its early construction while Union Home Minister advised him to keep patience.

The issue raised by the party's Ghosi MP Hari Narayan Rajbhar was supported by Salempur parliamentarian Ravindra Kushwaha while other MPs present in the meeting clapped in support of the demand.

"Thoda intezar kijiye (wait for sometime)," Singh said in his response.

Rajbhar said this is an issue of faith and needs to be addressed at the earliest and the best way to do it is by enacting a law in Parliament.

The demand for legislation to construct in grew after the adjourned the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute hearing to January 2019.



chief on many occasions has spoken in its favour and demanded an appropriate and requisite law for early construction of the in The VHP and Hindu priests, too, have been pressuring the government for an ordinance or law.

In the meeting, the BJP MPs were asked to aggressively counter Rahul Gandhi's campaign against the BJP government, especially Prime Minister

Neither Modi nor BJP chief was present in the meeting.



Sources said that asked the BJP MPs to work hard for the party's victory in the 2019 elections and said that the opposition party had no leader to match Modi's popularity.

Later talking to reporters after the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister said that Union Law Minister briefed the MPs on the Triple Talaq Bill and the Supreme Court's judgement on the Rafale deal.

"Our priority is to get the Triple Talaq Bill passed in this session," Tomar said adding that the court's decision on the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 was also discussed in the meeting.

The government introduced the Triple Talaq Bill in the on Monday.

This was the second meeting of the BJP parliamentary party this session. In the last meeting, neither the Prime Minister nor the BJP spoke.veteran Sajjan Kumar has resigned from the primary membership of the party, citing his conviction in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, party sources said Tuesday.

In a letter to Rahul Gandhi, Kumar, a former MP, said his resignation should be considered with immediate effect, the sources said.

The Monday sentenced Kumar to imprisonment for life, the first conviction of a politician in the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 in which more than 2,700 people were killed.

"I tender my resignation with immediate effect from the primary membership of the Indian in the wake of the judgement of the honourable high court of Delhi against me," Kumar said in the letter to Gandhi on Monday.

An aide of Kumar said he did not want the party to face any embarrassment and decided to resign from Congress soon after the pronounced its judgement in the case.



The aide also clarified that 73-year-old Kumar, a three-time MP, does not have a account and comments attributed to him in the social media platform were not made by him.

The case in which Kumar was convicted relates to the killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar part-I area in Palam Colony in South West Delhi on November 1-2, 1984 during the riots in the capital and other parts of the country.

According to official accounts, 2,733 Sikhs were killed between November 1 and 4, 1984 following the assassination of the then prime minister by her two Sikh bodyguards on October 31.

Kumar is known to have a sizeable support base in Outer Delhi areas, including villages and slum clusters.Chief Minister Tuesday said that it was a humanitarian obligation to give refuge to migrants.

On International Migrants Day, she stated that her government to the best of its abilities would take care of anyone seeking shelter in

"Today is International Migrants Day. It is our humanitarian obligation to give refuge to migrants. In #Bangla we will take care of anyone who seeks shelter in our state, to the best of our abilities," Banerjee tweeted.



Today is International Migrants Day. It is our humanitarian obligation to give refuge to migrants. In #Bangla we will take care of anyone who seeks shelter in our State, to the best of our abilities  (@MamataOfficial) December 18, 2018

Banerjee, the supremo had been critical of the BJP-led Central government after over 40 lakh people were left out of the complete draft of Assams Register of Citizens (NRC).

She had also expressed her willingness that people whose names were not included in the list can come and stay in

International Migrants Day is observed on December 18 in accordance with Resolution 55/93 of the United Nations General Assembly, adopted on December 4, 2000.Thirteen people were awarded one-year imprisonment by a Palghar court for attacking a medical officer and ransacking a primary health centre (PHC) here in Maharashtra.

First Class Judicial Magistrate O J Kulkarni pronounced the sentence on Saturday after convicting the accused under relevant sections of the IPC, the Bombay Police Act and the Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss to Property) Act.

The prosecution told the court that on November 14, 2014, a 70-year-old man was brought to the PHC at Udhawa village after he complained of severe chest pain.

The doctor concerned was sent a message about the patient. However, the elderly man died before the doctor could reach the PHC.

The angry relatives and some locals later manhandled the medical officer, Dr Sachin Mane, when he tried to pacify them and also ransacked the PHC, the prosecution said.

They also damaged the car of the block development officer who had come there after coming to know about the commotion.

Later, 13 people - Sanjay Bhoye (28), Sandeep Kale (28), Devram Lahange (34), Sunil alias Kamlesh Shinde (24), Deepak Prajapati (27), Abdul Pathan (30), Bhavesh Dhavanekar (31), Anil Gavli (24), Raju Sathe (35), Suresh Gute (19), Anil Gute (23), Anil Chowdhary (29) and Vinayak Pawar (25) - were arrested and a case was registered against them.

Magistrate Kulkrani in his order said the prosecution successfully proved all the charges against the accused.

He also imposed a fine of Rs 500 each on the accused.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two security personnel of Pakistan's ousted premier Nawaz Sharif were on Tuesday sent to jail for allegedly assaulting a cameraman of a private television channel, police said.

The incident happened on Monday when cameraman Syed Wajid Ali was trying to take the pictures of Sharif when he was leaving the parliament building premises.

A television footage of the incident showed Ali lying on the ground after a security guard allegedly pushed him for coming in the way of the PML-N leader, media reports said.

Another guard was then seen rushing towards the cameraman and kicking him on his face. The guard, according to the footage, then managed to escape the scene in one of the vehicles of the protocol, it said.

The cameraman lost consciousness and was rushed to a hospital, where he received stitches on his lips and head.

An FIR was registered against three security personnel of the former premier and two unidentified persons, police said.

Two guards, identified as Mansub and Mohsin were arrested and produced before a civil judge, who remanded them to 14 days judicial custody.

The former prime minister regretted the incident but said the cameraman had first hit his guard with his camera.

Later, Sharif met journalists and assured them that he will not interfere in the course of law.

"I will aid the investigation into the matter in every way possible and I will also take action against the guards who are involved in the incident," Sharif said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As many as 2,783 samples or 3.36 per cent of the total 82,599 samples tested by drug controllers of various states and Union Territories in 2017-18 were declared substandard, Parliament was informed Tuesday.

Of the total, 236 samples or 0.28 per cent were declared spurious or adulterated, Minister of State Chemicals and Fertilisers Mansukh L Mandaviya told the Lok Sabha.

In a written reply, Mandaviya said 2,783 samples of drugs were "declared not of standard quality" out of 82,599 samples tested, which is 3.36 per cent of the total.

In 2016-17, the total number of drugs samples tested was 76,721, of which 2,780 were declared not of standard quality, at 3.6 per cent of the total, while 123 samples were found to be adulterated/spurious, the minister added.

Stating that the government has taken various steps to curb the menace of substadard/spurious drugs, he said stringent penalties for manufacturing spurious drugs have been provided under the amended Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 2008.

"Certain offences have also been made cognizable and non-bailable," Mandaviya, who is also Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, added.

Moreover, the Cabinet Commitee on Economic Affairs )CCEA) has also approved a proposal for strengthening drug regulatory system in India both under the Centre and States at a total expenditure of Rs 1,750 crore.

"Out of this, Rs 850 crore is the central government's share," Mandaviya said, adding share of the Centre and states is 60:40 for all states except Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and North-Eastern states for which the ratio will be 90:10.

Replying to another query, Mandaviya said fixing of ceiling prices of 856 essential medicines by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has resulted in a saving of Rs 11,462 crore as on November 30, 2018.

He further said the NPPA has been closely watching availability of coronary stents after fixing ceiling prices.

"No shortage has been reported so far in this regard," the minister said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The AAP Tuesday slammed Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath for his comments linking youth of his state being deprived of jobs to migrants coming from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, saying he should focus on work instead of causing "animosity".

Nath's statement proves the allegations that the Congress and the BJP are two sides of the same coin when it comes to their attitude towards settlers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in other states, said Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spokesperson Dilip Pandey.

What the BJP did against people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in Gujarat is being repeated in Madhya Pradesh by the Congress, he alleged.

On Monday, soon after taking oath of office, Nath had said in Bhopal, "Lot of industries are set up in which people from other states, like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, come to work. I do not want to criticise them, but the youth of Madhya Pradesh are deprived (of jobs)."



"What message he wants to give as a newly elected chief minister by preparing ground for exodus of people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar from his state.

"His statement will cause animosity against the people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar who earn their livelihood through a dignified way of hard work," Pandey said.

The AAP opposes all such divisive statements and will not allow any political party to indulge in such tactic in Delhi, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Journalist and activist Jatin Desai, who made it a mission to get back Indian national Hamid Nihal Ansari jailed in Pakistan, accompanied Ansari's family to the Wagah border to receive him following his release.

Ansari, 33, a Mumbai resident, was released from a Pakistani jail on Tuesday to be repatriated to India, six years after he was detained by intelligence agencies for entering the country illegally reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.

Desai, who is general secretary of the Pakistan-India Peoples' Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), had started a dialogue for peace by establishing connection between the Press Club of Mumbai and its counterpart in Karachi.

The city-based activist pursued the case relentlessly by getting in touch with his contacts in the neighbouring country. His efforts led to Pakistani rights lawyer Rakshanda Naz and Qazi Mohammed Anwar taking up the case with authorities in their country.

On getting the of his release, Desai went along with Hamid's father Nihal Ansari and mother Fauzia Ansari to the Wagah border in Punjab to welcome him and get him back home.

"We reached the Wagah border on Tuesday morning. We all are waiting for Hamid as he is expected to leave from the Pakistan side to India," said Desai.

"Hamid's release formalities will take some time. He will arrive anytime today. We are expected to be in Mumbai tomorrow," he said.

Hamid's father Nihal Ansari, who is a retired bank officer, expressed happiness over his son's release and thanked Indian and Pakistan governments for their efforts towards it.

He said he and his other family members were eager to see Hamid.

The Indian national was released from Mardan jail on Tuesday and was shifted to Islamabad for his onward journey to India, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

Hamid Ansari, a software engineer, went missing after he was taken into custody by Pakistani intelligence agencies and local police at Kohat in 2012.

Finally, in reply to a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother, the high court was informed that he was in custody of the Pakistan Army and was being tried by a military court.

He entered Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.

Pakistan claims that Ansari was an "Indian spy who had illegally entered Pakistan and was involved in anti-state crimes and forging documents."



He was detained by Pakistan's intelligence agencies in 2012 and subsequently sentenced to three years' imprisonment by a military court in 2015 for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card.

The 33-year-old Mumbai resident was lodged in the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by the military court on December 15, 2015. His three-year jail term ended on December 15, 2018 but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Controversial actress Leena Maria Paul Tuesday moved the Kerala High Court, seeking a direction to police to provide her security, days after two men allegedly fired shots at a beauty parlour run by her.

In her petition, she alleged that there was an imminent threat to her life and also her staff at the parlour.

The police have not initiated any effective action on her written complaint, she alleged and sought the court's direction to them to provide security.

She submitted that she was willing to bear the expenses involved.

The actress alleged that she had received Internet threat calls on her mobile phone, demanding Rs 25 crore on November 3 under instructions from gangster Ravi Pujari.

According to her, the caller threatened to kill the actress if the money was not paid. The threat calls were made on subsequent dates also, she submitted.

On December 10, police approached her to enquire about the calls.

More than two weeks later on December 15, the attackers, wearing full face helmets, came to the parlour in Panampilly Nagar at around 3 pm and fired two shots before speeding away, police had said.

"The two men had left behind an A4 size paper with Ravi Poojara written on both sides. We are probing all angles," a police officer had said.

Leena Maria Paul has acted in Bollywood film 'Madras Cafe', Tamil flick 'Biriyani' and Malayalam films 'Husbands in Goa' and 'Red Chillies'.

The actress was an accused in a bank fraud case and was associated with alleged con man Sukesh Chandrashekhar, now in Tihar jail in a matter related to a bid to bribe the Election Commission, involving Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader and R K Nagar MLA T T V Dinakaran.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)WCC General Secretary Visits Churches in Czech Republic

GENEVE, Dec. 17, 2018 / Standard Newswire / -- World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit is visiting Czech Republic this week, joining the Evangelical Church of the Brethren (ECCB) in the celebration of its 100th anniversary, then meeting with leaders from the Czechoslovak Hussite Church.

Photo: Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit speaks at the 100th anniversary celebration of the ECCB. Photo courtesy of ECCB

Tveit offered greetings to the ECCB during its festive occasion, celebrated in the Municipal House, Smetana Hall, in the presence of many ecumenical guests.

"The fellowship of WCC rejoices today, together with one of its founding members, the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren," Tveit said.

Yet the history of the church is also one of suffering, struggle and marginalization, particularly during the periods of Nazism, communism, and the Cold War. "Even now, in the post-communist era, the ECCB continues to face various challenges," Tveit reflected, and described the way the church has met these challenges as "a remarkable sign of accountability, that contributed to establish confidence for the future work of the church in this country and in the wider ecumenical family."

Tveit continued, "Your history is a significant part of the history of the one ecumenical movement and of the WCC. It is important to see the nuanced and wider picture of a world in need of justice and peace, and the efforts of the churches to find their ways together in changing times."

"Even during the darkest days of your history, the ECCB has been able to witness the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to the Czech people in times of restriction and suppression. Even now, in the post-communist era, the ECCB continues to face various challenges," Tveit said.

In an address to the Czechoslovak Hussite Church and Patriarch Tomas Butta on 17 December, Tveit acknowledged and encouraged the church's ecumenical witness.

"The Czechoslovak Hussite Church has led by example, resolving the issue of women's roles in the church even as early as 70 years ago," Tveit said. "This means that you, our sisters and brothers, started addressing such an issue at the same time as women who were midwives of the World Council of Churches were collecting the churches' responses to their survey on the role of women in the church."

Taking stock of the church's unique role in the ecumenical family, building on the traditions from Jan Huss and the modernization movement in the Roman Catholic Church of the late 19th century, Tveit also reflected on the importance of its work for freedom of conscience, of religion, and the importance of religious tolerance.

"The insights of Jan Hus about the role of the Bible in the life of the church and the celebration of the sacraments tested not only the received practices of his day. They also tested the tolerance and theological openness of his fellow churchman, of church theologians, and of the power structure of the local and international church structures of the time," Tveit said.

The Hussite movement and rebellions also take an honoured place in the long march toward a full range of human rights, Tveit added.

"Only Christian churches reconciled in unity with one another can witness authentically to all humanity on the virtues of respect and love," he said. "The politicization of religion has been discussed in the WCC for several years now, but we see it as a growing reality in many contexts."In a Mumbai suburb, an entire neighbourhood was glued to the TV sets Tuesday to catch a glimpse of Hamid Nihar Ansari, who they saw last six years ago.

Hamid is expected to return here tomorrow.

As soon as the 33-year-old, released from a Pakistani jail to be repatriated to India, crossed the Wagah-Attari border and kissed the Indian soil, his neighbours in Versova celebrated by hugging each other and distributing sweets.

Ansari then hugged his parents who were present at the border to receive him, six years after he was detained by Pakistani intelligence agencies for entering the country illegally reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.

Ansari was detained in 2012 after he entered the country from Afghanistan and subsequently sentenced to three years' imprisonment by a military court in 2015 for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card.

The Mumbai resident was lodged in the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by the military court on December 15, 2015. His three-year jail term ended on December 15, 2018 but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.

"It was an emotional scene as we saw Hamid cross the border at around 5.30 pm and kneel down to kiss the Indian soil," said senior journalist and social activist Jatin Desai, who accompanied the youth's family from Mumbai to Wagah.

Desai, who is general secretary of the Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy sat in the visitor's enclosure with Hamid Ansari's father Nihal and mother Fouzia at the Wagah border after reaching the border in the morning.

"We expect to return with Hamid to Mumbai tomorrow," he said.

Nihal Ansari, former bank officer, expressed happiness over his son's release and thanked the governments in India and Pakistan.

Sayyad Abid Hussain, a Bhopal resident who started a Twitter campaign in 2016 to bring back Hamid also thanked the two governments and Pakistan PM Imran Khan.

"This is the victory of humanity and the struggle by Hamid's mother Fauzia, a former teacher," Hussain said.

He recalled that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had retweeted Fauzia Ansari's tweet seeking release of her son.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav Tuesday criticised Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's claim that people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh deny employment to youth of his state.

After taking oath of office on Monday, Nath also announced government incentives to industries which give 70 per cent of their jobs to the youths of his state and added that people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh get employment in Madhya Pradesh at the cost of the local population.

Yadav termed the suggestion "wrong".

"We used to hear such things from Maharastra, where it is being said why North Indians come here, do business and take jobs. Similar voices came from Delhi. Now its from MP," Yadav told reporters on the sidelines of an event at the party headquarters here.

Nath had indicated that people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh take job opportunities from the youth of MP.

When asked about farmers' loan waiver decision in MP, Yadav said, "A one line order has been passed for this. They have decided to waive off loans up to Rs 2 lakhs. It is a good decision, but our party is of the opinion that entire loans of farmers should be waived off."



On being asked about his absence at the oath-taking ceremony in MP, Yadav said, "I will not talk on this now."



He said that in the days to come, the SP workers will reach out to villagers and inform them about the work done during his regime.

"The farmers, poor, youths, traders are a harried lot. The BJP has done injustice to them and did not fulfill its elections promises. Our workers will reach out to the people at village-level on cycle and apprise people about our achievements and expose the BJP," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)APM Terminals Mumbai Tuesday said it handled a record over two million TEU (twenty foot equivalent unit) container cargo in the year 2018.

"APM Terminals Mumbai, the largest container terminal facility in India, has achieved a record of handling more than 2 million TEUs throughput in 2018 for the first time since the terminal was commissioned in 2006," the company said in a statement.

It claimed that APM Terminals Mumbai is the only Indian port to have achieved this record in one calendar year.

"I am very proud of all our employees, contractors and frontline workforce who have all worked as a team to achieve this record performance ... this record has been achieved by ensuring safe operations at all times," said Ravi Gaitonde, COO, APM Terminals Mumbai.

Backed by the growing import-export containerised trade with the world, APM Terminals Mumbai expects to maintain the growth momentum in the coming years, it said.

It is embracing digitisation to keep up with the ever-changing trade dynamics and increasing its efficiency, the terminal said.

APM Terminals Mumbai, part of the terminal brand of AP Moller -Maersk - is a joint venture between APM Terminals and the Container Corporation of India.

Operating from Nhava Sheva's Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT), APM Terminals Mumbai is India's largest container terminal handling facility in terms of container throughput (TEUs) and represents 18 per cent of India's containerised cargo, it claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami Tuesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Union Cabinet's approval for establishing an All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) facility in the state.

He assured all necessary support for the Rs 1,264 crore premier super speciality health facility to ensure that late chief minister J Jayalalithaa's "long cherished dream" was realised.

"My government will provide all necessary support to facilitate the early commencement and completion of the project so that the long cherished dream of my revered leader Puratchi Thalaivi Amma is realised," Palaniswami said in a letter to Modi.

He thanked the Prime Minister on behalf of the people of Tamil Nadu and on his own personal behalf for approving the AIIMS, which will come up at Thoppur in Madurai.

Palaniswami said Jayalalithaa was very keen that such a prestigious institution was established and made functional in Tamil Nadu.

The Cabinet decision and financial approval accorded on Monday has taken the project to the next stage, he added.

The Union cabinet had on Monday approved establishment of two AIIMS facilities--one each in Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

Each new AIIMS will add 100 Under Graduate (MBBS) seats and 60 BSc (Nursing) seats and will have 15-20 super speciality departments.

Each new facility will add around 750 hospital beds and serve around 1,500 outpatients daily.

The time frame for establishment of the new AIIMS will be 45 months, broadly comprising a pre-construction phase of 10 months, a construction phase of 32 months and stabilisation/commissioning phase of three months.

Construction of new AIIMS will be fully funded by the central government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Arab League on Tuesday adopted a resolution calling on Australia and Brazil to "abide by international law" concerning the status of Jerusalem.

It comes after Brazil's president-elect Jair Bolsonaro announced in November his intention to move his country's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

And on Saturday Australia announced its recognition of west Jerusalem as Israel's capital, although a contentious embassy shift from Tel Aviv will not occur until a peace settlement is achieved Both Israel and the Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital.

The Arab League decided Tuesday to dispatch a "high-ranking delegation" to Brazil and Australia to inform officials there on the need to "abide by international law" concerning Jerusalem.

The decision was taken at an extraordinary meeting at the League's Cairo headquarters attended by delegates from member countries.

Israel seized east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, declaring the entire city its "eternal and indivisible capital", in a move not recognised by most of the international community.

Palestinians claim the eastern part as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

The Palestinian leadership has slammed Australia and Brazil over their plans.

In December the US administration of President Donald Trump decided to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and declared the city Israel's capital.

The embassy was transferred in May in a move that sparked outrage in across the Arab and Muslim world.

Most countries have avoided moving their embassies to Jerusalem to avoid hindering peace talks on the city's final status.

The Arab League also called on the UN Security Council to "assume its responsibilities by putting pressure on Israel... and stop its aggression against the Palestinian people".

Israel has carried out a string of operations in recent weeks after deadly attacks in the West Bank, also occupied by Israel since 1967.

In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to "legalise" thousands of settlement homes considered unlawfully built, even by Israel.

On Tuesday he repeated his promise to "strengthen" settlement activity, during a visit to the site of a Thursday shooting attack that killed two Israeli soldiers.

"It's just a question of time until we find the killer," he said. "We will settle our accounts with him as we have settled with the others." Israeli troops on Saturday demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of the May killing of a soldier.

Israel regularly demolishes the homes of Palestinians who carry out attacks against Israelis, arguing it is a deterrent.

Critics say it is counter-productive and amounts to collective punishment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court Tuesday asked the Election Commission to place before it the model code of conduct (MCC), which EC claims was violated by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by his bribery remarks during the Goa Assembly election campaign.

Justice Yogesh Khanna said he wants to see the MCC which according to the EC was violated by Kejriwal and hence an order of censure, and later a direction for lodging an FIR, was issued against him by the poll panel in January last year.

The court asked EC to place the MCC before it by the next date of hearing on January 17.

Kejriwal's lawyers, during the hearing, sought that till the matter is before the court, the EC be asked not to take any action against him, especially in view of commencement of poll campaigning in Haryana in January.

The court, however, refused to grant any interim relief to the chief minister, saying it wants to see the model code of conduct first.

The court was hearing an application moved by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor seeking a stay on the poll panel's censure order of January 21, 2017 which said that if he in future repeated such remarks, it would take action against him and his party.

Kejriwal, in his plea filed through advocates Rishikesh Kumar and Mohammad Irshad, has contended that such an order amounts to "curtailing" his freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under the Constitution of India.

His lawyers also told the court that no FIR has been lodged against him as ordered by the EC and the issue is pending before a magisterial court in Goa.

The lawyers further said that similar remarks were made by him during the Delhi Legislative Assembly polls in 2014 and a complaint was moved in a lower court by a private person for action against him for bribery and corruption.

However, the trial court had said no case of bribery or corruption was made out against him and despite the decision not being challenged, EC had issued the censure order curtailing his freedom of speech.

Kejriwal's application for stay of the two orders of the EC was moved in his main petition in which he has sought setting aside of the two decisions.

The poll panel had earlier orally told the high court that only a complaint case against Kejriwal was pending in a Goa court for his alleged bribery remarks at election rallies in the state on January 7-8 last year and no FIR was lodged as directed by the EC.

During a series of rallies in Goa on January 7-8, Kejriwal had asked voters to "accept money from the Congress and BJP candidates but vote for the AAP".

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had filed two complaints against the AAP supremo, seeking his prosecution under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for asking voters to accept money. The Congress too had condemned the Delhi chief minister's statement.

The poll panel had, thereafter, directed that a complaint be lodged against Kejriwal under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act dealing with bribing voters and the relevant sections of the IPC.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Newly appointed Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot visited the official CM residence at 8, Civil Lines on Tuesday.

Gehlot, along with his wife, offered prayers at a temple inside the plush bungalow. At present, the chief minister lives at 49, Civil Lines.

Gehlot did not take charge of office at the Secretariat Tuesday but held meetings with officials at his residence.

Meanwhile, his deputy Sachin Pilot visited the Secretariat and the CMO building before assuming charge. He also took stock of working of the administrative structure.

Talking to reporters, Pilot expressed the government's commitment to fulfill the promises made in election manifesto.

He said that policies for farm loan waiver and unemployment allowances would soon be implemented.

Replying to a question on his ministerial portfolio in the state cabinet, Pilot said that it was a matter of discussion between him, Gehlot and Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The state cabinet will be constituted soon after discussion with Gandhi, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Assam PCC on Tuesday criticised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for demanding an apology from Congress President Rahul Gandhi for allegedly spreading lies about BJP's role in the Rafale Deal.

Yogi Adityanath has "no moral right" to seek an apology from Gandhi when his leader Narendra Modi has favoured his friend Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence Limited by giving it the Rafale fighter jet contract and denied PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited of "its right", APCC spokesperson Prodyut Bordoloi told reporters here.

The BJP government has a "tradition of lying" and by lying to the SC it has once again proved that it has no respect for institutions, whether it be the highest court of the land, RBI, CBI or CEC, the APCC spokesperson said.

"The APCC would like to point out that the BJP government's foundation is based on lies - they have been lying to the people of the country since coming to power and now they have been caught lying to the Supreme Court as well", he said.

"Yogi Adityanath is a promoter of hate and is infamous for his communal comments. It is unfortunate that such a person has come to Assam, which is historically known as a land of Pancha-Tirtha (communal harmony) since ages'', the spokesperson said.

The Supreme Court judgement points out how the BJP government at the Centre lied to it, he said.

According to the SC judgement the material placed before it shows that the government has not disclosed pricing details other than the basic price of the aircraft even to the Parliament on the ground that sensitivity of pricing details could affect national security, apart from breaching the agreement between the two countries.

The pricing details have, however, been shared with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and its report has been examined by the Public Accounts Committee(PAC). But only a "redacted portion of the report was placed before the Parliament and is in the public domain", he said.

From the judgement it is seen that the government claims about pricing details being shared with CAG and its report being examined by PAC are nothing but lies as PAC chairman Mallikarjun Kharge has said no reports have been presented either before PAC or by it before Parliament, he said.

"So our question is where is the CAG report and where is the PAC report that has been examined as claimed by the BJP government", he asked.

On Yogi Adityanath's question on why the Congress led government took so long to go ahead with the purchase of the aircraft, Bordoloi said "We would like to enlighten the BJP that the requirement for defence aircrafts was communicated to the central government by the IAF in 2001 when the BJP government was in power but they sat on it for three years".

When Congress came to power in 2004, the process for the tender was started and was completed in December 2007. "This is normal as it is very technical,"" he said.

In 2007 the tender was floated and the aircraft of all the six companies who had applied were tested by the IAF, which is a technical requirement, from 2008 to 2012, Bordoloi added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Christian School Global Summit Addresses Key Issues for Faith-Based Education Movement

Worldwide gathering in San Antonio Jan. 30-Feb. 1 to tackle 'challenges and opportunities' facing private Christian school movement



Contact: Gregg Wooding,

972-567-7660



COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Dec. 18, 2018 /Standard Newswire/ -- Global leaders in the private Christian school community are convening next month to look for ways to reshape their movement and continue offering distinctive, faith-based education in an increasingly pluralistic and post-religious world.



Photo: Lynn Swaner, chairperson of the second biennial Global Christian School Leadership Summit, to be held in San Antonio, Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2019.



Around 1,000 administrators, teachers and others from groups representing more than 25,000 Christian schools serving some six million students in 100-plus countries will meet in San Antonio, Jan. 30-Feb. 1 for the second biennial Global Christian School Leadership Summit (GCSLS, www.gcsls.org), taking place at the Grand Hyatt.



The foremost gathering of Christian education leaders worldwide, GCSLS's 2019 theme will be "Innovate," seeking what organizers call "adaptive solutions to the current challenges and opportunities facing Christian education."



Participants will tackle a wide range of issues, from foundational values and classroom practices, to how to integrate best practices in technology and diversity. They will also address legal and cultural developments that affect them, and share vision and innovative approaches for the future.



"We are coming together at a crucial time for everyone committed to, and concerned about, Christian schooling," said Lynn Swaner, GCSLS chairperson and chief strategy and innovation officer for the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI, www.acsi.org), headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo.



Lead co-sponsor of the summit, ACSI partnered with Barna Research for the trend-tracking 2017 report, Multiple Choice: How Parents Sort Education Options in a Changing Market. The report found that younger parents are more likely than any previous generation to have attended Christian schooland more likely to say their own educational experience affects what school they choose for their children. However, Millennial parents also have more educational options, are burdened with more college debt, and are less likely to identify as "Christian" than previous generations.



"While there are challenges that need to be addressed, this is even more a time of great opportunity for private Christian education, because an increasingly changing world needs citizens who have been well prepared, through a well-rounded education that is grounded in God's unchanging truth and character," Swaner said.



Summit presenters will include leading thinkers and practitioners in the Christian-school world, such as Jonathan Eckert, Professor of Education at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., who previously served at the U.S. Department of Education under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Also speaking will be Rev. Nigel Genders, Chief Education Officer for the Church of England, whose more than 4,500 schools educate one million children across the United Kingdom (UK).



As well as taking a hard look at problems, presentations will also examine successes. A session entitled "Using Innovation to Catalyze the Growth of Christian Education" will feature Andrew Neumann, CEO of Open Sky Education, a growing U.S. network of private Christian schools, public charter schools, Christian wraparound care programming, and character formation programming. And in "Breakthrough: Christian Education Around the World," leaders of the Christian school movement from China, Indonesia, India and the Middle East will share how Christian schooling is thriving all around the world, in both open and closed political environments and despite persecution and growing marginalization of religion.



GCSLS is co-sponsored by eight Christian school associations: Association of Christian Schools International, Christian Schools International, Council on Educational Standards and Accountability, National Christian School Association, Southern Baptist Association of Christian Schools, Association of Christian Teachers and Schools, International Christian Accrediting Association, and Christian Schools Australia.



Registration for GCSLS 2019 is available at

www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/texas/grand-hyatt-san-antonio/satgh?corp_id=g-acsi.



The biennial Global Christian Schools Leadership Summit (GCSLS) www.gcsls.org) to be held in San Antonio, Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2019, is the foremost gathering of Christian education leaders worldwide. GCSLS is co-sponsored by eight Christian school associations: Association of Christian Schools International (www.acsi.org), Christian Schools International (www.csionline.org/), Council on Educational Standards and Accountability (www.cesaschools.org). National Christian School Association (www.nationalchristian.org), Southern Baptist Association of Christian Schools (www.sbacs.org), Association of Christian Teachers and Schools (www.actsschools.org), International Christian Accrediting Association (www.icaa.oruef.org), and Christian Schools Australia (www.csa.edu.au).

: The Supplementary Estimates for over Rs 6,900 crore was passed by the Karnataka legislative assembly Tuesday amid the opposition BJP's walkout protesting against it.

The opposition party termed theadditional financial demand as "unscientific" and "without any specific plan".

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, listing out additional grants for various departments said the state government was not violating the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Several BJP members, including J C Madhuswami, askedto whom the additional grant of Rs 1,997 crore in the Public Works Department had been allotted.

Charging that the allocations were being done to certain select constituencies of the ruling party MLAs, he said "for the state to develop, all constituencies have to develop.

Priority has to be given to need based programmes, he said and demanded to know on what basis was the allocation made and what were the parameters followed.

Defending the supplementary estimate, Kumaraswamy, who also holds the Finance portfolio, said a large part of the additional grants sought were for "pro-people" schemes.

He said Rs 2,500 crore had been allotted to the Co-operation Department as part of the crop loan waiver for farmers, while the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department had been provided Rs 510 crore for drinking water projects and rural road works, as sought by newly elected legislators.

Not satisfied with the government's reply, BJP members staged a walkout, following which the Supplementary Estimates and the consequential appropriation bill was passed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The 12-hour Mayurbhanj district bandh called by the BJP affected normal life as party activists blocked roads and picketed in front of government offices on Tuesday, police said.

The BJP called the bandh to protest "apathy" of the Odisha government in health and education sectors in the district. The party claimed that the state government transferred 46 doctors from various government hospitals in Mayurbhanj district while 220 doctors posts are lying vacant.

Vehicles remained off the road, shops and commercial establishments downed their shutter, educational institutes, banks and post offices were closed during the bandh, they said.

The state government offices and courts were paralysed as BJP activists picketed in front of the collectorate in the district headquarters town of Baripada.

The protesters disrupted vehicular movement on National Highways no 18 and 49.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The cost of printing currency notes escalated to Rs 7,965 crore in 2016-17, the year when the government had banned the high-value 500 and 1,000 rupee bills, the government informed Parliament Tuesday.

Also, the printing cost came down to a substantial Rs 4,912 crore in the following year 2017-18 when the RBI had sufficed the shortage of bank notes which was caused due to the government's demonetisation move.

The expenditure on printing of notes during 2015-16 (the year prior to demonetisation) was Rs 3,421 crore, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

"Rs 79.65 billion (Rs 7,965 crore) and Rs 49.12 billion (Rs 4,912 crore) were spent on printing of banknotes in the year 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively. In addition, Rs 1.09 billion (Rs 109 crore), Rs 1.47 billion ( Rs 147 crore) and Rs 1.15 billion (Rs 115 crore) were spent on remittance of currency in the year 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively," Parliament was informed.

The minister's reply was in regard to details sought on expenditure incurred by the Reserve Bank for calling back Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes and destroying them. He was also asked to give expenditure details for replenishing the currency withdrawn during demonetisation.

"Expenditure on printing of new notes after demonetisation has not been shown separately by the Reserve Bank of India in its accounts," Jaitley said.

The minister also informed the House that no public sector bank, expect for SBI, has reported incidence of casualty during the period of demonetisation.

On casualty incidents at all public sector banks during the note ban period, Jaitley said only State Bank of India had reported that three staffers and one customer died during the demonetisation drive. A total compensation of Rs 44.07 lakh (including Rs 3 lakh to customer) was paid to their family members, he said.

On asked if any study has been conducted on the impact of demonetisation on industry and employment situation in the country, the finance minister said that "no specific study has been done by government".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the demonetisation of high-value notes on November 8, 2016, which wiped out nearly 86 per cent of the total currency notes in circulation.

In a separate question asked about the durability of new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 bank notes, Minister of State for Finance Pon Radhakrishnan said these notes are expected to have normal life as that of older currencies.

He, however, said that some design elements have been changed in the new banknotes.

The visible changes in the new banknotes are in form of size, color and inclusion of heritage motifs.

He also said that there are no issues related to non-recognition of new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes by the ATMs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Beefeaters and staff at some of Britain's most famous royal sites including the Tower of London will start strikes later this week amid a dispute over pensions, their unions said.

The staff and a small number of beefeaters -- who are ceremonial guardians at the tower -- voted "overwhelmingly" to walkout in ballots, according to the PCS and GMB unions.

The actions will begin Friday with staff from Kensington Palace -- where Princes William and Harry live with their families -- Hampton Court Palace and the tower, they said.

They will also then picket on the gates of the tower and at Hampton Court on January 8, GMB added.

The royal sites are formally owned by the British monarchy but placed in trust and run by a charity, Historic Royal Palaces (HRP).

The unions claim HRP has decided to replace employees' final salary pensions with "an inferior" alternative.

"HRP are jumping on a bandwagon which is seeing employers engaging in a race to the bottom, ending good final salary schemes and replacing them with risky cheaper defined contribution schemes," said the GMB's Mick Ainsley.

"GMB members still at this late stage are willing to talk to HRP but the silence from HRP is deafening." John Barnes, HRP chief executive, called the decision "disappointing" but insisted it would not lead to a change in policy.

"We do not expect any industrial action to have a significant impact on the day-to-day operations of our sites," he said, adding they would remain open on January 8.

Beefeaters -- members of the Queen's Body Guard of the Yeoman of the Guard, as they are formally known -- live at the Tower of London, which was founded in the 11th century and is now a major tourist attraction.

They date back to 1337, with their nickname thought to stem from the days when the yeoman warders were given a daily ration of meat.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ranveer Singh says being best friends with one's spouse is "key to sustaining a romantic relationship".

Ranveer tied the knot with his girlfriend of six years, actor Deepika Padukone in an intimate twin wedding ceremony in Italy last month.

"Being best friends with each other is truly the dynamic. We are deeply in love with each other but above all we are best friends. We are each other's support system, companions. We have a lot of fun together.

"Being each other's best friend is truly paramount, where you can share silences, laughter and light moments. To have somebody who makes the passing of the lifetime a pleasant experience everyday is very rare and precious," the actor told PTI in an interview.

The couple started dating on the sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Ram Leela". The duo then went on to feature in two more of Bhansali's films "Bajirao Mastani" and "Padmaavat."



"I feel like the two greatest things I've done in my life is, one, become an actor and two, get myself the most amazing life partner one can hope for," he adds.

Ranveer credits Deepika for curating every aspect of their "fairytale" wedding.

"I had this fairytale wedding and I keep telling my wife that it's the stuff of dreams. I could not have even dreamed of such a wedding. It's beyond my imagination. I could never have the vision for it. She meticulously curated and designed every aspect of it.

"It was everything as it should have been - the most joyous month of our lives, there were tears of happiness throughout. It will be a fond memory in our hearts forever," he says.

The actor says someone "very senior" in the film industry told the couple after the wedding that as youth icons their tying the knot has "reinstated everyone's faith in the institution of marriage".

"In the day and age we live in, the concept of marriage is questioned sometimes. This person told us how this has made a socio-cultural impact. To make a commitment is a positive sign. I feel lucky and blessed. As cliche as it sounds, she's literally the best thing to have happened to me," he says.

Ranveer was speaking on the sidelines of a promotional event of his next, "Simmba". The Rohit Shetty cop-action-drama is scheduled to release on December 28.

With film promotions in full swing, the actor says, unlike Deepika, he is not someone who is adept at striking a work-life balance.

"This is the kind of workload that I am not used to. It requires discipline and time management, both of which are not my strong points. But my wife is helping me now. She's very good at handling massive workload and still maintaining a work-life balance. I have some support now," he says.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has resigned amid pressure on his government after the biggest party in his coalition quit over his support for the UN global compact on migration.

Michel told Belgian lawmakers Tuesday that "I am taking the decision to offer my resignation. I am now going to see the king" to inform him.

The lawmakers had been demanding that he submit his new minority government to a confidence vote, but Michel had so far refused and a confrontation seemed likely this week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)School students from 18 States and two Union Territories would participate in a cultural festival beginning here on December 20, an official announced Tuesday.

The two-day "Rashtriya Balrang-2018" is being organised by the School Department of Madhya Pradesh in collaboration with the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalya, said State's Public Instructions Commissioner Jaishri Kiyawat.

Governor Anandiben Patel would inaugurate the event.

"'Balrang' is a unique programme that has been held in Bhopal since the past 23 years. As many as 520 students from various schools in 18 states and two union territories will present folk dances, songs and other cultural programmes. Winning teams would be given awards", said Kiyawat.

On December 19, a competition of teams from various divisions of Madhya Pradesh would be held, and a team would be selected for participation in "Balrang 2018", she added.

At the occasion, an exhibition about career counselling would also be organised.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The BJP on Tuesday admitted that the poll debacle in Telangana was "colossal, massive and historic" for the party and indicated that a full-scale reorganisation of the state unit might be on the cards.

The BJP is in a introspective mode, the Telangana unit's chief spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao said.

From a tally of five seats after the 2014 elections, the party was now reduced to just a single MLA in the 119-member House.

"We are trying to assess the massive loss which is quite historic going from 1984 to where we are today," Rao told PTI.

"And trying to do some formal and informal reviews within the organisation to understand what went wrong in the run up to 2018 (Assembly election) since 2014".

The BJP, he said, recognises the need for a full-scale reorganisation, re-engineering the party to be election-ready for 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the process is on the anvil.

And there is BJP thinking on these lines to ensure that the party gets ready equipped and become resourceful by 2019 elections, Rao said.

According to him, the performance of the party in the December seven Assembly election in Telangana is a collective failure. "It's a colossal loss which we do not wish to hide".

"And the reasons for the same both politically, organisationally leadership-wise and in terms of planning and strategising, all these areas will be reviewed and there is a possibility of formal review over this week-end," he added.

On what went wrong for the BJP at the hustings, Rao said there was no discussion on development, and "failure" of KCR (K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Telangana Rashtra Samiti) government in delivering poll promises.

"What happened actually was the agenda driven by KCR pitting himself against (TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister) N Chandrababu Naidu. So, only discussion that happened in this election was "is it Chandrababu Naidu or KCR?".

"KCR was politically savvy and over-smart in completely hijacking the agenda of the elections to pit Naidu against him, thereby arouse sentiments, sympathy and insecure feelings amongst people of Telangana and voters which like a wave protected his party," he said.

TRS won 88 seats in the Assembly elections, pushing the Congress to a distant second with 19 seats while the TDP bagged just two.

The Congress had forged a pre-poll alliance with the TDP, the Telangana Jana Samiti and the Communist Party of India but the grouping came a cropper in the election.: The opposition BJP Tuesday hit out at the H D Kumaraswamy led coalition government over its alleged apathy towards northern parts of Karnataka and warned it about the "consequences".

Initiating the debate on issues relating to north Karnataka in the assembly, which is holding the winter session here, senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar accused the Congress-JD(S)coalition of neglecting their own leaders from the region.

He pointed out that Congress' S R Patil and JD(S)' Basawaraj Horatti from north Karnataka were seen as contenders for the post of legislative council chairman, but the grand old party sprung a surprise at the last minute by nominating Prathap Chandra Shetty for the post.

"There are several such incidents... this part of the state has been neglected by this government, even in the cabinet...there will be consequences that Congress and JD(S) may have to face in the future," he added.

Pointing out at the demand for a separate north Karnataka state that made headlines earlier this year, Shettar questioned the Chief Minister about fulfilling the promises made to the agitators.

As the demand for a separate north Karnataka resurfaced, Kumaraswamy in July had said the government was mulling shifting some government offices to Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in the region, in an attempt to address alleged discrimination.

Shettar said the Chief Minister had promised to shift offices to the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, following which a cabinet sub-committee was constituted under Minister R V Deshpande.

The sub-committee, in its report to the government, was said to have recommended shifting of the Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam, The Commissioner for Cane Development & Director of Sugar, among others, but nothing had transpired so far.

"North Karnataka has been completely neglected under this government," he alleged as he demanded that the government place the sub-committee report before the House.

He also accused the IAS officers lobby of working against the move to shift departments to northern region.

On the protests and issues faced by sugarcane farmers of north Karnataka, Shettar said that the government delayed acting on their demand, which resulted in them staging protests.

Sugarcane farmers here have been demanding clearance of pending arrears by sugar factories for cane supplied and announcement of purchase price for sugarcane for the current season as done in neighbouring Maharashtra.

Shettar also chided the Kumaraswamy for allegedly questioning farmers of north Karnataka about not voting for his party JD(S) during the assembly polls.

Pointing out various issues concerning north Karnataka, he asked the Chief Minister to take effective steps for the all-round development of the region.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The BJP has set new dates for its proposed 'rath yatra' in West Bengal and is awaiting the high court's nod to conduct it, a party leader said Tuesday, days after being denied permission by the ruling Trinamool Congress.

The 'rath yatra', touted as the "save democracy rally", is now being proposed to held on Saturday, next Monday and Wednesday, said state Bharatiya Janata Party vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar.

The dates have been communicated to the Calcutta High Court and the hearing is expected to be held on Wednesday.

"We have already prepared three dates for 'ganatantra bachao yatra (save democracy rally)' from Cooch Behar on December 22, from Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas district on December 24 and from Tarapith temple in Birbhum district on December 26 to protest against the Trinamool Congress government's decision to deny permission for the rath yatra," he said.

"We are waiting for the court's verdict and we are hopeful that the court will do justice", Majumdar said.

The Mamata Banerjee-led government had on Saturday denied permission for the BJP's 'rath yatra' on the ground that it might cause communal tension.

Asked to react on the BJP's demand for holding the rally, TMC leader and Food Supplies Minister Jyotipriyo Mullick said, "The state government had done the right thing by not giving them (BJP) the approval. The intention of the BJP is to create communal tensions in the state."



Consumer Affairs Minister Sadhan Pande said the proposed 'rath yatra' would create hurdles in the implementation of various development works.

"If the rath yatra takes place, then the district magistrate and other senior district officials will be busy in managing law and order rather than be involved in development works," Pande said on the sidelines of 'Retail India', an event organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

The 'rath yatra' was scheduled to start from Cooch Behar district on December 7, but was stalled, following which the BJP had knocked on the high court's door.

BJP president Amit Shah was scheduled to flag off three chariots from as many places. The chariots were meant to travel across the state's 42 parliamentary constituencies over the next one-and-a-half months before concluding in Kolkata, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was likely to address a rally.

As part of its protest programme, the party had organised a rally in Arambagh area of Hooghly district on Monday. The BJP leaders have also threatened to organise a "civil disobedience" campaign in the state if they are stopped from holding the rallies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The BJP Tuesday mocked at DMK over its pitch for Rahul Gandhi as the Opposition's prime ministerial candidate, with party general secretary Ram Madhav asserting the PM's post was not vacant for another 10 years.

He said DMK chief M K Stalin's proposal had not found resonance even within the parties the Congress wants in the proposed grand alliance.

On the Rafale deal, Madhav challenged the opposition to a debate in Parliament in the presence of all its members instead of seeking an "escape route" of a Joint Parliamentary Committee, which would comprise only 25-30 members.

Madhav said the Congress and other opposition parties were trying to stitch together a grand alliance by "propagating lies" over the Rafale deal.

"We are challenging the Opposition. If they are ready, let us debate it (the Rafale issue) in Parliament. They cannot take an escape route in the name of JPC and try and continue their propaganda of lies....this shall not be allowed."



"JPC is not more powerful than Parliament which is supreme," he told a press conference.

Top BJP leaders have fanned across the country and are holding similar press conferences to present the party's stand on the contentious deal following the Supreme Court judgment that was seen as a "clean chit" for the Modi government.

Madhav deplored that despite the DMK's Sunday's event being a solemn occasion, where its late patriarch M Karunanidhi's statue was unveiled, it was used to "attack the government (Centre) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him names and naming the future PM".

"The post is not vacant for the next at least 10 more years. Soon after the announcement (by Stalin) that Rahul will be the prime minister, somebody elsewhere in the country said we are also in the queue...how you can say that he (Rahul) is the only person, I am also there," he quipped.

Responding to a question, Madhav said leaders of the "mahagathbandhan" like the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party skipped its events on Monday, apparently referring to the swearing-in ceremonies of the three Congress chief ministers.

"We do not know if (any) other thing is cooking...no single party in country has the courage or stamina to take on prime minister Modi or the BJP," he said, calling the opposition's unity efforts a "tamasha".

He claimed attempts were being made to "create negativity" about the prime minister in order to stitch together an broad-based alliance against the BJP.

The BJP, he asserted, would forge a robust tie-up for the Lok Sabha polls to take on the Congress party that "thrives and survives on negativity, lies and wrong propaganda".

Targeting Stalin for his criticism of Modi and the Centre, he said, "I pity some leaders...khud naam Stalin (a reference to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin) hai... (and) he calls others fascists...We have seen the face of fascism in the state under the great DMK."



"It was better to look at their own faces in mirror rather than try to throw mud at great leaders like PM Modi ...this kind of language used against top leaders like the prime minister does not behove (them) well."Accusing Modi of being indifferent to Tamil Nadu's needs following the devastation caused by cyclone 'Gaja', Stalin had called Modi a "sadist" and his government a "fascist regime".

The BJP leader said since the DMK had joined hands with the Congress, it was using the latter's language. "Company matters," he said.

On the Rafale deal, he said, the Congrss party and its "eternally young leader Rahul Gandhi" had for the past several months run a "campaign of lies and calumni" against Modi and his government, and in the process hampered the efforts of upgrading the armed forces' preparedness.

Borrowing from Modi's "Quattarocchi mama" jibe, Madhav alleged that the Congress was notorious for "corruption" in arms deals under its governments.

"It has a black history of selling India's national security interests to highest middlemen bidders. Some of them are their own mamas like Quattrocchi mama," he said.

Madhav said the Supreme Court judgment proved that the Modi government was not only "non-corrupt it is also incorruptible...billions of dollars worth deals like Rafale are being clinched in an utmost transparent manner, no middlemen, no socpe for irregularity."



Strongly obejecting to Rahul Gandhi's "chowkidar chor hai," jibe at Modi, he said it was like kettle calling the pot black.

The Congress party and its allies owed an an apology not only to the BJP and the prime minister, but to Parliament and the country for spreading "lies and canard", he said.

The government, he asserted, is determined to go ahead with the deal as it was required for security forces.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The BJP and its ally JD(U) slammed Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath for his comments linking youth of his state being deprived of jobs to migrants coming from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with even opposition parties like the SP and the Congress ally RJD expressing their disapproval.

As his remarks made soon after he took oath of office Monday snowballed into a political row, Congress president Rahul Gandhi told reporters he will look into the matter and offer a reply later.

Nath had said in Bhopal, "Lot of industries are set up in which people from other states, like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, come to work. I do not want to criticise them, but the youth of Madhya Pradesh are deprived (of jobs)."



Highlighting Nath's own "outsider" background, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya took a dig at him wondering whether whatever he has said should be implemented in as well.

The BJP leader said the Congress leader was born in Kanpur, studied in West Bangal and has now become the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, as he accused the new chief minister of promoting divisive and regional chauvinism.

"Such a statement does not behove a chief minister," he said.

Nath is a nine-time MP from Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh.

Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who like Vijaywargiya is also a leader from Madhya Pradesh, accused Nath of misleading people and said industries in a state always give primacy to locals in jobs.

"He has also been a union minister. He should be aware of these rules. What he is talking about is already in place... By making such a claim, he is misleading people," he told reporters.

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, who was a Congress ally in the UP assembly polls last year, said Nath's comments were wrong.

He said such statements targeting people from north India are often made by some leaders in Maharashtra and asserted it is the north Indians who decide who will rule the country.

The Delhi BJP unit staged a protest outside Nath's residence in the national capital and painted his nameplate black.

In Patna, Congress was isolated as its ally Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) criticised Nath with its spokesman Bhai Virendra saying such comments should be avoided as every citizen of the country is free to live and work anywhere.

Joining the issue, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United), a BJP ally, hit out at the Congress.

Its spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said it is ironical that Rahul Gandhi keeps talking about the Constitution being under threat from the Narendra Modi government but a senior leader of his own party takes a stand that is nothing short of an assault on the country's federal structure.

Bihar BJP chief Nityanand Rai alleged the Congress has started spewing the venom of parochialism no sooner than it won power in Madhya Pradesh.

"It should apologise to the people of UP and Bihar, though this may be expecting too much from a party which is yet to express regret over the role of its Gujarat MLA Alpesh Thakore in attacks on Biharis in the western state," he said.

However, state Congress working president Kaukab Qadri defended Nath, saying he was not spreading hatred against people of UP and Bihar, or threatening to drive them out, something which was witnessed in the BJP-ruled Gujarat and which has been a pet theme of Shiv Sena, the BJP's ally in Maharashtra.

He said Nath's thrust was on giving incentives to employment-generating industries in the state, which he will be governing.

CPI asked Nath not to "follow the ideals" of the Shiv Sena and as moving from one state to the other for employment is a common phenomenon.

Speaking to reporters in Parliament complex in the national capital, union minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh lashed out at Nath and sought an apology from Gandhi.

"They (people from UP and Bihar) contribute to the progress of the states (they work in) through their hard work. Kamal Nath should answer whether India is in a federal structure or not. Congress president Rahul Gandhi should apologize to the people of Bihar and UP," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The BJP's unit Tuesday promised to waive farm loans in the state if the party comes to power in the 2019 Assembly elections.

The announcement was made by BJP state president Basant Panda at a press conference here. Assembly elections in are due in 2019 along with the Lok Sabha elections.

"We will waive farm loans, if BJP comes to power in the state in the 2019 Assembly elections," Panda told reporters, adding that the party will also make provision of interest free loans for the in

While highlighting the difficulties faced by at different 'mandis', Panda said the BJP members would launch 'Mandi Chala Abhiyan' from Wednesday till January 7. The BJP members would protest irregular functioning of 'mandis' and delay in paddy procurement in the state.

Though the has opened 4,381 mandis across the state to procure paddy from farmers, the people are "facing difficulties" there, Panda said.

He said BJP workers in Odisha will gherao the state secretariat on January 8 to press for their demand of

The ruling in Odisha had already given a call for gherao of Parliament in on January 8 demanding proper minimum support price (MSP) on paddy.

On the BJD's proposed Parliament gherao plan, Panda said: "The is only shedding crocodile tears in the name of protest for "



The all along has taken "anti-farmers" stand during its 19 years of rule, he alleged.

The criticised the BJP and termed its 'Mandi Chalo Abhijan' as a farce. "Vinash Kale Vipreet Buddhi (taking wrong decisions when on path of destruction)," said BJD spokesman P K Deb.

On the BJP's demand of farm loan waiver, Deb said: "BJP should ask Union Finance Minister in this regard. The Centre is opposed to There are other means to help farmers rather than announcing "



Senior Srikant Jena also asked the government to announce loan waiver for farmers of all categories. Earlier, state chief Niranjan Patnaik announced that they would waive loan of farmers if comes to power in Odisha in the 2019 Assembly elections.Senior Congress leader Anant Gadgil Tuesday alleged that the BJP was raking up the Bofors case even after 30 years to hide its irregularities in the Rafale deal.

Late Rajiv Gandhi did not mislead the Supreme Court over Bofors like the present regime did regarding Rafale deal, he said.

Gadgil, who is the party's spokesperson, said that in April 1987 late Rajiv Gandhi told the Lok Sabha that if the names of allegedmiddlemen in the Bofors deal were given by the opposition, his government would punish them.

"The opposition had demanded a JPC probe, which the then government accepted," he said.

He recalled that the JPC had scrutinised several documents and did not find anything suspicious.

"If a JPC was appointed for Bofors, why is the BJP scared of doing the same for Rafale?" he asked.

Gadgil said after the Kargil war, many defence personnel said Bofors guns were the best.

"I am told that there were more than 50 cars and 15 two-wheelers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's convoy during his Mumbai visit today. If that it true, why are the Congress' critics are silent on this?" he asked.

"Dr Manmohan Singh did not have so many cars in his convoy," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Highlighting Chief Minister Kamal Nath's "outsider" background, BJP leaders Tuesday termed "divisive" his claim that jobs given to people from and deny employment to youth of his state.

Nath told reporters after taking office on Monday that his government will give incentives to industries that give 70 per cent of their jobs to those from his state and added that people from and get employment in at the cost of the local population.

Criticising Nath, Union minister said he appeared to be unaware of existing rules that prioritise jobs for the native population.

"He has also been a Union minister. He should be aware of these rules. What he is talking about is already in place... by making such a claim, he is misleading people," the BJP leader and MP from told reporters.

BJP general secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya agreed with his colleague and accused Nath of promoting "divisive" and pitting one region against another.



Taking a dig at the chief minister, Vijaywargiya raised his "outsider" background and asked if the statement he has made should be implemented in too.

" was born in He received his education in (West) Bengal. His business is spread across the country. He is now chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. Such a statement does not behove him," the BJP leader, who is also from Madhya Pradesh, said.

Former Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, an MP from Bihar, said people from his state and have been working in different parts of the country and have played a role in the development of these states.Workers of Delhi BJP's Purvnachal Morcha Tuesday staged a protest and blackened the nameplate of newly elected Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, in a protest over over his statement against people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, outside his residence here.

The protesters gathered outside Nath's residence on Tughlaq Road here and raised slogans demanding that he should apologise to people of UP and Bihar.

Nath, after taking office on Monday, told reporters that his government will incentivise industries that give 70 per cent jobs to locals in Madhya Pradesh. He also claimed that people from UP and Bihar got employment in the state at the cost of the local population.

It seems Nath immediately forgot the Constitution of which he took oath as a chief minister, said Manish Singh, president of Delhi BJP's Purvanchal Morcha.

"The Constitution allows people of the country to go and settle in any part of the country and take up any livelihood means of their choice," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A delegation of Bollywood producers and actors Tuesday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on one-day visit to Maharashtra, at Raj Bhavan here to discuss the issues being faced by the Indian film industry.

Producers Ritesh Sidhwani, Karan Johar, Sidharth Roy Kapur, the president of the Film Producers Guild, Rakesh Roshan, Ronnie Screwwala, Prasoon Joshi, the chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) were part of the delegation.

Also present at the occasion were actors cum producers Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgan, sources said.

The delegation discussed issues pertaining to the film world with the Prime Minister, they said.

This was the second meeting of the film-makers with the prime minister since October 24 this year.

Film makers led by Ritesh Sidhwani, along with actor Aamir Khan, had met the PM for the first time in October.

Indian film industry, which churns out over 1000 films a year, is not just the biggest film industry in the world, but is also one of the most profitable industries in the country, sources said, adding that the industry also wields a global influence.

According to sources, Ritesh Sidhwani urged the prime minister to look towards treating cinema as an "industry" by acknowledging its contribution to the nation's exchequer and fiscal growth, and in promoting bilateral ties between nations as a global cultural ambassador.

Sources said the issues faced by those associated with the film industry and working in field were also discussed with the PM.

"It was a collaborative effort to come forward, address issues and seek solutions from the Prime Minister directly", sources said.

They said the prime minister was "very receptive" and admitted that at his meetings with delegates from all over the world, Indian cinema has always been a subject of conversation which is discussed in depth and much appreciated.

"He (PM) acknowledged that our films are being recognised internationally and agreed that filmmakers are no less important than nation-builders.

"He has assured the delegation that he will personally work towards setting up a special committee to look into the industry matters and address them urgently", sources said, adding that it was a "productive meeting with a positive outcome", sources said.

The prime minister is on a day's visit to Maharashtra in which he will launch infrastructure and housing projects worth about Rs 41,000 crore in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)British Airways said on Tuesday that it will resume flights to Pakistan from June next year, a decade after suspending operations due to security fears.

"All of us at British Airways could not be more pleased to be coming back to Pakistan and we very much look forward to June next year, when our first flight will touch down at your spectacular new airport," the British carrier's head of sales for Asia Pacific and the Middle East, Robert Williams, said at a press conference here.

The British airline had suspended its flights to Pakistan in September 2008 after the deadly bombing on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, which killed more than 50 people and triggered a major drawdown by embassies and international organisations over safety concerns.

"We only fly somewhere when we know it's safe to do so," Williams said.

Separately, British High Commissioner Thomas Drew in a video posted on Twitter said that the direct flight will start between London and Islamabad.

"Direct flights from Heathrow to Islamabad's new airport to start in JuneA further boost to links between the UK and Pakistan, especially on trade and investment," he said.

A statement issued by the airline said that initially three-per-week service will be launched, operated on a three-class Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with return fares starting from 499 pounds.

Prime Minister's special assistant Zulfi Bukhari and Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile, and Industries, Abdul Razzak Dawood, were also present during the press conference.

"British Airways coming back after a decade shows you where we were and how far we've come," Bukhari said, adding that it was big achievement of his government.

The announcement to resume flights will boost effort of Prime Minister Imran Khan to bring in more investments as it showed the confidence of international community.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A group of British MPs have launched a year-long campaign to lobby for Sikhism to be added as a separate ethnicity tick-box in the next UK census in 2021 after the country's statistical authority concluded it was not required.

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Sikhs accused the Office of National Statistics (ONS) of ignoring "overwhelming" Sikh community support for such an additional category in order to ensure fair treatment of British Sikhs and address racial discrimination.

"The ONS with its latest proposals in the White Paper has now opened itself up to legal action and a claim of institutionalising discrimination against Sikhs," said Labour MP Preet Kaur Gill, Chair of the APPG for British Sikhs.

"MPs, with the support of gurdwaras, Sikh organisations and the community, are starting a year-long nationwide campaign to put this right and a Sikh ethnic tick box to be added when the Census Order 2019 is presented in the House of Commons," she said.

In a recently released White Paper, titled 'Help Shape Our Future: The 2021 Census of Population and Housing in England and Wales', the ONS said the estimates of the Sikh population can be met through data from the specific response option in the Sikh religion question.

"The ONS does not propose adding an additional specific response option to the 2021 Census ethnic group question because of the evidence that this would not be acceptable to a proportion of the Sikh population," the White Paper states.

"There are differing views within the Sikh population as to whether a specific response option should be added to the 2021 Census, and views on each side are passionately held All respondents who stated they were ethnically Sikh (in question versions with or without a specific Sikh response option) also stated their religious affiliation was Sikh, it notes.

Sikhs are already recognised as a separate religion in the optional religious question introduced in the 2001 Census. The UK's Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 placed an obligatory and specific duty on the country's public authorities to monitor and positively promote race equality in the provision of public services.

According to some British Sikh groups such as Sikh Federation UK, public bodies tend to only reference the ethnic groups used in the census and demand a separate Sikh ethnic tick-box to ensure Sikhs have fair access to all public services.

"The recommendations fully recognise the need for good data on the Sikh community, both in terms of the need for high quality data from the census and also wider across all public services. Everyone who wishes to identify as Sikh will be able to do so," said John Pullinger, UK's National Statistician, who has also written to the APPG for British Sikhs with assurances.

The Network of Sikh Organisation (NSO), which had campaigned against such a separate ethnicity tick-box, welcomed the conclusions of the White Paper as "common sense".

"The ONS has conducted significant research and consultation on this matter across the British Sikh community over a long period of time. They revealed focus groups conducted showed, 'younger second-generation participants wanted to express their Sikh background through the religion question as this is how they expected Sikh identity to be recorded'," the NSO said in a statement.

"In any case, from a doctrinal perspective, Guru Nanak was the founder of a great world religion, not an ethnic' group. Sikh teachings reject division of society on grounds of caste, creed, colour and, by the extension of this debate, ethnicity," it adds.

The ONS has also stressed that its "Digital First" census in 2021 will have a new "search-as-you-type" facility on the online form, which will allow anyone to identify as being of any particular ethnic identity, including Sikh.

"The ONS will also utilise the Digital Economy Act 2017 to help ensure data on the Sikh population is available across public services not just census collected data," it said.

The date for the next UK census has been confirmed as March 21, 2021, subject to parliamentary approval.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)SIPRI report notes that Saudi Arabia was the worlds second largest importer between 1998 and 2017 with military spending rising 74 per cent, now accounting for about 10 per cent of GDP. The United States and the United Kingdom are the main suppliers. Western policy undermines peace and security in the region.

Riyadh (AsiaNews)  Saudi Arabias weapons splurge  not only in self-defence or deterrent but also in pursuit of an offensive military strategy from Syria to Yemen  has fuelled tensions and conflicts in the Middle East, this according to a background paper released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), an independent international institute that researches military spending and arms control in the world.

The kingdoms lack of transparency makes it hard to estimate its military strength, the lattes role as a domestic deterrent, and whether its arms procurement is driven by defensive or offensive motives. However, it is clear that Saudi leaders not only want weapons but are also ready to use them on a large scale in war, like in Yemen.

Across the Middle East, governments have placed great importance on military strength as the cornerstone for their foreign policy. The regions level of militarisation has hit an historical peak: In 2017, seven of the ten countries in the world with the highest military burden were in the Middle East with Saudi Arabia leading the way.

The kingdom has paid billions of dollars to boost its military, especially to the United States under Trump, with whom it has developed a close relationship despite human rights violations.

Saudi Arabias war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands and wounded hundreds of thousands of people, triggering one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent history.

According to SIPRI, huge military spending has also led to Saudi Arabias militarisation. According to recent estimates, the country is ranked first in the region and third in the world for military spending. In the 2008-17 period, spending grew by 74 per cent, reaching US$ 90.3 billion in 2015, the highest level ever.

Last year Riyadh invested 10 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in military spending, far above the other 15 big military spenders in the world, which dedicate less than 4.2 per cent of GDP to the military. In 2017, Saudi military spending per capita was higher than any other country in the world.

As part of his Vision 2030 economic and social reform programme, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia wants to boost the domestic arms industry. However, its technology and know-how remain limited, which is why Riyadh is largely dependent on imports. The only achievement so far has been the creation of the Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI).

As the second largest arms importer in the world in the period 19982017, Saudi Arabia has built up the regions largest military, bigger than Irans, which both the United States and Israel view as the main threat to peace and stability in the region.

In 201317, 61 per cent of Saudi Arabias arms imports  planes, ships, missiles  came from the United States and 23 per cent from the United Kingdom. Several other West European countries supplied most of the rest, including Germany and Italy.

Both China and Russia have their eyes on the lucrative Saudi market, but they have not been able to dent US and British dominance, this despite a recent US Senate vote against Trumps support for the kingdom.

Lastly, the SIPRI backgrounder highlighted the medium- and long-term consequences of the ongoing arms race in the Mideast, stimulated by Saudi policy. It urges the regions governments to re-examine their actions, which are undermining peace in the region and the world.Seeking to contain simmering discontent within the party over cabinet expansion, the Congress said Tuesday the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition ministry would be expanded on December 22 as announced.

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) met here at Suvarna Vidhan Soudha here, where the winter session of the state legislature is underway, amid discontent on a host of issues including the much awaited cabinet expansion.

Party sources said during the meeting several legislators raised their concerns about development taking a backseat under the coalition government, and asked the party leadership to discuss it with the chief minister at the Congress-JDS coalition coordination committee meeting.

Legislators alleged neglect of north Karnataka in developmental works and lack of proper representation in the cabinet, pointing out that the Legislative Council Chairmanship was denied to the region recently.

Congress' S R Patil and JD(S)' Basawaraj Horatti from north Karnataka were seen as contenders for the post, but at the last minute Prathap Chandra Shetty was chosen.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, CLP leader Siddaramaiah said "we have informed the MLAs that the cabinet expansion will take place on December 22 as scheduled."



"Some MLAs have said preference should be given to north Karnataka during the cabinet expansion and while making appointments to boards and corporations," he said.

Asked whether it would be expansion or reshuffle, he said "both may happen...what you want? Whatever our MLAs feel that will happen."



State Congress leaders, including Siddarmaiah and Pradesh Congress Chief Dinesh Gundu Rao, are scheduled to travel to Delhi on December 20 to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi and discuss the cabinet expansion issue.

Rao said "it may be cabinet expansion or reshuffle, both may happen.How it will happen I cannot say now."



He said the Congress President has called a meeting on December 20. "After discussing with him, we will take a final decision. Both options are open...both may happen."



According to the pact reached between the two partners at the time of formation of the coalition government in May, there are now six vacant ministerial positions left for the Congress and two for the JD(S).

This will be the second expansion of the Kumaraswamy's ministry, who currently heads the 26-member cabinet.

Congress sources said, along with cabinet expansion, the party is also likely to take a call on filling up of MLAs as heads to boards and corporations and their appointment as parliamentary secretaries to ministers on December 22.

MLAs have raised some issues relating to their constituencies, Siddaramaiah said.

Siddaramaiah said they have asked him and the deputy chief minister G Parameshwara to discuss the issue with the chief minister at the coordination committee, as also regarding completion of stalled development projects.

About many legislators skipping the CLP meeting, Siddaramaiah said about 100 of them (both MLAs and MLCs) were present, and "there will never be 100 per cent attendance."



The meeting also discussed issues related to alleged discrimination faced by party MLAs under the coalition government as also the style of functioning of a few JD(S) ministers, including Kumaraswamy's brother and PWD Minister H D Revanna.

To sort out the issues, it was earlier planned to invite the chief minister for this meeting.

However, Siddarmaiah had Monday clarified that Kumaraswamy was not invited for the meeting and a joint legislature party meet (Congress and JDS) will be convened at the earliest.

According to sources, several MLAs from North Karnataka took strong exception about lesser representation to legislators from the region in the cabinet.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Bihar cabinet Tuesday gave its nod to construct a 6.30 km long six-lane road in Patna on a land handed over by the railway, an official said.

The road between R-block and Digha would be built at an estimated cost of Rs 379.57 crore, Cabinet Secretariat Department Special Secretary U N Pandey told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

Earlier this year, the Railway Ministry had handed over 71.25 acres of land, through which a defunct railway track passes, to Bihar government on payment of Rs 222.19 crore.

The new road would bring better connectivity between Digha, the city's north western side, and R-Block which is a stone's throw from a number of major buildings including the state assembly in Patna.

"The project would incorporate construction of flyover, drainage, footpath, median work etc. The 6.30 km long stretch would be constructed on EPC mode at an estimated cost of Rs 379.57 crore," Pandey said.

Under the Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) mode, funds are provided by the government which pays the agency hired for the purpose as per the work carried out by it.

In another important decision, the state cabinet gave agreed to increase the monthly remuneration of anganwadi centre sevikas and sahayikas across the state, Pandey said.

The cabinet increased the monthly emoluments of general anganwadi centre's sevikas from Rs 3000 to Rs 4500, while sevikas of mini anganwadi centres would now get Rs 3000 in place of Rs 2250, Pandey said adding that Sahayikas will get Rs 2250 against the existing remuneration of Rs 1500.

Sahayikas would also get Rs 250 as incentive per month in addition to the hike if they regularly and efficiently run the centre, he said adding that the move would put annual additional burden of Rs 55.58 crore on state's exchequer.

The main objective of anganwadi centres is primarily concerned with the implementation of schemes related to children in the age group of 0-6 years, adolescent girls as well as pregnant and lactating women in order to improve their nutritional and health status.

In another decision, the cabinet gave its nod for private investment of Rs 30.23 crore for setting up a unit to manufacture TMT bars and coils near Fatuha Industrial area in Patna, the special secretary said.

The unit would be set up by Shivshiva Steel Pvt Ltd, Patna with an annual capacity to manufacture 1,20,000 MT of TMT bars and coils. It would provide employment to 60 persons, both skilled and unskilled, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Campaigning for by-election to the Jasdan assembly constituency in Gujarat came to an end Tuesday evening, setting the stage for voting on December 20 with both the Congress and the BJP sounding confident of winning the seat held by former Congressman Kunvarji Bavaliya.

Bavaliya had won from Jasdan in the 2017 assembly polls on a Congress ticket. In July, he quit the Congress and also resigned from the assembly, and joined the ruling BJP, which immediately made him a Cabinet minister.

Bavaliya's resignation necessitated the bypoll in Jasdan, located in Rajkot district, around 200km from Ahmedabad, and he is now in the fray as the BJP candidate.

The Congress has fielded Avsar Nakiya, a district panchayat member, from the seat where result will be announced on December 23.

Senior state Congress leaders and party's Gujarat in- charge Rajeev Satav besides a host of MLAs campaigned for Nakiya.

The opposition party also brought in Punjab Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu as its star campaigner to address a gathering moments before the campaign ended at 5 pm.

The BJP organised a 36km-long motorbike rally, led by its state president Jitu Vaghani, on the last day of canvassing.

Bavaliya is a prominent Koli leader and is banking on support from his community, which has a large presence in the constituency, to get re-elected.

The ruling party organised rallies and door-to-door campaigns in support of Bavaliya with Vaghani leading from the front in canvassing.

While Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was conspicuous by his absence on the campaign trail, his wife Anjali Rupani sought votes for Bavaliya.

"I have not come here as the chief minister's wife but as a party worker from Rajkot. This is the not the first time that I have come for election, but have campaigned for candidates elsewhere. Kunvarjibhai will surely win and with over 51,000 votes," Anjali Rupani told reporters.

The Congress targeted the BJP for spending "Rs 20 crore" on campaigning and involving central ministers, MPs, MLAs and government machinery to ensure Bavaliya's victory.

"But the voters will show them (the BJP) the door and teach them a lesson for hurting their self-respect," Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani of the Congress said.

Vaghani said Bavaliya enjoys support of voters cutting across community and caste lines and he is poised to win by a huge margin.

"BJP is getting support from all communities. Bavaliya has taken up the development of Jasdan. A new Jasdan will develop when Kunvarjibhai wins," Vaghani said.

"The manner in which people are supporting the BJP's candidate is overwhelming. We led a bike rally of 36 km and received love and support from people. Village after village, people have overwhelmingly supported us," he said.

Bavaliya sounded confident of retaining the seat.

"I am going to win by a huge margin...People turned up in large number to support our rally. They are united in support of the BJP candidate. Congress is misleading people to get their vote.

"I promise that the issue of drinking water will become a thing of the past. Other important issues will be resolved after I win," Bavaliya said.

Congress nominee Nakiya, too, appeared upbeat on the poll eve.

"People of Jasdan are very angry (with Bavaliya). People will vote against BJP and I am confident of winning by a margin of 45,000-50,000 votes," said Nakiya.

From what appeared as a sop ahead of the bypoll, the state government Tuesday announced a complete waiver of Rs 625 crore in unpaid electricity bills under its one-time settlement scheme for over 6 lakh people living in Gujarat's rural areas.

Jasdan is largely a rural constituency.

The Congress, however, continued to demand a loan waiver for distressed farmers in the state.

A total of 19 candidates are in the fray in Jasdan, but the main contest is likely to be between Bavaliya and Nakiya.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)CBI's failure to file charge sheet within the mandatory 60 days led a Delhi court on Tuesday to grant statutory bail to an alleged middleman arrested in connection with a bribery case involving the probe agency's Special Director Rakesh Asthana.

Special CBI judge Santosh Snehi Mann granted the relief to Manoj Prasad, accepting his submissions that he was entitled to statutory bail as the agency could not file its report within time.

Senior advocate Vikahs Pahwa, appearing for the accused, told the court that FIR against Prasad under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the IPC "did not include any offence which was punishable with death, life imprisonment or for a term of maximum 10-year jail term".

The court said: "In view of the settled legal position, the statutory period for completion of investigation (filing of charge sheet) applicable to this case, when the accused is in judicial custody, is 60 days."



Prasad, arrested on October 17, was in judicial custody.

He was earlier denied bail by the trial court on November 3 and later by the Delhi High Court on November 13, which said that the allegations against him were serious in nature.

The CBI had opposed the application saying that the investigation was at a crucial stage.

The trial court had on October 31 granted bail to CBI DSP Devender Kumar, a co-accused who was arrested on October 23, after the agency chose not the oppose his application.

Prasad, Asthana and CBI's Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar have also filed separate petitions in the high court seeking quashing of the FIR against them.

The CBI had registered the case against Asthana on the basis of a complaint from Hyderabad-based businessman Satish Sana, facing probe in the 2017 case allegedly involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi.

Sana alleged that the officer had helped him get a clean chit.

The agency had arrested Prasad in the case, when he returned from Dubai. It was alleged by Sana that Prasad and his brother Somesh had taken Rs 2 crore to arrange a clean chit to him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Les Moonves, the onetime head of CBS, was fired for cause and will not receive a severance package in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations, the television network announced Monday.

Moonves, who transformed the corporation into the most watched television network in the country, was one of the most respected executives in Hollywood until he was first publicly accused.

Two articles published by The New Yorker -- in July and in September -- detailed allegations against the 69-year-old television titan from 12 different women. He resigned in September.

At the time, CBS said Moonves and the network would donate USD 20 million to supporting the #MeToo movement and equality for women in the workplace.

CBS said a company investigation found Moonves guilty of "willful and material misfeasance," and said he refused to cooperate with the probe.

He had been expected to receive up to USD 120 million as part of a severance package that will now not materialise, as it was dependent on the results of the investigation.

Moonves's lawyer rejected CBS's findings, calling them "without merit." "The press was informed of these baseless conclusions before Mr Moonves, further damaging his name, reputation, career and legacy," attorney Andrew Levander said in a statement.

"Mr Moonves vehemently denies any nonconsensual sexual relations and cooperated extensively and fully with investigators."



While the investigation found that harassment and retaliation were "not pervasive at the network," it also uncovered previous incidents of "improper and unprofessional conduct." "The company's historical policies, practices and structures have not reflected a high institutional priority on preventing harassment and retaliation," CBS said, citing the probe.

It said investigators found that "inadequate" resources had been allocated to human resources, training and development, diversity and inclusion.

"Employees also cited past incidents in which HR and the company did not hold high performers accountable for their conduct and protect employees from retaliation," CBS added.

But the network said it had already implemented corrective measures, naming a new "chief people officer" responsible for human resources and retaining outside expert advisors "to develop other initiatives for promoting a workplace culture of dignity, transparency, respect and inclusion." CBS has also seen other harassment claims.

On Friday, it confirmed having paid USD 9.5 million to actress Eliza Dushku, who was written off the script of the series "Bull" after complaining of harassment by the lead actor.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Centre has turned down the West Bengal government's request to treat the annual Gangasagar mela, to be held next month, on a par with the Kumbh Mela, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said here Tuesday.

The plea has been made as it is the only mela where over 20 lakh pilgrims reach the venue after crossing a river, the Muriganga, and taking them there is "quite a tough job", she said.

Gangasagar mela is an annual congregation of Hindu pilgrims at the Sagar island where they take holy dips at the confluence of the Ganga and Bay of Bengal during the Makar Sankranti.

"We had written to the central government for granting the Gangasagar mela the status of the Kumbh mela, but they rejected the proposal. It's a very tough mela because lakhs of people have to travel across the river to reach the venue," Banerjee told reporters at the secretariat after a meeting on organising the mela.

She said the Centre is taking a long time to build a bridge over the Muriganga, which her government has proposed and the Centre accepted.

The West Bengal government had earlier said it will share 74 per cent cost to build a new major port in Tajpur as it will build a bridge over the Muriganga river to help pilgrims visiting Sagar Island.

At the coordination committee meeting on Tuesday, the state government decided to provide a compensation of Rs 5 lakh in the event of accidental death of a pilgrim at Sagar Island between January 7 and 17.

This year Makar Sankranti date is January 14.

The triangular Island, situated around 130 km from the city, is separated from the mainland by rivers Ganga and Muriganga on two sides and faces the Bay of Bengal on the third side.

The coordination meeting also discussed the security measures to be arranged at the Gangasagar mela.

"We want a peaceful mela. Several measures have been taken to keep it peaceful. Visits of several VVIPs would be restricted to facilitate visits of the pilgrims," the chief minister said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.): The next three months would see the Centre put in place changes in policy and procedures to ensure Indiafurther improves its position in the 'Ease of Doing BusinessReport-2019', chairman designate of Central Board ofIndirect Taxes and Customs P K Das said Tuesday.

The process to assess the 'Ease of Doing Business-2019' for 2018 will start from February 2019 and go on till August-September. The result will be out in October.

India has jumped 23 places to 77th rank in the global Ease of Doing Business rankings.

"Our efforts are that in the next three months we should ensure that all our processes are put in place in this financial year itself and deliver the desired changes, both in policy or if it is required to be made,any procedural changes.

That is why any changes in the system upgradation, any capacity building, all these we are focusing now and see that we are all in the right track," Das told reporters.

He was briefing reporters about the two-day 'All India conference of chief commissioners of customs/customs and central taxes and director generals on customs tariff and allied matters' that began here Tuesday.

To curb smuggling and illicit trade,the customs department was also working on having new technological tools like Artificial Intelligence, block chain technologies and deep diving technologies, which are used in many sectors dealing with operations and applications, he said.

"We are engaging with technology experts. We are engaging with IBM and other system providers, but they have to build technology as per our requirement.

We have to indicate (tothem) what the processes and what the minimum requirementsare.Our engagements are on,"Das said.

He said the officers discussed numerous initiatives in connection with Indo-Bangladesh, Indo-Bhutan and Indo-Nepal cross-border trade, electronic cargo tracking system, off border clearance and various steps taken on TIR convention (International Road Transports convention).

Smuggling was also an issue deliberated during the meeting, as also the steps taken to check it, Das said.

The issue of upgrading the 12 laboratories of customs all over the country and getting them accredited was also discussed, he said.

Das said efforts were on to give the lab facilities to the neighbouring countries so that consignments they exported for the benefit of the food safety authorities, drugcontrol authorities, wildlife authorities, animal quarantineand plant quarantine can be tested by theselaboratories.

Strategic thinking was also discussed, he said, adding that the officers deliberated on the deployment of 109 Customs vessels helping agencies guarding the nation's borders like the Army and the Navy.

"We conduct a lot of exercises where we have something called Sagar Kavach. We conduct various joint exercises with the border guarding forces.

All kinds of different parameters like whether their equipment is properly maintained or not, whether proper maintenance in terms of the comprehensive maintenance agreement is being carried out or not and whether the officers are deployed properly were examined," he said.

We have issued several directions in this regard," Das added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Union minister P Chidambaram, an accused in the Aircel-Maxis case, Tuesday alleged in a Delhi court that the Enforcement Directorate was sensationalising the case and damaging his reputation.

Chidambaram and his son Karti, who have been granted further protection from assert till January 11, made the allegations in their replies to ED's application seeking time to advance arguments on their anticipatory bail pleas.

ED had claimed that it wanted to place "newly received evidence" in the case before the court.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for ED, had moved an application before Special Judge O P Saini, who posted the matter for January 11.

The court also extended the protection from arrest, granted to both the accused till then after senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for father-son duo respectively, made a request for it.

Besides, in the money laundering case being probed by ED, the court extended similar relief to Chidambarams in a related case filed by the CBI, while granting it time till January 11 to get sanction from the authorities concerned to prosecute five public servants accused in the case. There are 18 accused in the case.

ED's special public prosecutor Nites Rana told the court that "new material has been recovered by the agency which needs to be collated in the case".

In their reply, the father-son duo said, "The accused believes that the subject application has been preferred by ED with the sole intention of delaying the adjudication of accused's anticipatory bail applications, sensationalise the issue, and causing prejudice to the accused and causing harm and damage to his reputation."



The CBI had on November 26 told the court that the Centre had granted sanction to prosecute P Chidambaram.

Father-son duo had approached the court through advocates P K Dubey and Arshdeep Singh seeking anticipatory bail, claiming that they were afraid of arrest in both the cases being probed by the ED and the CBI.

The case relates to alleged irregularities in grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval in Aircel-Maxis deal and is being probed by the CBI.

In a separate case, the ED is investigating the money laundering aspect of the alleged offence.

The CBI and the ED, in their replies to the anticipatory bail pleas of Chidambarams, had alleged that they were not cooperating in investigation.

While Karti had moved anticipatory bail application in March, his father had approached the court in May. They have sought similar relief in the case filed by the CBI.

Their protection from arrest has been extended from time to time.

The agencies have sought the custodial interrogation of both the accused, saying they have not been cooperating and, therefore, making it difficult to complete the investigation in a time-bound manner as directed by the Supreme Court.

The senior Congress leader and his son have come under the scanner of investigating agencies in the Rs 3,500-crore Aircel-Maxis deal and the INX Media case involving Rs 305 crore.

In its charge sheet filed earlier in the case against former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi Maran and others, the CBI had alleged that P Chidambaram granted FIPB approval in March 2006 to Mauritius-based Global Communication Services Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Maxis.

The Maran brothers and the other accused named in the CBI charge sheet were discharged by the special court, which said the agency had failed to produce any material against them to proceed with the trial.

The ED is also probing a separate money-laundering case in the Aircel-Maxis matter, in which P Chidambaram and Karti have been questioned by the agency and currently their anticipatory bail is pending.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Taking cognizance of reports that miners were trapped in a coal mine over the past six days in East Jaintia Hills district, the Meghalaya Human Rights Commission on Tuesday initiated suo motu action against the state government and issued a notice for an enquiry into the disaster.

At least 14 miners were trapped on December 13 after water from nearby Lytein river had gushed into the illegal rat-hole mine at Ksan area Lumthari village, a senior official said, adding the exact number of victims could not be ascertained as the mine owners did not maintain a logbook.

They are now feared dead as water from the river has been gushing into the 370-feet-deep pit.

Aldous Mawlong, the secretary of the rights commission, said, a notice has been issued to chief secretary Y Tsering to cause an effective enquiry into the entire matter and submit a detailed report within 30 days.

The commission has also filed a suo motu case against the Meghalaya government seeking compensation for the labourers trapped in the mine, he told PTI.

Justice Aftab Hussain Saikia, the chairperson of the commission, has taken strong exception to the fact that illegal mining has been continuing in the state despite NGT ban, Mawlong added.

In 2014, the National Green Tribunal had imposed a ban in Meghalaya on rat-hole coal mining, a technique that entails digging small vertical pits to reach the mineral pockets.

Meanwhile, the search operation launched to trace trapped miners in took a hit on Tuesday due to strong winds and heavy rain, police said.

A top police officer said the exact number of miners trapped inside the pit is yet to be ascertained.

"With the identification of one more victim, the number of trapped miners rose to 14. As the mine operators did not maintain a log book, it is difficult to ascertain the exact figure," Superintendent of Police (SP) S Nongtynger told PTI.

One person, identified as Krip Chullet, has been arrested so far pertaining to the case. Chullet was allegedly involved in hiring labourers, overseeing the work and sending them down the shaft.

The SP said "incessant rainfall affected Tuesday's operations as the approach road leading to the mine was not accessible".

The administration is planning to deploy more pumps to flush out water from the mine, he said.

"Only two pumps were in service today. Authorities are planning to use more pumps as there was no sign of dip in the water level. Divers can get in only after the water level subsides," Nongtynger said.

The National Disaster Response Force teams, which are involved in the rescue operation, along with the Meghalaya Disaster Response Force, have suggested the district administration to ask the Oil Natural Gas Corporation to deploy submersible water pumps to reduce the water level.

The Meghalaya government on Monday sought the Union Home Ministry's help to rescue the miners.

"I have spoken to the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju and requested him to send in more professional teams and the best equipment they have," Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma told mediapersons on the sidelines of a programme here.

The union minister, he had said, has taken up the matter with experts and soon more assistance would arrive at the accident site.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Technology today is ubiquitous, prompting businesses across industries and scale to transform their business model, making digital transformation a reality. Enterprise collaboration players are at the epicentre of digital transformation, enabling true scenarios of productivity, scalability, agility and bringing forth enhanced customer experience. In 2018, we saw increased investment by companies in ensuring a seamless customer experience. Customers are no longer loyal to brands which offer products at competitive prices, or significantly innovating, customers are rather loyal to brands which regularly engage with them and provide a true omni-channel customer experience.

In 2018, as emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and blockchain continued to build real-world use cases, enterprise collaboration players adopted these technologies to provide a seamless and unified platform to its customers. For example, Avaya recently announced the integration of artificial intelligence enhanced technologies, including biometrics and real-time sentiment analysis, to its communication platforms.

2018 was an eventful year for us and we have evolved stronger than ever. As technology further continues to become pivotal to every business, we are excited to support our customers with our open architecture and help them build a unified and seamless experience for their customers and employees.

Outlook for the enterprise collaboration industry

Businesses in 2019 and beyond will focus on adopting solutions that are agile, adaptable, open and scalable, prompting enterprise collaboration players to develop solutions which provide a seamless yet unique experience. As the workforce of today has evolved, businesses will need to adopt technology that is suited for the workforce of tomorrow, enhancing productivity and helping to share information in a secure and seamless manner. As an example of this, Avayas Vantage is one simple device with unlimited communication experiences. With Avaya Vantage, customers have access to our SDKs and APIs, and millions of cloud-based apps, helping customers truly personalize their communication experience  as is already being demonstrated with some of our most forward-thinking customers in the hospitality industry.

As we move forward, we will witness enterprise collaboration players adopting technologies such as AI, ML and blockchain to make their products more secure, bring in real-time customer sentiment analysis and provide better overall experiences to their customers.

Emerging technologies move from pilot to mainstream adoption

AI, ML, blockchain and data science are no longer buzz phrases. These technologies have evolved from pilot projects to becoming mainstream. Today, for example, AI is being used in remote surgeries, and Google Pixel smartphones have changed the way you photograph on mobile thanks to machine learning. As a result, going forward, these technologies will be at the core of every organizations business strategy. According to IDCs Worldwide Semi-Annual Cognitive Artificial Intelligence Systems Spending Guide, cognitive and AI spending will grow to $52.2 billion in 2021.

Increased investment in emergency services

Governments across the world are increasingly investing in strengthening and digitizing their emergency services. Government agencies today receive overwhelming numbers of emergency queries and calls, and responding to all of them in real-time is a growing challenge. Avaya is already working with multiple government agencies across the world, helping them to manage, automate and ensure customer delight. For example, with UP Dial 100 in India, Avaya has deployed an integrated communication model which is capable of responding to multiple communications channels, including wireline, mobile, e-mail and social media. Elsewhere, in Europe, Avaya has enabled the delivery of the European Unions next-generation 112 emergency call service with a number of local and regional governments.

The rise of voice technologies

In the words of the late Mark Weiser  arguably the father of ubiquitous computing  Natural user-interfaces like voice and gesture, represent the evolution of technology.

Over the past couple of years, we have seen voice-based technologies go mainstream again. Companies such as Amazon, Google and Apple are continuously investing in voice and speech recognition technologies and the increased capabilities that have resulted from this have created significant demand in the market. In the business world, as voice evolves, theres an increased interest in voice technologies in industries such as BFSI and hospitality  among others  and this will only increase as more use cases become apparent.

In a global survey conducted by Avaya, of 8,000 consumers interviewed, over 70% prefer contacting customer services by phone and believe it is the most effective means of getting the best answer. Our research also shows that new, AI-based voice technologies are gaining major traction with consumers, with two in three people wanting chatbots to become more intuitive. Half of those interviewed would like to speak to customer service agents through their smart speakers, and 71% want to bypass identification and verification questions by using voice biometrics.

Voice represents a great opportunity to deliver fabulous customer experiences, and Avaya has already started investing in and innovating with voice technologies so that companies can take advantage of this.

Open architectures pave the way for the future

As agility and scalability continue to be a priority for businesses across the globe, technology vendors have to start opening up. Traditionally, technology vendors sustained and differentiated themselves by continually bringing new proprietary solutions to marketa recipe for success in an age of a closed, hardware-dependent architecture. But this is no longer possible in todays era of digital transformation. Intelligent, connected technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), AI and machine learning have ushered enterprises into a new era of integrated, any-to-any communication. And its a future filled with seemingly limitless collaboration and CX possibilities.

Gartner predicts that start-ups will overtake industry leaders in markets like AI by 2019. This illustrates that level of disruption thats already being seen in the market. The more open a business ecosystem is, the more seamlessly data can be leveraged within it to drive desired customer and citizen outcomes. The ability to track, collect and share data across dispersed systems is what allows companies to create customised solutions that target exact customer requirements. This open, extensible nature is vital within a next-generation platform.

Differentiating oneself is no longer as simple as rolling out a new proprietary solution. To deliver true value, organizations must be open, agile, integrated and future-proof. As the world continues transitioning to an API-based ecosystem, we become that much closer to eliminating a longstanding dependency on legacy hardware and hierarchal architecture.

As technology becomes more pervasive, Avaya is well prepared to help its customers through this journey and to make sense of their diversified technology requirements. In 2019, you will see greater investments and focus from Avaya in delivering exceptional customer experiences.

@Technuter.com News ServiceBJP spokesperson Sambit Patra Tuesday accused the Congress and its president Rahul Gandhi of "manufacturing lies" on the Rafale deal even after the Supreme Court dismissed pleas seeking a probe into alleged irregularities.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader also sought to know why the procurement of the fighter jets was delayed back when the Congress was in power despite the fact that the aircrafts were much required by the defence forces.

"This is the question that India asks the Congress party. For ten years, the Congress party sat on the deal... They did nothing," Patra said at a press conference here.

It might be because the Congress was probably used to "middle men", "corrupt means" and "graft money" and that's why they could not reach a conclusion, he alleged.

"This was a government-to-government deal during the era of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," the BJP spokesperson said.

Patra, however, expressed confidence that after the apex court judgment, "not an iota of doubt" remains in the minds of the people of the country regarding the multi-crore deal.

Dismissing all petitions seeking a court-monitored peobe into alleged irregularities in the Rs 58,000 crore deal, the SC had said that there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the procurement of 36 Rafale jets from France.

"Despite all the conclusions by the highest court of the country, we see that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party are trying to spread lies," the BJP leader said.

They try to "politicise" the whole issue and "manufacture lies everyday" since they have nothing else to offer (to the people), he said.

Patra was speaking as part of the BJP's plan to hold press meets in 70 cities across the country to attack the opposition party against the backdrop of the Supreme Court's verdict on the controversial Rafale deal.

Citing the 29-page judgment, Patra said the apex court had categorically rejected Gandhi's allegation that the BJP government had shown "favouritism" towards Anil Ambani's company in connection with choosing the Indian Offset Partner (IOP).

The court had clearly said it did not find any "substantial material on record" to show that this was a case of commercial favouritism as the option to choose the IOP does not rest with the Indian government, he said.

Notwithstanding the court's verdict, Rahul Gandhi had said there was massive corruption in the contract.

The Congress has repeatedly criticised the deal, alleging that the government was procuring each of the 36 aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore finalised by the UPA government.

Asked why the BJP had taken a stand against the Supreme Court verdict in the entry of women of menstruating age into Sabarimala shrine issue, he said his party had not questioned the SC judgement.

"No one is questioning the apex court verdict. It is a democratic country and everyone can discuss. We are only questioning the selectivism and extra activism of the Kerala government in the Sabarimala issue," he said.

"Rituals have to be respected and selectivism by the state government is something which we condemn," he said.

The CPI(M)-led LDF government is not showing the same activism which it had showcased in Sabarimala in a similar case related to a Church in the state, he said, adding that the sensitivity of rituals should be understood.

The "selectivism" of the state government and cracking down on a particular community in the name of the court order would only weaken secularism, Patra added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The BJP on Tuesday attacked the Congress, saying its "misinformation" campaign on the Rafale deal was impacting the credibility of the defence establishments in the country.

Talking to reporters here, BJP national vice president and Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe alleged that the Rahul Gandhi-led party was making a mountain out of a molehill.

"It is very unfortunate that (the act of) spreading this kind of information... Indulging in this kind of irresponsible allegation-mongering, is unfortunately impacting our defence establishments as well," he said.

Referring to Manohar Parrikar, who was a defence minister in the Modi government till last year before he returned to Goa as the chief minister, Sahasrabuddhe said defence establishments were being led by "unimpeachable" leaders like Parrikar.

"Unfortunately, the Congress party is very very irresponsibly indulging in this allegation-mongering... We find that the party is trying to build up some kind of courage out of confusion and concoction, which is reprehensible.

"We all condemn these attempts because they are ultimately impacting the credibility of the defence establishments as well," he said.

On Congress president Gandhi's attack on the Centre on the issue, Sahasrabuddhe said every act of commission and omission has its own impact on the national life, national discourse and national narrative.

"The impact of these irresponsible allegations which had no basis at all... and it has now been established by the Supreme Court itself through its verdict. So naturally, it amounts to some kind of irresponsibility and any irresponsible act impacts the interest of the nation," the BJP leader said.

To a question whether the Rafale deal could become an issue for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, he said, "If Congress continues with its campaign through all kind of irresponsibility, then God only should save their attempts of creating a negative narrative."



Sahasrabuddhe said the Congress was not ready to accept the Supreme Court's verdict. "The court has unambiguously given its verdict. They have said they found nothing illegal, nothing suspicious about decision in purchase of fighter plane Rafale...also there is nothing commercial about the selection of partners," he said.

The apex court Friday dismissed the pleas challenging the deal between India and France for procurement of 36 Rafale jets saying there was no occasion to really doubt the decision making process warranting setting aside of the contract.

"The Congress is indulging in making a mountain out of a molehill. It has been trying to spread misinformation and misguide the people of the country," Sahasrabuddhe said.

According to the BJP leader, the demand for high-powered fighter planes existed in the Air Force for the last two decades.

"Our neighbouring countries, including Pakistan and China, are well-equipped with fighter planes. Therefore, the (Indian) Air Force has been asking for high capacity fighter planes since the last 20 years," he said.

"From 2008, the active process started in this regard initiated by the erstwhile government. But unfortunately, even five years later it did not attain finalisation," the BJP leader said.

"As far as negotiations are concerned, there were 74 meetings between both the governments (the Narendra Modi-led dispensation and France). The negotiations during the UPA were not at the government-to-government level, unlike that under the Modi-led government," Sahasrabuddhe said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)CPI(M) politburo member Surya Kanta Mishra Tuesday said if West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is really serious in fighting the BJP, she should clearly say whether the saffron party's proposed Rath Yatra will be allowed in the state.

The Trinamool Congress, Banerjee's party, and the BJP are both sides of the same coin, Mishra alleged while addressing a rally here.

He said, "Mamata Banerjee should clearly say whether the Rath Yatra would be allowed or not. Why can't she say it clearly? Why only officials of the state government are saying it?"



The Mamata Banerjee government had on Saturday denied permission for the BJP's 'Rath yatra' programme on the ground that it might cause communal tension before the Lok Sabha polls due next year. The BJP has moved court against the decision.

It is due to the TMC and its policies that have helped the BJP gain ground in the state, he claimed.

Mishra urged people not to get fooled by the "mock fight of TMC and BJP" and said it is only CPI(M) and Left Front which can fight against the threat of the two parties.

The TMC and BJP have engaged in competitive communalism to divide the people on religious lines, and only the Left Front can fight against it, he claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Odisha CPI-M unit Tuesday took a a dig at both the BJP-led NDA government at the centre and the BJD government in the state for the debt woes of farmers and asked Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to announce bonus over the MSP on paddy for them.

The Left, Congress and other parties have been targeting the BJP-led government at the Centre over farm distress, which has snowballed into a major issue ahead of the Lok Sabha election next year.

Communist Party of India(Marxist) state secretary Ali Kishore Patnaik said in a statement that it is a "betrayal" by the Central government to raise the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of a quintal of paddy by only Rs 200 to Rs 1750.

We demand that the MSP of paddy be raised to Rs 3,000 per quintal, Patnaik said adding that the CPI(M) had decided to stage a dharna near Raj Bhavan here on January 5 to press for its demand.

The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in Odisha, he said, cannot escape its responsibility by blaming the Centre on the MSP for paddy.

"Odisha chief minister should give bonus to farmers over the MSP as is being done by other states if the Odisha government is sympathetic towards farmers," he said.

Patnaik cited the instance of Kerala where the government has been giving Rs 500 as bonus per quintal of paddy.

The farmers in the southern state sell their paddy at Rs 2250 per quintal while the price is Rs 1750 in Odisha, he said.

Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattishgarh and Telengana have also announced bonus over the MSP, he said, adding Odisha too should do the same instead of "shifting responsibility".

The CPI(M) also criticised the chief minister's visit to Surat, Gujarat and announcing development work in the state.

"The Odisha government has failed to check migration of people. Now it is holding meeting at the place (Surat) where the people have shifted in search of job. Is it not cheating?" Patnaik said.

The CPI(M) also blamed the BJD government for not being able to set up labour intensive industries though it has been in power for about 19 years.

Patnaik also sought the people's support to make the two day country-wide general strike from January 8 called by central trade unions against the "anti-worker policies of the Centre" a success.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)(CSR) funds worth over Rs 83.14 billion remained unspent over three financial years starting from 2014-15, according to the government.

Under the Companies Act, a certain class of profitable entities is required to shell out at least two per cent of their three-year annual average net profit towards CSR activities in a financial year.

According to data provided by Corporate Affairs Minister in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, the total unspent CSR funds stood at Rs 83.14 billion during the three financial years -- 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17.

In 2014-15, the prescribed CSR amount was Rs 152.51 billion but Rs 51.85 billion remained unspent. In 2015-16, the figure was Rs 152 billion whereas Rs 8.89 billion was not spent, the data showed.

In 2016-17, the prescribed amount was Rs 157 billion, while Rs 22.38 billion remained unspent.

Jaitley said that whenever violation of CSR provisions is detected, the Registrar of Companies initiates penal action against the non-compliant entities after seeking sanction for prosecution from the ministry.

"For the financial year 2014-15, prosecution against 284 companies were sanctioned out of which 33 companies have filed application for compounding," he said.

The ministry has also set up a Centralised Scrutiny and Prosecution Mechanism in April this year for the financial year 2015-16 onwards on a pilot basis for enforcement of CSR provisions.

"Based on scrutiny, preliminary notices have been issued to 5,382 companies for financial year 2015-16," Jaitley said.A 35-year-old Dalit woman tried to immolate herself in the presence of officials in Uttar Pradesh's Faizabad district on Tuesday, complaining that she had not been given possession of the land allotted to her.

The incident occurred when a 'Tehsil Day' function was in progress at Milkipur, 115 km from Lucknow. Ram Mati poured kerosene and tried to immolate herself, but was stopped by the people, a police officer said.

Sub-divisional magistrate K D Sharma told PTI that Ram Mati had complained to the consolidation department that she had not got possession of the land, allotted to her as she was landless.

The woman's complaint was pending with the department, Sharma said. "We have taken cognizance of her complaint and are trying to solve it."



The woman was detained and produced before the Milkipur sub-divisional magistrate and later released, said Circle Officer Ruchi Gupta.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Passengers arriving at the IGI airport here will be able to avail services of the Delhi Police, such as lodging e-FIRs, through an interactive kiosk at the Terminal-3.

The kiosk was launched Tuesday by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik



The Indira Gandhi International(IGI) airport is one of the busiest airports in the world.

Services of the hi-tech police facilitation kiosk will be available round-the-clock and dedicated police facilitation officers will man it, said a Delhi Police officer.

The facility will also be extended to T-1 and T-2 of the airport, he said.

Baijal also launched the Prahari Scheme' of the Delhi Police for its IGI airport Unit.

The scheme serves as a force multiplier, community-policing system, ensuring active participation of private security guards and chowkidars in strengthening police intelligence network.

The IGI Airport Unit has en-rolled 600 Praharies from 11 hotels and three commercial centres of aerocity and other establishments at the airport complex.

The Praharis trained by IGI Airport police have been issued identity cards supporting Delhi Police personnel in checking and frisking, self defence, keeping watch on doubtful elements, information gathering among other activities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)National Conference president Farooq Abdullah Tuesday hit out at the Governor's administration in Jammu and Kashmir for ending disbursement of subsidised sugar to the state's BPL consumers, saying it will adversely affect the poor.

He also demanded that the administration roll back its decision for the benefit



of the people.

"It is an anti-people move and will put an extra burden on daily wagers and the economically challenged classes of our society," Abdullah said in a statement.

The National Conference (NC) leader also alleged that people were already paying "heavily" as the last PDP-BJP government had withdrawn subsidy on rice and cooking gas.

"The PDP-BJP government, soon after coming to power, took no time to do away with the subsidy on rice and cooking gas. An APL (above poverty line) consumer had to pay less than Rs 1,000 per quintal, but after the subsidy was removed by the then BJP-PDP government, consumers were paying Rs 1,500 per quintal, the Lok Sabha member from Srinagar said.

The move to do away with the subsidy on sugar will also severely affect salaried class people, Abdullah said.

People are already paying heavily for cooking gas and rice. The food bill that was introduced in our state during the BJP-PDP regime has already hit the consumers very hard. The subsidy on cooking gas also stands withdrawn, he said.

The NC president said the 'Naya Kashmir' manifesto of his party espoused a socialistic pattern of society.

It is the prime duty of the government to lend a helping hand to the poor sections of society by giving subsidised commodities to ensure people a strain-free life, he said.

While censuring the administration of not halting "anti-people moves", the former chief minister said, I impress upon the Governor's administration to roll back the move of ending (sugar) subsidy."



"Such a move will hurt the people especially poor, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The All India Kisan Sabha Tuesday called for 'Gramin Bharat Bandh' on January 8 and 9 to protest Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "non-committal" stand on farm loan waiver.

In a two-day meeting the Central Kisan Council has taken a resolution to call a two-day Gramin Bharat bandh on January 8 and 9, Ashok Dhawale, president, AIKS, said.

The AIKS is a CPI(M) affiliated farmers' organisation.

"The bandh is in protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's non-committal stand on farmers' loan waiver issue and rural distress the country has been facing in the last four and half years of the BJP rule," he said.

Dhawale said the landlessness issue is another major problem in rural areas, and alleged that the adivasis and Dalits have borne the brunt of the Modi government's anti-farmer policy.

The AIKS's Gramin Bharat bandh has been supported by the Bhumi Adhikar Sabha, an outfit demanding land for poor farmers for agricultural purposes.

"Not only farm loan waiver, the government also has to address the landlessness issue of poor farmers. BAS has supported our bandh call", said Hannan Mollah , general secretary of AIKS.

Mollah said the AIKS was able to bring the farmers distress issue to the fore and all political parties have been realizing importance of the problem.

On January 8 and 9 next year, several trade unions have also called for 'general strike' in the country to protest the Modi government's alleged pro-corporate policies, he said.

"In urban areas, trade unions will go for general strike and farmers across the country will observe Gramin Bharat bandh on January 8 and 9 next year", Mollah added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A deadly monsoon that triggered unprecedented floods in a century, heaping misery on the people, and violent protests over the Supreme Court verdict throwing open the doors of the famous Sabarimala temple to women of all ages made 2018 a nightmarish year for Kerala.

Scripting history, five nuns gathered courage and came out of their convents to launch a 13-day protest demanding justice for their colleague, allegedly raped by a bishop.

The state survived a Nipah scare in May after 17 people died of the deadly virus in northern districts of Kozhikode and Malappuram, but fortunately, its spread was contained quickly because of coordinated efforts by the state and central health agencies.

If it was cyclone Ockhi that played havoc last year, natures fury in the form of unprecedented deluge in August this year dealt a severe blow to the Gods Own Country, known for its lush green landscape, beautiful beaches and backwaters.

Kerala faced the devastating floods and landslides during the South West Monsoon that left 493 people dead and rendered lakhs of others homeless as the overflowing rivers swamped residential areas, drowning people in misery.

Houses crumbled and bridges collapsed as the flood gates of almost all reservoirs in the state had to be opened due to copious rains for days on end, virtually sinking vast swathes of the state.

The Cochin International airport, one of the busiest in the country, had to shut down operations for nearly two weeks after swirling waters flooded the runway and other operational areas.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the state and undertook an aerial survey of the flood hit areas.

A World Bank report pegged the losses caused by the floods at about Rs 210 billion.

Though promises of assistance flowed in from various countries, a controversy broke out over reported offer of Rs 7by the UAE for the flood ravaged state to undertake the massive relief and rehabilitation work.

The Centre and the Left Democratic Front government of Pinarayi Vijayan were locked in a war of words after the former politely turned down the UAE offer, citing existing policy and making it clear that it was committed to meeting the state's requirements through domestic fund mobilisation.

The Centre also shot down the plan by the state to send its ministers abroad to mobilise funds from expatriate communities, leaving Kerala fuming. Besides the Rs 600 crore allocated to the state, the Union government has announced Rs 3,048 crore additional assistance from the Disaster Response Fund against Rs 4,700 crore sought by Kerala.

The monsoon fury and Nipah virus scare badly affected the tourism sector, a major contributor to the states finances.

Just as the state was limping back to normalcy came the Supreme Court's September 28 verdict permitting women of all age groups to offer prayers at the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa in Sabarimala, sparking protests that turned violent on several occasions.

The CPI(M)-led LDF government, which during the hearing took a firm stand against the traditional ban on women in 10-50 age group, made it clear that it was constitutionally bound to implement the apex court order.

After devotees took to streets in several parts of the state against the court order, the main opposition Congress and BJP came out against the entry of young women into the shrine, though their leadership had initially welcomed the verdict.

Right wing outfits also joined the protests by organising "nama japam" programmes where Lord Ayyappa hymns were chanted in order to protect the unique traditions of the temple whose deity is considered a "Naishtika Brahmachari" (perennial celibate).

The temple witnessed unprecedented drama and frenzied protests when it opened for the first time after the court orders and the agitators ensured no women in the previously banned age group reached there.

From young activist Rehana Fathima, who was escorted by police, to a 52-year-old woman, who was suspected to be in the banned age group, the women were heckled and prevented from entering the shrine by the protesters.

Police launched a crackdown and arrested many of the protesters and imposed stringent restrictions on those undertaking the pilgrimage during the ongoing annual season, drawing the ire of the Kerala High Court, which appointed a three-member committee to oversee the arrangements.

Trupti Desai, founder leader of the Bhumata Brigade, who campaigned for women's entry into various religious places, including the Shani Shingnapur temple and the Haji Ali Dargah, had to beat a hasty retreat from Kerala giving up plans to enter Sabarimala after landing at Kochi airport due to protests.

The protests had an adverse impact on the nearly two-month-long annual pilgrim season that began on November 16 with dwindling footfall.

Kerala was rocked by a sleaze scandal when a nun accused the then Jalandhar bishop Franco Mulakkal of sexually assaulting her over the years.

In a first in the history of the Roman Catholic church in India, five nuns held a protest dharna in Kochi for 13 days demanding arrest of Mulakkal, who rejected the allegations.

Following mounting public pressure, the bishop, divested of his duties by the Vatican, was arrested and later released on bail.

Sexual harassment charges were also levelled against a CPI(M) legislator from Shornur in Palakkad district by a woman worker, leading to his suspension from the party.

On the positive side, the year saw a 96-year-old woman, Karthiyayani Amma from Alappuzha district passing out with flying colours a literacy examination conducted by the Kerala government scoring 98 per cent marks.

On the political front, E P Jayarajan, who had resigned from the cabinet two years ago over nepotism charges, was re-appointed a minister in the Vijayan government.

After a 24-year legal battle, Former ISRO scientist, Nambi Narayanan, got his name cleared in the 1994 espionage case and the LDF government promptly gave him the Rs 50 lakh compensation ordered by the Supreme Court.

With the commissioning of the Kannur airport in the northern region, Kerala became the only state that boasts of four international airports.Four persons died while one was injured Tuesday after a wall of a godown collapsed on them in a village here, police said.

The deceased were identified as Dharmendra Bind (21), Umesh (19), Ramesh (22) and Acche (2O).

Some people were sitting near the wall when it collapsed on them at Maherallipur village of the district, they said.

They were rushed to a hospital where doctors declared four of them dead while another person was injured and undergoing treatment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Delhi tattoo artist was beheaded by his three friends with coconut choppers after he refused to return the money he borrowed from them, police said Tuesday.

The headless body of 22-year-old Babloo Kumar was found in the bushes at a vacant plot in Mayur Vihar Sunday. Officials today said that all the accused in the case has been arrested.

The accused have been identified as Prashant Mishra (25), Ankit Sharma (19) and Inderjeet alias Bobby (27), they said.

Babloo's brother Sonu told police that he left home on December 10 and did not return. Initially, Sonu did not suspect anything wrong since his brother used to often stay away for several days without informing anyone, Pankaj Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (east) said.

However, on Sunday, Sonu told his neighbours about his brother and asked them for help in finding him. They then found his beheaded body with multiple injuries at a vacant plot near their house Sunday afternoon, he said.

A case was registered and police started investigation. Babloo's friends Bobby, Prashant and Ankit who were last seen with him on December 10, were then interrogated, the officer added.

Initially, the trio told police that they met him in the evening and later Babloo left without telling them where he was going, he said.

Meanwhile, police found that one of the accused, Bobby, was nursing an injury caused by a sharp object. Officials found it suspicious as he was unable to explain about his injury. Ultimately, all the accused confessed, he said.

One of the accused, Mishra, who was a stockbroker had lent Babloo some money which he had refused to repay. The other two -- Bobby and Ankit -- also had a fallout with Babloo over money as they were all addicts, he said.

The trio then hatched a plan to kill Babloo by luring him into the abandoned plot on the pretext of a party, he added.

Mishra had arranged two coconut choppers. The trio had planned that once Babloo was drunk enough they would kill him using the choppers and leave the body to rot, he said.

They were arrested and their blood stained clothes along with the coconut choppers were also found, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The government is aware of depletion of fish habitats and coral reefs in coastal regions, Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala informed Parliament on Tuesday.

"Research analysis has clearly identified the decline in the coral reefs due to the anthropogenic and climatic stressors. The latter factor is increasingly causing bleaching events in recent years," Rupala said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Decline in fish habitats due to lack of proper solid waste management, especially non-degradable waste, has been brought to the notice of the local governments through frequent awareness programmes in different states, he said.

Apart from this, the national conference on 'Marine Debris' in April 2018 has highlighted the need for policy development which has been widely circulated, he added.

Further, the minister said Cochin-based Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) is extending technical consultancy to state fisheries departments of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Gujarat for installation of artificial fish habitats.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The ministry of tourism is considering a Bihar government proposal to develop the birthplace of Goddess Sita in the state as a tourist spot, the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

In a written reply, Minister of Tourism K J Alphons said the ministry had received a project proposal - Development of Ramayana Circuit - Sitamarhi-Dharbhanga-Buxur under the Swadesh Darshan scheme.

Alphons said this in reply to a query by BJP national vice-president and Rajya Sabha MP, Prabhat Jha, on whether the ministry had received any proposal from the Bihar Government on the development of Sita's birthplace believed to be in Sitamarhi in the state.

"The project shall be sanctioned subject to availability of funds, submission of suitable detailed project reports, adherence to scheme guidelines and utilisation of funds released earlier," he added.

Sita's birthplace is disputed. It is believed to be either in Sitamarhi district or in Janakpur in Nepal.

Punaura Dham in Sitamarhi district, around 140km north of Patna, is believed to be where Sita was found by king Janak while he was ploughing a field as part of rituals to alleviate drought. It is believed that she was later brought up at his palace in Janakpur, in modern-day Nepal.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had inaugurated the reconstruction of a Sita temple located on 20 acre of land in Punaura Dham in Sitamarhi district in April this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Tuesday said the government did not seek resignation of Urjit Patel as RBI Governor over differences on some issues, and went on to cite how central bank heads were made to resign under prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi and when Yashwant Sinha was finance minister.

Defending his government's demands from the Reserve Bank to address certain issues including liquidity or fund problem in certain sectors, he said that there is no threat to the autonomy of the central bank.

Patel, who was brought in by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-government in 2016 after a second term was denied to outspoken former IMF chief economist Raghuram Rajan, in a surprise move resigned as RBI Governor on December 11.

Many blamed the pressure brought by the government on the central bank to ease lending restrictions and release more of its capital to bolster the economy for Patel's resignation.

"Sarkar ki unse koi istife ki apeksha nahi thi (The government did not seek Patel's resignation)," Jaitley said when asked about Patel's resignation at 'Agenda Aaj Tak' programme here.

The government had cited the never-used-before provision of the RBI Act that gives it powers to issue directions to the Governor, to get the central bank to discuss its areas of concerns.

Two board meetings after that were "cordial" and decisions were taken on three-four issues while there were also some on which no decision was taken, he said, adding the issue of paring of some of RBI's over Rs 9 lakh crore reserves after deciding on an appropriate size of buffer was decided to be referred to an expert committee.

While the committee was decided to be formed in the RBI board meeting held on November 19, a consensus on the composition eluded till Patel resigned.

Jaitley said the expert committee would be announced in few days time.

"So if you are saying that raising these issues is an infringement on autonomy, this is wrong," he said.

He then went on to cite past RBI governors who had resigned.

"The first governor to resign (was in) 1955 when (Prime Minister) Pt Jawaharlal Nehru wrote to Governor B Rama Rau (that) economic policy is to be framed by Government of India (and) monetary policy is to be framed by you. But your other policies like credit policies have to be in support of the government's economic policies. And if are suggesting you would resign, 'I am unable to advise you to the contrary'. So he resigned," he said.

Indira Gandhi got Sarukkai Jagannathan to resign after he refused to give an enhanced loan to Maruti.

"Yashwant Sinha, who became the high priest of RBI autonomy, during the Chandra Shekhar government called (RBI) Governor R N Malhotra and said I want your resignation," he added.

Former finance minister P Chidambaram, Jaitley said, was "not on speaking terms with two Governors during his tenure."



Many central banks around the world maintain 8 per cent of gross assets as reserves while conservative ones maintain at 13-14 per cent. RBI maintains it at 28 per cent, Jaitley said.

"In 2013 they said that you have Rs 1.46 lakh crore in excess you give. Then no one said that it is raiding the Reserve Bank," he said, adding reserves released can be used for infusing capital in public sector banks as well as for schemes for the benefit of poor.

"I don't need these funds for funding fiscal deficit, or government expenditure for this year till the month of May. I don't need even one rupee," he said and cited a letter written by Rajan as the chief economic advisor of the government in 2013 to RBI asking how much capital did it require.

"My government has the best fiscal record and even this year we will maintain the fiscal deficit. And therefore to maintain fiscal deficit I don't need that kind of money," he said.

On charges that the final straw in Patel's strained two-year term was the appointment of S Gurumurthy on the RBI Board, he said when the BJP came to power, a then Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament of the Congress party was a member of the board of the central bank.

He, however, did not name the member.

"Today the tragedy is, I have had the best relation with two Governors (Raghuram Rajan and Urjit Patel). I still am in active communication with both of them, even post-exit from RBI," he said.

The finance minister said the government flagged the liquidity and credit issues facing some sectors to the RBI.

"If growth is suffering then I have to go to the autonomous body and say this is your jurisdiction, there has been a problem, please solve the problem. How is that an interference on autonomy?" he asked.

"Reserve Bank is autonomous. There is no threat to its autonomy," he said. "The government is sovereign. An elected government has to reply to people, businesses. RBI does not have to reply (to them)."



The government, Jaitley said, would be failing in its duty if it does not use all instruments at its command to inform the central bank about the real problems. It would be completely incorrect for anybody to suggest that the government flagging this issue is an infringement of autonomy. We are not taking over the function," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The government has not sought funds from surplus reserves of the Reserve Bank to meet fiscal deficit, Minister of State for Finance Pon Radhakrishnan said Tuesday.

The minister in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha said, "No, sir. Government has not asked funds from its surplus reserves to meet fiscal deficit."



He was replying to a query if the government approached the RBI for extra funds from surplus reserves to meet fiscal deficit target.

The RBI has massive Rs 9.59 lakh crore reserves, and the finance ministry and independent director S Gurumurthy want it to be lowered in line with global practices..

The RBI's central board on November 19 decided to constitute an expert committee to examine the Economic Capital Framework of the RBI.

The terms of reference and composition of the expert committee is to be jointly determined by the government and the central banker.

"Government has asked for a review of RBI's Economic Capital Framework," the minister said in the house.

The RBI transferred Rs 50,000 crore as surplus amount to government in 2017-18.

An amount of Rs 30,659 crore was transferred in 2016-17 (the year of implementation of demonetisation) while Rs 65,876 crore was transferred in 2015-16.

RBI follows July-June financial year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress is running away from a discussion on the Rafale deal in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said on Tuesday while asserting that the government is ready for a debate on any issue.

A dispute, be it on Rafale, the Cauvery river water, the RBI or the CBI, can only be resolved through discussion, Goel told reporters outside Parliament.

"The Congress is running away from a discussion on the Rafale issue in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The government is ready to have discussions on any issue in Parliament," he said.

Referring to the recent Supreme Court order rejecting demands for a probe into the Rafale jet deal, the minister said it was clear that the Congress was spreading "misinformation" on the issue.

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the pleas challenging the deal between India and France for the procurement of 36 Rafale jets saying there was no occasion to "really doubt the decision making process".

"I want to tell the Congress that the government is ready for a discussion on the issue of Rafale... But the Congress is not ready for a discussion and its members are instead raising unimportant issues in both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha," Goel said.

The Congress has repeatedly criticised the deal for the 36 Rafale jets, alleging that the government was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore finalised by the UPA government.

The government has, however, denied any irregularity in the deal.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The government will consider both the need as well as constitutionality while taking a call on what stance it takes on the Ayodhya issue, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Tuesday.

The senior BJP leader dubbed the Congress' arguments on the Rafale issue as one reduced to being contested on a "dictational ambiguity" in the Supreme Court judgment.

"What steps the government should take in the matter (Ayodhya temple issue) are steps the government will consider and reflect on.

"It will reflect on the need, it will reflect on the legal propriety, it will reflect on constitutionality before it takes a conclusion," Jaitley said while speaking at an event organised by Republic TV.

Jaitley said he would have wanted for an early resolution to the temple issue, considering the anxiety and tensions that it causes, but also understands the court's difficulties.

He said the resilience that rests within India, beyond the voices on the extreme, will ensure that a solution is found to the issue.

One need not be extraordinarily worried over how the solution is found --- whether through the judicial process or through the political process, the minister said.

In a different context, Jaitley said he is concerned about the quality of public discourse in the country and pitched for a shift to rationality driven positions on certain subjects.

The minister, however, hit out at existing "double standards", saying it is not acceptable when one labels demands for constructing the temple in Ayodhya as "communal" and demands for not constructing it as "secular".

The remarks come at a time when there are growing calls, especially from the Hindu right, including BJP's parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and allies like the Shiv Sena, to adopt the ordinance route to build the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

On the Rafale row, he suggested there has been a "dictational ambiguity" which the Supreme Court judgment vindicating government's stand rests on, and it gives him the "satisfaction" to know that the opposition Congress' case is based on this and nothing else.

"Old case of pricing, procedures, favouritism is now a case of ambiguity," he said, adding that now the ambiguity has been pointed out to the court, it will correct the same.

He said 74 meetings of the committees related to price and contract negotiations were held before signing the final agreement for procurement of 36 Rafale jets from France.

Terming the campaign mounted by the opposition on the multi-crore jet deal as "juvenile and illiterate", he said the final price negotiated in 2015 by the NDA government was nine per cent lower than the one in 2007 for the standalone aircraft and 20 per cent if one includes the weapon systems.

Jaitley said the January 1 violence at Koregaon-Bhima near Pune was fuelled by "Maoists", who were trying to misuse the Dalits, and stressed that such an agitation cannot be called as an uprising against the government.

The next election will be about the governance under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a coalition of rivals where the voters will have to take a risk, he said, stressing farmer marches are not a widespread movement.

Stressing on the need to continue with the reform process, he said the Railways Ministry has not "reformed really".

The extradition of AugustaWestland VVIP chopper scam accused Christian Michel from the UAE shows that India's ability to put pressure on other governments has increased, Jaitley said.

He also hoped for an early extradition of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya from the UK.K M Asokan, father of Hadiya, the young woman from Kerala who converted to Islam and married a Muslim man against her family's wishes, Tuesday said he has ended his association with the Left and joined the BJP.

Local BJP leaders said Asokan officially became a member of the BJP at a 'Sabarimala protection conference', organised by the party at Vaikom Sunday.

Asokan and 50 others in TV Puram village received membership from party state general secretary B Gopalakrishnan at the function, they said.

Asokan said he and members of his family have been supporters of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Left Democratic Front for several decades but decided to end the association with the Left due to the "bitter experience" they had with them during his legal battle in the Hadiya case.

"They (LDF) did nothing for us (in the case). Instead they worked against us. At least that could have been avoided," Asokan, an ex-serviceman, told PTI over phone from T V Puram.

He said most of his family members have supported his decision to join the BJP.

Asokan, however, said he was not interested in becoming a full-time party worker.

Asokan said his daughter telephones him often.

The Supreme Court in March had restored the marriage of Hadiya with the Muslim man setting aside a nine-month-old order of the Kerala High Court.

In his complaint, Asokan had alleged that his daughter was a victim of 'love jihad.'



The apex court had in August last year asked the NIA to probe the case of conversion and marriage of Hadiya, as the agency claimed a "pattern" was emerging in Kerala.

The matter came to the fore when Hadiya's husband Shafin Jahan challenged a Kerala High Court order annulling his marriage and sending her to her parents' custody.

On November 27 last year, the apex court had freed Hadiya from her parents' custody and sent her to college to pursue her studies, even as she had pleaded that she should be allowed to go with her husband.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed has donned the hat of a column writer for a leading Urdu newspaper, stirring a debate among journalists as to how the media house allowed the head of a banned terror group to write on the Kashmir issue and the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.

Saeed was declared a global terrorist by the US and the UN after the 2008 Mumbai attack and was put under house arrest in November 2008 but freed by a court some months later.

He carries a USD 10 million American bounty on his head for his role in terror activities.

'Illegal aggression of India on East Pakistan... Why Pakistan is avoiding advocating for Kashmiri people' written by "Professor Hafiz Mohammad Saeed" appeared in Daily Dunya (an Urdu publication of Dunya media group of Mian Amer Mahmood) on Sunday.

The article carries a picture of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and some young men holding guns in Dhaka.

Allowing the head of a banned terror group to contribute for a known media house has stirred a debate with journalists questioning whether the company in question allowed Saeed to write due to some "direct links" with the owner or under "someone's pressure".

A court has ordered the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to ensure that the Pakistani media does not display Saeed's pictures.

In his article, "Saeed said Indira hatched a conspiracy to dismember Pakistan", lamenting the then Pakistani rulers for their failure.

Saeed has extensively explained the role of India in the creation of Bangladesh and expressed his opinion as to why Kashmir is important for Pakistan.

He said Pakistan should support the Kashmiri people.

India has been demanding Pakistan not only to arrest the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder and try him in the Mumbai attack case but also punish all those involved in this carnage.

Saeed launched the Milli Muslim League (MML) party in August 2017 with a so-called mission to implement the ideology of Pakistan in accordance with the 1973 Constitution.

In April this year, the US placed the MML on its list of foreign terror organisations for its links with the LeT.

The government has said that the MML is an off-shoot of Saeed's Jamat-ud Dawah (JuD), which has been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including some Americans.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)For the kin of Hamid Ansari, the software engineer's return to India after six years in a Pakistan jail is nothing short of Bakri Eid festivities.

The 33-year-old from Mumbai was reunited with his family after he returned to India through the Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday evening.

Hamid is expected to reach Mumbai Wednesday and family and friends are all set to welcome him back after the long gap.

"This feels nothing short of Bakri Eid. This is a big day for us and the family is going to celebrate his return to the motherland," Hamid's cousin Zia Ur Rahman said.

Zia Ur, 43, told PTI: Our family is very much happy on the arrival of Hamid and we are grateful to Allah for bringing him back in our midst.

Hamid was released from a jail in Peshawar on Tuesday for repatriation. He was arrested in 2012 for illegally entering Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.

The software engineer was subsequently sentenced to three years' imprisonment by a military court in 2015 for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card. The Mumbai resident's term ended on December 15, but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.

Zia Ur, who is also a software engineer and works with Tata Consultancy Services, stays with his family in Mumbai Central area.

He credited Hamid's mother for ensuring her son's safe return to India. "It was a fight between the aged mother and the system in which the mother won," he said, adding she single-handedly struggled to get Hamid back.

"The Indian government, specially External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan played very crucial role in Hamid's release and our family is grateful to these leaders," he said.

"I spoke to Hamid's brother, who was at the Wagah border to receive him. He said they are returning home Wednesday," he said.

He said his 70-year-old mother Meharunnisa regularly prayed for Hamid and his family.

"Now he is back safe and secure, let us give him enough time to settle down and then I will go to meet him. But for now, he needs a break. Let him forget everything that happened with him in Pakistan prison," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Jharkhand High Court has decided to dismiss from service the suspended high court registrar (Vigilance) and recommend the same to the state government, an official said Tuesday.

The full bench of the high court headed by Chief Justice Aniruddha Bose Monday decided to recommend Mushtaq Ahmed's dismissal from service to the state government over former national shooter Tara Shahdeo's accusation against Ahmed of trying to convert her religion and get her married to Ranjit Kohli, alias Raqibul Hassan, a few years ago.

A charge sheet had already been filed against Ahmed, who was suspended after a case was registered against him.

As per Shahdeo's accusation, Ahmed was a friend of Ranjit Kohli, alias Raqibul Hassan, and used to visit during her shooting practice sessions.

Ahmed allegedly used to pressure her to marry Kohli and had even arranged a 'kazi for the nihakh'.

Ahmed is currently out on bail obtained from a lower court after being in jail for nearly a year.

Earlier, a family court had granted divorce to Shahdeo, who had alleged that her husband married her by giving false information about his religion.

A petition was filed on January 6, 2017 on the grounds that the marriage took place on the basis of false information about Kohli's religion, her counsel had said.

Shahdeo had also alleged that Kohli pressured her to change her religion.

Tara Shahdeo had filed an FIR with the Hindpiri police station on August 19, 2014, and Kohli was arrested on August 26 of the same year from Delhi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Madras High Court Tuesday directed former chief minister J Jayalalithaa's niece J Deepa and nephew J Deepak to verify their aunt's property details.

The court had earlier impleaded the duo as respondents in an appeal filed by two persons in a case related to the administration of the late leader's properties.

The plea was filed by K Pugazhenthi and P Janakiraman both claiming themselves to be members of the AIADMK party.

When the plea came up, a division bench of Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice Abdul Quddhose directed Deepa and Deepak to find out and verify whether any of the properties were left out from the list filed before the court.

The court has asked Deepa and Deepak to verify as to whether the properties disclosed by Jayalalthaa in her affidavits before the Election Commission and those shown in the Supreme Court judgment in the disproportionate assets case, were correct or not.

"If it is so, give the list of the properties which have not been disclosed either in the affidavit filed before the Election Commission or in the judgment of the Supreme Court in the disproportionate wealth case," the bench said.

The court posted the matter for further hearing to January 2.

Jayalalithaa died on December 5, 2016.

According to Pugazhenthi and Janakiraman, since the value of the properties left behind by the deceased runs to hundred crores of rupees, a proper administration is required by the order of this court.

A single judge has rejected the claim for suppression of facts and hence, the present appeal.

The petitioners said the value of the assets recorded in the judgment of the criminal court in Bengaluru during the hearing of the disproportionate assets case was put at more than Rs 55 crore.

According to their estimate, the assets were now valued at Rs 913 crore.

Apprehending that some third parties were in illegal custody of the properties left behind by the late leader, the petitioners prayed that "the valuables and properties are to be secured, preserved and administered by granting appropriate letter of administration by the court."



The court has said appropriate orders have to be passed to safeguard the vast properties left by the late leader.

At the same time, the "Class II legal heirs" (Deepa and Deepak) have to be made as parties to the proceedings, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court has directed the police to inform it about the follow-up steps taken under the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) by it on recovery of missing children.

SOPs cover steps that are to be taken by the police after the recovery of missing children, including their identification and rehabilitation.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Manoj Kumar Ohri asked the Delhi Police to file an affidavit indicating the manner and the number of cases in which the 'face recognition software' to track missing children has been used since 2016.

It had earlier asked the police to give district-wise details indicating the number of missing children in Delhi.

The bench said that a DCP rank officer, familiar with the functioning of Cyber Cell, will have to be present before the court on January 22 to assist it so that all the gaps in taking prompt steps to trace the missing children, from the point of lodging of missing report, are adequately plugged.

The bench allowed the plea of child rights NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) seeking to be impleaded as a party in a case relating to missing children.

It also impleaded as parties the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights and Delhi Legal Service Authority to render necessary assistance to the court for streamlining the entire process of monitoring and recovery of missing children in Delhi.

Seeking to be heard as a party in the matter, senior advocate H S Phoolka, appearing for the NGO, submitted that the primary focus of BBA has been on issues pertaining to child rights in India and it has been taking steps to retrieve missing children, those in servitude, child and bonded labour.

The NGO, in its plea filed through advocate Prabhsahay Kaur, said it had filed a petition in the Supreme Court on the issue of missing children and the top court had directed the Centre to lay down SOPs for dealing with and tracing missing/ found children.

Phoolka claimed there is a lot of laxity in implementing the SOPs due to which missing children are still not tracked quickly enough and restored to their families.

Initially a plea was filed in the high court by a man regarding his 13-year-old daughter, who was missing since July 2014. The petition was filed in 2017 and she is yet to be recovered.

The court had extended the scope of the matter regarding tracing the missing children.

The high court asked police to continue making efforts to trace the missing girl and file a status report.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In a setback to US biotechnology major Monsanto, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed its plea to stop the Competition Commission from probing its top officials' role in a case related to alleged unfair business practices in the Indian seeds market.

A division bench of the high court rejected the appeal of Monsanto and its Indian arm, against an order of a single judge bench which had refused to interfere with the direction of the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao said the officers or directors of a company can be proceeded against, along with the entity.

The bench also said that the officers or directors would be held liable only if CCI were to come to a conclusion that they were the key persons who were in-charge of the company at the time of the alleged unfair practice or abuse of dominant position.

The court also said that section 27 of the Competition Act makes it clear that if CCI finds any contravention of the provisions, it "can pass orders against an 'enterprise' and a 'person' i.e an individual, who has been proceeded against, imposing penalty".

The companies -- Monsanto and its group company Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Ltd (MMBL) -- had contended that according to the provisions of the Act, penalty was to be imposed on the 'turnover' which would not apply to an individual, like officers or directors.

Disagreeing with the submission, the bench said: "Turnover, in the context of officers / directors has to be interpreted as the income of the officers / directors from the company, as there cannot be an income of an officer / director from an infringing product".

"We have been told, during the course of the arguments that CCI has been imposing penalty on the income of the officers / directors of the company. We agree with such an action," the high court said and dismissed the companies' pleas against the single judge's order of October 12.

Monsanto had moved the single judge against CCI's July 26, 2016 decision on the ground that individuals can be probed only if the company does not comply with orders.

On July 26, CCI had rejected the companies' review pleas against the regulator's decision to probe the role of their officers/persons in-charge.

They had contended that it was not permissible for the regulator to issue any directions to look into the role of the persons responsible for the conduct of business unless violation of competition norms was made out.

CCI in early 2016 had ordered a detailed probe against US-based genetically-modified seed major Monsanto after finding prima facie evidence of violating competition norms.

The regulator had proceeded against the company on the basis of complaints filed against it by the Agriculture Ministry and the National Seeds Association of India (NSAI), among others.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court Tuesday dismissed a plea by NSUI leader Sunny Chillar challenging the election of Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) ex-president Ankiv Baisoya for allegedly furnishing a fake bachelor's degree to get admission in the institution.

Justice Yogesh Khanna said there was no delay on part of Delhi University in taking action against Baisoya and Lyngdoh committee guidelines would apply.

As per the Lyngdoh committee guidelines on elections, fresh polls can only be held if a post falls vacant within two months of the declaration of results.

In the instant case, the post fell vacant on November 14 after the expiry of the two month period from declaration of poll results on September 13 and therefore, according to the guidelines the vice president would be promoted as the president.

Delhi University had taken action against Baisoya, that is cancelling his admission, on November 14 after receiving a letter from Thiruvalluvar University confirming that his bachelor's degree was fake.

The election results were declared on September 13. Baisoya had resigned from the post on November 14 and was also suspended from the student outfit till an inquiry into allegations that he gained admission in the varsity on the basis of a fake degree.

Chillar had lost to Baisoya in the race for the post of DUSU president.

The university counsel had earlier told the court that once the two-month period has expired, the other option that DU has is to declare the DUSU vice president, also belonging to Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP), as the president.

The post of vice president was won by ABVP's Shakti Singh.

In his plea, Chillar had contended that once the degree was found to be fake, the nomination itself becomes void ab-initio and therefore, the two-month period for conducting fresh elections would not apply in this case.

The high court had reserved its order after hearing arguments on behalf of DU, represented by Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, and Chillar, for whom senior advocate P Chidambaram appeared.

It was argued on behalf of National Students' Union of India (NSUI) leader Chillar, also represented by advocates V Elanchezhiyan and Rashid N Azam, that DU should have properly scrutinised Baisoya's certificates at the time of admission into MA Buddhist Studies course and while accepting his nomination.

He had earlier also alleged that the DU was "deliberately delaying" verification to benefit the ABVP as no fresh polls would be held for the post of DUSU president in case Baisoya's election was set aside after expiry of the the two-month period and the vice president, also from ABVP, would be promoted as president.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court Tuesday sought response of the Centre and the prison authorities on a plea by Kashmiri separatist Aasiya Andrabi, arrested in a case of allegedly waging war against the country with support from Pakistan, challenging her solitary confinement.

Besides Andrabi, chief of the banned outfit Dukhtaran-e-Milat, her associates Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen have also approached the high court for being kept in solitary confinement and allegedly being denied basic human rights.

The three accused, arrested earlier this year, are currently lodged in Tihar jail here under judicial custody.

Justice Najmi Waziri sought response of the Union Home Ministry and the Delhi government through additional inspector general (prisons) on the petition and listed the matter for further hearing on January 15.

In the petition filed through advocates Dhruv Tamta and Shariq Iqbal, the three women accused claimed that they were being denied basic human rights including the right to medical treatment and were refused medicines and spectacles.

They sought that they be immediately shifted from solitary confinement to ordinary cells and be provided with proper food and medical relief.

They also sought direction to the jail authorities to allow them to have access to all the facilities which are available to other under trial prisoners.

Andrabi and the two other accused have been chargesheeted by the NIA for allegedly "waging war" against the country by spreading hate speeches using Internet platforms and collecting funds for terror activities.

In its charge sheet, NIA had claimed that a probe revealed that the accused were running a concerted campaign to elicit support from the neighbouring country and accused them of being involved in conspiracy and acts to "severely destabilize the sovereignty and integrity of India".

The case was registered against the three women in April this year.

Andrabi was earlier in a prison in Srinagar after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court cancelled her bail last month.

The NIA, on directions of the Union Home Ministry, registered a case against them as well as the organisation, which is banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, in April this year.

According to the FIR, the "central government has received information that Andrabi, Fehmeeda and Nasreen were actively running a terrorist organisation named as 'Dukhtaran-E-Millat' (DEM) which is proscribed under the First Schedule to the UAPA".

The agency also said in the FIR that Andrabi and her associates had allegedly spoken, written and also published "visible representations that bring into hatred and contempt apart from exciting disaffection towards the Government of India".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The search operation launched to trace trapped miners in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district took a hit on Tuesday due to strong winds and heavy rain, police said.

The miners were reportedly trapped in the illegal coal pit on December 13 with district authorities making futile attempts to locate them over the past six days.

They are now feared dead as water from a nearby river has been gushing into the 370-feet-deep pit.

A top police officer said the exact number of miners trapped inside the pit is yet to be ascertained.

"With the identification of one more victim, the number of trapped miners rose to 14. As the mine operators did not maintain a log book, it is difficult to ascertain the exact figure," Superintendent of Police (SP) S Nongtynger told PTI.

One person, identified as Krip Chullet, has been arrested so far pertaining to the case. Chullet was allegedly involved in hiring labourers, overseeing the work and sending them down the shaft.

The SP said that "incessant rainfall affected Tuesday's operations as the approach road leading to the mine was not accessible".

The administration is planning to deploy more pumps to flush out water from the mine, he said.

"Only two pumps were in service today. Authorities are planning to use more pumps as there was no sign of dip in the water level. Divers can get in only after the water level subsides," Nongtynger said.

The National Disaster Response Force teams, which are involved in the rescue operation, along with the Meghalaya Disaster Response Force, have suggested the district administration to ask the Oil Natural Gas Corporation to deploy submersible water pumps to reduce the water level.

The Meghalaya government on Monday sought the Union Home Ministry's help to rescue the miners.

"I have spoken to the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju and requested him to send in more professional teams and the best equipment they have," Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma told mediapersons on the sidelines of a programme here.

The union minister, he had said, has taken up the matter with experts and soon more assistance would arrive at the accident site.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Welcoming the sentencing of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-sikh riots, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday hoped other "big leaders" involved would also be punished, as also those who perpetrated communal violence in Gujarat and Muzzafarnagar.

Kejriwal said ordinary people are peace-loving and wish to live in harmony, but such riots are "incited politically".

"I welcome Delhi High Court verdict convicting Sajjan Kumar in 1984 riots case.. It took a lot of time. It was delayed, but it finally came," he said on the sidelines of an event here.

"And, I hope all other big leaders involved in this (1984 anti-Sikh riots), with time they would also get the toughest of punishments. As, also those involved in other such mass killings which took place after it, whether it was 2002 Gujarat riots or the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots," Kejriwal told reporters.

"People wish to live peacefully, and Hindus and Muslims do not want to fight with each other, but parties instigate it and big political leaders do it," he said.



The AAP chief said if tough punishment is given, then in future, such incidents would not happen.

The Delhi High Court Monday sentenced Kumar, a Congress veteran, to life in the deadly anti-Sikh riots in 1984, holding it was perpetrated by those with "political patronage" and pushed for a new law for speedy prosecution of genocide and mass killings.



Calling for strengthening of the legal system to ensure perpetrators of mass crimes are made answerable, the court said neither 'crimes against humanity' nor 'genocide' is part of the domestic law of crime and this loophole needs to be addressed urgently. It also named 2002 post-Godhra Gujarat riots and Muzaffarnagar riots in Uttar Pradesh in 2013 among other mass killings since 1947 where minorities were targeted.Prime Minister Imran Khan said Tuesday that will do everything within its power to further the peace process in Afghanistan as talks sponsored by the country between the US and the were being held in the UAE to end the 17-year bloody conflict.

The US and the have previously met on at least two occasions in Qatar but it is the first time that they are holding talks outside Doha, where the insurgent group has a political office, according to officials.

Khan highlighted the role being played by in holding the talks between the US and the in Abu Dhabi.

He expressed his desire for peace to end the sufferings of the people of Afghanistan.

" has helped in the dialogue between the Taliban and the US in Abu Dhabi. Let us pray that this leads to peace and ends almost three decades of suffering of the brave Afghan people," Khan said on Twitter



Khan also said "Pakistan will be doing everything within its power to further the peace process".

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Pakistan were the only three nations to recognise the Taliban government during its five-year rule from 1996-2001.

The Taliban are fighting to flush out forces and re-establish their regime in Afghanistan after their ouster in 2001.India crumbled in the face of Australia's remarkable metamorphosis and crashed to a 146-run defeat in the second Test here Tuesday, surrendering a rare hard-earned ascendancy in a series Down Under.

The hosts levelled the four-match series 1-1 after India were bowled out for 140 runs in 56 overs in their second innings on the fifth and final day.

Starting from overnight 112 for five, India lost their last five wickets for 28 runs and it was all over within 65 minutes of play.

This was Australia's first Test win since the ball-tampering scandal broke out in South Africa earlier this year.

Having won the opening game by 31 runs to go in front a week ago, India had been talked up as a threat coming into the capital of Western Australia, but they wilted as the pace-spin duo of Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon worked in tandem at the Optus Stadium.

Starc (3-46) and Lyon (3-39) finished with three wickets apiece, while Josh Hazlewood (2-24) and Pat Cummins (2-25) took a brace each.

While Starc and his pace colleagues were expected to thrive on the lively track, it was off-spinner Lyon's exceptional outing that gave Australia the edge. He finished the match with eight wickets, including a five-for in the first innings and a deserving Man-of-the-Match award.

India surely missed a trick in not playing a specialist spinner, something that was admitted by one of their own at the end of fourth day's play.

Hanuma Vihari (28) and Rishabh Pant (30) had continued their overnight partnership, and batted out only six overs before the first wicket fell on this day. Overall, they added 21 runs for the sixth wicket.

Vihari was the first to go, lobbing a catch off Starc to short point. Pant then tried to play a few more attacking strokes, but he didn't comprehend the situation well and was confused whether to farm the strike at all.

In doing so, he attacked Lyon and holed out to mid on, with Peter Handscomb taking a low diving catch.

It hastened the end for India, with Umesh Yadav (2) returning a simple catch to Starc.

Ishant Sharma (0) was caught behind off Cummins, and Jasprit Bumrah (0) hit a skier for another return catch to the pacer as Australia sealed their first Test win since Durban before the ball-tampering scandal hit the headlines.

Australia had scored 326 runs in their first innings, and India replied with 283 runs, thanks to Virat Kohli's 25th Test hundred, thus conceding a lead of 43 runs. The hosts scored 243 runs in their second innings to post a 287-run target.

Captain Virat Kohli's 25th Test ton in the first innings that should rank among his top five went in vain as his lower-order batsmen refused to wag one more time. With a very useful average of 21.00, Australia's number 8 to 11 have so far contributed 252 runs while facing 519 balls in the series, but their Indian counterparts have managed only 63 runs from 228 deliveries (average 5.25).

Kohli though put up a brave front at the post-match ceremony.

"As a team I think we played well in patches which we can hold onto. Australia played much better than us with the bat. 330 on that pitch we felt was a bit too much. They deserved to win," the India skipper said.

Australian captain Tim Paine said, "It was a difficult Test, both games were tough. Two really competitive sides and two really good fast bowling attacks. It's been hard work for batsmen and it was a great contest, because the ball was flying through here."



India had won the first Test in Adelaide by 31 runs. The third Test starts in on December 26.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India crumbled in the face of Australia's remarkable metamorphosis and crashed to a 146-run defeat in the second Test here Tuesday, surrendering a rare hard-earned ascendancy in a series Down Under.

The hosts levelled the four-match series 1-1 after India were bowled out for 140 runs in 56 overs in their second innings on the fifth and final day. India had won the opening game by 31 runs to go in front.

Starting from overnight 112 for five, India lost their last five wickets for 28 runs and it was all over within 65 minutes of play.

This was Australia's first Test win since the ball-tampering scandal broke out in South Africa earlier this year.

Mitchell Starc (3-46) and Nathan Lyon (3-39) finished with three wickets apiece, while Josh Hazlewood (2-24) and Pat Cummins (2-25) took a brace each.

Hanuma Vihari (28) and Rishabh Pant (30) had continued their overnight partnership, and batted out only six overs before the first wicket fell on this day. Overall, they added 21 runs for the sixth wicket.

Vihari was the first to go, lobbing a catch off Starc to short point. Pant then tried to play a few more attacking strokes, but he didn't comprehend the situation well and was confused whether to farm the strike at all.

In doing so, he attacked Lyon and holed out to mid on, with Peter Handscomb taking a low diving catch.

It hastened the end for India, with Umesh Yadav (2) returning a simple catch to Starc.

Ishant Sharma (0) was caught behind off Cummins, and Jasprit Bumrah (0) hit a skier for another return catch to the pacer as Australia sealed their first Test win since Durban before the ball-tampering scandal hit the headlines.

Australia had scored 326 runs in their first innings, and India replied with 283 runs, thanks to Virat Kohli's 25th Test hundred, thus conceding a lead of 43 runs. The hosts scored 243 runs in their second innings to post a 287-run target.

India had won the first Test in Adelaide by 31 runs. The third Test starts in Melbourne on December 26.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India Tuesday pitched for early finalisation of a joint study group report on proposed free trade agreement with Turkey for launching negotiations for a deal.

The issue was discussed during a meeting between Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu and Turkish Trade Minister Rushar Pekcan here.

The draft joint study group report, discussed by both countries in August 2018, needs to be finalised soon so that negotiations may begin, the commerce ministry said in a statement.

"India has submitted its chapter to the group and Prabhu requested Turkey to make their submission as early as possible," it added.

In a free trade agreement, two trading partners eliminate customs duties on maximum number of goods traded between them to boost exports and imports.

Further it said that A Turkish proposal to deal in local currency is under consideration of finance ministry here.

The major Indian exports to Turkey include fuels, man-made filaments and staple fibres, automotive spare parts and accessories and organic chemicals.

Turkey's exports to India are poppy seeds, machinery and mechanical appliances, iron and steel articles, inorganic chemicals, pearls and precious stones and metals and marble.

In 2017-18 bilateral trade was to the tune of USD 7.2 billion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India imported 42.03 lakh tonne of urea for over USD 1 billion till November in the current fiscal, the government said Tuesday.

"Urea is the only fertiliser under statutory price control and its import for direct agriculture use is permitted through state trading enterprises (STEs) namely MMTC, STC under the foreign trade policy of the government," Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Rao Inderjit Singh said in written reply to Lok Sabha.

That apart, he said the government is importing about 20 lakh tonne of urea from Oman India Fertiliser Company (OMIFCO) under a long-term urea offtake agreement. The import of urea from OMIFCO is done through co-operatives -- IFFCO and Kribhco.

According to the data, the country imported 42.03 lakh tonne of urea for USD 1,048.59 million till November of this fiscal.

During full 2017-18 fiscal, imports stood at 59.75 lakh tonne at a value of USD 1,295.72 million.

Urea imports were 54.81 lakh tonne worth USD 1,047.28 million in 2016-17 and 84.73 lakh tonne worth USD 2,087.61 million in 2015-16, the data showed.

"Import of fertilisers (other than urea) is free, commonly knows as open general licence (OGL). Various companies import these fertilisers as per their commercial judgement. The government does not maintain the value of these imports," Singh said.

In the case of phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers, the country imported 52.2 lakh tonne of diammonium phosphate (DAP), 4.04 lakh tonnes of nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (NPK) and 27.53 lakh tonne of muriate of potash (MOP) till November of this fiscal.

In entire 2017-18 financial year, India imported 42.17 lakh tonne of DAP, 4.99 lakh tonnes of NPK and 47.36 lakh tonne of MOP.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Department of Posts will honour all important people who have not been given their due place in history by issuing commemorative postal stamps in their names, Communications Minister Manoj Sinha said Tuesday.

"Our government has made an effort that people who have not been given due importance but have contributed significantly in building nation should be honoured by India Posts by issuing postage stamp. In this series, a postal stamp has been issued on Shri Rajkumar Shukla," Sinha said after releasing commemorative stamp on Shukla.

Shukla is associated with Champaran Satyagraha and is said to have persuaded Mahatma Gandhi to visit Champaran to fight for farmers in the region.

In early 1900 period, farmers in Champaran were forced to produce indigo under the British rule and sell at a price determined by the government.

Sinha said Shukla persuaded Gandhi to fight against the plight of farmers, which is known as Champaran Satyagraha in history.

Member of Parliament (MP) Sanjay Jaiswal said Gandhi visited Champaran as a lawyer, but emerged as Mahatma when he took up the fight for farmers.

BJP MP Satish Chandra Dubey from West Champaran constituency demanded that statues of Shukla should be placed alongside that of Gandhi, starting with one in Lok Sabha premises.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)"Village Rockstars", India's official entry to the 91st Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Film category, is no longer a part of the race, with only nine films out of 87 making it to the next round of voting.

Directed by Rima Das, the Assamese feature, revolved around a group of village children aspiring to become rockstars.

India has so far drawn a blank in the Best Foreign Film category. The last Indian film that made it to the final five in the list was Ashutosh Gowariker's "Lagaan" in 2001.

"Mother India" (1958) and "Salaam Bombay" (1989) are the other two Indian movies to have made it to the top five.

Oscar-winner Alfonso Cuaron's universally-loved, semi-biographical, black-and-white drama "Roma" is in the list alongside eight other films.

"Roma", which is generating a lot of awards buzz and may also earn nominations in the best film category if critics are to be believed, will face tough competition from previous Oscar-winner Pawel Pawlikowski's "Cold War". He had won the Oscar for his 2013 film "Ida".



Japan's "Shoplifters", for which director Hirokazu Kore-eda won the Palm d'Or, and Lebanon's "Capernaum", which won the jury prize, can also be called frontrunners for the recognition.

Other films in the list are "Birds of Passage" from Colombia, "The Guilty" from Denmark, "Never Look Away" from Germany, Kazakhstan's "Ayka" and South Korea's "Burning".

Academy members from all branches screened the original submissions in the category between mid-October and December 10.

The group's top six choices, augmented by three additional selections voted by the Academy's Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee, constitute the shortlist. Academy members eligible to participate in the Nominations round of voting will view the shortlisted films. Members must see all nine films before casting their ballots.

The 91st Oscar Awards will be held on February 24, Sunday, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.A delegation of domestic industry delegation held discussions with top representatives of all three refineries of in Seoul with a view to increase shipment of the commodity.

The issue was discussed during the seventh round of India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) negotiations, held in Seoul last week.

" imports around 1.5 million tonnes of raw annually and the is making efforts to export raw sugar from India during 2018-19 sugar season," the said in a statement on Tuesday.

It said that the discussions were positive, and subject to meeting the quality standards and specifications prescribed by South Korea.

"The will undertake further discussions and talks with the sugar refineries in South Korea to pursue the matter further so that sugar exports may take place from India to South Korea," it added.Iraq's parliament confirmed three ministers to Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi's government on Tuesday but left other key posts, including ministers of Defense and Interior, vacant as an impasse over the appointments threatened to stretch into its third month.

The confirmations came two days after Abdul-Mahdi's controversial nominee to head the Interior Ministry returned to his former posts as the chairman of the Popular Mobilization militias and national security adviser to the prime minister.

Falih al-Fayadh retook his seat at a National Security Council meeting on Sunday after he was sacked from his positions by caretaker prime minister Haidar al-Abadi in August for political behaviour.

Al-Fayadh has been at the center of the deadlock surrounding Abdul-Mahdi's appointees. His nomination to run the Interior Ministry has the backing of the largest Iranian-aligned bloc in Parliament, which includes representatives of the Popular Mobilization Forces.

The PMF were formed in 2014 to stop the advance of Islamic State group militants through Iraq. They include several militias funded and trained by Iran.

The political bloc of populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is opposing Al-Fayadh's appointment at the Interior Ministry, saying it wants to limit outside influence in Sadr's bloc, Sa'eroun, won the largest share of seats in parliamentary elections last May.

The Interior Ministry has been under the control of ministers close to Iran since 2010.

Abdul-Mahdi was sworn in to his post in October but has governed without a full cabinet after parliament approved just 14 of 22 ministerial appointments. On Tuesday, parliament approved new ministers of culture, planning and higher education, leaving five posts unfilled.

But Al-Fayadh's return as national security adviser and chairman of the PMF could soon break the deadlock over the remaining appointments, said Hussein Allawi, director of Baghdad-based Akkad Center for Strategic Affairs and Future Studies.

"This gives Abdul-Mahdi an opportunity to name a new nominee to the Interior Ministry," said Allawi.

Parliament is slated to meet again Thursday to discuss the remaining cabinet vacancies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.): A Rs 6.85 crore bill of Apollo Hospitals for the 75-day treatment of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in 2016, submitted recently to a panel probing the circumstances leading to her death, has gone viral in the social media.

The one page summary shows Rs six crore and eighty five lakh as the total bill with a detailed break-up and an outstanding amount of Rs 44.56 lakh.

The ruling AIADMK is shown as having paid Rs six crore received on June 15, 2017, months after Jayalalithaa's death on December 5, 2016.

Though an amount of Rs 41.13 lakh is shown as being received by the hospital on October 13, 2016, no mention is made of who made that payment.

When contacted about the leak of the bill, both the Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry and a legal counsel for the hospital in the panel denied dissemination from their respective sides.

The bill is, however, genuine and it was submitted in the panel on November 27, 2018, the hospital counsel said.

"The bill summary is not a complete factual reflection of all the details because the details were produced in more than 200 pages.

We are surprised and shocked that a confidential document, which was submitted to the commission on November 27, is out in the open," hospital counsel Maimoona Badsha told PTI.

Under the head 'food and beverage services', which shows Rs 1,17,04,925, the counsel said it includes a whole lot of people like visitors.

The break-up shows consultation fee as Rs 71 lakh.

A UK based doctor Richard Beale was paid Rs 92 lakh and a Singapore based hospital Rs 1.29 crore for professional charges respectively and room rent was Rs 1.24 crore (which includes the cost of occupancy of several rooms by her attendants) during the late leader's hospital stay.

Jayalalithaa had passed away on December 5, 2016 after being treated in the hospital for 75 days from September 22, 2016 for various ailments.

In September 2017, the state government had constituted the probe panel under the Commissions of Inquiry Act,mandating it to inquire into the circumstances leading to Jayalalithaa's hospitalisation on September 22, 2016, and treatment provided by the hospital till her demise.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, said justice will be done in the case of Mumbai attack mastermind and the country will not forget or forgive what he did.

Speaking on the sidelines of a conference on soft power, he said, "Justice will be done in the case of Hafiz Saaed and the country will not forget or forgive what he did."



Addressing the conference, he said India's major needs as a developing country will always be internal.



"India's major needs as a developing country will always be internal. Given that we are a country of a billion plus, every aspect of our public diplomacy would be towards improving our internal conditions," he said.

He also listed some of the biggest challenges facing the country.

"The big challenges facing India are climate (change) and sanitation and there is no shame in acknowledging that we need to improve. I have not seen any diplomat before 2014 stood up to acknowledge our shortcomings," he said.



He said but today efforts are being put in to "improve ourselves that is the face of changing Indian diplomacy".

Noting that everyone uses soft power, Akbaruddin listed out India's efforts in using soft diplomacy as a tool.The Communist Party of India (CPI) asked newly-elected Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath to not "follow the ideals" of the Shiv Sena, as moving from one state to another for employment was a common phenomenon.

Nath had told reporters after taking office on Monday that his government would provide incentives to industries that give 70 per cent of their jobs to those from his state and indicated that migrants from Uttar Pradesh get employment at the cost of the local population.

"Kamal Nath should not follow the ideals of Siva Sena of Maharashtra. He is a leader of (the) Congress. He must understand tradition of (the) Congress. (The) Congress can't go for parochial ideals," said CPI general secretary Atul Anjaan, who originally hails from Uttar Pradesh.

Anjaan said despite the fact that the most number of prime ministers were elected from Uttar Pradesh, it remained one of the poorest states in the country.

"(Congress chief) Rahul Gandhi is also elected to the Lok Sabha from UP. Rahul Gandhi must think such type of comments by the MP CM will be taken by the people of the state with a pinch of salt," Anjaan added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Hospitality industry veteran Kapil Chopra Tuesday unveiled a new luxury hotel brand, The Postcard Hotel, and launched three new properties in Goa under the label.

Chopra, who has earlier served as the president of Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, said seven more luxury hotels under the brand would come up at different locations like Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh over the next 12-18 months.

"Work has already started on few of these seven properties. We are looking to have around 50 hotels in the next five years," Chopra,



CEO and founder of The Postcard Hotel told PTI.

Three hotels, part of the proposed seven new properties, would come up in eastern and north eastern parts of the country in partnership with Ambuja Neotia group, he added.

Elaborating on future plans, Chopra said he would first like to establish the brand in India and then venture out into international locations.

"We plan to build a luxury hospitality company out of India. People are ready to pay but there are no properties which could offer intimate and personalised luxury experience. The entire segment needed a disruption," he added.

The new brand would focus on hotels with 8-50 rooms so that the guests could have a personalised experience, Chopra said.

"What I wanted to do with The Postcard Hotel is make luxury hotels for the modern audience but bring back the romance and charm of sun kissed holidays..as a strategy, we will either go to mountains, sea and wildlife sanctuaries," he noted.

The properties under the new brand would not have a check in or check out time, no mini bar or breakfast hours, Chopra said.

"We want travel to be experiential and transformative. We believe guests want to stay in a place where the hotel does the thinking for them, where they get the simple things right, yet offer fantastic spaces for them to relax, meet like minded people and experience local culture," he added.

On opening properties abroad, Chopra said the first hotels could come in countries like Sri Lanka and Bhutan.

Chopra, who is also the chairman of the board of restaurant reservation application EazyDiner, said the company has received funding from Small Ventures, a venture capital firm based out of UAE.

He added that the brand would prefer combination of strategic buy outs and long term leases for its upcoming properties.

Headquarted in Delhi, The Postcard Hotel already has 300 employees on its rolls.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Facing a fresh bout of litigation by Tamil Nadu over the Cauvery issue, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Tuesday said the decades old dispute "is not going to be solved permanently" by the judiciary and pitched for talks between the two states.

Striking a note of cordiality, he said Kannadigas and Tamils were not enemies and the inter-state river water should be shared accordingly at times of copious inflows and distress situation.

Kumaraswamy's push for talks, the second time since last week, came amid the fresh face-off between the two states over Karnataka's proposal to construct a balancing reservoir at Mekedatu across Cauvery. Tamil Nadu is opposing the move, insisting such a dam will affects its farmers.

Tamil Nadu has already approached the Supreme Court over the Mekedatu issue while hinting that it was not in favour of Karnataka's proposal to hold consultations on the row, which came to fore after the Centre gave its approval for a Detailed Project Report.

The state assembly has passed a resolution urging the Centre to withdraw the nod for the DPR and ensure that no new construction was taken up by Karnataka, saying any such move would violate the Supreme Court's February verdict and the Cauvery water dispute tribunal's final order on sharing of the river waters.

Speaking to reporters here after offering prayers at the famous Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala, Kumaraswamy said Kannadigas and Tamils were "like brothers and sisters."



"We are not enemies. I have already requested leaders of all Tamil Nadu political parties and the state government -- this (Cauvery) issue is not going to be solved permanently by judiciary. We must sit and sort it out," he said.

Cauvery water should be shared accordingly at times of copious rains and a mechanism should be put in place for distress periods too as this was in the interest of both the states and their farmers, he said, adding, this was his "personal vision."



Last week also, Kumaraswamy had batted for dialogue to sort out differences over sharing of Cauvery water as well as the proposed Mekedatu dam.

Pointing to a large quantity of water released by Karnataka during monsoon season going waste, he had also maintained that the proposed dam would help in storing more water that can meet Tamil Nadu's requirements.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar also sought to reach out to Tamil Nadu on Mekedatu project, saying both the states should work for the benefit of each other.

"We appeal to them, I'm also going to meet our Parliament members tomorrow. We are doing no harm to them (Tamil Nadu), " he told reporters in Belagavi in Karnataka while replying to a question about the protest by Tamil Nadu MPs in the current session of Parliament against the project.

Shivakumar, who had earlier written to Tamil Nadu proposing dialogue, said the opposition to the Mekedatu project was due to "misconception" and claimed it would in fact help farmers of the lower riparian state.

"We cannot use a single drop of water for irrigation, we have chosen such a place-Mekedatu- for the project," he added.

The Central Water Commission to the best of its ability and knowledge had given permission for preparing the DPR, he said.

"We are only at that stage, it is on our soil... we will respect the law of this country, we will respect the Supreme Court... I once again appeal to people of Tamil Nadu, be calm, we are brothers. Let us work together for the benefit of both of us," he added.

Meanwhile, former chief minister Siddaramaiah claimed "legally and factually", Tamil Nadu had no case at all on the issue of Mekedatu.

Asserting that Tamil Nadu would not be effected by the project and would get its "due share" as per the apex court verdict, he said "I don't know why they are raising their voice."



In its February 16 verdict, the top court had increased Karnataka's share of water from Cauvery by 14.75 tmcft and reduced Tamil Nadu's quantum while compensating it by allowing extraction of 10 tmcft groundwater from the river basin.

Maintaining that the issue of drinking water has to be placed on a "higher pedestal", the top court enhanced Karnataka's share from 270 tmcft to 284.75 tmcft, accounting for drinking and domestic requirements, while lowering Tamil Nadu's share of water from 419 tmcft to 404.25 tmcft.

With the Mekedattu move drawing opposition from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka had sought Chief Minister K Palaniswami's appointment to discuss about the project and reach an amicable solution.

The Tamil Nadu government had termed the move for talks as an "attempt to impede" court proceedings.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Karnataka government has requested the Centre to waive 50 per cent of the agricultural loans of farmers from banks, Parliament was told Tuesday.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said the government receives requests related to agriculture credit from various state government.

"The state government of Karnataka has requested the Union government to waive 50 per cent of the agricultural loans availed by the farmers from commercial banks/RRBs/cooperative banks," he said.

However, there is no proposal under consideration of the Union government to waive the loans, the minister added.

In another reply, Shukla said the Union government has not implemented any farm loan waiver scheme during the last three years.

However, some state governments have announced their own schemes for such waivers.

Recently, the newly elected governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have announced farm loan waivers. Besides, Punjab and Karnataka governments have also waived loans of farmers.

The Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme (ADWDRS) was announced in the Union Budget 2008-09 and detailed guidelines were issued in May 2008.

The debt waiver portion of the ADWDRS 2008 was closed by its due date (June 30, 2008), while the debt relief portion of the scheme was extended till December 2009 and after further extension, closed in June 2010.

The scheme benefitted 3.73 crore farmers to the extent of Rs 52,259.86 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Kremlin on Tuesday rejected Washington's accusations that Russia tried to disrupt the 2016 presidential vote and sought to demoralise African-Americans, calling the charges incomprehensible.

According to a new report for the US Senate, the primary goal of Russia's Internet Research Agency (IRA) was to deepen divisions in US society and convince Democrat-favouring liberals -- including Latinos, youths and the LGBTQ community -- not to vote.

The most extensive analysis yet of thousands of IRA ads and posts across social media in 2015-2017 showed an emphasis on provoking the anger of black Americans so that they would stay home on election day.

For example, the IRA-created account "Blacktivist" sent out messages on the Democratic candidate such as: "No lives matter to Hillary Clinton. Only votes matter to Hillary Clinton."



Another IRA account, "Black Matters", posted on Facebook: "Cops kill black kids. Are you sure that your son won't be the next?" Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the report by the Computational Propaganda Project at Oxford University and social media specialists Graphika caused "nothing but incomprehension."



"It voices absolutely general charges and accusations and some of them are absolutely unclear to us," Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

"We are reproached that someone critically thinks of a situation in this or that social sphere in the United States but it is not explained what Russia has to do with it," he said.

He reiterated Russia's long-standing position that any such claims were unfounded.

"The Russian state, the Russian government had and has nothing to do with any interference, especially one that is described in such abstract terms," Peskov added.

The IRA is believed to have been set up by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman close to Putin, as a propaganda tool.

Russia has been accused of manipulating the 2016 US presidential vote through a vast propaganda campaign in favour of Donald Trump.

US investigators are probing alleged collusion between Russian agents and Trump's campaign.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Lalrinliana Sailo of the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) was Tuesday elected as the Speaker of the Mizoram Assembly.

Pro-tem speaker Lalrinawma declared Sailo as elected unopposed as the opposition parties did not field any candidate.

Sailo said that in a deviation from the past, supplementary questions in the Assembly would now be allowed even if the minister concerned is absent to reply to the queries.

The minister in-charge of any department can authorise another minister to reply on his behalf, he said.

"It was earlier practised that no supplementary questions were allowed when the minister in-charge of the department was absent," he said.

Sailo said that he did not find any clause in the rules of procedures of the state legislature that bars a minister, who is not in-charge of the department, to reply to questions.

He also suggested to House leader Zoramthanga that legislators be provided with vehicles when they travel outside the state and get them picked up from the airport or the railway station on their return.

He appealed to the members to maintain House decorum to ensure that the state legislature continued to enjoy the reputation of one of the finest legislatures in the country.

Zoramthanga, opposition Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) group leader Lalduhoma, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Zodintluanga, former speaker Lalchamliana and the lone BJP legislator Dr Buddha Dhan Chakma congratulated Sailo in his election as the Speaker and appealed him to remain impartial.

Earlier, pro-tem speaker Lalrinawma administered the oath to 38 members, of whom 20 were freshers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Sri Lanka's Parliament is set to convene on Tuesday for the first time after the reinstatement of as prime minister that ended the 51-day political standoff in the country, but he and President are yet to agree on Cabinet positions.

Sirisena, whose controversial actions plunged the island nation into an unprecedented political turmoil for nearly two months, reinstated Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister on Sunday, after sacking him on October 26 and appointing ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place and also dissolving Parliament, some 20 months early.

Sirisena was left with no other option following two separate decisions by the Supreme Court, which nullified his illegal moves.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya is scheduled to chair a meeting on Tuesday to decide on the business of Parliament this week.

As Cabinet ministers are yet to take oaths, only the Prime Minister will be assigned a seat in the Chamber, Parliament Deputy Secretary General Neil Iddawela said.

"We are hopeful that the list can be finalised soon. We are also looking at some of the Freedom Party (Sirisena's party) members to join," Nalin Bandara, a parliamentarian from Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP), said.

The UNP sources said Sirisena is demanding the ministries of law and order and mass media.

It has been reported that the UNP has been assigned seats in the government side and Freedom Party (SLFP) and United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MPs have been assigned seats of the Opposition.

A final decision has not been taken on the opposition leader's position.

State newspaper Daily News reported that about 10 UPFA MPs are expected to join the UNP side.

"The SLFP members decided last night that none would join the government," Nishantha Muthuhettigama, a Sirisena loyalist said.

The Sirisena camp now is divided between the SLFP and Rajapaksa's SLPP. They are to join together to form a united alliance at the next election.

Parliamentary officials said that seats would be allocated based on the seniority this afternoon when parliament meets for the first time since the crisis ended. Sirisena and Rajapaksa loyalista, who have been boycotting parliament since mid last month, are set to return to Parliament on Tuesday.Normal life was thrown out of gear in four south Odisha districts on Tuesday due to a dawn-to-dusk shutdown called by lawyers, seeking a permanent High Court bench in the region.

The central coordination committee (CCC), comprising bar associations of Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada and Malkangiri, observed the 12-hour bandh in the four districts, inconveniencing local people.

Shops, markets, business establishments, educational institutions, banks and offices remained closed, while public transport system came to a grinding halt in the region as bandh supporters blocked thoroughfares and picketed several places, a police officer said.

However, emergency services such as healthcare facilities and fire stations were kept out of the purview of the bandh which remained by and large peaceful, he said.

Biresh Patnaik, the president of the coordination committee, said Jeypore in Koraput district fulfills all norms required for establishment of a permanent High Court bench.

All political parties including the BJD, the BJP, the Congress, the CPI and the BSP and various other organisations have extended support to the bandh call, Patnaik claimed.

Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati said the high court bench, if set up in Koraput, will ease woes of people in need of immediate legal services.

"Situated at a distance of over 500 km from the high court at Cuttack, Koraput district deserves a HC bench as people living here face difficulties in reaching Cuttack for their legal needs," the Congress legislator said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till noon on Tuesday following vociferous protests by various parties over Rafale deal, construction of a dam across Cauvery river and other issues.

As soon as the House met, members from the AIADMK, the TDP and the Congress trooped into the Well, with many of them displaying placards, and sought to raise various issues.

The Congress raised the Rafale issue and some party members displayed placards demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the fighter jet deal.

Many members from the BJP shouted slogans against the Congress and demanded an apology from Congress President Rahul Gandhi on the Rafale issue. Some members stood in the aisle while others were at their seats.

The AIADMK members were protesting against construction of a dam across Cauvery river while those from the TDP were demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh.

There were more than 30 members from the AIADMK, the TDP and the Congress in the Well during the Question Hour.

Only one question related to production of garlic was taken up. Even as Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh was responding to supplementary questions, BJP members continued sloganeering on the Rafale issue.

Amid the ruckus, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till noon.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh was present in the House.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)People who have low self-control -- indulging in impulse online shopping, downloading music and compulsive email use -- are more likely to become easy targets of cyber attacks, a study warns.

Scientists from the Michigan State University in the US examined the personality traits and behaviours -- both obvious and subtle -- that lead someone to fall victim to malware attacks.

"People who show signs of low self-control are the ones we found more susceptible to malware attacks," said Tomas Holt, lead author of the research.

"An individual's characteristics are critical in studying how cybercrime perseveres, particularly the person's impulsiveness and the activities that they engage in while online that have the greatest impact on their risk," Holt said.

Low self-control comes in many forms. This type of person shows signs of short-sightedness, negligence, physical versus verbal behavior and an inability to delay gratification, Holt said.

"Self-control is an idea that's been looked at heavily in criminology in terms of its connection to committing crimes," Holt said.

"But we find a correlation between low self-control and victimisation; people with this trait put themselves in situations where they are near others who are motivated to break the law," he said.

The research, published in Social Science Computer Review, assessed the self-control of nearly 6,000 survey participants, as well as their computers' behaviour that could indicate malware and infection.

To measure victimisation, researchers asked participants a series of questions about how they might react in certain situations. For computer behaviour, they asked about their computer having slower processing, crashing, unexpected pop-ups and the homepage changing on their web browser.

"The internet has omnipresent risks. In an online space, there is constant opportunity for people with low self-control to get what they want, whether that is pirated movies or deals on consumer goods," Holt said.

Hackers and cybercriminals know that people with low self-control are the ones who will be scouring the internet for what they want -- or think they want -- which is how they know what sites, files or methods to attack, researchers said.

Understanding the psychological side of self-control and the types of people whose computers become infected with malware -- and who likely spread it to others -- is critical in fighting cybercrime, Holt said. What people do online matters, and the behavioural factors at play are entirely related to risks.

"There are human aspects of cybercrime that we don't touch because we focus on the technical side to fix it," Holt said.

"But if we can understand the human side, we might find solutions that are more effective for policy and intervention," he said.

Looking ahead, Holt hopes to help break the silos between computer and social sciences to think holistically about fighting cybercrime.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Late Monday night, Siddhesh Shete, who manages the crematorium near the venue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public meeting at Kalyan near Mumbai got a call from a man saying a member of his family was dead.

The caller wanted to know if the crematorium was available for performing the last rites of the deceased Tuesday.

"We had to turn him back as we have orders from police to keep the crematorium closed Tuesday in view of Modi's event, just over 200 metres away," Shete told PTI.

A police official said they have directed the crematorium management to keep the facility closed for the day Tuesday owing to Modi's public rally nearby.

A board has also been placed outside the Lalchowki crematorium stating no last rites would be performed there till the rally gets over.

It asks people to perform the last rites at Bailbajar crematorium, around one and a half km from the Phadke Maidan, the venue of Modi's public event, where the prime minister is to attend the ground breaking ceremony of the Kalyan-Bhiwandi metro line.

The security measures taken in view of the event have also led to cancellation of three weddings in the nearby Wadva Hall, a civic official said.

"I have asked police to deploy their own people at the gate of crematorium to inform people of using another facility and not this one," Shete said.

It was at the same Phadke Maidan that Modi in 2014 addressed a state Assembly poll campaign meeting.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 27-year-old man carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 was arrested from east Delhi's Pataprganj area, police said Tuesday.

The accused, Saddam Hussain, is a resident of Sambhal district in Uttar Pradesh, they said.

Police teams were sent to various locations in Sambhal, Chandausi, Moradabad in search of Hussain, police said.

On Monday, police received information that Hussain would come near Max hospital, Patparganj, to meet one of his contacts between 10 to 10.30 pm, Pramod Singh Kushwah, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), said.

Later, a trap was laid and Hussain was apprehended near the National Victor Public School, he said.

During interrogation, it was found that he was involved in a murder in Gajraula in Uttar Pradesh in July 2015. He had allegedly killed Santosh Diwakar of Kanpur with the help of his associates, the DCP said.

He was also involved in a case of car theft in Janakpuri area, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Tuesday conducted an aerial survey of Cyclone Phethai-hit districts of East and West Godavari districts in the State, even as rescue and relief measures were stepped up.

Naidu interacted with people, who have been lodged in a relief camp at Bhairavapalem village, and enquired about food and other facilities.

Officials said about 12 crew members and fishermen of three deep-sea fishing trawlers, who went missing in the Bay of Bengal Monday, were reported safe Tuesday.

Another group of 14 fishermen, stranded at sea off Kakinada coast, were rescued in an operation by the Coast Guard.

Three boats that drifted in the sea under the impact of Phethai reached Sorlagondi near Nagayalanka in Krishna district Tuesday, according to the State Real-Time Governance Centre (RTGS).

"Twelve people, who were reported missing Monday, were safe," RTGS CEO Babu Ahamed told PTI.

Meanwhile, a release from the Coast Guard Station in Visakhapatnam said 14 fishermen stranded in two boats at sea off Kakinada were rescued Tuesday.

The fishermen, who were stranded close to the ONGC rig, were airlifted in two sorties by a Coast Guard helicopter and brought back to Kakinada, the release added.

The Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam said a Naval Dornier aircraft from INS Dega was launched Tuesday to undertake an aerial survey of coastal areas around Kakinada affected by cyclone Phethai.

The aircraft carried out recce from Visakhapatnam along the coast up to Machilipatnam, a naval release said.

Photographs taken by the aircraft revealed flooding in low lying areas, including paddy fields in Kothapalli, Katrenikona villages and Sursani Yanam, south of Kakinada, the Navy said.

Preliminary estimates prepared by government agencies revealed that agriculture and horticulture crops in over 14,000 hectares suffered widespread damage due to Phethai.

Paddy crop, ready for harvesting in a few more days, was the worst-affected, followed by banana plantations, maize, tobacco and other crops.

A detailed enumeration is being carried out to assess the exact damage, even as Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed the officials concerned to complete the process quickly so that compensation could be paid to affected farmers by December 20.

Naidu held a review meeting with ministers and East Godavari district officials at Kakinada.

The chief minister said the State government could make effective use of technology and precisely estimate the cyclone movement.

"We could take all precautionary measures because of this and ensure there was no loss of life," he said.

Generators were used for power supply in affected regions while 140 tankers have been deployed for drinking water supply.

Communication and road networks were restored in quick time, bringing relief to people, he added.

Araku Valley in Visakhapatnam district recorded the maximum 23 cm of rain Monday followed by Tallarevu (17 cm) in East Godavari district.

Many parts of West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur districts also received rain under the impact of Phethai, the chief minister said.

Cyclone Phethai lashed coastal Andhra Pradesh Monday, triggering heavy rains, uprooting trees and electric poles, and claiming one life,before moving towards Odisha.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A court in Igatpuri in



Nashik district of Maharashtra Tuesday granted bail to MNS chief Raj Thackeray in connection with a 2008 case of attack on a hotel by his party workers.

Thackeray appeared in Igatpuri court on Tuesday, where Judge K I Khan granted him bail.

As part of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's strident protest against north Indians in 2008, the party workers had attacked a hotel, owned by a north Indian, in Igatpuri.

Police had booked six persons, including Thackeray, in this connection.

Although the other accused had been acquitted by the court earlier, it had issued summons against Thackeray as he had not appeared before it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Manabhum Off-Roaders Club of Arunachal (MOCA) displayed strategic acumen and nerves of steel to claim the JK Tyre Orange 4X4 Fury title here on Tuesday.

The MOCA team, led by drivers Aditya Mei and Chow Ujjal Namshum and guided by co-drivers Chow Sujeewan Choutang and Chow Ingieng Mein, went all out in the Camp the River Stage to collect 100 points.

Their main challengers, the Gerrari Off-Roaders, finished third for 90 points but suffered a big blow when they were penalised 30 penalty points for breaking a bunting.

The team Chandigarh, powered by Gurmeet Singh (with Gurpratap Sandhu as navigator) and Kabir Waraich (with Yuvraj Singh Tiwana), gave it their best shot but that one mistake proved to be their undoing.

They won the final Dambuk River stage to collect 100 points but the battle had already been lost. They, however, had the consolation of winning the first runners-up trophy and Rs 1.5 lakh.

The deserving champions picked up the glittering winners' trophy as well as Rs 2.5 lakh for their efforts. The second runners-up team from Bangalore, BODA, were richer by Rs 1 lakh.

"We stuck to our overall strategy of avoiding penalty points at any cost, MOCA's Aditya Mei said, shortly after winning the title.

"We worked well as a team which was perhaps easy because we are all from the same family," he added.

The eldest cousin of the foursome, Chow Ujjal Namshum, conceded that they were tense on the eve of the final run but quite confident of doing something special.

"Once we picked up a handy lead after the day's first stage, we knew we had to do," he said.

Incidentally, the winners who are planters by profession and took up the sport as a hobby, are all cousins. They began competing in 2012 just for fun before it became their calling in 2015. They now aim to participate in the Rain Forest Challenge.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former actor-model Christina Engelhardt has claimed that she had a relationship with veteran filmmaker Woody Allen that started when she was 16 and he was 41.

Engelhardt, now 59, opened up about her alleged affair with Allen in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

She said she chose to come forward now after reevaluating parts of her relationship with the famous director.

"What made me speak is I thought I could provide a perspective. I'm not attacking Woody. This is not 'bring down this man'. I'm talking about my love story. This made me who I am. I have no regrets," Engelhardt said.

Engelhardt said she met Allen in October 1976 when she was a teen model and soon Allen, who was 41 at the time, invited her to his Manhattan penthouse.

She and Allen became physically intimate at his apartment within weeks, months before she turned 17, which is the legal age of consent in the state of New York.

The model, however, said she has no intention to bring down Allen.

"This is not 'bring down this man'. I'm talking about my love story. This made me who I am. I have no regrets," she said in the interview.

Engelhardt insisted she was the inspiration for the character, Tracy, the 17-year-old lover of Allen's character in his 1979 film "Manhattan", but admitted she does not think she was the only one on whom the the character was based.

She said they continued the relationship for eight years in which they often met at his penthouse overlooking the Central Park.

"The curtains were always drawn. The view must have been spectacular. I wasn't there for the view," she said.

Engelhardt said, four years into their romance, she was surprised when Allen told her he wanted to introduce her to his new "girlfriend", Mia Farrow.

Though Engelhardt said she felt shaken by the introduction, as she considered herself Allen's girlfriend, she stayed with the director while he dated Farrow.

"I felt sick. I didn't want to be there at all, and yet I couldn't find the courage to get up and leave. To leave would mean an end to all of this. Looking back now, that's exactly what I needed, but back then, the idea of not having Woody in my life at all terrified me. So I sat there, patiently, calmly trying to assess the situation, trying to understand why he wanted the two of us to meet."



Engelhardt said she has already written, and kept private, two volumes of unpublished memoirs, one focusing on her Federico Fellini years, the other on her time with Allen.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress leader and MP Kumari Selja Tuesday lashed out at the BJP-led government at the Centre, accusing it of "lying" before the Supreme court in the Rafale aircraft deal case.

Selja insisted that Congress had always demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the deal as it felt that the apex court was not the appropriate forum to decide the issue.

"The Modi government has a habit of lying. Earlier, they lied in public domain and now, they have lied before the Supreme Court on the Rafale deal," Selja said while addressing the media here.

"The Congress party has always said that the Supreme Court is not the appropriate forum to decide on the issues of corruption, pricing, specifications, crony capitalism in the Rafale case. The apex court cannot summon and examine all the file notings, examine witnesses on oath, including questioning the prime minister, as also Defence Ministry officials or accept other evidence. This can only be done by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), she said.

This is the reason why the Congress never went to the Supreme Court and consistently insisted on a JPC probe, the former Union minister said.

"If the BJP has nothing to hide in this matter, why is it shying away from a JPC probe," she asked.

The Supreme Court judgment on the Rafale deal case was based on the "wrong facts" presented by the central government, Selja claimed.

The Supreme Court on Friday had dismissed the pleas, saying there was no occasion to "really doubt the decision-making process" warranting setting aside of the defence contract for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets.

In its judgment, the court made a reference to a CAG report on the deal. It said the CAG report was examined by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament.

The government, however, said that it was a misinterpretation by the court.

It never said that the CAG report has been examined, but had only described the normal procedure, the government submitted in an affidavit.

But the Congress insisted that the government presented "wrong facts" before the court during the hearing of pleas challenging the aircraft deal with France, which gave the government a relief in the cases.

Selja also rubbished the demand of the BJP, which had been seeking Rahul Gandhi's resignation following the SC judgment.

The Rajya Sabha MP hit out at the Narendra Modi government, claiming that it caused a loss of Rs 41,205 crore to the public exchequer by way of purchasing 36 Rafale fighter aircraft from Dassault Aviation at a price of Rs 1,670.70 crore per aircraft, as against the earlier price of Rs 526.10 crore.

She also accused the Modi government of bypassing defence procurement procedures, the cabinet committee on security and the defence acquisition council while announcing the off-the-shelf purchase of the 36 Rafale aircraft.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Odisha Congress Tuesday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to campaign for the BJP for next year's assembly elections in the state, claiming it would actually benefit the opposition party.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Odisha on December 24 and address a public meeting at Khurda. He is also scheduled to visit IIT, Bhubaneswar on the same day, BJP sources said.

"The BJP has lost in more than 70 per cent assembly constituencies where Narendra Modi has campaigned during the recent elections in five states. It will be better for us if he campaigns for his party in Odisha also," Patnaik said.

"We welcome Sri Modi to campign more aggressively in Odisha," Patnaik told reporters on his return from Chhattisgarh where he attended the swearing in ceremony of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel of the Congress.

Asked about the prospects of the Congress in the Assembly elections in the Biju Janata Dal ruled Odisha due next year, the OPCC president said the outcome of the Assembly elections in neighbouring Chhattisgarh will be repeated in Odisha.

The Congress registered a landslide victory in the Chhattisgarh polls, bringing an end to the 15-year rule of the BJP. It won 68 seats in the 90-member Assembly, while the BJP got only 15 seats.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The death toll in the blaze in a government hospital here rose to eight Tuesday, while 176 injured people, including three firemen, are being treated in different hospitals across the city, an official said.

The deceased include a six-month-old girl.

Among those admitted, almost 25 are reported to be critical while 26 were discharged after primary treatment, said the official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) disaster management cell.

The 325-bed ESIC (Employees State Insurance Scheme) Kamgar Hospital at Marol in suburban Andheri was constructed in 1970s. Police and hospital authorities have vacated the building, he added.

While six people had died in the blaze on Monday, two more succumbed to their injuries later in different hospitals, the official said.

Nearly 375 people, including patients and visitors, were in the five-floor hospital during visiting hours when fire and smoke were reported on its fourth floor around 4.03 pm on Monday, according to a fire brigade official.

"The fire was extinguished at 7.35 pm, and hospital authorities shut down the facility till further notice," he said.

"Most of the deceased, including the six-month-old child, died due to suffocation," he said.

Several women who recently delivered babies managed to save their newborns by rushing out of the building while wrapping the children in their arms, he said.

The building's glass facade posed a hindrance as it blocked air passage and firemen had to break the glasses on all the floors to evacuate those stranded inside, he said.

Milind Ogle, the deputy chief fire officer of the MIDC area, said the hospital doesn't have the final no-objection certificate for fire compliance.

"The hospital applied for the final NOC a fortnight ago for its under-construction building adjacent to the old structure that caught fire," he said.

"When our team visited the hospital to inspect the conditions for fire compliance, it found certain shortcomings in the installations and it was communicated to the hospital administration," Ogle said.

While reviewing fire compliance norms for the new building, the team also noticed some lacunae in the old hospital building, he said. "So we refused to issue the full and final fire NOC to the old building also," he added.

Hospital medical superintendent Dr Rakesh Sharma said everything happened suddenly. A hospital staffer received injuries on his arm when he jumped out of the building to save his life, he added.

A fire official said the blaze appeared to have erupted after a short-circuit near the rubber rolls stored on the ground floor.

"The rubber rolls are combustible material and they might have caught fire after the short-circuit on the ground floor. The smoke then spread on the upper floors through an open fire duct," he said. The exact cause would be known after an inquiry into the incident, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Fifty years ago on Christmas Eve, a tumultuous year of assassinations, riots and war drew to a close in heroic and hopeful fashion with the three Apollo 8 astronauts reading from the Book of Genesis on live TV as they orbited the moon.

To this day, that 1968 mission is considered to be NASA's boldest and perhaps most dangerous undertaking. That first voyage by humans to another world set the stage for the still grander Apollo 11 moon landing seven months later.

There was unprecedented and unfathomable risk to putting three men atop a monstrous new rocket for the first time and sending them all the way to the moon. The mission was whipped together in just four months in order to reach the moon by year's end, before the Soviet Union.

There was the Old Testament reading by commander Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders.

Lastly, there was the photo named "Earthrise," showing our blue and white ball humanity's home rising above the bleak, gray lunar landscape and 240,000 miles (386 million kilometers) in the distance.

Humans had never set eyes on the far side of the moon, or on our planet as a cosmic oasis, surrounded completely by the black void of space. A half-century later, only 24 US astronauts who flew to the moon have witnessed these wondrous sights in person.

The Apollo 8 crew is still around: Borman and Lovell are 90, Anders is 85.

To Lovell, the journey had the thrill and romance of true exploration, and provided an uplifting cap for Americans to a painful, contentious year marked by the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, nationwide riots and protests of the Vietnam War.

The mission's impact was perhaps best summed up in a four-word telegram received by Borman. "Thanks, you saved 1968."



NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine who at age 43 missed Apollo marvels over the gutsy decision in August that year to launch astronauts to the moon in four months' time. He's pushing for a return to the moon, but with real sustainability this next go-around.

The space agency flipped missions and decided that instead of orbiting Earth, Borman and his crew would fly to the moon to beat the Soviets and pave the way for the lunar landings to come. And that was despite on its previous test flight, the Saturn V rocket lost parts and engines failed.

"Even more worrisome than all of this," Bridenstine noted earlier this month, Apollo 8 would be in orbit around the moon on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

"In other words, if there was a failure here, it would wreck Christmas not only for everybody in the United States, but for everybody in the world." As that first moon shot neared, Borman's wife, Susan, demanded to know the crew's chances. A NASA director answered: 50-50.

Borman wanted to get to the moon and get back fast. In his mind, a single lap around the moon would suffice. His bosses insisted on more.

"My main concern in this whole flight was to get there ahead of the Russians and get home. That was a significant achievement in my eyes," Borman explained at the Chicago launch of the book "Rocket Men" last spring. Everyone eventually agreed: Ten orbits it would be.

Liftoff of the Saturn V occurred on the morning of Saturday, December 21, 1968.

On Christmas Eve, the spaceship successfully slipped into orbit around the moon. Before bedtime, the first envoys to another world took turns reading the first 10 verses from Genesis. It had been left to Borman, before the flight, to find "something appropriate" to say for what was expected to be the biggest broadcast audience to date.

"We all tried for quite a while to figure out something, and it all came up trite or foolish," Borman recalled. Finally, the wife of a friend of a friend came up with the idea of Genesis.

"In the beginning," Anders read, "God created the heaven and the Earth ..." Borman ended the broadcast with, "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you all of you on the good Earth."



On Christmas morning, their spacecraft went around the moon for the final time. The engine firing needed to shoot them back to Earth occurred while the capsule was out of communication with Mission Control in Houston.

Lovell broke the nervous silence as the ship reappeared: "Please be informed there is a Santa Claus." Back in Houston, meanwhile, a limousine driver knocked on Marilyn Lovell's door and handed her a gift-wrapped mink stole with a card that read: "To Marilyn, Merry Christmas from the man in the moon." Lovell bought the coat for his wife and arranged its fancy delivery before liftoff.

Splashdown occurred in the pre-dawn darkness on December 27, bringing the incredible six-day journey to a close. Time magazine named the three astronauts "Men of the Year." It wasn't until after the astronauts were back that the significance of their Earth pictures sank in.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to the Maharashtra government and the Union Labour Ministry on Tuesday over a fire incident at a Mumbai hospital in which six people were killed.

The commission has also asked for a detailed report within four weeks, including action taken against the guilty, if any, an official statement said.

The NHRC took suo motu cognisance in the incident over media reports that a massive fire engulfed the Employees State Insurance Corporation Hospital in the Andheri (East) area of Mumbai on Monday, killing six people and injuring 141 others.

In its statement, the NHRC said it had observed that the possibility of negligence by the hospital administration could not be ruled out in the incident.

Hence, a notice was issued to the chief secretary of the government of Maharashtra, calling for a detailed report, including the outcome of the probe reportedly mentioned by the city mayor, it said.

The commission would like to know if the building has a valid 'No Objection Certificate' from the Fire Department and whether a fire audit was conducted, the statement said.

A report from the Maharashtra DGP is also expected to intimate about the registration of an FIR, if any, and status thereof.

The Employees State Insurance Corporation Hospital comes under the jurisdiction of the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Hence, the commission has also issued a notice to the secretary of the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, calling for a detailed report within four weeks, including action taken against the guilty, if any, and steps taken/proposed to be taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur in the future, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Although some political leaders in Gujarat claimed that the Centre has cleared a proposal to set up AIIMS in Rajkot city, an official release by the central government did not mention name of any city in the state that will get this facility.

Senior BJP leaders, including the party's state unit chief Jitu Vaghani and Energy Minister Saurabh Patel congratulated people of Rajkot saying the Centre has given a clearance to establish All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the city.

"In Ahmedabad, the state government has provided various medical facilities. In Surat also world-class medical facilities are available. In such circumstances it is good that an institute like AIIMS is being established in Rajkot," Vaghani told reporters in Jasdan in Rajkot district.

Talking to reporters in Gandhinagar, Saurabh Patel said, "I would like to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving AIIMS to Rajkot."



However, a Press Information Bureau (PIB) release issued on Monday said establishment of AIIMS at Tamil Nadu and Telangana have been approved by the Union cabinet chaired by the prime minister.

Meanwhile, leaders from Rajkot and Vadodara regions are gunning for the premier medical facility to be set up in their respective regions.

Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel had earlier warned the leaders from both the regions that if they continued to fight, the state might lose establishment of such a premier medical facility.

"The chief minister of the state is from Saurashtra and the party president is also from that region. Therefore, they are flexing their political muscles and trying to bring AIIMS in their area. Actually Vadodara is the right place for this facility," BJP MLA Yogesh Patel, representing Manjalpur constituency in Vadodara district said.

City Congress chief Narendra Rawat said, "Vadodara is the right place to establish AIIMS as it will serve the population of entire state from here."



Congress leader from Rajkot Hemang Vasavda, however, said that AIIMS should come up in Rajkot as the entire Saurashtra region lacks this kind of medical facility.

State Congress president Amit Chavda, who hails from central Gujarat said both- Vadodara and Rajkot- should get one AIIMS each.

"As the PM is from Gujarat, we want to know why is he not giving AIIMS to both Rajkot and Vadodara. We will welcome his decision, if he does so," Chavda said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)North Maharashtra shivered as minimum temperatures dipped across the region with Dhule city being the coldest at 6.8 degree Celsius, officials said Tuesday.

Nashik, the largest city in the region comprising five districts, recorded a temperature at 8.5 degree Celsius in the last 24 hours ending Monday evening.

"Jalgaon, Nandurbar and Ahmednagar districts in the region also recorded low temperatures", a Met official said, adding that there would be no respite from the cold wave-like conditions for the next few days.

Farmers in Nashik district, called as the Wine Capital of India, expressed apprehensions that cold might damage grapes.

Residents of these cities are fighting cold by lighting bonfires and putting on woollens.

In Nashik, citizens are seen enjoying gentle sunlight by relishing hot tea at roadside kiosks.

The sale of sweaters, woollen caps and blankets has also gone up.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The government's decision shaved off economic growth by at least 2 percentage points for the October-December quarter of 2016 in which the move was effected, according to a research paper co-authored by eminent economist

India-born Harvard professor Gopinath, 46, is set to take charge as the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next month.

The paper further said that districts experiencing more severe had relative reductions in economic activity, faster adoption of alternative payment technologies and lower bank credit growth.

"Our results imply lowered the growth rate of economic activity by at least 2 percentage points in the quarter of demonetisation," said the research paper titled ' And The Economy: Evidence From India's Demonetisation'.

The paper is published by US-based National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and its co-authors include economist Prachi Mishra, who had headed the strategic research unit at the RBI, Abhinav Narayanan, manager-research at RBI, and Harvard professor Gabriel Chodorow-Reich is the lead author.

According to the paper, also led to a decline in nightlights-based economic activity and a 3 percentage points or more drop in employment generation in November and December of 2016 relative to the counterfactual path.

"The cross-sectional responses cumulate to a contraction in employment and nightlights-based output due to demonetisation of 2 percentage points and of bank credit of 2 percentage points in 2016 Q4 (calendar year) relative to their counterfactual paths, effects which dissipate over the next few months," the paper said.

Night lights satellite imagery has been seen as an alternative means for measuring economic activity. Night lights-based data rely on a scientific model for reaching at an estimated total economic activities, including formal and informal, for countries and states of the world.

The Indian economy grew at 7 per cent in the third quarter (when demonetisation was implemented) of 2016-17 and at 6.1 per cent in the subsequent quarter.

In 2017-18, the Indian economy grew by 6.7 per cent.

In the six quarters before demonetisation, growth averaged 8 per cent and in the seven quarters after, it averaged about 6.8 per cent (with a four-quarter window, the relevant numbers are 8.1 per cent before and 6.2 per cent after).

ALSO READ: Banning high-value notes 'bad idea', demonetisation slowed growth: Rajan

The paper also noted that continues to serve an essential role in facilitating economic activities in modern India.

It also pointed out that there may be longer term advantages from demonetisation that arise from improvements in tax collections and in a shift to savings in financial instruments and non- payment mechanisms.

"Evaluating these long-term consequences requires waiting for more data and an empirical strategy suited to the study of longer term effects," it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a televised address on November 8, 2016 had announced to ban the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes from the system aimed at curbing black money, fake currency and terror funding, among others.

This policy made 86 per cent of cash in circulation illegal tender overnight, with new notes gradually introduced over the next several months.

ALSO READ: Way paved for data on Rs 2,000, Rs 500 notes printed after demonetisation

The authors used a new household survey of employment and satellite data on human-generated nightlight activity to measure demonetisation's effects at the district level

Gopinath is the second Indian to be appointed to the role of chief economist after Raghuram Rajan.Gulf carrier Oman Air Tuesday said it is in discussions with the Indian government for increasing the weekly seat entitlement to enable expansion of its services in the rapidly growing aviation market.

The Oman's flagship carrier, which has completed 25 years into the business, currently flies to 11 Indian destinations from its hub in Muscat, operating 27,300 flights per week.

"We are working with the Indian government to give us more (seats). We are in discussions with the Indian government and are very positive about getting additional weekly seats," Oman Air chief executive officer Abdulaziz Al Raisi told reporters here.

He said that Oman has "very strong" relations with India and it is happy with the current seat entitlement under the air services agreement between the two countries, adding, "But, like any other airline, we would like to operate more seats as for us India is a main market."



"We feel that because of our close relations with India, we should get more weekly seat entitlements," he added.

Abdulaziz said that Oman Air may look at Ahmedabad, Mangalore and Amritsar among others, in its next phase of network in India, subject to seat entitlement.

"We are bullish on India, as it is a significant destination for Oman Air both in terms of increasing tourism traffic and in promoting vital trade agreements between the two countries," he added.

He also said that India at present accounts for 15 per cent of Oman Air's overall business, but refused to elaborate on the same.

Oman received 3.21 lakh Indian visitors in 2017, registering an year-on-year growth of over 7 per cent, and the estimated growth for 2018 is at 18 per cent, owing to the growing demand from leisure, wedding, adventure and MICE travellers, according to Sunil VA, regional vice-president ISC, Oman Air.

Oman Air at present flies to 11 destinations in India - Goa, Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Delhi, Lucknow, Bangalore, Kozhikode and Jaipur.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Paddy procurement in Chhattisgarh is set to resume in full swing with the Congress-led state government announcing a sharp hike in minimum support price (MSP) of paddy to Rs 2,500/quintal from Rs 1,750/quintal, a senior Food Ministry official said Tuesday.

The state is expected to even surpass the procurement target of 55 lakh tonnes of rice set for this year as farmers from the neighbouring states Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are keen to sell their produce in Chhattisgarh taking advantage of the higher support price, the official added.

Paddy growers in Chhattisgarh and neighbouring states had suddenly stopped selling their produce to the government agencies in anticipation of the implementation of MSP hike poll promise made by the Congress.

As per the official data, the Chhattisgarh government has purchased 21.60 lakh tonnes of rice so far, while the target is to buy 55 lakh tonnes in the ongoing 2018-19 marketing year (October-September).

Immediately after taking oath as chief minister of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel had yesterday announced hike in the MSP of paddy to Rs 2,500 per quintal for this year.

"Only one third of the paddy has been procured so far. With the increase in the MSP, the paddy procurement will resume and will pick up pace in the coming days," the official told PTI.

At such high rates, procurement will surpass the target as paddy growers not only from the state but from neighbouring states are expected to bring their produce for the sale, the official said.

Asked if the central government will bear the cost, the official said, "there is no communication on this issue as of now. Otherwise, the presumption is that the state government will bear the cost. However as a matter of policy, the hike in paddy MSP is not good as it will distort the market."



The outgoing BJP government in Chhattisgarh had also announced a bonus of Rs 200 per quintal over and above the MSP of Rs 1,750 per quintal, taking the total support price to Rs 1,950 for this year.

However, the central government has given exemption to bear the cost for procurement of only boiled rice of up to 24 lakh tonnes in the current year.

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, where 60 per cent of the paddy buying is over, will complete the paddy procurement operation by end of this month.

The paddy buying in eastern states such as Bihar and West Bengal normally starts from January.

So far, the government's paddy procurement has reached 204 lakh tonnes across the country, while the target is 375 lakh tonnes for the current marketing year.

The government had procured 381.8 lakh tonnes during the last marketing year.

The paddy is procured at the minimum support price (MSP). State-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies undertake procurement operation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan's Punjab province government on Tuesday lifted a 12-year-old ban imposed on celebrating Basant, a seasonal festival celebrated by Punjabis of all faiths to mark the commencement of the spring season.

Punjab Information and Culture Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan said the traditional festival will be celebrated in the second week of February 2019, Dawn reported.

Addressing a press conference here, Chohan said a committee comprising the Punjab law minister, the provincial chief secretary, and other administrative officials, will be formed to deliberate on the modalities about how the negative aspects of the festival can be avoided and overcome.

The minister said the committee would give its recommendations within a week. "This time Lahoris will surely celebrate Basant," he added.

The festival was banned in Punjab in 2007 owing to deaths caused by sharply polished threads used to fly kites.

However, many analysts say the festival was banned due to pressure from hardline religious and extremist groups like the Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud Dawah, which claimed the festival had "Hindu origins" and was "un-Islamic".

Chohan said that the citizens and the civil society have been demanding permission to hold Basant festival for quite some time following which Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had sought recommendations about holding the Spring festival.

The Supreme Court in its order had clarified that there was no restriction on holding the Basant festival and that it should be celebrated while staying within the ambit of law, as well as the rules and regulations defined by the government, Chohan added.

The chief minister has said that Basant was a cultural festival, "it has no relation to religion. It is for enjoyment," the minister added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan's Senate or upper house on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution condemning the violence in Kashmir's Pulwama district on Saturday that resulted in the death of seven civilians.

The resolution moved by Pakistan People's Party leader Sherry Rehman also reiterated Pakistan's commitment to continue its "moral and diplomatic support" to the Kashmiris, Radio Pakistan reported.

It also asked the government to implement earlier resolutions passed by the Senate seeking the appointment of Special Envoys to raise the Kashmir issue at all international fora.

Separately, President Arif Alvi said on Tuesday that "Jammu & Kashmir is an unfinished agenda of partition and Pakistan will continue to extend moral, diplomatic and political support to the legitimate struggle" of the Kashmiris.

The President said that peace in the region will remain elusive without resolution of the Kashmir issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Tuesday that his country was looking for a "just durable and a peacefully negotiated" solution of the Kashmir issue.

Qureshi made the remarks while addressing the participants of National Security and War Course at National Defence University (NDU) in Islamabad, according to a statement issues by the army.

"While safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state we are maintaining credible national security capabilities to deter aggression," he said while highlighting the cardinals of Pakistan's foreign policy, challenges as well as opportunities.

Pakistan was "seeking a just durable and a peacefully negotiated solution of the Kashmir dispute," the foreign minister said.

He said Pakistan was working to "take the war against extremism and terrorism to its logical conclusion, promoting economic stability through inclusive growth, integrating with major regional initiatives and global economy, pursuing friendly and cooperative relations with all countries particularly with major powers and all immediate neighbours."



Qureshi said that the government was trying to turn Pakistan's geo-strategic location into a geo-strategic asset.

He also said that Pakistan fully supports Afghan peace process as peace in Afghanistan is essential for regional peace and stability.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Undead Archives

I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world.Indian Hamid Nihal Ansari was on Tuesday released from a Pakistani jail to be repatriated to India, six years after he was detained by the country's intelligence agencies and subsequently sentenced to three years' imprisonment for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card, according to a media report.

Ansari, a 33-year-old resident, was lodged in the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by the military court on December 15, 2015. His three-year jail term ended on December 15, 2018 but he was not able to leave for as his legal documents were not ready.

On Thursday, the Peshawar High Court gave the federal government a month deadline to complete his repatriation process.

The Indian was released from Mardan jail on Tuesday and was shifted to Islamabad for his onward journey to India, state-run Radio reported.

Ansari went missing after he was taken into custody by Pakistani intelligence agencies and local police in Kohat in 2012 and finally in reply to a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother, Fauzia Ansari, the high court was informed that he was in custody of the Army and was being tried by a military court.

He entered from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.A parliamentary panel has rapped the Central Board Of Film Certification over granting of certificates to movies of big film makers ahead of other applicants, urging it to carry out a yearly internal audit and consider shortening of the certification process.

The Public Accounts Committee, in a report on 'Working of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and Academic Activities of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata', tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, came down hard on the CBFC over delay in granting of certification and reiterated that a detailed inquiry into the cases of "inordinate delay" may be conducted urgently.

The panel's reiteration of its recommendations made earlier came after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, under which the CBFC works, replied saying that online certification system provides a list of all applications for the certification chronologically with respect to the date of application and to the date of application approval by the scrutiny officer.

"By and large all the films are examined chronologically," the ministry said in its reply.

The Mallikarjun Kharge-led committee, however, said it could not find any tenable reason for not issuing the certificate for months together.

The panel, in its report, also said it was "dismayed to note that the CBFC in order to help big film makers" who had applied for certification very close to release date, granted certificates to their films ahead of other applicants even when there was no such urgency expressed.

In its reply, the government said the CBFC has strived to help film makers without making any discrimination between a big or a small film maker.

The ministry said the urgency for out of turn examination is seen on a case to case basis only and the CBFC, in order to facilitate such films and help the film makers avoid non-release as per schedule, enabled certification ahead of other applicants where there was no issue of urgency.

The committee said it has no option but to reiterate its earlier recommendation that the ministry or the CBFC may issue guidelines regarding alteration in the order of certification, carry out yearly internal audit of the system and consider shortening the time limit for film certification process so that films submitted for certificates are cleared in a defined and prescribed timeline in the wake of computerisation of the whole process.

The panel further noted that though ministry has been deliberating upon the amendments needed in the Cinematograph Act for a long time, nothing concrete has emerged.

While amending the Act, the panel said that its recommendation of enabling self certification of the films may also be considered.

The CBFC is a statutory body under the ministry for regulation of films for public exhibition, under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act, 1952. Prasoon Joshi is heading the CBFC currently.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A parliamentary standing committee report has recommended that the Culture Ministry rent out ceratin areas of well known heritage sites for social events at premium rates to generate revenue.

The Lok Sabha Public Accounts Committee on "Preservation and Conservation of Monuments and Antiquities' headed by Mallikarjun Kharge said they could be rented out with proper guidelines in place.

"The recommendation for the ministry to explore enhancing revenue generation through premium renting of well known sites for social and family events with proper guidelines has not been brooded upon with seriousness.

"The committee had deliberated the issue in-depth and considered and opined that certain areas of some well-known monuments like the Red Fort, Taj Mahal, Victoria Memorial hall could very well be earmarked and rented out for events like marriages, plays and musicals at premium rates without hurting the monuments by developing strict guidelines and close supervision," it said.

Earlier, in its reply, the ministry had rejected the idea, which was proposed by the committee in its earlier report, and said it would hurt the monuments. However, the committee has now reiterated its suggestion.

"If ASI is not in favour of renting heritage monuments for social and family events, then possibilities be explored if such events can be held in the backdrop of those monuments.

"For instance, in the 1990s, the music concert of one Greek composer was held in the backdrop of Taj Mahal on the river bed between river Yamuna and Taj precincts which brought international fame to the monument," the report stated.

The Tourism Ministry had faced severe criticism earlier this year for its 'Adopt a Heritage' scheme in which one of the monuments that were 'adopted' by a private player was the Red Fort.

Critics alleged that the government was handing over the country's heritage to private parties after which the ministry had to clarify that they will only be in charge of maintenance of the heritage site.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday held a meeting with senior officials of the personnel department to take stock of vacancies, promotions and retirement-related issues in various government departments.

The meeting, held at Parrikar's private residence at Dona Paula near here, went on for over two hours,a senior official in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said.

Parrikar went through the records of how many vacancies were pending in different departments and also how many employees were awaiting promotions, he said.

The officials concerned were then given instructions to take necessary steps to fill in the vacancies and award the due promotions, the official said.

On Sunday, Parrikar had inspected two under- construction bridges on Mandovi and Zuari rivers in the state.

This was the first time the 63-year-old chief minister was seen in public since returning to Goa on October 14 post hospitalisation in Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Parrikar has been recuperating at his private residence near Panaji since October 14.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Peoples' Democratic Party Tuesday expelled two senior leaders -- Basharat Bukhari and Peer Mohammad Hussain -- for alleged anti party activities.

The two leaders were expelled by PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on the recommendation of disciplinary committee headed by vice president Abdul Rehman Veeri, a party leader said.

He said Bukhari and Hussain were facing charges of indulging in anti-party activities and found guilty by the disciplinary committee.

Bukhari, a two time MLA from Sangrama, is elder brother of slain journalist Shujaat Bukhari who was shot dead along with two personnel security officers by LeT terrorists in June this year.

He was law minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. He was made Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister in the coalition government led by Mehbooba Mufti.

Hussain, a former MLA from Shangus constituency, was a minister during PDP -Congress coalition government in 2002.

Although he did not contest elections after 2002, he was appointed as vice chairman of wakf board by the PDP-BJP government.

Both leaders are likely to join PDP's arch rival National Conference on Wednesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) is believed to have generated employment for over six crore people in the country, the government told Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said as per the 2014 study report of the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), for every Rs 1 lakh invested in the housing sector, 2.65 new jobs are created in the economy.

"On this basis, it is estimated that a total of 6.07 crore employment might have so far been generated through implementation of the PMAY (U) across the country," the housing and urban affairs minister said in a written response to a question.

The ministry said it refers to the number of jobs created irrespective of duration.

The PMAY (U), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2015, aims to ensure "Housing for all by 2022" by providing financial assistance to a beneficiary.

The government has set a target of one crore houses to be constructed in urban areas across the country over a period of seven years -- 2015 to 2022.

According to an official figure, till December 12, a total 65,43,970 houses have been approved for construction under the PMAY(U) across the country.

Of these, 35,49,531 houses have been grounded for construction. 12,26,530 houses have been completed out of which 12,19,549 houses have been occupied by the beneficiaries.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Press Council of India on Tuesday passed a resolution urging the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to reconstitute the Central Press Accreditation Committee within a month, a PCI official said.

The meeting of the PCI was called after a joint letter signed by the Council members representing different unions, associations of all categories -- editors, reporters and owners of newspapers -- was submitted to the chairman last month demanding to convene an "extraordinary" meet on this issue.

A resolution has been passed that the Council desires that the Central Press Accreditation Committee (CPAC) is re-constituted within a month, the official said.

The resolution will now be sent to the I&B Ministry and within a month from there on the CPAC should be reconstituted, the official added.

"Since the last CPAC's term expired a year ago, the same has not been reconstituted despite demand from most of the leading journalist unions and associations," a joint release by journalist unions and associations had said earlier this month.

Many applications for accreditation are pending with the Press Information Bureau (PIB), it had noted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said his government is concentrating on transport and infrastructure development, areas which he claimed, did not get adequate attention during previous administrations.

He said the metro rail project got a boost during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government (1998-2004) and had it been in power for some more time, the rapid mass transport scenario would have changed for better in the country's cities.

Speaking after laying the foundation stone of the phase 3 of Pune Metro, Modi said his government's thinking is different than that of opposition parties.

"Unki soch, unko mubarak (let them be happy with their thinking). Our government's aim is to strive for balanced development which reaches the last person in the society," said the prime minister.

"Previous governments did not pay attention to transportation and infrastructure development the way they should have done," said Modi, who was in Maharashtra on a day- long visit to lay the foundation stone for a slew of projects.

The 24-km fully elevated metro line, connecting Shivajinagar in the heart of Pune to the IT hub of Hinjewadi on the city's outskirts, will be built at a cost of over Rs 8,000 crore. It is expected to be completed in 36 months.

Modi said the Pune Metro phase 3 is the first corridor after the Centre unveiled its metro rail policy last year.

"The new policy, which envisages projects on PPP (public-private partnership) model, is a reform-oriented policy where rules and regulations have been clearly defined," he added.

Modi said the metro rail project got a big fillip during the Vajpayee government.

"If the Vajpayee government had got some more time, more Maharashtra cities would have been connected through metro rail. There is now a generation gap between 2004 and 2018.

"There was never a shortage of ideas earlier. Only what is required is hand holding and giving direction to those ideas," Modi said, adding the need of the hour is to transform ideas into an industry.

Modi said in the last four years, metro has become the lifeline of major cities across the country.

"In four years, 300 km new lines were commissioned and work on 200 km is being completed. At present, 500 km metro line is functioning," he said.

Speaking about Pune, which has emerged as an infotech and educational hub in the country, Modi said by the end of next year, 12km metro line would become operational in the city, considered the cultural capital of Maharashtra.

Modi said his government's priority was to focus on generation next infrastructure and transport integration systems, including highways, airways, waterways and roadways.

This is because of the government's commitment to infrastructure development and efforts to cut down travel time by improving connectivity, he said.

"Currently we are witnessing expansion of metro lines in the various parts of the country. The momentum for this work in the real sense was given by Atalji. He gave emphasis on the infrastructure in both rural as well as urban areas.

"Ten years after his government, our government not only provided speed to that infrastructural development but also enhanced the scale," said Modi.

The work of Delhi Metro also started during Vajpayee's tenure and today almost all of Delhi is connected with the metro lines, Modi said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Calcutta University psychology professor has lodged a police complaint of 600 answer scripts going missing, but found those out at her home later, an official of the university said Tuesday.

The professor, accompanied by colleagues, on Monday filed an FIR stating that a packet with 600 answer papers of post-graduate examination and a pendrive have gone missing from the staff room of the university.

However, she traced the packet with all the papers and the pendrive in a large bag at home and brought the bag to the university on Tuesday, the official said.

She explained that as she had forgotten about stuffing the packet and the pendrive inside the bag, and lodged the FIR.

The police station was officially intimated about the recovery of the lost materials, the official said.

When contacted, Vice-Chancellor Sonali Chakraborty Banerjee did not want to comment on the issued.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The standoff between the Government and the opposition over the Rafale issue disrupted Parliament proceedings again as both Houses were adjourned on Tuesday amid relentless protests and heated exchanges involving both sides.

Tamil Nadu parties, AIADMK and DMK, raised slogans on the Cauvery dam issue while the TDP demanded special status for Andhra Pradesh.

Appeals by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to allow the House to function went unheeded as Congress members displayed placards and trooped into the Well demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale jet fighter deal.

In the din, the National Institute of Design (Amendment) Bill, 2018 was introduced in the House. The bill seeks to declare the various NIDs as institutions of national importance.

In the Rajya Sabha too, Chairman Venkaiah Naidu urged the members to allow the House to function as various notices on urgent matters, ranging from cyclones affecting lives in some states to price rise to agriculture crisis, have been admitted for discussion.

However, soon after the papers were laid by the ministers, members from the two major political parties of Tamil Nadu -- AIADMK and DMK -- trooped into the Well of the House, carrying placards and shouting slogans against construction of a dam on Cauvery river.

Some members from Andhra Pradesh were also seen displaying placards demanding special status for the state.

Amid the sloganeering, Leader of the Opposition in the upper house Gulam Nabi Azad said the privilege motion moved by the opposition against the government should be taken up for allegedly misleading Parliament and the Supreme Court on Rafale deal.

Naidu initially adjourned the House till 2 PM. But as the protests continued after the Rajya Sabha met again, the Chairman adjourned the House for the day.

In the Lok Sabha, upset with the disruption of proceedings, Mahajan said the members were well aware that this was an important session as everyone will face elections after this.

She said the government was ready for discussion, but the ruckus continued.

"This does not send a good message and we have to face the public," she said.

Mahajan lamented that people from other countries were questioning as to "what was happening in our country".

"I got a message that school kids are better than us. Are we worse than school kids?" she said.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said even they were ready for discussion, but demanded formation of a JPC to probe the Rafale deal so that every file related to the matter can be scrutinised.

To this Mahajan said that constitution of JPC was not under her purview.

The Lok Sabha proceedings barely lasted for five minutes and it was initially adjourned till noon. As the ruckus continued, only one query related to production of garlic was taken up during the Question Hour.

The BJP members raised slogans demanding an apology from Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

Later, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the Supreme Court verdict has made things clear, indicating that there was no need for a JPC on the controversial issue.

Unhappy with the response, Congress members again started raising slogans, following which the House was adjourned for the day.

The lower house has been witnessing daily disruptions since the winter session began last week. It had passed a bill on transgender rights on Monday.

In the Rajya Sabha, Azad alleged the government has misled Parliament and the Supreme Court on the issue, triggering vociferous protests from the treasury benches.

The senior Congress leader said the government has no right to continue in office and "should go".

Naidu, however, said that the Chair should be allowed to take a view on the Privilege notice.

The Congress had given the notice demanding an explanation from the government on why it provided the Supreme Court "wrong" information on the purchase of Rafale fighter jet from a French company.

Countering Azad, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said the government was ready to discuss all issues, including Rafale.

He demanded that the Congress apologise in the wake of the apex court's refusal to order an SIT probe in Rafale deal and Sajjan Kumar's conviction by the Delhi High Court in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

As slogan shouting by the AIADMK and DMK members continued in the Well of the House, Naidu adjourned the House till 2 PM.

When the House resumed in the afternoon, Naidu proposed to discuss a calling attention on the situation arising due to devastation caused by cyclones Gaja and Titli in some states and the action taken by the government in this regard.

However, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma raised a point of order claiming that Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs had referred to Rahul Gandhi and it is against the rule to demand his apology because he is member of other House.

Soon after, the ruling party member again started raising slogans and demanded apology from Gandhi while some of the AIADMK and DMK members trooped into the well to protest over Cauvery issue.

Naidu said that there is no point of order in the matter and asked the member to discuss the serious issues mainly related farmers which are a problem not only in Tamil Naidu but across the country.

As the members did not relent, he adjourned the House for the day.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former MLA from Langate in Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, Tuesday welcomed the statements by the Amnesty over the killing of seven "civilians" in security forces' firing in Pulwama on Saturday, but said such international institutions need to move beyond words and play their role in "ending bloodshed in the valley.

We, the people of Kashmir, thank OIC and Amnesty International for condemning the Pulwama killings. But let me make them a humble request that they need to move beyond words. Our wounds cannot be healed with words, Rashid told reporters here.

The Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chief said the international community should see the sufferings of Kashmiris through humanitarian prism and play their role in ending bloodshed by moving beyond words.

Rashid said Governor S P Malik, his advisors and security apparatus must own the moral responsibility of Pulwama killings.

Seven "stone-peltors" died Saturday when security forces opened fire at a mob that had thronged the site of an encounter in Pulwama district in which three terrorists were killed and an Army jawan was martyred.

Hitting out at Army chief General Bipin Rawat, the former MLA said the way he has been threatening Kashmiris and trying to abuse everyone who dares to speak against barbarism, he is simply lowering his stature."



The AIP chief said it was strange that on one hand, the Governor, his Advisor incharge of security, the state's DGP, ADGP law and order and the Army chief were justifying civilian killings by saying that those killed were stone-pelters, but on the other hand express sympathy over the loss of lives.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Calcutta High Court on



Tuesday asked the West Bengal government to submit the footage of its meeting with state BJP leaders over the party's proposed 'rath yatra', permission for which was denied by the administration last week.

The saffron party on Monday moved the high court with a fresh plea, challenging the West Bengal government's decision to deny permission to the 'yatra'.

Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty, upon hearing the BJP counsel, directed state counsel Advocate General Kishore Dutta to submit on Wednesday the video recording of the meeting, which was conducted on an earlier direction of the court's division bench.

Earlier, a single-judge bench had refused permission to the BJP to hold the yatra, following which the party had approached the division bench.

The division bench on December 7 asked the West Bengal chief secretary, the home secretary and the director general of police to hold a meeting with three representatives of the BJP and take a decision on the 'yatra' by December 14.

The state government, after parleys with the three- member team, refused permission for the yatra on December 15 on the ground that it might lead to communal tension.

Appearing for the BJP, counsel S K Kapoor on Tuesday said that the 'rath yatra' would be a purely political movement, highlighting the lack of democracy in the state and the other problems inflicting its people.

Kapoor submitted that the party representatives had told the state government officials that the 'yatra' had no religious connection to it.

He also claimed that the state government's decision was a biased and pre-determined one.

The court adjourned the hearing on the matter till Wednesday, when it will hear the submission of the state government.

The BJP had proposed to take out three 'rath yatras', scheduled to be flagged off by party president Amit Shah, from as many places in Bengal.

The chariots were meant to travel to all 42 parliamentary constituencies in the state over the next one- and-a-half months.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League and jailed ex-premier Khaleda Zia's BNP unveiled their manifestos ahead of the crucial December 30 polls on Tuesday, as the election commission ordered the deployment of the forces across Bangladesh to maintain law and order.

Unveiling the ruling Awami League's election manifesto, Prime Minister Hasina asked voters to take a lenient view for any mistakes committed by her government during its two consecutive terms since 2009.

The 21-point charter promised to put Bangladesh on a "highway to development".

"We do not want a of division, violence, arson, obstruction or unrest. We want a democratic environment for a free and fair election. We want to ensure the participation of all to reach a national consensus," the 80-page manifesto read.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir released the manifesto in the of absence Zia, who is serving a jail term for embezzlement of funds, and her "fugitive" elder son and acting party chief Tarique Rahman.

The BNP manifesto promised to limit the term to two for an elected person to hold the office of the prime minister.

The manifesto promised to scrap "all black laws" including the Digital Security Act, Official Secrets Act and Special Power Acts to facilitate freedom of speech and expression.

"A single vote of yours will revitalise the life of our leader (Zia)," Alamgir said, adding that their votes would restore the image of Rahman, now staying in London.

Rahman was given life imprisonment for masterminding a grenade attack on an Awami League rally in 2005 in which 24 people were killed and several others, including the then opposition leader and now Prime Minister Hasina, injured.

Zia, 73, who is serving a 10-year jail sentence on corruption charges, has been barred from contesting the polls.

The developments came as a single-judge High Court bench virtually sealed scopes for Zia to contest the polls being a convict rejecting her final plea to overturn the election commission decision to disqualify for the polls.

According to the election commission officials, around 100 million people are eligible to cast their votes in the general elections.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Election Commission on Tuesday ordered the deployment of the paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) throughout the country with "immediate effect" to maintain law and order.

"A total of 1,016 platoons of BGB troops have been deployed across Bangladesh to control the law and order situation," a commission spokesman said.

On Monday, Bangladesh's main opposition alliance unveiled its poll manifesto, promising to safeguard the opinion and rights of people if it was voted to power.

The National Unity Front (NUF), a political alliance of opposition parties including Zia's BNP, promised to ensure "peoples' ownership".

"When the people no longer have control of the government, it is taken over by vested interests and various domestic and foreign groups... you have felt this in your bones," NUF convenor and eminent jurist Kamal Hossain said.

The NUF, in line with the constitutional principle, would not only ensure peoples' ownership over the government but also the stake of defeated parties in the governance process, he said.

Though the BNP is part of the NUF alliance, it released its manifesto separately.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The rupee appreciated 37 paise to 71.19 against the US dollar in early trade at the interbank foreign exchange Tuesday after crude prices fell to a 14-month low level in international market.

The rise in the rupee was also supported by dollar-selling by exporters and banks and the US unit's weakness against some currencies overseas ahead of US Federal Reserve Monetary policy decision Wednesday, traders said.

At the interbank forex market, the rupee commenced with strength at 71.34 and appreciated further to quote 37 paise higher at 71.19 against the US dollar.

The rupee had gained 34 paise to close at 71.56 against the US dollar Monday as forex market sentiments were driven by the country's narrowing trade deficit in November as also smart gains in domestic equities.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped by 1.22 per cent to 14-month low of USD 58.85 barrel.

The US Federal Reserve's policy decision is expected on December 19, and market is expecting another rate hike, traders said.

However, a lower opening in the domestic equity market capped the gain in the domestic currency.

The benchmark BSE Sensex fell by 170.50 points, 0.47 per cent, to 36,099.57 in early trade.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)World's largest Saudi Arabia and richest Indian Mukesh Ambani-run are discussing joint investment in petrochemicals and projects, the Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih said.

Al-Falih, who has known Ambani for over a decade now, travelled to Udaipur earlier this month to attend the pre-wedding festivities of Ambani's daughter Isha's marriage with Ajay Piramal's son Anand.

During that visit, he also held talks with Ambani but choose to tweet about those discussions only this week.

In an Arabic tweet, which was translated using online tools, Al-Falih said he was delighted to meet Ambani.

At the meeting "we discussed opportunities for joint investments and cooperation in petrochemical, refining and communications projects."



He also tweeted a picture of the meeting where Ambani is dressed in a business suit, a sharp contrast to other pictures of his in traditional attire during the pre-wedding festivities held on December 8 and 9.

No details of the meeting were available from Reliance.

Reliance operates two refineries at Jamnagar with a total capacity of 68.2 million tonnes per annum.

Reliance plans to expand its only-for-exports SEZ refining capacity to just over 41 million tonnes from current 35.2 million tonnes but does not have any plans to set up a new in the country.

It is presently focused on expanding and telecom business, industry sources said.

is the basic raw material for the manufacturing of petrochemicals.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is keen to get a foothold in the world's fastest-growing fuel market so as to get a captive customer for it produces.

Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil company, and its partner Abu Dabhi National Oil Co (ADNOC) have picked up 50 per cent stake in a planned $44-billion in Maharashtra but the project is facing problems in acquiring land due to protests from local politicians.

Aramco and ADNOC will together hold 50 per cent stake in the 60 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) refinery and adjacent 18 MTPA complex planned to be built at Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra by 2025.

The two will supply half of the required for processing at the refinery.

Like other major producers, the two are looking to lock in customers in the world's third-largest oil consumer through the investment. Kuwait too is looking to invest in projects in return for getting an assured offtake of their crude oil.

is also keen on retailing fuel in India. A refinery in India can also be a base for it to export fuel to deficit countries in Europe and the Americas.

India has a refining capacity of 247.6 million tonnes, which exceeded the demand of 206.2 million tonnes.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), this demand is expected to reach 458 million tonnes by 2040.Senior Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi Tuesday said the Supreme Court should withdraw its judgment on Rafale deal as it was based on a false statement submitted by the Narendra Modi government.

Gogoi, an MP from Assam, also said the Congress is demanding that the government constitute a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe all aspects of the Rafale deal.

"The Rafale judgment was based on a false statement made by the BJP government. The Supreme Court should withdraw it," he told mediapersons here.

After the apex court gave its verdict on the deal on December 14, Congress president Rahul Gandhi the basis of the judgment is a CAG report that has neither been seen by anyone, nor shared with Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The PAC is headed by Congress' leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge.

The Centre on December 15 filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court to make a factual 'correction' in a paragraph in the Rafale judgment in which a reference was made about the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report and the PAC.

Gogoi said, "The Supreme Court should penalise the BJP government for trying to mislead the apex court. It should also call upon the government and initiate contempt case the BJP-led government."



The Congress leader also dared the Prime Minister to appear before the JPC if he has nothing to be afraid of in the Rafale deal.

Stating that the Congress in the past had constituted JPCs on demand by the Opposition, he asked, "Why is the current BJP government so allergic to the JPC now that they are in power."



The Congress leader said the Supreme Court has also expressed its limits as it cannot go into the pricing details.

Stating that the Supreme Court is not the appropriate forum to take up the matter, he said, "It was highly incredulous that the Government is referring to a CAG report which is in a draft stage to convince the court that a CAG report has been compiled.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said Tuesday a purported statement by a pro-Khalistan outfit, seeking support from Pakistan to "liberate" Punjab from India, has exposed its "nefarious designs" and nexus with the Pakistani Army and the ISI.

The chief minister made the remarks after a section of media reported that US-based Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a separatist outfit, had allegedly sought support from the Pakistan government for 'Referendum 2020', a campaign to "separate Punjab from India".

Attacking SFJ's legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the chief minister said, "The cat is now well and truly out of the bag, and the truth of the deep-rooted connection between the SJF and the Pakistani Army is out in the open."



Amarinder Singh has also taken strong exception to SFJ's reported plans to hold a 'Kartarpur Sahib convention 2019', coinciding with the auspicious occasion of the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism.

The whole affair is a "bigger conspiracy" by the Pakistan Army, which is persistently trying to revive militancy in Punjab, the CM said, reiterating his stand on the issue.

Amarinder Singh also said that Punjab and the Indian Army were well prepared to counter any such plans of the neighbouring country.

"Punjab is today much better equipped than it was in the 80s and 90s when Pak-backed terrorism had swept the state," he said, warning Islamabad against extending any further support to SFJ or other such outfits that are bent on disturbing the state's hard-earned peace.

The Pakistan Army would do well to remember the ignominious defeats it had suffered at the hands of the Indian Army on every occasion it had tried to take on the might of the latter, right from the 1965 and 1971 wars to the more recent Kargil battle, warned Amarinder Singh.

Asserting that he was all in favour of the Kartarpur Corridor to fulfill the long-pending aspirations of the Sikh community in India, the chief minister said it was the "misuse" of the initiative that he was opposed to.

If Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was truly in favour of opening the doors for long-lasting peace with India through this corridor, he should not only unequivocally condemn the SFJ statement but should also ensure that Pakistan soil is not used by the anti-India outfit to further its campaign, he said, urging the Pak leader to put a stop to the plan of 'Kartarpur Sahib Convention 2019'.

Let the two countries build a corridor of peace in the true sense of the word, without the auspicious occasion of the 550th 'Prakash Purb' being allowed by Islamabad to be abused by anti-Indian forces, the CM said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Keeping an eye on the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP chief Amit Shah will hold a meeting with the party's over 12,000 booth in-charges of Delhi on December 23 as he aims for a repeat of its sweep in the last general elections.

The meeting comes close on the heels of the BJP's dismal showing in the recently concluded assembly polls in five states.

Delhi had elected BJP candidates to its seven parliamentary constituency seats in 2014, and Shah has often stressed on the need for the party to repeat its dominant show in 2019.

Delhi BJP leaders said the event is being given top priority with the booth in-charges being issued bar-coded identity cards to ensure that they attend it without fail.

There are a total of 13,816 polling booths across Delhi and so far over 12,000 booth in-charges have been appointed by the party.

Party meetings of district and lower level booth incharges have been held. It is for the first time that a state-level interaction between the national president and the booth incharges is being organised, said Dharambir Singh, head of booth management department of the Delhi BJP.

"The booth in-charges will also be given a chance to put across their suggestions before the party president during the interaction," Singh said.

The party will ensure that booth presidents mandatorily attend the event. The bar-coded identity cards with photographs will be scanned when they arrive for the event at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari, along with other senior party leaders, will also attend the interactive session.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The BJP's warring ally Shiv Sena Tuesday chose to stay away from the inauguration of various projects by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mumbai metropolitan region and Pune.

The prime minister Tuesday laid foundation stones for two metro lines- Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan (Metro 5) and the Dahisar-Mira Bhayander (Metro 9) at Kalyan in neighbouring Thane district. He also launched the Navi Mumbai town planning authority Cidco's (City & Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) mass-housing scheme worth Rs 18,000 crore.

Later, the PM also laid the foundation stone of the phase three of Pune Metro.

A senior Shiv Sena leader said since the party chief Uddhav Thackeray was not invited to the PM's events, Sena leaders and ministers decided to boycott his functions.

"After we learnt that Uddhav Thackeray has not been invited, the party leaders decided to boycott all the functions of PM Modi in Maharashtra on Tuesday," he said.

According to a BJP leader, an editorial in Sena's mouthpiece 'Saamana' had not gone down well with his party's leadership.

"There was a direct attack on Narendra Modi in an editorial in 'Saamana'. Holding Modi responsible for the BJP's loss of power in three states has not gone down well with our leadership in the state as well as at the Centre," he said.

Senior BJP leader and state Education Minister Vinod Tawde said, "We had invited everyone to the PM's functions as per the protocol. The ministers from Thane district and even members of Parliament (MPs) were invited."



The minister hinted that Thackeray was not invited as he did not hold any constitutional post.

Another Shiv Sena leader, however, pointed out that his party president had been invited for the foundation laying ceremony of Shivaji memorial attended by Modi in Mumbai two years back.

"Thackeray was invited to the function, where the prime minister was present. He had even sat on the stage," he said.

"If protocol is so important, then why does the BJP interpret it as per its own convenience?" the Sena leader asked.

On Sunday, Uddhav Thackeray had performed the 'bhumi-pujan' or ground-breaking ceremony for the Rs 12,000-crore coastal road project, which no BJP leader or minister attended.

A BJP leader had claimed that there was no invitation to even Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the function organised by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, ruled by the Sena.

Almost a year back, Thackeray had announced that his party would contest all the future elections alone. His party has been critical of the BJP and its top leadership over several issues.

However, the BJP has been consistently terming Sena as its natural ally and warning it that contesting the polls separately could benefit the opposition parties.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The ruling is the first of its kind. The child was born in the United States after an assisted reproduction process using semen from one of the two men. The biological father can adopt the child as a single parent. In Singapore, the demands of the homosexual community have fuelled a heated debate. The court noted that its ruling was not influenced by sympathies for the position of either party.

Singapore (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Singapores High Court issued a landmark ruling today allowing a gay couple to adopt a five-year-old boy, conceived in the United States by a surrogate mother. In doing so, the three-judge panel led by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon overturned a lower court decision last year against the adoption bid.

In its judgment, the panel said that the adoption should go through to increase the childs prospects of acquiring Singapore citizenship and securing long-term residence in Singapore.

The judgment noted the court considered Singapores public policy on same-sex families and its relation to this case as well as any policy violation if an adoption order was made. Yet neither reason was sufficiently powerful to enable us to ignore the statutory imperative to promote the welfare of the child and, indeed, to regard his welfare as first and paramount, the judgment said.

The judges stressed their decision was not an endorsement of the couples actions or a result of sympathies for the position of either party.

The couple, two 45-year-old Singaporeans, James and Shawn (not their real names), had applied to adopt the child (Noel) in December 2014, a year after his birth in the United States to a surrogate mother following an assisted reproduction process that used the semen of one of the two men.

Until now the child was a US citizen and lived in Singapore with a dependents pass, which had to be renewed every six months by leaving the country. By virtue of the sentence, the biological father can now adopt the child as a single parent.

In recent months, the claims of Singapores gay community have fuelled a heated debate among Singaporeans, particularly regarding Section 377A of the Penal Code (Outrages on decency), which was introduced in 1938, criminalises sex between men.

Following a recent ruling by the Indian Supreme Court that decriminalised homosexual sex, the section in the Singapore penal code is again questioned in the island nation by those who want it repealed in the name of human rights. Conversely, those who see todays ruling as a threat to Singaporean families and society want to maintain the status quo.: A software engineer and another man from Telangana drowned off a beach in Australia while trying to rescue three teenagers trapped in strong tides, family members said Tuesday.

'Syed Rahat (35), a software engineer from Hyderabad and working in Sydney, along with Ghouse (45) drowned, while 28-year-old Junaid is missing,'Ali, a relative of Rahat said here.

He said they received information about the incident on Monday.

Ali said their relatives in Australia informed them that a group of three families went for a picnic at Moonee beach Monday evening.

The teenagers among the group went for a swim, but were trapped in the waters by strong tides.

On hearing their cries for help, three adults jumped into the sea to rescue them, but two drowned and another went missing, he said.

"We are planning to go to Australia," he said.

Other rescuers saved the three teenagers and they have been admitted to hospital there, he said, adding that a search operation to locate Junaid was continuing as per information given by other relatives from Australia.

Ghouse and Junaid hail from Nalgonda district.

"He (Junaid) is still missing... we are unable to comprehend what happened.The Telangana and Central governments should help us trace him," family members said in Nalgonda.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the Centre and AAP government's stand on a plea by the Honorary Consul of South Africa seeking permission to put up a statue of late Nelson Mandela on a road named after him in the national capital.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao issued notice to the ministries of Urban Development and External Affairs as well as the Delhi government seeking their stand on the application.

The Honorary Consul of Republic of South Africa, represented by senior advocate Rupinder Singh Suri, has sought directions to the authorities to permit putting up the statue of former South african president Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela on the Nelson Mandela road here.

The application was initially moved in 2016 in the Supreme Court, which was hearing a matter with regard to encroachments of public spaces by religious structures, before the BRICS summit in the city as the South African government wanted to unveil the statue of the anti-apartheid icon during the event.

The apex court, however, in January this year transferred the main matter to the various high courts to ensure compliance of its direction to prevent encroachments of public space by religious structures and to deal with any other development connected with it.

Since the Delhi High Court has to ensure compliance of the top court's directions in the national capital, the application by the Republic of South Africa was also transferred here.

In the application, the Honorary Consul of South Africa -- Vikramjit S Sahney -- contended that despite all requisite clearances from the various civic bodies, the Ministry of Urban Development was not allowing it to put up the statue.

According to the application, the ministry had denied the permission in view of a apex court order of January 2013 which directed all state governments not to allow installation of any statue or construction of any nature on public roads and pavements.

However, in August this year, the apex court had allowed MEA to accept requests from foreign governments to install statues or busts of their leaders in public spaces here in view of diplomatic and bilateral relations of India with other countries.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.): The BJP Tuesday slammed DMK chief M K Stalin for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi sadist for not visiting Tamil Nadu after cyclone Gaja,with the party's national secretary H Raja saying he has behaved in an 'immature manner.'



Stalin,while speaking at a rally followed by unveiling of a bronze statue of DMK patriarch and his father late M Karunanidhi at the party headquarters in Chennai on December 16, had called Modi a "sadist", saying the prime minister did not visit Tamil Nadu after 'Gaja.'



He had asked whether Modi would not visit states like Maharashtra or Gujarat if these places were hit by natural disasters.

The event had brought together key opposition parties of DMK, Congress, TDP and CPI(M), to reaffirm their resolve to dislodge the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.

Raja said Tuesday that welcoming guests at the function was another matter, but calling Modi sadist was not acceptable and had not gone well with the public.

'For the last two years, Stalin is speaking unrelated things in an immature manner,' Raja said adding that the money spent on the statue could have been donated to victims of the cyclone



Raja, known for his controversial remarks, said it was a mistake to to have invited Sonia Gandhi for the function as it was under the UPA dispensation that the killings of Tamils took place in Sri Lanka.

He had courted controversy in March for making remarks indicating that statues of rationalist leader E V Ramasamy "Periyar" could be the next to be pulled down after a Lenin statue was razed in Tripura.

The BJP leader also said there was reported movement of Naxals in some areas in the Western Ghats and the state government should immediate action on the matter.

If need be, the state should seek the help from the Centre, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A court here directed Delhi Police on Tuesday to hand over certain documents to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, accused in a case related to wife Sunanda Pushkar's death.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal passed the directions after he was told by senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, appearing for Tharoor, that there were discrepancies in certain electronic evidence, provided by the prosecution.

He told the court that some of the documents mentioned in the list of evidence were either not received by him or failed to open.

"Reconciliation and comparison of all documents available with prosecution and defence is taking time," Pahwa told the court.

Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in the city on the night of January 17, 2014. The couple were staying in the hotel as the official bungalow of Tharoor was being renovated at that time.

The court had directed Delhi Police to hand over various documents filed along with the charge sheet, including statements of witnesses, to Tharoor on a plea moved by him.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP was granted regular bail on July 7 after he appeared before the court in pursuance to the summons issued against him.

The court had on June 5 summoned Tharoor, observing there was sufficient ground to proceed against him.

He has been charged under sections 498-A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), but has not been arrested in the case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)/ -- - New Terminal constructed in record time of 11 months; enhances capacity of Prayagraj Airport to handle 300 passengers at a time during peak hours and inaugurated in time to influx the pilgrims for Kumbh mela



Built for Airport Authority of India, TATA Projects Limited constructed the new terminal building of Prayagraj Airport within a period of 11 months,which is one of the fastest constructed airport terminals in the country. The new state-of-the-art terminal at Prayagraj Airport - one of oldest airports in India, was inaugurated by Mr. Narendra Modi, Honorable Prime Minister of India.

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/799831/Prayagraj_Airport_Narendra_Modi.jpg )



(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/799832/Prayagraj_Airport_TATA_Projects.jpg )With the addition of new terminal, Prayagraj Airport can now be connected with 13 other cities in the country like Hyderabad, Nagpur, Mumbai, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Dehradun, Indore, Kolkata, Raipur, Pune and Patna. The expanded airport will now provide a convenient travel option to the tourists visiting the city. It will prove to be a boon to the devotees coming to Prayagraj for Ardha Kumbh in January 2019 as they will be able to get direct flights from the far-off places of the country to Prayagraj.

Commenting on the achievement, Mr. Vinayak Deshpande, Managing Director - TATA Projects Limited said, "Delivery of this project in the record time is testimony to the team's proven capabilities in executing projects ahead of time with the assured quality for which the TATA brand is known for. It gives us immense pleasure to make this terminal accessible in time to meet the demands of the Kumbh pilgrims. The new terminal will also aid in boosting tourism and business opportunities in the state."



The New Airport complex is spread across on an area of 50 acres with a centrally air-conditioned building on an area of 6,700 sqm. The infrastructure is capable to handling upto 300 passengers at a time during at Peak hours. The terminal building is equipped with all essential passenger-friendly amenities and provided with CUTE-enabled Check-in-Counters, Baggage Conveyors, Elevator, Public Address System, Fire Fighting and Fire Alarm System, Flight Information Display System (FIDS), CCTV, Baggage Scanners and Parking for 200 Cars and Reserved Parking for 20 cars.

About TATA Projects Limited (http://www.tataprojects.com)



TATA Projects is one of the fastest growing and most admired infrastructure companies in India. It has expertise in executing large and complex urban and industrial infrastructure projects.

TATA Projects operates through its four Strategic Business Groups (SBG's) namely Industrial Systems SBG, Core Infra SBG, Urban Infra SBG, and Services SBG.

The Company provides turnkey end to end solutions to set up power generation plants, power transmission & distribution systems, fully integrated rail & metro systems, commercial buildings & airports, chemical process plants, water and waste water management solutions, complete mining and metal purification systems.

The company is driven to deliver projects on-time, using world class project management techniques and has uncompromising standards for safety and sustainability.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Senior Trinamool Congress leader and minister Subrata Mukherjee Tuesday ruled out any possibility of pre-poll alliance with the Congress but kept all "post-poll" options open.

"Right now we will do whatever is needed to defeat the BJP. We will fight it alone. After the Lok Sabha results are announced we will decide our next course of action after discussing with everybody," Mukherjee told reporters.

Reacting to his statement, Leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan of the Congress wondered who has asked the TMC to ally with the party.

"Did we ask them to ally with us. We want to fight alone in Bengal. Alligning with the TMC has always been a disaster. It is the TMC which has tried to wipe out the Congress from West Bengal," Mannan said.

TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had announced in July that that the party would contest the 42 Lok Sabha seats of the state alone.

The TMC, however, attended several opposition meetings that has taken place in New Delhi.

But the party has also opposed DMK president M K Stalin's proposal to the name of Congress chief Allying Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition by saying any such announcement would be premature as it would divide the opposition camp.

The state Congress leadership, too, has been vocal against the TMC for not giving credit to Gandhi for the massive victory in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh Assembly polls.

The Congress had last week asked if Trinamool leaders were having "sleepless nights" fearing that their dream of Banerjee becoming the prime minister might not realise.

The Congress and the TMC had fought in alliance in West Bengal in 2001 assembly polls, 2009 Lok Sabha polls and 2011 assembly polls.

After winning a landslide victory and ousting the Left Front from power in 2011, Banerjee snaps ties with the Congress in the state in 2012 but remained a constituent in the UPA at the Centre.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Tamil Nadu Plastics Manufacturer's Association (TNPMA) moved the Madras High Court Tuesday seeking to quash a government order banning plastic, which would come into effect on January 1.

When the petition came up, the division bench of justices M M Sundresh and Krishnan Ramasamy posted it to Friday and directed the Tamil Nadu government to file its counter on that date.

Earlier, Additional Advocate General PH Arvind Pandiyan requested the bench that the plea be heard along with other similar petitions, which were already posted for Friday.

The present petition challenged the order issued on June 25, which imposed a total ban on manufacture, storage, supply, sale and use of "use throwaway plastics" such as plastic sheets used for food wrapping, spreading on dining table, plastic plates, among others.

The petitioner submitted that the order violated the doctrine of legitimate expectation, promissory estoppel.

It was liable to be set aside due to "non application" of mind and was "contrary" to central legislation like (Protection) Act, 1986, (Protection) Rules, 1986, Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, it claimed.

The state has exceeded its jurisdiction by passing the order which comes under the purview of the central government, the petitioner claimed.

Therefore, on the face of it, the government order is liable to be quashed for want of jurisdiction and authority, it added.

The Tamil Nadu government had in June announced that it would ban the use of plastic items, including non-biodegradable carry bags, from January 2019 to "gift a plastic-free" state to future generations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A day after the Lok Sabha passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016, community representatives and activists Tuesday voiced protests, dubbing it as "regressive" and said it disregarded most recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee.

The community representatives said the Bill was in stark "violation" of the fundamental rights of transgender persons enshrined in the Constitution as equal citizens.

According to Jamal, a member of the community from Delhi the Bill criminalises begging and prescribes a jail term for anyone who "compels or entices a transgender person to indulge in the act of begging".

"But then due to lack of job opportunities, many transgenders are forced to take to begging and the bill does not take into account this aspect. It also does not distinguish between voluntary sex work and delineate it apart from trafficking," Jamal said.

Above all, it violates the rights of people in sex work or begging while deciding if they are trafficked or choosing these forms of work," Jamal said.

Bittu, a transgender activist from Telangana, further said that in 2016, Rajya Sabha passed the comparatively more progressive Private Member's Bill drafted by Tiruchi Siva, DMK member of the Rajya Sabha, which had been drawn up in consultation with the community. It has since then been pending before the Lok Sabha.

"While Tiruchi Siva's bill had several progressive positions such as reservation rights, employment and education opportunities, right to self determination, special courts, a Transgender Rights Commission and more, this Bill should be more appropriately retitled the Transgender Persons (Violation of Rights) Bill, since it violates more rights than it protects," Bittu said.

According to another activist, the bill is likely to impact the lives of thousands of trans person and sex workers adversely.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 seeking to define transgenders and prohibit discrimination against them, was introduced in the Lok Sabha two years ago.It was passed with 27 amendments.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US President Donald Trump took a swipe Tuesday at tech giants Facebook, Twitter and Google, accusing them of being biased in favor of opposition Democrats.

"Facebook, Twitter and Google are so biased toward the Dems it is ridiculous!" Trump tweeted. "Twitter, in fact, has made it much more difficult for people to join @realDonaldTrump.

They have removed many names & greatly slowed the level and speed of increase. They have acknowledged-done NOTHING!" Trump's tirade follows a detailed US Senate report on Russian troll farms that disrupted the 2016 US presidential election via social media.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Donald Trump's former national security chief on Tuesday received a delay in sentencing for lying over Russian contacts, after a judge threatened him with stiff jail time and said: "You sold your country out."



Russia collusion investigation head Robert Mueller had proposed Flynn receive no jail time for lying to investigators about his Moscow ties - and in his own pitch to the court last week, Flynn had requested the same.

But Judge Emmet Sullivan said Flynn had behaved in a "traitorous" manner and suggested he was prepared to deliver a tough sentence to the former three-star general, saying Flynn's crime as a key White House player was far beyond those that lower-level Trump campaign aides had committed.

Sullivan gave Flynn the option to move ahead with sentencing, or put it of until the Mueller probe is more advanced and Flynn can better demonstrate his cooperation with the Russia collusion probe.

"I want to be frank with you, this crime is very serious," Sullivan said. "I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain." "Arguably, you sold your country out."



Flynn was facing a standard sentence of zero to six months in prison after he pleaded guilty to lying to FBI investigators in January 2017, just after Trump became president, about his communications with then Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

Mueller had told the court that no jail time was merited based on Flynn's cooperation with the probe, including 19 interviews over the past year, and his long record of military service.

But Sullivan noted that Flynn had already avoided charges of violating laws on interference with US foreign policy and had skirted being included in Monday's indictment of two Flynn business partners for illegally working for Turkey.

"This case is in a category by itself right now," Sullivan said.

Flynn was one of the first to face charges in the sweeping Mueller investigation into possible collusion with Moscow in the 2016 election, reaching a plea deal announced just over one year ago.

It remains unknown what Flynn has told investigators about Trump, whom he served in the White House for just weeks in 2017 before resigning in the wake of scandal.

The former top aide was accused of hiding repeated contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States and accepting USD 530,000 from Turkey to illegally lobby for the country during the campaign.

Trump has maintained that Flynn was tricked by FBI agents into lying as part of a broader scheme to damage his presidency.

"The whole Russian Witch Hunt is a Fraud and a Hoax which should be ended immediately," he tweeted on Tuesday before Flynn's sentencing.

As a star Marine Flynn, 60, was credited for his battlefield intelligence operations and went on to become head of the powerful Defense Intelligence Agency.

But he spent just two years in the position before being removed in 2014 by then-president Barack Obama for mismanagement.

After that he moved into politics on the far right and joined Trump's election campaign as a senior advisor.

In July 2016 he spoke at the Republican convention where he led a now-iconic, rousing chant of "lock her up" directed at Trump's Democratic election rival Hillary Clinton.

The US intelligence community had strongly opposed his post-election appointment as White House national security advisor, considering him as someone given to bizarre conspiracy theories and possibly compromised by the Russians.

He had been paid several times to join Russian company events, most notably in December 2015 when he sat next to President Vladimir Putin at a gala for the country's state-run RT television.

In December 2016 he communicated numerous times with Kislyak, allegedly promising to lighten sanctions - a stance seen as undermining the policy of Obama, who was still president.

Revelations of those discussions led to Mueller's probe of his actions.

Flynn may have angered investigators and the court last week when, echoing one of Trump's longstanding allegations, he suggested FBI agents tricked him into lying and alleged that the agents themselves had come under investigation.

Mueller's team sharply rebuffed Flynn, releasing the record of the interview and saying there was "nothing" in the FBI's actions that caused him to lie.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Turkish trade minister Ruhsar Pekcan Tuesday called on Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and discussed areas for extending cooperation under a pact signed between the countries.

The two leaders talked about extending cooperation through greater interaction among government agricultural institutions, experts, scientists and agro businesses, an official statement said.

Both the countries have agreed to prioritise the sectors for cooperation and also identify nodal officers so that progress can be made on the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries, the statement added.

An MoU was signed between India and Turkey based on which the first meeting of the Steering Committee was held in India in 2010. A Work Plan had also been prepared.

In the meeting, Singh informed that India has achieved food security and become a net exporter of agriculture commodities under the Modi government.

He further said that the government has resolved to double farmers' income by 2022 through a series of focused programmes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two school students died and another injured after they were mowed down by a speeding government bus here Tuesday, police said.

The victims were on the way to their school when the bus coming from behind fatally knocked them down, they said.

Following the incident, irate students blocked the road to protest the reckless driving.

The injured student was admitted to a private hospital where his condition is said to be stable, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The United Arab Emirates has thrown its support behind Saudi Arabia's rebuke of the US Senate, which passed a resolution last week blaming Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The UAE, a close US ally and major weapons buyer, released a statement affirming its "policy of full solidarity" with Saudi Arabia with regards to the US.

Senate decision and "against anyone who attempts to undermine the kingdom's stature and regional position."



The statement, published Wednesday on the state-run WAM agency, said the UAE rejects "unfounded allegations and accusations" as well as "attempts that would harm Saudi Arabia's fundamental role as a major power ensuring security and stability in the Arab and Muslim worlds.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The UK Cabinet Tuesday ramped up contingency plans for a no-deal Brexit, which could see Britain leave the European Union without a formal divorce agreement in place in time for the March 29 deadline.

Preparations for such a chaotic scenario have become necessary because the deal proposed by British Prime Minister Theresa May remains unacceptable to most parties in the UK Parliament, mainly over a controversial "backstop" as part of the post-Brexit border arrangements between UK territory Northern Ireland and European Union member-country Ireland.

Critics of the deal fear the clause would keep the UK tied to the European Union (EU) even after it has formally left the 28-member economic bloc and curb its ability to strike independent trade deals around the world.

As a result of the impasse, the Cabinet is believed to have begun deliberations on Tuesday on how a 3 billion pound Brexit contingency fund, earmarked by the UK Treasury, would be split between the various government departments in the event of what is being dubbed a "managed no deal" Brexit.

It marks a significant shift in the UK government's Brexit strategy, which is also being seen as a warning to the the EU that the UK is serious about walking away unless new concessions on the Irish backstop are granted.

The House of Commons needs to approve the agreement reached by prime minister May with EU leaders for it to go ahead and so far there seems little chance of that happening.

Amid heated exchanges in the Commons on Monday, Opposition Labour Party tabled a motion of no-confidence in the British Prime Minister after she refused to offer a vote on the deal before the week of January 14.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused her of trying to "run down the clock" to force MPs to back her agreement or risk a no-deal Brexit by the time they return from their Christmas recess.

But other Opposition parties, including the Scottish National Party (SNP), Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Greens, demanded Corbyn push for a no-confidence vote against the government as a whole.

Unlike a vote aimed only at the British Prime Minister, the UK government would have to allow such a vote and, if successful, it could force a General Election.

Prime Minister May, bolstered by the backing of her own Conservative Party MPs not keen to see the government toppled, also dared Corbyn to make a no-confidence motion against her government if he feels his party is ready for such a scenario.

However, the divisions within the Opposition itself have meant that the motion was dismissed as a "political stunt" by Downing Street.

"Labour tabling a motion just in the PM rather than in the entire Government begs the question which Tory do they want to see as PM," said Nicola Sturgeon, SNP leader and the First Minister of Scotland, in an attack on the Labour Party for what is being seen as a half-hearted attempt at shaking up the government because it is not confident of the backing of Parliament over a no-confidence vote in the Tory government.

"We are not interested in parliamentary antics or play-acting of the Labour Party. We are focused on the meaningful vote and the need to secure necessary changes to ensure the right deal for the UK," said Nigel Dodds of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which plays a crucial role in keeping May's government in power by providing her the required MPs for a Commons majority.

Meanwhile, Britain's exit arrangements and future relationship with the EU continue to hang in the balance.

There are supporters of a second referendum to seek fresh public opinion on the issue within the Cabinet but May has ruled out such a prospect as breaking faith with the electorate who voted in favour of Brexit in the June 2016 referendum.

"Another vote which would likely leave us no further forward than the last. And another vote which would further divide our country at the very moment we should be working to unite it," she said.

May has insisted that the EU has listened to the concerns of the British MPs over the contentious issue of the Northern Ireland border backstop and she hopes to secure additional "political and legal assurances" in the coming weeks about how it might come into force and how the UK could leave it.

She is hoping to use the few weeks' breathing space between now and when MPs return from parliamentary recess on January 7 to try and drive home this point in order to win the vote on her Brexit deal in Parliament.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A British court on Tuesday sentenced a fanatical neo-Nazi couple who named their baby son after Adolf Hitler to prison for belonging to a group banned under anti-terror laws.

Adam Thomas was sentenced to six and a half years in prison and his Portuguese partner Claudia Patatas to five years in prison by judge Melbourne Inman at Birmingham Crown Court.

Thomas, 22, and Patatas, 38, were among six people sentenced for membership of National Action, which in 2016 became the first right-wing group to be banned under anti-terror laws.

In his sentencing, Inman said the group had "horrific" goals.

National Action wanted "the overthrow of democracy in this country by serious violence and murder, and the imposition of a Nazi-style state which would eradicate whole sections of society by such violence and mass-murder," Inman said.

The judge said the couple, who gave their child the middle name "Adolf", had "a long history of violent racist beliefs".

"You acted together in all you thought, said and did, in the naming of your son and the disturbing photographs of your child by symbols of Nazism and the Ku Klux Klan".

Photographs recovered from their house showed Thomas cradling his newborn son while wearing the Ku Klux Klan white robe.

The couple's close friend, Darren Fletcher, who admitted National Action membership before trial, was also jailed on Tuesday for five years for the same crime.

Fletcher, 28, had taught his daughter to give a Nazi salute.

Daniel Bogunovic, 27, a leading member of National Action's Midlands chapter, was sentenced to six years and four months.

Two other men, cyber security worker Joel Wilmore, 24, and van driver Nathan Pryke, 26, were also sent to prison.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)British opposition leader tabled a non-binding no-confidence vote in Prime Minister after she told MPs they will only get a delayed vote on her deal in the new year.

May said a vote on the deal -- which was postponed on December 11 to avoid defeat -- would be held in the week beginning 14 January.

"This house has no confidence in the prime minister due to her failure to allow the House of Commons to have a meaningful vote," Labour leader Corbyn told lawmakers on Monday ahead of tabling the motion in parliament.

Corbyn said the move was "the only way I can think of ensuring a vote takes place this week".

The government must agree to the non-binding vote and even if successful it would not automatically trigger May's downfall.

House of Commons authorities said the government will decide whether the motion is debated and voted on, but noted it is "parliamentary convention that any such request be granted".

May last week survived a party confidence vote initiated by her own Conservative colleagues opposed to her strategy, but emerged badly wounded after a third of her parliamentary party voted to oust her.

A vote of no-confidence from a majority in the House of Commons could leave her authority further weakened -- and potentially prompt another vote in her entire government and a general election.

Britain is set to leave the European Union on March 29 next year, but the prime minister is struggling to persuade parliament to accept the divorce deal she struck last month with the bloc after 18 months of tortuous talks.

If parliament fails to approve the text, Britain could crash out of the EU with no deal -- a prospect that experts warn could lead to serious trade disruption and trigger a financial crisis. May insisted Monday that she was continuing to seek "assurances" from the EU over elements of her plan.

However, European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said "no further meetings with the United Kingdom are foreseen".

The delay has angered members of her own party and Labour opposition politicians, who accused her of trying to "run down the clock" ahead of Britain's withdrawal to increase pressure on them to back the deal.

"The prime minister has cynically run down the clock, trying to manoeuvre parliament into a choice between two unacceptable outcomes" -- her deal or no deal, Corbyn said.

"It's... unacceptable that we should be waiting almost a month before we have a meaningful vote on the crucial issue facing the future of this country."



May is again facing more calls for a second referendum to resolve the impasse, with dozens of MPs from all sides now supporting another poll and reports that May's officials are considering the possibility.

But the prime minister has argued vehemently that this would betray the 2016 result and undermine public confidence in

"Let us not break faith with the British people by trying to stage another referendum," she told parliament on Monday.

"Another vote... would do irreparable damage to the integrity of our politics," May said, adding that a second vote "would likely leave us no further forward".

The issue provoked an extraordinary public clash on Sunday between May and former prime minister Tony Blair, a leading supporter of continued EU membership and of holding another poll.

May accused Blair of insulting voters and trying to undermine her government by meeting officials in Brussels.

Blair, who was premier between 1997 and 2007, in turn accused the Conservative leader of being "irresponsible".

But campaigners for a referendum said May's comments on Monday showed that the idea was being taken seriously.

"A new public vote would be different from the referendum in 2016 because we now know more about what means," said Margaret Beckett, an MP from the main opposition Labour Party and "People's Vote" supporter.

"Any effort to force Brexit over the line without checking that it has the continued consent of the British people will only reinforce divisions," she said.

Another proposal being put forward if May's deal does not pass parliament is for MPs to hold indicative votes on different options to work out what steps to take next.

But May downplayed that prospect, telling lawmakers: "I have no plans for indicative votes".

"What is necessary is for the House to reflect on what members want in terms of their responsibility to come to a decision on this matter.The UN has affirmed a 'historic' non-legally binding global compact on refugees, marking the latest move by member states to support the rights of 258 million people on the move worldwide.

An overwhelming number of majority States in the UN General Assembly, 181, voted in favour of adopting the compact, with the US and Hungary opposing the move.

The Dominican Republic, Eritrea and Libya abstained.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Chief, Filippo Grandi, said the pact was "historic" and noted it was the first time the assembly has seen an agreement between and beyond States, that acknowledges the need to work collectively for the rights of refugees.

"In this world of ours, which often turns it back to people in need, that has shamefully politicized even the pain of exile, that has demonised and continues to demonise refugees and migrants and sometimes even just foreigners, this compact, in synergy with the other compact, the compact on migration, can really represent tangibly, a new commitment to international cooperation," Grandi said at an event at the UN Headquarters in New York.

He said it represented "a new commitment to shared values of solidarity and the quest to just and sustainable solutions for disadvantaged people."



This global compact for refugees, which is separate from the newly-adopted Global Compact for Migration, aims to strengthen the international response to large movements of refugees and their protracted situations, and was prompted by the historic 2016 New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, in which all 193 member states agreed that the protection of refugees should be a shared responsibility.

The declaration tasked the UNHCR with authoring the refugee compact, which came to fruition after 18 months of extensive consultations between the member states, experts, civil society, and refugees.

Just last week, the Global Compact for Migration, also non-legally binding, was adopted by 164 Governments at an international conference in Marrakech, Morocco in a bid to support safe, orderly and regular migration.

This "great achievement for multilateralism," as UN senior migration official Lousie Arbour called it, specifically targets the universal human rights and fundamental freedoms of migrants, which comprise a different group of people on the move than refugees.

Approximately 85 per cent of refugees live in developing countries, according to the UNHCR, where services are already strained. Though donors have been generous in financing aid to refugees, Grandi noted that the disproportionate burden on middle and low-income countries is evident, and leaves us at the mercy of economic downturns."



In addition, Grandi urged the States to re-evaluate the way refugees are supported to be more inclusive: "The image that we have of refugees is the refugee camp. We want to get away from that."Both the Global Compact on Migration and Global Compact on Refugees, surface a time of heightened division across the world and within societies, Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed said.

"In recent years we have seen a contagion of closed borders, contrary to national refugee and human rights law. Millions of refugees are facing years in exile, or risking their lives on dangerous journeys to an uncertain future. And that is why this global compact is such an important step," she said.

Mohammed stressed that the effort "to shoulder our responsibilities toward refugees, to find solutions that respect their human rights, to provide them with hope, and to recognise the legal responsibility to protect and to support them," are not only important goals in themselves, but play a critical role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, "that seriously leave no one behind."



Adoption of the compact, is "not the end, but the beginning" of the international community's work on the issue, General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa said adding that "what's left is implementation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan said Tuesday that its vote in the UN General Assembly was wrongly counted in favour of a resolution calling for a moratorium on executions.

Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal issued a clarification about the Monday's voting which according to reports went in support of General Assembly resolution.

"Pakistan, in accordance with its consistent policy, voted against the General Assembly resolution calling for a moratorium on execution, with a view to abolishing the death penalty," Faisal said in a tweet.

Amnesty International reported on Monday that Pakistan was among the four UN members that changed their vote to support the resolution. The other three countries were Dominica, Libya and Malaysia.

A total of 121 of the UN's 193 member states voted in favour of the seventh resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

Another 35 voted against the resolution while 32 members abstained.

Faisal said the vote was "inaccurately recorded due to technical issues" and the "Permanent Mission of Pakistan has taken up this matter with the UN Secretariat to put the record straight".

Pakistan followed moratorium on the implementation of capital punishment from 2008 but lifted it after the Peshawar School attack of in December 2014 which killed almost 150 people, mostly school children.

It carried out about 333 executions in 2015, which was one the highest in the world. 77 executions were carried out in 2017, according to Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Uttar Pradesh government accused Tuesday the Samajwadi Party of doing little during its rule to help the sugarcane farmers.

Speaking to reporters here at the UP BJP office, UP sugarcane development minister (independent charge) Suresh Rana said the opposition was accusing the Yogi Adityanath government of "agrarian distress" to vent out its frustration.

"The opposition very well knows the various welfare steps taken by the Yogi Adityanath government for the farmers of the state.

"Statistics tell the real story. In 2015-16 during the SP rule, sugarcane worth Rs 18,000 crore was purchased from the cane farmers in UP, whereas in the BJP government, the corresponding figures were Rs 35,500 crore (2017-18)," Rana said.

The UP minister's statement assumes significance as the SP leaders had protested outside the UP Assembly this morning blaming the saffron party for the agrarian distress in the state.

He added that as far as potato prices are considered, it was the BJP government which framed the minimum support price for potatoes.

When asked that the SP is accusing the BJP government of holding a short Winter Session to "hide its failures", Rana said, "We do not need any certificate from the SP.

"We need certificate from the people and the farmers of the state. And, they have already blessed us in the past and will continue to do so in the future," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The outgoing US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley on Tuesday called on Israelis and Palestinians to back a US peace plan to be unveiled in early 2019.

Without revealing details of the plan, drawn up by President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, Haley said it was far longer than past proposals and included elements that would have previously been "unthinkable."



"Unlike previous attempts at addressing this conflict, this plan is not just a few pages, containing unspecific and unimaginative guidelines," said Haley, who is due to leave her post at the end of December.

"It is much longer. It contains much more thoughtful detail. It brings new elements to the discussion, taking advantage of the new world of technology we now live in," she told a regularly session of the Security Council on the Middle East.

"It embraces the reality that things can be done today that were previously unthinkable," she added.

"The critical question is whether the response will be any different. There are things in the plan that every party will like, and there are things in the plan that every party will not like," said Haley, who will be replaced by State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.

Haley said that if countries focus solely on parts of the plan that they do not like, "we would return back to the failed status quo of the last fifty years with no prospects for change."



But she said, "I assure you there is a lot for both sides to like."Her comments were met with a measured response from European states, who said they "would like to reiterate once more and emphasise the EU's strong continued commitment to the internationally agreed parameters" - which include a two-state solution along the 1967 armistice lines and a settlement of the status of Jerusalem, claimed by both sides as their capital.

"Any peace plan that fails to recognize these internationally agreed parameters would risk being condemned to failure," the EU states said in a statement.

The Trump administration angered many in the diplomatic community when it moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem this year, prompting the Palestinians to break off talks with Washington.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The US, the EU, Australia and Norway have welcomed the peaceful resolution of the political crisis in Sri Lanka after President Maithripala Sirisena reinstated Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister.

Sirisena, whose controversial actions plunged the island nation into an unprecedented political turmoil for nearly two months, reinstated Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister on Sunday, after sacking him on October 26 and appointing ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place and also dissolving Parliament, some 20 months early.

Reacting to the latest political developments, the American Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina Teplitz said the US welcomes the weekend's political developments, which upheld the country's democratic and constitutional norms.

"Sri Lanka is a valued partner in the Indo Pacific and we look forward to continuing to develop our relationship with the government and people of this country," she said.

Australia welcomed the resolution of the political uncertainty in Sri Lanka by constitutional means, and the demonstrated resilience of Sri Lanka's democratic institutions.

The High Commission of Australia, in a statement said as a longstanding friend and Indian Ocean neighbour, Australia look forward to working with the Sri Lankan Government to build a stronger bilateral relationship.

"As a longstanding friend and Indian Ocean neighbour, Australia welcomes resolution of the political uncertainty in Sri Lanka by constitutional means, and the demonstrated resilience of Sri Lanka's democratic institutions.

"We look forward to working with the Sri Lankan Government to take forward its commitments to deliver peace, reconciliation and prosperity, and to build a stronger bilateral relationship," the statement said.

Following the reinstatement of ousted Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, the European Union along with Norway commended the resilience of Sri Lanka's democratic institutions and welcomed the peaceful resolution of the political crisis.

Issuing a statement in agreement with the EU Ambassadors and the Norwegian Ambassador resident in Colombo, the Delegation of the European Union offered to continue to support Sri Lanka's efforts to achieve reconciliation and prosperity.

"As steady friends of Sri Lanka, we welcome the peaceful and democratic resolution of the political crisis in accordance with the constitution.

"We commend the resilience of Sri Lanka's democratic institutions and will continue to support its efforts towards national reconciliation and prosperity for all," the statement said.

India too welcomed the resolution of the political crisis in Sri Lanka and exuded confidence that relations between the two countries will continue to move on in an upward trajectory.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the resolution of the political issues was a reflection of the maturity demonstrated by all political forces.

"As a close neighbour and true friend, India welcomes the resolution of the political situation in Sri Lanka. This is a reflection of the maturity demonstrated by all political forces, and also of the resilience of Sri Lankan democracy and its institutions," MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

He said India remains committed to taking forward its people oriented development projects in Sri Lanka.

"We are confident that India-Sri Lanka relations will continue to move on an upward trajectory," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The US regulator FAA has retained the highest aviation safety ranking for India, a senior official said Tuesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) carried out an audit of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in July this year.

The official said that the FAA on Tuesday formally confirmed that India's International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) rating remains 'Category 1'.

Category 1 means the carriers from the assessed state may initiate or continue service to the US in a normal manner and take part in reciprocal code-share arrangements with American carriers.

The FAA carried out an audit to confirm India's adherence to the standards laid down by the ICAO and oversight of Indian airlines.

"During consultations held with the FAA in early November, the DGCA presented the actions taken to address the findings of the July 2018 audit," the DGCA official said.

According to him, the FAA has formally communicated that India is adhering to the safety standards of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).

The regulator has also "confirmed that India's IASA rating remains Category 1," he noted.

The American regulator conducts IASA programme to assess the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of each country that has carriers operating to the US.

An IASA assessment determines if the foreign CAA provides oversight to its carriers that operate to the US as per the international standards.

Under the International Convention on Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention) each country is responsible for the safety oversight of its own air carriers. Other countries can only conduct specific surveillance activities, principally involving inspection of required documents and the physical condition of aircraft.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Addressing India's distressed directly from Parliament, Congress president said Tuesday he will not let Prime Minister Narendra sleep until all farms loans have been waived.

In a stinging attack on what he described as crony capitalism, said the government has turned a blind eye to the loans given to 15 top industrialists of the country, including Anil Ambani, but has made no effort to alleviate the woes of the in the last four years.



"We promised to waive loans in 10 days. In two states, we did it in six hours," told reporters outside Parliament.

"We will not let Prime Minister Narendra sleep until loans of all are waived," the Congress president said.Addressing India's distressed farmers directly from outside Parliament, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday said he will not let Prime Minister Narendra Modi sleep until all farms loans have been waived.

In a stinging attack on what he described as crony capitalism, Gandhi said the government has turned a blind eye to the loans given to 15 top industrialists of the country, including Reliance Group chairperson Anil Ambani, but made no effort to alleviate the woes of the farmers in the last four and half years.

"We promised to waive loans in 10 days. In two states, we did it within six hours and we would do it in the third state very soon," Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament.

He was referring to the Congress' newly formed governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh fulfilling promises made ahead of the Assembly polls and waiving loans on Monday. A Congress government, led by Ashok Gehlot, was also sworn in in Rajasthan.

"We will not let Prime Minister Narendra Modi sleep until loans of all farmers are waived," the Congress president said.

Issuing a challenge to the prime minister, Gandhi said, "If the Modi government does not waive farm loans, we guarantee to waive farm loans if voted to power in 2019."



He also claimed that the loans of friends of Modi and BJP president Amit Shah had been waived.

Alleging that Rs 3.5 lakh crore was waived for 15 people, including for Anil Ambani, he said poor people and small shopkeepers were on one side and the group of industrialists on the other.

He assured the people that the Congress and all other opposition parties would stand by them.

Terming demonetisation the world's biggest scam, Gandhi said the government has stolen from the public, shopkeepers and farmers.

"There will be many more typos coming now," he said when asked about government's claim on the "error" in the affidavit given to the Supreme Court on the Rafale issue.

The government claimed in its affidavit that the Rafale pricing issue has been looked into by the CAG whose report has been discussed in Parliament's Public Accounts Committee.

Raising the issue of alleged corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal, he accused the BJP of running away from a debate in Parliament.

"We will force a JPC on the Rafale issue. Why are they (government and BJP) running away from a debate in Parliament," Gandhi said.

Gandhi, however, skirted a question on Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and the apology demanded by the BJP from him after he was convicted by the Delhi High Court a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

He also did not answer a question on Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's statement about workers from Bihar and said he will ascertain the facts before speaking on it.

Nath was quoted as saying that workers from Madhya Pradesh were being denied jobs and many industries offered employment to workes from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The World Trade Organization agreed Tuesday to establish a panel to decide if Saudi Arabia has failed to protect the intellectual property rights of firms based in Qatar with which Riyadh severed diplomatic ties in 2017.

The WTO legal dispute is the latest battlefront in a bitter feud between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours, who have imposed an economic blockade on Doha.

Qatar launched the dispute in October, accusing Saudi Arabia of blocking Qatari-owned broadcaster beIN and of not taking proper action against piracy of beIN's content by a Saudi-based piracy outlet called "beoutQ".

Saudi Arabia blocked Qatar's initial request for a WTO dispute panel on the matter.

Qatar then launched a second request, which was approved automatically, in accordance with WTO rules.

The "scale of Saudi Arabia's violations are unprecedented, and threaten the international system of IP protection," a Qatari envoy to the WTO, Saleh Abdulla Al-Mana, said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia, along with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, severed diplomatic ties with Qatar in 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism and fostering close ties with their regional rival Iran - charges Doha denies.

Qatar has filed a separate WTO grievance against the UAE and Bahrain over the blockade. That case is ongoing.

Saudi Arabia has invoked national security to justify its economic actions against Doha.

That poses complications for the 164-member WTO, which has tried to keep national security questions out of its trade dispute system.

US President Donald Trump's administration has also cited national security to support trade restrictions, actions that have also triggered a plethora of WTO challenges.

WTO rules include a "national security exemption," which could theoretically give a country carte blanche to impose economic penalties on a rival.

But the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body, often dubbed the supreme court of world trade, has never made a ruling in a national security case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)has recommended the name of its board member Brahm Dutt for the post of Chairman to the RBI, according to sources.

The Chairman post fell vacant after resignation of in November following issues related to probity.

"The bank has sent the name of Dutt to the Reserve Bank for the Chairman post," a source said Tuesday.

Since Dutt is already a part of the bank and understands various aspects of the system in a better way, it would be good to have him as the chairman, sources said.



ALSO READ: YES Bank to submit list of CEO names to RBI after board meet on January 9

The bank's spokesperson could not be reached for comments.

Dutt, a retired bureaucrat, is currently an independent director on the bank's board, which has eight members.

The other board members are MD&CEO Rana Kapoor, Lt General Mukesh Sabharwal, Subhash Kalia, Ajai Kumar, Pratima Sheorey, Uttam Agarwal and TS Vijayan.

Vijayan -- former LIC and Irdai chief -- was inducted into the board only recently along with Agarwal who is a chartered accountant with expertise in taxation, and restructuring.



Besides, the bank has to recommend name/s for MD&CEO post to the RBI as Kapoor has been denied extension post January 31, 2019, by the central bank.

As per sources, RBI has flagged issues related to corporate governance as well as under-reporting of bad loans.Private sector lender Yes Bank said it has sold over 2 per cent stake in Fortis Healthcare Ltd (FHL) in tranches.

"We would like to inform that Yes Bank has sold 1,23,37,323 equity shares having nominal value of Rs 10 each, constituting 2.13 per cent of the paid-up share capital of FHL," the lender said in a regulatory filing.

The bank said the stake was sold in various tranches, last being on December 18, 2018, which resulted in change in holding of the bank by more than 2 per cent of the total shareholding in FHL.

Companies are required to inform the exchanges if the change in shareholding of an entity is over 2 per cent.

According to shareholding data on BSE, Yes Bank held 9.33 per cent stake in FHL as on November 21, 2018.

On Monday, Malaysia-based IHH Healthcare said it will not be able to proceed with open offer for FHL for the time being, following the Supreme Court order to put on hold sale of controlling stake in the Indian hospital chain.

However, the apex court's order does not impact IHH Healthcare's acquisition of 31.1 per cent stake in FHL for Rs 4,000 crore, which was completed on November 13, it said in a regulatory filing.

Stock of Yes Bank closed 1.21 per cent down at Rs 178.90 on BSE, while Fortis Healthcare closed 0.84 per cent lower at Rs 136.35.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Saira Banu Tuesday said she is yet to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss about the release of builder Samir Bhojwani, who had falsely claimed ownership of two plots on which Dilip Kumar's bungalow was built, and would go to Delhi if needed.

On Sunday via Kumar's official Twitter account, Banu had requested a meeting with the prime minister in the wake of Bhojwani's release.

The former actor said she was unable to meet the prime minister when he was on a one-day visit to Maharashtra Tuesday but she plans to follow up with the matter.

"I did not meet the prime minister here as he has been busy. But I have learnt that his office has asked people here to look into the matter. I have tweeted about it.

"I will meet him in Delhi if needed. I have no idea how I will follow this up. But I will follow it up," Banu, 74, told PTI.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said he will speak to Kumar, 96, and his family to allay their fears over the property issue involving Bhojwani.

Kumar's bungalow is located in the upscale Pali Hill area of Bandra.

Earlier this year, Banu had approached police and lodged a complaint against Bhojwani. In January, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai police had registered a case of cheating against the builder for allegedly trying to grab the bungalow of the veteran actor.

The police officials suspected that Bhojwani forged certain documents to grab the property. After the offence was registered, a team of EOW sleuths raided Bhojwani's residence in Bandra from where they seized weapons, including knives and daggers.

Bhojwani was arrested by EOW in April.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)One by one, US Magistrate Judge William Gallo called the names of 14 defendants who were charged with entering the country illegally. Defense attorneys told him the government had already deported them to Mexico, making it impossible for them to appear.

In a rebuke to the government, the judge immediately dismissed all charges and ordered that their bond money be returned.

The scene played out every day for several weeks in San Diego another example of judges challenging President Donald Trump's moves on immigration in ways large and small.

Last month, a different judge halted an administration policy to deny asylum to people who enter the country illegally.

Federal prosecutors introduced the mass hearings on immigration charges in California in July, adopting a model that has been in place for years elsewhere on the U.S.-Mexico border. The hearings soon began running past 6 p.m. regularly.

Defence attorneys frequently objected that they didn't have enough time to consult with their clients, who appeared in the same clothes they wore crossing the border a day or so earlier.

Then, on September 17, Gallo announced that judges would no longer accept guilty pleas at initial appearances, as they do in Arizona and Texas. Instead, they began setting second hearings for five days later. Immigrants who posted bail before their return dates were deported.

"The government, in many respects, was duplicitous," Gallo said on a recent Friday, referring to the decision to deport defendants before they could return to court for resolution of their cases.

On the same day, Gallo dismissed charges against the 14 defendants, many of them Mexican men who were caught hiding amid boulders and thick brush in rugged mountains east of San Diego.

The administration countered on Oct. 9, saying it would not deport people until their criminal cases were completed. That stopped cases from being dismissed but introduced new problems: Keeping people in custody for longer periods strained detention space and imposed higher costs.

"They wanted it to be a one-day thing, like it is across the whole border, because it's cheaper," said Jami Ferrara, who represents defense attorneys on a panel with judges and prosecutors working on the changes.

"It's not a cheap system." It is unclear how many cases were dismissed in San Diego, but defense attorneys estimate it was hundreds.

While dismissing the cases did not free people in the US, it undermined the purpose of Trump's "zero tolerance" illegal immigration policy: to notch criminal convictions. First-time offenders are punished by up to six months in prison and can be charged with a felony if caught again.

The legal skirmishes in San Diego court have not drawn a public reaction from Trump, and the Justice Department and Customs and Border Protection agency declined to comment.

It costs the Marshals Service an average of almost $90 a day to house a defendant. In San Diego, space is at a premium, with room for only 815 people at the main holding facility.

To address any space limitations, the Marshals Service has agreements with state and local governments and the federal Bureau of Prisons, as well as contracts with private companies, spokesman Drew Wade said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)By Huw JonesLONDON (Reuters) - Britain needs a new watchdog to shake up the country's "Big Four" accounting firms and reduce their dominance of the market for auditing companies' books, two government-requested reports said on Tuesday.The reports' proposals mark the most radical attempt yet to reform a sector in which the Big Four firms - EY, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC - check the accounts of 341 of the top 350 listed companies in Britain.Politicians have criticised a "cosy" audit sector and its "timid" regulator of failing to foresee the collapse of retailer BHS and construction company ...By Drazen JorgicISLAMABAD (Reuters) - British Airways will resume flights to Pakistan next year after a 10-year absence that followed a major hotel bombing, becoming the first Western airline to restart flights to the South Asian nation.BA halted flights following one of the most high-profile attacks in Pakistan's history, the 2008 Marriott Hotel bombing in the capital, Islamabad, which took place during a period of devastating Islamist militant violence that swept the country.But security has since improved, with militant attacks sharply down in the mainly Muslim country of 208 million ...(Reuters) - UK's embattled BT Group Plc said on Tuesday it planned to make changes to the way it decides management pay, after its outgoing chief executive officer's bonus was questioned by some of its shareholders.Investors have expressed disappointment with the company's executive compensation after it gave more than 1 million pounds in bonus to CEO Gavin Patterson in a year when BT's stock has tumbled 30 percent.The company said it would look to take steps, including considering a broader range of performance factors and wider circumstances, when deciding on pay."The board was naturally ...SAO PAULO (Reuters) - An outbreak of a deadly virus threatening pork production in China may be a boon to Brazilian and U.S. pork exporters, a top executive at Brazil-based meat processor JBS SA said on a live webcast on Tuesday.Global Chief Executive Gilberto Tomazoni said the swine fever outbreak could change the overall landscape for protein trade, affecting not only pork markets but potentially other meat types like poultry and beef. He was answering questions from two analysts at Brazilian brokerage XP Investimentos."China has already significantly increased pork imports from Brazil due ...(Corrects paragraph 4 and third bullet to clarify pharma exports rose, not fell. Corrects name of agency in paragraph 3.)By Fathin UngkuSINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's exports fell for the first time in eight months on a year-on-year basis in November with shipments to China, its biggest market, continuing their decline on slowing growth in the world's second largest economy.The contraction comes as economists grow increasingly worried about the impact of Sino-U.S. trade tensions on demand from China, with many expecting the dispute to hurt the city-state's trade dependent economy in ...By Francesco GuarascioBRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union lawmakers and governments on Tuesday reached a political agreement on new rules for the money that banks should set aside against possible losses from new loans that turn sour.The compromise softens an initial proposal by the European Commission, but less than sought by the EU parliament, which accepted a stricter provisioning calendar for banks .The rules are meant to avoid a future build-up of bad loans at banks, which have hampered the EU's economic recovery after the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Banks in the EU still hold 731 ...By Foo Yun CheeBRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager on Tuesday voiced concerns over a plan by Siemens and Alstom to create a Franco-German rail champion and its effect on high-speed trains in Europe.German industrial group Siemens and French rival Alstom last week offered to sell either one of their high-speed train technologies and the bulk of Alstom's signalling business in Europe in addition to some Siemens signalling assets to address EU antitrust concerns, people familiar with the matter told Reuters..The European Commission has given rivals and customers until this ...By Aditya KalraNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Dubai's DP World has approached an Indian court to quash an antitrust investigation recently ordered into its alleged anti-competitive behaviour at the country's largest container port in Mumbai, a legal document reviewed by Reuters showed.The Competition Commission of India (CCI) last month said it suspected alleged antitrust violations by DP World and Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk at the terminals they operate at state-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).The CCI's probe followed a complaint by Singapore's PSA International Pte Ltd, which had alleged ...German auto supplier IAV Gmbh has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $35 million fine for conspiring to assist Volkswagen AG in its effort to evade US diesel emissions standards, the US Justice Department said on Tuesday. IAV, which is 50 percent owned by Volkswagen, will serve two years of probation and be under the oversight of an independent monitor, the Justice Department said. Volkswagen has previously agreed to pay more than $25 billion in the United States, owing to claims from vehicle owners, environmental regulators, states and auto dealers, and has offered to buy back about ...By Sijia JiangHONG KONG (Reuters) - Huawei Technologies on Tuesday said it would spend $2 billion over the next 5 years to focus on cybersecurity by adding more people and upgrading lab facilities, as it battles global concerns about risks associated with its network gear.The typically secretive Chinese technology giant made the comments at one of its most indepth press conferences at its Dongguan offices, after welcoming about two dozen international journalists into its new campus in the southern Chinese city.Huawei has been in the news these past weeks for the arrest of its chief financial ...By Giuseppe Fonte and Crispian BalmerROME (Reuters) - Italy has done a deal with the European Commission over its contested 2019 budget, a spokeswoman at the Economy Ministry said on Tuesday, signalling an end to weeks of wrangling that had shaken financial markets."Great satisfaction for the result achieved," Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said in a brief statement, without mentioning the Commission or giving any details of the accord.A source in Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's office urged caution, saying Rome had only received verbal assurances from Brussels. He added that a deal was ...LONDON (Reuters) - Two government-requested reports published on Tuesday recommend radical measures to inject more competition and tougher scrutiny of Britain's "Big Four"-dominated audit market.The aim is to increase choice in a sector where Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG check the books of most big listed companies.The first report from John Kingman, chair of UK insurer Legal & General, looks at how to toughen up supervision of auditing. The second from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), looks at changes to the audit market itself.Both seek to meet lawmaker calls for a shake-up after ...(Reuters) - Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX Corp is set to raise $500 million at a $30.5 billion valuation, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the fundraising.The company is raising the capital from existing shareholders and new investor Baillie Gifford & Co, the third-largest shareholder in Musk-led electric carmaker Tesla Inc.SpaceX did not immediately responded to Reuters request for comment.SpaceX investors are paying $186 per share for new stock in the latest funding round, WSJ reported, adding that it is up about 10 percent from the $169-per-share ...When Choi Ba-da pitched his car-sharing firm Luxi to Hyundai Motor officials in 2017, he told them there would be no future for South Korea's top automaker if it failed to embrace emerging technologies. His pitch worked: Hyundai agreed to buy a 12 per cent stake in Luxi for $5 million, its first investment in a car-sharing firm as it joined rivals in the race for new-age transportation. But about six months later, Hyundai sold its stake after thousands of angry taxi drivers, worried about their jobs, threatened to boycott Hyundai cars, Choi told Reuters. Hyundai officials say ...By Devika Krishna KumarNEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than 2 percent on Monday, with U.S. crude tumbling below $50 a barrel, on signs of oversupply in the United States and as investor concern over global economic growth and fuel demand grows.Brent crude oil fell 67 cents, or 1.11 percent, to settle at $59.61 a barrel after dropping to a session low of $58.83 a barrel. U.S. crude dropped $1.32, or 2.58 percent, to end the session at $49.88 a barrel and tumbled to a low of $49.09 a barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude futures settled below $50 for the first time since October 2017. U.S. ...By Foo Yun CheeBRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. search and advertising company Yelp has lost its bid to intervene in Google's challenge against a 2.4 billion euro ($2.7 billion) EU antitrust fine after an EU court said it had no direct interest in the case.The Luxembourg-based General Court also rejected an application by U.S.-based lobbying group Consumer Watchdog for the same reason, according to its Dec. 7 ruling.The European Commission penalised Google, the world's most popular internet search engine, last year for favouring its own comparison shopping service in internet searches.The case had ...The calendar year, just concluding, has arguably been a tough year for most of the Indian pharmaceutical companies. Most of them, especially the leading players, saw a decline in the US business--be it on account of regulatory challenges, part of it linked to plant-specific issues or due to price erosion in the base portfolio.

Leading Indian pharma company Dr Reddy's has still not been able to overcome the regulatory challenges. Its important Duvvada facility in Andhra has been under warning letter from the US drug regulator since 2015.

The biggest Indian pharma company, Sun Pharma, while could get its important Halol plant cleared by the USFDA (US Food and Drug Administration), they were recently hit by allegations of slippages in corporate governance. On December 3rd, Sun Pharma founder Dilip Shanghvi tried his best on a conference call to pacify the investors that some of the issues were old, some actual but from a different regulatory era, when the company was itself very small. Nonetheless, its stock took a hit on the bourses.

Overall, the exact quantum of the hit that Indian players had to deal with in the US market, varies from company to company but analysts point to many companies reporting 20 to 30 per cent decline in their US business and a price erosion to the tune of 15 to 20 per cent.

In this trend and in the overall scene there are perhaps hopes for a better 2019. Those within the industry apart from some of the leading analysts, feel that things will start improving in 2019. This is linked to an expectation that many of the issues faced by Indian companies in their major export market US, will stabilise.

Also read: Indian pharma's window of opportunity

The same also holds true for the Indian market, since in year 2018 many companies were finally able to put behind the setbacks they had encountered on account of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation.

Hurt by de-growth at one point post-GST and later a single digit growth, the domestic market growth is expected to stabilise at between 10 to 12 per cent. However, Indian pharma is also coping with cost increases in active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from China, which is tightening its regulatory norms.

The year also saw some significant acquisitions. For instance, IHH won the bidding war for Fortis Healthcare and Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma acquired the dermatology and oral solids businesses from Sandoz Inc., USA.During an election campaign in 2014, at a rally in Gorakhpur, the then prime ministerial candidate for BJP, Narendra Modi, had made access of 24x7 electricity an electoral issue. As the sitting chief minister of Gujarat, he had a good track record in the western state.

So, when he promised that every household in India would get access to electricity, it resonate dwell in Uttar Pradesh. Five years down, Modi is the prime minister of the country and Yogi Adityanath - who was an MP from Gorakhpur-is the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. But by the end of this year, when most of the households in India will have access to electricity, Uttar Pradesh will continue to lag.

Uttar Pradesh sends 80 MPs to Lok Sabha, so a good showing in the 2019 general elections is critical for both Modi and BJP. In 2014, Uttar Pradesh sent 73 MPs to back Modi (71 BJP + 2 allies from Apna Dal). So it is understandable that Modi would want the 'success' in improving access of electricity as one of his poll planks.

With the Ujwal Distribution Assurance Yojana, UDAY, the government also attempted to clean up the fiscal mess plaguing distribution companies. But Uttar Pradesh lags here as well. According to the Central Electricity Authority, CEA, the state could not match the peak demand of 20,274 MW of electricity in fiscal 2017/18.

The state distribution companies could only supply 18,061 MW - a deficit of 10.9 per cent - when the national average is less than 2 per cent. This is when most of the country's thermal power plants are running at 50-60 per cent capacity. In FY 2016/17, the state's demand supply gap was 9.8 per cent, when demand was 17,183 MW. With more households getting connected, the demand is bound to increase, but so will the gap.

This is largely because the state is unable to improve efficiency. The aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses are 33.08 per cent, which was more than the 30.1 per cent two fiscals ago. The national average is 21.9 per cent. Following their commitments under UDAY reforms, the losses should have come down to 19.36 per cent. It would be nearly impossible to achieve zero loss by next fiscal.

In states with difficult terrain, delay in implementation can be understood, but UP cannot claim this handicap. This state suffers from highly inefficient distribution. The challenge is: a) to give electricity to un-electrified homes, b) to build enabling infrastructure, c) to charge consumers as per their consumption, and d) to formalise illegal connections. To achieve these, the state's distribution companies have to be overhauled. Transmission infrastructure has to be ramped up, agriculture feeders have to be segregated from other supplies, and smart meters have to be installed for better realisation of consumption.

Uttar Pradesh engaged with some PSUs - it has a joint venture with PowerGrid for infrastructure; with Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) to procure smart meters; and with NTPC to buy extra electricity. But overall, the state's pickup continues to be weak.

The power ministry's statistics show that by December 17, 2018, all households in 17 states were electrified and six more may join the club in the next fortnight. But Uttar Pradesh still has to electrify about 5.4 million houses, which also forms nearly 70 per cent of the pending work nationally.

The state not only requires a massive ramp up of the transmission facilities, but also of the distribution companies. In 2013, rating agencies such as ICRA and CARE rated five distribution companies in the state as worst in the country.

The challenges for the state have always been huge. Cumulative losses of Rs53,200 crore were bleeding the five distribution companies by Rs8,000 crore annually.

Two years ago about 11.2 million homes were without electricity. So, the pending 5.4 million homes now may be an achievement, but it will be difficult for the Prime Minister and his colleagues to explain this to the electorate.

In September 2017, under Saubhagya, or Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, Rs 16,320 crore was allocated for taking electricity to all houses, after connecting pending 597,464 census villages. In April 2018, the power ministry announced that all villages were connected. But Uttar Pradesh and Assam are the two states that are falling way behind and are likely to miss the December 31 deadline.

Officials in Uttar Pradesh's electricity department told Business Today that there is an improvement in data collection and other parameters. "This might not show a rosy picture of the state, but for sure it is showing the correct one."

By March next year, when PM Modi will hit the campaign mode, the logic of improvement in data collection may not work but the attempts at ground will.Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said that Urjit Patel is not the first governor to have resigned, others have resigned in the past as well.

Speaking at Agenda Aaj Tak 2018, Arun Jaitley recalled what Jawaharlal Nehru once told Sir Benegal Rama Rau, the longest serving governor of India's central bank.

The former prime minister told Rau that economic policy was to be framed by the government, and monetary policy was to be framed by the Reserve Bank, Jaitley said. Nehru also said other policies, such as credit policy, had to be in support of the government's economic policy.

Sir Benegal Rama Rau was the first RBI governor to resign because of his differences with then government led by the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who wrote strongly-worded letter about the nature of RBI's function.

Urjit Patel had resigned on December 10, citing "personal reasons". After Patel's resignation, the Narendra Modi-government appointed former bureaucrat Shaktikanta Das as the Governor of RBI.

During the discussion, FM said that the government never sought the resignation of Urjit Patel as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

Jaitley also said the Central government respects autonomy and independence of the RBI and there was no truth that government was pressuring the central bank.

Also Read: Agenda Aaj Tak: No threat to RBI's autonomy, says Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

"There is no threat to RBI's autonomy," said Jaitley.

Jaitley's comments assume significance as they come at a time when tension between the RBI and the government has become public after Urjit Patel resigned as Governor of Reserve Bank of India amid tussle over autonomy and independence of the central bank.

Also Read: Agenda Aaj Tak: Govt wants to put RBI's reserves to better use, says Arun Jaitley

The Finance Minister has directly blamed the Congress party for mishandling the country's finances which led to rise in bad loans. Jaitley accused the Congress for ruined India's banking system.

"The Non-Performing Assets (NPA) of the banks amounted to Rs 8.5 lakh crore under the UPA government, but the Reserve Bank had then said on paper that the NPA was of only Rs 2.5 lakh crore," Arun Jaitley said.

"The banking crisis that existed has fizzled out now. Our government has been making efforts to de-stress the banks," he added.

Edited by Chitranjan KumarThe world's largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, and richest Indian Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries are discussing joint investment in petrochemicals and refinery projects, the Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih said. Al-Falih, who has known Ambani for over a decade now, travelled to Udaipur earlier this month to attend the pre-wedding festivities of Ambani's daughter Isha's marriage with Ajay Piramal's son Anand.

During that visit, he also held talks with Ambani but choose to tweet about those discussions only this week. In an Arabic tweet, which was translated using online tools, Al-Falih said he was delighted to meet Ambani. At the meeting "we discussed opportunities for joint investments and cooperation in petrochemical, refining and communications projects." He also tweeted a picture of the meeting where Ambani is dressed in a business suit, a sharp contrast to other pictures of his in traditional attire during the pre-wedding festivities held on December 8 and 9.

No details of the meeting were available from Reliance. Reliance operates two refineries at Jamnagar with a total capacity of 68.2 million tonnes per annum. Reliance plans to expand its only-for-exports SEZ refining capacity to just over 41 million tonnes from current 35.2 million tonnes but does not have any plans to set up a new refinery in the country.

It is presently focused on expanding petrochemical and telecom business, industry sources said. Crude oil is the basic raw material for the manufacturing of petrochemicals. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is keen to get a foothold in the world's fastest-growing fuel market so as to get a captive customer for crude oil it produces. Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil company, and its partner Abu Dabhi National Oil Co (ADNOC) have picked up 50 per cent stake in a planned USD 44-billion refinery in Maharashtra but the project is facing problems in acquiring land due to protests from local politicians.

Aramco and ADNOC will together hold 50 per cent stake in the 60 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) refinery and adjacent 18 MTPA petrochemical complex planned to be built at Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra by 2025.

The two will supply half of the crude oil required for processing at the refinery. Like other major producers, the two are looking to lock in customers in the world's third-largest oil consumer through the investment. Kuwait too is looking to invest in projects in return for getting an assured offtake of their crude oil.

Saudi Aramco is also keen on retailing fuel in India. A refinery in India can also be a base for it to export fuel to deficit countries in Europe and the Americas. India has a refining capacity of 247.6 million tonnes, which exceeded the demand of 206.2 million tonnes. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), this demand is expected to reach 458 million tonnes by 2040.A fire that broke out at the ESIC Kamgar Hospital at Marol in suburban Andheri in Mumbai claimed 8 lives, injuring 145 patients and visitors. The deceased also includes a six-month old girl. Four of the eight deceased are yet to be identified. Firefighting operations went on for three hours at the hospital.

The Disaster Management Cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that 147 people were rescued from the hospital, after which they were moved to different hospitals. The official also said that 19 of them were taken to civic-run Cooper Hospital, where two were declared brought dead.

Another 33 were moved to Seven Hills Hospital in Andheri where three were declared dead. One of the forty injured taken to Holy Spirit Hospital, Andheri (East) was declared brought dead.

Some of the injured were discharged, while some were undergoing treatment and some were in the ICU.

A fire brigade official said that the fire was reported at 4:03 pm and it was extinguished at 7:35 pm. The fire broke out on the fourth floor of the ground plus five-floor structure. While the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, a short circuit in a window AC unit is likely to be a possible cause. According to a report in The Times of India, an Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) fire officer said that the hospital did not have an OC or fire NOC (no objection certificate) and had a lack of safety provisions. He also said that they had served a notice to the hospital only fifteen days ago.

According to the report, there was only one exit and the other was blocked due to some construction work. Moreover, the glass facade and limited ventilation posed challenges to the fire fighting team. Fire brigade personnel had to break the glasses of the building's facade to evacuate stranded patients, they said.

Recalling the horror, a patient, Santosh Kadam, told PTI, "I was on the fourth floor and was going to the ground floor to get my MRI done. Suddenly, nurses and other staffers started shouting and told us to vacate the building since a fire had broken out. I along with my other relatives came down safely."

Another patient Girish Patel said, "I saw smoke emanating from the third and fourth floors. There was thick layer of smoke. People panicked and started running helter-skelter before hospital staff came and advised us to vacate the floor quietly."

Milind Ogle, the deputy chief fire officer of the MIDC area, told PTI, "Our team had found some lacunae in an under-construction building coming up adjacent to the hospital and suggested their rectification."

"The hospital administration was in the process of complying with our suggestions. Meanwhile, this incident took place in the old hospital building," Ogle said.

The 325-bed hospital was constructed in 1970s, the officials said, adding police and hospital authorities have vacated the building till further notice. Additional Commissioner of Police Manoj Sharma said an inquiry will be launched in association with the fire brigade department to ascertain the cause of the fire.

(Edited by Anwesha Madhukalya; with PTI inputs)Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said the Central government respects autonomy and independence of the RBI and there is no truth that government is pressuring the central bank.

Today, while speaking at Agenda Aaj Tak event in New Delhi, Jaitley said, "There is no threat to RBI's autonomy."

Jaitley's comments assume significance as they come at a time when tension between the RBI and the government has become public after Urjit Patel resigned as Governor of Reserve Bank of India amid tussle over autonomy and independence of the central bank.

Also Read: RBI's differences with the govt that forced Urjit Patel to resign

Speaking at the event, the Finance Minister directly blamed the Congress party for mishandling the country's finances which led to rise in bad loans. Jaitley accused the Congress for ruining India's banking system.

"The Non-Performing Assets (NPA) of the banks amounted to Rs 8.5 lakh crore under the UPA government, but the Reserve Bank had then said on paper that the NPA was of only Rs 2.5 lakh crore," Arun Jaitley said.

"The banking crisis that existed has fizzled out now. Our government has been making efforts to de-stress the banks," he added.

The senior BJP leader said that the Indian economy cannot be seen in isolation. It is an integral part of world economy and the challenges it faces are faced by the entire world too. Global oil prices have an impact on the Indian economy, he said.

Jaitley added that the Indian economy is growing at a fast pace and large scale reforms have taken place under Narendra Modi-led Modi government.

Also Read: If there were no jobs, why is there no social unrest, says Arun Jaitley

Post demonetisation, the tax -- both direct and indirect -- collection increased exponentially, the Minister said.

The tax-filing procedure was made easy by our government, he added.India's former prime minister, the scholarly Dr Manmohan Singh who is an alumnus of both Cambridge and Oxford Universities, on Tuesday revealed he had to repeat his matriculate (Class 10) examination in 1948. Singh said this during the launch of 'Changing India' -- a five volumes collection of his speeches and writings since 1956 -- in New Delhi.

As fate would have it, Dr Singh studied Class 6-10 in Peshawar, (now in Pakistan), where his father was posted, Singh explained during the launch of the book. By the time he passed his matriculate examination in 1947, India had already been partitioned. Singh had to return to India. But Peshawar never announced the results of matriculate exam of 1947. So Singh had to repeat his matriculate in India in 1948.

Singh's 'Changing India' describes his life's entire journey as a student, economist, policymaker, and a politician and PM during the UPA government.

Through the book, Singh has given a detailed analysis of economic, social and political issues, including his views of the country's progress as the fastest growing country.

The first volume of the Singh's Changing India is titled 'India's Export Trends and the Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth', while the second volume details his 'Thoughts on Trade and Development'.

The other two volumes of the book include The International Economic Order and the Quest for Equity in Development; and Economic Reforms: 1991 and Beyond, which highlights his views on India's economic liberalisation.

This was the time when Singh, as the country's finance minister, had played a key role in opening up the country for foreign investment. His fifth book, The Prime Minister Speaks, focuses on his tenure as the prime minister of the country.

Manmohan Singh did his bachelor and master's degree in economics from Panjab University, then in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, in 1952 and 1954, respectively. Singh was a scholar student, and stood first throughout his academic career. He completed his Economics Tripos at University of Cambridge as he was a member of St John's College in 1957. Later in 1960, he went to the University of Oxford for the D.Phil, where he was a member of Nuffield College.

Edited by Manoj SharmaProfessor Peter Scharf is not the kind of teacher you will meet often in a technical school. An international faculty at the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Hyderabad, he is an American professor who is a Sanskrit scholar, a Paninian grammar expert and visiting professor at the Language Technologies Research Centre (LTRC).

He has created a digital Sanskrit library, which makes it easy for researchers to have access to original Sanskrit manuscripts, texts and lexical resources online. Founded in 2002, the first project here was to take digital texts and digital dictionaries and integrate them with linguistic software. Over the past few months, the professor has started building a digital corpus, where someone could save their analysis, and those results would be available later for more linguistic research.

Speaking to Business Today, he says his efforts at making Sanskrit texts machine readable are all aimed at ensuring that the knowledge in these ancient texts is digitally accessible to people and therefore much more broadly accessed. A key benefit of this, he feels, is that some of this could help in improving knowledge across a range of areas - be it Arthashastra, Ayurveda or astronomy.

However, he wants to make one clarification, "Many people who look back at the ancient Sanskrit texts, want to find modern scientific principles in these Sanskrit texts. They aim to find contemporary, modern scientific discoveries in ancient texts. This would be a completely mistaken approach."

"By this, they undermine the authority of the ancient texts, as these texts say what they say regardless of modern science. "So, the emphasis should be understanding these ancient Sanskrit texts on their own terms without reference to modern science and apply what is learnt from these texts to perhaps take science in a new direction and to enrich modern science," he adds.

Scharf has taught at Brown University for 19 years and calls himself a 'wandering ascetic', who follows Ayurvedic principles in daily life. Currently, he is working on Paninian derivation. For example, for a verb like bhavati, he shows each step in the derivation of the verb in one line. The derivation begins with the semantic conditions-the meaning that a speaker would have in mind which prompts him to choose that particular verb. Subsequently, you get introduced to the verbal root, the affixes, and the categorisations and so on, step by step according to Paninian rules. Panini was an ancient Sanskrit philologist and grammarian.

His plan now is to make a Paninian dictionary. This means not a dictionary only of the words that Panini used in his linguistic treatise, but of all the words that Panini's linguistic system can produce. He wants to use this dictionary as an interface to link the forty-five dictionaries that are currently on the Sanskrit Library's integrated dictionary webpage. He hopes that some IIIT students would get inspired to do some work on this project because there is a lot of scope here.The unbridled corruption in defence procurement has always had an impact on Indian elections. The fractured hearing of the Rafale case, held in multiple phases by the Supreme Court and a delayed judgement, boosted the Congress's success in Assembly Elections. The 29-page judgment, delivered after the election results is crisp, however, the filing of a clarification application by the centre has raised more questions about the judgment. As is evident, the apex court while not finding a prima facie case has also not given a clean chit.

The judgment discussed all the issues under three heads -- decision-making process, pricing and offsets. However, it began with noting the limited scope the Supreme Court has while examining defence contracts. It is only due to this limited scope, imposed upon itself by the Supreme Court that a bunch of petitions on Rafale deal were dismissed. Many are claiming that the Court should have exercised a broader jurisdiction and directed for an SIT investigation as it did in the 2G and Coal Block allocation cases. It is being said that at the initial stage, only a prima facie case has to be shown, and the details can be uncovered in the detailed enquiry. Importantly, the apex court has said that its hands are tied under Article 32, which deals only with respect to a violation of fundamental rights. If the matter comes again to the courts through a route prescribed in the Code of Criminal Procedure, a different view is quite possible.

Another aspect of the judgment, which may now require enquiry in its own self, is the CAG report. Paragraph 25 of the judgment reads, "The pricing details have, however, been shared with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), and the report of the CAG has been examined by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Only a redacted portion of the report was placed before the Parliament, and is in public domain." The problem is that no such report is available in the public domain and the same was refuted by PAC Chairman Mallikarjun Kharge. There is a difference of opinion among PAC members about calling forth the Attorney General and the CAG to elucidate on this matter. In light of this, the question remains whether the Supreme Court was misled on key facts of the case?

Also read: Dassault welcomes Supreme Court's ruling on Rafale deal

Regarding the decision-making process, the apex court has held that the deal came under scrutiny, only after an interview of the former French President, Francois Hollande. Qua pricing, court has relied on the government, and has said that it is not its job to do a comparative pricing. With respect to Indian Offset Partner, the apex court held that it is a commercial decision, in which the Indian Government has no role. Interestingly, it has been a happy week for Anil Ambani as his company's deal with Jio is also expected to get an all clear from the Department of Telecom.

The government is ready for a debate in the Parliament, but can there be a meaningful debate bereft of all facts? There exist precedents of establishing a Joint Parliamentary Committees on defence matters such as Bofors and Augusta Westland. Other notable matters looked into by JPCs include Harshad Mehta, Ketan Parekh, pesticides in soft drinks and 2G. Ordering a JPC is outside the domain of the Supreme Court. A JPC can get evidence of oral and written evidence suo motu or on a specific request.

A public interest litigation has three stakeholders -- the judges, the petitioner(s) and the cause of public interest. PIL as a jurisprudence is heavily dependent on the judges hearing it. The press conference of the four judges included roster for PIL as one of the grievances. The ministers in the government have called out encroachment of Parliament's domain by the Supreme Court, wherein it tries to govern the country through PILs. Often is the case that select persons raise a number of causes before the apex court, for which often they are fined with costs. In such a situation, the petitioner is unable to assist the court fully as multiple causes lie in front of him. It would be immature to say that Rafale is out from the Indian politics. The government's application will be heard only after the Christmas vacation and the apex court may review or reverse the finding in the process of clarification. Rafale promises a fiery start to 2019. Like Bofors, it may fire the guns for India, but its blows are yet to be seen.

The author is a Supreme Court lawyer and a Constitutional Law ExpertIf you have been looking for some cool bargains on Samsung and Nokia devices, then Flipkart has a host of offers lined up for you. The discounts are available on almost all the devices of Nokia and Samsung till December 19 including the top-end flagship devices like Samsung's Note 9, Galaxy s9 Plus and Nokia 8 Sirocco.

Also Read: Huawei announces Nova 4 with 48 MP rear camera, 'punch hole' display

Customers can can avail discounts of up to Rs 5,700 on Samsung's Note 9. The original price of the phablet is Rs 73,600 but can now be bought on Flipkart for Rs 67,900. Samsung's Galaxy S9 Plus (Polaris Blue) can be had for Rs 52,900 (original price Rs 64,900). Also, the 8GB RAM model of Samsung Galaxy A9 can be picked up at Rs 42,000 instead of Rs 39,990. There is an extra discount of Rs 4,000 on Galaxy A9 (2018) via Flipkart's exchange program. Samsung Galaxy On6 is available at a discount of Rs 5,500 for Rs 9,990.

Also Read: Aadhaar to be voluntary for mobile connections, bank account s

Also Read: Telecom export body seeks ban on Chinese equipment from Huawei, ZTE

Other Flipkart deals on Samsung phones include a discount of Rs 5,000 on Samsung Galaxy On Max, a discount of Rs 3,500 on Samsung Galaxy On5, and Samsung Galaxy On Nxt being available at a price of Rs 9,990 instead of Rs 17,900.

Also Read: Quikr acquires Chennai-based India Property Online to strengthen its real estate business

Nokia devices are also getting popular in India once again. The 4GB RAM version of Nokia 6.1 Plus can be had on Flipkart for Rs 14,999 instead of Rs 17,600. Nokia 5.1 Plus is now available for Rs 9,999 - down from Rs 13,199. Nokia's flagship device, Nokia 8 Sirocco, can now be bought for Rs 36,999. The original price of the device is Rs 54,999.

Edited By: Udit VermaHours after taking charge on Monday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath cleared a proposal for waiving farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh, fulfilling a promise made by the Congress ahead of the Assembly polls that are widely believed to have tilted the scales its favour.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi had promised a farm loan waiver within 10 days of his party coming to power in the state, where it ended the 15-year-long BJP rule.

Addressing reporters at the state secretariat after taking charge as new chief minister, Nath said, "After taking oath, I have cleared the first file related to writing off loans up to Rs two lakh."

After Nath signed the relevant file, Rajesh Rajora, Principal Secretary, Farmers' Welfare and Agriculture Development Department, issued an order in this regard.

"The Madhya Pradesh government has taken a decision to write off short-term crop loan of eligible farmers up to the limit of Rs two lakh, as on March 31, 2018, from nationalised and cooperative banks," the order stated.

Rajora said an estimated 34 lakh farmers will benefit from the loan waiver whose size he pegged between Rs 35,000 crore to Rs 38,000 crore.

Income taxpayers and government employees are not eligible for loan waiver, the senior bureaucrat said.

Justifying his decision to waive farm loans, Nath asked that when nationalised banks can write off 40 to 50 per cent loans of big industrialists, why can't cultivators get the same relief.

Addressing a public rally on June 7 at Pipliya Mandi in Mandsaur district, Gandhi had announced his party would waive farm loans after coming to power in the state.

"Here Kamal Nath (MP Congress president) and Jyotiraditya Scindia (the state Congress poll campaign committee chairman) are sitting. The day the Congress comes to power in MP, count 10 days, I say with guarantee that farmer loans will be waived within 10 days. It won't take even the eleventh day," Gandhi had said at the rally.

Later, this announcement was included in the Congress manifesto, titled 'Vachan Patra'.

The Congress president had reiterated the farm loan waiver promise repeatedly while campaigning for the November 28 assembly elections.

Soon after Nath signed the file, Gandhi tweeted, "CM, Madhya Pradesh, waives farm loans. 1 done. 2 to go."

It is widely believed the farm loan waiver promise helped the Congress win the state where it was out of power for 15 years.

Six farmers were killed in police firing at Pipliya Mandi during an agitation in June last year.

The Congress won 114 assembly seats and secured the support of seven more MLAs, SP one and BSP one and four independents, to cross the majority mark of 116 in the 230- member Assembly.

Nath was sworn in as the 18th chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Monday afternoon.

Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office to the 72-year-old Congress veteran who was at the forefront in steering the party to a victory in the assembly polls.

Also Read: Aadhaar to be voluntary for mobile connections, bank accounts

Also Read: Ujjwala Yojana: Govt now extends LPG scheme to all poor householdsA recent poll by PwC Ireland taken at its Annual Business Forum on 21 November highlighted that business leaders are fully aware of the consequences of a deal not being agreed on time. The poll revealed that the biggest concern as a result of the draft Withdrawal Agreement not being agreed by 29 March 2019 is supply chain disruption including the cost of new sources of supply (24%).

Other concerns include reduced economic growth and loss of jobs (23%), the possibility of a hard border in Northern Ireland (17%), chaos and delays at borders (13%) and a higher cost of doing business due to tariffs/administration etc (13%).



Furthermore, increased FDI in sectors such as technology, digital, financial services and life science, based on Ireland being a gateway to the EU and having access to EU and UK key talent, was seen as the greatest opportunity for Ireland in a post-Brexit world (70%). This was followed by future growth opportunities for the financial services industry (58%) and Ireland playing a more prominent role within the EU (51%).

One in four (23%) see opportunities for greater diversification of markets and suppliers. Post-Brexit, Ireland will be the only location to have unrestricted access to both EU and UK talent. Another recent PwC survey of European asset managers ranked Dublin and Luxembourg as the top two locations for financial services activity. The Central Bank has also indicated that they have received over 100 Brexit related applications for increased business in Ireland.



Commenting on the research, Managing Partner at PwC Ireland, Feargal ORourke said, "PwC in Ireland continues to believe Mrs Mays current draft Brexit deal would be positive for Irish businesses. It would keep trade between Ireland and the UK close to the status quo and, most importantly, would allow businesses to plan future investment with certainty."

He added, "However, with continuing political uncertainty in the UK, we cannot assume Parliament will support a deal. We advise clients to step-up their plans for a no-deal Brexit and the worst case scenario while hoping for a better outcome."

Source: www.businessworld.ieArtomatix, an award-winning Dublin-based AI software firm, is celebrating this week after being awarded over 3.2 million euro in innovation funding, from two separate sources, with two million awarded from DTIF (Disruptive Tech Innovation Fund) and a further million through the European Commission's FTI (Fast Track to Innovation) Fund.

The money gives Artomatix the ability to hire into key roles across the company including engineering, research, product management, and sales, with recruitment already underway.



The Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund is a 500 million fund established under Project Ireland 2040 and is run by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation with administrative support from Enterprise Ireland. Artomatix led an application, in partnership with WarDucks, Black Shamrock, and Keywords. The fund enables Artomatix to accelerate the development of ArtEngine 2.0, the new evolution of its AI-driven 3D art software. The win was announced as a key part of the government's Future Jobs Ireland initiative.

The Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) is part of the EU Horizon 2020 programme and provides funding for close-to-market innovation activities in any area of technology. The funding aims to reduce the time from idea to market and stimulate private sector investment in research and innovation. This win will see Artomatix bring ENHANCEplayer to market; a solution that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance streaming video quality locally on a device to reduce internet traffic. This is also a consortium win with THEO Technologies, a Belgian video player provider.



Speaking this week, Artomatix CEO, Joe Blake said, "There is a huge demand in the market right now for technologies that can help automate the creation of 3D and other content. As the company that is leading the development of these solutions by using AI, we are thrilled and hugely grateful to the EU and the Irish government for their vote of confidence in Artomatix and our team. This money enables us to move faster as a company and hire people to help us do that. We are very excited about our market potential looking forward into 2019 and 2020."

Source: www.businessworld.ieBritain will begin to put into place plans for an exit from the European Union without any deal in place, with the public and businesses told to prepare now for the eventuality, Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said on Tuesday.

A meeting of May's senior ministerial team agreed that the time had come to ramp up plans for a no-deal Brexit, the spokesman said, although he added that leaving the bloc in March next year with an agreement remained the most likely scenario.

"Cabinet agreed that, with just over three months until our exit from the European Union, we have now reached the point where we need to ramp up these preparations. This means we will now set in motion the remaining elements of our no-deal plans," he said. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.iecomment

The Barr government now wants to make it legal for anyone to grow four marijuana plants on their property. If it's a group house and it's occupied by five people they are all legally allowed to grow four plants each and, as most know, marijuana plants grow very tall. Now I live in a high-rise complex. You know the type, the ones we pay exorbitant rates and taxes for to pay for the Barr government's follies. I can just visualise it now  from my balcony, looking across into other units and their balconies, seeing marijuana plants galore. Let's put that in perspective. Many other unit holders will be in the same position. Some of those I suspect may be already taking illicit drugs and now they can see what their neighbours are growing, they'll be easily able to identify which units are growing the marijuana and what this may lead to is breaking into the units with the intent to steal the marijuana plants. When the plants are matured and cultivated the unit occupants will possibly store them in the cages that are provided with every unit. More possible break-ins and property theft. Then spare a thought for the poor body corporate members who will most likely be inundated with complaints and try and attempt to manage them. What about the impost on ACT Policing and their time in attending to break-ins and property theft? Is the Barr/Greens government going to increase ACT police resources? I think not. After all, any surplus funds will be directed to stage 2 of the light rail. I sincerely hope the ACT will be headed to the High Court challenging if cannabis is legal next year. I can only hope that common sense prevails, although with the track history of this current Labour/Greens alliance, I sincerely doubt it. J. R. Ryan, Phillip For the past three months Andrew Broad MP worked directly to the Deputy Prime Minister as his assistant minister for that high office. Michael McCormack should at least share with us the formal reports that Broad is required to submit about his taxpayer-funded work trips, as well as itemised expenditure incurred. These could provide some reassurance the Nationals are not again attempting to sweep under the carpet another potential MP fiasco, this time with much-delayed news, just before Xmas, about AFP referrals and the like ("Andrew Broad used taxpayer funds for part of his bombshell Hong Kong 'sugar baby' trip", canberratimes.com.au, December 17). Already this year we have witnessed much covering up, obfuscation and too many delaying tactics by the Nationals, at the federal level over their previous federal leader's lengthy sexual relationship with a staffer and by the NSW party when it investigated a formal complaint of sexual harassment concerning that same politician. The National Party needs to grow up and be prepared to explain or own up quickly to any unacceptable behaviour or misdemeanour  or worse  that comes to light and so avoid more of the destructive mayhem that we endured for far too long earlier this year. Sue Dyer, Downer The Deputy PM tells us a Nats staffer "accidentally" sent a vile text to a woman journalist (the subject of the message). We are told it was meant for a friend and was sent on the staffer's private phone. So what! Do we want people like this working in the offices of the nation's leaders? What allegedly responsible person would send such a message even to a friend? We are told the person is on "indefinite leave" (whatever that means) and is receiving counselling (whatever that also means). Could it be that the real problem is there are too many such staffers on the government's payroll and it is these nasties who are influencing their bosses' appalling behaviour in Parliament. It couldn't possibly be that, could it? Eric Hunter, Cook The reported possibility of Australia using its overshoot of the patently inadequate Kyoto emissions target to reduce its commitment to the Paris accord ("Carbon credit loophole concerns", December 11, p1 & p4) amounts to cheating on the human race and the planet. Bill Hare of Climate Analytics is quite right when he says that the Morrison government's possible move to use carbon emissions reduction credits arising from the Kyoto Protocol to reduce its Paris commitment is "fake action"' and "would be rorting the planet". Mr Hare is also right when he says that if the use of this loophole, which could also be used by many other countries, were allowed, it could lead to "a fatal undermining" of the Paris Agreement. It is to be hoped that Labor, which has not ruled out use of this loophole, takes heed of the expert advice that it receives from "relevant agencies and experts" and does not do what amounts to fiddling the figures. This is especially important given that, on present indications, Labor is very likely to form the next federal government. One would sincerely hope that whoever is in government after next May does not succumb to the temptation of fiddling the figures while the Earth burns. Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin What a pleasure to see such a spirited Australian team playing so hard and competitively vs India and not stooping to low-grade, questionable tactics as per Kohli in particular. Tim Paine as captain has been exceptional, strong, mature, balanced and fair. He rightly brings honour again to what once was almost the most important role in Australian society. No need for Smith (the boy child) or Warner (words fail me) to return. We don't want you. Your return would shatter team harmony, be lukewarmly received and would do nothing to enhance the improvements slowly coming to our test team. John Mungoven, Stirling So Scott Morrison's proposed Commonwealth Integrity Commission will only consider matters "referred by agency heads and existing integrity agencies". Is this a joke? Surely these parties already have the resources, and the obligation, to investigate any matters of which they are aware and refer them to the federal police. Mr Morrison disparages the NSW ICAC, perhaps because the "I" stands for "Independent". This means that the ICAC decides which matters it investigates. So should any Commonwealth Integrity Commission. H. Simon, Watson Exactly what kind of future Canberra is the Barr government planning for and which demographics will be most adversely affected by its current policies ("Tenders wanted for design of micro parks" and "Is Canberra becoming LA" (canberratimes.com.au, December 18)? Traditional families are clearly not a priority for this government, which continues to favour future developments like Geocon's high-rise apartment blocks. Such developments are not suitable for families with young children and teenagers/young adults, who require adequate open and green spaces to explore, roam free, play, enjoy nature and develop environmental and conservation awareness. Prominent examples of failures in planning high-rise developments are evident from the now discredited public housing towers in central Sydney, Melbourne and London. These developments are synonymous with major social dysfunction for the families who live in them. More successful family-oriented developments in Sydney, such as Pyrmont Park, Green Square, Alexandria and Moore Park, incorporate large open and green spaces that cater for the essential real requirements of families. Many of these green spaces have been specifically incorporated by developers in their initial development applications or are required under town planning regulations. The Barr government's attempts (after the development approval process ) to provide a veneer of planning responsibility through the provision of six new public and micro-parks (i.e. pop-ups) would be laughable if it was not so serious for the welfare of those future families who may choose to live in such developments. Ron Edgecombe, Evatt I have been critical of the ACT Planning and Land Authority (ACTPLA) for ignoring the advice of the National Capital Design Review Panel (Interim) in approving the proposed hotel development in Manuka ("Design Review Panel urged ACTPLA to reject proposed Manuka hotel", December 17, page 2). On the same day as that article I received a copy of ACTPLA's notice of decision on a proposed hotel development in Garema Place Civic. The contrast in handling the two proposals could not be more stark. In the Garema Place one, ACTPLA appears to have carefully considered the advice of the National Capital Design Review Panel (Interim) and succeeded in negotiating with the developer a major change in the proposal, to reduce the building height from 16 storeys down to six and seven storeys fronting Garema Place. In that case, the issue was about overshadowing Garema Place and the amended proposal is much more acceptable in that regard. While I'm happy to applaud ACTPLA in the Garema Place matter, it does make rather a nonsense of the comment in the article, attributed to Ben Ponton, the chief planning executive of ACTPLA, that the interim panel was not a formal referring entity to the authority and the authority's ability to respond to its advice was "limited, and indeed, arguably nonexistent". Come on ACTPLA, you've shown you can do the right thing. Why not admit you got the Manuka one wrong and withdraw your advice to the Conservator of Flora and Fauna supporting the developer's proposal to cancel the registration of the protected tree? Richard Johnston, Kingston Of course Anzac Park East must remain essentially as-is for at least the 30 years (more I'd say) that its twin, the recently renovated and reoccupied Anzac Park West, reportedly has left in it ("Development plans for site on Anzac Parade", December 15, p6). Those buildings and others in the National Triangle (the heart of the capital), like West Block (west of the provisional Parliament House), should never have been flogged off by the Department of Finance, and should be returned to public ownership. Jack Kershaw, Kambah I will not be voting for any political party in the next election that does not make its priority the thousands of homeless people, which includes women and children. There was no mention of the homeless in the recent Labor Party gathering but Bill Shorten did say he would increase the intake of refugees to 27,000 and business and community groups would sponsor 5000 refugees. Added to this came the news on Monday that federal government funding to St Vincent de Paul would be cut by 25 per cent between 2020 and 2023. It is hard to believe politicians in Australia can be so heartless. I wish all the homeless in Australia a much better New Year and a home. Penelope Upward, O'Connor Re: "Government review of infill push", December 10, p1). According to your report, "Canberra will need 12 homes a day" to meet the housing demands by 2041. This shouldn't be too difficult to achieve. According to the ACT's Indicative Land Release Program, through to 2022, land for more than 4200 dwellings will be released each year. That's more than 11 dwellings per day. Furthermore, the number of dwellings in the private-sector pipeline needs to be included. According to the most recent ACT Land and Property Report, there were more than 4000 multi-unit sites and dwellings under construction in the December 2017 quarter. And, if the redevelopments near the Red Hill Shops, at the Stuart Flats and Gowrie Court, as well as those along Northbourne Avenue and throughout Canberra are added to the mix, the target of 12 dwellings per day will be easily exceeded for the next several years. We may need only minuscule changes to the current planning strategy or the territory plan. It looks like Canberra will have enough dwellings to house the increasing population. But will we have the medical and recreational facilities, schools, shops and transport facilities to cope? Ask those who live in Wright? David Denham, Griffith MILDER MILESTONES It is nice to see in the Test match between India and Australia that the histrionics previously displayed by Australian players when they reached milestones like a 50 or 100 seem to have gone. No more leaping in the air like a gazelle on drugs, and punching the air like Rocky. We do not miss David Warner's antics, only his runs. Ian Jannaway, Monash ODD AND UNFAIR The inclusion of Qatar in the emptiest flights in Australia listing by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport & Regional Economics is odd and unfair ("Running on Empty", December 15, P22) given the airline cannot carry passengers interstate only. Greg Cornwell, Yarralumla ASKING FOR TROUBLE Andrew Broad's resignation shows what can happen when you have Nats in the ranks. T. Puckett, Ashgrove, Qld POSSUMS BEWARE! It seems that the once well-regarded political party of the farmers and rural, regional people espousing family values is now just a hollow stump that any self-respecting possum would shun. G. Rankin, Holder THREE'S COMPANY It appears that the National Party's definition of marriage is between a man, his wife and his sugar baby. Peter Harris, Belconnen MAN TROUBLE? The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) seems to be calling for gender-specific expressions of interest (Advertisement, December 15, p.17). It's seeking "a man who is able to represent general community attitudes ..." I wonder if this is blatant discrimination or simply a misprint? Thomas Natera, Ngunnawal MORE ELECTIONS PLEASE I suggest we hold annual elections. The budget seems to show a sudden improvement just prior to an election. More elections would keep us in constant surplus. Jeff Bradley, Isaacs CAPITAL FAILURE A recent Express Post envelope addressed to "the Australian Taxation Office, in your capital city" (as required by the ATO), and posted in the yellow box outside the Canberra GPO, was delivered to Sydney. Robert Niven, Aranda MIXED FEELINGS The Liberals are getting rid of woman-baiting Barry O'Sullivan as a senator. On the plus side, it was his vote that forced the government to hold the banking royal commission. While we are glad to see him go we are also glad he was here. Michael McCarthy, Deakin Email: letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au. Send from the message eld, not as an attached le. Fax: 6280 2282. Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Canberra Times, PO Box 7155, Canberra Mail Centre, ACT 2610. Keep your letter to 250 or fewer words. References to Canberra Times reports should include date and page number. Letters may be edited. Provide phone number and full home address (suburb only published).

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/33b8b781-0bb5-4999-bbb0-aabd147681cb/r0_102_2000_1232_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgnews, latest-news

Doctors are calling on people travelling overseas to make sure they are vaccinated after a case of measles was confirmed in the ACT. ACT public health doctor Kerryn Coleman has urged anyone who has visited a number of public places in Melbourne and Canberra to watch for symptoms. She said the person infected by measles attended the following public places while infectious: Monday December 10, 2018 Tuesday, December 11, 2018 Wednesday December 12, 2018 Thursday December 13, 2018 Dr Coleman said people who attended these sites at these times should be aware of symptoms of measles from now until January 4. "These may include fever, tiredness, runny nose, sore eyes and a cough, followed by a rash which appears 2-7 days later, Dr Coleman said. Anyone with symptoms of measles should seek medical advice, advising their health care provider before they arrive so that appropriate infection control precautions can be put in place to stop the spread of the infection. People generally develop symptoms 7-18 days after being exposed to a person with infectious measles, with 10 days being more common. People are infectious from 4 days before they develop a rash until 4 days after. Dr Coleman said there were no other linked cases of measles identified. As part of our investigations, we are following-up identified contacts in line with national guidelines," she said. Dr Coleman said measles was a serious disease and highly contagious among people who are not fully immunised. It is spread from an infectious person during coughing and sneezing or through direct contact with secretions from the nose or mouth. Whenever a case of measles is identified in our community, it is a strong reminder that the best way to protect yourself and your family against measles is vaccination," Dr Coleman said. "Two doses of Measles Mumps Rubella vaccine are required for immunity against measles and are given to children in Australia at 12 and 18 months of age. However, the vaccine can be given at any age after nine months. With many travelling over the holiday period in the next few weeks, we are encouraging people to check their immunisation status and get up to date if needed before travelling."

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/6435976e-5929-402d-964f-b84455d5f6eb/r0_0_384_217_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgcomment, editorial

Next May's Federal election is definitely Labor's to lose if the latest round of Ipsos polling is anything to go by. The results, published on Monday, indicate the government is trailing the opposition 46 per cent to 54 per cent on a two party preferred basis. If an election had been held last week the Coalition would have lost at least 18 seats, delivering government to the ALP in a landslide. Scott Morrison, through a series of own goals, misjudgments and captain's calls, squandered his honeymoon period without repairing any of the damage caused by the Dutton leadership challenge and its aftermath. It is timely to recall that before the Liberals dumped Malcolm Turnbull the Coalition and the ALP were virtually neck and neck. It is extremely unlikely, given the ALP and Shorten's competent performance at the party's national conference in Adelaide over the past three days, Monday's MYEFO will give the government the poll bounce it was hoping for. Morrison, as has been his wont since late August, cut himself off at the knees in the lead up to Josh Frydenberg's moment in the sun as the treasurer able to deliver the best report card any Australian government has been able to give itself in over a decade. His latest bungled Israeli embassy announcement, an attempt to repair the damage caused by a last minute Wentworth by-election thought bubble, fell flat. In the one breath the government managed to alienate the Israelis, the Palestinians, the Indonesians and even sections of the Australian Jewish community. Even the Coalition's attempt to derail the ALP's federal conference by scheduling the Super Saturday by-elections on the weekend it had originally been scheduled, and which ended up costing Turnbull the leadership, blew up in its face. A highly disciplined Opposition which, to its credit, has kept the same leader for the past five years, thrashed out the bulk of its policies in advance and used the event as a shop window to sell itself as ready, willing and able to govern. The contrast with the actual government, still reeling from what has been a ghastly year, couldn't be more marked. But it's worth remembering both the ALP and the Coalition have managed to lose "unlosable" elections before. While John Hewson's GST debacle in the early 1990s may not be familiar to younger voters, Kim Beazley's 2001 defeat in the Tampa election is still fresh in many minds. Next May is still six months away and, as the saying goes, a week can be a very long time in politics. A series of unfortunate events, any perception of an arrogant expectation by the ALP it has a landslide in the bag or even just a few silly mistakes could all prove fatal to Labor's hopes. Shorten and his team need to proceed with tact and caution. No election is over until all the votes are in.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/ac05dcfd-4a39-489d-be95-e9bb071ea6f0/r0_46_900_554_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgnews, latest-news,

Coffee isn't generally something one associates with Christmas, unless it's the cups you need to deal with early risers insisting on opening presents before 6am. The roasters at ONA are changing that though, with a Christmas-pudding-inspired blend doing the rounds at the Canberra coffee favourite's cafes. It is also available to buy in a 200-gram bag as a gift for the coffee snob in your life. Hany Ezzat, the head barista at ONA's youngest stablemate Highroad, sounds more like a sommelier than a barista as he enthusiastically explains the tasting notes in the coffee, and how they change as the coffee moves from hot, to lukewarm and even to cold. In preparation for our tasting, Ezzat opened the bag of coffee the night before, letting it breathe before brewing it. This one is specifically roasted to be brewed with milk, he says, explaining how different blends suit different purposes. The tasting notes come from the different beans selected for the blend. The creamy coffee has a hint of custard when drinking it while it's hot, and it's so smooth it's hard to wait and let it cool to get the full experience. The notes arent unmistakable in the same way they are if you've ever tasted a Christmas pudding gin, but they are there. There's a hint of liqueur and raisin flavours as the coffee cools and you get to the bottom of the cup. The cup finishes way too soon, so Im hoping there will be some Christmas pudding blend under the tree for me this year. onacoffee.com.au There's something new to check out in the Canberra Centre, with Nosh, an Australian innovator in fast-whole-food, opening its first location in Canberra. With its signature poke bowls and nori tacos, the focus is on nutritious and delicious real food. After two successful years in Melbourne, Canberra is Nosh's first interstate store, and the company says it is "absolutely delighted to be a part of a community that appreciates quality and innovation when it comes to fueling our bellies". The Canberra venue will be the first Nosh location to cater for Friday evening drinks and after-work catch-ups. Its chef-driven menu is locally sourced, with ingredients in their most natural form to create inspired and wholesome nutritious dishes. Start planning for Le Diner en Blanc, which returns to Canberra on Saturday, February 9. Attendants of the annual chic picnic will gather at a secret location with more than 1500 people for another unforgettable evening of beauty and magic. Ticketing to this amazing event happens in three stages. Phase 1 is for members from the previous year; Phase 2 is for new members who are referred by Phase I attendees; and Phase 3 is for people who signed up on the waiting list. The waiting list is now open - sign up now at canberra.dinerenblanc.com/register to be part of this unique night celebrating Canberra. Head to the glorious Nishi grand stairs on December 22 from 3pm to 6pm for a Last Minute Christmas Market. It will be a one-stop shop to pick up that case of bubbly for Christmas lunch, or tick off all your presents in one go. Stallholders will include wines, spirits, chocolates, books, plants and fresh produce - all from the Canberra region. Look for ideas from Choku Bai Jo, Contentious Character, The Curatoreum, Enigma Fine Chocolates, Gundog Estate, Idyllic Hills Vineyard, Murrumbateman Winery, Pankhurst Wines, Pialligo Estate, Sapling Yard, Summerhill Road, Quarry Hill Wines, Tallagandra Hill Winery, Underground Spirits and more. Purchase a souvenir stemless tasting glass for $12 to try before you buy. Yarrh Wines is feeding the festive season crowds with street food from around the world every day from December 27 through to New Years Day. Theyll do a different dish every day  last year there was a great range including banh mi, duck tacos, Danish hot dogs, prawn smorrebrod, fajitas, croque monsieur and fish and chips. This year theyre sticking to tacos, but were not talking Old El Paso here  think more slow roasted duck, baja fish, lamb barbacoa, braised beef, vegetarian options, genuine corn tortillas, fresh salads, condiments and salsas. In other words, perfect light lunches for the hot festive season. Please phone ahead (6227 1474) if there are more than four of you, otherwise just turn up. All day, from 11am-4pm. yarrhwines.com.au

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/f95357f4-0aa4-4b7d-9f24-cfbad43f83c7/r0_407_4032_2685_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgnews, crime

A Canberra man who drank heavily before getting on his motorcycle "with a death wish" prior to crashing and seriously injuring another motorcyclist was jailed for six months. David Caine Castles, 51, had pleaded guilty to culpable driving causing grievous bodily harm after he drifted into the path of an oncoming motorcycle on Cotter Road in August 2016. The victim received life threatening injuries from the crash, including a laceration to his spleen which caused massive internal bleeding requiring surgery. He also suffered a broken collarbone, shoulder and forearm along with extensive bruising and grazes. In a judgment handed down by Chief Justice Helen Murrell in the ACT Supreme Court last week, it was revealed Castles began drinking one morning after an altercation with his ex-wife. He decided to ride his new Ducati Diavel motorcycle "to blow off steam" and after the accident it was reported he told a witness he had "gone riding with a death wish" and wanted to die. As Castles rounded the left hand bend on Cotter Road, just before the Cotter Pumping Station, he drifted over the centre line and into the path of the victim driving in the opposite direction. The victim, also riding a motorcycle, tried to swerve to avoid Castles but there wasn't enough time, resulting in a head-on collision. Castles was also seriously injured in the crash, suffering multiple leg and foot fractures. He required the use of a wheelchair for an extended period after the crash and his capacity to walk is still severely limited. Castles may never regain the ability to walk without a walking stick or other form of aid. The court heard Castles had a long history of drug and alcohol abuse, consuming up to 30 to 40 standard drinks per day in the past before cutting back to 10 or 12 drinks a day prior to the crash. Chief Justice Murrell said Castles had displayed a high level of culpability in his actions on the day of the crash. "[Castles] deliberately rode his motorcycle while heavily intoxicated," the chief justice said. "There was no excuse for doing so." "[Castles] 'wanted to die' but apparently gave no consideration to the risk of fatality that he posed to others. By driving from his home at Duffy to the area of the collision, the offender must have put numerous road users at risk." The chief justice said while Castles was not deliberately driving dangerously at the moment of the crash, the alcohol had rendered him incapable of properly controlling his motorcycle. Castles' blood alcohol was measured at 0.137, however an expert estimated it was between 0.152 and 0.168 when the collision occurred and that his motor coordination, vigilance and concentration would all have been impaired. Chief Justice Murrell gave consideration to the fact that Castles' physical impairments due to the crash would make his time in prison more difficult, however she determined a term of imprisonment was the only appropriate sentence. He will be eligible for release from prison in June next year, with the rest of the 21-month sentence suspended and a good behaviour order in place. He will also be disqualified from holding a drivers licence for three years.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/9109d7b9-cbd5-4412-b53b-b045bcc028bc/r0_50_999_614_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgnews, act-politics

A divided parliamentary committee has cast doubt on the ability of drivers to challenge their insurers under the Barr government's proposed compulsory third party insurance scheme, calling for changes to the bill before it returns to the ACT Legislative Assembly in February. Liberal Assembly member Giulia Jones and Labor backbenchers Bec Cody and Michael Pettersson were unable to come to a consensus on the legislation, although they separately concluded the external review provisions were deficient. According to the draft legislation, injured parties can only apply for an external review after their claim has been internally reviewed by the insurance company. And while the Magistrates Court was floated as a prospective means of challenging an insurer's decision, the government is yet to nominate an avenue for external review. Committee chair Mrs Jones filed an excoriating dissenting report that described the bill as an "abject failure at its most basic intent to provide Canberra road users with an insurance product that will compensate them for injury incurred". "The bill promotes the interests of large insurance corporations at the expense of injured innocent people," Mrs Jones wrote. "A substantial majority of the victims injured will receive significantly less, and indeed they will be at the mercy of the large insurance corporations to a much greater extent under the proposed bill than at present." Mrs Jones said the new scheme placed a significant administrative and negotiating burden on injured people by cutting lawyers out of the equation. While lawyers can currently deduct fees from their client's final settlement, there is no provision for this in the new scheme. "As a result the injured person will have to negotiate directly in most cases with the insurer themselves. This puts them at a significant disadvantage as compared to the current system," Mrs Jones said. Unlike similar legislation in NSW, the bill does not include a clear dispute resolution process. "It is of grave concern to many that the bill is planned to be passed through the Assembly and yet there is no explanation of what dispute resolution process will be available," Mrs Jones said. Mrs Jones called for the Assembly to kill off the bill, and for the government to go back to the drawing board to devise a scheme that "benefits the community as a whole and not simply insurance companies". Mr Pettersson and Ms Cody found the reforms were justified, but recommended some modifications. Ms Cody and Mr Pettersson said the processes for external review outlined in the bill were "clearly insufficient" and urged for more detail "to make clear that this is an integral component of the scheme". They also said the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal should provide external reviews, as the cost of appealing a decision through the ACT Magistrates Court could be in the thousands of dollars. "While it is not ideal to have a system that requires almost everyone to get a lawyer in order to get what they need  as is currently the case  fair and just administration of any new system will require that people can still seek legal review of decisions if they choose to, and be legally represented when they do," they said. "Canberrans should not be prevented from pursuing external review of decisions which may have lower dollar impacts but significant benefits in terms of their overall recovery or quality of life, simply because of the costs involved in doing so." Mr Pettersson and Ms Cody also called for the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal to be given the power to make legal cost orders against the losing party in external review cases to deter insurers from denying reasonable benefits. They said the government should review insurer profits within three years of the scheme coming into effect and move to cap insurer profits, as other jurisdictions have done, if they are shown to be above fair and reasonable levels. However the ACT Law Society dunked on the prospective review as a "pathetic non-decision". "No doubt the government, backed by the insurers, will seek to bulldoze its inequitable and flawed scheme into law," president Chris Donohue said. The inquiry into the bill was concocted by Labor as a way to head off potential problems with the legislation, which they wanted to pass this year. The new compulsory third party insurance scheme was designed by the ACT's first citizens' jury and will replace the existing at-fault, common law system. Under the new scheme anyone injured in a motor vehicle accident will be able to access treatment, care and income support for up to five years, with the most seriously injured and the not-at-fault able to access additional benefits. But while Canberrans are expected to save between $91 and $171 on their yearly premiums, the scheme severely caps the amount of compensation injured people can claim and would cut payments for people guilty of infringements like failing to wear a helmet.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/a44f2ade-613d-4cb8-ac88-39392e950878/r0_109_1999_1238_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.Gujarat Public Service Commission (GPSC) has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for the post of Assistant Professor. Those interested can check out the eligibility, salary scale, how to apply and the complete details of the government job here.

The selection process will comprise a written test. Selected candidates can earn up to INR 45,000 per month. The last date to apply for this government job is Dec 31, 2018. The application fee costs INR 100.

Gujarat High Court Recruitment 2018 For Stenographers

GPSC Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Assistant Professor Organisation Gujarat Public Service Commission Educational Qualification Post graduate degree in relevant field with NET or SLET Experience Desirable Skills Required Teaching skills Job Location Gujarat Salary Scale INR 15,600 to INR 45,000 per month Industry Civil services Application Start Date December 15, 2018 Application End Date December 31, 2018

Maximum Age Limit: 40 years

Also Read: Apprenticeship Training Offered At Northern Coalfields Limited

How To Apply For GPSC Recruitment 2018

In order to apply for GPSC Recruitment 2018, follow these steps:

Step 1: Log on to the GPSC official website.

Step 2: Hover over Registration and select Apply.

Step 3: Read the instructions and click I Agree.

Step 4: The registration form will open. Enter your details in the fields provided.

Step 5: Upload your photograph and signature.

Step 6: Read the declaration and click on the option box to agree.

Step 7: Click Save and complete the registration process.

Step 8: Log in using your credentials and complete the application process.

Follow the link - https://ojas.gujarat.gov.in/AdvtDetailFiles/GPSC_201819_81.pdf to read the detailed official notification.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Michael Flynn's defense attorney asked a federal judge to delay sentencing after the judge unleashed a blistering attack on the former Trump adviser's conduct.



Judge Emmet Sullivan, a veteran of the bench who received his judicial appointments from Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, admonished Flynn at a hearing on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., for lying to the FBI, which he said was made worse because of where it occurred.



"In the White House! In the West Wing. By a high ranking security officer who up to that point had an unblemished career of service to his country, the judge said. It's a very serious offense. ... Arguably, this undermines everything this flag over here stands for! Arguably, you sold your country out!"



The judge agreed to the postponement and set the next status report for March.



The judges comments appeared to be a reversal of fortune for the man who spent months campaigning for Trump and served briefly as Trumps national security adviser.



Flanked by his wife, and supported by his son and several of his eight siblings, Flynn responded methodically to the judges questions, declining to reverse his guilty plea or argue that he lied as a result of coercion by the FBI.



Prosecutors had asked for leniency  no jail time  in sentencing Flynn because he had cooperated extensively with the Special Counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.



"We believe that he has accepted responsibility -- not just his statements to the court today but throughout the proceedings," said Brandon L. Van Grack, a prosecutor from Mueller's office.



The judges comments substantially changed the mood in the courtroom -- especially when he began to question prosecutors about whether they ever considered a charge of treason -- which appeared to stem from his concern about Flynn's work on behalf of the Turkish government until just days before Trump identified him as the man who would serve as his first national security adviser.



Is there an opinion about the conduct of the defendant that rises to treasonous on the defendants part? the judge asked Van Grack, who said the special counsel had not considered leveling that charge. Hypothetically could he have been charged with treason? the judge asked again.



Van Grack replied that it was such a serious question I'm hesitant to answer it.



After a brief recess, the judge walked-back the incendiary question, saying: "I wasn't suggesting he committed treason!"



"There are a lot of conspiracy theorists out there I am not taking the elements of any of the uncharged offenses under consideration at the time of sentencing, he said.



Flynn had done lobbying work between August and November 2016 for Turkey that, according to Justice Department filings, could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey. Flynns company, the Flynn Intel Group, was paid at least $530,000 for the work. Flynns contract ended on Nov. 15, just three days before Trump named Flynn as the man he wanted to take on the top White House post.



On Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump wished his former national security adviser "good luck" in a tweet.



It has been more than a year after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States and agreed to cooperate with Mueller's probe.



He faces up to six months in prison, but in a sentencing memo filed last week, Mueller told the judge that Flynn had provided investigators with "substantial assistance" in more than a dozen interviews, and that because he flipped early, "a sentence at the low end of the guideline range -- including a sentence that does not impose a term of incarceration -- is appropriate and warranted."



But last-minute intrigue was thrown into what was anticipated to be a cut-and-dry sentencing process Monday evening when the government filed the FBI's formerly secret internal report based on two investigators' interview with Flynn on Jan. 24, 2017.



The February 2017 document, called a "302" in FBI parlance, shows how the agents went into the meeting armed with knowledge of conversations Flynn had during the transition period after the election with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, including calls and text messages they exchanged in the U.S. and while Flynn and his wife were on vacation in the Dominican Republic.



The report shows Flynn repeatedly said "no" or didn't remember when they asked him specific questions about his contacts with Kislyak on the subject of a UN vote on Israeli settlements the Obama administration abstained from and sanctions the Obama White House imposed on Russia for interfering with the 2016 presidential election.



The reason the judge ordered the 302 placed on the public docket was that Flynn's legal team raised the question in their sentencing memo to the judge of whether FBI agents tried to lay a perjury trap on Flynn. The government, in response, said, "When the defendant said he did not remember something they knew he said, they used the exact words the defendant had used in order to prompt a truthful response."



Judge Emmet Sullivan said the report is "relevant to Mr. Flynn's sentencing," though he did not indicate how it will factor into his ruling on Flynn's sentence.



The sentencing hearing was expected to complete a remarkable fall for the decorated military veteran. A career military intelligence officer who served in the 82nd Airborne Division, he became an intelligence innovator after 9/11 by attacking complex terrorist networks in war zones. He was tapped to lead the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2012 but was pushed out by the Obama White House in 2014. In retirement, he set up a consulting firm called the Flynn Intel Group outside Washington.

Flynn was an early Trump supporter and became outspoken on the campaign trail. He led national security during the transition -- a period during which he spoke to Russia's ambassador before President Trump was sworn in -- and he briefly served as his national security adviser. He was fired by Trump after just 21 days in the position for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about whether he had discussed lifting sanctions against Russia with its ambassador during the transition.



When Flynn pleaded guilty a year ago, the President tweeted that Flynn had "lied to the Vice President and the FBI" but last week claimed in another tweet that Flynn got "a great deal" from Mueller.

Last week, Flynn's attorney Robert Kelner filed a lengthy sentencing memo which laid out his military accomplishments and awards, and also strongly suggested the FBI had been disingenuous in its treatment of Flynn, perhaps an attempt to restore some luster to the reputation of a man who had earned three sparkling stars on his uniform.

In the defense sentencing memo, Flynn's family, friends and former colleagues cast him as selfless in serving his country and saving lives, from his boyhood rescue of two toddlers in the path of a runaway car in Rhode Island to handing his own armored vest to another officer during a suicide vehicle bomb attack in Afghanistan.

Letters described how his efforts to help destroy al-Qaeda in Iraq -- which eventually became ISIS -- saved thousands of lives and revealed how Flynn personally directed the entire NATO-led force in a failed effort to prevent Army Pvt. Bowe Bergdahl's captors "from trafficking him across the Pakistan border."

"For those who bore witness to these actions, Flynn was the embodiment of selfless service and military values," wrote retired Army Col. Yvette Hopkins in the letter included in Flynn's sentencing memo.

Flynn later told British documentary filmmaker Sean Langan that Bergdahl, who was court-martialed and pleaded guilty to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy last year, was worthy of mercy.



"So the guy deserted his men, his soldiers, his squad -- no doubt," Flynn said in 2016. "[But] I don't think he should serve another day in any sort of confinement or jail or anything like that, because frankly, even though he put himself into this situation to a degree, we -- the United States government and the United States military  put him in Afghanistan."

Retired Army Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc, who commanded special operations in Afghanistan and Africa, told ABC News that Flynn is also worthy of such mercy, having endured the crucible of a long investigation that "has had negative consequences on an inherently good man and family."



"Despite the political issues and the legal issues he is experiencing, Lt. Gen. Flynn in my assessment is a good man," Bolduc said. "He knows more than anyone about personal accountability. I am sure no one understands more the consequences of being untruthful during an investigation than Lt. Gen. Flynn. As we all do, I am sure he has reflected on any mistakes he made and is moving forward to make amends and learn."



Those closest to Flynn told ABC News that he is eager to be rid of that spotlight from political critics, news media and criminal investigators. In the last year, he has not granted any interviews, instead seeking the privacy of the the Rhode Island community he grew up in, passing his days surfing and spending time with his large family.

He has not been entirely absent from the political scene, however. He spoke at one fringe Republican's early campaign event earlier this year and made a rare speech to accept an award at a conservative political conference in September.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Are you lost in the wild?

Sorry, but the page you're looking for has not been found

Try checking the URL for errors, goto home or try to search below.Gujarat High Court has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for the post of Stenographer. 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 1,42,400 per month. The last date to apply for this government job is Dec 31, 2018.

Assam Rifles Recruitment 2018: 749 Technical And Tradesmen Wanted

Gujarat High Court Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Stenographer (English and Gujarati) Organisation Gujarat High Court Educational Qualification Graduate degree in any discipline Experience Freshers can apply Skills Required Typing speed and computer knowledge Job Location Gujarat Salary Scale INR 44,900 to INR 1,42,400 per month Application Start Date December 17, 2018 Application End Date December 31, 2018

Age Limit: 21 to 40 years

Also Read: CRPF Recruitment 2018: 359 Constable Vacancies Open

How To Apply For Gujarat High Court Recruitment 2018

In order to apply for Gujarat High Court Recruitment 2018, follow these steps:

Step 1: Log on to the Gujarat High Court official website.

Step 2: Click the tab that reads, Apply Online.

Step 3: The list of notifications will open.

Step 4: Click Apply Now against the post you want to apply for.

Step 5: The registration form will open. Enter your details in the fields provided.

Step 6: Click Save and follow the subsequent pages to complete the application process.

Follow the link - https://hc-ojas.guj.nic.in/AdvtDetailFiles/EngGuj_Steno_GrII_2018_Advertisement_14122018.pdf to read the detailed official notification.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for the post of Bank's Medical Consultant (BMC). Those interested can check out the eligibility, salary scale, how to apply and the complete details of the government job here. The engagement of employees will be on hourly basis for a fixed remuneration. The contract period is three years. Selected candidates can earn up to INR 850 per hour. The last date to apply for this government job is Jan 2, 2019.

RBI Recruitment 2018 For Manager In IT

RBI Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Bank's Medical Consultant Organisation Reserve Bank of India Educational Qualification MBBS or MD Experience 2 years Job Responsibilities Treating employees at RBI Skills Required Clinical judgement Job Location Chennai, Tamil Nadu Salary Scale INR 850 per hour Industry Banking Application Start Date December 15, 2018 Application End Date January 2, 2019

SBI Recruitment 2018 For Dean Of Studies

How To Apply For RBI Recruitment 2018

In order to apply for RBI Recruitment 2018, follow these steps:

Step 1: Log on to the RBI official website.

Step 2: The list of notifications will appear.

Step 3: Click on the link that reads, Engagement of Bank's Medical Consultant (BMC) on contractual basis with fixed hourly remuneration Reserve Bank Staff College (RBSC), Chennai.

Step 4: The detailed advertisement will open. Read the details carefully.

Step 5: Click the link that reads, Applications at the beginning of the page.

Step 6: The application form will open.

Step 7: Save it to your computer and take a printout of it.

Step 8: Send the completed applications to RBI.

RBI Recruitment 2018 Application Format And Mailing Address

Superscribe on the envelope, "Application for the post of Bank's Medical Consultant" and send it to:

Reserve Bank Staff College, 359, Anna Salai, Teynampet - 600 018.

Follow the link - https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/Content/PDFs/NIA15122018C98A3F998B6547878CDF20990C534EEF.PDF to read the detailed official notification.Home >Police Enforcement > Checkpoints and Stops > California: Apple Not Responsible For Fatal FaceTime Car CrashParis, TX (75460)

Today

Except for a few afternoon clouds, mainly sunny. High 77F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low around 55F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.Its been a long and winding road for the Chattanooga Mocs over the last week as the squad travels to UT Martin for the final contest in three in a row away from the Scenic City. The busy stretch comes within a compressed seven-day period.Tuesday nights matchup is an 8:30 p.m., Eastern time start. It broadcasts on ESPN+ with UT Martins radio team providing the call in a dual role. Voice of the Mocs Jim Reynolds can be found on 96.1 FM in Chattanooga and online on GoMocs.com or on the TuneIn app.The Mocs are on an offensive upswing over the last five games with 70 or more points in each.The 81.4 scoring average is nearly 15 points per game better than the squad posted over the opening seven contests (66.7). An uptick in ball movement is a key factor along with better shot-making which can be attributed toyou guessed it, better ball movement.The Gig City lads have dished out 94 assists over the last five, an average of 18.8 per game, with no fewer than 17 in an appearance. Thats led to a surge in ball control. The assist-to-turnover ratio over the past five? 1.3. Prior seven? 0.8.Two Mocs are on a serious hot streak. David Jean-Baptiste reached double figures in each of those five games we just talked about. His averages over that span are 16.4 points and 3.4 assists shooting 56.9 percent (33-58) from the floor including 46.2 percent from 3pt range (12-26).Jonathan Scott is on an impressive run as well. After starting the year 2-for-11 from 3pt range (18.2%), the junior from Colorado has made 11 of 16 (68.8%) over the last three with three apiece against VMI and at Ole Miss sandwiching a career-best five at Georgia State. The team as a whole is shooting 42.2 percent (54/128) from beyond the arc over the last four games making 11 or more every time out during the stretch.UT Martin is 4-4 with wins over Cumberland, Western Illinois, UNC Asheville and Brescia, all coming in a 4-0 home slate. The Skyhawks losses occurred at Western Kentucky, Mercer, Tulane and ETSU where they led at the half.Former Citadel guard Preston Parks leads UTM at 13.8 points per game. Derek Hawthorne, Jr., adds 13.3 points and a team-best 5.6 boards per contest. The Skyhawks scoring average is 94.5 in the Elam Center, 89.5 against DI competition.The Chattanooga Airport is busier than ever, and steps are being taken to add a host of new parking space, officials said Monday.

The Airport showed strong growth in 2018. Terry Hart, president of Chattanooga Airport gave the year-end report at the December board of directors meeting Monday afternoon. Some records were set for airport use. In October, traditionally the busiest month for the airport, enplanements reached 50,000 for the first time ever, he said. This is a 6.5 percent increase over 2017. Deplanements followed the same pattern. Landing weights were up 14 percent this year, which is eight percent over last year, resulting from the use of larger and heavier planes. November numbers were also up with 45,000 enplanements which showed a two percent increase from the year before, and landing weights up six percent from 2017. It is expected that, when December enplanements are added, total enplanements will be over 500,000 in 2018. These are great numbers for us as we move forward, said Mr. Hart.

The increased use of the airport and increased capacity by American Airlines, Delta and United has impacted the airport parking lots. During the busiest times, every parking space has been used and airport staff has actively worked to find available spaces and personally directed customers to them. The airport shuttle was used to take these passengers to the terminal. Mr. Hart said that all customers have been accommodated. These peak events emphasized the need for additional parking. Currently, fencing is being moved and a lot is being reconfigured which will add 250 more spaces around the terminal.

The master plan calls for a parking deck. Mr. Hart said that construction of the deck, which is expected to begin in 2019, should take about a year to complete. While it is under construction, some existing parking will need to be closed. Planning ahead for the parking areas that will be removed from service during than time, another surface lot will be built prior to starting construction of the parking deck.

This lot will provide 520 parking spaces, will be paved, striped and lighted, and will be served by the shuttle service. The bid to build it was awarded to Thomas Brothers Construction after evaluating the criteria of price, scheduling and experience. This company is scheduled to complete the work by April 15. The cost is $2,640,000. So by spring 2019, the Chattanooga Airport will have about 770 more spaces than it presently has. The cost of each space in this new lot will be about $4,600, but each space will also generate revenue. The board also approved the purchase and installation of equipment for this new lot from Amano McGann in the amount of $33,492.

Parking rates have been kept low and have not changed in the last six and a half years, said Mr. Hart. After talking to Republic Parking and comparing rates of other regional airports, it has been decided that a parking rate increase is needed and the board approved the changes. Beginning on January 1, short term rates that are now $16 daily will increase to $20. Long term rates will go from where they are now at $9 per day to $12, and economy parking at the existing overflow lots will stay at $9 per day. The analysis showed that these changes would give the airport $1.6 million in additional revenue a year.

The airport contracts with Republic Parking to manage parking and to provide the shuttle service. The cost of their services was based on providing one new shuttle bus and one used bus. Problems with the used vehicle have resulted in Mr. Hart requesting that it be replaced with a new bus. Based on the increased use of the airport this year, he has also asked for a third bus.

The current agreement with Republic started in May 2017 and will end in December 2019. The company is requesting that the contract be extended for two additional years which would pay for the new vehicles. The board voted to accept the contract extension subject to approval after each member evaluates an analysis of the need for shuttle service before the parking deck is complete in 2021. In 2018 Republic was paid $177,000 for the services it provides, based on using one shuttle bus at a time. The price will increase if a second bus is put in service at the same time. In the new agreement, the price would increase three percent each year.

Mr. Hart reported on other accomplishments at the facility during 2018. Work on Phase 3 of the solar farm is continuing. It is expected to be completed at the end of January or first of February. The solar farm has received worldwide recognition, he said.



The Tennessee Air National Guard site has been demolished and site preparation is now in progress.

The north ramp replacement project will be completed ahead of schedule. New pavement has been installed. Planting sod is dependent upon the weather.

The north side project of replacing fencing should be complete in February. Relocating equipment and upgrading it, moving items out of the safety area is complete.

The use of body cameras for the airport police is being studied. Where to buy the equipment may be made in the next couple of months.

Last week the airport staff and all the tenants of the facility had a Christmas luncheon where all brought gifts for the Shepherd community. The gifts will be distributed at the community center.

The Chattanooga Airport was given an unmodified opinion, a clean report in its annual audit report done by CPA firm Elliott Davis. The board was told that the balance sheet is very strong.For the 2019-2020 school year, Hamilton County Schools is opening enrollment to a select group of schools, My Future Schools, to which students across the district will be eligible to apply. Officials said, "Opening enrollment to these schools will provide students with a diverse range of options outside of their neighborhood zoned school. These schools will be in addition to the 15 magnet schools that were previously open to all students."



Choosing a childs school is one of the most important life decisions for a parent, said Dr. Bryan Johnson, superintendent. Whether a student has dreams of being a dancer on Broadway, an engineer designing alternative energy transportation of the future, or learning the skills needed for an exciting career in medicine, Hamilton County Schools provides opportunities and options to open doors to the vast possibilities available for your child to find success.

There are four categories of schools students are eligible to apply for outside of their zoned school: Magnet Schools, Future Ready Institutes, Early College, and Open Enrollment Schools.

Over the next several months, Hamilton County Schools will provide several opportunities for families to visit and learn more about these school options. See the timeline below for more information.

January 2019 Jan. 14 - Magnet Schools Fair

Jan. 15, 16, 22, 23- Magnet Schools Open House Events at the schools

Jan. 31 - Magnet Schools applications close February 2019 Feb. 1 - Applications for Future Ready Institutes, Early College and Open Enrollment Schools open

Feb. 23 - Magnet Schools placements announced

Feb. 19 - My Future Schools Fair for Future Ready Institutes, Early College and Open Enrollment Schools

Dates TBD - Open House for Future Ready Institutes, Early College and Open Enrollment Schools

March 2019

March 15 - Applications for Special Programs and Open Enrollment Schools close

April 2019

April 1 - Special Programs and Open Enrollment Schools placements announced

April 1 - Hardship Applications open

Magnet School applications are currently open and will close on Jan. 31, 2019. Families can apply for magnet schools here. Applications for Future Ready Institutes, Early College and Open Enrollment Schools will open on Feb. 1, 2019.

Magnet Schools

Early College

Open Enrollment Schools

Future Ready Institutes



Brainerd High School

 The Institute of Aviation

 The Institute of Law, First Responders and Forensic Science

 Central High School

 The Institute of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics

 East Hamilton Middle High School

 The Bryan College Institute of Leadership, Business, and Marketing

 The Tinker, Innovate, and Engineer Institute

 East Ridge High School

 The Institute of Building and Design

 Hixson High School

 The Institute for Future Business Leaders and Owners

 The Institute of Advanced Agriculture, Food, Natural Resources, and Technology

 The Institute for Health Careers and Medical Advancement

 The Howard School

 The Erlanger Institute of Healthcare and Innovation

 The Institute of Hospitality and Tourism Management

 Lookout Valley Middle High School

 The Institute of Digital Media

 Ooltewah High School

 The Institute of Architecture and Engineering

 International Baccalaureate

 Red Bank High School

 The Institute of Engineering and Computer Science

 Sequoyah High School

 The Institute of Industrial Manufacturing

 Signal Mountain Middle High School

 International Baccalaureate World School

 Soddy Daisy High School

 The Institute of Media and Entrepreneurship

 Tyner Academy

 The EPB Institute of Technology and Networking

 The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Institute of Teaching and LearningCounsel Creative, a marketing collective based in the Chattanooga area, has expanded its team with the additions of Katherine Bates as designer and Emily Wildenberg as marketing strategist.



"We've been fortunate in that when we've been given the opportunity to grow our creative family, we've found those leaders and strategic additions right here in our city, said Kenny Morgan, founder and CCO of the agency. We're excited to welcome both Katherine and Emily to our team and look forward to serving our partners in an even greater capacity."



An interdisciplinary designer, Ms. Bates will support the agencys creative initiatives by assisting in the production of branding and overall development of client objectives.



To establish a harmonious and successful brand requires design that's as intentional as it is beautiful, said Ms. Bates. By combining simplicity with thoughtful details, I believe we can better communicate not only the needs of the client, but their story as well.



"With an extensive and notable background specializing in visual identity, print, web and art direction, her experience in branding, web design and print design is an incredibly valuable resource and addition to the Counsel Creative team," officials said.

Ms. Bates received a bachelors of fine arts in graphic design from Samford University.



As marketing strategist, Ms. Wildenberg will lead the development and implementation of clients social media initiatives, assist with creative efforts in the forms of photography and copywriting and will support overall client objectives for the agency.



"With a background in public relations, media relations and marketing, her experience in client-focused industries provides beneficial knowledge and assistance for her role at Counsel Creative," officials said.

She most recently served as an account coordinator for a public relations firm where she managed and monitored media coverage for clients across all platforms.

Ms. Wildenberg received a bachelors of science in public relations with a minor in business administration from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.A six-foot-long model of a Lake Sturgeon designed, 3-D printed and assembled by a trio of students at Dade County High School in Trenton, Georgia. The students presented their model to the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute, which will use the model to educate visitors about this state-endangered species. - photo by Casey Phillips/Tennessee Aquarium

Dade County High School students Logan Gordy and Taryn York, from left, look over a 3-D schematic of a Lake Sturgeon modeled using computer software. Gordy and York, along with fellow student Dakota Angle, designed, 3-D printed and assembled the six-foot-long model and presented it to the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute. - photo by Casey Phillips/Tennessee Aquarium

Dade County High School students Logan Gordy, Dakota Angle, and Taryn York (at left, second from left and second from right) pose with next to a model of a Lake Sturgeon they designed and 3-D printed for the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute (TNACI). They are joined by TNACI Geographic Information Systems Analyst Sarah Sweat, at right, and their instructor, Nick Wilson, middle. - photo by Casey Phillips/Tennessee Aquarium

A piece of a massive model of a Lake Sturgeon is transformed from a digital blueprint into a physical object by a 3-D printer at Dade County High School. A trio of students at the high school designed, printed and assembled the six-foot-long model out of 35 individual parts before presenting it to the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute. - photo by Contributed photo

A piece of a massive model of a Lake Sturgeon is transformed from a digital blueprint into a physical object by a 3-D printer at Dade County High School. A trio of students at the high school designed, printed and assembled the six-foot-long model out of 35 individual parts before presenting it to the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute. - photo by Contributed photo

ennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute Watershed Educator Hayley Wise and Geographic Systems Analyst, from left, look over a six-foot-long, 3-D model of a Lake Sturgeon with Dade County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jan Irons Harris. The model was designed, 3-D printed and assembled by three students at Dade County High School and was presented to the Conservation Institute as an educational tool. - photo by Casey Phillips/Tennessee Aquarium

Dade County High School junior Logan Gordy holds a 3-D printed model of a Lake Sturgeon he helped design alongside fellow students Dakota Angle and Taryn York, visible behind Gordy, from left to right. Behind him, he is watched by Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute biologist Dr. Bernie Kuhajda, at left, Geographic Information Systems Analyst Sarah Sweat, second from right, and Watershed Educator Hayley Wise, at right. - photo by Casey Phillips/Tennessee Aquarium

From rapidly creating prototypes to replacing missing pieces of board games, the uses of 3-D printing technology are as numerous as they are diverse.

In the ever-broadening universe of applications for 3-D printing, however, creating a near-life-size likeness of a massive Lake Sturgeon probably doesnt seem like the most likely of projects. For the last three months, however, students at Dade County High School (DCHS) in Trenton, have been designing, printing and assembling components for a realistic, six-foot replica of one of these riverine giants for the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute (TNACI).

At Dade County High School on Monday, the students and their instructor presented the completed replica to Sarah Sweat, the Conservation Institutes Geographic Information Systems Analyst.

The process of creating the sturgeon has been an exercise in trial and error, as well as a valuable learning experience, says Dade County High Schools Nick Wilson. Mr. Wilson teaches the schools advanced mechatronics class, a multi-disciplinary course combining elements of robotics and electrical, mechanical and computer engineering.

In September, Mr. Wilson assigned three of his advanced mechatronics students  Logan Gordy, Dakota Angle and Taryn York  to head up the sturgeon build. Two other students, Caleb Munger and Basil Nakhleh also contributed to the project. The students have been solely responsible for creating the model.

We started with brainstorming the design of something organic, then learning new tools to use in the 3-D software along the way and trial and error on the assembly side of things, Mr. Wilson says. All of this was an enormous task for the students.

The Conservation Institutes Ms. Sweat first learned about Mr. Wilsons mechatronics class through her husband, Matt Sweat, who teaches English at DCHS. Last year, she approached Mr. Wilson and his class about designing and printing models of small freshwater insects and crustaceans for use in her Georgia Adopt-A-Stream class.

Based on that projects success, she says, she decided Mr. Wilsons students could handle a more complicated project for a much bigger animal.

The Lake Sturgeon is a state-endangered species in Tennessee, having almost disappeared from the river system by the 1970s. Since the formation of the Lake Sturgeon Working Group in 1998, the Aquarium and its partners have raised and released more than 220,000 juvenile Lake Sturgeon back into the species historic range.

Because of its scarcity in the river, few people have encountered a Lake Sturgeon unless theyve touched one at the Tennessee Aquarium. A near-life-size model of this enormous fish would help even more people to better understand the species size and its importance to the rivers ecosystem, Ms. Sweat says.

So she turned to Mr. Wilson once again with a request to help TNACI add some oomph to its big fish story.

Tour groups at the institute can see juvenile Lake Sturgeon before they are reintroduced, but many of the ones they see are only six to nine inches long, she says. The Lake Sturgeon grows to be six to eight feet long and can live up to 150 years. To show visitors what a fully grown sturgeon would look like, we wanted a model that not only conveys its size but that they can also touch and interact with.

It was a big ask but one Mr. Wilson says his students were capable of tackling.

Dade County has four 3-D printers, and all were used during the production of the Lake Sturgeon. The students used 3-D design software to model the fish using images Ms. Sweat provided. The completed model was split into parts that could be printed individually. In all, the students created 35 parts, each of which had to be sanded, bonded together, patched, re-sanded and painted.

The students made use of online resources as well as photos and academic literature provided by Sweat and other Conservation Institute scientists. At the onset of the project, few of the students involved had even heard of a sturgeon. After months spent digitally modeling one in painstaking detail, however, Logan Gordy now is able to effortlessly rattle off a laundry list of its anatomical features.

At first, I didnt know what I was getting into. I didnt even know what a sturgeon looked like, the eleventh grader says, smiling wryly. I believe the Lake Sturgeon deserves to be better known.

Building the sturgeon took more than 100 hours to design and assemble and more than 500 hours of print time. As part of their assignment, the students kept a detailed engineering notebook to document their progress.

Since they were acquired three years ago, the schools 3-D printers primarily have been used to create comparatively simple items like small keychains or large replicas of video game props. Measured against those projects, Mr. Wilson says, the sturgeon was by far the schools most-ambitious use of what is still considered by many to be an emerging technology.

The results of the students work, which they have lovingly nicknamed Sharon, now hold a place of honor at the Conservation Institutes freshwater science center. There, the more-than-six-foot-long model will be used to help people forge a deeper connection with a fish that was once imperiled by human activity and now is experiencing a resurgence thanks to human efforts.

For Mr. Wilson, however, the payoff of this project is something more intangible.

The greatest thing I could hope for my students was for them to learn how to take something seemingly impossible in their eyes and make it possible, Mr. Wilson says. I took on the task before asking if they could do it, because I already knew the answer to that.

I stepped in at critical points to help, but I was not a member of their team. I think they take pride in that.Thanks to a live feed, I was able to watch about three hours of the very important Hamilton County Commission meeting on Dec. 12 while in Alabama. This was the first time I have been able to hear both sides of the WWTA vs. Ooltewah Homeowners fully present their arguments. One thing we can all agree on is that they have to do something, the question is what is the best for all.

The WWTA presented their case first with Facts vs Misconceptions. They had some fuzzy facts, to say the least. Even in the return questioning from some of the commissioners, it seemed the WWTA was on their back foot for answers or evasive. This is our plan, to well, we dont actually have a plan. Yes, we have done all the necessary steps, but no, we havent checked with the soil conservation, and so forth. One commissioner brought up the fact that people were worried WWTA and construction traffic would pass through a local subdivision. The commissioner asked, "Can you promise right now you won't go have construction traffic going through ________ (and he named a street which is in the nearly subdivision) to get to the property?" They promised they wouldn't. I literally just laughed out loud....promises, promises.

When the WWTA concluded and the presenters from the community spoke, they showed the WWTA's inconsistencies and inaccuracies. As Mr. Moorhouse stated in his opening, Its not what the WWTA says, but rather what they dont say. He was right.

Here are some of the misconceptions that were refuted. The WWTA stated, It wouldnt cause any depreciation of property values (not at all true according to various types of research that was presented - it can affect property values anywhere from 10-25 percent). They then tried to portray comparable dwellings surrounding the various WWTP (Wastewater Treatment Plants) around the Southeast to the types of homes that are around Heron Bay and the Mahan Gap Rd areas. Actual photos showed that around a representation of the properties. They are multi unit dwellings, apartments, duplexes, and at least one motor home. There is no comparison.

They attempted to cite how "safe" it is (using just one study), then refuted their own claim later admitting that they were offering to buy up houses of concerned citizens around the proposed site (now, why would you offer than if theres absolutely nothing to be alarmed about?).

The floodplain issue is still one that they could not give a satisfactory answer to the entire time, and the area is in a known flooding area. The most glaring refutation, was the WWTAs failure to fully research the covenants and restrictions from the time when the TVA built the Chickamauga dam and noting one of the specific restrictions is that sewage is not to be conveyed on that property. If they had been truthful about it, they would have known that this site is a non starter for that reason alone.

The Ooltewah residents also did an outstanding presentation about the potential severe health risks to the people, and ecological risks to the land and animals and Savannah Bay itself, and areas surrounding and downstream of it. The opposition absolutely crushed WWTA's "facts vs misconceptions" presentation. In fact, it should have been the other way around with the the Ooltewah residents presenting facts vs WWTAs misconceptions.

The WWTA has been deceptive on quite a few different occasions in just this proposed plant - trying to slide by in the original meeting back in September, to posting only two signs inconspicuously on the property in question because they were trying to approve it by stealth, possible violations of the Sunshine law, to having an Ooltewah developer sit on the board of the WWTA who, it would appear, could most definitely have a conflict of interest since he is directly affected by this.

On a personal note, our family had years of shoddy treatment by the WWTA - they lied, they mismanaged, they didnt maintain their own easement, so in the Commission hearing last Wednesday when they promised they would not go through a subdivision, I just laughed. As the saying goes, past behavior is a pretty good indicator of future behavior. We should expect more of the same because nothing has changed with this group, except they have a new director. Who here is regulating the WWTA? No one. When a disaster happens on this proposed site (and it will because their track record is horrible-even in the last few months) who are they going to answer to? Who is going to hold these unelected officials accountable? What recourse will the citizens who are directly impacted by this going to have?

There are better options and they know it, they may cost more but when spread out over all the ratepayers it isnt that bad. We all should know by now that cheaper isnt always better; in fact, often times it actually ends up costing more in the long run as we are finding out by the consent decree forced upon Hamilton County because of this very thing.

One way to gain the trust of the people and for WWTA to prove themselves is by doing the right thing by the citizens that surround this area in Ooltewah and find a better site that is less populated than this one.

They will have to be forced by the Hamilton County Commission to do the right thing. I hope that the Commission is up to the task and will not plop a 10 million gallon WWTP right in the middle of the fastest growing area of Hamilton County.

Lynn Davis

Homeowner in OoltewahThe Hamilton County Commission is being asked to make a tough decision when it comes to the location of the WWTA WWTP. On one side, you have a handful of people who are pro WWTP at Mahan Gap because they want to develop northern Hamilton County and on the other hand, you have residents who want to protect the largest investment that they've made, i.e., their home and their ability to enjoy the environment around them. You heard both sides of this argument on Dec. 12. I did not get up and speak at that meeting. However, I would ask that you read my email as I have a different perspective on all of this. Please, please be patient with the length of what I have to say. Please.

I am a retired mechanical engineer who worked for TVA, Martin Marietta, and as a facility engineer for Denso Manufacturing in Maryville, Tn. I was a court appointed research agent for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District. My expertise was problem solving difficult engineering issues and research.

When I thought to buy my lot nine years ago, I went to the county to check the plat for any encroachments since I am 800 feet to the east of Savannah Bay. There were none. So, imagine my surprise when I find out a year after moving in that my house was built across the TVA 690 line. My developer, knowing that he had to get a deed modification to build there, built the house anyway. And I'm not the only one this happened to. After contacting TVA about this, I was told that I would have to send in an application with a $5,000 fee. The developer was no longer responsible as I owned the property. And this was the good part...if my house was encroaching, I would have to remove it or they would remove it for me. I lived in terror for the next two years thinking that I would come home to find my house torn down and my pets killed in the process. In the future, a new owner of my home will have to apply for the Deed Modification and TVA can deny it. Under that condition, who is going to buy my house?

I went back to the county and asked why wasn't this noted on my plat. In addition, I found out that the back of my property was a state protected wetland. Also not on the plat. The county building and inspection and other agencies told me that those items weren't "required" to be added to the plat. I was outraged. Why weren't they required? The county which should have protected me did just the opposite. I was disheartened. Where was the oversight? If I could be fooled, many more could, too.

Then I found that because the land was so low, my footers were in the water table and there was three feet of water standing under my concrete slab. My house was issued a Certificate of Occupancy with a major inspection missing. It was soon revealed that one of the inspectors was on the take and was fired. The lady responsible for issuing the COs was reassigned to another department. The building and inspection Director, Pay Payne, retired shortly after I brought all of this to his attention. Once again, the county which should have protected me did not. I lost all confidence in the county offices. I grew up here. I love this place. But this was disturbing. A taxpayer should not be harmed by the irresponsibility of their county agencies.

Needless to say, the value of my home is now far less than others that surround me. I've had numerous mold issues. I have to run a sump to drain the water out from under my slab. I'm 64 years old and disabled. I've spent thousands of dollars trying to fix this $150,000 house. I'm out of money and energy. This sewer plant on Mahan Gap will be the last straw. My health issues will not allow me to continue to live here so I will have to sell my house at a huge loss and move on. The county will have, effectively, bankrupted me and left me destitute. Just a little oversight on some of the offices of the county would have prevented this. Who will be doing the oversight on the WWTA? Who is going to protect these homeowners?

You are probably wondering what this has to do with the WWTA and the choice of location for this sewer treatment plant. Well, it is this...nine years ago, if Hamilton County had just required a little more detail from the developers, I wouldn't have been stuck with this home that bankrupted me. I am asking today that the Hamilton County Commission does its absolute best to protect other homeowners and to not just think in terms of future development. That development is not the best solution if a homeowner must go through what I've been through. All of that aside, I have the following points to make.

After listening to both sides of the presentation, I have a few comments to make both from a professional standpoint and a homeowner. And, yes, for Mr. Boyd's benefit, I believe that there are points here that have not been made before which Mr. Boyd would not know since he left the meeting just before the residents' presentation.

Vested Interest Groups and Future Costs - Mr. Boyd's supporters, the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors and the Homebuilders Association, both urged that this plant go forward ASAP at this location. Consider this, in August of this year, Mark Harrison said that the plant was going in near the landfill in Birchwood and a only a month later in September had announced a new location. If the WWTA could find a site that quickly...in less than a month...then they can find another site as evidenced by their own presentation. A month or two is not going to make that big of a difference. The plus side...and this is important...of finding another site away from Savannah Bay is that the WWTA and the county will not have to spend near as much money to get approvals from TVA, TDEC, and the EPA or other agencies for a plant near a protected wetland nor will the TVA 690 line be involved. The Section 26a permit from TVA is very expensive. I've been through this. This will also save money over time as now the county will not have to worry about fines and superfund sites when the destruction of the bay occurs. That last should get your attention. The SSOs into Rogers Branch and ensuing fines on WWTA by TDEC is just a forerunner of things that will come.

WWTA Fees to Ratepayers - Mark Harrison stated that the WWTA fees have "really not increased" in the last few years. Not true. My minimum sewer rate has increased from $10/month in 2012 to $22/month this year. They are regularly increasing our rates and will continue to do so no matter what.

Sludge Trucks on Mahan Gap - Mr. Harrison stated that there will be only one sludge truck per week. This is not factual. Each 400 gallons of wastewater...what a typical family uses a day, generates about one gallon a sludge per day. If the WWTP is going to handle 10 million gallons/day (mgd) then that has the potential to generate 12.5 tons of waste per day. The largest truck that can haul solids is 31 tons so a truck would be leaving the facility at a minimum of every two days. But once that plant gets bumped up to 20 mgd as planned, at least one truck per day will have to travel the winding, narrow no shoulder Mahan Gap Road with school children and all of the other traffic. Mahan Gap Road is a busy road. And, we are just talking a sludge truck. There will be other trucks making deliveries of the chemicals used to treat the waste water. A better route for this would be along Highway 58. In one report that I've read for establishing a site and building a wastewater treatment plant, the number one criteria was Wastewater treatment facilities should be separate from habitation or any area likely to be built up within a reasonable future period and shall be separated in accordance with state and local requirements. (Recommended Standards for Wastewater Facilities, 2004, a 10 state guideline.) This guideline goes on to state: "Protection of groundwater including public and private wells is of utmost importance. Demonstration that protection will be provided must be included." The site that the WWTA is proposing meets neither of those guidelines.

Downtown Issues - Mr. Harrison stated that Moccasin Bend is near downtown Chattanooga and there are no problems. You only need to do a rudimentary internet search to find many articles referencing the foul odor in Chattanooga from sewage. Again, Mr. Harrison is not being factual.

Elevation - Mr. Harrison and Mr. McDonald have stated over and over the need for this location due to "gravity flow." I have checked the elevations north of this site on Ooltewah-Georgetown Road and Highway 58 and they vary less than 100 feet...often just 20-30 feet in elevation above the Mahan Gap site but most remain at the elevation of the current proposed site. This is not significant. Mr. Moon himself said at the Dec. 12 meeting, "We can meet the consent decree without a wastewater treatment plant." He agreed that if they could afford it, they would put it in Meigs County...which is an excellent idea considering the growth in that area thus making a chance for WWTA to bring in income by processing other area wastewater. Just the growth that is going to occur along Highway 60 from Dayton should be enough to sway anyone with any hesitation about relocating the WWTP from the proposed site.

Purchasing Homes Near Proposed Site - Mr. Harrison came up with a new tactic at the Dec. 12 commission meeting. He stated that he has talked to five homeowners with property located near the proposed site and plans to speak to four more. His wish is to buy those home and resell them to people who don't care if they live near a sewer treatment plant. I admire his optimism. I researched the nine properties that surround the Mahan Gap site and taking the assessed values from the Hamilton County Property Assessor site, the total minimum expense to buy these homes would be $3,798,200. That is nearly $4 million of the $20 million needed to locate the WWTP further away from these homes. Now we are talking a $16 million difference for a new location. When you factor in potential lawsuits allowed by Tennessee's Inverse Condemnation law and cost to the county for cleanup of this site or recreation lost because of contamination of Wolftever Creek and Harrison Bay, that $15 million suddenly becomes a very small price to pay.

TVA Issues - The deed to the property has stipulations for use since a majority of the property is below the TVA flood storage line also known as the 690 line. Despite what Mr. McDonald claims...that the 690 is really the 691...TVA will hold him to the 690 line. While permission via a Deed Modification can be acquired, TVA maintains the right at any time to rescind that permission if the conditions are violated. And Section 26a permits are extraordinarily expensive. I know. I've been there and done that.

Migratory Birds - Savannah Bay is home to numerous important species of migratory birds including ospreys, Sandhill Cranes, and other water and forest birds. We have had many rare birds in the area. This wastewater treatment plant will have a negative impact on them.

In conclusion, I know that this was lengthy and you may not have read it all but I hope that you did. All of us in opposition to the current site agree that the county could use another wastewater treatment plant but we are all unanimous is believing that a much better location could be found and utilized. When Mr. Harrison became too emotional to continue in the commission meeting the other day, we all understood. That room full of people that you saw from your seats have shed many tears over this proposal.

Debra L Fisher

President, Georgetown Place HOAJill Duggar and Derick Dillard, former stars of TLCs Counting On, have been married since 2014. However, fans have suspected that things may not be so smooth between the couple. Yet Duggars recent blog post on the family website has some thinking they may be doing alright after all.

Duggar and Dillard tied the knot toward the end of 19 Kids and Counting

Duggar was the first of the Duggar daughters to get married, so the event was huge for the family. She and Dillard met through Jim Bob Duggar, her father, and it wasnt long before they began courting. Duggar and Dillard spoke for a few weeks, then Duggar accompanied her father on a trip to Nepal to meet Dillard for the first time. While on the trip, Dillard asked to begin courting her. The two were not engaged for long and wed just a few months later. Now, the couple has been married for more than four years, but for a while, fans have suspected things havent been going well.

The two starred in Counting On before Dillard was allegedly fired from the show

After 19 Kids and Counting was canceled on TLC back in 2015 due to Josh Duggars sexual abuse scandal, the Duggar daughters went on to star in their own show, Counting On. Duggar and Dillard were a big part of the show, and the two traveled to South America to do missionary work and help teach others about God. However, in both 2017 and 2018, Dillard made negative comments toward another TLC star, Jazz Jennings. Dillard commented on the life Jennings has chosen to live (she is transgender), and the comments didnt go over well with fans or producers. Dillard was allegedly fired from the show. But he countered back at the rumors and said his family chose to leave the show on their own terms.

It didnt take long for divorce rumors to start

Things havent been going too well for the couple. Not only did Dillards controversial comments end the couples income from the show, but fans began to question where the money from the couples missionary charity, which enabled them to do work in South America, was actually going. Eventually, the donations began slowing down, and soon after, the charity folded completely. There was speculation that after leaving the show, the family hit financial trouble. Now, Dillard is enrolled in law school. But these problems that have arisen for the couple recently have sparked rumors that Duggar is not happy in her marriage.

But the recent trip the couple took has us all thinking things may be fine after all

Just when the divorce rumors were starting to fly (although we have to suspect that the Duggar familys strong religious values would prohibit divorce), Duggar wrote a blog post about her much needed alone time with Dillard on a recent trip the two took. The couple took a quick getaway to Missouri, where they stayed in a bed and breakfast and did a few fun things together now that Dillard was done with finals. It appeared the two had a great time, and its possible that they were trying to squash everyones assumptions that things werent going well with them. Duggar posted photos of the two from her familys blog, where they appeared to be truly enjoying each others company. It may have been her way of saying the two are staying together, despite what the public has been thinking.

Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook!Duchess Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are no strangers to travel. They met in the summer of 2016 when Markle was visiting London, England while on a press tour for her former television series Suits. While the pair were secretly dating, they both traveled between the U.K, and Toronto, Canada where the USA drama is filmed. Since then, theyve visited Botswana, a super secret location for their honeymoon, and theyve even embarked on their first official royal tour together as a couple.

In Oct. 2018, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex set off on their first official royal tour which led them to both Australia and Fiji. But when do the royal couple plan to visit Markles homeland, the United States of America?

A trip to America in 2019

It looks like Markle and Prince Harry are planning to come stateside in the fall of 2019. The royal newlyweds had planned on visiting the States in the Spring of 2019, but since Markle is expecting their first child, theyve had to alter their plans at tad. Vanity Fairs royal correspondent Katie Nicholl shared that the tour is definitely on for the fall and the duke and duchess are set to visit the U.S. and Markles adopted home, Canada. Though the exact locations of the royal tour have yet to be announced, an insider told US Weekly, They are thinking [about visiting] New York, Washington, D.C., and California. Theyre working to finalize locations and venues.

Due to Markles pregnancy, the couple has not yet nailed down exact dates for their American royal tour. Nicholl noted that the dates will be dependent on the Duchess of Sussexs due date. As we know, the royals are keeping it super tight-lipped about when the former actress is due, but were going to assume she will give birth in either March or April.

Will Baby Sussex be with them?

Since Baby Sussex will be no more than six months old, we can expect to see the tiny tot with his or her parents when they arrive in North America. Nicholl revealed that the Sussexes are keen to visit the U.S. and Canada as a family. We do know that since the trip is already on the couples calendar, Markle will be taking a shorter maternity leave than most royal women have in the past. A source told Nicholl that the duchess is planning to work right up to her due date because she feels fit and well and wants to continue working as long as possible.

Though were sure Markle and Prince Harry are interviewing nannies for their little one already, we might also see Markles mother, Doria Ragland with them on their American tour. After all, it has been rumored that Markles mama is moving from Los Angeles to be with her daughter and son-in-law in their new home, Frogmore House as Markle gets closer to her due date.

When Markle does set foot on U.S. soil again, it wont be the first time shes done so as an official royal. In August, just a couple of months after her wedding, the former Tig Editor-in-Chief took a sneaky solo trip to both the U.S. and Canada. However, this will be the first time shell have her red-headed hubby and newborn child in tow.

Read more: Everything Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Have Said About Having Children

Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook!Are screens affecting our children's brains? Christian Post Columnist | 17 December, 2018 by Jim Denison

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been studying the effect of screen time for children. The preliminary results are in and they're not good.

The NIH report shows that nine- and ten-year-old children who spend more than two hours in front of a screen each day score lower on thinking and language tests. This is troubling since the average "tweenager" spends up to six hours a day on their tablet or phone.

In addition, scientists have found that children with daily screen usage of more than seven hours show premature thinning of the brain cortex. This is the outermost layer that processes information from the physical world. While it's too soon to know with certainty that screen time usage caused the changes to the children's brains, scientists will be monitoring this relationship carefully.

Are your children addicted to technology?

The NIH report is just one example of the growing effect of technology on our children. Another study related smartphone use by children to sleep deprivation and other problems associated with poor attention spans. This is alarming since two-thirds of children take their smartphones to bed with them.

One group of scientists found that the more time four-year-olds spent interacting with media, the shorter their sleep was at ages four and six. A study published by Harvard Medical School has shown that blue-tinged light emitted by devices such as smartphones and tablets suppresses the production of melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone vital to good sleep.

Counselors warn that digital addiction is a growing problem. The compulsion to continue playing video games or using technology is escalating. China has identified internet addiction as one of its main public health risks. In some parts of Asia, digital addiction rates may be as high as 26 percent.

Among American children between the ages of eight and eighteen, around 8 percent could already be classified as addicted. A 2010 study found that children in this age group spend more than seven hours a day consuming media.

Experts warn that victims of digital addiction can experience "destructive dependence, extreme change of personality, isolation, and physical signs during withdrawal." It's not surprising that researchers encourage parents to limit and monitor their children's screen time.

Practical ways to manage technology

In The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place, Andy Crouch offers practical commitments parents can make to help their children and family manage technology. Among them:

Turn off technology one hour a day, one day a week, and one week a year.

Use screens for a purpose and together rather than aimlessly and alone.

Dedicate car time to conversation with no technology.

Be sure spouses have each other's passwords and parents have complete access to their children's devices.

I would add this: community is vital to our souls. We were made to do life together. Every image of the church in the New Testament is collectivea vine with many branches, a body with many parts.

By contrast, technology isolates us. For every family that plays a video game together, there are multitudes of children (and parents) who play them alone. A computer or handheld device is intentionally isolating. It's hard for two people to use one keyboard or focus on the same screen.

Such isolation can be devastating.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that loneliness undermines health and is linked to early mortality. It is worse for longevity than being obese or physically inactive.

While technology can foster a sense of community through social media, it's no substitute for in-depth personal relationships. Nothing replaces spending time with those we love. A screen is not a parent.

Read more about screens and children on The Christian Post.John Piper: Christian parents shouldn't replace Christmas story with 'non-gospel, pathetic myth like Santa Claus' Christian Post Contributor | 18 December, 2018 by Leah MarieAnn Klett

Ahead of Christmas, theologian John Piper warned Christian parents against replacing the story of Jesus' birth with "a non-gospel, pathetic myth like Santa Claus" as doing so demonstrates a "failure to be thrilled with the greatest story in the world."

In an AskPastorJohn podcast, the Reformed theologian and former pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, pointed out that it's impossible for parents to teach their children that Santa Claus is real without lying to them.

"Are we misleading the children in telling them this story as a simple statement of facts?" he asked. "Santa Claus lives at the North Pole. Santa Claus flies with reindeer. Santa Claus leaves gifts under the tree. Santa Claus is served by elves. To present this myth as fact is not truthful to our children."

Made-up stories  like C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia or Jesus' parables  are different, he explained, because they're presented as fiction.

"The children should know that they're made up and they should know why parents tell children made-up stories," Piper said. "It's a good thing, I think, to tell children made-up stories."

But the biggest reason parents should avoid teaching their children about Santa Claus is that doing so obscures the "thrilling truth" about Christmas, the pastor contended.

"Why would a Christian who has found in Jesus Christ the greatest treasure in the world trade it for anything else? Why would they  who see in the incarnation and life, death, resurrection, and reign of Jesus the most amazing story in the world  tell another story?"

"Why would they replace it with such a non-gospel, pathetic myth like Santa Claus, whose message is 'You better be good, and you better not cry'? I just can't imagine it," he posed.

The pastor went on to argue that laying the myth of Santa Claus over the story of Jesus demonstrates a "failure to be thrilled with the greatest story in the world."

"It's a failure. It's a syncretistic compromise with culture: 'Poor Jesus. He's invisible. Santa Claus is not. You can see him at the mall. Poor Jesus doesn't make any rounds on a sled in the sky, leaving toys under the tree,'" he said.

He concluded: "Dropping Santa is gain, or Christianity is a lie. If Christ cannot compete with Santa in the hearts of our kids, we don't know the real Christ or there is no real Christ ... Your children have Christ-shaped empty spaces in their hearts. They don't know this. You must show them, but it can't be done with Santa Claus, only Christ."

Research in the Journal of Cognition and Development in 2011 shows that 83 percent of 5-year-olds think that Santa Claus is real. Additionally, one in five adults says they are the parent or guardian of a child in their home who believes in Santa, according to a Pew Research Center study published in 2013.

Read more about Santa Claus on The Christian Post.Meet the celebrity trainer who found God  and now he's transforming lives Pureflix.Com | 17 December, 2018 by Billy Hallowell

Celebrity trainer and fitness enthusiast Alec Penix is on a mission to inspire people to think deeper about physical  and spiritual  health. Penix, who trains some well-known names in Hollywood, is a Christian whose faith informs his work, as he helps people reach their hopes, dreams and personal fitness goals.

"We're much more than physical. We are body, mind and spirit," he recently told The Billy Hallowell Podcast. "And by strengthening all three aspects, that is really how we become the best versions of ourselves."

Read Also: Online Series to Help Get You in Shape

Penix addresses this reality in his new devotional titled, "Seven Sundays: A Faith, Fitness, and Food Plan for Lasting Spiritual and Physical Change," a book that promises to offer a "Biblically grounded, six-week plan to lead you on the path toward losing weight and getting healthier by focusing on the connections between spiritual and physical health."

Penix shared his journey to faith, noting that he found God at one of the darkest moments in his life. He was in Mexico for a wedding and woke up feeling pain, despair and lostness.

"I woke up not feeling the greatest. I was laying in bed," he said. " This was the first time I've ever prayed out loud ... I just cried out and said, 'God I need your help.'"

That's when Penix heard a voice that changed everything: "Alec, It is time to become the man I've called you to be." That experience transformed the trainer.

"From that point on I really just fell in love with God," he said, noting that he turned to church and the Bible. "Because of that I started to see my life change. I wasn't spiritually malnourished anymore ... I started seeing my enthusiasm start and carry over onto other people."

Penix realized that his life was transforming, and that he could help others through a combined focus on faith and fitness.

Now, he's hoping to encourage fans and readers to go on a similar journey.

"Having goals, having purpose is extremely important to push us out of our box into see that we really are created in God's image and that we have unlimited potential," Penix said.

Read more from "Meet the celebrity trainer who found God  and now he's transforming lives" on The Christian Post.Outrage after priest suggests at funeral that teen who committed suicide might not go to Heaven 18 December, 2018 by Leonardo Blair , |

Rev. Don LaCuesta, a priest at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Temperance, Michigan, is now under fire for suggesting at the funeral of an 18-year-old college student that he might not go to Heaven because he took his own life.

Jeff and Linda Hullibarger, parents of Maison Hullibarger, who committed suicide on Dec. 4, are now calling for LaCuesta to be fired for traumatizing his friends and family at his funeral on Dec. 8, the Toledo Blade reported.

"It's not OK," Jeff Hullibarger told the publication. "He needs to be held accountable."

According to The New York Times, the Hullibargers had expected uplifting words for the friends and relatives attending the funeral of their son at the church where all six of their children were baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church, but said what they got from LaCuesta's pulpit was condemnation.

"It was his time to tell everybody what he thought of suicide, [and] we couldn't believe what he was saying," Maison's father told the Detroit Free Press. "He was up there condemning our son, pretty much calling him a sinner. He wondered if he had repented enough to make it to Heaven. He said 'suicide' upwards of six times."

When some people started walking out of the funeral crying, including boys who were his son's age, the bereaved father walked to the pulpit and whispered to the priest, "Father, please stop."

LaCuesta, however, would not relent.

"People told me there was almost a smirk on his face," Jeff Hullibarger said.

"We wanted him to celebrate how Maison lived, not how he died," Maison's mother said.

In a statement that has since been shared widely, the Archdiocese of Detroit apologized that LaCuesta failed to bring comfort to the family. It was also noted that the priest was suspended from funeral duties and would undergo additional training and review.

"After some reflection, the presider agrees that the family was not served as they should have been served. For the foreseeable future, he will not be preaching at funerals and he will have his other homilies reviewed by a priest mentor. In addition, he has agreed to pursue the assistance he needs in order to become a more effective minister in these difficult situations," the archdiocese said.

"We have been in contact with the family since learning of this situation, and we will continue to offer our support going forward."

Read more about suicide on The Christian Post.Pastors in Cuba monitored, threatened by Communist officials despite requests for greater protections: watchdog Christian Post Contributor | 18 December, 2018 by Stoyan Zaimov

Church officials in Cuba have asked for greater protections for their denominations but instead pastors are being monitored and threatened as believers face increased incidents of harassment by Communist officials, a persecution watchdog group reports.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide released its findings in a report on Thursday, noting that freedom of religion or belief continues to be violated in the country.

Both Protestant and Roman Catholic institutions have called for greater protections, but that has led to increased harassment of religious leaders, CSW has warned.

"Often this takes subtler, hard to document forms, and is focused on attempting to create divisions between and within religious groups," the watchdog explained in its summary.

"Religious leaders who have taken on a leadership role in the campaign, both at the local and national levels, have reported that pressure on them remains high; over the past year many have chosen to flee the country and to seek refuge abroad," it added.

"Leaders from the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant churches, both those belonging to and outside of the Cuban Council of Churches, report frequent visits from and meetings with state security agents and Cuban Communist Party officials. These visits and meetings seem to be intended to intimidate the religious leaders and make them aware that they are under close surveillance."

The report includes several examples of the harassment churches are facing. It also noted that a number of church leaders from various denominations have reported on frequent visits from state security or Communist Party agents.

"Some have reported warnings from the agents and officials that the education of their children, or their own employment, could be threatened if the house church leaders continue with their activities," the report says.

"In August a government official paid a number of visits to house churches linked to one pastor in central Cuba. The officials threatened the owners of the homes and pressured them to stop allowing their homes to be used for religious activity. Officials threatened one owner, an elderly woman, with criminal charges if more than 10 people met in her home at any one time."

CSW makes several recommendations to world leaders, including the United Nations and the United States government, about how to address this issue.

"The State Department should continue to closely monitor FORB in Cuba and consider adding the country to the Special Watch List," it asked of the U.S. government.

"The State Department should ensure that all FORB reporting fully reflects the views of marginalized churches and faith leaders, rather than positions of state officials and offices."

Michael Mutzner, the permanent representative to the U.N. in Geneva of the World Evangelical Alliance, wrote in an op-ed for The Christian Post earlier this year that evangelicals in Cuba are often controlled and repressed, but are still growing.

Mutzner noted that evangelicals make up about 10 percent of the Cuban population, with most churches facing some forms of restrictions.

Read more about churches in Cuba on The Christian Post.How do we know Jesus is the Messiah?

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Theologians are explaining how it is possible to know that Jesus Christ was and is indeed the long-awaited Messiah.

In an interview this week with Desiring God, Reformed theologian D.A. Carson explained that it is vital to understand that Christ is not the surname of Jesus but a title.

"Christ was not initially, at least in any sense, a family name; it was a title," Carson explained.

"Its disputed today whether it ever becomes fully a name anywhere in the New Testament. My own view is that it never loses its titular function even if it does pick up some naming function in the later New Testament books."

The word "Christ" is a English rendering of the Greek word christos, which means "someone who is anointed." Throughout the Old Testament, priests, prophets, and kings were all anointed and designated for a particular task, pointing to Jesus who is today regarded as the great high priest, the fulfillment of the prophets. In the New Testament, Jesus is referred to in the New Testament as Christian and in most cases, it means the promised Davidic king.

"Its a way of alluding to the coming or dawning kingdom. In some passages, the title gets blurred over to a larger sweeping expectation of Gods promised Redeemer, Gods promised revelation of himself," Carson said.

Isaiah pointed to this, the Reformed theologian explained, when prophesying about Jesus, that he shall be called 'Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.'"

"Even though Messiah is not used there, because Messiah is regularly used for the Davidic king, this becomes a passage that is espousing a messianism that is an expectation of a redeemer to come, whos in the line of David."

"Thats how the term Messiah works. When we say Jesus Christ, we should be thinking in our mind Jesus the Messiah; Jesus the promised Priest, King, Prophet; Jesus the one who is anointed by God to bring about our redemption. He is Jesus, who has been set aside by God, anointed by God  the ultimate Redeemer, the ultimate anointed One, the ultimate Christ."

Aside from the prophetic language pointing to Jesus as the promised Messiah, the events of Jesus' life fulfilled the actual prophecies themselves.

That Jesus was born in Bethlehem and of a virgin was are but two of the prophecies from Micah and Isaiah among over 300 that were fulfilled ages later through Christ, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association observed in a 2015 post.

"In biblical times, building foundations were built from stone, starting with a single stone placed in the corner as a guide for the entire structure. The cornerstone was essential to the structure of the building and ensured each wall would be balanced, straight and solid," BGEA continued.

Thus, when the Word of God says that Jesus was sent as the cornerstone for the world but would be rejected in the process, he fulfilled the prophecy in Psalm 118 where the writer proclaims that "the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lords doing; It is marvelous in our eyes."

During his earthly ministry Jesus cites these exact words when speaking with religious leaders in Matthew 21.

Jesus was also from Judah, the kingly tribe, Got Questions ministries notes, mentioning the requirement that the Messiah be a king.

"To those of us who believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior, the proof that He is the Jewish Messiah seems overwhelming," the ministry said, noting that, in general, most Jews do not accept Jesus as their Messiah.

Yet that is because both Isaiah and Jesus prophesied a spiritual blindness upon Israel as a judgment for their lack of faith. The Jews were looking for an earthly king, not the ruler of a spiritual kingdom.Study argues that the Bible book of Revelation condemns the use of wine for the Eucharist

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A recent study from a United Kingdom-based publication has argued that the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, condemns the usage of wine for the Eucharist.

Meredith J. C. Warren, director of the Sheffield Institute for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield, had an article published Thursday titled The Cup of Gods Wrath: Libation and Early Christian Meal Practice in Revelation.

According to Warren, passages within Revelation suggest that St. John the Divine, author of Revelation, opposed drinking wine for sacred ceremonies.

Revelation chapter 14, which speaks of wicked nations being drunk with the wine of Babylon, was one example cited by Warren.

Another cited example, chapter 16, describes libation bowls used to pour out Gods wrath as opposed to wine, which would have been common for libation ceremonies.

These verses, appearing just after the episode with the seven bowls, strongly connect wine with fornication, with becoming drunk, and with the Whore  Revelations symbolic Rome, wrote Warren.

In sum, Gods wrath comes from libation cups and wine is almost exclusively used to indicate wrong ritual practice.

Warren went on to note that the pouring out of wine in Revelation is used to imply Gods judgementthat is, to unleash suffering upon those who worship incorrectly and thereby participate fully in the sinful excess of the empire.

Other early Christian texts use libation and wine motifs positively to refer to Jesus bodily sacrifice as a libation of blood. Luke, in the context of the Last Supper, emphasizes the common cup, which he describes as poured out () as a covenant made in Jesus blood, continued Warren.

Paired with what we know of later meal practice in early Christian communities in Asia Minor, which is that at least some groups opted to avoid wine during their Eucharistic meals, the anxiety expressed in Revelation about wine and libation practices and their explicit connection to pagan worship is not surprising.

Within Christianity, there is no consensus on whether it is OK to drink alcohol. While some enjoy the practice, others make a habit of abstaining.

When it comes to the sacrament of communion, some churches have opted to replace actual wine with grape juice, in part to help recovering or struggling alcoholics.

Patrick Nelson, president of Dordt Theological Seminary, told The Christian Post in an interview earlier this year that "the Bible does not expressly forbid the drinking of alcohol," but it "does forbid us from getting drunk from the drinking of alcohol."

"Jesus turned water into wine (John 2:1-11) so it's safe to assume he probably consumed wine himself which was a custom in his day. However, he was also very adamant about Christians not giving in to drunkenness," explained Nelson.

"Drunkenness and addiction are sins in the eyes of Lord and its effects can be devastating not only to the person but those around them as well."This Week in Christian History: Henry VIII, USSR church crackdown, Thomas Becket

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Christianity is a faith with a long and detailed history, with numerous events of lasting significance occurring throughout the ages.

Each week brings the anniversaries of great milestones, horrid tragedies, amazing triumphs, and everything in between.

Here are just a few things that happened this week, Dec. 16-22, in Church history. They include the excommunication of Henry VIII, the Soviet Unions crackdown on the Russian Orthodox Church, and the birth of Thomas a Becket.

1

2

3

4

NextWhy Romans 7 talk on sin is one of the most controversial passages in the Bible: pastor

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

The apostle Pauls talk on the struggles of sin in Romans 7 is one of the most controversial passages of the entire Bible, a pastor has said.

Jordan Standridge, pastor of evangelism at Immanuel Bible Church in Springfield, Virginia, wrote in The Cripplegate earlier this week that Christian believers face a dichotomy in what Paul is saying in the passage.

"We are to kill sin in our lives, but no matter what we do, sin will always be present until our very last breath," he wrote.

"Romans 7 is one of the most controversial passages in Scripture as far as debates are concerned. The big question people ask is, is Paul referring to a believer as he talks through Romans 7:14-25?" Standridge positioned.

Even among those who agree that he is speaking about a believer, there is much debate as to whether the person described is a mature or an immature Christian.

The above-mentioned verses read:

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.

The passage continues: For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do  this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Standridge offered his interpretation of Romans 7:14-25, and said that it describes the type of Christian that believers should all strive to be.

In his reasoning, the pastor pointed out that Paul makes it clear in earlier letters that he hates sin; that he is humble; is happiest when he is holy; and places his hope in Heaven.

"True believers long for Heaven for many different reasons, but the greatest of which is that they will be with Jesus and worship Him without any sin holding us back," he concluded.

Dan Delzell, pastor of Wellspring Church in Papillion, Nebraska, wrote in an op-ed for The Christian Post in 2016 that Romans 7 continues to be a source of disagreement for Christians.

"Some believers have concluded that Paul was referring here to his previous life before he became a Christian," he observed. "Many others are convinced verses 14-25 can only be describing Paul's life as a Christian."

Like Standridge, Delzell said that he holds the latter view.

"I believe this passage describes not only the apostle's Christian experience, but also the experience of every believer," he wrote at the time.

"Don't be surprised if you experience at least 60 seconds of temptation today. Believe it or not, some Christians actually experience hours of temptation in a given day. Perhaps you can relate to that experience, Delzell added.

"After all, you are still in your mortal body. You still possess a basement room within your soul. And you won't be able to get rid of it until you enter Heaven. But you can certainly learn to say no to anything that does not please God. And that's exactly how the apostle Paul was seeking to live his life.2 in 5 British millennials don't know Jesus is the baby in the Nativity; don't know Joseph and Mary

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A survey has found that as many as two out of five British millennials do not know that Jesus Christ is the baby in Nativity scene displays.

The survey, carried out by research company OnePoll on behalf of Hotels.com, found that 39 percent of 2,000 Britons aged between 21 and 38 did not know the baby's identity. A similar amount, or 37 percent of respondents, also did not know about Joseph and Mary, Jesus' earthly parents.

The poll, which examined a number of other questions regarding family and Christmas, found that less than 10 percent of young people were able to name the gifts by the three wise men in the story, namely gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Six percent said that they believed the story of Santa Clause was somehow linked with the Nativity.

"Of course I know about Jesus and Joseph and Mary, although I'm not too sure what the three wise men were doing or the Angel Gabriel for that matter," said one of the respondents, 29-year old Craig Munro.

"It is shocking that some people in my age group don't know the story of the Nativity, but time moves on and some traditions go out of the window I suppose, he added, according to MailOnline.

As for how people prefer to spend Christmas, one in 10 millennials said they did not want to spend it at their in-laws' home.

A fifth said that they would prefer to spend Christmas in the company with friends instead. Only 10 percent noted that they made plans for a get-together with friends over the holidays, however.

We all love getting together with friends and family at Christmas, and everyone celebrates it differently," said Adam Jay, president of Hotels.com, according to The Independent.

Various surveys have documented a decline when it comes to religious faith in Britain. One study released in 2017 by ComRes found that only six percent of British adults could be classified as practicing Christians.

When looking at the Christian respondents, the poll found that as many as 55 percent of believers never read the Bible. A third, or 33 percent of Christians said that they never attend church, and another 29 percent said that they never pray.

Rachel Jordan, the Church of England's National Mission and Evangelism adviser, admitted at the time that the results showed "a real sense of the scale of the task ahead."

"We are really happy when people in this country chose to affiliate with us, identifying as both Christian and Church of England even if in practice they don't always choose to join in our churches," Jordan said.

"But this does show that we need to do more to connect with those people and explore ways to draw them into the wider church community."Are Christians who commit suicide condemned to Hell?

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Responding to the question of whether or not Christians who commit suicide go to Heaven, ethicist Russell Moore said that because the blood of Christ covers sins past, present and future, the last thing we do does not determine where we will spend eternity.

Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, said hes often asked the question by worried individuals whose loved one committed suicide.

They worry, he said. Does this mean because this person essentially the last act on earth was a sin, does this mean that that person is in Hell? And the answer to that is no.

This person is in Christ. That means that the blood of Christ covers that person's sins, past, present and future. And so we're not saved on the basis of the last thing that we do being something that is acceptable to God. We're saved by the grace and mercy of God.

But sometimes, Moore said hes hesitant to weigh in on whether or not Christians who commit suicide go to Heaven because he fears some will view it as permission to commit suicide.

Its not OK, he underscored. A suicide is murder. Suicide is the attacking of the image of God. And suicide is horrible. Its not only a sin but a sin that leaves wreckage and devastation all over the place.

And so if you're someone who's asking that because you're contemplating suicide, I would just plead with you to talk to people in your life and get help because life is worth living."

Many individuals who commit suicide are in a place of deep, deep anguish and distress of various sorts or suffering from mental illness, Moore pointed out, adding we ought to view them with compassion.

The response that we ought to have when someone we love commits suicide is not to blame people, not to blame that person, not to be angry at that person, he concluded. Nor is it to wonder, Does this mean that this person is outside of the reach of God's grace? God's grace covers a multitude of sins, including those that are so hurtful that we hesitate to even talk to them.

Amid a dramatic increase in suicide over the last two decades, a number of faith leaders have weighed in on whether or not those who commit suicide are condemned to Hell.

Recently, a Michigan priest came under fire for suggesting at the funeral of an 18-year-old college student that he might not go to Heaven because he took his own life.

"It was his time to tell everybody what he thought of suicide, [and] we couldn't believe what he was saying," the teen's father, Jeff Hullibarger, told the Detroit Free Press. He was up there condemning our son, pretty much calling him a sinner. He wondered if he had repented enough to make it to Heaven. He said 'suicide' upwards of six times.

Apologist and New Testament scholar Dr. Jeremiah Johnston has argued that suicide is not the unforgivable sin.

"The only sin that God cannot forgive is the sin of rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior," he told CP earlier. "Do people who commit suicide go to Hell? Some people teach that suicide is the 'unforgivable sin.' God forgives that sin. Is it a sin? Absolutely. But the salvation we receive from Jesus Christ is eternal, regardless of our mental state or our spiritual maturity or immaturity. Otherwise, the Gospel is void. Do you know how many Christians die unexpectedly with unconfessed sin in their life?"

Kayla Stoecklein, widow of late Inland Hills Church Lead Pastor Andrew Stoecklein, who died after attempting suicide at his California church in August, also debunked the commonly held view and wrote on a blog, "This is a common misbelief about suicide and it breaks my heart ... I believe with 100% of my soul that Andrew is in heaven. Andrew had a real, raw, authentic, and infectious relationship with Jesus. Thousands of people will be in heaven because of him."

Saddleback Church co-founder and best-selling author Kay Warren whose son, Matthew, died by suicide at age 27 in 2013, has also emphasized that suicide doesn't condemn a Christian to Hell.

"God's promised us that Matthew's salvation was safe and secure. Matthew gave his life to Jesus when he was a little boy. And so, I'm absolutely 100 percent confident based on the work of Jesus that Matthew is in Heaven," she told The Christian Post in an earlier interview.Atheist group lawsuit over West Virginia school Bible classes should move ahead: 4th Circuit

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Update Appended

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has overturned a lower courts decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed against a West Virginia county for offering Bible classes in its middle and elementary schools.

On Monday, the Fourth Circuit sided with parent Elizabeth Deal, who sued on behalf of her daughter to stop the county from allowing the Bible in Schools program to be taught in Mercer County, a program that had been in county schools for nearly 80 years before it was suspended last year.

The elective program provided 30 minutes of weekly Bible instruction for elementary school students and 45 minutes for middle school students as a part of the regular school day, according to the courts ruling. The county itself had administered the BITS program and designed its curriculum for specially employed BITS teachers since 1986.

The curriculum reportedly included lessons on the crucifixion, the Ten Commandments, Moses and other elements of the Christian belief. Although administered by the school board, the program was privately funded through a nonprofit organization called Bluefield Bible Study Fund.

The appeals court noted that while the program was ostensibly voluntary, because parents were required to return a permission slip to allow their child to attend, nearly every student participated.

As for Deal, she is agnostic and wouldnt allow her daughter, Jessica, to participate in the class because she wanted her daughter to learn about multiple religions and make her own religious decisions.

According to the court ruling, Jessica was made to sit in the coatroom area in the back of the classroom during the BITS teaching.

After the mother complained, Jessica was then sent to another classroom, the school library or the computer lab during the BITS teachings. Meanwhile, the county never offered any alternative instruction to Jessica during the BITS program. In addition, Deal claims her daughter faced harassment from other students because she did not participate in the program.

Ultimately, Deal decided it was best to send Jessica to school in another school district that doesnt have the BITS program.

Represented by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Deals case was previously dismissed by a federal district court judge last year after the county suspended the program and terminated all teaching positions affiliated with it to provide time for a curriculum review.

The county maintained that Deals case was now moot after the suspension and added that because Jessica no longer attends school in the county and has not vowed to return, that the family lacks legal standing to seek injunctive relief.

However, FFRF, one of the nations leading secular groups that advocates for a strict separation of church and state, argued that injunctive relief was still needed to prevent the school from re-instituting the BITS program in the future.

The Fourth Circuit agreed and remanded the case back to the U.S. District Court to rule on the merit of the case.

In sum, the County has not carried its burden of showing that subsequent events make it absolutely clear that the suspended version of the BITS program will not return in identical or materially indistinguishable form, the ruling reads. Appellants current claims are therefore not moot. Of course, this does not prevent the district court from addressing mootness in the future if presented with that issue.

The Christian Post reached out to Superintendent Deborah Akers for comment on the ruling. A response is pending. (See update below.)

FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a statement that she is hopeful that the school district will finally put an end to these indoctrinating Bible classes and attempts to bring the classes back.

No family should suffer the way this family did just because it was unwilling to have religion forced upon it in a public school system, Gaylor stressed.

Update, December 19, 2018:

After publication, The Christian Post received the following statement from Akers:

While the courts decision did not address, in any way, the merits of the case, we are disappointed by it. Mercer County Schools remains committed to following the law as it provides diverse educational opportunities to its students.Gay, transgender youth at 'significantly higher risk' of suicide than heterosexual peers: study

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

LGBT youth are at a higher risk of suicide and life-threatening behavior than their heterosexual peers, a new study has found, with transgender teens being the most at risk.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of 2.5 million adolescents published in JAMA Pediatrics concluded that sexual minority youths  those identifying as homosexual, bisexual, transgender  have a significantly higher risk of life-threatening behavior compared with their heterosexual peers.

To examine the risk of attempted suicide among sexual minority adolescents, differentiating for each sexual minority group, researchers searched electronic databases for articles published through April 30, 2017, with the following search terms: heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, adolescents, teens, and attempted suicide.

In total, thirty-five studies reported in 22 articles that involved 2,378,987 heterosexual and 113,468 sexual minority adolescents (age range, 12-20 years) were included in the analysis.

Researchers found that overall, transgender youths were the most at risk of committing suicide, followed by bisexual and homosexual teens.

As suicide is the second-leading cause of death among adolescents, according to the Center for Disease Control, researchers emphasized that public awareness is important, and a careful evaluation of supportive strategies (eg, support programs, counseling, and destigmatizing efforts) should be part of education and public health planning.

Dr. Michelle Cretella, executive director of the American College of Pediatricians, told The Christian Post that the study "confirms what no one disputes: Namely, that youth who identify as LGBQT have higher rates of mental illness leading to a greater risk of life-threatening behaviors."

But contrary what to these authors conclude, Cretella said, there is "no evidence that 'destigmatizing efforts' will solve the problem, because there is no evidence that the higher rates are due primarily to stigmatization."

She pointed out that Sweden is among the most LGBT affirming nations in the world, yet, LGBT mental illness and suicide rates in Sweden are just as dramatically elevated relative to the general population.

"This fact strongly suggests that it is at least as likely, if not more so, that the higher rates are primarily due to LGBQT behavior, or to common underlying psychosocial factors that trigger both LGBQT attractions and accompanying mental disorders," she continued.

The findings are not surprising, given previous reports showing that young people who identify as sexual minorities are more likely than their heterosexual peers to develop depression and anxiety, self-harm, and attempt suicide.

A recent study published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal found that LGBT youth are four times more likely to experience symptoms of depression and report more self-harm than heterosexual youths throughout their school years and into early adulthood.

Gemma Lewis from University College London in the UK, who led the research, said it is concerning that despite changes in public perceptions and attitudes, sexual-minority youth remain at increased risk of long-term mental health problems.

Our findings underscore the importance of mental health problems before conscious self-identification and labeling of sexual-minority orientation," said Lewis.

"It is imperative that we find new ways to reach these adolescents and that they are able to access high-quality support services from a young age," she said.

Additionally, a September study conducted by Russell B. Toomey, Ph.D., of the University of Arizona-Tucson, found that more than half of all teenagers who identify as female to male transgender have attempted suicide.

Commenting on Toomeys findings, Heather Hutzi, chief psychologist at Children's Hospital of Orange County in California, told CNN that suicide rates are higher in every population that has "increased stigma attached to them  or a lack of understanding."

She explained that feeling marginalized, stigmatized, and isolated leads many young people to feel so hopeless that they start using drugs, which, when coupled with depression, increases the risk of suicide.

They're very impulsive," she said of teens. "For adolescents, in particular, a large percentage  I think it's like 50 percent to 60 percent  make an attempt within 30 minutes of having the idea. Their brain isn't developed enough."In Isolated World of Pastors, Churches Mum on Troubling Clergy Suicides

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

In the fall of 2013, the Rev. Teddy Parker Jr.'s wife found him in the driveway of their Warner Robins home in Georgia with a "self-inflicted gunshot wound." Many were stunned.

Parker never believed in suicide and often admonished his parishioners against it.

"I'm very surprised because he didn't preach that. He preached totally against it. It's something that the congregation don't really understand," Russell Rowland, a member of the Bibb Mount Zion Baptist Church in Macon, Georgia, where Parker was leader, said at the time.

"Everybody is just kind of stunned right now. I think a lot of people are just trying to understand why that happened. We're just praying to the Lord for guidance on this," he said.

A few months after Parker's death in April 2014, then pastor of Community Bible Church in High Point, North Carolina, Robert McKeehan, 42, was found hanging inside his home. He was the same age as Parker and was also a father of two.

These pastor suicides have not just been unfortunate isolated events.

An alarming number of pastors have taken their own lives in the last five years. And despite the increasing prevalence of suicide nationally, and the troubling rates at which the epidemic has been affecting certain groups of clergy, many churches remain silent on the issue.

Parker's suicide came just three weeks ahead of Pastor Ed Montgomery's in November 2013. Three months later it was the Rev. Allen "Tommy" Rucker. Two months after that it was Pastor Robert McKeehan. Less than a month later is was Pastor DB Antrim. Then three months later it was the Rev. William "Bill" Scott who also killed his wife Charlotte.

Less than a year later in May 2015 it was Phil Lineberger, former president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and pastor of Sugar Land Baptist Church. Three months after that in August 2015 it was the Rev. Seth Oiler. About a year later in August 2016, it was Pastor Lawrence "Larry" DeLong. Less than six months later and just before Christmas in December 2016 it was Pastor Daniel Randall who also took the life of his 27-year-old daughter Claire. Then last December, after a brutal struggle with his mental health, suicide expert and senior pastor of Christ the Rock Community Church in Menasha, Wisconsin, Bill Lenz, took his life too.

Troubling Statistics

A 2016 data brief from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics said from 1999 through 2014, the age-adjusted suicide rate in the United States increased 24 percent from 10.5 to 13.0 per 100,000, with the pace of increase greater after 2006. Suicide rates, the brief said, increased for both males and females and for all ages 1074. The rates are at the highest levels in nearly 30 years, a federal data analysis showed. Data illustrating this jump shows that in raw numbers the total number of people who died by suicide nationally jumped from 29,199 in 1999 to 42,773 in 2014.

While no one knows for sure the exact number of pastors who are among those who die by suicide, the National Occupational Mortality Surveillance database, which includes records on almost 4 million deaths during the period 1999, 20032004, and 20072012, provides a studied estimate on how many pastors are affected.

In examining deaths by profession, this CP reporter looked at data provided to The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health by 23 selected state vital statistics offices and the National Center for Health Statistics.

NIOSH calculates the proportionate mortality ratios or PMR when data for the population at risk are not available and death rates cannot be computed.

"A PMR will tell you if there is a greater proportion of suicides in a profession compared to the general population. A PMR above 100 is considered to exceed the average background risk compared to all occupations," Julie Eschelbach, health communications specialist for the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, explained.

Looking at the data for all clergy combined regardless of sex or race, the PMR of 70 does not exceed the average background risk. When the data is broken down by sex and race, however, black male and white female clergy members showed elevated PMRs of 110 while the PMR for white male clergy stood at 52.

Counseling experts who track research on mental health among pastors are also raising concerns.

While acknowledging that he wasn't aware of any specific studies that looked specifically at suicides among pastors, Dr. Jared Pingleton, vice-president of professional development at the American Association of Christian Counselors, who is a licensed clinical psychologist and a credentialed minister, said of the suicide rate among clergy, "I wouldn't be surprised if it's not at least as high as the general population. I wouldn't be surprised if it's higher."

Chuck Hannaford, a clinical psychologist who consults for the Southern Baptist Convention, told The Gospel Coalition in 2016 that he believes the rate of pastor suicides has increased during his 30 years of practice and suggested the problem was worsening.

"Being a pastor is a dangerous job," he said. "Especially in certain evangelical circles, where you have more of a fundamentalist orientation theologically, you find pastors who will reduce their depression or their negative thought processes to strictly spiritual problems."Lysa TerKeurst, husband renew vows after overcoming infidelity, public separation

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Over a year after announcing that she would be pursuing a divorce with her husband, Proverbs 31 Ministries President Lysa TerKeurst renewed her vows this holiday season to her husband of over 25 years.

On an unusually sunny Tuesday in December, we dressed up a bit and whispered healing words, heartfelt promises, and holy vows, TerKeurst wrote on Instagram last week with a photo of herself and her husband, Art, during the ceremony. A million prayers. A miracle answer. A marriage restored."

It was in June 2017 when the popular author and international speaker dropped a bombshell on her supporters and announced that she would be separating from her husband and pursuing a divorce due to his ongoing infidelity and substance abuse.

TerKeurst explained that when she first found out about Art's affair with a woman he met online, she had decided not to divorce him. But even after fighting the "hardest battle" of her life to save her marriage for the last couple of years, "he has continued to abuse substances, be unfaithful, and refused to be truthful to me and our family."

"After much prayer and consultation with wise, biblically-minded people, I have decided that Art has abandoned our marriage," she said, utterly heartbroken.

Shortly after the shocking news, she announced that she was also diagnosed with breast cancer and would need to undergo a double mastectomy.

TerKeurst recently released a book, titled It's Not Supposed to Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered, about her devasting journey. In it, she wanted to be transparent with all those who look to her for guidance by sharing the hard moments of her family's story and how the Lord has guided her through it all.

She is now cancer free and after extensive counseling, fasting and, as she told CP in a recent interview, keeping the lines of communication open, the couple have rededicated their hearts back to each other by renewing their vows.

The ceremony took place in North Carolina with their closest family members, all who took to social media with posts hailing the couple as heroes for their inspiring story of redemption.

The 49-year-old minister has made it her life goal to empower other women and encourage them in their marriages. Whether through counseling, speaking engagements or her books, she has always preached hope and restoration.

Now, her life has become a true testament to that through hope in her own despair.

Never doubt we serve a God who still does miracles. In the middle of the work He did from the devastation in my marriage nothing looked like I hoped and everything felt impossible, she wrote in another blog post. But all the while when I saw nothing, God was doing something. And in His way and His timing, new life came.

The minister ended her Instagram testimonials with a photo of her and her husband kissing at their vow renewal celebration.

I still cry over what was. I still find myself wishing the hurt wasnt part of our story. But God has whispered deep into my soul, I havent cursed you with this. Ive entrusted you with this. Oh God, may we be found fiercely faithful, TerKeurst declared.

We will go to those on the brutal battlefield of heartbreak and speak Truth. Show redemption. And call forth life from dead bones in the name of Jesus. Then at the end of each day, we will seal our commitment with a kiss of togetherness. For we cant change what was. But we sure can lavishly love, honor, and appreciate the breathtaking reality of what is.

See TerKeursts ceremony photos and read her full Instagram posts here.Miami's oldest congregation faces $6.5 million tax lien for leasing space to for-profit school

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Update Appended

The oldest Christian congregation in Miami is being forced to pay $7.1 million in property taxes after the county claimed that the church was leasing out part of its waterfront property to a for-profit Christian school and food trucks.

Surrounded by skyscrapers and just a few minutes drive from South Beach, First Presbyterian Church of Miami has filed two lawsuits as the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser recently issued the church a multi-million dollar tax lien.

The Miami Herald reports that First Miami, which was first founded in 1896, is currently housed in a 3.4-acre campus right off of the water in Miamis Brickell neighborhood, which is also home to commercial office towers and luxury condominiums. The estimated worth of the property was reported at $66.3 million.

First Miami has used part of its campus for the operation of KeyPoint Christian Academy, a for-profit K-8 institution that has about 178 students and 45 teachers, since 2008. Additionally, the church rents out space to food trucks.

Considering that Florida Statute 196.196 indicates that only parts of the property used for religious, charitable, literary and scientific reasons are exempt from property taxation, the appraisers office received an anonymous tip through its website about the relationship between First Miami and KeyPoint Christian Academy.

The appraiser's office deemed that the church violated its religious exemption status and issued a tax lien in the total of $6.5 million that includes interest and fines for the years 2009-2017. As well, the church is being charged just over $509,000 in property taxes for 2018.

However, First Miami is challenging the government agencys claims and filed two complaints in court on Nov. 30 asking for a jury trial to determine whether or not churchs entire property should have a religious exemption from property taxes, according to the Miami Herald.

The academy is operated by an organization called International Schools of Brickell LLC and charges upwards of $16,000 in tuition. Yet, First Miami lists the school on its website as our school.

Additionally, the churchs lawsuit claims that International Schools of Brickell, an entity founded in 2013, only serves as a third-party administrator of the school.

In its lawsuit, the church accused the county of discrimination.

By partially revoking the Propertys tax exempt status and seeking to collect the tax allegedly owed for 2018, the Defendants have acted in an arbitrary, capricious and discriminatory manner and thereby denied the Church equal protection under the law in violation of the Churchs constitutional rights, a legal filing states.

The Christian Post reached out to First Miami for comment from Pastor Christopher Atwood. A response is pending. (See update below.)

Atwood, who teaches a Bible class in the school, declined to comment on the case in an interview with the Miami Herald but asserted that Key Point Academy is a large part of the churchs mission.

The property appraiser is doing their job and we are doing ours, Atwood said. The rest is in the hands of God.

Fort Lauderdale-based lawyer Franklin Zemel described the situation as a churchs ultimate nightmare scenario. Zemel, who is not representing any party to the case, disagrees with the churchs religious discrimination claim.

I dont see anything that suggests the county is acting in a mean or arbitrary way, he told the Miami Herald. To me, it sounds like youve got a church that is leasing out a school, theyre making money and not paying what they owe.

First Miami was labeled a historic site by the city in 2003.

Churches nationwide will also face extra tax concerns this upcoming tax season as parking benefits they offer to their employees could become taxable under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

The result could be mass confusion for volunteer church bookkeepers as they are untrained on how to calculate the parking tax. It could require churches to spend money to hire someone to do the calculations for them. Additionally, pastors across the country could lose their reserved parking spots just to avoid the tax confusion over parking benefits.

A number of denominational groups and faith-based nonprofits have pressured Congress to eliminate the provision from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

A volunteer who counts the offering and does the bookkeeping in a local church  theyre not going to know what to do, Galen Carey, vice president of government relations at the National Association of Evangelicals, told Politico. Theyre going to have to hire someone, he said.

Last week, the Department of Treasury issued guidelines that are designed to soften the burden of the parking tax provision by showing churches and other nonprofits how they can calculate taxable income from parking provided to their employees.

Update, Dec. 18, 2018:

After publication, The Christian Post received the following statement from Pastor Christopher Atwood:

"The issue in the lawsuit we filed relates to how we use our property. Under Florida law, much like the law in all other states, churches are exempt from property taxes, but in order to remain exempt their property must be used consistently with their core, religious purposes or other exempt purposes. Earlier this year, we learned that the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser was challenging our exemption because we have contracted with a small number of private parties to operate on limited portions of our grounds, including a private party to help us administer our church school. There are no allegations of nefarious conduct of any kind. We spoke on several occasions with the Property Appraisers office in an effort to resolve the case short of litigation, but inevitably the Property Appraiser filed a lien claiming that we owe 9 years of back taxes.

"Suffice it to say for purposes of this letter that we disagree with the Property Appraisers position, and filed suit because we were left with no other options. The legal position we will assert in this case finds ample support in the United States and Florida Constitutions, both of which favor tax exemptions for religious institutions as a bulwark against governments interfering with the practice of religion. The legal position is also fully consistent with the governing Florida statutes. Numerous other religious institutions in South Florida operate in the same fashion, as long standing precedent supports it and it directly benefits the quality of religious education and related programming. We are confident that the Property Appraisers position will be rejected in court."By Azernews





By Laman Ismayilova

An event dedicated to the 109th anniversary of the birth of Azerbaijani national artist Sattar Bahlulzade was held at the artist's house-museum.

The museum collection has been enriched with new exhibits related to the artist, , Trend Life reported.

Among the new exhibits are Sattar Bahlulzades autobiography, a certificate from the art college in which he studied, letters addressed to the master brush, kelaghai, donated by the workers of Amirjan settlement for his 50th anniversary, reproduction of paintings stored in the State Tretyakov Gallery (Russia) and other items.

Director of the House-Museum Irada Abdinova provided detailed information about the museum`s activity and new exhibits.

The founder of contemporary Azerbaijani landscape painting, Sattar Bahlulzade skillfully put on the canvas his impressions about the fast-changing world.

Strong passion for art since childhood gave him the drive to begin his professional education at the National Art Institute in Baku (1927-1931).

In 1931, he began to work in the "Kommunist" newspaper as a "graphic artist" under the direction of great national artist and cartoonist Azim Azimzade.

Bahlulzade entered in 1933 the department of graphic arts of Moscow Institute of Arts named after V. Surikov, where he studied at the workshops of famous Soviet graphic artist Vladimir Favorskiy.

For the rest of his life, the artist felt the enormous influence of his teacher, who inspired a love of beauty in his student.

Sattar's legacy includes countless works that have been exhibited all over the world, including personal exhibitions in the U.S., Britain, Turkey and Russia. Many of his works include specific areas of Azerbaijan, for example, a series of landscapes dedicated to Guba area (in the north-east of Azerbaijan,): "The Shore of Gudiyalchai", "A Road to Gyz-Benevsha", "The Valley of Gudiyalchai", and "The Green Carpet".

The first personal exhibition of Bahlulzade was held in 1966 in Prague.

It was the first personal exhibition of a soviet Azerbaijani artist in Europe.

In 1940, Bahlulzade worked on his final project "Revolt of Babek", dealing with a great hero of the 7th-century struggling against the Arabic invasion.

He also created around 30 sketch diaries that contain his reflections on life and art.

Bahlulzade died in 1947 due to the blood poisoning. Unlike other prominent art workers, he was laid to rest in his native village of Amirjan, next to his mother's grave.

The 34th UNESCO General Assembly issued a resolution to mark the 100th anniversary of Sattar Bahlulzade in 2008-2009.







Outrage after priest suggests at funeral that teen who committed suicide might not go to Heaven

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Rev. Don LaCuesta, a priest at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Temperance, Michigan, is now under fire for suggesting at the funeral of an 18-year-old college student that he might not go to Heaven because he took his own life.

Jeff and Linda Hullibarger, parents of Maison Hullibarger, who committed suicide on Dec. 4, are now calling for LaCuesta to be fired for traumatizing his friends and family at his funeral on Dec. 8, the Toledo Blade reported.

Its not OK, Jeff Hullibarger told the publication. He needs to be held accountable.

According to The New York Times, the Hullibargers had expected uplifting words for the friends and relatives attending the funeral of their son at the church where all six of their children were baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church, but said what they got from LaCuestas pulpit was condemnation.

"It was his time to tell everybody what he thought of suicide, [and] we couldn't believe what he was saying," Maison's father told the Detroit Free Press. He was up there condemning our son, pretty much calling him a sinner. He wondered if he had repented enough to make it to Heaven. He said 'suicide' upwards of six times.

When some people started walking out of the funeral crying, including boys who were his sons age, the bereaved father walked to the pulpit and whispered to the priest, "Father, please stop."

LaCuesta, however, would not relent.

"People told me there was almost a smirk on his face," Jeff Hullibarger said.

"We wanted him to celebrate how Maison lived, not how he died," Maison's mother said.

In a statement that has since been shared widely, the Archdiocese of Detroit apologized that LaCuesta failed to bring comfort to the family. It was also noted that the priest was suspended from funeral duties and would undergo additional training and review.

"After some reflection, the presider agrees that the family was not served as they should have been served. For the foreseeable future, he will not be preaching at funerals and he will have his other homilies reviewed by a priest mentor. In addition, he has agreed to pursue the assistance he needs in order to become a more effective minister in these difficult situations, the archdiocese said.

"We have been in contact with the family since learning of this situation, and we will continue to offer our support going forward."

As many Christians, including pastors, have been victims of suicide, some have been challenging the enduring "myth" that suicide victims are condemned to Hell. Kayla Stoecklein, widow of late Inland Hills Church Lead Pastor Andrew Stoecklein, who died after attempting suicide at his California church in August, wrote on a blog, "This is a common misbelief about suicide and it breaks my heart ... I believe with 100% of my soul that Andrew is in heaven. Andrew had a real, raw, authentic, and infectious relationship with Jesus. Thousands of people will be in heaven because of him."

Kay Warren, best-selling author and Bible teacher who co-founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, with her husband, Rick, also supports the view that suicide doesn't condemn a Christian to Hell.

Warren's son, Matthew, fatally shot himself at the age of 27 in April 2013, after a long and private struggle with mental illness.

"God's promised us that Matthew's salvation was safe and secure. Matthew gave his life to Jesus when he was a little boy. And so, I'm absolutely 100 percent confident based on the work of Jesus that Matthew is in Heaven," she told The Christian Post in an earlier interview.UK cathedral seeks to help people connect to God through helter skelter, labyrinth, yoga mats

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A cathedral in the U.K. has announced plans to help people connect to God through installing a helter skelter, including a labyrinth, Bible box, and yoga mats.

Norwich Cathedral announced last week that a fairground ride is to be installed inside the building in the summer of 2019, hoping to showcase the ancient space "in a new way and open up conversations about faith."

While commonly associated with the song "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles and mass murderer Charles Manson in the U.S., in England, a "helter skelter" has been a popular amusement ride since the turn of the 20th century, according to phrases.org.

The cathedral's 40-foot-tall helter skelter will allow visitors to climb inside and have a look at the famous medieval roof bosses that depict stories from the Bible.

Yoga mats will be stationed for people to gaze up at the cathedrals ceiling, while a canvas labyrinth will give visitors space to walk, reflect, and pray.

Among the other novelties, an 8ft by 8ft by 12ft "Bible Box" will offer people the chance to literally sit inside a Bible and read it in a new way.

A cathedral may not be the natural home of a helter skelter but that is precisely part of the draw," said Rev. Canon Andy Bryant, canon for mission and pastoral care at the cathedral.

We will be doing what cathedrals have always done: helping people see things differently and make connections with the things of God," he added.

Bryant continued: The helter skelter and all the other activities will be a way for visitors old and new to explore Norwich Cathedral in an entirely unique way and we hope people of all ages will enjoy taking part in the Seeing It Differently project.

The initiative, called "Seeing It Differently," will run at Norwich Cathedral from August 7 to 18.

Several U.K. cathedrals and churches have opened their spaces recently to extra-curricular projects, from movies to fashion-shows, some which have drawn criticism.

Earlier in 2018, Derby Cathedral allowed a local cinema to screen horror/thriller films such as "The Wicker Man" and "Don't Look Now," which contained scenes depicting graphic sex, full female nudity and human sacrifice. Critics suggested that such scenes are inappropriate to be shown inside a church.

The Very Rev. Stephen Hance, the Dean of Derby Cathedral, argued that the movies weren'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.

In 2017, St. Andrew's Church in Holborn, which was founded 1,000 years ago, was used by a Turkish fashion designer as a runway for a modeling show that featured outfits with demonic symbolism, including inverted crosses and devil horns.

A spokesman for the church said at the time that St. Andrew's agreed to the booking as it has always supported London Fashion Week, but was not aware of the satanic-themed content that was to be featured.Willow Creek Association President Apologizes for 'Missteps, Mistakes, Slip-Ups' in Hybels Scandal

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Willow Creek Association President Tom De Vries apologized Thursday at the Global Leadership Summit for the "missteps, mistakes, slip-ups, blunders" made in not condemning sooner the alleged actions of Willow Creek Community Church founder Bill Hybels.

De Vries also encouraged leadership partners to help build constructive dialogue in charting a path forward.

On April 10, after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct, Hybels resigned as pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, and from his position as chair of the board of directors of the Willow Creek Association which produces the annual Global Leadership Summit.

In a statement described as a "family conversation" at the start of the summit at the megachurch Thursday, De Vries reiterated that Hybels' connection to the organization since his resignation had been severed and admitted "we could and should have done better."

"Bill's engagement with the summit and the Willow Creek Association has been severed," he said.

"There is no map for the journey we've been on. We've had missteps, mistakes, slip-ups, blunders not condemning Bills actions to a greater degree and more publicly; not showing more support to the women who courageously came forward with their concerns; perpetuating a narrative of false allegations and collusions. We are sorry for the places where we could and should have done better," De Vries said in a recording of his remarks at the summit.

He explained that the Hybels scandal created "tremendous turmoil" for the summit and the Willow Creek family.

About two weeks before the start of the summit, the organization announced that they had suffered a loss of 111 host sites as a direct result of the sexual misconduct allegations that led to Hybels' resignation.

Weeks before that, in early July, three major speakers slated for the summit also dropped out of the event. Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington, Pastor A.R. Bernard of the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York, and Lisa Bodell, founder and CEO of Futurethink all pulled out on principle as some critics argued that the summit should have been suspended this year.

De Vries noted that he and his team have been trying to handle concerns from partners privately and thanked those who supported the event this year.

"We have purposely tried to not navigate this situation publicly. We've worked to be transparent with our host sites, with our Global Leadership Summit partners who journeyed with us faithfully during these 20 weeks," he said.

Some host sites in New York City said they were instructed to keep media away from the summit and no recording of any kind would be allowed.

"Along with me our team has spent hundreds of hours on the phone and in video conferences and through email answering questions and inquiries and being as open and transparent as possible," De Vries said. "We've reached out to have open dialogue and conversations with those who shared these concerns and their experiences. It's an effort that I have made personally and as recently as yesterday. And would hope that in the days ahead the response and requests extended to sit down and talk this through in a more honest and helpful way will be honored."

"We're still in the middle of a very difficult and demanding set of circumstances. The accusations and allegations need to be pursued in order to acknowledge wrongdoing, misconduct and even abuse where applicable," he added.

In the wake of the scandal, De Vries said the Willow Creek Association was committed to establishing an independent leadership advisory council to provide oversight for an independent investigation and helping to create "an environment that can be helpful in the dialogue regarding power dynamics."

"... Women and men in the marketplace and in the church and how these dynamics impact gender equality, gender bias, and the glass ceiling. Leaders are learners and we are learners just like you," De Vries said.

He noted that social justice advocate Danielle Strickland would speak to the audience that morning about power dynamics and "how the relationships between men and women are eroding, marked by suspicion, confusion, pain, suffering and a whole lot of ambiguity about what to do at this time."

A commitment was also made to develop future opportunities for growth and learning on the issue of power dynamics as it relates to gender and inequality.

"The Global Leadership Summit has a track record of dealing with the issues of the day head on. Whether it's HIV/AIDS, global poverty, racial reconciliation or refugees, we'll invite those that are on the forefront of this movement of social change in order to assist in providing help and healing and offering ways for businesses and churches and organizations to be proactive, to power, gender and inequality dynamics," he said.

De Vries further noted that among the reasons the summit did not take a pause, as suggested by some critics this year, is the teaching moment that could be missed at an event that is predominantly supported by women.

"Why have we chosen this pathway forward rather than stand on the sideline or take a pause? I believe the task of leadership is to step up, step out, engage and equip. To inspire and call out the best in others in order to make a difference for good and for God in our world. The future destiny of thousands of women around the world can be impacted through their learning experience at the Global Leadership Summit. Over these two days more than 50 percent, 57 percent to be exact, of those attending this summit are women," he said.

"By sitting in your seat this year, we praise God for that. ... By sitting in your seat this year, you help to make a difference globally, especially in the lives of women as we expanded to 135 countries. We're in 23 of the 25 poorest countries in the world and many of those countries marginalize, disregard and dishonor women," De Vries explained.

"I hope you will join us in providing heartfelt compassion to the hurting, to those who are harassed and helpless and whom we know Jesus had a heart for. And also unconditional grace to all of us who have fallen and are broken. We all need to be voices of healing, repairers of the breach, givers of grace and raising the standards in showing honor and in speaking the truth in love."Worlds first Christian airline to cater to missionaries, charge no luggage fee

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Christians traveling around the world and locally for mission trips and religious tours may soon be able to kiss lost luggage and baggage fees goodbye as Judah 1, an aviation ministry out of Texas is set to become the worlds first Christian airline.

The ministry announced on Wednesday that the FAA had accepted their application to switch from a private operator to becoming the first and only Christian Airline! last month.

This means Judah 1 (upon receiving its DOT and 121 Certification) will have the freedom to transport as many different churches and mission organizations as we can. This is a huge honor and privilege and we give God all the glory! We will be posting more information as we are able. Thank you so much Judah 1 partners and friends for making this possible!

The ministrys website explains that it serves missions-minded Christian people of all denominations traveling to the mission fields of the world. Their planes have also delivered hundreds of missionaries and transported thousands of pounds of cargo.

In an interview with The Christian Post on Monday, Everett Aaron, founder and CEO of Judah 1, explained that he hopes that the ministrys airline status will be approved by next summer and noted that the FAA has been very supportive of their efforts.

If everything goes as planned we are looking at some time in the summer of 2019, he said.

While Christian customers can expect to pay competitive ticket prices with Judah 1, Aaron is assuring his potential customer base that they will no longer have to worry about baggage fees and travel hazards like lost luggage.

We will have to charge regular ticket prices just like you do for the [other] airlines. This is not available for just the general public, you have to be part of a mission team. It will be very competitive with the airlines. The advantage is theres no luggage fees. Absolutely none. All your cargo travels with you as well. So thats the biggest thing, Aaron said.

He pointed to research that shows how frequently Christians traveling on mission trips tend to lose their cargo and said its one of the burdens of missionaries traveling with secular airlines that Judah 1 hopes to eliminate.

About 50 percent of missionaries lose their cargo when it travels via container and thats one of the problems we have. I know some of the trips we have been on ourselves with other missionary groups traveling, they ship their stuff via container and medical supplies and stuff either get tied up in customs, food spoils, some things it just gets lost, he said.

Sometimes, according to Aaron, missionary cargo like Bibles have been known to get stolen as well.

Even the Bibles. I found out Bibles are one of the largest black market items in the world. People steal Bibles and sell them, he said.

He explained that the ministrys MD 80 aircraft carries about 2,000 pounds of cargo and several Boeing 767s they plan to introduce once they are approved will carry 30,000 tons of cargo.

The plan for Judah1 is to have a fleet of 20 aircraft over the next five years.

Once we get our certification (in 2019), we have four more MD 80s that are on standby for us as well as two 767s that are on standby, he said. This will bring Judah 1s short-term operational fleet of aircraft to seven.

The ministry plans to work with ministries such as Kingdom Living Ministries to plan mission trips to such areas as the unreached mountain villages of Kisumu.

When asked if he has reached out to large ministries like Kenneth Copeland Ministries or Creflo Dollar who have used private jets for their ministries to see if his business would be a competitive option, Aaron said he had not done so but he hopes to cater to similar ministries.

Its hopeful that we can help with that because thats one of the sore spots for a lot of people  the fact that ministers do use corporate aircraft for travel,  he said.

He did note, however, that he understands that it may sometimes be cheaper for pastors to use private jets and it also saves a lot of time when traveling with teams of more than four or five people.

In a video about his ministry posted on YouTube, Aaron explained how God gave him a vision for the aviation ministry in 1994.

Judah 1 came about in 1994 when the Lord gave me a vision. In the vision, He showed me airline, aircraft lined up as far as you can see. They were full of food, medical supplies, Bibles, the engines were fired up and they were ready to go. There were people lined up in front of these planes ready to get on them but they wouldnt get on the planes, Aaron said.

And so I asked God why wont the people get on the planes  and God said they cant go into the mission field until you get the airplanes. This is what Im calling you to do. So Judah 1 really came about from the Lord showing me the need for mission aviation. And as we researched and did our due diligence we found out that there was a great need for large commercial aircraft to transport missionary teams into the mission field, he continued.

After getting his vision in 1994, it was several years later in 2011 that Aaron incorporated Judah 1 and made their first mission trip with a chartered commercial plane in 2013.

Aaron noted that there were about only two or three other mission aviation organizations he was aware of but said they use small aircraft.

Judah 1 as far as we know is the only mission aviation organization that uses large commercial aircraft to transport complete teams. So thats how we differ from other aviation organizations, he said.

"It's not just about the preaching of the Gospel. We want to see the miracle-working power of the Holy Spirit in action."Church youth leader charged with rape of teen boy

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A 35-year-old church youth leader in Tennessee is now in jail on charges of aggravated statutory rape and soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor after a 16-year-old boy told police that they had sex at least 10 times. The youth leader doesnt recall being intimate with the teenager more than four times, police say.

According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Courtney Bingham, who served as a youth leader at Bethany Baptist Church in Loudon, where she met the teenager, was arrested Dec. 4.

The Loudon County Justice Department first received reports about the illegal relationship on Dec. 3, according to WVLT. The sheriffs office was notified by the boys father, the Sentinel reported.

The boy told police that he and Bingham had sex at her house. He also alleged that Bingham sent him pornographic images found on his phone. A warrant indicated that most of the images were captured at Binghams home.

Police told WVLT that Bingham admitted she had a sexual relationship with the teenager starting in November but could recall having sex with him no more than four times.

Loudon County Sheriffs Office Sgt. Jason Smith told the News-Herald that the case was very serious.

Its very serious, Smith said. Youre dealing with somebody thats 35 years old and has sent pornographic images of herself with inappropriate comments to a juvenile. Not only that, was also having sexual intercourse with him as a member of a self-described youth leader of the church.

So being in a position of an authority figure, being in a position of a caretaker at times at the residence, [its a] very serious matter as far as the crime that shes committed."

No one at Bethany Baptist Church was immediately available to comment. The churchs pastor, Rick Harrell, told the News-Herald that Bingham was a faithful servant with a bubbly attitude and loved by the young people at the church where she had served as family activities coordinator for the last four years.

You just dont think about this kind of thing going on in your Christian church family and certainly we loved her and considered her a special part of what we did here, Harrell said. She was faithful to the church, always had a bubbly attitude. The young people loved her, were drawn to her.

He further noted that the church has been wounded by Binghams actions and they would work to facilitate healing and look at ways to prevent it from happening again.

We want to help everyone heal thats been wounded by this. Thats our objective, Harrell said. ... Were certainly looking at every avenue to prevent something like this. Meeting with our youth leaders, directors, to be more cautious about what we see and whats going on. When people are friendly and befriending people, you never know if something of the irresponsible natures going on. Its just impossible to tell unless you have some sort of clear evidence.

Bingham is currently being held at the Loudon County Jail after her bond was set at $57,500 on the combined charges, jail records cited by The State said. She is set to appear in court on April 3, 2019.Britain's politicians can learn kindness from Christians, says London mayor

As Westminster politicians continue to lock horns over Brexit, the Mayor of London has said they should look to the Church for inspiration.

Speaking to Premier Christian Radio, Sadiq Khan said politicians could learn how to be kind from Christians who serve the needy in their community regardless of their faith or beliefs.

'One of the things which inspires me about our churches is a simple word - kindness,' he said.

'The Church does kindness so well - treating each other with civility and respect and I wish us politicians learnt from that.

'The way we talk together, how we don't even have the patience to hear someone else's argument, giving people the benefit of doubt.'

He added: 'One of the great things about the Church is when they're helping a rough sleeper or someone involved in violent crimes, they don't say, "Are you a Christian? Are you practicing? What are your views?" - they want to help you.

'I think that's inspirational and that's one of the things I try to engender in my own life.'

Twitter has been alight over the Government's Brexit deal and Theresa May's leadership.

The Prime Minister was met with anger when she announced that there would be no vote on her Brexit plan until January.

She said 'meaningful' debate on the deal would resume on January 7, with a vote the following week.

The announcement was greeted by jeers in the House of Commons.

'Avoiding no deal is only possible if we can reach an agreement or if we abandon Brexit entirely,' she said.New scheme launched to stop rented vehicles being used as terrorist weapons

A new scheme has been launched in the UK to reduce the risk of rented vehicles being used to commit terrorist attacks.

The launch of the Rental Vehicle Security Scheme follows several years of deadly terrorist attacks across Europe involving vehicles that were deliberately driven into crowds of people.

In Nice, France, in 2016, a terrorist drove a truck into people celebrating Bastille Day along the promenade, killing 87 and injuring over 400.

In the same year, a truck was driven into a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany, killing 12 people.

Last year, five people were killed when a hijacked lorry was driven into them in the Swedish capital of Stockholm.

Vehicles were used as weapons in two separate terrorist attacks in London in 2017, one at Westminster next to the Houses of Parliament that killed five, and another at London Bridge, killing eight.

And in August this year, two people were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries after a car rammed into pedestrians outside the Houses of Parliament.

The new voluntary scheme is a partnership between Counter Terrorism Policing and the Department for Transport.

Rental companies that sign up are required to adhere to a 10-point Code of Practice that commits them to sharing data and information with law enforcement, training staff to identify and report suspicious behaviour, appointing a security contact, and only accepting electronic payments.

Counter Terrorism Policing' Chief Superintendent Nick Aldworth said: 'The police work closely with Government, local authorities and businesses to look for new and innovative new ways to keep people safe.

'Officers from the Counter Terrorism Policing network have been working with industry and Government to support the development of a security culture within the vehicle hire industry.'No room at the inn? Why Jesus was really laid in a manger

The New English Translation (NET) Bible is a fresh scholarly translation in modern English with an important unique feature: notes that record the translators' decisions. STEPBible, the powerful study tool from Tyndale House, Cambridge, has these notes in full, so that when we wonder 'What's behind that translation?' the answer is at hand.

It even gives new clues about the real reason why Mary and Joseph couldn't get a room.

Imagine a girl about to give birth, turning up at a hotel. Who wouldn't give up their room for her? In a gregarious society like ancient Israel, everyone would soon hear about it, so why didn't anyone help her?

The likely answer lies in a note in the NET Bible at Luke 2:7, where it points out the word translated 'inn' (kataluma) usually means a 'guest room'. It tells us that various scholars conclude that Joseph went to his family home, and it was his parents' who told them: 'There's no place for you in the guest room.'

We know Joseph's family lived in Bethlehem, because he was registering for taxation there. The Gospels use this fact to point out Joseph's Davidic ancestry, but Romans weren't interested in genealogy. They only wanted to know which door to hammer on when taxes were due.

Joseph wasn't expecting a warm welcome at his family home. This was partly because his parents hadn't chosen his bride  he met her while working away in Nazareth. But it was mostly because she was visibly pregnant after too few months of marriage, and Joseph admitted he wasn't the father. This scandal was apparently too much for his parents, who refused to let them into their respectable home  telling them to use the shed instead. Their neighbours presumably didn't want to cause offence by undermining this decision.

So Jesus was born in the family shed. Living with shame and scandal was yet another burden that Jesus bore for us.

The NET Bible has two unique features that make it invaluable for studying the Bible in this way. First, for the first time, the public was invited to join in. The first round of translations were put on the web for 'beta testing'. Anyone could email to say, 'I don't know any Hebrew, but this English doesn't make sense to me,' or 'I'm an expert on this passage and I'd like you to know...' Knowing the world was looking over their shoulders must have concentrated their minds, and it stopped them from translating just for their own denomination. They knew there would be immediate push-back if they didn't produce a text that a wide range of believers could accept.

The other unique feature is the extensive notes. There are more than 60,000, which averages about 50 notes per chapter, or about two per verse. Some notes explain the background context and lifestyle information needed to understand the text, rather like a study Bible. Others point out when different manuscripts would produce a slightly different translation. The bulk of the notes explain why the text is translated as it is. This was the first Bible that made the translators explain themselves. If they missed out a word or added one, they had to say why. And if commentators pointed out that something is ambiguous, they had to say why they'd chosen that option  or simply say that it could be understood differently. And very many times they add notes simply to help explain aspects of the text which can't be expressed in English.

The Bible opens up when you use STEPBible and the NET Bible together. They form a great tool for Bible students, or for anyone who ever asks: 'What's behind that translation?'

STEPBible can be downloaded here or you can use it at www.STEPBible.org.

Rev Dr David Instone-Brewer is Senior Research Fellow in Rabbinics and the New Testament at Tyndale House, Cambridge.10 jewels that made history  and changed the market

On 30 June 2020, a spectacular D colour diamond ring became the most expensive jewel to sell in an online-only auction, joining a stellar cast of other landmark gems previously sold at Christies

1

La Peregrina A natural pearl jewel with a star-studded provenance Few jewels have a history dating back 500 years, or one that have seen them passing through the hands of royals, empresses and Hollywood stars. La Peregrina, which was found off the coast of Panama in 1576, is one such jewel. This perfectly pear-shaped pearl weighing 202.24 grains was bought by Philip II of Spain in 1582 and soon became one of the countrys most important crown jewels. It passed through the hands of eight kings of Spain over a 200-year period before falling into the hands of Joseph-Napoleon Bonaparte, the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who became King of Naples and Sicily.

In 1969, Richard Burton paid $37,000 for La Peregrina at auction in New York, before presenting it to his wife, Elizabeth Taylor, on her 37th birthday. It was remounted on a necklace created by Cartier, and the actress often wore it to events and during films. La Peregrina most recently came up for auction in December 2011 at Christies New York. It sold for $11,842,500, more than five times its low estimate, making it at the time the most expensive natural pearl jewel ever sold at auction. Elizabeth Taylors collection produced the most successful single-owner jewellery auction in history.

2

The Hancock Red A record-breaking wonder of nature In April 1987 Christies offered a very small diamond, weighing 0.95 carats, as its top lot in New York. What made this diamond special was its colour: Fancy Purple-Red. Only one in 100,000 diamonds qualifies as a Fancy colour. These odds lengthen exponentially for red diamonds, which are so rare that experienced diamond dealers would consider themselves extremely lucky to handle more than three in the course of a lifetime.

The Hancock Red diamond. Sold for $880,000 in April 1987 at Christies in New York

This 0.95 carat (only 0.19 grams) wonder of nature was part of the collection of Mr Hancock, a farmer from Montana, who was rumoured to have purchased the diamond for $13,500 in 1956. The Hancock Red was offered for sale in 1987 with an estimate of $100,000-150,000. It sold for a remarkable $880,000, or $926,000 per carat, and broke all records in the process.

3

A spectacular D colour diamond ring The highest-value jewel ever sold online at Christies

This spectacular Type IIa D colour diamond ring weighs 28.86 carats. On 30 June 2020 it sold at Christies for $2,115,000, setting a world record for the most expensive jewel sold in any online auction.





A spectacular diamond ring of 28.86 carats, D colour, VVS1 clarity, Type IIA. Sold for $2,115,000 in Jewels Online, 16-30 June 2020

Type IIa diamonds account for less than two per cent of all gem diamonds, and they are the most chemically pure, with no measurable trace of colour-altering nitrogen. As a consequence, they often have exceptional optical transparency. Well-known examples of Type IIa diamonds include the 530.20 carat Cullinan 1, the largest clear cut diamond in the world, and the 105.6 carat Koh-i-Noor, which is part of the British Crown Jewels.

4

The Oppenheimer Blue The most expensive blue diamond in auction history On 18 May 2016, the Oppenheimer Blue, lot 242 in Christies Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva, was bought for CHF 56,837,000 ($57,973,000), making it, at the time, the most expensive jewel in auction history. That season, it was also the most expensive work of art sold at auction.

The Oppenheimer Blue: a sensational coloured diamond ring. Sold for CHF 56,837,000 on 18 May 2016 at Christies in Geneva

The diamond was named in honour of its previous owner, the connoisseur Sir Philip Oppenheimer. The Oppenheimers have been leaders in the diamond industry for generations and Sir Philip had the pick of any diamond he wanted. He chose this one for its perfect hue, impeccable proportions and fabulous rectangular shape. In recent years blue diamonds have gained a wider following, not only because they are stunning, but because there are so few of them available. The Oppenheimer Blue is classified as Fancy Vivid Blue by the Gemological Institute of America, the highest colour grade and colour intensity for blue diamonds. At 14.62 carats, it is the largest Fancy Vivid Blue diamond to have ever appeared at auction. The Oppenheimer Blue can only be described as one of the rarest gems in the world, said Francois Curiel, who has experienced many superlative jewels being offered during his long service at Christies. 'It is the gem of gems.

5

The Blue Belle of Asia One of the largest blue sapphires in history Although sapphires of more than 100 carats are very rare, records of them do exist in important gem collections around the world. The list of sapphires weighing more than 350 carats, however, is a very short one indeed. The Blue Belle of Asia, weighing 392.52 carats, is the fourth-largest recorded blue sapphire in history. Only the Blue Giant of the Orient (486.52 carats), the Queen of Romania sapphire (478.68 carats) and the Logan sapphire (422.99 carats) are bigger.

A report dated 11 September 2014 from the Gubelin Gemlab Institute stated that the sapphire is of Ceylon origin, with no indications of heating, stating that the sapphire is one of the largest faceted sapphires the Gubelin gem lab has seen to date and possesses a combination of outstanding characteristics

This legendary stone was discovered in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), known as the Island of Gems, in 1926. It was recorded as weighing approximately 400 carats, and valued at 50,000 before being acquired by the famous gem and jewellery dealer Macan Markar in Colombo. In 1937, the sapphire was purchased by British motor magnate Lord Nuffield, the founder of Morris Motors Limited.

A spectacular sapphire and diamond necklace. Sold for CHF 16,965,000 on 11 November 2014 at Christies in Geneva

It was reported that the sapphire was to be presented to Queen Elizabeth, wife of King George VI and the mother of Queen Elizabeth II, on her coronation day in May 1937. Instead, the Blue Belle of Asia disappeared into private hands, its location remaining a mystery for decades. On 1 November 2014, the Blue Belle of Asia reappeared, presented for the first time at auction by Christies in Geneva as The Property of a Private Collector. It was bought for CHF 16,965,000  around $17,300,000  becoming the most expensive sapphire and the most expensive coloured stone sold at auction.

6

The Graff Ruby A landmark moment for coloured gemstones In late 2005, Senior International Jewellery Specialist Jean-Marc Lunel received a phone call from the Christies office in Monaco. He was told about a client who wanted a valuation of some jewels that were being held in a bank safe. The collection comprised nine jewels  signed jewellery by Faraone, Van Cleef & Arpels, and three magnificent rings by Bulgari. The first ring was mounted with a sapphire from Burma, the second with a D-colour diamond, and the third with a Burmese ruby weighing 8.62 carats that showed no indications of treatment.

A magnificent and rare ruby ring, by Bulgari. Sold for CHF 4,724,000 on 15 February 2006 at Christies in St. Moritz, Palace Hotel

Burmese rubies of this size, and that have not been treated, are incredibly rare. Encountering one with a crystal of incredible purity, showing hardly any inclusions, and with a beautiful red hue, is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. The nine pieces were offered by Christies in February 2006 in Saint Moritz, and the ruby was the talk of the town well before the auction viewing opened. Originally purchased at Bulgari in Italy in the 1960s, the ruby was estimated at $400,000-600,000. In the saleroom it sparked a 20-minute bidding battle before finally being purchased for $3,637,480, at the time the highest price per carat ($421,981) ever achieved for a ruby. After the sale, the buyers identity was revealed and the ruby was renamed The Graff Ruby. The auction proved to be a landmark for coloured stones, underlining their value, importance and rarity.

7

The Rockefeller Emerald Size, provenance, rarity and desirability From the age of Cleopatra  who is said to have commissioned an emerald carved with her image as a gift for Julius Caesar  through to the Romanov tsars, the Mughals and British royalty, no jewellery collection has been considered to be complete without a selection of impressive emeralds. In June 2017, Christies offered a gem-quality emerald of 18.04 carats that belonged to the Rockefeller family. Gifted to David Rockefeller by his father upon the death of his mother, the stone was set in a beautiful diamond ring designed by Raymond C. Yard in 1948.

Described by the American Gemological Laboratory as exceptional and possessing an unusual combination of size, provenance, absence of treatment and quality factors that contribute favourably to its rarity and desirability, the Rockefeller Emerald was purchased for $5,511,500. At $305,516 per carat, it broke the price-per-carat world record previously held by a Bulgari emerald brooch from The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor.

Sign up today The Online Magazine delivers the best features, videos, and auction

news to your inbox every week Subscribe

The day after the auction, a representative for Harry Winston announced that the firm was immensely proud to own the finest emerald in the world, which once belonged to one of Americas most important dynasties.

8

The jadeite bead necklace The beginning of the boom in the jade market The value of jadeite is based on three important criteria: colour, translucency and texture. Colour is by far the most important factor, and takes into account saturation, brilliance, evenness and purity. Jadeite can be found in lavender, yellow, russet-brown and black, but it is the green stone containing chromium that is the most coveted by serious collectors.

A magnificent jadeite bead and star ruby necklace. Sold for HK$56,660,000 on 1 June 2010 at Christies in Hong Kong

The nature of how jadeite forms in thin seams makes it highly difficult to cut and polish matching sets of beads. As a result, fine-quality jadeite bead necklaces have always been highly sought after. On 1 June 2010, Christies in Hong Kong offered a magnificent jadeite jade bead and star ruby necklace as its top lot. It comprised 51 jadeite beads of homogeneous vivid emerald green colour, measuring from 11.18 to 9.80 mm each. All the beads were evenly and strongly saturated, free from flaws, internally luminous and clear. The necklace was purchased by a prominent Asian collector for HK$56,660,000 (around $7,275,000)  the first time a necklace with small beads had fetched over HK$50 million at auction.

9

The Winston Pink Legacy An extraordinary 18.96-carat Fancy Vivid Pink diamond To find a diamond of this size with this colour is pretty much unreal, said Rahul Kadakia, International Head of Jewellery at Christies, before the sale of the Pink Legacy in Geneva in November 2018. You may see this colour in a pink diamond of less than one carat. But this is almost 19 carats and its as pink as can be. Its unbelievable.A coalition of 16 states and the District of Columbia fired back on Monday against a ruling by a federal judge in Texas who had declared the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional.

In a motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, the group, led by California's attorney general, asked for more clarity on the ruling to help stave off chaos in the insurance markets. Specifically, the motion asks the court to clarify whether the law becomes unconstitutional on Jan.1 and whether it will stay such action until the appeal process can conclude, meaning the law would stand and policies would remain in force while the case makes its way through the legal system.

"Expedited consideration of this motion because the defendant states and the public will be irreparable injured absent an immediate clarification or stay," the motion said. It also asked that a ruling come by Friday "in order to avoid extraordinary disruption prior for January 1, 2019, the date which this court has held that the entirety of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act becomes unconstitutional."

On Dec. 14, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor found that all of the law known as Obamacare, now in place for eight years, was unconstitutional, sending shock waves through the nation and once again putting former President Barrack Obama's signature health care law in jeopardy.

RELATED: Texas judge rules Affordable Care Act unconstitutional

O'Connor, a conservative judge appointed to the federal bench in 2007 by former president George W. Bush, issued his sweeping ruling and agreed with the legal argument that when Congress late last year reduced the penalty for not having insurance to zero, the entire law became invalid.

The legal theory upheld by O'Connor came from another coalition of states, this one led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who filed suit earlier this year against the ACA, arguing that the law's individual mandate requiring most Americans to carry health insurance or face a tax penalty was a fundamental part of the law and had been found constitutional in 2012 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Once gone, though, the law becomes invalid.

O'Connor went further and also ruled that all of the consumer protections under the ACA were tied to the individual mandate and they, too, were unconstitutional. Those include the prohibition against insurers charging patients more for pre-existing conditions, allowing children to stay on their parent's plans until age 26, and removal of caps on coverage.

The ruling came just hours before the final day of enrollment for plans on the federal exchange. The latest motion argues that O'Connor's ruling "generated public confusion about its intended effect."

RELATED: ACA still law of the land but consumers confused and worried after judge's ruling



The case will most likely be appealed to the 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas and could wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court. If so it will be the third time the constitutionality of the ACA will be heard by the nation's highest court.

RELATED: ACA Supreme Court ruling a relief to some, angering to others

The states filing the motion Monday seeking clarity are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Washington D.C.

The states in the suit against the health care law are Texas, Wisconsin, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia.By Azernews





By Laman Ismayilova

YARAT Contemporary Art Space invites you to enjoy the music of freedom on December 20.

The Music of Freedom is a unique project to commemorate great people - composers, who composed their works at Auschwitz concentration camp, Yenicag reported.

The works of Viktor Ulmann, Pavel Haas, Emil Gue and Ilse Weber will be presented to the listeners.

The concert will also feature religious and spiritual motifs such as music by Max Bruch, Arvo Part and P?teris Vasks performed by Honored Artist of Azerbaijan Alexey Miltykh and laureates of international competitions Rovshan Amrakhov and Saida Taghizade.

The entire program will be presented by Baku Virtuosi Youth Chamber Orchestra conducted by the Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, the chief conductor and music director of the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, winner of the Presidential Prize Eyub Guliyev.

Moreover, a mono-opera by the world-famous French composer Elios Azule "May 30, 1431" will be presented for the first time in Baku.

The opera is based on Victor Ulmanns unfinished opera Jeanne Dark (written in Auschwitz in 1943) and the poem "La Reverie De Mengele", where the main roles will be performed by soprano Farida Mammadova and Elios Azoule.

The music program will feature stories and memories of Elios Azoule.

The concert will be held with the support of the French Embassy in Azerbaijan, Total company, YARAT Contemporary Art Space and Qafqaz Hotels.

The event starts at 20:00. Free admission.

YARAT is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to nurturing an understanding of contemporary art in Azerbaijan and to creating a platform for Azerbaijani art, both nationally and internationally. Based in Baku, YARAT (meaning CREATE in Azerbaijani) was founded by Aida Mahmudova in 2011.

It realizes its mission through an on-going program of exhibitions, education events and festivals. YARAT facilitates exchange between local and international artistic networks including foundations, galleries and museums.A hotel and conference center planned for the Katy Boardwalk District, a 169-acre mixed-use development next to Katy Mills Mall, will include at least 300 rooms and 45,000 square feet of meeting space, the developers said Tuesday.

The still-unnamed hotel, designed by the architecture firm Gensler, is expected to break ground next fall and open two years later.Exxon Mobil Corp. has overtaken rivals to become the most active driller in the Permian Basin, showing the urgency with which the worlds biggest oil company by market value is pursuing U.S. shale.

Even after a slow start in the region of West Texas and New Mexico, Exxon is now operating more drilling rigs than Concho Resources Inc., which merged with RSP Permian Inc. earlier this year to create one of the biggest Permian-focused explorers, according to statistics from RigData Inc. supplied to Bloomberg Intelligence.

Its not hard to see why the Permian has become so important to Exxon. A series of strategic mistakes sent the oil giants overall production careening to a 10-year low by the middle of this year. Drilling wells in the the Permian, the worlds premier shale field, yields low-cost oil in months rather than the years required for megaprojects to begin producing crude.

They need to get the production and returns back up, and the Permian is where you can ramp up the fastest, said Fernando Valle, a New York-based analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

Exxon isnt alone in tapping U.S. shale after years of pursuing overseas resources. Rival Chevron Corp. will spend the highest portion of its capital budget at home in at least a decade. The Permian now accounts for about 10 percent of Chevrons overall production. BP Plc this year agreed to spend $10.5 billion on BHP Billiton Ltd.s shale assets to gain access to the Permian.

Growth Engine

For Exxon, the Permian is still small when placed in the context of its global reach. In the third quarter of this year it produced just a fraction of the oil titans total production. But CEO Darren Woods expects strong growth each year through 2025. By then, hes targeting as much as 800,000 barrels a day from the Permian and the Bakken in North Dakota, which would be about 20 percent of todays overall production.

Woods escalation in the Permian is essentially a bet that Exxon can drill wells so cheaply that theyll be profitable despite crudes 26 percent in just 10 weeks time.

The business we build in the Permian, were building for the long term, Woods said in a Bloomberg TV interview last month. It needs to be efficient, low cost and effective.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kevin Crowley in Houston at kcrowley1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Casey at scasey4@bloomberg.net, Joe Carroll, Christine Buurma

2018 Bloomberg L.P.When Kristy Jones steps onto her stand and looks out to the the Cleveland High School band she can only think of all the hard work the students have put into becoming a better band.

Jones can see in her students eyes that theyre focused and want to play their best  the same way she did when she was in the Cleveland High band several years ago.

The Cleveland-native has suspected this was her calling since she was a teenager.

I have wanted to be a band director since I was in seventh grade, said the 41-year-old Jones, who has been the band director at Cleveland High School for 17 years. I grew up in Cleveland, and band is what I did most of my time. This band program means a lot to me. I just want to work and maintain the program. I want to help it grow. Its not really a job for me.

Jones graduated from Cleveland High School in 1995 and thinks about the tradition of the Royals Braves Band.

The one word that represents all Cleveland bands is the pride.

Its a great sense of pride in our band, and thats the foundation its built off, said Jones, who played the saxophone in the Cleveland High School band. We have banners of our pride in our high school and our middle schools. When you look into their eyes you can tell that they want to be the best they can be. These kids put in a lot of time, and band isnt their only activity. Some of these kids are involved in other activities and make sure that they still can maintain their focus in everything they do.

The Cleveland band has consistently fared well and maintained the UIL sweepstakes awards throughout Jones tenure. Several band members have placed high at regional band competitions and advanced to regionals.

The military marching band has also found success under Jones and have won several band meets.

When Jones was in school the band wasnt that big, but with the growth movement that is happening in Cleveland she has seen it develop more.

I think one of the biggest accomplishments is our growth, said Jones, who majored in music at Stephen F. Austin. When I started teaching here we had two middle school bands and now we have four. We went from two high school bands to three. When I started teaching there were only enough kids for three band directors and now we have six band directors. Its just an amazing program and Im super proud to be apart of it.

Jones is still motivated after every year and enjoys walking into the high school preparing for her lessons. Its never a dull day when horns and percussion instruments are going off.

marcus.gutierrez@chron.comNew year, new Deer Park? Maybe not completely, but the city and local school district have a list of projects coming online or getting started in 2019.

Money for several city projects was secured when voters approved sales taxes in 2011 for the citys parks and recreation department and another for crime control in 2015. Voters renewed both taxes for 10 more years in 2016.

Everything we have planned is being done to improve the quality of life here in Deer Park, City Manager James Stokes said.

Nature center coming

One of the citys biggest projects will be the Deer Park Nature Preserve and Wetlands Mitigation, a 38-acre facility at the northeast corner of East Boulevard and 13th Street.

Itll be a big hit when its up and running, Stokes predicted.

The attraction, which may open in the first quarter, will feature walking and biking trails in and around three ecosystems  forest, grasslands and wetlands. Eventual plans are for an educational facility, pavilion and more parking.

The city acquired 4 acres through donations from the Sealey family in 1986 and 1988. Another 34 acres was purchased by Deer Park in 2000.

The project totals $900,000; however, the city was able to secure a $400,000 grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to help cover the expense.

EMS station planned

The citys emergency workers also have good reason to look forward to 2019.

Weve just begun construction on a new emergency services building, Stokes said. Work is expected to take nine month; so we should be done by the end of 2019.

The new station will be at 1700 East Blvd. The $4 million project means the citys emergency workers will have their own space to rest and eat while they work their 24-hour shifts.

Now, the approximately 20 emergency services employees and volunteers share space at the citys fire stations, which werent built to accommodate overnight staff.

These folks will have a good place to sleep and eat when theyre on the clock but not actively working, Stokes said of the planned facility.

Animal shelter

Another new building set to open in 2019 is the citys second Animal Shelter and Adoption Center.

In early January, were going to open, Stokes said. The current facility has been around for several years and needs to be replaced. Also we definitely need more kennel space for cats and dogs.

The animal shelter is a $2.4 million, 7,500-square foot construction project at 4213 Luella Ave. Work began in July 2017.

School construction projects

Not to be outdone, Deer Park ISD is also moving ahead on several construction projects that were approved through its most recent $156 million bond sale in 2017.

The districts main building project for 2019 is the rebuild of Carpenter Elementary School, a 33.5 million project, district spokesman Matt Lucas said.

Preliminary site work is already taking place, and the goal is for students to move into the new building in early 2020, he said. Two other major projects are extensive renovations of Deepwater Junior High and Deer Park Junior High.

The district has already spent $3.4 million at Deepwater and plan for an additional $2 million more in improvements, Lucas said.

Lucas said the district will complete large-scale repairs and improvements to Deer Park Junior High Schools roof as well as its electrical and mechanical systems.

For Deer Park Junior High, the majority of the work will start in summer of 2019, and we have yet to receive final pricing for the work, Lucas explained, adding, We estimate the project will cost a similar amount to what we have planned at Deepwater Junior High because both schools have many of the same needs.

To date, the district has spent about $168,000 at Deer Park Junior High.

Also in 2019, students at Deer Park High School-North Campus will benefit from improvements to the east parking lot near McLean Stadium

These projects are part of the $70.6 million of the total bond money allocated to facilities projects over the next seven years.

Additionally, the district will purchase 1,200 iPads for all sixth- and ninth-graders, will replace the telephone system, and upgrade library computers stations and secondary school computer labs.A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Keats said it first, but it was Mary Poppins, being practically perfect in every way, who found the right occasion for it, shortly after pulling an improbably large houseplant out of her carpetbag. She could have been speaking of the 1964 movie that bore her name. With its spoonfuls of sugar and chim-chim-cher-ee, its dancing cartoon penguins and marvelous Sherman Brothers songs, Mary Poppins remains one of the glories of the Disney canon, a wellspring of humor, emotion and audience goodwill that the studio has now seen fit to revisit 54 years later.

Anyone with a heart  or a basic grasp of the commercial logic of the movie industry  can understand at least the theoretical appeal of a movie called Mary Poppins Returns. As the proud father of a 2-year-old who already knows the lyrics to Feed the Birds, Ill admit that I approached this belated sequel in a spirit of wary optimism. Our love for our precious childhood totems shouldnt render those objects sacrosanct, and theres no reason an iconic character cant be revived, especially if the participants involved  Emily Blunt! Lin-Manuel Miranda!  strike the right balance of respect and imagination.

Certainly, no one will accuse director Rob Marshall (Chicago, Into the Woods) or screenwriter David Magee (Finding Neverland, Life of Pi) of treating the Mary Poppins legacy with insufficient reverence. They might have made a more interesting film if they had. As it is, so much obvious care has been taken to reproduce and update the charms of the Robert Stevenson-directed original  to deliver an old-fashioned yet newfangled burst of family-friendly uplift  that Mary Poppins Returns winds up feeling both hyperactive and paralyzed. It sits there flailing on the screen, bright, gaudy and mirthless, tossing off strained bits of comic business and all but strangling itself with its own good cheer.

It fails through no lack of effort. Magee borrows instantly recognizable elements from the earlier film, but he also draws heavily on the superb P.L. Travers books that inspired it, particularly Mary Poppins Comes Back (1935) and Mary Poppins Opens the Door (1943). Real inspiration, however, proves elusive. The laborious Depression-era plot brings together a house in disarray, a looming bank foreclosure and a few scowling cardboard villains. The score, composed by Marc Shaiman, is as hardworking as it is monotonous; the new songs crowd together inside your head, coalescing into a thick, vaguely melodic vapor that evaporates immediately after the movie has ended.

The first of those tunes, (Underneath the) Lovely London Sky, is sung by a lamplighter named Jack (Miranda) as he rides his bicycle through the citys cobblestone streets. The character is an obvious tip of the cap to Bert, the chimney sweep whom Dick Van Dyke brought to such rollicking life 54 years ago. Miranda, for his part, is there to help usher the audiences Mary Poppins nostalgia into the 21st century, to sell us on the idea that this quaint vision of 1930s London might be worthy of its own hip, Hamilton-scaled phenomenon.

Perhaps so, though it will take more than a cheek-spraining smile and a vowel-butchering Cockney accent to pull it off. Jack isnt the star of the show, of course. That would be Mary Poppins (Blunt), who once more floats down from the sky in a smart coat and flowered hat, holding her parrot-headed umbrella aloft. She touches down with nary a hair out of place, and with a fresh arsenal of sniffs, eye rolls and curt reprimands at the ready.

Michael (Ben Whishaw), of course, is Michael Banks, who now has three sweet, unruly young children of his own. (Theyre played by Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh and Joel Dawson.) He and his sister, Jane (Emily Mortimer), a labor activist, are shocked to be reunited with the nanny who once took them on all manner of magical outings, as they only vaguely recall.

Mary Poppins Returns Rated PG: for some mild thematic elements and brief action Running time: 131 minutes ** (out of 5) See More Collapse

There are few acting challenges less enviable than going up against the Oscar-winning star turn that made Julie Andrews everyones favorite movie nanny. You could hardly fault any performer for feeling trapped in Andrews shadow, or for having a hard time getting a grip on Travers slippery, inscrutably lovely heroine: How do you play stern yet warm, mischievous yet authoritative, knowing yet sincere? Im not sure, but not even Blunts pleasant singing and snappy rejoinders can make this stilted characterization spring fully to life  although Sandy Powells gorgeous costumes, from striped nursery garb to cute aquamarine swimwear, do more than their fair share.

It may be churlish to subject these two movies to point-by-point comparisons, but it also seems entirely appropriate. The big musical set-pieces here play like second-rate retreads: Theres a journey into an enchanted porcelain bowl that allows for some niftily integrated animation, and also a topsy-turvy visit with another one of Mary Poppins crazy relatives (a garishly upholstered Meryl Streep). The songs have an awful lot of child-friendly lessons to impart  appearances can be deceiving! Embrace the nuttiness of life! The dead never truly leave us!  and largely come off as muddled harangues.

The most successful callback is the inevitable Van Dyke cameo, probably the worst kept of the movies many secrets, and for good reason. The sight of the 92-year-old screen legend in glorious step-in-time form delivers that sensation youve been longing for: a fleeting but genuine rush of joy. Its too little too late to make for a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious experience in retrospect, but for a moment, at least, youre glad you stayed awake.Lil Wayne performed in November for several thousand fans at the inaugural Astroworld Festival in Houston.

Exactly one month later, he entertained just a few hundred at House of Blues.

SICKO MODE: Travis Scott is bringing Astroworld back to Houston

The superstar rapper performed for an hour Monday night, filling his set with old favorites and new songs from "Tha Carter V."

Houston was the first stop on the Tidal X: Lil Wayne I Ain't Sh*t Without You Fan Appreciation Tour. The free show was announced last week.

Hundreds of fans lined up Monday morning outside the Sprint store at Westpark and Buffalo Speedway to pick up tickets. Because of the large turnout, the pickup location was eventually moved to House of Blues.

Inside the venue, it was crowded but not at capacity, with plenty of room to move around. It gave the event even more of an exclusive feel.

Weezy took the stage at 9:15 p.m. and was backed by a full band hidden behind a scrim. He wore a Balenciaga scarf, white boots and diamond jewelry.

"Y'all been down with me since day (expletive) one," he told the crowd. "I love y'all. For real, for real."

AND THE WINNER IS: Hip-hop and women rule Grammy nominations

He blazed through a series of songs, from "Got Money," "6 Foot 7 Foot" and "Go DJ" to "Lollipop," "Mrs. Officer" and "HYFR." The crowd jumped along and posted furiously to social media. (If it's not on Snapchat, did it happen?)

Wayne was much more engaged and animated than he was during his Astroworld set. He knew this was his crowd and basked in the reaction. His flow has a dramatic, cartoonish flair that only amplified as the show went on.

The set included several songs from "Tha Carter V," his 12th album, released in September. "What About Me," with its Prince vibe, was a standout.

He ably veered between moods, bringing the party back up with songs like "Steady Mobbin," "A Milli" and "Uproar." He shouted out God and the fans and the University of Houston, which he attended in 2005.

And like any good entertainer, he left the crowd wanting more.The second generation of Montrose's beloved La Mexicana restaurant is readying a new Tex-Mex concept scheduled to open late 2019 in the Ella Oaks shopping center, 3315 Ella Blvd., in Oak Forest.

According to Zulema Gonzales, general manager of La Mexicana on Fairview, she and her siblings, Dante Trevino and Briseida Trevino will be the owners of La Mex, a fast-casual restaurant built on many of the favorite recipes of the restaurant her parents  Eduardo and America Trevino  opened in 1982. The elder Trevinos will not be a part of the endeavor (although they gave their blessing, Gonzales said), and will continue to operate the Montrose restaurant at 1018 Fairview.By Trend





President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov congratulated Salome Zurabishvili on her election as President of Georgia, Trend reports citing the Turkmen government.

In his address, the head of state, highly appreciating the development of friendly relations between the countries, expressed confidence in the further development and strengthening of bilateral relations in the interests of the peoples of Turkmenistan and Georgia.

The Turkmen leader addressed wishes of good health and great success in all undertakings and activities aimed at the progress and prosperity of the Georgian people, says the message.

In November 2017, Ashgabat hosted a meeting of the Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov and the Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister of Georgia Mikheil Janelidze. Speaking about the energy policy of Turkmenistan, the parties expressed interest in consolidating efforts in the development of international energy cooperation.

Tbilisi earlier stated that Georgia is an important link in the South Caucasus transport and energy corridor and is ready to provide reliable and safe transit of energy from the Caspian basin and Central Asia through its territory.

In addition, Ashgabat and Tbilisi are studying projects on the creation of transport and transit infrastructure between the Caspian and Black Sea regions, the use of which will ensure broad interregional integration with the states of Europe and the Middle East.Grand Lakes 8,000 residents shouldnt notice a difference next fall when the water used for public irrigation and to maintain their 27 lakes switches from potable to reclaimed.

Green space will still be irrigated, said Lindsay Kovar, engineer for the North Fort Bend Water Authority (NFBWA), and lake water will be maintained. Its just a different source of water. Its treated to Type 1 reuse. Type 1 is safe for human contact and amenity lakes and streams that have wildlife.

The authority plans the switch as part of its effort to reduce the use of groundwater and the related subsidence, or sinking of the ground, explained Kovar.

Communities with existing or proposed reuse systems within the authoritys boundaries include Grand Lakes, Long Meadow Farms, Cinco Ranch, Cross Creek Ranch, Firethorne, Waterside Estates, Lakemont Bend, Tamarron, Kings Lakes and Marshall Oaks and Cinco Southwest MUD. Kovar noted that only the Grand Lakes and Long Meadow Farm systems will be owned by NFBWA; the others are municipal utility district projects.

This particular system will save 225 million gallons a year (in Grand Lakes), Kovar said. One of the things the authority is big on is promoting water conservation and reuse, she said. If you total all the capacity of reuse and conservation, it could make a big impact, she said.

Conservation is a priority for the authority, said board president Peter Houghton, whos one of several featured speakers in Partners in Progress, a West Harris County Regional Water Authority production. Visit http://www.whcrwa.com/ for details.

When water was inexpensive no one worried about how much they watered their lawn or how much water they used, he said. Because of the state requirement to convert from groundwater to surface water, the cost of water has increased and will continue to increase which is why Houghton emphasizes conservation.

Kovar said the Fort Bend Subsidence District conversion requirement is 60 percent surface water by 2025.

An earlier study showed that if the NFBWA could reduce consumption by 15 percent, it would save more than $400 million in future capital costs, Houghton said. The authoritys primary water users are municipal utility districts and Houghton said incentive programs that offer reduced water rates in return for conservation have been effective.

Saving money through conservation is counterbalanced by anticipated growth which will increase the need for water.

Kovar has figures to show the increased demand:

2017 demand: 12,725,136,405 gallons, or 34.86 million gallons per day

2012 demand: 11,473,661,935 gallons, or 31.43 million gallons per day

2007 demand: 7,014,885,862 gallons, or 19.22 million gallons per day

In Partners in Progress, Houghton said the countys population of 250,000 is expected to double by 2040 and triple by 2080.

The cheapest water we can find is the water we can save. The real challenge is to change peoples habits, he said.

Projections show that reuse of water amounts to 10 percent of all water usage, which is significant, he said. Its water we dont have to buy raw and have treated and then transported from Lake Houston, he said.

Construction cost for the Grand Lakes project is $11 million, Kovar said. The authority is using money from the Texas Water Development Board Clean Water State Revolving Fund. Of the $11 million, $1.6 million is loan forgiveness or essentially grant funding, she said. The remainder is low-interest bond funding at 1 percent.

This project will not increase water rates for Grand Lakes residents. The authority will sell Grand Lakes the reused water at a rate 10 percent less than the groundwater pumpage fee. The groundwater pumpage fee rate is $3.35 per 1,000 gallons of water. Some authority customers pay a surface water fee of $3.70 per 1,000 gallons of water.

Those rates will each increase by 30 cents per 1,000 gallons on Jan. 1, however, because the authority is contributing to regional water projects under construction as part of the move from the use of groundwater to surface water. Those regional water projects include Northeast Water Plant expansion with an estimated cost of $1.775 billion and an 8-foot diameter, 39-mile long pipeline that will transport water from the Northeast Plant to West Harris County and North Fort Bend at a cost of $1.2 billion.

Kovar said, North Fort Bend Water Authority's share of the Northeast Water Plant Project is 21.4 percent and approximately 45 percent of the West Harris County Regional Water Authority's pipeline otherwise known as the Surface Water Supply Project.

As part of the Grand Lakes reclaimed water project, construction could start in January at the Fort Bend County Municipal Utility District 146s wastewater treatment plant and includes an addition to the plant as well as a storage tank.

Officials are looking at a late spring or early summer construction start for the water distribution system because right of way needs to be obtained for approximately 50,000 linear feet of pipe with 6- to 12-inch diameters, Kovar said. Where the pipes will cross open space, officials plan to use open cut which is a less expensive procedure. Where development exists, officials will use directional drilling to minimize construction impact.

karen.zurawski@chron.comJusto Baltasar didnt know what to make of it when he pulled into the parking lot at Service First Automotive Centers on Mason. He thought he was taking part in some sort of documentary about military veterans in Harris County. Then he saw the stage, several rows of chairs along with several of his buddies from Camp Hope in Houston, which provides housing for veterans with combat-related post-traumatic stress.

The crowd wasnt there for a documentary that evening. They were there for him.

I started seeing guys from Camp Hope and I said, Whats going on? Baltasar later said.

A former Army soldier who fought in both Iraq and Afghanistan, Baltasar was this years recipient of Service First Automotive Centers Wheels for Warriors program. The highlight of the program was the top of the line Ford Explorer they rolled out for him from one of the service bays.

This is a great surprise. They really got me, he said, a little flustered by all the commotion. Im still trying to wrap my brain around it.

Nathan Pruski, one of the co-founders of Service First Automotive Centers, said they chose Baltasar out of about 40 candidates because of the work he does as a mentor at Camp Hope for combat veterans still struggling to deal with what they endured.

All the lives hes touching. I dont think theres a selfish bone in his body, Pruski said. You look at him and you say, Could there be a better candidate than him?

Like other combat veterans, Baltasar had his own struggles while trying to reintegrate into the civilian war. While living in the Los Angeles area, Baltasar relied on alcohol to self-medicate for his PTSD. Around 2014, he moved to Houston to straighten out his life and was introduced to Camp Hope, located in northwest Houston near the Sam Houston Race Park.

They didnt know who I was - I was a complete stranger - but they extended their hand to me and gave me the chance to live again, Baltasar said. Camp Hope changed my life and thats why Im at Camp Hope to this day.

Ted Wooten was one of the Camp Hope veterans who attended the special ceremony for Baltasar. As is common with those who serve or served in the military, the jibes and friendly insults came easily.

I told him when we got here that this should have been for me, Wooten said with a laugh.

He recalled Baltasar was often angry in his early days at Camp Hope. But Wooten said the change has been profound in the four years theyve known each other.

Hes a humble man and hes a good man, Wooten said. Hes one of the few guys that has pure integrity. He does whats right all the time.

While some people may be surprised to find an automotive shop awarding expensive automotible to worthy members of the public, Pruski said that sort of thing is a critical part of their business model.

Our purpose as a company is to enrich the lives of others, he said. We never put money before our customers.

Baltasar admitted being a little tongue-tied when he mounted the stage and look out at the crowd of well-wishers in the company parking lot.

I dont know what to say - just thank you, he said. Im living proof that Camp Hope can change your life.

mike.glenn@chron.comReality TV star Kylie Jenner, who co-owns the Kendall + Kylie Clothing Collection with her supermodel sister, is not the only apparel designer in her household. Her boyfriend, rapper Travis Scott is also taking the fashion plunge.

Via Twitter Monday, Scott unveiled the senior T-shirt for Eisenhower High School, complete with a custom design by the Missouri City native, himself.

Photos: Travis Scott gifts Kylie Jenner yet another posh, over-the-top luxury car

The tweet, which is captioned "Flame always deliver for the kids," shows an image of a short-sleeved, tan-hued T-shirt. The artwork mirrors Scott's Astroworld tour merchandise including the phrase: "Wish you were here."

Alongside it are the words "Seniors Eisenhower High," with the school's name in rainbow colors. Below the wording is an image of a globe with red smiley face motif.

On the backside, the shirt reads, "Enjoy the ride," "2019," and " "Sincerely, Travis Scott."

Scott's delivery of the T-shirt makes good on a promise he made back in September, when Sandra Vasquez, a senior at the local-area school, tweet the rapper asking permission to use images from his hit album "Astroworld" for the design.

How it all started: Travis Scott offers to design senior shirts for Houston's Eisenhower High School

Ask and you shall receive. Scott saw Vasquez's tweet and responded with an offer to create an original design instead.

Travis Scott will be back in Houston on February 13, 2019, for the second leg of his Astroworld tour.

He'll be back: Travis Scott is bringing Astroworld back to Houston

Marcy de Luna is a digital reporter specializing in social media, the famous, and food. You can follow her on Twitter @MarcydeLuna and Facebook @MarcydeLuna. Read her stories on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | Marcy.deLuna@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text messageA Memorial area family said an unknown suspect hacked into their Nest baby monitor Monday night and threatened to kidnap their baby, according to reports from Click2Houston.

The family told media outlets they heard a voice coming from the wireless monitor right next to their bed. The monitor transmits sound coming from their 4-month-old's room upstairs.

"Then we heard sexual expletives being said in his room," Ellen Rigney told Click2Houston. "Immediate reaction was that there's somebody in here, somebody's in my son's room! How did they get in there?!"

The couple told media outlets then they heard the voice saying "I'm going to kidnap your baby, I'm in your baby's room." The couple said they realized someone was not in fact in the room, but hacking their WiFi camera system. After checking on their 4-month-old they quickly turned off their Wi-Fi system, according to reports.

CYBER-DOOR: There Is a Creepy Side to Those 'Smart' Toys and Appliances On Your Gift List

Rigney told the Chronicle her family wanted "to bring the situation to light to help protect other families in the future," but refused to comment further.

Officials with the Harris County Sheriff's Office said Harris County Constable Precinct 5 responded to the incident. Requests for comment from Precinct 5 officials were not met as of Tuesday morning.

Devices with built in cameras connected to a Wi-Fi network are considered potentially dangerous and susceptible to hacking, according to a previous Chronicle article. Residents are urged to be weary of Internet-connected "smart" toys and devices.

"Combined with the fact that children can easily be preyed-upon, shoppers should take great caution when selecting any internet-embedded technology device for a child," a previous Chronicle article stated.

According to the Chronicle article, parents should buy devices from reputable companies, make sure to buy devices with the latest spyware protection installed and always use unique passwords for every system or device.

Rebecca Hennes covers community news. Read her on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | rebecca.hennes@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message

The spirit of the holiday season usually brings out the joy of giving for most people, but for scammers, the holidays are a season of taking.

Buying gifts and donating to charities creates countless opportunities for scammers to swindle consumers out of personal information and hard-earned money. Shoppers are encouraged to be mindful of scamming fraudsters, who unlike the Grinch, will not return your money or gifts.

The Better Business Bureau of Greater Houston and South Texas is warning consumers to beware of these common holiday scams:

Fake or Look-Alike Websites/Social Media pages: When stores sell out of popular merchandise, you may find the items online on a different website or social media page instead of the official retailers site. Some of these sites can be legitimate, but others may not be. Remember, its easy to mimic a real website. Make sure the website has https:// at the beginning of its web address. The s indicates the website is secure. If shopping via social media, double-check you are visiting a business official social media page. Some dishonest sites will take your money and run, leaving you without the gift or money to buy it elsewhere. Check with BBBHouston.org before ordering online from a business.

Counterfeit Goods: Luxury goods at extremely low prices might be cheap counterfeits. Handbags, jewelry, watches, wallets, and electronic devices are among the top of the list of items counterfeited. Always buy from reputable sellers, and be cautious using online marketplaces.

Phony Charities: Everyone is in a generous mood during the holidays, so scammers take advantage of that generosity with fake charity solicitations in email, on social media sites, via crowdfunding pages, by text and even in person. Check out charities at BBBHouston.org before donating.

Social Media Gift Exchange: Purchasing one gift and receiving 36 sounds like a great deal, but this seasonal scam is actually a pyramid scheme.

Grandparent Scams: Seniors should be cautious if they get a call from a grandchild claiming to be in an accident, arrested or hospitalized while traveling in another country. Never send money unless you confirm with another family member that its true.

Free Gift Cards: Unsolicited texts or emails offering free gift cards are often just a ploy to get your personal information that can later be used for identity theft.

Malicious E-Cards: Electronic cards can be great fun, but be careful. Two red flags to watch out for are: (1) the senders name is not apparent, and (2) you are required to share additional information to get the cards.

Fake Shipping Notifications: These emails can have attachments or links to sites that will download malware on your computer to steal your identity and your passwords. Dont be fooled by holiday phishing scams.

Fake holiday jobs: Retailers and delivery services need extra help at the holidays, but beware of email or text message solicitations that require you to share personal information online or pay for a job lead or hire you without an interview. Apply in person or go to the retailers' main websites to find out who is hiring.

Unusual Forms of Payments: Be wary of anyone who asks you to pay for holiday purchases using prepaid debit cards, gift cards, wire transfers, third parties, etc. These payments cannot be traced and cannot be undone.

Puppy Scams: Be very careful buying pets online, especially during the holidays. You may get a puppy mill pooch with problems, or you may get nothing at all because it was a scam.

Fake Letters From Santa: Many legitimate businesses offer personalized letters from Santa, but some copycat scammers are only looking to glean personal information from unsuspecting parents.

Check with BBBHouston.org or call 713-868-9500 for more information, and be sure to research any business before making a purchase or charity before donating.Dec. 4

At 2:44 a.m., officers were dispatched to 6701 Chimney Rock in reference to a burglary of a building in progress. Upon arrival, Officers observed three male suspects inside the closed business. Sergeant Hollie, Ofc. Barrientos, and Ofc. Clisham were able to place all three males in custody. All three males were charged with burglary of a building.

At 2:37 p.m., Cpl. Kramer was dispatched to Walgreens at 5002 Bellaire Blvd. in reference to a shoplifter. The suspect was found in the 5100 block of Bellaire Blvd. The stolen property was located in the suspects backpack. The suspect was arrested and charged with class C theft. Officer Lysack assisted with the case.

At 4:41 p.m., Officer Lysack was dispatched to 5867 Bissonnet St. in reference to a robbery of a person. Officer Lysack met with the victim who advised three unknown suspects walked up behind him, hit him on the back of the head, and then kicked him while he was on the ground. The suspects stole a cellphone which had fallen out of his pocket and fled westbound on Bissonnet Street.

Dec. 5

At 2:14 a.m., Officer Clisham initiated a traffic stop in the 4800 block of Bellaire Boulevard for stopping past designated stopping point at a red light. After making contact with the driver and further investigation, the driver was placed into custody and charged with driving while intoxicated.

At 4:20 p.m., Officer Liccketto was on a harassment call and observed a white Honda accelerating at a high rate of speed in the 5400 block of Valerie Street. Officer Liccketto attempted to stop the vehicle but the vehicle refused to stop. After a brief pursuit the driver was arrested for evading in a motor vehicle and a passenger was charged with possession of marijuana. Officer Lysack assisted with the case.

At 6:07 p.m., Officer Vorhees was dispatched to the Bellaire Fire Department Lobby in reference to an identity theft in the 5100 block of Maple Street. Officer Vorhees met with the victim who stated an unknown suspect used his identifying information to open a Best Buy credit card account.

Dec. 7

At 8:44 a.m., Officer D. Rocha initiated a traffic stop in the 4900 block of Bellaire Boulevard on a 1997 black Nissan four-door vehicle for unconfirmed insurance. The driver was identified by his Mexico identification. The driver was subsequently found to have a Texas drivers license issued to him. The driver was also found to be driving while his license is currently suspended. The driver was arrested for driving while license suspended / enhanced with no valid insurance. Officer M.Rodriguez assisted on the scene.

Dec. 8

At 6:54 p.m., Officer Younger made contact with two suspects with a disabled vehicle in the 7000 block of West Loop South East Service Road. Both suspects were identified and found to have warrants for their arrest. One of the suspects was found to have drugs hidden on their person. That person was charged with possession of marijuana and an additional warrant will be filed after testing is completed on the located synthetic marijuana. The second suspect was also arrested on their warrants. Corporal Kramer assisted with this investigation.

At 5:52 p.m., Officer Marcotte initiated a traffic stop in the 7500 block of IH 610 West Service Road on a 2012 Ford pickup for failure to display license plates. The driver gave a false name and date of birth and was arrested for failure to identify to a police officer.

Dec. 9

At 6:21 a.m., officers responded to the 4900 block of Pine Street in regards to an unconscious and not breathing female. Bellaire Fire Department transported the female to Methodist Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Corporal Clawson, Officer Clisham, and Officer Norman assisted in this case.

At 10:08 p.m., Officer Younger initiated a traffic stop in the 5200 block of Bellaire Boulevard on a vehicle for failure to stop at designated point and for having defective passenger side brake and tail lights. Officer Youngers traffic stop investigation found the driver being placed into custody for his third offense of driving while intoxicated. Officer Younger was assisted by Bellaire Corporal Kramer with this investigation.

Dec. 10

At 3:33 p.m., Officer Schwausch was dispatched to the 1100 block of Sheffield Street in reference to a package theft. The suspect was seen leaving the scene in a dark colored Dodge Charger.Dec. 6

An officer was dispatched to the 2900 block of Amherst in regards to a Burglary of a Motor Vehicle that had already occurred.

At 1:55 p.m., an officer was dispatched to a residence located in the 3300 block of Robinhood in regard to a report of burglary of a motor vehicle.

Officers were dispatched to a burglary of a motor vehicle that already occurred in the 3000 block of University Blvd.

Dec. 7

At 6:58 a.m., an officer was dispatched to the West University Place Public Works storage lot in reference to a theft of a trailer which had already occurred.

An officer was dispatched to the 3100 block of Plumb for a report of a package theft.

Dec. 8

At 1:59 a.m., an officer observed a vehicle stopped southbound in the 5700 block of Academy with its lights on for approximately 10 minutes with a person in the drivers seat possibly sleeping. Officers made contact with the occupant (Jean Corona) and after further investigation the occupant was arrested for the offense of public intoxication.

An officer observed a vehicle traveling southbound in the 5600 block of Weslayan strike the curb two times. A traffic stop was conducted and after further investigation, the driver was arrested for Driving While Intoxicated.

Dec. 9

An officer observed a vehicle traveling northbound at a high rate of speed in the 6300 block of Weslayan. The officer conducted a traffic stop and upon further investigation, the driver was arrested for Driving While Intoxicated.

An officer observed a vehicle traveling westbound in the 4000 block of Amherst without headlights on as required. A traffic stop was conducted and after further investigation, the driver (Sally Dwyer) was arrested for Driving While Intoxicated.

***

UPDATE: The charge against Sally Dwyer was dismissed on Aug. 19, 2019, according to court records.

***

Dec. 11

At 7:31 p.m., an officer was dispatched to the 4100 block of Southwestern St, in reference to a fraud report that had already occurred.

Dec. 12

At 11:28 a.m., an officer was dispatched to the West U PD Lobby in reference to a theft of two packages which have already occurred.

At 2:57 p.m., an officer was dispatched to the West U PD Lobby in reference to a case of criminal mischief of a motor vehicle that had already occurred.

Dec. 13

An officer observed a vehicle traveling southbound in the 6700 block of Buffalo Speedway with defective license plate lights. A traffic stop was conducted and after further investigation, the driver (Christopher Sutherland) was arrested for outstanding warrants out of the City of Houston Municipal Court. During a search incident to arrest, a possible illegal substance was located on the suspect and will be forwarded to the forensic lab for testing.

At 8:16 a.m., an officer observed a vehicle traveling southbound in the 5500 block of Wakeforest with an expired motor vehicle registration. A traffic stop was conducted and after further investigation the driver (Arthur Amaya) was arrested for the violation of driving while license invalid.

An officer was dispatched to the 4100 block of Bellaire for a FSGI that had already occurred.

At 2:58 p.m., an officer was dispatched to the 2600 block of West Holcombe in reference to a subject trespassing and possibly urinating on private property. Officers arrived in the area and located the subject. After further investigation the subject was taken to the Judge Ed Emmitt Mental Health Diversion Center due to his mental health history.

An officer was dispatched to a residence located in the 4000 block of Case in regard to a burglary of a motor vehicle that had already occurred.

An officer was dispatched to the 5300 block of Mercer in regards to a Burglary of a Motor vehicle that had already occurred.

Dec. 14

At 12:07 a.m., an officer observed a vehicle failing to stop at the designated stopping point in the 3700 block of Rice and Auden. A traffic stop was conducted in the 6000 block of Auden. After further investigation, the driver was issued a citation for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and the passenger was found to be in possession of a vape pen containing possible illegal substance which will be forwarded to forensic lab for testing.Having cancer is challenging at any age, but Make-A-Wish Texas Gulf Coast and Louisiana and Macys 11th annual Believe campaign helped make the holidays brighter for one 17-year-old Heights resident.

Claire Sonne has cancer. She also loves musical theater. On Friday, Dec. 7, she got to step back from her illness for a few hours and into a scene from the iconic musical Phantom of the Opera.

The wish began when Claires mother Donna Wright informed her they were going to Memorial City Mall to do some holiday shopping: an Uber would pick them up shortly. Instead, a limousine showed up. At Macys Memorial City, Claire thought seeing the vocal duo Le Sorelle shopping was a coincidence, but they actually were there to perform just for her.

Well, I had never met either of the sisters before, but I am a very huge fan of Phantom of the Opera, Claire said. They sang one of my favorite songs from Phantom of the Opera, and they were absolutely amazing.

Claire also enjoyed a full glamorous makeover. Although she wasnt used to seeing herself in so much makeup, she said she really liked the look.

She and her family ate a French-themed meal in the Macys back-of-house that was decorated to look like the Paris Opera House.

They open the door, and it was like the opening of Phantom of the Opera, and I just about had a heart attack. I was so excited, Claire said.

Earlier this year, a pain in Claires shoulder thought to be a torn rotator cuff would not heal. An MRI in February revealed that she had a tumor that had gotten so large, it fractured her arm. She had malignant neoplasm of bone and articular cartilage and quickly had a port put in to give her heavy-duty chemotherapy treatments.

Though afraid, Claire made a conscious decision to stay upbeat.

Just going into it, I told myself that I needed to stay positive, and theres no real point in being negative through it because its just going to make things harder for yourself, Claire said. Honestly, staying positive through the entire thing just made the whole thing easier.

Because of her treatment, Claire has been completing her studies through a special program with the Houston Independent School District. She plans to return to Incarnate Word Academy in January, where she is president of the Thespian Society. Claire said being involved in theater gets her mind off the gravity of her situation.

It helps me kind of get out of my own head and get into the world of the show, she said.

Claires special day was part of one of 25 special Wishes Across America that came true for young patients on Dec. 7 thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Macys.

The foundation started in 1980 from a friendship that allowed 7-year-old leukemia patient Christopher James Greicius to fulfill his wish of being a police officer for a day. Christopher passed away later that year, but his legacy lives on in the young lives that are touched each year by Make-A-Wish.

Today, Macys is one of Make-A-Wishs largest corporate sponsors and since 2003 has donated more than $112 million. More than $17 million has come from the Believe campaigns.

Believers of any age can write letters to Santa at Believe stations in Macys stores across the country or online at www.macys.com/believe as part of this years campaign. For every letter received through Monday, Dec. 24, Macys will donate $1, up to $1 million, to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Claire is about seven weeks out of chemotherapy and will continue to go through regular monitoring for several spots on her lungs. She had surgery to repair her arm and is still going through physical therapy. But Claire and her mother are hopeful, grateful for Make-A-Wish.

It was very rewarding because its been so challenging going through the treatments and just all the pain and agony that shes been through and just to see her having fun, happy, not thinking about cancer, is just fantastic, Wright said.

tracy.maness@hcnonline.comAs we say farewell to 2018 and welcome 2019, the local theater and performing arts communities are polishing up some real gems to kick off the new year and shake off the post-Christmas blues.

The Players Theatre Company opens Lost in Yonkers in late January at the Owen Theatre. Stage Right of Texas opens 42nd Street in early February at the Crighton Theatre.

And prior to both of these, the Country band Little Texas makes a stop at the Crighton Theatre on Jan. 19.

Also in February, the Conroe Symphony Orchestra offers the salute From Gospel to Gershwin.

Little Texas at the Crighton Theatre

Little Texas comes to the Crighton Theatre for a concert on Saturday, Jan. 19, at 8 p.m.

The band was conceived in Nashville, Tennessee, by a handful of guys in their early 20s who were willing to do just about anything to bring their brand of rockin country to the forefront of the music industry.

Before hitting the big time, the band crisscrossed America for three long years, playing every bar and honky-tonk from Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Los Angeles, Calif., all the while writing songs that were destined to change the sound of modern country and perfecting a stage show that has been critically acclaimed worldwide. Songs like God Blessed Texas, Kick a Little, What Might Have Been, and more are among their hits.

Visit www.crightontheatre.org or call 936-441-7469 for tickets. Tickets are $59.

The Players - Lost in Yonkers

The Players Theatre Company continue their season with Lost in Yonkers opening on Jan. 25 at the Owen Theatre in downtown Conroe.

In Brooklyn 1942, Evelyn Kurnitz has just died following a lengthy illness. Her husband, Eddie Kurnitz, needs to take a job as a traveling salesman to pay off the medical bills incurred, and decides to ask his stern and straight talking mother, from whom he is slightly estranged, if his two early-teen sons, Jay and Arty (who their Grandma insists on calling by their full given names, Jacob and Arthur, which she pronounces Yakob and Artur), can live with her and their Aunt Bella Kurnitz in Yonkers. She refuses. After a threat by Bella, she lets them stay without ever saying they could stay. Despite their Grandma owning and operating a candy store, Jay and Arty dont like their new living situation as theyre afraid of their Grandma, and find it difficult to relate to their crazy Aunt Bella, whose slow mental state is manifested by perpetual excitability and a short attention span, which outwardly comes across as a childlike demeanor.

The show is directed by Roger Ormiston a veteran of the Owen Theatre.

The show runs Jan. 25 through Feb. 9 with matinees on Jan. 27 and Feb. 3 at 2 p.m. Evening shows are at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $24 and may be purchased at owentheatre.com or by calling 936-539-4090.

Stage Right

Stage Right of Texas, resident theater troupe of the Crighton Theatre continues their season with 42nd Street opening on Feb. 8. Shows run weekends Feb. 8 through Feb. 24.

The story follows the aspirations of nervous-but-enthusiastic new chorus girl Peggy Sawyer from Allentown, Pennsylvania. She arrives in New York City and rides the wave of triumphs and pitfalls of The Great White Way.

Major roles include Sara Preisler as Peggy Sawyer, Cain Hamilton as Billy Lawlor, Layne Roberts as Dorothy Brock, Michael Martin as Julian Marsh, Carolyn Corsano Wong as Maggie Jones, John Kaiser as Bert Berry and a host of others listed at www.stage-right.org.

Visit stage-right.org or call 936-441-7469 for tickets.

Conroe Symphony Orchestra

The Conroe Symphony Orchestra continues its 2018-19 season on Saturday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m. with the salute From Gospel to Gershwin.

February is always the time of year when we take a moment to celebrate those very special people in our lives. With that in mind, the CSO will make it a very memorable evening. The Symphony will feature some beautiful pieces including When You Believe from the Prince of Egypt by Schwartz, arr. Charles Sayre.

The concert is at Conroe High School, 3200 W. Davis in Conroe.

The concert will feature Music Director and Conductor Dr. Don Hutson and new Associate Conductor Jacob Sustaita.

Tickets for individual concerts are $20 for adults and $5 for children ages 12 and under. Special rates are available for groups of 10 or more prior to the concert.

Tickets may be ordered by calling the Symphony Centre at 936-760-2144 or toll-free at 1-888-823-6610. You may also purchase tickets in person at the Conroe Symphony Centre, located at 1500 N Frazier in Conroe (please call for office hours). Tickets for the performances will also be available at the door prior to each concert.Conroe City Council members took action last week to join what is turning into a race to build a hotel and convention center within the city limits.

Council members approved a resolution Thursday supporting legislation to amend state law to allow the city to proceed with a hotel and convention center project that would be funded in part by hotel occupancy tax rebates and sale tax generated by the operation.

According to Steve Williams, assistant city administrator and chief financial officer for Conroe, the amendment to Texas Government Code Chapter 351 would allow the city to recapture from the state hotel occupancy tax collect by local hotels and sales tax from the venue for 10 years.

The city currently has no plans regarding a hotel and convention center project and city officials did not say if they would work with a third party on such a project.

Mayor Toby Powell said this topic has been discussed for the last several years.

We are to an area we need to make a decision and go forward, he said.

Councilman Jody Czajkoski agrees.

I dont see any downside, he said.

The action comes on the heels of a Houston businessmans presentation to council in November about building a 200-room hotel and convention center as part of the Spirit of Texas development near downtown.

While no official action has been taken to construct the hotel, Jay Patel said his plan features a Delta by Marriott brand hotel that would include a 40,000 to 60,000-square-foot convention center on the 12.7-acre site complete with a lazy river. The hotel would be located near the current Spirit of Texas Plaza, and the new site of the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial and the future Yellow Rose Theater.

Dean Bass, CEO of Spirit of Texas Bank, said during the November meeting he has been in talks with Patel for several years about the project.

Jay is an outstanding hotel entrepreneur, Bass said adding over the past four years, he has spoken with city staff and elected officials about Patels vision. He is very interested in trying to help put a successful hotel in this area and one that would help downtown.

Johnson Development, which is developing Grand Central Park near Loop 336 and Interstate 45, originally released a hotel and conference center was among the possibilities for its development but to date has also not finalized any plans for such a project.

cdominguez@hcnonline.comUAE-based Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), a Federal export credit company, has awarded a contract to Tinubu Square, the French credit insurance, surety and trade finance software vendor and trade credit risk management services firm.



ECI will be provided with Tinubu Credit Insurance Suite (CIS), the award-winning end-to-end SaaS integrated software solution. Tinubu Square will provide these new technologies and services in order for ECI to support UAE businesses in managing and securing risks while moving to expand their presence.



Massimo Falcioni, chief executive officer, ECI, said: We welcome this new partnership agreement that we have entered with Tinubu Square, which will help us in our mandate to support the export and re-export of UAE goods, works, services and foreign investments of UAE companies.



Oliver Placca, deputy CEO, Tinubu Square, added: Collaborating with ECI paves the way for us to maintaining a stronger presence in the Middle East region and playing a key role in the growth of its economies. We are looking forward to working closely with ECI, especially in their move to build the future of credit insurance in the UAE.



Founded in 2000, Tinubu Square is a software vendor and enabler of the Credit Insurance, Surety and Trade Finance digital transformation. The company enables organisations across the world to significantly reduce their exposure to risk and their financial, operational and technical costs with best-in-class technology solutions and services.



Tinubu Square provides SaaS solutions and services to different businesses including credit insurers, receivables financing organisations and multinational corporations. Tinubu Square has built an ecosystem of customers in over 20 countries worldwide and has a global presence with offices in Paris, London, New York, Montreal and Singapore.  TradeArabia News Service

Asking others to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society was easy for Erin Cones. After hearing her familys story, others tended to immediately spring into action.

Imagine yourself in my shoes, she would say.

And after learning about her young son Crews battle with leukemia, they were eager help others dealing with the prevalent form of cancer.

People want to donate, people want to give, Cones said. They just dont always know how or where.

She wanted to make it easy for them. This year, she led the way and raised $120,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Societys Man & Woman of the Year Campaign.

Cones, a resident of The Woodlands, was named the Woman of the Year, the top female fundraiser in 2018 for Montgomery County.

Mindy Reynolds, campaign manager, explained this was the inaugural year for the local competition.

There are a lot of generous people out here, and we saw an opportunity to expand, she said.

Montgomery County already was hosting its own Light the Night fundraiser. Adding an annual Man & Woman of the Year Campaign was a natural next step, Reynolds said.

Its a 10 week fundraising competition and whoever makes the most money win, she said. You have to be competitive and you have to have a reason to want to do it. 

Cones fit the bill.

Unfortunately, Erin has this terrible personal story, Reynolds said. Her goal was to win no matter what, because this was the year Crew was ringing the bell. She wanted to celebrate.

Cones explained that taking the prize had a special meaning.

Its a victory year for us, she said.

Crew, who turns 6 years old in January, recently rang the bell in November, signaling the completion of his treatment.

Erin, her husband Kyle and Crew celebrated with friends and family over hot dogs, bouncy houses and a DJ.

Still, Cones said the fight isnt over. Five years from the time Crew rings the bell, thats when we can say that were cancer free, she said. Thats when we can declare remission. There will still be monthly check-up and labs.

Crew was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia when he was a little more than 2 years old.

He went through treatment for three years, Cones said. Hes done this more than half his life.

The memories of a crying child, endless commutes to the doctor, overnight hospital stays and surgical procedures are still fresh in her mind.

Cones recalls when it all started three year ago, when her little boy had an abnormal amount on large bruises on his legs.

I thought maybe he was anemic, she said. He had always been a little pale.

His teachers werent concerned, but soon afterwards, Crew, who was always energetic, became lethargic.

He had no energy, Cones said. We made an appointment with a pediatrician.

The doctor suspected an ear infection, but Cones insisted on blood work.

We got a call from Texas Childrens Hospital, Cones said. When we got to the ER, they knew Crew had leukemia. We did not.

It was July 4, 2015. Despite the holiday, the hospital lab was running. The Cones thought they were coming in for an appointment.

They ended up learning about Crews diagnosis and spending the night in the intensive care unit.

The next 13 days were spent in the hospital, and Crew started chemotherapy.

We didnt have time to think, Erin said. We just had to do something. We were ready to fight it, once we found out what it was.

Crew had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, which the Cones learned is the most common childhood cancer, affecting one-third of the pediatric oncology population. She explained that 80 percent of children with leukemia receive the same specific diagnosis.

There are a lot of other types of leukemia out there where theres not that much you can do, Cones said.

Still, Crew had to endure a difficult three-and-a-half year medical regimen.

Cones shared her sons journey on Facebook and was surprised with the amount of supporters rallying around the family. She also saw that Crew was inspiring others with his bravery.

He was leading us, Cones said. Hes just incredible. He has a great attitude. Hes amazing and everyone sees it.

His supporters named themselves BattleCREW  and it wasnt long before they started putting a team together for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Light the Night Walk in 2015.

I was kind of in a fog still but it was really great seeing all the support, Cones said. We got to know the leaders of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and they kept checking on us.

The following year, Crew was the honored hero at the Light the Night Walk, and Strike, the company that employs Cones, got on board, presenting superhero capes to children in treatment.

In addition, Cones reached third place for fundraising for the event.

In 2017, however, she could not participate in the race because she was pregnant with her second child Kastyn. Instead, she decided to join the contest for Woman of the Year.

Cones had 10 weeks to raise as many donations as possible, and she hit the streets to spread the word.

There was nothing more I wanted to do than celebrate our victory and represent Crew, she said.

Cones was shocked when they called her name for first place last summer during an end-of-campaign gala. It was like a Cinderella story, she said. No one thought I was going to win.

Then, she focused her energy on helping Crew finish his last five months of treatment.

Thankfully, someone put in time to research how to treat Crews type of leukemia, she said.

Other families have more dire diagnoses.

Thats why Cones said supporting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Societys quest for a cure is so important  and why she and Kyle plan to continue their fight against pediatric cancer.

Reynolds said that in March, a new round of competitors will be announced for the next Man & Woman of the Year Campaign.

When more than $50,000 is raised, a specific researcher is funded for a year. Cones was able to participate and named her research grant after Crew.

Cancer treatment has come a long way, but we still have a ways to go, Reynolds said.

For more information, visit www.lls.org.Stafford resident Alice Chen remembers the day she decided to donate books to Stafford Municipal School District.

She was in home and heard a loud noise in the middle of the night. It was the collapse of her bookcase, from the multitude of books she had accumulated through the years.

Chen soon decided to donate the books to Stafford MSD.

If I donate a book, everybody can read it, not just myself, she said. And also, it promotes Chinese Culture.

On Dec. 6, Chen and Stafford MSD partnered to host a kickoff event for the Districts first Chinese Book Drive, which ran through Dec. 18. Visit https://tinyurl.com/y93fyxjc to watch the kickoff.

Three hundred Chinese books have been donated thus far - something that will boost the districts Chinese Language Immersion Program.

Stafford MSD Superintendent Robert Bostic said the collaboration between the district and the community shows a great deal of commitment by everyone involved.

Thank you for your donations, Bostic said. We cant do it without you. Theres nowhere in Fort Bend County that you can find a community thats like Stafford. We respond to you, we give the kids what they need. Our kids are competitive, and we want to compete on a national and international level.

Stafford MSD Deputy Superintendent Marva Rasberry knows that the donations will have an immediate impact on students.

Our students will be richly blessed and their knowledge will be enhanced, as a result of the donations, Rasberry said.

People interested in participating can drop off books at the Stafford MSD Library, 1625 Staffordshire Road, Stafford.Houston Police Department

A Houston man has been charged with driving while intoxicated in connection with a wreck that killed a 22-year-old on the South Sam Houston Parkway on Friday.

Christian Liddell-Campbell, also 22, is accused of drinking before getting behind the wheel of his minivan and colliding with a Camry in the 6200 block of Beltway 8, according to the Houston Police Department.First it was the restaurant industry, then it was Facebook. Now, Generation Z, the demographic born after 1996, appears to be dissolving the traditional structure of Texas gangs.

The Texas Department of Public Safety's new gang threat assessment, published last week, identifies several gang-related trends across the state in 2018.

One of those trends has to do with younger members "relinquishing traditional gang structure and rules, opting for less organizational oversight and the freedom to serve in self-interested roles," the report said.

RELATED: Barrio Azteca makes resurgence as top gang threat in Texas

That description sounds similar to a long-used media trope to describe the millennial generation, the group born between 1981 and 1996. A deluge of think-pieces have said the demographic is "obsessed" with self-care and eschewing organized religion. Millennials have been accused of killing everything from home ownership to beer to napkins.

But more recently, Generation Z has been stealing that industry-killing thunder, claiming malls and print magazines as possible victims of their digital world, according to a recent Bloomberg article.

They wield more economic power and social media clout. Also, Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State, told Bloomberg that Gen Z'ers prioritize personal wealth and material goods more than previous generations.

"In psychological terms, it's a shift toward extrinsic valuesmoney, fame and richesrather than toward intrinsic values, like relationships and community feeling," Twenge said in the article.

Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Richard Standifer said the agency doesn't define the age of a "young" gang member. But according to the DPS report, gangs tend to recruit juveniles in schools and neighborhoods with promises of money, popularity, protection and family.

Nowadays, newer members prefer a free enterprise approach with little oversight, similar to members of the Tango Blast gang, the report said. Young members have also tended to relinquish the traditional mandate to stay within the gang for life.

RELATED: 14 top gangs operating in Houston and throughout southeast Texas

For the Texas Mexican Mafia, young members have been dismantling the organization from within, causing internal strife and increased separation between the old and new members, the report said.

Young members of Barrio Azteca, which has returned as a top threat in the state, have also been known to ignore rivalries and work with other gangs and drug cartels, the report said.

"Young gang members are committing crimes to enjoy the profits for themselves, without first receiving permission from gang leadership," the report said.

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text messageThese guys are worse than the Grinch. You order that perfect Christmas gift for a friend or loved one. You race home to pick up your package, only to find some porch pirate has snatched it before you could even wrap it.

If this problem seems to happen more in Houston and other large Texas cities, you are right.The Texas Bar Foundation recently awarded Child Advocates of Fort Bend a $5,000 grant to support the agencys Positive Parenting Project to address the advocacy needs of babies and toddlers.

Children ages 5 and under are among the most vulnerable victims of child abuse and represent the largest age cohort served by CAFBs Court Appointed Special Advocates Program: 125 infants and toddlers served as of Nov. 12.

As new children enter Texas Foster Care daily, the most basic needs for care and safety are in high demand and so are the needs pressed upon the networks of child welfare, judicial, law enforcement and other systems.

The greatest needs are to prevent abused and neglected children from falling through the cracks of any system, to advocate for their best interests in court and reduce their chances of returning to the system, stated Child Advocates of Fort Bend CEO Ruthanne Mefford. A short-term goal is to continue to serve 100 percent of abused and neglected children ages 5 and under to ensure their safety and permanency. New program enhancements will help children reunite with family or identify and connect with previously unknown family members when possible using Collaborative Family Engagement (CFE) and CAFB-sponsored Family Reunification Celebrations.

Since its inception in 1965, the Texas Bar Foundation has awarded more than $19 million in grants to law-related programs. Supported by members of the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Bar Foundation is the nation's largest charitably-funded bar foundation.

Child Advocates of Fort Bend is the only agency in Fort Bend County exclusively dedicated to providing critical services, all free of charge, to abused and neglected children and their non-offending family members. For 27 years, CAFB has provided a voice, healed the hurt and broken the cycle of abuse and neglect in Fort Bend County.

Through its Court Appointed Special Advocates Program (CASATM), Childrens Advocacy Center (CAC) and more than 200 trained advocates, CAFB has served more than 15,500 children since opening its doors in 1991. New Volunteer Advocates are continuously needed to help sustain its programs.

For more information about CAFB, or to learn how to volunteer, visit www.cafb.org or contact Lindsey Castellanos at lcastellanos@cafb.org or 281-344-5259.Germany-based Hensoldt, a pioneer of technology and innovation in the area of defence and security electronics, said it is pressing ahead with the development of the Eurofighters new Captor-E radar system.



The Eurofighter radar is being developed by the Euroradar consortium comprising Leonardo (Great Britain, Italy), Indra (Spain) and Hensoldt (Germany). The consortium has already developed and produced more than 400 Captor radars, it stated.



Once ready, the Eurofighters will be equipped with a new generation of radars which will enhance the aircrafts capabilities and survivability, said a statement from the company.



The Captor-E radar is based on AESA (active electronically scanned array) technology and will significantly enhance the performance of the Eurofighter.



Electronic beam scanning combined with flexible radar resource management provide outstanding detection performance and ensure simultaneous multi-target tracking, missile guidance and perception of the situation.



Following the successful acceptance test, Hensoldt has now delivered the second antenna ready for series production to Leonardo UK in Edinburgh, it said.



This means that the production of the so-called e-scan antenna can commence at the Hensoldt site in Ulm/Germany according to plan. This paves the way for the delivery of the first radar systems as of mid-2019, it added.



As early as spring 2018, the radar has successfully completed two flight campaigns at British Aerospace Systems (BAES) in Warton and at Airbus Defence and Space in Manching and met the requirements of the critical design review (CDR) exactly on schedule, said a statement.



The Eurofighters nose is larger than that of all the comparable fighters, which means that the antenna is much larger and consequently more powerful than that of competing aircraft. This, together with the ability to mechanically rotate the antenna with a larger angle of view, increases both the detection area and the field of regard in comparison with the AESA radar systems used by the competitors.



The further development of radar technology is one of the main focal points of the sensor specialist Hensoldt.



For this reason, Hensoldt operates one of the largest cleanroom production lines for radio-frequency components in Europe.



Hensoldts radar systems are deployed worldwide by armed forces, including the US and German Navy, as well as at the bases of the Canadian, Australian and German Air Force.-TradeArabia News ServiceA packed house at Oak Ridge Norths Monday night city council meeting bade an emotional farewell to the citys chief of police for more than two decades.

Out-going Chief Andrew Walters was recognized by council Members Paul Bond, Frances Planchard, Clint McClaren, Dawn Candy, Mayor Jim Kuykendall and several of his officers as the citys longest-serving police chief.

Hes recreated this department into, what I believe, is one of the finest departments in the state, Kuykendall said.

Colleagues praised Walters, who announced his impending retirement at an July city council meeting and named Lt. Tom Libby as his successor. Libby is set to take the helm of the police department on Jan. 1.

I couldnt ask for a better friend, Officer Ralph Craig said of Walters. Im sad to see you go.

It was a big night for the police department as a whole  Officers Charles Nation and David Stafford were also recognized for their 20 years and 5 years in the department, respectively.

These are two of the finest examples of why we have the best police department in the state of Texas  bar none, Kuykendall said.

Walters retirement comes after three decades as an officer in Oak Ridge North and serving as chief for 20 of them  under his watch, the department more than tripled in size to todays 17 staff members and patrol officers. He and his wife, Cora, have plans to retire in Oklahoma.

Thank you all for 30 years, Walters said.

Public works projects

A solution for the daily rush hour headache along Robinson Road is on the horizon.

The Robinson Road realignment project on the intersection with Hanna Road is entering the last part of its design phase, Public Works Director Joe Sherwin reported to the city council. Final plans and specifications from Houston-based engineering firm RPS Klotz are expected early next year and the city is beginning a right-of-way process with residents who own property along Robinson Road near Hanna Road and the railroad.

Were really just negotiating right now, Sherwin said.

The process is moving along, albeit slowly, with the bidding process for the realignment expected to begin in the spring  a conservative estimate puts construction beginning in October of 2019, Sherwin added.

Improvements within the city are also to come  the concrete pool decking at the Marilyn Edgar Park pool is set to be completely redone by February 2019.

New businesses

With the new year come new businesses in the small city.

Building official John Beisert announced the commencement of construction of a location of craft studio The Rustic Brush and the the expansion of an existing Rooms To Go location along the western edge of the city. The store is opening a sister location in an adjoining lot just to the south and will exclusively sell outdoor and patio furniture.

Miscellaneous notes

Council members Frances Planchard, Clint McClaren and Dawn Candy are up for re-election in May 2019  the deadline to file as a candidate for Oak Ridge North city council is Jan. 16.

mrincon@chron.comBrazil-based WEG Electric Equipment and Dutch company Praxis Automation Technology recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to support the bid of Damen Shipyards Group and Saab for the construction of four corvettes for the Brazilian Navy.



WEG operates mainly in the sector of capital goods and is one of the largest world manufacturers of electric-electronic equipment, having five main businesses: motors, energy, transmission and distribution, automation and coatings.



Praxis Automation Technology is a leading developer and manufacturer of innovative automation and navigation equipment for all types of vessels.



For the Tamandare class corvettes bid, Praxis and WEG will be partners for the supply of the complete Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS), said a statement from the companies.



The signing took place at Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding in the Netherlands and was witnessed by staff from Damen, Saab and its strategic Brazilian partner Wilson Sons Estaleiros, it said.



Praxis and WEG already have a track record of cooperation in Brazil, with the two companies jointly installing equipment on board more than 40 vessels built by Wilson Sons Estaleiros and designed by Damen, including the first diesel-electric PSV in Brazil.



Praxis develops, manufactures and delivers innovative automation and navigation equipment, while WEG is a Brazilian technology company that among many other activities is active in the area of industrial automation.



With this MoU, the Damen Saab Tamandare consortium is ensuring another strong partnership with two leading Brazilian companies, which will be part of the project to build four corvettes in Brazil.



It proves the intention of the consortium to present a credible and reliable offer to the Brazilian Navy with a proven ship design (Sigma 10514), a world class combat management system and strong partnerships with Brazilian companies for the construction and through life support of the future Tamandare class, it stated.  TradeArabia News ServiceSaudi Telecom Company (STC), a leading player in the regional telecom services sector, has joined hands with UK-based London Internet Exchange (Linx) to launch the JED-IX driven by Linx - an Internet exchange in Jeddah city of Saudi Arabia.



STC said the move comes as part of its initiative to deliver on its mandate to establish Saudi Arabia as the key hub for telecoms connectivity, in the Mena region, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030.



As per the deal, Linx, one of the world's largest internet exchanges, based in London, is providing the expertise and will support the operation of JED-IX driven by Linx going forward.



JED-IX is a neutral Internet traffic exchange platform that interconnects global networks and, above all, network operators and content providers in the GCC region, said a statement from the organisation.



It is built on a fully redundant switching platform located in a neutral secure STC datacentre in Jeddah.



Alan Whelan, VP of STC Wholesale, said: "Our ambition is to develop JED-IX into the leading internet and data hub in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region."



In Linx we have a global leading IX partner who will help accelerate the delivery of this ambition and create a thriving interconnection eco system in the kingdom, he added.



Linx CEO John Souter pointed out that JED-IX driven by Linx was a real step forward for the Internet community in Saudi and the GCC as a whole.



The exchange will allow networks to stop 'tromboning' traffic to London and back again, and will help increase resilience by creating a new centre for interconnection in Saudi Arabia, he stated.



Kurt Erik Lindqvist, chief marketing officer, Linx, said: The new partnership between STC and us forms an exciting milestone in the expansion of our companys global presence and builds on our aim of Working for the Good of the Internet globally.- TradeArabia News ServiceParmigiani Fleurier, a leading Swiss watchmaking brand, has expanded its Tonda Metropolitaine Selene range following the resounding success of this watch, launched in 2016, with two new models in rose gold.



These models display the moon phases thanks to a movement produced entirely in-house and set in a modern, refined rose gold case.



The Tonda Metropolitaine Selene in rose gold features two dial versions: the first, in abyss blue, is adorned with a central lotus flower  a symbol of femininity.

The top Swiss watch brand dubbed the new model as a "feminine complication that marries elegance and the celestial world with the majesty of rose gold."



This decoration is cut from mother of pearl and applied to the dial, from which it stands out 0.2 mm. The satin and polished finishes of the lace design create a play of light that beautifully showcases the quality of the workmanship.



The second dial is made from highly reflective white mother of pearl, and features a lotus flower in solid rose gold, echoing the indices and the case. On each dial version, the bezel is adorned with 76 brilliant-cut diamonds totalling ~0.52 carat.



The russet moon of the Tonda Metropolitaine Selene emulates the brilliance of the night sky. It is magnified thanks to its surface made up of craters - known as lunar seas - obtained by hand-applying successive layers of transfers. This watch offers a genuine embodiment of the moon on the wrist that disappears and emerges from wisps of cloud amidst its starry constellation.



The richness of the Tonda Metropolitaine Selene resides in each of its individual details and its overall integrity. Decorative operations carried out by hand give it a tangible and unique value, said the statement from Parmigiani Fleurier.



The PF318 movement and its moon phase module is the 33rd movement created within the Parmigiani Fleurier manufactures. The moon phase's operating principle is based on a gear moved by the hour wheel, which rotates at half the speed of the gear, it stated.



The gear drives the moon disc every 24 hours via a flexible blade integrated in the centre of its wheel. A corrector at 9 o'clock enables the wearer to independently index the moon in relation to the day and date in order to match its phase to the geographic reference location.



The Swiss watchmaker pointed out that the PF318 self-winding movement had a power reserve of 50 hours and excellent isochronism thanks to its two series-mounted barrels that regulate the rate.



Visible through the watch's sapphire case back, this calibre is entirely circular-grained, decorated with Cotes de Geneve and bevelled to the finest haute horlogerie standards customarily applied in the Parmigiani Fleurier manufacture, it stated.-TradeArabia News ServiceMurjanAl Sharq Marine Contracting (MSMC) has taken delivery of three Damen vessels: a Stan Tug 1606, a Shoalbuster 2509, and a Stan Pontoon 4512 equipped with a Damen DOP Pump to complete an extensive oil pipeline dredging and installation project.



For Damen, this marks the successful conclusion of a coordinated construction and delivery contract involving three shipyards in the Netherlands, China and the UAE.



The delivery ceremony of the Shoalbuster 2509 at Damen Shipyards Gorinchem was attended by MSMC chairman Abdullah Natheer and general manager Chris Clark. Based in Saudi Arabia, MSMC provides marine construction and maintenance, dredging, diving and subsea services. The company will be using the three new vessels on an oil pipeline trenching project.



The overall aim of our clients project is to improve the efficiency of old wells, explained Clark. We will be dredging a 5km trench and installing a new trunk line to tie in wells that have been recently upgraded. After that we have a pipe pull, followed by backfill operations.



For the first kilometre of the trench, MSMC will mobilise the Multi Cat 1908 Murjan 40 and DOP 250 purchased from Damen in 2017.



The remaining 4km of trench will be dredged by the new Stan Pontoon 4512, supported by the new Stan Tug 1606 (named Murjan 22) and the new Shoalbuster 2509 (named Murjan 41).



Shallow water skills



The most notable aspect of the project is the sheer diversity of conditions that will be encountered. Water depth, for example, ranges from 0 metres at the shore to just 7 metres at its deepest point. Furthermore, geotechnical conditions are highly variable.



Any challenges posed by the working environment will be met by the flexibility of the Stan Pontoon 4512 facilitated by a 170-tonne Heila and a 100-tonne Liebherr crane.



We worked closely with Damens engineers in the Netherlands and at Albwardy Damen [the construction shipyard] to customise the Pontoon specifically for this job, continued Clark. For trenching, we can work as a backhoe dredger, or use the DOP in various configurations. And then for backfilling operations we have a mass flow excavator.



Versatile platform



For mooring, depending on the conditions and client requirements, the Stan Pontoon can use its 4-point mooring system in addition to its three hydraulically-driven 18-metre long spud poles.



The substantial 515m2 deck space also means that there is ample space for various 20-foot and 40-foot containers for day and night accommodation, workshop and control room facilities.



Because of the versatility and modular capacity of the Pontoon, we will get full use of it by changing its capabilities. That's the main idea  increasing the bottom line for our client.



A remarkable feat



Although the Stan Pontoon will play a pivotal role in the pipeline project, the two new supporting vessels contribution is not insignificant. The Stan Tug 1606, which was built at Damen Shipyards Changde, will provide support in the shallowest waters.



Built at Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld, the Netherlands, the Shoalbuster 2509  named Murjan 41  will be called upon for support tasks further from the coast and for its 30-tonne bollard pull during pipe pulling operations. Most vessels with a 2-metre draught are not going to give you 30 tonnes of bollard pull. But that is the unique thing about the Shoalbuster, it can maintain its bollard pull even in shallow waters  its a remarkable feat.



For MSMC, these latest three deliveries represent a continuance of its productive relationship with Damen, as Natheer concluded: They give us access to their engineering and technical team  people who really know what they're talking about when it comes to designing vessels for actual projects, this results in smooth execution of the work for our clients. Their whole team has been outstanding.



Referring to the local service that Damen will be providing MSMC, Damen regional sales director Middle East Jeremy Elschot said: We are very proud to support the latest three vessel contract with a 3-year Damen Support Programme, this includes a 24/7 support line with monthly visits to analyse vessel performance, train the crew and support the full life cycle of the vessels on the job.



We would like to thank Murjan Al-Sharq Marine Contracting for their continuous support and trust in Damen Shipyards. We are very proud to work together locally in Saudi Arabia and look forward to a long term successful partnership.  TradeArabia News ServiceThe earnings of GCC petrochemical companies for the year surged by 2 per cent to $7.57 billion compared to the last year's figures of $7.45 billion, said a report released ahead of ArabPlast 2019 in Dubai.

A leading industry expo in the region, ArabPlast 2019 is set to take place from January 5 to 8 at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

With the industry experiencing a steady growth, plans are already in place for a massive investment in the downstream sector, with more than $200 billion expected to be ploughed into new refining and petrochemicals ventures in the GCC by 2025, stated the report by Ubhar Capital.

Borouge, Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), National Industrialization Company (Tasnee) and Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) have announced their association with the upcoming event.

Borouge is a leading petrochemical company that provides innovative, value creating plastics solutions.

Established in 1998 as a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), one of the worlds major oil and gas companies, and Austria-based Borealis, Borouge produces 4.5 million tonnes of polyethylene and polypropylene solutions per year for packaging, infrastructure, energy, mobility, agriculture and healthcare applications.

While Borouge will serve as a strategic partner, Kizad as support sponsor, Tasnee will be the regional associate for the high-net worth event, whilst Orpic is the gold sponsor.

According to Ubhar Capital, shares in petrochemical companies in the GCC performed better this year than in 2017 and the outlook looks decent for 2019.

At ArabPlast 2019, Borouge, Tasnee and Orpic will highlight their commitment to innovation by showcasing their latest products.

In addition, the companies will offer visitors and interested participants an opportunity to discuss business models as well as share best practices for others to adopt at their respective organisations.

GCC countries play a major role in meeting global demands related to plastics and petrochemicals. This has not only increased the productivity of the industry, but also strengthened its growth, remarked Satish Khanna, the general manager, Al Fajer Information & Services, Dubai, the event organisers.

According to a new report released by the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), primary chemicals consumption will grow almost 60 per cent to 1 billion tonnes by 2050, where the Gulf will account for 12 per cent of all global high value-chemicals.

The petrochemical sector has considerable room for growth, and the Gulf represents the worlds fastest growing markets, said Khanna.

"We are confident that having Borouge, Tasnee and Orpic associate with ArabPlast 2019, will add value to the event, as well as open doors for comprehensive cooperation and business opportunities for visitors and participants," he added.

Ahmed Al Shamsi, the senior VP Regional MEAE at Borouge, said: "We are glad to participate at ArabPlast this year as a Strategic Partner where we have the opportunity to meet with the industry leaders to exchange ideas and discuss the best ways to move our business ahead."

As our participation at ArabPlast this year coincides with our 20th anniversary celebration, Borouge will be able to utilise this important platform to meet with our customers, partners and peers and showcase our innovative polyolefin solutions and emphasise the many opportunities they create, throughout the value chain, stated Al Shamsi.

Kizad, a part of Abu Dhabi Ports, is a major integrated trade, logistics, industrial and free zone hub, which serves companies from the aluminium industry, polymers and plastics industry, food processing, logistics, construction, and automotive sectors.

With a key focus on polymers and plastics, Kizad offers access to quality infrastructure, best in class regional and global connectivity, effective policies and broad access to raw materials from the likes of Borouge.

Tasnee is Saudi Arabia's first joint-stock industrial company, fully owned by the private sector with the aim of advancing the economic diversification in Saudi Arabia.

In addition to the above, companies as ExxonMobil, Tawazon Chemical Company LLC, Enerplastics LLC, Basell International Trading FZE and Astra Polymers will also participate at ArabPlast 2019. This edition of ArabPlast will witness presence from of more than 900 companies from 30 countries including 14 national pavilions.

"ArabPlast is an important trade fair that focuses not just on ideas and learnings, but on implementation, which offers a real shift towards action," stated Khanna, while speaking at a press conference.

The press conference witnessed the presence of participants as Rahim K. Jamal, General Manager, Al Shihab Al Thahabi and Hasan Al Dalou, the sales manager, Adeka Al Ghurair Additives.

"Having the big giants of the industry participate in the fair this year will not only add value to the event, but also lead to rewarding partnerships," added Khanna.

Kizad CEO Samir Chaturvedi said: "Borouge is an important partner for Kizad and together we are creating more in-country value for the UAE economy. This helps build a sustainable ecosystem for the development of polymer products, with a focus on leading the conversation around polymer sustainability."

"We look forward to exploring further collaboration together at ArabPlast 2019, a key event for UAEs polymer converting industry," he stated.

ArabPlast is the best platform to unveil new products, witness updates of the industry, open communication channels with industry peers, and meet global decision makers in the plastics, rubber and petrochemical industry.-TradeArabia News ServiceThe former Texas prison sergeant accused of conspiring to plant screwdrivers in an inmate's cell pleaded guilty to a third-degree felony tampering charge - but he won't face any jail time and could have the conviction wiped from his record in four years.

Marcus Gallegos was one of four Ramsey Unit prison officials indicted earlier this year in connection with an evidence-planting scheme, an alleged misdeed that came to light on the heels of an investigation into a disciplinary quota system at the Rosharon lock-up.

He's the first of the four to plead guilty, taking a four-year deferred adjudication.

In the meantime, he'll be under community supervision, is banned from prison property and has to do 120 hours of community service, according to Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne.

"If he successfully completes it, he won't have a conviction," she said. "But what was important to us - and obviously there was no criminal history - was that the person plead to a felony."

If he fails probation, he could face up to 10 years in prison, she said.

Still, for Sherry Templin - the mother of the inmate at the center of the case - it seemed a surprisingly lenient outcome.

READ MORE: 4 Texas prison officials indicted after alleged screwdriver-planting incident at Brazoria lockup

"I'm disappointed but on the other hand he is so young and he was following orders - so maybe he deserved a second chance," she said. "But I'm hoping that doesn't happen with the remaining three because they're not young, they know better. They knew what they were doing and they thought they were above the law."

The former officer's attorney did not respond to a request for comment. Gallegos was recommended for dismissal earlier in the year, but ultimately he resigned, according to prison spokesman Jeremy Desel. He wasn't eligible for a pension because he hadn't been with the agency long enough.

"Anyone who violates the law should be held accountable," Desel said Tuesday.

The other ex-officials accused in the felony and misdemeanor indictments - Maj. Juan Jackson, Lt. James Thomas and Officer George Wolfe - still have cases winding through the justice system, with court dates set for early next year.

The charges are just part of the fallout from an evidence-planting scheme that came to light amid an investigation into a quota system requiring officers to write up inmates or risk facing consequences themselves.

In the weeks after news of the scandals was first reported in the Chronicle, multiple officials were recommended for termination, several - including a warden - were demoted or transferred, more than 600 disciplinary were cases tossed out, and the prison system set out to review its disciplinary policies.

Though the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has repeatedly stressed that the evidence-planting and the quota system were unconnected, the same former major was allegedly involved in both.

The alleged quota system came to light in mid-May after the Chronicle obtained copies of an email from Capt. Reginald Gilbert apparently ordering officers to write up prisoners for specific infractions.

"Effective March 10, 2018, each Sergeant will be required to turn in at least two (2) cases written by officers for a Level 2 Code 35 'Unauthorized Storage of Property,'" he wrote. "Two each day is my requirement. Remember this is to be done each workday without exception."

READ MORE: Prison investigators close probe into claim officers planted drill bits in inmate's cell

A couple hours later, Jackson responded, noting that the "below instructions will help greatly in fighting a gig," which is slang for an audit.

Though he was demoted and given eight months of disciplinary probation, Gilbert defended himself to investigators, saying he wasn't ordering officers to write more cases but simply instructing sergeants to turn in cases already written and that his email was taken out of context.

Weeks after it began, prison officials abandoned the alleged quota system, but TDCJ started investigating after the Chronicle reported on it.

Then on May 25, after reading about the investigation into the "bogus" cases, an inmate's mother wrote in to say her son had been set up by prison guards who allegedly planted two screwdrivers in the man's cell earlier that month at Ramsey Unit. The Office of the Inspector General launched an investigation and found the claim had merit.

Over the summer, investigators probed a second, similar claim after a different inmate alleged officers had planted drill bits in his cell. The OIG closed that case without any charges, but officials said in October that they believed some of the same officers were involved.The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Ken Paxton, two universities and two school districts Tuesday, claiming a 2017 state law that requires contractors to sign a pledge against boycotting Israel violates the Constitution by forcing workers to choose between their livelihoods and beliefs.

The ACLU suit comes one day after Bahia Amawi, a contracted speech pathologist for Pflugerville ISD, sued that school district for terminating her contract after she refused to certify that she would not boycott Israel. Amawi's case drew national attention and reignited conversations about whether boycotts are protected under the First Amendment.

In its complaint, the ACLU said Texas law goes far beyond unfairly punishing those involved with official boycott groups, affecting those who boycott Israel for personal reasons. It asks the court to declare the Texas law a violation of the First and 14th amendments and to bar the defendants from requiring contractors to certify that they will not boycott Israel.

John Pluecker, a freelance writer and translator who is one of the plaintiffs in the case, said he first learned of Texas anti-boycott law when he reviewed a contract sent by the University of Houston this spring. Pluecker has refused to buy products from the Sabra Dipping Co. to protest the companys support of the Israel Defense Forces. He said he believed that action violated the anti-boycott clause, and he did not want to sign a document that he said endorsed denying people the right to boycott Israel. As a result, he refused a $1,500 contract and another $250 contract from UH.

Im a seventh-generation Texan, and I feel like its important to guarantee Texans have a right to make their own political or ethical decisions, Pluecker said Tuesday. The state doesnt have business deciding what its residents can believe.

ACLU of Texas Senior Staff Attorney Edgar Saldivar said the lawsuit is aimed more at the state than the two universities and two school districts it lists as defendants.

Its the state that passed this law that now requires all state agencies participate in a political litmus test, Saldivar said. Had this law not passed, you wouldnt see UH as a party in this lawsuit.

Texas is among more than a dozen states to pass laws limiting its business with companies that boycott or divest from Israeli companies, or companies housed in Israeli-controlled territories. Many of those laws were passed in reaction to a growing number of business leaders and individuals who said they no longer would financially support those within the Middle Eastern country over its governments treatment of Palestinians and continued expansion into Palestinian-held territories.

Gov. Greg Abbott and other lawmakers trumpeted the 2017 statute, or House Bill 89, as a stand against official Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions, or BDS groups, that have targeted Israel.

As Israel's No. 1 trading partner in the United States, Texas is proud to reaffirm its support for the people of Israel and we will continue to build on our historic partnership, Abbott said after signing HB 89 into law. Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies, and we will not tolerate such actions against an important ally.

Mike Rosen, executive director of media relations for the University of Houston system, said the clause remains in the schools contracts for for-profit vendors due to the state law. However, after Paxtons office provided additional guidance saying individual speakers were not required to sign the certification, the university changed that requirement.

Other examples included in the complaint: A Rice University PhD candidate had to forfeit payment after judging a Klein ISD debate tournament because he is involved with a divestment campaign against Israel; a reporter for Texas A&M Commerce's NPR affiliate signed a No Boycott of Israel certification against his conscious so he could keep his job; and a Palestinian-American student at Texas Tech could not judge high school debates in Lewisville ISD because he boycotts Israel.

In a statement, attorney general spokesman Marc Rylander said private citizens and companies have every right to express their views and to participate in boycotts.

They do not, however, have a right to use their business activity with the state to make that statement, Rylander wrote. The taxpayers of Texas do not want their money used to marginalize and attack a key ally and trading partner of Texas, and they have said so at the ballot box. They, too, have the right to express their views."

Klein ISD officials said they have not yet been served with the suit and could not comment.

Amanda Brim, chief communications officer for Lewisville ISD, said the ACLU indicated the district is not the target of the lawsuit and that the ACLUs concern seems to be the law itself.

Texas A&M University at Commerce did not respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this year, federal judges barred Arizona and Kansas from enforcing their versions of anti-boycott laws, according to the Arizona Republic and Wichita Eagle newspapers.

shelby.webb@chron.com

twitter.com/shelbywebbA driver died in a wreck amid foggy conditions in north Houston early Tuesday.

The driver crashed into a stopped 18-wheeler at the intersection of TC Jester and North Sam Houston Parkway around 2 a.m., according to Metro Video.The final Harris County Commissioners Court meeting for Ed Emmett and Jack Morman went much as the others did: Members approved additional flood control projects, debated the future of the flood-damaged downtown courthouse and for an hour listened to residents comment on a number of issues.

Emmett, leading his final meeting after 11 years as county judge, a period in which he lead the county through several hurricanes and even more flood-producing storms, made no farewell speech.

We are adjourned, he said simply at 12:10 p.m., after the court reached the end of the agenda. Only in speaking to reporters afterwards did he reflect on stepping down.

Emmett, 69, said he was proud of his tenure, and cited his work toward providing better access to mental health care and improving the Office of Emergency Management. He said he would miss being the face of the county during storms, where he was a consistent, calm presence for Harris County residents.

Im sure Ill be like the old war horse the next time a storm comes, he said. Ill be oh, no. Thats not me anymore.

Emmett joined the court in 2007, and Morman won the Precinct 2 commissioner seat four years later. Both were defeated for re-election in November.

GRIEDER: Lina Hidalgo earned the right to serve as Harris County judge

Neither man was eager for a fanfare over his departure, but both welcomed the well-wishes from a number of speakers, including District Attorney Kim Ogg, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and State Rep. Mary Ann Perez.

Perez read a proclamation commending Emmett and Morman for their service, to be approved by the Legislature.

Court members ribbed each other as usual, and there was nothing somber about the occasion. When Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle complained he was being excluded from photographs county employees had asked to take with the outgoing judge, Emmett showed that in defeat, he had not lost his sense of humor.

If youd had lost, youd be up here, too, Emmett deadpanned to uproarious laughter.

Morman, characteristic of the low profile the 40-year-old kept on the court, left the chamber at the conclusion of the meeting, disappeared into his office and was unavailable for comment.

Morman has accepted an offer from Cagle to work in Precinct 4s capital projects department. Emmett in January will begin teaching public policy at Rice University and also join the schools Kinder Institute for Urban Research.

Democrats Lina Hidalgo and Adrian Garcia will become county judge and Precinct 2 commissioner in January, giving the court a Democratic majority for the first time in decades..

zach.despart@chron.comAs thick fog descended Tuesday on Houston, several Houstonians (and at least one Canadian astronaut) took to Twitter to voice their perspective.

While a dense fog advisory issued by the National Weather Service expired for much of the Houston area expired at 10 a.m., the obstructionist weather pattern still lingered around much of the city until noon.When police arrived at the Bleimeyer home in 2014 to break up a fist fight between a rowdy 16-year-old and his stepfather, they had no idea of the horrors they would find.

The fight, they soon learned, was a brave ruse by the teenager to get police to come to the house.

The teen wanted police to discover his 5-year-old step-brother, weighing only 29 pounds and covered in cuts and bruises, who had been forced to live in a crawlspace in a closet under the stairs of the blended familys home in Spring. Earlier that day, the teen finally found the courage to defy his parents and force his way into the closet where where his stepbrother Jordan spent his days on a bare concrete floor.

When he saw what he saw, he was deeply affected by it, Assistant Harris County District Attorney Stephen Driver said about the teen. He went and looked in the closet because he had his suspicions. He picked his moment to go check and thats when he just lost it.

Last week, Driver and prosecutor Ashlea Sheridan convinced a Harris County jury to put 38-year-old Tami Bleimeyer in prison for 28 years for abusing her stepson.

Earlier, her husband, Bradley Bleimeyer, 29, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in a plea deal for his role in the neglect, starvation and physical attacks that included electrical shocks from a Taser.

Sending both parents to jail resolved a child abuse case that shocked Houstonians who saw photos of the emaciated and hollow-eyed 5-year-old  his bones visible through his skin.

In an effort to keep Tami Bleimeyer out of prison, defense attorney Matt Horak argued during a two-week trial that the mother  an educated person who worked as a paralegal  was like her children a victim of domestic violence by a brutal husband.

By all accounts from the witnesses, Tami was the victim of prolonged and brutal physical and emotional domestic violence, Horak said in a statement to the Chronicle.

He said other people, including Jordans mother, testified that they had been abused by Brad Bleimeyer. I wish that fact would have weighed in more with the jurys punishment verdict.

Brad Bleimeyers attorney declined to comment on the case.

Prosecutors, and the jury, disagreed with Horaks explanation, deciding that the former paralegal used her knowledge of the law and procedure to thwart police investigations and circumvent attempted interventions by Child Protective Services.

She was a person who was very intelligent, very crafty and very manipulative, Driver said. There were a lot of photographs at trial that seemed to portray a healthy and happy family, but what was lurking behind those photos was something quite dark.

Jordan was treated differently

Tami Bleimeyer already had five children with three men when she married Brad Bleimeyer, who had Jordan from an earlier relationship. The couple married and had another child, and she was pregnant with her seventh child when she was arrested for abusing Jordan.

Jordan came to live with his father and step-siblings not long after his father married Tami Bleimeyer. At first, he was treated the same as Tamis other children, including her 5-year-old son.

Then, Driver said, Jordan started getting disciplined more often, for more things, with harsher punishments.

It started with longer periods in time-out and quickly escalated. Soon, his parents took away his pajamas, then his pillow, and finally his mattress as punishments. They started sending him to the Harry Potter Room an unfinished closet under the stairs with a concrete floor, exposed nails and wiring leading to a crawlspace where he spent hours, then days.

His siblings were forbidden from opening the door to check on him. He had to stay in there, wearing only a diaper, as punishment sometimes for days. During these months, prosecutors said, Brad began beating the boy at Tamis direction.

Then, withholding food became the next level of punishment. It was a chaotic home where dinners were sporadic at best, prosecutors said. When food was served, it was usually out of fast food bags.

When Jordan was being punished, Driver said, he was not allowed any food. His siblings were forbidden to give him anything. Even if the whole family was in the car going through a drive-thru.

In January 2014, Tami Bleimeyers 16-year-old began telling people what was going on, and even got police to show up, but his mother was able to convince investigators there wasnt a problem.

Jordan had recently been sent to Ohio to live with relatives and had returned looking healthier. Child Protective Services visited the Bleimeyers in February, about a month before the fistfight on March 28, 2014. Investigators who photographed and interviewed the boy at the time did not believe he was in poor health.

But by the time police returned in March to break up the fight, he weighed just 29 pounds. He was living on slices of bread that were taken from him if he couldnt eat it fast enough, prosecutors said.

During that fight, he caused enough noise, raised enough of a ruckus that somebody called police and that was the triggering event that led to Jordans rescue, Driver said of the teen. Had he not done that, I believe Jordan would have died.

The teen who told deputies of his brothers abuse said he believed one of the parents slammed Jordans head into a wall and shocked him with a stun gun. Jordan, who was so emaciated he was compared in court to a Holocaust survivor, has recovered and now lives with his biological mother.

I hope, from this point forward, there will be some healing for everybody involved. said Sheridan, the other prosecutor.

Somebody with hate in her heart

The case has left most Houstonians shaking their heads and asking how a mother could try to starve a child to death.

This is just somebody who has hate in her heart, said Brian J. Sweeney, PhD, a Houston forensic psychologist who reviews criminal cases. And somehow she feels okay, possibly even better by getting her hate out.

Sweeney, who has not interviewed Bleimeyer and spoke generally about situations of extreme abuse, said he suspects she is a sociopath, someone who cannot feel empathy.

When people are abusing in this way, theyre doing it out of self-hate as much or more out of anger toward a particular child, he said. That particular child triggers something in them, typically about their past.

He said Tami Bleimeyer may have resented Jordan because he was the only child in the household who was not her biological child. She may have been jealous of her husbands love for his son.

When you see someone whos natural propensity is to harm and hurt, you know theyve got some severe self-hate and hatred of the world, he said. And I dont think people like that have high rehabilitative potential.

Sweeney noted that abusers generally were abused as children. But, he said, its important to remember that the majority of people who are abused do not grow up and abuse their children.

People are very resilient, he said. Most grow up to be okay.

Pct. 4 Constable Mark Herman, who was assistant chief when the Bleimeyers were first arrested, said he hopes the verdict and sentence means no other children will end up in similar situations.

I hope a lot of people see this and see the results of this and I hope it will save other kids, down the road, from going through what this kid went through. he said. Justice has been served.

He said CPS was investigating the family and that his deputies were in the home in January of that year. It was one of several times deputies were called to the home. Each time, Herman said, the Bleimeyers avoided them. He said this case continues to affect him and the investigators who worked on it.

This is one of the most horrific cases of child abuse and neglect that Ive ever been involved in, he said. Its just one of those cases that will stay with you.

Prominent family attorney and blogger Greg Enos, who was not connected to the case, said abuse is not unusual in family law but the Bleimeyer case is far outside the norm.

Its extraordinarily rare to see long-term neglect and imprisonment of a kid by anyone, because how do you get away with it? Who allows it to happen? he said. It has to be an unusual scenario for you to get away with something like that without people asking questions. So, fortunately, its really, really rare.

Enos, who is a step-father himself, said the abuse should not color how step-parents are perceived.

For every one case like that, there are a million step-parents who are doing their best in a very difficult situation.Amit Biswas joins Le Meridien Dubai Complex as multi property director of sales and marketing, bringing more than a decade of diverse experience in the international hospitality environment.

With a Bachelors in Business Administration from Les Roches Hotel Management School, Switzerland, Biswas began his hospitality career at the Ritz-Carlton, Doha in 2002, as part of the pre-opening team. He later joined Le Meridien Dubai Hotel & Conference Centre and Le Meridien Fairway in 2003, held several positions, ranging from senior sales manager to complex director of sales until 2016 before venturing out to help family business. In early 2018, he was appointed as cluster director of sales and marketing for Hyatt Regency Dubai & Galleria and Hyatt Place hotels in Dubai.

Bringing extensive leadership and management experience, Biswas joins the senior leadership team at Le Meridien Dubai Complex with an aim to take the legendary hotels performance to the next level. In his new role, Biswas will drive brand awareness in key markets to catapult revenue and business performance for both Le Meridien Dubai Hotel & Conference Centre and Le Meridien Fairway.

We are excited to welcome Amit back at Le Meridien Dubai Complex, said Shaun Parsons, complex general manager at Le Meridien Dubai and Le Meridien Fairway. His proven expertise in developing successful sales strategies, managing team performance and product positioning will be critical to our success as we expand our portfolio in 2019 and beyond," he said.

Biswas said: I am excited to be back! Le Meridien Dubai is too close to my heart and is the place where I grew up as a professional sales person. Todays business environment is very dynamic and challenging and I look forward to working with the amazing team at Le Meridien Dubai Complex as we gear up for the new year and beyond with new hotels coming in to the portfolio. - TradeArabia News ServiceDense fog has descended on the Houston area once again, limiting visibility and placing the region under a weather advisory until 10 a.m.

Harris and the surrounding counties are included in the alert. Visibilities could be less than one-quarter of a mile ahead through much of rush hour, according to the National Weather Service Houston/Galveston office.Tougher rules take effect Dec. 18 that could leave permanent residents at risk of inadmissibility

What do Canadas new DUI laws mean for immigration candidates and permanent residents?

What do Canadas new DUI laws mean for immigration candidates and permanent residents? Tougher rules take effect Dec. 18 that could leave permanent residents at risk of inadmissibility

What do Canadas new DUI laws mean for immigration candidates and permanent residents? Tougher rules take effect Dec. 18 that could leave permanent residents at risk of inadmissibility

What do Canadas new DUI laws mean for immigration candidates and permanent residents? Tougher rules take effect Dec. 18 that could leave permanent residents at risk of inadmissibility Stephen Sherman Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

Sans Font Size A

A

Amendments to the Canadian criminal code take effect December 18 that will carry more severe immigration-related consequences for permanent residents and foreign nationals convicted of an impaired driving offence.

As of December 18, impaired driving will be considered a serious criminal offence, entailing an increased maximum sentence from five to 10 years.

This has several implications under Canadas Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), which states that a permanent resident or foreign national is deemed inadmissible to Canada if he or she is convicted of an offence that is considered serious criminality.

Chief among these implications are:

Permanent residents could lose their status and face deportation;

Inadmissibility will never be resolved by the passage of time;

Offences could carry the stigma of serious criminality.

Permanent residence in jeopardy?

A major impact of the amendments is the effect they could have on the immigration status of Canadian permanent residents.

The elevation of impaired driving offences to serious criminality means permanent residents could be in jeopardy of losing their permanent resident status and could potentially face deportation if they are convicted of an impaired driving offence committed on or after December 18, 2018, in Canada or overseas.

In a statement to CIC News, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said that the new rules mean most impaired driving offences could lead to a finding of inadmissibility for serious criminality under Canadas immigration laws.

This includes cases where its a first-time offence, no one is hurt and the sentence imposed is the minimum fine, IRCC said.

Earlier this year, Canadas Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Ahmed Hussen, said the government recognized there could be disproportionate immigration consequences for non-Canadians as a result of the amendments.

Hussen said his department would look into more comprehensive changes to immigration policies and take appropriate action to mitigate the resulting immigration consequences.

In its statement to CIC News, IRCC said Hussen is still looking into these issues with members of Canadas Senate and stakeholders.

IRCC also said there are factors already in place that could prevent a finding of inadmissibility and a removal order for permanent residents, namely the limited discretion afforded Canada Borders Service Agency and IRCC officers and, in certain cases, access to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) of Canadas Immigration and Refugee Board.

On the issue of officer discretion, IRCC said officers can decide whether to pursue enforcement action, including whether to complete an inadmissibility report, and whether to refer that report to the [IAD] for an admissibility hearing.

Factors that go into such decision include prior criminality, the sentence imposed and the circumstances of the particular incident.

That said, cases involving serious criminality are treated with the utmost seriousness, IRCC said.

As to access to the IAD, IRCC said permanent residents who are convicted of an offence in Canada and who received a prison sentence of less than six months can appeal a finding of inadmissibility and a removal order.

IRCC said the IAD is able to consider humanitarian and compassionate grounds, including best interests of a child.

Permanent residents found inadmissible for an offence committed outside Canada or who received a prison sentence of six months or more for a conviction in Canada cannot appeal a finding of inadmissibility and a removal order to the IAD, IRCC said in its statement.

Deemed rehabilitation

For offences committed on or after December 18 either in Canada or abroad, individuals charged with impaired driving will never achieve whats called deemed rehabilitation.

Deemed rehabilitation is a concept whereby people with a single, non-serious offence on their record will no longer be considered inadmissible to Canada after a period of 10 years has elapsed from the completion of their sentence.

Because impaired driving will be considered serious criminality as of December 18, deemed rehabilitation will never take effect for those who are caught driving while impaired on or after this date. Such individuals will be obligated to apply for criminal rehabilitation if they hope to resolve the fact that they are considered inadmissible to Canada.

The government fee for an application for criminal rehabilitation is also set to increase as a result of the amendments coming into force, from $200 CAD to $1,000 CAD.

Stigma of serious criminality

A subtler effect that the amendments might have on criminal rehabilitation pertains to the connotation of serious criminality.

Immigration officers have a lot of discretion in the assessment of criminal rehabilitation applications and the severity of the offence is often an important factor that is considered in their assessment. The classification of an offence as serious could play a role in an immigration officer concluding that an individual with such an offence on their record is not a good candidate for criminal rehabilitation, and might lead to a refusal as a result.

Regardless of the date of commission, impaired driving is always taken seriously by Canadian immigration authorities. Anyone with such an offence on their record would be wise to consult with an experienced Canadian immigration attorney prior to entering Canada.

Stephen Sherman is a Canadian immigration attorney with the Campbell, Cohen Immigration Law Firm in Montreal. He specializes in resolving issues relating to criminal inadmissibility to Canada.

If you have any questions about gaining entry to Canada, please send a detailed email to crim@canadavisa.com.

 2018 CICNews All Rights ReservedThe second edition of the Saudi Arabia Hotel Investment Conference (SHIC) will feature keynote sessions from the kingdoms leading industry experts, headlined by Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, president, Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, and including interviews with Eng. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Issa, chairman of Dur Hospitality Company and Abdullah AlDawood, Group CEO of Altayyar Travel Group.



Organised by Saudi Event Management and Marketing (Semark), in partnership with Bench Events, Meed and Dur Hospitality, SHIC will be held at the Marriott Riyadh Diplomatic Quarter from January 22-23, 2019, providing a forum for more than 300 hotel investors, owners, developers and operators to discuss the growth of the hospitality industry in the kingdom.



Curated in response to demand for information on the multitude of investment opportunities arising in Saudi Arabia, SHIC will feature keynote addresses, interviews, data presentations, panel debates, masterclasses and roundtable sessions designed to provide delegates with valuable insights into the evolving Saudi Hospitality market at a pivotal time.



Prince Sultan will deliver his address on Realising Travel & Tourisms part of Vision 2030, sharing insights into the governments framework for supporting investment into the hospitality sector, as well as an update on plans for visas.



Jonathan Worsley, chairman of Bench Events and co-founder of SHIC, said: We are delighted to once again have the support of His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who will headline SHIC for the second year. The commitment to SHIC from the prominent speakers on our programme is testament to the wealth of opportunities in the kingdom and commitment from government and industry alike to delivering on Vision 2030.



Market outlook

According to data from SHICs partner, Meed Projects, the outlook for hospitality investment in the kingdom is strong, with $3.9bn worth of hotel deals set to be awarded over the next five years. Already, the kingdom has seen new hotels worth in excess of $10bn built since 2012.



The list and value of future hotel investments in the region is only going to get larger, said Ed James, Meed Projects director of content and analysis. Saudi Arabia has made tourism a centrepiece of its 2030 Vision with the multi-billion-dollar Neom and Red Sea mega-developments. Ultimately, whether it is for business, pleasure or a combination of both, the Mena region is perfectly positioned to benefit from ever-increasing tourism numbers and investment.



Data and analytics specialist STR forecasts that the room inventory in Saudi Arabia is set to almost double between now and 2024. There are 273 properties in the pipeline comprising 90,449 rooms. Currently, 403 existing hotels comprise 93,814 rooms.



Philip Wooller, area director, Middle East and Africa, who will be presenting at SHIC on Trends and Pipeline - Threats and Opportunities in the Kingdom, said: The Saudi hotel industry has a pivotal role in achieving the Saudi Vision 2030 goals. We are already seeing development and construction accelerating across a number of hotel projects as steps are taken to attract more visitors to the kingdom. The branded, as well as independent hotel pipeline, will certainly provide future visitors, as well as local residents of all demographics and budgets with diverse offerings and plenty more choice.



One of the companies contributing to this growth is Dur Hospitality Company and at SHIC, the groups Chairman, Engineer Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Issa, will give a rare insight into his personal motivations and ambitions, as well as the companys future plans and strategies.



Ahead of SHIC, Engineer Al-Issa said: As Saudi Arabia witnesses a historic period of transformation, with tourism being one of the growing key sectors, it calls for a wide range of hospitality solutions to meet the future needs of both domestic and international visitors. Dur Hospitality, a home-grown company with more than 40 years of local market experience, is well aligned to this blueprint for growth, with a portfolio of 20 completed projects and 21 more under development worth SAR2.5 billion, including hotels developed in partnership with major global brands and our very own spiritual hospitality concept  Makarem. I am personally excited about Saudi Arabias bright future and its potential as a global tourism destination of note.



Stellar Line-Up

Also at SHIC, Abdullah AlDawood, group CEO of Altayyar Travel Group, the former vice president of Investment Banking Services at Deutsche Bank, Middle East and North Africa, will be interviewed on the topic of Transforming Industry - Adapting and Unlocking Value.



Other new speakers at SHIC 2019 include Jay Rosen, head of investment and finance at The Red Sea Development Company, who will review new areas in the kingdom that are open to investment following Vision 2030; Mike Hernandez, executive director  Real Estate Development, Quiddiya Investment Company, who will discuss investment opportunities related to key demographics; and Ahmed Bin Madhi, director of asset management, Rua Al Madinah Holding Company, who will share updates on developments in the Holy Cities.



Worsley commented: The Madinah hotel market is going through a fundamental change due to the huge supply and new product offerings. The Rua Al Madinah Project will bring massive scale to this market and we will hear Ahmed Bin Madhi address the power of religious tourism as a driver for the hospitality industry and the economy.



Young people and female entrepreneurs will also take centre-stage at SHIC, with the launch of the first SHIC Young Leaders Award, recognising the impact on the hospitality industry of a Saudi National aged under 30, and a panel session on Business Women in the Saudi Hospitality World.



In yet another new feature for SHIC 2019, 10 hotel operators will take part in an invitation-only Three Minute Pitch to Owners, presenting mid-market brands and new concepts such as Makarem Hotels, La Quinta, Radisson Red, Shaza Hotels, Campanile, Comfort, Hampton by Hilton and Rove Hotels to 100 investors.



Access to the Saudi Arabia Hotel Investment Conference is available in conjunction with the AHIC VIP Package which includes other high-end experiences and access to exclusive content at AHIC 2019. - TradeArabia News ServiceGov. Andrew Cuomo wants lawmakers to take action on a number of issues in early 2019, but a few progressive projects were absent from the legislative priorities he outlined in a speech to the New York City Bar Association on Dec. 17.

Cuomo excited liberals with his call to legalize marijuana, which was especially noteworthy because he used to oppose legalization. He also demanded action in the first 100 days of the upcoming legislative session on other bills that have widespread support among Democrats, including codifying Roe v. Wade in state law, passing the DREAM Act and ending cash bail.

But his priorities did not include everything that progressives are pushing for as Democrats assume control of both houses of the state Legislature for the first time since 2010. Notably absent were calls for major expansions of rent regulation and public health insurance.

Although some on the left might have been underwhelmed by the policies he advocated, Cuomo framed the speech as a declaration of rebellion against the Trump administration, summoning the legacy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt  who also once served as governor of New York. FDR was not an incrementalist, Cuomo said. He ignored the naysayers and endured the choir of critics who would challenge any change to the status quo. But Cuomo hedged his soaring rhetoric with a focus on winning tangible, achievable victories. Yes, we are dreamers, he said. But we are also doers and, yes, we can make a real difference in peoples lives.

Here are some of the biggest left-wing demands that Cuomo refrained from embracing:

 Single-payer health care

Progressive Democrats are pushing for the passage of the New York Health Act in the upcoming year, which would make the state the first to enact single-payer health care. Cuomo did not explicitly mention the bill in his Dec. 17 speech, but what he did say on health care suggested that he has not abandoned his opposition to single-payer health care at the state level. Instead, his proposals include passing legislation that would codify in state law features of Obamacare such as the state health insurance exchange, protections for people with pre-existing conditions and improving access to prescription drugs. His call for lawmakers to take a pragmatic approach in the months ahead could also be construed as opposition to single-payer at the state level because the state would need to get a waiver from the Trump administration in order to fund such a program. Cuomos broad declaration that Trump administration policies are un-American is likewise not going to win any favors from the notoriously vindictive president.

 Universal rent control

The left wing of the state Democratic Party not only wants rent regulations renewed in 2019, but also for tenant protections to be vastly expanded. While Cuomo called for the rent regulation to be reformed, the only specific provision that he proposed was the elimination of vacancy decontrol  a 24-year-old provision of state law that allows landlords to take units out of rent regulation when the rent reaches $2,733 per month and they are vacant. While that proposal is among the reforms sought by tenant advocates, they also want other measures to be on the table such as the elimination of preferential rent and the expansion of rent regulation to cities beyond the New York metropolitan area. At the same time, Cuomo could assuage some critics if he makes good on his vow on Dec. 17 to make more investment in affordable housing than ever  but he still has to specify what that actually means.

 Criminal justice reform

Cuomo cast his proposal to legalize marijuana as a way to address widespread inequities in the criminal justice system. However, he did not specify how legalization might fit into efforts to mitigate the war on drugs past effects on communities of color. Some proponents of legalization want it to specifically benefit such communities by, for example, directing tax revenues to a Community Grant Reinvestment Fund.

Bail reform is the first step to making the justice system more equitable, Cuomo said on Monday. But criminal justice reform advocates also want changes to level the playing field in court, including changing the states discovery laws to give defendants more time to respond to disclosures of witness names and statements, and grand jury testimony  an effort that Cuomo supported a year ago. Other topics on criminal justice reformers wishlist were also left unaddressed, including a proposal to ensure speedy trials, parole reform, legalizing safe drug injection sites and the repeal of a state civil rights law that helps the NYPD hide internal discipline actions from public disclosure.As Jeff Wheelwright began researching his book about Gulf War Syndrome, he planned to speak to suffering veterans and medical experts who were skeptical those ailments were real. But the first veteran Wheelwright interviewed flipped the script. What is the goal of your book? the man asked. Does it lean more toward the veterans side of the house, or the other side?

Wheelwrights experience resonated with me. When I began reporting on Lyme disease in 2017 for a series for a Boston National Public Radio station, I quickly learned my attempt at impartiality was naive. Im a physician, and in medical school I learned a strong majority of physicians and scientists view this common tick-borne illness as relatively straightforward and treatable by antibiotics. Many people and some doctors, however, hold that a chronic, treatment-resistant form of the disease is also widespreada claim dismissed by the large majority of infectious disease experts.

Archives: Could collaborating with scientists be the next step for investigative reporting?

Im also a social scientist, so I saw Lyme fitting in with numerous other contested illnesses, from Gulf War Syndrome to chronic fatigue syndrome to Morgellons. Contested illnesses have uncertain causes, unclear treatments, and disputed medical, legal and cultural definitions. Lodged where politics, intense emotions, and science converge, these are the illnesses you have to fight to get, as one study termed them, because whether such illnesses even exist is hotly debated.

Covering Lyme and other contested illnesses, therefore, requires that reporters navigate a minefield of competing expertise and experiences. A misstep could dismiss suffering patient-activists; it could also uncritically report claims unsupported by the scientific process. But careful reporting and writing can play a crucial role in helping patients and scientists alike sort through rumor and anecdote to understand the science of contested illness in plain language.

For the seven-part series, I spent days reporting in Cape Cod and eastern France, interviewing public health officials finding innovative ways to combat ticks, scientists trying to understand the disease and its spread, and patients and their family members who struggle with tick-borne illnesses. I spent hours reading websites of associations and Lyme literate patient-advocacy groups.

Lyme experts and patients often asked my opinion on non-standard treatments such as essential oils or long-term antibiotics, questions designed to reveal my bias. I worried anything I said would shatter my interviewees trust.

Sign up for CJR 's daily email

Early on, I listened to patients and experts on social media and blogs to understand their suffering and frustration with a medical system that did not help them and made them feel even worse by denying them a diagnosis. I also spoke to Abigail Dumes, a colleague anthropologist researching Lyme. Her years of ethnographic experience with doctors and patients were like a Cliffs Notes, illuminating the major debates, key figures, and landmines right at the start.

Journalists without time for background research can stumble onto one of those landmines. In 2011, reporter David Tuller wrote about a trial exploring the benefit of exercise therapy for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Not knowing any of the background, I took the study at face value, he later wrote.

The backlash was immediate. Numerous ME/CFS sufferers wrote in, concerned about the trials numerous methodological problems. Compelled to dig deeper, Tuller eventually penned a 15,000-word critique of the trials methodology. (The controversy continues today.)

Picking the right story angle is also critical to avoid repeating stereotypes and report beyond the controversy. A 2016 Aeon article highlighted cliches about vaccine-rejecting parentsdifferent than contested illness, but with a similar political valence pitting regular people against medical consensus. Those stories shared a formula, wrote Maggie Koerth-Baker: The parents fear vaccines. The scientists say those fears are unwarranted. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Exposing cliches helped Koerth-Baker write beyond them. She found that parents often accepted vaccine science but chose not to risk side effects, no matter how rare. Parents valuesnot their grasp of factsdetermined their stance.

Lyme reporting also has repetitive narratives: a debilitated patient suffering from a mysterious, recurrent illness facing off against numerous skeptical doctors who told them their symptoms were all in their head. I read numerous stories, often about celebrities with Lyme, detailing how they saw countless doctors, all of whom misdiagnosed them until one finally found the correct diagnosis. Reporters usually do not question the narrative and how that diagnosis was finally made, or how all those other doctors could have gotten it wrong. The intricacies of Lyme diagnostic testing are complex, but journalists often overstate the foibles, saying it is impossible to detect the bacteria or blood testing is unreliable.

So I focused on what seemed like key questions that still lacked answers, such as why we know so little about preventing Lyme disease, or why, despite growing numbers of ticks, local public health efforts remained so fragmented and limited to educating people about bug repellent and tick checks. When I focused on how a treatment center took a new perspective on helping suffering patients, part of the story was how they tried, but ultimately failed, to avoid taking sides in the debate.

Journalists are in a unique position to shape how people view contested illnesses and the people suffering from them. It is both vital and possible to be simultaneously empathetic and accurate. I try not to be a cruel person, says Amy Maxmen, a senior reporter for Nature who has written about ME/CFS. Im going to take them at their word when they say theyre going through something terrible.

Some people with contested illnesses might offer their treatment stories as unimpeachable; still, providing context, like the strength of the evidence for or against them, plus their cost and potential side effects, is crucial to avoid spreading misinformation.

And Lyme patients were clearly suffering with something, even if it wasnt clear what. I would try to validate that suffering in interviews, then stay quiet and listen. Id ask probing questions if my interviewee veered toward the conspiratorial, but would not derail the interview with a debate, preferring to follow up later after I was able to dig more thoroughly through the literature.

The same went for treatments. Lyme experts and patients often asked my opinion on non-standard treatments such as essential oils or long-term antibiotics, questions designed to reveal my bias. I worried anything I said would shatter my interviewees trust.

Maxmen does not simply report anecdotes about successful treatments, like coffee enemas, that are commonplace for ME/CFS. Many non-standard treatments for Lyme are well studied with most not shown to help while some can even cause harm. Some people with contested illnesses might offer their treatment stories as unimpeachable; still, providing context, like the strength of the evidence for or against them, plus their cost and potential side effects, is crucial to avoid spreading misinformation.

The usual caveats for science journalists apply doubly for writing about contested illnesses: Avoid false balance (on the one hand, on the other) when there is an established scientific consensus. Maintain healthy skepticism, and take heed the lessons of media coverage of past controversial illnesses such as hysteria or neurasthenia.

No matter how carefully a journalist writes a story, her work still may be undoneby an editor who wants an easy takeaway, or poorly chosen art, or hastily written headlines, captions, and social media posts that oversimplify the story.

I was lucky. At WBUR I had a generous word count, multiple pieces in a series to provide context, and a supportive editor who sought my input in headlines and radio segments. Her experience with Lyme and the potential for backlash meant we both were extra careful.

Still, we had to be prepared for angry reactions. In the past, I ignored comments on my stories. Then I read the social science literature suggesting that unchallenged misinformation will persist. Now I try to respond, sometimes even to inflammatory comments, emphasizing open mindedness, empathy to those suffering, and avoiding bias. My editor often pitched in, as a team approach helped distribute the extra time and patience required.

I found many arguments about Lyme focus on studies that support their conclusions without even-handedly assessing the quality of all the data out there. I emphasize quality to point out why we should trust randomized, controlled studies more than anecdotal evidence or low-quality studies. But I also emphasize points of agreement, like how we all want to do a better job of being empathetic to suffering people with unclear diagnoses. Stories about contested illness test the skills and mettle of journalists, but, at a time of fake news and rampant misinformation, getting these stories right is more important than ever.

Archives: How the Chicago Tribune shook up pharmacies

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

David Scales is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. He was a special correspondent for WBUR, and has written for Aeon, Undark, and CommonHealth about issues where social sciences and health intersect. Reporting for his "Losing to Lyme" project was supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting. He can be found on Twitter @davidascales.Les Moonves is getting nothing. Yesterday, the board of CBSwhere Moonves resigned as chairman and CEO in September after multiple women accused him of sexual misconductannounced it was firing Moonves for cause, and would not be paying him a $120 million severance package. Moonves, the board said, misled lawyers that the company appointed to investigate his conduct: deleting text messages, for example, that showed his attempts to bury a decades-old allegation of sexual assault.

The decision cappedor, more likely, continueda woeful stretch for CBS. In November 2017, at the height of the #MeToo movement, it fired Charlie Rose after Irin Carmon and Amy Brittain wrote in The Washington Post that eight women had accused him of harassment; the women alleged, among other things, that Rose groped them and got naked in their presence. In May, Carmon and Brittain broke 27 more womens testimony about Rose, whose conduct, they added, was flagged to managers at least three times over a 30-year period. Over the summer, attention turned to Moonves, who, The New Yorkers Ronan Farrow reported, was the subject of six allegations of sexual misconduct. Moonves resigned in early September after a second Farrow story dug up six further allegations against him. Farrows reporting also implicated Jeff Fager, the former executive producer of 60 Minutes, who was accused of inappropriate touching and of overseeing a broader toxic culture in CBSs news division. A few days after Moonves stepped aside, CBS fired Fager after he sent a threatening text message to Jericka Duncan, a CBS reporter covering the chaos at her company.

ICYMI: Dangers from inside the newsroom

Although three high-profile heads already rolled, journalists have continued their efforts to expose Moonvess past conduct and the ongoing rot at CBS. The New York Times has been particularly aggressive. Most notable among a rash of embarrassing stories in the paper were James B. Stewart, Rachel Abrams, and Ellen Gablers report that Moonves worked with a Hollywood talent manager to bury a sexual assault claim from 1995, and Abrams and John Koblins story that CBS paid a $9.5 million settlement to Eliza Dushku, who says she was written out of Bull after confronting its star over his behavior on set. Abrams and Koblin also reported that CBS pays an annual stipend to a woman who was allegedly abused by Don Hewitt, Fagers predecessor at 60 Minutes, who died in 2009.

Taken together, these stories show a network that needs root-and-branch reform when it comes to safeguarding employees wellbeing. While the decision to deny Moonves his severance hogged headlines, that picture was importantly backed up yesterday by the lawyers CBS appointed to investigate Moonves, who reported that the networks anti-harassment and other personnel policies were not as robust as others they had seen at other companies, according to the Times. In particular, the lawyers spotlighted one policywhich explained that employees who complain about discrimination or harassment might experience negative employment action that would not be considered retaliationas tone-deaf and highly unusual.

#MeToo is no longer a moment for journalismits become a permanent addition to the news cycle. While its important that high-profile perpetrators are held accountable for their actions, its equally important, if not more so, to train scrutiny on the systems that enabled their behavior. Recent reporting on CBS has done that well, showing that news value can continue to be added to a story even after its main characters have fallen from grace. By exposing the full historical sweep of a problem, journalists increase the odds that it wont be repeatedhowever slim they may still be.

Sign up for CJR 's daily email

Below, more on Les Moonves and CBS:

The payout that went ahead: As part of its post-Moonves process, CBS pledged to donate $20 million to organizations working to eliminate workplace sexual harassment. Last week, it named 18 beneficiaries.

As part of its post-Moonves process, CBS pledged to donate $20 million to organizations working to eliminate workplace sexual harassment. Last week, it named 18 beneficiaries. The payout that did not go ahead: According to Bloombergs Steven Dennis, Moonvess $120 million severance package would have been more than the combined salary of every president in US history.

According to Bloombergs Steven Dennis, Moonvess $120 million severance package would have been more than the combined salary of every president in US history. A ratings plunge: Last week, CBS News settled with three women who accused it of not doing enough to protect them from Charlie Rose. Since Rose was fired last year, the ratings for CBS This Morning, which he co-anchored, have plummeted. On Friday, Ryan Kadro, its executive producer, told staff he was stepping down, Varietys Brian Steinberg reports.

Last week, CBS News settled with three women who accused it of not doing enough to protect them from Charlie Rose. Since Rose was fired last year, the ratings for CBS This Morning, which he co-anchored, have plummeted. On Friday, Ryan Kadro, its executive producer, told staff he was stepping down, Varietys Brian Steinberg reports. Corporate drama: CBSs recent woes have unfolded against a backdrop of boardroom battles, focused, in particular, on principal owner Shari Redstones longstanding ambition to recombine CBS and Viacom. Though Moonves, who was opposed to the merger, has stepped aside, dramatic obstacles remain. Vanity Fairs William D. Cohan has a write-through.



Other notable stories

ICYMI: Student uncovers decades of sexual misconduct allegations against Michigan violin professor

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.After laboring in secret for months, a new report commissioned by the Senate Intelligence Committee names a culprit more useful on a user-for-user basis to Russian espionage services than Facebook or Twitter: Instagram.

The Senate committee ordered the report from researchers at cybersecurity company New Knowledge; Jonathan Albright, director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism Digital Forensics Initiative (part of Columbia Journalism School); and Canfield Researchs Ben Johnson. The group examined data supplied to the committee by Facebook, Twitter, and Google. Albright says that he hopes this puts an end to the war between the company and the media organizations reporting on itthe US government has weighed in, using data supplied by the companies themselves, and has vindicated claims made by dogged reporters that Facebook often contradicted.

Its one of two reports to the Intelligence Committee released on Monday, the other coming from Oxford University and private network analysis firm Graphika. The Oxford/Graphika report emphasizes the nature of Russian social media messaging to prospective voters, focusing on infighting on the left and unifying issues on the right.

TRENDING: Student uncovers decades of sexual misconduct allegations against professor

The New Knowledge report carves into stone much of what has been reported and rumored about the Russian militarys attack on the 2016 election, using data from the tech companies themselves. Albright says that Instagrams relative absence from investigations into Russian interference is not a measure of its importance to the Russian GRU security service during 2016, but of the companys success at triaging brand damage to its younger, more promising product. With this report, he hopes that will change.

Theyve taken great care to keep press mentions of Instagram out, Albright observed. Even on the Facebook datasets that I put out, they didnt admit to [Russian use of] Instagram until days later. Its very nice to see a more official data set that they cant walk back from.

Sign up for CJR 's daily email

But how successful exactly was Instagram by comparison to its much larger sibling and its notoriously troll-ridden competitor, Twitter? It saw more success than either Twitter or Facebook combined, Albright says bluntly. It has all the infrastructure of Facebooks advertising behind it. It has Facebooks sophisticated targeted audiences behind it. And its hard to research and messy. It actually functions as information distribution more like Twitterit has most of the power of Twitter and a lot less of the transparency.

The Russian Instagram accounts run by the troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency (IRA) appeared before the IRAs Instagram accounts, Albright says. They lasted longer than the Facebook accounts, they saw much, much more engagementin the hundreds of millions more. For example, one account, @feminism_tag, ran left-ish anti-Hillary memes from a supposedly intersectional feminist perspective according to the report; Albright said it had no equivalents, in terms of penetration and engagement, on Facebook or Twitter.

Facebook had 61,000 posts and Instagram had over 100,000 posts [in the data sets provided to the researchers], and when you look at the volume on Twitter, its like 10 million, Albright said. But Instagram still won. There were thousands of Twitter accounts that had no engagement; they were just spamming. But the Instagram stuffyou couldnt have called it spam. They saw double the number of likes as Facebook, and more comments.

Its taken two years for the postmortem on election interference in 2016 to reach a point of public certainty about the Russian governments efforts to elect Donald Trump. This is in no small part because Facebook deleted vital information about Russian tampering with its service when Albright began researching it in October 2017. The company also pushed back regularly in public statements later proven false. Even without active resistance by a company worried about its bottom line, the ability to do good, accurate network analysis is going to be really hard, Albright says.

The new report, Albright says, is distinguished by something that pleases him: Its very hard to contradict. Its based on data, he tells CJR. Its very nice to see a more official data set that [Instagram] cant walk back from.

READ: Googles Dragonfly will intensify surveillance on journalists in China

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Sam Thielman is the former Tow editor at the Columbia Journalism Review, and a reporter and critic based in New York. He is the creator, with film critic Alissa Wilkinson, of Young Adult Movie Ministry, a podcast about Christianity and movies, and his writing has been featured in The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, and Variety, among others.The day after he captured Brazils presidency in a run-off, Jair Bolsonaro spoke with Globo News, Brazils largest television network. Bolsonaro, dressed casually in a light blue polo shirt and dark blue jacket, opened the October 29 interview by citing the Book of John in the Bible: You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Its time for Brazil to live with the truth, he said. The elections are over. Enough lies. Enough fake news. Really, were in a new era. The president-elect touted his respect for a free press before pivoting to slam Folha de Sao Paulo, one of the countrys preeminent newspapers, a daily that had published a series of critical investigative stories about him and his campaign in the run-up to the election.

Almost all the fake news against me started with the Folha de Sao Paulo, claimed Bolsonaro, who also threatened on-air to withdraw government advertising in the paper. Press that behaves like this, lying openly, wont have resources from the federal government, he said, referring to the practice of the federal government and state-run companies purchasing advertising in news outlets. Government ads typically promote public services and information such as vaccination campaigns, civil-service exams, or advertise state-run companies such as the Banco do Brasil, a state-run bank.

But the treatment of Folha during the Bolsonaro campaign suggests a harsher future for the press in Brazil after his January 1 inauguration. At the end of September, Folha ran a story affirming that Bolsonaro had threatened to kill his ex-wife. A journalist in a different city who did not work on the story, but shares the name of one of its bylined authors, received threatening phone calls and social media messages.

Folha continued its critical coverage. Ten days before the final round of the election, Folha reporter Patricia Campos Mello wrote a story linking the Bolsonaro campaign to $3.2 million of illegal campaign spending. Campos Mello was barraged by attacks on social media, and, after she received a threat against her son and menacing phone calls, Folha hired a bodyguard to protect her. Ten minutes after my story was published, they had a hashtag, #marqueterosdoJair [Jairs marketers], as a counter-narrative, and the bots were retweeting this like crazy, Campos Mello says.

She wasnt the only one targeted. A handwritten note left on the doorstep to his home threatened the head of DataFolha, the publications research arm. The assault also directed at Folhas bottom line, as Bolsonaro supporters called for readers to cancel their subscriptions.

A week before the election, Bolsonaro called the paper the largest fake news in Brazil and threatened to cut off funds. At the same time, he congratulated the free press, and in his post-election interview with Globo, he was careful to say that the paper will finish itself. Bolsonaro barred reporters from Folha and other publications from participating in his first press conference, and refused a question from a Folha reporter at another press event in late November.

Sign up for CJR 's daily email

Such gestures speak to a worrisome climate thats been intensifying in Brazil: Folha counts 65 attacks on journalists and 129 since the beginning of the year. Abraji, Brazils investigative journalists association, has recorded more than 150 physical and online assaults so far this year. Four journalists have been killed. The international NGO Article 19 reported that 22 journalists were killed in Brazil between 2012 and 2016.

Folha believes the attacks against the paper and its staff were premeditated and politically orchestrated, according to a complaint it filed with the Federal Police in October, the week after Campos Mellos WhatsApp story appeared. The complaint calls on police to investigate, alleging the threats and harassment both on- and offline aimed to undermine the integrity of Brazils electoral process.

A mamata da folha de sao paulo vai acabar, mas nao e com censura nao! O dinheiro publico que recebem para fazer ativismo politico vai secar, e mais, com sua credibilidade no ralo com suas informacoes tendenciosas sao menos serias que uma revista de piada!  Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) October 24, 2018

Bolsonaro has been quiet about the press since his post-election interview with TV Globo. Earlier this month, however, Bolsonaros son, Carlos, a city council member in Rio de Janeiro, told his Twitter followers that Bruno Abbud, a journalist with Epoca magazine, was rifling through his life, prompting attacks against the reporter. Abbud was writing a profile of the council member and filed a complaint with the police because of the onslaught.

Assaults like this have had a chilling effect. In early November, Reuters reported that some journalists at major Brazilian publications were toning down criticism out of fear of the backlash from Bolsonaros government. Natalia Viana, co-founder of the investigative outlet Agencia Publica, tells CJR that journalists in Brazil have been persecuted for years. And with the advance of authoritarian governments, which attack the press as part of their strategy of gaining support, of portraying themselves as victims and staying in power, she says, the trend is for [this persecution] to worsen.

In spite of this, Agencia Publica recently announced that it will be doubling down on accountability reporting focused on the government. Journalisms role is to investigate and publish what the powerful dont want published, Viana says. Thats why these attacks, in reality, just show that journalism rattles and that we have to be watchful and act.

Recently, two fabricated stories about Campos Mello circulated during one 24-hour period were retweeted thousands of times, including once by the president-elect himself. Its really scary how they create a parallel reality, Campo Mellos, honored this month by Time magazine as a Guardian of the Truth, says of her online attackers. I stopped using my byline for a while because I was afraid of harassment. But I discovered that even without using my byline, they still harassed me and disseminated fake news.

Sergio Davila, Folhas executive editor, says that Bolsonaro, so far, has only blown hot air. These attacks have demonstrated that we are on the right path, Davila says. From the beginning, we have been convinced that our job is to verify and to show what we find, regardless of who the candidate was. Folha, he says, has no intention of giving up on critical journalism. He also pointed to Folhas history of attracting criticism from sitting presidents and the police raid then-President Fernando Collor de Mello ordered on the papers offices in 1990, just a few years after the end of the countrys dictatorship.

Cristina Zahar, executive secretary of Abraji, says that her organizations position on the prospects for journalists under the new administration is to wait and see. We hope we dont have to publish many posts about this kind of harassment, she says, but if it goes on, well be there for all journalists.

Rosental Alves, founder and executive director of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, called Bolsonaros threats to take away funding from Folha ridiculous. Sources report that the paper receives less than 5 percent of its budget from the federal government, which means retaliation against it would have minimal impact.

But, the animosity between the president-elect and the media comes at a time when Brazils media is financially vulnerable, Alves says. The [digital] disruption has now arrived in Brazil, and media companies that were very profitable just a few years ago are suffering from the deep decline in advertising and the recession. So, if you have on top of that a hostile administration, it makes things even worse.

In the midst of this, Abraji, Article 19, and Reporters Without Borders met with a group of 50 journalists earlier this month to discuss creating a national network to protect communicatorsjournalists, bloggers, and other media makers. The project is still a work in progress, but the idea is to minimize the risks journalists face while also ensuring that stories targeted for silencing garner attention.

General Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, Bolsonaros secretary of government, told Poder 360 he rejected the idea that the government would play favorites or that it would cut funds to Folha or Globo, in spite of Bolsonaros threats. The general also stood by the idea that the press should be free from censorship. At the same time, he affirmed the administrations right to choose what outlets to work with. Opting for one [outlet] or another is discretionary. Theres no question about that. Its very much about perception. There arent technical criteria for all the evaluations.

Brazils media is highly concentrated in a few hands. Fifty percent of the largest media outlets in Brazil are owned by five families; those outlets include RecordTV, Bolsonaros preferred outlet, which is owned by Edir Macedo, a billionaire evangelical pastor and media mogul. The network snagged Bolsonaros first interview after the election results came in. RecordTV journalists told The Intercept Brasil they were pressured to favor him during the campaign and to denigrate other candidates to destroy their credibility. Before the first round of the elections, Bolsonaro skipped a debate with other candidates in favor of a one-on-one interview with Record.

Complicating the monitoring of government-media relations is the fact that President Michel Temer abolished the transparency reporting system in 2017. With no system to track government ad buys, it is impossible for watchdogs to know how much government money an individual news outlet receives. In 2015, Globo received 396.5 million Reals in federal advertising funds (roughly $103.2 million), according to Poder 360, making it the largest recipient of government television advertising money. At 32 percent of total spending, this still represents a sharp decrease from the 59 percent it received during former President Luiz Inacio da Silvas first term in 2003.

Santos Cruz told Poder 360 the government plans on reinstating the advertising tracking system, which operated between 1999 and 2016. It is not clear yet whether the president-elect has approved this. Neither Globo nor Record responded to requests asking what percentage federal advertising represents in their budgets.

Meanwhile, many journalists expect Bolsonaro to continue using social media for political purposes after the inauguration. [Bolsonaro] talks about this intermediation and how technology created the way for him to talk to the people directly, Alves says. I think he is prepared to follow Trump on this path because he has been announcing the ministers on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Folhas commitment to rigorous reporting is being rewarded, Folha Editor Davila says. While Bolsonaro supporters called for people to cancel their subscriptions to Folha, a counter-campaign urged people to sign upand more than made up for those lost subscribers. We were really pleasantly surprised with this campaign, Davila says. Whenever there is disinformation, whenever there is dissemination of fake news, people end up recognizing reliable sources.

Davila expects the president-elect to become more of a statesman once in office. Still, Folha and its staff are prepared for whatever comes next. As the Americans say, its not our first rodeo.

Correction: Folhas executive editor is Sergio Davila, not Sergio DAvila.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Zoe Sullivan is an independent journalist and audio producer based in Recife, Brazil.Regulators on Friday accused one of Californias largest utilities of falsifying safety documents for natural gas pipelines for years following its criminal conviction and multimillion-dollar fine for a pipeline explosion that killed eight people near San Francisco.

The California Public Utilities Commission said an investigation by its safety and enforcement division found Pacific Gas & Electric Co. lacked enough employees to fulfill requests to find and mark natural gas pipelines.

Because of the staff shortage, PG&E pressured supervisors and locators to complete the work, leading staff to falsify data from 2012 to 2017, regulators said. The company had common knowledge among its supervisors that locators falsified data, the commission said.

Utility falsification of safety related records is a serious violation of law and diminishes our trust in the utilitys reports on their progress, commission President Michael Picker said in a statement. These findings are another example of why we are investigating PG&Es safety culture.

PG&E said it has hired more employees and improved its pipeline tracking system.

Were committed to accurate and thorough reporting and record-keeping, and we didnt live up to that commitment in this case, utility spokesman Matt Nauman said in a statement.

A U.S. judge fined the utility $3 million after it was convicted of six felony charges for failing to properly maintain a natural gas pipeline that exploded in 2010 and wiped out a neighborhood in suburban San Bruno. Regulators also fined PG&E $1.6 billion for the blast.

This is the period immediately following the 2010 San Bruno gas explosion and fire that resulted in eight fatalities, numerous injuries and damage to property, the commission said in its report. This commission would expect that after such a tragedy, caused by multiple proven violations of law, PG&E would have sought to vigorously enhance and increase its effectiveness in all aspects of its gas safety.

The investigation was forwarded Thursday to a judge, who will hear testimony on the findings and will allow PG&E to provide evidence that it didnt violate safety laws.

The utility that provides service to millions of people throughout Northern California also is under scrutiny for its role in igniting wildfires. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection found that PG&E equipment was responsible for starting 16 wildfires last year.

While a cause has not yet been determined for the massive fire that wiped out the town of Paradise and killed at least 86 people last month, PG&E equipment is being scrutinized. A number of victims have sued the utility, alleging negligence.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.When a wildfire burned across Big Sur two years ago and threatened hundreds of homes scattered on the scenic hills, thousands of firefighters responded with overwhelming force, attacking flames from the air and ground.

In the first week, the blaze destroyed 57 homes and killed a bulldozer operator, then moved into remote wilderness in the Los Padres National Forest. Yet for nearly three more months the attack barely let up.

The Soberanes Fire burned its way into the record books, costing $262 million as the most expensive wildland firefight in U.S. history in what a new report calls an extreme example of excessive, unaccountable, budget-busting suppression spending.

The report by Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology criticizes fire managers for not adapting their approach to the changing nature of the blaze. The nonprofit group, which gets funding from the Leonard DiCaprio Foundation and other environmental organizations, advocates ending warfare on wildfires by ecologically managing them.

The report suggests the Forest Service response was the result of a use it or lose it attitude to spend its entire budget, which had been boosted by $700 million because of a destructive 2015 fire season. The agency managed to spend nearly all its 2016 money in a less-active fire season on about half the amount of land that burned the year before.

They just kept going crazy on it, report author Timothy Ingalsbee said. It wasnt demand-driven. It was supply-driven. They had all this extra money Congress had given them, and they had to justify that.

Forest Service officials would not comment directly on the report. After asking The Associated Press to provide written questions, the agency declined to answer them and issued a short statement saying it was committed to reducing costs in similarly large fires.

Protection of people first and then resources are our primary considerations, the statement said. Every fire is evaluated to determine the appropriate strategy. We continually look for opportunities to improve outcomes and accountability and to find more cost-efficient and effective methods of managing wildfires.

In addition to burning 206 square miles (534 square kilometers), the smoky fire closed signature parks in the area and put a damper on tourism in Big Sur during the peak season of its only industry. Monterey County estimated a 40 percent loss in revenue for the summer season in the area.

An internal Forest Service review produced last year and obtained by the AP reached some of the same conclusions as Ingalsbee.

For example, the departments review found that from Aug. 9 to Sept. 29, 2016, the number of threatened structures remained at 400 even as the fire grew by more than 90 square miles (230 square kilometers), which indicated the risk to property had abated as the flames burned into the wilderness. During that period, firefighting costs grew by $140 million.

The review found forest managers didnt think they could deviate from the overwhelming force concept aimed at suppression. It also said the agencys protocol for managing long-term wildfires does not sufficiently evaluate and adjust to changing risk.

One challenge fire commanders faced was an outdated forest management plan for Los Padres that called for full suppression of all wildfires, Ingalsbee said.

Mike Warren, a retired National Park Service firefighter who reviewed the report, questioned the wisdom of suppressing fires in remote wilderness where flames can help eliminate brush and other flammable vegetation that could fuel a later wildfire.

When Warren was fire management officer at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, they would let blazes burn in the wilderness if they were confident the fire would stay in the park.

The challenge in a place like the tourist-dependent Big Sur area is pressure from politicians, homeowners, businesses, loggers and ranchers to control the fire, Warren said.

When is enough enough? he said. When do you back off say, This is it. Were just going to let it do its thing. That takes some real political will.

The Forest Services internal review inspired Ingalsbee to file public records requests for other documents that led to his report.

Among his findings:

 About a fifth of the area burned was from fires set to clear brush and vegetation between outer perimeters and the active fire. One of these blazes jumped fire lines. These burnout operations created additional smoke and cost an estimated $50 million.

 A nearly $39 million air campaign, including large air tankers that cost $5,720 per hour, was largely ineffective. Retardant is effective at slowing flames only where ground crews can remove vegetation to create containment lines. But drops were done deep in steep, rugged wilderness where it was too dangerous to send crews, and even where flames never reached.

 Bulldozers, which cost $1,700 per hour, tore up wilderness, creating what Ingalsbee called ghost roads that will remain for years. The Forest Service spent an estimated $1 million a day for weeks repairing damage done by dozers.

The report concluded that once the blaze that broke out July 22, 2016, entered wilderness, there was little chance of stopping it before fall rains fell.

Chad Hanson, an expert on fire and director of the John Muir Project, a nonprofit environmental group, said the cost was stunning, but the approach to fire was business as usual.

Its sort of shocking that this massive amount of taxpayer money is being spent trying to suppress backcountry fires that are weather-driven and cant be stopped until the weather changes, rather than focusing resources on protecting communities, Hanson said. On the other hand, Im not surprised the Forest Service is doing this because its been their practice for years.

One beneficiary of the firefighting effort was Tom Little Bear Nason, who lives in a homestead in the national forest his family has owned for 150 years. He was also a contractor on the fire, with a team of dozer operators.

Nason, chairman of the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County, credited the suppression effort with helping save his property. But he said costs shot up when managers went overboard on backfires and cut contingency lines too far from the fire.

He also criticized the leadership on the fire, which changed every couple of weeks, for disregarding a pre-attack fire plan drawn up by local, state and federal agencies, tribal leaders, environmentalists and homeowners that included information on protecting historic and cultural sites.

He said those plans got chucked out the window and led to significant losses. A homesteader cabin burned to the ground, sacred sites such as burial grounds were plowed over, and a rock where tribal members gave birth was struck by a bulldozer.

Lots of efforts went to protect communities that went above and beyond what was necessary, Nason said. They were acting on the worst-case scenario.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio -- A Kentucky-based home builder with an office in Brecksville wants to build 42 upscale, paired townhomes on the north side of Ohio 82, about 2,000 feet west of Broadview Road.

First, however, Drees Homes would need voters to rezone the proposed 16-acre site from a single-family district to the city's unique Town Center Special Planning District Zone B, which allows townhomes.

The Broadview Heights Planning Commission will consider the rezoning and townhome plan Wednesday night (Dec. 19). Ultimately, City Council will decide whether to place the rezoning on the ballot, possibly in May.

In his rezoning application to the city, Thom Sutcliffe, land acquisition manager with Drees Homes in Brecksville, said the proposed townhome site consists of four parcels now containing two single-family homes. The land, just west of Weeping Cherry Village apartments, is owned by Louis P. Colantuono and Matthew and Ashley Fiala.

The site is just outside the city's Special Planning District B -- a multi-use zone that allows, among other uses, restaurants, bars, schools, museums, offices, auto-repair shops, retail stores and churches, along with low-, medium- and high-density housing.

Town Center Special Planning District Zone B surrounds Town Center Special Planning District Zone A, which is centered around the Ohio 82-Broadview Road intersection and which allows many of the same uses as Zone B.

"I have owned this land for many years and have found that, due to its location adjacent to the current (Special Planning District B) property and its dynamic topography, no other use is feasible ..." Colantuono said in a Nov. 21 letter to the city. "I believe (the townhome proposal) is the best use of this property, and that this simple expansion of District B would make a common-sense solution to this challenge."

The Fialas also sent a letter, with the exact same wording, to the city.

Sutcliffe didn't return calls, and Colantuono couldn't be reached, regarding what they meant by "dynamic topography," although on his rezoning application, Sutcliffe checked off the descriptors "wooded," "flat," "steep and hilly," "rolling," "wetland" and "stream or pond."

"Drees Homes believes that this zoning change will allow these parcels of land to offer the most applicable use of the land possible in its unique location to the city center, as well as becoming an upscale buffer between the city center and the adjacent single-family properties," Sutcliffe said in his rezoning application.

It's unknown whether Drees has an option to buy the four parcels, contingent on the rezoning.

During a Dec. 3 meeting of council's Building Codes & Public Building, GPZ Committee, council members reacted favorably to the proposed rezoning and townhome plan, according to unapproved meeting minutes.

At the meeting, Sutcliffe said he had been talking with Colantuono and the Fialas about developing their land for 18 months. Originally, they discussed building single-family homes, but the plan changed due to "the dynamics" of the property.

Sutcliffe said the townhomes would overlook a ravine on the property. Almost half the land would remain green space, at least partly due to wetlands. Home prices would start in the $285,000 range.

Kristina Sorensen, the city's economic development director, said the proposed townhome project is in harmony with the purpose of Special Planning District B, which is to provide various housing options so that residents living in the district can walk to and patronize businesses in the town center.

City Engineer Gary Yelenosky said the site is "challenging," but added that Drees Homes has designed homes and subdivisions well in the past. He said he believed the developer would do the same this time.

Sutcliffe said he doesn't anticipate the project would need zoning variances.Ginger, part of the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), is repositioning itself as a "lean luxury" hotel brand, with its first prototype hotel opening in at Panjim, Goa.



The new identity of Ginger presents a co-existence of contrasts through re-imagined spaces blurring the lines of work and play, bringing about a fusion of global and local and create experiences that are vibrant, quirky, intuitive and smart.



Deepika Rao, managing director and chief executive officer, Ginger, said: The brand is slated to appeal to an on-the-go lifestyle and is anchored in the idea of seamlessness, facilitating a never stop lifestyle. Ginger will now be an aspirational hotel chain that is also surprisingly affordable.



The redesigned spaces will bring together attractive public areas as well as spots designed for solitude, allowing the smooth transition from one to the other. They come alive with vivacious high energy glocal music and unique artwork installations. The all-day diner Cafe Et Cetera offers comfort food and doubles up as a personal workstation.



The service style is designed around the on-the-go lifestyle of the target audience enabling them to do more whether it is on-the-go breakfast, express laundry service or quick munch snack bars.



Puneet Chhatwal, managing director and chief executive officer, The Indian Hotels Company Limited, said: The Ginger brand journey is aligned to Aspiration 2022 that defines a brandscape that addresses diverse customer segments and price points. It will be an important growth vehicle for the company and we are looking at quickly scaling up the brand to a large number of hotels across India.



The company has received overwhelming interest from the hotel development community and has signed six new hotels already in this financial year, taking the portfolio to 56 hotels, the highest in its competition set. The new openings in the next two quarters will be in Madgaon in Goa, Patna, Sanand, Surat, and Visakhapatnam. - TradeArabia News ServiceCLEVELAND, Ohio  A Case Western Reserve University law professor whose research formed the foundation for a major challenge to the Affordable Care Act recently found himself on the other side  essentially defending the current state of the controversial law.

Jonathan Adler, who has taught at Case since 2001, said a Texas federal judges recent ruling that struck down the entire healthcare law, commonly known as Obamacare, has analysis that the professor considers bananas. Adler was equally critical of the lawsuit that prompted the ruling, which was filed on behalf of Texas and 19 other states.

I think the lawsuit represents a too-clever-by-half attempt to win in the courts when it should be a policy fight, Adler said in an interview Tuesday with cleveland.com.

U.S. District Judge Reed OConnor in Fort Worth ruled Friday that the individual mandate in Obamacare is unconstitutional. OConnor, a George W. Bush appointee, also ruled that the individual mandate is so essential to Obamacare that the law cannot function without it. Therefore, he determined the law is invalid.

The ACA is a frequent target of ire by President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers. While the Senate and House of Representatives chipped away at the law, including zeroing out the penalty people face for not carrying health insurance starting next year, the law largely remains intact.

A federal appeals court is almost certainly destined to review OConnors decision. The ruling, while hailed by many opponents of the Obama-era law, was met with sharp criticism from liberals, as well as legal scholars from both sides of the aisle.

Adler, a conservative who lives in Hudson, is one of those legal scholars. He co-wrote an op-ed to that effect that ran Saturday in The New York Times, calling OConnors ruling an exercise of raw judicial power.

It puts him in an interesting position. His legal research was the basis for a 2013 lawsuit that questioned the ability to grant subsidies to people in states that declined to set up their own health care exchange and instead joined ones established by the federal government.

While Adler determined that the ACA did not specifically authorize the IRS to grant subsidies to people in states without exchanges, the Supreme Court rejected the challenge in 2015.

Still, the professor finds himself criticizing a ruling that, for all intents and purposes, seeks to do the same thing the previous lawsuit did  gut Obamacare.

Adler said there are other ways to chip away at the law in court, but this was not one of them.

He said he expects the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse OConnors ruling and for the Supreme Court to decline to take up the case.

The main problem Adler sees is how OConnors dealt with the issue of severability, a legal principle involving the separation of an illegal portion of a law from the rest of it. The states suing argued that the ACA must be invalidated if the individual mandate is declared unconstitutional.

In agreeing with the states, OConnor focused on the intent of Congress in 2010, which decided the ACA could not function without the individual mandate. He largely did not focus on the intent of Congress of 2017, which had members call for its repeal but ultimately voted that the ACA could survive without the mandate. Congress' 2017 actions are the ones that led to the current lawsuit.

In other words, OConnor said the intent of the 2017 Congress should be set aside, since Republican congressional leaders wanted to pass a bill declaring the ACA useless without the individual mandate but didnt have the votes to do so, the professor said.

That idea is bananas on multiple levels, according to Adler. Its just not how our system works."

Adlers criticism of OConnors ruling is not a surprise. He made clear in June that he disagreed with Texas arguments to strike down Obamacare, signing on to a friend of the court brief with both liberal and conservative professors that said as much.

He said he plans to sign on to at least one more brief in front of the appeals court.GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio -- A Garfield Heights man found dead Monday at his home had multiple gunshot wounds, homicide detectives said.

Meshach Cornwall, 27, was found dead at a home on Darlington Avenue near Turney Road, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiners Office said. His death has been ruled a suspected homicide.

The medical examiners office will perform an autopsy before releasing an official cause of death, police said.

Cornwalls mother called 911 on Monday to report that she found her son unconscious and bleeding at the bottom of a set of stairs to the basement, according to a police report.

Garfield Heights police officers and firefighters determined Cornwall was dead when they arrived just after 11:40 a.m. The saw one bullet wound on his left torso, the police report says.

Cornwalls mother told investigators she last spoke to her son about 6:30 p.m. Sunday. She tried to call him about 8:30 a.m. Monday, but she could not reach him, the police report says.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiners Office were also called to the home.

Cornwalls gold 2009 Honda Accord was missing from the garage outside the home, and investigators believe it was stolen, police said. The car has an Ohio license plate number FRL4579.

Anyone with information about the car is asked to call the Garfield Heights Police Department at (216) 475-1234.

To comment on this story, visit Tuesdays crime and courts comments page.GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio  A 27-year-old man was found dead Monday in a Garfield Heights home, police said.

Investigators have not revealed a cause of death for the man found just after 11:40 a.m. at a home on Darlington Avenue near Turney Road. His name will be released once his family has been notified, police said.

Garfield Heights police officers and firefighters were called to the home for a report of an unconscious man. They determined he was dead when they arrived, police said in a news release.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiners Office were also called to the home.

A Garfield Heights police spokesman did not immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking additional information.

To comment on this story, visit Mondays crime and courts comments page.CLEVELAND, Ohio  Burundian refugees Jeremi and Speciose Krikumutima were thrilled Saturday to celebrate completion of the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity renovation of their new home.

Some 50 volunteers, clergy, friends and community members gathered at the house in Clevelands Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood for speeches, prayers and photos to mark the moment.

Its been a dream come true, said Jeremi, 38, who works as a machine operator at U.S. Cotton in Cleveland. Its a place that makes us feel at home.

He and Speciose, 36, will move into their new home early in 2019 after Habitat transfers title to them, said Blake Johnston, a spokesman for the nonprofit organization.

The Krikumutimas will live in the house with their four children, ranging in age from 7 months to 17 years.

Natives of Ruyigi, a small city in central Burundi, they resettled in Cleveland in 2015 with the help of Catholic Charities after 17 years in a refugee camp in Tanzania.

Burundi is a sub-equatorial African country south of Rwanda and sandwiched between Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania.

A bloody civil war from 1993 to 2005 set ethnic Hutus and Tutsis against one another after the assassination of Melchior Ndadaye, an ethnic Hutu who was elected president of Burundi.

The conflict that followed claimed 300,000 lives. A new civil war commenced in 2015 when protests against President Pierre Nkurunzizas bid for a third term were violently repressed by pro-government forces, according to Public Radio International.

The Cleveland part of the Krikumutimas story represents a happy ending after years of privation in Tanzania.

Their new home, located near Shaker Square, is a three-story early 20th-century Craftsman with new plumbing, electrical lines, appliances, windows, floors and Drywall paneling.

Habitat for Humanity acquired the badly dilapidated home from the Cuyahoga County Land Bank, which, in turn, acquired it from the city of Cleveland after a tax foreclosure.

Vatreisha Nyemba of the Land Bank said the organization kept the property secure, maintained it and mowed the yard for three years until Habitat took over last winter.

Some 110 volunteers from a half-dozen Cleveland-area churches donated 2,842 hours of labor to the nine-month renovation.

Other participants in the project, which has an estimated value of $75,000, include the Cleveland office of Thrivent, a not-for-profit financial services organization.

You can see its like a new house, Johnston said Saturday, showing a visitor the new bathrooms, wall-to-wall carpeting upstairs, and freshly refinished woodwork. It even smells like one.AKRON, Ohio  Seven people, including five children, escaped injury Monday night in a house fire just north of downtown.

However, the Akron Fire Department reports the blaze caused heavy damage to the two-story home on the 100 block of South Maple Street, just east of Glendale Cemetery.

The fire started in a bedroom on the second floor of the home at about 8:53 p.m., according to the fire department spokeswoman Lt. Sierje Lash. The two adults and five children, ages 4 to 13, were out of the home by the time firefighters arrived.

Firefighters had to pull down the ceilings on the first and second floors to put out the blaze. They also tried to save the familys Christmas presents, Lash says.

Lash did not say if the cause of the fire is known.

The Red Cross is assisting the family, Lash says.

To comment on this story, visit Mondays crime and courts comments page.COLUMBUS, Ohio  The sheriff who led the investigation into the murder of eight family members in southern Ohio has been accused of taking money from drug busts and using it for gambling, according to reports.

An anonymous complaint filed with the state auditors office against Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader also accuses him of allowing his daughter to drive impounded vehicles, WCPO Channel 9 reports, and that he borrowed thousands of dollars from deputies to support his gambling habit.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports the complaint says Reader is a compulsive gambler and never has any money. The amount of money reportedly taken has not been specified.

Reader just does whatever he wants and no one ever calls him on it, the complaint says, according to the Enquirer. We are scared to death of him.

A judge has appointed Robert F. Smith, assistant legal counsel with the auditors office, as a special prosecutor to investigate the claims, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

Reader reportedly declined to comment on the allegations. His lawyer, James Boulger, tells the Dispatch hes not aware of Reader having a gambling problem but didnt deny the sheriff might have gambled. Boulger says the complaint might be the result bitterness over layoffs in September.

Reader oversaw the investigation into the murders of eight members the Rhoden family in April 2016. In November, four people were arrested and charged with the murders.

To comment on this story, visit the crime and courts comments page.AKRON, Ohio  Police are investigating after a 19-year-old male was found dead of a gunshot wound inside a car in the Lane-Wooster neighborhood, the second fatal shooting over the weekend.

Officers found the victim in a gray Chevrolet Equinox at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at the intersection of Washburn Street and Longview Avenue, which is by Akron Hebrew Cemetery between Interstate 76 and Vernon Odom Boulevard.

The victim was in the passenger seat with a gunshot wound to the head. No information was released on a possible motive or if police have any suspects.

Police did not release the identity of the victim. The Summit County Medical Examiners Office will conduct an autopsy.

It is the second shooting death over the weekend in Akron. On Friday, Damond Duke, 45, of Akron, was fatally wounded and his truck was stolen near his home on the 800 block of Brown Street in South Akron.

A witness told police that the victims vehicle, a 2008 Chevrolet Avalanche, was stolen by an unknown man. Officers found the truck abandoned about a mile away at Beaver and Gage streets, police said.

No arrests have been made.

Anyone with information on the shootings can call detectives at 330-375-2490 or 330-375-2TIP; the U.S. Marshals Service at 1-866-4-WANTED; or Summit County Crimestoppers Inc. at 330-434-COPS. Tips can also be sent by text to TIPSCO with at 274637 (Crimes). Callers can remain anonymous.

To comment on this story, visit Mondays crime and courts comments page.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Hundreds of Northeast Ohioans have signed up for access to the Blockchain Research Institutes trove of blockchain research -- for free. You can, too.

The Blockchain Institute, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, is home to a multi-million dollar research program on blockchain technology. More than 70 research projects have produced a library of information about possible applications in health, business, banking and more.

Cleveland nonprofits and businesses worth than $1 billion can access them for free, thanks to support from the Greater Cleveland Partnership, JumpStart and the Unify Project. Its part of an effort to transform Cleveland into Blockland, a hub for the blockchain industry.

Blockland is the brain child of car mogul Bernie Moreno, who this year led a group of Cleveland civic leaders to the Blockchain Institute to convince them of blockchains potential.

As of Monday, nearly 350 people have requested to access the research, which could inspire business owners, entrepreneurs and coders see the value in learning about the emerging technology.

"I think the key thing is (these case studies) put context around the technology, Eric Ward, DriveITs chief learning officer, said.

DriveIT, a company which offers certificates and skills training in technology fields, used free access to the institutes research to create two courses in advance of this years Blockland Solutions conference. One was for developers, the other was for people without an information technology background.

Interest in blockchain is high, said Ian Schwarber, chief strategy officer for DriveIT. The company added more sessions before the conference because initial offerings sold out.

What Schwarber didnt expect was that the majority of interest came from people without a coding background who wanted to know the implications of blockchain for their businesses or creative ideas.

Perusing case studies to see what worked and what didnt can save time and money, said Andrew Tasker, the founder and CEO of a digital business accelerator and incubator called Ecosystems of Innovation. He said the research has been so valuable that he would buy access if it wasnt free.

One of the companys clients is working on a database that would put together metastatic cancer research from around the world. The Blockchain Research Institute has researched blockchains potential for securing health databases.

Things are accelerating so quickly in innovation and blockchain, we use the institutes research as whats happening in the industry, he said.

If you want to access to the research, click here to register through JumpStart.Rotunda Rumblings

Ka-ching: Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, the lieutenant governor-elect, is seeking to transfer $10 million from his offices fund to the states General Revenue Fund. The secretary of states office was able to come up with the money through a series of cost-cutting measures, including posting many forms and office functions online, such as online voter registration and voters change of address, he wrote in a letter to the Ohio Office of Budget and Management.

Drug loan: The Ohio Controlling Board on Monday approved a $2.1 million loan to the states medical marijuana program, which has a cash flow program and legal fees, cleveland.coms Laura Hancock writes.

And more: Doctors have completed 3,460 recommendations for medical marijuana in the Patient and Caregiver Registry since it went live Dec. 5, regulators announced Monday. Of those, 2,170 have activated their cards.

Whats in store for Sears: Ohio Department of Medicaid Director Barbara Sears is leaving the agency Dec. 31. She is going to Strategic Health Care, a Columbus consulting company, Hancock writes.

Collect call: A telephone deregulation bill on its way to Gov. John Kasichs desk could mean steeper rate hikes for landline customers in Ohio, according to cleveland.coms Jeremy Pelzer. While consumer groups have panned the proposal, Ohios telecom industry says the changes are needed to help local phone companies that have lost most of their landline business to cell-phone carriers.

Fair tribute: Kasich has about a month left in office, but hes apparently already getting an honor paid to many past Ohio governors -- an Ohio Expo Center and State Fair building is being renamed after him. Cardinal Hall, the fairs newest building (built in 2016), is now being referred to as Kasich Hall on the fairs website. An Ohio State Fair spokeswoman declined to comment Monday.

Inauguration day schedule: Gov.-elect Mike DeWine is planning to privately be sworn into office at his home near Cedarville shortly after midnight on Monday, Jan. 14. At noon that day, DeWines public swearing-in ceremony is set to take place at the Ohio Statehouse, his inaugural committee announced Monday in a release. The governors inaugural gala is slated to begin at the Ohio Statehouse that evening at 7:30 p.m. In the days leading up to the inauguration, DeWine and Husted are scheduled to attend three other receptions and events in the Columbus area.

Pools open? According to the DeWine release, his public and private swearing-in ceremonies will be open to "pool reporters (a journalist who collects information to distribute to the entire press corps). When Kasich first took office in 2011, he initially barred journalists from attending his private swearing-in, though he later relented after a flurry of media criticism.

Its official: Confirming previous reports, the Committee to Draft Sherrod Brown for President 2020 officially launched Monday, according to a news release. The group is co-chaired by Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley and Michael Wager, a Cleveland attorney and former campaign finance chairman for the Democratic U.S. senator.

Run for your money: Several Democratic U.S. senators eying a 2020 presidential run  including Brown  are sponsoring bills that would transfer trillions of dollars in cash to low-income and middle-class Americans, reports Benjy Sarlin of NBC News. Brown is co-sponsoring bills that target wage stagnation by massively expanding the refundable earned income tax credit and the child tax credit.

Boehners book deal: Ohioan and former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner is working on a memoir about his 20-plus years in Washington, according to Politicos Eliana Johnson and Jake Sherman. The book, tentatively titled Notes From A Smoke-Filled Room, is currently scheduled for release in spring 2020, during the middle of a presidential campaign.

Full Disclosure

Here are five things we learned from the May 15 financial disclosure of State Rep. Craig Riedel, a Defiance Republican.

1. In addition to his $60,584 legislative salary, Riedels reported income last year mostly came from stock dividends and capital gains. He received $25,000 to $49,999 from his stock in Nucor Corp., the North Carolina-based steel giant, and got $10,000 to $24,999 from his Edward Jones retirement fund.

2. Besides those stocks, Riedel participates in the Ohio Public Employees Retirement Fund and the Fort Defiance Investment Club  though he noted that in the latter case, he has no personal ownership in stock worth more than $1,000.

3. The Ohio House reimbursed him $4,135.04 in 2017 for travel between his home and Columbus.

4. At no point last year did Riedel owe more than $1,000 to any person or business, nor did anyone owe him $1,000 or more.

5. He reported receiving no gifts worth more than $75 from anyone in 2017, nor any gifts from lobbyists worth at least $25. He also reported no times during which he received at least $100 worth of food or drinks.

On the Move

Stephen A. Schumaker, deputy attorney general for law enforcement, has been appointed to serve as a judge on the Clark County Municipal Court by Gov. John Kasich. Schumaker succeeds longtime Judge Eugene Nevius, who resigned for health reasons; he must run in the November 2019 election in order to serve the final two years of Nevius term.

Birthdays

William Allen, Ohios 31st governor (1803-1879)

William Montague, deputy campaign manager for Democrat Rob Richardsons 2018 campaign for state treasurer

Straight from the Source

Thanks for the wind, North Carolina.

- Gov. John Kasich, speaking Monday at the Wright Brothers Memorial near Dayton on the 115th anniversary of their first flight in North Carolina. Ohio and North Carolina have long fought over which state gets to claim the Dayton duo and their legacy.

Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. If you do not already subscribe, you can sign up here to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free.BAINBRIDGE TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Theft, Marketplace Drive: A Kent man and woman stole merchandise valued over $1,000 Dec. 8 from Walmart. They face possible felony charges.

Theft, Aurora Road: Someone stole a woman's credit card Dec. 7 that she had left in a card reader at a gas station pump. The culprit used the card there and at Game Stop in Macedonia.

Police are reviewing video from the gas station.

Traffic crash, Chillicothe Road: A semi-truck had to be winched out of a ditch and towed away for repairs at 6:17 p.m. Dec. 6 after its brakes locked and it slid backward down the Lake Lucerne hill. No damage was reported.

Suspicious, Aurora Road: Police located a tiki hut with a tent inside with clothing and other belongings at 1:40 p.m. Dec. 5. No one was found inside. Officers will follow up to find the owner.

Suspicious, Samuel Lord Drive: A real estate agent called police Dec. 3 after finding a man removing items from a house that had been sold to new owners. The man said he had done work for the previous owners and believes he has a claim on some of the contents. Officers advised him he was not permitted on the property.

Vehicle crash, Lucerne Drive: A resident reported an unoccupied Jeep on its side in a ditch at 8:24 a.m. Dec. 4. In addition, 15 mailboxes had been struck. Police arrived and took photos. The police report said officers would follow up with the driver when she got home from school.French highways found themselves clogged with indignation during the fifth week of the gilets jaunes (yellow vest) protests. How should Christians think about these demonstrations? Are their means and ends moral or immoral?

Background

The leaderless grassroots uprising originally targeted the massive carbon taxes levied on gasoline and diesel in order to reduce carbon emissions and nudge the public to purchase electric vehicles. French environmentalist policy caused gasoline costs to rise as high as $7 a gallon in Paris. Fully 60 percent of that was due to federal taxes, with another tax increase due next year.Hundreds of thousands of people blocked intersections across France, some holding signs that read, Death to taxes. Over time political leaders including Jean-Luc Melenchon and Marine Le Pen have tried to infiltrate or capitalize on the protests, which have taken a most comprehensively anti-Macron tenor.

French President Emmanuel Macron initially promised he would not change course,because the policy direction is right and necessary. However, the fuel tax hike scheduled for 2019 has been delayed (but not canceled). Macron unveiled an economic package  including a 100-a-month increase in the minimum wage and abolition of taxes on pensioners  worth 15 billion ($17 billion U.S.) in a televised address last Monday.

Although the number of protesters has steadily decreased to a low of 66,000 last weekend, the citizens uprising has spurred politicians to action, extracted concessions from seemingly immovable politicians, and spawned imitators across the Atlantic Ocean.

There are at least three reasons their actions are moral, and two reasons to say their actions raise moral concerns.

Why the gilets jaunes/yellow vest protests are moral:

1. Putting families first is the governments duty. The initial protests erupted over the fact that fuel costs caused already squeezed French families to choose between transportation and other necessities. Similar policies elsewhere have separated families, because one of the parents cannot afford to commute regularly. The family is the original cell of social life, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. (Emphasis in original.) As such, its needs come before the policy aims of the government. The importance of the family for the life and well-being of society entails a particular responsibility for society to support and strengthen marriage and the family, the Catechism continues.Civil authority should consider it a grave duty to acknowledge the true nature of marriage and the family, to protect and foster them, to safeguard public morality, and promote domestic prosperity. By demanding that the state yield to the needs of the family, the yellow vests also advanced a form of subsidiarity.

2. Opposing misguided policies exercises good citizenship. Standing up against excessive taxation shows that the French are exercising their moral duty as citizens to assure the common good. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that citizens loyal collaboration with elected officials includes the right, and at times the duty, to voice their just criticisms of that which seems harmful to the dignity of persons and to the good of the community.

3. Making their voice heard inside an imperious government. President Macron styles himself a Jupiterian leader untouched by the entreaties of mere mortals. He has since admitted his tone  and his tone-deaf words  have alienated his administration from the people it serves. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe confessed the government has not listened enough to the French people. As I told Spero News, the gilets jaunes protests are another example of the disconnect between elite politicians using government to enforce extremist ideologies, and average working people who have to pay the price. When that happens, the people must make their voices heard. It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom, the Catechism states. (Emphasis in original.)There is no question the yellow vests succeeded in capturing the attention of the government and the imagination of overtaxed people across the world.

Why the gilets jaunes/yellow vest protests raise moral concerns:

1. Their methods are disobedient and potentially dangerous. The yellow vests block intersections as a form of proportional response: If we cannot drive, neither will anyone else. This method raises moral concerns. First, citizens owe the government the duty of obedience, provided the law is not objectively immoral, and French traffic laws are certainly not immoral. Second, the protests have resulted in eightdeaths so far. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said the seventh death was a woman struck by a vehicle that entered an unmarked protest area. Last September, a Vatican official stated that the primary responsibility of the State [is] to protect public order, social harmony, and the life and security of persons and their families as well as their property. Third,the illegal protests have the foreseeable consequence of diverting police from their duty to protect others. French police say they are stretched thin by guardingthe protests and providing additional security at Christmas markets, like the one targeted by a deadly terrorist attack in Strasbourg. Methods that break the law, disrupt public order, or endanger peoples lives raise moral and prudential concerns.

2. The movements other demands show both good and poor citizenship. The yellow vest protesters, originally motivated by backlash against high taxes, have issued a list of demands that include higher taxes. Actons Sam Gregg has written a thoughtful analysis of the economic paradoxes (a less charitable commentator might use the term contradictions) typical of the movement and the wider French public. While some of the protesters broader goals reflect praiseworthy insights, others like the right to retire as young as 55  will harm the economic well-being of the nation as a whole, imposing heavy burdens on generations to come. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church defines citizenship as a duty to be fulfilled consciously by all, with responsibility and with a view to the common good. God requires that we serve Him in every capacity of our lives  family, church, work, and state  to the utmost of our ability. If citizens convince the government to adopt misguided policies, particularly at the threat of violence, it would constitute poor stewardship of their status and thus potentially raise a moral concern.

(Photo credit: Public domain.)Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Qatar was recently voted as the Best Airport in the Middle East at the 15th Annual Global Travelers GT Tested Reader Survey Awards in Los Angeles.



The award recognises outstanding performance and customer service displayed by airports across the world.



HIAs vice president of commercial and marketing, Abdulaziz Al Mass, accepted the award during the gala reception at The Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills on December 12. Recognizing HIAs success in delivering the highest standard of service to its travellers, the Global Travelers awards are highly sought after and respected as an unbiased reflection of the best in travel through an open-ended reader survey.



Commenting on the award, Engineer Badr Mohammed Al Meer, chief operating officer at HIA, stated: It is truly an honour to be awarded the Best Airport in the Middle East title by Global Traveler for the second consecutive year. Since our opening, we have displayed an unwavering commitment to providing the best passenger experience and customer service excellence, which is increasingly being recognised by the international community. We thank Global Traveler for this outstanding recognition and our passengers for their continued support and confidence in HIA.



HIA continues to redefine the passenger experience through comfort, convenience and leisure, with state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities all housed within its expansive terminal. HIA recently started offering on-the-go spa services for departing or transferring passengers at the airport with Be Relax, an international well-being and beauty service provider specialised in airports. Located in the North Node of the airport terminal, near concourses D and E, Be Relax provides passengers with massage services, manicures, pedicures, and shower facilities in a calm and serene environment away from the airport hustle. The airport also has the Vitality wellness spa with a range of spa treatments and facilities, a swimming pool and for travellers that enjoy staying active during their journey.



The airport will also be launching an upgraded version of the HIA Qatar mobile app soon, a state-of-the-art iBeacon enabled app that enables HIA customers to access everything airport-related at the tips of their fingers. The app, already featuring an interactive map, navigation, real-time flight information, airport services and facilities information, and retail outlet information and promotions, transforms the way travellers engage with airport services. By simply searching coffee or handbag, the app offers a list of all outlets offering the products of interest along with a turn-by-turn navigation to reach the destination. The app also alerts travellers of ongoing sales and promotions with wayfinding, ensuring the traveller makes the best out of their shopping experience at HIA.



The airport also continues to curate memorable luxury and retail experiences for its travellers. Last month, Hamad International Airport, Qatar Duty Free (QDF), the airports award-winning retail partner and Parfums Christian Dior launched a Dior Maison de Parfums Podium at the airport. The podium offers HIA customers an immersive and multisensorial experience with a 360 -degree screen, encompassing them with beautiful aromas and transporting them to the south of France, introducing them to Dior places of inspiration, creation and expertise.



Since 2004, Global Traveler is a well-known luxury publication in the US, recognised globally with a high readership of frequent luxury business and leisure travellers, informing passengers about five-star airports, airlines and hotels. Global Travelers yearly surveys are well acknowledged in the industry and include the First- and Business-Class Survey and Leisure Lifestyle Awards amongst others. - TradeArabia News ServiceGoldman Sachs is finding it hard to distance itself from what it says were the actions of a few bad apples. The bank has said just two employees were primarily responsible for a deepening international scandal in which Goldman bankers helped a Malaysian financier plunder billions of dollars from an investment fund called 1MDB. The two are Tim Leissner, a Goldman partner who plead guilty to U.S. bribery charges in August, and Roger Ng, a managing director who has been arrested in Malaysia. A third executive, Andrea Vella, has been put on leave. But according to current and former employees, deals as large as those that helped create the $6.5 billion 1MDB fund require scrutiny from several top firm-wide committees. The 2012 and 2013 bond transactions at the heart of 1MDB were "bought deals" that meant Goldman had to use its capital to buy newly created securities before offloading them to investors. That's riskier than in more typical arrangements where Goldman is merely distributing bonds to investors. "Anyone who's been there a long time knows you can't do big things without senior people knowing, period," said one former Goldman employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he still has dealings with the bank. "No matter how senior you are, there's always somebody above you. So a lot of people had to decide they were comfortable committing billions of dollars to this."

David Solomon Jonathan Alcorn | Bloomberg | Getty Images

In 1MDB, Goldman is undergoing its worst scandal since the financial crisis. Unlike previous controversies that stemmed from trading desks, the current issue comes from the firm's investment banking side, which gave rise to current CEO David Solomon and most of his management team. Goldman shares are down 35 percent this year, the worst performance of its big-bank peers. Its main defense has been to pin the blame on the two disgraced bankers rather than its culture or risk-management processes. Among those who approved 1MDB were Stephen Scherr, who became chief financial officer last month, according to people with knowledge of the situation and spoke on condition of anonymity. Scherr was on a group responsible for vetting large financial commitments. Solomon and his predecessor, Lloyd Blankfein, also reviewed the deals, the Financial Times reported. The Goldman committees chose to approve the 1MDB deals on the condition that the bank explain to Malaysian officials that they had other, cheaper options to raise money, according to another person with knowledge of the matter. But the client chose the pricier route because they were in a hurry, the person said. The bank ultimately reaped $600 million in fees, a higher-than-typical amount for $6.5 billion in issuance. The Goldman executives who signed off on the deals couldn't have known that Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, known as Jho Low, would allegedly plunder billions from the fund, according to this person.

Still, the bank recognized the deals could garner media and regulatory scrutiny, but Goldman ignored that and concerns about Low in pursuit of revenue, according to the Wall Street Journal. Now the firm could face 18 months to clean this mess and up to $5 billion in expenses, analyst Mike Mayo said Monday in a research note. Also, U.S. documents filed by prosecutors cite a culture at Goldman that prioritized "consummating deals" over compliance. In related documents, prosecutors said "other employees and agents" of the bank had known about bribes related to 1MDB. The bank's woes deepened Monday when Malaysia filed criminal charges against Goldman and demanded at least $3.3 billion from the bank. Goldman lied or omitted facts in its offering statements related to the 1MDB bonds, according to Malaysian authorities. The bank's shares, which have been pummeled since the U.S. Justice Department revealed in November that it was charging Leissner and Ng with bribery and money laundering, fell 2.7 percent on Monday to its lowest point in two years. In response, Goldman lashed out at Malaysia, saying that government officials and employees of 1MDB lied to Goldman about what it intended to do with the bond proceeds.

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak leaves the courthouse in Kuala Lumpur on December 12, 2018 after being charged in court. Mohd Rasfan | AFP | Getty ImagesWHEN: Today, Monday, December 17, 2018

WHERE: CNBC's "Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer"

The following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky, and CNBC's Jim Cramer on CNBC's "Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer" (M-F 6PM  7PM) today, Monday, December 17th. The following is a link to video from the interview on CNBC.com: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/12/17/we-unequivocally-believe-our-baby-powder-does-not-contain-asbestos-johnson-johnson-ceo.html.

All references must be sourced to CNBC.

JIM CRAMER: On a downright ugly day for the averages, we have to take a closer look at a company that's facing a huge amount of negativity right now: Johnson & Johnson. Friday J&J stock sold off after investors reacted negativity to a Reuters investigation that reported some stunning allegations that J&J had known about the presence of asbestos in its baby powder for decades, and intentionally hid evidence. Since asbestos tends to cause cancer, that's really the last place you wanna find it. Stock lost 10% of its value Friday. Then it plunged another $3.86, or 2.9% today, maybe because of a New York Times article that came out this Saturday that was negative, too. All told, J&J has lost most than $50 billion in market capitalization since the story broke. So is this a $50 billion problem or has this story been blown way out of proportion? We know J&J's been adamant that the talc in their baby powder is perfectly safe, but we need to know more, including whether this issue can ever be put behind them. So let's take a closer look with Alex Gorsky, the Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson, came here today to share the company side to this story. Mr. Gorsky, welcome back to Mad Money. Thank you, Alex.

ALEX GORSKY: Thank you, Jim.

JIM CRAMER: Have a seat. Okay, Alex, so I pick up a Reuters investigation. It says, "Special report: J&J knew for decades that asbestos lurked in its baby powder." And I gulped and I said, "Boy, I wanna know whether this thing's gonna last forever."

ALEX GORSKY: Well, Jim, thank you very much for having us here today, and-- and look, given all the allegations and some of the reports in the media, I think it's important as the CEO of Johnson & Johnson to be here to not only talk with your viewers, but actually all of our stakeholders.

JIM CRAMER: Well, thank you. And I give you the floor, because--

ALEX GORSKY: Well--

JIM CRAMER: -- I've just read in the last 72 hours pretty much some things about J&J that I actually don't wanna believe.

ALEX GORSKY: Well, I think it's good that I'm here to be able to clarify that and basically clear the record. What I'd first say is there's at least a couple of issues that have been alleged. The first one concerning baby powder and talc and asbestos, and is it related to cancer. And the second relates really to the actions of the company.

JIM CRAMER: Right.

ALEX GORSKY: If I take a few minutes on the first 

JIM CRAMER: You've got it.

ALEX GORSKY: Look, I would start by saying that we unequivocally believe that our talc, our baby powder, does not contain asbestos. And that's demonstrated in thousands of studies, studies not only conducted by Johnson & Johnson, but studies conducted by independent authorities, well-respected authorities, where we work closely with regulators who are overlooking the methodology. And, by the way, throughout this process we also not only used the best testing methodologies that were available, but we continued to improve them through the years. So that's really important to keep in mind. Now, the other important aspect is not only what are you doing to try to prevent things from getting into the talc or baby powder and ensure that it's pure, but also what actually happened when it was used by consumers. And here too, what the studies show-- and these studies, Jim, are independent. They're conducted by places like the Harvard Medical School and other bodies. Nearly 100,000 patients involving both men and women over decades. And what these clearly show is that there's no causation between talc, baby powder and ovarian cancer or any type of asbestos-related disease. Now, these studies, especially the-- some of the testing that was conducted by Johnson & Johnson employees, I can tell you not only are these scientists, engineers who studied this and have been trained on it, but these are also moms and dads. These are brothers and sisters thatI have to believe are looking out for what's in the best interests of patients that they serve each and every day. Now, the other portion, of course, is what were the company's actions like? And there's some allegations that maybe we weren't as forthcoming as we should have been.

JIM CRAMER: Right. Right--

ALEX GORSKY: Well, what's important to remember here, Jim, is that things-- these things go back to the 1960s, the 1970s, the 1980s. Even the Reuters author herself stated that over the past 15 years that there have been no issues related to asbestos and talc or baby powder that's being used. But even if we go back from the very beginning when we've had internal and external teams look at all the documents, what we have found is that they were transparent, they were open, they exchanged information with regulators. And if you remember, back in the '70s there was a pretty significant debate about asbestos and talc and baby--

JIM CRAMER: Right.

ALEX GORSKY: --powder. And the F.D.A. at that time confirmed that not only was the methodology and the testing that we were using the correct one, but they also agreed that our talc, our baby powder, did not contain asbestos.

JIM CRAMER: But Alex, the Reuters investigation says it didn't tell the agency that at least three tests from three different labs from 1972 to 1975 had found asbestos in its talc, including in one case at levels reported as rather high.

ALEX GORSKY: Well, Jim, what we found is-- and it's really important in all these cases as you're reviewing the documents is to look at all the information in totality. Especially when you're dealing with matters of science. And while there are documents that will refer to one testing methodology versus another, or an outcome, what we found is the outliers are either incomplete or, frankly, they're refutable based upon the methodology or the particular sample that they used. But if you look at the body of evidence of-- at-- on the whole, it's very clear that this talc was safe, as we-- as we stated. And look, the other--

JIM CRAMER: Right, right.

ALEX GORSKY: --really important dynamic to remember in this. And remember, this was occurring, again, you know, back in the 1970s--

JIM CRAMER: Right.

ALEX GORSKY: --1980s. This was during the same time when Johnson & Johnson has been recognized as removing Tylenol from the market when there was any kind of a safety issue, and that's the same company that was managing through this particular period of time. And I can't believe the company that took that dramatic of an action would allow a product that they felt in any way could be harmful to stay on the market.

JIM CRAMER: Well, is there any way that you should have known that there was something wrong? Or is it-- because what happens is in this, both this and The New York Times, They New York Timessays that-- you know, that-- the article, Alex, starts with the concept there were two people in J&J who raised red flags.

ALEX GORSKY: Well, Jim, what take-- what's taken place is, first of all, let's go back to our data.

JIM CRAMER: Sure.

ALEX GORSKY: We believe the talc is safe. Okay? And studies-- that's not only what we believe, but it's what studies have demonstrated. But I think in a company like Johnson & Johnson, and at any company, you'd expect there would be dialogue. You'd expect there to be debate. And I-- and, frankly, that's healthy within an organization. But what's really important to focus is to not just select one document, one piece of evidence, but to look at the body of evidence in totality.

JIM CRAMER: Okay.

AALEX GORSKY: And when you do that in this case, again, we remain very confident in the safety of our products, and, more importantly, in the actions of our people.

JIM CRAMER: Okay. One last and then we're gonna take a break. The Reuters person asserts that you decline-- your company declined to comment for the art-- for the article. On December 8th you offered to make an expert available, but you had not done so as of Thursday evening. For more than two months you turned down repeated requests for an interview with J&J execs.

ALEX GORSKY: Jim, that's simply not true.

JIM CRAMER: Not true.

ALEX GORSKY: We-- we-- we tried to engage in this. In fact, we provided a large amount of information. And our bigger concern is why wasn't a lot of this information that we talked about provided and talked about in a more open, more balanced and transparent way?

JIM CRAMER: All right. But let's take a break and we're gonna come back and talk about your $5 billion buyback that you announced after the bell, and what that says for where you think you are. That's Alex Gorsky. He's Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson. Mr. Gorsky will be back.

JIM CRAMER: We're here with Alex Gorsky, the Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson to get his response to these explosive allegations of the presence of asbestos in the talc, or not the presence of asbestos in talc that goes into J&J's baby powder. We've read two critical stories in the last 72 hours, but it's important to learn the full story from the company itself, including how its pharmaceutical business is performing, and how the company's doing. And I'm gonna go right there for a second, Alex. Because after the bell you did something that a company tends not to do if they're really worried about their balance sheet. You announced a $5 billion buyback. Tell me about it.

ALEX GORSKY: Well, Jim, we did. We announced a $5 billion buyback this afternoon, and-- and frankly, it's a reflection of our confidence and our conviction with the company going forward. And while we're managing these issues, we could not be more excited about the future. If you look at the fundamental and underlying strength of our pharmaceutical sector, our medical device sector and our consumer sector, we think we're well positioned for growth going forward.

JIM CRAMER: Okay, now there are people watching at home who know that I have been recommending Johnson & Johnson ever since you became the CEO. I was not-- I-- candidly, I was not-- a big fan previously, but you have an AAA balance sheet. You've announced the buyback. But you did you lose a case in St. Louis for point-- that had $4.6 billion, 22 people, ovarian cancer, terrible disease. How are you confident enough that that AAA balance sheet and the $5 billion are the right thing to do, given the lawsuit?

ALEX GORSKY: Well, Jim, I think if we look and we step back and take a broader look at the more recent cases, really over the last 12, 18 or even 24 months, there's been about 40 in total. And about 35 of those have gone our way, either through decision and appeal-- okay, dismissaland the five outstanding, those are also under appeal. So look, we are-- we're going-- you know, we're confident in going forward, and we think that, frankly, the science stands behind us. And-- and, you know, we're determined to make sure that we continue to protect the safety of our products.

JIM CRAMER: The-- the natural place, where I spent most of the time today, not the-- not the other stuff. There's been a whole weekend on this. What would-- how at the miners? Miners-- who mine talc would be the most exposed, presumably, to asbestos. Ratio of illness from asbestos, miners versus the rest of the population.

ALEX GORSKY: Right, Jim, what you're referring to is one of the trials I mentioned earlier that--

JIM CRAMER: Right.

ALEX GORSKY: --contributed to the 100,000. And-- and so in addition to patients who had actually been using talc and women and men that'd been--

JIM CRAMER: Right.

ALEX GORSKY: -- this actually was a cohort of miners and millers that worked in the mines. So they were exposed to a much greater degree of talc than ordinarily would be done. And after several retrospective studies and analyses, including just recently, what those found, again, is that there's no causation between what they're seeing in the talc that they were actually mining and cancer or asbestos-related disease.

JIM CRAMER: Now, if J&J had this happen to them this weekend-- to you, I have to believe that there were many people who read these articles who have ovarian cancer, and they called the lawyers. And you just got-- this was a-- they got a lot of plans from this, I bet. What happens?

ALEX GORSKY: Well, Jim, what I would say is, look, we always have empathy and sympathy for patients that have been diagnosed with cancer. And look, we're in the business of trying to cure cancer.

JIM CRAMER: Right.

ALEX GORSKY: And we-- we're working hard on multiple myeloma, lymphoma and other diseases--

JIM CRAMER: This is one of the reasons--

ALEX GORSKY: --to--

JIM CRAMER: --why I'm recommending you. You have--

ALEX GORSKY: --do just that.

JIM CRAMER: -- a fantastic cancer franchise.

ALEX GORSKY: Exactly. And look, patients, when they get that diagnosis, they're looking for reasons. We can understand that. But that's why it's so important to follow the science. And in this case, the science simply doesn't support some of these correlations that are being drawn.

JIM CRAMER: My friend Jeff Sonnenfeld was on today -- a Yale professor -- and he said, "What's interesting here is that if this scientific issue the company claimed, you would have had millions of cases of people coming down with these diseases, and not these unproven cases." That's Jeff. I mean it does raise the issue-- how many people have used baby powder? And-- it doesn't seem like it's been an explosion of cases.

ALEX GORSKY: Exactly. And the-- again, this is why we keep going back to the data. To these--

JIM CRAMER: Right.

ALEX GORSKY: --large controlled trials that really look at some of these underlying issues. And, frankly, we think we will prevail based upon that science.

JIM CRAMER: Now, at the same time, this is The New York Times. And-- and it is Reuters. The New York Times-- these are institutions that I trust. I trust J&J. How about the trust of J&J? And is it tarnished by these last 72 hours?

ALEX GORSKY: Well, there's nothing more important in our minds than the trust and integrity of Johnson & Johnson. And that's why I'm here today talking to you. What I can tell you is from all of the documents that have been reviewed, internally and externally, what I can tell you is we believe that the employees of Johnson & Johnson acted in a professional and in an appropriate way throughout this period.

JIM CRAMER: Okay. In The New York Times: "In one instance Johnson & Johnson demanded that the government block unfavorable findings from being made public. An executive only wanted assurances from an official at the F.D.A. that the findings would be issued, 'only over my dead body,' a memo summarizing the meeting said." That concerned me.

ALEX GORSKY: Well, Jim, in my over-25 years, almost 30 years in this industry, what I can tell you is I have tremendous respect for the F.D.A. Every day they look out for the health and wellbeing of all of the people in this country. And I don't see them as, you know, someone who's going to roll over easily regarding safety issues. They're truly trying to do what's best, and I'm sure there could be debate and engagement with them, but again, if you look at the records, the F.D.A. consistently approved our testing methodology, as well as the fact that our talc, our baby powder was safe.

JIM CRAMER: We saw in the Reuters article that there was-- a change in the way you worded-- whether you always knew it was safe or whether you knew it was safe. That concerned me too, because it seemed like that maybe you knew something was wrong and you didn't tell us.

ALEX GORSKY: Jim, let me be clear. Throughout the period being discussed in this article, the 1950s, '60s, '70s and '80s, and '90s, we are absolutely certain, based upon the data that we were talking about earlier. If you go earlier than that, okay, remember, this product has been on the market since the late 1800s. Obviously the testing methodologies were different at that time. And so that's why we changed the word "always" based upon-- you know, making sure that we were trying to be as accurate as possible.

JIM CRAMER: Why'd you come on here?

ALEX GORSKY: I came on here because I think it's important for your viewers, but, frankly, all of our stakeholders to ensure that they know every day the 140,000 employees of Johnson & Johnson around the world are doing their best to ensure the safety and high quality of our products and everything that we do. And we wanna make sure that our trust and integrity that we've earned over the last 130 years, is maintained for the next 130 years.

JIM CRAMER: And you volunteered to come on.

ALEX GORSKY: I did.

JIM CRAMER: Okay, fair enough. That's Alex Gorsky, Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson. Mad Money is back after the break.

For more information contact:

Jennifer Dauble

CNBC

t: 201.735.4721

m: 201.615.2787

e: jennifer.dauble@nbcuni.com

Emma Martin

CNBC

t: 201.735.4713

m: 551.275.6221

e: emma.martin@nbcuni.comEight-year-old Martha Kennedy Morales recently ran for class president. Though she lost to a boy  by one vote  the election had its upsides, including a surprise letter from a politician she personally admires: Hillary Clinton.

In a one-page letter to Martha, Clinton shared her pride in the third-grader and underscored the importance of pushing forward and learning from a difficult experience.

"As I know too well, it's not easy when you stand up and put yourself in contention for a role that's only been sought by boys," Clinton wrote in the letter, one first shared by The Washington Post.

The former U.S. secretary of state encouraged Martha to be resilient and keep seeking out opportunities to be a leader. Wrote Clinton, "The most important thing is that you fought for what you believed in, and that is always worth it."

"As you continue to learn and grow in the years ahead," wrote Clinton, "know that I am cheering you on for a future of great success."

Clinton understands a tough presidential race. She was the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016, and the first woman to secure the backing of a major American political party. Though she won that election's popular vote, she lost in the electoral college against Republican candidate President Donald Trump.Johnson & Johnson's Chairman and CEO, Alex Gorsky, on Monday defended his company against reports claiming that it knew for decades about the presence of asbestos in its baby powder product.

"We unequivocally believe that our talc, our baby powder, does not contain asbestos," Gorsky told CNBC in an interview with Jim Cramer. "And that's demonstrated in thousands of studies, studies not only conducted by J&J, but studies conducted by independent authorities, well-respected authorities, where we work closely with regulators who are overlooking the methodology."

"By the way, throughout this process, we also not only use the best testing methodologies that are available, but we continue to improve them through the years," the CEO continued.

Shares of Johnson & Johnson plunged 10 percent on Friday in the stock's worst trading day in 15 years. They lost another 2 percent Monday, totaling roughly $50 billion in market value losses for the pharmaceutical giant.

The Reuters report, which said that Johnson & Johnson executives and other affiliated parties were aware from the 1970s to the 2000s that the company's talc materials sometimes tested positive for asbestos, was matched by the New York Times.

Gorsky, who has been the company's CEO since 2012 and has worked there since 1988, reiterated his company's categorical denial of the reports on "Mad Money," calling on stakeholders to believe the results of scientific testing and "look at the body of evidence in totality."

He cited studies from independent bodies including Harvard Medical School that tested 100,000 male and female patients who used the talc-based baby powder.

The studies, he said, found "no causation between talc, baby powder and ovarian cancer or any type of asbestos-related disease."

Gorsky also called into question a portion of the Reuters investigation that alleged that Johnson & Johnson did not tell the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, a federal agency that vets consumer products and medications before they go to market, that between 1972 and 1975, at least three tests from different labs found asbestos in its talc.

"What's really important in all these cases as you're reviewing the documents is to look at all the information in totality, especially when you're dealing with matters of science," he said. "And while there are documents that will refer to one testing methodology versus another, or an outcome, what we found is the outliers are either incomplete or, frankly, they're refutable based upon the methodology or the particular sample that they used."

He added that he couldn't believe that the same company that took Tylenol off the market during safety scares in the 1980s "would allow a product that they felt in any way could be harmful to stay on the market."

Later, addressing the many lawsuits alleging that asbestos in the company's talc-based baby powder caused ovarian and other types of cancers, he said that the science "simply doesn't support some of [the] correlations that are being drawn" by patients in the suits.

"We always have empathy and sympathy for patients that have been diagnosed with cancer. Look, we're in the business of trying to cure cancer," he said.

When asked to address apparent concerns two J&J employees raised, as alleged by The New York Times, Gorsky said you'd expect there to be debate or dialogue in any company.

"And frankly, that's healthy within an organization," he told Cramer. "What's really important to focus on is not to select just one document, one piece of evidence, but to look at they body of evidence in totality. And when you do that, in this case, again, we remain very confident in the safety of our products, but more importantly, the actions of our people."

CNBC's Angelica LaVito contributed to this report.Blue Origin postponed Tuesday's planned launch attempt of its New Shepard rocket. The company said the scrub was "due to a ground infrastructure issue" and would "see what weather looks like" for Wednesday.

Blue Origin tweet

Blue Origin, which Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos founded nearly two decades ago, is developing the New Shepard rocket system for the company's space tourism business. Six passengers would ride past the edge of space, where they would spend about 10 minutes floating in zero gravity before returning to Earth. The capsule features massive windows, providing expansive views of the Earth once in space.Despite efforts by the Labour party and other political opponents of the government in the House of Commons, it now looks very unlikely that Theresa May  after last week's postponement  will put her Brexit proposal to a parliamentary vote this side of the New Year.

But there may still be plenty of public disagreements and political wrangling ahead when it comes to the best path forward, including inside her own Cabinet that meets Tuesday.

In her statement Monday, after a largely fruitless trip to Brussels late last week, the prime minister all but ruled out a second referendum on her watch. She insisted that such a vote would "break faith" with the British public, and in particular the slender majority that voted to leave the European Union more than two years ago.

Several of her ministers over the weekend dutifully echoed this view; International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said a second referendum would "perpetuate" the divisions in the U.K., while Education Minister Damian Hinds insisted it would unquestionably be "divisive."

So whither Brexit? And what clarity  if any  can investors and businesses glean from the current maelstrom of competing interests in Westminster?One of Sen. Bernie Sanders' key advisors during the 2016 election traveled to the early primary state of South Carolina last week to meet with potential 2020 campaign staff and discuss whether the liberal lawmaker will make another run for president, CNBC has learned.

Robert Becker, the former 2016 Sanders Iowa state director, traveled to Columbia, S.C., and conducted one-on-one meetings with some veteran members of Sanders' previous campaign for the White House, according to three people familiar with the conversations. The wide-ranging discussions included talk about putting together a team in the state if Sanders decides to enter the 2020 Democratic primary, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

It is not clear, however, whether Becker was operating in an official capacity on behalf of Sanders. Jeff Weaver, who ran Sanders' 2016 campaign, told CNBC that Becker "doesn't work for the campaign because there is no campaign" and that there have been no discussions about bringing him into a potential 2020 campaign.

"I get stories everyday of people trying to run around and talk to people to see if they want to work for Bernie.This is going on all over the place," Weaver said. "It doesn't surprise me there are former employees of Bernie who may also be supportive of Bernie, discussing the idea of him making another run."

Becker did not return repeated requests for comment.

While the first contests of the 2020 election cycle won't happen for more than a year, potential Democratic candidates are already jockeying for position in key states by gauging support among strategists, donors and potential campaign staff. South Carolina  which is slated to hold its primary in February 2020 after Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada  will be crucial in helping the party sort out its eventual nominee to take on President Donald Trump.

The meetings came at a time when Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist who caucuses with Democrats in the Senate, is actively considering another run for president. The leaders of his last campaign are looking to expand their operation after falling to the eventual Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton four years ago. Clinton crushed Sanders in South Carolina, 73 percent to 26 percent, on her way to sweeping the southern states during primary season.

In an interview with CNBC last month, Weaver said a potential new Sanders campaign should have "a more robust political department and even more field staffers" working in states.

"We would need people who can reach out to local grassroots leaders and local elected party officials," he said at the time. Weaver also noted that his team have not opened any field offices at this stage.

Becker appeared to be making moves in this direction with his visit to South Carolina. According to people who spoke with Becker, he seemed to be on unofficial duties for the Sanders team as he gauged interest in putting a team together in South Carolina. One of the people who spoke with him privately warned that the Sanders team will have to improve its state wide operation if they want to win over voters.

"It seemed like he was working with the Bernie team, but unofficially," this person, a former Sanders South Carolina campaign official, told CNBC on the condition of anonymity. "He was definitely gauging interest of people who may want to rejoin the campaign. They can't do do the same thing they did last time if they want a chance in South Carolina."

This person, who is unlikely to work with Sanders this time around, also noted that other 2020 hopefuls have been reaching out to measure interest in joining their organizations. The person would not say which campaigns have called due to ongoing and private negotiations.15-year-old Greta Thunberg, a Swedish student, grabbed headlines this past week with her tough message for climate change negotiators at a United Nations climate summit in Poland.

"You are not mature enough to tell it like is," she said at a climate summit that ended on Sunday. "Even that burden you leave to us children."

Her remarks quickly gained attention on social media, and video of her speech was shared by leading climate scientists and officials. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders tweeted footage of her speech, saying she "called out world leaders for their global inaction on climate change."

The teenager spoke on behalf of Climate Justice Now, a global network of climate advocacy groups. Officials from nearly 200 countries gathered in Poland to set rules that will govern the Paris Agreement on climate change, which aims to limit global warming.

Tweet

"You have ignored us in the past, and you will ignore us again," she told leaders. "You say you love your children above all else, and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes."

While Thunberg is young, she's spent years working as a climate activist.

Earlier this year she went on strike from school, holding a sign outside the Swedish parliament building in Stockholm that read, "school strike for climate." Thunberg, who describes herself on Twitter as a 15-year-old climate activist with Asperger's, said she was inspired by the school walkouts in the United States that followed the Parkland school shooting.

"We have done this many times before and with so little results," she told CNN. "Something big needs to happen. People need to realize our political leaders have failed us. And we need to take action into our own hands."President Donald Trump wished his first national security advisor Michael Flynn "good luck" Tuesday, hours before the disgraced lieutentant general was due to be sentenced for lying to the FBI about his post-election talks with Russia's ambassador.

Trump's best wishes for Flynn came with yet another claim by the president that his campaign did not collude with Russian agents in their widespread efforts to influence the outcome of the 2016 election that sent Trump to the White House.

TRUMP TWEET

Flynn already was expected Tuesday to have some good luck even before Trump's tweet in support of him, and even despite a recent dispute with special counsel Robert Mueller.

There is good reason to believe that Flynn will get a light punishment in U.S. District Court in Washington.

More than a year after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI and agreeing to cooperate with Mueller's investigation, Flynn and his lawyers will make their final pitch Tuesday morning to keep the retired Army officer out of jail.

In a presentence memo filed to Judge Emmet Sullivan, Flynn's lawyers requested he get just one year's probation with minimal supervision, along with 200 hours of community service.

Mueller, in his own memo, also asked the judge for leniency.

Federal sentencing guidelines suggest Flynn's crime warrants from zero to six months incarceration.

But the special counsel said that "the low end" of that range  and possibly no time locked up at all  would be "appropriate and warranted."

Mueller pointedly cited Flynn's help with uncovering contacts between Trump's presidential transition team and Russian government officials.

Flynn, 60, "provided firsthand information about the content and context of" such interactions, the memo said.

That document highlighted the value of Flynn's information to Mueller, who is continuing to investigate Russia's election interference, and potential collusion between Trump campaign associates and the Kremlin.

Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about the nature of his discussions with Sergey Kislyak, who was Russia's ambassador to the U.S., during the presidential transition period following the November 2016 election.

Flynn allegedly repeated those lies to Vice President Mike Pence and other officials, and after only 24 days as Trump's national security advisor, Flynn resigned. He began cooperating with law enforcement officials even before pleading guilty in December 2017 to one count of making false statements, according to the court documents.

Overall, Flynn had 19 meetings with Mueller's team and other officials totaling nearly 63 hours, according to court filings.Dec. 18 commemorates how former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping spearheaded the restructuring of the economy in 1978, paving the way for individual ownership in many industries and allowing foreign companies some access. Many credit the policy change for helping lift hundreds of millions out of poverty and turning China into an economic powerhouse that now ranks second only to the United States.

UPDATE: Xi called for his country to "stay the course" and emphasized that "no one is in a position to dictate to the Chinese people what should or should not be done." See CNBC's full story.

Xi began an address to his nation at about 10:45 a.m. in Beijing (9:45 p.m. ET Monday) on the 40th anniversary of China's "reform and opening up."

Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to signal on Tuesday whether his idea of progress aligns with the West's increasingly vocal demands for less state control. That could have significant consequences for whether the U.S. reaches a trade deal with China by the end of its 90-day tariff ceasefire.

However, many in the West say China did not achieve its success without stealing intellectual property and undermining global market forces with state support. Critics add that Beijing has benefited from joining the World Trade Organization in 2001 but has not followed commitments to reduce government control. After Xi assumed power in 2012, Beijing's initial policy was more market-oriented. But, in recent years, the direction has reversed and, as of this fall, reform is not moving forward in eight of 10 areas tracked by The China Dashboard, a joint project between the Asia Society Policy Institute and the Rhodium Group.

"China's private sector is shrinking for the first time in two decades  an extraordinary development contrary to the hopes seeded by the 2013 economic reform objectives and decades of talk about withdrawing the state from the marketplace," the Dashboard said in its Fall 2018 report.

This year, Xi abolished the presidential term limit for his one-party-led country. The clause "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" was also added to the Chinese constitution, following mentions of former Chairman Mao Zedong's and Deng's contributions.

Meanwhile, the U.S. under President Donald Trump is stepping up pressure on China with tariffs on the bulk of the country's exports to America. Beijing retaliated with duties of its own, and the escalating trade tensions between the world's two largest economies have roiled global markets. Trump and Xi reached a temporary ceasefire earlier this month with the U.S., agreeing not to increase tariffs if the two countries can reach some resolution on issues such as forced technology transfer within 90 days.

However, differing accounts of the temporary deal by Chinese state media and the White House hint at potential challenges in reaching an agreement. This month's arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei, in Canada for alleged violation of U.S. sanctions has only increased tensions. Adding to geopolitical concerns is China's detainment of two Canadians in the last week.

China's leader may save the biggest pronouncements for negotiations with the U.S. on trade. Still, some hope the pressure from the West will push Xi to speed up restructuring of the economy and his remarks on Tuesday will be watched for signs of willingness to see "reform and opening up" as continued implementation of market-oriented policies. But if Xi chooses not to, he is likely setting China on a course that runs counter to an increasingly oppositional U.S., highlighted by Vice President Mike Pence's speech in October.

As The China Dashboard put it: "The United States is closing the door to the prospect of compromise with China over economic practices and henceforth insisting on a decisive return to the earlier spirit of reform and opening as it was understood internationally.Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed his nation Tuesday morning in Beijing to commemorate the 40th anniversary of China's "reform and opening up"  and he struck a relatively defiant tone in response to international calls for changes to his country's economy. His remarks focused on how China's Communist Party guided the nation to its economic success and emphasized the country's right to pursue its own path going forward. In an address that lasted nearly 1 1/2 hours, Xi did not mention trade tensions with the U.S. and made only passing reference to market-oriented reform goals that previous speeches have discussed in detail. That idea of progress contrasts with other countries' increasingly vocal demands for less state control and could have significant consequences for whether the U.S. reaches a trade deal with China by the end of its 90-day tariff ceasefire.

"No one is in a position to dictate to the Chinese people what should or should not be done," Xi said in Mandarin Chinese during the speech, according to an official translation broadcast through state media.

The past 40 years eloquently prove that the path, theory, system and the culture of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics ... are completely correct, and that CPC theory line and policy that have since taken shape are completely correct. Xi Jinping president, China

He called for China to "stay the course" on its current path. "What to reform and how to go about the reform must be consistent with the overarching goal of improving and developing the system of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and modernizing China's system and capacity for governance," the Chinese leader added. "We will resolutely reform what should and can be reformed, and make no change where there should and cannot be any reform." Dec. 18 commemorates how Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's restructuring of the economy in 1978, paving the way for individual ownership in some industries and allowing foreign companies limited access. Many credit the policy change for helping lift hundreds of millions out of poverty and turning China into an economic powerhouse that now ranks second only to the United States. During Tuesday's ceremony, Beijing recognized 100 "reform pioneers" and 10 recipients of the "China Friendship Medal." They included Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Tencent CEO Pony Ma, retired NBA basketball player Yao Ming, former AIG CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg and Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum which runs annual conferences in Davos, Switzerland, and China.

"The past 40 years eloquently prove that the path, theory, system and the culture of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics pioneered in the wake of the Third Plenary session of the 11th (Communist Party of China) Central Committee by the Chinese people of all ethnic groups rallying under the leadership of the CPC are completely correct, and that CPC theory line and policy that have since taken shape are completely correct," Xi said. "The past 40 years eloquently prove that China's development provides a successful experience and offers a bright prospect for other developing countries as they strive for marketization," he added. He touched on the rapid growth of Shenzhen and coastal cities, China joining the World Trade Organization, the country's "belt and road" initiative, establishment of free trade zones and the country's first Chinese import expo in November.

Claims 'crushing victory' over corruption

Xi also noted how his "anti-corruption campaign has delivered a crushing victory" and how the power of law has been strengthened to provide stronger institutional and legal guarantee. The Communist leader also claimed that "progress has been achieved across the board" in human rights, and called for improvement of democratic institutions. Many outside China question those claims about human rights. The United Nations reported in August that China holds up to 1 million ethnic minorities from its Xinjiang region in political "re-education camps." And importantly for the trade talks, critics say China did not achieve its economic success without stealing intellectual property and undermining global market forces with state support. They add that Beijing has benefited from joining the World Trade Organization in 2001 but has not followed commitments to reduce government control. After Xi assumed power in 2012, Beijing's initial policy was more market-oriented. But in recent years, the direction has reversed and reform is not moving forward in eight of 10 areas tracked by The China Dashboard, a joint project between the Asia Society Policy Institute and the Rhodium Group.Stocks in Asia were lower on Tuesday following an overnight sell-off on Wall Street sparked by concerns of a slowdown in the global economy. A key speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping did not help lift market sentiments in Asia.

40th anniversary of China reforms

Asian stocks see declines

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.82 percent to close at 21,115.45 while the Topix index declined by 1.99 percent to end the trading day at 1,562.51. Shares of industry heavyweight Fast Retailing fell 1.61 percent. Over in South Korea, the Kospi slipped 0.43 percent as shares of chipmaker SK Hynix declined by 1.77 percent. The in Australia also fell and was lower by 1.22 percent to close at 5,589.5, with almost all sectors seeing losses on the day. The heavily weighted financial subindex fell 1.50 percent as shares of Australia's so-called Big Four banks saw losses on Tuesday. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group fell 2.95 percent, Commonwealth Bank of Australia slipped 0.95 percent, Westpac declined by 1.38 percent and National Australia Bank shed 1.78 percent.

Wall Street slump

CurrenciesBritish Airways will resume flights to Pakistan next year after a 10-year absence that followed a major hotel bombing, becoming the first Western airline to restart flights to the South Asian nation. BA halted flights following one of the most high-profile attacks in Pakistan's history, the 2008 Marriott Hotel bombing in the capital, Islamabad, which took place during a period of devastating Islamist militant violence that swept the country.

A British Airways plane takes off from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. Nicolas Economou | NurPhoto | Getty Images

But security has since improved, with militant attacks sharply down in the mainly Muslim country of 208 million people. In Islamabad, a web of road checkpoints dotted across the city for more than a decade has mostly been dismantled. Richard Crowder, the Deputy British High Commissioner to Pakistan, told reporters in Islamabad BA's return was in large part due to "an improvement in the security environment in this country". Pakistani officials hailed BA's move, saying it will offer confidence to other foreign investors and make the country less isolated. "Once it gets around the world that British Airways has put its stamp of approval on Pakistan, it will put us one or two notches up as a country to do business with," said Commerce Minister Abdul Razak Dawood. BA, which is owned by Spanish-registered IAG, is due to begin the London Heathrow-Islamabad service on June 2, with three weekly flights by the airline's newest long-haul aircraft, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. At present, only loss-making national carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flies directly from Pakistan to Britain, but its aging fleet of planes is a frequent source of complaints by passengers. Middle Eastern carriers Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates have a strong presence in Pakistan and have been eating into PIA's dwindling market share. Turkish Airlines also lays on a regular service to Pakistan.

Acting British High Commissioner Richard Crowder (R) and Robert Williams (L), British Airways head of Sales for Asia Pacific and the Middle East, listen to a question during a press conference in Islamabad on December 18, 2018. FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP | AFP | Getty ImagesWealth managers at Swiss bank Credit Suisse have advised their high-net worth clients to think about moving assets out of the U.K. due to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, according to a report from the Financial Times.

The FT reported Tuesday that clients with a net worth of at least $30 million, known as ultra-high net worth individuals (UNHWI), were advised they might want to "accelerate" plans to move their investments out of London before Prime Minister Theresa May's upcoming vote in Parliament in the third week of January.

On Monday, May said she intended to hold the vote on her Brexit plan in the week starting Jan. 14. Britain's leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, tabled a motion of no confidence in May, saying it was unacceptable for Parliament to wait another month to vote on the deal.

U.K. lawmakers were initially scheduled to have their say on the terms of Britain's withdrawal from the EU last week but the prime minister delayed the vote, admitting she was likely to lose.

This has led to a lot of uncertainty surrounding the path for Brexit  something that markets and investors don't like. The FT reported in October this year that multimillionare investors were rushing to the Channel Islands and Switzerland to set up accounts and also preparing to emigrate instead of risking the possibility of a "wealth tax" if Labour leader Corbyn were to come to power.

However, not everyone agrees that leaving the U.K. is the right course of action. "We certainly wouldn't encourage clients to get their money out and run," one banker, who asked not to be identified, told the FT. "Our role as wealth advisers is to calm some of the hysteria going on rather than add to it."

The bank told CNBC Tuesday that "Credit Suisse does not currently hold a house view that clients should move assets out of the UK due to Brexit or other political developments in the UK."

Read the full report here.The sentencing of Michael Flynn was postponed Tuesday after the judge told the former national security advisor "arguably you sold your country out"  and warned the fallen Army lieutenant general that he might be sent to jail if he did not agree to delay the hearing. Flynn was due to be sentenced Tuesday for lying to FBI agents about his conversations with Russia's then-ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, in the weeks before President Donald Trump took office. Federal guidelines recommended a sentence of zero to six months in jail. Flynn's lawyers and prosecutors from special counsel Robert Mueller's office were prepared to argue in U.S. District Court that Flynn receive either no jail time at all  given his guilty plea and extensive cooperation with Mueller  or get the low end of the guideline range. But that plan was immediately thrown into disarray at an explosive hearing at which Judge Emmet Sullivan pressed the defense hard on its recent suggestions that the case against Flynn was unfair. The judge said that looked liked "backpedaling" from the guilty plea. Sullivan, who also asked if Mueller had ever contemplated charging Flynn with "treason," later suggested that Flynn might get a less severe sentence once he was actually done cooperating with investigators. "If you want to postpone this, and come back at some later point ... that's fine with me," the judge said. "I have to caution you that the sentence imposed today may not be the same sentence you would get after cooperation ends," Sullivan said. "The court likes to be in a position to say there is nothing else this defendant can to do help the United States of America." No new sentencing date was set.

Former White House National Security Advisor Michael Flynn leaves the Prettyman Federal Courthouse following a sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court December 18, 2018 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images

Sullivan, noting that he still has "many, many, many more questions," told defense lawyers and prosecutors to submit a status report by March 13. "Happy holidays," the judge said, as he recessed the sentencing hearing, before Flynn walked out of Washington courthouse into a waiting car. The delay will allow Flynn to possibly help federal prosecutors in Virginia with a new case. In that case, two former Flynn associates are charged of conspiring in a plot with Flynn to push for the extradition for an exiled Turkish cleric to Turkey, without informing the United States government they were acting as agents for a foreign country. Flynn, who was not referred to by name in that indictment, was involved in the efforts to smear the exiled cleric. Turkey's president claims the cleric orchestrated a 2016 coup attempt. "All along, you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the national security advisor to the president of the United States," Sullivan told Flynn, referring to the other case, for which Flynn was not charged. "That undermines everything this flag over here stands for," the judge said. "Arguably you sold your country out." Sullivan told Flynn that if he did not accept an offer to postpone his ongoing sentencing hearing, "I cannot assure you that if you proceed today, you will not receive a sentence of incarceration." "This is a very serious offense," said Sullivan. "A high ranking senior official of the government making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation while in the White House," Sullivan said. "Very serious crime," Sullivan told the 60-year-old retired Army lieutenant general. "Can't minimize that." "I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain," the judge said. "Hypothetically could he have been charged with treason?" Sullivan asked prosecutor Brandon Van Grack. Van Grack answered, "Because It's such a serious question, I am hesitant from answering." Sullivan later said: "I wasn't suggesting he was committing treason. I was just curious if he could have been charged. Lots of conspiracy theories out there. Not taking any uncalled offenses into consideration. Was trying to consider benefit. I'm not suggesting treason. " Van Grack said, "The government has no reason to believe the defendant committed treason." Sullivan offered Flynn the chance to postpone the sentencing in light of a prosecutor's statements that he could continue cooperating with them even after Tuesday. Sullivan called a recess after Flynn accepted the judge's offer of time to speak with his lawyers. When court resumed, Flynn's lawyers told him they wanted to postpone the sentencing.In the run up to November's midterm elections, President Donald Trump promised a vague middle class tax cut that he has barely mentioned since.

His Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, will not say whether it was a real proposal.

"I'm not going to comment on whether it is a real thing or not a real thing," he told Bloomberg in an interview Tuesday. "I'm saying for the moment we have other things we're focused on."

In late October, Trump floated a 10 percent tax cut for the middle class in addition to the tax reform plan Republicans passed last year. He pledged to introduce a "resolution" before the Nov. 6 midterm elections, catching Republican congressional leaders and even White House officials off guard.

The proposal came as Republicans struggled to make their tax overhaul  the main achievement during two years of Republican control of Congress and the White House  a winning issue on the campaign trail.

Democrats hammered GOP House members over the tax plan, saying it benefited corporations and the wealthy more than working and middle class Americans. Democrats also argued Republicans would use the deficits generated by the tax cuts as an excuse to slash Social Security and Medicare benefits. Challengers in affluent, high-tax areas where many taxpayers saw their state and local tax deductions capped also criticized that portion of the Republican law.

Trump's vague proposal days before the elections in part aimed to alleviate those concerns. So did a second round of Republican tax changes that passed the House earlier this year, which in part made individual tax cuts passed as part of the GOP plan permanent. The Senate has not yet taken up the bills.

House Republicans lost 40 net seats and their majority in November. When Democrats take control of the chamber next month, they plan to attack the tax law.

Read the full Bloomberg story here.

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.Special counsel Robert Mueller (L) arrives at the U.S. Capitol for closed meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee June 21, 2017 in Washington, DC.

The federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election that has consumed the first two years of President Donald Trump's term in office will not be over soon.

For months, there has been speculation that Mueller was wrapping up his probe into any links between Trump and Russia. Ty Cobb, a former White House lawyer focused on the Mueller probe, said in August 2017 that he would be "embarrassed" if the probe continued into 2018.

But recent events have ensured that the inquiry will last well into 2019.

Legal developments in cases brought against two former Trump officials have proven that neither the president, who has blasted investigators for what he has called "an illegal Hoax that should be ended immediately," nor Mueller, who has provided no indication of when he may conclude, can overcome the slow marching bureaucracy of the U.S. federal court system.

The delays come as Trump and those in his orbit face parallel investigations from New York investigators, who are examining Trump's charitable foundation, and from Democrats in Congress, who will take over the House of Representatives in January and have vowed to closely examine Trump's personal finances and businesses.

One loose end that observers thought would be wrapped up before the new year was the sentencing of Trump's former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, who has pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators. But on Tuesday, a federal judge in Washington threw a wrench in that plan.

During an explosive hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan postponed sentencing in the case pending further cooperation from Flynn with Mueller's prosecutors.

The judge did not provide a new sentencing date, but he ordered a status report in the case by March 13. The previous status report in the case was filed in mid-September, three months before Tuesday's sentencing hearing.

The postponed sentencing pushes Mueller's inquiry beyond the tentatively scheduled sentencing date for Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who has pleaded guilty to a range of federal crimes in Washington, and was found guilty of eight other federal crimes in Virginia.

In the Washington case, which is scheduled to wrap up second, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson has tentatively set Manafort's sentencing date for March 5.

The continuation of the inquiry into Trump's third year in office threatens to further enrage the president, who ordered the firing of the special counsel in June 2017 and again considered shutting down the probe in December of that year, The New York Times has reported. In both cases, the president ultimately backed down. Trump has denied any collusion.

Mueller may also bring new charges. Allies of Roger Stone, a Trump confidante and conservative provocateur, have been brought to testify before Mueller's grand jury in recent weeks.

Stone, who has been scrutinized for his connections to Wikileaks, the anti-secrecy group that published hacked material during the 2016 election, has denied any wrongdoing and claims that he has not been contacted by Mueller's prosecutors.

But in August, the former Trump advisor said he expected to be indicted and established a legal defense fund. Stone also has predicted that Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., will be indicted. Stone and Trump Jr. have denied any wrongdoing. Neither man has been charged with any crime.

Mueller, a notoriously tight-lipped former FBI director, has provided little notice to the public for any of the more than 100 criminal charges he has brought so far in connection with his inquiry, and there is no reason to believe he will be more forthcoming in future cases.

To date, the only public statement Mueller has issued came the day he was appointed 19 months ago.

"I accept this responsibility and will discharge it to the best of my ability," he said.

A spokesperson for the special counsel declined to comment.They are the best of Michaels, they are the worst of Michaels.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders wouldn't say when asked Tuesday why President Donald Trump seems to have a double standard when it comes to his first national security advisor, Michael Flynn, and his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.

Trump has not criticized the convicted liar Flynn  who is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller  even as he brands his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen a "liar" and a "rat" for cooperating after Cohen's own crimes.

Sanders opened a rare White House press briefing Tuesday, shortly after a planned sentencing hearing for Flynn was postponed, by saying "we wish General Flynn well."

And she repeatedly claimed that Flynn's admitted crime and other conduct are not related to Trump.

That's despite the fact that Flynn's conversations with Russia's ambassador related American foreign policy  and that Flynn lied to FBI agents in the White House days after being sworn in as Trump's top national security aide.

It's also despite the fact that Flynn has admitted that while working on Trump's campaign while he was secretly acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the nation of Turkey.

TRUMP TWEET

Sanders early Tuesday had blasted the FBI for having agents interview Flynn on Jan. 24, 2017 without a lawyer and without warning him that it would be a crime to lie to them.

"The FBI broke every standard protocol that they have," Sanders said on Fox News.

"He was certainly ambushed ... the FBI, that we know, had clear political bias." The White House has repeatedly claimed the investigation into possible collusion by Trump campaign with Russian interference in the 2016 campaign had been motivated by political animus against Trump.

Hours after Sanders' interview aired, Flynn and his defense lawyers appeared at a sentencing hearing in Washington, D.C., federal court.

That hearing was postponed to give Flynn a chance to cooperate further with prosecutors in a new case related to his work for Turkey.

Prosecutors said Tuesday that Flynn could have been criminally charged in that case for allegedly conspiring with two former associates to act as unregistered agents for Turkey as they sought to influence American opinion and politicians on the status of Fethullah Gulen, a cleric living in Pennsylvania. Gulen who is blamed by Turkey's president for a failed coup attempt, and Turkey has sought his extradition over the opposition of the U.S. Justice Department.

Flynn and his lawyers assured a judge Tuesday that he had not been entrapped by the FBI into committing his admitted crime as some have suggested.

Sanders later was asked whether she wanted to "revisit" her comments on Fox News given that happened in court with Flynn.

"No," Sanders said at the White House briefing. "We don't have any reason to walk that back."

Flynn has met with Mueller's office and other federal investigators at least 19 times since pleading guilty last December.

Meanwhile, Trump has called Cohen a "liar" and a "rat" for cooperating with Mueller and other officials probing Trump.

The president also has suggested that the practice of "flipping" targets of criminal investigation like Cohen to get them to offer evidence about other lawbreaker "almost ought to be illegal."

TRUMP TWEET

But Trump has not criticized Flynn for cooperating with prosecutors, or for lying to the FBIeven after Mueller said that Flynn helped uncover contacts between Trump's presidential transition team and Russian government officials.

Asked why the president has not been as keen to blast Flynn as he has been to slam Cohen, Sanders did not directly answer.

"We know Michael Cohen to be a liar on a number of fronts and the president's opinion is extremely clear on that front," Sanders said. "I don't see any reason to go beyond that comment at this point."

Cohen pleaded guilty to financial crimes, campaign finance crimes, and lying to Congress about the details of an aborted plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. The campaign finance crimes related to hush-money payments paid two women who claim to have had affairs with Trump. The White House denies he had sex with either woman.

However, legal observers have said that the Cohen case could create a legal threat to the president because of Cohen's claims that he paid off one of the women at the direction of the president.Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

Darden Restaurants  The restaurant chain earned 92 cents per share for its second quarter, a penny a share above estimates. Revenue was very slightly below Street forecasts, and a same-restaurant sales increase of 2.1 percent was above the consensus forecast of a 2 percent rise. Darden also raised its earnings outlook for fiscal 2019.

FactSet  The financial information provider beat estimates by 6 cents a share, with adjusted quarterly profit of $2.35 per share. Revenue also came in above forecasts and FactSet maintained its prior full-year outlook.

Navistar  The truck maker reported quarterly profit of $1.89 per share, beating consensus forecasts by 18 cents a share. Revenue also came in above analysts' forecasts, with increasing truck demand helping sales jump by more than 39 percent.

Oracle  Oracle reported adjusted quarterly profit of 80 cents per share, beating forecasts by 2 cents a share. The business software maker's revenue also topped Wall Street forecasts. Investors are particularly encouraged by signs of strength in Oracle's cloud-computing business.

Johnson & Johnson  J&J announced a $5 billion stock buyback and reaffirmed its full-year 2018 earnings and revenue guidance. The announcements come amid the controversy surrounding the company's talc products and whether or not they contained cancer-causing asbestos.

Boeing  Boeing increased its stock buyback program to $20 billion from $18 billion, and also announced a 20 percent dividend hike to $2.055 per share.

CBS  CBS said it would not pay former chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves a $120 million severance package, after completing an investigation of sexual harassment allegations against Moonves. The board of directors issued a statement saying Moonves violated company policies, breached his contract, and did not cooperate fully with the investigation.

Qualcomm  Qualcomm said it believes Apple is violating the terms of a China court order to stop selling iPhones in that country. Apple said it pushed a software update to its iPhones that resolves patent infringement issues and puts them in compliance with the court order.

Kroger  Kroger Chief Financial Officer J. Michael Schlotman will retire from the supermarket operator April 3, although he will remain as executive vice president until he retires at the end of 2019. Gary Millchip, the chief executive of Kroger's Personal Finance unit, will take over as CFO.

Goldman Sachs  Goldman Sachs ignored warnings signs in dealings with Malaysian investment fund 1MDB, according to The Wall Street Journal. The paper cites internal documents and people involved with 1MDB transactions. While Goldman has insisted that just two employees are responsible for the scandal, insiders told CNBC's Hugh Son the deals were approved by committees staffed by top executives, including CFO Stephen Scherr.

NCR  NCR was upgraded to "top pick" from "outperform" at RBC Capital Markets, which cites a number of factors including more efficient cost management for the maker of automated teller machines and point-of-sale terminals.

Viacom  A judge ruled that CBS and Viacom controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone be placed under court-appointed guardianship due to his difficulties in speaking. The trust that controls the media giant remains under Redstone's sole control, however, until he dies or is deemed incapacitated.

Rent-A-Center  The "rent-to-own" company terminated a deal to be bought out by private equity firm Vintage Capital Management, after Vintage did not extend a deadline to close the nearly $1.4 billion deal. The Federal Trade Commission had raised antitrust concerns about the deal, which was first announced six months ago. Rent-A-Center will receive a reverse breakup fee of $126.5 million.T-Mobile US and Sprint have won backing for their $26 billion merger from two national security reviews on Monday, clearing key hurdles in their tie-up bid.

The deal got a nod from the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) in the United States as well as the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, and Defense Department  collectively referred to as Team Telecom, the companies said.

The merger between T-Mobile and Sprint had been expected to get an all clear from CFIUS after sources told Reuters on Friday that the firms' respective foreign owners, Deutsche Telekom and Japan's SoftBank, had offered to stop using Huawei Technologies equipment.

People familiar with the deal said last week that U.S. officials had pressured Deutsche Telekom to stop using Huawei gear, and the companies believed they had to comply to win approval from CFIUS, headed by the Treasury Department.

Many governments around the world have shut out the Chinese firm amid worries its gear could facilitate Chinese spying. While T-Mobile and Sprint do not use Huawei equipment, Deutsche Telekom and SoftBank use some Huawei gear in overseas markets.

T-Mobile and Sprint, the third- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless carriers, said on Monday that Team Telecom, in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), indicated it had no objections to the merger after reviewing "potential national security, law enforcement, and public safety issues."

"We are pleased to achieve both of these important milestones in the journey to build the New T-Mobile," T-Mobile CEO John Legere said in a statement. The company has previously said it expects the deal to close in the first half of 2019.

"These approvals assure the strong partnership both companies have with the U.S. government will continue with the New T-Mobile. We look forward to continuing our discussions with the remaining regulatory agencies reviewing our transaction."

The U.S. wireless carriers still need to win antitrust approval from the Justice Department and the FCC.

The U.S. government and its allies have stepped up pressure on Huawei amid concerns the company is effectively controlled by the Chinese state and its network equipment may contain "back doors" that enable cyber espionage, something Huawei denies.

Several telecom operators in Europe and Australia have said they will exclude the Chinese firm from their fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks.

The pressure on Huawei has heightened tensions between the United States and China over trade. Earlier this month, Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer and daughter of its billionaire founder, was arrested in Canada at the request of the United States, which has asked for her extradition.

U.S. prosecutors have accused her of misleading multinational banks about Huawei's control of a company operating in Iran. China has asked for her release.Shares of cannabis company Tilray jumped as much as 21.9 percent in intraday trading Tuesday after the Canadian marijuana producer announced it has entered a global supply and distribution agreement with Swiss drugmaker Novartis.

The company plans to work with Novartis' generic drug business Sandoz and supply non-smokable and non-combustible medical cannabis products where it is legally allowed, Tilray announced in a press release. As a part of the deal, Tilray and Sandoz may co-brand certain products as well as develop new ones.

"This agreement represents a major milestone in the movement to provide access to safe, GMP-certified medical cannabis to patients in need across the world," Tilray CEO Brendan Kennedy said in a statement Tuesday.

The stock, which was up by about 17 percent in the afternoon, surged by as much as 21.9 percent over Monday's closing price of $65.89 a share to an intraday high of $80.30 a share.The U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. Getty Images

President Donald Trump and Congress have until Friday at midnight to dodge a partial government shutdown. But the president and lawmakers appear no closer to breaking an impasse over funding Trump's proposed border wall. A week has passed since Trump said he would be "proud" to close parts of the government during an Oval Office fracas with Democratic congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. The Democrats say Trump has not responded to their two proposals to keep the seven unfunded U.S. agencies running.

As of Monday night, even Senate Republican leaders did not know the president's plan. They appeared to wait for a signal from Trump  who laid out his case for a wall in a Monday tweet, but did not speak during the day about efforts to strike a deal. "If there's a plan, I think at the moment it's the president and the Democrats trying to figure out what they can agree upon," said Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican and the third ranking GOP senator, according to Politico. He added that "this is going to have to build for a few days here before there's a solution out there." But on Tuesday morning White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Fox News that the administration could support "$1.6 billion for the wall ... as long as we can couple that with other funding resources to get to the $5 billion." She added, "at the end of the day we don't want to shut down the government. We want to shut down the border." WATCH: These virtual walls could be the cheaper and more effective alternative to Trump's $5 billion border wall

Trump has already signed bills into law to fund five government departments, including the sprawling departments of Defense and Health and Human Services. Lawmakers need to fund another seven agencies before the end of Friday. Funding for the Department of Homeland Security, and Trump's wall, have blocked the path to a deal. The immigration dispute raises the specter of the third partial shutdown this year. While damage will be limited because only about a quarter of the government is unfunded, this closure would come only a few days before Christmas and likely last until after Democrats take a House majority in the new Congress on Jan. 3. The impasse casts doubts on Washington's ability to function in the new Congress, where Republicans will hold the Senate and White House and Democrats will control the House. Trump wants Congress to pass $5 billion for the wall, even though he previously insisted Mexico would fund it. Pelosi and Schumer have flatly denied the president's request. They call the proposed barrier inhumane and ineffective. WATCH: Controversial walls in history: From Berlin to the US-Mexico border[The stream above has ended.]

UPDATE: SpaceX postponed its first mission for the U.S. Air Force on Tuesday in Florida. The company will attempt to launch again 24 hours later.

@SpaceX: SpaceX team called a hold due to an out of family reading on first stage sensors. Vehicle and payload remain healthy; next launch attempt is tomorrow at 9:07 EST, 14:07 UTC.[The stream is slated to start at 1:45 p.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.]

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is scheduled to brief reporters Tuesday afternoon as the Trump administration battles to keep the government open while securing funding for President Donald Trump's proposed border wall.

Earlier Tuesday, Sanders suggested that the president might back down from his demand that Congress appropriate $5 billion for the project ahead of the Friday funding deadline for a number of government agencies.

"We have other ways that we can get to that $5 billion," Sanders told Fox News. Trump said last week that he would be "proud" to shut down the government over the matter, but Sanders seemed to walk that position back.

She said that "at the end of the day, we don't want to shut down the government. We want to shut down the border."

The briefing comes as those in the Trump orbit face down legal challenges.

New York's Attorney General announced Tuesday that the Donald J. Trump Foundation has agreed to dissolve under judicial supervision. The decision comes amid an ongoing lawsuit brought by the state against the embattled charity. In a statement, Trump Foundation attorney Alan Futerfas called the attorney general's announcement "inaccurate" and "misleading."

Meanwhile, in Washington, a federal judge warned Trump's former national security advisor Michael Flynn that he may face prison time despite a recommendation of leniency from special counsel Robert Mueller's office. Mueller recommended a light sentence, possibly including no time behind bars. The judge postponed sentencing until at least March.President Donald Trump waves after delivering his speech during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting on January 26, 2018 in Davos, Switzerland.

President Donald Trump will attend the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, in January, the White House announced on Tuesday.

This will mark the second year President Trump will attend Davos. The president's attendance last year surprised many considering his "America First" platform, which seems to conflict with Davos' mission of promoting dialogue and cooperation between governments in an era of globalization.

January's meeting comes as the administration tries to manage rising tensions abroad. Among other issues, it is in the midst of negotiating to potentially end its trade war with China and trying to control immigration from Mexico and Central America.

The theme for the 2019 meeting is "Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution." A delegation of U.S. government leaders will travel with the president to Davos, including his daughter Ivanka Trump, who did not attend last year. Notably missing is top trade advisor Peter Navarro, known best for his hawkish views on China, who was also absent a year ago.

Here is the full U.S. delegation that will travel to Davos:The White House suggested Tuesday that President Donald Trump could back down from his demand for $5 billion to fund his proposed border wall in a year-end spending bill. Trump's push for the money has threatened a partial government shutdown when funding for seven agencies lapses after midnight Friday. Last week, the president said he would be "proud" to close parts of the government over border security. "We have other ways that we can get to that $5 billion" and will "work with Congress" to do so, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Fox News on Tuesday morning. She added that the Trump administration could support $1.6 billion in border security funding proposed by Senate Democrats, as long as it can "couple that with other funding resources" to get to $5 billion. WATCH: These virtual walls could be the cheaper and more effective alternative to Trump's $5 billion border wall

She added that "at the end of the day, we don't want to shut down the government. We want to shut down the border." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have cast the potential lapse in funding as the "Trump shutdown." When Pelosi goaded Trump into an Oval Office fracas last week, the characterization appeared to irritate the president. Sanders' comments mark a de-escalation in the White House's rhetoric about the proposed barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump has repeatedly threatened to force a shutdown if he cannot secure money for the wall. As a candidate, he promised to force Mexico to fund the barrier. Mexico has refused. Still, Trump himself has not weighed in Tuesday on how much money he would accept. As always, a comment or tweet from the president could trample on the message administration officials try to send. On Tuesday afternoon, Trump told reporters it is "too early to say" if parts of the government will shut down. Later Tuesday, Sanders put the burden on Congress to find a solution, even though GOP lawmakers have said they do not know what Trump would accept. The White House wants to "see what the Senate can pass" and then the administration will "make a determination" on whether to sign it, she said. Sanders added that Trump has directed agencies to see if they have money to put toward border security, though Schumer flatly said Tuesday afternoon that such an effort would not get congressional approval.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks to the media in the White House driveway after appearing on a morning television show on December 18, 2018 in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson | Getty Images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.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.The departing Democrat from Boulder spoke with Colorado Politics about the highs and lows of her tenure at the statehouse as she prepares for the next phase of her life. Hint: it's not necessarily political. But it could be.Types of obituaries

The Missourian publishes two types of obituaries  family obituaries and life stories.

A family obituary is the version submitted by a funeral home or family. Please see the submission form for details on cost and deadlines. Family obituaries

A life story is a closer look at a person's life and involves a reporter contacting family and friends. Life stories are based on newsworthiness and consent of the family. Life stories.Nick Boles is a former Planning Minister and Education Minister, and is MP for Grantham and Stamford.

There is growing support in Parliament for the idea that after Brexit the UK should move to a position a bit like Norways or Icelands  inside the common market of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the European Free Trade Association (Efta) with some kind of customs arrangement that preserves frictionless trade. Just in the last few days Mark Hendrick, Labour MP for Preston, Paul Masterton, Conservative MP for East Renfrewshire, and Jonathan Djanogly, Conservative MP for Huntingdon, joined the ranks of those declaring their backing for a version of the plan.

As the idea has gathered momentum, so it has also attracted the attention of opponents. An unholy alliance of hardline Brexiters who want to crash out of the European Union with no deal and hardline Remainers who want to use a second referendum to overturn the result of the first has been born. One MP linked to the Peoples Vote campaign recently told a Times journalist: We have to kill Norway Plus. I suppose we should be flattered that they are taking the idea so seriously.

The Norway Plus plan is not perfect. It is a compromise. It has downsides as well as benefits. But people should judge it based on the facts not on misleading claims put about by its opponents.

Rule taker

Some have claimed that Norway Plus would leave the UK as a pure rule taker. This is not true. Most EU rules would not apply to us at all as we would be outside the common agriculture, fisheries, justice and home affairs policies. Furthermore, as a member of the EEA, the UK would have a right to be consulted on proposed new Single Market rules. UK representatives would take part sit on the policy-shaping committees that draw up proposals for new Single Market legislation. In the EEA, EU law would no longer take effect automatically so the UK would have the power to delay the incorporation of laws we did not like, contest the Single Market relevance of such laws, negotiate derogations and in extreme cases refuse to incorporate Single Market legislation into UK law. All these options have been used by the existing EEA/Efta states. Under Norway Plus we would be under the jurisdiction of the Efta court instead of the European Court of Justice. We can expect to be able to negotiate the appointment of at least one British judge to the court.

Freedom of movement

Some have claimed that Norway Plus leaves the UK in the same position on free movement as we currently have inside the EU. This is not true. Free movement applies to members of EEA/Efta. But Article 112 of the EEA Agreement gives them the right to pull an emergency brake on free movement if events give rise to serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties of a sectorial or regional nature. We do not know exactly in what circumstances we could take advantage of this provision, or what it would deliver. But it is the very thing that David Cameron sought during his renegotiation of the terms of our EU membership and the EU refused. So it clearly has some legal force. From 2020, after the UK has required all EEA nationals currently living in the UK to register with the Home Office, the Government will be able to identify and remove new EEA migrants who do not find work after three months. This is something we could do as a member of the EU but successive governments have failed to grapple with the administrative reforms required to make it effective.

Financial contributions

Some have claimed that as a member of EEA/Efta we would pay about as much to the EU as we currently do. This is not true. According to the Norwegian Mission to the EU, Norway pays approximately 800 million a year in costs arising from its membership of the EEA. This amounts to 152 for each Norwegian citizen. The UK currently pays the EU 13 billion a year gross which amounts to approximately 220 for each British citizen.

352 million of Norways 800 million total contribution relates to grants that Norway makes to European states via the EEA Grants Scheme. While the UK would be expected to make a contribution to this scheme, the level of contribution would reflect our GDP per capita which at $39,000 is not much more than half that of Norways at $76,000. So the UK could expect financial contributions in relation to membership of the EEA and Efta to be substantially less than our contributions to the EU.

Backstop

Some have claimed that signing up to Norway Plus would make no difference to the backstop. This is not true. While we would certainly need to sign up to the legal provisions relating to the backstop in the draft Withdrawal Agreement, joining Efta, moving into the Efta pillar of the EEA, and agreeing a customs arrangement that preserves frictionless trade are all arrangements that can be negotiated and implemented before the end of the transition in December 2020. So the backstop would never need to be activated. Last week, Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliaments Brexit representative, said, If (Theresa May) is looking for a closer relationship with the EU to avoid the use of this backstop there will be no obstacle.

Opposition in Norway or EU

Some have claimed that Norway is opposed to British membership of EEA/Efta. This is not true. A recent headline in Norways Nationen newspaper read Solberg sier britene er velhomne i EFTA. In the piece, Erna Solberg, the Norwegian Prime Minister, confirmed if that is what they [UK] really want then we will find a solution in the future. We would need to negotiate a derogation to the Efta Convention so we could be part of a customs arrangement with the EU. But this is something that could be negotiated by December 2020 as part of our Efta accession.

Others have claimed that the EU would not want the UK to join Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein in the Efta pillar of the EEA. This is also not true. Michel Barnier has repeatedly offered Norway Plus as the only Brexit deal that guarantees frictionless trade. It may be that some people in the European Commission, and some politicians in Norway and elsewhere, would prefer to create a new EEA pillar for the UK. But what matters is what the leader of Norways government and the EUs chief Brexit negotiator think, and they are clear: the UK would be welcome to join Norway in the EEA and Efta.

As MPs grapple with difficult choices about the Brexit deal, they should be in no doubt: Norway Plus is real, it is workable and it would deliver significantly more control over our money, our borders and our laws than we currently have as members of the EU.Andy Street is Mayor of the West Midlands, and is a former Managing Director of John Lewis.

Diversity defines modern Britain. I have often written about Urban Conservatism and the new brand of politics we are pioneering in the West Midlands. This new approach is about inclusivity and opportunity for a young and diverse population, and I have tried to be a Mayor who represents everyone  all places, faiths, ethnicities, genders, sexualities and (dis)abilities.

But if the message of Urban Conservatism is to resonate, we have to ensure that inclusivity not only means reaching out to the communities that make up modern Britain, but that they are represented in all walks of life and at all levels.

It is a sad and all-too-obvious fact that most of the decision makers I meet in my role as Mayor are people who look like me. I could not and still cant fully understand why the demographics of this incredibly diverse region are not reflected in its leadership. Like elsewhere, the region is made up of 50 per cent women and 20 per cent people with disabilities (or with a long-term illness).

But its the ethnic diversity which makes it special. We say this is a place where you can see the whole world in seven boroughs. Birminghams population is 58 per cent white, with 27 per cent of our residents being of Asian descent and nine per cent Black. In neighbouring Coventry, two thirds identify as White British, a statistic that is broadly reflected across the rest of the conurbation. Birmingham is soon going to be a majority-minority city  but this is not obvious when you look at the make-up of decision-makers in the City region.

So in September last year I launched the Leadership Commission, made up of independent commissioners and chaired by Anita Bhalla, which aimed to understand why the wider leadership of our region is not more representative of the people it serves. Its report, compiled by researchers at the University of Birmingham and other seats of learning across the region, reinforced our understanding of many longstanding issues and made clear recommendations for action.

It found that women are better represented in leadership roles in the public sector than in the private sector, where they are significantly under-represented, and that people from black and ethnic minority groups are under-represented in senior leadership positions both in education and the private sector. The evidence also highlighted how disabled employees are under-represented in professional roles in the public sector, but not the private sector in the West Midlands.

Responding to the recommendations to deal with the clear imbalances that have been highlighted we now have a clear implementation plan which starts with the business community.

Many businesses recognise the need to connect with communities on a broad level, not only because there is a business case for inclusivity, but because it is the right thing to do. Slowly but surely, I sense that the dials are changing, and the Inclusive Leaders Forum has come together. It is committed to improving the diversity of leadership in their organisations through better recruitment, retention and promotion. Members include local councils, the NHS, big employers like PwC, KPMG, universities and major retailers like Selfridges along with SMEs and microbusinesses. In January we will be launching an ambitious drive to recruit a thousand more organisations in the West Midlands to the forum.

The Government is also playing its part in promoting inclusivity. Work to better understand the Gender Pay Gap  with 10,000 of the UKs larger companies providing details of their employees pay  is a major step forward in enabling senior decision makers to do things differently. I have no doubt the Race Pay Gap will highlight the same kinds of inequalities in our workplaces, and be equally impactful in driving action.

Similarly the Government is committed to greater diversity in Public Appointments. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of welcoming the Minister for Implementation, Oliver Dowden, to Birmingham, for the first roadshow aimed at encouraging a more diverse pool of applicants for public roles. We will now work with the Cabinet Office on those practical skills needed for the application and interview process, and providing guidance for public appointees. It is only by providing transparency in our processes that we will see people who are less likely to take part in civic activities take that first step and engage. Crucially, we also have to drum up confidence about taking that step into public roles.

A key asset in addressing all these issues in the West Midlands is the strength of faith organisations and faith-related activity in the region. Therefore one of my first commitments after becoming Mayor was to convene a group of faith leaders and ask them to design the Mayor and Faith Conference. The conference took place in November last year, and brought together 400 different faith organisations at the Great Hall of the University of Birmingham. It was a day of optimism and exploring how faith groups could work together on homelessness, leadership, hate crime and economic growth. The conclusion was obvious  the faith communities are a powerful part of our collective leadership. We have since created an Action Plan, and are working through all the good ideas that came out of the conference.

As Mayor of this diverse region, I am committed to visiting places of worship and understanding more about the rich fabric of faith which is so important to the residents of the West Midlands. I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, which is most important pilgrimage site of Sikhism. This visit allowed me to build on all I have learnt from the gurdwaras into which I have been welcomed across the region. Iftars are already in the diary for next Ramadan, and this festive season I have been meeting the Jewish community for Hannukah and visiting various churches in their preparations for Christmas. Diwali is also a big deal for my office, with Birminghams Victoria Square annually being transformed into an Indian celebration of the festival of light.

The lesson of all this involvement is clear  that each faith deserves to be respected in its own right. Each gives morality and purpose to its own community. But each faith also teaches respect and tolerance for every other community. It is through understanding such common values that our society as a whole can thrive  and in a sense the West Midlands is the exemplar of that.

Urban Conservatisms message of hope, opportunity and progress resonates with all communities  and we now need to show that we are serious about truly representing the people in them. Although there is so much still to do, we are starting to change the way our Party is viewed in traditional Labour areas. Labour do not and should not have a monopoly on votes from certain communities.

In the West Midlands, we are ensuring that inclusion is more than a buzzword  its an approach that is turning our diversity into a strength.100%

Website corrigeur.fr uses latest and advanced technologies like: Php. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 22682 bytes (22.15 kb uncompressed) and 6283 bytes (6.14 kb compressed).

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2019-09-23, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.We are analyzing the site. Please wait a few seconds..The lawyering was superb, which was not surprising, given that two legendary former SGs, Ted Olson and Don Verrilli, were at the lectern. But the First Circuit judges were ready and raring to go, and it barely took a minute before they launched into tough questions. Judge Juan Torruella was especially on target; he knows the intricacies of the history and case law relating to Puerto Ricos status better than almost anyone else and it was a treat to listen to his exchanges with the superstar lawyers. (There were other lawyers making arguments as well, but the First Circuit panel was primarily interested in the Olson-Verrilli positions.)The audio file is available here , and is well worth a listen.

Last Monday, December 3, the First Circuit heard an oral argument that I have been looking forward to for ages. The case involves an infamously aggressive hedge fund making an audacious challenge to the constitutionality of the Puerto Rican Control Boardan argument that is framed (hilariously, I think) as rescuing the Puerto Rican people from tyranny. The events that followed did not disappoint in terms of drama.

Before the arguments began, I was inclined to think that the First Circuit would take the safe route by affirming the district court and rejecting Aurelius challenge. After all, this seems to be a case destined for the Supreme Court. But after hearing the oral argument, I no longer think that. Im predicting instead a reversal of the trial court (FWIW, my co-author, Joseph Blocher, with whom Ive written about Puerto Ricos Right of Accession, is not so sure after listening to the same oral argument and he is much better at predicting case outcomes than I am). The judges seem to think that there was probably a violation of the Appointments clause, but that they would be have to be careful in crafting their ruling so as to cabin any possible negative consequences for Puerto Rico and its debt restructuring process. (For other discussions of the oral argument, along with predictions about how the case is likely to come out, see on this, making predictions, see here (article in Bond Buyer) and here (post on the PuertoRicoControlBoardWatch blog)).

Below, Ill set out my oversimplified view of the primary arguments on either side. But before going there, I couldnt help but wondering why it is that Puerto Rico is in the First Circuit, with the Puerto Rican lawyers having to all trek up to Boston to make their arguments. Is there some special relationship with the states that make up the First Circuit to Puerto Rico such that the judges from there have a nuanced understanding of Puerto Ricos bizarre place within the US constitutional structure? Given that Puerto Rico already has no senators to push for judges with special expertise in, and concern for, the people of the Commonwealth, it seems to add insult to injury to force the cases from Puerto Rico to go on appeal to a set of appellate court judges in the north east of the mainland who will likely have little connection to the island (with rare exceptions such as Judge Torruella). Ive been thinking about this lately because of a conference my colleague, Marin Levy, hosted last week where one of the very interesting papers was about Are Federal Courts National Courts? At the conference, the general sentiment in the room of was that there is some value to having federal judges with some specialized local knowledge of the issues. Really, though? Do the judges from the states that comprise the First Circuit have specialized local knowledge about Puerto Rico?

I've digressed. Back to the basics of the Aurelius oral argument.

The constitution says that principal officers of the federal government have to go through a specific appointments process (advice and consent of the Senate). The President nominates them and then the Senate confirmsthe advice and consent stuff. The argument, as one might guess, is over who counts as a principal officer. Aurelius says that the members of the Puerto Rican Control Board are such officers, and that the current board is therefore unconstitutional because they were not appointed using the constitutionally mandated process. Why go to bat on such a strange issue of constitutional law? Presumably because the current board is being too tough on Aurelius and it is hoping to fare better under a Donald Trump-appointed board.

The threshold question, to my mind, is why the federal government is appointing any sort of special board to manage Puerto Ricos fiscal affairs. After all, wouldnt taking care of local fiscal affairs usually be a matter for the Puerto Rican government and its elected officials? If this were a state, that would indeed be the case  and the state would use the federal bankruptcy mechanism that all states are entitled to use for their municipalities. And for some years, Puerto Rico was also entitled to use the same scheme.

But in 1984, Congress decided that it did not want Puerto Rico to have that same entitlement as the states, and took away its power to use the bankruptcy mechanism available to the states and their municipalities. No one seems to know exactly why this carve out was made  the legislative history is missing -- but one guess is that Congress did not trust the Puerto Rican government with doing its own bankruptcy workout in the same way it trusted the states.

Fast forward to Puerto Ricos current massive debt crisis (over $100 billion in obligations it is unable to pay) and Congress has appointed a Control Board to run Puerto Ricos fiscal situation and, in effect, supervise and direct the local governments behavior (including the debt restructuring) because there is a strong federal interest in making sure this situation gets resolved quickly and efficiently and in a way that does not impact the reputation of the US as a debtor. Bottom line: The best answer to why this Control Board was appointed by Congress and not by the local government  assuming that there is some underlying logic -- seems to be the federal government not trusting the local Puerto Rican government to tackle its own financial affairs. Add to this the enormous power that the Control Board has, and its members look pretty important  maybe like principal officers?

Turns out though that the case is nowhere near as easy. The primary counter argument seems to be that if the Control Board members are principal officers because they are running Puerto Rico, then so is the Governor (and a variety of other top local officials). And surely, given that no one is suggesting that Governor et al are unconstitutional because they did not go through the process specified in the Appointments clause, the Appointments clause must not apply to Puerto Rico (and other territories). Put differently, the argument is that ruling that the Puerto Rican Control Board is unconstitutional would cause the entire democratic governance structure for the various territories to be called into question and that produce a parade of horribles.

As a result of the foregoing set up, the bulk of the discussion at the oral argument was about what various Congresses in the 19th and 20th centuries might have thought the requirement of the Appointments clause was and whether these prior Congresses thought that the constitution (that provision, at least) might not apply to a distant territory such as Puerto Rico . I confess that I found this puzzling, perhaps because I dont understand constitutional arguments. Isnt the clearest evidence of what Congress thought, in the case of an explicit and clear provision, what the provision says? If some prior Congresses mistakenly thought they didnt have to comply with the provision or, at some point in history, decided it didnt feel like complying, who cares. Still a violation, so long as the provision is still applicable.

This is a big case and Im guessing that the opinion will come out soon. And then on to the Supreme Court. I wonder what will happen to the Puerto Rican bond prices if the First Circuit reverses the trial court. That, potentially, will give us further insight into what exactly the Aurelius game is in challenging the Control Boards constitutionalityI dont buy that they are paying Olsons team tens of millions of dollars to fight against tyranny. And while we are on that topic, who is paying the bill for Verrillis team to fight this bizarro case? (hopefully Donald Trump and not the already impoverished Puerto Rican taxpayers).Confusion surrounding the nations main federal law protecting students privacy is hindering the ability of schools and law enforcement to prevent shootings and other violence, concludes a new report released Tuesday by the Federal Commission on School Safety.

The commission, led by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, called on Congress to modernize the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, which generally prevents schools from sharing students educational records without parental consent. The commission also wants the federal education department to clarify how schools may apply the laws existing provisions during safety emergencies.

A delicate balance exists between privacy and security in schools, the groups report reads. It is critical to recognize that some education records may contain information that, if disclosed to appropriate officials, could help prevent students from harming themselves or others.

The report also recommends that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services review laws and guidance related to the sharing of sensitive health information, with the aim of making it easier for health care providers to share information about individuals who may be a safety threat.

President Donald Trump established the school safety commission in the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Fla., last February. Among the groups higher-profilebut non-bindingrecommendations are to scrap the Obama administrations guidance on school discipline , and to urge schools to consider arming some school staff members.

Despite the commissions clear recommendation that FERPA be overhauled, experts were divided on whether the law is likely to get a rewrite anytime soon.

I think Congress will look at privacy issues in 2019, said Reginal Leichty, the founding partner of Foresight Law + Policy, an education advisory and lobbying firm based in Washington. But FERPA is probably not something they will legislate on next year.

FERPA During Emergencies

FERPA became part of the school-safety conversation when victims families and others argued that the Parkland shooter was not identified as a potential threat in part because the schools he attended did not share with law enforcement more information about his long history of trouble.

The federal Commission on School Safety agreed that is a problem.

While FERPA seeks to broadly protect students educational records from unauthorized disclosure to third parties, the commission wrote in its report, the law does contain a number of exceptions that give schools greater latitude than they often exercise.

Under the laws school official exception, for example, schools and districts may disclose personally identifiable information from a students educational record without parental consent to individuals determined to have a legitimate educational interest in the information.

The commission highlighted school resource officers as examples of such relevant school officials, saying they have a legitimate interest in ensuring school safety. The commission recommended that the U.S. Department of Education provide technical assistance to schools specifying that they may disclose to such staff members relevant disciplinary information about students.

And the other FERPA exception highlighted by the commission has to do with health or safety emergencies. The law says that during such times, schools may disclose students private information without consent to appropriate parties, such as law enforcement and first responders, so long as the information is necessary to protect the health or safety of other individuals.

Amelia Vance, the director of education privacy and the policy counsel at the Future of Privacy Forum, a Washington think tank, said schools and districts consistently report that they dont understand how this health and safety exception works. As a result, she said, they are often overly cautious about not sharing personal student information during emergencies.

If you have an emergency, and in good faith you disclose information in order to deal with that emergency, youre going to be OK, she said. The department has made clear it is not going to second guess you, as long as you can share a rational basis for believing you faced a significant, articulable threat.

The commission also recommended that the federal education department clarify that in some circumstances, such as wide-ranging natural disasters or events that knock out a districts data centers, state departments of education may invoke FERPAs health and safety emergency exception to disclose students personal information on behalf of districts.

A Cloudy Future

The commissions report also touches on the issue of school surveillance videos, which have become a point of contention following the Parkland tragedy. The state panel investigating the shooting there is preparing to recommend that law-enforcement agencies be given real-time access to schools video camera systems, a move that some critics argue may violate FERPA.

The federal commission suggested a way schools might work around such concerns.

If a schools security department or campus police maintains the schools surveillance video system and, as a result, creates surveillance footage for a law enforcement purpose, FERPA would not prevent sharing the surveillance footage with local law enforcement, the groups report reads. Smaller schools without an existing law enforcement unit or security department can still utilize this exclusion by designating a school official, such as the vice-principal, as the schools law enforcement unit for this purpose.

The federal commission also suggests that states make sure their own privacy lawsmany of which go further than FERPAdont hinder efforts to promote school safety.

And when it comes to students sensitive health records, the commission suggested fresh analysis of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, to promote greater coordination between mental health providers, law enforcement, and school personnel.

Perhaps the biggest question at hand, though, is whether the commissions report will carry enough weight to finally push through an overhaul of FERPA.

For years, similar attempts have fallen far short. And some experts remain skeptical. Leighty of Foresight Law+Policy, for example, said that while he expects a robust privacy conversation on Capitol Hill in 2019, any legislative action is more likely to be focused on consumers than students.

But the federal school safety commission now lending its weight to calls for a FERPA overhaul is headed by a number of high-ranking cabinet officers, including DeVos, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.

In addition, a key member of Congress, Republican Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, recently announced that he would not seek re-election in 2020, fueling speculation that he could seek a key education-policy victory before stepping down.

That could create a climate where we actually do see a FERPA rewrite pass, said Vance of the Future of Privacy Forum. Privacy is going to stay in the headlines, and this is a bipartisan issue.

See also:

for the latest news on ed-tech policies, practices, and trends.Austria is to hold talks with Egypt this week in an attempt to use the last days of its EU presidency to revive the blocs campaign for north African countries to take in more Mediterranean Sea migrants. Financial Times reports in its article Austria presses Egypt to help curb migration across Mediterranean that Cairo has so far responded coolly to the blocs attempts to persuade it to share the load and broaden coastal patrols to counter people-smuggling along the wider north African coast.

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egyptian president, is due to meet Sebastian Kurz, Austrias chancellor, in the Austrian capital in a visit that includes a gathering of African and European leaders on economic co-operation. The Africa-Europe forum is the last big set-piece event of Viennas rotating six-month EU presidency, during which managing migration has been a main focus.

Mr Kurz and Donald Tusk, European Council president, have been wooing Mr Sisi as part of an effort to bridge European divisions over migration by preventing irregular migrants from arriving in the bloc.

In a sign of continuing tensions on the issue in Europe, police on Sunday fired tear gas and water cannon at demonstrators outside the EU headquarters in Brussels after about 5,000 people marched against a UN migration pact.

We would like to co-operate with countries so they stop people from leaving irregularly in the first place, said one EU diplomat. That's where Egypt comes in, because it has been extremely effective [in its own waters] in stopping people from leaving. It has shown that it is possible to secure a long shoreline  and others could emulate it.

Backers of the Egypt plan hope Mr Sisi will use his Vienna visit to enlarge on what he is prepared to offer and what he wants in return.

Cairo has yet to agree to European proposals for it to take part in regional joint sea patrols to rescue migrants and potentially take them back to Egypt, European diplomats said.

Egypt is understood to be worried that those rescued could cause security problems and end up staying for years. Repatriation of migrants to their home countries is often difficult because they have lost, destroyed or never had documentation. Mr Sisi and Mr Kurz spoke by phone last week before their Vienna meeting.

But the EU overtures to Mr Sisi have met scepticism from some diplomats, who note Cairo is unwilling to offer more help, given the minimal migrant flows from Egypt to the bloc. They also fear that Cairo would put a heavy price tag on any increased co-operation, citing the example of the 6bn payment to Turkey agreed under a 2016 deal for Ankara to take back migrants who travelled from its territory to the Greek islands.

We never understood in the first place why they were so gung-ho about Egypt, said one European diplomat. Why wake a sleeping dog for all the wrong reasons?

The move to co-operate more closely with Mr Sisi has also raised human rights concerns as the former general, who took power after a 2013 coup, cracks down ever harder on dissent.

Critics also say the EU appeared presumptuous  and irritated north African states  by announcing its plans in June to send rescued migrants to countries outside the bloc without consulting those countries first.

When you follow the debate in Europe, you get the sense that European leaders often forget that other countries have their own priorities, said Izza Leghtas, senior advocate for Europe for Refugees International, a campaign group.

The EU has been locked for years in internal conflict over how to deal with migration, even though arrival numbers this year have been a fraction of the almost 2.5m asylum seekers that sought refuge in the bloc in 2015-16. EU leaders again failed to agree on reform of the blocs asylum system at a summit last week, after which they said intensified co-operation with countries of migrant origin and transit should be continued, further developed and fully implemented.

Opponents of the Sisi plan say a better model would be the more modest co-operation with Morocco, where the EU is giving money to improve border security and buy equipment such as night-vision goggles. EU countries are also hoping to put migration on the agenda at Februarys first-ever summit with the Arab League, whose 22 members include the five north African coastal states, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) started to make arrests of the members of the Fetullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO), Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said yesterday.

"The FBI are carrying out [investigative] activities in 15 states concerning the FETO case. In [the state of] New Jersey, arrests have already begun," the TRT channel quotes the minister.

The Turkish government accuses FETO of an attempted coup in July 2016.Royal Caribbean International returned to the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) as the Vision of the Seas homeported at the Julia Street Cruise Terminal for its inaugural cruise Dec. 15, 2018.

Royal Caribbean is a valued cruise line partner that we are excited to welcome back to the Crescent City, said Brandy D. Christian, Port of New Orleans President and CEO. Our commitment to top-notch service combined with the vibrant sights and sounds of the Big Easy will add another dimension to the dynamic Royal Caribbean cruise experience.

The 2,514-passenger ship will sail seasonal, seven-night itineraries from Port NOLA through March 2019.Carnival Cruise Line today announced that it will offer a series of cruises from San Francisco with the Carnival Miracle operating a schedule that includes four- to 15-day voyages to Alaska, Hawaii and Mexico in 2020. It is the first set of cruises for the line from San Francisco.

Following strong reception to a previously announced program from San Diego in 2019, Carnival Miracle will also return to that port for a winter 2020-2021 schedule of three- to 15-day voyages.

"These deployments further bolster Carnival Cruise Lines position as the West Coast cruise leader, carrying more passengers than any other cruise operator. That number will continue to increase with the debut of Carnival Panorama from Long Beach in December 2019, the first new Carnival ship on the West Coast in 20 years," Carnival said, in a press release.

With the addition of San Francisco, Carnival operates from 19 North American homeports.

Carnival is the number one cruise operator from the West Coast, and these new programs from San Francisco and San Diego, as well as the deployment of the brand new Carnival Panorama from Long Beach, speaks volumes to our confidence in growing this important market, said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

Carnivals first-ever schedule from San Francisco kicks off March 19, 2020 with the Carnival Miracle and will include four-day long weekend voyages to Ensenada departing Thursdays and returning Mondays throughout the spring and summer, as well as five-day and six-day cruises to Ensenada, Catalina Island and San Diego in the spring.

The ship will also offer a summer schedule of 10-day Alaska cruises round-trip from San Francisco featuring a variety of popular destinations throughout the Last Frontier, including Juneau, Skagway, and Icy Strait Point as well as opportunities to visit Sitka and cruise Tracy Arm Fjord. Theres also a one-time 11-day Alaska cruise departing Aug. 9, 2020.

A 15-day Carnival Journeys Hawaii cruise round-trip from San Francisco departs April 16, 2020, calling at destinations including Maui (Kahului), Honolulu, Hilo, Kona, and Kauai, as well as a stop in Ensenada.

The Carnival Miracle will also sail a winter schedule of voyages from San Diego beginning Oct. 4, 2020. The program includes convenient three cruises to Ensenada, four-day sailings to Ensenada and Catalina Island, and five-day departures that spend two full days in the Mexican resort town of Cabo San Lucas.

Also offered are four 15-day Carnival Journeys Hawaii cruises round-trip from San Diego departing Oct. 16 and Nov. 28, 2020, and Jan. 9 and Feb. 20, 2021. Featured ports include Hilo, Kona, Kauai (Nawiliwili), Maui (Kahului) and Honolulu, as well as a stop in Ensenada.DERBY  A committee tasked with figuring out if merging the Ansonia and Derby School districts is a good idea met via video-conference with its paid consultant on Monday, mapping out a game plan and their respective roles.

The Boston-based District Management Group was awarded a $137,000 contract to conduct what could be an 18-month or more project of data collection and interviews.

As a quorum of the 10-member committee listened in the Derby Middle School all purpose room, DMG Senior Director Sam Ribnick and his colleagues walked the group through their credentials as well as the process for investigating what many consider a controversial idea.

Combined, the two Naugatuck Valley School districts have about 3,700 students. Money is tight. Still, some members of the committee are concerned with whether the consultants will get the data it requests and all their questions answered.

Are we confident that your central office will participate and provide us with all the data? Jim Gildea, the Derby co-chair of the Temporary Regional School Study Committee, asked.

Fair question, responded John Izzo, the Ansonia co-chair. The short answer is I dont know. I hope so.

The consultants plan to spend the next four months collecting data on staffing levels, finances, demographics and facilities. They will also hold a series of focus groups with school board members, community members and school employees, separate for each community.

Committee members sought assurances that the focus groups would be balanced so that all voices are heard.

Then from April to October 2019, the consultants will create and present a report to the committee, assessing the pros and cons of establishing a regional school district.

Will it take a whole six months to write the report? asked George Kurtyka, a Derby committee member. A lot are anxious to see what is going on.

If all goes like clockwork, it could be shorter, Ribnick told them.

His firm has worked with several Connecticut school districts including Stamford, on special education, and Hamden, on finances.

Once it submits a report, another nine months  through June 2020  would be spent focusing on recommendations for such things as grade configurations, how buildings would be used and the size and representation of a regional board of education. They also would recommend a way to negotiate union contracts and figure out a name for the new district.

If a merger is the ultimate recommendation, it would not occur without voters in both cities voting to approve regionalization.

As part of their work, the committee, with the consultants help, will also create a five-year educational and budget plan projection on enrollment, staffing needs, transportation and special education needs for Derby and Ansonia.

Norwalk Schools Superintendent Steven Adamowski, who is an Ansonia resident and member of the committee, said he hopes that the focus is not just on savings but on improving educational outcomes in both municipalities.

As the process unfolds, Tara Hyder, a Derby parent, said she hoped committee members would keep their personal opinions in check and be as objective as possible.

We need to be impartial, Izzo agreed.

The committee also set meeting dates through 2019, in most cases the fourth Monday at the month, alternating between Ansonia High School and Derby Middle School. The next meeting will be held Jan. 28 at Ansonia High.The third building of Azerbaijan National Museum of Art in Baku was opened today after major overhaul.

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President, first lady Mehriban Aliyeva have attended the inauguration.

The republic's Minister of Culture Abulfas Garayev informed them of the conditions created in the building.Apparently a majority of people in Connecticut favor the legalization of marijuana in our state. Our governor elect Ned Lamont also favors the legalization of recreational marijuana. Lamont says he doesnt want the black market controlling marijuana distribution in our state, adding how he thinks thats a lousy way to go.

Im a former cigarette smoker who quit cold turkey 29 years ago. Smoking was ruining my health and the health of my family who had to breathe in secondhand smoke. I tried marijuana three times back in the 70s and each time it made me physically ill so I decided that it wasnt for me. Pipes and cigars just didnt do it for me so I became smoke-free and what a health blessing it was.

Now I read that marijuana contains four times the tar of tobacco. Tar causes cancer as we all know so why would Ned Lamont want to jeopardize the health of Connecticut citizens? Just so they can get high? It couldnt possibly be a plan to keep voters in a tranquilized state so that they ignore the goings on in Hartford, could it?

Ned Lamont wanting to further endanger the health of Connecticut voters I think is a lousy way to go.

Kim Raseman

MilfordGermany arrests 4 over bid to revive banned far-right group

The Associated Press/December 12, 2018

Berlin -- Authorities in Germany have arrested four people and carried out raids at 15 sites in an investigation of suspected efforts to revive a far-right group that was banned 18 years ago.



The German division of the "Blood & Honor" skinhead group was banned in 2000, with authorities saying that it spread neo-Nazi ideology through racist music, magazines and websites.



Prosecutors and police in Bavaria said Tuesday that they are investigating 12 people across Germany suspected of violating the ban. They are suspected of trying to rebuild the group's structures and of importing and selling far-right CDs and other merchandise.

To see more documents/articles regarding this group/organization/subject click here.Dr. Oz's U.S. Senate in Pa. What to know about him and where he livesAzerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President, first lady Mehriban Aliyeva have viewed conditions created at the Scientific-Research Medical Rehabilitation Institute of the Ministry of Health after renovation in Baku.

The republic's Minister of Health Ogtay Shiraliyev informed them of the work done there, as well as thanked for the work carried out to improve the healthcare system.

Later, the Azerbaijani head of state met with the Institute staff.The United Nations General Assembly's resolution on Crimea will give Kiev a free hand in taking any steps which can lead to tragedy, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Konstantin Kosachev wrote on his Facebook page.

According to the senator, the resolution will not have legal consequences, but it may have military-political consequences.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution proposed by Ukraine on "militarization problem" of Crimea and the waters of the Azov and Black Sea. 66 countries supported the document, 19 were against it, 72 - abstained.

According to the resolution, presence of the Russian military in Crimea contradicts the national sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The document also condemns Russia because of constructing a bridge across the Kerch Strait.Russian President Vladimir Putins annual news conference on December 20 will be held in its traditional manner, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"There can hardly be any innovations here. The key goal of this event is to organize a barrier-free contact with federal, regional and foreign journalists with the head of state," TASS cited the spokesman as saying.

The Kremlin spokesman stressed that these big news conferences by the Russian leader are "an unprecedented format." "Few people in the world hold such sessions of communication with journalists," he noted.

Peskov declined to predict how the news conference would be held this time. "It is evident that this is not an orchestrated event," he said.Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that the energy ministry expects the Russian gas output to grow 5% to 723 billion cubic meters in 2018.

The minister said that he expected Russia's oil output to stand at 555-556 million tonnes in 2019, but that the forecast could be lowered by 3-4 million tonnes because of uncertainty.

According to him, Russia's oil production would fall 228,000 barrels per day during the first quarter of next year, in line with its commitments under a global oil output cut deal, Reuters reported.This is a huge decision for our country, perhaps the biggest we will make in our lifetimes. And it will be the final decision... When the British people speak, their voice will be respected  not ignored.

If we vote to leave, then we will leave. There will not be another renegotiation and another referendum.

The date was November 10, 2015, and those were the words of David Cameron, setting out his plans for the EU referendum he had promised in his election manifesto a few months earlier. You can hardly say he wasnt clear.

During the campaign that followed, both sides stuck to the same script. This was the moment of decision, a one-off showdown that would never be repeated.

The date was November 10, 2015, and those were the words of David Cameron, setting out his plans for the EU referendum he had promised in his election manifesto a few months earlier

As the official leaflets sent to every home put it, the Government will implement what you decide.

Three years on, however, those promises are beginning to look increasingly fragile.

In recent months a hysterical campaign for a so-called Peoples Vote has been gathering strength, with heavy promotion from the BBC, the Guardian and much of the pseudo-intellectual liberal elite.

Until recently it was easy to write them off as a coalition of sore losers, united only by their obsession with the EU and their haughty disregard for the 17.4 million who had the impudence to vote Leave.

But now, it seems, their campaign is closer to fruition than ever.

Thanks to the deadlock in Parliament, where Theresa Mays hard-won deal with the EU seems hopelessly becalmed, a new referendum is becoming a much stronger possibility.

Thanks to the deadlock in Parliament, where Theresa Mays hard-won deal with the EU seems hopelessly becalmed, a new referendum is becoming a much stronger possibility

Even some of Mrs Mays Cabinet have apparently come around to the idea.

The Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, for example, pointedly said on Sunday that a second referendum should not be off the table, which flatly contradicts the Prime Ministers line over the past two years.

Yet in purely logistical terms, a second referendum would be a nightmare. There is perilously little time to get the legislation through before Britain leaves the EU on March 29.

And what would be the question? Mrs Mays deal or no deal? Mrs Mays deal or Remain? Or some combination of all three, with two rounds of voting?

As political scientists have shown, the outcome could depend entirely on the method chosen.

For example, if Leave votes were split between two different Brexit options, then Remain could waltz through the middle without winning a majority, which would be manifestly wrong.

Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd (pictured) , for example, pointedly said on Sunday that a second referendum should not be off the table, which flatly contradicts the Prime Ministers line over the past two years

More importantly, though, a second referendum would be morally wrong  and I say that as somebody who voted Remain.

Campaigners for a Peoples Vote (who voted in the last one  aliens?) pretend that it represents the democratic way forward. But this strikes me as nonsense.

If two referendums are more democratic than one, why stop with two? Why not three, four or five? Why not have a referendum every week?

I know plenty of fervent Peoples Vote enthusiasts. Every one of them voted Remain. Far from being fans of referendums in general, they were appalled by David Camerons decision to let the common people decide their own future.

When they talk piously about wanting the final say on the deal or wanting more democracy, they are being dishonest.

They do not want more democracy; they want less of it. And if they did get their way and Britain stayed in the EU, you can be sure they would never support another referendum.

Given that I supported Remain, some readers may wonder why I dont agree with them. The answer is that I am a democrat. The nature of democracy means that you dont confuse your own personal prejudices with divine wisdom, and you try to accept defeat with good grace.

Unfortunately, the likes of Tony Blair, Nick Clegg, and Alastair Campbell dont see things that way. United in hysterical outrage, they are the spoiled brats of the political world, who simply cannot cope with losing.

Unfortunately, the likes of Tony Blair, Nick Clegg, and Alastair Campbell dont see things that way. United in hysterical outrage, they are the spoiled brats of the political world, who simply cannot cope with losing

For the past two years, Mr Blair and Mr Clegg, in particular, have rarely been far from Brussels, pouring poison into the ears of the EU elite, urging them not to make concessions to Britain, and promising that they would get a second referendum eventually.

I hesitate to use the word treachery, but there comes a point when no other word will do.

A genuine patriot would put his personal convictions to one side and work in the interests of the democratic majority. But when it comes to the crunch, does anyone really believe Mr Blair and Mr Clegg would side with Britain?

The Peoples Vote website claims that new facts have come to light about the costs and complexity of Brexit that no one could have known at the time of the referendum. This is a lie, pure and simple.

There are no new facts. The Remain campaign made precisely the same argument in 2016, and millions chose to dismiss it. Why insult them by forcing them to vote again?

As for the argument a second plebiscite would heal the divisions of the past two years, this is dangerous nonsense.

A second referendum campaign would almost certainly be even more angry and impassioned than the first.

As Mrs May has pointed out, the air would be thick with accusations of betrayal, with 17.4 million people feeling that their democratically expressed instruction had been ignored.

Who would benefit from a Peoples Vote? Jeremy Corbyn might, depending on his position during the campaign

Imagine the reaction in towns and cities far from Westminster. Imagine how people would feel in Stoke-on-Trent, where 69 per cent voted Leave; or Wakefield, where 66 per cent voted Leave; or Hull, where 68 per cent voted Leave.

The second referendum advocates, smug in their university-town bubbles, never bother to imagine what these people would think. They dont live in these towns, and if they think about their inhabitants at all, it is to sneer at them as knuckle-dragging racists.

But here is how it would look from Wakefield. It would look as though a spoiled political and intellectual elite, cut off by its own privilege from the views of ordinary people, had conspired to betray democracy and steal the Brexit vote.

And you can be sure of one thing: the millions of Tory supporters who voted Leave would abandon the party in droves. It could be out of power for many years to come the next time a general election came round.

So would even more poisonous groups and characters on the far-Right, such as the English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, who was much to the fore in a Brexit Betrayal march last week

Who would benefit from a Peoples Vote? Jeremy Corbyn might, depending on his position during the campaign. (So far he seems to have been reluctant to offer any cogent opinion at all, either because he wants to disguise his true position on Brexit for narrow partisan gain, or because he is simply not bright enough to grasp the issues at hand.)

Ukip certainly would. So would even more poisonous groups and characters on the far-Right, such as the English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, who was much to the fore in a Brexit Betrayal march last week.

Is that really what the ultra-Remainers want? Are they so indifferent to the health of our political commonwealth? Do they really think their own prejudices are worth more than the principle of democracy?

If our politicians want a way through the impasse, there is an obvious answer. The EU should make concessions on the much-discussed Irish backstop, and then our MPs should get behind Mrs Mays hard-won deal  a compromise which, although not perfect, is the best chance of honouring the Brexit vote without destroying our economy.

By contrast, a second referendum would be a victory for hysteria over pragmatism. It would poison our politics for a generation, driving a wedge between ordinary voters and an entitled elite.

And, if you doubt it, just ask yourself one question. If, after all the promises, there really is a second referendum, why would anybody ever trust our politicians again?It's not often that women have to venture into the men's bathroom, but when they do you can see why they don't stick around.

Exasperated women have flooded Twitter with the weirdest thing they have discovered in the opposite sex's toilet.

The viral thread was kicked off by Jodie Grace from Arizona, who was perplexed when she stumbled across a toilet plunger with a hairbrush taped to the end.

Sharing a picture of the creepy contraption, she wrote: 'Ladies whats the weirdest thing youve ever found in a boy's bathroom? allow me to start'.

And her tweet was quickly inundated with 20,000 likes, 4,000 retweets and hundreds of replies from equally baffled women.

Some reported finding groceries and food-related items stashed around the sink, including bread and cereal.

Elsewhere a shotgun-shaped plunger could be seen next to a toilet, while a live lobster had made itself at home in another tub.

Many men appeared to fancy themselves a dab hand at DIY, with a hole in the wall doubling up as a shelf in one home, while an orange served as a toothbrush holder elsewhere.

And the weird and wonderful things found in men's bathrooms just keep coming, as more and more users share bizarre objects they have once stumbled upon, including a kangaroo, hot sauce, a drum-kit and a bathtub filled with dozens of apples.

Trending: A viral thread about weird things found in men's bathrooms was kicked off by Jodie Grace from Arizona, who stumbled across a toilet plunger with a hairbrush taped to the end, tweeting: 'Ladies whats the weirdest thing youve ever found in a boys' bathroom? allow me to start'

Bathroom breakfast! Meanwhile Kaitlin Simon searched her male friend's bathroom for toilet paper and was horrified to find an array of cereals stashed under the sink

Hungry: Continuing the apparent grocery trend, a tweeter by the name of Goopy Fella found bread and jam on the shelf behind the bathroom sink in a rather unhygienic bathroom twist

Keeping watch: Elsewhere a user by the name of Shay was confused upon sitting down to a framed photo of The Rock perched on the toilet behind her, in a thread of hilarious things stashed in boys' bathrooms

Strange: Meanwhile Twitter user Gab Tagliarino wasn't sure what to think of the shotgun-shaped toilet plunger she found in one gentleman friend's bathroom

Do It Yourself: And Twitter user McKenna was left baffled when faced with an eccentric toilet roll holder contraption made up of pencils and even a clothes peg

Shocked! Twitter user Jordyn Grace was left horrified upon discovering a live lobster in the bathtub of a pal's bathroom

Odd! Elsewhere Twitter user Haileigh Schwalm didn't know what to think when she discovered a rather creepy photo staring out at her from behind a towel in male pal's bathroom

Not impressed: And Harley was less than impressed when the only toilet paper in the bathroom she was using was pierced through the centre by the toilet roll holder

Educational: Elsewhere Twitter user Anna didn't know what to think of the framed picture of Bill Nye the Science Guy atop the toilet she was using

Multi-purpose: User Lindsey Riordan was highly bemused at the sight of a hole in the wall which appeared to be being used as a shelf, holding a razor and hair products

Creepy: Elsewhere Twitter user Kelsey uncovered another strange picture of a man beaming out at her from a passport sized picture which had been glued above a door handle

Bizarre! And Twitter user Ainslie's bathroom experience was interrupted when she noticed an empty turtle shell sitting behind her on the toilet seat

Yikes! Adding to the thread of hilarious things stashed in boys' bathrooms, tweeter Alexandria stumbled across a skeleton with a rather rude message scrolled across its t-shirt

Movie time: And fulfilling every stereotype about male student bathrooms, a horrified female university goer stumbled across a TV in a toilet, explaining: 'Boy's dorm sophomore year of college'

An apple a day: Twitter user @amyisyams shared a photo of a bathtub full to the brim with dozens of apples

Hot stuff! Another user, @sydneyalabaugh, once found a bottle of hot sauce sitting on the counter in a male's bathroom

Too far? One user @Snarrface66 shared a photo of a functioning chocolate fountain sitting beside a sink in what looks like a public men's bathroom

DIY: Several others, including user @arlenebel, shared photos of DIY bathroom supplies they had found in bathrooms, including make-shift toothbrush holders and toilet roll dispensers

Brotherly love: Twitter user @ShrillianR found a framed poster of Disney Channel's The Jonas Brothers in a men's bathroom

Creepy: One user @thestoryofpat reported a customized toilet seat

Arsty: One user under the name @JerricaLPierce revealed that her father has a shower curtain with a photo of Jesus dressed as an astronaut on it

Bizarre! A kangaroo was once spotted in a bathroom by Twitter user @morgrogerrs

Time for a swim: User @lexyloweryy witnessed a duck swimming around a bathtub full of water

Night owl: Another user who had an encounter with an animal while using a boy's bathroom was @pabstjules_, who came across an owl

Spooky! Twitter user @iguessharis came across what looks like a papier-mache sculpture of a human body in a bathroom once

Multitasking: A user with the name @kashedkuramel shared a photo of a drum-kit sitting in a bathroom, in what might have been one of the most random photos

Random! A old-school life-size sculpture of a woman was found standing in a bathroom by Twitter user @Alexismariah_24

Elsewhere Lucy Furr revealed that she had stumbled across post-it notes in place of toilet paper, in a particularly unpleasant experienceA fitness trainer has revealed how she survived a terrifying near-death ordeal after a horrific motorcycle accident in Bali.

Kobi Bracken, 25, from Auckland in New Zealand, was looking forward to fulfilling her adventurous itinerary around Indonesia for two and a half weeks in July.

But her tropical holiday turned into a crippling nightmare when she hit by a mini van that was backing out of a driveway while riding on the back of a motorbike.

The former New Zealand's Next Top Model contestant spent eight days in hospital after suffering horrendous injuries, including a fractured eye socket, a broken femur, a smashed cervical spine, extensive blood loss and an exposed kneecap.

Her medical bill was $50,000 - but she was fully covered thanks to her quick-thinking mother, who paid for her travel insurance when Kobi booked the flights.

New Zealand fitness trainer Kobi Bracken (pictured) was hospitalised after she was in a horrific motorcycle accident when she was holidaying in Bali

Like any young traveller, Kobi never thought about getting insurance. But her tropical holiday turned into a nightmare when she was hospitalised following the near-death incident

'My mum actually paid for my insurance as an "add on". I have done a bit of travelling and insurance was something I never thought about,' Kobi told Daily Mail Australia.

'When Mum said she bought insurance I thought, why? Nothing is going to happen to me but maybe I might have something stolen from my bag unexpectedly.'

Her x-ray shows a broken right femur

But just four days into her trip, she was left fighting for life in hospital following the crash on a Saturday night in July.

'I don't remember [the accident] much at all,' she said.

'I remember leaving the bar we were at and then being handed my helmet, putting it on and then jumping on the back of the motorbike. I wasn't driving, I was a passenger. Myself and my girlfriend were being dropped back to our villa.

'The next thing I saw was just bright lights and I couldn't move my body or my right leg. I thought it had been amputated or something. It was a horrible feeling, I didn't know where I was or how I got there but I knew something was wrong.'

When she woke, Kobi recalled screaming in confusion because she had no recollection of the accident.

'I was crying and screaming. "Where am I? What happened to me? Where's my mum? Where's [my boyfriend]?" I was going crazy,' she said.

'I think I then was sedated as I was uncontrollable and extremely distraught. Not being able to remember where I was or what had caused my pain and my inability to move just made me react in the most craziest way.

'I still to this day don't fully remember the early days in hospital.'

Her parents and boyfriend Josh were distraught when they were told about the horrific accident via a phone call.

'My mum was called to say I may be in a coma, it was a very stressful time for all my family back home. A Sunday morning phone call every parent dreads,' Kobi said.

'So when I started to wake up there were a lot of tears.'

The 25-year-old spent eight days in hospital with 'all types of cords and tubes hanging off me'

The fitness trainer spent the first few weeks in a wheelchair after undergoing two surgeries

The fitness trainer said she has no recollection of the accident but she wanted to share her story in a bid to encourage other travellers to get insurance

During her eight-day stay in hospital, she spent six days bed bound with 'all types of cords and tubes hanging off me' - and she underwent a six-hour surgery.

'While in hospital I lost a lot of blood, my haemoglobin levels were dropping rapidly so I needed a blood transfusion, I received two bags of blood,' she said.

'I fractured my right orbital bone (my eye socket) and my right femur. I also had a teardrop fracture of cervical spine, which luckily didn't end up being anything too severe but I didn't know this until I got home so I was in a neck brace for ten days.

'My knee also split open exposing bone.'

Five months since the horrific accident, Kobi said she still struggles with her injuries.

'Everyday... It has been five months since my accident and every day I am faced with some sort of challenge,' she said.

'I had some pretty nasty wounds. My knee gives me a lot of pain, I think the trauma to it was quite intense. I am working on rebuilding my leg muscles, my quads, hamstrings, glutes etc. I lost everything so my butt and hips get very tight.'

Five months since the horrific accident, Kobi said she still struggles with her injuries

Her medical bill was nearly $50,000 - but she was fully covered after her quick-thinking mother paid for her travel insurance when Kobi booked the flights

Just four days into her tropical holiday, Kobi was hospitalised following the horrific accident

At first, she was struggling with the simplest tasks.

'Getting in and out of the car was so hard, my leg couldn't bend at the knee and any bit of pressure or weight I put on the leg was excruciating,' she recalled.

'I couldn't shower on my own, put on or take off clothes myself. Every easy daily task became the most difficult.

'I was unable to drive, sleeping was uncomfortable as I couldn't roll over or lay on my leg, It caused me too much pain, I simply had to stay on my back.

'As the months went by the challenges started to lessen, I started to get stronger and the easy daily tasks became easier. I am now walking but I am walking with a limp, some days I still need to use a crutch.

'I was such an active, go getter who always would give something new a try and no challenge was too big.

'This accident has forced me to slow down, I am back training now but I still have days where the pain gets in the way and I have to change up the exercise.'

As she recovered, her boyfriend Josh has been right by her side.

Kobi said she has been exercising again but some days her pain can get in the way

'Being able to drive again is so refreshing, relying on someone to take you from A to B is quite hard, my boyfriend has been a real trooper throughout it all,' she said.

'I have been lucky to have someone simplify my challenges and help me get through it all, the mental game has been the biggest challenge.'

As she embarks on her road to recovery, Kobi said she has been going to regular physio appointments to improve her injured knee.

By sharing her story, the model wanted to encourage travellers to get travel insurance

'I have regular physio appointments and I complete specific exercises daily to help build my muscle strength back up,' she explained.

'I would love to say "yes, I am full recovered" but sadly I'm not.'

Kobi said she still struggles to cope with the thought of knowing she miraculously survived a near-death motorcycle accident.

'I have days where I get so lost in thought, I think about what If I didn't make it, what if I was hit more on my head and resulted in a serious brain injury,' she said.

'I was told they questioned a coma but when I started waking up and responding my family was called and told I was going to be okay.'

Despite the terrifying ordeal, Kobi added: 'Bali is incredible, it is still one of my favourite places and I hope to be back one day.'

By sharing her story, the model wanted to encourage travellers to get insurance.

'This is now a must for me,' she said.

'If I didn't have travel insurance, the hospital in Bali would not have touched me until they knew I could pay for it, this sounds mean but it is the way it is.

'I am so lucky to have insurance. I'm thankful everyday.'A paper crown, corny joke and novelty gift might be traditional Christmas cracker fare, but these high-end offerings are packed with far more luxurious treats.

From diamond necklaces to designer bracelets, these seven brands spared no expense when it came to filling their festive favours.

The most expensive of the bunch are the pack of six Royal Mint Christmas crackers, which made headlines earlier this year with their 5,000 price tag.

Fortnum & Mason are also eye-wateringly costly and will set you back almost 170 a pop.

So scroll down for inspiration if you want to spoil your Christmas guests with an extra special gift...

HARRODS

Traditional Christmas Crackers, box of 6

Price: 100 (16.70 per cracker)

Classic: The elegant red and gold crackers from Harrods are filled with delicate gifts

Handmade in England and decorated with ribbon bows, each cracker contains a paper hat, joke and gift, certain to delight family and friends on Christmas day.

Highlights include a delicate pair of hair pins with rose gold toppers and a miniature cheese grater.

A particularly playful novelty gift is a gold 6in ruler, which is sure to brighten up any desk or pencil case.

FORTNUM & MASON

The Majestic Crackers, box of 6

Price: 1,000 (167 per cracker)

Money no object: The six velvet crackers from Fortnum & Mason come in a fetching hamper

Treasure forever: The gifts inside include a Halcyon Days bracelet and a leather card holder

These ultra luxe crackers from Fortnum & Mason are filled with gifts that your guests will treasure.

A Halcyon Days bangle, thought to be worth around 130, stands out from the bunch, as does a fetching beard brush with a dramatic silver stag head handle.

An Ettinger card holder would be the perfect after-dinner takeaway for someone always on the move.

LIBERTY

Christmas Gin Crackers, set of six

Price: 65.00 (10.90)

Bottom's up! One for the adults only, these playful crackers each contain a mini bottle of gin

A relatively affordable option in the luxury market, Liberty's crackers will ensure any party goes off with a bang.

Each cracker features a joke and a paper crown, along with a double-shot miniature bottle of either our Old Tom gin or sloe gin.

Made in Bermondsey, London and Barton-le-Willows, Yorkshire respectively, these gins are drawn from Libertys Food Hall  an irresistible celebration of British-made produce, sure to delight foodies and cocktail-lovers.

THE ROYAL MINT

Gold Cracker Set, pack of six

Price: 5,000 (833 per cracker)

Ultra high-end: The Royal Mint's bold purple creations are the most expensive on our list

The pack of luxury crackers, which average out to 833 per cracker, contain a selection of gifts most of us could only dream of finding under the tree.

Prizes include a 1oz Gold Bar, Britannia 2018  oz. Gold Bullion Coin, 2018 Sovereign Gold Bullion Coin, Sterling Silver Money Clip with Gold Half Sovereign, 18ct Gold Diamond Necklace and Gold cufflinks.

The crackers made headlines when they were first unveiled two months ago - but a few sets are still available to order online.

NANCY & BETTY STUDIO

Luxury King London Christmas Crackers, pack of six

Price: 120 (20 per cracker)

Handmade: These Christmas crackers boast an individual design featuring a London icon

Little touches: Gifts include a Liberty eye mask, Hopscotch candle, Hopscotch bath salts, Hopscotch lip balm, Soap Co soap bar and Soap Co exfoliating soap pebble

Handmade in the UK, these luxury Christmas crackers boast an individual design featuring a London icon.

Each gift is contained within an individual black box inside the cracker, adding to the feeling of luxury.

Gifts include a Liberty eye mask, Hopscotch candle, Hopscotch bath salts, Hopscotch lip balm, Soap Co soap bar and Soap Co exfoliating soap pebble.

ASPREY

Set Of Six Crackers

Price: 750 (125 per cracker)

Sharp dresser: Enamel sterling silver cufflinks, four different small leather accessories and a porcelain decorative bell for the tree are parceled up in the Asprey Christmas crackers

Enamel sterling silver cufflinks, four different small leather accessories and a porcelain decorative bell for the tree are among the dazzling gifts on offer with the Asprey set of six crackers.

Each cracker is made from silver and purple card and secured by matching ribbons.

As an added bonus, the crackers are available to buy online through Mr Porter - making them even easier to get your hands on.

THE CONRAN SHOP

Christmas Crackers Silver Explosion, pack of six

Price: 75 (12.50 per cracker)

Style statement: Gifts are a high-end take on cracker classics: a Champagne stopper, lipstick holder and shot measure

Made from brown kraft paper and featuring a geometric design in metallic silver, these Christmas crackers are a low-key way to make a style statement on your dinner table.

Gifts are a high-end take on cracker classics: a Champagne stopper, lipstick holder and shot measure are all to be found.

A chip fork is also included in the set - perfect for indulging over the festive season.Cosmetic 'tweakments' are set to be the biggest beauty trend of 2019, according to experts.

Dr Wassim Taktouk, who is based in London, explained how clients are now increasingly looking to have natural tweaks, rather than full-blown cosmetic surgery, due to the speed at which they can be done and the minimal recovery time.

He predicted that the jawline will continue to be a main focus into next year, as women seek to emulate the likes of Kendall Jenner and Angelina Jolie.

As well as the jawline, clients are coming in during their lunch break to have subtle face lifts, along with tweaks to their noses, lips and even their hands.

Cosmetic 'tweakments' are set to be the biggest beauty trend of 2019, as women seek to emulate the likes of Kendall Jenner (above)

Speaking to FEMAIL, Dr Taktouk said: 'Tweakments are on the rise due to the speed at which they can be done, minimal recovery time and the results last.

'In the past if you were considering something like nose surgery youd be planning well in advance. Surgery would a significant undertaking and an uncomfortable recovery.

Dr Taktouk explained how injectables are now keeping up with a world where you buy something online at the click of a button, and get it the same day.

'Now you can pop into the clinic in your lunch hour and come out with a new nose and be at the party the same week,' he said.

Dr Wassim Taktouk predicted that the jawline will continue to be a main focus into next year, as women seek to emulate the likes of Kendall and Angelina Jolie (above)

'These treatments create natural tweaks to your natural features retaining that youthful look for years to come.'

He explained how jawline tweakments look set become even more popular next year.

'The jawline was one of the most popular tweakments of 2018 and I believe this is set to continue for 2019 as everyone wants that perfect Instagram look,' he said.

'Just a slight tweak can give an elegantly defined jaw, hide jowls and add to tightening of the lower face - replicating the lift effects and filters on Instagram.'

Dr Taktouk explained how his jawline 'tweakment', which involves a combination of Teoxane Ultra Deep and RHA4 fillers, is popular for men and women.

Dr Taktouk, who is based in London, explained how clients are now increasingly looking to have natural tweaks, rather than full-blown cosmetic surgery

The doctor explained how subtle fillers can give an elegantly defined jaw and tighten the lower face. Pictured is one of his client's jawlines before (top) and after (bottom) the tweakment

'For men, I can masculinise the face by squaring the jawline and the popularity of this tweak continues to rise,' he said.

He added that injectable moisturisers and small amounts of filler in clever places are also helping giving clients a quick and subtle lift.

'Profhilo is an exciting new injectable moisturiser and skin tightener that creates a gentle lift,' he said.

'This product is packed with hyaluronic acid which intensely hydrates the face giving it that post facial dewy glow while gentle stimulating collagen production.'

Speaking about the rise of liquid face lifts, explained: 'We are no longer focusing on treating one area with dermal filler.

'Its all about injecting smaller quantities of filler in clever places to create a subtle but effective lift.'A four-year-old boy with a disability that requires him to use a feeding tube still got to enjoy cookies and milk with Santa this holiday season, thanks to one generous mall Santa who patiently fed him through his feeding tube.

Austin Maners from Fort Wayne, Indiana has special needs and has used a feeding tube since he was a baby, but recently, a doctor OKed him to start eating solid foods.

According to Wane.com, his mother, Beth Salzbrenner, wanted to celebrate the occasion by taking Austin to visit Santa at the mall  and was thrilled when that Santa went the extra mile to make Austin feel included.

Ho ho ho! Austin Maners from Fort Wayne, Indiana took a very special picture with Santa this year, with Mr. Claus sharing his milk via Austin's feeding tube

Family fun: Austin also posted for a more traditional photo with his sister and Santa

Courtesy of WANE

On December 9, Beth took Austin to Glenbrook Mall and they waited for the little boy's turn to sit with Santa.

In addition to needing a feeding tube due to swelling issues that cause his stomach to reject food, Austin is mentally delayed and has sensory issues  and all of the commotion at the mall had him a bit overwhelmed.

'They saw that he was stressed out in the line, and they let us go right to the front,' said Beth.

After Austin and his sister posed for a regular photos with Santa, perched on his lap, Beth made the request for a second picture, which Beth came up with after seeing a similar shot in a Facebook parenting group.

She asked Santa to let Austin sit in his chair, shirtless to expose his feeding tube. Santa then poured milk into the little boy's tube, while he munched on a cookie and smiled.

'He doesnt usually smile well for pictures because he gets flustered and wound up due to his sensory issues. But for Santa  he lit up!' Beth told Love What Matters.

In addition to needing a feeding tube due to swelling issues that cause his stomach to reject food, Austin is mentally delayed and has sensory issues

'When Santa was pouring the milk into his tube, Austin beamed with pride and said, "You see him give me my milkies mommy?!"' she went on.

'My sweet son was in awe that Santa himself was giving his belly a drink.

'Honestly, I was crying seeing how happy Austin was and how sweet and accommodating the staff were. Santa was so tender with him.

'This picture is the perfect celebration and way to remember that his biggest wish came true, and even though he is having to supplement his calories and hydration by tube, he is allowed eat!'

Speaking to Wane.com, she gushed about the mall Santa who gave the special gift to her son.

'It was magical. He was sharing his cookies and helping him with his milk,' Beth said. 'I could tell [Santa] was nervous because he was shaking, but he still stood there and waited for the pictures to be done, and he wasn't even rushing it.'

Yay! His mom Beth took him to Glenbrook Mall for the photos and wanted to celebrate that doctors had just given him the go ahead to eat solid foods

Popular: He and his sister were also excited by all the attention the photo has received so far

That evening, she uploaded the snap to Facebook, where it's now been shared over 63,000 times.

'Guuuuyyyssssss!!! What do you think?' she wrote. 'Austin thought he was cool stuff sitting in Santa's chair! And poor santa was so nervous he was shaking! And who doesnt love cookies and milk with santa!

'This santa deserves to be recognized for his willingness to tube feed my little guy so that he felt included in sharing cookies with santa! Thank you so much to my fellow tubie momma for the idea! It's such a cherished photo! [sic]'

Commenters cooed over the cute photo and praised Santa for being so kind  and Beth is glad to raise awareness.

'People are learning and seeing that there are all different kinds of disabilities, and that kids can be treated normally even if they have a disability,' she said.

The post that inspired her appears to be from another mother, Stephanie Boyd Frederic.

Stephanie, who lives in Louisiana, took her own photo of her 13-month-old son Kiah being fed via his tube by Santa, entering it in a contest by a local radio station.

Cutie pie: Beth was inspired by Stephanie Boyd Frederic, who staged a similar photo with her son Kiah

Spreading the love: Stephanie said she wants Kiah to 'to inspire others and bring awareness to an incredible community'

She wrote: '96.1 The River is having a Christmas baby photo contest and I wanted something that would bring awareness to medical complexities in our community and for all of our special friends weve made on this journey so far.'

In the image, Kiah is shirtless on a white rug in front of a Christmas tree. He's wearing a Santa hat and red pants and is holding two gingerbread cookies while Santa fills his tube with milk.

'Ive learned to celebrate his differences and make the best of every single thing that comes our way. I never want Kiah to feel ashamed of his tube and that starts with us accepting and celebrating his differences,' Stephanie wrote.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, she added: 'We just want to use Hezekiah's (a.k.a. Kiah) journey to inspire others and bring awareness to an incredible community. These parents in these groups have rallied around us and taught me how to be an advocate for my son.

'Helping each other is huge and together we are able to endure even the most difficult challenges of life,' she said, adding that they are currently traveling back and forth between their home in Louisiana and Boston Childrens Hospital in Massachusetts for care.

'Our little guy is such a joy despite all he has been through in his short life. Seeing his picture get so much attention has be a fun part of a rough year.'She's the Sydney PR queen who is known to enjoy the finer things in life.

And for proof you need look no further than Roxy Jacenko's 2018 Christmas wish list.

Speaking to FEMAIL on Tuesday, the 38-year-old shared her top five items, including a $45,000 candy wrapper artwork and an $100k Rolex watch.

'Santa is sweating': Roxy Jacenko, 38, shares her extravagant 2018 Christmas wish list with FEMAIL

Van Cleef & Arpels Bracelet - Vintage Alhambra Bracelet

The Vintage Alhambra Bracelet features a thin yellow gold band and five clove leaf motifs in malachite crystal.

The bracelet, which also comes with a matching necklace, retails for $5,989.68 AUD.

'Van Cleef has made a comeback. This piece is a classic and will always be fashionable,' Roxy tells FEMAIL.

Bling: The list includes a Van Cleef & Arpels Bracelet, featuring a thin yellow gold band and five clove leaf motifs in malachite crystal, retailing for $5,989.68

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Watch

Featuring an 18-carat Everose gold band, the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Watch retails for a staggering $100k AUD.

The timepiece, which Roxy says is 'one of those dream pieces' and the 'hardest timepiece to find' is adorned with 36 baguette-cut sapphires in rainbow hues across the bezel.

The watch also features a middle case set of 56 brilliant-cut diamonds.

Timepiece: Retailing for $100k, Roxy admits that the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Watch is the 'hardest timepiece in the world to find'

Paul Rousso and Babe Ruth composition artwork

US-based artist Paul Russo is currently exhibiting in Australia, and has designed a Babe Ruth inspired mixed media artwork.

The 50 x 52 x 9cm hand-sculpted styrene piece features a collage of candy wrappers including Skittles and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, as well as American dollar notes.

Roxy tells FEMAIL that she 'stumbled upon' the $45,000 artwork and believes it would make 'an amazing addition' in her new home in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs.

Art: Roxy tells FEMAIL that this Paul Rousso artwork, retailing for $45,000 will be 'a perfect addition to her new home in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs'

Hermes Oran Sandals

'These are perfect for my upcoming family trip to Fiji,' Roxy tells FEMAIL. 'The family and I are headed to Six Senses in Fiji for a summer break, so a fresh pair of these signature slides are essential.'

Retailing for $915 AUD, the tan footwear comprises of a box calfskin with hazelnut lining and a leather sole.

The shoes complement Roxy's $1million Hermes handbag collection.

Sandals: The PR queen says the Hermes Oran Sandals, retailing for $915, are 'perfect' for her upcoming trip to Fiji

Designer taste: The shoes complement Roxy's $1 million Hermes handbag collection

Membership to Sydney's Cycology Club

'I am hooked on the spin classes,' Roxy tells FEMAIL. 'It's the best fun and exercise in one and the tunes are also off the chart!'

Described as the 'ultimate 50 minute cardiovascular workout,' Cycology reinvents the ordinary spin class with choreographed weight tracks to tone the upper body.

An unlimited pass to the Surry Hills studio starts from $220.Most couples love quality time together - perhaps a stroll up the river hand-in-hand or maybe even a spot of brunch - but one husband and wife make their downtime rather more edgy by doing everything naked.

Lauren, 35, and Liam Cornell, 39, from Cape Town, South Africa, share a combined love of naturism and often go for naked rambles in the countryside - documenting their bare-buttocked jaunts in a series of photographs.

Escaping the city several times each week and venturing into the great outdoors, the professional photographers strip down to their birthday suits and roam across the land, aiming 'to recapture the innocence and freedom of being a child'.

'I think because today's culture mostly sees nudity as something sexual, people really like the fact we go naked for the pure pleasure of feeling liberated in the outdoors, without any sexual reason for it,' Lauren explained.

Scroll down for video

Lauren, 35, and Liam Cornell, 39, from Cape Town, South Africa, met in 2006 when they were working on a farm together, training animals for films and commercials

The bare-bottomed couple, who tied the knot in 2016, bonded over their love of nature and the South African wilderness - something which later progressed into naked rambling

Having wanted to do a series of naked pictures for some time, the couple decided to combine nudity with their love of long country walks in the bush and photography

The professional photographers strip down naked and roam across the land. Lauren said in doing so, they aim to 'to recapture the innocence and freedom of being a child'

Naked ambition: The loved-up couple document their naked adventures in a series of photographs and post them on their social media page, which is called 'Searching 4 Eden'

'We are obviously very aware that most people think of nudity in a sexual context, which is not at all why we do it,' said Lauren.

'It's really much more about feeling natural within nature and tapping into that sense of being wild and free.

'The fact that I can do that with my husband and soul mate makes it all the more special.'

The couple met in 2006 when they were working on a farm together just outside Cape Town, training animals for films and commercials.

Since posting a series of pictures of their naked adventures, called Searching 4 Eden, on social media, they have made such an impression that some of their followers even join them on excursions in the buff.

'People have really connected with the series and it has been wonderful to see the level of support we've got from it,' explained Lauren, adding that some of their new walking pals have struggled with body image in the past and are striding out naked to face their fears.

'It's been life-changing for us and hopefully for others, too.'

A leap into the unknown: Lauren said she loves feeling at one with nature and 'tapping into that sense of being wild and free'

Snaps such as this one from their natural picture diaries have helped the couple amass over 47,000 followers on social media

Baring all: Lauren said the fact she is able to strip down with her 'soul mate' makes it 'all the more special'

Not only have the naked adventures been 'life changing' for Lauren, but also for her social media followers who now join the couple on their adventures, as many struggled with body image

Lauren and Liam, who started dating soon after they met and went on to marry in 2016, bonded over their love of nature and the South African wilderness - something which later progressed into naked rambling.

'Sharing that passion for going on hikes together up in the mountains was really important in building our relationship,' said Lauren.

Lauren used to photograph wildlife, but as it was such a competitive industry, she struggled to make a living out of it. Their naked rambles was the perfect way to get them back into the countryside

'We both live in the city, but neither of us are really 'city people' and we feel quite trapped when we are there - so we love getting out as much as possible.'

Already enjoying a joint love of nature and hiking, keen photographer, Liam - who spend a lot of spare time taking pictures of the farm's animals - started teaching Lauren how to use a camera properly and how to snap wildlife.

This swiftly became a shared interest and when they left the farm in 2007 and moved back to Cape Town, they again worked together - this time as photographers, shooting family portraits, events and products for adverts.

But while commercial shoots paid their wages, their hobby - and passion - remained photographing wildlife.

'We love photographing wildlife, but in South Africa it's a very competitive market,' explained Lauren. 'It's hard to make a living out of it, so we wanted somehow to find a venture that would get us back out into the countryside.'

Then, having fun with some photographer friends, snapping each other skinny dipping in the pool at Lauren's mum's, they had a brainwave.

The idea to photograph their naked rambles came during a lightbulb moment when they were having fun with some photographer friends, snapping each other skinny dipping in the pool. They then saw how 'beautiful' the 'natural and innocent' shots were and decided to turn it into a hobby

The naked couple were inundated with support from their followers and so invited a few to join them on their naked rambles

They now have naked people join them - be it friends or even complete strangers as the hike up cliffs and swim through rivers

'We were all just mucking around together in the pool quite late one night and, because we were all photographers, we were, of course, taking pictures,' said Lauren.

'Then later, going through them, we saw how beautiful the shots were of all of us not looking at all posed or erotic - just very natural and innocent.'

Having wanted to do a series of naked pictures for some time, the couple decided to combine nudity with their love of long country walks in the bush and photography.

But, never having been so public about nudity before, Lauren admits that her first trip into the bush in the buff took courage.

Natural beauty: Lauren stares into the distance during one of her natural shots

'It was slightly awkward,' said Lauren.

'We had decided to go with friends the first time and it was a bit uncomfortable, stripping off in front of someone like that.

'But, after a while, we realised that they were feeling just as nervous and the anxiety was replaced by a feeling of freedom.'

Soon the couple were heading out together on hikes on a regular basis, driving to a secluded spot 60 miles from Cape Town, then stripping off and strolling through the plains and mountains surrounding the city in their birthday suits - later posting snaps of their adventures on Instagram.

And before long, they had gathered 47,000 followers - gleaned from like-minded folk who liked open, natural picture diaries and nudity.

'People really took to it,' explained Lauren. 'They would send us messages saying how much they liked the pictures and the idea behind it, so we said, 'Well, why don't you come along and join us?'

'So, pretty soon, we'd have several other naked people with us - some friends, some complete strangers.'

Bare-bottomed beauty: Lauren can be seen here walking up the rocks bare-footed as her husband artistically photographs her

While the couple feel free on their naked rambles, it doesn't come without its worries. The couple say snakes, including adders and cobras, which have venomous bites, are a real concern

They hope to keep inspiring other people to take up the mantle and embrace the joys of letting it all hang out

But naked trekking is not without its dangers - both from the venomous inhabitants of the bush and fellow fully-clothed trekkers.

'Snakes are a real worry, as in South Africa, we have adders and cobras - both of which have venomous bites,' said Lauren.

'Other people can also be a concern, because South Africa is still quite conservative, and wandering around naked can provoke strange reactions from some people - so we have to make sure we are quite far away from most of the hiking trails.

'Occasionally we come across people who are so shocked that they just stand there and stare at us and give us a disapproving look and stomp off.'

Wild and free: Lauren said they have been joined by people who were 'not comfortable with the way they looked, or had had psychological traumas.' For them, hiking naked allowed them to see how beautiful they looked on the camera

Lauren said that nudity can make you feel more confident and encourages everyone to 'give it a go'

Still, undeterred by hostile reactions, the couple plan to keep up their naked ramblings while they are fit enough to do so, and will continue posting their nude snaps for as long as people are happy to see their ageing bodies.

They also hope to keep inspiring other people to take up the mantle and embrace the joys of letting it all hang out.

'It has been very life-changing for us and has given us an immense amount of pleasure,' said Lauren. 'And I hope that it can be for others, too.

'We've been joined by some people who were really not comfortable with the way they looked, or had had psychological traumas, but they said that hiking naked with us and seeing how beautiful they looked on camera afterwards, was an incredible feeling.

'If that's what nudity can do for people then we should all give it a go.'Designer Henry Holland tied the knot with beau David Hodgson in a trendy London ceremony over the weekend.

British fashion star Holland, 35, married Hodgson, creative director of Lulu Guinness and founder of accessories brand 58, in a town hall service, with both grooms looking dapper in black tie for the occasion.

The party continued with a meal at Neptune seafood restaurant in Bloomsbury, where guests including Nick Grimshaw, Alexa Chung and Pixie Geldof celebrated the union.

Royal wedding baker Claire Ptak created a towering cake, dubbing the ambitious project the 'second most challenging' job of her career.

Just married! British fashion star Henry Holland, 35, wed David Hodgson, creative director of Lulu Guinness and founder of accessories brand 58, in a London ceremony over the weekend. Friends including Nick Grimshaw shared snaps of the happy couple online, pictured

Staggering: Guests dined on an extravagant cake designed by royal wedding baker Claire Ptak. The cake, pictured, is based on a towering cake sculpture by artist Will Cotton

Ambitious: Claire, of Violet Cakes London, revealed it was the 'second most challenging cake' of her career. She famously created the Duke and Duchess' wedding cake

Sharing a photo of the cake on Instagram, she wrote: 'Second most challenging cake of my career.

'Congratulations to the gorgeous newlyweds @henryholland and @david__hodgson who convinced me to create a cake based on a @willcottonnyc sculpture. Challenge accepted.'

The cake, which had eight mismatched tiers, is believed to have been based on artist Will Cotton's Cake Tower 2010 sculpture.

Claire famously made the Amalfi lemon and elderflower cake that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex enjoyed on their wedding day in Windsor in May.

Chic: BBC Radio1 DJ Nick Grimshaw shared a snap from inside the bathrooms at Neptune restaurant, London. The presenter wore a stylish cream suit by Gucci

Star-studded: Grimshaw with journalist Gillian Orr, Fifi Brown and Alexa Chung at dinner

Holland and Hodgson both shared loved-up Instagram posts celebrating their union.

Posted a photo of him hand-in-hand with Hodgson, Holland wrote: 'Yesterday we got married and it actually was the best day of my life. Not even kidding. Thank you to everyone that made it and us feel so special.'

Hodgson shared his one touching black and white picture, writing simply: 'Best day ever'.

Glamorous: Pixie Geldof dazzled in a dress, believed to be by Vampire's Wife, for the reception

The couple later swapped their black tie for custom creations by Casely-Hayford Bespoke for the reception.

Hodgson looked dashing in grey while Holland showcased his signature sartorial flair in a mint green suit with a velvet bow tie in a deep plum colour.

BBC Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw, chic in a Gucci suit, shared a handful of snaps and videos from the fun-filled evening soiree.

The presenter, 34, entertained guests later in the night by jumping up onto the back of the booth to perform a dance.

Festive! Days after tying the knot, Henry announced his latest work project as he took to Instagram to reveal that he has designed a Christmas jumper for Huawei Mobile UK

Days after tying the knot, Henry announced his latest work project as he took to Instagram to reveal that he has designed a Christmas jumper for Huawei Mobile UK.

Sharing a snap of himself wearing a festive blue and white sweater, with the words: 'Designated Charger' across the front, the designer explained more.

Within the caption of the photo, Henry explained that the jumper has a pouch for the mobile phone to fit into which allows unique reverse wireless charging to take place.A grieving mother has shared heartbreaking images of her tiny baby's lifeless body in a bid to encourage women to speak about the 'lonely loss' of miscarriages and stillbirth.

Justine Zampogna, 28, from Perth, Australia, received the devastating news in August that her unborn baby's brain had stopped growing.

Doctors gave her the option to either terminate at 16 weeks or deliver her daughter, who would survive only a matter of hours at full term.

The heartbroken mother has now shared her family's story on her blog and Instagram after noticing how few people talk about pregnancy and infant loss, leading her to feel incredibly lonely.

Justine kissing Gigi after delivering her at 16 weeks. The 28-year-old received the devastating news in August 2018 that her unborn baby's brain had stopped growing

Chase nicknamed his mum's tummy as Gigi, after they originally chose the name Gia, meaning 'gift from god'. Justine is now speaking out to encourage other women to share their stories

Justine and Ty had just five days from finding out about Gigi's condition and delivering her, still born, documenting their ordeal in a series of heartbreaking photographs

Justine and her husband Ty, who have been together since they were 16 years old, had their first child, Chase, in January 2016, and began trying for a second in April 2018.

Justine, who works as a hypnobirthing companion, was ecstatic to be expecting again and couldn't wait to meet her little girl who she decided to call Gia or 'Gigi'.

But her 14-week scan revealed that Gigi had anencephaly, a fatal neural tube defect which means that if a baby makes it to full term, he or she can only survive a few hours.

At 16 weeks, Justine decided to take a pill which stopped the placenta from working, and then deliver her baby that same week.

'When we found out we were pregnant a second time, I was just so excited and felt so unbelievably grateful to be a mum again,' said Justine.

Justine cradles her pregnancy bump before receiving the devastating news that her baby's brain had stopped growing and the infant would not survive

Ty and Justine spent six hours with Gigi after delivering her. Having always loved the name Gia, they had already given her that name, while Chase nicknamed his mother's bump Gigi

Justine holding Gigi's small body, as she hopes to raise awareness and encourage other women to speak about their experiences (left); and in hospital with Ty

'I was so sick for the initial 12 weeks, so much sicker than with my son. But I was starting to feel so excited because we had just got our harmony test back and found out that it was all perfect and we were having a baby girl.

'I remember thinking to myself that it all seemed way too good to be true, but we were on cloud nine.

'My husband and I loved the name and meaning of Gia. It means "gift from God". Chase just always referred to my belly as Gigi though, so it felt natural to call her that.

'We had our 12-week scan at 14 weeks as we were away, and then I got a call to say that Ty and I needed to go straight to the doctors. I knew in this moment that it wasn't good.

'So, at the end of my 14th week we were confronted with having to terminate our baby girl. Anencephaly is a fatal neural tube defect and the baby can only stay alive for a few hours post birth, and that's if they make it to full term.

Justine found that many women are too afraid to speak about pregnancy loss, which is why she has decided to share this series of heartbreaking photos (pictured with husband Ty in hospital, sharing Gigi's tiny body in August)

Justine in hospital during the delivery. Gigi had anencephaly, a fatal neural tube defect which means that if a baby makes it to full term, he or she can only survive a few hours

'We were sent to two major women's pregnancy and birth hospitals here in Perth and we were given two options, either to birth her at the hospital or be referred to a clinic to have a dilation and curettage (D&C).

'There's no right or wrong way, but for me personally I knew I had to stay authentic to myself and birth her to get the closure I truly needed.

'Two days before being induced, I had to take a pill called Mifepristone which basically stops the placenta from working.

'That moment when I took the pill had to be the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my entire life, but as part of the process of birthing her I had to do it. It was so tough to swallow that pill when I knew what it was going to do.

'Preparing for Gigi's birth involved an incredible amount of strength. In only five days I had to accept that she was no longer ever going to be mine Earth side.

At 16 weeks, Justine had to take a pill which stopped the placenta from working (pictured), and then deliver her baby that same week

'During my preparation, I couldn't find any information that was real or relatable, it was only scientific.'

On August 27, 2018, Justine was induced and gave birth to Gigi. Following the birth, the nurses wanted to monitor Justine, meaning her and Ty spent a six-hour period with Gigi.

Justine believes that being open about her experience has made it easier to cope because it has inspired her to help stop other women from suffering in silence.

'The more I heal, the more I realise that what happened to us could only ever be beautiful,' said Justine.

'I cried throughout the entire delivery, but my tears weren't from saying goodbye, they were from accepting she was gone. It was so heartbreakingly beautiful and the closure that we needed. I felt like after everything we had been through, we deserved to have our very own birth story too.

The moment Justine took the pill which would stop her placenta from developing. Justine has shared her family's story on her blog and Instagram after noticing how few people talk about pregnancy and infant loss, leading her to feel incredibly lonely

'Her sweet little soul hadn't spent more than a day on Earth, but she touched my heart so deeply. That is love in its most traumatic yet pure form.

'We only had a brief moment together, but in that moment, we were bonded together for life. My son didn't meet Gigi, we had already told him that she was in the stars.

'It wasn't until I lived my new normal for a couple of months that I understood why pregnancy loss is given the term "lonely loss".

'It's not like a loss where everyone around you had a connection with that person and you can all feel the emotions and support each other.

Justine and Ty with their son Chase. The grieving mum said of her ordeal: 'The biggest thing that shocked me was how many women and men suffer in silence'

Justine with son Chase. Reflecting on her experience, she said: 'It's not like a loss where everyone around you had a connection with that person and you can all feel the emotions and support each other'

Justine and her husband Ty, who have been together since they were 16 years old, had their first child, Chase (pictured) in January 2016, and began trying for a second in April 2018

Justine, who works as a hypnobirthing companion, was ecstatic to be expecting again and couldn't wait to meet her little girl who she decided to call Gia or 'Gigi' (pictured with son Chase)

At 16 weeks, Justine decided to take a pill which stopped the placenta from working, and then deliver her baby that same week - and the couple are now coming to terms with living as a family of three (pictured with son Chase)

WHAT IS ANENCEPHALY? Anencephaly, sometimes referred to as 'open skull', is a rare birth defect. It causes parts of a foetus' brain, scalp and skull to not form completely. The defect occurs during the third and fourth weeks of pregnancy, according to Cleveland Clinic. It happens when the neural tube, a channel in the foetus that normally closes to form the spinal cord and brain, doesn't close as it should. As a result, children with anencephaly are born without part of their skull and brain. They are often blind and deaf. Babies with the defect, which strikes one in 5,000 babies each year, tend to die within weeks. There is no cure. Advertisement

'The biggest thing that shocked me was how many women and men suffer in silence. After I shared my first blog post, so many reached out to me telling me they thought they couldn't speak about their baby because they never made it Earth side.

'We as mums are the only ones who have ever had that connection with our unborn babies and visualised our entire life with them.

'At the end of the day, at some stage we had something and then all of a sudden it's gone. We're entitled to feel sad and mourn their loss for as long as we need.

'Women should do whatever they feel they need to do to heal - name your baby, speak about your baby and make a big deal out of the day you birthed them. We should speak about them forever and always.

'I want women to know they aren't alone and to see the beauty in the heartbreak. Their angel babies are important no matter how far along they were in their journey, so never be silenced.'

Visit Justine's Instagram @justinezampogna, or her blog Dream Your BabyThe steps taken by the European Parliament regarding Azerbaijan are really important and expected, Azerbaijani MP Samad Seyidov said at a plenary session of the Azerbaijani parliament, while commenting on the adoption of a report on the protection of Azerbaijans territorial integrity and borders at a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

The MP stressed that the painful problem of the Azerbaijani people, the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, is reflected in the document of the European Parliament, which is the biggest and most authoritative structure, having the possibility of exerting pressure and defining direction for Europe.

Samad Seyidov noted that the European Parliament has several results on the conflict, which should definitely be voiced.

"Only two years ago, the European Parliament adopted an extremely negative anti-Azerbaijani resolution," Trend cited him as saying. "And the current result was achieved thanks to the organized, consistent and logical work of the authorities and the Azerbaijani parliament," Samad Seyidov concluded.

The report presented at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg reflects not only protection of Azerbaijans territorial integrity and borders, but also the importance of solving conflicts in the Eastern Partnership countries according to the peace principle on the basis of the territorial integrity of states.b In addition, the document also indicates the provision of assistance to refugees, IDPs and persons suffering from conflicts in the Eastern Partnership countries.The Duchess of Sussex is set to return to both her former homes when she embarks on an official tour of Canada and the US next Autumn - with Harry and their new baby.

Sources have told Vanity Fair magazine that the couple have rescheduled their proposed tour for late 2019 after they cancelled plans for the Spring due to Meghan's pregnancy.

Courtiers are said to be in the early stages of planning a tour that will take place after the Duchess, 37, has taken a short maternity leave from royal duties of six months.

The couple were due to visit California-born Meghan's home and Canada where she lived while filming Suits early next year, but they will now arrive as a family of three.

The Duchess, who is currently planning Christmas with the royal family at Sandringham house, will embark on a tour around the US and Canada. Pictured: Harry and Meghan arriving in Wellington on the royal tour of New Zealand in October

Meghan's mother Doria - pictured with her daughter at Cliveden House the night before the royal wedding in May - has been a huge support since Meghan joined the royal family. However, she no longer speaks to her father Thomas Markle, pictured with Meghan as a teenager, after he pulled out of the wedding a few days beforehand

While royal tours are jam packed with engagements, there will no doubt be a chance for Meghan to catch up with her mother Doria.

She has already joined Meghan on one official engagement when she accompanied her daughter to a launch party at Kensington Palace for the charity cookbook Together.

Meghan might also have a chance to catch up with old friends and work colleagues in Canada if she visits Toronto, where the set of her now former show Suits was set.

Thomas Markle, Meghan's dad will probably be hoping that the new Duchess will be paying him a visit while she's in the US.

Doria has already joined her daughter on an official engagement, attending to launched of a charity cookbook Meghan worked on with survivors of the Grenfell Tower tragedy

Meghan Markle, pictured at the British Fashion Awards earlier in December, is due to give birth to her and Harry's first baby in the spring

Her Dad, who currently lives in Mexico , has had a bad relationship with his daughter since it was revealed that he staged paparazzi photos of him getting ready for the royal wedding.

Since then Thomas Markle claims that he hasn't head from his daughter. He appeared on Good Morning Britain yesterday talking about his relationship with her.

He told Piers Morgan and Suzannah Reid, Im very disappointed by it. Im not sure why its happening and Im waiting, Im reaching out.

Thomas Markle appeared on Good Morning Britain yesterday revealing that he hasn't heard from his daughter, despite writing to her and texting her every day

Meghan and Harry take a walk at Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand after it was announced in October that she was pregnant with their first child

Asking for the Queen to help him speak to his daughter Thomas Markle carried on by saying, I would appreciate anything she could do. I would think she would want to resolve family problems.

All families, royal or otherwise, are the same and they should all be together  certainly around the holidays.

The former actress, who announced her pregnancy in October and is due to give birth in the spring will apparently only take 6 weeks maternity leave.

The Queen is keen to have Meghan more involved with royal duties by passing on one of her royal patronages to her. Pictured: The couple leaving for their evening reception at Frogmore House at their wedding in May

No details of the tour have been revealed yet, but it is said to be in the first stages of planning.

Other reports, by the Sunday Times have also claimed that the Queen is keen to have Meghan more involved with royal duties by passing on one of her royal patronages to her.

This will involve her being a patron for one of the Queen's many charities and organisations. The Queen currently has over 600 patronages.A mother who feared her husband would no longer find her attractive after falling in a fire-pit twice has bravely shared images of her horrifying burns to show other victims that it is what is on the inside that matters most.

Sherri Tripp, 50, from Kalispell, Montana, fell head first into a huge fire-pit at her daughter Sarah's graduation party in June 2018, before slipping back into it and setting herself on fire again in the hot coals.

After eight operations and suffering third and fourth degree burns across her head, face, chest, breast, arm, back and hips, the mother-of-12 feared she would no longer be physically attractive to her husband James, 49.

But with his love and support they learned to be intimate again. Now she's sharing pictures of her injuries to inspire other women with burns and let them know that any man who doesn't stand by them 'doesn't deserve them anyway'.

WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES

Sherri Tripp, 50, from Kalispell, Montana, fell head first into a huge fire-pit at her daughter's graduation party in June, before slipping back into it and setting herself on fire again in the hot coals

The mum-of-12 needed eight operations after suffering third and fourth degree burns across her head, face, chest, breast, arm, back and hips

Following the terrifying incident, she worried her husband James, 49 (above) would no longer find her physically attractive

'As a woman you think when you're not psychically attractive, how does your partner feel?' said Sherri.

'You want to be attractive for your partner, attractive for yourself.

'When incidents like this happen you question yourself and you're always like 'am I good enough?'

'Having James' support has really made a difference.'

She added: 'For a while it was really tough to be intimate. He was afraid of hurting me but I reassured him and said I'll tell him what I can and can't do.

'It's improved our communication as a couple, but I've read stories about women who come home after being burnt and they've lost their husbands or boyfriends.

'If I could say anything to them it's that if these men aren't going to stay with you through this they aren't deserving of you.

'I remember a young lady who killed herself in her twenties after being burned. It's so horrible.'

Sherri's terrifying accident happened on the day of her daughter Sarah's graduation party in June. Above, Sarah, 18, with sisters Emily (far left) and adopted sister Genny Burnham (right)

The brave mum described how the fire burnt her from just below her nose, all the way down to her hips. Above, Sherri's burns just days after falling into the fire pit

After she was rescued by her struggling friend, Sherri frantically rolled around to stop the flames, before stripping off her clothes. Their location meant it was quicker to rush her to hospital than to wait for an ambulance

Sherri had planned the celebratory barbecue for Sarah in June ahead of her leaving for university and invited more than 150 friends and family members.

Decorating the grounds of their 400-acre home, Sherri had dug a three-foot-deep fire-pit behind their house for 18-year-old Sarah's friends, who would camp outside.

On the night of the terrifying accident, Sherry was 'very proud' of her daughter so had decided to throw her a family barbecue

At the end of the night's celebrations, she stood up to go to bed, tripped over her feet and fell into the pit, landing in hot coals.

Stumbling to get up, Sherri slipped again, falling for a second time into the coals and newly-ignited flames - burning the entire right side of her body.

Six months on and after eight operations, Sherri still faces losing mobility as scar tissue develops, risking her ability to open her mouth or use the bathroom herself.

'It's been so tough,' said Sherri. 'The fire burnt me from just below my nose all the way down to my hips.

'My lower jaw, chin, upper chest, right breast, arm, armpit, shoulder, clavicles, all the way down to my hips, from the centre of my back to the middle of my chest - all burnt.

'At first there was some pain, a lot of adrenaline and a lot of shock.'

Sarah, who now studies Veterinary Sciences at Montana State University, was the first of Sherri's 12 children to go to university.

As Sherri lay in the back of the car, her daughter Sarah (above) fought to keep her from losing consciousness

'We were very proud of Sarah and wanted to throw a nice barbecue and invite family,' explained Sherri. 'They could camp outside our huge property.

'I'd been cooking since some ungodly hour the day before. We were so excited.

'Bonfires happened, alcohol happened and people were having a good time at the bar.'

As the night drew in and guests went back to their tents, Sherri and her son Aaron, 27, reflected on the evening's events.

When she stood up to go back to the house, she stumbled over her own feet and fell into the fire-pit, reigniting the flames.

'I was wearing a dress, long sleeved shirt and a polyester-style jacket,' explained Sherri. 'All thick materials.

'My life is more important than my hair and my hair does not define me. Nor does my skin, nor does my scars

'My first thought was "okay, just back out of it." I tried to back out but I was bringing rocks up on top of me.

'I was trying to catch my breath - it was so hot.

'I tried to pull myself out and I couldn't get there. I couldn't get my hand out from under me.

'Most of my right shoulder, ear and hand were either on the side of the pit or holding me up.

'Using my left hand I tried to get out but I just couldn't get any leverage.

'So I called for help, but I was having a really hard time vocalising the words. I couldn't get the sounds to come out.

'Finally a friend was able to hear me from her tent and she pulled me out.'

After she was rescued by her struggling friend, who was also burnt in the process, Sherri frantically rolled around to stop the flames, before stripping off her clothes.

Aaron returned after hearing the screams and called an ambulance but their location meant it would be quicker to rush her to hospital himself.

As Sherri lay in the back of the car, Sarah fought to keep her mum from losing consciousness.

Over the next couple of days, Harbour View Medical Centre, Seattle, medics worked on stabilising Sherri and started to repair her body after the burns.

The most heavily damaged area of Sherri's body was her neck and chin, so her first operation was a skin graft from her head to replace the skin lost. Above, Sherri after her skin graft surgery

At the hospital, doctors did a split thickness graft and attached it to Sherri's neck. Incredibly swollen, she said she felt like 'the character from Willy Wonka who turned into a blueberry'

The most heavily damaged area was her neck and chin, so her first operation was a skin graft from her head to replace the skin lost.

'I had really long hair almost to my waist but I said 'if you're going to shave my head, you'd better not leave any patches,' said Sherri.

'I loved my hair but it will grow back, or, if it doesn't, I'll find some really cool wraps to put on my head.

'They did a split thickness graft and attached it to my neck. I had collars to keep it all in place.

She added, 'I felt like the character from Willy Wonka who's turned into a blueberry. I was incredibly swollen and red and everything was tight - I couldn't move.

'In June 18, I had a couple of other surgeries where they grafted skin from my legs and thighs to cover my arms, back, shoulder and upper chest.

'My skin was trying to contract and it was really hard to move. I still had open wounds at this point.'

While Sherri's grafts are mostly healed, they continue to create scar tissue that leads to knots under her skin

Sherri now self-massages several times a day and believes her newly-developed arthritis is a result of repetitively rubbing her scars. Above, Sherri's neck after her skin graft started to heal

In the following six months, Sherri rested at home and attended physiotherapy appointments each week with two different therapists.

While her grafts are mostly healed, they continue to create scar tissue that leads to knots under her skin.

As well as professional massages and therapists, she now self-massages several times a day and believes her newly-developed arthritis is a result of repetitively rubbing her scars.

'In the beginning I had very limited mobility. In the last month I've been able to gain a bit of that back,' said Sherri.

'I've been in Xeroform and a variety of other dressings now for six months. I'm still using something on my elbow because that's not closed.

'I have to change those every couple of hours.'

Six months on and after eight operations, Sherri still faces losing mobility as scar tissue develops, risking her ability to open her mouth or use the bathroom herself

Despite her ongoing journey of recovery and the fear she could lose her mobility in the future, she has issued a message of support to other women going through the same thing.

Sherri has now vowed to 'put her face back where it belongs' and stay strong for others going through the same thing.

'I want to reach out to women and say that we deserve to be appreciated for what's inside us too,' explained Sherri.

'My life is more important than my hair and my hair does not define me. Nor does my skin, nor does my scars.

'I'm not going to just be a statistic, I can do better than that.

'I'm going to put my face back where it belongs and we'll move on with our lives and keep going.

Sherri has now returned to work and is looking forward to a quiet Christmas with her family. Above (left to right) Sherri with husband James and children Sarah and John, and adopted daughter, Genny

The brave mother is sharing her story to reach out to women and say that 'we deserve to be appreciated for what's inside us too'

Sherri returned to her work as a support worker on September 1 and is preparing for a quiet Christmas, although Sarah will be travelling back from college.

'Looking ahead it'll be more of the same - continuing this until I can get the skin to stop stretching as much,' said Sherri.

'They tell me that it could be a year before my skin stops moving around.

'The skin itself is healed but it's still laying down scar tissue.

'If I don't continue to massage, it could mean the lose of movement in my arm, it could be the end of moving my head.

'It could be that I can't get my mouth open enough to brush my teeth or I can't use the toilet myself.'A group of young rich Russians living in Britain have given a rare behind-the-scenes look at the stories behind their lavish lifestyles.

Four privileged socialites, who post regular glimpses of their luxurious lives to their Instagram, opened up to society Tatler about being part of the new generation of Russian-Brits, who have come of age in Britain.

These youngsters in their late teens and early 20s have integrated into the upper circles of the English elite, while their 'nouveau-rich' Russian-based have never shaken off the image of being 'outsiders'.

Many are the offspring of super rich business magnates, who moved to the UK after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, investing their staggering wealth across Britain under Tony Blair's 'golden visa' policy -which allowed them residency in the country in return for a minimum 1 million investment.

Frequenting the most exclusive members-only bars in Belgravia and splitting their time between country mansions, Mayfair mews and exotic holidays by private planes and chartered yachts, they live lives of undisputed privilege.

For instance, Philipp Gazmanov , 21, the son of Russian popstar Oleg Gazmanov, says he's become part of 'secret societies' in London that only the elite can join.

But some have faced prejudice, including Anna Milyavskaya, 22, who has been sworn at and verbally attacked for being Russian.

Russian Brit Anna Milyavskaya , 22, the daughter of an actor and business man, lives in Mayfair after moving to England aged 14 to attend boarding school from Moscow mansion which counts Russian president Vladimir Putin as a resident

Philipp Gazmanov, 21, the son of Russian popstar Oleg Gazmanov, splits his time between Russia and England after attending exclusive boarding schools in Surrey and already has his own business- seen on a private jet

Sasha Ignatiev, also 21, revealed the regular holiday spots all rich Russians like to be seen at- in the summer Marbella, Monaco, Mykonos, Saint Tropez, Ibiza and in the winter St Moritz, Gstaad in Switzerland and Courchevel in France (seen left on a private yacht)

Philipp Gazmanov is seen with his father, Russian popstar Oleg Gazmanov, as they pose in front of a fast car, enjoying a life of luxury which he frequently shares on Instagram

Anna Milyavskaya, a privileged student of Generation Z, spoke about her life frequenting Harrods, members clubs in Belgravia and enjoying exotic holidays- seen on a private plane

ANNA MILYAVSKAYA

Anna Milyavskaya, 22, the daughter of an actor and business man, lives in Mayfair after moving to England aged 14 to attend boarding school, leaving behind her Moscow mansion in an exclusive neighbourhood where residents include notorious Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The privileged student of Generation Z spoke about her life frequenting Harrods, members clubs in Belgravia and enjoying exotic holidays- but admitted she has faced anti-Russian sentiment- being sworn for wearing a chinchilla coat.

Citing Louboutin slippers, Hermes bags, Regents Park and parties 'with a dress code' as her favourite things, she described being verbally attacked as as her mother withdrew money from a cash point in Mayfair.

'It was winter and I was wearing a chinchilla coat,' she told the publication. ' There was a guy behind me started swearing at me, 'You f***ing Russian b***h in your fake jacket, move away, everyone hates you in this country, no one wants you here, you're immigrants, go back to your country.'

But despite the unpleasant experience, Anna feels at home in her close-knit community, describing how 'every second person in Belgravia' speaks Russian.

Anna Milyavskaya is seen celebrating her 22nd birthday in Moscow, lying on a plush day bed surrounded by luxurious bouquets of roses in another snap shared with her 11,600 followers

Anna Milyavskay enjoys an array of luxurious holidays every year, and is seen relaxing in an infinity pool in the Seyshelles to kick of her 2018 this year

Anna, seen here on a private yacht in France's Cap-d'Ail, cites holidays, Louboutin slippers, Hermes bags, Regents Park and parties 'with a dress code' as her favourite things

PHILIPP GAZMANOV

Elsewhere Philipp Gazmanov, 21, the son of Russian popstar Oleg Gazmanov, splits his time between Russia and England after attending exclusive boarding schools in Essex's New Hall School, then Hurtwood House in Surrey.

He has already started his own business which he describes as 'Uber for trucks', and remained tight-lipped about his love for London- only admitting that were secret societies the elite were part of.

Describing himself as down to earth, the entrepreneur said: 'What I like is that there are secret clubs and societies, restaurants where only certain people can go.' Refusing to name them, he added: 'There is a reason they stay secret.

Phillip has a love for fast cars and splits his time between Russia and England after attending exclusive boarding schools in Surrey's New Hall School, then Hurtwood House in Essex.

Elsewhere Philipp Gazmanov was seen hanging out with boxer Floyd Mayweather as the Russian elite were seen mingling with the celebrities

Phillip often shares snaps of the top spots to be seen if you're a Russian socialite, including Lerici in Italy, where he is seen above

ANASTASIA MALAKHOVA

Meanwhile Anastasia Malakhova, also 21, moved to the UK at the age of 14, and attended private school Harrodian in Barnes, South-West London, a school famed for its A-list attendees where parents can use the school gym and hang out at the cafe.

Another fixture in Russian's exclusive community in London, the Maths whizz and model enjoys annual holidays to the Tuscan seaside town of Forte dei Marmi ever- a favourite destination among her circle.

Even if I dont plan a holiday with my friends, I know that theyll be there', she said of the top spots on the scene.

SASHA IGNATIEV

And Sasha Ignatiev, also 21, revealed the regular holiday spots all rich Russians like to be seen at- in the summer Marbella, Monaco, Mykonos, Saint Tropez, Ibiza and in the winter St Moritz, Gstaad in Switzerland and Courchevel in France.

See the full feature in the January issue of Tatler, on sale now

Despite still being a law student at Royal Holloway, Sasha already owns his own clothing line and enjoys membership at Queen's Club, which charges members around 2,000 a year, with a share in the club previously reportedly starting a 12,000.

A first-generation Russian, he grew up in South Kensington with his British mother and Russian businessman father, and enjoys the use of a country house in Kent which boasts a sauna, ice-cold plunge pool, bearskins and taxidermied reindeer heads.

Admitting that his father- vaguely described as working in tourism, likes 'all things English' but with a 'Russian twist', he said: 'He loves Ascot. Thats probably his favourite thing, even though its so English. [But] if you still want to bring your heritage with you.'

See the full feature in the January issue of Tatler, available on digital download and newsstands now.

Along with the others in the Russian elite, Sasha has posted pictures as he shmoozes with celebrites, seen here with British boxer Anthony Joshua at luxury holiday resort Jumeirah in Dubai

Sasha travels to the luxury destinations in private planes, documented with his more modest following of 2,300 people on Instagram

Sasha, seen posing in front of an oil portrait painting of himself, grew up in South Kensington with his British mother and Russian businessman father, and enjoys the use of a country house in Kent which boasts a sauna, ice-cold plunge pool, bearskins and taxidermied reindeer heads.

Sasha, seen here with his cousin, also enjoys the use of private yachts, and is seen here in Paros, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea best known for its beaches and traditional villagesSweden's royal family were reunited in Stockholm today for an event held in honour of the queen's upcoming 75th birthday.

Queen Silvia and King Carl XVI Gustaf were joined by their three children - one of whom jetted in from the States for the occasion - and their partners for the seminar at Oscar Theatre on Tuesday.

Crown Princess Victoria, 41, looked elegant in a patterned floral number while her sister-in-law Princess Sofia, 34, dazzled in a crimson midi dress that was cinched in at the waist.

Princess Madeleine, 36, stunned in a 1,260 Alexandra floral matelasse dress from British label Erdem, a favourite of the Duchess of Cambridge.

The birthday queen, meanwhile, looked remarkably youthful in a fuschia buttoned skirt suit teamed with a glittering brooch.

Scroll down for video

A family affair! Prince Daniel and Crown Princess Victoria are joined by their six-year-old daughter Princess Estelle for Queen Silvia's 75th birthday seminar in Stockholm today

Lady in red! Prince Carl Philip's former model wife Princess Sofia, 34, looked ravishing in crimson as she joined her in-laws for today's seminar which was held in the Swedish capital

Swedish royals assemble! L-R: Prince Daniel, Crown Princess Victoria, Princess Estelle, Queen Silvia, King Carl XVI Gustaf, Princess Sofia, Prince Carl Philip, Princess Madeleine and Chrisopher O'Neill descend on Oscar Theatre in Stockholm for a seminar on 18 December

They were also joined by their granddaughter and second-in-line to the throne, six-year-old Princess Estelle.

Their youngest daughter, Princess Madeleine, recently relocated to Florida with husband Christopher O'Neill and their three young children, but looked delighted to be back with her family on Tuesday.

Today's seminar, for guests invited by the Queen, focused on issues close to the royal's heart including childrens rights, dementia care, and drug prevention.

It was announced earlier this year as part of the consort's ongoing birthday celebrations, which will include a reception at the Royal Palace on Wednesday and conclude on the big day itself - the 23rd December.

L-R Prince Daniel, his wife Crown Princess Victoria, daughter Princess Estelle and Queen Silvia in Stockholm today for a seminar marking the queen consort's upcoming 75th birthday

The royal couple with their daughter-in-law Princess Sofia, right. They were also joined by their granddaughter and second-in-line to the throne, six-year-old Princess Estelle, left

Woman of the hour! Queen Silvia, who is marking her 75th birthday, looked remarkably youthful in a fuschia buttoned skirt suit teamed with a glittering brooch in Stockholm today

Princess Madeleine, pictured, recently relocated to Florida with husband Christopher O'Neill and their three young children, but looked delighted to be back with her family on Tuesday

L-R Princess Sofia, her brother Prince Carl Philip and her sister-in-law Princess Madeleine. It was announced earlier this year as part of the consort's ongoing birthday celebrations, which will include a reception at the Royal Palace on Wednesday

The royal couple arrive at Oscar Theatre for today's seminar. Silvia has recently taken part in a series of documentaries to mark her 75th birthday, and during a rare interview this week she admitted it was 'a big shock' to learn of her father's Nazi links following his death in 1990

Royal wave: Prince Daniel, Princess Estelle, Crown Princess Victoria, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, who celebrates her 75th birthday this month, wave to onlookers

A birthday gift for the Queen? Johnny Ludvigsson, chairman of the Swedish Child Diabetes Foundation, appeared to hand Silvia and Carl XVI Gustaf a hamper before they parted

Silvia has also taken part in a series of documentaries to mark her 75th birthday, and during a rare interview this week she admitted it was 'a big shock' to learn of her father's Nazi links following his death in 1990.

She discovered in 2002 that her late father, Walther Sommerlath, became a member of the Nazi party during the 1930s and spoke about the impact it had on her family.

According to Royal Central, she told Drottning Silvia 75 ar [Queen Silvia at 75] that she didn't believe the revelations at first but 'when I got to see the evidence in black and white, I had to accept it'.

She added: 'Im not trying to detract from the fact that he had become a member. But you may have to think "Why did he do it?"

Queen in the making! Six-year-old Princess Estelle (pictured with parents Prince Daniel and Crown Princess Victoria) is second-in-line to the throne after her mother and will one day replace her grandfather King Carl XVI Gustaf as head of state

Pretty in pink! Six-year-old Princess Estelle wrapped up warm in a blush coat as she joined her family for a day out in Stockholm, where temperatures plummeted to 0 degrees today

Royally stylish: Crown Princess Victoria, who will one day be queen of Sweden, looked elegant in a navy dress featuring a pie crust collar and delicate red and white floral detail

Bye for now! Princess Madeleine, who is believed to be spending Christmas in Sweden this year, recently moved to Florida with her husband and three young children

Madeleine, 36, looked chic in an Erdem Aleena Floral Matelasse Dress teamed with black suede courts and a fashion-forward black dress featuring an oversized ruffle

'He and many others did not know what would happen after. Had he known, I dont believe he would have become a member.'

When Silvia married into the Swedish monarchy in 1976, her German father denied he had ever been a member of the Nazi party. It later emerged that he had joined the movement in 1934.

Queen Silvia admitted this week that she has since carried out extensive research in a bid to understand more about her father's involvement with the NSDAP since the scandal was exposed in a Swedish newspaper in 2002.

Eight years later, in 2010, the revelations about Sommerlath - who was living in Brazil at the time he joined the party and only returned to Germany on the eve of war - plunged the royal family into crisis.

Sweden's Queen Silvia, pictured in Stockholm last week, has admitted it was 'a big shock' to learn of her father's Nazi links following the late businessman's death in 1990

Silvia Sommerlath, now Queen Silvia, with her parents Walther and Alice and her brother Joerg at Arlanda airport, two days ahead of her wedding to Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf in 1976

Sweden's Queen Silvia, right, arrives with her parents Alice, center, and Walther Sommerlath, left, at the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm in 1981. When she married in 1976 the Queens German father denied he had ever been a member of the Nazi party

Sweden's future Queen Silvia Sommerlath holds her father's hand in a childhood photo. Revelations about Sommerlath - who was living in Brazil at the time he joined the Nazi party and only returned to Germany on the eve of war - plunged the royal family into crisis in 2010

But in 2011, a fresh report claimed that although Sommerlath belonged to the NSDAP Nazi party, he appeared to have been an inactive member and had even helped a Jewish businessman escape the Holocaust.

Sommerlath resettled in Berlin and on 24 May 1939 he took over the company Wechsler & Hennig.

According to Royal Central, Queen Silvia discovered in her research that her father had in fact helped Jewish Ernst Wechsler, a Jewish man, to flee Germany by trading his coffee plantation in Brazil for ownership of the firm.

Queen Silvia added: 'Its been 30 years since he died so now I think it is enough. I want to say to the Swedish people that I am at ease with it. I know that my dad is not the person that people have created him to be.'Royal fans have gone into meltdown over Meghan's very prominent baby bump today - questioning whether she may be further along than previously thought.

The Duchess of Sussex, 37, displayed her blossoming bump in a 834 dress by LA-based brand Brock Collection as she visited the Royal Variety Charity's residential nursing and care home in Twickenham.

She and Prince Harry announced in October that they were expecting their first child in the Spring, but her exact due date has not been revealed.

Meanwhile, Meghan herself commented that she was 'very pregnant today' as she spoke to care home residents during her visit.

Fans quickly took to social media to speculate that she was more pregnant than believed, or that she may be having twins.

Scroll down for video

Royal fans have gone into meltdown over Meghan's very prominent baby bump as she visited the Royal Variety Charity's residential nursing and care home in Twickenham today (above)

Instagram users quickly began to speculate whether the Duchess, 37, is further along than previously thought, with some suggesting she might be having twins

One commented on Instagram 'Big bump already!', while another added: 'A lot further on in her pregnancy than made out'.

Another fan added: 'Wow..look at that cute bump...'

Meanwhile, another questioned: 'Do you think she's having twins?'

When asked about her pregnancy today, the Duchess told a care home resident she was 'very well', adding: 'I'm very pregnant today'.

The Duchess of Sussex, 37, displayed her blossoming bump in a a 834 dress by LA-based brand Brock Collection as she visited Brinsworth House, Twickenham, today

Meghan, who is expecting her first child in the Spring, told care home residents that she was 'very pregnant today' during the visit

Social media users suggested that the Duchess was further along than thought after seeing her prominent bump

Speculation has been mounting that Meghan and Harry, 34, could be having twins after the Duchess was seen with a prominent bump while attending a carol service in London earlier this month.

Some fans meanwhile have been speculating over the Duchess's due date, suggesting that it could be earlier than previously believed.

Kensington Palace announced in October that Prince Harry and Meghan were expecting their first child in the Spring.

The glowing Duchess looked in high spirits as she arrived at the Royal Variety Charity's Brinsworth House in Twickenham today

Meghan looked elegant in a floral midi dress, which she teamed with a 550 coat by Canadian brand Soia & Kyo

At the time, it was believed that Meghan was roughly three months pregnant, as it was understood that she had already had her 12-week scan.

However, the fact that the Duchess was already showing during the royal tour Down Under led to many to speculate she was around four months pregnant.

This would make Meghan six months pregnant, which would mean that her due date is in March.

Meghan looked elegant in a floral midi dress by Brock Collection for her visit today, which she teamed with a 550 coat by Canadian brand Soia & Kyo.

The former actress was there to bring some Christmas cheer to retired entertainers at Brinsworth House, the Royal Variety Charity's residential nursing and care home in Twickenham.Tuesday's episode of This Morning proved to be an emotional one as soldiers who had spent months away from their children were reunited with them just in time for Christmas.

Three families were taken to Lapland UK in Ascot so with the promise of meeting Father Christmas, not knowing that their dads would be showing up to surprise them.

Chief petty officer Steven Trimmer's children cried out 'daddy!' and ran up to him for a hug when he walked through the doors, as they haven't even be able to speak to him for several months.

Daniel Parkes, who has been deployed in Iraq with the Grenadier Guards since July, got the chance to see his daughter walk for the first time as he reunited with his brood.

This Morning helped to reunite soldier and the children they haven't seen in months on Tuesday's episode, including Chief petty officer Steven Trimmer and his children (pictured), who haven't even been able to speak in months

John Luckin, who has been away with the Royal Air Force for fourth months, received a warm welcome from his children and gave him a big hug when he snuck up behind them in the grotto.

The reunions proved to be an emotional watch for This Morning viewers, with one saying they were 'sobbing'.

This Morning worked with charity Little Troopers to reunite the families, as the organisation helps to support children whose parents are deployed away from home.

CPO Trimmer joked that he needed to 'learn how to be a dad' again after being away from his twin sons and little girl for so long.

The reunions proved to be an emotional watch for This Morning viewers on Twitter, with one saying they were 'sobbing'

In a touching moment he pulled his children into hugs after they rushed over to greet him.

'I'm so happy to be home. I feel complete,' he said.

Mr Parkes hadn't seen his children for three months and missed out on seeing his baby daughter's first steps.

As the tot and her big brother sat down in the grotto, Father Christmas told them: 'We've got one last big surprise for you.'

He then snuck into the room and picked his children up for a cuddle, with the little ones looking lost for words to see their father again.

Daniel Parkes, who has been deployed in Iraq with the Grenadier Guards since July, was reunited with his two children (pictured) and even got to see his daughter walk for the first time

Mr Parkes's children looked lost for words to see their father again for the first time in so long as he picked them up for a hug

Mr Luckin hadn't been able to speak to his children for a week before their reunion.

He was welcomed with big hugs from his twin daughters and baby boy in the emotional moment.

Viewers took to Twitter to say they were in tears watching the reunion.

One tweeted: 'Awwwww how adorable is this the dads reuniting with their families.'

John Luckin (left), who has been away with the Royal Air Force for fourth months, looked excited as he waited outside the Christmas grotto with Alison Hammond (right) to be reunited with his children

Mr Luckin hadn't been able to speak to his children (pictured together) for a week before their reunion and received a warm welcome when he went into the grotto

This Morning worked with charity Little Troopers to reunite the families, as the organisation helps to support children whose parents are deployed away from home

'I think this reunion bit on #ThisMorning is going to make me cry!' another posted.

A third said: 'Unless your loved one has been away for months on end you'll never understand the feelings when they return. I couldn't do it live on the tele, I'm always a sobbing mess (sic).'

Louise Fetigan from Little Troopers explained that the charity works with the children of soldiers serving abroad to support them through missing their parents and moving around when they are deployed somewhere else.

'What an amazing day,' she said of the reunions.

'Little Troopers is a charity that supports British armed forces families when they're deployed and separated so to be here today reuniting these families after months apart is really special.'Registered nurse Diane Leck and stay-at-home grandpa Daniel Mallett had been together for seven years when they met waitress Cynnamon Hogue

A long-term couple has revealed how they invited another woman to join their relationship and form an inseparable 'throuple' after falling for her while she waited their table during a dinner date.

Registered nurse Diane Leck, 54, and stay at home grandpa Daniel Mallett, 38, from St. Louis, Missouri, had been together for seven years when they first met customer service representative, Cynnamon Hogue, 25, around 18 months ago while she was working as a waitress in a restaurant they were eating at.

Feeling an instant spark after their interactions, Diane left a note and her number for Cynnamon to get in touch. The next day Cynnamon texted Diane and the three of them decided to go shopping on their first date.

Special bond: Diane Leck (center), 54, and Daniel Mallett (left), 38, had been together for seven years when they met waitress Cynnamon Hogue (right), 25

'Instant spark': The couple of seven years invited Cynnamon to join their relationship and form a polyamorous triad after she waited on them one evening

Six months later, Cynnamon moved in with Diane and Daniel and they exchanged rings with one another as a symbol of their three-way devotion and equal footing in the relationship.

Diane and Daniel had been in a triad relationship with another woman before but this is Cynnamon's first romantic relationship of this kind. They have been a triad for a year and three months now and for Diane and Daniel, the addition of Cynnamon has completed their relationship and family home.

'We were seated in Cynnamon's section at the restaurant, and at first meeting there was just this "spark" and we sat and talked about how this lady waiting on us is kind of awesome,' said Diane.

'We both thought that maybe we should leave a note I don't know about elsewhere in the world, but here in the USA, leaving a note for a server is generally seen as both tacky, creepy, and kind of rude.

'We had never committed such a faux pas before but we decided nothing ventured, nothing gained, and so I left my number and invited Cynnamon to text sometime if she wanted.

'The next day when Cynnamon did text, we were beside ourselves with excitement and we went on a date to a mall, and we've been together ever since. About six months later Cynnamon moved in with us.

'At that time, matching rings were bought and given to each other, to show commitment to one another, and making a household that feels complete now.'

Diane, Daniel and Cynnamon are in a closed triad and are not looking to add anyone else to it. Each member of the relationship says that the most important thing about being in a three-way relationship is that they get to love and support each other through every up and down.

Close: The trio went shopping for their first date after Diane and Daniel left their number for Cynnamon on their table

Committed: Cynnamon moved into the couple's home just six months after their first date

Dedication: The trio all exchanged rings as a sign of their commitment to one another

'To me it means being able to love both my partners, and being in a healthy, stable relationship with two wonderful people,' said Cynnamon.

'I'm able to love without judgment and cuddles are great.

'I really liked them from the get-go, and was smitten, but my nervousness was there in ways that I would really hope that they liked me, and I was in lust and it just kind of turned into love from there.

'There wasn't an exact day that I said, 'wow I love them' to myself. It just happened and I'm happy with my partners. I feel we took our time and didn't rush, but we didn't take it at a super slow pace either, we knew what we felt and it was that.

'We work like any other healthy relationship. We have ups and downs, but we each have our own strengths and weaknesses.

'We just do our best to have open communication and try to keep building one another up.'

The three have all struggled with jealousy at times but have learnt to work through these feelings together.

'I get jealous when they talk about their life before me, and all these amazing experiences they had without me. I want to be sure I'm bringing goodness into their life too,' continued Cynnamon.

'As far as disagreements, Daniel and I know how to push one another's hot buttons, and sometimes we just got to give one another space for a bit then we can come talk it out calmer. Diane and I rarely get into it, she's our Switzerland.'

Secure: All three are now dedicated to their closed triad, which means they are not looking for anyone else to join the relationship

Working things out: Cynnamon admitted that she and Diane know how to 'push one another's hot buttons' but that they have worked out how to get over any arguments smoothly

Responsibilities: Daniel is a stay-at-home grandpa and says he sometimes gets sad when he has to do grandfather duties and misses out on spending time with his girlfriends at home

Daniel continued: 'I don't get jealous of them, though sometimes I'm sad when they are off doing something and I'm on grandpa duty, and even then, it's just because I love and miss them.

'Disagreements happen now and then. Mostly it's just frustrating, sometimes we get a little heated, and have to just take a break and come back to it later. But we never stop loving.'

Diane added: 'I don't ever really have jealousy towards Cynnamon, just when they get to do things together when I'm working, it really sucks.

'As for disagreements, we sit down and figure it out and be careful about what we say when were mad, because once you say something, it can't be un-said.'

The future looks bright for the three and they would all like to start a self-sufficient homestead with other likeminded polyamorous people where they can share resources but not partners.

'I would like to start a homestead with other poly people where we could share resources, and each have our own households, but work towards common goals together,' said Diane.

'I try to live my life with as few regrets as possible.

'None of us are promised tomorrow, Love who you love, don't get stuck on colour, gender or creed, or you may miss out on much love.'Lady Kitty Spencer looked in high spirits as she joined pupils in the classroom during a charity visit in Margate.

The model, 27, went to Cliftonville Primary School, Kent, to find out more about how the Save the Children's education programmes are helping pupils.

She opted for a stylish grey polo neck jumper for the visit, which she teamed with a Bulgari ring and necklace, which have been designed to raise funds for the charity.

Princess Diana's niece took part in activities in the classroom, as well as meeting families being helped by the charity.

Lady Kitty Spencer looked in high spirits as she joined pupils in the classroom in Margate, in support of Save the Children

The model, 27, went to Cliftonville Primary School, Kent, to see how the charity's education programmes are helping pupils

Save the Children's Families Connect programme is helping to increase parents skills and confidence to support their childs learning at the school.

Speaking about the visit, Lady Kitty said: 'Cliftonville Primary is an incredibly special school and I was genuinely moved by the experience.

'These formative years of education are proven to massively dictate the progress of each young student so it is imperative to bridge the gap caused by poverty as early on as possible.'

She added: 'It was wonderful to spend time with families and hear how [the programme] has not only brought them closer as a unit, but also built their children's confidence in the classroom.'

Lady Kitty looked chic in a grey polo neck jumper as she met pupils and their parents at Cliftonville Primary School

Bulgari has partnered with Save the Children to create a range to raise funds for the charity, including a necklace, priced at 480. 60 from each sale will go to the charity

Lady Kitty was visiting the school in her role as ambassador for high-end jewellery brand Bulgari, which has partnered with Save the Children to create a range to raise funds for the charity.

The model has had a busy year, most recently enjoying a trip to Mexico as part of her role for the brand.

Her work as ambassador for Bulgari has taken her to New York, Italy, France and Beijing in the last few months alone.

She also recently starred on the cover of Tatler, along with fellow model Helena Christensen.

Lady Kitty has had a busy year, most recently jetting off to Mexico. She shared a number of Instagram snaps from the trip (above)Marla Maples has recalled how she and her ex-husband, Donald Trump, discussed him running for president in the '90s, but they ultimately decided against it because of his children.

While appearing on the Today show Tuesday, the 55-year-old actress opened up about Trump's longtime political ambitions, after she was asked if he had ever talked about running for president when they were together.

Maples made it clear that she had certainly considered herself a contender for first lady, responding: 'Oh gosh. Yes. Absolutely. Its something we thought about doing in the '90s.'

Scroll down for video

Back in the spotlight: Marla Maples, 55, appeared on the Today show on Tuesday to talk about her ex-husband, Donald Trump, their daughter, Tiffany, and her spirituality

Looking back: Maples said that Trump 'absolutely' talked to her about running for president when they were together. They are pictured in 1991, two years before they married

Worries: Maples said she was concerned that campaigning would have a negative effect on Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric (pictured), his three children with his first wife, Ivana Trump

The former Dancing with the Stars contestant married Trump in 1993, the same year that they welcomed their only child together, Tiffany.

And before they divorced six years later in 1999, she said he had contemplated running for office, and had gone as far as to discuss a potential political career with his then-wife.

However, they were concerned that campaigning would have a negative effect on Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric, his three children with his first wife, Ivana Trump, who were still very young at the time.

When Maples and Trump married, Donald Jr. was nearly 15, Ivanka was 12, and Eric was only nine.

'I knew how difficult it would be on the kids,' she explained. 'Donnie, Ivanka, and Eric were much younger. Its a big toll. It can take a big toll on kids. Its a whole other world.'

Today host Craig Melvin couldn't resist asking Maples to weigh in on her ex's controversial presidency, inquiring if Trump has said or done anything that has surprised her so far.

She diplomatically answered the question by saying she doesn't judge anyone because she doesn't want to be judged herself.

Nixing the idea: 'I knew how difficult it would be on the kids,' she explained. Together, Maples and Trump had one daughter, Tiffany. They are pictured with Tiffany in 1996

Relationship: Maples and Trump married in 1993, the same year they welcomed Tiffany. They divorced six years later in 1999

'I just think life is about being ready for anything and where youre going to find the positive in all things, ' she said.

'I choose not to judge anybody else. I dont want to be judged, so how can I judge another human being?' she asked.

'I just want to give the best version of myself I can. I just say to all my friends, lets just help lift this world, not bring it down.'

Before running for president in 2016, Trump had talked about it for decades.

He first mentioned the possibility of a run in 1987 while promoting his book Trump: The Art of the Deal. In 1999, the same year he divorced Maples, Trump told Larry King that Oprah Winfrey would be his first choice for running mate.

Diplomatic: During the interview, she dodged a question about her ex's controversial presidency by saying she chooses 'not to judge anybody else'

Mother and daughter: Maples moved from New York City to Southern California to raise Tiffany in Calabasas after her divorce. They are pictured in Spain in 2008 and Italy in 2017

Coping: Marla (pictured in India) said she's been traveling to deal with 'empty nest syndrome' now that Tiffany is going to law school at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

After their split, Maples moved from New York City to Southern California to raise Tiffany in Calabasas. She returned to the Big Apple in 2011 to appear in the off-Broadway play Love Loss and What I Wore.

'I am just so happy to be back,' Maples told the Today hosts. 'Raising Tiffany in California, I think, was important.

'I wanted to sort of get away from the spotlight a bit and have a chance to have real good mommy-daughter time where she could discover really who she is,' she explained. ' And now, you know, she is back in a big way.

'New York has always had my heart,' she added. 'I moved here when I was 20 years old, and I just love how it is a melting pot of people from all over the world  all faiths, all backgrounds, all races, all of us together, just learning and growing. I love my city!'

During her Today show interview, Maples happily discussed her travels. In October, she visited India to talk to a crowd of 10,000 people about wellness, spirituality, and the importance of the environment.

Conference: While in India in October, Marla spoke to a crowd of 10,000 people about wellness, spirituality, and the importance of the environment

Multi-hyphenate: She also shot a music video called 'Pieces of Heaven' while she was there

Maples, who won an award a Hollywood music award in 2013 for her ambient music album with the Dalai Lama, revealed she had shot a music video called 'Pieces of Heaven' while she was there.

Just last week, she was in China to speak at the first womens panel at the Sanya Forum on Sanya Hainan Island.

Craig brought up the conferences in India and China, asking: 'What was that about?'

'That was about getting over empty nest syndrome,' Marla replied with a big laugh.

'Truly it is so painful,' Maples admitted. 'I think my daughter Tiffany is watching now I love you so much  but she can't even begin to understand how hard it is when you're there with that child for so many years, and then they're growing.

'She is in her second year of law school,' she said of Tiffany, who is a student at Georgetown University.

Views: Maples said life is all about 'what you take in and how you share it back'

Motto: 'I just do my best to give love back, and you don't always get it back, but you have to do the best you can,' Maples said of dealing with challenging people

At the end of the interview, Sheinelle Jones asked Maples how she just keeps getting better with age.

'It's, like, how do you love? Who do you surround yourself with? How do you feed yourself with thoughts? With food? What are you sharing back in the world? I believe that's everything,' Marla said.

'It's what you take in and how you share it back, so I just choose to really surround myself with people who have beautiful consciousness that want to share.'

Maples also shared how she chooses to deal with challenging people.

'I just do my best to give love back, and you don't always get it back, but you have to do the best you can,' she said.

'You know, living in New York and walking the streets in this day, where everyone is quite charged with their issues, it's more important than ever just to see beyond that.'Sex and the City fans lusting after Carrie Bradshaw's style now have a unique opportunity to own a part of her close  and a piece of movie history  for three grand.

In the original Sex and the City movie, which was released in 2007, Sarah Jessica Parker toted a glitzy bag shaped like the Eiffel Tower and covered in Swarovski crystals.

And now the show and movie's costume designer Patricia Field is offering fans the chance to buy the exact bag Carrie carried for a rather impressive price of $3,000.

Remember this? In the first Sex and the City movie, Carrie, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, carried a custom bag shaped like the French monument

The bag: Covered in 7,000 Swarovski crystals, it was designed by Timmy Woods, who actually sells replica versions on his own website for the sky-high price of $3,750

Field announced the sale on Instagram this week, noting that the bag is straight from her personal archive, meaning it is the one that Sarah actually used while filming the popular movie.

Those most dedicated fans of the series and its movie sequels will recognize the accessory as being the purse Carrie chose for her first outing of the big-screen hit - when she and her partner Mr. Big go hunting for apartments in Manhattan.

The original bag featured in the film was created by Timmy Woods and covered in 7,000 sparkling Swarovski crystals, giving it the effect the historic tower has when it's lit up at night.

It has a TW lock closure, satin lining, a small inside pocket, and a drop-in shoulder strap.

Interestingly, although Patricia's price tag for the bag might seem high to some, it turns out the costume designer is actually offering people a hefty discount off the recommended retail price for the limited edition design - which can be bought new via the designer's website for $3,750.

Buy it: Costume designer Patricia Field is now selling the exact one used in the film, straight from her personal archives. She is offering it at her Miami pop-up store for $3,000

Hers is even signed by the designer and is 'famous,' as bags ago, having a movie under its belt.

Spot the difference? The designer actually sells a limited edition replica of the bag on his website - but for the much higher price of $3,750, meaning Field is offering a discount

With all of that in mind, the $3,000 she is asking for it doesn't seem like such a giant price tag.

The bag is available to buy at her Miami pop-up at 180 NW 27th St., or can be purchased via phone for those out of town.

This isn't the first time items from the series or movie have gone up for sale to the public, though most frequently the garments and accessories are up for auction.

In fact, the very green dress that SJP wore while carrying the Eiffel Tower purse was sold at a Premiere Props auction three years ago

And n 2013, SJP auctioned off three pairs of shoes by Prada, Dolce Vita, and Jonathan Kelsey to benefit the LaGuardia High School for Music, Art and the Performing Arts in New York.The four-day annual meeting of heads of Georgian diplomatic representations and consulates 'Ambassadors Conference 2018' has opened in Tbilisi.

Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze has thanked Georgian diplomats for their efforts towards the countrys Euro-Atlantic integration.

"The primary goal of the Georgian government is the countrys Euro-Atlantic integration and you play the main roles in this regard," Agenda.ge cited the PM as saying.

He stressed that that in a challenging world, having a pragmatic, flexible and reasonable foreign policy is more necessary than ever. "We all know about the challenges we face and how risky the world political shakings are for the countries with young democracy like us," Bakhtadze noted.

According to him, due to the devoted work of the Georgian government and diplomats, Georgia has taken genuine steps towards NATO and EU integration.Heartbreaking photos have revealed the devastation of families in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where Ebola has now killed at least 313 people.

The outbreak, which began in August, is the second worst ever in the world and is expected to last until the middle of next year.

More than 500 people have already caught the deadly virus in the north-east of the country, where efforts to control the outbreak are being hampered by violence.

And children are believed to make up around a third of all cases of people being infected, with experts warning they catch it from parents and medical centres.

Some 39 new cases were reported between December 4 and December 10, according to the World Health Organization's latest situation report.

And with a general election looming next week, the possibility of more violence and protests could complicate and even put a stop to aid efforts, experts have warned.

Photos released by Reuters have shown families grieving at the funerals of children, in Beni in the North Kivu province, who died of suspected Ebola

A woman cries next to the coffin of a child who is believed to have died of Ebola in the ongoing outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo

More than 500 people have now been infected with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in central Africa, with an estimated 313 dying of the disease

Photos released by Reuters have shown the funerals of children, in Beni in the North Kivu province, who died of suspected Ebola.

Experts have reported worryingly high numbers of children being struck down by Ebola in this outbreak, with youngsters accounting for a third of all cases.

But families are not allowed to be near children who died of the infection because it is still contagious after death.

Children are believed to be catching the illness at medical centres, where they have been taken with other symptoms but come into contact with the virus.

Youngsters who catch the haemorrhagic fever are at a higher risk of dying than adults because they have weaker immune systems.

Ebola typically infects adults because they are most likely to be exposed to the lethal virus, but children are just as susceptible.

Few cases of Ebola in babies have historically been reported, but experts suspect transmission could happen via breast milk or close contact with infected parents.

Ebola typically infects adults because they are most likely to be exposed to the lethal virus, but 'worrying' numbers of children have been affected in this outbreak, experts said

Children are thought to catch the deadly virus when they come into close contact with infected adults or from drinking breast milk if their mother has the virus

Children are thought to have made up around a third of all of the 531 cases of Ebola which have struck the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the outbreak began in August

UNICEF said more than 400 children have been left orphaned or unaccompanied in this outbreak, as patients can spend weeks in treatment centers

So far, more than 400 children have been left orphaned or unaccompanied in this outbreak as patients can spend weeks in treatment centers, UNICEF said.

A kindergarten has opened next to one treatment centre in Beni, the epicenter of the outbreak, 'to assist the youngest children whose parents are isolated' there, it added.

A story emerged last week of a six-day-old 'miracle' baby who survived Ebola after contracting it from her mother, who died during childbirth.

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

But the death toll is expected to rise as the political climate remains tense and armed groups continue to fight in the region.

The country will hold elections on Sunday, December 23, when people will vote on whether to remain under a controversial president who has ruled since 2001.

DRC has never had a peaceful transition of power since the country gained its independence in 1960.

Violence has already thwarted efforts to control the outbreak, with health workers being kidnapped and attacked by armed militants.

Some WHO workers even had to flee the city of Beni in November when an explosive shell hit their hotel but did not explode in a militia attack.

And tracking suspected contacts of Ebola victims to test them for the disease remains a challenge in areas controlled by rebels.

Chals Wontewe, Oxfam's director in the country said: 'DRC is battling to keep Ebola under control; cases are increasing at a quicker rate and the virus has spread further.

'Although the outbreak is still far from the scale of the West Africa epidemic, we're operating in an extremely complex environment and facing the very real threat of more violence and instability in the run up to the elections.

'The response could be forced to slow down, or even be suspended  every time this has happened before the virus spread further.

'The election must be allowed to take place peacefully and all candidates and their supporters must put the well-being of the people of Congolese first, if we're to have any hope of putting an end to the Ebola outbreak.'

When children die their parents are not allowed to handle them because Ebola can continue to spread even after death because it lives in people's bodily fluids

A story emerged last week of a six-day-old 'miracle' baby who survived Ebola after contracting it from her mother, who died during childbirth, but many more children have died

A general election planned for Sunday could cause more outbreaks of violence in the central African country, which experts warn may interfere with or even put a stop to health workers' efforts to control the outbreak

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 hasn't changed, but scientists are now tracking the effects of different medications.

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.

Last week, officials announced more cases are being diagnosed in the city of Butembo, 35 miles (56km) away from Beni, the centre of the outbreak.

Experts warn the quick spread makes tackling the virus more complicated because containing it has been challenging enough in the one city.

They 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.

It comes after news broke earlier this week that hundreds of health workers in South Sudan will be given Ebola vaccinations amid fears the virus will spread.

No cases have been confirmed in neighbouring South Sudan yet, but the country is on 'high alert', according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

More than 2,000 healthcare and frontline workers in the country will be offered a vaccine to try and stop the spread.

Teams of vaccinators are ready to conduct the vaccinations, starting in the capital, Juba, on December 19.

The UN Refugee Agency warned there is an influx of Congolese refugees seeking shelter in South Sudan because of conflict in the DRC.A tiny box implanted in the chest could be a radical new treatment for anxiety.

The device, around the size of a matchbox, generates a mild electric current to stimulate the vagus nerve, running from the chest to the brain.

Scientists believe zapping the nerve dampens feelings of anxiety by increasing feelgood chemicals in areas of the brain that control the emotion.

At least six million people in Britain will, at some point in their life, suffer from anxiety so severe they find it disabling, according to the charity Anxiety UK.

What a gift! The new implant looks similar to a pacemaker and is placed beneath the collarbone on the left side of the chest, in a short procedure done under local anaesthetic

Anxiety is a normal response to stress or danger and occurs when the hormone adrenaline is pumped through the body to help us cope in a crisis  the so-called fight or flight response.

However, problems arise when this response is disproportionate to the situation or occurs when there is no danger at all.

Symptoms include a racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, a tight chest, nausea, tremor and sweating. Feelings of fear and detachment are common and can also lead to generalised anxiety disorder  feeling anxious all the time for no reason.

GPs usually treat anxiety with so-called talking therapies, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Here, patients are helped to question negative or anxious thoughts and encouraged to do the things they would normally avoid because they fear it might trigger anxiety.

Patients may also be offered antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Although effective in some, they can cause side-effects. The new implant looks similar to a pacemaker and is placed just beneath the collarbone on the left side of the chest, in an hour-long procedure done under local anaesthetic.

A connecting lead under the skin is wrapped around the vagus nerve in the left side of the neck  this delivers bursts of low-dose electricity every five to ten minutes.

The vagus nerve affects a range of functions, from breathing and heart rate to our sense of taste, and is an important pathway from the body to the brain.

Common: At least six million people in Britain will, at some point in their life, suffer from anxiety so severe they find it disabling, according to the charity Anxiety UK

Zapping the nerve with electricity alters levels of key brain chemicals and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has become an increasingly popular treatment in recent years for conditions including epilepsy, depression, Crohns disease and tinnitus.

In tests on rats, animals given a VNS treatment similar to the new implant were much less likely to freeze on hearing loud noises  a sign of fear and anxiety  than those that were not treated.

Writing in the journal Brain Stimulation, the scientists said the nerve therapy could be a powerful new treatment when given in addition to talking therapies. They think it works by elevating levels of the brain chemical serotonin, which lifts mood.

David Baldwin, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Southampton, said the new therapy could help patients who dont respond to existing treatments. There is always a small proportion of patients who do not respond to treatment. VNS could conceivably help this group.

However, he stressed that proper clinical trials on humans would be needed before it could become more widely available.Up to 20,000 ambulances a year are dispatched to women suffering from morning sickness, a report said yesterday.

Health experts said the extraordinary findings show how badly sickness during pregnancy is managed by GPs. Treating the condition costs the NHS up to 62million a year.

Extreme forms of pregnancy sickness can be life threatening, with 3 per cent of women suffering with hyperemesis gravidarum, the type suffered by the Duchess of Cambridge.

Up to 20,000 ambulances a year are dispatched to women suffering from morning sickness, a report said yesterday (stock image)

But researchers said proper planning and treatment would eliminate the need for a 999 response in most cases.

They found that every day more than 50 pregnant women are rushed to A&E by ambulance because their sickness has spiralled out of control. Roger Gadsby, the University of Warwick professor who led the study, said one problem had been the lack of treatment options and GPs were reluctant to prescribe because of the thalidomide disaster.

Just two months ago the first licensed morning sickness drug for three decades was licensed, allowing it to be prescribed on the NHS for the 80 per cent of women who are affected.

Professor Gadsby said he suspected the attitudes of doctors and the wider population were also important.

There has been a perception among the general public that pregnancy sickness should be greeted with joy, because it is a happy confirmation of pregnancy, he added.

But at the severe end of the spectrum it can make people feel very, very ill. The very phrase morning sickness trivialises it  and it is also inaccurate, as women are just as likely to feel sickness in the afternoon as the morning. The Duchess of Cambridges experience has enabled people to realise this is not a trivial condition.

Health experts said the extraordinary findings show how badly sickness during pregnancy is managed by GPs. Treating the condition costs the NHS up to 62million a year (stock image)

He said primary and community care were suboptimal, adding: Im not saying better management will stop all requirement of hospital treatment, but we are hoping better management will reduce the numbers that have to go.

My own view is that many of the ambulance callouts are likely to be to women at the end of their tether with very severe symptoms.

With planning and management that can be avoided.

Published in the British Journal of General Practice, his research examined the way women were treated for pregnancy sickness in Newcastle and Gateshead in 2014/15.

Over the year 1,409 women had appointments with their GPs  with some visiting up to seven times in the same pregnancy.

There were 145 calls to 999 and 198 calls to 111, with ambulances called out 153 times. Across the UK, this would equate to 19,725 ambulance callouts a year.

Previous research by Plymouth University has shown doctors and midwives remain remarkably ignorant about severe pregnancy sickness, with few patients offered effective treatments.

A study of 394 women who have suffered with the condition, published in the midwifery journal Midirs last year, found only 34 per cent were given accurate information. One woman told the researchers she was told to go home and deal with it.A man suffered a heart attack after he became overwhelmed by the beauty of Botticelli's The Birth of Venus.

The unnamed Italian, 70, was gazing at the 15th century masterpiece in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence on Saturday morning when he had an intense artistic experience.

He was the latest to fall victim to an apparent condition known as Stendhal's Syndrome - defined as dizziness, fainting, hallucinations and even heart palpitations when seeing something of 'great beauty'. It is not medically recognised, but there have been many anecdotal cases, particularly in Florence, where Renaissance art is abundant.

Luckily, cardiologists who were also visiting the gallery were on hand to treat the retired patient.

The man is recovering well in Careggi hospital, Florence, where doctors are said to be used to dealing with Stendhal's Syndrome.

A man was rushed to hospital after he became overwhelmed by the beauty of Botticelli's The Birth of Venus (pictured), which depicts the goddess of love and beauty emerging from the sea

Stendhal's Syndrome is not a recognised medical condition and therefore its prevalence is unknown.

It is named after the 19th century French writer Marie-Henri Beyle, who is better known by his pen name Stendhal.

Stendhal described a 'kind of ecstasy' after seeing the 'sublime beauty' of the church Basilica di Santa Croce in the same Italian city. 'I had palpitations; the life went out of me, and I walked in fear of falling,' he said.

The Italian psychiatrist Graziella Magherini, who worked at the Santa Maria Nuova hospital in Florence, noted 106 cases that were treated as emergencies between 1977 and 1986.

Many of these patients were stretchered out of the city's galleries and museums after suffering dizzy spells, palpitations, hallucinations, exhaustion and even loss of identity.

Dr Magherini described risk factors for the syndrome as 'an impressionable personality, the stress of travel and the encounter with a city like Florence haunted by ghosts of the great, death and the perspective of history'.

WHAT IS STENDHAL'S SYNDROME? Stendhal's Syndrome describes a bizarre set of symptoms - including dizziness, exhaustion, hallucinations, loss of identity and palpitations - upon seeing art or something of 'great beauty'. It is not a recognised medical condition and therefore its prevalence is unknown. There have been many anecdotal cases, particularly in Florence, where Renaissance art is abundant. The Italian psychiatrist Graziella Magherini, who worked at the Santa Maria Nuova hospital in the Italian city, noted 106 cases that were treated as emergencies between 1977 and 1986. Stendhal's Syndrome is named after the 19th century French writer Marie-Henri Beyle, who is better known by his pen name Stendhal. He described a 'kind of ecstasy' after seeing the 'sublime beauty' of the church Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence. Upon leaving the church, Stendhal said he struggled to walk, had palpitations and the 'life went out of him'. But the late journalist Louis Inturrisi lightheartedly dismissed Stendhal's Syndrome as tourists trying to fit too much into their itinerary. 'They have to "do" Florence, Rome, and Naples in two days, and it almost kills them,' he said. Advertisement

Some reports claim the Italian man suffered a cardiac arrest - when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood around the body - while others allege he had a heart attack - when the supply of blood to the heart is blocked, usually by a clot.

The Italian website Firenze Republica reports he had a cardiac arrest and was treated by four doctors with a defibrillator, which happened to be in the same room.

Defibrillators give a high energy electric shock to someone who is in cardiac arrest but are ineffective in heart attacks.

Speaking of the incident, Uffizi's director Eike Schmidt said: 'This is not the first time people have become ill in the Uffizi  it happens, especially in front of major works such as those by Botticelli and Caravaggios Medusa".

Mr Schmidt claims a visitor fainted in front of Medusa earlier this year, while another had an epileptic seizure while looking at Botticelli's Primavera in 2016.

'This is the proof: Art influences reality,' he said, but added he never saw the syndrome while working in the US.

Although Stendhal's Syndrome has been reported outside of Florence, Dr Magherini believed the Italian city has the most cases due to its copious amounts of Renaissance art, which is both beautiful and disturbing, and can provoke distressing memories.

Doctors at the Kfer Shaul Mental Health Centre in Jerusalem reported 'Jerusalem syndrome' in the 1990s, which is defined as patients becoming overwhelmed by the 'holy, historical and heavenly city'.

Those affected typically have borderline personality disorders or have suffered a psychotic episode in the past.

Once in the Israeli city, they are driven to singing psalms, 'wrapping themselves in hotel bed linen' and delivering sermons, the medics claimed.

The doctors estimated this affects around 100 visitors a year, of which 40 require hospitalisation. All seem to recover when they leave Jerusalem, they added.

In a lighthearted piece for the New York Times, the late journalist Louis Inturrisi suggested many come down with Stendhal's Syndrome simply because they pack too much into their itinerary.

'They have to "do" Florence, Rome, and Naples in two days, and it almost kills them,' he wrote. 'And many of them really just want to be back home with the telly on.'

Another visitor to the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, which displays The Birth Of Venus, fainted while looking at Caravaggios Medusa (pictured) earlier this year. It is based on the Greek myth of Medusa - a woman with snakes for hair who turned people to stone by looking at them

A Uffizi visitor had an epileptic seizure while looking at Botticelli's Primavera (pictured) in 2016An NHS hospital in Scotland has become the first in the UK to offer one-day hip replacement surgery.

The Fife health board  which runs the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, near Edinburgh  can now have patients back on their feet just hours after the major surgery.

On average, hip replacement patients spend around four days in hospital. But the procedure allows patients to be discharged within 12 hours.

Recovery time is shortened by using anaesthetic on a smaller area of the body, meaning feeling and movement returns to people's legs faster.

Surgeons say it will make a 'huge difference for the patient' and allow them to get back to walking, driving and working quicker than usual.

David McCallion, 50 (pictured), became one of the first patients to have the procedure done after it began to be used at NHS Fife in Scotland this month

One of the first patients to have the speedy surgery was David McCallion, a 50-year-old self-employed roofer with arthritis in his hip, the BBC reported.

His hip became too painful to ignore and was limiting his ability to work, so he opted for the new operation.

The father-of-two went into hospital at 7am, had his operation at 9am and was discharged by around 6.30pm the same day.

NHS Fife, in the Edinburgh region of Scotland, has become the first in the UK to offer the surgery using a smaller area of anaesthetic so the patients can go home the same day

'I prefer [this] than having to stay in hospital all night,' Mr McCallion told the BBC. 'The kids will be more settled and I'll be more settled at home.'

Mr McCallion will have to take up to three months off work for his hip to fully recover.

Offering the operations at NHS Fife is part of a pilot, with plans to roll out the surgeries across Scotland and to try one-day partial knee replacements as well.

The procedure is not suitable for all patients but could be beneficial for those who are reasonably fit and a healthy weight.

It does not take as long to recover from because, instead of a spinal anaesthetic which numbs the leg muscles and stops them working for up to six hours, medics just numb the tendons and ligaments around the hip.

This prevents pain in the area but does not knock out the leg muscles, meaning the patient can get back to walking straight away.

The director of surgery at NHS Fife, Edward Dunstan, performs around four hip replacements a day and said the operation also reduces the risk of dangerous blood clots.

'It makes a huge difference for the patient,' he said.

Mr McCallion suffered from arthritis in his right hip and, after avoiding having the operation, he was one of the first patients to have the one-day procedure done, which saw him in and out of the hospital in less than 12 hours

Roofer Mr McCallion, a father of two, went into the hospital at 7am, had his operation at 9am and was discharged around 6.30pm the same day  he will have to take 10 to 12 weeks off work to fully recover

'It reduces muscle loss in the body  if you stay in bed too long you lose muscle mass.

'It increases the oxygen saturation in the blood which makes them feel very much better.

'It also increases patient satisfaction rate and, importantly, it reduces the risk of clots which can be a dangerous complication of hip replacement surgery.'

There are more than 15,000 joint replacement operations carried out every year in Scotland and around 160,000 in England and Wales.

Each procedure costs on average 5,500, which increases with longer hospital stays, so shortening recovery will save the NHS money, too.

'When you consider a one night stay in hospital is 500, if you can reduce that by just two days you are saving 1,000 of that patient episode,' added Mr Dunstan.

But patients hoping to be sent to Fife for the convenient operation will be out of luck  in the vast majority of cases people can only be referred to their local hospital.A mother attempted suicide by jumping in front of a bus when she was told her unborn baby would be severely brain damaged because of the Zika virus.

Thamires Ferreira da Silva, 29, was six months pregnant when she ran out into the traffic in Rio de Janeiro.

'I just wanted to finish it,' Ms Ferreira da Silva said, recalling the time she tried to end her life.

The bus braked in time, and two years later, she is raising her son, Miguel, with her husband, Wallace.

Miguel was the first child in Brazil to have been affected by the virus, which can be spread to a foetus' brain by the mother.

Now, it is a global health concern, with a total of 86 countries reporting evidence of the mosquito-transmitted infection, according to the World Health Organisation.

But Ms Ferreira da Silva said her family have 'been forgotten', and only receive basic care.

Thamires Ferreira da Silva, 29, was six-months pregnant when she ran out in front of a bus in Rio de Janerio, Brazil to try and commit suicide. She had just found out her unborn child, who is now two years old, would be severely brain damaged because of the Zika virus

Miguel suffers from microcephaly, a condition in which the brain does not develop properly and results in a smaller head. Cases soared during the Zika epidemic in Brazil, 2015

Miguel is unable to walk, sit, or lift his head due to his brain deformities

Miguel, aged two years and four months, suffers from microcephaly - a condition in which the brain does not develop properly and results in a smaller than normal head.

The condition can lead to seizures, delayed development and other disabilities.

Miguel also has lissencephaly, where parts of the brain appear smooth.

It is a form of the rare Dandy-Walker syndrome that is characterised by deformation of the part of the brain that controls movement, kidney problems and epilepsy.

WHAT IS ZIKA VIRUS AND HOW IS IT SPREAD? The Zika virus is spread by mosquito bites, between people during unprotected sex, and from pregnant mothers to their children. It cannot be cured or prevented with medicines. Although most adults do not become seriously ill from the infection, it can cause serious birth defects if pregnant women get it. Foetuses' brains can be affected by the virus when it is passed on from the mother and it can cause microcephaly. Microcephaly is a condition in which babies' heads are unusually small, which can lead to seizures, delayed development and other disabilities. The virus can also increase the risk of unborn children developing Guillain-Barre syndrome  an uncommon illness in which the immune system attacks the nerves and can cause muscle weakness and paralysis. Zika is a tropical disease and is most common in Central and South America, Africa and South East Asia. There was an outbreak of the virus in Brazil's capital, Rio de Janeiro, in 2016 and there were fears that year's Olympic Games would have to be cancelled after more than 200 academics wrote to the World Health Organization warning about it. The virus is not commonly found in developed countries like the UK, US and Australia. But it is present in the Pacific Islands such as Fiji and Tonga, where the pregnant Duchess of Sussex will visit on her royal tour this month. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advertisement

Despite being cross-eyed, the toddler can see, and he reacts to family voices. But he is unable to walk, sit or lift his head.

His parents follow a strict and costly regime that involves giving him six medicines every 12 hours and regular hospitalisations.

Wallace said: 'It's difficult and it costs a lot. Families hide their child so society doesn't see it. But us, we want to be part of society.'

He works at night as a computer technician to help pay the countless bills racked up for Miguel's care, including for his paediatrician, kidney doctor, physiotherapist and psychomotor specialist, spread across three different hospitals.

The couple have the help of their families and medical specialists, but it's not enough.

'I feel that we've been totally forgotten,' Ms Ferreira da Silva said.

The Zika epidemic in Brazil that started in 2015 caused an exponential increase in the number of babies with microcephaly and other neurological defects.

In 2014, there were 147 cases of microcephaly reported for Brazil. In 2015, the number of cases rose dramatically to 3,530 suspected cases, according to figures.

The country's poorest region, in the north-east, was particularly effected.

The government has taken several measures to assist mothers raising Zika-affected children, such as priority access to public housing and minimum-wage payments for the poorest families.

But often they still face difficulties getting access to municipal services because of a lack of information or the complicated bureaucracy.

The government's universal healthcare system, Sistema Unico de Saude (SUS), has not provided adequate financial and technical support in response to the Zika virus, experts have previously found.

A sudden shift in government and worsening political and economic conditions can undermine years of established links between the government and international health agencies.

Ms Ferreira da Silva, and her husband, Wallace (surname unknown), say they have 'been forgotten' by the health care system and only receive basic care for Miguel's requirements

The couple follow a strict and costly regime that involves giving Miguel six medicines every 12 hours and regular hospitalisations. He has been in intensive care eight times in his life

Ms Ferraira da Silva has had to give up work to care for Miguel, whilst Wallace works nights as a computer technician to help pay the countless bills needed for Miguels health

These challenging political and economic conditions have contributed to a reduction in SUS funding, leaving women and their Zika affected babies to suffer.

Ms Ferreira da Silva said: 'They do everything so you don't come back. There is a lot of bureaucracy so you just give up because you are overwhelmed with so many things.'

Initially, she and her husband contacted other families in the same situation to swap information and lobby authorities to make sure their rights were respected, such as the house they have just moved into in Rio.

But their standard of living and the attention they have managed to provide for Miguel is not the rule, they say - and especially not for single mothers who have been abandoned by their partners.

'Miguel makes us fight, not only for him but also for the families,' Wallace said. 'Because we know how difficult it is. We know that many families have an absent father.'

Paradoxically, the biggest difficulty they faced was not receiving complex medical treatments but basic paediatric attention.

'In the public health system, doctors generally don't know the congenital syndrome (of Zika). So they don't manage to give basic pediatric care,' Wallace said.

'Yet this same baby who has a congenital syndrome, who has microcephaly and other illnesses too will have, for instance, tooth pain and all those other normal problems other babies have.'

The parents say they would like to have more children but the future isn't certain with the constant attention and resources Miguel requires.

Ms Ferraira da Silva has had to give up a nursing course and work to care for her son, who is her sole focus.

In Miguel's short life so far, he has already been admitted into intensive care eight times.

Although Zika virus has not yet been definitively proven to be the cause of the increased numbers of infants with microcephaly in Brazil, and a child will not necessarily have the condition if a pregnant women contracts the Zika virus, a distinct link has been found.

Microcephaly can affect life expectancy, as well as the quality of life.

Ms Ferreira da Silva said: 'Live for today. Miguel could live for 10, 20 years - or two or three. But if you don't live, you will feel frustrated in the future for all you didn't experience, they told me.'

'So I will bathe him, kiss him, take in his smell. Because at any moment they could put him in hospital.'

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.An 11-year-old boy who is covered in hairy moles because of a rare condition nearly died after it also caused him to develop a brain tumour.

Lucas Starr, from Alaska, suffers from giant congenital melanocytic nevus (GCMN), which causes dark-coloured, often hairy, patches of skin to develop in just one in every 50,000 children.

The condition led to Lucas developing hydrocephalus - a build-up of fluid in the brain - as well as neurocutaneous melanocytosis, which resulted in his tumour.

The youngster was rushed to hospital earlier this year after he had a seizure at home. Doctors later discovered his brain tumour, which they removed in Lucas' 30th operation.

Despite enduring bullying at school and cruel stares from strangers, Lucas refuses to let his condition hold him back and dreams of one day becoming a professional racing driver.

Scroll down for video

Lucas Starr (left) suffers from a disorder that causes him to be covered in dark moles. The condition - giant congenital melanocytic nevus - also led to a brain tumour, which was discovered when he had a seizure this year. He is pictured right after surgery to remove it

Despite the difficulties his family has endured, Lucas' parents Devon and Whitney Starr (pictured at their home in Alaska with their daughter Kaylee) call their son a 'reason to live'

'The Nevus is all over me,' Lucas said. 'It means I can get brain masses easier and that can lead to more serious problems.'

After having a seizure and being rushed to hospital, doctors removed his brain tumour, which was small and not yet cancerous.

Lucas' father Devon Starr, 35, said: 'They pulled a very small square bone from his skull. As soon as they removed it, they could see it. They didn't have to go in too deep thankfully.

'But it was all so tough. What happens in the ICU, stays in the ICU. I'm just so pleased he had his father there to pull him through.'

Lucas is no stranger to hospitals, with his hydrocephalus meaning he requires check-ups every three-to-six months.

Mr Starr and his wife Whitney, 33, first realised something was wrong when Lucas was born looking like 'burnt charcoal'.

They have since learned he probably developed GCMN in the first eight-to-14 weeks in the womb.

'When he was born, doctors didn't know what he had,' Mrs Starr said. 'Basically, he looked like charcoal burnt.'

The couple later discovered the condition was causing lesions that were covering some of Lucas' brain and spine, with him requiring his first surgery at just three months old.

Although it has been difficult, Lucas' parents say they are 'so proud' of him and even see him as a 'reason to live'.

'We just enjoy every second with him,' Mr Starr said. 'Maybe because of what's going on with him or maybe not.

'I just see it as more of a reason to live life and just breathe that into him as much as we can.'

Mrs Starr added: 'We are so proud of Lucas. We are so amazed with him every single day.'

Lucas manages to maintain a positive attitude despite enduring cruel bullying and stares

Pictured as a newborn, Lucas' parents were unaware anything was wrong until he was born looking like 'charcoal burnt'. They later learned his condition developed early on in the womb

Lucas is pictured as a child with his father who said he 'enjoys every second with him'

The youngster is pictured with his sister Kaylee playing on their bikes when they were younger

Despite his positive outlook, Lucas struggles with bullying and being stared at.

'Whilst I'm out in public, I don't like when people stare at me,' he said. 'I don't know what they are thinking about me and the way I look and stuff.

'Some of the time, I don't enjoy going to school because kids bully me. I don't know why, because I'm the same as everyone else. I just look different.

'But I don't let it stop me from doing anything. I can do everything that a normal kid can do. I just have some roadblocks here and there.'

His mother also finds the bullying difficult but describes Lucas as a 'fighter'.

'Since he was born, people always stare at him,' she said. 'They don't understand. They think they can catch it or something.

'It's hurtful and traumatising for children when they get made fun of.'

But, she added: 'Lucas is a strong-willed kid. He came out as a fighter and I think he will go out that way too.'

Mr Starr tries to inspire Lucas to live the fullest life possible (pictured together recently)

Pictured when he was younger, Lucas describes himself as a 'normal kid' with 'roadblocks'

Lucas had his first surgery at just three months old and endured his thirtieth earlier this year to remove his brain tumour. The youngster is pictured as a toddler at homeThe US Surgeon General warned sternly against youth e-cigarette use on Tuesday, warning that the 'vaping epidemic' is dangerous to adolescents' health and could lead them down the path to nicotine and cigarette addiction.

His announcement follows new data yesterday revealing that rates of teen vaping have doubled in the past year.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams took aim at the best-selling electronic cigarette brand in the US, urging swift action to prevent Juul and similar vaping brands from addicting millions of teenagers.

Adams's advisory urged that parents, teachers, health professionals and government officials must take 'aggressive steps' to keep children from using e-cigarettes. Federal law bars the sale of e-cigarettes to those under 18.

SCROLL FOR VIDEO

A high school principal displays vaping devices that were confiscated from students in such places as restrooms or hallways at his school in Massachusetts. The Surgeon General called on teachers, schools and parents to help curb the 'teen vaping epidemic' on Tuesday

For young people, 'nicotine is dangerous and it can have negative health effects,' Adams said in an interview with the Associated Press.

'It can impact learning, attention and memory, and it can prime the youth brain for addiction.'

Federal officials are scrambling to reverse a recent explosion in teen vaping that public health officials fear could undermine decades of declines in tobacco use.

An estimated 3.6 million US teens are now using e-cigarettes, representing one in 5 high school students and one in 20 middle schoolers, according to the latest federal figures.

Separate survey results released Monday showed twice as many high school students used e-cigarettes this year compared to last year.

E-cigarettes and other vaping devices have been sold in the US since 2007, growing into a $6.6 billion business. Most devices heat a flavored nicotine solution into an inhalable vapor.

They have been pitched to adult smokers as a less-harmful alternative to cigarettes, though there's been little research on the long-term health effects or on whether they help people quit.

Even more worrisome, a growing body of research suggests that teens who vape are more likely to try regular cigarettes.

Adams singled out Silicon Valley startup Juul. The company leapfrogged over its larger competitors with online promotions portraying their small device as the latest high-tech gadget for hip, attractive young people.

Analysts now estimate the company controls more than 75 percent of the US e-cigarette market.

The surgeon general's advisory notes that each Juul cartridge, or pod, contains as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams (pictured) declared vaping an 'epidemic' and plead with parents and teachers to help protect their children from addiction and health risks

Additionally, Adams states that Juul's liquid nicotine mixture is specially formulated to give a smoother, more potent nicotine buzz. That effect poses special risks for young people, Adams says.

'We do know that these newer products, such as Juul, can promote dependence in just a few uses,' Adams said.

Juul said in a statement that it shares the surgeon general's goal: 'We are committed to preventing youth access of Juul products.'

Last month, San Francisco-based Juul shut down its Facebook and Instagram accounts and halted in-store sales of its flavored pods. The flavors remain available via age-restricted online sales. That voluntary action came days before the Food and Drug Administration proposed industrywide restrictions on online and convenience store sales of e-cigarettes to deter use by kids.

Adams recommends parents, teachers and health professionals learn about e-cigarettes, talk to children about the risks and set an example by not using tobacco products.A high school student has been called an 'idiot' after injecting himself with biological forms of parts of the Bible and Koran in a risky DIY experiment.

Adrien Locatelli, from France, translated passages from the holy books into DNA to make unknown proteins and inject them into his legs.

Mr Locatelli, from Grenoble near the Swiss border, said he did the experiment simply because he 'wondered whether it would be possible'.

Experts in the field reacted in disbelief to the research on Twitter, with one saying 'there is no facepalm big enough for this'.

Mr Locatelli, believed to be a high school student, converted passages from the Bible and Koran into DNA code and used it as a recipe to construct proteins in a lab, which he then injected into his own legs (stock image)

The experiment could have turned deadly because Mr Locatelli would have had no idea of the effects of the proteins he injected into his body.

Mr Locatelli's left leg swelled up for a few days after the injection but he suffered no other effects.

It is unclear whether Mr Locatelli, whose age is unknown, injected different passages into either leg, or a mix of the two into both.

He converted all of the letters in the holy books into a DNA sequence, in what he claimed is the first experiment of its kind.

DNA is made up of chemicals represented by the letters ACGT, and all genes are coded for by different combinations of these letters.

Mr Locatelli assigned one of the four letters to every character in the passages, going in the order of GACT.

FEARS 'GARAGE SCIENCE' BIOHACKERS COULD CAUSE REAL HARM As DNA editing technology has become more accessible fears have grown over the possibility of amateur scientists creating dangerous substances or harming people. A 2016 report by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics said 100 kits were available which can effectively 'cut and paste' DNA. While most of these groups of amateur 'biohackers' are attempting to solve problems like creating new flavours of beer by editing yeast, some could do more harm, experts warned. Easy availability of advanced science kits raises the prospect that scientists could either deliberately or accidentally create an organism that could be harmful if released into the environment, the report said. The FBI is so concerned about the activities of biohackers and the prospect of the science being used by terrorists it set up a special branch to engage with them. Advertisement

He translated Bible passages from Genesis 1:1 to 11:9, excluding 2:10 to 2:14, 5, and 7:1 to 7:5 because they were 'controversial'.

From the Koran he took Surah Ar-Ra'd, the 13th chapter.

The sequences of DNA letters were then converted into recipes to make chemical chains which could, in theory, have turned into any protein in the human body.

He then built the proteins in a laboratory and injected them into his thighs.

'I know the odds of a nonsense protein being close to anything dangerous ... are relatively low,' said Twitter user Ella Watkins, a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology.

'But this kind of avant-garde attitude and disregard for ethics towards science terrifies me that humanity's end will be at the hands of an idiot.'

Isaac Stoner, founder of a company researching antibiotic resistance, said: 'Dear biohackers etc. Please stop. You are idiots.'

And Sri Kosuri, a biochemistry professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, added '2018 can't end soon enough', in response to the experiment.

The University of Washington's Aaron McKenna tweeted: 'There is no facepalm big enough for this...'

Isaac Stoner, founder of a company researching antibiotic resistance, tweeted a link to Mr Locatelli's research and said: 'Please stop. You are idiots'

Aaron McKenna, a fellow at the University of Washington said: 'There is no facepalm big enough for this...'

Other Twitter users were baffled about why someone would inject themselves with mysterious chemicals just to see 'whether it would be possible'

Sri Kosuri, an a biochemistry professor at UCLA, said: '2018 can't end soon enough,' when he saw the research, which was published online on an open website

Ella Watkins, a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology feared amateur scientists trying similar things could produce seriously harmful chemicals without knowing it

Mr Locatelli confirmed in his research that he was the only person taking part in the experiment.

He wrote: 'Recent studies have reported that it is possible to convert any type of information into DNA for the purpose of storage.

Since it is possible to convert digital information into DNA, I wondered whether it would be possible to convert a religious text into DNA and to inject it in a living being.'

Mr Locatelli then added: 'It is the first time that someone injects himself [with] macromolecules developed from a text.

'It is very symbolic even if it does not have much interest.'

The research was published online at OSF Preprints.An 11-year-old girl's rare, inoperable brain tumor has mysteriously disappeared and even her surgeons are unable to explain it.

In June, Roxli Doss was diagnosed with a high-grade tumor known as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) that most commonly affects children, KVUE reported.

Doctors at five different hospitals confirmed the diagnosis and told her parents that there was no cure.

After undergoing radiation for about three months, neurologists took an MRI to see how treatment was progressing, and were shocked to find no signs of the deadly tumor.

Now the pre-teen, from Buda, Texas, is back to doing what she loves - namely horseback riding.

Roxli Doss, 11 (pictured), from Buda, Texas, was diagnosed with a high-grade tumor known as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) in June

Over time, the tumor affects heartbeat, breathing, swallowing, eyesight and balance. Most people with this type of cancer only live for nine months following the primary diagnosis. Pictured: Roxli with her aunt, left, and right

At the beginning of June, Roxli began having continuous headaches and was feeling fatigued.

After numerous visits to her pediatrician with no explanation for the head pain, she was sent to Dell Children's Hospital in Austin where she was diagnosed with DIPG.

The family visited Texas Children's Hospital in Austin, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore and University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to get other opinions.

Neurologists and oncologists all agreed on the original diagnosis.

DIPG is a very rare and highly aggressive form of cancer typically found in children between ages five and nine.

Only between 200 and 300 children in the US are diagnosed each year.

This type of tumor is located at the base of the brain and the top of the spine, but it is unknown what causes them.

The tumor presses on the area of the brain called the pons, which is responsible for a number of critical bodily functions such as breathing, sleeping and blood pressure.

Over time, the tumor affects heartbeat, breathing, swallowing, eyesight and balance.

Some of the first symptoms of the tumor are problems with eye movement, facial weakness, difficulty walking, strange limb movements and problems with balance.

Roxli immediately underwent radiation six days a week for six weeks in the hopes of slowing the tumor's growth. Pictured: A text from Roxli's nurse to her parents about how there is no evidence of the tumor

Most people with this type of cancer only live for nine months following the primary diagnosis, and some don't even make it long enough to receive radiation treatment.

Despite the grim diagnosis, Roxli immediately underwent radiation six days a week for six weeks in the hopes of slowing the tumor's growth.

According to the Michael Mosier Foundation, radiation shrinks DIPG tumors in 70 percent of patients.

The Foundation says that radiation typically extends a patient's life by about three months.

Her parents, Gena and Scott, told KVUE that they held a fundraiser in August and could do nothing more than pray for a miracle.

Roxli had an MRI on September 7 and visited the doctor's office three days later for the results: no tumor evident.

'When I first saw Roxli's MRI scan, it was actually unbelievable,' Dr Virginia Harrod, co-chief of pediatric neuro-oncology at Dell Children's told KVUE.

'The tumor is undetectable on the MRI scan, which is really unusual.'

There have been case reports of spontaneous regression of certain cancers, but the mechanism behind this is not understood.

In an essay written for The Conversation, Dr Momna Hejmadi, a senior teaching fellow in the department of biology and biochemistry at the University of Bath in the UK, says one reason may be immune response that the body triggers against particular antigens - or genetic markers - on tumor cell surfaces.

In September, Roxli (pictured) had an MRI and, three days later at the doctor's office, the family received the news that the tumor was not detectable

Surgeons say there are case reports of tumors spontaneously regressing but a case like Roxli's has never been documented. Pictured: Roxli's MRI scan pre-radiation, left, and post-radiation, right

Because the cancer is aggressive and can return, Roxli (left and right) will undergo immunotherapy to prevent new cancer cells from growing. The family says it's a miracle and that they're thanking God

She also notes a 1988 case report from Japan in which a man with kidney cancer had part of his tumor surgically removed. The rest of the tumor then spontaneously regressed.

'The rationale underlying this phenomenon is that a local immune response following surgery was enough to stop growth of the rest of the tumor,' she wrote.

Because there has never been a case like Roxli's before, and because the cancer is aggressive, she will have to have follow-up treatments to prevent new cancer cells from growing.

Doctors have decided on immunotherapy, a type of treatment that boosts the body's natural defenses to fight cancer.

The family says it's a miracle and that they're thanking God.

'Every day we still say it. It's kind of our family thing that God healed Roxli,' Gena told KVUE.

'We didn't know how long she would be healthy and, look at her, she's just doing awesome,' Scott added.

The family has started a GoFundMe page to help cove Roxli's medical bills. So far, more than $25,000 has been raised out of a $50,000 goal.The Denver school board has selected Susana Cordova as its next superintendent.

Cordova, who attended the districts public schools as a child and started her career there in 1989 as a language arts and English-as-a-second-language teacher, will start her new job early next year once she and the school board hammer out the details of her contract. The school boards vote was unanimous, 7-0.

She will replace Ron Cabrera, who stepped in as interim superintendent after Tom Boasberg left the job in October.

Cordova, now the districts deputy superintendent, has served in a number of leadership roles in the 93,000-student districtfrom principal, director of humanities, executive director of teaching and learning, to chief academic officer and chief of schools.

In a district where the majority of students are Hispanic, Cordova was the first Latina to hold the deputy superintendents job.

Susana is uniquely well-situated to lead our school district effectively and inclusively, Denver school board president Anne Rowe said. She brings deep roots in the community, extraordinary depth of knowledge of DPS, educational expertise, and she is widely known and respected by an expansive network of educators, parents and civic, community, philanthropic and business leaders.

Cordova emerged in late November as the sole finalist for the job, an outcome that made some school board members uncomfortablenot because of Cordovas qualifications or readiness for the position but because they wanted more than one finalist. Some were also concerned that Cordovas tenure would be a continuation of Boasbergs policies, not all of which were warmly received.

While Denvers English-language learners are outperforming their peers across the state on state tests, the district has huge achievement gaps between its poor and wealthier students. And because Cordova was a key deputy to Boasberg, some critics thought she should shoulder some of the responsibility for failing to make more progress in closing the achievement gap.

Cordova had broad support inside the district. More than 50 principals, assistant principals, and program managers wrote a letter in support of her candidacy, according to Colorado Public Radio.

She also had previous experience running the districton an interim basis. When Boasberg took a six-month sabbatical in 2015 to travel to Latin America with his family, he left Cordova in charge. And Boasberg expressed confidence to Education Week last year that Cordova would make an excellent superintendent whenever she decided to take that step.

Cordova was featured as one of Education Weeks 2018 Leaders To Learn From, which highlighted the work of innovative district leaders across the country.

She told Education Week that equity was the central theme in her work, and she valued the central role that educators played in her life.

In meetings that were held as part of the superintendents search, Denver residents said they wanted a superintendent with both classroom and administrative experience, who would promote a positive climate district-wide, and valued hiring teachers of color. They also wanted an emphasis on closing achievements and opportunity gaps, additional school funding, and access to high-quality schools for all students.

My school experiences prepared me for a world that my family had never stepped foot in and that I had only read about in books, Cordova said. I am committed to ensuring that all students in DPS have caring, knowledgeable adults who will support them as I was supported. Every one of our students has excellence in them, and its our job as educators to bring that excellence out.

Related stories:Three people were arrested for their alleged roles in a deadly train accident in Ankara.

Three employees of Turkey's railway authority were put under pre-trial arrest Monday on the charges of reckless manslaughter and injury, Anadolu agency reported.

They worked as a dispatcher, switchman and controller in Turkish State Railways.

A high-speed train on Thursday morning hit a railway engine and crashed into a pedestrian overpass at a station in the Turkish capital, killing nine and injuring 84 people. The train was travelling to central Konya province.Cartoon characters may not be the only ones left seeing stars after being whacked on the head.

The phrase took on a literal meaning for one man who was punched so hard in the face his eye was damaged and he was left with a star-shaped cloud on his lens.

Doctors have released a close-up photo of the 36-year-old's eye, which had what is known as a rosette cataract.

He needed cataract surgery to fix the damage, which gradually worsened his vision. But he got his sight back a week later.

The lens in the centre of the man's eye had become damaged and was clouding over in the shape of a star, which was making his vision progressively worse. Doctors said the condition would have continued to deteriorate if they hadn't treated him

The medics, from India, published the bizarre photograph in the journal BMJ Case Reports.

The unidentified man found his vision was slowly getting worse in the two days after he was punched in a fight, so he visited his local hospital.

Ophthalmologists at the Government Medical College in Chandigarh, around 160 miles (260km) north of New Delhi, performed a special eye scan on him.

They spotted the rosette cataract, which had the appearance of having five petals.

The man, thought to be from the city in Punjab, had no idea the cataract was there because it isn't noticeable to the naked eye and can only be spotted in tests.

Dr Rohan Singh, who treated the patient, told LiveScience the force of the punch caused shockwaves to resonate through his temple and into his left eye.

The shockwaves disrupted the structure of the eye's lens and cause it to cloud over in the pattern of a start or flower.

This then resulted in him developing a rosette cataract, which Dr Singh said are very rare, especially ones which develop so quickly after an injury.

Cataracts are most commonly caused by age and figures show almost 400,000 lens replacement operations take place in the UK on the NHS every year.

The man needed a cataract operation to replace the damaged lens in his eye with an artificial one (pictured, the new lens being inserted into the back of the eye)

However, blunt trauma  such as being punched  can also cause a cataract to develop, Dr Singh revealed.

In these cases, the impact of the injuries change the arrange of fibres and proteins which make up the lens, and cause them to be distorted and harder to see through.

Dr Singh said if the man hadn't had treatment his condition would have continued to deteriorate, with his vision getting worse and sensitivity to light increasing.

To repair his eye, doctors performed standard cataract surgery  replacing the lens with an artificial one  and he had perfect vision again the next week.A fitness blogger said she had her breast implants removed because the silicone was 'poisoning' her.

Sia Cooper, the 29-year-old behind the blog Diary of a Fit Mommy, revealed she got implants in October 2011 to boost her self-confidence after weight loss left her with small breasts.

However, over the next seven years, the Florida mother-of-two struggled with extreme fatigue, facial rashes, chest pain, brain fog and even hair loss.

After undergoing multiple blood tests, diagnostic tests and X-rays that came back negative, Cooper was convinced her symptoms were related to what described as 'breast implant illness'.

Cooper told DailyMail.com that she decided to get her implants removed just two weeks ago and, ever since she did, her skin rashes have cleared up, she's lost weight and has more energy.

Sia Cooper, 29 (left and right), a fitness blogger from Florida said she had her breast implants removed because the silicone was 'poisoning' her. She decided to get implants in October 2011 after losing around 45 pounds and being left with 'non-existent' breasts

Cooper opted to get 400 cc silicone gel implants, which were inserted through her armpits without leaving any scars and left her with a 32DDD/34DD cup size

Cooper decided to get implants in October 2011, after she lost around 45 pounds and was left with 'non-existent' breasts.

'I'd recently gone through a pretty hefty loss from 150 pounds to 105 pounds and I didn't feel confident,' she told DailyMail.com.

'My husband at the time saw I was unhappy and suggested I should get implants to jazz up our sex life.'

The most popular implants approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are silicone implants and implants filled with a saline solution.

Silicone implants use shells filled with a plastic gel while saline implants use silicone shells filled with a sterile saline solution.

For breast reconstruction, the rebuilding of a breast, both implants are approved for women of all ages.

For breast augmentation, meant to increase the size or change the shape of a breast, saline implants are approved for women aged 18 or older and silicone implants are approved for women aged 22 or older.

Cooper opted to get 400 cc silicone gel implants, which were inserted through her armpits without leaving any scars and left her with a 32DDD/34DD cup size.

When she woke up after surgery, Cooper said it felt like 'an elephant sitting on my chest'.

Cooper said she didn't experience any other symptoms until about a year after surgery.

She began experiencing symptoms a year after surgery including extreme fatigue, facial rashes, chest pain and hair loss

In addition, she experienced rashes on her face and back. Left is before her explant surgery to remove the silicone gel implants and right is after explant surgery

First there was the fatigue that left her sleeping sometimes between 12 and 14 hours per day.

Then, she started losing her hair in clumps after her first son was born in 2014 - three years out from her cosmetic surgery.

'I was told postpartum hair loss is normal but temporary,' Cooper said.

'It didn't go away. I was checked for hormone imbalance and hyperthyroidism but was told I was fine.'

In addition, she experienced rashes on her face and back, a 20-pound weight gain and constant joint inflammation.

'I just chalked it up to aging but, at the same time, I'm 29 I shouldn't be having this problem.'

Over the summer, in an unrelated Instagram post, she revealed to her followers that she'd had a breast augmentation.

'They started pointing out breast implant illness to me,' she said. 'And I started thinking: "Maybe this is it." Because all these blood tests, diagnostic tests were coming back negative.

The FDA does not recognizes breast implant illness as a diagnosis but, on its website, urges doctors to not dismiss patient concerns until 'much larger and longer' studies are conducted.

Recently, a number of women who've undergone breast augmentations have come forward complaining of symptoms similar to Cooper's.

In the early 1990s, the FDA prohibited silicone implants after several health concerns were raised about their association to a risk of cancer, connective tissue disease and autoimmune diseases.

No research established a definitive link between silicone implants and these conditions.

After silicone implants from two manufacturers were approved in 2006, the FDA conducted many post-approval studies, but no researchers had analyzed the database.

After undergoing multiple blood tests, diagnostic tests and X-rays that came back negative, Cooper (left and right) was convinced her symptoms were related 'breast implant illness'. She traveled to Newport Beach, California, two weeks ago to undergo explant surgery

Since the surgery, Cooper (pictured with her children) said her rashes have cleared up, she's lost weight and has more energy

Cooper first visited her original surgeon, who told her there was little evidence to support BII and that her concerns were in her head.

'He told me I would be disproportionate if he took them out,' she said.

She decided to call Dr Jae Chun, a cosmetic surgeon in Newport Beach, California, who specializes in breast explants.

'We made a phone consultation and from the moment he said hello, he answered all my questions,' she said.

Two weeks ago, Cooper traveled from her home in Destin to Dr Chun's office for the surgery, which cost $7,600 - $2,100 more than her augmentation cost in 2011.

'I'd forgotten what it was like to take deep breath because I no longer have this feeling of an elephant sitting on my chest,' she said.

In September, the largest study of breast implant outcomes to date was released by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Looking at FDA post-approval studies, the team found that silicone implants can increase a woman's risk of arthritis, stillbirth and even skin cancer,

The authors noted that although certain risks were more common in women with silicone implants, 'absolute rates of these adverse outcomes were low'.

'To reduce their chances of getting ill, women should not consider breast implants if they have a family history or personal history of autoimmune disease or connective tissue disease,' Dr Diana Zuckerman, President of the National Center for Health Research, told DailyMail.com.

'We believe that could be one of the causes behind why some women get sick after getting breast implants, although it is definitely not the only reason.'

Doctors in general believe that autoimmune diseases are generally underdiagnosed.

Cooper, who is now a 32C, said she wishes she'd asked more questions before her augmentation and encourages other women to do so before getting implants.

'Be your own health advocate. If you feel something is wrong, it probably is,' she said.Serious loneliness is a problem that can strike at any time in adult life - not just old age, warns a new study.

Researchers found that not only is loneliness more prevalent than previously feared, but is 'particularly acute' during the late-20s, mid-50s and late-80s.

Feeling alone has been linked to a string of psychological and physical problems.

And, in recent times, public health officials have warned about a 'rising epidemic' of loneliness, with rates of loneliness reportedly doubling over the past 50 years.

Now researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have put a specific, concerning and surprising face to the issue.

Their findings, published by the journal International Psychogeriatrics, show that moderate to severe loneliness persisted across the adult lifespan, but was particularly acute during three age periods: late-20s, mid-50s and late-80s.

The first wave of loneliness hits Americans in their late-20s, a new study reveals

Loneliness was also more prevalent than expected, according to the scientists.

Three out of four study participants reported moderate to high levels of loneliness, using a well-established assessment scale.

The figure represents a 'substantial increase' from previously reported prevalence estimates in the US general population, which have ranged from 17 to 57 per cent.

Study leader Dr Dilip Jeste said: 'This is noteworthy because the participants in this study were not considered to be at high risk for moderate to severe loneliness.

'They didn't have major physical disorders.

'Nor did they suffer from significant mental illnesses such as depression or schizophrenia, in which you might expect loneliness to be problematic.

'Though there were clear demographic limitations to the group, these participants were, generally speaking, regular people.'

The study was conducted among 340 San Diego County residents, between the ages of 27 and 101, who had participated in one of three earlier studies of ageing and mental health.

People with serious physical or psychological ailments, including diagnosed dementia, were excluded, as were people living in nursing homes or requiring substantial living assistance.

The researchers assessed the participants using multiple measures, including the San Diego Wisdom Scale, created by Prof Jeste and colleagues to assess a person''s level of wisdom.

Excluding evidence of mild loneliness, which Prof Jeste said is common and expected to occasionally appear throughout adult life, the researchers found that loneliness severity and age 'had a complex relationship,' peaking at specific periods in both men and women.

There were no sex differences in loneliness prevalence, severity, or age relationships.

Former US Surgeon General Vivek Murphy has said a prevailing pall of loneliness poses a greater, more intractable public health crisis than tobacco use or obesity.

Earlier this year, the Government established a Ministry of Loneliness to address the physical and mental health needs of lonely people.

Study first author Dr Ellen Lee said the findings were a mix of bad and good news.

On the negative side, she said, moderate to severe loneliness appears to be highly prevalent throughout adult life.

Dr Lee said: 'Loneliness seems to be associated with everything bad.

'It's linked to poor mental health, substance abuse, cognitive impairment, and worse physical health, including malnutrition, hypertension and disrupted sleep.'

But, on the plus side, she noted that the UC San Diego group found a strong 'inverse association' between wisdom and loneliness.

People who were deemed wiser were less lonely.

She added: 'That may be due to the fact that behaviours which define wisdom - such as empathy, compassion, emotional regulation, self-reflection - effectively counter or prevent serious loneliness.'

Prof Jeste said more research needs to be done, adding: 'There are more gaps in knowledge than there are answers at the moment.

'But these findings suggest we need to think about loneliness differently.

'It's not about social isolation. A person can be alone and not feel lonely, while a person can be in a crowd and feel alone.

'We need to find solutions and interventions that help connect people that help them to become wiser.

'A wiser society would be a happier, more connected, and less lonely society.'Tesla boss Elon Musk is profiled in this month's Wired

Tesla boss Elon Musk's erratic behaviour is unlikely to be tempered by a profile in this month's Wired, which depicts him as a hot-breathed martinet who enjoys firing employees on a whim. It claims Musk behaves more favourably to staff when they seat themselves in a lower position to him during meetings. Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie was the same, insisting he always be seated higher up than his legions of courtiers. They did for him in the end, of course.

The Financial Times' annual Christmas auction this year offered readers the opportunity to bid for lunch with the title's star writers. New York-based Gillian Tett, 51, was by the far the most popular draw, fetching 3,400. Blonde Gillian's talents are much admired by the financial elite. A New York source tells me: 'I've seen JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon dart across crowded rooms to speak to her.'

Barclays chairman John McFarlane, who retires next May, has been awarded the Freedom of the City of London for services to UK finance. Well deserved, I'm sure. Might a higher honour await McFarlane when the New Year's honours are announced in a fortnight's time? The Honours Committee is finally starting to look kindly on bankers again. They granted departing HSBC chairman Douglas Flint a 'K' in June despite overseeing a string of scandals.

News of Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn's recent arrest was met with applause among the car manufacturer's Yokohama-based staff, according to the Wall Street Journal. Workers had apparently long grown weary of their foreign boss's opulent lifestyle. They were particularly irked when the firm provided him use of a 50 million Gulfstream G650, regarded as the 'ne plus ultra' of corporate jets. They even contain a smart fridge which informs ground crew when it's running low on champagne.

Tactile Ted Baker boss Ray Kelvin might not be the last retailer to feel the wrath of the #MeToo gals. I hear of at least two other High Street heavy hitters who are petrified that their ghosts of Christmases past will return to haunt them in the coming few weeks...A shareholder in Just Eat has lashed out at the food delivery firm today, dubbing it the 'worst-performing public equity in online food delivery' as it called for a radical overhaul.

Cat Rock Capital, which has a 2 per cent stake in the firm, issued a savage plea to Just Eat's board to 'address key issues' and sell off non-core assets, including its interest in iFood business in Brazil and other non-European businesses.

The US investment firm urged Just Eat to devise a three-year financial plan, or else consider 'strategic alternatives for the business'.

An investor said Just Eat was the 'worst-performing public equity in online food delivery'

It comes after a torrid year for the firm's shares, which have tumbled almost 30 per cent in 2018 to trade near the same price as two years ago - despite 100 per cent sales growth over the period.

Indeed, Just Eat has recently been demoted from the FTSE 100 index.

In a letter to the Just Eat board, Cat Rock called for more-demanding long-term profit targets, to properly align executive pay with performance and for the group to sell off non-core assets.

Cat Rock founder and managing partner Alex Captain said: 'Shareholder frustration with management's lack of accountability for delivering on this potential continues to damage Just Eat's value and performance.

The one-year chart from This is Money shows how Just Eat shares have fallen in the last year

'As we have discussed with the board, we believe the first step toward addressing this problem is clear: it must urgently lay out a three-year plan commensurate with Just Eat's potential and link management's remuneration directly to the achievement of that plan, aligning their interests with those of shareholders.'

Captain argued that the sale of Just Eat's minority stake in iFood could generate as much as 650million.

Just Eat is grappling to keep pace with rivals Deliveroo and Uber, which have muscled in on its territory of late. It was recently knocked by speculation that Uber is in early talks to buy Deliveroo - a move that would create an almighty competitor for the food firm.

'Just Eat's shareholders have been very patient, but online food delivery is a rapidly evolving sector. Further delays in planning and decision-making will only continue to destroy shareholder value,' Captain added.

A Just Eat Group spokesman insisted that the firm has a 'clear strategy' in place to deliver long-term value for shareholders.

He said: 'As you would expect, the board engages closely with shareholders to ensure management have an appropriate long-term incentive programme aligned to the exciting and unique growth opportunities of the Just Eat group.'

Shares in Just Eat were unmoved in early trading at 578p.Amazon was last night ordered to reveal its business rates bill amid fears it is killing the High Street.

As a profit warning from Asos sent shares in UK retailers tumbling, the internet group was told by MPs to finally come clean about how much tax it pays in Britain.

So far Amazon has refused to reveal how much it pays in business rates but it is thought to be much lower than traditional retailers, such as Debenhams and John Lewis, which are struggling to compete.

Amazon has been ordered to reveal its business rates bill amid fears it is killing the High Street

The Silicon Valley giant has also been criticised for the amount of corporation tax it pays in the UK.

Politicians are concerned a low tax bill gives Amazon a huge commercial advantage over traditional stores, which have been hit with big increases in rates and rents in recent years.

The Mail is campaigning to save the High Street by reforming business rates, slashing parking charges and introducing a fair tax for online shopping firms to create a level playing field.

Billions of pounds were wiped off the value of British retailers yesterday after Asos warned that sales and profits would be lower than expected  stoking fears of a bleak Christmas for the sector.

The Housing, Communities and Local Government committee has demanded that Amazon provide its corporation tax and business rates bill for the UK as well as its annual sales.

Asked whether Amazon could provide the committee with the figures, Lesley Smith, director of public policy at Amazon, said: 'I will need to take advice.'

Committee chairman Labour MP Clive Betts shot back, saying: 'Well, I'm formally asking you to provide them.'

Tory MP Nicky Morgan, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, warned thousands of shops are facing their last Christmas unless the Chancellor reforms business rates.

According to analysis of local government data by Altus Group, Amazon's 2018 business rates bill totalled 38.02 million. The bill covers its 189 sites across the UK including electronic lockers, offices and warehouses. This is compared with 80m paid by Debenhams and John Lewis's 174 million business rates bill in 2018.

Robert Hayton, head of UK business rates, Altus Group, said: 'Traditional bricks and mortar retailing is property intensive. Their reliance on property leads to a larger tax to turnover ratio that, if left unchecked, will lead to further deterioration of our high streets and local communities.'The watchdog which oversees Britain's tainted auditors will be scrapped after it was branded a 'ramshackle house' in a report.

The Financial Reporting Council will be shut down and replaced with a new organisation under different leadership, after former civil servant Sir John Kingman uncovered a litany of problems.

Kingman's findings  in a study commissioned by the Business Secretary Greg Clark  are a vindication for campaigners who have spent years warning the FRC is not up to the job.

The watchdog which oversees Britain's tainted auditors will be scrapped after it was branded a 'ramshackle house' in a report

Kingman, an ex-Treasury mandarin who is chairman of Legal & General, said the FRC lacks transparency, is too dependent on the goodwill of big auditors for funding and has been damaged by constant leaks of information.

In his report he calls for:

 A new regulator with a beefed-up regime to take action against failing bean counters and much shorter investigations to minimise delay;

 Blanket bans on accountants who join the watchdog from overseeing their former employers;

 A requirement for auditors to report any serious financial problems at companies they oversee;

 Powers for the regulator to boot out a firm's auditor if they have concerns it is not doing a proper job.

The Competition and Markets Authority said the Big Four accountants  KPMG, PwC, EY and Deloitte  audit 97 per cent of major public firms and this means there is little choice on offer

The FRC has been slammed for repeatedly letting auditors off the hook over accounting scandals, from Tesco to failed bank HBOS.

It came in for criticism earlier this year after the collapse of outsourcer Carillion was missed by accountants.

Kingman said: 'What this spotlight has revealed is an institution constructed in a different era  a rather ramshackle house, cobbled together with all sorts of extensions over time. The house is  just  serviceable, up to a point, but it leaks and creaks, sometimes badly.

'The inhabitants of the house have sought to patch and mend. But in the end, the house is built on weak foundations. It is time to build a new house.'

Auditors are appointed by companies to check through their accounts and ensure nothing is amiss. The FRC is meant to take action if an auditor fails to spot something important.

Auditors are appointed by companies to check through their accounts and ensure nothing is amiss

But it is stuffed full of former accountants who get to decide whether their previous employers have broken any rules.

Kingman warned the FRC sometimes appears to put the accountancy profession's interests ahead of consumers.

And he said he was concerned at how it hired top employees.

Clark praised Kingman's report and said: 'The Government will take forward the recommendations set out in the review to replace the FRC.'

A separate probe by the Competition and Markets Authority has also found serious flaws in the audit market. The CMA said the Big Four accountants  KPMG, PwC, EY and Deloitte  audit 97 per cent of major public firms and this means there is little choice on offer.

The CMA stopped short of calling for a break-up of the four largest accountants, but said this could still be on the cards if other efforts at reform fail.

The Business Department has today launched yet another review  this time into whether the audit market delivers high-quality results.

This will be led by Donald Brydon, who is retiring as chairman of the London Stock Exchange.A U.S. activist investor has launched a scathing attack on Just Eat

An American activist investor has launched a scathing attack on Just Eat and called for an overhaul.

Alex Captain, a founder of Cat Rock Capital, said the food delivery company was 'the worst-performing public equity in online food delivery globally'.

In an open letter to the board, he demanded Just Eat  which crashed out of the FTSE 100 in a recent reshuffle  sell assets and slash pay for top executives. Captain also accused the board of setting pay targets that were 'remarkably undemanding'.

His fund holds a 2 per cent stake in Just Eat, however shares have fallen by nearly 30 per cent this year.

He urged the board to put together a three-year plan to which pay could be linked.

Captain also claimed pay for chief executive Peter Plumb, who started in September 2017 and was paid 458,300, had been proposed using 'flawed metrics that give management bonuses for taking actions that may actually destroy shareholder value'.

He added: 'Since Plumb became chief executive the company's targets have been remarkably undemanding and have created little accountability for management to execute.'

A Just Eat spokesman said: 'We have a clear strategy in place to deliver long-term sustainable value for our shareholders.

'At our third quarter trading update, we said we were enjoying our best year to date, with revenues rising 44 per cent.'The Government is to trial ways to nudge self-employed people to provide for their retirement after a collapse in the number saving into pensions.

It plans to test prompts to save for old age that focus on the benefit to your family, rather than the individual advantages.

And it will encourage pension saving when people use accounting and banking systems, and co-opt trade bodies and unions to help reinforce the message.

Just 14 per cent of the UK's near-5million self-employed workers were saving into a pension in 2016/17 - a dramatic fall from the 30 per cent doing so in 2007/08.

Pensions for self-employed: Government has ditched a manifesto commitment to bring them into the auto-enrolment net

The rise of the 'gig' economy is often cited as a reason behind this decline, as more people take on multiple casual and unsecure jobs - often due to lack of other options - and find it hard to save as a result.

A new package of measures to improve the rights of agency and 'gig' workers was announced yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Government noted today that the self-employed have comparable total assets to employees, but a greater proportion of their savings are in property rather than pensions.

That could indicate some people who go into business for themselves regard owning property as better means of saving for old age.

The drop in pension saving by the self-employed has coincided with the successful initiative to auto-enrol employees into work pension schemes, unless they actively refuse to participate.

Government data also released today showed that the opt rate from auto enrolment did not change in April and June this year, when workers' minimum compulsory contribution was hiked from 0.8 per cent of eligible earnings to 2.4 per cent.

The mimimum contribution is set to rise again to 4 per cent next April.

Today's announcement of measures to encourage the self-employed to save for retirement follows the ditching of a Conservative manifesto commitment to bring them into the auto-enrolment net.

The Government subsequently said it would look at ways in which technology could be used to encourage the self-employed to increase their pension saving.

It has signed up partners to help with various trials, including state-run auto-enrolment pension provider NEST, which is currently testing 'sidecar saving'.

This involves allowing people to build up an emergency savings fund alongside a pension, but after it has hit a certain level all contributions are diverted into the pension.

People who might not otherwise save would therefore be helped to do so, without them running the risk of an unexpected bill sending them into debt.

Pensions Minister Guy Opperman said: 'Only around one in seven self-employed people were saving into a pension in 2016-17.

'Our trials are designed to make sure that this diverse group of people gets help to plan ahead for greater financial security and the lifestyle they aspire to in later life.

'We want to see effective, long-lasting solutions that boost the future prospects of millions of hard-working self-employed people, and will work with the financial services sector, professional trade bodies, unions and others to achieve that.'

What does the pension industry say?

'The growth in self-employment has been mirrored by a catastrophic decline in their pension saving,' said Tom McPhail, head of policy at Hargreaves Lansdown.

'The Government made the bold commitment in its 2017 election manifesto that it would address this by extending the benefits of auto-enrolment to the self-employed.

'Unfortunately there is no magic bullet solution here to match the auto-enrolment revolution from which employees are now benefiting.

'The Taylor review of employment proposed auto-enrolment via the tax system but the government has never been keen on that. Instead they are now looking at field-trials around different engagement messages to encourage the self-employed to resume or maintain their saving.'

'The Government is also interested to trial using invoicing systems as a way to automatically capture pension contributions.'

Tom Selby, senior analyst at AJ Bell, said: 'It is hard to see how the set of interventions and trials outlined by the Government today amount to making auto-enrolment available to the self-employed.

How does the Lifetime Isa work? Lifetime Isas allow under-40s to save for a home and retirement at once. The Government offers free top-ups worth up to 32,000 if you max out your fund during your younger to middle-aged years. Read more here.

'It is now abundantly obvious that this promise was made in the rush of the general election campaign without any real thought to the practicalities of making it happen.

'As it stands, the Conservative Party therefore looks set to breach this particular manifesto commitment.

'However, it is possible some good can come from the embers of this broken promise.

'The focus on building simple, effective communications that elicit positive action from savers is absolutely the right one and should be applicable across the retirement savings landscape.

'The focus on boosting saving among the self-employed presents an opportunity to look again at the Lifetime Isa, a product which could potentially appeal to many people.

'The age restriction and exit penalty are significant barriers at the moment  scrapping both could make it seriously attractive as a more flexible retirement saving alternative.'

Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon, said: 'The Government focus on pensions for the self-employed is hugely welcome alongside newly announced improvements to workers rights to reflect the reality of todays world of work.

'Its important not to assume whats right for employees will necessarily suit different types of self-employees or those in the "gig economy".

'Many such individuals have highly variable earnings and often face foregoing income to invest in growing their business.

'It may be that combining some readily accessible "sidecar savings" with a flexible pension product is the trigger needed to put them on the path to greater retirement savings.'Karol Doba, 39, was mistakenly delivered a lightbulb instead a 1,345 drone by Amazon

A decorator who was mistakenly delivered a lightbulb instead a 1,345 drone from Amazon was left furious after the online giant refused him a refund.

Karol Doba, 39, bought the DJI Mavic 2 Pro Drone online and was told it would be delivered to his home in Tooting, South London, on December 8.

However, at 8.30pm that evening the delivery driver handed him a package that appeared to be far too small -and it turned out it was actually a lightbulb.

Packages in the area were allegedly being switched at some point in the delivery process with lower value items - with a police officer telling Mr Doba he was the seventh person to come to them with the same problem in just a week.

When he opened the box, Mr Doba - who owns a company called Bespoke Decor - immediately ran back outside to catch the delivery driver, handed the item back - and took a picture of him holding it with the wrong product for proof.

He had received a message from Amazon to say his drone was 'delivered'  but sent the images to customer services and explained the situation.

Amazon then told him the matter could only be looked into if he filed a police report  and so he went into Wimbledon police station two days after the incident.

Mr Doba handed the box containing the lightbulb back to the driver and took a picture of him

But an officer said it was a civil matter and police could not get involved - adding that he was the seventh person to be told the same thing by Amazon in a week.

Mr Doba was also contacted by the Metropolitan Police via social media after tweeting about it, but they again concluded that it would be a civil matter.

With Amazon still refusing to offer a refund one week later, Mr Doba's wife Shy Lewis, who owns a public relations firm, got in touch with MailOnline to ask for help.

This website put pressure on the Seattle-based retailer to explain what had happened - and last night there was finally a positive result for the couple.

Eventually, Amazon issued Mr Doba with a refund for his purchase, apologised to him for the handling of his complaint and will also send him a goodwill gesture.

Mr Doba bought the DJI Mavic 2 Pro Drone on Amazon - but it still hasn't been delivered

Mr Doba told MailOnline today: 'It's frustrating it took so much effort just to get a refund for an item I never received. I'm an Amazon Prime member and shocked I've been treated this way.

'Their customer services have messed me around for days - but without the help of MailOnline, I'm sure I wouldn't have seen this money again.

'I'm glad I'm finally at the end of the road with this all and just thankful I finally have been refunded my money. It will take a lot of convincing me to purchase high value items on Amazon again.'

Before receiving the refund Mr Doba had told how he felt 'really disappointed and mistreated by Amazon' and complained of 'an unwillingness from their side to help'.

Mr Doba, of South London, bought the DJI Mavic 2 Pro Drone for 1,346 on the Amazon site

Mr Doba also ordered two sets of accessories for the drone - for 339 and 11.92 - but they both arrived from Amazon without any problem.

In a customer services email on the drone, Amazon said: 'We have fully investigated this matter, including with the delivery carrier who delivered the package.

'Based on the outcome of our investigations, we believe the package was delivered to the correct address.'

They added: 'If you think that someone has intercepted your item without your permission, this is a crime, and you may wish to contact your local police authorities to pursue this matter further.

'To assist, we recommend that you provide a copy of this email to the police to help explain what has happened. We will happily cooperate with the police as part of any investigation.'

Mr Doba was told the package would be delivered - and later confirmation this had been done

But in a later email sent last night after MailOnline contacted Amazon, the retailer told Mr Doba: 'I'm sorry to hear about the problem you've had with your recent order.

'I've requested a refund of 1345.95. Once your refund has been completed by us, please allow your bank between five to seven business days to process it.

'I'm very sorry that we weren't able to meet your expectations this time around. I hope that you will allow us another opportunity to serve you in the future.

'I hope this helps. We look forward to seeing you again soon. '

Amazon says in its guidance online: 'If you placed an order but received the wrong item, you can return the wrong item for a refund or a replacement of the item you did not receive through the Online Returns Center by selecting the Wrong item was sent reason.'

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'At around 7.18pm on Monday, December 10, police received a report from a man who said he had purchased an item online but received a different product. The complainant was advised this was a civil matter.'The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a draft resolution, put forward by Azerbaijan, titled 'Missing Persons', the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported.

Guided by principles and norms of international humanitarian law adopted by consensus, the resolution drew attention to the issue of missing persons as part of peace and peacebuilding processes.

The resolution expresses deep concern over the growing number of armed conflicts in various parts of the world which result in growing number of missing persons. It notes that the problem of missing persons causes deep suffering to their families, and continues to have a negative impact on efforts to put an end to the conflicts.

The resolution urges the countries to respect and follow the rules of international humanitarian law, to prevent persons from going missing, to take all appropriate measures to search for missing persons, as well as to cooperate, in order to determine fate of persons reported missing, in accordance with international commitments.

The resolution also ratifies the right of families of missing persons to get all relevant information about the fate of their loved ones, calling on the states to pay particular attention to cases of children reported missing in armed conflicts.A Delaware boy who changed his surname from Trump after being bullied for sharing the same last name as the president has been honored by an anti-bullying organization.

Pennsylvania-based national nonprofit Teach Anti Bullying awarded 11-year-old Joshua Trump the Teach Anti Bullying Medal of Courage at a ceremony in his Delaware home Saturday.

Joshua's parents, Megan Trump and Robert Berto, have no connection to the president but had to pull their son out of school and change his surname because he was relentlessly bullied for it since the 2016 election.

School officials have now offered support for Joshua, including mentoring and a name change in the database so that all staff refer to him by his father's surname, Berto, instead of his mother's surname, Trump.

Joshua Trump, who has been bullied in school since Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign, received the Teach Anti Bullying Medal of Courage Saturday at his Claymont, Delaware home

Joshua is just the 48th recipient of the national Medal of Courage award

Joshua will now go by Berto at school. The family has not revealed if they plan to legally change his name

The bullying began when Donald Trump launched presidential campaign as the time Joshua was in elementary school.

It got so bad that his father pulled him out of school and home schooled him for a year.

When Joshua became old enough to go to middle school, the family reentered him into the mainstream system at Talley Middle School in Wilmington, but they say the bullying started again.

They then took the unusual step of having his name changed from Trump to Berto in the school's database.

It remains unclear if the family will change his name legally or if his younger sister will go by Trump or Berto.

Teach Anti Bullying founder Claudio Cerullo said he wanted to reward Joshua's strength, and encouraged the family not to change his name.

'This little boy has been victim to relentless bullying simply over his last name that is associated with our 45th President of the United States,' the organization wrote on Facebook. 'Glad we could bring a smile back to his wonderful face.'

Joshua is the 48th recipient of the national Medal of Courage award.

His has no connection to the president other than sharing his name but has been relentlessly bullied at school for it for more than two years

Speaking to ABC last week, his mother Megan recalled some of the taunts her son faced.

'They curse at him, they call him an idiot, they call him stupid,' she said. 'He said he hates himself, and he hates his last name, and he feels sad all the time, and he doesn't want to live feeling like that anymore, and as a parent that's scary.'

The principal of Talley Middle School, Mark Mayers, said the school had changed Joshua's name in its systems and would help him address any other issues in the future.

Five children who were responsible for some of the bullying have been disciplined for it.One of Salvador Dali's famous lobster telephones will go on display in Scotland this week after being saved for the nation.

The sculpture, one of the most recognisable artworks of the Surrealism movement, has been acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland after matching its auction sale price of more than 850,000.

The purchase was possible after the UK Government imposed a temporary export bar on the piece to give buyers a chance to keep it in the UK.

One of Salvador Dali's famous lobster telephones will go on display in Scotland this week after being saved for the nation

The sculpture has been acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland after matching its auction sale price of more than 850,000

Lobster Telephone will go on display at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh thanks to cash from the Henry and Sula Walton Fund (753,000) and Art Fund (100,000).

The sculpture was made in 1938 for Edward James, Dali's main patron in the 1930s.

Salvador Dali (pictured) created the sculpture in 1938 for Edward James

Eleven of the plaster lobster receivers were made to fit telephones at his homes in London and West Sussex.

Commissioned from London design firm Green & Abbott, four were painted red and seven were painted white. Eight of the artworks can be found in museum collections around the world.

Simon Groom, director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: 'Object sculptures  where the artist takes an existing, manufactured object and transforms it with a slight addition or alteration  were popular among the Surrealists, but are now incredibly rare.

'They turned convention upside-down, saying that anything could be art, and that art and life were not separate.

'Dali created something incredibly rich, imaginative and funny with the most economical of means.

'This type of work had a huge impact on later artists, including Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst.

Commissioned from London design firm Green & Abbott, four were painted red and seven were painted white

'We're immensely grateful to the Walton Fund and the Art Fund for their help in acquiring the work.'

Henry Walton was a professor of Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh and Sula Walton a renowned child psychiatrist.

Passionate devotees of the arts, they established a fund to help the National Galleries of Scotland acquire major works of modern art.

Stephen Deuchar, director of Art Fund, added: 'Dali's Lobster Telephone is amongst the most famous of all Surrealist objects, typifying the spirit of the movement in its witty, subversive eccentricity.

'Art Fund is proud to help the National Galleries of Scotland add this important work of art to their internationally renowned Surrealism collection.'A six-year-old girl was accidentally shot and killed by her brother at their home while their parents were attending a Christmas party, Missouri authorities say.

Police in the St Louis suburb of Florissant say Maliyah Palmer was shot in the back of the head just before 11pm Friday after her 12-year-old brother found a 9mm handgun in a dresser drawer in their parents' bedroom.

The first-grader later died in the hospital.

The children were under the supervision of their 16-year-old sister while their parents, Dwandra and Marius Palmer, were out at the holiday party, according to the St Louis Post-Dispatch.

Six-year-old Maliyah Palmer was shot in the back of the head and killed when her 12-year-old brother accidentally fired a gun he found in their parents' bedroom in Florissant, Missouri, according to authorities. It is unclear whether any charges will be filed in Maliyah's death

The children were being watched by their 16-year-old sister while their parents, Dwandra and Marius Palmer (pictured) attended a Christmas party on Friday night

An initial press release from Florissant police stated that the shooting was a 'tragic accident' and no charges will be filed.

However, Chief Timothy Lowery on Monday said the release had been premature and that investigators will turn their findings over to prosecutors, as is standard procedure.

Prosecutors will then decide what charges, if any, are filed.

The Post-Dispatch noted that parents have been charged in similar Missouri cases where children shot someone after finding a gun that was not kept secure.

Charges against those gun owners have included endangering the welfare of a child, a felony punishable in Missouri by up to seven years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Lowery said Monday: 'You couldnt have written a more tragic script, the whole thing is just so tragic and terrible, but we have to put our personal feelings aside and do the law enforcement side of this.'

He added: 'All of the officers who responded to the scene are mothers and fathers, so you can only imagine how personal it is to see a child shot in the back of the head.

'We will have counselors here for a debriefing hopefully this week to make sure the mental state of our officers is okay.'

Maliyah (pictured) was in first grade at Green Trails Elementary School in Chesterfield. School officials broke the news of her death in a letter to parents on Sunday

The Palmer family's home on Holly Lane in Florissant is pictured above

A funeral will be held for Maliyah on Friday morning at West Side Missionary Baptist Church.

The six-year-old was in first grade at Green Trails Elementary School in Chesterfield.

The school brought in additional counselors on Monday morning to help her classmates cope, an official with the Parkway School District said.

Principal Rene Sommers sent a letter to parents on Sunday stating that the school is working with bereavement center Annies Hope.

'Our goal will be to keep the day and routine normal,' Sommers wrote in the letter.

'We will share the news honestly and openly so that understanding, processing, grieving and healing can begin.'

This is the St Louis area's second incident involving a young person mistakenly firing their parents gun in a week.

On December 11 in neighboring Pagedale, a two-year-old boy found a 9mm pistol in his fathers backpack and shot himself in the arm and his sleeping seven-year-old brother in the head with the same round.

Both children survived, and investigators have yet to determine whether charges will be filed in that case.Trent Levi Keogh (right with co-accused Matthew Sultana) recruited two women on Instagram in a bid to get 270 MDMA capsules into a Sydney music festival

A drug syndicate's plan to coax women into 'secreting' Kinder Surprise chocolates packed with MDMA at a music festival spectacularly unravelled when they were busted at the gate - and a single strand of hair led police to the ringleaders.

Sydney man Trent Levi Keogh, 26, recruited two women on Instagram in a bid to get 270 capsules of the party drug past police sniffer dogs at the 2016 Knockout Circuz music festival in Homebush.

Keogh, along with Matthew Sultana, 23, and a 25-year-old Sant Alberto Salas, pleaded guilty to drug supply charges in Parramatta District Court, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The court heard that on the morning of the festival, Keogh wrote to one of the women on Instagram, telling her: 'We're trying to find someone to take in for us'.

Trent Levi Keogh (left) Matthew Sultana (right) and 25-year-old Sant Alberto Salas (centre) pleaded guilty to drug supply charges in Parramatta District Court

'How many?', the woman asked, according to court documents, to which Keogh replied: 'Maybe 150.'

After brief negotiations, Keogh agreed to pay the woman and her friend $150 and said they could keep eight of the MDMA caps in return for taking the stash into the rave.

That day, Keogh met the women in Baulkham Hills before driving them to a service station in the nearby suburb of Kellyville.

'We need to stop here and get the Kinder Surprise That's what we're going to put the drugs in,' he told them, according to court documents seen by the paper.

The women hid the drugs inside their bodies and made their way to the festival (pictured)

Sultana and Salas handed the drugs to the pair, who hid them inside their bodies and made their way to the festival.

At the gate, police detected the drugs - with detectives later finding a strand of Keogh's hair on one of the Kinder Surprise containers.

After months of investigations, he was charged with taking part in drug supply and participate criminal group.

Salas and Sultana faced drug supply and participate in criminal group charges.

The trio will be sentenced next year.Historians said Mrs Pankhurst's 'lifelong commitment to socialist and revolutionary politics, pacifism and internationalism' led to her being wiretapped by the security services - and to her objecting to the practice

Suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst lobbied the Post Office against the practice of installing duplicate telephone lines over fears they could be used to intercept private calls, newly discovered letters have revealed.

Ms Pankhurst - who was herself the subject of an MI5 surveillance operation - wrote to the Postmaster General raising concerns that duplicate lines opened the door to 'improper use by unscrupulous persons'.

She wrote after reading of a case in which a husband arranged with the Post Office - who ran the UK's telephone service at the time - to install duplicate lines to his house so he could intercept his wife's calls.

The arrangement led to him discovering an affair, and his wife's lover was struck off as a gynaecologist.

In two letters from Mrs Pankhurst found in the BT Archives in Holborn, central London, she argued that the practice was 'opposed to the best interests of the community and contrary to public policy'.

She received a response to the first letter, which was dated February 6, 1934, but internal, handwritten notes between Post Office employees showed they were instructed to 'stonewall' Ms Pankhurst if she sent any further correspondence.

In this letter of February 6 1934, Mrs Pankhurst wrote to the Postmaster General - of the case of marital eavesdropping reported in the news - that 'the installation of a line so arranged opens the door to improper use by unscrupulous persons'

She was fobbed off with a reply claiming the Post Office 'provides extension lines for telephone subscribers in the ordinary course of its business' and that in this case 'an extension line was provided, on a subscriber's application, from his main telephone to other premises in his occupation and control'

Mrs Pankhurst wrote again, the day after receiving that reply, to point out that since her own extension line did not alert her to outgoing calls, the one described in the High Court case 'must have been something quite special'

The letters were found by researchers in the BT Archives in Holborn in London. It previously emerged that the security services intercepted Mrs Pankhurst's letters in the 1930s and 1940s

It emerged in 2004 that MI5 had monitored Ms Pankhurst's movements and intercepted her letters in the 1930s and 1940s after previously classified government files were released.

Among the documents were references to MI5's 'telephone checks' and other intercepted calls.

The file contained information on her fight for women to be granted the vote and her work as part of the Worker's Suffrage Federation going back as far as 1914.

Sylvia Pankhurt's concerns were aroused by this news story which revealed a jealous husband had not only tapped his wife's calls but arranged for a shorthand note to be taken of her and her lover's every utterance

Ms Pankhurst's fears about duplicate phone lines were sparked by a news story about a gynaecologist who was struck off following an affair with a patient, the letters revealed.

The relationship was exposed by the husband of the patient who arranged with the Post Office - which ran the UK's telephone service at the time - to duplicate the phone line installed on his house in order to intercept his wife's calls.

The letters were discovered by Dr Sarah Jackson - an associate professor at Nottingham Trent University.

Dr Jackson, who was conducting the research as part of an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) fellowship, said: 'Sifting through a file of old press cuttings about wiretapping, I was astonished to find letters from Sylvia Pankhurst to the Postmaster General revealing her concerns about surveillance.

'In the year that we celebrate the centenary of women's suffrage, the discovery brings home once again the efforts and achievements of this remarkable woman.'

Dr Jackson said: 'Buried in the files were two letters from Pankhurst about an extension line that had been installed in her home.

'The first response from the Post Office indicated that this was a normal extension line, but Pankhurst knew it wasn't because she already had a normal extension line installed in her home.'

Dr Sarah Jackson, associate professor at Nottingham Trent University, at the BT Archive in Holborn with newly discovered letters from Sylvia Pankhurst

Dr Jackson said: 'We don't know whether her concerns that her phone was being tapped were part of wider concerns about privacy, but the timing of the thirties when MI5 were actively monitoring her behaviour suggests she knew she was being monitored'

The 80-year-old letters are showing their age but Mrs Pankhurt's hand-written signatures remain clearly visible

Although Pankhurst's second letter went unanswered, the notes between employees at the Post Office suggests that responses were drafted but never sent.

Employees were instead instructed to ignore - 'stonewall' - her if she wrote again.

Dr Jackson said: 'It is quite clear that the Post Office knew about the extension line.

'We don't know whether her concerns that her phone was being tapped were part of wider concerns about privacy, but the timing of the thirties when MI5 were actively monitoring her behaviour suggests she knew she was being monitored.

'These concerns are not new. People talk about spying being the second-oldest profession.'

Dr Jackson also suggested Ms Pankhurst's concerns were part of her wider ideology: 'She was very much a socialist.

Internal notes in the archive suggest a draft reply to Sylvia Pankhurst's letter of February 14 was written, but not sent. This handwritten note dated February 23 reads: 'Please see my note at the foot of the draft. I think that we must "stonewall" a little so I like that game'

'This is a really good example of Pankhurst. People only think about the militant suffragettes, but Pankhurst was quieter than her sister. Christabelle stole the limelight.

'Sylvia was very involved in Ethiopia, working on causes to do with eradicating fascism and poverty.'

Professor Roey Sweet, AHRC's director of partnerships and engagement, said: 'Sylvia Pankhurst is generally remembered today simply as a militant suffragette, but the exciting discovery of these letters reminds us that her fight for women's political rights was part of her lifelong commitment to socialist and revolutionary politics, pacifism and internationalism - commitments that would have led to the phone tapping, against which she so rightly objected.'Embattled Nationals MP Andrew Broad has announced he will not contest the next election after explosive details of a trip he took to meet a 'sugar baby' emerged.

The 43-year-old, who allegedly flew to Hong Kong partially on the taxpayer's dime to meet a woman nearly 20 years younger than him, currently holds the seat of Mallee in regional Victoria.

He will not stand down from his seat immediately, though The Australian reported he has offered to.

Despite his strong hold on the seat, winning the last election with a margin of about 20 per cent, there are fears a by-election could lose the struggling Morrison government another seat.

In a statement, Mr Broad said he had let his constituency and his family down, and would withdraw his nomination to contest the 2019 election.

'After recent media stories about my private life, it is clear that the people of Mallee will be best served in the next Parliament by a different Nationals candidate,' he said.

'I want to acknowledge and thank my family, my staff, Nationals members and the community for their support of me.

'I have done my best and at times we have achieved good things, but I have also let them down.'

Nationals MP Andrew Broad has resigned as Assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister after allegations he was sending salacious texts to a 'sugar baby' 20 years his junior

Taxpayers partly funded Nationals MP Andrew Broad's trip to Hong Kong, where he attended a fruit conference and enjoyed dinner with a 'sugar baby' he'd been texting for about a month prior.

Mr Broad, 43, was in China for the Asia Fruit Logistica, where he met up with food exporters from his electorate, Mallee, in rural Victoria - before meeting up with a woman nearly two decades his junior.

The married politician charged taxpayers for his flights from Mildura to Melbourne and back on September 2-7, but paid for the connecting flight to Hong Kong and accommodation on his own, The Australian reported.

He will immediately repay the $479.62 he claimed on the public purse.

During the trip, Mr Broad met up with a 'sugar baby' who calls herself 'Sweet Sophia Rose' online, and she told New Idea he claimed he shouldn't have been in the city.

'He told me he was in town for a conference but he shouldn't have been here at all,' she said.

ANDREW BROAD RESIGNS: FULL STATEMENT 'Today I have informed the President of the Victorian Division of The Nationals that I am withdrawing my nomination to contest the Division of Mallee at the next Federal Election. 'After recent media stories about my private life, it is clear that the people of Mallee will be best served in the next Parliament by a different Nationals candidate. 'I want to acknowledge and thank my family, my staff, Nationals members and the community for their support of me. 'I have done my best and at times we have achieved good things, but I have also let them down. 'I have given 10 years of my life to serving regional Australia, first as the Vice President and President of the Victorian Farmers Federation and then as the Federal Member for Mallee. 'I hold a deep love for regional Australia. 'I am blessed to have represented the Mallee region of Victoria, and I am proud of what we have delivered together. 'I will continue to work tirelessly for my community as their local MP until the next election.' Advertisement

The young woman told the magazine Mr Broad, the former Assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister, had 'bragged about his important job', before becoming brash and forward when the pair arranged to meet after about a month of texting.

In screenshots of what the woman, known offline as Amy, claims are text messages sent between the pair, Mr Broad appears happy to capitalise on his Australian upbringing.

In his profile, she alleges he described himself as 'an Aussie lad'.

'I know how to ride a horse, fly a plane and f--k my woman. My intentions are completely dishonourable,' he wrote.

After Amy tells him she thinks Australian accents are 'so sexy', he sends back what appears to be a sext.

'I pull you close, run my strong hands down your back, softly kiss your neck and whisper, 'G'day mate',' he writes.

New Idea report the pair met at the Aqua Restaurant in Hong Kong, where Mr Broad allegedly whinged about the price of a meal and bragged about his powerful position.

Amy said Mr Broad 'delivered his 'election speech' on the date, detailing why he should be voted in by the public.

'He kept saying he was very important and that when he left he would have to throw away his phone,' she told the magazine.

'He referred to himself as James Bond several times.'

Amy claims he also told her he had 'booked a flashy room to seduce you back to', despite the young woman stating on her profile there would be no physical intimacy between her and her clients.

After the bombshell revelations emerged, senior members of the Nationals told The Herald Sun the party knew of more of Mr Broad's indiscretions, which date back at least three years.

In the last 12 months alone, the Herald reports three separate women told the Nationals of Mr Broad's inappropriate conduct.

The women claimed they had seen Mr Broad acting out in hotels and bars and threatened to out him in the media.

Pictured: Andrew Broad with his wife, Rachel

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Broad's office for comment on the fresh allegations.

He told The New Daily he was not one to 'put myself on a moral high ground' because he made 'mistakes' like anyone else.

'Government is imperfect people governing imperfect people,' he said.

Mr Broad resigned as Assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister on Monday, after just four months in the job.

Deputy PM Michael McCormack made a statement on Monday confirming he had accepted Mr Broad's resignation, and that the father-of-one would remain as the member for Mallee.

The Nationals leader told reporters he would be thinking about Mr Broad's predicament over the coming weeks, and the effect it would have on his career.

'I'll be thinking about that over the Christmas period and we might have something to say about that in the year,' he told reporters on Monday afternoon.

'I have accepted his resignation. It was the right thing to do, we need to get on and focus on the people who matter most to us, those are the constituents.'

Amy, a 'sugar baby' who is known online as 'Sweet Sophia Rose', says she received explicit texts from Mr Broad after agreeing to meet him for a date

Mr McCormack congratulated himself on his 'swift and decisive action' regarding the allegations during the press conference, but it has since emerged Mr Broad referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police, under Mr McCormack's advice, on November 8.

The AFP have since confirmed 'no applicable offences under Australian law have been identified' following an investigation.

On Tuesday, Mr McCormack said his former assistant had let Australians down and should 'consider his future' in regards to running for re-election.

Mr Broad was one of the first Nationals MPs to publicly call for Barnaby Joyce's resignation as Deputy Prime Minister after news emerged of his affair with his much younger former media adviser Vikki Campion.

At the same time, he tweeted on February 22 a quote from the late American evangelist Billy Graham.

'Quote from the late Billy Graham: 'When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost',' he wrote, adding these were: 'telling words for the leadership of the National Party'.

In his maiden speech in December 2013, he praised his wife.

'I want to acknowledge my wife, who is in the gallery here today,' he said.

'My beautiful wife. She can give us a wave. I did pretty well for myself, didn't I?

'But she stuck through me through this unfolding journey.'The former husband of a mother-of-four who was killed when the driver of a B-double truck lost control and veered onto the pavement in a Sydney suburb has returned to work 'to make ends meet' just days after her death.

Khristiee Jazairy, a 44-year-old executive assistant from Sans Souci, in the city's south, was waiting for a bus when she was hit and thrown into a disused building, which then collapsed.

Her former husband Baha Jazairy, an Uber driver who works long hours and late nights, has returned to work in order to 'support himself and his family financially,' a gofundme page set up for the family reads.

Scroll down for video

Mother-of-four Khristiee Jazairy, 44, (pictured) was killed when a B-double truck veered onto the pavement in a Sydney suburb, injuring five others

Khristiee's (left) former husband Baha Jazairy, (right) an Uber driver working long hours and late nights, has returned to work in order to 'support himself and his family financially'

'Khristiee Jazairy was waiting for a bus while killed ... Her grieving husband Baha Jazairy still has to make ends meet while driving for Uber. His youngest son only five years of age.

'We hope that funds raised will mean that Baha Jazairy has the ability to have some quality time off work during this grieving process to spend with his children.'

Mr Jazairy paid tribute to his ex-wife of 22 years in a series of Facebook posts, one of which read: 'Rest in peace my queen'.

In another he wrote: 'Oh my beautiful Khristiee, I will miss you so much, no one will ever love you as much as I did, you have never left my heart, even after all these years.'

Ms Jazairy died and five others were injured after the truck plowed into pedestrians in the Sydney suburb of Alexandria on Wednesday morning, before hitting a power pole

The horrific scene unfolded about 7.45am on Wednesday on Botany Road in Alexandria when the truck veered onto the wrong side of the road (pictured)

Her son Leon, 26, added 'you will always be in my heart mum' and 'love you till eternity'.

Mr Jazairy added after watching dashcam footage of the large truck hitting his wife, he thought she had been looking in another direction.

He said: 'From the footage I have seen it looked like she was facing south so I dont think she saw it coming'.

Ms Jazairy said he still hasn't been able to tell the youngest of their children, their five-year-old son, that his mother has died.

Mr Jazairy (right) paid tribute to his ex-wife (left) of 22 years in a series of Facebook posts, one of which read: 'Rest in peace my queen'

He said: 'Everybody is devastated, shocked - Khristiee was so full of life.'

The mother's siblings, two brothers and one sister, are flying from interstate to be with her family.

The terrifying dashcam footage, filmed from a car driving in the opposite direction, showed the enormous truck swerving into oncoming traffic at around 7.45am in Alexandria, in the city's inner south.

A driver moved quickly to get out of the way and narrowly avoided the collision.

As the car passed the truck, a flash could be seen from behind as the accident sent debris flying.

The 44-year-old woman died and two of the five injured are fighting for their lives in hospital.

The driver is understood to have suffered a medical episode.

Terrifying dashcam footage emerged of the moment a B-double truck veered onto the wrong side of the road and onto the pavement in a Sydney suburbMichael Flynn may have given extraordinary cooperation to prosecutors, but the run-up to his sentencing hearing on Tuesday has exposed raw tensions over an FBI interview in which the former national security adviser lied about his Russian contacts.

Flynn's lawyers have suggested that investigators discouraged him from having an attorney present during the January 2017 interview and never informed him it was a crime to lie.

Prosecutors shot back: 'He does not need to be warned it is a crime to lie to federal agents to know the importance of telling them the truth.'

The mere insinuation of underhanded tactics was startling given the seemingly productive relationship between the two sides, and it was especially striking since prosecutors with special counsel Robert Mueller's office have praised Flynn's cooperation and recommended against prison time.

The defense arguments spurred speculation that Flynn, 59, may be trying to get sympathy from President Donald Trump or may be playing to a judge known for a zero-tolerance view of government misconduct.

Liar, liar: Michael Flynn will be sentenced for admitting lying to the FBI about his contact before the 2016 election with Sergei Kislyak, then Putin's ambassador to Washington D.C.

At his side: Flynn became a vocal supporter of Trump and spoke at campaign rallies such as this one in Grand Junction, CO, and the Republican national convention in Cleveland, OH, where he led chants of 'lock her up'

Notorious meeting: Flynn traveled to Moscow in December 2015 and dined with Vladimir Putin to celebrate the 10th anniversary of RT, the Russian English-language propaganda channel

What a change of tone: In the run-up to his former aide's sentencing, Trump has turned from portraying him as a liar to saying that he did not, as the president steps up his attacks on the Mueller probe

'It's an attempt, I think, to perhaps characterize Flynn as a victim or perhaps to make him look sympathetic in the eyes of a judge - and, at the same time, to portray the special counsel in a negative light,' said former federal prosecutor Jimmy Gurule, a University of Notre Dame law school professor.

Until the dueling memos were filed last week, the sentencing hearing for Flynn - who pleaded guilty to lying about a conversation during the transition period with the then-Russian ambassador - was expected to be devoid of the drama characterizing other of Mueller's cases.

Prosecutors, for instance, have accused former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort of lying to them even after he agreed to cooperate.

Another potential target, Jerome Corsi, leaked draft court documents and accused Mueller's team of bullying him.

And George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser recently released from a two-week prison sentence, has lambasted the investigation and publicly claimed that he was set up.

Flynn, by contrast, has been notably silent even as his supporters advocated a more combative stance. He met privately with investigators 19 times and provided cooperation so extensive that prosecutors said he was entitled to avoid prison altogether.

Then came his sentencing memo.

Although Flynn and his attorneys stopped short of any direct accusations of wrongdoing, they took pains to note that Flynn, unlike other defendants in Mueller's investigation, was not informed that it was against the law to lie to the FBI.

They suggest the FBI, which approached Flynn at the White House just days after Trump's inauguration, played to his desire to keep the encounter quiet by telling him the quickest way to get the interview done was for him to be alone with the agents - rather than involve lawyers.

They also insinuate that Flynn, of Middletown, Rhode Island, deserves credit for not publicly seizing on the fact that FBI officials involved in the investigation later came under scrutiny themselves.

Former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who contacted Flynn to arrange the interview, was fired this year for what the Justice Department said was a lack of candor over a news media leak.

Peter Strzok, one of the two agents who interviewed Flynn, was removed from Mueller's team and later fired for trading anti-Trump texts with another FBI official.

Tarnished: Flynn (left) became a three-star general while his brother Charlie (right) became a two-star general. Now one brother's service is overshadowed by his guilt. His mother Helen (center) had nine children with the Flynn's later father, Charles

Sentenced: Flynn will join his former cohort Michael Cohen - Trump's fixer - in having been sentenced. Cohen is due to report to federal prison in March

Business partners: Flynn was in business with Bijan Kian (second left). Kian, an Iranian-American, is now indicted on charges of lobbying illegally along with Flynn, who appears to have flipped on him. Flynn's wife Lori is expected at his sentencing

Mueller's team has sharply pushed back at any suggestion that Flynn was duped, with prosecutors responding in their own sentencing memo Friday that there was no obligation to warn Flynn against lying.

'A sitting National Security (Adviser), former head of an intelligence agency, retired Lieutenant General, and 33-year veteran of the armed forces knows he should not lie to federal agents,' prosecutors wrote.

Former FBI Director James Comey criticized the broadsides on the Flynn investigation during a Monday appearance on Capitol Hill, saying, 'They're up here attacking the FBI's investigation of a guy who pled guilty to lying to the FBI.'

Trump has made no secret that he sees Mueller's investigation as a 'witch hunt' and has continued to lash out at prosecutors he sees as biased against him and those who help them.

He's shown continued sympathy for Flynn, though, calling him a 'great person' and asserting - erroneously - that the FBI has said he didn't lie.

Flynn has not tried to retract his guilty plea, and there's every indication the sentencing will proceed as scheduled.

Arun Rao, a former Justice Department prosecutor in Maryland, said the defense memo is striking because it's 'inconsistent' with Flynn's cooperative stance so far.

'You also wonder in this very unusual situation,' he said, 'whether it is a play for a pardon.'

It's also possible that at least some of the defense arguments may resonate with U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who directed prosecutors to produce FBI records related to Flynn's interview.

Scalp: Flynn will become the fourth of Robert Mueller's targets to be sentenced

Sullivan was the judge in the Justice Department's botched prosecution of now-deceased Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska.

He dismissed the case after prosecutors admitted that they withheld exculpatory evidence, prompting the judge to say that in nearly 25 years on the bench, 'I've never seen anything approaching the mishandling and misconduct that I've seen in this case.'

In an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal last year, Sullivan said the case inspired him to explicitly remind prosecutors in every criminal case before him of their obligation to provide defendants with favorable evidence. He says he has encouraged colleagues to do the same.

But while Sullivan has proved especially sensitive to hints of government overreach, nothing about the Flynn case comes close, said Gurule, the law professor.

'To portray him as somehow an innocent dupe, as somehow just this innocent victim in the process, this suggestion that there was a perjury trap - it's an absurd allegation,' he said.

But the sentencing also comes the day after a dramatic move by Mueller to arrest Flynn's former business partner and reveal that Flynn had been part of an effort to lobby illegally.

Bijan Kian, an Iranian-American who was number two to Flynn was arrested and appeared in federal court in Washington D.C. before being freed on bail.

He is charged with a plot to lobby for Turkey without declaring that he and Flynn's firm was working for the Turkish government, breaking the Foreign Agent Registration Act which makes it illegal to lobby for foreign governments without registering with the State Department. Kian has yet to enter a plea.

Also indicted was the business partner who worked with him and Flynn, Turkish-Dutch dual national Ekim Alpetkin, who is the subject of an arrest warrant and thought to be in Turkey.

Kian and Alpetkin are accused in court papers of a plot to convince the U.S. government to extradite or otherwise expel Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric who is a deadly rival of the country's strongman president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mueller says in the court papers that with Flynn, who is referred to a 'Person A' they placed an op-ed in The Hill newspaper without acknowledging that it was at the prompting of the Turkish government.

Flynn wrote the op-ed and his firm, The Flynn Intel Group, was paid $600,000 for their lobbying campaign - but he is not indicted himself in what appears to be a sign that he flipped on his former associates.

The special counsel has praised the former Trump administration official for his 'substantial help' in several investigations. It is believed this is one of them.Alec Baldwin said in a bombshell Twitter statement Sunday that President Trump is a 'curse' and 'punishment' for American sins, including slavery and the slaughter of Native Americans.

The Mission: Impossible - Fallout actor took to his social media page to write: 'Trump is a curse, brought down on us as punishment 4 our sins. The slaughter of Native Americans, slavery, Japanese internment, Vietnam.

'Every hateful, misogynistic, racist notion, intertwined w our better nature, Trump embodies those. He is us. Now we can face it + exorcise it.'

Baldwin went on to say: 'Remember that once Trump is gone, by whatever means, + is replaced by a competent/duly elected successor, it will be necessary 4 all in this country 2 offer their support 2 that man/woman.

'Regardless of party. The period of healing for us will be long + will require our best.'

Scroll down for videos

Alec Baldwin has called President Trump is a 'curse' and 'punishment' for American sins. Trump is pictured on December 13 in D.C.

Baldwin, pictured October 10, 2018 in New York City, made the remarks hours after an SNL spoof of It's a Wonderful Life in which he played Trump

The Mission: Impossible - Fallout actor took to his social media page to write: 'Trump is a curse, brought down on us as punishment 4 our sins. The slaughter of Native Americans, slavery, Japanese internment, Vietnam'

Baldwin said: 'Remember that once Trump is gone, by whatever means, + is replaced by a competent/duly elected successor, it will be necessary 4 all in this country 2 offer their support 2 that man/woman'

Baldwin played the role of Trump in a White House-themed parody of Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life in the latest Saturday Night Live skit.

Baldwin found himself in an alternate reality where he was no longer president - and everyone was better off.

Trump later expressed his disapproval over the parody and said it should be tried in court.

Baldwin played the role of Trump in a White House-themed parody of Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life in the latest Saturday Night Live skit

A world where Trump was never President, eh? #SNL pic.twitter.com/rkS3Zgnfn1  Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) December 16, 2018

He slammed NBC and SNL as a 'Democrat spin machine' after the late-night show aired and hinted at legal action - alleging defamation and 'collusion.'

He tweeted early Sunday: 'A REAL scandal is the one sided coverage, hour by hour, of networks like NBC & Democrat spin machines like Saturday Night Live.

'It is all nothing less than unfair news coverage and Dem commercials. Should be tested in courts, can't be legal? Only defame & belittle! Collusion?'

Trump has been a favorite subject of the comedy show and his presidency has proved ripe for skits in the program.A North Carolina woman has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for a nationwide adoption scam that devastated 17 couples.

Wendy George, 39, pleaded guilty on Friday to 10 counts of obtaining property by false pretenses, one count of felony accessing a computer to perpetuate fraud, and one count of Medicaid fraud.

She was sentenced to serve 50 to 64 months in prison as well as an additional 22 to 37 months, which was suspended for three years of supervised probation.

In November 2016 George posted on social media and various adoption websites that she was expecting and wanted to give up her baby for adoption.

But George was never pregnant.

Wendy George, 39, has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for a nationwide adoption scam that devastated 17 couples

In November 2016 George posted on social media and various adoption websites that she was expecting and wanted to give up her baby for adoption

Instead George obtained a positive pregnancy test using her pregnant friend's urine that she then used to receive Medicaid benefits from the Department of Social Services.

George also paid her pregnant friend $20 to get an ultrasound in her name so that she could send the image as proof to couples who who responded to her posts, according to WWAY.

At least 17 couples from across the US entered into discussions with George about adopting her alleged child, even sending her hundreds of dollars when she asked for help to pay for food, housing, and doctor appointments.

It wasn't until February 2017 that an Ohio couple became suspicious and called the Carolina Beach Police Department.

George was sentenced to serve 50 to 64 months in prison as well as an additional 22 to 37 months, which was suspended for three years of supervised probation

George used her pregnant friend's urine to obtain a positive pregnancy test and also paid the same friend $20 to get an ultrasound in her name as proof to interested couples

They told authorities they had given George several hundred dollars for both food and rent.

An investigation revealed that at least 16 other people had also been swept up in George's adoption scam.

George, who was on probation at the time for selling drugs, was arrested that March.

This is hardly George's first run in with the law.

An investigation revealed that at least 16 other people had also been swept up in George's adoption scam

In 2012 she was convicted of 16 fraud charges in New Hanover County for a condo scam.

George rented out condos on Craigslist and collected payment before her guests arrived.

It was only after the vacationers got to the listed address - or couldn't get into the building - that they realized they had been scammed.

Two years later, George pulled off a similar scam and rented a beach condo on Craigslist to a couple, collected their money, and then never sent them the unit number.A global compact on refugees that is intended to reduce the burden on host nations has been overwhelmingly adopted by the UN General Assembly yesterday evening, the United Nations said in a press release.

According to General Assembly spokeswoman Monica Grayley, the vote was 181 in favour of the compact, with two against and three abstentions.

The compact aims to ease the burden on developing nations, which host 90% of an estimated 25 million refugees, by providing more investment to further strengthen infrastructure and the provision of services for refugees and host communities, the release said.

The new agreement will also track refugee flows through the creation of follow-up systems, including a Global Refugee Forum every four years, at which governments will report and pledge on a range of measures, Sputnik reported.The mother of a toddler whose disappearance prompted the biggest criminal investigation in Maine history, broke down in an emotional news conference Monday as she announced she is suing the girl's father for wrongful death.

Trista Reynolds' tearful speech in Portland came on the seventh anniversary of the date 20-month-old Ayla Reynolds was reported missing by her dad Justin DiPietro in Waterville.

Although the body was never found and no charges have been filed, a judge declared her legally dead in 2017 and the mom is hoping to unearth more details about what happened when she vanished.

'As we hit Aylas anniversary, I wonder if this is haunting you, Justin,' Reynolds said in front of media as she held the outdoor gathering in snowfall. 'I wonder if our daughter haunts your dreams or if you see her blue eyes when you close your eyes at night. I wonder if you even think about that night  that night you murdered her.'

Scroll down for video

Trista Reynolds holds a picture of Justin DiPietro, estranged father of her missing daughter Ayla Reynolds, during a news conference, Monday

Ayla Reynolds went missing in December 2011 from her father Justin DiPietro's home in Waterville, Maine

Ayla Reynolds' mother holds news conference Ayla Reynolds' mother, Trista Reynolds, and her lawyer are holding a news conference in Portland, Maine. Today marks seven years since the 20-month-old disappeared. Posted by The National Desk - TND on Monday, December 17, 2018

The little girl's blood was found in DiPietro's home and car and law enforcement have said he is withholding information about her disappearance.

Although no version of the story has been offered in the lawsuit, Reynolds is suing the father for 'intentional wrongful actions' and subjecting Ayla to 'pre-death pain, fright, terror and physical injuries'.

As she vowed to 'live inside a courtroom until the day I get justice for her', the mother said to reporters she often wondered if her daughter cried out for her or if she 'stayed strong'.

DiPietro claims she must have wandered away from the property or been abducted but law enforcement ruled it out saying foul play was involved.

Reynolds is determined to find out his whereabouts to serve him the lawsuit. His last known address was in California according to Reynolds' pro bono lawyer.

The legal representative said they had tried previously to serve him regarding other matters but a man who looked 'remarkably' like DiPietro, claimed he was not him.

Mother Trista Reynolds filed a wrongful death lawsuit seven years to the day the toddler vanished

Attorney William Childs (left) said the lawsuit is about 'trying to find out how Ayla was killed', Also pictured are Reynolds, Jeff Hanson (second from left) Trista Reynold's stepfather, and Kevin Cady (right) a private investigator working on the case

She hopes depositions related to the suit will help solve the case and although the filing also seeks a monetary award from DiPietro, the mother suspects he probably has no money to provide.

Her attorney William Childs said that the lawsuit is more about 'trying to find out how Ayla was killed, why Ayla was killed, and where Ayla was killed'.

Detectives have said in the past that adults in the home where Ayla was last seen alive know more than they have shared with authorities.

The little girl's blood was found in Justin DiPietro's home and car and law enforcement have said he is withholding information

The home belonged to Phoebe DiPietro - Justin's mother and Ayla's grandmother - and the present adults include Justin's sister Elisha DiPietro, and his then-girlfriend Courtney Roberts.

According to a GoFundMe page launched last week to help raise funds for civil action, Ayla had lived with her father for 59 days when she vanished.

The baby had broken her arm during that time which according to Justin was due to him dropping her while carrying her.

Reynolds' attorney also said the child was scared of her father and the child's aunt, Trista's sister, warned authorities when they took the baby to live with her dad that it was a bad idea.

He added that Justin's mother admitted she lied to police to cover for her son when initially questioned by law enforcement and the women in the house at the time of Ayla's death declined to take a polygraph test.

The crowdfunding page, that raised $1,500 of a $25,000 goal in the first four days, noted that Justin took out insurance on Ayla's life in the time she lived with him.

Reynolds' attorney hopes the money will pay for blood splatter experts, criminologists, polygraphers, private investigators, interrogatories, depositions, body language experts, and statement analyses.

Reynolds read from a statement on Monday: 'Justin, I promise you, wherever you are, one day you will have to face me and tell me the truth of what really happened to Ayla. You can't hide from this forever.'

Sworn testimony from DiPietro and others who were in the house, who could potentially be served subpoenas, could help shed light on exactly what happened that night. Reynolds said she hopes it builds groundwork for eventual criminal charges.

Phoebe DiPietro (left), grandmother of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds, is comforted by an unidentified woman during a vigil for Reynolds in downtown Waterville on March 3, 2012. Ayla was living in her home for 59 days when she died

Justin's sister Elisha DiPietro, and his then-girlfriend Courtney Roberts were present at the home the night Ayla went missing

The investigation remains open and Maine State Police spokesman Steve McCausland said Monday that police 'remain as committed today as we were seven years ago' to solving it.

Ayla was last seen wearing pajamas with the words 'Daddy's Princess' on them.

Trista Reynolds now lives in South Portland and has two young children. She said she lights a pink candle every December in Ayla's name.

'We've been at this for seven years,' she said before the news conference, 'so I've got to have hope somewhere.'

DiPietro did not return phone calls to the Associated Press. An email to an address listed under his name was returned by a user who declined to comment.Toyah Cordingley's father, Troy (pictured), has opened up about the moment he found his daughter's dead body in a heartbreaking Facebook post

The mother and father of a 24-year-old woman who was murdered as she walked her dog along a beach in far-north Queensland have shared their ongoing grief.

As each parent prepares to face their first holiday without Toyah Cordingley, a bright and bubbly pharmacy assistant who was killed on Wanghetti Beach, they have leaned on a Facebook group for help.

Mother Vanessa Gardiner said while time had flown since her daughter's body was found on October 22, she had felt the deep pain of her loss every moment.

'Time has gone so fast but I will never give up for our precious daughter Toyah,' she said.

'Justice will be done. My heart aches every single minute of every single day.'

Father Troy Cordingley, who found his daughter's body in the sand dunes the morning after her family reported her missing, made his first lengthy public statement on Monday night.

He said he had discovered Toyah's body after more than four hours of searching, and that the experience had scarred him.

'Toyah is my only child,' he said. 'Finding her body has burnt an indelible image in my mind.

'It is something a father should never have to suffer.'

Toyah, 24, (pictured) was murdered on Wanghetti Beach in late October. She was reported missing on October 21 and her body was found on October 22

Her father Troy says the memory of finding his daughter was 'indelible', but he was able to cushion the blow with memories of her blissful childhood (pictured)

He said while the trauma of his distressing discovery would never go away, he was able to cushion the blow with more than two decades of happy memories with his daughter, who he affectionately called 'Bright Eyes'.

'I feel lost and empty inside, but will always have the wonderful memories of those 24 years.

'I have other images permanently etched in my mind,' he said. 'Toyah used to spend a week with her mother and a week with Mary and I as she grew up.

'I remember our backyard full of laughing happy kids. I remember wonderful birthday parties and Christmases.

'She always said how lucky she was to have two mums and two dads.

'Toyah grew into a beautiful, caring young woman, and we are all so proud of that.

'Toyah and I shared a love that only a father and daughter can understand.'

Mr Cordingley and Toyah's mother, Vanessa Gardiner, separated when Toyah was a child, but remained close, allowing Toyah to have a close relationship with both of her families

Mr Cordingley says while he feels 'lost and empty inside', he will always have the memories of their time together

Toyah's (pictured with her father) killer has not been found, but her local community in far north Queensland have rallied together to do everything they can to bring them to justice

Mr Cordingley told members of the Facebook group Honour Toyah he had recorded a public appeal with his friend Mary for Queensland Police, but said they had decided not to air it.

He claims the decision was in response to reports police were looking for an Indian male nurse who had fled the country soon after Toyah's death.

'The police have informed me today that due to the media undermining their investigation, they will not be using my police media release,' he said on Monday.

'This is very disappointing but I completely [understood] their reasoning once it was explained to me.'

Mrs Gardiner and Mr Cordingley have been shrouded in love by their local community, with donations pouring in to have stickers printed asking for information.

Doug 'Prong' Trimble, a family friend, has also held fundraising days and conducted walks along Wanghetti Beach with other concerned locals and police to help look for clues that might help bring the young woman's killer to justice.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Queensland Police for comment.A self-proclaimed 'peaceful activist' in a relationship with the model ex-girlfriend of a slain bikie has appeared in court amid claims police kidnapped him after he refused to give them his phone passcode.

Police charged Brenden John Casey with contravening an order about information necessary to access information stored electronically and possessing property suspected of having been used in the commission of a drug offence.

In Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Monday his model girlfriend Karlee Ironside supported him from the public gallery as he plead not guilty to the charges, according to the Sunshine Coast Daily.

A man (right) in a relationship with the model ex-girlfriend (left) of a slain bikie claims police kidnapped him after he refused to give them his phone passcode

In Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Monday his model girlfriend Karlee Ironside (pictured) supported him from the public gallery as he plead not guilty to the charges

Ms Ironside is the ex-girlfriend of Bandidos associate Max Waller, who was slain in a stabbing on the Gold Coast in 2013.

A friend of Mr Casey posted to Facebook after his arrest that he was 'kidnapped' and 'unlawfully imprisoned' by 'corrupt' police.

A video that Mr Casey posted online eight days before he was arrested and that has been viewed 48,000 times shows two police officers looking for a man named Gabriel at a property.

He denies he knows the man and tells the camera that the officers have 'sworn an oath to a foreign dictator'.

Mr Casey was granted bail on November 2 and his hearing date will be set on February 7.A 29-year-old woman arrested for allegedly possessing two large Samurai swords and knives on the grounds of a high school was photographed smiling during her mug shot.

Jillian Haddon was photographed by Colorado Springs Police Department grinning from ear to ear after her arrest on Friday morning.

Police said Haddon had no business being the grounds of the Vanguard School, according to KDVR-TV.

She was arrested after school administrators called police and reported a woman lying along an exterior wall on the school campus with sharp weapons nearby.

Jillian Haddon, 29, was photographed by Colorado Springs Police Department grinning from ear to ear after her arrest on Friday morning

Police said Haddon had no business being the grounds of the Vanguard School

Haddon is not known to have made any specific threats. She was charged with having weapons on school grounds.

Possession of a gun, knife, or other weapon at school is a felony under Colorado law.

If convicted, Haddon faces a maximum sentence of between 1 and 1.5 years in prison with one year mandatory parole.

She could also be fined up to $100,000.

The Vanguard School is a public charter high school located in Colorado Springs.

She was arrested for allegedly possessing two large Samurai swords and knives. The above image is a stock photo of two swords

Founded in 2006, the first ninth-grade class was held during the 2006-2007 school year.

Each year since then, the school added a grade and became a fully-fledged 9th-12th grade institution in 2009.

In 2014, Newsweek ranked Vanguard as the 16th best school in the country.A new report on Russian social media tactics to sow discord in the U.S. before and after the elections reveals efforts to stir up sentiment among African American voters was Moscow's leading tactic.

The Russian Internet Research Agency purchased a total of 1,087 ads targeting African American politic and culture and black identity and nationalism during the campaign, according to a bombshell analysis of the Russian influence operation that investigators have yet to fully examine.

Facebook's ad program allowed purchasers to select users with certain interests, like Malcolm X  a capability the St. Petersburg-based outfit relied on to slice up the American electorate.

The Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency, which has been charged with interfering in the elections, relied on Facebook, Google and Twitter and other platforms for targeted messaging, according to the report for the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Russia used every social media platform to drum up support for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, a new report has found, and put an emphasis on going after African American voters, who mostly backed Hillary Clinton

It used words, videos and images to persuade voters to back Trump, according to a report by Oxford University's Computational Propaganda Project and network analysis company Graphika.

It outlines repeated Russian efforts to divide and target black voters  and even a program to set up hotlines to get people to confess problems that could be potential fodder for blackmail.

The tactics reached tens of millions of Americans during the multi-year durations, and targeted key interest groups known to impact U.S. elections.

U.S. intelligence assessed and prosecutors have charged that the outfit was financed by a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Many of the ad purchases were in rubles. Early posts before 2014 were in Russian, but English language social media activity jumped that year, and continued even into 2017.

The report identifies a Russian focus on targeting black voters

Online activity focused on police violence against blacks

Russians tried ginning up support online using multiple campaigns, including Blacktivist

Other ads targeted conservatives and particular regions

The Russians sought to boost Trump and drive down turnout among potential Hillary Clinton supporters

The Russians set up 30 Facebook pages on black Americans, while another 10 YouTube channels focused on police violence against blacks and put out 571 videos on the subject.

The efforts to target African Americans and suppress the black vote came during a 2016 election where Hillary Clinton won an overwhelming share of support among African American vote.

According to the report: 'Messaging to African Americans sought to divert their political energy away from established political institutions by preying on anger with structural inequalities faced by African Americans, including police violence, poverty, and disproportionate levels of incarceration.'

It continued: 'These campaigns pushed a message that the best way to advance the cause of the African American community was to boycott the election and focus on other issues instead. This often happened through the use of repetitive slogans. This accounts for the majority of content in the dataset that targeted this group.'

The Russians also went after other demographic slices: Muslims, southerners, Texans, and more.

The campaign didn't stop after the trolls got caught, and in fact peaked in 2017, according to the report.

In one notably callous tactics, Russians set up hotlines to get people to call in and talk about their sex problems and other personal issues  a source for possible blackmail material, NBC reported.

Other trickery enticed Americans to take political actions.

On Twitter, English-language posts from Russia shot up in late 2015.

After a Russian 'Black Matters' Facebook page got shut down, the IRA simply created new renamed campaigns to push its message. 'Cops kill black kids. Are you sure that your son won't be the next?' went one aimed at African Americans.

Activity spiked around major political debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Broken down by state, a leading 265 ads targeted Missouri.

Researchers even found that racial geography, more than the the Electoral College, was a driver in ad purchases.

'We believe the targeting had more to do with race than a state's role in the Electoral College or status as a swing state. For example, African Americans in Ferguson, MO were targeted for the 'Black Matters' campaign. African Americans in Baltimore, MD and Oakland, CA were targeted for the 'Blacktivist' campaign. Texan cities were targeted for campaigns focusing on patriotism and pro-gun politics,' according to the report.

Russia used nearly every social media platform to drum up support for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, the report has found.

'What is clear is that all of the messaging clearly sought to benefit the Republican Party - and specifically Donald Trump,' the report says.

'Trump is mentioned most in campaigns targeting conservatives and right-wing voters, where the messaging encouraged these groups to support his campaign. The main groups that could challenge Trump were then provided messaging that sought to confuse, distract and ultimately discourage members from voting.'

The report was presented to the Senate Intelligence Committee. The bipartisan panel released it publicly on Monday morning.

It tracks observations like an increase in activity on election day in 2016 and during general election debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Activity by the group spiked the most at the end of the year when Barack Obama announced that he was opening up probes into Russia's attempt to hack the election.

Russian company The Internet Research Agency has been charged with interfering. Pictured: Russian President Putin

Among its findings were that conservative users 'were actively encouraged to get behind Trump's campaign' while other users were 'encouraged to boycott the election, abstain from voting for Clinton, or to spread cynicism about participating in the election in general.'

Committee chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, said the data 'demonstrates how aggressively Russia sought to divide Americans by race, religion and ideology, and how the IRA actively worked to erode trust in our democratic institutions.'

'Most troublingly, it shows that these activities have not stopped,' he assessed. 'As we work to address these threats, these reports are proof positive that one of the most important things we can do is increase information sharing between the social media companies who can identify disinformation campaigns and the third-party experts who can analyze them.'

The committee's vice chair, Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, likewise said the report revealed that Russian election meddling was worse than previously revealed.

'This should stand as a wake up call to us all that none of us are immune from this threat, and it is time to get serious in addressing this challenge,' he said. 'That is going to require some much-needed and long-overdue guardrails when it comes to social media. I hope these reports will spur legislative action in the Congress and provide additional clarity to the American public about Russia's assault on our democracy.'

Researchers also noted that the data includes evidence of sloppiness by the Russians that could have led to earlier detection, including the use of Russia's currency, the ruble, to buy ads.

House Intelligence ranking member Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said in a statement after the release of the report that social media companies share in the blame and must be held accountable.

'Their reluctance to conduct and publish such deep analysis themselves, to actively and meaningfully collaborate with one another to compare and publicize data and information to build out the extent of the IRA's efforts, and to otherwise make available to outside research groups comprehensive, uniform access to the data, have made our task far more difficult than it should have been,' he scolded.

Schiff said the companies, which he did not call out by name, should be doing more to keep their users and the public aware of disinformation operations.

It comes after President Trump and his attorney unleashed a fresh series of attacks people investigating him, questioning their integrity while categorically ruling out the possibility of a presidential interview with the special counsel for the Department of Justice's probe into Russia.

Trump and lawyer Rudy Giuliani used Twitter and television interviews Sunday to deliver a series of broadsides against special counsel Robert Mueller and federal prosecutors in New York.

Giuliani said he was 'disgusted' by the tactics used by Mueller in his probe into Russian election interference, including in securing guilty pleas from the president's former national security adviser Michael Flynn on a charge of lying to federal investigators.

Trump, Giuliani said, would not submit to an interview by Mueller's team.

'They're a joke,' Giuliani told 'Fox News Sunday. 'Over my dead body, but, you know, I could be dead.'

The special counsel, who is investigating possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, has continued to request an interview with the president.

Last month, the White House sent written answers in response to the special counsel's questions about possible collusion. The White House has resisted answering questions on possible obstruction of justice.

Giuliani sarcastically said that the only thing left to ask the president was about 'several unpaid parking tickets that night, back in 1986, `87 that haven't been explained.'

If the president officially refuses an interview request, the special counsel's team could theoretically seek to subpoena him to compel his testimony. Such a move would almost certainly trigger an immediate court fight.

The Supreme Court has never directly ruled on whether a president can be subpoenaed for testimony in a criminal investigation, though the justices have said that a president can be forced to turn over records that have been subpoenaed and can be forced to answer questions as part of a lawsuit.

The special counsel's investigation has spun out charges and strong-armed guilty pleas from Trump underlings while keeping in suspense whether the president - 'Individual-1,' in Mueller's coded legalese - will end up accused of criminal behavior himself.

This past week, his legal exposure grew as his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, was sentenced to three years in prison after admitting he issued hush-money payments to women who alleged sexual trysts with Trump. Prosecutors and Cohen say he acted at the president's direction, which Trump and Giuliani deny.

Trump and Giuliani have repeatedly tried to paint Cohen as untrustworthy, with the former New York City mayor calling him a 'pathological liar.'

'Which is the truth?' Giuliani said of the competing stories from Trump and Cohen. 'I think I know what the truth is. Unless you're God, you'll never know what the truth is.'

Trump and Giuliani have also accused prosecutors of intimidating the president's associates into making false claims.

'Remember, Michael Cohen only became a `Rat' after the FBI did something which was absolutely unthinkable & unheard of until the Witch Hunt was illegally started,' Trump tweeted. 'They BROKE INTO AN ATTORNEY'S OFFICE!'

It comes after President Trump and his attorney (pictured) unleashed a fresh series of attacks people investigating him, questioning their integrity while categorically ruling out the possibility of a presidential interview with the special counsel

It was not a break-in. The FBI executed a search warrant obtained from a judge in conducting a raid in April on Cohen's home, office and hotel room and seizing records on a variety of matters, among them a $130,000 payment made to porn actress Stormy Daniels by Cohen. The application for the warrant was approved high in the Justice Department.

In response to Trump's tweet, former FBI Director James Comey tweeted, 'This is from the President of our country, lying about the lawful execution of a search warrant issued by a federal judge. Shame on Republicans who don't speak up at this moment - for the FBI, the rule of law, and the truth.

Prosecutors have said Trump directed Cohen to arrange the payments to buy the silence of Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in the run-up to the 2016 campaign. Federal prosecutors in New York say the payments amounted to illegal campaign contributions because they were made at the height of election season to keep voters from learning of Trump's alleged infidelities.

Giuliani has argued the payments were made to protect Trump's family, not to influence the election.

'If there's another purpose, it's not a campaign contribution,' Giuliani told ABC. 'Suppose he tried to use campaign funds to pay Stormy Daniels. It wouldn't be illegal. These are not campaign contributions.'

The hush money wasn't initially reported on campaign finance documents and, in any case, far exceeded the legally acceptable amount for in-kind contributions. The federal limit on individual contributions is $2,700.

Trump (pictured) and Rudy Giuliani used Twitter and television interviews Sunday to deliver a series of broadsides against special counsel Robert Mueller and federal prosecutors in New York

Cohen also pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about the Trump Organization's goals to build a tower in Moscow. His representative, Lanny Davis, told CBS' 'Face the Nation' on Sunday that his written statement to Congress, which contained the lie, was published ahead of his testimony and Cohen then spoke to the White House.

'Not one person from the White House ever said, `Don't lie,'' Davis said.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee and the likely chairman come January, said he wanted Cohen to testify before Congress about what he told prosecutors. Meanwhile, Trump's fellow Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, acknowledged on CNN that 'it was not a good week for President Trump' and urged 'that the special counsel be allowed to complete his investigation unimpeded.'

Trump compared his situation to one involving President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. The Federal Election Commission docked the Obama campaign $375,000 for regulatory civil violations. The fines stemmed from the campaign's failure to report a batch of contributions, totaling nearly $1.9 million, on time in the final days of the campaign.

But legal analysts said the accusations against Trump could amount to a felony because they revolve around an alleged conspiracy to conceal payments from campaign contribution reports - and from voters.

It's unclear what federal prosecutors in New York will decide to do if they conclude that there is evidence that Trump himself committed a crime.

Trump has not yet laid out a detailed defense, though he could conceivably argue that the payments were made not for the purposes of advancing his campaign but rather to prevent salacious stories from emerging that would be personally humiliating to him and harm his marriage.

That argument was advanced by former Sen. John Edwards, a North Carolina Democrat, in a similar campaign finance case that went to trial in 2012. But that may be tougher for Trump than it was for Edwards given the proximity of the president's payment to the election - timing that, on its face, suggests a link between the money and his political ambitions.

Edwards was acquitted on one count of accepting illegal campaign contributions, but jurors couldn't reach a verdict on the five remaining counts, including conspiracy and making false statements.Scores of female traffic controllers - also known as 'lollipop ladies' - say they are constantly berated and abused while on the job.

A recent construction industry boom has seen more and more young women enter the male-dominated industry, with annual pay packets going as high as $130,000.

But the young women say pedestrians are constantly hostile towards them, calling them 'lazy' and undeserving of the exorbitant salaries.

Female construction workers are more and more frequently becoming the target of hostile pedestrians, according to those in the industry

A former architect from Brazil named Renata moved to Australia four years ago and began work on a construction site.

She says that while the pay rates are huge, some reaching as much as $60 an hour, she works hard for their wage, putting in 10-hour shifts on a regular basis.

Despite the extreme hours and the responsibility on their shoulders, Renata says she's often berated by the public.

'Not everyone is nice (to) us, they can be very mean. They abuse us,' she told News Corp.

Her frustration stems from a belief that females are generally better at diffusing tension with pedestrians, as well as noticing hazards on the work site.

'We have so many machines going up and down, diggers, excavators, gates, if the gate is open and its windy the gates can hit someone.

'We have to pay attention to so many details and people have no clue.'

The most common complaint from passersby are that the lollipop women are 'lazy'

Working as a traffic controller might not be every girl's dream but the job is a great way to get your foot in the door, Altus Traffic events general manger Bethany Lilford said.

Ms Lilford began working as a traffic controller when she was studying psychology and needed flexible hours and good pay.

She has worked her way up over the years and now organises major events for the company.

She is encouraging young women to take the plunge and give the job a chance.

'To anybody that does want to be in the industry, I would tell them not to be scared. There is a little bit of a stigma, but that bridge is closing in.'

Dozens of women are taking up jobs on construction sites (pictured) in exchange for exorbitant pay packages

Dozens of women stand guard along a fenced area on Sydney's George Street every day, where hundreds of tradesmen are working on the light rail network.

One woman Daily Mail Australia spoke to last week had ditched her job as a teacher to become a traffic controller.

'I was looking for a change of lifestyle. I was working as a teacher but this pays a lot more,' she said.

One 'lollipop lady', Amy Dowsett, has raked in $130,000 a year since joining the trade.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union member earns over $40 an hour and also receives a $45 per day travel allowance and a $22 meal allowance.

Depending on the size of the project, she is also paid a site allowance of between $2.10 and $3.95 per hour.

And if she works more than 10 hours at her Penrith building site, she receives double time.A teenage boy who was knocked out after a wild 18th birthday party says he will have to fork out $50,000 in dental bills, while the thug who bashed him will be free in months.

Luke Crowhurst, 19, had just left the party on Queensland's Sunshine Coast when he was set upon earlier this year, the Sunshine Coast Daily reports.

The teenager was walking home with a friend when an 'aggressive' Lawrence Peter Wright, 20, ambushed him with three other mates.

'We don't want no beef,' were Mr Crowhurst's final words before he was repeatedly punched in the face and then kicked as he lay unconscious on the ground.

Lawrence Peter Wright, 20, (pictured) has pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm after brutally attacking Luke Crowhurst, 19, after an 18th birthday party last year - leaving the boy with major dental work

GRAPHIC WARNING: Luke Crowhurst, 19, (pictured) was brutally bashed by Wright. Two of his teeth were snapped off at the gum and his mouth was a bloodied mess after the attack

Fortunately for Mr Crowhurst, a patrolling police car saw the incident and rushed the 19-year-old to hospital.

This week, Wright pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to 18 months in jail, suspended after four months.

Mr Crowhurst said he has been seriously traumatised from the beating, which snapped two of his teeth off at the gum and left his mouth a bloodied mess.

The last 18 months has been traumatic for me and my family and has messed up my start to life, he said in court.

Due to the damage to my teeth it will be something that never goes away and I will have to live the rest of my life with.'

His mother Sarah Crowhurst said there has been a huge financial burden on her family after paying dental bills which could amount to $50,000 to fix his teeth.

'I've got huge medical bills that we can't afford but I've got my son,' Ms Crowhurst said.A man has fallen to his death from an open fifth-floor window in a high-rise building.

Emergency services were called to Franklin Street in Adelaide's business district around 9am on Tuesday morning.

A spokeswoman from South Australia Police confirmed paramedics worked on the man at the scene but were unable to revive him.

Emergency services were called to Franklin Street in Adelaide 's business district (pictured) around 9am on Tuesday

The man's family have been informed.

Westbound traffic in the CBD has been blocked from Pitt Street to Franklin Street and police are asking people to avoid the area.

For confidential support call the 24-hour Lifeline crisis support on 13 11 14. BeyondBlue can be contacted on 1300 224 636.Sumner Redstone, the controlling shareholder of CBS and Viacom, has been ordered placed under court-appointed guardianship because of his difficulty speaking.

The 95-year-old media mogul will be under the supervision of a guardian ad litem - a legal term that means an individual who acts on behalf of another, usually a child or an incapacitated adult, in a lawsuit.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Cowan said he was appointing the guardian because Redstone has extreme difficulty speaking, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Samuel Ingham, III has reportedly been offered the guardianship, according to Deadline.

In 2008, Ingham was appointed the guardian of Britney Spears after the pop star had a very public mental health breakdown believed to have been caused by substance abuse.

Redstones mental capacity is not at issue, the judge said.

Redstone is the majority owner of a trust, National Amusements Inc, which holds almost 80 per cent of voting stakes in CBS and Viacom.

Sumner Redstone, the controlling shareholder of CBS and Viacom, has been ordered placed under court-appointed guardianship because of his difficulty speaking. He is seen above in 2014 (left) alongside actress Megan Fox (right) in Los Angeles

The courts decision on Monday will have no effect on Redstones control of the trust, which will remain valid until he either dies or is incapacitated.

If and when Redstone is deemed incapacitated, the trust would then be overseen by seven trustees, including his daughter, Shari Redstone, and his grandson, Tyler Korff.

It was Korff who filed the legal motion asking the court to appoint an independent attorney as guardian ad litem.

Redstone had communicated to the court that he supports the Court's appointment of an independent guardian ad litem to represent my interests in this proceeding, according to Hollywood Reporter.

The judge appointed, with Sumners not opposing, a guardian ad litem solely based on Sumners physical disability in the form of Sumners speech impairment, Robert Klieger, Redstones lawyer, said.

Shari Redstone (left), Sumner Redstone's daughter, and her son, Tyler Korff (right), are seen above. Korff filed the motion in court asking for an independent guardian for his grandfather

He made no finding, and specifically did not find, that theres any mental incapacity.

This does not trigger the trust. It has no implications whatsoever for National Amusements, CBS or Viacom.

The family asked for the appointment of a guardian ad litem in the midst of a battle between Redstone and his former girlfriend, Manuela Herzer.

In 2015, Redstone amended his trust by removing Herzer as one of his heirs.

That same year, Redstone kicked Herzer out of his Beverly Hills mansion and removed her as his health-care agent.

Herzer subsequently sued, claiming that Redstones mental abilities were diminished, which would thus invalidate the amended trust.

A trial is set to begin on January 14, according to Variety.

Redstone has also filed a lawsuit against Herzer in an attempt to claw back $75million worth of gifts he gave her.

Herzer alleged that it was Redstones daughter, Shari, who was behind the lawsuit.

Herzers lawyers asked the judge in Los Angeles to require Sumner Redstone undergo a mental health evaluation, but the request was denied.

The judge, Cowan, has stated that such an evaluation would have no relevance as to Redstones mental capacity in 2015, when he amended the trust.

Redstone (seen center in 2012) is in the midst of a legal battle with his former girlfriend, Manuela Herzer (far left). Film producer Robert Evans is seen far right

Redstones lawyers have resisted attempts to have their client give a deposition due to his frail health.

Herzers attorney is seizing on that rationale, claiming that Redstone is incapable of understanding what is taking place in his name.

Tyler Korffs motion for a guardian ad litem got the intended consequences - avoiding an exam by an independent geriatric psychiatrist, Herzers lawyer, Ronald Richards. said.

They knew if a [guardian ad litem] was appointed, then whether Mr. Redstone has capacity would be less important in the judges mind.

The public and Ms. Herzer have been once again deprived of getting to the truth.A cynical Labour attempt to embarrass Theresa May backfired last night.

On a shambolic day for Labour, Jeremy Corbyn tabled a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister  minutes after shadow chancellor John McDonnell ruled out the idea.

Mrs May stalked out of the Commons chamber moments later.

The non-binding vote was designed to exploit Tory divisions over Brexit and send Mrs May into Christmas on the back of a Commons humiliation.

But it stopped short of a formal no-confidence vote in the Government which could result in a general election  the outcome Mr Corbyn claims to want.

The Prime Minister gave short shrift to Labour plans for a non-binding vote about her leadership but Downing Street seems bullish about winning a real no-confidence vote if one is tabled

Mrs May (pictured, right) is expected to rebuff the demand for a vote of confidence after the Labour leader (left) floated the idea in the Commons today

Earlier today Theresa May was seen leaving the House of Commons moments after the vote was suggested

The Labour leader has been slammed by both sides after the Tories accused him of 'silly political' games and the SNP said his attempt didn't go far enough

Tory Greg Hands joined in the ridicule of Mr Corbyn, warning he had 'I have no confidence in Labour's ability to table a No Confidence motion'

Last night it was denied Parliamentary time by the Government. It will only now happen if Labour turn it into a formal vote of no confidence in the Government.

Later Mrs May dared Mr Corbyn to call for a vote of a no confidence in her Government.

What Corbyn is trying to do and why will it not trigger an election What is Jeremy Cobryn proposing? Jeremy Corbyn has said there should be a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister if she does not set a date for a vote on her Brexit deal. Can this force her to resign? Not automatically - but a confidence vote against the PM would be very damaging and lead to calls for Theresa May to quit. Can it force an election? No. A motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister is not the same as one in the whole Government. Only the second version is enough under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act to start a countdown to the election. Why is Corbyn doing this? Mr Corbyn wants the vote on Brexit deal before he tries to do a full-blown confidence vote. He believes Mrs May will lose a vote on her deal and that will make her more vulnerable to a proper confidence motion. Will Corbyn's vote happen? It depends. Labour can call debates on whatever it likes on Opposition Days - usually Wednesdays. But is has no more time this year to call debates. Labour will insist the Government should make time to have this debate and vote - but Parliamentary rules suggest ministers can just ignore it Advertisement

Downing Street dismissed Labour's 'silly political games' and said it would not grant time for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister.

But a source said ministers would only make time for a vote if the Labour leader had the nerve to table one against the Government.

Given the risks of such a move, it suggests she has now secured the backing of Tory Brexiteer rebels and the Democratic Unionist Party  who prop up her Government.

A Downing Street source said: 'We won't allow time for what is a stunt.'

But, making reference to the vote that would automatically be triggered by a no confidence motion against the Government, the source added: 'The Fixed-Term Parliaments Act applies if Labour wants to put down a motion under the terms of that.'

Mr Corbyn's theatrics earlier appeared to have had a galvanising effect on warring Tory MPs, who staged their own vote of no confidence in the PM's leadership just last week.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the pro-Brexit European Research Group (ERG) which led last week's attempted coup, yesterday told the PM he now accepts the 200-117 vote in her favour and backs her.

An ERG source said the 80-strong group 'will of course be voting with the Government on this meaningless Labour motion'.

And former Brexit minister Steve Baker, who submitted a vote of no confidence in Mrs May last month, said: 'Eurosceptic Conservatives are clear that we accept the democratic decision of our party to have confidence in Theresa May as PM.

'We will vote against Labour in any confidence motion.'

DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said: 'We are not interested in the Parliamentary antics or play-acting of the Labour Party.'

Boris Johnson (pictured last week) has insisted anyone backing a fresh referendum is 'out of their minds' and it would create 'feelings of betrayal' among millions of voters

Yesterday's events unfolded as Mrs May prepared to address MPs on the future of her Brexit deal in the wake of last week's Brussels summit, from which she emerged virtually empty-handed.

At 3pm yesterday, Labour briefed that Mr Corbyn would call for a confidence vote if Mrs May failed to announce that a meaningful vote on the Brexit deal would take place 'promptly'.

What are the types of confidence vote that the PM can face? 1. Vote of confidence in the Prime Minister Today's vote as suggested by Mr Corbyn expresses his lack of confidence in the Prime Minister, not in her government as a whole. The Commons Leader is only obliged to make time for a confidence vote in the Government itself. That means that if Corbyn had demanded a vote into Mrs May's administration rather than the prime minister herself, it could not be dismissed. 2. Vote of confidence triggered by sitting prime minister's own MPs The Prime Minister has already been forced to hold a vote of confidence to be decided by members of her party. This occurred because the Tory 1922 Committee announced the threshold of 48 letters expressing no confidence in Mrs May had been reached. She survived the vote with a majority of 83 MPs. 3. Vote of confidence in the government demanded by Leader of the Opposition Only the Leader of the Opposition has the power to demand this vote. The Fixed Term Parliaments Act requires the Leader of the Commons to submit to such a vote, which could then topple the prime minister from her position. Advertisement

The announcement came as the party received a copy of Mrs May's statement in which she announced that the vote, delayed from last week, would now take place in the week beginning January 14.

In his response to Mrs May in the Commons, Mr Corbyn made no mention of the no confidence vote plan and appeared to have abandoned it.

Mr McDonnell then told Channel 5 News that the idea had been scrapped because 'we got what we wanted'.

But minutes later, Mr Corbyn told MPs that Labour would press for a vote after all.

He said: 'It's very clear that it's bad  unacceptable  that we should be waiting almost a month before we have a meaningful vote on the crucial issue facing the future of this country.'

Mrs May sat with a defiant grimace on her face and listened to the Labour leader before walking out of the Commons chamber.

It comes as the government's legal advisor said Parliament could extend Article 50 to buy more time by holding a simply vote.

It is believed that Article 50, the mechanism for leaving the EU, would have to be extended beyond March 29 if Britain decides to hold a second referendum.

Robert Buckland said extension would not require fresh legislation, just a one-off vote in the Commons.

Scrapping Article 50 altogether would, however, require new legislation, Mr Buckland told Radio 4's Westminster Hour.

He said: 'I think the better view would be that legislation would be necessary. I think we would have to repeal the EU Withdrawal Act.

'Revocation is one thing but delaying Article 50 is another matter that can be done by a minister laying a statutory instrument to vary exit day  it's there as part of a power.'

Mr Buckland also suggested MPs could be given a free vote on the Brexit way forward.

'I think if all the parties agreed to it then it's something that might well work, but I think it would be imbalanced if one party did it and the other did not,' he said.An Australian airline and a popular music streaming service have joined forces for an unbelievable Christmas competition offering bargain deals from just $5.

Jetstar has partnered with music streaming service Spotify over the Christmas period as part of its Secret Jingle Sale, running from December 12 to 22.

'Jetstar will be hiding code words in Christmas jingles on Spotify, free users only, that will allow keen listeners to access incredibly low fares to a range of domestic and international destinations,' the airline said.

Jetstar announced it has partnered with music streaming service Spotify over the Christmas period as part of its Secret Jingle Sale giving people the chance to win discounted fares to destination such as Bali (pictured)

Jetstar will be hiding code words in Christmas jingles on Spotify that will allow keen listeners to access incredibly low fares to a range of domestic and international destinations like Japan (pictured)

The competition will run daily between 10am and 5pm.

There will be 150 seats available on each of the competition's ten days with fares and destinations also changing daily.

Some of the fares available during the competition are one way tickets for $2, fares to Bali from $99 one way, a flight to the Whitsundays from $5 one way and flights to Vietnam or Japan from just $129 one way.

'For a chance to unlock the sale fares, listeners will need to be listening to Christmas songs on Spotify and keep an ear out for the Secret Jingles, where a code word will be hidden within the lyrics,' Jetstar said.

Some of the fares are one-way tickets for $2, fares to Bali from $99 one way, a flight to the Whitsundays from $5 one way and flights to Vietnam (pictured) or Japan from $129 one way

JETSTAR'S SECRET JINGLE SALE SO FAR Day 1: Fares from $2 one way Day 2: Fares to Bali from $99 one way Day 3: Fares from $1 one way Day 4: Whitsundays from $5 one way Day 5: Fares from $10 one way Day 6: Vietnam or Japan for $129 one way Day 7 (today): Fares from $5 one way Advertisement

'If you are lucky enough to be hit with a Jetstar Secret Jingle, you will need to follow the instructions in the song by clicking on the album cover, choosing selected flights, then entering the code word to unlock the incredible one-way fare.'

Potential competition participants were also tipped off that if they play Jetstar's Christmas playlist on rotation, they will hear the secret jingles.

'Whether you're sitting in the office or at home with the kids, it's the perfect time to get into the Christmas spirit with some festive tunes and a very merry Jetstar fare,' the airline said.Two teenage girls have been filmed asking passengers if they want to be 'sliced up' and threatening to rob a group of boys sitting near them on an evening commuter train.

Footage shows the girls - thought to be just 15 - verbally attacking a group of boys on the train last Friday evening to Portslade, near Brighton, east Sussex.

One girl is can be heard saying: 'Come to Portslade, you'll get smoked bruv. You will get full smoked.

'Who do you think you are? We're not no dumb b*****s, you wanna mess with us, I swear to God we'll shank you up mate.'

The two girls shout over to a group of boys and threaten to 'rob' and 'smoke' them while on a train to Portslade, near Brighton

She then adds: 'My boy's coming on the train at Portslade, you're going to get nanked up.'

Smoked is thought to mean shot while nanked means beaten up.

The girls continue to make threats at the group, one shouting: 'Do you want me to slice you up? I pray for all you lot, you're going to get stomped.'

The young woman then threatens to rob one of the males 'literally, right now', adding 'don't p**s me off, bruv.'

One girl phoned a friend during the argument, asking them to come to Portslade station to 'nank these guys up'.

One of the girls can be heard talking about her friend who she claims 'smacked a kid over the head with a hammer' two days ago during the train journey

Talking about her friend, she says: 'He actually f***s up every man that I've ever seen him fight with. Two days ago he smacked a kid over the head with a hammer and broke his nose.'

Laughs can be heard coming from the group of boys throughout the argument.

The video was filmed on the 7pm train from Shoreham-By-Sea to Portslade, near Brighton, East Sussex.

The footage was filmed by passenger Michelangelo Thomson, who posted it on Facebook with the caption: 'If these were my daughters, I'd be embarrassed.

'Two 15-year-old girls jump on the train with a cigarette still lit, cussing swear words like no tomorrow and reeking of alcohol, threatening to shank people and thinking they're big girls. Disgusting.'

The video has been viewed more than 104,000 times and has gained 1,396 comments and 1,243 shares.

Steve Lawrence said: 'How proud their parents must be.'

Lorraine Sadica Barnard said: ' Children's services or NSPCC need to do a welfare check at the very least in my opinion and take it from there because somewhere along the line these girls have been left to drag themselves up with no form of guidance or boundaries.'

Sonya Harman: 'There is no excuse for this vile behaviour.'

A spokesman from British Transport Police said that they have been made aware of the incident and are making enquiries.New Zealand will hold a binding referendum next year on legalising recreational cannabis.

The plebiscite will coincide with the next general election in 2020, Justice Minister Andrew Little told reporters on Tuesday morning.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's Labour Party last year promised a referendum as part of a deal with the Green Party to form a minority government.

A successful yes vote would see the Kiwi nation join Canada in fully legalising the drug for personal use.

New Zealand will hold a binding referendum next year on legalising recreational cannabis (stock image)

Mr Little, who stepped aside as Labour Opposition Leader in August 2017 to make way for Ms Ardern, said the wording of the referendum question was yet to be decided but the government would be bound to uphold the result.

Support for loosening rules around recreational cannabis has grown in New Zealand, with a Drug Foundation survey this year showing two-thirds of people backed either legalisation or decriminalisation.

Nearly 39 per cent per of Kiwis who took part in the 2017 Global Drug Survey said they had used cannabis in the previous year.

Kiwi MPs last week passed a bill that makes medicinal cannabis more widely available and sets up a licensing scheme for commercial cultivation.

The plebiscite will coincide with the next general election in 2020 (stock image of a marijuana smoker)

MULLING OVER THE LAW If the referendum passes, New Zealand would join Canada in legalising marijuana for personal use. Belgium, Switzerland, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Jamaica have discriminalised recreational consumption while The Netherlands allows it in designated coffee shops. In Australia, it is illegal in every state and territory to grow or possess cannabis but offenders in South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory pay a fine. In the United States, Colorado allows people aged 21 or older to grow and carry 28 grams of cannabis. California this year allowed adults to buy a similar quantity of marijuana for personal use. Advertisement

Advocates and a start-ups looking to cash in on a potentially lucrative industry hope this move will help struggling regional towns.

Police, meanwhile, have recently been ordered to stop laying charges against those arrested solely for possession of any drugs in what the government says is a shift towards a health-based approach to substances.

In June 2018 Canada passed a law allowing cannabis to be bought and sold for recreational purposes.

In Australia, it is illegal in every state and territory to grow or possess cannabis.

Offenders caught with small amounts in South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory pay a fine and avoid criminal charges.

In other Australian states, repeat offenders are charged after cautions and treatment programs fail.

In the United States, Colorado allows people aged 21 or older to grow and carry 28 grams of cannabis.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's (pictured) Labour Party last year promised a referendum as part of a deal with the Green Party to form a minority government

New Zealand's Justice Minister Andrew Little said the result of the referendum will be binding (stock image)

California this year allowed adults to buy a similar quantity of marijuana for personal use.

Cannabis has been sold at cafes in The Netherlands since 1976 at outlets known as 'coffee shops'. However, Dutch authorities in more recent years have banned them from being within 250 metres of a school.

Marijuana is allowed for personal use in The Netherlands and 'coffee shops' can only sell the drug, either as dried leaves or as space cakes and hash cookies, under strict licensing conditions.Sharon Dingledine, 26, (pictured) pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder after she drove a car into a river on August 3, killing one of her children and seriously injuring another

A 26-year-old mother who confessed to police she intentionally drove her car into a Kansas river in a bid to kill herself and her two young children has pleaded guilty to murder, a court heard on Monday.

Sharon Dingledine, from Columbia, Missouri, entered the plea against one charge of first-degree murder for the death of her five-year-old daughter Amiyah.

He also pleaded guilty to one charge of attempted first-degree murder on December 17, in Douglas County Court in Lawrence, Kansas, after her one-year-old son Elijah was rescued and survived the ordeal.

The court heard how Dingledine drove a stolen car into the the Kansas River on August 3, just 24 hours after being released from a psychiatric ward.

She had admitted herself to the facility after a domestic dispute with her boyfriend, but the next day decided to drive with her two children - Amiyah Bradley, 5, and Elijah Lake, one - 160 miles west to Lawrence.

A probable cause affidavit revealed that the day after she was released, her boyfriend agreed to take her to a shelter. But as he stopped at a store, Dingledine drove off in his car, with the children inside.

She later stole another car after running out of gas, and spent the night in the vehicle.

Five-year-old Amiyah (above) tragically died in the intentional crash. Her mother said she left the children unharnessed as she drove into the river, knowing they couldn't swim and would 'likely die'

The stolen vehicle used by Dingledine was hauled from the river on Augst 3, 2018. Her 5-year-old daughter's body wouldn't be discovered for another 24 hours

The next day, feeling 'depressed and worried about the consequences of her actions', Dingledine drove to the Kansas river, and let her children out to play around and dip their feet in the water.

The 26-year-old said she decided the river was a good way to kill herself, and she decided to kill her children because she 'didn't want anyone else to have them'.

She told detectives she accelerated into the river while the children were unrestrained in the front seat, knowing neither child could swim and 'would likely die,' according to the affidavit.

Rescuers pulled Dingledine and her one-year-old son, from the water but were not able to save Amiyah.

Her body was recovered from the river by divers the next day.

Amiyah's father, Clint Bradley (above), says Dingledine has a history of mental health issues and the woman who killed his daughter wasn't the same who would 'do anything' for her children

Elijah was pronounced dead at the scene before being revived by paramedics.

He has been critically injured by the encounter, and according to Amiyah's dad, Clint Bradley said he'll likely 'never be the same kid mentally or physically'.

'I don't even hurt at this point for me, I hurt for her,' Bradley said to KOMU News.

'If I could give myself up for her and bring her back I would.'

Bradley said the woman who killed his daughter isn't the same mother who 'would have done anything for her.'

He said Dingledine had a history of mental health issues and depression.

'I don't believe that Scharron had thoughts a long time ago about killing her daughter or anything like that,' he said.

'She loved this little girl to death, that's why its hard for me to be mad.'

Dingledine described her decision-making process before she decided to drive herself and her two kids, including daughter Amiyah Bradley, into the Kansas River in an effort to kill them both

The affidavit describes what the first officers on scene saw and did.

One officer said she saw floating debris, some movement in the water and a head or heads break the surface and then disappear multiple times about 30 yards from the bank.

Officer Gwynn Fogarty then swam out to where she saw one person and grabbed hold of an adult female later identified as Dingledine who simply said 'let me die!' as she was being dragged to shore.

As she was brought to the bank, the officers were told about the children that were with her in the car.

Officer Dustin Lister climbed out of the water with a small child in his arms, Elijah, who was rushed to a hospital in critical condition.

Dingledine's charge of first-degree murder carries a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years.

The attempted murder charge can carry a sentence between 12 and 14 years.

She will reappear in court for sentencing on January 22.A hefty hog has been captured near a school bus stop in Florida.

Florida Today reports the 400-pound hog was captured Saturday morning by a team of dogs and trappers in Palm Bay, Florida.

Wildlife trapper James Dean, of Melbourne, Florida, initially received a call reporting 'a very large boar hog' that was tearing up sod around a playground about two weeks ago.

Trappers and hunting dogs captured a bear-sized, 400-lb feral hog that had been plaguing the area. The huge porker was tracked down and caught near a school bus stop early Saturday

The bear-sized hog was seen wandering around an area near an apartment complex and assisted-living facility.

'Very seldom do we ever run into hogs like this, that are so massive and so big,' Dean told Florida Today.

He said that he first tried to use a deer trap to catch the hog, securing the trap to the ground with hurricane straps. After a week and a half of the trap coming up empty, Dean had to resort to more aggressive tactics to catch the enormous, feral porker.

On Saturday morning, Dean, four other trappers and four hunting dogs went to work, converging on the area while police helped block traffic.

Dean said the trained canines sniffed out and zeroed in on the colossal hog within minutes.

Florida trapper James Dean had been trying to catch the wild hog using a deer trap, but switched to more aggressive tactics after coming up empty with the trap for a week and a half

Dean said the wild pig was so big that it needed to be lifted into a truck by a front-end loader

Among the men involved in the hog hunt was Steven Henson, of Melbourne, who said that it had been a cur dog named Chief who single-handedly backed the giant hog into a corner.

Henson described the hog as 'a mean one,' which tried to bite Chief's owner, Brian Carr, and charged at him multiple times while Carr tried to capture it.

Eventually, the men were able to hogtie the hog and then drag it into a cage before using a front-end loader to get him onto a truck.

Henson said that the huge hog needed to be removed from the area due to its proximity to a school bus stop and homes.

Dean said the hog was euthanized.

The trapper said that hogs are increasingly being spotted in the Space Coast area due to the cold front and prevalence of acorns that have fallen from oak trees.

Dean also said that feral hog overpopulation is an increasing problem in Florida, especially due to the damage they leave behind when uprooting landscaping, according to Click Orlando.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says wild hogs typically only reach 150 pounds.

The biggest hog killed on record was supposedly by an 11-year-old Alabama boy who used a pistol to kill a wild hog that weighed a 1,051 pounds and measured 9-feet-4 from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail. However, some outlets have questioned the veracity of the claim.

Florida law says that wild pigs can be hunted around the year on private property, with the landowner's permission. Hunting licenses and other permits are required to hunt pigs in wildlife management areas.

Wild hogs can have as many as 14 piglets in a litter and reproduce twice a year.For some, even back in the more permissive days of the Seventies, it didnt feel quite right to call the Woody Allen film Manhattan a romantic comedy. The central romance in question was, after all, about a twice-divorced, 42-year-old comedy writer who has an affair with a 17-year-old schoolgirl.

The besotted young lover was played by a teenage Mariel Hemingway, and the middle-aged lothario by Allen  the first in a series of films hes made about much older men who fall for very young women.

Allen puts much of himself and his life into his films, and yesterday it finally emerged where he got his inspiration for Manhattan, widely regarded as one of his finest pictures.

Pictured, Woody Allen and his ex Mia Farrow in Rome Italy in 1983

Just three years before the film came out in 1979, Allen, then 41, embarked on a secret eight-year affair with an under-age girl. Babi Christina Engelhardt was a green-eyed, blonde, 16-year-old, high-school student and aspiring model when she met Allen in a New York restaurant, after which they began an affair.

She says it was four years later, when she was 20, that she was introduced to Allens new girlfriend, Mia Farrow.

They started having drug-fuelled threesomes, she has told the Hollywood Reporter magazine.

But that wasnt the first time. Engelhardt claims that, about a year into their relationship, Allen recruited two other beautiful young ladies for threesomes.

Engelhardt says she had experimented with bisexuality and found her experiences with Allen interesting.

In an unpublished memoir, she writes that she felt sick and wanted to leave when Allen suggested a threesome with Mia Farrow.

She was upset and jealous that he described the film star as his new girlfriend because she thought she was his steady girlfriend.

Halfway through their time together, Babi Christina Engelhardt the pair began having threesomes, a 'handful' of which were with Mia Farrow

However, she says she became fond of Farrow, bonding over shared cannabis joints and a mutual love of animals. The actress and activist has since fallen out spectacularly with Allen and now brands him a child molester.

There were times the three of us were together, and it was actually great fun, Engelhardt writes.

We enjoyed each other when we were in the moment. She was beautiful and sweet, he was charming and alluring, and I was sexy and becoming more and more sophisticated in this game.

It wasnt until after it was done when I really had time to think of how twisted it was when we were together . . . and how I was little more than a plaything.

She believed Farrow, fresh from a divorce from the conductor Andre Previn, was doing this because he [Allen] wanted it.

She adds: While we were together, the whole thing was a game that was being operated solely by Woody so we never quite knew where we stood.

Neither Allen nor Farrow have commented on her claims.

16-year-old model Babi Christina Engelhardt embarked on a hidden eight-year affair with Woody

Although Ms Engelhardt insists she is not trying to hurt Allen and has no regrets, her tawdry revelations about his having an affair with a 16-year-old schoolgirl  in an American state where the age of consent is 17  will only compound the enormous pressure he is already under over his controversial private life, especially in a post-Weinstein age.

The Oscar-winning actor and director has already been spurned by much of Hollywood over allegations  which he strongly denies  that he sexually abused Mia Farrows seven-year-old adopted daughter, Dylan, in 1992.

At the time, he and Farrow were going through an acrimonious break-up after he left her for another of her adopted daughters, Soon-Yi Previn, who was 21, but still 36 years younger than him.

It isnt the first time Allen has been embroiled in sexual scandal over the film Manhattan. Mariel Hemingway has accused her director and co-star of trying to seduce her, too, when she was a teenager and became the unwilling object of his obsession while they were filming.

Although Ms Engelhardt  now a 59-year-old divorced mother-of-two living in Los Angeles  insists she isnt trying to jump on the #MeToo anti-sexual harassment movement and condemn Allens behaviour, she admits they had an unequal relationship.

She told the Reporter: I was pretty enough, I was smart enough, I was non-confrontational, I was non-judgmental, I was discreet, and nothing shocks me, she said.

She was, however, stunned when she watched Manhattan  which Allen wrote and directed during their relationship.

She notes that she and Hemingways character, Tracy, were enormously similar: almost the same age, both aspiring actresses, both interested in photography and both  to the surprise of others  in love with a man not nearly as attractive as them.

In the film, the couple go to the same restaurant where Ms Engelhardt first met Allen, and  as he did with her in real life  Allens character, Ike, insists his young lover goes home each night.

He always did the same with me, although he would have his driver sending me away in his white Rolls-Royce, she says.

However, unlike Tracy, who is paraded in front of her lovers approving friends on the big screen, Ms Engelhardts existence was kept very secret from Allens friends.

The curtains were always drawn, she says of her visits to his home overlooking Central Park. But I wasnt there for the view.

Mariel Hemingway As Tracy And Woody Allen As Isaac Davis In The Film 'Manhattan

She said they had two unspoken rules: they couldnt discuss his work and they would only meet in the seclusion of his home. She says she went there at least 100 times.

She also says that when she told Allen shed noticed the similarities between the film and their own relationship, he replied: I thought you would. However, she was deeply upset by what the film revealed of Allens feelings for her  in the movie, his character regards his relationship with his naive teenage lover as nothing more than a fling and, much to her sorrow, he eventually dumps her.

I cried through most of the movie, the dawning of realisation slowly settling in as my greatest fears crept to the surface, writes Ms Engelhardt, who hails from a family of German emigres, and whose father was a teenage conscript into Hitlers army.

Providing a further unhelpful connection for the embattled Allen, Ms Engelhardt reveals she also worked as an assistant for Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted paedophile financier and friend of the Duke of York.

Epstein, who kept an entourage of nubile young women, was jailed for importuning an underage girl for prostitution.

On his release from prison, he held a homecoming dinner in New York  at which guests included Woody Allen, a good friend. For years, actors were happy to work with Allen, dazzled by his talent and reputation.

Woody Allen And Mariel Hemingway In A Scene From 'Manhattan

But in an era when tolerance of predatory male behaviour in Hollywood has run out, the accumulating scandals have earned him virtual pariah status in the industry.

In 2015, Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, claimed she was 17 (less than half Allens age) when he became completely smitten with her after they finished the filming of Manhattan.

He flew out to her parents home in Idaho to see her and repeatedly asked Hemingway to go to Paris with him, she said in her memoirs. The teenager, who says she was so inexperienced that she was embarrassed by the sex talk in the film, said his insistence made her increasingly nervous.

Our relationship was platonic, but I started to see that he had a kind of crush on me, she said.

She warned her parents that she didnt know what the arrangement was going to be, that I wasnt sure if I was even going to have my own room.

When she confronted Allen with the question, he said he wasnt sure if she was going to have her own room in Paris. He left the next morning and she never worked for him again.

American actress Stacey Nelkin has also claimed to have inspired the seedy Manhattan love affair. She says she was 17 when  on the set of his 1977 film Annie Hall  she started an affair with Allen. She said he seemed unbothered by their age difference during their two-year relationship, even carrying her schoolbooks when they were out together. Allen has admitted they did have a sexual relationship, but said that she wasnt underage.

According to Babi Christina Engelhardt, the sensitive question of her age never came up with the Hollywood star, although she admits that Allen knew she was still at school.

They met one night in 1976 in the celebrity restaurant Elaines. Ms Engelhardt says she made the first move, dropping her number on Allens table after spotting him gazing at her. She wrote: Since youve signed enough autographs, heres mine!

He soon rang and invited her to his home. Within weeks, they were sleeping together, she said. Ms Engelhardt says she became increasingly frustrated with Allen as she realised he didnt share her view that she was special in his life. As proof of their affair, she provides examples of letters and postcards he sent her.

Several of her friends told the Hollywood Reporter they were aware of her affair at the time, and one of them used to drive her to the assignations.

Ms Engelhardt says she last heard from Allen in 2001, when he sent her a letter thanking her for sending him a copy of a documentary she had made about the director Federico Fellini. I hope youre happy and well, he wrote. I recall our times together fondly. If youre ever in New York I would love you to meet my wife  shed like you.

She told the Hollywood Reporter that she assumed, given their past sexual adventures, that her meeting with Allen and wife Soon-Yi wasnt meant to be platonic.

I already had children then. I was like  not that Ive gone square, but my priorities were different, Ms Engelhardt said. I just wanted to stay away from that.

With his talent for self-pity, Allen recently said bitterly he should be a poster boy for the #MeToo Movement. After reading the latest extraordinary claims about him, even diehard fans may be tempted to agree.Theresa May will today push ahead with a 2billion plan to prepare the UK for the possibility of leaving the EU without a deal.

In the Commons yesterday, Mrs May gave her strongest warning yet about the potential impact of a no-deal Brexit, saying it would risk the jobs, services and security of the people we serve.

But she said that, with the fate of her deal in the balance, the Government had a duty to step up preparations for the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.

In the Commons yesterday, Mrs May gave her strongest warning yet about the potential impact of a no-deal Brexit, saying it would risk the jobs, services and security of the people we serve

The move came as it emerged Brussels is preparing a basic offer to keep flights in the air and money flowing for up to nine months in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Cabinet ministers will gather in Downing Street this morning for their last meeting of the year in a bid to agree the no-deal plans.

But, in an extraordinary breakdown in Cabinet discipline, ministers were openly speculating yesterday over how to proceed on Brexit if Mrs Mays deal fails.

Business Secretary Greg Clark and Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd yesterday went public with demands for the PM to hold a series of indicative votes on alternatives - including no-deal, a Norway-style soft Brexit and a second referendum.

The idea would allow MPs to vote on a series of Brexit options to test the will of parliament but the results would be non-binding.

It is backed by a string of ministers, including Chancellor Philip Hammond, Justice Secretary David Gauke and Scottish Secretary David Mundell.

Business Secretary Greg Clark and Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd yesterday went public with demands for the PM to hold a series of indicative votes on alternatives

Brexit-backing International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt will urge Mrs May today to hold a free vote on her deal in the hope of peeling off a significant number of Labour MPs to cancel out the Eurosceptic Tories committed to voting it down.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Treasury Chief Secretary Liz Truss are pushing Mrs May to step up talks with the EU in the hope of securing a concession that will satisfy the Democratic Unionist Party, which props up the minority Tory Government.

And a number of ministers including Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom, Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling want a major increase in no-deal planning ahead of a possible managed no-deal.

Cabinet ministers including Chancellor Philip Hammond (left) Lord Chancellor David Gauke (centre) and Scottish Secretary David Mundell (right) are all understood to be reconsidering the case for a second referendum

Miss Mordaunt last night suggested she would back a managed no-deal, in which the UK would offer to pay 20billion in return for a 21-month transition period to give time to negotiate a looser trade arrangement.

Mrs May yesterday ruled out a second Brexit referendum, saying it would do irreparable damage to Britain, fuelling divisions. However, Miss Rudd earlier suggested the Government should keep open the possibility of a second referendum.

She said all options should remain on the table if the deal is voted down. EU officials will unveil the full extent of the plan to limit the damage of a cliff-edge Brexit tomorrow. Brexiteers could seize on it as evidence the bloc is prepared to accept a managed no-deal.

Cabinet will today order six million British businesses to begin preparations for a No Deal Brexit, according to The Sun.

The paper reported that Phillip Hammond will hand out a further 2billion to ministries in order to prepare for the possibility of no deal, and government departments will be advised to concentrate on preparations for the EU exit.

The Chancellor is also said to be preparing to criticise senior ministers for only spending a third of their budgets so far as a new emergency package is set to be presented to Cabinet by Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay.Sick children meeting Santa's reindeer have had their Christmas celebrations disrupted by vegan protesters.

Police had to be called in to remove a group of about eight protesters from Queensland Children's Hospital in Brisbane after they started handing out pamphlets and filming children as they met the reindeer on Monday.

The protesters were moved across the road by police but continued the stay in the area and watch the event.

'Under the costumes and sleigh, these deer are exploited animals. Someone has to speak on behalf of the deer, because they don't have a voice,' protester Daniel Heggie told The Brisbane Times.

Sick children at the Queensland Children's Hospital have had their Christmas celebrations disrupted by vegan protesters who were there to raise awareness about deer

Police had to be called in to remove a group of protesters who were handing out pamphlets and filming children as they met the reindeer at Queensland Children's Hospital (pictured) on Monday

Maddison Challen, a six-year-old who suffers from a rare form of cancer, was one of the children who were delighted to meet the reindeer.

'It is a really tough time of the year for kids to be sick, she has been so excited about the reindeer,' her mother, Vanessa Challen, told the Brisbane Times.

'It means the world to us to have this experience. We had a big scare with Maddison's scans last week, so this has made her really happy.'

The Challen family is from Bundaberg, about four hours north of Brisbane, with her family regularly making trips between the cities over the 12 months Maddison has been at the Queensland Children's Hospital.Amer Alhaggagi, 23, an Oakland man who pleaded guilty to terror charges in July, was caught on video telling an undercover FBI agent about his plans to kill 10,000 people in the name of ISIS by committing arson and detonating bombs in Northern California. The video was submitted by state prosecutors to be considered in Alhaggagi's sentencing hearing, which was initially held Monday and will continue January 8

Chilling video in which a California man who pleaded guilty to terror charges tells an undercover FBI agent of his plans to kill 10,000 people in the Bay Area through a series of plots has been released ahead of his sentencing.

A sentencing hearing was held Monday in San Francisco as a US district judge sought to determine whether Amer Alhaggagi, 23, was serious when he discussed plans to plant bombs, set arson fires and distribute rat poison as cocaine in night clubs in Northern California.

Alhaggagi, of Oakland, pleaded guilty in July to attempting to give material aid to a terrorist organization by setting up social media accounts to supporters of the Islamic State, known as ISIL and ISIS.

The defendant turned up on the FBI's radar two years earlier when he allegedly began discussing obtaining weapons and joining the Islamic State, known as ISIS or ISIL, in an encrypted online chat room on July 19, 2016.

An FBI source who was lurking in the chatroom contacted Alhaggagi posing as a former al-Qaida operative in Afghanistan.

Over the next week, the pair engaged in an encrypted conversation during which the defendant disclosed his 'mad crazy plans' to wreak havoc on the Bay Area, according to a sentencing memorandum from the prosecution obtained by KQED.

They met in person on July 29 and the undercover FBI agent recorded their conversation in his car.

In the video, Alhaggagi says that he's been instructed by the Islamic State operatives to carry out an attack in the Bay Area.

'I've always wanted to do something here,' he tells the agent.

'I want to make it to the point where every American here, like, thinks twice or three times before he leaves his home.

'That's the goal. ... All the burning, the explosives, the poison, all of that adds up to some conclusion, you know?'

Alhaggagi turned up on the FBI's radar in July 2016 when he allegedly began discussing obtaining weapons and joining the Islamic State in an encrypted online chat room. An FBI informant who was lurking in the chatroom contacted Alhaggagi posing as a former al-Qaida operative in Afghanistan. They met in person on July 29 and the undercover agent recorded their conversation in his car (pictured)

In the video, Alhaggagi says that he's been instructed by the Islamic State operatives to carry out an attack in the Bay Area. 'I've always wanted to do something here,' he tells the agent. 'I want to make it to the point where every American here, like, thinks twice or three times before he leaves his home. That's the goal. ... All the burning, the explosives, the poison, all of that adds up to some conclusion, you know?'

During Alhaggagi's trial, prosecutors painted the 23-year-old as a dangerous criminal whose wanted to 'redefine terror' and promised that if he succeeded, the 'whole Bay Area [was] gonna be in flames'.

Meanwhile, the defense has argued that Alhaggagi is nothing more than an internet troll who had no intention of following through with the plots he described.

'The government spins an elaborate theory to explain why a supposed terrorist never took a single step to carry out any of his plots,' the defense wrote in its sentencing memorandum.

'The government posits that Mr. Alhaggagi, an untrained 21 year old with the mentality of a teenager, is a criminal mastermind whose refusal to act is even that he is a terrorist.'

US District Judge Charles Breyer called the case 'serious' on Monday before he continued the sentencing hearing to January 8.

Marc Sageman, a former CIA employee who studies terror networks, testified in court Monday that Alhaggagi does not have the attributes of an Islamic extremist. Sageman, who evaluated Alhaggagi for the defense, described the defendant as a 'fabulist' who had no real intention of carrying out the attacks he described online

'I don't think that I've had a sentencing as dramatic in the sense of what was done, what was said and what a potential sentence should be,' Breyer said.

The state has asked that Alhaggagi be sentenced to 33 years in prison, while his defense is seeking a sentence of four years.

Alhaggagi sat in a red jail jumpsuit at the defense table during the hearing Monday, playing with his ponytail at times.

Marc Sageman, a former CIA employee who studies terror networks, testified that Alhaggagi does not have the attributes of an Islamic extremist despite the wild claims he had made online.

'He's a fabulist. He spins tales,' said Sageman, who evaluated Alhaggagi for the defense.

'He wants to show that he's a mean guy, but he's really a coward. He really doesn't do anything.'

Sageman, a forensic psychiatrist and counterterrorism consultant, said he has conducted 50 interviews of terrorists. He said Alhaggagi was not that religious and didn't dress like an Islamic extremist or express anger with the US like many do.

Alhaggagi told an undercover agent about plans to set fire to the Berkeley hills, poison a large number of people with strychnine and set off multiple explosions using backpacks, according to Sageman.

He told Sageman he lied to the agent and only realized what he had gotten into when the agent took him to a storage facility weeks later to show him barrels of what was supposed to be an explosive agent, Sageman said.

A summary of the terror plots Alhaggagi allegedly said he wanted to carry out is listed above in an excerpt from the prosecution's sentencing memorandum

Excerpts of Alhaggagi's conversations in the chatroom are detailed in the prosecution's filings, revealing his plans to 'get 10,000 pppl [sic]' by, among other things, setting fire to the Berkeley hills and detonating a bomb in a gay club.

'[Y]ou kknow [sic] what they say, everyone is a gangster untile [sic] it's time to do gangster shit [emojis]," Alhaggagi said in the chatroom.

'I'm gonna case [sic] millions of dollars worth of damages and inshallah [God Willing] 100's of bodies.'

Alhaggagi ended his consistent communication with the undercover agent after August 14, 2016.

The FBI kept the suspect under 24-hour surveillance for the following months but he was never found to have taken significant steps to carry out his plans.

Alhaggagi was arrested in late November under suspicion of identity theft charges stemming from his practice of skimming credit card information from customers at the mobile phone store where he worked. He allegedly used the cards to buy several thousand dollars worth of clothes.

After his arrest, investigators searched Alhaggagi's phones and other devices and discovered he had been communicating with a 17-year-old in Iraq who was arrested in late 2017 and confessed to facilitating online propaganda for the ISIS.

In Alhaggagi's possession they found an electronic copy of a pro-ISIS magazine, an ISIS bomb-making manual that he accessed three days before his arrest and a statement written in Arabic in which he outlined some of the plans he'd discussed with the FBI agent.

They also found a video in which Alhaggagi can allegedly be heard speaking Arabic over footage of a burning car as he says he caused the fire in the name of ISIS, prosecutors say.NRL player Dylan Walker will maintain his not guilty plea to domestic violence assault charges when the case goes to a hearing next year.

The 24-year-old was charged with common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm after his partner Alexandra Ivkovic, also 24, suffered cuts to her shoulder, leg and feet in Dee Why, Sydney's north, on December 6.

In Manly Local Court on Tuesday, magistrate Chris Longley set Walker's hearing date for February 26, with three witnesses due to testify.

NRL player Dylan Walker (pictured centre) will maintain his not guilty plea to domestic violence assault charges when the case goes to a hearing next year

Ms Ivkovic (right with Walker) allegedly suffered cuts to her shoulder, leg and feet in Dee Why, Sydney's north, on December 6

Ms Ivkovic had given birth to Walker's child only months before the incident, which was allegedly sparked by a fight over a video game.

The court previously heard Ivkovic planned to retract the initial statement she provided to police following the alleged incident.

Walker could see his $600,000-a-year contract with the Manly Sea Eagles ripped up if he is found guilty of assaulting his fiancee.

More to come.

The 24-year-old was charged with common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm after his partner Alexandra Ivkovic, also 24, allegedly suffered cuts to her shoulder, leg and feet in Dee Why on December 6Its been a while since we reported on progress with Goodyear-built FG-1D Corsair Bu.92460, which has been under restoration for the past decade with the Connecticut Air & Space Center (CASC) in Stratford, Connecticut. The team has worked some minor miracles to bring the aircraft back from the literal brink of collapse after shed moldered away for thirty years atop a pole at the entrance to the Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Airport, nearby the old Vought-Sikorsky plant which churned out F4Us during WWII. In fact, the restoration is taking place in a section of that old factory.

While the aircraft still belongs to the City of Bridgeport, the eventual goal is for the Corsair to go on display in the historic 1929 Curtiss Flying School hangar at the airfield. CASC is also working to refurbish this structure as well, which will become their new home once completed. Interestingly, this same hangar served as a Corsair flight test facility during WWII, including the prototype XF4U-1 Bu.01443 which first flew on May 29th, 1940. Towering test pilots like Lyman Bullard, Boone Guyton and yes, even Charles Lindbergh, once called it home. As one of the nations important aviation artifacts, the old Curtiss Flying School hangar definitely needs our help too (Click HERE).

But I digress FG-1D Corsair Bu.92460 is looking much like her old self again, thanks to the tireless labors of the CASC team (and some generous donations of parts and labor as well). The CASC restoration team is getting close to the finish line, and here to bring details of her current status is the editors good friend Jerry ONeill, who recently visited the aircraft

CASC Corsair Update  12.15.18

by Jerry ONeill

I visited the Connecticut Air and Space Centers FG-1D restoration yesterday, December 15, 2018, and spoke with Mark Corvino, who is head of the project.

They are currently building the lower intercooler three hinge panels which are currently about 60 % complete.

The donation of a non-airworthy Plexiglas canopy was a welcome gift. CASC volunteer Ed McGuiness is slowly polishing it so that it can eventually be fitted to the existing canopy frame.

When the aircraft was originally prepared for mounting on the pole in 1971, the team removed everything deemed unnecessary in order to reduce its weight. This included the undercarriage, and other items, such as the wooden ailerons. The original ailerons were thrown away and sheet metal fitted in their place. Recently, two non-airworthy ailerons were donated to the project and will soon be received and repaired to use on the Corsair. The missing aileron hinge points are being 3D-modeled so that replacements can be fabricated.

Brand new flaps were fabricated and recently fitted.

There are some final adjustments and finishing remaining to complete the newly fabricated pilots seat, which was one of the other items removed back in 1971.

And finally, a partial set of tail wheel doors were loaned to CASC for the restoration team to measure and assist in the fabrication of a replacement set.

Many thanks indeed to Jerry ONeill for this report and fascinating images. For those of you who dont already know, Jerry is a highly regarded air show boss, and can often be found running, or managing aircraft movements with his team of Airdales at major air shows across the USA.A British project to build a supersonic car capable of speeds of 1,000mph has been saved after an entrepreneur stepped in.

The firm behind the Bloodhound bid to break the land speed world record went into administration in October.

Ten days ago, administrators said efforts to secure an investor had failed and the project would be scrapped.

The Bloodhound 1,000mph supersonic racing car, pictured during its first public run at Cornwall Airport, has been saved by a Yorkshire-based entrepreneur Ian Warhurst

But yesterday they said Yorkshire-based entrepreneur Ian Warhurst had bought the business and assets for an undisclosed sum.

Andrew Sheridan, joint administrator and partner at FRP Advisory LLP, said: We have been overwhelmed by the passion that clearly exists for Bloodhound and are thrilled that we have been able to secure a buyer who is able to give this inspiring project a future.

He will be outlining his plans for the project in detail early in the New Year.Home Secretary Sajid Javid had said proposals would come before end of year

A cabinet split over how many migrants to allow into Britain after Brexit has delayed the publication of plans on the policy until the new year.

Chancellor Philip Hammond and Business Secretary Greg Clark are pushing for a proposed minimum salary for people coming to the UK to be reduced or be exempt for certain jobs.

Ministers had promised to set out by the end of this week the rules for EU migrants coming to Britain when freedom of movement ends after Brexit.

Chancellor Philip Hammond and Business Secretary Greg Clark are pushing for a proposed minimum salary for people coming to the UK to be reduced or be exempt for certain jobs

But last night it emerged that the long-awaited immigration White Paper faces being pushed back to January as ministers cannot agree on the policy.

Last month Home Secretary Sajid Javid had said the proposals would come before the end of the year

Whitehall sources said Cabinet divisions centred on a proposal that skilled migrants will have to earn at least 30,000 before being allowed in on five-year visas.

Mr Hammond and Mr Clark have raised concerns about extending the salary threshold, which currently applies to non-EU migrants, to people from the EU.

It is understood they want the earnings figure to be lowered or exempt in certain sectors.

Last night a Whitehall source said: The 30,000 figure has not been nailed down, which is why the White Paper might not be this week.

We are still aiming to publish on Wednesday but that is looking unlikely.

Under the plans, low-skilled workers will only be allowed to apply for one-year visas.

Net immigration to Britain rose to 273,000 in the first half of 2018 despite a continued fall in arrivals from the EU according to ONS data out last month (pictured)

Once they expire, they will have to leave Britain and can only return after a cooling off period.

The immigration paper has now been delayed for more than a year as ministers have repeatedly failed to agree.

Last month Home Secretary Sajid Javid had said the proposals would come before the end of the year.

Asked about concerns from business leaders over staff shortages, the Prime Minister said: We have seen a significant creation of new jobs in our country. What I hope to see is opportunities for young people in the UK'

On Thursday Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom had reaffirmed that they would arrive before MPs leave Parliament for Christmas.

Theresa May has long clashed with some of her ministers over her commitment to the target of cutting net migration to the tens of thousands.

Last month she praised a report by the government-backed Migration Advisory Committee calling for the end of low-skilled migration and backing the 30,000 salary requirement for skilled migrants.

Asked about concerns from business leaders over staff shortages, the Prime Minister said: We have seen a significant creation of new jobs in our country. What I hope to see is opportunities for young people in the UK.

Last month figures showed that net migration from the EU to the UK is at a six-year low. In the first six months of 2018, there were 74,000 more EU citizens coming to the UK than people leaving for other EU countries.

The new immigration system will not start until after the Brexit transition period ends in December 2020.

Whitehall sources said Cabinet divisions centred on a proposal that skilled migrants will have to earn at least 30,000 before being allowed in on five-year visas [File photo]A furious holidaymaker has successfully sued Expedia after the global travel giant promised a beachfront shack with stunning views - only to provide a 'dilapidated' basement with an outdoor kitchen.

Hugh Selby, from Canberra, booked the $300-a-night accommodation through Wotif, which is owned by Expedia, trusting the website's claims it had 'heaps of local knowledge' and that he could 'book with confidence'.

But when it came to his room at the Rocky Point Beachfront Paradise on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal found those proclamations were false.

'Based on the representations that the respondents had ''heaps of local knowledge'' ... it was not unreasonable for the applicant to form the view... [that he] could enter into the contract with Rocky Point Beachfront with confidence,' it found.

'This has not proved to be true. The accommodation was, as a matter of fact, not as described on the website but in a dilapidated and rundown condition, and with no sea views.'

A furious holidaymaker has successfully sued Expedia after the global travel giant promised this beachfront shack with stunning views

Mr Selby described the room, which he booked for himself and his wife, as backpacker's accommodation from the 1970s.

'But I'm not 22 and this was not being offered at backpacker's rates,' he told The Canberra Times.

'When we got there, it was nothing like what we expected. It was a dump,' he told the ABC.

'[We] looked at each other and said ''hey, this is supposed to be a holiday, we don't even want to spend one night here''.

'The place is dirty, the place is old, there's no view, it's not what we left Canberra for.'

Mr Selby couldn't get in touch with the property's owner, so he contacted Wotif and demanded the $628.34 bill for his two-night stay be refunded.

Wotif offered a $150 credit coupon to Mr Selby, which he refused, before the company proposed a 15 per cent or $95 refund 'for the inconvenience'.

When he arrived at the property, Mr Selby found a 'dilapidated' basement with an outdoor kitchen (pictured)

Again, Mr Selby refused and Wotif offered an increased refund of $125.67. For Mr Selby, that still wasn't good enough.

Instead, he took Wotif's parent company to the tribunal, where Expedia argued it wasn't liable for the quality of the accommodation, noting exclusion clauses it published online.

The website told the tribunal statements such as 'heaps of local knowledge' and 'book with confidence' were just 'puffery'.

'So what you essentially say is there's no contractual liability because of the exclusion clauses and that the phrase ''book with confidence'' and all the other stuff... all of that is mere puff, you say. It's a marketing ploy,' the tribunal asked.

Expedia's lawyer responded: 'Yes, with the one addition to that, I agree with the tribunal on that, with the addition that you know, being puff, it's what does the reasonable consumer take from that.

'A reasonable consumer does think that the website is great, does think that they'll get value for money, does think that the properties will be as described...

Hugh Selby, from Canberra, booked the $300-a-night accommodation through Wotif, which is owned by Expedia. Pictured: A photo on the website used to advertise the property

'And as is the reality with anything, there will be a bad experience here and there. There will be a better than expected experience and at the end of the day, you know Wotif has provided their services.'

But the tribunal found in Mr Selby's favour and said the website had engaged in 'misleading and deceptive conduct' in breach of Australian Consumer Law.

Senior tribunal member Jann Lennard said businesses can't rely on 'small print and disclaimers as an excuse for a misleading overall message'.

'Again one might ask, why make a statement designed to assure customers, and then elsewhere on the webpage, in the fine print, seek to prevent the customer from relying on the promises conveyed?,' she wrote.

Mr Selby said the room at the Rocky Point Beachfront Paradise on the Hawaiian island of Oahu wasn't what he expected (exterior pictured)

'I am further satisfied on the evidence before me that the respondents engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and that the statements on its website caused the applicant to form an erroneous view and he was led into error.

'As a result of this he has suffered damage by the loss of the $628.34 paid to the Rocky Point Beachfront for accommodation that did not correspond to the description on the website.'

Mr Selby, who represented himself, was refunded the full amount.

'I reckon I was really lucky. Because I got an [tribunal] member who actually knew the ACT consumer law. God bless her I say,' Mr Selby told The Canberra Times.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Expedia for comment.Jamie Oliver (pictured on This Morning on December 14) has been accused of not taking green issues seriously over the Shell deal

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has sealed a 5million deal with oil giant Shell, leading to accusations he does not take environmentalism seriously despite his campaigning.

The restaurant chain owner's empire lost 20million last year but he will now update food on offer at service stations owned by one of the world's top 10 carbon emitters.

The 43-year-old has angered politicians as well as his own staff by sealing to agreement with the group, which has reportedly been responsible for 1.67 per cent of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions since 1988.

Labour's Cardiff North MP Anna McMorrin has led criticism against Mr Oliver.

The Environmental Audit Committee member said the message he puts out it of particular interest given his popularity with young people, Mirror Online reports.

She said that he is 'promoting something that exploits fossil fuel' and as a result is not taking green issues seriously.

The chef's own staff at his HQ are unhappy about the deal with Shell, which turned a 4.3billion profit last year, an insider told the site.

The chef has come under fire following his deal with Shell (pictured - one of its branches in North London)

The announcement that Mr Oliver would be working with the oil giant came following a difficult year for his Italian restaurant chain (pictured, one of his eateries in Dublin)

A source claimed that 'Jamie went into it with the best intentions  to improve the food in service stations' but said 'some people' made 'their displeasure' clear.

Mr Oliver was heralded as an 'environmental champion' three years ago on the United Nations Environment Programme's website after he teamed up with the group.

At the time he tweeted: 'Guys, if we dont act on #ClimateChange, none of the #GlobalGoals can happen. This is everyones problem.'

In 2009 he billed Jamie's American Road Trip on Channel 4 as TV's first carbon neutral series.

He met with the Green Party as his team of experts ensured concluded that 242.6 tonnes of CO2 was generated from land and air travel as well as hotel accommodation.

After crossing six state son the trip he invested in environmental projects, including a wind farm in China and an Indian solar plant.

Shell (pictured, the firm's logo) was named as one of the planet's top 10 carbon emitters and Mr Oliver's deal with them has resulted in accusations that he doesn't take green issues as seriously as he should

At the time he said that his company was 'serious' about working to stop climate change.

Calling it his 'duty to stand up', he said that it was right to help safeguard the world's future after flying film crews around the globe.

His agreement with Shell follows a cash crisis at his firm after earlier this year his Italian restaurant chain found itself hours from bankruptcy.

Jamie's Italian was saved when the chef pumped nearly 13million of his own money into the business.

Since then he has shut 12 of the 37 restaurants and has made 600 of his staff redundant. MailOnline has contacted Mr Oliver for a comment.French police are scouring land that used to belong to a serial killer dubbed the 'Beast of the Ardennes' in a bid to find the remains of a nine-year-old girl.

Michel Fourniret is currently serving life in prison for the murder of seven girls and young women.

On Monday, officers were seen searching his former estate in Floing, near Sedan in northern France in a bid to find the body of Estelle Mouzin.

The youngster disappeared on the way home from school in Guermantes in 2003.

The search could last until Wednesday, L'Union reports.

French police are scouring land that used to belong to Michel Fourniret (right) dubbed the 'Beast of the Ardennes' in a bid to find the remains of Estelle Mouzin (left)

French police stand near an excavator digging during searches on serial killer Michel Fourniret's estate in Floing, near Sedan, northern France, on Monday

Fourniret has admitted his involvement in the disappearance of the girl.

Investigators searched the abandoned land - which he owned between 1964 and 1999 - several times in 2007, but the hunt was abandoned due to lack of evidence.

Fourniret was the considered a suspect in the girl's disappearance and was arrested in relation to it in Belgium in 2003.

But he was discounted by police because they figured he had an alibi as a phone call had been made from his home at the time the girl vanished.

Gendarmes brings a sonar as part of searches on serial killer Michel Fourniret's estate

An excavator is seen digging during searches on serial killer Michel Fourniret's estate in Floing

In February, the convicted serial killer reportedly also confessed to killing a British woman in France 27 years ago.

Joanna Parrish, 21, from Gloucester, was raped and murdered in Auxerre in 1990, while working as an English teacher during her gap year.

Fourniret had for a long time been the prime suspect in the brutal attack on the student.

Ms Parrish's family lawyer said in February that the killer had finally admitted to her murder.

The French serial killer Fourniret, currently serving life in prison for the murder of seven girls and young women, owned this estate between 1964 and 1999

Lawyer Didier Seban told the BBC that over the past week Fourniret had appeared in court 'two to three times' and admitted the killing on each occasion.

Ms Parrish's father, Roger Parrish, told the broadcaster the confession had come as a 'shock' and that he hoped it was not another 'false lead'.

In May 2008, Fourniret was sentenced to life in prison for the joint rape and murder of seven girls.A mid-air emergency which forced the pilot of a Melbourne-bound flight to turn back to Sydney was sparked by a single word scribbled on the back of a booklet.

The 'written threat' was found in the toilet of Tigerair flight TT271 and handed to the pilot shortly after take-off on Monday night.

NSW Police Superintendent Brad Hodder confirmed the discovery worried the crew.

'An airline was turned back to Sydney Airport in relation to a booklet that was located that raised some concern with the airline personnel,' Supt Hodder said on Tuesday.

'A response was made to the airport by emergency services and NSW Police force and we enacted our emergency procedures.'

A mid-air emergency which forced the pilot of a Melbourne-bound flight to turn back to Sydney was sparked by a single word scribbled on the back of a booklet (stock image)

The aircraft, bound for Melbourne took off at 7.05pm from Sydney Airport, were it returned at 8.35pm

Supt Hodder would not say what the word was or how long the booklet had been on the plane.

'There was a word and that's forming a part of our investigation,' he said.

The aircraft took off at 7.05pm from Sydney Airport, where it returned at 8.35pm.

Initial reports suggested the 'written threat' mentioned explosives, but the airline was unable to confirm details on Tuesday morning.

Passengers on board a Tigerair flight (pictured) that was forced to turn around after crew members found a threatening note in the toilet say they had no idea about the mid-air emergency until the plane landed

The plane was surrounded by federal police as it sat on the tarmac for about two hours, with passengers finally disembarking at around 11pm

Some passengers said they had no idea the plane had been turned around and were shocked when it landed in Sydney.

'My Tigerair flight from Sydney to Melbourne just took off, we flew for an hour and then we just landed back in Sydney. We haven't been told why yet,' they tweeted.

Another woman claimed passengers were kept in the dark, but said she suspected something wasn't right when she was told not to use the bathroom.

'No one knew until we landed in Sydney that we weren't in Melbourne. So we've been in the air for about an hour and a half for nothing,' she told the Herald Sun.

One passenger said they weren't told the plane had turned around and were shocked when it landed in the Harbour City

Another person said crew told frustrated passengers 'very little' during the flight.

'Police are everywhere, but still not left the plane. So I assume [they're] still checking,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

TIGERAIR FLIGHT TT271: A TIMELINE About 7pm - TigerAir Flight TT271 takes off from Sydney Airport bound for Melbourne About 7.45pm - Flight crew find a booklet in the toilet with a word scribbled on the back. The pilot is told of the threat and turns the plane around 8.30pm - NSW Police receives an emergency call and responds to reports of threat 8.35pm - The plane lands safely in Sydney. About 11pm - Passengers leave the grounded plane Advertisement

Yet another passenger told Nine News air crew 'gave us no information'.

'The stewardesses came on and made sure everyone was turning their phones off, and then we stayed on the tarmac for about two hours,' they said.

The plane was surrounded by federal police as it sat on the tarmac, with passengers finally disembarking at about 11pm.

One passenger posted to Instagram and said they were stuck on the plane with no food, water or access to a bathroom.

'We were not looked after at all,' she said.

Another man praised Tigerair, Sydney Airport and federal police for handling 'a really challenging situation well'.

Tigerair said the captain decided to turn the flight around 'following an incident on board'.

Flight TT271 was forced to turn around less than an hour into its planned journey after a threatening note was believed to be handed to the pilot

Passengers were told the earliest flight to Melbourne is 9pm Tuesday

'In line with standard procedures, the Australian Federal Police met the aircraft on arrival,' the airline told Daily Mail Australia in a statement.

'All guests and crew safely disembarked the aircraft and have been re-accommodated on the next available flight.'

Tiger apologised for any inconvenience but insisted the safety of crew and guests was the 'highest priority'.

No arrests have been made and investigations are ongoing.

Police are understood to be reviewing security footage and speaking with passengers.The younger brother of Sydney Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim has admitted he ran a massive international drug and tobacco syndicate.

Michael Ibrahim, 40, pleaded guilty at Central Local Court on Tuesday to being behind an organised crime racket.

The lesser-known brother of the former nightclub baron appeared in an orange jumpsuit via video link when he entered a series of pleas, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Michael Ibrahim (pictured), 40, pleaded guilty at Central Local Court on Tuesday to being behind an organised crime racket

Michael Ibrahim (left rear), is the brother of Sydney Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim (right)

He was one of 20 men arrested in a series of police raids in Sydney and Dubai last year, and was charged with a plot to import 900,000 packets of cigarettes, 1.9 tonnes of the drug ecstasy and 15kg of meth.

Last week, three Sydney men pleaded guilty to taking part in the international tobacco smuggling ring which allegedly also involved Michael Ibrahim brother, Fadi.

Both Fadi and Michael were arrested in Dubai in 2017 and extradited back to Australia.

John Ibrahim, the more well-known brother, is not facing any charges and there is no suggestion he has committed any offences.

Ahmad Klink, 28, Fares Derbas, 31, and 45-year-old Talal Derbas admitted to Central Local Court they were part of a syndicate operating between November 2016 and August 2017.

The lesser-known brother of the former nightclub baron appeared in an orange jump suit via video link when he entered a series of pleas (Michael is pictured being extradited from Dubai in September 2017)

Magistrate Beverley Schurr committed all three for sentence in the District Court and their cases will be mentioned in late January.

Michael Ibrahim's case is due to be mentioned in the New South Wales District Court in January.

John Ibrahim's 28-year-old son Daniel Taylor was last week cleared of involvement in this illegal tobacco smuggling ring, which allegedly involved two of his uncles.

He had been accused of knowing there was $2.25 million cash in a bag in the boot of the car that he travelled in to meet his uncle, Michael Ibrahim, in Rozelle in July 2017, before it was allegedly handed over to an undercover police.Seven-year-old Guatemalan girl Jakelin Caal who died in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection

The seven-year-old Guatemalan girl who died in the custody of US Customs and Border Patrol most likely suffered from septic shock, the Department of Homeland Security has said.

Jakelin Caal died on December 8 in a hospital in El Paso, Texas, in the early hours of the morning.

Septic shock is a widespread infection that can lead to extremely low blood pressure and multiple organ failure.

Initially it was believed that she died from dehydration.

An official autopsy on the girl was expected to be released sometime Monday, according to NBC News.

DHS released a more detailed timeline of the events which preceded her death.

She was detained along with her father Nery at 9.15pm on December 6th as they crossed into the US in New Mexico illegally.

At 10pm that night, Nery was questioned about their health and, according to Customs and Border Patrol, told agents that neither he nor his daughter had health problems.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say he did not understand when he was asked in Spanish if his daughter was in good health and answered yes because his native tongue is Mayan.

Nery was questioned in Spanish and his answers were translated to English and marked onto a Form I-779.

On Friday, officials repeatedly eschewed blame for Jakelin's death by telling journalists about the form.

But in light of the fact that Spanish was not, as they claimed, his first language, it remains unclear if Nery knew what he was saying when he told the agents that his daughter was healthy.

It also remains unclear what he would have told them had he understood the questions fully.

'Jakelin and her father speak Q'eqchi' and Spanish is their second language. Neither of them speaks English. Yet, CBP is relying on forms signed by her father which are in the English language.

Neither of them speaks English. Yet, CBP is relying on forms signed by her father which are in the English language. Lawyers for Jakelin Caal's father in El Paso, Texas

'It is unacceptable for any government agency to have persons in custody sign documents in a language that they clearly do not understand,' lawyers Enrique Moreno, Elena Esparza and Lynn Coyle said in a joint statement.

He also fought the government's initial claim that Jakelin had not eaten or drank water for 'days' before she died.

'Prior to going into CBP custody and contrary to the report that Jakelin 'had not eaten or had any water for several days,' Jakelin had not been crossing the desert for days.

'Jakelin's father took care of Jakelin - made sure she was fed and had sufficient water. She and her father sought asylum from border patrol as soon as they crossed the border.

'She had not suffered from a lack of water or food prior to approaching the border,' the lawyers said.

The child's cause of death has not yet been determined and no information about her autopsy has been released.

Speaking through tears in a Mayan dialect, Jakelin's mother Claudia Maquin said: 'Every time they ask me what happened to the girl, it hurts me again'. She is shown with her two sons and baby daughter

Domingo Caal Chub, 61, (pictured), Nery's father, and the rest of the family are said to speak a Mayan dialect with both English and Spanish being their second languages

This is the home Jakelin lived in with her father, mother, grandfather and three siblings where they survived on $5-a-day

Last week, CBP officials spoke on a conference call along with officials from the Department of Homeland Security where they gave reasons including brain swelling, liver failure, septic shock and dehydration for her death.

The officials repeatedly refused to go on the record with their claims.

Nery is now staying at Anunciation House, a shelter for migrants in El Paso. His daughter's body is being sent back to Guatemala for burial in the village she fled.

GOVERNMENT TIMELINE OF GIRL'S DEATH December 6th, 9.15pm: Jackeline is detained at the Antelope Wells Port of Entry 10pm: She is looked over by border agents who clear her and say she has no signs of ill health December 7th, 4.30am: Jackeline is put on a bus with her father to be taken to the Lordsburg Patrol Station 5am: The child begins vomiting on the bus Agents call ahead to the Lordsburg station and keep driving 6.30am: Jackeline's father tells agents she has stopped breathing 6.45am: EMTs treat Jackeline at the border patrol station 7.45am: She is airlifted to Providence Children's Hospital in El Paso, Texas December 8th: Jackeline Dies in the early morning after a CT scan revealed brain swelling, liver failure, dehydration, and septic shock Advertisement

Tekandi Paniagua, the Guatemalan consul in Del Rio, Texas, told The Associates Press that he had spoken with the girl's father who said he had no complaints about how they were treated.

'When I spoke to the father he actually said he was very grateful for the effort of both the Border Patrol agents that assisted his daughter at the station as well as the medical staff at the hospital,' he said on Saturday.

He said he told him that in his impoverished village in Guatemala, Spanish is needed only occasionally, such as when the community deals with schools and health care or for work, Paniagua said.

Before they arrived at the border crossing, he said they had only been walking for 90 minutes with the group of 162 others.

Caal asked the Guatemalan consulate in Texas, which had reached out to him, if he could see his daughter one last time before her body was sent back to her homeland.

That request prompted special arrangements at a private funeral home on Friday, when he said goodbye to Jakelin.

The consulate asked him if he wanted an interpreter who could explain everything, including the repatriation of her body, in Q'eqchi.

He said he did. After listening to the interpreter, Paniagua said, Caal thanked the consulate and said 'he felt more comfortable in his own language.'

Jakelin was her father's favorite child, according to her mother and grandfather.

Jakelin's official cause of death has not yet been released

The family lives in a hut in San Antonio Secortez, a mountainous hamlet which has only 420 inhabitants, and they survive on $5-a-day which they earn through harvesting corn and beans.

According to the family, Nery paid a smuggler to take him and Jakelin to the border. His father Domingo, who speaks Spanish like 'most' other men in the town, told The Associated Press that he borrowed money to pay for their journey and used their plot of land as a surety.

'He was desperate,' he said.

The family contradicted what his lawyers seemed to suggest by saying that they never intended to apply for asylum.

Most of the men in the village know Spanish but Nery's was 'broken', according to Guatemalan officials.

Jakelin's mother Claudia held back tears as she described her life in Mayan. Her grandfather, Domingo Caal Chub, 61, translated her remarks into Spanish.

'Everytime they ask me what happened to the girl, it hurts me again,' she said.

More than two dozen languages are spoken in Guatemala, and the consulate tries to send interpreters as soon as possible to help detained migrants, Paniagua said.

Jakelin's father is now staying at a shelter in El Paso, Texas, and has asked for privacy. Pictured is Ruben Garcia, the head of the shelter, at a news conference on Saturday

A sign outside the family's home announces Jakelin's death

Jackeline Caal Maquin died on December 8th a day after being detained on the border with her father. Her death has sparked humanitarian concerns about the US's treatment of illegal migrants in their custody. Above is an illustration of her final hours

Jakelin was the only child her father took with him from the family when they left their home in Raxruha for the US several weeks ago

But sometimes by the time they get there, the migrants have already signed forms.

'We'll ask, 'Do you speak Spanish?' And they'll say yes,' he said. 'Then we'll ask, 'But do you understand Spanish?' And often they'll say, 'No, I need an interpreter.'

All ICE agents are required to speak Spanish, and they receive formal Spanish training. Reading forms in Spanish is often enough to pose basic questions.

Scores of immigrant parents who were separated from their children after crossing the border in the spring said they signed forms agreeing to be deported with the understanding that their kids would be returning with them, only to find themselves deported without them. Many had to wait months before being reunited with them in their homelands.

Border Patrol officials on Friday said agents did everything they could to save the girl but that she had not had food or water for days.

Jakelin's family is asking for an 'objective and thorough' investigation to determine whether officials met standards for taking children into custody.

Border Patrol officials did not immediately respond to the family lawyers' statement.

Authorities are conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Results are expected in about a week.

An investigation into her death is also being carried out by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General.Nothing appeared out of order in Kelsey Berreth's home on Thanksgiving day before she vanished without a trace.

There were freshly baked cinnamon rolls in her kitchen that she had left out to cool. Her luggage and makeup were untouched. Her car was still in the driveway.

Only the 29-year-old Colorado mother's cell phone and purse were gone.

These are just some of the confusing details surrounding Kelsey's baffling case as police continue to struggle to find any answers - or even leads.

But no one has received more questions than Patrick Frazee, Kelsey's fiancee and the father of her one-year-old daughter Kaylee.

Patrick Frazee (left) from Florissant, Colorado, is yet to be questioned by police over the disappearance of his fiancee Kelsey Berreth (right) who has been missing since Thanksgiving Day

Frazee, 32, was the last person to see Kelsey after she dropped off Kaylee at his home just before she vanished.

Just before the drop-off, Kelsey was captured on surveillance footage at a Safeway supermarket a mile away from her home with Kaylee.

Three days later, on November 25, a text was sent from Kelsey's phone to the flight school work she worked as an instructor. The message said that she would be taking the next week off.

Frazee told police he also received a text from Kelsey's phone that day, although the details of the message have not been disclosed.

The last trace of Kelsey's phone was that same day, 800 miles from her home near Gooding, Idaho.

Kelsey was reported missing on December 2 by her mother Cheryl Berreth, who had been unable to reach her.

Cheryl had contacted Frazee, who said he hadn't heard from Kelsey since the November 25 text, according to the Daily Beast.

Kelsey's mother told various news outlets that she had last spoken to her daughter twice on the phone on Thanksgiving morning. In one call, Kelsey asked for a recipe.

Berreth, a 29-year-old flight instructor, has been missing since November 22

On Monday police released footage of Berreth entering a Safeway in Woodland Park with her baby on November 22, which is the last visual confirmation police currently have of her

Cheryl told CBS News that Kelsey seemed 'happy' and that she didn't have plans for a 'big Thanksgiving meal at her home or anything like that'.

Frazee, who neighbors describe as a 'shy old-fashioned cowboy', has not been ruled out as a suspect in Kelsey's disappearance.

Police and FBI specialists conducted a two-day search of his sprawling and remote ranch in Florissant, Colorado on Friday and sent out a public plea asking him to sit down with them for an interview.

Woodland Park Police Chief Miles De Young said officers didn't find Kelsey during the search. No other details on what was found have been released.

De Young also made a public plea for Frazee to sit down with investigators for questioning and said he was only in contact via his lawyer - who claims he is cooperating.

'There have been numerous questions about whether Patrick is a suspect or a person of interest. At this point, we are considering every possibility,' De Young said during a press conference on Friday.

'I'm not willing to jump to conclusions or label people involved in this highly complex investigation.'

Police have since announced a reward of up to $25,000, which has been donated anonymously, for information that leads to Kelsey being found.

In a picture provided by Kelsey's cousin Jodee Garretson, the 29-year-old mom is seen (Center) with her cousin, mom Cheryl Berreth, two years ago just before Kelsey moved from Washington state to Colorado

DailyMail.com can reveal Frazee lives with his mother Sheila, 64, on a family ranch where he makes a living by raising and selling cattle as well as horseshoeing.

The 6ft 3in farrier's 35-acre ranch includes a one-and-a-half story home and a 1,300 sq ft barn, according to Teller County records.

In Florissant, some told DailyMail.com that Frazee was a respected horse-handler who was a good father to baby Kaylee.

But Michell Guterl, 50, who has known Frazee since he was 16, said she refused to let him work on her horses because of how he handled them.

Guterl told DailyMail.com at a candlelit vigil for the missing woman: 'He was a farrier, we rodeoed together. He's a horseshoer, he roped at a lot of the rodeos that we went to. I used to see him all the time.'

'He worked on my horses for a real short time till he punched one in the gut with a rasp and that was about the last time I let him work on my horses.'

'[He did it] just because the horse won't stand still, it's kind of common, but horses are very sensitive, they can sense, and my horse was very sensitive.

'He just smacked him with a rasp, it was uncalled for.'

An aerial image (pictured) of police searching Patrick Frazee's property at Wildhorn Road in Florissant

The alleged incident happened back when he was a teenager, but according to Guterl, Frazee's behavior wasn't a one-off.

'It's a characteristic that was ongoing for years,' she said. 'Anytime he was at a rope and his horse didn't act right, he'd rip on his face, kick him. In the community, we were all at ropings and stuff, but if the horse doesn't do exactly what it's supposed to do you don't just beat them.'

Recalling a rodeo in nearby town Cripple Creek several years ago, she described Frazee losing his cool with his horse.

'He got mad because his horse didn't do good and somebody didn't heel just right to help him get in the money and he got so mad he left out of Cripple Creek Rodeo, flipped his horse trailer with his horse in it and almost killed that horse,' she said.

'He got mad, tries to get his vehicle out of there and there's too many cars tightly packed in. Lots of people were there.'

A former girlfriend who dated Frazee more than six years ago declined to speak to DailyMail.com but her current partner said: 'He cheated on her while she was in the hospital, take that for what it's worth.'

Asked whether Frazee was ever abusive, the partner said: 'He never beat on them (girlfriends) or anything like that. On animals he was rough, he was pretty aggressive with dogs and horses.'

'Patrick is a horseshoer, I heard once he was thumping on the horse "saying this is how you've got to do it," that horse reared up and kicked him right in the forehead, he got a bunch of stitches and his [then] girlfriend hauled him to the hospital to get stitches.'

The man, who knew Frazee from school at Woodland Park High, said he was a 'recluse for sure'.

Frazee was seen earlier this week speaking to a reporter at his home (left) and was also pictured with his daughter on the same day (right)

Officers (pictured) are seen combing the area around Frazee's property in Florissant on Friday

Hank Fildes, 34, who lived close to Frazee growing up said he's heard 'mixed things' about Frazee's alleged rough behavior with animals.

'It's hard to elaborate on Patrick, he was quiet and shy. He had his own friends circle and stayed close to his friends,' Fildes said.

'He did come across, "I'm a big tough cowboy." But that's that cowboy way, got be strong.

'That's how he was raised, he raised horses. I think if you're raised country that's normal, if you're raised city it's going to seem harsh. It's not wrong in his eyes.'

'Sometimes there's neglect and over abuse yes, he'd tread the fine line on it I'd say. You've got make a horse submit to what you want to do. You've got to be kind of firm. You shouldn't hit them.'

Kelsey had been living in the mountain community of Woodland Park, about 15 miles from Florissant, in a townhouse she bought in June.

Her neighbor Angie Gerber, 71, said she had assumed Frazee lived there with Kelsey and the baby, and said she saw him come and go in a red work truck.

Friends and neighbors of the 32-year-old cattle rancher have described his as 'quiet and shy' and an 'old fashioned cowboy'

Gerber was away for the Thanksgiving holiday and her last interaction with Kelsey was the week before, when she gave her a baby gate for the house.

'She seemed fine. She's a gorgeous baby and Kelsey was just a great neighbor, she was always really quiet and there was never any problem at all. All of us are praying she's okay,' Gerber said.

On December 3, the day after Cheryl reported her missing, an aunt wrote in a Facebook group: 'Our niece is missing and has not been seen for a week. Her phone was last pinged near Gooding, Idaho. She told her ex when she dropped off their baby that she was heading to family in Washington. Please help us get the word out to the truckers in that area last week. If anyone has seen her contact the authorities immediately.'

'She broke up with her ex on Thanksgiving, he said she dropped off the baby and was heading to Soap Lake, Washington to visit. No one knew anything about the visit.'

Kelsey's cousin JoDee Garretson, 50, confirmed to DailyMail.com that the message was posted by an aunt who is Cheryl's sister.

Garretson said she didn't know if the information was correct and revealed Kelsey's mother later asked the aunt to take the post down.

The message adds another dimension to the mystery surrounding this case as police and Cheryl have said Frazee and Kelsey were engaged but not living together.

Berreth worked at Doss Aviation which trains US army pilots. A text was sent from her phone to her job on Sunday, November 25 saying she was taking the next week off

Cheryl told NBC News that the couple did not have a wedding date set but that their relationship 'has been good'.

'They're loving. It hasn't been ideal, you know, given the economy and things,' she said.

'They had plans that haven't worked out as they would have liked. But they've dealt with that and they've made things work regardless.'

She also said the couple were planning to find a home of their own, but Frazee's cattle farming job had been affected by poor prices.

Garretson says she is sure her cousin did not disappear willingly and described her as a very loving mother who would never have left her daughter.

'Kelsey's so reliable and responsible, she's a mom, she would never leave her child. She was very excited [to be a mom], and she was a great mom,' Garretson said.

Garretson said the family want Frazee to sit down with investigators and to let Cheryl see her grandchild.

'I can only imagine as a mom if one of my children went missing, it would be killing me not to get to the grand baby,' she said.

'I just can't imagine how much it would mean to hold that baby.'A 35-year-old woman has been charged with the murder of her baby niece, who she took in after the death of her twin sister.

Sandra Leigh Houston, 35, appeared in Beenleigh Magistrate's Court on Tuesday morning, nearly a month after her four-month-old niece died.

The baby arrived at Logan Hospital with life-threatening injuries last month.

She died on November 20, after being transferred to Queensland Children's Hospital in a critical condition.

Sandra Leigh Houston, 35, has been charged with the murder of her four-month-old niece

She was then transferred to Queensland Children's Hospital in a critical condition but died on November 20

Houston (right) took in the baby when her twin sister Terese died a few months ago

Houston's lawyer, Robert Burns, said his client was the baby girl's aunt, and she had taken the baby in after her twin sister died.

Mr Burns said Houston would be applying for bail and was 'fairly distraught' over the baby's death, but had 'good grounds' for bail.

'She is fortunate that she does have plenty of family support, her husband and the parents and the rest of her family are very supportive of her,' he said.

'I'm always hopeful for bail. She has good grounds for bail.'

Mr Burns would not shed light on how the child died, or when the bail application would be made.

He told reporters he did not have enough information to form a case on Tuesday.

'We haven't received all of the police material, in fact orders will be made on Thursday for that, so we will see,' he said.

Houston (right) and her sister Terese (left) shared a similar fashion sense, and sported similar tattoos on their left shoulders

The pair, who have been dressing alike since childhood (bottom left and right), appeared to be nearly inseparable and were often seen at events together

Mr Burns was also unable to comment in any detail on what police were alleging had happened to the baby, but said the case would centre around 'the untimely death of the child'.

Houston will remain in the watch house until her matter is mentioned again on Thursday, when it's expected Mr Burns would apply for more police material ahead of her application for bail in the Brisbane Supreme Court.

Social media posts reveal both Houston and her late sister were devoutly religious, and shared a close bond.

The pair also shared a sense of fashion, with pictures showing the sisters wearing the same outfits with different hairstyles, and sporting similar tattoos.

She will apply for bail, and her lawyer said she was 'distressed' about the circumstances of the baby's deathDec 18, 2018 | By Cameron

In a collaborative effort between researchers at ETH Zurich and MIT, a material was 3D printed with a stiffness that comes notably close to the theoretical maximum limit of a stiffness to weight ratio possible according to the laws of physics. The stiffest format of any given material is one thats completely solid, but thats also the heaviest format of that material, which is often too heavy for the intended application (as well as wasteful). Take planes: their frames need to be rigid so that planes dont crumble to the slightest turbulence, but to build their frames out of solid steel would make them far too heavy to get airborne.

Instead, engineers use geometry to extract the most stiffness out of the least amount of material; arches, trusses, and girdles are all construction methods that arrange materials into their stiffest geometry in order to minimize material usage and volume while maintaining enough stiffness for the specific task.

But Dirk Mohr, Professor of Computational Modeling of Materials in Manufacturing at ETH Zurich, knew there were stronger geometries available, explaining, "The truss principle is very old; it has long been used for half-timbered houses, steel bridges and steel towers, such as the Eiffel Tower. We can see through truss lattices, so they are often perceived as ideal lightweight structures. However, using computer calculations, theory and experimental measurements, we have now established a new family of plate-lattice structures that are up to three times stiffer than truss-lattices of the same weight and volume."

The plate-lattice is not only breaking records with its stiffness, a measurement of resistance to elastic deformation, but also strength, which is resistance to irreversible deformation. And unlike most construction methods, the stiffness and strength are equal in all three dimensions. That can not be said for the Eiffel Tower as it was designed to resist mostly a downward force, or gravity. It would take little lateral force to knock the Tower over and thankfully King Kong doesnt exist to test that theory.

The lattice structures were designed with computer models that calculated their mechanical properties on the fly. They were then 3D printed at a micrometer scale for testing. Mohr notes that the strength gains would apply to all materials and at all scales. Lightweight construction, the current cost of which limits its practical use to aircraft manufacturing and space applications, could then also be used for a wide array of applications in which weight plays a role," he said.

From skyscrapers to medical implants to automotive parts, they could all be made lighter and stronger with these 3D printed lattice structures. "When the time is right, as soon as lightweight materials are being manufactured on a large scale," Mohr says, "these periodic plate lattices will be the design of choice."

Posted in 3D Printing Application

Maybe you also like:









W. T. Fisthis wrote at 12/19/2018 4:59:10 AM:More Pictures?? Links??WTFisthis wrote at 12/19/2018 4:36:51 AM:More Pictures? Links?WTFisthis wrote at 12/19/2018 4:33:10 AM:More Pictures? Links?Log Shaped Extrusions wrote at 12/18/2018 7:44:01 PM:A material? What did they print.



Police have released frantic 911 calls from students and parents at a Florida high school where an active-shooter drill was conducted earlier this month without warning it was just an exercise.

A unnamed female student is heard telling a dispatcher in a call: 'Theres a shooting at Lake Brantley High School.'

When the dispatcher asked if the student was calling about a drill or if they witnessed an active shooter, the girl responded: 'Everyone just started running... I don't know if it's a shooter or not.'

The dispatcher inquired further: 'Do you see anyone with a gun?' and the student replied: 'No'.

'From what we understand, this was supposed to be a drill,' the dispatcher went on to say.

The teen said several students jumped a fence to leave the school and she thought she 'heard a bang' amid the chaos.

Police said concerned parents also called, including one woman who told 911: 'Im freaking out.'

Orange County school district spokesman Michael Lawrence told the Orlando Sentinel the drill happened December 6 at Lake Brantley High School.

Panic was caused when a Lake Brantley student shared a screenshot of an alert that some teachers received during the drill, warning of an active shooter on campus.

The text message alert read: 'Active Shooter reported at Brantley/ Building 1/ Building 2 and other buildings by B Shafer at 10:21:45. Initiate a Code Red Lockdown.'

Lake Brantley High School in Florida conducted an unannounced 'code red drill' on December 6

The problem was, the text message did not provide indication the active shooter incident was not real.

Lawrence said schools sometimes conduct unannounced drills and immediately alert parents.

He said Thursday's message may have gone out a 'bit later' than normal.

A parent who responded to the school's Facebook message said her daughter was terrified.

'Nothing is more terrifying than getting a text from your daughter who is hiding in her classroom having a complete anxiety attack,' the parent wrote.

She said it was the wrong way to practice safety.

The drill happened at Lake Brantley High School. Students posted about the incident on social media

Principal Trent Daniel sent out an email that said administrators believe a student is responsible for the 'campus disruption caused by a social media post.'

Daniel said that a second incident 'started in the cafeteria' when the post was 'disseminated to other students and parents.'

Daniel added the incident is being investigated as a 'disciplinary matter and all responsible parties will be disciplined.'

Lake Brantley High School is pictured aboveMeghan Markle's mother was spotted getting on with business as usual on Monday, heading out to run errands in the week leading up to Christmas Day.

Doria Ragland's appearance in Los Angeles came on the same day it was confirmed she will not spend Christmas with the British royals this year, despite Queen Elizabeth II extending the rare invite for a non-royal during Meghan's first festive season in the family.

Ragland, 62, appeared to be in high spirits as she opted for the California sun with a male friend instead of jetting to the UK for the holiday.

Scroll down for videos

Meghan Markle's mother Doria Ragland and a male friend were seen leaving her house and heading out for the day in Los Angeles, California on Monday

Doria who was invited by Queen Elizabeth II to spend Christmas with the royal family has respectfully declined the invitation and decided to stay in America

The new Duchess of Sussex's mother donned all-black as she walked to her vehicle clutching woolly items and loaded items into her trunk.

Ragland - a yoga teacher and social worker - was in her comfort zone surrounded by a pair of dogs and she and her smiling companion made Stateside preparations.

She politely declined the Queen's offer of spending December 25 at Sandringham, People reported.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, a royal source said the invitation to Sandringham was offered partly because the Queen was so 'impressed' by Ms Ragland at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Windsor Castle in May.

An invitation for Doria would break with royal precedent as even the Middleton family has not been invited to stay at the Norfolk estate.

The Duchess of Cambridge's family has joined the royals at church on Christmas morning but they have stayed at nearby Anmer Hall rather than Sandringham itself.

The new Duchess of Sussex's mother donned all-black as she walked to her vehicle clutching woolly items and loaded items into her trunk

Ragland - a yoga teacher and social worker - was in her comfort zone surrounded by a pair of dogs and she and her smiling companion made Stateside preparations

While other spouses that have married into the family don't usually have the privilege of relatives joining in the Norfolk-based celebrations, pregnant Markle doesn't have family in the United Kingdom to split her time with during the holidays.

American Markle will spend the festive period with Prince Harry, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and other royals.

It's where the royals have been enjoying the Yuletide every year since 1988.

Ragland will also not be moving in with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they welcome their first child next year.

It's very rare for the Queen to invite non-royals to spend Christmas at Sandringham

Meghan will spend her second Christmas at Sandringham House, in Norfolk, where the royals have been enjoying the Yuletide every year since 1988

Ragland will also not be moving in with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they welcome their first child next year, it has been reported

On Monday, Meghan's estranged half-brother Thomas Markle Jr said the clan would gather at the home of her grandmother Jeanette Ragland for Christmas dinner.

He said: '[Meghan's mother] Doria would cook the Christmas dinner. Doria and her family were probably the biggest anchors of family unity when it came to holidays.

Thomas Jr, 52, told DailyMailTV that Meghan might regret not spending Christmas with her American relatives

'Their entire family would get together over at Doria's mom's house and our family hadn't done that for many years when I was growing up. We just did that a few times as young children in Chicago.

'But as far as when Meghan was a child, Doria has a big family and everybody got together  her sisters, her dad, her grandfather, her mom and then of course us and Meghan.

'There was always that big family homey feeling because everybody was happy, everybody was in a good mood, everybody left their baggage outside the door and it was all about family which was pretty important. It was nice.'

He issued another plea for family unity - and said he fears his father will spend Christmas alone without even a card from the Duchess to console him.

This comes after her Thomas Markle Sr, 74, revealed in a Good Morning Britain interview the same day that he has been making daily attempts to contact his daughter and wishes to reconcile.

Thomas Jr said to DailyMailTV: 'I think when she sees the difference between the Christmas she spends at the Palace, and she doesn't have her family around her, I think she'll realize that she's missing something.'

In a heartfelt card to the duchess seen by DailyMailTV, Markle Jr expresses his hopes to 'mend our family back together for the New Year.' He also included the Markle family in his sign offSpecial Counsel Robert Mueller released a memo about the January 2017 interview in which Michael Flynn lied to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian government.

It was that interview in which Flynn told investigators, among them now-former FBI agent Peter Strzok, about his conversations with then-Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak.

The memo indicates that Flynn denied asking the Russian government for political favors, according to CNN.

The agents who interviewed him, meanwhile, kept pressing President Donald Trumps former National Security Adviser for more specifics.

Last year, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with Kislyak.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller (left) released a memo about the January 2017 interview in which Michael Flynn (right) lied to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian government

It was that interview in which Flynn told investigators, among them now-former FBI agent Peter Strzok (above), about his conversations with then-Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak

Flynn told Strzok and other FBI agents who interviewed him that he and Kislyak did not discuss U.S. sanctions against Russia.

The memo also describes how Flynn played down his attempts to lobby Russia to oppose a United Nations Security Council resolution to condemn Israeli settlements.

Flynn initially told agents that he did not try to convince Russia to vote against the resolution.

The interviewing agents asked Flynn if he recalled any discussions with Kislyak about a United Nations vote surrounding the issue of Israeli settlements, the memo said.

Flynn quickly responded, Yes, good reminder.

He was also asked by the agents whether he tried to encourage Kislyak and his government not to retaliate to the Obama administrations decision to expel Russian diplomats.

Flynn responded, Not really. I don't remember.

Liar, liar: Flynn will be sentenced for admitting lying to the FBI about his contact before the 2016 election with Kislyak, then Putin's ambassador to Washington D.C.

It wasn't, Don't do anything, the memo said.

But the FBI knew Flynn asked Russia not to retaliate strongly to the expulsions.

When Flynn pleaded guilty last year, he admitted that he did do just that.

The Special Counsels office said in the memo that Flynn did ask Russia to refrain from escalating the situation.

The memo was released after Flynn's lawyers suggested that investigators discouraged him from having an attorney present during the interview and never informed him it was a crime to lie.

Prosecutors shot back: 'He does not need to be warned it is a crime to lie to federal agents to know the importance of telling them the truth.'

The mere insinuation of underhanded tactics was startling given the seemingly productive relationship between the two sides, and it was especially striking since prosecutors with Mueller's office have praised Flynn's cooperation and recommended against prison time.

The defense arguments spurred speculation that Flynn, 59, may be trying to get sympathy from President Donald Trump or may be playing to a judge known for a zero-tolerance view of government misconduct.

At his side: Flynn became a vocal supporter of Trump and spoke at campaign rallies such as this one in Grand Junction, CO, and the Republican national convention in Cleveland, OH, where he led chants of 'lock her up'

Notorious meeting: Flynn traveled to Moscow in December 2015 and dined with Vladimir Putin to celebrate the 10th anniversary of RT, the Russian English-language propaganda channel

What a change of tone: In the run-up to his former aide's sentencing, Trump has turned from portraying him as a liar to saying that he did not, as the president steps up his attacks on the Mueller probe

'It's an attempt, I think, to perhaps characterize Flynn as a victim or perhaps to make him look sympathetic in the eyes of a judge - and, at the same time, to portray the special counsel in a negative light,' said former federal prosecutor Jimmy Gurule, a University of Notre Dame law school professor.

Until the dueling memos were filed last week, the sentencing hearing for Flynn - who pleaded guilty to lying about a conversation during the transition period with the then-Russian ambassador - was expected to be devoid of the drama characterizing other of Mueller's cases.

Prosecutors, for instance, have accused former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort of lying to them even after he agreed to cooperate.

Another potential target, Jerome Corsi, leaked draft court documents and accused Mueller's team of bullying him.

And George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser recently released from a two-week prison sentence, has lambasted the investigation and publicly claimed that he was set up.

Flynn, by contrast, has been notably silent even as his supporters advocated a more combative stance. He met privately with investigators 19 times and provided cooperation so extensive that prosecutors said he was entitled to avoid prison altogether.

Then came his sentencing memo.

Although Flynn and his attorneys stopped short of any direct accusations of wrongdoing, they took pains to note that Flynn, unlike other defendants in Mueller's investigation, was not informed that it was against the law to lie to the FBI.

They suggest the FBI, which approached Flynn at the White House just days after Trump's inauguration, played to his desire to keep the encounter quiet by telling him the quickest way to get the interview done was for him to be alone with the agents - rather than involve lawyers.

They also insinuate that Flynn, of Middletown, Rhode Island, deserves credit for not publicly seizing on the fact that FBI officials involved in the investigation later came under scrutiny themselves.

Former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who contacted Flynn to arrange the interview, was fired this year for what the Justice Department said was a lack of candor over a news media leak.

Strzok, one of the two agents who interviewed Flynn, was removed from Mueller's team and later fired for trading anti-Trump texts with another FBI official.

Tarnished: Flynn (left) became a three-star general while his brother Charlie (right) became a two-star general. Now one brother's service is overshadowed by his guilt. His mother Helen (center) had nine children with the Flynn's later father, Charles

Sentenced: Flynn will join his former cohort Michael Cohen - Trump's fixer - in having been sentenced. Cohen is due to report to federal prison in March

Business partners: Flynn was in business with Bijan Kian (second left). Kian, an Iranian-American, is now indicted on charges of lobbying illegally along with Flynn, who appears to have flipped on him. Flynn's wife Lori is expected at his sentencing

Mueller's team has sharply pushed back at any suggestion that Flynn was duped, with prosecutors responding in their own sentencing memo Friday that there was no obligation to warn Flynn against lying.

'A sitting National Security (Adviser), former head of an intelligence agency, retired Lieutenant General, and 33-year veteran of the armed forces knows he should not lie to federal agents,' prosecutors wrote.

Former FBI Director James Comey criticized the broadsides on the Flynn investigation during a Monday appearance on Capitol Hill, saying, 'They're up here attacking the FBI's investigation of a guy who pled guilty to lying to the FBI.'

Trump has made no secret that he sees Mueller's investigation as a 'witch hunt' and has continued to lash out at prosecutors he sees as biased against him and those who help them.

He's shown continued sympathy for Flynn, though, calling him a 'great person' and asserting - erroneously - that the FBI has said he didn't lie.

Flynn has not tried to retract his guilty plea, and there's every indication the sentencing will proceed as scheduled.

Arun Rao, a former Justice Department prosecutor in Maryland, said the defense memo is striking because it's 'inconsistent' with Flynn's cooperative stance so far.

'You also wonder in this very unusual situation,' he said, 'whether it is a play for a pardon.'

It's also possible that at least some of the defense arguments may resonate with U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who directed prosecutors to produce FBI records related to Flynn's interview.

Scalp: Flynn will become the fourth of Robert Mueller's targets to be sentenced

Sullivan was the judge in the Justice Department's botched prosecution of now-deceased Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska.

He dismissed the case after prosecutors admitted that they withheld exculpatory evidence, prompting the judge to say that in nearly 25 years on the bench, 'I've never seen anything approaching the mishandling and misconduct that I've seen in this case.'

In an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal last year, Sullivan said the case inspired him to explicitly remind prosecutors in every criminal case before him of their obligation to provide defendants with favorable evidence. He says he has encouraged colleagues to do the same.

But while Sullivan has proved especially sensitive to hints of government overreach, nothing about the Flynn case comes close, said Gurule, the law professor.

'To portray him as somehow an innocent dupe, as somehow just this innocent victim in the process, this suggestion that there was a perjury trap - it's an absurd allegation,' he said.

But the sentencing also comes the day after a dramatic move by Mueller to arrest Flynn's former business partner and reveal that Flynn had been part of an effort to lobby illegally.

Bijan Kian, an Iranian-American who was number two to Flynn was arrested and appeared in federal court in Washington D.C. before being freed on bail.

He is charged with a plot to lobby for Turkey without declaring that he and Flynn's firm was working for the Turkish government, breaking the Foreign Agent Registration Act which makes it illegal to lobby for foreign governments without registering with the State Department. Kian has yet to enter a plea.

Also indicted was the business partner who worked with him and Flynn, Turkish-Dutch dual national Ekim Alpetkin, who is the subject of an arrest warrant and thought to be in Turkey.

Kian and Alpetkin are accused in court papers of a plot to convince the U.S. government to extradite or otherwise expel Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric who is a deadly rival of the country's strongman president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mueller says in the court papers that with Flynn, who is referred to a 'Person A' they placed an op-ed in The Hill newspaper without acknowledging that it was at the prompting of the Turkish government.

Flynn wrote the op-ed and his firm, The Flynn Intel Group, was paid $600,000 for their lobbying campaign - but he is not indicted himself in what appears to be a sign that he flipped on his former associates.

The special counsel has praised the former Trump administration official for his 'substantial help' in several investigations. It is believed this is one of them.Dinesh D'Souza has once again taken aim at the Obamas, claiming that Michelle Obama's college thesis at Princeton University was 'illiterate and incoherent'.

The far right filmmaker hit out at the former first lady after she stopped in London as part of a book tour for her memoir Becoming - now the best-selling book of 2018.

Michelle was in discussion with Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie when she claimed that some of the most powerful people in the world are 'not as smart' as they seem.

'I have been at probably every powerful table that you can think of,' she said.

Dinesh D'Souza has once again taken aim at the Obamas, renewing his claims that Michelle Obama's college thesis at Princeton University was 'illiterate'

The far right filmmaker hit out at the former first lady after she stopped in London (pictured) as part of a book tour for her memoir Becoming - now the best-selling book of 2018

D'Souza referenced the later author Christopher Hitchens, who tore into Michelle's thesis while Barack Obama was running for president in 2008

'I have worked at nonprofits, I have been at foundations, I have worked in corporations, served on corporate boards, I have been at G-summits, I have sat in at the UN. They are not that smart.'

The comment came as Michelle, who was speaking to a sold-out crowd of 2,000 people, admitted she still had 'a little [bit of] impostor syndrome'.

'It never goes away, that you're actually listening to me,' she said. 'It never goes away, that feeling that you shouldn't take me that seriously. What do I know?'

'I share that with you because we all have doubts in our abilities, about our power and what power is.'

But D'Souza, who was recently pardoned by Donald Trump for a felony conviction of making illegal campaign contributions in 2012, ignored that part of Michelle's chat as he specifically took aim at her comment about leaders being 'not that smart'.

Michelle was in discussion with Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie when she claimed that some of the most powerful people in the world are 'not as smart' as they seem

'Anyone who has read Michelle's college thesis - a document so illiterate and incoherent that it was written, as Christopher Hitchens put it, in "no known language" - will chuckle heartily at this one,' he wrote in a Facebook post.

Michelle's college thesis made headlines amid Obama's 2008 presidential campaign when Princeton University restricted access to it until after the election.

A number of conservative bloggers wrote about the restriction, fueling controversy, until the Obama campaign itself sent Politico the thesis in full.

Princeton University then followed suit and lifted any restrictions to the thesis.

Hitchens, who was a frequent critic of Obama's presidency before he died in 2011, was quick to tear into the thesis - which was titled 'Princeton Educated Blacks and the Black Community'.

He mocked Michelle for what he said was a 'narrow choice of subject' because she was a 'black woman at Princeton'.

Michelle's college thesis made headlines amid Obama's 2008 presidential campaign when Princeton University initially restricted access to it until after the election. It lifted the restriction after the Obama campaign sent a full copy to politico

CAN YOU UNDERSTAND MICHELLE OBAMA'S PROSE? READ EXCERPTS FROM HER THESIS AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF Excerpts from Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community, by Michelle LaVaughn Robinson As a result of this greater sense of comfort felt by respondents with groups with whom they have spent more time, more respondents will be interested in benefiting these particular groups in comparison to others. Thus, the variable measuring time spent with Blacks or Whites will also influence the dependent variable measured by the respondents' motivation to benefit various social groups. For example, respondents who have spent time with Blacks are likely to be more comfortable with Blacks and will, therefore, take a great interest in benefiting this group in comparison to other social groups. Consequently, it also likely that these respondents are motivated to benefit self, their loved ones (who are also likely to be Black) and the Black community in comparison to other social groups indicated by this variable. While Blacks who are more comfortable with Whites than with Blacks will probably be less interested in benefiting the Black community. (Robinson, 19) As we have seen, the findings discussed in the previous paragraphs seem to support the hypothesis that respondents who were increasing the time spent with Blacks were becoming more attached to the Black community during the Pre-to-Prin period both in their individual interactions and in their political ideologies about Black and White relations on a community level. Respondents who were increasing time spent with Blacks were also becoming interested in positively contributing to the Black community. (Robinson, 42) However, with the increasing integration of Blacks into the mainstream society, many "integrated Blacks" have lost touch with the Black culture in their attempts to become adjusted and comfortable in their new culture -- the White culture. Some of these Blacks are no longer able to enjoy the qualities which make Black culture so unique or are unable to openly share their culture with other Blacks because they have become so far removed from these experiences and, in some instances, ashamed of them as a result of their integration. (Robinson, 54) Seventy-one percent of the respondents reported being in careers that have made them upwardly mobile from their parents' socio-economic class, while none of the respondents reported being downwardly mobile from their parents' socioeconomic class , and only 17% of the respondents reported remaining even with their parents' socio-economic class; 12% did not know yet how they were moving (see table 10). With respect to belief in God, it appears that their general belief in some kind of God was relatively high. Sixty-two percent of the respondents said they definitely believe in God, while only 6% reported that they do not believe in God; 24% are uncomfortable with the word "God" but believe in a transcendent force; and 9% either do not know or are uncertain. Seventy-one percent of the respondents believe God influences their own lives, but only 43% of the respondents believe that God influences the way society is organized (Robinson, 35) Advertisement

'I mean, you can't really claim you're being educated if the subject of your thesis is what it's like being me at this college,' Hitchens, who also touched on the thesis in a Slate article, told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in May 2008.

'So that, I find partly laughable, and I'd have to add slightly sinister.'

Hitchens then went on to say that Michelle's thesis was 'hateful, lugubrious, boring, resentment-filled screed written in some very bad form of sociologies'.

'The only think you can definitely tell from the attempt to read it, because I maintain it cannot actually be read, it's a degradation of the act of reading, is that she favors, or views with favor, black separatism, or as she calls it, separationism.'

Hitchens' claim later came under fire from acclaimed author Ta-Nehisi Coates.

'Hitchens is just lying,' Coates wrote in a rebuttal for The Atlantic a few days later. 'He claims that Michelle "announces that she's much influenced by the definition of black separationism offered by [political activist] Stokey Carmichael."'

'In fact, what the relevant passage says is that Carmichael guided her in forming a definition for her thesis - she says absolutely nothing about how it influenced her personal views.'

While Michelle did touch on her own personal experiences as a black woman at Princeton, she also interviewed 89 black graduates at the school to research whether they had become 'more or less motivated to benefit the Black community' after their time at the Ivy League.

Michelle would later touch on Hitchens' comments in Becoming, calling his criticism 'small-minded and ludicrous'

Michelle, who graduated cum laude from the university with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology, found from her survey that the answer was 'less motivated' and then reflected on whether that was true for herself as well.

'As I enter my final year at Princeton, I find myself striving for many of the same goals as my White classmates - acceptance to a prestigious graduate school or a high-paying position in a successful corporation,' she wrote.

Michelle - who once revealed the mother of a white roommate had repeatedly tried to get her daughter reassigned to a different dorm because of her race - also wrote that even after three years on campus, she sometimes still felt like a 'visitor'.

'My experiences at Princeton have made me far more aware of my "Blackness" than ever before,' she wrote.

'I have found that at Princeton no matter how liberal and open-minded some of my White professors and classmates try to be toward me, I sometimes feel like a visitor on campus; as if I really don't belong.'

Michelle would later touch on Hitchens' comments in Becoming, calling his criticism 'small-minded and ludicrous'.

'He tore into the college-age me, suggesting that I'd been unduly influenced by black radical thinkers and furthermore was a crappy wrote,' she wrote.

Michelle said she felt Hitchens had mocked her intellect, trying to make her seem 'so foreign that even my language couldn't be recognized'.The mother of a nine-month-old girl who washed up dead on a Gold Coast beach after allegedly being sacrificed by her father believed her partner was the son of God.

The homeless woman, 23, kept a diary detailing the death of her daughter and her beliefs, in which she also identified herself as 'Mary the mother of Jesus', court documents reveal.

Police claim the baby was thrown into the water at Jack Evans Boat Harbour in Tweed Heads, on the border of NSW and Queensland, on November 17.

The young girl's body was later found at Surfer's Paradise, 30 kilometres north. She was declared dead at the scene.

Scroll down for video

The mother of a nine-month-old baby girl found dead on a Gold Coast beach has been charged over her death. Left: The infant with her father, right: the couple's older child, pictured with both parents

The little girl was found dead by the water (pictured) early on Monday. Paramedics desperately tried to revive the little girl but she was pronounced dead at the scene. Her father was arrested soon after

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in Tweed Heads Local Court via video link on Tuesday, where she was granted bail.

Magistrate Jeff Linden was told the girl's parents were 'very supportive' of their daughter and would travel to northern NSW to help her when she was released.

The court documents state that in the diary, the accused allegedly confessed she was not there when the killing took place, and that it was a burden she was not required to share, The Courier-Mail reported.

'Though (sic) shalt not murder in his command but [her partner] is the law himself, he is the word and the son of God. He had the right to sleigh the wicked one for all nations sake.'

The documents relied on in court allege the diary went on to claim the baby was the devil, and suggest her 48-year-old partner had done what needed to be done in killing her.

The diary extracts reportedly said she believed her 48-year-old partner innocent, writing 'he did slay the one you call the devil'.

'She/he was hiding in an infant child, abomination he/she is she thought he could escape judgement...'

The woman was granted bail despite police arguing she was at a risk of re-offending or attempting to contact witnesses.

The baby's father, a homeless 47-year-old man diagnosed with schizophrenia, was charged on November 22 with murdering his daughter.

The mother was admitted to psychiatric care at the time.

Locals previously told Daily Mail Australia the family had been living in parks in and around the Gold Coast.

Multiple calls had been made to police and child services by concerned residents about the family's living arrangements but they say they fell on deaf ears.

Before the baby's death, the family were living between a rundown van and a small shack made from twigs and sticks (pictured)

The 23-year-old is understood to have been released from hospital late last month, and was charged with failing to provide for her child and causing a danger of death.

Documents filed in court against the child's father, who is Indigenous, said the man told the young mother he was going to hand their daughter to an elder, but allegedly killed her instead.

The mother-of-two attended a private school in Victoria as a child, before enrolling in university, where she studied psychology services.

Police tracked the family's movements through CCTV footage, which showed four people heading to Tweed Heads and only three returning to Queensland.

The woman will reappear in Tweed Local Court on February 25.German police warn that crime gangs of Arabic origin have targeted a new generation of refugees for recruitment.

Known in the media as Berlin's 'clans', whose founders themselves fled war in Lebanon in the 1980s, they have long controlled much of the city's illegal drugs trade, street prostitution and protection rackets.

Now police warn that the clans have sought out new members from among the more than one million asylum seekers who have arrived in Germany since mid-2015, half of them from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The clans 'are trying to get others to do the dirty work' such as selling drugs or committing small burglaries, said Benjamin Jendro of the GDP police union.

The clans' latest show of force was the September 13 funeral of an infamous underworld figure, when 2,000 mourners congregated in the Islamic section of a Berlin cemetery, watched over by some 150 police

Many refugees, he said, are 'men who have arrived alone in Germany' and who 'have not yet had to do with the justice system,' making it less likely they will go to prison if caught.

An undercover police investigator also told Die Welt newspaper that 'above all, it is the young, physically strong men who are in the sights of the clans, who make them do the dirty work'.

While East European and Asian organised crime and homegrown biker gangs are also active, the clans have been especially visible, given many members' love of gangster bling and muscle cars.

The dozen or so Arabic and Kurdish-origin extended families, with their patriarchal structures and codes of honour, have also been mythologised by rap artists and portrayed in the TV series '4 Blocks'.

The migrant wave that peaked three years ago sparked a backlash in Germany and stoked heated debate about integration efforts and crimes committed by foreigners.

This has thrown a new focus on the clans and raised questions about how Berlin's police could let them openly flout the law for so long in a generally fairly low-crime country.

They paid their last respects to Nidal Rabih, a 36-year-old violent repeat offender who had been shot dead in front of his family days earlier

Germany's best-known rapper, Bushido, long boasted about his close ties to one Berlin clan - until they had a falling out this year and he sought the protection of a rival group.

Bushido's wife, Anna-Maria Ferchichi, told news weekly Stern that the couple now feared for their lives from gangsters who had formed 'parallel societies right here in Germany'.

The clans' latest show of force was the September 13 funeral of an infamous underworld figure, when 2,000 mourners congregated in the Islamic section of a Berlin cemetery, watched over by some 150 police.

In scenes Stern described as 'worthy of a mafia movie', they paid their last respects to Nidal Rabih, a 36-year-old violent repeat offender who had been shot dead in front of his family days earlier.

Rabih, a Palestinian born in Lebanon, had achieved cult status in the Berlin criminal underworld.

Boasting more than 100 offences from robbery to attempted manslaughter, he had spent more than a decade behind bars but avoided a 2004 deportation attempt when Lebanon refused to issue him a passport.

Days after his death, Berlin municipal workers guarded by police whitewashed over a wall mural at the murder scene that depicted Rabih in the style of a martyred Islamic fighter.

Sociologists say the story of Berlin's clans is a cautionary tale about failed integration.

Their patriarchs mostly arrived in the 1980s as refugees from then war-torn Lebanon, among them Palestinians and members of Turkey's Arabic and Kurdish minorities.

Many had only temporary protection status and 'did not have access here to education or work', said Islamologist Mathias Rohe, arguing that this sped up the descent into delinquency.

Last year, clan-linked bandits stole a 100-kilogramme (220-pound) Canadian commemorative gold coin worth over 3.75 million euros from Berlin's Bode museum, around the corner from Chancellor Angela Merkel's apartment

The extended families, aside from now running large chunks of Berlin's illegal economy, have also committed some of the city's most headline-grabbing criminal stunts.

In 2010, masked men wielding machetes and guns robbed a poker tournament in the Berlin Grand Hyatt, making off with about 240,000 euros ($270,000).

In 2014, robbers rampaged through Berlin's KaDeWe luxury department store, smashed glass displays and stole watches and jewellery worth 800,000 euros.

And last year, clan-linked bandits stole a 100-kilogramme (220-pound) Canadian commemorative gold coin worth over 3.75 million euros from Berlin's Bode museum, around the corner from Chancellor Angela Merkel's apartment.

Berlin's police is now under fire for having long neglected the problem - something researcher Ralph Ghadban blames partially on a 'fear of stigmatising and discriminating against certain minorities'.

In recent months, authorities have started to hit back by stepping up raids of shisha bars and betting shops, many in Berlin's Neukoelln district, and confiscating expensive cars for speeding.

In August, police and prosecutors seized 77 properties worth 10 million euros, alleged to have mostly been bought with proceeds from a major 2014 bank robbery.

Some of the properties were officially owned by one convicted bank robber's 19-year-old brother whose only declared income was state welfare.

The confiscations still have to stand up in court against challenges from the clan's expensive lawyers, but authorities believe they have struck a first blow.

'We're stepping on their toes,' said Berlin interior minister Andreas Geisel. 'We're spoiling their fun in Berlin.'A frugal landlord car park has been labelled a Christmas Grinch after clamping the cars of families who were enjoying a beachside carols service.

The mass issuing of fines took place as thousands gathered at Scarborough Beach, in Perth's north, on Sunday.

But as the crowds enjoyed the sunset service, dozens of cars were already being clamped.

A frugal landlord has been labelled a Christmas Grinch after clamping the cars of families who were enjoying a beach side carols service at Scarborough Beach in Perth (pictured)

Limited parking forced many of the event-goers to opt for a private car park, which they say was not clearly sign-posted as such

Limited parking forced many of the event-goers to opt for a private car park, which they say was not clearly sign-posted as such.

And despite the festive cheer of the event, the car park's landlord was in no such mood and hit each infringing driver with a $170 fine to remove the clamp.

Attendee Melinda Hansen, was hit with the removal fee and believed the fines was unwarranted.

'I was pretty shocked to be honest, you think the average parking fine is $60, $80 dollars but $170 is pretty atrocious,' she told 7 News Perth.

'I reckon it was nothing more than a trap.'

Due to the car park being privately owned the local council, City of Stirling had no control over the fines' issuing, instead saying the situation was an 'unfortunate' one.

Due to the car park being privately owned the local council, City of Stirling had no control over the fines' issuing, instead saying the situation was an 'unfortunate' one

'However, we have written to the property owners and managing agents asking that they reconsider the use of wheel clamping, as there are alternatives available.

'The Scarborough Christmas Carols is a fantastic and well-attended community event that the City is proud to support each year.'

At the time of the much-loved event, the complex the car park services was closed, which led to the expectation of some Christmastime leniency.A kangaroo was found with an arrow through the back of her head and sticking out of her eye in what the RSPCA has described as a horror attack.

She was found by a security worker at Central Coast's Morisset Hospital on Sunday morning.

Kangaroos are known to frequent the area, and are accustomed to being fed by humans.

A kangaroo was found with an arrow through the back of her head and sticking out of her eye in what the RSPCA has described as a horror attack

Police and animal welfare groups are both involved in attempting to locate the kangaroo after she ran off in a distressed state.

Police discovered a second crossbow at the scene and have opened an investigation into its origins.

Hunter Wildlife Rescue volunteer Ann Morgan told the Sydney Morning Herald 'it was through the back of the head and came out through the eye. I think it had only just happened, at that point she was still in very good condition.'

The group were unable to locate her to provide the necessary treatment or euthanise her after she ran off into the bushes, and aren't optimistic about her condition.

Hunter Wildlife Rescue volunteer Ann Morgan said 'it was through the back of the head and came out through the eye. I think it had only just happened, at that point she was still in very good condition.'

'It's very distressing. I don't like our chances of finding her. It's a huge area,' Ms Morgan said.

The incident comes only weeks after the health facility announced it would be locking the public out of the region to protect the kangaroo population.

A spokeswoman from the NSW police force told Daily Mail Australia an investigation is currently underway to locate the people responsible for the act.

Anyone who thinks they may have seen the injured kangaroo or wants to report an animal cruelty case should contact local police or the RSPCA cruelty line on 1300 278 3589.The decorated war hero who has been charged with murder after he admitted on television that he planned the killing of an Afghan man he suspected was a Taliban bomb maker says his interview with Fox News led to his indictment.

I'm here right now because of that interview, Maj. Matthew Golsteyn told NBC News.

I'm a little numb, he said.

In 2016, Golsteyn sat down with Fox News, which interviewed him for a special titled How We Fight.

In the interview, Golsteyn told host Brett Baier that he tracked down an Afghan man whom he suspected was behind the bombs which killed two U.S. Marines.

Watch the latest video at foxnews.com

Fox Privacy Policy

Maj. Matthew Golsteyn, 'he decorated war hero who has been charged with murder after he admitted on television that he planned the killing of an Afghan man he suspected was a Taliban bomb maker, says his interview with Fox News led to his indictment

In 2016, Golsteyn sat down with Fox News, which interviewed him for a special titled How We Fight. In the interview, Golsteyn told host Brett Baier that he tracked down an Afghan man whom he suspected was behind the bombs which killed two U.S. Marines

Golsteyn told Baier that he killed the Afghan because letting him go would have led to additional problems.

'You realize quickly that you make things worse. It is an inevitable outcome that people who are cooperating with coalition forces, when identified, will suffer some terrible torture or be killed,' he said.

The story of the Afghan bomb maker first came out after Golsteyn told the CIA about it during a polygraph test in November 2011, two months before he was promoted from captain to major.

Golsteyn admitted both during the CIA interview and in the Fox News segment that he killed the bomb maker, who he suspected was responsible for an explosion that killed Sgt Jeremy McQueary, 27, and 19-year-old Lance Cpl Larry Johnson.

The Army Criminal Investigation Command, acting on information from the CIA, looked into the incident but could never find anyone to corroborate Golsteyn's claim and couldn't find any remains of the Afghan national.

Golsteyn was never charged with a war crime, and the 2015 board of inquiry didn't attempt to establish whether he actually killed the Afghan.

Instead, the panel considered whether he should be retained as an Army officer based on a reprimand in his personnel record.

The board determined that Golsteyn was guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer and he was discharged.

Julie Golsteyn went on Fox & Friends Weekend on Sunday to defend her husband

The mom-of-two said the allegations her her husband are 'disgusting' and 'almost laughable'

Watch the latest video at foxnews.com

Fox news Privacy Policy

It also revoked Golsteyn's Special Forces designation and the Silver Star.

Golsteyn's interview on Fox News breathed new life into the case and reportedly prompted the United States Criminal Investigation Command to reopen the investigation.

Golsteyn's immediate commander determined that there was 'sufficient evidence' to warrant the 'charges against him', US Army Special Operations Command spokesman Lt Col Loren Bymer said in a statement.

The new charges will be reviewed to determine if the case should go to trial. If convicted, Golsteyn could face the death penalty.

His wife and father spoke out in his defense over the past 48 hours, insisting that the former decorated officer had done nothing wrong.

On Sunday, Golsteyn's wife, Julie, appeared on Fox & Friends Weekend to express her dismay with the decision to bring the charge against her husband for doing his job.

'He was lucky enough to survive war and has come home to be ripped apart by his own government and the Army leadership,' Mrs Golsteyn said on air.

'I know my husband, I know his heart and I know his character,' Golsteyn's wife said during the Sunday interview. 'And to think that he killed someone in cold blood ... is absolutely... I don't even have a word for it. It is just so disgusting.'

Donald Trump said he will review the case of a Green Beret facing murder charges after killing an Afghan bomb maker he suspected was responsible for the death of two of his Marines

Matt's father, Jerry Golsteyn (left), said on Fox & Friends Monday he is 'all for' Trump, as the commander-in-chief, taking a look at Matt's case

Watch the latest video at foxnews.com

Fox news Privacy Policy

Julie, who has two sons with Matt, including a two-month-old baby, called the charged against her husband 'almost laughable' and urged those in positions of leadership to 'crawl out from the blanket of anonymity' and take responsibility for what has happened to her spouse.

Late Sunday morning, Donald Trump, who is known to be an avid viewer of Fox & Friends, pledged to take a look at the case against Golsteyn.

'At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a "U.S. Military hero," Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder,' Trump tweeted just three minutes after the program wrapped up on Fox News.

'He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a Terrorist bomb maker while overseas.'

If Trump were to intervene, it may count as unlawful command influence that could result in Golsteyn's case being thrown out.

But Pentagon spokesman Army Col Rob Manning told the BBC on Sunday that the charges against Golsteyn are a 'law enforcement matter'.

'The Department of Defense will respect the integrity of this process and provide updates when appropriate,' Manning added.

On Monday morning, Jerry Golsteyn appeared on Fox & Friends, describing his son 'a young man of character' and saying he is 'all for' Trump taking a look at Matt's case.

'Last time I checked, he's the commander-in-chief,' the Green Beret's father said on the program.

Golsteyn admitted both during a CIA interview and in a Fox News segment that he killed an Afghan bomb maker he suspected was responsible for the 2010 deaths of Sgt Jeremy McQueary, 27, (left) and 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Larry Johnson (right)

'If [Trump] feels that something is not going as it should go, Im more than happy to get him in there and look at the situation and make decisions.'

Jerry Golsteyn said it has been very difficult for the family in light of the fact that the military had previously cleared his son of any wrongdoing, only to bring the charge against him years later.

'It was an enemy combatant,' the father said of the slain Afghant.

'He was a known bomb maker, he was identified, and actions taken were to protect the lives of the villagers and those in his unit and the people around him.'

Trump and other senior military and administration leaders have issued statements about military criminal cases in the past, triggering legal appeals and other complications as the courts work to insure impartial proceedings.

The president, however, does have broad authority to pardon criminal defendants.

McQueary's parents spoke out in defense of Golsteyn after the charges were announced this week.

Debbie Kleinschmidt, McQueary's mother, said she does not believe Golsteyn should face charges for killing the suspected Aghan bomb maker

'I think that's crazy,' David Kleinschmidt, McQueary's stepfather, told the New York Post. 'I don't understand why they are bringing this up again.

'We were in a war - and things happen in war. Personally, I think they should just drop [the charges] I'm glad the guy is dead.'

'Our rules that we have to follow are not the rules that the Taliban follows,' added Deborah Kleinschmidt, McQueary's mother.

'So why punish our guy for something that the enemy is doing to us? I'm sure his family has to be stressed out beyond belief. And my heart goes out to them.'

'If anything, Golsteyn may deserve a medal, not a murder rap,' said David Kleinschmidt.

'I'm glad he found the guy. I'm glad the guy's dead because I don't think he should have been in society.'

McQueary, of Nashville, Indiana, was survived by his wife and infant son (pictured together)

Johnson, a native of Scranton, Pennsylvania, was remembered by family and friends as a proud Marine and a friendly youth with a close-knit family

McQueary and Johnson had been working with Golsteyn's Green Beret team in the Taliban-controlled town of Marjah when they were killed in a bazaar explosion.

After the bombing, Golsteyn gathered intelligence and searched nearby homes for the terrorist.

The following day, a pair of Afghan men who were cooperating with the US turned over a suspect they had tied up who they claimed was responsible for the Marines' deaths, but the man was freed almost immediately because of lack of evidence.

Shortly after the suspected bomb maker's release from custody, Golsteyn allegedly tracked him down and killed him.

Days later, Golsteyn led about 80 troops into a four-hour firefight in Marjah, where he repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire as he helped evacuate a wounded Afghan soldier and directed air strikes against the Taliban.

He was awarded the Silver Star medal.

Golsteyn admitted both during a 2011 CIA interview and in a 2016 Fox News segment that he killed the bomb maker

The story of the Afghan bomb maker only came out after Golsteyn told the CIA about it during a polygraph test in November 2011, two months before he was promoted from captain to major. He is pictured here in Afghanistan in 2010

The story of the Afghan bomb maker only came out after Golsteyn told the CIA about it during a polygraph test in November 2011, two months before he was promoted from captain to major.

He revealed that he had killed the bomb maker just days before that medal-winning battle.

'I have had commanders look me in the face and tell me I have done nothing wrong,' Golsteyn said.

Golsteyn (pictured alongside an Afghan soldier) was never charged with a war crime, and the 2015 board of inquiry didn't attempt to establish whether he actually killed the AfghanThe wife of the Sinaloa drug cartel leader Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman did not attend court for the first time in six weeks of his trial Monday.

Emma Coronel, the Los Angeles-born Mexican beauty queen, has been seen in Brooklyn federal court in recent weeks while her husband stands trial on multiple charges including murder conspiracy, drug trafficking, and money laundering.

But this week the courtroom was baffled at her no-show, the New York Post reported, adding that the man on trial was 'nervously searching the room' for her.

For the first time in six weeks of El Chapo's trial Emma Coronel, 29, did not attend on Monday

She said in a Telemundo interview last week that he needs to 'feel my support' in court

Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman (pictured February 2014) is facing a number of criminal charges, including murder conspiracy, drug trafficking, and money laundering

A source added that although it wasn't clear where she was, Coronel was still in New York when she didn't show up for her spouse.

It was a surprise considering the 29-year-old appeared adamant last week that she appear to be sticking by her man throughout his trial.

'I think it's what any wife would do in my place, be with her husband in difficult times,' she said to Spanish-language network, Telemundo.

'In one way or another so that he feels, and sees me present, and feels my support.'

But she admitted her day-long appearances inside the federal Brooklyn courtroom have been nothing less than agonizing.

'Obviously, there are good days, there are bad ones,' Coronel said. 'There are days that I actually arrive without eating, that my head hurts.'

Coronel has even been at odds with the media while battling mood swings as she attends a trial that could send her husband to prison for the rest of his life.

'In fact, there are days that I have left very, very tired and the journalists outside approach me and make it out to be like I left annoyed,' El Chapo's wife admitted.

'It is very burdensome to go all day sometimes without eating or eating unhealthy, sitting on those [benches] that are uncomfortable and going out and suddenly they put the light or things like that [on you],' she added.

'So it's like I go out with a headache and that's why sometimes they say that she left angry, that she went out sad, no, I'm very positive, I'm very positive that everything will be fine.'

In a rare television interview, Coronel, 29, said she's doing what any wife would do - appear a few feet away from her husband while he stands trial

A social media account in her name gave no indication of her whereabouts on Monday as in her interview last week she made it clear that she does not own the Instagram profile that has surfaced in recent months.

She has been talking to investigators about tracking the source of the account.

The Post reports defense lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman challenged Colombian cocaine-trafficker and witness Jorge Cifuentes as he claimed information the attorney quoted from his own testimony was incorrect.

Judge Brian Cogan reportedly asked for order as Lichtman yelled at the witness who claimed he refused to get El Chapo shipments of ephedrine because it was harmful to young people.

The lawyer is said to have become agitated because he didn't have the same attitude about cocaine.

Cifuentes did raise his hand and say he was 'guilty' of ordering multiple murders however. He said he bribed a gemologist to sign off his emerald mine so he could use it for money laundering.

He admitted 'the most significant Jewish lawyers in California' were hired to fight charges against him but he didn't know who they were.

Despite old associates revealing illicit deals, El Chapo's wife also said in her interview last week that he is very confident with how the case is proceeding.

'In one way or another so that he feels, and sees me present, and feels my support,' Coronel says of her courtroom appearances like the one depicted in the above sketch

El Chapo's wife admits that the presence of the media at her husband's trial has made her uncomfortable

Emma Coronel disputes that she has an Instagram account and has been in contact with investigators

The single mother to couple's seven-year-old twin daughters said: 'I have never seen him calm, really. But as I can see, he is very positive... and very calm.'

Guzman was extradited to the US last year from Mexico. He has pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges, with his lawyers claiming he's being framed by shady cooperators.

Guzman faces life behind bars if convicted of operating a continuing criminal enterprise, murder conspiracy, and other charges.

Coronel first caught El Chapo's eye when she competed in a beauty pageant in 2006. The niece of a former partner of El Chapo's, Ignacio 'Nacho' Coronel, has no idea what her life would have turned out to be had she never fallen in love with him.

Nevertheless, she holds no regrets of the tumultuous life she's lived as the spouse of a man known as one of the world's most ruthless drug dealers.

Coronel said: 'I'm very satisfied. I have also had tough moments but I have always said that God does not put things in your way that you will not overcome. So when God puts big obstacles it is because he knows that you are strong and you can achieve it.'

Coronel says she never saw her husband doing anything illegal while they were together.

Anthill Resource Grows 60% to over 125,000 Ounces

Perth, Dec 18, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Intermin Resources Limited ( ASX:IRC ) ("Intermin" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the 100% owned Anthill gold project area located 55km northwest of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Western Australia (see Figures 1 and 2 in link below).HIGHLIGHTS- Highly successful infill, extensional and new discovery drilling completed at the Anthill gold project, 55km north-west of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in the Western Australian goldfields- In total, 15,118m of drilling completed in 2018 with the majority focussed on extensions to known mineralisation to the north, south and east (see Note 1 below)- Updated independent Mineral Resource estimate now compiled for the Anthill project and now stands at:o 2.28Mt @ 1.71g/t Au for 125,500oz at a 1g/t Au lower grade cut-off, up 60% (see Note 2 below)- Over 68% in the Indicated Category with mineralisation open to the east and west (see Note 2 below)- Intermin's Total Mineral Resource estimate grows to:o 9.26Mt grading 2.05g/t Au for 609,600oz at a 1g/t Au lower grade cut-off (see Note 2 below)- Additional resource drilling planned at Anthill in 2019 with follow up exploration drilling at the regional Fire Ant and Tree Ant prospects (see Note 3 below)- Updated mining studies have commenced assessing optimal mining and processing pathways for open cut mine development (see Note 3 below)Commenting on the Anthill Resource, Intermin Managing Director Mr Jon Price said:"The successful drilling at Anthill in 2018 has continued to demonstrate the potential scale and quality of the project, particularly with the new mineralisation discovered to the east and south and we look forward to further drilling campaigns in 2019 at both Anthill and the new prospects to the north.""The strike length at Anthill has grown from 120m to over 400m since initial mining studies were completed. We now look forward to re-optimising the new model and see potential for Anthill to be a significant part of our future production pipeline."OverviewProject GeologyAnthill is located in the Eastern Goldfields (see Figures 1, 2 and 3 in link below), adjacent to the highly endowed Zuleika shear zone. The geology is dominated by a variolitic basalt with lesser amounts of porphyry and ultramafic rocks observed. At least two mineralised trends are evident and add to the geological complexity at Anthill. The gold mineralisation is pervasive and occurs in a number of settings, the most important being a quartz stock work of thin veins with carbonate-sericite-silica-sulphide alteration. Some of the gold is coarse and is easily visible in panned RC chips.Resource UpdateIn the June and September Quarters 2018, the Company completed 122 Reverse Circulation ("RC") holes for 15,118m drilled to an average depth of 120m and maximum depth of 284m.Significant downhole RC intercepts reported in 2018 included(see Note 1 below):- 23m @ 4.16 g/t Au from 61m (AHRC18020)- 18m @ 3.13 g/t Au from 70m (AHRC18043)- 31m @ 3.28 g/t Au from 112m including 1m @ 31.7 g/t Au from 130m (AHRC18079)- 19m @ 2.70 g/t Au from 57m (AHRC18092)- 10m @ 2.79 g/t Au from 80m (AHRC18051)- 21m @ 1.94 g/t Au from 33m (AHRC18013)- 25m @ 2.53 g/t Au from 132m (AHRC18017)- 23m @ 3.22 g/t Au from 174m (AHRC18018)New mineralisation was discovered at Anthill East and Anthill South (see Figure 3 in link below). Anthill South appears to be a strike extension of the main Anthill mineralisation. A plan view is shown in Figure 4 (see link below). The new data has been used to compile a detailed Mineral Resource Estimate compliant with the JORC 2012 Code. The Mineral Resource for Anthill now stands at:- 2.28Mt @ 1.71g/t Au for 125,000 ounces at a 1.0g/t Au lower grade cut-off (see Note 4 below)Further breakdowns of ore types and categories are shown in Table's 1 - 3.(see Note 4 below)The updated resource of 125,000 oz is a 60% increase on the earlier Mineral Resource estimate of 78,000oz(see Note 6 below). Attributable discovery costs incurred this year for Anthill are estimated to be around $20/oz. Intermin's global gold Resources now stands at 9.26Mt grading 2.05g/t Au for 609,600oz at a 1g/t Au lower cut-off grade(see Note 5 below).Next StepsIntermin believes the mineralisation at Anthill is significant with potential for additional resources to be delineated with further drilling beyond the current mineralised envelope. The proximity and influence of the Zuleika shear zone together with high grade intersections returned during 2017/18 indicate the potential for a larger size resource at depth and extensions to be tested(see Note 3 below).The priority target in 2019 is the high grade mineralisation potential that remains open at depth and to the east. An initial step back diamond drill hole will target the central Anthill area at AHRC18010 (10m @ 2.15g/t Au from 263m) and the adjacent drill hole AHRC17039 (33m @ 3.13g/t Au from 157m). (see Note 7 below)A potentially new, unrelated target area to the southeast of Anthill appears to be open and requires further drilling (AHRC18115, 4m @ 2.60g/t Au from 35m). No resource blocks were applied here. At Anthill South, there are potential up dip extensions to the southwest as indicated by AHRC18095 (9m @ 1.63g/t Au from 65m) and AHRC18116 (8m @ 1.68g/t Au from 94m and 1m @ 10.20g/t Au from 114m).(see Note 7 below)Follow up drilling is also planned at the regional Fire Ant (ARAC 2m @1.34 g/t Au) and Tree Ant prospects (ARAC1808 4m @ 2.89g/t Au from 32m, ARAC1821 2m @ 3.27g/t Au from 67m and ARRC1815, 5m @ 1.28g/t Au from 82m) located 2.8km northwest of Anthill.(see Note 7 below)Preliminary in house mining studies will commence to assess the optimal development pathways for the open cut mine development of the Anthill resource.Notes:1 As announced to the ASX on 21 August and 10 October 2018,2 as announced to the ASX on 13 March 2018, see Tables 1-3 on Pages 3 and 4, Tables on Page 8 and Competent Persons statement on pages 4 and 8. See also JORC tables on page 10,3 see Forward Looking and Cautionary Statements on Page 94 see Tables 1-3 on Pages 3 and 4, Tables on Page 8 and Competent Persons statement on pages 4 and 8. See also JORC tables on page 105 see table on Page 8 and Competent Persons statement on pages 4 and 8. See also JORC tables on page 106 as announced to the ASX on 13 March 20187 as announced on the ASX on 21 August and 10 October 2018To view tables and figures, please visit:About Horizon Minerals Limited

Horizon Minerals Limited (ASX:HRZ) is a gold exploration and mining company focussed on the Kalgoorlie and Menzies areas of Western Australia which are host to some of Australia's richest gold deposits. The Company is developing a mining pipeline of projects to generate cash and self-fund aggressive exploration, mine developments and further acquisitions. The Teal gold mine has been recently completed.

Horizon is aiming to significantly grow its JORC-Compliant Mineral Resources, complete definitive feasibility studies on core high grade open cut and underground projects and build a sustainable development pipeline.

Horizon has a number of joint ventures in place across multiple commodities and regions of Australia providing exposure to Vanadium, Copper, PGE's, Gold and Nickel/Cobalt. Our quality joint venture partners are earning in to our project areas by spending over $20 million over 5 years enabling focus on the gold business while maintaining upside leverage.The family of a young woman killed when her car was struck by an ice-fuelled driver said they are shattered after he was jailed for at least five years.

With time served, Jo Han Lim, 33, will be eligible for parole in under five years after being sentenced to a maximum of eight years jail.

But the family of his victim Lisa Di Donato, 27, said their pain will never end.

Scroll down for video

Malaysian man Jo Han Lim was sentenced to at least five years jail for culpable driving causing the death of 27-year-old Lisa Di Donato

The 27-year-old was headed home from a yoga class in Rowville, south west of Melbourne, on February 15 when Lim smashed into her car at up to 81km/h, killing her on impact.

The 27-year-old was headed home from a yoga class in Rowville, south-east Melbourne, on February 15 when Lim smashed into her car while driving at 81km/h, killing her on impact.

Lim, who turns 34 this week, had smoked ice before breakfast that day and was disqualified from driving and on bail for other driving offences.

He pleaded guilty to culpable driving causing death.

Lim was already serving a five-month jail sentence, handed down in October, and has spent seven months in custody for this offence.

He has extensive prior convictions for driving offences and fines for speeding.

In one day in 2013, he was clocked speeding seven times, including at more than 30km/h over the limit on four of those occasions.

'Our loss and pain will always be with us,' Miss Donato's mother Elena Di Donato (pictured) said outside the court

Born in Malaysia, Lim is an Australian permanent resident but faces deportation on release.

Outside court, Ms Di Donato's devastated family said they were 'disappointed' and 'shattered' by the sentence and the prospect of Lim's deportation was the only saving grace.

'Today I'm just going to go home and be sad because in x amount of years he walks out free and we'll never be free, and our loss and pain will always be with us,' her mother Elena Di Donato said.

County Court Judge Paul Lacava said he took into account four victim impact statements from Ms Di Donato's mother, partner, brother and aunt.

'The life of a decent, hardworking young woman with a loving partner and family, who was admired and loved by all, has been lost,' he said.

Ms Di Donato's (left) mother said family and friends were shattered after Lim was jailed for at least five years

He said Ms Di Donato's loved ones felt a 'profound sense of needless loss' at Lim's hand, ABC News reported.

'The deceased's partner has had his life virtually turned upside down by your actions in causing this collision. Each of the victims have suffered a profound sense of needless loss at your hands,' Judge Lacava said.

Lim was an ice user at the time of the crash and was recorded with 0.19mg of methamphetamine and 0.5mg of amphetamine in his system when arrested.

He also suffered an acquired brain injury in a crash in 2011, that reports presented to court ahead of sentencing noted were 'primary contributors' to his offending behaviour.

Judge Lacava said the drug use began before that incident and without treatment, his rehabilitation prospects were bleak.

Lim has been disqualified from driving for life and could face deportation back to Malaysia upon his release.A drug dealer who drove to a police station in a stolen car and bragged about giving her ice addict clients a 'huge habit' has been jailed for nine years.

Jessica May Leis, 30, from Gympie, north of Brisbane, pleaded guilty to dozens of charges including drug trafficking, theft and perjury.

In a message discovered by police, Leis described how she initially treated her customers nicely before 'feeding them up' on ice to make them dependent.

A drug dealer who drove to a police station in a stolen car and bragged about giving her ice addict clients a 'huge habbit' has been jailed for nine years

The drug trafficker drove to Gympie police station to report for police bail in a car she had stolen, an act which Justice John Bond later described as 'stunning'

'I just want to be happy, healthy and pay the bills. I am a crim, it's who I am,' Leis said, the Sunshine Coast Daily reported.

The drug trafficker drove to Gympie police station to report for police bail in a car she had stolen, an act which Justice John Bond described as 'stunning' at the Brisbane Supreme Court

She also breached her bail over 50 times.

Defence counsel Adrian Braithwaite claimed Leis was an addict the whole time she was drug trafficking.

The court also heard that Leis stalked her landlord starting on Christmas Day of 2016, twice visiting his home and reversing into his Toyota Camry.

Leis was on Monday sentenced to nine years in jail, and will be eligible for parole on May 26, 2019.A young boy has written an adorable note to his neighbour after accidentally losing his balls over the fence.

A photo of the handwritten note, posted to Reddit by a bemused friend of the neighbour, came complete with a box of chocolates.

'There maybe a couple of balls in your backyard. Would you mind throwing them over you back hedge please,' the note addressed from Reuben read.

A young boy has written an adorable note (pictured) to his neighbour after accidentally losing his balls over the fence

'P.S. There might also be a frisbee,' the heartfelt note explains.

The boy from Mt Albert in Auckland made sure to leave a box of chocolates in return for his toys, writing: 'Chocolates to say thanks'.

The 'wholesome' note intrigued those online as many wondered if the boy got his balls back.

The neighbour responded jokingly: 'Of course! The frisbee is a keeper though. You need to give Whittaker's to get the frisbee back.'

Others reminisced over times they had also lost items over their neighbours' fence as kids.

'When we were kids, over the fence is six runs and out. But everyone just jumped each other's fences to get their ball back.

'Or if we didn't know them, maybe knocked on the front door first to see if they're home, then if not, just went into the backyard and grabbed it,' one wrote.

Another said: 'Good approach. Growing up in East Auckland, I once kicked a ball into my neighbour's backyard. On my way over to ask them for the ball back, I made eye contact with the person through their kitchen window. She immediately closed the curtains.'Michigan high school gunman Ethan Crumbley met with parents and teachers three hours before he murdered four classmates in a rampage on Wednesday for a meeting to discuss his 'behavior'. Crumbley, 15, has been charged with four counts of murder, terrorism and other guns charges. He murdered four classmates and injured seven others on Tuesday after opening fire in the hallways at 12.50pm. At 10am that morning, his mother and father Jennifer and James were called into Oxford High School for a meeting with teachers about Ethan's behavior. It's unclear what prompted the meeting, but it was the second time Ethan had been called in in two days. On Monday, he met with teachers alone. Police say there was no record of the teenager being bullied - as other students have claimed - and prosecutors revealed at his arraignment that he had detailed in a journal found in his backpack how he wanted to shoot students at the school. Prosecutors are charging Crumbley as an adult so that he may be convicted and sentenced to life in prison. At a press conference on Wednesday, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald suggested she might also charge his parents, for not keeping the 9mm handgun that he used out of his reach. The teenager had boasted on Instagram about the gun - pretending it was his - days before the attack. Four kids died in the shooting; Tate Myre, 16, Hana St Juliana, 14, and 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin. A fourth boy, Justin Shilling, 17, died in the hospital on Wednesday morning.Two Chicago police officers were fatally struck by a train Monday as they investigated a report of gunshots on the city's far South Side.

Eduardo Marmolejo, 37, and Conrad Gary, 31, were pursuing a person who had headed toward train tracks and were hit shortly after 6pm as the commuter train passed through the area, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said.

He added that the vehicle was going at a high speed when the law enforcement officers were killed.

Police investigate the scene where two officers were killed after they were struck by a South Shore train near 103rd Street and Dauphin Avenue on Monday in Chicago, Illinois

They were struck by a train that 'was probably going somewhere between 60 and 70 miles per hour,' police said

'There was no stop at that location so the train was probably going somewhere between 60 and 70 miles per hour,' Johnson said during a news conference.

The Illinois police department had earlier tweeted about the tragedy.

Marmolejo had been with the department for two-and-a-half years and Gary for 18 months, Johnson said.

'A devastating tragedy occurred tonight at 103rd and Cottage Grove where two officers investigating a shots fired call were struck by a passing train. Please pray for the 5th district,' Anthony Guglielmi tweeted.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi posted on Twitter that the 'devastating tragedy' occurred when the officers were investigating a shots-fired call

To demonstrate our highest honors, the #ChicagoPolice Bureau Chiefs and District Commamders will join detectives to personally retrieve Officers Marmolejo & Gordon from the railway. Commander Joel Howard will lead the procession to the Medical Examiner's Office upon completion.

He later updated that a suspect was caught.

An individual was taken into custody and a weapon was recovered.

'A weapon was recovered and a person of interest is being questioned at the site where two newly appointment officers lost their lives protecting their community from a gunman,' Guglielmi added on Twitter.

Tuesday morning he revealed officers would remove the bodies from the track.

'To demonstrate our highest honors, the #ChicagoPolice Bureau Chiefs and District Commamders will join detectives to personally retrieve Officers Marmolejo & Gordon from the railway. Commander Joel Howard will lead the procession to the Medical Examiner's Office upon completion.'

The investigation was still in the early stages and that more details would be released at a later time.

Passengers sit on a train while police officers work the scene where two officers were killed after they were struck by a South Shore train

Police officers work the scene where two officers were killed after they were struck

Chicago police use 'ShotSpotter' technology, or sensors that monitor for the sound of gunfire and alert police.

Johnson said the two officers went to the scene Monday after a 'ShotSpotter' alert went out.

'It just highlights again how dangerous this job can be. I often say that the most dangerous thing a police officer can do is take a weapon off of an armed individual,' Johnson said.

The train that struck the officers was operated by a commuter rail line that links northern Indiana and Chicago, according to media reports.

In 2002, Chicago police officer Benjamin Perez was fatally struck by a commuter train while conducting surveillance on narcotics activity on the city's West Side.

Chicago cop Conrad Gary (left with a woman believed to be his wife Kelly Gary), 31, was one of the officers killed Monday

Two officers went to the scene Monday after a 'ShotSpotter' alert went outA North Carolina woman has been charged with driving while impaired after a crash with a school bus that caused the yellow vehicle to overturn and sent 13 students to the hospital.

Kimberly Ann Austin, 56, was also charged with driving left of center, after her car crossed the center line and hit the bus carrying a driver and 19 students, the North Carolina Highway Patrol said.

The Taylorsville resident was being treated Monday afternoon at a hospital and 12 of the students suffered minor injuries, while one was in critical condition but expected to survive.

North Carolina woman Kimberly Ann Austin was charged with driving while impaired after a crash with a school bus that sent 13 students to the hospital on Monday

The 56-year-old Taylorsville resident was also charged with driving left of center

The driver of the bus was also hurt in the Alexander County incident.

It wasn't clear if she had a lawyer who could speak for her.

A working home phone listing couldn't be found, and the district attorney's office didn't immediately respond to an email from the Associate Press asking if Austin has an attorney.

The Highway Patrol says that Austin's car crossed the center line and hit the bus carrying a driver and 19 students happened near West Alexander Middle School

Master Trooper Jeffrey Swagger said the crash happened near West Alexander Middle School.

In a separate accident Monday, news outlets report a bus driver from Rowan County died after suffering an apparent medical condition while driving.

No children on the bus were hurt.Former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone has admitted spreading lies on the far-right InfoWars website.

He wrongly accused exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui of making illegal political donations to Hillary Clinton. Guo sued for $100million in March.

Stone has now settled the case but avoided damages by offering to apologise in a statement on InfoWars, Facebook, Instagram and on his personal site, StoneZone.com.

Roger Stone speaks at the American Priority Conference in Washington Thursday

Stone must also publish his apology as an advertisment in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, reported The Wall Street Journal.

He said he got the false information from Trump campaign advisor Sam Nunberg, whose source was Chinese-American media tycoon Bruno Wu.

Stone said he 'improperly' relied on the information and did not do his own research.

Stone said in a statement: 'Recognizing my errors, I reached out to Mr Guo and asked him to settle his defamation suit against me. Mr Guo graciously agreed to accept my regrets and apology.'

He still is of interest to investigators probing Russian interference in the 2016 election due to suspected links with WikiLeaks, the site which published Clinton's hacked emails.Bali Nine drug smuggler Renae Lawrence was spotted smiling as she left a police station following her return to Australia.

The 41-year-old was released from Bali's Bangli jail last month after 13 years for attempting to smuggle 2.6kg of heroin into Australia through Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport on April 17, 2005.

The drugs were found strapped to her body - and the bodies of three other drug mules - after the Australian Federal Police tipped off Indonesian authorities.

Bali Nine drug smuggler Renae Lawrence was spotted smiling as she left a police station following her return to Australia

The 41-year-old has been behind bars in Bali's Bangli jail since she was convicted of attempting to smuggle 2.6kg of heroin into Australia through Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport on April 17, 2005

Before being arrested in Bali, it is alleged Lawrence stole a 1986 Ford Laser on March 26, and was due to appear in Gosford Local Court.

It is also alleged fellow Bali Nine smuggler Matthew James Norman, who was 18 at the time, drove the car when he knew it was stolen.

She was to be charged with take and drive conveyance without consent of its owner, failing to comply with a police direction, exceed speed limit and drive while unlicensed.

Before being arrested in Bali, it is alleged Lawrence stole a 1986 Ford Laser on March 26, and was due to appear in Gosford Local Court

It is also alleged fellow Bali Nine smuggler Matthew James Norman, who was 18 at the time, drove the car when he knew it was stolen

On Monday, Lawrence was spotted smiling at paperwork as she left Newcastle Police Station.

She had been excused from appearing in court over the 2005 charges where she was involved in an alleged high-speed chase with police, news.com.au reported.

Police claim Lawrence was driving at 130km/h in a 90 zone at Mooney Mooney, before she was caught and arrested.

It was only one month after the alleged incident, Lawrence was arrested in Bali.

Norman, now 31, would have been charged with being carried in a conveyance taken without consent of its owners.A Florida law enforcement officer is going viral due to a picture of him comforting a dog in distress did the rounds on the internet.

Deputy Joshua Fiorelli was seen petting the pooch as it laid on the grass covered in the policeman's own jacket Sunday, waiting for help after he was hit by a car.

The canine received ample attention from the cop on Sunday after the incident and a passerby took a snap when he noticed the kind act.

A picture of Deputy Joshua Fiorelli comforting an injured dog has gone viral. The Florida law enforcement officer was seen petting the pooch on grass and keeping her warm in a jacket

Carlos Irizzy was walking his own pet along Royal Palm Drive in Kissimmee that morning when captured the moment on camera because it was such an unusual sight.

'This is something you don't see every day,' the witness told WFTV.com.

But the law enforcement officer had no idea he was about to appeal the hearts of animal lovers everywhere.

The officer said: 'She didn't have anyone there so I dedicated to be that person'

He didn't even know anyone was watching when he did the good deed and waited with his injured new furry friend until animal control arrived.

Fiorelli said: 'It was cold out. She was wet. She didn't have anyone there so I dedicated to be that person.

'I know a lot of dogs become defensive when they get hurt. She was not defensive at all.'

The dog is now recovering at Osceola County Animal Shelter and is only wagging her tail at times after getting the scrapes.

Osceola County Sheriff's Office praised the employee for 'serving with care and compassion' in a Facebook post

However the canine is expected to do well after surgery which could take place Thursday.

Fiorelli advised the owner to get a microchip for the pooch to help keep a close eye on her.

Osceola County Sheriff's Office praised the employee for 'serving with care and compassion' in a Facebook post.A disabled Russian man who volunteered for the world's first head transplant has revealed his glamorous new wife and their 'miracle' son after moving to the US.

Valery Spiridonov, 33, was ready to have his neck severed and his head attached to a new, healthy body in experimental surgery carried out by an Italian doctor named Sergio Canavero.

The surgery never went ahead, and the controversial medic - dubbed 'Dr Frankenstein' - is now working in China where he has received funding for his research.

But the Russian, who became world famous for his readiness to be decapitated for science, has since started a new life in Florida with his wife and son. Pictures show Mr Spiridonov with their new-born.

Valery Spiridonov, who volunteered for the world's first head transplant, has revealed his glamorous new wife and their 'miracle' son after moving to the US. He is pictured in Florida, holding his child

The Russian, who became world famous for his readiness to be decapitated for science, has since started a new life, after moving to Florida with wife Anastasia Panfilova (pictured)

In a recent post on social media, Mr Spiridonov shared the news about his life in Florida

Mr Spiridonov, a computer expert who had worked for two years with Dr Canavero, admitted in June last year that his dream of having his head grafted onto a new healthy body was over.

Instead, Dr Canavero vowed to undertake the first such transplant in China with a local patient undergoing the operation.

But Mr Spiridonov also revealed his suspicions that something has gone 'wrong' with Dr Canavero's plans, which have been decried by medical experts as scientifically impossible.

Mr Spiridonov now lives in the U.S. where he is studying computer analysis at the University of Florida.

In a recent social media post, he revealed that he has been joined in the US by his wife Anastasia Panfilova and their baby son.

A picture shows the proud father - who suffers from Werdnig-Hoffman disease, a form of spinal muscular atrophy often leading to low life expectancy - holding his baby.

His son, born six weeks ago, is healthy, which Mr Spiridonov sees as a 'miracle' since the condition can be inherited.

His wife, who has a masters degree in chemical technology and previously studied in Italy, underwent tests during pregnancy.

Valery Spiridonov (left), 33, was ready to have his neck severed by Professor Sergio Canavero (right) - dubbed 'Dr Frankenstein' - and have his head attached to a new, healthy body in experimental surgery

Anastasia Panfilova, who has a masters degree in chemical technology and previously studied in Italy, underwent tests during pregnancy to ensure their baby did not inherit Mr Spiridonov's condition

The couple are not seen in pictures together but she has previously written on social media about her love for a man in a wheelchair.

'Such people are much deeper, feeling, faithful, kind-hearted, and also they are usually very smart isn't that the main thing?'

Mr Spiridonov said: 'We lived in the same city, and often met in professional settings, and soon realised that we felt really good together.

'She has several degrees. We got married a little over one year ago in Moscow.'

Mr Spiridonov has challenged Dr Canavero to come clean about his work in China amid a suspicion that the Italian encountered problems with his techniques after carrying out a test transplant on two dead bodies.

'I understood that it was a great risk, that it had never been done before,' he told Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.

'But what did I have to lose? I could not lose just a tiny chance to walk normally.'

Mr Spiridonov has challenged Dr Canavero to come clean about his work in China amid a suspicion that the Italian encountered problems with his techniques after carrying out a test transplant on two dead bodies

The 33-year-old Russian has moved to America, and is studying computer analysis at the University of Florida

The couple are not seen in pictures together but Ms Panfilova (pictured) had previously written on social media that she was in love with a man in a wheelchair

Mr Spiridonov claimed there is a lack of information from Dr Canavero on his experimental work in China.

'I do not regret it that Canavero did not reach the final goal  or did reach it, and failed,' he said.

'This was just a normal working process. The only thing we lack from him is more publicity.

'Everybody would have benefited from information about what went wrong in China and why.

'I don't have such information today and it does not help the further research. I do hope Canavero will publish it in detail one day.'

Instead of becoming a guinea pig, Spiridonov has designed a 'smart' wheelchair operated by voice, and is working on consultancy projects.

He said: 'I feel a weight lifted off my chest. I never had a vain motive to become the first (head transplant).

'I gave two years of my life to this project. I will be glad to see it happening (with someone else).'

Shareholder Update - India Project

Melbourne, Dec 18, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Environmental Clean Technologies Limited ( ASX:ECT ) (ECT or Company) is pleased to provide the following update on the Company's India project.Key Points:- Project partner NMDC board meeting to be held in January- Project preparation activity ongoing- Project agreement 'sunset' date formally extendedStatus of NMDC Board ApprovalOn 23 November 2018 the Company provided the following guidance based on information received at that time:Further to the Company's recent update (19 November 2018), NMDC have confirmed they will seek approval for signing of the RCA at their next board meeting, to be held in the first half of December.The Company previously announced the in-principle approval of the RCA by NMDC subject to approval by partner NLCIL, which is in-hand.NMDC was expected to ratify that in-principle approval at their recent board meeting (13 November 2018). Due to unforeseen circumstances, the agenda item was deferred.NMDC are yet to formally announce their next board meeting date. The Company expects the meeting to occur in the coming 3 weeks and that approval to sign the RCA is included on the formal agenda.NMDC has recently advised the Company that they were unable to meet early December timing due to several factors unrelated to the project and will formally release the timing of their next board meeting via official channels, in due course.ECT Chief Operating Officer, Jim Blackburn commented from India, "As we wait for NMDC to confirm and subsequently convene their board meeting, we continue to drive project preparations in parallel to formalising NMDC's ratification. We have enjoyed a very productive period here on the ground and are working closely with both NLCIL and NMDC. We continue to make good progress on key sub-programs. Following on from completion of the basic engineering phase some months ago, the broader team has begun preparations for a detailed site geotechnical survey, undertaken additional project budget review meetings and commenced a tender development program with our engineering consultants in Chennai. In addition, we are today meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Coal and the Australian High Commission in Delhi."Mr Blackburn also commented "One of the most pleasing developments this past few weeks has been the appointment and induction of an additional project team members here in India. We look forward to providing additional staff profiles over the coming weeks as we bed down each of the project specific roles."Project Agreement Sunset Date ExtendedThe project agreement signed on 30 May 2018 contained a sunset clause. The sunset date was previously extended (see announcement 15 August 2018) and, given the present timing, the parties have further extended the sunset clause to 31 January 2019.This date has been chosen based on the timing of anticipated NMDC board approval to sign the RCA and targeted timing of meetings with India's Ministry of Coal and Ministry of Steel, the first of which is occurring today.The Company looks forward to providing a further update once NMDC confirm the timing of their next board meeting.About Environmental Clean Technologies Ltd

Environmental Clean Technologies Limited (ASX:ECT) is in the business of commercialising leading-edge coal and iron making technologies, which are capable of delivering financial and environmental benefits.

We are focused on advancing a portfolio of technologies, which have significant market potential globally.

ECT's business plan is to pragmatically commercialise these technologies and secure sustainable, profitable income streams through licencing and other commercial mechanisms.Freed British academic Matthew Hedges has revealed his horror of seeing a torture victim's footprints on the wall of his Dubai jail cell in his first TV interview since his release.

Matthew Hedges, 31, was sentenced to life in prison in the UAE after his arrest on May 5 at the end of a two-week research trip.

The PhD student was released after months of torment in December after a relentless media campaign by his wife Daniela Tejada and an intervention from Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Safely back home he revealed he was pushed to the brink of suicide after standing in ankle cuffs for whole days, being threatened with beatings, and force-fed drugs.

In his first UK TV interview on Good Morning Britain he said he wasn't physically tortured, but solitary confinement and being deprived of medication was 'a form of torture'.

Mr Hedges and his wife also revealed he is teaming up with Richard Ratcliffe for a solidarity carols service in Wesminster tonight as he faces a third Christmas without his wife Nazanin as she remains imprisoned on spying charges in Iran.

Asked whether he was assaulted, he said: 'Physically no. But with the medication, the solitary confinement - that felt like a form of torture.

'I actually heard people being tortured in the premises I was in.

'One time I went into another room and I saw someone's footprints on the wall upside down at about head level  you don't understand how that can happen if for any other reason apart from torture.

'I know they do torture people in the UAE and there's been examples in the last 10, 15, 20 years.'

'They threatened to illegally rendition me to an overseas military base where they would beat and torture me.

In his first UK TV interview on Good Morning Britain, Matthew Hedges and his wife Daniela Tejada said he wasn't physically tortured but solitary confinement felt like it

Matthew Hedges, 31 (pictured today on Good Morning Britain) was sentenced to life in prison in the UAE after his arrest on May 5 at the end of a two-week research trip

'I had two paths ahead of me. One of cooperation, they would say they would commute my sentence, that I would be fine, all I had to do was admit guilt and so forth. The other option were threats of physical torture and intimidation.'

He told hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid how weekly phone calls with his wife were his 'glimmer of hope'.

Mr Hedges and his wife revealed they are teaming up with Richard Ratcliffe, who is facing a third Christmas without his wife Nazanin (pictured with daughter Gabriela) while she is detained on similar spying charges in Iran

He said: 'At the start I was allowed a less than five-minute phone call. But after a few weeks I could speak to Dani on the phone.

'That was my glimmer of hope. I never wanted to upset the balance, because I would be looking forward to that phone call the next Thursday.'

He added that the days after he was given a life sentence were like being 'down the end of a black hole'.

He said: 'Solitary confinement is such a hard ordeal, such a hard punishment to face.

'The next few days weren't fun at all. They were tough, really tough.

'I didn't know what to think for days. On that weekend I had suicidal thoughts. Nothing made sense at all.'

His wife Daniela told the programme she worried her intense media campaign could make things worse for her husband.

She said: 'I had this fear throughout the whole six or seven months.

'The second I went public, I really did it because Matt was being taken to court.'

Baby Gabriella is pictured with her mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and father Richard before she was jailed in April 2016

Asked how she processed the ordeal, she added: 'No one ever prepares you for it.

'To see your husband sentenced to life in prison. It was probably the hardest moment I've ever had to live.

'I've always been strong and resilient, but those few hours after the sentence were complete madness. I genuinely didn't know what else I could do. I was desperate.'

Pictured: Matthew Hedges and his wife Daniela Tejada at Good Morning Britain

And on life back in the UK with her husband she said: 'I don't think either of us have been able to process it.

'It was very traumatic for the two of us. For our friends and family, for Matt's colleagues in academia. The months of wait not knowing what we could do for help.

'Our lives aren't back yet. We're still trying to clear his name.'

The pair revealed they are teaming up with Richard Ratcliffe, who is facing a third Christmas without his wife Nazanin while she is detained on similar spying charges in Iran.

The couple will join a carol service at Downing Street tonight in support of Richard Ratcliffe, who is facing a third Christmas without his wife Nazanin - imprisoned in Iran on spying charges.

Daniela said: 'There is hope. And I think the whole point of tonight is to not just give Richard and Nazanin hope, but the families of many victims of arbitrary imprisonment abroad to let them know they're not alone and they're not forgotten.'

She added before the end of the interview: 'We are very grateful to Jeremy Hunt, his intervention was critical.'

In an earlier radio interview with the BBC's Today programme Mr Hedges explained he was told to spy on the UK.

He said: 'They propositioned me to steal official documentation from the Foreign Office, and so I had a panic attack. And I said 'listen, even if I wanted to I couldn't.

'I don't work for the Foreign Office - I don't know how you think this would be possible'. And that's how that process went downhill quite quickly.'The two men that drowned at Moonee Beach on New South Wales mid north coast on Monday evening have been identified as relatives who died as they attempted to rescue young family members.

Father of three Ghouseuddin Mohammed, 45, and relative Syed Rahath, 35 were pulled from the surf unresponsive after a family day out at the Coffs Harbour beach turned into a tragedy.

They had jumped into the heavy swells after noticing Mr Mohammed's two daughters, aged 13 and 17, and his son, aged 15, were being swept out to sea by a rip.

A third relative, 28-year-old student Junaidh Mohammed also jumped into the water to save the kids and had not been seen since.

Father of three Ghouseuddin Mohammed, 45, (left) and relative Syed Rahath, 35 (right) were pulled from the surf unresponsive after a family day out at the Coffs Harbour beach on Monday evening

All three teenagers were saved from the water and remained in a stable condition at Coffs Harbour Hospital.

CPR attempts on Mr Mohammed and Mr Rahath were made by paramedics and police but were unsuccessful.

Relative Shahbaz Mohammed, who was at the scene, said the grief his family was going through was 'too much to bear'.

'We just came here together, we thought of having a good time together. Unfortunately we went to the beach,' Shahbaz told The Daily Telegraph.

'My cousin, he is still missing, police have been searching for the last 12 hours. He is a students and his family is desperately waiting in India to know what is happening - they want to come here.' he continued.

Relatives at the scene broke down at the news that the two men had drowned, and fears that the third missing man, Junaidh Mohammed, 28, may also be dead

The heroic efforts of the three lifeguards who saved one teenage girl had been met with gratitude by the family.

Coffs Coast lifeguard team leader Greg Hackfath said that the initial notification of two people caught in difficult surf conditions turned out to be six.

He and colleagues Hugo Craigan and Alex Swadling dove into the dangerous seas to save the family, with Mr Craigan paddling out 700 metres from the shore to save the 17-year-old girl.

Helicopters hover over the scene at Moonee Beach as they frantically search for the third missing member of the family

The two men were found face down shortly after and were pulled from the surf by the lifeguards.

Since July 1 there have been 16 coastal drownings in NSW - on par with the figure at the same time last year.

Mr Hackfath pleaded with the public to take care at beaches this summer, to always swim between the flags and learn about beach conditions.A Salvadoran woman who was jailed for 18 months on attempted murder charges for abandoning her baby who was born after she was raped by her stepfather has been freed.

Imelda Cortez, 20, had fallen pregnant after years of sexual abuse, and gave birth to the child in a bathroom in April 2017.

She left the baby in the toilet, but was forced to seek medical help afterwards, at which point doctors suspected she had carried out a botched termination and she was arrested under the country's strict abortion laws.

On Monday she was freed after the court in Usulutan, south-east El Salvador, determined she was unaware she was pregnant and did not try to kill her infant daughter, who survived.

Imelda Cortez reacts as she leaves court after being acquitted of attempted aggravated murder under the country's abortion law, in Usulutan, El Salvador on Monday

Cortez is embraced by her mother as she leaves a court surrounded by supporters and journalists in Usulutan, El Salvador on Monday

As she left court Cortez was greeted by cheering relatives and human rights activists holding signs demanding her freedom.

Cortez's stepfather has been arrested and is awaiting trial, Salvadoran prosecutors said.

According to the BBC she suffered years of sexual abuse at his hands.

El Salvador has some of the world's harshest abortion laws.

Women who carry out terminations or those who are suspected of assisting them, even when the life of the woman is at risk, are prosecuted. This extends to under-18s who have been raped

A report by Amnesty International said that even women who had natural miscarriages were jailed for decades.

Cortez is hugged by her mother as she leaves court after spending 18 months behind bars on attempted murder charges

A woman holds a banner outside the court which says, 'This fight is of all,' as she celebrates Cortez being acquitted

The country's constitution, founded in Catholic doctrine, says that life is sacrosanct from the moment of conception.

Doctors must report any suspected abortion to the police.

Some 22 more women are serving sentences of up to 35 years for aggravated homicide linked to abortion, according to the Group for Decriminalizing Abortion.

'This sentence ... represents hope for women who are still in prison and are also being tried for aggravated homicide,' defence lawyer Ana Martinez said.

President Salvador Sanchez Ceren in 2017 proposed a law to allow abortions in cases of rape or when the mother's life is at risk, but Congress did not pass it.Bedfordshire Police Chief Constable Jon Boutcher spoke of his shock at what some of those coming forward were saying

The police chief leading the investigation into the IRA's notorious 'nutting squad' security unit says the group tortured people in ways he has never seen before.

Bedfordshire Police Chief Constable Jon Boutcher is at the head of a probe into the unit, who dealt with suspected spies within the Irish republican paramilitary group.

They are said to have included a man known as Stakeknife, who was himself a double agent passing information to the British Army.

In 2003, Stakeknife was widely named as west Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci, now 72, but he has always strongly denied the allegation.

Speaking about the probe, called Operation Kenova, today, Bedfordshire Police Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said members of the IRA have come forward and said they were present when people were being tortured.

He said: 'There was no intention to get the truth, these people were brutalised in ways that I in my 35 years as a detective have never seen that level of unwarranted violence. There is nothing noble or justified or right in what happened.

'Nothing can in any way justify what these people did and it is time that those families were given the truth and Kenova (the police investigation) is a chance to do that.'

A British soldier in Belfast in 2001. The police chief in charge of an investigation into alleged crimes committed during the Troubles has denied the probe is a witch hunt

He said he had spoken to people who owned premises where victims were detained.

Mr Boutcher added: 'We have spoken to members of the IRA who have come forward and told us that they were present when people were held, when people were tortured, and have named the people involved.

'I am now bringing in all those people that I think were responsible for offences.

'I want to get those people who still know something, who felt that Kenova would just get closed down, or that Kenova would never result in any prosecutions, who now see things differently, who are beginning to have more confidence that Kenova is going to deliver on promises we made, to do our best to investigate things.

'We want those people to come and speak to us, to call us, to come and meet us, to listen to how we deal with things.'

He insisted the operation is not a witch hunt against members of the security forces.

Mr Boutcher said he was rigorously but fairly gathering information about the high-ranking mole who reputedly led the republican organisation's 'nutting squad', which brutally interrogated and murdered suspected spies and informers during the Northern Ireland conflict.

Witnesses have told how records were removed or invented by members of the security forces as part of the wealth of new information unearthed, Mr Boutcher said.

Freddie Scappaticci is pictured at the 1987 funeral of IRA man Larry Marley. He denied being involved in terrorism but has been widely named as an IRA enforcer and double agent

New DNA profiles and suspect fingerprints have also been uncovered by his detectives and they are due to present files to prosecutors next year in a bid to secure convictions decades after the original wrongdoing.

Mr Boutcher said: 'It is not a witch hunt, it is not a re-writing of history, but it is an authentic search for the truth.

'It is an investigation that will pull no punches, taking place for the families who have never had an investigation.'

Freddie Scappaticci (pictured in 1974), who was previously named as an IRA double agent, is under investigation

Dozens of detectives are probing more than 50 murders. Suspects including members of the security forces and the Provisional IRA are being brought in for questioning.

Freddie Scappaticci, the man previously named as Stakeknife, avoided prison earlier this month after admitting two unrelated extreme pornography charges.

Mr Boutcher said the conviction shows nobody is above the law.

He added: 'If anybody tries to suppress evidence, if anyone tries to stop us doing what we legally should be doing, I will deal with it, I will use the rule of law to deal with that.

'When we recently convicted somebody because of things that we found on that person's computer, again here there was a negativity about that prosecution and conviction, is that all that Kenova are doing.

'The way I would view any such conviction is a demonstration that nobody is above the law, no-one has got immunity.

'That is how we deal with people, it does not matter who they are.'

Scappaticci (circled) was also pictured walking behind Gerry Adams (right) at the 1988 funeral of IRA man Brendan Davidson

Scappaticci was convicted after material was seized as part of Operation Kenova, the wide-ranging investigation which was launched in June 2016 to investigate allegations of serious criminal activity during The Troubles.

He admitted charges which related to at least 329 images, including those involving animals.

The defendant conducted a number of computer searches on a total of 13 different days between November 2015 and January 2018, a court was told.

He was arrested by police in January about offences including murder and abduction, but later released on bail.

Mr Boutcher added: 'We deal with them with great care but if they break the law we will prosecute them for that and hopefully people will begin to realise that.'Advertisement

Black and white photos have been transformed with colour to shed new light on the lives of soldiers during the First World War.

Stunning colourised images capture both the horrors of the Great War and the extraordinary spirit of servicemen as they tried to keep up morale.

A Canadian charity has breathed new life into the photos, in the hope that a new generation will be able to connect more easily with the experiences of soldiers during the global conflict, which spanned from 1914 to 1918.

They show Canadian soldiers on their way to a training exercise in Salisbury Plain, guarding German prisoners and wading through thick mud on the battlefields of Belgium.

In more lighthearted scenes, troops are shown presenting a dog to a nurse at a clearing station towards the end of the Battle of the Somme and preparing for a variety show in France.

 Slide me  Transformed: Black and white images have been colourised to shed new light on the lives of Allied troops during the First World War. Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade are pictured waving from a bus during a journey from Plymouth to Salisbury Plain ahead of training exercises. It is not clear when exactly the picture was taken

 Slide me  Soft touch: Wounded Canadian soldiers are pictured handing a dog to a nurse in a clearing station in France towards the end of the Battle of the Somme in October 1916. More than three million men fought in the battle and one million men were wounded or killed

 Slide me  Stunning colourised images capture both the horrors of the Great War and the extraordinary spirit of servicemen as they tried to keep up morale. Three Canadian soldiers are pictured in a German dug out which was captured east of the French city of Arras on the Western Front

 Slide me  A Canadian charity breathed new life into the photos, in the hope that a new generation will be able to connect more easily with the experience's of soldiers during the global conflict, which spanned from 1914 to 1918. Two German prisoners are pictured carrying a wounded Canadian soldier during an Allied advance east of the French city of Arras in August 1918

 Slide me  Having a blast: An Allied soldier jokes with fellow servicemen as he clambers inside a large Howitzer in May 1917. Their exacty location when the picture was taken is not known

The Vimy Foundation examined scores of black and white Canadian photos from the global conflict before settling on a final 150 to painstakingly colourise.

Transformed photos have gone on display at Canada's national war museum and have been published in a book called They Fought In Colour.

Vimy Foundation executive director Jeremy Diamond told the BBC: 'A lot of those details - people's eyes and their expression and the backgrounds and the landscapes - are lost in black and white compared to colour.

'It gives a great perspective of real events. They're suddenly the real faces of real people.'

 Slide me  Another photo brought to life with colour shows Canadian forestry men ice-skating. It is not clear where exactly the picture was taken. The Canadian Forestry Corps was created during the First World War when it was discovered that huge quantities of wood were needed for use on the Western Front

 Slide me  Canadian troops are pictured carrying trench mats as wounded servicemen and prisoners walk past in the background during the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917. The wooden platforms were needed to provide secure footing in Belgium's muddy battlefields

 Slide me  A soldier in fancy dress applies lipstick while a second, wearing white face paint, watches on and a third prepares a wig ahead of a Maple Leaf Concert Party in France in 1917

 Slide me  Caught on camera: An official Canadian photographer braces himself for an ascent in the basket of a Kite Balloon in May, 1917

 Slide me  Flypast: Servicemen wave as a warplane passes overhead during a lunch break at the Shorncliffe army camp in Kent in September 1917

More than 650,000 Canadians served in WW1 out of a country which had a population of just 8million at the time.

Of those, more than 66,000 were killed and more than 172,000 were injured.

It comes after Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson released incredible colourised footage of the First World War with grainy video of soldiers carefully remastered for the first time to mark the centenary of the conflict.

Three-time Oscar-winning Lord Of The Rings film-maker Mr Jackson used 100-year-old footage from Imperial War Museum archives to show the war in previously unseen detail.Cabinet traded bitter blows over Brexit today as ministers rowed over what happens next if Theresa May's plan fails.

In bruising exchanges, the PM is said to have joined forces with Jeremy Hunt and Andrea Leadsom to 'squash' calls from Amber Rudd for MPs to vote on a range of options.

But there were also extraordinary clashes as Brexiteer ministers including Mrs Leadsom urged a 'managed' no-deal if Mrs May's package cannot be pushed through Parliament.

Justice Secretary David Gauke - who has threatened to quit if the government tries to leave the EU without an agreement - is understood to have told colleagues: 'The responsibility of Cabinet ministers is not to propagate unicorns but to slay them.'

Ms Rudd added that even though the government should prepare for no deal Brexit, 'just because you put a seatbelt on doesn't mean you have to crash the car'.

The brutal spats came as Cabinet signed off a dramatic escalation of planning for no deal at a marathon meeting - with billions of pounds more being pumped in, advice set to be issued to millions of businesses, and troops on standby.

But doubts have been raised about whether it is already too late - with claims that only a third of the money allocated so far has been spent, and shipping space for emergency supplies booked up.

The Cabinet session was the last of the year as Mrs May limps towards a much needed Christmas respite.

Despite overwhelming opposition from Tories, the DUP, Labour, the SNP and Lib Dems, Downing Street still hopes that MPs will come round to her Brexit plan during the break.

In bruising exchanges, the PM is said to have joined forces with Andrea Leadsom (right) to 'squash' calls from Amber Rudd (left) for MPs to vote on a range of options

Theresa May (pictured in the Commons last night) is limping towards the Christmas recess

Jeremy Hunt (pictured left today) is said to have joined criticism of the 'option' vote plan backed by Greg Clark (right)

Penny Mordaunt openly endorsed the idea in a speech to the Carlton Club last night, saying there should be a 'smooth glidepath' to no deal

But with just 101 days to go before the UK leaves and Parliament deadlocked, the prospect of the UK crashing out is becoming ever more real.

Ministers led by Sajid Javid, Matt Hancock and Andrea Leadsom have been clamouring for contingency plans to be stepped up.

Cabinet was presented with three options this morning - escalating preparations with 2billion more funding, keeping planning at the same level, or dropping the idea of no-deal altogether and hope that Mrs May's deal is accepted by MPs.

They agreed with the PM that the state of readiness must be ramped up, activating all plans.

But Mr Hammond voiced frustration that only a third of the estimated 2.2billion funds previously allocated have been spent so far.

What no deal plans are already in place? Chancellor Philip Hammond has allocated a total of 4.2billion to no deal plans since 2016 - all of which is due to have been spent by exit day. Some of the areas where the money has gone include: 300 extra frontline officers for Border Force, plus 1000 staff to tackle border issues

1,300 extra staff at the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Reforms to the Competitions and Markets Authority to ensure it can also act as the UK State Aid regulator

Drawing up more than 100 no deal 'notice' advising different sectors how to prepare for possible problems, including at the border

Replacing regulatory agreements currently dependent on the EU with UK versions in areas like nuclear cooperation Advertisement

Fingers are being pointed about delays in chartering ferries that could transport emergency supplies.

Allies of Transport Secretary Chris Grayling blame the Treasury for delays in providing funding, but Mr Hammond's supporters say the department has left it too late and there is not much capacity left in the market.

One Cabinet source told MailOnline the government 'cannot put this off any longer'.

'We must recognise that no-deal now has to be the central assumption. It could happen by design or by accident, and we have to be ready,' they said.

Around 500million is expected to be ploughed into the Home Office to deal with potential problems at the border.

Customs systems are set to benefit from another 25million in a bid to ensure the ports can function in no deal.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove is set to have 400million to spend on agriculture, fisheries and food-related policy areas.

Trade Secretary Liam Fox will spend 100million hiring trade negotiators around the world in case a raft of new trade deals are needed urgently.

But deep splits in Mrs May's team have been erupting into the to the open, with senior figures openly discussing what happens when the package thrashed out with Brussels is defeated.

Ms Rudd yesterday urged a series of votes on Brexit 'options' - and hinted at support for a second referendum by saying nothing should be 'off the table'.

The idea would test the will of parliament on outcomes such as a Norway-plus and Canada-style arrangements, but the results would be non-binding.

Ms Rudd's position is shared by Mr Hammond, Business Secretary Greg Clark and Mr Gauke among others.

However, Mrs May, Mrs Leadsom and Mr Hunt attacked the proposal at the meeting today, warning it would only cause more confusion.

Another faction including Penny Mordaunt and Ms Leadsom are pushing for a 'managed' no deal. That could involve the UK paying the EU for a transition period, but then leaving with no future arrangements agreed.

Ms Mordaunt openly endorsed the idea in a speech to the Carlton Club last night, saying there should be a 'smooth glidepath' to no deal.

However, Remain-minded ministers including Mr Gauke and Ms Rudd turned on the plan. The Justice Secretary raged it was 'not viable', insisting: 'It's not on offer from the EU.'

In the Commons yesterday, Mrs May gave her strongest warning yet about the potential impact of a no-deal Brexit, saying it would risk the jobs, services and security of the people we serve.

Chancellor Philip Hammond (right) is allocating another 2billion to no-deal plans. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling (left) is facing claims he has not pushed ahead with preparations

Trade Secretary Liam Fox has been supporting Mrs May's plan but urging her to get tweaks

Treasury minister Liz Truss (left) and Home Secretary Sajid Javid (right) have been pushing for no deal preparations to be escalated

But she said that, with the fate of her deal in the balance, the Government had a duty to step up preparations for the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.

The move came as it emerged Brussels is preparing a basic offer to keep flights in the air and money flowing for up to nine months in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Brexit-backing International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt will urge Mrs May today to hold a free vote on her deal in the hope of peeling off a significant number of Labour MPs to cancel out the Eurosceptic Tories committed to voting it down.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Treasury Chief Secretary Liz Truss are pushing Mrs May to step up talks with the EU in the hope of securing a concession that will satisfy the Democratic Unionist Party, which props up the minority Tory Government.

Ms Mordaunt last night suggested she would back a managed no-deal, in which the UK would offer to pay 20billion in return for a 21-month transition period to give time to negotiate a looser trade arrangement.

Mrs May yesterday ruled out a second Brexit referendum, saying it would do irreparable damage to Britain, fuelling divisions. EU officials will unveil the full extent of the plan to limit the damage of a cliff-edge Brexit tomorrow.

Brexiteers could seize on it as evidence the bloc is prepared to accept a managed no-deal.Dick Cheney biopic 'Vice' has divided critics around the world, despite already being nominated for several awards.

The movie, which is set to be released on Christmas day in the US, charts the career of one of America's most controversial political figures as he attempts to make his mark on world politics.

The latest creation from 'Big Short' director Adam McKay, Vice has already garnered six nominations for the upcoming Golden Globes in January - including best picture.

But critics gave the striking dark comedy a more mixed response with some labelling it 'gimmicky' and 'a cinematic mediocrity'.

Christian Bale (left) plays former Vice President Dick Cheney (right) as he rose to power during the Bush administration

Christian Bale and wife Sibi Blazic arrive at the movie's premiere this month amid a wave of hype

'Vice is a jumble of asides and visual gimmicks and pointed digressions, much in the same way that 'The Big Short' was,' Richard Lawson wrote in Vanity Fair.

While Forbes' Scott Mendleson called the movie 'a cinematic mediocrity that is being hailed as a potential Oscar contender partially due to its subject matter and the established pedigree of its white male filmmaker'.

Time magazine's Stephanie Zacharek wrote: 'It's all pretty awful. And yet somehow, McKay doesn't make it seem awful enough.

But some critics were sympathetic to what McKay was trying to acheive, with some praising McKay for his 'clever storytelling' and 'caustic wit'.

'Vice offers more than Yuletide rage-bait for liberal moviegoers, who already have plenty to be mad about,' A.O. Scott wrote in the New York Times, 'Revulsion and admiration lie as close together as the red and white stripes on the American flag.'

Business Insider's Jason Guerrassio said: 'It's a challenge for the audience to keep up, but that's part of the point. The entire movie messes with the audience as much as it wickedly satirizes the real-life characters it's portraying.'

Former 'Big Short' director Adam McKay was both highly praised and strongly criticized for his new film

Christian Bale as Dick Cheney (left) and Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush in the controversial biopic

The films writer and director, Adam McKay, reveals that he is anticipating a sharp political backlash, particularly since he has come out in support of liberal Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Not only does he expect conservatives to fiercely blast the film, but establishment Washington types are also likely to disapprove, McKay told The Hollywood Reporter.

George W. Bush is really going to hate this movie, McKay says of the film, which is due to open in theaters nationwide on Christmas Day.

I think there's going to be a backlash from the Bob Woodwards of the world, who went the opposite direction with the narrative.

Their idea was, Bush is smarter than you think. He actually did a lot.

I did a lot of research on that. And boy, do I strongly disagree.

I couldn't find any evidence that Bush was surprisingly competent. I just didn't see it.'

Sam Rockwell, Amy Adams, director Adam McKay, Christian Bale and Steve Carell at the premiere

The film also drew a mixed response on social media with some voicing excitement at its release and others slamming it

Despite overall critical reviews, praise was heaped on Christian Bale for his portrayal of Cheney.

Bale previously told THR that he meticulously prepared for the role of Cheney, up to and including making numerous attempts to sit down with the former Vice President.

But lawyers intervened and told Bale that under no circumstances should he try to contact Cheney.

He wrote 100 pages of notes about Cheney, even researching the names of his golden retrievers.A man has been charged with breaking into a funeral home and having sex with a corpse.

Khurum Shazada is accused of sexual penetration of the corpse and trespass over an alleged incident at Central England Co-operative in Great Barr, Birmingham.

The 23-year-old jobless man has been linked to the parlour by DNA evidence, The Sun reports.

A spokesman for West Midlands police said: 'An unemployed Birmingham man has been charged with sexual penetration of a corpse and trespass following a break-in at a Co-op funeral parlour in Great Barr on Sunday 11 November.

The funeral home in Great Barr is at the centre of a police probe after an incident on November 11 in which a man is accused of having sex with a corpse

'Khurum Shazada, 23, appeared at Birmingham magistrates' court on Wednesday 21 November and was remanded into custody.'

Shazada is due to give a plea in court today.

It is understood relatives of the desecrated body have been informed of the crime.Three of Britains biggest childcare charities are at the centre of police investigations into allegations of child abuse, the Mail can reveal.

Detectives are probing claims that children were abused while in the care of Barnardos, Quarriers, and the Aberlour Child Care Trust.

Barnardos is the UKs largest childcare charity, but has faced a series of allegations that children in its homes were beaten and raped.

Barnardos is the UKs largest childcare charity, but has faced a series of allegations that children in its homes were beaten and raped. Undated file photo of its logo

Police Scotland last night revealed that it was investigating claims of historic abuse relating to all of the organisations.

The three organisations have come under scrutiny by the ongoing Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI), which has heard a catalogue of abuse claims from survivors formerly in their care.

The developments come after 17 people, including nuns, were either arrested or reported to prosecutors as part of a separate investigation into the Daughters of St Vincent de Paul, the Catholic order which ran the now-defunct Smyllum Park orphanage in Lanark.

A source close to the latest police inquiry involving Barnardos, Quarriers and the Aberlour Child Care Trust said there are live, ongoing investigations into persons associated with all three institutions.

It is understood the people under investigation are either ex-employees or former helpers and volunteers at childcare institutions.

Detective Chief Inspector Laura Carnochan, of the National Child Abuse Investigation Unit at Police Scotland, said: Investigating child abuse offences is highly complex and every care is taken to ensure that enquiries are proportionate, appropriate and that victims needs are central to our investigations.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of abuse or wishes to report abuse you should feel confident in reporting to Police Scotland. We will listen and we will take action regardless of when or where the abuse occurred.

The SCAI, which is investigating allegations of institutional child abuse in living memory, heard an allegation last month that a boy of 12 was raped by a Barnardo's home carer after a 'grooming' campaign that left him 'petrified'.

Killian Steele, 54, claimed the charity had issued 'reprimands' to the man who had abused him after suspicions were raised - but let him stay on.

He said: 'Barnardo's chose to protect him over me.

'This national organisation whose main purpose was to safeguard disadvantaged children actually ignored allegations of sexual abuse.'

The developments come after 17 people, including nuns, were either arrested or reported to prosecutors as part of a separate investigation into the Daughters of St Vincent de Paul, the Catholic order which ran the now-defunct Smyllum Park orphanage in Lanark (file pic)

James Peoples, QC, senior counsel to the inquiry, said the SCAI had found the prosecution did not go ahead because of a lack of corroboration.

The SCAI has also heard a litany of appalling physical and sexual abuse claims at Quarriers Village in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, including allegations of a paedophile ring.

Survivors have alleged abuse in the care of Aberlour, including sexual abuse, while there have also been claims that children were locked in a cupboard known as the cooler for days at a time as a form of discipline meted out by Aberlour carers.

The inquiry was told in October that more than 360 people have made complaints of physical and sexual abuse at orphanages run by Quarriers, Barnardo's and the Aberlour Child Care Trust.

Police Scotland has revealed that it has so far examined 270,000 historical files in connection with the SCAI.

Stuart Gale, QC, representing Former Boys And Girls Abused of Quarriers Homes, has told the SCAI that until the 1980s, 'a regime of violence and beatings existed without proper restraint'.

He said many victims had not complained at the time due to 'fear of repercussion'.

During opening statements earlier this year, Quarriers and Aberlour apologised to those who suffered abuse while in their care.

Kate Dowdalls, QC, read a statement on behalf of Quarriers, saying she was 'instructed first to reiterate the unreserved apology that was offered to survivors of abuse on May 31, 2017, at the outset of the hearings during phase one of this inquiry'.

She added: 'Quarriers acknowledges children were subjected to physical, sexual and emotional abuse whilst in their care. It is acknowledged that abuse occurred across generations.

'Quarriers acknowledges there were shortcomings in its historical policies and practices which did not prevent abuse occurring.'

Steven Love, QC, for Aberlour, offered an 'unreserved apology' to abuse survivors and said it welcomed the opportunity to 'investigate the flaws' in its historical practices.

Gordon Jackson, QC, representing Barnardo's, said it was 'committed to learning from the past' to keep children safe and had adopted an 'open and supportive stance' towards the inquiry.

It has accepted that children had been abused while in its care, something it said was a matter of deep regret.

Previously, the SCAI has looked at establishments run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, and now-defunct children's homes run by the Sisters of Nazareth  which is also the subject of a separate police investigation.

The SCAIs first interim report, published in October, found children were abused, beaten and humiliated at Smyllum Park and Bellevue House in Rutherglen, also in Lanarkshire.

Following 20 days of evidence from survivors, SCAI chairman Lady Smith concluded: 'I find that children were abused in both Bellevue and Smyllum.

'The abuse which took place was physical, emotional and sexual.'

!Peter O'Garro, 52, looted car park pay stations which he was assigned to guard at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester

A security guard and his wife managed to steal more than 200,000 from an NHS hospital - enough money to fund six full time nurses for a year.

Peter O'Garro, 52, looted car park pay stations which he was assigned to guard before he and his wife Karen, a hospice nurse, used the stolen money to buy a quad bike, jewellery and high value electrical goods.

Over the course of seven months, O'Garro and three colleagues from a private security firm hired by Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester stole up to 39,000 a month. Two of the group got their partners to look after their stolen money.

The group were only caught when university PhD student Firas Armosh got a temporary job helping empty the pay stations, before turned on them once his contract finished.

The student told police how O'Garro told him the money was 'for all of us, ten weeks for us, one week for you' whilst a colleague added 'if you join us, don't get greedy'.

O'Garro and his two colleagues were arrested at a security lodge at the hospital and their homes were raided by officers. Police found stashes of coins hidden in suitcases and large bottles.

O'Garro and his 48-year-old wife had 4,821.34 tucked away inside two red tool boxes under a TV stand in their living room.

An investigation revealed he stole 43,681.82 with 1,168.82 being recovered from a draw string bag in his Mini Cooper car - whilst Mrs O'Garro deposited 15,996.45 into four bank accounts in her name.

In all, 207,412 in cash was stolen by O'Garro and his gang from car park machines between July 2015 and February 2016.

Karen Ogarro oustide Manchester Crown Court, where she was charged with money laundering

In a statement Nick Smith, manager at the hospital said: 'This money could have been used to fund six qualified nurses for a full year or the purchase of major medical equipment or life-saving drugs.

'This crime is ultimately taking money from the NHS, but it should also be pointed out that the theft is of money charged to members of the public, both patients and visitors, using the hospital.'

O'Garro, from Middleton, admitted theft and was jailed for three years. His wife admitted possession of criminal property and was given eight months jail suspended for two years.

Supervisor Stephen Seddon, 31, of Failsworth, was jailed for 30 months, Christopher Hughes, 53, from Wythenshawe, received 27 months and Shahid Nadeem, 39, of Cheetham Hill was locked up for two years. Seddon's wife Elizabeth, 32 was given eight months jail suspended for two years while Hughes' partner Marie McGovern, 51, was given a two year community order.

Shahid Nadeem pictured outside Manchester Crown Court (left) and Christopher Hughes outside Manchester Magistrates Court (right). Nadeem was sentenced to two years while Hughes was sentenced to 27 months

Elizabeth and Stephen Seddon outside Manchester Crown Court, where they were charged with money laundering and theft

Judge Hilary Manley said: 'Your selfish actions came at a time when it is common knowledge that the NHS is struggling. To steal from it, many would say, is an unforgiveable crime.'

In mitigation, O'Garro's lawyer Andrew Costello said: 'He accepts everything that has been said about him in terms of the figures and what he did. He also wishes to express that he is remorseful for his actions.'

For Mrs O'Garro, Nicholas Ross said: 'She is ashamed and devastated for herself and her family. She came here from Jamaica in 1993 and she has always worked throughout those 25 years and has demonstrated herself to be a highly useful member of society.'

The job of operating the car parks at the hospital run internally at the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust Trust, but the collection of the cash is contracted out to a private security firm. The hospital itself reportedly made 2m from car parking charges in 2015.Key findings

Existing evidence from the last 12 months

Since the start of automatic enrolment in 2012, more than 9.9 million workers have been automatically enrolled, and over 1.4 million employers have met their duties, with 591,000 workers having been automatically re-enrolled and 73,643 employers having met their re-enrolment duties. The number of compliance notices issued by The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has risen from nearly 34,000 in 2016/17 to nearly 61,000 in 2017/18, however this is broadly in line with the increased number of employer declarations of compliance TPR received. The majority of employers subsequently complied when they were reminded of their duties. Levels of awareness and understanding of automatic enrolment are high. In particular, at least 93 per cent of micro, small and medium-sized employers were aware of each individual ongoing duty in relation to automatic enrolment. Virtually all medium and large employers (97 per cent and 99 per cent respectively), and the vast majority of small employers (84 per cent), stated that they had automatically enrolled employees into a qualifying pension scheme by late 2017. In 2017, just under one half (47 per cent) of employers currently had some form of workplace pension provision, up from 19 per cent in 2013. These organisations employed 91 per cent of all private sector employees. Some employers were contributing more than the minimum required contribution rate. In around one quarter (24 per cent) of schemes used for automatic enrolment, employers were contributing at least three per cent in 2017, ahead of the first planned increase. Data collected up to 2017 found that the number of eligible employees participating in a workplace pension has increased to 17.7 million (84 per cent), up from 10.7 million (55 per cent) in 2012. Overall, eligible employees are continuing to save persistently. The annual total amount saved by eligible employees across both sectors stands at 90.3 billion in 2017, which is an increase of 4.3 billion from 2016. Annual total amounts increased in both public and private sectors from 2016. The public sector increased by around 0.3 billion and the private sector by 4.0 billion. New analysis within this report

Rates of opt-out and cessation (stopping saving into a pension after the opt-out period) have at the end June 2018 remained consistent with levels before the first planned contribution increase in April 2018. Those who are enrolled due to staging have higher opt-out rates than those enrolled due to starting a job with an employer who already has ongoing automatic enrolment duties. Males and females have the same levels of opt-out, but males have slightly higher levels of cessation. Generally, older age groups have higher opt-out rates, but those aged 22 to 29 and 60 to State Pension age have the highest cessation rates  although these rates are at relatively low levels. Higher earners tend to have higher opt-out rates than lower earners, while (with the exception of the highest earners who have the highest cessation rates) there is not much variation in cessation rates by earnings level. In 2017, over 7 million eligible private sector employees saving into a workplace pension received an employer contribution of two per cent or above (above the then minimum contribution rate); of these, 5.5 million received an employer contribution of four per cent or above. More than 92 per cent of eligible employees in the private sector contributing between three and four per cent received a matching (or higher) employer contribution rate. Approximately 5.9 million eligible employees were already meeting the April 2019 minimum contribution rates, based on data from April 2017. However, around 5.1 million eligible employees were still contributing below April 2018 minimums at that time, and around 6.1 million will have to increase their contributions by April 2019, if not earlier. The rate of levelling down (reducing the generosity of contributions or outcomes for existing pension scheme members) has increased slightly since 2012. However findings from the Employers' Pension Provision Survey 2017 suggest that where employers have experienced increased contribution costs as a result of automatic enrolment, only one per cent of employers have adopted levelling down as a strategy to absorb increased contribution costs. Findings from the DWPs communications tracking research (June 2018 wave) found that the majority of individuals interviewed viewed automatic enrolment as a good thing for them personally (82 per cent); agreed saving into a workplace pension was normal for them (80 per cent); and knew where to go if they wanted to find more about workplace pensions (83 per cent). The emerging findings from forthcoming DWP research with newborn (new) employers, to be published in 2019, suggest that the reality of implementing automatic enrolment was usually less burdensome than employers had anticipated. The financial burden, over and above the ongoing cost of employer contributions, was either small or even non-existent. Next Steps

The latest evidence shows that automatic enrolment remains on track, with millions more employees enrolled into private pension saving in the UK. The staging of employers has completed, and evidence to date from the first contribution increase suggests consistent saving behaviours from prior to the increase. The next evaluation report will set out further evidence from the first contribution increase and findings from the second increase in April 2019. Following the completion of the second increase, we will move from implementation of the reforms to steady state. The next evaluation report will review progress to date since implementation started in 2012, and update on future evaluation reporting plans for steady state.

Automatic Enrolment Evaluation report 2018Russian trolls launched a plan to blacken Robert Mueller's reputation with thousands of social media posts after he began investigating Donald Trump, a new report reveals.

They targeted him with posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to falsely convince voters he was corrupt.

One post even claimed he had worked alongside 'radical Islamic' groups, according to the report for the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Russian trolls launched a plan to blacken Robert Mueller's reputation with thousands of social media posts after he began investigating Donald Trump, a new report reveals

Russia used every social media platform to drum up support for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, a new report has found, and put an emphasis on going after African American voters, who mostly backed Hillary Clinton

The Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency, which has been charged with interfering in the elections, relied on Facebook, Google and Twitter and other platforms for targeted messaging, according to the report.

It used words, videos and images to persuade voters to back Trump, according to the report by Oxford University's Computational Propaganda Project and network analysis company Graphika.

The report also said Russians made efforts to stir up sentiment among African American voters in the 2016 election campaign.

The Russian Internet Research Agency purchased a total of 1,087 ads targeting African American politic and culture and black identity and nationalism during the campaign, according to a bombshell analysis of the Russian influence operation that investigators have yet to fully examine.

Facebook's ad program allowed purchasers to select users with certain interests, like Malcolm X  a capability the St. Petersburg-based outfit relied on to slice up the American electorate.

It outlines repeated Russian efforts to divide and target black voters  and even a program to set up hotlines to get people to confess problems that could be potential fodder for blackmail.

The tactics reached tens of millions of Americans during the multi-year durations, and targeted key interest groups known to impact U.S. elections.

The report identifies a Russian focus on targeting black voters

Online activity focused on police violence against blacks

Russians tried ginning up support online using multiple campaigns, including Blacktivist

U.S. intelligence assessed and prosecutors have charged that the outfit was financed by a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Many of the ad purchases were in rubles. Early posts before 2014 were in Russian, but English language social media activity jumped that year, and continued even into 2017.

The Russians set up 30 Facebook pages on black Americans, while another 10 YouTube channels focused on police violence against blacks and put out 571 videos on the subject.

The efforts to target African Americans and suppress the black vote came during a 2016 election where Hillary Clinton won an overwhelming share of support among African American vote.

According to the report: 'Messaging to African Americans sought to divert their political energy away from established political institutions by preying on anger with structural inequalities faced by African Americans, including police violence, poverty, and disproportionate levels of incarceration.'

It continued: 'These campaigns pushed a message that the best way to advance the cause of the African American community was to boycott the election and focus on other issues instead. This often happened through the use of repetitive slogans. This accounts for the majority of content in the dataset that targeted this group.'

The Russians also went after other demographic slices: Muslims, southerners, Texans, and more.

Other ads targeted conservatives and particular regions

The campaign didn't stop after the trolls got caught, and in fact peaked in 2017, according to the report.

In one notably callous tactics, Russians set up hotlines to get people to call in and talk about their sex problems and other personal issues  a source for possible blackmail material, NBC reported.

Other trickery enticed Americans to take political actions.

On Twitter, English-language posts from Russia shot up in late 2015.

After a Russian 'Black Matters' Facebook page got shut down, the IRA simply created new renamed campaigns to push its message. 'Cops kill black kids. Are you sure that your son won't be the next?' went one aimed at African Americans.

Activity spiked around major political debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Broken down by state, a leading 265 ads targeted Missouri.

Researchers even found that racial geography, more than the the Electoral College, was a driver in ad purchases.

'We believe the targeting had more to do with race than a state's role in the Electoral College or status as a swing state. For example, African Americans in Ferguson, MO were targeted for the 'Black Matters' campaign. African Americans in Baltimore, MD and Oakland, CA were targeted for the 'Blacktivist' campaign. Texan cities were targeted for campaigns focusing on patriotism and pro-gun politics,' according to the report.

Russia used nearly every social media platform to drum up support for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, the report also found.

'What is clear is that all of the messaging clearly sought to benefit the Republican Party - and specifically Donald Trump,' the report says.

'Trump is mentioned most in campaigns targeting conservatives and right-wing voters, where the messaging encouraged these groups to support his campaign. The main groups that could challenge Trump were then provided messaging that sought to confuse, distract and ultimately discourage members from voting.'

The report was presented to the Senate Intelligence Committee. The bipartisan panel released it publicly on Monday morning.

It tracks observations like an increase in activity on election day in 2016 and during general election debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Activity by the group spiked the most at the end of the year when Barack Obama announced that he was opening up probes into Russia's attempt to hack the election.

Among its findings were that conservative users 'were actively encouraged to get behind Trump's campaign' while other users were 'encouraged to boycott the election, abstain from voting for Clinton, or to spread cynicism about participating in the election in general.'

Committee chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, said the data 'demonstrates how aggressively Russia sought to divide Americans by race, religion and ideology, and how the IRA actively worked to erode trust in our democratic institutions.'

'Most troublingly, it shows that these activities have not stopped,' he assessed. 'As we work to address these threats, these reports are proof positive that one of the most important things we can do is increase information sharing between the social media companies who can identify disinformation campaigns and the third-party experts who can analyze them.'

The Russians sought to boost Trump and drive down turnout among potential Hillary Clinton supporters

The committee's vice chair, Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, likewise said the report revealed that Russian election meddling was worse than previously revealed.

'This should stand as a wake up call to us all that none of us are immune from this threat, and it is time to get serious in addressing this challenge,' he said. 'That is going to require some much-needed and long-overdue guardrails when it comes to social media. I hope these reports will spur legislative action in the Congress and provide additional clarity to the American public about Russia's assault on our democracy.'

Researchers also noted that the data includes evidence of sloppiness by the Russians that could have led to earlier detection, including the use of Russia's currency, the ruble, to buy ads.

House Intelligence ranking member Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said in a statement after the release of the report that social media companies share in the blame and must be held accountable.

'Their reluctance to conduct and publish such deep analysis themselves, to actively and meaningfully collaborate with one another to compare and publicize data and information to build out the extent of the IRA's efforts, and to otherwise make available to outside research groups comprehensive, uniform access to the data, have made our task far more difficult than it should have been,' he scolded.

Schiff said the companies, which he did not call out by name, should be doing more to keep their users and the public aware of disinformation operations.A neo-Nazi couple who posed in Ku Klux Klan robes and named their baby after Adolf Hitler have been jailed.

Adam Thomas and Claudia Patatas were found guilty of being members of the extreme right-wing organisation National Action, which was banned in 2016.

Thomas, 22, was today handed a six-and-a-half-year sentence at Birmingham Crown Court, while Patatas, 38, got a five-year jail term.

Adam Thomas and Claudia Patatas have been jailed for belonging to National Action

The couple adorned their home near Banbury, Oxfordshire, with Nazi and Ku Klux Klan flags

Judge Melbourne Inman QC, sentencing Patatas, said: 'You were equally as extreme as Thomas both in your views and actions.

'You acted together in all you thought, said and did, in the naming of your son and the disturbing photographs of your child, surrounded by symbols of Nazism and the Ku Klux Klan.'

The couple both wept and held hands in the dock as they were sentenced, while Thomas repeatedly shook his head.

Both had been involved in what the judge called the 'desecration' of civic memorials with National Action stickers, including one in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.

The judge said: 'You went there, defacing a memorial for those who died in the war protecting this country from the Nazis.'

He told Thomas: 'Your home with Patatas was a veritable shrine to extreme racism.

'You and she gave your child the middle name Adolf and you were photographed on a number of occasions with the child, with you in KKK garb.'

He told Thomas, the only defendant to give evidence at trial, that his views had been 'so extreme' his only recourse had been to claim to jurors he had 'deliberately exaggerated, to shock'.

'That was rightly rejected by the jury,' the judge said.

Four other members of the neo-Nazi group were jailed including Daniel Bogunovic (left) and Joel Wilmore (right)

Darren Fletcher (left) and Nathan Pryke (right) were both handed five-year jail terms

Turning to Patatas, Judge Inman QC, said: 'I have seen no shred of remorse.'

He told her: 'On one occasion, you and Thomas said, if required, you each would be willing to murder a mixed-race child.

'These are not idle words. The vile regime you and Thomas worship, and which you wish to impose on this country, did - and would do - exactly that.

Taking account of her one-year-old child, the judge said: 'As an act of mercy, I reduce your sentence from six to five years.'

Also jailed were Daniel Bogunovic, 27, of Leicester, Darren Fletcher, 28, of Wolverhampton, Joel Wilmore, 24, of Stockport, and Nathan Pryke, 27, of Cambridge.

The court heard Fletcher recorded a sick video showing him teaching his toddler daughter how to do a Nazi salute.

He also pleaded guilty to five breaches of a criminal anti-social behaviour order and was sentenced to a total of five years in prison.

Thomas was pictured with his baby while wearing KKK robes. A banner also hung in their home

The court heard Bogunvic belonged to the 'Inner' group on the encrypted chat platform Telegram. He was jailed for six years and four months.

Wilmore was sentenced to five years and 10 months behind bars, while Pryke was handed five years and five months.

Judge Melbourne Inman QC said: 'National Action is a terrorist organisation.

'It's aims and objectives are the overthrow of democracy in this country by serious violence and murder, and the imposition of a Nazi-style state which would eradicate whole sections of society by violence and murder.'

A jury at Birmingham Crown Court heard Thomas and Patatas gave their child the middle name 'Adolf' and had Swastika scatter cushions in their home.

Photographs recovered from their address also showed Thomas cradling his new-born son while wearing the hooded white robes of a Ku Klux Klansman.

Former Amazon security guard Thomas and Patatas, a wedding photographer originally from Portugal who also wanted to 'bring back concentration camps', were found guilty after a seven-week trial.

The white supremacist couple stockpiled an arsenal of weapons at their home and intended to wage a 'holy war' against black people, Jews, Asians and homosexuals, the court heard.

Thomas, a twice-failed Army applicant, was also convicted on a majority verdict of having a terrorist manual, namely the Anarchist's Cookbook, which jurors heard contained instructions on making 'viable' bombs.

Daniel Bogunovic, 27, of Leicester, a leading member in National Action's Midlands chapter, was also convicted of membership after standing trial with Patatas and Thomas.

He was described in court on Friday as a 'committed National Action leader, propagandist and strategist', within the group's Midlands cell.

The two other men, cyber security worker and the midlands' National Action cell's 'banker' Joel Wilmore, 24, and van driver Nathan Pryke, 26, described as the group's 'security enforcer', will also be sentenced.

Fletcher, 28, of Wolverhampton, Wilmore, 24, of Stockport, Greater Manchester, and Pryke, 26, of March, Cambridge, all admitted membership of the banned group prior to the trial.The Duchess of Sussex is reportedly in talks with palace officials in the wake of her father publicly calling upon the Queen to step in and help mend their rift.

Thomas Markle made a direct appeal to the Queen to intervene and rebuild the relationship with his daughter during an interview with Good Morning Britain on Monday.

He said: 'I love my daughter very much and she has to know that.

'I would really appreciate if she would just call me, reach out to me somehow, send me a text, just say you're there and you're hearing me.'

The Royal household is allegedly 'enraged and exhausted' with Mr Markle, who claims he sends Meghan text messages 'every day' and has also sent letters to Kensington Palace.

Thomas Markle has again spoken publicly about his relationship with his daughter

The Duchess of Sussex (pictured on stage at The British Fashion Awards on December 10), has not spoken out about her father

Thomas Markle made a direct appeal to the Queen (pictured on December 13), to intervene and rebuild the relationship with his daughter

According to The Mirror, palace sources said the royal household had become 'enraged and yet exhausted' with Thomas and believe he has 'gone a step too far' by trying to draw the Queen into the row.

Kensington Palace declined to comment today.

A spokesman told MailOnline the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would be spending Christmas in Norfolk with the rest of the Royal family.

Explaining why he believes Meghan has shut him out, Mr Markle told Good Morning Britain yesterday: 'She has always been a very controlling person and that is part of her nature - but she has never been rude. She has always been in charge'.

The 74-year-old added: 'I've been ghosted. I'm not sure why it's happening. I love my daughter very much. I wish she would reach out, send me a text, anything. There has to be a place for me. I'm her father'.

And in a message of reconciliation for his estranged daughter, who is believed to be around five months pregnant, Mr Markle stared down the camera and said: 'I love you very much. I would like to hear from you. Whatever difficulties we've had I hope we can work through them. We're family'.

Thomas Markle (pictured yesterday) used an unpaid interview with GMB to again beg his daughter Meghan to stop ignoring his texts and letters and 'reach out'

Meghan's father hopes that the Queen might intervene to heal his fractured relationship with his daughter and son in law (pictured at the The Royal Variety Performance in November)

In an extraordinary and wide-ranging interview, the retired Hollywood lighting engineer told GMB:

Meghan, pictured a week ago at The Fashion Awards 2018, is pregnant with her first child but has cut off contact with her father

Thomas Markle describes his youngest child as 'very controlling' and 'always in charge'

Meghan has 'ghosted' her own father since she married Prince Harry in May

Mr Markle texts every day and has sent letters to Kensington Palace but has heard 'nothing'

Reclusive 74-year-old hopes that the Queen will now intervene at Sandringham over Christmas to repair the fissure in the Markle family

Mr Markle believes his daughter's first child - due next April - could 'soften' rift and still hopes to meet his grandchild

Meghan cut off contact with her father after he failed to walk her down the aisle and has rebuffed all his attempts to make contact with her since then.

But Mr Markle hopes the birth of her child will break down that 'barrier', adding: 'I think she will make a great mum and maybe things will soften a bit and we will get back in contact'.

He added: 'I'm certainly hoping that everything goes well that they produce a beautiful baby. I hope I'll get to see a little Meghan or a little Harry'.

Mr Markle has said that this will be his first Christmas without a card, call or visit from his beloved youngest child, who will spend it with the Queen at Sandringham.

Thomas Markle said he hopes Her Majesty will help him and said: 'I would be grateful for anything she can do.

'I would think she would want to resolve any family problems. All families, royal or not, need to be together, especially in the holidays'.

Speaking from San Diego, Mr Markle said the rift 'can't continue forever' and he would keep trying to connect with his daughter.

He went on: 'I don't plan to be silent for the rest of my life. I love my daughter very much and she has to know that, and I would really appreciate if she would call me, just reach out to me.

'There has to be a place for me. I'm here, she knows it ... I need her to reach back to me.'

Thomas Markle said he was not paid to appear on breakfast TV in the UK because he just wants Meghan to hear his message of reconciliation

Mr Markle told Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid that his daughter is 'controlling' - Piers Morgan says he believes Princess Diana would not have let the row get this far

Questioned by Piers Morgan, Mr Markle denied Meghan had a tendency to dump people if she had no use for them, saying: 'That's really not a character trait. She's always been very polite to everyone, never been rude to anyone. I don't know what's really happening right now.'

Piers Morgan calls out 'ghosting' Meghan and urges her to reach out to her father Piers Morgan also made a plea for his former friend Meghan Markle to heal the rift with her father Thomas. The GMB host has repeatedly lashed out at the former Suits star and accused her of 'acting her way to the top' and 'ghosting' him after she met Prince Harry. As he interviewed her father Mr Morgan said: 'If Meghan is watching this and I feel she will because she will be intrigued. 'Come on Meghan. This is your dad and it's Christmas. 'I feel really sad about this and I hope it can be resolved because the longer it goes on the worse it can get.' He also said he did not believe this row would be allowed to continue if Princess Diana was still alive. Advertisement

Mr Markle said: 'My daughter lived with me from the age of 11 all through middle school and high school until she went off to college. We're very close.

'What's happened, I'm not sure. I'd love to talk about it. I think it comes back to the fact that reporters pick up on interviews I've done and write their own stories and tell lies.'

He added: 'If they are believing that, that's unfortunate. They've always told me not to believe anything.'

Mr Markle concluded his interview by wishing Harry and Meghan a 'merry Christmas' and saying he would spend the festive period with friends, giving out presents to unfortunate children.

The pensioner has been cut off by his daughter and new son in law and said recently: 'Murderers are not punished like I've been'.

Mr Markle appeared on GMB over the summer where the recluse claimed that Harry had said he was 'open' to Brexit and that people needed to 'give Trump a chance'.

He also said that Meghan kept the fact that she was dating Harry secret at first, asking her father to refer to him by the codename 'H', and that Harry had already popped the question to his daughter by the time he asked for her hand in marriage by phone and when he did, Meghan was also on the line.

He said he gave his permission for the couple to wed as long as Harry promised never to 'raise his hand' against his daughter and was 'grateful' to Charles for stepping in when he was forced to pull out of giving his daughter away due to heart surgery, but admitted he felt jealous.

Kensington Palace declined to comment on the interview or the astonishing claims, but there is little doubt that the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex have again been left humiliated by the continuing Markle family soap opera.

Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan confirmed that Meghan's father had pocketed 'a few thousand pounds' but insisted his 'ultimate motive was not money'.

He claimed Mr Markle had turned down significantly higher offers from the US media but chose the British programme as he wanted the 'proper chance' to put across his 'side of the story'.

Mr Markle's decision to 'sell out' will be frustrating for palace officials who, after a dramatic run-up to the royal wedding, managed to pull off an extremely successful global event and had no doubt hoped to see the back of any further Markle family revelations.

The fact that Mr Markle chose not to discuss the interview beforehand with his daughter is likely to be seen by many as suggesting their relationship is fractured in the extreme.

Royal sources have maintained, however, they have done everything they can to help and guide Mr Markle, and say he is a proud man who finds it difficult to accept assistance from his daughter.The fight over President Donald Trump's demand for $5billion to build a wall on the Mexico border deepened yesterday, threatening a partial government shutdown on Friday.

This would risk disrupting government operations and leaving 800,000 federal employees furloughed or working without pay over the holiday season. Costs would be likely in the billions of dollars.

Trump was meeting with his team and getting regular updates, said White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Trump was also tweeting Monday to keep up the pressure.

Migrants, part of a caravan of thousands from Central America trying to reach the United States, walk next to the border wall as they attempt to cross from Mexico to the U.S, in Tijuana, Mexico

President Donald Trump speaks about border security with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence in the Oval Office on December 11

Exiting a Senate Republican leadership meeting late Monday, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota said, 'It looks like it probably is going to have to build for a few days here before there's a solution.'

The president is insisting on $5 billion for the wall along the southern border with Mexico, but he does not have the votes from the Republican-led Congress to support it. Democrats are offering to continue funding at current levels, $1.3 billion, not for the wall but for fencing and other border security.

It's unclear how many House Republicans, with just a few weeks left in the majority before relinquishing power to House Democrats, will even show up mid-week for possible votes. Speaker Paul Ryan's office had no update. Many Republicans say it's up to Trump and Democrats to cut a deal.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Trump talk most days, but the senator's spokesman would not confirm if they spoke Monday about a plan. McConnell opened the chamber hoping for a 'bipartisan collaborative spirit' that would enable Congress to finish its work.

'We need to make a substantial investment in the integrity of our border,' McConnell said. 'And we need to close out the year's appropriation process.'

Meanwhile more than 800,000 government workers are preparing for the uncertainty ahead.

The dispute could affect nine of 15 Cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Interior, Agriculture, State and Justice, as well as national parks and forests.

A girl travelling in a caravan of Central American migrants hoping to reach the United States, looks through the US-Mexico border fence in Playas de Tijuana, Baja California State, Mexico

About half the workers would be forced to continue working without immediate pay. Others would be sent home. Congress often approves their pay retroactively, even if they were ordered to stay home.

'Our members are asking how they are supposed to pay for rent, food, and gas if they are required to work without a paycheck,' said a statement from J. David Cox, Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the large federal worker union. 'The holiday season makes these inquiries especially heart-wrenching.'

Many agencies, including the Pentagon and the departments of Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services, are already funded for the year and will continue to operate as usual, regardless of whether Congress and the president reach agreement this week.

Congress already approved funding this year for about 75 percent of the government's discretionary account for the budget year that began Oct. 1.

The U.S. Postal Service, busy delivering packages for the holiday season, wouldn't be affected by any government shutdown because it's an independent agency.

Migrants, part of a caravan of thousands from Central America trying to reach the United States, talk to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials in San Diego County

Trump said last week he would be 'proud' to have a shutdown to get Congress to approve a $5 billion down payment to fulfill his campaign promise to build a border wall.

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump promised that Mexico would pay for the wall. Mexico has refused.

Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, in a meeting last week at the White House, suggested keeping funding at its current level, $1.3 billion, for improved fencing. Trump had neither accepted nor rejected the Democrats' offer, telling them he would take a look.

Schumer said Monday he had yet to hear from Trump. Speaking on the Senate floor, Schumer warned that 'going along with the Trump shutdown is a futile act' because House Democrats would quickly approve government funding in January.

'President Trump still doesn't have a plan to keep the government open,' Schumer said Monday. 'No treat or temper tantrum will get the president his wall.'

One option for lawmakers would be to provide stopgap funding for a few weeks, until the new Congress convenes Jan. 3, when Pelosi is poised to become House speaker.

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, who is in line to become the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, suggested a stopgap bill could be one way to resolve the issue or a longer-term bill that includes money for border security.

GOP leaders, though, were frustrated as the clock ticked away. Leaving the weekly leadership meeting, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said any planning was a 'very closely held thing. That's why we should never let this happen. We should pass the bills the way we're supposed to pass them.'A businessman fat shamed a woman sat next to him on a plane and branded her a 'lump of lard' on Facebook.

Lewis Openshaw, 24, complained he had paid extra for a window seat on his flight to Tunisia on Friday but was dismayed to find the passenger sat next to him.

He posted the abusive status while waiting to leave Manchester Airport and called the woman a 'big sweaty fat f*** with a hairy chin with a minging face'.

Mr Openshaw posted the abusive status while waiting to leave Manchester Airport on Friday

The security firm director soon took a picture of the woman without her realising and shared it publicly after being encouraged by friends who commented on his posts.

Lewis Openshaw, 24, said he was dismayed to find the passenger sat next to him

He then went on to claim that his flight was full of 'fatties' and appeared to make a racial slur referring to people of Pakistani origin living in Jamaica.

Charity Helping Overcome Obesity Problems (Hoop) slammed his post and warned it could lead to depression, anxiety, self harm and even suicidal thoughts in the victim.

Dr Stuart Flint from the charity, who is also a senior research fellow in public health and obesity at Leeds Beckett University, said it was 'exactly like playground bullying'.

Mr Openshaw, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, wrote in his first post: 'Just my f***ing luck. I pay extra for a window seat on a row with no one on.

'So sit down now a big fat sweaty f*** with a hairy chin with a minging face like she's headbutted a flaky cheese and bean pasty from Greggs and she stinks of raw onions comes and sits next to me. F*** right off.'

The businessman called the woman a 'big sweaty fat f*** with a hairy chin with a minging face'

When a friend laughed at the post, Mr Openshaw replied: 'I'm f***ing fuming mate. Can't even put my arm on the arm rest cause of her 6x4 biceps.'

Mr Openshaw admitted to making the posts but said he did not intend them to be public

Another friend asked him to take a photo of her to share - and Mr Openshaw replied: 'I will when she's asleep. She'll t*** me. She's a right lump of lard.'

Less than an hour later he shared an image of the woman appearing to be sleeping next to him with her hand on face - to the delight of his friends.

Mr Openshaw, who uses the name Lewis Opey on social media, said: 'Ladies and gentleman, I introduce (to) you the culprit! (Name) the lump of lard.'

When he eventually arrived in Tunisia and shared photographs of his hotel, friends asked him where his 'bird' was or if she was 'eating to build up some energy'.

Mr Openshaw admitted to making the posts but claimed he did not intend them to be public. After being contacted for a response, Mr Openshaw deleted the posts.

'It's exactly like playground bullying': Obesity expert DR STUART FLINT says 'fat shaming' posts could lead to self-harming and suicidal thoughts

By DR STUART FLINT, senior research fellow in public health and obesity at Leeds Beckett University and a director of charity Helping Overcome Obesity Problems

Dr Stuart Flint, Leeds Beckett University

It is exactly like playground bullying. You can see from some of the emojis used that it is perceived as quite comical as if it is a joke. Fat jokes are perceived as acceptable.

In terms of impact, the first thing I would say is the impact is great. No matter what the subject, stigma discrimination is not acceptable. It doesn't have to be just about weight.

You have to think about the impact on the person. It can be quite vast and very serious. It could impact their mental and physical health but also self-harming and suicidal thoughts.

You have to think about how you behave and treat different people.

We know that weight stigma is very pervasive. People have these types of experiences almost daily across a range of settings.

They are being reported more in public settings such as on public transports, probably because of social media. It is being highlighted more.

There needs to be greater restrictions on social media and throughout in terms of weight stigma and discrimination.

If this was another topic that someone was being stigmatised for or treated the way this lady was treated then there would be repercussions.

The social media would have intervened and depending on the topic it might even go further, such as legal or whatever.A couple who tried to con up to 20,000 from their holiday firm with a fake sickness claim have been ordered to pay Jet2holidays just short of 30,000.

Martin and Lindsey Brown from Chorley in Lancashire, submitted a false claim against Jet2holidays for gastric illness, after staying at the Emre Hotel in Marmaris, Turkey, in 2016.

Martin, 38, and his 35-year-old wife, said they suffered with stomach cramps, diarrhoea, vomiting and nausea as a result of food poisoning contracted whilst on an all-inclusive 10-night holiday.

Facebook photos show the pair enjoying evenings out, on one occasion posing with a parrot

They claimed they were bed-bound and had soiled themselves in bed, while their children had done so in the pool.

But the hotel owners used CCTV to compile a dossier of evidence - including Mr Brown dancing by the pool - after they were tipped off by another guest Mr Brown had bragged about how he would make a claim.

Another guest posted on social media about how the pair were in the bar until 'daft o clock'.

During a hearing this week at the Civil Justice Centre in Manchester, staff and the doctor from Emre Hotel rejected their claims and fined them 29,200, in damages and legal fees.

Judge Sephton QC convicted the Browns of conspiracy to commit fraud, saying 'They sought to benefit by their wrong-doing in a thoroughly dishonest fashion.

He added: 'Dishonest claims are a scourge which are blighting these courts.'

The judge also found that 'the representations made by their solicitors were dishonest.'

The pair claimed their illness was caused by negligence, and resulted in them being bed-ridden and prescribed medication after a visit to the hotel doctor.

They stated that Martin Brown had bragged about how he planned to fabricate a false sickness claim to win compensation, and how he had done it before.

CCTV evidence from the Emre Hotel shows Martin Brown and his wife dancing by the pool

During their holiday, the Browns complained to the hotel that they were suffering from stomach upsets and the hotel referred Mr Brown to a local hospital doctor.

But a witness statement from another holidaymaker said it was all a plan.

Video evidence showed the couple walking out of the hotel with their two children on the days they were allegedly bedridden.

At the hearing, social media posts from the pair were used against them.

A Facebook post from a holidaymaker who stayed at the hotel at the same time as the Browns, stated that Martin Brown was not ill and was in a bar until 'daft o clock'.

When back in the UK from Turkey the couple launched a 20,000 compensation claim

The hotel owner examined CCTV footage whilst the couple were still staying at the hotel with their young children and saved images of the man frolicking and dancing by the pool.

Hotel owner Emre Deliveli said: 'We were told by another guest that Mr Brown had mentioned he was going to make a sickness claim, so we made sure each evening that we had recorded footage that might help our defence.

'We put him under surveillance, so when the complaint came we had the CCTV footage ready. We had him running around, by the pool, dancing.'

In one piece of footage, recorded on May 30 last year, Mr Brown can be seen dancing, before jumping in the pool. He was also recorded setting off for a boat excursion.

On June 2, Mr Brown allegedly told a local doctor that he had started feeling nauseous three days previously. This would include the day the poolside video was taken.

Photos posted on Mr Brown's Facebook account after he returned home showed him and his wife enjoying an evening on holiday with no mention of the illness.

One picture showed a smiling Mr Brown posing with a parrot on his shoulder alongside his wife. The photos were captioned: 'Back home top holiday wish I was still there with **** and the rest bangin time roll on next year.'

There was a 500% increase in gastric sickness claims made by Britons between 2013 and 2016, prompting some hoteliers to warn that they would withdraw holidays from the UK market.

In April this year, the Ministry of Justice announced the extension of Fixed Recoverable Costs to cover holiday sickness claims brought under the Package Travel Regulations, making defence costs predictable and thus deterring bogus claims.

In October, four people were sentenced to three months in prison, suspended for two years, after admitting to concocting a fake claim.

Michael Jameson, 43, Claire Weir, 35, Jane Weir, 38, Janet Weir, 63, all from Liverpool, were convicted of contempt of court at Liverpool High Court after inventing and submitting a false claim against Jet2holidays.

They frolic and cavort amount in a way that doesn't indicate that they're at all sick

In June, Liam Royle from Eccles in Manchester was found fundamentally dishonest and ordered to pay Jet2holidays more than 6,000, after his ex-girlfriend presented evidence, including video footage of him dancing to Gangnam Style by the swimming pool, to prove that his compensation claim for gastric illness was fraudulent.

Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays said: 'Martin and Lindsey Brown travelled to Turkey having already worked out how to make a fraudulent sickness claim, but thanks to our robust investigation their deception has been uncovered. Jet2holidays has led the way to tackle the issue of false sickness claims so that holidaymakers do not expose themselves to the risks that come with getting involved in such dishonest activity, and we hope this ruling sends out a serious message to others.

'That message is clear, we will investigate and defend any claims that we believe are dishonest, and the courts do not just take a dim view of such deceit, they are prepared to punish it accordingly.'A five-year-old boy with Down's Syndrome has launched a successful career in modelling after he posed as a bauble in the new Sainsbury's Christmas advert.

Frankie Porter made his first venture into modelling nine months ago and has already appeared in high-street adverts for Marks and Spencer and Jeans for Genes.

Frankie's parents, Vicky Porter, 43, and Adam Goswell, 38, signed their son to a modelling agency after hearing about Zebedee Management - who exclusively represent people with a range of disabilities.

Frankie Porter, five, has appeared in Sainsbury's Christmas advert as a bauble

The youngster, who also has type A diabetes, loves modelling, his mother says

Frankie Porter made his first venture into modelling nine months ago and has already appeared in high-street adverts for Marks and Spencer and Jeans for Genes

And it looks like his success is set to continue as Frankie has more shoots lined up following the success of the Sainsbury's Christmas advert.

Ms Porter, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, said: 'I took him for a photoshoot in March this year just to see if he liked it and he took to it like a duck to water and really enjoyed it.

'Frankie had always enjoyed having his picture taken but I was so proud of him after his first shoot.

'He takes direction really well despite the fact he uses Makaton - a language programme that uses signs and symbols - as a form of communication as he struggles sometimes.

Frankie Porter with his mother Vicky Porter during a photoshoot where the young boy is dressed as a Christmas bauble from the Sainsbury's advert

'People are always surprised that he's relatively new to it all, he will happily sit and pose for hours as the photographer takes his picture.

'We put together a portfolio for him and we haven't looked back since, he has been so popular.'

She revealed Frankie had to travel to London for rehearsals and filming of the Sainsbury's advert after he was chosen as one of the final few.

Ms Porter added: 'There was a lot of waiting around which I was concerned about because, as well as Frankie's Downs Syndrome, he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in March of this year.

'Despite all this, Frankie was fine - he's so laid back about most things.

'He is so adorable in the advert, his little cheer at the end is priceless.'

Frankie was born four weeks premature and the diagnosis came as a shock to Ms Porter (right, with Frankie), who were unaware anything was wrong

Ms Porter was over the moon when Frankie was given a space in the advert and explained how proud of him she is.

Frankie was born four weeks premature and the diagnosis came as a shock to the family, who were unaware anything was wrong.

It was only when Frankie was born in 2013 that Ms Porter, who has three other children, Corey, 23, Millie, 20, and Charlie, nine, found out her son had Down's Syndrome.

The full time mother and carer for Frankie, said: 'I was really worried at first about Frankie's condition, particularly on how his older siblings would react.

'I soon realised they just took it as it was and weren't phased by it - Frankie, is just Frankie.

She added: 'We love Frankie being able to do what he loves - we don't let Down Syndrome or the diabetes define him as they're only a small part of Frankie.

Frankie, five, with his brother Charlie, nine, smile as they have their picture taken by a Christmas tree

'Zebedee has given him a chance to shine for which we are really grateful. They are inspirational.'

Laura, co director of Zebedee Management, added: 'Frankie is an absolute superstar and definitely has that star quality.

'We're so pleased he joined us - he's constantly smiling and has so much character.

'We had no idea how the agency would go but we wanted to see some change and equality in the modelling business.

'Luckily it's gone really well and it continues to grow - in the first year we had 100 bookings but in the last few months alone we've had over 400.'This is the shocking moment a shark sinks its teeth into a diver's leg as he swims with a tourist group in the Red Sea.

Dan White, 28, captures the oceanic whitetip shark as it approaches the divers near Brother Islands in Egypt.

The shark then lunges at a German holidaymaker's leg - clamping its jaws down as another diver attempts to wrestle it off.

Dan White, 28, captures the oceanic whitetip shark as it approaches a group of divers in the Red Sea, Egypt

Blood seeps into the surrounding water from the wound after the shark lets go and the video ends.

The German diver was then taken aboard his tour group's boat and rushed to hospital.

Divers with Mr White's group, Divercrew, rushed aboard their own boat but, despite witnessing the traumatic event, Mr White and his girlfriend Shaunie Thomas returned to the water the next day.

Another tourist group, Zodiac Divers, helped get all the tourists out of the water.

Mr White, from Farnham, Surrey, said: 'Some people don't believe it's real - and most tell me I'm crazy for getting in the water in the first place.

'I've heard of shark attacks on the news and in magazines, but I've never heard of anything like this happening near me let alone witnessed it before.

Shark swims close to the two tourist groups after becoming interested in the bubbles surrounding the divers

But the shark then lunges at a German diver - clamping its jaws down on his leg as he screams

'I've learnt that sharks aren't to be taken lightly - they're unpredictable and as we are in their home they always have the upper hand.

'Everyone needs to stay vigilant whilst diving with them.'

The holidaymaker believed the shark had become spooked by the bubbles surrounding a diver and had come over to investigate.

By releasing the footage, Mr White hopes others can learn from the experience.

He said: 'I've already had people tell me the shark needs to be removed from the water, but they fail to understand we went into its home, not the other way around.

The predator held on to the man's leg for a few moments before being shaken off his body

A plume of blood seeps into the surrounding water after the shark releases the man's leg

'This isn't a jaws story it's a simple case of wrong place, wrong time.'

Since the incident, it has been announced that the waters off Brothers Island will be closed for diving activities for the rest of the year.

The attack was not the first of its kind in the area: in total, four divers have been bitten in the waters since June.

Red Sea Sharks, a group dedicated to research and education to help protect sharks in the Red Sea, said: 'The constant presence of liveaboards over the last years, accompanied by their sounds and smells, intentional and unintentional feeding of sharks, the illegal fishing activities, and changes in the way that dives are being conducted out there is to blame for the current situation.

'So besides removing the stimuli rewarding oceanics to hang around dive sites for extended periods of time, it will give the industry the chance to review practices, ensure the proper training of everybody involved, and make sure violators of the agreed practices are severely punished in the future.'

Kevin McMurray, a shark attack researcher and owner of Tracking Sharks, a shark information website, said: 'Oceanic whitetips are deep ocean sharks that are known to cruise toward the shallows near deep water drop offs.

'The shark in Mr White's footage appeared to behave in an anxious manner and displayed signs of agitation.

Dan White and his girlfriend Shaunie Thomas then rushed onto their boat - but went back into the water the next day

'It also appeared to be sizing up the diver in the shorty as it drew near, as if it would bump him, probing.

'However, the diver kicked away in a horizontal pattern, which might have mimicked prey, and excited the shark.

'The large number of divers surrounding the shark could have contributed to the incident, as well as their positions in the water.

'Divers who encounter sharks are advised to stay vertical, and form a group with other divers.

'More importantly, they should watch the closest shark and be ready to safely push it away should it come too close.'The Empire State Building switched its lights yellow on Sunday evening to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Simpsons, the longest-running animated series of all time.

Although viewers may still be still figuring out where The Simpsons' hometown of Springfield is, it was their New York neighbors who delivered the show's fanfare yesterday evening.

To mark 30 years since the first airing of The Simpsons on December 17 1989, the top of the Empire State Building turned bright yellow, the color of The Simpsons characters.

The Empire State building turned yellow on Sunday evening to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Simpsons which has been on television screens since December 17 1989

This is not the first time that The Empire State Building has taken on a yellow tinge to celebrate the Springfield family.

In 2007, the landmark tower turned yellow to mark the release of The Simpsons film where Homer and his pet pig create a disaster that threatens to destroy the entire planet.

This year, The Simpsons broke another record when it released its 636th episode and overtook Gunsmoke, a US western show, to become the longest running prime time scripted series in history.

The Simpsons family visit The Empire State Building to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the show

The show is one of the most successful in television history, having won 33 Emmy awards, 30 Annie Awards and 11 Writers Guild of America Awards to name a few.

However, the animated series has attracted controversy in recent years over its portrayal of certain characters in the show. Most notably, the character of Apu, an Indian immigrant shop owner voiced by Hank Azaria, faced public backlash for perceived cultural appropriation.

While the show still has a loyal fanbase, viewing figures have declined to their lowest point in the show's history. Only 4 million people tuned it to watch the 27th season and with the arrival of Netflix and on-demand content, the downward trend may continue further.Sun Bo (pictured), the former general manager of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation is being investigated by China

The boss of a Chinese shipbuilding company responsible for refitting Beijing's first aircraft carrier could face a death penalty after allegedly selling state secrets to the CIA, according to media reports.

Sun Bo, the former general manager of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, was sacked and investigated by China's top anti-corruption watchdog in June.

But Sun could have angered the Community Party after disclosing a complete set of data regarding the project of Liaoning - China's first aircraft carrier - to the US intelligence agency, according to a previous report on Taiwan-based China Times, citing Russian sources.

The China Times article said if the allegations were proved to be true, Sun's case could be the second most serious case of high reason in the history of China.

Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, is a refitted Soviet ship bought from Ukraine. It went into service in 2012. Pictured, Liaoning is berthed at the Victoria bay in Hong Kong on July 7, 2017

Sun Bo has been accused of disclosing information regarding China's aircraft carrier to CIA

The disgraced official could face a death sentence or 'at least a suspended death sentence' for his alleged spying role, South China Morning Post revealed in a report today, citing insiders.

The report claimed three sources confirmed to them that the Chinese authorities were looking into the allegations that Sun had passed on state secrets to foreign agents.

One source told the Hong Kong-based newspaper that Beijing would likely use Sun's case to warn other Communist officials. The source said Sun was 'very likely' to face a death penalty because he was the 'core manager' in charge of the rebuilding of Liaoning.

According to China's People's Daily Online, Sun has a PhD in design and manufacture of ships and marine structures and has worked most of his career in Dalian, a port city in north-east China.

In March, 2015, he was appointed as the general manager, the deputy Communist Party secretary and a member of the board of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, which has 28 affiliated institutions and 170,000 employees.

China's third aircraft carrier: What we know so far China's third aircraft carrier reportedly will have a displacement of more than 80,000 tonnes

The new warship is equipped with a flat-top flight deck and an electromagnetic aircraft launch system

Three catapults shown on board the carrier would mean high speed launch capabilities, high frequency take-offs and quick responses

Construction has started last year in Shanghai and sea trials are expected to begin in three years Advertisement

China currently has two aircraft carriers: Liaoning, a refitted Soviet ship it bought from Ukraine that went into service in 2012, and Type 001A, the country's first domestically designed and built carrier.

The Type 001A was reportedly also built by China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, the firm Sun used to lead.

The ship has been running through sea trials over the course of 2018, and entry into service is 'just around the corner', reported China's state-run Xinhua News Agency.

Last month, Xinhua reported China had started building its third aircraft carrier - the first official confirmation made by Chinese media of the warship's construction.

According to military experts, the new aircraft carrier might need about two and a half years to be built because of its bigger size, meaning it could be launched in 2021.

China's potential third aircraft carrier was pictured in the background of a conference among China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) executives in Wuhan city in June. State-run Xinhua news agency confirmed 'a new generation aircraft carrier is being built on the slipway'

In the picture released in June, the new unnamed aircraft carrier is seen flanked by Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, and Type 001A, the country's first domestically developed carrier

Previous state media articles have speculated the new aircraft carrier is being constructed at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai. The third warship is expected to be 'bigger and mightier' than the Liaoning and Type 001A, China Daily reported.

Speculation of the warship's construction was prompted in June by an image accidentally revealed by the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.

While its predecessors are equipped with angled, jump-rack decks, the new mysterious warship has a flat-top flight deck, making an electromagnetic aircraft launch system possible, according to an earlier report on the English website of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.As 2018 draws to a close, there is considerably more clarity over the direction of travel for UK pensions, with the Pensions Minister announcing a Pensions Bill for 2019 and a number of consultations being initiated by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Matthew Arends, Head of UK Retirement Policy at Aon, looks forward to what 2019 might have in store. Consolidation Matthew Arends said: In December the DWP announced a consultation into defined benefit (DB) commercial consolidators. This gives us the first insight into the DWPs plans for the regime under which this new type of vehicle will operate. Having said that, the DWP puts forward not one but four different potential models for financial adequacy, so there will be uncertainty for some time to come as to what level of security of members benefits these vehicles will provide. Until we get clarity on this, it is difficult to see many transactions taking place. Continuing the consolidation theme, 2019 will see DC mastertrust authorisation begin in earnest and I foresee that with it will come consolidation among DC mastertrusts themselves. This is unlikely to be completed in 2019 but ultimately we are likely to see a much smaller pool of larger mastertrusts. This has the potential to benefit members through greater scale and sharing of fixed costs. Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) Matthew Arends continued: The end of 2018 also saw the DWPs consultation on Collective DC plans and with it the promise of the legislation to enable CDC plans appearing in the 2019 Queens Speech. We are  at last  seeing the advent of this version of DC which ensures an income for life from savings. Hopefully, we will begin to see employers in addition to the Royal Mail publicly showing their interest in CDC. 2019 may also see DC mastertrusts and industry-wide bodies start lobbying to be allowed to introduce CDC funds into their schemes in response to member demand for incomes for life  a regular theme from our DC member surveys. Regulation Matthew Arends said: We know that Lesley Titcomb will step down as chief executive of the Pensions Regulator (TPR) in February 2019 and ideally we hope to know who her successor will be before that. No doubt the change in leadership will bring further change to TPRs style of regulation. That said, there has been a noticeable switch in approach to regulation over the last year. In my view, TPR is already in a transition from being a regulator to being a supervisor. We have seen this with TPRs approach to DC mastertrust authorisation and the likely way forward for DB consolidators follows the same pattern. It seems to me that conventional DC and DB pension schemes will be supervised rather than regulated in due course, meaning that trustees can expect much more regular intervention from TPR in future. The issue this creates in the meantime is for TPR to ensure consistency of approach, both between different pension schemes and over time. Without this consistency, it is very difficult for trustee boards to have the correct governance models. Guaranteed Minimum Pensions Matthew Arends concluded: I wonder if 2019 will become known as the Year of the GMP  not only will GMP reconciliation exercises be coming to a close but DB schemes will also begin to tackle GMP equalisation in earnest. Typically, in 2018, companies and trustee boards will have dealt with the immediate issues of accounting for the additional equalisation cost and with the way forward for individual member calculations. But in 2019, trustee boards and companies will need to start ensuring that scheme data is in the right shape for equalisation, and that members are appropriately communicated with. This will be the start of a long process with GMPs but it will be important to set off on the right foot.

Japan will get its first aircraft carriers since WWII and buy dozens of fighter jets under a new defence plan to counter Chinese military expansion.

The new 192billion ($244billion) five-year defence plan approved today calls for the upgrade of two helicopter carriers so that they can launch US jets.

As part of a separate plan the Japanese intend to acquire 42 Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter jets.

Shinzo Abe's latest boost to the Japanese military comes as his ministers argue there are 'strong concerns' over Chinese manoeuvres and North Korea remains a threat.

A Japanese helicopter carrier, Kaga, trails behind Japanese destroyer Inazuma led by the British frigate HMS Argyll in the Indian Ocean; Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hopes to upgrade the helicopter carriers so they can launch fighter jets

A US F-35B fighter jet lands aboard amphibious assault ship Wasp during an exercise in the western Pacific with Japanese forces; the Japanese will hope to deploy such advanced fighters after converting their carriers

But the move is controversial, with critics arguing it shifts Tokyo further away from its commitment to strictly defensive capabilities under Japan's post-WWII pacifist constitution.

'We will secure both the quantity and quality of defence capability that is necessary... to meet the rapidly changing security environment,' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular press briefing on Tuesday.

'We believe this is within... what is allowed under the constitution.'

The five-year plan approved on Tuesday assumes record defence spending of 27.47 trillion yen (192billion) through to March 2024.

It calls for the defence ministry to upgrade two flat-top Izumo-class destroyers to enable them to launch fighters with short take-off and vertical landing abilities, like the F-35B stealth fighter.

The separate plan endorsed by the cabinet on Tuesday, says they will buy 42 F-35s over the next decade, with the F-35B variant widely considered the likeliest candidate.

A helicopter lands on the deck of the Japanese destroyer Izumo of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force in December 2016; their new defence guidelines will allow them to deploy advanced US stealth fighters

It also plans over the same period to buy 105 F-35As, a variant of the advanced jet which performs conventional takeoffs and landings and cannot be used on the retrofitted destroyers.

Local media have said the purchases could total more than one trillion yen (7billion).

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said Japan's concerns about Beijing's military are 'not conducive to the development and improvement of Sino-Japanese relations'.

Beijing has already expressed its 'strong dissatisfaction and opposition' and 'urges Japan to adhere to a purely defensive policy', she added at a regular press briefing.

Last year, China unveiled its first domestically built aircraft carrier as it continues to assert its vast claims to the South China Sea. Beijing's first carrier, the Liaoning, is a second-hand Soviet ship built nearly 30 years ago and commissioned in 2012.

The new plans come after pledges from Japan to buy more US military equipment, under pressure from President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly complained about Washington's huge trade deficit with Tokyo and also urged Abe to expand the country's defensive capacity.

Abe has aggressively expanded Japan's alliance with the United States.

A Japanese helicopter carrier; the Japanese have made changes to their military code due to concerns over China and North Korea

He has campaigned for years to amend Japan's pacifist constitution, arguing that it ties the hands of the country's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) even in protecting the country's allies from attack.

Government officials were at pains to make clear the policy did not represent a shift away from the country's long-standing focus on defence.

'The Izumo-class destroyers will continue to serve as multi-function, multi-purpose destroyers. This mode of operation falls within the realm of an exclusively defence-oriented policy,' Defence Minister Takeshi Iwaya told a regular briefing.

The remodelled ships and new fighter jets will 'increase operational flexibility' for Japan's military as China boosts its naval footprint in southern waters that are home to several remote Japanese islands, a defence official said.

'We have a very, very small SDF footprint' in the area between Okinawa and Taiwan, he added.

But he said it was a 'misunderstanding' to believe that the upgrades would create 'full-fledged aircraft carriers' capable of staging offensive action in distant regions.

And the new fighters would be stationed at existing ground facilities, not on the ships, he said.

'We are not creating carrier air wings or carrier air squadrons' like the US navy, he added.

'That's not going to happen.'A presentation that Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou gave to a bank in August 2013 lies at the heart of the US allegations against Meng and her arrest in Vancouver.

The 17-slide PowerPoint, presented by Meng through an English interpreter, aimed to ease concerns raised by HSBC execs that Huawei may have been breaking US sanctions by doing business in Iran via a subsidiary called Skycom.

US prosecutors accused Meng of lying to bankers when she denied that Huawei and the Hong Kong-based subsidiary were affiliated, misleading HSBC to continue clearing Skycom transactions in Iran.

Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, arrives at a parole office with a security guard in Vancouver. US prosecutors accused Meng of lying to bankers in 2013 when she denied that Huawei and the Hong Kong-based subsidiary Skycom were affiliated, misleading HSBC to continue clearing Skycom transactions in Iran

HSBC is said to have cleared more than US$100 million worth of transactions related to Skycom through the US between 2010 and 2014, according to court papers.

The English version of the PowerPoint, first published by South China Morning Post, was revealed in the British Columbia Supreme Court, where a Canadian judge last week granted Meng's release on bail of C$10 million (US$7.5 million) pending a hearing on extradition to the US.

'Huawei operates in Iran in strict compliance with applicable laws, regulations and sanctions of the United Nations, United States and European Union,' the presentation that was reportedly prepared by the company's legal affairs department read.

At the time, Meng said that Huawei's relationship with Skycom consisted of 'normal business cooperation' and that Huawei had complied with American sanctions and would not use HSBC for any transactions in Iran.

Skycom Tech Co was a Hong Kong firm that worked with Huawei in Iran between 2009 and 2014, when the alleged breach occurred.

Huawei's research and development centre in Dongguan in China's Guangdong province

'HSBC has been working with Huawei for a long time and has a deep understanding of Huawei's history of growth around the world,' the presentation said. 'We have been and will continue to be transparent.'

However, the US authorities argue the PowerPoint was filled with 'numerous untrue or misleading representations', adding that 'Huawei did not "cooperate" with Skycom; Skycom was entirely controlled by Huawei'.

The bank's risk-assessment committees relied on the PowerPoint and Meng's word to justify continuing facilitating business in Iran, thus violating sanctions indirectly.

'The suggestion that this 2013 PowerPoint induced [HSBC] to continue to provide financial services is preposterous,' refuted David J. Martin, Meng's lawyer, at the bail hearing on December 7.

'Quite apart from whether or not such a document could induce [HSBC]  there is obviously concern about Ms Meng's mens rea [intent of wrongdoing]: this is a document that is produced by a large department of the Huawei company,' Martin said, cited by South China Morning Post.

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.

Lisa Duan, a visitor from China, holds a sign in support of Huawei outside of the BC Supreme Court bail hearing of Meng Wanzhou on December 10 in Vancouver

A 2013 report by Reuters revealed that Skycom had much closer ties to Huawei and Meng than previously known. Meng, chief financial officer of Huawei and daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei, served on the board of Skycom between February 2008 and April 2009

A 2013 report by Reuters revealed that Skycom had much closer ties to Huawei and Meng than previously known.

Meng, chief financial officer of Huawei and daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei, served on the board of Skycom between February 2008 and April 2009, according to Skycom records filed with Hong Kong's Companies Registry.

In late 2010, Skycom's office in Tehran offered to sell at least 1.3 million euros worth of HP gear to Mobile Telecommunication Co of Iran, despite US trade sanctions. At least 13 pages of the proposal were marked 'Huawei confidential' and carried Huawei's logo, according to the report.

Huawei said neither it nor Skycom ultimately provided the HP equipment; HP said it prohibits the sale of its products to Iran.

Shell companies are legitimate corporations, but do not possess significant assets or maintain active business operations. To set up a company in Hong Kong, one needs a director and a company secretary based in Hong Kong. The system is designed to make Hong Kong an easy place to do business, according to South China Morning Post.

But there have been concerns about possible abuse  that companies are being set up to conceal the real identities of the entities behind these firms.

HSBC said this week that it was cooperating with the government and was not under investigation itself.

Supporters hold signs and Chinese flags outside the BC Supreme Court during the third day of a bail hearing for Meng on December 11. She was granted release on bail of C$10 million (US$7.5 million) pending a hearing on extradition to the US

Meng's next court date is scheduled for February 6 and could set the timeline for her extradition hearing.

At the same time, the Australian Financial Review reported on Thursday that intelligence officials had previously publicly voiced concerns about Huawei and China's 'cyber espionage capabilities'.

In a July meeting in Canada, espionage chiefs from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US agreed to contain the growth of the Chinese telecommunications giant.

The 'Five Eyes' members concluded that Huawei posed a security risk on the grounds that it could be spying on behalf of the Chinese government, according to the claims also published by The Wall Street Journal.

Huawei has denied the accusations, and Western intelligence agencies have not released any evidence to back up the claims.

The company is the world leader in mobile network gear, particularly in Asia, Africa, and Europe, accounting for 28 per cent of last year's US$32 billion global sales of mobile network gear, according to IHS Markit.Jacob Rees-Mogg today promised that he would never vote to topple a Tory government - just a week after his failed plot to oust Theresa May.

The Brexiteer ringleader also warned the PM that she faces a greater threat of being ousted by Remainer MPs in the Conservative Party.

Mr Rees-Mogg helped launch a vote of no confidence in the PM last week, but Mrs May won the dramatic showdown by 200-117.

Despite losing the vote, Mr Rees-Mogg initially refused to admit defeat and toured the television studios urging Mrs May to quit anyway.

But he has embarked on an astonishing U-turn over the past 24 hours - publicly pledging his loyalty to Mrs May and finally admitting defeat.

Mr Rees-Mogg also admitted that his plan for a 'managed no deal' is not on the table at the moment - but that the EU could consider it as Brexit day draws closer.

Speaking to the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme this morning, he said: I lost the vote and I dont believe in a losers vote.'

Jacob Rees-Mogg (pictured in the Commons yesterday) promised that he would never vote to topple a Tory government - just a week after his failed plot to oust Theresa May

He added: After the vote was concluded, I had one last go and sad I thought the Prime Minister should of her own volition go  she hasnt, she has stayed.

She won the vote, and therefore I have to accept the result of a democratic vote  similar to what Ive been saying about the referendum.

'We have had a referendum. A decision has been made and as I say, I am not in favour of a losers vote.

Labour have vowed to call a vote of no confidence in the Government early next year in a bid to topple the Tories.

And some had speculated that die-hard Brexiteers could back the vote in a last-ditch and desperate push to ensure the PM's Brexit deal does not get through.

May puts Britain on no deal alert with 101 days to go until Brexit Theresa May will put Britain on a Brexit war footing today as she gathers ministers to ramp up no-deal plans. The PM is holding a crucial Cabinet meeting to sign off billions of pounds more spending on border checks and rerouting goods to 'friendlier' ports. But doubts have been raised about whether it is already too late - with claims that only a third of the money allocated so far has been spent, and ships to carry emergency supplies of medicine and food have already been booked. The Cabinet session is the last of the year as Mrs May limps towards a much needed Christmas respite. Despite overwhelming opposition from Tories, the DUP, Labour, the SNP and Lib Dems, Downing Street still hopes that MPs will come round to her Brexit plan during the break. But with just 101 days to go before the UK leaves and Parliament deadlocked, the prospect of the UK crashing out is becoming ever more real. Ministers led by Sajid Javid, Matt Hancock and Andrea Leadsom have been clamouring for contingency plans to be stepped up. Cabinet is expected to be presented with three options this morning - escalating preparations with 2billion more funding, keeping planning at the same level, or dropping the idea of no-deal altogether and hope that Mrs May's deal is accepted by MPs. They are set to agree with the PM that the state of readiness must be ramped up. But Mr Hammond is said to be frustrated that only a third of the estimated 2.2billion funds previously allocated have been spent so far. Advertisement

But Mr Rees-Mogg dismissed these rumours and said he would never vote to topple Mrs May's government.

He said: In a motion of no confidence under a Fixed Term Parliament Act I will always back a Conservative Government.

Im a Conservative member of Government, people in North East Somerset voted for me on the basis that I would back a Conservative government. I dont think I could reasonably go against that mandate.

What the DUP will do, you will have to ask them.

And I would have thought actually the Prime Minster is at a greater risk in a vote of no confidence from people who see themselves as pro EU in the party, than from people who are Eurosceptic.

He added: Look, Ive had my vote of no confidence in her and I lost, and I am not going to repeat the exercise.

The Prime Minister is secure under the party rules for a year, but I think to try and rerun something when you have lost it is not reasonable. It is not democratic.'

The Tory MP also admitted that his proposal for a managed no deal Brexit is not on the table right now because the EU are refusing to consider it while Mrs May's proposal is still be ing floated.

But he said that as March 29, Brexit day, draws closer the EU could change their mind.

He said: It is quite interesting because the EU yesterday seemed to be saying that they were intending to have a six to nine month transition keeping things as they are of their own volition.

So I think there are more things that could potentially be done, but while this deal (Mrs Mays deal) is still on the table they are unlikely to be done.

It is widely recognised that both sides want to avoid no deal, and both sides are making preparations for no deal which to some extent are mirroring each other.

So is this possible at the moment? No, the EU is not open to this discussion, but could it be as we get closer to the 29th March? Yes I think there is a very serious prospect of that as the EU has shown by its own actions.

Mr Rees-Mogg kicked off his remarkable U-turn yesterday in the Commons when he stood up to pledge his loyalty to the PM.

He praised her for 'winning the confidence of the Conservatives in this House last week'.

Mr Rees-Mogg insisted he wanted to 'assure her that she therefore commands my confidence too'.

The Tory MP for North East Somerset had led the botched attempt to oust Mrs May from No10.

Last month, he publicly declared that he had no confidence in the PM and urged his fellow Tories to send their letters in to trigger a leadership contest.

But the bid faltered after Brexiteers failed to get the 48 letters needed to trigger a contest.

Theresa May (pictured in the Commons last night) is limping towards the Christmas recess

Moments after the no confidence vote was declared by Sir Graham Brady last Wednesday night Mr Rees-Mogg said the result was 'terrible' for Mrs May (Mr Rees-Mogg is pictured in the aftermath of the vote last week)

However, he was out again last week when the threshold was finally reached leading the bid to oust her.

And when Mrs May clung on to her post winning the crunch vote by nearly 100 votes, Mr Rees-Mogg urged her to quit anyway.

He told the BBC: 'She ought to go and see the Queen urgently and resign.'

His words of contrition comes as Mrs May gathers her ministers for Cabinet today here they are expected to urgently ramp up no deal Brexit planning.

The PM is holding a crucial Cabinet meeting to sign off billions of pounds more spending on border checks and rerouting goods to 'friendlier' ports.

But doubts have been raised about whether it is already too late - with claims that only a third of the money allocated so far has been spent, and ships to carry emergency supplies of medicine and food have already been booked.

The Cabinet session is the last of the year as Mrs May limps towards a much needed Christmas respite.

Despite overwhelming opposition from Tories, the DUP, Labour, the SNP and Lib Dems, Downing Street still hopes that MPs will come round to her Brexit plan during the break.Pope Francis condemned nationalist leaders who blame migrants for their problems in a blistering attack

Pope Francis condemned nationalist leaders who blame migrants for their countries' problems by pursuing xenophobic and racist policies.

The 82-year-old pope, who has made defence of migrants a plank of his papacy, made the comments in his message for the Catholic Church's World Day of Peace, which is commemorated on New Year's Day. The message from the pontiff is sent to heads of state and government and international organisations.

It comes at a time when immigration is one of the most contentious issues in countries such as the United States, Italy, Germany and Hungary.

Francis has sparred with U.S. President Donald Trump and Italian right-wing league leader Matteo Salvini over the rights of migrants.

'Political addresses that tend to blame every evil on migrants and to deprive the poor of hope are unacceptable,' said the pope, who did not mention any countries or leaders.

Pope Francis (centre) has sparred with U.S. President Donald Trump (left) and Italian right-wing league leader Matteo Salvini (right) over the rights of migrants

He said today's times were 'marked by a climate of mistrust rooted in the fear of others or of strangers, or anxiety about one's personal security.'

Francis said it was sad that mistrust was 'also seen at the political level, in attitudes of rejection or forms of nationalism that call into question the fraternity of which our globalised world has such great need.'

Last week, the pope praised the United Nations first Global Compact on Migration, which sets objectives for how the management of migration can be improved. A number of nations, including the United States, Italy, Hungary, and Poland did not attend the meeting in Morocco.

The 82-year-old pope, who has made defence of migrants a plank of his papacy, made the comments in his message for the Catholic Church's World Day of Peace on Jan. 1

Francis denounced a list of 'vices' by politicians who he said undermined authentic democracy and brought disgrace to public life through various forms of corruption.

Among these he included misappropriation of public resources, dishonest gain, xenophobia, racism, lack of concern for the environment, and plundering of natural resources.

He proposed eight 'Beatitudes of the Politician' - first formulated by the late Vietnamese Cardinal Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan - as a guide for the behaviour of public office holders.

These, he said, would set goals for politicians who, among other qualities, should have a deep understanding of their role, personally exemplify credibility, work for the common good and accomplish radical change.A remainer has been punched and verbally abused - once suffering two black eyes - just for wearing an anti-Brexit top, he has claimed.

In less than two months Peter Cook, 60, has been set upon numerous times including by a gang of youths and a pensioner, as well as random passersby.

Mr Cook suffered black eyes when a gang of violent teenagers pounced on him at a train station in October.

The yobs hurled abuse at the musician from Gillingham in Kent after seeing his T-shirt, which says 'Break Brexit before Brexit breaks Britain'.

Mr Cook was called an idiot and 'Brexit w*****' as he made his way home with his bicycle on October 22.

Peter Cook an anti-Brexit campaigner from Gillingham in Kent was attacked at Gillingham Railway station for his views on Brexit and left with two black eyes

Mr Cook's t-shirt says 'Break Brexit Before Brexit Breaks Britain' - but it has got him in trouble

The youths tried to grab his bike and one of them then punched him in the face, leaving Mr Cook needing hospital treatment.

A few weeks later he was punched in the face by a pensioner in a pub after a Brexit debate became heated.

He was also verbally abused by a passerby as he walked through the streets - again after his attacker noticed the T-shirt.

Mr Cook, of Gillingham, Kent said: 'The teenagers at the train station tried to pull my bicycle down the stairs and started spitting at me.

'There was about seven of them and one of them punched me across the face once.

'They were very aggressive - it wasn't nice.'

Mr Cook says he wears the T-shirt two or three times a week, usually when he is going to protest over Brexit.

He thought of the phrase while in the shower and says he will continue to wear the white top, which has the words written in blue and red.

The pensioner at the pub did not leave him with any injuries, though Mr Cook said he was shocked to be assaulted during their discussion.

Last Monday he was the victim of a barrage of abuse from a stranger after leaving a supermarket while dressed in the top.

The man told Mr Cook to 'cross the Channel' if he did not like the outcome of the referendum.

Mr Cook, 60, refused to give up wearing the t-shirt despite it attracting negative attention

Mr Cook said: 'I'd just come out of Aldi and a guy who must have seen me in there started going off at me outside.

'He was about 30 yards away and just started shouting 'you f****** c***, you f****** this and that' for no reason.

'An elderly couple thought he was shouting at them but I said 'it's me he wants'.

'A lot people are experiencing this in the area.

'I think there's an awful lot of regret about Brexit, and people think they haven't got what they voted for.'

British Transport Police said it is still investigating the train station attack on Mr Cook.Nazir Ayeen, 29, who risked his life to translate for Prince Charles has told of his anguish as he faces deportation from Britain

An Afghan interpreter who risked his life to translate for Prince Charles has told of his anguish as he faces deportation from Britain.

Nazir Ayeen, 29, worked for the British Army for three years in Afghanistan, regularly coming under rocket and mortar attack.

Now he finds himself in danger of being deported to the very country from which he had to flee on account of death threats.

In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Mr Ayeen said: 'Interpreters are not normal asylum seekers. We sacrificed our youth and our safety to make Britain a safer country and to work for British interests.

'I expected that the Government would show some recognition of our services. I thought they would welcome us to stay in Britain if we were in danger.

'I had hoped for some gratitude. The way I am being treated is completely embarrassing.'

Mr Ayeen, pictured translating for Prince Charles in Helmand Provence, worked for the British Army for three years in Afghanistan, regularly coming under rocket and mortar attack

Now Mr Ayeen (pictured) finds himself in danger of being deported to the very country from which he had to flee on account of death threats as his five-year visa has expired

Mr Ayeen said that in contrast with the behaviour of the Home Office, the British Army had welcomed him with open arms. 'I have always felt a lot of loyalty to Britain,' he said.

'In Helmand, I got on with the soldiers very easily. I was with them in the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows.

'The soldiers would have given their lives for me, and I would have done the same for them. One told me that if something happened to him, I should take his weapon and try to defend him. We were like brothers.'

His most traumatic moment, he said, came in September 2008, when Private Jason Lee Rawstron, 23, a rifleman in the Parachute Regiment, was shot dead by the Taliban just yards from where Mr Ayeen was standing.

'We were on foot patrol when we were ambushed,' he recalled. 'There was a fierce fight for about 30 seconds. I thought I was going to die there.

'I saw death in front of my eyes. I saw bullets flying around. I thought that my time on earth had ended.

'I was very scared, very frightened and I completely lost hope. I was seeking shelter, but I still had an eye on what was going on around me.

'I saw the soldier aiming towards the Taliban and shooting. I saw him take a bullet straight in his head and he just died in front of me.

Mr Ayeen is pictured stood up on the right in a photograph taken in 2007 in Sangin district Helmand province, when he served with Royal Marines Commando

'After that it completely became a shock for me. It became a memory that I could never forget in my life.'

He remembered Private Rawstron, who an inquest established was shot in the left eye by random fire, as a close comrade.

'He was loved by the other soldiers and his loss was completely devastating,' he said. 'I don't think any of the platoon will ever recover, including me.'

On another occasion, he said, the vehicle in front of him was blown up by an IED.

'That could have been me,' he said. 'But none of this stopped me from working for the British Armed Forces. I just tried to keep doing my job in a brave way.'

The highlight of his service, he said, was translating for Prince Charles, who he described as 'a well-spoken person, a very calm and well-mannered man'.

'I was quite amazed by it,' he said. 'I was fascinated by the fact that I was translating for Prince Charles. He was part of the Royal Family. It was an honour.'

Mr Ayeen fled to Britain in 2013 after the Taliban found out about his three years of service and threatened to kill him.

He was granted a five-year visa and gradually built a new life, studying at Birkbeck, University of London, working for a construction company and starting a relationship with a girlfriend.

But his visa expired earlier this month, leaving him in legal limbo. Banned from both working and claiming benefits, he is living off his savings which are fast running out.

In 2013 Mr Ayeen fled to Britain after the Taliban found out about his three years of service and threatened to kill him. He has lived in London, working for a construction firm and meeting a girlfriend. Now, since his visa ran out he is in legal limbo unable to work or claim benefits

He was planning to study for an MA in International Relations at Middlesex University next year, but is unable to apply for a student loan until his residency status is confirmed.

'I can't get on with my life,' he said. 'The Home Office told me I have to wait six months before I get a decision, and all the time I know that I might be deported. It is completely disappointing for me.

'I now feel unwelcome here. The British people have been very friendly and appreciative, but their Government's promises have turned out not to be true.'

Mr Ayeen is the youngest of seven children. His father is a retired teacher of Persian literature. His family still lives in Kabul, where he worried they will be targeted because of their association with him.

'Working for the British Armed Forces was very risky so I didn't tell my family the truth most of the time,' the Manchester United fan said.

'I kept telling my mum that I was in a good place and looked after very well, with no danger at all.

'All of this was a story to keep her happy. Otherwise she would never have agreed for me to go to Helmand province. Every day there was explosions, gunfire, rockets and mortars. I saw some horrific, unbelievable scenarios.'

As someone who developed his perfect English by listening to BBC radio 'from an early age', he said, nothing would make him happier than becoming a British subject.

'I would feel so proud to have a British passport,' he said. 'I would do my best to work for the Government again as a civil servant. 'I would put all the talent that I have, and the potential that exists in me, into helping the Government again.'A red-faced paraglider has been caught crashing into sun loungers on a picturesque beach after trying to impress his wife.

Aristotelis Makos, 47, was gliding above St Panteleimon beach in Greece, when the accident took place.

The expert paraglider was trying to impress his wife, who was sitting under one of the umbrellas, when he missed the landing spot and collided with the sun loungers instead.

Aristotelis Makos, 47, crashes into sun loungers on the picturesque St Panteleimon beach in Greece

Mr Makos tries to impress his wife, who was sitting under one of the umbrellas, as he soars above the beach in Greece

Thankfully Aristotelis escaped without a scratch and the only thing damaged was his ego.

He added: 'I have landed at this place many times usually away from the chairs and people.

'This time, my lovely wife was sitting under one of the umbrellas. I was trying to impress her, by making a pass as close as I could over her umbrella.

'Thankfully I managed to land with no scratch and the only thing that was hurt was my ego.

The 47-year-old paraglider misses his landing spot and begins to head towards the white sun loungers

Mr Makos tries to make a pass over his wife's umbrella but instead crashes into the sun loungers on the sandy beach

Mr Makos quickly recovers and stands back up- escaping from the incident without a scratch

'My wife was absorbed by reading her book and didn't even see my crash.'

The aircraft engineer, from Larissa, Greece, has been paragliding since 1998 without any accidents - apart from this one.

He added: 'The people at the beach started to clap their hands and cheer.

'It was like they thought I meant to land on the chair. Even the beach bar owner laughed and asked me 'can I get you something to drink?'An alleged thief who looks like Friends star David Schwimmer has gone on the run rather than face court.

Abdulah Husseni was arrested after an appeal by Blackpool police was viewed around the world due to his similarity to the TV star.

He failed to appear before court to face charges of theft and fraud today - prompted magistrates to issue a warrant for his arrest.

Abdulah Husseni was arrested after police in Blackpool released this image (left) during a theft investigation. The picture was viewed around the world after social media wags compared the person pictured to Friends star David Schwimmer, who then made a mock-up of the scene

Husseni, who is accused of stealing a coat, a phone and a wallet from Mr Basrai's restaurant in Blackpool, had received instructions by post to come to court today.

On Tuesday, District Judge Jane Goodwin issued a warrant not backed for bail after Husseni, 36, of Slough, failed to answer his summons.

During an investigation into thefts in September, Blackpool released an image of a man leaving a restaurant and carrying what appeared to be a carton of beer cans.

But what would ordinary have been a low-key police appeal received huge interest after social media users pointed out the likeness to Schwimmer's character Ross Geller.

Schwimmer later responded to the picture by posting a video to his Twitter account that showed him scurrying through a convenience store carrying a carton of beer before looking up furtively at a CCTV camera.

He captioned the video: 'Officers, I swear it wasn't me. As you can see, I was in New York. To the hardworking Blackpool Police, good luck with the investigation #itwasntme'Despite a growing clamour holding a new vote is a complicated and lengthy process, requiring new laws, agreement on a question - and a delay to Brexit day on March 29.

Theresa May has insisted repeatedly that a new referendum would betray Leave voters in 2016 and will not happen on her watch.

But Parliament could force the PM into the decision - prompting Nigel Farage to tell Leave campaigners to prepare for another vote.

A new referendum would take almost six months - at least - to pass the necessary laws, establish campaigns and actually have the battle at the ballot box

Why do people say there needs to be a second referendum?

Theresa May's Brexit deal has no majority in Parliament - and it is not clear any other deal has a majority either, even if one could be negotiated.

Passing the question back to voters is seen by some as a way to end the impasse and give a clear instruction to politicians on what to do.

Some campaigners also say the 2016 referendum was not an informed choice because too many of the implications of Leave were unknown.

What do critics think?

Many people - led by the Prime Minister herself - say a new vote on Brexit would betray the people who voted Leave in 2016. They insist there was a clear order from the public to Leave the EU and politicians must follow it, working out the details for themselves.

Unionists also complain that accepting a new referendum on Brexit would pave the way for another referendum on Scottish independence, threatening the future of the UK.

Some politicians also feel it would simply reopen the wounds from the 2016 battle without really deciding anything more clearly.

What needs to happen for a referendum to happen?

Parliament would need to pass a new law for a referendum to be held. This process alone would take weeks and would likely be very controversial.

Before that can even happen, for political reasons there would probably have to be some kind of moment creating a 'mandate' for a new referendum as it is something neither of the main parties promised at the last election.

This might be a simple vote of MPs after Mrs May's deal has been rejected. The Government could call such a vote at any time. Labour also has some opportunities to call a vote - though winning such a vote would have less power.

It could even be a whole general election where one or more sides puts a new referendum in their manifesto.

What would the question and be who decides?

Nobody knows for sure - and this is probably the hardest question of all.

Some say it should be a simple repeat of last time, with Leave or Remain on the ballot paper. Others say it should be Remain versus Mrs May's Brexit deal.

Others advocate a two stage referendum - between Remain and Leave, followed by Mrs May's deal versus No Deal if Leave wins.

Still others say there could be multiple questions on the ballot paper, possible using a ranking system known as alternative vote.

The Electoral Commission would make a recommendation and MPs would make the final decision on what the question would be.

Would exit have to be delayed from March 29?

Yes. On the shortest timescale imaginable, a referendum would take almost six months from the point the decision was taken - something which has not happened yet. Exit day is less than four months away.

How long does it take to call and fight a referendum?

There is no fixed schedule but former Cabinet minister Justine Greening last month set out a 22 week timetable - just under six months start to finish

This assumes about 11 weeks to pass the necessary laws and another 11 weeks for the campaign - both a preliminary period to set up formal campaigns on each side and then a main short campaign.

This would in theory allow a referendum by mid June 2019 - a full three years after the last one.

Lots of factors could cause delays and short of sweeping political agreement on the rules of a campaign almost no way to speed up the process.

Would the result be any more decisive?

Probably not. Unlike last time, the referendum law could make the result legally binding and the question could be more specific than last time.

But polls suggest the country remains just as divided as in 2016 - suggesting the result could be just as close as the 52% to 48% Leave win next time.A Maryland-based Catholic group released a list of priest names 'credibly accused' of sexual abuse of children dating back to 1950.

The Maryland Province Jesuits, a branch of the Catholic Church with over 16,000 members worldwide, disclosed the list of 13 priest names as part of a wider apology to victims and their families.

In a letter published on the group's website, Rev. Rob Hussey, the leader of the Maryland Order, wrote: 'We are deeply sorry for the harm we have caused to victims and their families.

We hope that this disclosure of names will contribute to reconciliation and healing.'

In the letter, Rev. Hussey said that the people 'demanded transparency and accountability' and provided a detailed list of the names of the priests accused who were investigated by Maryland Province.

Rev. Hussey aid that the people 'demanded transparency and accountability' and provided a detailed list of the names and accusations of 13 that were investigated by Maryland Province

Some of the priests included in the list have faced multiple accusations of sexual abuse with at least three cases stretching over three decades in the period from the 1950s to 1980s.

The letter adds that there are 'allegations that could not be fully investigated to determine credibility, but we are releasing the names because there is a reasonable possibility the alleged abuse occurred.'

Out of the 13 names listed, five are still alive today and live in supervised housing under 'a safety plan'.

A priest holds onto rosary beads, an aid of worship that helps count the number of prayers or 'Hail Marys' as they are recited aloud or internally

According the Maryland Jesuits, the last known incident occurred in 2002.

Since 2002, the group claim to have installed a 'number of reforms' and employ a 'zero-tolerance policy' towards sexual abuse.

The Jesuits in the United States are made up of five provinces and the Maryland Jesuit's letter arrives off the back of the two other releases from Jesuit organisations.

Both the Western and the Central and Southern Provinces released the names of 150 priests this month who faced similar credible accusations.

On January 5, the Northeastern Province will release a list of names of priests accused in its region.

The Maryland Province 'encourage anyone who suspects abuse by any clergy or employee of the Province' to contact their local authorities or the Maryland's provincials office.There should be more military veterans and law enforcement officers in schools, and all teachers should be versed in what to do if there were an active shooter, the Trump administration has said.

Those are just two of the recommendations from the Federal Commission on School Safety, which was created by President Donald Trump and led by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. The 180-page report , released today, also called for getting rid of guidance from the Obama administration that aimed at making sure students of color and students with disabilities arent disciplined more harshly than their peers, and endorsed better access to mental services. The report also encouraged schools to consider arming certain school staff members, though it didnt recommend making arming staff a federal mandate.



See also: Scrap Discipline Guidance, Consider Arming School Staff, Trump Commission Says

The report has been criticized by the leaders of both of the nations major teachers unions.

The commissions recommendations were decided in a vacuum without any real input from the real education expertsAmericas teachers and school personnel working in public schools, said National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen Garcia in a statement.

And American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten slammed the report for its roll-back of the school discipline guidance and for advocating for putting more guns in schoolsalthough she said hiring more veterans and increasing active shooter training were worthy strategies already recommended by students, teachers, and school staff.

Still, Weingarten added, the report does not contain a single proposal for new funding for these initiatives.

Prepare Teachers for Active Shooter Situations

Schools need to prepare staff members, including teachers, on how to respond in case of an active shooter, the report said. These trainings, which should occur on a recurring basis, should vary based on grade levels, school design, and student backgrounds and needs, the report said.

Teacher training should include tabletop exercisesgroup exercises meant to generate discussion of issues surrounding a hypothetical emergencyand role-play, scenario-based training that simulates a real-life active shooter incident. (My colleague Evie Blad observed one of these simulated scenarios of an active shooter in a school building .) The training for teachers should also be trauma-informed, the report recommended.

But some of that training could also happen before the teacher steps into the classroom: The report recommends that states and school districts consider requiring basic school security and/or active shooter training as part of teacher-certification requirements.

And the report recommends the U.S. Department of Homeland Security develop active shooter training guidelines for educators and administrations, including minimum standards for teacher-certification requirements.

Hiring More Military Veterans

The report suggests that military veterans and retired law enforcement officers would make for highly effective educators that can also help ensure school safety. But in 2016, just 2.1 percent of U.S. teachers were veterans, the report noted.

Thats despite efforts like the Troops to Teachers program from the U.S. Department of Defense, which has placed more than 21,000 veterans into teaching positions since 1993. Those veterans are underutilized human assets for securing and protecting our schools, the report notes, citing their skills with managing conflict and emergency preparation.

Indeed, experts say that veterans who go through this program often have a level of maturity and other skills that allow them to build meaningful relationships with students and other educators that help build a safe school climate.

These folks make the school a better place just by virtue of who they are and how they deal with things, said William Owings, a professor of educational leadership at Old Dominion University who has studied Troops to Teachers. If there are lapses in lockdown procedures, they could provide an interesting perspective as part of a school safety team.

However, Owings and his co-author Leslie Kaplan warned against allowing these veterans to carry weapons unless they have gone through additional training.

The school safety report recommended that Congress change the intent and scope of the Troops to Teachers program, so that it would include principals, administrators, nurses, counselors, and school resource officers, instead of just teachers.

While Kaplan said many veterans have successfully gone onto administrative roles, she cautioned against popping them from the military to a school leadership position without any sort of experience in a school system.

The school safety report also recommended amending Troops to Teachers to provide financial assistance to veterans and law enforcement officers when teaching at any U.S. school, not just high-poverty ones.

But Kaplan and Owings said that incentivizing veterans to work in high-poverty schools is important, especially since the veterans often have skills that help them teach students in high-needs areas.

Finally, the report recommended that states reduce barriers to teacher certification for veterans and law enforcement officersincluding allowing schools to hire retired law enforcement officers without any impact on their pensions. Some pension plans prohibit re-hiring a state employee for a period of time after retirement, and there are tax penalties for violating those prohibitions, the report noted.

Image: Brian Hall, a community safety officer dedicated to the elementary schools in the Prince William County school system, watches as a group of students walk to their classroom at Ashland Elementary School in Manassas, Va. T.J. Kirkpatrick/Redux for Education WeekPolice say they will pursue criminal charges against a man who posted pictures of himself on Facebook posing in the wreckage of the California wildfires.

Rob Freestone and two other men were pictured making jokes and posing with burned out vehicles and trampolines after the deadly blaze which killed 86 people.

Officials in the devastated town of Paradise said Saturday that the photos and accompanying captions by Rob Freestone are 'unacceptable and reprehensible.'

The images Freestone posted show an insensitive and disturbing behavior in the town of Paradise, where almost every citizen lost their home to the devastating fire.

Rob Freestone (shown), formerly of Bigge Crane and Rigging Co., was terminated from his cleanup duties at the site of the Paradise, California, fire after photos like this surfaced

The three men were fired by their crane company, Bigge Crane and Rigging, for the photos after Freestone's posts went viral on Facebook.

'Mr. Freestone has been removed from the Camp Fire recovery effort and we are working with International Union of Operating Engineers regarding his actions,' the construction firm posted to Facebook on Saturday.

The Facebook page for the town of Paradise shared another user's post of Freestone's pictures, explaining that the town leadership contacted his employers and stating that the police would look into criminal charges.

According to KRCR News, the Paradise Police Department confirmed that they will be consulting with the district attorney's office before opening an investigation.

One of Freestone's posts shows two workers in safety vests smiling in the skeletal remains of a motor home with Freestone's caption reading, 'They're off on a fun filled vacation to unknown destinations in their new RV. '

Workers joking around in the burned out remains of a mobile home are seen in this pictured posted by Freestone

'Trampolines are stupid. BTW, it used to be called a Jumpoline until your mom got on it,' reads the accompanying text of a worker jumping up and down in the burnt frame of a trampoline

Rob Freestone's employer were quick to remove him from the work project on Saturday after his photos emerged

Hours after their first post, Bigge Crane and Rigging also announced the termination of two other employees expressing sympathies to the people of Butte County

The town of Paradise took offense at Freestone's disrespectful behavior in the ashen remains of their municipality on Facebook

'Trampolines are stupid. BTW, it used to be called a Jumpoline until your mom got on it,' reads the accompanying text of a worker jumping up and down in the burnt frame of a trampoline.

Another picture shows Rob Freestone impishly straddling what looks to be a fire truck mailbox with the caption, 'I got a ride on a fire truck today.'

A more disturbing photograph appears to show the charred remains of a house cat with a dusty beer bottle placed near the mouth.

'Dude... I was just chilling with my homies, having a couple of cold ones, and BAM... damn fire breaks out,' the callous words read above the picture.

Freestone posted a photo of a burned cat (left) with a beer bottle posed next to its mouth, and a photo of a worker (right) sitting on lawn furniture with feet in a metal tub

One photo shows a relaxed Freestone (left) with his legs up on the dashboard and another of a fireproof safe (right)

The images were posted over time from the middle of November into December according to the time stamps.

'We have identified three participants in this abhorrent event and their employment has been terminated, ' Bigge Crane and Rigging Co. posted on Facebook. 'Bigge expects its employees and contractors to work with the utmost integrity and professionalism.'

The Camp Fire began in Butte County, California, on November 8 and would not be contained for another 17 days.

It killed 86 people, many of them elderly, and wipd out more than 150,000 acres of land. It has since been classified as the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in the state's history.

At least 38 people died in the town of Paradise alone.

Firefighters dismantle a burned mobile home during a search for human remains in Paradise, California, on November 14

Linda Matthews returns to the remains of her Paradise, California, home on December 5 after residents were allowed back inA father shot his son dead to stop him strangling his other son to death in a drunken argument during a game of pool.

John Maloney, 56, will not be charged for killing his son Joseph, 30, because police believe he was justified in using deadly force.

The savage fight between Joseph and his 26-year-old brother James broke out around 6am on Sunday at their parental home near Stuart, Florida.

John Maloney, 56, will not be charged for killing his son Joseph (pictured), 30, because police believe he was justified in using deadly force

The fight between Joseph and his 26-year-old brother James broke out around 6am at their parental home (pictured) near Stuart, Florida

Joseph was said to be 'acting irrationally' after drinking alcohol with James for eight hours.

After their game of pool descended into a ferocious argument, Joseph pulled a knife on his brother while strangling him with one arm.

John shouted at Joseph to release James but was forced to shoot him with a revolver several times.

Martin County Sheriff William Snyder in a press conference

The boys' distraught mother called 911.

Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said in a press conference: 'The physical altercation began over a game of pool then escalated into the violent attack of one brother on another.'

'At one point the parents hear their younger son pleading for his brother to stop choking him because he could not breathe.

'His brother continued to strangle his sibling with one arm, while holding a knife over him with his other hand.'

Snyder described the devastation at the scene when he arrived.

'I don't know if there is a way I could accurately describe the look on his face.

'I am not sure what the dad could have done.'

Snyder explained why there were no charges: 'The physical evidence and the witness statements indicate that at the time of the incident, Mr Maloney believed that the deadly use of force was necessary to prevent death or great bodily injury to his younger son.

'Based on the circumstances that we think we have now he would be justified in using deadly force. 'What you actually have is self-defence for someone else.'A Florida man is accused of trying to pay for his McDonald's drive-thru order with a bag of weed.

Anthony Andrew Gallagher, 23, is said to have driven off after being denied his food because he didn't have any money to pay for it.

But he returned again a while later to make a second order - to pay for it with drugs. Police in Port St. Lucie say they were told about Gallagher's alleged offer of marijuana in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Anthony Andrew Gallagher, 23, was arrested on charges of marijuana possession and driving under the influence after police say he offered to pay for his food using weed

A worker at the fast food chain reported the offer, giving cops a description of the Port St. Lucie man.

They say a suspect matching his description went through the drive-thru again at around 2am and police approached him.

Police said in a Facebook post: 'The McDonald's worker told police that a man in a Pontiac four-door drove through the drive-thru of the McDonald's trying to exchange a baggie of marijuana for food. The McDonald's worker refused and the car drove off.

'A short time later, the suspect again went through the drive-thru of the McDonald's. Police made contact with the suspect and noticed a heavy odor of marijuana emitting from the car.

'The suspect told police that he did offer Marijuana in exchange for food but that he did so as a joke.

Police were called to the McDonalds in Port St. Lucie at around 2 am on Sunday

'The suspect was arrested for possession of Marijuana under 20 grams and DUI and taken to the St. Lucie County Jail for booking.'

Cops say they found a small amount of pot in the vehicle, which had a surfboard sticking through the back window, The TC Palm reports.

Gallagher was arrested on Sunday on charges of marijuana possession and driving under the influence.

It's unclear if Gallagher attempted to pay for his order with drugs the second time. It's also unclear if he has a lawyer.Bruce McLaughlin Jr., 30, (pictured) was shot dead earlier this month after he escaped from Pickens County jail in South Carolina and broke into a woman's home

Authorities say a South Carolina woman who shot and killed an escaped inmate who kicked in her door won't be charged.

The Pickens County Sheriff's Office announced Monday that the homeowner wouldn't face criminal charges in the shooting death of 30-year-old Bruce McLaughlin Jr. earlier this month.

The decision was made with guidance from the 13th Circuit Solicitor's Office.

Assistant Solicitor J. Baker Cleveland III said that the homeowner's actions 'are a textbook example of what type of actions the Protection of Persons and Property Act seek to provide absolute criminal immunity for.'

Authorities haven't released the homeowner's identity.

Sheriff Rick Clark previously said she had a concealed weapons permit and was home alone when McLaughlin broke in, armed with a knife.

The inmate was still in his orange prison jumpsuit when he kicked in the woman's door and grabbed a knife sharpening tool from her kitchen in Pickens.

He was heading towards the woman's bedroom when she opened fire.

McLaughlin and a second inmate, Timothy Dill, beat up two guards at Pickens County jail (pictured above) in an escape they had planned for days

'This was a big guy. If she hadn't had a weapon there's no telling what would have happened,' Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark said.

'I gave her a big hug. I told her how proud I was of her.'

The sheriff continued, 'This is the shining example' of why owning and knowing how to use a gun is important. She took the time to get her CWP and set herself up to be able to protect herself and not be harmed, killed or raped or whatever,

Timothy Dill (pictured) was recaptured by deputies without incident about the same time McLaughlin was shot, but the two were going in opposite directions

'She came out on the good on this end and the other guy, the bad guy, didn't,' Clark said.

Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelley said McLaughlin died from a gunshot wound to the head.

He had been in and out of the Pickens County jail about a dozen times on charges ranging from drug possession to assaulting a police officer to shoplifting and awaiting trial on first-degree burglary and grand larceny charges, according to sheriff's office records.

McLaughlin and a second inmate, Timothy Dill, beat up two guards in an escape they had planned for days.

The sheriff said Dill was recaptured by deputies without incident about the same time McLaughlin was shot, but the two were going in opposite directions.An investigation is underway to find out why two engines on a Virgin Australia aircraft 'flamed out' in heavy rain during descent to Canberra Airport last week.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the engine malfunction on ATR 72-600, VH-FVN travelling from Sydney to the nation's capital on December 13 at around 7pm.

While no one was injured, the ATSB regards the incident as 'serious', where aircraft crew had to manually re-ignite the aircraft before landing.

An engine malfunction on a Virgin Australia aircraft while descending into Canberra on December 13 is being investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (stock image)

'While the aircraft was descending through 11,000 ft in heavy rain, the right engine's power rolled back (decreased) and the engine flamed out,' a statement on the ATSB website read.

'The engine automatically re-started within five seconds. The descent continued and, while passing through 10,000 ft, the left engine's power also rolled back and that engine flamed out before automatically relighting.'

The ATSB has downloaded the flight data recorder and will collect additional evidence.

A final report will be released at the end of the investigation in the second half of 2019.

'Should a critical safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify relevant parties so appropriate action can be taken,' the ATSB states.

The aircraft was grounded at Canberra Airport for three days following the incident, according to flight tracking data.

It has since made 11 flights to Sydney, Tamworth, Port Macquarie, and Melbourne in the last two days with another 11 flights scheduled for December 19-20.

The aircraft remained grounded at Canberra Airport (pictured) for three days following the incident but has since has 11 flights across NSW and to Melbourne

Virgin Australia confirmed the ATSB is investigating an engine incident involving one of its ATR-72 aircraft.

'The aircraft, travelling from Sydney to Canberra, landed safely and there was no customer impact,' a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.

'Safety is always our number one priority and we are assisting the ATSB with their investigation.'Donald Trump has wished Michael Flynn good luck at his sentencing today.

The President's former National Security Advisor has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak.

In a tweet this morning, Trump also denied collusion with Russia during his election campaign.

He wrote: 'Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn.

'Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!'

Donald Trump has wished Michael Flynn good luck for his court appearance today

Special Counsel Robert Mueller (left) released a memo about the January 2017 interview in which Michael Flynn (right) lied to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian government

It comes after Special Counsel Robert released a memo about the January 2017 interview in which Michael Flynn lied to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian government.

It was that interview in which Flynn told investigators, among them now-former FBI agent Peter Strzok, about his conversations with Kislyak.

The memo indicates that Flynn denied asking the Russian government for political favors, according to CNN.

The agents who interviewed him, meanwhile, kept pressing President Donald Trump's former National Security Adviser for more specifics.

It was that interview in which Flynn told investigators, among them now-former FBI agent Peter Strzok (above), about his conversations with then-Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak

Flynn told Strzok and other FBI agents who interviewed him that he and Kislyak did not discuss U.S. sanctions against Russia.

The memo also describes how Flynn played down his attempts to lobby Russia to oppose a United Nations Security Council resolution to condemn Israeli settlements.

Flynn initially told agents that he did not try to convince Russia to vote against the resolution.

'The interviewing agents asked Flynn if he recalled any discussions with Kislyak about a United Nations vote surrounding the issue of Israeli settlements,' the memo said.

'Flynn quickly responded, 'Yes, good reminder'.'

He was also asked by the agents whether he tried to encourage Kislyak and his government not to retaliate to the Obama administration's decision to expel Russian diplomats.

'Flynn responded, 'Not really. I don't remember.'

Liar, liar: Flynn will be sentenced for admitting lying to the FBI about his contact before the 2016 election with Kislyak, then Putin's ambassador to Washington D.C.

'It wasn't, 'Don't do anything',' the memo said.

But the FBI knew Flynn asked Russia not to retaliate strongly to the expulsions.

When Flynn pleaded guilty last year, he admitted that he did do just that.

The Special Counsel's office said in the memo that Flynn did ask Russia to 'refrain from escalating the situation.'

The memo was released after Flynn's lawyers suggested that investigators discouraged him from having an attorney present during the interview and never informed him it was a crime to lie.

Prosecutors shot back: 'He does not need to be warned it is a crime to lie to federal agents to know the importance of telling them the truth.'

The mere insinuation of underhanded tactics was startling given the seemingly productive relationship between the two sides, and it was especially striking since prosecutors with Mueller's office have praised Flynn's cooperation and recommended against prison time.

The defense arguments spurred speculation that Flynn, 59, may be trying to get sympathy from President Donald Trump or may be playing to a judge known for a zero-tolerance view of government misconduct.

At his side: Flynn became a vocal supporter of Trump and spoke at campaign rallies such as this one in Grand Junction, CO, and the Republican national convention in Cleveland, OH, where he led chants of 'lock her up'

Notorious meeting: Flynn traveled to Moscow in December 2015 and dined with Vladimir Putin to celebrate the 10th anniversary of RT, the Russian English-language propaganda channel

What a change of tone: In the run-up to his former aide's sentencing, Trump has turned from portraying him as a liar to saying that he did not, as the president steps up his attacks on the Mueller probe

'It's an attempt, I think, to perhaps characterize Flynn as a victim or perhaps to make him look sympathetic in the eyes of a judge - and, at the same time, to portray the special counsel in a negative light,' said former federal prosecutor Jimmy Gurule, a University of Notre Dame law school professor.

Until the dueling memos were filed last week, the sentencing hearing for Flynn - who pleaded guilty to lying about a conversation during the transition period with the then-Russian ambassador - was expected to be devoid of the drama characterizing other of Mueller's cases.

Prosecutors, for instance, have accused former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort of lying to them even after he agreed to cooperate.

Another potential target, Jerome Corsi, leaked draft court documents and accused Mueller's team of bullying him.

And George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser recently released from a two-week prison sentence, has lambasted the investigation and publicly claimed that he was set up.

Flynn, by contrast, has been notably silent even as his supporters advocated a more combative stance. He met privately with investigators 19 times and provided cooperation so extensive that prosecutors said he was entitled to avoid prison altogether.

Then came his sentencing memo.

Although Flynn and his attorneys stopped short of any direct accusations of wrongdoing, they took pains to note that Flynn, unlike other defendants in Mueller's investigation, was not informed that it was against the law to lie to the FBI.

They suggest the FBI, which approached Flynn at the White House just days after Trump's inauguration, played to his desire to keep the encounter quiet by telling him the quickest way to get the interview done was for him to be alone with the agents - rather than involve lawyers.

They also insinuate that Flynn, of Middletown, Rhode Island, deserves credit for not publicly seizing on the fact that FBI officials involved in the investigation later came under scrutiny themselves.

Former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who contacted Flynn to arrange the interview, was fired this year for what the Justice Department said was a lack of candor over a news media leak.

Strzok, one of the two agents who interviewed Flynn, was removed from Mueller's team and later fired for trading anti-Trump texts with another FBI official.

Tarnished: Flynn (left) became a three-star general while his brother Charlie (right) became a two-star general. Now one brother's service is overshadowed by his guilt. His mother Helen (center) had nine children with the Flynn's later father, Charles

Sentenced: Flynn will join his former cohort Michael Cohen - Trump's fixer - in having been sentenced. Cohen is due to report to federal prison in March

Business partners: Flynn was in business with Bijan Kian (second left). Kian, an Iranian-American, is now indicted on charges of lobbying illegally along with Flynn, who appears to have flipped on him. Flynn's wife Lori is expected at his sentencing

Mueller's team has sharply pushed back at any suggestion that Flynn was duped, with prosecutors responding in their own sentencing memo Friday that there was no obligation to warn Flynn against lying.

'A sitting National Security (Adviser), former head of an intelligence agency, retired Lieutenant General, and 33-year veteran of the armed forces knows he should not lie to federal agents,' prosecutors wrote.

Former FBI Director James Comey criticized the broadsides on the Flynn investigation during a Monday appearance on Capitol Hill, saying, 'They're up here attacking the FBI's investigation of a guy who pled guilty to lying to the FBI.'

Trump has made no secret that he sees Mueller's investigation as a 'witch hunt' and has continued to lash out at prosecutors he sees as biased against him and those who help them.

He's shown continued sympathy for Flynn, though, calling him a 'great person' and asserting - erroneously - that the FBI has said he didn't lie.

Flynn has not tried to retract his guilty plea, and there's every indication the sentencing will proceed as scheduled.

Arun Rao, a former Justice Department prosecutor in Maryland, said the defense memo is striking because it's 'inconsistent' with Flynn's cooperative stance so far.

'You also wonder in this very unusual situation,' he said, 'whether it is a play for a pardon.'

It's also possible that at least some of the defense arguments may resonate with U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who directed prosecutors to produce FBI records related to Flynn's interview.

Scalp: Flynn will become the fourth of Robert Mueller's targets to be sentenced

Sullivan was the judge in the Justice Department's botched prosecution of now-deceased Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska.

He dismissed the case after prosecutors admitted that they withheld exculpatory evidence, prompting the judge to say that in nearly 25 years on the bench, 'I've never seen anything approaching the mishandling and misconduct that I've seen in this case.'

In an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal last year, Sullivan said the case inspired him to explicitly remind prosecutors in every criminal case before him of their obligation to provide defendants with favorable evidence. He says he has encouraged colleagues to do the same.

But while Sullivan has proved especially sensitive to hints of government overreach, nothing about the Flynn case comes close, said Gurule, the law professor.

'To portray him as somehow an innocent dupe, as somehow just this innocent victim in the process, this suggestion that there was a perjury trap - it's an absurd allegation,' he said.

But the sentencing also comes the day after a dramatic move by Mueller to arrest Flynn's former business partner and reveal that Flynn had been part of an effort to lobby illegally.

Bijan Kian, an Iranian-American who was number two to Flynn was arrested and appeared in federal court in Washington D.C. before being freed on bail.

He is charged with a plot to lobby for Turkey without declaring that he and Flynn's firm was working for the Turkish government, breaking the Foreign Agent Registration Act which makes it illegal to lobby for foreign governments without registering with the State Department. Kian has yet to enter a plea.

Also indicted was the business partner who worked with him and Flynn, Turkish-Dutch dual national Ekim Alpetkin, who is the subject of an arrest warrant and thought to be in Turkey.

Kian and Alpetkin are accused in court papers of a plot to convince the U.S. government to extradite or otherwise expel Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric who is a deadly rival of the country's strongman president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mueller says in the court papers that with Flynn, who is referred to a 'Person A' they placed an op-ed in The Hill newspaper without acknowledging that it was at the prompting of the Turkish government.

Flynn wrote the op-ed and his firm, The Flynn Intel Group, was paid $600,000 for their lobbying campaign - but he is not indicted himself in what appears to be a sign that he flipped on his former associates.

The special counsel has praised the former Trump administration official for his 'substantial help' in several investigations. It is believed this is one of them.Blundering builders chopped down one of the first ever giant redwood trees (shown) to be planted in Britain more than 170 years ago

Blundering builders chopped down one of the first ever giant redwood trees to be planted in Britain more than 170 years ago.

Environment bosses are investigating after the historic 176-year-old tree brought from North America was felled at a new housing estate.

Documents show the magnificent 90ft-high tree was planted in 1842 - around 10 years before redwood seeds are credited with being brought to Britain from the US.

It was planted at the Penllergare Estate in Swansea by nature-lover John Dillwyn Llewelyn, who was a keen botanist who imported trees from all over the world.

And the sprawling redwood grew 90ft high and five metres in circumference at the forest site in South Wales.

Lee Turner, Penllergare Trust's general manager, said: 'We've got excellent records dating back the last couple of hundred years from when the Dillwyn Llewelyn family planted up the estate with these magnificent trees.

'The earliest one recorded was in 1842. We can see that from some of the family's diaries during the period.'

Tree expert Jeremy Barrell said the tree 'was likely to be one of the earliest introductions' of redwoods to the UK.

He said the 90ft-tall tree should have been designated a 'grade-II listed heritage tree' giving it the same status as a grade-II listed building.

Environment bosses are investigating after the historic 176-year-old tree (pictured) brought from North America was felled at a new housing estate

The tree was chopped down last month 'by mistake' by building firm Enzo's homes - who are developing 80 houses at the site next to the woods (shown)

Redwood: Colossus of the trees Redwoods are the largest and tallest trees in the world. The largest is General Sherman, located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in Tulare County, California. It is it is the largest known living single stem tree on Earth and stands at 83.8 metres (275 ft), with a diameter of 7.7 metres (25 ft). It is estimated to be between 2,300 and 2,700 years old. Native to California and parts of China, the redwood was discovered by plant collector William Hobb, who travelled to the States from England during the mid-1800s after hearing about 'behemoths' on the western coast. The redwood is endangered due to habitat losses from fire, ecology suppression, development, and pollution. Advertisement

But it was chopped down last month 'by mistake' by building firm Enzo's homes.

The firm is developing 80 houses at the site next to the woods.

Workers said the tree 'was not marked up properly' but an investigation is underway.

Company boss Enzo Sauro said: 'We are going to replace it with a mature replica tree.'

Environment group Friends of the Earth Swansea started a petition urging Natural Resources Wales and Swansea City Council to take action against the group.

Spokesman Neil Jones said the petition has gathered more than 2,100 signatures.

He said: 'It was an enormous tree and towered above everything else in the neighbourhood.

'You don't get trees like this everywhere, simply there aren't any of this kind old enough in Britain to be this big.'The French government has sought to soothe police forces demanding improved working conditions by proposing a 300-euro (270) bonus to officers deployed to the violent protests that started last month.

President Emmanuel Macron committed to the idea of protest duty pay earlier this month. The government's offer came a day after two police unions announced work slowdowns to protest staffing and other budget issues.

Interior minister Christophe Castaner is meeting police union representatives later. It is not clear if the proposed premiums would calm the growing anger in police ranks.

Riot police were deployed on the streets of Biarritz on Tuesday to combat Yellow Vest protesters during a visit by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to southwestern France

'We are not for sale and we can't be bought. It's certainly not with this bonus that the crisis will be resolved,' said Yves Lefebvre, of the Unite-SG Police FO union.

According to government figures, the bonus will be paid to 111,000 police officers and military personnel and will cost 33 million euros (30 million.)

The National Assembly is expected to debate it during discussions on the 2019 budget.

Instead of a bonus, police unions are asking for the payment of thousands of hours of unpaid overtime that has accumulated over years.

They hreatening to to launch their own 'blue vest' protests against Macron after five weeks on the front-line of the Yellow Vest demonstrations.

Riot police were mobilised on the streets of Biarritz on Tuesday as the Yellow Vests took to the streets in protest of the French foreign ministers' visit to the city

The Alliance union said the government needed to invest in the country's police while urging a work slowdown on Wednesday to protest Mr Macron's planned cuts. Alliance is encouraging officers to stay inside their stations and only to respond to emergency calls.

They promised a 'black day for the police' and their own version of the 'gilets jaunes', the 'gilets bleus' or Blue Vests, according to the Local.

Another union, UNSA police threatened occupy roundabouts if its demands were not met.

The union demanded payment of overtime hours put in throughout the protests from the government earlier this month.

Protesters in their signature high visibility vests point towards riot police in Biarritz on Tuesday

'Police are not doing well and nobody is listening,' Frederic Lagache, of the Alliance union said.

Alliance say that French lawmakers are set to vote on 56 million (62 million euros) in budget cuts this week that 'will once again result in downgraded work conditions,' if approved.

Alliance is encouraging police forces to stay inside their stations on Wednesday and only to respond to emergency calls.

French police union bosses have threatened their own 'Blue Vests' if President Emmanuel Macron fails to listen to their calls for a halt to planned cuts to the police force

The beleaguered French police (pictured spattered with paint on Paris' Champs-Elysees on December 8) have faced five straight weeks of protest by the Yellow Vests

The UNSA union threatened on Monday to mimic yellow vests protests and occupy roundabouts if its demands were not met.

'The roundabouts are not reserved for yellow vests only,' the union said in a statement.

French interior minister Christophe Castaner said on his Twitter that he would meet with union chiefs on Tuesday evening.

The news comes as fires engulfed motorway toll booths on the French Riviera on Monday night and further Yellow Vest protests took place across France.

In Biarritz protesters were out in force on Tuesday to demonstrate against the French government as French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited to make a speech before hundreds of ambassadors ahead of next year's G7 summit in the city.

Yellow Vest demonstrators gather during a visit by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Biarritz, southwestern France on Tuesday

Demonstrations continued across the country on Tuesday (including in Biarritz pictured) and last night protesters burned toll booths on the French Riviera

Mr Macron had been billed to attend but the foreign minister was sent in his stead as he carries out vital work to solve his Yellow Vest headache in Paris.

Video shows how Yellow Vest demonstrators set fire to the installations at Bandol, on the Mediterranean close to Toulon, in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Footage posted on social media showed the booths burning fiercely, causing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage.

'Sixteen arrests for suspected arson offences were made soon afterwards,' said a local police source. 'All are now in custody.'

The Yellow Vests - who are named after the high visibility jackets that all motorists have to carry in their cars in France - have been blockading the booths for the past month.

They are on the A50 motorway, which runs along the Mediterranean between Marseille and Toulon.

Two Yellow Vest protesters can be seen beneath a makeshift shelter as they continue their blockades close to the Feyzin oil refinery, near Lyon on Tuesday night

It was the first road in France to trial the so-called Telepeage system - one that allows tolls to be paid automatically using a windscreen mounted sensor.

British visitors to the country are far more likely to pay by using cash or credit cards, but that is today impossible on the A50.

'The road is now shut in both directions, as the fire is investigated and the damage dealt with,' said the police source.

The Yellow Vests campaign started as a protest against green taxes on petrol and diesel on November 17, leading Mr Macron to scrap them.

Despite the U-turn, violence including widespread rioting in cities such as Paris has continued, costing the French economy millions.

Toll booths in France are run by private companies such as Vinci, which manages the Bandol station.

It says it has lost millions because of vandalism during the Yellow Vests crisis, and has called on Mr Macron's government to pay for all the damage.Migrants in the UK are sending home 21billion to their families back home, a study has revealed.

This makes the UK the fourth largest source of remittances after the US, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with a global total of some 483bn in 2017, according to the World Bank.

Nigeria was the top receiver of cash from the UK, with 3.27bn sent in 2017.

This map shows the five largest recipients of the cash from the UK, with Nigeria topping the list at 3.27bn

India received 3.13bn, 1.4bn was sent to France, Pakistan received 1.34bn while Germany received 1bn.

While migrants in the UK were sending large amounts of cash back home, Australia was the largest sender of remittances to the United Kingdom, with US$1.08bn being received from there.

The US, Canada, Spain and South Africa were the next biggest senders.

India is the largest receiver of remittances in the world, receiving a total of US$68,968bn.

China is the second largest receiver of remittances, after India, receiving a total of US$63,860bn.

The US is home to the largest number of migrants from developing countries and is the largest sender of remittances in the world.

While migrants in the UK were sending large amounts of cash back home, Australia was the largest sender of remittances to the United Kingdom, with US$1.08bn being received from there

The biggest recipients of US remittances in 2017 were Mexico (US$30,019bn), China (US$16,141bn), India (US$11,715bn), Philippines (US$11,09bn) and Vietnam (US$7,735bn).

TOP FIVE COUNTRIES UK SENDS MONEY TO NIGERIA - 3.24bn ($4.1bn) INDIA - 3.08bn ($3.9bn) FRANCE - 1.42bn ($1.8bn) PAKISTAN - 1.34bn ($1.7bn) GERMANY - 1.03bn ($1.3bn) Advertisement

These estimates are made by the World Bank using data from formal channels such as banks and other businesses that transfer money.

Co-founder and CEO at digital cross-border money transfer company InstaReM, Prajit Nanu, said: 'These international money transfers by migrants are, for many, the only source of income for families globally which help them to get basic necessities, thus elevating overall quality of life.

'Migrants typically transfer a substantial part of their earnings to their home countries, contributing to their overall income.

'These days it is not rare to see even people from developed nations migrating to other countries as part of their professional careers.

'As well as a huge number of people travelling overseas for business and education reasons.'Advertisement

The grandson of a First World War flying ace has revealed fascinating insights into his life and detailed how he rebuilt his iconic warplane before taking it to the skies once more.

In 1913, Frank Barnwell designed the Bristol Scout, the fastest and most manoeuvrable warplane for the first eighteen months of the First World War and became the prototype single-seat fighter from which all later fighters were derived.

Flight Sub Lieutenant Francis Donald Holden Bremner flew the plane between 1914 and 1918 while serving with the Royal Naval Air Service during the Gallipoli campaign and on his return from battle the war hero had always told his family he would like to see the aircraft take to the skies once again.

Decades later his grandsons David and Rick Bremner from Milson, Shropshire, scoured the globe looking for parts to rebuild the Bristol Scout Type-C plane.

The pair spent more 100,000 since they found three small parts in his shed following his death in 1983 and finally completed the reconstruction in 2014, before flying it in 2016.

A new book by David has now given a fascinating insight into the story behind the plane and its journey through the years.

The Bristol Scout was one of the first single-seaters to be used as a fighter aircraft, although it was not possible to fit it with an effective forward-firing armament until the first British-designed gun synchronizers became available later in 1916, by which time the Scout was obsolescent. Single-seat fighters continued to be called 'scouts' in British usage into the early 1920s.

A Scout Type D on Thasos with unsynchronised guns on the starboard fuselage and top wing. The fabric doped to the propeller can be seen, together with a deflector plate underneath the fuselage between the wings, apparently intended to keep the worst of the oil from the underside of the rear fuselage

20 March 1916: Bremner tipped 1264 on her nose immediately after exchanging the original Lambda engine which weighed 96 kg (212 lb) and replaced it with the 25.5 kg/56 lb heavier engine. Three days later she was back in the air

Flight Sub Lieutenant Francis Donald Holden Bremner, Border Regiment, pictured in 1889

Left, Theo Willford, who started the ball rolling in 2002, and achieved his ambition to fly over the Somme. Right, F.D.H. Bremner circa 1970

Flight Sub Lieutenant Francis Donald Holden Bremner and the Bristol Scout Sub-lieutenant Holden Bremner, nicknamed 'Bunnie' because he was always twitching his nose, was in active service between, throughout the whole of the First World War. After the war he worked as a patents engineer in Brasted, Kent and lived with his wife Vivyen, and two sons, Christopher, and Ian - Rick and David's father. During 1916, he had been stationed on the islands of Imbros and Thasos in the Aegean Sea as part of the Royal Naval Air Service, and flew seven Bristol Scout Type-C planes. His favourite plane of the seven had Serial No. 1264 and he kept three small parts of that aircraft in his workshop until he died aged 89. Advertisement

Bremner's new book, Bristol Scout 1264: Rebuilding Grandad's Aircraft, tells the previously unpublished early life of Barnwell and his brother Harold.

It also reveals the operational and technical history of his creation, the Bristol Scout, Bremners flying career and the challenges faced by Willford, together with David and his brother Rick, in recreating 1264 and getting her back in the air.

In the book's introduction Bremner writes: 'Along with my brother Rick, I used to listen to Granddad's stories about flying in the Great War, and although we did not understand them fully at the time, they must have caught our imaginations, because both Rick and I became, and have remained, fascinated with aviation ever since.

'Of course, we asked Granddad what type he flew, and he told us 'the Bristol Bullet'. It was only later- much later-that we came across the Bristol Bullet as a nickname for the Bristol Scout, on account of its high speed when it was introduced.

'His favourite stories about the Bullet were about the unsynchronised Lewis machine gun that fired some of its bullets into his own propeller, so they had doped fabric strips to the propeller 'to stop the splinters coming off in your face', and how he had acquired a German Bosch magneto from an Italian who had achieved international fame as a motor racing driver before the war.

'However, we did not find out the full details of his service until after he died in 1983. It was then, as we were clearing out his workshop after his death, that we came across three items that set us on the long, long trail that led back here to Thassos.'

Bremner running up the engine of 1264 prior to takeoff. During 1916, he had been stationed on the islands of Imbros and Thasos in the Aegean Sea as part of the Royal Naval Air Service, and flew seven Bristol Scout Type-C planes

Frank Barnwell (in the felt hat) aboard the X2 machine. In the background is the Sarah, the boat used by the White family to witness the testing

David Bremner infront of his newly built Bristol Scout. Bremner's new book, Bristol Scout 1264: Rebuilding Grandad's Aircraft, is published by Fonthill Media and recounts his grandfather's incredible story

The two-seat observation machine is personified by the BE2, and the BE2e was the final development. The pilot sat in the rear seat with the observer in front. His ability to observe was considerably impeded by the presence of the lower wing which severely restricted his view.

David Bremner mans the gun in his new Bristol Scout. The pilot had a Lewis machine gun with which to defend against enemy fighting aircraft, but it had to be moved from mounting to mounting, and there was a significant risk of hitting your own machine

Flight sub-lieutenant Francis Donald Holden Bremner (left), in 1915, and his grandson David Bremner (right), who took on the task

The cockpit of the Bristol Scout C RNAS No 1264 flown by Flight Sub Lt F.D.H Bremner

The Bremner brothers were helped with their epic restoration by friend Theo Willford pictured together

David Bremner flew the first hang-gliders and microlight aircraft, and it seems logical that he should now fly one of the first warplanes. He edited Microlight Flying magazine for fifteen years and test-flew most of the current machines on the UK market. He also described how a flight in the reconstructed plane felt.

'The take-off was absolutely fine and I started my display,' he writes.

THE BRISTOL SCOUT The Bristol Scout was a single-seat rotary-engined biplane originally designed as a racing aircraft. Like similar fast, light aircraft of the period it was used by the RNAS and the RFC as a 'scout', or fast reconnaissance type. It was one of the first single-seaters to be used as a fighter aircraft, although it was not possible to fit it with an effective forward-firing armament until the first British-designed gun synchronizers became available later in 1916, by which time the Scout was obsolescent. Single-seat fighters continued to be called 'scouts' in British usage into the early 1920s. Advertisement

'For a slow non-aerobatic machine like this, it is important to keep as low and as close to the crowd as you are allowed, so the majority of your attention is being given to that imaginary line on the ground you must keep close to without ever crossing, and keeping just above the level of the trees.

'You maintain full power throughout the display, and at each end do a 'dumbbell' turn: turn away from the wind about 45 degrees, then a 270-degree turn into wind, and a final 45-degree turn back on to the display line, while adjusting your height to get back down to the minimum allowed.

'There are a number of variations you can make-a 360-degree turn away from the crowd or a 'topside' pass, where you keep the aeroplane tilted towards the crowd by doing a gentle turn down the display line so that people can see the top of the machine.

'All this went fine, and I watched as Paul took off in the F2B. He was going to try and formate on me but never seemed to catch up, and when my time was up, I made a wider circuit and landed in front of the crowd.

'After I had landed, the engine would not respond to control inputs so I shut it down and found the linkage had come undone. It was a sublime moment; never in my entire flying career had I expected to be flying in a proper display, and when I was applauded as we neared the crowd, I felt I would not need an aeroplane to go flying.'

David Bremner's new book, Bristol Scout 1264: Rebuilding Granddad's Aircraft, is published by Fonthill Media. It is available now. Buy it here

David Bremner flew the first hang-gliders and microlight aircraft, and it seems logical that he should now fly one of the first warplanes. He edited Microlight Flying magazine for fifteen years and test-flew most of the current machines on the UK market. He also described how a flight in the reconstructed plane felt

In the book's introduction Bremner writes: 'Along with my brother Rick, I used to listen to Granddad's stories about flying in the Great War, and although we did not understand them fully at the time, they must have caught our imaginations, because both Rick and I became, and have remained, fascinated with aviation ever since'

All the instruments with the exception of the airspeed indicator are original period instruments of the type that were issued to the RNAS in the early part of the war

The Bristol Scout was a single-engine, single-seat fighter intended to supply ground commanders with an advantageous 'eye in the sky'















Air travel is integral to modern life. What was once a luxury enjoyed by the few has become much more affordable and routine. We take to the skies to see family and friends, visit new places, attend events, get medical treatment, and do business.

Most of the time, our flights go smoothly. But when they don't, it can be very frustrating. We often feel we have no control, and little information, as our plans are thrown into chaos.

For some time, there's been talk of creating a "passenger bill of rights" in Canada. Proponents pointed out that Europe and the United States already have regulations laying out passenger entitlements in a number of areas.

Last May, after a year of discussion and debate in Parliament, the Transportation Modernization Act came into force. It gave the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), the country's longest-standing independent regulator and tribunal, a mandate to make regulations spelling out airlines' minimum obligations to passengers.

At the CTA, we knew Canadians would want to have their say on these new regulations. We also knew they'd want to see the regulations in place without unnecessary delay. To meet both expectations, we ran an intensive, three-month consultation process that gave the public and stakeholders multiple channels for providing information and ideas.

We considered all the input submitted as we developed the regulations over the fall, and the proposed regulations are now ready for one last round of public feedback. A plain language summary has been posted on the CTA's website, while the full draft text will be published in the Canada Gazette Part I on Saturday, December 22.

Canadians will have until February 20, 2019 to give feedback. We'll then move as quickly as possible to consider this feedback and finalize the regulations, which are expected to come into force this summer.

One of the most consistent messages we heard from travellers during our consultations was that they want meaningful communication from airlines. Rights don't count for much if people don't realize they exist, and it's exasperating to sit in an airport during a flight delay not knowing when you'll reach your destination. The proposed regulations now require that airlines provide clear, concise information to passengers on their rights and on the status of their flights when there's a delay or cancellation.

They also set compensation levels for flight cancellations or delays by larger airlines  which transport more than nine out of ten air passengers  that are comparable to compensation levels in Europe, which is currently the global leader in this area. Consistent with the provisions of the Transportation Modernization Act, the compensation will be owed to passengers for cancellations or delays that are due to factors within the control of the airline and not required for safety reasons.

The draft regulations establish even higher compensation for situations where an airline "bumps" someone from a flight against their will because of overbooking or any other reasons within its control.Although not common, forcing passengers present for boarding to change flights because of an airline's commercial choices is a practice Canadians dislike. The new regime is designed to make sure airlines make every effort to find volunteers willing to take a later flight if there are more passengers present for boarding than seats on the plane.

For smaller airlines -- which overwhelmingly serve northern and remote communities, or are in the fledgling ultra low-cost carrier sector -- the proposed compensation levels for flight cancellations or delays will be lower. These amounts recognize how financially fragile many of those airlines are, and how critical their survival is for the communities they serve.

Beyond compensation, the proposed regulations require that in the event of a tarmac delay at a Canadian airport, passengers be allowed to get off the plane after three hours if it's safe to do so. This goes further than the rules in the US, which are currently the strongest in the world and set the disembarkation threshold at three hours for domestic flights and four hours for international flights. But learning from US experience, the draft Canadian regulations also allow a one-time extension of up to 45 minutes if there's a good chance the flight will depart soon (for example, if the three hour mark is reached while the plane is being de-iced).

When it comes to lost or damaged bags, the draft regulations require that airlines apply the rules that already exist for international flights under the Montreal Convention to domestic flights, compensating passengers for the loss up to approximately $2100. And they obligate airlines to refund any baggage fees paid by the traveller if a bag is lost or damaged.

These are just some of the topics covered by the regulations.

The goal, when all is said and done, is to land on a set of rules that, on balance, significantly improve passenger protection while taking account of airlines' operating realities.

We're almost there. Soon, when your flight's been cancelled, you're sitting in a plane on the tarmac, or your bag hasn't appeared, you'll have clear, consistent, fair rights as a passenger  and you'll be promptly informed of those rights and where you can turn if you don't think they're being respected.

Air travel, which is so important to so many Canadians, is about to get better.

Scott Streiner, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Transportation AgencyA Mexican theme park is offering an immersive experience where customers pretend to be illegal immigrants getting into the United States overnight - despite the ongoing migration crisis at the southern border.

The attraction at the EcoAlberto park is called the Night Walk and costs $17 for a 'normal package' or $24 for an 'extreme' version lasting five hours.

Tourists get their names checked off and pile into trucks that transport them to the supposed border. El Alberto is actually 800 miles from the US border.

At the end of the Night Walk, customers experience a picturesque torch show (pictured) to remind them their trip was only an experience and not reality

They then follow Poncho - who plays the people smuggler or 'coyote' - as he guides the tourists to the crossing.

The tourists experience about five per cent of what a real migrant

goes through when they are attempting to cross the Rio Grande to get to the U.S.

'Where we are going conditions are harsh,' the man who plays Poncho said.

'We will find mud, tunnels, canyons, poisonous plants, snakes and spiders. Just think for a minute about the things migrants have to go through... they have no water and have no food and perhaps are riding now on top of a train or walking through freezing cold desert.'

At the end of the experience, a pretend US border patrol catches up to the fake immigrants and tries to catch some as others sneak through a fake fence.

Park secretary, Purificacion Alvarez said: ' We offer a unique activity that you won't find anywhere else. The goal of the walk is to simulate what its like for emigrants to cross into the U.S,' she said.

Honduran migrants heading in a caravan to the US, as the leave Arriaga on their way to San Pedro Tapanatepec, in southern Mexico

One of the workers said the park started the walk with 'the idea of showing people the Mexico that exists but many don't want to see'.

He added: 'This night is to honor and pay tribute to all of those who have been migrants.'

The recreational park also has swimming pools, river trips, zip lines, and the other typical fare.

It is still offering its Night Walk package even though thousands of central Americans are currently trying to get into the US.

Migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have been heading northward by the tens of thousands for the past three years, with an increasing number of families with small and unaccompanied children making the trek and hoping to gain asylum inside the United States.President Donald Trump began his Tuesday with another attack on the FBI and included a claim that the infamous Christopher Steele dossier 'will never be proven' as part of his continued rant about the investigations surrounding him and his administration.

His latest set of tweets comes a day after former director James Comey savaged Republicans for not standing up to the president and on the day his former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn will be sentenced after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials.

His first attack of the day was on the FBI.

'Biggest outrage yet in the long, winding and highly conflicted Mueller Witch Hunt is the fact that 19,000 demanded Text messages between Peter Strzok and his FBI lover, Lisa Page, were purposely & illegally deleted. Would have explained whole Hoax, which is now under protest!,' the president tweeted.

President Trump began his Tuesday with an attack on the FBI

His tweet comes a day after former FBI director James Comey blasted Republicans for not standing up to the president

The president also claimed vindication in regards to the Steele dossier.

The dossier, put together by the former British spy and paid for by a research firm that also did work for the Democratic National Committee, offered unverified allegations Trump was vulnerable to blackmail from Russia and had engaged with 'golden showers' with prostitutes during a 2013 trip to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant.

Trump has repeatedly denied that allegation and, on Tuesday, touted in multiple tweets comments from journalist Michael Isikoff, who was one of the first reporters to report on the dossier's existence.

'Michael Isikoff was the first to report Dossier allegations and now seriously doubts the Dossier claims. The whole Russian Collusion thing was a HOAX, but who is going to restore the good name of so many people whose reputations have been destroyed?,' Trump wrote.

Before that remark, he tweeted comments Iskioff made in an interview on John Ziegler's Free Speech Broadcasting podcast.

'Russia Dossier reporter now doubts dopey Christopher Steele's claims! 'When you get into the details of the Steele Dossier, the specific allegations, we have not seen the evidence to support them. There's good grounds to think that some of the more sensational allegations.....,' Trump wrote.

He added: '....WILL NEVER BE PROVEN AND ARE LIKELY FALSE.' Thank you to Michael Isikoff, Yahoo, for honesty. What this means is that the FISA WARRANTS and the whole Russian Witch Hunt is a Fraud and a Hoax which should be ended immediately. Also, it was paid for by Crooked Hillary & DNC!'

On the podcast, Isikoff, an investigative reporter who broke the news of Monica Lewinsky's affair with Bill Clinton in the 1990s, said: 'In broad strokes, Christopher Steele was clearly onto something, that there was a major Kremlin effort to interfere in our elections, that they were trying to help Trump's campaign, and that there was multiple contacts between various Russian figures close to the government and various people in Trump's campaign.'

He added: 'When you actually get into the details of the Steele dossier, the specific allegations, we have not seen the evidence to support them, and, in fact, there's good grounds to think that some of the more sensational allegations will never be proven and are likely false.'

Isikoff was one of the earliest reporters on the story and his work was used by federal authorities in their investigation of Russian activities during the presidential campaign.

Michael Isikoff (left) was one of the first journalists to report the existence of Christopher Steele's (right) dossier

During the presidential campaign, Isikoff reported U.S. intelligence officials were looking into the activities of Trump adviser Carter Page (above)

Trump used an interview from Isikoff to claim the dossier is a fake

He also used it to claim the Russia probe in a 'hoax'

In September 2016, Isikoff reported U.S. intelligence officials were looking into the activities of Trump adviser Carter Page and whether he was holding private talks with Russian officials.

FBI agents told the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) court that it 'did not believe' Steele was the direct source for Isikoff's article but was, instead, an independent confirmation of some of the allegations in the dossier.

Federal authorities used both the Steele dossier and Isikoff's article in their argument to the FISA court to authorize a surveillance warrant for Page, Fox News reported.

The FBI watched Page as part of its investigation into Russian activities during the 2016 election.

The Justice Department released a heavily redacted version of Page's FISA warrant application, which showed the bureau's belief that the Russian government was collaborating with Page and possibly others associated with the Trump campaign. The application also claimed Page had been the subject of targeted recruitment by Russian intelligence agencies.

Trump took the claim from Isikoff that parts of Steele's dossier could not be verified to mean the entire Russia probe - which special counsel Robert Mueller was put in charge of after the president fired then-FBI director James Comey - is 'a fraud.'

'What this means is that the FISA WARRANTS and the whole Russian Witch Hunt is a Fraud and a Hoax which should be ended immediately. Also, it was paid for by Crooked Hillary & DNC!,' Trump wrote.

Steele's dossier was a product of Fusion GPS, a research firm that also did work for the Democrats.

In April 2016, attorney Marc Elias hired Fusion GPS to investigate Trump on behalf of Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

Elias was with the firm Perkins Coie. The DNC and Clinton paid the firm as their lawyer of record and the firm hired and paid Fusion GPS as part of its work for the Democrats.

Fusion GPS subcontracted with Steele to do some of the investigatory work on Trump.

Steele then wrote his infamous dossier, which he, on his own, passed along a copy to American and British intelligence agencies as he was worried about the national security implications.

Trump has been relentless in his criticism of the FBI and the Mueller investigation in the days since his former personal attorney Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in jail for multiple crimes - including bank fraud, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress.

Comey has been one of his favorite targets but, on Tuesday, he focused on two others he has long criticized: former FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page.

He also got in another use of his favorite term for special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation: 'witch hunt.'

The two agents - who were working on the Russia investigation and having an affair - had texted of their hopes Trump would lose the election.

Trump has accused the bureau - without proof - of deleting messages between the two.

However, the Justice Department's inspector general, in a report released Thursday, found no evidence the FBI intentionally destroyed text messages between Strzok and Page.

The IG could not recover any texts from the phones assigned to the two agents because, by the time investigators requested the devices, they had been reset for others to use them.

The inspector general faulted an FBI-wide software failure that resulted in large portions of FBI text messages not being archived, the Associated Press fact checker found.

The report examined a gap in messages from December 2016 through May 2017 from Strzok and Page's phones, which is also the time period when they worked on Mueller's team as part of the Russia probe.

The IG's investigation of the matter resulted in around 9,311 complete text messages sent or received on Strzok's phone being recovered and around 10,760 from the same period from Page's phone, the vast majority of which were exchanged between the two.

Those are likely the 19,000 texts messages Trump is referring to.

Some congressional Republicans had suggested the messages were intentionally deleted. The report from DoJ said there was no evidence of that.

Trump's latest attack on the bureau comes after Comey went after the GOP.

After testifying for five and a half hours on Capitol Hill Monday, Comey did not hide his frustration and fury when he spoke with reporters afterward.

He slammed Republicans for not standing up to the president.

'Republicans used to understand that the actions of a president mattered, the words of matter, the rule of law matters and the truth matters. Where there are those Republicans today?,' he asked.

'At some point, someone has to stand up and in the face of fear of Fox News, fear of their base, fear of mean tweets, stand up for the values of this country and not slink away into retirement, but stand up and speak the truth,' he added.

Former FBI Director James Comey savaged President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers on Monday

Trump railed against the text messages between former FBI agent Peter Strzok (left) and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page (right)

Several of the Republican lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee - the panels that questioned him - are retiring at the end of the year.

Comey also took the opportunity to criticize the president for calling Cohen a 'rat' - an attack Trump used on Sunday when he went on a Twitter rant about the investigation.

'It undermines the rule of law,' Comey said of Trump's attacks. 'This is the president of the United States calling a witness, who has cooperated with his own justice department a rat. Say that again to yourself at home and remind yourself where we have ended up.'

'We have to stop being numb to it, whether you're Republican or Democrat, stand on your feet, overcome your shame and say something,' he added.

Trump went on a twitter attack in the days after Cohen was sentenced to three years in federal prison. He also attacked the FBI and claimed they illegally searched Cohen's office and home.

The agents had a series of search warrants when they conducted the raid that resulted in evidence used against Cohen.

But it was Republican lawmakers that felt the weight of Comey's wrath as the former FBI director repeatedly went after them for not standing up the president.

'People who know better, including Republican members of this body, have to have the courage to stand up and speak the truth, not be cowed by mean tweets or fear of their base. There is a truth and they're not telling it. Their silence is shameful,' he said.

Comey slammed Trump for calling Michael Cohen (above) a 'rat'

President Trump (left) and his former lawyer Michael Cohen (right) have traded blows since Cohen pleaded guilty to crimes that implicate the President

Comey also blamed Trump for harming the FBI's reputation.

'The FBI's reputation has taken a big hit because the president of the United States has lied about it constantly,' he said. 'That's a tragedy. That will be undone eventually but that damage has nothing to do with me.'A young girl has died in a horrific car accident just hours after receiving her drivers licence.

The 17-year-old was driving with two friends along White Hill Road in Bouvard, south of Perth, to celebrate her receiving her licence when she lost control of the vehicle on Tuesday morning.

The Subaru Outback flipped along the unsealed and corrugated dirt track, rolling several times, leaving the teenage driver with fatal head injuries.

The 17-year-old was driving with two friends along White Hill Road in Bouvard, south of Perth, to celebrate her receiving her licence when she lost control of the vehicle on Tuesday morning

The Subaru Outback flipped along the unsealed and bumpy dirt track, rolling several times, leaving the teenage driver with fatal head injuries

The two passengers, both aged 16, managed to escape the crushed vehicle and call for help.

They were rushed to Royal Perth Hospital and are believed to be in a stable condition, suffering only minor injuries.

The 17-year-old driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said that the driver had not been speeding at the time and all three girls were wearing seatbelts.

They said that the most likely reason the crash occurred was inexperience.

WA Detective Senior Constable Steven Morgan described the fatality as 'just awful'.

'It's a tragedy at any time, but coming up to this time of year where families want to be together,' he told Yahoo7 News.Assistant principal at Liberty High School, Lee Livengood, is accused of telling a transgender student he 'freaks him out'

A West Virginia assistant principal has been accused of telling a transgender student he 'freaks him out' in a row over the teen using the boys' bathroom.

Michael Critchfield, 15, said teacher Lee Livengood repeatedly yelled: 'Why are you in here? You shouldn't be in here', and even challenged him to use the urinals to 'prove' he was a boy.

The transgender boy said the alleged incident at Liberty High School in Clarksburg, where Livengood is still working, left him traumatized.

According to Critchfield, the teacher came into the boys' bathroom and asked if any students were in the stall.

He confirmed he was, but said that when he left the stall, Livengood was standing in the bathroom doorway blocking him from leaving.

The sophomore student claims Livengood 'barricaded' him in and demanded to know why he was using the boy's bathroom.

When he replied it was his legal right, Critchfield alleges Livengood used improper pronouns and challenged him to use a urinal to prove that he was a boy.

He said: 'I felt really degraded and discriminated against.'

Sophomore student Michael Critchfield, pictured, said Liberty High School teacher Lee Livengood repeatedly yelled at him in the bathroom

Michael, pictured, claims Livengood demanded to know why he was using the boy's bathroom

Other students are said to have heard screaming coming from the bathroom and told a chaperone, who saw both Critchfield and Livengood walk out.

According to Critchfield, Livengood then said: 'Not going to lie. You freak me out.'

Critchfield said school 'should feel like a safe place'.

He added: 'Kids like me should never have to go through anything like this. At the end of the day all I wanted was to feel welcome.'

Critchfield told The Charleston Gazette-Mail: 'A chaperone found out he had me barricaded in the bathroom. By the time she came, I was breaking down and had quivering lips.'

Critchfield's mom, Caroline, said: 'As a parent, that is my child that you are talking to. His job was to provide safety, to protect my son while he was in school.

'Not bully. Not badger. Not to humiliate. Not to tear someone down. Not cause phobia. Not cause discrimination against him. What is this teaching our students?'

The ACLU said it has asked the Harrison County schools superintendent to take action against Assistant Principal Lee Livengood at Liberty High School in Clarksburg, pictured

The school's band had been preparing to take an after school bus trip to Morgantown to watch a performance at West Virginia University when the alleged incident occurred.

The American Civil Liberties Union has said Livengood should be disciplined and have asked the Harrison County schools superintendent to take action against the assistant principal.

Its West Virginia executive director, Joseph Cohen, called it 'a life or death issue.'

He added: 'The stakes couldn't really be higher here. It's past time that West Virginia schools take LGBTQ issues seriously.'

An ACLU statement said the chapter also is seeking best-practice policies and training in the school system for dealing with transgender students and issues.

County schools Superintendent Mark Manchin said he needs to investigate further and county school administration will meet with Livengood next week.

He said: 'Clearly, the way we've handled this is inappropriate. Perhaps we need to do a better job about how we handle these situations.

'It's a relatively new issue over the past several years that we've become more aware of and sensitive of.'The gunman who shot dead a Trader Joe's store manager after a crime spree which saw him try to kill his own grandmother, take his girlfriend hostage and ram his car into a pole earlier this year has told a judge that he plans to plead 'insanity'.

Gene Evin Atkins is representing himself in court on charges of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and dozens of others.

In July this year, Atkins, 28, shot his grandmother then kidnapped his girlfriend and took police on a car chase in Silver Lake, Los Angeles.

Gene Evin Atkins (shown above in November) is representing himself in court on charges of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and dozens of others

He crashed his car into a police outside a Trader Joe's. He then exchanged gunfire with police then went into the store and took shoppers and staff hostage.

Store manager Melyda Corado was killed

Some were able to escape by climbing out of the windows but store manager Melyda Corado died at the scene.

It is not clear if it was one of Atkins' bullets which hit her or if it was one that came from a police officer's gun as they engaged in a gun battle with Atkins but because he was responsible for the shootout, he is being charged with her death.

For three hours, he held the hostages inside before agreeing to come out handcuffed.

Atkins had been shot in the arm by the time he emerged.

Since his arrest, Atkins' cousin has told how the entire chain of events happened because his grandmother told him to turn off the television in their home.

Atkins was arrested after a three hour standoff with police at the Trader Joe's in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, in July

Atkins was shot in the arm during the standoff. He is shown being taken to the hospital, handcuffed to his gurney

Store workers were seen climbing out of the windows of the building to get to safety before Atkins was brought down

Atkins is shown above running into the store after crashing his car into a pole outside. He had already shot his grandmother and taken his girlfriend hostage in his car

During a plea hearing on Monday, Atkins was asked how he would plead and said: 'I'm pleading insanity.'

He asked the judge if he could postpone his arraignment, seemingly not understanding that it took place months ago.

'The arraignments happened,' L.A. County Superior Court Judge Teresa Sullivan told him, according to The Los Angeles Times.

He said he had an 'extensive mental health record' and suffered bipolar disorder despite being found competent to not only stand trial but to represent himself earlier this year.

Atkins will return to court on February 15. At the end of the hearing on Monday, he told the judge: 'My defense has already been prepared.'A suspect has been arrested by police during a trial of controversial facial recognition technology among Christmas shoppers in central London.

Pedestrians in Leicester Square are being filmed by cameras, which then cross-check a photo of their face against a database of wanted criminals.

Officers using the system made three arrests yesterday, although the detention of only one person, a man wanted over violence, was thanks to the technology.

Another man was stopped due to the technology, but found not to be the man the computer thought he was. However, he was arrested as he was wanted over another alleged offence.

Rights group Big Brother Watch say the move is a 'breach of fundamental rights to privacy and freedom of assembly'.

A man was arrested yesterday during a trial by police of face recognition technology. It is unclear whether he was the person detained after being identified by the cameras, or whether he was one of two other arrested by police independently of the technology's use

An unmarked police van with a camera on top scans the faces of pedestrians before officers swoop on anyone identified as a wanted criminal

They have been monitoring the officers and say some people have been stopped for covering their faces and police treat those who avoid the cameras with suspicion.

Silkie Carlo, of Big Brother Watch, said: 'The police's use of this authoritarian surveillance tool in total absence of a legal or democratic basis is alarming.

'Live facial recognition is a form of mass surveillance that, if allowed to continue, will turn members of the public into walking ID cards.

'As with all mass surveillance tools, it is the general public who suffer more than criminals.'

But the police insist people can decline to be scanned without arousing suspicion and the move is necessary to crack down on spiraling violence crime.

A mandate they have produced to guide officers states: 'It is right and appropriate to bring people who are unlawfully at large to justice as they may otherwise pose a threat of safety to the public through the commission of crime.

'This approach is less intrusive than other methods of tracing wanted persons. It is less resource intensive which will save police time and money and allow police to concentrate resources on other priorities.'

Campaigners say the use of the technology is a step too far towards a police state

Police having been using the cameras in Soho, Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square this week.

The cameras are accompanied by plainclothes 'spotters' watching for those who act suspiciously when they see the cameras.

The technology was first deployed by South Wales Police ahead of the 2017 Champions League final in Cardiff.

That trial led to the technology wrongly matching more than 2,000 people to possible criminals.

Police and security services worldwide are keen to use facial recognition technology to bolster their efforts to fight crime and identify suspects.

But they have been hampered by the unreliability of the software, with some trials failing to correctly identify a single person.

A smart surveillance system (pictured) that can scan 2 billion faces within seconds has been revealed in China. The system connects to millions of CCTV cameras and uses artificial intelligence to pick out targets

The Metropolitan Police have already used the cameras at the Notting Hill carnival and other forces have used them at football matches.

And pop star Taylor Swift secretly used the software at one of her recent US concerts to identify stalkers in the crowds.A member of diplomatic staff was kicked out of Britain after he was accused of rape and attempted rape, it was today revealed.

While other embassy staff based in the UK have been accused of blackmail, carrying a gun with intent to injure, and drink driving.

The litany of offences have been revealed in an official Foreign Office statement which details offences alleged to have been carried out by staff entitled to diplomatic immunity.

It means those accused of the criminal offences can escape justice by claiming diplomatic immunity - although Britain can expel them.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said that in 2017 there were 12 'serious and significant offences allegedly committed by people entitled to diplomatic or international organisation-related immunity in the United Kingdom'.

The litany of offences have been revealed in an official Foreign Office statement by Jeremy Hunt (pictured in Downing Street today) which details offences alleged to have been carried out by staff entitled to diplomatic immunity

Among them was a man accused of rape, attempted rape and malicious communications.

The Foreign Office refused to identify what country the man was from because the diplomatic misson is so small.

British authorities asked the man's country if they would agree to waive his diplomatic immunity so he could be prosecuted, but they refused .

What is diplomatic immunity? Under the 1961 Vienna Convention diplomats are - in theory - immune from prosecution in their host country. In the UK, this means that diplomatic staff and their families who are accused of crimes can claim immunity to evade justice. Britain will often ask the country to waive the person's immunity if they are accused of a crime so they can be prosecuted in the UK courts. But if the country refuses the request, they cannot be prosecuted and can only be expelled from the UK. The Foreign Office also produces an annual run-down of diplomatic staff accused of serious offences. Advertisement

Instead the man was kicked out of the country.

The figures also revealed that people from Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone and Finland were accused of driving without insurance.

Someone from Cambodia was accused of having a firearm with intent to injure, another person from Egypt was accused of blackmail, and an Algerian was accused of sexual assault.

The Foreign Office also revealed that a former diplomat from Cameroon and two members of staff from the country's High Commission was accused of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and of conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime between 31 December 2009 and 1 January 2013.

The alleged offences were only now made public because the cases were under investigation.

Diplomats and their families based in the UK are entitled to diplomatic immunity.

However, Britain will often ask the country to waive the person's immunity if they are accused of a crime so they can be prosecuted in the UK courts.

But if the country refuses the request, they cannot be prosecuted and can only be expelled from the UK.

Diplomatic immunity means those accused of the criminal offences can escape justice by claiming diplomatic immunity - although Britain can expel them (pictured, the scales of justice outside the Old Bailey)

Revealing the cases in a written parliamentary statement, the Foreign Office said: 'Around 23,000 people are entitled to diplomatic immunity in the UK and the majority of diplomats and dependants abide by UK law. The number of alleged serious crimes committed by members of the diplomatic community in the UK is proportionately low.

'Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961, we expect those entitled to immunity to obey the law. The FCO does not tolerate foreign diplomats breaking the law.

'We take all allegations of illegal activity seriously. When the police bring instances of alleged criminal conduct to our attention, we ask the relevant foreign government to waive diplomatic immunity where appropriate.

'For the most serious offences, and when a relevant waiver has not been granted, we request the immediate withdrawal of the diplomat.'A hit-and-run driver engaged in victim-blaming at his sentencing Monday, labelling the 23-year-old Dallas woman he fatally struck with his car and left to die in the street last year 'careless.'

John Esparza, 31, of Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to felony counts of manslaughter and failure to render aid in connection to the March 2017 death of Rachel Spelman.

When given a chance to speak before learning his fate, Esparza apologized to Spelman's family, but also argued that he was not entirely responsible for her death because he said the pedestrian walked in front of his car at night.

John Esparza, 31, ' was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a fatal 2017 hit-and-run crash after calling the victim, 23-year-old Rachel Spelman, 'careless' in court

Esparza's damaged Honda Accord is seen being towed away in the wake of the March 2017 accident in Dallas

I'm sorry she had to be so careless, Esparza said. 'We are both at fault.'

Dallas News reported that the sentencing hearing was attended by some two dozen family members of the victim, many of whom audibly gasped in reaction to Esparza's remarks.

As part of her impact statement, Spelman's mother, Cheryl, read aloud a letter that her daughter had written as a teenager to her older self and placed inside a time capsule, to be opened in the future.

Well, I hope all your dreams came true, Spelman wrote. I hope everything is going good and nothing too horrible is going on or has happened.

Spelman, a recent transplant to Dallas, was crossing Cedar Springs Road shortly after 2am on March 18, 2017, when she was mowed down by Esparza's black Honda Accord, which was doing 53mph in a 30mph zone.

Spelman's family, including her parents and sister (pictured together), gasped after hearing the defendant blame Rachel for the crash

As part of her impact statement, Spelman's mother, Cheryl (left), read aloud a letter that her daughter had written as a teenager to her older self

Police said because the driver was speeding, Spelman likely did not see the car before she stepped into the road.

Espraza had been drinking with his family that evening, but claimed that he was not drunk at the time of the accident.

He also insisted that did nothing to try and cover up the collision after driving off from the scene of the accident.

Prosecutors said that after leaving Spelamn for dead in the street, Esparza made his way back to his home state of Oklahoma, where he replaced his shattered windshield and left the car at a motel.

He later claimed to police that he had planned to turn himself in but wanted to spend some time with his family.

Esparza's defense attorney, Kyle Steele, echoed his client's words in court Monday, telling the judge that the victim was partially responsible for her own demise because she was drunk when she decided to cross the street without using a crosswalk.

Esparza was doing 53mph in a 30mph zone when he slammed into Rachel as she was crossing the street after a night out. He said both he and she was responsible for what happened

The lawyer asked the judge to spare his client jail time and instead sentence him to 10 years of probation.

The prosecution asked for a maximum sentence, citing Espraza's history of arrests related to vehicular violations, including DUI and reckless driving, and 'especially his attitude.'

Rachel was a Texas A&M graduate who had relocated from Austin to Dallas for work in June 2016

The presiding judge sentenced the 31-year-old to 20 years on the failure to stop and render aid charge and 10 years on the manslaughter charge, to run concurrently.

According to her obituary, Spelman was a native of Austin who attended Texas A&M University, where she was a member of multiple honor societies and graduated Magna Cum Laude with degrees in communications and business in 2012.

Spelman had relocated to Dallas for work less than a year before her death, reported CBS DFW. She is survived by her parents and younger sister, Katie, who have launched scholarship funds in her memory.

She took such genuine, caring interest in everyone she encountered and deeply touched the lives of them all. Rachel loved her life and lived it to the fullest.Russia today claimed its London embassy's website was hacked from within Britain.

The alleged cyber attack happened at about 2.30pm yesterday - and the Bayswater-based embassy said it 'most probably originated from the United Kingdom'.

It also claimed the hack followed the embassy's criticism of BBC research into whether there was any Russian involvement in the 'yellow vest' protests in France.

The Russian embassy (pictured), based in Bayswater, West London, said the alleged cyber attack happened at about 2.30pm yesterday - and claimed it was hacked from within Britain

The claim comes two months after the UK government accused Russian military intelligence of being behind a seires of 'reckless and indiscriminate cyber-attacks'.

Relations between the UK and Russia have been in the deep freeze since Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in Salisbury in March.

A representative of the Russian diplomatic mission told Russian government-backed news agency TASS today: 'The Russian embassy in London apologizes to numerous users of its website, which was hacked on December 17 in the second half of the day at 2.48pm (5.48pm Moscow time) after publications about Britain's involvement in Ukrainian affairs, as well as the critical commentary regarding the editorial task to BBC correspondent to find traces of Russia's involvement in French protests.

He said that embassy experts 'are looking into the feasibility of restoring the whole corpus of archival records containing key estimates of the British foreign policy'.

Relations between the UK and Russia have been in the deep freeze since Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia (pictured together) were poisoned in Salisbury in March

And the source added: 'According to preliminary estimates, the attack most probably originated from the United Kingdom.'

It comes as Britain was warned by the communications watchdog about 'hardcore propaganda' being used by Russian TV stations broadcasting out of London.

Ofcom is probing NTV Mir Baltic over its coverage of the Salisbury attack, looking at if its bulletins were unbalanced, in favour of the Russian over the UK government.

The channel is targeted at Russian speakers in the Baltic states. The watchdog also opened three investigations into Russia Today after the Skripal poisoning case.James Maloney, a professor at SUNY Maritime, has been fighting to get the ban on nunchucks lifted in New York since 2003. He has finally won his long fought battle

A 1974 New York state ban on nunchucks, based on fear that youth who were inspired by martial arts movies would hurt people, is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment, a federal court has ruled.

Judge Pamela Chen issued her ruling Friday in a Brooklyn federal court on the martial arts weapon made famous by Bruce Lee.

The plaintiff, James Maloney, started his legal quest after being charged with possession of nunchucks in his home in 2000.

He initially filed a complaint in 2003, and appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court when the case went against him.

The Supreme Court in 2010 remanded the case back down to be reconsidered in light of a Second Amendment decision it had made in another case, and Maloney filed an amended complaint later that year.

Maloney had been focused on getting the part of the law overturned that banned nunchucks, two rigid rods connected at one end by a chain or rope, even in private homes.

Brooklyn federal court judge, Pamela Chen, has overturned New York state's ban on nunchucks saying it was unconstitutional under the Second Amendment

Nunchucks were banned in the 1970's amid a flurry of Kung Fun movies gaining popularity with fears over gangs and youths using them to harm and kill others

In her ruling, Chen said the court couldn't simply take that part out, and ruled that the state's law as it pertained to possessing nunchuks as well as to manufacturing, transporting or disposing of them was in violation of the Second Amendment.

The ruling went over the history of the ban, and said it 'arose out of a concern that, as a result of the rising popularity 'of 'Kung Fu' movies and shows,' 'various circles of the state's youth' - including 'muggers and street gangs' - were 'widely' using nunchaku to cause 'many serious injuries.''

Maloney said 'perhaps the most amazing thing' was getting more relief than he had asked for.

Maloney, a professor at the State University of New York's Maritime College, said some of his motivation was outrage. 'How could a state simply ban any and all possession of a weapon that had a long and proud history as a martial-arts weapon, with recreational, therapeutic and self-defense utility,' he said.

Maloney also wanted to teach a form of martial art using nunchucks that he created, which he calls 'Shafan Ha Lavan' to his sons, the ruling said.

The suit names the Nassau County district attorney as a defendant. The county's lawyer had no immediate comment.

If the ruling remains unchallenged, Massachusetts will be the only remaining state to still ban nunchucks.







Being the leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world is a great responsibility but unfortunately it also includes a lot of eyes and ears into every single thingthat you do and misdo. Among all the candidates who have headed the White House, President Donald Trump seems to gain the highest notoriety for his forbidden and scandalous acts with a good number of criminal cases against him. Some even wonder whether the president himself could soon be accused of criminal behaviour. The list of the allegations against him seem to have no end and it doesnt have to do just with his political life, even his deep personal affaires are under investigation. Be it his political campaign, the White House, his inauguration, his personal business issues absolutely every aspect of Donald Trumps life is uncovered in search of the breaking news.

The starting point of these unending investigations is found within his party in control. Three criminal investigations have been carried out. These are the Mueller Probe looking into possible collision case. Followed by the case of justice been obstructed and other wrongdoings between Russia and the Trump campaign and lastly the issue of the New York campaign-finance which paid hush money to Trumps alleged lovers. After these striking criminal cases came forth a new case from New York once again which is suspecting that foreign interests could have made illegal payments to the finances and operations of President Donald Trumps inaugural committee.

That was just the starting point of the issue. Another angleof the criminal investigations against President Donald Trump is based on his close collaborators and business associates. A good number of his close collaborators are been pledged guilty of charges held against them. Not very far from now was the case of another cabinet member who left after haven been sparked 17 investigations. Interior Secretary Zinke in his resignation letter even went to the point of saying that, vicious and politically motivated attacks" against him had "created an unfortunate distraction" in fulfilling the agency's mission. He hasnt even spent more than two years into his presidential mandate that President Donald Trump has the media and the whole world informed about shameful details concerning all aspects of his life. And the investigations will go further once the Democrats will take over the House the next coming year. The latter will carry out their own investigations and if things turn out bad it could even lead to an impeachment. Donald Trump will certainly have more sleepless nights as administrative officials could be asked to testify before the Congress. And all his tax returns which he has always refused to make public could also be revealed. With all these allegations against President Donald Trump, he mightprobably not succeed in getting the $5 billion from the Republican Congress for the construction of the border wall. He might also have fewer legislative priorities the next coming year 2019.Anton von Goess, 54, was arrested by Austrian police officers on suspicion of murdering his father, step-mother and brother

An Austrian duke shot three members of his family dead during a row over inheritance at their castle, prosecutors claim.

Count Anton von Goess, 54, the owner of Bockfliess Castle in Mistelbach, Lower Austria, allegedly blasted his 92-year-old father Count Johannes Ulrich Goess, stepmother Margherita Cassis-Faraone Goess, 87, and brother Ernst Goess, 52, with a shotgun.

Von Goess was arrested by police on suspicion of murder, and has allegedly confessed to the killings, which took place in the Bockfliess Castle's offices last Thursday, local media reports.

According to the police, all victims were shot at close range and a hunting rifle was found at the scene.

The castle was reportedly full of weapons, as Ulrich and his sons were passionate hunters.

A few years ago they had registered a trading company for hunting weapons and ammunition.

The motive for the killings, which took place in the Bockfliess Castle's offices last Thursday, is thought to be a dispute over the family business, but the Count also suffers from a terminal brain illness that causes 'confusion' his lawyer said

The alarm was raised by a neighbour of the stately home who allegedly became suspicious after she heard noises that sounded like 'bangs' on Thursday afternoon around 2pm.

The police arrived at the crime scene to find the Count expecting them and he did not resist arrest.

Initially nobody could explain why the Count, who was described by all accounts as polite, sociable and socially conscious, brutally murdered his family.

The victims: the accused's father Count Johannes Ulrich Goess, 92 (right) and stepmother Margherita Cassis-Faraone Goess, 87

Neighbours of the family in the Austrian market town claim that the nobleman could have killed his brother in a dispute over family inheritance

The police refused to comment on a possible motive, citing the importance of ongoing investigations.

However, the nobleman's defence have said he suffering from an incurable terminal disease.

A lawyer acting for the Count, who also goes by the nickname 'Tono', claimed he suffered headaches from tumours, that caused 'a certain amount of confusion to set in', Peter Philipp told Austrian news site OE24.

Mr Philipp added that the 54-year-old spent time in intensive care last year after an aneurysm in the brain almost killed him.

'Since then, he always feels an enormous pressure in his head and seizures', Mr Philipp said.

Police are waiting on a toxicology report to clarify whether Tono had taken any narcotics, but alcohol has reportedly been ruled out.

Police at the scene at Bockfliess Castle in Mistelbach last Thursday. The alarm was raised by a woman who allegedly became suspicious after she heard noises that sounded like 'bangs'

They are also preparing a psychiatric report. Mr Philipp said: 'It has to be clarified whether my client was sane or not due to his outer and inner tumours.'

Residents in the market town claim that the nobleman may have killed his brother in a dispute over family inheritance.

Neighbours said that the once-wealthy Goess family is in financial dire straits and has had to sell off property again and again.

Father Johannes Ulrich von Goess reportedly burdened his sons with the financial problems, which allegedly resulted in repeated fights between Count Tono and his brother Ernst over how to manage the family wine-making business.

The Count is believed to have accumulated a huge amount of pent-up hatred towards his father, stemming from years of suppression.

According to the police, all victims were shot at close range and a hunting rifle was found at the scene

Tono has described how much he suffered under his father's strong hand and local media report that he 'hated his father like the plague'.

A neighbour said: 'We can hardly believe it. Everyone thought that they had a lot of money and no problems, but it turned out that they have some financial issues.'

But locals also said that Tono von Goess was a friendly and helpful person who always behaved respectfully towards the townsfolk.

Investigators are now trying to recreate what played out in Bockfliess Castle in the final hours before the murders.

A lawyer acting for Count von Goess claims he suffers from headaches due to tumours and an assessment of his mental health will be carried out

Count Tono was found to be online at 2.44am last Thursday, sharing a video on social media about a neurosurgeon dancing with his patients.

Less than twelve hours later, he would fire five deadly shots from his gun in the castle's office. He must have reloaded the weapon twice.

The Austrian duke frequently used social media to discuss politics and had showed a recent interest in the yellow vests movement in France and vouched his support for Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and the government's anti-immigration laws.

The investigation is ongoing.Etta Ng, the estranged daughter of martial arts superstar Jackie Chan and her Canadian wife have been kicked out of a hostel in Hong Kong after they could not pay for the bill, local media reported.

The 19-year-old and her 31-year-old wife Andi Autumn have racked up a HK$2,250 (227) bill for a five-night stay at a hostel in Mong Kok and could only hand over HK$20 (2) for payment.

The hostel manager, unaware of Ng's identity, told reporters that the pair said they were models and HK$20 was all the money they had.

Etta Ng, the estranged daughter of martial arts superstar Jackie Chan and her Canadian wife Andi Autumn have been kicked out of a hostel in Hong Kong after they could not pay for the bill

Ng married Autumn, an internet celebrity, in Canada last month in an intimate ceremony

Jackie Chan has never reportedly sought a relationship with his daughter, Etta Ng

After failing several times to collect payment from the pair, the female manger, surnamed Lau, alerted the hostel owner on December 9, according to Apple Daily.

The owner, surnamed Ho, recognised Ng right away and urged her to make the payment. After the women said they had no more cash, Ho alerted the police.

The couple then sought help from Ng's mother - former Miss Asia Elaine Ng - whose affair with Chan made headlines in 1999. He was married to Taiwanese actress Joan Lin.

Elaine Ng was later seen driving the couple to a bank to withdraw money and paid for their bill.

According to the manager, the pair also left the room littered with takeout boxes and garbage as they wouldn't let any other staff member inside during their stay.

They would only get up and emerge from their room only at about 4pm or 5pm every day to get food, Lau added.

Pictures from the wedding day show the couple holding hands and embracing before signing their marriage certificate to make their union official in Canada

Etta's mother, former beauty queen Elaine Ng Yi Lei (pictured), had an affair with Jackie Chan in 1999 during his marriage to Taiwanese actress Joan Lin

Ng married Autumn, an internet celebrity, in Canada last month and the pair had recently returned to Hong Kong, where they had wanted to set up a creative agency.

'There is nothing greater than true love found,' Ng wrote on Instagram when announcing the news. Videos and pictures from the wedding day show the couple holding hands and embracing before signing their marriage certificate to make their union official.

In a previous interview with Apple Daily, Ng said she doesn't really know her father and her last name was never Chan.

'If I don't really know someone, I can't judge them. I know when I was young, I would have said some impulsive things, but now I'm a bit more level-headed,' Ng said.

Etta's marriage news comes less than a year after she and Andi claimed in a YouTube video that they had 'been homeless for a month due to homophobic parents'.

Etta's marriage news comes less than a year after she and Andi claimed in a YouTube video that they had 'been homeless for a month due to homophobic parents'

Chan went from growing up in a working class family in Hong Kong to become the second highest paid actor in the world, according to Forbes, and raked in $50 million last year

In the clip, which was published in April, Etta is seen reading off of a sheet of paper while speaking to the camera.

'Hi I'm Jackie Chan's daughter and this is my girlfriend Andi,' she says. 'We've been homeless for a month due to homophobic parents. We pretty much slept under a bridge, and other things.'

At the time, her actress mother criticised the statement, saying: 'If they have no money, they should go and find work. They should not release a video telling everyone that they have no money and who her father is. All over the world people work hard and do not rely on someone else's fame to acquire money.'

Chan has never reportedly sought a relationship with his daughter.

The martial arts star went from growing up in a working class family in Hong Kong to become the second highest paid actor in the world, according to Forbes, and raked in $50 million (39.5 million) last year - with only Robert Downey Jr ahead of him.

His personal fortune is estimated at $350 million (277 million)on the back of hits like Rumble in the Bronx and Rush Hour. In 2016 he was presented with an Oscar for lifetime achievement.Advertisement

A huge fire engulfed a Brazilian village last night, forcing 2,000 desperate residents to flee their wooden homes.

The blaze raced through a neighborhood in the jungle city of Manaus, destroying at least 600 houses which were built on stilts due to seasonal floods.

No deaths were reported from the blaze, which is said to have been triggered by a pressure cooker explosion.

Shocking images of the devastation showed homes reduced to ash as bright flames tore through the settlement and huge smoke plumes billowed into the night sky.

A fire raced through a neighborhood in the Brazilian jungle city of Manaus early on Tuesday. Pictured: Educandos neighbourhood engulfed in flames

Firefighters work to combat a fire that engulfed Educandos neighbourhood in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil

No deaths were reported from the blaze, which authorities said may have been triggered by a pressure cooker explosion

Residents of Educandos neighbourhood remain near their burning houses, as firefighters try to control a massive fire

A resident is seen during a fire at Educando neighbourhood, a branch of the Rio Negro, a tributary to the Amazon river

Residents of the Educandos neighbourhood salvage their belongings from their houses

The fire destroyed at least 600 houses and its origin is still unknown. It is thought that the blaze was caused by an explosion of a pressure cooker

Firefighters work to combat a massive fire that engulfed Educandos neighbourhood in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil

Four people were injured, and more than 2,000 people were forced to flee, Amadeu Soares, head of the Amazonas state security ministry, told reporters at the scene

A resident cools down as he joins a group of neighbours to help firefighters to combat a fire that engulfed Educandos neighbourhood in Manaus

Residents of Educandos neighbourhood remain outside their houses, watching the flames

Devastation: Educandos neighbourhood engulfed in flames during a massive fire in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil

Officials said preliminary information from residents pointed to a kitchen incident involving an exploding pressure cooker as the possible cause, though a full investigation was under way

Residents help firefighters to combat the huge fire that engulfed Educandos neighbourhood in Manaus, Amazonas state

Four people were injured, Amadeu Soares, head of the Amazonas state security ministry, told reporters at the scene.

Soares said preliminary information from residents pointed to a kitchen incident involving an exploding pressure cooker as the possible cause, though a full investigation was under way.

Television images showed desperate scenes of residents trying to flee through tight, labyrinthine alleyways. Firefighters spent several hours trying to control the blaze, but struggled to prevent houses from going up in flames.

Such fires are common in poorer neighborhoods and slums in Brazil, where scant government planning during decades of rapid urbanization resulted in informal settlements sprouting up, housing millions who sought jobs in urban centers.

Houses on fire are seen at Educando neighbourhood, a branch of the Rio Negro, a tributary to the Amazon river, in the city of Manaus, Brazil

Television images showed desperate scenes of residents trying to flee through tight, labyrinthine alleyways. Firefighters spent several hours trying to control the blaze, but struggled to prevent houses from going up in flames

Residents help firefighters to combat the fire that engulfed Educandos neighbourhood in Manaus, Amazonas state

Distraught: Residents are seen during a fire in a neighbourhood by the Rio Negro, a tributary to the Amazon river

Residents of Educandos salvage their belongings from their houses, as firefighters try to control a massive fire

According to Manaus Civil Defense Department the fire destroyed at least 600 houses and its origin is still unknown

Such fires are common in poorer neighborhoods and slums in Brazil, where scant government planning during decades of rapid urbanization resulted in informal settlements sprouting up, housing millions who sought jobs in urban centers

Residents look at houses on fire at Educando neighbourhood, a branch of the Rio Negro a tributary to the Amazon river

A resident leaves her house carrying her dog, as a massive fire engulfs Educandos neighbourhood, in Manaus, Amazonas

Firefighters and residents work during a fire at Educando neighbourhood, a branch of the Rio Negro, a tributary to the Amazon river, in the city of Manaus, Brazil

A man looks at houses on fire at Educando neighbourhood, a branch of the Rio Negro, a tributary to the Amazon river, in the city of Manaus, Brazil

Residents of Educandos neighbourhood salvage their belongings from their houses

Residents of Educandos neighbourhood remain near their burning homes

Houses on fire are seen at Educando neighbourhood, a branch of the Rio Negro, a tributary to the Amazon river, in the city of ManausAs the rest of the world is gearing up for Christmas, residents in a Chinese city have been told that the holiday would be banned this year by their government.

The news, delivered in a paper notice to people in Langfang near Beijing, is an apparent move to prohibit the locals from carrying out religious activities.

No image of Santa Claus is allowed on the street; nor can the local shops sell Christmas decorations or Christmas trees, according to a picture of the notice circulating on China's social media platform Weibo.

Shops are banned from selling Christmas decorations and Santa Claus is banned from the street this year by the government of Langfang, a city near China's capital Beijing (file photo)

The directive, said to be issued by the Langfang Urban Management and Law Enforcement Bureau, warns the local shops and companies not to carry out any promotional events or sales around Christmas.

Banners and billboards related to Christmas are ordered to be taken down.

It also urges residents to report to them if they see anyone 'spreading religion' in public.

The authority also vows to launch a 'total cleanup' of street vendors who sell Christmas trees, Christmas socks and Christmas decorations.

A full team of law enforcement officers will be patrolling the commercial streets, supermarkets and public squares on December 23, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to ensure no signs of the festival is in sight.

Santa Claus won't be coming to the homes of children in Langfang this year after the local government apparently cancelled all festive events during a religious crackdown (file photo)

The news came after Beijing reportedly launched a tough religious crackdown.

A prominent church pastor was detained by the Chinese authorities on suspicion of inciting subversion earlier this month, according to a human rights group.

Protestant pastor Wang Yi of the Early Rain Covenant Church - an unregistered 'home church' in Chengdu - was said to be taken together with dozens of churchgoers by police and state security officials on the night of December 9.

China's constitution guarantees religious freedom, but since President Xi Jinping took office six years ago, the government has tightened restrictions on religions seen as a challenge to the authority of the ruling Communist Party.Britain's post Brexit immigration plan could be delayed again - making it more than a year late, it today emerged.

The Cabinet did not get around to discussing long-delayed white paper at this morning's meeting as discussions on how to ramp up no deal Brexit planning overran.

And it also emerged today that the draft plan contains no mention of cutting net migration to the tens of thousands.

The promise is a flagship Tory policy announced by David Cameron in 2010 an championed by Theresa May first in the Home Office and then No10.

On the target, a Whitehall source said: 'It's not in there and it won't be unless someone slips it in at the last minute.'

The Home Office first promised to release the white paper outlining the UK's post Brexit immigration plan last autumn.

But it has been long-delayed and the department has had a change of Home Secretary as ministers have been remained locked in talks about the plans.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured in Downing Street today) had promised the long-delayed white paper would be published by the end of the year, but it looks set to be kicked back until after Christmas

Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced another delay to the immigration white paper earlier this month and it had been penciled in to be finally made public tomorrow.

But it now looks set to be kicked back once again until after the Christmas break.

Government sources told MailOnline it is 'very unlikely' the plan will be punished this week.

Senior ministers had been due to discuss the white paper at this morning's Cabinet meeting, but they did not get to the topic after Brexit no deal talks overran.

It comes after the Daily Mail today revealed that ministers are split over how many migrants to allow into Britain after Brexit.

Chancellor Philip Hammond and Business Secretary Greg Clark are pushing for a proposed minimum salary for people coming to the UK to be reduced or be exempt for certain jobs.

Ministers had promised to set out by the end of this week the rules for EU migrants coming to Britain when freedom of movement ends after Brexit.

Whitehall sources said Cabinet divisions centred on a proposal that skilled migrants will have to earn at least 30,000 before being allowed in on five-year visas.

Mr Hammond and Mr Clark have raised concerns about extending the salary threshold, which currently applies to non-EU migrants, to people from the EU.

It is understood they want the earnings figure to be lowered or exempt in certain sectors.

Last night a Whitehall source said: The 30,000 figure has not been nailed down, which is why the White Paper might not be this week.

Net immigration to Britain rose to 273,000 in the first half of 2018 despite a continued fall in arrivals from the EU according to ONS data out last month (pictured)

We are still aiming to publish on Wednesday but that is looking unlikely.

Under the plans, low-skilled workers will only be allowed to apply for one-year visas.

Once they expire, they will have to leave Britain and can only return after a cooling off period.

The immigration paper has now been delayed for more than a year as ministers have repeatedly failed to agree.

Last month Mr Javid had said the proposals would come before the end of the year.An entire state's high school leavers have had their final exam results recalculated after a 'procedural error' impacted their overall scores.

Tasmanian high school graduates were given a revised Australian Tertiary Entrance Rank (ATAR) statement on Tuesday night following the discovery of a technical stuff up, the ABC reported.

The change comes after some of Tasmania's highest-achieving final year students were given a maximum score that was 30 per cent lower than last year.

Tasmanian high school graduates were given a revised Australian Tertiary Entrance Rank (ATAR) statement on Tuesday night following the discovery of a technical stuff up (stock photo)

The change comes after some of Tasmania's highest-achieving final year students were given a maximum score that was 30 per cent lower than last year (stock photo)

Asian Studies students have been the biggest impacted, with the maximum score this year set at 18 point, down 8 points from last year.

Student Yasmine Wright Gittins said she and her peers were upset after receiving their scores.

'We were all shocked, and pretty emotionally distraught over it, a lot of people were quite reliant on the marks they needed to receive from that subject,' she said.

The score had reduced her overall ATAR and Ms Gittins said she feared it would impact her application for a scholarship at university.

Though her alarm as well as the other student's may be alleviated after a 'procedural error' was discovered in the scoring.

The units offered to students as part of Tasmania High Achiever Program (HAP) and University Connections Program (UCP) were found to be impacted.

As a result, the original scores have been renegged and high school graduates can expect a recalculated ATAR on Wednesday.

'The University has been supplied with the revised ATAR and subject data, and selection processes will be re-started using the new data,' TASC said in the statement.

'The changes to Tertiary Entrance Scores for this group of students has required us to recalculate the Australian Tertiary Entrance Rank (ATAR) for all students in the 2018 cohort,' Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification (TASC) said in a statement.

Asian Studies students have been the biggest impacted, with the maximum score this year set at 18 point, down 8 points from last year (stock photo)

A government spokesperson said TASC was investigating the data and that the blunder had been 'unfortunate'.

They reiterated that scholarships to the University of Tasmania or mainland universities would not be impacted as a result.

The HAP and UCP mean students studying their Tasmanian Certificate of Education (TCE) can also study university-level units.The Russian Ministry of Defence has been keen to promote a range of new super weapons currently believed to be in development.

President Putin unveiled a catalogue of doomsday weaponry as part of his annual 'State of the Nation' speech in March 2018.

However, questions remain about the true nature of their capabilities, how far into development the weapons truly are, and when they will be combat-ready.

RS-28 Sarmat ICBM

The RS-28 Sarmat is intended to replace the Soviet-designed SS-18 Voyevoda, the world's heaviest ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile).

It is known as 'Satan' in the West and carries 10 nuclear warheads.

Sarmat can unleash ten large thermonuclear warheads, 16 smaller ones, or a combination of both, according to the Russian Ministry of Defence.

Each warhead is purportedly capable of taking aim at a different target.

The hypersonic glide vehicle, dubbed Avangard, launches atop an intercontinental ballistic missile (IBM) before sailing on top of the atmosphere toward its target. Russia tested its latest IBM, the Sarmat missile, for the first time last year (pictured)

The (ICBM) weapons can strike targets via both the North and South poles.

TV broadcaster Zvezda, which is run by the Russian Ministry of Defence, has previously claimed the missile will be capable of wiping out areas the size of Texas or France.

It is also capable of carrying up to 24 of Russia's new Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles, designed to sit atop of an ICBM.

Putin says both weapons will be combat-ready in 2020.

Avangard Hypersonic Glide Vehicle

Russia is also believed to be developing a hypersonic weapon that can breach even the world's most advanced missile defence systems.

The Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle purportedly travels at 20 times the speed of sound and can hit targets anywhere in the world within half an hour.

The vehicle launches atop an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, before gliding on top of the atmosphere toward its target.

It is loaded with advanced countermeasure systems that allow it to skirt around the latest-generation of missile defence systems, Russia claims.

The vehicles are equipped with onboard countermeasure systems capable of dodging even the most advanced missile defence systems. This artist's impression shows how the glider could manoeuvre at high speed to bypass missile defences

The gliders are also highly unpredictable thanks to their manoeuvrability, making them almost impossible to track using conventional systems.

Each weapon could be loaded with a nuclear warhead, however military experts say the sheer speed of the vehicles means they could do damage even without an explosive payload attached.

Putin described his hypersonic arsenal as 'invincible' during a state-of-the-nation address in March 2018.

He claimed Avangard strikes 'like a meteorite, like a fireball' and was capable of reaching targets at 20 times the speed of sound.

At this speed the weapon could circle the Earth in just over half an hour.

Speaking to MailOnline, Neil Gibson, senior weapons analyst for Jane's by IHS Markit, said: 'I think the ability of hypersonic systems to defeat air-defence system is highly exaggerated.

'They have advantages and disadvantages as per any other weapon system.

'The fact is, the vast majority of ballistic missiles are already hypersonic anyway, it's the controlled flight when still hypersonic that we are talking about here.

'If nuclear armed, they just come under 'mutually assured destruction' style posturing. Using them is always possible of course.

'Conventionally-armed versions are more likely to be used, though any confusion with what they carry - nuclear or conventional warhead - could start an exchange of nuclear weapons if it is mistaken for a nuclear attack.'

Kinzhal Hypersonic Air Launched Missile

Another new missile, the hypersonic Kinzhal, travels at ten times the speed of sound, Putin says.

It is currently undergoing tests in southern Russia.

The hypersonic Kinzhal missile is launched from a high-altitude MiG-31 fighter jet and can be fitted with either nuclear, or conventional weapons.

This still shows the hypersonic Kinzhal, which travels at ten times the speed of sound and is currently undergoing tests in southern Russia

It has an effective range of 1,250 miles (2,000 km), although Putin claims its total range is actually 'unlimited'.

Russia has already conducted some 350 training missions with the military unit tasked with testing the Kinzhal.

Putin claims the new missile would be capable of striking 'anywhere in the world', and that its high speed and manoeuvrability allowed it to pierce any missile defence.

However, despite Putin's major promises, the missile has still not been able to stay airborne for more than a few minutes, according to US intelligence sources.

The new missile has purportedly been tested four times between November and February and crashed every time.

Burevestnik nuclear powered cruise missile

The burevestnik, or thunderbird, nuclear propulsion system for Russian cruise missiles aims to give them 'unlimited range and unlimited ability to manoeuvre', according to Sergey Pertsev, a developer.

Ministry of Defence officials said in July, 2018, that work on the unlimited-range missile is going according to plan.

Footage purported to show the missile in action, although it is unclear whether it was being powered by nuclear or conventional fuel.

The 'Burevestnik' nuclear propulsion system for Russian cruise missiles, pictured, is said to have 'unlimited range and unlimited ability to manoeuvre'

'Launching systems are also being designed, while technological processes to manufacture, assemble and test the missile are being improved,' an official said at the time.

However, experts have criticised the missile, including Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

He told Vice's Motherboard: 'The nuclear-powered cruise missile is newand bats**t crazy.'

Poseidon Drone Submarine

The Poseidon drone submarine is a sister project to burevestnik.

It is essentially a giant, nuclear-capable torpedo capable of carrying a two megaton nuclear warhead capable of obliterating military ports.

The Kremlin's Poseidon torpedo sub is designed to destroy 'enemy navy bases' and will be able to travel up to 70 knots (80 miles per hour), it claims.

Russian state news agency TASS says it has not been able to confirm details of the weapon.

The Poseidon drone submarine - with a miniature nuclear propulsion system - is shown undergoing a static test

However, it quoted a military source as saying: 'It will be possible to mount various nuclear charges on the 'torpedo' of the Poseidon multipurpose seaborne system, with the thermonuclear single warhead similar to the Avangard charge to have the maximum capacity of up to two megatonnes in TNT equivalent.'

With its nuke, the weapon 'is primarily designed to destroy reinforced naval bases of a potential enemy,' the report added.

Peresvet Combat Laser System

Named after a medieval warrior monk, very little is known about this system.

Many believe Peresvet is a jamming system carried on the back of military lorries, which can be used to 'blind' optical electronic equipment inside enemy vehicles using a laser beam.

According to ex-Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov the 'combat laser systems' that Putin addressed in his State of the Nation speech back in March had already been delivered to the nation's armed forces last year.

Many believe Peresvet is a jamming system carried on the back of military lorries (pictured), which can be used to 'blind' optical electronic equipment inside enemy vehicles using a laser beam

Once found only in works of fiction, Mr Borisov said such devices were now a very real and necessary tool of modern warfare.

'We can talk a lot about laser weapons and movies were made about them a long time ago and fantastic books have been written, and everyone knows about this,' Mr Borisov said in comments translated by the state-run Tass Russian News Agency.

But the fact that these systems have started entering service is indeed today's reality.'President Donald Trump's school safety commission finally released it's report on school safety measures, and it did not not include a measure to arm teachers in schools.

Trump had insisted earlier in the year that highly-trained teachers packing heat could prevent massacres like the Parkland shooting, if governments would allow them to concealed carry firearms on school property.

Yet, the proposal was missing from the report that earned praise from parents whose children had died in school shootings during a Tuesday roundtable at the White House. Access to guns was barely mentioned in the report at all.

Trump did not bring the topic up, either, at the White House roundtable, where he said, 'Nothing is more important than protecting our nation's children.'

President Donald Trump's school safety commission finally released it's report on school safety measures, and it did not not include a measure to arm teachers in schools

The panel, led by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, made recommendations in a report Tuesday that lays out dozens of suggestions to improve safety in America's schools.

Trump created the commission in March following the Parkland, Florida, school shooting that left 17 students and staff members dead. Critics of Barack Obama's policy say that it has left schools afraid to take action against potentially dangerous students.

Obama's administration issued guidance in 2014 that sought to address the issue after finding that black students were more than three times as likely as their white peers to be suspended or expelled. The guidance warns that schools suspected of discrimination - even if it is unintentional - can face investigations and risk losing federal funding.

But the policy that Trump's commission proposed to role back came under scrutiny following the Parkland shooting, with some conservatives suggesting it discouraged school officials from reporting the shooter's past behavioral problems to police.

Trump's school safety commission, led by Secretary Betsy DeVos, made the recommendation to end an Obama-era discipline school policy in a report Tuesday

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, one of the most vocal critics, urged DeVos to find a better balance between discipline and school safety.

The report covers areas ranging from mental health and cyberbullying to the regulation of guns and violent video games.

On the question of whether schools should arm teachers and other employees, the panel said it should be left to states and schools to decide, but the panel noted that schools can use certain federal grants for firearms training.

'Our conclusions in this report do not impose one-size-fits-all solutions for everyone everywhere,' DeVos said in a call with reporters. 'Local problems need local solutions. This report seeks to identify options that policymakers should explore.'

The commission gave the report to Trump, who planned to talk about it later Tuesday.

Among the chief proposals is a rollback of 2014 guidance urging schools not to suspend, expel or report students to police except in the most extreme cases. Instead, the guidance calls for a variety of 'restorative justice' remedies that don't remove students from the classroom.

In its report, the commission says the policy was well-intentioned but 'may have paradoxically contributed to making schools less safe.'

Obama's administration issued the guidance in 2014 after finding that black students were three times as likely to be suspended or expelled. It warns that schools suspended of discrimination risk losing federal funding

The policy came under scrutiny following the Parkland shooting in February

It calls for a rollback, saying disciplinary decisions should be left to school officials. It said the Justice Department should still investigate intentional discrimination but not the unintentional cases that are barred under the 2014 policy.

The commission's proposal was praised by some conservative groups but drew harsh criticism from some activist groups.

Critics suggest it has left schools afraid to take action against potentially dangerous students, such as Parkland shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz

Dmitri Holtzman, director of education justice campaigns for the Center for Popular Democracy, said the proposal sends 'a clear message to millions of Black, Brown, Immigrant, LGBTQ and Transgender students that the Federal Government is turning its back on them instead of proactively protecting their fundamental rights.'

Along with DeVos, the safety commission includes leaders of the departments of Justice, Health and Human Services and Homeland Security.

They issued their findings after more than a dozen meetings with teachers, parents, students, mental health experts, police and survivors of school shootings.

While the report doesn't encourage schools to arm teachers or staff, it says they're allowed to, and it points them to a Justice Department grant that can be used for training. Still, the group underscored that having a police officer who works in the school is the best option to respond to violence.

Among its other proposals, the commission urged states to adopt laws allowing 'extreme risk protection orders,' or court orders that temporarily restrict access to firearms for people who are found to pose risks to themselves or others.

The group recommended against raising the minimum age to buy a firearm, generally 18 in most states, saying there's no evidence it would reduce killings.Newly unearthed audio recordings reveal still more condemnation directed by new acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney against his boss, President Donald Trump.

As with earlier explosive video recordings, these comments from 2016 include cutting comments by Mulvaney, a former House member, against the character and integrity of the man who tapped him to fill what is traditionally one of the nation's most powerful positions.

The remarks surfaced just days after it emerged that Mulvaney that same year called his powerful and temperamental boss who demands intense loyalty among subordinates a 'terrible human being.'

Mulvaney lamented that Trump had said 'atrocious things' on the infamous 'p****' tape that came out a week before the spoke in the newly uncovered radio interview, and said Trump should in no way be a model for his own daughters.

But incredibly, Mulvaney slipped the scathing comments into an endorsement of Trump, arguing he was the lesser evil in a choice between the GOP candidate and Hillary Clinton, who he compared to a 'man-eating lion.'

'Should either of these people be, be a role model for my 16-year-old triplets? No,' Mulvaney told South Carolina's Jonathon and Kelly show, which is broadcast by Clear Channel, CNN reported.

Audia has emerged of incoming acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney saying Donald Trump wasn't a role model and would ordinarily be disqualified from office. It comes after Mulvaney on video trashed Trump as a 'terrible human being' during the 2016 election

'In an ordinary universe, would both of these people's past activities disqualify them for serving for office? Yes. But that's not the world we live in today. The world we live in today, it's either him or her and for me that's still an easy choice,' Mulvaney argued.

Speaking in October 2016 about a week after the Access Hollywood tape brought wide condemnation from establishment Republicans and even talk that the GOP would have to jettison Trump from the ticket, Mulvaney predicted other shoes would drop.

'My guess is worse stuff is going to come out in the last 30 days,' he said. 'They've got more videotapes. Everything the guy's ever said is on a videotape or an audio tape. There is going to be some atrocious things that are gonna come out. That's not going to make Hillary Clinton a good candidate for president,' he added.

The quotes come days after video emerged showing the incoming White House Chief of Staff trashing Trump as a 'terrible human being' during the 2016 election.

In an ordinary universe, would both of these people's past activities disqualify them for serving for office? Yes.'  then-Rep. Mick Mulvaney, on Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton

The video, which surfaced on Friday just hours after Trump named Mulvaney to fill the post that will be vacated by John Kelly, shows Mulvaney at a public forum days before the election.

Then a Republican Congressman, Mulvaney was running for re-election to South Carolina's 5th District when he and his Democrat challenger made their last-minute appeals to voters at the forum.

'Do I like Donald Trump? No,' says Mulvaney in the video, which was first reported by the Daily Beast. 'Is he a role model for my sons? Absolutely not.'

Mulvaney went on to say that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was even worse, both personality and policy-wise, and that he was throwing his support behind Trump's candidacy despite the Republican's shortcomings.

'Yes, I'm supporting Donald Trump. I'm doing so as enthusiastically as I can given the fact that I think he's a terrible human being,' Mulvaney said.

Mulvaney's remarks were reported at the time by local newspaper The State, but the video did not surface online until Friday.

He went on to win his re-election handily, but resigned to become Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Trump said Friday in tweets that Mulvaney will lead the West Wing until he can find a permanent replacement for Kelly.

A senior official indicated that Mulvaney's tenure will be indefinite, however, telling reporters at the White House minutes after the announcement, 'There's no time limit.'

Just that morning, the White House was claiming that Kelly could stay longer than planned, having already agreed to extend his tenure longer than Trump initially said to ensure a smooth transition.

Trump said in an early evening tweet that he had changed his mind and Kelly would be departing at the end of the year.

Yes, I'm supporting Donald Trump. I'm doing so as enthusiastically as I can given the fact that I think he's a terrible human being.  then-Rep. Mick Mulvaney

'I am pleased to announce that Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, will be named Acting White House Chief of Staff, replacing General John Kelly, who has served our Country with distinction. Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration,' he announced.

Hours later he sent a follow-up tweet insisting 'MANY' people wanted the job.

President Donald Trump says his Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney will lead the West Wing until he can find a permanent replacement for John Kelly

Trump effectively let Kelly off the hook on Friday, saying in a tweet that Mulvaney would serve as 'acting chief of staff' once the retired general leaves the administration

Hours after naming Mulvaney, the president tweeted that 'MANY' people wanted the job

Mulvaney has a lot on his plate as Office of Management and Budget head. A White House official said Friday that his job at OMB will be filled by his deputy Russ Vought

Mulvaney is seen here chatting up Mark Meadows, a Republican congressman that Trump denied the job this week

In naming Mulvaney, the president went on to say, 'I look forward to working with him in this new capacity as we continue to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! John will be staying until the end of the year. He is a GREAT PATRIOT and I want to personally thank him for his service!'

Mulvany still heads the Office of Management and Budget, OMB, within the White House and earlier this year wore two hats as he filled the top job at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

OMB would oversee a partial government shutdown in the case that Congress and the president are unable to resolve their differences ahead of a Dec. 21 deadline to pass legislation to pull unfunded areas of the government out of limbo.

Trump was said on Friday to be shopping a two-week delay in hostilities after declaring on Tuesday that he would 'absolutely' preside over a shutdown until Congress approves $5 billion for his border wall.

That would push the fight that could furlough federal workers over the Christmas holiday into early next year. Trump will have lost much of his leverage by then, as Democrats take the majority in the House, but as he made clear in a Thursday tweet, he now sees the value of avoiding an expensive and potentially toxic government closure.

'Let's not do a shutdown, Democrats  do what's right for the American people!' Trump had tweeted.

His appointment of Mulvaney to Kelly's post on Friday evening suggests that Trump, whose White House is already stretched thin, is seriously considering his options.

A senior official told reporters on Friday evening that the OMB job will be filled for now by Mulvaney's deputy Russ Vought. The White House has since clarified that Mulvaney will remain OMB head and Vought will merely manage the day-to-day operations of the budget office.

The official who briefed press on Friday stressed Mulvaney's credentials for chief of staff as a former Member of Congress, who served from 2011 until the president appointed him OMB head.

'He knows Congress. He knows Capitol Hill,' the official said.

Mulvaney and Trump met at the White House on Thursday afternoon prior to the announcement to discuss the impending fiscal cliff. Trump said in a tweet hours later that Mulvaney would be his interim chief of staff.

Hours prior to the president's announcement that Kelly would be succeeded by Mick Mulvaney, the White House said Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner was not under consideration. Kushner is Ivanka Trump's husband and a senior adviser to the president like she is

Trump promoted the job as a temporary assignment, but White House officials signaled that Mulvaney could fill the position for an extended period of time.

'He's the acting chief of staff, which means he's the chief of staff,' a senior official who requested anonymity said. 'He got picked because the president liked him they get along.'

The person said that Mulvaney was named 'acting' chief instead of permanent chief, 'because that's what the president wants.'

'We'll see,' a second official said of the appointment. 'It's what the president wants right now.'

Prior to holding federal office, Mulvaney served as a state representative and state senator in South Carolina. Before that, he practiced law and worked for his family real estate business.

Mulvaney and his wife Pamela have three children.

In Congress, he was known as a fiscal-hawk and social conservative who ran with the right-wing Freedom Caucus and was willing to shut the government down to trim down the federal deficit.

Since joining the Trump administration he has taken flack for claiming that there is such a thing as a 'good shutdown' that could permanently fix the appropriations process. He has also been dogged by a claim that he says was meant to be a joke that he would only meet with lobbyists as a congressman who'd contributed to his campaigns.

Chris Christie became the latest contender for chief of staff to take himself out of the running on Friday, saying in a statement that it is an honor to have been considered, but it's not the right time in his life for the assignment

Mulvaney was the obvious choice for acting White House chief of staff after having been one of two rumored picks for the position for close to six months.

The other contender, Nick Ayers, turned the job down last weekend.

Chris Christie also took himself out of the running, saying in a Friday afternoon statement that it is an honor to have been considered, but it's not the right time in his life for the assignment.

He told the New York Times that he had asked Trump 'to no longer keep me in considerations for this post' following a meeting on Thursday to discuss the position.

Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway meanwhile confirmed that Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner was not under consideration.

'I haven't heard either Jared or the president mention Jared on the list,' she asserted. 'But I think he's doing a great job at what he's doing.'

Asked whether the president spoke to Christie and what exactly happened she said: 'I do know the answer, but I can't comment. They had a great meeting last night.'

She smiled and said nothing as DailyMail.com asked if she is interested in doing the job that no one else seems to want.

Kushner's potential candidacy emerged shortly after the president claimed he had five candidates who actually want the job fighting it out.

'Five people. Really good ones. Terrific people. Mostly well known, but terrific people,' Trump told reporters on Thursday.

The claim was met with skepticism in wider Washington D.C. given that Trump pushed out Kelly without a successor in place and was turned down by his first choice.

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly attends a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and Governors-elects in the Cabinet Room at the White House on Thursday

Trump told the only Republican openly expressing interest in the job that he wants him to stay in Congress this week.

A White House statement on Wednesday said that Trump ruled out North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows for the top White House position.

'Congressman Mark Meadows is a great friend to President Trump and is doing an incredible job in Congress. The President told him we need him in Congress so he can continue the great work he is doing there,' White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.

Trump's plans were turned upside down when Trump's first pick for the position, Nick Ayes, unexpectedly turned the president's proposition down.

The White House subsequently said that Kelly would be staying on until early January 'at least' to the manage the West Wing while the president conducts his search for a replacement.

The president claimed Tuesday that more than 10 people were competing for the chief of staff job but none appeared to be in the lead and it was unclear how much any of them actually wants to do it.

'We are in no rush. Over a period of a week or two or maybe less we'll announce who it's going to be, but we have a lot of people who want the position,' Trump said in a Oval Office meeting with Democratic leaders on Tuesday morning that Kelly attended.

He said, 'A lot of friends of mine want it. A lot of people that Chuck and Nancy know very well want it, I think people you'd like,' Trump said, talking up the post. 'We have a lot of people that want the job of chief of staff. So we'll be seeing what happens. We're in no rush.'

Kellyanne Conway told reporters this week that Kelly will stay on as chief of staff 'at least' through the beginning of the year

The reason, Trump said: 'Because we have a wonderful chief of staff right here.'

Conway had said during an appearance on 'Fox & Friends' on Tuesday morning  just days after the White House said Kelly's tenure was nearly over  that he wouldn't be leaving at the end of the year as planned.

'He will stay on the job through January 2nd at least, and I think there were will be a very peaceful and pragmatic transition to the next chief of staff,' Conway said. 'But the president has many people who want to serve here.'

Later in the day, the president held a bill signing in the Oval Office that Mulvaney and Meadows were a part of. The two men allegedly competing for the same job who worked closely together in Congress stood side by side as the president talked.

By Wednesday afternoon, the White House had announced that Meadows, at least, was out of the running, and on Friday, ex-congressman Mulvaney appeared to be the last candidate standing.The Port Authority has moved its decorations, placed over the letters on the Holland Tunnel's sign, after complaints the off-center displays were triggering their OCD - and were just plain ugly.

Three wreaths have adorned the New York bound entrance to the heavily used tunnel around the holidays for decades. On Monday night, they were moved from their off-putting positioning.

Some were upset by the configuration in which wreaths covered the letters 'O' and 'U' on the entrance sign and a tree-shaped decoration covered the letter 'N' in 'HOLLAND.'

The tree shaped decoration would fit more snugly over the 'A,' several people said.

BEFORE, an OCD nightmare?: The Christmas shaped tree wreath over the 'N' became the focal point over Port Authority's monthly board meeting, which prompted them to poll commuters

AFTER, a Christmas miracle: Over 21,000 commuters voiced their opinion on the matter which saw the second O-shaped wreath removed, and the tree shaped wreath that stood over the 'N' to its new, more snug location over the A

The Port Authority, which operates the tunnel, listened to the complaints and took a poll after Manhattan resident Cory Windelspecht, the man who has been the public face of the push to move the decorations, addressed the board last week.

'The only reason we are here today is that we spoke loudly,' he told board members during their monthly meeting on Thursday. 'We just wanted to get noticed.'

The announcement by Windelspecht was made during a day when the Port Authority approved an $8.5billion budget and celebrated record traffic at its ports and airports in 2018.

Yet, most of the questions after its monthly board meeting focused on the tunnel's decorations.

Windelspecht said he travels through the tunnel several times a week as part of his job in medical sales and that he has been irked by the sign for several years because of the placement of the tree decoration over the 'N.'

As the votes for the poll came in, Executive Director Rick Cotton told the press 'change is in the air.'

'In light of the interest and in light of the proposal for change, we thought it was important to listen and take action, and what we're doing is quite straightforward,' Cotton said. 'We intend to act based on the results [of the poll].'

Cotton added that a design competition would be considered for next year.

Some motorists had specifically complained the design could possibly be a trigger for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

In a tongue and cheek press release, the Port Authority announced the poll for the direction of how the wreaths' placement should be changed last week.

The press release mimicked the Charles Dickens poem that begins, ''Twas the night before Christmas.'

More than 21,000 people voted in the poll, with the numbers released Monday.

A Christmas hero: After a Manhattanite Cory Windelspecht (pictured) complained during the Port Authority's monthly board meeting, the shift in focus went from the discussion of travels over PA's tunnels, bridges and airports, and the its new budget to the holiday decorations at the Holland Tunnel

Commuters took to social media and shared their holiday cheer after the decision was made, yet some still felt the Port Authority could do a better decorating job next year

The Port Authority had a little fun announcing the poll for commuters with a 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' themed press release

The consensus? Move the tree from over the 'N' in 'HOLLAND' to over the 'A,' and remove a wreath hanging over the 'U,' while leaving the O-shaped wreath over the 'O' in its place.

By Monday night, the wreaths had been moved accordingly.

The 'lesson to this tale,' NPR queried, 'There can be great strength in shared irritation.'

That proposal garnered about 42 per cent of the votes, about 1,200 more than an option that would have moved the tree but kept the second wreath where it was.

The completely removed O-shaped wreath will head to the Journal Square PATH station.

For a better outlook on all the hullabaloo on moving the wreaths around, not only did distressed commuters get what they want, it cost the Port Authority nothing to get the job done to make the commute a little more cheery for motorists.

Port Authority Spokesman Steve Coleman tells DailyMail.com that moving the signs around did not eat into their budget.

'We use the same frames for the wreaths every year. We add in the greenery, which is a nominal cost. The work to install them is done during straight time for our maintenance workers, as was the case last night. There was no cost to move them.'

More than one million vehicles pass through the 91-year-old Holland Tunnel monthly, according to Port Authority statistics.A 'man free' feminist music festival in Sweden has been found guilty of discrimination, it has emerged.

The event, called Statement, was held in Gothenburg in August this year having been billed as 'the world's first major music festival for women, non-binary and transgender only'.

But describing the festival as 'male-free' was a violation of anti-discrimination legislation, Sweden's Discrimination Ombudsman (DO) has ruled.

The 'man free' Statement music festival in Sweden has been found guilty of discrimination, it has emerged. Pictured: Crowds at the festival in August

Men were not prevented from buying a ticket or entering the festival grounds but male members of artists' entourages and the likes of technicians and managers were reportedly restricted to a so-called 'man-pen' in a backstage area.

DO press officer Clas Lundstedt said in a statement: 'It is important to point out what an infringement is. These are the statements made before the festival, what they wrote on their website.

'Still, we haven't been able to prove that someone would have been discriminated against in connection with the implementation or that someone would have been rejected.'

Lundstedt said nobody suffered damage as a result of Statement saying men were not welcome and there will be no penalty for organisers.

The event, called Statement (pictured), was held in Gothenburg, having been billed as 'the world's first major music festival for women, non-binary and transgender only'

The festival was billed as being a 'safe space' featuring 'cis-men free' artists, security and catering.

The term cisgender refers to a man or a woman whose gender matches the sex they were at birth.

A trans or non-binary person is someone whose gender does not conform to their sex assigned at birth.

Swedish comedian Emma Knyckare came up with the idea for the festival after a huge number of sexual offences were reported at Bravalla, Sweden's biggest music festival, last year.

No such crimes were reported during Statement, which carries pictures of women dancing and celebrating together.

Lundstedt added: 'Clearly, we believe that sexual abuse, especially at festivals, is a serious problem. So we are looking forward to trying to correct this. However, it shouldn't happen in a way that violates the law, which their statements in the media and their website do.'

In response, Statement said on Facebook that it was unfazed by the ruling and was 'busy changing the world'.

'It's sad that what 5,000 women, non-binaries and transgender experienced as a life-changing festival, made a few cis-men lose it completely.

'The success of the Statement festival shows that is exactly what we need, and the DO's verdict doesn't change this fact. Otherwise, we have no comments. We are busy changing the world.'Where is Carla? Carla Valpeoz, 35, legally blind author and social activist from Detroit, went missing in Peru on or around December 12

A legally blind author and social activist from Detroit has not been seen or heard from for a week after vanishing on a solo trip to Peru.

Carla Valpeoz, 35, has been missing since December 12 and was not on her flight home on Saturday.

Valpeoz, a Michigan museum worker and seasoned traveler, disappeared while staying at the Pariwana Hostel in Cusco.

Her family says Valpeoz's phone has been off for days and there has been no activity on her credit cards.

Peruvian police have launched an investigation into the American tourists disappearance and the US State Department has confirmed that officials are aware of the situation, but would not comment further citing privacy concerns.

Valpeoz's brother, Carlos, told the Detroit Free Press his sister, who has very poor vision stemming from a brain surgery and uses a cane while traveling, had jetted off to Peru to attend a friend's wedding and had planned to stay in the South American country for two weeks exploring Machu Picchu, Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Rainbow Mountain.

Valpeoz (right) is pictured on December 11 exploring Machu Picchu with a group of tourist she had befriended

Valpeoz has very poor vision stemming from a brain surgery and uses a walking cane when she travels

Valpeoz was joined by a friend from Detroit, Alicia Steele, for the first leg of the journey, but then went off on her own.

Steele said the plan had been for the two of them to reunite in Lima on December 13 and return home together on the 15th.

Just before midnight on December 11, Steele said she got a text from Valpeoz raving about her excursion to Machu Picchu.

Valpeoz spent the night before her disappearance at Pariwana Hostel in Cusco (pictured)

The 35-year-old Detroit woman is pictured sitting down to lunch with her new friends on December 11

I can't wait to tell you all about it. It was absolutely worth 100%, the woman wrote. I'm coming in on Thursday afternoon so I will send you the details through email once I check in. It would be a wonderful welcoming to have all of you come pick me up.

Valpeoz never made it back to Lima on the appointed day, but Steele was not alarmed because her friend was an experienced traveler.

She thought that Valpeoz must have lost her phone, so she decided to just meet her at the airport two days later.

When Valpeoz missed their flight home, Steele filed a missing persons report and went out looking for her friend.

Despite her disability, Valpeoz has been a globe-trotter, traveling as far as Egypt and Papua New Guinea

Valpeoz's brother, who lives in Brooklyn, said that during her trip to Machu Picchu, his sister encountered some problems touring the ancient Incan village because of her disability, so a group of tourists made up of three Spaniards and a man from Argentina invited her to join them.

After exploring the popular UNESCO World Heritage Site, Valpeoz and her new acquaintances visited some hot springs and had lunch together.

That night, Valpeoz went dancing with the other travelers at a club in Cusco.

She seemed happy and in good spirits. They had a few drinks and danced all night, Carlos Valpeoz said.

Valpeoz made it back to the Pariwana Hostel at 4am and went to bed. The following morning, just after 10am, she sent a text message to one of her new companions, saying that she was going on a trip 'to check out some places,' but was planning to return by 1pm.

Valpeoz works as a tour guide at the Arab American Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, and has been advocating for the blind

I'll message you to see where you are and maybe we can meet up and see some museums. I hope you got some rest, the text read.

The woman's brother says he has no reason to suspect that his sister's travel companions know anything about her disappearance because they have been helping with the search and appear concerned for her.

Police in Peru have obtained surveillance video showing Valpeoz getting into a cab and heading in the direction of a bus depot.

According to the brother, the State Department has tracked his sister to a town north of Cusco, which is situated on the route to Machu Picchu.

Valpeoz works as a tour guide at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, and has been advocating for the blind.

Despite her disability, Valpeoz has been a globe-trotter, traveling as far as Egypt and Papua New Guinea. In January of this year, she published a book titled 'Visonless Adventures.'

Carla Valpeoz is described as 5-foot-1 with brown hair and brown eyes. She travels with a walking cane and was last seen with a green backpack.This is the moment a bungling beer thief is twice left hanging upside down from a spiked fence during a raid on a supermarket loading dock.

The thief hangs in the precarious position for hours until passers-by encounter him in the early morning and call the police.

The bizarre incident happened at a supermarket in Kaulille, in the Belgian province of Limburg.

The thief hangs upside down from a spiked fence after raiding a supermarket loading dock in Kaulille, in the Belgian province of Limburg

The 30-year-old man uses bread shelves to climb over the wall and flee with 24 cans of the energy drink Monster

According to supermarket owner Jos Craeghs, the first time the bungling thief got stuck was at 3am after using bread shelves to climb over the fence.

Mr Craeghs said: 'He remained hanging there for a while, until a passing car stopped and those inside freed him.'

After fleeing the scene with 24 cans of the energy drink Monster, the thief returns at 5am to steal for a second time.

Mr Craeghs said: 'He again climbed over the fence and tried to steal a crate of Duvel [beer].

'Again he got stuck on the gate while trying to climb back outside.

'He tried to free himself by taking his pants off, but that did not work.'

His foot gets stuck on top of the fence and he hangs face-first while trying to flee with his drinks

He returns a second time and is left hanging again after his trousers get stuck on a spike. He hangs there until the police arrive

After climbing over the fence for a second time, the thief gets stuck again and is left hanging upside down trying to free his trousers from a spike.

At around 6.30am, some passers-by encountered the thief and called the cops, who caught him red-handed and immediately arrested him.

Mr Craeghs said he was called by the police at 9am about the incident.

He said: 'We then went together to look at the CCTV footage. We almost rolled on the floor laughing.'

The 30-year-old thief, whose cannot be named for legal reasons, was already known to the police because of his previous criminal record.

The stolen beers and energy drinks were found at his house and returned to the supermarket.Sandy Mathis, 56, has warrants for her arrest on charges of aggravated assault and simple battery

A woman is accused of assaulting her 94-year-old mother with a hammer because she asked the suspect's boyfriend to go home at the end of the evening.

Sandy Mathis, 56, has warrants for her arrest on charges of aggravated assault and simple battery for the incident that happened earlier this month.

Mathis lived has lived with her mother, Willie Monroe, for the last 20 years.

Her sister said that Mathis had become 'enraged' after her mother told her boyfriend to leave their home, according to Channel 2 Action News.

'My mama's old school,' Ronald Monroe, Mathis' brother said.

'It's 10 o'clock on a Monday night ... my mama's like, "Tell your company he has to leave."'

Willie Monroe survived the attack and told police that her daughter picked up a hammer and hit her head, back and hands, Brown said. Police later questioned this account after doctors found no evidence of any head injuries.

Mathis is alleged to have hit her mother with a hammer leaving bruises on her arms and hands

'My mom says she was on the ground in a fetal position as my sister was just hitting her with the hammer,' Ronald Monroe said.

'My sister had been drinking something. Her eyes were pink, according to my mother,' Monroe told DailyMail.com. 'But children and parents act the same way no matter what age they are.'

Mathis told police a different story claiming her mother's injuries were from a recent fall.

In a police incident report, officers noticed bruising on her hands but no signs of injuries to her head.

Willie Monroe, bottom left, was allegedly beaten with a hammer in her home by her daughter Sandy Mathis, bottom right, on December 3. Her brother Ronald is seen, top left

Ronald Monroe, left, says his sister, Sandy Mathis, right, reacted badly after their mother asked her boyfriend to go back home at the end of the evening

Atlanta police spokeswoman Stephanie Brown released a statement that said, in part: 'Officers offered the mother EMS, but she declined several times.

'At the time of the call, officers did not feel there was evidence to support the claim the mother was assaulted with a hammer.'

Willie Monroe told officers that the assault ended when she grabbed the hammer from Mathis' hands, but the officers noted that she 'did not appear physically strong enough to take the hammer away if this actually happened,' the report said.

Investigators are now looking into the incident after police learned that she admitted herself to Grady Memorial Hospital after officers left.

Doctors determined she had hand injuries, which prompted the arrest warrants to be obtained, Brown said to AJC.

Willie Monroe is due to leave hospital later on Tuesday by which time it is hoped her daughter will in police custody.A male stripper wishes he never jumped out of his car and trashed the vehicle of a mother while her daughter sat there crying.

Javier Ponce, 41, was regretful during a court hearing Tuesday morning in Las Condes, a city in the Chilean province of Santiago, less than 24 hours after he stormed out of his car and terrorized Sol Aravena and her eight-year-old child.

Ponce met with local reporters after a judge placed a restraining order and instructed him to stay away from Aravena.

The mother recorded the harrowing moment on her cell phone that went viral on social media Monday.

Javier Ponce pounds the front hood of a woman motorist after she rear-ended his car three times on a road in the Chilean province of Chile

An eight-year-old girl is reduced to tears as her mother vehicle was attacked by a driver

The enraged Ponce got out of his car and started yelling, and he banged on the front hood and kicked the front bumper as Aravena said she was going to report him to law enforcement authorities.

The irate man walked away while his wife continued to scold Aravena before he walked back and broke her side view mirror with a kick.

'The most shocking thing to me was that I was going with my daughter,' Aravena told Chilean news outlet 24 Horas.

The remorseful Argentine man, who was since fired by two nightclub where he danced, even offered to pay for the damages he caused.

'I admit that I overreacted, but what you see in the video was not all done that way,' Ponce said.

Sol Aravena is accused by another motorist of driving into his car three times while they were stopped at a traffic light on two occasions. She recorded the shocking moment when Javier Ponce shattered her car's side view driver side mirror as retaliation

The driver's side view mirror was left in pieces when an Argentine man lost his cool and kicked it during an argument following an car accident

Javier Ponce said he responded to Sol Aravena with because she had she told him off moments after she rear ended his car twice while they were waiting for a traffic light

He placed most of the blame on Aravena's road conduct, or lack thereof, which was not recorded.

Ponce explained he was waiting for the light to turn green when Aravena rear-ended his vehicle, which produced their first confrontation.

'She hits me on the first opportunity while we're both are at the traffic light. It can happen to anybody,' Ponce said according to Chilean news outlet Ahora Noticias.

The man who was caught on camera trashing a car in Chile apologized for his reaction and offered to pay for the damages he caused

'I step out to ask for a logical explanation and the first things she does is insult me, obviously I answered her with some insults.'

Ponce said he drove off before Aravena drove into his car two more times, sparking the tense road rage episode.

'This woman is determined to ruin my image,' said Ponce, who will have to return to court in January to publicly apologize to Avarena.

'If someone can check the cameras it will be clear who [is following who]. It is impossible that I followed her because that is the route to my house. There are street cameras that can speak for themselves.'Advertisement

These stunning images capture the highlights of the year's best wildlife from Cater's News Agency Best Nature photos of 2018.

From the depths of the African savanna to the freezing wastes of the arctic, 2018's photos feature some of the most remote places on earth and some of nature's most fearsome predators.

One set of images show a shark bursting through a sardine bait ball off the coast of South Africa while other dramatic pictures taken from under the water show the battle between sharks and gannets, both picking away at a giant school of sardines desperate to escape.

Another series of images show the strength of the bond with man and animal.

A bald eagle and a red fox tussle in mid-air over a European rabbit in San Juan Island National Historical Park in Washington state. The fight began when the bald eagle attempted to steal the rabbit away from the young fox, known as a kit. When the bald eagle grabbed the rabbit, it inadvertently also caught the fox, lifting both more than 20 feet into the air. Eventually the fox is forced to let go and the eagle flies off with the rabbit in its clutches

A pair of mischievous gorillas caught sharing an intimate moment in Rotterdam Zoo by an unexpected photographer. Shirley Kroos, 30, was visiting the zoo when she snapped the pair of young gorillas in a somewhat compromising position. The male gorillas who were caught in the act are Aybo, three-and-a-half, and Thabo, three, and are residents at the zoo

This photo shows the concentrated face of a pooch (left) just before catching a handful of treats, while a magical encounter with an adorable baby reindeer (right) went viral after photographs of it almost disappearing into the snowy backdrop were shared from Oslo in Norway

This striking cat, photographed in her owner's home in France, has a light grey and black face separated down the centre with an almost flawless line. Her unique markings are extremely rare and are thought to be the result of two embryos fusing together - the merging of two nonidentical twins

A photographer captured a monkey and her infant recreated the famous Lion King Circle of Life scene in Zimbabwe

Two mammoth 40-tonne humpback whales are seen leapinh out of the water in an incredible display of double breaching. Avid whale watcher John Goodridge, 54, was thrilled after witnessing the two majestic 14 metre (45ft) long marine mammals showing off less than 100 metres (328ft) from his cruise boat sailing out of Sydney Heads, New South Wales, Australia

Two giraffes, left, are seen after a snowfall in Sneeuberg on the Western Cape of South Africa/In the same country, a shark is seen bursting through abaitball of sardines as gannets feed from it. This shoal of sardines was packed close together for protection before a hungry shark burst right through the middle.

A seal is seen fighting a huge stingray in this picture taken in Cape Town, South Africa. The bull seal was then forced to defend his food from preying seabirds

These tigers were spotted in full flight to catch their prey for lunch. Setting their sights on guinea fowl, the powerful predators launched themselves into the air to pluck the birds from the sky. Puffs of feathers fell from the guinea fowl as the tigers caught them with sharp claws in a Siberian Tiger Park in the city of Hanlin, northern China

This adorable feline could be mistaken for a real-life Garfield, as he happens to weight a staggering 33 pounds (2.35 stone)

A squirrel perfects the Superman pose while hopping across branches in the Scottish Highlands near Inverness. Each squirrel has its own style for jumping across. Some appear very flat whereas others have their legs and tail going in all directions. The tail is used to help balance the jumps, and is twisted and shaken as the squirrel hurtles through the air

An eerie face appears to emerge from the waves in this extraordinary picture taken ironically on Lake Erie, Canada. As the water smashes together, the obvious features of the face can be seen forming before the picturesque dusk sky

A wildlife ranger (left), who works at Senkwekwe Centre in Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo has a special bond with the gorillas at the park. Over in Egypt, Nicolas Aubert (right) paramotes over the Pyramids of Giza giving a unique birds eye view of the beautiful structures

A photographer snapped the selfie of a lifetime with a huge Southern Stingray in Grand Cayman, the Caribbean

This amusing photos show the moment a conservationist managed to subdue an injured rhino in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, by holding on to its tail. The rhino had been tracked down by a conservation team using a helicopter after which it was hit by a tranquilliser dart

This ultimate cliff hanger shows Mike Hutton, 47, dangling from the famous rock called Gargoyle Flake in the Peak District, 400m above ground. He was able to capture his brave climb by balancing the camera and tripod on the edge of the mountain - something which captured the images automaticallyA 22-year-old male passenger is missing from a Carnival cruise ship that left from Alabama.

Carnival said in a statement that the passenger was reported missing Sunday evening as the Carnival Fantasy was bound for Progreso, Mexico. By Monday afternoon, when the ship left for its next route, to Cozumel, Mexico, there was no indication that the person was found.

The passenger has not yet been named.

They were reported missing the same day the US Coast Guard called off a search Sunday for 26-year-old Carnival Victory cruise ship passenger Thomas McElhany, who was filmed going overboard off the Florida coast.

A 22-year-old Carnival Fantasy passenger was reported missing Sunday evening

The ship left Mobile, Alabama Saturday, for a five-day cruise heading for Mexico

A ship-wide search is underway for the new missing passenger, according to Vance Gulliksen of Carnival.

Several announcements have been made and Mexican authorities are also providing assistance.

The Fantasy was on its way to Cozumel, Mexico, Monday night and was set to dock there Tuesday.

This comes after the US Coast Guard ended its search Sunday for Thomas McElhany, 26, (pictured) who was reported overboard early on Friday morning from the Carnival Victory cruise ship off the coast of Florida

'He is part of an organized group of nine traveling with three chaperones, and was last seen in his stateroom.

'He ran without warning out of the stateroom, and after his chaperone was unsuccessful in locating him, the chaperone notified the ship's crew.' the cruise line said in a statement to Fox News.

Carnival has not announced plans to shorten or stop the cruise.

'While the onboard search continues, we have activated our CareTeam to provide support to the guest's family and traveling companions. Our dual focus remains on locating the guest, and supporting his family, as well as his traveling companions,' Carnival said.

Meanwhile, the Carnival Victory reported 26-year-old McElhany missing on Friday about 35 miles off Islamorada in the Florida Keys, launching a search.

The Coast Guard said its helicopters, planes, and cutters covered nearly 2,100 square miles during the 32 hours that crews searched for Thomas McElhany.

'He didn't fall. According to authorities, it was an intentional act,' Kimberly Wyatt, a news director who happened to be on board the cruise ship, said of McElhany.

Images from the cruise deck show search crews on board looking for the missing 22-year-old

Parts of the ship have been roped off (pictured) as the investigation continues in Progreso, Mexico

Passengers aboard the Carnival Victory ship were alerted that a passenger was missing at around 3am Eastern on Friday, according to people who were on board the ship.

'We were woken up by the public announcement system paging an individual a bit after 3am,' a passenger identified on Twitter as Diana Jorio tweeted.

'It was determined he went overboard at 5:30 am and 6am we turned around. I was such a sad way to end an otherwise wonderful trip.'

The missing Carnival Fantasy passenger's identity has not been released.An Iowa mother was arrested on child endangerment charges after one of her home alone children called 911 asking for help with watching YouTube.

Nataliee Kahl, 23, of Coralville, Iowa, was arrested Monday after authorities said she left her three children  ages one, three and five years old  home by themselves for about 40 minutes on December 14.

Authorities were alerted to the fact that the children were left alone that night when one of the kids called 911 at about 10pm saying that 'her mom and dad left and she needed help watching YouTube,' according to court filings obtained by The Smoking Gun.

Police were said to have been inside the home when Kahl finally returned to her brood and allegedly admitted that she'd left the house 'to go get her boyfriend from a neighbor's house.'

Nataliee Kahl, 23, (left and right in her mugshot) of Coralville, Iowa, was arrested Monday after authorities said she left her three children

Kahl was said to have admitted to police that the children 'would not be able to take care of themselves' had there had been an emergency at the home.

Jail records show that Kahl was taken into custody on Monday on the offense of child endangerment without injury, an aggravated misdemeanor. She is apparently out of jail on pretrial release with supervision.

Kahl now faces three counts of child endangerment, as well as possession of drug paraphernalia, due to police finding a glass pipe containing marijuana residue while they were responding to Kahl's daughter's 911 YouTube call.

A warrant for her arrest was filed December 14 on because she did 'knowingly possess drug paraphernalia,' court records showed.

This isn't the first time that Kahl has made headlines, though.

The home where the kids were left by themselves for about 40 minutes at night. Kahl said that she had left them alone so that she could go pick up her boyfriend

In 2015, while she was living in Wisconsin, Kahl's daughter had to be taken to the hospital after Kahl gave her formula that she had unwittingly mixed with vodka.

At the time, Kahl told WISN that then one-and-a-half-year-old baby's father, Brian Smith, didn't tell her that he had emptied a water bottle and poured vodka into it. Kahl then poured what she thought was two ounces of water from that bottle into baby formula and fed it to the child.

The baby became sick, requiring hospitalization. The child's BAC was said to be .284  almost four times the legal limit in adults.

Smith was arrested when he and Kahl got into a fight over whose fault the vodka-baby formula mistake was.

It's unclear if the baby involved in the 2015 incident was the one who called 911 or if Smith was the same man that Kahl had left home to retrieve.Nigel Wilkinson, 45, was found guilty of nine offences against six men today following a trial at Bristol Crown Court. He is seen in an undated mug shot

A serial male rapist has been found guilty of using his job as a fitness photographer to lure men to his house where he drugged and sexually assaulted them before taking compromising images.

Nigel Wilkinson, 45, was found guilty of nine offences against six men today following a trial at Bristol Crown Court.

In 2016 Wilkinson was imprisoned for 11-and-a-half years after admitting two counts of rape and three counts of administering a substance with intent to rape.

Today a judge found him guilty of a further count of rape, five more counts of administering stupefying drugs and three counts of voyeurism.

He has now been convicted of offences against a total of nine men between 2014 and 2016. He will be sentenced at 10am tomorrow.

During the trial the jury heard Wilkinson say in a Skype conversation: 'I get a kick out of robbing a straight guy out of his masculinity'.

When asked by the other Skype user whether he was 'into drunk sleeping guys', Wilkinson - under the alias Straight Boy Lover - replied 'very much so,' it was said.

Wilkinson would invite men back to his home (pictured) for a photo shoot before drugging and raping them. Images undated

Police first began investigating Wilkinson over the rape of a 19-year-old man from Kent, and arrived at his home in April 2016 to arrest him. Pictured: His living room

When asked whether he had managed to penetrate a sleeper, he replied: 'Yes, many times.'

Wilkinson claimed in the chat that all his straight male victims were 'definitely' virgins, and added: 'I love dumb jocks and guys stupid enough to sleep next to me.'

Lead investigator DI Larisa Hunt the new convictions 'exposed the true extent of his crimes' which caused severe and lasting damage to his victims.

'He used his pseudo business Wilko Photography to attract men interested in fitness modelling,' she explained.

'He would contact men via social media to arrange a photo shoot in Bristol, offering them a fee and expenses and encouraging them to stay over at his house.'

Police first began investigating Wilkinson over the rape of a 19-year-old man from Kent, and arrived at his home in April 2016 to arrest him.

There they found a second victim asleep on his sofa.

Traces of sedatives were found in both victims urine samples and further DNA evidence linked Wilkinson to sexual offences committed on them.

Wilkinson would ply his victims with alcohol until they became stupefied, before raping them. Pictured: A bar in his home

During the investigation we identified a third victim  a 19-year-old from Wiltshire, who was also found to have traces of sedatives in his system.

Media reports of the 2016 trial brought other men forward and police eventually identified many more victims, seven of whom were willing to help police investigate.

Wilkinson (seen in an undated police mug shot) was convicted of further offences after more men came forward

Once he had got his victims to his makeshift home studio, Wilkinson would ply them with drinks spiked with sedatives before raping them and taking pictures.

'This has been a nationwide investigation with victims coming from London, Leeds, Cardiff, Newport, Northampton, Wiltshire, Kent and Gloucester,' said DI Hunt.

'One of his victims now lives in New Zealand and gave evidence to the court via a video link.'

She said the investigation, dubbed Operation Brooklyn, examined thousands of pieces of digital media to trace his victims and offences.

'Our priority has been to seek justice for all of his victims, but the inescapable truth is some of them will never know whether they were raped or sexually assaulted by Nigel Wilkinson.

'I'd like to personally thank each of them for their courage and willingness to support our investigation despite the emotional and psychological toll this has had on their lives,' she added.President Donald Trump's former national security advisor Michael Flynn sought to delay his sentencing Tuesday after admitting in open court Tuesday he was 'guilty' of lying to the FBI only to get excoriated by a federal judge for 'selling out' his country.

Flynn faced the real possibility of jail time after Judge Emmet Sullivan repeatedly dressed-down the three-star general and former top Trump advisor in court for his lies.

'I cannot assure you, if you proceed today, you will not receive a sentence of incarceration, Sullivan told him. 'I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense,' he fumed.

Following a tense hearing filled with similar broadsides, Flynn and his lawyers changed course and asked to delay sentencing while Flynn continues to cooperate with prosecutors.

He pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia's former ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition, as well as conversations the two men had about Obama-imposed sanctions on Russia as punishment for the country's invasion of Ukraine and interference in the U.S. election.

Scroll down for video

President Donald Trump's former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, his attorney Robert Kelner and his wife Lori Andrade arrive at federal court in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018 for Flynn to receive sentencing following his guilty plea

He will now have a status hearing on March 13 with his sentencing put off indefinitely. The government earlier said in court that Flynn may still be cooperate further, giving him an additional chance to prove his worth.

Sullivan kept alive the possibility of a prison sentence, nodding towards Flynn and saying: I dont promise him anything.

Flynn's lawyers opted for a legal retreat after the judge gave multiple hints that he could end up getting put away. Judge Sullivan also asked questions about Flynn's cooperation in a case involving a Turkish national and his former business associate's lobbying for Turkey, in a case in which Flynn is expected to testify later.

Following angry lectures from the bench, Flynn sought a 30-minute break to huddle with his lawyers following his guilty plea.

Flynn exited the courthouse Tuesday afternoon without resolution  only to be met with rivaling cheers of 'Lock him up!' and 'USA.' Flynn had led a cheer of 'Lock her up' directed at Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Republican convention, when he was a top advisor to Donald Trump.

Sullivan had told him he sold out his country by lying about his Russia contacts from inside the White House  and asked prosecutors why they hadn't charged Flynn with treason.

Flynn left the courthouse to shouts of 'Lock him up!' and 'USA!'

Judge Emmet Sullivan excoriated Flynn during a court hearing Tuesday

Sullivan tied together both of the crimes Flynn admitted to committing: lying to cover up his Russia contacts, and lobbying on behalf of Turkey without disclosing his activities  and banking hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process.

'All along, you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the National Security Advisor to the President of the United States. That undermines everything this flag over here stands for,' Sullivan thundered.

'Arguably you sold your country out.'

During the hearing, Flynn also told Sullivan knew that doing so was a crime when he met with investigators in 2016.

Judge Emmet Sullivan tore into Mike Flynn at his sentencing hearing

Flynn arrived in federal court for sentencing Tuesday following his guilty plea hours after getting 'good luck' wishes from his former boss.

During conversations with Sullivan in court, Flynn's team backed off it's claim that the FBI lead him into lying. That claim, contained in a memo to the judge in advance of sentencing, appears to have backfired, antagonizing the judge and putting Flynn's team in the awkward position of maintaining a guilty plea even after attacking the government's investigation.

Asked if Flynn had been 'entrapped by the FBI, lawyer Stephen Anthony replied, 'No, your Honor.'

That comment by Flynn's team was directly contradicted by the White House, where press secretary Sarah Sanders said Flynn was 'ambushed' by FBI agents.

Sullivan asked Flynn if he wanted to go ahead with his hearing because he was guilty. 'Yes, your honor,' Flynn replied. He declined an opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea.

Judge Sullivan told Flynn he would consider the 'substantial assistance he has given the Mueller probe as well as his '33 years of military service and sacrifice'.

Flynn also said he was 'aware' that lying to FBI investigators was a crime.

At the White House, press secretary Sanders stood by her claim Flynn was subject to an 'ambush' even after Flynn and his lawyers had abandoned the claim. Asked about Flynn's admission that had lied to investigators inside the White House, Sanders said it had nothing to do with the president.

'Not when it comes to things that have anything to do with the president. The activities that he is said to  and again well let the court make that determination  to have engaged in dont have anything to do with the president,' Sanders said.

'Lets remember what the whole thing that this started is supposed to be about, its whether or not Russia influenced the election or whether or not the president had anything to do with it,' she told reporters in a rare briefing.

'We know that Russia tried to create chaos within the election but certainly not that they actually impacted it. The only reason that the president is the president is 'cause he was a better candidate and beat Hillary Clinton. We also know that the president never colluded with Russia,' she said.

Sanders wished Flynn 'well' and defended Trump's decision to wish him good luck.

'It is perfectly acceptable for the president to make a positive comment about somebody while we wait to see what the court's determination is,' she said, notwithstanding Flynn's own guilty plea.

Flynn was hoping to avoid jail time after prosecutors vouched for his extensive cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, including 19 interviews, according to the government.

Asked if Flynn was still assisting prosecutors, the government was coy. 'It remains a possibility,' a prosecutor said.

Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn arrives for his sentencing hearing for lying to the FBI at the US Federal Court in Washington, DC, USA, 18 December 2018

'The more you assist the government, the more you arguably help yourself at the time of sentencing,' Sullivan responded.

Sullivan lectured Flynn about what he admitted he did, calling it a 'very serious offense,' noting that it involved a senior official lying to the FBI 'while on the physical premises of the White House.'

'It's a very serious offense. You can't minimize that,' said the judge.

'Arguably, you sold your country out,' said Sullivan.

At one point, Sullivan asked prosecutor Brandon Van Grack whether what Flynn did 'rises to the level of treasonous activity?'

Van Grack said prosecutors did not consider charging him with Treason  which carries the death penalty as a possible punishment.

Only later after a recess did Judge Sullivan said he was merely asking to get a sense of potential charges. "I was just curious,' he said.

It was 'not something they had considered,' Van Grack responded.

'Could he have been charged with treason?' the judge asked.

Van Grack later in the hearing said he was confident Flynn did not commit treason.

Flynn came in for even more criticism over his admitted big bucks representation of Turkey without disclosing it.

After the short recess, Flynns Attorney Robert Kelner told the court that Flynn had held nothing back in his dealings with the Mueller case.

He said Flynn had agreed publicly, clearly, completely and utterly to cooperate, sending a signal to every other defendant.

Kelner agreed, however, that sentencing should be delayed because Flynn may be asked to testify in the upcoming federal prosecution of Bijan Kian, Flynns former business partner.

Kian, an Iranian-American, is accused of breaking the Foreign Agent Registration Act for failing to inform the State Department he was working for the Turkish government.

Turkish-Dutch dual national Ekim Alpetkin, another business partner of Kian and Flynn, is the subject of an arrest warrant but is thought to be in Turkey. Kian and Alpetkin are accused in court papers of a plot to convince the US government to extradite or otherwise expel Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric who opposes the country's strongman president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The court heard Tuesday that Flynn could have been charged in that same indictment but the government decided not to prosecute to him because of his cooperation.

Judge Sullivan adjourned the case until noon on March 13 but he kept alive the possibility of a prison sentence, nodding towards Flynn and saying: I dont promise him anything.

Sullivan also snapped at defense attorneys when they referred to a 2015 plead deal whereby David H. Petraeus, the storied wartime general and former CIA director, escaped with a misdemeanor charge and no jail time after he admitted mishandling classified material.

I dont agree with the Petraeus sentence, the judge said, before adding: Its none of my business, maybe there were extenuating circumstances. I dont know. Sullivan also backpedaled on suggestions he felt Flynn should be charged with treason.

Ive never presided over a treason offense, he said. I was just asking the question,' he said.

Flynn, who received the unusual boost from the president's Twitter account, arrived amid a smattering of protesters, including one calling him Vladimir Putin's puppet' and another calling him innocent and a 'great patriot.'

He was in the fortuitous position of having both the prosecution and the defense recommend he not face jail time, after special counsel Robert Mueller's prosecutors cited his extensive prosecution with the Russia probe and other investigations.

Flynn, who was accompanied by his wife Lori on Tuesday, has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with former Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak.

Interview notes by the FBI released Monday night reveal Flynn had numerous conversations and contacts with Kislyak, but denied a substantive conversation about lifting U.S. sanctions on Russia.

In a tweet Tuesday morning, Trump also denied collusion with Russia during his election campaign.

He wrote: 'Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn.'

The president also wrote: 'Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!'

Donald Trump has wished Michael Flynn good luck for his court appearance today

Special Counsel Robert Mueller (left) released a memo about the January 2017 interview in which Michael Flynn (right) lied to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian government

A group of supporters of Gen. Michael Flynn gathered outside the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C.

Supporters of Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn gather outside the US Federal Court as Flynn arrives for his sentencing hearing

It comes after Special Counsel Robert Mueller released a memo about the January 2017 interview in which Michael Flynn lied to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian government.

Sullivan, who received federal appointments from Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton, had ordered the special counsel to provide more documents, after Flynn's lawyers argued he was railroaded into giving an interview just days after starting work at the White House without benefit of having a lawyer present. The government argued that Flynn had long government service and should have known it was a crime not to be truthful with investigators.

At the interview, Flynn told investigators, among them now-former FBI agent Peter Strzok, about his conversations with Kislyak.

According to the 302 notes, when asked whether he pushed Russia for a particular position, 'FLYNN answered, 'No.'

Flynn 'stated the conversations were along the lines of where do you stand, and what's your position,' according to the 302.

The memo indicates that Flynn denied asking the Russian government for political favors, according to CNN.

The agents who interviewed him, meanwhile, kept pressing President Donald Trump's former National Security Adviser for more specifics.

It was that interview in which Flynn told investigators, among them now-former FBI agent Peter Strzok (above), about his conversations with then-Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak

Flynn told Strzok and other FBI agents who interviewed him that he and Kislyak did not discuss U.S. sanctions against Russia.

The memo also describes how Flynn played down his attempts to lobby Russia to oppose a United Nations Security Council resolution to condemn Israeli settlements.

Flynn initially told agents that he did not try to convince Russia to vote against the resolution.

'The interviewing agents asked Flynn if he recalled any discussions with Kislyak about a United Nations vote surrounding the issue of Israeli settlements,' the memo said.

'Flynn quickly responded, 'Yes, good reminder'.'

He was also asked by the agents whether he tried to encourage Kislyak and his government not to retaliate to the Obama administration's decision to expel Russian diplomats.

'Flynn responded, 'Not really. I don't remember.' It wasn't, 'Don't do anything.'

Liar, liar: Flynn will be sentenced for admitting lying to the FBI about his contact before the 2016 election with Kislyak, then Putin's ambassador to Washington D.C.

But the FBI knew Flynn asked Russia not to retaliate strongly to the expulsions, and had the benefit of monitoring of Kislyak's communications.

When Flynn pleaded guilty last year, he admitted that he did do just that.

The Special Counsel's office said in the memo that Flynn did ask Russia to 'refrain from escalating the situation.'

The memo was released after Flynn's lawyers suggested that investigators discouraged him from having an attorney present during the interview and never informed him it was a crime to lie.

Prosecutors shot back: 'He does not need to be warned it is a crime to lie to federal agents to know the importance of telling them the truth.'

The mere insinuation of underhanded tactics was startling given the seemingly productive relationship between the two sides, and it was especially striking since prosecutors with Mueller's office have praised Flynn's cooperation and recommended against prison time.

The defense arguments spurred speculation that Flynn, 59, may be trying to get sympathy from President Donald Trump or may be playing to a judge known for a zero-tolerance view of government misconduct.

At his side: Flynn became a vocal supporter of Trump and spoke at campaign rallies such as this one in Grand Junction, CO, and the Republican national convention in Cleveland, OH, where he led chants of 'lock her up'

Notorious meeting: Flynn traveled to Moscow in December 2015 and dined with Vladimir Putin to celebrate the 10th anniversary of RT, the Russian English-language propaganda channel

What a change of tone: In the run-up to his former aide's sentencing, Trump has turned from portraying him as a liar to saying that he did not, as the president steps up his attacks on the Mueller probe

'It's an attempt, I think, to perhaps characterize Flynn as a victim or perhaps to make him look sympathetic in the eyes of a judge - and, at the same time, to portray the special counsel in a negative light,' said former federal prosecutor Jimmy Gurule, a University of Notre Dame law school professor.

Until the dueling memos were filed last week, the sentencing hearing for Flynn - who pleaded guilty to lying about a conversation during the transition period with the then-Russian ambassador - was expected to be devoid of the drama characterizing other of Mueller's cases.

Prosecutors, for instance, have accused former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort of lying to them even after he agreed to cooperate.

Another potential target, Jerome Corsi, leaked draft court documents and accused Mueller's team of bullying him.

And George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser recently released from a two-week prison sentence, has lambasted the investigation and publicly claimed that he was set up.

Flynn, by contrast, has been notably silent even as his supporters advocated a more combative stance. He met privately with investigators 19 times and provided cooperation so extensive that prosecutors said he was entitled to avoid prison altogether.

Then came his sentencing memo.

Although Flynn and his attorneys stopped short of any direct accusations of wrongdoing, they took pains to note that Flynn, unlike other defendants in Mueller's investigation, was not informed that it was against the law to lie to the FBI.

They suggest the FBI, which approached Flynn at the White House just days after Trump's inauguration, played to his desire to keep the encounter quiet by telling him the quickest way to get the interview done was for him to be alone with the agents - rather than involve lawyers.

They also insinuate that Flynn, of Middletown, Rhode Island, deserves credit for not publicly seizing on the fact that FBI officials involved in the investigation later came under scrutiny themselves.

Former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who contacted Flynn to arrange the interview, was fired this year for what the Justice Department said was a lack of candor over a news media leak.

Strzok, one of the two agents who interviewed Flynn, was removed from Mueller's team and later fired for trading anti-Trump texts with another FBI official.

Tarnished: Flynn (left) became a three-star general while his brother Charlie (right) became a two-star general. Now one brother's service is overshadowed by his guilt. His mother Helen (center) had nine children with the Flynn's later father, Charles

Sentenced: Flynn will join his former cohort Michael Cohen - Trump's fixer - in having been sentenced. Cohen is due to report to federal prison in March

Business partners: Flynn was in business with Bijan Kian (second left). Kian, an Iranian-American, is now indicted on charges of lobbying illegally along with Flynn, who appears to have flipped on him. Flynn's wife Lori is expected at his sentencing

Mueller's team has sharply pushed back at any suggestion that Flynn was duped, with prosecutors responding in their own sentencing memo Friday that there was no obligation to warn Flynn against lying.

'A sitting National Security (Adviser), former head of an intelligence agency, retired Lieutenant General, and 33-year veteran of the armed forces knows he should not lie to federal agents,' prosecutors wrote.

Former FBI Director James Comey criticized the broadsides on the Flynn investigation during a Monday appearance on Capitol Hill, saying, 'They're up here attacking the FBI's investigation of a guy who pled guilty to lying to the FBI.'

Trump has made no secret that he sees Mueller's investigation as a 'witch hunt' and has continued to lash out at prosecutors he sees as biased against him and those who help them.

He's shown continued sympathy for Flynn, though, calling him a 'great person' and asserting - erroneously - that the FBI has said he didn't lie.

Flynn has not tried to retract his guilty plea, and there's every indication the sentencing will proceed as scheduled.

Arun Rao, a former Justice Department prosecutor in Maryland, said the defense memo is striking because it's 'inconsistent' with Flynn's cooperative stance so far.

'You also wonder in this very unusual situation,' he said, 'whether it is a play for a pardon.'

It's also possible that at least some of the defense arguments may resonate with U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who directed prosecutors to produce FBI records related to Flynn's interview.

Scalp: Flynn will become the fourth of Robert Mueller's targets to be sentenced

Sullivan was the judge in the Justice Department's botched prosecution of now-deceased Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska.

He dismissed the case after prosecutors admitted that they withheld exculpatory evidence, prompting the judge to say that in nearly 25 years on the bench, 'I've never seen anything approaching the mishandling and misconduct that I've seen in this case.'

In an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal last year, Sullivan said the case inspired him to explicitly remind prosecutors in every criminal case before him of their obligation to provide defendants with favorable evidence. He says he has encouraged colleagues to do the same.

But while Sullivan has proved especially sensitive to hints of government overreach, nothing about the Flynn case comes close, said Gurule, the law professor.

'To portray him as somehow an innocent dupe, as somehow just this innocent victim in the process, this suggestion that there was a perjury trap - it's an absurd allegation,' he said.

But the sentencing also comes the day after a dramatic move by Mueller to arrest Flynn's former business partner and reveal that Flynn had been part of an effort to lobby illegally.

Bijan Kian, an Iranian-American who was number two to Flynn was arrested and appeared in federal court in Washington D.C. before being freed on bail.

He is charged with a plot to lobby for Turkey without declaring that he and Flynn's firm was working for the Turkish government, breaking the Foreign Agent Registration Act which makes it illegal to lobby for foreign governments without registering with the State Department. Kian has yet to enter a plea.

Also indicted was the business partner who worked with him and Flynn, Turkish-Dutch dual national Ekim Alpetkin, who is the subject of an arrest warrant and thought to be in Turkey.

Kian and Alpetkin are accused in court papers of a plot to convince the U.S. government to extradite or otherwise expel Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric who is a deadly rival of the country's strongman president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mueller says in the court papers that with Flynn, who is referred to a 'Person A' they placed an op-ed in The Hill newspaper without acknowledging that it was at the prompting of the Turkish government.

Flynn wrote the op-ed and his firm, The Flynn Intel Group, was paid $600,000 for their lobbying campaign - but he is not indicted himself in what appears to be a sign that he flipped on his former associates.

The special counsel has praised the former Trump administration official for his 'substantial help' in several investigations. It is believed this is one of them.A 16-year-old girl has been shot dead in her school's bicycle shed in Rotterdam before police arrested a 31-year-old believed to be her boyfriend.

Police said they arrested a suspect about a mile away shortly after the shooting at around 1pm on Tuesday outside Rotterdam Design College, a secondary school.

Police say the victim and suspect knew one another but did not reveal details of their relationship, but local news website AD reported students saying they were seeing each other.

Police at a school in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on 18 December after a 16 year old girl was shot dead

The front of the Rotterdam Design College where shots rang out on Tuesday at around 1pm as a 16-year-old girl was killed in the bicycle shed

According to witnesses there were seven or eight 'loud bangs'.

The Rotterdam daily spoke to a 14-year-old student who said: 'At first I thought she had fallen or that she had been beaten. Only later did I see that she had been shot at.

'She was lying on her stomach.'

Police closed off the scene and seized a black Opel in the street outside the college believed to belong to the suspect.

Police forensic investigators at a school in Rotterdam. Police said they arrested a suspect about a mile away shortly after the shooting

Staff and pupils at Rotterdam Design College, a secondary school, were asked to go home after the incident

Staff and pupils have been asked to go home, the paper said.

The shooting happened less than a week after a 21-year-old American student, Sarah Papenheim, studying psychology at Rotterdam's Erasmus University was stabbed to death in her apartment.

A suspect in her killing was arrested last week.

Gun ownership is tightly restricted in the Netherlands and most shootings that happen in the country are linked to power struggles between criminal gangs.A child bride attempted suicide by jumping off a roof when her parents blamed the youngster for the failure of her two-year marriage to her cousin.

The teenager, named only as N.H., ended up in intensive care after plunging from the top of her mother and father's home in Arsal, Lebanon.

She had been forced to marry her cousin following the break down of his relationship with his former fiancee, according to local reports.

A child bride attempted suicide by jumping off the roof of her parents' house - when they blamed the youngster for the failure of her two-year marriage (file picture)

But just two years later, he divorced her on the grounds that they were not getting on very well, said women's rights group Sharika Wa Laken.

After returning to her parents' house, they banned her from school and said she was to blame for the split, which brought 'shame' on the family.

It was at this point that she tried to kill herself, Sharika Wa Laken reported.

She was taken to Chtoura Hospital and was still in intensive care over the weekend, when news of the incident began to emerge.

The family rejected the idea it was a suicide attempt and tried to claim she fell while trying to find a WiFi signal - even though Sharika Wa Laken's sources said she did not have a mobile phone.

According to StepFeed, activists have called for an end to child marriage in the country and for a ban on marriage before the age of 18.

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.A police officer has issued an emotional plea to the public after she attended a scene where a three-year-old girl died.

PC Jade Hunter, who is an officer for West Yorkshire Police, recalled the moment she was at a call where a little girl was suffering from cardiac arrest.

She watched on as paramedics tried to save the little girl - but ultimately their efforts fell short.

PC Jade Hunter, who is an officer for West Yorkshire Police, recalled the moment she was at a call where a little girl was suffering from cardiac arrest

PC Hunter said the stresses of the job can put an emotional strain on officers just like everyone else and that sometimes a break is needed before moving onto the next job.

Writing about the horrific ordeal, PC Hunter urged the public not to judge police officers who were taking a break or sitting down on the job.

PC Hunter said the stresses of the job can put an emotional strain on officers just like everyone else and that sometimes a break is needed before moving onto the next job.

She wrote on Twitter: 'Next time you pull up at a local coffee shop or fast food restaurant and see a couple of police cars, please don't post on social media that we're "having a tea break" or "skiving".

She wrote on Twitter: 'Next time you pull up at a local coffee shop or fast food restaurant and see a couple of police cars, please don't post on social media that we're "having a tea break" or "skiving"'

PC Hunter's emotional plea which she posted on Twitter after she witnessed the death of a three-year-old girl

'You never know what kind of situation we have just attended and dealt with. Sometimes we need 5 or 10 minutes to gather our thoughts.

'The public's safety is our number one priority and it's often that after jobs like these we are right back out there dealing with the next situation that comes in.

'However, we're only human too. Please don't penalise us for having feelings.'

Her emotive post received an overwhelming amount of support from her followers.

Chris Cook replied: A job like that warrants a break before you continue. No-one should ever question that. I hope youre feeling ok.'

'We're only human... Please don't penalise us for having feelings,' PC Hunter wrote on Twitter

Her emotive post received an overwhelming amount of support from her followers

Hannah Louise Shelby said: 'Totally agree, sometimes public are not understanding enough of the fact police are human too, I often see police queuing for food but doesn't bother me. You deserve a break.'

Another added: 'Hope your ok,it must have been a terrible shock for you to be there and witness such a tragedy.'

However not everyone was so sympathetic and said it was to be expected in the line of work which PC Hunter signed up for.

Karl Stephens wrote: 'I don't understand the need for flag waving & playing to the gallery, have a little decorum and dont use this horrific heart wrenching moment to highlight the issue of when officers take a break in the community.'A Houston couple said an unknown man hacked into their wireless baby monitor on Monday and threatened to kidnap their four-month-old son.

Nathan and Ellen Rigney said they were awakened by strange noises coming from the monitor next to their bed.

'I said, 'Hey, what is this? What's going on?'' Ellen told KPRC. She said her son, Topper, was sleeping upstairs while she and her husband were asleep downstairs.

She initially assumed it a CO2 alert.

Houston couple, Nathan and Ellen Rigney, said an unknown man hacked into their wireless baby monitor (pictured) on Monday and threatened to kidnap their four-month-old son, Topper

Nathan and Ellen Rigney (pictured) said they were awakened by strange noises coming from the monitor next to their bed

She initially assumed it a CO2 alert. But when she heard 'sexual expletives' being said in their son's room, both parents jumped out of bed to see about their son (pictured)

But when she heard 'sexual expletives' being said in their son's room, both parents jumped out of bed.

'[My] immediate reaction was that there's somebody in here, somebody's in my son's room! How did they get in there?!'

As soon as the parents turned on their bedroom light, a Nest camera in their room, which had been off, suddenly turned on, according to the station.

That's when a man's voiced ordered them to turn the light off.

'Then [he] said 'I'm going to kidnap your baby, I'm in your baby's room,'' Ellen told the station.

Her husband immediately ran upstairs to check on their son, who was found fast asleep in his crib.

A Nest camera (pictured) in their room, which had been off, suddenly turned on. That's when a man's voiced ordered them to turn the light off and they ran upstairs to find their son safe and sound. The Harris County Sheriff's Office is currently investigating the incident

They also shut down the Wi-Fi once they figured out that someone had hacked the monitor.

The couple reported the incident to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Ellen said they have a second camera above Topper's crib that is not connected to Wi-Fi.

She said they also reached out to Nest, whose employees 'did not apologize' for the incident and 'were no help at all'.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office is currently investigating the incident.A life-sized cutout of a Wisconsin police chief warning thieves not to shoplift has been stolen from a store.

The cardboard sign of Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith was taken from a branch of Kwik Trip on Sunday night in the city.

Following the theft, police officer Tom Buchmann joked: 'No demands have been received from the kidnappers at this point.'

The life-sized cutout of Wisconsin police chief Andrew Smith warning thieves not to shoplift was stolen from a store on Sunday evening in Green Bay

The real deal: Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith (pictured) joked he has had the last laugh as retail theft is down

The cutouts showed Smith with warnings not to steal, but one thief appears to have accepted the message a direct challenge.

Most read: 'Win a free ride in a police car by shoplifting from this store.'

Smith told The Green Bay Press Gazette: 'I figure the cutout is posted at a shooting range somewhere, or perhaps lining a birdcage in someone's house.'

'Retail theft is down five percent this year, so maybe I get the last laugh.'

The cardboard cutouts have different warning messages on them and are placed in stores

The cardboard sign was taken from a branch of Kwik Trip on Sunday night in Green Bay

The sign was later found - without its head - at a home in the city.

Police had said they were looking for a male suspect driving a silver Chrysler 300.

Police Captain John Laux said information led them to speaking to a 28-year-old man in Green Bay who refused to open the door to his apartment.

According to The Green Bay Press Gazette the man's landlord then helped officers and they were able to recover the cutout chief.

Police Captain John Laux said: 'Unfortunately, he was broken. The dismembered body of the chief was located. Officers were unable to recover the head.

'I don't want to minimize the work that my fine officers did.'

The 28-year-old is said to have accepted a citation for the theft through the mail.The Trump administration moved Tuesday to officially ban bump stocks, which allow semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like automatic firearms, and has made them illegal to possess beginning in late March.

The devices will be banned under a federal law that prohibits machine guns, according to a senior Justice Department official.

Bump stocks became a focal point of the national gun control debate after they were used in October 2017 when a man opened fire from his Las Vegas hotel suite into a crowd at a country music concert below, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds more in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

The regulation, which was signed by Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker on Tuesday morning, will go into effect 90 days after it is formally published in the Federal Register, which is expected to happen on Friday, the Justice Department official said.

The official wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly ahead of the regulation's formal publication and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

In March, President Donald Trump said his administration would 'ban' the devices, which he said 'turn legal weapons into illegal machines.'

A bump stock device, (left) that fits on a semi-automatic rifle to increase the firing speed, making it similar to a fully automatic rifle, is shown next to a AK-47 semi-automatic rifle, (right) at a gun store on October 5, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Trump administration is moving to officially ban bump stocks

US President Donald Trump participates in a roundtable discussion on the Federal Commission on School Safety report at The White House in Washington, DC on December 18

Shortly after the president's comments, the Justice Department announced that it had started the process to amend federal firearms regulations to define bump stocks as machine guns.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sought public comment on the proposal, drawing more than 35,000 comments.

The amended regulations reverse a 2010 ATF decision that found bump stocks did not amount to machine guns and could not be regulated unless Congress changed existing firearms law or passed a new one.

In the aftermath of the Las Vegas shooting, there was a growing push by some members of Congress to ban bump stocks, but no legislation was passed. At least 10 states have sought their own restrictions on the devices.

People who own bump stocks will be required to either surrender them to the ATF or destroy them by late March, the official said.

The change has undergone a legal review and the Justice Department and ATF are ready to fight any legal challenge that may be brought, the official added.

Bump stocks became a focal point of the national gun control debate after they were used in October 2017 when a man opened fire from his Las Vegas hotel

A total of 58 people were killed and hundreds injured in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Las Vegas police are seen along the streets outside the country music festival grounds after a active shooter was reported on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada

People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunfire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas

The amended rule was met almost immediately with resistance from gun rights advocates, including Gun Owners of America, which said it would file a lawsuit against the Justice Department and ATF in order to protect gun owners from the 'unconstitutional regulations.'

'These regulations implicate Second Amendment rights, and courts should be highly suspect when an agency changes its 'interpretation' of a statute in order to impair the exercise of enumerated constitutional rights,' the organization's executive director, Erich Pratt, said.

Police said the gunman in the Las Vegas massacre, Stephen Paddock, fired for more than 10 minutes using multiple weapons outfitted with target scopes and bump stocks.

Paddock fatally shot himself after the shooting and there were 23 assault-style weapons, including 14 fitted with rapid-fire 'bump stock' devices, strewn about the room near his body on the floor of his 32nd-floor hotel suite at the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel.

The largest manufacturer of bump stocks, Slide Fire Solutions, announced in April that it was going to stop taking orders and shutting down its website.

The remaining stock of the devices is now being sold by another company, RW Arms, based in Fort Worth, Texas.William Reeve outside Court of Appeal after hearing in dispute over Leadenham Estate. His appeal has been refused

A millionaire aristocrat who fears his inheritance has lost a court battle with his lay canon mum over the family's 230-year-old estate.

Old Etonian, William Reeve, 38, says the future of the 3,000-acre Leadenham Estate, an 18th Century gem in Lincolnshire, is at risk due to his parents' divorce.

The estate, with grade II*-listed Leadenham House at its heart, is due to be split between his parents, Peter and Henrietta, after their marriage collapsed.

But William, 38, says that means the estate he manages will inevitably have to be sold, ending centuries of Reeve family ownership.

He claimed the estate had been promised to him by his father and it was 'unconscionable' to split it up in the divorce.

His arguments were last year rejected by a judge, who said any assurances given to him by his father were 'not sufficiently clear' to be relied upon.

William challenged the ruling, but now the Court of Appeal has dashed his hopes and dismissed claims that the judge was 'biased' against him.

Before his parents' divorce, the Leadenham Estate was owned entirely by Peter Reeve, aged 71, the court in London heard.

But, following the split in 2013, it was agreed to 'partition' the estate, with Henrietta, 62, a lay canon at Lincoln Cathedral, owning 40 per cent and Peter the rest.

Desperate to keep the estate intact, William claimed his father had assured him that all of it would one day be his.

'The goal of my case is to keep the estate together...my primary aim is securing the future,' he told the court.

He claimed that, by agreeing to settle their divorce by splitting the estate, his parents had acted in an 'unconscionable manner'.

Judge Jane-Anne Evans-Gordon accepted last year that Peter had 'made various representations to William about passing on control or ownership of the estate.'

Leadenham House is at the centre of the row as William, one of the four Reeve children, claims it will have to be sold off

Henrietta Reeve was awarded a large share of the estate when she and her husband divorced

But she ruled that William had been given 'no sufficiently clear assurance' that the estate would be transferred to him during his father's lifetime.

Dismissing William's claim, she ruled he could have no legal complaint as he had not in fact 'relied on anything said by Peter.'

Grade 2-listed Leadenham House has been in the Reeve family since it was built in the 1790s, and William argued that, with the estate divided between his parents, there simply wouldn't be enough income to maintain and repair the historic pile.

He told the Appeal Court: 'Even now, the threat on Leadenham House is still huge.'

Accusing Judge Evans-Gordon of bias, he pointed out that she had earlier presided over parts of his parents' divorce case.

Those hearings had been behind closed doors and he had been kept in the dark about things that might have been said against him, he argued.

He said he had seen a document from the divorce which painted him in a 'negative' light, and questioned whether more had been said that he did not know about.

'It is a pattern, I say, where I get referenced so frequently, and generally negatively, by my mother in the matrimonial proceedings,' he told the court.

But, dismissing his appeal today, Lord Justice Baker said there were 'no grounds whatsoever for thinking that Judge Evans-Gordon was biased.'

'Far from supporting William's assertion that the judge was concealing information from the matrimonial proceedings, the transcript demonstrates conclusively that she was doing her best to ensure that anything relevant to his claim was disclosed to him,' he added.

'No fair-minded and informed observer...would conclude that there was any real possibility that Judge Evans-Gordon was biased,' concluded the judge, who was sitting with Lord Justice Floyd.

Lord Justice Baker earlier told William: 'It is obviously a tragedy for your family what has happened. It is very sad indeed.'

The case comes as another of the Reeve children is battling a case.

James Reeve, is currently locked in a row with single mother Georgina David, who has accused him of letting them bring up their baby alone despite his family owning the 20-bedroom home.Queen Mathilde of Belgium's make-up artist has been questioned by police over the theft of the crown jewels of neighboring Luxembourg.

The make-up artist is understood to have spent a full day with police in Luxembourg over the robbery of the crown jewels in a royal scandal that has enveloped two European monarchs.

Investigators say that the jewels belonging to Grand Duke Henri and wife Maria Theresa were stolen from the royal palace.

The make-up artist of Queen Mathilde of Belgium, pictured with the Duchess of Cambridge last year, has been questioned by police over the theft of Luxembourg crown jewels

One Belgian newspaper, Het Nieuwsblad, reported that the architect of the robbery had insider knowledge of the palace, but there is currently no prime suspect.

The beautician for the Queen Mathilde was released without charge and no further details about the crime have been released.

There has been no public statement from Grand Duke Henri, 63, who is cousins with King Philippe, 58, of Belgium.

A spokesperson for Luxembourg's royal family said: 'The Grand Ducal court confirms that jewelry has been stolen and that a complaint has been filed.'

Grand Duke Henri, pictured with his wife Maria Theresa (right), is a cousin of King Philippe of Belgium (left). Also pictured left is Queen Mathilde of Belgium

In 2009, the Luxembourg sovereign's constitutional power was dealt a heavy blow when Henri refused to offer his assent - a confirmation - to a new law on euthanasia.

Article 34 of the Luxembourg constitution was subsequently amended to remove the term 'assent' from the text with Henri losing the right to exercise a free decision on any future legislation.

Henri's son, Prince Sebastien of Luxembourg, 26, has spent several years in the UK.

After receiving his education at Ampleforth College in Yorkshire, the young prince later enrolled at Sandhurst, the prestigious Royal Military Academy.Lillo Brancato Jr leans over the table at a beloved pizza joint in Yonkers and bows his shaved head slightly, pointing out a nasty scar behind his left ear on the back of his scalp. Its about an inch and a half long and jagged; he got it when he jumped from a moving car almost 15 years ago, irrationally convinced his friends were out to get him as they drove together through Long Island.

Or maybe it was Queens; Brancato, now 42, cant quite remember. He was coked out of his mind and deluded by the accompanying paranoia. The head wound required stitches but still became infected, and Brancato needed stronger pain medication that just compounded the drug addiction that already had him in its grip.

At 29, the New York native was well on his way to either death, prison or both, his lifestyle unrecognizable from the middle class childhood provided by hardworking Italian immigrant parents. Gone was the relatively innocent teenager whod been plucked from obscurity to star in A Bronx Tale, the directorial debut of Robert De Niro  the actor to whom a young Brancato bore an uncanny resemblance. Back then, Brancato still had his freedom and sobriety; his life didnt yet bear the scar of drug addiction, and neither did his scalp (though it wouldnt have been visible anyway under a leading man-worthy, full head of hair.)

Its an obvious metaphor and a trite one, but its fitting for the life of Brancato, who converses in the earnest speak of a recovering addict. He served eight years of a ten-year prison sentence for his role in the fatal shooting of an off-duty police officer who confronted Brancato and his armed accomplice as they tried to break into the home of a friend; hes been out for nearly five years and his parole ends later this month. In the meantime, hes living at home with his mother, working for a health company to extol the pitfalls of drugs, and attempting to resume his acting career.

Things definitely do happen for a reason, and I saw that in my own life, in the way I got the role in A Bronx Tale, the film itself, the message: the saddest thing in life is wasted talent, Brancato tells DailyMail.com, sitting in Palisade Pizza & Pasta (whose owner hails from the same small part of Sicily as his father).

Scroll down for video

Lillo Brancato Jr grew up in Yonkers with his brother and Italian immigrant parents before he was discovered on a Long Island beach as a teenager and cast alongside Robert De Niro in the actor's directorial debut, A Bronx Tale

Brancato played Calogero, the son of De Niro's bus driver character, who was more interested in the lifestyle of a local crime boss than his father's honest, hardworking existence

The teenage Brancato, left, shot to fame upon release of A Bronx Tale but soon fell victim to the pitfalls of celebrity - spiraling into an addiction that led to attempted burglary in December 2005. A neighbor and off-duty cop interrupted Brancato and an armed accomplice, who shot dead Officer Daniel Enchautegui. The fledgling actor was arrested (right) and charged

As a result of that career in film and television, I got heavily addicted to drugs and alcohol, Brancato says. I continued to spiral downward; eventually, that cost another human being  a heroic police officer  his life.

Then, when I was incarcerated, I was able to get clean and sober. I was able to use my own sobriety as hope for others in attaining the same thing.

Im a perfect example of life imitating art and art imitating life. And its such a powerful message, because I played the character in the film  but now Im that in real life.

In A Bronx Tale  which transformed Brancato into an overnight sensation, particularly in New York  his character, Calogero, is more enamored with the lifestyle of a local mob boss than the hardworking, simple existence of his bus driver father. In reality, Brancato  who was adopted at four months old  was raised by a builder and an electrolysist mother, growing up with his brother in suburban Yonkers where they learned their fathers Sicilian dialect and attended local schools. Brancato was discovered by a casting agent during a trip to Jones Beach on Long Island, and his unexpected career took off  but it wasnt long before the temptations accompanying fame proved too much for the new star.

When youre there and the opportunity presents itself, its really hard, especially when youre young  because you dont have the foresight or the experience to know whats gonna happen, says Brancato, whose acting career continued after A Bronx Tale with roles in The Sopranos and Crimson Tide.

I was always drinking alcohol, but then it started with weed and, you know, going out every weekend  I started with the cocaine and I liked it very much, and then crack cocaine  and then I jumped out of a car one night doing 60mph, he says. I was doing so much cocaine, I started exhibiting cocaine psychosis, which manifests in paranoia.

Brancato was high on cocaine and deluded by the accompanying paranoia when he jumped out of a car traveling 60mph, irrationally convinced that his friends were out to get him; the wound required stitches, resulted in a staph infection and Brancato needed stronger medications, compounding the addiction that already had him in its grip, he tells DailyMail.com

As his addiction worsened  encompassing alcohol, cocaine, crack and heroin  it became obvious to friends, family and even coworkers; there were unsuccessful attempts at interventions as he grappled with the demon that overtook him, both Brancato and others say.

He was the hottest young actor on the scene right then who took New York by storm, says Jayson Williams, himself a recovering addict who met Brancato at the Scores strip club favored by the rich and famous.

Lillo was two different people  when Lillo was sober, Lillo was the best person in the world, he says in a new documentary about Brancato, Wasted Talent. When Lillo was getting high, then Lillo was a whole different person  and I could tell you stories when wed be in a hotel room and have a bunch of women, and youre partying, and Lillo would start doing drugs. And you could just see the demon taking Lillo over.

That demon is what led Brancato to that fateful night in the Bronx in December 2005, when he and Steven Armento tried to break into the home of another friend, Kenneth Scovotti, in an attempt to get drugs  unaware that Scovotti had actually died a few months beforehand. A neighbour and off-duty cop, 28-year-old Daniel Enchautegui, heard the pair breaking glass and confronted them.

He didnt identify himself as a police officer; he just said, Dont move  and I did, to see who it was. And he shot me, Brancato tells DailyMail.com. The actor sustained three gunshot wounds; Armento fatally shot Enchautegui and was critically injured himself.

Both would-be burglars were arrested and charged in connection with the death; Armento is serving life in prison, while Brancato  whose trial turned into a media circus, stoked by an infuriated NYPD  was acquitted of felony murder but sentenced to ten years in prison for attempted burglary. He was released on New Years Eve 2013.

I think I was treated fairly from day one, although a lot of people think I shouldve went away forever, Brancato says. I mean, hey, listen, my bad decision making and my drug addiction definitely mad a contribution to the death, but I dont feel responsible directly for the death  like I said, I accept full responsibility for my actions. Its just a very unfortunate thing.

My grandmother told me once: It takes a second to get into trouble and a lifetime to get out of it. And every night when I was in Rikers Island, holding onto those jail bars, looking at the New York City skyline, thinking Id never see that again  I heard those words every single night.

A Bronx Tale opened the acting doorway for Brancato, pictured filming with actor Chazz Palminteri; the Yonkers native went on to play parts in The Sopranos and Crimson Tide, among other productions - though his addiction and arrest would derail his career

Brancato, second from left, tells DailyMail.com: I was always drinking alcohol, but then it started with weed and, you know, going out every weekend  I started with the cocaine and I liked it very much, and then crack cocaine

Brancato's accomplice during the attempted burglary, Steven Armento, fatally shot three-year NYPD veteran Enchautegui during the altercation in the Bronx, and both Armento and Brancato were wounded in the shoot-out

Brancato says he does not shy away from his role in the death of Officer Enchautegui but does not feel directly responsible; he tells DailyMail.com he thinks about the 'heroic' officer every day and would like to one day apologize to his family

The case still visibly angers cops  making the choice of documentary director Steve Stanulis, who served with the NYPD himself, all the more interesting. Brancato claims he got numerous offers to make such a film, but the involvement of Stanulis was an influential factor when agreeing to the project. Brancato says he wanted to make the film to warn against drugs as the opioid epidemic rages  in addition to correcting what he characterizes as misconceptions about himself.

It was very important for people to get to know who I was personally, because they made me out to be a monster. And Im not that, he tells DailyMail.com. Im not that. I had a drug addiction; I had a problem like so many other people.

He adds: Steve made it clear from the beginning that he did not want this to be a puff piece, nor did I. This is not the point  Its not, Lets get Lillo back in the movie business and show everybody what a great guy Lillo is. This is to show that Lillo, despite the fact that he made movies and stuff, hes human and he made mistakes  made really monumentally bad choices that cost another human being their life, ultimately.

And you know, its because of drugs and alcohol that this happened. So I just want to be able to show kids coming up in the world today that this is whats gonna happen or worse.

He says: Theres not a day that goes by I dont think about that night and how I wish I could change its outcome. I cant  so Im living now every single day, trying to give back.

Brancato adds: Even if five people dont use [after seeing the documentary], and that doesnt happen to five people, then I did something really good.

A stipulation of his parole is that he have no contact with the family of Officer Enchautegui, though thats a situation hed like to rectify in the future.

Thats something I would like to do eventually one day  to reach out to them, to say Im sorry to the sister, just for her to see who I am, as opposed to what Ive been misconstrued as being by the press and all the other members of law enforcement  and I want to truly say Im sorry. I never intended for this to happen, Brancato tells DailyMail.com.

I look at him as if he was my angel. I know his family and other  members of law enforcement will never see it this way.

I was heading down such a wrong path that, if it had not been for that guy giving up his life  You know, he was my angel. He gave his life for me to live mine and do what Im doing to help other people. I know its a really crazy way to look at it, but thats the only way for me to look at it where I can cope  because I truly am remorseful.

While he hasnt talked to the officers family, he has made contact with the man who gave him his big showbusiness break: Robert De Niro. The acclaimed actor was filming in the Bronx  just minutes from the pizza place where Brancato is speaking  and a mutual acquaintance suggested that the Bronx Tale star turn up on set.

I hadnt seen him in so many years, says Brancato  adding that he was absolutely nervous.

De Niro, he says, was very happy to see me  was very genuinely concerned, asked me am I okay, are you okay now. I told him yeah, Im okay  he was pleased to see that I turned my life around.

Brancato has returned to acting himself, nabbing parts in films such as Monsters of Mulberry Street and Vamp Bikers Tres (alongside porn star Ron Jeremy and Club Kid Killer Michael Alig). His agent stuck by him through his addiction and incarceration, he says.

Brancato says he looks at Officer Enchautegui 'as if he was my angel ... I was heading down such a wrong path that, if it had not been for that guy giving up his life  You know, he was my angel. He gave his life for me to live mine and do what Im doing to help other people. I know its a really crazy way to look at it, but thats the only way for me to look at it where I can cope  because I truly am remorseful

Hes been by my side, hes called my house, he came out to see me when I was away. Not only is he my manager, but I also consider him a personal friend of myself and my family.

Acting wasnt necessarily at the forefront of his mind while behind bars, Brancato says; he was more concerned with helping people and being able to live with myself knowing that someone lost their life because of my drug addiction.

But his passion for the craft never faded.

Its what I love to do, and I dont feel, because I made bad choices, that I should be denied doing what I love to do, he tells DailyMail.com. A lot of people think that you should never be in another movie again  but I dont think that makes sense. I mean, if I was out here doing the same thing I was doing back in the day  drinking and drugging, hurting people  then you can say: You know what? They shouldve left that kid where he was, and they shouldve threw away the key.

But Im doing exactly the opposite. This is what I love to do, but Ive got to say, though, helping others and just providing them with hope, I love to do that more. Theres no better feeling than some kids mother reaching out to you on social media and saying, Lillo, you saved my son. Because of you, hes sober now three months. Thank you so much, Lillo. Thats better than any movie or any television show.'

He pulls out his phone to show off messages on social media he says he received from people struggling; in addition to his acting aspirations, he says he hopes to open up a string of drug treatment centers. He believes his role in A Bronx Tale has given him a platform to get peoples attention and truly reach them as they battle their own demons.

I can say Im truly blessed to have that gift, he tells DailyMail.com. I mean, Bronx Tale is an iconic classic. So many people love it and quote it to this day  I dont think I wouldve had the ability to touch as many peoples lives, had it not been for that film.

Brancato's parents, Lillo Sr and Domenica, are pictured with the actor's defense attorney (center) at the Bronx Supreme Court prior to their son's arraignment on January 9, 2006; the trial was a media circus, spurred on by Brancato's fame and the infuriated NYPD

Brancato says he reconnected with De Niro (pictured together with Bronx Tale star Chazz Palminteri) following his release, visiting the set as the acclaimed actor and director shot a film near his home in the Bronx; he tells DailyMail.com that De Niro was very happy to see me  was very genuinely concerned, asked me am I okay, are you okay now. I told him yeah, Im okay  he was pleased to see that I turned my life around

Brancato now lives at home in Yonkers with his mother, his brother's family downstairs, and spends his time helping others struggling with substance abuse and acting. He says: Theres no question that its become much more difficult to get work, but Im still working ... I just think time heals all wounds, and I think if I use the time wisely, I think people will see that, you know what? This guys worthy of another chance. Hollywood loves a good comeback; thats the bottom line. But you gotta be worthy of it. Im proving that I am with each day

If other people see him as a role model or an inspiration, he reasons, that gives him further incentive to maintain the sobriety to which he says hes already deeply committed.

Im still acting, but now I know the things to steer clear from. Like now, Ill go to the set, Ill be there early, Ill do what I have to do  but then theres a party. I may not go to the party, because I know thats where trouble happens, he tells DailyMail.com. I just wont put myself in the situation like that. You sit in a barber shop long enough, youre gonna get a haircut. Thats not the way I wanna live my life anymore.

Instead, he has embraced simplicity; in his free time, he enjoys good food and restaurants and spending time with his family. After he finishes this interview, hes bringing a cheese pizza home to his mother; his beloved father passed away in June at age 70, and Brancato plans to continue living with her for a while, make sure shes okay.

His brother and his family lives downstairs, so Brancato gets to spend quality time with his young nephew and twin nieces. Though the tight-knit family continues to grieve Lillo Sr  and the first Christmas without him will be especially difficult  Brancato says he finds some solace in knowing that his father lived to see his namesake get clean (and out of jail).

When he did pass, thats one thing that  I dont want to use the word happy  but that was one thing that I was so thankful for: That when my dad finally did lay to rest, that he knew that I was okay and that I was no longer on drugs. So he could truly rest in peace.

And now, as Brancato nears the end of his parole, he continues trying to live by the lessons of his grandmother, his father and even the on-screen parent played by De Niro, who tells him in A Bronx Tale: The saddest thing in life is wasted talent.

Brancatos character parrots those words back at the end of the film, adding: And the choices that you make will shape your life forever.

Now, 25 years after his teenage voice rang out through theaters across America, those words prove particularly poignant for Brancato  and hes trying to make better choices and make better use of his acting talent.

Listen, theres no question that its become much more difficult to get work, but Im still working; I still work, he tells DailyMail.com. I just think time heals all wounds, and I think if I use the time wisely, I think people will see that, you know what? This guys worthy of another chance.

Hollywood loves a good comeback; thats the bottom line. But you gotta be worthy of it. Im proving that I am with each day.Assyrian Priest Rebuilds Church in War-torn Mosul

Christians are cautiously returning to Mosul, the once-bustling Iraqi city that for three years was the capital of the caliphate established by the Islamic State group.

They just aren't spending the night.

"There are almost no Christians in Mosul at night. During the day, there may by 60 or 70 Christians who come here to work, along with up to a thousand Christian students at the University of Mosul, but they go back to safer towns at night," Father Amanuel Adel Kloo told Catholic News Service.

Father Kloo, a Syriac Catholic, was the last priest to leave Mosul after it was seized by Islamic State, also known as Daesh or IS, in 2014. He remained for a month after the takeover, but eventually left, fleeing to Irbil.

"At the beginning they tried to show people they were good, that they would simply control the area and things would be normal. But then they showed their true face," he said.

In Irbil, he ran a camp for hundreds of displaced Christian families, but soon after Mosul was liberated by Iraqi forces in 2017, he began returning to the war-ravaged city.

In parts of the city, particularly on the wealthier east side of the Tigris River, recovery has been swift. Today, restaurants are packed and businesses flourish. But in the western portion of Mosul, particularly the old city, block after block of rubble hides decomposing bodies and unexploded ordnance, the legacy of months of heavy fighting and airstrikes as Islamic State fighters made their last stand, often using residents as human shields.

"They called it our liberation, but it was really our destruction," said Hussain Ahmed, an Islamic teacher in the old city who has returned to live in the remnants of his heavily damaged house.

"It was sad to see the city destroyed," said Father Kloo. "Two of my churches were hit by airstrikes, while two others were damaged. And what was left was looted. Daesh sold the windows and doors and light fixtures. Nothing was left but the walls. But I don't feel hopeless. I have returned to Mosul to rebuild and carry the cross high."

Many Christian homes in Mosul were occupied by IS fighters during the occupation, but Father Kloo said that, following the liberation of the city, other residents looted many of the houses.

"I started working with the police and army to solve this problem, and they put an end to it," he said.

While in Mosul, at night the priest sleeps in the home of a Christian family that is too frightened to return, and by day he supervises the rebuilding of Our Lady of the Annunciation Church. Beside the church he plans to build a dormitory, so Christian university students will have a place to stay and no longer need to commute through a maze of checkpoints run by the police and army, as well as the dreaded Hashed al-Shaabi militia posts where both Christians and members of the local Sunni majority are regularly harassed and threatened by Shiite militants.

"Many Christians come to Mosul every day but leave before night. My hope is that if there's a priest and a church here, they will feel safe and begin to stay," said Father Kloo.

It might take more than the presence of a priest to convince many that Mosul is safe. Iraqi security forces continue to arrest Islamic State fighters who have tried to blend into the civilian population. The army has renewed air strikes against IS fighters holed up in caves and tunnels in nearby mountains. And the car bombing of a Mosul restaurant on Nov. 8, killing three people, served as a graphic reminder that IS is not totally defeated.

"Daesh isn't gone," Father Kloo said. "There are sleeper cells and fighters who have merely shaved off their beards. But the bigger problem is that 70 percent of the people in Mosul, though they may not have a weapon, retain the mentality of Daesh."

The Islamic State isn't the only threat to Mosul's tentative peace, the priest said.

"Whether Daesh comes back or not, other groups will rise up to fight against the Shia militias. People in Mosul are Sunnis, backed by Saudi Arabia, while the Shia militias are backed by Iran. And Turkey and the U.S. are now involved. We have no real borders. Iraq has become a battlefield for everyone to play. The government is very corrupt, and we have no one who is patriotic and loves their country more than their religious faction," he said.

Although peace prevails for the moment in Mosul and Father Kloo's church is getting rebuilt, Christians remain wary.

Hind Saffa Jijji is a Catholic displaced from Mosul. After living in Irbil during the war, she has relocated to Qaraqosh, a largely Christian town liberated from Islamic State control in 2016.

"Our family still has a home in Mosul. ISIS families lived in it, but now it is empty. My father and mother went to see it. Although the house is still there, our furniture and all our things were stolen," said Saffa, who manages livelihood projects for a women's association.

But more than furniture is missing, she said. The trust that once wove different faiths together into one neighborhood vanished during the war, when many Christians felt betrayed by Muslims they had considered their friends.

"It's hard to live alongside people and suddenly lose trust in them. All of a sudden you aren't sure they won't hurt you or cause you harm," Saffa said. "I was studying in the university when ISIS came, and some students started posting things supporting them. They had been my friends. How can I go back now to be with people who I thought were my friends but suddenly changed? How can I be sure they won't change again?"

Hussain Ahmed, the Islamic teacher, said Christians would be safe and are welcome to return.

As he took a journalist on a tour of his neighborhood, he stopped at a house that he said is owned by a Christian woman but was used by foreign Islamic State fighters during the occupation. The badly damaged house is pockmarked by bullet holes. A gaping hole was blown in one wall so that combatants could move house to house without being seen from the air. An unexploded mortar rested on the second floor. And amid the rubble were women's makeup and lingerie. Ahmed, who was formerly an imam at a local mosque but had to step down after he refused to bless the Islamic State fighters, says the lingerie was used behind closed doors by the women who accompanied the foreign militants.

Ahmed hasn't heard from the Christian woman who once who lived in the house. He said she was widely known for her baking skills.

"Muslims and Christians from all across the city would come here to buy her baklava for their weddings," he said. "Everyone here hopes she will come back soon."A Connecticut community is reeling after authorities said a boy killed his sister and seriously wounded his mother in a stabbing.

Police said the stabbing occurred Monday at about 3.30pm in West Hartford, Connecticut.

The mother was said to have called 911 to report that her 12-year-old son had stabbed her as well as her daughter, a juvenile who was also the boy's sister, at their home, according to NBC Connecticut.

The West Hartford, Connecticut, home where a 12-year-old boy allegedly fatally stabbed his sister and wounded his mother Monday afternoon

Both mother and daughter were then taken to the hospital.

The young girl died from her injuries, while the mother is said to be in stable condition.

A boy is suspected of stabbing his sister and mother in West Hartford Monday afternoon and the girl has died, according to police.

The boy, meanwhile, was taken to a children's hospital where he was treated for a minor injury.

The boy was arranged Tuesday afternoon and charged with one count of Murder with Special Circumstances and one count of Assault in the First Degree, Fox 61 reported.

He is now said to be in the custody of the Connecticut Judicial Marshals.

The boy, who has not been identified, has since been charged with first degree assault and murder with special circumstances. He is in custody while his mother is in stable condition

Although authorities have not yet released identifying details about the family members involved in the alleged stabbing, the West Hartford Mayor's office said the family is the Murphy-Curtins.

West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor released a statement from the family involved in Monday's altercation, stating the family is 'enduring a very painful and unimaginable loss' and asks for privacy.

'Our family, friends, and community are all suffering tonight. We are all enduring a very painful and unimaginable loss. Our family will never be the same. Our daughter was a beautiful child and we will remember forever her smile ... laughter  and remember her for the way she loved and lived,' the statement said, according to NBC Connecticut.

Cantor said community members are also 'incredibly brokenhearted.'

Authorities have not released any information about a possible motive for the stabbing and are still investigating the incident.

Grief counselors were at the school the children attended Tuesday.A Yemeni mother, whose two-year-old son is on life support in an California hospital has been granted a waiver to travel to the United States by the US State Department.

According to officials with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Shaima Swileh will head to San Francisco from Egypt, where she has been living.

The boy's father, Ali Hassan, 22, and his son, Abdullah, are American citizens, but Swileh lives in Egypt and because she is Yemeni, she is restricted from traveling to the United States under the White House travel ban.

Abdullah Hassan (left with his father) was born in Yemen with a rare brain condition and is now on life support in UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland, California

The youngster's 22-year-old father, Ali Hassan, a US citizen whose family came to the United States from Yemen in the early 1980s, pleaded with the State Department for her to be let in from Egypt. Their prayers were finally answered

The news came shortly after the boy's father, Ali Hassan, appeared on CNN pleading with consular officials to expedite his wife's visa application so that she'd be able to see her son one last time.

Abdullah has been suffering from a genetic brain condition. His father flew him to the U.S. for treatment on October 1. It was the last time his mother saw him.

'Time is running out for my son, to be honest. ... All she wishes is to see her son, and that's it. We want to be together.'

He issued a plea to President Donald Trump: 'All families, they're supposed to be together. Right now, with my son's situation, he's facing death. I'm going through losing my son. It's really hard for me and for my mother and for my family and my wife, too. It's just really hard.'

The boy's father, Ali Hassan, 22,has been by his son's bedside since her was brought to the U.S. for surgery in October

Abdullah has been on a ventilator for more than a month. His mother is flying from Egypt to San Francisco to be with him one final time

Hassan's pleas were heard and Swileh will now travel to the United States on an I-130 visa, which permits entry to close relatives of American citizens.

'Unfortunately, even in this win, it's still a loss, but at least she'll come and be able to mourn with dignity and see her son get buried and bring some closure to all the pain,' said Basim Elkarra, the executive director of council's Sacramento Valley chapter.

'We just hope that she can make it in time and see her son in his last hours.'

Doctors told Hassan that patients such as his son are usually on life support for two or three weeks at the most. Abdullah has been on a ventilator for more than a month.

The hope is his mother will now arrive in time to give him a kiss before doctors switch off his life support machine and he finally passes away.

President Trump banned people entering the US from majority-Muslim countries days after taking office in January 2017.

It forbids travel to the United States by citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

The State Department said it could not comment in the media on individual cases.Police in Texas were called to a San Antonio Walmart on Sunday afternoon, after assault rifle gun fire erupted from the parking lot.

The incident happened at around midday on December 16, and left multiple cars damaged in the alleged shootout.

No one was hurt by the gunfire and so far no arrests have been made by authorities.

In a Facebook post, Ismael Garcia, a shopper at the store near Culebra Road, said other eyewitness say an AK-47 was used in the incident, though authorities haven't yet been able to verify the claims.

Machine gun fire at a Texas Walmart left bullet punctures in at least two wehicles in the parking lot on December 16

An eyewitness said the scene reminded him of when he served in the Iraq war, believing the bullet marks had to be made by an automatic rifle

'In a nice neighborhood like this, you would not expect something like that to happen,' another witness - and former Army Veteran - George Olivas told News4 San Antonio.

'That's an Iraq war flashback right there.

'It looks like it was an automatic. It looks like someone really put a lot of rounds in there.'

On behalf of the Wal-Mart on Culebra Road, in San Antonio (pictured above) a spokesperson for the company said they were glad nobody was hurt in the exchange

Eyewitnesses say the gun used was an AK-47 assault rifle, but police haven't yet been able to verify the claims

Nobody was hurt in the gun fire and police are yet to make an arrest in relation to the incident

Walmart spokesperson Casey Staheli said: 'We're glad no associates or customers were injured in this incident and appreciate local law enforcement's quick response.'

A spokesperson from Walmart provided us with the below statement regarding the incident.

'We're glad no associates or customers were injured in this incident and appreciate local law enforcement's quick response,' said Casey Staheli from Walmart.

Police are continuing their investigation and couldn't be reached for comment at this time.China is constructing a top-secret 'Z machine' to compete with the United States in nuclear research.

The country's military is building a machine capable of simulating thermonuclear explosions on an unprecedented scale at a secret base in the southwestern Sichuan province, the South China Morning Post reported.

The device has been described as a Chinese version of the United States' 'Z machine' - which determines how particles react under extreme radiation and magnetic pressure, allowing researchers to test new nuclear armaments.

Pictured: The Z Machine, which determines how particles react under extreme radiation and magnetic pressure

China is constructing their own version of the machine in the southwestern Sichuan province

America's groundbreaking Z machine, capable of producing 2.7million joules of electricity, is located at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but Chinese researchers are trying to build a version capable of generating 60million joules.

The US' device has generated temperatures of 3.7 billion Kelvins, the highest ever created by humankind, and routinely generates electrical power equivalent to 80 times Earth's total power output.

HOW DOES A 'Z MACHINE WORK'? Powerful electrical pulses are fired at a fist-sized ball of tungsten wires. These filaments are all thinner than a human hair. When the pulses pass through the wires, the tungsten explodes. The metal spool then evaporates and creates a plasma. This generates a powerful magnetic field and forces particles are inward. The particles collide, producing X-rays. Studying these X-rays and the process which creates them allows scientists to understand nuclear explosions, such as in a H-bomb. Advertisement

The Z Machine is not just used to test nuclear weaponry - it is also capable of recreating the conditions on the surface of a star.

In a 2012 'white dwarf' experiment, researchers simulated the 'spectrum' of a white dwarf's surface by firing 26 million amps of electricity through tungsten wires.

Sandia's website describes the machine as 'safe, secure, reliable', adding: 'Z is crucial to Sandias mission to assure the reliability and safety of our nuclear stockpile as it ages  it allows scientists to study materials under conditions similar to those produced by the detonation of a nuclear weapon, and it produces key data used to validate physics models in computer simulations.

'The detonation of nuclear weapons may affect equipment even at great distances from the explosion, which means electronic weapons systems and related equipment could malfunction when exposed to radiation from an opponents weapons.

'Since a wide variety of materials are used to build weapons and military equipment, researchers must study the effects of nuclear radiation on a variety of materials and under varying conditions in order to understand the vulnerability of U.S. weapons.'President Donald Trump slammed Facebook, Twitter and Google on Tuesday with a complaint that they are 'so biased toward the Dems it is ridiculous' and then he went on to bemoan- without proof - Twitter limits his number of followers.

'Facebook, Twitter and Google are so biased toward the Dems it is ridiculous!,' he tweeted. 'Twitter, in fact, has made it much more difficult for people to join @realDonaldTrump. They have removed many names & greatly slowed the level and speed of increase. They have acknowledged-done NOTHING!,' he tweeted.

The presidency's litany of complaints comes in the wake of an intelligence report to the Senate that outlined some of the ways Russians used social media to boost Trump's candidacy during the 2016 election.

President Donald Trump slammed Facebook, Twitter and Google with a complaint that they are 'so biased toward the Dems it is ridiculous'

Trump went on to complain - without proof - Twitter limits his followers

It's unclear what the president meant by his accusation that Twitter has made it harder for him to gain followers.

His account has more than 56 million people following it. A chart from trackalytics shows the trend line on his followers going upward and that the president gained 10 million new followers this year alone.

Twitter has moved to remove so-called 'bots' - fake accounts some people and organizations purchase to make it look like they have huge followings - from its platform.

Shortly before the midterm election, the social media company deleted more than 10,000 bot accounts that were masquerading as Democrats.

But Trump and fellow Republicans have complained for months about tech companies, particularly that google search results are biased against conservatives.

Google chief executive Sundar Pichai defended his company's search practices when he testified before Congress earlier this month.

'Our algorithms have no notion of political sentiment,' Pichai said in defense of Google's search engine, which is the most used in the world.

'We approach our work without any political bias,' he noted.

Trump's tweet comes as a new report on Russian social media tactics to sow discord in the U.S. before and after the elections reveals efforts to stir up sentiment among African American voters was Moscow's leading tactic.

The Russian Internet Research Agency purchased a total of 1,087 ads targeting African American politic and culture and black identity and nationalism during the campaign, according to a bombshell analysis of the Russian influence operation that investigators have yet to fully examine.

Trump has over 6 million followers on Twitter

Charts show how his number of followers has risen

Facebook's ad program allowed purchasers to select users with certain interests, like Malcolm X  a capability the St. Petersburg-based outfit relied on to slice up the American electorate.

The Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency, which has been charged with interfering in the elections, relied on Facebook, Google and Twitter and other platforms for targeted messaging, according to the report for the Senate Intelligence Committee.

It used words, videos and images to persuade voters to back Trump, according to a report by Oxford University's Computational Propaganda Project and network analysis company Graphika.

It outlines repeated Russian efforts to divide and target black voters  and even a program to set up hotlines to get people to confess problems that could be potential fodder for blackmail.

The tactics reached tens of millions of Americans during the multi-year durations, and targeted key interest groups known to impact U.S. elections.

U.S. intelligence assessed and prosecutors have charged that the outfit was financed by a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Many of the ad purchases were in rubles. Early posts before 2014 were in Russian, but English language social media activity jumped that year, and continued even into 2017.

The report identifies a Russian focus on targeting black voters

Online activity focused on police violence against blacks

Russians tried ginning up support online using multiple campaigns, including Blacktivist

Other ads targeted conservatives and particular regions

The Russians sought to boost Trump and drive down turnout among potential Hillary Clinton supporters

The Russians set up 30 Facebook pages on black Americans, while another 10 YouTube channels focused on police violence against blacks and put out 571 videos on the subject.

The efforts to target African Americans and suppress the black vote came during a 2016 election where Hillary Clinton won an overwhelming share of support among African American vote.

According to the report: 'Messaging to African Americans sought to divert their political energy away from established political institutions by preying on anger with structural inequalities faced by African Americans, including police violence, poverty, and disproportionate levels of incarceration.'

It continued: 'These campaigns pushed a message that the best way to advance the cause of the African American community was to boycott the election and focus on other issues instead. This often happened through the use of repetitive slogans. This accounts for the majority of content in the dataset that targeted this group.'

The Russians also went after other demographic slices: Muslims, southerners, Texans, and more.

The campaign didn't stop after the trolls got caught, and in fact peaked in 2017, according to the report.

In one notably callous tactics, Russians set up hotlines to get people to call in and talk about their sex problems and other personal issues  a source for possible blackmail material, NBC reported.

Other trickery enticed Americans to take political actions.

On Twitter, English-language posts from Russia shot up in late 2015.

After a Russian 'Black Matters' Facebook page got shut down, the IRA simply created new renamed campaigns to push its message. 'Cops kill black kids. Are you sure that your son won't be the next?' went one aimed at African Americans.

Activity spiked around major political debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Broken down by state, a leading 265 ads targeted Missouri.

Researchers even found that racial geography, more than the the Electoral College, was a driver in ad purchases.

'We believe the targeting had more to do with race than a state's role in the Electoral College or status as a swing state. For example, African Americans in Ferguson, MO were targeted for the 'Black Matters' campaign. African Americans in Baltimore, MD and Oakland, CA were targeted for the 'Blacktivist' campaign. Texan cities were targeted for campaigns focusing on patriotism and pro-gun politics,' according to the report.

Russia used nearly every social media platform to drum up support for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, the report has found.

'What is clear is that all of the messaging clearly sought to benefit the Republican Party - and specifically Donald Trump,' the report says.

'Trump is mentioned most in campaigns targeting conservatives and right-wing voters, where the messaging encouraged these groups to support his campaign. The main groups that could challenge Trump were then provided messaging that sought to confuse, distract and ultimately discourage members from voting.'

The report was presented to the Senate Intelligence Committee. The bipartisan panel released it publicly on Monday morning.

It tracks observations like an increase in activity on election day in 2016 and during general election debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Activity by the group spiked the most at the end of the year when Barack Obama announced that he was opening up probes into Russia's attempt to hack the election.

Russian company The Internet Research Agency has been charged with interfering. Pictured: Russian President Putin

Among its findings were that conservative users 'were actively encouraged to get behind Trump's campaign' while other users were 'encouraged to boycott the election, abstain from voting for Clinton, or to spread cynicism about participating in the election in general.'

Committee chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, said the data 'demonstrates how aggressively Russia sought to divide Americans by race, religion and ideology, and how the IRA actively worked to erode trust in our democratic institutions.'

'Most troublingly, it shows that these activities have not stopped,' he assessed. 'As we work to address these threats, these reports are proof positive that one of the most important things we can do is increase information sharing between the social media companies who can identify disinformation campaigns and the third-party experts who can analyze them.'

The committee's vice chair, Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, likewise said the report revealed that Russian election meddling was worse than previously revealed.

'This should stand as a wake up call to us all that none of us are immune from this threat, and it is time to get serious in addressing this challenge,' he said. 'That is going to require some much-needed and long-overdue guardrails when it comes to social media. I hope these reports will spur legislative action in the Congress and provide additional clarity to the American public about Russia's assault on our democracy.'

Researchers also noted that the data includes evidence of sloppiness by the Russians that could have led to earlier detection, including the use of Russia's currency, the ruble, to buy ads.

House Intelligence ranking member Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said in a statement after the release of the report that social media companies share in the blame and must be held accountable.

'Their reluctance to conduct and publish such deep analysis themselves, to actively and meaningfully collaborate with one another to compare and publicize data and information to build out the extent of the IRA's efforts, and to otherwise make available to outside research groups comprehensive, uniform access to the data, have made our task far more difficult than it should have been,' he scolded.

Schiff said the companies, which he did not call out by name, should be doing more to keep their users and the public aware of disinformation operations.

It comes after President Trump and his attorney unleashed a fresh series of attacks people investigating him, questioning their integrity while categorically ruling out the possibility of a presidential interview with the special counsel for the Department of Justice's probe into Russia.

Trump and lawyer Rudy Giuliani used Twitter and television interviews Sunday to deliver a series of broadsides against special counsel Robert Mueller and federal prosecutors in New York.

Giuliani said he was 'disgusted' by the tactics used by Mueller in his probe into Russian election interference, including in securing guilty pleas from the president's former national security adviser Michael Flynn on a charge of lying to federal investigators.

Trump, Giuliani said, would not submit to an interview by Mueller's team.

'They're a joke,' Giuliani told 'Fox News Sunday. 'Over my dead body, but, you know, I could be dead.'

The special counsel, who is investigating possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, has continued to request an interview with the president.

Last month, the White House sent written answers in response to the special counsel's questions about possible collusion. The White House has resisted answering questions on possible obstruction of justice.

Giuliani sarcastically said that the only thing left to ask the president was about 'several unpaid parking tickets that night, back in 1986, `87 that haven't been explained.'

If the president officially refuses an interview request, the special counsel's team could theoretically seek to subpoena him to compel his testimony. Such a move would almost certainly trigger an immediate court fight.

The Supreme Court has never directly ruled on whether a president can be subpoenaed for testimony in a criminal investigation, though the justices have said that a president can be forced to turn over records that have been subpoenaed and can be forced to answer questions as part of a lawsuit.

The special counsel's investigation has spun out charges and strong-armed guilty pleas from Trump underlings while keeping in suspense whether the president - 'Individual-1,' in Mueller's coded legalese - will end up accused of criminal behavior himself.

This past week, his legal exposure grew as his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, was sentenced to three years in prison after admitting he issued hush-money payments to women who alleged sexual trysts with Trump. Prosecutors and Cohen say he acted at the president's direction, which Trump and Giuliani deny.

Trump and Giuliani have repeatedly tried to paint Cohen as untrustworthy, with the former New York City mayor calling him a 'pathological liar.'

'Which is the truth?' Giuliani said of the competing stories from Trump and Cohen. 'I think I know what the truth is. Unless you're God, you'll never know what the truth is.'

Trump and Giuliani have also accused prosecutors of intimidating the president's associates into making false claims.

'Remember, Michael Cohen only became a `Rat' after the FBI did something which was absolutely unthinkable & unheard of until the Witch Hunt was illegally started,' Trump tweeted. 'They BROKE INTO AN ATTORNEY'S OFFICE!'

It comes after President Trump and his attorney (pictured) unleashed a fresh series of attacks people investigating him, questioning their integrity while categorically ruling out the possibility of a presidential interview with the special counsel

It was not a break-in. The FBI executed a search warrant obtained from a judge in conducting a raid in April on Cohen's home, office and hotel room and seizing records on a variety of matters, among them a $130,000 payment made to porn actress Stormy Daniels by Cohen. The application for the warrant was approved high in the Justice Department.

In response to Trump's tweet, former FBI Director James Comey tweeted, 'This is from the President of our country, lying about the lawful execution of a search warrant issued by a federal judge. Shame on Republicans who don't speak up at this moment - for the FBI, the rule of law, and the truth.

Prosecutors have said Trump directed Cohen to arrange the payments to buy the silence of Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in the run-up to the 2016 campaign. Federal prosecutors in New York say the payments amounted to illegal campaign contributions because they were made at the height of election season to keep voters from learning of Trump's alleged infidelities.

Giuliani has argued the payments were made to protect Trump's family, not to influence the election.

'If there's another purpose, it's not a campaign contribution,' Giuliani told ABC. 'Suppose he tried to use campaign funds to pay Stormy Daniels. It wouldn't be illegal. These are not campaign contributions.'

The hush money wasn't initially reported on campaign finance documents and, in any case, far exceeded the legally acceptable amount for in-kind contributions. The federal limit on individual contributions is $2,700.

Trump (pictured) and Rudy Giuliani used Twitter and television interviews Sunday to deliver a series of broadsides against special counsel Robert Mueller and federal prosecutors in New York

Cohen also pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about the Trump Organization's goals to build a tower in Moscow. His representative, Lanny Davis, told CBS' 'Face the Nation' on Sunday that his written statement to Congress, which contained the lie, was published ahead of his testimony and Cohen then spoke to the White House.

'Not one person from the White House ever said, `Don't lie,'' Davis said.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee and the likely chairman come January, said he wanted Cohen to testify before Congress about what he told prosecutors. Meanwhile, Trump's fellow Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, acknowledged on CNN that 'it was not a good week for President Trump' and urged 'that the special counsel be allowed to complete his investigation unimpeded.'

Trump compared his situation to one involving President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. The Federal Election Commission docked the Obama campaign $375,000 for regulatory civil violations. The fines stemmed from the campaign's failure to report a batch of contributions, totaling nearly $1.9 million, on time in the final days of the campaign.

But legal analysts said the accusations against Trump could amount to a felony because they revolve around an alleged conspiracy to conceal payments from campaign contribution reports - and from voters.

It's unclear what federal prosecutors in New York will decide to do if they conclude that there is evidence that Trump himself committed a crime.

Trump has not yet laid out a detailed defense, though he could conceivably argue that the payments were made not for the purposes of advancing his campaign but rather to prevent salacious stories from emerging that would be personally humiliating to him and harm his marriage.

That argument was advanced by former Sen. John Edwards, a North Carolina Democrat, in a similar campaign finance case that went to trial in 2012. But that may be tougher for Trump than it was for Edwards given the proximity of the president's payment to the election - timing that, on its face, suggests a link between the money and his political ambitions.

Edwards was acquitted on one count of accepting illegal campaign contributions, but jurors couldn't reach a verdict on the five remaining counts, including conspiracy and making false statements.Police have closed Borough Market and London Bridge over reports of the discovery of a suspicious package.

Heavily-armed officers were seen clearing an area shortly before 5pm.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'We were called to Borough Market following reports of a suspicious package at 4.30pm. Following an investigation the package turned out to be non-suspicious.

'Everyone has now been stood down.'Tayyab Tahir Ismail, 33, posted detailed bomb-making instructions for would-be ISIS attackers, according to the FBI

A Pakistani-born Florida man repeatedly posted detailed bomb-making instructions and messages of support online for would-be ISIS attackers, according to the FBI.

Tayyab Tahir Ismail, 33, is accused of posting the illegal orders on at least five occasions between July and September.

The FBI say Ismail, of Pembroke Pines also did searches on how to build bombs and included step-by-step instructions on building a suicide vest.

One message Ismail is accused of sharing online read: 'You are surrounded by methods to hit them. Kill the devil's soldiers without hesitation. Make them bleed even in their own homes.

'There are plenty of methods to attack my brother.'

He also once lived with James Medina, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence for plotting to blow up a South Florida synagogue and Jewish school, according to the affidavit.

Ismail, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan, shared a home with Medina in 2016 while he planned an attack.

The affidavit reads: 'On the day Medina attempted to bomb the synagogue, Ismail learned of Medina's plans to move forward and conduct the attack, but he did not alert law enforcement.'

The FBI raided Ismail's home after they say he posted messages of support for ISIS

The FBI says it has been aware of Ismail since October 2010, when he allegedly made terrorism threats at a Florida homeless shelter

After Medina's arrest, Ismail surrendered several guns but was never charged in that case.

One of the videos he reportedly shared showed a man wearing a black scarf covering his face and wearing military clothes.

The FBI says one clip on how to make a bomb in a kitchen shows a black flag associated with ISIS.

An affidavit shows no evidence he actually had live explosives, but plenty of extremist rhetoric about carrying out attacks.

James Medina is serving a 25-year prison sentence for plotting to blow up a South Florida synagogue and Jewish school and lived with Tayyab Tahir Ismail

And the FBI say instructions posted by Ismail were accurate and could lead someone to build a dangerous device.

He faces 20 years in prison if found guilty of making the posts on sites frequented by ISIS extremists.

In October 2010 Ismail allegedly made terrorism threats at a Florida homeless shelter, claiming he was an 'al-Qaida soldier' and would 'blow it up.'

Ismail - arrested on Friday - also responded to an insult from a woman by allegedly saying, 'we throw women like her in the ditch', Local 10 reports.

He has a December 26 bail hearing and court records Monday did not list an attorney.Four women from the same North Carolina family have been arrested in what authorities are calling a 'shoplifting ring', believed to be responsible for stealing up to $2,000 worth of merchandise from two Belk department stores.

On Saturday, police arrested 42-year-old Karen Massenburg, 16-year-old Jalia Massenburg, and two 21-year-olds, Keshauna Massenburg and Kiera Massenburg, from a single address in Whitakers, North Carolina.

The family quartet were all arrested on December 15 at the Triangle Town Center - a shopping mall in Rayleigh - and all four were charged with organized retail theft of more than $1,500.

Karen Massenburg, 42, (left) and Keira Massenburg (right) were arrested on December 15, as police believe she's the mastermind behind a shoplifting syndicate in North Carolina

Keshauna (left), and Jalia Massenburg (right) were also apprehended by police on multiple charges, including organized retail theft

An alleged fifth member of the group, 39-year-old Tamika Alston of Rocky Mount, was also charged.

Police haven't yet confirmed how each of the Massenburgs are related, but they were confirmed to be living at the address on Aventon Gin Road, after they were all apprehended.

The alleged thefts are believed to have taken place between December 11 and 14, between two Belk department stores in Roanoke Rapids and Rayleigh.

Police believe the defendants were intending to sell the stolen clothing on for cash, a report revealed.

The believed shoplifters were apprehended after shopping in the Belk store at the Triangle Town Center Shopping Mall, on December 15

An alleged fifth culprit, 39-year-old Tamika Alston, was also charged alongside the Massenburgs

Each of the women face multiple charges -and just as they share a surname, each of the defendants will now share a charge of organized retail theft too.

Karen Massenburg was charged with misdemeanor larceny and felony possession of stolen goods.

Jalia Massenburg was charged with misdemeanor larceny.

Keshauna Massenburg was charged with possession of stolen property and failure to appear in Nash County court on unrelated charges.

And Kiera Massenburg was charged with aiding and abetting larceny.

All five of the women have been released on bail as they await trial.A husband has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for imprisoning his wife in a dark cellar where she was raped by him and his brothers.

The shocking incident took place in the small village of Parszczyce in Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland and the husband, Mariusz Sz., abused his wife between 2006 and 2010, two years of which she was kept locked in their cellar.

The victim, who has not been named in reports, was beaten, starved and repeatedly raped by her husband - dubbed the Polish Fritzl in local media - and allegedly by his two brothers and a friend.

Mariusz Sz, pictured, has been jailed for 25 years, for raping his wife and locking her in a cellar

The woman, who has not been named, was locked in a cellar of this house in the village of Parszczyce in Pomeranian Viovodeship in northern Poland

Judge Marta Urbanska, pictured, condemned Sz and the way he treated his wife

In the initial sentencing in June 2017, judge Marta Urbanska emphasised that the victim 'was imprisoned in a cold, dark cellar, in which she was deprived the possibility of taking care of her personal hygiene and the possibility of dealing with her physiological needs under dignified conditions'.

Urbanska added: 'She was starved, forced to eat meals with her bound hands in a kneeling position. Meals were prepared in a manner that denied her dignity.'

Mariusz Sz.'s two brothers Andrzej and Marian Sz. and their friend Tadeusz B. have now been charged with raping the victim whilst she was imprisoned and face a minimum of three years and a maximum of 15 years in prison if found guilty, according to Grazyna Wawryniuk, spokeswoman of the Gdansk prosecutor's office. All three have pleaded not guilty.

Two of Sz's brothers and a friend are also facing charges of repeatedly raping the woman

Reports suggest Mariusz Sz. had 'rented' his wife out for 4.20, putting a bag over her head and letting paying men rape her.

It is not known how many men raped the victim in total and police are still investigating.

The victim eventually managed to escape the cellar and call her mother as she was fearful for the safety of her two daughters, one of whom, four years old, had reportedly been sexually abused.

Local media state she reported the case to the police but she was dismissed three times before an investigation was eventually opened.

The case of Andrzej, Marian Sz. and Tadeusz B. is ongoing.Clarke County Attorney Michelle Rivera was arrested for being drunk in an Osceola courtroom

An Iowa man who was about to plead guilty to sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy had all his charges dropped because the prosecutor was arrested for being drunk in court at 3pm.

Dennis Simmerman, 23, walked free after Clarke County Attorney Michelle Rivera, 42, was seen 'slurring her words and stumbling on her feet' in the Osceola courtroom.

Judge Marti Mertz issued the ruling and said the prosecutor's unavailability at a recent hearing 'was the finale following unexplained periods of inactivity and lack of responsiveness' since Simmerman's arrest more than a year ago.

A sheriff's deputy arrested Rivera for being drunk on October 18, just moments before Simmerman was scheduled to enter a guilty plea and be sentenced in the case.

Simmerman - who had been sitting in the Clarke County jail for 15 months awaiting trial - later sought a dismissal because he hadn't been tried within a year of his arraignment.

He was initially charged with sex assault and telephone dissemination of obscene material to a minor and investigators say he admitted engaging in sex act with a minor in August 2017.

Mark Pennington, a former Polk County prosecutor, said the state can't refile the same charges against the man.

He said: 'Everybody should be upset about it. That's why you have to hold elected officials, including county attorneys, to a high standard.'

Dennis Simmerman, 23, walked free after prosecutor Michelle Rivera was arrested in the court

Rivera pleaded guilty in the courthouse intoxication incident and was fined $65

Simmerman's attorney, Marshall Orsini, told KCCI: 'If the defendant is not put on trial (and) is not tried within a year, you have the potential to have that case dismissed, and that's what happened here.'

He planned to file an Alford plea, where a defendant pleads guilty but maintains innocence.

Rivera - who lost her lost her re-election bid in November - pleaded guilty in the courthouse intoxication incident and was fined $65.

She was arrested again last week in Osceola on charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and child endangerment.

According to court documents, an officer said Rivera was intoxicated when she dropped her daughter off at a day care. A hearing on the new charges is set for Thursday.

Rivera and her attorney didn't immediately return messages from The Associated Press on Tuesday seeking comment about the case. Attempts by the AP to reach the victim's parents and their attorney were unsuccessful.A mother who survived the Las Vegas country music festival massacre in 2017, the deadliest mass shooting in US history, has recalled going to heaven then forcing herself to continue living after being shot by Stephen Paddock while she attended the concert with her daughters.

Rosemarie Melanson, 55, was at the Route 91 Harvest festival with her two adult daughters when Paddock rained bullets on the crowd from his suite in the Mandalay Bay Hotel on October 1, 2017.

In total, 58 people were killed and 850 were injured.

She was struck in the chest and could not move. Her daughters reluctantly left her after being told that they would die if they did not run for their lives.

They all survived and recalled the harrowing night to ABC'S Nightline for an in-depth retelling of the massacre that will air on Wednesday at 12:35 a.m EST.

'The next thing I know I was in heaven. And I saw my dad and my two brothers, and my uncle.

'And it was so beautiful. It was so beautiful you didn't want to come back. They just told me, "It's not your time, Rosemarie. You've got to go back,"' she recalled.

Rosemarie Melanson, 55, was at the Route 91 Harvest festival with her two adult daughters when Paddock rained bullets on the crowd from his suite in the Mandalay Bay Hotel. She is pictured with her husband in an interview that will air on Wednesday at 12.35am EST

The bullet hit her in the upper right chest and traveled sideways through her body.

It severed her esophagus, broke several of her ribs, and tore through her intestine, her liver and spleen.

She spent six months in hospital then was released and for the last six months has been in and out of surgeries.

'I'm stronger than I thought I was,' she said.

In May, she told CNN: 'My body just rose up, and I could see my body laying on the ground, and I went to heaven.

Rosemarie spent six months in the hospital before she was released

'And it was indescribable  the peace that you felt. But I was told it wasnt my time, that I had to go back.'

Like the hundreds of others who were shot, Rosemarie and her daughters did not know where the bullets were coming from when they started.

It was only when police started pouring into the crowd once Rosemarie had been struck.

'A retired firefighter came over and he told us we had to go," said Paige Melanson, who was wounded in the arm.

"He said that if we wanted to live that we needed to go. I looked into his eyes and he said, 'You need to go.' So I did,"' Paige recalled in the show.

The firefighter was Don Matthews.

'He told the girls to go then stayed with their mother and gave her first aid.

He carried her into the back of a pick-up truck and drove her to the hospital where she was eventually reunited with her daughters 11 hours later.

Melanson spent the next six months in the hospital.

Rosemarie's daughters Paige and Stephanie were with her. They had to leave her despite her being injured in the chest to save themselves

Stephen Schuck (left) was a maintenance engineer for the hotel and Jesus Campos, a security guard, was the first on the 32nd floor

Among others who took part was Jesus Campos, the security guard who was the first to the 32nd floor, where Paddock's sniper's nest was.

Paddock, who had set up a small surveillance camera on a room service cart outside his room which gave him a live view of whether or not anyone was approaching his suite, started firing at him in the corridor.

Campos had received a call of a door alarm from a different room on the same floor.

He took the stairs to check on it but when he arrived, the door which accessed the floor had been locked closed with an L-bracket that had been screwed to the floor.

Campos continued walking up to the 33rd floor then took the elevator back down one floor where Paddock saw him coming and immediately opened fire on him when he was walking towards his room.

Officer Brandon Engstrom had just started working for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. It was his second shift when the shooting happened and he was among the first cops on the scene

The guard was struck but immediately took cover and called for back up. Others arrived but were also shot at by Paddock who then took his own life before anyone could get to him.

By the time more officers go to Paddock's room, they were halted by the camera on the room service cart outside because they could only see wires and feared that it was a booby trap.

'They get close enough to that room, there's wires, there's cameras.

'What are they walking into? Is that an IED? Is there more than one person? How many people are there?

'We had nothing,' Deputy Chief Walsh said.

Among others that took part in the episode were some of the first officers on the scene.

Officer Brandon Engstrom had only just started working for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

The massacre was on his second day of work.

'It was our sergeant who had the radio on. Shots came out over the radio.

'So immediately he yells at us to go to our cars, get ready and go to the concert venue,' he said.

Another colleague then radioed them while they were on their way to say: 'Be aware, it is automatic fire, fully automatic fire from an elevated position. Take cover.'

Stephen Paddock is pictured checking into his hotel on the 25th of September, five days before the shooting

Paddock is shown in one of the casino's hallways on the 28th of September, two days before the mass attack. He left no manifesto

The inside of his sniper's nest after he took his own life before police could get to him is shown

He arrived at the festival site to be confronted by an off-duty cop whose wife had been shot in the head.

They rushed the woman to the nearest hospital in their cruiser, a decision which saved her life, then went back to the site to help others.

'I'm washing my hands and I said something to the effect, "It's an effing terrorist attack. Just get everybody here."

'I then ... looked at Brandon and he said, "What are we doing?" 'I said, "Let's go. We've got to go back,"'Officer Richard Cole said.

Deputy Chief Andrew Walsh said that he thought at first that Paddock's attack was the first in a string of coordinated terror attacks.

'What sticks with me is that fear, that pain in my stomach that this was going to just be the first part of a multifaceted attack,' he said.

Paddock had set up a small camera on a room service cart outside his room which gave him a live feed from the corridor

There were guns strewn across the two double beds in addition to everywhere else in the suite

It was caused by hundreds of people phoning 911 to report the shooting happening at different locations at once.

Authorities still do not know what motivated Paddock to carry out the killings.

In total, he moved 21 suitcases into the two suites he had rented without anyone detecting his stockpile of weapons.

MGM, which owns the hotel where he was staying, is now tightening its rules so that anyone who checks into a room which overlooks an outdoor venue will come under intense scrutiny.

Until the shooting, he had been behaving like a normal, high-rolling guest.

'Everything he did is what you'd expect a normal guest to do: Using food and beverage, restaurants, having things delivered to his room.

'He preferred to play video poker machines. He'd stay at that for hours on end,' Steven Martinez, senior vice president of global security for MGM Resorts, said.

'He just looks like a middle-aged guy with a lot of luggage goin' up to his room,' he added.

The full Nightline episode will be shown on ABC on Wednesday at 12.35am EST.The body of a massive tuna fish was washed up on a beach in the Orkney Isles following powerful storms this weekend.

The sad sight caused a stir on Sanday island but fisherman were buoyed by further evidence the magnificent species is making a return to British waters.

The body of the fish  one of the world's largest and fastest, according to National Geographic  was estimated to be about six and a half feet long.

'It was ... a pretty impressive beast. At that size, it's going to be pretty fully grown,' Emma Neave-Webb, a local ranger, said on Monday. 'The fish looked pretty fresh, so I think the cause of death was natural causes.'

The huge bluefin tuna washed up on Bea Sand beach on Sanday island in the Orkneys measured more than six feet long

Local experts believed the fish died of natural causes and will now study and dissect it

Bluefin tuna have only recently returned to British waters since around 2013, but it is extremely rare for one to be washed up in Orkney

The fish was found some distance form the shoreline following a weekend ofhigh winds and strong seas

The blue fin tuna Atlantic bluefins live in both subtropic and temperate waters, and can travel across the Atlantic ocean in less than 60 days. The warm-blooded Atlantic bluefin can swim at speeds up to 43 miles per hour, thanks to its powerful tail. They typically weigh around 550 pounds, though some have reportedly been recorded at 1,000 pounds or more. Unlike the more common yellowfin species, fishing for bluefin tuna is tightly regulated after massive overfishing in the late twentieth century decimated their numbers. In 2011, the USA's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) decided not to list the Atlantic bluefin tuna as an endangered species, but noted stringent international fishing rules created in November 2010 were designed to allow stocks to recover. In November 2012, 48 countries voted to keep strict fishing limits, saying the species' population is still fragile. The quota was set at just 13,500 metric tons a year, and reviewed upwards slightly in 2014. Advertisement

The fish's size attracted a crowd of locals on Sunday  with many traveling to Bea Sand beach to view the remains of the powerful fish.

Ms Neave-Webb said: 'Everybody's been amazed, it was a bit of a tourist attraction.

'It's been the talk of the island for the day, but we're hoping to go back ... to weigh it and dissect it for any signs of plastic pollution.'

It's not the first time a giant Atlantic bluefin has been spotted in the country.

'It's the third case of a bluefin tuna washing up in Scottish waters this year,' John Hourston, founder of volunteer group Blue Planet Society, said.

'Bluefin tuna have only recently returned to British waters since around 2013, but it's extremely rare for one to be washed up in Orkney.'

One of the most recent sightings of the rare fish was in October.

At that time, a 6-foot-long Atlantic bluefin washed up in Fife, weighing around 245 pounds, The Scotsman reported.

While locals admitted it was a sad discovery, some fish experts were hopeful it was a sign the fish was making a comeback in the area.

'It's sad this one has washed up dead but hopefully this is a sign that they are making a return as there have been a number of sightings in the North Sea and off the west coast of Scotland,' Jonathan Louis, operations and development manager for the Forth Rivers Trust, told the Scottish newspaper.Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg admitted that executives at the social media giant 'know we need to do more' to protect users' civil rights on the platform as 31 civil rights groups call for a change in the company's leadership.

Sandberg made the remarks in a statement on Tuesday, the same day the NAACP launches a week-long boycott of the site after a Senate Intelligence Committee report revealed that Russian-backed actors targeted African-American Facebook users in an attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election.

'Facebook is committed to working with leading U.S. civil rights organizations to strengthen and advance civil rights on our service. They've raised a number of important concerns, and I'm grateful for their candor and guidance,' Sandberg wrote.

'We know that we need to do more: to listen, look deeper and take action to respect fundamental rights.'

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg admitted that executives at the social media giant 'know we need to do more' to protect users' civil rights on the platform in a statement Tuesday responding to an update to a company audit. Her remarks came just as the NAACP is launching a week-long boycott of the site and 31 civil rights groups have called for a leadership overhaul

Facebook concurrently released the findings of a civil rights audit headed by Laura Murphy, a former director of the ACLU Legislative Office.

In the audit report, Murphy highlighted specific areas of concern on the platform, including voter suppression, targeted advertising, content moderation and diversity and inclusion - both on the site and within the company.

She called for more transparency and improvements in content moderation as well as the creation of a 'civil rights advocacy infrastructure'.

'For the past several years, civil rights groups have consistently expressed, both publicly and privately, their deeply held concerns about Facebook's products, policies, and practices and their implications on civil and human rights,' Murphy wrote.

Sandberg (above in September) said that the ongoing civil rights audit, headed by former ACLU director Laura Murphy, will be one of her top objectives for 2019

She acknowledged the work that strides that executives have taken this year, but said there is still much to be done.

'The work that has been done over the last six months is an attempt to capture and consolidate their concerns to produce meaningful results,' Murphy wrote.

'Given Facebook's scope and scale, this continues to be a challenge.'

Facebook has acknowledged many of the civil rights concerned outlined in the audit, and Sandberg said the audit will be 'one of my top priorities for 2019'.

'Im committed to overseeing its progress and making sure that it is a well-resourced, cross-company effort,' she wrote.

'Im grateful to all of the leaders and advocates who have contributed to the audit this year, and I look forward to continuing this important work with them in the future.'

The audit progress update was released just two days after two independent studies commissioned by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which revealed that Russian-backed troll accounts disproportionately targeted minorities and marginalized groups during the 2016 election.

Sandberg said of those Senate reports: 'We take this incredibly seriously, as demonstrated by the investments we've made in safety and security.'

According to the bombshell analysis of the Russian influence operation, the Russian Internet Research Agency purchased a total of 1,087 ads targeting African American politic and culture and black identity and nationalism during the campaign.

Facebook's ad program allowed purchasers to select users with certain interests, like Malcolm X  a capability the St. Petersburg-based outfit relied on to slice up the American electorate.

The Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency, which has been charged with interfering in the elections, relied on Facebook, Google and Twitter and other platforms for targeted messaging, according to the report for the Senate Intelligence Committee.

It used words, videos and images to persuade voters to back Trump, according to a report by Oxford University's Computational Propaganda Project and network analysis company Graphika.

It outlines repeated Russian efforts to divide and target black voters  and even a program to set up hotlines to get people to confess problems that could be potential fodder for blackmail.

The tactics reached tens of millions of Americans during the multi-year durations, and targeted key interest groups known to impact US elections.

A Senate Intelligence Committee report released on Monday revealed that Russian-backed social media campaigns aimed at influencing the 2016 election disproportionately targeted African-American voters. An example of one of the ads used is pictured above

The senate report found that online activity focused on police violence against blacks

Russians tried ginning up support online using multiple campaigns, including Blacktivist

US intelligence assessed and prosecutors have charged that the outfit was financed by a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Many of the ad purchases were in rubles. Early posts before 2014 were in Russian, but English language social media activity jumped that year, and continued even into 2017.

The Russians set up 30 Facebook pages on black Americans, while another 10 YouTube channels focused on police violence against blacks and put out 571 videos on the subject.

The efforts to target African Americans and suppress the black vote came during a 2016 election where Hillary Clinton won an overwhelming share of support among African American vote.

According to the report: 'Messaging to African Americans sought to divert their political energy away from established political institutions by preying on anger with structural inequalities faced by African Americans, including police violence, poverty, and disproportionate levels of incarceration.'

It continued: 'These campaigns pushed a message that the best way to advance the cause of the African American community was to boycott the election and focus on other issues instead. This often happened through the use of repetitive slogans. This accounts for the majority of content in the dataset that targeted this group.'

After a Russian 'Black Matters' Facebook page got shut down, the IRA simply created new renamed campaigns to push its message. 'Cops kill black kids. Are you sure that your son won't be the next?' went one aimed at African Americans.

The Russians also went after other demographic slices: Muslims, southerners, Texans, and more.

The campaign didn't stop after the trolls got caught, and in fact peaked in 2017, according to the report.

The report found that conservative users 'were actively encouraged to get behind Trump's campaign' while other users were 'encouraged to boycott the election, abstain from voting for Clinton, or to spread cynicism about participating in the election' through Russian ads

An ad targeted at conservative users, seeking to boost Trump, is pictured above

The report was presented to the Senate Intelligence Committee. The bipartisan panel released it publicly on Monday morning.

It tracks observations like an increase in activity on election day in 2016 and during general election debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Activity by the group spiked the most at the end of the year when Barack Obama announced that he was opening up probes into Russia's attempt to hack the election.

Among its findings were that conservative users 'were actively encouraged to get behind Trump's campaign' while other users were 'encouraged to boycott the election, abstain from voting for Clinton, or to spread cynicism about participating in the election in general'.

'What is clear is that all of the messaging clearly sought to benefit the Republican Party - and specifically Donald Trump,' the report says.

'Trump is mentioned most in campaigns targeting conservatives and right-wing voters, where the messaging encouraged these groups to support his campaign. The main groups that could challenge Trump were then provided messaging that sought to confuse, distract and ultimately discourage members from voting.'

The Senate Intelligence Committee found that the Russian-backed actors 'clearly sought to benefit the Republican Party - and specifically Donald Trump (pictured this month)

Committee chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, said the data 'demonstrates how aggressively Russia sought to divide Americans by race, religion and ideology, and how the IRA actively worked to erode trust in our democratic institutions.'

'Most troublingly, it shows that these activities have not stopped,' he assessed. 'As we work to address these threats, these reports are proof positive that one of the most important things we can do is increase information sharing between the social media companies who can identify disinformation campaigns and the third-party experts who can analyze them.'

The committee's vice chair, Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, likewise said the report revealed that Russian election meddling was worse than previously revealed.

'This should stand as a wake up call to us all that none of us are immune from this threat, and it is time to get serious in addressing this challenge,' he said. 'That is going to require some much-needed and long-overdue guardrails when it comes to social media. I hope these reports will spur legislative action in the Congress and provide additional clarity to the American public about Russia's assault on our democracy.'

What is clear is that all of the messaging clearly sought to benefit the Republican Party - and specifically Donald Trump.

Researchers also noted that the data includes evidence of sloppiness by the Russians that could have led to earlier detection, including the use of Russia's currency, the ruble, to buy ads.

House Intelligence ranking member Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said in a statement after the release of the report that social media companies share in the blame and must be held accountable.

'Their reluctance to conduct and publish such deep analysis themselves, to actively and meaningfully collaborate with one another to compare and publicize data and information to build out the extent of the IRA's efforts, and to otherwise make available to outside research groups comprehensive, uniform access to the data, have made our task far more difficult than it should have been,' he scolded.

Schiff said the companies, which he did not call out by name, should be doing more to keep their users and the public aware of disinformation operations.

It comes after President Trump and his attorney unleashed a fresh series of attacks people investigating him, questioning their integrity while categorically ruling out the possibility of a presidential interview with the special counsel for the Department of Justice's probe into Russia.Descendants of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest are claiming that the graves of the former Ku Klux Klan leader and his wife were desecrated when a statue of him was removed from their burial site at a Tennessee park.

Forrest's great-great-grandsons sued the city of Memphis on Monday for $30 million.

They seek damages and possession of the statue, which was removed from a city park in 2017.

City officials circumvented a state law limiting the removal of historical memorials from public property by selling the park to a private nonprofit, which removed the monuments.

The lawsuit seeks a judge's order allowing the disinterment of the couple's remains and their reburial at a location chosen by the Forrest family.

The city said its actions were lawful and it will defend itself in court.

A statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest sat on a concrete pedestal at a park named after the confederate cavalryman in Memphis, Tennessee until it was removed in 2017

Relatives of Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest are demanding $30 million from the city of Memphis, Tennessee, and a nonprofit to move his remains from a park and settle a lawsuit over the takedown of a statue of the former Ku Klux Klan leader.

Forrest's family members and the Sons of Confederate Veterans are suing the city and Memphis Greenspace Inc. over the equestrian statue's removal from Health Sciences Park last December.

Memphis used a loophole in a Tennessee historical preservation law by selling the public park for $1,000 to Greenspace, a private nonprofit.

Greenspace then removed the monument under the cover of night and has stored it in an undisclosed location.

However, the remains of Forrest and his wife are still buried at the park and the family and the veterans group want the statue returned to the park.

Confederate Major General, Nathan Bedford Forrest, (1821-1877). He was also the founder of the Ku Klux Klan, and leader from 1866-1869

Forrest's relatives believe it would cost $5.6 million to remove, transport and re-bury the remains.

They're seeking another $25 million to take possession of the statue and settle the lawsuit, which is under appeal. The letter does not say where the remains would be re-interred, if they are moved.

Any future development of the park is hindered by the ongoing legal battle, lawyers for the Forrest family also note in the letter. Entities in the medical district, which includes the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, formed a collaborative to redevelop the district into a multi-purpose commercial and residential center, court documents show.

Greenspace has said it would be open to moving the statue outside of Memphis and Shelby County, possibly to a Civil War museum or memorial. But the Forrest family and the Sons of Confederate Veterans have secured a stay from the court to bar the sale of the statue.

'The final place for reconstituting the graves of General Forrest and his wife, as well as all related items, will be chosen by the Plaintiff - the Forrest Descendants,' said the letter filed in Davidson County Chancery Court on August 30.

The city of Memphis issued a stern response to the proposal, calling it an 'outlandish demand.'

'They've made it about money,' city spokeswoman Ursula Madden said.

Cities have tried to remove Confederate monuments following the racially motivated massacre of nine people at a black church in South Carolina and a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Leaders in majority-black Memphis worked for months on finding a way to remove the statues, amid protests and calls from civil rights advocates who said they were monuments to racism and hate.

Forrest's great-great-grandsons filed a lawsuit in a Memphis court Monday seeking damages and possession of the statue after it was taken down in December 2017

A pedestal, where the statue of General Nathan Bedford Forrest stood before it was removed, stands at a park in Memphis, Tennessee

Forrest was a Confederate general, a slave trader and a leader in the early Ku Klux Klan.

The lawsuit filed after the statue was taken down claims the action violated the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act, which limited the removal or changing of historical memorials on public property.

The city also sold another park to Greenspace, which quickly removed statues of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Capt. J. Harvey Mathes from that property.

Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ruled in May that the removals did not violate state law because they were on private property when they were torn down.

That ruling is being appeals by the Forrest family and the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Lawmakers in Tennessee's Republican-dominated Legislature vowed to punish Memphis for removing the monuments.

The House voted to withhold $250,000 in funding for Memphis' bicentennial celebration next year.

The General Assembly also passed a bill this year making it harder for cities to get around the law.

They approved a measure barring cities from selling or transferring property that has historic memorials without permission from the Tennessee Historical Society - or a court.Prison officials say Nevada death row inmate Scott Dozier has gone to great lengths to kill himself while awaiting execution, including attempting to obtain drops of a deadly drug on a piece of paper sent through prison mail.

They also intercepted mail from the convicted killer's sister with instructions on how to cut the jugular vein in his neck. He was also forced to turn over razor blades he somehow secured behind bars.

The claims are in documents state lawyers filed last week in federal court in response to Dozier's lawyers' attempts to keep him out of an isolation cell where he was being held on suicide watch.

He is waiting for what would be Nevada's first execution in more than 12 years.

Prison officials say Nevada death row inmate Scott Dozier (pictured in August 2017) has gone to great lengths to kill himself while awaiting execution, including attempting to obtain drops of a deadly drug on a piece of paper sent through prison mail

They also intercepted mail from the convicted killer's sister with instructions on how to cut the jugular vein in his neck. Dozier is waiting for what would be Nevada's first execution (prison chamber) in more than 12 years

The execution was put on hold in September when a judge banned the use of expired drugs for a lethal injection.

US Magistrate Carla Baldwin Carry refused a defense motion earlier this month intended to ensure Dozier remains confined with other death row inmates, but is allowing his public defenders to file additional documents amending their claims.

The legal battle includes Dozier's own statements that he wants to be put to death, his federal public defenders' argument that placing him in an isolation cell makes him more likely to attempt suicide and the state's insistence it must protect him from self-harm.

Dozier's lawyers say he apparently cut his neck and wrist with a razor in October.

They argue his deteriorating condition is the result of his unconstitutional treatment, including his denial of recreation time in the prison yard. They say he can't socialize with others, read, communicate with his family and effectively consult with legal counsel.

They're seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent his return to isolation.

Dozier (left) was sentenced to death in 2007 for robbing, killing and dismembering 22-year-old Jeremiah Miller (right) at a Las Vegas motel in 2002. Miller had come to Nevada to buy ingredients to make meth. His decapitated torso was found in a suitcase

Ely State Prison (pictured) staff discovered a plot by Dozier on September 21 'to obtain drugs in a highly concentrated form dropped onto a page of a letter through the mail'

Nevada Deputy Solicitor General Jordan Smith said in papers filed Friday Dozier's current legal counsel, federal public defenders and other anti-death penalty groups 'have thwarted the professional wishes of its own client by filing court actions that have prevented Dozier's execution.'

'Dozier has repeatedly informed (prison) officials ... he will take matters into his own hands and end his own life if the state is unable to carry out the execution in a timely manner,' Smith wrote.

Prison staff discovered a plot by Dozier on September 21 'to obtain drugs in a highly concentrated form dropped onto a page of a letter through the mail,' he said.

Staff later confiscated a letter instructing him to write to another inmate with an example of images of hearts to be drawn around the droplets.

The specific liquid drug wasn't known but fentanyl was a likely possibility because the synthetic opiate is not detectable by prison test kits, Smith said.

In October, Dozier gave prison staff two razor blades and nail clippers in his possession

In October, Dozier's sister attempted to provide him with a detailed anatomy textbook with information specifying the best way to ensure death by cutting the jugular or major neck arteries, Smith said.

He said guards intercepted two pieces of mail from his sister with a hand-written diagram of the cardiovascular system. One said it 'takes about 2 minutes to bleed to death if the internal jugular is cut'.

On October 17, Dozier provided prison staff two razor blades and nail clippers in his possession, Smith said.

'Given that his family was attempting to help him learn how to cut his throat, it was objectively reasonable to restrict certain phone calls,' Smith wrote.

Those concerns ended November 2 and Dozier was returned to death row.

'But any court ruling preventing the state from protecting Dozier's well-being, if needed, may have the effect of facilitating Dozier's suicide.'

In a separate case, state Attorney General Adam Laxalt has until December 26 to file his latest briefs in an appeal to the state Supreme Court of a judge's ruling in September that the state can't use its preferred mixture of three drugs to put Dozier to death because prison officials obtained drug manufacturer Alvogen's sedative midazolam through 'subterfuge,' or deceit.

The state's prison director, James Dzurenda, testified earlier that he disregarded letters from three drug manufacturers who did not want their medication used in an execution.

Dozier was sentenced to death in 2007 for robbing, killing and dismembering 22-year-old Jeremiah Miller at a Las Vegas motel in 2002.

Miller had come to Nevada to buy ingredients to make meth. His decapitated torso was found in a suitcase.A New York state senator has been forced to apologized for what he called a 'poor choice of words' after sending a tweet to a legislative staffer urging her to kill herself.

Democrat Kevin Parker's tweet Tuesday to Republican Senate aide Candice Giove consisted of only two words: 'Kill yourself!'

It came after Giove took to Twitter to accuse the 51-year-old of misusing a Senate parking placard in Manhattan.

Parker quickly deleted the tweet and later apologized in another message sent to Giove, but that wasn't before screenshots were taken and circulated online.

Senator Kevin Parker (left) tweeted 'kill yourself!' to Republican Senate aide Candice Giove (right) Tuesday

It came after Giove accused Parker, 51, of misusing a Senate parking placard

Parker deleted the tweet and apologized for what he called a 'poor choice of words'

First elected in 2002, the Brooklyn lawmaker won re-election last month and was recently named the incoming chairman of the Senate Energy Committee.

'I used a poor choice of words,' he wrote. 'Suicide is a serious thing and and (sic) should not be made light of.'

Giove is a spokeswoman for the Senate's Republican conference. Her office declined to comment on Parker's tweet.

Giove had originally tweeted Tuesday: 'The placard is assigned to @SenatorParker. However, the license plate # on the placard does not match the vehicle. So he either used it in another car or gave it to someone to use, both of which are not permitted.'

After Parker tweeted the crude suggestion, Giove followed up in another tweet which read: 'Did a Senator just write this to me?'

Commenters on Twitter quickly condemned the remarks, with come urging Parker to resign.

The Senate's incoming leader, Democrat Andrea Stewart-Cousins, released a statement mirroring Parker's apology.

'I was disappointed in Senator Parker's tweet,' Stewart-Cousins wrote.

'Suicide is a serious issue and should not be joked about in this manner. I am glad that he has apologized.'

Screen shots of the now-deleted tweet were taken and are circulating online

Parker continued to bash Giove, despite earlier apologizing for his suicide comments

Parker said his supporters will not care about the comments he made, and instead look at Giove's record

Despite apologizing for his suicide comment, Parker continued to troll Giove on Twitter.

'Where was @Candicegiove when NYers voted for a #Democratic State Senate & progressive legislation like the Dream Act & CFE funding? That's right, working with the #NOIDC appendage of the GOP. #DreamAct #CFEFunding

He continued: '@Candicegiove is on the wrong side of history for every important issue facing New York State!'

Amid the backlash, Parker spoke to the Times Union and slammed Giove even further.

'This is a tempest in a teapot,' Parker said. 'I'm sure people in my district don't care.'

'The fact is, the person we're talking about here is a ''Twitter troll''who represents a conference that on every issue has been on the wrong side of history  a women's right to choose, the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, voting rights,' he added.

Parker is expected chair the senate's Energy and Telecommunications Committee when the Democrats take power in January.Advertisement

Italy's biggest builder Salini Impregilo and shipbuilder Fincantieri have won the contract to rebuild a bridge that collapsed in August, killing 43 people, in the port city of Genoa.

The project will cost 202 million euros ($230 million) - excluding value added tax - and be completed in 12 months, Marco Bucci, the special commissioner appointed by the government to oversee the reconstruction, said on Tuesday.

The concrete bridge, the responsibility of infrastructure group Atlantia's unit Autostrade per l'Italia, collapsed on August 14, severing part of a motorway linking Genoa with southern France.

A huge 260ft section of the Morandi bridge gave way about 11.30am, when the arterial highway west of the city centre was packed with cars and trucks.

Vehicles fell 150ft along with tonnes of twisted steel and concrete debris into a river, railroad tracks and an industrial zone below, flattening vehicles and leaving rubble embedded in buildings.

Mayor of Genoa, Marco Bucci, who has been appointed by the Italian government as the commissioner for the reconstruction of the highway bridge in the Polcevera valley displays an artist rendition of the new bridge

The highway bridge in the Polcevera valley collapsed on August 14, 2018, killing 43 people. Mayor of Genoa, Marco Bucci, holds up a plan for its replacement at a press conference on Tuesday

'Twelve months to help re-launch Genoa... that is the dream that we are hoping to give the Genoese before Christmas in memory of the victims of this terrible tragedy,' said Pietro Salini, chief executive of Salini Impregilo.

Public works will kick start the economy and create jobs again, Salini added.

Famed Genoa-born architect Renzo Piano, who donated a proposal for the new viaduct, has agreed to supervise the works, Bucci, who is also the mayor of Genoa, said during a news conference.

The new viaduct will be realized by Salini-Fincantieri-Italferr on the basis of a design by Italian architect Renzo Piano

The port in Genoa will have a new bridge within a year, said Mayor of Genoa, Marco Bucci, who has been appointed by the Italian government as the commissioner for the reconstruction of the highway bridge

The collapse put at risk the activity of the port, which last year accounted for 1.5 percent of Italy's gross domestic product.

A photo allegedly taken not long before the accident appeared to show cables hanging from the sides of the bridge.

Both families of victims and government ministers expressed outrage over the disaster, which was blamed on a lack of maintenance by Autostrade, which is a private company that operates many of Italy's toll highways.

The 202-million-euro project by hometown architect Renzo Piano inspired by a naval ship has been chosen to replace the Morandi Bridge

Genoa will have a new bridge within a year, its mayor said, as the Italian city prepared to start demolition work on the remains of the old Morandi bridge

The artist's sketches for a new bridge over Polcevera river will replace the Morandi bridge, which collapsed in August 2018 claiming 43 lives

The government blamed Autostrade for the disaster and decided to exclude the business from the reconstruction project, even though it will have to pay for it.

Autostrade and some of its top managers are under investigation for the collapse. Atlantia, controlled by the Benetton family, has put aside 350 million euros to cover the estimated cost of rebuilding.

'We promised the families of the victims that Autostrade would not even place a stone and that's the case,' Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said in Rome.

Autostrade is planning to file a legal challenge against the government decree that excludes it from rebuilding the viaduct.

Italferr, a unit of state-owned railway company Ferrovie dello Stato, will also be involved in the project, the transport ministry said in a statement.

The remains of the Morandi Bridge that partially collapsed with cars and trucks trapped among the rubble on August 14, 2018 killing 43 people and wounding dozensSarah Sanders insisted on Tuesday that crimes committed by President Trump's ex-national security adviser had 'nothing to do with the president'  even though he told lies about his contacts with the Russians in the course of his service to Trump during an interview that took place at the White House.

Sanders claimed that Michael Flynn was 'ambushed' by the FBI and seemed to dispute that he'd actually lied as she wished the former White House official 'well' after a sentencing hearing.

Trump had told Flynn 'good luck' before it started and claimed that he would get a 'great deal' because he'd been mistreated.

Sanders defended the president's remarks, saying, 'It is perfectly acceptable for the president to make a positive comment about somebody while we wait to see what the courts determination is.'

Sarah Sanders insisted on Tuesday that crimes committed by President Trump's ex-national security adviser had 'nothing to do with the president,' even though he told lies about his contacts with the Russians while he was serving Trump after the election during an interview that took place at the White House

Flynn admits that he lied and said today that he knew it was a crime to do so, but believes his cooperation with the feds is redeeming enough to keep him out of jail.

The judge did not appear to agree with him, and Flynn asked for and received a delay in the hour before Sanders appeared on camera.

Sanders briefed reporters after a judge decided to delay Flynn's sentencing after lecturing him on the severity of his crimes and the bad example that it sets when a senior U.S. official to lie to the feds from the White House property.

Pressed to say whether the White House was 'concerned' that Flynn lied about his conversations with the Russian ambassador during the period after the election before Trump took the oath of office and became president, Sanders said it's up to the court if Flynn engaged in inappropriate behavior.

'Look the things that may have taken place, again thats up to the judge to make that determination, whether he engaged in something inappropriate,' she asserted.

Asked by DailyMail.com if the White House is disputing that Flynn lied  given that Trump fired him for lying to the vice president about the same conversations with the Russians, Sanders dodged again.

'Maybe he did do those things, but that doesnt have anything to do with the president directly,' she asserted.

President Donald Trump's former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, his attorney Robert Kelner and his wife Lori Andrade arrive at federal court in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018 for Flynn to receive sentencing following his guilty plea

Flynn sought to delay his sentencing on Tuesday after admitting in open court that he was 'guilty' of lying to the FBI only to get excoriated by a federal judge for 'selling out' his country.

Flynn faced the real possibility of jail time after Judge Emmet Sullivan repeatedly dressed-down the three-star general and former top Trump advisor in court for his lies.

'I cannot assure you, if you proceed today, you will not receive a sentence of incarceration, Sullivan told him. 'I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense,' he fumed.

Following a tense hearing filled with similar broadsides, Flynn and his lawyers changed course and asked to delay sentencing while Flynn continues to cooperate with prosecutors.

He will now have a status hearing on March 13 with his sentencing put off indefinitely. The government earlier said in court that Flynn may still be cooperate further, giving him an additional chance to prove his worth.

Sullivan kept alive the possibility of a prison sentence, nodding towards Flynn and saying: I dont promise him anything.

Following angry lectures from the bench, Flynn sought a 30-minute break to huddle with his lawyers following his guilty plea.

Flynn exited the courthouse Tuesday afternoon without resolution  only to be met with rivaling cheers of 'Lock him up!' and 'USA.' Flynn had led a cheer of 'Lock her up' directed at Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Republican convention, when he was a top advisor to Donald Trump.

Sullivan had told him he sold out his country by lying about his Russia contacts from inside the White House  and asked prosecutors why they hadn't charged Flynn with treason.

Sullivan tied together both of the crimes Flynn admitted to committing: lying to cover up his Russia contacts, and lobbying on behalf of Turkey without disclosing his activities  and banking hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process.

'All along, you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the National Security Advisor to the President of the United States. That undermines everything this flag over here stands for,' Sullivan thundered.

'Arguably you sold your country out.'

During the hearing, Flynn also told Sullivan knew that doing so was a crime when he met with investigators in 2016.

Judge Emmet Sullivan tore into Mike Flynn at his sentencing hearing

Flynn arrived in federal court for sentencing Tuesday following his guilty plea hours after getting 'good luck' wishes from his former boss.

During conversations with Sullivan in court, Flynn's team backed off it's claim that the FBI lead him into lying. That claim, contained in a memo to the judge in advance of sentencing, appears to have backfired, antagonizing the judge and putting Flynn's team in the awkward position of maintaining a guilty plea even after attacking the government's investigation.

Asked if Flynn had been 'entrapped by the FBI, lawyer Stephen Anthony replied, 'No, your Honor.'

That comment by Flynn's team was directly contradicted by the White House, where Sanders said Flynn was 'ambushed' by FBI agents. She made the claim on Fox News and doubled down on it at her briefing later.

'What we do know that was inappropriate, by own self-admittance of James Comey, is that the FBI broke standard protocol in the way that they came in and ambushed General Flynn, and in the way that they questioned him, and in the way that they encouraged him not to have White House Counsel's Office present,' she said.

'And we know that because James Comey told us that, and he said that the very reason that they did it was because -- the only reason that they did it, it was the Trump administration and they thought they could get away with it. Those are the facts.'

Flynn's lawyers had previously claimed that he was tricked into lying by the FBI but backed off the position in court on Tuesday as the former intelligence agency head tried to avoid any and all jail time.

Sullivan asked Flynn if he wanted to go ahead with his hearing because he was guilty. 'Yes, your honor,' Flynn replied. He declined an opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea.

Judge Sullivan told Flynn he would consider the 'substantial assistance he has given the Mueller probe as well as his '33 years of military service and sacrifice'.

Flynn also said he was 'aware' that lying to FBI investigators was a crime.

He was hoping to avoid jail time after prosecutors vouched for his extensive cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, including 19 interviews, according to the government.

Asked if Flynn was still assisting prosecutors, the government was coy. 'It remains a possibility,' a prosecutor said.

Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn arrives for his sentencing hearing for lying to the FBI at the US Federal Court in Washington, DC, USA, 18 December 2018

'The more you assist the government, the more you arguably help yourself at the time of sentencing,' Sullivan responded.

Sullivan lectured Flynn about what he admitted he did, calling it a 'very serious offense,' noting that it involved a senior official lying to the FBI 'while on the physical premises of the White House.'

'It's a very serious offense. You can't minimize that,' said the judge.

'Arguably, you sold your country out,' said Sullivan.

At one point, Sullivan asked prosecutor Brandon Van Grack whether what Flynn did 'rises to the level of treasonous activity?'

Van Grack said prosecutors did not consider charging him with Treason  which carries the death penalty as a possible punishment.

Only later after a recess did Judge Sullivan said he was merely asking to get a sense of potential charges. "I was just curious,' he said.

It was 'not something they had considered,' Van Grack responded.

'Could he have been charged with treason?' the judge asked.

Van Grack later in the hearing said he was confident Flynn did not commit treason.

Flynn came in for even more criticism over his admitted big bucks representation of Turkey without disclosing it.

After the short recess, Flynns Attorney Robert Kelner told the court that Flynn had held nothing back in his dealings with the Mueller case.

He said Flynn had agreed publicly, clearly, completely and utterly to cooperate, sending a signal to every other defendant.

Kelner agreed, however, that sentencing should be delayed because Flynn may be asked to testify in the upcoming federal prosecution of Bijan Kian, Flynns former business partner.

Kian, an Iranian-American, is accused of breaking the Foreign Agent Registration Act for failing to inform the State Department he was working for the Turkish government.

Turkish-Dutch dual national Ekim Alpetkin, another business partner of Kian and Flynn, is the subject of an arrest warrant but is thought to be in Turkey. Kian and Alpetkin are accused in court papers of a plot to convince the US government to extradite or otherwise expel Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric who opposes the country's strongman president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The court heard Tuesday that Flynn could have been charged in that same indictment but the government decided not to prosecute to him because of his cooperation.

Judge Sullivan adjourned the case until noon on March 13 but he kept alive the possibility of a prison sentence, nodding towards Flynn and saying: I dont promise him anything.

Sullivan also snapped at defense attorneys when they referred to a 2015 plead deal whereby David H. Petraeus, the storied wartime general and former CIA director, escaped with a misdemeanor charge and no jail time after he admitted mishandling classified material.

I dont agree with the Petraeus sentence, the judge said, before adding: Its none of my business, maybe there were extenuating circumstances. I dont know. Sullivan also backpedaled on suggestions he felt Flynn should be charged with treason.

Ive never presided over a treason offense, he said. I was just asking the question,' he said.

Flynn, who received the unusual boost from the president's Twitter account, arrived amid a smattering of protesters, including one calling him Vladimir Putin's puppet' and another calling him innocent and a 'great patriot.'

He was in the fortuitous position of having both the prosecution and the defense recommend he not face jail time, after special counsel Robert Mueller's prosecutors cited his extensive prosecution with the Russia probe and other investigations.

Flynn, who was accompanied by his wife Lori on Tuesday, has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with former Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak.

Interview notes by the FBI released Monday night reveal Flynn had numerous conversations and contacts with Kislyak, but denied a substantive conversation about lifting U.S. sanctions on Russia.

In a tweet Tuesday morning, Trump also denied collusion with Russia during his election campaign.

He wrote: 'Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn.'

The president also wrote: 'Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!'

Donald Trump has wished Michael Flynn good luck for his court appearance today

Special Counsel Robert Mueller (left) released a memo about the January 2017 interview in which Michael Flynn (right) lied to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian government

A group of supporters of Gen. Michael Flynn gathered outside the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C.

Supporters of Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn gather outside the US Federal Court as Flynn arrives for his sentencing hearing

It comes after Special Counsel Robert Mueller released a memo about the January 2017 interview in which Michael Flynn lied to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian government.

Sullivan, who received federal appointments from Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton, had ordered the special counsel to provide more documents, after Flynn's lawyers argued he was railroaded into giving an interview just days after starting work at the White House without benefit of having a lawyer present. The government argued that Flynn had long government service and should have known it was a crime not to be truthful with investigators.

At the interview, Flynn told investigators, among them now-former FBI agent Peter Strzok, about his conversations with Kislyak.

According to the 302 notes, when asked whether he pushed Russia for a particular position, 'FLYNN answered, 'No.'

Flynn 'stated the conversations were along the lines of where do you stand, and what's your position,' according to the 302.

The memo indicates that Flynn denied asking the Russian government for political favors, according to CNN.

The agents who interviewed him, meanwhile, kept pressing President Donald Trump's former National Security Adviser for more specifics.

It was that interview in which Flynn told investigators, among them now-former FBI agent Peter Strzok (above), about his conversations with then-Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak

Flynn told Strzok and other FBI agents who interviewed him that he and Kislyak did not discuss U.S. sanctions against Russia.

The memo also describes how Flynn played down his attempts to lobby Russia to oppose a United Nations Security Council resolution to condemn Israeli settlements.

Flynn initially told agents that he did not try to convince Russia to vote against the resolution.

'The interviewing agents asked Flynn if he recalled any discussions with Kislyak about a United Nations vote surrounding the issue of Israeli settlements,' the memo said.

'Flynn quickly responded, 'Yes, good reminder'.'

He was also asked by the agents whether he tried to encourage Kislyak and his government not to retaliate to the Obama administration's decision to expel Russian diplomats.

'Flynn responded, 'Not really. I don't remember.' It wasn't, 'Don't do anything.'

Liar, liar: Flynn will be sentenced for admitting lying to the FBI about his contact before the 2016 election with Kislyak, then Putin's ambassador to Washington D.C.

But the FBI knew Flynn asked Russia not to retaliate strongly to the expulsions, and had the benefit of monitoring of Kislyak's communications.

When Flynn pleaded guilty last year, he admitted that he did do just that.

The Special Counsel's office said in the memo that Flynn did ask Russia to 'refrain from escalating the situation.'

The memo was released after Flynn's lawyers suggested that investigators discouraged him from having an attorney present during the interview and never informed him it was a crime to lie.

Prosecutors shot back: 'He does not need to be warned it is a crime to lie to federal agents to know the importance of telling them the truth.'

The mere insinuation of underhanded tactics was startling given the seemingly productive relationship between the two sides, and it was especially striking since prosecutors with Mueller's office have praised Flynn's cooperation and recommended against prison time.

The defense arguments spurred speculation that Flynn, 59, may be trying to get sympathy from President Donald Trump or may be playing to a judge known for a zero-tolerance view of government misconduct.

At his side: Flynn became a vocal supporter of Trump and spoke at campaign rallies such as this one in Grand Junction, CO, and the Republican national convention in Cleveland, OH, where he led chants of 'lock her up'

Notorious meeting: Flynn traveled to Moscow in December 2015 and dined with Vladimir Putin to celebrate the 10th anniversary of RT, the Russian English-language propaganda channel

What a change of tone: In the run-up to his former aide's sentencing, Trump has turned from portraying him as a liar to saying that he did not, as the president steps up his attacks on the Mueller probe

'It's an attempt, I think, to perhaps characterize Flynn as a victim or perhaps to make him look sympathetic in the eyes of a judge - and, at the same time, to portray the special counsel in a negative light,' said former federal prosecutor Jimmy Gurule, a University of Notre Dame law school professor.

Until the dueling memos were filed last week, the sentencing hearing for Flynn - who pleaded guilty to lying about a conversation during the transition period with the then-Russian ambassador - was expected to be devoid of the drama characterizing other of Mueller's cases.

Prosecutors, for instance, have accused former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort of lying to them even after he agreed to cooperate.

Another potential target, Jerome Corsi, leaked draft court documents and accused Mueller's team of bullying him.

And George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser recently released from a two-week prison sentence, has lambasted the investigation and publicly claimed that he was set up.

Flynn, by contrast, has been notably silent even as his supporters advocated a more combative stance. He met privately with investigators 19 times and provided cooperation so extensive that prosecutors said he was entitled to avoid prison altogether.

Then came his sentencing memo.

Although Flynn and his attorneys stopped short of any direct accusations of wrongdoing, they took pains to note that Flynn, unlike other defendants in Mueller's investigation, was not informed that it was against the law to lie to the FBI.

They suggest the FBI, which approached Flynn at the White House just days after Trump's inauguration, played to his desire to keep the encounter quiet by telling him the quickest way to get the interview done was for him to be alone with the agents - rather than involve lawyers.

They also insinuate that Flynn, of Middletown, Rhode Island, deserves credit for not publicly seizing on the fact that FBI officials involved in the investigation later came under scrutiny themselves.

Former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who contacted Flynn to arrange the interview, was fired this year for what the Justice Department said was a lack of candor over a news media leak.

Strzok, one of the two agents who interviewed Flynn, was removed from Mueller's team and later fired for trading anti-Trump texts with another FBI official.

Tarnished: Flynn (left) became a three-star general while his brother Charlie (right) became a two-star general. Now one brother's service is overshadowed by his guilt. His mother Helen (center) had nine children with the Flynn's later father, Charles

Sentenced: Flynn will join his former cohort Michael Cohen - Trump's fixer - in having been sentenced. Cohen is due to report to federal prison in March

Business partners: Flynn was in business with Bijan Kian (second left). Kian, an Iranian-American, is now indicted on charges of lobbying illegally along with Flynn, who appears to have flipped on him. Flynn's wife Lori is expected at his sentencing

Mueller's team has sharply pushed back at any suggestion that Flynn was duped, with prosecutors responding in their own sentencing memo Friday that there was no obligation to warn Flynn against lying.

'A sitting National Security (Adviser), former head of an intelligence agency, retired Lieutenant General, and 33-year veteran of the armed forces knows he should not lie to federal agents,' prosecutors wrote.

Former FBI Director James Comey criticized the broadsides on the Flynn investigation during a Monday appearance on Capitol Hill, saying, 'They're up here attacking the FBI's investigation of a guy who pled guilty to lying to the FBI.'

Trump has made no secret that he sees Mueller's investigation as a 'witch hunt' and has continued to lash out at prosecutors he sees as biased against him and those who help them.

He's shown continued sympathy for Flynn, though, calling him a 'great person' and asserting - erroneously - that the FBI has said he didn't lie.

Flynn has not tried to retract his guilty plea, and there's every indication the sentencing will proceed as scheduled.

Arun Rao, a former Justice Department prosecutor in Maryland, said the defense memo is striking because it's 'inconsistent' with Flynn's cooperative stance so far.

'You also wonder in this very unusual situation,' he said, 'whether it is a play for a pardon.'

It's also possible that at least some of the defense arguments may resonate with U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who directed prosecutors to produce FBI records related to Flynn's interview.

Scalp: Flynn will become the fourth of Robert Mueller's targets to be sentenced

Sullivan was the judge in the Justice Department's botched prosecution of now-deceased Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska.

He dismissed the case after prosecutors admitted that they withheld exculpatory evidence, prompting the judge to say that in nearly 25 years on the bench, 'I've never seen anything approaching the mishandling and misconduct that I've seen in this case.'

In an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal last year, Sullivan said the case inspired him to explicitly remind prosecutors in every criminal case before him of their obligation to provide defendants with favorable evidence. He says he has encouraged colleagues to do the same.

But while Sullivan has proved especially sensitive to hints of government overreach, nothing about the Flynn case comes close, said Gurule, the law professor.

'To portray him as somehow an innocent dupe, as somehow just this innocent victim in the process, this suggestion that there was a perjury trap - it's an absurd allegation,' he said.

But the sentencing also comes the day after a dramatic move by Mueller to arrest Flynn's former business partner and reveal that Flynn had been part of an effort to lobby illegally.

Bijan Kian, an Iranian-American who was number two to Flynn was arrested and appeared in federal court in Washington D.C. before being freed on bail.

He is charged with a plot to lobby for Turkey without declaring that he and Flynn's firm was working for the Turkish government, breaking the Foreign Agent Registration Act which makes it illegal to lobby for foreign governments without registering with the State Department. Kian has yet to enter a plea.

Also indicted was the business partner who worked with him and Flynn, Turkish-Dutch dual national Ekim Alpetkin, who is the subject of an arrest warrant and thought to be in Turkey.

Kian and Alpetkin are accused in court papers of a plot to convince the U.S. government to extradite or otherwise expel Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric who is a deadly rival of the country's strongman president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mueller says in the court papers that with Flynn, who is referred to a 'Person A' they placed an op-ed in The Hill newspaper without acknowledging that it was at the prompting of the Turkish government.

Flynn wrote the op-ed and his firm, The Flynn Intel Group, was paid $600,000 for their lobbying campaign - but he is not indicted himself in what appears to be a sign that he flipped on his former associates.

The special counsel has praised the former Trump administration official for his 'substantial help' in several investigations. It is believed this is one of them.The death of a Philadelphia woman killed by complications from illegal butt injections in New York has been ruled a homicide.

Leslie Ayala, 48, died in the Bronx after travelling into the city to undergo the risky procedure.

She went into cardiac arrest at the home of a friend she was staying with on June 17, The Daily News reports.

Leslie Ayala, (left and right) 48, suffered a cardiac arrest after having illegal butt injections in the Bronx

Leslie 'died of systemic silicone embolism syndrome due to cosmetic silicone injections of buttocks and thighs'

Leslie - who had reportedly already had butt implants in the past - was taken to Jacobi Hospital but could not be saved.

The citys Medical Examiner has ruled Leslie's death from the botched injections as homicide.

A spokesman said she 'died of systemic silicone embolism syndrome due to cosmetic silicone injections of buttocks and thighs'.

Leslie taken to Jacobi Hospital but could not be saved after falling ill at a friend's home

What are silicone butt injections? The FDA specifically advises against silicone as a booster, Cosmopolitan reports. Plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Maman told the magazine: 'Unauthorized practitioners using non-medical grade products pose the greatest risk to patients. 'Random beauticians and aestheticians who offer injections have no idea about the underlying anatomy, and there's little room for error.' Advertisement

No arrests have been made and the unlicensed doctor has not been identified but police say the investigation remains ongoing.

Deaths from black market buttocks injections have been reported across Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Nevada and New York.

Kelly Mayhew died after getting butt enlargement injections in New York in 2015.

In October this year a UK judge ruled the unregistered beautician accused of killing TV presenter Kelly should be extradited to the US for trial.

Donna Francis was wanted after allegedly injecting liquid silicone into the 34-year-old at a house in Queens, New York City, in May 2015.



A grandmother of seven has been left stranded on the other side of the country from her family after contracting an infection that could kill her.

Rhona Lupau had booked the holiday of a lifetime with her husband Steve that would see the couple fly from their home in Perth to Sydney, where they would embark on a cruise around New Zealand.

But in a devastating twist, the 64-year-old was diagnosed with terminal cancer in her brain, breast and lungs.

After aggressive treatment, she was given the all clear to travel. But during the trip Rhonda contracted bacterial meningitis, leaving her fighting for life, miles - and thousands of dollars - away from home.

Perth grandmother Rhonda Lupau (pictured) is fighting for life in Sydney after contracting bacterial meningitis while holidaying with her husband

Rhonda (centre) was diagnosed with terminal cancer earlier this year, but had been cleared to travel by her doctors

While Rhonda had travel insurance, the company told her their liability ceased the moment she landed in Sydney, and a medivac flight back to Perth will cost the family $65,000.

Desperate to see the beloved grandmother through the fight of her life, Rhonda's husband and children are staying by her side until she is stable enough to board the flight - and her husband is considering selling his home to help pay for it.

Rhonda is not able to speak, meaning she needs constant care - which has become expensive for her Perth-based family to provide in Sydney.

According to a GoFundMe set up by the family, Steve is determined to stay by her side - no matter what the cost.

Despite having travel insurance, Mrs Lupau (pictured) was not covered for a medivac flight to Perth and is fighting for her life, thousands of miles from home

'(Dad) has to draw money from his super, he was at one stage talking about selling the family home,' his daughter Rebecca Smith told Nine News.

'He won't leave her there, and there is a possibility she won't ever come home so he might have to live there until the end.'

Leading up to Christmas, her granddaughter Georgia said the family are even more desperate to fly the family matriarch back to the west coast, where she can be surrounded by her loved ones.

'We want nothing more than to bring Rhonda home to Perth to be treated among her family and friends,' she wrote on the campaign.President Donald Trump, several members of his Cabinet, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump will journey to Davos in January to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

'The president will attend as he did last year,' White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at the top of her briefing on Tuesday.

The confab takes place in Switzerland from Jan. 22 to 25. It draws a combination of world leaders, celebrities, and titans to the picturesque mountain town and will mark Trump's second year in a row there.

President Donald Trump will make his second trip to Davos in January

The World Economic Forum hosts a gathering of world leaders, titans and celebrities

The East Wing did not respond to DailyMail.com's question if first lady Melania Trump (left) will attend; Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner (right) will go

It's unknown if first lady Melania Trump will join her husband for the three days in Switzerland.

The East Wing did respond to DailyMail.com's question on the matter.

Melania Trump was scheduled to attend the last gathering but cancelled her trip after reports broke of the president's affair with porn star Stormy Daniels.

President Trump denied the allegation but has been plagued by it ever since as Daniels has sued to be released from the non-disclosure she signed during the 2016 presidential election.

Ivanka Trump also did not attend the last conference but is set to be there in January with her husband, who did go last time around.

Also traveling with Trump early next year will be Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer, Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon, and Deputy Chief of Staff Chris Liddell.

'Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution' is the theme of this year's conference, according to the World Economic Forum. Attendance is by invitation-only.

Trump waves to the crowd as he arrives at the January 2018 meeting of the World Economic Forum

Trump told the last gathering: 'America First does not mean America alone'

Trump heads to Europe as the United Kingdom struggles to separate from the EU after the 'Brexit' vote, Washington and Beijing continue trade negotiations, and the president continues to rail against illegal immigration.

Attending Davos President Donald Trump Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner White House adviser Ivanka Trump Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Labor Secretary Alex Acosta Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon Deputy Chief of Staff Chris Liddell Advertisement

President Trump's appearance at the last confab surprised many given his 'America first' platform, which doesn't fit with Davos' image of world leaders working together with billionaires, industrialists, and investors to 'to define priorities and shape global, industry and regional agendas,' as the organization prides itself on saying.

Trump also took a large delegation of Cabinet members with him on previous trip - including Mnuchin, then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Ross, Acosta and Nielsen.

That journey came as the federal government reopened from a shutdown, Trump denied a New York Times' report he wanted to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, and a gunman in Las Vegas killed 59 concert goers.

Trump's fellow world leaders French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and British Prime Minister Theresa May also attended.

In his speech at the last gathering, Trump told business leaders: 'I believe in America. As President of the United States, I will always put America First. Just like the leaders of other countries should put their countries first. But America First does not mean America alone.'A family is set to take legal action against an ambulance trust after a coroner ruled a pregnant woman's death was 'wholly preventable'.

Gail Bailey, 36, died from an ectopic pregnancy after waiting more than two-and-a-half hours for an ambulance to arrive while she was on holiday in Ingoldmells.

Coroner Paul Smith said at an inquest into her death today that Mrs Bailey, who waited more than two-and-a-half hours for an ambulance, would still be alive if she'd been taken to hospital sooner.

'When they first called 999, EMAS had in excess of 55 calls awaiting allocation - a shocking statistic,' he said.

Gail Bailey, 36, died from an ectopic pregnancy after waiting more than two-and-a-half hours for an ambulance to arrive while she was on holiday in Ingoldmells (pictured with husband Ryan)

'It took two 999 calls and the allocation of four ambulances and a response time of two hours 38 minutes - at that stage it was too late and her's was a death that was wholly preventable.

'Had he been reached hospital no later than 7.40pm she would have survived.'

The inquest into Mrs Bailey's death heard she initially started to complain of stomach pains while on holiday in Ingoldmells in August this year.

An ambulance was originally set to go out to her within 18 minutes, but her case was downgraded after a clinician misdiagnosed her as having appendicitis.

Mrs Bailey began to slip in and out of consciousness 90 minutes after her husband Ryan first called 999

An ambulance which was set to take her to hospital was then send to another person who had a wasp in their throat. When they arrived, it turned out the wasp case was not a high priority as the person had not been stung.

Mrs Bailey then began to slip in and out of consciousness 90 minutes after her husband, Ryan, first called 999.

He then called again and her case was upgraded, but the ambulance did not arrive until 7.40pm - more than two-and-a-half hours after they first rang for an ambulance.

Mrs Bailey, from Rotherham, was admitted to Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, just before 9pm on August 6 this year but she was confirmed dead at 9.40pm.

He then called again and her case was upgraded, but the ambulance did not arrive until 7.40pm - more than two-and-a-half hours after they first rang for an ambulance

The inquest at Lincoln Cathedral Centre heard that a post mortem established the cause of death as hemoperitoneum as a consequence of her ectopic pregnancy.

Mr Smith concluded that based on the information available to EMAS, it was correct to prioritise the call about the wasp.

But acting clinician Susan Jevons told the inquest: 'I would not have categorised the wasp call over Mrs Bailey's had I known that in fact there was no sting.'

The coroner said he was satisfied that NHS bosses had taken steps to address issues over staff shortages that led to the delayed response.

However, Mr Smith is to write to United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust after it emerged that no trauma team was waiting at Pilgrim Hospital despite alert calls from EMAS.

Speaking on behalf of Ryan Bailey after the hearing, Irwin Mitchell solicitor Anne Brundell told reporters: 'He's [Ryan] pleased that the coroner has concluded that Gail's death was wholly preventable, which is something that confirms what Ryan has been feeling about the way Gail was treated by EMAS.'

She added that EMAS has admitted liability in the case and that family is taking legal action against the trust.

EMAS have been contacted for comment.South African regulators on Tuesday banned a television advert that showed a black man discovering a foreign land and naming it 'Europe', ruling that colonisation was 'not open for humorous exploitation'.

The advert, for a chicken restaurant chain, tells a spoof story how the man leaves South Africa in 1650, sails overseas and, after many adventures, comes ashore and meets white local people wearing three-pointed hats and waistcoats.

'Hola MaNgamla (Hello white folk). I like this place, I think I will call it... Europe,' the man says, sticking his spear into the ground.

The advert tells a spoof story about how a man sets sail in 1650 and after arriving in Holland, meets white locals and names it 'Europe'

The Advertising Regulatory Board ruled that the commercial 'trivialises an issue that is... upsetting for many South African people.'

'Turning the usual colonisation story around might be perceived as having a certain element of humour,' it said.

'The reality though is that colonisation of Africa and her people was traumatic.

'The legacy of colonisation, which is a sensitive and divisive topic, is one that is not open for humorous exploitation.'

The advert for a chicken restaurant in South Africa was banned for 'trivializing' colonialism

South Africa's Advertising Regulatory Board said the issue of colonialism was upsetting to many people

It added that Africans did not leave voluntarily due to colonisation and often starved to death en route suffering inhuman conditions.

The fast-food chain, Chicken Licken, said its advert was a 'tongue-in-cheek' tale about how of its 'Big John' burger got its name.

The advert 'in no way, shape or form seeks to make a mockery of the struggles of colonisation,' the company added, saying it was designed to boost 'pride and patriotism amongst South Africans.'

'Turning the usual colonisation story around might be perceived as having a certain element of humour... The reality though is that colonisation of Africa and her people was traumatic', the Advertising body ruledA panel of judges has dismissed ethics complaints against new Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The judges say the complaints must be dismissed because they were filed under a federal law that does not apply to Supreme Court justices.

That's the outcome many ethics experts predicted once Kavanaugh took his Supreme Court seat.

The complaints deal with statements Kavanaugh made during his confirmation hearings.

They were filed originally with Kavanaugh's old court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Chief Justice John Roberts took no action on them while Kavanaugh's nomination was pending, then transferred them to federal judges in Colorado and neighboring states.

Aftermath: The bitterly divisive hearings for Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation saw him publicly accused by Christine Blasey Ford of sexually assaulting her when they were both at high school. Now complaints about his conduct have been thrown out because other judges cannot investigate him

Swearing-in: Brett Kavanugh's conformation as a Supreme Court justice means he is not subject to regular ethics rules for federal judges

Roberts received the first three of 15 eventual complaints on Sept. 20, a week before Kavanaugh's testimony angrily denying sexual assault allegations.

U.S. judge Tomothy Tymkovich, who led the probe reported that there were a total of 83 complaints which included accusing Kavanaugh of 'making false statements' under oath during his judicial nomination hearings, not just in 2018 but on 2004 and 2006; making 'partisan statements that demonstrate bias'; and treating members of the Senate Judicial Committee with 'disrespect.'

None of the substance of any of the complaints was revealed but the judge wrote described them as 'serious'.

During hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kavanaugh denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a California professor, Christine Blasey Ford, when the two were teenagers in Maryland in the 1980s, and committed other sexual assaults.

He leveled a partisan attack against Democratic senators, calling himself the victim of 'a calculated and orchestrated political hit' fueled by anger on the left at Trump's 2016 election win over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

A bitterly divided Senate voted 50-48 to confirm Kavanaugh.

Gabe Roth of Fix the Court, an advocacy group that pushes for Supreme Court transparency, said the judicial misconduct law badly needs to be rewritten.

'Today's decision,' Roth added, 'underscores the need for the Supreme Court to adopt its own code of conduct or for Congress to write one if the justices cannot be bothered.'Disney have been accused of cultural appropriation over their controversial trademarking of the Swahili phrase 'Hakuna Matata', made famous in the 1994 film, The Lion King.

More than 40,000 people have signed a petition urging Disney to release it's patent of the phrase - which translates to 'No worries' or 'No problem' - likening their legal ownership of it to 'colonialism'.

Though Disney originally filed for the trademark in 1994 - and later approved in 2003 - the row resurfaced ahead of the live-action remake of the beloved musical animation, coming July next year.

'Hakuna Matata' is a song song by characters Timon (right) and Pumba (middle) in the famous 1994 film. Disney filed for a trademark in the same year it was released, and the motion was eventually approved in 2003

Shelton Mpala, an activist from Zimbabwe argues that a culture's language cannot and should not be able to be owned by corporations.

Calling it a 'robbery' of Swahili culture, Mpala launched the Change.org petition hoping to bring momentum back to the debate.

On the petition's page, Mpala wrote: 'I liken this to colonialism and robbery, the appropriation of something you have no right over.

'Imagine, "If we were to go that route, then we owe the British royalties for everyone who speaks English, or France for when we speak French."

'Disney can't be allowed to trademark something that it didn't invent.'

Zimbabwe activist Shelton Mpala (pictured above) believes Disney's legal ownership of the Swahili phrase is a blatant example of 'colonialism', and has urged them to release the patent in a petition

Mpala has revived the historic debate ahead of Disney's live-action remake of the animated classic, coming out on July 19, next year

So far, the petition has amassed 42,444 signatures, just seven and a half thousand short of Mpala's goal.

Since it's release, The Lion King film has generated more than $1 billion in revenue for Disney, and even became the highest grossing theater show in 2014, overtaking The Phantom of the Opera by amassing a gross value of $6.2 billion in sales.

The live action remake, starring Beyonce and directed by John Favreu, will be released worldwide on July 19, 2019.Rain may have caused two engines on a Virgin Australia aircraft to 'flame out' during a descent to Canberra Airport last week, an investigation has found.

The ATR 72-600 plane's engine shut down at 7pm on December 13 when flames were extinguished in the combustion chamber - a potential side effect of heavy rain.

The crew flew the plane manually before landing at Canberra Airport, according to a brief by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

An engine malfunction on a Virgin Australia aircraft during its descent into Canberra on December 13 is being investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (stock image)

'When you get a large amount of water in a gas turbine, it can actually put the fire out,' Australian Federation of Air Pilots safety and technical director Marcus Diamond told The Australian.

While no one was injured, the ATSB still regards the incident as 'serious'.

Mr Diamond said an engine flame-out is 'not a common occurrence' and 'there must have been an inordinate amount of water ingested into both engines'.

Association of Licensed Aircraft Engineers Australian federal secretary Steve Purvinas said the incident was 'alarming'.

'It would be very alarming to think aircraft could lose engine power and thrust as a result of flying through rain,' he said.

'While the aircraft was descending through 11,000 ft in heavy rain, the right engine's power rolled back (decreased) and the engine flamed out,' a statement on the ATSB website read.

'The engine automatically re-started within five seconds. The descent continued and, while passing through 10,000 ft, the left engine's power also rolled back and that engine flamed out before automatically relighting.'

The aircraft remained grounded at Canberra Airport (pictured) for three days following the incident but has since completed 11 flights across NSW and to Melbourne

The ATSB has downloaded the flight data recorder and will collect additional evidence.

A final report will be released at the end of the investigation in the second half of 2019.

'Should a critical safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify relevant parties so appropriate action can be taken,' the ATSB states.

The aircraft was grounded at Canberra Airport for three days following the incident, according to flight tracking data.

The plane has since made 11 flights to Sydney, Tamworth, Port Macquarie, and Melbourne in the last two days with another 11 flights scheduled for December 19-20.

Virgin Australia confirmed the ATSB is investigating an engine incident involving one of its ATR-72 aircraft.

'The aircraft, travelling from Sydney to Canberra, landed safely and there was no customer impact,' a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.

'Safety is always our number one priority and we are assisting the ATSB with their investigation.'A major hospital has banned parents from using professional photographers to document the birth of their babies.

Royal Brisbane Hospital informed patients and birth photographers they were not allowed to take photos while births were underway.

Photos can still be taken before and after birth, and fathers and other family members can snap shots on their mobile phones.

Taking photos like this is banned at Royal Brisbane Hospital as professional photography is not allowed during birth to ensure the safety of mothers and babies

Photographers were outraged and a petition to reverse the policy gained more than 8,000 signatures in two days.

'This is yet another example of birth autonomy being stripped away from us,' photographer Michelle Palasia, who started the petition, said.

The hospital said the policy was not new and existed to ensure the safety of the baby and mother during the delivery.

'Complications are rare, but can arise very quickly during a birth,' executive director Amanda Dines told the Courier Mail.

'So it's crucial our team can perform their duties with the utmost care and attention, with no other distraction, so they can continue to provide focused care.'

'Professional photography and digital recording of births before and after delivery are supported, provided they do not interfere with the important role of our clinical staff in ensuring both mother and baby are safe.'

Photos could still be taken before and after birth, and fathers and other family members could snap shots on their mobile phones (stock picture)

Ms Dines said personal photos by mums and dads were 'more than welcome'.

However, Ms Palasia said documenting a baby's entire 'journey' into the world was a 'crucial therapeutic tool' for mothers suffering post-partum depression.

'It pieces together moments that are forgotten. Moments that are hazy. Moments that don't make sense,' she said.

'To strip families of this powerful tool and leave them with an incomplete story is reprehensible.'

Psychologists and a midwife also spoke out against the policy, and said several mothers decided to go to a different hospital as a result.A respected military historian thinks an astonishing snap he took of a 'bird-like creature' with a 4ft neck could be proof that the Loch Ness Monster exists.

Ricky D Phillips, who is also a tour guide, was leading a party of eight foreign tourists at Loch Ness last Thursday when he took the stunning picture.

While they went on a cruse around 2pm he went for a walk along the river Oich and took the picture which appears to shows a creature he said has a head 'the size of a rugby ball.'

Ricky D Phillips was leading a party of eight foreign tourists when he took snap of a creature with a 4ft neck and a head which was 'the size of a rugby ball'. He thinks it could be proof that the Loch Ness Monster exists

Mr Phillips, 39, the best-selling author of warfare titles - including The First Casualty, told The Sun: 'It was a grey creature - almost bird-like - in a grey stretch of water.

'Its neck was three to four feet long and had a head the size of a rugby ball and a ridge across its eyes. I was baffled.

'I know dinosaurs came from birds and that many had hard lips, almost like a beak - but this is simply what I saw. It seems to have almost a frill on its neck. It is very odd.'

He explained that the previous Wednesday he 'heard a strange noise' as he was stood by a cafe at the edge of the loch in Fort Augustus.

He said 'the noise sounded almost metallic, like something was blowing air - like Darth Vader'.

He said he had 'swum and sailed with whales and dolphins and seen hundreds of seals' but the sound 'sounded like nothing he had ever heard'.

He added that last Thursday he decided to take a walk along the river Oich, mainly to see the old bridge when he saw the creature.

While his tour group went on a cruse Mr Phillips (pictured) went for a walk along the river Oich and took the amazing picture

The Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register has accepted the image which has logged 11 sightings of the mythical beast this year.

Gary Campbell, the recorder and keeper of the register, said: 'Mr Phillips is an experienced tour guide and historian who knows the area well and this gives it extra credibility.'

He added that sightings are now at a level that were being recorded in the 1990s and he believes 'more visitors to the Highlands' may have something to do with it.

Sightings and pictures of the Loch Ness Monster have baffled scientists for centuries.

Most sightings are of a long and thin creature that usually has green and with black humps, a tail and snake-like head.

The previous sighting of the Monster this year was recorded on November 22 by an American tourist who saw a dark green object protruding 4.5 feet above the water.A desperate search for a heroic Indian immigrant who leapt into the sea to save his uncle's three children who were caught in a rip has entered its third day.

Ghouseuddin Mohammed, 45, jumped into a dangerous swell at the un-patrolled Moonee Beach on the New South Wales Mid North Coast to rescue his two daughters, aged 13 and 17, and son, aged 15, who were being swept out to sea by a rip.

Two of his relatives - Syed Rahath, 35, and nephew Junaidh Mohammed, 28 - leapt into the waters with him.

The men were swept out to sea north of Coffs Harbour at around 6pm on Monday.

Ghouseuddin and Syed died after attempts by paramedics to revive them were unsuccessful, but Junaidh is still missing.

The desperate search for 'hero' Indian immigrant Junaidh Mohammed, 28, (pictured) who leapt into the sea to save three children caught in a rip continues

The search resumed at 7am on Wednesday and involves a joint operation with Marine Rescue officers, Coffs/Clarence Police District and NSWPF Marine Area Command

The 28-year-old student did not emerge from the water and is feared dead.

All three teenagers survived the incident and were taken to Coffs Harbour Hospital in a stable condition.

The boy and one of the girls managed to reach the beach, while a third was rescued by a lifeguard.

The search operation for Mr Mohammed continued well into the night on Tuesday and was suspended due to fading light.

The search resumed at 7am Wednesday and involves a joint operation with Marine Rescue officers, Coffs/Clarence Police District and NSWPF Marine Area Command.

Westpac and PolAir helicopters have also rejoined the operation.

Father of three Ghouseuddin Mohammed, 45, (left) and relative Syed Rahath, 35 (right) were unresponsive when they were pulled from the surf after a family day out at the Coffs Harbour beach on Monday evening

Relative Shahbaz Mohammed, who was at the scene, said the grief his family was going through was 'too much to bear'.

'We just came here together, we thought of having a good time together. Unfortunately we went to the beach,' Shahbaz told The Daily Telegraph.

'My cousin, he is still missing, police have been searching for the last 12 hours. He is a student and his family is desperately waiting in India to know what is happening - they want to come here,' he continued.

The heroic efforts of the three lifeguards who saved one teenage girl have been met with gratitude by the family.

Relatives at the scene broke down at the news that the two men had drowned, and fears that the third missing man, Junaidh Mohammed, 28, may also be dead

Helicopters hovered over the scene at Moonee Beach as they frantically searched for the third missing member of the family

Coffs Coast lifeguard team leader Greg Hackfath said that the initial notification of two people caught in difficult surf conditions turned out to be six.

He and colleagues Hugo Craigan and Alex Swadling dived into the dangerous seas to save the family, with Mr Craigan paddling out 700 metres from the shore to save the 17-year-old girl.

The two men were found face down shortly after and were pulled from the surf by the lifeguards.

There have been 16 coastal drownings in NSW since July 1 - on par with the figure at the same time last year.

Mr Hackfath pleaded with the public to take care at beaches this summer, to always swim between the flags and learn about beach conditions.British Airways is set to become the first Western airline to resume flights to Pakistan after a ten-year hiatus.

The UKs flag carrier halted flights following one of the most high-profile attacks in Pakistans history, the 2008 Marriott Hotel bombing in the capital, Islamabad.

This took place during a period of devastating Islamist militant violence that swept the country.

British Airways will resume flights to Pakistan following a ten-year hiatus caused by major terror attacks in 2008 on the Marriott Hotel in the capital Islamabad

BA will fly to the newly built Islamabad International Airport from next Sunday

Officials say security has improved, with militant attacks sharply down in the mainly Muslim country of 208 million people.

In Islamabad, a web of road checkpoints dotted across the city for years has mostly been dismantled.

Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari, a special assistant to prime minister Imran Khan, said: British Airways coming back after a decade shows you where we were and how far we have come.

The Heathrow-Islamabad service is due to start on June 15.Sir Richard Branson has come under sharp criticism from a seasoned astronaut because of his 'dead-end technology' and 'dangerous' flights to space.

Australian astronaut Dr Andy Thomas said that he felt uncomfortable with how Branson marketed his 200,000-a-ticket trips as venturing to the 'edge of space'.

Sir Richard's Virgin Galactic team celebrated last week after successfully launching a rocket plane into space for the first time.

The craft soared 50 miles above Earth as part of Virgin Galactic's first successful test flight to space above California's Mojave Desert.

Scroll down for video

Australian astronaut Dr Andy Thomas, left, said that he wasn't comfortable with Sir Richard Branson's marketing for-the-public, 200,000-a-ticket to take passengers into orbit is 'edge of space'

Dr Thomas, who is hailed as Australia's most prominent astronaut, spoke about how he was not comfortable with how Branson's technology was being marketed.

'The thing I've got to say about Richard Branson is he could sell refrigerators to Eskimos,' Dr Thomas told ABC news.

'He's a businessman and he's portraying that flight experience in a way that I would not be comfortable saying.'

'It's true that he will fly to the edge of space, but he can't stay there. He falls right back down.

It was the first time Sir Branson's space flight company reached what they consider as the boundary of space.

The SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, reached an altitude of 271,266 feet (82,682 metres) after being released by its carrier plane at 43,000 feet (13,106 metres) reaching top speeds of 2.9 times the speed of sound.

Sir Richard Branson came under sharp criticism by a seasoned astronaut because 'dead-end technology' and 'dangerous' trips to the flights to space. Pictured here, after watching his craft reach the 'edge of space' last week for the first time ever, above California's Mojave Desert

SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, reached an altitude of 82,682 metres after being released by its carrier plane at 13,106m. It reached a top speed of 2.9 times the speed of sound. It was the first time Sir Branson's space flight company reached what they consider as the boundary of space

Virgin Galactic's spaceship did not launch on a rocket but took off attached to an airplane from Mojave, California. Dr Thomas downplayed the success of the mission saying it's 'really just a high altitude aeroplane flight and a dangerous one at that'

Although Dr Thomas downplayed the success of the mission saying it's 'really just a high altitude aeroplane flight and a dangerous one at that'.

He added: 'As a technology to get humans out into space it's a go nowhere, dead-end technology.'

'You can't grow it, you can't make it big enough.'

Sir Branson, who's worth around 4 billion, has said that he would love to establish a third spaceport in Australia, and his team plans to talk to the newly-formed Australian Space Agency about the possibility.

Branson says the achievement marks the first time a crewed craft designed to carry private passengers has made it to space. The company's definition of the edge of space, however, sits lower than the widely accepted space boundary said to be at 62 miles high

Dr Thomas, who has taken four flights with NASA, is seen as one of Australia's most prominent astronauts. Dr Thomas spoke to ABC about how he was not comfortable with how Branson's technology was being marketed and his technology was 'dead-end'

However, Dr Thomas, who made four space flights with NASA, said he was doubtful about the benefit of having Virgin Galactic's operations based in the state.

'South Australia would be an ideal place, the Woomera test range would be ideal. It's good weather, no trees around to crash into when you land.

'But he would probably ask for huge tax incentives to do that.'

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall has recently welcomed the idea of hosting the Virgin Galactic project saying 'he's very welcome' in the country.

The British billionaire, who's worth around 4 billion, has said that he would love to establish a third spaceport in Australia, and his team plans to talk to the newly-formed Australian Space Agency about the possibility (file photo)

Despite his pointed assessment on the project, Dr Thomas said he supported what Sir Branson was doing, because of the spin-off technology that was being created.

What he is spinning off is the capability to launch satellites, small satellites from under the wing of an aircraft on a small booster,' he said.

'That's why, despite my criticisms of what he's trying to do in human space flight, I think in terms of the satellite technology and the capabilities of launching vehicles, it's something we should support.'

Sir Richard's Virgin Galactic team celebrated last week after successfully launching a rocket plane into space for the first time. Afterwards a tearful Branson said that his team saw the 'biggest dream and our toughest challenge to date fulfilled'

Virgin Galactic's SpaceshipTwo launches for a suborbital test flight on last week reaching peak height of 51.4 miles (82.7 kilometers), after taking off attached to an airplane from Mojave, California, then firing its rocket motors to reach new heights

Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity comes in for a landing after its suborbital test flight on December 13, 2018, in Mojave, California. Sir Branson, who's worth around 4 billion, has said that he would love to establish a third spaceport in Australia

Dr Thomas says the newly formed Australian space agency should spend its first five to 10 years helping develop businesses in the space industry and grow employment across the sector.

But Dr Thomas doesn't want the local space agency to become a large bureaucratic organisation like NASA, preferring it remain 'lean and functional'.

However, he did not rule out the agency eventually launching its own space flights.

Speaking after the flight, Mr Branson said it shows how 'myself and thousands of other people like me' could make it to space.

Branson has previously admitted he hopes that he'll be joined by family members on his first flight, including his 94-year-old mother Eve Branson.

'We saw our biggest dream and our toughest challenge to date fulfilled. How on Earth do I describe the feeling?

'Today for the first time in history, a crewed spaceship built to carry private passengers reached space.'

'I've personally invested about a billion dollars in this project, so having our first money coming back is a good feeling.

'We've got to make this a profitable venture, and I think we can make it a profitable venture.'

He also said he himself hoped 'to go up in maybe five, six months time'.Apple's newer, waterproof iPhones can survive spills of coffee or drops in the pool, which has been a saving grace for some clumsy consumers.

But for one woman, her iPhone 8 Plus' water resistance ended up saving her life when she was stranded in the open sea off the coast of a remote island in Japan.

Rachael Neal, 28, credits the device for helping her get in touch with emergency responders after she and seven passengers were forced to jump overboard a capsized boat near Okinawa Island.

Scroll down for video

WHICH IPHONES ARE WATERPROOF? iPhone 7 and 7 Plus - IP67 rating, water resistant up to 3.3ft for 30 minutes

- IP67 rating, water resistant up to 3.3ft for 30 minutes iPhone 8 and 8 Plus - IP67 rating, water resistant up to 3.3ft for 30 minutes

- IP67 rating, water resistant up to 3.3ft for 30 minutes iPhone XR - IP67 rating, water resistant up to 3.3ft for 30 minutes and is protected from spills

- IP67 rating, water resistant up to 3.3ft for 30 minutes and is protected from spills iPhone XS - IP68 rating, water resistant up to 6.5ft for up to 30 minutes and is protected from spills Advertisement

Neal, her boyfriend and some friends from college had embarked on a two-week trip through Japan at the end of October and spent the last day of their vacation chartering a boat out to a small chain of islands near Okinawa.

There, the group enjoyed a day full of hiking, snorkeling and grilling out, before getting back on the boat to return to the mainland as the sun was setting.

'The way out there, the water was flat and still like glass. I remember even the captain remarked that,' Neal said in an interview with MailOnline.

'Then mother nature decided to belly flop and the waves were just really, really big.

'It was pretty clear that we were in for a rough ride, but I don't think anyone fathomed that it would end the way it did,' she added.

Within moments, the group's boat was overcome by rough waters and capsized 'belly up' in what Neal estimates to be about 60 seconds.

Rachael Neal (center) credits her waterproof iPhone 8 Plus for helping her get in touch with emergency responders when a chartered boat capsized in the open sea near Okinawa Island

Neal and some friends went on a two-week trip through Japan at the end of October and spent the last day of their vacation chartering a boat out to a small chain of islands near Okinawa

Most of the passengers quickly leaped overboard as the boat took on water.

But Neal, a Washington, DC-area resident who has worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency for six years, knew to grab one more item before jumping ship - a 'go bag' that contained two canteens of water, a small first aid kit, protein bars and, crucially, her iPhone.

'Being prepared is something that's always been in my blood and in my nature,' Neal explained.

Rachael Neal, a DC-area resident who works for FEMA, says her iPhone 8 Plus helped save her life after a chartered boat capsized

'In those critical moments...I had enough time to reach down, grab my go bag and jump out.'

The strong currents forced the eight passengers apart into groups of four, with one group getting sucked into the coral reef, where Neal says they were badly sliced up by the reef, but eventually drifted back to shore.

Meanwhile, she and three other people got stuck in a dangerous whirlpool, surrounded by swirling currents that made it nearly impossible to swim out of.

'We tried to kick our way out and we just couldn't,' Neal said. 'We tried to get to shore, but because of the way the current was working against us, we couldn't.'

After about 20 minutes, the group began calling emergency numbers. Luckily, the ship captain spoke fluent Japanese and could convey their situation.

As they waited for the emergency responders to arrive, Neal says that's what the reality of the situation began to set in.

'I think that once we knew that help was coming and that our lives were pretty much in someone else's hands, it got a little scary,' Neal said.

She described how they were tired and terrified, floating in the water for nearly two hours, unsure if they'd be attacked by sharks.

Allen Nolte, an Air Force Airman stranded with Neal, shot video as they saw the Black Hawk helicopter (right) from the Japanese Coast Guard arrive to airlift them out of the water

Neal reached out to Apple to tell them the story of how her iPhone helped save her life, which even garnered a response from CEO Tim Cook, who called it 'remarkable'

Neal said she was thankful that an active duty Air Force Airman was able to help she and her boyfriend remain as calm and collected as they could be while they waited.

Then, they finally heard the sound of a Black Hawk helicopter from the Japanese Coast Guard arrive, which airlifted the group out of the water and transported them back to the mainland, then to an airport about two hours away.

The other group of four was successfully rescued, but Neal said they had no idea that she and her friends were alive.

'By the time we were rescued and driven to them, we walked through the doors and all of them got emotional,' Neal explained.

'They didn't know we were alive until we walked in at that moment.'

The harrowing experience, which Neal and her friends now 'affectionately refer to as the boating incident,' made her realize how grateful she is for the life-saving technology, as well as the importance of emergency preparedness.

She waited a month before reaching out to Apple to tell them her story, which even garnered a response from Apple CEO Tim Cook.

In a tweet, the Apple boss said: 'We are glad you're all safe.'

Apple began advertising its iPhones as waterproof beginning with the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus in 2017. Beginning with the iPhone XS, Apple debuted an improved IP68 rating

WHAT MAKES A SMARTPHONE WATER RESISTANT? A smartphone that is water-resistant will be labeled as IP67 or IP68. IP stands for an Ingress Protection Rating, or International Protection Rating. The International Electrotechnical Commission sets the standards and describes the IP codes as 'a system for classifying the degrees of protection provided by the enclosures of electrical equipment.' The first number represents the level of protection against solids, such as dust or hands and fingers, and is rated on a scale of 0 to 6. iPhone XS is rated IP68, so it's able to be exposed to more than 1 meter, or 3.3ft, of water. IP stands for an Ingress Protection Rating, or International Protection Rating If a device is rated 6 on the solid protection scale, it's considered 'dust tight.' The second number represents the level of protection against moisture, such as dripping or spraying water, and is rated on a scale of 0 to 8. If a device is rated 8 on the liquid protection scale, it means it's able to be exposed to more than 1 meter, or 3.3ft, of water. Advertisement

Apple began introducing water-resistant technology with the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus in 2017.

Those devices, as well as the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and XR, are water-resistant in up to 3.3ft of water for as long as 30 minutes.

They're all IP67 rated, which is an international standard applied for water-resistant technology.

Starting with the iPhone XS, however, Apple earned an IP68 rating, which allows the device to be water-resistant in up to 6.5ft of water for as long as 30 minutes.

The iPhone XS is also protected from spills like coffee, tea and soda, according to Apple.

Neal said that, if not for her iPhone, her life jacket and her emergency preparedness skills, she's unsure if she would be alive today.

'That's what made this outcome what it was,' Neal explained.

'It could have been very different without a go bag or if Apple hadn't created a phone that was waterproof.

'That is why I chose to reach out, because at the end of the day, emergency responders are only going to be there so quickly. You are the help until help arrives,' she added.Elon Musk is just hours away from taking the wraps off of the Boring Company's first complete high-speed tunnel underneath Los Angeles.

And in preparation for the big event, the billionaire tech mogul's tunnel firm is crossing one major task off its to do list: Build a watchtower.

On Saturday, Teslarati spotted the Boring Company laying the final bricks on its Monty Python-style watchtower outside the offices of Musk's rocket company, SpaceX.

Scroll down for video

On Saturday, Teslarati spotted the Boring Company laying the final bricks on its Monty Python-style watchtower outside the offices of Musk's rocket company, SpaceX

Musk confirmed the tower's existence in a tweet re-posting photos of the structure, where he simply captioned it: 'Medieval Futurism.'

The tower is most likely crafted out of the 'Lego-like interlocking bricks' that Musk first referenced earlier this year.

Each brick is made out of leftover dirt dug up by the Boring Company's tunnel-digging machines that's then compacted.

At the time, Musk teased the bricks as being durable enough that 'you can use [them] to create sculptures and buildings,' adding they're 'rated for California seismic loads.'

It wasn't until November that the Boring Company began teasing its medieval tower, with Musk amusingly saying the firm was looking to hire a guard for its watchtower.

Musk confirmed the tower's existence in a tweet re-posting photos of the structure, where he simply captioned it: 'Medieval Futurism.' The tower is most likely crafted out of the 'Lego-like interlocking bricks' that Musk first referenced earlier this year

Pictured is the watchtower of Torrelodones, in Madrid photographed at sunset. Musk jokingly tweeted that he'd redesign the headquarters to look like a medieval castle

Musk confirmed the tower's existence in a tweet re-posting photos of the structure, where he simply captioned it: 'Medieval Futurism.'

'The Boring Company is building a watchtower in LA out of dirt bricks & we need a knight to yell insults at people in a French accent,' Musk tweeted.

Musk was referencing the 1975 cult comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, wherein a French guard insults King Arthur and his soldiers from a castle wall.

He included a link to the Boring Company's jobs page, which had an opening for a 'Watchtower Guard (2 days only).'

The page no longer lists an opening for a guard position, which means either Musk wasn't being serious, or they've already filled the role.

It's possible that the tower will play some part in the Boring Company's tunnel launch event slated for Tuesday.

On Saturday, Musk also shared a teaser for the launch event with a poster of one of the Boring Company's tunnels and a light at the end.

On Saturday, Musk also shared a teaser for the launch event with a poster of one of the Boring Company's tunnels and a light at the end. The event is slated for December 18th

Earlier this month, Elon Musk announced that the tunnel launch event would take place on December 18th, instead of December 10th, and said it would be 'more than a tunnel opening'

Earlier this month, Musk announced that the event would take place on December 18th, instead of December 10th, and said it would be 'more than a tunnel opening.'

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.

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.

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

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)

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.

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).Facebook's privacy features, launched in the wake of its Cambridge Analytica scandal, are taking much longer than expected.

The social media platform said Monday a tool that will let users delete their browsing history on Facebook is still being developed, but that it won't launch until spring 2019, according to Recode.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg first announced the 'clear history' tool at Facebook's F8 developers conference in May and said it would arrive in the coming months.

Scroll down for video

Facebook said Monday a tool that will let users delete their browsing history on the social media platform is still being developed, but that it won't launch until Spring 2019

'It's taking longer than we initially had thought,' David Baser, head of Facebook's privacy product team, told Recode.

'We did underestimate how long [this] would take.'

The clear history tool enables users wipe clean any data that tracks websites they've visited, as well as scrub any records of what ad's they've clicked on while logged into Facebook.

The reason behind the delay seems to stem from how Facebook stores the data it collects, as multiple pieces of data from the same user might be stored in different places.

Also, the data is stored by date and time, not which user it belongs to, so the firm had to build an entirely new system that could do that, Recode said.

As a result, Facebook is taking some extra time to build the right product so that users can easily find and delete data that's been collected on them.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg first announced the 'clear history' tool at Facebook's F8 developers conference in May and said it would arrive in the coming months

'We want to build something that's truly helpful for everyone on Facebook,' Baser said in a statement.

'We'd rather take this time to get it right than rushing something out.'

The feature was revealed just a few months after Facebook revealed that some 87 million users' data had been harvested and shared with Trump-affiliated campaign research firm Cambridge Analytica.

It was pegged as a way for users to regain some control over how their personal data is collected by Facebook.

In a blog post on the company's website, Facebook's vice president and chief privacy officer, Erin Egan, noted that the firm will only collect aggregated data on users if they turn off the feature.

'This feature will enable you to see the websites and apps that send us information when you use them, delete this information from your account, and turn off our ability to store it associated with your account going forward,' Egan explained.

While it doesn't stop advertisers from collecting data on them, it would allow them to make sure it's anonymized and prevent Facebook from storing it in connection with their account in the future.

Called 'clear history,' the feature also scrubs any records of what ad's you've clicked on while logged into Facebook. The tool is part of Facebook's 'arms race' to protect user privacy

To start, the clear history tool will allow users to remove any data collected on them by 'websites and apps that use Facebook's ads and analytics tools'

'It will be a simple control to clear your browsing history on Facebook - what you've clicked on, websites you've visited, and so on,' Zuckerberg said at the time.

Since then, Facebook has announced two separate incidents that impact users' private data.

Last week, Facebook revealed a bug may have exposed the private photos from up to 6.8 million users to third-party apps.

The bug allowed roughly 1,500 apps that had been given permission to access users' photos to also see pictures they never shared on their timeline.

That's after a separate incident in September, in which the firm was hit with its worst-ever data breach.

The breach resulted in some 30 million users' data being exposed to hackers as a result of a flaw in Facebook's 'View As' feature, which lets people see what their profiles look like to other users.He concluded from his studies that they provided a mechanism to promote outcrossing between individuals

Charles Darwin was intrigued as to why some species, such as the primrose, develop two different forms of flowers

Primula vulgaris plants flower in one of two ways; they either have a long style and low anthers, or a short style and elevated anthers

British scientists have succeeded in unravelling the complete genome sequence of the common primrose.

The research team has identified, for the first time, the landscape of genes which operate within the primrose's two different flowering forms that are involved in the reproductive process.

The discovery adds fresh insight to a puzzle that scientists have been grappling with for over 150 years, and fascinated Charles Darwin.

Darwin was intrigued as to why some species, such as the primrose, develop two different forms of flowers, and devoted a whole book the subject

Primrose plants - scientifically known as Primula vulgaris - flower in one of two ways; they either have a long style and low anthers, or a short style and elevated anthers - known as pins or thrums.

Darwin was intrigued as to why some species, such as the primrose, develop two different forms of flowers, and devoted a whole book to the subject.

He concluded from his studies that they provided a mechanism to promote outcrossing between individuals.

More recently, a cluster of genes known as the S (Style length) locus have been shown to be the control centre for the development of the flowers.

Primula vulgaris plants flower in one of two ways; they either have a long style and low anthers (pictured right), or a short style and elevated anthers (pictured left) - known as pins or thrums

The S locus is absent from half the individuals of this species, this cluster switches some genes on and others off, giving different patterns of gene expression in pin and thrum flowers.

The University of East Anglia (UEA) team, based at the neighbouring genome focused Earlham Institute, has previously sequenced the S-locus and described aspects of its evolution.

The new paper, published in the journal Scientific Reports, describes the full sequence of the P. vulgaris genome and shows that the S locus controls hundreds of genes across the genome.

Charles Darwin was intrigued as to why some species, such as the primrose, develop two different forms of flowers, and devoted a whole book the subject

The team also identify genes that are activated in its absence, in the pin form of the flower.

Professor Philip Gilmartin, of UEA and Earlham Institute, has been fascinated by primrose biology throughout his career.

Prof Gilmartin said: 'We started many years ago with a packet of seeds and a vision to understand the molecular genetics and developmental biology of the reproductive system Darwin described in 1862.

'Completion of the genome sequence paves the way to identify the genes that are regulated by the S locus, and adds more pieces to the puzzle.

'A long line of scientists, from Darwin in the 1860s through Bateson in the early 1900s, to Haldane and Fisher in the mid 1900's have been gripped and we continue to unravel the mystery piece by piece.'

Now the UEA team aim to continue their investigations, and to understand how the two different architectures of pin and thrum flowers are orchestrated by the S locus and the genes that they regulate.

They are also collaborating with researchers in Japan investigating a similar mechanism in buckwheat, the only crop plant with these two distinct forms, to see if there are similar genomics at work.Google has been forced to abandon its specialist Chinese search engine that censors results in line with the strict government, reports have claimed.

The firm is believed to have shut down an internal data analysis system which was being used to develop the search engine, known as Dragonfly.

According to a report from The Intercept, this has 'effectively ended' the entire project.

Members of Google's privacy team raised concerns about the project back in August and it is now extremely unlikely the search engine can be built without the system, according to sources close to the project.

Scroll down for video

Google has been forced to abandon its plan to launch a specialist Chinese search engine that censors results in line with the strict government. The firm has abandoned an internal data analysis system which was being used to develop the search engine, known as Dragonfly (stock)

Google has been banned from China since 2010 when it refused to censor its material in-line with guidelines from the authorities.

Chinese citizens have been reliant on search site Baidu ever since as there are few alternatives under the authoritarian Communist Party government.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has previously revealed that Dragonfly is one of the top priorities for the firm.

Last week he said Google isn't planning to launch in China, but added there are around 100 people working on Dragonfly.

Internal outrage at the project stems back to August when staff learned that the Dragonfly team was using a China-based website to create a 'blacklist' of prohibited sites.

This included any outlet which publishes content breaking rules set by the strict Chinese regime.

The list would be used to block information pertaining to certain issues, including: democracy, human rights and peaceful protest.

The Beijing site, 265.com, is a Chinese-language web directory service that claims to be 'China's most used homepage.'

Without the data available from 265, which recently shut down, Google's developers are struggling to make Dragonfly function.

Engineers used data from 265.com to see what people in mainland China were searching for in Mandarin and built a prototype version of Dragonfly on the back of this research.

They then used a tool they called 'BeaconTower' to cross-reference the 265 results, which used Baidu, with Google's results.

Any of the Google sites blocked by China's Great Firewall were then added to the so-called blacklist.

Internal outrage at the project stems back to August when staff learned that the Dragonfly team was using a China-based website to create a 'blacklist' of prohibited sites (stock)

WHAT IS GOOGLE'S 'PROJECT DRAGONFLY' SEARCH ENGINE? 'Dragonfly' was a rumoured effort inside Google to develop a search engine for China that would censor certain terms and news outlets, among other things. Reports claimed the tool ties users' Google searches to their personal phone numbers to help the Chinese government monitor its citizens. Outside of high-profile leaks, few details have emerged on what the search engine entailed as Google has kept tight-lipped on the project. A former Google employee warned of the web giant's 'disturbing' plans in a letter sent to the US's senate's commerce committee in August 2018. Jack Poulson said the proposed Dragonfly website was 'tailored to the censorship and surveillance demands of the Chinese government'. In his letter he also claimed that discussion of the plans among Google employees had been 'increasingly stifled'. Mr Poulson was a senior research scientist at Google until he resigned in July 2018 in protest at the Dragonfly proposals. Advertisement

Thousands of sites were identified in this manner and the data inputted into Dragonfly to create a version of Google permissible for China.

Google provided no additional comment but pointed to a previous statement made by Mr Pichai in a previous interview.

He said: 'Right now there are no plans for us to launch a search product in China.

'We are, in general, always looking to see how best it's part of our core mission and our principles to try hard to provide users with information.

'We have evidence, based on every country we've operated in, us reaching out and giving users more information has a very positive impact and we feel that calling.

'But right now there are no plans to launch in China. To the extent we approach a position like that, I will be fully transparent, including with policy makers here, and engage and consult widely. '

Dragonfly has become a divisive issue at Google recently, with more than 400 employees signing a letter in opposition to the project.

In response to the report, Amnesty International's secretary general Kumi Naidoo told the Telegraph: 'We would welcome a decision by Google to drop Dragonfly and abandon its plans to cooperate in large-scale censorship and surveillance by the Chinese government.

'Going ahead with Project Dragonfly would represent a massive capitulation on human rights by one of the world's most powerful companies.

'It's worrying that these reports suggest that Project Dragonfly has been shelved due to discrepancies over internal process, rather than over human rights concerns.

'We once again call on Google's CEO Sundar Pichai to clear up any speculation and publicly state that his company will refrain from developing censored search products and drop Dragonfly with immediate effect.'It was supposed to be a record breaking day for space launches with four rockets blasting off, and the latest round in the battle of the space billionaires.

However, both Elon Musk's SpaceX and Blue Origin, the space firm set up by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, were forced to cancel launched within minutes of each other this morning.

Arianespace's Soyuz launch has also been delayed 24 hours due to high-altitude winds above the launch site, leaving just ULA's Delta IV Heavy to blast off later today.

Scroll down for video

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, carrying a roughly $500 million global positioning system (GPS) satellite built by Lockheed Martin Corp, was due to take off from Florida's Cape Canaveral shortly after 9:30 a.m. local time (1730 GMT), but was stopped minutes before takeoff.

THE CANCELLED LAUNCHES Blue Origin, backed by Jeff Bezos, was due to launch its New Sheperd rocket SpaceX, backed by Elon Musk, was due to launch its Dragon rocket Arianespace's Soyuz was due to blast off from Advertisement

Blue Origin was due to bring its New Shepard vehicle back to Earth for a landing after launch to recover all the data collected (and, of course, the rocket itself).

The experiments on board will study things like the vibrations experienced during spaceflight, a new way to measure fuel levels in microgravity and how to better work with scientific samples in space.

The rocket was due to blast off at the same time as SpaceX, 9:30AM, but 30 minutes before launch Blue Origin announced it had scrubbed the launch for the day 'due to a ground infrastructure issue.'

SpaceX halted Tuesday's launch of a long-delayed navigation satellite for the U.S. military, postponing for at least a day the space transportation company's first designated national security mission for the United States.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, carrying a roughly $500 million global positioning system (GPS) satellite built by Lockheed Martin Corp, was due to take off from Florida's Cape Canaveral shortly after 9:30 a.m. local time (1730 GMT), but was stopped minutes before takeoff.

'This abort was triggered by the onboard Falcon 9 flight computer,' a SpaceX official narrating the launch sequence said without providing additional details.

He said SpaceX would attempt the launch on Wednesday morning.

If the mission is successful it will mark a victory for Musk, a billionaire entrepreneur who has tried for years to break into the market for lucrative military space launches, long dominated by Lockheed and Boeing Co.

THE BILLIONAIRE SPACE RACE: HOW BRANSON, MUSK AND BEZOS ARE VYING FOR GALACTIC SUPREMACY Jeff Bezos in front of Blue Origin's space capsule Dubbed the 'NewSpace' set, Jeff Bezos, Sir Richard Branson and Elon Musk all say they were inspired by the first moon landing in 1969, when the US beat the Soviet Union in the space race, and there is no doubt how much it would mean to each of them to win the 'new space race'. Amazon founder Bezos had looked set to be the first of the three to fly to space, having announced plans to launch aboard his space company Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft on July 20, but Branson beat him to the punch. The British billionaire became Virgin Galactic Astronaut 001 when he made it to space on a suborbital flight nine days before Bezos - on July 11 in a test flight. Bezos travelled to space on July 20 with his younger brother Mark, Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old physics student whose dad purchased his ticket, and pioneering female astronaut Wally Funk, 82. Although SpaceX and Tesla founder Musk has said he wants to go into space, and even 'die on Mars', he has not said when he might blast into orbit - but has purchased a ticket with Virgin Galactic for a suborbital flight. SpaceX became the first of the 'space tourism' operators to send a fully civilian crew into orbit, with the Inspiration4 mission funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman. His flight was on a Dragon capsule and SpaceX rocket built by space-obsessed billionaire, Elon Musk and took off for the three day orbital trip on September 16 - going higher than the International Space Station. SpaceX appears to be leading the way in the broader billionaire space race with numerous launches carrying NASA equipment to the ISS and partnerships to send tourists to space by 2021. On February 6 2018, SpaceX sent rocket towards the orbit of Mars, 140 million miles away, with Musk's own red Tesla roadster attached. Elon Musk with his Dragon Crew capsule SpaceX has also taken two groups of astronauts to the |International Space Station, with crew from NASA, ESA and JAXA, the Japanese space agency. SpaceX has been sending batches of 60 satellites into space to help form its Starlink network, which is already in beta and providing fast internet to rural areas. Branson and Virgin Galactic are taking a different approach to conquering space. It has repeatedly, and successfully, conducted test flights of the Virgin Galactic's Unity space plane. The first took place in December 2018 and the latest on May 22, with the flight accelerating to more than 2,000 miles per hour (Mach 2.7). More than 600 affluent customers to date, including celebrities Brad Pitt and Katy Perry, have reserved a $250,000 (200,000) seat on one of Virgin's space trips. The final tickets are expected to cost $350,000. Branson has previously said he expects Elon Musk to win the race to Mars with his private rocket firm SpaceX. Richard Branson with the Virgin Galactic craft SpaceShipTwo can carry six passengers and two pilots. Each passenger gets the same seating position with two large windows - one to the side and one overhead. The space ship is 60ft long with a 90inch diameter cabin allowing maximum room for the astronauts to float in zero gravity. It climbs to 50,000ft before the rocket engine ignites. SpaceShipTwo separates from its carrier craft, White Knight II, once it has passed the 50-mile mark. Passengers become 'astronauts' when they reach the Karman line, the boundary of Earth's atmosphere. The spaceship will then make a suborbital journey with approximately six minutes of weightlessness, with the entire flight lasting approximately 1.5 hours. Bezos revealed in April 2017 that he finances Blue Origin with around $1 billion (720 million) of Amazon stock each year. The system consists of a pressurised crew capsule atop a reusable 'New Shepard' booster rocket. At its peak, the capsule reached 65 miles (104 kilometres), just above the official threshold for space and landed vertically seven minutes after liftoff. Blue Origin are working on New Glenn, the next generation heavy lift rocket, that will compete with the SpaceX Falcon 9. Advertisement

SpaceX sued the U.S. Air Force in 2014 in protest over the military's award of a multibillion-dollar, non-compete contract for 36 rocket launches to United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Boeing and Lockheed.

SpaceX dropped the lawsuit in 2015 after the Air Force agreed to open up competition, according to SpaceX's website.

The next year, SpaceX won a $83 million Air Force contract to launch the GPS III satellite, which will have a lifespan of 15 years, Air Force spokesman William Russell said by phone.

Tuesday's launch was to be the first of 32 satellites in production by Lockheed under contracts worth a combined $12.6 billion for the Air Force's GPS III program, Lockheed spokesman Chip Eschenfelder said.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Florida to attend the launch, which he called 'an important step forward as we seek to secure American leadership in space.'

GOING TO SPACE WITH BLUE ORIGIN: HOW IT WORKS The system consists of a pressurised crew capsule atop a reusable 'New Shepard' booster rocket. The two vehicles launch together, accelerating for approximately two and a half minutes, before the engine cuts off. The capsule then separates from the booster to coast quietly into space. After a few minutes of free fall, the booster performs an autonomous rocket-powered vertical landing. The passenger capsule lands softly under parachutes, both ready to be used again. Like previous Blue origin launches, the New Shepard rocket fired into orbit (one) before disconnecting from the passenger capsule (two), and then landing vertically (four and five) back on the launch pad. Shortly after this, the 'Crew Capsule 2.0' pod floated back to the ground (six) Advertisement

'Once fully operational, this latest generation of GPS satellites will bring new capabilities to users, including three times greater accuracy and up to eight times the anti-jamming capabilities,' said Russell.

The GPS satellite launch was originally scheduled for 2014 but has been hobbled by production delays, the Air Force said.

The next GPS III satellite will launch in mid-2019, Eschenfelder said, while subsequent satellites undergo testing in the company's Colorado processing facility.

The launch marks SpaceX's first so-called National Security Space mission as defined by the U.S. military, SpaceX said.

The Hawthorne, California-based company has previously launched payloads for the Department of Defense in 2017 that were not designated as a National Security Space missions.Scientists are using gene-editing to create a new generation of farm animals resistant to diseases and able to put on weight more efficiently.

The changes to the animals is through a process called gene-editing, which involves the alteration of an animal's DNA, and is relatively new.

But, despite concerns about regulation and safety, scientists are already engaging in a number of projects that could potentially transform the agriculture industry and see gene-edited food on your plates.

Earlier this year researchers from the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute used gene editing to remove a small part of pig DNA.

Earlier this year researchers from the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute used gene editing to remove a small part of pig DNA. File picture

The purpose was to prevent Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), a common ailment in livestock that causes breathing problems and then death in pigs.

The particular ailment costs the industry billions, and the removal of the trait could be hugely beneficial.

Research leader Dr Christine Tait-Burkard told the BBC: 'The animals are all pig with just a tiny section snipped out.

'The main thing that this edit will do is benefit animal welfare because the animals will not get a very devastating disease.'

The genetic edit is permanent, so would be passed down through generations, theoretically eradicating the disease given a long enough timeline.

In the United States at Beef Barn, part of the University of California's agricultural facilities cows have been implanted with embryos genetically edited so they could grow like males.

This could potentially transform the cattle industry as males gain more weight more efficiently than females, as reported by The Washington Post.

In the United States at Beef Barn, part of the University of California's agricultural facilities cows have been implanted with embryos genetically edited so they could grow like males. File pic

The University also has five bulls, and a cow that have been gene-edited so they don't have horns.

The reason for this is it would mean farmers would not have to take the horns from the animal, and often painful and distressing experience.

In the UK the process is called 'disbudding' and involves putting a hot iron on the horn bud.

All this begs the question, what will the public think of putting gene-edited meat in their mouths, and what are the potential risks?

Jennifer Kuzma, co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University said: 'All the polls indicate that people are less comfortable with animal biotechnology than plant biotechnology. . . .

'A regulatory system cannot be based 100 percent on science or scientific risk, and values come into play when setting the standards.'

Despite the technology already being used, there is still a public debate to be had on both sides of the Atlantic on the regulations that should be in place, and, more broadly, if the public will accept the technology.

In addition to this critics have also said that producing animals resistant to disease would not actually solve the root causes.

For example, having higher welfare standards for pigs makes them less likely to develop diseases in the first place.

A number of other innovations are taking place in agriculture at the moment, for example companies are currently racing to find the first viable slaughter free meat.

Biotechnology firm Aleph Farms claims to have found a way to produce meat with the same texture as the authentic alternative.

They have even managed to make a steak the size of a credit card and eat it.

Lab-grown steaks the size of a credit card have been grown in a lab and eaten for the first time. Cell-cultured meat takes samples from living animals and turns them into food using scientific methods and incubation

And only last month a Chinese scientist claimed to have created the world's first genetically modified humans.

Chinese researcher Dr He Jiankui claims the babies, named LuLu and Nana, were born in early November and have a resistance to infection with HIV, the AIDS virus.

Dr Jiankui, of the Southern University of Science and Technology, in Shenzhen, said he altered embryos for seven couples during fertility treatments, with one pregnancy resulting thus far.

He said his goal was not to cure or prevent an inherited disease, but to try to bestow a trait that few people naturally have - an ability to resist infection with HIV.

He said the parents involved declined to be identified or interviewed, and would not say where they live or where the work was done.

There is no independent confirmation of Dr He's claim, and it has not been published in a journal, where it would be vetted by other experts.The Government is closing an energy payment scheme which will mean homes with solar panels could be giving their excess power to the grid for free, provoking outrage among campaigners.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Department (Beis) has announced the closure of the 'export tariff' scheme.

It pays householders for excess power that is fed back into the grid, to new solar generators from next April.

The closure of the scheme has prompted fury among green campaigners with Dr Doug Parr, chief scientist for Greenpeace UK, describing it as 'simply perverse'.

The Business Department (Beis) has announced the closure of the 'export tariff' scheme, which pays householders for excess power that is fed back into the grid

The Government is also closing the 'feed-in tariff' scheme, which pays small-scale renewables such as solar panels on homes for the clean power they generate, to new installations in a move which was expected by the industry.

The move to close export tariffs comes despite the opposition of the majority of respondents to a consultation.

Opponents warned that ending the tariff would leave householders who install panels from April having to give away their power to energy companies free of charge.

The change will not affect the 800,000 homes that already have solar panels.

A replacement for the export tariff is planned but before it kicks in homes installing the green technology will have to give their power away.

Chris Hewett, chief executive of industry body the Solar Trade Association, said: 'Beis has taken this decision even before it sets out how it will overcome a really fundamental market failure that risks seeing new solar homes put power on the grid for free from next April.

'At a bare minimum, Government should retain the export tariff until an effective, alternative way to fairly remunerate solar power is implemented.'

He said the move would not save anyone money because the export tariff was not a subsidy, with the electricity sold back to consumers.

And he warned that the announcement could further damage market confidence in the solar sector, which is also being hit by the end of the feed-in tariffs.

Frank Gordon, head of policy at the Renewable Energy Association, said: 'The decision to completely remove the export tariff and the generation tariff, while not a surprise, creates a real hiatus in the market and the lack of a replacement route to market is worrying.

A replacement for the export tariff is planned but before it kicks in homes installing the green technology will have to give their power away (stock image)

'The Government must work quickly to consult on, establish and implement a successor scheme to avoid significantly stalling the much-needed deployment of decentralised renewables likely to happen after 31st March 2019, which will have the knock-on effect on jobs and continued investment.'

Environmentalists also criticised the move to end the export tariff.

Dr Doug Parr, chief scientist for Greenpeace UK, said: 'People putting solar panels on their roofs are doing their bit to save us all from a collapsing climate.

'But instead of rewarding them, ministers want households to hand over their power surplus to the big energy companies, who can then sell it back to us.'

He said solar prices had plummeted and the industry was on a path to being subsidy-free.

'Ministers should be looking for ways to help this affordable technology expand instead of putting spanners in the works while signing blank cheques for the nuclear industry,' he said.

The move to close export tariffs comes despite the opposition of the majority of respondents to a consultation (stock image)

On a 4kilowatt solar power system costing around 5,000 to install the export tariff could pay back around 89 a year  or 1,780 over 20 years.

It was set at around 5p per kilowatt hour, roughly a third of the retail price of electricity, and under the wholesale price of around 6p.

Leonie Greene of the Solar Trade Association said: For a chunky solar system of 4kW in the South of England exporting 50 per cent of its power to the grid, the closure of the export tariff next year means the best part of 100 off their savings from solar per annum.

'This is valuable zero carbon power, that people have bothered to produce, that will be consumed by their neighbours, who will be paying an electricity supplier around 15p per kWh for their power while they are unlikely to get a penny.

Thats blatantly wrong and will leave new solar home owners as the only people not paid to put power on the electricity system. Indeed they will be subsidising big energy companies.

A Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy spokesman said: Its only right we protect consumers and adjust incentives as costs fall, with solar having fallen by 80 per cent and we will consult shortly on a future framework for small-scale renewable energy generation.

The ministry also announced it was closing to new solar households the feed-in tariff scheme, which pays homes for the clean power they generate. This move had been expected by the industry.The row over badger culling has been reignited today after it was revealed more than 32,000 badgers were killed in just two-months this year.

A total of 32,601 badgers were killed in 30 areas of England between September 3 and November 1 this year as part of the ongoing and controversial cull.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced the results of the slaughter as it continues to try and prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis.

A report has been released which the farming minister, George Eustice, has said is helping to 'achieve and maintain long-term reductions in the level of TB in cattle across the South West and Midlands'.

But the Badger Trust, which opposes the cull, called the slaughter a cruel, costly and ineffective policy.

The move has so far cost 50 million.

Scroll down for video

A total of 32,601 badgers were killed in 30 areas of England between September 3 and November 1 this year as part of the ongoing cull. DEFRA announced the results of the slaughter as it continues to try and prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis (stock)

In the report, Natural England chief scientist Tim Hill said the operations indicate that 'industry-led badger control continues to deliver the level of effectiveness required by the policy to be confident of achieving disease control benefits'.

UK chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said there had been a 50 per cent fall in the number of new confirmed cattle 'breakdowns' in the first areas to trial culls.

She said culling should continue in these areas for the duration of existing licences, lasting one or two years.

'Effective' culls should be carried out in 2019 and the following two years in 10 other areas for disease control benefits to be realised, she said.

Control operations were carried out in areas of Cheshire, Cornwall, Cumbria, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Somerset, Staffordshire and Wiltshire in 2018.

The latest figures come after an independent review of the TB control strategy found farmers must do more to tackle the spread of tuberculosis between cattle, which is a bigger part of the problem than badgers.

While it said that culling showed a 'real but modest effect' and was a judgment call for ministers, the review led by Sir Charles Godfray, said poor take up of biosecurity measures and trading in high risk livestock was hampering disease control.

The Government has announced new incentives to strengthen biosecurity on farms, with farmers in parts of the 'edge area' for TB who have managed to stay clear of the disease for at least six years able to revert to annual rather than six monthly testing.

UK chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said there had been a 50 per cent fall in the number of new confirmed cattle 'breakdowns' in the first areas to trial culls. She said culling should continue in these areas for the duration of existing licences, lasting one or two years (Stock)

And there will be a 25,000 investment to improve the TB Hub website which provides information on the disease.

Responding to the new figures, Dominic Dyer, chief executive of the Badger Trust, said the cull was a 'cruel, costly and ineffective policy'.

'This is the largest destruction of a protected species in living memory and it comes after a record breaking summer heatwave that has already led to a significant reduction in the badger population in England.

'By the end of 2018, the Government will have spent over 50 million of public funds killing over 67,000 badgers which could push the species to the verge of local extinction in areas of England where it has lived since the Ice Age.'

This is despite the fact that the recent Sir Charles Godfray TB Review concluded that badger culling can only play a minor role in reducing Bovine TB in cattle and the key focus must be on reducing the spread of the disease within the cattle industry,' he said.Storms and floods are causing almost 200 sunken wooden war vessels to move.

The underwater skeletons of 185 wooden ships, referred to as ghost vessels, were deliberately sunk or have been left to decompose for hundreds of years.

Over time, the wrecks, which include ships from the Revolutionary War and Civil War, have transformed an area of the Potomac River, called Mallows Bay, into a vibrant ecosystem.

Environmentalists have come to value the ships as a plethora of wildlife make their homes aboard their wooden remains, dense with shrubs and nutrient-rich soil.

Scroll down for video



One of the wooden vessels in an area of the Potomac River, called Mallows Bay, in Maryland, USA

The forested cove is home to many species of fish, birds, deer and beaver, among others.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) previously described the 14-square mile area as 'one of the most ecologically valuable' sites in the state of Maryland.

But researchers, accompanied by school children from J.C Parks Elementary School, studied aerial maps of the area, which showed the ships were shifting eastwards, some as far as 20 miles, as reported by Live Science.

Environmentalists have come to value the ships as a plethora of wildlife make their homes aboard their wooden remains, (pictured) dense with shrubs and nutrient-rich soil

Storms, erosion and floods have all caused the vessels to move, and could cause considerable disruption to the vibrant ecosystem.

A further evaluation of the site is going to be undertaken using underwater vehicles to see how the future movement could impact the wildlife in the area.

The rotted fleet is the largest group of historic watercraft visible in the Western Hemisphere.

Marine archaeologist Don Shomette sits on the remains of a decaying sunken vessel left over from World War I in Mallows Bay near Nanjemoy, Maryland on November 17, 2015

Don Shomette, a 72-year-old marine archaeologist, collected and analyzed data from the ships, compiling a 500-page dossier documenting in great detail each member of the fleet.

In 2015, he said: 'It is hard to say what my favorite projects are because all discovery is exciting,'

'But of course, Mallows Bay is incomparable.'

Joel Dunn, president of the Chesapeake Conservancy, previously said: 'Each ship has become a mini eco-system.

'So whether it's an osprey to build a nest on, a striped bass to survive in or an oyster to cling onto, the ships provide structure for life to survive.'

Dunn's non-profit organisation is one of the groups pushing for Mallows Bay to be designated a national marine sanctuary, a process that is currently underway.Advertisement

Some of the most romantic castles in the world are found in the British Isles and Ireland.

These strongholds may now largely be ruined, but in their dilapidation they have gained an air of mystery and beauty.

The people they once protected are gone, the borders they guarded have dissolved, the fragile communities and wooden buildings that built up around them have been dismantled. Only the castles, centuries on, remain  proof of how robustly they were constructed in the first place.

From the tip of southern Ireland to northern Scotland, from castles maintained over the centuries to ones that are now mere ruins, Celtic Castles, by Martin J Dougherty, celebrates the stories behind more than 100 strongholds.

In these we find tales of religious dissent, of English Parliamentarians attacking Irish Catholic refuges, of warring Scottish clans, of the English and Scots fighting over Scottish independence. And in the buildings we find such curiosities as Britains only triangular castle or the hiding place for the Scottish crown jewels.

The tome contains 150 outstanding colour photographs  and here we present a selection, with kind permission from the publisher, Amber.

Castle Stalker stands on an island at the mouth of Loch Laich in Argyll, Scotland. It was constructed on the site of an earlier castle, built in the early 1300s, and was inhabited until the mid-1800s. After decades in disrepair, the castle was restored in the 1960s

A series of fortifications have been built on the site of Dunnottar Castle in Aberdeenshire. An old Pictish fort was destroyed by Norse raids and rebuilt as a wood and earth fortification. Twice the wooden castle was taken by the Scots from English forces, and after it was burned down work began on rebuilding it in stone. The present stone castle dates from the end of the 14th century and later, with additional work ongoing over the next two centuries. This included rebuilding after the castle was again burned in 1645. The Scottish crown jewels were kept here temporarily for safekeeping in the 17th century

Kilchurn Castle was constructed on an island in Loch Awe in Argyll, though today the site is connected to the mainland. Work began around 1440 on the five-storey keep, with some later remodelling and additional buildings added over the next two centuries. In the late 1600s, additional structures were added to Kilchurn Castle, creating a barracks for 200 troops. Kilchurn was garrisoned by loyalist forces during the uprisings of 1715 and 1745, but had been eclipsed by other, more recent, fortifications in the area. The castle was abandoned in 1760 after suffering severe storm damage

Gylen Castle in the Inner Hebrides in Scotland occupies a defensive location on the south coast of the island of Kerrera. The castle was built in 1582 by Clan MacDougall, possibly over an earlier fortification on the site. It was burned after falling to the Covenanters in 1647 during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and never reoccupied

Carew Castle in Pembrokeshire, Wales, commanded a crossing of the Carew River. A wooden fort was built there around 1100 on top of much older fortifications, probably dating from the Iron Age. The castle was gradually expanded in stone throughout the 13th and early 14th centuries. Additional grand accommodation was added in the mid-16th century

Caernarfon Castle was built as part of the iron ring constructed by Edward I to cement his control over Wales. Coastal locations were preferred as this prevented the Welsh from harrying supply convoys and allowed rapid movement of troops by ship. The strategically important site, in the north-west of the country, was previously occupied by a Norman motte-and-bailey castle dating from around 1090 and before that a Roman fort

Eilean Donan Castle was built in the early 1200s on Loch Duich in Scotland to protect against Norse incursions into the Earldom of Ross. The site is thought to have previously been fortified to some degree during the Iron Age, and there is some evidence that a Celtic-Christian monastery may have existed there in the 6th or 7th century

Caerphilly Castle was mostly built between 1268 and 1271 as part of a bid to secure control over Glamorgan, Wales. The castle was attacked repeatedly, and was temporarily a refuge for the deposed Edward II of England. Edward fled before the castle came under siege. It was surrendered on fairly generous terms and remained an important centre of power until almost the end of the 15th century

Aberystwyth Castle was built from 1277 to 1289 to secure English control over the region. During its construction the site was overrun and the work destroyed. It was again captured by the Welsh in 1404 during the rebellion of Owen Glendower, and was 'slighted' by Parliamentarian forces during the English Civil War. A previous fortification stood close to the site. This was a motte-and-bailey construction built around 1100

Caerlaverock Castle on the Solway Firth in Dumfries was built on the site of Roman fortifications and later wooden defences. Work began on a stone castle around 1220 but the initial site was abandoned. Only the foundations now remain. The second castle was built to an unusual triangular design with round towers at the corners. Caerlaverock Castle was completed around 1270 and was partially destroyed in 1640

Urquhart Castle occupies a good defensive site on the shore of Loch Ness. The castle was built in the mid-13th century, though there is evidence of an earlier fortification on the site. The defences were strengthened over time, but in 1690 the gatehouse was destroyed to make the castle useless to the Jacobites

King Johns Castle in Limerick was constructed in the early 13th century on the orders of King John of England. The site had previously been a Norse settlement since the early 900s. The castle was besieged repeatedly, starting in 1642, and suffered damage to its walls from undermining

Dolwyddelan Castle in North Wales was built in the early 13th century. It initially consisted of a single tower, but was later expanded after being captured by the English. The castle was modified in the 15th century, and was restored in the 19th century. Some features, such as the battlements, were added during this restoration rather than being original features

Keiss Castle in Caithness, Scotland, may have been built on the site of an earlier fortification. It took the form of a tower house with towers at opposite corners, creating a Z-plan configuration that is quite common in castles of the era. Keiss Castle was in existence before 1623, but the exact date of its construction is unclear. It fell into disrepair in the later 17th century. The area was fortified during World War II, to protect the Royal Navy Fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow and merchant traffic along the coast

Castell Dinas Bran, located above the Dee Valley in Wales, was built in the mid-13th century, probably around 1260. The site is thought to have previously been an Iron Age hill fort, and there are some references to a more recent fortification  perhaps a wooden fort built by the Normans. The castle was destroyed in 1277 by invading English forces

Dunlough Castle, on the Mizen Peninsula in County Cork, south-west Ireland, consists of three small keeps or tower houses connected by a wall running from the sea cliffs to the lakeshore. It was built using drystone construction in the early 1200s

Dunscaith Castle occupied an excellent defensive position just off the coast of the Isle of Skye and was connected to the mainland by a stone bridge. The castle changed hands several times before finally being abandoned in the early 1600s. Little remains today other than a section of the outer walls

Strome Castle, on the shores of Loch Carron in western Scotland, was built as a tower house in the mid-1400s, and had several owners over the next decades. The castle was in MacDonald hands in 1602 when it was besieged by the Mackenzies. The siege was on the point of failure when an unfortunate incident occurred involving well water being poured on the gunpowder supply and an escaped prisoner who knew about it. The garrison surrendered and the Mackenzies blew up the defences  presumably with their own, dry gunpowderAdvertisement

Meet the adventurous couple who have packed up their lives into a van and hit the road after becoming exhausted with everyday life.

Laia Sole Sole and Aitor Florensa Guiu, from Spain had always worked part-time or full-time jobs while studying and were completely fed up with their lives at the age of just 22.

Then they bought a 2005 Peugeot Boxer L2H2 van and spent two years and 9,000 converting it into a cosy mobile home.

Laia Sole Sole and Aitor Florensa Guiu, from Spain, who have packed their lives into a van and now live on the open road

The couple bought a 2005 Peugeot Boxer L2H2 van and spent two years and 9,000 converting it into a cosy mobile home

The couple now run an Instagram account called The Van Effect. Pictured is the van that the couple bought and now live in

And now the pair, who are both 24, live life on the open road in their van, which has both a bedroom and a kitchen.

The couple, who post as The Van Effect on Instagram, explained how their lives have changed for the better.

Laia said: 'We were only truly happy when alone in nature, we had lots of plans and ideas but no time at all to work on them.

'There were many different places we wanted to visit, many projects we wanted to explore and bring forward without changing our way of existing in this world.

'Travelling by van has been completely mind-opening to us, it has made us realise so many problems both social and environmental are completely out of control and affect not only the environment but humans and any other beings on earth as well.

Laia explained why they bought the van, saying: 'We were only truly happy when alone in nature, we had lots of plans and ideas but no time at all to work on them'

The Spanish couple have clocked up around 6,500 miles so far travelling around their home country, parts of France and Morocco for almost three months

As well as having a cosy bedroom, the van also has a fully stocked kitchen where the pair can cook their meals while on the open road

'And we were not even aware they were so important and so related to our daily habits.

'Travelling has made us appreciate life more and realise we need to take better care of the planet if we want to keep living in it and enjoying such beautiful places.

'Weve always dreamt about travelling the world, and now that we are doing it we feel like its the best decision we could have ever made in our life.'

The Spanish couple have clocked up around 6,500 miles so far travelling around their home country, parts of France and Morocco for almost three months.

The couple make money from their online store which sells sustainable products for travellers and it helps fund their lifestyle

The couple say they love to receive messages from people they have inspired. Laia added: 'It is just the same as living in a house to be honest, even better most days.

They plan to return home for a while before setting off around Europe.

The couple make money from their online store which sells sustainable products for travellers.

They explained what life is like living in their van and how they love to receive messages from people they have inspired.

Laia added: 'It is just the same as living in a house to be honest, even better most days.

'It gives you a sense of freedom, of being able to have a different front yard everyday, of truly experiencing the places you visit.

Laia said: 'Travelling has made us appreciate life more and realise we need to take better care of the planet if we want to keep living in it and enjoying such beautiful places'

'One of the best things of living in a van is that it makes you realise how little you really need to be happy and to cover all of your needs. It also makes you more conscious about the resources that you are using. We pay a lot more attention to our water and electricity consumption now than when we were living in a house.

'Our tiny home feels perfect for us, because we designed it from scratch ourselves, it is 100 per cent our taste and suits our needs to perfection. Its like having a mountain cabin that we can take anywhere we want.

'We get lots of messages from people who want to do exactly the same as we do and thats great! Being inspiring to other people is an indescribable feeling; we feel very humbled by it.

'Nevertheless we will always encourage them to follow their path in their own way, its good to have references but everyone has different circumstances in life, different abilities, personalities and needs.

'Our advice is always the same; first of all never have a dream, have a plan. Plans are more achievable than dreams, make a step everyday towards the goal and always do it according to your needs, likes, abilities and circumstances.'Advertisement

Guests might wake up wondering where they are after checking into this wacky themed hotel.

That's because the Don Q Inn in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, has a number of rooms featuring a mix of unusual furnishings, including beds in hot air balloon baskets, igloos and even custom-built space shuttles.

One double at the inn is inspired by Robin Hood's stomping ground Sherwood Forest with tree trunks sprouting through the floor and woodland scenes adorning the walls.

Don Q Inn in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, has a number of rooms featuring a mix of unusual furnishings, including beds in hot air balloons, igloos and even custom-built space shuttles

The Up, Up & Away room features a hot air balloon with the bed in the gondola

For loved-up couples, the Cupid's Corner suite might be the perfect pick.

The romantic room features a heart-shaped bed with a mirrored ceiling and a black marble whirlpool.

Meanwhile, the Casino Royale room might appeal to those who fancy playing James Bond for the night.

It is described as being 'Vegas style', with black and red decor and a queen-sized bed with a lighted mirror behind it.

The Northern Lights suite features a model of an igloo, complete with a polar bear rug on top. The bed is located within the quirky shelter

The Tranquility Base suite promises to give guests an out-of-this-world experience. The bed is housed within a recreation of a space capsule and the room is decked out with a moon-inspired landscape

For avid explorers, there is The Float room, which comes with a bed installed inside a replica Viking ship.

The Northern Lights could also fit the bill, with the bed housed inside an igloo topped with a polar bear rug.

Equally adventurous rooms include The Cave, which features a 'ten-sided bed and whirlpool in a prehistoric setting' and the Jungle Safari, which transports guests to the wilds of the Amazon.

Nightly rates start from $115 (90) for the quirky themed suites.

But for those wanting a standard bed and magnolia walls, there are also non-themed rooms at Don Q Inn starting at $59 (46).

For avid explorers, there is The Float room, which comes with a bed installed inside a replica Viking ship

The nautical-inspired room also includes a heart-shaped hydro-therapy tub for guests to relax in

One double at the inn was inspired by Robin Hood's stomping ground Sherwood Forest with tree trunks sprouting through the floor and woodland scenes adorning the walls

Along with a double bed, there is also a whirlpool in the woodland-inspired suite

Guests have given the hotel a four-point rating out of five on TripAdvisor.

Preachergame01 said of his stay: 'We stayed in the Cave Room for a night. My wife is a writer and her present book involves a person that lives in a cave. Thought a night in a cave would get her imagination going. It worked.

'But the Inn itself is just a fun place to go and the staff there are so accommodating.'

However, Andy M was less impressed by the place, musing: 'I can imagine this was a very cool place 25 years ago. And that's probably the last time it was updated.

'Lots of cool history and the place had a lot of character. However, it really needs updates. The curtains in our room were literally rotting away. The beds were old school.'

Amenities on the site include free WiFi, a swimming pool and an eight-person Jacuzzi.

The Indian Summer suite is decorated with a desert landscape, complete with cacti and dusty mountains

The bedroom is located through wigwam-style curtains and there is a whirlpool, moulded into a rocky setting

For loved-up couples, the Cupid's Corner suite might be the perfect pick. The romantic room features a heart-shaped bed with a mirrored ceiling and a black marble whirlpoolHe was framed for the shooting of devilish Stuart Highway back in October, with his previously loyal wife appearing to turn her back on him.

And Mick Carter will return to Albert Square in scenes set to air on Tuesday night's episode of EastEnders sees the pub landlord reunite with his family.

The character (played by Danny Dyer) will make a surprise return to The Vic, and in the images he was seen embracing his sisters Tina (Luisa Bradshaw-White) and Shirley (Linda Henry) as his wife Linda (Kellie Bright) watched them happily.

EastEnders SPOILER: Mick is set to return to Albert Square and reunite with loved ones on Tuesday night's episode, after he was framed for the shooting of sadistic Stuart Highway

But their happy reunion might be short-lived, as Mick will soon discover how far Linda went to try and exonerate him.

Last week saw Linda kiss the sadistic Stuart (Ricky Champ), before things got violent as he forced her up against the bar of the Queen Vic and grabbed her throat.

The landlady managed to free herself after whacking the brute over the head with a glass bottle, but the aggressive scenes left viewers unimpressed as they confessed they were 'disgusted, horrified and angry.'

Hearing the truth: But the happy reunion might be short-lived, as Mick will soon discover how far Linda went to try and exonerate him

Luckily, the landlady pulled out a recording device hidden in her iconic bun which held a clip of Stuarts confession.

The event occurred as Linda wanted to win him over and get Stuart to admit he had shot himself in the leg and not her husband, and it seems like Mick won't be too pleased to hear what took place.



Actor Ricky recently revealed that Stuart's tirade against the Carter clan won't be coming to an end anytime soon.

Speaking at the Inside Soap Awards in October he explained that fans could see Stuart try to seduce Linda in Mick's absence, after she cut all ties with her husband under false belief that he actually was the shooter.

Shocking! Last week saw Linda kiss the sadistic Stuart (Ricky Champ), before things got violent as he forced her up against the bar of the Queen Vic and grabbed her throat

He told The Sun: 'Mick and Linda are a partnership in every sense of the word. I am trying to break that up without a doubt.

'Stuart promised Mick in prison that he's going to take everything from him as he believes Mick took everything from him.

'I think there is a seed that was planted a good few years ago that never got ousted  He has a focus about him that's unnerving about him.'

As we come up to the festive season - a time full of everything but good tidings for EastEnders stars - it remains to be seen whether Stuart and the Carter clan will make it through Christmas Day alive.They dropped their dramatic Christmas trailer on Friday night, with Kat Slater threatening to KILL Alfie Moon.

And it looks as though another of Albert Square's residents could end up in a body bag after the EastEnders cast appeared to be filming a 'murder scene' in the woods on Monday.

In the pictures, it reportedly sees two dog walkers discovering a victim wrapped up in a blue sheet in the middle of the night.

Uh-oh!: It looks as though another of Albert Square's residents could end up in a body bag after the EastEnders cast appeared to be filming a 'murder scene' in the woods on Monday

The characters immediately call the police with officers securing the scene of the crime with tape and a special forensics tent, it has been claimed.

It is believed that the victim will be a 'young person', with the character's identity being kept a secret.

BBC declined to comment when approached by MailOnline.

And it looks as though Alfie Moon could also be leaving Walford in a body bag after EastEnders dropped their explosive Christmas trailer on Friday night.

Chilling: In the pictures, it reportedly sees two dog walkers discovering a victim wrapped up in a blue sheet in the middle of the night

Whodunit?: The characters immediately call the police with officers securing the scene of the crime with tape and a special forensics tent

Mystery victim: It is believed that the victim will be a 'young person', with the character's identity being kept a secret

The gripping 30-second video shows Kat Slater threatening to kill the character played by Shane Richie during a dramatic showdown in Albert Square.

At the start of the trailer, it sees the family enjoying a festive family meal but it's not long until the feisty character appears to discover that her estranged husband has fathered a secret love child with her cousin Hayley.

And it's safe to say Kat does not take the news well as she destroys the Christmas meal table and goes on to scream at her partner: 'What have you done? Don't you touch me!'

The Walford legend goes on to threaten Alfie with a metal pole, as she chillingly declares: 'I will do time for you...' before smashing up a nearby car.

Murder's Square: And it looks as though Alfie Moon could be leaving Walford in a body bag after EastEnders dropped their explosive Christmas trailer on Friday night

Explosive: The gripping 30-second video shows Kat Slater threatening to kill the character played by Shane Richie during a dramatic showdown in Albert Square

Drama: At the start of the trailer, it sees the family enjoying a festive family meal but it's not long until she appears to discover that her estranged husband has fathered a secret love child

Fesity: And it's safe to say Kat does not take the news well as she destroys the Christmas meal table and goes on to scream at her partner: 'What have you done?'

While Hayley watches on from the doorstep in tears as she starts shaking and looking stunned at the scenes in front of her.

And it has since been reported that Alfie will be 'left for dead' in the Christmas special, with his fate left on a cliffhanger for soap watchers.

A source told The Sun: 'It will all kick off big-time. Kat will confront him about the baby before all hell breaks loose. The scenes will leave him for dead.

Terrifying: The Walford legend goes on to threaten Alfie with a metal pole, as she chillingly declares: 'I will do time for you...' before smashing up a nearby car

Witness: While Hayley watches on from the doorstep in tears as she starts shaking and looking stunned at the scenes in front of her

'Alfie is a huge character and this is going to be classic EastEnders drama. The cliffhanger will leave viewers guessing his fate.'

MailOnline has contacted BBC One for comment.

While Shane Richie, who plays Alfie, teased to the publication that 'someones got blood on their hands'.

He added: 'Without giving too much away, this is a tough one to come back from after you see what happens.'

Alfie dead?: And it has since been reported that Alfie will be 'left for dead' in the Christmas special, with his fate left on a cliffhanger for soap watchers

Reports: A source told The Sun : 'It will all kick off big-time. Kat will confront him about the baby before all hell breaks loose. The scenes will leave him for dead.

Will he?: 'Alfie is a huge character and this is going to be classic EastEnders drama. The cliffhanger will leave viewers guessing his fate.'

Meanwhile, this isn't the only drama in-store for Albert Square's residents as Mick Carter returns home from prison with revenge on his mind.

The pub landlord's wife, Linda, is worried that he wants Stuart Highway to pay for trying to attack her and sending him behind bars.

In the trailer, he says: 'Let's get ready for the old Carter Christmas, hey?' as he looks menacingly into Albert Square.Ruby Rose has been in the wars at late.

Currently filming in Hungary, the actress took to Instagram on Tuesday to share footage of herself looking bruised and bloodied while sitting in a makeup chair.

Showing her trademark sense of humour, Ruby, 32, added a 'sparkly diamonds' filter to her head, and wrote the caption: 'Heavy is the head that wears the tiara.'

Getting in character: Ruby Rose looked bloody and bruised in the makeup chair while filming in Hungary on Tuesday - after being rushed to hospital for a medical emergency

Ruby's cheeks, ear and chin looked grazed and smeared with dried fake blood in the video.

She wore a black turtleneck jumper soiled with either dirt or snow, and it appeared she had just walked off the set of her new movie SAS: Red Notice.

Indeed, it seemed she was preparing for another day of filming the project, which is scheduled for a 2020 release.

Back to work! It seemed Ruby was preparing for another day of filming her new movie SAS: Red Notice, which is scheduled for a 2020 release

It comes after the Pitch Perfect 3 star was rushed to hospital for a medical emergency last week.

She took to Instagram on Wednesday to tell fans that a silicon earplug had become stuck in her ear.

'I've had a couple co-stars end up in hospital because of ear plugs from films with gunfire and other loud noises [that] ended up being lodged in their ear canals. I always made fun of them... I will never make fun of them again!' she wrote.

Oh, dear! It comes after the Pitch Perfect 3 star was rushed to hospital for a medical emergency last week

Ruby also shared footage of herself walking into the hospital, which she captioned: 'I have a silicon ear plug inside my damn brain and I think this is the scariest hospital I've ever seen.'

Fortunately, the Orange is the New Black star saw the funny side of the situation.

She later posted a photo of herself in the empty emergency room, alongside which she wrote: 'If you never see me again... I hope my organs went to wonderful people.'

'Scariest hospital I've ever seen': She took to Instagram on Wednesday to tell fans that a silicon earplug had become stuck in her ear, before documenting her trip to the emergency room

'It took over an hour, three doctors and a lot of screaming, crying and fainting': Finally, the ear plug was successfully removed and Ruby was able to leave hospital

The Australian star continued to pass the time by sharing another image of a rather eerie-looking bathroom and an empty hospital bed.

It was then time for Ruby to see the doctor, and she uploaded yet another short clip of herself waiting patiently in the office.

Finally, the ear plug was successfully removed and she was able to leave hospital.

Ruby explained after the ordeal: 'It took over an hour, three doctors and a lot of screaming, crying and fainting to remove what had become glue around my ear drum - but they did it!'

'Now, to fix my TV... it doesn't seem to have sound working,' she added, jokingly.Jada Pinkett Smith said she had past used the drug ecstasy amid a battle with depression on the latest edition of Red Table Talk.

Jada, 47, made the revelation in a discussion surrounding mental health and the overdose death of rapper Mac Miller at 26 three months ago.

Jada was joined on the Facebook Watch show by her regular co-hosts, mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris, 65, and daughter Willow Smith, 18, as well as a special guest in rapper Kid Cudi, 34.

Candid: Jada Pinkett Smith, 47, said she had past used the drug ecstasy amid a battle with depression on the latest edition of Red Table Talk

The Girls Trip star said she could have suffered a similar fate as the rapper, who was found dead September 7 in his Studio City, California home following an overdose of alcohol, cocaine and fentanyl.

'I didnt know Mac Miller but once again, when I looked at his circumstances, I just felt for him, because I knew that could have been me, easily,' Jada said. 'I was the same way.

'In my depression, using ecstasy, drinking a whole lot, you know, and smoking a bunch of weed and trying to just find some peace in my mind. It's like, I knew [what] I was doing - I was doing ecstasy because I wanted to party.'

The Gotham actress said that other substances were in the mix during the turbulent time in her life.

'I was doing ecstasy, weed and a bottle of Courvoisier because I wanted to get lit,' said Jada. 'I wasn't making the connection, and I knew  I knew I was on the course of addiction. I was very clear about it.'

Introspective: Jada, 47, made the revelation in a discussion surrounding mental health and the overdose death of rapper Mac Miller at 26 three months ago

Ensemble: Jada was joined on the Facebook Watch show by her regular co-hosts, mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris, 65, and daughter Willow Smith, 18

Tough times: Jada said that to deal with depression, she was 'using ecstasy, drinking a whole lot, you know, and smoking a bunch of weed'

Jada said that that she also coped with a nervous breakdown and thoughts of suicide in the early days of her career.

'I had gotten to LA and gotten a certain amount of success and realized that that wasn't the answer - it wasn't what was going to make everything okay,' she said, adding that the success 'actually made [things] worse.

'I was extremely suicidal, I had a complete emotional collapse.'

Special guest: Rapper Kid Cudi, 34, joined the ladies for the chat

Forthcoming: Jada said she had thoughts of suicide in the early days of her career

Tragic end: Mac Miller, who died in September from a drug overdose, was a topic on the show

Jada said at that the time she felt 'completely and utterly out of control,' adding, 'I don't even think at that particular time I understood what I was going through.

'I was severely depressed, severely. And that was something that I battled with for years. Waking up in the morning was like the worst part of the day.'

Willow said Miller's death was emblematic of the devastating toll emotional and mental illness - and the efforts to chemically tamp those feelings down - is taking on her generation.

'Mac Miller passing, that just took me for a loop because so many young people are just dying because of trying to satiate those emotions with drugs,' Willow said. 'Im seeing it more and I feel like its becoming such a huge problem amongst the youth.'Her film Bird Box is set to be released on Netflix on Friday.

And on Monday, Sandra Bullock was spotted looking incredible while arriving to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in New York City.

The 54-year-old wrinkle free actress paired a polka dot dress with a $295 mustard yellow faux fur coat from Apparis and pink lips.

Stunner: Sandra Bullock was spotted looking incredible while arriving to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday in New York City

The movie star chose a ruched calf-grazing polka dot dress; the black and white patterned dress featured a thigh-slit on one side.

Sandra stayed warm in a bold yellow cover up, adding thigh-high pointed black boots with delicate earrings.

Sandra styled her short brunette tresses sleek and center parted with pink lipstick on her pout and kohl liner on her lids.

The dark haired beauty stars as Malorie Shannon in the new thriller Bird Box.

Fancy: The 54-year-old wrinkle free actress paired a polka dot dress with a $295 mustard yellow faux fur coat from Apparis and pink lips

Gorgeous: The movie star chose a ruched calf-grazing polka dot dress; the black and white patterned dress featured a thigh-slit on one side

The film, directed by Susanne Bier, is based on the 2014 book of the same name by Josh Malerman.

Bird Box follows Sandra's character as she has to navigate a forest blindfolded in order to avoid a supernatural entity that makes people commit suicide after seeing their worst nightmare.

Sandra stars alongside John Malkovich and Sarah Paulson, as well as Trevante Rhodes and Jacki Weaver.

Looking incredible: Sandra stayed warm in a bold yellow cover up, adding thigh-high pointed black boots with delicate earrings

Wow factor: Sandra styled her short brunette tresses sleek and center parted with pink lipstick on her pout and kohl liner on her lids

Bird Box has a limited released on December 14, with it set to hit streaming service Netflix on Friday.

Last month, Sandra looked absolutely stunning as she attended the premiere in Berlin, Germany.

The mother of two chose a mint green and silver one shouldered dress with statement earrings.Channel Nine has strenuously denied claims that Today anchor Georgie Gardner was 'paid off' by network executives after Karl Stefanovic's infamous Ubergate leak.

On Monday, Karl's ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn was quoted in New Idea as claiming Nine 'threw money' at Georgie after she was publicly embarrassed by the scandal.

However, Nine's national director of news and current affairs Darren Wick has shut down any suggestion of a 'pay off'.

'Disgusting and completely wrong': Channel Nine has issued a withering statement after Cassandra Thorburn (pictured) said Georgie Gardner was 'paid off' by the network following Karl Stefanovic's Ubergate scandal

'I think the allegations are disgusting and they're completely wrong, they're completely untrue,' Mr Wick told the Sydney Morning Herald, which is owned by Nine.

'There's no suggestion of us paying anyone. We don't do that, I've never heard of it being done, it's just a ludicrous claim.'

Mr Wick went on to insist that Georgie - who he described as 'wonderful' - and Nine's CEO Hugh Marks would never entertain the thought of such an arrangement.

He continued: 'I think it's insulting. For an attack on [Georgie] like this, I personally think it's outrageous. And frankly, gutless. It's also just plain ridiculous.'

'This was her opportunity to stand up for women!' On Monday, Cassandra (left) was quoted by New Idea as saying Georgie (right) was 'paid off' by Channel Nine after the Ubergate scandal

In an interview published by New Idea this week, Cassandra suggested that Georgie was 'paid off' by Channel Nine following Karl Stefanovic's infamous Ubergate scandal, in which he was heard criticising his colleague in a private conversation.

'This was her [Georgie's] opportunity to stand up for women,' she raged, before adding: 'I guess they [Nine] threw extra money at her.'

The mother-of-three further alleged that Georgie used her Today show 'pay-off' to move into a swanky new mansion in Sydney's Mosman.

Extraordinary claims: Cassandra told New Idea that she believed Nine 'threw extra money' at Georgie to placate her. Pictured: Georgie and Karl in Sydney on October 17, 2018

In October, approximately seven months after Ubergate, Georgie and her husband Tim Baker sold their Artarmon property for $4.2million and moved into their palatial six-bedroom Mosman home worth $6million.

Back in March, Karl was overheard by an Uber driver badmouthing Georgie during a private phone call with his brother, Peter Stefanovic.

In the 'b**chy' 45-minute phone conversation, Karl 'angrily' complained about Georgie, saying she needed to 'step up... if she wanted to stay on the [Today] show.'

Details of the phone call were later published by New Idea, which is owned by Nine's commercial rival Seven West Media.

Moving up? The mother-of-three further alleged that Georgie used her Today show 'pay-off' to move into a swanky new mansion in Sydney's Mosman (pictured)

Past and present: Karl split with Cassandra (left) in 2016 after 21 years of marriage, before finding love with shoe designer Jasmine Yarbrough (right), who is nine years his junior

Karl separated from Cassandra in mid-2016 after 21 years of marriage.

A few months later, Karl started dating glamorous shoe designer Jasmine Yarbrough, 34, who is nine years his junior.

The couple tied the knot in a lavish Mexican ceremony last weekend, which prompted Cassandra to launch into a furious 'tirade' against her ex-husband at Sydney Airport the day after the wedding.

'He's thrown three weddings for goodness sake. Who needs three weddings in a year? Give us a break,' Cassandra was quoted as telling a reporter.

'Three weddings and a funeral. We had a funeral and it was my dad's.'

Cassandra's funeral reference concerned the death of her father, journalist Max Thorburn, who lost his battle with cancer in October.

She reportedly then said: 'I've done a lot of reading about narcissism... Everything he says is about this fake person who lives in this fake castle, it's not real.'

The children's author later denied any 'interview or rant' took place in a statement to Daily Mail Australia.She's known for her stellar sense of style.

And Lily Cole, 30, was dressed to impress as she turned out for the private viewing of Philip Colbert Hunt paintings presented by Unit London at the Saatchi Gallery on Monday.

The model donned a flowing black coat with an orange interior and paired it with a black, silk shirt and flared pants.

Style: Lily Cole, 30, was dressed to impress as she turned out for the private viewing of Philp Colbert Hunt paintings presented by Unit London at the Saatchi Gallery on Monday

She topped off the look with a pair of brown boots and accessorised with a necklace.

Lily has been modelling since her teens, posing for her first Vogue cover when she was just 16.

She was named as Model of the Year in 2004 and was also one of the models selected to wear clothing by British designers at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.

The Devon native has also dabbled in acting, appearing in films including St Trinians, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and Snow White and the Huntsman.

Fashion: The model donned a flowing black coat with an orange interior and paired it with a black, silk shirt and flared pants as she posed with Philp Colbert Hunt

Success: She was named as Model of the Year in 2004 and was also one of the models selected to wear clothing by British designers at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics

Lily welcomed a daughter named Wylde in 2015 with partner Kwame Ferreira.

The flame-haired beauty used her very own site, Impossible.com, to share the news with a simple message written on a Post-It note along with a toy dinosaur that said: 'I am having a baby'.

Lily met Kwame in 2012 when she was in the process of developing her website Impossible.

Speaking of her excitement, she said on her website: 'The first known impossible baby is being born!'

After a hugely successful career as a model Lily went on to start her own ethical knitwear label, The North Circular, in 2009.Dakota Johnson was spotted out in New York City on Monday.

The 29-year-old beauty cut a casual figure in a grey overcoat and black pants for the balmy day out in the Big Apple.

And the impromptu outing comes amid reports of the Fifty Shades of Grey actress will be 'engaged soon' to beau Chris Martin according to US Weekly.

Out and about: Dakota Johnson, 29, was spotted out in New York City on Monday

Daring to impress, the brunette beauty kept it causal in a white sweater and matching Converse high tops.

According to the insider, Martin was waiting for his ex Gwyneth Paltrow to wed Brad Falchuk on September 29 before making any plans of a proposal.

'He wanted to make sure the kids didnt have too much change all at once. Hes a great dad,' the source added.

The loved up couple have been dating for more than a year.

Beauty: The beauty cut a casual figure in a grey overcoat and black pants for the balmy day out in the Big Apple

Impressive: Daring to impress, the brunette beauty kept it causal in a white sweater and matching Converse high tops

And according to People magazine, Dakota Johnson spent Thanksgiving with the British rocker as well as his ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow and their two children Apple and Moses.

'They're a total modern family and had a great time celebrating together,' the source told the publication.

The Fifty Shades franchise star, 29, was first linked with Martin, 41, in October 2017.

Rumors: And the impromptu outing comes amid reports of the Fifty Shades of Grey actress will be 'engaged soon' to beau Chris Martin

The actress daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson told Tatler recently that while she wouldn't talk publicly about her romantic life, she was 'very happy.'

While she's been tight-lipped, her famous actress mother hasn't hesitated to sing Martin's praises.

'I adore him!' Griffith told PEOPLE. 'But she is very private about her life and I respect that.'

Waiting game: According to the insider, Martin was waiting for his ex Gwyneth Paltrow to wed Brad Falchuk on September 29 before making any plans of a proposal; (pictured September)

Martin was previously married to Paltrow, 46, for 10 years before they 'consciously uncoupled' in 2014. Their divorce was finalized two years later.

Martin and Paltrow have continued to co-parent Apple, 14, and Moses, 12, living in homes near each other in Malibu.

This past September, Paltrow tied the knot with producer Brad Falchuk.Her highly anticipated film Mary Poppins Returns will come to UK screens on Friday.

And Emily Blunt has been hard at work promoting the sequel to the iconic 1964 film starring Julie Andrews.

The actress, 35, looked radiant as ever as she arrived to the set of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in New York City on Monday.

Movie: Emily Blunt, 35, has been hard at work promoting the sequel to the iconic 1964 film starring Julie Andrews

The Devil Wears Prada star donned a flowing green trench coat as she made her way to the studio.

She paired it with a black jumper with diamond and striped detail and matching gingham high-waisted pants with flared legs. She topped off the look with a silver necklace and a pair of heels.

In the new film, set two decades after the original, Mary Poppins returns to the home of Jane and Michael Banks, the children whom she cared for in the first movie, after a family tragedy.

Style: The actress, 35, looked radiant as ever as she arrived to the set of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in New York City on Monday

Along with Emily, the film also stars Lin-Manuel Miranda as Jack, a cockney lamplighter.

Colin Firth stars as William 'Weatherall' Wilkinsm the current president of Fidelity Fiduciary Bank and Meryl Streep plays Topsy, Mary Poppins' eccentric Eastern European cousin.

It has won rave reviews from critics, with both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute selecting it as one of the top 10 films of 2018.

Emily revealed that her role in Mary Poppins Returns ups her 'cool factor' with her daughters Hazel, 4, and Violet, 2, who she shares with husband John Krasinski.

Plot: In the new film, set two decades after the original, Mary Poppins returns to the home of Jane and Michael Banks, the children whom she cared for in the first movie

Making an appearance on Good Morning America, she said: 'Well my daughter quite likes me to do the voice for her sometimes, I think my cool factor hits the sky when I do that.

'Shell say "do your Mary Poppins voice" and Ill say "spit spot and off we go" and she literally goes [Emily gasps] she loves it.

The actress then joked: 'Im going to dine out on that until they become teenagers and I become inevitably uncool.'

Emily previously revealed that she didn't rewatch the original Mary Poppins film, and admitted it was because she 'didn't want to be intimidated by it'.

But the Londoner did watch the classic again after she had finished filming, as she said: 'I watched it thinking thank god I didnt watch this before otherwise I would have been like "Rob [Marshall, the film's director], Im out, recast it!"'For a brief time, Georgia Steel had the nation on her side when she was left devastated by Josh Denzel on last summer's Love Island.

But as fans watched Monday night's Christmas special they were left baffled about ever siding with her, as she barged into the reunion, ignored half of the cast, demanded some prosecco and started arguing with ex Sam Bird, unprovoked.

Georgia was the last to arrive to the reunion, making her entrance while the party was in full swing, banging on the door and screeching 'Merry Christmas you filthy animals' to the room full of former reality stars.

Shhhh! Love Island fans were left baffled by Georgia Steel's loud, irritating entrance as she turned up to the Christmas reunion show on Monday night

Branded 'Georgia 2.0' by Adam Collard, Georgia - who split with Sam after allegations of cheating a few weeks after leaving the Love Island villa - declared that 'the party doesnt start til Im here babes' before heading off to the living room with Dani Dyer and Samira Mighty.

A flustered Samira told Georgia she was making her 'all sweaty' after the loud entrance, while Dani asked her if she was going to talk to Sam at all.

Jack Fincham suggested Sam get it over with and have a chat to her about what happened between them.

Entering the lounge to have said chat, Georgia immediately said to Sam: 'Are you giving me attitude already?'

He wasn't.

Inside voice! Viewers were left wondering what on earth they were witnessing

She then proceeded to shout over him, deny cheating on him, accuse him of 'making her feel trapped' before storming off declaring that she is 'loyal' - as she did multiple times on Love Island.

Viewers were left wondering what on earth they were witnessing.

One posted to Twitter, 'Why is Georgia so loud?' as another typed, 'Honestly after this please never have Georgia on my TV again thanks!'

What an entrance: Entering the lounge to have said chat, Georgia immediately said to Sam: 'Are you giving me attitude already?'

'Surely Im not imagining the fact Georgia is putting on the most f**king annoying loud nippy voice like why u doing that she did not speak like that in the villa doing my head in cant even deal!' another despaired.

'Georgia very very very definitely has the most annoying voice I have EVER heard in all 20 years of my life,' came another tweet, followed by, 'I actually erased from my head how annoying Georgia is!'

'Georgia is a f**king annoying mess,' echoed by someone else who typed, 'Used to like Georgia, now actually hate her. F**king pipe down hun!'

Drink up! Sam was seen smirking as he downed his drink when spotting his ex

'I don't not like Georgia but why does she have to constantly be shouting? Literally have to turn the volume down when she starts talking!' posted someone else.

The reunion saw Georgia and Sam argue about their breakup as the 25 year-old hunk shared his feelings with his ex, 20: 'Do you not think it's a bit embarrassing that you bang on about being loyal and you wasn't loyal to me,' he told her

The pair were caught having the confrontation by their fellow Islanders who looked on with shock as Georgia said: 'I was loyal'.

Having it out: The reunion saw Georgia and Sam argue about their breakup

Awkward: The 25 year-old hunk shared his feelings with his ex, 20: 'Do you not think it's a bit embarrassing that you bang on about being loyal and you wasn't loyal to me'

But Sam wasn't having any of it and reminded Georgia: 'As soon as you walk through that door at your exes house that's not loyal. No one needs to pick up stuff from someone's house at four in the morning'.

When Georgia protested her innocence, Sam quipped that he didn't need to know what she needed from her former flames house, but the former barmaid continued: 'It wasn't four in the morning'.

A frustrated Sam tried to keep his cool as he insisted to have proof of the time of the meeting but admitted: 'I did love you'.

Defence: When Georgia protested her innocence, Sam quipped that he didn't need to know what she needed from her former flames house

Georgia retaliated that Sam's shouting was 'all he ever did' and one of the reasons she felt 'very, very trapped' in their relationship.

Islanders Jack Fincham and Kendall Rae Knight gasped in shock as Georgia insisted to Sam: 'You were very horrible to me', before she stormed off.

She ended by telling Sam: 'I'm walking away babe because I really don't care anymore darling'.She's had a busy year starring in her own ITVBe television show and training for the 2019 series of Dancing On Ice.

And the hard work appeared to be paying off as Gemma Collins treated herself to a luxurious Christmas shopping trip in Harrods' Gucci and later dined at the China Tang restaurant in The Dorchester Hotel on Monday.

The TOWIE star, 37, took to Instagram stories to reveal that she was visiting the luxury department store after it had closed, with her personal shopper joking they had 'shut it' especially for her.

Shopping trip: Gemma Collins treated herself to a luxurious Christmas shopping trip in Harrods' Gucci and later dined at the China Tang in The Dorchester Hotel on Monday

She enthused: 'I'm in Harrods when it's shut, I feel like Michael Jackson, they used to shut the store down for him.'

With her personal shopper adding: 'Today we shut it for you!'

Gemma looked every inch the Diva Espana as she cut a glamorous figure in a pearl-encrusted black jumper with a pair of leather-looking leggings and black boot-style trainers.

Glamorous: The TOWIE star, 37, took to Instagram to reveal she was visiting the luxury store after it had closed, with her personal shopper joking they had 'shut it' especially for her

The GC: She enthused: 'I'm in Harrods when it's shut, I feel like Michael Jackson, they used to shut the store down for him.'

Work it: Gemma looked every inch the Diva Espana as she cut a glamorous figure in a pearl-encrusted black jumper with a pair of leather-looking leggings and black boot-style trainers

Stylish: She styled her blonde locks into a sleek blow-dried curly hairdo, which she tied halfback for an elegant look, she added a full face of make-up

She styled her blonde locks into a sleek blow-dried curly hairdo, which she tied halfback for an elegant look, she added a full face of make-up.

The reality star appeared to shop till she dropped as she carried a ginormous pink Gucci carrier bag.

Clearly thrilled by her latest purchases, Gemma couldn't stop smiling as she made a phone call and got into a parked taxi waiting for her.

Shop till you drop!: The reality star appeared to shop till she dropped as she carried a ginormous pink Gucci carrier bag

Work hard, shop hard!: Clearly thrilled by her latest purchases, Gemma couldn't stop smiling as she made a phone call and got into a parked taxi waiting for her

Busy bee: She's had a busy year starring in her own ITVBe television show and training for the 2019 series of Dancing On Ice

Loving life: Gemma seemed in high spirits as she beamed and waved at fans on her way home from shopping

Who's that girl? Gemma showed off her phone case - which naturally featured her face

Organised: During her luxurious trip, the reality star also revealed on her Instagram that all her Christmas shopping is done as she shared a picture of a glass of Champagne in Harrods

During her luxurious trip, the reality star also revealed on her Instagram that all her Christmas shopping is done as she shared a picture of a glass of Champagne and mince pie in Harrods.

She later documented her personal shopper carrying her ginormous pink Gucci carrier bag as she thanked him for his service.

The extravagant shopping spree comes after Gemma revealed the emotional struggle that has come with the gruelling Dancing On Ice sessions, as she admitted to fans that she 'had a cry' during a workout.Tamera Mowry has been mourning the loss of her 18-year-old niece Alaina Housley in the mass shooting at a country music bar in Thousand Oaks last month.

And on Monday, Mowry's co-host on daytime TV chat show The Real, Adrienne Bailon said the former Sister, Sister star is 'doing great.'

'When I say shes doing great, I think shes doing great at doing great  I think its heartbreaking. You dont heal from that overnight,' Bailon explained to UsWeekly.

Speaking out: Adrienne Bailon told UsWeekly Monday her co-host on The Reel, Tamera Mowry is 'doing great' at dealing with her grief after losing her niece in a mass shooting last month

'I think that she definitely is doing a great job at saying, Im moving forward and living my life with Alainas voice in mind and speaking up for her and what she would have wanted',' the former Cheetah Girl went on.

As for the grief, Bailon said 'It comes in waves.'

Mowry will be laughing one minute and then devastated the next, she commented.

'Shes a lot stronger than she knows and I think shes recognizing that with every step,' Bailon said.

Devastated: Mowry broke down in tears when she returned to the daytime TV chat show for the first time since losing niece Alaina Housley, 18

Co-hosts: 'Shes a lot stronger than she knows and I think shes recognizing that with every step,' Bailon, left, said of the Sister, Sister alum, right, who stars with her on the syndicated show

Alaina, a freshman at Pepperdine University in Malibu, was gunned down while enjoying College Night at the Borderline bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, on November 7.

She was one of 12 people who died when Ian David Long opened fire at the crowded venue shortly after 11 p.m. He ultimately turned the gun on himself and committed suicide after being engaged by law enforcement.

Alaina was the niece of her husband, former Fox News journalist Adam Housley and the couple have publicly mourned her death on social media.

Victim: Alaina, a freshman at Pepperdine University in Malibu, was one of 12 people gunned down at the Borderline bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, on November 7

Married: Mowry was related to Alaina through her husband, former Fox News journalist Adam Housley. They're pictured in Hollywood in 2016

Just this past weekend, Mowry shared a sweet photo of her six-year-old son Aden with the college student to mark the day when Alaina was due to return home from university for the Christmas holidays.

'Alaina. God, we miss you. Yesterday you were supposed to come home. The questions of why consume my mind,' she began the lengthy post on her Instagram.

'The reality of you not being here hits stronger today. I miss your giggles, I miss your smile, I miss the way you would roll your eyes when you heard someone say something crazy.'

She concluded: 'You had a heart pure with love and kindness. Oh what this world needs more of now. My children loved you. I loved you. I know I have a guardian angel with me now. But selfishly I want you here with me. Until we meet and sing again.'With Mary Poppins Returns hitting theaters in just two days, Emily Blunt graced the red carpet for the star-studded New York City premiere on Monday.

The 35-year-old actress looked radiant at the Big Apple premiere, which was held at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan.

The actress was joined by her co-star Lin-Manuel Miranda as well as a number of other celebs there to show their support or enjoy an evening out with the family.

Emily in NYC: Emily Blunt looked radiant in a classy suit at the Mary Poppins Returns New York City premiere on Monday at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan

Blunt was wearing a unique blue pantsuit, with a white blouse with a petal-shaped collar design.

She had her hair tied back in a bun while wearing a pair of blue sapphire earrings and Sophia Webster heels to complete her look.

Mary Poppins Returns is slated to open in 3,800 theaters on Wednesday, before four more movies open on Friday, Aquaman, Bumblebee, Welcome to Marwen and Second Act.

Blunt takes on the iconic title role in Mary Poppins Returns, as the beloved nanny who returns to the Banks children, who are now adults in Depression-Era London.

Blunt in blue: Blunt was wearing a unique blue pantsuit, with a white blouse with a petal-shaped collar design

All smiles: Blunt takes on the iconic title role in Mary Poppins Returns, as the beloved nanny who returns to the Banks children, who are now adults in Depression-Era London

She's got the blues: She had her hair tied back in a bun while wearing a pair of blue sapphire earrings and heels to complete her look

Ben Whishaw plays the adult Michael Banks, who must find a certificate that shows proof of the stock shares his father left him years ago, or he'll lose his house.

In his darkest house, Michael and his sister Jane (Emily Mortimer) get the surprise of a lifetime when their magical nanny returns to help them out once again.

Rob Marshall directs Mary Poppins Returns, which has an all-star cast around Blunt.

Lin-Manuel Miranda stars as a lamplighter named Jack, with Meryl Streep portraying Topsy, Julie Walters as Ellen and Colin Firth as Wilkins.

On the blue carpet: Rob Marshall directs Mary Poppins Returns, which has an all-star cast around Blunt

Emily and Lin-Manuel: Lin-Manuel Miranda stars as a lamplighter named Jack, with Meryl Streep portraying Topsy, Julie Walters as Ellen and Colin Firth as Wilkins

Original Mary Poppins star Dick Van Dyke also stars in Mary Poppins Returns, playing Mr. Dawes Jr.

The 27-song soundtrack includes nine new songs, such as The Place Where Lost Things Go, a lullaby sung by Blunt's Poppins.

There is also A Cover is Not the Book, Underneath the Lovely London Sky, Turning Turtle, The Conversation and Nowhere to Go But Up.

Among the other celebs in attendance at the screening were Jim Gaffigan and his family, Dean Winters and his daughter, Samantha Manthis, John Leguizamo and Allegra Leguizamo, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hillarie Burton, Patricia Clarkson, Ariana Rockefeller and Coco Rocha.

Ready for Mary: Among the other celebs in attendance at the screening were Jim Gaffigan and his family

Dean and daughter: Dean Winters arrives at the Mary Poppins Returns New York premiere with his daughter

Hart arriving: Jessica Hart arrives at the Mary Poppins Returns premiere

Mathis in green: Samantha Mathis rocks a green ensemble at the Mary Poppins Returns premiere

John and Allegra: John Leguizamo and Allegra Leguizamo show up at the Mary Poppins Returns premiere

Jeffrey and family: Jeffrey Dean Morgan arrives at the Mary Poppins Returns premiere with Hilarie Burton and their son

Patricia arrives: Patricia Clarkson rocks a black dress at the Mary Poppins Returns premiere

Ariana on the carpet: Ariana Rockefeller cracks a big smile at the Mary Poppins Returns premiereThey met through mutual friends, fell in love, and are now parents of two.

And on Monday, Jeffrey Dean Morgan attended the Los Angeles premiere of Mary Poppins Returns with wife Hilarie Burton and son Augustus.

Not present for the kid-friendly film was the couple's youngest child, daughter George Virgina, 10 months.

Family night out: On Monday, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 52, attended the Los Angeles premiere of Mary Poppins Returns with wife Hilarie Burton, 36, and son Augustus, eight

Hilarie, 36, looked lovely in a one-shoulder, Christmas red dress adorned with a sparkling applique.

Handsome hubby Jeffrey, 52, looked striking in a turtleneck layered underneath a striped blazer, paired with matching slacks.

Young Augustus, eight, was dapper like his father in a classic suit.

Glamorous: Hilarie, 36, looked lovely in a one-shoulder, Christmas red dress adorned with a sparkling applique

Hilarie and Jeffrey met through Jensen Ackles and wife Danneel.

In a 2015 interview with the HuffPost Live, Jeffrey, who met Jensen when he co-starred on Supernatural, detailed how the show star introduced him to his now-wife.

'I happened to be single and Jensen said, 'I've got a girl you should meet.'"

'So I went to a bar and I met Hilarie at a bar with Jensen and Danneel, and the rest is historyWe ended up back at my house drinking shots of tequila.'

'I was on my way to do a movie called The Resident in New Mexico, and she was on her way to Paris, and I talked her into, instead of going to Paris, to come and see me in New Mexico. And I ruined her life and now she's stuck with me.'

Dapper: Handsome Jeffrey looked striking in a turtleneck layered underneath a striped blazer, paired with matching slacks

Following thei meeting in 2009, the couple welcomed son August in March 2010.

Jeffrey and Hilarie later wed in 2014, and welcomed daughter George in February of this year.

Prior to their relationship, Hilarie was married to ex-husband Ian Prange from 2004 to 2009. Jeffrey was wed to ex-wife Anya Longwell from 1992-2003.She left Los Angeles with her husband Chris Hemsworth and their three children four years ago to embrace a more laid-back lifestyle in Bryon Bay.

And on Monday, Elsa Pataky enjoyed the great outdoors with her four-year-old sons, Sasha and Tristan.

The fit mother, 42, was seen riding a vintage-style bike around New South Wales' coastal town with her children.

Unbearably cute! Elsa Pataky performed the school pick-up on Monday in shorts as she rode around Byron Bay with her adorable sons

Elsa dressed in her usual bohemian style for the family outing.

The Madrid-born stunner showed off her slender frame in a pair of shorts and a blue graphic print T-shirt.

Her blonde locks were worn down and blew in the breeze as she cycled through the quiet streets of Byron Bay.

Elsa appeared to go makeup free for the casual ride.

Keeping it casual! Elsa dressed in her usual Byron Bay bohemian style for the family outing

Proud mama! Going makeup free for the casual ride, Elsa beamed as she watched her young boys ride their bicycles

School pick-up? Carrying two backpacks - one on her back and one in her basket - and a white leather crossbody bag, it appeared as though Elsa was doing the school run

Carrying two backpacks - one on her back and one in her basket - and a white leather crossbody bag, it appeared Elsa was doing the school drop or pick up.

The children were on red and gold bikes and happily pedaled in front of their famous mother.

Both of her adorable sons were wearing helmets for the ride, with one of the boys sporting a cute bear helmet with ears.

Safety first! Both of her adorable sons were wearing helmets for the ride, with one of them sporting a cute bear-shaped helmet

Where's Mummy's? Elsa herself was not seen wearing a helmet, and the safety device did not appear in her bike's basket either

Leggy display! Elsa showed off her sculptured frame in a pair of shorts and designer sneakers

Elsa herself was not seen wearing a helmet, and the safety device did not appear in her bike's basket either.

The penalty for not wearing a helmet in New South Wales is a $319 fine.

While Elsa's husband Chris, who she wed in 2010, is currently overseas on a filming schedule, it's unclear if he also rides with the boys to school on occasion.

Wild and free! Elsa's blonde locks were worn down and blew in the breeze as she cycled through quiet streets in Byron Bay

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia last week, Elsa revealed that with all three children now going to school, she is keen to get back into acting again.

'I think know theyre grown up and they go to school, so now it was a great moment for me to start getting in to what Im passionate about and to be creative again,' she said of joining the cast of Netflix's Tidelands.

'I was shooting so close to where I live (Byron Bay), so it was amazing,' Elsa boasted, noting she was back to pick up the kids from school most days.

The Fast And Furious star stopped working in the industry for a few years to be more involved in her children's life, and said the Netflix role came at the 'exactly right, perfect moment'.

'It was amazing': Elsa is heavily involved with the childrens' school - she often volunteers at the tuckshop to prepare meals

Sea change! The Spanish actress left Los Angeles with her husband Chris Hemsworth and their three children four years ago to embrace a more laid-back lifestyle in Bryon Bay

Away from Elsa when she premiered her new Netflix series Tidelands last week, husband Chris broadcast his congratulations publicly on Instagram.

The Thor star sent praise from across the globe to his 'gorgeous lady friend', while sharing a trailer for the supernatural crime thriller with his fans.

Elsa and Chris share three children together - twin sons Sasha and Tristan and daughter India Rose, six.Reality TV royalty Paris Hilton was joined at her high-tech holiday party in Los Angeles on Monday night by her 'sisters' Nicky Hilton Rothschild and BeRguest founder Rena Sindi.

The 37-year-old hotel heiress-turned-DJ's Christmas tree featured an electronic message board base, which read sci-fi apocalyptic warnings like 'the end is near' and 'virus detected.'

The self-described 'biggest tech nerd' enlisted a champagne-pouring RoboKiosk bartender wearing a Santa Claus beard and hat, which she affectionately dubbed 'iRobot Santa.'

'Happy holidays everyone!' Reality TV royalty Paris Hilton (R) was joined at her high-tech holiday party in Los Angeles on Monday night by her 'sisters' Nicky Hilton Rothschild (L) and BeRguest founder Rena Sindi (M)

Futuristic: The 37-year-old hotel heiress-turned-DJ's Christmas tree featured an electronic message board base, which read sci-fi apocalyptic warnings like 'the end is near' and 'virus detected'

Paris - who boasts 34.8M subscribers/followers - Snapchatted all of the festive action, including 'the sickest' virtual reality pods she was excited to try out.

Rather than mix records herself, Hilton hired The Hills star Brody Jenner to spin tracks by Maroon 5, Taylor Swift, and the Rolling Stones.

The perfume mogul lingered her iPhone camera on a violin-playing stilt walker straight out of Burning Man and a disco ball-masked dancer in a silver jumpsuit.

'He's killing it!' The self-described 'biggest tech nerd' enlisted a RoboKiosk bartender wearing a Santa Claus beard and hat, which she affectionately dubbed 'iRobot Santa'

'I'm going in!' Paris Snapchatted all of the festive action, including 'the sickest' virtual reality pods she was excited to try out

Manning the decks: Rather than mix records herself, Hilton hired The Hills star Brody Jenner to spin tracks by Maroon 5, Taylor Swift, and the Rolling Stones

Perched atop a red-lit coffee table cube was a giant snow globe, but it's unclear if guests could interact with the translucent bubble.

The Donald Trump supporter's bash also featured a muscular human bartender wearing a clingy silver top and a topless female model painted to resemble a cyborg.

Paris' party sighting came two weeks after she claimed she was doing 'amazing,' 'so happy,' and 'loves' her life after ending her 10-month engagement to fiance - The Leftovers actor Chris Zylka.

'I'm obsessed with your hat!' The perfume mogul hired a violin-playing stilt walker straight out of Burning Man and a disco ball-masked dancer in a silver jumpsuit

Ho ho ho! Perched atop a red-lit coffee table cube was a giant snow globe, but it's unclear if guests could interact with the translucent bubble

Something for everyone! The Donald Trump supporter's bash also featured a muscular human bartender wearing a clingy silver top and a topless female model painted to resemble a cyborg

'I am busy being a boss-babe, running an empire. That is all I have time for,' Hilton told E! News on November 29.

'I barely have time for myself, let alone anything else...I am not even thinking about [dating] right now. I am literally so busy. I hardly have time to see my own family, let alone do that.'

The Simple Life alum currently stars in Bert Marcus' social media documentary The American Meme, which is now streaming on Netflix.

Moved on: Paris' party sighting came two weeks after she claimed she was doing 'amazing,' 'so happy,' and 'loves' her life after ending her 10-month engagement to fiance Chris Zylka (pictured in 2017)

Hilton told E! News on November 29: 'I am busy being a boss-babe, running an empire. That is all I have time for! I barely have time for myself, let alone anything else...I am not even thinking about [dating] right now. I am literally so busy. I hardly have time to see my own family'

Now streaming on Netflix! The Simple Life alum currently stars in Bert Marcus' social media documentary The American Meme

The I Need You songstress seemed thrilled to have her Manhattan-based 35-year-old sibling by her side emotionally supporting her as she faces the holiday season newly single.

And while Paris glittered in gold, Nicky (born Nicholai) sparkled in a silver plunging $615 Retrofete 'Gabrielle Robe' dress and matching pumps.

Rothschild remarked of her ensemble on Instagram: 'I took the tinsel + glitter dress code very seriously.'

Commiserate: The I Need You songstress seemed thrilled to have her Manhattan-based 35 -year-old sibling by her side supporting her as she faces the holiday season newly single

Skinny Minnie: And while Paris glittered in gold, Nicky (born Nicholai) sparkled in a silver plunging $615 Retrofete 'Gabrielle Robe' dress and matching pumps

Rothschild remarked of her ensemble on Instagram: 'I took the tinsel + glitter dress code very seriously'

The blonde socialite and her second husband - financier James Rothschild - will celebrate their daughter Teddy's first birthday this Thursday, and they're also parents to two-year-old Lily-Grace.

Career-wise, the FIT drop-out will next release the 'Passport' collection through Indian designer Alka Tolani's clothing company in spring 2019.

Headed back East! The blonde socialite and her second husband - financier James Rothschild - will celebrate their daughter Teddy's (L) first birthday this Thursday, and they're also parents to two-year-old Lily-Grace (R)Jessica Alba rocked two very different ensembles on the set of LA's Finest on Monday night.

The 37-year-old was spotted Downtown LA in a serious outfit of black jeans and heavy black boots, grey tank top and a navy duster.

But as cameras rolled and night fell she slipped into a sexier get-up and she and co-star Gabrielle Union went 'deep undercover'.

Wardrobe: Jessica Alba rocked two very different ensembles on the set of LA's Finest on Monday night

The mom-of-three donned a sparkling short red dress and thigh-high black leather boots.

Union looked just as hot in a glimmering black and white number with a similarly high hemline, coupled with a killer pair of stiletto-heeled white boots.

Sharing the shots to Instagram, Jessica wrote: 'We deep undercover @lasfinesttv  were blending in, going unnoticed.'

Daytime: The 37-year-old was spotted Downtown LA in a serious outfit of black jeans and heavy black boots, grey tank top and a navy duster

Coming soon: In the show, a spin-off from Will Smith and Martin Lawrence's Bad Boys film series, Jessica plays detective Nancy McKenna, while Gabrielle plays Detective Sydney 'Syd' Burnett

The pair jumped into a convertible red Mercedes to shoot scenes for the upcoming police procedural.

In the show, a spin-off from Will Smith and Martin Lawrence's Bad Boys film series, Jessica plays detective Nancy McKenna, while Gabrielle plays Detective Sydney 'Syd' Burnett.

'Burnett, last was seen in Miami taking down a drug cartel, has left her complicated past behind to become an LAPD detective,' the synopsis reads.

Night: But as cameras rolled and night fell she slipped into a sexier get-up and she and co-star Gabrielle Union went 'deep undercover'

Wow: The mom-of-three donned a sparkling short red dress and thigh-high black leather boots; Union looked just as hot in a glimmering black and white number with a similarly high hemline, coupled with a killer pair of stiletto-heeled white boots

Let's roll: The pair jumped into a convertible red Mercedes to shoot scenes for the upcoming police procedural

'Paired with a new partner, Nancy McKenna, a working mom with an equally complex past, Burnett is pushed to examine whether her unapologetic lifestyle might be masking a greater personal secret.

'These two women dont agree on much, but they find common ground when it comes to taking on the most dangerous criminals in Los Angeles.'

On Monday night Jessica was joined on set by daughters Honor, ten, and Haven, seven, who were more engrossed in their iPad than watching their mom work, to her faux annoyance.

Christmas holidays: On Monday night Jessica was joined on set by daughters Honor, ten, and Haven, sevenPeter Stefanovic has officially 'parted ways' with Channel Nine, after 15 years.

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday, a spokesperson confirmed that the 37-year-old, who hosts Weekend Today, would not return to the network.

'Peter has decided to explore new opportunities and is looking forward to spending weekends with his wife,' the statement read.

'He has decided to explore new opportunities': Peter Stefanovic departs Channel Nine after 15 years months after Ubergate scandal with brother Karl soured their relationship with the network. Pictured Peter and wife Sylvia Jeffreys

The spokesperson continued: 'He has been a respected member of the Nine News team and Weekend Today, and we wish him all the best for the future.'

Peter told Daily Mail Australia that it has been a 'privilege' to work at Channel Nine for over a decade.

'I've had an amazing time at Nine being a foreign correspondent, News reporter and covering some amazing stories for 60 minutes,' he said.

'I'll miss my friends at Nine very much, it has been a huge privilege to work alongside so many great people.'

'I've had an amazing time at Nine': Peter told Daily Mail Australia that it has been a 'privilege' to work at Channel Nine for over a decade

The announcement comes after The Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday that the Weekend Today host 'will be out of contract with his employer Nine at the end of the month'.

The report quoted an unnamed industry source and saying: 'Nine has dropped Peter Stefanovic from hosting Weekend Today and he's going back to the newsroom.'

However, a Channel Nine spokesperson denied the report to Daily Mail Australia last week, insisting that axing rumours were 'not true'.

Looking to the future? Peter was pictured smiling as he landed in Brisbane on Tuesday with wife Sylvia following Karl Stefanovic's Mexican wedding to Jasmine Yarbrough

Scandal: The announcement comes months after the infamous 'Ubergate' scandal, which saw Peter's private conversation with brother Karl leaked back in March

In March, Peter and his brother Karl were embroiled in an 'Ubergate' scandal after their private conversation in a taxi was leaked to the public.

During the conversation, New Idea alleged that Peter took several swipes at his role on Weekend Today and the famous brothers reportedly slated their employer, Nine.

'I hate working news, I'm dying on the inside and it makes me feel horrible,' Peter allegedly said to Karl, according to the Uber driver.

'The life is draining out of me. I'm so much better than this and can do so much more, it's the worst four days each week and I should be doing more.'

'The life is draining out of me': During the leaked exchange, their Uber taxi driver claimed to New Idea that Peter slated his employer Nine and role on Weekend Today

An insider told Woman's Day in March following the scandal that it could cost Peter his job, as he is 'far more replaceable' than brother Karl.

Karl has also faced headlines in recent months that he could be 'axed' from Today in the new year, following two years of declining ratings.

In September, Channel Nine chief executive Hugh Marks revealed that Karl's job is safe for now, but everyone on the show - 'especially Karl' - needs to lift their game.

Will he be next? Rumours have circulated recently that Karl may be 'axed' from Today in the new year, but Channel Nine chief executive Hugh Marks stated his job is 'safe for now'

Peter's career with Nine started in 2004, as a reporter for Nine News and A Current Affair.

He then spent many years working as a foreign correspondent for the network in London and LA, before returning to Australia in 2015.

The 37-year-old was then promoted to senior reporter on Nine News, before landing the gig of Weekend Today co-host in early 2016.

In 2017, he became a contributing reporter for 60 MinutesShe is in the midst of her sell-out world tour.

And Lily Allen returned to her home turf on Monday evening for the UK leg of the No Shame tour, as she hit the stage at Camden's Roundhouse to belt out hits from her critically-acclaimed fourth album.

The 33-year-old Smile hitmaker slipped into a typically kooky stage ensemble comprising of a sexy black one-piece which showed off her svelte physique for the stage show which was branded brave, sad, and beautifully performed.

Skin-tight and stunning: Lily Allen returned to her home turf on Monday evening for the UK leg of the No Shame tour, as she hit the stage at Camden's Roundhouse hot spot to belt out hits from her critically-acclaimed fourth album

Lily has been giving fans an insight into her tour with a series of Instagram posts after taking the show to the States and around the UK before jetting off to Australia in February to round out the shows Down Under.

Following her performance in Manchester, the Manchester Evening News penned in a gushing review: 'Allens No Shame tour is brave, sad, and beautifully performed: her vulnerability is its biggest asset'.

As she returned to her hometown, Lily ensured she was dropping jaws once again as she slipped into the racy black number which perfectly displayed her physique.

With a mesh insert around the plunging neckline, the bleach blonde beauty drew the eye to her cleavage while the stitching along the waist line and extending down the body helped show off her her taut stomach and streamlined hips.

Belting them out: The 33-year-old Smile hitmaker slipped into a typically kooky stage ensemble comprising of a sexy black one-piece which showed off her svelte physique for the stage show which was branded brave, sad, and beautifully performed

Lily has been taking the showbiz world by storm with her wildly successful return to the spotlight including her sell-out memoir My Thoughts Exactly, hit album and tour.

She admitted in a recent interview that she was 'running out of money' so felt obliged to write her book before confessing she is still locked in a shocking five album record deal with just a 25K price tag.

Lily has caused shockwaves with her book, in which she confesses to a host of explosive secrets including flings with Mike Skinner and Liam Gallagher.

Stunner: Lily has been giving fans an insight into her tour with a series of Instagram posts after taking the tour to the States and around the UK before jetting off to Australia in February to round out the shows Down Under

When asked why she opted to write a memoir, she said: 'Money and running out of it! Not seeing many avenues to make it anymore...

'And also, aside from that I get really bored of repeating myself and I think that this period, the last four years at least, have been not only really important formative years for myself but for my children as well...

'And theyre going to ask questions about what happened with Mummy and Daddy and Im not going to want to go over it.'

Secrets: Lily has caused shockwaves with her book, in which she confesses to a host of explosive secrets including flings with Mike Skinner and Liam Gallagher (pictured at her gig in Glasgow on Thursday)

In the book, Lily revealed she signed a record deal for an extremely humble 25,000 for a whopping five albums 14 years ago - and she is still locked in the contract.

She explained: 'Sign this record deal for 25,000 from my lawyer at the time In all seriousness I think theres a real issue with the legal firms that are giving advice to really young people...

'I signed that deal when I was 19 years old and Im still in it. It was a five-album deal for 25,000. And I paid for the advice to sign that deal and it was not good advice.'Courtney Stodden had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction when the model was seen spilling out of her tiny bikini top on Monday.

The 24-year-old model was spotted holding up her assets, showing a bit too much while frolicking on the beach in Santa Monica, California.

The PETA spokesperson enjoyed her time on the sand, seen stretching, skateboarding and doing some light reading during her beach outing.

Bikini malfunction: Courtney Stodden spills out of her tiny white bikini during a beach outing in Santa Monica, California on Monday

Stodden was spotted wearing a barely-there white bikini, along with tan, studded sandals and brown patterned hat.

She later slipped a tan fleece hoodie over her bikini while skateboarding down the side of the road.

During her beach outing, she was also spotted stretching, while also lying down and reading the Marilyn Monroe book Marilyn Monroe: The Private Life of a Public Icon by Charles Casillo, which was published in August.

Tiny bikini: Stodden was spotted wearing a barely-there white bikini, along with tan, studded sandals and brown patterned hat.

Skate time: She was also seen wearing a tan fleece hoodie over her bikini while skateboarding down the side of the road

Stodden has long admired Monroe, posing as the icon during a controversial photo shoot when she was just 17 years old, during her equally-controversial marriage to actor Doug Hutchinson.

In 2016, she also wrote a heartfelt letter to Monroe, which she shared on Instagram and placed at her grave site at Westwood Village Memorial Park.

Stodden also expressed her admiration for Monroe while discussing her separation from Hutchinson in March, revealing she adopted Monroe's tactic of 'playing a caricature' with the media.

Staying limber: During her beach outing, she was also spotted stretching

'I decided, at 23, that "I'm not gonna play this anymore. I'm just going to be myself,"' Stodden said. 'I want to be honest [now], and potentially help people.'

The star has been busy promoting her new single Daddy Issues on social.

She also released a single earlier this year entitled Me Too, which she said was reflective of her experiences.He failed to find a spark with six girls during his time in the Love Island villa.

But Dr Alex stunned his fellow islanders when he revealed he has a girlfriend on the show's Christmas reunion on ITV2 on Monday night.

The A&E doctor, 27, has reportedly struck up a romance with the Team GB Olympic snowboarder Aimee Fuller, also 27, after the pair hit it off at the Davis Cup in Glasgow back in September.

Found love at last: Dr Alex stunned his fellow islanders when he revealed he has a girlfriend on the show's Christmas reunion on ITV2 on Monday night

Doing a grand announcement during the cast's weekend stay at a country retreat, he divulged: 'I've got a girlfriend but you guys don't know her'.

During the show, Ellie Brown confirmed Alex had better luck with the ladies once outside the villa as she said: 'I've been on a few nights out with Alex and he is a bit of a player. He's a dark horse, that's for sure.'

Rumours Alex had struck up a romance with snowboarder Aimee occurred when the blonde beauty shared a sweet snap of them outside the Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.

Loved-up: The A&E doctor, 27, has reportedly struck up a romance with Olympic snowboarder Aimee Fuller, also 27, after the pair hit it off at the Davis Cup in Glasgow back in September

Shocked: Doing a grand announcement during their weekend stay at a country retreat, he told the cast: 'I've got a girlfriend but you guys don't know her'

She wrote: 'Went to Scotland. Wore a suit. Watched Great Britain win Day 2 of the #daviscup + met a doctor who loves snowboarding!'

And if that wasn't enough, Dr Alex took to his Instagram stories afterwards to reveal that the two had a 'post workout' brunch date together afterwards.

The rumoured couple appear to be going from strength to strength with Aimee creating a partner workout YouTube video with the hunky doctor.

MailOnline has contacted Alex's representatives for comment

During his stint on Love Island, Dr. Alex failed to make a spark with Samira Mighty, Megan Hanson Barton, Ellie Brown, Charlie Williams, Grace Wardle, Laura Crane and Alexandra Cane, subsequently leaving the show single.

Dr. Alex seemed unfazed about the glamorous partying lifestyle and red carpets that inevitably comes with finding fame on the hit ITV2 dating show.

Ladies man: During the show, Ellie Brown confirmed Alex had better luck with the ladies once outside the villa as she said: 'I've been on a few nights out with Alex and he is a bit of a player'

Passion for fitness: The happy couple appear to be going from strength to strength with Aimee creating a partner workout YouTube video with the hunky doctor

Love is in the air: Rumours Alex had struck up a romance with snowboarder Aimee occurred when the blonde beauty shared a sweet snap of them outside the venue of the Davis Cup

He wrote on Instagram: 'Love Island was the experience of a lifetime, but ever since I left the villa I've genuinely missed working for the NHS.

'That's why this week, I'm going back to A&E. I trained for years for the opportunity to help people, and I can't wait to get back to doing what I love.'

'I'll be using my platform to raise awareness around health issues among young people.

Talented: Aimee is an Team GB Olympic snowboarder who regularly shares snap on Instagram

'Hopefully I'll be able to give you a bit of insight into what it's like on the front lines of the NHS. I hope you all continue this incredible journey with me. Here we go!'

Dr. Alex's announcement comes three months after it was reported that he was close to 'lined up for a regular slot' on This Morning, according to The Sun.

Insiders told the publication that he was set to educate audiences on all things medical alongside the likes of Doctor Hilary Jones and Doctor Zoe William.

The source claimed: 'Producers were impressed with Alex following his time on the show this week  and were intrigued to hear him say how keen he was to pursue more TV work.'

'They believe it would be great to have a new face whose come from a show like Love Island and can appeal to a younger audience to give his insight on the medical world.'Love Island's Laura Anderson was inundated with praise from viewers following Monday's Christmas Reunion, as they lauded her 'mature' and 'calm' chat with ex Paul Knops.

Speaking on the ITV2 special, the Scottish air hostess spoke candidly with her ex after they were reunited with their villa co-stars in a lavish manor, going onto admit they 'never really had a proper relationship' after the show.

This came despite Paul's recent claims that Laura cheated on him with fellow Love Island hunk Max Morley, which was noticeably overlooked during their chat.

Honest: Love Island's Laura Anderson was inundated with praise from viewers following the Christmas Reunion, as they lauded her 'mature' and 'calm' chat on splitting on Paul Knops

Following a night of drama - which saw exes Georgia Steel and Sam Bird have a massive row alongside Ellie Brown and Charlie Brake - Laura and Paul's chat proved a far more toned-down affair.

Speaking the following morning, the hunk made the first move by saying they needed to 'catch up.'

He then added: 'Obviously you and I split up but however you feel about it, it was done in the right way, and weve both moved on and I have never said anything bad about you to anyone.'

Candid: As the exes were reunited for the ITV2 festive special, Paul took the chance to 'catch up' with Laura after the pair split in September

Candid: Laura said to Paul they 'never had the chance' to have a normal relationship, adding that they only went on 'one date' after leaving the villa

Laura then responded: 'Its very normal in a relationship it breaks up and you get annoyed, but weve come out of the villa and youve broken up with me very quickly which I still dont get.

She added: 'We never got the chance to have a normal relationship, we went on one date.'

Paul then said: 'I want to draw a line under things and both of us move on, I want us both to be happy Im happy for you.'

Open: Paul then added: 'I want to draw a line under things and both of us move on, I want us both to be happy Im happy for you'

Closure: 'I dont regret anything, I just think were v different people. I think we should just leave it at that,' Laura said as she closed the chat

Speaking later he added: 'I want her to be happy shes an amazing person, its not the end of the world shes met someone else and thats great.'

'I dont regret anything, I just think were v different people. I think we should just leave it at that,' Laura said as she closed the chat.

The Scottish beauty added: 'I think the conversation needed to happen, were here together, and Im happy.'

Fans rushed to social media to praise Laura's attitude to her split from Paul, with many admitting it was refreshing moment in a show that had been rife with arguments and non-stop drama.

One wrote: 'Of course Laura and Paul's awkwark post-break up chat was calm and collected. So level headed and mature compared to the rest. Sad they didn't work out, they both look fab too!'

Another added: 'Wow Laura and Paul are so mature compared to the rest of them. What a calm conversation.'

Welcome addition: Fans praised Laura's attitude to her split from Paul, with many admitting it was refreshing moment in a show that had been rife with arguments and non-stop drama

Refreshing: They were quick to laud Laura's behaviour during the show

Later in the show Laura was also left red-faced after receiving a special gift from Love Island host Caroline Flack, in the form of a Love Island Series 1 DVD, starring her new beau Max Morley.

It comes several months after it was reported that pair were dating in October, and the pair have since been seen putting on a loved-up display on numerous outings.

Laura did seem to overlook Paul's recent claims that she was unfaithful during their relationship, instead choosing to move forward from the show on amicable terms.

Hilarious: Later in the show Laura was also left red-faced after receiving a special gift in the form of a Love Island Series 1 DVD, starring her new beau Max MorleyShe previously revealed she tackled her stutter by 'trying stuff out in the mirror'.

And Emily Blunt has admitted the road to overcoming her speech impediment hasn't been a smooth one, as she revealed a teacher once told her to 'spit out' her words when she was younger.

In an interview with The Mirror, the 35-year-old actress, who stars in Mary Poppins Returns, confessed she'll 'always be a stutterer', and fears her children could be teased like she was.

Battle: Emily Blunt has admitted the road to overcoming her stutter hasn't been a smooth one, as she revealed a teacher once told her to 'spit out' her words when she was younger

The Devil Wears Prada star opened up about having a stutter during her childhood: 'Kids didnt understand why I couldnt speak properly. I think I looked funny and sounded funny and kids were like, "Why cant you say it? Just say it!" And even a teacher of mine was like, "Spit it out!"'

She went on to reveal that she'll 'always be a stutterer': 'I still stutter if I am really tired or on the phone. I am really bad on the phone still.'

The screen star, who shares daughters Hazel, four, and Violet, two, with husband John Krasinski, also touched on her worries about her children experiencing bullying.

Candid: In an interview with The Mirror, the 35-year-old actress, who stars in Mary Poppins Returns, confessed she'll 'always be a stutterer'

'Kids didn't understand why I couldn't speak properly': The Devil Wears Prada star opened up about having a stutter during her childhood

'Like every mother, I worry irrationally about my kids and want to make sure they are safe and taken care of and not teased', she added.

The blonde shared she often offers advice to kids with severe stutters and tells them to embrace their differences, in a bid to help them learn more about themselves.

She also spoke about her stutter in a recent interview with Harpers Bazaar magazine, revealing: 'I was that kid, upstairs in my room, trying out stuff in the mirror. But Id never tell anyone about it. It was always very private.

'I worry irrationally about my kids': The screen star, who shares daughters Hazel, four, and Violet, two, with husband John Krasinski, also touched on her worries about her children experiencing bullying

Screen star: Meanwhile, Emily has been on a promotional trail for her titular role in Mary Poppins Return

Meanwhile, Emily has been on a promotional trail for her titular role in Mary Poppins Return, which follows on from the legacy of the iconic 1964 musical adaptation of PL Travers stories, where Julie Andrews received critical acclaim for her portrayal as the magical nanny.

In the new film, set two decades after the original, the character returns to the home of Jane and Michael Banks, the children whom she cared for in the first movie, after a family tragedy.

Along with Emily, the film also stars Lin-Manuel Miranda as Jack, a cockney lamplighter; Colin Firth as William 'Weatherall' Wilkins, the current president of Fidelity Fiduciary Bank; and Meryl Streep as Topsy, Mary Poppins' eccentric Eastern European cousin.

Ahead of the release of the film, Emily revealed to Radio Times her children would get angry when they saw her dressed as the legendary character.

Emily admitted her daughter Hazel would tell her to take her wig off because she didn't like seeing her as anything other than her mum.

'Its weird. So shed be like, "Take your wig off!" Or, "I just like your blonde hair, I dont like your Mary Poppins hair",' she said.

Exciting: In the new film, set two decades after the original, the character returns to the home of Jane and Michael Banks, the children whom she cared for in the first movie, after a family tragedy

Emily is reprising the iconic role 54 years after Julie first stepped into the character, however the actress said she refused to watch the original movie ahead of her performance.

The original film received 13 Oscar nominations, winning five including Best Actress for Julie.

The Devil Wears Prada star was concerned her acting instincts would be impaired if she were to watch Julie's performance, and therefore delved into the PL Travers books instead.

Despite this and also her lack of contact with Julie, 83, word reached Emily that Julie had approved of the casting of Emily to play the magical nanny.

Mary Poppins is released in UK cinemas on Friday December 21.Viewers have threatened to boycott her ITVBe reality show, Mummy Diaires, after she was accused of ripping off a clothing company by copying their designs.

But Sam Faiers, 27, clearly has more important things on her mind as she shared a boasting videos of her family landing in 'paradise' by seaplane, where they are celebrating Paul's mother Gaynor's 60th birthday.

Sam has jetted off to the Maldives with her family, where they will be spending Christmas, ahead of the launch of her new children's clothing brand, My Little Darlin.

Defiant: Sam Faiers took to Instagram to boast about flying by seaplane to 'paradise'... as viewers threatened to boycott her show over company in design row (stock snap

Missing the point: Sam shared videos of her arrival in the Maldives on Instagram on Tuesday despite upsetting her legions of fans

Sam told Closer magazine: 'This is my first Christmas going away somewhere. Billie and I have spent every festive period for the last 27 years together, so this will be our first one apart.

'It's my mother-in-law Gaynor's 60th around Christmas, my son Paul's third birthday and I'm turning 28, so we thought, "let's go away".'

'We've got so much to celebrate at this time of year, why not do it on one big holiday?'

Pride and joy: Sam also shared a snap of her son Paul, swimming in the water on her social media page

The day before, Sam was accused of copying the designs from a company called Forever Sewing after accepting freebies from them for two years.

She shared a preview for one of the designs on the her brand's Instagram page and the company were horrified to discover it was near identical to their own.

Twitter went wild with people who accused her of 'shamelessly' copying the small family run business's designs.

Spot the difference: Sam Faiers has been accused of RIPPING OFF small business by copying their designs by 'disgusted' fans - (left) her new children's range, (right) the clothing brand she has been receiving freebies from for two years

Controversy: Sam shared this picture of her two children wearing personalised clothing from her new clothing venture, which is almost identical to the brand that baby Paul has been wearing over the last two years and was littered with comments from angry fans who compared the two brands

'Stressed, angry and upset': Forever Sewing wrote about feeling betrayed by Sam after learning that she has a new clothing line which is so similar to theirs - this post has since been deleted

Giving thanks: While their previous post was deleted, Forever Sewing shared this thankful post to their Instagram page

Hitting back: Sam later took to Instagram stories to attempt to justify her decision

Sam had even teased doing a collaboration with the brand before going it alone.

Her brand's page has 11.2k followers already and she was thought to be planning to launch in one week.

But the comments section has been littered with angry posts from fans, which Sam has been deleting.

The company has taken to Facebook to voice their feelings of betrayal over Sam's actions after learning that her new children's clothing line is remarkably similar to their own.

But Sam remained defiant and posted a message which denied she had done so and even accused the company of slandering her.

In a show of defiance and failing to apologise, she shared a video of her seaplane landing, writing:

'Seaplane to our Maldives island. It's sooo surreal.'

Then another one which read: 'Landed in paradise.'

Shocked: Fans have been sharing comparisons between the Forever Sewing and My Little Darlin range

Freebies! MailOnline has seen countless messages exchanged between Sam and the company, in which she lists an extensive amount of freebies she wants from them (pictured, right, Paul jr, three, in Forever Sewing's original design)Strictly Come Dancing's Giovanni Pernice has claimed his ex girlfriend Jessica Wright is 'very dramatic' following their explosive showdown.

The 28-year-old professional dancer came face-to-face with the former TOWIE star at the Pride Of Britain awards in October where she told him he was 'full of s**t', before she was heard saying: 'You broke my heart, you lied to me'.

Reflecting on their public feud during an interview with New! magazine, Giovanni said: 'That's what Essex people say. They're very dramatic, but by the end of the conversation we were okay. It's fine. We know what was between us and why we split up.'

Strong words: Strictly Come Dancing 's Giovanni Pernice has claimed his ex girlfriend Jessica Wright is 'very dramatic' following their explosive showdown

The star, who was partnered with Faye Tozer in this year's Strictly final, said that their relationship broke down because the timing wasn't right, adding that he didn't feel they were strong enough for him to leave her and go on the show's tour.

Giovanni also claimed that the decision to end the relationship was mutual, despite reports that he left in a taxi and didn't speak to her again, which he strenuously denies.

Since his split with Jessica, Giovanni has remained a single man but has being linked to several of his year's celebrity contestants, including partner Faye and Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts.

Explosive: The 28-year-old professional dancer came face-to-face with the former TOWIE star at the Pride Of Britain awards in October where she told him he was 'full of s**t' (pictured)

Split: The star, who was partnered with Faye Tozer in this year's Strictly final, said that their relationship broke down because the timing wasn't right

Although romance claims between himself and Faye were quashed, the Strictly hunk confessed that he fancies Ashley, after they apparently locked lips at the show's wrap party.

However he also dashed hopes of a relationship after she claimed that the pair were just friends, saying: 'And I say the same thing. She is beautiful, absolutely, but there is no chance that we're going to be in a relationship right now.'

It wouldn't be the first time Giovanni romanced a Strictly celeb, he danced his way to the final alongside partner Georgia May Foote in 2015, before making her his girlfriend after she later split with her ex boyfriend Sean Ward.

Romance rumours: Although romance claims between himself and Faye were quashed, the Strictly hunk confessed that he fancies Ashley Roberts

He said that he is still in contact with the former Coronation Street star, as he claims he always finishes his relationships in a positive way and continued to speak even during his relationship with Jessica.

Despite starting a relationship with Georgia following their Strictly stint, Giovanni said that he didn't believe in the show's infamous curse.

He said: 'Nothing happens from magic. If I fancy you and you fancy me and we spend right hours together, by the end of the day maybe we have a drink... It's not just Strictly.'

Dance partner: Giovanni and Faye quashed romance rumours after they were spotted enjoying a cosy lunch

Former flame: It wouldn't be the first time Giovanni romanced a Strictly celeb, he danced his way to the final alongside partner Georgia May Foote in 2015, before making her his girlfriend

Speaking on Seann Walsh and Katya Jone's kiss he said it was none of his business, but believes that the married couple are back on track now following the cheating scandal.

When it comes to finding love Giovanni said that it is all about personality for him, he said that if a woman is attractive but not respectful then they can 'f**k off', elaborating on what he means by respectful, he said he means willing to compromise.

He said that in the long-term he thinks he will possibly get married and have children but think 28 is too young to settle down just yet.

However touching on his short term plans, Giovanni said he plans to take a break and head home to Sicily to celebrate Christmas with his family.

For his family Christmas is all about eating, and it won't just be a roast dinner, he said that he plans to indulge on pasta, pizza, beef, meat and chicken as he enjoys the festive period at home.Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom have, to date, received 66 complaints from Coronation Street viewers, after fans lambasted Kate Connor's latest storyline.

Lesbian character Kate cheated on fiance Rana Habeeb with a man on Monday night's episode, leading viewers to brand it 'homophobic'.

A spokesperson for Ofcom said: 'We are assessing these complaints against our broadcasting rules, before deciding whether or not to investigate.'

Controversial: Coronation Street viewers have lambasted Kate Connor's latest storyline, as they branded lesbian Kate Connor's cheating on fiance Rana Habeeb 'homophobic'

Meanwhile, producer Iain MacLeod said on Tuesday, in response to the backlash: 'Kate was out of her mind with grief for Aidan and thinks shes lost Rana. She came to her senses before going through with it.

'Shes gay, and loves Rana, and cant believe she nearly let her grief-fueled obsession for a baby almost lead her into betraying who she is and making the biggest mistake of her life.'

Taking to Twitter in droves, fans were furious to watch scenes play out when Kate tried to sleep with Adam Barlow, as part of her desperate quest to have a baby.

The fallout led to scenes which saw Rana furiously dump Kate after hearing of her secret plot, and many fans branded the episode's conclusion 'inexcusable.'

Shocking: Viewers were appalled by scenes which saw Kate seduce Adam Barlow as part of a desperate attempt to fall pregnant

Outraged: Her plan was only rumbled when Adam realised she was refusing contraception, leading her to run out of his flat in embarassment

In Monday's double bill, fans saw Kate (played by Faye Brookes) reach breaking point in her quest to have a baby, breaking down in tears as she told Rana (Bhavna Limbachia) she wanted a child to fill the space in her life that had been left by her brother Aidan's suicide earlier this year.

After Rana admitted she wasn't ready to be a parent, Kate tried to seduce lawyer Adam (Sam Robertson) in an attempt to fall pregnant.

While she originally kept her true intentions a secret, Adam rumbled Kate's plan when she refused his offer on contraception, leading him to pull away in disgust.

As Kate made an embarrassed exit, she was soon rumbled by Rana's brother Imran, who spotted her kiss with Adam in the middle of the Street.

Furious: When Kate's fiance Rana discovered she had cheated on her, the nurse proceeded to break off their engagement, dumping her in rage

This led to a furious row with Rana, who decided enough was enough and dumped Kate for being unfaithful.

The storyline led to furious complaints from many viewers who branded the plot everything from 'inexcusable' to 'disgusting.'

One wrote: 'Having a lesbian character who has never once shown attraction to men suddenly seduce and kiss a man is incredibly irresponsible.

'It enforces a homophobic rhetoric that lesbians can be 'fixed' and become heterosexual in the 'right' circumstances. Shame on @itvcorrie.'

A second also furiously tweeted: 'Because of your disgusting scenes tonight I nearly had a panic attack. Yes, a physical reaction your disgusting homophobia.'

Outraged: The storyline led to furious complaints from many viewers who branded the plot everything from 'inexcusable' to 'disgusting'

It remains to be seen how the rest of the storyline will play out, and fans will be left hoping whether Kate and Rana can patch it up in time for the festive season.

The plot comes ahead of next week's hour-long Christmas Special, which will also see Sally Metcalfe's husband Time confess that he slept with Gina, after wrongly being led to believe he cheated on her.

It will be a bittersweet occasion for the Barlows, as they gather for a vegan dinner in honour of Daniel's pregnant wife Sinead, but she is left devastated when she overhears her husband saying he worries this will be her last Christmas, as she continues to battle cervical cancer.

Coronation Street continues on Wednesday 19th December at 7:30pm and 8:30pm on ITV.She retired from her Victoria's Secret Angel career last year.

And Alessandra Ambrosio looked heavenly as she headed to a pre-Christmas yoga class in the Santa Monica area of Los Angeles on Monday.

The Brazilian supermodel, 37, wore a lilac jumper and form-fitting charcoal leggings with black sliders as she emerged from her workout.

Still an angel! Alessandra Ambrosio looked heavenly as she headed to a pre-Christmas yoga class in the Santa Monica area of Los Angeles on Monday

The mother-of-two piled her hair into a casual ponytail with a mauve scrunchie and went makeup free for the outing.

Alessandra wore plenty of layered necklaces to glam up the outfit, and protected her eyes against the Californian sunshine with mirrored circular shades.

The catwalk queen toted her belongings in a black Louis Vuitton handbag and slung her black yoga mat over her shoulder as she headed out to her car.

Yoga bunny: The Brazilian supermodel, 37, wore a lilac jumper and form-fitting charcoal leggings with black sliders as she emerged from her workout

Natural beauty: The mother-of-two piled her hair into a casual ponytail with a mauve scrunchie and went makeup free for the outing

The solo outing comes as the model has been spotted cosying up to new beau Nicolo Oddi, 30, in recent months.

The pair's romance was first reported in August five months after the announcement that her 10-year engagement to fashion mogul Jamie Mazur, 37, had come to an end.

Alessandra shares daughter Anja, nine, and son Noah, six, with her businessman ex.

The model announced her retirement from Victoria's Secret at the end of the 2017 runway show so she could spend more time with her children.

Working out in style: Alessandra wore plenty of layered necklaces to glam up the outfit, and protected her eyes against the Californian sunshine with mirrored circular shades

Working up a sweat: The catwalk queen toted her belongings in a black Louis Vuitton handbag and slung her black yoga mat over her shoulder as she headed out to her car

Brazillian-born Alessandra began modelling at the age of 12 and alter went on to front campaigns for Giorgio Armani, Hugo Boss and Ralph Lauren.

At the age of 24 she made a notable appearance when she walked the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show runway wearing underwear made entirely of sweets.

Despite retiring after 17 years as a prestigious 'Angel', the beauty had many high profile moments on the catwalk, most notably when she wore 13kg wings while pregnant with her second child in 2011.

Alessandra has also turned her hand to acting and has had roles in Casino Royale, Daddy's Home and its sequel Daddy's Home 2.

Heaven sent: The model announced her retirement from Victoria's Secret at the end of the 2017 runway show so she could spend more time with her children (pictured 2017)She isn't afraid to push the boundaries and flaunt her incredible figure by stripping off to her 'birthday suit.'

And on Tuesday, Vampire Diaries and Dynasty star Nathalie Kelley risked an Instagram ban when she posed completely naked once again, sharing a raunchy snap online with her legions of fans.

The 33-year-old Australian actress shared a shot of herself at the beach without clothes, covering her chest with her arm.

Stripping off! Dynasty and Vampire Diaries star Nathalie Kelley risks an Instagram ban as she poses completely NAKED at the beach

In the snap, the brunette beauty shows off a golden glow and has her short locks out and in loose tousled curls.

She muzzed her nipple with a blue cross.

Nathalie joked in the caption that she was forced to share the image as she took a snap of her new husband Jordan Burrows, but he wouldn't let her post it.

Cheeky! Nathalie joked in the caption that she was forced to share the image as she took a snap of her new husband Jordan Burrows (pictured), but he wouldn't let her post it

'The one I took of @jordyburrows was even better but he won't let me post it so...,' Nathalie wrote.

In October, Nathalie shared two shots of herself completely naked to Instagram.

One was on holiday in Ibiza before she took a bath, while the other was while at the beach, with Nathalie sitting on a rock in the water.

Raunchy: In October, Nathalie shared two shots of herself completely naked to Instagram

Sizzling hot! One was on holiday in Ibiza before she took a bath (pictured), while the other was while at the beach, with Nathalie sitting on a rock in the water

Nathalie and Australian-born Jordan meanwhile, married in Sydney in April.

The pair held their reception and ceremony in Sydney Harbour's The Island.

Nathalie and Jordan met just before New Year's last year, and she soon proposed to him in their hotel room in Atlanta, in the US, where she was filming.

She told Harper's Bazaar that they had watched a band called Rhye play a gig, after she starred in one of their music videos.

'Watching them perform the song, Jordan and I felt so connected, in part because I'd helped write the treatment for that music video based on my experience of falling in love with him,' Nathalie said.

'So, later that night, we had been sitting up talking and laughing, and I said to him, "You know, I had never understood what the point of marrying someone waswhy would you choose not to be with other people and to be with just one person for the rest of your life? But I actually understand it now."

She explained that Jordan asked her if she was proposing and she then popped the question.She has travelled to Los Angeles to film new horror feature flick The Seven Film.

And reality star, Jess Impiazzi, 29, took a break from filming to top up her tan by the pool, while wearing a blue crochet bikini with a rainbow trim.

Showing off her incredible abs, Jess was pictured taking selfies in the sunshine, before enjoying a dip in the pool.

Sunshine state of mind: Jess Impiazzi showed off her toned physique in a blue bikini in Los Angeles as she took a break from filming new horror movie The Seven Film

Wow: The reality star looked good from every angle as she perched on a sun lounger

At one point, the brunette beauty adjusted her bikini top as she struggled to contain her ample assets, before giggling with friends.

Enjoying a walk in the sunshine, Jess, who had perfectly styled hair, slipped on a striped shirt to make sure she didn't get too much sun on her shoulders.

Adding some extra inches to her height, she walked around in a pair of matching blue wedges which had straps which tied up around her legs.

Refreshing dip: Jess reclined by the pool as she sat with her feet in the water

Tatt's nice! Jess showed off an inking at the top of her thigh as she enjoyed some time off work

It's not all been plain sailing for Jess though, who discussed her difficult childhood on a recent episode of Loose Women.

She revealed how being accepted into famed Italia Conti stage school combated it.

Jess said: 'The thing that got me out of that sadness was Italia Conti stage school. I auditioned and got in...

One moment, please: At one point, she adjusted her bikini top as she struggled to contain her ample assets

Getting her best pose in: She snapped photos of herself on her phone by the water's edge

'Then I had a scholarship for college and it was the day I got the letter in 2006 that my nephew died of meningitis and septicemia.

'It took away the brilliance of that day. I got hit with depression. The head teacher let me go away for a couple of months.'

Jess went onto reveal that she eventually dropped out of the prestigious stage school to care for her mum Debbie.

Debbie had lost her sight after suffering Uveal effusion syndrome, a rare condition that causes fluid to build at the back of the eyes.

Glued to her mobile: Jess later slipped on a striped shirt to make sure she didn't get too much sunShe's alleged to be locked in a secret feud with fellow I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! winner Scarlett Moffatt.

And Georgia Toffolo was taking her mind of things by enjoying a night out with her Made In Chelsea pal Ollie Locke on Monday, enjoying a low-key cinema date in London.

The reality star, 24, appeared to be in desperate need of a nicotine fix since she was spotted holding not one, but two cigarettes.

Puffing away: Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo was enjoying a night out with her Made In Chelsea pal Ollie Locke on Monday, where she was spotted smoking two cigarettes at once

Toff appeared a little bored as she waited for her pal on the street, looking chic in a classic grey wool coat.

The posh beauty completed her look with a Gucci bag and simple stud earrings.

The affable starlet wore her blonde bob down loose and opted for a slick of coral lipstick and rosy blusher to match.

Classic: Toff appeared bored as she waited for her pal on the street, looking chic in a classic grey wool coat for her cinema date

According to sources, Toff is said to have fallen out with Scarlett, who emerged victorious in the jungle the year before her .

Things are sad to have got heated when Toff was in Australia for spin-off series Extra Camp, which is hosted by Scarlett, 28.

'She flew out to Australia for Extra Camp but she was upset while she was there because of Scarletts attitude towards her,' The Sun reported. 'There were major issues on set and theres a lot of bad blood between them.

'Toff doesnt know what sparked it but she was made to feel very unwelcome and was upset by the way Scarlett treated her.'

Royal tiff? According to sources, Toff is said to have fallen out with Scarlett Moffatt, who emerged victorious on the jungle the year before her

Meanwhile another source close to Scarlett, rebutted the claims.

They said: 'Scarlett loves Toff and they have never had a falling out. For someone who herself was bullied at school this is very upsetting.'

MailOnline has contacted representatives for both the girls for comment.

Two weeks ago, MailOnline revealed Toff, wouldn't be crowning the champion of 2018 - which turned out to be Harry Redknapp.

Scarlett joined former Jungle King Joe Swash to do the honours instead.

Bad blood? Things are sad to have got heated when Toff was in Australia for spin-off series Extra Camp, which is hosted by Scarlett, 28

It was the first time in six years that the reigning champ didn't personally crown the latest winner.

An I'm A Celeb... insider told MailOnline: 'Toff is due to fly out to Australia this week, for a stint on Extra Camp. But she'll be flying back after that, to the UK.

'This means she won't be there to personally crown whoever wins this current season.'

A show source said: 'Since the show began in 2002 it's never been part of the main show to have the previous winner specifically come back to Australia and hand over to new King/Queen.

'It only happened the past two years because Scarlett Moffatt and Vicky Pattison were there as ITV2 presenters.

'And it only happened the two years previous to that because Carl Fogerty and Charlie Brooks were there as ITV2 guests.

Just can't wait to be king! Two weeks ago, MailOnline revealed Toff, wouldn't be crowning the champion of 2018 - which turned out to be Harry Redknapp

Meanwhile another source, close to Scarlett, rebutted the claims: 'Scarlett loves Toff and they have never had a falling out. For someone who herself was bullied at school this is very upsetting'

'ITV2 no longer have celebrity UK guests on its final few shows as they have the evicted celebs and friends and family on set instead - this has happened for quite a few years now.'

The last few years have seen the exiting victor on hand to pass over the jungle wreath that the new winner wears on their head when they win the show. As well as this, there's a totem-like staff that comes with the crown, also passed along by the ex-Jungle King or Queen.

The last time there was a break in this tradition was in 2012, when Dougie Poynter was not present to crown Charlie Brooks.

Since then, Charlie returned to crown Kian Egan, who came back to pass the torch to Carl 'Foggy' Fogarty, who was on hand to crown Vicky Pattison.

Confusion girls: 'Toff doesnt know what sparked it but she was made to feel very unwelcome and was upset by the way Scarlett treated her,' a source said

She then returned to crown Scarlett, who in turn crowned Toff last year.

Thus far, there have been 11 Jungle Kings and seven Jungle Queens, with women scooping the coveted crown for the last three years running until Harry won last weekend.

Both Vicky and Scarlett have acted as hosts for sister show, I'm A Celebrity... Extra Camp, readily on hand to pass over their crowns.

But prior to that, the exiting Kings and Queens flew over to Australia especially to mark the occasion.

Toff, meanwhile, has been hosting an I'm A Celeb... news bulletin segment on This Morning.She is in the midst of her sell-out world tour.

And treating herself with the profits, Lily Allen was seen hitting the shops for a spot of retail therapy in London's Notting Hill.

The 33-year-old Smile hitmaker rocked a typically quirky ensemble as she strolled around the trendy London district toting a huge shopping bag, with her ensemble coming in at a whopping 1620.

Stepping out: Lily Allen hit the shops for a spot of retail therapy in London's Notting Hill

Lily sported a pair of eye-catching Mara Hoffman Audre Pants, costing 350 that she teamed with Maharishi Bomber jacket, retailing at 390, which boasted a bold embroidered design on the back, as well as the breast pocket.

Her accessories were equally as pricey, with her Burberry scarf in EKD print coming in at 390, whilst the British designer's bum bag was even more at 490.

The star swept her peroxide locks off her make-up free face with a black head band as she stepped out of a gym wear shop.

Kooky: The 33-year-old Smile hitmaker rocked a typically quirky ensemble as she strolled around the trendy London district toting a huge shopping bag

Lily returned to her home turf on Monday evening for the UK leg of the No Shame tour, as she hit the stage at Camden's Roundhouse to belt out hits from her critically-acclaimed fourth album.

She slipped into a typically kooky stage ensemble comprising of a sexy black one-piece which showed off her svelte physique for the stage show which was branded brave, sad, and beautifully performed.

Lily has been giving fans an insight into her tour with a series of Instagram posts after taking the show to the States and around the UK before jetting off to Australia in February to round out the shows Down Under.

Looking good: Lily sported a pair of eye-catching Mara Hoffman Audre Pants, costing 350 that she teamed with Maharishi Bomber jacket, retailing at 390

Not cheap, but cheerful! Her accessories were equally as pricey, with her Burberry scarf in EKD print coming in at 390, whilst the British designer's bum bag was even more at 490

Blonde beauty: The star swept her peroxide locks off her make-up free face with a black head band as she stepped out of a gym wear shop

Chirpy: Lily was seen chatting away with a member of the public ahead of her show at Camden's Roundhouse on Tuesday night

Following her performance in Manchester, the Manchester Evening News penned in a gushing review: 'Allens No Shame tour is brave, sad, and beautifully performed: her vulnerability is its biggest asset'.

As she returned to her hometown, Lily ensured she was dropping jaws once again as she slipped into the racy black number which perfectly displayed her physique.

With a mesh insert around the plunging neckline, the bleach blonde beauty drew the eye to her cleavage while the stitching along the waist line and extending down the body helped show off her her taut stomach and streamlined hips.

Skin-tight and stunning: Lily returned to her home turf on Monday evening for the UK leg of the No Shame tour

Belting them out: She slipped into a typically kooky stage ensemble comprising of a sexy black one-piece which showed off her svelte physique for the stage show which was branded brave, sad, and beautifully performed

Lily has been taking the showbiz world by storm with her wildly successful return to the spotlight including her sell-out memoir My Thoughts Exactly, hit album and tour.

She admitted in a recent interview that she was 'running out of money' so felt obliged to write her book before confessing she is still locked in a shocking five album record deal with just a 25K price tag.

Lily has caused shockwaves with her book, in which she confesses to a host of explosive secrets including flings with Mike Skinner and Liam Gallagher.

Stunner: Lily has been giving fans an insight into her tour with a series of Instagram posts after taking the tour to the States and around the UK before jetting off to Australia in February to round out the shows Down Under

When asked why she opted to write a memoir, she said: 'Money and running out of it! Not seeing many avenues to make it anymore...

'And also, aside from that I get really bored of repeating myself and I think that this period, the last four years at least, have been not only really important formative years for myself but for my children as well...

'And theyre going to ask questions about what happened with Mummy and Daddy and Im not going to want to go over it.'

Secrets: Lily has caused shockwaves with her book, in which she confesses to a host of explosive secrets including flings with Mike Skinner and Liam Gallagher (pictured at her gig in Glasgow on Thursday)

In the book, Lily revealed she signed a record deal for an extremely humble 25,000 for a whopping five albums 14 years ago - and she is still locked in the contract.

She explained: 'Sign this record deal for 25,000 from my lawyer at the time In all seriousness I think theres a real issue with the legal firms that are giving advice to really young people...

'I signed that deal when I was 19 years old and Im still in it. It was a five-album deal for 25,000. And I paid for the advice to sign that deal and it was not good advice.'Advertisement

Love Island fans were left astonished on Monday evening, as Megan Barton Hanson displayed a dramatic new look during a festive reunion of the hit ITV2 dating show.

And the former exotic dancer, who is famed for her surgically-enhanced curves, was yet again showing off her new look as she hit the beach with her beau Wes Nelson during a recent holiday to Mauritius.

No doubt dropping jaws, the 24-year-old beauty displayed her stunning frame in a mismatched bikini while she frolicked in the surf before putting on a steamy display with Wes.

Wow! Megan Barton Hanson was yet again showing off her new look as she hit the beach with her beau Wes Nelson during a recent holiday to Mauritius

Megan looked nothing short of sensational for her jaunt along the beach as she wowed in a pink triangular top with black tie-side bottoms which featured a posterior-flashing thong style cut.

She wore her newly-bleached tresses in a scraped-back ponytail while showing a hint of stylishly placed dark roots which added an edgy feel to her beach look - particularly when paired with her fashionably thick brows.

Dainty additions made for the perfect finish to her stunning ensemble as she sported a series of chic earrings and a dainty bangle to round out the look and ensure she looked flawless.

Wes meanwhile was displaying his rippling abs in a pair of funky patterned shorts as he locked lips with his girlfriend before appreciatively gazing at her posterior on the shores.

Love Island Christmas reunion: Love Island fans were left astonished on Monday evening, as she displayed a dramatic new look during a festive reunion of the ITV2 hit dating show

Hot stuff: No doubt dropping jaws, the 24-year-old beauty displayed her stunning frame in a mismatched bikini while she frolicked in the surf before putting on a steamy display with Wes

Hot stuff! Megan looked nothing short of sensational for her jaunt along the beach as she wowed in a pink triangular top with black tie-side bottoms which featured a posterior-flashing thong style cut

Stunner: The happy couple held each other as they emerged from the waters following a relaxing dip

Admiration? Megan turned Wes' head as she stripped down to the two-piece - which left nothing to the imagination

Kicking back: Away from the water, Megan took a moment to relax and top up her tan while posing on a sunlounger

Cheeky! The happy couple certainly looked in the holiday spirit as they frolicked in the sand

Megan has spoken in the past about tweaking her looks with the aid of cosmetic surgery - and shortly before her holiday, she showed off yet another makeover. In scenes aired on Monday night's Christmas reunion, Megan showed off a super glam look, wearing platinum blonde hair extensions and a purple bodycon dress.

Megan and Wes, 20, kissed and cuddled throughout the reunion show yet fans were more obsessed with her looks.

So much so, that some fans didn't even recognise her. They wrote: 'Megan looks soooo different #loveisland.... Anybody else stare at Megan for at least 5 minutes trying to work out who she was? Lit didnt realise it was her. #loveislandchristmasreunion #LoveIsland... megan looked FITTTTT #LoveIsland.'

'love island reunion thoughts: megan is still unbelievably buff. please get georgia out of here.'

I've got this covered! Megan later slipped into a billowing black cover-up while walking along the shores

Saucy! Megan looked nothing short of sensational for her jaunt along the beach as she wowed in a pink triangular top with black tie-side bottoms which featured a posterior-flashing thong style cut

Cheeky! The couple could not keep their hands off one another as they stripped off on the shores

Happy days: While many of their co-stars have parted ways since the end of the show, Megan and Wes are stronger than ever as they threw themselves into a passionate display

Saucy: The stunner looked chic in her edgy two-piece while Wes certainly seemed enamoured

Changing looks: Despite being as stunning as she ever was, Megan's looks have certainly changed since leaving the villa - after bleaching her tresses and opting for a bold brow and more pared-back make-up

The couple that laughs together... Proving themselves to be more on track than ever, the couple appeared giddy as they hit the shores during their romantic outing

Readjusting: Ensuring her hair did not interrupt her time in the sun, she scraped her white tresses into a ponytail

Transformation: Megan has worked hard on her looks, with a leading cosmetic surgeon claiming the model has had as much as 40,000 worth of procedures before she went on Love Island

The former stripper revealed earlier this year that she's had 'loads' of work done to enhance her appearance  and she has plans to undergo more in the future.

Megan has revealed that she's had two boob jobs  her first when she was just 19 years old  rhinoplasty, her lips filled, and pearly white veneers on her teeth.

While it has been rumoured that the Essex girl has undergone 25,000 worth of cosmetic surgery, experts have estimated that the real price tag is 40,000.

Love Island bombshell: Megan previously compared cosmetic surgery to getting her hair done. Pictured left aged 12 and right in the Love Island villa

Her man: Megan and Wes, 20, kissed and cuddled throughout the episode after finding love on the show but people were more obsessed with her looks

Sexy: The former stripper revealed earlier this year that she's had 'loads' of work done to enhance her appearance  and she has plans to undergo more in the future

Golden girl: Megan showed off new hair extensions during the show which made her hard to recognise

Mane attraction: Megan has gone from shorter hair with roots to long silver locks

Shock: Viewers of the show took to social media to say they didn't recognise Megan

In an interview with The Mirror, back in August, she said of her several procedures, 'I have had loads. I dont think it should be a massive negative thing. If you want to do something to make you feel more comfortable and you can do it, then why not?...

'I didnt take these decisions trying to be a role model. I did it for me. Im not ashamed of it. Ive done what Ive done because it made me feel comfortable...

'Its like people getting their hair done to make them feel nice. Ill go get my lips done because it makes me feel better.'

Happy: While viewers were obsessed with Megan's look - she was more into her manShe's just hit back at fans who said she went too far with her weight loss goals and her bid to get a 'revenge body,' after her split with ex Jarrod Woodgate.

And on Tuesday, Keira Maguire defiantly flaunted her slimmed-down figure as she enjoyed a Pilates class in Melbourne.

The 32-year-old Bachelor In Paradise star took to her Instagram story to share a shot of herself in a crop top and tights, flashing her washboard abs.

Take that haters! Keira Maguire defiantly poses in a crop top and tights after fans were left 'worried' about her dramatic weight loss

Posing up for a mirror selfie in the Pilates studio, the blonde smiled for the snap.

Keira wore all-black workout gear and had her long locks out and over her shoulders in loose tousled curls.

She appeared makeup free and wore a black cap.

'It's not about what size I am, it's how I feel!' At the weekend, the reality TV star hit back at claims she had taken her health and fitness goals too far

At the weekend, the reality TV star hit back at claims she had taken her health and fitness goals too far.

In an Instagram Q&A on Saturday, the blonde beauty addressed the comments, saying: 'There is so much emphasis on my weight and weight in general. At first I entertained it, but now it's getting ridiculous.'

'The amount of people commenting on weight is alarming and not healthy,' she said.

'It's not about what size I am, it's how I feel. It's not a main focus, for me it's about being healthy and happy,' she added.

Keira went on to explain that she never intended to loose weight, saying: 'I just started being more active, walking heaps, eating healthy and looking after myself.'

Addressing concerns: In an Instagram Q&A, on Saturday, the blonde beauty addressed the comments saying, 'There is so much emphasis on my weight and weight in general... at first I entertained it... but now it's getting ridiculous...'

Fit, healthy and happy: Keira went on to explain that she never intended to loose weight, saying: 'I just started being more active, walking heaps, eating healthy and looking after myself'

On Friday, fans of the blonde shared their concerns that she had lost 'too much weight', after vowing to get a 'revenge body' after splitting with ex-boyfriend Jarrod Woodgate.

The Bachelor In Paradise star shared a photo of herself to Instagram on Friday which showed her looking noticeably slender in a crop top and high-waisted jeans.

'You look good but I'm worried. You've lost so much weight!' one fan commented.

Another follower asked: 'How tiny is she now?'

Sparking concern: On Friday, fans of the blonde shared their concerns that she had lost 'too much weight', after vowing to get a 'revenge body' after splitting with ex-boyfriend Jarrod Woodgate. Pictured L in 2016 and R, recently

'Almost didn't recognise you!' Many of Keira's Instagram followers remarked on her weight loss, with some expressing concern and others being more supportive

Case of the ex: Keira is pictured with Jarrod Woodgate

Similar comments included: 'You are half the size of me', 'Almost didn't recognise you', 'You are looking tiny' and 'so skinny'.

Meanwhile, one supportive fan observed that she was a 'healthy skinny', so there was no need for concern.

Earlier this month, Woman's Day reported that Keira's slimmed-down physique could be a sign she's appearing on Channel 10's Dancing with the Stars.She was one of three Miss Universe contestants seen discussing non-English speaking competitors in what was deemed a 'racist 'video last week.

And Miss Universe Australia Francesca Hung now believes her appearance in the Instagram Live video shared on Miss Colombia Valeria Morales's account, may have cost her the crown.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, the 24-year-old says she saw the top spot in the competition 'slip away'.

'I saw my position in the top few spots slip away': Francesca Hung (pictured) believes her involvement in 'racist' video discussing non-English speaking competitors may have cost her Miss Universe crown

The model, who finished in the top twenty of the beauty pageant, tells the paper: 'In the days after as the negative reaction continued I saw my position to be in the top few spots slip away.'

The beauty went on to say that she wishes she could undo the past, saying: 'It is very upsetting. If I could go back and change things, or take it back then I would'.

Last week, Francesca was seen alongside Miss USA Sarah Rose Summers and Miss Columbia Valeria Morales in a video filmed during rehearsals in Bangkok.

Video woes: The model was one of three Miss Universe contestants seen discussing non-English speaking competitors in what was deemed a 'racist 'video last week (pictured)

The trio were accused of being 'racist' and 'bigoted' after appearing to make fun of fellow contenders Miss Vietnam H'Hen Nie and Miss Cambodia, Rern Sinat for speaking poor English.

'Miss Cambodia is here and doesn't speak any English and not a single other person speaks her language,' Miss USA Sarah Rose Summers said in the livestream.

Miss Colombia, Valeria Morales, agreed with the claims.

The model, who finished in the top twenty of the beauty pageant, tells the paper: 'In the days after as the negative reaction continued I saw my position to be in the top few spots slip away'

Oh no: Francesca was seen alongside Miss USA Sarah Rose Summers (right) in a video filmed during rehearsals in Bangkok. The trio were accused of being 'racist' and 'bigoted' after appearing to make fun of fellow contenders for speaking poor English

'Could you imagine? Like Francesca said, that would be so isolating and I said yes, and I mean, just confusing all the time,' Miss USA continued.

Miss Australia added to the conversation, by nodding and saying: 'It would be really hard'.

The remarks continued in another part of the livestream when the contestants discussed Miss Vietnam's limited English.

Courting controversy: Also in the clip was Miss Columbia Valeria Morales (pictured)

Talk: The women referenced the language skills of other contestants including Miss Vietnam H'Hen Nie (pictured)

Comments: The English skills of Miss Cambodia, Rern Sinat (pictured) were also questioned

'Miss Vietnam... she's so cute, and she pretends to know so much English and then you ask her a question after having a whole conversation with her and she goes (nods),' Miss USA said.

After the video garnered widespread criticism, as well as accusations of bullying and racism, Francesca told The Daily Telegraph that her comments were misunderstood.

'I'm so upset the that this situation has been misconstrued like this,' she began.

The beauty went on to say that she wishes she could undo the past, saying: 'It is very upsetting. If I could go back and change things, or take it back then I would'

'We were merely saying it must be even more difficult at times not to have a single other delegate able to speak [Cambodian language Khumer].

The Australian model added: 'Which in fact, makes Nat (Miss Cambodia) an even stronger contender.'

Miss USA, Sarah Rose Summers, has since publicly apologised for the comments.Bethenny Frankel of RHONY almost died over the weekend, she revealed on Tuesday.

The 48-year-old reality TV icon said she had an extremely allergic reaction after consuming fish and she had to be rushed to a hospital in Massachusetts to save her life.

'I have a rare fish allergy. Sunday, I had soup, itched & was unconscious for 15 mins then to ER & ICU for 2 days w BP of 60/40,' Frankel tweeted.

Scary: Bethenny Frankel of RHONY almost died over the weekend, she revealed on Tuesday. The 48-year-old reality TV icon said she had an extremely allergic reaction after consuming fish and she had to be rushed to a hospital in Massachusetts to save her life; seen in October

Her story: 'I have a rare fish allergy. Sunday, I had soup, itched & was unconscious for 15 mins then to ER & ICU for 2 days w BP of 60/40,' Frankel tweeted

It's hard on her: She also tweeted to a fan that the allergy is 'very unusual & confusing' so she keeps it to herself as it's 'hard to describe'

'I couldn't talk, see, thought I had a stroke & dying & told if 5 mins later I'd be dead. 911 & EPI saved me. I'll never not carry an #epipen.'

She also tweeted to a fan that the allergy is 'very unusual & confusing' so she keeps it to herself as it's 'hard to describe.'

Frankel thanked Newton Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts by tagging them on Twitter and writing, 'xo.'

The Blast obtained the dispatch audio for a medical response after a 911 call.

The call was placed on Sunday afternoon in Massachusetts.

Grateful: Frankel thanked Newton Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts by tagging them on Twitter and writing, 'xo'

According to the audio, officials noted that she was suffering from a fish allergy, and was 'losing consciousness.' It was added she had very low blood pressure.

WebMd says that the symptoms for a fish allergy are hives or a skin rash, nausea, stomach cramps, indigestion, vomiting and/or diarrhea, stuffy or runny nose and/or sneezing, headaches, asthma and - less common - anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening reaction that impairs breathing and can cause the body to go into shock.

Fish is one of eight allergens with specific labeling requirements under the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004.

At work: Here the brunette is seen with Dorinda Medley and Harry Dubin on an episode of RHONY

Under that law, manufacturers of packaged food products sold in the U.S. and containing fish or a fish product as an ingredient must identify on the ingredient label, in clear language, the specific type of fish used.

This is not the first time Bethenny has had a fish scare.

During a season 10 episode of RHONY she suffered an allergic reaction when in Cartagena, Colombia.

Mogul: In addition to starring on RHONY she also runs Skinnygirl; seen here with Tinsley Mortimer and Sonja Morgan in January

'Is there fish in that soup? Frankel feasked during her dinner. 'Im itching. My throat is itching. I thought it was chicken, f***.'

The star then vomitted.

'Its the worst feeling, your throat gets itchy, you feel like youre going to throw up,' she said. 'It's like poison inside of you.'

Earlier this year Frankel suffered a major loss when her longtime friend and on/off boyfriend Dennis Shields died.She's been facing some hardships after pulling the plug on her engagement to ex John Noble.

But Vicky Pattison diverted her attention to some festive fun as she mimicked Victoria Beckham's iconic carrier bag shoot for Heat magazine's new Stars Dress Up feature.

The former Geordie Shore star, 31, followed in the footsteps of the fashion designer's trendsetting ways as she sprawled out of a huge shopping bag, emblazoned with her full name.

Quirky: Vicky Pattison mimicked Victoria Beckham's iconic carrier bag shoot for Heat magazine's new Stars Dress Up feature

Posed with a brown chain-strap satchel bag in her hands, the TV personality slipped into a clingy nude bodysuit, with a photographer taking a snap above her.

Spice Girls star Victoria's shoot marked her decade-long run in the fashion industry with a recreation of her iconic bag shoot with Marc Jacobs.

Delighted to recreate the image, Vicky gushed: 'This has been a dream come true. I bought my first-ever Victoria Beckham dress five years ago with the hopes of slimming into it.

'It was 3,000 and, spoiler alert, I never slimmed into it. But I bought another one and its beautiful. Shes very talented.

'Ive done such a good job, maybe Geri [Horner] and Baby [Emma Bunton] will call and be like, Listen, Vicky Bs not into it, whats Vicky P saying? I dont know if youve heard, but Ive got pretty free summer. Sign us up! Ill tour with the Spice Girls  just give a mic and turn it off."

'The minute I got older and realised VB was sassy, fashionable and shagging David Beckham, I wanted to be her!', she cheekily added.

Moving on: The former Geordie Shore star, 30, been facing some hardships after pulling the plug on her engagement to ex John Noble

Shock: Vicky's striking shoot comes after she announced that she is set to document her split from ex John on Vicky Pattison: The Break Up

Vicky's striking shoot comes after she announced that she is set to document her split from ex John on Vicky Pattison: The Break Up.

Last month, Vicky split from her fiance after pictures of him getting up close and personal with a number of mystery women in Dubai emerged.

The couple, who had been together for two years, were due to be married next year and already signed up to film Vicky and John Said Yes for TLC.

The fly-on-the-wall style show was said to be planning on covering all aspects of their nuptials, from food tasting to dress shopping and what would have been their stag and hen parties.

Out now: Heats Stars Dress Up feature appears in the special Christmas Double Issue, on sale on Tuesday

And now Vicky has signed on for the one-off show which follows her in the aftermath of the split as she tries to understand and come to terms with what's happened and attempts to move on.

Speaking about her new show, the I'm A Celeb star admitted it wasn't an easy decision to make but wants her fans to see the truth.

She said: 'I had already started filming a wedding special for TLC and then everything changed. It wasnt an easy decision but when I commit, I commit 100% and I felt it important to continue to show the realities of my life at that tough time.

'I want people to see the real me and my real emotions, so they can understand the truth behind the headlines. Yes, I had my heart broken but there are more emotions to it and people for the first time will get to see that.'

Heats Stars Dress Up feature appears in the special Christmas Double Issue, on sale on Tuesday.Amber Heard, 32, wasn't afraid to show a little skin Monday night for her appearance on a late night talk show.

The Aquaman actress was spotted out in Beverly Hills in a stunning suit that flashed her slinky black bra after filming an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Heard joked on the show that she might have to rush off set early because her sister was due to give birth at any moment.

Showing some skin: Amber Heard stepped out without a shirt on under a black suit after her appearance on a late night talk show before heading to the hospital for the birth of her nephew while in Los Angeles on Monday

Amber was a bit distracted during her appearance as she explained to Corden that she was 'nervous as hell' as her sister was due to go in labor at any point.

'I'm looking at my phone every five seconds waiting for the call,' she said, warning: 'I might have to leave the show pretty promptly.'

'Let's get your priorities right,' James joked. 'With all due respect, she's having a baby ... you've got a movie to promote. I think the baby would understand.'

The star made it out of the show in the nick of time as her sister went into labor later that night.

Big news! Amber took to Twitter after the show to share with fans that she was heading to the hospital because her sister was in labor

'Love how I spent the evening talking about @aquamanmovie and how my baby sis is about to pop any second @latelateshow tonight,' she Tweeted. 'And now Im rushing to the hospital to watch my nephew come into the world!'

After the show the blonde beauty was spotted out in LA in the ensemble that she wore to sit down with Corden.

The leggy blonde went sans shirt under a tailored black velvet suit with printed golden animals.

So chic: The 32-year-old strutted her stuff in a tailored black velvet suit and no shirt to promote Aquaman on The Late Late Show

Amber flashed some skin nearly down to her naval and sported a thin black bralette under the suit.

A cluster of tangled gold chains hung over the star's decolletage.

Her golden locks were slicked back in a sleek hair do and she rocked a pop of color with a bold matte red lipstick.

Backstage: The star's new superhero flick with Jason Momoa hits theaters on Friday

Presumably the most fashionable person in the maternity ward, the star paired the look with simple black pumps and a black leather purse.

Armie Hammer joined the actress on the CBS talk show.

Amber told Corden and Hammer that she hopes to be 'the cool aunt,' referring to new flick Aquaman: 'Being a superhero I hope will help with the nephew thing.'

Not a regular aunt: Amber said she wants to be the 'cool aunt' for her new nephew

Trio: Actor Armie Hammer was also on set for the show

Aquaman, the actresses new superhero flick with Jason Momoa, hits theaters Friday.

Also on the show last night was 2018's breakout star, Cardi B.

Bartier played a surprise show for senior citizens after crashing an SUV on Carpool Karaoke.

Carpool Karaoke: Cardi B got a driving lesson from Corden during his famed Carpool Karaoke skit

Whoops: Turns out Cardi can't drive and crashed into a series of cones and flags

The 26-year-old rapper was James Corden's latest guest on his mobile singing series as he made her take a driving lesson after learning she could not drive despite owning a fleet of luxury cars including a Bentley, Maybach and two Lamborghinis.

After taking off her super-high heels, Cardi's driving proved disastrous, with her hitting almost all the cones and flags and crying: 'I hit something!'

They soon decided to have an even more hilarious crash as they dropped into the Culver City Senior Center event after Cardi admitted never playing to older crowds.Emily Blunt and John Krasinski don the cover of the latest The Hollywood Reporter.

And the famous pair reveal how they've managed to become Hollywood's 'couple of the year' after the smash success of A Quiet Place, in which Krasinski was surprised his wife agreed to star in alongside him.

'It was like she was proposing to me,' he said about Blunt signing on to the horror film. 'It was one of the greatest moments in my career. I screamed out, "Yes!"'

The It couple:Emily Blunt and John Krasinski don the cover of the latest The Hollywood Reporter

And Blunt knew the opportunity was one she couldn't miss, even if she had to defy her strict work schedule discipline.

'I have a minimum of a five-month rule between projects, other than A Quiet Place,' she explained. 'I broke the rule for him and him alone.'

At first, Krasinski thought it was better to work on the project alone.

'I decided the safest thing to do was just have this experience on my own,' he began.

Opening up: The famous pair reveal how they've managed to become Hollywood's 'couple of the year' after the smash success of A Quiet Place, in which Krasinski was surprised his wife agreed to star in alongside him

Proposal: 'It was like she was proposing to me,' he said about Blunt signing on to the horror film. 'It was one of the greatest moments in my career. I screamed out, "Yes!"'

'I didn't want this to be the one job that she was like, "Listen, I don't know if I love this, but I love you, so I'll do it."'

And even though Blunt was about to embark on the highly anticipated Mary Poppins Returns, the actress fell in love with the role.

'I was about to go into this enormous project. I was like, "I can't even."'

Ruler breaker: 'I have a minimum of a five-month rule between projects, other than A Quiet Place,' she explained. 'I broke the rule for him and him alone'

Can't miss out: Even though Blunt was about to embark on the highly anticipated Mary Poppins Returns, the actress fell in love with the role

'I couldn't imagine the thought of letting someone else play the part,' she said after reading the script.

As parents to daughters Hazel, four, and Violet, two, Blunt and Krasinki were up for the challenge of playing a fearless family.

'I didn't want it to be like, "Oh, how adorable. They're working together,"' Blunt explained.

Only have eyes for you: 'I couldn't imagine the thought of letting someone else play the part,' she said after reading the script

'It was the only idea that had come our way that seemed bigger than our marriage. The narrative of our marriage was not going to overwhelm this movie and this amazing opportunity for him as a director, as a filmmaker, as a writer.

'I knew this was a big swing for him,' she added.

Their movie-making partnership paid off as A Quiet Place went to earn $341 million and has been mentioned for Oscar consideration.She is one of the most successful stars in the world, having made the smooth transition from modelling to acting.

And Uma Thurman showed off her supermodel prowess as she stunned for LOVE Magazine's #movingLOVE format for December.

The actress, 48, looks undeniably edgy and cool as she strikes a series of fierce poses while donning Hedi Slimane's First Collection for Celine.

Striking: Uma Thurman, 48, showed off her supermodel prowess as she stunned for LOVE Magazine's #movingLOVE format for December

Sitting on a stool, Uma looks incredible as she models erstwhile male dress codes in a sensational suit, while her short blonde locks fall slightly in her face.

Boasting sensational vintage style directing, the clip sees a collage of Uma from varying angles.

Adding another dimension to the slick video, Uma's beauty is also enhanced in black and white.

The #movingLOVE project is a collaboration between LOVEs editor in chief Katie Grand, directors Call This Number, who shot the films in London and New York using vintage analogue video equipment. world-renowned make-up artist Pat McGrath and hair stylist Syd Hayes.

I knew it had to be done on my terms': Speaking to the magazine in October, the Kill Bill actress discussed going public with the abuse at the hands of Quentin Tarantino

Speaking to the magazine in October, the Kill Bill actress discussed going public with the abuse at the hands of Quentin Tarantino and disgraced movie mogul, Harvey Weinstein.

'Just the whole thing was a pain in the a**. I knew it had to be done on my terms. But it was difficult to have people act like this was some great big shock when what had happened was relatively common knowledge.

'All my friends knew. It was nothing I had ever hidden. And all of a sudden, in this climate, people cared. I feel that women have a right to address their own experiences on their own terms, that was what it was about,' she stated.

Uma's new film The House That Jack Built, a horror-comedy from director Lars Von Trier, came out on December 14 and is available for streaming and is also screening in select theatres.

Thurman has signed up to star in a series for Netflix about a woman who has a heart transplant and the starts to display different character traits.

Star: Uma's new film The House That Jack Built, a horror-comedy from director Lars Von Trier, came out on December 14

Busy: Uma has also signed up for Netflix's Chambers, which is set to debut some time in 2019 and co-stars Scandal's Tony Goldwyn

Chambers is set to debut some time in 2019 and co-stars Scandal's Tony Goldwyn.

She's also filmed the comedy The War With Grandpa with Robert de Niro and Christopher Walken. The film does not yet have a North American distributor.

On the personal front, Uma is mum to three children - Maya, 20, and Levon 16 - who she shares with her ex-husband of seven years, Ethan Hawke.

Uma is also mother to six-year-old Luna with ex-fiance Arpad BussonAmy Childs, 28, has shown her support for the company her former best friend is claimed to have 'ripped off'.

Sam Faiers, 27, has come under fire in recent days by fans after being accused of copying designs by a company called Forever Sewing, and using them for her new children's clothing brand, My Little Darlin.

Now Amy has made it clear who she sides with in the row, by advertising clothing by Forever Sewing in an Instagram post on Tuesday.

No longer close: Amy Childs, 28, has shown her support for the company her former best friend Sam Faiers is accused of having 'ripped off' (pictured in 2011)

The former TOWIE star shared a picture of her daughter Polly wearing a personalised pink tracksuit, tagging @foreversewingofficial in the caption with a heart emoji.

Whilst the pair used to be close friends, Sam announced back in 2011 that they were no longer on good terms, as she claimed that Amy had not been there for her.

Sam wrote in her Star magazine column: 'When she was in Celebrity Big Brother I gave her all the support in the world  I put her in my column and tweeted about her constantly. But when the last series of TOWIE started I didn't even get a text or a phone call. I feel very let down,' Sam said.

She added: 'TOWIE was a massive thing for both of us, and it would only take one phone call to show we're still friends. We're just not close any more and it's sad.'

Pledging allegiance: The former TOWIE star shared a picture of her daughter Polly wearing a personalised pink tracksuit, tagging @foreversewingofficial in the caption with a heart emoji

Meanwhile, Sam has not been getting involved in the drama, and has instead been sharing videos of her family landing in 'paradise' by seaplane, where they are celebrating Paul's mother Gaynor's 60th birthday.

Sam has jetted off to the Maldives with her family, where they will be spending Christmas, ahead of the launch of her new children's clothing brand, My Little Darlin.

Sam told Closer magazine: 'This is my first Christmas going away somewhere. Billie and I have spent every festive period for the last 27 years together, so this will be our first one apart.

'It's my mother-in-law Gaynor's 60th around Christmas, my son Paul's third birthday and I'm turning 28, so we thought, "let's go away".'

'We've got so much to celebrate at this time of year, why not do it on one big holiday?'

Defiant: Sam took to Instagram to boast about flying by seaplane to 'paradise'... as viewers threatened to boycott her show over company in design row (stock snap)

Missing the point: Sam shared videos of her arrival in the Maldives on Instagram on Tuesday despite upsetting her legions of fans

Pride and joy: Sam also shared a snap of her son Paul, swimming in the water on her social media page

The day before, Sam was accused of copying the designs from a company called Forever Sewing after accepting freebies from them for two years.

She shared a preview for one of the designs on the her brand's Instagram page and the company were horrified to discover it was near identical to their own.

Twitter went wild with people who accused her of 'shamelessly' copying the small family run business's designs.

Spot the difference: Sam Faiers has been accused of RIPPING OFF small business by copying their designs by 'disgusted' fans - (left) her new children's range, (right) the clothing brand she has been receiving freebies from for two years

Controversy: Sam shared this picture of her two children wearing personalised clothing from her new clothing venture, which is almost identical to the brand that baby Paul has been wearing over the last two years and was littered with comments from angry fans who compared the two brands

'Stressed, angry and upset': Forever Sewing wrote about feeling betrayed by Sam after learning that she has a new clothing line which is so similar to theirs - this post has since been deleted

Giving thanks: While their previous post was deleted, Forever Sewing shared this thankful post to their Instagram page

Hitting back: Sam later took to Instagram stories to attempt to justify her decision

Sam had even teased doing a collaboration with the brand before going it alone.

Her brand's page has 11.2k followers already and she was thought to be planning to launch in one week.

But the comments section has been littered with angry posts from fans, which Sam has been deleting.

The company has taken to Facebook to voice their feelings of betrayal over Sam's actions after learning that her new children's clothing line is remarkably similar to their own.

But Sam remained defiant and posted a message which denied she had done so and even accused the company of slandering her.

In a show of defiance and failing to apologise, she shared a video of her seaplane landing, writing:

'Seaplane to our Maldives island. It's sooo surreal.'

Then another one which read: 'Landed in paradise.'

Shocked: Fans have been sharing comparisons between the Forever Sewing and My Little Darlin range

Freebies! MailOnline has seen countless messages exchanged between Sam and the company, in which she lists an extensive amount of freebies she wants from them (pictured, right, Paul jr, three, in Forever Sewing's original design)They announced their separation in December of 2017.

And on Tuesday, Theresa Caputo and her ex Larry Caputo are officially divorced, according to People.

The Long island Medium star, 52, told the outlet: 'Larry and I have finalized our divorce. We shared 28 wonderful years together and have two beautiful children, Larry Jr. and Victoria.'

The way they were: Theresa Caputo and her ex Larry Caputo are officially divorced, according to People; pictured

Adding: 'We will continue to support each other and remain friends.'

Theresa and Larry were married for 28 years before they decided to legally separate in December of 2017.

Four months following their separation, Theresa filed for divorce on April 16, People reports.

At the time, the TV star had told Extra that while she was in New York state Larry was living in Los Angeles.

Happier times: The Long island Medium star, 52, told the outlet: 'Larry and I have finalized our divorce. We shared 28 wonderful years together and have two beautiful children, Larry Jr. and Victoria;' pictured September 23, 2014 in NYC

She had said that they were taking it 'day by day' with a reconciliation not out of the question.

In July, TMZ revealed that Larry had already started dating; he was linked to Connie Stauddy of Decatur, Alabama.

The outlet had revealed at the time he met Connie because she had reached out for a reading with Theresa.

Moving forward: Four months following their separation, Theresa filed for divorce on April 16, People reports; seen September 15 in the NYC neighborhood of Soho

Theresa stars on the TLC reality show Long Island Medium.

She has been on the show since 2011; the self-professed medium lives and works on Long Island primarily.

The last episode of Long Island Medium aired on November 26; season 13 premiered on October 8.Angelina Jolie seemed to take a dig at politicians on Tuesday.

The Oscar-winning actress wrote an article for The Economist to address the growing refugee crisis around the globe.

And the estranged wife of Brad Pitt - who turned 55-years-old on Tuesday - seemed to send a warning when she wrote, 'In 2019 we should not leave the debate to those who would exploit public anxiety for political advantage.'

Her side: Angelina Jolie seemed to take a dig at politicians on Tuesday. The Oscar-winning actress wrote an article for The Economist to address the growing refugee crisis around the globe. Seen in January in Brussels

Things need to change: And the estranged wife of Brad Pitt seemed to send a warning when she wrote, 'In 2019 we should not leave the debate to those who would exploit public anxiety for political advantage.' Seen in October in Peru

President Donald Trump has been scaring the US public about 'terrorists' that could come from Mexico into the US in an effort to build his wall. Her message seems to be directed at Trump's agenda.

But the LA native made it clear the refugee crisis is global - with the worst in Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia - as she did not focus on the problems in the US.

Jolie, who shared six children with Pitt, is a special envoy of the UNHCR.

The issue: The cover of The Economist asked what the world would be like in 2019

The Maleficent star began her note, 'The number of refugees worldwide has climbed for six consecutive years. Some 68m people are now displaced by violence and persecutionequal to a fifth of the population of America, nearly half that of Russia and more than the entire population of Britain.'

The First They Killed My Father actress added, 'At the same time, humanitarian support is chronically underfunded.

'As of September 2018 the United Nations refugee agency, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and its partners had received just 31% of the funds they needed to provide basic assistance to millions of Syrian refugees and displaced people.

At work: The star met with a boy Falak, eight, in Iraq in June. Falak has a gene disorder and PTSD, she spoke to Jolie about seeing a man killed in front of her during the ISIS occupation of the city

She goes to the most difficult places: Here Jolie is seen speaking at a news conference in the Domiz refugee camp in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region in May

'The same dire situation exists elsewhere too, with less than half the amount of humanitarian funds needed in the vast majority of conflict-affected countries. If nothing is done, this trend of growing numbers and scarce resources will continue, with severe consequences, in 2019.'

Jolie then said this is not a sustainable situation.

'The answer does not lie in countries adopting harsh unilateral measures that target refugees and that run counter to humanitarian values and responsibilities. That will only inflame the problem.'

And Angelina said the answer is in ending war.

'Instead, we must reduce the number of displaced people worldwide by preventing and solving the conflicts that drive them from their homes. We must rally people and countries to act together based on common interests and universal aspirations for security, dignity and equality.

Talking it out: At Fighting Stigma through Film. PSVI Co-Founder and UNHCR Special Envoy Jolie meets Sophie, Countess of Wessex as she attends Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict (PSVI), at the launch of the PSVI film festival in November

Meetings: Here Jeremy Hunt shared this image with the actress

'This does not have to come at the expense of our safety and economic well-being at home, but is an essential requirement when facing problems of international dimensions.'

She said rights, funding and action are needed.

'Lets look at the facts. First, 85% of all refugees live in low- and middle-income countries.

'Most people who are displaced by violence remain within the borders of their own countries.

'Those who are forced out tend to stay as close as they can to home, in neighbouring nations.

'Less than 1% of all refugees are resettled, including in Western countries. The worlds poorer countries are bearing the brunt of the burden.

'We cannot assume that they will continue to do this irrespective of policies in wealthier nations. If the number of refugees grows, as it probably will in 2019, so too will the tension this imbalance causes unless we do a better job of sharing responsibility.'

Her dashing sons: Being flanked by Maddox Jolie-Pitt and Pax Jolie-Pitt Angelina Jolie in 2017

The Kung Fun Panda star then said for all the generosity of taxpayers in the West and all the lives that are saved by this 'the billions of dollars in humanitarian aid provided annually do not come close to meeting the needs of 68m forcibly displaced people, let alone if the numbers keep growing.'

And her third point was 'as many as two-thirds of all the refugees under the UNHCRs mandate come from just five countries: Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia.

'Peace in any one of them would create the conditions for people to return home, and reduce the numbers of refugees worldwide by millions.

'In democracies we, as voters, should challenge our politicians to answer how their policies address the roots of the problem.

She ended with a feeling of hope. 'Weve managed to bring the numbers down before. When I first started working with the UNHCR in 2001, the number of refugees worldwide was falling.

'One of my first missions was to accompany returning Cambodian refugees. I met some of the many people who returned to their homes after the end of the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. Look further back in history, and after the second world war millions of refugees were resettled.

Her last love: Jolie with her estranged husband Brad Pitt at their last public appearance together in 2015 in Hollywood

'This strategy will take vision and persistence and strength. Not the parody of strength involved in tough talk against refugees, but the resolve, will and diplomatic skill needed to negotiate peace settlements, stabilise insecure countries and uphold the rule of law.

'A refugee is a man, woman or child at their most vulnerable: forced from their home, living without the protection of their state, and in many cases without the bare means of survival. It is the human condition that tests our belief that all human beings have equal rights and deserve protection.'

She also noted the climate is not the best, but if we all come together it can happen.

'We live in divisive times. However, history also shows our ability to unite, overcome a global crisis and renew our sense of purpose and community with other nations. That is the greatest strength of an open society.

'In 2019 we should not leave the debate to those who would exploit public anxiety for political advantage. We are being tested today. Our response will be the measure of our humanity.'She's still out in Barbados with Simon Cowell and their son Eric, for their annual pre-Christmas jaunt in the sun.

And Lauren Silverman turned heads as she headed to the beach on the Caribbean island in a one-shoulder black swimsuit, with little Eric, four, on Tuesday.

The mother-of-two, 41, looked stunning in the one-piece which she accessorised with a large pair of sunglasses and delicate gold earrings, which she teamed with a watch, bracelet and choker.

Chic: Lauren Silverman turned heads as she headed to the beach in a one shoulder black swimsuit on Tuesday

Beach day: She's still out in Barbados with Simon Cowell and their son Eric, for their annual pre-Christmas jaunt in the sun

Lauren swept her brunette tresses back into a loose bun, so as not to get her mane wet.

She later covered up on the shore in a bright pink towel, ensuring Eric had his own to dry off with.

Before hitting the shore, Eric was seen leaping from the jetty and splashing around in the clear waters.

Lauren is also mum to son Adam, 12, from her previous relationship and has been dating music mogul Simon, 59, for six years.

Chill out time! The mother-of-two, 41, looked stunning in the one-piece which she accessorised with a large pair of sunglasses and delicate gold earrings, which she teamed with a watch, bracelet and choker

Simple: The mother-of-two, 41, looked stunning in the one-piece

Mum of two: Lauren swept her brunette tresses back into a loose bun, so as not to get her mane wet

Hot mama: Lauren is mum to Eric, four, and has a 12 year-old son, Adam, from a previous relationship

Wrapping things up: She later covered up on the shore in a bright pink towel, ensuring Eric had his own to dry off with

Tired out? Lauren soaked up some rays after swimming and frolicking on the beach with Eric

He didn't appear to be with the pair during their latest beach jaunt after having to delay his arrival due to his commitments on The X Factor.

Later, Lauren changed into little denim shorts and a stripy blue and white top.

She walked along the surf with Eric, who wore bright orange shorts and a life jacket.

Lauren lifted an excitable Eric into a dingy and supervised as he went for a ride on the waves.

Happiness: Lauren has been dating the music mogul - and Eric's dad - for six years

Fun in the son: Before hitting the shore, Eric was seen leaping from the jetty and splashing around in the clear waters

Heir: Simon revealed he is hoping son Eric will take over his music empire as he gets older

Getaway: Simon and Lauren welcomed son Eric in February 2014. They named him after Simon's late father, who died in 1999

Toned: The brunette showed off her trim legs as she walked along the beach

Mini me: Meanwhile her son Eric, four, splashed around in his swimming shorts and goggles as part of the family's Christmas getaway

A toast: Lauren enjoyed a glass of fizz as she reclined by the ocean

Playtime: Eric enjoyed frolicking on the sand

She then showed off her own athleticism by taking to a paddle board and rowing it around the chopping waters, as the sun began to dip below the horizon.

This marked the end of another fun-filled day in the tropics for the mother and son.

The family's appearance out in Barbados comes after Simon revealed he is hoping son Eric will take over his music empire as he gets older.

Fans were delighted to see Eric appear on the judging panel on The X Factor final earlier this month, with Simon joking during an interview on This Morning: 'I'm getting him ready to do my job.'

In memory: Simon and Lauren welcomed son Eric in February 2014

Cute: They named Eric after Simon's late father, who died in 1999

Later: Lauren changed into little denim shorts and a stripy blue and white top

Ready to go: Eric wore bright orange shorts and a life jacket

In we go: Lauren lifted an excitable Eric into a dingy and supervised as he went for a ride on the waves

Water babe: She then showed off her own athleticism by taking to a paddle board

Strolling: Eric looked raring to go as they headed to the shore

Simon also touched on whether he had 'left it too late' to become a father - he welcomed son Eric when he was aged 55 - and admitted he no longer dwells on that thought.

'If you have asked me earlier I would have said I might have left it a little too late,' said Simon, before quickly adding: 'Whatever happens happens.'

He and Lauren welcomed son Eric in February 2014. They named him after Simon's late father, who died in 1999.

Life's a beach: Simon also touched on whether he had 'left it too late' to become a father

Never too late: Simon welcomed son Eric when he was aged 55 - and admitted he no longer dwells on that thought

Out at sea: Lauren looked like a natural on the waves

Pensive: 'If you have asked me earlier I would have said I might have left it a little too late,' said Simon, before quickly adding, 'Whatever happens happens'

Action gal: Lauren was seen rowing around the chopping waters, as the sun began to dip below the horizonBehati Prinsloo was back to work on Monday following her triumphant return to the Victoria's Secret catwalk last month.

The model and mother-of-two looked fabulous as she posed for a photoshoot in Malibu showing off a variety of cute outfits.

The 30-year-old South African star - who is married to Maroon 5 lead man Adam Levine - was all smiles in a white tank and high-waist cropped jeans with tie belt.

Natural beauty: Behati Prinsloo looked gorgeous on the beach in Malibu on Monday

Another outfit had Behati in some cropped black jeans, a lace-trim camisole and a cream striped blazer.

The 5ft 11in beauty showed off a natural makeup look and her long lightened locks fell loose in a center parting.

Behati is mom to Dusty Rose, two, and Gio Grace, 10 months, with her husband of four years.

Getting to a point where she felt secure back in front of the camera didn't come easy; if fact it took a huge commitment that paid back in more ways than one.

'I worked out a lot. I was really focused on building my body back,' she revealed in an interview with ET. 'After the kids, you almost feel stronger. You want to do more, you want to prove more.'

Beach babe: The 30-year-old model changed into some cropped black jeans and a camisole and layered on a striped cream blazer

Checking out the view: The Victoria's Secret stunner sat sideways in a white chair as she gazed off into the horizon

'You're so cool': Behati showed off her tattoos in an Instagram she posted on Monday from the Victoria's Secret show

She added: 'And I did it really slowly. I waited, like, four months after I had Gio and slowly started working out again. I was breastfeeding, which helped a lot, and Im just so proud of where I am today and how I feel and that I have two girls at home. I could cry.'

The model also gushed about the encouragement she got at home from her husband Adam, 39.

'He's such a workout junkie, she confessed. 'Hes so full of energy. He hypes me up... He's the best.'

The couple have been married since July 2014.

Angelic: The 30-year old model returned to the Victoria's Secret runway in November after a two year hiatus to start a family with husband Adam Levine

Confession: 'I worked out a lot. I was really focused on building my body back,' the Namibian model revealed in an interview with ETKatie Holmes turned 40-years-old on Tuesday.

And to celebrate the Dawson's Creek vet shared a photo to Instagram where she was standing in front of a painting with angel wings.

The ex Mrs Tom Cruise will likely be celebrating the big day with her daughter Suri Cruise in NYC.

Heavenly: Katie Holmes turned 40-years-old on Tuesday. And to celebrate the Dawson's Creek vet shared a photo to Instagram where she was standing in front of a painting with angel wings

The Batman Begins star had on a green and blue top with dark slacks and sneakers on.

It seemed as if she did not have makeup on and her hair was pulled back.

And the siren - who is dating Oscar-winning Ray actor Jamie Foxx - looked up to the heavens as she knelt down.

Earlier the cover girl shared an image of a plate of cupcakes, her favorite treat.

She credited the upscale bakery Sprinkles for the goodies. On the plate were also several gingerbread man cookies.

Holmes was last seen in NYC on Monday. The actress looked effortlessly chic in a houndstooth coat and cropped denim as she carried a large Fendi tote bag as she went Christmas shopping for daughter Suri Cruise.

Street style: Holmes was spotted out and about in NYC on Monday. The 39-year-old actress looked effortlessly chic in a houndstooth coat and cropped denim as she carried a large Fendi tote bag

Holmes, who appeared makeup free, teamed her patterned outerwear with black ballet flats and cat eye sunglasses.

The Dawson's Creek vet was seen climbing out of a yellow cab with coffee in hand before crossing a busy Big Apple intersection.

Katie recently returned from New Orleans where she was filming her latest movie, The Secret based on the iconic self-help book by Rhonda Byrne.

Holmes' 40th birthday plans are unclear, but rumor has it that she's busy planning a Paris wedding with boyfriend Jamie Foxx.

According to Radar Online, the couple are planning to tie the knot next year.

'Paris is the city where they decided to go public with their romance after years of sneaking around,' a source told the media outlet.

Going to the chapel: Holmes' 40th birthday plans are unclear, but rumor has it that she's busy planning a Paris wedding with boyfriend Jamie Foxx. According to Radar Online , the couple are planning to tie the knot next year

'Jamie's been a handful ever since they started secretly dating in 2013  but Katie's convinced him to settle down, and they're ready to make it official.'

Katie, who split from Cruise back in 2012, is aiming for a winter wedding.

And after the couple say 'I do,' Foxx has ever intention of adopting Holmes' daughter Suri, age 12.

'Jamie will adopt Suri when the time is right, but not before they've said their vows,' the insider claimed. 'They know it won't go down well with Tom, but it's what he and Katie want  and also what Suri wants.'She was blasted by fans for celebrating Thanksgiving with a picture of herself in her underwear - and a reminder not to overeat.

And it seems Sarah Michelle Gellar has learnt from the backlash, and decided to celebrate Christmas in more traditional fashion.

Enjoying a visit to Santa Claus on Monday, the former Buffy star perched on the knee of the man in red, smiling for the camera.

Sarah Michelle Gellar proves you're never too old to sit on Santa Claus's knee as she meets the man in red at Palisades Village in Pacific Palisades, California on Monday

Look away, Mrs Claus: Cheeky Sarah gave Santa a kiss as she perched on his lap

Proving you are never too old to sit on Santa's knee, Sarah smiled widely as she made her Christmas wishes.

The 41-year-old visited with Santa at Santa's Cottage at Palisades Village in Pacific Palisades, California.

While Sarah was born into a Jewish family, her husband Freddie Prinze Jr was raised as a Roman Catholic. The couple have two children together - Charlotte, nine, and Rocky, six and celebrate Christmas each year.

The Foodstirs founder previously explained that she makes Christmas decorations with her children each year, featuring the date and a family photo.

Making Christmas plans: Sarah celebrates the holiday with her husband Freddie Prinze Jr and their two children

'Each family member and dog gets an ornament engraved with the year and picks a special picture to put in it,' she told Us Weekly.

'Once theyre older, we will all have trees with beautiful photographs of our family.'

Meanwhile Sarah previously apologized for posting images of herself in lingerie to mark Thanksgiving.

Sarah wrote: 'I'm just going to pin these up all over my house as a reminder not to overeat on Thursday #thanksgivingprep.'

The post provoked a mixed reaction, some of whom accused Sarah of promoting unhealthy eating habits.

North Pole time: Proving you are never too old to sit on Santa's knee, Sarah smiled widely as she made her Christmas wishes

Christmas present: Although raised as Jewish, Sarah and her family celebrate Christmas

Sarah responded: 'It's come to my attention that some people think I was 'fat shaming' with this post. That could not be further from my intentions.

'I love Thanksgiving and unfortunately my eyes are often bigger than my stomach, and I tend to eat so much I make myself sick. This was a joking reminder to myself not to do that.'

Sara explained: 'I'm terribly sorry that people were offended by my attempt at humor. Anyone that knows me, knows I would never intentionally shame any one on any basis. I am a champion of all people.'Kim Kardashian visited her KKW Beauty pop up shop in Orange County, California this week.

And the 34-year-old star took time out to meet several of her fans inside the temporary store that sells perfume and makeup.

When posing with the followers, the 34-year-old Mrs Kanye West took off her coat, revealing a very toned tummy.

Her shop: Kim Kardashian visited her KKW Beauty pop up shop in Orange County, California this week

Bonding time: And the 34-year-old star took time out to meet several of her fans inside the temporary store that sells perfume and makeup

The siren had on a one-strap bra top that barely covered her assets.

The Selfish author also wore skintight leggings that looked like they were borrowed from Sandy in Grease.

The beauty had her hair partially pulled back and her glam was more than on point.

One fan was a cute woman with dazzling gold shoes who posed away with the E! star.

Two much fun: This woman in a black-and-white top appeared thrilled to meet Kimmy

She has pretty fans! Another woman, who looked like she could be Kim's cousin, said 'I got to hang with this beauty'

Cute connection: And a blonde beauty had on a fun outfit - a cage top with a gingham frill jacket. She said of Kim: 'I love her! She is the most beautiful woman in the world, dream come true... even though my eye was closed'

She said it was fun meeting the mother-of-three at the South Coast Plaza. 'Truly was such a lovely morning but all the more fabulous checking out the pop up store.'

Another woman, who looked like she could be Kim's cousin, said 'I got to hang with this beauty.'

And a blonde beauty had on a fun outfit - a cage top with a gingham frill jacket. She said of Kim: 'I love her! She is the most beautiful woman in the world, dream come true... even though my eye was closed.'

Glowing: Kardashian was spotted leaving a sushi restaurant in Calabasas Monday night

Later she stepped out for a sushi dinner with some friend at Sugar Fish restaurant in her hometown of Calabasas.

The daring fashionista added a coat.

Unlike most outings, the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star was able to walk by herself without to much of a fuss from passing fans and onlookers -- although she did appear to be protective of her large gold necklace, by clutching it several times during her walk to the parking lot.

It was a very busy Monday for the mother of three.

Working it: Kim took this picture of her mom at her pop-up at a mall in Costa Mesa on Monday

Fab life: The reality star had a few drinks with mates Aureta Thomollari (c) and Sita Abellan (r)

Kim also took to Instagram to flaunt her svelte figure in a barely-there sparkling dress. She captioned the post 'Fittings,' as she held together the front of the see-through garment, putting her leg forward in a glamorous post.

Earlier in the day, Kim took used her social media presence to encourage her personal trainer Melissa Alcantara, who is entering a body building competition.

The fitness pro, who has more than 650,000 followers, has been seen training Kim on Keeping Up with the Kardashians over the years.

On Tuesday, Kim shared darling photos with her daughter North. She said she was so happy to have a daughter.She nearly died after suffering a severe allergic reaction to fish that landed her in the hospital.

And now Bethenny Frankel has revealed the reason she is still alive is because of her new boyfriend, Paul Bernon.

'He saved my life', the RHONY star, 48, tweeted while discussing the major health scare with fans on Twitter.

'He saved my life': Bethenny Frankel (L in 2016) revealed her boyfriend Paul Bernon saved her life after her severe allergic reaction over the weekend

Speaking with People, a source backed up Bethenny's tweet.

'It was that serious,' said the insider. 'Her blood pressure was through the roof and she was unconscious. She went into anaphylactic shock. Her boyfriend friend saved her life.'

Bethenny and Paul went public with their romance in October, and were seen last month enjoying an outing in the Hamptons along with the RHONY star's daughter, Bryn.

The reality star shared with fans news of her horrible health scare on Tuesday.

Grateful: Frankel talked about her boyfriend after a fan brought him up on Twitter

Scary: Frankel of RHONY almost died over the weekend, she revealed on Tuesday. The 48-year-old reality TV icon said she had an extremely allergic reaction after consuming fish and she had to be rushed to a hospital in Massachusetts to save her life; seen in October

Bethenny said she had an extremely allergic reaction over the weekend after consuming fish.

She had to be rushed to a hospital in Massachusetts in order to save her life.

'I have a rare fish allergy. Sunday, I had soup, itched & was unconscious for 15 mins then to ER & ICU for 2 days w BP of 60/40,' Frankel tweeted.

Her story: 'I have a rare fish allergy. Sunday, I had soup, itched & was unconscious for 15 mins then to ER & ICU for 2 days w BP of 60/40,' Frankel tweeted

It's hard on her: She also tweeted to a fan that the allergy is 'very unusual & confusing' so she keeps it to herself as it's 'hard to describe'

'I couldn't talk, see, thought I had a stroke & dying & told if 5 mins later I'd be dead. 911 & EPI saved me. I'll never not carry an #epipen.'

She also tweeted to a fan that the allergy is 'very unusual & confusing' so she keeps it to herself as it's 'hard to describe.'

Frankel thanked Newton Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts by tagging them on Twitter and writing, 'xo.'

The Blast obtained the dispatch audio for a medical response after a 911 call.

The call was placed on Sunday afternoon in Massachusetts.

Grateful: Frankel thanked Newton Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts by tagging them on Twitter and writing, 'xo'

According to the audio, officials noted that she was suffering from a fish allergy, and was 'losing consciousness.' It was added she had very low blood pressure.

WebMd says that the symptoms for a fish allergy are hives or a skin rash, nausea, stomach cramps, indigestion, vomiting and/or diarrhea, stuffy or runny nose and/or sneezing, headaches, asthma and - less common - anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening reaction that impairs breathing and can cause the body to go into shock.

Fish is one of eight allergens with specific labeling requirements under the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004.

At work: Here the brunette is seen with Dorinda Medley and Harry Dubin on an episode of RHONY

Under that law, manufacturers of packaged food products sold in the U.S. and containing fish or a fish product as an ingredient must identify on the ingredient label, in clear language, the specific type of fish used.

This is not the first time Bethenny has had a fish scare.

During a season 10 episode of RHONY she suffered an allergic reaction when in Cartagena, Colombia.

Mogul: In addition to starring on RHONY she also runs Skinnygirl; seen here with Tinsley Mortimer and Sonja Morgan in January

'Is there fish in that soup? Frankel feasked during her dinner. 'Im itching. My throat is itching. I thought it was chicken, f***.'

The star then vomitted.

'Its the worst feeling, your throat gets itchy, you feel like youre going to throw up,' she said. 'It's like poison inside of you.'

Earlier this year Frankel suffered a major loss when her longtime friend and on/off boyfriend Dennis Shields died.And now Hunter Johnson, who runs the Man Cave  an organisation that promotes positive masculinity  has revealed that Meghan shared her concerns with him

Criticised by her father, Thomas Markle, and with her ex-husband, Trevor Engelson, making a TV comedy about an American divorcee who moves to London and marries a prince, the Duchess of Sussex could be forgiven for worrying about mens motivations.

And now Hunter Johnson, who runs the Man Cave  an organisation that promotes positive masculinity  has revealed that Meghan shared her concerns with him.

Meghan came up to me and said: Hunter, Oh, my God. I wish the Man Cave was around when I was young. I know so many men who really needed this,  Johnson says.

The Duchess is understood to have made the comments during a reception at Buckingham Palace earlier this year.

She and Prince Harry met Johnson, whose group encourages emotional intelligence among young men, for a second time when they visited his native Melbourne during their recent tour Down Under.

Strictly Lauren has a ball on her birthday

Her sparkly shoes didnt quite carry her to the Strictly final but Lauren Steadman  beaten in the semi-final dance-off by trained American hoofer Ashley Roberts  had reason to celebrate nevertheless.

To mark her 26th birthday yesterday her chums baked her a glitter ball cake, with iced bunting spelling out: Strictly the best Lauren.

Laurens professional partner A. J. Pritchard was nowhere to be seen as the Paralympian triathlete, born without her lower right arm, marked the occasion with five of her closest girlfriends.

How about Bake Off next for Lauren

To mark her 26th birthday yesterday her chums baked her a glitter ball cake, with iced bunting spelling out: Strictly the best Lauren

The Queen is due to catch the train to Norfolk tomorrow and there will be some good news when she finally arrives at Sandringham. The private estate sells Christmas trees to the public and hundreds have already been snapped up.

Spruces cost between 20 and 120, and with fewer than 100 of the 400 trees it felled remaining, Her Majesty can expect to take around 20,000 from this years crop. That should pay for a few Christmas crackers.

Stargazer Coxs jetset sob story

If you see a floppy-haired man with telegenic looks weeping on your flight over the Christmas holidays, it may well be Professor Brian Cox, the BBC stargazer.

Bizarrely, I seem to be more susceptible to crying at films on planes, wails the 50-year-old physicist. It must be the altitude, or the food or alcohol levels.

Prof Cox used to play keyboards for the pop group D:Ream, whose song Things Can Only Get Better became New Labours anthem. Thats enough to reduce anyone to tears.LONDON (AP) - Thomas Markle appealed to his daughter Meghan to call home, saying Monday they hadn't spoken since her wedding to Prince Harry in May.

The former actress, now known as the Duchess of Sussex, has ignored his attempts to get in touch, Thomas Markle told ITV. Markle had been scheduled to walk his daughter down the aisle, but pulled out of the wedding at the last moment because of heart problems.

"I love my daughter very much and she has to know that, and I would really appreciate if she would call me, just reach out to me," Markle said in the interview from San Diego.

In Markle's first television interview since the duchess announced her pregnancy in October, the 74-year-old grandfather-to-be agreed he'd been "ghosted" by his daughter. He suggested the royal couple had been influenced by media reports about him.

"The funny thing about my daughter and Prince Harry is that they believe everything they read in the paper," he said. "What's happened, I'm not sure. I'd love to talk about it. I think it comes back to the fact that reporters pick up on interviews I've done and write their own stories and tell lies."

Markle hopes Queen Elizabeth II will help heal the rift.

FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2018 file photo, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, attends the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph in London. Meghan Markle's father appealed to his daughter to call him, saying on Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, that they hadn't been in touch since her wedding to Prince Harry in May. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

He also rejected the notion his daughter had a habit of dumping those she no longer needed.

"That's really not a character trait," he said. "She's always been very polite to everyone, never been rude to anyone. I don't know what's really happening right now."Bangladesh's 11th parliamentary elections are hardly two weeks away  and there are already ominous signs of the possibility of violence as the dates draw closer. Earlier this week, Dr Kamal Hossain, the principal convener of the Jaitya Oikya Manch and founder-leader of the Gano Forum, came under attack when his motorcade was targeted by miscreants as he returned from the country's martyrs' memorial.

Rattled by the attack, Dr Kamal described such attacks as an insult to the freedom fighters. He was also seen losing his cool while interacting with the media.

Dr Kamal Hossain, the principal convener of Jaitya Oikya Manch, was recently attacked. (Photo: Reuters)

It may be recalled that Dr Kamal was one of the closest comrades of the father of the Bengali nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and was the first foreign minister of independent Bangladesh.

A constitutional expert and a lawyer of international repute, Dr Hossain parted ways with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and decided to contest elections with two major issues/demands in his game plan.

One is a call for the dissolution of Parliament and the second is the release of Khaleda Zia from prison. His demand for releasing Khaleda, who is facing corruption charges, is reflective of Dr Kamals frustration apparently to get to power as he is over 80 years old now and aspires to become Prime Minister  a post he may have wanted to hold for the last few decades.

For him, its now or never.

Also, Dr Kamals support to Khaleda and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has surprised many in the secular and pro-liberation camp. Moreover, the BNP is supporting Jamaat amid reports that 25 Jamaat candidates will be fielded by the BNP as claimed by its organising secretary, Matiur Rahman Anand.

Khaleda Zia is in prison facing corruption charges. She has been effectively nullified in these polls. (Photo: Reuters)

Needless to stress, Jamaat has always been anti-liberation and opposed to the independence of Bangladesh. In fact, they had collaborated with the occupying forces of Pakistan in the killing of many members of minority groups and freedom fighters as well. Support to such elements by Dr Kamal belies all rationale now as well as his initial ideology.

It would not be out of context to mention that a US Congressman, Jim Banks, cautioned against the activities of the Jamaat while speaking at the Hudson Institute recently, alleging that Jamaat elements are such radical groups who always try to sabotage pro-democracy and secular forces. In sum, the West also remains alarmed by such rabid fundamentalist parties, subtly putting it across that such forces should not come to power.

Meanwhile, Pakistans ongoing nexus with the BNP was revealed recently after an interception exposed senior BNP leader Khandekar Mosharraf Hossain talking to a Pakistani ISI operative calling from the UAE. In the conversation, he was heard reportedly seeking help from Pakistan during the elections. Obviously, he wanted money and logistical support in an apparent bid to unseat Sheikh Hasina's government.

In the meantime, reports say that the Supreme Court in Dhaka has decided that Khaleda Zia cannot run for elections as per the ruling that those sentenced over two years are ineligible to contest polls. Her fate is sealed and her charisma remains underutilised for any campaigning in these elections.

ISI chief Naveed Mukhtar: For long now, the ISI has meddled with Bangladesh's internal politics. (Photo: AP)

As far as Pakistans meddling in the internal affairs of Bangladesh goes, it is nothing new. The Pakistani High Commission in Dhaka has reportedly been very active in espionage activities. There have been numerous cases of Pakistani diplomats and staffers being declared persona non grata, their subsequent expulsion following.

Also, the BNP's association with the ISI  including a close relationship with exiled BNP leader Tareq Rahman  is well-known. Assuming Dr Kamal comes to power, his dreams could be fulfilled but within a short time, he and his cronies are likely to be thrown out for Tareq to assume full control and authority, thus reinforcing more robust ties with Pakistan .

By implication, it would then mean the resurgence and rehabilitation of Indian Insurgent Groups (IIGs) on Bangladeshi turf and Pakistan calling the shots.

Therefore, the latest developments amid electioneering call for a serious proactive role by India to ensure that Hasina is able to thwart all Pakistani attempts to support the BNP using the ISI as noticed in the recent intercepts.

Even as Sheikh Hasina proceeds, many fundamentalist groups are looking to impede the smooth conduct of elections. (Photo: Reuters)

As election fever rises, large-scale violence appears likely with the campaigning steadily picking up tempo. Jamaat goons and radical groups like Jamaitul-Mujahideen-Bangladesh (JMB), Hifazat-e-Islam, Hijbut-Tehreer, etc., might stage violence to impede smooth conduct of elections to stop Hasina from coming to power.

It is assumed the armed forces are with the ruling establishment under General Aziz and are likely to play an effective and deterrent role to maintain law and order during the elections.

Also read: Why Bangladesh is witnessing hectic politicking ahead of coming electionsWorlds largest oil exporter Saudi Arabia and richest Indian Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries are discussing joint investment in petrochemicals and refinery projects, the Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih said.

Al-Falih, who has known Ambani for over a decade now, travelled to Udaipur earlier this month to attend the pre-wedding festivities of Ambanis daughter Ishas marriage with Ajay Piramals son Anand.

During that visit, he also held talks with Ambani but choose to tweet about those discussions only this week.

In an Arabic tweet, which was translated using online tools, Al-Falih said he was delighted to meet Ambani.

At the meeting we discussed opportunities for joint investments and cooperation in petrochemical, refining and communications projects.

He also tweeted a picture of the meeting where Ambani is dressed in a business suit, a sharp contrast to other pictures of his in traditional attire during the pre-wedding festivities held on December 8 and 9. No details of the meeting were available from Reliance.

Reliance operates two refineries at Jamnagar with a total capacity of 68.2 million tonnes per annum.

Reliance plans to expand its only-for-exports SEZ refining capacity to just over 41 million tonnes from current 35.2 million tonnes but does not have any plans to set up a new refinery in the country.

It is presently focused on expanding petrochemical and telecom business, industry sources said.

Crude oil is the basic raw material for the manufacturing of petrochemicals.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is keen to get a foothold in the world's fastest-growing fuel market so as to get a captive customer for crude oil it produces.

Saudi Aramco, the worlds biggest oil company, and its partner Abu Dabhi National Oil Co (ADNOC) have picked up 50 per cent stake in a planned USD 44-billion refinery in Maharashtra but the project is facing problems in acquiring land due to protests from local politicians.

Aramco and ADNOC will together hold 50 per cent stake in the 60 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) refinery and adjacent 18 MTPA petrochemical complex planned to be built at Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra by 2025.

The two will supply half of the crude oil required for processing at the refinery.

Like other major producers, the two are looking to lock in customers in the world's third-largest oil consumer through the investment. Kuwait too is looking to invest in projects in return for getting an assured offtake of their crude oil.

Saudi Aramco is also keen on retailing fuel in India. A refinery in India can also be a base for it to export fuel to deficit countries in Europe and the Americas. India has a refining capacity of 247.6 million tonnes, which exceeded the demand of 206.2 million tonnes.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), this demand is expected to reach 458 million tonnes by 2040.Despite all the calibrated contradictions between India and Pakistan, Imran Khans wish for talks will be fulfilled after the 2019 elections. Terror and talks will go together

For those who are intrepid optimists, giving Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan a chance to prove he can do more to better India-Pakistan relations is a fair bet. After all, he has been handpicked by the Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) played no small role in installing him as the Prime Minister. Khan claimed that Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa and he are on the same page. The Kartarpur corridor confidence building measure (CBM) is an Army-approved Khans first step awaiting an Indian response which will be followed by Khans promised additional steps, whatever those might be. Prime Minister Narendra Modi compared Kartarpur with the fall of the Berlin wall, adding: Kartarpur will not be a corridor but a reason to bring people together. The two Sikh Ministers he sent were equally euphoric, especially Union Minister for Food Processing, Harsimrat Kaur, who said that Kartarpur was a perfect way to start a new beginning. But spoilers are on both sides. Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was quick to guillotine hope with her famous one-liner: Terror and talks cannot go together. Similarly, Swaraj killed an earlier agreed meeting on the sidelines of UNGA of a conversation between Indian and Pakistan Foreign Ministers in reaction to media outrage over beheading of a soldier and Line of Control violations. Both incidents were missed opportunities to test Khans strategic autonomy under Bajwas watch.

Linked to the resumption of bilateral dialogue is Islamabads yearning to hold the 19th Saarc summit, which was postponed in 2016 following the Uri attack, and rejected by Swaraj citing lack of conducive environment (read Pakistans backing for terrorists). The killing of 19 soldiers in the Uri attack was not due to any ingenious or suicidal terrorist action but was accidental, caused by the careless storage of gas cylinders which engulfed the tent in which they were sleeping. During the Vajpayee-led NDA Government, even after a major terrorist attack on Parliament in December 2001 which led to Operation Parakram  Vajpayee did not skip the 11th Saarc summit in Kathmandu in January 2002, where the then Pakistan Prime Minister Pervez Musharraf shook hands even as Indias armed forces were on full-scale deployment, ready for war. Indias attempts to isolate and punish Pakistan have seen the re-energising of sub-regional groupings, like the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec), which includes Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan. According to a World Bank report, Glass Half Full: The Problem of Regional Trade in South Asia (by Sanjay Kathuria), the formal trade between India and Pakistan could be $37 billion but is only $2 million due to a variety of surmountable barriers. South Asia, as a region, is locked down by India-Pakistan tensions and an upswing in relations between the two nations would benefit other Saarc countries too.

In conformity with Modis muscular policy  surgical strikes et al  his Government has become the first one to not engage in official dialogue with Pakistan since it started in 1996. Except for the likes of Mani Shankar Aiyar of uninterrupted and uninterruptible dialogue fame and Sudheendra Kulkarni, who have suffered repeated indignities at the hands of Hindu goons, the majority of soldiers, diplomats and intellectuals are on the side of no dialogue with Pakistan as it attracts the law of diminishing returns, coupled with doses of despair and frustration. Still, there are those who hang around in fatigued Track II simply because the official track is closed. The 26/11 Mumbai attacks, whose perpetrators have gone unpunished and are being mainstreamed, marked the turning point in the dialogue process, especially after India and Pakistan came breathlessly close to agreeing on the four or five point Kashmir formula during the single-window Musharraf regime, which turned out to be a flash in the pan. Ten and six years of Generals Musharraf and Ashfaq Parvez Kayan had upset the collegium of Corps Commanders, disturbing the channel of promotions. The Generals agreed to replace the era of direct with proxy rule, thereby obviating international and domestic costs. This mechanism gave rise to new terminologies  elected Government and establishment (deep state).

While the last two elected Governments completed their term, their Prime Ministers were prevented from doing so by showing them as corrupt and incompetent, to establish the indispensability of the Army as the ultimate custodian of Pakistans core values and national interest. The established democratic tenet of civilian-political control of the military was reversed to military (judicial and NAB) control of the political class, which the recent elections have commendably demonstrated with the Armys choice of Prime Minister.

In and outside Pakistan, the question that is inevitably asked is about altering the behaviour of the military: Who will do it and how will it be done? This is considered un-doable. At one time, the Americans were the only ones who could have achieved this but the Army was their strategic ally. After plastering Pakistan with abuse and freezing military aid, US President Donald Trump has been forced into seeking help from the Generals for the peace process in Afghanistan. The Chinese are best placed to influence behavioural change but will not oblige. Neither the US nor China will mess around with a nuclear-armed Pakistan, umbilically tied with terrorist proxies, making Pakistan the most dangerous state. Cross-border jihad and terrorism will pose a perennial threat to India  while keeping alive the Kashmir dispute- which even a 100 surgical strikes (not feasible without escalation) will be unable to counter.

For Pakistan, India is an existential threat, even more so after the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval threatened a counter jihad and evaporation of Balochistan if there was another Mumbai. Pakistans military is the defender of faith and bulwark against Indian machinations of its further break-up following the creation of Bangladesh. Cross-border terrorism is Pakistans low-cost high-gain revenge against Indias splitting of Pakistan.

So, why should Gen Bajwa and Imran Khan want an on-and- off dialogue with India when status quo is suitable? Reason: To keep up the optics of good neighbourliness, enhance and benefit trade relations with the fastest growing economy, resume conversations on Kashmir without necessarily aiming to find a solution (of a mothballed Kashmir) and even seeking Indias help in Afghanistan. In short, without diluting the threat from India, which dilutes its primacy in civil-military relations, cherry-pick items for talks which benefit Pakistan. Regulating the tap of terrorism as Musharraf did is the price Rawalpindi is willing to pay. Despite these calibrated contradictions, Khans wish for talks with India will be consummated mid-2019 after the elections. Terror and talks will then go together.

(The writer is a retired Major General of the Indian Army and founder member of the Defence Planning Staff, currently the revamped Integrated Defence Staff)The Grand Old Party must not get carried away with new-found victories. It must first anchor Opposition unity and keep watch on BJP moves

For a party that appeared to be in an existential crisis, the Congress has much to cheer about following its win in three big States  Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh  this month. Success in elections is always heartening and it becomes even better given the fact that the Congress has been in a political wilderness since 2014. Though it seemed the BJP had all the momentum since 2004, the saffron space has shrunk a little after December 11, 2018. The challenge now for the Congress leadership is to take the momentum forward until the 2019 Lok Sabha election in which stakes are very high for both the Congress-led UPA and the BJP-led NDA. After all, momentum does matter in politics. A diminished BJP is not going to sit quiet and allow the Congress to have a free run in the 2019 poll. It might even redouble its efforts to win the general election. Narendra Modi is an assertive Prime Minister and might re-package himself and reintroduce brand Modi in a different mould. In all probability, alternative politics might gain momentum if Congress chief Rahul Gandhi goes the right way and projects a new narrative for himself and his party as going by the poll results, people are willing to give him a chance.

Gandhis priority should be to set his organisation, which has shrunk electorally, and redouble efforts for Opposition unity. The Congress is now at number four position in States such as West Bengal, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. It also finished at the third or fourth place in other States as well. Many sections, like the Dalits, tribals, upper castes and even Muslims have drifted away. The BJPs strength is that it is a cadre-based organisation; it has unlimited resources, best communication skills and a wonderful propaganda machine. Internally, the young Gandhi has chosen to go with the old guard. The message became clearer with his choice of Chief Ministers in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. He more or less told the youth that younger leaders will be allowed to build their profiles, even if that means they have to wait a bit longer for leadership roles.

Second, he must focus on building alliances. Even with the wind in its sails, the Congress is faced with challenges. The Opposition parties have inherent contradictions but Gandhi has been showing some boldness. He walked with Jignesh Mewani and Hardik Patel in Gujarat, which helped the party reduce the BJPs numbers in the State. Similarly, the decision to support the Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka earlier this year, to stop the BJP from forming the Government, also showed his political adventurism. Besides, the party has tied up with alliance partners in different States like Bihar, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Jharkhand. Further, it is in the process of aligning with the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh. The Grand Old Party has to keep the UPA flock together and also expand wherever necessary. As a bigger party, the Congress has to be flexible in sharing seats with other regional parties.

Third, he has to build a new narrative. It may not be enough to indulge just in Modi-bashing and negative campaigning. Gandhi successfully tapped political resentment of the farmers against the BJP Government as also discontent among the unemployed. These are the two major issues that helped him win the three States. Negative sentiments circling demonetisation and GST, too, helped. The caste factor played its role for the grand old party.

The fourth option is to stitch Opposition unity. The success in Assembly polls has given Gandhi a new image and he must now be able to reach out to senior leaders and regional Opposition parties and ensure that the Congress is able to anchor the coalition. Following the Karnataka polls, the Opposition showed interest in forming a grand alliance which fell apart with the BSP and SP moving away. It is now clear that the prime ministerial face of the Opposition will be decided only in a post-poll scenario. These parties can do the trick if they come together and make sure that Opposition votes are undivided. In fact, Modis strength lies in Opposition disunity. The road to success in 2019 is challenging but Rahul Gandhi has made a good start. Despite setbacks, the BJP remains a formidable opponent and must not be taken lightly. As Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley pointed out, the BJP won the same three States in December 2003 but lost the 2004 general election. Hence, the Congress should not be carried away by the present success. It has won the battle but not the war as yet. Time is very short and Opposition parties must decide their course of action now itself.

(The writer is a senior political commentator)The viability of small and medium-sized firms is greater than that of large firms. Not only do they bring prosperity to the people but also play a fundamental role in driving the economy

Small businesses, start-ups and entrepreneurs are some of the most important influencers of economic growth because, in any economy, they represent more than 90 per cent of all employers and create 60 to 80 per cent of all new jobs, annually. In 2018, there were 30.2 million small businesses in the US, which represented 99.9 per cent of all businesses in the country, employing about 58.9 million people. Out of the total small business, 39 per cent were owned by women, who contributed to eight per cent of employment and generated 4.2 per cent of the revenues. According to a survey by Randstad Workmonitor, entrepreneurial ambition was the highest in India with 83 per cent of the Indian workforce wanting to be entrepreneurs. This is even higher than the global standard of 53 per cent. According to the survey, 58 per cent of the respondents were willing to leave their current job to start their own venture. This is important because although big businesses may dominate the stock market, its the small businesses and startups that keep the economy moving.

Small businesses create job opportunities and drive the countrys economic growth in smaller geographic areas. They make the market more competitive. A local farmer, for example, may be able to offer cheaper products because he doesnt have to spend money on shipping. Similarly, an agile start-up may be able to innovate new technology faster than a bulky bureaucratic counterpart, thereby forcing changes in thinking and behaviour.

Second, small businesses also operate locally. This gives them a strong preference for hiring local people. Big corporations often move into new territories with a team already in place. This can improve a citys population but nothing drives new job growth in a region as small businesses do.

Third, small firms have more flexibility. Anyone can start a new business. This makes them more diverse in form, function, culture and increases their potential as against large corporations. Greater the diversity in an economy, easier it is for the country to withstand tough conditions.

There are many reasons why men and women are turning to entrepreneurship and starting their own businesses. Decreasing wages, demands for more family and personal time are a few reasons that propel one towards entrepreneurship. Generally, it is seen that wages have not kept pace with the increased cost of living. What used to take the average income of only one worker to support a family today can take almost two-and-a-half. In contrast, entrepreneurs have the potential to earn more as business owners than as employees. Because entrepreneurs are working in small businesses for themselves. As their own boss, they have the flexibility to arrange their hours around their family schedules.

Moreover, salary raises of the employees, too, have become fewer. Companies generally tend to give performance bonuses so as to keep fixed costs low. And often, managers have to adhere to strict guidelines for standard operations procedures, or their bonuses are unlikely. An electronic chain corporation not only demands its managers to work six days a week but it also sends inspectors into the stores, unannounced, to deduct points for minor infractions.

On the other hand, small business owners start as owners of their own company. Although they have responsibilities that go with being a business owner, they can take their businesses in whatever direction they choose. They also have the ability to strive and provide benefits to their employees and families as well. Additionally, economies world over are witnessing unprecedented changes  the job scenario is changing rapidly. Many jobs have discontinued, others may not return. So, unemployed workers have to find new jobs, often at much lower pay, or undertake training and education as a new career option.

Unstable economic conditions are inducing people to start ventures to secure their financial future. This makes entrepreneurship and small business ownership a viable career option. Although many companies now offer their employees flexible hours to handle family needs, there are times when employees, especially women  who are still the primary care-givers of family members  face scheduling conflicts while handling everyday personal concerns. Therefore, many entrepreneurs opt to work from home so that they can be with their families, attend their childrens school events, or even run errands.

Lastly, having a small business is a definite way to escape from a job that one dislikes or no longer finds challenging or fulfilling. A recent study found that nearly 25 per cent of the people detest their jobs but remain trapped due to financial commitments like loans, rents, payments and living expenses.

Therefore, if they cannot afford to quit a full-time job to start a business, entrepreneurs can start a small business on the side until their business profits enable them to quit. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), US, the number of part-time businesses steadily increased since the mid-1980s and is expected to increase by about 10 per cent each year.

Once the employees leave to set up their own venture, there are several reasons why these owners of small, home-based and micro-businesses stay in such businesses to survive. First, small business owners network well within their industry, communities and beyond by encouraging and sharing with one another. Successful entrepreneurs will find mentors or themselves be the mentor to new business owners.

Second, many people, who are in their 50s, want to try their hand at entrepreneurship. Not only do such people bring a vast array of experience to their ventures, they also have a more mature approach. They are more likely to care about their employees or respect them. This can foster repeat business.

Third, entrepreneurs are not afraid to fail. Statistics reveal that it takes an average of three business start-ups for an entrepreneur to achieve a successful enterprise. Entrepreneurs constantly learn from mistakes and persist until one or more of their ventures succeed. They can respond to challenges and quickly change to stay competitive in the market and satisfy their customers.

Fourth, time management issues, family responsibilities and the desire for more money are just a few reasons why men and women tend to start a small-scale venture. Because their ventures are small, owners can pay attention to details that promote positive image.

Many business owners have gone on to expand their small ventures into multi-million enterprises, especially as venture-capital investment resources became available. Others chose to stay small so that they could serve specialised and niche markets. Thus, starting smaller and growing slowly decreases the likelihood of making hasty and costly decisions that can lead to failures. Surveys also show that small business owners generally care more about the quality of their product and services than bigger companies. They believe this is the best way for them to compete with large companies that have access to more resources but are less personal.

Owners of small businesses strive to keep their customers satisfied to encourage repeat business. Small businesses can respond flexibly to problems and challenges as there is little hierarchy or chain of command. Large businesses may have set ways of operating and establish procedures that are hard to change. Small businesses are often far more flexible. They can also reach a quick decision on whether or not they can do what is required. Also, small businesses are well-positioned to introduce and develop new ideas. This is due to their owners not having to report or seek approval from anyone else. For example, when Anita Roddick set up The Body Shop, she developed a range of environment-friendly cosmetics in unsophisticated packaging. This would have been frowned upon in a conventional cosmetics company.

Due to the small scale of operation, small businesses have lower overhead costs. They operate in small premises with low heating and lighting costs, limited rent and rates to pay. Low costs result in lower prices for consumers. Small business is among the most powerful symbols of modern capitalism and its owners are frequently described as virtuous, self-reliant and independent. Starting a venture is the easy part but staying in business is the hardest task. There are many reasons for the success of small and home-based businesses but the most important can be summed up in three Ds desire, discipline and determination.

(The writer is Assistant Professor, Amity University)Afghanistan has welcomed the exemption from the Iran sanctions given by the US for the India-developed Chabahar Port project.



"We appreciate the collaboration and flexibility of our strategic partner, the US to work with Afghanistan, Iran and India towards exempting the port from its sanctions," Afghanistan's Permanent Representative Mahmoud Saikal told the Security Council on Monday at its meeting on his country.



"The Chabahar Port remains an important gateway for providing commercially viable access to the sea linking the Indian Ocean with Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond," he said.



India is investing $500 million in the port project in Iran and the road link to Afghanistan, which gives the land-locked nation where the US is heavily invested an alternative sea outlet.



Despite President Donald Trump's animosity towards Iran, the US had to give the exemption to Chabahar to enable Indian assistance to reach Afghanistan, where Washington is mired in a 17-year-war against the Taliban, the Al Qaeda and their allies.



Without access to Chabahar, Afghanistan would be forced to depend solely on Pakistan for a sea passage.



Last month, Washington imposed harsh restrictions on trade relations with Iran, threatening sanctions on those violating the embargo.



This followed Trump pulling out of the nuclear deal signed during former President Barack Obama's tenure between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and the European Union, to end sanctions in return for Tehran stopping nuclear weapons development.



Announcing the US exemption for the Chabahar Port, a State Department spokesperson said last month that it "relates to reconstruction assistance and economic development for Afghanistan. These activities are vital for the ongoing support of Afghanistan's growth and humanitarian relief".



India has sent 1.1 million tonnes of wheat through the port to Afghanistan, where the eastern region has suffered a drought.



Trump's South Asia strategy "underscores our ongoing support of Afghanistan's economic growth and development as well as our close partnership with India", the spokesperson added.



Last year, Trump assigned a "critical" role for India in his country's South Asia strategy for fighting terrorism, building up a safe Afghanistan and appealed for help from New Delhi.



Chabahar would be essential for any large-scale assistance from India to Afghanistan.



With the prospects of peace negotiations with the Taliban improving, Saikal took a conciliatory approach to Pakistan, which he had sternly accused in the past of being complicit in cross-border terrorist attacks.



"We have always asserted that the government of Pakistan has a particularly important role to play, given its leverage over key Taliban figures," he said.



Taliban leaders and Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, met in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday for talks facilitated by Pakistan.



At the trilateral meeting of Foreign Ministers, Salahuddin Rabbani of Afghanistan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi of Pakistan and Wang Yi of China in Kabul last weekend, " we reiterated our request from Pakistan to do what is necessary to facilitate direct talks", Saikal said.



"And in regards to security, we asserted that mutual trust and confidence is only possible when we see a reduction in violence, and more tangible measures against terrorist elements," he added.Alleging that newly appointed Chief Minister Kamal Nath is under pressure to keep the poll promise, former finance minister of Madhya Pradesh Jayant Malaiya Tuesday said the Chief Minister announced the farm loan waiver in a haste and without planning.

The BJP leader also said the short term loan waiver is primarily being given to the farmers for the purchase of seeds and fertilisers.

Notably, hours after he was administered the oath of office by Governor Anandiben Patel on Monday, Nath cleared a proposal of waiving farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh as promised by Congress president Rahul Gandhi ahead of assembly polls.

After Nath signed the relevant file, the Farmers' Welfare and Agriculture Development department issued an order in this regard. While talking to media persons, Malaiya also dismissed the Congress' charge that erstwhile BJP government was responsible for the fiscal mess in Madhya Pradesh.

"Kamal Nathji has announced the loan waiver hurriedly under pressure, as Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had maintained during his pre-poll rallies that he will fire new chief minister of Madhya Pradesh if he fails to grant a loan waiver within 10 days of Congress coming to power", he said, alleging that the new government did not chalk out the nitty-gritty of the loan waiver before announcing it.

Addressing a public rally on June 7 at Pipliya Mandi in Mandsaur district, Gandhi had announced his party would waive farm loans within 10 of coming to power in the state.

Later, this announcement was included in the Congress manifesto, titled 'Vachan Patra'.

Malaiya said, The waiver would cost the state exchequer Rs 50,000 crore. This is primarily a short term loan waiver of Rs 2 lakh which is meant for the purchase of seeds and fertilizers.

To a query whether the State under BJP was running on an overdraft, the former minister said, "Madhya Pradesh borrowings stood at around Rs 1.60 lakh crore but it was not running on overdraft.

He further claimed that his government had Rs 3000 crore in the state exchequer on November 27, a day before the elections were held.Section 144 of CrPC has been promulgated in the NTPC ash pond area of Dereng at Kaniha of Angul district by the administration on apprehension of breach of peace. The administration has also filed cases against 41 villagers involved in the work-stop agitation.

The 3000-MW NTPC Kaniha, the largest power plant of the NTPC in Odisha, has incurred heavy losses due to the strike by villagers of Derang Majhi Sahi, who stopped all maintenance and construction works at its ash dyke since last seven days. The villagers, affected by fly ash pollution, are on the strike demanding their total displacement.

The high-powered RPDAC has not yet taken up the issue as demanded by the people. All the negotiations have failed between the district administration and the agitating people.

The NTPC is raising the height of the ash pond of Stages-1and 2 of the 540 acres of the total 1,600-acre area. People oppose the raising of the height and maintenance work for ash pollution. The situation has resulted in a huge loss to the NTPC by way of lower power generation. The NTPC has shut down two of its units (500MW2), resulting in loss of 1,000 MW of power daily.BJP's State Women Cell office bearers, Members of Parliament, MLAs and workers will participate in the partys Mahila Morcha National Convention to be held in Ahmedabad from December 21 to 23.

On Tuesday, as part of preparation, BJPs State Women Cell office-bearers held a meeting at Ekatma Parisar here.

State BJP Women Cell President Pooja Vidhani informed that the Convention will be inaugurated by Union Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, his cabinet colleagues, Gujarat State BJP President Jeetubhai Vaghani, BJPs National General Secretary (Organisation) Ramalal and others will be present in the inaugural session.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the concluding session of the Convention.Countering charges of being anti-farmer, Cane Development Minister Suresh Rana blamed the previous Samajwadi Party regime for doing nothing for farmers welfare, particularly cane farmers and accused the party of spreading canards against the government.

The people raising farmers issues should see what they did for them while in power. The allegation of the Samajwadi Party leaders is like pot calling the kettle black, Rana told mediapersons in the state BJP headquarters in Lucknow on Tuesday.

Ranas reaction came after Samajwadi Party lawmakers protested on Vidhan Bhawan campus blaming the Yogi government for the agrarian crisis. The lawmakers staged a dharna before the winter session sporting garland of potatoes and onions.

The minister said that the Opposition was spreading lies in the name of farmers. They know well that this government has done commendable work in the farm sector. It is the first government to declare MSP for potato and ensured effective working of wheat and paddy purchase centres, he said. Statistics tell the real story. In 2015-16, during the SP rule, cane worth Rs 18,000 crore was purchased from farmers in UP, whereas in the BJP regime, the corresponding figures stand at Rs 35,500 crore (2017-18), the Cane Development Minister said.

When asked that the SP was accusing the BJP government of holding a short winter session to hide its failures, Rana said: We do not need any certificate from the SP. We need certificate from people and farmers of the state. And, they have already blessed us in the past and will continue to do so in the future.Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has said that the Central Government has given in-principle approval to link collection of Pirul (dry pine needles) with MNREGA. It will be available to Uttarakhand as a project. In the State, now Pirul will be helpful in dealing with the unemployment problem and enhancing income generation. About 143 items can be prepared from Pirul. Schemes related to it will also be linked with cooperatives, said Rawat.

While addressing the newly elected chairpersons and vice chairpersons of district cooperative banks and Bheshaj Sangh at CM residence late on Monday evening, the Chief Minister said that Pirul can be a major factor of financial strength in the State.

In this regard, few days back, he had requested the Union Rural Development Minister to link the Pirul collection work with MNREGA. Now, the Central Government has given its nod in principle. This will also prove to be a game changer for the State in tackling unemployment and enhancing income of the people.

Rawat said that along with bringing change in rural life, cooperative is a major medium for strengthening the rural economy. Efforts should be made to provide maximum amount of funds for various self employment programmes. With low rates of interest, it can also lead to a change in the society.

For this, people associated with cooperatives will have to go to the general public and also inform them about the schemes. People associated with cooperatives should analyse the situation of those people who had taken loans under the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Sahakarita Kisan Kalyan Yojana to ascertain how much they benefitted. Under this scheme, three lakh people have been given loans till date.

He said that in the State, clusters of trout fish farming and Angora wool should be established.

Minister of State for Cooperatives, Dhan Singh Rawat said that consistent efforts are being made to connect cooperatives with the people. Focus is also being laid on making the cooperatives corruption-free, he stressed.

The cooperatives secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram and other officials concerned were also present.The objective behind the formation of Uttarakhand has been nullified by the Uttarakhand Governments decision to incorporate changes in Uttar Pradesh Zamidari Abolition Act 1950 to facilitate outsiders to purchase unrestricted amount of land in the state, said All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and former Chief Minister Harish Rawat while addressing the media persons here on Tuesday.

Launching a blistering attack on the State Government, the Congress veteran said that the culture and the environment of the State is being threatened by the changes made in sections 143 and 154 of UP, ZA Act 1950. Former CM urged the legislators to cut across the party lines and demand repeal of the changes in the act passed in the Assembly recently, given the subsequent dangers staring the state in the face.

Rawat also took a swipe at the BJP-helmed State Government on the matter of job reservation for the statehood activists. By abolishing the horizontal reservation for the statehood activists in the government jobs after the Governor returned the bill for the same, the BJP Government has revealed its mind. There is no room for doubt that it is against providing jobs to the statehood activists, he said.

The charismatic Congress leader further raked up the emotive Gairsain issue and said that all the construction activity initiated at Gairsain has stopped. We set up a Gairsain Road Tunnel and infrastructure authority to boost infrastructure development at Gairsain. However, the present Government has abruptly wound up all such developmental activities, making its intentions clear. The work on building up the secretariat and other buildings has also stopped. BJP is now mired in intra-party bickering over Gairsain. They are playing politics while the place is being left out in the cold, he said.

The former CM who is also a member of Congress Working Committee (CWC) said that ongoing probe in National Highway (NH)-74 scam has resulted in cessation of arbitration work due to which farmers have been facing problems and development of the state is being affected. He suggested that as the district magistrates are evading discharging arbitration duties, a State Arbitration Authority should be set up so that the arbitration works are not affected.

Rawat also charged the state government for remaining antipathetic towards the unemployed youth of the State. He said that the employment generation aspect of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act ( MNREGA) has been suspended and it has been turned into contractual activity. Rawat further alleged that the present government has stopped the process of appointments on the vacant posts in the Government. We filled up 16000 posts and started the process to fill 14000 more, but now this government has halted the process. The High Court ( HC) has given its verdict in favour of UPNL workers but the state government is challenging it in the Supreme Court to scuttle the move, he quipped.

The former CM also slammed the State Government for revoking the formula the Congress Government had devised for regularising guest teachers.

Rawat also went ballistic on the BJP Government for ignoring the plight of the sugarcane farmers. Sugar mills are sitting over payments to the tune of Rs 360 crore due to the sugarcane growers. The Government has not declared the purchase price of sugarcane yet and the purchase centres have also not been set up.

Under such circumstances, the sugarcane would remain standing in the farms and sowing of wheat would also be delayed, he said.

Rawat threatened that if the problem of sugarcane farmers is not solved he would be forced to start an agitation.

On Rafale deal, he said that basic questions like escalated price of aircraft, choice of Reliance as offset partner and purchase of less number of planes are still unanswered.

Anguished over heinous crime against Pauri girl

Expressing deep anguish over the heinous incident of a girl being set ablaze by a man in Pauri district, Harish Rawat said that it would have been better had the girl been airlifted to New Delhi promptly. He said that the AIIMS Rishikesh where she is at present being treated does not have the required facility for treating burn injuries.The Government of India is committed to reducing the technical and commercial losses (AT & C) of the power distribution companies (Discom) of different States of the country. For this, close monitoring of Overall State Performance, Divisions of High AT & C Loss, Divisions of utility to reduce AT & C loss, and rewarding personnel of the power distribution companies who are achieving the target are being adopted. Answering a question from MP Mahesh Poddar of Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh gave this information in the Upper House on Tuesday.

In response to the data submitted by 20 states on the Uday portal, MP Poddar was told that the gross technical and commercial (AT & C) loss was 21.84 per cent by the end of September 2018.

The average cost of power supply and the average revenue recovered and the difference between the national average difference in the financial year 2015-16 is less than 0.60 rupees per kilowatt hour compared to Rs 0.17 per kW in the financial year 2017-18. The hour is gone. The total national billing efficiency of the power distribution companies was 81.58 per cent in FY16-16, which has increased to 83.86 percent in the financial year 2017-18. Universal metering and regular billing can reduce the AT & C losses.

The government has also dismissed the fears that it was being said that after the PNB scam, there has been a reduction in bank credit available to the country's gems and jewellery industry.

In response to a question of Poddar, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla informed that according to the data of the Reserve Bank of India collected from 41 Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCB), the total bank loan made available to the gems and jewellery industry (June 2018 ) Has increased from Rs 68,100 crores (in September 2018) to Rs 69,700 crores.Haryana roadways employees unions have announced to go on strike on January 8 and 9 against the decisions of State Government to terminate the services of at least 365 bus drivers and hire more than 700 private buses.

The strike has been announced in support of call of central trade unions nationwide strike on January 8-9 against the BJP led Central Governments pro-corporate and anti-worker attitude.

The decision to participate in the two days nationwide strike by roadways unions was taken at a meeting held in Rohtak on Tuesday.

Recently, the roadways employees had observed 24 hours hunger strike at all depots against the governments decision to terminate the services of 365 bus drivers in Haryana. The employees demanded withdrawal of decision of termination of the drivers, withdrawal of decision of hiring 700 private buses and also, the continuation of night halt of buses at rural areas in the state.

The roadways unions will now hold a state level convention in Karnal, the constituency of Chief Minister Manohar Lal in the last week of December. All trade unions, panchayats and other employees organizations have been invited for this convention against the anti-employee policies of the Haryana Government

Earlier also, the roadways employees had protested against the State Governments decision to hire 700 private buses in Haryana.

Their longest ever strike against the decision had came to an end on its 18th day on November 2, after the Punjab and Haryana High Courts intervention.As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government has planned to introduce a fleet of 1,000 e-buses in the city, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said greater usage of public transport facilities will be a "major step" towards curbing air pollution. With this policy coming to force, Delhi will become the Electric Vehicle Capital of India as AAP Government on Tuesday held discussions with several experts, industry leaders in electric mobility to discuss and take the ambitious draft Delhi EV policy further to make the city pollution free.

Addressing a stakeholders' consultation on the proposed draft electric vehicles policy for Delhi, Kejriwal also reiterated his Government has the "political will" to take "tough decisions" to cut down pollution.

"The electrical vehicle policy being discussed today is a good step. And, greater usage of public transport would be a major step towards curbing air pollution. People started using Delhi Metro when it was introduced, and it is a very clean and efficient mode of transport," the Chief Minister said.

Kejrwal said, subsidy "cannot be permanent solution" and urged industries to work on research to come up with innovation to cut down cost. E-vehicles need to be affordable and charging infrastructure need to be properly made available to make this plan work, he said.

The Chief Minister said his Government has the "political will" to take "tough decisions" to curb pollution, as it was done two years ago in introduction of Odd-Even car scheme.

"Odd-Even step was a very difficult experiment... But, people of Delhi really supported us, we were fortunate," he said.

On November 2 Delhi Government had launched an e-bus for trial, so that zero-emissions vehicles could be rolled out in the next five to six months. The Government has planned to introduce 3,000 buses, out of which 1,000 would e-buses, he said.

"And, once these 1,000 e-buses arrive, and if they turn out to be technologically and economically viable, in future, we will buy e-buses only," the chief minister said.

Kejriwal said, it is being said that the scale on which e-buses are being planned to be introduced, is "first for any city in the country".

"So, our Delhi is taking a lead. There wound several challenges, administrative, legal, charging infrastructure. We will address these issues and find solutions. The Delhi experiment will bring lessons for the whole world," he said.

Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said the AAP Government plans to float tenders for the 1,000 electric buses shortly. "Delhi Government has already made the commitment to induct 1000 fully electric buses, more than anywhere in India, and the ambitious draft Delhi EV policy is a further step to establish Delhi as the EV capital of India. The draft policy strongly supports creation of a high density charging infrastructure, which is a key enabler for rapid adoption of electric vehicles," said Kailash Gahlot.

Transport Commissioner Varsha Joshi made a brief presentation on the Government's proposed policy, as per which it targets to have 25 per cent of all new vehicle registrations to be electric by 2023 through the subsidy for such autos, rickshaws and two-wheelers among others.

The policy also recommends strengthening infrastructure to provide battery charging access within 3 km range from anywhere in Delhi while additional fees on non-electric vehicles will fund the bulk of corpus created to incentivise the adoption of electric cars.

The stakeholders meet was organised by Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDCD), chaired by Kejriwal, and US-based Rocky Mountains Institute. Several industry leaders and experts in electric mobility nodded in agreement about the draft Electric Vehicle Policy 2018 of the Delhi Government.The officials of Ranchi University (RU) during a Syndicate Meet organised at the RU Administrative Block on Tuesday approved the proposal to constitute a Corpus Fund for Medi Claim policy both for teaching and non-teaching employees of the university.

As per RU Officer (PR), Dr. Prakash Kumar Jha, the step is for the wellbeing of all teaching and non-teaching staffs. Earlier there was no medical insurance policy for the university personnel. From the welfare fund, created way back, some amount was given to the employees in case of any emergency. Once the constitution of the Corpus Fund is ensured, the employees will contribute some amount to it and its interest will be used for medical claims, Jha added.

Also, through Corpus Funds interest sum, Post-Graduate (PG) toppers will be given teaching assistance. Earlier, the teaching assistance was Rs. 4,000 for each PG topper. Now, the proposal has been put to revise the teaching assistance amount through Corpus Funds interest to Rs. 15,000 as well. Rs. 4,000 is being given to the topper students since 2008, Jha further added.

As many as 19 agendas were considered during the meeting ranging from recruitment of teachers to promotion including seventh pay commission. Also, for the financial year 2019-20, the budget of Rs. 859.05 crore was placed before the finance commission of the university.Rural Development Minister Nilkant Singh Munda today said that the Sakhi Mandal's sisters have become an axis of development in the villages today and eradication of poverty is possible through empowerment of the Sakhi Mandal sisters. The Minister was addressing people during appointment letter distribution to new employees of Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society

He said that in the first week of January, the Rural Development Department will organize a Sakhi Manthan programme in every block of the State, whereby the sister of the Sakhi Mandal will be able to share their problems and views before the people's representatives. The Minister gave away appointment letters to newly appointed BPM and BPO selected under Special SC/ST Drive.

While expressing happiness at the progress of the Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society, Munda said that till now the government has reached 22 lakh families through the formation of 1.7 lakh Sakhi Mandals under the livelihood mission, which is an achievement for the department. It is credited to the team of Rural Development Department and JSLPS.

Munda directed the DPMs and BPMs to ensure that every family connected with Sakhi Mandal should be connected to at least two means of livelihood. He said that Jharkhand's SakhiMandal model is discussed everywhere, other departments are also reaching out to their plans through Sakhi Mandal, which is a matter of achievement for us. Munda instructed the JSLPS team to ensure proper market conditions for the products of the Board and their prices for the right price of their products. He said that the goal of the Rural Development Department and the Jharkhand Government through JSLPS is to reach the flame of development till the last family of the remote village.

Addressing the officials and JSLPS team of the Sakhi Mandal, Avinash Kumar, Principal Secretary, Rural Development Department, said that one should work for connecting the products of Sakhi Mandal with the market. Encourage women in Sachi Mandal to increase income. Hold on production and market. Keep the DPM in the district wise marketing and market facility so that the Board does not have problems in market. I am confident that this initiative of Rural Development Department is bringing prosperity on the faces of the villagers, he said.

Earlier, Special Secretary Co-CEO, JSLPS Paritosh Upadhyay presented the account of the activities of the livelihood mission and progress so far. During the programme, the Rural Development Minister also interacted with the Sakhi Mandal officials, team JSLPS and appealed to the members of the Board to send information to every government scheme.The pro-Khalistan outfit  Sikhs for Justice  on Tuesday sought support from Pakistan to liberate Punjab from India. Irate, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder stated that it has exposed SFJs nefarious designs and nexus with the Pakistani Army and its intelligence Inter-Services intelligence (ISI).

Capt Amarinder, in a hard-hitting reaction to the statement of SFJs legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, said that the cat is now well and truly out of the bag, and the truth of the deep-rooted connection between SJF and Pakistani Army is out in the open.

The statement has nailed SJFs lies that it was a peaceful movement to build momentum for a referendum on a separate state of Khalistan, said the Chief Minister, adding that it is more than evident now that the organisation, with the full support and backing of Pak Army and ISI, is striving to foment trouble in Indian Punjab.

Through his statement, Pannu has made clear his intentions of going all out to force the secession of Punjab from India, with the backing of Pak Army and ISI, said the Chief Minister, rubbishing SFJs claims to the contrary.

The Chief Minister has also taken strong exception to SFJs plans to hold the Kartarpur Sahib Convention  2019, coinciding with the auspicious occasion of the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev.

This has lent credence to his fears that Pakistans decision to open the Kartarpur Corridor was an ISI game-plan to help forces inimical to India, including SFJ. It has also once again proved that the Pak Government had always been, and continues to remain, a puppet regime, working at the behest of the Army there, he added.

Capt Amarinder said that the whole affair is a bigger conspiracy by the Pak Army, which is persistently trying to revive militancy in Punjab.

Punjab, and the Indian Army, are well prepared to counter any such plans of the neighbouring country, he reiterated.

Punjab is today much better equipped than it was in the 80s and 90s when Pak-backed terrorism had swept the state, he said, warning Islamabad against extending any further support to SFJ or other such outfits that are bent on disturbing the states hard-earned peace.

The Pak Army would do well to remember the ignominious defeats it had suffered at the hands of the Indian Army on every occasion it had tried to take on the might of the latter, right from the 1965 and 1971 wars to the more recent Kargil battle, warned Capt Amarinder.

Asserting that he was all in favour of Kartarpur Corridor to fulfil the long-pending aspirations of the Sikh community in India, the Chief Minister said that it was the misuse of the initiative that he was opposed to.

If Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is truly in favour of opening the doors for long-lasting peace with India through this corridor, he should not only unequivocally condemn the SFJ statement but should also ensure that Pak soil is not used by the anti-India outfit to further its campaign, said Capt Amarinder, urging the Pak leader to put a stop to the Kartarpur Sahib Convention-2019 plans.

Let the two countries build a corridor of peace in the true sense of the word, without the auspicious occasion of the 550th prakash purb being allowed by Islamabad to be abused by anti-Indian forces, said the Chief Minister, once again hailing the Kartarpur Corridor as a great opportunity to bridge the differences between the two nations.Additional Secretary at Chief Ministers Secretariat RK Singh on Tuesday expressed displeasure over nodal officers of the departments in the districts underperforming in execution of cases pending in Jan Samvad Centre.

While hearing the cases at CM Jan Samvad Centre on the issue of all pending cases related to the purchase of paddy procured from the farmers in the State have been reviewed and directed to execute them within one month.

In a complaint of Godda district, in which the payment of Rs 10 lakh of the paddy purchased from farmers in primary agricultural branch association committee, Nunajor in Godda in 2011-12 is still not paid.

While reviewing the matter, Singh directed the nodal officer of the Department of Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs to identify all such cases and ensure the payment to the farmers.

In a case of a 14-year-old teenager missing in Gonda district on October 25, 2018, DSP, Godda, shared the mobile number being used by the missing girl, with the help of Technical Cell. The Secretary instructed to trace the number location. They also instructed that the investigating officer meet the SP of Godda in the matter and submit report to the next week.

In case of Mithila Devi, Bokaro, died by electricution on November 5 2017, the Additional Secretary ordered the payment to the nodal officer of the department till next Tuesday on the complaint that her dependent was not given compensation yet.

In another case related to the Department of Energy, he ordered to replace the shabby electric poles and wire in Chapatura village in Pakud within a month.

In a case of irregularities of payment of Students bycycle fund at Beldanga in Pakur in 2016-17 the concerned department has not taken initiative against the principal, Singh expressed anger and instructed officer of welfare department to complete the reaport within one week.

In another case under Watershed wing cum data centre, Ramgrah working under on contract basis as technical expert, Jensindhu Dang, under JSWM Project, has not get his pending honorariu.

When asked about the issue the nodal officer said payment has been cleared due to no allocation. On the issue The Secretary directed the officer of Rural Development Department that they ensure the allocation and provide the pending payment.

On the complaint related to the repair of the machine in Deep Boring near the middle school of Kariyatpur in Hazaribagh, the Additional Secretary directed the department to repair it within fifteen days and start drinking water supply.West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday said that it was a humanitarian obligation to give refuge to migrants.

On International Migrants Day, she stated that her government to the best of its abilities would take care of anyone seeking shelter in West Bengal.

"Today is International Migrants Day. It is our humanitarian obligation to give refuge to migrants. In #Bangla we will take care of anyone who seeks shelter in our state, to the best of our abilities," Banerjee tweeted.

Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress supremo had been critical of the the BJP-led Central government after over 40 lakh people were left out of the complete draft of Assams National Register of Citizens (NRC).

She had also expressed her willingness that people whose names were not included in the list can come and stay in West Bengal.

International Migrants Day is observed on December 18 in accordance with Resolution 55/93 of the United Nations General Assembly, adopted on December 4, 2000.Indian national Hamid Nihal Ansari crossed over into the country at the Attari-Wagah border here after being released from a Pakistani jail where he had spent the last six years.

Ansari, 33, was met at the border by members of his family in an emotional reunion.

The Mumbai resident was arrested in 2012 for illegally entering Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.

His jail term ended on December 15 but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.

On Thursday, the Peshawar High Court gave the Pakistan government a month's deadline to complete his repatriation process.6 hours ago

From Square to Block: Another tech company changes its name

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Theres a new Silicon Valley corporate name change on the block. A month after Facebook renamed itself Meta, Square Inc., the payments company headed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, is changing its name to Block Inc.

Read ArticleBCE Inc., a telecommunications and media company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. It operates through three segments: Bell Wireless, Bell Wireline, and Bell Media. The Bell Wireless segment offers wireless voice and data communications products and services. The Bell Wireline segment provides data, including Internet access and Internet protocol television; and local telephone, long distance, satellite TV service, and connectivity, as well as other communications services and products. This segment also buys and sells local telephone, long distance, data, and other services from or to resellers, and other carriers. The Bell Media segment provides conventional TV, specialty TV, pay TV, and streaming services; and digital media, radio broadcasting, out-of-home advertising services. It owns and operates approximately 35 conventional TV stations; 27 specialty and four Pay TV channels; 3 direct-to-consumer streaming services; 109 licensed radio stations; and websites. The company was formerly known as Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. BCE Inc. was founded in 1880 and is headquartered in Verdun, Canada.

Read MoreBertrandt Aktiengesellschaft develops solutions for the automotive and aviation industries in Germany and internationally. The company operates through Digital Engineering, Physical Engineering, and Electrical Systems/Electronics segments. It offers design services, including designing and surfacing, and design modelling and rapid technologies; interior development services, such as seat, cockpit, trim, and dimensional management services; and vehicle body development services comprising body-in-white, doors and closures, exterior, and light and visibility services. The company also provides powertrain services, including thermodynamics/emission control, drivetrain control, thermal management, and engine mechanics; and chassis development services, such as concept, component, and module development, module integration, calculation/simulation, testing, and mechatronic chassis systems. It offers simulation services consisting of body-in-white crashworthiness, occupant safety, occupant safety/interior modules, crash management system, structural add-on parts, stiffness/noise, vibration and harshness, and computational fluid dynamics; electronics, including body/comfort/displays, infotainment systems, driver assistance systems, test systems, chassis electronics, diagnosis, on-board power network, and processes; testing services; and engineering services. The company also provides modelling and rapid technology services comprising CAD/CAM, model making, gauge building and cubing, and plastic injection moulding toolmaking services, as well as milling and measuring technologies. It serves automotive, aerospace, commercial vehicle, agricultural machinery, motorcycle, electrical, medical technology, and energy industries, as well as machines and production plants. The company was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Ehningen, Germany.

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.The following companies are subsidiares of Exxon Mobil: AKG Marketing Company Limited, Aera Energy LLC, Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company, Ampolex (Cepu) Pte Ltd, Ancon Insurance Company Inc., Barnett Gathering LLC, Barzan Gas Company Limited, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Celtic Exploration Ltd., Coral FLNG S.A., Cross Timbers Energy LLC, Ellora Energy Inc., Esmeroon Oil Transporta Imperial Oil Limited, Esso (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd, Esso Deutschland GmbH, Esso Erdgas Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Limited, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Angola (Overseas) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Chad Inc., Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Offshore East) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited, Esso Global Investments Ltd., Esso Italiana S.r.l., Esso Nederland B.V., Esso Norge AS, Esso Petroleum Company Limited, Esso Raffinage, Esso Societe Anonyme Francaise, Exxo Holdings Inc., Exxon Azerbaijan Limited, Exxon Chemical Arabia Inc., Exxon International Finance Company, Exxon Luxembourg Holdings LLC, Exxon Mobile Bay Limited Partnership, Exxon Neftegas Limited, Exxon Overseas Corporation, Exxon Overseas Investment Corporation, ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil (Taicang) Petroleum Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi Offshore Petroleum Company Limited, ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc., ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., ExxonMobil Australia Pty Ltd, ExxonMobil B Resources Company, ExxonMobil Capital Finance Company, ExxonMobil Capital Netherlands B.V., ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding GmbH, ExxonMobil Cepu Limited, ExxonMobil Chemical France, ExxonMobil Chemical Gulf Coast Investments LLC, ExxonMobil Chemical Holland B.V., ExxonMobil Chemical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil China Petroleum & Petrochemical Company Limited, ExxonMobil Development Africa B.V., ExxonMobil Development Company, ExxonMobil Egypt (S.A.E.), ExxonMobil Exploracao Brasil Ltda., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Limited, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Tanzania Limited, ExxonMobil Finance Company Limited, ExxonMobil Financial Investment Company Limited, ExxonMobil France Holding SAS, ExxonMobil Gas Marketing Europe Limited, ExxonMobil General Finance Company, ExxonMobil Global Services Company, ExxonMobil Golden Pass Surety LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Company Holland LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Norway AS, ExxonMobil Hong Kong Limited, ExxonMobil International Services SARL, ExxonMobil Iraq Limited, ExxonMobil Italiana Gas S.r.l., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures Inc., ExxonMobil LNG Services B.V., ExxonMobil Lubricants Trading Company, ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, ExxonMobil PNG Limited, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BVBA, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical Holdings Inc., ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, ExxonMobil Production Deutschland GmbH, ExxonMobil Production Norway Inc., ExxonMobil Qatargas (II) Limited, ExxonMobil Qatargas Inc., ExxonMobil Ras Laffan (III) Limited, ExxonMobil Rasgas Inc., ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, ExxonMobil Russia Kara Sea Holdings B.V., ExxonMobil Sales and Supply LLC, ExxonMobil Technology Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Funding Ltd., Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Co. Ltd., Golden Pass LNG Terminal Investments LLC, Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures LLC, Imperial Oil Limited, Imperial Oil Resources Limited, Imperial Oil Resources N.W.T. Limited, Imperial Oil/Petroliere Imperiale, Infineum Italia s.r.I., Infineum Singapore Pte. Ltd., InterOil Corporation, Jurong Aromatics Corporation Pte Ltd, MPM Lubricants, Marine Well Containment Company LLC, Mobil Australia Resources Company Pty Limited, Mobil California Exploration & Producing Asset Company, Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company, Mobil Chemical Products International Inc., Mobil Corporation, Mobil Equatorial Guinea Inc., Mobil Erdgas Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Mobil Exploration & Producing Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil International Petroleum Corporation, Mobil Oil Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil Oil Exploration & Producing Southeast Inc., Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Mobil Producing Texas & New Mexico Inc., Mobil SerLimited, Mobil Venezolana De Petroleos Inc., Mobil Yanbu Petrochemical Company Inc., Mobil Yanbu Refining Company Inc., Mountain Gathering LLC, Mozambique Rovuma Venture S.p.A., Palmetto Transoceanic LLC, Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas Global Company LDC, Permian Express Partners LLC, Phillips Exploration LLC, Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (II), SPI Limited, Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Ltd., Saudi Yanbu Petrochemical Co., SeaRiver Maritime Inc., South Hook LNG Terminal Company Limited, Tengizchevroil LLP, Terminale GNL Adriatico S.r.l, Trend Gathering & Treating LLC, Wolverine Pipe Line Company, XH LLC, XTO Delaware Basin LLC, XTO ENERGY, XTO Energy Canada, and XTO Holdings LLC.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The following companies are subsidiares of Hyatt Hotels: CHANCELLOR STREET CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION INC., GLENDALE HOTEL PROPERTIES L.L.C., HT-SEATTLE HOLDINGS LLC, 1379919 ALBERTA INC., 319168 ONTARIO LIMITED, 3385434 CANADA INC., ADMINISTRACION DE PERSONAL ANDARES S. DE R.L. DE C.V., AIC HOLDING CO., AIRPORT PLAZA ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, AIRPORT PLAZA HOTEL LLC, AIRPORT PLAZA OFFICE BUILDING LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, AMERISUITES FRANCHISING L.L.C., ARANCIA LIMITED, ARUBA BEACHFRONT RESORTS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, ARUBA BEACHFRONT RESORTS N.V., ASIA HOSPITALITY INC., ASIA HOSPITALITY INVESTORS B.V., ASIAN HOTEL N.V., ATRIUM HOTEL L.L.C., AUSTIN RESORT BEVERAGE LLC, AmeriSuites Hotel, BAKU HOTEL COMPANY - AZERI, BAKU HOTEL COMPANY - CAYMAN, BASTROP MARKETING L.L.C., BAY II INVESTOR INC., BELLEVUE ASSOCIATES, BH PLAZA LLC, BRE/AMERISUITES PROPERTIES L.L.C., BRE/AMERISUITES TXNC GP L.L.C., BRE/AMERISUITES TXNC PROPERTIES L.P., BURVAN HOTEL ASSOCIATES, CAL-HARBOR SO. PIER URBAN RENEWAL ASSOCIATES L.P., CELAYA RESORTS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., CHESAPEAKE COMMUNITIES LLC, CHESAPEAKE RESORT LLC, CIUDAD DEL CARMEN DIAMANTE RESORT S. DE R.L. DE C.V, COAST BEACH L.L.C., COMPAGNIE HOTELIERE DE LAGON BLEU, CPM SEATTLE HOTELS L.L.C., CRW INVESTMENT LLC, CTR INTEREST HOLDCO INC., DALLAS REGENCY LLC, DENVER DOWNTOWN HOTEL PARTNERS LLC, DESARROLLADORA HOTELERA ACUEDUCTO S. DE R.L. DE C.V., DH BEVERAGE LLC, DIAMANTE RESORT LA PAZ S. DE R.L. DE C.V., DISTRICT HOTEL PARTNERS LLC, EXHALE ENTERPRISES GIFT SERVICES COMPANY, EXHALE ENTERPRISES II L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES III INC., EXHALE ENTERPRISES IV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES V L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES VIII INC., EXHALE ENTERPRISES X INC., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XIV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XIX L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XV TCI LTD., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XVI L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XVII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XVIII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XX L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXI INC., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXIV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXV L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXVI L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXVII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXVIII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXXI L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXXII L.L.C., EXHALE ENTERPRISES XXXIII INC., FAN PIER L.L.C., FAR EAST HOTELS INC., G.E.H. PROPERTIES LIMITED, GAINEY DRIVE ASSOCIATES, GALAXY AEROSPACE COMPANY LLC, GHE HOLDINGS LIMITED, GRAND HYATT BERLIN GMBH, GRAND HYATT DFW BEVERAGE LLC, GRAND HYATT SAN ANTONIO L.L.C., GRAND HYATT SF L.L.C., GRAND RIVERWALK BEVERAGE LLC, GRAND TORONTO CORP., GRAND TORONTO VENTURE L.P., GREENWICH HOTEL LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, H.E. ATLANTA CENTENNIAL PARK HOLDINGS L.L.C., H.E. AUSTIN L.L.C., H.E. BERMUDA L.L.C., H.E. CAP CANA L.L.C., H.E. DRISKILL LLC, H.E. GRAND CYPRESS L.L.C., H.E. IRVINE L.L.C., H.E. KANSAS CITY L.L.C., H.E. LENOX L.L.C., H.E. NASHVILLE L.L.C., H.E. NEWPORT L.L.C., H.E. ORLANDO L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA HC HOLDINGS L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA HC HOTEL L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA HC PARKING L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA HC RETAIL L.L.C., H.E. PHILADELPHIA SANSOM L.L.C., H.E. PORTLAND HC L.L.C., H.E. PORTLAND L.L.C., H.E. PROPERTIES HOLDING L.L.C., H.E. PROPERTIES L.L.C., H.E. SAN ANTONIO I L.L.C., H.E. SAN ANTONIO L.L.C., H.E. TUCSON HOLDINGS L.L.C., H.E. TUCSON JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., H.E. TUCSON JV L.L.C., H.E. TUCSON OWNER L.L.C., HAPP INVESTOR LTD., HARBORSIDE HOTEL LLC, HARBORSIDE LAND LLC, HC PORTLAND JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HC ROYAL PALMS L.L.C., HCV CINCINNATI HOTEL L.L.C., HE ORLANDO HOTEL LLC, HGP (TRAVEL) LIMITED, HH NASHVILLE HOLDINGS L.L.C., HH NASHVILLE JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HH PORTLAND L.L.C., HHMA BURLINGTON BEVERAGE L.L.C., HI HOLDINGS (SWITZERLAND) GMBH, HI HOLDINGS BAJA B.V., HI HOLDINGS BRAZIL S.A.R.L., HI HOLDINGS CELAYA B.V., HI HOLDINGS CIUDAD DEL CARMEN B.V., HI HOLDINGS CYPRUS LIMITED, HI HOLDINGS CYPRUS-INDIA LIMITED, HI HOLDINGS GUADALAJARA B.V., HI HOLDINGS HP CABO B.V., HI HOLDINGS HP TIJUANA HOTEL B.V., HI HOLDINGS KYOTO CO., HI HOLDINGS LA PAZ B.V., HI HOLDINGS LATIN AMERICA B.V., HI HOLDINGS NETHERLANDS B.V., HI HOLDINGS PLAYA B.V., HI HOLDINGS RIO S.A.R.L., HI HOLDINGS RIVIERA MAYA B.V., HI HOLDINGS VIENNA S.A.R.L., HI HOLDINGS ZURICH S.A.R.L., HI HOTEL ADVISORY SERVICES GMBH, HI HOTEL INVESTORS CYPRUS LIMITED, HIHCL AMSTERDAM B.V., HIHCL HP AMSTERDAM AIRPORT B.V., HIHCL HR AMSTERDAM B.V., HILP HOTEL SERVICE PROVIDER LLC, HOTEL AM BELVEDERE HOLDING GMBH, HOTEL AM BELVEDERE HOLDING GMBH & CO KG, HOTEL INVESTMENTS HOLDING CO LLC, HOTEL INVESTMENTS L.L.C., HOTEL INVESTORS I INC., HOTEL INVESTORS II INC., HOTEL PROJECT SYSTEMS PTE LTD, HOTEL SERVICES CIUDAD DEL CARMEN S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HOTELS CS CELAYA S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HP ATLANTA CENTENNIAL PARK JV LLC, HP AUSTIN L.L.C., HP BEVERAGE DALLAS DFW AIRPORT LLC, HP BEVERAGE SUGAR LAND LLC, HP BOSTON HOLDINGS L.L.C., HP GLENDALE JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HP GLENDALE L.L.C., HP INDIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, HP LAS VEGAS BEVERAGE L.L.C., HP M STREET L.L.C., HP ROUTE 46 TEXAS LLC, HP SAN FRANCISCO L.L.C., HP SAN JUAN L.L.C., HP TEN TEXAS LLC, HPHH ATLANTA L.L.C., HPHH DENVER L.L.C., HPHH SAN JOSE JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HPHH SAN JOSE L.L.C., HQ CHESAPEAKE LLC, HR LOST PINES RESORT LLC, HR MC HOTEL COMPANY S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HR MC SERVICES II S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HR MC SERVICES S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HRHC LLC, HT- WAILEA LLC, HT-AVENDRA GROUP HOLDINGS L.L.C., HT-AVENDRA L.L.C., HT-CHESAPEAKE COMMUNITIES INC., HT-CHESAPEAKE RESORT INC., HT-HOTEL EQUITIES INC., HT-HUNTINGTON BEACH INC., HT-JERSEY PIER INC., HT-JERSEY PIER L.P., HT-JERSEY PIER LLC, HT-LONG BEACH L.L.C., HT-MIAMI BEACH L.L.C., HT-PARK 57 INC., HT-SEATTLE LLC, HT-SIERRA L.L.C., HT-VANCOUVER INC., HTLB L.L.C., HTS - NS L.L.C., HTS - NY L.L.C., HTS-ASPEN L.L.C., HTS-BC INC., HTS-INVESTMENT L L.C., HTSF L.L.C., HTW BEVERAGE LLC, HY LONG BEACH HOTEL LLC, HYATT (BARBADOS) CORPORATION, HYATT (JAPAN) CO. LTD., HYATT (THAILAND) LIMITED, HYATT ARUBA N.V., HYATT ASIA PACIFIC HOLDINGS LIMITED, HYATT AUSTRALIA HOTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LIMITED, HYATT AUSTRIA GMBH, HYATT BEACH FRONT N.V., HYATT BORNEO MANAGEMENT SERVICES LIMITED, HYATT BRITANNIA CORPORATION LTD., HYATT CC OFFICE CORP., HYATT CHAIN SERVICES LIMITED, HYATT CRYSTAL CITY LLC., HYATT CURACAO N.V., HYATT DISASTER RELIEF FUND, HYATT DO BRASIL PARTICIPACOES LTDA, HYATT EQUITIES L.L.C., HYATT FOREIGN EMPLOYMENT SERVICES INC., HYATT FRANCHISING CANADA CORP., HYATT FRANCHISING L.L.C., HYATT FRANCHISING LATIN AMERICA L.L.C., HYATT FULFILLMENT OF MARYLAND INC., HYATT GLOBAL SERVICES INC., HYATT GTLD L.L.C., HYATT HOC INC., HYATT HOLDINGS (UK) LIMITED, HYATT HOSPITALITY SERVICES L.L.C., HYATT HOTEL MANAGEMENT LIMITED, HYATT HOTELS CONSULTANCY SERVICES ASIA PACIFIC LIMITED, HYATT HOTELS CORPORATION OF KANSAS, HYATT HOTELS CORPORATION OF MARYLAND, HYATT HOTELS FOUNDATION, HYATT HOTELS MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, HYATT HOTELS OF CANADA INC., HYATT HOTELS OF FLORIDA INC., HYATT HOTELS OF PUERTO RICO INC., HYATT HOUSE CANADA INC., HYATT HOUSE FRANCHISING L.L.C., HYATT HOUSE HOTEL HOLDING COMPANY L.L.C., HYATT INDIA CONSULTANCY PRIVATE LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL (ASIA) LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL (EUROPE AFRICA MIDDLE EAST) LLC, HYATT INTERNATIONAL - JAPAN LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL - SOUTHWEST ASIA LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL -ASIA PACIFIC LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL -SEA (PTE) LIMITED, HYATT INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, HYATT INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS CO., HYATT INTERNATIONAL HOTEL MANAGEMENT (BEIJING) CO. LTD., HYATT INTERNATIONAL MILAN L.L.C., HYATT INTERNATIONAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT (BEIJING) CO. LTD., HYATT INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL SERVICES INC., HYATT JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., HYATT LACSA SERVICES INC., HYATT LOUISIANA L.L.C., HYATT MAINZ GMBH, HYATT MARKETING SERVICES INC., HYATT MARKETING SERVICES NIGERIA COMPANY LIMITED, HYATT MINNEAPOLIS LLC, HYATT MINORITY INVESTMENTS INC., HYATT MSS L.L.C., HYATT NORTH AMERICA MANAGEMENT SERVICES INC., HYATT OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HYATT OF BAJA S. DE R.L. DE C.V., HYATT OF CHINA LIMITED, HYATT OF FRANCE S.A.R.L., HYATT OF GUAM LIMITED, HYATT OF ITALY S.R.L., HYATT OF LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN L.L.C., HYATT OF LATIN AMERICA S.A. DE C.V., HYATT OF MACAU LIMITED, HYATT OF MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., HYATT OF PHILIPPINES LIMITED, HYATT PARTNERSHIP INTERESTS L.L.C., HYATT PLACE ANNE ARUNDEL BEVERAGE INC., HYATT PLACE CANADA CORPORATION, HYATT PLACE FRANCHISING L.L.C., HYATT PLACE OF MARYLAND INC., HYATT REGENCY COLOGNE GMBH, HYATT REGENCY CORPORATION PTY. LIMITED, HYATT SERVICES AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED, HYATT SERVICES CANADA INC., HYATT SERVICES CARIBBEAN L.L.C., HYATT SERVICES GMBH, HYATT SERVICES INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, HYATT SHARED SERVICE CENTER L.L.C., HYATT TRINIDAD LIMITED, HYCANADA INC., HYCARD INC., HYSTAR L.L.C., Hyatt Corporation, INFORMATION SERVICES LIMITED, INTERNATIONAL RESERVATIONS LIMITED, JOINT VENTURE ITALKYR CLOSED JOINT STOCK COMPANY, JUNIPER HOTELS PRIVATE LIMITED, KSA MANAGEMENT INC., KYOTO HOLDING CO., LHR-PARTNERS LTD., LORING PARK ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, LOST PINES BEVERAGE LLC, MACAE PARTNERS S.A.R.L., MAHIMA HOLDINGS PRIVATE LIMITED, MARION RESERVATION CENTER L.L.C., MEXICO CITY HOTEL INVESTMENTS B.V., MILAN HOTEL INVESTMENTS B.V., MIRAVAL ARIZONA GUARANTOR LLC, MIRAVAL GROUP LLC, MIRAVAL RESORT ARIZONA HOLDINGS LLC, MIRAVAL RESORT ARIZONA LLC, MIRAVAL RESORT ARIZONA OPERATING CO. INC., MIRAVAL RESORT TUCSON LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS I LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS II LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS III LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS LLC, MONROE MR HOLDINGS TRUST, MRG ATX BEVERAGE HOLDINGS LLC, MRG ATX HOLDINGS II LLC, MRG ATX HOLDINGS LLC, MRG ATX INVESTMENT LLC, MRG ATX MANAGEMENT I LLC, MRG ATX MANAGEMENT II LLC, MRG ATX OPERATIONS LLC, MRG CRW HOLDINGS LLC, MRG CRW MANAGEMENT I LLC, MRG CRW MANAGEMENT II LLC, MRG CRW OPERATIONS LLC, MUNICH OPCO GMBH, Miraval Resort, OASIS LUXURY RENTALS INCORPORATED, PARIS HOTEL COMPANY B.V., PARK HYATT HAMBURG GMBH, PARK HYATT HOTEL GMBH, PARK HYATT WATER TOWER ASSOCIATES L.L.C., PH NEW YORK L.L.C., PHMC RESIDENCIAS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., POLK SMITH REGENCY LLC, PT HYATT INDONESIA, PVD INVESTMENT COMPANY S.A.R.L., Peabody Hotels & Resort, RCG PROPERTIES LLC, REGENCY BEVERAGE COMPANY LLC, REGENCY RIVERWALK BEVERAGE LLC, RESERVATIONS CENTER L.L.C., RIO JV PARTNERS PARTICIPACOES LTDA., RIO PRETO PARTNERS HOTEIS LTDA., RIO PRETO PARTNERS S.A.R.L., ROSEMONT PROJECT MANAGEMENT L.L.C., ROUTE 46 MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES CORP., RUNWAY HOLDING L.L.C., RUNWAY L.L.C., SAO PAULO INVESTMENT COMPANY INC., SAO PAULO INVESTORS LIMITED, SASIH, SDI EQUITIES INVESTOR L.L.C., SDI INC., SDI SECURITIES 11 LLC, SDI SECURITIES 6 LLC, SELECT HOTELS GROUP L.L.C., SELECT JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., SEOUL MIRAMAR CORPORATION, SERVICIOS DE HOTELERIA SAN JOSE S. DE R.L. DE C.V., SERVICIOS HOTELEROS LA PAZ S. DE R.L. DE C.V., SETTLEMENT INVESTORS INC., SHG PUERTO RICO INC., SIERRA HEALTHSTYLES LLC, SJC DESARROLLOS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., SKS CORP. N.V., SMC HOTELS B.V., SOROCABA PARTNERS HOTEIS LTDA, SOROCABA PARTNERS S.A.R.L., STANHOPE L.L.C., STARHILL LORING PARK L.L.C., SUGAR LAND/HP LLC, THE GREAT EASTERN HOTEL COMPANY LIMITED, THE GREAT EASTERN HOTEL HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED, TIJUANA PARTNERS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., TR MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT LLC, TUCSON VILLAS HOLDINGS LLC, TUCSON VILLAS LLC, TWO SEAS HOLDINGS LIMITED, Two Roads Hospitality, WAILEA HOTEL & BEACH RESORT L.L.C., WAILEA HOTEL HOLDINGS L.L.C., WAILEA MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION L.L.C., WAILEA RESORT VILLAS HOLDINGS L.L.C., WAILEA RESORT VILLAS L.L.C., WEST END RESIDENCES L.L.C., XENIA ASSURANCE COMPANY INC., XENIA ASSURANCE COMPANY OF ILLINOIS, ZURICH ESCHERWIESE HOTEL GMBH, and ZURICH HOTEL INVESTMENTS B.V..iShares MSCI Japan ETF's stock reverse split before market open on Monday, November 7th 2016. The 1-4 reverse split was announced on Friday, October 14th 2016. The number of shares owned by shareholders was adjusted after the market closes on Friday, November 4th 2016. An investor that had 100 shares of iShares MSCI Japan ETF stock prior to the reverse split would have 25 shares after the split.Novan, Inc., a clinical development-stage biotechnology company, provides nitric oxide-based therapies to treat dermatological and oncovirus-mediated diseases. Its clinical stage dermatology drug candidates include SB204, a topical monotherapy for the treatment of acne vulgaris; SB206, a topical anti-viral gel for the treatment of viral skin infections; SB208, a topical broad-spectrum anti-fungal gel for the treatment of fungal infections of the skin and nails, including athlete's foot and fungal nail infections; and SB414, a topical cream-based gel product candidate for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases. The company also develops SB207, an anti-viral product candidate for the treatment of external genital warts; WH602, a nitric oxide-containing intravaginal gel to treat high-risk human papilloma virus (HPV); WH504, a non-gel formulation product candidate to treat high-risk HPV; and SB019 for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. Novan, Inc. has a license agreement with Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; and a strategic alliance with Orion Corporation. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina.

Read MoreThere is not enough analysis data for Novation Companies.

4.7 Community Rank

Outperform Votes Novation Companies has received 68 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes Novation Companies has received 29 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment Novation Companies has received 70.10% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Novation Companies and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe NOVC will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe NOVC will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

Previous

NextThere is not enough analysis data for Stelmine Canada.

4.5 Community Rank

Outperform Votes Stelmine Canada has received 65 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes Stelmine Canada has received 30 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment Stelmine Canada has received 68.42% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Stelmine Canada and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe STH will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe STH will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

Previous

NextThere is not enough analysis data for Tekla Life Sciences Investors.

4.5 Community Rank

Outperform Votes Tekla Life Sciences Investors has received 95 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes Tekla Life Sciences Investors has received 44 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment Tekla Life Sciences Investors has received 68.35% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Tekla Life Sciences Investors and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe HQL will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe HQL will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

Previous

NextUnited States Natural Gas Fund's stock reverse split on the morning of Friday, January 5th 2018. The 1-4 reverse split was announced on Friday, December 22nd 2017. The number of shares owned by shareholders was adjusted after the closing bell on Thursday, January 4th 2018. An investor that had 100 shares of United States Natural Gas Fund stock prior to the reverse split would have 25 shares after the split.The following companies are subsidiares of Tenet Healthcare: 1 Subsidiaries of this entity in which Tenet Healthcare Corporation directly and indirectly held a 95% ownership interest at December 31 2020 are set forth in the table below., 25 East Same Day Surgery L.L.C., 300 PBL Development LLC, 45th Street MOB LLC, 601 N 30th Street I L.L.C., 601 N 30th Street II L.L.C., 601 N 30th Street III Inc., AHM Acquisition Co. Inc., AIG Holdings LLC, AIGB Global LLC, AIGB Group Inc., AIGB Holdings Inc., AIGB Management Services LLC, AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #1 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #2 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #3 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #4 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #5 L.L.C., AMI Information Systems Group Inc., AMI/HTI Tarzana Encino Joint Venture, APN, ARC Worcester Center L.P., ASC Old Co. LP, ASC of New Jersey LLC, ASJH Joint Venture LLC, Abrazo Health Network EP Clinical Services LLC, Abrazo Surgical Outpatient Center LLC, Advanced Ambulatory Surgical Care L.P., Advanced Center for Surgery  Vero Beach LLC, Advanced Regional Surgery Center LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Metairie LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Sarasota LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Tampa LLC, Advanced Surgical Care of St Louis LLC, Advanced Surgical Concepts LLC, Advantage Health Care Management Company LLC, Advantage Health Network Inc., AdventHealth Surgery Center Celebration LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Mills Park LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Wellswood LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Winter Garden LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Centers Central Florida LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Centers West Florida LLC, Adventist Midwest Health/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Alabama Cardiovascular Associates L.L.C., Alabama Digestive Health Endoscopy Center L.L.C., Alabama Hand and Sports Medicine L.L.C., Alamo Heights Surgicare L.P., All Star MOB LLC, Allegian Insurance Company, Alliance Surgery Birmingham LLC, Alliance Surgery Inc., Alvarado Hospital Medical Center Inc., Ambulatory Surgical Associates LLC, Ambulatory Surgical Center of Somerville LLC, American Institute of Gastric Banding Ltd., American Institute of Gastric Banding Phoenix Limited Partnership, American Medical (Central) Inc., Amisub (Heights) Inc., Amisub (Hilton Head) Inc., Amisub (North Ridge Hospital) Inc., Amisub (SFH) Inc., Amisub (Twelve Oaks) Inc., Amisub of California Inc., Amisub of North Carolina Inc., Amisub of South Carolina Inc., Amisub of Texas Inc., Anaheim Hills Medical Imaging L.L.C., Anaheim MRI Holding Inc., Anesthesia Partners of Gallatin LLC, Arizona Care Network  Next L.L.C., Arizona Health Partners LLC, Arlington Orthopedic and Spine Hospital LLC, Arrowhead Endoscopy and Pain Management Center LLC, Asia Outsourcing US Inc., Aspen Healthcare, Atlanta Medical Center Inc., Atlanta Medical Center Interventional Neurology Associates L.L.C., Atlanta Medical Center Neurosurgical & Spine Specialists L.L.C., Atlanta Medical Center Physician Group L.L.C., Atlantic Coast Surgical Suites LLC, Atlantic Health-USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Avita/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., BBH BMC LLC, BBH CBMC LLC, BBH DevelopmentCo LLC, BBH Imaging Jasper LLC, BBH NP Clinicians Inc., BBH PBMC LLC, BBH SBMC LLC, BBH WBMC LLC, BCDC EmployeeCO LLC, BHC-Talladega Pediatrics LLC, BHS Accountable Care LLC, BHS Affinity LLC, BHS Integrated Physician Partners LLC, BHS Physician Performance Network LLC, BHS Physicians Alliance for ACE LLC, BHS Physicians Network Inc., BHS Specialty Network Inc., BT East Dallas JV LLP, BW Cardiology LLC, BW Cyberknife LLC, BW Hand Practice LLC, BW Office Buildings LLC, BW Parking Decks LLC, BW Physician Practices LLC, BW Retail Pharmacy LLC, BW Sports Practice LLC, Bagley Holdings LLC, Baptist Accountable Care LLC, Baptist Diagnostics LLC, Baptist Health Centers LLC, Baptist Physician Alliance ACO LLC, Baptist Physician Alliance LLC, Baptist Plaza Surgicare L.P., Baptist Surgery Center L.P., Baptist Womens Health Center LLC, Baptist/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Bartlett ASC LLC, Baylor Surgicare at Baylor Plano LLC, Baylor Surgicare at Blue Star LLC, Baylor Surgicare at Granbury LLC, Baylor Surgicare at Mansfield LLC, Baylor Surgicare at North Dallas LLC, Baylor Surgicare at Plano LLC, Baylor Surgicare at Plano Parkway LLC, Bear Creek Surgery Center LLC, Beaumont Surgical Affiliates Ltd., Bellaire Outpatient Surgery Center L.L.P., Berkshire Eye LLC, Bloomington ASC LLC, Blue Ridge/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Bluffton Okatie Primary Care L.L.C., Bluffton Okatie Surgery Center L.L.C., Bon Secours Surgery Center at Harbour View LLC, Bon Secours Surgery Center at Virginia Beach LLC, Bozeman Health/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Bozeman MOB LLC, Briarcliff Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Bristol Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Broad River Primary Care L.L.C., Brookwood - Maternal Fetal Medicine L.L.C., Brookwood Ancillary Holdings Inc., Brookwood Baptist Health 1 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Health 2 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Health 3 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Imaging LLC, Brookwood Center Development Corporation, Brookwood Development Inc., Brookwood Diagnostic Imaging Center LLC, Brookwood Garages L.L.C., Brookwood Health Services Inc., Brookwood Home Health LLC, Brookwood Occupational Health Clinic L.L.C., Brookwood Parking Associates Ltd., Brookwood Primary Care - Homewood L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care - Inverness L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care - Mountain Brook L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care - Oak Mountain L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care - Vestavia L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Cahaba Heights L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Hoover L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care The Narrows L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Network Care Inc., Brookwood Specialty Care - Endocrinology L.L.C., Brookwood Sports and Orthopedics L.L.C., Brookwood Womens Care L.L.C., Brookwood Womens Diagnostic Center LLC, C7 Technologies LLC, CGH Hospital Ltd., CHIC/USP Surgery Centers LLC, CHN Holdings LLC, CHRISTUS Cabrini Surgery Center L.L.C., CHVI Tucson Holdings LLC, CML-Chicago Market Labs Inc., CRNAs of Michigan, CS/USP General Partner LLC, CS/USP Surgery Centers LP, California Joint & Spine LLC, Camp Creek Urgent Care L.L.C., Camp Lowell Surgery Center L.L.C., Captive Insurance Services Inc., Cardiology Physicians Associates L.L.C., Cardiology Physicians Corporation L.L.C., Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Associates L.L.C., Cardiovascular Clinical Excellence at Sierra Providence LLC, CareSpot of Austin LLC, CareSpot of Memphis LLC, CareSpot of Orlando/HSI Urgent Care LLC, Carmel Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Carondelet St. Marys-Northwest L.L.C., Cascade Spine Center LLC, Castle Rock Surgery Center LLC, Catawba-Piedmont Cardiothoracic Surgery L.L.C., Cedar Hill Primary Care L.L.C., Cedar Park Surgery Center L.L.P., Centennial ASC LLC, Center for Advanced Research Excellence L.L.C., Center for the Urban Child Inc., Central California Healthcare Holdings LLC, Central Carolina Physicians - Sandhills L.L.C., Central Carolina-IMA L.L.C., Central Jersey Surgery Center LLC, Central Texas Corridor Hospital Company LLC, Central Valley Quality Alliance LLC, Central Virginia Surgi-Center L.P., Centura Ventures Surgery Centers LLC, Centura/USP Colorado Springs Surgery Centers L.L.C., Chalon Living Inc., Chandler Endoscopy Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Charlotte Endoscopic Surgery Center LLC, Chattanooga Pain Management Center LLC, Chesterfield Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Chesterfield Anesthesia Associates of Missouri LLC, Chico Surgery Center L.P., Childrens Hospital of Michigan Premier Network Inc., Citrus Heights ASC RE LLC, Clarkston ASC Partners LLC, Clarksville Surgery Center LLC, Coast Healthcare Management LLC, Coast Surgery Center L.P., Coastal Carolina Medical Center, Coastal Carolina Medical Center Inc., Coastal Carolina Physician Practices LLC, Coastal Carolina Pro Fee Billing L.L.C., Coastal Endo LLC, Colorado GI Centers LLC, Commonwealth Continental Health Care Inc., Community Connection Health Plan Inc., Community Hospital LLC, Community Hospital of Los Gatos Inc., Conifer Care Continuum Solutions LLC, Conifer Ethics and Compliance Inc., Conifer Global Business Center Inc., Conifer Global Holdings Inc., Conifer Health Solutions LLC, Conifer Holdings Inc., Conifer Patient Communications LLC, Conifer Physician Services Holdings Inc., Conifer Physician Services Inc., Conifer Revenue Cycle Solutions LLC, Conifer Value-Based Care LLC, Conroe Surgery Center 2 LLC, Coral Gables Hospital Inc., Coral Ridge Outpatient Center LLC, Corpus Christi Surgicare Ltd., Covenant/USP Surgery Centers LLC, CreAtiv Management Company Inc., Creekwood Investors LLC, Creekwood Surgery Center L.P., Crown Point Surgery Center LLC, DH/USP SJOSC Investment Company L.L.C., DH/USP Sacramento Pain GP LLC, DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital Premier Clinical Co-Management Services LLC, DMC Education & Research, DMC Harper University Hospital Premier Clinical Co-Management Services LLC, DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital Premier Clinical Management Services LLC, DMC Imaging L.L.C., Dallas Surgical Partners LLC, DeTar/USP Surgery Center LLC, Delray Beach ASC LLC, Delray Medical Center Inc., Delray Medical Physician Services L.L.C., Denton Surgicare Partners Ltd., Denton Surgicare Real Estate Ltd., Denville Surgery Center LLC, Des Peres Physician Network LLC, Desert Cove MOB LLC, Desert Regional Medical Center Inc., Desert Ridge Outpatient Surgery LLC, Desoto Surgicare Partners Ltd., Destin ASC RE LLC, Destin Surgery Center LLC, Detroit Education & Research, DigitalMed Inc., Dignity/Abrazo Health Network LLC, Dignity/USP Folsom GP LLC, Dignity/USP Grass Valley GP LLC, Dignity/USP Las Vegas Surgery Centers LLC, Dignity/USP Metro Surgery Center LLC, Dignity/USP NorCal Surgery Centers LLC, Dignity/USP Phoenix Surgery Centers II LLC, Dignity/USP Phoenix Surgery Centers LLC, Dignity/USP Redding GP LLC, Dignity/USP Roseville GP LLC, Dignity/USP/John Muir East Bay Surgery Centers LLC, Doctors Hospital of Manteca Inc., Doctors Medical Center Neurosciences Clinical Co-Management LLC, Doctors Medical Center Orthopedics Clinical Co-Management LLC, Doctors Medical Center of Modesto Inc., Doctors Outpatient Center for Surgery LLC, Doctors Outpatient Surgery Center of Jupiter L.L.C., EPHC Inc., EPIC ASC LLC, East Atlanta Endoscopy Centers LLC, East Cobb Urgent Care LLC, East Cooper Coastal Family Physicians L.L.C., East Cooper Community Hospital Inc., East Cooper Hyperbarics L.L.C., East Cooper OB/GYN L.L.C., East Cooper Physician Network LLC, East Cooper Primary Care Physicians L.L.C., East Portland Surgery Center LLC, East West Surgery Center L.P., Eastgate Building Center L.L.C., Effingham Surgical Partners LLC, Einstein Montgomery Surgery Center LLC, Einstein/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., El Mirador Surgery Center L.L.C., El Paso Center for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy LLC, El Paso Day Surgery LLC, El Paso Urology Surgery Center Curie LLC, Emanate/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Emanuel Medical Center, Emerson Surgery Center LLC, Encinitas Endoscopy Center LLC, Endoscopy Center of Hackensack LLC, Endoscopy Center of South Sacramento LLC, Endoscopy Consultants LLC, European Surgical Partners Ltd., Eye Center of Nashville UAP LLC, Eye Surgery Center of Nashville LLC, FMC Medical Inc., FMCC Network Contracting L.L.C., FPN  Frisco Physicians Network, FREH Real Estate L.L.C., FRS Imaging Services L.L.C., FSC Hospital LLC, FSH IT Services LP, First Choice Physician Partners, Flatirons Surgery Center LLC, Folsom Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Fort Bend Clinical Services Inc., Fort Worth Hospital Real Estate LP, Fort Worth Surgicare Partners Ltd., Foundation Bariatric Hospital of San Antonio LLC, Foundation San Antonio Borrower Sub LLC, Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, Fountain Valley Surgery Center LLC, Franklin Endo UAP LLC, Franklin Endoscopy Center LLC, Fresno Surgery Center L.P., Frisco Medical Center L.L.P., Frontenac Ambulatory Surgery & Spine Care Center L.P., Frye Regional Medical Center Inc., FryeCare Boone L.L.C., FryeCare Morganton L.L.C., FryeCare Physicians L.L.C., FryeCare Valdese L.L.C., FryeCare Watauga L.L.C., FryeCare Womens Services L.L.C., GCSA Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Gamma Surgery Center LLC, Gardendale Surgical Associates LLC, Garland Surgicare Partners Ltd., Gastric Health Institute L.L.C., Genesis ASC Partners LLC, Geneva Surgical Suites LLC, Georgia Endoscopy Center LLC, Georgia Gifts From Grace L.L.C., Georgia Musculoskeletal Network Inc., Georgia North Fulton Healthcare Associates L.L.C., Georgia Northside Ear Nose and Throat L.L.C., Georgia Physicians of Cardiology L.L.C., Georgia Spectrum Neurosurgical Specialists L.L.C., Georgia Spine Surgery Center LLC, Glen Echo Surgery Center LLC, Golden Ridge ASC LLC, Good Samaritan Medical Center Inc., Good Samaritan Surgery L.L.C., Grapevine Surgicare Partners Ltd., Grass Valley Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Graystone Family Healthcare - Tenet North Carolina L.L.C., Great Lakes Surgical Suites LLC, Greater Dallas Healthcare Enterprises, Greater Northwest Houston Enterprises, Greenville Physicians Surgery Center LLP, Greenwood ASC LLC, Greystone Internal Medicine - Brookwood L.L.C., Gulf Coast Community Hospital Inc., HCH Tucson Holdings LLC, HCN Emerus Management Sub LLC, HCN Emerus Texas LLC, HCN Laboratories Inc., HCN Physicians Inc., HCN Sunnyvale Holdings LLC, HCN Surgery Center Holdings Inc., HDMC Holdings L.L.C., HMA/Solantic Joint Venture LLC, HMH-USP Surgery Centers LLC, HMHP/USP Surgery Centers LLC, HNMC Inc., HNW GP Inc., HNW LP Inc., HPI Holdings LLC, HPI North LLC, HPI Physicians LLC, HSRM International Inc., HSS Palm Beach Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, HSS/USP Surgery Center LLC, HUG Services Inc., HUMC/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Hacienda Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Hagerstown Surgery Center LLC, Hardeeville Medical Group L.L.C., Hardeeville Primary Care L.L.C., Harlingen Physician Network Inc., Harper-Hutzel AHP Services Inc., Harvard Park Surgery Center LLC, Haymarket Surgery Center LLC, Hazelwood Endoscopy Center LLC, Health & Wellness Surgery Center L.P., Health Horizons of Kansas City Inc., Health Horizons of Murfreesboro Inc., Health Horizons/Piedmont Joint Venture LLC, Health Services CFMC Inc., Health Services HNMC Inc., Health Services Network Care Inc., Health Services Network Hospitals Inc., Health Services Network Texas Inc., HealthCorp Network Inc., Healthcare Compliance LLC, Healthcare Network Alabama Inc., Healthcare Network CFMC Inc., Healthcare Network DPH Inc., Healthcare Network Georgia Inc., Healthcare Network Holdings Inc., Healthcare Network Hospitals (Dallas) Inc., Healthcare Network Hospitals Inc., Healthcare Network Louisiana Inc., Healthcare Network Missouri Inc., Healthcare Network North Carolina Inc., Healthcare Network South Carolina Inc., Healthcare Network Tennessee Inc., Healthcare Network Texas Inc., Healthcare Partners Investments LLC, Healthmark Partners Inc., Healthpoint of North Carolina L.L.C., Heart and Vascular Institute of Michigan, Heritage Park Surgical Hospital LLC, Hershey Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Hialeah Hospital Inc., Hialeah Real Properties Inc., Hickory Family Practice Associates - Tenet North Carolina L.L.C., Hill Country ASC Partners LLC, Hill Country Surgery Center LLC, Hilton Head Health System L.P., Hilton Head Regional Healthcare L.L.C., Hilton Head Regional OB/GYN Partners L.L.C., Hilton Head Regional Physician Network LLC, Hilton Head Regional Physician Network  Georgia L.L.C., Hinsdale Surgical Center LLC, Hitchcock State Street Real Estate Inc., Holston Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Holy Cross Hospital Inc., Home Health Partners of San Antonio LLC, Hoover Doctors Group Inc., Hoover Land LLC, Horizon Ridge Surgery Center LLC, Hospital Development of West Phoenix Inc., Hospital RCM Services LLC, Hospital Underwriting Group Inc., Houston Northwest Partners Ltd., Houston PSC L.P., Houston Specialty Hospital Inc., Houston Sunrise Investors Inc., Hyde Park Surgery Center LLC, ICNU Rockford LLC, Imaging Center at Baxter Village L.L.C., InforMed Insurance Services LLC, Integris/USP Health Ventures LLC, International Health and Wellness Inc., Irving-Coppell Surgical Hospital L.L.P., JFK Memorial Hospital Inc., JFP UAP Sugarland LLC, Jackson Surgical Center LLC, Jacksonville Endoscopy Centers LLC, Journey Home Healthcare of San Antonio LLC, KHS Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, KHS/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Kingsport Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Laguna Medical Systems Inc., Lake Endoscopy Center LLC, Lake Health Care Facilities Inc., Lake Lansing ASC Partners LLC, Lake Surgical Hospital Slidell LLC, LakeFront Medical Associates LLC, Lakewood Regional Medical Center Inc., Lakewood Surgery Center LLC, Lancaster Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Lansing ASC Partners LLC, Lawrenceville Surgery Center L.L.C., Lebanon Endoscopy Center LLC, Legacy Warren Partners L.P., Legacy/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Leonardtown Surgery Center LLC, Liberty Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Lifemark Hospitals Inc., Lifemark Hospitals of Florida Inc., Lifemark Hospitals of Louisiana Inc., Lone Star Endoscopy Center LLC, Longleaf Surgery Center LLC, Los Alamitos Medical Center Inc., Lubbock ASC Holding Co LLC, MASC Partners LLC, MCSH Real Estate Investors Ltd., MH Memorial City Surgery LLC, MH/USP Bay Area LLC, MH/USP Brazoria LLC, MH/USP Kingsland LLC, MH/USP Kingwood LLC, MH/USP Kirby LLC, MH/USP Main Street LLC, MH/USP North Freeway LLC, MH/USP North Houston LLC, MH/USP Richmond LLC, MH/USP Sugar Land LLC, MH/USP TMC Endoscopy LLC, MH/USP West Houston L.L.C., MH/USP Woodlands Parkway LLC, MSH Partners LLC, MSV Health/USP Surgery Centers LLC, MVH/USP Surgery Centers LLC, MacNeal Management Services Inc., MacNeal Medical Records Inc., MacNeal Physicians Group LLC, Magnetic Resonance Imaging of San Luis Obispo Inc., Magnolia Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Manchester Ambulatory Surgery Center LP, Maple Lawn Surgery Center LLC, Marion Surgery Center LLC, Mary Immaculate Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Mason Ridge Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Mayfield Spine Surgery Center LLC, McLaren ASC of Flint LLC, Meadowcrest Hospital LLC, Medical House Staffing LLC, Medical Park Tower Surgery Center LLC, Medplex Outpatient Medical Centers Inc., Medplex Outpatient Surgery Center Ltd., Memorial Hermann Bay Area Endoscopy Center LLC, Memorial Hermann Endoscopy & Surgery Center North Houston L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Endoscopy Center North Freeway LLC, Memorial Hermann Specialty Hospital Kingwood L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Surgical Hospital L.L.P., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Brazoria LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Cypress LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Katy LLP, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Kingsland L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Kirby LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Main Street LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Memorial City L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Northwest LLP, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Pinecroft LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Preston Road Ltd., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Richmond LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Southwest L.L.P., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Sugar Land LLP, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Texas Medical Center LLP, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Woodlands Parkway LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center  The Woodlands LLP, Memorial Hermann Texas International Endoscopy Center LLC, Memorial Hermann West Houston Surgery Center LLC, Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers II L.P., Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers III LLP, Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers IV LLP, Memorial Surgery Center LLC, Memphis Urgent Care #1 L.L.C., Memphis Urgent Care #2 L.L.C., Merced Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Mercy/USP Health Ventures L.L.C., Metro Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Metro Surgery Center LLC, MetroWest HomeCare & Hospice LLC, Metrocrest Surgery Center L.P., Metropolitan New Jersey LLC, Michigan ASC Partners L.L.C., Michigan Pioneer ACO LLC, Michigan Regional Imaging LLC, Mid Rivers Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Mid State Endo UAP LLC, Mid-State Endoscopy Center LLC, Mid-TSC Development LP, Middle Tennessee Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Midland Memorial/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Midland Texas Surgical Center LLC, Midwest Digestive Health Center LLC, Midwest Pharmacies Inc., Midwest Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Millennium Surgical Center LLC, Mobile Imaging Management LLC, Mobile Technology Management LLC, Modesto Radiology Imaging Inc., Monocacy Surgery Center LLC, Mountain Empire Surgery Center L.P., Munster Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Murdock Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, NHSC Holdings LLC, NICH GP Holdings LLC, NKCH/USP Briarcliff GP LLC, NKCH/USP Liberty GP LLC, NKCH/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., NKCH/USP Surgery Centers LLC, NMC Lessor L.P., NMC Surgery Center L.P., NME Headquarters Inc., NME Properties Corp., NME Properties Inc., NME Property Holding Co. Inc., NME Psychiatric Hospitals Inc., NME Rehabilitation Properties Inc., NSCH GP Holdings LLC, NSCH/USP Desert Surgery Centers L.L.C., NUCH of Georgia L.L.C., NUCH of Massachusetts LLC, NUCH of Michigan Inc., NUCH of Texas, Nacogdoches ASC-LP Inc., Name of Entity, National ASC Inc., National Ancillary Inc., National Diagnostic Imaging Centers Inc., National HHC Inc., National Home Health Holdings Inc., National ICN Inc., National Imaging Center Holdings Inc., National Medical Services II Inc., National Outpatient Services Holdings Inc., National Surgery Center Holdings Inc., National Urgent Care Holdings Inc., National Urgent Care Inc., Network Management Associates Inc., New Dimensions LLC, New England Physician Performance Network LLC, New H Acute Inc., New Horizons Surgery Center LLC, New Medical Horizons II Ltd., New Mexico Orthopaedic Surgery Center LLC, New Salem ASC RE LLC, Newhope Imaging Center Inc., North Anaheim Surgery Center LLC, North Atlantic Surgical Suites LLC, North Campus Surgery Center LLC, North Carolina Community Family Medicine L.L.C., North Central Surgical Center L.L.P., North Denver Musculoskeletal Surgical Partners LLC, North Fulton Cardiovascular Medicine L.L.C., North Fulton Hospitalist Group L.L.C., North Fulton Medical Center Inc., North Fulton Primary Care - Willeo Rd. L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care - Windward Parkway L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care - Wylie Bridge L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care Associates L.L.C., North Fulton Pulmonary Specialists L.L.C., North Fulton Womens Consultants L.L.C., North Garland Surgery Center L.L.P., North Haven Surgery Center LLC, North Miami Medical Center Ltd., North Shore Medical Billing Center L.L.C., North Shore Medical Center Inc., North Shore Same Day Surgery L.L.C., North Shore Surgical Suites LLC, North State Surgery Centers L.P., NorthPointe Surgical Suites LLC, NorthShore/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., Northern Monmouth Regional Surgery Center L.L.C., Northridge ASC RE LLC, Northridge Surgery Center L.P., Northwest Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Georgia Orthopaedic Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Regional ASC LLC, Northwest Regional Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Surgery Center LLP, Northwest Surgery Center Ltd., Novant Health/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Novant/UVA/USP Surgery Centers LLC, OCOMS Imaging LLC, OCOMS Professional Services LLC, OLOL/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Okatie Surgical Partners L.L.C., Oklahoma Center for Orthopedic and Multi-Specialty Surgery LLC, Old Tesson Surgery Center L.P., Olive Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Olive Branch Urgent Care #1 LLC, Ophthalmology Anesthesia Services LLC, Ophthalmology Surgery Center of Orlando LLC, Optimum Spine Center LLC, OrNda Healthcorp, OrNda Hospital Corporation, Orlando Health/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., OrthoArizona Surgery Center Gilbert LLC, OrthoLink ASC Corporation, OrthoLink Physicians Corporation, OrthoLink Radiology Services Corporation, OrthoLink/ Georgia ASC Inc., OrthoLink/Baptist ASC LLC, OrthoLink/New Mexico ASC Inc., Orthopedic Associates of the Lowcountry L.L.C., Orthopedic South Surgical Partners LLC, Orthopedic and Surgical Specialty Company LLC, PAHS/USP Surgery Centers LLC, PDN L.L.C., PHPS Inc., PHPS-CHM Acquisition Inc., PHS/USP Health Ventures LLC, PM CyFair Land Partners LLC, PMC Physician Network L.L.C., PPRE LLC, PSS Patient Solution Services LLC, Pacific Endo-Surgical Center L.P., Pacific Endoscopy and Surgery Center LLC, Pain Diagnostic and Treatment Center L.P., Paley Institute Global LLC, Palm Beach Gardens Community Hospital Inc., Palm Beach International Surgery Center LLC, Palm Valley Medical Center Campus Association, Palos Health Surgery Center LLC, Paramus Endoscopy LLC, Park Cities Surgery Center LLC, Park Plaza Hospital Billing Center L.L.C., ParkCreek ASC LLC, Parkway Recovery Care Center LLC, Parkwest Surgery Center L.P., Patient Partners LLC, Peak Gastroenterology ASC LLC, Pediatric Surgery Center  Odessa LLC, Pediatric Surgery Centers LLC, Physician Performance Network L.L.C., Physician Performance Network of Arizona LLC, Physician Performance Network of Detroit, Physician Performance Network of South Carolina LLC, Physician Performance Network of Tucson LLC, Physicians Performance Network of Houston, Physicians Performance Network of North Texas, Physicians Surgery Center at Good Samaritan LLC, Physicians Surgery Center of Tempe LLC, Physicians Surgical Center of Ft. Worth LLP, Physicians Surgery Center of Chattanooga L.L.C., Physicians Surgery Center of Knoxville LLC, Piccard Surgery Center LLC, Piedmont ASC LLC, Piedmont Behavioral Medicine Associates LLC, Piedmont Cardiovascular Physicians L.L.C., Piedmont Carolina OB/GYN of York County L.L.C., Piedmont Carolina Vascular Surgery L.L.C., Piedmont East Urgent Care Center L.L.C., Piedmont Express Care at Sutton Road L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Rock Hill L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Tega Cay L.L.C., Piedmont General Surgery Associates L.L.C., Piedmont Internal Medicine at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Physician Network LLC, Piedmont Pulmonology L.L.C., Piedmont Surgical Specialists L.L.C., Piedmont Urgent Care Center at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Urgent Care and Industrial Health Centers Inc., Piedmont/Carolinas Radiation Therapy LLC, Placentia-Linda Hospital Inc., Pleasanton Diagnostic Imaging Inc., Point of Rocks Surgery Center LLC, Practice Partners Management L.P., Premier ACO Physicians Network LLC, Premier ASC LLC, Premier Adult and Childrens Surgery Center LLC, Premier Endoscopy ASC LLC, Premier Health Plan Services Inc., Premier Medical Specialists L.L.C., Prince William Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Professional Anesthesia Services LLC, Professional Liability Insurance Company, Pros Temporary Staffing Inc., Providence/UCLA/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Providence/USP Santa Clarita GP LLC, Providence/USP South Bay Surgery Centers L.L.C., Providence/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Pueblo Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, R.H.S.C. El Paso Inc., RE Plano Med Inc., RHC Parkway Inc., RLC LLC, Reading Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Reading Endoscopy Center LLC, Reagan Street Surgery Center LLC, Redmond Surgery Center LLC, Renaissance Surgery Center LLC, Republic Health Corporation of Rockwall County, Resolute Health Physicians Network Inc., Resolute Hospital Company LLC, Resurgens East Surgery Center LLC, Resurgens Fayette Surgery Center LLC, Resurgens Surgery Center LLC, Rheumatology Associates of Atlanta Medical Center L.L.C., Richmond ASC Leasing Company LLC, Rio Grande Valley Indigent Health Care Corporation, River North Same Day Surgery L.L.C., Riverside Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Rock Bridge Surgical Institute L.L.C., Rock Hill Surgery Center LLC, Rockwall Ambulatory Surgery Center L.L.P., Rocky Mountain Endoscopy Centers LLC, Roseville Surgery Center L.P., Roswell Surgery Center L.L.C., SCNRE LLC, SFMP Inc., SFMPE - Crittenden L.L.C., SL-HLC Inc., SLH Physicians L.L.C., SLH Vista Inc., SLPA ACO LLC, SLUH Anesthesia Physicians L.L.C., SMSJ Imaging Company LLC, SMSJ Tucson Holdings LLC, SPC at the Star LLC, SRRMC Management Inc., SSI Holdings Inc., Sacramento Midtown Endoscopy Center LLC, Safety Harbor ASC Company LLC, Saint Agnes/Dignity/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Saint Agnes/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Saint Francis Cardiology Associates L.L.C., Saint Francis Cardiovascular Surgery L.L.C., Saint Francis Center for Surgical Weight Loss L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital Billing Center L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital Medicare ACO LLC, Saint Francis Hospital Pro Fee Billing L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett Inc., Saint Francis Medical Partners East L.L.C., Saint Francis Medical Partners General Surgery L.L.C., Saint Francis Physician Network LLC, Saint Francis Quality Alliance LLC, Saint Francis Surgery Center L.L.C., Saint Francis Surgical Associates L.L.C., Saint Francis-Arkansas Physician Network LLC, Saint Francis-Bartlett Physician Network LLC, Saint Thomas Campus Surgicare L.P., Saint Thomas Surgery Center New Salem LLC, Saint Thomas/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., Saint Thomas/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Saint Thomas/USP  Baptist Plaza L.L.C., Saint Vincent Physician Services Inc., Salmon Surgery Center LLC, Same Day Management L.L.C., Same Day SC of Central NJ LLC, Same Day Surgery L.L.C., San Antonio Endoscopy L.P., San Fernando Valley Surgery Center L.P., San Gabriel Valley Surgical Center L.P., San Martin Surgery Center LLC, San Ramon ASC L. P., San Ramon Ambulatory Care LLC, San Ramon Network Joint Venture LLC, San Ramon Regional Medical Center LLC, San Ramon Surgery Center L.L.C., Santa Barbara Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Santa Clarita Surgery Center L.P., Savannah Endoscopy Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Schertz Surgery Center LLC, Scripps Encinitas Surgery Center LLC, Scripps/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Seaside Surgery Center LLC, Shands/Solantic Joint Venture LLC, Shelby Baptist Affinity LLC, Shelby Baptist Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Shore Outpatient Surgicenter L.L.C., Shoreline Real Estate Partnership LLP, Shoreline Surgery Center LLP, Shrewsbury Surgery Center LLC, Sierra Pacific Surgery Center LLC, Sierra Providence Health Network Inc., Sierra Providence Healthcare Enterprises, Sierra Vista Hospital Inc., Silicon Valley Outpatient Surgery Centers LLC, Silver Cross Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Silver Cross/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Sinai-Grace Premier Clinical Management Services LLC, Siouxland Surgery Center Limited Liability Partnership, Solantic Corporation, Solantic Development LLC, Solantic Holdings Corporation, Solantic of Jacksonville LLC, Solantic of Orlando LLC, Solantic/South Florida LLC, South Carolina East Cooper Surgical Specialists L.L.C., South Carolina Health Services Inc., South Carolina SeWee Family Medicine L.L.C., South County Outpatient Endoscopy Services L.P., South Denver Musculoskeletal Surgical Partners LLC, South Florida Ambulatory Surgical Center LLC, South Fulton Health Care Centers Inc., SouthCare Physicians Group Neurology L.L.C., SouthCare Physicians Group Obstetrics & Gynecology L.L.C., Southeast Ohio Surgical Suites LLC, Southern Orthopedics and Sports Medicine L.L.C., Southern States Physician Operations Inc., Southwest Ambulatory Surgery Center L.L.C., Southwest Childrens Hospital LLC, Southwest Endoscopy LLC, Southwest Orthopedic and Spine Hospital LLC, Southwest Orthopedic and Spine Hospital Real Estate LLC, Southwestern Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Spalding Regional Medical Center Inc., Spalding Regional OB/GYN L.L.C., Spalding Regional Physician Services L.L.C., Specialty Surgery Center of Fort Worth L.P., Specialty Surgicenters Inc., Spinal Diagnostics and Treatment Centers L.L.C., Spine & Joint Physician Associates, Springfield Service Holding Corporation, St. Augustine Endoscopy Center LLC, St. Christophers Pediatric Urgent Care Center - Allentown L.L.C, St. Josephs Hospital Surgical Co-Management LLC, St. Josephs Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, St. Josephs Surgery Center L.P., St. Louis Physician Alliance LLC, St. Louis Surgical Center LLC, St. Louis Urology Center LLC, St. Lukes/USP Surgery Centers LLC, St. Marys Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, St. Marys Hospital Cardiovascular Co-Management LLC, St. Marys Hospital Surgical Co-Management LLC, St. Marys Levee Company LLC, St. Marys Medical Center Inc., St. Vincent Health/USP LLC, St. Vincent/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Stockton Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Subsidiaries of USPI Holding Company Inc., Suburban Endoscopy Center LLC, Summit View Surgery Center LLC, Sun View Imaging L.L.C., Sunrise Medical Group I L.L.C., Sunrise Medical Group II L.L.C., Sunrise Medical Group IV L.L.C., SurgCenter Camelback LLC, SurgCenter Northeast LLC, SurgCenter Pinellas LLC, SurgCenter Tucson LLC, SurgCenter at Paradise Valley LLC, SurgCenter of Deer Valley LLC, SurgCenter of Glen Burnie LLC, SurgCenter of Palm Beach Gardens LLC, SurgCenter of Plano LLC, SurgCenter of Southern Maryland LLC, SurgCenter of St. Lucie LLC, SurgCenter of White Marsh LLC, Surgery Affiliate of El Paso LLC, Surgery Center at Mount Pleasant LLC, Surgery Center at University Park LLC, Surgery Center of Atlanta LLC, Surgery Center of Canfield LLC, Surgery Center of Columbia L.P., Surgery Center of Coral Gables LLC, Surgery Center of Okeechobee LLC, Surgery Center of Pembroke Pines L.L.C., Surgery Center of Peoria L.L.C., Surgery Center of Richardson Physician Partnership L.P., Surgery Center of Santa Barbara LLC, Surgery Center of Scottsdale LLC, Surgery Center of Tempe Real Estate II L.L.C., Surgery Center of Tempe Real Estate L.L.C., Surgery Centers of America II L.L.C., Surgery Centre of SW Florida LLC, Surgical & Bariatric Associates of Atlanta Medical Center L.L.C., Surgical Clinical Excellence at Desert Regional LLC, Surgical Elite of Avondale L.L.C., Surgical Health Partners LLC, Surgical Institute Management LLC, Surgical Institute of Reading LLC, Surgical Specialists at Princeton LLC, Surgicare of Miramar L.L.C., Surginet Inc., Surgis Inc., Surgis Management Services Inc., Surgis of Chico Inc., Surgis of Phoenix Inc., Surgis of Redding Inc., Surgis of Victoria Inc., Sutton Road Pediatrics L.L.C., Sylvan Grove Hospital Inc., TENN SM LLC, TFPS IV L.L.C., TH Healthcare Ltd., TH International Services Florida LLC, THV Park Cities LLC, THVG Arlington GP LLC, THVG Bariatric GP LLC, THVG Bariatric L.L.C., THVG Bedford GP LLC, THVG Bellaire GP LLC, THVG DSP GP LLC, THVG DeSoto GP LLC, THVG Denton GP LLC, THVG Fort Worth GP LLC, THVG Frisco GP LLC, THVG Garland GP LLC, THVG Grapevine GP LLC, THVG Irving-Coppell GP LLC, THVG Lewisville GP LLC, THVG North Garland GP LLC, THVG Park Cities/Trophy Club GP LLC, THVG Rockwall 2 GP LLC, THVG Valley View GP LLC, TLC ASC LLC, TMC Holding Company LLC, TOPS Specialty Hospital Ltd., TPG Hospital LLC, TPR Practice Management LLC, TPS VI of PA L.L.C., TRMC Holdings LLC, TSPE LLC, Tamarac Surgery Center LLC, Tempe New Day Surgery Center LP, Templeton Imaging Inc., Tenet Business Services Corporation, Tenet California Inc., Tenet Central Carolina Physicians Inc., Tenet EKG Inc., Tenet El Paso Ltd., Tenet Employment Inc., Tenet Finance Corp., Tenet Florida Inc., Tenet Florida Physician Services II L.L.C., Tenet Florida Physician Services III L.L.C., Tenet Florida Physician Services L.L.C., Tenet Fort Mill Inc., Tenet Global Business Center Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Bucks County L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Graduate L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Hahnemann L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Medical Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Nacogdoches ASC GP Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Philadelphia Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Roxborough LLC, Tenet HealthSystem St. Christophers Hospital for Children L.L.C., Tenet Hilton Head Heart L.L.C., Tenet Hospitals Limited, Tenet Network Management Inc., Tenet Patient Safety Organization LLC, Tenet Physician Resources LLC, Tenet Physician Services - Hilton Head Inc., Tenet Rehab Piedmont Inc., Tenet Relocation Services L.L.C., Tenet SC East Cooper Hospitalists L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Gastrointestinal Surgical Specialists L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Island Medical L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Lowcountry OB/GYN L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Mt. Pleasant OB/GYN L.L.C., Tenet Unifour Urgent Care Center L.L.C., Tenet Ventures Inc., TenetCare Frisco Inc., Terre Haute Surgical Center LLC, Teton Outpatient Services LLC, Texan Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Texas Endoscopy Centers LLC, Texas Health Venture Arlington Hospital LLC, Texas Health Venture Baylor Plano LLC, Texas Health Venture Carrollton LLC, Texas Health Venture Centennial LLC, Texas Health Venture Ennis LLC, Texas Health Venture Fort Worth L.L.C., Texas Health Venture Granbury LLC, Texas Health Venture Heritage Park LLC, Texas Health Venture Keller LLC, Texas Health Venture Las Colinas LLC, Texas Health Venture Mansfield LLC, Texas Health Venture Plano Endo LLC, Texas Health Venture Plano LLC, Texas Health Venture Plano Parkway LLC, Texas Health Venture Texas Spine LLC, Texas Health Ventures Group L.L.C., Texas Orthopedics Surgery Center LLC, Texas Regional Medical Center LLC, Texas Regional Medical in Sunnyvale, Texas Spine and Joint Hospital LLC, The 6300 West Roosevelt Partnership, The Ambulatory Surgical Center of St. Louis L.P., The Healthcare Insurance Corporation, The Healthcare Underwriting Company a Risk Retention Group, The Huron Corporation, The Outpatient Center LLC, The Southeastern Spine Institute Ambulatory Surgery Center L.L.C., The Surgery Center at Jensen Beach LLC, The Surgery Center at Williamson LLC, The Tresanti Surgical Center LLC, Theda Oaks Gastroenterology & Endoscopy Center LLC, Titan Health Corporation, Titan Health of Chattanooga Inc., Titan Health of Hershey Inc., Titan Health of Mount Laurel LLC, Titan Health of North Haven Inc., Titan Health of Pittsburgh Inc., Titan Health of Pleasant Hills Inc., Titan Health of Princeton Inc., Titan Health of Sacramento Inc., Titan Health of Saginaw Inc., Titan Health of Titusville Inc., Titan Health of West Penn Inc., Titan Health of Westminster Inc., Titan Management Corporation, Titusville Center for Surgical Excellence LLC, Toms River Surgery Center L.L.C., Total Joint Center of the Northland LLC, Tower Road Real Estate LLC, Tower/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Treasure Coast ASC LLC, Trophy Club Medical Center L.P., True Medical Weight Loss L.P., True Medical Wellness LP, True Results Georgia Inc., True Results HoldCo LLC, True Results Missouri LLC, Tucson Digestive Institute LLC, Tucson Hospital Holdings Inc., Tucson Physician Group Holdings LLC, Turlock Imaging Services LLC, Turlock Land Company LLC, Tuscan Surgery Center at Las Colinas LLC, Twin Cities Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Twin Cities Community Hospital Inc., UAP Las Colinas Endo LLC, UAP Lebanon Endo LLC, UAP Nashville Endoscopy LLC, UAP Scopes LLC, UAP of Arizona Inc., UAP of California Inc., UAP of Missouri Inc., UAP of New Jersey Inc., UAP of Oklahoma Inc., UAP of Tennessee Inc., UAP of Texas Inc., UCC Tucson Holdings LLC, UMC Surgery Center Lubbock LLC, UMC-USP Surgery Centers LLC, USC/Norris Cancer Hospital, USP 12th Ave Real Estate Inc., USP Acquisition Corporation, USP Alexandria Inc., USP Assurance Company, USP Athens Inc., USP Atlanta Inc., USP Austin Inc., USP Bariatric LLC, USP Beaumont Inc., USP Bergen Inc., USP Bloomington Inc., USP Bridgeton Inc., USP Cedar Park Inc., USP Chesterfield Inc., USP Chicago Inc., USP Cincinnati Inc., USP Coast Inc., USP Columbia Inc., USP Connecticut Inc., USP Corpus Christi Inc., USP Creve Coeur Inc., USP Denver Inc., USP Des Peres Inc., USP Destin Inc., USP Domestic Holdings Inc., USP Effingham Inc., USP Encinitas Endoscopy Inc., USP Fenton Inc., USP Festus Inc., USP Florissant Inc., USP Fort Lauderdale Inc., USP Fort Worth Hospital Real Estate Inc., USP Fredericksburg Inc., USP Fresno Inc., USP Frontenac Inc., USP Gateway Inc., USP HMH Surgery Center at Shore LLC, USP Harbour View Inc., USP Houston Inc., USP Indiana Inc., USP International Holdings Inc., USP Jersey City Inc., USP Kansas City Inc., USP Knoxville Inc., USP Little Rock Inc., USP Long Island Inc., USP Louisiana Inc., USP Lubbock Inc., USP Maryland Inc., USP Mason Ridge Inc., USP Mattis Inc., USP Michigan Inc., USP Midland Inc., USP Midland Real Estate Inc., USP Midwest Inc., USP Mission Hills Inc., USP Montana Inc., USP Morris Inc., USP Mt. Vernon Inc., USP Nevada Holdings LLC, USP Nevada Inc., USP New Hampshire Inc., USP New Jersey Inc., USP Newport News Inc., USP North Carolina Inc., USP North Kansas City Inc., USP North Texas Inc., USP Northwest Arkansas Inc., USP OKC Inc., USP OKC Manager Inc., USP Office Parkway Inc., USP Ohio RE Inc., USP Oklahoma Inc., USP Olive Inc., USP Orlando Inc., USP Philadelphia Inc., USP Phoenix Inc., USP Portland Inc., USP Reading Inc., USP Richmond II Inc., USP Richmond Inc., USP Sacramento Inc., USP San Antonio Inc., USP Santa Barbara Surgery Centers Inc., USP Securities Corporation, USP Silver Cross Inc., USP Siouxland Inc., USP Somerset Inc., USP South Carolina Inc., USP Southlake RE Inc., USP St. Louis Inc., USP St. Louis Urology Inc., USP St. Peters Inc., USP Sunset Hills Inc., USP TJ STL Inc., USP Tennessee Inc., USP Texas Air L.L.C., USP Texas L.P., USP Torrance Inc., USP Tucson Inc., USP Turnersville Inc., USP Virginia Beach Inc., USP Washington Inc., USP Waxahachie Management L.L.C., USP Webster Groves Inc., USP West Covina Inc., USP Westwood Inc., USP Winter Park Inc., USP Wisconsin Inc., USP-HMH Surgery Center at Central Jersey LLC, USP/Carondelet Tucson Surgery Centers LLC, USP/SOS Joint Venture LLC, USPI Group Holdings Inc., USPI Holding Company Inc.1, USPI Holdings Inc., USPI Physician Strategy Group LLC, USPI San Diego Inc., USPI Stockton Inc., USPI Surgical Services Inc., Ulysses True Results NewCo LLC, Underwood Surgery Center LLC, United Anesthesia Partners Inc., United Real Estate Development Inc., United Real Estate Holdings Inc., United Surgical Partners Holdings Inc., United Surgical Partners International, United Surgical Partners International Inc., Universal Medical Care Center L.L.C., University Surgery Center Ltd., University Surgical Partners of Dallas L.L.P., Upper Bay Surgery Center LLC, Upper Cumberland Physicians Surgery Center LLC, Urgent Care Centers of Arizona LLC, Utica ASC Partners LLC, Utica/USP Tulsa L.L.C., VB Brownsville LTACH LLC, VBOA ASC GP LLC, VBOA ASC Partners L.L.C., VHM Services Inc., VHS Acquisition Corporation, VHS Acquisition Partnership Number 1 L.P, VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 1 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 11 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 12 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 3 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 4 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 5 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 6 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 7 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 8 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 9 Inc., VHS Arizona Heart Institute Inc., VHS Brownsville Hospital Company LLC, VHS Chicago Market Procurement LLC, VHS Childrens Hospital of Michigan Inc., VHS Detroit Businesses Inc., VHS Detroit Receiving Hospital Inc., VHS Detroit Ventures Inc., VHS Harlingen Hospital Company LLC, VHS Harper-Hutzel Hospital Inc., VHS Holding Company Inc., VHS Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital Inc., VHS Imaging Centers Inc., VHS New England Holding Company I Inc., VHS Outpatient Clinics Inc., VHS Phoenix Health Plan Inc., VHS Physicians of Michigan, VHS Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan Inc., VHS San Antonio Imaging Partners L.P., VHS San Antonio Partners LLC, VHS Sinai-Grace Hospital Inc., VHS University Laboratories Inc., VHS Valley Health System LLC, VHS Valley Holdings LLC, VHS Valley Management Company Inc., VHS West Suburban Medical Center Inc., VHS Westlake Hospital Inc., VHS of Anaheim Inc., VHS of Arrowhead Inc., VHS of Huntington Beach Inc., VHS of Illinois Inc., VHS of Michigan Inc., VHS of Michigan Staffing Inc., VHS of Orange County Inc., VHS of Phoenix Inc., VHS of South Phoenix Inc., Valley Baptist Lab Services LLC, Valley Baptist Physician Performance Network, Valley Baptist Realty Company LLC, Valley Baptist Wellness Center LLC, Valley Health Care Network, Vanguard ASC LLC, Vanguard Health Financial Company LLC, Vanguard Health Holding Company I LLC, Vanguard Health Holding Company II LLC, Vanguard Health Management Inc., Vanguard Health Systems, Vanguard Health Systems Inc., Vanguard Holding Company I Inc., Vanguard Holding Company II Inc., Vanguard Medical Specialists LLC, Vanguard Physician Services LLC, Ventana Surgical Center LLC, Veroscan Inc., Victoria Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Virtua-USP Princeton LLC, WHASA L.C., Walker Baptist Affinity LLC, Walker Street Imaging Care Inc., Warner Park Surgery Center LLC, Watermark Physician Services Inc., Webster Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Wellington Endo LLC, Wellstar/USP Joint Venture I LLC, Wellstar/USP Joint Venture II LLC, West Boca Health Services L.L.C., West Boca Medical Center Inc., West Boynton Urgent Care L.L.C., West Bozeman Surgery Center LLC, West Palm Healthcare Real Estate Inc., West Suburban Radiation Therapy Center LLC, Westgate Surgery Center LLC, Westlake Hospital LLC, Westlawn Surgery Center LLC, Westminster Surgery Center LLC, Westminster Surgery Centers LLC, White Fence Surgical Suites LLC, Willamette Spine Center Ambulatory Surgery LLC, Wilmington Endoscopy Center LLC, Wilshire Rental Corp., Winter Haven Ambulatory Surgical Center L.L.C., Wisconsin Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Wymark Surgery Center LLC, and YNHHSC/USP Surgery Centers LLC.The following companies are subsidiares of Xerox: A B S Digital Limited, Acorn Business Machines (Holmfirth) Limited, Alloy Acquisitions Corp. LLC, Altodigital Networks, Altodigital Networks Limited, American Photocopy Equipment Company of Pittsburgh LLC, Amici, Arena Group, Arena Group Holdings Limited, Arena Group Limited, Arizona Office Technologies Inc., B 2 Business Systems Limited, Back2Business Limited, Bessemer Insurance Limited, Bessemer Trust Limited, Boise Office Equipment Inc., Bright Ceramic Technologies Inc., Bunch CareSolutions, Business Systems (North Wales) Limited, CPAS Systems, CREDITEX - Aluguer de Equipamentos S.A., CTX Business Solutions Inc., Capitol Office Solutions LLC, CareAR Holdings LLC, CareAR Inc., Carolina Office Systems Inc., Carr Business Systems Inc., Chicago Office Technology Group Inc., ComDoc Inc., Concept Group, Concept Group Limited, Connecticut Business Systems LLC, Consilience Software, Continua Limited, Continua Sanctum Limited, Conway Technology Group LLC, Copyrite Business Solutions (Holdings) Limited, Copyrite Business Solutions Limited, Copytrend Limited, Criterion IT Limited, Customer Value Group, Dahill Office Technology Corporation, Digitex, Digitex Canada Inc., Docucentric Holdings Limited, Document Systems, Document Systems, Eastern Managed Print Network LLC, Elan Marketing Inc., Electronic Systems Inc., Fovia (Innovation) Limited, G-Five Inc., GDP Technologies Inc., Global Imaging Systems, Global PR Corporation, Groupe CT, Gyricon LLC, Healthy Communities Institute, Heritage Business Systems Inc., ITEC Group, Image Technology Specialists Inc., ImageQuest Inc., Imagetek Office Systems, Impika, Impika SAS, Inland Business Machines Inc., Institute for Research on Learning, Integrity One Technologies Inc., Intrepid Learning, Invoco Group, Irish Business Systems, LRI LLC, LaserNetworks, LaserNetworks Inc., Lateral Data, Learn Something, Lewan & Associates Inc., Limited Liability Company Xerox (C.I.S.), M & S Reprographics Limited, MRC Smart Technology Solutions Inc., MT Business Holdings Inc., MT Business Technologies Inc., MWB Copy Products Inc., Mail A Doc Limited, Merizon Group Incorporated, Michigan Office Solutions Inc., Minnesota Office Technology Group Inc., Mitral Systems Limited, Mr. Copy Inc., Nemo (AKS) Limited, NewField IT, NewField Information Technology LLC, NewField Information Technology Limited, Northeast Office Systems LLC, Osprey Business Systems Limited, PARC China Holdings Inc., Pacific Services and Development Corporation, Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated, Platinum Digital Print Solutions Limited, Precision Copier Service Inc., Quality Business Systems Inc., Quilver Business Services Limited, R. K. Dixon Company, RRXH Limited, RRXIL Limited, RRXO Limited, RSA Medical, Rabbit Copiers Inc., Reflex Digital Solutions (UK) Limited, Reprographics Egypt Limited, Saxon Business Systems Inc., Smart Data Consulting, SoCal Office Technologies Inc., Stem Networks Limited, Stewart Business Systems LLC, Stewart of Alabama Inc., StrataCare, Talegen Holdings Inc., Tektronix - color printing, Text Comm Limited (in receivership), The Xerox (UK) Trust, The Xerox Foundation, Time Business Systems Limited, Triton Business Finance Limited, Una-Stem Limited, Veenman B.V., Veenman Financial Services B.V., WDS, WaterWare Internet Services, XC Asia LLC, XC Global Trading B.V., XC Trading Hong Kong Limited, XC Trading Japan G.K., XC Trading Korea YH, XC Trading Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., XC Trading Shenzhen Co. Ltd., XC Trading Singapore Pte Ltd., XEROX CZECH REPUBLIC s r.o., XESystems Foreign Sales Corporation, XFS Secured Borrowing 2020-1 LLC, XHC Acquisition Corp., XMPie, XMPie Inc., XMPie Ltd., XRI Limited, XRO Limited, Xerox (Europe) Limited, Xerox (Ireland) Limited, Xerox (Nederland) BV, Xerox (Romania) Echipmante Si Servici S.A., Xerox (UK) Limited, Xerox (Ukraine) Ltd LLC, Xerox A/S, Xerox AG, Xerox AS, Xerox Argentina Industrial y Comercial S.A., Xerox Austria GmbH, Xerox Bulgaria EOOD, Xerox Business Equipment Limited, Xerox Business Services Bulgaria EOOD, Xerox Business Solutions Inc., Xerox Business Solutions Southeast LLC, Xerox Buro Araclari Servis ve Ticaret Ltd. Sti, Xerox Canada Inc., Xerox Canada Ltd., Xerox Canada N.S. ULC, Xerox Capital (Europe) Limited, Xerox Capital LLC, Xerox Computer Services Limited, Xerox Comercio e Industria Ltda, Xerox Corporation, Xerox DNHC LLC, Xerox Dienstleistungsgesellschaft GmbH, Xerox Distributor Operations Limited, Xerox Egypt S.A.E., Xerox Equipment Limited, Xerox Equipment UK Limited, Xerox Espana S.A.U., Xerox Exports Limited, Xerox Finance AG, Xerox Finance Leasing S.A.E., Xerox Finance Limited, Xerox Financial Services B.V., Xerox Financial Services Belux NV, Xerox Financial Services Canada Ltd., Xerox Financial Services Danmark A/S, Xerox Financial Services Finland Oy, Xerox Financial Services LLC, Xerox Financial Services Norway AS, Xerox Financial Services SAS, Xerox Financial Services Sverige AB, Xerox Foreign Holdings LLC, Xerox Foreign Sales Corporation, Xerox GmbH, Xerox Health Care LLC, Xerox Hellas AEE, Xerox Holding Deutschland GmbH, Xerox Holdings (Ireland) Limited, Xerox Holdings Inc., Xerox Hungary Trading Limited, Xerox IBS Limited, Xerox IBS NI Limited, Xerox India Limited, Xerox International Joint Marketing Inc., Xerox Investments Europe B.V., Xerox Israel Ltd., Xerox Italia Rental Services Srl, Xerox Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Xerox Latinamerican Holdings Inc., Xerox Leasing Deutschland GmbH, Xerox Leasing GmbH, Xerox Limited, Xerox Luxembourg SA, Xerox Mailing Systems Limited, Xerox Manufacturing (Nederland) B.V., Xerox Maroc S.A., Xerox Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Xerox Middle East Investments (Bermuda) Limited, Xerox N.V., Xerox Overseas Holdings Limited, Xerox Overseas Inc., Xerox Oy, Xerox Pensions Limited, Xerox Polska Sp. z o. o, Xerox Portugal Equipamentos de Escritorio Limitada, Xerox Products Limited, Xerox Products UK Limited, Xerox Professional Services Limited, Xerox Realty Corporation, Xerox Renting S.A.U., Xerox Reprographische Services GmbH, Xerox S.A.S., Xerox S.p.A., Xerox Secured Borrowing 2020-1 LLC, Xerox Servicios Compartidos Guatemala y Compani Limitada, Xerox Servicos e Participacoes Ltda, Xerox Shared Services Romania SRL, Xerox Sverige AB, Xerox Technology Services India LLP, Xerox Technology Services SAS, Xerox Telebusiness GmbH, Xerox Trading Enterprises Limited, Xerox Trinidad Limited, Xerox UK Holdings Limited, Xerox XHB Limited, Xerox XIB Limited, Xerox Xf Holdings (Ireland) DAC, Xerox de Chile S.A., Xerox del Ecuador S.A., Xerox del Peru S.A., Zeno Office Solutions, Zeno Office Solutions Inc., Zoom Imaging Solutions Inc., and inVentiv Patient Access Solutions.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The following companies are subsidiares of Abbott Laboratories: 3A Nutrition (Vietnam) Company Limited, ABON Biopharm (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AGA Medical Belgium, AGA Medical Corporation, AGA Medical Holdings Inc., ALR Holdings, AML Medical LLC, APK Advanced Medical Technologies LLC, ATS Bermuda Holdings Limited, ATS Laboratories Inc., Abbott, Abbott (Jiaxing) Nutrition Co. Ltd., Abbott (UK) Finance Limited, Abbott (UK) Holdings Limited, Abbott AG, Abbott Asia Holdings Limited, Abbott Asia Investments Limited, Abbott Australasia Holdings Limited, Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd, Abbott B.V., Abbott Bahamas Overseas Businesses Corporation, Abbott Belgian Investments, Abbott Bermuda Holding Ltd., Abbott Biologicals B.V., Abbott Biologicals LLC, Abbott Bulgaria Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Capital India Limited, Abbott Cardiovascular Inc., Abbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Abbott Delaware LLC, Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Diabetes Care Limited, Abbott Diabetes Care Sales Corporation, Abbott Diagnostics GmbH, Abbott Diagnostics International Ltd., Abbott Diagnostics Technologies AS, Abbott Doral Investments S.L., Abbott Equity Holdings Unlimited, Abbott Equity Investments LLC, Abbott Established Products Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Finance Company SA, Abbott Financial Holdings SRL, Abbott France S.A.S., Abbott Fund Tanzania Limited, Abbott Gesellschaft m.b.H., Abbott GmbH & Co. KG, Abbott Health Products LLC, Abbott Healthcare (Puerto Rico) Ltd., Abbott Healthcare B.V., Abbott Healthcare Costa Rica S.A., Abbott Healthcare LLC, Abbott Healthcare Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Healthcare Private Limited, Abbott Healthcare Products B.V., Abbott Healthcare Products Ltd, Abbott Holding (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding GmbH, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited Luxembourg S.C.S., Abbott Holdings B.V., Abbott Holdings LLC, Abbott Holdings Limited, Abbott Holdings Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Iberian Investments (2) Limited, Abbott Iberian Investments Limited, Abbott India Limited, Abbott Informatics Asia Pacific Limited, Abbott Informatics Canada Inc, Abbott Informatics Corporation, Abbott Informatics Europe Limited, Abbott Informatics France, Abbott Informatics Germany GmbH, Abbott Informatics Netherlands B.V., Abbott Informatics Singapore Pte. Limited, Abbott Informatics Spain S.A., Abbott Informatics Technologies Ltd, Abbott International Corporation, Abbott International Enterprises Ltd., Abbott International Holdings Limited, Abbott International LLC, Abbott International Luxembourg S.ar.l., Abbott Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Ireland, Abbott Ireland Financing Designated Activity Company, Abbott Ireland Limited, Abbott Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Abbott Knoll Investments B.V., Abbott Korea Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Bangladesh) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco (Dos) SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Laboratories (Mozambique) Limitada, Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Philippines), Abbott Laboratories (Puerto Rico) Incorporated, Abbott Laboratories (Singapore) Private Limited, Abbott Laboratories A/S, Abbott Laboratories Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Abbott Laboratories B.V., Abbott Laboratories C.A., Abbott Laboratories Finance B.V., Abbott Laboratories GmbH, Abbott Laboratories Inc., Abbott Laboratories International LLC, Abbott Laboratories Ireland Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited - Laboratoires Abbott Limitee, Abbott Laboratories NZ Limited, Abbott Laboratories Pacific Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Laboratories Products B.V., Abbott Laboratories Residential Development Fund Inc., Abbott Laboratories S.A., Abbott Laboratories SA, Abbott Laboratories Services Corp., Abbott Laboratories Slovakia s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trustee Company Limited, Abbott Laboratories Uruguay S.A., Abbott Laboratories Vascular Enterprises, Abbott Laboratories d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories de Chile Limitada, Abbott Laboratories de Colombia S.A., Abbott Laboratories de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Abbott Laboratories druzba za farmacijo in diagnostiko d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories(Hellas) Societe Anonyme, Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios del Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Abbott Laboratuarlari Ithalat Ihracat ve Ticaret Ltd.Sti, Abbott Laboratorios Lda, Abbott Laboratorios do Brasil Ltda., Abbott Limited Egypt LLC, Abbott Logistics B.V., Abbott Management GmbH, Abbott Management LLC, Abbott Manufacturing Singapore Private Limited, Abbott Mature Products International Unlimited Company, Abbott Mature Products Management Limited, Abbott Medical (Hong Kong) Limited, Abbott Medical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Medical (Portugal) Distribuicao de Produtos Medicos Lda, Abbott Medical (Schweiz) AG, Abbott Medical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Australia Pty. Ltd., Abbott Medical Austria Ges.m.b.H., Abbott Medical Balkan d.o.o. Beograd (Novi Beograd), Abbott Medical Belgium, Abbott Medical Canada Inc./ Medicale Abbott Canada Inc., Abbott Medical Danmark A/S, Abbott Medical Devices Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Espana S.A., Abbott Medical Estonia OU, Abbott Medical Finland Oy, Abbott Medical France SAS, Abbott Medical GmbH, Abbott Medical Hellas Limited Liability Trading Company, Abbott Medical Ireland Limited, Abbott Medical Italia S.p.A., Abbott Medical Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Korea Limited, Abbott Medical Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Medical Laboratories LTD, Abbott Medical Nederland B.V., Abbott Medical New Zealand Limited, Abbott Medical Norway AS, Abbott Medical Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Medical Sweden AB, Abbott Medical Taiwan Co., Abbott Medical U.K. Limited, Abbott Medical spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Middle East S.A.R.L., Abbott Molecular Inc., Abbott Morocco SARL, Abbott Nederland C.V., Abbott Nederland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Netherlands Investments B.V., Abbott Norge AS, Abbott Nutrition Limited, Abbott Nutrition Manufacturing Inc., Abbott Operations Singapore Pte. Ltd., Abbott Operations Uruguay S.R.L., Abbott Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Overseas Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Overseas S.A., Abbott Oy, Abbott Point of Care Canada Limited, Abbott Point of Care Inc., Abbott Poland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Procurement LLC, Abbott Products (Philippines) Inc., Abbott Products (Spain) S.L., Abbott Products Algerie EURL, Abbott Products B.V., Abbott Products Distribution SAS, Abbott Products Egypt LLC, Abbott Products Limited, Abbott Products Limited Liability Company, Abbott Products Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Products Operations AG, Abbott Products Operations LLC, Abbott Products Romania S.R.L., Abbott Products Tunisie S.A.R.L., Abbott Products Unlimited Company, Abbott Resources Inc., Abbott Resources International Inc., Abbott S.r.l., Abbott Saudi Arabia Trading Company, Abbott Scandinavia Aktiebolag, Abbott Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, Abbott South Africa Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Strategic Opportunities Limited, Abbott Trading Company Inc., Abbott Universal LLC, Abbott Vascular Devices (2) Limited, Abbott Vascular Devices Limited, Abbott Vascular Inc., Abbott Vascular Instruments Deutschland GmbH, Abbott Vascular International, Abbott Vascular Japan Co. Ltd, Abbott Vascular Limitada, Abbott Vascular Netherlands B.V., Abbott Vascular Solutions Inc., Abbott Ventures Inc., Abbott West Indies Limited, Abbott drustvo sa ogranicenom odgovornoscu za trgovinu i usluge, Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc., Alere, Alere (Shanghai) Diagnostics Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Healthcare Management Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Medical Sales Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Technology Co. Ltd., Alere A/S, Alere AB, Alere AS, Alere AS Holdings Limited, Alere BBI Holdings Limited, Alere Bangladesh Limited, Alere China Co. Ltd., Alere Colombia S.A., Alere Connect LLC, Alere Connected Health Limited, Alere Connected Health Ltd., Alere Diagnostics GmbH, Alere DoA Holding GmbH, Alere GmbH, Alere GmbH (Austria), Alere GmbH (Germany), Alere HK Holdings Ltd., Alere Health B.V., Alere Health BVBA, Alere Health Corp., Alere Health Sdn Bhd, Alere Health Services B.V., Alere Healthcare (Pty) Limited, Alere Healthcare Connections Limited, Alere Healthcare Inc., Alere Healthcare Nigeria Limited, Alere Healthcare S.L., Alere Holdco Inc., Alere Holding GmbH, Alere Holdings Bermuda Limited, Alere Holdings Pty Limited, Alere Home Monitoring Inc., Alere Inc., Alere Informatics Inc., Alere International Holding Corp., Alere International Limited, Alere Lda, Alere Limited, Alere Limited (New Zealand), Alere Medical BVBA, Alere Medical Co. Ltd., Alere Medical Pakistan (Private) Limited, Alere Medical Private Limited, Alere North America LLC, Alere Oy Ab, Alere Philippines Inc., Alere Phoenix ACQ Inc., Alere Pte Ltd, Alere S.A., Alere S.r.l., Alere S/A, Alere SAS, Alere San Diego Inc., Alere Scarborough Inc., Alere Spain S.L., Alere Switzerland GmbH, Alere Technologies GmbH, Alere Technologies Holdings Limited, Alere Technologies Limited, Alere Toxicology AB, Alere Toxicology Inc., Alere Toxicology S.r.l., Alere Toxicology Services Inc., Alere Toxicology plc, Alere UK Holdings Limited, Alere UK Subco Limited, Alere ULC, Alere US Holdings LLC, Alere s.r.o., Alisoc Investment & Co, Amedica Biotech Inc., Ameditech Inc., American Generics S.A.S., American Medical Supplies Inc., American Pharmacist Inc., Antares S.A., Apica Cardiovascular Limited, Aquagestion Capacitacion S.A., Aquagestion S.A., Arriva Medical LLC, Arriva Medical Philippines Inc., Arvis Investments Limited, Atlas Farmaceutica S.A., Avee Laboratories Inc., Axis-Shield AD III AS, Axis-Shield AD IV AS, Axis-Shield AS, Axis-Shield Diagnostics Limited, Axis-Shield Ltd., BBI Animal Health Limited, BBI Diagnostics Group 2 Public Limited Company, Banco de Vida S.A., Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions Inc., Bioalgae S.A., Biohealth LLC, Biosite Incorporated, Bosque Bonito S.A., Branan Medical Corporation, Brandex Europe C.V., British Colloids Limited, CFR Chile S.A., CFR Interamericas EL Salvador Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, CFR Interamericas Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CFR Interamericas Panama S.A., CFR Pharmaceuticals, California Property Holdings III LLC, CardioMEMS LLC, Caripharm Inc., Cephea Valve Technologies, Cephea Valve Technologies Inc., Colibri Medical Aktiebolag, Comercializadora y Distribuidora CFR Interamericas Honduras S.A., Concateno South Limited, Concateno UK Limited, Consorcio Tecnologico en Biomedicina Clinico-Molecular S.A., Continuum Services LLC, Cozart Limited, Dextech S.A., Diagnostik Nord GmbH, Distribuciones Uquifa S.A.S., Domesco Medical Import-Export Joint-Stock Corporation, Duphar International Research B.V., Endocardial Solutions, Epocal (US) Inc, Esprit de Vie S.A., European Chemicals & Co, European Drug Testing Service EDTS AB, European Services S.A., Evalve Inc., Evalve International Inc., FARMINDUSTRIA S.A., Fada Pharma Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Fadapharma del Ecuador S.A., Farmaceutica Mont Blanc S.L., Farmacologia Em Aquicultura Veterinaria Ltda., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV Ecuador S.A., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV S.A., Fernwood Investment S.A., First Check Diagnostics LLC, Focus Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Forensics Limited, Forestcreek Overseas S.A., Fournier Pharma Corp., Fournier Pharma GmbH, Fournier Pharmaceuticals Limited, Framed B.V., Gabmed GmbH, Garden Hills LLC, Global Analytical Development LLC, Globapharm & CO LP, Glomed Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Golnorth Investments S.A., Gynocare Limited, Gynopharm Sociedad Anonima, Gynopharm de Centroamerica S.A., Gynopharm de Venezuela C.A., Hi-Tronics Designs Inc., IDEV Technologies Inc., IG Innovations Limited, IMTC Finance B.V., IMTC Holdings B.V., IMTC Technologies Inc., Ibis Biosciences LLC, Igloo Zone Chile S.A., Igloo Zone S.L., Inmobiliaria Naknek S.A.C., Innovacon Inc., Instant Tech Subsidiary Acquisition Inc., Instant Technologies Inc., Instituto de Criopreservacion de Chile S.A., Integrated Vascular Systems Inc., Inverness Canadian Acquisition Corporation, Inverness Medical (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Australia Pty Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Hong Kong Limited, Inverness Medical Innovations SK LLC, Inverness Medical Investments LLC, Inverness Medical LLC, Inverness Medical Shimla Private Limited, Inversiones K2 SpA, Inversiones Komodo S.R.L., Ionian Technologies LLC, Irvine Biomedical Inc., Kalila Medical, Kangshenyunga S.A., Knoll UK Investments Unlimited, LLC VeroInPharm, Laboratoires Fournier S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano Lafrancol S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano del Ecuador S.A., Laboratorio Internacional Argentino S.A., Laboratorio Synthesis S.A.S., Laboratorios Lafi Limitada, Laboratorios Naturmedik S.A.S., Laboratorios Pauly Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Laboratorios Recalcine S.A., Laboratorios Transpharm S.A., Laboratory Specialists of America Inc., Lafrancol Dominicana S.A.S., Lafrancol Guatemala S.A. Sociedad Anonima, Lafrancol Internacional S.A.S, Lafrancol Peru S.R.L, Lake Forest Investments LLC, Lightlab Imaging Inc., Limited Liability Company Abbott Laboratories, Limited Liability Company Abbott Ukraine, Limited Liability Company VEROPHARM, Lung Fung Hong (China) Limited, Mansbridge Pharmaceuticals Limited, MediGuide LLC, MediGuide Ltd., Medscreen Holdings Limited, Metropolitana Farmaceutica S.A., Midwest Properties LLC, Murex Argentina S.A., Murex Biotech Limited, Murex Biotech South Africa, Murex Diagnostics Inc., Murex Diagnostics International Inc., Natural Supplement Association LLC, Negocios Denia Sociedad Anonima, Neosalud S.A.C., Nether Pharma N.P. C.V., NeuroTherm LLC, Normann Pharma-Handels GmbH, North Shore Properties Inc., Novamedi S.A., Novasalud.com S.A., Nutravida S.A., OJSC Voronezhkhimpharm, Omnilab Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OptiMedica, Orgenics France SAS, Orgenics International Holdings B.V., Orgenics Ltd., PBM-Selfcare LLC, PDD II LLC, PDD LLC, PT Alere Health, PT. Abbott Indonesia, PT. Abbott Products Indonesia, Pacesetter Inc., Pantech (RF) (PTY) LTD, Pembrooke Occupational Health Inc., Penagos S.A., Pharma International Sociedad Anonima, Pharmaceutical Technologies (Pharmatech) S.A., Pharmatech Boliviana S.A., Polygon Labs S.A., Quality Assured Services Inc., RF Medical Holdings LLC, RTL Holdings Inc., Ramses Business Corp., Recben Xenerics Farmaceutica Limitada, Redwood Toxicology Laboratory Inc., Rich Horizons International Limited, SC VEROPHARM, SJ Medical Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., SJM International Inc., SJM Thunder Holding Company, SPDH Inc., Saboya Enterprises Corporation, Salviac Limited, Scanax AS, Sealing Solutions Inc., Selfcare Technology Inc., Shandong Abbott Dairy Product Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Medical Devices Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai Si Fa Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Sinensix & Co., Spinal Modulation LLC, St. Jude Medical, St. Jude Medical AB, St. Jude Medical ATG Inc., St. Jude Medical Argentina S.A., St. Jude Medical Asia Pacific Holdings GK, St. Jude Medical Atrial Fibrillation Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Brasil Ltda., St. Jude Medical Business Services Inc., St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Colombia Ltda., St. Jude Medical Coordination Center, St. Jude Medical Costa Rica Limitada, St. Jude Medical Europe Inc., St. Jude Medical Export Ges.m.b.H., St. Jude Medical GVA Sarl, St. Jude Medical Holdings B.V., St. Jude Medical India Private Limited, St. Jude Medical International Holding, St. Jude Medical LLC, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings II, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings NT, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings SMI S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings TC S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Mexico Business Services S. de R.L. de C.V., St. Jude Medical Middle East DMCC, St. Jude Medical Operations (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., St. Jude Medical Puerto Rico LLC, St. Jude Medical S.C. Inc., St. Jude Medical Systems AB, St. Jude Medical Turkey Medikal Urunler Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Standard Diagnostics Inc., Standing Stone LLC, Swan-Myers Incorporated, TC1 LLC, Tendyne Holdings Inc., Tendyne Medical Inc., Thoratec Delaware LLC, Thoratec Europe Limited, Thoratec LLC, Thoratec Switzerland GmbH, Tobal Products Incorporated, Topera GmbH in Liquidation, Topera Inc., Tremora S.A., Tuenir S.A., TwistDx, UAB Abbott Laboratories, UAB Abbott Medical Lithuania, Union-Madison Realty Company Inc., Unipath Limited (dba Alere International/aka Cranfield), Unipath Management Limited, Unipath Pension Trustee Limited, Veropharm, Veropharm Limited Liability Partnership, Vida Cell Inversiones S.A., Vida Cell S.A., Vivalsol, W&R Pharma Handels GmbH, Western Pharmaceuticals S.A., X Technologies Inc., Yissum Holding Limited, ZonePerfect Nutrition Company, eScreen Canada ULC, eScreen Inc.,      ( ), and Abbott Laboratories Baltics.The following companies are subsidiares of 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..Genesee & Wyoming Inc. owns and leases freight railroads. It operates through three segments: North American Operations, Australian Operations, and U.K./European Operations. The company transports various commodities, including agricultural products, autos and auto parts, chemicals and plastics, coal and coke, food and kindred products, lumber and forest products, metallic ores, metals, minerals and stone, petroleum products, pulp and paper, waste, and other commodities. It owns or leases 122 freight railroads, including 105 short line railroads and 2 regional freight railroads located in the United States, 8 short line railroads located in Canada, 3 railroads located in Australia, 1 railroad located in the United Kingdom, 1 railroad in Poland and Germany, and 2 railroads in the Netherlands with a total of approximately 16,200 miles of track. The company also operates 6,200 additional miles of track that is owned or leased by others. In addition, it operates deep sea maritime containers and provides bulk haulage, including coal, aggregates, cement, and infrastructure services. Further, the company provides rail service at approximately 40 ports; rail-ferry service in North America, Australia, and Europe; and contract coal loading and railcar switching for industrial customers. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Darien, Connecticut.

Read MoreThe Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates through Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Banking and Markets, and Global Wealth Management segments. The company offers financial advice and solutions, and day-to-day banking products, including debit and credit cards, chequing and saving accounts, investments, mortgages, loans, and insurance to individuals; and business banking solutions comprising lending, deposit, cash management, and trade finance solutions to small businesses and commercial customers, including automotive financing solutions to dealers and their customers. It also provides wealth management advice and solutions, including online brokerage, mobile investment, full-service brokerage, trust, private banking, and private investment counsel services; and retail mutual funds, exchange traded funds, liquid alternative funds, and institutional funds. In addition, the company offers international banking services for retail, corporate, and commercial customers; and lending and transaction, investment banking advisory, and capital markets access services to corporate customers. Further, it provides Internet, mobile, and telephone banking services. The company operates a network of 952 branches and approximately 3,540 automated banking machines in Canada; and approximately 1,400 branches, 5,200 ATMs, and 22 contact centers internationally. The Bank of Nova Scotia was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Halifax, Canada.

Read MoreWellCare Health Plans, Inc. provides government-sponsored managed care services. The company operates in three segments: Medicaid Health Plans, Medicare Health Plans, and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs). The Medicaid Health Plans segment offers plans for beneficiaries of temporary assistance for needy families, supplemental security income, and aged blind and disabled residents; and other state-based programs, such as children's health insurance programs and long-term services and supports programs for qualifying families who are not eligible for Medicaid. The Medicare Health Plans segment provides Medicare, a federal program that provides eligible persons aged 65 and over, as well as some disabled persons with a range of hospital, medical, and prescription drug benefits; Medicare Advantage, a Medicare's managed care alternative to the original Medicare program, which offers individuals standard Medicare benefits directly through Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; and coordinated care plans that are administered through health maintenance organizations and require members to seek health care services and select a primary care physician from a network of health care providers. The Medicare PDPs segment provides Medicare part D PDP plans to Medicare-eligible beneficiaries. Its PDP plans offer national in-network prescription drug coverage, including a preferred pharmacy network. As of December 31, 2018, the company served approximately 5.5 million members in the United States. WellCare Health Plans, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Archer-Daniels-Midland: ADM (Shanghai) Management Co. LTD, ADM (Thailand) Ltd, ADM Ag Holdings Ltd, ADM Agri-Industries Company, ADM Agriculture Limited, ADM Agro Iberica S. L. U., ADM Agro Indust Latur and Vizag Pvt Ltd, ADM Agro Industries India Private Limited, ADM Agro Industries KOTA and AKOLA Pvt. Ltd., ADM Agro SRL, ADM Agroinvestimentos LTDA, ADM Alliance Nutrition of Puerto Rico LLC, ADM Americas S de RL, ADM Andina Peru SRL, ADM Antwerp NV, ADM Arkady Ireland Limited, ADM Asia-Pacific Trading Pte. Ltd., ADM Australia Holdings I PTY Limited, ADM Bio Science And Technology (Tianjin) Co Ltd, ADM Bioproductos SA DE CV, ADM CZERNIN SA, ADM Caribbean Inc, ADM Chile Comercial LTDA, ADM Clinton Bioprocessing Inc, ADM DO Brasil LTDA, ADM Direct Polska SP. ZO.O, ADM Dominican Holdings Inc., ADM Dominicana SA, ADM Edible Bean Specialties Inc, ADM Europe HoldCo SL, ADM European Holdings LLC, ADM European Management Holding GMBH, ADM Export Co, ADM Food Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., ADM France, ADM Germany GmbH, ADM Grain River System Inc., ADM Hamburg Aktiengesesllschaft, ADM Holding (Thailand) LTD, ADM Holdings LLC, ADM Hungary Agro Trading LLC, ADM Industries Centers Ltd, ADM International Holdings Inc, ADM International SARL, ADM Interoceanic LTD, ADM Investments LTD, ADM Investor Services Inc, ADM Investor Services International LTD, ADM Ireland Receivables Company Limited, ADM Israel, ADM Japan Ltd, ADM MALBORK SA, ADM Mainz GMBH, ADM Medsofts Sarl, ADM Mexico Inc, ADM Mexico SA DE CV, ADM Milling Co, ADM Milling LTD, ADM New Zealand Limited, ADM Olomouc S.R.O., ADM Paraguay SRL, ADM Protexin Limited, ADM Pura Limited, ADM Receivables LLC, ADM Rice Inc, ADM Ringaskiddy Unlimited Company, ADM Romania Logistics SRL, ADM Romania Trading SRL, ADM Specialty Ingredients - Europe BV, ADM Spyck GMBH, ADM Szamotuly SP Z O.O, ADM Trading Australia Pty. Ltd., ADM Trading Co, ADM Transportation Company, ADM Trucking Inc, ADM Vietnam CO. LTD, ADM WILD Europe GmbH and Co. KG, ADM WILD Ingredients GmbH, ADM WILD Nauen GmbH, ADM WILD Valencia S.A., ADM Wild Netherlands BV, ADM Worldwide Holdings LP, ADMIS Holding Co Inc., ADMIS Hong Kong LTD, ADMIS Singapore Pte Limited, AOR, AT Holdings II Company, Agri Port Services Investments Ltd., Agri Port Services LLC, Agricolas Madagascar SARLU, Agrinational Insurance Co, Agriserve, Agrograin LTD, Alfrebro LLC, Alfred C Toepfer International Netherlands BV, Alimenta USA, American River Transportation Company LLC, Ameriseed, Amylum Bulgaria EAD, Amylum Nisasta Sanayi Ve Ticarek Anonim Sirketi, Archer Daniels Midland (UK) Limited, Archer Daniels Midland Asia Pacific Ltd., Archer Daniels Midland Erith LTD, Archer Daniels Midland Europe BV, Archer Daniels Midland Europoort BV, Archer Daniels Midland Nederland BV, Archer Daniels Midland Singapore PTE LTD, Arinos Unlimited, Aston Foods & Food Ingredients, Balanceados Nova SA Balnova, Barbados Mills Limited, Bela Vista Bio Etanol Participacoes LTDA, Bern Aqua, BioPolis SL, Biopolis, Campa Sued GmbH & Co KG, Cattleman's Choice Loomix LLC, Chamtor, Ci ADM Colombia Ltda., Controladora ADM Sa De Cv, Crosswind Petfoods Inc., Daavision BV, Eaststarch, Eatem Corporation, Eatem Foods, Elstar Oils, English River Pellets Inc., Epicore Bionetworks INC, Epicore Networks (USA) INC, Erich Ziegler GmbH, Evialis France, Fasco Mills Co., Filozoo SRL, Florida Chemical, Florida Chemical Company LLC, GP Blanching Inc., Global Cocoa Holdings LTD, Golden Peanut Company LLC, Golden Peanut and Tree Nut Seed SA (PTY) LTD, Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts SA, Group Lysac, Guyomarc'h - VCN Company Limited, Guyomarc'h Vietnam CO LTD, HFR Shipping Company Ltd, HRA Shipping Company Ltd, HTI Shipping Company Ltd, Harvest Innovations, Hilltop Grain and Feed, Holding P and A Asia Company Limited, Hubei Meiweiyuan Biotechnology, Ilitchevskiy Maslo Extractionniy Zavod (IMEZ), Invivo NSA Asia PTE LTD, Invivo NSA Philippines Inc, Jamaica Flour Mills Limited, Julius Meijer-Alpharma BV, LLC ADM Ukraine, Liquid Feed Commodities, Malta Industries SA de CV, Malta-Texo De Mexico SA de CV, Master Mix of Trinidad LTD, Medsofts Investment Co, Medsofts L.L.C., Medsofts Trading Co, Mepla Comercio e Navegacao Ltda, NRG Inc, Naviera Chaco SRL, Neovia, Neovia Latina SL, Neovia Nutricao E Saude Animal LTDA, North Star Shipping S.R.L., P and A Marketing SA, PJSC ADM Illichivsk, PT Wirifa Sakti, Pancosma (Shanghai) Feed Additives CO LTD, Pancosma France SAS, Pancosma SA, Premiere Agri Technologies of Mexico Inc, Pura Foods LTD, Rodelle Inc., Schokinag-Schokolade-Industrie Herrmann, Sermix, Setna Nutricion SA, Societe Industrielle Des Oleagineux, Southern Cellulose Products Inc, Soy Investors LLC, Specialty Commodities, Specialty Commodities LLC, Sul Mineira Alimentos LTDA, SzSzV Kft, Toepfer International, Toepfer International Trading (Shanghai) Co. LTD., Vantage Corn Processors LLC, WILD Amazon Flavors Ltda, WILD Flavors, Wild Flavors Inc., Wild Flavors International GmbH, Wild Flavors Singapore Pte. Ltd., Wild Intermare GmbH, Wild Russia LLC, and Wisium SA (PTY) LTD.The following companies are subsidiares of Lennar: 360 Developers LLC, Alliance Financial Services Inc., Ann Arundel Farms Ltd., Aquaterra Utilities Inc., Arbor Mill Veteran Project 2018 LLC, Asbury Woods L.L.C., Astoria Options LLC, Autumn Creek Development Ltd., Aylon LLC, Azusa Associates LLC, B2 Milpitas LLC, BB Investment Holdings LLC, BCI Properties LLC, BMR Communities LLC, BMR Construction Inc., BMTD LLC, BPH I LLC, Bainebridge 249 LLC, Bay Colony Expansion 369 Ltd., Bellagio Lennar LLC, Belle Meade LEN Holdings LLC, Belle Meade Partners LLC, Black Mountain Ranch LLC, Blue Horizons Estates LLC, Bonterra Lennar LLC, Bramalea California Inc., Bressi Gardenlane LLC, Breton Park Lennar LLC, CAP IL 1 LLC, CL Ventures LLC, CML INACTIVE LLC, CML-MO HAF LLC, CML-MO HAF PARKING LLC, CP Block 6aS LLC, CP Block 8aS LLC, CP Block 9aS LLC, CP Center Apartments LLC, CP Center Garage LLC, CP Red Oak Partners Ltd., CP Vertical Development Co. 1 LLC, CP/HPS Development Co. GP LLC, CP/HPS Development Co.-C LLC, CPFE LLC, CPHP Development LLC, CalAtlantic Financial Services Inc., CalAtlantic Group, CalAtlantic Group Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Arizona Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Georgia Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Texas Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Washington Inc., CalAtlantic Mortgage Inc., CalAtlantic National Title Solutions LLC, CalAtlantic Title Agency LLC, CalAtlantic Title Group LLC, CalAtlantic Title Inc., CalAtlantic Title LLC, CalAtlantic Title of Maryland Inc., Camarillo Village Park LLC, Cambria L.L.C., Candlestick Retail Member LLC, Cardiovascular Medical Specialists LLC, Carolina Blue LLC, Carson 175 LLC, Cary Woods LLC, Casa Marina Development LLC, Central Park West Holdings LLC, Cherrytree II LLC, Club Bonterra Lennar LLC, Coco Palm 82 LLC, Colonial Heritage LLC, Columbia National Risk Retention Group Inc., Commonwealth Incentive Fee LLC, Concord Station LLP, Coventry L.L.C., Creekside Crossing L.L.C., Crest at Fondren Investor LLC, DBJ Holdings LLC, DCA Financial LLC, DTC Holdings of Florida LLC, Darcy-Joliet L.L.C., Durrell 33 LLC, EL Ventures LLC, EV LLC, Eagle Bend Commercial LLC, Eagle Home Mortgage LLC, Estates Seven LLC, Evergreen Village LLC, F&R QVI Home Investments USA LLC, FLORDADE LLC, Faria Preserve LLC, Fidelity Guaranty and Acceptance Corp., Fidelity Land LLC, Fox-Maple Associates LLC, Friendswood Development Company LLC, GDI MANAGER LLC, Garco Investments LLC, Greystone Construction Inc., Greystone Homes of Nevada Inc., Greystone Nevada Holdings LLC, Greystone Nevada LLC, Greywall Club L.L.C., HCC Investors LLC, HPS Development Co. LP, HPS Vertical Development Co. LLC, HPS Vertical Development Co.-B LP, HPS Vertical Development Co.-D/E LLC, HPS1 Block 1 LLC, HPS1 Block 48-1A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-1B LLC, HPS1 Block 48-2A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-2B LLC, HPS1 Block 48-3A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-3B LLC, HPS1 Block 50 LLC, HPS1 Block 51 LLC, HPS1 Block 52 LLC, HPS1 Block 53 LLC, HPS1 Block 54 LLC, HPS1 Block 55 LLC, HPS1 Block 56/57 LLC, HSP Arizona Inc., HTC Golf Club LLC, Hammocks Lennar LLC, Harbor Highlands Group LLC, Harveston LLC, Haverton L.L.C., Heathcote Commons LLC, Heritage Pkwy East Holdings LLC, Heritage of Auburn Hills L.L.C., Hewitts Landing Trustee LLC, Hingham Properties LLC, Huntley Venture L.L.C., Inactive Companies LLC, Independence L.L.C., Independence Orlando LLC, Isles at Bayshore Club LLC, KMC Real Estate Investors LLC, Kendall Hammocks Commercial LLC, Kentuckiana Medical Center LLC, Kingman Lennar LLC, LB/L  Duc III Antioch 330 LLC, LCD Asante LLC, LCI Downtown Doral Investor LLC, LCI North DeKalb Investor GP LLC, LCI North DeKalb Investor LP LLC, LEN - Belle Meade LLC, LEN - OBS Windemere LLC, LEN - Palm Vista LLC, LEN BPT Investor LLC, LEN Mirada Investor LLC, LEN Notarize Investor LLC, LEN OT Holdings LLC, LEN Paradise Cable LLC, LEN Paradise Operating LLC, LEN-CG South LLC, LEN-Cypress Mill LLC, LEN-Ryan 1 LLC, LEN-Touchstone LLC, LENH I LLC, LENNAR HOMES OF TENNESSEE LLC, LFS Holding Company LLC, LH Eastwind LLC, LHI Renaissance LLC, LMC 10th & Acoma Holdings LP, LMC 144th and Grant Investor LLC, LMC 2401 Blake Street Holdings LLC, LMC 2401 Blake Street Investor LLC, LMC 360 Acoma Holdings LP, LMC 410 S Wabash Holdings LLC, LMC 808 Gateway Holdings LLC, LMC 808 Gateway Investor LLC, LMC 8th Avenue Apartment Investor LLC, LMC 990 Bannock Holdings LLC, LMC Axis Westminster Holdings LLC, LMC Axis Westminster Investor LLC, LMC Berry Hill Lofts Holdings LLC, LMC Berry Hill Lofts Investor LLC, LMC Block 42 Holdings LLC, LMC Build to Core III Investor LLC, LMC Build to Core III LLC, LMC Burnside Holdings LLC, LMC Burnside Investor LLC, LMC Chandler and McClintock Holdings LLC, LMC Charlestowne Holdings LLC, LMC Charlotte Ballpark Developer LLC, LMC Cityville Oak Park Holdings LLC, LMC Cityville Oak Park Investor LLC, LMC Cobalt Holdings LLC, LMC Costa Mesa Holdings LP, LMC Crest at Park West Holdings LP, LMC Denver Gateway I Investor LLC, LMC Denver Gateway II Holdings LLC, LMC Development LLC, LMC Downtown Doral South Holdings LLC, LMC Durham Gateway Holdings LP, LMC Evans School Holdings LLC, LMC Gateway Investor LLC, LMC Gateway Venture LLC, LMC Gilman Square Investor LLC, LMC Horton Street Holdings LLC, LMC Huntington Crossing Holdings LLC, LMC Inactive Companies LLC, LMC Lakeside Holdings LP, LMC Leya Holdings LLC, LMC Living Illinois LLC, LMC Living Inc., LMC Living LLC, LMC Living TRS LP, LMC Millenia Investor II LLC, LMC NE Minneapolis Lot 2 Holdings LLC, LMC New Bern Investor LLC, LMC North Park Holdings LP, LMC Parkfield Holdings LLC, LMC Parkfield Investor LLC, LMC Righters Ferry Holdings LLC, LMC River North Holdings LLC, LMC Spring Street Investor LLC, LMC Stonewall Station Investor LLC, LMC Triangle Square Investor LLC, LMC Venture Developer LLC, LMC Verbena Holdings LLC, LMC West Loop Investor LLC, LMCFX Investor LLC, LMCPNW Marymoor Holdings LLC, LMI - Jacksonville Investor LLC, LMI - South Kings Development Investor LLC, LMI - West Seattle Holdings LLC, LMI - West Seattle Investor LLC, LMI - West Seattle LLC, LMI Cell Tower Investors LLC, LMI City Walk Investor LLC, LMI Collegedale Investor LLC, LMI Collegedale LLC, LMI Contractors LLC, LMI Glencoe Dallas Investor LLC, LMI Lakes West Covina Investor LLC, LMI Largo Park Investor LLC, LMI Las Colinas Station LLC, LMI Naperville Investor LLC, LMI Pacific Tower LLC, LMI Park Central Two LLC, LMI Peachtree Corners Investor LLC, LMI Peachtree Corners LLC, LMI-JC Developer LLC, LMI-JC LLC, LMV 1640 Broadway REIT-DC LP, LMV 1701 Ballard REIT-DC LP, LMV 19H REIT-DC LP, LMV 2026 Madison REIT-DC LP, LMV 85 South Union REIT-DC LP, LMV ATown REIT-DC LP, LMV Annapolis REIT-DC LP, LMV Apache Terrace REIT-DC LP, LMV Block 42 REIT-DC LP, LMV Bloomington REIT-DC LP, LMV Bolingbrook REIT-DC LP (DE), LMV Central at McDowell REIT-DC LP, LMV East Village I REIT-DC LP, LMV Edina REIT-DC LP, LMV Fremont WS I REIT-DC LP, LMV Glisan REIT-DC LP, LMV Grand Bay REIT-DC LP, LMV II Grand Bay Pod V Holdings LP, LMV II Kierland Holdings LP, LMV II NoMo Holdings LP, LMV II Venture Developer LLC, LMV II Wynwood Holdings LP, LMV Kirkland REIT-DC LP, LMV Little Italy REIT-DC LP, LMV M Tower REIT-DC LP, LMV Millenia II REIT-DC LP, LMV Milpitas REIT-DC LP, LMV NE Minneapolis REIT-DC LP, LMV Oak Park REIT-DC LP, LMV One20Fourth REIT-DC LP, LMV QR Build to Core Manager LLC, LMV Rio Bravo REIT-DC LP, LMV Scottsdale Quarter REIT-DC LP, LMV Tysons REIT-DC LP, LMV Vallagio III REIT-DC LP, LMV Victory Block G REIT-DC LP, LMV Warren Street REIT-DC LP, LNC Communities II LLC, LNC Communities IV LLC, LNC Communities V LLC, LNC Communities VI LLC, LNC Communities VII LLC, LNC Communities VIII LLC, LNC Pennsylvania Realty Inc., LNC at Meadowbrook LLC, LNC at Ravenna LLC, LS College Park LLC, LS Terracina LLC, LV Opendoor Investor LLC, LV Opendoor JV LLC, LW D'Andrea LLC, Lagoon Valley Residential LLC, Lakelands at Easton L.L.C., Legends Club LLC, Legends Golf Club LLC, Len - Little Harbor LLC, Len FW Investor LLC, Len Paradise LLC, Len-Angeline LLC, Len-Hawks Point LLC, Len-Land LLC, Len-Land West LLC, Len-MN LLC, Len-Verandahs LLP, LenCom LLC, LenFive LLC, LenFive Opco GP LLC, LenFive Sub III LLC, LenFive Sub LLC, LenFive Sub Opco GP LLC, Lenalto CMBS LLC, Lencraft LLC, Lennar Aircraft I LLC, Lennar Arizona Construction Inc., Lennar Arizona Inc., Lennar Associates Management Holding Company, Lennar Associates Management LLC, Lennar Avenue One LLC, Lennar Berkeley LLC, Lennar Bevard LLC, Lennar Bridges LLC, Lennar Buffington Colorado Crossing L.P., Lennar Buffington Zachary Scott L.P., Lennar Carolinas LLC, Lennar Central Park LLC, Lennar Central Region Sweep Inc., Lennar Chicago Inc., Lennar Cobra LLC, Lennar Colgate Urban Renewal Development LLC, Lennar Colorado LLC, Lennar Colorado Minerals LLC, Lennar Commercial LLC, Lennar Communities Development Inc., Lennar Communities Inc., Lennar Communities Nevada LLC, Lennar Communities of Chicago L.L.C., Lennar Concord LLC, Lennar Construction Inc., Lennar Cory Road LLC, Lennar Courts LLC, Lennar Developers Inc., Lennar Ewing LLC, Lennar Financial Services LLC, Lennar Flamingo LLC, Lennar Fresno Inc., Lennar Gardens LLC, Lennar Georgia Inc., Lennar Greer Ranch Venture LLC, Lennar Heritage Fields LLC, Lennar Hingham Holdings LLC, Lennar Hingham JV LLC, Lennar Homes Holding LLC, Lennar Homes LLC, Lennar Homes NJ LLC, Lennar Homes of Arizona Inc., Lennar Homes of California Inc., Lennar Homes of Indiana Inc., Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction Ltd., Lennar Homes of Texas Sales and Marketing Ltd., Lennar Homes of Utah Inc., Lennar International Holding LLC, Lennar International LLC, Lennar Lakeside Investor LLC, Lennar Layton LLC, Lennar Living LLC, Lennar Lytle LLC, Lennar MF Holdings LLC, Lennar MPA LLC, Lennar MPA WIP LLC, Lennar Mare Island LLC, Lennar Marina A Funding LLC, Lennar Massachusetts Properties Inc., Lennar Middletown LLC, Lennar Monmouth Redevelopers LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture GP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture GP Subsidiary LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture GP Victory Block G Mezz LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II GP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II GP Subsidiary LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II LP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II Manager LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture LP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture Manager LLC, Lennar Multifamily Builders LLC, Lennar Multifamily Communities LLC, Lennar Multifamily Venture DC LP, Lennar New Jersey Holdings LLC, Lennar New Jersey Properties Inc., Lennar New York LLC, Lennar Northeast Properties LLC, Lennar Northwest Inc., Lennar OHB LLC, Lennar PI Acquisition LLC, Lennar PI Property Acquisition LLC, Lennar PIS Management Company LLC, Lennar Pacific Inc., Lennar Pacific Properties Inc., Lennar Pacific Properties Management Inc., Lennar Plumsted Urban Renewal LLC, Lennar Point LLC, Lennar QR Build to Core GP LLC, Lennar QR Build to Core LP LLC, Lennar Realty Inc., Lennar Reno LLC, Lennar Riverwalk LLC, Lennar Sacramento Inc., Lennar Sales Corp., Lennar Sierra Sunrise LLC, Lennar Spencer's Crossing LLC, Lennar Sun Ridge LLC, Lennar Texas Holding LLC, Lennar Ventures LLC, Lennar West Valley LLC, Lennar Winncrest LLC, Lennar at Franklin LLC, Lennar at Jackson LLC, Lennar at Marlboro 79 LLC, Lennar at Monroe LLC, Lennar.com Inc., Longleaf Acquisition LLC, Lori Gardens Associates II LLC, Lori Gardens Associates III LLC, Lori Gardens Associates L.L.C., Lorton Station LLC, Lyons Lennar Farms LLC, Madrona Ridge L.L.C., Madrona Village L.L.C., Madrona Village Mews L.L.C., Majestic Woods LLC, Maple and Broadway Holdings LLC, Menifee Development LLC, Mid-County Utilities Inc., Miralago West Lennar LLC, Mission Viejo 12S Venture LP, Mission Viejo Holdings Inc., Motomic Diagnostics LLC, Multibank 2009-1 CML-ADC Venture LLC, Multibank 2009-1 RES-ADC Venture LLC, NC Properties I LLC, NC Properties II LLC, North American Asset Development LLC, Northbridge L.L.C., OHC/Ascot Belle Meade LLC, One SR L.P., PD-Len Boca Raton LLC, PG Properties Holding LLC, POMAC LLC, PT Metro LLC, Pace Drive Holdings LLC, Palm Gardens At Doral Clubhouse LLC, Palm Gardens at Doral LLC, Palm Springs Classic LLC, Palm Vista Preserve LLC, Patuxent Infrastructure Inc., Pioneer Meadows Development LLC, Pioneer Meadows Investments LLC, Plaza Condominium Ventures LLC, Portside Marina Developers L.L.C., Portside SM Associates L.L.C., Portside SM Holdings L.L.C., Portside Shipyard Developers L.L.C., Prestonfield L.L.C., Quail Roost Lennar LLC, RCCF GP II LLC, RCCF GP III LLC, RCCF GP IV LLC, RCCF GP LLC, RES-FL EIGHT LLC, RES-FL SEVEN LLC, RES-FL VISION ONE LLC, RES-FL VISION TWO LLC, RES-GA CASCADE LLC, RES-GA DIAMOND MEADOWS LLC, RES-GA KAP LLC, RES-GA SOUTHERN PLANTATION LLC, RES-GA THIRTEEN LLC, RES-GA TWELVE LLC, RES-GA WEST LLC, RES-IL ONE LLC, RES-NC ONE LLC, RES-PA LSJ LLC, RES-PA POM LLC, RES-TX BOULEVARD LLC, RH Insurance Company Inc., RH MOA BBCMS 2017-C1 LLC, RH MOA CF 2017-C8 LLC, RH MOA LLC, RH MOA U 2017-C4 LLC, RH MOA U 2017-C6 LLC, RIAL 2014-LT5 CLASS B LLC, RIAL 2014-LT5 LLC, RL BB FINANCIAL LLC, RL BB INACTIVE LLC, RL BB-AL LLC, RL BB-FL ALHI LLC, RL BB-GA LLC, RL BB-GA RMH LLC, RL BB-IL LLC, RL BB-IN AA LLC, RL BB-IN KRE LLC, RL BB-IN KRE OP LLC, RL BB-IN KRE RE LLC, RL BB-MS LLC, RL BB-NC LLC, RL BB-OH LLC, RL BB-SC BROOKSA LLC, RL BB-SC CLR II LLC, RL BB-SC CLR III LLC, RL BB-SC CLR IV LLC, RL BB-SC CLR LLC, RL BB-SC CRRC LLC, RL BB-SC RACEDAY LLC, RL BB-TN BRISTOL LLC, RL BB-TN LLC, RL BB-TN RACEDAY TOWER LLC, RL BB-TX LLC, RL BB-WV LLC, RL CMBS Holdings LLC, RL CML 2009-1 Investments LLC, RL REGI ARKANSAS LLC, RL REGI Alabama LLC, RL REGI FINANCIAL LLC, RL REGI Florida LLC, RL REGI GEORGIA LLC, RL REGI INACTIVE LLC, RL REGI KANSAS LLC, RL REGI MISSISSIPPI LLC, RL REGI MISSOURI LLC, RL REGI NORTH CAROLINA LLC, RL REGI SOUTH CAROLINA LLC, RL REGI TENNESSEE LLC, RL REGI VIRGINIA LLC, RL REGI-AL HP LLC, RL REGI-AL VRC LLC, RL REGI-FL CRC LLC, RL REGI-FL ESH LLC, RL REGI-FL FT. PIERCE LLC, RL REGI-FL GDL LLC, RL REGI-FL ITALIA LLC, RL REGI-FL MRED LLC, RL REGI-FL RDI LLC, RL REGI-FL SARASOTA LLC, RL REGI-FL TPL LLC, RL REGI-FL VARC LLC, RL REGI-GA DRAD LLC, RL REGI-GA HAY DB LLC, RL REGI-GA MHU LLC, RL REGI-GA MPD LLC, RL REGI-GA RLR LLC, RL REGI-MO GMB LLC, RL REGI-MO MOSCOW MILLS LLC, RL REGI-MS Double H LLC, RL REGI-MS OCEAN SPRINGS LLC, RL REGI-NC CIL LLC, RL REGI-NC LITTLE WING LLC, RL REGI-NC MLD LLC, RL REGI-NC Mland LLC, RL REGI-NC RALEIGH LLC, RL REGI-NC SUGARM LLC, RL REGI-NM LLC, RL REGI-SC CTL LLC, RL REGI-SC LAKE E LLC, RL REGI-SC TDG LLC, RL REGI-SC TIG LLC, RL REGI-TN OAK LLC, RL REGI-TN SEVIERVILLE LLC, RL RES 2009-1 Investments LLC, RMF Alliance LLC, RMF Commercial LLC, RMF PR New York LLC, RMF Partner LLC, RMF SUB 1 LLC, RMF SUB 2 LLC, RMF SUB 3 LLC, RMF SUB 4 LLC, RMF SUB 5 LLC, RMV LLC, Raintree Village II L.L.C., Raintree Village L.L.C., Ral-Len BM LLC, Ral-Len LLC, Rannel Capital WeWork Series D LLC, Rannel Holdings LLC, Rannel Interests LLC, Rannel Investments LLC, Rannel Mortgage Investments LLC, Rannel Proprietary Investments LLC, Renaissance Joint Venture, Reserve @ Pleasant Grove II LLC, Reserve @ Pleasant Grove LLC, Reserve at River Park LLC, Reserve at South Harrison LLC, Rialto Commercial Mortgage Securities LLC, Rialto Credit Partnership GP LLC, Rialto Mezz Partners GP LLC, Rialto Mortgage Finance LLC, Rialto Partners GP II LLC, Rialto Partners GP III - Debt LLC, Rialto Partners GP III - Property LLC, Rialto Partners GP LLC, Rialto RSSF GP LLC, Riverwalk at Lago Mar LLC, Rocking Horse Minerals LLC, Rutenberg Homes Inc. (Florida), Rutenberg Homes of Texas Inc., Rye Hill Company LLC, Ryland Homes Nevada Holdings LLC, Ryland Homes Nevada LLC, Ryland Homes of California Inc., S. Florida Construction II LLC, S. Florida Construction III LLC, S. Florida Construction LLC, SC 521 Indian Land Reserve LLC, SC 521 Indian Land Reserve South LLC, SPIC CPCO Inc., SPIC CPDB Inc., SPIC CPRB Inc., SPIC Del Sur LLC, SPIC Dublin LLC, SPIC Mesa LLC, SPIC NC Fremont LLC, SPIC Otay LLC, SPIC Springs LLC, San Felipe Indemnity Co. Ltd., San Lucia LLC, San Simeon Lennar LLC, Schulz Ranch Developers LLC, Seminole/70th LLC, Siena at Old Orchard L.L.C., Sierra Vista Communities LLC, Silver Springs Lennar LLC, South Development LLC, Southbank Holding LLC, Spanish Springs Development LLC, St. Charles Active Adult Community LLC, St. Charles Community LLC, Standard Pacific 1 Inc., Standard Pacific Investment Corp., Standard Pacific of Colorado Inc., Standard Pacific of Florida, Standard Pacific of Florida GP Inc., Standard Pacific of Las Vegas Inc., Standard Pacific of Orange County Inc., Standard Pacific of Tampa GP, Standard Pacific of Tampa GP Inc., Standard Pacific of Tonner Hills LLC, Standard Pacific of Walnut Hills Inc., Standard Pacific of the Carolinas LLC, Stoney Holdings LLC, Storey Lake Club LLC, Storey Park Club LLC, Strategic Holdings Inc., Strategic Technologies LLC, Summerfield Venture L.L.C., SunStreet Energy Group LLC, SunStreet Manager LLC, TCO QVI LLC, TICD Hold Co. LLC, TIH Hold Co. LLC, Talega Associates LLC, Temecula Valley LLC, Terra Division LLC, Terra/Winding Creek LLC, The Baywinds Land Trust, The Bridges Club at Rancho Santa Fe Inc., The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe Sales Company Inc., The LNC Northeast Group Inc., The Oasis Club at LEN-CG South LLC, The Preserve at Coconut Creek LLC, The Vistas Club at LEN-CG South LLC, Titlezoom Company, Treasure Island Holdings LLC, Treasure Island Member LLC, Treviso Holding LLC, Two Lakes Lennar LLC, U.S. Home Corporation, U.S. Home Realty Inc., U.S. Home of Arizona Construction Co., U.S. Insurors Inc., U.S.H. Realty Inc., UAMC Holding Company LLC, UB 2018C14 MOA LLC, USH - Flag LLC, USH Equity Corporation, USH LEE LLC, USH Leasing II LLC, USH Leasing LLC, UST Lennar HW Scala SF Joint Venture, VII Crown Farm Investor LLC, Venetian Lennar LLC, Vineyard Land LLC, Vineyard Point 2009 LLC, Vista Palms Clubhouse LLC, WCI Communities, WCI Communities Inc., WCI Communities LLC, WCI Towers Northeast USA Inc., WCI Westshore LLC, WCP LLC, WIP Lennar OHB LLC, Waterview at Hanover LLC, West Lake Village LLC, West Seattle Project X LLC, West Van Buren L.L.C., Westchase Inc., Westchase Ltd., Westfield Homes USA Inc., White Course Lennar LLC, Wild Plum JV LLC, Willowbrook Investors LLC, Winncrest Natomas LLC, Woodbridge Multifamily Developer I LLC, Wright Farm L.L.C., and YLRichards4Acres 2015 LLC.TC Energy Corporation operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. It operates through Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines, U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines, Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines, Liquids Pipelines, and Power and Storage segments. The company builds and operates 93,400 km network of natural gas pipelines, which transports natural gas from supply basins to local distribution companies, power generation plants, industrial facilities, interconnecting pipelines, LNG export terminals, and other businesses. It also has regulated natural gas storage facilities with a total working gas capacity of 535 billion cubic feet. In addition, it has approximately 4,900 km liquids pipeline system that connects Alberta crude oil supplies to refining markets in Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas, and the U.S. Gulf Coast. Further, the company owns or has interests in seven power generation facilities with a combined capacity of approximately 4,200 megawatts that are powered by natural gas and nuclear fuel sources located in Alberta, Ontario, QuAbec, and New Brunswick; and owns and operates approximately 118 billion cubic feet of non-regulated natural gas storage capacity in Alberta. The company was formerly known as TransCanada Corporation and changed its name to TC Energy Corporation in May 2019. TC Energy Corporation was incorporated in 1951 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Read MoreVermilion Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of petroleum and natural gas in North America, Europe, and Australia. It owns 81% working interest in 642,300 net acres of developed land and 87% working interest in 376,700 net acres of undeveloped land, and 613 net producing natural gas wells and 3,034 net producing oil wells in Canada; and 96% working interest in 248,900 net acres of developed land and 91% working interest in 222,100 net acres of undeveloped land in the Aquitaine and Paris Basins, and 325 net producing oil wells and 3.0 net producing gas wells in France. The company also owns 49% working interest in 930,000 net acres of land and 51 net producing natural gas wells in the Netherlands; and 36,900 net developed acres and 965,900 net undeveloped acres of land, and 61 net producing oil wells and 8 net producing natural gas wells in Germany. In addition, it owns offshore Corrib natural gas field located to the northwest coast of Ireland; and 100% working interest in the Wandoo offshore oil field and related production assets that covers 59,600 acres located on Western Australia's northwest shelf. Further, the company holds 138,000 net acres of land in the Powder River basin, and 136.6 net producing oil wells in the United States; and 951,200 net acres of land in Hungary, 244,900 net acres of land in Slovakia, and 2.4 million net acres of land in Croatia. Vermilion Energy Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Read More(ANSA) - Brasilia, December 18 - Brazil's Public Security Minister Raul Jungmann said Tuesday that he could not rule out the possibility that Italian former leftwing terrorist Cesare Battisti could have left the country. Battisti, who Italy wants extradited to serve life in prison for four murders committed in Italy's 'years of lead' of political violence in the 1970s and 80s, vanished shortly before a Brazilian judge recently issued an order for his arrest. "It's a possibility," Jungmann told CBN radio when asked if Battisti may have fled the country.

"I can't say how high a possibility it is, but it is a possibility". The Brazilian authorities have issued photos of how Battisti may have disguised himself as part of the bid to track him down.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, meanwhile, ruled out putting a reward for Battisti's capture.

"I'm confident the case can be resolved positively," Salvini said.

"I repeat what I said to the Brazilian president - if he is taken, I am willing to take the first aeroplane and accompany him personally (back to Italy)".

BT Group plc provides communications services worldwide. Its Consumer segment sells telephones, baby monitors, and Wi-Fi extenders through high street retailers, online BT Shop, and Website BT.com; and offers home phone, copper and fiber broadband, TV, and mobile services in various packages. The company's EE segment offers 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile network services; broadband, fixed-voice, and TV services; and postpaid and prepaid plans, and emergency services network. This segment also sells 4G mobile phones, tablets, connected devices, and mobile broadband devices from various manufacturers. Its Business and Public Sector segment provides fixed voice, mobility, fiber and connectivity, and networked IT services to retailers, utilities, public sector, healthcare, sports, construction, finance, and educational sectors. The company's Global Services segment offers business communications and ICT services comprising BT Connect, BT Security, BT One, BT Contact, BT Compute, BT Advise, and BT for financial markets. This segment serves approximately 5,500 customers in 180 countries. Its Wholesale and Ventures segment enables communications providers and other organizations to provide fixed or mobile phone services. Its ventures provide mass-market services, such as directory enquiries and payphones; and enterprise services comprising BT Fleet and BT Redcare. This segment also provides broadband and Ethernet, voice, hosted communication, mobile virtual network operator, managed solutions, machine-to-machine, roaming, and media services. The company's Openreach segment engages in the provision of services over the local access network; and installation and maintenance of fiber and copper communications networks that connect homes and businesses. The company was formerly known as Newgate Telecommunications Limited and changed its name to BT Group plc in September 2001. BT Group plc was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of 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.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(ANSA) - Cairo, December 18 - Dozens of people have been arrested as part of the operation to find Silvia Costanza Romano, a young Italian volunteer aid worker who was kidnapped in Kenya last month, local media reported on Tuesday.

The arrests were made at the weekend in two villages in the area of the Tana River, according to the reports.

Kenya's Standard Media said that "at least 100" arrests were made. "We are working 24 hours a day to save her," local police chief Noah Mwivanda was quoted as saying by Standard Media.

Embraer SA engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of aircraft and its parts for commercial, defense, and executive aviation sectors. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Aviation, Defense and Security, Executive Jet Business, Service & Support and Others. The Commercial Aviation segment is involved in the development, production, and sale of commercial jets; and the provision of support services to regional aviation and aircraft leasing. The Defense and Security segment engages in research, development, production, modification, and support for defense and security aircrafts, as well as other integrated products and solutions including satellites and information and communication systems. The Executive Jet Business segment deals with the development, manufacture, and sale of executive jets. The Service & Support segment provides after-service solutions and support to its customers through a comprehensive portfolio of innovative and competitive solutions to ensure operational efficiency of products manufactured by Embraer and by other aircraft manufacturers, extending the useful life of commercial, executive and defense aircraft. The Others segment refers to

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..Invesco S&P SmallCap 600 Equal Weight ETF's stock was trading at $39.81 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, EWSC stock has increased by 99.9% and is now trading at $79.5839.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.(ANSAmed) - ATHENS, 18 DEC - Greece, the country within the EU which has arguably been most affected by the ongoing migrant crisis in the region, is celebrating International Migrants Day with a series of events, speeches and exhibitions on Tuesday.



Among the highlights is a special event called "Dreams do not have a homeland", organised by Greece's Ministry of Immigration Policy and the Special Secretariat for Communication Management of the Ministry of Digital Policy, Telecommunications and Information.



The Minister of Immigration Policy, Dimitris Vitsas, who has come under constant criticism from Human Rights groups as well as local governments and communities on the Aegean islands for the ongoing situation, will be a keynote speaker.



The secretary general at the Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights, Maria Giannakaki, said: "Immigration is a phenomenon inherent in humankind in its story. We aim for Immigration with dignity and respect for Human Rights." The event, which will also be attended by UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Greece Phillip Leklerk, features representatives of collectives and immigrant organizations living in Greece, as well as migrant children attending Greek schools submitting their personal narratives.



According to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), there are nearly 60,000 refugees and migrants living in Greece, and although the flows of people have slowed in recent weeks due to the cold winter months, the country still faces a huge problem.



The asylum seekers in Greece mainly hail from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan Iraq and Iran, but as well as from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Africa.



The sheer volume of people has created a huge strain for the local communities, especially in the North Eastern Aegean Islands of Lesvos, Chios and Samos.



THE STATE IS FAILING - KKE Greece's communist party KKE used the occasion to release a strongly-worded statement, criticising the government for its handling of the refugee crisis, and accusing them of failing to protect their rights to work and live in the country.



"The SYRIZA - ANEL government, which supposedly rides itself on humanitarian by dealing with the immigration issue, is failing in that role. It maintains and increases discrimination against economic immigrants and immigrant children, even though they live and work for many years in Greece or have been born here," said KKE.



The statement continued: "The state has not protected migrants from fascist and racist attacks, as various incidents point have shown. It continues the policy of encroachment, the shame of the cramped hot spots on the islands, the camps scattered all over the country, the miserable ping pong at the expense of unaccompanied minors and workers from one NGO to the other." "We do not wish to share words of 'consolation' or shallow acts of alleged charity to immigrants. What we want is to call on trade unions and mass organizations to integrate immigrants into their ranks and support their demands. We express solidarity and support for refugees and immigrants and we call on them to fight with their Greek colleagues to abolish all anti-labor memorandum laws, create collective agreements, and campaign for increases in wages, free health, education, sport and culture." TRANSFERS FROM ISLANDS CONTINUING The UN's Migration Agency (IMO) earlier this month called on Greece to set up more shelters and reception facilities for migrants and refugees that are unaccompanied minors as winter sets in across the country.



The Greek government recently received criticism from human rights groups and NGOs after it was revealed by local NGO ARSIS (Association for the Social Support of Youth) that underage migrants were being housed in Greek police cells due to a lack of space in migrant camps in Northern Greece.



And although the Greek authorities have stepped up their efforts in transfering such "vulnerable groups" from the islands to the mainland, the living conditions for thousands of minors continues to be grim due to the overcrowding at all camps.



Under an EU-funded project, over 1,000 children are now being accommodated in 13 hotels - which are operating as temporary accommodation in northern and central Greece - after having left protective custody or reception and identification centres located on the islands and the Greek mainland.



In November, over 600 asylum seekers were moved from refugee camps on Samos, Lesvos, Chios and Kos to the mainland as part of Greece's Migration Policy Ministry's ongoing operations to try and ease the burden on the packed island facilities.



Already so far in 2018, according to official figures, more than 16,000 refugees and migrants that are considered "vulnerable" - including unaccompanied minors, single-parent families, the disabled and people with mental health problems - have been included in the transfers.(ANSAmed).

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Guyana Goldfields Inc. provides exploration and production of gold. It engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, production, and operation of gold mineral properties. The company also owns and operates gold drilling rights. The company was formerly known as Chiboug Copper Company Limited and changed its name to Guyana Goldfields Inc. in January 1995. Guyana Goldfields Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. As of August 25, 2020, Guyana Goldfields Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Zijin Mining Group Company Limited.

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CAE Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and supplies simulation equipment and training solutions to defense and security markets, commercial airlines, business aircraft operators, helicopter operators, aircraft manufacturers, and healthcare education and service providers worldwide. The company's Civil Aviation Training Solutions segment provides training solutions for flight, cabin, maintenance, and ground personnel in commercial, business, and helicopter aviation; flight simulation training devices; and ab initio pilot training and crew sourcing services, as well as end to end digitally-enabled crew management, training operations solutions, and optimization software. Its Defence and Security segment offers training and mission support solutions for defense forces across multi-domain operations, and for government organizations responsible for public safety. The company's Healthcare segment provides integrated education and training solutions, including surgical and imaging simulations, curriculum, audiovisual and centre management platforms, and patient simulators to healthcare students and clinical professionals. The company was formerly known as CAE Industries Ltd. and changed its name to CAE Inc. in June 1993. CAE Inc. was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Saint-Laurent, Canada.

Read MoreVesuvius plc provides engineering services and solutions principally to steel and foundry industries worldwide. It operates in two segments, Steel and Foundry. The company offers foundry consumables and equipment, including binders, coatings, feeding systems, filtration and gating systems, melt shop refractories, metallurgical and pouring control systems, die dressings and coatings, melt treatment products, crucibles, and ceramics for the iron, steel, and nonferrous foundries. It also provides nonferrous metals, such as primary and secondary aluminum, copper, and other metals and alloys; cement and lime solutions, iron ore pelletizing and calcination products, and grains and powders; and process heaters, FCC units, hydrogen reformers, boilers, coke calciners, and thermal oxidizers, as well as sulphur, ethylene, and ammonia plants. In addition, the company offers solutions for power generation and incineration; glass products comprising artistic, display, float, hollow, and optical glass; glass tempering, and reheat and forming products; and solutions for solar multi-crystal silicon ingots, thin film and cell processing, and feedstock. Further, it provides solutions for blast furnace stack repair; taphole clay, iron and slang runner, sampler and temperature, tilting runner, and torpedo ladle solutions; iron ladle solutions; lining, taphole system, bath agitation and tuyere system, electric arc furnace and BOF maintenance, and metallurgical sensor solutions; and ladle, ladle to tundish, and tundish solutions, as well as tundish to mold solutions for conventional slab, thin and slim slab, beam blank, flow control valve bloom or billet, and calibrated nozzle billet casters. Additionally, the company offers ingot casting solutions; and reheat furnace, steel hot forming, galvanized steel, and electrical and stainless steel solutions. Vesuvius plc was founded in 1916 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read Moreinnogy SE operates as an energy company in Europe. The company operates in two divisions, Grid & Infrastructure and Retail. The Grid & Infrastructure division is involved in the operation of gas distribution network in Croatia, as well as electricity distribution network in Poland and Hungary; and water business. The Retail division sells electricity and gas. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial, and corporate customers, as well as distributors. innogy SE has a strategic partnership with Nordex. The company was formerly known as RWE International SE and changed its name to innogy SE in September 2016. innogy SE was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Essen, Germany. innogy SE is a subsidiary of E.ON Verwaltungs SE.

Read MoreiShares Gold Trust's stock reverse split on Monday, May 24th 2021. The 1-2 reverse split was announced on Wednesday, March 3rd 2021. The number of shares owned by shareholders was adjusted after the closing bell on Friday, May 21st 2021. An investor that had 100 shares of iShares Gold Trust stock prior to the reverse split would have 50 shares after the split. American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved.

326 E 8th St #105, Sioux Falls, SD 57103 | U.S. Based Support Team at contact@marketbeat.com | (844) 978-6257

MarketBeat does not provide personalized financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security.



Our Accessibility Statement | Terms of Service | Do Not Sell My Information



 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research.Lebanon: thousands in Beirut protest against cost of life Due to socio-economic difficulties

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, DECEMBER 17 - Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Beirut to protest against the rising cost of life, growing socio-economic difficulties and a political and institutional impasse.



The march was held yesterday and was organized by the Lebanese Communist party and some unions that have not sided with the main confessional parties.



The current Lebanese government is led by Saad Hariri, who is charged with forming the new executive. From elections last May until today however Hariri has not succeeded and talks are still ongoing.



The anti-Israel and pro-Iran armed party Hezbollah has a leading role in the formation of the government and in Lebanese politics. It is an ally of President Michel Aoun and of Speaker Nabih Berri, and has been trying to find an agreement with the premier for weeks. (ANSAmed)Schlumberger NV engages in the provision of technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production and processing to the oil and gas industry. It operates through the following business segments: Digital and Integration; Reservoir Performance; Well Construction; and Production Systems. The Digital and Integration segment combines the company's software and seismic businesses with its integrated offering of asset performance solutions. The Reservoir Performance segment consists of reservoir-centric technologies and services that are critical to optimizing reservoir productivity and performance. The Well Construction segment includes the full portfolio of products and services to optimize well placement and performance, maximize drilling efficiency, and improve wellbore assurance. The Production Systems segment develops technologies and provides expertise that enhances production and recovery from subsurface reservoirs to the surface, into pipelines, and to refineries. The company was founded by Conrad Schlumberger and Marcel Schlumberger in 1926 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

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..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MAXIMUS, Inc. engages in the operation of government and human services programs. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Services; U.S. Federal Services; and Outside the U.S. The U.S. Services segment offers a variety of business process services, and appeals and assessments for state, provincial and national government programs. The U.S. Federal Services segment includes process solutions, program management, as well as system and software development, and maintenance services for various United States federal civilian programs. The Outside the U.S segment comprises of national, state, and county human services agencies with a variety of business process services, and related consulting services for welfare-to-work, child support, higher education institutions, and other human services programs. The company was founded by David V. Mastran in 1975 and is headquartered in Reston, VA.

Read MoreC&J Energy Services, Inc. provides well construction, well completion, well support, and other complementary oilfield services and technologies to oil and gas exploration and production companies throughout the continental United States. It operates through Completion Services and Well Support Services segments. The Completion Services segment provides hydraulic fracturing; cased-hole solutions comprising cased-hole wireline, pumpdown, wireline logging, perforating, pressure pumping, well site make-up and pressure testing, and other complementary services; and well construction and intervention services, which include cementing, coiled tubing, rig services, fluids management, and other completion and well support services. This segment also engages in the engineering and production of various parts and components, such as perforating guns and addressable switches, which are used in the completion process. The Well Support Services segment offers rig services, such as providing workover and well servicing rigs that are primarily used for the routine repair and maintenance of oil and gas wells, re-drilling operations, and plugging and abandonment operations; fluids management services, including storage, transportation, and disposal services for fluids used in the drilling, completion, and workover of oil and gas wells; and other special well site services, such as fishing, contract labor, and tool rental services for the completion and workover of oil and gas wells. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Read More(ANSAmed) - Rome, December 18 - Marwa is 14 and lives with her family in Bazouriye, in the South Lebanon Governorate.



She arrived with her family from Damascus and now attends a local school, where she has become one of the #waterheroes: people who understand the importance of protecting water resources and reducing waste. The activities of Marwa and her classmates at school as part of days dedicated to "water heroes" are part of Water Access and Development (WAAD), an ambitious project that INTERSOS, ACTED and Action Against Hunger are implementing in both Lebanon and Jordan. Thanks to WAAD and EU funding, in Akkar, Bekaa, the North Lebanon and South Lebanon governorates, Mount Lebanon and Nabatieh, about 200,000 people will benefit from new water infrastructure and more secure access to drinking water.



They will also gain greater awareness about conservation, pollution and the dangers inherent in illegal use of public facilities. ''In the camp where I live there was very little water until a few months ago,'' Marwa said. ''But we had no choice. We need to drink. Sometimes we would get water from the gutter and try to purify it as best we could before drinking it. Many children got diarrhea. Even my younger brother did and ended up losing a lot of weight in a very short time. He was in hospital for many days before my parents brought him home.'' The awareness raising in schools is part of a project that INTERSOS - with support from the MADAD Trust Fund, which the EU set up in response to the Syrian conflict - is developing in 23 areas of Lebanon to ensure access to basic services, with a focus on water, washroom facilities and healthcare.



Almost 8 years after the conflict in Syria began, the humanitarian conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon are ever more difficult. There are officially a million but estimates say that over 1.5 million Syrians have arrived in the country since the uprising and ensuing crackdown in March 2011: almost one for every four Lebanese. In a country already suffering an unemployment crisis and deteriorating infrastructure, the arrival of so many people has had a major effect on access to services, especially water, waste water management and healthcare. ''Of all the restrictions and sacrifices that we have had to make since we were forced to leave our home, the lack of water is what has created the most problems in daily life,'' Marwa's father Hassan said. ''We almost lost our son. But at least we are safe. If we had stayed in Syria our family wouldn't be here anymore.'' (ANSAmed).Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. engages in global investment banking, securities, and investment management, which provides financial services. It operates through the following business segments: Investment Banking, Global Markets, Asset Management, and Consumer & Wealth Management. The Investment Banking segment serves public and private sector clients around the world and provides financial advisory services, help companies raise capital to strengthen and grow their businesses and provide financing to corporate clients. The Global Markets segment serves its clients who buy and sell financial products, funding and manage risk. The Asset Management segment provides investment services to help clients preserve and grow their financial assets. The Consumer & Wealth Management segment helps clients to achieve their individual financial goals by providing a wealth advisory and banking services. The company was founded by Marcus Goldman in 1869 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Read MoreThere is not enough analysis data for OPG Power Ventures.

4.9 Community Rank

Outperform Votes OPG Power Ventures has received 227 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes OPG Power Ventures has received 76 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment OPG Power Ventures has received 74.92% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about OPG Power Ventures and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe OPG will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe OPG will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

Previous

NextYemen: media, truce in Hodeidah holds, situation is calm Local media describe situation as tense but calm

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, DECEMBER 18 - The situation in the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah on the Red Sea is tense but calm following a truce that kicked off overnight between pro-Saudi loyalist forces and Houthi insurgents close to Iran, according to sources on the ground quoted by pan Arab media on Tuesday.



The agreement for a truce in Yemen was negotiated last week in Sweden and came into force at midnight.



According to Saudi pan Arab television al-Arabiya, sporadic shots were fired by insurgents in the eastern part of the city but reports cannot be independently verified on the ground.



For their part, the Houthis said that, while the situation is calm in Hodeidah, fighting is ongoing in the center and north of the country. (ANSAmed)Allergan plc, a pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, and commercializes branded pharmaceutical, device, biologic, surgical, and regenerative medicine products worldwide. The company operates in three segments: US Specialized Therapeutics, US General Medicine, and International. It offers a portfolio of products in various therapeutic areas, including medical aesthetics and dermatology, eye care, neuroscience, urology, gastrointestinal, women's health, and anti-infective therapeutic products. The company also offers breast implants and tissue expanders; and RM-131 (relamorelin), a peptide ghrelin agonist for the treatment of diabetic gastroparesis. In addition, it develops medical and cosmetic treatments; therapies for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and other liver diseases; inhibitor for the treatment of psoriasis and other autoimmune disorders; atopic dermatitis drug candidate; peri-ocular rings for extended drug delivery and reducing elevated intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients; and treatments for neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease. Further, the company develops RST-001, a novel gene therapy for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa; small molecule therapeutics for inflammatory and fibrotic diseases; topical medicines for fat reduction; and delivery system and botulinum toxin-based prescription products. It has collaboration, option, and license agreement with Lyndra, Inc.; and strategic alliance and option agreement with Editas Medicine, Inc. Allergan plc also has licensing agreements with Assembly Biosciences, Inc.; MedImmune; and Heptares Therapeutics, Ltd. The company was formerly known as Actavis plc and changed its name to Allergan plc in June 2015. Allergan plc was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Textron: AAI Corporation, AAI Services Corporation, ALSTOM Gears, Able Aerospace, Able Aerospace Services Inc., Able Engineering & Component Services, Aeronautical Accessories LLC, Airborne Tactical Advantage Company LLC, Arctic Cat, Arctic Cat ACE Holding GmbH, Arctic Cat France SARL, Arctic Cat GmbH, Arctic Cat Inc., Arctic Cat Production LLC, Arctic Cat Production Support LLC, Arctic Cat Sales Inc., Arctic Cat Shared Services LLC, Arctic Cat UK Ltd., Arkansas Aerospace Inc., Avco Corporation, Aviation Service servis letal doo Ljubljana, Aylesbury Automation, B/K Navigational Equipment sro, Beech Aircraft Corporation, Beech Holdings, Beechcraft Defense Support Holding LLC, Beechcraft Domestic Service Company, Beechcraft Germany GmbH, Beechcraft International Holding LLC, Beechcraft International Service Company, Beechcraft New Zealand, Beechcraft Service Company UK Limited, Bell Helicopter GK, Bell Helicopter KK, Bell Textron Asia (Pte.) Ltd., Bell Textron Canada International Inc., Bell Textron Canada Limited/Limitee, Bell Textron Inc., Bell Textron Korea Inc., Bell Textron Miami Inc, Bell Textron Prague a.s., Bell Textron Rhode Island Inc., Bell Textron Services Inc, Bell Textron Supply Center BV, Bell Textron Technical Services Inc., Benzlers, Brazaco Mapri Industrias, Burkland, Cessna Aircraft Company, Cessna Citation European Service Center SAS, Cessna Dusseldorf Citation Service Center GmbH, Cessna Finance Corporation, Cessna Finance Export Corporation, Cessna Mexico S de RL de CV, Cessna Spanish Citation Service Center SLU, Cessna Zurich Citation Service Center GmbH, Citation Parts Distribution International Inc., Cushman Inc., Datacom Technologies, David Brown Group, Doncaster Citation Service Centre Limited, E-Z-GO Canada Limited, Energy Manufacturing, Flexalloy, HBC LLC, Hawker Beech de Mexico S de RL de CV, Hawker Beechcraft Argentina SA, Howe & Howe Inc., Howe and Howe Technologies, Industrial Technology Inc., InteSys Technologies, International Product Support Inc., KSB Annecy SAS, Kautex (Changchun) Plastics Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Chongqing) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Guangzhou) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Pinghu) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Shanghai) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Wuhan) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex Corporation, Kautex Craiova srl, Kautex Germany Holding GmbH, Kautex Inc., Kautex Japan KK, Kautex Shanghai GmbH, Kautex Textron (UK) Limited, Kautex Textron Benelux BVBA, Kautex Textron Bohemia spol sro, Kautex Textron CVS Limited, Kautex Textron GmbH & Co. KG, Kautex Textron Iberica SL, Kautex Textron Italia Srl, Kautex Textron Management Services Company de Puebla S. de RL de CV, Kautex Textron Portugal  Produtos Plasticos Sociedade Unipessoal Lda., Kautex Textron de Mexico S de RL de CV, Kautex Textron do Brasil Ltda., Kautex of Georgia Inc., Kaywood Products Corp., Klauke, LCI Corporation International, LLC Textron RUS, Maag, McCord Corporation, Mechtronix, Medical Numerics Inc., Midland Industrial Plastics, MillenWorks, MillenWorks Themed Technologies, MotorFist LLC, OPINICUS Simulation and Training Services LLC, OmniQuip International, Opinicus, Optical Boring Co., Opto-Electronics, Opto-Electronics Inc., Overwatch Systems Ltd., PEINER Umformtechnik, Pirelli Tyres - General Rubber Goods (GRG) division, Premiair Aviation Maintenance Pty Ltd, Progressive Electronics, Ransomes, Ransomes Inc., Ransomes Investment LLC, Ransomes Jacobsen France SAS, Ransomes Jacobsen Limited, Ransomes Limited, Ransomes Pensions Trustee Company Limited, Replacement Part Solutions LLC, Response Technologies LLC, Rotor Blades Limited, Sukosim Verbindungselemente, TRU Simulation & Training Spain SL, TRU Simulation + Training Inc., TRU Simulation + Training LLC, TekGPS Engineering Srl, Textron Airland LLC, Textron Atlantic LLC, Textron Aviation Australia Pty. Ltd., Textron Aviation Canada Ltd., Textron Aviation Defense LLC, Textron Aviation Finance Corporation, Textron Aviation Inc., Textron Aviation Prague Service Center sro, Textron Aviation Rhode Island Inc., Textron Aviation Services de Mexico S de RL de CV, Textron Capital BV, Textron Communications Inc., Textron Far East Pte. Ltd., Textron Finance Holding Company, Textron Financial Corporation, Textron Financial Corporation Receivables Trust 2002-CP-2, Textron Fluid and Power Inc., Textron France Holding SAS, Textron France SAS, Textron Global Services Inc., Textron Ground Support Equipment Inc., Textron Ground Support Equipment UK Limited, Textron IPMP Inc., Textron India Private Limited, Textron Innovations Inc., Textron International Inc., Textron International Mexico S de RL de CV, Textron Limited, Textron Management Services Inc., Textron Motors GmbH, Textron Motors North America Inc., Textron Outdoor Power Equipment Inc., Textron Realty Corporation, Textron Shared Service Centre (Canada) Inc., Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc., Textron Sweden AB, Textron Systems Australia Holding Pty Ltd, Textron Systems Australia Pty Ltd, Textron Systems Canada Inc., Textron Systems Corporation, Textron Systems Electronic Systems UK (Holdings) Limited, Textron Systems Electronic Systems UK Limited, Textron Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Textron UK Pension Trustee Limited, Textron Verwaltungs-GmbH, Turbine Engine Components Textron (Newington Operations) Inc., United Industrial Corporation, Westminster Insurance Company, Williams Machine & Tool, Wuxi Textron Specialized Vehicles Co. Ltd., and Zhenjiang Bell Textron Aviation Services Limited.Syria:Turkey-Russia-Iran ministers in Geneva with de Mistura Talks focus on constitutional committee

(ANSAmed) - GENEVA, DECEMBER 18 - The foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey on Tuesday morning arrived at the headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva to attend a meeting with UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, whose mandate is about to end. They did not speak to reporters prior to the meeting.



On the agenda of talks is the creation of a 150-member constitutional committee charged with giving Syria a new Constitution as part of efforts for a political solution to the conflict. (ANSAmed)Will be based on the same rugged B0 platform as before.

Will get more features including DRLs and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Will carry forward the same set of 1.5-litre petrol and diesel engines.

Expect better fit and finish levels, especially on the inside, compared to the outgoing model.

Prices range is expected be similar to the outgoing model, which retails for Rs 7.99 lakh - Rs 12.79 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Renault revealed the second-gen Duster in late 2017 and the new compact SUV has long been anticipated in India. The carmaker is now expected to launch the second-gen compact SUV around mid-2019 in the country. Heres a complete lowdown on what all is expected from the new Duster thats headed to our shores.

Exterior

The second-gen Duster is underpinned by the same B0 platform as the first-gen model. It is also shared with SUVs like the Renault Captur and Nissan Kicks.

The new model looks unmistakably Duster. Key design traits such as a broad and bold front fascia, voluminous haunches and a raised-up stance, which made the first-gen model an instant hit globally, have been retained.

While the essence of the previous model is hard to miss, look closely and subtle yet noticeable differences come to the fore.

The headlights have now been pushed towards the ends and have a sleeker layout. Daytime running LEDs have been integrated into the main lamps. The bonnet is now more sculpted and is also recessed at the centre.

The Duster now rides on 17-inch wheels compared to 16-inchers offered before. Renault said that it has pushed the windscreen further by as much as 100mm compared to the previous model. This has resulted in a steeper A-pillar which should make the cabin feel relatively spacious and airy. The front fender cladding, which has the 4WD label, is an attention magnet.

The most significant change at the rear is the new Jeep Renegade-inspired square LED tail lamps, which certainly look better than the ones before. Besides this, the windscreen is now slimmer and wider in profile. The license plate area and applique have also been widened.

Interior

Unlike its exterior, the new Dusters cabin has been completely redesigned. The central console is slightly tilted towards the driver and the infotainment system now sits higher, thanks to which it should be easier for the driver to use

The Duster will come with the new MediaNav 4 7-inch infotainment system, which supports the much-needed Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity. The new system looks similar to the existing unit, but features a smartphone-like capacitive touchscreen as well as a faster processor.

Theres a 360-degree camera support with the help of four cameras (front, rear and sides), like on the new Nissan Kicks (pictured below).

Check out: India-spec Nissan Kicks: First Drive Review

The steering wheel is brand new and looks comparatively premium, but isnt as chunky as the previous model. The instrument cluster is new as well, but is simple and features a clean layout as before. The seats are completely redesigned, as per the carmaker.

The climate control unit is digital and features an embedded display in the rotary dials like the new Maruti Suzuki Swift. There are large octagonal AC vents and the India-spec SUV should feature rear AC vents too. There are also aircraft-inspired buttons right above the climate control unit. The engine start/stop button is placed beside the steering wheel.

Mechanicals

The Duster should carry forward the same set of 1.5-litre petrol and diesel engines. The petrol motor is expected to be offered with the CVT as before, while the diesel is likely to continue with the AMT.

Duster Petrol Diesel Engine 1.5-litre 1.5-litre Power 106PS 85PS/ 110PS Torque 142Nm 200Nm/ 245Nm Transmission 5-speed MT/ CVT 5-speed MT/ 6-speed MT/AMT

It is unlikely to feature an AWD system this time around due to the minuscule demand. With the first-gen model, Renault was exporting the Duster to Europe so the production of the AWD model was justified due to economies of scale. But now, the production of the Euro-spec model has been shifted to Romania.

Come 2020, Renault is expected to introduce the updated 1.5-litre diesel, the Blue dCi. It is not only more powerful, but cleaner as well and will conform to the BSVI emission norms which will be implemented from April 2020. As far as the petrol option is concerned, theres no clarity about the introduction of the new 1.3-litre turbocharged engine, which has been co-developed with Daimler.

Prices

Renault had reduced the prices of the Duster earlier this year to make room for the relatively premium Captur. The Duster is currently priced from Rs 7.99 lakh to Rs 12.79 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and the second-gen SUV is expected to be priced in the same vicinity. With this pricing, the new Duster would go up against the Maruti Suzuki S-Cross along with other sub-4m SUVs like the EcoSport, and lower variants of the Hyundai Creta.

Check out: Renault Captur Petrol Review

Disclaimer: This article has not been edited by Deccan Chronicle and is taken from a syndicated feed. Photos: CarDekho.New Delhi: Demonetisation slowed down Indias economic growth at a time when the world economy was growing and it impacted the GDP significantly, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said.

Rajan said he has seen studies which reaffirm that banning of high value currency notes in late 2016 impacted Indias growth significantly.

I think the net impression is that it (demonetisation) had a significant effect on our growth. And now, I have seen studies which reaffirm that. It has slowed down (our growth).

...The world (economy) was growing faster in 2017, we slowed down, Rajan told a news channel.

The growth was not only impacted due to demonetisation but also because of implementation of goods and services tax (GST), he said. In 2017-18, the Indian economy grew by 6.7 per cent.

That was the twin blow of demonetisation and GST (that impacted Indias growth). And before anybody accuses (me) of being anti-GST, its a good idea in the longer run, but it has short term teething effect, Rajan noted.

When asked if he was asked to implement demonetisation during his tenure as the RBI governor, Rajan said he was asked for his opinion on banning high value currency notes from the system, which he thought was a bad idea.

Prime minister Narendra Modi in a televised interview on November 8, 2016 had announced to ban the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes from the system aimed at curbing black money, fake currency and terror funding, among others.

Rajan headed the Reserve bank for three years - from September 2013 to September 2016.

Expressing his views further on the GST, the former RBI governor said that the reformist tax system could have been implemented in a much better manner.

On whether GST should have one rate rather than five different slabs, he said it is a matter of debate.

In my view, which is an alternative view, once you do it, you find out the problem then you start fixing it one by one. So, this (teething problem) was inevitable, Rajan said.

On fraudsters list, Rajan said that it (report) had a list of the largest frauds.

Im unaware of where those cases stand....The reason Im worried is if one gets away with immunity then others may follow, he said on the list of fraud cases he had flagged to the prime ministers office.

He also said that a defaulter is different from a fraudster. If you start putting defaulters in jail then nobody will take any risk, Rajan added.

In September this year, Rajan in a note to parliamentary panel had said that a list of high profile case related to banking frauds was sent by him to the PMO for a coordinated action.

In the note to chairman of estimates committee Murli Manohar Joshi, Rajan had said that the size of frauds in the public sector banking system has been increasing, though still small relative to the overall volume of NPAs.Mumbai: While working together for Tamil version of English Vinglish, where Ajith made a special appearance, Sridevi had expressed her desire that Ajith stars in a Tamil Film made by her husband Boney Kapoor. Now to keep that promise and fulfill her wish, Ajith is playing the lead in Tamil film AK 59 that is a remake of Hindi film Pink and is being produced by Boney Kapoor. Not only this, he has also given his nod for another film made under Boney Kapoors banner Bayview Projects LLP. Sridevi had liked Pink when she saw it and the Tamil remake is a step to take her legacy forward in Tamil Film Industry.

Producer Boney Kapoor said, While working together with Ajith for English Vinglish, Sridevi had expressed her desire that Ajith does a Tamil film for our home production. Nothing exciting came up till one day last year, Ajith suggested remaking Pink in Tamil. She immediately agreed with him as she thought it was most appropriate and timely film to make and Ajith would bring all the elements required to make it into a great Tamil film.

I am extremely happy about embarking on my production venture in South Industry, particularly in Tamil that has always been a special zone for me. In fact, its been a long journey involving both Ajith and me to collaborate for a film, which he took up as a sheer commitment from the time he shared screen space with my wife Sridevi in 'English Vinglish', he further adds.

Talking more about remaking Pink, the producer said, Accordingly, what we both earnestly looked up was a suitable content that will add a special mileage to our respective works. We are now delighted to have zeroed in the official remake of Pink. We have started the shoot and looking at releasing it on 1st of May 2019. We are subsequently doing another film together and that will be scheduled for a start on July 2019 and to be released on the 10th of April 2020. Both the films are supported by Zee. I am looking forward to a much more enjoyable and great experience working with him.

Sridevi who did many films in Tamil, went on to become a successful name not only in south but also in Hindi Film Industry. Interestingly, for Boney who has been producing Hindi films and has several blockbusters to his credit, this is like life coming to a full circle with him making a Tamil Film from where it all started for his late wife and legendary actress.

AK 59 will be helmed by director H. Vinoth, whose last film Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru was a big success and many acclaimed technicians have come on board to be part of the film. I have been following the works of Mr. Vinoth, who owns an impeccable cult of filmmaking. Especially, his previous release Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru had amazed me incredibly for its raw and realistic treatment. The way he chooses unique story premises and transfuses them with engrossing narration assured me that he will be the right person to materialize Pink in Tamil, Boney Kapoor concludes.The couple decided to try an injectable hormone, Gonal-F, an option when ovaries can produce a follicle - small sacs which contain immature eggs. (Representational Images)

A couple who were told they would struggle to have children went on to have twins and triplets within the space of two years.

The couple, 29-year-old Nadia, and Robbie Sherwin, 32 from Dallas, found themselves unable to conceive for a year after they married in 2012.

Doctors found Nadia had polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and 37 cysts in her ovaries, making it difficult for her to become pregnant.

But with the use of an injectable hormone, she conceived within a month twice, leaving medics 'dumbfounded'.

The couple began trying for a baby straight after marriage. But doctors were concerned when they weren't successful, considering they were both young, fit and healthy.

It turned out that Nadia had polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), which affects between eight and 12 per cent of US women, and one in ten women in the UK.

Nadia was given oral Femara and Clomid medication by her doctors to try and stimulate ovulation.

After 11 months, the medication hadn't worked and she was left feeling very sick because of the side effects.

Determined, the couple decided to try an injectable hormone, Gonal-F, an option when ovaries can produce a follicle - small sacs which contain immature eggs - but hormonal stimulation is not sufficient to make the follicle mature.

The couple were thrilled to learn that her body responded well and Nadia became pregnant within a month.

The couple were overjoyed to hear they were expecting twins.

Amari and Keona (now three), were born via C-section in January 2015, weighing 5lb 2oz and 4lb 3oz, respectively.

After Amari and Keona were born, the couple decided to try for another child.

They decided to take the lowest dose possible of the injectable hormone, with the goal of having just one more baby.

They were shocked to discover Nadia was pregnant within a month, with three babies.

Doctors offered the couple the option of selective reduction for Mrs Sherwin's safety during the pregnancy. There is a greater risk of miscarriage or abortion in women having fertility treatment.

The couple declined, believing that they were destined to bring three more healthy children into the world.

Mila, Colette and Noah were born at 35-weeks in April 2017, weighing almost 5lbs each.The police seized Rs 5 lakh cash, three two-wheelers, a screwdriver and nails that were used to deflate the tyres of victims vehicles.

Bengaluru: The South division police arrested five members of Oji Kuppam gang and solved 19 cases of attention diversion in the city.

The accused have been identified as Praveen, 27, Ramesh, 34, Raju alias Jeevan, 21, Karthik alias Kanthi, 29, and Ankaiah, 19. The police seized Rs 5 lakh cash, three two-wheelers, a screwdriver and nails that were used to deflate the tyres of victims vehicles.

The gang diverted the attention of the victims by saying there was a petrol leak and deflate the tyres before looting them. The gang came to the city once a month and stayed in lodges on the outskirts. They visited banks, kept a watch on those withdrawing large amounts of money and alerted their gang members outside the banks. The gang then followed the victims and loot them by diverting their attention either by spraying some itchy powder or by deflating their vehicle tyres.Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to make Bommanahalli zone pothole free by December 20.

In its submission on Monday, the Palike said that the Mahadevapura job is done and the roads in the area are motorable. It also submitted that it is working to ensure that Bengaluru will celebrate a Merry Christmas minus potholes.

Meanwhile, the court pulled up the BBMP for submitting measurement books without being evaluated and signed by the concerned BBMP chief engineers as directed by the court during the last hearing. The BBMP stated that it will submit the books accordingly.

On water leaks damaging roads, a BWSSB advocate submitted that in some areas, the pipelines are old and vulnerable to leakage due to heavy traffic. The BWSSB is immediately attending to leakages as soon as they come to know about it and whatever the leakages were indicated by the BBMP had been attended to. He further said that 99 per cent of uneven levels of manhole covers on roads has been attended to.

The court asked the BWSSB to file a detailed affidavit on the status and further steps to be taken. The court adjourned the case to December 20.

POLICE WARNED OF ACTION

The High Court on Monday warned of severe action against police officers for their unnecessary interference in real estate and civil disputes.

The court was hearing a case in which MLC Narayanaswamy has been shown as an absconder in a chargesheet. The Sanjay Nagar police had registered a case against the MLC, for protesting during re-polling in the Assembly election. The MLC had approached the court challenging the case.

The court had summoned the investigating officer and Bengaluru North Division DCP Chetan Singh Rathore was present before the court on Monday. State Public Prosecutor Chandramouli, who argued for the police officer, submitted that the MLC was not shown as an absconder but only as not being arrested. The CMO of a lower court mentioned the accused as absconding and a non-bailable warrant was issued against the accused, the SPP argued.

The court warned the senior police officer that it will pass orders if the police don't stop interfering in financial and civil disputes unnecessarily.

The court also quashed the non-bailable warrant issued against the MLC.Fire broke out at ESIC Kamgar hospital at Marol in suburban Mumbai on Monday. (Photo: PTI)

Mumbai: A 6-month-old baby was among 8 killed after massive fire broke out at ESIC Kamgar hospital at Marol in suburban Mumbai on Monday, the police said.

Six people were killed on Monday and two died on Tuesday morning, taking the toll of dead to 8, news agency ANI reported.

"Altogether 176 persons, including three firemen, are now being treated in city hospitals," an official from Disaster Management Unit of BMC said.

Among the admitted, over 25 are critical while 26 have been discharged after primary treatment, he added.

(Photo: Mrugesh Bandiwadekar)

The fire brigade received a call around 4 pm about the blaze at the government-run hospital, an official from the city civic body's disaster management cell said following which 10 fire engines were rushed to the spot to bring the blaze under control and evacuate the patients.

16 ambulances were also rushed to the spot for immediate assistance.

The patients were shifted to civic-run Cooper Hospital at Vile Parle, Seven Hills, Hindu Hruday Samrat Balasaheb Thackerey Hospital, Jogeshwari and Holy Spirit Hospital.

(Photo: Mrugesh Bandiwadekar)

"The cause of the fire is not known yet. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) is responsible for the fire audits, whether they carried out fire audits or not, that will be investigated," Mumbai Mayor V Mahadeshwar told news agency ANI.

However, 15 days prior to the mishap the hospital had failed the safety test. The firemen too had found the security system to be inadequate.

Fire Officer of MIDC, MV Ogale said that the hospital did not obtain a final No Objection Certificate (NOC).

"They (hospital authorities) have applied for the final NOC but compliances were not in line with the provisions of the act and hence they have not been given final NOC by us. Our building proposal department has also not given final occupation certificate," Ogale told media on Monday.

Panic struck the hospital soon after the fire broke out.

A woman identified as Manisha jumped from the third floor to escape from the flames. She landed on the second floor and fractured her right leg. She has been treated in ICU at Cooper Hospital and is recuperating.

(Photo: Mrugesh Bandiwadekar)

A minor, Sushmita Ashok Sutar (15), from Boisar was searching for her sister Anusha (24) at Cooper Hospital. Talking to Deccan Chronicle she said, I was lost and couldnt see anything due to the dense smoke. I was trapped and I was about to jump but someone held me back and got me here. I am unable to find my family.

Dr Shmruti Khetala, head of Cooper Hospitals medicine unit, where the patients have been admitted, said, Most patients are suffering from breathing illnesses since they are suffering from smoke inhalation. All other patients are out of danger and are recuperating.

While the exact cause of the blaze was being ascertained, the preliminary report said that building material, kept at the ground floor of the hospital for renovation work caught fire, the Ministry of Labour and Employment and Director General said in the statement.BJP legislators stage a dharna in the well of the Council during winter session at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi on Monday (Photo: DC)

Belagavi: Proceedings of the Legislative Council were held up for an hour on Monday as the BJP staged a protest in the well of the House demanding a probe by a Joint House Committee into irregularities in sinking of borewells under the Ganga Kalyana scheme by the Social Welfare Department.

Although the government said a departmental inquiry had already been conducted, the BJP members refused to relent and the House was adjourned for half- an- hour.

The issue was raised during question hour by Mr M K Pranesh of the BJP, who contended that the irregularities had taken place in all districts of the state. In some taluks, 150 to 180 borewells had been sanctioned and bills cleared without sinking any, he charged. Joining in, opposition leader , Srinivas Poojari, urged the Chairman to allow a half- an- hour debate on the issue, but when he did not allow it, the BJP members demanded a Joint House Committee probe.

Responding, Social Welfare Minister, Priyank Kharge admitted the government was aware of the scam in Kolar, Chikkaballapura and Mysuru and a departmental inquiry had been conducted in all three districts.

In Chikkaballapura, increments of three officials had been withheld and allegations against two officials from Kolar had been proved. An explanation had been sought from one more officer. In Mysuru district, one officer, S Rajesh, had been dismissed from service after the charges against him were proved, he added. But sticking to their guns on a Joint House Committee probe, all BJP MLCs stormed into the well of the House in protest and were pacified only after Chairman Pratapchandra Shetty agreed to allow a half- an- hour debate on the issue on Wednesday.Hassan: They were beaten with sticks and forced to live in confinement with no contact with the outside world, but the ordeal of the 52 bonded labourers, who included women and children, at a coconut plantation in Savanakanahalli, Dudda hobli, Hassan taluk, ended Sunday night after a team led by Hassan SP Dr Prakash Gowda rescued them and arrested two men.

Some of those rescued had been forced to work as bonded labourers for around two years, while others had been ferried more recently from different parts of the state.

One of the bonded labourers from Arasikere managed to escape and inform the family of another man, Krishnappa, also held as a bonded labourer in Savanakanahalli, of his predicament.

Krishnappas family met the police, which swung into action and raided the coconut plantation to rescue the labourers. Mr Prakash Gowda told Deccan Chronicle that the labourers were tortured and were given food, but no pay.

Those who resisted the confinement were tortured and were beaten with sticks. Their employers let them work elsewhere too on the basis of contracts , besides forcing them to work in their own fields, he explained. Only the bonded labourers, who were weak and sick were set free, according to him. One child rescued said that they were beaten up by men using sticks, who made them kneel in punishment and a woman said they were allowed to do nothing but work all day.

Mr Gowda said the rescued workers would be set free on Tuesday by the district administration and would receive neccessary help from the state government.It was an emotional reunion for Hamid Nihal Ansari family at the Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday, whose long struggle ended and eventually their efforts bore fruit. (Photo: ANI)

Mumbai: After spending six years in Pakistan jail on espionage charges, Mumbai man Hamid Nihal Ansari reached India on Tuesday, crossing the Attari-Wagah border.

Ansari's father Nihal and mother Fauzia and his other family members were present at the border to welcome him.

It was an emotional reunion for the Ansari family at the Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday, whose long struggle ended and eventually their efforts bore fruit.

#WATCH: Indian national Hamid Ansari crosses the Attari-Wagah border to reach India. He was lodged in a jail in Pakistan and was released today. pic.twitter.com/FYJAlAZGac  ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2018

Ansari's mother called her son's release "a victory of humanity" and said that he had no "bad intentions".

"My son went with noble intentions. Hamid had no bad intentions, but initially went missing and was later caught and framed. He shouldn't have gone without a visa. His release is a victory for humanity," Hamid's mother told ANI on Monday.

(Photo: ANI)

According to media report, 33-year-old Ansari was imprisoned for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card. He was lodged in the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by the military court on December 15, 2015.

Ansaris three-year jail term ended on December 15, 2018, but he was unable to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.

(Photo: ANI)

On Thursday, the Peshawar High Court gave the federal government a month deadline to complete his repatriation process.

The Indian national was released from Mardan jail on Tuesday and was shifted to Islamabad for his onward journey to India, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

On Monday, the External Affairs Ministry said that it has received a note from Pakistan that they would be releasing Ansari on Tuesday. "It is a matter of great relief, especially for the family members, that six years of incarceration of the Indian civilian in Pakistan jail is coming to an end," Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

"We would like Pakistan to take action to also end misery of other Indian nationals and fishermen whose nationality has been confirmed and who have completed their sentences, but continue to languish in Pakistan jails."

Ansari went missing after he was taken into custody by Pakistani intelligence agencies and local police in Kohat in 2012 and finally in reply to a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother, Fauzia Ansari, the high court was informed that he was in custody of the Pakistan Army and was being tried by a military court.

A former teacher at the Mumbai Management College, Ansari went to Pakistan in 2012 to meet a woman whom he had befriended through social media.

His mother filed a habeas corpus petition in Delhi High Court, following which the news about his arrest became public.Hamid Nihal Ansari, a 33-year-old Mumbai resident, was lodged in the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by the military court on December 15, 2015. (Photo: File | Twitter)

Islamabad/New Delhi: Indian national Hamid Nihal Ansari was on Tuesday released from a Pakistani jail to be repatriated to India, six years after he was detained by the country's intelligence agencies and subsequently sentenced to three years' imprisonment for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card, according to a media report.

Ansari, a 33-year-old Mumbai resident, was lodged in the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by the military court on December 15, 2015. His three-year jail term ended on December 15, 2018, but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.

On Thursday, the Peshawar High Court gave the federal government a month deadline to complete his repatriation process.

The Indian national was released from Mardan jail on Tuesday and was shifted to Islamabad for his onward journey to India, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

Ansari went missing after he was taken into custody by Pakistani intelligence agencies and local police in Kohat in 2012 and finally in reply to a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother, Fauzia Ansari, the high court was informed that he was in custody of the Pakistan Army and was being tried by a military court.

He entered Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.Hyderabad: Chief Secretary Dr S.K. Joshi issued orders to officials to start preparations for President Ram Nath Kovinds winter sojourn at Rashtrapati Nilayam, Bolaram. The Presidents visit was officially scheduled from December 21 to 24.

The President will visit Karimnagar on December 22 to attend a function at Prathima Medical College. On December 23, the President has scheduled an At-Home with officials at Rashtrapati Nilayam. He will leave for Delhi on December 24.

Mr Joshi conducted a high level meeting at the Secretariat in connection with the visit and issued orders to all departments concerned to start work.

Many state departments work in coordinaton for the Presidents visit. The heads of police transport and medical departments, officials of the Begumpet airport, Secunderabad Cantonment and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation were given instructions on how the preparations should be done.

Strong bandobast will be in place in the areas on the Presidents travel itenarary and traffic diversions will be suggested by the traffic department. The GHMC was instructed to be on its toes and take up road repair and sanitation works in the VVIP area.

The electricity department will be providing uninterrupted power supply, according to official information.Mehbooba Mufti said her party will 'join hands' with any political party that will support the 'resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue.' (Photo: File | ANI)

New Delhi: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Monday that it was the "best time" for India to hold talks with Pakistan as the neighbouring country's new Prime Minister, Imran Khan, is being touted as a "proxy" their army.

If initiated now, she said, the talks between the two neighbours at this time could prove "beneficial".

"If Imran (Khan) is a proxy of Pakistan's army then this is the best time to talk. When Imran Khan says he is ready to talk, to open corridors, then I think army is also on the same page...," Mufti said at the 'Agenda Aaj Tak' event in Delhi.

She said the "best bargain" for India, vis-a-vis the Kashmir issue, was during the time when Pervez Musharraf was the President of Pakistan as during that time ceasefire was initiated at the border and the Muzaffarabad route was opened up.

"The talks could be beneficial now....why should we not talk?" she asked.

Mufti also said her party will "join hands" with any political party that will support the "resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue."

"If we can join hands with the BJP, we can do so with anyone for resolution of the J&K issue," she said.

Mufti said her Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) going with the BJP, during the last political regime in the state, was "suicidal" and that she was "disappointed" that this experiment to begin the political process in the state did not work.

Asked if she had any lessons to learn, Mufti replied in the negative.

"They (the BJP) didn't teach me any lesson. I stood my ground...(in taking decisions). We experimented (through the PDP-BJP alliance) for the people of Kashmir, but that did not work," she said.

She said there was a huge difference between former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's regime and the current one under PM Narendra Modi.

"(Atal Bihari) Vajpayee was spontaneous and down to earth...he never looked back or over his shoulder. He was a statesman. Today's NDA is more focussed in winning elections," Mufti claimed.

"Thank God, they have not given voting rights to cows," she said in an apparent dig on the BJP.'It took our state government hours to waive loans of farmers, Opposition will force (PM) Narendra Modi government to waive farm loans,' Congress president Rahul Gandhi said. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said, "We will not let Prime Minister Narendra Modi sleep until loans of all farmers are waived."

The Congress chief said that the Opposition will force Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre to waive farm loans.

It took our state government hours to waive loans of farmers, Opposition will force (PM) Narendra Modi government to waive farm loans, he told the media outside Parliament.

Rahul Gandhi assured farmers of the country that their welfare will be looked after.

Hours after the swearing-in as Chief ministers, Congress leader Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh and his Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel waived off farm loans, one of the promises made by Rahul Gandhi-led Congress ahead of the state assembly elections.

Intensifying his attack on PM Modi, the Congress chief said: Modi government waives loans of only rich people. Money of farmers and small shopkeepers is being stolen by government.

"JPC, Rafale deal, farm loan waivers, demonetisation, typo errors will soon emerge in everything. People have been lied to, farmers and small traders are being looted. Demonetisation is the biggest scam in the world," Rahul Gandhi said.

Also Read: Correct misrepresentation of CAG, PAC in Rafale verdict: Govt requests SC

The Congress president however, refuted to comment on conviction of Sajjan Kumar in 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He said, " I have made my position on the riots very clear, and I have said this before. This press conference is about the farmers of the country and that (PM) Modi refuses to waive off even 1 rupee of loan."

On Monday, the Delhi High Court convicted Kumar for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and sentenced him to imprisonment for life.Hyderabad: MIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi is all set to propose amendments to the revised Triple Talaq Bill which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday to replace an ordinance issued in September.

At the time of debate on the revised The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018 in Lok Sabha, Mr Owaisi may get a chance to express his views on the Bill and he will leave no stone un-turned to pinpoint the legal flaws its essential components.

Mr Owaisi, who himself is a barrister, has already discussed the provisions of the Ordinance with experts on the Constitution and laws, Islamic theologians and key members of the All India Muslim Law Board.

Mr Owaisi tweeted about his intention to put his views and proposals for amendments in the proposed Bill. In his tweet, he criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and stated Continuing his longstanding tradition of terrible lawmaking, Modi has introduced a revised Triple Talaq Bill that is discriminatory and anti-women. Continuing my longstanding tradition of opposing unjust laws, Ill be proposing amendments to ensure deserted spouses are protected (sic).

In another tweet commenting on the video of BJP MLA Uday Bhan Singh threatening a woman SDM of Agra, Owaisi took a dig at Prime Minister Modi saying that he was so keen on saving Muslim women while his MLA openly threatens a woman public servant and incites mob violence.

Mr Owaisi is concerned over criminalising the act of pronouncing the Triple Talaq instantly and the aftermath for women whose husbands would have been sent to prison. His contention is that when the Triple Talaq has been declared null and void by the Apex Court, then how can we separate the couple by sending the husband to jail.

According to him, in Islam, marriage is a civil contract and bringing penal provisions in it is wrong. He may propose for creation of a special fund for the welfare of women whose husbands are undergoing imprisonment. There are also chances that he may raise the issue of abandoned Hindu Women during the debate on Triple Talaq in the Lok Sabha.Chennai: The Madras high court has quashed the criminal defamation proceedings against Super Star Rajinikanth, pending before the VII Metropolitan Magistrate, George Town.

Justice N.Anand Venkatesh allowed the petition filed by Shivaji Rao Gaikwad alias Rajinikanth, which sought to call for the records pertaining to taking of cognizance of the private complaint lodged by film financier S. Mukunchand Bothra on the file of VII Metropolitan Magistrate and quash the same.

The judge said in the present case, Rajinikanth had made the averments against Bothra, since he wanted to project the previous conduct/character of Bothra which he thought was essential and relevant for the purpose of deciding the petition filed for rejection of the suit filed by Bothra. A reading of the entire affidavit shows that the petitioner wanted to establish the fact that the entire suit was intended to malign and defame the petitioner, who had no dealings whatsoever with Bothra at any time. In a money dealing with Bothra, one Kasthuri Raja seems to have used the name of the petitioner for borrowing money from Bothra and that was the only cause of action for filing the suit by Bothra against the petitioner (Rajinikanth), the judge added.

Extracting the findings of the court while allowing the petition filed by the petitioner for rejection of plaint filed by Bothra while dismissing the suit, the judge said the findings makes it very clear that the averment made by the petitioner in the affidavit filed in support of the rejection of the plaint, had a major bearing while deciding the petition. It was also clear that the averment was not unconnected or unwarranted for deciding the issue involved in the petition.

This court has gone to the extent of finding that the entire suit was a speculative one, the judge added.

The judge said, This court is of the considered view that the averment made in the affidavit by the petitioner is not per se defamatory, and the same was made as a necessary averment in order to project the conduct/character of the respondent (Bothra). The same

has been sanctified by the final orders passed by this court. Therefore, the continuation of the criminal complaint against the petitioner will amount to an abuse of process of court, and the same requires the interference of this court.Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Naths recent comment that migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were grabbing jobs in the state depriving youths of MP employment has stirred a row with BJP accusing him of promoting

regionalism for electoral gains.

Soon after assuming office on Monday, Mr Nath had said, Many industries have come up in MP, in which people from other states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have been given employment, depriving youth of MP to get jobs. Industries which absorb 70 per cent of their manpower from MP will only be eligible for the incentives proposed for them by the state government.

He however had clarified that he was not against migrants getting jobs in the state.

Congress in its election manifesto has declared to provide incentive of salary grants for five years to the industries which would generate employment in the state.

BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijavargiya on Tuesday accused Mr Nath of promoting regionalism for electoral gains by speaking against the migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Congress spokesman however defended the chief minister saying that Mr Nath, as head of the state, was justified to work in the interest of unemployed youths of the state.New Delhi: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament will take up the Rafale deal issue on suo motu basis for discussion, which would pave the way for it to summon either the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) or the Attorney General (AG) to seek details on the controversial matter, overriding reservations from several members of the panel.

Sources privy to details said that the chairman of the PAC is well within his or her right to select any agenda for discussion before the committee on suo moto basis.

Therefore Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge, who heads the high-level panel, could soon select the Rafale issue as part of the agenda for the committees meeting.

Once summoned, the panel could seek details from these officials on the report of the CAG on Rafale deal, which is yet to be laid before Parliament.

They further informed that irrespective of the fact whether the CAG report related to the controversial Rafale deal has been laid before the Parliament or not, once the PAC chairman suo moto decides to take up the matter for discussion, the CAG and the AG can be summoned before the panel.

After Mr Kharge had said on December 15 that he will request all members of the PAC to summon the AG and the CAG to question them over the public auditors report on the Rafale deal, several MPs, mainly from the BJP, had expressed their reservation over the proposal.

However some other non-BJP members of the PAC had said that the chairman could not summon the officials before the panel as the Rafale deal issue was not part of its agenda, and also because the CAG report on Rafale deal had not been presented in the Parliament.

But as the PAC chairman can suo moto choose any subject to be part of the committees agenda, the objections by various members will not stand, sources privy to procedures said.

In the 22-member PAC, the BJP is in majority with 12 MPs and there is one member each of its allies, Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).Hyderabad: The first metropolitan sessions court sentenced gangster Bhanu Kiran to life imprisonment on Tuesday. Bhanu Kiran was the prime accused in the sensational murder of Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy alias Maddelacheruvvu Suri, faction leader from Rayalseema, Andhra Pradesh. Suri was accused of killing the late Telugu Desam MLA Paritala Ravi.

Another prime accused, Manmohan Singh Bhaduria, a close aide of Bhanu, was however released from the jail as he has already served seven years. On Tuesday he was sentenced to five years imprisonment.

The sentence came seven years after the murder of Suri in Sanath Nagar. Bhanu Kiran was convicted under Section 302 of the IPC and the Arms Act, His aide Manmohan, a native of Uttar Pradesh and owner of the 0.32 revolver that was used to kill Suri, was convicted for conspiracy under Sections 212, 201 of the IPC and sentenced to imprisonment of five plus five years, the terms to run concurrently.

Four other accused in the case, namely Sulam Subbaiah, Boya Venkata Hari Babu, Avula Venkata Ramana and K. Vamsidhar Reddy, were acquitted.

On Tuesday, Bhanu Kiran and Manmohan Reddy were brought to the criminal court, Nampally, hours ahead of time. The duo was given an eight-tier security cover. No one from Bhanus family or that of his victim Suri was present in the sessions court.

Before pronouncing the judgement in a packed courtroom, the sessions judge told Bhanu Kiran that all the evidence on cross-examination by the CID proved him guilty. Bhanu Kiran showed no emotion when he was sentenced. He had called it a false case. But he pleaded with the judge to consider that his aged mother was sick and solely dependent on him.

Bhanu Kirans counsel said that they will appeal before the High Court.

Bloody background

Maddelacheruvvu Suri met Bhanu Kiran when Suri was serving life imprisonment for the Jubilee Hills blast case. Bhanu became his close confidant and ran the show from the outside. However, after a while, Bhanu began to extort money, threaten people and carried out an independent land settlement in the name of Suri. On knowing this, Suri abused Bhanu and threatened to kill him. Bhanu, who felt threatened, planned the murder of Suri with Manmohan Singh.

On January 3, 2011, when Suri came out of jail on remission, Bhanu accompanied him to meet a lawyer with regard to the killing of Telugu Desam MLA Paritala Ravi. The hearing was underway in the Anathapur district court, and Suri was an accused in the case. The duo met the lawyer at Sai Satya Complex and then headed to Banjara hills to meet one Padma, a relative of Suri, in a borrowed Skoda car.

Suri was seated next to the driver Madan Mohan Reddy, and Bhanu Kiran was in the back seat. While passing Navodhaya colony, Sanath Nagar, two bullets were fired from a 0.32 revolver into the back of Suris head. Bhanu began to shout, Attack, Attack! and jumped out of the car.

Following the car on two bikes were the four who were acquitted on Tuesday  Sulam Subbaiah, Boya Venkata Hari Babu, Avula Venkata Ramana and K. Vamsidhar. Bhanu Kiran, wearing a helmet, jumped onto the bike between Subbaiah and Hari Babu and fled towards Kukatpally where he and Manmohan Singh were picked up by one Loknath Reddy, who wasnt involved in the killing, in a Scorpio car.

While on the run, Bhanu Kiran received a call from the driver of the Skoda car, Madan Mohan Reddy. Bhanu Kiran told him not to call him. He then threw out two used bullet cartridges and the helmet at Pantancheru and the trio fled to Sholapur, then Pune, halted in Delhi, then moved to Gurgaon and finally rented a house in Madhya Pradesh.

A month later, in February 2011, Manmohan Singh returned to Hyderabad to collect some cash on the behest of Bhanu Kiran. Acting on a tip-off, the police arrested him. A year later, Bhanu was nabbed at a dhaba in Zaheerabad in Medak district.

The case went on for seven years. It was first investigated by the citys Central Crime Station, which filed a charge-sheet. It was later handed over to the CID where two other supplementary charge sheets were filed. The seven year old case ended with the conviction and sentencing of Bhanu Kiran on Tuesday.Chennai: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was taken aback when a Tamil journalist asked him a question in Tamil but RBI governor Shaktikanta Das came to his rescue by replying in Tamil.

While participating in an interaction with the Union Minister in Delhi on Monday, the journalist Saravanan sought to if the Centre had any aggressive plans to increase investment awareness among the people. While the Minister was too dazed to reply, as he could not comprehend the language, Mr. Shaktikanta Das intervened to say he would reply in Tamil, and thus saved the day for Mr. Jaitley.

The government has introduced many programmes in the Small savings including Sukanya Samrudhi yojana. Financial inclusion in banks is a programme under implementation. It was brought 2 years ago and the government has helped the people open Jan dhan accounts, the RBI governor replied which came as a respite to the Minister.Vijayawada: AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidus visit to Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, to attend the swearing in of Congress Chief Ministers, on the invitation of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, has come under criticism by Opposition parties.

The Opposition leaders said while the state was facing a threat in the form of Cyclone Phethai, Naidu was touring other states for political gains.

Senior YSRC leader and party spokesman K. Parthasarathy flayed Chandrababu Naidu for abandoning farmers in this state of crisis and going about shamefully to other states. BJP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member too found fault with Naidu.Chennai: The 2019 Lok Sabha elections are barely five months away from now and there is understandably a sense of urgency in the mega opposition combine taking shape against the BJP across the country to concretise poll strategy, prepare cadres and choose its Prime Ministerial candidate. Some of the constituent leaders, though, have suggested a disastrous alternative: choose the PM after counting the poll score.

It's in this context that the DMK president MK Stalin's proposal, made at his Sunday rally here to mark the unveiling of his late father M Karunanidhi's statue, that Congress President Rahul Gandhi be the PM nominee of the opposition front, has drawn varied, mostly not-too-happy, responses.

Already, the CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who is now playing a vital role in shaping a Congress-inclusive secular combine of Left and regional parties, along with TDP supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, to take on Narendra Modi's saffron juggernaut, does not appear to be on the same page with Stalin on this Rahul-as-PM slogan.

The Marxist leader and Stalin are expected to meet on Tuesday in Chennai. For the DMK chief, that's bound to be a very significant session with one of the best political buddies of dad.

A day after Stalin's announcement proposing Rahul for the country's top post, on the lines of his father 'Kalaignar' having taken the lead to commend the names of Indira Gandhi in 1980 and later in 2004 of Sonia Gandhi, inviting them to lead the country as Prime Minister ahead of the crucial general elections during those years, Yechury was not the one to applaud its political correctness.

"Opposition will declare its Prime Ministerial candidate only after the 2019 Lok Sabha election," the CPI (M) leader has said, indicating that Stalin's proposal could at best be his own personal choice.

Seasoned political observers here point out that with equally important regional leaders in the anti-BJP spectrum, most notably Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee not present at the statue unveiling function, Stalin could have been more circumspect than make his dramatic declaration even if he had wanted to clinch the DMK-Congress alliance in Tamil Nadu.

After all, Central trade unions are planning a mega protest in Delhi in January and there could be other opportunities well before the elections to interact on crucial issues; so Stalin's proposal may not go down well with all the smaller parties and the DMK leader may have unwittingly thrown a spanner in the works, they underscored.

"Defeating the BJP is the foremost concern and the premise on which Naidu and Yechury are working and that must not be defeated, especially not from within. Stalin could have waited a bit, taken all key players on board," said a senior member of the emerging opposition coalition, requesting anonymity.

Nonetheless, sources in the DMK maintain that Stalin struck "when the iron is hot". Congress is naturally the largest all-India party in the driver's seat in any major opposition grand alliance across the country; and Rahul's profile has undergone a sea change since his party's win in Karnataka earlier this year in alliance with Janata Dal (Secular), followed by the latest three very significant victories in the latest Assembly polls, by unseating the BJP in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Considering these factors, Stalin could not have found a more politically weighty moment to push for Rahul's candidacy as DMK's preference, the sources explained.

The other factor that possibly weighed with Stalin, the sources said, was that Tamil Nadu and Puducherry together contribute 40 MPs, which in at least four occasions in the recent past - 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004 Lok Sabha polls - have been a game-changer in the party forming the government at the Centre. Stalin possibly felt that projecting a national Congress leader upfront would strengthen the secular alliance in Tamil Nadu for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

But if this strategy were to ruffle feathers of other allies, like the Left Front in Kerala, in Andhra Pradesh where Chandrababu Naidu's bold gambit of striking a deal with Congress in Telangana had not yielded any result, or for that matter with the Samajwadi party in the bigger Hindi-speaking states like U.P., then Stalin and the DMK will have to carry the burden of a bigger cross in convincing all of them. It is in that backdrop the Stalin-Yechury meeting will be very crucial.Chennai: AIADMK senior and fisheries minister D. Jayakumar on Tuesday slammed DMK president MK Stalin for rolling out the red carpet for Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi despite the Tamils massacre in Sri Lanka during the Congress-led UPA regime at the Centre.

Over 1.5 lakh Tamils were massacred at Mullivaikkal (north Sri Lanka during the end of the Eelam war) during the Congress rule, but we saw Stalin rolling out the red carpet for Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. My question is, is this emerging (DMK-Congress) coalition for destroying the Tamils in future too? said Jayakumar. He was speaking to reporters after a welfare distribution function in north Chennai.

The minister faulted the leaders attending the Karunanidhi statue unveiling ceremony for not taking up any issues critical for the people of Tamil Nadu. Did they utter one word about Gaja victims or the Mekedatu issue? The Tamils are not safe in Andhra Pradesh, but Chandrababu Naidu did not say a word about ensuring safety for the Tamil people living there, Jayakumar said.

In Tamil Nadu, it shall be only the two-leaves (AIADMK) all along; no space for anyone else, Jayakumar quipped when asked about BJP state president Dr Tamilisai Sounderarajan expressing confidence that the lotus (BJP) would bloom in Tamil Nadu.

To a question on health minister Dr C Vijayabaskar being summoned by the CBI in the gutka case, Jayakumar shot back, Even you could receive summons from the CBI. Mere summons from the CBI does not mean the person is guilty. Only the court can pronounce someone as guilty.Telugu Desam member Kanakamedala Ravindrakumar on Tuesday asked in the Rajya Sabha about providing special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

Hyderabad: The Central government has once again categorically said that there will be no question of granting Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh.

Telugu Desam member Kanakamedala Ravindrakumar on Tuesday asked in the Rajya Sabha about providing special category status to Andhra Pradesh. In a reply to this, the Central government said that it was not possible to grant special category status to the state.

The Central government said that instead of granting special category status, it has already announced a special package to Andhra Pradesh, adding that it was providing financial assistance to the state through foreign institutions.

The central government also said that the 14th Finance Commission has barred sanctioning Special Category Status to any state.Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan recently invoked Franco-German peace to urge old rivals India and Pakistan to make peace too. But like so many of his ideas, this one is naive given how that peace emerged. Using a noble anti-imperialism cry, Germany often attacked France and others. Fed up with wars in Europe, the global powers finally imposed regime change and pacifism on it by occupying it for long.

But distant Pakistan-India conflicts dont affect the world powers enough to risk invading nuclear states. At most, they may impose ineffective sanctions. This raises a tantalising issue. Who would they see as Germany here? The instinctive Pakistani response may be India. But, the merits of the Kashmir cause aside, they admonish it as the instigator of the 1948, 1965 and 1999 conflicts and cross-border attacks. So its unwise for Pakistan to harp on the German model.

Lets review other cases where foes became friends, especially split states with border disputes. Left holding at high cost only a few small towns surrounded by rebels, Sudan wisely  albeit surprisingly  let South Sudan split after a long war. But India is far more in control in Kashmir. The split didnt resolve the status of Abyei, an oil-rich area, leading to many skirmishes. South Sudan is now too beset by internal wars to press its claim. In terms of parallels, Pakistan is more beset by internal wars, though their scale is much lower.

Eritrea split from Ethiopia after a long war. There was initial amity, both being run by Tigrinya tribe ex-rebels which had separately fought a pro-Moscow Ethiopian regime. But ties later soured over a border town (Badme). After a bloody war, the UN brokered truce and then arbitration, giving Badme to Eritrea. But big brother Ethiopia rejected the ruling. Alert Pakistani minds may see parallels. The bigger state from which the smaller one split here rejects a UN ruling too. The UN didnt award Kashmir to Pakistan, but ruled for a referendum. Eritrea too pursued freedom based on claims of being a nation, despite being multi-ethnic and never having been a united free state ever. So the parallels increase. The parallels may appear even more seductive for Pakistani minds given the rapid recent happy ending where the bigger state agreed to give Badme to Eritrea after a transformational leader Abiye Ali won power in Ethiopia. This talk of a wise leader making huge changes may feed perfectly into Imran Khans naive

narratives about the power of such leaders. But having perhaps built up too much excitement, I must sadly deflate it now. Ethiopias generosity on Badame reflects mainly not the wisdom of one change leader, but its extended rapid growth. This catapulted a change leader to power as it cant grow further with its old controlled sociopolitical system. With this rapid growth, fight on an obscure town distracted it from bigger goals. So the parallels end. Kashmir is not an obscure town but a strategic region. India has already seen prolonged rapid growth without it showing generosity on Kashmir, but only on smaller, Badme-scale, tiffs with other neighbours. But China has made big compromises, though only tactical and not permanent ones, in pursuit of fast growth. With its split province Taiwan and other foes, it has ignored border issues and engages economically with them to strengthen itself.

Among other cases, Japan, Iraq and Serbia too were pacified only after defeats and regime changes effected by the West. The US and Moscow became less hostile, again only after a regime change in Moscow, forced in its case by economic and state collapse. Such collapse is unlikely here. But parallels-wise Pakistan faces more endemic economic woes. Jordan and Egypt made peace with Israel but under unelected regimes seeking American favours to survive. Again, it is Pakistan which has often had unelected regimes seeking US favours to survive, but they too havent bent much on Kashmir.

By arrangement with DawnIn a scathing verdict, the Delhi High Court convicted a senior politician for inciting a mob to murder people in 1984s anti-Sikh riots in Delhi. Sajjan Kumar, an influential Congress Member of Parliament and Jat leader when Mrs Indira Gandhi was assassinated, is the first big fish to face the consequences for his role in one of the Indias worst mass murder episodes. Justice may have been delayed for many of the 7,000-plus Sikhs butchered around India as the law had completely collapsed in the nations capital, but it hasnt been denied.

Referring to Partition, the 1993 Mumbai bombings, the 2002 Gujarat riots and the 2013 Muzzafarnagar communal violence, the judges spelt out with clarity what is wrong with our country.

The political patronage that rampaging mobs get is what blights the tense lives of minorities.

If the verdict wakes us up about India being a mosaic of multiple religions, languages and cultures whose social fibre is easily weakened by targeting of communities, it would achieve far more than just handing out punishment for a crime.

There may be no strict provisions to penalise those who instigate mobs, but mob rule must be halted with an iron hand.

There can be no loss of authority at times when the system is tested by Indians turning against Indians.

Its the recurrence of systemic breakdowns engineered by politicians egging mobs on to settle scores through violence that represent the greatest threat to society.

Thats what the judgment points to without mincing words, while dealing with the totality of how such emotional infernos destroy the very idea of India.Its not quite clear why DMK chief M.K. Stalin pushed for Congress president Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate of a combined Opposition in Chennai on Sunday in the presence of Mr Gandhi himself, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. But the Congress has been level-headed in reiterating that the question of who the next leader of the country can be a matter of discussion after the results of the next Lok Sabha election is known. This is a realistic  and mature  position that suggests itself, and was once again restated by senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Perhaps  but this is by no means certain  Mr Stalins remarks worried several other senior Opposition figures to such a degree that they were a no-show at the swearing-in of the newly-elected Congress CMs of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, though they were expected. The key ones to give the formal ceremonies the miss were BSP supremo Mayawati, Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav, both former CMs of UP, and West Bengal CM and Trinamul Congress boss Mamata Banerjee.

It was churlish on their part to not go, especially since news reports suggested they had accepted the Congress invitation to attend the oath-taking events. Their action has clearly impacted the chemistry generated in May in Bengaluru when the top Opposition figures were present at the swearing-in of Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.

However, the actions of various Opposition leaders in relation to the Congress at this stage seems not too crucial. In some northern states, the Congress will be pitted one to one against the BJP, and the regional parties dont really matter.

As in the recently-held Assembly polls, the BSP and the SP in any case may once again try to play a tactical card that may help the BJP and hurt the Congress. In UP, where these parties can come together to defeat the BJP, they may not bother with the Congress. In the same way, in West Bengal, there may not be a tieup of Ms Banerjees TMC with the Congress.

It is reasonably well understood that the regional parties like the BSP, SP and the TMC will be keen to ensure that the Congress doesnt have too big a lead over them in numbers in the Lok Sabha election. Its only if this calculation succeeds will one of them hope to be in the reckoning for PM by heading a coalition of regional forces. None of this may come to pass, but optimism is a natural part of politics. The BJP faces alliance troubles of its own. The saffron party and the Congress are expected to take steps not to make prospective partners nervous.SOME countries dream of building the next generation colliders to unlock the secrets of the universe, behemoths that will dwarf the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that was unveiled in 2008 by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, CERN. Others build giant statues of old heroes or focus on building more temples, a throwback to the Communist regimes that have become history or to more ancient times when building (or destroying) places of worship symbolised power. And in these differing perspectives we have a clear delineation between forward-looking and backward-looking nations.

If it is the age of frontier technology under Xi Jinping in China, in Narendra Modis India it is revivalism of what is largely an imagined past, a past that is as far removed from current concerns as it possibly can get.

The LHC, built 150 metres underground on the French-Swiss border and boasting a 27-km-wide circumference, has been the core of particle physics research. For ordinary people, its significance is hard to grasp.

Scientists explain that the LHC smashes subatomic particles at nearly the speed of light, and has given the world breakthrough discoveries such as the Higgs- Boson. They believe the Higgs is a fundamental building block of the universe.

But fundamental questions about our universe are still a mystery and cannot be answered by the limitations of the LHC, the reason why more nations are embarked on a Holy Grail of building the next-generation experiments or the super colliders. Japan is planning an International Linear Collider, while Cern is going ahead with a Future Circular Collider. The most ambitious is Chinas project, which is scheduled to break ground in 2021. Experts think this collider could well define the frontiers of particle physics for the next two generations.

As China shows its technological prowess, the Narendra Modi government in India is pushing the country towards a backward agenda.The most grandiose of the Modi governments projects, that is, ignoring the scale of the calamity inflicted by the November 2016 demonetisation exercise, has been the 182-metre-high statue of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, a freedom fighter and a leading light of the Congress Party who served as home minister in Jawaharlal Nehrus government. While the Statue of Unity, as it is called, was patently an attempt to appropriate one of the stalwarts of the freedom struggle to cover the BJPs lack of any of its own, such memorials - there is another massive statue of Shivaji, the 17th century Maratha warrior, in the Arabian Sea, off the Mumbai coast - are integral to Mr Modis idea of a New India. As he declared in a promotional video: See our height, measure this nations height. This is what we want.

Is that what Indians really want? Not really, as last weeks defeat of the BJP in three key states in the Hindi heartland show. The statues, the renaming of cities with Muslim and Mughal names and Mr Modis talent for looking back in anger have failed to provide the outcome the BJP and its ideological custodian, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, were expecting. Nor did the customary aggressive attack on the Congress and the calumny against Jawaharlal Nehru do it much good. And yet, the focus of the RSS-BJP campaign in the next general election, according to most reports emanating from these power centres, is expected to be reviving its Ram temple campaign. Since the development agenda on which Mr Modi swept to power in 2014 has been exposed for the sham it is, the BJP would use the demand for building the temple, according to some political analysts, as the overarching narrative to win the general election. If that is indeed the case, it would reflect poorly on Indians who surely should be thinking more of the

future than of the past. Its a bizarre agenda for a country that aspires to be the rising star of Asia, if not of the world.

Nations do hark back to the past to build bridges to the present but seldom has a country been naive enough to believe that altering or reconstructing the past is a panacea for a bleak future. Hopefully, the dissension within the party should give Mr Modi and the BJP party bosses some pause. At least one forthright BJP member of Parliament has publicly criticised the leadership for pursuing a backward looking agenda - he named the temple issue as one of the pointless issues - and alienating the people on its home turf. But panic over losing the 2019 general election may well propel the BJP to ignore sane advice.

It is not as if China does not flaunt its desire for a return to the glory days of its past. The location of its proposed super collider appears to have been chosen with some thought. It will be built near Qinhuangdao at the end of Great Wall, bringing together an enormous project that had its beginnings in the 7th century BC and a stupendous undertaking of the future.

China, among all nations, may be uniquely placed to pour enormous sums of money into research projects, but it is pursuing such projects with the clear goal of becoming the global leader in science, both theoretical and applied. The approach, notes French historian Francois Godement, director of the Asia and China programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations, is not just about making China a major cyber power, but also about Chinas capacity to shape the international governance of cyberspace according to its own interests.

What Indias chest-thumping politicians given to braggadocio should also note is Godements observation that although Chinas development in the digital and artificial intelligence arenas have attracted so much hype abroad (that) it is sobering to read more modest assessments from Chinese sources themselves.

Yes, Indias space missions are much to be proud of such as the Mangalayan or the Mars Orbiter Mission. But did they push back the frontiers? China has just launched the first mission to the dark side of the moon. It has entered lunar orbit and scientists around the world are watching the effort with admiration. Can India afford to continue to be trapped in an imagined past?

By arrangement with DawnAn Israeli nonprofit on Monday said it has pushed back the launch of what it hopes will be the first private spacecraft to land on the moon until February.

Officials from SpaceIL and its project partner, the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, announced that the landing craft, dubbed Beresheet, or Genesis, will ship in February to Florida. Propelled by a SpaceX Falcon rocket launch, the robotic lander will then commence its months-long voyage to the moon. It had been slated to launch this month.

SpaceIL said it had no control over the launchs delay, and that SpaceX, the private space exploration company founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk, notified them that its rocket will now lift off in February 2019 without providing an explanation.

Israel Aerospace Industries manager Opher Doron stressed that the small craft, roughly the size of a washing machine, faces a difficult, arduous journey because it will have to make several orbits before touching down on the moon. Upon landing, the craft is to relay photographs and collect data about the moons ever-changing magnetism for research by Israels Weizmann Institute and NASA.

On Monday, SpaceIL representatives presented a time capsule that will accompany the spacecraft to the moon.

The capsule, in the shape of a DVD, holds pictures of the Israeli public, interpretive drawings by Israeli children and other pieces of national memorabilia, including stories of Holocaust survivors.

We hope that far in the future, when travel to the moon is as common as trans-Atlantic travel, that children will be able to understand the lives of their Israeli ancestors through this archive on the moon, said SpaceIL co-founder Yonatan Winetraub.

A crowd of Israeli reporters, clad in sanitised white coats, burst into applause as Winetraub fastened the capsule to the underbelly of the craft.

SpaceIL was founded in 2011 and originally vied for Googles Lunar Xprize, which challenged private companies to try to land an unmanned spacecraft on the moon.

But the USD 20 million competition was scrapped by the tech giant earlier this year when it became clear none of the five companies would meet a March deadline.

SpaceIL has vowed to continue the mission and hopes that its ambitious USD 95 million project, largely funded by South African-Israeli billionaire Morris Kahn and other donors, will spur a new wave of commercial missions to the moon and jump-start new companies.

Israel would become the fourth country to land a craft on the moon, after the US, the Soviet Union and China.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.Last year, Shenzhens economic output surpassed that of its neighbour, Hong Kong, for the first time.

When Japanese recruiters plucked Liu Xueqin from her provincial hometown 33 years ago to work in an electronics factory in Shenzhen, she was happy to get a well-paid job and unaware of the small role she would play in Chinas dramatic economic rise.

In 1983, Japanese electronics maker Sanyo set up a factory in the newly established Special Economic Zone in Shekou, at the southern tip of Shenzhen, the city whose transformation is most closely linked with the 40 years since the country began moving towards a market economy, a milestone it celebrates this week.

Since former leader Deng Xiaoping launched China on its Reform and Opening Up path in 1978, the southern city has transformed from a market town of fewer than 50,000 people into a skyscraper-studded high-tech hub that is home to roughly 12 million people and locally grown tech giants like Huawei, ZTE and Tencent.

I came here simply because I wanted to make some money, to improve my life. I was jobless and wasting my time at home, Liu, now a 50-year-old retiree, said during a recent visit to the former Sanyo factory building, where an exhibition has been set up to mark the anniversary.

At Sanyo, Liu and her co-workers churned out cassette recorders, pocket calculators and other gadgets, helping to make Made in China a household label for electronics. At its peak, the Shekou factory employed more than 5,000 people.

For Liu and her fellow migrant workers, Sanyo became their life and Shenzhen their new home. Liu is among the many who stayed, starting a family.

We celebrated birthdays every month and went on holiday trips twice a year, so Sanyo was like our big family, said Huang Huiqun, 54, a former colleague and friend of Liu.

Last year, Shenzhens economic output surpassed that of its neighbour, Hong Kong, for the first time.

When we arrived, there was only one road in Shenzhen, Shennan Boulevard. It was the only road to Shekou. Sanyo was the only factory there. And all the buildings were low, only 4-5 floors tall. There were no skyscrapers, recalled Huang, who was also visiting the old factory building.

Shekou has kept up with Shenzhens boom and turned into a trendy neighbourhood, popular among expatriates and affluent Chinese. Manufacturers have been pushed out, including Sanyo, which closed the Shekou factory in 2009.

Repurposed for the modern era, the former factory is now called E-Cool and houses designers, digital start-ups, luxury boutiques and cafes.

Looking back, the products we made were ancient and outdated, said Huang, who put her daughter through university. What we have now is definitely more complex and advanced. Now is the age of the internet.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.German trade union Verdi called on workers at two Amazon logistic centres to strike on Monday, part of a long-running campaign for better pay and conditions.

Verdi has organised frequent strikes at Amazon in Germany since 2013 to press demands for the retailer to raise pay for warehouse workers in accordance with collective bargaining agreements in Germanys mail order and retail industry.

Amazon has repeatedly rejected Verdis demands, saying it believes warehouse staff should be paid in line with competitors in the logistics sector, not as retail staff. Germany is Amazons second-biggest market after the United States.

Workers in Germany and Spain staged strikes last month on Black Friday, the discount spending spree that kicks off the start of the crucial Christmas shopping season, but Amazon said there was no impact on customer orders.

On Monday, Verdi called on workers to strike at a warehouse in Werne in the west of the country until Tuesday, while it said the protest should continue until Christmas at the Amazon warehouse in the eastern city of Leipzig.

A spokesman said it was possible that workers might also take action at other Amazon locations.

We have repeatedly given Amazon more time to react to our demands, said Verdi representative Thomas Schneider, saying it was a provocation that Amazon refused to negotiate.

We will see whether their promises to customers to delivery parcels punctually by Christmas Eve can be met.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.The platform offers multiple ways to segment customer based on their past behaviour as well as likely future behaviour.

When Anand Jain returned to India in 2005 after a stint in the US, widespread adoption of smartphones and ubiquitous data connectivity were just becoming part of everyones daily lives. Soon after Anand co-founded Burrp, which went on to become Indias largest food discovery and review the app.

In a few years, Burrp was acquired by the Network18 group, and Anand headed their Engineering and IT team for about 3 years. Before long, along with a few colleagues from his Burrp days - Suresh Kondamudi and Sunil Thomas - realisation dawned that a large corporate set up was too slow for the three of them. The internet was becoming more commonplace, and everyone had found a new way of reaching customers - emails. But most of these emails were spam. Sometimes relevant emails would also get buried under this junk. Meanwhile, mobile phones and apps were becoming an essential part of everyone's daily lives. Smartphones and data connectivity were becoming affordable. So the spam now moved from only emails to emails and SMS.

There weren't many companies who worked in this space of understanding user behaviour and engaging with them in a way that was not very intrusive but at the same time, highly personalised and contextual. On the foundation of this sliver of an idea, CleverTap was born, said Anand Jain, Co-Founder of CleverTap. He further adds, The first three years of the company were spent in just building the product. It is only since the last 2 years that active sales are pursued, and we now have nearly 8000 brands using CleverTap. Some of the brands that CleverTap works with are Vodafone, Sony, Star, Cleartrip, Dominos Pizza and Go-Jek.

User-Focused Innovation

CleverTap works with consumer brands to help them better understand user behaviour across the lifecycle. By leveraging technologies such as machine learning, the CleverTap platform empowers marketing teams to use context and relevance in their customer reach outs. Every minute, millions of data points are generated based on customer actions such as launching an app, adding a product to cart, change in demographic data etc CleverTap allows marketing teams to develop campaigns or next best actions in real time based on not only what the user has done, but also what the user is most likely to do.

The platform offers multiple ways to segment customer based on their past behaviour as well as likely future behaviour. Dubbed intent based segmentation, this feature allows marketers to anticipate what the user is most likely to need, and build their promotional campaigns accordingly. This feature can help marketers get answers to questions such as:

How many users are likely to uninstall my app?

How many tickets will be sold for an event in the next 15 days?

How many people will view a product in your new lookbook in the next 7 days?

How many users will uninstall your app in the next 10 days?

By predicting user intent instead of chasing it, brands are able to identify audience micro-segments most likely to convert and use their marketing budgets more effectively.

The end user is at the centre of everything we go at CleverTap. With a major feature release planned for every quarter, we make sure that we are way ahead of our competition when it comes to delivering value to brands, said Anand. CleverTaps recently launched Coeus Ddata Science Engine that is designed to help marketers drive more targeted, meaningful conversations, is a classic example. Coeus - the Greek god of rational intelligence and query - uses a combination of events to predict the likelihood that a user converts. It allows marketers to then build  and market to  highly relevant intent segments.

The Road Ahead

CleverTap is backed by Sequoia and Accel Partners. Within 5 years of inception, it now has offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Singapore, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.

-An interview with Ketan Pandit  Head, Demand Generation, CleverTap.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the original author. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Deccan Chronicle and/or other staff and contributors to this site.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.The annual International Robotics Competition (IRC) - Indias biggest science and technology competition held at Thyagaraj Stadium, Delhi. Presented by Avishkaar, there have been student teams who participated in qualifying rounds - IRC Qualifiers, held in different states across India. The competition was designed to drive student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The enthusiasts of IRC Qualifiers kicked off from Delhi and travelled through India covering Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu with the last qualifier held in Madhya Pradesh.

In this ninth season of the IRC League, over 1500+ participants contested in 17 qualifiers of IRC School League: Season 9 across India - from Himachal Pradesh to Tamil Nadu. More than 350 teams submitted their innovations as part of the Avishkaar Makeathon 2018. In each round of both competitions, participants showed their grit and determination to book their seats in the Nationals. The winning teams from both the competitions would receive a sponsored trip to Russia.

The Avishkaar has been hosting state-level inter school robotics competition from the past nine years and hosted it this year too. Avishkaar even hosted Avishkaar Makeathon, a platform where ambitious people/students were at the forefront of the innovation and were inspired to explore their passion and showcase their dream idea. Along with getting a sneak-peek into the latest products by Avishkaar, the event also hosted exciting and interactive workshops including the verification of Bots for the IRC participants, arena rounds of IRC Nationals, Avishkaar Makeathon judgement, Avishkaar Aurora (The Light Show), cultural performances, prize distribution and felicitation, and many more.

The winning teams in each category were chosen based on their performance and accuracy. The team Shri Makerz- The Shri Ram School, Vasant Vihar was declared winner in the junior group. In Middle category, the team Scorpian- The Shri Ram School, Moulsari won the competition while in the senior category, Team Dr Kalam Science Club- Government Multipurpose Higher Secondary School, Bilaspur was declared as the winner. The top scoring team in each category was adjudged as the winner. The team Scorpian  The Shri Ram School, Moulsari was declared the overall winner in Avishkaar Makeathon. They made Spectacles with Sensor for the Blind People and secured first rank and will go to Russia. The score was calculated as per the Scoring Rubric by eminent panel of Judges by Avishkaar. The winners of the Nationals will get a direct entry into the IRC League Internationals to be held in Russia in 2019. Not only this, they will also be getting a sponsored trip to Russia for IRC League Internationals.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.The latest investment values Byju's at around USD 3.6 billion

Naspers and Canadas state pension fund have invested USD 540 million in Indian educational technology startup Byjus, the South African internet giant said on Monday.

Bengaluru-based Byjus launched a learning app in 2015 that offers tools for school students in India, a country with the worlds largest number of children in primary education.

The latest investment values the firm at around USD 3.6 billion, Indian media reported.

The investment will drive the Byjus team to further innovate, explore and set new benchmarks for tech-enabled learning products, Naspers said in a statement.

The company has plans for international market expansion and will make bold investments.

Byjus has over 30 million registered students, Naspers said, without giving details of the companys financial performance.

Founded more than 100 years ago, Naspers has transformed itself from a newspaper publisher into an USD 87 billion empire, thanks to its one-third stake in Chinese tech giant Tencent.

Naspers shares werent trading on Monday due to a public holiday in South Africa.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), one of the worlds biggest investors, is expanding its interests in India due to the countrys young population and growing middle class, its chief executive said last week.

Other investors in Byjus include Tencent and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a charity founded by Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.Alvas Education Foundation, Moodbidri, will adopt three children, who lost their parents in the Sulvadi Maramma temple prasada tragedy in Chamarajanagar, Foundation Chairman Dr M Mohan Alva said.

Couple Krishna Nayaka and Myli Bai, who died after consuming the poison-laced prasad, are survived by three children including two daughters. The Alvas Education Foundation will provide them with free education at Alvas College, along with free food and accommodation. They will also be provided financial assistance of Rs one lakh, he added.

College Principal Dr Kurian will soon meet the relatives of the children. The elder daughter Rani Bai is studying BSc in Mysuru, the second daughter is pursuing BSc (nursing)in Bidadi and youngest son is in PUC.

If the children are willing, they will be provided with an opportunity to pursue postgraduation at Alvas College. The Foundation will also take responsibility of providing them with employment, Alva said.SALT LAKE CITY  After behind-the-scenes maneuvering and a quick closed-door meeting Monday, the Utah County Commission and Gov. Gary Herbert made a deal to end their legal scuffle.

Following a 30-minute closed-door meeting with the governor and the Tooele County Commission, the Utah County Commission voted to put forth a new nominee to the Utah Transit Authority's new board. Herbert later Monday accepted the nomination, and county leaders promised to drop their lawsuit.

That new name: Kent Millington, former chairman of the Utah Transportation Commission.

In an interview with reporters after the public vote (scheduled in a special meeting in the governor's office after a closed-door meeting to discuss a personnel matter) Utah County Commission Chairman Nathan Ivie said county leaders and the governor arrived at Millington as a "consensus name that we feel like fit the needs" of both Utah and Tooele counties.

"We have an individual who's going to go and advocate for our tax dollars that are being spent (at UTA) to make sure they're being used prudently and wisely," Ivie said. "Kent gives us that opportunity to shift that organization into a more financially responsible organization that's responsive to the transportation needs of two of the fastest-growing counties in the state and the nation."

Millington later Monday afternoon said it's time to move forward.

"Though I'm a compromise candidate here, I look forward to being able to serve," Millington said.

Utah County leaders last month filed a lawsuit against the governor after he rejected both of the county's nominees to the Utah Transit Authority's new board, meant to overhaul the scandal-riddled agency.

They petitioned for the Utah Supreme Court to compel Herbert to appoint one of the county's names. But Herbert fired back, asserting his power to reject the county's nominees and arguing Utah County did not properly include Tooele County in the nomination process.

Since then, the legal fight has been at an impasse. However, Millington's nomination came after Utah and Tooele county leaders began behind-the-scenes discussions, Ivie said, which led to Monday's meeting with Herbert.

After Herbert had accepted Millington's appointment, Ivie said the lawsuit will be "terminated."

Tooele County commissioners all voiced their support for Millington prior to the Utah County Commission's vote.

On the legal fight and Herbert's accusation that Tooele County leaders weren't properly involved in the nomination process, Utah County Commissioner Bill Lee and Ivie said they "disagreed" that Tooele County wasn't properly consulted, but ultimately "that's in the past."

"We had an opportunity to all be together and sit down and work it out, and I think that's the future for us," Lee said. "Now we can say and they can say, in their minds, they were consulted all the way through the process, and so it's time for us to move forward."

On the lawsuit, Lee said: "Obviously it's probably not a preferred preference, this route that we went, but in government we have to come to a certain amount of compromise, and to do so you have to have communication and a little bit of compromise."

Herbert's spokesman, Paul Edwards, told the Deseret News that the governor planned to sit down with Millington Monday afternoon to discuss his nomination before issuing his decision. Later, in a statement issued just before 5 p.m., Herbert announced he had appointed Millington to the board, subject to confirmation by the Utah Senate.

"From the very beginning of this process, I have asked for consensus nominees who have the trust and confidence of the counties and cities served by UTA," Herbert said. "I am grateful that the Utah and Tooele County commissioners found such a consensus nominee in Kent Millington.

"Kent brings deep understanding about the challenges and opportunities associated with Utah's unprecedented growth as well as deep knowledge about Utah transportation issues," Herbert said.

The new UTA board was created under SB136, transportation legislation passed earlier this year mandating that the board's three seats will be made up of representatives chosen from Utah and Tooele counties, Salt Lake County, and Davis, Weber and Box Elder counties.

The governor accepted other counties' nominations and two of the three UTA board members were sworn in, but Tooele and Utah counties' seat remained empty as they took the governor to court for rejecting their names: Pleasant Grove City Councilman Ben Stanley, an attorney, and former Cedar Hills Councilman Rob Crawley, owner of a consulting company.

The two nominations drew some criticism, including from former Cedar Hills Mayor Gary Gygi, who wrote in a Daily Herald op-ed that both men are friends of Utah County Commissioner Bill Lee, questioning their qualifications for the position.

Emails from Tooele County officials and Utah County mayors also showed frustration and "fractured" support from the nominees, according to the governor's response to the lawsuit.

Tooele County Commissioner Shawn Milne said after Monday's meeting he was "very appreciative of the governor having Tooele County's back" and ensuring the rural county would have fair representation.

"I'm assured that Mr. Millington will be a good representative for both Tooele County and Utah County," Milne said.

Contributing: Dan BammesSALT LAKE CITY  Darci Lynne Farmer walked away from her Americas Got Talent audition in tears.

A then-12-year-old ventriloquist, the Oklahoma girl wasn't sure what the judges and large audience would think of her comedy-singing act featuring a diva rabbit puppet named Petunia. Ventriloquism hadnt been featured on the show in two years, and the two ventriloquists who won the show in seasons past  including entertainer Terry Fator  had much more experience under their belts.

(I thought), Will they think Im just cute? Will they think Im not good?'" Darci told the Deseret News. It was really hard putting myself out there in that situation.

But it only took the first word of George Gershwins Summertime for Darci  er, Petunia  to impress everyone in sight. And when Darci began to sing her own line and the floppy-eared Petunia pressed her paw against the ventriloquists mouth so she could keep on singing, the judges knew this was no ordinary act.

After Petunia finished belting out the Porgy and Bess classic, Darci began to cry, overwhelmed by the audiences standing ovation and fervent applause.

You make my heart melt.  Im trying to describe how amazing it was, judge Mel B told the young ventriloquist before hitting the golden buzzer, which immediately advanced Darci to the competitions quarterfinal round.

Darci went on to win last years season of Americas Got Talent, becoming the third female, third child and third ventriloquist to win. Her audition video with Petunia now has more than 53 million views on YouTube. Recently, the ventriloquist returned to TV for a holiday special called Darci Lynne: My Hometown Christmas, featuring several guest artists including Lindsey Stirling and fellow Oklahoman Kristin Chenoweth. And next month, Darci will appear on a new show  an AGT spinoff called Americas Got Talent: The Champions  which airs Jan. 7.

But before that show, fans in Utah get a chance to see Petunia up close when Darci, now 14, brings the famous rabbit  and three other puppets  to her Christmas show at the Eccles Theater on Saturday, Dec. 22. But the ventriloquist warns people that Petunia has changed since her Americas Got Talent days.

When I went on AGT, she was this timid, really shy rabbit and really adorable, Darci said. And when we won, I changed her personality and now shes a full-on diva and knows what she wants and knows how to get it.

Aside from Petunia, the trio of puppets visiting Salt Lake City include the stuttering, soulful mouse Oscar, the naughty old lady Edna Doorknocker and the cowgirl Katie  who didnt make an appearance on Americas Got Talent.

During Darcis run on the show, Oscar wowed people with his rendition of Smokey Robinsons Whos Loving You? and Edna wooed  and embarrassed  judge Simon Cowell with Aretha Franklins (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman. It was both Oscar and Petunia who helped out Darci during her final, winning appearance  an act Darci said she was especially nervous about since she had only learned it the day before the performance.

That final performance featured Oscar and Petunia bickering over who should sing the Beatles With a Little Help From My Friends before ultimately deciding to perform the song together. Darcis part, as Oscar bluntly told her, was to just stand there with your mouth closed like you always do.

Ive always thought of it as, my puppets can get away with murder but I cant, Darci joked. Its funny, they say things that I would never say to someone but  can get away with it so its pretty fun.

Darci began learning ventriloquism when she was 10 as a way to help overcome her shyness. And while the art form didnt exactly come easy to her right away, now she considers it second nature.

I (can) speak through my puppets, she said. My personalities are kind of a piece of theirs so I can express myself through them in a way.

And while its hard picking (her) favorite child, Darci said the puppet she has the most fun with is Petunia. Its also Petunia who gets the most stage time in the upcoming Salt Lake show, but Darci said she tries to feature all of her puppets equally. And most importantly, all of her puppets work together to do one thing: put ventriloquism in the spotlight.

Its such a unique thing, so my whole goal was to bring it back and show people its OK to be shy, Darci said.   I wanted to bring that back to show all the kids out there about ventriloquism so maybe theyd pick it up and have fun with it. That was my whole goal.

If you go 

What: Darci Lynne and Friends Live

When: Saturday, Dec. 22, 7 p.m.

Where: Eccles Theater, 131 S. Main St.

How much: $29.75-$49.75

Web: live-at-the-eccles.comSALT LAKE CITY  A bill backed by Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. John Curtis to create a human trafficking advisory council will go the president's desk.

The Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking Act would bring together eight to 14 representatives from nongovernmental organizations and nonprofit groups that have experience in anti-human trafficking efforts and care for victims. The president would appoint members of the council.

"The greatest way to really have an impact in ending trafficking around the world is to empower those who have already been engaged in the fight," Hatch, R-Utah, said.

Curtis, R-Utah, praised the rescue efforts Utah's Operation Underground Railroad.

"We can help them do more," he said. "With better coordination and partnership with federal government agencies, imagine what they can accomplish."

The council would serve as a point of contact for federal agencies reaching out to anti-human trafficking nonprofits and NGOs for input on policies related to anti-human trafficking efforts.

The bill calls for the group to submit a report to Congress no later than one year after it becomes law.SALT LAKE CITY  Salt Lake police were searching Monday for a man who allegedly ran over an employee at a downtown restaurant.

About 11:40 a.m. Friday, a 66-year-old man at Hires Big H, 425 S. 700 East, told Patrick Walker, 27, that he could not park there, said Salt Lake Police Sgt. Brandon Shearer. Walker had been using the Hires parking lot recently to drop off his girlfriend, who works nearby, he said.

The employee and Walker got into an argument. That's when the employee walked in front of Walker's Dodge Ram 1500 and Walker "drove over the victim, causing substantial injuries," Shearer said. The employee was taken to a local hospital in serious condition, said Shearer.

Police were still looking Monday for Walker and his vehicle, a black Dodge Ram with Utah license W076YH.

Anyone with information can call police at 801-799-3000.

 Pat ReavyPLEASANT GROVE  A captain and her team confront totalitarian leaders and weigh whether to grant asylum to interstellar refugees as they work to repair their spaceship.

Then they go outside for recess.

The simulation based in a Pleasant Grove elementary school draws on more than just astronomy. At the Christa McAuliffe Space Center, in four rooms converted into spacecrafts, students face social issues, learn teamwork and grapple with the notion that their mission, however noble, may fail.

"They get to see how they are a part of the whole, and I think that's a really valuable educational tool," said James Porter, the center's director.

As Alpine School District prepares to rebuild Central Elementary, the center also is poised to enter a new era, with plans for a new planetarium, two more simulators, and equipment that will bring the most recent footage from outer space right before students' eyes.

On Monday, about 300 Central students cheered, clapped and howled at the announcement that administrators had secured a $1 million donation  nearly a third of the money they hope to raise for the new space center project.

A bond will support the school's reconstruction, but the district is asking for help to cover the $3.7 million new space center. It approached the Maryland-based Edward St. John Foundation, which revealed the $1 million check at the school assembly Monday. Daniel Thomas, a representative of the foundation, told youngsters in the school gymnasium to live lives "as big as the universe itself."

Sandy Fugal, a Central 6th grader, was among those cheering the announcement.

"It's really fun. It feels like you're actually solving a problem in space," Sandy said of the center. But she acknowledged that the missions can be stressful.

"We have to work as a team," she said. "If we don't communicate, we're dead." She believes the training will come in handy when she grows up and becomes a doctor.

Luis Rodriguez, also a 6th grader, feels similarly. He said math isn't his strength but he likes to solve problems in the space mission scenarios.

"I think it's going to be awesome," he said of the new center.

It is expected to open in time for the start of school in 2020, equipped with an Evans & Sutherland system that will connect to a network of planetariums worldwide to share the latest renderings of planets and other content. Porter envisions showcasing footage that will be taken from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft when it flies over Ultima Thule, an icy rock 4 billion miles from Earth, on Jan. 1.

The new planetarium will seat about 70, an improvement from the inflatable version the center now sets up in the gymnasium.

Since it opened in 1990, more than 400,000 students, including from Alpine School District and nearby charter schools, have passed through the center. Those who join the crews work together to dodge asteroids and communicate with interstellar leaders who at times reference Star Trek and rib their earthling counterparts. The simulators include a counterintelligence ship that can render itself undetectable.

"I think people are excited to know that we're committed to not only rebuild the school, but to keep the space center going," said Alpine Superintendent Samuel Jarman. "When business and public education come together, wonderful things can happen."

Not just schoolchildren are welcome at the center. It also holds summer camps, birthday and bachelor parties, and team-building sessions for businesses.

On Monday, a member of Utah's congressional delegation joined in the celebration. U.S. Rep. John Curtis told students at the assembly that science is "so important" and recalled that he was 9 years old when he watched television coverage of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon.

"I wish I had a million dollars to give you, but I work for the federal government, so we just take it," the Republican representative quipped.

St. John Properties has built an office building in Pleasant Grove and is constructing another nearby. Its foundation arm has supported other projects in the city, including a renovation of the Pleasant Grove City Library, Thomas said.

Construction is expected to begin on the center in the new year, and donations can be made online at spacecenter.alpineschools.org/donate.

Correction: An earlier version misidentified a planetarium technology company. It is Evans & Sutherland, not Evanston and Sutherland.SALT LAKE CITY  A Layton man who had a child at his side when he carjacked an elderly woman at gunpoint in a Nevada casino parking garage last year is headed to prison for 16 years.

Andrew Brigman, 29, and a child approached the woman as she exited her car at a casino in Sparks, Nevada, on July 6, 2017. He pointed a handgun at her and demanded she hand over her car, phone and credit cards, according to federal prosecutors.

The woman gave Brigman the key fob for her car, but he didn't know how to use it, so she showed him how to start the car. He and the child then left.

Sparks police sent out news releases with composite sketches and images of the car and issued an Amber alert for the child.

On July 14, the Sparks Police Department received a tip that identified Brigman as the possible suspect.

A few days later, police stopped the car for a traffic violation in Alamosa County, Colorado. Brigman, a woman and her four children were inside, including the child who accompanied him during the carjacking. Police found a .38 semiautomatic pistol in the glove box.

Brigman had earlier pleaded guilty to use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. He has prior felony convictions for attempted theft, aggravated assault, and theft and assault by a prisoner, all in Utah.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Miranda M. Du sentenced Brigman to five years of probation.SALT LAKE CITY  Students at Mary W. Jackson Elementary School got early Christmas presents Monday.

The Salt Lake Police Department let kindergartners and first-graders pick out three books to take home with them. And as Chief Mike Brown told the group, keep them forever.

"Forever?" the students exclaimed with excitement, many raising their hands in the air.

On Monday, the department donated more than 1,000 books to Mary W. Jackson Elementary, 750 W. 200 North, and Pacific Heritage Academy, 1755 W. 1100 North. The books were collected during the Salt Lake Police Department's third annual book drive in partnership with Fight Crime: Invest in Kids.

About 120 students from Mary W. Jackson and 60 from Pacific Heritage were recipients of the books.

But before letting the students choose from titles such "The Magic Bus" series and "Junie B. Jones," the chief, along with Mayor Jackie Biskupski, read to them. Brown read "Police Officers on Patrol." The picture book told the story of officers responding to different situations.

"When people need help, we rock and roll!" the chief read.

The book drive was sponsored by the city and the Salt Lake City Public Library.

"By investing in kids and encouraging early reading, we are hoping to change outcomes for at-risk children and prevent future crime," according to a statement from the police department.

Education and reading is paramount in developing a successful law-abiding citizen, Brown said. About 40 percent of prisoners lack a high school education. Never has reading been so important and critical than now. It is imperative that young children develop a love and passion for reading. Books are a ticket for success."PLEASANT GROVE  A 12-year-old boy was hit by a construction truck and killed Monday evening, police said.

About 6 p.m., the truck traveling on State Street turned right during a red light onto Pleasant Grove Boulevard. The driver didn't see the boy, who was crossing the street in a crosswalk, Pleasant Grove Police Capt. Britt Smith said.

Police are investigating the cause of the crash but said it appears to be a tragic accident. The driver is cooperating, according to police, and impairment is not suspected.

Pleasant Grove police on social media offered condolences to those who knew the boy, saying "Our hearts go out to his family and friends" and urging "Please drive safely out there."SALT LAKE CITY  More victims have been identified and more suspects named in a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme involving a Utah precious metals and rare coin business, according to state officials.

On Monday, the Utah Department of Commerce along with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Division of Securities and the Utah Attorney General's Office announced that an amended complaint was filed accusing Denise Gunderson Rust and Joshua Daniel Rust of participating in a scheme with Rust Rare Coin Inc. to solicit millions from investors since 2013 "for the purported purpose of pooling their money to purchase silver," according to a statement from the Commerce Department.

In November, a federal complaint was filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission against Rust Rare Coin Inc. and owner Gaylen Dean Rust. Denise Rust is Gaylen's wife and Joshua Rust is his son.

According to the amended complaint, the alleged fraud committed by Rust Rare Coin "is larger than previously alleged and involves more than 430 individuals and at least $200 million in investor funds."

Denise and Joshua Rust "knew the Silver Pool was a fraudulent scheme. Denise Rust and Joshua Rust signed checks issued to Silver Pool investors knowing that these checks were Ponzi payments involving money contributed by other investors," according to the Commerce Department's statement.

In November, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell issued a restraining order freezing the assets of Rust Rare Coin and allowing state and federal officials to "inspect all relevant records," according to the statement.

The company is accused of tricking investors since 2008 into believing it was "pooling investor money for the purpose of entering into contracts of sale for silver."SALT LAKE CITY  A Cache County man accused of engaging in sexually explicit conversations with a 10-year-old Missouri girl, including exchanging nude pictures, was scheduled to make an initial appearance in court Tuesday.

Guadalupe Vega Cervantez, 20, of Logan, was charged Dec. 6 in 1st District Court with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.

According to a search warrant unsealed Tuesday, the investigation began in May when the Lebanon, Missouri, Police Department was asked to assist the Laclede County, Missouri, Sheriffs Department "in an investigation involving a 10-year-old female victim who had been sexually exploited by an adult male residing in the state of Utah."

Cervantez had been communicating with the girl through Instagram and direct texting, the warrant states. As the investigation progressed, authorities learned Cervantez was a student at Utah State University, the warrant states. Utah State police were called to assist. An officer "observed subject Vega in class and followed him to his vehicle," according to the warrant, and noted a parking permit in his car for a complex in Logan.

On Dec. 4, agents from the Department of Homeland Security and FBI Child Exploitation Task Force served a search warrant on Cervantez's apartment, according to charging documents.

According to the warrant, after reviewing the images the girl allegedly sent Cervantez, "it should be noted that at no point in the conversation after these images were exchanged did the Instagram user (Cervantez) attempt to determine the age of the user," even though investigators stated the girl in the pictures was "clearly" underage.WEST VALLEY CITY  Police arrested a man accused of biting his ex-girlfriend during a fight and calling her more than 100 times despite a protective order.

Aaron Michael Lloyd, 38, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail Sunday for investigation of assault, domestic violence in the presence of children, and 109 felony counts of violating a protective order.

On Sunday, West Valley police were called to a residence near 3800 West and 3400 South after several people reported hearing a woman yell, "Help me," according to a jail report.

The woman told officers that she has had a protective order against Lloyd, who is the father of her child, for a few months, though she admitted they have had "on and off" contact, the report states.

On Sunday, the woman said Lloyd was at her house and they got into an argument. The woman took his phone and asked "about the dubious contents of his phone" and refused to give it back, the report states.

The argument then escalated into a fight. After shoving the woman to the ground, the woman used pepper spray on Lloyd, who responded by "blindly (grabbing) ahold of the victim and (biting) her on the front of her torso near the right shoulder," according to the report.

The responding officer looked at the woman's phone, which contained the prior eight days of call history. During that time, Lloyd had called her more than 100 times, and he called four times while the officer was interviewing the woman, the report states.

Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting the YWCA's Women in Jeopardy program at 801-537-8600, or the confidential statewide Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-897-LINK (5465). Resources are also available online at udvc.org.SALT LAKE CITY  Alta Ski Area's president and general manager is pushing back against a proposed federal designation for the Wasatch canyons, arguing it is premature given the congestion and transportation problems that haven't been addressed.

"Creating the conservation and recreation area first could restrict or prohibit solutions to address congestion and parking issues," said Michael Maughan.

On Wednesday, the Legislature's Commission for the Stewardship of Public Lands will hear from Maughan and others on the proposed designation, which was endorsed unanimously by the Central Wasatch Commission last month.

"It is frustrating to see skiers coming to ski at Alta needing to park on highway shoulders, less-safe areas, or being turned away because the parking lots are full when we are willing and have the resources to provide additional parking," he said.

The Central Wasatch Commission is pursuing congressional legislation that would establish the Central Wasatch Conservation and Recreation Area encompassing 80,000 acres. Within that footprint, the act would also set aside 8,000 acres of new wilderness and contemplate land trades between the ski resorts and the U.S. Forest Service.

Save Our Canyons, a nonprofit group, accused Alta Ski Area of trying to derail the designation and was urging people to attend Wednesday's meeting as a show of support.

"Last year Alta wanted tunnels and a train, the year before that they wanted interconnect. Now they want to literally pave the headwaters of our watershed, induce more traffic into the canyons and build more impervious surfaces that degrade both natural habitat and the quality of our drinking water," said Carl Fisher, executive director of Save Our Canyons.

Maughan said the Wasatch commission should first solve the transportation problem in the canyons before it seeks to add "undefined" environmental protections.

"It seems premature to create a conservation and recreation area before developing transportation solutions that reduce congestion and address parking issues in the Cottonwood Canyons."

Lindsey Nielsen, commission spokeswoman, said the designation legislation is a "lands bill, not a transportation bill."

She added that the commission is not ignoring the traffic issue and instead is co-managing a corridor study with the Utah Department of Transportation, as well as a separate analysis that will look at parking structures.

Maughan said ski areas are restricted from adding additional parking by a 2003 U.S. Forest Service management plan that has not been updated to reflect the increased visitation to the canyons.

The plan says additional parking can be added if it is necessary for watershed protection or for mass transit.

Forest Supervisor Dave Whittekiend said for all practical purposes, parking has been expanded in the canyons through roadside parking.

"We're trying to manage that use and decrease the impacts," he said, adding there have been no formal proposals to add parking stalls in the canyons.

Maughan said the Forest Service management plan makes clear that additional parking is off the table, despite a 25 percent increase in skier visits since 2000.

"Capping the parking on Forest Service lands in the Cottonwood Canyons has not reduced demand or increased public transportation use," he said. "Our experience is that it is difficult to get people out of their cars and onto public transportation. Currently, less than 2 percent of the visitors to Alta in the winter ride the UTA bus."

The Utah Department of Transportation has begun a study of traffic issues in Little Cottonwood Canyon, expanding the scope recently to look at the immediate challenges of traffic congestion at key intersections, trailhead parking and canyon closures.

Spokesman John Gleason said the analysis will specifically address issues associated with roadside parking, which is creating environmental and public safety impacts.

Randy Doyle, general manager at Brighton Ski Resort, said the ski area has also been unable to expand its parking despite increased visitation.

"Solutions for us revolve around mass transit and improvement to the highways."

The Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest draws 10.7 million visitors on an annual basis, more than any of the state's national parks.PLEASANT GROVE  Tuesday was supposed to be the day Michael Dominic Madsen, 12, celebrated with his class during a Christmas party.

Instead, the school and the community are mourning the loss of Michael who was hit and killed by a "construction-type" vehicle Monday night when the driver apparently didn't see the boy and turned into him while Michael was in a crosswalk, according to police.

"Our principal sent out an email this morning that donations are being taken at the school," a woman posted on Facebook. "My heart is literally breaking for the family and friends and loved ones of this little boy. Today is the day that all the classrooms are holding their class Christmas parties, a day Im sure he was looking forward to, and Im so sad for his classmates and teachers as well."

About 6 p.m. Monday, Michael was crossing at the intersection of State Street and Pleasant Grove Boulevard, when a large truck making a right turn hit him. Michael had the right of way, according to investigators. Police are calling the incident a tragic accident.

While impairment is not suspected, Pleasant Grove police detectives were waiting Tuesday for toxicology tests to be completed before sending the case to the Utah County Attorney's Office to determine what, if any, charges should be filed.

At the intersection where Michael was hit, a makeshift memorial was growing throughout the day as police say the community has rallied behind the family. Tributes and messages of condolence also filled social media on Tuesday.

"One of my co-workers lost her son last night. This is an incredibly difficult time for the family especially with the holidays coming up," one woman wrote.

Michael was a sixth-grader at Mount Mahogany Elementary in Pleasant Grove. It was his first year at the school after his family recently moved into the area, said Alpine School District spokesman David Stephenson.

Stephenson said it was a "very somber morning" at the boy's school. The district's crisis team was there to talk to students who needed extra support, and some students with their parents took advantage of the service, Stephenson said.

The holiday season only compounds the tragedy, he said. Several classes were scheduled to hold Christmas parties on Tuesday. Wednesday is the last day of school before winter break, and the school was preparing for its annual sing-a-long where all of the students sang Christmas carols.

"That was part of the discussion at the faculty meeting this morning, how do we help the kids process this and allow them to grieve and at the same time prepare for the Christmas holiday break?"

On social media, family members have noted that Michael's parents have asked that donations be made through Venmo under Michael Dominic Madsen. A GoFundMe account set up for Michael that has received a number of donations was not verified, according to friends of the family.

According to police, Michael is survived by his mother, father and four siblings.Indias government has decided to delay the countrys scheduled spectrum auctions into the second half of 2019 following feedback from operators.

The countrys service providers are struggling with mounting debt burdens due to the fierce price war that has been ongoing since Reliance Jios entry to the market in 2016, reports the Economic Times. These factors, together with the consolidation that they have spurred, have forced the DoT (Department of Telecommunications) to revise down its expectations for the next round of 4G auctions.

Market leader Vodafone Idea has called for auctions to be delayed into 2020 on the grounds that spectrum acquisition will not be a priority until a 5G ecosystem is ready. Second-placed operator Bharti Airtel said in November that it would not participate in an early 5G spectrum auction as there was not yet a business case, noting the lack of devices compatible with the technology. Executives expressed the belief that 5G would not be deployed for at least another three years, and stated that they did not wish to see an auction before 2020.

However, third-placed Reliance Jio is keen to acquire more airwaves so is calling for earlier auctions of 4G and 5G spectrum. In August, regulator TRAI proposed that over 8,500MHz of spectrum in nine bands be released for auction with lower reserve prices to encourage participation.

While the government was keen to hold the bidding within the fiscal year ending March 2019, no date was confirmed. Telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan confirmed that the DoT has not set a date for 4G or 5G auctions, but is reviewing the proposals made by TRAI and Indias 5G task force.The OnePlus executive said that the OnePlus TVs will be launched at competitive prices and just like the smartphones, they will be flagship killers.

China-based premium smartphone maker OnePlus may launch TVs in 2020, and just like OnePlus smartphones, they will be a flagship killers, company CEO Pete Lau has said. India will be one of the first markets to get the OnePlus TV. It will be available through Amazon. We havent set a deadline as yet, as we want it to be the best there is, Lau told The Economic Times in an interview.

The executive says that OnePlus wants to get the software upto the standards where it can create a differentiated experience. He says that this requires a huge amount of work and the company does not want to release something thats more or less already out there in the market. We see that currently, as one goes down the price points, the picture, sound and build qualities deteriorate. We want to create a seamless Internet experience that creates a true Smart TV, going beyond what is traditional in this space, he noted.

On future OnePlus phones, he said that the company will launch both 4G and 5G smartphone with Snapdragon 855 chipset. Both the phones will be launched at a different points of time but he hinted that India may not be the first country to see the 5G phones. We dont have definite information from the carrier side on 5G networks being deployed in India. Globally, first half of 2019, we are looking at Europe. The second half, we will explore with other carriers in Europe and also in the US, Lau added.

Earlier this year, market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) predicted that Indian consumers will start seeing 5G on their smartphones sometime in the second half of 2019, with a steady rise in regional availability all the way till 2020. IDC also predicts that roughly 7 percent of all smartphones will be 5G-enabled by 2020. Chairman of Reliance Industries and pioneer of Reliance Jio, Mukesh Ambani, also said that by 2020, India will be a fully-4G country and ready for 5G ahead of others.

When asked whether the company will look at increasing volumes by entering a lower price segment, the Lau said that for smartphones costing Rs 20,000 and less, there is a massive market, and certainly there is temptation, but OnePlus will focus on the flagships only. If we were to enter a lower segment, that would be disrespectful of what people expect from us. And when we say focus on flagships, we mean the entire experience. Device quality is not just about the chipsets, he added.

According to Counterpoint Research, OnePlus tops the smartphone satisfaction index list with 94 percent of its users satisfied by its phones overall performance. This also results in the highest retention rate of 88 percent among all Android OEMs with its value-for-money offerings. Moreover, OnePlus is the preferred brand in the fast growing Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 segment, where consumers are looking for premium experiences at affordable price-points.

On its offline presence, Lau said that the OnePlus brick and mortar stores in India exists as a means to supplement companys online presence. He notes that these offline experience stores are very important touch points and it has seen a spike in demand for its products online in areas that they have opened experienced stores. Offline though wont be a core focus for increasing sales, he added.Its undoubtedly been a busy year for Microsoft in India. With the late February launch of the Surface Pro, it decided to bring its entire Surface line-up to the country. Sticking to that plan, it has just launched the Surface Go, whichin the words you want to hearis the cheapest Surface device sold yet. Its available in two variants and both come with a 7th-gen Intel Pentium Gold 4415Y CPU. The base variant gets 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage on an eMMC chip for Rs 37,999. The top-end variant gets 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage on a PCIe-based solid-state drive for Rs 49,999.

Body Design: As pro as the Pro

Both variants of the Surface Go run Windows 10 in S mode by default, which means youre limited to apps installed through the Microsoft Store (for security reasons primarily). However, I was informed at the product presentation that the user can make a one-time switch out of S mode. During the hands-on session I got a chance to play with the Surface Go. As soon as I approached one, I felt it looked exactly like the Surface Pro but stubbier and smaller, which is what Microsoft was going for. It felt extremely light in the hands when I lifted it and even more so when I tore the keyboard off its bottom edge. The device alone weighs only 520g, which is half of what most Ultrabooks out there weigh. The optional keyboard adds about 200g.

The magnesium surface of the well... Surface, felt smooth and grippy and the soft velvety back of the optional Type Cover keyboard even more so. On the top side I noticed a power button and a volume rocker. Around the sides I found a single USB Type-C port and a 3.5mm audio jack. There was, of course, that signature magnetic power port as well.

User Experience: Insufficient for a proper laptop

As I played with the Surface Go I noticed that the devices keyboard, touchpad, and display were too small for me to use conveniently. I made errors while typing frequently because the keys were placed too closely to one another. Whats more, I felt I had little space to scribble on the devices 10-inch PixelSense display. Plucked away from the dangling keyboard and stylus, the Surface Go felt good in the hands as a tablet. There was sufficient bezel around the display. So holding it like an iPad to take photos was an easy affair.

I cant say I was impressed with the demo devices performance because the Surface Go stammered every few seconds when I tried to enter some text in Microsoft Word. Things did not improve even after clearing out apps in Task Manager and performing a reboot. Other Office 365 apps like PowerPoint opened in under five seconds and a full warm boot did not take more than 40 seconds, which is not bad at all. Still, only a full review will tell us what performance is like on the Surface Go. For the moment, Im just going to point at the line in the Surface Gos spec sheet that says Intel Pentium, then to its price tag, and give you a suggestive wink.

First Impressions: Windows tablet experience is still work in progress

At the product presentation, the Microsoft representative stressed on the fact that the Surface Go was designed for use with the Surface Pen stylus as much as it was with the touchpad and keyboard. Suffice it to say that by the end of the presentation that it was clear Microsoft definitely wanted a piece of the market pie that the Apple iPad line-up is gobbling up quietly all by itself. Heres my problem with that aim: Microsoft isnt doing enough.

If it really wanted its customers to start scribbling on a fresh OneNote page right after purchase, Microsoft wouldve offered its Surface Pen stylus along with the petite ten-inch device without charging an extra Rs 9,500. I say this because, as a full-fledged laptop, the tiny Surface Go seems insufficient, and as a creators portable tablet, incomplete. Nonetheless, a comprehensive review will tell us if the Microsoft Surface Go is really worth the half a lakh it demands.The new iOS 12.1.2 update also addresses an issue that could affect connectivity in Turkey for the iPhone XR, XS and XS Max.

Highlights

iOS 12.1.2 fixes eSIM bugs on 2018 iPhone

Also brings fix for certain cellular connectivity issues

Apple is rolling out a new iOS 12.1.2 update to all users worldwide. The update is 381.6MB in size and brings with it some minor bug fixes, especially catering to the new crop of iPhones - iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.

The release notes for the iOS 12.1.2 update highlight bug fixes for eSIM activation on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. Additionally, Apple also notes that the update brings with it a fix for possible cellular connectivity issues on the 2018 iPhones in Turkey.

In India, carriers Reliance Jio and Airtel offer eSIM services for the new iPhones. While Reliance Jio offers eSIM services for both prepaid and postpaid subscribers, Airtel is currently only offering the service to its postpaid users.

Apple was also expected to rollout an update for iPhone users in China to address concerns about its compliance with the order that banned the import and sale of iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X in China. The update will reportedly tackle minor functionality of the two Qualcomm patents that Apple is said to be violating in China. It is possible that Apple is silently tweaking functionality for its Chinese users through this iOS 12.1.2 update.

Before this, Apple had released the iOS 12.1.1 update a few weeks back. The update brought with it changes to FaceTime in the form of a one-tap feature to switch between front and rear cameras. It also brought with it Haptic Touch for notifications on the iPhone XR and extended eSIM support to more carriers worldwide. Additionally, the previous update enabled capturing Live Photo during one-to-one FaceTime calls.

Comparatively, the iOS 12.1.2 update is not very user facing. To update to the latest version of iOS, users can head to Settings>>>General>>>Software Update on their iPhones and iPads. Make sure you have at least 50 percent battery before you start updating and hook onto WiFi to save data.Micromax had sent out an invite for an event last week hinting that the Infinity N-Series smartphone will have a notch.

After a lull, Micromax is again trying turn its fortune and is now all set to launch an Infinity N-Series smartphone in India today. Last week, the company had sent an invites to journalists hinting that the new smartphone will follow the trend and offer a notch on the display. The launch event will start at 12pm and those who wish to catch all the action can click on the link below to live watch the livestream of the event.

How to watch and what to expect?

Micromax will be live streaming the event on its official Facebook page. The company did not reveal any specifications or the pricing of the device but given Micromaxs launch trend, this could be a budget segment device. This N-Series device could toughen the competition in the segment which is dominated by Chinese players like Xiaomi, Honor, Oppo, Vivo among others. Micromax is also expected to jump on the AI bandwagon and could try to match or better the use of AI in cameras, battery, etc.

As hinted in the invite, the smartphone will have a notch and a near bezel-less display. Previous reports have suggested that the notch will house a selfie camera and an LED flash. There could be a dual camera setup on the back and a fingerprint sensor. The smartphone could be powered by a Snapdragon octa core processor and may be priced around Rs 15,000. This is all speculation and, as always, Digit.in advises its readers to wait for the final announcement from the company. We will be covering the event and you can visit our website for the related news.

The latest event comes on the heels of the launch of two entry-level smartphones with Android Go, the Bharat 5 Infinity Edition and Bharat 4 Diwali Edition. Micromax launched the Bharat 5 Infinity Edition sporting an 18:9 display priced at Rs 5,899 and the Bharat 4 Diwali sporting a 5-inch display priced at Rs 4,249. In August, Micromaxs sub-brand YU unveiled YU Ace with 4,000 mAh battery and the 5.45-inch 18:9 display.Subscriber content preview

SEATTLE  A small old apartment building at 814 Columbia St. has sold for a little over $3.8 million, according to King County records.

The seller was the nonprofit Community House Mental Health Agency, which acquired the property in 2005 for almost $925,000.





. . .ABB sells over 80% in Power Grids to Hitachi for $9.1 bn

Swiss engineering giant ABB is divesting over 80 per cent stake in Power Grids to Japanese conglomerate Hitachi for about $9.1 billion, in a move that would expand existing partnership and strengthen Power Grids as a global infrastructure leader with enhanced access to markets and financing.

ABB will initially retain 19.9 per cent in post-sale Power Grids to ensure transition with pre-defined exit option on 19.9 per cent equity at fair market value with floor price at 90 per cent of agreed enterprise value, exercisable by ABB three years after closing.

The enterprise value is agreed at $11 billion for 100 per cent of Power Grids, which is equivalent to an EV/op EBITA multiple of 11.2x1, ABB stated in a release.

ABB will initially realise a levered consideration of about 9.1 billion from the sale of 80.1 per cent of Power Grids, including pre-sale net leverage (intercompany loan net of cash transferred), before one-time transaction and separation related costs as well as cash tax impacts.

ABB plans to return 100 per cent of the estimated net cash proceeds of $7.6-7.8 billion from the sale of 80.1 per cent equity in Power Grids to shareholders in an expeditious and efficient manner through share buyback or similar mechanism.

Zurich-based ABB said post divestment of the Power Grids business it would modify the structure of its remaining businesses and focus on simplified digital industries for enhanced customer value and shareholder returns.

That reshuffle, which is expected to close by 2020, is expected to result in roughly $500 million annual run-rate cost reductions following $500 million in restructuring charges.

Businesses will run all customer-facing activities as well as business functions and territories, fostering ABBs entrepreneurial business culture by transfer of experienced country management resources.

ABB said its existing country and regional structures, including regional executive committee roles will be discontinued after closing of the transaction. Corporate activities will focus on group strategy, portfolio and performance management, capital allocation, core technologies and ABB Ability platform

To support our customers in a world of unprecedented technological change and digitalization, we must focus, simplify and shape our business for leadership. Todays actions will create a new ABB, a leader focused in digital industries, said ABB CEO, Ulrich Spiesshofer, adding, Power Grids will strengthen Hitachi as global leader in energy infrastructure and Hitachi will strengthen Power Grids position as a global leader in power grids.

Our shareholders will directly benefit through the return of the proceeds of the divestment. Building on our existing partnership announced in 2014, the initial joint venture will provide continuity for customers and our global team.

Today's announcement marks the beginning of a new chapter in ABB's history. Building on our technology and global talented employee base we will further strengthen our focus in digital industries, delivering competitive returns for shareholders, including our committed dividend policy, Peter Voser, chairman of ABB, said.

The joint venture will be headquartered in Switzerland, with Hitachi retaining the management team to ensure business continuity.

Starting in Q4 2018 until closing, ABB will report Power Grids in discontinued operations. As a consequence, ABB will record $350-400 million of stranded and other carve-out related costs, which are currently predominately recorded as part of the Power Grids cost base. These will now be recognized in ABBs corporate & other operational EBITA. ABB expects to eliminate the vast majority of these costs by deal closing by transferring them back to Power Grids. ABB expects approximately $200 million of charges in Q4 2018 related predominantly to the legacy EPC substation business reported in non-core corporate & other operational EBITA.

ABB expects to incur one-time non-operational transaction and separation related costs of $500-600 million. ABB anticipates $800-900 million related cash tax impact. The completion of the transaction is expected by first half of 2020, subject to regulatory approvals and fulfillment of closing conditions.

ABB's Power Grids business employs 36,000 people and had sales of $10.4 billion last year. It had an operating profit margin of 10.0 per cent in the third quarter, down 60 basis points from a year earlier.

ABBs new organization will provide each business with full operational ownership of products, functions, R&D and territories. The businesses will be the single interface to customers, maximizing proximity and speed.JLR may slash 5,000 jobs next year to cut cost

Tata owned Jaguar Land Rover is likely to cut up to 5,000 jobs as part of a 2.5-billion overhaul programme amidst a shrinking of market and uncertainties associated with the UK governments planned exit from the European Union, reports citing the Financial Times said.

JLR is expected to announce the cuts in the New Year. JLR had last month said it is adjusting vehicle production at its plant at Wolverhampton, central England, as a result of which 250 temporary jobs will be affected.

The company had also proposed a two-week production pause at the plant in December and had asked 500 workers to stay at home although they would continue to draw salaries during the period.

The British luxury carmaker, facing headwinds in home market, Europe and China, announced commissioning of a 1,50,000-units, 1.4-billion euro manufacturing facility in Nitra, Slovakia last month

Terming the external environment as challenging, the company said it is taking decisive actions to achieve the necessary operational efficiencies to safeguard long-term success.

JLR had earlier announced plans to cut costs by 1 billion, over an 18-month period, in response to deteriorating conditions, which led to its 90-million quarterly loss in September.

Jaguar Land Rover notes media speculation about the potential impact of its ongoing Change and Acceleration transformation programmes  these programmes aim to deliver 2.5 billion of cost, cash, and profit improvements, it said.

In April, the company announced cuts up to 1,000 temporary roles at its Solihull plant and temporary cuts to production schedules elsewhere.

While JLR saw its market shrinking as China demand stared fading, the company expects further negative impact from Brexit-related uncertainty on its operations.

In July, the company warned that a bad Brexit deal could cost the company as much as 1.2 billion in profit each year, putting 80 billion of further investment and jobs at risk.

Workers body Unite the Union said it was not aware of any further job losses beyond those already announced, and said it would press the carmaker for assurances over jobs and skills. The governments demonisation of diesel, its botched handling of Brexit and economic global uncertainty have seriously dented the hard work of Britains car workers in making their industry the jewel in the UKs manufacturing crown, said a spokesperson for the union.Next spectrum auction to coincide 5G rollout in H2 '19

The next round of telecom spectrum auctions will take place along with the roll-out of 5G services planned in the second half of next year, telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan has said.

She said the government expects to put in place the necessary ecosystem for 5G services by then, adding that telecom service providers would also be in a position to roll out 5G services if the auctions happen with a ready ecosystem.

Sundararajan was speaking on the sidelines of a workshop with officials of the states and union territories.

What we are saying is that the ecosystem for 5G services will be ready by the second half of next year, so we will be ready for the spectrum auctions for them. I am here talking only about 5G, and other spectrum auctions can happen simultaneously, she explained.

Trai has given preliminary recommendations, which the working committee at the Department of Telecommunications is looking at. The task force has also given a broader set of (spectrum) bands on which we have to work, Sundararajan said in New Delhi on Monday.

Sundarajan did not say when exactly would the auction or the spectrum rollout will take place, but said preliminary trials would soon start in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Trai had recently recommended auction of about 8,644 MHz of telecom radio waves with estimated base price of around Rs4,90,000 crore, including frequencies of 5G services.

The 5G committee of the telecom ministry has said about 6,000 MHz of spectrum can be made available for next-gen mobile services on an immediate basis.

The rollout of 5G services could bring in $120-billion in additional annual revenues for the government and create four-million new jobs by 2022, as per the National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP-2018).

The policy also targets to triple the mobile towers to 5 million by 2022 from around 1.8 million at present. However, right of way remains a concern and the government will work with State governments on this, she said.

AJ Paulraj, the Stanford University professor who is heading the High Level Forum on 5G, is here in India, Sundararajan said, adding there will be a lot of discussions around the NDCP in the next few days.

There will also be a Telecom Commission meet on Thursday to discuss various issues relating to BharatNet and broadband, she added.How a personality trait puts you at risk for cybercrime

Impulse online shopping, downloading music and compulsive email use are all signs of a certain personality trait that make you a target for malware attacks. New research from Michigan State University examines the behaviours  both obvious and subtle  that lead someone to fall victim to cybercrime involving Trojans, viruses, and malware.

"People who show signs of low self-control are the ones we found more susceptible to malware attacks," says Tomas Holt, professor of criminal justice and lead author of the research. "An individual's characteristics are critical in studying how cybercrime perseveres, particularly the person's impulsiveness and the activities that they engage in while online that have the greatest impact on their risk."

Low self-control, Holt explained, comes in many forms. This type of person shows signs of short-sightedness, negligence, physical versus verbal behavior and an inability to delay gratification.

"Self-control is an idea that's been looked at heavily in criminology in terms of its connection to committing crimes," Holt says. "But we find a correlation between low self-control and victimisation; people with this trait put themselves in situations where they are near others who are motivated to break the law."

The research, published in Social Science Computer Review, assessed the self-control of nearly 6,000 survey participants, as well as their computers' behaviour that could indicate malware and infection. To measure victimisation, Holt and his team asked participants a series of questions about how they might react in certain situations. For computer behaviour, they asked about their computer having slower processing, crashing, unexpected pop-ups and the homepage changing on their web browser.

"The internet has omnipresent risks," Holt says. "In an online space, there is constant opportunity for people with low self-control to get what they want, whether that is pirated movies or deals on consumer goods."

As Holt explains, hackers and cybercriminals know that people with low self-control are the ones who will be scouring the internet for what they want - or think they want - which is how they know what sites, files or methods to attack.

Understanding the psychological side of self-control and the types of people whose computers become infected with malware  and who likely spread it to others  is critical in fighting cybercrime, Holt said. What people do online matters, and the behavioral factors at play are entirely related to risks.

Computer scientists, Holt said, approach malware prevention and education from a technical standpoint; they look for new software solutions to block infections or messaging about the infections themselves. This is important, but it is also essential to address the psychological side of messaging to those with low self-control and impulsive behaviors.

"There are human aspects of cybercrime that we don't touch because we focus on the technical side to fix it," he said. "But if we can understand the human side, we might find solutions that are more effective for policy and intervention."

Looking ahead, Holt hopes to help break the silos between computer and social sciences to think holistically about fighting cybercrime.

"If we can identify risk factors, we can work in tandem with technical fields to develop strategies that then reduce the risk factors for infection," Holt said. "It's a pernicious issue we're facing, so if we can attack from both fronts, we can pinpoint the risk factors.A special fund-raising GAA game is to be held in Ardara on Saturday, 12th January in aid of Owen McConnell and his family.

Reigning Ulster champions Donegal will take on the Ulster Club Champions, Gaoth Dobhair at Pearse Park, Ardara with throw-in at 6 p.m.

This will be followed by a dance in the Nesbitt Arms Hotel at 10.30 with music by local artists.

Owen McConnell from Ardara lives in Mahopac, New York with his wife Joanne (also Ardara) and children Finian (12), Mia (11,) Roma (8) and Kyia (6).

In October last their world was turned upside down when Owen was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung, Lymph Node and Bone Cancer. Owen is currently undergoing long term treatment and a fund-raising campaign has been initiated to help the family fund his ongoing medical expenses.

Owen is well known in the Donegal Community in New York and through his construction business has provided employment for numerous young Donegal lads who have travelled there for the summer to play with Donegal New York GAA Club.

A group of friends and CLG Ard an Ratha have organised a game and dance with all proceeds to go towards the fund raising campaign and it is hoped that a big crowd will turn out to view what is a very attractive match as Donegal gear up for the upcoming National League campaign and Gaoth Dobhair get ready to face Corofin in the All-Ireland Club semi-final on February 16th in Carrick-on-Shannon.

A bank account has been set up for the Owen McConnell fund at AIB Killybegs , details as follows.

Acc Number 31584184

BIC - AIBKIE2D

IBAN - IE81AIBK93730431584184A career which began with a 1989 three-month summer job at a small local hotel has seen a Donegal woman rise to the pinnacle of the Irish hospitality sector.

Managing Director at Harveys Point Hotel, Deirdre McGlone, has been honoured as a thought leader in tourism and hospitality by the prestigious All-Ireland Business Foundation after overseeing the growth of Harveys Point from 20 bedrooms and a small restaurant to a luxurious resort with 64 palatial suites.

And the Foundation has further recognised Harveys Point by naming it among the first businesses in the country to achieve their new quality mark, the Business All-Star, signifying they meet the highest standards of service and trust.

Companies and business leaders from across Ireland were honoured with recognition as All-Ireland Business All-Stars, Thought Leaders and Lifetime Achievers by the All-Ireland Business Foundation.

The achievements of 36 companies and eight business leaders were celebrated at an All-Ireland Business Foundation ceremony in Croke Park.

The All-Ireland Business All-Star network facilitates indigenous Irish companies which have attained their independent quality mark meet to discuss ideas.

Their independently verified standard mark for indigenous businesses is based on rigorous selection criteria and signifies that a business has met the highest standards.

The adjudication panel is chaired by Dr Briga Hynes of the Kemmy Business School at the University of Limerick and Kieran Ring, CEO of the Global Institute of Logistics.

The All-Ireland Business Foundation will host the All-Ireland Business Summit on May 1 and 2 next year.

At the Croke Park event, Minister of State for Trade, Employment and Business, Pat Breen, said the commitment to quality of the small to medium enterprise sector was critical to the Irish economy.

Ireland has the fastest growing economy in Europe and one of the fastest rates of business start-ups.

Small to medium enterprises make up 99% of Irish businesses and their importance to the Irish economy can never be understated.

I am very proud of all the businesses here today, their commitment to quality, as evidenced by gaining coveted All-Ireland Business All-Star accreditation, will ensure Irish SMEs continue to grow,  said Minister Breen.

John McNamara of Limerick-based Business Cost Management was recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award, whilst Thought Leader Award recipients also included Justin J Small of Kildare-based management softwear specialists, Monread and Rachel ODonnell of Galway digital agency, The UX Studio.Kumar intends to move an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Delhi high court verdict.

Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was convicted of murder and rioting during the clashes that broke out in the wake of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination by her Sikh bodyguards. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, 73, was on Monday found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and sentenced to jail for the remainder of his natural life by the Delhi high court.

Reversing trial courts acquittal of Kumar, the high courts two-judge bench of justices S. Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said that the riots were a crime against humanity perpetrated by those who enjoyed political patronage.

The judges said though it was undeniable that it took over three decades to punish the accused in the case, it was important to assure the victims that despite the challenges faced by the court, truth will prevail.

It is important to assure those countless victims waiting patiently that despite the challenges, truth will prevail and justice will be done, the bench said.

Calling it an extraordinary case, the Delhi HC observed that in normal scheme of things it would have been impossible to proceed against Kumar as there appeared to be ongoing large-scale efforts to suppress cases against him by not even recording them.

Even if they were registered they werent investigated properly and investigations which saw any progress werent carried to logical end of a charge sheet actually being filed. Even defence doesnt dispute that as far as FIR is concerned, a closure report had been prepared, said the HC.

The bench said the accused were brought to justice primarily on account of the courage and perseverance of three eyewitnesses  Jagdish Kaur, her cousin Jagsher Singh and Nirpreet Kaur.

Jagdish Kaurs husband, son and three cousins  Kehar Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Raghuvender Singh, Narender Pal Singh and Kuldeep Singh  were all killed. Nirpreet Kaur had witnessed the gurdwara being burnt down and her father being burnt alive by the raging mobs. Convicting Kumar for criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity, acts against communal harmony and defiling and destruction of a gurdwara, the high court said Kumar's life imprisonment will be for the remainder of his life and asked him to surrender by December 31. It also asked him not to leave Delhi before that.

Kumar intends to move an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Delhi high court verdict.

The bench said that the 1984 riots "answer the description" of crimes against humanity as, in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's assassination, there was "mass killing" of Sikhs in Delhi and the rest of the country, "engineered by political actors with the assistance of the law enforcement agencies".

Calling it an "enormous human tragedy" in which 2,733 Sikhs were "brutally murdered" in a "communal frenzy", the court said, "In India, the riots in early November 1984 in which in Delhi alone 2,733 Sikhs and nearly 3,350 all over the country were brutally murdered was neither the first instance of a mass crime nor, tragically, the last."

Calling for a different approach to deliver justice in such cases, the court noted that India has been no stranger to mass killings since the time of Partition in 1947 and the common feature of each has been the "targeting of minorities" in attacks "spearheaded by the dominant political actors" and "facilitated by the law enforcement agencies".

"The mass killings in Punjab, Delhi and elsewhere during the country's Partition remains a collective painful memory as is the killings of innocent Sikhs in November 1984. There has been a familiar pattern of mass killings in Mumbai in 1993, in Gujarat in 2002, in Kandhamal, Odisha in 2008, in Muzaffarnagar in UP in 2013 to name a few," the court noted.

The case against Sajjan Kumar, who was a Member of Parliament at that time, relates to killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar part-I area in Palam Colony in South West Delhi on November 1-2, 1984, and burning down of a Gurudwara in Raj Nagar part II. The Delhi HC upheld the conviction of five other accused - former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal, Girdhari Lal, former MLAs Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokharin - and directed then to surrender by December 31, 2018.

Kumar and others were sent for trial in 2010 and three years later the lower court convicted five of the accused but acquitted the Congress leader of all charges. It awarded life term to Khokhar, Bhagmal and Lal, and a three-year jail term to Yadav and Kishan Khokhar. Following the high court verdict, life term of Khokhar, Bhagmal and Lal has been upheld and the sentence of Yadav and Kishan Khokar has been enhanced to 10 years in jail.

Speaking to the media after the verdict, Jagdish Kaur said, "He (Sajjan Kumar) should be killed like he killed our families."

She further said that there was a lot of pressure on her when she had come to the court as a witness.

Nirpreet Kaur hailed the verdict and said that it was the first time that a "big fish" had been caught.A Dundalk mum is facing a harrowing Christmas after her partner and the father of five of her children was deported earlier this month.



Amanda Crowe has set up an online petition on Change.org to appeal to the Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan to let her husband Mark Morris return home from South Africa.

Mr Morris, a South African national, was deported on December 7th. According to a media reports he was detained at Dundalk Garda station the day before and was told he must sign on there on a monthly basis as he had a deportation order dating back to 2009.

Speaking on Change.org petition page Mark's wife Amanda, who says his deportation was illegal wrote: My partner and childrens father was deported from Ireland this week. Myself and the kids are distraught.

My partner was the main carer for the six children as I was studying full time. Two of the children have disabilities. Ireland has been his home for the past 11 years. We need him back here where he belongs.

Commenting on the online petition Jackie Robertson said: Who in their right minds would take a father from their kids and partner? Also, he had been living here for 11 years.

The couple have twins aged three and a seven-month-old baby. Mr Morris came to Ireland in 1999 with a work permit to work in a factory in Co Cavan. He had to return to South Africa in 2001 and came back to Ireland in 2007 following an invitation from his brother who is a legal resident in Ireland.

South Africans can stay in Ireland without a Visa for up to three months. However, Mr Morris overstayed his welcome and was issued with a deportation order in 2009.

You can view the petition at: www.change.org/p/department-of-justice-and-equality-ireland-get-mark-back-to-irelandBuilding work is due to begin at the WuXi Biologics biopharmaceuticals plant at the IDA Ireland Dundalk Science and Technology Park just off the M1 motorway at Mullagharlin, Dundalk.

The go-ahead for site works follows the grant of planning permission for the new facility by Louth County Council.

In a company newsletter, Brendan McGrath, Ireland Site Head and VP Manufacturing at WuXi Biologics said: "The grant of planning permission is a significant step forward in WuXi Biologics 325m investment for Dundalk. Given that this is WuXi Biologics first ever manufacturing investment in Europe and the largest project the company has undertaken outside China, we are delighted to have received such a warm and positive welcome from the local community."

The new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility will create 400 high value jobs for Dundalk over the coming years and 700 jobs during the construction phase between now and the end of 2020.

Mr McGrath added: "WuXi Biologics participated in the Careers & Industry Fair in Dundalk Institute of Technology last month to promote the new local job opportunities to DkIT students. We want to maximise the positive impact of this exciting new development for WuXi Biologics and Ireland and to see local people working for us in Dundalk and availing of other opportunities in WuXi Biologics globally."15 days prior to mishap hospital had failed safety test. Firemen too had found security system to be inadequate.

Fire broke out at ESIC Kamgar hospital at Marol in suburban Mumbai on Monday. (Photo: PTI)

Mumbai: A 6-month-old baby was among 8 killed after massive fire broke out at ESIC Kamgar hospital at Marol in suburban Mumbai on Monday, the police said.

Six people were killed on Monday and two died on Tuesday morning, taking the toll of dead to 8, news agency ANI reported.

"Altogether 176 persons, including three firemen, are now being treated in city hospitals," an official from Disaster Management Unit of BMC said.

Among the admitted, over 25 are critical while 26 have been discharged after primary treatment, he added.

(Photo: Mrugesh Bandiwadekar)

The fire brigade received a call around 4 pm about the blaze at the government-run hospital, an official from the city civic body's disaster management cell said following which 10 fire engines were rushed to the spot to bring the blaze under control and evacuate the patients.

16 ambulances were also rushed to the spot for immediate assistance.

The patients were shifted to civic-run Cooper Hospital at Vile Parle, Seven Hills, Hindu Hruday Samrat Balasaheb Thackerey Hospital, Jogeshwari and Holy Spirit Hospital.

"The cause of the fire is not known yet. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) is responsible for the fire audits, whether they carried out fire audits or not, that will be investigated," Mumbai Mayor V Mahadeshwar told news agency ANI.

However, 15 days prior to the mishap the hospital had failed the safety test. The firemen too had found the security system to be inadequate.

Fire Officer of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), MV Ogale said that the hospital did not obtain a final No Objection Certificate (NOC).

"They (hospital authorities) have applied for the final NOC but compliances were not in line with the provisions of the act and hence they have not been given final NOC by us. Our building proposal department has also not given final occupation certificate," Ogale told media on Monday.

Panic struck the hospital soon after the fire broke out.

A woman identified as Manisha jumped from the third floor to escape from the flames. She landed on the second floor and fractured her right leg. She has been treated in ICU at Cooper Hospital and is recuperating.

A minor, Sushmita Ashok Sutar (15), from Boisar was searching for her sister Anusha (24) at Cooper Hospital. Talking to The Asian Age she said, I was lost and couldnt see anything due to the dense smoke. I was trapped and I was about to jump but someone held me back and got me here. I am unable to find my family.

(Photo: Mrugesh Bandiwadekar)

Dr Shmruti Khetala, head of Cooper Hospitals medicine unit, where the patients have been admitted, said, Most patients are suffering from breathing illnesses since they are suffering from smoke inhalation. All other patients are out of danger and are recuperating.

While the exact cause of the blaze was being ascertained, the preliminary report said that building material, kept at the ground floor of the hospital for renovation work caught fire, the Ministry of Labour and Employment and Director General said in the statement.

(Photo: Mrugesh Bandiwadekar)Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA Tej Pratap Yadav holding a meeting with party leaders in Patna has brought some relief in Lalu camp.

Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA Tej Pratap Yadav holding a meeting with party leaders in Patna has brought some relief in Lalu camp.

Tej Pratap, who has been staying away from active politics since October, is also likely to meet his father Lalu Yadav and discuss the current political situation in Bihar.

On Sunday, Tej Pratap had announced that he would hold a rally of youths in February. Speaking to reporters Tej Pratap Yadav said that I have been trying to mobilise youths for a massive rally which is to be held early next year most likely in February. The date will be finalised soon.

Sources said, Tej Pratap holding meetings and announcing a massive rally could be an attempt to position himself as a key player in RJD ahead of 2019 general elections.

Tej Pratap Yadav had left Patna in November after submitting an application in a family court seeking a divorce from his wife Aishwarya Rai.

He has also been keeping a low profile for the past one year on account of his differences with his younger brother Tejashwi Yadav who has been trying to run RJD after his father Lalu Yadav was sentenced in fodder scam cases.

Sources said that differences between both the brothers have been brewing ever since Lalu Yadav handed over the reins of RJD to his younger son Tejashwi after he was convicted in fodder scam cases.

We will defeat all our enemies in the elections as I have returned with the blessings of Lord Krishna, Tej Pratap Yadav said.

In June he had created a buzz with a tweet signalling retirement from politics.

B2B Lead Generation Service

Reach key decision makers with sales-ready leads that shorten your sales process. Move the needle by delivering funnel qualified leads to your sales team. Learn more.

Chinese sellers have been using a number of underhanded techniques to boost their global rankings and profits on Amazon, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Grabbing the high ground on a search results page is critical for any seller trying to rise above the din created by the more than 500 million products offered on Amazon, which is why some sellers feverishly search for ways to get an edge in the rankings.

"To get one of those spots, some sellers are ready to do anything -- fake reviews, artificial sales and even bribes," WSJ Clement Burge said in a video report.

Unscrupulous sellers use a variety of techniques to vault over competitors in Amazon rankings, according to the report. One of those methods is to undermine the reputation of a rival's products. Negative reviews can cause serious damage to sales.

"Every day you wake up and the first thing you do is check in your reviews," Amazon seller Meir Simhi said in the video report. "You want to know if you're still in the business or not."

It's easy to manipulate Amazon's automated system to hurt competitors, Burge maintained. Flagging a product as "dangerous" or "fake" can get it suspended immediately, for example.

That happened to Simhi two years ago during the Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend.

"I wake up in the morning one day, I look at my computer and I see zero sales. The reason was my main products were suspended," he said. "It happens all the time. For me, it can cost tens of thousands of U.S. dollars a year."

Eternal Problem

Product reviews are an important component of getting a choice spot in Amazon search results. The more positive reviews a product receives, the higher it rises in the rankings, so unprincipled sellers will seed their products with manufactured positive reviews.

"There's always been a fake review problem, but it extends beyond Amazon," said Greg Sterling, vice president of strategy and insight for the Local Search Association, a not-for-profit association of companies engaged in local and location-based marketing.

"It's a problem that's existed since reviews began appearing online and continues today, especially now that there's a lot of evidence that reviews are very influential in consumer buying and rankings," he told the E-Commerce Times.

Although Amazon suspends sellers it catches generating fake reviews, that can be like a game of whack-a-mole.

"Many Chinese sellers have multiple selling accounts," Burge pointed out, "so if they get banned from one, they'll just switch over to another. And if that one gets banned, they'll just make even more."

Paralyzing Number of Choices

Just how influential reviews are to consumers was highlighted in a survey conducted by Cone Communications in 2011. Four out of five participating consumers reported changing their mind about purchasing a recommended product or service based solely on negative information they found online.

Eighty-seven percent of participants agreed that a favorable review online confirmed their decision to purchase a product, the survey also found.

Reviews not only point consumers to products, but also can determine if a product ever appears on a consumer's radar at all.

"The way buyers rely on reviews has grown over time. For example, you can sort by reviews," Sterling said.

"People can exclude products in a category that falls below a certain 'star' review threshold, so there's a lot at stake for manufacturers, he noted.

"Consumers do that to narrow down the available choices, because in a shopping environment where there are thousands and thousands of choices, you need to find a way to screen your volume of options," Sterling added. "Otherwise, it can become paralyzing."

Alleged Bribery

Another factor contributing to rankings is sales. Hucksters have found a way to game that metric, too. Companies can commission a third-party to buy their products and inflate sales figures.

"Some professionals told us they even sent empty boxes to random U.S. addresses and claimed genuine transactions," WSJ's Burge noted.

If all else fails, there's old-fashioned bribery.

Amazon currently is investigating some of its employees in China to see if they've been accepting bribes to give advantages to sellers, Burge said.

Sellers have paid bribes ranging from US$80 to $2,000 to Amazon employees to delete negative reviews, restore banned sellers' accounts, and obtain restricted Amazon data that will help them boost sales, he noted.

Working Hard to Foil Bad Actors

"We work hard every day to earn and keep trust from our customers and sellers," Amazon said in a statement furnished to the E-Commerce Times by spokesperson Cecilia Fan.

"Bad actors that try to break that trust and abuse our systems make up a tiny fraction of activity on our site. We use sophisticated tools, including machine learning, to combat them, and we are making it increasingly difficult for bad actors to hide," the company maintained.

"We block bad actors before they reach our site, and we work with sellers and law enforcement to hold them accountable by withholding funds and pursuing civil and criminal penalties," Amazon pointed out.

"These bad actors show a flagrant disregard for our community, our policies, and in some cases, the law, and do not reflect the flourishing community of honest entrepreneurs that make up the vast majority of our sellers," the company added.

Because of the volume of work needed to thwart bad actors, automation is a necessity, but it can be a boon for hucksters.

"Automation will lead to a lot of loopholes," Howard Thai, who specializes in optimizing Amazon rankings, observed in Burge's report.

"Their system right now is very vulnerable," seller Simhi noted. "They don't do enough, and many sellers are getting hurt."

A Matter of Trust

More artificial intelligence may be necessary, not less, if Amazon wants to protect the innocent and nail the guilty, suggested Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, an advisory services firm in Bend, Oregon.

"Amazon needs to implement deep learning-based protection for this, because the numbers are so high and the efforts to game the Amazon system so pronounced," he told the E-Commerce Times.

"Otherwise, they are likely to tag -- accidentally -- legitimate sellers, and not catch the most aggressive and innovative cheaters," Enderle added.

Amazon's existing AI systems aren't smart enough to do that, he said.

"One of the advantages Amazon has over its competitors is it has a very strong brand. People trust Amazon," LSA's Sterling observed.

"If this becomes a problem with too much visibility, it will impact Amazon's brand, and it will impact consumer behavior," he continued.

"Much like Yelp," said Enderle, "if you lose trust in Amazon, you are likely to fall back on brick-and-mortar stores where you can again touch and test before you buy."

John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John.



Enterprise IT Lead Generation Services

Fuel Your Pipeline. Close More Deals. Our full-service marketing programs deliver sales-ready leads. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee! Learn more.

Google hasn't released consumers from its filter bubble -- the package of personalized search results it delivers -- despite having promised to do so, according to study results DuckDuckGo released Tuesday.

DuckDuckGo's findings:

Most participants saw results unique to them, which could not be explained by changes in location, time, by being logged into Google, or by Google testing algorithm changes with a small subset of users;

On the first page of search results, Google included links for some participants that it did not include for others, even when logged out and in private browsing mode;

Results within the news and videos in-boxes varied significantly. Participants were shown different sources, even after accounting for location; and

Private browsing mode and being logged out of Google offered very little filter bubble protection.

Bing rolls social results into its search results. Amazon uses Bing for its FireOS devices, and its own A9 search engine for products.

DuckDuckGo focused on Google because "Google is the monopoly provider for search by a landslide, with over 90 percent market share worldwide, and more than 95 percent in many countries," said DuckDuckGo Community Manager Daniel Davis.

"As such, we focused on them to start, though we would love to see further research in this area," he told TechNewsWorld.

Although DuckDuckGo is a Google competitor, "their arguments stand scrutiny," said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO of Vivaldi.

"Anyone that does a search comparison will see that for themselves," he told TechNewsWorld.

Vivaldi earlier this year became the first browser to enable DuckDuckGo as the default search engine in its Private Windows.

DuckDuckGo's Methods

For DuckDuckGo's study, 87 volunteers across the United States searched Google on June 24, 2018, at 9 p.m. ET, using identical search terms.

Seventy-six of them used desktops and the remaining 11 used mobile devices.

They first searched in private browsing (incognito) mode while logged out of Google, then in normal mode.

The data is available for download in two parts: basic non-identifiable participant data, and raw data from the search results.

The code DuckDuckGo wrote to analyze the data is open source and available on its GitHub repository.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

Most people saw results customized for them.

In private browsing mode, logged out, a search for "gun control" resulted in 62 variations, and 52 of 76 participants saw unique results. In normal mode, 58 variations were served up, and 45 of the 76 participants saw unique results;

In private browsing mode, logged out, a search for "immigration" resulted in 57 variations, with 43 of 76 participants seeing unique results. In normal mode, there were nine variations, with unique results for 48 of 76 participants;

In private browsing mode, logged out, a search for "vaccinations" returned 73 variations, with unique results for 70 of 76 participants. In normal mode, there were 73 variations, with 70 of 76 participants seeing unique results.

- click image to enlarge -

DuckDuckGo looked only at websites' top-level domains.

To count variants of results, DuckDuckGo noted the order of the major elements: the organic (regular) links, the news (top stories) infobox, and the videos infobox. It ignored ads, sections containing related searches, and other infoboxes.

Results from mobile devices were excluded when variations were counted because there can be significant variations in the number of infoboxes displayed by mobile and desktop devices.

Google search results typically have 10 organic links, but, in private browsing mode, logged out of Google and with local domains replaced with "localdomain.com," DuckDuckGo found the following:

"Gun Control": 19 different domains;

"Immigration": 15 different domains; and

"Vaccinations": 22 different domains.

"Some people were shown a very unusual set of results relative to the other participants -- offered some domains seen by no one else," DuckDuckGo's Davis said.

"If you were one of these people, you would have no way of knowing what you're missing," he pointed out.

- click image to enlarge -

The problem is "particularly pernicious when searching for political topics," Davis said.

If undecided voters get biased information when conducting research on political topics, the search engine manipulation effect can shift the voting preferences of undecided voters by at least 20 percent.

"The issue with filter bubbles is that we live in an echo chamber, which means we only see, hear and act on what we prefer to," observed Ray Wang, principal analyst at Constellation Research.

"We never address the hard issues," he told TechNewsWorld.

The tradeoff is personalization and convenience, Wang said.

"Most folks want things tailored and customized to their needs. Advertisers want to make money on clicks. So it continues."

Questions of Time and Place

Search results can change over time, with the inclusion of time-sensitive links, for example. That factor was controlled for by having everyone search at the same time.

Location can impact search results -- by including local news articles, for example. To control for that, DuckDuckGo manually checked all links, comparing them to the volunteer's city and state, and replacing all of them with the same placeholder -- "localdomain.com" for organic links and "local source" for infoboxes.

So, if two users' results differed only by a different local domain in the same slot, that would not count as different. However, the adjustment did not significantly affect overall variation, DuckDuckGo found.

The study's methodology and conclusions are flawed, because they are based on the assumption that any difference in search results is based on personalization, which is not true, Google told 9to5Google.

Time and location are among the factors that can lead to slight differences, and the DuckDuckGo study does not appear to have controlled for those two factors effectively, Google argued.

"The study seems to account for time and location fairly well by [using] a common domain," Constellation's Wang said. DuckDuckGo "did a reasonable job."

Privacy? What Privacy?

Participants did not see the same results in private browsing mode. When randomly comparing people's private modes to each other, there was more than double the variation than when comparing the private mode and normal mode results for the same individual, DuckDuckGo noted.

This shows that Google tailors search results regardless of browsing mode, DuckDuckGo warned.

However, "there is a slight possibility that the algorithm may be doing this and Google has not accounted for unintentional bias," Wang suggested.

"I believe Google is trying to provide the best possible search results, and that this is an unintended consequence of that work," Vivaldi's von Tetzchner said.

Possible Solutions

Google "should offer an unfiltered and unbiased search results page that is easily accessible, such as when logged out, in incognito mode, or with the 'Do Not Track' browser setting turned on," DuckDuckGo's Davis suggested. "We currently offer such unfiltered search results for all users regardless of their browser configuration."

Collecting data helps Google show consumers targeted ads, but "we show advertising based on individual search terms," Davis noted. "We've been profitable since 2014, and it's possible to thrive as a business without collecting or storing personal data."

Consumers should "use non-Google products" and reduce their digital footprint as much as possible, he suggested.

"I use mostly Firefox and DuckDuckGo because of the privacy aspects," Constellation's Wang said.

Search engines should provide an "absolute" mode, he suggested, which is "what everyone sees instead of what your customized mode may look like."

Richard Adhikari has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2008. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, mobile technologies, CRM, databases, software development, mainframe and mid-range computing, and application development. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including Information Week and Computerworld. He is the author of two books on client/server technology. Email Richard.

Teenagers are taking up vaping nicotine and marijuana at an unprecedented clip, even as Generation Z continues to move away from drugs and tobacco use more generally.

More than 1 in 3 high school seniors reported having tried an electronic nicotine vaporizer such as a Juul, and more than 1 in 5 has vaped nicotine in the last month, according to the 2018 Monitoring the Future survey. The nationally representative survey program has tracked drug and alcohol use nationally among 12th graders for more than four decades and among 8th and 10th graders for nearly three decades. But vaping has only been part of the survey since 2015.

The percentage of students who reported vaping nicotine in the last 30 days doubled or nearly doubled among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders since 2017, representing some of the largest single-year jumps ever recorded in the survey. Vaping single-handedly caused a significant increase in recent nicotine use among 12th graders, from less than 24 percent in 2017 to 28.5 percent this year. By contrast, high schoolers use of other nicotine productscigarettes and cigars, chewing tobacco, or hookahs among themfell from last year.

Vaping is reversing hard-fought declines in the number of adolescents who use nicotine, said Richard Miech, the principal investigator of the study for the University of Michigans Institute for Social Research, in a statement. The policies and procedures in place to prevent youth vaping clearly havent worked. ... Because the vaping industry is quickly evolving, new additional vaping-specific strategies may well be needed in the years ahead in order to keep vaping devices out of the hands of youth.

Last month, the federal Food and Drug Administration moved to tighten age-verifications for buying cigarettes and vaping devices, and restrict the sale of flavored nicotine liquids to stores with adults-only areas , removing them from most convienence stores. And a leading producer of vaping devices said it would change its marketing campaigns to avoid targeting young people.

In recent years, school administrators have scrambled to counter the spread of vaping in general and the specific popularity of Juul, a cheap, USB-sized vaping product that has come to dominate the market. One Juul cartridge contains about as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes and comes in kid-friendly flavors such as caramel and mango.

In fact, the survey found that, among grades 8, 10, and 12 combined , students also increasingly vape nicotine-free flavored liquid, suggesting that they either dont know what is in a vaping device or that they want to seem as though they are using a drug without actually doing so.

Source: 2018 Monitoring the Future.

The easy concealability of the latest vaping devices, Miech said, better allows youth to vape without adults knowing about it. If we want to prevent youth from using drugs, including nicotine, vaping will warrant special attention in terms of policy, education campaigns, and prevention programs in the coming years.

Eighty percent of 12th graders and 46 percent of 8th graders reported they could easily get vaping devices, more this year than last year. The social stigma against vaping likewise has fallen in the last year, though a large majority of students at all three grades still disapprove of doing so and consider it harmful.

Other Drug Use

While vaping is an increasing concern for educators, the survey also suggests its growth is an anomaly amid long-term declines in many of the drugs that previously plagued middle and high schools. Since 2017, more 12th graders reported they could easily get hallucinogens such as LSD, as well as crack and powdered forms of cocaine. However, use of those drugs was flat or fell slightly during that time. And compared to a decade ago, fewer students across the grades reported binge-drinking (or getting drunk at all), smoking cigarettes, or using steroids, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines, or the drug known as ecstasy or MDMA.

The survey is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.

Related Video

JUULs are easy to hide, have a flavored smell, and dont emit much vapor. So how is a teacher to know if a student is JUULing, or vaping, in class?A panel created by President Donald Trump to help prevent future school shootings called Tuesday for getting rid of Obama administration guidance aimed at making sure students of color and students with disabilities arent disciplined more harshly than their peers.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who leads the Federal Commission on School Safety, said the report encourages schools to seriously consider the option of partnering with local law enforcement in the training and arming of school personnel. But the report did not suggest that arming school staffsomething supported by Trumpbecome a federal mandate.

Instead, it recommends that districts offer incentives for retired law enforcement officials, military veterans, and others with firearms training to serve as educators, as well as ease teacher certification so that they can more easily join the profession.

In what appears to be the only nod to gun control, the 180-page report endorses state adoption of extreme risk protection orders, which temporarily restrict access to firearms from individuals found to be a danger to themselves or others.

See Also: 7 Big Takeaways From Trump Commissions School Safety Report

The report also endorses better access to mental health services so that people can receive the treatment they need, DeVos said in an early-morning call with reporters. That includes working with Congress to update health and school privacy laws.

And it calls on journalists to be more responsible in their coverage of school shootings and not to publish images or names of the perpetrators, DeVos said on the call.

But the commission did not recommend new age restrictions for the purchase of firearmsone of the few gun-related issues Trump asked the panel to consider in response to calls for gun control after the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

Later in the day, Trump, DeVos, and the other commission members met with survivors and families of victims from the Parkland shootings, as well as from the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Trump said most school shootings take less than five minutes, which is why its critical to have armed personnel available at a moments notice, he added. These are people, teachers in many cases, that are the highest-trained that you can get. People that are natural to firearms. People who know how to handle them. People that have great experience and on top of the experience have taken courses.  Also they love our students  and in loving our students, they want to fight for our students.

Process Concerns

The commission originally consisted of three cabinet secretaries in addition to DeVos: Alex Azar, the secretary of Health and Human Services; Kirstjen M. Nielsen, the secretary of Homeland Security; and Jeff Sessions, the attorney general. (Sessions resigned in November, and his former chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, is now serving as acting attorney general and as a member of the commission.)

About the Federal Commission on School Safety President Donald Trump set up the Federal Commission on School Safety in March 2018 in the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., which left 17 people dead. Trump appointed U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to chair the commission, which spent months holding formal meetings, field visits with invited speakers and experts, and listening sessions with the public in Washington and in seven states around the country. Members

Chair: Betsy DeVos, U.S. Secretary of Education

Matthew Whitaker, Acting Attorney General of the United States (replaced former Attorney General Jeff Sessions)

Alex Azar, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services

Kirstjen M. Nielsen, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Mission

Quickly providing meaningful and actionable recommendations to keep students safe at school. These recommendations will include a range of issues, like social emotional support, recommendations on effective school safety infrastructure, discussion on minimum age for firearms purchases, and the impact that videogames and the media have on violence.

From the get-go, education advocates were concerned about the safety commissions mandate and its process for garnering feedback from the K-12 community. And they worried that the four Trump cabinet officials wouldnt be able to consider gun safety issues outside of a political context, and didnt have any hands-on experience in schools. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate education committee, even sent a letter to DeVos asking how much sway the National Rifle Association had on the panels activities and mission.

The panel set up an email address to solicit ideas from the public and held four listening sessions around the country, at which members of the public could sign up to speak. One was at the U.S. Department of Educations headquarters in Washington. The other three were in states Trump easily won in 2016: Alabama, Kentucky, and Wyoming. At least one of those statesWyomingallow school employees to carry firearms on school grounds, as long as they have a permit and permission from district leadership.

The commission also held field hearings to hear from educators and experts on topics like positive behavior interventions and supports or PBIS, a system of supports and strategies meant to combat behavior problems. The commission members also visited rural districts that arm educators.

DeVos said the commission, which issued some 100 individual policy recommendations, sought input from educators, community members, law enforcement experts, and others in nearly every state and reviewed hundreds of comments.

This report is without equal. Without equal in the last 40 years. Without equal in the past 18 years in its significance, originality, and its comprehensive review of the issue, a White House official told reporters.

Discipline Guidance

The 2014 discipline guidancejointly issued by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justiceput schools on notice that they may be found in violation of federal civil rights laws if they enforce intentionally discriminatory rules or if their policies lead to disproportionately higher rates of discipline for students in one racial group, even if those policies were written without discriminatory intent.

See Also: What the End of Obama-Era Discipline Guidance Means for Schools

Both of Obamas education secretariesArne Duncan and John B. King, Jr.quickly blasted any move to rescind that guidance.

Once again, the Trump administration turns its back on our most vulnerable and underserved students, they wrote Tuesday. Todays recommendation to roll back guidance that would protect students from unfair, systemic school discipline practices is beyond disheartening. It is also shameful that this administration has chosen to ignore students, educators, families, and advocates who have repeatedly asked to keep this guidance in place.

But a White House staffer defended the decision.

One of the things that the commission was concerned with what was the recurring narrative that teachers in the classroom or students in the hallways and on campus were afraid because individuals who had a history of anti-social, or in some instances, aggressive, trending toward violent behavior, were left unpunished or were left unchecked, said a White House official in explaining the recommendation.

DeVos and her team were already considering scrapping the guidance, even before the Parkland massacre. But the issue became part of the safety panels deliberations, in part because in Floridas Broward County school district, where Parkland is located, an alternative discipline program had served as a example when the Obama administration announced its directive.

The PROMISE discipline program, created in 2013, required Broward County schools to refer students to an alternative disciplinary program instead of law enforcement for a list of nonviolent offenses. The accused Parkland shooter, Nikolas Cruz, was referred to the program for three days after he damaged a faucet in his middle school restroom. But it is not clear if he attended.

A state panel created to investigate the shooting said in July that the PROMISE program had no bearing on the outcome and did not affect the gunmans ability to purchase firearms, as some had speculated.

Critics of the Obama discipline guidance say the document has had a chilling effect on local decisionmaking. Racial differences in discipline rates cant entirely be explained by different treatment in schools, those critics contend. They argue black students are more likely to be exposed to out-of-school factors, like poverty, which can cause them to misbehave more.

Some educators testifying before the safety commission urged the panel to scrap the guidance.

The schools can be the repository of some student criminals, Judy Kidd, the president of the North Carolina Classroom Teachers Association, a political organization for educators meant to provide a counterbalance to the teachers unions, said at a July commission hearing in Washington.

But supporters of the guidance say it has been instrumental in protecting the civil rights of students who are often overlooked. And the directive has motivated states and districts to re-examine their disciplinary practices, making changes that have benefited all students, they say.

To be sure, school districts and states can continue the discipline policies theyve set up to respond to the guidance, even if it is rescinded.

Tynisha Jointer, the behavioral health specialist for Chicago Public Schools, is hoping her district stays the course.

Weve done a ton of work to take a more restorative approach to discipline. We will continue to prioritize fostering our whole child, she said.

She worries that rescinding the guidance would reinforce biases that some educators often unconsciously bring to disciplining nonwhite students.

When a black child is misbehaving, we often times see that black childs misbehavior as defiant and deviant. Whereas a white child is exploring, theyre testing boundaries, said Jointer, who was one of a group from the non-profit Educators for Excellence who personally implored DeVos to keep the guidance. This will send a message that what we have to do for children of color is punish and manage them.

Black students are consistently disciplined more often than their peers, according to a report issued by the Government Accountability Office in April. While black students represented 15.5 percent of public school students in 2013-14, they made up 39 percent of students suspended, the report said.

Arming Staff

The reports support for arming specially selected and trained school personnel comes as no surprise.

Trump called for arming school staffan idea pushed by the National Rifle Associationeven before he set up the commission in March.

A teacher would have shot the hell out of him before he knew what happened, Trump said, referring to the former student who is accused of the Parkland slayings.

See Also: Should Teachers Carry Guns? The Debate, Explained

Trump also suggested that the federal government should consider giving districts grants to cover bonus pay for armed educators.

Under the DeVos Education Departments interpretation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, its up to states to decide whether districts can allocate federal money to purchase firearms or train teachers to use them. Democrats in Congress dispute that reading of the law, including ESSA architects Murray and Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., the incoming chairman of the House education committee.

And plenty of educators, advocates, and experts who testified before the safety panel pleaded with members to steer clear of support for arming school staff.

Abbey Clements taught 4th grade at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on the day in 2012 that 26 students and teachers were killed there.

Its completely unrealistic to think that an educator [could] take down the gunman without interfering with law enforcements response, or harming or killing other educators, or God forbid, children, she told the commission at a June listening session in Washington. This is not the movies. This is school.

But some educators argued that arming staff can be a good option for rural schools located far from first responders.

Because of where were located, the last two sheriffs here in Garland County told me we could expect 20 to 30 minutes wait time if an active shooter situation happened on campus before an officer could be here, Lake Hamilton, Ark., schools Superintendent Steve Anderson, who carries a gun at school, told the commission at an August hearing in Arkansas. Were not willing to take that chance. We need someone to protect our kids.

See Also: What the Trump School Safety Report Says About Teachers

Since the Parkland shooting, Florida has acted to allow schools to arm some staff. Under a law passed less than a month after that attack, the state legislature mandated a school guardian trained in firearms or law enforcement officer in every school. Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, the Florida sheriff leading the state commission investigating Parkland, said he had a change of heart about his opposition to arming teachers after he learned more about what unfolded inside the high school. But some Parkland teachers and victims families remain opposed to the idea.

Mental Health

The report highlighted local strategies for expanding mental health, even though it did not suggest new federal resources to cover the costs.

It also recommended schools adopt character education, social-emotional learning programs, and efforts to combat cyber-bullying.

For instance, the report lauded districts and schools that use PBIS. Sixteen states were using it in 500 schools or more, as of August 2015, and nearly every state uses it to some extent, experts say.

Two districts that recently experienced mass shootings also appear to use PBIS to some extent, according to their websites: the Broward County school district, which is home to Stoneman Douglas, and Texas Santa Fe Independent School District, near Houston, the site of another mass shooting in May.

In its most recent budget, the Trump administration sought to eliminate funding for the ESSAs Student Success and Academic Enrichment grants, a flexible pot of money districts can use for bolstering school safety and expanding mental health services.

But Congress countered by increasing that funding to $1.1 billion, a $400 million increase over the previous school year.

Citing research by the U.S. Secret Service, the report noted that school attackers often signal their intentions beforehand. It advocated for threat assessment programs and reporting systems, like Colorados Safe2Tell tipline, to provide students a place to share concerns that their peers may harm themselves or others. Such programs got a shot of funding from the STOP School Violence Act, passed by Congress a month after the Florida shooting.

Scope of Panels Work

Back in March, Trump also tasked the panel with exploring age restrictions for certain firearm purchases, potential repeal of Obama-era guidance designed to address racial disparities in school discipline, rating systems for video games, and character education and connectedness, as well as access to mental health treatment.

It was also asked to look at the effects of press coverage on mass shootings, and the appropriateness of psychotropic medication for treatment of troubled youth. Oliver North, the president of the NRA, has blamed school shootings on the drug Ritalin, which is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The people most directly affected by the Florida shootingfamilies who lost loved ones that dayhave had a variety of reactions to the federal response. While some have supported Trumps emphasis on fortifying schools, others have focused more on calls for stronger gun restrictions.

Fred Guttenberg, who lost his daughter, Jaime, in the shooting, tweeted over the weekend that he had rejected a chance to join other families in reviewing the reports findings. He cited a tweet from Trump right after the shooting that suggested the FBI was too distracted by investigating his campaign to properly respond to warnings about the shooter.

He chose to lie about what he knew and made the death of my daughter political on the day I buried her, Guttenberg wrote. He then asked DeVos to start a commission on what happened but NOT to look at guns as a factor. For me, you cannot offer a plan that refuses to look at this critical part. For me, this makes her plan inadequate.

Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow died in the shooting, called the commissions findings the most comprehensive report done after a school shooting by any administration.

No agenda just facts make our schools safe, he tweeted.Rahul Gandhi said the Opposition will force PM Modi-led government at the Centre to waive farm loans.

'It took our state government hours to waive loans of farmers, Opposition will force (PM) Narendra Modi government to waive farm loans,' Congress president Rahul Gandhi said. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said, "We will not let Prime Minister Narendra Modi sleep until loans of all farmers are waived."

The Congress chief said that the Opposition will force Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre to waive farm loans.

It took our state government hours to waive loans of farmers, Opposition will force (PM) Narendra Modi government to waive farm loans, he told the media outside Parliament.

Rahul Gandhi assured farmers of the country that their welfare will be looked after.

Hours after the swearing-in as Chief ministers, Congress leader Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh and his Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel waived off farm loans, one of the promises made by Rahul Gandhi-led Congress ahead of the state assembly elections.

Intensifying his attack on PM Modi, the Congress chief said: Modi government waives loans of only rich people. Money of farmers and small shopkeepers is being stolen by government.

"JPC, Rafale deal, farm loan waivers, demonetisation, typo errors will soon emerge in everything. People have been lied to, farmers and small traders are being looted. Demonetisation is the biggest scam in the world," Rahul Gandhi said.

The Congress president however, refuted to comment on conviction of Sajjan Kumar in 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He said, " I have made my position on the riots very clear, and I have said this before. This press conference is about the farmers of the country and that (PM) Modi refuses to waive off even 1 rupee of loan."

On Monday, the Delhi High Court convicted Kumar for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and sentenced him to imprisonment for life.Indias ability and intent to operate beyond the Indian Ocean region is a non-issue.

The first point that immediately came to mind is why there should be a US threat at all if Russia helps this country to build two stealth frigates in Goa? A fresh lease agreement now nee-ds to be put in place for (potential, imaginary or real) violations of an American law, CAATSA, by India.



This recent newspaper headline gave an eerie feeling: Russia to help build two stealth frigates in Goa; US threat ignored for $500 million tech-transfer deal. The first point that immediately came to mind is why there should be a US threat at all if Russia helps this country to build two stealth frigates in Goa? A fresh lease agreement now needs to be put in place for (potential, imaginary or real) violations of an American law, CAATSA (Countering Americas Adversaries through Sanctions Act), by India. This law seeks to prevent countries from buying Russian weapons.

What right does Washington really have, under international law, to put roadblocks in the way of a defence agreement between two sovereign nations, Russia and India? There is a 50-year-old history of defence deals between India and Russia, and while it is true that there have been considerable military sales of American weapons and equipment to India in recent years, it does not simply go that long back. And particularly so in naval matters.

There are good reasons for this, and these have a lot to do with history, geography and economics. The Navy implies high-tech machines. Naval ship construction costs millions  in fact billions  of dollars, takes years to commission, is complex to operate, and requires highly skilled and trained personnel  in the hundreds aflat and in thousands ashore.

Since the early 19th century, for almost every major power, the Navy has been the principal tool to project power overseas, to protect the sea lanes and secure trade routes. The Navy has been  and still is  the most powerful and visible tool of a nations flag, its foreign relations, trade, influence and its dealings with both friend and foe. Its a tool to which every nation aspires, but few succeed, in deploying, possessing and owning at exorbitant cost. It may thus be interesting to map the American contributions, if any, to independent Indias naval inventory following the Second World War.

Prior to August 1947, the exclusively British-officered and Indian lashkared (manned by other ranks) Royal Indian Navy had all its capital ships originating from British shipyards in the first three decades of the 20th century. In fact, such was the monopoly of British-built ships in the Indian Navy that even in the late 1970s, almost after eight years of Indias emphatic and comprehensive victory over Pakistan in the 1971 Bangladesh war, New Delhis naval inventory carried an indelible stamp of the departed British (ruling) captains on the deck. Thus were inducted the sole majestic class (renamed Vikrant) aircraft-carrier (on March 4, 1961), the Fiji class cruiser (INS Mysore); and two Leopard class frigates (INS Beas and INS Betwa): all built by Vickers-Armstrong Ltd, Tyne. Then there were the two Whitby class frigates (Talwar, Trishul) of Cammell Laird & Co Ltd, Birkenhead and Harland & Wolff Ltd, of Belfast make. It was British shipbuilders galore  John Brown & Co Ltd, Clydebanks Panther (INS Brahmaputra); Alex Stephen & Sons Ltd, Govan, Glasgows INS Kripan; J. Samuel White & Co Ltd, Cowes, Isle of Wight-built INS Kuthar; R&W Hawthorn, Leslie & Co Ltd, Hebburns Hunt class frigate INS Godavari; Yarrow & Co. Ltd, Scotstoun, Glasgow made the Black Swan class frigate INS Krishna and INS Kaveri and Charles Hill & Sons Ltd, Bristols River class frigate INS Tir.

In between, however, entered ships from the Soviet Unions shipyards into the Indian Navy, owing to the consistent implied unease of the West towards Indias defence preparedness and intermittent wars  1947-1949 (with Pakistan), 1961 (Portugal), 1962 (China), 1965 (Pakistan) and again 1971 (Pakistan). The rise of a Third World former colony was clearly a cause for concern for the Western ruling class. The foundations of history, geography and economics laid by the West should not be disturbed, or remade, by lesser mortals of the 20th century! Or so it was felt in London, Washington and other capitals.

Nevertheless, to the dismay of a section of the West, the first Soviet-made Foxtrot class submarine entered the Indian fleet on July 16, 1968 along with several Nanuchka class corvettes, Osa class fast attack craft and Natya class minesweepers.

By the late 1980s (on the eve of the defeat and retreat of the Soviet Army from Afghanistan; the imminent demise of the mighty Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall), the defence bonds between New Delhi and Moscow had strengthened to an unprecedented level. The Indian fleet possessed one Soviet-made nuclear-powered and 11 diesel-electric subs; five Kashin class destroyers; eight Petya frigates; and several Nanuchka and Tarantul class corvettes. There were also British vessels, but their numbers were on the wane: Two aircraft carriers, the Vikrant and Virat; and four vintage Whitby and Leopard class frigates.

Significantly, however, there wasnt a single American-made combat ship in the Indian naval inventory till then.

It was only on January 17, 2007, that a red-letter day arrived for the US administration as it managed to make forays into Indias naval market with a hot transfer of the 17,521-ton (full load) Austin class amphibious transport dock USS Trenton, which was later formally commissioned on June 22, 2007 into the Indian Navy, rechristened Jalashwa, and based at Vishakhapatnam. Although there emerged another possibility of a second ship (from Nashville) being commissioned; it fizzled out. The Trenton, therefore, is still the sole US-made major surface ship with the Indian Navy, its old-age related problems (having been built in May 1971 by Lockheed SB & Construction Co), of poor serviceability, high maintenance costs, scarce spare parts and operational readiness issues notwithstanding.

In this background, can it be a surprise if Indo-Russian naval cooperation continues unabated? Indias use of the Russian-designed and constructed ships go back four decades as Soviet/Russian vessels have proved extremely efficient, sturdy and effective in trying situations. Hence, it would be advisable for the United States to go too deeply into this matter, its reported deep interest in Indias indigenous aircraft carrier-building and deck-operated, carrier-borne aircraft programme notwithstanding. The US is indisputably the most powerful global military machine, but there is a need for a balanced and nuanced approach too, especially towards friends like India, which does not behave like either China or Pakistan, who have been troubling the no end for a long time. The US operates across the globe, in which are included all three oceans  the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean. In contrast, Indias ability and intent to operate beyond the Indian Ocean region remains a non-issue, at least for the time being.

Either way, even if India goes to acquire the ability to operate beyond the Indian Ocean region, its intent is benign. Therefore, Washington need not look negatively at India if New Delhi and Moscow strike a deal for fighting ships. Its time the United States understands the intricacies of geopolitics in this part of the world  and learns that closer India-Russia naval cooperation poses no threat to American interests.Erdogan marks 745th anniversary of Mevlana Rumi's death

Turkish president attends ceremony marking historic passing of Sufi poet and Islamic scholar Mevlana Jalaluddin al-Rumi.

Turkeys president Erdogan on Monday attended a ceremony marking the passing some 800 years ago of a legendary religious poet and mystic.

ERDOGAN SPOKE AT SHEB-I ARUS

Speaking at the Sheb-i Arus, commemorating the death of 13th-century Islamic Sufi scholar Mevlana Jalaluddin al-Rumi, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mentioned the long-running civil war in Syria.

"SOME STILL SUPPORT ASSAD AND TRY TO PROTECT HIS POSITION"

He reiterated his stance on Syria, saying that Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad is trying to protect himself following the slaughter of some 1 million of his own people. The president added that some still support Assad and try to protect his position.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on protesters with unexpected ferocity. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.

RUMI IS ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY READ PHILOSOPHERS

Born into a Turkic family in 1207, in what is now Afghanistan, Rumi is one of the most widely read philosophers in the world, with teachings that transcend boundaries of race, color, and religion. In Turkey Rumi is fondly remembered by his followers as Mevlana- which means scholar.

Upon his death in 1273, Rumis followers founded the Mevlevi Order, also known as the Order of the Whirling Dervishes, famous for the Sufi dance known as the Sema ceremony. Every year, an international commemoration ceremony marking the anniversary of Rumis union with God is held in Konya on Dec. 7-17 in honor of the Muslim scholar.FETO leader's nephew sentenced to prison

Selman Gulen gets 7 years and 6 months jail term for being member of armed terrorist organization

A Turkish court on Tuesday handed down a prison term for the nephew of Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) over links to the group behind the July 2016 defeated coup.

Selman Gulen was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years behind bars on charges of armed terrorist organization membership.

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.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.France will impose tax on internet and tech giants

France has said it will introduce its own tax on big technology firms from 1 January.

French goverment wont wait on the rest of the European Union to start taxing big tech. Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire announced that France will start to impose its own tax on large internet and technology companies from January 1.

FRENCH GOVERMENT WILL EARN 500M

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire also said he expected it to bring in 500m (450m) in 2019. Earlier this year, the European Commission published proposals for a 3% tax on the revenues of large internet companies with global revenues above 750m (675m) a year and taxable EU revenue above 50m.

"SOCIAL MEDIA IS A POISON FOR DEMOCRACY"

Last week French President Macron said social media and televisions are 'a poison for democracy'. After this statement French goverment took some precautions.Turkey, Philippines sign deal for defense cooperation

Two countries sign memorandum of understanding to boost cooperation in defense field in Philippine capital Manila

Turkey and the Philippines signed a deal for defense cooperation in the Philippine capital on Tuesday.

ATAKS WILL BE SENT TO PHILIPPINES

The deal -- a memorandum of understanding -- was signed by Ismail Demir, the head of Turkey's Defense Industries Presidency, and Delfin Lorenzana, the Defense Secretary of the Philippines, in Manila.

Currently selling guns, ammo and night-vision glasses to the Philippines, Turkey now has Atak -- its indigenous battle helicopter--, unmanned aircraft and vessels on its agenda to sell to the Philippines, Demir told Anadolu Agency.

Aerial and offshore platforms, tanks, armored cars modernization, and shooting platforms are also on the table, he noted.

"Cooperation in technology and local talent development are key to the bilateral relations with the Philippines, Demir said.Turkish Defense Min: Sinjar wont be new PKK stronghold

Turkish forces will continue operations until PKK has been vanquished in Iraqi territories, says Hulusi Akar

Turkeys defense minister said Tuesday that northern Iraqs Sinjar region will not be allowed to become a new stronghold for the PKK terror group.

"WE EXPECT THE IRAQI GOVERMENT TO COOPERATE WITH US"

"We expect the Iraqi government to cooperate with us in ending the separatist PKK terror groups presence in Iraqi territories," said Hulusi Akar during his budget speech in parliament.

Akar noted that Turkey respects the territorial integrity of Syria, Iraq and its neighbors. "However, for the security of the country and the nation, our operations will continue until the PKK terror group has been completely defeated in the locations they exist in Iraq," he said.

Sinjar will never be allowed to become a new [Mt.] Qandil". The terrorist PKK has its main base in the Mt. Qandil region, which is located near the Turkish border. On Thursday, the Turkish Armed Forces dealt a heavy blow to the PKK terror group in the Sinjar and Mt. Karajak regions.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children.

"THE TERRORISTS IN THIS REGION WILL BE BURIED"

Akar also recalled the U.S.'s promise to remove the YPG/PKK terror group from Syria's Manbij region. However, we have determined that the terror group has dug trenches in Manbij, he said.

"When the time comes, the terrorists in this region will be buried in the trenches they have dug," he stressed. Akar also provided data on the number of Turkish armed forces personnel dismissed since the 2016 defeated coup attempt.

"Since July 15, [2016] due to FETO, a total of 15,154 personnel, including 150 generals and admirals and 7,595 officers, have been dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces," he noted, referring to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization. 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.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.US coalition spokesman apologizes for Turkey tweet

'Please accept my apology,' Col. Sean Ryan says after sharing post insulting Turkish military

The spokesman for the U.S.-led anti-Daesh coalition apologized Monday after posting a tweet critical of Turkey's military from an account believed to be sympathetic to the PKK terror group.

COALITION SPOKESMAN APOLOGIZES

"In my official capacity, I accidentally shared content that was insulting to our Coalition partner Turkey, a key partner in the mission to defeat ISIS. I meant no disrespect," Col. Sean Ryan wrote on Twitter, referring to Daesh.

"We have a duty to mutual security, and we are committed to defeating ISIS. Please accept my apology."

Ryan was referring to a since-deleted retweet of a post classifying as "terrorist" Turkish armed forces.

"US Special Forces (Green Berets) patrolling the Rojava-Turkey border after terrorist Turkish army snipers targeted Rojavan civilians, killing a little girl walking home from school," the tweet said, accompanied by a photograph of U.S. military personnel and children.

The U.S. has been working alongside the YPG-PKK in Syria in its effort to eliminate Daesh from the region.

Turkey views the YPG as the Syrian extension of the PKK, a designated terrorist group in Turkey, the EU andthe U.S.WASHINGTON, D.C., December 18, 2018 -- In microelectronic devices, the bandgap is a major factor determining the electrical conductivity of the underlying materials. Substances with large bandgaps are generally insulators that do not conduct electricity well, and those with smaller bandgaps are semiconductors. A more recent class of semiconductors with ultrawide bandgaps (UWB) are capable of operating at much higher temperatures and powers than conventional small-bandgap silicon-based chips made with mature bandgap materials like silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN).

In the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publishing, researchers at the University of Florida, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and Korea University provide a detailed perspective on the properties, capabilities, current limitations and future developments for one of the most promising UWB compounds, gallium oxide (Ga2O3).

Gallium oxide possesses an extremely wide bandgap of 4.8 electron volts (eV) that dwarfs silicon's 1.1 eV and exceeds the 3.3 eV exhibited by SiC and GaN. The difference gives Ga2O3 the ability to withstand a larger electric field than silicon, SiC and GaN can without breaking down. Furthermore, Ga2O3 handles the same amount of voltage over a shorter distance. This makes it invaluable for producing smaller, more efficient high-power transistors.

"Gallium oxide offers semiconductor manufacturers a highly applicable substrate for microelectronic devices," said Stephen Pearton, professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Florida and an author on the paper. "The compound appears ideal for use in power distribution systems that charge electric cars or converters that move electricity into the power grid from alternative energy sources such as wind turbines."

Pearton and his colleagues also looked at the potential for Ga2O3 as a base for metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors, better known as MOSFETs. "Traditionally, these tiny electronic switches are made from silicon for use in laptops, smart phones and other electronics," Pearton said. "For systems like electric car charging stations, we need MOSFETs that can operate at higher power levels than silicon-based devices and that's where gallium oxide might be the solution."

To achieve these advanced MOSFETs, the authors determined that improved gate dielectrics are needed, along with thermal management approaches that will more effectively extract heat from the devices. Pearton concluded that Ga2O3 will not replace SiC and GaN as the as the next primary semiconductor materials after silicon, but more likely will play a role in extending the range of powers and voltages accessible to ultrawide bandgap systems.

"The most promising application might be as high-voltage rectifiers in power conditioning and distribution systems such as electric cars and photovoltaic solar systems," he said.

###

The article, "Perspective: Ga2O3 for ultra-high power rectifiers and MOSFETS," is authored by S.J. Pearton, F. Ren, M. Tadjer and J. Kim. The article appeared in the Journal of Applied Physics Dec. 11, 2018 (DOI: 10.1063/1.5062841) and can be accessed at http://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.5062841.

ABOUT THE JOURNAL

Journal of Applied Physics is an influential international journal publishing significant new experimental and theoretical results of applied physics research. See http://jap.aip.org.To counteract the damage hurricanes have caused to their canopies, trees appear to adjust key characteristics of their newly grown leaves, according to a year-long field study presented at the British Ecological Society's annual conference today.

When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico last year, the worst natural disaster on record to affect the U.S. territory, it stripped numerous trees bare of their leaves and consequently disrupted their ability to absorb the light needed for growth and survival.

Ecologists from Clemson University took the opportunity to study how hurricanes affect tropical dry forests in the Caribbean and whether trees were capable of compensating for the significant damage by increasing resource acquisition in newly produced leaves.

For the study, the researchers examined the leaves of the 13 most dominant tree species one, eight and twelve months after Hurricane Maria struck and compared them with leaves that were collected before the hurricane. They analysed whether the immediate changes observed in leaves were temporary or maintained over multiple seasons.

"Our study took us to the Guanica State Forest in southwest Puerto Rico, which comprises one of the best parcels of native dry forest in the Caribbean. Rainfall here is extremely erratic, with huge variability within and between years. The forest also sits on limestone from an ancient coral reef which is extremely porous, meaning trees have little time to capture water as it travels through the underlying rock. As a result, organisms are uniquely adapted to cope with unpredictable water availability", said Tristan Allerton, PhD candidate at Clemson University.

Trees rely on exchanging gas through their leaves, simultaneously collecting CO2 from the atmosphere to convert into energy whilst trying to minimise water loss (leaf-gas exchange). In order to capture maximum leaf-gas exchange rates by trees, the team attached a sensor to new leaves in the forest at several points during the day.

They also looked at the newly produced leaves' shape and structure, which play an important role in efficiently extracting gas from the atmosphere.

The preliminary findings suggest that 11 of 13 species studied were taking in CO2 at much higher rates immediately following Hurricane Maria. Many had also changed key characteristics of their leaves, including increasing leaf area relative to leaf biomass investment. In other words, trees were able to capture the same amount of light while spending less on leaf production.

"A key finding was that the leaves of some of the species contained less chlorophyll than prior to the hurricane. Even though new leaves were better suited structurally to capture valuable resources, lower leaf quality could reduce leaf lifespan and the trees' ability to produce energy", added Professor Skip Van Bloem, Allerton's supervisor at Clemson University.

Overall, Caribbean tropical dry forests seem to be capable of tolerating major hurricanes, though the ecologists stressed that there may be "winners" and "losers" in terms of how species respond.

Currently it is unclear whether dominant evergreen species can exploit post-hurricane conditions to the same extent as deciduous species.

Allerton said: "Many of our evergreens displayed little change in gas exchange rates and in general the relative decline in new leaf chlorophyll after Maria was much greater than for deciduous species. Under normal conditions, evergreens renew their canopies over monthly/yearly timescales, therefore it's likely hurricane canopy damage is a more expensive process for these trees."

As climate change leads to expected increases in hurricane frequency and intensity, the species composition of tropical dry forests in the Caribbean is likely to change. One concern would be whether endemic species will disappear over time.

"This would be a huge shame as Caribbean dry forests are known to have a higher proportion of endemic species than mainland dry forests. Many trees found there are also incredibly ancient, making these forests a living museum of biodiversity", concluded Allerton.

Allerton will present the study on Tuesday 18 December 2018 at the British Ecological Society annual meeting in Birmingham, UK. The conference will bring together 1,200 ecologists from more than 40 countries to discuss the latest research.

###Analysis of fossil specimens of a flower called Nanjinganthus from the Early Jurassic (more than 174 million years ago) suggests that flowers originated 50 million years earlier than previously thought, a study published in eLife reports.

Before now, angiosperms (flowering plants) were thought to have a history of no more than 130 million years - despite molecular clocks indicating they must have appeared earlier - since no convincing fossil-based evidence existed.

The discovery of Nanjinganthus dendrostyla, however, offers fossil evidence that extends the evolutionary timeline and, due to the flower's unexpected characteristics, throws widely accepted theories of plant evolution into question.

"Researchers were not certain where and how flowers came into existence because it seems that many flowers just popped up in the Cretaceous from nowhere," said FU Qiang, a researcher from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS). "Studying fossil flowers, especially those from earlier geologic periods, is the only reliable way to get an answer to these questions."

The team studied 264 specimens of 198 individual flowers preserved on 34 rock slabs from the South Xiangshan Formation - an outcrop of rocks in the Nanjing region of China renowned for its fossils from the Early Jurassic epoch.

Due to the abundance of fossil samples used, the researchers could dissect some and then study them with sophisticated microscopy. The high-resolution pictures of the flowers - from different angles and with different magnifications - allowed the team to envision the features of Nanjinganthus dendrostyla.

The key feature of angiosperms is the presence of fully enclosed ovules, which are precursors of seeds before pollination. In the current study, the reconstructed flower was found to have a cup-form receptacle and ovarian roof that together enclose the ovules/seeds. This discovery was crucial, since these features can confirm the flower as of an angiosperm.

Although there have been reports of angiosperms from the Middle-Late Jurassic epochs in northeastern China, the morphological features of Nanjinganthus distinguish it from other specimens and suggest that it is a new angiosperm genus.

The team hopes to determine whether angiosperms are monophyletic - which would mean Nanjinganthus represents a stem group giving rise to all later species - or polyphyletic, meaning Nanjinganthus represents an evolutionary dead end and has little to do with many later species.

"The origin of angiosperms has long been an academic headache for many botanists," said WANG Xin of NIGPAS. "Our discovery has moved the botany field forward and will allow a better understanding of angiosperms."

###by Sumon Corraya

Thousands came from India in search of work in the 1950s. The first generations worked as street cleaners or tea pickers. Today their youth are studying and looking for better jobs. Landless, the community lives in slums.

Dhaka (AsiaNews)  Bangladeshs Telugu community numbers around 40,000, including some 7,000 Christians, concentred in the capital Dhaka, the city of Pabna and Moulovibazar District.

For years most were employed as cleaners, in the streets and hospitals, or picking tea leaves, but recently they have had to increasingly compete with Bengalis.

Since their arrival in the 1950s from the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh (where they are known as Telegu), they have preserved their linguistic and religious traditions and are now asking the government to protect their culture.

From their ancestral home, they kept their Hindu and Christian faiths, and at home they speak Telugu whilst using Bengali (Bangla) at work.

Today the community is struggling to keep its culture alive as its young people move to the big cities to study or in search for work. Michael Piregu, 22, is one of them. Originally from Moulovibazar, he currently lives in Dhaka.

"My father was as a tea worker, he said. But now young people dont want to clean the streets anymore, we want to study. Some young Hindus have returned to their villages of origin because they feel neglected in Bangladesh."

Michael attends the Nazareth Telugu Baptist Church and is the leader of the Bangladesh Telugu Council. "The government should protect our Telugu culture, he said. This is why we ask for support in the creation of the Telugu Cultural Academy."

Poverty is one of the issues that afflict the community, whose members are largely landless, living in slums or on government land.

S P Appora, 60 (picture 2), lives in Dhakas Sara Bangla slum. "I have worked in a hospital for many years, he explained. Now I am retired and ill. Our ancestors came to this land and started working as garbage collectors. We were born here and we have citizenship, but we do not own land to live on. In my life I have lived in three shanty towns. For us, it is very painful."

The slum where Appora lives has no sewer, electricity or gas. For cooking, he uses a gas cylinder or burns wood. Sanitary conditions are a great concern because his family of ten use the same lavatory.

His ancestors were Hindus who accepted the message of Christ brought by Protestant missionaries. "Today we are better than when we were Hindus because by worshiping Christ, we have peace in our hearts."

In the capital, Telugu live in five slums. At present, Telugu Christians are getting ready for Christmas, by praying the Gospel and decorating their humble, metal-sheet shacks as best they can.Black men diagnosed with prostate cancer classified as low risk may actually have a more-aggressive form of the disease that is more likely to be fatal than in nonblack men placed in the same prognostic category, a new study suggests.

This disparity emerged from research led by a Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientist and published as a report in JAMA. The study analyzed databases of hundreds of thousands of men diagnosed with prostate cancer and assigned a Gleason score on the basis of a biopsy and examination of samples of the cancer under a microscope. Gleason scores range from 6 to 10, with higher numbers (7-10) indicating greater risk and higher mortality.

The study findings focused on men who were classified as Gleason 6, which signifies a favorable prognosis with a low risk of death, and a cancer that doesn't necessarily need to be treated - at least not immediately. Many men in this category, after a conversation with their doctor, adopt an "active surveillance" approach, which may include monitoring of PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels, digital rectal exams, and repeated biopsies. If there is evidence the cancer is progressing, treatment may be warranted.

However, some men with Gleason 6 cancers opt for treatment rather than surveillance. "Data suggests that African American men who have surgery for Gleason 6 cancers are more likely to have more aggressive surgical features than predicted prior to surgery than nonblack men having surgery," said Brandon Mahal, MD, of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Dana-Farber and first author of the report. While the reasons for this aren't clear, he said, "the reasons are likely multifactorial--it could be that Gleason 6 cancer in black men is inherently more aggressive or it may have to do with other non-tumor related factors such as how we perform the biopsies - maybe we are undersampling their tumors and missing more aggressive disease - and lastly there could be other socioeconomic or access to care factors that drive differences."

The study found that the overall risk of prostate cancer death was not statistically significant between 31,841 black and 160,383 nonblack patients, after accounting for socioeconomic status and treatment patterns. But when the analysis focused on patients with Gleason grade 6 cancer, there were 51 deaths among 12,707 black patients (0.40 percent) versus 155 deaths among 70,938 nonblack patients (0.22 percent) at a median follow-up of 36 months. In other words, the death rate - while low - was almost double in the black men with Gleason 6 disease, even after accounting for socioeconomic status and treatment patterns.

The researchers did a similar analysis in a larger cohort of 62,736 black and 340,286 nonblack men who had been followed for a longer period. The 12-year prostate cancer mortality rate in patients with Gleason scores 7 to 12 was 5.5 percent in black men versus 5.3 percent in nonblacks. But again, a disparity appeared in Gleason 6 prostate cancers: the 12-year mortality rate was 2.2 percent in black patients versus 1.4 percent in nonblacks. This difference, the authors wrote, "support the hypothesis that low-grade prostate cancer may be distinct in black men."

Asked what the study results imply for clinical practice, Mahal said, "These data would be an impetus for randomized, prospective trials to both better characterize Gleason 6 disease in black men and to test different management strategies," i.e. immediate treatment versus active surveillance. He said that in the United States, data suggest that an increasing number of men with Gleason 6 prostate cancer are opting for active surveillance, but that option is used less frequently among African American men. "That probably is partly because of provider preferences and partly because of patient preferences--both of which are likely impacted by historically observed disparities," said Mahal.

###

The corresponding author of the report is Franklin Huang, MD, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco.

The research was supported by the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, and the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program.SINGAPORE, 18 December 2018 - Both moderate-to-large weight gain and weight loss, defined as a change of 10% or more in weight, among middle-aged and elderly Chinese Singaporeans are linked to increased risk of death, particularly from cardiovascular disease, and between them, weight loss was associated with higher risk than weight gain. Furthermore, excessive weight loss increased risk among participants who were overweight or obese to start with, and excessive weight gain might increase risk even among participants with low or normal body mass index at baseline.

Nested in the Singapore Chinese Health Study, the researchers used data from 36,338 middle-aged and elderly participants who were able to report weight and height during interviews at both recruitment (1993-1998) and follow-up 1 (1999-2004) surveys, and who had no history of cancer or cardiovascular disease. Weight change was computed as the difference between weights at baseline and the follow-up 1 surveys, after an average of 6 years, and classified as moderate-to-large weight loss (?10%), small weight loss (5.1-9.9%), stable weight (5%), small weight gain (5.1-9.9%) and moderate-to-large weight gain (?10%). The participants were followed for mortality through linkage with the Singapore Birth and Death Registry.

"This first study on a large population-based cohort of Singaporean Chinese aligns with findings from similar studies conducted among European, Japanese and Korean populations," stated Prof Koh Woon Puay, Principal Investigator of the Singapore Chinese Health Study, and Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School and Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health. "The findings suggest that moderate-to-large weight change in mid-life and older age should be monitored closely by health practitioners, and weight loss, especially, should be considered critically in elderly individuals as it may be related to loss of muscle mass, frailty and poor control of chronic diseases."

The researchers urge caution in the interpretation of the study results, highlighting that information regarding whether the weight loss was intentional and if the weight loss was due to loss of fat or lean mass was not examined in this study. Nevertheless, findings from this Singapore study and studies in other populations suggest that it is prudent to maintain stability in body weight within the non-obese range for middle-aged and elderly populations to reduce risk of mortality.

"The observational nature of our study means we cannot generalise our findings to potential interventions at this point," said Prof Koh. "Further studies are needed to understand the mechanisms underlying the association between weight change and mortality."

At a recent conference on ageing, longevity and health, co-organised by Duke-NUS' Centre for Ageing Research and Education (CARE), Prof Koh presented similar findings on weight change and cognitive impairment within the same study population.

Commenting on Prof Koh's study, Assoc Prof Angelique Chan, Executive Director of CARE, noted, "Singapore is among the world's fastest ageing societies, therefore it is critical to build on studies such as these so the government can develop appropriate policies and programmes to guide future health outcomes."

###

CARE is an academic research centre based in Duke-NUS Medical School that spearheads educational programmes to build competencies on ageing among research, policy and programme professionals, and actively engages with government and industry partners to meet the needs of population ageing.Scientists have described a fossil plant species that suggests flowers bloomed in the Early Jurassic, more than 174 million years ago, according to new research in the open-access journal eLife.

Before now, angiosperms (flowering plants) were thought to have a history of no more than 130 million years. The discovery of the novel flower species, which the study authors named Nanjinganthus dendrostyla, throws widely accepted theories of plant evolution into question, by suggesting that they existed around 50 million years earlier. Nanjinganthus also has a variety of 'unexpected' characteristics according to almost all of these theories.

Angiosperms are an important member of the plant kingdom, and their origin has been the topic of long-standing debate among evolutionary biologists. Many previously thought angiosperms could be no more than 130 million years old. However, molecular clocks have indicated that they must be older than this. Until now, there has been no convincing fossil-based evidence to prove that they existed further back in time.

"Researchers were not certain where and how flowers came into existence because it seems that many flowers just popped up in the Cretaceous from nowhere," explains lead author Qiang Fu, Associate Research Professor at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, China. "Studying fossil flowers, especially those from earlier geologic periods, is the only reliable way to get an answer to these questions."

The team studied 264 specimens of 198 individual flowers preserved on 34 rock slabs from the South Xiangshan Formation - an outcrop of rocks in the Nanjing region of China renowned for bearing fossils from the Early Jurassic epoch. The abundance of fossil samples used in the study allowed the researchers to dissect some of them and study them with sophisticated microscopy, providing high-resolution pictures of the flowers from different angles and magnifications. They then used this detailed information about the shape and structure of the different fossil flowers to reconstruct the features of Nanjinganthus dendrostyla.

The key feature of an angiosperm is 'angio-ovuly' - the presence of fully enclosed ovules, which are precursors of seeds before pollination. In the current study, the reconstructed flower was found to have a cup-form receptacle and ovarian roof that together enclose the ovules/seeds. This was a crucial discovery, because the presence of this feature confirmed the flower's status as an angiosperm. Although there have been reports of angiosperms from the Middle-Late Jurassic epochs in northeastern China, there are structural features of Nanjinganthus that distinguish it from these other specimens and suggest that it is a new genus of angiosperms.

Having made this discovery, the team now wants to understand whether angiosperms are either monophyletic - which would mean Nanjinganthus represents a stem group giving rise to all later species - or polyphyletic, whereby Nanjinganthus represents an evolutionary dead end and has little to do with many later species.

"The origin of angiosperms has long been an academic 'headache' for many botanists," concludes senior author Xin Wang, Research Professor at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology. "Our discovery has moved the botany field forward and will allow a better understanding of angiosperms, which in turn will enhance our ability to efficiently use and look after our planet's plant-based resources."

###

Reference

The paper 'An unexpected noncarpellate epigynous flower from the Jurassic of China' can be freely accessed online at https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.38827. Contents, including text, figures and data, are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Media contact

Emily Packer, Senior Press Officer

eLife

e.packer@elifesciences.org

01223 855373

About eLife

eLife aims to help scientists accelerate discovery by operating a platform for research communication that encourages and recognises the most responsible behaviours in science. We publish important research in all areas of the life and biomedical sciences, including Evolutionary Biology and Plant Biology, which is selected and evaluated by working scientists and made freely available online without delay. eLife also invests in innovation through open-source tool development to accelerate research communication and discovery. Our work is guided by the communities we serve. eLife is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Society, the Wellcome Trust and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. Learn more at https://elifesciences.org/about.

To read the latest Evolutionary Biology and Plant Biology research published in eLife, please visit https://elifesciences.org/subjects/evolutionary-biology and https://elifesciences.org/subjects/plant-biology.Heidelberg, 18 December 2018 - EMBO announces today the award of ten Installation Grants to early-career researchers establishing their independent laboratories in the Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal and Turkey.

EMBO Director Maria Leptin says: "We're pleased to welcome these ten talented life scientists to the EMBO community. They have all shown that they are able to carry out research of the highest quality, and we look forward to supporting them in taking the next step in their careers and setting up their own research groups."

Each Installation Grantee will receive 50,000 euros annually for between three and five years. In addition to financial support, the recipients receive networking opportunities and practical support by becoming part of the EMBO Young Investigator network. The grants are funded primarily by the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Portugal and Turkey, the participating Member States of the European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC), EMBO's intergovernmental funding body.

"For some countries in Europe, retaining or attracting the best researchers can be a challenge," explains Leptin. "Through the Installation Grants scheme, we encourage young researchers to return or move to countries that find it difficult to compete with large well-funded research centers in some of the other European countries. In doing so we hope to improve the participating countries' competitiveness in European science."

EMBO Installation Grants are awarded on the basis of scientific excellence and international mobility as the primary selection criteria. Recipients must have spent at least two consecutive years outside the country in which they are planning to establish their research group.

The next application deadline for EMBO Installation Grants is 15 April 2019.

http://embo.org/funding-awards/installation-grants

Selected statistics

EMBO has supported 103 group leaders through Installation Grants since 2006

The 2018 grantees will establish one laboratory each in the Czech Republic and Portugal, three in Poland and five in Turkey

The 2018 Installation Grantees include four women and six men

Recipients of the EMBO Installation Grants 2018

Ogun Adebali, Sabanci University, Istanbul, TR (G protein-coupled receptor evolution in the context of genetic diseases)

Serap Aksu, Koc University, Istanbul, TR (Immune cell signalling in situ and in real time)

Claudia Bank, Gulbenkian Institute of Science, Oeiras, PT (Fitness landscapes and the predictability of evolution)

Sukru Anil Dogan, Bogazici University, Istanbul, TR (ROS-mediated control of tissue-specific mitochondrial biogenesis)

Serap Erkek, Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center, TR (Epigenetic regulation of bladder cancer)

Anna Karnkowska, University of Warsaw, PL (Evolution of phototrophy in eukaryotes)

Serkan Kir, Koc University, Istanbul, TR (Dissecting tumour-induced signalling pathways driving energy wasting)

Lukasz Piatkowski, Poznan University of Technology, PL (The role of hydration in cell membrane organization)

Martin Schwarzer, Institute of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, CZ (Bacteria-driven host juvenile growth promotion)

Michal Szymanski, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology of University of Gdansk and Medical University of Gdansk, PL (Structural basis for DNA repair in human mitochondria)

###

About EMBO

EMBO is an organization of more than 1800 leading researchers that promotes excellence in the life sciences in Europe and beyond. The major goals of the organization are to support talented researchers at all stages of their careers, stimulate the exchange of scientific information, and help build a research environment where scientists can achieve their best work.

EMBO helps young scientists to advance their research, promote their international reputations and ensure their mobility. Courses, workshops, conferences and scientific journals disseminate the latest research and offer training in techniques to maintain high standards of excellence in research practice. EMBO helps to shape science and research policy by seeking input and feedback from our community and by following closely the trends in science in Europe. For more information: http://www.embo.org

About EMBC

The European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC) is an intergovernmental organization comprising 29 member states. EMBC promotes a strong transnational approach to the life sciences. Within EMBC, member states pool their resources to improve the quality of research at a national level and to contribute to the advancement of basic research in Europe. For more information: http://www.embc.embo.org

Funding agencies supporting the grant:

Czech Republic: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports

Estonia: Estonian Research Agency

Poland: Ministry of Science and Higher Education

Portugal: Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia

Turkey: TUBITAKAMES, Iowa - A life sentence in many states rarely means offenders will spend a lifetime behind bars. In fact, offenders sentenced for murder served just 15 years on average before initial release from state prison, according to a recent Bureau of Justice Statistics report using national-level data.

While the report did not look at recidivism, Matt DeLisi, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Professor in the department of sociology at Iowa State University, says there is a strong likelihood offenders convicted of a violent crime or other serious felonies will commit the same crime again. In a new study, DeLisi and his colleagues examined data for serious offenders committed to the California Youth Authority (now the Division of Juvenile Justice) between 1997 and 1999, and found a prior conviction significantly increased the likelihood for the same offense by the following percentages:

Homicide: 1,467 percent

Robbery: 294 percent

Aggravated assault: 200 percent

Burglary: 148 percent

Drug sales: 736 percent

The findings, published in the journal Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, illustrate the need to consider an offender's entire criminal history during sentencing or when considering parole, DeLisi said. This is especially important as Congress considers legislation to reduce federal sentencing guidelines, he added.

"For many offenders, their behavioral histories do not support releasing them. Consider a 40- or 50-year-old offender in prison for drug trafficking with a criminal history of armed robbery, rape or murder. Right now, he may be a drug offender based on the current offense, but if he has a history of committing a range of more serious offenses, why wouldn't he do it again?"

Convictions for what DeLisi calls "extraordinary risk crimes" - murder, kidnapping, rape, armed robbery - are signals an offender is extremely antisocial. DeLisi says these are typically lifelong offenders, many with pronounced antisocial personality features. Conditions such as monitored sobriety, no-contact orders or home visits assigned as part of parole are unlikely to change their behavior.

Andrew Hochstetler, professor of sociology; Mark Heirigs and Jacob Erickson, both graduate students in sociology; and Ramate Bunga, former criminal justice student, all contributed to this research.

Link between psychopathy and homicide

Psychopathy is one possible explanation for the high rate of recidivism, particularly for homicide. The prevalence of psychopathy in the U.S. is relatively small, only around 1 percent, but researchers say it is significantly higher among prison populations.

In a separate study, DeLisi and Bryanna Fox, lead author, former special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and assistant professor at the University of South Florida, identified a strong link between psychopathy and homicide. While there is a cultural notion that murderers are psychopathic, DeLisi says this is the first meta-analysis to look at both issues.

The review of 22 studies, including approximately 2,600 homicide offenders, found the average psychopathy score was 21.2, which is considered moderate psychopathy on a scale of zero to 40. Most people in the general population score zero on this measure.

DeLisi says there was a strong correlation, which was even stronger for sexual, serial and multiple offender homicides. In other words, the more pathological the type of homicide, the stronger the association with psychopathy. The work is published in the journal Aggression and Violent Behavior.

Psychopathy is broadly defined by characteristics such as lack of remorse and empathy for others, self-centeredness, pathological lying and little consideration for the consequences of various actions. From a very early age, DeLisi says psychopaths exhibit severe conduct problems that are noteworthy for their level of violence and chronicity. Psychopaths do not accept responsibility for their behavior and often see the victim as a means to some end, he said.

"I've interviewed offenders who have committed homicides, and one of the chilling things about these offenders is they explain or describe it in very matter of fact, calm terms. They have no emotional connection to their victim or sense of guilt or shame for what they have done. They just describe it like they're doing yard work or preparing dinner," DeLisi said.

In 2013, DeLisi testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that cutting prison sentences would put more offenders back on the streets and increase the crime rate. He says this meta-analysis provides additional evidence of why criminal history must be considered as Congress weighs changes to sentencing guidelines.

###In a tuberculosis screening and treatment initiative covering the entire population of Tibetan refugee schoolchildren in northern India, a team directed by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of Wisconsin says it has found not only a startlingly high prevalence of TB disease and infection, but also a potentially workable strategy to eliminate the disease in a large, high-risk group.

"Our innovative initiative includes population-level implementation of TB preventive therapy as part of a multipronged strategy to control and eliminate TB in an at-risk population in India," says lead study author Kunchok Dorjee, Ph.D., M.B.B.S. Dorjee is a research associate at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the Zero TB in Tibetan Kids project--an initiative implemented locally by the Delek Hospital in Dharamsala and the Central Tibetan Administration health and education departments. "With the support of local leadership and community mobilization, including support from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, we have demonstrated that TB control can be achieved on a population level. The findings provide a benchmark to measure and compare progress toward elimination in the future."

Findings from the first year of the initiative were published in the December issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Tibetan refugees in India have high rates of TB, and many children live in congregate settings such as boarding schools, say the researchers. For the study, program staff members first met with parents, educators and home mothers at boarding schools to gain their support. Then, they screened children in Tibetan schools class by class. Using the schools' administrative records, the researchers ensured that every student and staff member was screened--they were screened for TB symptoms such as cough, fever and night sweats, and were interviewed about TB exposure history. Those presenting with TB symptoms were further evaluated using chest X-ray and laboratory testing. People with no prior history of TB also underwent tuberculin skin testing, a field-friendly screening tool that allows clinicians to diagnose TB infection by measuring immune response.

Between April 2017 and March 2018, the Zero TB in Tibetan Kids project conducted school-based screening for TB disease and infection among a total of 5,391 children and 786 staff members in seven boarding schools and four day schools in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Children ranged in age from 5 to 19. Active TB disease was found in 46 children and one staff member, for a prevalence in children of 853 per 100,000. An active TB case-finding campaign by the Johns Hopkins Center for Tuberculosis Research and the Delek Hospital in Dharamsala from 2011 to 2013 identified a prevalence of 394 cases per 100,000 among Tibetan schoolchildren in India, much lower than the current findings. For the current study, the researchers say that nearly one in five children in this population has TB infection. Worldwide, an estimated one in 28 children has TB infection according to a 2014 Lancet Global Health study.

TB infection without disease was detected in 930 of 5,234 schoolchildren (18 percent) and 334 of 634 staff members (53 percent). TB rates among children in the boarding schools in Dharamsala (which is in Himachal Pradesh) are about five to eight times higher than the average for India, China or globally. The rates are higher for a variety of reasons, says Dorjee, who was born and raised in the Tibetan refugee community. About 26 percent of students reported exposure to someone with active TB in the previous two years at school.

All those found to have active TB were treated with a standard six-month course of antibiotics, while those with drug-resistant TB received a prolonged course of combination drugs. A three-month course of daily preventive therapy (isoniazid and rifampicin) was provided to 799 of 930 (86 percent) schoolchildren and 101 of 334 (30 percent) staff members with TB infection. The Zero TB program paid for the study drugs, with support from the Johns Hopkins Center for Tuberculosis Research.

While treatment adherence tends to be a challenge in many populations impacted by TB, most participants in this study (nearly 95 percent, or 857) successfully completed their drug regimen for TB prevention. Less than 2 percent of the participants (12 people) were unable to complete the full recommended therapy, mostly due to side effects. Therapy was ongoing for 3 percent of the participants at the time of the study's publication.

The program staff is now conducting follow-up examinations of schoolchildren and staff members every six months, Dorjee says. In 2018, the program was expanded to screen Tibetan refugees living in monasteries and nunneries in the region.

"Through comprehensive approaches that include TB case-finding, treatment and preventive therapy, TB control in high-burden settings is achievable," says the project's principal investigator Richard Chaisson, M.D., professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Tuberculosis Research.

After China invaded Tibet in the 1950s, many Tibetans fled to India and settled in exile in Dharamsala, now home to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan central government, Dorjee explains. It is unknown whether the community previously had any immunity to TB, but exposure to the new environment in India, plus communal living in refugee areas and schools, and cold winter weather discouraging ventilation, provided a means for the infection to spread easily.

Approximately 1 million children worldwide develop tuberculosis and 250,000 die of the disease annually, the authors note. The average cost to treat the condition for a patient in the U.S. is $19,000 for drug-susceptible TB and $164,000 for multidrug-resistant TB. Globally, the average treatment cost is $1,224 for drug-susceptible TB and $7,141 for drug-resistant TB.

###

Co-authors of the study include Andrea DeLuca and Elizabeth Bonomo of Johns Hopkins, and researchers, nurses, physicians and public health experts from the Division of Tuberculosis at Delek Hospital in Dharamsala, the Tibetan Children's Village school and the Central Tibetan Administration Department of Health--each in Dharamsala, India--and the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Wisconsin.

The study was supported by grants from the Tibet Fund, the Friends of Tibetan Delek Hospital, the Pittsfield Anti-Tuberculosis Association, the Johns Hopkins Alliance for a Healthier World and private donations.In a review of registry data for more than 5,300 liver transplants performed in children nationwide, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers identify the type of patient who is most likely to survive a split liver transplant--receiving only part of a donor's liver--with no additional long-term health risks, which could allow for an increase in the availability of organs. A report on the new study is published in the December issue of the journal Liver Transplantation.

"Kids dying while on the waitlist is the worst possible outcome," says Douglas Mogul, M.D., Ph.D., medical director of the Pediatric Liver Transplant Program at Johns Hopkins Children Center and assistant professor of pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Split liver transplants have been performed for nearly 30 years, according to Mogul, and using the liver's natural structure, a split liver transplant can use a 35 to 40 percent section, making split liver transplant ideal for children whose smaller weights accommodate smaller livers. "An SLT essentially could allow two transplants from a single liver," says Mogul.

Using data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, Mogul, colleague Dorry Segev, M.D., professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and their teams examined the medical records of 5,345 pediatric patients who had received their first--either split or whole--liver transplant in the United States between March 2002 and December 2015.

"We already knew from previous studies that variables including the donor's age and cause of death along with the health of the recipient can influence outcomes," says Mogul. "But understanding which of these variables could impact the outcomes from transplanting a split liver versus a whole liver could help guide the increased use of split livers and identify which patients will do best after split or whole liver transplants, thereby being more strategic about matching donor organs with recipients."

Using a statistical analysis that relates variables with an event or outcome, the team looked at the relationship between the type of liver--split or whole--and transplant success after adjusting a number of variables, including many that had previously been reported as influencing organ transplant success. Those variables included organ donor age, cause of death, recipient weight at transplant, underlying disease and how sick the recipient is.

Of the 5,345 pediatric liver recipient records examined, 1,694 or roughly 31 percent received a split liver while 3,651 or roughly 68 percent received a whole liver. Split liver recipients were less likely than whole liver recipients to receive an organ from another pediatric patient, 59 percent versus 83 percent, respectively, and more likely to have received their liver from a donor between ages 18 and 50, 38 percent versus 13 percent, respectively. Split liver recipients were less likely than whole liver recipients to have a donor who suffered from lack of oxygen, but more likely to have a donor with head trauma.

On the surface, it appears that split liver transplants fared worse. However, after adjusting the data for donor age, recipient weight, other recipient health problems as well as surgical approach, there was no difference in outcomes for split versus whole liver recipients. More importantly, what the team found was that groups defined by certain characteristics that had the highest overall transplant failure were actually not further negatively impacted by having a split versus whole liver, implying that these sickest children would be good candidates for split livers. "One might anticipate that patients with the highest likelihood of graft failure would do worse if they got a split compared to a whole. But we saw the opposite: These people were not further impacted by getting a split," says Mogul.

Recipients who weighed less than 10 kilograms had higher rates of transplant failures in general, regardless of whether they received split or whole livers; suggesting that body weight less than 10 kilograms may be a factor for considering split liver transplantation. In contrast, recipients who weighed between 10 and 35 kilograms had an overall lower risk of transplant failure, but the failure rate after receiving a split liver was 1.46 times that of receiving a whole liver, suggesting recipients in this weight range should be considered for whole livers.

Overall, Mogul says, waiting children with lower body weights, who were in relatively worse health and whose donor livers spent more time on ice or in transit, had the same potential for a successful transplant with a split liver as they would have with a whole liver. The researchers estimate that 22 children on the liver transplant list could have benefited from split liver transplant but instead died while waiting.

"We hope these findings can help guide surgical decision-making and support policy changes that promote the increased use of SLT for selected children," says Mogul. From their study, optimal recipients could include children weighing under 10 kilograms, with a rare disease of the bile ducts known as biliary atresia, acute hepatic necrosis or sudden liver death, autoimmune disease and tumor.

"The better understanding of SLT learned from this study and our most recent research is a critical step toward the goal of significantly increasing access to transplantation," says Segev. "If they wanted to, UNOS--the United Network for Organ Sharing, the entity responsible for U.S. organ allocation policies--could institute policies within one to two years that would have huge impacts on children waiting for liver transplants."

###

Additional Johns Hopkins researchers, affiliated with the departments of surgery, epidemiology, pediatrics, and health policy and management, include Xun Luo, Jacqueline Garonzik-Wang, Mary Bowring, Andrew Cameron, Allan B. Massie, Kathleen Schwarz and John Bridges.

Funding came from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.In Afghanistan's most underdeveloped regions, attitudes towards education and child marriage appear to have changed significantly since the overthrow of the Taliban government in 2002, according to a study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The study, published online November 22 in the Journal of Adolescent Health, included interviews with nearly 1,400 Afghans aged 12-15 and their parents, in relatively poor rural districts of the country. The responses indicated that in just one generation, getting married and leaving school in childhood have become much less favored options. Virtually all of the adolescent respondents were unmarried, and about 75 percent were still in school--in contrast to their parents, who commonly married in their mid-teens and usually had no formal education.

"This study was conducted in some of the most educationally and socially disadvantaged provinces in Afghanistan, and yet we found that there have been remarkably positive shifts in attitudes among boys and girls and their parents," says study senior author Robert Blum, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health and director of the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute.

At the time of the Taliban's defeat in 2002, early marriage and minimal formal education were the norms in rural Afghanistan. The United Nations Development Program estimated a mean educational attainment of just 6.5 years of school. Girls in particular were discouraged from pursuing much formal education, and frequently ended their brief education by getting married.

The fall of the Taliban allowed modern, liberalizing influences into Afghanistan, from television and the internet to global nongovernmental organizations. Blum and colleagues undertook the study to get a better picture of how cultural attitudes have been reshaped in the least developed parts of the country, particularly with regard to education and child marriage. For the study, surveys were conducted by a team of experienced Afghan social researchers in Kandahar and five other rural provinces--some of which still simmer with Taliban insurgent activity; insurgents in Badghis province twice tried unsuccessfully to capture the research team.

The final sample used for analysis included 910 Afghans aged 12-15 and 454 parents. The findings generally suggested that a liberalizing shift has been underway. Most boys and girls indicated that they consider education valuable, not just for themselves but also for the opposite sex. The parents, though they mostly had no formal education themselves (66 percent of the men, 93 percent of the women), were also virtually unanimous in indicating that they expect their children--both boys and girls--to at least complete high school.

As for child marriage, about 38 percent of parents indicated that daughters should postpone marriage until after high school, while about 32 percent replied that they would be supportive of earlier marriage. Fathers were more likely to advocate postponement (51 percent) than mothers (28 percent). These current parental attitudes appeared to indicate a shift from the time when the parents were teens themselves--their average age at marriage was just 16 for the women and 20 for the men.

Among the young people interviewed, only six in the entire sample--all girls--were already married, and there seemed to be widespread awareness of the drawbacks of early marriage, including the limiting of future educational opportunities and increases in the risk of domestic violence for girls.

"Behaviors tend to change more slowly than attitudes, but attitudes are the precursors of behavioral change and I think there is a lot here to inspire optimism," Blum says.

Somewhat less positive results were found in the conclusions of a second study examining attitudes towards interpersonal violence, which to some extent has long been embedded in Afghan culture. Based on the same interviews by the same research team, the study was published online in the American Journal of Public Health on October 25.

Although large majorities of the interviewed adolescents and their parents indicated that violent behaviors were unacceptable when they were simply listed by the researchers, most did find them justifiable when specific circumstances were mentioned. About 71 percent of the adolescents considered it acceptable for a husband to hit his wife--if she went out without her husband, for example, or refused to have sex with him--though far fewer (48 percent) endorsed a wife's hitting her husband.

Here again, parents' responses closely matched their children's: About 68 percent found acceptable, for at least one scenario, a husband beating his wife, and most also accepted parents hitting sons or daughters (71 percent) and teachers beating students (58 percent). Curiously, wives were more likely than their husbands to find justification for wife-beating (75 percent vs. 59 percent), while husbands were more likely than wives to justify husband-beating (44 percent vs. 35 percent).

To the researchers, the findings suggest a continuing need for programs starting in childhood to make Afghans less tolerant of interpersonal violence and less likely to resort to it.

###

"Coming of Age in the Shadow of the Taliban: Education, Child Marriage, and the Future of Afghanistan from the Perspectives of Adolescents and Their Parents" was written by Robert Blum, Mengmeng Li, Omrana Pasha, Chandra Rao, and Kayhan Natiq. "Coming of Age in the Shadow of the Taliban: Adolescents' and Parents' Views Toward Interpersonal Violence and Harmful Traditional Practices in Afghanistan" was written by Li, Rao, Natiq, Pasha and Blum.

Support for the research came from the IKEA Foundation through the United Nations Children's Fund, and the William H. Gates Sr. Professorial Endowment from Johns Hopkins University.The rare discovery of a vessel with a high number of weevils provides clues to life in ancient Japan

Researchers have discovered an ancient Japanese pottery vessel from the late Jomon period (4500-3300 BP) with an estimated 500 maize weevils incorporated into its design. The vessel was discovered in February 2016 from ruins in Hokkaido, Japan. This extremely rare discovery provides clues on the cultivation and distribution of chestnuts, food in the Jomon era, and the spirituality of ancient Japanese people.

Maize weevils are beetles of the Dryophthorinae subfamily, and are destructive pests of stored rice and grains. By 2003*, Jomon-period pottery and pottery fragments containing foreign-body impressions had been collected by various researchers from multiple archeological sites around Japan. Surveys of these impressions exposed hundreds of seed and insect traces on and in the pottery. Over the years, researchers found that maize weevils constituted over 90% of all recorded insect impressions.

In 2010, Professor Obata's research group from Kumamoto University (KU) in Japan found maize weevil impressions in 10,000 year-old pottery that had been recovered from the southern Japanese island of Tanegashima. They showed that maize weevils, which were thought to have come from the Korean Peninsula, had damaged stored food, such as acorns and chestnuts, long before rice cultivation began in the area.

In 2012*, the KU research group found maize weevils impressions in pottery fragments from the Sannai-Maruyama site in the northern Japanese prefecture of Aomori. The fact that weevils inhabited an area with a cold winter is an indicator for the distribution food by humans and a warm indoor environment that persisted throughout winter. It is presumed that weevil infestation of stored food was well underway in the Jomon period.

Continuing their study of pottery from northern Japan, Professor Obata's team discovered the first maize weevil impressions from Hokkaido, and in February of 2016 discovered a pottery vessel that contained a large number of maize weevils. X-ray CT scans were taken to count insect cavities and revealed that 417 adult maize weevils were contained in the remaining parts of the pottery. In addition, if all of the missing pieces were accounted for, it is estimated that up to 501 weevils were mixed into the clay and appeared in the vessel when it was whole.

Interestingly, when comparing the body size of 337 maize weevil impressions found nationwide, the team discovered that the body length of maize weevils from eastern Japan was about 20% longer than that of western Japan. It is presumed that this body-length discrepancy is due to the different nutritional values between the types of foods they infested--the sweet chestnuts of eastern Japan vs the acorns of western Japan.

Chestnuts are not native to Hokkaido and previous studies surmised that people carried them to the northern Japanese island. The discovery of weevils at the Tatesaki archaeological site in Hokkaido is evidence that the Jomon people of Tohoku (south of Hokkaido) carried supplies, including chestnuts infested by weevils, over the Tsugaru Strait by ship.

"The meaning of a large amount of adult maize weevils in pottery was not touched upon in detail in my paper," said Professor Obata. "However, I believe that the Jomon people mixed the weevils into the pottery clay with the hope of having a good harvest."

###

This research result was posted in the "Journal of Archaeological Science: Report" on the 13th of November 2018.

*References only available in Japanese and may be found in the translated version of this release.

[Source]

Obata, H., Morimoto, K. & Miyanoshita, A., 2019. Discovery of the Jomon era maize weevils in Hokkaido, Japan and its mean. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 23, pp.137-156. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.10.037.New models which can predict the critical point at which plant pests and diseases shift from being a localised problem to a major outbreak could help us in our fight to save the world's woodlands.

Infectious disease outbreaks in plants are a major threat to the world's ecosystems, agricultural crops and food trade. Currently, several fungal diseases are devastating forests world-wide and under particular threat are key UK species such as oak and ash.

Now new research led by mathematicians at Newcastle University, UK, together with the University of Leeds, has identified a way to model disease progression and predict the 'tipping point' of a disease, providing early warning indicators that an epidemic is imminent and action needs to be taken.

Lead author Dr Sirio Orozco-Fuentes, a physicist at Newcastle University, explains:

"Predicting and controlling disease spread is incredibly difficult because of the interaction of all the different components involved.

"It's not just about the type of tree or the hardiness of the disease, it depends on the environment - temperature, humidity, wind speed, the types of trees planted nearby and how close they are.

"So the presence of disease doesn't automatically lead to an outbreak. A change in the weather, for example, may kill the pest before it becomes a problem without any need for human intervention.

"What we have developed is a number of mathematical models which predict the point at which a disease shifts from a small, localised problem to an epidemic, providing us with the first early warning indicators that an outbreak is imminent.

"Ultimately, we hope this will help to slow down disease spread in the future and also help us to design more resilient forests in the future."

Funded by Defra and Newcastle University, the project was launched in response to the current threat to our oak tree population, such as the Oak Processionary Moth, a toxic species of caterpillar which strips the trees of their leaves.

The team developed mathematical models to mimic the spread of disease under different conditions. Their findings, published in Ecological Modelling, show strikingly similar patterns of disease spread to the ones obtained through satellite images of key woodlands across the UK.

They also highlighted a 'critical transition' period between two phases: local confinement (the time when the disease is contained and not a threat) and an epiphytotic outbreak.

Monitoring new pockets of disease and identifying the point at which it hits this critical point would result in a more informed management system for policy makers, explains Dr Nick Parker, a senior lecturer in applied mathematics at Newcastle University and co-author on the paper.

"One of the key indicators is the species mix of the diseased woodland," says Dr Parker.

"The homogeneous nature of today's woodlands allows the rapid spread of pests and diseases and is where we are most likely to see an outbreak."

###Since Kim Jong-un came to power in 2012, about 1,000-1,500 North Koreans have left the country each year. Between January and November 2018, Seoul has authorised several humanitarian missions in the North, including drugs, milk powder and flour worth US$ 4.15 million. The North slams new US sanctions that threaten denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula. South Korea is trying to mediate. New talks are set with the US.

Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Between January and November of this year, 1,042 North Koreans have defected to South Korea, the countrys Unification Ministry announced today, a figure in line with the that of last year, when 1,045 people fled the North during the same period of time.

Since Kim Jong-un came to power in 2012, about 1,000-1,500 North Koreans have left the country each year. According to South Korean government data, the number of North Korean deserters living in the South reached 32,381 at the end of November.

The Unification Ministry also provided data on South Koreas humanitarian commitments to the North. Between January and November 2018, Seoul authorised 14 separate missions. Six civic groups delivered 4.7 billion won (US$ 4.15 million) worth of tuberculosis drugs, milk powder and flour.

Last year, South Korea announced a US$ 8 million assistance plan for North Korea through international humanitarian groups, but the plan has yet to be implemented.

It was put on hold pending developments in denuclearisation talks with the North and international sanctions against Pyongyang, South Korean media reported.

Sanctions and denuclearisation are the cause of the latest tensions between North Korea and the United States. Pyongyang slammed the latest US punitive measures announced on 10 December against three senior North Korean officials.

Issued for violation of human rights, sanctions will hit the US assets of Chloe Ryong-hae, Kim Jong-un's right-hand man; Security Minister Jong Kyong-thaek and propaganda official Pak Kwang-ho.

In a statement, North Korea expressed "shock and indignation" at the new US sanctions, which could "block the path to denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula forever.

North Korean authorities also accused the US state department of being "bent on bringing... relations back to the status of last year which was marked by exchanges of fire".

For Pyongyang, the US policy of "maximum pressure" would be its "greatest miscalculation" and that it should instead return to the confidence building that was hoped for following the Singapore summit between the leaders of the two countries.

In light of the new tensions, South Koreas Foreign Ministry announced fresh talks with Washington.

Stephen Biegun, the US special representative on North Korea policy, is scheduled to start a four-day visit to South Korea tomorrow. He will discuss various issues related to North Korea, including inter-Korean relations, as well as coordinate strategies for "substantive progress" in efforts toward denuclearisation and peace.

South Korea is trying to maintain the momentum of dialogue hoping that better relations with Pyongyang will facilitate the process.

In fact, the two Koreas are still engaged in steps to reduce tensions. Next week they will hold a highly symbolic ceremony to start work to upgrade and reconnect cross-border roads and railway tracks.Harvester ants that eat weed seeds on the soil's surface can help farmers manage weeds on their farms, according to an international team of researchers, who found that tilling less to preserve the ants could save farmers fuel and labor costs, as well as preserve water and improve soil quality.

"These ants are naturally present in the fields," said Barbara Baraibar Padro, a postdoctoral scholar in plant science, Penn State. "They are able to remove a huge amount of weed seeds from the system, and if farms till less to preserve these ants, it can benefit them."

Tilling a field disturbs the soil and can destroy ant nests. The researchers wondered whether tilling had an impact on the number, size and distribution of ant nests in the fields, and how these factors could influence the ant's ability to control weeds.

"Tilled fields might harbor more weeds because they don't have the pressure from the ants," said Baraibar. "If you don't disturb the soil, you might have more ants."

The researchers compared the number and size of ant nests in four tilled fields and three no till fields in Spain. They also marked the locations of different ant nests using GPS, then analyzed how evenly spaced apart the nests were in the tilled and no till fields. Their paper will appear in Biological Control in January 2019.

The researchers predicted that tilled fields would have less ant nests, and that these nests would be smaller than those in no till fields. While they found no differences in the number of ant nests in tilled and no till fields, they did find that tilled fields had smaller nests than no till fields. This can impact weed management because smaller nests will not consume as many weed seeds as larger nests.

The researchers also predicted that ant nest distribution would differ between tilled and no till fields. Ants normally compete with each other and defend territories, causing an even distribution of ant nests throughout a no till field. But tillage could kill some nests at random and leave some areas with no ant nests to remove weed seeds from the surface of the soil.

The researchers found that indeed, no tilled fields had more evenly distributed ant nests, whereas tilled fields had more randomly distributed ant nests.

"It was cool that we could see the spatial difference between the tilled and no tilled," said Baraibar. "There is a lot of variability between fields, so the idea that we could see a pattern is exciting."

Farmers in Spain growing winter cereal crops like barley till the soil twice a year. While the fall tilling can help farmers prepare their fields for planting, the researchers do not believe that summer tilling is as beneficial.

"Agronomically, I'm not sure if that tillage makes that much sense," said Baraibar. "You're probably losing a lot of water and you are burying all the weed seeds so they are no longer available for the ants."

In the dry, semi-arid regions of Spain, farmers need to preserve water and maintain soil quality to have a good crop. Tilling less can help farmers save water, improve their soil, and reduce the costs of fuel and labor, as well as helping the ants that consume weed seeds. Harvester ants can also help farmers manage herbicide-resistant weed species such as rigid ryegrass, a grass that ants may prefer, and with ant colonies living for years, these benefits are long-lasting.

"Careful timing of the tillage can preserve the benefits of weed seed removal that the harvester ants provide, and also help with preparing the seed bed or controlling summer weeds," said Baraibar. "So you're not losing the benefits of tillage, but doing it at the right time."

###

Joel Torra, and Aritz Royo-Esmal, postdoctoral scholars; and Jordi Recasens, professor; all in the department of horticulture, botany and landscaping, and Carles Comas, associate professor of Mathematics; all at the Universitat de Lleida, Spain also worked on this project. The Spanish National Research and Development Program and the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the Catalan Government, funded this work.Singapore, 18 December 2018 (Tuesday) - Associate Professor Steven Hoi from the School of Information Systems (SIS) at Singapore Management University (SMU) has been elevated to IEEE Fellow with effect from 1 January 2019. He is being recognised for his contributions to machine learning for multimedia information retrieval and scalable data analytics.

The IEEE Grade of Fellow is conferred by the IEEE Board of Directors upon a person with an outstanding record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest. The total number selected in any one year cannot exceed one-tenth of one- percent of the total voting membership. IEEE Fellow is the highest grade of membership and is recognised by the technical community as a prestigious honour and an important career achievement. The number of newly elevated IEEE Fellows under age 40 is very rare, and Prof Hoi belongs to this youngest category of new IEEE Fellows this year.

Prof Hoi said, "I am honoured and greatly humbled to be elevated to IEEE Fellow. I would like to offer my sincerest gratitude to all my collaborators and students for their valuable support and contributions to my professional career, and to SMU for providing a dynamic and supportive research environment that has enabled me to undertake machine learning and artificial intelligence research in Singapore."

Prof Hoi's research contributions cover both fundamental research on machine learning methodology, and practical machine learning research for a wide range of real-world application domains in artificial intelligence (AI) and data science, including multimedia information retrieval, computer vision and pattern recognition, scalable data analytics, web search and mining, social media, computational finance, cybersecurity intelligence, and healthcare intelligence for smart nation.

One area of his early research in machine learning methodology is active learning, a machine learning paradigm that can significantly reduce human effort in real-world AI applications. Prof Hoi and his co-authors were the first to coin the concept of Batch Mode Active Learning (BMAL), and apply the technique for real-world applications, including Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) and beyond. Unlike traditional active learning methodology that is designed to select one single instance at each iteration, BMAL is optimised to simultaneously select multiple informative instances to maximize the efficacy of machine learning tasks. This line of research by Prof Hoi and his fellow researchers has inspired and influenced many studies and applications in this area.

Another area of his fundamental research in machine learning is online learning, which is a subfield of machine learning. In contrast to traditional machine learning paradigms that typically learn in a batch fashion, online learning is particularly suitable for large-scale data stream analytics, where data arrives sequentially with high velocity and high variety. Prof Hoi has made important contributions for online learning research for both theory and methods, and has been recognised as one of the active and leading machine learning researchers with significant contributions to this area.

Besides the fundamental research in machine learning methodologies, Prof Hoi also investigates the applications of machine learning techniques to address real-world challenges according to different application domains, including multimedia information retrieval, computer vision and pattern recognition, social media analytics, web search and data mining, computational finance, bioinformatics and medical imaging, cybersecurity intelligence, mobile and software mining, and healthcare intelligence.

For example, Prof Hoi and his fellow researchers have proposed a novel paradigm of image retrieval, termed Collaborative Image Retrieval, that explores machine learning techniques in bridging the semantic gap by mining the logs of user's search history. This paradigm helps to tackle a fundamental challenge in multimedia retrieval, which is the semantic gap between semantic meaning and low level features of multimedia data.

Another example is in the area of computer vision and pattern recognition. Prof Hoi and his fellow researchers have developed food image recognition using deep learning, and applied this to automated food logging applications, called "FoodAI". This technology has been successfully transferred to be incorporated into Health Promotion Board's Healthy365 app to facilitate smart food logging by the app's users. After a user has taken a photo of the food using the camera in the Healthy365 app, the FoodAI technology embedded in the app recognises the food in the photo, logs it, and provides the estimated calories.

A third example of Prof Hoi's applied research is in the area of computational finance, specifically on Online Portfolio Selection, which sequentially optimises a portfolio over a collection of assets to achieve certain investment targets (such as maximising the cumulative wealth). Prof Hoi and his team had explored state-of-the-art online learning techniques for building a family of online portfolio selection algorithms and achieved promising results through extensively backtesting the strategies on large-scale historical data.

Prof Hoi received his Bachelor degree in Computer Science and Technology from Tsinghua University in China, and his Master and Ph.D degrees in Computer Science and Engineering from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He joined SMU SIS in 2014. Prior to joining SMU, he was a tenured faculty member at Nanyang Technological University. In addition to teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students, Prof Hoi is also a lead Principal Investigator at SMU's Living Analytics Research Centre .

Over more than 15 years of his academic career, Prof Hoi has published more than 200 papers in refereed conferences and journals. His publications have been widely cited, as reflected in a total of more than 8,000 citations, and a high H-index of 51 which is a metric that measures both the productivity and citation impact of the publications of a scientist or scholar. In addition to academic impact, his work also yielded significant impact to industry through his strong working relationship with industry partners.

Besides his academic and research contributions, Prof Hoi has also served as an organiser, area chair, senior programme committee member, programme committee member and referee for many top-tier conferences, and an editorial board member for many international journals. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Neurocomputing journal, and the Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.

Prof Hoi was the recipient of the Lee Kong Chian Fellowship in 2016 and the Lee Kuan Yew Fellowship in 2018 at SMU due to his research excellence.

Prof Hoi's current research agenda is focused on machine learning and deep learning techniques for AI and data science applications. He is interested in exploring online learning and deep learning techniques for tackling various challenges of real-world AI problems. Two major research directions of his research agenda include:

Continual Learning Machines: the goal is to explore continual learning methods that can learn effectively from data streams in a continuous and scalable manner;

Human-like Intelligent Systems: the goal is to build an intelligent learning system that can learn knowledge quickly and adapt it for new scenarios like the way human beings can do.

###

For more information, please contact:

Teo Chang Ching (Mr)

Senior Assistant Director, Corporate Communications

Office of Corporate Communications & Marketing

DID: 6828 0451

Email: ccteo@smu.edu.sg

About Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

The IEEE is the world's leading professional association for advancing technology for humanity. Through its 400,000 plus members in 160 countries, the association is a leading authority on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics.

Dedicated to the advancement of technology, the IEEE publishes 30 percent of the world's literature in the electrical and electronics engineering and computer science fields, and has developed more than 1300 active industry standards. The association also sponsors or co-sponsors nearly 1700 international technical conferences each year. If you would like to learn more about IEEE or the IEEE Fellow Program, please visit http://www.ieee.org.

About the Singapore Management University (SMU)

A premier university in Asia, the Singapore Management University (SMU) is internationally recognised for its world-class research and distinguished teaching. Established in 2000, SMU's mission is to generate leading-edge research with global impact and to produce broad-based, creative and entrepreneurial leaders for the knowledge-based economy. SMU's education is known for its highly interactive, collaborative and project-based approach to learning.

Home to over 10,000 students across undergraduate, postgraduate professional and postgraduate research programmes, SMU is comprised of six schools: School of Accountancy, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, School of Economics, School of Information Systems, School of Law, and School of Social Sciences. SMU offers a wide range of bachelors', masters' and PhD degree programmes in the disciplinary areas associated with the six schools, as well as in multidisciplinary combinations of these areas.

SMU emphasises rigorous, high-impact, multi- and interdisciplinary research that addresses Asian issues of global relevance. SMU faculty members collaborate with leading international researchers and universities around the world, as well as with partners in the business community and public sector. SMU's city campus is a modern facility located in the heart of downtown Singapore, fostering strategic linkages with business, government and the wider community.Buruli ulcer - one of the most neglected among the NTDs - is a debilitating and stigmatising disease. Affecting mainly children in West and Central Africa, the chronic disease results in devastating skin lesions and can lead to permanent disfigurement and long-term disabilities. Buruli ulcer is caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans which belongs to the same family of bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB) and leprosy. M. ulcerans is found in the environment and, despite considerable research efforts, the mode of transmission of the bacteria to humans remains unclear.

Difficult treatment with adverse side effects

Traditionally, the skin lesions caused by Buruli ulcer have been removed by wide surgical excision. Since 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) also recommends treatment with a combination of antibiotics: oral rifampicin and injected streptomycin. Surgery is often not an accessible option in low-income settings and the combination therapy requires daily visits in health centres over an 8-week period. More importantly, the antibiotics result in severe adverse side effects with over 20% of treated patients suffering from hearing loss. In addition, fear of the emergence of rifampicin resistance increases the pressure to develop new and better drug treatment regimens.

Highly effective compound discovered

Swiss TPH researchers, together with partner institutions such as the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, have now discovered a promising compound against Buruli ulcer. The study, which was published today in the peer-review journal Nature Communications, found that compound Q203 (an imidazopyridine amide) is highly effective against Buruli ulcer, both in vitro and in vivo.

"We were very surprised when we saw this high activity. We had previously screened hundreds of compounds that were originally intended for TB drug development and none of the others showed promising activity against Mycobacterium ulcerans," said Gerd Pluschke, Head of the Molecular Immunology Unit at Swiss TPH. "Q203, however, is even more effective against Buruli ulcer than the current most active antibiotic rifampicin. Such a new and exquisitely effective drug combined with a second antibiotic may result in a considerably shorter oral treatment regimen with fewer adverse side effects."

Another advantage of Q203 is that its safety has already been tested in a phase I clinical trial for TB. "That means that as soon as funding can be secured, we will directly test the new compound in Buruli ulcer patients in a phase II trial," said Pluschke.

Important knowledge on the bacterium established

Comparison of the M. ulcerans genome with other mycobacterial genomes provided an explanation for why this bacterium is so sensitive to Q203. The bacterium seems to be on the way to develop from an environmental organism to a specialised pathogen, which is adapting to live in a more stable environment. In the course of this evolution, it is reducing the number of active genes, since many cellular functions are only needed by free living environmental organisms. While respiration of the less sensitive TB bacteria relies on two pathways, with only one being blocked by Q203, M. ulcerans has lost the alternative Q203 resistant pathway and cannot persist for longer times in the presence of the drug.

Broad and long-term expertise on Buruli ulcer

Swiss TPH has a long-standing interest and wide-ranging expertise in researching Buruli ulcer. Apart from drug discovery, scientists are also working on heat therapy as an alternative treatment option and first steps have been taken to develop a vaccine. Together with the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), Swiss TPH is also working on developing a rapid diagnostic test for Buruli ulcer.

"Research, long-term commitment and productive partnerships demonstrate that Swiss TPH can make a meansingful contribution to a deeper understanding of the epidemiology and control of Buruli ulcer and other NTDs," said Jurg Utzinger, Director of Swiss TPH. Research on Buruli ulcer at Swiss TPH has been supported by the Medicor Foundation and the UBS Optimus Foundation for many years.

###

About the publication

To conduct this research, Swiss TPH worked with a number of partner institutions, including the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Scherr N. et al. Targeting the Mycobacterium ulcerans cytochrome bc1:aa3 for the treatment of Buruli ulcer. (2018) Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07804-8WASHINGTON--Mindfulness training may improve the effectiveness of intensive weight management programs, according to a small study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Individuals who participated in mindfulness training as part of an intensive weight management program lost more weight in six months than other program participants who did not attend mindfulness courses. The findings are the result of research from the University of Warwick and the Warwickshire Institute for the Study of Diabetes Endocrinology and Metabolism at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.

Mindfulness is a mind-body practice where individuals learn to achieve heightened awareness of their current state of mind and immediate environment in the present moment. The study looked at how this practice could be used to help individuals with obesity.

Obesity worldwide has nearly tripled since 1975, according to the World Health Organization. As of 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults worldwide met the criteria for overweight or obesity.

"This research is significant as we have shown that problematic eating behavior can be improved with mindfulness application," said the study's first author, Petra Hanson, M.B.C.H.B., B.Sc., M.R.C.P., A.F.H.E.A., a research fellow and Ph.D. student at Warwickshire Institute for the Study of Diabetes Endocrinology and Metabolism at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire in Coventry NHS Trust, U.K. "We are the first center in the United Kingdom that created a structured multidisciplinary course incorporating mindfulness and assessed its effectiveness in patients attending obesity clinics."

The study examined weight loss among 53 people who were attending the multidisciplinary tier 3 weight management program at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. Among those recruited into the study, 33 participants completed at least three of four mindfulness sessions. The course included discussions of the difference between mindful and mindless eating as well as an introduction to Compassionate Mind Therapy, which highlights the need to be aware of self-criticism as well as the importance of self confidence in achieving behavior change.

Mindfulness course participants lost, on average, 3 kilograms, or about 6.6 pounds, in the six-month period following the classes. Individuals who only attended one or two of the four courses lost, on average, 0.9 kilograms, or nearly 2 pounds, during the same period. The non-completers tended to weigh more at the outset of the study than those who finished the group mindfulness course.

Those who completed the mindfulness course lost 2.85 kilograms (nearly 6.3 pounds) more, on average, than a control group of 20 individuals in the tier 3 obesity management program who did not participate in the course.

"Surveys of the participants indicate mindfulness training can help this population improve their relationship with food," Hanson said. "Individuals who completed the course said they were better able to plan meals in advance and felt more confident in self-management of weight loss moving forward. Similar courses can be held in a primary care setting or even developed into digital tools. We hope this approach can be scaled up to reach a wider population."

"Mindfulness has huge potential as a strategy for achieving and maintaining good health and wellbeing," said the paper's senior author, Thomas M. Barber of Warwickshire Institute for the Study of Diabetes Endocrinology and Metabolism at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. "With the burgeoning impact of 21st Century chronic disease, much of which relates to lifestyle behavior choices, it is logical that focus should be on enabling the populace to make appropriate lifestyle decisions, and empowering subsequent salutary behavior change. In the context of obesity and eating-related behaviors, we have demonstrated that mindfulness techniques can do just that."

###

Other authors of the study include: Emma Shuttlewood, Louise Halder, Neha Shah, F.T. Lam and Vinod Menon of Warwickshire Institute for the Study of Diabetes Endocrinology and Metabolism at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust in Coventry, U.K.

The research received no external funding support.

The study, "Application of Mindfulness in a Tier 3 Obesity Service Improves Eating Behaviour and Facilitates Successful Weight-loss," will be published online, ahead of print.

Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the world's oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.

The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at http://www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia.Even forest trees growing in average conditions may decline in productivity as much as 75 percent

Southwest forests may decline in productivity on average as much as 75 percent over the 21st century as climate warms, according to new research published on Dec. 17.

The new estimate is better than previous ones because it is based on a new database of information on the growth of trees under average conditions, according to the research team. Previous estimates were based on a database that included many trees growing in marginal conditions.

The finding is based on a treasure trove of about 20,000 unanalyzed tree cores discovered in a Utah laboratory about a decade ago. The annual growth rings visible in tree cores reflect each year's climatic conditions.

The new tree-core samples are more representative of the forest as a whole than many of those collected and analyzed earlier, said first author Stefan Klesse, who conducted the analysis while a postdoctoral researcher at the UA Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research.

Senior author Margaret Evans said the spatial representation in the new data set from the U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis program is "unprecedented." She calls the trees in the new data set that are living under average growing conditions "Joe Schmoe trees."

"The Joe Schmoe trees will experience a 75 percent reduction in growth and the trees on the edge--according to our analysis--are pretty much doomed," said Evans, an assistant professor in the UA Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research.

The database previously available to researchers is the International Tree-Ring Data Bank, or ITRDB, which included samples from many trees that were growing under marginal conditions -- what Evans characterized as "on the edge."

When the trees in the ITRDB were initially sampled, which was often decades ago, researchers chose trees living in marginal conditions because those trees were most sensitive to climate variation and thus best suited to reveal how climate varied over the past centuries.

Tree-ring researchers have long known the ITRDB samples might overestimate the effect of climate on average trees, but had no other data to use until now. And, even though the trees in the ITRDB may provide an overestimate of how the average forest tree will respond to the change in climate in the 21st century, that information is still valuable, Evans said.

"Those trees are the canaries in the coal mine -- the edge of the forest is where we're going to see the change first," she said.

The research paper by Klesse, Evans and their co-authors, "Sampling bias overestimates climate change impacts on forest growth in the southwestern United States" was published in Nature Communications on Dec. 17. A list of co-authors is at the bottom of this release.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Navajo Nation funded the research.

The new collection of Forest Inventory and Analysis tree cores turned up when scientists at the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station in Ogden, Utah, were moving from one building to another. The researchers were surprised to find a bunch of dusty boxes filled with tree cores that had never been analyzed.

The cores had been systematically collected from trees throughout the eight interior states of the U.S. West during the 1980s and 1990s. The cores reflected the growth of individual trees going back to the 1920s and some even earlier.

Co-authors R. Justin DeRose and John Shaw of the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station began the painstaking job of measuring annual growth rings from the approximately 20,000 cores, each from a specific tree. The two scientists enlisted Evans and sent her about 2,000 cores from Arizona trees. Her research team, which included eight UA undergraduates, began cataloging those cores and recording the data from them in 2015.

The researchers wondered what the new tree-ring records might reveal about how climate change would affect the growth of forest trees of the Southwest in the latter half of the 21st century. To figure that out, they focused on records from common pinyon pine, Douglas fir and ponderosa pine from Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.

Klesse, who is now a postdoctoral researcher at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL in Zurich, compared information from the newly analyzed cores from "Joe Schmoe" trees, plus additional tree-ring growth records from 858 trees in Arizona and New Mexico, with the records in the ITRDB.

For projections of the region's precipitation and temperature in the 21st century, he used climate projections from one of the most current climate models, CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5).

His analysis revealed that growth of the ordinary forest trees would not be reduced as much under climate change as the trees whose records are included in the ITRDB.

Even so, he said, "As the climate warms, tree growth will decline."

Evans said, "The trees have to take whatever they get in terms of climate conditions. When the temperatures rise they have to cope with it -- or not."

She and Klesse are expanding their research to include data from 30,000 cores collected from Douglas fir trees spanning the continent from Mexico to Canada.

Other co-authors are Christopher Guiterman of the UA; Ann Lynch of the U.S. Forest Service and the UA; and Christopher O'Connor of the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station in Missoula, Montana.

###

Researcher contact:

Margaret Evans

University of Arizona

mekevans@email.arizona.edu

520-621-0778

Stefan Klesse

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL

sklesse@gmx.net

+41 44 739 25 66

Languages spoken: German, English

Media contact:

Mari N. Jensen

University of Arizona

520-626-9635

mnjensen@email.arizona.eduThe new study, covering the largest study area on this animal group in peninsular territory, is now published in the journal Biodiversity Data Journal. Other participants in the study are the experts from the Experimental Station of Arid Zones (EEZA-CSIC) and the University of Helsinki (Finland).

A sampling of more than 20,000 spider samples

The scientific team has studied a total of 20,539 samples of different Iberian spider species -with 8,521 adult specimens corresponding to 190 genera, 39 families and 376 species- in the oak woodlands of National Parks in Aiguestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici, Ordesa i Mont Perdut, the Peaks of Europe, Monfrague, Cabaneros and Sierra Nevada.

These forests with temperate climate -where arboreal species and deciduous trees are abundant- represent the most appropriate natural habitat "to study the biogeographic patterns of spiders at a peninsular scale", says Professor Miquel Angel Arnedo. "In a broader sense, oak woodlands are a few of the forest communities that are represented in all National Parks building up our study. These are natural habitats of interest regarding conservation, and show a high level of endemism and their evolutionary history is quite well known".

Iberian arachnology: an area to be explored

The degree of knowledge on the geographic distribution of Iberian spiders is still very little compared to other Mediterranean countries. "The lack of tradition in natural history studies in the country and the reduced amount of admirers of arachnology could explain these differences", says Arnedo, member of the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences of the Faculty of Biology and IRBio.

The research team has found eleven new spider species -so far more than 1,300 species were known in the peninsula and the Balearic Islands- apart from other twenty species whose taxonomic identification is still pending. According to the experts, some of the new species could be especially vulnerable to the environmental factors (in most of the cases, only one or a few individuals have been discovered in one geographical place or even one parcel).

Moreover, the experts add seven new spider species to the peninsular biological inventory -and three more in the Spain- with the identification in the area of species such as Dictyna pusilla, Philodromus buchari, Pseudeuophrys nebrodensis, Euryopis flavomaculata, Titanoeca schineri, Dipoena torva and Sardinion blackwalli, some of them described in the scientific bibliography since the late 19th century. "None of these species can be considered as rare -notes Arnedo- since they had been identified in other places such as France, Portugal and Central Europe".

"There are still many spider species to be found", adds Arnedo. "These results show there is a lack of systematic samplings in the arachnological biodiversity in Spain and are a good example of the few things we know about our own fauna".

Reconstructing the evolutionary history of peninsular spiders

The sampling technique for spider specimens in the natural environment has followed the standardized protocol COBRA. This methodology -applied in studies of terrestrial arthropod communities worldwide- enables researchers to create an inventory of the species in a specific area and brings data to extrapolate the amount and abundance of species that can live in a geographical area.

Moreover, the methodology based on content such as DNA barcoding -that is, the use of a short and standardized DNA fragment as the identifier of a species- is the innovating technique for applied comparative genetics to speed up the identification of species and improve the resolution of the analysis of biodiversity in this animal group. "This methodology enables developing high-resolution bioinformatic tools to help automatizing the classification and identification of species, even in populations of the same species in different places", says Arnedo.

"For instance, young individuals cannot be classified as species through morphological criteria, which in many cases they only reach the family taxon. With the DNA barcoding we can categorize them under specific species. This technique also helps to identify different vital stages in the same species -even remains such as exuvia or overlayers, excrements or environmental DNA- which would be impossible to distinguish otherwise.

Knowing the natural heritage to protect biodiversity

Loss of natural habitat, invasive species, environmental pollution and global warming are threats that put the conservation of peninsular arachnological fauna in danger. Some spider species tolerate environmental perturbations better than others -these are generalist predators and adapt to changes- but other groups are more sensitive to environmental factors. In the future, samplings will need standardized protocols and wider taxonomical data with nuclear molecular markers, the morphological studies and ecological information as well to know about the evolutionary and biogeographic history of peninsular spiders to guarantee their conservation.

"Like the other organisms, spiders are submitted to variations in their environmental and biological environment. We are all in the same boat and with the same destination, the difference is that we are the in charge of this destiny", concludes Professor Miquel Angel Arnedo.

###Raul Silva lived with phantom limb pain for 18 years until a new dorsal root ganglion (DRG) device erased his pain during a test phase at UC San Diego Health, one of the only providers in the region offering the device

In May 2000, Raul Silva was involved in a motorcycle accident in Baja California, Mexico, badly breaking his left femur, or thighbone. He underwent emergency surgery in Mexicali and, at first, everything seemed fine. Then an infection set in, worsened, and Silva eventually made his way to San Diego, where his left leg was amputated.

"When I left the hospital and came home, I didn't really know anything about phantom limb pain," Silva said, who now lives in Calexico, Calif. "But I felt it immediately, like a pinch in my toe and knee, even though they weren't there anymore. It quickly became the worst pain I've ever experienced. Taking just one step, even while wearing a prosthetic device, was painful. But there wasn't anything I could do -- there isn't anything there to ice, heat or massage."

For years, all Silva's doctors could do was tell him to take aspirin and, more recently, prescription gabapentin and opioids to relieve the pain. He said the medications made him sleepy and didn't really help a lot, but something was better than nothing. Silva worked in retail for many years, which he said helped distract him from the pain, but it was always there. He stopped working altogether in 2015 when his phantom limb pain became too much to bear.

A few months ago, a doctor referred Silva to Krishnan Chakravarthy, MD, PhD, a pain management specialist at UC San Diego Health, a two-hour drive from Silva's home. Chakravarthy is one of just a handful of San Diego physicians who have undergone specialized training to implant a new pain management device, Abbot's Proclaim DRG Neurostimulator System for dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation.

The DRG is a bundle of sensory nerves that transmits information to the brain. The new device stimulates the DRG, disrupting the transmission of pain signals. The battery-powered device is implanted in a patient's back, where it sends out mild electrical pulses through thin wires connected to the DRG. The device communicates with a handheld, iPad-like device via Bluetooth wireless technology, allowing the patient to control the strength of the stimulation.

DRG therapy is designed for people with untreatable complex regional pain syndrome in the lower limbs, a condition that typically results from an injury or surgery. This type of pain can be so debilitating and life-changing that patients sometimes refer to it as "the suicide disease."

Under Chakravarthy's care, Silva became UC San Diego Health's first patient to test the device. In October 2018, he had a temporary device placed for a one-week testing phase. During that time, Silva said his pain completely disappeared. For the first time in 18 years, he actually felt like an amputee because he could no longer feel the phantom leg. Silva could wear his prosthetic leg without any pain or discomfort, making it much easier for him to get around. His sciatic pain went away, too. He didn't feel the need to take any pain medication.

"It was heaven," Silva said. "This is the best thing to happen to me since the amputation."

The DRG stimulation device is similar to traditional spinal cord stimulators, in which an implanted device stimulates the spinal cord. But the spinal cord is surrounded by more cerebral spinal fluid than the DRG, and that can disrupt the current and cause unwanted stimulation or motor activation. The DRG is predictably located at each spinal level, allowing health care providers to treat a broader range of pain types and specifically target the painful region. The DRG stimulation device's Bluetooth capabilities also give patients more control over their pain management.

Unlike previous generations of neurostimulators, the new DRG device is compatible with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). And while many patients with traditional spinal cord stimulators need to spend 45 minutes per day charging batteries, the DRG device doesn't need to be recharged, thanks to a special battery that holds a large, single charge. Additionally, the DRG only requires very small doses of energy to treat pain.

In a randomized trial, 74 percent of patients who received DRG stimulation achieved meaningful pain relief and greater treatment success, compared to 53 percent of patients who received traditional spinal cord stimulation. Those results were published April 2017 in the journal Pain.

"With DRG stimulation, I think we'll finally be able to bring relief to many patients with chronic lower limb pain who haven't responded to medications or spinal cord stimulation," Chakravarthy said. "So far, the results we've seen are amazing."

Silva is looking forward to having Chakravarthy implant the DRG stimulation device permanently.

"I'd rather try something new than do nothing," he said. "And someone has to be first to do something new, so others can benefit. I hope my experience can help others know that they aren't the only ones living in pain, and that there are options like this."

###

For more information, visit health.ucsd.edu/specialties/painAURORA, Colo. (Dec. 18, 2018) - A team of investigators led by members of the University of Colorado School of Medicine faculty at CU Anschutz Medical Campus has identified a connection between mucus in the small airways and pulmonary fibrosis.

The findings are published in Nature Communications.

"The overproduction of a lung mucin (MUC5B) has consistently been shown to be the strongest risk for the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and most recently rheumatoid arthritis-interstitial lung disease," said senior and corresponding author David Schwartz, MD, Chair of the Department of Medicine at the CU School of Medicine.

Dr. Schwartz adds, "The findings in this manuscript provide a critical breakthrough in understanding the cause and potentially the treatment of IPF by demonstrating that excess mucus in the small airways can cause lung fibrosis, in part, by impairing the mechanism of lung clearance. In aggregate, these discoveries have provided the means to identify an at-risk population, diagnose the disease prior to the development of irreversible scarring, focus on a unique therapeutic target (MUC5B) and a specific location in the lung (distal airway), and create a novel pathway for therapeutic intervention for a disease that is currently incurable."

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is the most common type of progressive lung fibrosis. Over time, the scarring gets worse and it becomes hard to take in a deep breath and the lungs cannot take in enough oxygen. The average length of survival of patients with IPF is three to five years, and a critical unmet need is to identify patients before the lung is scarred irreversibly.

Mucociliary dysfunction is an emerging paradigm in lung diseases [3, 4]. Previously considered a characteristic specific to obstructive diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and genetic diseases such as primary ciliary dyskinesia and cystic fibrosis, the importance of mucins, mucus, and mucociliary interactions has surfaced in diseases of the lung periphery, such as adenocarcinoma and IPF [1, 2].

The investigators on the current study in Nature Communications hypothesized that the potential role for mucociliary dysfunction as a driver of IPF pathology is supported by unique gene expression signatures in IPF. The investigators found that a specific genetic characteristic, known as the MUC5B promoter variant rs35705950, which results in a marked increase production of mucus in the lung is the strongest genetic risk factor for IPF. They also found this is the strongest risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis-interstitial lung disease.

The findings suggest that targeting MUC5B in the terminal airways of patients with preclinical stages of interstitial lung disease represents a strategy to prevent the progression of preclinical pulmonary fibrosis.

"This study shows how genetic findings in human diseases can generate new hypotheses, such as those related to impaired mucociliary clearance, that may lead to the discovery of novel molecular mechanisms and the development of early diagnostics and more accurate treatments for pulmonary fibrosis," said James P. Kiley, PhD, Director of the Division of Lung Diseases at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

###

The research in the study is supported by Jennifer Matsuda, PhD, at National Jewish Health for generating Muc5b transgenic mice, Melanie Sawyer at Parion Sciences for assistance with in vitro mucolytic testing, and Jake McDonald at Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute for support with aerosol delivery. This research was supported by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Department of Defense, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation HILL16XXO and BOUCHER15RO, and Parion Sciences, Inc.

References:

1. Seibold, M. A. et al. A common MUC5B promoter polymorphism and pulmonary fibrosis. N. Engl. J. Med. 364, 1503-1512 (2011).

2. Evans, C. M. et al. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a genetic disease that involves mucociliary dysfunction of the peripheral airways. Physiol. Rev. 96, 1567-1591 (2016).

3. Fahy, J. V. & Dickey, B. F. Airway mucus function and dysfunction. N. Engl. J. Med. 363, 2233-2247 (2010).

4. Button, B., Anderson, W. H. & Boucher, R. C. Mucus hyperconcentration as a unifying aspect of the chronic bronchitic phenotype. Ann. Am. Thorac. Soc. 13, S156-S162 (2016).Plant scientists at the University of East Anglia have succeeded in unravelling the complete genome sequence of the common primrose -- the plant whose reproductive biology captivated the Victorian naturalist Charles Darwin.

The research team has identified, for the first time, the landscape of genes which operate within the primrose's two different flowering forms that are involved in the reproductive process. This adds fresh insight to a puzzle that scientists have been grappling with for over 150 years.

Primula vulgaris plants flower in one of two ways; they either have a long style and low anthers, or a short style and elevated anthers -- known as pins or thrums. Darwin was intrigued as to why some species, such as the primrose, develop two different forms of flowers, and devoted a whole book the subject. He concluded from his studies that they provided a mechanism to promote outcrossing between individuals.

More recently, a cluster of genes known as the S (Style length) locus have been shown to be the control centre for the development of the flowers. This S locus is absent from half the individuals of this species, this cluster switches some genes on and others off, giving different patterns of gene expression in pin and thrum flowers.

The UEA team, based at the neighbouring genome focused Earlham Institute, has previously sequenced the S-locus and described aspects of its evolution. The new paper, published in Scientific Reports, describes the full sequence of the P. vulgaris genome and shows that the S locus controls hundreds of genes across the genome. The team also identify genes that are activated in its absence, in the pin form of the flower.

"We started many years ago with a packet of seeds and a vision to understand the molecular genetics and developmental biology of the reproductive system Darwin described in 1862.", says Philip Gilmartin, of the University of East Anglia and Earlham Institute, whose fascination with primrose biology has been a career-long pursuit.

"Completion of the genome sequence paves the way to identify the genes that are regulated by the S locus, and adds more pieces to the puzzle. A long line of scientists, from Darwin in the 1860s through Bateson in the early 1900s, to Haldane and Fisher in the mid 1900's have been gripped and we continue to unravel the mystery piece by piece."

The team aim to continue their investigations, and to understand how the two different architectures of pin and thrum flowers are orchestrated by the S locus and the genes that they regulate. They are also collaborating with researchers in Japan investigating a similar mechanism in buckwheat, the only crop plant with these two distinct forms, to see if there are similar genomics at work.

###

'Primula vulgaris (primrose) genome assembly, annotation and gene expression, with comparative genomics on the heterostyly supergene' is published in the journal Scientific Reports on Tuesday, December 18, 2018.LOWELL, Mass. - Osteoporosis, a bone disease that can result in painful fractures - typically in the back, hip or wrist - is often thought of as a woman's disease. But men get it too, just usually later in life than women.

Segment the population even more and researchers find that Puerto Rican men who live on the U.S. mainland are at much greater risk of thinning bones than previously thought. Researchers at UMass Lowell will assess bone strength and nutrition among men and women in this population in a study that could lead to improvements in treatments for all people who suffer from osteoporosis.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded $2.6 million to UMass Lowell researchers to evaluate bone health risks among this population. The research team is led by UMass Lowell Prof. Katherine Tucker and includes assistant professors Kelsey Mangano and Sabrina Noel of the Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences Department.

This study is among the first of its kind to examine whether differences in bone strength between adults with and without Type 2 diabetes are due in part to compounds called advanced glycation end products (AGEs).

Found in many foods and formed when meats are grilled, roasted, seared, fried or baked, AGEs contribute to increased oxidant stress and inflammation, which are linked to the recent epidemics of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

"Studying the relation of AGEs to bone health is novel among humans," said Tucker, who also leads UMass Lowell's Center for Population Health. "We expect that the research results will provide insight for developing interventions to prevent bone loss and fracture risk in adults."

The UMass Lowell team will study about 800 people living in the Boston area who are also participants in the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study Projects, which is a series of in-depth studies conducted over the past 12 years that has allowed researchers to follow the nutrition and health risk factors of 1,500 members of this population.

Participants in the UMass Lowell study will complete a questionnaire, provide blood samples and get bone scans. In addition to the bone mineral density test that measures bone loss, the research team will use a new approach that assesses bone strength.

"We know now that the bone density scans that we use today do not capture the full extent of fracture risk," said Tucker. "In our study, we'll be using microindentation, a new test that measures bone material strength. Using this new method in combination with the bone mineral density test will give us a better picture of bone health as it relates to nutrition and other health factors."

Early this year, Tucker received a $3.9 million grant from the NIH to study the effect of highly processed foods on dementia in this same population.

###

UMass Lowell is a national research university located on a high-energy campus in the heart of a global community. The university offers its more than 18,000 students bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs, vigorous hands-on learning and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe. http://www.uml.edu

Contact:

Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu

Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.eduChip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn once led Donald Trump supporters in chants of "Lock her up!" about Hillary Clinton, but on Tuesday he is expected to learn whether he will be the one spending time behind bars instead.

More than a year after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States and agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan is set to deliver Flynn's sentence.

Though Flynn faces up to six months in prison, he's not likely to serve any time in prison.

In a sentencing memo filed last week, Mueller told the judge that Flynn had provided investigators with "substantial assistance" in more than a dozen interviews, and that because he flipped early, "a sentence at the low end of the guideline range -- including a sentence that does not impose a term of incarceration -- is appropriate and warranted."



But last-minute intrigue was thrown into what was anticipated to be a cut-and-dry sentencing process Monday evening when the government filed the FBI's formerly secret internal report based on two investigators' interview with Flynn on Jan. 24, 2017.



The February 2017 document, called a "302" in FBI parlance, shows how the agents went into the meeting armed with knowledge of conversations Flynn had during the transition period after the election with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, including calls and text messages they exchanged in the U.S. and while Flynn and his wife were on vacation in the Dominican Republic.



The report shows Flynn repeatedly said "no" or didn't remember when they asked him specific questions about his contacts with Kislyak on the subject of a United Nations vote on Israeli settlements the Obama administration abstained from and sanctions the Obama White House imposed on Russia for interfering with the 2016 presidential election.



The reason the judge ordered the 302 placed on the public docket was that Flynn's legal team raised the question in their sentencing memo to the judge of whether FBI agents tried to lay a perjury trap on Flynn. The government, in response, said, "When the defendant said he did not remember something they knew he said, they used the exact words the defendant had used in order to prompt a truthful response."



Judge Emmet Sullivan said the report is "relevant to Mr. Flynn's sentencing," though he did not indicate how it will factor into his ruling on Flynn's sentence.

The sentence hearing will complete a remarkable fall for the decorated military veteran. A career military intelligence officer who served in the 82nd Airborne Division, he became an intelligence innovator after 9/11 by attacking complex terrorist networks in war zones. He was tapped to lead the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2012 but was pushed out by the Obama White House in 2014. In retirement, he set up a consulting firm called the Flynn Intel Group outside Washington.

Flynn was an early Trump supporter and became outspoken on the campaign trail. He led national security during the transition -- a period during which he spoke to Russia's ambassador before President Trump was sworn in -- and he briefly served as his national security adviser. He was fired by Trump after just 21 days in the position for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about whether he had discussed lifting sanctions against Russia with its ambassador during the transition.



When Flynn pleaded guilty a year ago, the president tweeted that Flynn had "lied to the Vice President and the FBI" but last week claimed in another tweet that Flynn got "a great deal" from Mueller.



Last week, Flynn's attorney Robert Kelner filed a lengthy sentencing memo which laid out his military accomplishments and awards, and also strongly suggested the FBI had been disingenuous in its treatment of Flynn, perhaps an attempt to restore some luster to the reputation of a man who had earned three sparkling stars on his uniform.

In the defense sentencing memo, Flynn's family, friends and former colleagues cast him as selfless in serving his country and saving lives, from his boyhood rescue of two toddlers in the path of a runaway car in Rhode Island to handing his own armored vest to another officer during a suicide vehicle bomb attack in Afghanistan.

Letters described how his efforts to help destroy al-Qaeda in Iraq -- which eventually became ISIS -- saved thousands of lives and revealed how Flynn personally directed the entire NATO-led force in a failed effort to prevent Army Pvt. Bowe Bergdahl's captors "from trafficking him across the Pakistan border."

"For those who bore witness to these actions, Flynn was the embodiment of selfless service and military values," wrote retired Army Col. Yvette Hopkins in the letter included in Flynn's sentencing memo.

Flynn later told British documentary filmmaker Sean Langan that Bergdahl, who was court-martialed and pleaded guilty to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy last year, was worthy of mercy.



"So the guy deserted his men, his soldiers, his squad -- no doubt," Flynn said in 2016. "[But] I don't think he should serve another day in any sort of confinement or jail or anything like that, because frankly, even though he put himself into this situation to a degree, we -- the United States government and the United States military -- put him in Afghanistan."

Retired Army Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc, who commanded special operations in Afghanistan and Africa, told ABC News that Flynn is also worthy of such mercy, having endured the crucible of a long investigation that "has had negative consequences on an inherently good man and family."



"Despite the political issues and the legal issues he is experiencing, Lt. Gen. Flynn in my assessment is a good man," Bolduc said. "He knows more than anyone about personal accountability. I am sure no one understands more the consequences of being untruthful during an investigation than Lt. Gen. Flynn. As we all do, I am sure he has reflected on any mistakes he made and is moving forward to make amends and learn."



Those closest to Flynn told ABC News that he is eager to be rid of that spotlight from political critics, news media and criminal investigators.

In the last year, he has not granted any interviews, instead seeking the privacy of the the Rhode Island community he grew up in, passing his days surfing and spending time with his large family.

He has not been entirely absent from the political scene, however. He spoke at one fringe Republican's early campaign event earlier this year and made a rare speech to accept an award at a conservative political conference in September.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.by Bernardo Cervellera

In his Message for the World Day of Peace, the pontiff asks for a conversion of the heart so that politics returns to being a concern for the common good. The "Beatitudes of the politician", invoked across the world. A widespread and profound division between the political classes and the populations is evident. Being "artisans of peace".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The Message of Pope Francis for the World Day of Peace of January 1, 2019, entitled "Good politics is at the service of peace", seems marked by minimalism. Not only for its brevity, but also for the few simple ideas that are expressed: politics as a "preeminent form of charity"; the "human virtues" to be applied: "justice, fairness, mutual respect, sincerity, honesty, loyalty"; the "vices of politics"; participation - and not exclusion - of young people in politics; peace with oneself, with others and with creation.

Minimalism is explained by a simple observation: "good politics" is almost absent from the world scene and the Pope pleads with politicians to return to their roots, "to the source and the references" that inspire them.

To give an idea of the gap between "good politics" and current politics, it is enough to reread the writings of Card. Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, imprisoned for 13 years in Vietnamese jails, on the "good politician". The pontiff quotes widely from it:

"Blessed be the politician with a lofty sense and deep understanding of his role. Blessed be the politician who personally exemplifies credibility. Blessed be the politician who works for the common good and not his or her own interest. Blessed be the politician who remains consistent. Blessed be the politician who works for unity. Blessed be the politician who works to accomplish radical change. Blessed be the politician who is capable of listening. Blessed be the politician who is without fear"(No. 3)

From the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, China and India, throughout the Middle East we can say that none of these "beatitudes" are present and that a large part of the population feels excluded , unheard, overwhelmed. And instead of "radical change", political power works for "stability" (as Xi Jinping reiterated this morning), dominated by the "fear" of having to leave the seat of power to others. The demonstrations rocking France with "yellow vests", in Lebanon with "red scarves", in Hungary, and in many other states speak of the deep division between the political class and the population.

The Popes minimalism is therefore a plea for politics to rediscover its mandate to be a concern for the common good. But this needs a conversion of the heart. Francis suggests some urgent points on which to intervene: the "uncontrolled proliferation of weapons"; the "terror exercised over the most vulnerable people"; the claims that migrants steal work and hope from the poor; children "soldiers or hostages of armed groups". But in the end, to build peace "which is based on mutual responsibility and interdependence of human beings", "artisans of peace" are needed who can be authentic messengers and witnesses of God the Father who wants the good and happiness of the family human "(no.5).KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Despite a year wrought with international trade conflicts, research from the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture indicates overall strength in the state's agri-forestry industrial complex. Detailed analyses from the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics are included in the 2019 Economic Report to the Governor of the State of Tennessee released by the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at UT's Haslam College of Business.

The agri-forestry industrial complex encompasses the supply chain from farm and forest to consumers of the end products and is a vital part of the state's economy. Accounting for multiplier effects, the complex adds $81.8 billion to Tennessee's economy and accounts for more than 351,000 jobs.

The state's 65,900 farming operations include 10.8 million acres, approximately 40 percent of the state's nearly 27 million acres of land area. Tennessee ranks eleventh in the nation in number of farming operations.

Agriculture, with multiplier effects, accounts for 9 percent of the state's economy and generates $57.6 billion in output, adding nearly 250,000 jobs, with 96,000 employed directly in agricultural production.

Commodities drawing the highest cash receipts are soybeans, followed by cattle and calves, broilers, then corn and cotton. The 2017 value of cash farm receipts from crops and livestock in Tennessee was more than $3.53 billion, with $1.41 billion from animals and $2.13 billion from crops.

Despite increased meat production and the negative influence of trade issues, calf and feeder cattle prices in Tennessee through the first nine months of 2018 increased 5.7 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively, compared to the same time frame a year ago.

Tennessee's four largest row crops are corn, cotton, soybeans and wheat. In 2018, the state's harvested acreage for row crops were comprised of 1.67 million acres of soybeans, 690,000 acres of corn, 360,000 acres of cotton, and 290,000 acres of wheat.

Trade restrictions/tariffs with China have a negative impact on the prices Tennessee producers receive for their commodities. Soybean prices are 22 percent below the five-year average and forecasted exports indicate an $800 million to $21 billion decline, in large part due to weakening demand from China. However, government payments through the Market Facilitation Program will help stabilize producer incomes for 2018 through 2019.

The state experienced notable growth in farmers markets, community supported agriculture, wineries, agritourism, the green industry, and hemp production. Also, the value of shipments for food and beverage manufacturing rose again in 2016, as did the value of shipments from the forest products sector.

ARE researchers responsible for the agri-forestry analyses include Kimberly Jensen, Jamey Menard, Burton English, Andrew Griffith, Andrew Muhammad, David Hughes, Aaron Smith, Edward Yu and Emily Greear.

The complete economic report to the Governor is prepared by Matthew Murray and the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at UT's Haslam College of Business. The full report is available online.

The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture celebrates 50 years of excellence in providing Real. Life. Solutions. through teaching, discovery and service. ag.tennessee.edu.

###A University of Wyoming researcher and his team have discovered that separating male and female mice, over time, changes the way they smell.

The study investigates how the olfactory sensory receptors in mice change as a function of exposure to odors emitted from members of the opposite sex, says Stephen Santoro, an assistant professor in the Department of Zoology and Physiology.

"The idea is that our experiences change our sensory system in a way that is semipermanent. This is probably true in humans as much as mice," Santoro says. "We found that mice that are housed with the opposite sex all of the time have olfactory sensory receptors that are similar in composition because they are smelling similar smells. On the other hand, mice that were housed separately by sex have sex-specific differences in their olfactory receptors. As a result, they may perceive odors differently."

The new study, titled "Sex Separation Induces Differences in the Olfactory Sensory Receptor Repertoires of Male and Female Mice," was published Dec. 4 in Nature Communications, an open access journal that publishes high-quality research from all areas of the natural sciences. Papers published by the journal represent important advances of significance to specialists within each field.

Carl van der Linden, a graduate student from Santa Ynez, Calif., in the UW Neuroscience Program, was the paper's lead author. Pooja Gupta, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Zoology and Physiology and who works in Santoro's lab, was a contributing author. Susanne Jakob, a preceptor in the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University; and Catherine Dulac, the Higgins Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and department chair at Harvard University, and a scientist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, were contributing authors.

Santoro is the paper's corresponding author. He began this research as a postdoctoral researcher in Dulac's lab at Harvard before bringing his work to UW.

"The olfactory system of mice and humans is very similar," Santoro says. "Mice are a very good model to understand how neural systems work, in general. They are a much better model for humans than flies and other common-model organisms."

Sensory activity plays pivotal roles in the development of the nervous system. Mouse odors are a complex mixture of volatile and non-volatile chemicals derived from skin secretions, urine, tears, saliva and feces, which are known to differ substantially in their chemical compositions between males and females.

"Human males and females smell different, too. Men give off odors from testosterone metabolites, for example," Santoro explains. "There are genetic differences in being able to detect this. Some people would say the smell is good, while others find it unpleasant or cannot detect it at all. These differences in perception are related to genetic differences in people's receptors. Some researchers speculate that these kinds of molecules might function as pheromones in humans."

Unlike most neurons in the mammalian nervous system, olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) are continually born and replaced throughout life, a process that normally replaces damaged neurons in humans when we have a cold or use a zinc nasal spray, Santoro says. Changes in the abundance of specific OSN subtypes occur, in part, through a use-it-or-lose-it mechanism in which active OSNs are retained and silent OSNs are eliminated from the population, the paper concludes.

###

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including through a grant to the Wyoming Sensory Biology Center of Biomedical Research Excellence, and by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Chevy Chase, Md. Results from this study may contribute to an enhanced understanding of sex-specific differences in olfactory function.

"As we age, our olfactory system gets worse. One of NIH's priorities is to understand why that occurs," Santoro says. "We think our research may have some relevance to this by providing insights into why olfactory neurons die and how the birth of new neurons is regulated."The ability to smell is critical for salmon. They depend on scent to avoid predators, sniff out prey and find their way home at the end of their lives when they return to the streams where they hatched to spawn and die.

New research from the University of Washington and NOAA Fisheries' Northwest Fisheries Science Center shows this powerful sense of smell might be in trouble as carbon emissions continue to be absorbed by our ocean. Ocean acidification is changing the water's chemistry and lowering its pH. Specifically, higher levels of carbon dioxide, or CO2, in the water can affect the ways in which coho salmon process and respond to smells.

"Salmon famously use their nose for so many important aspects of their life, from navigation and finding food to detecting predators and reproducing. So it was important for us to know if salmon would be impacted by future carbon dioxide conditions in the marine environment," said lead author Chase Williams, a postdoctoral researcher in Evan Gallagher's lab at the UW Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences.

The study, appearing online Dec. 18 in the journal Global Change Biology, is the first to show that ocean acidification affects coho salmons' sense of smell. The study also takes a more comprehensive approach than earlier work with marine fish by looking at where in the sensory-neural system the ability to smell erodes for fish, and how that loss of smell changes their behavior.

"Our studies and research from other groups have shown that exposure to pollutants can also interfere with sense of smell for salmon," said Gallagher, senior co-author and a UW professor of toxicology. "Now, salmon are potentially facing a one-two punch from exposure to pollutants and the added burden of rising CO2. These have implications for the long-term survival of our salmon."

The research team wanted to test how juvenile coho salmon that normally depend on their sense of smell to alert them to predators and other dangers display a fear response with increasing carbon dioxide. Puget Sound's waters are expected to absorb more CO2 as atmospheric carbon dioxide increases, contributing to ocean acidification.

In the NOAA Fisheries research lab in Mukilteo, the research team set up tanks of saltwater with three different pH levels: today's current average Puget Sound pH, the predicted average 50 years from now, and the predicted average 100 years in the future. They exposed juvenile coho salmon to these three different pH levels for two weeks.

After two weeks, the team ran a series of behavioral and neural tests to see whether the fishes' sense of smell was affected. Fish were placed in a holding tank and exposed to the smell of salmon skin extract, which indicates a predator attack and usually prompts the fish to hide or swim away. Fish that were in water with current CO2 levels responded normally to the offending odor, but the fish from tanks with higher CO2 levels didn't seem to mind or detect the smell.

After the behavioral tests, neural activity in each fish's nose and brain -- specifically, in the olfactory bulb where information about smells is processed -- was measured to see where the sense of smell was altered. Neuron signaling in the nose was normal under all CO2 conditions, meaning the fish likely could still smell the odors. But when they analyzed neuron behavior in the olfactory bulb, they saw that processing was altered -- suggesting the fish couldn't translate the smell into an appropriate behavioral response.

Finally, the researchers analyzed tissue from the noses and olfactory bulbs of fish to see if gene expression also changed. Gene expression pathways were found to be altered for fish that were exposed to higher levels of CO2, particularly in their olfactory bulbs.

"At the nose level, we think the neurons are still detecting odors, but when the signals are processed in the brain, that's where the messages are potentially getting altered," Williams said.

In the wild, the fish likely would become more and more indifferent to scents that signify a predator, Williams said, either by taking longer to react to the smell or by not swimming away at all. While this study looked specifically at how altered sense of smell could affect fishes' response to danger, it's likely that other critical behaviors that depend on smell such as navigation, reproduction and hunting for food would also take a hit if fish aren't able to adequately process smells.

The researchers plan to look next at whether increased CO2 levels could affect other fish species in similar ways, or alter other senses in addition to smell. Given the cultural and ecological significance of salmon, the researchers hope these findings will prompt action.

"We're hoping this will alert people to some of the potential consequences of elevated carbon emissions," said senior co-author Andy Dittman, a research biologist at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center. "Salmon are so iconic in this area. Ocean acidification and climate change are abstract things until you start talking about an animal that means a lot to people."

###

Other co-authors are Paul McElhany, Shallin Busch and Michael Maher of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center; and Theo Bammler and James MacDonald of the UW Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences.

This study was funded by Washington Sea Grant and the Washington Ocean Acidification Center, with additional support from the UW Superfund Research Program, the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program and the Northwest Fisheries Science Center.

For more information, contact Williams at crw22@uw.edu and Dittman at andy.dittman@noaa.gov or 206-860-3392.

Visuals available for download: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1e4ZbiMukIWG7W9t77vRfl-YGrj4bd28n?usp=sharing (If link doesn't work, copy and paste into a browser)Gente

Malu, emocionada, confiesa quien es su pilar y la persona a la que mas quiere en el mundothis news is not availableAs PM Mays cabinet meet today to determine departmental funding required to prepare for an increasingly likely no-deal Brexit scenario which would see the UK leave the European Union on March 29th with no formal agreement in place, investors lay out their predictions for the Pound Sterlings exchange rate value.

Gridlock has gripped UK politics, with Brexit progress grinding to a halt as leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, tables a motion of no confidence in PM May and MPs continue to argue over the current Brexit withdrawal agreement.

With PM May staunchly opposing a second referendum or peoples vote on the terms of the current deal, the chances of the UK exiting the EU with a deal are growing narrower by the day.

Money manager at Investec Asset Management, Russell Silberston comments on the likelihood and likely outcome of a no-deal scenario, There is no majority whatsoever for a no-deal. If it were, it would be a disaster for U.K. assets, the pound would go down 5-to-10 percent.

A managed or orderly no deal scenario seems to be an emerging possibility in light of the cabinets meeting today in which its expected ministers will address measures needed in order to prepare for the UKs departure from the EU in lieu of a formal withdrawal agreement.

Head of hedge-fund currency sales at Mizuho Bank, Neil Jones commented earlier today that while a managed scenario could help to limit the Pound Sterlings losses, the Pound Sterling US Dollar (GBPUSD) would still likely target $1.20 while an un-managed hard-brexit would see the exchange rate hit $1.10

At the time of writing the pound-to-dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.26850, recovering from sub 1.25 yearly lows posted last week.

While the terms of a managed no-deal Brexit remain undetermined, its difficult for investors to gauge the level of disruption posed and the implications may not fully be discernable until after the fact.

Head of G10 currency strategy at Santander, Stuart Bennet, gives his perspective, As one commentator said, it is just a no-deal with managed in front of it. That implies a no-deal and the forex market wont like it, with the pound risking at least a 7% drop.

Gridlock Prompts Calls to Extend Article 50 Deadline

With the Brexit process seemingly no closer to a solution ahead of the March 29th deadline, expectations are growing for a delay to article 50. According to Commerzbank currency strategist, Thu Lan Nguyen, Our base case is actually that the government will ask for an extension of Article 50 to get more time to negotiate a new deal that has a chance of passing in Parliament, adding that the Pound will remain in limbo until the Brexit outcome clarifies.

Mizuho Banks Neil Jones concurs, commenting, The most likely scenario is that Article 50 is delayed and buys the Prime Minister time, adding that such a development could prompt an initial rally for the pound but it will not last as it elevates uncertainty.

MUFG analyst Lee Hardman proposes the current gridlock will give way to three distinct possible scenarios; PM Mays deal receives adequate amendments prompting a majority backing from the House of Commons; a softer Norway model deal is sought and backed; or a second referendum is called presenting UK citizens with the choice between revoking article 50 and remaining in the EU or backing PM Mays deal.

Regardless of which scenario unfolds, Hardman comments, In all scenarios we believe a request from the U.K. to extend Article 50 appears increasingly likely.

For the moment at least the Pound Sterling (GBP) remains Brexit-embroiled with significant risks to FX market value remaining centered on Brexit developments and thus reliant on a breaking of the political gridlock which has stalled meaningful progress.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."Dreams are a privileged place to look for the truth because in them we do not defend ourselves from the truth. They come, and ... and God also speaks in dreams; not always, because it is usually our unconscious that comes, but God so often chooses to speak in dreams.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  In his homily during the Mass he celebrated today at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis said that "Joseph is the man who knows how to accompany in silence", a "man of dreams". The pontiff also prayed for the disabled children of Slovakia, who made Christmas decorations for the tree near the altar.

In the Holy Scriptures, we know Joseph as "a righteous man, who observed the law, worked hard, was humble, and loved Mary. When first faced with something he did not understand, he preferred to step back but God revealed to him his mission. Thus, Joseph embraced his task, his role wholeheartedly, and helped raise the Son of God in silence, without judging, without speaking poorly of others, and without gossiping.

He helped him [Jesus] grow and develop. So, he looked for a place for the child to be born. He looked after him, helped him grow, and taught him to work: many things  in silence. He never took possession of the child for himself. He silently let him grow. He let him grow: This idea could help us immensely, we who by nature always want to stick our noses in everything, especially in the lives of others  And we start gossiping, talking But he let him grow, silently watching over him and helping him.

For the pope, such a wise attitude can be seen in many parents: the ability to wait without immediately scolding, even in the face of a mistake. It is essential to know how to wait, before saying something that can help children grow. Waiting in silence, as God does with his children, for whom he has so much patience.

Commenting on the Gospel passage (Mt 1: 18-24) in which the angel appeared to Saint Joseph in a dream, Francis said that the latter was a practical man with an open heart, a "man of dreams", not "a dreamer".

"Dreams are a privileged place to look for the truth because in them we do not defend ourselves from the truth. They come, and ... and God also speaks in dreams; not always, because it is usually our unconscious that comes, but God so often chooses to speak in dreams. He did so many times. We can see this in the Bible, right? In dreams. Joseph was a man of dreams but not a dreamer, right? He was not fanciful. A dreamer is something else. He is what he believes ... he stands ... on the air, and has no feet on the ground. Joseph had his feet on the ground and was open-minded."

In concluding, Francis urged people not to lose the ability to dream, the ability to open up to tomorrow with confidence, despite the difficulties that can arise.

"Do not lose the ability to dream about the future: each of us. Let each of us dream about our family, our children, our parents. Looking at how I would like their lives to go. Priests too can dream about our believers, what we want for them. We can dream the way young people dream, who are brazen in their dreams and in them can find a way. We should not lose the ability to dream because dreaming is opening the doors to the future, [and] be fruitful in the future.The Karnes County National Bank of Karnes City is back in federal regulators good graces after landing in their cross hairs because of lending problems in the Eagle Ford Shale.

Two years ago, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) flagged the bank as troubled and ordered it to tighten its lending and oversight.

The OCC, however, recently determined the 118-year-old banks operations are safe and sound after its officers set up safeguards required under the regulators so-called enforcement action.

Were very relieved about the enforcement actions termination, H.B. Trip Ruckman III, the banks chairman, CEO and president, said. A lot of extra work for us, honestly. Those things are maybe theoretically designed to help you, but it tends to feel a little punitive when youre on the end of that thing.

Many of the OCCs concerns related to direct and indirect lending activity in the Eagle Ford Shale oil field.

Karnes County National Bank, with assets totaling $384.3 million as of Sept. 30, experienced a surge in delinquent loans, those 90 days past due, after oil prices slid from about $107 a barrel in mid-2014 to about $26 a barrel in early 2016.

The banks nonperforming loans rose from $236,000 at the end of 2015 to about $3.8 million as of Sept. 30, 2016  prior to the enforcement action. It reported about $3.4 million in nonperforming loans at the end of the latest quarter.

The bank had some motel loans that were really struggling when activity in the Eagle Ford Shale came to a near screeching halt, he added.

Karnes County National Bank is among the financial institutions in the Eagle Ford Shale that has been showered with deposits since the oil and gas boom started a decade ago in South Texas. The banks have been left with more cash than theyve been able to lend.

Karnes County National Banks loan-to-deposit ratio was about 29 percent at the end of 2015, well below the average of 67 percent for Texas community banks with less than $1 billion in assets.

With $67.8 million in loans and $350.8 million in deposits, Karnes County National Banks loan-to-deposit ratio was about 19.3 percent at the end of the latest quarter.

Bank examiners cited issues with the banks loan portfolio, problem assets, internal auditing, consumer compliance oversight and staffing in a 2016 agreement with Karnes County National Bank.

Under the agreement, the banks board was directed to improve its loan-portfolio management, ensuring it had sufficient staff to support lending operations and that loans are made only after obtaining and analyzing current and satisfactory credit information.

The OCC ordered the bank to hire a chief credit officer to oversee lending and strengthen its management of credit risk

.

An OCC spokesman didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Throughout the period covered by the agreement (with the OCC), the bank has remained profitable and well-capitalized, and is well-poised to continue to serve our community, Ruckman said.

Karnes County National Bank generated $2.9 million in net income in the first nine months of the year. It earned $845,000 in 2017. Last years bottom line was affected by a nearly $3 million provision for loan losses. By comparison, the provision was $93,000 for the first nine months of this year.

Ruckman credited the modest rebound in oil and gas prices from 2016 lows for the improved results.

BauerFinancial Inc., a Coral Gables, Fla., firm that evaluates banks and credit unions financial results, gave Karnes County National Bank a three-star rating  which it deems adequate  for the quarter ended Sept. 30. Thats up from a two-star rating, defined as problematic, in the quarter ended June 30.

Karen L. Dorway, BauerFinancials president, said a combination of improved financial results  including profitability, capital ratios and nonperforming assets  and the termination of the enforcement action led to the upgrade.

The fact that were seeing a marked improvement over each quarter of the last five quarters leads me to believe that that three-star rating is also likely to go up as time goes on if they continue along the current path that theyre on, Dorway added.

Asked if the recent decline in oil and gas prices could lead to problems for the bank, Ruckman said bank officials are prepared.

We certainly are keeping an eye on the kind of loans we make  and trying to avoid any undue concentrations that are dependent on the Eagle Ford, he said. Were right in the middle of it, so obviously its going to affect us no matter what.

Ruckman said the bank met the demanding requirements of the OCCs enforcement action while operating from two temporary locations as the banks headquarters are being remodeled. The work is expected to take a year to complete.

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Stella Hart remembers the pure agony that came with giving hugs to her parents friends at holiday parties when she was a child. She was a shy kid growing up, and physical contact with someone she didnt know very well was always a recipe for disaster.

My dad had a co-worker who would insist that I hug him, and I felt like I wanted to climb in the car and melt on the floorboard, she said. I felt like, I dont want to touch you. I dont have anything against you, but I dont want to do that.

Shed look to her dad for a bailout. But it never helped.

My dad would encourage it. He would say Just give him a hug. And I would be like, How many times do I have to go over this?

This push-and-pull stuck with Hart. And now, as a mom with three kids between the ages of 1 and 8, shes one of a growing number of parents who tells her children they can say No thank you, when Aunt Sally leans in for a hug and a cheek-pinch. This new attitude about hugging is partly due to a broad cultural shift in parenting styles that tend to be more mindful of childrens needs than parents, and partly due to a hyper-alert culture in the wake of high-profile sexual assault accusations.

Last year, the Girl Scouts issued a public appeal to parents in a blog post that went viral, titled, Reminder: She Doesnt Owe Anyone a Hug. Not Even at the Holidays. And the American Academy of Pediatrics now advises that parents dont force affection, noting that it is a childs right to tell even grandma or grandpa that they do not want to give them a kiss or a hug goodbye.

Started in the 1960s

And parents are listening.

There appears to be a trend where parents are advising their young children to be thoughtful about who hugs them, and who they hug, and to empower them with the ability to say no thank you, said Arthur Lavin, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on the psychosocial aspects of child and family health. I fully support that choice.

Now, as holiday parties crop up in social and business circles, its not uncommon to see parents of young children take to Facebook to remind their friends and relatives that their child doesnt owe anyone a hug in exchange for an artfully wrapped toy.

Good reminder! one Houston mother posted on Facebook last week, in reference to the hugging debate. She wrote that shes mindful about her childs choice on hugging and have definitely encountered some odd (*judgy) looks when I do not insist that she hug (or honestly, even high-five) someone she is not comfortable or familiar with.

Thats a departure from more traditional parenting practices in decades past. And while the idea of encouraging children to take ownership over their bodies has certainly increased as the Me Too movement continues to make waves across the nation, the shift in hugging etiquette hasnt happened overnight.

Decades ago, there was an expectation that children had a role to play and they better play it, Lavin said. And adults felt like they were empowered, and had the right to a hug, and that it was virtuous to claim a childs role was to be expected to respect the grandparent or parent, and it was wrong for a child not to give a hug if they were asked.

That began changing in the 1960s, Lavin noted. Thats when T. Berry Brazelton, a pediatrician in Cambridge, Mass., discovered that if parents let a child come to toilet training on their own, children did quite well at it, thus ushering in a new age of what is now referred to as nurturing parenting.

That stance leads to the current feeling that the respectful thing is not to force a child to hug someone, Lavin said. The respectful thing is to find out what the kid wants to do with their affection.

Sending a message

For Michelle Levins, a midwife who lives in the Heights, and is the parent of four children between the ages of 9 and 23, this idea rings truer now than it did when she first became a mother.

As a parent, my attitude changed from my first child to my second and so on, Levins said. Initially, with my older children, I would preface a visit with my children by saying, Oh, we havent seen Aunt So and So for a while, so make sure youre polite and hug her.

But by children three and four, her thinking had changed.

I started realizing that its probably not the best policy to instruct my children to do things that theyre not comfortable with regarding their body, she said. I began thinking about what message it might send to them, as far as allowing others to invade their personal boundaries. So we changed that, and we said, if youre not comfortable, youre not required to hug anyone or to let anyone hug you. You can just say No, thank you.

Her youngest daughters, 11-year-old Mia and 9-year-old Avery, have different perspectives on hugging. Avery is likely to hug just about anyone, while Mia is a bit more discerning. But both sisters say its important that they get to choose.

I think its important because if you dont know them, its kind of scary, Avery said. And what if you dont want to hug them? Like, you dont have to hug them.

Shes only said no, thank you a few times, whereas Mia has had more practice with that. But its not that Mia doesnt like hugging.

I like hugging, but not to people I dont like hugging, she said, like an adolescent Yogi Berra. Its just that its very important that I get to decide who to hug. You shouldnt be forced to hug someone you dont feel comfortable hugging.

Levins practice of giving the power of choice to her children extends further than the ability to tell their parents friends that they dont need a hug hello. When Levins first talked to her children about hugging, she also began letting them make other choices, like what to wear that day.

My general parenting style is to give them some choice and decisions in things that are negotiable, she said. There are a lot of things they cant negotiate over. Getting in a car and wearing a seat belt? You dont get a choice over that. But choosing your shoes for the day? Thats fine with me.

Children have a say

This is an extension of the nurturing parenting psychology ushered in by Brazelton. But in recent years, as discourse around sexual abuse has become central in our culture, theres been an added urgency on this issue, even among families that dont follow this parenting style.

This speaks to the Me Too movement. As women are coming forward and speaking up, were realizing how many advantages some of these perpetrators have, Lavin said. Theres the advantage of power, the system gives more credibility to their denials than to the concerns of the abused. So theres a growing awareness among parents who want to prevent their children from being in the position where they might be abused in that way.

And a first step to combatting this, for many parents, is to teach their children that theyre the ones who get a say over their body.

Ive tried to teach my children that theyre powerful people, even though theyre small, said Hart, who lives in Woodland Heights with her three children. That they have the power to make good and bad decisions. And in line with that parenting, I feel like I cant take all that power away and make you touch other people.

She has that conversation with her kids early. Her 3-year-old is already very good at speaking for himself. Hes a little more extroverted than Hart was as a child, but it takes him a while to warm up to people. Recently, when his grandmother was in town for an extended visit at Thanksgiving, it took him two days to give her a hug and kiss. For his grandmother, the wait was long, but the reward was sweet.

This time of year, both Hart and Levins said they see more people talking about how to remind their relatives and friends that children dont have to give them a hug. And there are still some people who dont quite understand. But talking about the issue may change that.

Im not so offended by people asking for a hug, Hart said. But you better darn well respect it when the answer is no.

maggie.gordon@chron.com;

twitter.com/MagEGordonWASHINGTON (AP)  A federal judge's ruling would, if upheld, wipe away the entire Affordable Care Act, the health care overhaul championed by President Barack Obama and twice sustained by the Supreme Court.

Judge Reed O'Connor's opinion was issued late Friday, and supporters of the law vowed to appeal and take other steps to preserve health benefits in the law sometimes called "Obamacare."

More for you Health insurance signups lagging with Saturday deadline looming

Some questions and answers about O'Connor's ruling:

WHAT IS THE IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF THE RULING FOR AMERICANS COVERED UNDER OBAMACARE?

In a word, nothing. Although O'Connor said the entire law must fall, he did not grant a request from its opponents to have his ruling take effect immediately. That means that all the law's provisions remain in effect. The federal Health and Human Services Department put out a statement making clear that it "will continue administering and enforcing all aspects of the ACA as it had before the court issued its decision."

HOW WOULD THE AVERAGE PERSON'S HEALTH CARE BE AFFECTED IF THE RULING IS UPHELD?

The impact would go well beyond the more than 20 million people who are directly covered through Obamacare.

More than 170 million Americans are covered by employers, and they could lose no-cost preventive care, from screening tests like colonoscopies to birth control for women. Employers would no longer be required to keep the young adult children of their workers covered up to age 26. Gone would be limits on annual out-of-pocket expenses, which provide greater financial protection for people with job-based coverage. Another kind of limit  lifetime caps on what insurance will pay for medical bills  could stage a comeback.

Medicare would be affected because the ACA expanded no-cost coverage of preventive services and reduced the bills of seniors with high prescription drug costs. Program finances would also take a hit. Medicaid, the federal-state program for low-income people, was expanded under the ACA. So about 12 million people who gained coverage could be left uninsured. Efforts to counter the opioid epidemic would be dealt a severe blow since Medicaid has become a mainstay for treatment.

HealthCare.gov and state insurance markets offering subsidized private insurance would disappear, potentially leaving 10 million people or more uninsured.

And the list would go on. The health law made hundreds of changes.

WHAT WAS THE JUDGE'S REASONING IN STRIKING DOWN THE ENTIRE HEALTH CARE LAW?

A key part of the Affordable Care Act that Obama signed into law in 2010 was the provision requiring people to have health insurance or pay a penalty if they refused. The Supreme Court upheld this individual mandate in 2012. Congress reduced that penalty to zero as part of the tax legislation it passed, and President Donald Trump signed, in 2017. That means that beginning in January, there no longer will be a penalty for not purchasing health insurance.

O'Connor agreed with Texas and other Republican-led states that challenged the law that the elimination of the penalty rendered the requirement to have health insurance unconstitutional. In a crucial step in his logic, O'Connor then held that because the individual mandate is so important to the overall law, the whole thing can no longer stand. The legal explanation is that O'Connor found that the mandate could not be severed from the rest of the law, meaning he struck it down in its entirety.

HOW LIKELY IS IT THAT HIGHER COURTS WILL AGREE WITH O'CONNOR'S RULING?

Even some opponents of the health care law, including The Wall Street Journal editorial page, have said O'Connor went too far and predicted he would be reversed in the appeals process. Congress did indeed render the individual mandate unenforceable when it reduced the penalty for not complying to zero. But that very same Congress left the rest of the law intact. What's more, Republican efforts to repeal the ACA failed in the same Congress. In addition, even if the federal appeals court that oversees Texas were to agree with O'Connor, it seems improbable at best that Chief Justice John Roberts, who twice wrote opinions upholding the law  in 2012 and 2015, would now strike it down.

WHO WILL APPEAL THE RULING, AND HOW LONG MIGHT THE PROCESS TAKE?

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the leader of a coalition of states defending the law in court, already has promised to appeal. The process will take months at a minimum, even with the states pressing for a speedy resolution because of the uncertainty O'Connor's ruling creates and the potential effects on the insurance markets.

If the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses O'Connor, chances that the Supreme Court would hear the case are slim. If the 5th Circuit agrees with O'Connor, high court review becomes very likely because the justices almost always weigh in when a federal law has been struck down. But even then, the Supreme Court wouldn't hear the case before the fall of 2019 at the earliest, with a decision unlikely before the spring of 2020  amid the presidential and congressional campaigns.

HOW WILL CONGRESS RESPOND?

Democrats in the House say they plan to intervene in the defense of the law, joining Democrat-led states. In addition, expect hearings in the House to focus on Trump administration efforts that Democrats, who take charge of the House in January, say are intended to undermine the health care law. These include encouraging the use of low-cost short-term policies with limited coverage and cuts to government attempts to sign up beneficiaries.

Rep. Frank Pallone, the incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Democrats are readying bills to curb the use of the short-term plans and bolster the Obama law's coverage of people with pre-existing conditions. The bill could also make federal subsidies for lower-earning beneficiaries more generous and shore up insurers for covering seriously ill customers with extremely high costs of care, he said.

___

Associated Press writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Alan Fram contributed to this report.On the 19th the seventh meeting of the Joint Working Group of the Holy See -Vietnam. The meeting aims to deepen and develop bilateral relations. Pending diplomatic relations that provides for a "non-permanent" nuncio. Issues related to ecclesiastical properties and religious freedom are more delicate.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The meetings of the Joint Holy See-Vietnam Working Group continue. The next, which will be the seventh, will be held in Ha Noi, December 19.

In giving this news today, a statement by the director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke, reads that "the meeting aims to deepen and develop bilateral relations, following what was agreed at the end of the sixth meeting of the Working Group , held in the Vatican in October 2016, and, subsequently, on the occasion of the visit of SE Mr. Ha Kim Ngoc, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam at the Vatican in August 2017 and of that of Msgr. Camilleri in Ha Noi in January 2018, as well as the recent visit of S.E. Mr. Truong Hoa Binh, First Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, last October 20th to the Vatican when he was received in audience by His Holiness Pope Francis ".

"During its stay in Vietnam, from the 18th to the 20th December, the Delegation will also meet the Bishops of the country who will be present in Ha Noi to take part in the Holy Mass to mark the taking possession of his episcopal seat by Reverend Joseph Vu Van Thien, new Metropolitan Archbishop of Hanoi ".

The Vatican note does not indicate what the issues under discussion will actually be. A modus vivendi has existed for many years between the Holy See and Vietnam on the nominations of the bishops: the Vatican indicates the candidates and the government indicates who they prefer. In the past the Vatican delegation was led by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, current Secretary of State.

This is pending diplomatic relations, currently stopped at a formula that provides for a "non-permanent" nuncio. More sensitive are issues related to ecclesiastical properties that the government does not recognize, according to the rule by which all lands in Vietnam are state-owned. Another "sensitive" issue is related to religious freedom.

Vietnamese Catholics look with concern at the new year, when the new law on cyber security will come into force. In fact, under this guise, there are rules that require social network providers, such as Google and Facebook, to cede their users' data to Vietnamese state servers. Furthermore, it is forbidden for Internet users to organize themselves with "anti-state purposes", to use a language that "distorts history" or "denies the revolutionary aims of the nation". In this perspective there is a strong concern for Catholic contents that risk being banned, as they are not in praise of the "conquests" of the socialist revolution. "Users," said Paul Van Chi, spokesman for the Federation of Vietnamese Catholic mass media, told AsiaNews, " must reduce their activities on the internet, for fear of being tried." "The provisions of the Information Security Act, in fact, could make it easier for the government to identify and prosecute people for their peaceful online activities."

The last visit of a representative of the Holy See to Vietnam was at the beginning of this year. On this occasion, Msgr. Antoine Mons. Camilleri, Undersecretary for Relations with States, expressed to the Vietnamese Prime Minister the greetings and best wishes of Pope Francis to the country and to the people, sharing the Pope's good impression of the dialogue between faith and Vietnamese culture. "The Holy See is committed to promoting relations with the Government of Vietnam to further contribute to the social life of the country, especially in the fields of education, health and charity. I affirm that the Holy Father always watches Vietnam with special attention. Pope Francis also wants the Church of Vietnam to always accompany and contribute to the prosperity of the nation. The Vatican expresses its gratitude to the government for having created valid conditions for the non-resident papal representative to work in Vietnam ".

In March, the 32 bishops of the Vietnamese Bishops' Conference (CBCV) made their "ad limina" visit to the Vatican (pictured). (FP)On a Monday night in November, at an office near the University of Texas at San Antonio, more women showed up for an informal meeting to talk about sexual assault than they had chairs.

Kimiya Factory, 20, one of the UTSA students who organized it, was struck by the womens openness about their experience with rape. She also was struck by how many stories were aired about alleged assailants who had faced no apparent consequences.

The women, about 40 in all, listened quietly to each other. Most of the incidents they described occurred at off-campus apartments  and the names of four or five male students, prominent in campus life, came up again and again, Factory said in a recent interview. The meeting lasted four hours.

She cant say whether or how the university investigated those cases  or even say if the victims reported what happened to authorities. But Factory, a political science junior minoring in legal studies, is convinced that rape culture is as pervasive at UTSA as in the larger society. She believes the universitys response to sexual assault is inadequate.

Making that point in a manifesto posted in campus bathroom stalls, the women soon plunged the university community into a murky debate.

Factory and her friend Taylor Waits, 21, another organizer of the meeting, arent cooperating with a UT System investigation of the issue they helped raise, citing the confidentiality of victims stories. That drew a plea from the UTSA student government president.

The UT probe was launched after someone circulated flyers purporting to identify alleged assailants and hinting at a vigilante ethic against them  but Factory and Waits, a communications senior and former Miss UTSA, say they have no idea who was behind that.

We are disgusted

The womens manifesto appeared just before Thanksgiving break.

We, the women of UTSA, are choosing to take a stand against the rampant sexual assault, and abuse on campus and in the world, it began, calling for societal change and offering the organization as a forum where women could confide in one another.

We are disgusted that your abusers continue to function on this campus and you have to relive your trauma every day as they get to walk freely amongst society, the letter said, offering rape victims an email address to contact the group, and warning their assailants  without naming anybody  that they were known, even if unpunished.

UTSA president Taylor Eighmy praised the group in a campus-wide email for raising awareness of an important issue, adding, Sexual misconduct of any kind is unacceptable, and UTSA must be an institution of zero tolerance.

Within hours, Eighmy sent another email, having learned about anonymous flyers that named alleged assailants or displayed photos of men with horizontal bars covering their eyes. The photos came with a cryptic message: utsafinest, #weknowwhatyoudo, #exposed, #whosnext.

Eighmy announced he had asked the University of Texas System to hire a law firm to conduct an outside investigation to make sure the school is on the right side of Title IX, the federal law that guarantees equal treatment of men and women in institutions of higher learning.

Seven rapes were reported in campus residential facilities last year, including four cases that UTSA police referred to the Bexar County District Attorneys office, which dismissed three of them, university spokesman Joe Izbrand said. Police have no suspect in another case, and the remaining two were not reported to police, he said.

The federal Clery Act requires colleges to disclose how many students report assaults that happen on campus, public property immediately adjacent to it or on college-owned property. The seven cases included four that were referred to the universitys Student Conduct and Community Standards Office, where one resulted in a one-year suspension and another in probation, Izbrand said.

Students who report assaults anywhere can be provided with services like counseling or a class schedule change, which at UTSA is done by an office called Equal Opportunity Services, or EOS. The university could not provide statistics on the number of complaints investigated by EOS or their outcomes.

Factory and Waits, a former Miss UTSA, said they never saw the accusatory flyers, which Izbrand said were posted in an off-campus apartment complex a day after the groups letter went up.

In an odd throwback to an earlier era, the flyers were distributed on paper and seem to have no online presence. Weeks after Eighmys action, Factory and Waits said they had not even heard of the photos. Both had heard rumors about a list of names circulating. One of the meeting attendees received an angry call from her alleged assailant, apparently in response to being named, Factory said.

Factory and Waits said they dont condone the publicizing of the mens names  it hampered their organization, they said, since members were spooked that their personal stories were being shared.

Factory said the law firm conducting the investigation, Ice Miller, emailed her in early December asking for her help. But she and Waits say they have no interest in participating.

The university wants me to give them names and tell stories that arent mine, Factory said. What Im doing is at the permission of these women, and they like what were doing.

UTSA student body president Brittany Garcia urged the women to work with the investigation, posting a video to her Twitter account last week in which she praised university leaders for trying to figure out how to make (the campus) better.

So now its kind of up to you guys. They cant fix everything unless they know specifics of whats going on, Garcia said.

Unfortunate reality

Factory did finally agree to a meeting Friday with Eighmy and other university leaders, who she said encouraged her efforts and sought her input on how to expand the Office of Student Advocacy, Violence Prevention & Empowerment.

I love the campus and want to make it safe, better, Factory said.

Factory and Waits, who are both African American and involved in black student organizations, said they have participated in multiple meetings with Eighmy to discuss the universitys racial climate. Eighmy has created task forces to investigate ways to eliminate implicit bias, but both women believe little to no action has resulted.

Currently, the EOS works with UTSA police when an accusation of a crime is made against a student, said Maria Perez, EOS interim director and Title IX coordinator. A respondent to an accusation might or might not be allowed to remain on campus during the investigation, depending on circumstances, she said.

The offices findings then go to the Student Conduct office for adjudication. The police department might separately pursue a criminal investigation.

But really the message, at the end of the day, is figuring out what resources (students) need because we want them to be successful as students, Perez said.

Perez said she couldnt say whether accused students have been investigated multiple times through multiple accusations. She said she could not talk about specific cases because of federal privacy law.

But Perez said she has some concerns that not all student reporting is streamlined. An allegation about sexual assault made during counseling services is kept confidential  a counselor could not share the report with EOS. And outside law enforcement agencies investigating a possible crime by a student might not notify the EOS.

Izbrand, however, said several UTSA offices coordinate closely, as privacy laws permit, to identify and address potential patterns of repeat behavior.

The unfortunate reality, though, is that we can only address these situations when they are reported, and in most cases across college campuses nationwide, they are not, he said.

While freshmen and transfer students are told at orientation that students can go to police or Equal Opportunity Services if theyve been raped, Factory and Waits think they should always include law enforcement. Izbrand said the university wants victims to do both, so we can fully investigate the matter and take appropriate action.

Factory said shes met with the Bexar County District Attorneys Offices victim advocates about seeking their services when these incidents occur.

Rape is a crime. Sexual assault is a crime. I want police and the district attorney involved, not some internal court, Waits said.

Krista Torralva covers several school districts and public universities in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | Krista.Torralva@express-news.net | Twitter: @KMTorralvaTerm-limited City Councilman Rey Saldana, long seen as a potential mayoral candidate in 2019, will not seek the position.

Speculation increased in the wake of City Manager Sheryl Sculleys announcement that shes retiring, and further fueled by a high-profile political fundraiser the outgoing councilman held last week.

But Saldana, who represents a Southwest Side district, said Monday that he wont run and needs a break after eight years on the City Council.

Im not running for mayor, he said. It feels so good to say that.

When he was elected in 2011 at age 24, he was the councils youngest member. When he departs in a few months, hell still be the youngest at 32.

Saldana, who studied education at Stanford University, is going to work for Raise Your Hand Texas, an education nonprofit founded by Charles Butt. Hell work part time until his council term ends in May  or June, if theres a runoff for the District 4 seat.

Saldana, taking a swipe at career politicians, said hes satisfied with what hes accomplished.

I feel good about the work our office has done because its an example of what you can get done when you run for an office and use it for the community, rather than a platform for the next office, he said.

While ruling out a mayoral race that could pit Councilman Greg Brockhouse against incumbent Mayor Ron Nirenberg next year, Saldana said he might come back and seek the seat in future years.

Im going to take some time away now, and feel pretty good about what weve done, he said.

Nirenberg has worked alongside Saldana since 2013, when he was first elected to council, and the two have generally been allies.

I thank Rey for his excellent service and wish him the best of luck, the mayor said. I think everyone agrees he has a bright future ahead of him and Im sure he will find avenues to continue serving the community.

Saldana said hes a bit burnt out, having fielded constituent calls nearly every weekend and most Wednesdays and Thursdays in council chambers for nearly eight years.

Ive had a standing Wednesday night dinner date for the past eight years, he said, referencing the weekly citizens-to-be-heard meetings where residents come to address the council on literally any matter they wish.

The councilman said he favors municipal governance because it impacts residents so much, and because it allows him to work directly with them.

Though the filing period for a place on the ballot doesnt open until next month, Saldana said his decision is firm, He and his wife agreed on it.

The only person on this earth I make promises to is my wife, he said. She and I have decided I am not running for mayor in 2019, and I dont intend to break that promise. If she changes her mind, thats up to her.

Josh Baugh is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jbaugh@express-news.net | Twitter: @jbaughBexar County authorities have issued an arrest warrant for James Preston Green, a four-time DWI offender with a history of violating probation who was the subject of a San Antonio Express-News investigation published Sunday.

State District Judge Ron Rangel on Friday signed a motion to revoke Greens probation after Green admitted to a probation officer that hed consumed alcohol on Dec. 6.

The following day, two devices that analyze Greens breath indicated he had been drinking, which would be a violation of his probation, according to court records. One was an ignition interlock that prevented Green from driving his car after it detected alcohol in his system.

If Rangel finds that Green indeed flouted terms of his probation, he could sentence him to prison.

OnExpressNews.com: Bexar County man dodges prison despite consecutive DWIs

I can sentence him to two to six years, or I can continue him with additional probationary terms, Rangel said on Monday. The number one thing for me is safety of the community.

Green had not been arrested as of Monday afternoon. He was listed as a fugitive by the Bexar County District Attorneys Office. His defense attorney did not return a call requesting comment.

In October, Green, 37, pleaded no contest in Rangels courtroom to driving while intoxicated, his fourth such offense. The charge stemmed from an incident in January in which Green rear-ended another car while traveling at high speed on Wurzbach Parkway. Three people in the other vehicle suffered minor injuries. Green ran from the scene and was so combative that police had to pepper-spray him, according to an arrest report.

Rangel sentenced Green to six years probation in a plea bargain recommended by the Bexar County District Attorneys office. As part of the deal, two felony family violence charges against Green were dismissed. One involved an incident in which he allegedly choked his girlfriend until she passed out.

The probationary sentence continued a years-long streak in which Green has managed to avoid prison despite a string of DWIs and other crimes. Police and court records show he has repeatedly violated conditions of probation, lied to law enforcement, and berated and threatened the officers who chased and arrested him.

Rangel on Monday said subsequent media scrutiny of Greens behavior had caused him to reconsider the seriousness of the January DWI.

Frankly, I wasnt aware of any of it, the judge said.

OnExpressNews.com: New D.A. Gonzales wants to review acquittal in dismemberment case

Greens father, Jimmy Green, is a prominent businessman and philanthropist who owns J. Green Jewelers in Stone Oak.

The elder Green has attended a weekly mens Bible study led by Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood. He was at one of those early-morning sessions on the day Rangel granted his son probation in October. He posted a photo of the Bible study on Facebook with a jubilant caption: Nico La Hoods mens bible study the best I ever attend!!! Men come join us!!!

In a November interview, Jimmy Green said his relationship with LaHood played no role in how his sons case was handled.

James Green told me in the same interview that he had turned his life around after the January crash on Wurzbach Parkway and had been sober ever since. He said the prospect of incarceration had convinced him to go to rehab for 30 days.

I couldve gone to prison, dude, Green said then.

At the time of the January crash, Green was on probation for an earlier felony DWI in Guadalupe County. In that incident, Green was arrested after he was observed weaving from side to side in a pickup on FM 78 and nearly hitting an oncoming vehicle. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years of community supervision.

The January arrest was a violation of Greens Guadalupe County probation  the 10th violation recorded by authorities there. But prosecutors opted not to push to revoke his probation and have him sent to prison because that would have created complications for Bexar Countys felony DWI case, said Guadalupe County Attorney Dave Willborn.

Im certain my prosecutors fully expected that he was going to get sentenced to prison in Bexar County, Willborn told me last month.

For Green, thats a possibility once again.AUSTIN  On his way out of office, House Speaker Joe Straus says he will leave Texas with a proposed budget that boosts education funding by $5 billion over the next two years for prekindergarten and special education, thanks to a strong economy.

Were going to recommend a $5 billion increase in public education funding, thats above enrollment growth, and should also be able to accomplish the governors goal for property tax relief, said Straus, R-San Antonio, on Tuesday.

The bump would be roughly 13 percent above current state funding, which amounted to $18.8 billion in the 2018 fiscal year.

Straus, who didnt run for re-election this year after five terms as House Speaker, wont oversee the states next budget. Its not clear whether Rep. Dennis Bonnen, an Angleton Republican whos expected to succeed Straus, will endorse the spending plan. His office declined comment.

After lawmakers failed to increase the state share of education funding last session, Straus said he expects the Texas Legislature to tackle school finance when it reconvenes in 2019.

I am predicting a good, positive session that finally does address long overdue and needed support for our public education system, he said.

The budget document you will see right after the first of the year is sort of my last statement of where I think we ought to go, Straus added. Details of the blueprint  which is still in the works  have not been released yet. But Straus said funding can come from an improving Texas economy that is driving up state revenue.

On ExpressNews.com: Its shameful. Lawmakers panel sounds alarm on Texas schools

School finance is expected to be a priority for lawmakers next year, along with property tax reform. The two go hand-in-hand because public education is funded largely with property tax revenue in Texas, as well as state aid and federal dollars.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is floating a plan to cap what local school districts can raise through property taxes each year, with the state filling the gap. Some educators have been skeptical, however, and worry the plan places too much focus on tax reform and not enough on improving public education.

A 13-member school finance commission  thats been studying the issue for months  is expected to present its own recommendations Wednesday.

Any plan will take a significant investment from the state and more than 1,200 Texas school districts. A number of costly proposals are on the table, including raising teacher pay and boosting school security.

On ExpressNews.com: Texas expects thousands more special education students. But where are the teachers?

In addition, the state faces growing expenses for special education to cover thousands more children who have been wrongly denied services in the past. Following a Houston Chronicle investigation in 2016, federal officials have ordered the state to make the services available to more children, which is expected to cost several billion dollars a year in the near future.

Straus said the state can afford the substantial increase in public education funding and still offer property tax reform.

Its really not for me to do more than just leave this final document as a marker and then let the new Legislature work its will, he said. If they dont agree with what we leave them, they will change it.

The legislative session begins January 8.

amorris@express-news.netHes not wanted.

Not at funerals, though the Bush family, to show class and respect for tradition, held their noses and made an exception.

Not in England, where they turned him into a big, hideous blimp.

Not by moderate Republicans, or at least the shrinking club with a tenuous claim to that label, who pushed him away during the midterms as they fought for their survival and clung to their last shreds of self-respect.

And not by a 36-year-old Republican operative who is by most accounts the apotheosis of vanity and ambition  and who just turned down one of the most powerful roles in any administration, a job that welds you to the presidents side and gives you nearly unrivaled access to his thoughts.

Nick Ayers didnt see enough upside to the welding. He could do without those thoughts. He said no to becoming Trumps next chief of staff, and this wasnt just the latest twist in As The White House Turns.

It was, really, the whole story  of a president who burns quickly through whatever goodwill he has, a president who represents infinitely more peril than promise, a president toward whom a shockingly small and diminishing number of people in Washington feel any real affection, a president more tolerated than respected, though even the tolerance wanes.

Hes forever fixated on how wanted he is (My crowds! My ratings!), but whats more striking is how unwanted he is. But its not really about popularity at all.

Its about how he behaves  and the predictable harvest of all that nastiness. While other presidents sought to hone the art of persuasion, he revels in his talent for repulsion: how many people he attacks (he styles this as boldness); how many people he offends (he pretties this up as authenticity); how many people he sends into exile. His administration doesnt have alumni so much as refugees.

Careerists who would normally pine for top jobs with a president assess his temper, behold his tweets, recall the mortifications of Jeff Sessions and Rex Tillerson, and run for the hills. Trump sits at the most coveted desk in the world, but almost no one wants to pull up a chair.

What happened with Ayers, who is finishing a stint as Mike Pences chief of staff, speaks pointedly to the presidents diminished state. Bear in mind that Trump had already started telling people that Ayers would succeed John Kelly as chief of staff, so Ayers decision was doubly humiliating. Bear in mind who Ayers is: not just any political climber but someone whose every breath is focused on his enhanced glory, a trait frequently mentioned by Republicans who have watched his rise (and who sense in him more than a bit of Trump).

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump counted on Ayers interest and connived to shove Kelly out  hell leave by years end  so that they could shimmy Ayers in. They counted wrong. And the president now looks every bit as isolated as he is.

Administration officials like Steven Mnuchin and Mick Mulvaney practically put out news releases to make clear that Trump shouldnt ask them to be chief of staff. He has no Plan B, just B-list options like Matt Whitaker, the acting attorney general.

Its fitting. As leaders go, he has never been much of a magnet. He unequivocally romped in the Republican primaries, but since then? He got nearly 3 million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton did, a gap so remarkable that he had to claim a conspiracy of illegal voting to console himself. When he first filled his Cabinet, he hardly had his pick of the litter.

When Barbara Bush died in April, it was clear to Trump that he shouldnt travel to Texas to pay his respects. When John McCain died in August, Trump was told to skip the funeral.

The heads of countries that share Americas purported values (pre-Trump, at least) reproach and recoil from him. Prominent corporate leaders rebuke him, despite his administrations business-friendly policies.

And voters? While many are on his side, many more arent. By one analysis of the midterms, the overall vote count for Democratic candidates for the House was 8.6 percentage points higher than for Republican candidates. That was the largest advantage for a minority party since such records began to be kept in the 1940s.

His wife takes public shots at him. Old friends tattle to prosecutors; new friends dont exist. Talk about a twist: He sought the presidency, as many others did, because its the ultimate validation. But it has given him his bitterest taste yet of rejection.U.S. crude oil production just surged to an all-time high of 11.3 million barrels per day. Natural gas production is also setting records. This energy bonanza is creating tens of thousands of new jobs and dramatically reducing Americans gasoline and utility bills while boosting New Mexicos economy and making it the third largest oil producer in the nation. (Texas is No. 1).

Unfortunately, the energy boom could soon collapse. Constructing new pipelines and wells is becoming prohibitively expensive due to the Trump administrations tariffs on steel and aluminum. Without continued investment in energy infrastructure, America will never achieve energy independence.

Its time for the administration to rescind these counterproductive taxes.

In March, President Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum. The levies have hit American energy companies hard. A recent survey by the Dallas Federal Reserve found that two-thirds of energy firms are negatively affected by the tariffs on steel. Thats because steel makes up about 10 to 15 percent of the cost of an oil or gas well. And nearly 80 percent of pipes and other products used by oil and natural gas companies are made with highly customized imported steel that cannot be domestically sourced.

For example, the Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline, which handles five million barrels per day of crude oil and natural gas liquids, projects that the steel tariffs will raise the price of a new pipeline system from the Permian Basin region by $40 million.

The lack of pipeline capacity has made it harder for oil and natural gas to get out of the Permian and to other parts of the domestic market or to the Gulf Coast for processing or export.

At least the higher costs for energy companies have meant higher revenues for American steel and aluminum companies, right?

Actually, no. Plains All American sought out domestic suppliers, but American mills either did not bid or submitted alternative specifications that failed to meet standards, according to CEO Willie Chiang. In other words, the tariffs arent necessarily boosting revenues for domestic steel and aluminum companies.

In fact, some of the largest domestic producers of aluminum and steel, such as Nucor and U.S. Steel, have lost value in the stock market this year  a sure sign that the tariffs arent working as intended.

The tariffs arent just hurting companies  theyre bad news for regular Americans, who ultimately pay the increased metal costs in the form of higher energy prices. Rob Thummel, managing director of energy-investment firm Tortoise, explains that oil and gas companies can only eat the higher metal costs for so long. Eventually, those costs will have to be consumed  more than likely by the consumer.

Workers are poised to suffer too. The oil and gas industry supports about 10.3 million jobs and contributes more than $1.3 trillion to the American economy. Making energy exploration and production more expensive means fewer new jobs.

The tariffs are even undermining national security by making America more reliant on foreign energy producers. The United States recently surpassed Russia as the worlds top oil producer. And weve led the world in natural gas production since 2009. But if it becomes prohibitively expensive to invest in new energy infrastructure, America will lose its dominant position atop the global oil and gas markets.

The Trump administrations tariffs are backfiring. Its time to rescind them and deliver much needed relief to American energy producers and consumers.

Paul Gessing is president of the Rio Grande Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting liberty, opportunity and prosperity for New Mexico.GREENWICH  The Greenwich Board of Education will make its decision on a new superintendent by the end of 2018 and will announce who has been hired in 2019.

Board members must finalize a contract with the candidate who will permanently replace Interim Superintendent Ralph Mayo before they can make an announcement, search committee chair Kathleen Stowe said.

Were toward the end of our process with final candidates, but there are details to finalize, Stowe said.

In mid-November, Stowe said she hoped to announce the committees decision by the end of this year.

To protect the identity of candidates who currently have jobs, Stowe declined to comment on any of the prospects.

People generally appreciate the confidentiality, she said. A lot of people are sitting in current positions.

The board has been working with Ray and Associates Inc., the Iowa-based educational executive firm that helped the school board select Jill Gildea to replace Sal Corda, who served as the interim superintendent after William McKersie left to lead the Weston Public School District. Ray and Associates has been recognized by The School Administrator journal as one of the top search firms in the country.

Gildea announced her resignation in May, after serving less than a year as superintendent. She was hired by the district in March 2017 for a term that began July 1, 2017.

She left to take the superintendent job in Park City, Utah, after her family relocated there. Her annual salary in Greenwich was $250,000, along with a $15,000 annuity and a $3,500-per-month housing allowance. McKersie was paid $238,368 in his last year.

The school board spent about $35,000 on the search that resulted in Gildeas hiring.

In June, the school board unanimously to appoint Mayo, the longtime principal at Eastern Middle School, to be interim superintendent in Greenwich, where he has been a student, teacher and administrator.

The position of Greenwich schools superintendent has seen turnover a dozen times in the past two decades  including interim school chiefs who filled in for a year while the school board searched for a new permanent leader.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.comMgr Georges Abou Khazen is taking part "with devotion and meditation" in Advent celebrations. However, there is little optimism and a lot of fatigue in the city about the end of the conflict. The Latin parish is providing clothing 900 children, including Muslims.

Aleppo (AsiaNews)  The Christian community "wants to celebrate Christmas" and participate "with devotion and meditation" to Advent services, but an atmosphere of "little optimism and great fatigue" still prevails in the city because expectations of an imminent end to the conflict appear premature, said Mgr Georges Abou Khazen, Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo of the Latins.

The prelate spoke to AsiaNews about the situation in Syrias northern metropolis, which was until December 2016, a major battleground. Recently, it experienced a rebel chemical attack that brought back the memory of the darkest and most tragic days of the war.

At present, the citys "streets and squares are decorated and Aleppo Municipality put up a big tree in the downtown area as token of its closeness to the Christian community.

"We are planning novenas, confessions, Mgr Abou Khazen said. Children, young people and seniors are taking part in the services. Moreover, despite limited resources, we are trying to give a gift to the little ones and the poor."

The vicar of Aleppo hopes that Christmas will be "a time of celebration", even if the people "show greater fatigue and less optimism than they did some time ago about the end of the Syrian conflict," which broke out in March 2011.

"Despite everything we want to celebrate Christmas and spread a feeling of joy and hope", he said. Yet, the situation in the last rebel stronghold of Idlib "is very scary and the situation on the ground seems to get more and more complicated".

In his message, the prelate urges the faithful to "look up, beyond material hardship and entrust ourselves to Christ, the true source of salvation."

In Aleppo, in this period of Advent, the Latin parish is involved a number of initiatives to help and show solidarity to the neediest. One is giving clothing to 900 children (pictured) over several days. For the holiday, shoes, sweaters and pyjamas are given to the youngest children who attend catechism class.

This, Fr Ibrahim Alsabagh, the parish priest, noted, "does not stop with Christians but also embraces Muslim children for whom there is always a place and a small gift."

Yesterday, the Franciscan priest met the families of the children attending catechism and told them that "this is only a small deed, a token of Gods love" that comes with "the greatest gift that he has made to humanity, his own son Jesus Christ." For Fr Ibrahim, Christians in Aleppo are "a voice" that bears witness to "the presence of God".

Handing out clothing and more is not the only thing. All the members of the community support the projects undertaken, both those still centred on meeting emergency needs and those focused on reconstruction.

I want to thank all those who are helping and supporting us through material aid and prayers, said the clergyman, hopeful that this will be a Christmas of peace and serenity".Melissa McCaw handles pressure well.

Help Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin chart a plan to keep the capital city out of bankruptcy? Check.

Accept a new role as state budget director? Check.

Get up early and make dinner  and chocolate chip cookies  for her family, in time to leave for work by 6:30 a.m.? Check.

Help Gov.-elect Ned Lamont craft a solution to Connecticuts long-term fiscal crisis, a problem developed over seven decades? Get back to her on that one.

Understanding whats at stake

For McCaw, who brings 17 years of fiscal policy experience to her new post, each challenge is approached with equal parts focus, precision, and a deep appreciation for the services and families behind the budget numbers, according to those who know her well.

I trusted Melissa implicitly and that trust was well-placed, said Walter Harrison , former president of the University of Hartford and McCaws boss from mid-2009 through 2016. Some budget people can be bean-counters. Melissa understood how the university budget was put together, what each particular part of it was, and what was at stake.

At times McCaw recommended tough spending cuts, but also additions to programs that delivered big returns on investment. When she had to be, she could be tough, but in a very pleasant way.

She has a powerful command of the substance of her craft, but she also has an ease and a quiet confidence that makes her both effective and a pleasure to work with, said Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, who asked McCaw to join the city when he took office  three years ago  as it flirted with insolvency.

I knew that Melissa would never hesitate to tell me what was going wrong as well as what was going right, he added. But shes the kind of leader and manager who doesnt just say Weve got a problem. She always brings serious, thoughtful solutions.

McCaw, 39, was tapped by Lamont earlier this month to join his administration and become the first-ever African-American secretary of the state Office of Policy and Management.

The OPM secretary typically is referred to as the states budget director. But the office also takes the lead role in policy, planning and labor relations for the executive branch.

It demands a rare degree of focus and versatility, qualities McCaws fans say the new director has to spare.

She is, without a doubt, the hardest-working person Ive met in my life, said former Hartford City Councilor Julio Concepcion, who will join the state House of Representatives in January. The budget in the city is not the easiest to understand and she always knew exactly what she was talking about. She did her homework.

McCaw has had a strong hand in state and Hartford-area finances for nearly two decades.

A native of Norwalk, McCaws first job out of college was in 2001 as an OPM budget specialist under then-Secretary Marc S. Ryan.

I found her to be incredibly bright, dedicated and really professional, said Ryan, who added that McCaw arguably is better prepared to lead present-day OPM than many of her predecessors would be.

McCaw, Lamont, face unprecedented budget challenge

Why does Ryan say this? Because the needs of the job have changed dramatically.

Though the OPM secretary must function both in the fiscal policy and political worlds, the scales are not as balanced as before. And Ryan, a Republican, said McCaw, a Democrat, is particularly well-suited for this role right now.

Connecticut is entering an 10-to-15-year period during which surging retirement benefit costs  stemming from decades of inadequate savings  are projected to place unprecedented pressure on taxes and all areas of spending.

The state needs a budget director who can clearly communicate sobering news, while offering realistic solutions that offer hope down the road. Thats not to say McCaw has no political skill, Ryan added. But, right now, the less partisanship is involved, the better.

After the past eight years of Gov. Dannel P. Malloys administration, legislators have heard on many occasions that Connecticut is paying the price now for the fiscal sins of governors and legislatures dating back as far as 1939.

But many say it will be up to Lamont to explain just how severe the challenge of paying that bill will be.

Im not sure that the sober news will be welcomed, but they will get the sober news because their constituents that elected them are expecting them to make responsible decisions for the state of Connecticut, McCaw said, quickly adding that it wont come without some solution options and some hope.

You can learn the skills on the job to interact with Democrats and Republicans in the legislature, Ryan said. But you really gain trust by being knowledgable and truthful with folks. Melissa would always tell me what she felt. She always knew what you needed to know about any subject matter.

With a bachelors degree in government from Wesleyan and a masters in public administration from the University of Connecticut, McCaw brought nearly 15 years of experience at OPM and then as the University of Hartfords budget director with her when she joined the Bronin administration in January 2016.

Though there had been plenty to learn up to that point, McCaw said her work for the city brought experience that will be invaluable in her new job.

Im used to being in the hot seat.

Im battle-tested, Im used to being in the hot seat, she said, recalling how Bronins challenge to her was to solve a problem neither had created, but both had inherited.

The problem went deeper than a series of questionable debt restructuring moves that prior administrations had made, placing strain on the citys finances.

It went deeper than a state municipal aid system that increasingly failed to reimburse cities for tax receipts they cannot collect on state property, or on private, nonprofit colleges and hospitals.

And it went beyond Connecticuts highest commercial property tax rate, a city with a median income of about $29,000 per year, or the fact that 46 percent of its children live in households with incomes below the federal poverty line.

That was a very interesting process because Hartford, as I was going in, didnt have a significant amount of credibility, McCaw said.

Pausing to smile, a take a breath, McCaw refined her answer with a little more precision.

Hartford was not necessarily being respected for bringing accurate numbers to the table, she clarified. A significant part of my role in Hartford was bringing credibility back to the city.

That meant spending days, nights and weekends not only pouring through each line item looking for savings, but discussing Hartfords many challenges not only to city councilors, but state legislators, regional officials, business and community leaders.

I feel confident when I am sitting across the table because Im not coming with tricks, she said. Im coming with the raw, honest truth.

Not worried about perceptions of Hartford

McCaw nevertheless could face another perception challenge when the Lamont administration begins on Jan. 9.

Could her time in Hartford, leading the citys efforts to avoid bankruptcy, negatively influence the publics perception of her skills?

What she did in Hartford in those difficult times was impressive, said House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin. Since she and Mayor Bronin came in, Hartford has only taken steps forward.

She has an excellent reputation and background, said Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven. People know when the Bronin administration came in it was dealing with a pre-existing problem.

Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said I give all benefit of the doubt to Gov.-elect Lamont, but added that some members of the public may not.

I think the perception is a concern, he said. There could be an issue here. Well have to see how it plays out.

McCaw is too focused on her new task to worry about it.

I believe that Gov.-elect Lamont respects the broad work Ive done in Hartford, she said. I think my track record will speak for itself. Time will tell.

But that doesnt mean McCaw is all about fiscal planning or delivering sober budgetary news.

I always looked forward to seeing her, Harrison said, Shes just warm and pleasant. A real person.

She has a light-hearted side, Concepcion said. She is very easy to talk to.

Passionate about mentoring women

A native of Norwalk with strong roots in Middletown, McCaw, 39 has a strong sense of family. She lives in Hartford with her husband, Willis, and their three young children.

Though being the first African-American state budget director grabbed headlines, McCaw also is close to being the first woman to lead OPM.

Former Department of Administration Services Commissioner Brenda Sisco took over the office for the final year of Gov. M. Jodi Rells administration after Rell nominated OPM Secretary Robert Genuario to become a judge.

With an 11-year-old son, Jordan, and daughters, Grace, 7 and Gabrielle, 4, McCaw said there are other important questions to solve between now and the time she officially begins her new post.

Whos going to feed the babies, right? she quipped. Im a very dedicated mom.

But McCaw quickly added she frequently gets up early to ensure she can prepare supper in advance for her family before she even leaves for work in the morning.

I want to be sure that I am a great career woman, but also that they got moms home cooking and they got my cookies on the weekend and I washed the clothes, she said.

McCaw says she also is passionate about mentoring women and girls, particularly her two daughters.

I take great pride in being able to model for them a strong woman that can be a significantly participating Mom, not an absentee mom and a strong career woman, she said. All of my jobs have required a significant time commitment and so my family understands that.

Her husband Willis is a Department of Correction chaplain, pastor at First Baptist Church in Middletown and a professor of pastoral care at Yale.

A person of faith, McCaw says her beliefs dont color her views toward government policy, but rather provide a source of strength to do the best job possible.

When I come home and my kids say, Mom I saw you on TV, they feel such immense pride, she said. Theyre going to grow up remembering this, and as they get older theyre going to really understand what it means.Concord Green Energy Holdings Ltd, formerly Solar Alliance Energy, Inc is a Canada-based solar sales and marketing company. The Company focuses on residential solar installations. The Company operates in the United States, Ireland and Canada. The Company markets, sells and installs residential rooftop solar systems primarily in the San Diego, California market. The Company has developed over 360 megawatts of renewable energy projects and subsequently sold them to utilities or large independent power producers, and has installed over 2,000 residential solar systems in southern California. The Company offers solar programs for every homeowner from ownership to buy electricity. The Company's subsidiaries include Solar Alliance of America, Inc. (Solar Alliance) and Finavera Renewables (Ireland) Limited.

Read MoreThere is not enough analysis data for Healthier Choices Management.

4.9 Community Rank

Outperform Votes Healthier Choices Management has received 82 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes Healthier Choices Management has received 30 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment Healthier Choices Management has received 73.21% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Healthier Choices Management and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe HCMC will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe HCMC will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

Previous

Nextby Wang Zhicheng

The Chinese president has extolled Deng Xiaopings modernizations, which has propelled China to becoming the second largest economic power in the world. Silence on the "fifth modernization", democracy, and on the economic reforms needed today. The leadership of the Chinese Communist Party reaffirmed, a guarantee of development.

Beijing (AsiaNews) - In a meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square, President Xi Jinping recalled the 40 years of economic reforms launched by his predecessor Deng Xiaoping and stressed that even today China must rely on the Chinese Communist Party's government.

In a veiled criticism of Mao and the Party, Xi recalled that the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) had brought the country's economy to the brink of collapse and that Deng's decision saved "China's modernization and socialism" thanks to the "reforms and opening up" to the world.

Deng's reforms enabled the "four modernizations" in agriculture, industry, science and technology and defense, liberalizing access to the private sector and international trade.

This path - underlined Xi - guaranteed an average growth of 9.5% of GDP for 40 years and contributed to more than 30% of the growth of the global economy and becoming the second largest economy in the world.

Despite this gigantic growth, Xi promised that China "will never seek global hegemony" and indeed will contribute to a "shared future for humanity". In a reference to the trade war - but without mentioning the United States - he also said that his nation will not develop at the expense of other countries, but neither will he allow anyone to tell his country what it should do.

Without mentioning the ills that currently besiege the Chinese economy or the needed reforms, he reiterated that "the Party leads everything ... Only by improving the leadership of the Party and its government ... can we make sure that the ship of reforms and opening can sail onwards ".

In recent weeks, many economists had expressed the need for reforms of state-owned enterprises, increased aid to private companies, equal treatment of local and foreign industries. Deng Xiaoping's son, Deng Pufang, had also hoped for a reduction in tension with the United States. And there is still the question of many dissidents who, since the days of Deng, have been demanding not only economic modernizations (the "fifth modernization", democracy).

According to some critics, today's speech by Xi was an "exercise in rhetoric", which hides the fact that the Chinese economy is slowing down precisely because it lacks these reforms.

Almost confirming this disappointment, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, which grew at the start of trading, are down again. The Shanghai index fell to minus 1.2% and the Shenzhen index to minus 1.5%, the lowest in eight weeks.Farmers are warning the Government to consider the impact of a no deal Brexit scenario on an already vulnerable farming industry.

Farmers remain anxious about the prospect of a no-deal Brexit amid growing political turmoil and uncertainty.

On Monday (17 December), Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn demanded a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister for delaying a crucial Commons vote on her Brexit deal.

Theresa May has previously said that the rejection of her Brexit deal will lead to division and uncertainty.

She now has to persuade MPs to back her deal before a re-scheduled vote due the week of 14 January 2019.

The Labour leader said on Monday: Its bad  unacceptable  that we should be waiting almost a month before we have a meaningful vote on the crucial issue facing the future of this country.

The Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) has now warned the Government to consider the impact of no deal planning on the farming community.

Of all the sectors of the UK economy, farming is by far the most entwined into the EU whether through policy, trade or the free movement of labour.

The Government has been urged to ensure that it does not respond in a way which could damage the agricultural industry in the long term if the UK ends up leaving the EU in March without having agreed a transitional period.

'Vulnerable'

The warning by the TFA comes as the Government published its forecast for this years total income from farming in the UK, predicting a 15% reduction in overall income and a 6% reduction in the contribution agriculture will make to GDP.

This is largely due to weather related factors with a prolonged cold, wet winter, little or no spring, followed by a dry, hot summer.

TFA Chief Executive, George Dunn, said: The sector is already vulnerable and could be further hit badly in some of the scenarios being predicted for no deal

A significant concern is on trade, with the Government talking about allowing tariff free access to the UK for goods from abroad in order to minimise market disruption for consumers.

Mr Dunn added: Although understandable, the Government must guard against allowing access for food products produced to lower food safety, environmental and animal welfare standards than allowed in the UK.

It must also plan for mitigating measures against the tariffs that will be faced by UK farm exports heading to Europe. Keeping these markets open will be vital while we negotiate new free trade agreements with the EU and other countries.

However, the Government must step in to maintain returns to primary producers in the interim, said Mr Dunn.

'Urgent measures'

There will also be regulatory hoops to jump through including ensuring the UK achieves official third country status to be able to trade with the EU, and having the necessary export health certificates agreed.

We need the Governments assurance that all of this will be in place, added Mr Dunn.

Access to labour should also be a key focus for Government. With the extent to which many of our farms, food processors and the food logistics network is reliant upon labour from the EU, this will not be easily replaced by UK born labour in the short term.

Urgent measures will need to be put in place to secure labour, so our productive capacity can be maintained, he said.A farming family have made a public plea for funds to rebuild their farm after losing it to a huge blaze.

The Burkinshaws, who live near Choppington, Northumberland, lost their farm to a devastating fire on Saturday (15 December).

Firefighters were called to the blaze at Whinney Hill Farm at 6.15pm on Saturday night to find a barn well alight.

Three larger barns were then caught on fire as the blaze then spread.

Sarah Burkinshaw said she will be haunted forever by the images of the blaze.

As most of you will be aware, we lost our farm last night in a devastating fire, she said.

A lifetime of hard work, memories and farm machinery gone in minutes.

We just got the cattle to safety in time before the fire spread. I am posting to ask for help from people in the agricultural community.

Ms Burkinshaw added: I appreciate hay, haylage and silage is in short supply this year but if everyone could let me buy a small amount I would be more than grateful.

A Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: The fire was scaled back through the night and we currently have one appliance in attendance, from Pegswood Fire Station.

Assessments are being made to ascertain whether to leave the site and make re-inspections, or to maintain a constant presence.

The scope of the damage is to 20,000 cubic metres of straw and there were also three agricultural vehicles destroyed. No animals were harmed in the fire.

An investigation into the circumstances around the fire is ongoing.

A GoFundMe page has been created since the incident and has already raised over 3,000.

Faye Scantlebury, the page creator, said: Please help the Burkinshaws rebuild their farm that's tragically been lost tonight 15/12/18 in a horrendous fire.

They are a local family that will go out of their way to help others but now its our turn to help them.

Let's see the community pull together in such a horrible situation.

The incident follows figures released by NFU Mutual which expose the extent of fire devastation caused by the hot summer and early harvest for UK farmers.NFU Scotland have called an SNP budget slash for the country's remote 'Less Favoured Areas' as "unacceptable".

Figures revealed in the Scottish Budget, announced at Holyrood last week, confirm a 20 percent cut in the budget for lifeline Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme (LFASS) payments.

NFU Scotland have deemed any cut to LFASS payments as "unacceptable".

The SNP-led Scottish Government will also cut business development by 13.3 per cent, agri-environment measures by 7.3 per cent and LEADER by 10.9 per cent.

As well as the cuts that Less Favoured Areas (LFA) farmers and crofters face in 2019, there is the prospect of a possible 80 per cent cut in 2020, with "complete uncertainty" from then on, the union says.

At the request of NFU Scotland, the Scottish Government is working at European level in a bid to secure a derogation that would allow it to reinstate the LFASS budget to its full amount of 65 million.

Given a primary objective of LFASS support is the prevention of land abandonment, the case put together for derogation demonstrates a need for continuity of LFASS payments at current levels in order to ensure continued agricultural activity in remoter and more disadvantaged areas.

Without such support, many farmers and crofters have already indicated their intentions to de-stock, which would lead to "significant adverse impacts" in many of Scotlands more challenging locations, NFU Scotland says.

In late August, members of the union's LFA committee met with Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy Fergus Ewing to relay the importance of these payments.

The committee urged Scottish Government to explore any solution to make up any enforced shortfall in LFASS payments.

NFU Scotland President, Andrew McCornick said: While confirmation of the cut for 2019 is no surprise, it is nevertheless a massive body blow for LFA producers having just come through an unprecedented period of physical and financial challenges that resulted in some throwing in the towel and left many on the brink and short of confidence.

The net result of cuts to LFASS, unless reversed, will be a further demise of our more extensive livestock sectors; the red meat sector in general; the Scotch brand it underpins and the risk of yet more agricultural land abandonment in some quarters.

LFASS payments provide a vital financial boost to those who are trying forge a living out of some of the hardest land in the country.

Mr McCornick added: For them to lose out on any of this support would not only be devastating for their businesses but also for the natural environments which they tend to.Farmer appeals for bone marrow match for 7-year-old son

Doctors say 'nine months is too long to wait'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.By: Andrea C. Furia-Helms, M.P.H., Director of Patient Affairs Staff, Office of Medical Products and Tobacco; and Samir Shaikh, M.B.A., Deputy Director of Patient Affairs Staff, Office of Medical Products and Tobacco

We believe patients are experts when it comes to their health conditions. Ultimately, theyre the ones who can share aspects of their diseases that even our most qualified doctors and scientists couldnt possibly know. This valuable patient input is a critical part of our understanding of diseases and conditions that may help us to advance medical product development.

For this reason, patients are at the forefront of everything we do. Supporting and understanding the patient experience and incorporating patient feedback into our work is an agency-wide priority. More and more, we are integrating patient perspectives throughout the lifecycle of product development and regulation.

A year ago this month, the FDA established the Patient Affairs Staff in the Office of the Commissioner to build on and further improve our 30+ years of engagement with patient communities. Our role is sometimes described as being an advocate for the advocates. Our purpose is to widen the entryway to the FDA for patients and their caregivers, which includes providing several ways for them to sit down with reviewers and inform the work we do.

Building and Fostering Relationships

The Patient Affairs Staff helps to humanize the agency for patients, advocating and serving as a point of engagement for those who may find the prospect of navigating a regulatory agency, and understanding how it works, overwhelming. We provide a clear and visible starting point  an open door  and a clear path forward.

Additionally, the Patient Affairs Staff works with patients and caregivers to create and assist with public and private collaborations and partnerships, including advocacy organizations, to discuss regulatory topics of interest.

We work closely with the FDA Centers to include the patients voice and provide leadership for programs and activities that cut across the agency to leverage best practices and enhance patient engagements.

We also are cognizant of the fact that many patients may not be aware of the work we do on their behalf or the participatory role they can play in our work. This makes it critical to expand public awareness and help patients, caregivers, and their advocates understand how to navigate the FDA and the regulatory review process.

Learning Through Listening

Over time, the FDA has developed forums to ensure patient and advocate perspectives are heard. Most recently, in partnership with the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), we have been conducting listening sessions to learn more about rare diseases from patients, caregivers and advocates. We invite them to talk openly with the FDA review staff about living day-to-day with a rare disease or condition, giving us insight into their experiences. Listening sessions can be requested by the patient community and by the FDA staff, and focus on topics of interest agency-wide.

For instance, employees from across the agency have the opportunity to ask questions concerning diseases about which little is generally known and effective treatments are few or absent. This experience provides a unique opportunity for the FDA to gain insight to patients perspectives on the burdens of a disease and its current treatments, as well as its impact on the patients and caregivers daily activities and quality of life.

We continue to assess how our meetings may also inform regulatory decision making. Our plan is to incorporate learnings and feedback from participants to improve these sessions, with the goal of extending the patient listening sessions to disease areas beyond rare diseases.

Improving Patient Education, Outreach and Access to the FDA

Visit our Patients Matter video series web page.

We also have completed a formal assessment of the FDAs For Patients webpage and are incorporating feedback received, making it more patient-friendly, easier to navigate, and an up-to-date source of information for patients and caregivers.

We are creating resources to help patients, caregivers, advocates and health professionals to connect with the FDA, making it easier for them to ask questions or request meetings about the FDAs patient engagement, as well as to ask general questions about our regulatory processes.

The Future of Patient Engagement: Whats Ahead?

As we continue to advance our patient engagement efforts, it is important that an ongoing forum exists to discuss how to achieve more meaningful patient engagement in medical product development and other regulatory discussions.

In partnership with the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative, which seeks to increase the quality and efficiency of clinical trials, we recently convened the Patient Engagement Collaborative, comprised of patient organizations and individual representatives, to discuss topics focusing on enhancing patient engagement in medical product development and regulatory discussions at the FDA.

This effort is facilitated by provisions in both the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016 and the Food and Drug Administration Reauthorization Act of 2017. Both provisions aim to foster patient participation and incorporate patient experiences in the regulatory process.

As we move forward, we are energized by the relationships weve cultivated and the progress we are making. As patient populations and their needs evolve and become increasingly complex, we want patients and those who advocate on their behalf to know that our door is open. While our work will always be rooted in science, involving patients in identifying health priorities and outcomes is just as important.

As FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. often advises when addressing patients, approach the agency. Our door is open. We want to hear how you are experiencing diseases and how diseases are impacting you every day. We want to learn from you.Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release

SubCategory Select Sub-CategoryHritiqa Chheber is an actress and model, who belongs to a small city called Jalabpur in Madhya Pradesh. She always wanted to be a model and has had the thought ever since she was in class 8. In 2008, Hritiqa landed in Bombay soon after her schooling to aspire her dreams. She took up a job in a call centre to support herself as she believes in being very independent.

Hritiqa's family was as excited as her, about she taking up acting and modelling as a career. She received immense support from them and they always loved the fact that she was highly ambitious.

However, modelling happened to her eventually when she started meeting people and took up auditions. She never decided upon becoming an actress. But, it wasn't all easy for her as she had no film background. She would meet up with a friend of hers who is a photographer in his studio to learn how to present herself before the camera.

Her first break in the industry was during her modelling days. She met with a few representatives of Eros, who offered her a music video. Later, she was featured in the song 'Pyar Nahi Ghatda' by Sippy Gill, which garnered over 9 million views on YouTube. She's been a part of several more videos following that.

She's just finished shooting for a Telugu movie under Sri Tirumala Venkateswara production called 'Amai Nachindi'. Hritiqa will be making her Tollywood debut in this romantic movie, which is all set to release in January or February 2019. Currently she's looking forward to working in a web series with another lined up for later.

Hritiqa, however looks forward to taking up more meaningful roles in the future based on current affair and social issues. She's been through her share of obstacles while trying to establish herself in the industry. Her mantra to success is staying focused and being patient while working on your goals.

She's a hardcore fan of Bollywood actress Sridevi. Hritiqa grew up watching her films and has been highly inspired by her. In her free time, Hritiqa likes reading and watching movies. Her favourite Hollywood destination is Cape Town in South Africa and wishes to visit Hong Kong soon.

Her philosophy in life is dreaming big, pushing yourself beyond the limits and working towards achieving those dreams. Her acting and performance is believed to win hearts of millions and she's definitely a star in making that one needs to look out for!By Caitlin Curtis, Research fellow, Centre for Policy Futures (Genomics), The University of Queensland

image created by James Hereward and Caitlin Curtis

Many people first became familiar with DNA testing through its use in the OJ Simpson murder trial in 1994. Now, 24 years later, there have been two dramatic advances in the capability of forensic genetics that mark the start of a new era.

The first is the amount of information we can predict about a person from DNA found at a crime scene, and the second is the way police can use open genealogy databases to identify people.

But we need to be careful how we use these new tools. If people lose trust in how DNA data is used and shared by police, it could have an adverse impact on other applications  such as medical care.

Thats why were calling for a Genetic Data Protection Act to ensure people have confidence in the way their DNA is accessed and used.





Read more:

DNA facial prediction could make protecting your privacy more difficult





We can learn a lot more from DNA now

Predicting traits from DNA, known as DNA phenotyping, is improving. Facial prediction, health traits, predisposition to disease, even personality traits and things about our mental health can be predicted from genetic data. Some researchers are even considering predicting propensity to drink or smoke.



https://images.theconversation.com/files/243767/original/file-20181104-8... 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243767/original/file-20181104-8... 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243767/original/file-20181104-8... 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243767/original/file-20181104-8... 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243767/original/file-20181104-8... 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">





Composite from PNAS





Law enforcement agencies around the world are using these traits to create predictive DNA mugshots, but in many countries there is no specific regulation on how and when they should be incorporated into policing.

And some types of predictions raise considerable ethical issues.

For example, should it be OK for law enforcement to predict the mental health or disease risk of a suspect? If so, should that information be used in a trial? If law enforcement predicts a high risk of a particular disease, should they be compelled to tell a suspect or their family?

Separation between databases is breaking down

You may be familiar with CODIS from CSI, this is the database that law enforcement has traditionally used to identify DNA collected at a crime scene. CODIS has around 17.7 million DNA profiles. There are strict rules around who can be included in these databases, and the vast majority of profiles are from convicted offenders.

According to best estimates, the number of people who have taken genetic ancestry tests is slightly higher than this, and police have started using this data as well. The type of data in CODIS only allows close family matches, but the type of data in open ancestry databases allows much deeper relations to be found.

Even if you havent participated in genetic testing or made your genetic data public, you may have a relative who has. Currently, law enforcement is able to identify people based on matches as distant as third cousins.

On average, people have around 190 third cousins. One estimate indicates that over 90% of Americans of European descent already have a third cousin or higher in the open genealogy database GEDmatch. It may take as little as 2% of the population uploading their DNA data in a genealogy database for the entire population to be identified this way.



https://images.theconversation.com/files/243779/original/file-20181104-8... 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243779/original/file-20181104-8... 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243779/original/file-20181104-8... 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243779/original/file-20181104-8... 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243779/original/file-20181104-8... 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">





image designed by James Hereward and Caitlin Curtis





New statistical methods mean separations between previously distinct genetic databases are disappearing. Traditional forensic markers can now be cross referenced to ancestry data, even though they are completely different types of genetic data. This means close family members could be identified across different databases. These methods can also be used to re-identify subjects in medical genetics research projects.

There has been a lot of public support for the use of genetic genealogy to catch serial killers and rapists. In some cases, people are voluntarily uploading their data to help these efforts.

But where should we draw the line? Should genetic data only be used in serious crimes, or are we happy to have a comprehensive system of genetic surveillance that covers the entire population?

Private companies are aiding law enforcement

Both DNA phenotyping and forensic genealogy  which relies on amateur genealogists  are now being offered to law enforcement by private companies.

Parabon, a US-based pharmaceutical company, has partnered with armchair genealogist Cece Moore. She started using genetic genealogy to find the parents of adoptees and children born through sperm donation, but now uses it to catch criminals.

Parabon also offers facial prediction services. While the science of facial prediction from DNA is getting better, it is still contentious, and several prominent scientists have cast doubt on whether Parabon can really do what it is promising.

Nevertheless, this move out of government labs and into private ones raises questions about oversight  and what exactly is happening to the data generated.

Genetic data is different from other kinds of data

Genetic data is highly unique and can be thought of as a personal 15 million letter pin-code. Since the code doesnt just identify us, it also contains important information about our disease risk, personality traits and even our physical features like our face, it is very difficult to keep anonymous.



https://images.theconversation.com/files/243762/original/file-20181104-8... 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243762/original/file-20181104-8... 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243762/original/file-20181104-8... 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243762/original/file-20181104-8... 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243762/original/file-20181104-8... 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">





Edited from Shutterstock image





Unlike a credit card we cant request a new genome if our data is compromised. And a stolen credit card wont tell a perpetrator anything about the finances of our family members.

We understand what happens if we lose a credit card, but our understanding of genetic data is still developing. And were likely to see it put to unexpected uses in the future.





Read more:

It's time to talk about who can access your digital genomic data





We need a Genetic Data Protection Act

Technological advances in genomics are outpacing public awareness, and existing legislation doesnt fit genetic data well. Under current laws, the lab that produces the genetic data has ownership of the record. But if our genetic data represents a deep part of the essence of us, it shouldnt be this easy for us to give up ownership of it.

We need new ways to protect genetic data to maintain trust in medical genomics. Sometimes people need their genome sequenced for medical purposes, but they might be reluctant to consent if trust has broken down around how genetic data could be used. That could result in poorer medical outcomes.

One solution to prevent this is a specific Genetic Data Protection Act, which would grant people ownership of their own data. However, it must be different from standard property rights: ownership should be immutable and nontransferable.

The issues around use of our genetic data are complex, individuals (and their descendants) must be protected. Under no circumstances should it be possible for an individual to unwittingly sign an agreement that results in a loss of control of their genetic data. Legislation is part of the solution, but education and new technological solutions will also be important.

The recent introduction of the digital My Health Record shows that Australians care about who is accessing their sensitive information. And people are already expressing unease about the confidentiality of their genetic data.

We must establish clear boundaries about how genetic data generated for medical purposes is used  whether by police or by any other interested parties. Giving genetic data the protection it needs, and making sure that medical genetic data doesnt become a forensic resource will be crucial to ensure public trust in medical genetics.

Caitlin Curtis is affiliated with the Queensland Genomic Health Alliance and the University of Queensland Genomics in Society Initiative.

James Hereward receives funding from the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC). The project investigates the evolution of herbicide resistance in weeds.

John Devereux receives funding the Queensland Genomics Health Alliance (QGHA) and The University of Queensland to undertake research into the Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) of genomics.

Karen Hussey receives funding from the Queensland Genomics Health Alliance (QGHA) and The University of Queensland to undertake research into the Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) of genomics. She is a member of the Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation, the TJ Ryan Foundation Board, WWF Australia Expert Scientific Panel, and the Climate Council.

Marie Mangelsdorf is affiliated with The University of Queensland Genomics in Society Initiative and the Queensland Genomics Health Alliance.

Originally published in The Conversation.The First Meeting

Deepika revealed that she met Ranveer Singh for the first time at an awards show in Singapore.

Deepika Reveals When She Felt Ranveer Was Special

The actress quipped, "I was at YashRaj and he was there and he was flirting like it's nobody's business and he was dating somebody else at this point and I was smiling to myself and told him, You are flirting with me.'"

Ranveer-Deepika's Special Moments

Once they began dating, Ranveer and Deepika used to frequent restaurants, but their most special moments were during the prep of Goliyon Ki Raas Leela: Ram Leela at Sanjay Leela Bhansali's house.

Deepika Narrates An Unforgettable Moment From Their Dating Days

"Sir called us over for lunch and we were eating and apparently there was a piece of crab stuck in my tooth and he wanted to make me awkward and he said, oh, there's a crab stuck in your mouth,' and I said, Then take it out'. That moment all three of us won't forget."Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan's tiny tot Taimur steals away the limelight with his infectious laughter and cuteness. His pictures go viral on the internet and the paparazzi just can't get enough of this little Pataudi. Taimur will be celebrating his second birthday on 20th December and his parents Saif and Kareena have already planned an 'adventurous' trip to South Africa to celebrate their little one's special day.

Recently while speaking to Mumbai Mirror, Saif revealed how he and Kareena are planning a special birthday for their little munchkin.

Guess What's In Store For Tim! Saif told the leading daily, "Kareena and I will be shooting an ad in Cape Town for a luggage brand. After that we are going to ride horses and see some big cats for Tim's birthday." We Absolutely Adore This Boy! A few days ago, Taimur was clicking enjoying a horse-ride and now after Saif's revelation, we just can't wait to see his new pictures from his birthday trip. Taimur Ali Khan enjoying vacation with Kareena Kapoor & Saif Ali Khan in South Africa | FilmiBeat Here's The First Pic From Their South Africa Vacation Kareena is seen chilling out in white crop shirt and beige pants with a tuk-tuk in the background. When Kareena Opened Up About The Constant Media Attention On Taimur "I do not like the fact that every day, Taimur's moves are being monitored and you know, pictures are being out, what he's doing, what he's wearing, discussing his hairstyle," Bebo was quoted as saying. She further added that Taimur is "kind of getting used to" being a paparazzi favourite. "Of late, if I compare his pictures, now he has started posing," the actress had joked.

Earlier in an interview with Anupama Chopra, Kareena had mentioned, "It would kill me to send him away to a boarding school. I think it would be unfair in a way, like I tell Saif...it would be like running away from reality because this is the reality right? Paparazzi is following you constantly. They are trading you all the time.

It's not like I am uploading a picture ever of Taimur or family or anything. So why can't he just be like in his own city, roam around and go to school and do normal things like normal children do. So that's why I am like let him just put his down and I tell everybody around himself also head down, let him do what he has to. They are tricking him, they are doing everything but I can't stop him from being who he is and neither can I stop him from having a normal life.

As a parent I can't not send him to school, I can't not send him to play with his friends. I can't do that to him. I can't lock him up and I don't want him to. I want him to fly, I want him to be free and if this is what the cost is then me and Saif are dealing with it."

Unseen Pics From Taimur's Maldives Vacation: The Tiny Tot Chills With His Parents Saif-Kareena!Another Monday and another new week which spiced up the proceeding once the nomination process kick-started. Since Jeevitha, Niveditha Gowda and Meghashree entered the house, Bigg Boss had asked 3 other contestants to nominate 3 other contestants directly which made Andy, Rakesh & Akshatha get nominated directly.

Post the nomination process, Bigg Boss had asked Rakesh, the captain of the house, to either save himself or any other contestant for the week. Rakesh took Muralis name justifying the fact that the senior contestant would bring equilibrium and sturdiness into the house in many avenues. This action from Rakesh invoked mixed reactions from the housemates.

While few appreciated housemates for being genuine and not saving himself and Akshatha from the nomination process, others such as Naveen, Andy, Jayashree & Akshatha blamed Rakesh for his decision of saving Murali.

Akshatha waged a huge war with harsh words and expressions on Rakesh while the latter was seen consoling and convincing the former.

The tug of war continued between the duo and at one point of time, Akshatha busted out on Rakesh for irking her continuously which assembled the housemates to the spot and thus, separate both of them from the scene.

A clearly broken down Akshatha was consoled by Andy who cushioned her saying that Rakesh is just a contestant in the reality show who is just playing his game by using the situations and people and there is nothing beyond this point. He also stressed that it is Akshatha who has genuine feelings towards the former RJ and it is that point which is hurting the theatre artist the most.

In a certain small activity inside the house, Akshatha called Rakesh as her mother inside the house for showing the care and providing warmth in the initial weeks when she needed the most. This statement made both grow tad bit emotional which created a slight pause moment inside the house.Arshi Says Vikas Chose Rohit Over Her

In the interview Arshi Khan said that she was in Kolkata for an event. As soon she landed in Mumbai, she was called to Lonavala by the Bigg Boss 12 makers, and her wild card entry into the house on October 19, 2018 was fiinalised. Apparently, the deal was fianlised, but things took an ugly turn when Vikas learned about this. Arshi says, Vikas ensured she lost the chance and gave the chance to Rohit Suchanti.

She Say Vikas Convinced Her

Apparently, Vikas told Arshi that a man replaces a man, and woman replaces another woman in Bigg Boss and that's how it works. She further added that, many of the contestants on Bigg Boss have all been Vikas' clsoe friends, such as Priyank Sharma, Benafsha, Rohit Suchanti and Karanvir Bohra.

Vikas Didn't Give Her Rs 3 Lakhs

Apparently, Vikas had told Arshi that he would spilt the 6 Lakhs he recived between her and Jyoti. However, she never recived it. But, Vikas pressurised her to tell the media that he gave her the money. Arshi then told Vikas that she wouldn't lie. Upong being questioned about the money by Bigg Boss makers, she said she doesn't want it.

BB 12 Makers Are Influenced By Vikas

Arshi further added thats she always thought high of Bigg Boss makers and respected their decision. She thought they never listened to other and all that mattered to them was the show. But, now she feels they are highly influenced by Vikas!Kapil Donates Excess Food To An NGO

A source was quoted by the leading daily as saying, "When they told Kapil about their cause, he said yes without thinking twice. He told them to take the food from all his functions including the reception in Amritsar and distribute it." (Image Source: Twitter)

Kapil Is Setting An Example For Others

The founder of the NGO was quoted as saying, "Mr Kapil is setting an example for others to follow by donating excess food from his big day. This will surely create a much-needed awareness for the cause and will motivate others to follow suit." (Image Source: Twitter)

The Founder Of The NGO Says...

"The thought of the NGO was born in a wedding, and seeing Kapil donate all extra food to people instead of letting it go to waste is heartening. I am pleased to see him that the person who makes the India country smile and laugh took this opportunity to make others in need smile too. Respect. I hope Kapil's act wakes up the country to not waste food and donate extra from weddings."

Ginni's Gruhpravesh

Meanwhile, the post wedding rituals have begun. Kapil's wife Ginni has been welcomed by Kapil's family at their home with a grand gruhpravesh'. One of the fans club of Kapil on Twitter, shared Ginni's gruhpravesh picture.

The Kapil Sharma Show

On work front, Kapil will get busy after his Mumbai reception, which is on December 24! Recently, the short promo of The Kapil Sharma Show 2 was released. Now the channel has revealed the on air date of the show! Yes, the show will be premiered on December 29.

TKSS 2 Promo; Kapil Is Back With A Bang!

The promo of the show which featured Kapil and Kiku was revealed by the makers. The guests of the show are Simmba actors - Sara Ali Khan and Ranveer Singh, along with the producer of the show Rohit Shetty. With the promo, we can say that Kapil is indeed back with a bang!Chinese smart lock maker Yunding Technology has completed a Rmb600 million $87 million Series D fundraising from existing investors, its second this year.

Baidu led this round of fundraising, joined by Shunwei Capital, K2VC and Susquehanna International Group SIG, Yunding said on Wednesday.

In July, the smart lock maker completed a Rmb270 million follow-on C round fundraising from seven investors including Baidu, SIG. Prior to this, from 2014 to 2017, it had four disclosed financing rounds.

When it was founded in 2014, Yunding's initial focus was on the rental apartment market, providing smart lock, electricity and water meters...Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - December 17, 2018) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Scott W. Bauguess, Deputy Director of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA) and Deputy Chief Economist, will leave the agency in January after more than 11 years of service. Dr. Bauguess joined the division in 2007 as a financial economist, assumed leadership of DERA's Office of Corporate Finance in 2011, and was appointed Deputy Director in 2013. In 2017, Dr. Bauguess served as the agency's Acting Director of DERA and its Acting Chief Economist.

During his tenure, Dr. Bauguess played a significant role in the Commission's regulatory impact analyses and market risk assessment activities. He led all of the economic analyses of rules implementing provisions of the JOBS Act and critical components of the Dodd-Frank Act, participated in the development of disclosure technologies related to registrant reporting, and oversaw the introduction of new and innovative data analytical methods and programs employing artificial intelligence technology to assist SEC staff in their supervisory and investigative activities.

"For more than a decade, Scott has played a leading role in designing and producing the economic analysis that allows us to better understand the effects of our work at the Commission," said Chairman Jay Clayton. "I thank Scott for his years of dedicated service to our investors and markets."

"Scott has long been a champion of using of data-driven methods to support our enforcement program," said Stephanie Avakian, Co-Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. "He has tremendous insight on how to leverage advanced analytics to identify potential securities law violations and we will miss collaborating with him."

Pete Driscoll, Director of the Office and Compliance Inspections and Examinations, added, "His dedication, vision, and willingness to promote collaboration between DERA and OCIE staff were critical to the advancement of quantitative methods to assess risks and analyze data throughout the agency, particularly in OCIE."

Dr. Bauguess said, "I leave with fond memories and a great sense of accomplishment from my 11 years serving America's investors. My time working with staff in DERA and across the agency as we applied analytical methods to complicated economic and market issues to protect and strengthen our markets will stand out as particularly rewarding. I will miss my colleagues and the mission."

His service to the agency spanned a wide variety of economic, analytical, and technology activities, including:

Directed the economic analyses of JOBS Act and related rules covering the elimination of the prohibition against general solicitation in Rule 506 offerings, Regulation Crowdfunding, amendments to Regulation D and Regulation A, and disqualification of bad actors in Rule 506 offerings.

Directed the economic analyses of Dodd Frank Act rules covering security-based swap (SBS) communications, reporting, data repositories, conduct standards and dissemination, and cross-border application of SBS rules, and rules covering credit risk retention, pay ratio, and credit rating reference removal.

Advised in the development and responsible for the implementation of the SEC's "Current Guidance on Economic Analysis in SEC Rulemaking."

SEC representative to the Financial Stability Board's Standing Committee on Assessing Vulnerabilities (SCAV) and the Analytical Group on Vulnerabilities (AGV).

Oversaw the establishment of two new offices in DERA: the Office of Research and Data Services and the Office of Risk Assessment.

Directed the economic analyses on rulemakings to make financial disclosures and market transactions machine readable through adoption and use of XML-based financial reporting languages such as XBRL.

Directed the efforts that led to the adoption and use of Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) in regulatory filings by swaps dealers, investment advisers, broker-dealers, and investment companies.

Developed programs that leverage machine learning and natural language processing of narrative disclosures in SEC filings to develop novel analytical insights in support of market supervision activities.

Key contributor to cross-agency initiatives related to the oversight of the Tips, Complaints, and Referrals (TCR) system, identification of emerging market risks, and enhancement of the SEC's data and computing environments.

Prior to joining the SEC, Dr. Bauguess served on the finance faculty of Texas Tech University in the Rawls College of Business. He earned his Ph.D. from Arizona State University, and also holds a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering, spending six years working in the technology industry before beginning his doctoral studies.TOKYO, December 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Europe's leading producer of robotic exoskeletons, German Bionic from Augsburg, will present its multiple award-winning 'Cray X' active power suit for the first time at an Asian industry fair. Exoskeletons or power suits are human-machine systems that combine human intelligence with machine power by supporting or strengthening the wearer's movements, thereby reducing the risk of workplace accidents and load-bearing injuries. The high-tech company from Bavaria is the first European manufacturer to mass-produce the innovative robot worn directly on the body.

"Following our successful market entry in Japan in 2018, we will now debut our multiple award-winning Cray X at Asia's most important trade fair for robotics. At RoboDEX, we are excited to present our industry leading power suits and offer insights to most recent developments of Europe's technology leader for robotic exoskeletons," explains Hideo Yamashita, Director Japan at German Bionic.

Award-winning exoskeleton enters Asian market

Nominated for the prestigious Hannover Messe Hermes Award 2018 and recently decorated with the Land of Ideas and Automatica award, the German Bionic Cray X model has been specially designed for the manual handling of goods and tools. As it supports or strengthens the wearer's movements, it reduces compression pressure in the lower-back area while lifting heavy loads. The Cray X thereby significantly reducing the risk of workplace accidents and loadbearing injuries. It is particularly useful for situations in which human work cannot be fully replaced by robotic systems. This includes industrial production working processes, such as in the automotive sector, as well as in physically demanding logistics or construction work.

A technology on the rise

According to a recent study by market research and consulting firm ABI Research, more than 7000 exoskeleton systems will be in use worldwide by the end of 2018. In 20 years, it is expected to be over 300,000 devices. The analysts expect an average annual growth rate of almost 40 percent. Sales will grow from US$192 million to US$5.8 billion in the same period. The largest buyers will be the manufacturing sector, which accounts for more than 50 percent of global revenues.

German Bionic at RoboDEX / Tokyo Big Sight

German Bionic will be represented at Asia's most important robotics trade fair, from 16-18 January 2019, with its own booth in West Hall #2, A133.

About German Bionic

German Bionic, headquartered in Augsburg with offices in Berlin, Tokyo and Singapore, is a German manufacturer developing and building exoskeletons for use in industrial production. Exoskeletons are human-machine systems that combine human intelligence and machine power, thereby enabling individuals to gain increased strength and endurance. German Bionic is one of the world's leading robotics companies focusing on humans in Industry 4.0. Learn more about German Bionic, its products and the minds behind the company at http://www.germanbionic.com.

Press pictures: https://www.germanbionic.com/en/about/press

Live updates via Twitter: https://twitter.com/germanbionic

Company contact

German Bionic Tokyo Office

Ginza Six 13F, 6-10-1 Ginza

Chuo, Tokyo, 104-0061

Japan

Email: sales-jp@germanbionic.com

Phone: +813-4405-2363

Press contact

Eric Eitel

Email: ee@germanbionic.com

Phone: +49-175-1670891PENANG, Malaysia, December 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

UST Global, a leading digital transformation solutions company, has been awarded the prestigious 'Top Employers in the APAC for 2019' certification for its India, Malaysia and Philippines location. The Top Employers Institute announced the results of its annual research into a large number of employers and their employee conditions around the world.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/540539/UST_Global_Logo.jpg )



UST Global earned the certification as a Top Employer as its employee offerings across all measured criteria surpassed the required level. The Top Employers Institute assessed UST Global's employee offerings around Talent Strategy, Leadership Development, Workforce Planning, Career & Succession Management, On-Boarding, Compensation & Benefits, Learning & Development, Culture, and Performance Management.

The Top Employers Institute is an independent organization which uncovers the employee offerings of significant employers around the world, measuring them against the international standard. In essence, only the world's leading employers become certified as Top Employers. Since 1991, they have certified more than 1300 companies in 115 countries impacting more than 5 Million employees.

To further reinforce the validity of the process, it was independently audited by Grant Thornton, a world-leading audit, tax and advisory firm, meaning this has verified UST Global's outstanding employee conditions and earned them a coveted spot among a select group of certified Top Employers.

Manu Gopinath, Chief People Officer, UST Global, added, "The Top Employers Certification is a testimony of our commitment to optimize, develop and work with employees to become an even better employer. Our employees are our inherent brand ambassadors. We are excited to receive the Top Employer certificate for our India, Malaysia and Philippines locations."

The 'Top Employers in the APAC for 2019' certification for UST Global's India, Malaysia and Philippines location follows the recent achievement of 'Top Employers in the US for 2018' certification.

About UST Global

UST Global is a leading digital technology solutions company that provides advanced computing and digital services to large private and public enterprises around the world. Its clients include Fortune 500 companies in banking and financial services, healthcare, insurance, retail, technology, manufacturing, shipping, and telecom. UST Global believes in building long-lasting, strategic business relationships through agile and client-centric global engagement models that combine local experts and resources with cost, scale, and quality advantages of global operations.

For more information, please visit: http://www.ust-global.com .

Media Contact:

Divya Singh

Divya.Singh@ust-global.com

+91-8552944004MANILA, Philippines, December 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

UST Global, a leading digital transformation solutions company, has been awarded the prestigious 'Top Employers in the APAC for 2019' certification for its India, Malaysia and Philippines location. The Top Employers Institute announced the results of its annual research into a large number of employers and their employee conditions around the world.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/540539/UST_Global_Logo.jpg )



UST Global earned the certification as a Top Employer as its employee offerings across all measured criteria surpassed the required level. The Top Employers Institute assessed UST Global's employee offerings around Talent Strategy, Leadership Development, Workforce Planning, Career & Succession Management, On-Boarding, Compensation & Benefits, Learning & Development, Culture, and Performance Management.

The Top Employers Institute is an independent organization which uncovers the employee offerings of significant employers around the world, measuring them against the international standard. In essence, only the world's leading employers become certified as Top Employers. Since 1991, they have certified more than 1300 companies in 115 countries impacting more than 5 Million employees.

To further reinforce the validity of the process, it was independently audited by Grant Thornton, a world-leading audit, tax and advisory firm, meaning this has verified UST Global's outstanding employee conditions and earned them a coveted spot among a select group of certified Top Employers.

Manu Gopinath, Chief People Officer, UST Global, added, "The Top Employers Certification is a testimony of our commitment to optimize, develop and work with employees to become an even better employer. Our employees are our inherent brand ambassadors. We are excited to receive the Top Employer certificate for our India, Malaysia and Philippines locations."

The 'Top Employers in the APAC for 2019' certification for UST Global's India, Malaysia and Philippines location follows the recent achievement of 'Top Employers in the US for 2018' certification.

About UST Global

UST Global is a leading digital technology solutions company that provides advanced computing and digital services to large private and public enterprises around the world. Its clients include Fortune 500 companies in banking and financial services, healthcare, insurance, retail, technology, manufacturing, shipping, and telecom. UST Global believes in building long-lasting, strategic business relationships through agile and client-centric global engagement models that combine local experts and resources with cost, scale, and quality advantages of global operations.

For more information, please visit: http://www.ust-global.com

Media Contact:

Divya Singh

Divya.Singh@ust-global.com

+91-8552944004After the proposed acquisition of X2 Games was announced by BLOC in October, BLOC has acquired X2 Games and BLOC will separate its exchange-related interests into a spinout entity. X2 Games has introduced several exciting elements to BLOC, including its current library of interactive gaming projects, as well as the leadership of Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari.

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 18, 2018) - GLOBAL BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGIES CORP. (CSE: BLOC.U) (FSE: BWSP) (OTC Pink: BLKCF) ("BLOC", or the "Company") announces that further to the previously announced proposed transaction between BLOC and X2 Games Corp. ("X2 Games"), as announced in press releases dated October 10, 2018, and December 3, 2018, BLOC has acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of X2 Games (the "X2 Games Shares") by way of a three-cornered amalgamation (the "Transaction"). The Transaction introduced the leadership of Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell and Hollywood creative director and VFX visionary Zai Ortiz to BLOC's operations, as BLOC pivots to focus on gaming-related projects.

Pursuant to the terms of the Transaction, BLOC issued 330,519,541 common shares in the capital of the Company at a deemed price of $0.15 per share in exchange for all of the issued and outstanding X2 Games Shares, for an aggregate purchase price of $49,577,931.15. X2 Games merged with a wholly-owned subsidiary of BLOC, 1183493 B.C. Ltd. Following the closing of the Transaction, the subsidiary has assumed the name of X2 Games Corp. All intellectual property rights to X2 Games' current game projects became part of BLOC, including four digital interactive games for Amazon Alexa. One of these games, titled St. Noire, has a pre-release date set for Q1 2019, with three other Amazon Alexa games set to be launched in 2019. A trailer of St. Noire can be seen at http://www.st-noire.com/amazon-alexa.

Shidan Gouran, President and CEO of the Company, commented "As a result of this transaction, we will have delivered three prosperous lines of business to our shareholders in just over a year's time. Bringing Nolan and Zai, as well as their creative works into BLOC enables us to build a stronger footing in the ever-growing interactive gaming space. Then, with expanded operations for FORK, and continued developments with our exchange operations in the Spinout, we have a wide range of business interests in our family of companies. We expect things to go well with each of these companies before 2018 is out, with some very exciting prospects on the horizon for 2019."

The Transaction was the approved by the shareholders of X2 Games ("X2 Games Shareholders") at a special meeting of X2 Games Shareholders to approve the Transaction (the "X2 Games Meeting") held on December 14, 2018. At the X2 Games Meeting, 74.1% of eligible shares were represented in person or by proxy, with all votes cast in favour of the special resolution authorizing the Transaction.

More information about X2 Games and its projects can be found at www.x2.games.

On behalf of the Company:

Shidan Gouran, President and CEO

info@globalblockchain.io

For more information, please contact:

Global Blockchain Technologies Corp. Investor Relations

ir@globalblockchain.io

800-689-8089

About Global Blockchain Technologies Corp.

The Company provides investors access to a basket of direct and indirect holdings within the blockchain space.

The Company is focused on streamlining the currently arduous, lengthy, and complicated process that interested investors must undergo to gain exposure to the blockchain space, with a view to becoming the first vertically-integrated originator and manager of top tier blockchains.

BLOC is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") and its common shares trade under the ticker symbol "BLOC." Additional information relating to BLOC is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, the CSE at www.theCSE.com, as well as on the Company's website at www.globalblockchain.io.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Generally, any statements that are not historical facts may contain forward-looking information, and forward-looking information 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 variations of such words and phrases or indicates that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be" taken, "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to the Company's goal of streamlining the current arduous, lengthy and complicated process that interested investors need to undergo in order to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency space with a view to becoming the first vertically integrated originator and manager of top-tier blockchains and digital currencies. The Company has no assets and its business plan is purely conceptual in nature and there is no assurance that it will be implemented as set out herein, or at all. Forward-looking information is based on certain factors and assumptions the Company believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made, including but not limited to: statements and expectations regarding the ability of the Company to (i) successfully engage senior management with appropriate industry experience and expertise, (ii) gain access to and acquire a basket of cryptocurrency assets and pre-ICO and ICO financings on favourable terms or at all, (iii) successfully create its own tokens and ICO's, and (iv) execute on future M&A opportunities in the cryptocurrency space; receipt of required regulatory approvals; the availability of necessary financing; permitting and such other assumptions and factors as set out herein. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: risks related to changes in cryptocurrency prices; the estimation of personnel and operating costs; general global markets and economic conditions; risks associated with uninsurable risks; risks associated with currency fluctuations; competition faced in securing experienced personnel with appropriate industry experience and expertise; risks associated with changes in the financial auditing and corporate governance standards applicable to cryptocurrencies and ICO's; risks related to potential conflicts of interest; the reliance on key personnel; financing, capitalization and liquidity risks including the risk that the financing necessary to fund continued development of the Company's business plan may not be available on satisfactory terms, or at all; the risk of potential dilution through the issuance of additional common shares of the Company; the risk of litigation. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information set out in this presentation, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking 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. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Heijmans and housing association Staedion have signed an agreement to develop an urban planning vision for The Hague Southwest together with the municipality of The Hague, to restructure and renovate the neighbourhoods Zichten, Dreven and De Gaarden. Earlier this year, the municipality of The Hague and Staedion announced their intention to give these three neighbourhoods a boost as part of the initiative to restructure The Hague Southwest.

The partnership in part means that Heijmans will contribute its knowledge and expertise relating to area and project development in support of the planned renovation of these neighbourhoods.

Diverse and Future-Proof

The parties want to invest in these neighbourhoods to make them more diverse, climate and future-proof, and improve connections with the city. The renewal of these neighbourhoods will also give considerable attention to social cohesion. Over the coming 10 years the housing supply will be significantly expanded, whereby the current number of approximately 1,200 social rental homes will remain the same and at least 3,000 owner-occupied and private-sector rental homes will be added. In addition to improving the housing supply, the plans also focus on redesigning the public space and expanding educational and other social, cultural and commercial facilities.

Focus on liveability and a healthy living environment

With its projects, Heijmans contributes to creating green, healthy and liveable districts and neighbourhoods. The partnership with Staedion to restructure the neighbourhoods in The Hague Southwest is in line with these goals. Heijmans was previously involved in the transformation of city centre areas, such as Kooiplein Leiden and Katendrecht Rotterdam. Together, Staedion and Heijmans are already working the same way on the transformation of the Energy Quarter in The Hague.

About Heijmans

Heijmans is a listed company that combines activities related to property development, building & technology, roads and civil engineering in the areas living, working and connecting. Our constant focus on quality improvements, innovation and integrated solutions enables us to generate added value for our clients. Heijmans realises projects for private consumers, companies and public sector bodies, and together we are building the spatial contours of tomorrow. You will find additional information at our website: www.heijmans.nl .



About Staedion

One in seven homes in The Hague is owned by Staedion. As a housing association, Staedion rents over 36,000 homes and 6,000 other objects, such as shops, business premises and garages in The Hague. Our mission is to bring an own home within reach together with our residents. Staedion offers affordable homes for people with a vulnerable position on the housing market. A focal point in this respect is safe and quality living. Our aim is to ensure that all of our residents feel at home. We cannot do this alone, but do this together with residents and our social and other partners.





For more information / not for publication:

Media

Rik Hammer

Communications

+31 73 543 52 17

rhammer@heijmans.nl

Marte Brouns

Communicatie Staedion

+ 31 6 83 58 14 25

pers@staedion.nl

Analysts

Guido Peters

Investor Relations

+ 31 73 543 52 17

gpeters@heijmans.nl

Attachment



Strategic collaboration agreement with Sandoz to develop digital anti-infectives platform

Collaboration leverages Ares Genetics' antibiotic resistance database ARESdb

Short-term focus on repurposing existing antibiotics to treat infections with multi drug resistant pathogens

Vienna, Austria, Holzgerlingen, Germany and Amsterdam, The Netherlands; December 18, 2018; published at 08:00 am CET - Curetis N.V. (the "Company" and, together with its subsidiaries, "Curetis"), today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Ares Genetics GmbH signed a collaboration agreement with Sandoz to leverage Ares Genetics' database on the genetics of antibiotic resistance, ARESdb, and the ARES Technology Platform for Sandoz' anti-infective portfolio.

Under the agreement, the companies intend to develop a digital anti-infectives platform combining established microbiology laboratory methods with advanced bioinformatics and artificial intelligence methods to support drug development and life cycle management. The collaboration in the short- to mid-term aims at rapidly and cost-effectively re-purposing existing antibiotics and designing value-added medicines with the objective of expanding indication areas and overcoming antibiotic resistance, in particular in infections with bacteria that already developed resistance against multiple treatment options. Longer-term, the platform is expected to inform the development of novel anti-infectives that are less prone to encounter resistance and thereby preserve antibiotics as an effective treatment option.

The collaboration agreement covers the first phases of the collaboration with Sandoz providing certain R&D funding to Ares Genetics. Further financial details were not disclosed.

"Together with Sandoz, we are working on informing drug positioning and life cycle management using big data and artificial intelligence approaches in combination with experimental data and our extensively curated reference database on antibiotic resistance", said Dr. Andreas Posch, Managing Director & CEO of Ares Genetics. "We believe that our approach can substantially and cost-effectively help in overcoming antibiotic resistance with existing drugs as well as developing new drugs that are less prone to encounter resistance."

"The collaboration between Sandoz and Ares Genetics is a great example how the Curetis Group expanded its offerings for pharmaceutical industry partners in the anti-infectives space", explained Dr. Achim Plum, Chief Business Officer of Curetis and Managing Director of Ares Genetics. "Our offerings range from data-driven approaches to antimicrobial drug development and life cycle management by Ares Genetics to customized rapid diagnostic test panels for enhanced clinical trial enrollment and companion diagnostics based on Curetis' Unyvero Platform."

The spread of antibiotic resistance, particularly among pathogens that are resistant to multiple drugs is one of the key challenges of global healthcare systems. It is currently estimated to cause 700,000 deaths worldwide and projected to claim more lives than cancer by 2050 if no decisive action is taken. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics in healthcare and agriculture is seen as major causes of the rapid emergence of resistance even against novel drugs. Approaches to fight antibiotic resistance include a more targeted and informed use of available antibiotics through rapid diagnostics, repurposing and novel combinations, as well as the development of antibiotics that are less prone to encounter resistance. To counteract antibiotic resistance, Ares Genetics has recently launched the ARES&CO Pharma Partnering Program supported by the Vienna Business Agency, as well as the The Digital Microbe R&D Program supported by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG).

###

About Curetis and Ares Genetics

Curetis N.V.'s (Euronext: CURE) goal is to become a leading provider of innovative solutions for molecular microbiology diagnostics designed to address the global challenge of diagnosing severe infectious diseases and identifying antibiotic resistances in hospitalized patients.

Curetis' Unyvero System is a versatile, fast and highly automated molecular diagnostic platform for easy-to-use, cartridge-based solutions for the comprehensive and rapid detection of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance markers in a range of severe infectious disease indications. Results are available within hours, a process that can take days or even weeks if performed with standard diagnostic procedures, and thereby facilitates improved patient outcomes, stringent antibiotic stewardship and health economic benefits. Unyvero in vitro diagnostic (IVD) products are marketed in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the U.S.

Curetis' wholly owned subsidiary Ares Genetics GmbH offers next-generation solutions for infectious disease diagnostics and therapeutics. The ARES Technology Platform combines the world's most comprehensive database on the genetics of antimicrobial resistances, ARESdb, with advanced bioinformatics and artificial intelligence.

For further information, please visit www.ares-genetics.com and www.curetis.com.

Legal Disclaimer

This announcement contains inside information. This is a public announcement pursuant to article 17 paragraph 1 of the European Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014).

This document constitutes neither an offer to buy nor to subscribe for securities and neither this document nor any part of it should form the basis of any investment decision in Curetis.

The information contained in this press release has been carefully prepared. However, Curetis bears and assumes no liability of whatever kind for the correctness and completeness of the information provided herein. Curetis does not assume an obligation of whatever kind to update or correct information contained in this press release whether as a result of new information, future events or for other reasons.

This press release includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes," "estimates," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "may," "will," or "should" and include statements Curetis makes concerning the intended results of its strategy. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Curetis' actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements. Curetis undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.

Curetis' Contact Details

Curetis GmbH

Max-Eyth-Str. 42

71088 Holzgerlingen, Germany

Tel. +49 7031 49195-10

pr@curetis.comor ir@curetis.com

www.curetis.com



Ares Genetics' Contact Details

Ares Genetics GmbH

Karl-Farkas-Gasse 18

1030 Vienna, Austria

Tel. +43 1 361 8880 10

contact@ares-genetics.com

www.ares-genetics.com

Curetis International Media & Investor Inquiries

akampion

Dr. Ludger Wess / Ines-Regina Buth

Managing Partners

info(@)akampion.com

Tel. +49 40 88 16 59 64

Tel. +49 30 23 63 27 68

Curetis U.S. Media & Investor Inquiries

The Ruth Group

Lee Roth

lroth@theruthgroup.com

Tel. +1 646 536 7012

AttachmentCompany appoints seasoned consumer packaged goods leader to bring and grow acquired brands to Canada, Jamaica, the United States and other international markets

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 18, 2018 / Weekend Unlimited Inc. ("Weekend" or the "Company") (CSE: YOLO) (FSE: 0OS1), announces the appointment of Mr. Paul Chu to the role of President and CEO. As an Executive and Entrepreneur, Mr. Chu brings over 25 years of success across a variety of industries including CBD cannabis, technology, hardware/software, food and beverage, energy, telecommunications, hospitality, and real estate.

"Under Mr. Cody Corrubia's leadership, Weekend Unlimited has acquired, and entered into agreements to acquire a robust portfolio of brands in flower, edibles and extracts categories," said Mr. Kevin Ernst, Corporate Director, Weekend Unlimited. "Cody established the Company in multiple markets including California, Canada, Jamaica, Washington State, and other legal jurisdictions in the United States with the opportunity to leverage a strong product portfolio, positioned for growth in 2019. Working with Paul to add Canna Candys to our portfolio, it became clear that he brings the leadership and experience we need to take Weekend Unlimited to the next level," added Mr. Ernst.

Mr. Chu has co-founded and held leadership positions at companies in the cannabidiol (CBD) cannabis industry, including HEY MARY and Canna Candys. In addition, Mr. Chu has served as co-founder of High Desert Group and Boom Energy NYC. He has served as Managing Director, Johnny Rockets NYC, Chairman and CEO, iSWIMBAND, co-Founder, Mobile123 and VIAONE Technologies, co-Founder and co-CEO, Urban Wireless, and Vice President, Regal China Cruises.

"I am honored to join Weekend Unlimited, as we build the company into the world's leading recreational cannabis lifestyle brand," said Mr. Chu. "I am optimistic about the prospects and opportunities of launching innovative high-quality products and services throughout our existing and new markets. Based on our successes to date, Weekend Unlimited has an unparalleled opportunity to create demand for a consumer-focused portfolio of recreational cannabis brands."

Paul Chu attended the University of Southern California -- Marshall School of Business. He has served as President of IDV -- Hansen Beverage Company, where he launched the distribution network that introduced the Southern California fresh juice company, to 13 states along the northeast seaboard. Mr. Chu also formulated and began the "Fresh Squeezed Juice and Monster caffeinated beverage" movement in the Northeast, successfully placing product into SYSCO Foods, 7-Eleven and New York City's Gourmet Markets.

Mr. Chu co-developed the first prepaid telecom platform, pioneering a digitally built and managed master distributor of mobile phones and prepayments which generated over $750M within four years of inception. Paul has secured placement of products into big box retailers including Walmart, Toys R Us, and Staples. He is the founder of HEY MARY, the first Artificial Intelligent-driven platform for in-home personal cannabis dosing and dispensing.

The Company wishes to thank founding President and CEO, Cody Corrubia for his efforts in advancing Weekend Unlimited to its present state.

For further information, please contact:

Mr. Paul Chu, President and CEO

Telephone: 1 (236) 317-2812 - Toll free 1(888) 556-YOLO (9656)

E-mail: IR@weekendunlimited.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.

SOURCE: Weekend Unlimited Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/530787/Weekend-Unlimited-Inc-Appoints-Mr-Paul-Chu-as-President-and-CEOMoody's Analytics, a leading provider of financial intelligence, announced today that its technology has been selected by Belfius, a major bank insurer in Belgium. Belfius is using the Moody's Analytics RiskIntegrity IFRS 17 solution to make the transition from their current insurance accounting frameworks to the new International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS 17) that becomes effective for the 2022 reporting year.

The Moody's Analytics RiskIntegrity IFRS 17 solution helps insurance entities of any size to meet the new reporting challenges. It integrates seamlessly with existing infrastructure, connecting data, models, systems, and processes between actuarial and accounting functions.

"Our decision to work with Moody's Analytics followed an extensive trial of the Moody's Analytics RiskIntegrity IFRS 17 solution to prove it was the appropriate solution to integrate with our current actuarial and accounting systems," said Lies Gevaert, Chief Accountant at Belfius. "We are confident that Moody's Analytics has the expertise and experience required to help us implement IFRS 17."

"This new relationship furthers our commitment to the global insurance market, and in particular for the IFRS 17 accounting standard, a new and challenging area for insurers," said Christophe Burckbuchler, Head of Insurance Strategy and IFRS 17 Solutions at Moody's Analytics. "We have already successfully collaborated with Belfius on several projects and we are delighted to be supporting Belfius with their IFRS 17 project ahead of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) deadline."

Click here to learn more about the Moody's Analytics RiskIntegrity IFRS 17 solution.

About Moody's Analytics

Moody's Analytics provides financial intelligence and analytical tools to help business leaders make better, faster decisions. Our deep risk expertise, expansive information resources, and innovative application of technology help our clients confidently navigate an evolving marketplace. We are known for our industry-leading and award-winning solutions, made up of research, data, software, and professional services, assembled to deliver a seamless customer experience. We create confidence in thousands of organizations worldwide, with our commitment to excellence, open mindset approach, and focus on meeting customer needs. For more information about Moody's Analytics, visit www.moodysanalytics.com.

Moody's Analytics is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO). Moody's Corporation reported revenue of $4.2 billion in 2017, employs approximately 12,600 people worldwide and maintains a presence in 42 countries.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005080/en/

Contacts:

Tracey Scott

Moody's Analytics Communications

+44.207.772.5207

Moody's Analytics Media Relations

moodysanalytics.com

twitter.com/moodysanalytics

linkedin.com/company/ATHENS, Greece, December 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Paysafe ' s paysafecard now accepted in the Google Play Store in five new countries - Greece , France , Germany , UK and Spain

Distribution network of >600,000 outlets worldwide

Perfect payment option for millions of Europeans who don't want to share personal financial data online

Google has added paysafecard, a leading prepaid solution and part of the Paysafe Group (Paysafe), as a new payment method in the Google Play Store in Greece and four additional European countries: Germany, the UK, Spain and France. The expansion of the Google/Paysafe partnership follows the successful launch of paysafecard as a Google Play Store payment method in PolandCzech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Cyprus since June, meaning it is now available in 10 European countries.

paysafecard enables consumers to use cash to pay online, simply and safely, using a 16-digit PIN to complete the payment transaction. It opens up the possibilities for Google and online shopping for millions of consumers who were previously excluded - either because they don't have a bank account or credit card, or don't want to enter their bank account details on the internet, often for security reasons. According to a marketagent study, this accounts for more than 30% of all Europeans.

The ecommerce market in Greece is worth 4 billion euros, according to a report from the Greek E-Commerce Association (GR.EC.A.). More than three million online shoppers (among over seven million internet users) spend an average of 1,300 euros online every year.

Commenting on the expansion of the partnership, Udo Muller, CEO of paysafecard, said: "paysafecard empowers people to shop online in a quick, convenient and secure way even if they don't have a bank account, or simply don't want to share details of their bank account online. Collaborating with brands like Google is an important part of our growth and ensures that paysafecard fulfils a need for millions of customers on the Google Play Store."

paysafecard can be purchased via a network of over 600,000 sales outlets around the world, including 40,000 sales outlets in France, 27,000 in Greece and the UK respectively, 59,000 in Germany and 72,000 in Spain. Outlets include leading petrol station chains, supermarkets, lottery retailers and kiosks.

Google and Paysafe are working together on further market expansion plans for paysafecard over the coming months.

paysafecard

Founded in 2000, paysafecard is a market leader in online prepaid payment methods and part of the broad portfolio of innovative payment solutions and services offered by the Paysafe Group. It operates under the brands of paysafecard, my paysafecard, paysafecard Mastercard and Paysafecash. Available in over 600,000 outlets in nearly 50 countries worldwide, paysafecard enables easy and secure online purchases over the internet as payment is made using a unique, 16-digit paysafecard PIN and customers do not need to share sensitive financial data such as bank account or credit card details online. Headquartered in Vienna, in 2017 paysafecard achieved prepaid merchant transaction volumes of 2.8 billion Euro.

About Paysafe Group

Paysafe Group (Paysafe) is a leading global provider of end-to-end payment solutions. Its core purpose is to enable businesses and consumers to connect and transact seamlessly through industry-leading capabilities in payment processing, digital wallet, card issuing and online cash solutions.

For media inquiries:

Stefanie Mollner, paysafecard

stefanie.moellner@paysafe.com

+43/1/720-838-0-205

6 new countries: Russia, Bulgaria, Morocco, Greece, Saoudi Arabia, Sweden.

A deployment ensured both by the Group's subsidiaries and by its importers 7 of which have already launched the network in their country.

More than 4,000 garages in 22 countries at the end of 2018.

Regulatory News:

Euro Repar Car Service, backed by Groupe PSA (Paris:UG), aims at becoming the reference multi-brand service, maintenance repair network for the motoring public.

In 2018, it also pursued its geographic expansion in the countries where it was already present, reaching 730 service centers in Spain, 400 in Germany and in China, more than 150 in the United-Kingdom, 100 in Brazil and 20 in Argentina. In total, 1,000 new garages joined the network in 2018. The ambition is to reach 10,000 garages by 2023.

In France, the network is the top Automotive Repair Mechanic network, with more than 1,400 centers. Last November 14th, it was awarded the prize of the Independant network of the Year by the professional magazine Decision Atelier a first for a network backed by a manufacturer.

Euro Repar Car Service offers all the benefits of your local garage run by teams of experienced professionals friendly service and great value underpinned by confidence that the job will be done properly, at a fair price. All with the reassurance that only an international company can offer. It covers a wide area of services: oil check, service, tyres, braking, air conditioning, batteries, visibility, exhaust, timing belts, suspension, MOT, mechanical repairs and package deals.

Euro Repar Car Service is a major asset in Groupe PSA's multi-brand aftermarket offensive, which involves fulfilling all aftersales customers'needs worldwide, whatever their budget and the make or age of their vehicle. This offensive plays a fundamental role in Groupe PSA's global Push to Pass strategic plan, which aims at broadening the Group's customer base.

Location countries Opened before 2016 France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Netherdlands Opened in 2016 Brazil, China, Belarus Opened in 2017 Tunisia, United Kingdom, Poland, Argentina, Algeria, Turkey Opened in 2018 Russia, Bulgaria, Morocco, Greece, Saoudi Arabia, Sweeden

About Groupe PSA

Groupe PSA designs unique automotive experiences and delivers mobility solutions to meet all customer expectations. The Group has five car brands, Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel and Vauxhall and provides a wide array of mobility and smart services under the Free2Move brand. Its 'Push to Pass' strategic plan represents a first step towards the achievement of the Group's vision to be "a global carmaker with cutting-edge efficiency and a leading mobility provider sustaining lifetime customer relationships". An early innovator in the field of autonomous and connected cars, Groupe PSA is also involved in financing activities through Banque PSA Finance and in automotive equipment via Faurecia..

Media library: medialibrary.groupe-psa.com @GroupePSA_EN

Communications Division www.groupe-psa.com/en - +33 6 61 93 29 36- @GroupePSA_EN

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005312/en/

Contacts:

Press contact :

Cecile Damide + 33 6 77 14 53 75

cecile.damide@mpsa.comMr. Charman and Mr. Frudd to Join Sompo Holdings New Global Executive Committee

PEMBROKE, Bermuda, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sompo International Holdings Ltd. (Sompo International), a Bermuda-based specialty provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, announced today that effective April 1, 2019, Mr. John Charman, currently Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Sompo International, will be promoted to Chief Executive Officer of Overseas Insurance Business in Sompo Holdings, Inc. (Sompo Holdings). This segment of Sompo Holdings' business currently represents more than 27% of Sompo Holdings Group's adjusted profit, employing around 9,000 people in 30 countries and regions and is projected to have more than $10 billion in gross premiums by 2020. In such capacity, Mr. Charman will join the new Global Executive Committee of Sompo Holdings (Global ExCo) which will be established in April 2019 to provide expertise and input on group-wide strategic decisions. Mr. Charman will remain as Executive Chairman of Sompo International's Board of Directors, a role he has held since joining the company in May 2013.



Mr. Nigel Frudd will become Chief Executive Officer of Sompo International, effective January 1, 2019, subject to applicable regulatory approvals. Mr. Frudd will also join the Global ExCo and be appointed to the new role at Sompo Holdings of Senior Executive Vice President and Chairman of Overseas M&A.

Consistent with the planned build out of Sompo International, the company is expanding its Board of Directors. Mr. Katsuyuki (Dave) Tajiri will be appointed to the Company's Board as an Executive Director effective January 1, 2019. Having joined Sompo Holdings in 1990, he brings a wealth of experience in the retail insurance market including his recent tenure as Executive Director of Sompo Holdings (Asia) Pte. Ltd., which serves the ASEAN countries. Last year, he was appointed Executive Officer of Sompo International Retail, responsible for laying the foundation for this new integrated retail platform, which primarily focuses on personal lines products.

Mr. Recai Dalas, currently Chief Executive Officer & Director, Sompo Japan Sigorta serving the Turkish market, will be appointed to Chief Executive Officer of Retail and Chairman of Retail Executive Committee in Sompo International. In this role, he will drive the integration of retail business outside of Japan as well as continuing to lead Sompo Holdings' subsidiary in Turkey, a role he has held since that company was founded in 2001.

The Commercial Property and Casualty executive leaders currently reporting to Mr. John Charman, along with Mr. Dalas in his capacity as Chief Executive Officer of Retail, will now report directly to Mr. Frudd as Chief Executive Officer of Sompo International.

Mr. Kengo Sakurada, Group Chief Executive Officer of Sompo Holdings, commented, "We are excited that these strategic management changes will enable Sompo International to reach the next level of growth, with a greater presence globally in both the commercial and retail insurance industry. At the same time, Sompo Holdings is also strengthening our corporate governance structure in order to promote diversity and globalization. One of the key elements is forming the Global ExCo and we are very pleased that John and Nigel will be coming on board as inaugural members."

Mr. Charman commented, "I am delighted to have the opportunity to work even more closely with my Sompo Holdings colleagues in Japan and to further the substantial progress we are making toward our shared vision of increasing the contribution of the overseas business. Nigel has played a strategic role in the creation and integration of Sompo International to date and I have every confidence in his ability to lead the expanded organization as we develop a unified platform for all commercial and retail business outside of Japan. I look forward to working with him in his new role. Also, we now will have the opportunity to make a greater impact on Sompo Holdings' future success as members of the Global ExCo, a singular arrangement among the major Japanese insurers."

Mr. Frudd added, "I am extremely optimistic at the prospects for Sompo International to grow on the very strong foundation that we have built to date. We have a highly experienced and capable leadership team who will continue to build our global presence and deliver exceptional value to our clients, business partners, shareholders and employees. We now have several very talented leaders with extensive experience and skills in the retail business joining Sompo International and they will drive profitable growth as we integrate Sompo Holdings' overseas businesses. I am pleased to be appointed to the new Global ExCo with John as it further strengthens the relationship between Sompo International and Sompo Holdings and provides a platform for proactive global co-operation. I look forward to leading Sompo International and contributing to the overall vision and success of Sompo Holdings in this particularly challenging global business environment."

Mr. Frudd was appointed by Sompo Holdings as a Non-Executive Director of Canopius upon its acquisition in 2014, taking on a full time role with Sompo Holdings as Managing Executive Officer Global M&A in 2015 in which capacity he led the acquisition of Endurance and later the sale of Canopius.

Mr. Frudd joined Sompo International in March 2017 as Chief Strategy Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. At the time, he also retained his role as Managing Executive Officer of Sompo Holdings where he was Head of Global M&A. Previously Mr. Frudd has held senior positions in leading UK insurance companies, been a partner in City of London law firms, specializing in the corporate and financial services sector, and a Partner in the Corporate Finance division of a leading UK firm of Chartered Accountants. Mr. Frudd has an LLB (Hons) from the University of Leeds, qualified as a Barrister (Gray's Inn) and as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court.

About Sompo International

Sompo International Holdings Ltd. is a global specialty provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, headquartered in Bermuda. Through its operating subsidiaries, Sompo International writes agriculture, professional lines, property, marine, energy, casualty and other specialty lines of insurance and catastrophe, property, casualty, professional lines, weather risk and specialty lines of reinsurance. Sompo International companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Sompo Holdings, Inc., whose core business encompasses one of the largest property and casualty insurance groups in the Japanese domestic market. We maintain excellent financial strength as evidenced by the ratings of A+.

Contact

Portland Communications

Investor Relations

Phone: +1 441 278 0988

Email: investorrelations@sompo-intl.comVancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 18, 2018) - Fremont Gold Ltd. (TSXV: FRE) (FSE: FR2) (OTC Pink: USTDF) ("Fremont" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has identified several promising drill targets at the Company's Gold Canyon project, located in Eureka County, Nevada. A recently completed soil sampling program has identified coincident gold, arsenic and other pathfinder geochemical anomalies to the northeast of the historic Gold Canyon mine. These targets have never been drilled before and Fremont plans to drill test these new targets subsequent to the planned drill program at the Gold Bar and Gold Canyon projects in early 2019.

Gold Canyon exploration highlights:

Geochemical sampling has defined coincident gold, arsenic, antimony, silver, mercury and thallium soil anomalies bordered by barium and copper anomalies. The largest anomaly, approximately 400 metres x 350 metres in size, is in the central portion of the Gold Canyon project area (see Figures 1 and 2).

The anomalies occur in areas underlain by lower plate Upper Denay Limestone carbonate rocks and the Roberts Mountain thrust, both known to host gold deposits in the district.

The anomaly patterns suggest the intersection of a NNW-SSE structure with the important NE-SW fault, which is known to have controlled gold mineralization at the Gold Canyon mine (see Figures 1 and 2).

These targets have never been drilled before and Fremont plans to drill them subsequent to the drill program at the Gold Bar and Gold Canyon projects in early 2019. Drilling at Gold Bar will be focused on identifying an extension to the historic Gold Bar mine, while drilling at Gold Canyon will be focused on further defining a mineralized zone identified in the Company's 2018 drill program (see news release dated December 6, 2018).

"Rock chip samples taken by past operators defined two anomalous zones, Northwest Gold Ridge and French Trail, to the north of the Gold Canyon mine," said Clay Newton, Vice President Exploration of Fremont. "Using their data as a starting point, Fremont's soil survey further fleshed-out these anomalies and identified three significant drill targets at Northwest Gold Ridge and French Trail. In addition, the soil anomaly patterns support the existence of two principal structural features: A NNW-SSE structure that cuts through the target areas and the important NE-SW fault, which is known to control gold mineralization at the Gold Canyon mine. The structural setting in conjunction with the geochemical anomalies make these exciting targets for a Carlin-type gold discovery."

Figure 1: Location of Fremont's Gold Canyon Project



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3169/41714_c3c4586fa4b46af5_002full.jpg

Figure 2: Gold, Arsenic, Barium and Copper Soil Anomalies Northeast and North of the Gold Canyon Mine



To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3169/41714_c3c4586fa4b46af5_003full.jpg

Explanation of attached figures

The Gold Canyon Mine (Figure 1) is the northwestern-most satellite mine in the Gold Bar District and is surrounded by McEwen Mining Inc.'s ("McEwen") Gold Bar Project area. Three significant soil anomalies have been identified by Fremont's recent soil geochemical survey: The largest is on the southwest side of the Northwest Gold Ridge anomaly; Another on the northeast side of that same anomaly; And one within the South French Trail anomaly area. The large SW soil anomaly lies along an important NE-SW controlling structure projected from the Gold Canyon mine area, 100 metres to the southwest. The Gold Canyon mine is located where this NE-SW (feeder) fault intersects a N-S thrust fault. This soil anomaly is elongated in a north-south direction which suggests the intersection of a NNW-SSE fault with the NE-SW feeder fault coming out of the Gold Canyon pit.

In Figure 2, the interpreted NNW-SSE fault, shown as a dashed red-brown line, continues northward into the French Trail area. The target areas are located on the gold and arsenic anomalies, while copper, barium and other pathfinder elements form an envelope around them. The interpreted dip directions on the two intersecting faults suggests the possibility of an ore shoot plunging to the northwest.

Geochemical Survey - technical aspects

Soil samples were taken at 30-metre intervals along NE-SW lines 100 metres apart. The samples were analyzed by the aqua regia ICP-MS method of ALS Global analytical laboratory in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The data presented here were gridded by a kriging method.

History of the Gold Bar District

Fremont's Gold Bar and Gold Canyon projects are both former mines in the Gold Bar District in Eureka County, Nevada, an active mining area within the Battle Mountain-Eureka Trend. The district contains several Carlin-style sediment-hosted gold deposits, including McEwen's Gold Bar project, which is scheduled to begin production in early 20191.

Fremont's Gold Bar and Gold Canyon projects are adjacent (west) and immediately north of McEwen's Gold Bar project (see Figure 3). While McEwen's project and Fremont's project share the same name, the historic Gold Bar mine is held by Fremont. McEwen's project comprises four of the five satellite pits to the historic Gold Bar mine. Fremont controls the remaining satellite pit on the NW end of the district, the Gold Canyon project, which produced approximately 41,000 ounces gold from 1990-19942.

Fremont's Gold Bar project contains the historic Gold Bar mine, which produced 286,354 ounces gold from 1986 to 19942, and the Millsite deposit, which hosts a historic resource of 147,000 ounces gold (1.62 Mt @ 2.57 g/t gold)2,3. Millsite is believed to be a faulted offset of the historic Gold Bar mine and is located to the northwest of the open pit.

Figure 3: The Gold Bar District

Fremont's claims in yellow, McEwen's claims in white

To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3169/41714_c3c4586fa4b46af5_004full.jpg

Qualified Person

Maury C. Newton III is currently employed as Vice President of Exploration of Fremont Gold Ltd. and is not independent of Fremont. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Geology (1977), received a Master of Science degree in Geological Sciences (1983) from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Geosciences (1990) from the University of Arizona. He has been a practicing geologist since 1977. He is a Registered Member in good standing of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME, #4145342RM) and certifies that by reason of his education, affiliation with a professional association (as defined in NI 43-101) and past relevant work experience, he fulfills the requirements to be a "qualified person" for the purposes of NI 43-101. Dr. Newton has reviewed and approved the technical content of this press release.

About Fremont Gold

Fremont's mine-finding management team has assembled a portfolio of high-quality gold projects in Nevada with the goal of making a new discovery. Fremont's Gold Bar and Gold Canyon are past producing gold mines adjacent to McEwen Mining's Gold Bar project, where mine construction is underway. Other projects include Goldrun, Hurricane, North Carlin, and Roberts Creek. We are aligned with our shareholders: Insiders own ~20% of Fremont.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Blaine Monaghan"

CEO

Telephone: +1 604-676-5664

Email: blaine@fremontgold.net

www.fremontgold.net

1 McEwen Mining's website

2 Internal report, Atlas Precious Metals, Mines, December 13, 1995, prepared by Pincock, Allen & Holt.

3 The Company has not verified these historical resources and is not treating these historical estimates as current mineral resources.

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.

Forward looking statements

Certain statements and information contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable U.S. securities laws and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, which are referred to collectively as "forward-looking statements". The United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for certain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements and information regarding possible events, conditions or results of operations that are based upon assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action. All statements and information other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "seek", "expect", "anticipate", "budget", "plan", "estimate", "continue", "forecast", "intend", "believe", "predict", "potential", "target", "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" and similar words or phrases (including negative variations) suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. Forward-looking statements in this and other press releases include but are not limited to statements and information regarding: The planned drill program at Gold Bar and Gold Canyon in early 2019 and/or or a subsequent drill program at Gold Canyon. Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Fremont undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements included in this press release if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as otherwise required by applicable law.CHICAGO, December 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

According to the new research report "PVDC Coated Films Market and Acrylic Coated Films Market by Film Type (PP, PET, and PVC), Coating Side (Single and Double), Application (Packaging, Lamination, and Labelling), End-Use Industry and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, the PVDC Coated Films Market is expected to grow from USD 1.5 billion in 2018 to USD 1.9 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 6.0% during the forecast period. The acrylic coated films market is expected to grow from USD 714 million in 2018 to USD 978 million by 2023, at a CAGR of 6.5% during the forecast period. The properties such as superior moisture barrier, excellent aroma barrier, and mineral oil barrier, and dimensional stability of PVDC coated films and acrylic coated films are driving the market.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg )

Get 10% Free Customization on this Report:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=85618234

Browse in-depth TOC on "PVDC Coated Films Market"

134 - Tables

47 - Figures

155 - Pages

View detailed Table of Content here:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/pvdc-coated-films-market-85618234.html



The polypropylene (PP) film segment accounted for the largest share of the PVDC coated films market and acrylic coated films market in 2018, by film type.

PP is the most commonly used film type in the market. PP possesses properties such as good tensile strength, better gas barrier, excellent heat sealing performance, and improved optical properties. These properties make PP PVDC coated films, and PP acrylic coated films in applications such as packaging of snacks and cigarettes. Many companies such as Vibac Group S.p.A. offers high-grade PP PVDC coated films and PP acrylic coated films, which possess superior metal adhesion and excellent barrier properties. These films are used in lamination and flexible packaging.

The single side acrylic coated films segment is expected to register the highest CAGR in the PVDC coated films market and acrylic coated films market during the forecast period, by coating side.

The single side PVDC coated films and single side acrylic coated films segment is projected to register the highest growth during the forecast period, in terms of value and volume owing to the high demand from packaging application. The single side coating of the film allows the other side to remain untreated or can be coated with some other chemical, which, in turn, changes the properties of the film and can be used in various applications. This type of PVDC coated films, and acrylic coated films are also responsible for increasing the shelf life of the product. Hence, it is widely used in the packaging application.

Health & personal care was the largest end-use industry of PVDC coated films, and food & beverage was the largest end-use industry of acrylic coated films market in 2018.

Health & personal care is the major end-use industry of PVDC coated films. PVDC coated films possess excellent dimensional stability, superior heat sealing properties, and high oxygen & water vapor barrier. These properties make them useful in the packaging and lamination of, perfumes, snacks, meat, cosmetics, and various other products. Food & beverage is a major end-use industry of acrylic coated films. Acrylic coated films offer moisture barrier, aroma barrier, excellent sealing strength, and many other properties. Owing to these properties, they are used in the packaging of wafers, biscuits, meat, and other food products. These films also possess good printability properties, which allow them to become useful in see-through packaging and labeling applications in the food & beverage industry.

Inquiry Before Buying:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=85618234

APAC is expected to be the largest market for PVDC coated films and acrylic coated films during the forecast period.

APAC is the largest PVDC coated films market and acrylic coated films market, in terms of both value and volume. China, India, and Japan are the fast-growing economies that contribute to the growth of the market in the region. There are multiple large acrylic coated films manufacturers in the APAC region, such as Jindal Poly Films Limited (India), Toray Industries (Japan), and Cosmo Films Limited (India). The demand for PVDC coated films, and acrylic coated films is expected to increase in the region during the forecast period with the increasing use of these films in the food & beverage, healthcare, and other industries.

The major players in the PVDC Coated Films Market and acrylic coated films market include Treofan Germany GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), Cosmo Films Ltd. (India), SKC, Inc. (US), Vibac Group S.p.A (Italy), Jindal Poly Films Limited (India), Polinas (Turkey), Innovia Films (UK), SRF Limited (India), Toray Industries, Inc. (Japan), Vacmet India Ltd. (India), Perlen Packaging (Switzerland), and Transcendia Inc. Ltd (US).

Browse Adjacent Markets @Specialty Chemicals Market Research Reports & Consulting

Related Reports:

Composites Market by Fiber Type (Glass, Carbon), Resin Type (Thermoset, Thermoplastic), Manufacturing Process (Layup, Filament Winding, Pultrusion), Application (Transportation, Aerospace & Defense, Wind Energy), Region - Global Forecast to 2022

Honeycomb Core Materials Market by Type (Paper, Aluminum, Thermoplastic, Nomex), Application (Composites, Non-composites), End-use Industry (Aerospace & Defense, Packaging, Transportation, Construction & Infrastructure), Region - Global Forecast to 2022

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: sales@marketsandmarkets.com



Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/pvdc-coated-films-market.asp

Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.comLONDON, December 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Top 20 Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) Companies 2019

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/523989/Visiongain_Logo.jpg )



Market Share Analysis, Revenues & Rankling of Leading Companies Developing AGV Technologies for Applications in Transportation, Assembly and Packaging in Automotive, Food & Beverages Aerospace, Healthcare, Logistics and Other Industries

 Do you need definitive automated guided vehicle company information?

 Clear competitor analysis?

 Succinct automated guided vehicle industry analysis?

 Technological insight?

 Actionable business recommendations?

Read on to discover how this definitive report can transform your own research and save you time.

The aim of the report is to provide a quantitative evaluation of the largest 20 companies in the global automated guided vehicle market by detailing their revenues, market share, involvement and competitive positioning within the $2bn AGV ecosystem. If you want to be part of this growing industry, then read on to discover how you can maximise your investment potential.

Report highlights

The report focuses on providing detailed profiles of the leading and most innovative companies in the automated guided vehicle sector and analyzes their role in the market and their automated guided vehicle based offerings This report aims to look at automated guided vehicle companies from an end user perspective.

The report is aimed at business executives who wish to gain an overview and information about the automated guided vehicle market and leading companies with the competitive landscape. We believe this will help our clients to understand the industry, technology, market structure and to evaluate suppliers, and map potential other usages for the available technologies. Our research will help you to understand the rapidly evolving leading automated guided vehicle market space.

Report scope

Top 20 Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) Companies With Market Share %, Revenues And Ranking Within the AGV Market Space

 Bastian Solutions

 Daifuku Co., Ltd.

 Dematic

 Hyster & Yale

 JBT

 Jungerech

 KION

 Konecranes

 Kuka

 Mecalux, S.A.

 Murata Machinery, Ltd.

 Schaefer Holding International GmbH

 Seegrid

 Swisslog

 TGW Logistics Group GmbH

 Toyota Motor Corporation

 Transbotics

 Universal Robots

 Vanderlande Industries

 Yokogawa

SWOT analysis of the major strengths and weaknesses of the AGV market, together with the opportunities available and the key threats faced.

The report serves as a guide for senior executives of small and medium businesses (SMBs), large enterprises, software developers, and automated guided vehicle industry players to:

 Use as a guideline for evaluating the potential of automated guided vehicle technologies across multiple industries and applications

 Inform themselves about automated guided vehicle benefits and issues;

 Understand the supplier landscape and their offerings;

 Anticipate potential for technological development and opportunities with regards to the automated guided vehicle market.

Key questions answered

 What potential is there for the automated guided vehicle industry?

 Where should you target your business strategy?

 Which applications should you focus upon?

 Which disruptive technologies should you invest in?

 Which companies should you form strategic alliances with?

 Which company is likely to succeed and why?

 What business models should you adopt?

 What industry trends should you be aware of?

Target audience

 Automated guided vehicle companies

 Manufacturers

 Automotive OEMs

 Logistics companies

 Component suppliers

 Software developers

 Technologists

 AI specialists

 R&D staff

 Consultants

 Analysts

 Executives

 Business development managers

 Investors

 Governments

 Agencies

 Industry organizations

 Banks

To request a report overview of this report please contact Sara Peerun atsara.peerun@visiongain.com or refer to our website:https://www.visiongain.com/report/top-20-automated-guided-vehicle-agv-companies-2019/

Did you know that we also offer a report add-on service? Emailsara.peerun@visiongain.com to discuss any customized research needs you may have.

AGVE AB

AGVE Group

AutoGuide Mobile Robots

BA System Designs

Bastian Solutions LLC

Bell and Howell

Bolzoni Auramo Beyer

Clearpath

Columbia Machine

Creform Corporation

Daifuku Company Limited

Daihatsu Motor

Dalian Konecranes Company Ltd.

DARPA Autonomy

Dematic Corporation

Dematic GmbH & Co. KG.

DMG Mori Co Ltd

Egemin Automation

Egemin Group

EP Equipment Co., Ltd

Eurofactory GmbH

FedEx

Fetch Robotics

Grenzebach Corporation

Handling Specialty Manufacturing

Hino Motors

Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.

JBT AeroTech

JBT Corporation

JBT FoodTech

Jungheinrich AG

Kayaba Industry Co Ltd

KION Group

KNAPP

Konecranes AS

Konecranes CZ s.r.o.

Konecranes Kft.

Konecranes N.V.

Konecranes Oyj

Konecranes Pty. Ltd., S.A.

KUKA AG

KUKA de Mexico S. de RL. de C.V.

KUKA Roboter CEE GmbH

KUKA Roboter Italia S.p.A.

KUKA Robotics Australia Pty. Ltd.

KUKA Robotics Canada Ltd.

KUKA Robotics Hungaria Ipari Kft.

KUKA Robotics UK Limited

KUKA Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Linde Gas

Materials Handling International S.A.

Materials Solutions Limited

Mecalux SA

Mitsubishi Logisnext Co Ltd

Morris Middle East Ltd.

Murata Machinery Ltd.

NextLevel Logistik

Nosturiexpertit Oy

OTTO Motors

Raymond Corporation

RedViking

Ricoh USA

Saudi Cranes & Steel Works Factory Co. Ltd.

Schaefer Systems International

Scott Group

Seegrid Corporation

SIA Konecranes Latvija

SSI Schaefer Holding International GmbH

Stahl CraneSystems (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Stanley Black & Decker

Swisslog

Swisslog Holding AG

TGW Future Private Foundation

TGW Logistics Group GmbH

Topper Industrial

Toyota Advanced Logistics

Toyota Financial Services (TFSC)

Toyota Motor Corporation

Transbotics Corporation

Universal Robots A/S

Vanderlande Industries

Vecna Robotics

Velodyne LiDAR

Waypoint

Wesley International

Yaskawa

Yokogawa Electric Corporation

To see a report overview please e-mail Sara Peerun onsara.peerun@visiongain.comSHEFFIELD, England, December 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Peak Art Clocks, a family business specializing in making beautiful, artistic wall clocks, takes pride in supporting St Luke's Hospice - a local charity providing care for terminally ill people across Sheffield.

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/799289/Peak_Art_White_Shabby.jpg )

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/799287/Peak_Art_Winter_Ball.jpg )

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/799288/Peak_Art_Giant_Clock_For_Wall.jpg )

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/799286/Peak_Art_Metallic_Industrial.jpg )

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/774147/Peak_Art_Clocks_Logo.jpg )



The company donated one of its original pieces to the charity's recent Enchanted Winter Ball and saw it sell for more than 900 at the evening's auction.

In addition, ten percent of profit from clock sales is now going to St Luke's Hospice.

"It is extremely important for us to pay back to our local community and support those who are most unfortunate and vulnerable. We feel privileged to help. St Luke's Hospice is right at our door step, so it was an obvious choice." said Peak Art founder Anna Siodelska.

"Our passion is creating beautiful bespoke designs and high-quality clocks for our customers around the World. It was therefore an automatic response to donate the most popular decorative wall clock for St Luke's Hospice auction at the Enchanted Winter Ball. We are very happy to contribute and to raise so much needed funds for the terminally ill people from our community." added Wojtek Peak Art Clocks co-founder.

"Peak Arts Clocks have been incredibly generous to us and their auction prize was an enormous success," said St Luke's Corporate Fundraising Manager Jack Kidder. "To now also have been offering us such a fantastic percentage of their profit, it will make a massive difference to the lives of the many people we support throughout Sheffield."

Peak Art Clocks is a perfect example that even a small family business can find a way to support its local community and take pride in doing so.Company News

Oncology Venture receives positive feed-back from the FDA on approval pathway for LiPlaCis and DRP in the US

Hrsholm, Denmark and Cambridge, MA, US, December 18, 2018 - Oncology Venture A/S ("OV" or the Company) today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration, FDA has responded positively on questions posed by the company in a Pre-IND/IDE package for the approval pathway for LiPlaCis and its companion diagnostic DRP - Drug Response Predictor - in metastatic breast cancer.

The FDA agreed that the 505pathway is an acceptable registration route for LiPlaCis and that no further toxicology studies are needed. Based on current good data the number of patients to be treated is in line with previous guidancein the upcoming pivotal phase 3 trial of LiPlaCis and its DRPO for the treatment of patients with advanced breast cancer.

The FDA accepts objective response rate) and the Investigational Device Exemption) expectedly in H1 2019.

"Oncology Venture in-licensed LiPlaCis as a phase 1 project in 2016. The 505(b)(2) strategy allows us to refer to data for a listed drug and will save us important time and resources. Our team has done a remarkable job by moving this project from an early stage to a late stage project in only two years. The discussions with the FDA gave no barrier for proceeding with our pivotal development plans for a fast route to commercialization and we can now increase our partnering activities with pharma," comments Peter Buhl Jensen, M.D., CEO of Oncology Venture.

Data from the ongoing Phase 2 LiPlaCis study in patients with metastatic breast cancer shows a

50% objective response rate (five out of ten patients) in the upper one third of DRP selected patients and a 24% objective response rate (6 out of 25 patients) in the upper two thirds of DRP selected patients. These data should be compared with historical response rates to the established cancer drugs in metastatic breast cancer with a 10-12% objective response rate of eribulin, vinorelbine and gemcitabine and 10% of conventional cisplatin.

If the ongoing phase 2 study will continue to show strong efficacy data, Oncology Venture aims for a Break through designation. This application is planned for filing shortly after the IND and its IDE application for LiPlaCis.

Oncology Venture's regulatory strategy is to first obtain approval in the US. The aim is then to run randomized pivotal studies in Europe and Asia.

For further information, please contact:

For investor inquiries

Ulla Hald Buhl, IR & Communication

E-mail: uhb@oncologyventure.com (mailto:uhb@oncologyventure.com)

Telephone +45 21 70 10 49



For media inquiries

Thomas Pedersen, Carrotize PR & Communications

E-mail: tsp@carrotize.com (mailto:tsp@carrotize.com)

Telephone +45 60 62 93 90

About Oncology Venture A/S

Oncology Venture A/S is engaged in the research and development of anti-cancer drugs via its wholly-owned subsidiary, Oncology Venture Product Development ApS. Oncology Venture uses Drug Response Prediction - DRP -to significantly increase the probability of success in clinical trials. DRP has proven its ability to provide a statistically significant prediction of the clinical outcome from drug treatment in cancer patients in 29 out of 37 clinical studies that were examined and is currently demonstrating promising results in an ongoing phase 2 study prospectively using LiPlaCis and its DRP to track, match and treat patients with metastatic breast cancer. The DRP alters the odds in comparison with traditional pharmaceutical development. Instead of treating all patients with a particular type of cancer, patients' tumors genes are first screened, and only the patients most likely to respond to the treatment will be treated. Via a more well-defined patient group, risks and costs are reduced while the development process becomes more efficient.

The current OV product portfolio includes: LiPlaCis, a liposomal formulation of cisplatin in an ongoing Phase 2 trial for breast and prostate cancer; 2X-121 a PARP inhibitor in an ongoing Phase 2 for breast cancer; dovitinib a post phase 3 product, which will enter Phase 2 trials for indications dependent on further Dovitinib-DRP analysis of studies completed by Novartis. 2X-111, a liposomal formulation of doxorubicin under manufacturing for Phase 2 in breast cancer; irofulven is in Phase 2 in prostate cancer; and APO010, an immuno-oncology product in Phase 1/2 for multiple myeloma.

Oncology Venture has spun out two companies as Special Purpose Vehicles: Oncology Venture U.S. Inc. (previously 2X Oncology Inc.), a US-based precision medicine company focusing on developing 2X-121 and 2X-111, and OV-SPV 2, a Danish company that will test and develop dovitinib. Oncology Venture A/S has an ownership of 92% in Oncology Venture US and 55% of dovitinib with an opportunity to acquire further 30%.

Learn more at oncologyventure.com

Follow us on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oncologyventure/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/oncology-venture/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/OncologyVenture

Forward-looking statements

This announcement includes forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of OV's control and which could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning OV's plans, objectives, goals, future events, performance and/or other information that is not historical information. All such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements and any other cautionary statements which may accompany the forward-looking statements. OV undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances after the date made, except as required by law.

Certified Adviser: Sedermera Fondkommission, Norra Vallgatan 64, 211 22, Malmo, Sweden.

This information is information that Oncology Venture A/S is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication on December 18, 2018.

Attachment18 December 2018

VOLTA FINANCE LIMITED (VTA / VTAS)





Notification of Transactions of Directors/Persons Discharging Managerial Responsibility and Connected Persons







On 17 December 2018, Mr Paul Meader, Director and Chairman of the Board of the Company, transferred 21,283 shares in the Company to his wife, Sarah Kingwell.

Following this transaction the total interests in the Company of Mr Meader (and his Closely Associated Persons) remain unchanged at 31,483 shares.

The below notification, made in accordance with the requirements of article 19.3 of the EU Market Abuse Regulation, gives further details:

1 Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated

a) Name

Paul Meader

Sarah Kingwell

2

Reason for the notification

a) Position/status

Director and Chairman

PCA

b) Initial notification /Amendment

Initial Notification



3 Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor



a)

Name

Volta Finance Limited



b) LEI

2138004N6QDNAZ2V3W80

4 Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted

a) Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument

Identification code

Ordinary Shares

ISIN: GG00B1GHHH78

b) Nature of the transaction

Transfer from Paul Meader to Sarah Kingwell, spouse



c) Price(s) and volume(s)

Price(s)



Volume(s)



Nil per Ord Share



21,283

d) Aggregated information

- Aggregated volume- 21,283

- Price - Nil per Ord Share



e) Date of the transaction

17 December 2018



f) Place of the transaction

Guernsey





For further information, please contact:

Company Secretary and Administrator

BNP Paribas Securities Services S.C.A, Guernsey Branch

guernsey.bp2s.volta.cosec@bnpparibas.com

+44 (0) 1481 750 853





Corporate Broker

Cenkos Securities plc

Sapna Shah

Andrew Worne

+44 (0) 20 7397 8900





For the Investment Manager

AXA Investment Managers Paris

Serge Demay

serge.demay@axa-im.com

+33 (0) 1 44 45 84 47

*****



ABOUT VOLTA FINANCE LIMITED





Volta Finance Limited is incorporated in Guernsey under The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 (as amended) and listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the London Stock Exchange's Main Market for listed securities. Volta's home member state for the purposes of the EU Transparency Directive is the Netherlands. As such, Volta is subject to regulation and supervision by the AFM, being the regulator for financial markets in the Netherlands.





Volta's investment objectives are to preserve capital across the credit cycle and to provide a stable stream of income to its shareholders through dividends. Volta seeks to attain its investment objectives predominantly through diversified investments in structured finance assets. The assets that the Company may invest in either directly or indirectly include, but are not limited to: corporate credits; sovereign and quasi-sovereign debt; residential mortgage loans; and, automobile loans. The Company's approach to investment is through vehicles and arrangements that essentially provide leveraged exposure to portfolios of such underlying assets. The Company has appointed AXA Investment Managers Paris an investment management company with a division specialised in structured credit, for the investment management of all its assets.





*****

ABOUT AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is a multi-expert asset management company within the AXA Group, a global leader in financial protection and wealth management. AXA IM is one of the largest European-based asset managers with 759 billion in assets under management as of the end of June 2018. AXA IM employs approximately 2,420 people around the world.





Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance.







AttachmentRegulatory News:

During his visit to the Ecole polytechnique cluster at Paris-Saclay to inaugurate the Ile-de-France Photovoltaic Institute (IPVF) and sign the Trend-X chair, Patrick Pouyanne, Chairman Chief Executive Officer of Total (Paris:FP) (LSE:TTA) (NYSE:TOT), announced the planned opening of a new research innovation centre in the heart of Ecole Polytechnique cluster at Saclay. In 2019, the management team of Total's R&D department will move to Saclay before the new centre is officially opened by 2022.

This new centre is a major project for Total, that puts the Group at the heart of a global innovation ecosystem. Eventually, Saclay will be home to 20-25% of the French scientific research community. The centre will also add to Total's investments in research and innovation in France. Already the Group has 1,400 researchers under its wing in seven centres as well as 1,000 agreements with academic partners worldwide.

Thanks to the proximity to the Saclay ecosystem, the Group will be able to strengthen its open innovation initiative, and its partnerships with internationally recognized research teams. The new Total Research Innovation Centre will tackle the main energy and technological challenges of our society. Two areas of work are prioritized: digital, especially Artificial Intelligence (AI), and low-carbon power management, in pursuit of sustainable and responsible development.

Total took the opportunity of this announcement to realize its commitment to work alongside several key organizations of the cluster on two new initiatives in renewable energy and energy efficiency:

A partnership with Ecole Polytechnique to develop technology related to low-carbon energies. Total will fund a chair at Ecole Polytechnique called "Meeting the technological challenges of responsible energy " as part of the Trend-X initiative. The chair will assist research on capturing and storing solar power as well as the development of smart building energy management, and integrate such work into university courses.

Total will fund a chair at Ecole Polytechnique called " as part of the Trend-X initiative. The chair will assist research on capturing and storing solar power as well as the development of smart building energy management, and integrate such work into university courses. The Ile-de-France Photovoltaic Institute (IPVF) to speed up the development of solar power. Total has joined forces with a number of partners (EDF, the CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Air Liquide, Horiba and Riber) to give life to this new centre of excellence dedicated to research on solar power and its integration into power grids.

"The proposed creation of a new research and innovation centre in the Paris-Saclay cluster is major for Total. Our capacity for innovation is at the heart of our ambition to become the responsible energy major. This Centre places us among one of the best global research ecosystem and will strengthens our ties with the top-tier research teams already present at Saclay" stated Patrick Pouyanne, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Total."We are keen to contribute to the global reach of this cluster, and to anticipate the technological disruptions that will shape the future of energy. This process is henceforth well under way with the inauguration of the IPVF and the creation of the Trend-X chair."

About Total

Total is a major energy company that produces and supplies oil, natural gas and low-carbon electricity. Our 100,000 employees are committed to better energy that is safer, cleaner, more affordable, more innovative and accessible to all. With operations in more than 130 countries, our aim is to become the world's leading responsible energy major.

Warning

This press release is for informational purposes only and shall not form the basis of any legal action. The entities in which TOTAL S.A. holds a direct or indirect stake are distinct, autonomous legal entities. TOTAL S.A. shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions committed by these entities. The terms "TOTAL", "TOTAL Group" and "Group" used in this document are general and used solely for reasons of convenience. Likewise, the terms "we", "our" and "ours" may also be used to refer to subsidiaries or their employees.

This document may contain provisional information and statements that are based on economic data and hypotheses generated in a certain economic, competitive and regulatory context. This may prove inaccurate in the future and are dependent on risk factors. Neither TOTAL S.A. nor any of its subsidiaries shall be held liable or responsible to investors or any other stakeholder, particularly as a result of new information or future events, for updating or revising any or all of the statements, provisional information, trends or objectives contained in this document.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005385/en/

Contacts:

Total

Media Relations: +33 1 47 44 46 99 l presse@total.com l @TotalPress

Investors Relations: +44 (0)207 719 7962 l ir@total.comRIGA, Latvia, December 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Rolands Petersons, member of the board of Norman Logistics Sp.zo.o, offers his analysis on the UAE: "UAE is among three leading countries, in the world where the transport and logistics companies have favourable environment, namely, excellent infrastructure, links to the airports and ports. I presume - UAE that has been the third country for a long period, might take even a higher place, if both leading countries in this area - China and India - would have any difficulties, namely, the economy of China slow down due to debts or India would discontinue rapid investing into the development of infrastructure." Significant investments into the development of this industry explain the growth of the economy of country.

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/724488/CPM_Trading_Rolands_Peterson.jpg )



The United Arab Emirates are on the 60th place among 156 countries of the world in relation to the sustainability of the country. It is significant that with certainty of 100% there had been achieved and maintained one of the most essential goals and parameters of a sustainable country - the population is not exposed to the risk of poverty. According to the data of the World Bank, the Gross National Income per capita based on purchasing parity since 2009 has increased by 25%.

All-in-all, UAE belongs to the group of countries with a very HDI (Huma Development index), based on data on the life expectancy of an individual, years spent for education and income/ purchasing power ratio. According to UNDP data, the value of HDI index in 2017 was 0.863% - within the period from 1990 till 2017 its value has increased by 18.7%.

Indicators of economic growth and employment (1.7% of unemployment) are in line with the requirements of Eurostat's SDG index (86.4% of 100%) as well as the UAE are 100% open to the development of different forms of partnership to achieve the global goals of growth. It is also should be pointed out that the United Arab Emirates have been placed among 25 of the best countries of the world, where this country is the first according to dynamics, uniqueness and distinction.

Issues related to environment are the most challenging ones which this country faces - Climate Action indicator is only 31.1%, Clean water and sanitation indicator- 32.2%, Responsible consumption and production indicator - 44.1%.

About Norman Logistics Sp.zo.o.:

Norman Logistics is among the fastest growing forwarding agents in Global Market with substantial presence in maritime logistics and combined transport services. They provide complete "one-stop shop" international transport services for import and export requirements by Sea or Combined Freight Worldwide.LONDON, December 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

PharmaBoardroom today releases its new 46-page pharma report, Healthcare & Life Sciences Review Malaysia 2018.

After recent elections conducted in May 2018 saw Mahathir Mohamad returning as Prime Minister after 15 years to seal a historic victory, Malaysia is again back on its feet. Bolstered by well-established institutions, a fully-functional IP framework and strong and open relationships between industry and government, Malaysia is increasingly a highly-appealing investment destination.

This is especially true for the country's healthcare and life sciences sector. Despite a population size of only 32 million, Malaysian pharma is one of the best-performing sectors in the region, with an increasing number of multinational companies situating regional and global functions in the country and local firms capitalising on the nation's improving quality standards to export their medicines.

Through exclusive interviews with the Malaysian Minister of Health as well as the head of the country's regulatory body - the NPRA - this report examines emerging trends in Malaysian healthcare, with Prime Minister Matahir Mohamad spearheading a bold health policy reform.

Also explored are the emergence of the halal medicine niche - where Malaysia has the potential to be a global leader given its geographic links to Southeast Asia and cultural ties to the Middle East - the first Malaysian biosimilars, the country's outstanding potential as a regional clinical research hub and the rise of medical tourism.

All is not perfect in Malaysia; the nation still spends a relatively low percentage of its GDP on health and non-communicable lifestyle-related diseases are on the rise, potentially straining the healthcare system to breaking point in years to come. However, for now at least, Malaysia remains a steady force and not to be discounted.

Click here to download the Healthcare & Life Sciences Review Malaysia 2018.Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / December 18, 2018 / Luxoft Holding, Inc (NYSE: LXFT), a global technology services and consulting company, today announced that it is collaborating with Amazon to directly integrate Alexa into vehicle dashboards, infotainment and navigation systems.

With the advances in autonomous and shared vehicles driving the mobility revolution, automakers are looking for ways to integrate consumers' personalized digital lifestyles into the driving experience. As an Alexa Auto software integrator, Luxoft is helping to create a better connection between drivers, passengers and their cars by enabling more personalized, connected and autonomous driving experiences.

"Autonomy means there is an intense focus from carmakers on how people stay connected with the car. There is a demand for vehicles that include a host of new experiences and connectivity features," said Alwin Bakkenes, Managing Director of Automotive at Luxoft. "By integrating Alexa into vehicles, automakers can make the driving experience more natural and intuitive, while providing a personalized customer experience that connects customers with their automotive brand."

"Automakers and their suppliers are looking to Alexa as a way to improve the in-car experience and deliver more value to their customers," said Ned Curic, VP of Alexa Auto at Amazon . "Luxoft combines a unique understanding of software development with automotive industry expertise and a global delivery network, and we believe their offering will help speed our efforts will help bring Alexa to more customers in more vehicles."

Luxoft's services focus on the digital cockpit and passenger experience, autonomous driving and next-generation vehicle platforms, and connected mobility, from cloud infrastructure to mobile user experiences.

With PELUX, Luxoft's reference integration platform, automakers and their suppliers can leverage the capabilities and features offered through the Alexa Auto SDK, enabling customers to play music, get directions, place calls and more. This service will not only accelerate the deployment of Alexa into different vehicle models, but also help ready the Alexa experience for vehicles of the future.

Luxoft at CES 2019

At CES 2019 (Las Vegas, USA, 8-11 January 2019), together with LG Electronics, Amazon, HERE and The Qt Company, Luxoft will unveil its latest Autonomous Mobility Concept. Join us for a personal, hands-on experience, at our booth (#3107 in the Las Vegas Convention Centre, North Hall) and experience the mobility revolution.

Visit Luxoft's website at https://www.luxoft.com/events/ces-2019/ to arrange a meeting.

About Luxoft

Luxoft (NYSE:LXFT) is a global technology services and consulting partner that provides bespoke technology solutions to customers in 22 countries across five continents. Founded in 2000, Luxoft combines engineering excellence with deep industry expertise to deliver and implement technology solutions that drive business change. Through a combination of strategy, consulting and engineering services, Luxoft's global teams use technology to enable business transformation, enhance customer experiences and boost operational efficiency. With over 280 active clients, Luxoft specialises in automotive, financial services, healthcare, life sciences, telecommunications and other industries. For more information, please visit www.luxoft.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn .

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release of Luxoft Holding, Inc ("Luxoft") contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements include information about possible or assumed future results of our business and financial condition, as well as the results of operations, liquidity, plans and objectives. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "believe," "may," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "should," "plan," "expect," "predict," "potential," or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. These statements are subject to, without limitation, the risk factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Luxoft's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended March 31, 2018 and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission by Luxoft. Except as required by law, Luxoft undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this news release whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Media Inquiries

Robert Maccabe

Director, Public Relations

t: +44 (0)20 3828 2346; m:+44 7950 517 836

Press@luxoft.com

Twitter: @Luxoft

SOURCE: Luxoft Holding Inc

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/530781/Luxoft-to-Accelerate-In-Vehicle-Voice-Adoption-as-Software-Integrator-for-Alexa-AutoHalifax, Nova Scotia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 18, 2018) - MegumaGold Corp. (CSE: NSAU) (OTC: NSAUF) (FWB: 2CM2) ("MegumaGold" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on its recently commenced 20,000m Reverse Circulation drilling program, testing various high priority targets within its massive 179,289 hectare land package located in the emerging Nova Scotia gold camp.

MegumaGold Claim License Areas

http://megumagold.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Eastern-Shore-Recently-Staked-no-Fault_V2.png

28 holes averaging 75m per hole have been completed to date

The Company intends to confirm the presence of gold mineralization on at least 10 of its priority targets. With almost 2,500 meters approaching since commencement of the drilling on November 19, 2018, the Company is well under way in highlighting promising and critical mass anomalies across its great land package. The drilling program was designed to test high priority targets on underexplored ground identified by an aggressive pre-drilling target delineation program which took place over the preceding 9 months.

Drilling was initiated at Moser Lake which is a high priority target outlined by a mag signature, that the company feels is the eastern extension of the anticline hosting Atlantic Gold Corporation's ("Atlantic Gold") (TSX.V - AGB) 15 Mile Stream project.

All holes will be sampled top to bottom and assayed in 3m intervals.

Moser Lake- 13 holes completed- Located in Central Nova Scotia approximately 160 km north east of Halifax in the heart of the historic Meguma Gold formation. The Moser Lake target is on anticlinal strike of Atlantic Gold's expanding 15 Mile Stream deposit, which contains Measured and Indicated Resources of 10.58 Mt at an average grade of 1.33 g/t Au, and 6.64 Mt of material at 1.12 g/t Au in the Inferred category with a 2.2:1 strip ratio.(http://www.atlanticgoldcorporation.com )

In recent months Atlantic Gold has reported continued success of their "Phase 4 Corridor Regional Program" designed to evaluate the underexplored prospective 45km trend which hosts the Touqouy, Beaver Dam and Fifteen Mile Stream gold deposits. The first target tested in this regional program known as 149 East yielded results highlighted by 15m @1.28g/t Au from 5m, 16m @ 1.38g/t Au from 30m and 17m @1.13g/t Au from 152m (See Atlantic Gold's Press release dated September 19, 2018). The 149 East results suggest a mineralization style similar to the main zone in Fifteen Mile Stream extends along anticlinal strike to the east and in proximity to MegumaGold's Moser Lake target.

The targeting map illustrating the holes at Moser and recent Atlantic Gold Drilling at 149 East can be seen here: https://megumagold.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Fifteen-Mile-Stream.png

Ragged Falls- 15 holes completed- Located approximately 125 km to the north east of Halifax. Ragged Falls is positioned 6 km south east of the 15 Mile Stream deposit and roughly 6 km west and on anticlinal strike of Atlantic Golds Beaver Dam deposit. Beaver Dam has Measured and Indicated Resources of 9.27 Mt at an average grade of 1.43 g/t Au and 1.84 Mt of Inferred Resources at 1.37 g/t Au (NI 43- 101 Resource Estimate - Atlantic Gold, 2018).

The Ragged Falls targets are characterized by both prospective geophysical signatures and the "Touqouy Style" mineral alteration in outcrop samples.

The targeting maps illustrating hole locations at Ragged falls can be seen here: https://megumagold.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Target-Area-Ragged-Falls.png

Theo van der Linde, the President of MegumaGold Corp. stated "Over the past 9 months we have conducted a robust exploration program on a massive, vastly under-explored land package in an effort to delineate targets along anticlinal structures and expedite the process of drilling for and discovering disseminated gold in an area that seems to be in the early stages of emerging as a world class gold camp. We view this exploration program as a facsimile to what is currently being conducted in parallel by Atlantic Gold. Atlantic Gold's successful regional exploration drilling assists in developing our understanding of the very real potential for mineral continuity along the massive anticline structures which host large and growing larger disseminated style gold deposits.

Exploration Model

In August, the Company completed one of the largest airborne geophysical programs in Nova Scotia's recent exploration history; a 12,342-kilometer helicopter-borne magnetics and radiometric geophysical survey over 49 survey blocks along 2 km flight lines at a line spacing of 100 m, and at an altitude of approximately 40 m above the ground surface. In addition, the Company completed the relogging of 11 historical drill holes from known disseminated gold deposits in the area and collected over 1404 outcrop samples. All samples collected to date have been analyzed by XRF and select samples have been analyzed by multi element ICP-MS and for gold.

As a result of its efforts, the Company has now developed a unique prospectivity model for identification of gold deposition environments within its district-scale land holdings. MegumaGold believes this data analysis compilation and the resulting exploration model are significant corporate achievements and will substantially augment and expedite its ability to target prospective areas.

This news release has been reviewed and approved by Fred Tejada, P.Geo., who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About MegumaGold Corp.

MegumaGold is a Canadian junior gold exploration company engaged in the business of acquiring, exploring and developing natural resource properties. During 2018, the Company has centered its exploration focus on the developing Meguma formation of Nova Scotia. As a result, the Company has assembled a 100%-owned, strategically-positioned tenure position of 179,289 hectares within the Meguma Gold District.

For more information please contact

Mr. Regan Isenor, Chief Executive Officer

902-233-4381

info@meguamgold.com

www.megumagold.com

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this presentation, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to MegumaGold within the meaning of applicable securities laws including, without limitation economic estimates and any statements related to estimated mining costs. MegumaGold provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to exploration findings, results and recommendations, as well as those risks and uncertainties identified and reported in MegumaGold's public filings under its SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although MegumaGold 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. MegumaGold 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.

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 30, 2019 / West Red Lake Gold Mines Inc. ("West Red Lake Gold" or the "Company") (CSE: RLG) (OTCQB: RLGMF) (FSE: HYK) announces that it has intersected 14.18 grams per tonne gold ("gpt Au") over 7.8 metres ("m") including 35.26 gpt Au over 3.0 m during exploration drilling at the NT Zone on the Rowan Mine Property in the prolific Red Lake Gold District of northwestern Ontario. The Company also intersected 6.51 gpt Au over 9.3 m plus several additional positive gold intersections from shallow drilling (see diamond drill results table below).

Drill Highlights Include:

14.18 gpt Au over 7.8 m, including 35.26 gpt Au over 3.0 m

6.51 gpt Au over 9.3 m

3.76 gpt Au over 5.6 m

13.80 gpt Au over 1.8 m

West Red Lake Gold completed 1,443 m of diamond drilling in eight shallow holes along a 250 m portion of the NT Zone which is interpreted to be approximately 2 km in length. The current drilling followed the NT Zone from the south property boundary along trend to the northeast. The next drill program on the property is planned to follow the NT Zone further along strike to the northeast.

Mr. John Kontak, President of West Red Lake Gold, stated, "We believe these results demonstrate that the 2 km long NT Zone holds significant exploration potential and we plan to focus exploration drilling at the NT Zone."

Red Lake Gold Mines, a subsidiary of Goldcorp and the 40% joint venture partner of the Company in the Rowan Mine Property, undertook surface exploration work on the property during the fall of 2018. The exploration work identified several areas of exploration potential including the location of these positive NT Zone drill results and additional NT Zone targets further to the northeast that are situated within the Structural Intersection area of the property.

All of the current holes intersected the NT Zone which consists of a broad hydrothermal deformation zone comprised of ultramafic, mafic and felsic volcanics as well as iron formation. The drilling intersected in excess of 100 m of pervasive alteration in every hole and most of the holes ended in alteration. All the lithologies have undergone intensive pervasive hydrothermal alteration consisting of extensive sericitization, silicification and carbonatization. This results in a sequence of rocks consisting of predominately sericite, iron carbonate, silica / quartz and fuchsite. Sulphide mineralization, consisting of pyrite, pyrrhotite and sphalerite, is also associated with the alteration package.

Technical Information

The technical information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Kenneth Guy, P.Geo., a consultant to West Red Lake Gold and the Qualified Person for exploration at the West Red Lake Project, as defined by National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects" ("NI 43-101").

All drilling was completed using NQ size core. Gold analyses on the samples collected by West Red Lake Gold were performed by SGS Laboratories Ltd. Analysis consisted of a fire assay of a 50-gram sample with an atomic absorption finish. Samples assaying over 10.0 gpt Au are re-assayed with gravimetric finish. Samples noted to contain visible gold are analyzed via total metallic assay method. A rigorous Quality Control and Assurance Program is in place using control samples including blanks and standards.

West Red Lake Gold Mines is a Toronto-based minerals exploration company focused on gold exploration and development in the prolific Red Lake Gold District of Northwest Ontario, Canada. The Red Lake Gold District is host to some of the richest gold deposits in the world and has produced 30 million ounces of gold from high grade zones. The Company has assembled a significant property position totalling 3,100 hectares in west Red Lake (the "West Red Lake Project") which contains three former gold mines. The Mount Jamie Mine and Red Summit Mine properties are 100% owned by the Company and the Rowan Mine property is held in a 60%-owned joint venture with Red Lake Gold Mines, a partnership of Goldcorp Inc. and Goldcorp Canada Ltd. The West Red Lake Project property covers a 12 kilometre strike length along the Pipestone Bay St Paul Deformation Zone and the Company plans to continue to explore the property both along strike and to depth. To find out more about West Red Lake Gold, please visit our website at http://www.westredlakegold.com.

For more information, please contact: John Kontak, President Phone: 416-203-9181 Email: jkontak@rlgold.ca.





The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Certain statements contained in this news release constitute "forward looking statements". When used in this document, the words "anticipated", "expect", "estimated", "forecast", "planned", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements or information. These statements are based on current expectations of management, however, they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this news release. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements. West Red Lake Gold does not undertake any obligation to revise or update any forward- looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date hereof, except as required by securities laws.

West Red Lake Project Diamond Drill Results Table

Hole # UTM Easting UTM Northing UTM ele dip Az length from (m) to (m) length (m) Au-gpt RLG-18-56 421,270 5,656,858 371 -45 325 150 82.0 84.0 2.0 1.69 87.0 88.0 1.0 1.80 100.2 102.0 1.8 13.81 RLG-18-57 421,270 5,656,858 371 -60 325 177 96.0 103.5 7.5 1.33 incl 1.5 3.19 106.5 108.0 1.5 1.13 150.5 152.0 1.5 2.67 RLG-18-58 421,211 5,656,859 375 -45 275 201 67.5 69.2 1.7 1.44 RLG-18-59 421,211 5,656,859 375 -55 275 186 70.0 76.7 6.7 1.31 incl 1.2 2.82 85.8 87.3 1.5 2.15 RLG-18-60 421,366 5,656,868 374 -45 325 171 30.5 32.0 1.5 1.01 62.7 68.3 5.6 3.76 incl 1.4 8.87 73.2 74.8 1.6 1.50 86.9 88.2 1.3 1.62 RLG-18-61 421,366 5,656,868 374 -55 325 159 28.7 29.9 1.2 2.15 32.5 33.9 1.4 1.92 59.5 68.8 9.3 6.51 incl 1.2 9.52 73.1 74.5 1.4 1.03 85.2 93.0 7.8 14.18 incl 3.0 35.26 incl 1.4 60.69 RLG-18-62 421,437 5,656,936 380 -45 320 219 13.1 14.1 1.0 9.85 107.4 108.4 1.0 8.69 136.0 137.7 1.7 1.13 RLG-18-63 421,456 5,656,907 378 -60 320 180 33.7 38.0 4.3 1.86 incl 1.0 5.62 50.7 52.0 1.3 5.14 98.5 100.1 1.6 1.10 1,443 metres

Intervals reported here are core lengths. True widths are not known at this time. All depths are reported as down hole.

SOURCE: West Red Lake Gold Mines Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/534010/West-Red-Lake-Gold-Intersects-1418-gpt-Gold-over-78-Metres-at-the-NT-Zone-Including-3526-gpt-Gold-over-30-MetresShaft 1's continuing advance has intersected 29 metres of high-grade mineralization from underground mine development, beginning at a depth of 780 metres

Platreef's long-term processed wastewater agreement finalized to supply most of the bulk water needed for the first phase of production

Platreef is positioned to become a major producer of palladium, which recently became more valuable than gold

Platreef's Indicated Mineral Resources contain an estimated 26.8 million ounces of palladium, 25.6 million ounces of platinum, 4.5 million ounces of gold, and 1.8 million ounces of rhodium (a combined 58.7 million ounces of PGMs plus gold), plus 4.1 billion pounds of nickel and 2.1 billion pounds of copper, at a cut-off grade of 1 gram per tonne

Platreef's Inferred Mineral Resources contain an additional 43.0 million ounces of palladium, 40.4 million ounces of platinum, 7.8 million ounces of gold, and 3.1 million ounces of rhodium (a combined 94.3 million ounces PGMs plus gold), plus 7.7 billion pounds of nickel and 4.1 billion pounds of copper, also at a cut-off grade of 1 gram per tonne

At the base-case cut-off grade of 2 grams per tonne, Indicated Mineral Resources contain an estimated 42.0 million ounces of PGMs plus gold, plus 2.4 billion pounds of nickel and 1.2 billion pounds of copper, with an additional 52.8 million ounces of PGMs plus gold, 3.4 billion pounds of nickel and 1.8 billion pounds of copper in Inferred Resources

Platreef's T1 and T2 high-grade mineralized zones interpreted as much thicker versions of the high-grade mineralized reefs found on the Western and Eastern limbs of South Africa's Bushveld Complex

Mokopane, South Africa--(Newsfile Corp. - December 18, 2018) - Ivanhoe Mines' (TSX: IVN) (OTCQX: IVPAF) Co-Chairmen Robert Friedland and Yufeng "Miles" Sun, and Ivanplats' Managing Director Dr. Patricia Makhesha, announced today that Platreef's Shaft 1 has reached a depth of 850 metres below surface and development work has begun on the 850-metre station - the second of three horizontal mining access stations planned for Shaft 1.

The first mining access station has been constructed at the 750-metre level, following earlier development of a water-pumping station at the 450-metre level. The third mining access station will be developed at a mine-working depth of 950 metres. Shaft 1 is expected to reach its projected, final depth of approximately 980 metres below surface, complete with all four of the stations, in early 2020.

The Platreef mining team delivered the first high-grade mineralization from underground mine development to surface stockpiles for metallurgical sampling three months ago. The high-grade mineralization intersected in Shaft 1 is contained within two mineralized zones (T1 and T2) totalling 29 metres of the Turfspruit Cyclic Unit (TCU). A total of fifty grab samples from individual 3.2-metre-blast stockpiles yielded an average grab sample grade of 6.35 grams per tonne (g/t) platinum, palladium and rhodium plus gold (3PE+Au), ranging up to 9.6 g/t 3PE+Au, as well as significant quantities of nickel and copper.

The 29-metre mineralized intersection in Shaft 1 yielded approximately 3,500 tonnes of ore that will be used for bulk-scale metallurgical test work. Based on the estimated resource grade of the pilot hole for Shaft 1 (GT008), the 3,500 tonnes are expected to contain more than 400 ounces of platinum-group metals (PGMs).

Ivanhoe Mines indirectly owns 64% of the Platreef Project through its subsidiary, Ivanplats, and is directing all mine development work. The South African beneficiaries of the approved broad-based, black economic empowerment structure have a 26% stake in the Platreef Project. The remaining 10% is owned by a Japanese consortium of ITOCHU Corporation; Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation; and Japan Gas Corporation.

Photo: Stockpiles of Flatreef ore from the sinking of Shaft 1, with Shaft 1 headframe in the background.





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3396/41720_84809539c46b293d_002full.jpg

Long-term wastewater agreement finalized to supply most of the bulk water needed for the first phase of production at Platreef

Ivanplats, led by Dr. Makhesha, announced that it has finalized a long-term agreement with the Mogalakwena Local Municipality for the supply of local, treated wastewater to supply most of the bulk water needed for the first phase of production at the Platreef platinum-group metals, nickel, copper and gold mine now being constructed in South Africa.

Ivanplats signed a memorandum of agreement earlier this year with the Mogalakwena Local Municipality for the supply of a minimum of five million litres of treated water a day for 32 years, beginning in 2022, from the town of Mokopane's new Masodi Treatment Works. Last week, the agreement was officially approved in a signing ceremony in Mokopane.

Ivanplats expects to begin receiving a small quantity of processed wastewater early next year after the Masodi plant has been commissioned. Further treatment will be conducted at the Platreef Mine's on-site filtration plant to ensure compliance with Ivanplats' quality standards. The initial supply will be used in Platreef's ongoing underground mine development and surface infrastructure construction.

Ivanplats estimates that it will require approximately 7.5 million litres per day (Ml/day) of bulk water during the first-phase of steady-state production. A water-balance model developed for the mine calls for the bulk water for the first phase of production to consist of five Ml/day from the Masodi treatment plant, with the balance provided from ground water from local, licenced boreholes, and rainwater collected in storage ponds at the mine.

Photo: Platreef's long-term wastewater agreement finalized between Dr. Patricia Makhesha, Ivanplats' Managing Director (left), and Kenneth Maluleke, Mogalakwena Acting Municipality Manager.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3396/41720_ivanhoe2.jpg

In July 2017, Ivanhoe issued an independent, definitive feasibility study (DFS) for Platreef covering the first phase of production at an initial mining rate of four million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). The DFS estimated that Platreef's initial, average annual production rate will be approximately 219,000 ounces of palladium, 214,000 ounces of platinum, 30,000 ounces of gold and 14,000 ounces of rhodium (combined 477,000 ounces of 3PE+Au), plus 21 million pounds of nickel and 13 million pounds of copper.

The Platreef DFS was based on the development of a large, mechanized, underground mine with an initial, four Mtpa concentrator and associated infrastructure. Platreef would rank at the bottom of the cash-cost curve, at an estimated US$351 per ounce of 3PE+Au produced, net of by-products and including sustaining capital costs, and US$326 per ounce before sustaining capital costs.

The thick Flatreef orebody at the Platreef Project is ideal for bulk-scale, mechanized mining. As underground development progresses, the mine plan calls for the addition of large, mechanized mining equipment, such as 14- and 17-tonne load-haul-dump machines and 50-tonne haul trucks to support the planned long-hole mining method.

The mineral resources used as the basis of the Platreef DFS were those amenable to underground selective mining. Detailed information about assay methods and data verification measures used to support the scientific and technical information is set out in the Platreef 2017 Feasibility Study NI 43-101 Technical Report dated September 2017, available under Technical Reports at www.ivanhoemines.com and on Ivanhoe Mines SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

Key features of the 2016 Platreef Mineral Resource estimate include:

Indicated Mineral Resources contain an estimated 41.9 million ounces of platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold with an additional 52.8 million ounces of platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold in Inferred Resources (using a cut-off grade of 2.0 g/t 3PE+Au).





Indicated Mineral Resources contain an estimated 2.44 billion pounds of nickel and 1.23 billion pounds of copper, with an additional 3.44 billion pounds of nickel and 1.78 billion pounds of copper in Inferred Mineral Resources (using a cut-off grade of 2.0 g/t 3PE+Au).





Indicated Mineral Resources totalling 346 million tonnes, at an average grade of 3.77 g/t 3PE+Au, 0.32% nickel and 0.16% copper, at a cut-off grade of 2.0 g/t 3PE+Au.

Inferred Mineral Resources totalling an additional 506 million tonnes, at a grade of 3.24 g/t 3PE+Au, 0.31% nickel and 0.16% copper, at a cut-off grade of 2.0 g/t 3PE+Au.

The 2016 Mineral Resource estimate was prepared by Ivanhoe Mines under the direction of Dr. Harry Parker, RM SME, of Wood Group (formerly Amec Foster Wheeler E&C Services Inc.). Dr. Parker and Timothy Kuhl RM SME, also of Wood Group, have independently confirmed the Mineral Resource estimate and are the Qualified Persons for the estimate, which has an effective date of April 22, 2016.

The platinum-to-palladium ratio at the Platreef Mine is approximately 1:1. Palladium and rhodium are used as catalysts to control exhaust emissions in gasoline-fuelled vehicles, while diesel vehicles mostly use platinum. Platinum also is used as the catalyst in zero-emission, hydrogen-powered, fuel-cell electric vehicles now being developed by leading, global automakers including Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai.

A sustained palladium-supply deficit, coupled with robust demand from automakers, has seen palladium prices increase by approximately 50% during the past four months, making it more valuable than gold for the first time since 2002.

Chart: Palladium's price increase since August 2018 (in blue) compared to gold (in white).





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3396/41720_84809539c46b293d_004full.jpg

Flatreef's T1 and T2 mineralized zones are 29 metres thick at Shaft 1 intersection

The mineralized zones (reefs) at Ivanhoe's Platreef Project are the thickest (Platreef's T2MZ averages 24.7 metres at a 1 g/t 3PE+Au cut-off) among the known reefs in South Africa's Bushveld Igneous Complex. Although substantially thicker on Ivanhoe's Platreef Project, Flatreef's exceptional T1 and T2 reefs have been correlated with the Bushveld Complex's Bastard and Merensky reefs by Dr. Danie Grobler, Ivanplats' Head of Exploration and Geology, and other Ivanplats geologists (Grobler et al., published in the international journal, Mineralium Deposita, 2018).

The Turfspruit Cyclic Unit (TCU), which hosts the majority of the Platreef's selectively mineable Mineral Resources, has two mineralized zones that are laterally continuous across the Platreef Project. The T1 mineralized zone (T1MZ) occurs within cyclical magmatic units and feldspathic pyroxenite (ultramafic igneous rock) immediately below the Main Zone. The T2 mineralized zone (T2MZ) is hosted within a mineralized, PGM-enriched, very coarse-grained pegmatoidal pyroxenite distinct from the feldspathic pyroxenite above it and bound by a top chromite stringer.

The T2MZ occurs at a stratigraphic position similar to the world-renowned Merensky Reef. The T2MZ can be subdivided into an upper pegmatoidal orthopyroxenite, referred to as the T2 Upper, and a lower, less continuous pegmatoidal harzburgite, referred to as the T2 Lower. Recognition of the TCU and the pegmatoidal pyroxenite in 2012 was a key interpretive breakthrough for the Platreef Project.

Shaft 1 intersected the TCU below the Main Zone of the Bushveld Complex in September 2018. The upper T1 mineralized reef was intersected at a depth of 780.11 metres below the shaft bank (Figure 1). Shaft sinking proceeded to intersect the main T2 mineralized reef at a depth of 798 metres, beneath the upper chromitite stringer. The T2 mineralization gradually decreases over a vertical interval of 11 metres to the footwall norite contact at a depth of 809 metres. The total TCU width intersected within the shaft is 28.9 metres.

Photo: Dr. Danie Grobler, Ivanplats' Head of Exploration and Geology (left), Jan Mapeka, Ivanplats Geologist (centre), and Gerick Mouton, Ivanplats' Vice President and Project Director (right), at the intersection of the T1 mineralized reefin Shaft 1 at a depth of approximately 780 metres.





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3396/41720_84809539c46b293d_005full.jpg





Figure 1: Schematic section of the Platreef Mine, showing Flatreef's T1 and T2 thick, high-grade mineralized zones (red and dark orange), underground development work completed to date in shafts 1 and 2 (white), and planned development work (gray).

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3396/41720_84809539c46b293d_006full.jpg





Figure 2: Flatreef cross section showing T1 and T2 mineralized zones (T1MZ and T2MZ) and the significant top loading of high-grade PGMs mineralization in the T2 mineralized zone.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3396/41720_84809539c46b293d_007full.jpg





Photo: Members of the Platreef Project team and its South African sinking contractor, Aveng Mining, in Shaft 1 at its intersection of the 29-metre Flatreef Deposit in September.





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3396/41720_84809539c46b293d_008full.jpg

Photo: Platreef's underground mine development team includes three members from local communities (from left): Nkone Madubana, Learner Sinker; Katlego Nkwana, Learner Sinker; and Caroline Dzivhani, Geologist - who recently became fully certified underground miners.





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3396/41720_84809539c46b293d_009full.jpg

Photo: Members of Platreef's underground mining team using a 'cactus grab' mucker to excavate broken rock from the bottom of Shaft 1.





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3396/41720_84809539c46b293d_010full.jpg

The 2016 consolidated Mineral Resources for the Platreef Project are shown in Table 1 (2.0 g/t 3PE+Au base case highlighted; other cases are included to show the sensitivity of the Mineral Resources to changes in cut-off grades).

Table 1: Platreef Mineral Resource - all mineralized zones (2.0 g/t base case).

Indicated Mineral Resources - Tonnage and Grades Cut-off Grade (3PE+Au) Mt Pt (g/t) Pd (g/t) Au (g/t) Rh (g/t) 3PE+Au (g/t) Cu (%) Ni (%) 3.0 g/t 204 2.11 2.11 0.34 0.14 4.7 0.18 0.35 2.0 g/t 346 1.68 1.70 0.28 0.11 3.77 0.16 0.32 1.0 g/t 716 1.11 1.16 0.19 0.08 2.55 0.13 0.26 Indicated Mineral Resources - Contained Metal Cut-off Grade (3PE+Au) Pt

(Moz) Pd

(Moz) Au

(Moz) Rh

(Moz) 3PE+Au (Moz) Cu

(Mlbs) Ni

(Mlbs) 3.0 g/t 13.86 13.86 2.23 0.92 30.86 800 1 597 2.0 g/t 18.66 18.94 3.12 1.23 41.95 1 226 2 438 1.0 g/t 25.63 26.81 4.49 1.82 58.75 2 076 4 108 Inferred Mineral Resources - Tonnage and Grades Cut-off Grade (3PE+Au) Mt Pt (g/t) Pd (g/t) Au (g/t) Rh (g/t) 3PE+Au

(g/t) Cu (%) Ni (%) 3.0 g/t 225 1.91 1.93 0.32 0.13 4.29 0.17 0.35 2.0 g/t 506 1.42 1.46 0.26 0.10 3.24 0.16 0.31 1.0 g/t 1431 0.88 0.94 0.17 0.07 2.05 0.13 0.25 Inferred Mineral Resources - Contained Metal Cut-off Grade (3PE+Au) Pt

(Moz) Pd

(Moz) Au

(Moz) Rh

(Moz) 3PE+Au

(Moz) Cu

(Mlbs) Ni

(Mlbs) 3.0 g/t 13.78 13.96 2.33 0.94 31.01 865 1, 736 2.0 g/t 23.17 23.78 4.26 1.56 52.77 1,775 3, 440 1.0 g/t 40.38 43.01 7.81 3.06 94.27 4,129 7,759

Mineral Resources have an effective date of April 22, 2016. The Qualified Persons for the estimate are Dr. Harry Parker, RM SME, and Timothy Kuhl, RM SME, who are employees of Wood Group (formerly Amec Foster Wheeler E&C Services Inc.) and independent of Ivanhoe. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The 2 g/t 3PE+Au cut-off is considered the base case estimate and is highlighted. The rows are not additive. Mineral Resources are reported on a 100% basis. Mineral Resources are stated from approximately -200 m to 650 m elevation (from 500 m to 1,350 m depth). Indicated Mineral Resources are drilled on approximately 100 x 100 m spacing (locally 150 m spacing); Inferred Mineral Resources are drilled on 400 x 400 m (locally to 400 x 200 m and 200 x 200 m) spacing. Mineral Resources have been estimated on an externally undiluted basis and without consideration for mining recovery. Dilution and mining recoveries will vary with the geometry (dip, thickness, faulting and or irregularities in contacts) of the mineralization and the eventual mining method used. Reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction were determined using the following assumptions. Assumed commodity prices are Pt: $1,600/oz, Pd: $815/oz, Au: $1,300/oz, Rh: $1,500/oz, Cu: $3.00/lb and Ni: $8.90/lb. It has been assumed that payable metals would be 82% from a smelter/refinery and that mining costs (average $34.27/t) and process, G&A, and concentrate transport costs (average $15.83/t of mill feed for a 4 Mtpa operation) would be covered. The processing recoveries vary with block grade but typically would be 80%-90% for Pt, Pd and Rh; 70-90% for Au, 60-90% for Cu, and 65-75% for Ni. 3PE+Au = Pt + Pd + Rh + Au. Totals may not sum due to rounding.

Grab sample assay results for Shaft 1 TCU intersection

Mineralized material from the Flatreef Deposit was extracted during the sinking of Shaft 1 through the TCU mineralized zones and then stockpiled on surface for individual 3.2-metre blasts. A total of 50 grab samples were collected for the T1 and T2 reefs, at surveyed shaft depths ranging from 780.11 to 808.9 metres.

The individual stockpile assay grades from the T1 feldspathic pyroxenite zone vary from 2.47 to 9.65 g/t 4E (platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold), with significant nickel and copper. A composite of individual grab samples for the different T1 stockpiles yielded an average grade of 6.04 g/t 4E and 0.40% nickel plus 0.19% copper (Table 2).

The T2 pegmatoidal pyroxenite composite grab sample assay grades are 6.72 g/t 4E, 0.50% nickel and 0.24% copper. The average grade of all of the stockpile grab samples for the T1 and T2 mineralized zones is 6.35 g/t 4E, 0.45% nickel and 0.21% copper (Table 2).

The grab sample results reported above and listed in Table 2 are included for indicative purposes only as they were not subject to Ivanhoe's normal rigorous internal QA/QC procedures applied to diamond drilling for Mineral Resources estimation. No standards, blanks or duplicates were included in the sample submissions, although internal QC was undertaken by Set Point laboratories (a division of Torre Analytical Services) in Mokopane, South Africa. The sampling methods employed to collect the grab samples, while thorough, are not considered adequate to produce an unbiased grade estimate of either the individual stockpiles or the shaft intersection as a whole. There also is considerable uncertainty as to the amount of cross contamination of each stockpile due to the degree of re-handling of material from shaft bottom to final stockpile position.

Platreef's shafts 1 and 2 are located in an area of the project's Indicated Resources that has lower grade and thickness than the adjoining mining areas; it will form part of the shaft pillar - a solid block of rock left around the shafts to protect the shafts and the surface buildings.

Figure 3 below is a grade-thickness plot (3PGE grade [g/t] multiplied by the thickness [m], which gives a metre-grams-per-tonne [mg/t]) of the Platreef Indicated Resources, showing the position of Shaft 1 (identified by the black star in the centre of Figure 3). The blue colours represent the lowest grade thickness, which are clustered around the yellow star marking the location of Shaft 1.

Ivanhoe's initial mining plan at Platreef will focus on the thick, high-grade Indicated Resources (identified by the brown, orange and red zones) in close proximity to shafts 1 and 2. Drill intercepts in the thick, high-grade zones include hole TMT006, which intersected 90.64 metres (297 feet) with an average grade of 4.51 g/t 4E, plus 0.37% nickel and 0.20% copper. TMT006 was drilled approximately 360 metres south of Shaft 1.





Figure 3: Grade-thickness plot of the T2 mineralized zone surrounding Shaft 1 (yellow star).

To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3396/41720_84809539c46b293d_011full.jpg



Geology and mineralogy of the Shaft 1 Flatreef intersection

The dominant sulphide species in the T1MZ and T2MZ are represented by pentlandite (a nickel-rich sulphide mineral) and chalcopyrite (a copper-rich sulphide mineral), with lesser amounts of pyrrhotite and pyrite (iron sulphide minerals) in both reefs. Sulphide abundance is variable, but visually estimated in the shaft at an average of 5% for the T1MZ and up to 10% in the T2U, with large composite blebs (bubble-like inclusions of one mineral within a larger mineral) very common.

Photo: T1 mineralization within weakly-altered (chloritized) feldspathic pyroxenite at a depth of 784 metres. Sulphide mineralization is pentlandite (nickel sulphide) dominant, with lesser chalcopyrite (copper sulphide), and occurs as interstitial, disseminated to net-textured in the specimen shown.





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3396/41720_84809539c46b293d_012full.jpg

Photo: The T2 (Merensky) pegmatoidal orthopyroxenite, with large composite sulphide blebs consisting of pentlandite (nickel sulphide)-chalcopyrite (nickel sulphide)-pyrrhotite (iron sulphide).





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3396/41720_84809539c46b293d_013full.jpg

Scientific collaboration and academic studies

In September 2015, Ivanhoe Mines, Laurentian University (Sudbury, Canada) and the University of Limpopo (Turfloop, South Africa) forged an educational partnership. The principal goal was to develop and equip the University of Limpopo's geology department to become a centre of excellence in geosciences. Since then, several Limpopo University students commenced postgraduate MSc and PhD studies at Laurentian University. Several of these studies are focused on the Platreef Project.

In April 2018, Ivanhoe geologists, together with Professor Wolfgang Maier, of Cardiff University, published a scientific paper detailing the first stratigraphic system for Ivanhoe's Flatreef PGE deposit. The paper, titled "Litho- and chemostratigraphy of the Flatreef PGE deposit, northern Bushveld Complex", was published in the prestigious, international, scientific journal Mineralium Deposita. The paper documents the down-dip and along-strike litho- and chemostratigraphy of the Flatreef Discovery, and its footwall and hanging-wall rocks. Based on stratigraphic, lithological and compositional comparisons to the layered rocks in the western Bushveld Complex, the layered sequence of the Flatreef Discovery, with its chromite-bearing footwall rocks, is unequivocally correlated with the interval between the UG2 chromitite, the Merensky and the Bastard Reef.

Shaft 1's 750-metre, 850-metre and 950-metre stations will provide lateral underground mining access to the Flatreef orebody

The 750-metre and 850-metres stations on Shaft 1 will provide initial, underground mining access to the high-grade orebody, enabling lateral mine development to proceed during the construction of Shaft 2, which will become the mine's main production shaft. As shaft-sinking advances, a third shaft station will be developed at a mine-working depth of 950 metres. The mining zones in the current Platreef Mine plan occur at depths ranging from approximately 700 metres to 1,200 metres below surface.

Shaft 1's 750-metre station also will allow access for the first raise-bore shaft, which will have an internal diameter of six metres, to provide ventilation to the underground workings during the mine's ramp-up phase.

Photo: Miners on the Shaft 1's 750-metre level. The 750-metre and 850-metre stations will provide initial, underground access to the high-grade orebody.





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3396/41720_84809539c46b293d_014full.jpg



Excavation complete at Shaft 2 surface box cut; construction of concrete hitch (foundation) now underway

Excavation of the Shaft 2 box cut to a depth of approximately 29 metres below surface has been completed and construction now is underway of the concrete hitch (foundation). The hitch will provide the foundation for the 103-metre-tall concrete headgear (headframe) that will house the Shaft 2's permanent hoisting facilities and support the shaft collar.

Shaft 2, to be located approximately 100 metres northeast of Shaft 1, will have an internal diameter of 10 metres, will be lined with concrete and sunk to a planned, final depth of 1,104 metres below surface. It will be equipped with two 40-tonne rock-hoisting skips with a capacity to hoist a total of six million tonnes of ore per year - the single largest hoisting capacity at any mine in Africa. Headgear for the permanent hoisting facility was designed by South Africa-based Murray & Roberts Cementation.

Photo: Platreef's Shaft 2 box cut (now completed to a depth of 29 metres) alongside Shaft 1 headframe. Construction of the concrete hitch (foundation) for Shaft 2 now is underway.





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3396/41720_84809539c46b293d_015full.jpg

Photo: Platreef's geotechnical engineers inspecting the 29-metre-high walls of Shaft 2's box cut.





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3396/41720_84809539c46b293d_016full.jpg



Development focused on construction of a highly-mechanized underground mine

The Platreef Project is located on the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex, adjacent to Anglo Platinum's Mogalakwena Mine.

The Platreef Project, which contains the Flatreef Deposit, is a tier-one discovery by Ivanhoe Mines geologists. Based on the findings of the July 2017 independent DFS, Ivanhoe plans to develop the Platreef Mine as a major underground mining operation in three phases to achieve: 1) An initial rate of four million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) to establish an operating platform to support future expansions; 2) a doubling of production to eight Mtpa; and 3) expansion to a steady-state 12 Mtpa.

Mining zones in the current Platreef mine plan occur at depths ranging from approximately 700 metres to 1,200 metres below surface. Primary access to the mine will be by way of a 1,104-metre-deep, 10-metre-diameter production shaft (Shaft 2). Secondary access to the mine will be via a 980-metre-deep, 7.25-metre-diameter ventilation shaft (Shaft 1), which is under construction. During mine production, both shafts also will serve as ventilation intakes. Three additional ventilation exhaust raises (Ventilation Raise 1, 2, and 3) are planned to achieve steady-state production.

Mining will be performed using highly productive mechanized methods, including long-hole stoping and drift-and-fill. Each method will utilize cemented backfill for maximum ore extraction.

Table 2: Composites of grab sample assay results for individual blast stockpiles.

Reef type Depth

From Depth

To 4E g/t Au g/t Pt g/t Pd g/t Rh g/t Cu % Ni % T1 780.0 783.2 2.47 0.43 1.24 0.77 0.07 0.15 0.32 T1 783.2 785.1 3.85 0.49 1.93 1.35 0.09 0.17 0.33 T1 785.1 788.7 8.32 0.67 4.23 3.23 0.19 0.20 0.43 T1 788.7 791.7 9.65 1.14 4.74 3.71 0.13 0.34 0.61 T1 791.7 795.7 5.48 0.48 3.03 1.87 0.11 0.16 0.36 T1 795.7 798.7 6.51 0.36 3.74 2.29 0.13 0.12 0.34 18.7 6.04 0.59 3.15 2.20 0.12 0.19 0.40 T2 798.7 800.4 8.43 0.40 4.34 3.44 0.25 0.27 0.55 T2 800.4 801.3 5.68 0.33 2.72 2.46 0.17 0.22 0.46 T2 801.3 802.2 5.95 0.31 2.92 2.57 0.16 0.21 0.44 T2 802.2 805.6 7.59 0.42 3.78 3.21 0.18 0.26 0.53 T2 805.6 808.9 5.95 0.34 2.78 2.68 0.16 0.26 0.54 10.2 6.72 0.36 3.31 2.87 0.18 0.24 0.50 T1 + T2 28.9 6.35 0.49 3.22 2.51 0.15 0.21 0.45

Qualified person

The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Stephen Torr, P.Geo., Ivanhoe Mines' Vice President, Project Geology and Evaluation, a Qualified Person under the terms of National Instrument (NI) 43-101. Mr. Torr is not independent of Ivanhoe Mines. Mr. Torr has verified the technical data disclosed in this news release.

Detailed information about assay methods and data verification measures used to support the scientific and technical information is set out in the Platreef 2017 Feasibility Study NI 43-101 Technical Report dated September 2017, available under Technical Reports at www.ivanhoemines.com and on Ivanhoe Mines' SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

About Ivanhoe Mines

Ivanhoe Mines is a Canadian mining company focused on advancing its three principal projects in Southern Africa: the development of new mines at the Kamoa-Kakula copper discovery in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Platreef palladium-platinum-nickel-copper-gold discovery in South Africa; and the extensive redevelopment and upgrading of the historic Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-silver mine, also in the DRC.

Information contacts

Investors

Bill Trenaman +1.604.331.9834

Media

North America: Bob Williamson +1.604.512.4856

South Africa: Jeremy Michaels +27.82.772.1122

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results , performance or achievements of the company, the Platreef Project, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "forecast", "predict" and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. These statements reflect the company's current expectations regarding future events, performance and results, and speak only as of the date of this news release.

The forward-looking statements and forward-looking information in this news release include without limitation, (i) statements regarding the 29-metre intersection of the Flatreef Deposit at Shaft 1 is expected to contain more than 400 ounces of platinum-group metals (PGMs); (ii) statements regarding Ivanplats expects to begin receiving a small quantity of grey water from the Masodi water treatment plant early next year; (iii) statements regarding the expectation that Shaft 1 will reach its projected, final depth of 980 metres below surface, complete with the stations, in 2020; (iv) statements regarding Ivanhoe's plans to develop the Platreef Mine as a major underground mining operation in three phases to achieve: 1) An initial rate of four million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) to establish an operating platform to support future expansions; 2) a doubling of production to eight Mtpa; and 3) expansion to a steady-state 12 Mtpa; and (v) statements regarding Platreef would rank at the bottom of the cash-cost curve, at an estimated US$351 per ounce of 3PE+Au produced, net of by-products and including sustaining capital costs, and US$326 per ounce before sustaining capital costs.

In addition, all of the results of the Platreef DFS constitute forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The forward-looking statements include metal price assumptions, cash flow forecasts, projected capital and operating costs, metal recoveries, mine life and production rates, and the financial results of the Platreef DFS.

Readers are cautioned that actual results may vary from those presented.

All such forward-looking information and statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by Ivanhoe Mines' management in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believe are appropriate in the circumstances. These statements, however, 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 information or statements including, but not limited to, unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of parties to contracts to perform as agreed; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; unexpected failure or inadequacy of infrastructure, industrial accidents or machinery failure (including of shaft sinking equipment), or delays in the development of infrastructure; and the failure of exploration programs or other studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued studies, development or operations. Other important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements also include those described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the company's most recently filed MD&A, as well as in the most recent Annual Information Form filed by Ivanhoe Mines. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements. Certain of the factors and assumptions used to develop the forward-looking information and statements, and certain of the risks that could cause the actual results to differ materially are presented in the "Platreef 2017 Feasibility Study, September 2017" available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Ivanhoe Mines website at www.ivanhoemines.com.

Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the company believes are reasonable assumptions, the company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this news release.MONTE CARLO, MONACO / ACCESSWIRE / December 18, 2018 / Kinesis walked away as victors following a fantastically delivered presentation from CEO, Thomas Coughlin, who presented the Kinesis Monetary System in front of an audience of blockchain and crypto enthusiasts at the 2018 Monaco International Blockchain Trade Show.

This was a huge achievement as following the announcement, Kinesis was awarded with USD $50,000 in prize money from Dr. Evan Singh Luthra, Founder of EL Group International. Evan also chose to join the team as an advisor after being thoroughly impressed by the project and its ambitious vision as he strongly believes in the cause and would like to participate in and add value to the overall success of the system.





Kinesis offers the world a new way to transact through the use of an innovative monetary system based on two of the most stable and reliable stores of value the world has ever known, gold and silver. It is these precious metals which form the Kinesis currencies which are based on a 1:1 ratio to gold and silver.

The underlying bullion of these currencies is fully redeemable from one of seven third-party vaults around the world, ensuring no counterparty risk. In addition to this, Kinesis currencies can be easily sent or spent effortlessly with the Kinesis debit card, allowing users to spend their gold and silver holdings at the point of sale anywhere that accepts Visa or Mastercard.

Thomas Coughlin quoted during his pitch at the event, "Our system is one of shared economic wealth. We are great proponents of fair, honesty and sound money. By Creating a new investment asset class to compete with the conventional, debt-laden, asset classes of today.

With Kinesis, there is only gold, no debt, yield comes from true economic activity."

Tom understands the need the world has for a stable store of value amidst times of economic volatility, especially with the vast amount of political uncertainty at present.

Kinesis offers the world a digital representation of an asset which is universally accepted and valued and has been for centuries. By uniting this historic store of value together with cutting-edge blockchain technology, users have complete control over their finances with the ability to transfer funds cross-border at ease.

Kinesis is currently in the public sale of their initial utility token offering for the Kinesis Velocity Token (KVT). To date, Kinesis has sold just over 59,000 KVTs, and they are on track to reaching the allocated hard cap of 300,000 KVTs.

Media Contact

Jai Bifulco

Marketing@kinesis.money

SOURCE: Kinesis

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/530865/Kinesis-are-victorious-in-securing-50000-investment-and-new-advisory-with-Dr-Evan-Luthra-in-MonacoSleek Danish smart lock and keypad now available through major North American retailers Including Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Wayfair

Danalock will be showcasing its Danish-designed smart lock solutions at the world's largest gathering of consumer technology, the Consumer Electronics Show 2019, held January 8-11 in Las Vegas. The sleek Danalock V3 smart lock is featured on the front and kitchen doors of the Z-Wave Smart Home demo house in the Sands Expo Halls A-D, booth #41917, where Danalock products will also be on display.

"The Z-Wave demo house at CES is a great showcase for the attractive and easy-to-use Danalock V3 smart lock," said Danalock CEO and co-founder Henning Overgaard. "The lock provides a futuristic look and feel and the versatile platform ensures maximum flexibility and complete interoperability with many Internet and home automation systems. It installs in under 10 minutes and is also one of the few smart locks available with enhanced Z-Wave S2 security."

Danalock showcases smart lock solutions at CES-Sands Expo Halls A-D #41917

Danalock V3 wireless Bluetooth smart lock enables consumers to easily control access to their home with a smartphone. With its simple Danish design and advanced encryption algorithm, the Danalock V3 offers a secure and elegant door locking experience. Compatible with Zigbee, Z-Wave, HomeKit, and BT home automation systems, Danalock is a globally compatible retrofit smart lock that is mounted on the inside of the door and has an 18-month battery life.

Danapad V3 Bluetooth wireless access keypad offers an ideal access solution for service providers, guests, and those without a smartphone. For extra convenience and security, individuals can use the PIN provided by the owner without having to download the Danalock app or worry about having a smartphone.

Danalock now available for purchase in the U.S.

Danalock smart lock solutions have recently become broadly available through major North American retailers including Amazon.com, Bestbuy.com, Walmart.com,and Wayfair.com, as well as several smaller retailers. Consumers can order the smart lock with Bluetooth, Zigbee, or Z-Wave options to fit their home automation system of choice. For dealers, the Danalock portfolio is also available through Danalock's U.S. distributor Petra Industries and Canadian distributor Aartech.

About Danalock

Danalock is a leader in smart, secure access control solutions for residential and business. With more than 10 years' experience in the smart lock industry, Danalock now provides a full family of elegantly designed and secure smart lock products compatible with any standard door throughout the world and supports an unrivaled array of home automation protocols. With headquarters in Denmark, Danalock is the preferred partner for service providers, a variety of home delivery and cleaning services, and rental and hospitality companies all over the world. For more information, visit www.danalock.com or follow @Danalockdk.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005124/en/

Contacts:

Angie Hatfield

Hughes Communications, Inc.

425.941.2895

angie@hughescom.netMomentum Building for Expansion into Multi-OS, Centralized, Cockpit Computing

SAN RAMON, California, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The GENIVI Alliance, the organization responsible for introducing Linux and open source software into the in-vehicle, infotainment domain, has successfully delivered several assets through its vehicle domain interaction strategy and is evolving into an alliance integrating multiple, in-vehicle operating systems required for a fully integrated vehicle cockpit.

As the industry moves toward combining multiple vehicle cockpit domains (IVI, cluster, connected devices) into a single silicon solution, often with multiple operating systems, automakers are exploring the concept of a central compute platform, coined by some in the market as cockpit computing.

GENIVI began moving in this direction at the end of 2017 when it launched projects in its vehicle domain interaction strategy that have delivered technology briefs and white papers on API Remoting, Digital Cockpit HMI Distribution and Interactive Cockpit HMI found at https://www.genivi.org/resource-documents. The projects also resulted in the RAMSES software, an open source software framework for graphics sharing across multiple in-vehicle displays, a demonstration of which will be shown at a member gathering during CES 2019. Also during this gathering, a second demonstration will show interoperability between a GENIVI IVI platform and an Adaptive AUTOSAR platform including prototype tooling that simplifies interaction between the respective platform APIs.

"I've been impressed at how the GENIVI members have engaged around this trend of in-vehicle software domain interaction as is evidenced by a number of recent deliveries," said Steve Crumb, executive director, GENIVI Alliance. "The RAMSES code, tangible solution demonstrators, educational summits, and a number of informative tech briefs show a growing interest for new approaches and solutions for the future integrated cockpit."

The success of the domain interaction work coupled with the trend toward integrating multiple operating systems like Android into a single cockpit computer has led GENIVI to engage with several automakers, both members and nonmembers, about a scope expansion in 2019. "While GENIVI has successfully established Linux as a viable in-vehicle operating environment, we also recognize that global automakers have chosen different solutions for different product lines and different geographies," Crumb continued. "Automakers will increasingly require fully interoperable, multi-OS solutions and GENIVI will be the community where automakers discuss these needs and speak with a unified voice to suppliers and operating system providers like Google."

In January 2019, GENIVI will launch new projects that supplement current, Linux-oriented activities with collaboration around other in-vehicle compute environments. "Our goal is not to reinvent the good work being done in other active communities," Crumb clarified. "Our goal is to provide a context where automakers can openly discuss gaps that exist with current operating system solutions and propose common interfaces and approaches that save time and money in deploying their future in-vehicle products and services."

During CES 2019, GENIVI will also continue its multi-year collaboration with SAE International on a full-day CES program track titled "Connect2Car" that will be held on January 9 in the LVCC North Hall, room N262. GENIVI will lead two panels on "Connecting the Autonomous World" moderated by Matt Jones, software and mobility expert, followed by "The Future of In-Vehicle Infotainment" moderated by John Ellis, author, futurist and founder of Ellis and Associates.

More information on the GENIVI Vehicle Domain Interaction Strategy projects can be found on the GENIVI wiki and anyone is welcome to join or track GENIVI progress.

About GENIVI Alliance

The GENIVI Alliance is a non-profit alliance focused on delivering open source, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) and connected vehicle software. The alliance provides its members with a global development community of more than 140 companies, joining automotive software stakeholders with world-class developers in a collaborative environment, resulting in free, open source automotive middleware. GENIVI is headquartered in San Ramon, Calif.

Media Contact - GENIVI Alliance:

Craig Miner

GENIVI Alliance

+1.248.840.8368

cminer@quell.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/391617/GENIVI_Alliance_Logo.jpgDETROIT, December 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Stratview Research announces the launch of a new market research report on Air Cargo Containers Market by Container Type (LD-3, LD-6, LD-11, M-1, and Others), by Material Type (Composite Container, Metal Container, and Other Containers), by Deck Type (Lower Deck and Main Deck), by Application Type (Passenger Aircraft and Freighter Aircraft), by Sales Type (Container Manufacturing and Container Repair), by Aircraft Type (Narrow-Body Aircraft, Wide-Body Aircraft, Very Large Aircraft, and Military Aircraft), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2019-2024.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660595/Stratview_Research_Logo.jpg )



This market report, from Stratview Research, studies the air cargo containers market over the trend period of 2013 to 2018 and forecast period of 2019 to 2024. The research report provides detailed insights on the market dynamics to enable informed business decision making and growth strategy formulation based on the opportunities present in the market.

Air Cargo Containers Market: Highlights

As per an in-depth study conducted by Stratview Research, the global air cargo containers market is expected to grow at a healthy rate over the next five years to reach US$ 341.3 million in 2024. Increasing cargo traffic (freight tonne kilometers) owing to growing e-commerce, pharmaceutical and electronic industries; development of lightweight and more durable containers; and advancement in the container technology are some of the major drivers of the market. Increasing aircraft deliveries and higher demand for wide-body aircraft further elevate the demand for containers in the aviation industry.

LD-3 is the most widely preferred container type in both passenger and cargo aircraft. It is expected to remain the largest and fastest-growing container type during the forecast period. It is highly compatible with Boeing and Airbus wide-body aircraft, such as B747, B767, B777, B787, DC-10, MD-11, A330, A350XWB, and A380. It can also be interchangeably used by replacing other container types.

Click Here and Run Through the Detailed TOC of the Report

Based on the material type, the market is segmented as composite containers, metal containers, and other containers. Metal is expected to remain the largest material type being used in the market during the forecast period. Easy availability, excellent track record, and lower cost are some of the major growth drivers of the metal containers market. However, composite containers segment is likely to witness the highest growth in the same period. Superior flame retardancy, higher corrosion resistance, and higher strength-to-weight ratio at relatively low weight in comparison with metal containers are the major growth drivers of these versatile materials. Additionally, composite containers do not damage easily; thus, help ULD management companies and airlines to address the biggest challenge of reducing the container repair cost. Composites containers are about 20% to 40% lighter than that of aluminum containers.

Based on the application type, passenger aircraft is expected to remain the largest and fastest-growing aircraft type in the market during the forecast period. Increasing passenger and cargo traffic, introduction of variants of existing aircraft programs (B737 Max, A320neo, and B777x), market entry of new aircraft programs (C919 and MC-21), and rising aircraft fleet size are driving the production of aircraft; therefore, containers for it. Passenger aircraft usually use its lower hold for carrying containers from one location to another location.

Register Here and Ask for a Free Sample on the Report

Some of the key air cargo container manufacturers are Zodiac AirCargo Equipment, Cargo Composites, Nordisk Aviation, VRR-Aviation, DokaSch GmbH, and Satco Inc. Development of lightweight containers, partnership with ULD management companies, and regional expansion are the key strategies adopted by the major players to gain a competitive edge in the market.

Report Features

This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights on the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report:

Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis.

Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter's five forces analysis, SWOT analysis.

Market trend and forecast analysis.

Market segment trend and forecast.

Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc.

Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities.

Emerging trends.

Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players.

Key success factors

This report studies the global air cargo containers market and has segmented the market in seven ways, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. Following are the seven ways in which the market is segmented:

Air Cargo Containers Market, By Container Type

LD-3 (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

LD-6 (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

LD-11 (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

M-1 (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Others (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Air Cargo Containers Market, By Deck Type

Lower Deck (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Main Deck (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Air Cargo Containers Market, By Material Type

Composite Containers (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Metal Containers (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Other Containers (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Air Cargo Containers Market, By Application Type

Passenger Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

, , , and RoW) Military Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Air Cargo Containers Market, By Sales Type

Container Manufacturing (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Container Repair (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Air Cargo Containers Market, By Aircraft Type

Narrow-Body Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Wide-Body Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Very Large Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Military Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Air Cargo Containers Market, By Region

North America (Country Analysis: the USA , Canada , and Mexico )

Europe (Country Analysis: Germany , France , the UK, Italy , Russia , and Rest of Europe )

Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China , Japan , India , and Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Rest of the World (Sub-Region Analysis: The Middle East , Latin America , and Others)

Stratview Research has number of high value market reports in the global aerospace & defense industry. Please refer to the following link to browse through our reports:

Click Here for Other Reports from Stratview Research in the Aerospace & Defense Industry

Some of our other premium market reports in the aerospace & defense industry:

Global Air Cargo Unit Load Device (ULD) Market by Device Type (Containers and Pallets), by Product Type (LD3, LD 6, LD11, M1, PMC, PAG, and Others), by Material Type (Composites, Metals, and Others), By Deck Type (Lower Deck and Main Deck), by Sales Type (ULD Manufacturing and ULD Repair), by Aircraft Type (Narrow-Body Aircraft, Wide-Body Aircraft, Very Large Aircraft, and Military Aircraft), by Application Type (Passenger Aircraft and Freighter Aircraft), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2017-2022

Aircraft Cabin Interior Composites Market by Aircraft Type (Narrow-Body Aircraft, Wide-Body Aircraft, Very Large Aircraft, Regional Aircraft, and General Aircraft), by Application Type (Floor Panels, Sidewall Panels, Ceiling Panels, Stowage Bins, Galleys, Lavatories, Seating, Ducts, and Others), by Composite Type (Glass Fiber Composites, Carbon Fiber Composites, and Others), by Process Type (Sandwich Construction, Compression Molding, and Others), by End-User Type (OE and Aftermarket), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2018-2023

About Stratview Research

Stratview Research is a global market intelligence firm providing wide range of services including syndicated market reports, custom research and sourcing intelligence across industries, such as Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & Mass Transportation, Consumer Goods, Construction & Equipment, Electronics and Semiconductors, Energy & Utility, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Oil & Gas.

We have a strong team of industry veterans and analysts with an extensive experience in executing custom research projects for mid-sized to Fortune 500 companies, in the areas of Market Assessment, Opportunity Screening, Competitive Intelligence, Due Diligence, Target Screening, Market Entry Strategy, Go to Market Strategy, and Voice of Customer studies.

Stratview Research is a trusted brand globally, providing high quality research and strategic insights that help companies worldwide in effective decision making.

For inquiries,

Contact:

Stratview Research

E-mail: sales@stratviewresearch.com

Direct: +1-313-307-4176Collaboration with Salamanca University and the Institute of Neuroscience of Castilla y Leon to Study the Benefits of Cannabinoids on Epilepsy and Schizophrenia

MJardin Group, Inc. ("MJardin" or the "Company") (CSE:MJAR), a leader in cannabis management, today announced its first medical cannabis research investment to fund two studies on the benefits of cannabinoids on epilepsy and schizophrenia.

Beginning in the first quarter of 2019, the studies will be conducted in Salamanca, Spain for a period of one year, in collaboration with Salamanca University and the Institute of Neuroscience of Castilla y Leon two of the leading institutions globally for the scientific research of the nervous system and its diseases.

The research will focus on the effects of cannabidiol (CBD) on epilepsy and schizophrenia and will be led by Dr. Dolores Lopez, Ph.D. and Dr. Manuel S. Malmierca, Ph.D., M.D., both of whom are experts in neurodegenerative diseases and world renowned for their research on the effect of cannabinoids on neurological health

Christine Halef, BSc Pharm, RPh., SVP, Medical Strategy for MJardin, and Dr. Ashley Masri, ND, Medical Director for MJardin, will oversee the research for MJardin.

Halef founded AtlantiCann Medical Inc. and her background as a pharmacist provides a patient-focused perspective on providing alternative treatment options to conditions that commonly afflict communities across Canada.

Dr. Masri holds a postgraduate degree in Naturopathic Medicine from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine and leverages her scientific background and experience working with natural health products in patient care to coordinate MJardin's medical research efforts.

"There is a lot of work to be done from pre-clinical to clinical trials, to better understand the medical benefits of cannabis on serious neurological disorders such as epilepsy and schizophrenia," said Dr. Masri. "Spain is a recognized hub for medical cannabis research and we are very pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with Salamanca University and the Institute of Neuroscience of Castilla y Leon to address this research gap and identify opportunities to improve the lives of millions globally."

Dr. Dolores Lopez, Research Full Professor at the University of Salamanca and Director of the Audiomotor Disorder's Lab at the Neuroscience Institute of Castilla y Leon, commented, "The collaboration agreement between MJardin and the University of Salamanca opens up a great opportunity to transfer university knowledge to society, setting up the possibility of new treatments for epilepsy and schizophrenia. This research project will provide guidance on safety, dosage and efficacy of cannabidiol-based drugs, and will allow us to increase the visibility of our research within the scientific community."

MJardin will leverage the research to guide the focus of the Company's medical cannabis division, including the development of new products to treat a range of neurological conditions and disorders. Following completion of the studies, MJardin anticipates engaging with the appropriate regulatory bodies to begin research and testing of its products in Canada.

As the leaders of MJardin's medical cannabis division, Halef and Dr. Masri will focus on developing strategic R&D partnerships with reputable research organizations to ensure reliability and safety of medicinal products to both physicians and patients.

"We are proud to provide financial support for this critical research while also attracting and convening a global coalition of experts to advance medical cannabis research, deepen the industry's understanding of medical cannabis, ensure safe and effective patient care, and grow MJardin's medical division," added Rishi Gautam, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MJardin.

About MJardin Group

MJardin is a global cannabis management platform with extensive experience in cultivation, processing, distribution and retail. For over 10 years, MJardin has refined cultivation methodologies, developed state of the art facilities and implemented vertical integration for and on behalf of license owners. As a well-capitalized organization, MJardin continues to pursue strategic expansion and M&A opportunities across global legal cannabis markets. MJardin is based in Denver Colorado, with offices in Toronto, Canada and Barcelona, Spain. For more information, please visit www.mjardin.com

The CSE has not in any way passed upon the merits of and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information based on current expectations. Statements about, among other things, future developments and the business and operations of MJardin, the medical studies discussed in this press release, the growth of or global footprint and our intentions to leverage our scale for continued organic growth and to pursue strategic investments are all forward-looking information. 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. Such factors include, but are not limited to: our ability to identify and pursue growth, financing and other strategic objectives, and the regulatory and economic environments in the jurisdictions we operate or intend to operate or investment in. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions at the date such statements are made, there can be no assurance that the proposed acquisition will occur and that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking information. MJardin assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances unless required by applicable law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005419/en/

Contacts:

Media:

Cory Ziskind

ICR

646-277-1232

cory.ziskind@icrinc.com

Investors:

Ali Mahdavi

Capital Markets Investor Relations

416-962-3300

Ali.mahdavi@mjardin.com

or

Frank Knuettel II, 720-613-4019

Chief Strategy Officer

Frank.Knuettel@MJardin.comHOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / December 18, 2018 / Camber Energy, Inc. (NYSE American: CEI) (" Camber" or the " Company" ) today announced that it had scheduled its 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on Tuesday, February 19, 2019 at 10:30 A.M. local time at 1415 Louisiana, Suite 3500, Houston, Texas 77002.

The record date for determination of stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting, and any adjournment thereof, is planned to be set on or around the close of business on December 31, 2018 (the ' Record Date '). More information regarding the Company's 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders will be disclosed in the Company's preliminary proxy statement which the Company plans to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission later today.

To be timely, pursuant to the Company's Bylaws, as amended, and Rule 14a-8 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, any notice of business or nominations with respect to the 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders must be received by the Company at its principal executive offices at 1415 Louisiana, Suite 3500, Houston, Texas 77002, Attention: Corporate Secretary by no later than 5:00 p.m., Central Time, on December 28, 2018. Any such stockholder proposal must be submitted and must comply with the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Rule 14a-8 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Company's Bylaws, as amended.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

As noted above, in connection with the Annual Meeting, the Company will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the " SEC" ) a proxy statement and other relevant documents. It is anticipated that a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (" Notice" ) relating to the Annual Meeting will be mailed to each stockholder registered in the share register of the Company as of the close of business on the Record Date (provided the Company may alternatively, in its discretion, mail each stockholder a form of the proxy and the Company's latest annual report). Instructions on how to access the proxy materials over the Internet or request a printed set of proxy materials will be provided in the Notice. The Notice (or proxy, if the proxy is mailed) also will provide instructions on how to submit a proxy over the Internet or via mail.

This press release does not constitute a solicitation of any vote or approval. Stockholders are urged to read the proxy statement when it becomes available and any other documents to be filed with the SEC in connection with the Annual Meeting because they will contain important information about the Annual Meeting. The directors, nominees for election as director, executive officers and certain other members of management and employees of the Company may be deemed " participants " in the solicitation of proxies from the Company's stockholders in connection with the matters to be considered at the Annual Meeting. Information regarding the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be considered participants in the solicitation of the Company's stockholders in connection with such matters will be set forth in the definitive proxy statement to be filed with the SEC. In addition, you can find information about the Company's executive officers and directors in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2018 and the aforementioned proxy statement.

Investors will be able to obtain a free copy of documents filed with the SEC at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov . In addition, investors may obtain a free copy of the Company's filings with the SEC through the investor relations section of our website ( http://www.camber.energy ), under " Investors" - " SEC Filings " or by directing a request to: 1415 Louisiana, Suite 3500, Houston, Texas 77002, Attention: Corporate Secretary.

About Camber Energy, Inc.

Based in Houston, Texas, Camber Energy (NYSE American: CEI) is a growth-oriented, independent oil and gas company engaged in the development of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids in the Texas Panhandle as well as other basins. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.camber.energy.

SOURCE: Camber Energy, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/530805/Camber-Energy-Inc-Sets-Date-For-2019-Annual-Meeting-of-StockholdersVancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 18, 2018) - Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. (TSXV: CEM) ("Constantine" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a maiden mineral resource estimate for the AG Zone at the Palmer Copper-Zinc-Lead-Silver-Gold Project ("Palmer" or "Project"). AG Zone is the second deposit to be defined at Palmer and adds to the existing mineral resource base. The total consolidated mineral resource now stands at 4.68 million tonnes of 10.2% zinc equivalent in the indicated category and 9.59 million tonnes of 8.9% zinc equivalent in the inferred category.

"The rapid evolution of the AG Zone from discovery to maiden resource has increased the value of this deposit in a very short time frame," commented President and CEO Garfield MacVeigh.

This initial estimate establishes the AG Zone as a significant precious-metal rich zinc deposit, which has increased the total resource tonnage at Palmer by 43%. Located just three kilometers from the main Palmer Deposit, AG Zone has potential to have a positive impact on the economics of the project. It also clearly confirms the multi-deposit district potential of the 81,000-acre property. The opportunity to discover additional deposits and expand the two known resource areas is considered excellent.

Table 1. AG Zone Deposit Only: Sensitivity by Cut-off Grade

INFERRED MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE (effective date December 18, 2018) Cut-off Grade Tonnes Zn Cu Pb Ag Au Barite ZnEq (% ZnEq) (1,000s) (%) (%) (%) (g/t) (g/t) (BaSO 4 %) (%) 4.5 4,648 4.48 0.12 0.90 114.2 0.50 34.1 8.68 5.0 4,256 4.64 0.12 0.96 119.5 0.53 34.8 9.04 5.5 3,975 4.78 0.13 1.00 122.2 0.54 34.7 9.31 Contained Metal Cut-off Grade Zn Cu Pb Ag Au Barite ZnEq (% ZnEq) (M lb) (M lb) (M lb) (M oz) (K oz) (K tonnes) (M lbs) 4.5 459 12 92 17.1 74.7 1,583 889 5.0 435 11 90 16.4 72.5 1,480 848 5.5 419 11 88 15.6 69.0 1,379 816

Notes:

Includes all drill holes completed at AG Zone; drilling completed between June 2017 and September 2018. Zinc Equivalent ("ZnEq") based on assumed metal prices and 100% recovery and payable for Cu, Zn, Pb, Ag and Au. ZnEq equals = ($66 x Cu% + $25.3 x Zn% + $22 x Pb% + $0.51 x Ag g/t + $40.19 x Au g/t) / 25.3. Assumed metal prices are US$3.00/lb for copper (Cu), US$1.15/lb for zinc (Zn), US$ $1.00/lb for lead, US$1250/oz for gold (Au), US$16/oz for silver (Ag). Barite (BaSO4) not included in the Cut-off determination or reported ZnEq. Mineral resources as reported are undiluted. Mineral resource tonnages have been rounded to reflect the precision of the estimate. Readers are cautioned that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Table 2. Total Mineral Resource for the Palmer Project (all deposits)

Deposit Cut-off Resource Category Tonnes Zn Cu Pb Ag Au Barite ZnEq (1,000s) (%) (%) (%) (g/t) (g/t) (BaSO 4 %) (%) Palmer Deposit South Wall & RW $75/t NSR Indicated 4,677 5.23 1.49 - 30.8 0.30 23.9 10.21 $75/t NSR Inferred 5,338 5.20 0.96 - 29.2 0.28 22.0 8.74 AG Zone Deposit 5.0% ZnEq Inferred 4,256 4.64 0.12 0.96 119.5 0.53 34.8 9.04 Total Indicated 4,677 5.23 1.49 - 30.8 0.30 23.9 10.21 Inferred 9,594 4.95 0.59 0.43 69.3 0.39 27.7 8.87

Notes:

See news release dated September 27, 2018 for Palmer Deposit resource estimate Net Smelter Return ("NSR") equals (US$16.01 x Zn% + US$48.67 x Cu% + US$23.45 x Au g/t + US$0.32 x Ag g/t). NSR formula is based on estimated metallurgical recoveries, assumed metal prices, and assumed offsite costs that include transportation of concentrate, smelter treatment charges, and refining charges. ZnEq equals = ($66 x Cu% + $25.3 x Zn% + $22 x Pb% + $0.51 x Ag g/t + $40.19 x Au g/t) / 25.3. Assumed metal prices for NSR and ZnEq formulas are US$3.00/lb for copper (Cu), US$1.15/lb for zinc (Zn), US$ $1.00/lb for lead, US$1250/oz for gold (Au), US$16/oz for silver (Ag). Estimated metal recoveries for Palmer Deposit are 93.1% for zinc, 88.9% for copper, 90.9% for silver (70.8% to the Cu concentrate and 20.1% to the Zn concentrate) and 69.6% for gold (49.5% to the Cu concentrate and 20.1% to the Zn concentrate) as determined from metallurgical locked cycle flotation tests completed in 2018. No recovery data is available for AG Zone deposit. Barite (BaSO4) not included in the Cut-off determination or reported ZnEq.

Table 3. Total Contained Metal for the Palmer Project (all deposits)

Resource Category Zn Cu Pb Ag Au Barite ZnEq (M lb) (M lb) (M lb) (M oz) (K oz) (K tonnes) (M lbs) Indicated 539 154 - 4.6 45.1 1,116 1,053 Inferred 1,047 124 90 21.4 120.6 2,654 1,876

AG Zone Resource Model

The mineral resource estimate prepared by James N. Gray of Advantage Geoservices Ltd. is reported in accordance with Canadian Securities Administrators' NI 43-101 and conforms to the Canadian Institute of Mining "Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practices" guidelines. The resource incorporates all exploration drilling in the AG Zone Deposit area completed since initial discovery in 2017. Twenty-nine (29) exploration diamond drill holes for 10,766 metres and geological surface mapping were used to generate the geological and structural model for the AG Zone. Twenty (20) holes intersected the interpreted mineralized solids. Outlier assays were capped and all assays within the mineralized zones were composited to 1.5-metre lengths. Metal grades were estimated using inverse distance cubed interpolation into a three-dimensional ("3D") block model with block dimensions of 6 x 6 x 6 metres, which is consistent with the main Palmer Deposit. Density was estimated by inverse distance squared interpolation with unique density values determined by conventional analytical methods for all assay samples.

Three-dimensional geologic solids (Figure 1) were constructed by Darwin Green, Vice President of Exploration, and reviewed by QP Ian Cunningham-Dunlop, P.Eng. Vice President, Advanced Projects, and, in general, were limited to material grading > 2% Zn or > 60 grams per tonne ("g/t") Ag that could be correlated with definable stratabound zones. As a general rule, solids were extended no more than 50 metres up-dip, down-dip and along strike from a drill hole except where geology supported extension between holes in the trend of mineralization. Two (2) solids for sulphide mineralization were included in the Inferred Mineral Resource: the AG main lens, and the AG footwall zinc zone.

Material was classified as Inferred Mineral Resource where estimated by at least three holes (96% of blocks) or by two holes if the closest is within 75 metres (3%) or by a single hole if within 30 metres (1%). The complete NI 43-101 Technical Report will be released within 45 days of this news release.

Ian Cunningham-Dunlop, P.Eng, Vice President of Advanced Projects to Constantine Metal Resources Ltd., is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 for the Palmer project. James N. Gray, P.Geo of Advantage Geoservices Ltd. is the Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 for the resource estimate discussed above. They have reviewed and approved the contents of this release.

Discussion of AG Zone, Barite and Next Steps

Compared to the main Palmer Deposit, the AG Zone resource contains significantly higher-grades of silver, gold, lead and barite, similar zinc grade and lower copper grade. On a zinc equivalent basis, the grade of the two deposits is roughly comparable. Mineralogy is similar but with different relative abundance of the primary ore-minerals. QEMSCAN mineralogical analyses for AG Zone indicate good liberation and exposure of ore-minerals at moderate grind sizes. Good metal recoveries are expected based on the QEMSCAN data and benchmarking to metallurgical data for the main Palmer Deposit and other like deposits.

A barite market study has been completed for the Project that supports the potential economics of recovering barite as a saleable commodity. In addition to estimating wholesale price and size of North American drilling-grade barite markets, the study also assessed the logistics and cost of transportation.

The Company and its consultants plan to evaluate the potential integration of the new AG Zone resource into its ongoing preliminary evaluation of project economics for the main Palmer Deposit.

About the Palmer Project

Palmer is a high-grade volcanogenic massive sulphide-sulphate (VMS) project being advanced as a joint venture between Constantine (51%) and Dowa Metals & Mining Co Ltd. (49%), with Constantine as operator. The Project is located in a very accessible part of coastal Southeast Alaska, with road access to the edge of the property and within 60 kilometers of the year-round deep-sea port of Haines. Mineralization at Palmer occurs within the same belt of rocks that is host to the Greens Creek mine, one of the world's richest VMS deposits. VMS deposits are known to occur in clusters, and with at least 25 separate base metal and/or barite occurrences and prospects on the Project, there is abundant potential for discovery of multiple deposits at Palmer.

About the Company

Constantine is a mineral exploration company led by an experienced and proven technical team with a focus on premier North American mining environments. In addition to the Company's flagship copper-zinc-lead-silver-gold (barite) Palmer Joint Venture Project, Constantine also controls a portfolio of high-quality, 100% owned, gold projects that the Company intends to spin out into a separate entity. These include the very high-grade Johnson Tract Au-Ag-Zn-Cu-Pb deposit, located in coastal south-central, Alaska and projects in the Timmins, Ontario gold camp that include the large, well-located Golden Mile property and the Munro Croesus Gold property, which is renowned for its exceptionally high-grade past production. Management is committed to providing shareholder value through discovery, meaningful community engagement, environmental stewardship, and responsible mineral exploration and development activities that support local jobs and businesses.

Please visit the Company's website (www.constantinemetals.com) for more detailed company and project information.





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5413/41719_5807e7f114deb81a_003full.jpg





On Behalf of Constantine Metal Resources Ltd.

"Garfield MacVeigh"

President

For further information, please visit the Constantine Metal Resources website at www.constantinemetals.com, or contact:

Naomi Nemeth

Vice President, Investor Relations

Email: info@constantinemetals.com

Phone: +1 604 629 2348

Or

Garfield MacVeigh, President

Email: info@constantinemetals.com

Phone: +1 604 629 2348

Notes:

Forward looking statements: This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively "forward looking statements")." Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "forecast", "expect", "potential", "project", "target", "schedule", budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof.All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the mineral resource estimate, potential mineralization and geological merits of the Palmer Project and other future plans, objectives or expectations of the Company are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Company's expectations include actual exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future barite and metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause such actions, events or results to differ materially from those anticipated. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and accordingly readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.DENVER, CO / ACCESSWIRE / December 18, 2018 / Medicine Man Technologies Inc. (OTCQX: MDCL ) ("Medicine Man Technologies" or "Company"), one of the United States' leading cannabis branding and consulting companies, today announced the hiring of Joe Puglise as its new Chief Operating Officer ("COO").

In his role as COO, Mr. Puglise will be responsible for management of day-to-day sales and general operations activities. Mr. Puglise brings considerable experience in operational management, most recently at the Beekman Group where he serves as an Industry Partner and Board Member for a portfolio company holding, helping them to grow through both organic and acquisition means. Prior to that, he was President of New York properties for iHeartMedia, where he oversaw approximately 300 employees and almost $200m in annual revenue and $100m in annual EBITDA. Additionally, he has held board positions with organizations including the Ad Council of New York, the Annenberg Center at the University of Pennsylvania, Alliance for Lupus Research (ALR) 2014 Walk Co-Chair and Big Brother and Big Sisters of Central Arizona. Mr. Puglise is a 1992 magna cum laude graduate of the Wharton School of Business.

"As we continue to experience dramatic growth across the business, including entering new verticals that will enable to us to transition into a "plant touching' business with significant room for growth, Mr. Puglise will fill a critical role ensuring that the Company continues to operate in the most efficient manner, while solidifying our foundation to support continued growth and success in the coming years," commented Interim CEO Andy Williams.

"I am excited to be a part of a Company that has proven itself a pioneer in the cannabis industry, with a dynamic and growing client roster, backed by innovative branding and consulting capabilities," Mr. Puglise said. "I look forward to leveraging my decades of leadership experience to further develop the Company's client roster and improving organizational performance to support future growth.

About Medicine Man Technologies, Inc.

Established in March 2014, the Company secured its first client/licensee in April 2014. To date, the Company has provided guidance for several clients that have successfully secured licenses to operate cannabis businesses within their state. The Company currently has or has had active clients in California, Iowa, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, Illinois, Michigan, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia, Germany, and South Africa. We continue to focus on working with clients to 1) utilize its experience, technology, and training to help secure a license in states with newly emerging regulations, 2) deploy the Company's highly effective variable capacity constant harvest cultivation practices through its deployment of Cultivation MAX, and eliminate the liability of single grower dependence, 3) avoid the costly mistakes generally made in start-up, 4) stay engaged with an ever expanding team of licensees and partners, all focused on quality and safety that will "share" the ever-improving experience and knowledge of the network, and 5) continuing the expansion of our Brands Warehouse concept through entry into industry based cooperative agreements and pursuing other acquisitions as they prove suitable to our overall business development strategy.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release may contain forward-looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those anticipated or expected, including statements related to the amount and timing of expected revenues and any payment of dividends on our common and preferred stock, statements related to our financial performance, expected income, distributions, and future growth for upcoming quarterly and annual periods. These risks and uncertainties are further defined in filings and reports by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Actual results and the timing of certain events could differ materially from those projected in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors detailed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Among other matters, the Medicine Man Technologies may not be able to sustain growth or achieve profitability based on many factors including, but not limited to, general stock market conditions. Reference is hereby made to cautionary statements set forth in the Company's most recent SEC filings. We have incurred and will continue to incur significant expenses in the expansion of our existing and new service lines, noting there is no assurance that we will generate enough revenues to offset those costs in both the near and long-term. Additional service offerings may expose us to additional legal and regulatory costs and unknown exposure(s) based upon the various geopolitical locations where we will be providing services, the impact of which cannot be predicted at this time.

To be added to the Medicine Man email distribution list, please email, MDCL@kcsa.com with MDCL in the subject line.

For more information, visit us at www.medicinemantechnologies.com ; www.threealight.com

Contact Information:

Andy Williams

info@medicinemantechnologies.com

Telephone (303) 371-0387

SOURCE: Medicine Man Technologies Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/530827/Medicine-Man-Technologies-Announces-Appointment-of-Joe-Puglise-as-Chief-Operating-OfficerMontreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - December 18, 2018) - Technology incubator and mobile app development company, RewardDrop Software, Inc., a division of APPx Group Holdings, Inc. (CSE: APPX) (FSE: APO) (the "Company" or "APPx"), announced a development update on CatchCoin, their augmented reality rewards platform, where participating businesses offer real cash rewards to consumers who visit their locations and make purchases, thus generating measurable foot traffic with a great return on investment (ROI).

Penetration testing of the CatchCoin web application, REST API, iOS application and Android application has been completed by Scalar Decisions Inc.. Scalar also performed application source code compliance reviews and application architecture reviews for both Android and iOS. Complete details can be found in the APPx press release dated December 6, 2018.

Back-end architecture, including databases, web application and API, has been migrated to the Microsoft Azure platform, allowing for greater security and scalability for the CatchCoin platform. Azure will facilitate the upcoming Beta program, public launch and product growth as CatchCoin expands into new regions.

Augmented Reality technologies ARCore (Android) and ARKit (iOS) have been integrated into the CatchCoin mobile applications and will allow app users to view geolocation-based rewards as 3D objects in real-world space via their smartphone. Additionally, QR code generation and scanning has been implemented within the platform and mobile apps, which will enable advertisers to securely offer additional rewards to CatchCoin app users who make a purchase at their locations.

The sales team has received signed commitments from 50 businesses to take part in the CatchCoin Beta program in Montreal in early 2019. Participating businesses will gain early access to the Location Portal and work with the CatchCoin team to create geolocation-based campaigns at their locations. A group of Beta testers will be given early access to CatchCoin iOS and Android mobile applications to view and claim rewards by visiting and making purchases at participating businesses.

"CatchCoin development has progressed tremendously over the recent months," said Kyle Maglio, VP of Product Development at APPx. "With core systems in place, our sales and marketing teams have been delivering full product demos to both committed and prospective advertisers. With the upcoming Beta program, feedback received from participating businesses and app users will help us to further refine and improve CatchCoin before launch."

The CatchCoin platform will empower retailers, event providers and brands to deliver real cash rewards in exchange for location visits and sales. Highly customizable campaigns allow advertisers to target the customers they want, when they want, to generate foot traffic, promote high-margin merchandise and maximize staff productivity. Consumers with the CatchCoin app will earn real cash rewards by visiting, and making purchases at, participating advertiser locations.

To learn more about CatchCoin, please visit www.catchcoin.com.

About APPx Group Holdings, Inc.

APPx Group Holdings, Inc. is a Fintech incubator that offers technology-based business solutions. Our growing partnership network allows us to service a wide range of markets: advertising, fintech, and telecommunications products and services.

With our strong reach, we're constantly adding to, and enhancing, our portfolio. We strive to be industry leaders, creating innovations engineered from the ground up by our diverse culture of talent. APPx delivers sustained value by strategically solving our customers' immediate and long-term needs, helping them reach their goals on a global scale.

Contact:

APPx Group Holdings, Inc.

Rahim Mohamed, CEO

RM@appxgroup.com

(833) 777-APPX

Jay Ruckenstein, President

jay@appxgroup.com

(833) 777-APPX

Forward-looking Information

This news release includes forward-looking information that is subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward-looking. Although APPx believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking information are based on reasonable assumptions, such information is not a guarantee of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information. These factors include, among others, the risks associated with the failure to execute any of APPx's current or anticipated projects or transactions. Although management of APPx has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be 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, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. APPx does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 18, 2018) - Pacific Empire Minerals Corp. (TSXV: PEMC) (OTCQB: PEMSF) ("Pacific Empire", "PEMC" or the "Company"), a hybrid prospect generator focused in British Columbia, is pleased to announce it has entered into an option agreement with a group of vendors and subsequently consolidated a significant land position of over 90 square kilometers in the Babine Copper-Gold Porphyry district in central British Columbia. The amalgamated "Paragon Project" combines the Company's Wasp Property, the recently optioned "Nilkitkwa Property", and prospective ground staked by the Company.

Highlights

PEMC signs option agreement to acquire 100% interest in certain mineral claims, where ongoing logging operations have exposed copper mineralization and quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration

PEMC stakes additional ground and consolidates land position to form Paragon Project

Recent due diligence outcrop sampling by PEMC from Nilkitkwa Property returns up to 1.9% copper

About the Paragon Project

The 9,099 hectare Paragon Project covers four copper  gold prospects in central British Columbia and is within 30 km of three copper-gold porphyry deposits, including the past-producing Bell and Granisle Mines and the advanced Morrison copper-gold porphyry deposit. These deposits are genetically and spatially associated with Biotite Feldspar Porphyry ("BFP") dikes. PEMC is targeting analogous geology at the various prospects situated within the Paragon Property boundary. Results from due diligence rock sampling program at the Nilkitkwa Property are summarized below.

Table 1. Outcrop grab samples from Nilkitkwa Property.

Sample ID UTM East UTM North Cu (%) 2095402 651117 6097944 1.89 2095403 651123 6097956 0.20

The four copper  gold prospects consist of the Rebinsky, HOL, Wasp, and Big Joe prospects. The Rebinsky prospects, which are the focus of the ground within the option agreement, cover multiple sulphide showings that were recently uncovered during ongoing logging activities. In the northern portion of the Nilkitkwa Property, extensive quartz-sericite-pyrite +/- magnetite alteration exists proximal to a covered magnetic anomaly. In the southern portion of the property, copper mineralization is found in a recently exposed rock quarry where it consists of localized chalcocite coating chalcopyrite and pyrite grains which are disseminated and filling fractures in chlorite-carbonate altered andesitic volcanics.

At the HOL prospect, a 1,500 m x 600 m copper-molybdenum soil anomaly is coincident with a strong IP chargeability anomaly immediately adjacent to a major northwest trending fault. Historical drilling at the southeastern margin of this area encountered copper mineralization associated with BFP dikes, though assay results were not reported. Historical drilling at the Wasp prospect encountered anomalous copper as disseminated and fracture filling pyrite-chalcopyrite associated with BFP dikes. The Big Joe prospect consists of two historical trenches over 1 km apart where copper as chalcopyrite +/- bornite was encountered and found to be associated with northwest trending structures.

The Paragon Project is ideally suited for PEMC's reverse circulation drill and the Company will be developing and refining targets for intended drill testing in 2019.

Details with respect to the consideration payable for the acquisition of 6 claims totaling 630 hectares are as follows:

Table 2. Option agreement terms.

Timing Cash Payments * Share issuances Upon signing $5,000 - First anniversary of Effective Date $5,000 50,000 Second anniversary of Effective Date $10,000 100,000 Third anniversary of Effective Date $20,000 150,000 Fourth anniversary of Effective Date $25,000 200,000 TOTAL = $65,000 500,000

The vendors of the property hold a 2% net smelter royalty ("NSR"). The Company may purchase one half of the NSR at any time from the vendors for $1,500,000. *

* Dollar amounts expressed in Canadian dollars

This property acquisition remains subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Any securities issued as consideration under this option agreement will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance.







Figure 1. Location map - Paragon Project.



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5412/41712_2febdd873498cbe8_001full.jpg

About the Babine Copper-Gold Porphyry District

The most significant deposits and occurrences in the Babine Lake area are temporally and spatially related to Eocene (50 Ma) Babine intrusions. These host more than a dozen deposits and occurrences in addition to the past producing Bell and Granisle open-pit mines which processed 130 million tonnes with average recovered grades of 0.40% copper and 0.15% gold between 1966 and 1992.

Babine intrusions occur as small stocks, plugs and dike swarms emplaced along northwest-trending regional faults developed in arc-derived Mesozoic volcanic and sedimentary assemblages. The dominant hostrock for copper-gold mineralization is a distinctive, fine- to medium-grained, crowded biotite feldspar porphyry (BFP) of granodiorite composition. Copper-gold mineralization occurs as chalcopyrite and bornite within narrow quartz-filled fractures and stockworks and as disseminations within and marginal to BFP intrusions.

Although most of the known porphyry deposits and occurrences were found by basic prospecting and stream sediment geochemistry, subsequent exploration in the Babine area has been hampered by extensive glacial overburden cover.

Pacific Empire's President, Brad Peters, added: "We are excited to continue building our portfolio through a combination of staking and strategic option agreements. The Paragon Project is a good example of the type of projects PEMC intends to pursue moving forward and we look forward to advancing the project in 2019."

QA/QC Procedures

Rock samples were collected from outcrop placed in polyethylene sample bags before being sealed and subsequently shipped to MS Analytical in Langley, BC.

Qualified Person

Rory Ritchie, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration for the Company, serves as a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed the scientific and technical information in this news release, approving the disclosure herein.

About Pacific Empire Minerals Corp.

PEMC is an exploration company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that employs a "hybrid prospect generator" business model and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PEMC and on the OTCQB Markets under the symbol PEMSF.

By integrating the project generator business model with low-cost reverse circulation drilling, the company intends to leverage its portfolio by identifying, and focusing on, the highest quality projects for partnerships and advancement.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,

"Brad Peters"

President and Chief Executive Officer

Pacific Empire Minerals Corp.

Tel: +1-604-356-6246

brad@pemcorp.ca

www.pemcorp.ca

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: the need for additional financing; operational risks associated with mineral exploration; fluctuations in commodity prices; title matters; environmental liability claims and insurance; reliance on key personnel; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain officers, directors or promoters with certain other projects; the absence of dividends; competition; dilution; the volatility of our common share price and volume and the additional risks identified the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.Exceptional Quality of LG's Luxury Lineup Explored via Creative Partnerships with Influencers from the World of Fashion and Design

SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- LG SIGNATURE is continuing to increase its global reach and visibility by partnering with prominent figures in fashion and design. LG SIGNATURE has teamed up with well-known personalities in one of the world's most acknowledged style capitals, Milan, Italy, to highlight the lineup's design credentials and natural relationship with high-end couture and luxury goods.

Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8464351-lg-signature-fashion-design-partners/

LG SIGNATURE's campaign in Italy is composed of different activities focused on design. Popular TV and cinema personality Federica Fontana - a former model, TV presenter and actress - will be involved in a product placement activity aimed to create social buzz about LG SIGNATURE products through social media postings. Moreover, in order to communicate the products' many benefits, LG will ask the opinion of Marco Bocci, one of Italy's most popular actors and director, about LG SIGNATURE OLED TV's unrivalled performance and refined aesthetics.

Moreover, creative director of Grumble Agency Eleonora Carisi and fashion icon and owner of the "Wait and See" concept store, Uberta Zambeletti will launch "The Art of Essence", a video-photographic project designed specifically for social networks. This project will lead users to discover LG SIGNATURE products through a luxury and lifestyle storytelling composed of mini-videos and photos, where each product will be the protagonist for a day. From morning to evening, ambassadors will interact with the products in unusual ways and will be able to show and emphasize its features, design and ultra-premium innovations.

"We are very honored to be partnering with some of Italy's world-renowned fashion and style experts," said Brian Na, President and CEO of Europe Region. "We believe this expanded partnership program is an effective means of placing the global spotlight on LG SIGNATURE's uncompromising design and premium quality. Every single product has been beautifully and thoughtfully designed, echoing the way top fashion houses and established luxury brands create goods that speak for themselves."

About LG SIGNATURE

LG SIGNATURE is LG Electronics' ultra-premium brand. By uniting the best of LG technology and design under a single brand, LG SIGNATURE offers consumers a collection that boasts subtle elegance and top-notch performance. The range of LG SIGNATURE products includes InstaView Door-in-Door refrigerator, TWINWash washing machine, air purifier and award-winning "wallpaper" OLED TV W. All LG SIGNATURE products have one thing in common: uncompromising quality and a focus on the essentials. LG SIGNATURE products have won a number of industry awards for technological innovation and sophisticated design, including 2017 CES Best of Innovation Award, iF Gold Award 2016 and Red Dot Design Award 2016.Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:046890) ("Seoul"), a leading global innovator of LED products and technology, announced that Seoul won a patent infringement lawsuit against a global distributor of Everlight LED products in Germany. The German court issued a permanent injunction against the sales of the accused Everlight products and ordered the distributor to recall such products from commercial customers.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005262/en/

The Patented Technology Improving Light Intensity and Brightness (Graphic: Business Wire)

In March 2017, Seoul filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Germany at the District Court of Dusseldorf against Mouser Electronic Inc, accusing the distribution of certain Everlight LED products to infringe a patent that Seoul was enforcing. After 20 months of litigation proceedings, the Court rendered judgments in favor of SSC's infringement claims, including ordering an injunction against sales of the accused Everlight products. The Court also ordered to recall the accused Everlight products sold after July 13, 2012 from the distributor's commercial customers. The decision issued in the first instance.

The patented technology involved in this litigation serves to efficiently extract light emitted from the internal LED structure by treating LED chip surfaces, thereby significantly improving light intensity and brightness. This patented technology has been registered in major 12 countries including the US., Europe and Asia. It has been widely used for automobile headlamps, UV lighting, horticultural lighting, outdoor lighting, and cell phone flashlights. Therefore, this court judgment would enable Seoul to exercise its patent rights in the global LED market which is worth about $5 billion.

"We do our best to encourage a fair-competition environment, in which young entrepreneurs and small entities can succeed in the business world, relying on fair competition in the market and respecting hard-earned patented technology" said Sam Ryu, Seoul's vice president of IT Business.

About Seoul Semiconductor

Seoul Semiconductor develops and commercializes light emitting diodes (LEDs) for automotive, general illumination, specialty lighting, and backlighting markets. As the fourth-largest LED manufacturer globally, Seoul Semiconductor holds more than 12,000 patents, offers a wide range of technologies, and mass produces innovative LED products such as SunLike delivering the world's best light quality in a next-generation LED enabling human-centric lighting optimized for circadian rhythms; WICOP a simpler structured package-free LED which provides market leading color uniformity and cost savings at the fixture level, providing high lumen density and design flexibility; NanoDriver Series the world's smallest 24W DC LED drivers; Acrich, the world's first high-voltage AC-driven LED technology developed in 2005, including all AC LED-related technologies from chip to module and circuit fabrication, as well as multi-junction technology (MJT); and nPola, a new LED product based on GaN-substrate technology that achieves more than ten times the output of conventional LEDs. UCD constitutes a high color gamut display which delivers more than 90% NTSC. To learn more, visit www.seoulsemicon.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005262/en/

Contacts:

Seoul Semiconductor Inc.

Jeonghee Kim

Tel: +82-70-4391-8311

Email: jeonghee.kim@seoulsemicon.comCAIRO, December 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Investing in the future of Financial Services across local and cross border startup ecosystems.

Commercial International Bank (CIB), Egypt's leading financial institution, announced the establishment of CVentures, the first Corporate Venture Capital firm in Egypt primarily focused on investing in transformational FinTech startup companies, and next generation financial services platform's. CVentures establishment reflects CIB's deep and continued commitment towards Egypt's largely untapped financial services industry, and the importance of FinTech as one of the key drivers of Financial Inclusion, and the country's future economic growth prospects, at large.

CVentures will pre-dominantly participate in Series A and Series B investment rounds in Egypt, the Middle East, Africa and other highly regarded cross-border market economies, in addition to considering Seed investment rounds across similar markets. To achieve this, CVentures will combine the speed and agility of an independent investor with the breadth of CIB's businesses, whilst continuously developing meaningful relationships with dynamic and insightful stakeholders involved in high-growth, disruptive technologies and differentiated business models that compliment and intersect with CIB's core businesses.

Mr. Hussein Abaza, CIB CEO and CVentures Chairman said, "As demonstrated through our active engagement and sponsorship initiatives over the course of the past couple of years, CIB has always had a clear vision towards the importance of entrepreneurship. The establishment of CVentures is a continuation of such vision; evidence of CIB's profound commitment towards supporting the development of the Egyptian Financial Sector. The founding of a Venture Capital firm focused on FinTech comes at a very exciting time for the Egyptian economy where all stakeholders are encouraged to support the government's strategic direction towards Financial Inclusion," added Mr. Abaza.

Moreover, "CIB's establishment of CVentures is in line with international common practice amongst major banks, where the adoption of win-win collaboration models with startup communities has ultimately served customers better," added Mr. Ashraf Shash, CIB's Head of Direct Investment Group and CVentures Vice Chairman. "I am confident that CVentures, with CIB's support and dedication of its executive team, will surpass its targets and have a meaningful impact on the startup ecosystem. We expect CVentures to add considerable value to portfolio companies, venture partners and the VC community in Egypt and the region," added Mr. Shash.

"We are very excited about CVentures as it fills a gap in the ecosystem, and brings a much needed focus and institutional support to the early-stage FinTech spectrum," added Mr. Emad Fouad, CVentures Managing Director. "As an integral part of our operating model, we intend on leveraging CIB's platform to support and accelerate fast moving, forward thinking entrepreneurs with deep market insights, whilst focusing on fostering key strategic local and cross-border relationships to develop accelerated collaboration models and meaningful partnerships," added Mr. Fouad.

For additional information on CVentures, please visit http://www.cventureseg.com

About Commercial International Bank S.A.E.

Established in 1975, today Commercial International Bank (CIB) is Egypt's leading private-sector bank. Each of CIB's 6,500 employees is dedicated to achieving its mission: to create outstanding stakeholder value by providing best-in-class financial solutions, innovative products, and superior customer service to the individuals and enterprises that drive Egypt's economy. With its well-established network of over 190 branches, CIB provides its customers with exceptional service, whether they are individuals, households, high-net-worth individuals, large corporations, or small businesses.

For several years, CIB has also enjoyed the titles of most profitable bank operating in Egypt and the bank of choice for over 500 of Egypt's largest corporations. CIB was also named the World's Best Bank in the Emerging Markets at the Global Finance 2018 special awards ceremony, one year after it was awarded same title from Euromoney. 2018 marked CIB's commitment to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI), during which CIB became the first institution in the Middle East to be included as a business case study in the London School of Business' curriculum for graduate students.

For further information about CIB products and services, please visit cibeg.com.

https://www.cibeg.com/English/News/Pages/CIB-establishes-CVentures-Egypt's-first-corporate-venture-capital-firm-focused-primarily-on-FinTech.aspxVANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 18, 2018 / Cielo Waste Solutions Corp. (CSE: CMC) ("Cielo" or the "Company") announces a non-brokered private placement ("Offering") of up to 15,384,615 ("Units") at $0.13 per Unit. Each Unit is comprised of one Common Share and one warrant ("Warrant"), with each Warrant having an exercise price of $0.20 and an expiration date of the earlier of 36 months from the date of issuance of the Units and the date that is 30 days from the date that Cielo provides notice ("Notice") to the warrant holder that the expiration date of the Warrants has been accelerated. The Notice may only be delivered to the Warrant Holders after Cielo's listed common shares trade at $0.40, or higher, for 20 consecutive days, any time after 4 months and a day from the date of issuance of the Units. Any Warrants that have not been exercised on or before the expiry of the 30-day period will automatically expire.

The Offering will close in one or more tranches. Cielo has closed the first tranche of the Offering ("First Tranche"), raising gross proceeds of $874,406 through the issuance of 6,726,200 Units. $42,406 of the gross proceeds were paid by way of debt settlement.

Although the Offering is non-brokered, the Company may, as determined in its sole discretion, pay reasonable customary brokers' and/or finders' fees ("Fees"), as applicable, in connection with the completion of the Offering. With respect to the closing of the First Tranche, Cielo has paid Fees equal to $58,240 and issued 291,200 warrants ("Finder's Warrant"). Each Finder's Warrant has the same terms as the Warrants issued pursuant to the Offering and all securities issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to applicable resale restrictions. The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to acquire equipment and pay service costs to advance the commissioning of Cielo's first commercial waste to renewable diesel fuel refinery in Aldersyde, Alberta ("Aldersyde Refinery"), as well as for working capital.

As an insider participated in the Offering, it is considered to be a "related party transaction" under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company relies on the exemption from valuation requirement pursuant to subsection 5.5(b) of MI 61-101, as the securities of the Company are not listed or quoted on an enumerated stock exchange, and the Company relies on the exemption from minority approval under subsection 5.7(b) of MI 61-101, as the securities of the Company are not listed or quoted on an enumerated stock exchange; neither consideration received, nor the fair value of the securities distributed exceeds $2,500,000; and at least two thirds of independent directors of the Company voted in favour of the related party transaction.

Grande Prairie Joint Venture Update

Further to the previously announced Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with Renewable U Energy Inc. ("Renewable U"), announced on November 1, 2018, Cielo's management has visited Grande Prairie so as to advance site selection for the contemplated joint venture refinery in Grande Prairie. Cielo's management has also visited Medicine Hat in order to meet with and assist Renewable U in their due diligence process prior to exercising their option to build one or more joint venture refineries with Cielo in or around Medicine Hat, Alberta ("Option"). In the event Renewable U exercises the Option, Renewable U will enter into a second memorandum of understanding with Cielo, which will require Renewable U to pay Cielo an additional $250,000. The MOU provided for the Option to be exercised within 45 days of the date of the MOU, however. Cielo has granted Renewable U an extension to January 31, 2019 to exercise the Option, due to Renewable U's request for additional time for due diligence.

Raphael Bohlmann, President of Renewable U, stated, "Subsequent to Don Allan's visit to Grande Prairie, we have narrowed down our site selection to one of three properties on which to begin acquisition negotiations. In addition, based on the positive feedback that we have received after our last group of meetings in Medicine Hat, along with the significant advancements being made by Cielo in their commissioning efforts of their Aldersyde Refinery, we are confident that we will be exercising our Option with Cielo to build additional joint venture refineries together in or around Medicine Hat."

Don Allan, President and CEO of Cielo, stated, "The recent announcements by the Alberta and British Columbia governments regarding their continued support for "green" initiatives reaffirms our belief of the immediate need for Cielo's waste to renewable fuels technology. Although the commissioning of our Aldersyde Refinery has taken longer with higher capital costs than originally contemplated, we believe that the engineering and design changes that are being implemented will help us to scale-up and build out multiple refineries. Over the past several months, while evaluating different capital options to purchase additional equipment to facilitate the Aldersyde Refinery to operate on a continuous-flow basis, we have successfully been able to convert sawdust into distillate, which we are then able to convert into renewable diesel, kerosene and naphtha fuels. We anticipate being able to achieve our first sales in Q1 of 2019 and thereafter proceed forward with our next phase of our business plan and building multiple refineries in Canada."

*Actual amount $874,406

Join Cielo shareholders on 8020 Connect: http://bit.ly/Cielogroup

For more information please contact:

Cielo Waste Solutions Corp.

Don Allan

President & CEO

(403) 348-2972 Ext. 101

donallan@cielows.com

www.cielows.com

Michael Yeung, CFA

VP, Business Development & Capital Markets

(403) 348-2972 Ext. 103

michaelyeung@cielows.com

www.cielows.com

About Cielo Waste Solutions Corp.

Cielo Waste Solutions Corp. is a publicly traded company with its shares listed to trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") under the symbol "CMC". Cielo holds the exclusive license for the global rights to a transformational, patent-pending, technology engineered to convert garbage-derived feedstocks to high grade renewable diesel, at a significantly lower cost than biofuel companies. With landfills being one of the world's leading contributors to Green House Gas emissions and being projected to double in size over the next 7 years, Cielo can potentially resolve this crisis, on a cost-effective basis, by converting multiple different garbage-derived feedstocks, including sorted municipal solid waste (garbage), wood and agriculture waste, tires, blue-box waste, all plastics and virtually any other cellulous waste product into high grade renewable diesel.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should" or similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes.

Forward looking statements are subject to both known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements, including but not limited to: the use of proceeds of the offering, receipt of all necessary approvals of the offering, general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; negotiation uncertainties and other risks of its industry. Although the Company 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.

Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some of which are described herein. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the Company's actual performance and results to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required by law, neither the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise such statements to reflect new information, subsequent or otherwise.

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.

SOURCE: Cielo Waste Solutions Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/530879/CORRECTION-Cielo-Announces-2-Million-Private-Placement-and-Closing-of-First-Tranche-of-875000Arthur Ventures Leads the Round with Coinbase and Digital Currency Group Participating; Demonstrates Increasing Demand for Fast, High-Quality Crypto Data Among Funds, Exchanges and Fintech Developers

BOSTON, MA and MINNEAPOLIS, MN / ACCESSWIRE / December 18, 2018 / Nomics, a cryptocurrency data company that delivers professional-grade, cloud-based data products and APIs for institutional crypto investors, today announces it has raised $3 million in Series A funding. Venture capital firm Arthur Ventures led the funding round and cryptocurrency industry veterans, such as BitGo Co-Founder Ben Davenport, Coinbase Ventures, CoVenture Crypto and Digital Currency Group, also participated.

Boston and Minneapolis-based Nomics will use the funding to develop new products based on significant demand for its data among institutional crypto investors. Specifically, the company will deploy the capital towards its goal of indexing 95 percent of all order book, raw trade and blockchain data available for cryptoassets. The company will also be adding more talent with plans to invest in its engineering team in 2019.

'Crypto investors need to make lightning fas decisions based on highly reliable, consistent, normalized and high fidelity data, which has never been easily attainable for the cryptocurrency asset class,' said Clay Collins, CEO of Nomics. 'Nomics addresses this problem and makes the decentralized financial system more accessible, useful and understandable. We're developing the data "backbone' for the open financial system and with this additional funding, we plan to build on our success by strengthening our offerings.'

The Nomics API enables users to access historical and real-time financial data about tokenized assets including price quotes, trading indicators and other types of normalized data through API endpoints. It addresses problems with cryptoasset data, such as inconsistency, accessibility and disaggregation. These issues have arisen with an explosion in new exchanges, new cryptoassets and trading volume in recent years. Crypto investors, such as hedge funds, can develop and test investment strategies, feed their machine learning models and trading algorithms, accurately track their portfolio and fluctuations in the market, and build compelling financial data-enabled software using the Nomics API.

'The Nomics API is well-equipped to keep pace with growing investor demand for accurate, gapless crypto market data,' said Patrick Meenan, partner at Arthur Ventures. 'Some of the largest industry players are Nomics customers and investors. The API product has made an impression on the market and with our investment, the company is well-positioned to accelerate growth and continue to meet growing demand. In addition, we were attracted to Nomics' talented team, commitment to leading the API crypto data market, proprietary technology and strong client base.'

Nomics currently indexes over 3.5 billion data points and is serving over 35 million API calls per month. The investment includes additional participation from several crypto industry investors, including CityBlock Capital, King Capital, PolyMath and TokenSoft.

"Over time cryptocurrency data has become more expensive and complex to standardize,' said Nikhil Kalghatgi, partner at CoVenture Crypto. 'Unlike traditional markets where data feeds come from a central source, such as the NYSE, in the world of crypto, each exchange develops its own set of APIs. With different methods of organizing data, investors have problems with consistency and scalability. Nomics helps produce clean, consistent data, which is an integral part of the cryptocurrency infrastructure."

For more information, please visit https://nomicsapi.com.

About Nomics

Based in Boston and Minneapolis, Nomics was launched in 2018 by co-founders Clay Collins and Nicholas Gauthier. The company was created in response to increasing demand for clean, gapless, high-fidelity cryptoasset data for funds, exchanges, and fintech developers. The company offers free and paid APIs for powering investment strategy backtests, machine learning models, real-time trading bots, portfolio valuation and fintech apps.

Media Contact

Stephen Sumner

Caliber Corporate Advisers

stephen@calibercorporateadvisers.com

888-550-6385 ext. 15

SOURCE: Nomics

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/530518/Delivering-Crypto-Data-at-the-Blink-of-an-Eye-Nomics-Announces-3-Million-in-Series-A-FundingWe have a high regard for Bakkt, the whole team and the service they are developing. Not only because they are likely going to help to materialize one of our 5 cryptocurrency predictions of 2019, but, more importantly, they will probably drive it: institutional investing entering the crypto space! As Bakkt announced on December 31st the completion of its first round of funding of $182.5 million its CEO also published words of wisdom on Medium. We believe her article contains the 200 most important words for all serious and long term oriented crypto and blockchain investors. The 12 partners and ...

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.Guided Therapeutics, Inc. (PINK SHEETS: GTHP), the maker of a rapid and painless testing platform based on its patented biophotonic technology, announced that it has signed a limited Manufacturing, Supply and Royalty Agreement with its Central/Eastern European/Russian distribution partner Newmars Technologies, Inc.

The agreement enables Newmars to manufacture LuViva Advance Cervical Scan devices in Hungary for distribution in the nine Central and Eastern European countries for which Newmars has distribution rights. GTHP will manufacture sub-assemblies and sell these and other parts to Newmars and will receive an additional $2,000 royalty for each device sold in those countries, which include Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia.

Guided Therapeutics will continue to sell single use, disposable Cervical Guides to Newmars and they are not part of the new agreement. Newmars projects sales of over 700 LuViva devices and over 1.5 million Cervical Guides. Combined with the previously signed distribution agreement, this new agreement is expected to generate approximately $30 million in revenues for GTHP over the next 5 years, with sales beginning in the second half of next year.

"We are encouraged by the work that Newmars has done so far in both Russia and Hungary and we are confident that there is a substantial market in Eastern Europe for LuViva," said Gene Cartwright, CEO of Guided Therapeutics.

The population of the nine countries is nearly 300 million and the number of women of recommended cervical cancer screening age is over 70 million for these 9 countries.

About Guided Therapeutics

Guided Therapeutics, Inc. (PINK SHEETS: GTHP) is the maker of a rapid and painless testing platform based on its patented biophotonic technology that utilizes light for the early detection of disease at the cellular level. The Company's first product is the LuViva Advanced Cervical Scan, a non-invasive device used to detect cervical disease instantly and at the point of care. In a multi-center clinical trial with women at risk for cervical disease, the technology was able to detect cervical cancer up to two years earlier than conventional modalities, according to published reports. For more information, visit: www.guidedinc.com.

The Guided Therapeutics LuVivaAdvanced Cervical Scan is an investigational device and is limited by federal law to investigational use in the U.S. LuViva, the wave logo and "Early detection, better outcomes" are registered trademarks owned by Guided Therapeutics, Inc.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer: A number of the matters and subject areas discussed in this news release that are not historical or current facts deal with potential future circumstances and developments. The discussion of such matters and subject areas is qualified by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations generally and also may materially differ from Guided Therapeutics' actual future experience involving any of or more of such matters and subject areas. Such risks and uncertainties include those related to the early stage of commercialization of products, the uncertainty of market acceptance of products, the uncertainty of development or effectiveness of distribution channels, the intense competition in the medical device industry, the sufficiency of capital raised in prior financings and the ability to realize their expected benefits, the uncertainty of future capital to develop products or continue as a going concern, the uncertainty of regulatory approval of products, and the dependence on licensed intellectual property, as well as those that are more fully described from time to time under the heading "Risk Factors" in Guided Therapeutics' reports filed with the SEC, including Guided Therapeutics' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 and subsequent filings.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005514/en/

Contacts:

Mark Faupel

Guided Therapeutics

770-242-8723China and Japan have agreed to promote pragmatic cooperation in the marine field in accordance with the consensus of making the East China Sea a sea of peace, cooperation and friendship.

National flags of China and Japan.[File Photo: VCG]

The agreement was reached during the tenth round of high-level consultations on maritime affairs between various government departments from the two countries, held from Dec. 17 to 18 in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang Province.

The two sides agreed to continue promoting maritime searches and rescue cooperation.

They exchanged views on establishing and opening a direct telephone under the air and maritime contact mechanism.

They also agreed to hold the second meeting of experts to discuss marine waste in 2019.

The two sides pledged to cooperate more in fishery, marine geology, Arctic affairs, as well as sea-related think tanks.

China and Japan also agreed to hold the 11th round of high-level consultations on maritime affairs in Japan in the first half of next year.MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The fallout from the 2016 Panama Papers investigation is ongoing, as indicated by recent business news headlines. Hear from the journalist who broke the case, Bastian Obermayer, at the 2019 European Compliance & Ethics Institute (ECEI), 10-13 March 2019 in Berlin, Germany.

Mr. Obermayer is a featured speaker at ECEI, the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics' (SCCE's) annual event for the European compliance and ethics community. His presentation, "How We Broke the Panama Papers," will cover how a cryptic message turned into one of journalism's biggest scoops and how a year-long investigation involving 400 journalists was kept secret.

"As recent indictments show, there are numerous lessons for compliance officers from the Panama Papers investigation," SCCE CEO Gerry Zack notes. "But hearing Bastian tell the inside story of how the high-stakes investigation unfolded makes for a compelling tale and adds much to the published accounts."

The 2019 ECEI includes an impressive lineup of speakers from more than 16 countries. They will present 30+ sessions on topics that address current compliance challenges from a global perspective, including data risk and GDPR, anti-corruption, trade sanctions, and fostering an ethical culture. More than 200 compliance and ethics professionals from 38+ countries are expected to attend. Learn more and register at europeancomplianceethicsinstitute.org.

About SCCE

Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) is a non-profit, member-based association for compliance and ethics professionals. Since 2004, SCCE has been championing ethical practices and compliance standards to promote lasting success and integrity of organizations worldwide and across all industries. Headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, SCCE serves 7,400+ members in 95+ countries around the globe.

SCCE offers 40+ educational conferences a year, weekly web conferences, publications, training resources, certification opportunities, and networking for career growth and program development.

Visit the SCCE website at www.corporatecompliance.org or call 888.277.4977.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/587233/Society_of_Corporate_Compliance_Logo.jpgConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) today completed its previously announced sale to BP of a ConocoPhillips subsidiary that holds a 16.5 percent interest in the BP-operated Clair Field for an undisclosed price. ConocoPhillips retains a 7.5 percent interest in the field.

ConocoPhillips also completed a simultaneous acquisition of BP's 39.2 percent interest in the Greater Kuparuk Area in Alaska and 38 percent interest in the Kuparuk Transportation Company for an undisclosed price.

Excluding customary adjustments, the transaction prices were cash neutral to both companies.

In the first nine months of 2018, production associated with the acquired 39.2 percent interest in Kuparuk was 39 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBOED), and production from the divested 16.5 percent interest in Clair Field was 4 MBOED. The expected net contribution to fourth-quarter production is less than 5 MBOED based on the closing date of Dec. 18, 2018, and was not included in prior fourth-quarter guidance. Incremental production and capital were included in the 2019 guidance the company provided on Dec. 10, 2018.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips is the world's largest independent E&P company based on production and proved reserves. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ConocoPhillips had operations and activities in 17 countries, $71 billion of total assets, and approximately 11,100 employees as of Sept. 30, 2018. Production excluding Libya averaged 1,221 MBOED for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2018, and proved reserves were 5.0 billion BOE as of Dec. 31, 2017. For more information, go to www.conocophillips.com.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE "SAFE HARBOR" PROVISIONS OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

This news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to future events and anticipated results of operations, business strategies, and other aspects of our operations or operating results. In many cases you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "continue," "could," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "should," "will," "expect," "objective," "projection," "forecast," "goal," "guidance," "outlook," "effort," "on track," "target" and other similar words. However, the absence of these words does not mean that the statements are not forward-looking. Where, in any forward-looking statement, the company expresses an expectation or belief as to future results, such expectation or belief is expressed in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. However, there can be no assurance that such expectation or belief will result or be achieved. The actual results of operations can and will be affected by a variety of risks and other matters including, but not limited to changes in commodity prices; changes in expected levels of oil and gas reserves or production; operating hazards, drilling risks, unsuccessful exploratory activities; difficulties in developing new products and manufacturing processes; unexpected cost increases or technical difficulties in constructing, maintaining, or modifying company facilities; international monetary conditions and exchange rate fluctuations; changes in international trade relationships, including the imposition of trade restrictions or tariffs relating to crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, LNG, natural gas liquids and any materials or products (such as aluminum and steel) used in the operation of our business; our ability to collect payments when due under our settlement agreement with PDVSA; our ability to reach a definitive agreement with INEOS Oil and Gas on the terms disclosed, or at all; our ability to liquidate the common stock issued to us by Cenovus Energy Inc. at prices we deem acceptable, or at all; our ability to complete the sale of our announced dispositions or acquisitions on the timeline currently anticipated, if at all; the possibility that regulatory approvals for our announced dispositions or acquisitions will not be received on a timely basis, if at all, or that such approvals may require modification to the terms of our announced dispositions, acquisitions or our remaining business; business disruptions during or following our announced dispositions or acquisitions, including the diversion of management time and attention; the ability to deploy net proceeds from our announced dispositions in the manner and timeframe we currently anticipate, if at all; potential liability for remedial actions under existing or future environmental regulations; potential liability resulting from pending or future litigation; limited access to capital or significantly higher cost of capital related to illiquidity or uncertainty in the domestic or international financial markets; and general domestic and international economic and political conditions; as well as changes in tax, environmental and other laws applicable to our business. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements include other economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory factors affecting our business generally as set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unless legally required, ConocoPhillips undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005537/en/

Contacts:

Daren Beaudo (media)

281-293-2073

daren.beaudo@conocophillips.com

Mark Keener (investors)

281-293-5000

mark.a.keener@conocophillips.comDecember 18, 2018

The Leniency Agreement with the Brazilian Federal Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Publico Federal - "MPF") of September 1, 2018 has been approved by the Brazilian Fifth Chamber for Coordination and Review and Anti-corruption. This Leniency Agreement comprises a final settlement between the Company and the MPF with respect to alleged improper sales practices before 2012.

Following the Fifth Chamber approval, the MPF and the Company will jointly request the Federal Court to formally close the Improbity Lawsuit filed by the MPF in 2017, including the associated provisional measure to secure payment of potential damages. Upon closure of the lawsuit, the agreement will become fully effective, after which SBM Offshore will pay the earlier announced fine of BRL200 million.

The Leniency Agreement with the MPF followed the Leniency Agreement signed by the Company on July 26, 2018 with other Brazilian Authorities and Petrobras, as previously announced. Upon signing, this agreement became final and effective and has allowed the Company to effectively compete for new business opportunities in Brazil.



Corporate Profile

SBM Offshore N.V. is a listed holding company that is headquartered in Amsterdam. It holds direct and indirect interests in other companies that collectively with SBM Offshore N.V. form the SBM Offshore Group ("the Company").

SBM Offshore provides floating production solutions to the offshore energy industry, over the full product lifecycle. The Company is market leading in leased floating production systems delivered to date, with multiple units currently in operation and has unrivalled operational experience in this field. The Company's main activities are the design, supply, installation, operation and the life extension of floating production solutions for the offshore energy industry.

As of December 31, 2017, Group companies employ approximately 4,800 people worldwide. Full time company employees totaling c. 4,300 are spread over offices in key markets, operational shore bases and the offshore fleet of vessels. A further 500 are working for the joint ventures with two construction yards. For further information, please visit our website at www.sbmoffshore.com (http://www.sbmoffshore.com).

The companies in which SBM Offshore N.V. directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this communication "SBM Offshore" is sometimes used for convenience where references are made to SBM Offshore N.V. and its subsidiaries in general, or where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies.

The Management Board

Amsterdam, the Netherlands, December 18, 2018

Financial Calendar Date Year Full-Year 2018 Earnings - Press Release February 14 2019 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders April 10 2019 Trading Update 1Q 2019 - Press Release May 16 2019 Half-Year 2019 Earnings - Press Release August 8 2019 Trading Update 3Q 2019 - Press Release November 14 2019



For further information, please contact:

Investor Relations

Bert-Jaap Dijkstra

Director Corporate Finance and IR

Telephone: +31 (0) 20 236 3222 Mobile: +31 (0) 6 21 14 10 17 E-mail: bertjaap.dijkstra@sbmoffshore.com Website: www.sbmoffshore.com (http://www.sbmoffshore.com)

Media Relations

Vincent Kempkes

Group Communications Director

Telephone: +31 (0) 20 2363 170 Mobile: +31 (0) 6 25 68 71 67 E-mail: vincent.kempkes@sbmoffshore.com Website: www.sbmoffshore.com (http://www.sbmoffshore.com)

Disclaimer

This press release contains inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Some of the statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance, or events to differ materially from those in such statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results and performance of the Company's business to differ materially and adversely from the forward-looking statements. Certain such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes", "may", "will", "should", "would be", "expects" or "anticipates" or similar expressions, or the negative thereof, or other variations thereof, or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy, plans, or intentions. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this release as anticipated, believed, or expected. SBM Offshore NV does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update any industry information or forward-looking statements set forth in this release to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. Nothing in this press release shall be deemed an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities.

Brazilian Fifth Chamber Approved Agreement SBM Offshore (http://hugin.info/130754/R/2229275/875780.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: SBM Offshore N.V. via Globenewswire

RESTON, Virginia, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- BridgeStreet, a leading travel technology platform that is transforming extended stay business travel, has named Jon Hile as the company's Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). The leadership appointment follows an impressive year of growth for BridgeStreet.

As CRO, Hile will be instrumental in supporting the company's position as an industry disruptor of revolutionizing how extended stay experiences are booked by businesses and consumed by employees. Hile joins BridgeStreet from a long history in the worldwide business travel accommodation sphere, including as past President of Lexicon Relocation, a global relocation services company, and as past President and COO of National Corporate Housing.

Hile has been an integral part of the evolution of extended stay accommodations. A Certified Relocation Professional (CRP), he has overseen operations for worldwide serviced apartment brands and multi-family owners and managers. His industry accolades include serving two years on the U.S. Advisory Council of the Worldwide Employee Relocation Council (ERC), being the previous CHPA Board Member and receiving the ERC Meritorious Service Award in 2012.

"Throughout his career, Jon has been a recognized leader in the evolution of the extended stay accommodations sector," said Sean Worker, BridgeStreet President and CEO. "His knowledge, integrity and leadership will be a catalyst as we continue to evolve our extended stay and business strategies."

With Hile's appointment, BridgeStreet is further committed to empowering global rapid adoption of transformative technology through its platform, Six Ways to Stay. The platform provides easy-access to a broad range of global and trusted accommodation options in a single, easy-to-use online mobile source.

"I am thrilled and honored to join an industry game-changer like BridgeStreet," Hile said. "I look forward to helping grow BridgeStreet's position as the go-to extended stay solution for business travel accommodations globally."

ABOUT BRIGESTREET



We help businesses find, and book trusted accommodations anywhere so they can work, live and sleep well, guaranteed.

BridgeStreet is the first technology platform built specifically for extended stay business travel bookings. With Hospitality experiences in more than 22,600 cities in over 130 countries, BridgeStreet is the travel technology leader in the extended stay corporate travel sector. BridgeStreet's innovative product line, Six Ways to Stay, connects a global marketplace of millions of extended stay hotels, serviced apartments, branded hotels, furnished homes, urban/resort vacation rentals, and design-led hostels to companies who want a leading edge, customizable travel technology solution. In addition to providing built-in demand for hospitality operators from BridgeStreet's 5000+ client portfolio and 100+ global sales team, BridgeStreet is recognized as the worldwide, trusted expert in business extended stay travel management.

bridgestreet.com heretostay.tv (YouTube)

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/799720/BridgeStreet_Logo.jpgToronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - December 18, 2018) - Cinaport Acquisition Corp. II (TSXV: CPQ.P) ("" or the ""), a capital pool company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (the ""), today announces that it intends to cancel the annual general and special meeting of its shareholders currently scheduled for 10:00 am (EST) on Thursday, December 20, 2018 as more fully described in the Company's press release dated December 3, 2018. At the request of Fire & Flower Inc. (""), the target company of the Company's proposed Qualifying Transaction (as such terms is defined in the policies of the Exchange), the Company intends to reschedule the annual general and special meeting of its shareholders (the "") on January 30, 2019 in order to provide Fire & Flower sufficient time to propose new meeting items in connection with the Qualifying Transaction.

The Rescheduled Meeting will be held at 9:00 am (EST) on Wednesday, January 30, 2019 at the offices of the Company at 333 Bay Street, Suite 635, Toronto, Ontario M5H 2R2. Shareholders of record on December 31, 2018 will be entitled to vote at the Rescheduled Meeting. Proxy materials including, among other things, an updated management information circular setting out the particulars of the annual general meeting matters and the special meeting matters in connection with the Qualifying Transaction to be proposed by Fire & Flower will be mailed to the eligible registered shareholders of the Company twenty-one days before the date of the Rescheduled Meeting pursuant to applicable securities laws. All proxies in connection with the Rescheduled Meeting must be received by TSX Trust Company, the transfer agent of the Company, not later than January 28, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. (EST), or in the case of any adjournment of the meeting, not less than 48 hours, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays excepted, prior to the time of the adjournment.

About Fire & Flower Inc.

Fire & Flower is an independent retail chain that offers cannabis products and accessories to the adult-use market in provinces where the sale of cannabis by private retailers is legal under: (a) An Act respecting cannabis and to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Criminal Code and other Acts (the "Cannabis Act") which came into effect on October 17, 2018; and (b) applicable provincial regimes for regulating the sale of cannabis by licensed private retailers. Fire & Flower was founded by leading legal cannabis entrepreneurs in Canada, with significant combined experience in launching premium, successful businesses with extensive experience in the legal cannabis space.

Fire & Flower was incorporated under the Canada Business Corporation Act on March 17, 2017.

Fire & Flower has obtained provincial licences to operate seven cannabis retail stores in Alberta and two cannabis retail stores in Saskatchewan, and is pursuing additional licences to operate stores in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.

On October 31, 2018, Fire & Flower entered into an acquisition agreement with the Company with respect to the Company's proposed Qualifying Transaction.

For more information, please contact:

Cinaport Acquisition Corp. II

Avi Grewal, Chief Executive Officer

Phone: (416) 213-8118 Ext. 210

E-mail: agrewal@cinaport.com

Fire & Flower Inc.

Trevor Fencott, Chief Executive Officer

E-mail: tfencott@fireandflower.com

Completion of the Qualifying Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, Exchange acceptance and, if applicable, pursuant to Exchange requirements, majority of the minority shareholder approval.Where applicable, the Qualifying Transaction cannot close until the required approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Qualifying Transaction will be completed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the filing statement to be prepared in connection with the Qualifying Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Qualifying Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative.

The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed Qualifying Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the terms and conditions of the proposed Qualifying Transaction; and the business and operations of the Company after completion of the proposed Qualifying Transaction. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; delay or failure to receive board, shareholder or regulatory approvals; and the results of operations. 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. Cinaport and Fire & Flower disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Neither the Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Press release.)



Not for distribution to U.S. news wire services or dissemination in the United StatesTinubu Square, a leading provider of credit insurance, surety and trade finance solutions, has announced that it has been awarded a contract by Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE Federal export credit company for its Credit Insurance Suite (CIS).

ECI will be provided with Tinubu Credit Insurance Suite (CIS), the award-winning end-to-end SaaS integrated software solution. Tinubu Square will provide these new technologies and services to support ECI businesses in managing, securing and transferring risks while moving to expand their presence.

Massimo Falcioni, Chief Executive Officer, ECI, said: "We welcome this new partnership agreement that we have entered with Tinubu Square, which will help us in our mandate to support the export and re-export of UAE goods, works, services and foreign investments of UAE companies

Olivier Placca, Deputy CEO, Tinubu Square, added: "Collaborating with ECI paves the way for us to maintain a stronger presence in the Middle East region and play a key role in the growth of its economies. We are looking forward to working closely with ECI, especially in their move to build the future of credit insurance in the UAE.

About Etihad Credit Insurance

Etihad Credit Insurance (PJSC) was established by UAE Federal Government and its founders, the governments of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Ajman. The company started its operations in February 2018. ECI plays a catalyst role in supporting the UAE's non-oil exports, trade, investments and strategic sectors development, in line with UAE Vision 2021 agenda.

It is tasked to accelerate and sustain national economic diversification as well as support the export and re-export of UAE goods, works, services, and the foreign investments of the UAE businesses through a range of export credit, financing and investment insurance products.

To provide UAE businesses with solutions that meet their growth objectives locally and internationally, ECI builds a comprehensive platform of strategic partnerships across government, insurers, re-insurers, brokers, banks and lenders, regional and international Export Credit Agencies, governments and trade promotion agencies in addition to world organisations for economic development.

For more information: www.eci.gov.ae

About Tinubu Square

Founded in 2000, Tinubu Square is a software vendor, enabler of the Credit Insurance, Surety and Trade Finance digital transformation. Tinubu Square enables organizations across the world to significantly reduce their exposure to risk and their financial, operational and technical costs with best-in-class technology solutions and services. Tinubu Square provides SaaS solutions and services to different businesses including credit insurers, receivables financing organizations and multinational corporations. Tinubu Square has built an ecosystem of customers in over 20 countries worldwide and has a global presence with offices in Paris, London, New York, Montreal and Singapore. For more information: www.tinubu.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005584/en/

Contacts:

Press contact

Julie Kirby Ascendant

Email: jkirby@ascendcomms.net

Phone: +44 (0) 7956 955625BLACKROCK THROGMORTON TRUST PLC (LEI: 5493003B7ETS1JEDPF59)



All information is at 30 November 2018 and unaudited .

Performance at month end is calculated on a cum income basis

One

Month

% Three

months

% One

year

% Three

years

% Five

years

% Net asset value -2.0 -15.4 -2.7 39.8 70.4 Share price -3.8 -16.0 1.8 43.2 72.6 Benchmark* -1.8 -10.8 -9.0 17.2 30.4

Sources: BlackRock and Datastream

*With effect from 22 March 2018 the Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (excluding Investment Companies) Index replaced the Numis Smaller Companies excluding AIM (excluding Investment Companies) Index as the Company's benchmark. The five year period indices have been blended to reflect this.

At month end Net asset value capital only: 510.56p Net asset value incl. income: 519.08p Share price 457.00p Discount to cum income NAV 12.0% Net yield1: 2.1% Total Gross assets2: 379.6m Net market exposure as a % of net asset value3: 93.2% Ordinary shares in issue4: 73,130,326 2017 ongoing charges* (excluding performance fees)5,6: 0.9% 2017 ongoing charges* ratio (including performance

fees)5,6,7: 2.2%



*Ongoing Charges: The management fee rate reductions, as detailed in the notes below impact management fees in 2017 and onwards. The impact of the new fee arrangements, assuming the same level of performance from the manager and assuming all other charges remain the same, would be to reduce the level of Ongoing Charges borne by the Company.



1. Calculated using the 2018 interim dividend declared on 26 July 2018 and paid on 29 August 2018, together with the 2017 final dividend declared on 12 February 2018 and paid on 29 March 2018.

2. Includes current year revenue and excludes gross exposure through contracts for difference.

3. Long positions less short positions as a percentage of net asset value.

4. Excluding 7,400,000 shares held in treasury.

5. Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding performance fees and interest costs for the year ended 30 November 2017.

6. With effect from 1 August 2017 the base management fee was reduced from 0.70% to 0.35% of gross assets per annum.

7. Effective 1st December 2017 the annual performance fee is calculated using performance data on an annualised rolling two year basis (previously, one year) and the maximum annual performance fee payable is effectively reduced to 0.90% of two year rolling average month end gross assets (from 1% of average annual gross assets over one year). Additionally, the Company now accrues this fee at a rate of 15% of outperformance (previously 10%). The maximum annual total fees (comprising the base management fee of 0.35% and a potential performance fee of 0.90%) are therefore 1.25% of average month end gross assets on a two year rolling basis (from 1.70% of average annual gross assets).

Sector Weightings % of Total Assets Industrials 22.7 Financials 22.2 Consumer Services 20.0 Technology 10.8 Health Care 7.2 Consumer Goods 4.3 Basic Materials 2.8 Oil & Gas 1.0 Telecommunications 0.1 Net current assets 8.9 ----- Total 100.0 =====

Market Exposure (Quarterly) 28.02.18

% 31.05.18

% 31.08.18

% 30.11.18

% Long 119.6 115.9 119.4 103.7 Short 8.4 10.0 9.6 10.5 Gross exposure 128.0 125.9 129.0 114.2 Net exposure 111.2 105.9 109.8 93.2

Ten Largest Investments Company % of Total Gross Assets Hiscox 3.0 Ascential 2.9 SSP 2.8 Craneware 2.8 Aveva 2.8 Dechra Pharmaceuticals 2.7 4imprint Group 2.5 YouGov 2.4 Integrafin 2.2 Bodycote 2.2

Commenting on the markets, Dan Whitestone, representing the Investment Manager noted:

During November the Company's NAV per share fell 2.0%1 to 510.56p on a cum income basis, marginally underperforming our benchmark index, the Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (excluding Investment Companies) Index, which fell by 1.8%1; the large cap FTSE 100 Index fell by 1.6%1 (all performance figures are in sterling terms with income reinvested).

November brings the Company's financial year to an end and despite some challenging environments to navigate throughout the year we are pleased to report that during the period the Company has outperformed the benchmark by +6.3%1.

November proved to be another difficult month for the company. UK Equities experienced a second month of declines with a continued rotation away from "growth" shares, which is a challenging environment for our investment style and resulted in the Company finishing the month slightly behind the benchmark. The long book detracted during the month while short positions contributed a positive 90bps. Performance improved towards the end of the month reflecting a better backdrop for growth assets thanks to the Federal Reserve's more measured comments with regards to rate tightening, and most importantly of all, some sizeable stock specific wins, notably in the short book.

The largest positive contributor to performance was from our short position in a UK contracting firm, which fell heavily on the news that it required an emergency rescue rights issue to strengthen its balance sheet. This is a company that we have been short for some time, concerned by its liabilities and weak cash generation. Interestingly, this company has publicly stated that "a number of lenders have indicated an intention to reduce their exposure to the construction and related sectors, which may affect the confidence of other credit providers and liquidity in the medium term", and also that "potential clients and customers are increasingly focusing on service providers' balance sheets". These developments with key stakeholders have significant implications for the wider sector. We feel well positioned to benefit from this, being short several other companies in the sector, and having added to these recently. We've also added to other over-leveraged companies with aggressive accounting policies that are now facing more scrutiny from the wider market.

The portfolio also had some successes in the long book. 4imprint continues to trade well, beating forecasts and raising guidance, as did Future PLC which reported strong earnings growth and raised its forward guidance.

On the negative side, it was disappointing that, despite having limited stock specific mishaps, the strong short contributors discussed above, were unable to offset the broader style trend in the market which impacted the portfolio's performance. For example, shares like Robert Walters and Sumo Group continued to be sold off during the month despite no negative stock specific news-flow.

As we reflect over the final two months of our financial year, it is fair to say that the market rotation/reversal has been a challenge for our style. Despite the sell-off in a number of our long positions, we do believe that many of these will recover as the earnings outlook will not be compromised by macro factors like the latest Trump tweet on trade or the latest Brexit debacle. The last few days have seen a recovery in performance, and whilst it is too early to draw too many conclusions, the combination of positive updates from our long book and some big stock specific wins in our short book is promising. In particular, we can see a reappraisal of over-leveraged companies in some cases paying dividends they can't afford - something we have highlighted for some time and which is now gaining greater market scrutiny. We think this reappraisal serves us well for delivering value in the short book even as the long book recovers. Our long book remains focused on well capitalised companies with strong and enduring growth prospects.

1Source: BlackRock as at 30 November 2018

18 December 2018

ENDS

Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/thrg on the internet, "BLRKINDEX" on Reuters, "BLRK" on Bloomberg or "8800" on Topic 3 (ICV terminal). Neither the contents of the Manager's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Manager's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.BLACKROCK LATIN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC (LEI: UK9OG5Q0CYUDFGRX4151)

All information is at 30 November 2018 and unaudited.



Performance at month end with net income reinvested

One

month

% Three

months

% One

year

% Three

years

% Five

years

% Sterling: Net asset value^ -1.6 12.4 6.3 72.4 21.3 Share price -2.5 10.6 1.2 59.4 14.9 MSCI EM Latin America

(Gross Return)^^ -2.0 8.0 4.8 74.2 17.6 MSCI EM Latin America

(Net Return)^^ -2.1 7.9 4.4 72.5 15.7 US Dollars: Net asset value^ -1.7 10.3 0.1 45.9 -5.6 Share price -2.7 8.5 -4.7 34.9 -10.6 MSCI EM Latin America

(Gross Return)^^ -2.2 6.0 -1.3 47.7 -8.4 MSCI EM Latin America

(Net Return)^^ -2.2 5.9 -1.6 46.2 -9.9

^cum income

^^The Company's performance benchmark (the MSCI EM Latin America Index) may be calculated on either a Gross or a Net return basis. Net return (NR) indices calculate the reinvestment of dividends net of withholding taxes using the tax rates applicable to non-resident institutional investors, and hence give a lower total return than indices where calculations are on a Gross basis (which assumes that no withholding tax is suffered). As the Company is subject to withholding tax rates for the majority of countries in which it invests, the NR basis is felt to be the most accurate, appropriate, consistent and fair comparison for the Company. Historically the benchmark data for the Company has always been stated on a Gross basis. However, as disclosed in the Company's Interim Report for the six months ended 30 June 2018, it is the Board's intention to monitor the Company's performance with reference to the NR version of the benchmark. For transparency both sets of benchmark data have been provided.

Sources: BlackRock, Standard & Poor's Micropal

At month end Net asset value - capital only: 510.51p Net asset value - cum income: 511.16p Share price: 425.00p Total Assets#: 219.2m Discount (share price to cum income NAV): 16.9% Average discount* over the month - cum income: 16.0% Net gearing at month end**: 9.5% Gearing range (as a % of net assets): 0-25% Net yield##: 4.0% Ordinary shares in issue (excluding 2,181,662 shares held in treasury): 39,259,620 Ongoing charges***: 1.1%

Total assets include current year revenue.

#Calculated using total dividends declared in the last 12 months as at the date of this announcement (comprising, the 2017 final dividend of 7.00 cents per share, the first interim dividend under the new policy of 7.57 cents per share paid on 23 August 2018 and the second interim dividend under the new policy of 7.85 cents per share paid on 9 November 2018) as a percentage of month end share price. As previously announced, the Board of the BlackRock Latin American Investment Trust plc have introduced a new dividend policy whereby the Company will pay regular quarterly dividends equivalent to 1.25% of the Company's US Dollar cum income NAV on the last working day of December, March, June and September each year, with the dividends being paid in February, May, August and November each year respectively. The yield on the Company's shares projecting future quarterly dividends forward based on the August 2018 paid dividend and 3 quarters being paid at the same rate as the declared October 2018 dividend, based on the Company's share price at 30 November 2018 converted to US dollars at the exchange rate on 30 November 2018, would be 5.74%.

*The discount is calculated using the cum income NAV (expressed in sterling terms).

**Net cash/net gearing is calculated using debt at par, less cash and cash equivalents and fixed interest investments as a percentage of net assets.

*** Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding interest costs for the year ended 31 December 2017.



Geographic Exposure

% of Total Assets % of Equity

Portfolio * MSCI EM Latin

America Index Brazil 73.9 73.8 62.4 Mexico 20.8 20.7 21.6 Chile 3.2 3.2 9.2 Colombia 1.5 1.5 3.4 Argentina 0.8 0.8 0.0 Peru 0.0 0.0 3.4 Net current liabilities (inc. fixed interest) -0.2 0.0 0.0 ----- ----- ----- Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 ----- ----- -----

Sector % of Equity Portfolio * % of Benchmark Financials 33.6 33.3 Materials 17.8 16.8 Consumer Discretionary 10.4 5.8 Energy 10.0 10.7 Consumer Staples 9.1 14.7 Industrials 8.4 5.9 Communication Services 5.7 5.4 Utilities 2.2 4.9 Information Technology 2.0 0.5 Health Care 0.8 0.7 Real Estate 0.0 1.3 ----- ----- Total 100.0 100.0 ----- -----

* excluding net current assets & fixed interest



Ten Largest Equity Investments (in percentage order)



Company

Country of Risk % of

Equity Portfolio % of

Benchmark Petrobras Brazil 10.0 8.0 Banco Bradesco Brazil 9.2 7.1 Itau Unibanco Brazil 9.1 7.6 Vale Brazil 8.9 7.3 America Movil Mexico 4.5 3.8 B3 Brazil 3.9 2.5 Femsa Mexico 3.6 2.8 Lojas Renner Brazil 2.9 1.2 Grupo Financiero Banorte Mexico 2.9 2.0 Walmart de Mexico y Centroamerica Mexico 2.7 2.2

Commenting on the markets, Will Landers, representing the Investment Manager noted;

For the month of November 2018, the Company's NAV returned -1.6%1 with the share price moving -2.5%1. The Company's benchmark, the MSCI EM Latin America Index, returned -2.0% (on a gross basis) and -2.1% (on a net basis)2 (all performance figures are in sterling terms with dividends reinvested).

Stock selection in Brazil was the primary driver of returns during the month under review as the market has remained supportive of the October election results, with all eyes on the formation of the new government. As macro proxies, lenders Banco Bradesco and Itau Unibanco, were the month's top individual contributors, amid continued optimism surrounding an economic recovery. Airline, Azul, was also among the best performers supported by weaker oil prices. Similarly our lack of positioning in Colombia's Ecopetrol and Mexican mining names, contributed positively to relative returns. Mexican mining companies saw declines on the back of growing concerns over legal and regulatory developments in the sector. On the other hand Mexican financial, Grupo Financiero Banorte, detracted from performance in November amid more hawkish positioning from the Central Bank and a proposal to stop banks from charging certain fees. An overweight position in Petrobras also weighed on returns, while our underweight to Chile was the month's largest detractor from performance.

During the month we continued to add to our Brazil overweight position following a positive election result, primarily topping up on existing positions in macro sensitive financials. On the other hand, we decreased exposure to Mexico on the back of political uncertainty. Specifically, we trimmed our position in Grupo Financiero Banorte and reduced our allocation to restaurant chain operator, Alsea, amid anticipated balance sheet pressure from M&A (Merger & Acquisition) activity and domestic operations being negatively impacted by weakness in the Peso. The Company ended the month being overweight in Brazil, while being underweight in Chile, Peru, Colombia and neutral in Mexico. We continue to maintain an off-benchmark allocation to Argentina through software exporter, Globant. At the sector level, we are overweight in the domestic consumer staples and utilities sectors.

Brazil remains our largest overweight, given our positive expectations for the incoming administration. So far President-elect, Jair Bolsonaro, has delivered on his campaign promises, looking to reduce the size of government by initially reducing the number of ministries, naming sector/subject experts to lead cabinets, and pointing to a continuation of the reform process initiated two years ago. Meanwhile, third quarter corporate results point to a continuation in the economic recovery, providing strong momentum for growth into 2019. Elsewhere, the cancellation of NAIM (New Mexico International Airport) reminded markets of the concerns regarding increasing populism for the incoming administration in Mexico, reiterating our cautiousness with Mexican equities. We remain underweight to the Andean region due to a combination of unattractive valuations and disappointing growth, and are waiting for greater clarity regarding the success of the current stabilization program in Argentina before returning to that market.

Sources:

1BlackRock as at 30 November 2018

2Datastream as at 30 November 2018

18 December 2018

ENDS

Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/brla on the internet, "BLRKINDEX" on Reuters, "BLRK" on Bloomberg or "8800" on Topic 3 (ICV terminal). Neither the contents of the Manager's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Manager's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.HOUSTON, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- SMA Solutions is pleased to announce the latest release of its business and IT automation platform, OpCon. OpCon is a workload automation solution that drives digital transformation for enterprises in numerous industries. It is the premiere IT process automation software, integrating people, processes and applications on every major operating system.

The OpCon 18.3 release, which is the second and final release this year, has exciting new features that enhance security, flexibility and operational efficiency. The release includes significant improvements to OpCon Vision, which was launched with OpCon's 18.1 release in July 2018. Vision provides business process views and Service Level Agreement (SLA) monitoring. The active dashboard shows a high-level summary of the platform, revealing the health of automated processes. If SLAs are in jeopardy, Vision instructs OpCon to automatically run recovery processes to put the business back on track.

The 18.3 release also features an all-new module, OpCon Deploy, which gives users the ability to import workflows from any OpCon environment, apply transformation rules, simulate the changes, then deploy selected versions of workflows to one or more OpCon servers. Deploy also provides versioning control that allows the user to roll back changes and virtually eliminate the risk of losing automation data.

With OpCon 18.3 embedded scripts now have privileges at the script level, providing the ability to narrow down which script(s) a user can edit. Users can also now update job statuses from PERT view and troubleshoot more easily thanks to progressive discovery of dependencies. Progressive discovery allows the user to zoom in on a specific point in a workflow diagram, then incrementally expand where needed. 18.3 also brings new events and keywords that greatly reduce manual coding when setting up automation.

About SMA Solutions

Our founders met at NASA while they were solving some of the toughest IT issues in the world at that time. The work was challenging and required lots of repetitive tasks to maintain NASA's mainframes and complex IT processes. Believing that there had to be a better way, they formed SMA Solutions. Since that time, we have been working with the single purpose of unlocking our clients' potential by streamlining their IT processes and helping employees be more productive by leveraging our automation platform, OpCon. To learn more about OpCon automation visit us at www.SMAsolutionsIT.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/715572/SMA_Solutions_Logo.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/799516/SMA_Solutions___OpCon_Logo.jpgThe two companies will develop innovative distribution strategies on the African continent.

Regulatory News:

Press Release December 18th 2018

Pernod Ricard (Paris:RI), the world's second largest wine and spirits' company present in 13 African countries, and Jumia, the leading e-commerce player on the continent, today announced the strengthening of their partnership. In this context, Pernod Ricard will invest into Jumia, thus becoming a strategic shareholder.

Pernod Ricard will share its deep knowledge about consumer and physical distribution networks in Africa, while Jumia will bring forward its digital, logistics and payment platforms. This funding from Pernod Ricard positions Jumia to consolidate its regional leadership, and will allow Pernod Ricard to benefit from new opportunities to distribute its products online on the continent.

"We are very proud to welcome Pernod Ricard as a new strategic partner of Jumia. This investment is an acknowledgement of the growth and innovation that Jumia has achieved since 2012", said Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara, co-CEOs of Jumia.

As outlined by Gilles Bogaert, Pernod Ricard's EMEA LATAM CEO, "Pernod Ricard has made Africa its new frontier, as shown by the successive openings of subsidiaries over the last few years. Our strategy is consumer-oriented and we strive to transform to strenghten our growth in this very promising continent. Jumia is a partner of choice as digital and e-commerce represent real strategic accelerators in this Region for us

"Our business relationship with Jumia traces back to 2016 with the successful launch of Jumia-Party, Jumia's e-commerce platform based on the catching idea 'We deliver. You Party', and centered on consumption moments. This innovation has experienced solid growth in cities such as Lagos, Nairobi and Accra. With this reinforced strategic partnership, Pernod Ricard will be able to offer its large portfolio of Premium brands to a greater number of consumers in Africa", stated Paul-Robert Bouhier, President of Pernod Ricard Sub Saharan Africa.

In addition to its online services platform, Jumia also operates a restaurant delivery platform, Jumia Food, as well as a hotel booking platform, Jumia Travel, which together represent around 25 000 establishments in Africa. Pernod Ricard will be able to rely on this network to develop the presence of its brands in the out-of-home segment.

Lazard acted as financial advisor to Jumia on this transaction.

About Jumia

Our mission is to improve the quality of everyday life in Africa by leveraging technology to deliver innovative, convenient and affordable online services to consumers, while helping businesses grow as they use our platform to reach and serve consumers.

Jumia is the leading pan-African e-commerce platform active in six regions, 14 countries. Our platform consists of our marketplace, which connects sellers with consumers, our logistics service, which enables the shipment and delivery of packages from sellers to consumers, and our payment service, which facilitates transactions among participants active on our platform in selected markets.

About Pernod Ricard

Pernod Ricard is the world's second largest wine and spirits company, with consolidated revenue of 8,987 million euros in FY18. Created in 1975 from the merger of Ricard and Pernod, the Group has grown both internally and through acquisitions: Seagram (2001), Allied Domecq (2005) and Vin Sprit (2008). Pernod Ricard has one of the most prestigious brands in the sector: Absolut vodka, Pastis Ricard, Ballantine's Scotch Whiskeys, Chivas Regal, Royal Salute and The Glenlivet, Irish Whiskey Jameson, Martell cognac, Rum Havana Club, Beefeater gin, Kahlua and Malibu liqueurs, Mumm and Perrier-Jouet champagnes as well as Jacob's Creek, Brancott Estate, Campo Viejo, Graffigna and Kenwood wines. The Group has approximately 18,900 employees and is supported by a decentralized organization, made up of 6 "Brand Companies" and 86 "Market Companies" present in each key market. The Group is strongly involved in a sustainable development policy and encourages responsible consumption. The strategy and ambitions of Pernod Ricard are based on 3 key values that guide its development: entrepreneurial spirit, mutual trust and strong ethical sense.

Pernod Ricard is listed on Euronext (Mnemo: RI, ISIN code: FR0000120693) and is part of the CAC 40 index.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005649/en/

Contacts:

Pernod Ricard

Fabien Darrigues/External Communications Director

+33 1 41 00 44 86

Emmanuel Vouin/Press Relations Manager

+33 1 41 00 44 04

Jumia

Abdesslam Benzitouni, Jumia Head of PR Communication

+254 743 162 332SAINT JOHN, New Brunswick, December 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

UK-based consulting firm joins growing international social responsibility organization

The Global Cannabis Partnership (GCP) today announced its first European member: Hanway Associates. Hanway Associates joins dozens of like-minded organizations who have joined the GCP as new markets continue to open their doors to legalized, adult-use recreational cannabis. The addition of Hanway Associates brings the total GCP membership to 32.

Hanway Associates are a London, UK-based consultancy focusing on cannabis research, corporate advisory, communications and events. They help clients understand the regulatory and business environment across emerging cannabis markets.

"We're thrilled to have an organization of Hanway Associates calibre join the GCP," says Kim Wilson, Executive Director. "Their deep expertise and experience in the cannabis industry in the UK and broader European markets will be a valuable asset as the GCP expands its presence beyond North America and into the emerging EU cannabis market."

Alastair Moore, Co-Founder and COO of Hanway Associates says, "We are delighted to be part of the Global Cannabis Partnership. The nascent European industry is growing rapidly, but it is essential that it continues to develop responsibly and sustainably. Hanway are proud to work with the GCP to demonstrate this industry's crucial role in delivering positive social change."

Hanway Associates will be spearheading a GCP European launch event in London, UK during European Cannabis Week, June 22-29, 2019, where attendees will represent the political, charitable and media sectors.

As jurisdictions worldwide begin legalizing cannabis - including in South America, in some U.S. states and in Canada, Luxembourg is making headlines as the first European country to announce the legalization of recreational cannabis. The groundbreaking political and economic repercussions are anticipated to be significant. Luxembourg borders France, Belgium and Germany; the world will be watching as these countries react to the new adult-use cannabis industry in the neighbouring country.

"On behalf of the Founding Members of the GCP, we'd like to welcome Hanway Associates as a new Member," says Lara Wood, Chair of the GCP Advisory Board. Wood is GM of Cannabis NB, the Lead Founding Member of the GCP. "We look forward to having them at the table to provide EU-specific insight as the global cannabis supply chain continues to grow."

The GCP is working with two of its Founding Members, PwC Canada and McCarthy Tetrault, to establish itself as a non-profit legal entity, and finalize a governance structure led by a board of directors. The development of the Responsible Cannabis Framework, a worldwide social responsibility standard, is near completion and will be launched in 2019.

The GCP is the first of its kind in the growing global cannabis industry and mirrors successful initiatives in other industry sectors, such as alcohol, gaming, pharmaceuticals and forestry. Not an advocacy or lobby group, the GCP is a partnership of like-minded organizations who want to raise the bar with respect to social responsibility for the cannabis industry. Founding Members and Members represent a cross-section of organizations that play - or will play - a role in the legal, adult-use recreational cannabis supply chain. A full list of Founding Members and Members can be found at globalcannabispartnership.com

For information about joining the GCP, contact Kim Wilson, Executive Director at 506.646.9960 or kim@globalcannabispartnership.com

About the Global Cannabis Partnership:

Founded by Revolution Strategy, the Global Cannabis Partnership (GCP) is a collaboration of leaders in the government-sanctioned, adult-use recreational cannabis industry. With representation from government, private-sector and affiliate organizations, the GCP is creating an international standard for the safe and responsible production, distribution and consumption of legal recreational cannabis. One of its first activities will be to create a Responsible Cannabis Framework, to shape the face of social responsibility in the recreational cannabis industry. For more information, visit globalcannabispartnership.com.

Hanway Associates:

Hanway Associates are a London-based consultancy focusing on cannabis research, corporate advisory, communications and events. Hanway provide services to help open and enter markets, build brands and grow clients' networks. For more information, visit www.hanway.associates.

Media Contact: Pamela McKay, Senior Communications Director, Revolution Strategy, pamela@revolutionstrategy.com, +1-506-333-4466Rebranding will allow the company to reposition itself and better service its clients in the cannabis sector.

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 18, 2018 / Alchemist Mining Inc. (CSE: AMS) ("Alchemist" or the "Company") today announced the rebranding of its corporate image as the Company transitions from the mining industry to the cannabis technology sector.

Our Vision:

Alchemist's vision is to be recognized as a global leader providing the most reliable technology solutions that seamlessly integrate into existing processes with the aim of making businesses more efficient and profitable.

Our Mission:

Alchemist's mission is to invest and build a sustainable portfolio of companies within the global cannabis ecosystem with the main goal being to create shareholder value.

Our Core Values:

Integrity

Accountability

Ethics

Inclusivity

Respect

Community

Paul Mann, CEO of Alchemist, commented: "Our corporate rebrand is designed to re-define the Company's vision, mission and core values. Our strong strategic network, business partners, and innovative solutions are now well positioned to deploy disruptive technology solutions into the burgeoning cannabis sector allowing existing administrative processes to be streamlined all-the-while creating a holistic and intuitive user experience. This rebranding represents a significant step in the Company's evolution. We are redefining who we are, driving change, and shaping the future of the Company. As Alchemist transitions into this new sector, it is restructuring its management team with the experience and staying-power to uphold and strategically assist our vision."

On Behalf of the Board,

Paul Mann, CEO

Alchemist Mining Inc.



Contact:

Investors@alchemistinc.ca

604-601-2093

About Alchemist Inc.

Upon affecting the Fundamental Change as announced on September 25, 2018, Alchemist's goal is to be a global provider of technology solutions to the cannabis sector. It will be primarily focused on investing and building a sustainable portfolio of business entities, by actively identifying opportunities in the developing global cannabis market, through a combination of acquisitions, incubations and investments, with a goal to create shareholder value.

Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results. Such statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to revise or update such statements.

SOURCE: Alchemist Mining Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/530886/Alchemist-Announces-Corporate-RebrandA pioneer in predicting the risk of developing serious diseases

3.6 million raised through the Global Placement and Open-Price Offering

Offering price set at 9.3 per share

Shares due to start trading on the Euronext Growth market on 21 December 2018

Regulatory News:

PrediLife (Paris:ALPRE), an innovative company focusing on personalised medicine with the aim of predicting the risk of developing serious diseases and saving lives, today confirmed the success of its initial public offering on the Euronext Growth Paris market.

"We are proud to announce that our initial public offering on Euronext Growth Paris has been a success. We would like to thank our new shareholders for the trust they have placed in us, as well as our existing shareholders for continuing to support us. The funds raised will, in particular, enable PrediLife to step up the French and international commercial roll-out of the MammoRisk," said Stephane Ragusa, Founder, Chairman and CEO of PrediLife

The IPO which was structured as a global offer (the "Offering") consisting of an open-price offering ("OPO") to the public in France and a global placement ("Global Placement") mainly intended for institutional investors in France and certain other countries. The capital increase forming part of the IPO allowed the Company to raise 3.6 million.

The number of new shares issued as part of the Offering was 386,154 i.e. 83.6% through the Global Placement and 16.4% through the OPO. The Company's board of directors set the price of the Global Placement and the OPO at 9.30 per share, thus giving PrediLife a market capitalisation of 25.7 million.

Settlement of the new shares issued through the Offering will take place on Euronext Growth Paris on 20 December 2018, and the shares will have the following ISIN code FR0010169920 and the following ticker ALPRE.

Purpose of fundraising:

The issue of new shares is intended to finance the French and international commercial roll-out of MammoRisk, as well as PrediLife's ordinary expenditure and the repayment of loans granted by Bpifrance, and to enable the Company to pursue its research programmes.

Ownership structure at the end of the Offering

After the capital increase taking place as part of the IPO, PrediLife's share capital will amount to 68,953.85, divided into 2,758,154 ordinary shares and held as follows:

Shareholders Number of shares Number of voting

rights % of capital % of voting rights Stephane Ragusa 1,526,076 2,966,076 55.33% 62.82% Caravelle 808,571 1,220,971 29.32% 25.86% Antoine Bricard 89,414 89,414 3.24% 1.89% Clearside Holding APS 57,156 57,156 2.07% 1.21% Employees 27,200 27,200 0.99% 0.58% Treasury shares 4,800 0 0.17% 0.00% Free float 244,937 360,937 8.88% 7.64% TOTAL 2,758,154 4,721,754 100.00% 100.00%

Each of the subscription commitments of the historical shareholders as part of the IPO was 100% satisfied.

Offering details

Offering price

The OPO and Global Placement were priced at 9.30 per share.

This means that PrediLife's market capitalisation will be around 25.7 million after the capital increase.

Offering size and gross proceeds

386,154 new shares were issued under the OPO and Global Placement.

The gross proceeds of the issue amounted to 3.6 million (including 1.6 million through the set-off of debt).

Breakdown of shares subscribed through the Offering

Global Placement: 322,907 new shares (almost 3.0 million and around 83.6% of the total number of shares allotted).

OPO: 63,247 new shares allotted to the public (almost 0.6 million and around 16.4% of the total number of shares allotted).

Under the OPO, A1 and A2 orders will be 100% fulfilled.

Indicative timetable 20 December 2018 Capital increase formally noted by the board of directors

Settlement of the OPO and Global Placement 21 December 2018 Beginning of trading of the Company's shares on the Euronext Growth Paris market

PrediLife share identification codes

Name: PrediLife

ISIN code: FR0010169920

Ticker: ALPRE

Compartment: Euronext Growth Paris

Business segment: 9537 Software

Financial intermediaries involved in the IPO

SwissLife Banque Privee Listing Sponsor Lead Manager and Bookrunner

Information accessible to the public - Copies of the prospectus, approved on 4 December 2018 under number 18-545 by the Autorite des Marches Financiers, are available free of charge and on request from PrediLife, (39 rue Camille Desmoulins 94800 Villejuif, France), and on the websites of the AMF (www.amf-france.org) and the Company (www.predilife.com).

Risk factors

PrediLife draws the public's attention to the risks relating to business activities described in chapter 4 "Risk factors" in the first section of the prospectus and the risks related to the offering described in chapter 2 "Offering-related risk factors" in the second section of the prospectus.

About PrediLife

PrediLife develops innovative predictive medicine solutions that combine proven medical techniques (genetic testing, medical imaging etc.) with mathematical models using a large amount of statistical data, which potentially allow individuals to ascertain their own risk profile regarding the occurrence of a large number of serious diseases.

The company markets its MammoRisk personalised breast cancer screening solution in Europe and the United States. The solution combines medical imaging using its proprietary DenSeeMammo software for measuring breast density with Big Data and statistics through a scoring tool that uses patient-related data (age, breast density, family history, biopsy results, ethnic origin) and a study of the patient's genetic profile through a genetic test, to establish a polygenic risk score. The solution addresses demand among women and medical practitioners for screening programmes that are personalised according to the risk of breast cancer.

PrediLife is in charge of assessing breast cancer risks as part of the European MyPeBS reference study. The study's main aim is to compare the current screening approach where age is the only criterion used with a new screening strategy based on each woman's risk level. Another aim of the MyPeBS study is to produce European guidelines for the introduction of personalised screening.

Personalised screening is likely to have a major impact on public health, initially by reducing the number of cases in which breast cancer is diagnosed only at an advanced stage, and eventually by reducing the breast cancer mortality rate.

To find out more, visit http://www.predilife.com/home.php

Disclaimer

A prospectus approved by the Autorite des Marches Financiers ("AMF") on 4 December 2018 under number I.18-545 is available free of charge from PrediLife, and on the websites of PrediLife (www.predilife.com) and the AMF (www.amf-france.org). The public's attention is drawn to the "risk factors" sections of the prospectus.

Information relating to the issuance of shares by PrediLife may not be communicated or disseminated to the public in a country in which registration or approval is required. No steps to do so have been taken or will be taken, outside France, in any country in which such steps would be required. The issuance or subscription of PrediLife shares may be subject to specific statutory or regulatory restrictions in some countries. PrediLife shall bear no liability in the event that any person breaches those restrictions.

This press release is not a prospectus within the meaning of Directive 2003/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 as amended, in particular by Directive 2010/73/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010, as amended and as transposed into the laws of each Member State of the European Economic Area (the "Prospectus Directive"

As regards Member States of the European Economic Area other than France that have transposed the Prospectus Directive ("Member States"), no steps have been taken or will be taken to allow an offering of PrediLife securities to the public that results in the requirement for a Prospectus to be published in any Member State. As a result, PrediLife shares may be offered in Member States only: (a) to legal entities that are qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Directive or (b) in other cases that do not require PrediLife to publish a prospectus under article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive.

In the United Kingdom, this document is being sent to and is intended only for persons who are "qualified investors" within the meaning of article 2(1)(e) (i), (ii) or (iii) of the Prospectus Directive and who are also considered to be (i) "investment professionals" (persons with professional experience regarding investments) within the meaning of article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended, hereinafter the "Order"), (ii) persons falling within the scope of article 49(2)(a) to (d) ("high net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc.") of the Order, or (iii) persons to whom an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of article 21 of Financial Services and Markets Act 2000) may legally be sent as part of the issue or sale of financial securities (with all such persons collectively being referred to as "Persons Concerned"). In the United Kingdom, this document is being sent only to Persons Concerned and no person other than a Person Concerned may use or act on the basis of this document. Any investment or investment activity to which this document refers is only accessible to Persons Concerned and must only be carried out with Persons Concerned.

This document is not an offering to sell PrediLife shares in the United States. PrediLife shares may not be sold in the United States in the absence of registration or a registration waiver with respect to the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended. PrediLife is not planning to register an offering in the United States or to make any public offering of shares in the United States.

This press release does not constitute and cannot be regarded as constituting an offering to the public or a subscription offering, or as soliciting interest from the public with respect to a transaction involving a public offering of PrediLife financial securities in any country in which such an offering would breach applicable laws and regulations.

The dissemination of this press release in certain countries may constitute a breach of applicable laws. The information contained in this press release does not constitute an offering of securities in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan or any other country. This press release must not be published, transmitted or distributed, directly or indirectly, in the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan.

This press release may be drafted in French and English. In the event of differences between the two texts, the French version shall take precedence.

Do not disseminate, directly or indirectly, in the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005755/en/

Contacts:

Predilife

Stephane Ragusa

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Pierre Verdet

Deputy Chief Executive Officer

investisseurs@predilife.com

NewCap

Investor relations

Tristan Roquet Montegon Mathilde Bohin

Media relations

Annie-Florence Loyer Lea Jacquin

predilife@newcap.eu

+33 (0)1 44 71 94 94

SwissLife Banque Privee

Jean-Michel Cabriot

+33 (0)1 53 29 15 61

capitalmarkets@swisslifebanque.frVancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 18, 2018) - WPC Resources Inc. (TSXV: WPQ) (FSE: 5WP) ("WPC" or the "Company") reports that its Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders (the "Meeting") was held on December 17, 2018. A total of 32.4 million shares were voted by proxy representing 25.0% of the Company's issued and outstanding common shares. All items were passed by the shareholders. The following is a summary of the voting details:





Resolution Votes For % of Votes For Votes Against or Withheld % of Votes Against or Withheld Number of directors (5) 32,254,040 99.48% 170,000 0.52% Judy Baker 31,474,040 97.07% 950,000 2.93% Klaus G. Schmid 31,474,040 97.07% 950,000 2.93% Robert Metcalfe 31,474,040 97.07% 950,000 2.93% Dr. Georg Pollert 32,204,040 99.32% 220,000 0.68% Kenneth R. Yurichuk 31,504,040 97.16% 920,000 2.84% Appointment of Auditors 32,224,040 99.38% 200,000 0.62% Stock Option Plan 26,923,040 83.03% 5,501,000 16.97% Shareholdings of Large Shareholder 28,231,040 87.07% 4,193,000 12.93%

The Company is also pleased to welcome its three new directors to the Board, joining incumbent members, Messrs. Metcalfe and Yurichuk. Ian Graham and Stephen Wilkinson did not stand for re-election. Mr. Graham will continue to act as advisor to the Board and Stephen will remain President and CEO of the Company.

The Company's New Directors

Judy Baker is the founder and CEO of Argo Gold and has 25 years of experience in capital markets including equity analysis, restructuring, fund management, and mineral exploration and mining company activity. Judy Baker was also the founder of Superior Copper and Canada Lithium. Ms. Baker holds an Honours B.Sc. Geological Engineering in Mineral Resources Exploration from Queen's University (1990) and an M.B.A. from Ivey Business School (1995).

Klaus Schmid has been a banker for more than 45 years, focused mainly in corporate and investment banking in Germany. He works for the Sparkasse in Haslach/Black Forest. Mr. Schmid studied at the Administrative and Business Academy Freiburg, Germany. He continued with ongoing certifications and achieved the highest level of licensed certifications which allows him to run a bank. He was one of the first investors in the EURASIA Holding. This company has supported the development of Osisko on an ongoing basis in Canada right from the early beginnings. Through his investments in numerous resource companies he is familiar with the junior markets, particularly in Europe and North America.

Dr. Pollert is an accomplished technical and financial executive. In 1982 Dr. Pollert received his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Clausthal in Germany. Over the next 18 years, his career advanced through acting as the head of process technology and technical marketing to the executive management team at Feld & Hahn in Bendorf. While at Feld & Hahn, Dr. Pollert became responsible for the entire technical area and participated in the building of the first large scale continuous bio-diesel plant in Germany. In 2000 and after two years as an independent consulting engineer, he and a partner founded Arbeitsgemeinschaft Qualitatsmanagement Biodiesel, a company for the production of biodiesel in Bitterfeld near Leipzig, Germany. In 2006, he and his partner also founded Verbio AG, where they concentrated all bio-energy-activities. There he was the COO until 2011. Since that time, he has been a Member of the Supervisory Board. Verbio AG is now the leading independent bio-energy producer in Germany.

Stephen Wilkinson, CEO and President commented, "The Company is embarking on a new path that in our opinion will lead to improved corporate governance with our reconstituted board of independent members. Each of our directors possesses experience and education that are uniquely complementary and will guide the management team through the next steps of property development."

About WPC Resources Inc.

WPC is a Vancouver-based gold exploration company focused on mineral exploration and development within Nunavut, Canada. The Company through its subsidiary, Inukshuk Exploration Inc., owns the highly perspective 8,015 ha Hood River gold property located contiguous to the Ulu mining lease. WPC has a definitive agreement to acquire the Ulu, an advanced exploration project. The Company has 129.6 million shares issued and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange with the trading symbol: WPQ. The Company website is: www.wpcresources.ca.

For further information, please contact:

Stephen Wilkinson, President and CEO

Telephone: +1 778-379-1433

Email: info@wpcresources.ca

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.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND INFORMATION

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking information. All information included herein, other than statements of historical fact, including the expected completion of the Placement and the timing thereof, and the expected use of proceeds are forward-looking statements and involves various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that the forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information.In a filing in the Mumbai High Court last week, the DP World unit Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal said the CCI's decision to order an investigation was 'arbitrary' and 'capricious'.

New Delhi: Dubai's DP World has approached an Indian court to quash an antitrust investigation recently ordered into its alleged anti-competitive behaviour at the country's largest container port in Mumbai, a legal document reviewed by Reuters showed.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) last month said it suspected alleged antitrust violations by DP World and Denmark's AP Moller-Maersk at the terminals they operate at state-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).

The CCI's probe followed a complaint by Singapore's PSA International, which had alleged that Maersk and DP World businesses created barriers to hinder the growth of PSA's terminal by colluding on certain charges they levy at JNPT, Reuters reported last month.

In a filing in the Bombay High Court last week, the DP World unit Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal said the CCI's decision to order an investigation was "arbitrary" and "capricious".

The filing, dated 13 December, has been reviewed by Reuters. It has not been previously reported.

Allowing the CCI's order to stand "would lead to gross discrimination and grave economic harm" on the business, the DP World unit said in its petition, urging the court to quash the CCI's order, put it on hold, or ask the watchdog to withdraw it.

A spokesperson for DP World in India declined to comment, saying the matter was sub judice. PSA declined to comment.

AP Moller-Maersk, the world's biggest container shipping group, did not respond to queries.

The CCI did not respond to Reuters questions. The case is due to come up for hearing on Tuesday in Mumbai.

Handling 66 million tonnes of cargo in the last fiscal year to March, JNPT is critical to India's international trade. The port handles more than half of Indias traffic of shipping containers each year.

Units of Maersk, DP World and PSA operate four of the ports five terminals, with the fifth owned by the government. The PSA terminal, inaugurated in February, is planned to be the largest, expected to nearly double JNPTs capacity.

The dispute centres around so-called inter-terminal transfers.

Under the system, freight trains arriving at JNPT typically carry containers destined for several terminals, but stop at just one that handles all the cargo on a given day. Other operators then collect their containers by truck for loading at their own terminals. A similar procedure is followed, in reverse, when imported containers are unloaded.

In June, PSA, which is owned by Singapore government-owned investment fund Temasek Holdings, lodged a complaint with the CCI alleging it was facing discrimination because Maersk and DP World were imposing a higher fee on shipping companies for handling containers that arrived at the PSA terminal.

In its petition, DP World said the matter was a "business" issue and should be looked into by India's Tariff Authority for Major Ports, not the CCI.

Chairman of the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, TS Balasubramanian, did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

The CCI in its 9 November order, however, had said it did not agree that the matter pertains only to tariff fixation and it was rather a case of "coordinated conduct" which raised "anti-competitive concerns".

The regulator had asked its investigations unit to probe the allegations and submit a report by January. The probe would also look at the role of individual company executives, sources have previously told Reuters.

A government source told Reuters on Monday that the matter could be looked at by both the Tariff Authority as well as the CCI, and the watchdog was going to defend its decision in court.The minister in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha said, 'No, sir. Government has not asked funds from its surplus reserves to meet fiscal deficit.'

New Delhi: The government has not sought funds from surplus reserves of the Reserve Bank to meet fiscal deficit, Minister of State for Finance Pon Radhakrishnan said on Tuesday.

The minister in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha said, "No, sir. Government has not asked funds from its surplus reserves to meet fiscal deficit."

He was replying to a query if the government approached the RBI for extra funds from surplus reserves to meet fiscal deficit target.

The RBI has massive Rs 9.59 lakh crore reserves, and the finance ministry and independent director S Gurumurthy want it to be lowered in line with global practices.

The RBI's central board on 19 November decided to constitute an expert committee to examine the Economic Capital Framework of the RBI.

The terms of reference and composition of the expert committee is to be jointly determined by the government and the central banker.

"Government has asked for a review of RBI's Economic Capital Framework," the minister said in the house.

The RBI transferred Rs 50,000 crore as surplus amount to government in 2017-18.

An amount of Rs 30,659 crore was transferred in 2016-17 (the year of implementation of demonetisation) while Rs 65,876 crore was transferred in 2015-16.

RBI follows July-June financial year.'There is a huge potential for Turkish construction companies to operate in India,' Suresh Prabhu said at India-Turkey Business Forum meet.

New Delhi: Huge investment opportunities exist in India in various sectors including construction for Turkish companies, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Tuesday.

He said all issues such as trade deficit, raised by Turkey, would be looked upon by India.

"There is a huge potential for Turkish construction companies to operate in India," Prabhu said here at India-Turkey Business Forum meet.

While India's exports to Turkey stood at $5 billion, imports were only $2.2 billion in 2017-18.

"We have discussed all issues and we will resolve those" to promote trade and investments between the two countries, he said.

Turkey has flagged issues related to export of poppy seeds, agri products and enhancing banking relations to push its shipments in India.

In May, the Cabinet approved signing of a pact between the countries on trade in poppy seeds to ensure quick and transparent processing for its import from Turkey.

The minister has also agreed to visit Turkey in February to discuss ways to further expand trade and investment relations.

There is also a proposal from Turkey for doing trade in local currency with India.

Speaking at the event, Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said her country will provide all support to put in place a proposed free trade agreement with India.

She raised the issue of letters of credit, which are not accepted in India.

She added that increase in number of flights between the countries would help promote the growth of tourism sector.

The minister also emphasised to remove obstacles in promoting "sustainable trade".If India is to prosper, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are among the key states that need to raise their game

You know, when you are in the Titanic, being on the third deck or the first deck doesnt make a huge difference you are on the third deck is better than the first, because you just sink a little bit later, but you still sink, Italian economist Luigi Zingales said in an interview in 2015 while talking about the north-south economic divide in his country. It is for the same reason that people in the prosperous states of India should worry about the huge gap that exists between them and the poorer states, and think of it as their own problem to solve.

The living standard of a person in Gujarat has risen to the tune of over Rs 55,500 since 2011-12, the highest increase among all major states in India. In stark contrast, the improvement in the standard of living for an average person in Bihar over the same period was worth less than Rs 7,000. In fact, just the incremental real income per person in five Southern statesTamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana and Karnataka and the states of Maharashtra, Haryana and Gujarat over this period was higher than the level of real income itself in Bihar in 2017-18.

These numbers understate the real improvement in lives of people residing in poorer states where families receive remittances from close relatives working in other parts of India or abroad. Nonetheless, they can be taken to represent the potential of a state to generate growth and prosperity.

There are some worries among Indias prosperous states as well. The economic decline of Tamil Nadu stands outit had the second-highest per person income among the five Southern states in 2011-12 and now it has fallen to the fourth spot. While Maharashtra and Gujarat continue to do well, the within-state inequality of income in these states is well known. So what is the mantra for a sustainable long-term growth? And how can growth be made inclusive?

First, invest in people. Second, invest in infrastructure and urban design. Third, encourage scaling up of firms. And fourth, dare one suggest, a radical step of eliminating the in-built permanent job tenure for all government jobs making them linked to employee performance.

People and their skill-level hold the key for prosperity. Given that there is a shortage of teachers, computer-aided education can partly be used to improve the quality of schooling. Our current education system amplifies inequality by offering a small proportion of lucky and relatively well-off kids a world class-level of education, with the majority receiving a dismal quality of schooling.

Investing in infrastructure pays a large growth dividend is something that is known. But, as India upgrades its infrastructure and builds new cities, its important to learn from the Gurgaon experience. While entrepreneurs will build world-class campuses, they would not build sewage systems and roads outside their premises, and rightly so.

It is then the job for the city corporation to assign in advance spaces for all civic facilities, even if they are not built right away, as the Nobel Prize winner Paul Romer emphasizes. Once a city or a town comes up randomly, it cant be bulldozed and one has to settle permanently for a sub-optimal solution.

Would education and infrastructure on their own lead to job creation, Indias number One problem, given its millions of working age population? Not really. To give us fighting chance to resolve this issue, we need to enable scaling up of firms. While India has never lacked entrepreneurship, we still have relatively few large firms which can compete on a global scale.

While the small and medium enterprises will remain a key fabric of the society, they thrive when they can supply their goods and services to large firms. The scaling up requires efficient organization and management skills, process developments, efficient legal and dispute resolution systems so on.

Finally, inclusive growth depends on the strength of countries, institutions including its public delivery systems. Restructuring institutions and bringing out a cultural shift in a service attitude is a very slow painstaking process and requires subsequent governments to stick to it. Can the alternative be abolishing a life-time job tenure for public sector employees and moving to a performance-linked system as in the private sector?

Non-permanent jobs do not mean temporary or casual jobs. They would be payroll jobs with all benefits provided, similar to any service industry in the private sector, as long as an employee remains productive. It would nearly instantly lower corruption and raise the standard of service delivery. This is a radical step which is nearly impossible to implement in reality, but radical ideas are the need of the moment. One never knows which idea will work!

Even if we take all the above measures, be prepared for two things. First, more internal migration as millions of young people in poorer states continue to look for better opportunities elsewhere. Second, public policies will inevitably require some redistribution of resources from rich to poor given that we cannot create the millions of jobs that are required.

If India is to prosper, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are among the key states that need to raise their game. But no other parts of India seem to care. But we should, all of us should, if what we want is sustainable and inclusive growth for India.

(The writer is Professor-Economics, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai)The meeting would be the first face-to-face interaction between Nissans Hiroto Saikawa and Renaults Thierry Bollore since Ghosn was arrested on 19 November in Tokyo.

Tokyo/Paris: Nissan Motors CEO plans to meet one-on-one with the deputy CEO of automaking partner Renault in Amsterdam this week, sources told Reuters, amid tensions over the future of the alliance after chairman Carlos Ghosns arrest last month.

The meeting would be the first face-to-face interaction between Nissans Hiroto Saikawa and Renaults Thierry Bollore since Ghosn was arrested on 19 November in Tokyo.

It would take place alongside regular top-level, monthly talks between the partners and Mitsubishi Motor Corp that will be held over two days from Tuesday, according to one of the sources familiar with the matter.

Saikawa, who took over from Ghosn as CEO last year, is planning to discuss at the meeting with Bollore possible changes to the partnerships management and operations with an eye to continuing the alliance, another source who is close to Nissans management said.

The talks in Amsterdam could provide Saikawa with an opportunity to try and convince Renault executives of the gravity of Ghosns alleged misconduct discovered during an in-house investigation by the Japanese automaker.

They are being held a day after he rebuffed a demand from Renault for an extraordinary shareholder meeting that would have offered the French car maker a chance to weigh in on Ghosns replacement as chairman and on other Nissan board appointments.

Mitsubishi chairman Osamu Masuko said late on Monday he will attend the Amsterdam meetings via video conference.

A Nissan spokesman said Saikawa would attend meetings with alliance partners in Amsterdam from Tuesday, but declined to comment on the possibility of the one-on-one meeting with Bollore.

Ghosn was charged last week alongside alleged accomplice Greg Kelly and Nissan itself over the companys failure to declare $43 million in deferred income that Ghosn had arranged to be paid while chairman and CEO. Both men remain in custody.

The scandal has shaken the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, with Saikawa calling for changes to weaken Renaults control as he moved to oust Ghosn in the week of his arrest.

Renault directors were briefed last week on the Nissan investigation that led to Ghosns arrest but reiterated their earlier decision to keep him in office as chairman and CEO.

But the Renault board has yet to be given direct access to Nissans findings, which are being closely held by Renault lawyers answering to Ghosns long-standing chief of staff and head of legal affairs at Renault, Mouna Sepehri.

We understand that the raw details of the misconduct have yet to reach each of Renaults board members, Saikawa said on Monday after Nissan directors rebuffed the shareholder meeting demand. We hope the board will listen to our explanation.

Renault owns 43.4 percent of Nissan, whose 15 percent stake in its French parent carries no voting rights. Nissan, in turn, controls Mitsubishi via a 34 percent holding.Vogo, which provides services in the southern Indian cities of Bengaluru and Hyderabad, will use the money to expand its fleet by 100,000 scooters.

Indian ride-hailing firm Ola will invest $100 million in Vogo, a domestic scooter sharing start-up, and add the companys fleet of two-wheelers to the Ola app to broaden the range of vehicles it offers, the companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

Vogo, which provides services in the southern Indian cities of Bengaluru and Hyderabad, will use the money to expand its fleet by 100,000 scooters. It did not disclose how many scooters it currently has but said that more than 100,000 users have commuted for over 20 million kilometers using its two-wheelers.

Our investment in Vogo will help build a smart multi-modal network for first-last mile connectivity in the country, Ola co-founder and chief executive officer Bhavish Aggarwal said in the statement.

Mewnwhile in August, Vogo raised funding led by Ola and Hero MotoCorp chairman Pawan Munjal, reported PTI.

The Series A round also saw participation from Stellaris Venture Partners, Matrix Partners India, Aprameya Radhakrishna (TaxiForSure founder), Rajesh Yabaji (Blackbuck founder) and Mayank Bidawatka (Goodbox founder), Vogo said in a statement.

While the company declined to comment on the transaction size, industry watchers said the funding is to the tune of $5-7 million.

Vogo is a dockless scooter rental company that lets customers rent scooters for short one-way trips. The company's app allows users to locate, unlock and pick up scooters and bikes at one point, and drop it off at a different point.

Vogo scooters come with an OTP-based IoT sensor which allows customers to access the key without the need for any human intervention, and start their ride.

The company is present in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It plans to add over 1,000 pick-up points across these two cities in the coming year.

"Our goal is to make a Vogo scooter available in every nook and corner of the country that is plagued with issues like traffic congestion, pollution and growing population," Vogo founder and CEO Anand Ayyadurai said.

Using the Vogo mobile app, more than 27,000 users have commuted for over six million kms, the statement said.

 With agency inputsVogo is a point-to-point dockless scooter-sharing company, present in Bengaluru and Hyderabad and has served over one lakh users.

New Delhi: Ride hailing platform Ola on Tuesday said it is investing $100 million in Vogo, a scooter-sharing platform.

"Ola will boost Vogo's supply by investing in 1,00,000 scooters on the Vogo platform, worth $100 million. This infusion will give Vogo a strategic supply advantage without having to incur significant capital expenditure," Ola said in a statement.

Additionally, Vogo's offerings will also be available for Ola's over 150 million customers, directly from the Ola app soon, it added.

Ola has also invested in Vogo as part of the latter's series A fundraising that saw participation from Matrix Partners India and Stellaris Venture Partners.

Vogo is a point-to-point dockless scooter-sharing company, present in Bengaluru and Hyderabad and has served over one lakh users.

"Our investment in Vogo will help build a smart multi-modal network for first-last mile connectivity in the country," Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said.

Vogo founder and CEO Anand Ayyadurai said the company has seen rapid growth in the last 5 months, growing over 10X in scale.

"We are thrilled to have Ola join us on this journey and help turbocharge our growth by providing us access to strategic and capital efficient supply as well as access to millions of customers on its platform in the time to come," he added.Electoral bonds of the aggregated amount of Rs 1,056.73 crore were purchased by citizens or entities till the completion of 6th phase of issuance of electoral bonds in November 2018, Minister of State for Finance P Radhakrishnan said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

New Delhi: Political parties have realised Rs 1,045.53 crore so far by encashing electoral bonds, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

Electoral bonds of the aggregated amount of Rs 1,056.73 crore were purchased by citizens or entities till the completion of 6th phase of issuance of electoral bonds in November 2018, Minister of State for Finance P Radhakrishnan said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

"So far six tranches of electoral bonds have been released by the Government as per the terms & conditions of the Notification dated 2.1.2018. An aggregated amount of Rs 1,056.73 crore was mobilised through sale of electoral bonds in six tranches. Out of the collected amount, a sum of Rs 1,045.53 crore was encashed by political parties," he said.

The government notified the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018 on 2 January, 2018 to establish and cleanse the system of political funding in the country, the minister added.

As per provisions of the scheme, electoral bonds may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or entities incorporated or established in India.

Registered political parties that have secured not less than 1 percent of the votes polled in the last election of the Lok Sabha or legislative assembly will be eligible to receive electoral bonds.

Electoral bonds, which is issued for certain value denominations from the specified branches of the State Bank of India (SBI), has a tenure of 15 days.

It does not carry the name of payee or the donor.

The bonds under the scheme will be available for purchase for a period of 10 days, each in the months of January, April, July and October, as may be specified by the central government, Radhakrishnan said.

An additional period of 30 days will be specified by the central government in the year of the General election, he added.

Electoral Bond (EB) is a bearer instrument in the nature of a Promissory Note and an interest free banking instrument.Saudi Arabia is keen to get a foothold in the world's fastest-growing fuel market so as to get a captive customer for crude oil it produces.

New Delhi: World's largest oil exporter Saudi Arabia and richest Indian Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries are discussing joint investment in petrochemicals and refinery projects, the Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih said.

Al-Falih, who has known Ambani for over a decade now, travelled to Udaipur earlier this month to attend the pre-wedding festivities of Ambani's daughter Isha's marriage with Ajay Piramal's son Anand.

During that visit, he also held talks with Ambani but choose to tweet about those discussions only this week.

In an Arabic tweet, which was translated using online tools, Al-Falih said he was delighted to meet Ambani.

At the meeting "we discussed opportunities for joint investments and cooperation in petrochemical, refining and communications projects."

He also tweeted a picture of the meeting where Ambani is dressed in a business suit, a sharp contrast to other pictures of his in traditional attire during the pre-wedding festivities held on 8 and 9 December.

No details of the meeting were available from Reliance.

Reliance operates two refineries at Jamnagar with a total capacity of 68.2 million tonnes per annum.

Reliance plans to expand its only-for-exports SEZ refining capacity to just over 41 million tonnes from current 35.2 million tonnes but does not have any plans to set up a new refinery in the country.

It is presently focused on expanding petrochemical and telecom business, industry sources said.

Crude oil is the basic raw material for the manufacturing of petrochemicals.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is keen to get a foothold in the world's fastest-growing fuel market so as to get a captive customer for crude oil it produces.

Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil company, and its partner Abu Dabhi National Oil Co (ADNOC) have picked up 50 percent stake in a planned $44-billion refinery in Maharashtra but the project is facing problems in acquiring land due to protests from local politicians.

Aramco and ADNOC will together hold 50 percent stake in the 60 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) refinery and adjacent 18 MTPA petrochemical complex planned to be built at Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra by 2025.

The two will supply half of the crude oil required for processing at the refinery.

Like other major producers, the two are looking to lock in customers in the world's third-largest oil consumer through the investment. Kuwait too is looking to invest in projects in return for getting an assured offtake of their crude oil.

Saudi Aramco is also keen on retailing fuel in India. A refinery in India can also be a base for it to export fuel to deficit countries in Europe and the Americas.

India has a refining capacity of 247.6 million tonnes, which exceeded the demand of 206.2 million tonnes.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), this demand is expected to reach 458 million tonnes by 2040.

(Disclosure - Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd)The rise in the rupee was also supported by dollar-selling by exporters and banks and the US unit's weakness against some currencies overseas ahead of US Federal Reserve Monetary policy decision Wednesday

Mumbai: The rupee appreciated 37 paise to 71.19 against the US dollar in early trade at the interbank foreign exchange Tuesday after crude prices fell to a 14-month low level in international market.

The rise in the rupee was also supported by dollar-selling by exporters and banks and the US unit's weakness against some currencies overseas ahead of US Federal Reserve Monetary policy decision Wednesday, traders said.

At the interbank forex market, the rupee commenced with strength at 71.34 and appreciated further to quote 37 paise higher at 71.19 against the US dollar.

The rupee had gained 34 paise to close at 71.56 against the US dollar Monday as forex market sentiments were driven by the country's narrowing trade deficit in November as also smart gains in domestic equities.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped by 1.22 percent to 14-month low of $58.85 barrel.

The US Federal Reserve's policy decision is expected on December 19, and market is expecting another rate hike, traders said.

However, a lower opening in the domestic equity market capped the gain in the domestic currency.

The benchmark BSE Sensex fell by 170.50 points, 0.47 percent, to 36,099.57 in early trade.Earlier in June this year, Infosys had partnered with the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to train about 1,000 designers over the next two years.

IT major Infosys plans to recruit people with liberal arts and design skills to develop new digital applications as certain new digital deals need the expertise of creative thinkers.

Infosys may hire a few thousand people with arts and other non-engineering degrees to work on new digital applications, which are more than just delivering technology services, said a report in The Economic Times.

Technology companies such as Infosys are witnessing an increasing number of digital contracts where the solutions are often created with clients, unlike the traditional deals where the specifications were drawn by the clients and outsourced. In these new deals, user experience is key to solving the business problems of clients and the skills needed for this are as much arts as they are science, said the ET report.

Earlier in June this year, Infosys had partnered with the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to train about 1,000 designers over the next two years.

The partnership aims to foster the continued development of top designers at Infosys and explore new ways of solving complex challenges at the intersection of design, technology and industry, Infosys said in a statement.

"Over the next two years, Infosys will train 1,000 designers across the globe, and has chosen to partner RISD to contribute to this goal," it added.

Beginning with an eight-week pilot this summer, Infosys will join hands with RISD to develop a curriculum to build the skills of these designers, helping them acquire design- and human-centric skills in technologies used to address challenges facing Infosys global clients, the statement said.

Infosys will focus on hiring designers with these specialised design skills as part of its commitment to hire 500 American workers in Rhode Island over the next five years, it added.

Infosys will also open a design and innovation hub in the capital city Providence later this summer.

The Infosys-RISD partnership will enable industry-leading innovation in design, catalyse economic growth in the state and equip Rhode Islanders with the skills and expertise they need to tackle the design challenges of the future," Governor of Rhode Island Gina Raimondo said.

Infosys President and Deputy Chief Operating Officer Ravi Kumar said the partnership will help close the global design talent gap.

He added that this will also prepare the company's designers to create client solutions at the junctures of several siloed disciplines, including the humanities, liberal arts, public policy, economics, and engineering.

In November last year, Infosys had announced a multi-year partnership with the State of Rhode Island to establish a design and innovation hub.

It had also announced to hire 500 American workers in Rhode Island over the next five years.

 With PTI inputsThe minister said the dairy sector needs to gear up to meet the growing challenges of providing better quality milk quality without drug residues, as these are issues of growing public concern.

Vadodara: Junior agriculture minister at the Centre Krishna Raj on Monday called up on dairy farmers to

reduce using antibiotics to treat illness in cattle as it can go a long way to mitigate the rising risk of anti-microbial resistance (AMR) in livestocks.

It can be noted that AMR in cattle has of late become a public health concern throughout the world.

The minister also said diary farmers should use ethno veterinary medicines that are cheaper and harmless to treat their cattle. These formulations are being popularised by the National Diary Development Board now and have already proved to be safe and efficacious at field trials.

She further said the dairy sector needs to gear up to meet the growing challenges of providing better quality milk quality without drug residues, as these are issues of growing public concern.

The minister was at Anand, 40 kilometres from here, to inaugurate the third international seminar on 'Veterinary ayurveda' organised by the National Diary Development Board. The seminar is part of the eighth World Ayurveda Congress, organised by the World Ayurveda Foundation.

Addressing the seminar, she said the cost-efficacy of ethno veterinary medicines is in line with the national

narrative of doubling farmers' income as these formulations are affordable because they are prepared from ingredients available in a farmer's household.

Addressing the gathering, NDDB chairman Dilip Rath said ethno-veterinary medicines have been used for ages by dairy farmers to manage common ailments in their livestocks as these formulations are simple, cost-effective, efficacious and environment-friendly options.

He said for these ayurveda formulations to sustain in the long-run it is essential to have adequate supply till such time the knowledge transfer to the farmer is more or less complete.The Yes Bank's chairman post fell vacant after the resignation of Ashok Chawla in November following issues related to probity.

New Delhi: Yes Bank has recommended the name of its board member Brahm Dutt for the post of Chairman to the RBI, according to sources.

The Chairman post fell vacant after the resignation of Ashok Chawla in November following issues related to probity.

"The bank has sent the name of Dutt to the Reserve Bank for the Chairman post," a source said on Tuesday.

Since Dutt is already a part of the bank and understands various aspects of the system in a better way, it would be good to have him as the chairman, sources said.

The bank's spokesperson could not be reached for comments.

Dutt, a retired bureaucrat, is currently an independent director on the bank's board, which has eight members.

The other board members are MD&CEO Rana Kapoor, Lt General Mukesh Sabharwal, Subhash Kalia, Ajai Kumar, Pratima Sheorey, Uttam Agarwal and TS Vijayan.

Vijayan -- former LIC and IRDAI chief -- was inducted into the board only recently along with Agarwal who is a chartered accountant with expertise in taxation, finance and restructuring.

Besides, the bank has to recommend name/s for MD&CEO post to the RBI as Kapoor has been denied extension post-31 January, 2019 by the central bank.

As per sources, RBI has flagged issues related to corporate governance as well as under-reporting of bad loans.Afghanistan has welcomed the exemption from the Iran sanctions given by the US for the India-developed Chabahar Port project.

United Nations: Afghanistan has welcomed the exemption from the Iran sanctions given by the US for the India-developed Chabahar Port project.

"We appreciate the collaboration and flexibility of our strategic partner, the US to work with Afghanistan, Iran and India towards exempting the port from its sanctions," Afghanistan's Permanent Representative Mahmoud Saikal told the Security Council on Monday at its meeting on his country.

"The Chabahar Port remains an important gateway for providing commercially viable access to the sea linking the Indian Ocean with Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond," he said.

India is investing $500 million in the port project in Iran and the road link to Afghanistan, which gives the land-locked nation where the US is heavily invested an alternative sea outlet.

Despite President Donald Trump's animosity towards Iran, the US had to give the exemption to Chabahar to enable Indian assistance to reach Afghanistan, where Washington is mired in a 17-year-war against the Taliban, the Al Qaeda and their allies.

Without access to Chabahar, Afghanistan would be forced to depend solely on Pakistan for a sea passage.

Last month, Washington imposed harsh restrictions on trade relations with Iran, threatening sanctions on those violating the embargo.

This followed Trump pulling out of the nuclear deal signed during former President Barack Obama's tenure between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and the European Union, to end sanctions in return for Tehran stopping nuclear weapons development.

Announcing the US exemption for the Chabahar Port, a State Department spokesperson said last month that it "relates to reconstruction assistance and economic development for Afghanistan. These activities are vital for the ongoing support of Afghanistan's growth and humanitarian relief".

India has sent 1.1 million tonnes of wheat through the port to Afghanistan, where the eastern region has suffered a drought.

Trump's South Asia strategy "underscores our ongoing support of Afghanistan's economic growth and development as well as our close partnership with India", the spokesperson added.

Last year, Trump assigned a "critical" role for India in his country's South Asia strategy for fighting terrorism, building up a safe Afghanistan and appealed for help from New Delhi.

Chabahar would be essential for any large-scale assistance from India to Afghanistan.

With the prospects of peace negotiations with the Taliban improving, Saikal took a conciliatory approach to Pakistan, which he had sternly accused in the past of being complicit in cross-border terrorist attacks.

"We have always asserted that the government of Pakistan has a particularly important role to play, given its leverage over key Taliban figures," he said.

Taliban leaders and Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, met in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday for talks facilitated by Pakistan.

At the trilateral meeting of Foreign Ministers, Salahuddin Rabbani of Afghanistan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi of Pakistan and Wang Yi of China in Kabul last weekend, " we reiterated our request from Pakistan to do what is necessary to facilitate direct talks", Saikal said.

"And in regards to security, we asserted that mutual trust and confidence is only possible when we see a reduction in violence, and more tangible measures against terrorist elements," he added.Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said his government is mulling over a new policy to kick-start adoption of electric vehicles and to reduce pollution in the national capital

New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said his government is mulling over a new electric vehicle policy to reduce pollution in the national capital.

"We are working on reducing pollution in the national capital and an electric vehicle policy is being developed for the city. A draft policy has already been made and we are further holding talks with the experts, NGOs and other concerned people. We are planning to buy around 1,000 electric buses," Kejriwal told ANI.

Last month, the Delhi government had released a draft of the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy 2018 for feedback from the public.

The policy recognised that a new approach is required to kick-start EV adoption in the national capital, and therefore, seeks to put in place several measures that address the key hurdles to EV adoption and target 25 per cent of all new vehicle registrations to be electric by the year 2023.

As per the government, the new policy will also seek to promote large-scale job creation in driving, selling, financing, servicing and charging of electric vehicles.

The development of a new policy to tackle pollution in the national capital comes at a time when air quality in the region has deteriorated owing to the onset of winter.

According to the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the overall air quality of Delhi was recorded at 323 on Tuesday morning, falling under the 'very poor' category.

AQI between the range of 51 to 100 is considered as satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 falls under the category of poor. 300-400 is considered as 'very poor' and 401-500 falls under the 'hazardous' category.Assam government has also sanctioned an interest relief scheme which will enable around 19 lakh farmers to take loans at zero interest from the next financial year.

Guwahati: Assam government has approved farm loan waiver to the tune of Rs 600 crore which will benefit around eight lakh farmers of the state, its spokesman said Tuesday.

"As per the scheme, the government will write off 25 percent loan of farmers up to a maximum of Rs 25,000 of all farm debts," Assam Government spokesperson and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said.

"The waiver will be for all the loans taken through Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and from PSU banks," he said.

"The government has also sanctioned an interest relief scheme which will enable around 19 lakh farmers to take loans at zero interest from the next financial year," he said. The decisions were taken at a cabinet meeting held on Monday night.

"The debt relief scheme for farmers will waive 25 percent of all loans taken till now. The benefit will be up to a maximum of Rs 25,000. This scheme will immediately benefit around eight lakh farmers," he said.

Due to these schemes ,there will be an additional burden of Rs 600 crore on the state exchequer this fiscal. "For the next fiscal, we will have to do budgetary provision for the schemes," Patowary said.

The cabinet also approved subsidy up to Rs 10,000 to incentivise farmers if they take loan from KCC. "There will be interest relief scheme of up to four percent for farmers. There will be interest relief from the state government so that farmers get crop loan at zero interest from next financial year," Patowary said, adding that around 19 lakh farmers across the state are expected to take the benefit of it.

The cabinet decided to enhance the state Freedom Fighters' pension from Rs 20,000 to Rs 21,000.

"The meeting also approved the formation of a Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council to help the growth of MSME sector in the state," the minister said.

The government also sanctioned Rs 32.72 crore loan from National Cooperative Development Corporation for revival of a jute mill at Nagaon, he added.According to Uttar Pradesh Police, the accused used a licenced gun to kill the cow and left the carcass in a field in Mahav village in Bulandshahr. The cow's murder led to violence killing two including SHO Subodh Kumar Singh stationed in Siyana police station

Uttar Pradesh police on Tuesday arrested three people in connection with the killing of a cow on the intervening night of 2 December in Mahav village of Bulandshahr district which led to violence the following day, causing the deaths of police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a civilian Sumit.

The Bulandshahr police said that acting on the tip-off, a team of police led by Superintendent of Police (SP) city Atul Kumar Srivastava arrested Nadeem, Raees and Kala from Pashu Paith Bazaar in Siyana, Bulandshahr on Tuesday around 7 am. However, one of the accused Haroon escaped.

The three have been accused of killing cows in the past and were, in fact, planning to kill another cow when they were caught, said Srivastava.

However, laudable as the prompt action against cow slaughterers may be, it does lies starkly in contrast with the delay in arrest of main accused in the murder case of Subodh.

When Srivastava was asked about the delay in action in the policeman's murder case, he said that the police is trying its best to nab the main accused. "There is no count of the raids that police and its team have done to catch the accused. We are not just raiding their houses but we are also raiding at every possible place we are getting information about," said Srivastava adding that so far 20 people have been arrested and sent to jail in connection with the 3 December violence. The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) was not available for his comment despite several phone calls.

The 3 December violence is being probed from two different angles. An FIR was filed by Yogesh Raj, district coordinator of the Hindutva group Bajrang Dal, with the local police station on 3 December against the killing of the cow. It named seven people including two minors. None of three people arrested on Tuesday, however, are named in the FIR. The second FIR was filed after the death of Subodh, naming first complainant Raj and at least 27 other people for instigating the murderous mob.

Some arrests have been made in the second case, but the key accused  Shikhar Agarwal and Bajrang Dal leader Raj  remain at large. On 5 December, Raj had released a video claiming his innocence. Vishal Tyagi, the third main accused in the case, and a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, surrendered before the local court last Monday.

Meanwhile, the accused in the cow killing case were nabbed Tuesday. They were arrested along with the weapons that were used to kill the cow, Srivastava said. The accused were identified on the basis of technical evidence available with the police, the SP added. The police have confiscated a licenced gun, two knives, a rope, one wooden log, one car, and one chopper from the accused.

According to the police, the accused used the licenced gun to kill the cow and distributed its flesh among themselves and discarded the carcass in the fields.

"During interrogation, they confessed to their crime of killing the cow on the night of 1 December, and further investigation is underway," said Srivastava

The police are also investigating the killing of the police inspector and the civilian in the violence. A soldier with the Indian Army, Jitendra Mallik alias Jeetu Fauji, has been arrested and is being interrogated in this case.

 With inputs from Mohammad Nadeem in Bulandshahr

The authors are members of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reportersSince the day Malik assumed office in August, the casualty graph of militants, civilians and security forces alike has witnessed a sharp increase

Kashmir is seething with anger. It is not that civilians have not been killed near encounter sites  six of them died when a shell exploded recently in Kulgam, but it is the impression that Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik is giving a free hand to the forces to deal with protesters that makes the situation explosive. An elected government in the civil secretariat led by a Kashmiri politician would not have made made any difference, but the very fact that a parcelled governor is running the state, makes the situation worrisome.

Since the day Malik assumed office in August, the casualty graph of militants, civilians and security forces alike has witnessed a sharp increase. In August alone, six civilians were killed; five in September; 14 in October; eight in November and seven till Saturday in December. The blame for all these killings has been placed at the doorsteps of the armed forces.

The difference between a combatant and a non-combatant has become blurred in Kashmir. Peoples Conference leader and the new face of Kashmir politics, Sajad Gani Lone, recently seemed to agree with this. He tweeted:

The preparedness of security forces would in the Pulwama context be the ability to make the distinction between combatants and non combatants. If u end up killing 7 civilians in order to kill 3 militants. It is time for heads to roll. We cant afford a state of impunity.  Sajad Lone (@sajadlone) December 15, 2018

The state government, as it always does after every civilian killing, announced a "probe". In making such an announcement, there is no difference, say, between Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti or Malik. They all announce it. But nothing happens later. The word "probe" is the most detested in the Kashmiri lexicon.

"We want to go and tell the army commander stationed in BB Cant (Badami Bagh Cantonment) to come and kill us all," Chairman of JKLF, Mohammad Yasin Malik, said while talking to reporters in Srinagar on Monday.

Yasin and his supporters, who were wearing white shrouds inscribed with the slogans like "Indian Army kill us all" were detained. His protest march was thwarted at Badami Bagh Cantonment. He fought with the police before he was whisked away in a jeep, three days after he was released from detention after spending a month in custody.

In Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir, the streets wore a deserted look in the aftermath of the killing of seven civilians in forces firing in south Kashmir's Pulwama district on Saturday. Curbs were imposed almost everywhere, except north Kashmir's Baramulla town. In view of apprehensions of a protest march, the police had sealed all the roads leading to Badami Bagh Cantonment, the main station of 15 Corps of the Indian Army in Srinagar.

"The international community should break its silence and stop the hands of India, which is behind killings in the Valley," Yasin said. Normal life remained disrupted for the third consecutive day on Monday due to the shutdown, and curbs and suspensions of transport services. Internet services were disconnected and there was hardly anyone on the streets.

A fresh spell of grief has taken over Kashmir. The killings of militants will continue and this year is going to break all the record set by the forces in the past decade. With militants, security forces are also dying and so are the innocent civilians. But the civilian killings, no matter how far they are from the encounter site, inflict such a wound on the psyche of Kashmiris that it takes days before the situation gets "normal" again.

"We live in a perpetual state of mourning," said Bashir Ahmad Bhat, "The mourning passes from one village to another, from one home to another. In the end, we all are dying."

Bashir's 14-year old son, Aqib, had left home on Saturday to participate in the protests to demand the bodies of three militants who were killed in the Pulwama encounter. He was shot in the head in army firing  one of the seven victims of Saturday's bloodbath in south Kashmir.

That the governor has given a free hand to forces in recent months has created havoc in south Kashmir. After every kilometre, mobile phones of youngsters are scrutinised at security checkpoints for pictures of militants. There is a checkpoint on all major roads in towns of the Valley. The fear of the 1990s, when soldiers would appear in the dead of the night and drag residents out for search operations, has returned.

While the security forces are on the job to "end militancy", it should not come at the cost of the civilian population's dignity. "The highhandedness (of the forces) is a trigger for a youngster to take a violent path. If not stopped, these unfortunate (civilian) killings will continue and more symbols will get added to the cause," Pervaiz Imroz, a human rights defender said in an interview.The Union cabinet on Monday approved the establishment of two new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)  one each in Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

New Delhi: The Union cabinet on Monday approved the establishment of two new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)  one each in Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

The Tamil Nadu AIIMS will come up at Madurai at a cost of Rs 1,264 crore, while the Telangana's one would be built at Bibinagar at a cost of Rs 1,028 crore, an official statement said.

The two new institutes will be set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).

"Setting up of new AIIMS would not only transform health education and training but also address the shortfall of health care professionals in the region," an official statement said.

The new AIIMS will provide super speciality health care to the population while creating a large pool of doctors and other health workers in this region that can be available for primary and secondary level institutions and facilities being created under National Health Mission (NHM), the statement said.

Each new AIIMS will add 100 undergrad (MBBS) seats and 60 BSc (Nursing) seats and will have 15-20 super specialty departments. Each new AIIMS will add around 750 hospital beds, it said.

As per data of current functional AIIMS, it is expected that each new AIIMS would cater to around 1,500 outdoor patients per day.

Establishment of new AIIMS involves creation of hospital, teaching block for medical and nursing courses, residential complex and allied facilities/services, broadly on the pattern of AIIMS, New Delhi, and other six new AIIMS taken up under Phase-I of PMSSY.

The proposed institution will have a hospital with capacity of 750 beds which will include emergency/trauma beds, AYUSH beds, private beds and ICU speciality and super speciality beds.

In addition, there will be a medical college, AYUSH block, auditorium, night shelter, guest house, hostels and residential facilities.

The recurring cost on these Institutions shall be met through grant-in-aid to them from plan budget head of PMSSY of Ministry of Health.

The timeframe for establishment of the new AIIMS will be 45 months, broadly comprising a pre-construction phase of 10 months, a construction phase of 32 months and stabilization/commissioning phase of 3 months.

Construction of new AIIMS is fully funded by the central government.Earlier, Satish Sana, a Hyderabad based businessman who is facing a CBI probe in a corruption case involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi, had alleged to have met Prasad in Dubai.

New Delhi: A Patiala House Court on Tuesday granted bail to Dubai based investment banker Manoj Prasad, allegedly a middleman in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) bribery case and accused of taking bribe on behalf of Special Director Rakesh Asthana.

On 11 December, Prasad while speaking to media refuted all claims made by complainant Satish Sana. Vehemently denying all allegations, Prasad asserted that he had "never-ever" met Asthana.

Replying to questions from the media, Prasad while appearing in Delhi's Patiala house court, had said: "It is all a lie. Everything is fabricated. Whatever they have claimed, nothing such happened. I have never taken the money and have never-ever met Asthana. I don't know who Asthana is."

Earlier, Satish Sana, a Hyderabad based businessman who is facing a CBI probe in a corruption case involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi, had alleged to have met Prasad in Dubai. He had claimed that Prasad had allegedly informed him about having "very good connection" in the CBI and assured him of helping in the case through his brother Somesh Prasad.

Sana's complaint was received by CBI on 15 October and an official FIR against Asthana was registered on 21 October.

Prasad was arrested by the for allegedly seeking Rs 5 crore from Satish Sana for getting him relief from the CBI's summons.While Mandsaur turned into the eye of the storm and condensed poverty and destitution into one sentiment, Congress lost in Mandsaur and Malhargarh.

"Mandsaur ki kahani Mandsaur ki durghatna par khatam nahi hoti hai, yeh baat sarkar bana bhi sakti hai aur gira bhi sakti hai (the plight of Mandsaur does not begin or end with the incident that took place last year, and this is a reality that can either make or break a government)," Bhagat Singh Borana, a member of the Bharatiya Kisan Union  an organisation fighting for farmers' rights in all 51 districts of Madhya Pradesh  told Firstpost on the first anniversary of the violent clashes that erupted between farmers and the police.

On 6 June, 2017, six farmers were killed after the police opened fire on protesters seeking fair crop prices. The incident had sparked violent demonstrations that later spread to neighbouring districts. The protests were quelled after the central government deployed more than 1,100 personnel from the anti-riot force and 600 Rapid Action Force personnel.

While Mandsaur turned into the eye of the storm and condensed poverty and destitution into one sentiment, earning the Congress party good electoral returns in different districts across the state, the party lost in Mandsaur and Malhargarh constituencies.

Prafull Patidar, a farmer from the region, who was present at the protest, told Firstpost that Abhishek Patidar (one of the victims) and his brother Madhusudan Patidar were crossing over to the Piplya Mandi police station, which falls in the same Malhargarh constituency, and were fired at because the police suspected they were approaching the police station to burn it down.

The Mandsaur Lok Sabha seat comprises eight Madhya Pradesh Assembly seats spread over three districts. The Assembly constituencies are Mandsaur, Malhargarh, Suwarsa, Garoth, Neemuch, Manasa, Jawad and Jaora, which falls in the Ratlam district. BJPs Yashpal Singh Sisodiya defeated Congress' Narendra Nahata in Mandsaur. In 2013, Sisodiya had defeated Congress candidate Mahendra Singh Gurjar by 24,295 votes.

The Malhargarh Assembly seat, reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates, was won by BJP candidate Jagdish Dewda who defeated Congress' Parshuram Sisodiya with 94,911 votes. In 2013, Dewda had won the seat over Congress candidate Shyamlal Jokchand. In Suwasra, BJP's Radheshyam Nanalal Patidar defeated Congress candidate Dang Hardeep Singh and in Garoth, BJPs Adv Devilal Dhakad steered ahead of Congress' Subhash Kumar Sojatia with 63,033 votes. In the 2013 polls, BJP had defeated Congress candidate Sojatia. In Neemuch, Dilip Singh Parihar, who contested both the 2018 and 2013 Assembly polls on a BJP ticket, won with over 78,856 votes.

In the 2013 election, the BJP had won seven of these eight seats under Mandsaur Lok Sabha constituency, with the Congress winning Suwarsa Assembly segment and in 2018, the BJP bettered its record in Mandsaur despite farmers' anger. Bhramanand Patidar, a senior farmer leader from the area, told Firstpost that he received a call from Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindias office two weeks prior to the ticket distribution, asking him to send his bio data to Bhopal headquarters of the party. He was expecting a ticket, which eventually went to a resident of Mandsaur city called Narendra Nahata, whom Bhramanand described as disconnected from rural distress.

Rajesh Patidar, an opium farmer from Mandsaurs Badhuniya village, told Firstpost that the Central Bureau of Narcotics issues licences to eligible cultivators in October, and the general conditions to grant these licences are finalised between September and October. As a result, the licensing process and settlement of the accounts of previous seasons goes on even in October, and the measurement and testing of licensed fields continues till the third week of December, thereby delaying the yield to the summer.

He said that the BJP had distributed 36,000 licenses to opium cultivators in Mandsaur and Neemuch and had cleared payments of Rs 800 a quintal under the Bhavantar Bhugtan scheme. He said that just like loan waivers, timely measures taken to repair the damage caused to farmers has impacted votes; a see-saw of political moves, none taken to permanently heal farmers misery.

When Firstpost interacted with the family of Poonamchand, one of the six farmers who was killed, they said they were RSS supporters and were now disillusioned with it because nobody from the Sangh reached out to them in their time of need. Dr Kantilal Patidar said he had stuffed cloth into Poonamchand's chest when he had been shot, and that the members of the JK Jain Commission constituted to investigate the killings of farmers in Mandsaur did not record his statement.

Mukesh Kumar Patidar, a farmer and social activist from the region, said that Hindutva forces like the RSS and the VHP have been quite strong across the Mandsaur region and while farmer suffering comes and goes, affiliations to the BJP are unwavering. Despite poverty, ideologies have retained a hold over loyalties and politics is still played over it. BJPs Sudhir Gupta, member of Lok Sabha from Mandsaur, told Firstpost that the Congress amplified farmer distress to garner votes by first lighting the fire and then pretending to douse it.

On the one hand, the former BJP government failed to prevent a violent incident from taking place and passed off higher yields and Krishni Karman awards as markers of general agricultural prosperity in the state. It then absolved the state machinery of any responsibility for the killings reported in the JK Jain commission report.

On the other hand, Congress, despite Rahul Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindias campaign visits to the Mandsaur, failed to earn the faith of the farmer by offering to break the trader nexus or by envisioning ways to ensure increase in income and decrease in debt. Instead, on his first day in the Chief Ministers Office, Kamal Nath signed the file for waiving loans of up to Rs 2 lakh of Madhya Pradesh farmers.

The Reserve Bank of India takes a dim view of the loan waiver programme, as it sets a bad precedent on credit discipline. In the book Indias Economic Resurgence: A Modified Paradigm for a Welfare State (2018), it is stated that 'earlier, states probably had multiple tax avenues to generate resources for handling the loan waivers. With the single tax GST system rolled out from July 2017, states will have to adjust within the budgets or resort to public borrowing to cover the impact of farm loan waivers.

The central government does not refinance states for loan waivers and states have to find the resources by themselves. Incidentally, this is the third consecutive year where the states have failed to meet their gross fiscal deficit (GFD) target, the RBI has stated, adding this comes despite expectations of an improvement on higher devolution from the Centre. At a countrywide level, farm loan waivers alone contributed to a third of the overall slippage worries, with a 0.05 percent slippage of the overall 0.13 percent on revenue expenditure, the RBI said in a study on state finances based on state budgets. It added that states which have announced the waivers have also reported a decline in capital expenditure and that loan waivers come at the cost of development.

In 1990, nationwide farm loan waivers were announced for the first time and they cost around Rs 10,000 crore. In 2008, Rs 52,000 crore were released by the Indian government as part of the Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme (ADWDRS). In 2008, the CAG audit revealed lapses and errors like fake claims, an inclusion of ineligible beneficiaries, and massive reimbursement from a lending institution without proper verification.

On many occasions, the farmers entitled to receive the benefits were not included in the list of beneficiaries by the lending institutions. Many farmers tend to use the loans for non-agricultural purposes. Besides, loan application receipts or acknowledgements from farmers werent properly maintained. Speaking on the state of the Indian economy recently, former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has said: It (loan waiver) often goes to the best connected rather than to the poorest. It also creates enormous problems for the fiscal of the State once the waivers are done.

Instead of understanding the reasons that drive farmers to take huge loans, be it pesticides, high-tech equipment, high quality seeds and fertilizers, temporary solutions are offered to lift the farmers from debt without envisioning solutions that successfully subverts the recidivism. In 1998, 24 farmers were fired at by the police administration in Betul district's Multai after which the then Chief Minister Digvijaya Singhs government was ousted. Multai came back as Mandsaur in 2017 and a new government has come to power in 2018, but the story of farmer distress continues to reek of political posturing.Cyclone Phethai barrelled through coastal Andhra Pradesh on Monday, triggering heavy rains, uprooting trees and electric poles, and claiming one life, officials said.

Amaravati: Cyclone Phethai barrelled through coastal Andhra Pradesh on Monday, triggering heavy rains, uprooting trees and electric poles, and claiming one life, officials said.

A boat carrying seven fishermen went missing in the Bay of Bengal off Visakhapatnam, even as Phethai crossed the coast in East Godavari district and moved towards Odisha after weakening gradually, the Chief Ministers Office said Monday night. Train and air services were also disrupted because of the cyclone.

State HRD minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao apprised Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of the situation during a review meeting the latter conducted late in the night at the Real-Time Governance Centre (RTGS) at the state Secretariat. However, no further details have been disclosed.

East Godavari district bore the brunt of the storm as it made landfall near Katrenikona in the afternoon on Monday, forcing evacuation of 20,000 people, who have been sheltered in relief camps.

Howling winds that gusted up to 85-90 kilometres per hour uprooted electric poles and trees in Katrenikona, Tallarevu and Malkipuram in East Godavari, disrupting power supply. No casualties were, however, reported.

A man named R Durga Rao, 28, was killed when loosened soil hurtled down a hillock following heavy rains in Vijayawada city, according to sources in the state's Disaster Management Authority.

Krishna district collector B Lakshmi Kantham announced an immediate relief of Rs 50,000 to the deceased's family. Naidu later told reporters thathis government could restore normalcy within hours after the cyclone crossed the coast.

At the same time, Naidu lashed out at the Centre, saying it remained "totally indifferent" even as the state government undertook various measures to handle the cyclone. A report on the damage caused by the cyclone would be sent to the Centre, he said.

Krishna district collector B Lakshmi Kantham announced an immediate relief of Rs 50,000 to the deceased's family.

Deputy chief minister (Home) N China Rajappa is camping at Bhairavapalem village in East Godavari district to oversee relief and rescue operations. The Real-Time Governance Centre said 'Phethai' weakened after making landfall.

Chief Executive Officer of the RTGS Babu Ahamed said pracautionary steps taken by the authorities had minimised damage to life and property. He said trees were uprooted in some 20 places and rescue teams had cleared the debris in 15 places. Spare electric poles were kept ready, he said.

The South Central Railway cancelled and rescheduled several trains, while air traffic to and from the port city of Visakhapatnam was hit by turbulent weather conditions. Some flights had to be cancelled or diverted to Hyderabad.

Over 20 express and passenger trains were cancelled, SCR's chief public relations officer M Uma Shankar Kumar said. An Indigo flight from Bengaluru that was to land in Visakhapatnam on Monday morning was diverted to Hyderabad.

An Indian Airlines flight on way to Visakhapatnam from Hyderabad was sent back, while an Indigo flight from New Delhi was diverted to the Telangana capital, according to Visakhapatnam airport director.

A Hyderabad-Visakhapatnam Spicejet flight was cancelled while several others of different airliners were rescheduled. Educational institutions were closed in coastal districts as a precautionary measure.

Yanam, an enclave of the Union Territory of Puducherry in Andhra Pradeshs East Godavari district, was pounded by very heavy rains under the influence of the cyclone. Regional Administrator D Subramaneswar Rao told PTI that the heavy rain caused inundation of paddy fields besides disrupting normal life.

Puducherry Health and Tourism Minister Malladi Krishna Rao coordinated relief and rehabilitation works.Eight people were killed and 106 injured after a level-3 fire broke out at Employee State Insurance (ESIC) Kamgar hospital in Mumbai's Andheri, ANI reported. The deceased included a two-month-old baby undergoing treatment at the hospital, Hindustan Times reported.

A total of 147 people, including patients and visitors, were rescued after the fire broke out at the ESIC Kamgar Hospital at Marol in suburban Andheri, said an official of the Disaster Management Cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). They were subsequently shifted to different hospitals, he said.

The official said 19 of them were taken to civic-run Cooper Hospital where two were declared brought dead. Another 33 were shifted to Seven Hills Hospital in Andheri where three were declared dead, he said. Forty were taken to Holy Spirit Hospital, Andheri (East), where one of them was declared brought dead, the official said. Some of the injured were discharged, while the others were undergoing treatment in different hospitals with some of them in the ICU, he said.

A fire brigade official said the blaze at the hospital was reported at 4.03 pm and it was extinguished at 7.35 pm.

"The building is a ground plus five-floor structure and the blaze erupted on the fourth floor," the official said.

The deceased are yet to be identified, he said, adding the cause of the fire was not yet known. Mumbai Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar said it was under investigation. "At present, our priority is to ensure patients sent to hospitals get proper treatment," the mayor said.

Recalling the horror, a patient, Santosh Kadam, said, "I was on the fourth floor and was going to the ground floor to get my MRI done.

"Suddenly, nurses and other staffers started shouting and told us to vacate the building since a fire had broken out. I along with my other relatives came down safely.

Another patient Girish Patel said, "I saw smoke emanating from the third and fourth floors. There was thick layer of smoke. People panicked and started running helter-skelter before hospital staff came and advised us to vacate the floor quietly."

According to another civic official, over 160 patients were admitted in the hospital at the time of the blaze. Milind Ogle, the deputy chief fire officer of the MIDC area, told PTI, "Our team had found some lacunae in an under-construction building coming up adjacent to the hospital and suggested their rectification."

"The hospital administration was in the process of complying with our suggestions. Meanwhile, this incident took place in the old hospital building," Ogle said. The 325-bed hospital was constructed in 1970s, the officials said, adding police and hospital authorities have vacated the building till further notice. Fire brigade personnel had to break the glasses of the building's facade to evacuate stranded patients, they said.

Additional Commissioner of Police Manoj Sharma said an inquiry will be launched in association with the fire brigade department to ascertain the cause of the fire.

With inputs from agenciesFour transgenders, who were denied permission to visit the Sabarimala temple a day ago, on Monday got the sanction to pray at the temple, said one of them.

Four transgenders, who were denied permission to visit the Sabarimala temple a day ago, on Monday got the sanction to pray at the temple, said one of them.

Speaking to the media on Monday evening, Ananya said they approached a Kerala High Court-appointed top police official in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday morning and insisted that they wanted to visit the shrine wearing sarees.

#WATCH Kerala: A transgender delegation which was stopped from entering #Sabarimala temple by police on 16 December has been granted permission after discussions with the chief priest. pic.twitter.com/3S9n4453Po  ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2018

After meeting Director General of Police A Hemachandran, Ananya told the media in the morning that they had placed their demand before the DGP, and wished to pray in the dress of their choice  a saree.

"He (Hemachandran) has said he will check with the other two committee members and get back to us and he also asked us to meet IG of Police Manoj Abraham. Now we have got the permission to pray at the temple and we will be soon going for the darshan," said Ananya.

If required, they would also be given police protection for the darshan.

Ananya said they were so happy that their efforts had paid off and with this, transgender people from now on could freely go and pray at the Sabarimala temple.

On Sunday, the four-member transgender team, who came from Ernakulam, was stopped by the police at Erumely, the first base camp of the temple town.

The police first told them that if they change into men's attire, they would be allowed. However, later the police refused them the permission to visit the Lord Ayyappa shrine. Ananya said they were subjected to ridicules, threats and asked to return by the police.

From there, the team went and complained to Kottayam Superintendent of Police, A Harishankar.

On Monday, they arrived in the state capital to meet Hemachandran.

The Kerala High Court on 27 November had set up a three-member observer panel to oversee the Sabarimala pilgrimage season, after numerous complaints surfaced against the manner in which the police were acting in the temple town.

Besides Hemachandran, the panel also consisted of PR Raman and S Sirijagan, both retired high court judges.

The temple town has witnessed protests by Hindu groups since the 28 September Supreme Court verdict that allowed women of all ages to enter the temple, including those hitherto banned girls and women aged between 10 and 50.M Ashokan, father of Hadiya, 26-year-old Kerala woman who converted to Islam and married a Muslim man in 2016, joined the BJP.

KM Ashokan, father of Hadiya, a 26-year-old Kerala woman who converted to Islam and married a Muslim man in 2016, joined the BJP. According to reports, Ashokan was given the party membership by BJP spokesperson B Gopalakrishnan. After joining the party, Ashokan also made an official appearance at the Sabarimala Protection meeting.

"I was a Communist but decided to shift my allegiance after I realised the party was going in the wrong direction. Its stand on various issues made a bad impression on me. Even though I had joined BJP three years ago, I received the official membership only on Sunday," Ashokan said.

Ashokan's daughter Hadiya, who was called Akhila before she converted to Islam and married Shafin Jahan in 2016, had reportedly claimed that "her life had been under threat" before the Supreme Court's March 2018 verdict that reversed the Kerala High Court's annulment of the marriage.

Earlier, Ashokan had approached the Kerala High Court alleging his daughter was a victim of 'love jihad', a concept propagated by right-wing bodies which believe that Muslim men lure young Hindu women and convert them to Islam with the promise of marriage.

Restoring the validity of the marriage between Hadiya and Shafin, the apex court had said that the probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the alleged criminal angle of 'love jihad' would continue. The court granted "absolute liberty" to Hadiya, then the 25-year-old. She had vehemently denied the charges of it being a victim of 'love jihad'.

With inputs from agenciesHamid Nehal Ansari, the 33-year-old man from Mumbai was sentenced to three years' in prison in 2015 on charges of being an 'Indian spy'. A military court had sentenced Ansari to prison for allegedly possessing a fake Pakistani identity card.

Indian national Hamid Nehal Ansari, who was detained and imprisoned in Pakistan for six years on espionage charges, crossed the Attari-Wagah border to India after his release from a jail in Peshawar earlier on Tuesday.

Indian national Hamid Ansari crosses the Attari-Wagah border to reach India. He was lodged in a jail in Pakistan and was released today. pic.twitter.com/nqbKzrGJ5o  ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2018

The 33-year-old from Mumbai was sentenced to three years' in prison in 2015 on charges of being an "Indian spy". A military court sentenced Ansari for allegedly possessing a fake Pakistani identity card.

The engineer and business professional was lodged in Peshawar Central Jail after his sentencing on 15 December, 2015. His three-year jail term ended on Saturday, but he was unable to leave for India as the Pakistan government had not kept his legal documents ready for deportation.

Hamid Ansari being taken to Wagah-Attari border in a jail van by Pakistani authorities.

Report: @Geeta_Mohan

More #ReporterDiary: https://t.co/FAHzdk9TO8 pic.twitter.com/KdckTXx8zQ  India Today (@IndiaToday) December 18, 2018

Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) general secretary Jatin Desai told IANS, "Yes it's really great news. Ansari has been released from jail and will be handed over to India at the Wagah Border later on Tuesday."

Ansari's family members, including father Nehal and mother Fauzia, a large number of India-Pakistan friendship activists, officials and political personalities were at the border to welcome him.

Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activist and former legislator Krishna Hegde, who helped the family in the past few years, said they went to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi to complete the formalities and secure his repatriation.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar said it was "a matter of great relief, especially for the family members that six years of incarceration of the Indian civilian in Pakistan jail is coming to an end".

Pakistan had alleged that Ansari, 33, an engineer, was an "Indian spy" who illegally entered the country, and accused him of involvement in anti-State crimes, forging documents, and jailed him. For the Ansari family, it was an ordeal since November 2012 when he left the country for Kabul for employment and then was reported "missing".

He reportedly became friendly with a Pakistan girl on social media and reached Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to save her from a forced marriage. On 12 November, 2012, Ansari crossed over from Afghanistan border in Jalalabad to Peshawar in Pakistan where he was nabbed by Pakistan intelligence. Later, a military court sentenced him to three years in jail.

With inputs from agenciesHamid Ansari had entered Pakistan on 12 November using fake identification documents to meet a woman from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province who he had befriended on Facebook. He has been in Pakistani custody since then.

Hamid Nehal Ansari, an Indian national lodged in a Pakistani jail for six years on espionage charges, will return to India on Tuesday via the Wagah Border. Spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar said it was "a matter of great relief, especially for the family members that six years of incarceration of the Indian civilian in Pakistan jail is coming to an end".

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Pakistan, Dr Mohammed Faisal also shared the news in a statement on Twitter, referring to Ansari as "an Indian spy" involved in "anti-state crimes and forging documents".

#HamidNehalAnsari, an Indian spy who had illegally entered Pakistan and was involved in anti-state crimes and forging documents, is being released upon completion of his sentence and is being repatriated to India.  Dr Mohammad Faisal (@DrMFaisal) December 17, 2018

Now 33 years old, Ansari will be reunited with his family at Wagah on Tuesday.

Who is Hamid Ansari?

An engineer and business professional from Mumbai, Ansari had gone to Kabul, Afghanistan, on 4 November, 2012, on a tourist visa for a job in aviation. He had entered Pakistan on 12 November using fake identification documents, to meet a woman from Kohat in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who he had befriended on Facebook.

He was arrested the same year and has been in Pakistani custody ever since.

Ansari was tried by a military court and sentenced to three years in prison in December 2015. He was convicted on charges of possessing a fake Pakistani ID and has been lodged at the Kohat Central Jail in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, since then.

According to his lawyer Qazi Muhammad Anwar, Ansarai was assaulted by fellow inmates at the Peshawar prison at least three times in 2016.

On Saturday, the Peshawar High Court set a two-month deadline for Pakistani authorities to have Ansari deported to India. This was after his advocate filed an appeal in court saying the government had yet to take any measures to release Ansari even though his jail term was ending soon.

Anwar told the two-judge bench that his client's prison term was to end on 15 December and that he should be released the next morning. After the Pakistani government claimed that the process to deport Ansari would take longer as the relevant documents were not ready, the high court set the deadline.

But Ansari's freedom came sooner than expected. Two days later, the Pakistani government conveyed to its Indian counterpart that Ansari would be released and sent back to India on Tuesday.

"It is unbelievable that tomorrow, I will see him finally and he will be on Indian soil," said Ansari's mother Fauzia Ansari.

With inputs from agenciesThe Mumbai resident was lodged at the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by a military court on 15 December, 2015.

Mumbai: In a Mumbai suburb, an entire neighbourhood was glued to the TV set Tuesday to catch a glimpse of Hamid Nihal Ansari, whom they last saw six years ago. Hamid is expected to return here Wednesday. As soon as the 33-year-old, released from a Pakistani jail to be repatriated to India, crossed the Wagah-Attari border and kissed the Indian soil, his neighbours in Versova celebrated by hugging each other and distributing sweets.

Ansari hugged his parents who were present at the border to receive him, six years after he was detained by Pakistani intelligence agencies for entering the country illegally, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online. Ansari was detained in 2012 after he entered the country from Afghanistan and subsequently sentenced to three years' imprisonment by a military court in 2015 for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card.

The Mumbai resident was lodged at the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by a military court on 15 December, 2015. His three-year jail term ended on 15 December, 2018 but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready. "It was an emotional scene as we saw Hamid cross the border around 5.30 pm and kneel down to kiss the Indian soil," said senior journalist and social activist Jatin Desai, who accompanied the Ansari family from Mumbai to Wagah.

Desai, who is general secretary of the Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy, sat in the visitors' enclosure with Hamid Ansari's father Nihal and mother Fouzia at the Wagah border after reaching there in the morning. "We expect to return with Hamid to Mumbai tomorrow," he said. Nihal Ansari, former bank officer, expressed happiness over his son's release and thanked the governments of India and Pakistan.

Sayyad Abid Hussain, a Bhopal resident who started a Twitter campaign in 2016 to bring Ansari back, also thanked the two governments and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. "This is the victory of humanity and the struggle by Hamid's mother Fauzia, a former teacher," Hussain said. He recalled that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had retweeted Fauzia Ansari's tweet seeking the release of her son.It took 13 rounds of diplomatic discussions between India and China to resolve the face-off between their militaries in Doka la last year, according to a report by a parliamentary panel.

New Delhi: It took 13 rounds of diplomatic discussions between India and China to resolve the face-off between their militaries in Doka la last year, according to a report by a parliamentary panel.

The report by the committee on External Affairs termed the Chinese intrusion at Doka la as a "blatant but unsuccessful attempt" to unilaterally change the status quo at the India, Bhutan, China tri-junction in Doka la, seriously affecting India's security interests.

The committee also referred to 24 rounds of boundary talks between China and Bhutan and said China has been trying to persuade it to barter Doka la for some other territory further north and that Bhutan requires all support and assurances from its "time-tested" ally India for it to take a firm position on this issue.

Complimenting the government's handling of the face-off, the committee said it remained concerned that Chinese infrastructure built "uncomfortably" close to the tri-junction has not yet been dismantled.

The committee, headed by former minister of state in External Affairs ministry Shashi Tharoor, said Doka la was not a sovereignty issue for India as the disputed territory was Bhutanese, but nevertheless it was a major security challenge for New Delhi.

"The committee would like to put on record their highest appreciation for the brave and timely action of our security forces which checked the PLA (People's Liberation Army) troops from continuing with their road construction activity in South Doka la," the panel said in the report tabled in Parliament on Monday.

Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day face-off in Doka la from 16 June last year after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed area by the Chinese Army. The impasse ended on 28 August.

The report quoted the former foreign secretary S Jaishankar as telling the panel on 18 October last year that 13 rounds of diplomatic discussions were held with China and they were led by the Indian envoy in Beijing.

Vijay Gokhale, who succeeded Jaishankar as Foreign Secretary in January, was India's ambassador to China during the Doka la crisis.

The report said diplomatic communications with China began following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's conversation with Chinese president Xi Jinping in Hamburg on 7 July last year on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

In the talks, India contested the Chinese claim of sovereignty in Doka la region, conveyed to Beijing that its action represented a significant change in status quo with serious security implications for India and amounted to unilateral determination of the tri-junction point, according to the foreign secretary.

The committee complimented the government's overall handling of the crisis as it managed to send necessary signals to China that India will not "acquiesce" in its unilateral and forceful attempts to change the status quo at any of India's territorial boundaries.

It expressed concerns over multiple reports which allude to Chinese presence around Doka la plateau and the statements from Chinese authorities about chances of similar happenings in future also even after the standoff at Doka la ended.

"The government has categorically denied that there is any direct threat from Chinese troops presently. The committee, however, is of the opinion that while dealing with China, it is always better to have a sense of 'healthy scepticism'," it said.

The panel said India's defence forces and the diplomatic corps have shown firmness in responding to the crisis without actually being drawn into any kind of political rhetoric.

The foreign secretary was quoted in the report as saying that during the entire course of the Doka la standoff, the ground situation was "very civil and that there was no body contact".

To avoid border skirmishes, the panel strongly desired that a comprehensive Border Engagement Agreement is concluded between the Indian Army and the PLA, subsuming all established mechanisms for confidence building between the two sides.

It also said that it was not the first time that PLA troops entered the Doka la area and that the Chinese troops have been crossing the Batang La-Meruga La-Sinchela Ridge line over the years and making ingress into the Bhutanese territory.

The Committee also expressed unhappiness over grossly inadequate border road infrastructure along the India-China frontier.

It was of the opinion that an objective and in-depth assessment of India's relationship with China should be carried out by the government promptly so that a broad national consensus is evolved on how to deal effectively with China.With Maldives reeling under mounting Chinese debt, India on Monday announced a $1.4 billion financial assistance to the island nation and inked four pacts with it after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih held 'successful' talks with an aim to reset ties.

New Delhi: With Maldives reeling under mounting Chinese debt, India on Monday announced a $1.4 billion financial assistance to the island nation and inked four pacts with it after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih held "successful" talks with an aim to reset ties.

The two countries also agreed to remain mindful of each other's concerns and aspirations for the stability of the Indian Ocean region and not allow their respective territories to be used for any activity inimical to their interests.

In his media statement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed Solih's victory in the presidential election in Maldives and assured him that India will always stand behind the island nation in its quest for peace and development.

"India will always stand by you in your government's ambitious efforts to change the lives of the Maldivian people. For the social and economic development of Maldives, India will extend budget support, currency swap and lines of credit worth $1.4 billion," Modi said.

He said there are "infinite possibilities" in expanding ties between the two neighbours.

Solih's visit here within a month after taking charge of the high office is seen as an effort by his government to repair ties with India which came under severe strain during the leadership of Abdulla Yameen, who was known to be close to China.

"The two leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation to enhance maritime security in the Indian Ocean region through coordinated patrolling and aerial surveillance, exchange of information and capacity building," said an Indian-Maldives joint statement.

The resolve by the two sides to deepen maritime ties in the Indian Ocean assumes significance as China has been ramping up its military presence in the region.

The statement said the two leaders also recognised that the security interests of both the countries were interlinked and reiterated their assurance of being mindful of each other's concerns and aspirations for the stability of the region

The four agreements signed between the two countries will provide for easy facilitation of visas and cooperation in areas of cultural, agri-business and information technology.

In the talks, Solih reaffirmed his government's 'India-First Policy', and commitment to working together closely with India.

The Maldivian president also reiterated his country's support for India's candidature for permanent membership of an expanded and reformed UN Security Council. Maldives also reiterated support for India's candidature for non-permanent seat for the year 2020-21.

The two leaders also emphasised on their unwavering commitment and support to increased cooperation in combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations both within the region and elsewhere.

"Both sides agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation on issues of common concern, including piracy, terrorism, organised crime, drugs and human trafficking," said the joint statement.

It said Modi and Solih also emphasized the need to improve connectivity between the two countries through the establishment of enabling infrastructure that would promote the exchange of goods and services, information, ideas, culture and people.

Highlighting the need for expansion of trade ties, Modi said there were increasing opportunities for Indian companies in the island nation and that a transparent, accountable and rules based governance system are giving a positive signal to Indian businessmen.

According to the statement, both sides agreed to work together to create institutional linkages and to establish a framework of cooperation in areas of health, mutual legal assistance on criminal matters, investment promotion and tourism.

In his statement, Modi also complimented Maldives' decision to re-join the Commonwealth and also welcomed it to the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) family.

Solih arrived on Sunday on a three-day state visit, his first foreign trip after assuming office in the island nation a month ago. Modi had attended Solih's swearing-in ceremony on 17 November.

Earlier, External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj called on Solih and discussed bilateral and regional issues of mutual interests.

Relations between India and the Maldives deteriorated after the then President Abdulla Yameen imposed emergency on 5 February this year.

India had criticised his decision and asked his government to restore the credibility of the electoral and political process by releasing political prisoners. The emergency lasted for 45 days.A recent photo of Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, where the former defence minister is seen interacting with official on a bridge, has drawn criticism and applause from the media and the political circles.

A recent photo of Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, where the former defence minister is seen interacting with officials on a bridge, has drawn both criticism and applause from the media and the political circles. In a few images tweeted out by the Goa Chief Minister's office, the chief minister, fairly frail, is seen standing with a few authorities on a bridge with a tube running through his nose. The telling photograph was shared extensively on social media.

Parrikar was inspecting a half-constructed bridge on Mandovi river on Sunday in his first public appearance since he spent months in Delhi AIIMS over a pancreatic condition. He appeared to be walking with support.

Chief Minister @manoharparrikar visited the construction site of 3rd Mandovi Bridge & inspected the progress of work. Officials of GSIDC and L&T engineers were present on the site to brief the Chief Minister. CM Parrikar later also inspected the ongoing works of new Zuari Bridge. pic.twitter.com/dUwe34Og9W  CMO Goa (@goacm) December 16, 2018

He later inspected the work of a bridge over Zuar River near Agassaim village, some 15 kilometres from Panaji. Parrikar, who is suffering from a pancreatic ailment has been recuperating at his private residence since 14 October and this is the first time he has gone out of the house, officials said.

Photo op or resilient?

The photo, which was shared on Sunday (16 December), was retweeted for former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah who remarked that Parrikar should be allowed to deal with his health than with the 'tamasha'. Abdullah said it is "inhuman" to force Parrikar to continue working and doing "photo ops".

He has a tube inserted through his nose into his digestive tract. How inhuman to force him to continue working & doing photo ops. Why cant he be allowed to deal with his illness without all this pressure & tamasha? https://t.co/iq0dwXCHmE  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) December 16, 2018

Parrikar has been undergoing treatment in India and US since early this year and despite repeated requests to step down as the chief minister, the BJP leadership reportedly did not allow it. Reports had quoted Goa Forward Party president and town and country planning minister Vijay Sardesai who said, "Parrikar was inclined to give up the chief minister's post when he was admitted to a private hospital at Candolim. After that the BJP central leadership stepped in. It is not entirely in his hands." Another BJP source was quoted by The Times of India as saying that the top leadership did not agree to relieving Parrikar despite his illness.

Many agreed with Abdullah's tweet. Senior journalist and editor of The Print Shekhar Gupta said that it was not fair to expose him (Parrikar) to "stress and infection". He tweeted:

This isnt fair, BJP. Manohar Parrikar is among our most unassuming & uncomplaining politicians. Hes bravely fighting a deadly disease. Why expose him to such stress & infection, tubes & all. https://t.co/KGKcQ2koFl  Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) December 17, 2018

Political commentator Rupa Subramanya called the BJP desperate for hanging on to an "ailing minister":

This isnt fair, BJP. Manohar Parrikar is among our most unassuming & uncomplaining politicians. Hes bravely fighting a deadly disease. Why expose him to such stress & infection, tubes & all. https://t.co/KGKcQ2koFl  Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) December 17, 2018

Jazzzz! Is that @manoharparrikar ? He looks so frail. Get him rest someone - allow another leader to take over pic.twitter.com/HBC1lCmmj8  richa singh (@richa_singh) December 15, 2018

What the @BJP4India is doing with Manohar Parrikar is just shameful. He clearly needs to recover and needs rest and not be paraded like this from time to time. Disgraceful attitude towards an obviously sick man. https://t.co/TkVjh7pZV0  Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) December 15, 2018

This is very sad. Manohar Parrikar looks very unwell and frail. High time BJP takes a call to allow him rest. No point to keep him there incharge just to keep Govt together. Nothing more important that health of a person. https://t.co/lUQyP9dvkH  Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) December 15, 2018

There were several others who lauded the chief minister for showing resilience in the face of sickness. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia criticised Abdullah for his tweet.

How inhuman to do politics over someone's illness This picture speaks a thousand words, it conveys the strong commitment of Shri @manoharparrikar ji for our country Feeling of serving the people comes from within but netas like you who eulogize Burhan Wanis will not understand https://t.co/cjoiSCWyUx  Gaurav Bhatia  (@gauravbh) December 17, 2018

What the @BJP4India is doing with Manohar Parrikar is just shameful. He clearly needs to recover and needs rest and not be paraded like this from time to time. Disgraceful attitude towards an obviously sick man. https://t.co/TkVjh7pZV0  Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) December 15, 2018

Along with messages of 'get well soon', many called Parrikar an inspiration:

You insult cancer survivors' fighting spirits.@manoharparrikar has inspired me too. Nasogastric tube in elementary canal doesn't mean one's to be tied to a bed, gasping. I had worked with it for months. Didn't you see @IromSharmila wearing this for years? You must Say sorry! pic.twitter.com/mueqboouqr  . .  (@asraghunath) December 16, 2018

Can we all drop everything that v r upto and salute this man! I mean epitome of dedication and inspiration to millions across the globe! Nothing can put us down from doing Wat we love! #Salute #inspiration #ManoharParrikar #goaCM. Your fire from within is not gonna let you fade! https://t.co/uvfAVJtVW6  Raksha krishnaiah (@Rakshakgowda4) December 17, 2018KM Ashokan, the father of 26-year-old Hadiya  who grabbed the attention of the nation  was a Communist party member. However, the entire experience has left him a changed man: At the age of 57, Ashokan has switched his political loyalty to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and seemingly uncovered a religious streak.

Ashokan's transformation was completed on 17 December, when he officially joined the saffron party and pledged his support for its agitation against the 28 September Supreme Court Sabarimala verdict. Ashokan, who lives under police protection at Vaikom in Kottayam district, said the BJP's "strong stand" on the Sabarimala shrine issue prompted him to accept its membership.

BJP spokesperson B Gopalakrishnan initiated Ashokan into the party at a meeting of the Sabarimala Protection Forum at Vaikom. Ashokan, who waged a legal battle against Hadiya and her husband Shefin Jahan, a member of the Popular Front of India, began distancing himself from the Communist Party after it threw its weight behind his daughter.

I have been a BJP worker for the past three years, but not active in the party. I decided to play an active role as the BJP is the only party safeguarding the beliefs of Hindus. I feel that the customs and traditions of Sabarimala should be protected, he added.

Ashokan said the communist party  which he identified with since childhood  was of late playing "dirty vote-bank" politics in Kerala. He said the party was now going in the wrong direction and its stand on various issues are predicated with an eye on votes. Ashokan openly came out against the party after the Kerala government opposed a plea for a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the validity of Hadiyas marriage with Shefin. Ashokan "strongly believes" the Supreme Court rejected the plea because of opposition from the Left Democratic Front government.

Ashokan feels the state government has been supporting "extremist groups" in the case. He is also angry with the state womens commission, which approached the apex court citing human rights violations in the case. Ashokan pressed for the NIA probe since several other youth who converted to Islam went missing from Kerala and were later found in the Islamic State territories of Syria and Afghanistan. Ashokan feels his daughter was "lured into Islam" with the ultimate aim of taking her to the Islamic State.

The BJP, on the other hand, supported Ashokan, claimed Hadiyas marriage is a case of "love jihad" and mounted a massive campaign against it. The term was coined by Hindu organisations following conversion of large number of non-Muslims to Islam in the 1990s.

The BJP and the Sangh Parivar picked it up after the disappearance of 22 youth from Kerala in 2016. They claimed "love jihad" is part of a well-organised racket: that young Muslim men lure Hindu girls by feigning love for the purpose of conversion and recruitment to jihadi outfits.

The Left parties termed the Sangh Parivar campaign "part of their political strategy to woo Hindus by creating communal division" in the state and denied the existence of "love jihad". The government insisted there was no such element in Hadiyas marriage since she chose him after her conversion.

Hadiya (formerly Akhila Ashokan) took interest in Islam after making an acquaintance with two Muslim girls. At the age of 18, Hadiya joined the Sivaraj Homeopathy Medical College & Research Institute at Salem in Tamil Nadu, to study homeopathy. A New Indian Express report tracing her journey said that after watching the Muslim girls  Jaseela Aboobacker and her sister Faseena  performing their religious rites, Akhila borrowed a Kuran in Malayalam from Jaseela and soon fell in love with the religion.

When Hadiya expressed her desire to convert, the girls put her in touch with their father, who dissuaded her by reminding Hadiya that her father was an atheist and her locality had no Muslims. However, she remained firm and even made an affidavit attesting she was converting to Islam of her own will.

Hadiya wanted to learn more about Islam. However, two Islamic institutions she approached with the help of Jaseela refused to admit her. The Kozhikode-based Sathya Sarani, the only institute in Kerala that offers a two-month residential programme for new converts to Islam, admitted her only after her father came to take her away (against her will).

When Hadiya expressed her desire to marry after her course, the institute registered her name on a Muslim matrimonial website and found Shefin, who was working in Muscat. Ashokan, who said he was unconcerned about his daughters conversion, however believed the marriage a ploy to take her to the Islamic State camp.

The Express report quoted police sources as saying that Ashokans fears were baseless as Hadiya didn't even have a passport. However, Ashokan filed a case at a local police station and also moved a habeas corpus petition in the Kerala High Court, which annulled the marriage. But the Supreme Court later struck down the high courts verdict and allowed her to go with her husband on an appeal filed by Shefin.

Nine months after the Supreme Court verdict, Ashokan has not softened his stand. He said he will welcome his daughter back if she changes her mind. Though Hadiya has been occasionally calling him and her mother, she has not shown any signs of relenting either. Ashokan says he still hopes one day she will "realize her mistake and return". He said he was keeping the doors of his home open for her.The Central government on Monday appointed advocate Madhavi Divan the Additional Solicitor General (ASG). She is the third woman who has been appointed ASG in the apex court.

The central government on Monday appointed advocate Madhavi Goradia Divan as the Additional Solicitor General (ASG).

Divan will represent the government in the Supreme Court and will hold office till 30 June, 2020. She is the third woman who has been appointed ASG in the apex court. Earlier, Indira Jaising was the ASG and presently, Pinky Anand holds the post.

Divan had played an important role in helping the Centre put forth its arguments in the triple talaq case in the Supreme Court, states a report by The Indian Express.

Muslim women had petitioned the court against the practice, arguing that this practice not only violated their rights but also left many women destitute and helpless. Thereafter, the Supreme Court, in August 2017, declared instant triple talaq illegal and unconstitutional.

The Centre's attempt to push through a legislation after the apex court's verdict has sparked a political battle between the government and the Opposition, which has argued against criminal provisions included in the proposed legislation.

On this point, Divan has argued in an article in The Indian Express that triple talaq should be criminalised, and contended that the practice "needs social obliteration if not through punishment, then at least the prospect of it." She compared triple talaq with bigamy, and said that the latter remains a crime even though the second marriage has no validity. She argued that similarly, in the case of triple talaq, merely "nullifying the divorce" is not enough, and that it must be punishable.

Divan, however, has also taken positions contrary to those held by the ruling dispensation in the past. Even as numerous states such as Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh (earlier ruled by the BJP) had introduced the possibility of death penalty for the rape of minors below 12 years of age, Divan wrote an article describing such legislations as a "quick fix that is unlikely to generate the desired deterrence." In an article on Hindustan Times, she wrote, "Since most sexual crimes against minors take place in the safe confines of a home, often by a relative, the victim is likely to be silenced against complaining, particularly because the consequences can be death for the offender. The girl herself might find the possible consequences hard to deal with. In any case, death sentences are rarely executed in India.

Divan began her legal practice from the Bombay High Court and has represented two state governments in judicial proceedings in the past - those of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, as stated by Live Law.

Her husband, Shyam Divan, is also a senior advocate, and was recently one of the lawyers who appeared for the petitioners in the right to privacy case.

With inputs from ANIFarm loan waivers are not new to the Indian economy. In 2008-09, the UPA-I government announced a farm loan waiver of Rs 60,000 crore. It hit the exchequer, and not the banks, but it distorted the credit culture since it discouraged farmers from paying up their dues.

Soon after being sworn in as the chief ministers of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, Congress leaders Bhupesh Bhagel and Kamal Nath passed official orders waiving farmer loans for their states.

Doling out farm loan waivers is the new fad with politicians in India. Instead of probing for a long-term solution for the agricultural distress, politicians have resorted to the easiest and definitely not the most sustainable way of helping farmers.

Farm loan waivers are not new to the Indian economy. In 2008-09, the UPA-I government announced a farm loan waiver of Rs 60,000 crore. It hit the exchequer and although the banks were insulated, it did distort the credit culture of the country since it discouraged farmers from paying up their dues.

In addition, when one state offered a waiver, it raised expectations for others too. Since 2014, starting with Andhra Pradesh, several states joined the farm loan waiver bandwagon, with Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra being the most recent ones, though Centre has maintained that states have to deal with farm loan waiver from their own budget and Centre would not assist states in this matter.

Apart from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, other states which have announced farm loan waiver so far are -- Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry.

While Madhya Pradesh chief minister Nath cleared a proposal for waiving farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh, fulfilling a promise made by the Congress ahead of the Assembly polls that is widely believed to have tilted the scales in its favour, Baghel said his government will waive short-term agricultural loans of farmers and hike the MSP for paddy to Rs 2,500 per quintal.

"The Madhya Pradesh government has taken a decision to write off short-term crop loan of eligible farmers up to the limit of Rs 2 lakh, as on March 31, 2018, from nationalised and cooperative banks," the order stated.

Rajesh Rajora, principal secretary, Farmers' Welfare and Agriculture Development Department said that an estimated 34 lakh farmers will benefit from the loan waiver whose size he pegged between Rs 35,000 crore to Rs 38,000 crore.

Income taxpayers and government employees are not eligible for loan waiver, the senior bureaucrat said. Justifying his decision to waive farm loans, Nath asked that when nationalised banks can write off 40 to 50 percent loans of big industrialists, why cultivators can't get the same relief.

In Chhattisgarh, the short-term crop loans to the tune of over Rs 6.10 crore of more than 16.65 lakh farmers drawn from cooperative banks and Chhattisgarh Gramin Bank as on 30 November, 2018 will be completely waived, Baghel said.

The state cabinet also decided to examine the short-term agriculture loans taken by farmers from notified commercial banks and accordingly, the loans of eligible farmers will be waived, the chief minister said. On the MSP (minimum support price) for paddy, he said it is being procured through primary cooperative societies at Rs 1,750 per quintal a rate fixed by the Central government. The remaining Rs 75 per quintal will be borne by the state government, he said.

If the amount of Rs 300 per quintal, which is currently being given as a bonus, is merged with it (Rs 750) only a burden of Rs 450 per quintal remains, he said. "The state government would bear the burden of Rs 750 per quintal and procure paddy at Rs 2,500 per quintal," he said.

Are the newly-inducted governments stepping into a minefield by announcing the waivers?

Recently, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said that the agricultural distress in the country is proof of the growing inequality in the country. "The question is whether the flows to farmers are best affected by waiving loans. After all, there is only a subset of farmers who get those loans. So it often goes to the best connected rather than those who are most poorly off," Rajan said in a report, An Economic Strategy for India, he co-authored with other economists.

The success of the waiver lies on the extent to which the benefits reach the farmers who need it the most. Loan waivers suffer from several drawbacks in this respect. First, it covers only a tiny fraction of farmers. Secondly, farmers investing from their own savings and those borrowing from non-institutional sources are outside the purview of loan waiver. Loan waiving excludes agricultural labourers who are even weaker than cultivators in bearing the consequences of economic distress. According to 2012-13 NSS-SAS, 48 percent of the agricultural households did not have any outstanding loan.

The scheme is prone to serious exclusion and inclusion errors, as evidenced by the Comptroller and Auditor Generals (CAG) findings in the Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008.

Experts have argued that the state and the Central governments need to think beyond waiving loans and instead strengthening the repayment capacity of the farmer. In the past year or so, waiving farm loans has been majorly used as an election pitch, especially after unhappy and frustrated farmers spilled on to the streets protesting against government's anti-farmer policies. Recent farmers protest in Delhi, the Mandsaur incident where at least five farmers were gunned down during a protest are a few examples when farmers' groups marched hundreds of kilometres to showcase their plight.

But instead of a deep analysis of the problem, we have witnessed states announcing farm loan waiver at the drop of a hat. Rajan, in the report, also mentioned the financial burden that the states incur after announcing similar sops. According to Economic Survey 2016-17, the fiscal health of states deteriorates with the rise in fiscal deficit and primary deficit.

In its recent report on the states' finances, the RBI also pointed to the worsening position of their financial health. It noted that the consolidated finance of the states had deteriorated in recent years with the gross fiscal deficit to GDP ratio averaging 2.5 percent in the last five years (from 2011-12 to 2015-16), compared with 2.1 percent during the previous five-year period. According to a report by the State Bank of India, the impact on Punjab will be the maximum, with the states fiscal deficit jumping by an additional 4.8 percent of the GSDP.

An oped in Hindustan Times argued that such waivers help farmers only for one season and giving such sop is also not economically viable as it reduces governments fiscal power to intervene when needed the most. And finally, states apeing each other when it comes to such freebies in a mindless manner does not make things easier because no two states are same. Rajasthan, for instance, calculates waivers based on the amount of crop damaged, size of land holdings and harvest volume. "Others have fixed limits for the amount to be waived."On 3 December, the Maharashtra government filed a caveat application  to ensure they are heard in any matter concerning reservations for the Maratha community  in the Supreme Court.

The Devendra Fadnavis government has clearly anticipated that substantive legal hurdles stand in the way of reservations for Marathas. On 3 December, the Maharashtra government filed a caveat application  to ensure they are heard in any matter concerning reservations for the Maratha community  in the Supreme Court.

Reservations for Marathas, and other dominant castes, such as Jats and Patels run into specific problems because of the apex courts jurisprudence on reservations. Especially in the case of Marathas, previous litigation indicates the government is likely to run into hurdles while trying to ensure that the reservations are not struck down.

What is the Supreme Courts jurisprudence on reservations? Firstly, the court distinguishes between reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and backward classes. While the former access reservations on the basis of historical disadvantages, the latter are required to demonstrate social and educational backwardness. In other words, governments cannot simply issue a notification providing reservations to groups, they are required to demonstrate that the community can be considered as backward in light of empirical evidence.

Secondly, in the case of backward classes, the Supreme Court has made certain innovations in the implementation of reservations. The first of these is the 50 percent ceiling limit on total number of reservations. With the Maratha reservations, the total reserved seats in Maharashtra would go up to 68 percent. Second, the Supreme Court excluded those from the scope of reservations who belong to the creamy layer of a particular caste. The logic for both these innovations was that the States discretion in matters of reservations cannot be unfettered and must be subject to certain limitations. It must be noted that neither of these innovations can be found in constitutional provisions, and were developed solely by the Supreme Court.

Legal hurdles

That reservations for Marathas are likely to face significant legal challenges is best reflected in the Bombay High Court judgment of Sanjeet Shukla. The court was addressing two Ordinances promulgated by the previous government: the first, where specific castes among Muslims were provided with separate reservations, and second, separate reservations for Marathas.

The judgment struck down reservations for Marathas on the grounds that the government had not provided any empirical evidence of the communitys backwardness, and in fact, successive commissions recorded that Marathas were a prestigious community. In contrast, reservations in education for Muslim castes were allowed to continue. The court recorded that there was sufficient empirical evidence of their backwardness, including reports from the Mahmoodur Rahman Working Group and the Sachar Committee.

The contrast between these two reservations is indicative of what the court considers essential for any reservation to be acceptable: demonstrable backwardness on the basis of objective criteria. Furthermore, other constitutional limitations, including the 50 percent ceiling, are likely to be hurdles for the Maharashtra government.

The Maharashtra government has sought to learn from Sanjeet Shukla and attempted to fill the necessary gaps. Firstly, it has relied on the findings of the State Backward Classes Commission (SBCC), which recommended that Marathas be given reservations on the basis of their backwardness.

Secondly, they have expressed an intent to replicate the Tamil Nadu model. Tamil Nadu currently has 69 percent reservations, and the reservations were originally protected by the IX Schedule of the Constitution. Originally, the laws included in the IX Schedule were protected from judicial review, and therefore, could not be subject to limitation of the 50 percent ceiling.

However, following the Supreme Courts decision in IR Coelho, laws included in the IX Schedule would be subject to the basic structure doctrine test. The test assesses whether a constitutional amendment violates specific basic principles of the Constitution, including the right to equality guaranteed under Article 14. The Tamil Nadu reservation itself is still subject of a challenge in light of IR Coelho.

It is unlikely that reservations for the Maratha community can be protected by including them in the IX Schedule. Moreover, anticipating that the findings of SBCC report are likely to be challenged in court, the government has preferred to not make it public. It is in this context that one sees a very limited scope for the Maharashtra government to get to the finish line of this obstacle course without making changes in its legal strategy.

What complicates the matter further is that the Maharashtra government has certain political limitations. For instance, the Bharatiya Janata Party has opposed the chief minister of Telanganas demand to breach the 50 percent ceiling so that Muslim backward castes may access an increased quota of 12 percent in the state.

Advocating for a departure from the 50 percent ceiling in one state and opposing it in another is unlikely to work for the party. It is also important to note that bypassing the ceiling is likely to open up demands for reservations on multiple fronts. It is uncertain if the ruling party is ready for such large-scale revisions to Indias reservation system.

In the absence of protections afforded under the IX Schedule, the only option before the Maharashtra government is seeking to undo the 50 percent ceiling limit: either through a constitutional amendment, or through judicial intervention. The former is likely to be challenged in court, and the latter is unlikely to result in any significant departure from existing precedent.

Regardless of the Maharashtra governments political limitations, the Supreme Courts jurisprudence on reservations requires significant review. Firstly, because its key innovations: the 50 percent ceiling and the creamy layer doctrine are based on assumptions and not on specific constitutional provisions. Secondly, because they do not account for the varied forms in which discrimination, backwardness and historical disadvantage can be measured. The courts jurisprudence on reservations is muddled and leaves very little scope for the government of the day to identify backward groups and develop safeguards for them.

Lastly, the continued demand for reservations from various quarters is also a reflection of the governments lack of interest in developing affirmative action programs that are not focused on quotas, such as deprivation points and targetted non-statutory benefits.The Primary Health Centre in the small village of Chirai, Varanasi has a serious simian problem; monkeys have settled down on its roof and are terrorising the occupants and nearby residents.

The Primary Health Centre in the small village of Chirai, Varanasi has a serious simian problem; monkeys have settled down on its roof and are terrorising the occupants and nearby residents.

Oh, they are a big problem. If youre walking by with anything to eat or drink, they snatch it out of your hands. Really, they will grab anything that youre holding, says Rajkumar, a shopkeeper in the area. This monkey problem is more serious than just a few lost plates of food. Theyre very strong and smart; from shopkeepers to patients, everyone is sick of them. They even bother the newborns in the delivery wing. he adds exasperatedly. If we leave the door open in the ward the monkeys come inside. Theyve already come inside three, four times, explains Laalmani, a member of the nursing staff, as she double-checks the shut door of what functions as the delivery and emergency ward of the PHC.

The biggest fear is a baby getting snatched. It will be terrible if a monkey comes in and snatches a baby, says ASHA worker Reena, Theyve already bitten a few people in this block, theyve had to get injections. But Chirais monkey menace seems like a slight inconvenience in front of the challenges that plague rural healthcare in Indias most populous state  Uttar Pradesh.

The National Rural Health Mission has a three tier approach to rural healthcare  on gram panchayat level are sub-centres, followed by PHCs for a cluster of gram panchayats, and then Community Health Centres for referrals for every four PHCs. Health workers like ASHA and ANMs form the base of this pyramid, but the PHC is often the first point of contact for many in the rural population requiring medical care. They are supposed to be well-equipped to deal with in-and-out patient care, with an ambulance service, a functional operation theatre and labour room. The on-ground reality does not reflect these aspirations.

In Uttar Pradesh, which has a decennial rural population growth rate of 28.82%, there is a requirement of 5194 PHCs, while only 3621 functioning PHCs currently exist  a shortfall of 30%. Only 170 of all of these PHCs function as per IPHS norms; 213 dont even have electricity. The CHCs, sub-centres and sub-divisional hospitals dont fare any better.

One of the central goals of the NRHM is to reduce infant and maternal mortality rates across the country, and although they have significantly decreased in the last decade, the numbers in Uttar Pradesh are still alarming. The infant mortality rate in 2016 in rural Uttar Pradesh was 46 per thousand live births, the second highest in the country. Maternal mortality rates, as configured out of one lakh live births, was 285, according to 2011-2013 data  again, one of the highest in the country. Only 5.9% of mothers in Uttar Pradesh have received full ante-natal care, while half the population of women and children in the state suffer from anemia.

For a state with 30% of its population living below the poverty line, governmental provisions of healthcare are often the only option. And yet, there is markedly lower service utilisation in Uttar Pradesh when compared to the national average  2.5 times less in the case of out-patient department visits, and roughly half for in-patient department visits  which is an indictment of the poor quality of services. The Gorakhpur hospital tragedy is a clear reminder of the ramifications of doctors negligence and infrastructural failure in public hospitals.

The widely discussed Ayushman Bharat Yojana launched in September this year promises two things  health protection coverage up to Rs 5 lakh per poor family per year, and upgrade of existing 1.5 lakh sub-centres into Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) for ensuring primary care, especially against non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The allocation for this is Rs 1,200 crore. Assuming this money is spent on revamping just half the target, it amounts to Rs 1.6 lakh per centre  which seems insufficient, to say the least. Meanwhile, there has been a 2.1 percent decline in the allocation for National Health Mission  a national health programme that funds infrastructure for primary healthcare  from Rs 31,292 crore in 2017-18 (revised estimates) to Rs 30,634 crore (2018-2019 budget estimate).

In a country where 3.9 crore people are pushed into poverty every year because of inadequate public health infrastructure, and rising healthcare expenses, monkeys may seem like the laughable final straw  but this too is a problem the locals are struggling to get a handle on. Ive recently been informed that the monkeys are a nuisance here, says Dr. Amit Kumar Sinha at the PHC, Ive spoken to the District Forest Officer and have drafted a letter to the Block Forest Officer as well, which I hope will reach him tomorrow. Lets see what happens.

The stop-gap solution for now is, as the exhausted-sounding Laalmani tells us, They tell us to keep the door shut. Reena adds, a bit more stoically, Everyone is so frustrated, all we can do is shut the door and hope for the best.

Khabar Lahariya is a women-only network of rural reporters from Bundelkhand.The staff of the ESIC Kamgar Hospital in Mumbai staged a protest against the hospital administration on Tuesday after eight people, including a two-month-old baby, died in a fire that broke out in the building on Monday. The staff was protesting against alleged inadequate facilities in the hospital.

The staff of the ESIC Kamgar Hospital in Mumbai staged a protest against the hospital administration on Tuesday after nine people, including a five-month-old baby, died in a fire on Monday. The staff was protesting against alleged inadequate facilities at the hospital.

On Monday, six people died and 147 were injured after a level-3 fire broke out at Employee State Insurance (ESIC) Kamgar hospital in Andheri. The toll rose to nine on Tuesday as three more people succumbed to their injuries. Of the 147 injured, 27 people are reportedly in a critical state, The Times of India reported.

Maharashtra: ESIC Kamgar Hospital staff protests alleging inadequate facilities in the hospital in Andheri, Mumbai. 8 people had died in a fire that broke out in the hospital yesterday. pic.twitter.com/hxGWKQogQL  ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2018

Hospital failed safety audit a fortnight ago

The staff protests come amid reports that hospital failed a fire safety check just a fortnight before the deadly incident. NDTV reported that the fire department found out that the sprinkle and detection system were not up to the mark. Moreover, the hospital had stored inflammable material on the ground floor, without proper safety arrangements. The staff told the news channel that the material caught fire and the flames spread rapidly in absence of proper firefighting equipment.

This was highlighted in another PTI report, which quoted a fire official as saying that the blaze appeared to have erupted after a short-circuit near the rubber rolls stored on the ground floor.

"The rubber rolls are combustible material and they might have caught fire after the short-circuit on the ground floor. The smoke then spread on the upper floors through an open fire duct," he said. The exact cause would be known after an inquiry into the incident, he said.

Furthermore, the rescue and relief operation was hindered by the building's glass facade as it blocked air passage and firemen had to break the glasses on all the floors to evacuate those stranded inside. "Most of the deceased, including the six-month-old child, died due to suffocation," the fire official said.

Milind Ogle, the deputy chief fire officer of the MIDC area, said the hospital doesn't have the final no-objection certificate for fire compliance. "The hospital applied for the final NOC a fortnight

ago for its under-construction building adjacent to the old structure that caught fire," he said.

"When our team visited the hospital to inspect the conditions for fire compliance, it found certain shortcomings in the installations and it was communicated to the hospital administration," Ogle said. While reviewing fire compliance norms for the new building, the team also noticed some lacunae in the old hospital building, he said. "So we refused to issue the full and final fire NOC to the old building also," he added.

The official cause of the fire, however, is not yet known. The 325-bed hospital was constructed in 1970s, the officials said, adding police and hospital authorities have vacated the building till further notice.

Government orders probe

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered enquiry into the incident following reports of inadequacies and negligence on part of the civic hospital. The chief minister also spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Health Minister JP Nadda. Fadnavis expressed grief over loss of lives and prayed for the speedy recovery of injured. He assured the victims of all assistance.

A fire brigade official said the blaze at the hospital was reported at 4.03 pm and it was extinguished at 7.35 pm. "The building is a ground plus five-floor structure and the blaze erupted on the fourth floor," the official said.

With inputsDevendra Fadnavis on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the incident at ESIC Kamgar Hospital in Andheri, Mumbai, following reports of inadequacies and negligence.

Union Minister of State (independent charge) for labour and employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar on Tuesday announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for families of those killed in the fire accident at Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Kamgar Hospital in Mumbai's Andheri on Monday.

According to The Times of India, Rs 2 lakh each was offered to the families of those who sustained critical injuries and one lakh each for those with minor injuries.

On Monday, six people died and 147 were injured after a level-3 fire broke out at the hospital. The toll rose to nine, including a two-month-old baby, on Tuesday as three more people succumbed to their injuries. Of the 147 injured, 27 people are reportedly in a critical state, The Times of India reported.

Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the incident following reports of inadequacies and negligence on part of the civic hospital.

"Devendra Fadnavis spoke to Narendra Modi and UnionMinister JP Nadda about it. The chief minister expressed grief over loss of lives and prayed for speedy recovery of the injured and assured that all required assistance will be given," the chief ministers office tweeted.

On Tuesday, the hospital staff staged a protest against the alleged inadequate facilities at the hospital.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to the Maharashtra government and the Union Labour Ministry later on Tuesday. The commission also asked for a detailed report within four weeks, including action taken against the guilty, if any, an official statement said.

In its statement, the NHRC said it had observed that the possibility of negligence by the hospital administration could not be ruled out in the incident. "Hence, a notice was issued to the chief secretary of the government of Maharashtra, calling for a detailed report, including the outcome of the probe reportedly mentioned by the city mayor," it said.

With inputs from PTIAbout a six square feet portion of the Rampura flyover in Haryana fell off around 9 am. The flyover is nearly 46 km from Delhi

Gurugram: Traffic movement between Manesar and Gurugram was hit as a huge portion of the Rampura flyover on the Delhi-Jaipur national highway broke off and fell amid a busy Monday rush, police said.

"The concrete chunk fell from the middle of the four-lane flyover, luckily no one was hurt," said Jitender Yadav, an eyewitness.

About a six square feet portion of the Rampura flyover in Haryana fell off around 9 am. The flyover is nearly 46 km from Delhi. "The effected portion of the expressway (on the Jaipur-Delhi route) have been cordoned off," Manesar traffic police chief Munesh Kumar said.

"We have deployed extra police on and near the flyover and the heavy traffic was diverted to the service lanes.

"Light traffic is passing on the elevated road using the two lanes.

"Traffic passing under the effected flyover have been completely stopped following instructions issued by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)," Kumar added.

"The situation during the day may worsen after heavy traffic hits the road after 11 am," said Vijay Yadav, former village head of Rampura.

The flyover was opened for traffic nearly two years ago. A portion of another flyover near Manesar and Hero Honda Chowk had fallen down earlier in 2018.The growing pile of cases brought to the Central Administrative Tribunal by RAS officers include one involving Jitendra Ojhathe man who from 2013-15 was in charge of training spies at RAWs academy in New Delhi.

Locked in a conversation like two young lovers, the menone marked out by his flaming-red beard, the other unremarkable amid the crowd of business travellersseemed insensible to the chaos in Kathmandu airports departure lounge. The two parted, the selfie they took records, smiling. The older man was Abdul Karim Tunda, the Lahore-based patriarch of the Lashkar-e-Taibas Indian operations, and among the countrys most wanted fugitives. His new best friend was an Indian spy.

For his central role the 2013 covert operation which led to Abdul Karims eventual arrest on the Indian-Nepal border, Ashwini Saxena won the Presidents medal, the highest award a Research and Analysis Wing officer can win.

Then, early this year, he was removed from his job, after RAW invoked Article 311 of Indias Constitution, which allows for officials to be dismissed without trial if in the interest of the security of the State.

Ever since 2014, at least 13 senior officials who held operational posts have been removed from RAW, after they were passed over for promotion. In many of those cases, the evidence is murky, but they all have one common feature: those sacked belonged to RAWs organic cadre, the Research and Analysis Servicenot its competitor for institutional control, the Indian Police Service (IPS).

And, with few exceptions, the cases had something to do with Samant Goel, an IPS officer from Punjab. The Union governments decision, last week, to give existing spy chief Anil Dhasmana a six-month extension of service means Goels claims will now be pitted against those of his RAS competitor, covert operations specialist R Kumar. The succession battle is set to open up raw wounds that could split Indias intelligence service down the middle.

The growing pile of cases brought to the Central Administrative Tribunal by RAS officers include one involving Jitendra Ojhathe man who from 2013-15 was in charge of training spies at RAWs academy in New Delhi. Like Saxena, Ojha had an apparently excellent service record. In 2010, he won the Uttam Seva Praman Patraan award which is only given to officers with at least six outstanding appraisals over a decade. He was nominated for a course at the National Defence College, meant for key officers.

Files obtained by Firstpost show that the story dates back to 2009, while Ojha was posted under diplomatic cover in London. He played a role in several important national security cases, including that of Surat-bombing accused Hanif Tiger Patelthe only success of its kind, so far, in Indias decades-long campaign to extradite fugitives from the United Kingdom.

In 2012, Goel, as RAWs new station chief in London, ordered Ojha relieved of his operations-related duties. RAW officers declined to go on record for this article, but two said the action became necessary because of an inappropriate relationship between Ojha and the wife of a London-based banker.

The story, as told by Ojha in his CAT case, runs very differently. In his pleading to the CAT, Ojha has offered to provide evidence that his problems with Goel began after he raised the issue of serious breach of professional propriety.

Precisely what that was, Ojhas case does not statebut in hearings at the Tribunal on 10 December, he accused RAW of criminal practices, including forging documents. In a 2014 letter to then-RAW chief Alok Joshi, Ojha also complained of a series of threats he attributed to Dawood Ibrahims networkimputing, though without evidence, that elements in RAW were linked to the crime cartel.

There is no evidence RAW ever investigated these allegations, serious though they were. There is no explanation, either, of why RAW posted him to a key training role if his allegations were unbalanced.

RAWs reply to the Tribunal states that its decision to terminate Ojha was based only on assessments of his professional competence, adding that no details about [the] nature of work performed by the petitioner during his service can be spelt out for reasons of security and secrecy.

In Saxenas case, the story is just as opaque. RAW sources say that he was accused, during his Kathmandu posting, of failing to pass on $25,000 payoff sent by headquarters for payment to a source. The officer flatly denied the allegation. Investigators, faced with contradictory testimonies, were unable to make a clear determination.

Then-RAW chief, and now-Deputy National Security Advisor Rajinder Khanna, chose to let the matter rest, sources familiar with the case said, pointing both to lack of evidence and Saxenas stellar record of counter-terrorist operations targeting Pakistan. Then a deputy secretary, Saxena was promoted.

Later, though, the case was revived by Goel, on Dhasmanas watch. The one-time hero was passed over promotion to the rank of Joint Secretary, even though his case was cleared by two separate committees.

In the cases of Sujit Chatterjee, Tarunvir Chaudhary and R Sreenivasan, the officers were removed from service for poor performance, even though each had just one or two appraisals that fell short of outstanding in their entire careers. Rajiv Saxena was sacked under Article 311.

Each of the sacked officers have claimed they were victimised by Samant Goela former IPS officer from the Punjab cadre, who is seen as current chief Anil Dhasmanas choice as his successor. Following the appointment of BK Chaturvedi as RAW chief in 2007, Goel acquired a key role in counter-intelligencethe agencys operations to monitor its own officials. He continued to play a key role in counter-intelligence under KC Verma, RAWs chief from 2009-2013.

Goel himself was named, last month, in litigation filed by Central Bureau of Investigations Deputy Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar Bassi, who told the Supreme Court his ageny had intercepted a conversation between RAWs Goel and banker Somesh Prasad, warning the Dubai-based fugitive not to return to India at any cost.

RAW sources have told Firspost Somesh Prasad and his brother and business partner, Manoj Prasad, handled overseas bank accounts the organisation used to funnel funds for covert operations.The men, the sources said, were picked because of their banking expertise, but also because their father, Dineshwar Prasad, was a RAW officer.

Goel needed to step in to help these guys because the organisations interests were involved, one senior officer said. There was a lot at stake in protecting them.

In some cases, though, the calls suggest the interests trasncended the professional. In one intercepted phone phone call, Bassis plea states, Somesh Prasad told his father-in-law, Sunil Mittal, that Goel had met suspended CBI second-in-command Rakesh Asthana to plead their case, after criminal proceedings were filed against them early in October.

The conversation, Bassi claims, has Somesh Prasad describing Asthana as apna aadmi, or our man. Following Manoj Prasads arrest, Goel made multiple phone calls to both Asthana and Somesh Prasad.

In addition, Bassis pleadings say that the arrest of Prasads brother, Manoj Prasad, on 18 October, sparked off a series of phone conversations between him, Goel, and Rakesh Asthana.

Earlier based in Dubai, Goel knew both men wellbut had no obvious professional interest in sustaining the relationship after his return to New Delhi.

The CBI named Goel in a First Information Report filed against Asthana earlier this month, but did not accuse him of committing a crime.

The fact also is, a former RAW officer said, that Goel had no business speaking to a fugitive from justice, let alone offering him advice. To the extent that the CBI investigation affected RAW, Dhasmana could have spoken to his counterpart there, or to the prime minister. To try and influence the investigation, if that was what was done, was unacceptable.

Goels career hasnt been short of controversy, either. In the United Kingdom, he ran foul of the countrys MI5 and MI6, who lobbied their Government to have Goel expelled from the country that violated his cover as a diplomat. The tensions erupted after Goel allegedly sought to recruit Khalistan-linked figures working for the United Kingdoms intelligence servicespoaching that did not go undetected.

Long head of RAWs internal counter-intelligence directorate, Goel also made enemies of several officers who believed his surveillance operations were excessively intrusiveand aimed at damaging their careers.

For his supporters, hes now paying the price for trying to clean up the organisation. To his detractors, hes evidence of all thats wrong with it.

The cases against Goel and the officers he pushed out of RAW point, perhaps ironically, to exactly the same problem. Its hard to understand why there hasnt been a full internal investigation of Goels conduct in the wake of the CBI scandal. Its just as hard to comprehend why a corruption allegation found wanting by one RAW chief found merit with another, why charges of relationship with organised crime figures were given the go-by, or why an officer given critical responsibilities was found professionally wanting soon after.

These kinds of problems arent new. In 2012, officer Amreet Ahluwalia was sacked after threatening to blow the whistle on chargestrue or otherwisethat RAW was illegally distributing funds to some politicians within the country. The charges were never investigated.

Prabha Rao, highly regarded as an expert on cyberespionage and potentially a candidate to become Indias first woman spy chief, was denied promotion to Special Secretary, and sent off to to a New Delhi think-tank. Even Jayadeva Ranade, among the countrys best-known China experts, retired early, in the wake of what insiders say was a protracted feud with Goel.

Lacking an objective system to appraise professional merit, and a sound mechanism for redressing grievances, crisis in RAW have periodically spilled out in publicundermining the agencys moral and image.

In spite of the regular eruption of similar crisis at RAW, successive governments have failed to give the organisation what it so desperately needs: a legal framework that will ensure both standards and accountability. Long-delayed institutional reforms like the induction of regional and technical expertise as well as efforts to address chronic human resource shortages have stalled in the face of skirmishing between the organisations own cadre and IPS officers seen as having a choke-hold on top jobs irrespective of professional merit.

For the past four years, Prime Minister Narendra Modis government has pushed RAW to acquire a growing frontline role, ever-more-aggressively pursuing Indias interests overseas. As he decides who ought lead RAW after Dhasmana retires this month, the prime minister will know his ends cant be met by a wounded organisation that is dangerously close to splitting down its middle.In an unfortunate incident that took place at Australia's Moonee beach on Monday, two Indian nationals drowned whereas another is still missing

Hyderabad: In an unfortunate incident that took place at Australia's Moonee beach on Monday, two Indian nationals drowned whereas another is still missing.

All the three deceased belonged to the same family and have been identified as residents of Telangana.

The accident occurred after the trio jumped into the water to rescue drowning the children (from family) but were caught in the currents. The children were saved by a rescue team and taken to the hospital.

Nazreen, sister of Junaid who is still missing, spoke to ANI over the phone saying: "My brother Mohammed Abdul Junaid, 28 years old, went to Australia in the year 2014 for completing his masters and since then he was staying in Sydney. On Monday, Junaid along with his father-in-law Mohammed Ghouse Uddin, his two daughters Easha (17), Ramsha (12), one son Mohammed Aaqib (15) and his cousin Rahat went to Moonee beach near Coffs Harbour for a holiday".

"Three children were playing near the seashore when they got troubled in the waves. On seeing this Junaid, along with his father-in-law Ghouse Uddin and cousin Rahat sprung into the water to save the children. All of them were facing difficulty in the water and were drowning when a rescue team reached the spot and saved the three children."

The rescue teams were also able to rescue Ghouse and Rahat from the sea but were unable to revive them.

Junaid, however, could not be found.

The search operation for him had started yesterday but was stopped due to low light. The search operation resumed in the morning.

The three children Easha, Mohammed Aaqib and Ramsha are currently undergoing treatment in Coffs Harbour hospital. (ANI)Earlier, the Assam government had sought an extension of the one-month deadline for filing claims for inclusion in the NRC draft from the Supreme Court.

New Delhi: Minister of State (Home Affairs) Hansraj Ahir on Tuesday said the National Registrar of Citizens (NRC) will be limited to Assam for now.

Ahir filed a written reply in Lok Sabha amid the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, which began on 11 December.

On 12 December, the Supreme Court had extended the last date of filing claims and objections on the inclusion of names in the draft NRC from 15 December to 31 December, 2018.

"Out of 40 lakh people who were left out of the final draft NRC, 14.8 lakh people have filed claims," NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela told the apex court.

The top court had also extended the date for commencement of verification to 15 February from the earlier date of 1 February.

Earlier, the Assam government had sought an extension of the one-month deadline for filing claims for inclusion in the NRC draft from the Supreme Court.

NRC is a register containing names of Indian citizens, which was prepared for the only time in 1951 and is being updated for only Assam to weed out the illegal immigrants.Soma was Hinduism's Bacchus, our Amy Winehouse: they tried to make him go to rehab, he said no, no, no and eventually was shunted out of his duties as the god of all intoxicants, to become the god of the moon instead  a gig no one else wanted.

It's a shame that the god Soma was a victim of increased puritanism. Soma was Hinduism's Bacchus, our Amy Winehouse, they tried to make him go to rehab, he said no, no, no and eventually was shunted out of his duties as the god of all intoxicants, to become the god of the moon instead, a gig no one else wanted.

I've talked about soma before  the drink made out of a plant, some say unidentified, although WJ Wilkins' Hindu Mythology says it's a creeping plant, almost without leaves, and with small white flowers. From the Encyclopedia Britannica, we know that the stalks of this plant were crushed between stones, the juice filtered through sheep's wool and mixed with water and milk. It was used in a lot of Vedic sacrifices, and after it was offered to gods, the cup got passed around to the priests and the person doing the sacrifice, and everyone got very high, in an LSD kind of way, because it was a hallucinogen. (Interestingly, there's also a Zoroastrian ritual called haoma, which is so similar to the soma sacrifice that it's quite possible there was a shared Indo-Iranian mega religion back in the day before the main branches splintered off and did their own thing.)

How important this high was  almost spiritual, just ask anyone who has tried a modern-day ayahuasca trip  can be seen by the several verses dedicated to Soma (the god) and soma (the drink) in the Rig Veda. A sample (it's no Jim Morrison, but you can see the guy who wrote it was really feeling the words, dude):

Be thou best Vrtra-slayer, best granter of bliss, most liberal:

Promote our wealthy princes' gifts.

And

O Soma flowing on thy way, win thou and conquer high renown;

And make us better than we are.

It goes on in this vein for some time, all indicating, as Wilkins also says, that at one point, Soma-the-god was a big deal. Soma was the creator of the gods, before Brahma, and Indra, king of the gods, was a devout worshipper. Apparently, before Soma came to live with the gods, he had several gandharvas (or forest sprites, again a parallel with Bacchus' fauns and nymphs) for roommates, a Snow White and the Seven Dwarves situation. Of course the gods weren't having that, they wanted to try the magic drink too  so in two separate versions, two goddesses volunteer to go retrieve him.

In version one, it's Vach, goddess of speech and Indra's wife who tells them, The gandharvas love women so I'll go and hang out for a bit and get the plant juice for everyone. In the second version, it's less loving: the goddess Gayatri turns into a bird to try and steal the plant, the guards shoot at her, but she escapes and lets one feather drenched in soma fall to the ground which becomes the palasha tree (flame of the forest to you and me, bastard teak to people who really care about wood).

Anyway, eventually the soma reaches the gods, and obviously it is not enough and no one is satisfied with just a teaspoon each, so they decide to race each other, and Vayu beats Indra narrowly to the finish line. Indra's like that kid in your class who always whined that it wasn't fair, even though you clearly lost that game, KARAN, so he asks Vayu to split it with him. Vayu's like, No chance but eventually gives up some of it.

Eventually Soma switched from being the Lord of the Highs (sorry, not sorry) to becoming the God of the Moon, like I mentioned. This was somewhere round the Vishnu Purana (either sometime in 500 BCE or 200 AD), where any intoxicants were forbidden. But Soma didn't completely reform either. He decided to seduce Tara, the wife of Brihaspati, guru to the gods. A massive epic war followed  and somehow you don't read about that as much as the Mahabharata, but it still sounds very exciting. Tara eventually asks Brahma to save her, and he does, but then he realises she's pregnant and Brihaspati is Not.Having.It  he doesn't want her to come home until her child is born, to determine paternity, I guess? So thanks to godly intervention, Tara immediately has her baby, a little boy, who is so startlingly beautiful that both Soma and Brihaspati start to quarrel over who sired him.

Tara was too embarrassed to say anything, so the baby gets up  I imagine like the dancing baby in Ally McBeal  and tells her to immediately confess who his daddy is, or he'll curse her. Tara, very ashamed, confesses it's Soma, peace is restored to all, except probably Brihaspati. Tara, by the way, is cited on all sorts of blogs about Hindu mythology as the unchaste and unsatisfied wife but I'm happy that she managed to escape, even for a little bit. Living with a sage couldn't have been as fun as living with a god, especially if that god still had some of his contraband drugs about him.

That's Soma's story  maybe you'll raise a glass to him and the full moon, the next time you're drinking.

Read more from the 'Mythology for the Millennial' series here.

Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan is the author of several books, including The One Who Swam with the Fishes: Girls of the Mahabharata. She tweets @reddymadhavanNew Delhi: Congress leader Sajjan Kumar wrote to party president Rahul Gandhi submitting his resignation from the primary membership of the party on Tuesday.

New Delhi: Congress leader Sajjan Kumar wrote to party president Rahul Gandhi submitting his resignation from the primary membership of the party on Tuesday.

On Monday, the Delhi High Court convicted Kumar for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and sentenced him to imprisonment for life.

"I tender my resignation with immediate effect from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress in the wake of the judgment of the honourable Delhi High Court against me," he said in the letter to Rahul.

Sajjan's lawyer Anil Sharma had said that he will move the Supreme Court against the verdict. Sharma said, "This was a case of no evidence. We need time to interpret the judgment. We respect Delhi High Court's judgment. The only option left to us is to go to the Supreme Court against the judgment," Sharma told ANI.

The Delhi High Court has asked Kumar to surrender before 31 December and imposed a fine of Rs five lakh on him. Monday's verdict reversed the 2013 trial court judgment that had acquitted Kumar.

While pronouncing the judgment, the judge observed, "In the summer of 1947, during the Partition, several people were massacred. Thirty-seven years later, Delhi was the witness of a similar tragedy. The accused enjoyed political patronage and escaped trial."

With inputs from agenciesMuch of the ice between AAP and the Congress appears to have thawed, seeing how the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit received an invitation for the swearing-in ceremonies of chief ministers in three states, where the grand old party dethroned the BJP in the Assembly elections.

Much of the ice between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress appears to have thawed, seeing how the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit received an invitation for the swearing-in ceremonies of chief ministers in three states, where the grand old party dethroned the BJP in the Assembly elections that concluded on 11 December.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh attended the swearing-in ceremony of Ashok Gehlot, who was appointed the Chief Minister of Rajasthan.

While announcing the party's decision to accept the Congress' invitation to showcase Opposition unity before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Sanjay Singh said: "The invitation was meant for party convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. But I will attend the function on his behalf."

The bonhomie between the arch rivals comes after Kejriwal announced they would do everything to prevent the BJP from coming back to power. "I believe the team of Amit Shahji and Narendra Modiji is dangerous for the country's present and future. If they come to power in 2019, they will not even spare the Constitution; nothing would be left. So it is the responsibility of every patriotic citizen of the country to defeat the team, and to do that, we will take all the measures we can."

No wonder the Congress party's invitation to AAP is being considered an indication of inducting the outfit into the scheme of a possible grand alliance of Opposition parties before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Interestingly, for this probable grand alliance to succeed in the 2019 elections, Delhi, where AAP is in power, will prove to be a problematic region as it is one of the few places where the two secular parties, which intend to be allies in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, have been at loggerheads with each other.

On one hand, AAP rose to power in Delhi for the first time three ago, trouncing the Congress. On the other hand, Kejriwal's party plays the role of a staunch Opposition in Punjab, where the Congress is in power.

The rivalry between the two have become part of the daily affairs of the politics in the national capital as Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken has left no stone unturned to criticise AAP. Maken also spurned a number of times AAP's gestures for truce, and as a result, back-channel talks failed on numerous occasions.

But now, the situation seems to have taken a u-turn, with Maken expressing his unwillingness to continue as the Delhi chief of the Congress.

In a recent letter to party president Rahul Gandhi, Maken reportedly expressed his unwillingness to continue in the high Congress post on health grounds, though the Congress leadership has yet to accept his resignation.

Sharmistha Mukherjee, another leader of the Delhi Congress unit, told Firstpost: "Although Ajay Maken has clearly expressed his problems to the party high command, he will continue to remain the Delhi chief of the party until a decision is made by the top leadership."

With a change of guard imminent in the Congress' Delhi chapter, efforts for a truce with AAP seem to have taken off.On the Rafale deal, Ram Madhav challenged the opposition to a debate in Parliament in the presence of all its members instead of seeking an 'escape route' of a Joint Parliamentary Committee, which would comprise only 25-30 members

Chennai: The BJP on Tuesday mocked DMK over its pitch for Rahul Gandhi as the Opposition's prime ministerial candidate, with party general secretary Ram Madhav asserting that the Prime Minister's post was not vacant for another 10 years.

He said DMK chief M K Stalin's proposal had not found resonance even within the parties the Congress wants in the proposed grand alliance.

On the Rafale deal, Madhav challenged the opposition to a debate in Parliament in the presence of all its members instead of seeking an "escape route" of a Joint Parliamentary Committee, which would comprise only 25-30 members.

Madhav said the Congress and other opposition parties were trying to stitch together a grand alliance by "propagating lies" over the Rafale deal.

"We are challenging the Opposition. If they are ready, let us debate it (the Rafale issue) in Parliament. They cannot take an escape route in the name of JPC and try and continue their propaganda of lies....this shall not be allowed."

"JPC is not more powerful than Parliament which is supreme," he told a press conference.

Top BJP leaders have fanned across the country and are holding similar press conferences to present the party's

stand on the contentious deal following the Supreme Court judgment that was seen as a "clean chit" for the Modi

government.

Madhav deplored that despite the DMK's Sunday's event being a solemn occasion, where its late patriarch M Karunanidhi's statue was unveiled, it was used to "attack the government (Centre) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him names and naming the future Prime Minister".

"The post is not vacant for the next at least 10 more years. Soon after the announcement (by Stalin) that Rahul will be the prime minister, somebody elsewhere in the country said we are also in the queue...how you can say that he (Rahul) is the only person, I am also there," he quipped.

Responding to a question, Madhav said leaders of the "mahagathbandhan" like the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party skipped its events on Monday, apparently referring to the swearing-in ceremonies of the three Congress chief ministers.

"We do not know if (any) other thing is cooking...no single party in country has the courage or stamina to take on prime minister Modi or the BJP," he said, calling the opposition's unity efforts a "tamasha". He claimed attempts were being made to "create negativity" about the prime minister in order to stitch together an broad-based alliance against the BJP.

The BJP, he asserted, would forge a robust tie-up for the Lok Sabha polls to take on the Congress party that "thrives and survives on negativity, lies and wrong propaganda".

Targeting Stalin for his criticism of Modi and the Centre, he said, "I pity some leaders...khud naam Stalin (a reference to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin) hai... (and) he calls others fascists...We have seen the face of fascism in the state under the great DMK."

"It was better to look at their own faces in mirror rather than try to throw mud at great leaders like Prime Minister Modi...this kind of language used against top leaders like the prime minister does not behove (them) well."

Accusing Modi of being indifferent to Tamil Nadu's needs following the devastation caused by cyclone 'Gaja', Stalin had called Modi a "sadist" and his government a "fascist regime".

The BJP leader said since the DMK had joined hands with the Congress, it was using the latter's language. "Company matters," he said.

On the Rafale deal, he said, the Congrss party and its "eternally young leader Rahul Gandhi" had for the past several months run a "campaign of lies and calumni" against Modi and his government, and in the process hampered the efforts of upgrading the armed forces' preparedness.

Borrowing from Modi's "Quattarocchi mama" jibe, Madhav alleged that the Congress was notorious for "corruption" in arms deals under its governments. "It has a black history of selling India's national security interests to highest middlemen bidders. Some of them are their own mamas like Quattrocchi mama," he said.

Madhav said the Supreme Court judgment proved that the Modi government was not only "non-corrupt it is also incorruptible...billions of dollars worth deals like Rafale are being clinched in an utmost transparent manner, no middlemen, no socpe for irregularity."

Strongly obejecting to Rahul Gandhi's "chowkidar chor hai," jibe at Modi, he said it was like kettle calling the pot black. The Congress party and its allies owed an an apology not only to the BJP and the prime minister, but to Parliament and the country for spreading "lies and canard", he said.

The government, he asserted, is determined to go ahead with the deal as it was required for security forces.The attack on migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar was a relatively new move aimed at gaining support of the Madhya Pradesh youth, who, unlike the migrant population, are registered voters.

In choosing the old guard over new generation leaders to run the recently won states, a power-starved Congress set the foundation for its 2019 campaign. The idea was that the party's seasoned soldiers would maneuver the state governments carefully altering the public perception in favour of Congress, while keeping the lot within the party united. The young blood on the other hand will pump its energy to run a high-pitched campaign. However, an unspoken part of the deal was also the heavy reliance on classic populist measures to attract voters, rather than risking to make any path-breaking changes months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

This was first manifest in Kamal Nath's Madhya Pradesh. Almost immediately after taking the oath of office and secrecy, the veteran Congress leader and nine-time Lok Sabha MP made two announcements and both carefully aimed at the larger cross-section of voters in state. First, he announced a farm loan waiver of up to Rs two lakh; secondly, he subtly hit out at 'outsiders' taking away Madhya Pradesh youth's jobs.

The farm loan waiver, although frowned upon by economists, was a part of the Congress manifesto and the party kept its poll promise. However, the attack on migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar was a relatively new move aimed at gaining support of the Madhya Pradesh youth, who, unlike the migrant population, are registered voters.

"Many industries come but offer employment to outsidersUttar Pradesh and Bihar. I dont want to criticise them but people from MP are deprived of employment opportunities because of them. They (industries) will get incentives only if they employ 70 percent local people," Nath said one day into power.

The comment immediately drew sharp reactions from Janata Dal (United), the ruling party in Bihar and an NDA partner.

JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar was quoted by The Indian Express as saying: "The Madhya Pradesh chief minister's statement is against the principles of federalism. People from one state can move to another state and work there. Kamal Nath has hurt the people of Bihar and other states working in MP. We want to know if AICC president Rahul Gandhi agrees with what Nath says."

This was followed by anti-Nath protests in Bihar's capital Patna, where people smeared blank ink on the Madhya Pradesh chief minister's posters and raised slogans against him.

Union minister Giriraj Kishore of the BJP went as far as demanding an apology from Rahul for Nath's comment against people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called Nath's comments unfortunate.

He said: "The people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh work hard for development of the states they go to. Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh or else people will give him an answer."

More importantly, Congress ally Samajwadi Party too hurriedly distanced itself from Nath's comments. "Every now and then you get to hear in Maharashtra that why have North Indians come here, why are the North Indians doing business here. This issue also came up in Delhi once. This is wrong. It should not have happened. This is a wrong decision," Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said after Nath's comments were picked up by the media.

While the reaction to Nath's comments is unsurprising, the whole anti-immigrant narrative by a state chief minister is rather new in the state. The people of India's most populous, yet one of the poorest states have been targeted in other states, including Maharashtra and Gujarat. But the issue has not been taken up on a larger scale in Madhya Pradesh, which shares close linguistic and cultural ties with the people of the other two states.

This is notwithstanding the fact, that Madhya Pradesh residents themselves make up a large chunk of migrants to other affluent states and Union Territories such as Tamil Nadu, Goa, and Delhic. According to a report in Hindustan Times, the undivided state of Madhya Pradesh accounted for at least 4.6 percent of the total migration in the 20-29 year age group between 2001 and 2011. The report, quoting a 2016-17 Economic Survey report published by the ministry of finance states that undivided Madhya Pradesh ranked fifth amid states that contributed most to the migration within the aforementioned age group.

Taking political sensitivities also in consideration, it won't be long before the Congress party will have to seek votes from the people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which send a sizable chunk of members to the Lok Sabha. If Nath goes ahead and systematically implements anti-immigrant policy so close to home, the party may find it difficult to counter BJP's attack in these states.

Coming back to the issue of poll promises, the party has drawn flak from both quarters, for and against the waiver. Not only BJP but ally Samajwadi Party has criticised Nath for hoodwinking farmers and selectively waiving off loans.

BJP general secretary and former chairman of the Kisan Kalyan Ayog, Banshilal Gurjar told The Indian Express said the Congress had promised to waive off loans of all farmers but by introducing 31 March as the cut-off date, it has left out more and included only a handful.

Akhilesh too criticised Nath and said that Samajwadi Party is in support of the decision that whole of farm loan should be waived off.

The economists' view on loan waivers is also not flattering. More recently, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said a farm loan waiver should not form part of poll promises and he has written to the Election Commission that such issues should be taken off the table. It not only inhibits investment in the farm sector but put pressure on the fiscal of states which undertake farm loan waiver, he said. "It (waiver) often goes to the best connected rather than those most poorly off. Second, it obviously creates enormous problems for the fiscal of the state once those waivers are done. And I think, unfortunately, it inhibits investment down the line," he said.

This was directly visible in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the election. According to several reports, farmers in Madhya Pradesh stopped repaying their loans, banking on the Congress's promise. According to a report in The Time of India, farm loan repayments have dipped by at least 10 percent across the state since Gandhi's first announcement on 6 June. Kisan leaders cutting across party lines agree that a sizeable section of farmers, who were paying their loans regularly, have stopped doing so following Rahul's announcement on the waiver, the report said.Stalin's plea is in line with the tradition of his late father M Karunanidhi who had earlier invited Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi for leadership roles.

As his suggestion to name Rahul Gandhi united Opposition's prime ministerial candidate created flutters within the Opposition camp, DMK leader MK Stalin has defended his comment. He argued that it was the Congress president who managed to unseat the BJP in its bastion and he was a strong leader who could act as a unifying force.

Rahul was responsible for Congress victory in the three BJP bastions. We require a strong leadership to coordinate democratic forces. That's why I have proposed Rahuls name. I am confident our allies would understand, he said.

Stalin's plea is in line with the tradition of his late father M Karunanidhi who had earlier invited Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi for leadership roles.

Stalins sudden proclamation, which he first made in the presence of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia at the unveiling of M Karunanidhis statue in Chennai, has not found many takers in the Opposition camp, which is marred by the individual ambitions and regional agendas.

Stalin on Sunday proposed the name of Rahul for the post of prime minister and said he had the strength to defeat the "fascist" Narendra Modi.

He made the announcement at a public rally in the presence of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia, Rahul and Chief Ministers N Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh), Pinarayi Vijayan (Kerala) and V Narayanasamy (Puducherry) and leaders of several other parties. "I propose, we will install a new prime minister in Delhi. I propose the candidature of Rahul Gandhi from Tamil Nadu," Stalin said.

He said Rahul had the capability to defeat the "fascist" Prime Minister Modi. "We will strengthen Rahul Gandhi's hands."

The public meeting was held after Sonia unveiled former chief minister and DMK president Karunanidhi's bronze statue installed at the DMK headquarters Anna Arivalayam in Chennai.

Meanwhile, sources in the Opposition camp suggested that a number of parties have reservations over naming any prime ministerial nominee for the Opposition alliance for 2019 Lok Sabha elections. "A number of opposition leaders are understood to have reservations against naming anyone as the prime ministerial face. The Samajwadi Party, Telegu Desam Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Trinamool Congress Party, and Nationalist Congress Party disagree with Stalin's announcement. It is premature. The prime minister's name is to be decided only after the Lok Sabha results," a top Opposition leader told PTI.

The Nationalist Congress Party, a key partner in the anti-BJP bloc, also expressed its reservations adding that the Congress has declared that Opposition parties would pick their prime ministerial candidate post the general polls if they were to form the government, so there was no need to debate the issue.

"The Congress itself has declared it (the prime minister) will be decided after the (Lok Sabha poll) results," NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik said. He said it was good to see that Stalin supported Rahul. "But when the Congress and other like-minded parties themselves have talked about it, there is no point in debating the issue now. All parties will take the decision after polls," Malik said.

Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress too shied away from committing on the name of one particular leader before the election.

"Not only TMC but also other opposition parties are of the opinion that any decision on the PM candidate should be taken only after the Lok Sabha election results. Any announcement on the prime ministerial candidate right now would be premature as it would divide the opposition camp," a senior TMC leader told PTI on condition of anonymity.

Ever since the BJP swept elections, at least 21 Opposition parties, barring the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party have been vying to come together to keep BJP out of the power.The BJP's warring ally Shiv Sena on Tuesday chose to stay away from the inauguration of various projects by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mumbai metropolitan region and Pune.

Mumbai: The BJP's warring ally Shiv Sena on Tuesday chose to stay away from the inauguration of various projects by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mumbai metropolitan region and Pune.

The prime minister on Tuesday laid foundation stones for two metro lines  Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan (Metro 5) and the Dahisar-Mira Bhayander (Metro 9) at Kalyan in neighbouring Thane district. He also launched the Navi Mumbai town planning authority Cidco's (City & Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) mass-housing scheme worth Rs 18,000 crore.

Later, the prime minister also laid the foundation stone of the phase three of Pune Metro.

A senior Shiv Sena leader said since the party chief Uddhav Thackeray was not invited to the prime minister's events, Sena leaders and ministers decided to boycott his functions.

"After we learnt that Uddhav Thackeray has not been invited, the party leaders decided to boycott all the functions of PM Modi in Maharashtra on Tuesday," he said.

According to a BJP leader, an editorial in Sena's mouthpiece Saamana had not gone down well with his party's leadership.

"There was a direct attack on Narendra Modi in an editorial in Saamana. Holding Modi responsible for the BJP's loss of power in three states has not gone down well with our leadership in the state as well as at the Centre," he said.

Senior BJP leader and state Education Minister Vinod Tawde said, "We had invited everyone to the PM's functions as per the protocol. The ministers from Thane district and even members of Parliament (MPs) were invited."

The minister hinted that Thackeray was not invited as he did not hold any constitutional post.

Another Shiv Sena leader, however, pointed out that his party president had been invited for the foundation laying ceremony of Shivaji memorial attended by Modi in Mumbai two years back.

"Thackeray was invited to the function, where the prime minister was present. He had even sat on the stage," he said.

"If protocol is so important, then why does the BJP interpret it as per its own convenience?" the Sena leader asked.

On Sunday, Uddhav Thackeray had performed the 'bhumi-pujan' or ground-breaking ceremony for the Rs 12,000-crore coastal road project, which no BJP leader or minister attended.

A BJP leader had claimed that there was no invitation to even Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the function organised by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, ruled by the Sena.

Almost a year back, Thackeray had announced that his party would contest all the future elections alone. His party has been critical of the BJP and its top leadership over several issues.

However, the BJP has been consistently terming Sena as its natural ally and warning it that contesting the polls separately could benefit the opposition parties.Prime Minister Narendra Modis day-long visit to Maharashtra is scheduled for Tuesday during which he will launch infrastructure and housing projects worth around Rs 41,000 crore in the state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modis day-long visit to Maharashtra is scheduled for Tuesday during which he will launch infrastructure and housing projects worth around Rs 41,000 crore in the state.

Soon after landing in Mumbai, Modi will attend an event organised by a TV channel and later unveil the book Timeless Laxman at Raj Bhavan. The prime minister will then lay the foundation stone for the Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan Metro 5 and Dahisar-Mira Bhayander Metro 9 at Kalyan in the adjoining Thane district.

The Kalyan event will also see the launch of Navi Mumbai town planning authority  City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra's (CIDCO)  mass housing scheme worth Rs 18,000 crore, which offers around 89,771 affordable homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Modi will later proceed to Pune, where he will lay the foundation stone for the third metro line between Hinjewadi and Shivajinagar, being implemented by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority on a public-private partnership basis.

The Rs 8,313-crore 23-kilometre-long third Metro line in Pune between Hinjewadi and Shivajinagar will connect the busy information technology part of the city with Shivajinagar, where the other two Metro lines will also join. Modi will fly to Delhi from Pune on Tuesday night.

Shiv Sena-BJP rift widens

However, the rift between alliance partners Shiv Sena and the BJP widened with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party deciding to skip the project inaugurations by Modi on Tuesday.

According to reports, Shiv Sena leaders, who have been extended invitations to the events in Kalyan and Pune, were likely to skip the ceremonies since the BJP was absent at Uddhav Thackerays bhumi-pujan' on Sunday. The event was for the ground-breaking of the Rs 12,000-crore coastal road project in Mumbai.

A report by News18 said, The relations between BJP and Shiv Sena have been uncomfortable at best with the saffron partys recent electoral losses giving more room to Thackeray to flex his muscles in the alliance ahead of the General Election. Political observers have said that the Sena may also be mulling snap Assembly polls in Maharashtra to capitalise on the BJPs losing streak.

With inputs from agenciesNearly all the opposition parties including Akhilesh Yadavs Samajwadi Party, Chandrababu Naidus Telugu Desam Party, Mayawatis Bahujan Samaj Party and Sharad Pawars Nationalist Congress Party appear uneasy with the prospect of Rahul being projected as the prime ministerial candidate.

MK Stalin is not stepping back. A day after issuing a strong pitch in favour of Rahul Gandhi as the mahagathbandhans prime ministerial candidate  that had all opposition members rattled and Congress squirming in unease  he defended his statement on Monday, clarifying that the Gandhi scion helped Congress snatch three states away from BJPs clutches in the Hindi heartland, and his strong leadership is needed to unite secular forces and to extricate the country from communalism and establish democracy.

One would have thought the very fact that voters threw out the BJP incumbents in three states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh via Assembly polls is proof enough that democracy is alive and kicking but it doesnt matter. Politics imposes no tax on rhetoric. The DMK chief may have his reasons but the interesting bit is the way Stalins proposal has been received on both sides of the political divide. The BJP has not reacted to it, the Congress rushed in to say: thanks mate, but you knownothing has been finalized yet (something in these lines), while the other mahagathbandhan members are either fuming or trying hard to play down Stalins comments.

This is curious. If Congress is to function as the fulcrum of opposition unityand there is little difference of opinion on this count among the grand alliancewhats wrong in projecting Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate? Wont this tactic take the wind out of BJPs plan to fashion the 2019 general elections as a Modi-vs-whom contest? This also seems to be the most opportune time since Congress is clawing back into reckoning and its recent success is being credited on its newest president who finally seems to have come of age after several false starts.

And yet, the very mention of the issue has sown discord among allies. One Trinamool Congress leader was quoted, as saying, by news agency PTI that any decision on this issue should be taken only after the Lok Sabha election results because any announcement at this stage would be premature and divide the opposition camp. A close look at the statement reveals the logic of the mahagathbandhan. The proposed grand alliance is driven not by positive stimulisuch as convergence of interests or an alternative vision for the nations developmentbut by a negative impetus: the fear of Narendra Modi.

In this respect, what political parties do (not say) provide a better reflection of voter sentiments than the assessments done by media commentators that are largely a reflection of respective political biases. Let us, therefore, see what these political partiesthe so-called members of the grand alliancehave been busy doing despite loud proclamations of opposition unity.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee reckons  maybe with some justification  that her party will sweep all 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, making her an important cog in the opposition wheel. She clearly sees for herself a national role and has been busy delegating some responsibilities to nephew Abhishek Banerjee who is being groomed as the successor. Since the results for five states were declared on 11 December, Mamata has not once congratulated the Congress, though she did express her satisfaction at BJPs defeat.

This prompted Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi to utter at a rally in Kolkata on Wednesday: When the entire country has congratulated Rahul Gandhi and the Congress for its victory in three states, only Mamata Banerjee has not. Is she not happy with the victory of Congress?

Mamata was absent from the unveiling of departed DMK patriarch M Karunanidhis statue in Chennai. She also didnt attend any of the oath-taking ceremonies by Congress chief ministers in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh though she did send an emissary. Derek O Brien, floor leader of the TMC in Rajya Sabha where it has 13 MPs, has reportedly harped on the broad understanding among the opposition that the leadership issue will be kept open till after the elections.

Not just TMC, nearly all the opposition parties including Akhilesh Yadavs Samajwadi Party, Chandrababu Naidus Telugu Desam Party, Mayawatis Bahujan Samaj Party and Sharad Pawars Nationalist Congress Party appear uneasy with the prospect of Rahul being projected as the prime ministerial candidate.

And just as Mamata skipped the oath-taking ceremonies on Mondaybilled as the great show of political unity with Rahul leading from the frontMayawati, Akhilesh and even Arvind Kejriwal gave the occasion a miss. Some cited prior commitments, personal reasons or, as in SPs case -- a clear admission that the party is unhappy with the way Congress had treated it during the Assembly polls.

There lies the rub. The realities of polling are so complex that an alliance that looks good on papersuch as the TDP-Congress tie-up in Telanganamay turn out to be a totally flop idea during the elections. Maybe the voters didnt take it kindly that after opposing the Congress for so many years, Naidu suddenly made U-turn and held Rahuls hand. This may have created space for the ruling TRS to exploit. The humbling defeat for Naidu not only damages his own bargaining power, but it also sends a sobering thought about the utility of pre-poll alliances when the opponent is tough.

For some leaders such as Mayawati, the mahagathbandhan presents a Hobsons choice. If she refuses to accommodate Congress in the BSP-SP-Ajit Jogi alliance in Uttar Pradesh, she may become an even more marginal player outside it. If she does let Congress in, there is no guarantee of a straight transfer of votes given the fact that the Congressin Uttar Pradesh at leastcan grow stronger only at her expense by poaching on the Muslim-Dalit votes.

For other components of the grand alliance such as Mamata Banerjee or K Chandrasekhar Rao, who remain powerful chieftains by their own right, an alliance with the Congress robs them the opportunity of being catapulted to the Centre.

Apart from ambition or mathematics of seat-sharing, there are other reasons why the anti-BJP parties are iffy about Congress taking on the leadership of mahagathbandhan. If Rahul is projected as the prime ministerial candidate, it would make for a presidential style of campaigning that may suit the BJP or even the Congress but not the regional leaders. The TDP, TMC, TRS or RJDs would be better off breaking the big battle into little hyperlocal wars.

If these conflicting ideas and interests become too difficult to manage, the BJP may find it easier to project Modi as the figure of stability and strength, as opposed to the oppositions political incoherence. It is not unlikely therefore that a pre-poll mahagathbandhan remains a non-starter on paper. We may instead see unofficial seat-sharing arrangements or technical adjustments in terms of candidature. A final movement towards grand alliance may only begin post-elections where electoral strength may determine how the contentious issues such as leadership are settled.The BJP described Congress president Rahul Gandhi's remark that he will not allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak until farm loans are waived.

New Delhi: The BJP on Tuesday described Congress president Rahul Gandhi's remark that he will not allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak until farm loans are waived as a new low in the country's public discourse.

Nothing better can be expected from Gandhi, whose party ensured that Indians did not sleep during its 60 years of rule due to rampant corruption, senior BJP leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

"Friends, I am given to understand that Rahul Gandhi today said that he will not allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sleep. This is a new low in the public discourse of the country," Prasad told reporters.

Hitting out at Gandhi, Prasad said he should come to Parliament and debate the Rafale issue in Parliament.

Daring the Congress and its chief to show "courage" and discuss the fighter jet deal "eye to eye" in the House, Prasad said, "Don't run away from the debate."

He added that the Congress was fleeing a debate on the issue because it had many skeletons from defence deals in its cupboard.

Referring to Gandhi addressing the issue of farmer distress and saying that the Congress and other opposition parties will ensure that all farm loans are waived, Prasad declared it was just drama.

The Congress, he said, had been in power for about 60 of the last 70 years. "What have they done for farmers? They are doing just drama now," he said.

"Modi ji has been prime minister for four-and-a-half years, but has not waived a single rupee of farmer loans. I want to tell you that the Congress party and other opposition parties will unite till all farm loans are waived. We will stand up and fight against them. We will not retract a single inch, we will not let them sleep at night till farmer loans are waived," Gandhi said.In a scathing attack on Congress this morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn't mince any words in blaming the governments before 2014 for the ills plaguing the country.

In a scathing attack on Congress this morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn't mince any words in blaming the governments before 2014 for ills plaguing the country.

Addressing a media event  Republic Summit  on Tuesday, the prime minister was on the offensive in raking up the issue of Rafael deal. Commenting on the latest Supreme Courts observation, Modi said, "A psychology prevails in this country  if anyone files a complaint before the court against the government on any issue, its believed that the government is wrong, while the complainant is right. But in the Rafale deal case, it has been proved wrong for the first time, as the Supreme Court told the complainants that the deal had been executed with honesty and transparency."

Throughout his address, the prime minister didnt name the Congress party per se, but it was evident from his speech that his salvos were aimed at the previous Congress or Congress-led UPA governments.

Referring to Delhi High Courts verdict on one of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases on 17 December, Modi said that finally after 34 years justice has been delivered. The accused in anti-Sikh riot case have been punished, including Congress leaders involved in it, he said.

The prime minister was referring to Delhi High Court pronouncing life imprisonment for Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

Why this change despite having the same country, same system, same bureaucracy, people and resources today as it had been in the past? the PM said.

He also mentioned the extradition of middleman Christian Michel in the high-profile AgustaWestland chopper scam.

Referring to corruption in the system and the acts legislated by previous governments, with no action taken on them, Modi said that the Congress-led UPA government brought Food Security Act and took credit for it by browbeating.

"But till 2014 only 11 states were benefitted. Weve ensured that all the 36 states and Union territories get the benefit of the Act. Earlier, acts were made without any action on them. Corruption had been accepted as a new norm in India over the years and a common perception was that in India, things happened like this and there wasnt anything exceptional about it. We worked towards changing this misconception, he pointed out.

The introduction of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code in 2016 is a case in point that the prime minister mentioned. Without naming the Congress and its first family, he said links with the ruling political party and a particular family had helped big borrowers not to pay back loans worth thousands of crores taken from banks. But, post-2014, the situation changed.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code forced loan borrowers who had defaulted on payment to repay Rs 3 lakh crore to banks and lenders. In the past, big borrowers from big companies never bothered to return loans taken by them as they were backed by ruling political party and due to their links with a particular family. Our government is ensuring confiscation of properties of defaulters and fugitives both in India and abroad, which couldnt be possible in the last 70 years, asserted Modi.

Juxtaposing the present tenure of the NDA government from 2014 and successive governments before that, the prime minister presented a four-year performance report.

Whether its the aviation sector, providing cooking gas connection to the common man, electrification, bringing people under banking network or implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST)  Modi said the achievements in just four years were possible due to his governments clear vision and policies, aiming to make India a part of the $5 trillion economy club.

The present governments policies also helped India achieve 77th rank in Ease of Doing Business from previous 142.

All these have been possible as the vision of my government is clear. We have policy-driven governance and transparent policies are the basis of our government. More number of people who had been travelling on AC class in trains, are taking flights; taxpayers base has increased from 3.80 crore to almost 7 crore; the mobile phone manufacturers have gone up from two to 120; and almost every household has been brought under banking system compared to 55 percent before 2014. The rate of building highways, airports and helipads, laying rail tracks have doubled, he said.

Mentioning GST as the biggest tax reform, the prime minister said it would be possible to bring 99 percent of items in the 18 percent tax slab, and the rest 1 percent of luxury items would have a higher tax rate.

The crux of the prime ministers address was his aim to take the nation towards a New India, Surging India'. As he emphasised, Unless weve big dreams, bigger aspirations and higher goals, achieving big isnt possible. India has been redefining its role and making a strong image at global level.The Telangana government has promoted an ordinance restricting reservations to a maximum of 50 percent for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes to enable conduction of elections to panchayat raj institutions in the state.

Hyderabad: The Telangana government has promoted an ordinance restricting reservations to a maximum of 50 percent for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes to enable conduction of elections to panchayat raj institutions in the state.

The Telangana Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018, was signed by Governor ESL Narasimhan on Saturday.

"In pursuance of the judgments of the Supreme Court, the upper ceiling of 50 percent vertical reservations in favour of SCs/STs/OBCs should not be breached in the context of local self-government," reads the new "Chapter-VIII-A" inserted in the ordinance.

"Accordingly, the seats and offices to be reserved for Backward Classes shall be so determined duly keeping in view the requirement of reservation in respect of SCs, STs therein, that the total number of seats/offices reserved for the SCs, STs and Backward Classes (BCs) shall not exceed 50 percent of the total number of seats or as the cases may be, in the respective local bodies, in the manner prescribed," it said.

The Hyderabad High Court had directed the Telangana government to complete the election process for the members of gram panchayats and the offices of the sarpanch in the gram panchayats within three months from 11 October.

The term of the local bodies ended on 1 August this year.

The state government then moved the Supreme Court seeking permission to enhance the total quota to 67 percent, beyond the 50 percent ceiling fixed by the top court, which was rejected.

The government wanted to raise the total quota percentage in proportion to population of the backward classes in the state.

Earlier, the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act-2018 enacted by the state legislature provided reservations of seats and offices in gram panchayats, mandal praja parishads and zilla praja parishads in favour of members belonging to Scheduled Tribes/Scheduled Castes on the basis of their proportionate percentage in population, to the total number of seats and offices.

The Act also provided that the number of seats and offices reserved for Backward Classes shall not be less than 34 percent of the total number of offices of the members in such Panchayat Raj bodies in the state.

The Telangana Assembly was dissolved in September this year before the expiry of its term. In the assembly elections on 7 December, the ruling TRS under K Chandrashekar Rao retained power.Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar said the party will appreciate if Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar unfurled the tricolour on 19 December and delivered the Liberation Day address

Panaji: After Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar's much discussed visit to inspect two under-construction bridges, the Congress on Monday said he should show the same efforts to unfurl the tricolour on 19 December to mark the Liberation Day of Goa.

Goa was liberated from Portuguese rule on 19 December, 1961. Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar said the party will appreciate if the chief minister unfurled the tricolour on 19 December and delivered the Liberation Day address.

"To unfurl the tricolour is a much easier and honourable job than inspecting bridges," Chodankar said.

Earlier in the day, the BJP accused the Congress of politicising the health condition of Parrikar. On Sunday, Parrikar inspected two under-construction bridges on Mandovi and Zuari rivers.

This was the first time the chief minister was seen in public since returning to Goa on 14 October post hospitalisation in Delhi's AIIMS.tech2 News Staff

Apple has just announced the release of iOS 12.1.2 today which apart from fixing certain bugs related to eSIMs, also carries changes that help Apple mitigate certain patent issues relating to an ongoing patent dispute with Qualcomm.

As the version number implies, this isn't a major update and the file size isn't even 100 MB. The update may not introduce a bunch of new features, but for iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR users, the update fixes an issue with e-SIM activation. The update also addresses an issue that could affect "mobile connectivity in Turkey for all three latest-generation iPhones."

To quickly jog your memory, eSIM support was recently enabled for all 2018 iPhones, but things haven't been smooth sailing since then. Hopefully, no more issues pertaining to this function will arise from this point on.

The update should have shown up as an over-the-air update by now already, but in-case you haven't received a notification about it yet, you can manually check for it through Settings > General > Software Update on your iPhone.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm isn't convince that Apple has done enough to justify misusing its patents. The company in a statement said that Apple "continues to flout the legal system by violating injunctions," despite the iOS release earlier today.Reuters

Switzerlands competition commission (WEKO) on Tuesday said Apple Inc has agreed to make a technical fix to prevent the automatic launch of its Apple Pay from disrupting rival Swiss payment app TWINT.

Apple has committed to provide TWINT with the technical capability to suppress the automatic launch of Apple Pay during the payment process with the TWINT app, WEKO said, adding it was ending a preliminary probe against Apple following the pact.

In a separate case, WEKO is investigating Swiss financial companies including Credit Suisse and UBS over a suspected boycott of mobile payment solutions such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.Indo-Asian News Service

Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan on Monday said most of the states have not utilised the infrastructure for Bharat Net broadband project.

Speaking at a seminar on National Digital Communications Policy, Sundararajan, however, noted the Union government has invested heavily in the project.

"If you look at the utilisation, I think Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Karnataka and Rajasthan are to be commended. Many states have done an outstanding job, particularly the ones that I mentioned.

"But in all the remaining statesthere is almost practically no utilisation," she said at the seminar attended by representatives from states and Union Territories.

A presentation by the official showed that the disparity in the number of Gram Panchayats where the infrastruture has been laid and the Panchayats where services have been used showed that the difference was highest in Uttar Pradesh.

Out of the 27,919 Gram Panchayats in Uttar Pradesh connected through fibre cables, only 151 Panchayats have utilised the services, it showed. Karnataka was the best perfomer with 4,716 Panchayats out of the total fibre connected 6,110 Panchayats using the infrastructure.Press Trust of India

The Cabinet on 17 December approved amending two existing laws to provide legal backing for seeding of Aadhaar with mobile numbers and bank accounts, sources said.

The Cabinet, headed by prime minister Narendra Modi, approved amendments to the Telegraph Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

These amendments were made necessary after the Supreme Court in September imposed restrictions on the use of Aadhaar by private companies.

Sources said the two Acts will be amended to provide for voluntary sharing of the 12-digit identification number for obtaining new mobile phone connections and for opening bank accounts.

The Supreme Court had struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act that made seeding of the biometric ID with SIMs and bank accounts mandatory, saying it had no legal backing. To overcome this lacuna, the Telegraph Act is being amended to provide legal backing for the issuance of mobile SIMs through Aadhaar. Similarly, the amendment to the PMLA will give individuals option to link their bank accounts to Aadhaar in the KYC option.

The apex court in a landmark judgment had held constitutional validity of Aadhaar for the distribution of state-sponsored welfare subsidies but ruled that it cannot be made mandatory for opening bank accounts or providing mobile-phone connections. The ruling followed petitions by activists and lawyers citing privacy concerns.

Conceptualised under the previous UPA regime in 2009, under the extraordinary Aadhaar programme provides for giving every resident a biometric ID by assigning a unique 12-digit identification number after collecting their biometric data and photographs. It was envisioned as a cost-saving tool that could improve the delivery of services and subsidies to poor by eliminating bogus beneficiaries and checking diversions.Reuters

The Czech cyber watchdog warned network operators on Monday against using software or hardware made by Chinese telecom equipment suppliers Huawei and ZTE, saying they posed a security threat.

Huawei, the worlds biggest producer of telecoms equipment, faces intense scrutiny in the West over its ties to the Chinese government and concerns its equipment could be used by Beijing for spying. The company has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Chinas laws ... require private companies residing in China to cooperate with intelligence services, therefore introducing them into the key state systems might present a threat, Dusan Navratil, director of the Czech National Cyber and Information Security Agency (NCISA), said in a statement.

System administrators in critical information infrastructure, whether in the state or private sector, should take adequate measures against the threat, Navratil said.

The Czech government agency added that its warning notice was based on its findings and on those of allies.

In response, a Huawei spokesman said: We categorically deny any suggestion that we pose a threat to national security. We call for NCISA to provide evidence instead of tarnishing Huaweis reputation without any proof.

Cyber security had always been Huaweis top priority and Huawei was a trusted partner for all the main telecom carriers in Czech Republic, he said.

There are no laws or regulations in China to compel Huawei, or any other company, to install mandatory back doors, he said, a reference to U.S. warnings that Huaweis network gear could contain back doors that would allow Chinese spies to hack into critical network infrastructure.

Huawei has never received any such request from any government and we would never agree to it, the spokesman said.

A call to ZTEs office in London was not answered.

Some operators have tested 5G in some locations in the Czech Republic, while the investment group PPF, which owns the leading infrastructure provider, CETIN, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Huawei to cooperate on 5G. An auction of frequencies for the 5G transmission is planned for 2019.

U.S. government officials have been pressuring Deutsche Telekom, the majority owner of T-Mobile US, to stop using Huawei equipment, sources say.

Japan plans to ban government purchases of equipment from Huawei and ZTE to beef up its defenses against intelligence leaks and cyber attacks, sources told Reuters this month.

New Zealands intelligence agency last month rejected a telecoms providers request to use Huawei 5G equipment and Australia has banned Huawei from supplying 5G equipment. Both countries cited national security concerns.

The arrest of a top Huawei executive in Vancouver at the request of U.S. authorities on Dec. 1 has sparked a diplomatic dispute. Meng Wanzhou, Huaweis chief financial officer and the daughter of its founder, faces U.S. allegations that she misled multinational banks about Iran-linked transactions, putting the banks at risk of violating U.S. sanctions.tech2 News Staff

After a lot of talks emerged of a search engine being developed by Google for China called Project Dragonfly, it seems the Mountain View-based tech giant has shut down the effort entirely after internal members of Googles privacy team raised concerns. Reportedly, Google had kept the entire project a secret from them.

As per a report by The Intercept, the internal rift has effectively shut down the project and it is a major blow for CEO Sundar Pichai, who just recently testified before the US Congress after allegations emerged of political bias in search results.

As per the report, Pichai, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and other executives had rekindled the hope of entering the Chinese market after Google had to exit the country in 2010. The exit was majorly due to Chinas communist party's strong control over the internet and its great firewall which prevents any kind of news dissemination that is not in line with government policies

The Intercept says that Google, in collaboration with a Beijing based website called 265.com, had developed blacklists over the past couple of years for blocking out certain categories from a probable Chinese search engine such as democracy, human rights and peaceful protest.

The report states that 265.com happens to be a website that provides its Chinese visitors with news updates, information about financial markets, horoscopes and advertisements for cheap flights and hotels.

Google purchased this website from Chinese billionaire Cai Wensheng. Baidu, the countrys biggest search engine which also happens to be Googles main competitor in China, was the default search engine for 265.com. So in a way Google used 265.com as a honeypot to harvest user data of people on mainland China.

This analysis was crucial for Google to enter into the Chinese market, but was subject to review by Googles privacy staff. As a matter of fact, the privacy team learned about Project Dragonfly only when the information was disclosed to the public in August via an earlier report by The Intercept. Needless to say the privacy team was livid at being kept in the dark about Dragonfly and the internal rift has finally culminated in shutting the project down.Reuters

Huawei Technologies on said it would spend $2 billion over the next 5 years to focus on cybersecurity by adding more people and upgrading lab facilities, as it battles global concerns about risks associated with its network gear. The typically secretive Chinese technology giant made the comments at one of its most in-depth press conferences at its Dongguan offices, after welcoming about two dozen international journalists into its new campus in the southern Chinese city.

Huawei has been in the news these past weeks for the arrest of its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou  also the daughter of its billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei  in Canada at the request of the United States.

This has exacerbated the woes of the Chinese firm, which has already been virtually locked out of the US market and has been prohibited by Australia and New Zealand from building 5G networks amid concerns its gear could facilitate Chinese spying.

Locking out competitors from a playing field cannot make yourself better. We think any concerns or allegations on security at Huawei should be based on factual evidence, its rotating chairman Ken Hu said. Without factual evidence, we dont accept and we oppose those allegations.

Huawei has been communicating with governments worldwide regarding the independence of its operation, he said. He added that Japan and France had not formally banned its telecom equipment. Recent media reports have indicated moves by these governments to shun the companys equipment.

Sources have told Reuters that Japan planned to ban government purchases of equipment.

Other media reported that the countrys three top operators planned not to use current equipment and upcoming 5G gear from Huawei and that France was considering adding items to its high-alert list that tacitly targets Huawei.

Huawei has repeatedly said Beijing has no influence over it.

At the tour of Huaweis Shenzhen headquarters on Tuesday, journalists glimpsed some of Huaweis most advanced R&D labs housed in a three-storey building with a white facade and four columns, referred to by insiders as the White House.

Wu said Huawei had secured more than 25 commercial contracts for 5G, slightly above the 22 the Chinese technology giant had announced in November.

The company has shipped more than 10,000 base stations for the fifth generation of mobile communications, he said, adding that Huawei expects revenue to exceed $100 billion this year  up 8.7 percent from last year.

Huawei is the worlds largest supplier of telecommunications network equipment and second-biggest maker of smartphones and unlike other big Chinese technology firms, derives half its revenue from overseas.

"A Just Conclusion

Wu said on 18 Decemnber Huawei was looking forward to a just conclusion in the case of Meng, who was arrested in Vancouver on 1 December after US officials alleged Huawei was trying to use banks to evade sanctions against Iran and move money out.

She is awaiting possible extradition to the United States in a case that has roiled global markets amid concerns it would exacerbate tensions between the United States and China, which are already strained over trade matters.

Meng, the 46-year-old daughter of Ren, has said in a sworn affidavit she is innocent and will contest the allegations against her at trial if she is surrendered to the United States.

Wu said Mengs arrest has had no impact on the travel of the companys senior executives.tech2 News Staff

Microsoft has an interesting new problem with Windows 10. Apparently, the company is rolling out preview features to users who manually run an update to their Windows 10 device, because of which users were facing issues like file deletion or absurd fonts.

According to a report by Fossbytes, if you manually click on Check on Updates, Microsoft will somehow consider you a tester and will start sending you 'preview' updates, which havent been tested on a stable computer yet. Basically, you will receive beta updates if you manually go and check for updates on your PC.

Michael Fortin, Corporate Vice President of Windows India explains the issue in a blog post saying, "We also release optional updates in the third and fourth weeks of the month, respectively known as C and D releases. These are preview releases, primarily for commercial customers and advanced users seeking updates. These updates have only non-security fixes. The intent of these releases is to provide visibility into, and enable testing of, the non-security fixes that will be included in the next Update Tuesday release. Advanced users can access the C and D releases by navigating to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and clicking the Check for updates box. The D release has proven popular for those seeking to validate the non-security content of the next B release."

From what the blog suggests, the ideal thing to do right now would be that, if you don't want to test beta Windows 10 updates, then you just wait for the update to automatically prompt you for installation.tech2 News Staff

Microsoft today announced its affordable, smallest and most portable Surface laptop in India, the Surface Go. Announced globally back in July, Microsoft appears to be trying to take on the Apple iPad and iPad Pro.

The Surface Go will be available in two configurations, a 64 GB and 128 GB storage options and 4 GB or 8 GB of RAM. Prices for the top-end variant is Rs 50,999, leaving accessories aside, while the entry-level variant is priced at Rs 38,599. The Type Cover is available in four colours  Black, Platinum, Burgundy, and Cobalt Blue.

While the Black Type Cover will set you back by Rs 8,699, the coloured covers are priced a notch higher at Rs 11,799.

Featuring a 10-inch display, the Surface Go comes in at the same size as the iPad Pro. According to details listed in a blog post by Microsoft, the Go is also far lighter than current Surface series laptops with a weight of around 500 g is also adequately thin at 8.3 mm to be the perfect travel companion.

Microsoft says that the Surface Go comes with a factory calibrated 3:2 PixelSense display that supports the Surface Pen.

While those are the pros of the Surface Go, you do get a far less capable Intel Pentium processors that are also less battery efficient. While Microsoft is of the opinion that this will not affect user experience given one stick to regular tasks like browsing, consuming media and using light productivity apps, users still do have to shell out more for an optional keyboard or mouse.

For the first time on a Surface laptop, the Surface Go will use the USB-C charging standard which is a welcome addition for those who do not like to carry around too many cables.A phone that can become the best in its budget with a camera software update.

Asus launched the Zenfone Max Pro M1 back in April this year and within eight months of the phone's existence in the market, the Taiwanese company has released the Zenfone Max Pro M2 with a bunch of improvements. What you get is not only a smartphone that looks and performs better but also one which boasts a good battery life, just like its predecessor.

Asus has put in a load of effort into the Zenfone Max Pro M2 and it shows. The company's not only redesigned the phone from scratch here but has improved on areas where it felt the Max Pro M1 needed work. It has also ensured that the price of the phone remains unchanged. The base variant of the Zenfone Max Pro M2 which comes with 3 GB of RAM and 64 GB storage is priced at Rs 12,999, while the 4 GB and 6 GB RAM variants are each priced at Rs 14,999 and 16,999.

The aggressive pricing really means that Asus wants in on the mindspace occupied by Xiaomi. The company not only wants the Zenfone Max Pro M2 to be a Redmi Note 6 Pro alternative anymore but one that beats it on every account. While the specifications on paper do suggest trouble for Xiaomi here, does the Max Pro M2 really take the cake at this price? Read on to find out.

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 Build and Design: 7.5/10

At first glance, youll immediately notice that the Zenfone Max Pro M2 looks nothing like its predecessor. Gone is the dull boring black chunk of plastic with big bezels. This is a phone that is actually quite pleasing to look at. The phone is still completely made of plastic but the brushed metal design certainly looks great. Until you actually start using it.

Within a couple of days of using the phone, I managed to have a considerable number of scratches on the back, despite being careful about where I placed the phone. Asus does throw in a clear plastic case in the box, but it could have certainly done better here.

That said, everything else about the design is quite appealing. The notch isnt too big, the buttons are nice and tactile and the phone is also quite grippy, given the size of the phone. The plastic build here also helps keep the weight down to just 175 grams, despite the massive battery inside.

Despite the back being so prone to scratches and smudges, what is intriguing is the fact that the Max Pro M2 is one of the only phones in its budget to pack Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection, something one would come across in more premium offerings.

I could be nitpicking but I find it worth mentioning that the vibration motor in the phone is quite bad. I dont usually have a habit of turning it off but the delayed response from the motor did force me to turn the feedback off within a day of use. Overall, I was pleased with Asus taking a few design cues from the Zenfone 5Z and using it here.

If you do have a habit of dropping your phone though, I would suggest you pick up the dull but sturdy Redmi Note 6 Pro.

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 Camera: 7.5/10

If there had to be one area where Asus really needed to improve on the Max Pro M1, that had to be the camera and it certainly has done so with the Zenfone Max Pro M2. However, the Redmi Note 6 would still be my pick in this budget. Here's why.

The Max Pro M2 features a 12 MP, f/1.8 primary camera this time, along with a 5 MP, f/2.4 depth sensor. On paper, this is an improvement in terms of hardware when compared to the 13 MP f/2.2 + 5 MP f/2.4 combination on the Max Pro M1.

One thing I really didn't like was the omission of an exposure handle, which I haven't come across any other smartphone lately. If the Max Pro M1 had too much going on in the camera UI, this one's a tad too simplified.

In most cases, especially in bright outdoors and well-lit indoors, the phone manages to take some great shots with detail and colour reproduction being spot on. The portrait mode does an excellent job at edge detection and skin tones are slightly warmer than they actually are but that'll boil down to personal preference.

The dynamic range while shooting portrait shots do take a hit though, which is one area where the Redmi Note 6 Pro does way better.

The camera handles tricky lighting situations fairly well. In low-light, the images are detailed for the most part with noise levels kept in check. Details do take a hit here and the focus is softer along the edges of the photo.

I tried shooting images in low light using the Pro mode as well and the results turned out much better.

Selfies turned out fine with the single 13 MP, f/2.0 setup, under most lighting conditions. However, there is no portrait mode here which again, in my opinion, is an odd omission.

As far as videos go, the phone is capable of shooting at a maximum resolution of 4K 30 fps, but even at 1080p 60 fps, there is no stabilisation. Again, an area where the Redmi Note 6 Pro definitely gets the nod.

Most of the niggles I have overall can be fixed with a software update, so I really hope Asus pushes out one soon. Until that happens, the camera crown, at this price, still belongs to the Redmi Note 6 Pro.

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 Display: 8/10

The display on the Max Pro M1 was good and that remains unchanged on the M2. You do get a bigger 6.3-inch display this time with a resolution of 1080 x 2280 pixels and an aspect ratio of the 19:9. Colours are punchy but saturation levels are in check, while text and icon looking nice and sharp.

Brightness levels are also right and you should have no issue with using the phone in bright outdoors. Theres also a display setting which lets you tone the hue to suit your liking but as far as display modes are concerned, there arent any to choose from.

If you do watch a lot of video content on your phone then the Zenfone Max Pro M2 will definitely not disappoint you. Theres also Widevine L1 here, which means you can enjoy content on streaming apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in Full HD, something you cannot do on the Redmi Note 6 Pro.

I did have a slight issue with the touch responsiveness though where touches went unregistered once in a while, but that didnt happen often enough to have me worried. All said and done, the display here is certainly as good as it gets in this price range.

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 Software: 8.5/10

Asus does run a skinned version of ZenUI on its more potent flagships but just as wed seen with the Max Pro M1, the Taiwanese company has stuck to a near-stock build of ZenUI here and boy does this phone feel fast.

Animations are fast, the transitions are fluid and switching between day to day apps and even games are as fluid as they come.

Theres is also very little pre-installed bloatware with the only apps that came pre-installed being Facebook and Instagram, both of which can be uninstalled if you don't need them. I also had no problems with long-press shortcuts and multi-window usage.

Zen UI here still comes built on top of Android Oreo 8.1, but Asus has made a promise at launch that the phone will get Android 9 Pie in January 2019. The phone also comes pre-installed with the October Android security patch which is nice to see.

One does miss gesture support which I personally don't prefer, but having that option would definitely help maximise screen usage. Asus does throw in double-tap to lock and wake the phone, but that's about all you get as far as gestures go.

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 Features: 8/10

As mentioned earlier, the Zenfone Max Pro M2 features a 6.3-inch Full HD Plus display boasting a notch and a screen to body ratio of 90 percent. The screen here is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass 6.

Inside, we have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset which comes paired with an Adreno 512 GPU.

Coming to the storage and RAM options, the base variant comes with 3 GB of RAM coupled with 32 GB of internal storage, and a second with 4 GB of RAM coupled with 64 GB of internal storage, and a third with 6 GB of RAM with 64 GB of internal storage. We got the 4 GB RAM model for testing.

The phone also comes with a microSD card slot which can be used to expand the storage of the device to up to 512 GB. People buying the device get 100 GB free Google Drive storage for 1 year which is an additional bonus.

For optics, the Max Pro M2 uses a 12 MP Sony IMX486 primary sensor with an aperture of f/1.8 and an equivalent focal length of 27 mm; along with a 5 MP f/2.4 depth sensor. The front camera, on the other hand, is a 13 MP sensor with an aperture of f/2.0.

The Zenfone Max Pro M2 runs Asus' Zen UI built on top of Android 8.1 Oreo and is powered by a large 5,000 mAh battery. The company has confirmed that the device will receive Android 9 Pie in January 2019.

Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi direct, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, GLO, BDS, GAL, and QZSS; there are three slots, two for SIM-cards and one for a microSD memory card. The range of sensors on the device includes the accelerometer, electronic compass, gyroscope, proximity sensor, light sensor.

There is a micro USB slot, a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a fingerprint sensor at the back. There's also a software-enabled face-unlock feature.

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 Performance: 8/10

While we saw a majority of budget offerings under Rs 15,000 pack the Snapdragon 636 chip in 2018, the move to a more capable Snapdragon 660 appears inevitable as time passes. Sure the Snapdragon 636 chip holds up just fine until you put it through heavy gaming, but a jump to a Snapdragon 660 definitely helps with the performance overall.

Pair the Snapdragon 660 SoC with a stock-like software experience and that's exactly what you get from the Zenfone Max Pro M2. While regular tasks like web browsing, sifting through Instagram and Twitter and bingeing on YouTube and Netflix was quite smooth, the phone even handled most popular games just fine.

Talking about gaming, you wont be able to run titles like Asphalt 9 and PUBG Mobile on maxed out settings here, but tuning things down to medium certainly ensures decent frame rates. I would have really enjoyed the inclusion of a gaming mode like we saw on the Realme 2 Pro, but there isn't any of that here. I tried my hand at a number of other titles like Alto's Odyssey, Battlelands Royale and even a bit of Mini Militia, all of which ran without a hiccup. RAM management was also up to scratch considering the unit we had for review came with only 4 GB of RAM.

The fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone is fast but the same isnt true for the software-based face unlocking feature.

Coming to audio output through the mono speaker setup, it does get very very loud. There's not a lot of separation or depth in the sound but you will be pleased with the overall output. The output from the 3.5 mm headphone jack was also fine.

The phone supports dual 4G standby and I had no issues regarding call quality through the earpiece placed above the notch on the phone.

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 Battery life: 8.5/10

The Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 packs a massive 5,000 mAh battery and it's an absolute workhorse. Using it as my daily driver, I receive a couple of hundred messages on Telegram, WhatsApp as well as two mail accounts synced at all times. I also spend at least an hour gaming, an hour of YouTube and music streaming and roughly half an hour on phone calls every day. With this kind of use, I was able to go through almost two and a half days before I was able to wear the battery down to below 10 percent.

We weren't able to run our standard PCMark Battery test on the phone, but I can tell you with some amount of conviction that the phone has the best battery life in the segment.

I really would have wished for a fast charging adapter to juice the massive battery up, but with such stellar battery life, I certainly can't find a reason to complain much.

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 Verdict and Price in India

For a phone that starts at Rs 12,999, the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 is by far the most well-rounded smartphone you can get your hands on. Barring camera performance, where the Redmi Note 6 Pro beats it, the phone outclasses and outlasts every other phone under Rs 15,000, making it a great all-rounder with best in class battery life.

If you do happen to take a lot of pictures and videos, then the Note 6 Pro would definitely be a better pick. While, if you are looking out for a gaming phone, I'd still suggest you stretch out your budget a little bit more and consider the POCO F1 at Rs 19,990. But for everything else, the Zenfone Max Pro M2 strikes a great balance of power, style and a fluid software experience, all with a 2-day battery life.

Options like the Honor 8X and the Realme 2 Pro can be considered too, but battery life, optics and the software experience on the Zenfone Max Pro M2 are far superior to these offerings.

Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison.tech2 News Staff

The year 2018 has seen a little over hundred launches to orbit from around the world  the highest in any single year since 1990.

Now towards the year's close, rocket fanatics are set for a treat: four potential launches in the span of 24 hours starting Tuesday, 18 December. SpaceX, Arianespace, Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance and ISRO launches later will send up four satellites on three different continents during this time.

Here's more about each of these launch missions and where to watch them live.

French CSO-1 satellite on Soyuz rocket

Arianespace will end its year's launches with a Russian-made Soyuz rocket launching an earth-observation satellite to orbit from the Guiana Space Center in South America.

The satellite, called CSO-1, is meant to expand the French government's defence and security applications.

The mission marks the 20th launch of a Soyuz booster rocket from the European spaceport since an arrangement made between Arianespace and the Russian government in 2011, to supply Russian booster rockets when the agency was in need of a medium-lift launch vehicle for its own launches.

The launch, scheduled for 6.07 pm IST Tuesday, will be streamed live on Arianespace's YouTube channel.

US Air Force GPS III satellite on Falcon 9

In the company's final launch this year, SpaceX is catering to the needs if the American Air Force in launching a new generation of GPS satellites that are more accurate than existing ones.

The Air Force ordered a brand new Falcon 9 rocket for this first launch with SpaceX as the mission requires that there be no landing attempt after the satellite launch.

However, if the Air Force is satisfied with the new partnership, they may consider using reusable boosters for future missions to save money, the Air Force mission director said, according to Space News.

As we work through this first flight together, we will look at the performance, do all the calculations and analysis so we can continue to look for opportunities in the future, he was quoted to have said.

The launch, which is scheduled for 7.41 pm IST on Tuesday for liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, will begin streaming live on SpaceX's YouTube channel around 7 pm IST.

Nine NASA satellites on New Shephard NS-10

Blue Origins New Shepard (NS-10) mission is aiming to bring nine NASA-sponsored research and technology satellites into space through the NASA's 'Flight Opportunities' program. The program gives researchers access to microgravity for technology development.

The experiments on the NS-10 flight are from a diverse range of universities, institutes and NASA centres. The payloads include experiments in fluid dynamics, planetary science, technology demonstrations to monitor conditions inside the vehicle, and an experimental 'green' rocket propellant to test the fuels behaviour in microgravity. A vibration isolation platform from Controller Dynamics Inc, an experiment to map behavior of dust particles on planetary surfaces from the University of Central Florida and a fluorescent imaging instrument for living cells from the University of Florida are also flying on the New Shepard mission.

This is the first time weve had two rockets in the barn in West Texas. Were building our fleet of versatile reusable launch vehicles step-by-step as we move towards operations #GradatimFerociter #NS10 pic.twitter.com/05Ng23NcPJ  Blue Origin (@blueorigin) December 17, 2018

The NS-10 mission is Blue Origin's test flight of the New Shepard suborbital vehicle, just as the company moves closer to flying people into space.

The New Shephard vehicle is scheduled to liftoff at 8 pm IST, a mere 19 minutes after SpaceX's launch at 7.41 pm IST on Tuesday, from a West Texas launch site as all previous Blue Origin missions. The launch will be streamed live on BlueOrigin.com and the company's YouTube channel.

Classified spy satellite launched on Delta IV heavy rocket

The launch-spree will close with United Launch Alliance's launch of a classified American spy satellite for the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

The mission, called NROL-71, was pushed from its first attempt last week in the final seconds before liftoff after computers detected a problem after the launch sequence had begun.

ULA will now have its second attempt on Wednesday at 7.27 am IST with a Delta IV Heavy launch from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. But the weather conditions may not hold up for the launch around this time, a report in ArsTechnina said.

The launch will be broadcasted live on the United Launch Alliance's YouTube channel.

India's military communication satellite GSAT-7A on GSLV-F11

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch India's newest military communications satellite GSAT-7A for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Army on Wednesday.

GSAT-7A is expected to bring new and improved communication capabilities to the IAF, and in different ways. It will allow cross-connectivity between different ground radar stations, airbases and early warning and control system (AWACS) aircrafts. The satellite will also boost the Air Force's capabilities of network-dependent warfare, soon boosting its abilities to operate at a global scale.

It is also expected to give a big push to drone operations in the Indian military by helping the Navy reduce its reliance on ground-based control stations, switching to satellite-controlled unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), that offer better range and endurance, experts told Business Standard.

The satellite will be launched on ISRO's GSLV-F11 rocket from the agency's launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

The launch is scheduled for 4.10 pm IST on Wednesday, and will be streamed live on DD National's Youtube channel and ISRO's wesbite.Reuters

A microscopic examination of fossils from China has revealed that the fur-like body covering of pterosaurs, the remarkable flying reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs, was actually made up of rudimentary feathers.

The surprising discovery described by scientists on 17 December means that dinosaurs and their bird descendants were not the only creatures to boast feathers and that feathers likely appeared much longer ago than previously known. Pterosaurs were only distantly related to dinosaurs and birds.

Birds need feathers to fly. That was not the case with pterosaurs. Short, hair-like feathers covered their bodies and wings but lacked the strong central shaft of avian flight feathers, the researchers said. They may have provided insulation and other benefits, as hair does for mammals.

They were not flight feathers, said palaeontologist Baoyu Jiang of Nanjing University, who led the research published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. They looked fuzzy, and they didnt have complicated feathers.

The researchers examined beautifully preserved Jurassic Period fossils roughly 160 to 165 million years old of two small pterosaurs called anurognathids from northeastern China. Apparently forest dwellers and insect eaters, they possessed 18-inch (45 cm) wingspans, short tails and superficially frog-like faces.

Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to master flight, followed much later by birds and bats. Scientists have known since the 19th century that pterosaurs had a fur-like body covering and there has been a long-running scientific debate about how to classify it.

Many of the filaments, under the microscope, showed branching like in feathers but not hair.

University of Bristol palaeontologist and study co-author Mike Benton said four types of pterosaur feathers were observed: downy feathers; single filaments; bundles of filaments; and filaments with tufts at the end. Tiny pigment-related structures indicated these feathers were ginger-brown in colour.

Birds, many meat-eating dinosaurs and some plant-eating dinosaurs are known to have had feathers, though these looked different from those seen on the pterosaurs.

We feel the simplest thing for the present is to call them all feathers because they show branching, the fundamental distinguishing character of a feather, Benton said.

Pterosaurs and dinosaurs both appeared roughly 230 million years ago during the Triassic Period. The researchers said the appearance of feathers in both groups suggests feathers first evolved perhaps 250 million years ago in a common ancestor of pterosaurs and dinosaurs.

Pterosaurs, the biggest of which had 35-foot (10.7-meter)wingspans, went extinct along with the dinosaurs after an asteroid impact 66 million years ago.tech2 News Staff

The countdown for the launch of Indias next satellite has begun. The GSAT-7A satellite for the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be carried aboard a geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV Mk II) that will lift-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 4.10 pm on 19 December.

Nineteen minutes after launch, the rocket will place the GSAT-7A into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO). The satellite will then be placed into a geostationary orbit (GEO) using its onboard propulsion system over a period of a few days.

The launch will mark the 13th mission for Indias GSLV platform. The GSAT-7A is ISRO's 35th communication satellite.

As with the Navy's GSAT-7, the GSAT-7A is a military communication satellite and will be solely operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF). The satellite will help interlink ground radar stations, air bases and airborne early warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft. It will also be used to manage the Indian Armys unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations.

"There is increased demand for satellites from strategic sectors. About six/seven satellites are planned to be built," a senior official of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS, preferring anonymity.

ISRO has designed the satellite to last 8 years, power for which will be generated by deployable solar panels and stored in batteries.

This will be ISROs last mission for 2018.

With inputs from IANSBRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel offered to resign on Tuesday after socialists and greens tabled a motion of no confidence in his minority government. Michel relaunched his government a week ago as a minority administration after the Flemish N-VA, the biggest party in his coalition, quit in protest at his support of the U.N. migration pact.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel offered to resign on Tuesday after socialists and greens tabled a motion of no confidence in his minority government.

Michel relaunched his government a week ago as a minority administration after the Flemish N-VA, the biggest party in his coalition, quit in protest at his support of the U.N. migration pact.

Some European politicians say the accord could increase immigration as the bloc has turned increasingly restrictive on accepting refugees and migrants alike.

Michel's slimmed down three-party coalition consisted of his French-speaking liberal MR and two Flemish parties.

With parliamentary elections due in May, Michel could be asked by King Philippe to stay on in a caretaker capacity but with limited power. The king may also speak to other political leaders in a bid to resolve the issue.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Alison Williams and Andrew Cawthorne)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.The British airline had suspended its flights to Pakistan in September 2008 after the deadly bombing on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad

Islamabad: British Airways said on Tuesday that it will resume flights to Pakistan from June, a decade after suspending operations due to security fears. "All of us at British Airways could not be more pleased to be coming back to Pakistan and we very much look forward to June next year, when our first flight will touch down at your spectacular new airport," the British carrier's head of sales for Asia Pacific and the Middle East, Robert Williams, said at a press conference here.

The British airline had suspended its flights to Pakistan in September 2008 after the deadly bombing on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, which killed more than 50 people and triggered a major drawdown by embassies and international organisations over safety concerns. "We only fly somewhere when we know it's safe to do so," Williams said. Separately, British High Commissioner Thomas Drew in a video posted on Twitter said that the direct flight will start between London and Islamabad.

"Direct flights from Heathrow to Islamabad's new airport to start in JuneA further boost to links between the UK and Pakistan, especially on trade and investment," he said. A statement issued by the airline said that initially three-per-week service will be launched, operated on a three-class Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with return fares starting from 499 pounds. Prime Minister's special assistant Zulfi Bukhari and Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile, and Industries, Abdul Razzak Dawood, were also present during the press conference.

"British Airways coming back after a decade shows you where we were and how far we've come," Bukhari said, adding that it was big achievement of his government. The announcement to resume flights will boost effort of Prime Minister Imran Khan to bring in more investments as it showed the confidence of international community.By Kylie MacLellan and Sarah Young LONDON (Reuters) - The British government said on Tuesday it would implement plans for a no-deal Brexit in full and begin telling businesses and citizens to prepare for the risk of leaving the European Union without an agreement.

By Kylie MacLellan and Sarah Young

LONDON (Reuters) - The British government said on Tuesday it would implement plans for a no-deal Brexit in full and begin telling businesses and citizens to prepare for the risk of leaving the European Union without an agreement.

Those plans include setting aside space on ferries to ensure a regular flow of medical supplies and keeping 3,500 armed forces personnel ready to support the government with its contingency plans.

With just over 100 days until Britain is due to leave the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May is yet to win the support of a deeply divided parliament for the deal she struck last month with Brussels to maintain close ties with the bloc.

She has said a delayed vote on her deal will take place in mid-January, prompting some lawmakers to accuse her of trying to force parliament into backing her by running down the clock as the March 29 exit day approaches.

No deal means there would be no transition so the exit would be abrupt, the nightmare scenario for international businesses and the dream of hard Brexiteers who want a decisive split.

May, who last week survived a confidence vote in her Conservative Party, has warned lawmakers that the alternatives to her deal are leaving without an agreement or no Brexit.

Her spokesman said while the government's priority remained leaving with a deal, which was the most likely scenario, it would now implement its no-deal plans "in full".

"Cabinet agreed ... we have now reached the point where we need to ramp up these preparations. This means we will now set in motion the remaining elements of our no-deal plans," he said.

"Cabinet also agreed to recommend businesses now also ensure they are similarly prepared, enacting their own no-deal plans as they judge necessary. Citizens should also prepare," he added, saying that after no-deal guidance issued earlier this year, further detailed advice would be published soon.

The opposition Labour Party's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said the government was "running down the clock".

"No deal has never truly been a viable option, it is a political hoax, and deep down I think the government and this prime minister knows it," he told parliament.

The government has made more than 4.2 billion pounds ($5.31 billion) available for Brexit planning since the 2016 referendum. On Tuesday finance minister Philip Hammond allocated more than 2 billion pounds from that fund to departments.

Allocations include 480 million pounds to the interior ministry to beef up border controls, 375 million pounds to the tax authority so it can employ 3,000 more staff to handle increases in customs activity and 410 million pounds to the environment, fisheries and food department.

CONSEQUENCES

Britain's economy has slowed since the 2016 Brexit vote and there is no guarantee that businesses and consumers will retain tariff-free access to EU goods after leaving the bloc.

The British Chambers of Commerce forecast on Tuesday that economic growth this year and in 2019 looks set to be the weakest since Britain emerged from recession in 2009, due to a freeze in business investment and weak consumer demand ahead of Brexit.

Parliament is at an impasse over Brexit, with factions pressing for different options for future ties, leaving without a deal or remaining in the EU.

May is seeking assurances from the EU over the so-called Northern Irish "backstop" - an insurance policy to prevent the return of a hard border between the British province and EU-member Ireland that its critics fear will trap Britain in a customs union with the EU indefinitely.

With the EU unlikely to offer concessions that would win over lawmakers and May repeatedly ruling out a second referendum, the risk of a no-deal has increased, a scenario that some businesses fear would be catastrophic for the world's fifth largest economy.

British ferry and shipping freight operator P&O is reviewing its UK-registered fleet and is re-flagging two vessels to keep EU tax arrangements ahead of Brexit, the company said.

Mike Amey, head of sterling portfolios at fund management giant PIMCO, said there was "low probability" of no-deal as there was not a majority of lawmakers who would accept it.

Britain would be more likely to extend or revoke its Article 50 notice to leave the EU, he said. May has so far ruled out doing either.

The pound rose further away from 20-month lows on Tuesday, helped by a weaker dollar and hopes that May could avoid a no-deal Brexit.

(Additional reporting by Michael Holden and James Davey, Writing by Kylie MacLellan, Editing by Janet Lawrence)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.By Mark Hosenball and David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With less than three weeks to go before they take control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats are jockeying to lead overlapping investigations into President Donald Trump in a scramble that could cause headaches for Nancy Pelosi, who is expected to be House speaker.

By Mark Hosenball and David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With less than three weeks to go before they take control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats are jockeying to lead overlapping investigations into President Donald Trump in a scramble that could cause headaches for Nancy Pelosi, who is expected to be House speaker.

The investigations will be led by as many as six different House committees with some falling under the possible jurisdiction of two or more, Democratic congressional sources said.

The main areas of investigation include Trump's tax returns and business properties; any collusion between his campaign team and Russian interference in the 2016 election; any violations of a constitutional clause that forbids the president from accepting gifts from foreign governments without the consent of Congress; and allegations that he broke campaign finance laws with hush money payments to two women who said they had sex with him.

Democrats are keen to start digging but could face problems if they move too quickly and are seen to be neglecting legislation on key issues or if they bicker among themselves over who leads the investigations.

Democratic sources familiar with weeks of regular talks between the senior lawmakers who will lead the House committees said a key issue has been how to prevent overlap between dozens of possible probes.

Most of the investigative roles have been agreed on but there is still some jostling, especially from rank-and-file committee members who want a piece of the action.

"There's going to be jockeying. But there's also got to be some refereeing," Representative Elijah Cummings, who is in line to chair the House Oversight Committee, told Reuters.

"One thing we've vowed to do is not step on each other. We may be in disagreement but we're not going to be disagreeable, he said.

Pelosi, likely to be elected speaker of the House in January, will have a central role in deciding which committees take on the investigations, and how they coordinate.

'PEOPLE DESERVE ANSWERS'

Ashley Etienne, a senior adviser to Pelosi, said Democrats have had weekly strategy meetings on their oversight work throughout Trump's presidency and are "incredibly coordinated" and ready to go after winning a House majority in elections last month.

"The American people deserve answers and demand accountability," Etienne told Reuters. "Given the magnitude of the corruption, cronyism and incompetency in this administration, its definitely a war room-style effort."

Most of the investigative work will be done by six House committees - Intelligence, Government Reform and Oversight, Ways and Means, Judiciary, Financial Services and Foreign Affairs.

Sources say Democrats on several committees want to probe Trump's ties to Russia, especially his plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow and whether he told his former attorney Michael Cohen to lie about them in testimony to Congress.

"The Russia piece is the most complicated because there are so many moving parts," Cummings said.

The incoming chairs of at least three committees also have expressed interest in examining Trump's debts and financial relationships, including his dealings with Deutsche Bank.

Other issues that could attract multiple committees include the Trump administration's controversial immigration policies.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the likely House investigations.

Trump denies any collusion between his campaign and Moscow ahead of the election, calling an investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and congressional probes part of a "witch hunt" against him.

He also has denied any wrongdoing in his business affairs, the efforts to seek a property deal in Moscow or in his government's immigration policies.

PRIORITIES

Pelosi said last week that obtaining Trump's tax returns will be a top priority.

"There is popular demand for the Congress to request the president's tax returns," she said, adding that "the first steps" will be taken by Ways and Means, the only House committee authorized to request them from Treasury.

Some Democrats are concerned, however, that an aggressive early effort to dig into Trump's taxes could be risky, with Trump's allies almost certain to allege he is being harassed.

To avoid that, Democrats are debating a different approach: investigate other companies and individuals involved in controversial Trump properties and combine that with transaction data on file with government agencies in order to justify a request for Trump's tax returns.

When he was running for president, Trump refused to release his tax returns, saying he would do it once an audit was completed. He has yet to release them and his administration is expected to resist any congressional request for them, meaning a likely legal battle ahead.

Other elements of Trump's financial and business dealings also are in House Democrats' crosshairs.

The Intelligence Committee's incoming chairman, Representative Adam Schiff, has said Democrats need to look into "credible allegations that the Russians may have been laundering money through the Trump organization."

Aides to Representative Jackie Speier, a key Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, already are compiling evidence about the alleged involvement of organised crime figures in Trump property deals, including some outside the United States.

Trump has said he wants to work with Democrats on passing bipartisan legislation but that it will not happen if they start investigations against him.

"Were going to go down one of two tracks," he told Reuters in an interview last week. "Were either going to start the campaign and theyre going to do presidential harassment. Or were going to get tremendous amounts of legislation passed working together. Theres not a third track."

(Reporting By Mark Hosenball and David Morgan; additional reporting by Ginger Gibson and Jeff Mason; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Kieran Murray and Bill Trott)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.Imran highlighted the role being played by Pakistan in holding the talks between the US and the Taliban in Abu Dhabi. He expressed his desire for peace to end the sufferings of the people of Afghanistan.

Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan said Tuesday that Pakistan will do everything within its power to further the peace process in Afghanistan as talks sponsored by the country between the US and the Taliban were being held in the UAE to end the 17-year bloody conflict. The US and the Taliban have previously met on at least two occasions in Qatar but it is the first time that they are holding talks outside Doha, where the insurgent group has a political office, according to officials.

Imran highlighted the role being played by Pakistan in holding the talks between the US and the Taliban in Abu Dhabi. He expressed his desire for peace to end the sufferings of the people of Afghanistan. "Pakistan has helped in the dialogue between the Taliban and the US in Abu Dhabi. Let us pray that this leads to peace and ends almost three decades of suffering of the brave Afghan people," Imran said on Twitter.

Imran also said "Pakistan will be doing everything within its power to further the peace process". Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Pakistan were the only three nations to recognise the Taliban government during its five-year rule from 1996-2001. The Taliban are fighting to flush out international forces and re-establish their regime in Afghanistan after their ouster in 2001.BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament voted on Tuesday to approve three out of five ministers put forward by Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a step towards ending weeks of deadlock between the two largest parliamentary blocs. The approval of the ministers brings Abdul-Mahdi closer to completing his cabinet, but divisions over who will fill the posts have highlighted the weakness of his position

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament voted on Tuesday to approve three out of five ministers put forward by Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a step towards ending weeks of deadlock between the two largest parliamentary blocs.

The approval of the ministers brings Abdul-Mahdi closer to completing his cabinet, but divisions over who will fill the posts have highlighted the weakness of his position.

Intensifying disagreements between the rival Islah and Bina blocs, led by populist Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Iran-backed militia leader Hadi al-Amiri, have prevented the formation of a full government of 22 ministers.

At the heart of the weeks of fierce infighting are the nominations of the ministers of interior and defence - and both posts remain unfilled.

Nuri al-Dulaimi, Qusay al-Suhail and Abdul Ameer al-Hamdani were confirmed to be ministers for planning, higher education and culture, respectively. They were approved after the Islah and Bina blocs agreed to allow a vote on five outstanding ministries - but not the defence and interior portfolios.

The nominees for minister of education and minister of displacement and migration -- the only women to be put forward so far -- both failed to get enough votes.

"We voted for the ministries which were not shrouded in disagreements," said Sabah al-Ugaili, a lawmaker with the bloc led by Sadr.

"Three won confidence, and two did not because we are not satisfied the candidates were fit for the job. Now the ball is in Abdul-Mahdi's court, to replace them with other names -- including the defence and interior ministries."

The deadlock over forming a cabinet has raised the prospect of further unrest as the country struggles to rebuild and recover after three years of war with Islamic State.

The last time parliament attempted to vote on the nominees on Dec. 4, angry MPs disrupted the session, banging on tables and shouting "illegitimate" before forcing it to end.

Parliament will next meet on Thursday, but it is unclear whether nominees for the vacant posts will be put up for confirmation votes.

In his weekly news conference on Tuesday, Abdul-Mahdi said he expected a vote to take place on Thursday, however the most contentious ministries could be delayed to next week.

Abdul-Mahdi said it was up to the political blocs to propose new names to fill the posts.

(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Raya Jalabi; Editing by Alison Williams)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.A federal judge has agreed to delay former national security adviser Michael Flynn's sentencing so he can continue cooperating with the Russia probe. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan on Tuesday set a status conference for March.

Washington: A federal judge, visibly angry and willing to let it rip, gave Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn a tongue lashing and then agreed to delay his sentencing so he can continue cooperating with the Robert Mueller-led Russia probe into alleged Russian meddling in the US elections 2016. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan on Tuesday set a status conference for March. Flynn, a retired lieutenant general, served for a few short weeks as Donald Trumps first national-security adviser early on in the Trump administration. He was one of Trumps earliest and most enthusiastic of supporters - even from the stage of the Republican National Convention.

Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russia contacts but earlier this week, Michael Flynns attorneys seemed to imply that he was tricked into lying to the FBI. Prosecutors had recommended no prison time, citing Flynn's cooperation. But the judge's rebuke raised the prospect that Flynn could get a harsher sentence.

Attorneys for Flynn asked the judge to postpone the sentencing. The stunning request came after Sullivan warned Flynn that if he were sentenced as scheduled Tuesday, he might not get all the credit for his cooperation with investigators that he is entitled to.

In a stinging rebuke, the judge lashed out at Flynn during his sentencing hearing Tuesday, saying "I can't hide my disgust, my disdain" at his crime of lying to the FBI.

"Arguably you sold your country out," U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan told Flynn in a tongue-lashing that raised the prospect that the judge could send the retired Army lieutenant general to prison, even though prosecutors have recommended against prison time, citing his cooperation in the Russia probe.

Flynn, who served as national security adviser for only a few weeks, is to be the first White House official sentenced in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign. The hearing is taking place amid escalating legal peril for Trump, who was implicated by federal prosecutors in New York this month in hush-money payments to cover up extramarital affairs. Nearly a half-dozen former aides and advisers  including Flynn  have pleaded guilty or agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Trump signaled his intense interest in the case by tweeting "good luck" to Flynn hours before the sentencing. He added: "Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!"

Sullivan told Flynn that he would take into account his extensive cooperation with the government, which includes 19 meetings with investigators as well as a 33-year military career that included service in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he also said he was forced to weigh other factors, too, including Flynn's decision as national security adviser to lie to the FBI on the premises of the White House about contacts he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

The judge warned Flynn that he may not get full credit for his cooperation if he is sentenced as scheduled Tuesday since prosecutors said there's a possibility that they may call on him to assist with other investigations down the road. Typically, judges like to sentence cooperating defendants after their cooperation is done so they can fully evaluate the help they gave to the government.

He gave Flynn a chance to talk it over with his lawyers, and the court went into a brief recess.

Earlier in the hearing, Sullivan asked Flynn a series of questions to make sure he wanted to move forward with his sentencing in light of a memo his attorneys submitted last week that took aim at the FBI's conduct during agents' January 2017 interview of Flynn. Flynn said that memo notwithstanding, he was ready to proceed with sentencing.In a stunning turn of events, a federal judge in Washington lashed out at US president Donald Trump's acolyte and first national security advisor Michael Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general who pleaded guilty last year to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about his Russia contacts, for selling his country out and then abruptly postponed the sentencing, sending a loud message to all those in the Russia probe crosshairs not to try and 11th hour stunts like Flynn did the night before - when Flynn suggested that he was somehow entrapped and forced to lie to investigators.

New York: In a stunning turn of events, a federal judge in Washington lashed out at US president Donald Trump's acolyte and first national security advisor Michael Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general who pleaded guilty last year to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about his Russia contacts, for selling his country out and then abruptly postponed the sentencing, sending a loud message to all those in the Russia probe crosshairs not to try and 11th hour stunts like Flynn did the night before - when Flynn suggested that he was somehow entrapped and forced to lie to investigators.

Michael Flynn's rough day in court showed politically charged arguments aren't working for Trump's ex-stooges. It also provides a glimpse of how difficult things can get when prosecutors from Mueller's team and New York begin turning the screws at the same time. Today was one such preview.

By the time Flynn was three weeks into his job, the Washington Post revealed that Flynn, while he was still a private citizen and Barack Obama was still President, discussed American sanctions against Russia with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian Ambassador in Washington. It is illegal for private citizens to conduct diplomacy with foreign governments. Soon enough, Flynn lost his job.

For his part, Robert Mueller is certainly exploring if Trumps efforts to help Flynn by asking then FBI chief James Comey to give Flynn a pass, and then firing Comey were motivated by something other than loyalty - this is an obstruction-of-justice question which creates the scaffolding for impeachment, even if that is near-impossible in a divided government. In a swift response to Flynn's whining, special counsel Robert Mueller turned in a summary of Flynn's interview with the FBI on 24, January 2017. Clearly, the judge on Tuesday wasn't impressed with the last minute drama and the media spray it was getting barely hours before a sentencing hearing.

Despite Trump's desperate attempt to change the way the Flynn story ends, nothing changed today.

Flynn's lawyers or whoever pushed them to sneak in a complaint against the FBI seem to have miscalculated badly or it's possible they were keeping open the option of a White House pardon if things go wrong. At another level, it may have simply been a dog whistle to Trump and his base. Not long ago, that was the same base Flynn riled up with calls like this: "Wake up, America! Our very existence is threatened. The moment demanded a President with guts, not a weak, spineless one who believes she is above the law".

For Donald Trump, the Flynn hearing Tuesday marked a double whammy on the same day news broke that the presidents charity will be dissolved amid claims of its shocking illegality. Up to now, New York state was proceeding against Donald Trump and his foundation via civil action. Todays shutdown suggests we may see criminal charges against Trump and his family over the manner in which they ran the foundation. State-level charges cannot be pardoned by the US president.

In the Flynn sentencing case, the judge was very upset with Flynn's last ditch fig leaf, put Flynn under oath right away and asked him to come clean on the twist in his storyline. With today's hearing, the theory that Flynn was tricked by FBI agents, promoted aggressively on Trump's favorite mouthpiece Fox News, blew up big time.

The hearing came amid escalating legal peril for Trump, who was implicated by federal prosecutors in New York this month in hush-money payments to cover up extramarital affairs. Nearly a half-dozen former aides and advisers  including Flynn  have pleaded guilty or agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. On the same morning, in New York, Trump's charitable foundation reached a deal to go out of business, even as Trump continues to fight allegations he misused its assets to resolve business disputes and boost his run for the White House.

Back in Washington, lawyers for Flynn, who pleaded guilty last year to lying to the agency about his Russia contacts, requested the delay during a stunning hearing in which U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan gave Flynn a blistering rebuke.

"Arguably you sold your country out," Sullivan told Flynn, who was flanked by his attorneys.

The judge added: "I can't hide my disgust, my disdain."

The official reason is that this decision gives Flynn could continue to sing to the Robert Mueller investigation. Both sides now have until March to file a status report with the court. But what more does Michael Flynn, who has met with Mueller 19 times already, have to offer?

Legal analysts say any extra information is always welcome but Flynn being sent back today is a message to all parties that the judge is in charge, no matter what prosecutors may recommend. Although Mueller recommended no jail time for Flynn, the judge dangled the possibility of incarceration.

The White House continues to stand in support of Flynn, wishing him well and attacking the FBI of questioning him wrongly and not allowing him to have a White House legal counsel with him while he sat down with the investigating team.

It is so damn galling to hear the WH press secretary attacking the FBI for doing its job and catching a criminal in the act rather than being mad at the criminal who lied not just to the FBI, but supposedly also to people in the WH, says Matthew Miller, formerly with the Department of Justice.

Last heard, Mueller is preparing more court filings that are expected to detail Trump associates' offers to roll back sanctions on Russia. Mueller and the judges both know what Trump does not - the potentially damning details behind the redactions in black ink. The lingering mystery here is similar to the central one Mueller is investigating: Why are/were Trump/Flynn so obsequious towards Russia and why is Trump continuing to praise Flynn while he calls Cohen a "rat"? The answers most likely lie behind those thick blotches of black ink.

Meanwhile, the presidents children stand right in the line of Muellers investigative progress  they stand as the next dominos to fall, is one ominous prediction getting a lot of play this week.By Richard Cowan and Amanda Becker WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump and Congress, embroiled in a feud over his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall, have five days to reach a deal before a partial government shutdown could leave about a quarter of the federal workforce without paychecks.

By Richard Cowan and Amanda Becker

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump and Congress, embroiled in a feud over his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall, have five days to reach a deal before a partial government shutdown could leave about a quarter of the federal workforce without paychecks.

Trump has demanded $5 billion as a down-payment on construction of a huge wall that he argues is the only way to keep illegal immigrants and drugs from entering the United States.

"Anytime you hear a Democrat saying that you can have good Border Security without a Wall, write them off as just another politician following the party line!" Trump wrote in a Twitter posting on Monday. "Time for us to save billions of dollars a year and have, at the same time, far greater safety and control."

Democrats and some Republicans argue there are less costly, more effective border controls.

The money Trump wants is a fraction of the roughly $450 billion Congress was poised to approve - before the latest battle over the proposed wall - to fund several agencies which will otherwise run out of money on Friday.

Large swaths of the government already are funded through next September, including the U.S. military and agencies that operate public healthcare, education and veterans' programs.

Last Tuesday, Trump and leading congressional Democrats battled each other in front of television cameras in the White House Oval Office.

"I am proud to shut down the government for border security," Trump told House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

Since then, a senior House Republican aide said his party was "in a pickle" over how to keep the government open.

The aide noted that Republicans, who will control both houses of Congress until Jan. 3, will not be able to muster the minimum 218 votes needed in the House to pass a funding bill if it contains Trump's demand for border wall money.

During the White House meeting, Pelosi and Schumer proposed two ideas for keeping the government fully funded, which included money for border security but not for a wall. Aides to both on Monday said Trump had not yet responded.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opened the Senate on Monday urging completion of a spending bill. "We need to make a substantial investment in the integrity of our border and in the safety of American our families," McConnell said.

Neither he nor his aides would specify whether border security investments must include wall funds. Aides to House Speaker Paul Ryan were not immediately available for comment.

If funds run out, the NASA space programme would potentially be unfunded, along with national parks, the U.S. diplomatic corps and agriculture programs.

Similarly, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security would be vulnerable to shutdowns, although "essential" employees, such as FBI agents, airport security screeners and border patrol agents, would still report to work.

Their paychecks, however, would not be issued until the shutdown ends and Congress would have to decide whether to award back pay for them as well as any furloughed workers.

A government in disarray might play poorly for Republicans, especially if Americans also view images for two weeks of Trump vacationing at his exclusive Florida beach-front mansion.

"After the presidents comments earlier this week when he said he was going to own the shutdown, that sealed the deal for Democrats. There is absolutely no reason for them to cut a deal with this president," said Jim Manley, a political strategist and former Senate Democratic leadership aide.

The House is not even bothering to come to work until Wednesday night.

Barring a deal, Manley predicted the government will limp along until Jan. 3, when Democrats take control of the House and promptly advance funding, daring the Republican-led Senate to reject it.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Amanada Becker; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Paul Simao and Bill Trott)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump did not commit during a meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan at the G20 summit two weeks ago to extradite a Muslim cleric based in the United States, a senior White House official said on Monday. 'While meeting with President Erdogan at the G20, the president did not commit to extradite Fethullah Gulen,' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump did not commit during a meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan at the G20 summit two weeks ago to extradite a Muslim cleric based in the United States, a senior White House official said on Monday.

"While meeting with President Erdogan at the G20, the president did not commit to extradite Fethullah Gulen," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Erdogan blames Gulen for a failed coup in 2016, when rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and helicopters, attacked parliament and shot unarmed civilians.

Turkey has long sought the extradition of Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed U.S. exile for nearly two decades.

On Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Trump told Erdogan at their meeting in Buenos Aires that the United States "was working on extraditing Gulen and other people."

Gulen denies any involvement in the failed coup. Trump said last month he was not considering extraditing the preacher as part of efforts to ease Turkish pressure on Saudi Arabia over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Eric Beech; Editing by David Alexander and Alistair Bell)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump told his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan that Washington 'would take a look at' the possibility of extraditing a U.S.-based Muslim cleric who Ankara suspects of being behind a 2016 coup attempt, but he made no commitment, the White House said on Tuesday. 'The only thing he said is that we would take a look at it,' White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters.

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump told his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan that Washington "would take a look at" the possibility of extraditing a U.S.-based Muslim cleric who Ankara suspects of being behind a 2016 coup attempt, but he made no commitment, the White House said on Tuesday.

"The only thing he said is that we would take a look at it," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters. "Nothing further at this point beyond that ... nothing committal at all in that process."

Turkey's foreign minister said on Sunday that Trump told Erdogan that Washington was working on extraditing the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, a former Erdogan ally who has lived in self-imposed U.S. exile for nearly two decades.

Asked about the comment on Monday, another White House official said only that Trump did not commit to extraditing Gulen when he spoke to Erdogan at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires last month. The official offered no further detail on the conversation.

Turkish officials blame Gulen for a failed coup in Turkey in which rogue soldiers attacked parliament and shot unarmed civilians.

Gulen denies any involvement.

The extradition of Gulen is just one of several issues that have strained the relationship between the two countries.

The United States and Turkey, NATO allies, have gone through a rough patch in 2018, exacerbated by the Turkish detention of a U.S. pastor. Turkey's release of the pastor, Andrew Brunson, was a "tremendous step" toward improved relations, Trump said in October, while denying he made a deal with Ankara for the move.

But tensions flared again last week over the two countries' positions on Syria. The Pentagon warned that unilateral military action into northeast Syria by any party would be "unacceptable," after Turkey said it would launch a new military operation in the region.

Trump said last month he was not considering extraditing Gulen as part of efforts to ease Turkish pressure on Saudi Arabia over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by Tim Ahmann; Editing by Mary Milliken and Leslie Adler)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday it has found a way to build President Donald Trump's promised border wall without new funding from Congress, stepping away from the president's threat to shut down the U.S. government over border security disputes. 'We have other ways that we can get to that $5 billion,' White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Fox News

By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday it has found a way to build President Donald Trump's promised border wall without new funding from Congress, stepping away from the president's threat to shut down the U.S. government over border security disputes.

"We have other ways that we can get to that $5 billion," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Fox News. "At the end of the day, we dont want to shut down the government, we want to shut down the border."

Trump and Congress, embroiled in a feud over his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall, have four days to reach a deal before a partial government shutdown could leave about a quarter of the federal workforce without paychecks.

Last week, in a heated exchange at the White House with Democratic leaders in Congress, Trump declared he would be "proud to shut down the government" if he did not get his demand for $5 billion to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Since then, after days with no apparent progress, the senior Republican and Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee huddled with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just steps from the Senate chamber.

Following that meeting, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby told reporters, "We're talking seriously about how to reach our goal" of keeping the government funded beyond Friday. He said they were "working with the president, working with the Democrats. There are a lot of variables here."

A senior Democratic aide, who asked not to be identified, said Trump and Republicans in Congress have floated the idea of lawmakers providing the president $1 billion in new funds to be used for any of his immigration priorities - an idea that Democrats will not accept.

Trump has demanded $5 billion as a down payment on construction of a wall that he argues is needed to keep illegal immigrants and drugs from entering the United States. Building the wall was a key pledge of his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump had originally said Mexico would pay for the wall, but leaders of the United States' southern neighbor have repeatedly said it would not.

Democrats and some Republicans argue there are less costly, more effective border controls than a wall.

Sanders indicated the White House was backing down from Trump's threat to shut down the federal government if Congress refused to provide money for his wall.

"There's certainly a number of different funding sources that we've identified that we can use, that we can couple with the money that would be given through congressional appropriations, that would help us get to that $5 billion that the president needs in order to protect our borders," Sanders said on Fox.

Asked whether the White House was exploring the use of funds, including from the Defense Department, for building the wall and whether that would be legal, Sanders said, "Absolutely."

But Shelby was less certain.

In response to a reporter's question on whether Trump could order the Pentagon to shift some of its funds to wall construction, Shelby said: "I don't know about that." He added, however, that Trump "does have the power to defend the country" and "the power to protect the border."

The money Trump wants is a fraction of the roughly $450 billion Congress was poised to approve - before the latest battle over the proposed wall - to fund several agencies which will otherwise run out of money at midnight on Friday.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Richard Cowan; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.One of the perks of 401(k)s and traditional IRAs is tax deferral. Any amount you contribute today reduces your taxable income for this year and you won't have to pay any taxes on that amount until you withdraw the money. But you can't put this off indefinitely. When you reach age 70 1/2, Uncle Sam comes calling for his share of your savings.

The way the government gets its bite is through required minimum distributions (RMDs), and if you're not prepared to take these withdrawals from your accounts, they can deal a serious blow to your retirement savings. You may be forced to withdraw more than you intended in a year, and this could raise your income taxes. Or you can get dinged by the 50% penalty, if you forget to take your RMD. Fortunately, there are some things you can do to reduce or delay your RMDs to help avoid these problems. I explain four of them below.

How required minimum distributions are calculated

All retirement accounts require RMDs for adults 70 1/2 and older, with two exceptions: Roth IRAs and your 401(k) with your current employer. The money in Roth IRAs is taxed when you contribute it, so the funds are yours to keep after they grow and you withdraw them. As for your 401(k) with your current employer, you can delay RMDs from this account as long as you continue to work and don't own more than 5% of the company you work for. You can leave money in a Roth IRA for as long as you like or never touch it at all, but for traditional IRAs and 401(k)s, the rules are more complicated.

For most people, RMDs are calculated based on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Uniform Lifetime Table. You take the total balance of your account on Dec. 31 of the previous year and divide it by the distribution period for your age listed in this worksheet. The exception is if your spouse is the sole beneficiary of your retirement account and is more than 10 years younger than you. In that case, you would use this worksheet. You must take your distributions for this year by Dec. 31, unless this is the year in which you turn 70 1/2 in which case you can wait until April 1 of the following year.

You're required to withdraw your RMDs from your retirement accounts each year and you'll have to pay income tax on this amount. The trouble comes when the withdrawal pushes you into a higher income tax bracket, so you lose more money to the government.

Deciding not to take the RMD is not an option, as failure to take RMDs by the deadline results in a 50% tax penalty on the amount you were supposed to take out. You'll want to include this on your annual financial checklist, to make sure you don't forget and fail to withdraw your RMD.

You can reduce your required minimum distributions

You can begin drawing upon your retirement savings at 59 1/2 without paying an early withdrawal penalty, but you won't have any RMDs at this point. Any money you take out of your retirement accounts before you reach 70 1/2 will lower the RMDs that you do eventually take, because they're calculated based on the total balance of your account at that time and every year thereafter. So if you can afford it, consider withdrawing more money from your 401(k)s and traditional IRAs in the early years of your retirement before you have to start taking RMDs. However, this strategy will raise your taxable income in the earlier years of your retirement, so prepare accordingly.

Another option is to convert your other retirement accounts to a Roth IRA. You must pay taxes on the money in the year that you make the conversion, but if you convert small amounts at a time and you're in a lower income tax bracket, the hit may not be as severe as it would be if you were forced to take a large RMD later on. If you have a Roth IRA account set up, all you need to do is request a direct rollover of some or all of your 401(k) funds to your Roth IRA. You can reach out to your 401(k) plan administrator or your company's HR department if you need help completing the conversion.

If you continue working past age 70 1/2, you may not have to take RMDs from your current 401(k), as long as you don't own 5% or more of the company you work for. This rule does not apply to IRAs or 401(k)s held by former employers, though you may be able to roll your any 401(k)s held by former employers over into your current 401(k). RMDs will begin according to the schedule in this worksheet in the year that you finally retire.

Another option is to donate your RMDs to charity. The IRS allows up to $100,000 in charitable distributions from an IRA each year. You aren't eligible for a charitable deduction on your taxes, but you also won't be taxed on the amount that you withdraw from your account. It's a nice deal if you already planned to donate to charity. Otherwise, it's a bit of a wash because you won't see any of the money, but you also won't pay taxes on it.

It's important to understand how much you can expect to pay in RMDs each year so you can be prepared come tax time. If you're concerned about losing a lot of your retirement savings to the government, try some of the tips above to help you hold onto more of your money.Executive Care Set to Open Second Virginia Location in Ashburn

Home health care company serves seniors, disabled and recovering individuals.

December 18, 2018 // Franchising.com // HACKENSACK, N.J. - With an aging population that requires help with daily activities or managing health, in-home care has become an increasingly popular solution. Looking to help manage the rising demand for such services, Executive Care, one of the nations leading providers of skilled home health care, is set to open its second office in Virginia to further expand its services throughout the Old Dominion state.

Following the successful launch of the location in Richmond, Executive Care will open the new Northern Virginia office in Ashburn at 44075 Pipeline Plaza, in early 2019. Executive Care of Northern Virginia will be owned and operated by Darren Peterson, and will service areas of northern Virginia from Purcellville in western Loudon County to McLean on the East in Fairfax County.

From personal experience, it can be difficult to not only find a care-giver, but an agency that can accommodate exact needs. Whether it is around the clock care, or just a few hours a day throughout the week; our mission is to provide the quality care our clients need while making it easy, said Peterson. Executive Care provides the relief of finding a trusted care-giver who is professionally trained to deliver around the clock care, companionship or home-making care, and other in-home skilled care services with warmth, dignity, and compassion.

Prior to joining the Executive Care team, Petersons professional background took him from the U.S. to Italy, working in the various fields from the restaurant industry to software engineering to marketing and finance for Fortune 500 and 100 companies. With extensive project management and team leadership experience coupled with strong business acumen Peterson plans to further establish Executive Cares footprint in Virginia, and become a trusted source for those in need of in-home care for their aging loved ones.

Founded in 2004, Executive Care offers a variety of caregiving and skilled services to help families often overwhelmed with the responsibility of providing care to a loved one  all while ensuring the patient remains in the comfort of his or her own home. Services range from companionship and help with meal preparation and household chores to help with bathing, personal hygiene, and personal care. Executive Care also serves individuals recovering from illness, injury or surgery.

To guarantee the highest quality, Executive Care requires all prospective caregivers to undergo an intensive pre-employment screening process, including a criminal background investigation, verification of references and an employment history check. All caregivers are insured, experienced and undergo skills tests and continuing education training. Care Coordinators closely supervise and monitor all staff, conducting periodic evaluation assessments.

As Executive Care continues to increase our footprint from coast to coast, we are excited to further expand in Virginia with our newest location to open in Ashburn, and continue providing an alternative to a nursing home or other type of senior care facility, said Todd Leonard, Vice President of Operations and Development at Executive Care. We are pleased with the rapid growth we are experiencing, and know we will continue to have prosperous locations by partnering with individuals like Darren, who share the same vision and ideals as the company.

According to Leonard, company plans call for 8 locations in Virginia To augment its growth, Executive Care is looking for qualified franchise partners who have a passion for health care. Including a franchise fee (for a territory with a population of 500,000 residents) of $44,900, initial investment to own and operate an Executive Care office ranges between $99,650 and $169,900. The franchise fee for a second territory is reduced to $35,900 and $29,500 for a third territory.

About Executive Care

Founded in 2004 and based in Hackensack, NJ, Executive Care is a full-service home health care company serving seniors, disabled and recovering individuals. The company also provides staffing in hospitals, nursing homes, and other facilities. Recently ranked #249 in Entrepreneur magazines Annual Franchise 500, Executive Care continues to expand its national footprint with fourteen locations in nine states, and several locations in various stages of development in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Kentucky, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington. For more information, visit http://executivehomecare.com/

Media Contact:

Josephine B. Mallari

Franchise Elevator PR

(847) 239-8171

jbmallari@franchiseelevator.com

SOURCE Executive Care

###

Comments:

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

DisqusMarine Corps Veteran Uses VetFran Program to Acquire Mighty Auto Parts Franchise in Florida

Mighty is pleased to announce the addition of their new franchise partner, Franklin and Betsy Dixon, in Cape Coral, FL.

NORCROSS, GA. (PRWEB) December 18, 2018 - Mighty Distributing System is proud to announce that U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Franklin Dixon, and his wife, Betsy, have acquired Mighty of SW Florida, a Cape Coral-based Mighty Auto Parts franchise. The previous owners, Brad and Karin Helm, have decided to retire after 22 years with Mighty.

Franklin Dixon is a New Jersey native and life-long car enthusiast. After receiving his B.S. degree in Administration of Justice from Rutgers University, he spent ten years in the U.S. Marine Corps as an officer that included numerous tours abroad. He was discharged from the Marine Corps at the rank of Captain. Franklin went on to work for the U.S. Department of States Bureau of Diplomatic Security as a Foreign Affairs Officer. Betsy Dixon is originally from Hawaii and is in the real estate business. The couple decided to relocate to Florida and pursue small business ownership. They found Mighty online and Franklin was able to take advantage of special incentives for veterans offered through the International Franchise Associations VetFran program, of which Mighty is a member company.

Franklin Dixon said, I am very grateful to Mightys leadership team for helping to bring a lifelong dream of business ownership to fruition. I am extremely proud to become part of a well-established, well led, and dedicated organization. I want to thank the former franchise owners, Brad and Karin, for their support, hospitality, and 22 years of excellence with Mighty. As a Marine Corps veteran accustomed to long hours and hard work, I will work just as hard to ensure our business succeeds and that our customers thrive."

Ken Voelker, Mightys President & CEO said, All of us at Mighty are delighted to have Franklin and Betsy join the Mighty family. We appreciate Franklins distinguished military career and are pleased to support the IFAs VetFran program as the Dixons become Mighty franchise owners.

About Mighty Distributing System

Mighty is headquartered in Norcross, GA and supports 100 franchised distributors in 44 U.S. states and five international markets. The Mighty System features local service, inventory management expertise, and training in conjunction with extensive offerings of OE quality underhood and undercar parts, chemical products, lubricants and shop supplies. The Mighty business model attracts independent repair shops, quick lubes, tire centers and new car dealerships across the nation and abroad. Mightys unique approach of dealing directly and exclusively with automotive professionals began in 1963.

Media Contact:

Tracy Buttera

Mighty Auto Parts

800.872.3334

SOURCE Mighty Distributing System

###

Comments:

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

DisqusJustice Minister Andrew Little has confirmed the New Zealand cannabis referendum will be held at the 2020 election, and it will be binding.

Previous research by Massey University shows 76 percent of people are in favour of legalising marijuana in some way.

Last month, the Drug Foundation brought in top economist Shamubeel Eaqub to analyse the potential benefit of legalising marijuana. His analysis showed a reform could net New Zealand $240 million in tax revenue.

Newshub.

Fossil launches seven touchscreen smartwatches in India News oi-Priyanka Dua It is powered with Wear OS by Google and running Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 Platform.

The US-based luxury watchmaker Fossil Group has announced the launch of its seven products across its six brands in India.

"At Fossil, it is our endeavor to provide our customers with the best of both, fashion and technology. With the launch of next Generation of smartwatches, we have amplified the technological features on the wrist while maintaining our aesthetically fashioned designs, creating an experienced individual to each consumer. We are certain they will enjoy it", says Managing Director, Johnson Verghese.

The newly launched products include Fossil Gen 4 Smartwatch Venture HR and Explorist HR for Fossil, Skagen Falster 2 for Skagen, Michael Kors Access Runway for Michael Kors, Emporio Armani Connected for Emporio Armani, A|X Armani Exchange Connected for Armani Exchange and Diesel Full Guard for Diesel.

The new product line comes with features like touchscreen digital display, Bluetooth technology, wireless syncing and magnetic charging, compatibility with iOS 9.3+ and Android 4.4+ (excluding Go edition) and long battery life.

It is powered with Wear OS by Google and running Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 Platform.

Gautam Sharma, Vice President Brand Strategy - APAC says, "Since our entry into the smartwatch market three years ago, it has been Fossil's mission to meld technology and design. 2018 has been our biggest leap so far: by adding significant features in terms of technology, without compromising our design ethos, Fossil's new generation of smartwatches provides consumers with one device for all their lifestyle needs.

The smartwatches have features like a heart rate sensor, GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light, and microphone.

"We are excited to finally launch the fourth generation of our Fossil Group products into India. This new collection comes with several new features, including a heart rate monitor, GPS and swimproof. With wellness being such a strong part of our daily lives, we know that our fans will fall in love with our new lines," Sharma said.

According to a company functions like Heart Rate, and GPS will give users a 360-holistic way to track all parts of their lives while keeping true to the authentic creative spirit of innovative watch design that Fossil was founded on more than 30 years ago.

Best Mobiles in IndiaEdinburgh and Glasgow offer joint research scheme for students

The Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow are to launch their first joint postgraduate research programmes in September.

Together, the universities  Scotlands largest research-intensive institutions  will recruit four students to each of three programmes that will address pressing global concerns.

Topics covered reflect the research strengths of the two universities and will focus on health, criminology and efforts to ensure that cities of the future prosper economically and culturally.

The new venture is part of a wider initiative that will see both institutions work more collaboratively on key areas of research and common interest.

Students taking part in the fully-funded, four-year programmes will have a lead supervisor from their host institution and a co-supervisor from the other University.

Prospective students are being invited to apply for projects in three areas.

The first of these  One Health  will focus on improving the wellbeing of people and animals and how this is connected to their environment.

The second area of research  Criminology  will seek to better understand the causes of inequalities, deprivation and marginalisation in society.

The third discipline  Future Cities  will consider how new technologies and data might address the economic, social and environmental challenges that urban centres face.

The recruitment process for the PhD programmes will commence shortly and the first cohort of students will begin their studies at the start of the 2019 academic session.

University leaders say their desire to work more closely in future is designed to provide maximum benefit for students, innovative research and the wider Scottish economy.

The focus will be on joint academic programmes, promoting fair access to university amongst underrepresented groups and on providing a joint perspective on major issues, including the impact that Brexit will have on higher education.

The Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, Professor Peter Mathieson, said: At a time when collaborations are crucial to be competitive internationally, it makes perfect sense for Scotlands two biggest universities to formalise their collaboration on core research and innovation and to focus jointly on key issues.

The Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, said: This partnership can be a powerhouse for good and we very much look forward to developing a positive and productive relationship with our counterparts in Edinburgh over the coming months and years.Bijan Rafiekian charged over conspiracy to act as foreign government agent

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 17, 2018 10:25PM

Bijan Rafiekian, a former business partner of ex-US national security adviser Michael Flynn, has been charged by federal prosecutors with illegally lobbying for the extradition of Turkish dissident Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of having masterminded the July 2016 coup attempt against the Turkish leader.

Bijan Rafiekian, who also goes by the name Bijan Kian, was arrested and appeared in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia on Monday. He was charged with two counts including failing to register as a foreign agent.

Kamil Ekim Alptekin, another associate of Flynn, has also been charged.

Rafiekian was vice-chairman of Flynn's business group, the Flynn Intel Group, where he supervised much of the group's foreign political work for the Turkish interests, the indictment revealed. Rafjekian and Alptekin worked in 2016 to seek ways to have Gulen returned from the US to Turkey.

According to court documents, the two men "conspired covertly and unlawfully to influence US politicians and public opinion concerning a Turkish citizen living in the United States whose extradition was then being sought by the Government of Turkey."

"The defendants sought to discredit and delegitimize the Turkish citizen in the eyes of politicians and the public, and ultimately to secure the Turkish citizen's extradition," the indictment said.

"Although the Government of Turkey directed the work through Alptekin, the defendants sought to conceal Turkey's involvement in the efforts to discredit the Turkish citizen," it added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Gulen of directing a failed coup in the country.

In mid-July 2016, a faction of the Turkish military declared that it had seized control of the country and the government of President Erdogan was no more in charge. The attempt was, however, suppressed a few hours later.

Ankara has since accused Gulen, now 77, of having orchestrated and masterminded the botched putsch. The opposition figure is also accused of being behind a long-running campaign to topple the government via infiltrating the country's institutions, particularly the army, police and the judiciary.

The US-based cleric has since strongly denied any involvement in the coup attempt against Erdogan. However, Ankara labeled his transnational religious and social movement as the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

The dissident cleric, a Green Card-holder who has been living in Pennsylvania since the late 1990s, has already called on Ankara to end its "witch hunt" of his followers, a move he says is aimed at "weeding out anyone it deems disloyal to President Erdogan and his regime."

Ankara has long been pressing on its NATO ally for the extradition of Gulen and has already sent multiple extradition requests to Washington, but their demands have not been taken heed of.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





US Senate to detail Russian election meddling: Report

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 17, 2018 04:49PM

The US Congress will publish a report this week detailing Russia's alleged disinformation campaign surrounding the 2016 presidential election campaign, US media have reported.

The research is the first to study the millions of social media posts provided by major technology firms Twitter, Facebook and Google, which detail Russian efforts to help elect President Donald Trump, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.

The study was compiled for the Senate Intelligence Committee by researchers associated with Britain's University of Oxford, the newspaper reported.

The research also provides details about the alleged efforts made by the Russian Internet Research Agency to sow discord among US voters by posting on contentious issues such as gun violence, immigration and race, according to the report.

It will be one of two reports the committee will release this week, the Post said.

"What is clear is that all of the messaging clearly sought to benefit the Republican Party  and specifically Donald Trump," the report said.

"Trump is mentioned most in campaigns targeting conservatives and right-wing voters, where the messaging encouraged these groups to support his campaign. The main groups that could challenge Trump were then provided messaging that sought to confuse, distract and ultimately discourage members from voting," it added.

US Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating the alleged Russian interference in the last US presidential election.

Russia has denied interfering in the elections. Trump has also repeatedly dismissed accusations of any collusion with Moscow and has called for an end to the federal probe.

The Post reported last week that Russian citizens made contact with at least 14 Trump associates during his 18-month election campaign and presidential transition period.

The Russian citizens also made contact with Trump's closest family and friends, as well as figures on the periphery of his orbit, the newspaper said, citing public records and interviews.

Court documents filed in the past month by Mueller's office reveal that the Russian outreach to Trump's former associates and family members was more extensive than previously known.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Washington Post: Senate Report Details Vast Russian Meddling Campaign

By RFE/RL December 17, 2018

The U.S. Senate is preparing to publish a report this week documenting the enormous breadth of a Russian disinformation campaign that sought to help President Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election, The Washington Post reports.

The Post on December 16 quoted details from a draft of the report that was prepared by data research groups for the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee -- the first study on millions of social media posts provided to the Senate by Twitter, Facebook, and Google.

It said the report provides further specifics on known attempts by Russia's Internet Research Agency to boost Trump's 2016 election campaign and divide U.S. voters with targeted messages on controversial issues.

"What is clear is that all of the messaging clearly sought to benefit the Republican Party -- and specifically Donald Trump," the Post quoted the draft version of the report as saying.

"Trump is mentioned most in campaigns targeting conservatives and right-wing voters, where the messaging encouraged these groups to support his campaign," the draft says. "The main groups that could challenge Trump were then provided messaging that sought to confuse, distract, and ultimately discourage members from voting."

The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee has not yet announced whether it endorses the findings by the researchers at Oxford University's Computational Propaganda Project and the New York-based social media analysis firm Graphika.

According to the Washington Post, the report expresses concern about the overall threat that social media poses to political debate within and between countries, warning that social media companies are now threats to democracy.

"Social media have gone from being the natural infrastructure for sharing collective grievances and coordinating civic engagement to being a computational tool for social control, manipulated by canny political consultants and available to politicians in democracies and dictatorships alike," the report was quoted as saying.

The heads of the research groups that prepared the report, Oxford Internet Institute director Phil Howard and Graphika's CEO John W. Kelly, both testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee on August 1 about what their initial work revealed concerning the extent of Russian influence on U.S. elections via social media.

Kelly also told MSNBC that the release of data by Twitter, Facebook, and Google clearly implicated Russia's Internet Research Agency -- which he described as a "contract shop" originally set up for "conditioning the Russian public" before, "at some point, they got the contract to boot up their American influence operations."

'Pretty Incontrovertible Proof'

Kelly dismissed the Kremlin's repeated denials of evidence that Russian social media campaigns attempted to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

"It's clearly Russia. There's a lot of data from the Internet Research Agency that's making its way into the public, and a lot of folks are looking at it, including us," Kelly told MSNBC on August 2. "I'd say it's pretty incontrovertible proof."

Howard told the Senate committee on August 1 that his team of researchers at Oxford Internet Institute's Computational Propaganda Project found three strategies "that Russian operators employ" when they seek to influence U.S. voters.

One strategy was to polarize voters on particular issues with the goal of getting "groups of voters to confront each other angrily, over social media and in the streets," Howard testified.

Another strategy was social media campaigns that "promote or discredit particular senators, presidential candidates, and other public figures," he said.

Finally, Howard said, Russia's disinformation campaigns sought "to discourage citizens from voting" if they were "voters who might support a candidate" that the Kremlin found unpalatable.

"For example, voters are often told that voting day has been postponed, or that they can text message their vote in, or that their polling station has moved," Howard said.

The Washington Post says the draft of the new report criticizes the "belated and uncoordinated response" of social media firms to Russian disinformation campaigns, and the failure of social media platforms to share more information with investigators after the Russian campaigns were discovered.

Twitter said in a statement that it had made "significant strides" to improve its digital defenses since the 2016 election.

"Our singular focus is to improve the health of the public conversation on our platform, and protecting the integrity of elections is an important aspect of that mission," the statement said.

Google and Facebook did not immediately respond to questions about the report.

With additional reporting by Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/washington-post -senate-report-details-vast-russian- meddling-campaign/29660794.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





Michael Flynn's Former Associates Face Charges of Illegal Lobbying for Turkey

Sputnik News

19:01 17.12.2018(updated 21:03 17.12.2018)

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Two of former US National Security Advisor Michael Flynn's business associates are facing charges in the United States over illegal lobbying for Turkey, the Justice Department announced in a statement on Monday.

"An indictment was unsealed today charging Bijan Rafiekian, aka Bijan Kian, 66, of San Juan Capistrano, California, and Kamil Ekim Alptekin, 41, of Istanbul, and a Turkish national, with conspiracy, acting in the United States as illegal agents of the government of Turkey, and making false statements to the FBI," the statement said.

US prosecutors allege that the two men engaged in a conspiracy to influence US politicians and public opinion against Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.

The conspiracy included Flynn writing an opinion article about Gulen in The Hill newspaper in an attempt to get him extradited from the United States, according to the unsealed indictment.

The report added that a Turkish businessman accused of paying Kian and Flynn is also named in the indictment, but is not in the United States.

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated that FBI investigators had taken into custody several suspected allies of Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.

"The FBI is working on FETO in 15 states. Arrests have already begun in New Jersey," Cavusoglu told lawmakers in parliament.

The day before, Cavusoglu announced that the United States was working on the extradition of the cleric to Turkey. However, no confirmation of this information has followed from the US side.

Still, media reports about possible extradition of Gulen continue to appear. Thus, in November, NBC News reported that President Donald Trump was looking for ways to extradite Gulen from the United States to appease Turkey and ease its pressure on the government of Saudi Arabia for its role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the consulate in Istanbul.

Fethullah Gulen has been accused by Turkey of orchestrating a failed military coup on July 15, 2016. Gulen has repeatedly denied taking part in the coup. He has been living in the United States since 1999.

Since the coup failed, approximately 80,000 people have been arrested in Turkey over their alleged links to the cleric.

The US probe into the Turkey case started in 2016, after Flynn accused Gulen in an article published in The Hill newspaper of being radical Islamist. Investigators regard this article as part of a bigger lobbying scheme, where Flynn discussed with senior Turkish officials in December 2016 a possible deal under which the former would be paid to organize Gulen's return to Turkey.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Russia's 2016 Election Meddling More Comprehensive Than Realized

By Jeff Seldin December 17, 2018

Two new reports on Russia's efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections are shedding more light on the size and scope of the campaign, showing it was far more extensive and thorough than previously understood.

The reports also support conclusions by the U.S. intelligence community  and published in an unclassified January 2017 report  that the goal of all of Russia's meddling in the months leading up to the 2016 elections was to get their preferred candidate elected president of the United States.

"What is clear is that all of the messaging clearly sought to benefit the Republican Party and specifically Donald Trump," according to the report by Oxford University's Computational Propaganda Project and network analysis firm Graphika.

The findings, as first reported by the Washington Post, said Russians working for a group called the Internet Research Agency (IRA) began experimenting with social media to influence local elections in 2009 and expanded its operations to U.S. elections in 2013 using Twitter.

It gradually added other popular social media sites to its campaign, including YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, using race and social issues such as gun rights, immigration and police brutality to sow division and discontent.

"Conservative and right-wing voters were actively encouraged to get behind Trump's campaign," according to the report by Oxford and Graphika. "Other voters were encouraged to boycott the election, abstain from voting for [Hillary] Clinton, or to spread cynicism about participating in the election in general."

Russia's IRA activity also sought out African-American voters in particular with advertising on Facebook and Instagram and with video content on YouTube.

"Most of the interest-based targeting focused on African-American communities and interests," the second report by the cybersecurity firm New Knowledge showed.

"Messaging to African-Americans sought to divert their political energy away from established political institutions by preying on anger with structural inequalities faced by African-Americans, including police violence, poverty and disproportionate levels of incarceration," the Oxford University-Graphika report added. "These campaigns pushed a message that the best way to advance the cause of the African-American community was to boycott the election and focus on other issues instead."

Other groups such as liberals, women, Muslims, Latinos and veterans were also targeted with similar messages either appealing to their politics or trying to discourage them from voting.

"This newly released data demonstrates how aggressively Russia sought to divide Americans by race, religion and ideology, and how the IRA actively worked to erode trust in our democratic institutions. Most troublingly, it shows that these activities have not stopped," Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, a Republican, said in a statement Monday.

"This should stand as a wake-up call," added Senate Intelligence Committee vice chair, Democrat Mark Warner, who has been critical of social media companies and the way they have handled Russia's online influence campaigns.

"It is time to get serious in addressing this challenge," Warner said. "That is going to require some much-needed and long-overdue guardrails when it comes to social media."

The Oxford-Graphika report said it is clear the response by social media companies has been lacking.

"We clearly observe a belated and uncoordinated response from the platforms that provided the data," the report said. "In some cases, activity on one platform was detected and suspended months before similar action was taken against related activity on another platform."

In a statement Monday, Facebook said it continues to "fully cooperate with officials investigating the IRA's activity on Facebook and Instagram around the 2016 election."

"We've made progress in helping prevent interference on our platforms during elections, strengthened our policies against voter suppression ahead of the 2018 midterms, and funded independent research on the impact of social media on democracy," the statement said, adding the company believes Congress and intelligence officials "are best placed to use the information we and others provide."

In a statement of its own, Twitter said: "Our singular focus is to improve the health of the public conversation on our platform. We've made significant strides since 2016 to counter manipulation of our service, including our release of additional data in October related to previously disclosed activities to enable further independent academic research and investigation."

Google reaction

The reports, though, indicate the measures that have been taken may not be enough, as Russia and others continue to make use of social media platforms.

The Oxford-Graphika report said Russia's use of social media did not peak until after the election, with the IRA buying the most ad volume on Facebook in April 2017, shortly after the U.S. airstrikes against chemical weapon sites in Syria.

And U.S. intelligence and military officials have told VOA that Russia continued to target segments of U.S. society, including ongoing efforts to influence U.S. military personnel and their families in the run-up to the 2018 midterm elections.

The United States has already leveled criminal charges against IRA for interfering in the 2016 campaign.

Current and former intelligence officials also warn that it would be a mistake to focus only on Russia's use of social media, pointing to last week's guilty plea by Russian spy Maria Butina, who admitted to using the National Rifle Association to get close to key conservative politicians.

"It illustrates  the astute understanding the Russians have of our political ecosystem," James Clapper, former director of National Intelligence, told VOA.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election and whether the president has tried to obstruct justice by trying to undermine the probe.

Trump denies there was any collusion and calls the Mueller probe a "witch hunt."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Mission complete: 53rd WEG concludes first post-hurricane Combat Archer

By Maj. Ashley Conner, 53rd Wing Public Affairs / Published December 17, 2018

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) -- F-22 Raptors from the 27th Fighter Squadron and F-35 Lightning IIs from the 58th Fighter Squadron successfully flew more than 140 sorties and fired 13 missiles to culminate the first post-Hurricane Michael Combat Archer air-to-air exercise at Eglin Air Force Base Dec. 14.

"This is the final step of our combat readiness  we assess our operations and maintenance personnel as well as the aircraft itself," said Lt. Col. Marcus McGinn, 27th Fighter Squadron commander. "We need to make sure we have the ability to load missiles, the aircraft are configured correctly, the aircraft perform as they should when you press the pickle button, the missile performs as advertised and the pilots know what to expect. All of these aspects must be tested and proven prior to actually needing the process to work in combat."

The 27th FS brought 200 personnel from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, to participate in the exercise, which was flown out of Eglin AFB due to the rebuilding efforts at Tyndall AFB.

"The amount of coordination that goes into a single missile shoot cannot be quantified. The ability for the 83rd Fighter Weapon Squadron to accomplish this coordination across two different locations, with the infrastructure limitations that Tyndall (AFB) currently has, was unbelievable," said McGinn.

This was the second Combat Archer the 27th Fighter Squadron has participated in this year. Of the 30 F-22 pilots, six were first-time shooters.

"While this was the first time I fired a live missile, I wasn't nervous," said 1st Lt. Jake Wong, 27th Fighter Squadron F-22 pilot. "There is the seriousness that I have a live missile on my jet today, which is not something we do every day. The training is really good and the flight profile is controlled so we know what to expect to ensure we fire the missile safely."

While the aircraft took off from Eglin AFB, the sub-scale drones assigned to the 82 ATRS, took off from Tyndall AFB.

"No other Air Force in the world comes close to the same scale of weapons testing as the U.S. Air Force," said Lt. Col Ryan Serrill, 82nd ATRS commander. "We recognize the importance of this data to continually improve our warfighters' ability which is why it was important to resume the Combat Archer mission so soon after the hurricane."

The 83rd FWS conducted telemetry data collection and missile analysis, 81st Range Control Squadron conducted command and control and the 53rd Test Support Squadron provided electronic attack pods out of Tyndall AFB.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Interoperability is Everything for Combined Resolve XI

By Sgt. 1st Class Khalia Jackson December 17, 2018

Combined Resolve XI focused on improving the readiness and lethality of participating units during its first two-week phase, beginning on Nov. 26, at the Joint Multinational Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany. The U.S. Army Europe exercise is held biannually at the Hohenfels and Grafenwoehr training areas.

The more than 5,500 participants from 16 nations interoperated as both friendly and opposing forces; at all levels the goal was to enhance proficiency of war-fighting functions.

Soldiers from the U.S., Lithuania and the United Kingdom served as higher and adjacent command and control. The three brigades intersected operations planning, exchanged information and efficiently communicated direction to forces out in the field.

Brigadier Dom Biddick, MC, MBE (Military Cross, Member of the British Empire), commander of the 20th Armored Infantry Brigade, U.K., managed the higher command operations center and communication distribution.

"We are here with a fully formed U.K. brigade headquarters in command post exercise mode," said Biddick. "We've got the U.S brigade, 1-1 CAV, live in the box here and the Lithuanian brigade piping down. Together, those three brigades provide a full division in the fight."

Lithuanian armed forces Major, Alfonsas Bickus, participated in the exercise from his home station through a Joint Conflict and Tactical Simulation System.

"It is a good example of how NATO allied countries cooperate and integrate into common training without being sent to one training area,' said Bickus. " At the same time, brigade staff receives all the necessary guidance and orders to initiate their own command and control procedures, sharing the information and expertise between the involved countries."

Allies and partner nations aid in the goal of increasing readiness and lethality by bringing congruent yet different assets and capabilities to the exercise.

Maj. Paolo Giangregorio, operations officer for 1st Army Aviation Regiment, Italian armed forces, was one of eight pilots that worked alongside U.S. Army pilots to ensure air traffic control and proper navigation of air assets.

"We are all pilots from different helicopter lines" said Giangregorio. "Knowing each other permits [us] to know the peculiar points of strength and put them together in order to achieve better results."

Interoperability, direction and sharing of knowledge took place in the air and on ground. U.S. and Moldovan soldiers complimented each other's skills by joining light and medium infantry tactics to enhance the proficiency of combat skills.

"In this exercise, the Moldovans have been providing critical assets which allow us forward maneuver," said 1st Lt. Pierce Baker who served as liaison for Moldova and U.S. Army operations, 2-5 Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. "With this terrain, the biggest thing we've seen is the capabilities they bring to the fight as a light infantry unit. It's critical for providing greater security."

1st Lt. Seremetov Stanislav, team leader for the Moldovan armed forces, expressed gratitude for being a part of the exercise.

"We are grateful for this opportunity," said Stanislav. "It is a good experience for our troops and our country. Our collaboration with Alpha Co. 2-5 CAV is very good and we are happy to offer our support and also to get a chance to learn from one another."

Augmenting maneuvering responsibilities, were the U.S. and Serbian military police. The 615th Military Police Company and the Serbian armed forces served as a quick reaction force and were positioned at traffic control points and entry control points.

"Some of the main tasks we're doing, the 615th MP and the Serbian MP companies, we are basically doing QRF, doing some TCPs, ECPs and making sure they get from point A to point B safely," said Pvt. 1st Class Dominique Daniels, 615th Military Police Company, 18th Military Police Brigade, out of Vilseck, Germany.

During this exercise, the commonality remained transparent and interoperable.

"Interoperability is everything, we are here in an exercise with a NATO headquarters above us, and we've got U.S. comrades to our flank and Lithuanian comrades beyond them," said Biddick. "That exactly how we are going to fight a war if that moment comes. NATO contacts alongside our U.S. and NATO allies. So this is training as you fight."

The second phase of Combined Resolve XI takes place Jan 13 - 25, 2019.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





West Virginia National Guard aided in mine rescue operations

By Sgt. Zoe Morris | West Virginia National Guard December 17, 2018

CHARLESTON, W. Va. -- When the West Virginia Watch Center, operated by the West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM), received a call on Dec. 9 that four people were missing in a shuttered coal mine, the state sprang into action.

The mine was the decommissioned Elk Run Coal Company's Rock House Powellton Mine near Clear Creek in Raleigh County, West Virginia.

The terrain near the entrances to the mine were rough and muddy after an exceptionally large amount of snowfall had fallen in the area days before. A determination was made that West Virginia National Guard (WVNG) assets -- specifically Humvees -- were the safest way to transport rescue crews on and off the mine site.

The deterioration of the unused mine roads warranted all safety precautions to be taken to ensure the safety of the rescuers.

The West Virginia National Guard and WVDHSEM's integration in the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) allowed for quick deployment of the necessary resources for the mine rescue workers.

On Dec. 10, a team of eight Soldiers and three Humvees from the 1st Squadron, 150th Cavalry Regiment out of Beckley, were assigned to assist the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training (MHS&T) in the search efforts, providing transportation to the rescue site.

After more than 24 hours of work to clear water and provide ventilation into the mine site, 10 additional Soldiers from the 863rd Military Police Company were assigned to augment the efforts on Dec. 12, providing additional security augmentation to the West Virginia State Police at the opposite mine entrance and liaison duties. With the addition of the Soldiers from the 863rd MP Company, the total number of support personnel from the WVNG reached 18 total.

After the rescue efforts proved successful later in the evening of Dec. 12, and the three individuals were rescued and transported to receive medical attention, the WVNG assets demobilized. (The fourth person had emerged earlier from the mine).

"The National Guard in West Virginia stands ready at all hours to aid our neighbors, no matter the situation," Maj. Gen. James Hoyer, adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard, said. "The SEOC headquartered at the WVNG Joint Force Headquarters here in Charleston has shown that by co-locating, we are able to respond quickly and efficiently in case of an emergency. I am proud of all the Guard members who stepped up to assist our neighbors and partners."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Truman Strike Group Returns Home from Eight-Month Deployment

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS181217-18

Release Date: 12/17/2018 12:49:00 PM

From Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command Public Affairs

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- Nearly 6,500 Sailors from the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCSG) returned to Naval Station Norfolk Dec. 16 following an eight-month deployment.

Select ships from the strike group, including flagship USS Harry S. Truman, guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60), and Destroyer Squadron Two Eight (DESRON 28) guided-missile destroyers USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) and USS Forrest Sherman (DDG 98), were welcomed by friends and family after completing operations in the U.S. Second, Fifth and Sixth Fleet areas of operation.

"The opportunity to perform the full spectrum of naval missions across every imaginable maritime environment during our deployment proved to our allies and potential adversaries alike what we already knew: that the American Sailor will always rise to the operational challenge in front of them," said Commander of Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, Rear Admiral Gene Black. "From combat operations over Syria, to cooperative exercises and engagements with NATO allies and partners, to taking on the unpredictable conditions above the Arctic Circle, these Sailors rose to the challenges of this historic deployment with honor, courage, and commitment."

HSTCSG deployed April 11 for a regularly scheduled deployment as part of the ongoing rotation of forward deployed forces to support maritime security operations and operate in international waters across the globe. Several strike group units returned to Norfolk in July 21 for a working port visit, until Aug. 28, when they departed to continue their deployment. The strike group's ships and aircraft conducted a variety of missions, including forward naval presence, maritime security operations, and theater security cooperation. The strike group also participated in numerous bi-lateral and multi-lateral engagements, including Lightning Handshake 2018, Baltic Operations 2018 and Trident Juncture 2018; as well as operations alongside Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Egypt and Norway.

"I'm incredibly proud of the men and women of Harry S Truman," said USS Harry S. Truman's Commanding Officer, Capt. Nick Dienna. "The performance of the Truman team over the last eight months, from supporting combat operations over Syria to operating in the unforgiving environment of the Arctic Circle, was nothing short of outstanding. This deployment showcased the phenomenal ability of these Sailors to perform at the highest level anywhere, any time."

Along with operating across the Mediterranean, strike group ships crossed the Arctic Circle Oct. 19 and conducted sustained operations in the Norwegian Sea  the first carrier strike group to do so in nearly 30 years. For several days, the strike group also operated alongside Royal Norwegian Navy ships in the Vestfjorden, a sea area inside Norwegian territorial waters.

In addition to supporting partnership efforts during the deployment, embarked aircraft from Carrier Air Wing ONE (CVW-1) launched sorties into Iraq and Syria in May and June in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, totaling 393 combat sorties over 2,808 hours.

Embarked squadrons of CVW-1, commanded by Capt. John Perrone, returned to home stations across the U.S., including Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana, NAS Whidbey Island, NAS Jacksonville, NAS Lemoore and Naval Station Norfolk. These include Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 11 "Red Rippers"; VFA-211 "Checkmates"; VFA-81 "Sunliners"; VFA-136 "Knighthawks"; Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 137 "Rooks"; Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 126 "Seahawks"; Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 72 "Proud Warriors"; Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 11 "Dragon Slayers"; and a detachment from Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 40 "Rawhides."

DESRON 28 destroyers USS Bulkeley (DDG 84) and USS Farragut (DDG 99) remained in the European region during the strike group's working port visit of July and August, performing maritime security and theater anti-submarine warfare operations and exercises in the North Atlantic and Arctic, earning Farragut Sailors the Arctic Service Ribbon. Both ships returned to their homeports in November. USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) and USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109) deployed from their respective homeports in June, and will return at a later date, following their deployments to U.S. Fifth and Sixth Fleets, where they have performed theater security cooperative engagements and maritime security operations alongside partners and allies.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Yemen: 'Fighting erupts soon after truce takes force'

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 17, 2018 11:39PM

Sporadic clashes have been reported in the western Yemen port city of al-Hudaydah soon after a UN-brokered ceasefire takes force in the province of the same name.

The violence broke out in the city's eastern areas in early Tuesday minutes after the truce took effect at midnight, an official allied with Yemen's Saudi-backed former government told AFP.

International medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) voiced alarm about "the continuous fighting" in the devastated city. It said its teams were treating victims of gunshots, shelling, and airstrikes, urging the concerned parties "to respect the presence of civilians and health infrastructures."

The truce was agreed in Sweden on Thursday between the former government's officials and Yemen's popular Houthi Ansarullah movement, which has been defending the country against Saudi-led air raids aimed at restoring the former government.

Also on Sunday, as many as 22 Houthi fighters were killed and a fire erupted in one of the factories in eastern Hudaydah due to airstrikes, although the two sides had agreed the truce.

Much is banked on the deal, brokered three years into the Saudi-led war. The invasion has claimed thousands of lives in Yemen and pushed the country close to the brink of outright famine.

United Nation chief Antonio Guterres warned on Sunday that "much worse" could happen to the impoverished country in 2019 unless a comprehensive "peace deal" came about and the humanitarian crisis was tackled.

The two sides have agreed to meet again in late January for more talks to define the framework for negotiations on the "peace settlement."

Diplomats said Guterres may propose a surveillance mechanism comprising 30 to 40 observers.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Israeli settlements undermine peace prospects, warns Jordanian FM

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 17, 2018 05:39PM

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi has warned that the Tel Aviv regime's persistence on land expropriation policies and settlement construction activities in the occupied territories have undermined prospects for a peaceful settlement to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict.

On Monday, Safadi condemned Israeli officials' recent decision to approve thousands of new West Bank settlement units, warning that the move would most likely escalate tensions in the region.

"Settlement building is an illegitimate, unilateral practice that serves to further entrench the [Israeli] occupation and undermine prospects for resolving the conflict," he said in a statement.

Safadi urged the international community to "shoulder its legal and moral responsibilities" by pressuring Israel to stop building settlements on confiscated Palestinian land.

Such violations, the top Jordanian diplomat warned, "will only lead to further tension and violence, which in turn will adversely impact regional security."

The remarks came a day after Israel's so-called Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved the advancement of a bill, which would authorize more than 60 Israeli outposts and settlement neighborhoods built in the West Bank over the last 20 years.

Less than a month before US President Donald Trump took office, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2334, calling on Israel to "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem" al-Quds.

About 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.

The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2014. Among the major sticking points in those negotiations was Israel's continued settlement expansion on Palestinian territories.

Trump backtracked on Washington's support for a "two-state solution" earlier this year, saying he would support any solution favored by both sides.

"Looking at two-state or one-state, I like the one that both parties like. I'm very happy with the one both parties like. I can live with either one," the US president said during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on February 15.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 17)  Filipina beauty queen Catriona Gray did not only win the coveted "Mikimoto" crown when she was hailed as Miss Universe 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand on Monday.

The 24-year-old Filipino-Australian also earned a huge following online after the victory.

Gray (@catriona_gray) now has two million followers on Instagram, doubling the one-million mark which she celebrated just a day before the coronation.

On Sunday, Gray thanked her supporters after the number of her followers in the photo and video-sharing platform jumped past a million.

Her Instagram hits came after her remarkable performance in the preliminary competition of the pageant, where she sent social media abuzz with a slow-motion turn as she sizzled in a pink bikini.

Gray bested 93 other candidates from different countries and succeeded Demi Leigh Nel-Peters from South Africa.

READ: Catriona Gray wins PH's 4th Miss Universe crown

She is the fourth Filipino to bring home the coveted title, joining Gloria Diaz, Margie Moran, and Pia Wurtzbach who won in 1969, 1973, and 2015, respectively.Indian forces lock down Kashmir, hold pro-independence leaders after weekend violence

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 17, 2018 04:14PM

Indian authorities have locked down parts of the disputed region of Kashmir after seven people were killed and dozens more wounded in army fire in the restive Himalayan valley over the weekend.

Police and para-military forces on Monday imposed a total curfew in parts of Srinagar, the main city in the Muslim-majority region, to curb any unrest. Heavily-armed forces also put up barricades in various parts of Srinagar and were patrolling in the nearby district Pulwama.

"Restrictions are in place in some city areas and in Pulwama," media outlets quoted inspector general of police Swayam Prakash Pani as saying.

Businesses and schools across the divided Himalayan territory were closed for a third straight day. Mobile internet services were also suspended in some areas, and train services shut down to prevent protesters from massing in numbers.

This came as pro-independence leaders had called on the public to march on India's military headquarters in the disputed territory.

An Indian army spokesman, in a statement issued late Sunday, had urged the public to ignore the call to protest and blamed Pakistan for stoking unrest.

"Indian Army strongly condemns this call by Pak(istan) proxies and advises people not to fall prey to such designs of anti-national forces," the spokesman said.

Dozens of protesters, however, defied a curfew on Monday to march against the shooting death of seven civilians.

Police fired tear gas to drive back the angry demonstrators led by key pro-independence leaders who tried to reach the base in central Srinagar.

Key pro-independence leaders were arrested to stop them from marshalling other protesters.

Pro-Independence leaders Mohammad Yasin Malik and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said they were detained as they marched towards the army headquarters in Srinagar. Another leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, was also under house arrest, police said.

"Indian troops are killing Kashmiris," Malik told reporters as police in riot gear took him away in a white vehicle. "For the last many years they are on a killing spree."

Saturday's shooting has ignited fresh anger across the region, which has witnessed an increasingly violent public opposition to Indian rule.

Seven civilians were killed as Indian troops fired on protesters on December 15 after a gunfight left three pro-independence fighters and a soldier dead in the disputed region.

Indian forces say they have killed 242 armed pro-independence fighters this year in the region, while 101 civilians and 82 members of security forces have also lost their lives, making 2017 the bloodiest year in Kashmir in more than a decade.

Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a tweet that Indian authorities should prosecute those responsible for "indiscriminate use of force."

"Security forces are aware that villagers gather, protest during gunfights with Kashmir militants and have responsibility to ensure civilians are not at risk," Ganguly added.

India, which has half a million troops deployed in the region, has long accused Pakistan of funding and arming pro-independence fighters in Kashmir.

Islamabad has denied this, saying it only provides diplomatic support to Kashmiris fighting for self-determination.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has denounced Saturday's violence.

"Only dialogue and not violence and killings will resolve this conflict," Khan said, adding that his country would raise India's "human rights violations" at the United Nations.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the two gained independence from British rule in 1947. More than 70,000 people have died since an armed battle against Indian rule began in 1989.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





UN says Yemen truce to begin Tuesday as Saudi raids rise

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 17, 2018 10:46AM

The UN-brokered ceasefire in Yemen's Hudaydah and its surroundings will start on Tuesday, a United Nations official said after renewed fighting in the strategic city.

"It is true," said the UN official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, when asked whether the truce in Hudaydah province will begin midnight Monday.

The source said without elaboration that the delay until 2100 GMT on Monday was necessary for "operational reasons."

Yemen's Houthi movement and the former Saudi-allied regime agreed Thursday to cease fighting and withdraw their forces from Hudaydah following week-long peace talks in Sweden

But, fierce clashes erupted on the outskirts of Hudaydah on Saturday night following fresh attempts by Saudi and Emirati troops and their mercenaries to advance into the city amid Saudi aerial bombings.

A military source loyal to Yemen's former Saudi-backed regime said that least 29 fighters, including 22 Houthis, had been killed on Saturday night.

Hudaydah, a lifeline for millions of Yemeni people, is the entry point for most of the country's commercial goods and vital aid. The port has seen some of the heaviest fighting in the four-year Saudi war on Yemen.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE launched their offensive against Hudaydah in June but they have faced a strong resistance put up by Yemeni armed forces  led by the Houthis -- as well as the city's residents.

In the wake of the Saturday fatal clashes, UN special envoy Martin Griffiths urged the warring sides to respect the ceasefire agreement reached in Sweden.

"The special envoy expects the two parties to respect their obligations as per the text and spirit of the Stockholm Agreement and to engage in the immediate implementation of its provisions," Griffiths tweeted Sunday.

He added that the UN was working with the two parties to ensure the deal was "implemented timely and properly".

The truce was the first significant breakthrough in Yemen's peace process, which is aimed at ending the Saudi war that has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed the country to the brink of famine.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





62 people killed in US airstrikes against purported militant positions in Somalia

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 17, 2018 10:43AM

The US has carried out fresh airstrikes in Somalia, killing dozens of purported militants there as Washington steps up its military presence in Africa.

US African Command (AFRICOM) said on Monday it reportedly had killed 62 militants in six air strikes on Saturday and Sunday in the vicinity of Gandarsh in Somalia's south-central Banaadir Province.

Four strikes were carried out on Saturday, killing 34 militants, and two more on Sunday, which killed 28, it said.

AFRICOM claims it carries out periodic airstrikes in the Horn of Africa country to support the UN-backed government there, which has been making efforts over the years to uproot the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab terrorist group actively present there.

"Africa Command and our Somali partners conducted these air strikes to prevent terrorists from using remote areas as a safe haven to plot, direct, inspire and recruit for future attacks," it added.

AFRICOM claimed the air strikes, which were among the deadliest in 2018, did not kill or injure any civilians in the area.

The US has carried out dozens of airstrikes against what it calls positions of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab terror group.

The militant outfit has, however, grown more powerful now in central Somalia, carrying out attacks against government, military, and civilian targets in the capital, Mogadishu, as well as regional towns.

Human rights groups in countries where the US conducts similar airstrikes, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Libya, also complain about the civilians causalities caused by such raids.

Military observers say the US has been stepping up its operations in Somalia and other African countries in mostly quiet efforts to expand its military foothold in the continent.

The US, which has a significant military presence in Africa, has the largest number of boosts on the ground in Somalia. It expanded the number of its troops there to 500 last year.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Israel steps up West Bank raids as support for Hamas rises

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 17, 2018 10:40AM

Nearly two dozen Palestinians have been arrested in a stepped-up Israeli crackdown in the West Bank amid the perception that support for Hamas is rising in the occupied territories.

The rival Fatah party rules the West Bank but the territories have witnessed the worst clashes between security forces of the Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas and protesters over the week.

On Friday, the West Bank experienced military raids of extraordinary proportions compared to recent years after protests were held in Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron (al-Khalil) to mark the 31st anniversary of Hamas.

Local police fired into the air and beat demonstrators after participants raised a Hamas flag and refused to wave Fatah and other flags.

Further incidents in which three Israelis, including two soldiers, were killed near settlements in the West Bank have reinforced the patriotic image of the resistance movement because they have been associated with a Hamas cell.

In contrast, the Palestinian Authority's image has been established as the "subcontractor of the occupation," with its security forces working in the shadow of Israeli troops.

Palestinian police always disappear whenever Israeli troops raid neighborhoods in the West Bank, breaking into shops and homes and shooting at stone-throwing young people.

Under the Oslo Accords of 1993, the Palestinian National Security Forces are prohibited from defending their compatriots from Israeli military attacks.

Israeli troops arrested 18 Palestinians on Monday, taking the total number of those detained in the West Bank since last Sunday to more than 300, Press TV correspondent in Ramallah Mona Kandil reported.

"Two Palestinian homes have been demolished since last week," she said, referring to Tel Aviv's policy of razing the houses of those it accuses of violence against Israeli troops or civilians.

On Saturday, Israeli forces blew up a house in the al-Am'ari refugee camp in Ramallah, owned by the mother of Islam Abu Hamid who is in prison.

Israel's ministerial legislative committee also advanced a bill on Sunday allowing expulsion of the families of those accused by the regime of "terrorism."

The draft legislation, which now needs Knesset approval, "allows for members of a terrorist family to be forcibly evacuated from their home community within seven days of an attack or attempted attack," The Jerusalem Post reported.

"This is an important step in restoring deterrence," said hardline Israeli education minister Naftali Bennett, who had advocated for the bill.

The Israeli troops were killed after an attacker emerged from a vehicle and shot at soldiers near the settlements of Beit El and Ofra on Thursday.

The shootings came after Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in separate operations over the span of only six hours.

"The Palestinian public views the incidents in which Israeli soldiers and civilians were shot near the Givat Assaf outpost and the entrance to the settlement of Ofra as legitimate acts of heroism against the endless encroachment of settlers in the area," Israeli daily Haaretz wrote on Monday.

Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh defended the attacks as he addressed nearly half a million Palestinians gathered at al-Katiba square in the center of Gaza on Sunday to to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the founding of Hamas.

"I will also respond to the Zionists who are saying what is happening in the West Bank is based on directives and arrangements from Gaza. This is an accusation that we do not deny because it is a source of pride reigning over all of us," Haniyeh said.

Netanyahu warns Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning to Hamas.

"I conveyed a clear message to Hamas -- we won't accept a situation of a truce in Gaza and terror in Judea and Samaria," Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting, using Israel's choice of reference to the West Bank.

Meanwhile, an adviser to Abbas told The Jerusalem Post that security coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel will not be affected by the recent flare-up in the West Bank, the Israeli paper reported.

The assertion came hours after Egyptian intelligence officials visited Ramallah where they held talks with Abbas on ways of calming the situation.

The Egyptian officials, the adviser said, expressed support for Abbas, urging him "to take the necessary measures to prevent a further deterioration."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Indian army locks down Kashmir to prevent protests

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 17, 2018 09:28AM

Indian authorities have put pro-independence leaders in New Delhi-controlled Kashmir under house arrest and enforced a security lockdown on the region's main city to foil a planned march against the recent civilian killings by India's troops.

People in the Indian-administered Kashmir were set to march toward an army headquarters in Srinagar on Monday against the recent killing of at least seven civilians during anti-New Delhi protests on Saturday.

Security forces were deployed to various parts of Srinagar on Monday and sealed off all the roads leading to the army's main garrison in the city.

They also put two pro-independence leaders, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, under house arrest to prevent them from leading the march.

In a statement late on Sunday, the army warned the Kashmiri people against what it called trouble making.

"Army advises people not to fall prey to such designs of anti-national forces," it said.

Authorities also closed shops, government offices and banks in Srinagar and a nearby district. Mobile internet and train services have also been shut down.

The rally was called in response to the killing of seven people during demonstration on Saturday. One Indian soldier was also killed.

Unrest has intensified over recent weeks between government forces and pro-independence fighters, who are seeking an end to the Indian rule in the disputed valley.

The Muslim-majority region has been divided between India and Pakistan but is claimed in full by both countries since they partitioned and gained independence from Britain in 1947.

India accuses Pakistan of supporting pro-independence fighters, an allegation rejected by Islamabad, which in turn, is critical of India's heavy military deployment to Kashmir and its crackdown against the region's Muslim population.

Pakistan raps India's 'killing spree'

On Sunday, Pakistani Prime Minster Imran Khan condemned the latest violence in a Twitter post, saying he would raise India's "human rights violations" at the United Nations.

"Only dialogue and not violence and killings will resolve this conflict," he wrote.

Late last month, Khan suggested that his ruling party and the country's influential military want to mend ties and resolve outstanding disputes with New Delhi.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also condemned the latest killings, calling on the international community to intervene in what he described as the ongoing killing spree of innocent Kashmiris by Indian forces in Kashmir.

"Human rights organizations and other world bodies should immediately intervene against state terrorism of the Indian forces against innocent Kashmiris in the Occupied Kashmir," he added.

The foreign minister put the number of the fatalities at 14, including a ten-year-old boy. At least 300 were also injured, according to him.

Qureshi said he had written letters to human rights organizations, the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to take notice of grave human rights violations and raise voice against Indian oppression in Kashmir.

He also said that Islamabad will further continue extending its moral, political, and diplomatic support to the people of Kashmir in their just cause for right to self-determination, adding that all political parties of Pakistan are unanimous over Kashmir issue.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Farmer-herder clashes in Nigeria left over 3,600 people dead in 2 years: Amnesty

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 17, 2018 07:04AM

Amnesty International says clashes between farmers and semi-nomadic herders in Nigeria have left more than 3,600 people dead since 2016.

The UK-based rights group, in a report on Monday, documented an upsurge in communal violence involving chiefly Muslim herders and mainly Christian farmers fighting over land and water rights.

"The Nigerian authorities' failure to investigate communal clashes and bring perpetrators to justice has fuelled a bloody escalation in the conflict between farmers and herders across the country, resulting in at least 3,641 deaths in the past three years and the displacement of thousands more," Amnesty said.

The report said 310 attacks had been recorded between January 2016 and October 2018, most of them in 2018.

"These attacks were well planned and coordinated, with the use of weapons like machine guns and AK-47 rifles," said Osai Ojigho, Amnesty's Nigeria director.

"Yet, little has been done by the authorities in terms of prevention, arrests and prosecutions, even when informa

Experts say climate change and expanding agriculture have aggravated the herder-farmer conflict over land and water. The International Crisis Group said in July that the farmer-herder conflict killed six times more people than the war with the Boko Haram terror group in the first half of 2018,

Ojigho further said, "In some places, because of the failures of the security forces, competition over resources is used as a pretext to kill and maim along ethnic or religious lines."

"The conflict has also been dangerously politicized by some state government officials who have inflamed tensions by embarking on a blame game along political party lines," she said.

The latest report could affect the results of the upcoming elections, in which President Muhammadu Buhari is seeking a new term.

Buhari has been under fire for adopting a soft position on the herders, who come  like the president -- from the Fulani ethnic group.

The administration of Buhari, who came to power on a pledge to eradicate militancy and corruption, has also been under scrutiny for failing to end the Boko Haram terror group's campaign of violence in Nigeria's restive northeast.

Abuja announced in 2015 that Boko Haram  which is affiliated to the Takfiri Daesh terror group, had been "largely defeated" in the northeast, but a multitude of Boko Haram attacks indicate the group's active presence in that region.

In the latest instance of violence, Boko Haram terrorists on Sunday stormed a village near the city of Maiduguri, Borno State, firing indiscriminately and setting fire to homes there overnight.

It was not clear if there were any casualties in the attack, which forced hundreds of people to flee.

A military source said troops and fighter jets were deployed to the scene and pushed out the militants after a "fierce battle."

Boko Haram has in recent months launched numerous attacks in a bid to capture Maiduguri, the birthplace of its founder, Mohammed Yusuf.

Over the past few years, at least 27,000 have been killed and more than two million people displaced from their homes by Boko Haram.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Afghan Taliban, U.S. Officials Meet In U.A.E. As Peace Efforts Intensify

By RFE/RL December 17, 2018

The Afghan Taliban says its representatives have met with U.S. officials in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) as efforts intensify to negotiate an end to Afghanistan's 17-year war.

The preliminary talks on December 17 were seen as an important step to launch formal peace negotiations with the Taliban.

While Washington has neither denied nor confirmed previous meetings with the Taliban, U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has previously held at least two rounds of talks with Taliban officials.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid offered few details of the latest meeting except to say that "discussions were held with the American side over the end to the invasion of Afghanistan."

Mujahid said the talks also involved the U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan -- three countries that have significant influence over the Taliban.

Taliban representatives would not meet with Afghan government representatives who are in the U.A.E., the spokesman also said.

The Taliban has long refused to hold formal talks with the Afghan government, insisting on first brokering an agreement with the United States.

Mujahid said the meetings in the U.A.E. would continue, indicating they could last for several days.

National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib was among the Afghan government representatives in the U.A.E.

The presence of such a high-ranking official was seen as a sign of progress.

Also significant was the presence of officials from Saudi Arabia and U.A.E., who have the influence to help secure concessions from the Taliban.

In a statement last month, the Taliban said it held three consecutive days of talks with Khalilzad in Qatar, where the militant group maintains an informal political office.

Khalilzad has said he would like to see a "road map" agreement reached before the Afghan presidential election scheduled for next April.

The decision to move the venue of the talks from Qatar to the U.A.E. was seen as an effort to involve Saudi Arabia, which is hostile to Qatar, more closely in the process and to exert influence on its ally, Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., and Pakistan were the only three countries to recognize the Taliban government during its five-year rule, which ended with the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

The Taliban controls or contests nearly half of Afghanistan, where it is waging a deadly insurgency against the Western-backed Kabul government and government security forces.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/taliban-says-meeting -u-s-officials-on-december-17/29660235.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





Serbian, Kosovar Leaders To Address UN Security Council About Kosovo's Army

By RFE/RL December 17, 2018

The Serbian and Kosovar presidents are expected to address the UN Security Council on December 17 following Kosovo's decision to transform its lightly armed security force into a full-fledged army -- a move that has angered Kosovo's ethnic Serbs and Belgrade.

Serbia lost control over its Kosovo province in 1999 after NATO launched air strikes to stop the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanians by Serbian 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.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Although more than 110 countries recognize Kosovo, Serbia does not.

Speaking to reporters at the Pristina airport on December 16, Kosovar President Hashim Thaci said that "the formation of the Kosovo army is an irreversible act."

Meanwhile, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said Belgrade will insist at the Security Council session that the army was formed in violation of the resolution that ended the fighting in Kosovo in 1999.

"It is important that the position of Serbia will be heard," he added.

Kosovo's parliament on December 14 voted overwhelmingly to convert its 2,500-member Kosovo Security Force (KSF) into a national army with some 5,000 personnel and more substantial weaponry.

Serbia and most of the 120,000 ethnic Serbs in Kosovo have vehemently opposed the creation of a Kosovar military, saying it would violate UN resolutions and be used against the Serbian minority -- a claim denied by officials in Pristina.

Some leaders in Belgrade have suggested that Serbia could use its own military to respond to the "ethnic cleansing" of Serbs.

The United States has expressed support for Kosovo's move to create a national army, while NATO said the move was "ill-timed."

The EU members of the UN Security Council issued a joint statement on December 17 calling on the Kosovar authorities to "make the transformation of the Kosovo Security Force in the next 10 years a transparent and inclusive process" and to "avoid any detrimental impact to the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina."

The statement also calls on both Pristina and Belgrade to "take steps to exercise restraint and to lower the tensions and create the conditions to resume as soon as possible their dialogue."

"A binding agreement addressing all issues should remain the key priority," it insisted.

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.

With reporting by AP and N1

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kosovo-thaci- ksf-conversion-serbia-vucic-dacic-un- security-council/29660079.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





UN Confirms Presence of 4 Hezbollah Tunnels to Cross Israeli Border - Spokesman

Sputnik News

21:57 17.12.2018

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik)  The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has confirmed the existence of all four of the tunnels that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) discovered along the border between Israel and Lebanon, UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Monday.

"Based on the UN's independent assessment, the peacekeepers have so far confirmed the existence of all four tunnels close to the Blue Line in Northern Israel," Dujarric said, referring to the UN-drawn line of demarcation between Israel and Lebanon. "UNIFIL at this stage can confirm that two of the tunnels cross the Blue Line."

The UN spokesman emphasized that the presence of cross-border tunnels is "a matter of serious concern," adding that UNIFIL has demanded that the Lebanese government respond to the violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls on both sides to respect the Blue Line and implement a full cessation of hostilities.

The spokesman's comments come after last week, the IDF discovered a fourth cross-border tunnel that it says the Hezbollah militant group dug into Israel from southern Lebanon.

In late November, the Israeli army launched an operation, dubbed Northern Shield, to expose and neutralize cross-border attack tunnels that Hezbollah dug from Lebanon into Israel.

Israel views Hezbollah's presence in Lebanon and Syria as a threat to its national security and accuses Iran, its main rival in the region, of backing it.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Global Compact on Refugees: How is this different from the migrants' pact and how will it help?

17 December 2018 - The terms 'refugee' and 'migrant' have been used interchangeably to describe the millions of people worldwide that are either fleeing conflict or seeking better living conditions. As the United Nations sets out to secure global compacts to better protect them, it's critical to understand the differences between the two.

A new international agreement to forge a stronger, fairer response to large refugee movements known as the Global Compact on Refugees is expected to be endorsed by members of the UN General Assembly on Monday, 17 December to provide greater support for those fleeing their homelands, and for the countries that take them in, which are often among the poorest in the world.

It's designed to provide a robust and systematic model to improve the lives of refugees and their host communities following two years of intensive consultations - which may sound familiar to anyone who has been following the progress of the global migration pact ( formally known as the Global Compact for Safe, orderly and Regular Migration) which was formally adopted in Marrakech last Monday, 10 December 2018.

UN News has put together this guide to explain the key difference between migrant and refugee status, and the differences between the two UN-backed compacts that are designed to improve the lives of everybody on the move.

We just heard the global compact on migration has recently been adopted.

Why do we need another deal?

The New York Declaration that was adopted in September 2016 gave birth to two compacts: one on refugees and one on migrants. Although both are groups of people who live outside of their countries of origin, there are crucial distinctions between the terms "refugee" and "migrant."

Both agreements are voluntary in nature, and not legally binding instruments.

What's the difference between a migrant and a refugee?

Refugees are persons who are outside their country of origin for reasons of feared persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or other circumstances that have seriously disturbed public order and, as a result, require international protection. The refugee definition can be found in the 1951 Convention and regional refugee instruments, as well as the Statute of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

While there is no formal legal definition of an international migrant, most experts agree that an international migrant is someone who changes his or her country of usual residence, irrespective of the reason for migration or legal status. Generally, a distinction is made between short-term or temporary migration, covering movements with a duration between three and 12 months, and long-term or permanent migration, referring to a change of country of residence for a duration of one year or more.

"I'm a migrant but didn't have to risk my life on a leaky boat or pay traffickers. Safe migration cannot be limited to the global elite", United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.

Does this mean the Refugee Convention is not fit for purpose?

The compact builds upon, not replaces, the existing international legal system for refugees  including the 1951 Refugee Convention and other international legal instruments on refugee, human rights and humanitarian law.

"The Refugee Convention focuses on rights of refugees and obligations of States, but it does not deal with international cooperation writ large. And that's what the global compact seeks to address", explained the UN refugee agency's (UNHCR) Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Volker Turk.

The 1951 Convention does not specify how you share the burden and responsibility, and that's what the global compact does. "It responds to one of the major gaps we have faced for decades".

But why do we need a new international agreement?

At the end of 2017, there were nearly 25.4 million refugees around the world, more than half of whom are under the age of 18. Today, just 10 countries host 60 per cent of the world's refugees. Turkey alone hosts 3.5 million refugees, more than any other country. Furthermore, the vast majority of the world's refugees (85 per cent) live in developing countries that face their own economic and development challenges.

Ten governmental donors (including the European Union) provide almost eighty per cent of UNHCR's funding, for example, and more than two-thirds of UNHCR's resettlement submissions go to just five countries. The gap between the needs of refugees and action to meet them is large and growing.

Who decided to create this compact? The UN, UNHCR?

No, it was decided by Member States. The New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, adopted by Member States in September 2016 included two key steps in relation to refugees:

 First, Member States adopted the comprehensive refugee response framework', which sets out a wide range of measures to be taken by the international community when responding to a large-scale refugee situation.

 Secondly, Member States agreed to continue to improve international responses by working towards the adoption of a 'global compact on refugees' in 2018. They asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to consult with Member States and a wide range of other stakeholders and propose such a compact. The proposed global compact on refugees was released on 20 July 2018.

How was the global compact on refugees negotiated?

It has been developed through an extensive multilateral process of consultation with Member States and other key stakeholders.

On 13 November 2018, the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural (Third) Committee of the UN General Assembly approved the resolution which affirms the refugee compact with overwhelming majority and has sent the text to the General Assembly plenary for adoption, scheduled for the morning of 17 December 2018.

How will the global compact on refugees work?

The global compact on refugees establishes the architecture for a stronger, more predictable and more equitable international response to large refugee situations.

Although not legally binding, it guides the international community in supporting refugees and countries and communities hosting large numbers through the mobilization of political will, a broadening of the base of support, and the activation of arrangements for more equitable and predictable burden- and responsibility-sharing.

"Refugees are an international concern, and a shared responsibility," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said. "In the compact, we will for the first time have a practical workable model, a set of tools that translates this principle into action."

"Decades of keeping refugees apart, consigned to camps or on the margins of society are giving way to a fundamentally different approach  including refugees in national systems, societies and economies of their host countries for the time that it is necessary, and enabling them to contribute to their new communities and to secure their own futures, pending a solution to their plight," Grandi explained, noting the that the global compact started with the generosity of these communities.

The global compact has four objectives:

1. Ease pressures on countries that host large numbers of refugees;

2. Build self-reliance of refugees;

3. Expand access to third-country or refugees through resettlement and other pathways of admission;

4. Support conditions that enable refugees to return to their countries of origin

Will my country be obliged to welcome refugees?

Not more than it already is. The 1951 Refugee Convention focuses on rights of refugees and obligations of states. The global compact on refugees reaffirms those standards and principles.

The compact is not intended to create additional burdens or impositions on countries hosting large numbers of refugees, nor to modify UNHCR's protection and solutions mandate. It seeks to build upon the international refugee regime that has been established over decades.

My country already hosts many refugees? Are we going to get help?

In specific large-scale refugee contexts, the global compact provides that a host State or country of origin, could request the activation by UNHCR of a Support Platform to assist its national response arrangements.

"What we want to achieve is a very quick galvanizing of support: political, financial, and resettlement support, so that countries  when they are faced with such a situation  feel that they are not on their own, that they are not isolated, or that no one cares", Turk said. "That the international community cares about the people, but also the country that is affected. And it stands in solidarity, and acts in solidarity with them. That is really the purpose".

What tangible difference will the compact make in the lives of refugees or the communities that host them?

UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection explained that if the compact is implemented we would see "better education for refugee boys and girls, as well as better access to health services for all refugees, and more livelihood opportunities". Host communities would engage differently with refugees, moving away from the encampment policies.

Host countries like Uganda, Rwanda, Iran, those in Central America, or Lebanon  with its infrastructure and health services enormously challenged by hosting a million refugees  would get the support they need not just from a humanitarian perspective but from a development cooperation perspective. "And that's what is new", Turk added.

Also, UNHCR aims to get more resettlement places and find more ways refugees can move to third countries  such as through family reunification, student scholarships, or humanitarian visas.

But if the compact is not legally binding, can it really make a difference?

It's not binding, but the UN General Assembly will adopt the global compact. "Once that's done, it demonstrates a very strong political commitment of all 193 Member States to implement it, even if it's not legally binding", Turk said, noting that "in today's world, that's how multilateralism is often done".

Who's going to fund all this?

The global compact embeds the response in a much broader partnerships approach. It looks at what the private sector, faith communities and international financial institution can bring to the table.

The World Bank has established a specific financial instrument for low-income countries affected by forced displacement  $2 billion for a couple of years  to help address the socio-economic impact of refugee flows into a part of a country.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





UN calls for funds to ease 'deteriorating' humanitarian situation in Gaza and West Bank

17 December 2018 - The need for aid in the occupied Palestinian territory has increased, following a year that has seen a "serious deterioration in the humanitarian situation," said Jamie McGoldrick, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the region, in a statement on Monday.

Mr. McGoldrick's comments were released as part of the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan for the occupied Palestinian territory, which calls for $350 million to assist 1.4 million people, the maximum number of people that the UN can, he said, realistically reach in the current "non-conducive political and resource climate."

"Our plan for 2019 prioritizes assistance for people assessed as being most in need of protection, food, health care, shelter, water and sanitation," said Mr. McGoldrick. "It enables us to maximize limited funding. But much more is needed, and we stand ready to do more, if funding and operational space are improved."

The Humanitarian Coordinator described 2018 as a challenging year for UN agencies and aid workers in the region, particularly in Gaza. There were recurrent outbreaks of violence and a significant rise in casualties from demonstrations at the border fence between Gaza and Israel, referred to by Palestinians as the "Great March of Return."

Since March, over 150 Palestinians have reportedly been killed, and more than 10,000 injured, by Israeli forces in connection with the demonstrations: consequently, the funding requested for health services in 2019 has gone up, reflecting the surge in demand on an already overburdened health sector in Gaza.

The economy of Gaza is also a cause for concern, he added: the World Bank described it as being in "freefall" in a September press release, with unemployment, poverty and food insecurity on the rise. Mr. McGoldrick said that an increase in partner funding is expected, in order to meet the most urgent needs of those living in the occupied territories, to protect the rights of those living under occupation, and provide basic services for the most vulnerable.



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Afghan Taliban Representatives, US Officials Meet in UAE

By Ayaz Gul December 17, 2018

Afghan-Taliban representatives met with U.S. officials Monday amid moves to press for a negotiated end to Afghanistan's 17-year war.

The Pakistan-organized talks were held in the United Arab Emirates. Officials who participated were not immediately available to discuss details.

The special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, led the U.S. team in the talks that included envoys from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia as well as the host country, Taliban and Pakistani officials told VOA.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group's representatives spoke only to the U.S. team and had no plans to speak with anyone from Afghanistan's National Unity Government, or NUG. Taliban officials said reports to the contrary were "propaganda."

US Praises Pakistan Role

When asked about the talks, a State Department spokesperson told VOA Monday that the meetings are part of U.S. efforts to promote an intra-Afghan dialogue toward ending the conflict.

"We welcome any actions the Pakistani government takes to advance security, stability and cooperation in South Asia, including the fostering of negotiations between the Taliban, the Afghan government and other Afghans, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also said a recent letter from U.S. President Donald Trump to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan "emphasized that Pakistan's assistance with the Afghan peace process is fundamental to building an enduring U.S.-Pakistan partnership."

Trump administration officials have hardened the U.S. position on Pakistan in recent months, suspending hundreds of millions of dollars in aid for what the officials say is Islamabad's unwillingness to act decisively against the Taliban. Pakistani authorities reject that charge, and point to the thousands of troops who have been killed fighting militants in the volatile Afghan border region.

Islamabad has long urged in talks with the U.S. that rival India's growing influence in Afghanistan is a matter of concern for Pakistan. Security officials blame Indian intelligence operatives for supporting militants planning terrorist attacks in Pakistan from Afghan soil, charges both Kabul and New Delhi reject.

A Next Step after Moscow Meeting

The meetings in Abu Dhabi follow peace talks last month in Moscow. Those talks did not include representatives from the Afghan government.

A senior Pakistani government official, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity, said the Abu Dhabi round was the first time in three years that Afghan government officials and Taliban representatives both attended a peace talks meeting.

"This is a feat much more important in its impact than the Russians' initial success to bring the Taliban to table without NUG," the official told VOA.

The official, while responding to the Taliban's denials, said the UAE meeting was never intended to be a direct talk with the Kabul government and the Taliban at this stage. "Their presence in each other's vicinity was a CBM (confidence building measure)," he added.

In the run-up to Monday's meetings, Pakistani officials told VOA in background interviews the U.S. has directly engaged the Taliban since July to promote a political settlement to the Afghan war but said Washington still has "no clear plan" on how to further the peace process.

Roads to Peace

U.S. envoy Khalilzad is visiting regional countries to gather support for Afghan peace talks. His 18-day trip is due to end on Tuesday during which he also visited Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Belgium.

Pakistani officials privy to Khalilzad's interaction with the Taliban have told VOA that until now, no progress has been achieved because the insurgents adamantly demand "a date or timeframe" for all U.S. and NATO troops to withdraw from Afghanistan before the Taliban decide to participate in an intra-Afghan peace process.

Analysts remain skeptical on whether renewed Pakistani efforts would lead to an end of Afghan hostilities.

Previous U.S. administrations rejected offers from Pakistan to facilitate a political solution with insurgent elements, notes policy research analyst Adam Weinstein, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in Afghanistan.

"Recreating this missed opportunity nearly two decades later will prove difficult," Weinstein told VOA. He observed that Washington "still ascribes" to Pakistan the ability to greatly influence the Taliban both positively and negatively.

"While Pakistan still has the power to prolong the conflict, its ability to resolve it is diminished. Translating talks into sustainable solutions will require long-term commitment from all relevant actors, which is difficult to achieve amid ongoing military operations in Afghanistan and worsening U.S.-Pakistan ties," Weinstein cautioned.

Washington has long maintained Taliban leaders are sheltering in Pakistan with covert support from the country's intelligence agency. Washington has been urging Islamabad to use its influence to bring the insurgents to the negotiating table.

Pakistani officials say their influence over the Taliban has significantly declined over the years because the insurgents have gained control over large areas of Afghanistan and continue to pose serious battlefield challenges for U.S.-backed Afghan security forces.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and the war with the Taliban has since killed nearly 150,000 people, including Afghan civilians, security forces, insurgents and more than 2,400 American soldiers, according to an American University study released recently

The longest war effort in U.S. history has also cost Washington nearly one trillion dollars. The Taliban instead has expanded its insurgent activities and currently controls or hotly contests about half of Afghanistan.

The conflict is said to have killed more Afghan civilians and security forces in 2018 than in any other year.

VOA's Nike Ching contributed to this report.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Officials: US Airstrikes Destroyed Al-Shabab Base, Kill 62 Militants

By Mohamed Olad Hassan December 17, 2018

U.S. military airstrikes in Somalia over the weekend destroyed a secret al-Shabab base close to the capital, Mogadishu, and killed at least 62 militants, including 10 middle-ranking commanders, according to Somali officials and intelligence sources.

"The repeated strikes ... targeted the al-Shabab base on a mountain area near Gendershe, where al-Shabab militants have been training new recruits and used to launch attacks against government soldiers and the African Union peacekeepers," said Abdifitah Haji Abdulle, deputy governor of the Lower Shabelle region.

A Somali intelligence official said the militants established the secret base about 53 kilometers south of Mogadishu because of its proximity to the capital and the port town of Marka.

U.S. and Somali government forces have targeted other Shabab bases in Somalia's Lower Shabelle region for years, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"So, the militants decided to set up a new base ... close to the Indian Ocean and Mogadishu to avoid the intelligence radar," the official told VOA's Somali Service.

Gendershe is a village on the coastal road linking the Somali capital to Marka.

Earlier this month, two senior Somali military commanders and several soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb blast hit their vehicle in the nearby village of Dhanane.

Abdulle said that was when the Somali intelligence officials realized the strong presence of al-Shabab in the area and asked for U.S. airstrikes.

The U.S. military's Africa Command (AFRICOM) said four strikes were carried out on Saturday, killing 34 militants, and two more on Sunday, which killed 28.The airstrikes did not kill any civilians, the statement said.

"Africa Command and our Somali partners conducted these airstrikes to prevent terrorists from using remote areas as a safe haven to plot, direct, inspire and recruit for future attacks," AFRICOM said in a statement.

The U.S. has now conducted nearly 40 airstrikes in Somalia this year, killing approximately 300 al-Shabab members.

Expected military operation

Other Somali military officials told VOA that the strikes were meant to deny al-Shabab the ability to regroup ahead of an operation to flush them out of Middle Jubba, the only region they fully control in southern Somalia.Somali government officials believe Buale, the provincial capital of the region, is where the militants organize attacks and hold their top meetings.

"A preparation for a joint military operations by the Somali army and the Kenyan troops, who are part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), is in its final days. I cannot say when, exactly," said Farah Ahmed, a Somali military official involved in the preparation.

According to a statement from AMISOM, the joint operations will involve troops from AMISOM, Jubbaland State Forces and the Somali National Army.

Mohamud Sayid Aden, the Jubbaland deputy president, said preparations for the joint military operations are at "an advanced stage."

The operation was announced on Sunday following talks between Aden and a top AMISOM commander, Maj. Gen. Charles Tai Gituai, in the southern town of Kismayo.

The preparations can be seen in the towns along the Somali-Kenya border, where heavily armed Kenyan military forces were seen advancing toward the region, witnesses told VOA.

Al-Shabab, an al-Qaida affiliate, wants to overthrow Somalia's central government and turn the country into a strict Islamic state.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





General Dynamics Warns Canada Scrapping Saudi Arms Deal Would Cost Billions

Sputnik News

01:41 18.12.2018(updated 01:45 18.12.2018)

Defense contractor General Dynamics warned the Canadian government Monday that if it goes forward with its proposed withdrawal from an arms deal with Saudi Arabia it would incur "billions of dollars of liability."

On Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated his intention to scrap a $13 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia in protest over the kingdom's presumed assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and its continued bloody war in Yemen.

"The murder of a journalist is absolutely unacceptable, and that's why Canada from the very beginning had been demanding answers and solutions on that. Secondly, we inherited actually a $15 billion contract signed by [former Prime Minister] Stephen Harper to export light-armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia," Trudeau told CTV Sunday about his predecessor's deal. "We are engaged with the export permits to try and see if there is a way of no longer exporting these vehicles to Saudi Arabia."

However, General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada fired back the following day, telling Ottawa that the penalties for ending the deal would be very steep  to the tune of C$1 billion, or US$747 million.

"Were Canada to unilaterally terminate the contract, Canada would incur billions of dollars of liability to General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada," the company said, according to the Toronto-based Globe and Mail. "Terminating the contract would have a significant negative impact on our highly skilled employees, our supply chain across Canada and the Canadian defence sector broadly."

The 2014 contract was to supply Riyadh with 928 General Dynamics LAV 6 [also called LAV III] armored personnel carriers.

Canada's arms deals with the Saudi Kingdom have become a source of public embarrassment in recent years, most recently becoming part of the diplomatic spat between Ottawa and Riyadh in August.

A $15 billion arms deal in 2015 saw Ottawa supply Riyadh with Terradyne Armored Vehicles' Gurkha armored cars. However, when footage of them being used to suppress Shiite protesters in the eastern Saudi city of Qatif and in the Saudi-led coalition's war in Yemen came to light in 2017, the government of the newly elected Trudeau began an investigation.

"The deal was that it was to be kept secret, but when Trudeau came to power a couple of years ago, details were leaked about what was going on, and then stories about these armored cars being used to attack people in Yemen and crush internal dissent and so on, it caused the Saudis a lot of problems, and really angered them, and they felt they were being betrayed," Christopher Black, an international criminal and human rights lawyer, told Radio Sputnik at the time. "Canada was taking their money but making them look bad at the same time."

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Clashes Erupt in Al Hudaydah Minutes After Ceasefire Took Effect - Reports

Sputnik News

01:25 18.12.2018(updated 02:29 18.12.2018)

CAIRO (Sputnik) - A ceasefire between the Yemeni government forces and the Houthi movement in the port city of Al Hudaydah officially came into force at midnight on Tuesday, Arab media reported, citing UN sources.

The ceasefire was agreed upon by the warring sides during the UN-led consultations in Sweden earlier in December. In a process overseen by a UN-chaired committee, troops from both sides are supposed to withdraw from the entire area. The sides to the Yemeni conflict also agreed to exchange war prisoners and establish humanitarian corridors in Hudaydah.

Meanwhile, a pro-government official told AFP that sporadic clashes have erupted minutes after a ceasefire deal took effect in the country's port city of Al Hudaydah.

Moreover, the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya broadcaster reported that the Houthis have started shelling the government forces. "Houthi militants have derailed the ceasefire once it was enforced," a representative of the city's administration told the broadcaster.

According to the broadcaster, the shelling is targeting the government forces' positions in the south and east of the city.

Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and the Houthi rebels for several years. The Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request since March 2015.

The fighting intensified in summer near Houthis-controlled Al Hudaydah, the port through which the rebels receive humanitarian and commercial cargoes.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Creation of Kosovo Army Violates UN Security Council Resolution - Russian Envoy

Sputnik News

00:43 18.12.2018(updated 00:57 18.12.2018)

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Russia regrets that the European Union has failed to adequately respond to Kosovo's decision to transform the Kosovo Security Force into a national army, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council on Monday.

"We've been very disappointed by the position of the European Union. On the one hand, it claims to play the role of an objective mediator," Nebenzia told the Security Council on Monday. "On the other hand, it disregards the illegal creation of the Kosovo army. The reaction of the EU to the latest decision of Pristine can only be called toothless."

Moreover, the decision to transform the existing security forces in Kosovo into an army is in blatant violation on UN Security Council resolution 1244, Nebenzia said.

"The decision on transforming the Kosovo security forces into the Kosovo defense forces has become a gross violation of the [UN] Security Council resolution 1244," Nebenzia told the Security Council on Monday. "As far as the decision to create the armed force of Kosovo, which violates the resolution [1244], it must be reversed immediately," Nebenzia said.

Russian envoy to the United Nations also stressed that the Balkans remain a fertile ground for radicalization.

"The region continues to be a fertile ground for recruiting radicals," Nebenzia said. "Terrorist returnees from Syria and Iraq take refuge there." Nebenzia added that the rate of return for refugees and internally displaced persons to the Balkan region remains highly unsatisfactory.

"There is a real threat of humanitarian crisis due to the introduction by Pristina of protective tariffs on the import of goods from Serbia," he added.

On December 15, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern over Kosovo's decision to form an army, urging all parties concerned to exercise restraint.

In October, Kosovo's parliament voted to change the mandate of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) and transform it into the republic's national army. On Monday, Kadri Veseli, the speaker of the Kosovar legislature, announced that the army would be officially created on December 14. The forces will reportedly comprise a total of 8,000 people  5,000 active duty soldiers and 3,000 reservists.

The decision by the ruling Albanians in Kosovo to create an army has been criticized not only by Serbia, but also by NATO, with the alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg saying such actions were "ill-timed."

Albanians in Serbia's province of Kosovo and Metohia proclaimed independence in 2008  a move that has been encouraged by the United States and its allies and recognized by more than hundred UN member states. The move has not been recognized by Serbia and two permanent members of the UN Security Council  Russia and China.

Meanwhile, representatives of the EU8 countries at the United Nations delivered a statement on Monday urging Kosovo and Serbia to use restraint, lower tensions, and work towards resuming their dialogue.

"We call on both sides to take steps to exercise restraint and to lower the tensions and create the conditions to resume as soon as possible their dialogue as facilitated by the EU High Representative. A binding agreement addressing all issues should remain the key priority," the statement said.

Serbia's Ambassador to Russia Slavenko Terzic told Sputnik on Friday that Belgrade is interested in continuing constructive talks with Kosovo but does not expect a "sober dialogue" due to Kosovo's decision to create its own national army.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





UN, Palestinian Authority Launch $350Mln Aid Appeal for 1.4Mln Refugees

Sputnik News

00:06 18.12.2018

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United Nations has launched a 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for needy Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, according to a joint press release by UN Coordinator for the Palestinian Territories Jamie McGoldrick and Palestinian Social Development Minister Ibrahim Al-Shaer on Monday.

"The 2019 HRP appeals for $350 million to provide basic food, protection, health care, shelter, water and sanitation to 1.4 million Palestinians, who have been identified as most in need of humanitarian interventions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem," the release stated.

The 2019 plan encompasses 203 projects that will be implemented by 88 organizations, including 38 national, 37 international non-governmental organizations, and 13 United Nations agencies, the release said. A little over two-thirds of the requested funds target the Gaza Strip.

The humanitarian situation has been aggravated since March 30 by a massive rise in Palestinian casualties in the context of demonstrations in the Gaza Strip.

The Trump administration has suspended United States' aid to the Palestinians, arguing that the UN Relief Works Agency  the primary vehicle to distribute aid  is hopelessly flawed and had done little to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





U.S. Air Force To Launch New Generation Of GPS Satellites

December 17, 2018

The U.S. Air Force is preparing to launch the first of a new generation of GPS satellites, with the goal of providing more accuracy and security in the face of jamming threats from adversaries, including Russia.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite is set to lift off on December 18 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

It will be the first of 32 planned GPS III satellites that are designed to replace older ones currently in orbit and are being manufactured by Lockheed Martin. SpaceX won contracts to handle five of the first six GPS 3 launches.

Many of the leading features of the system will not be fully functional until at least 2022.

The cost of the system is estimated at $7 billion to $12 billion.

The Air Force controls a series of 31 GPS satellites from a high-security complex at an Air Force base near Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The military says the GPS III satellites will have a stronger signal that will be more difficult to jam.

Norway accused Russia of disrupting GPS signals during a recent NATO military exercise.

Lockheed Martin says the new system will have three times greater accuracy and up to eight times more antijamming capabilities than the existing GPS satellites.

Based on reporting by AP and Space News

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-air-force-to-launch-new- generation-of-gps-satellites/29660193.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 Prepares First Generation III GPS Satellites for Launch

Sputnik News

22:13 17.12.2018(updated 22:25 17.12.2018)

The US Air Force is readying its first launch of a new generation of global positioning satellites. However, the program is behind schedule, over budget and generally fraught with problems.

The first of 32 planned GPS Generation III satellites is scheduled to launch Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, an event that is already two-and-a-half years behind schedule. The project is also 6 percent over budget, and although the Air Force boasts that the price will eventually fall substantially per unit, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) isn't so optimistic. Plus, the ground control system is in even worse shape.

Cristina Chaplain, who tracks GPS and other programs for the GAO, told AP that the first 10 GPS Generation III satellites are estimated to cost $577 million each. However, while the Air Force said in September that the remaining 22 satellites are expected to cost a total of $7.2 billion  which would be $327 million each  the GAO thinks the cost will only fall by $32 million per unit, for a total remaining cost of $12 billion.

Raytheon's OCX ground control system is four years behind schedule and projected to run $2.5 billion over its $3.7 billion budget, according to the GAO. The system isn't very secure, either, with Breaking Defense noting in February 2016 that it wasn't meeting Defense Department cybersecurity standards and that Lockheed Martin, which is responsible for the overall Gen III program, had been asked to draw up an interim fix itself. Only last month did OCX finally pass its cybersecurity vulnerability tests.

Once up and running, however, the satellites will be a substantial improvement over the Block II series, which were launched between 1989 and 2016. AP notes that over 4 billion people use GPS for navigation and that it also performs time-stamping on bank transactions.

In addition to a doubled lifespan, the Block III satellites will be three times as accurate as present GPS satellites, being able to pinpoint one's location to within three to 10 feet, according to Glen Gibbons, the founder and former editor of Inside GNSS, a website and magazine that tracks global navigation satellite systems.

The new satellites' signals will be stronger, too, and less vulnerable to jamming. They'll also be compatible with other countries' navigation satellites, such as the European Union's Galileo system.

However, due to delays in OCX, many of these features won't be available until at least 2022, Gibbons noted.

"The world is dependent on GPS. More than 4 billion military, commercial and civilian users connect with signals generated by GPS satellites every day," said Johnathon Caldwell, Lockheed Martin's vice president for navigation systems, in a December 11 statement. "The launch of GPS III SV01 will be the first step in modernizing the Air Force's GPS constellation with the most powerful and resilient GPS satellites ever designed and built."

Tuesday's launch itself is somewhat historic, being the first time the Air Force has contracted SpaceX to launch a GPS satellite on their Falcon 9 rocket. The satellite is nicknamed "Amerigo Vespucci," for the Italian explorer who first recognized the Americas as separate continents from Asia, and for whom they were subsequently named.

However, even as the Air Force moves to replace its aging GPS satellite constellation with new ones of a similar design, the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has been hard at work trying to adapt civilian technology in order to make a new generation of small, cheap and disposable GPS satellites.

In November, SpaceX received approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch a dizzying 11,943 satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO) for its Starlink broadband network. The satellites orbit only a couple hundred miles above the Earth's surface, compared to the distant 10-22,500 miles at which present GPS satellites orbit. Tuesday's launch will put its payload roughly 11,000 miles out, according to an Air Force fact sheet.

DARPA has earmarked $117.5 million for its Blackjack Program, aiming to adapt SpaceX's technology to replace its lumbering GPS satellites, which are expensive to design and launch, with a constellation similar to Starlink. The Air Force in particular considers its mere 32 GPS satellites to be vulnerable to attack or disruption in the case of conflict  a capability both Russia and China have demonstrated.

DARPA hopes to have 20 prototype Blackjack satellites in LEO by 2021, which will weigh in somewhere between 220 and 880 pounds and only cost about $6 million per unit, according to project developer Paul Thomas. Compare that to the Block III being launched Tuesday, which is a hefty 4,764 pounds.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Russia to Decommission Carrier Vehicle With Ukraine-Made Components - Source

Sputnik News

03:28 18.12.2018

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The last launches of the Rokot carrier rocket fitted with a Ukrainian-made control system will be carried out in 2019, then the vehicle will be decommissioned, a source in the space industry told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"In 2019, it is planned to carry out two launches of Rokot [launch vehicle] with Briz-KM upper stages from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, after which the rocket will be decommissioned," the source said.

In the first launch scheduled for June-July, Rokot will bring three Gonets-M communication satellites to the orbit, according to the source. Then a Geo-IK geodesy satellite will be delivered to the orbit, he said, adding that the Geo-IK might yet be brought to the orbit before the Gonets-M satellites.

In August, Russia's space agency Roscosmos announced that the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center was developing Rokot-2 carrier rocket with a Russian-made control system. The current model of Rokot carrier rocket is using a Ukrainian-made control system.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





DPRK criticizes U.S. for imposing new sanctions against its officials

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 09:04, December 17, 2018

PYONGYANG, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- A research institute under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) issued a statement Sunday night criticizing the United States for imposing sanctions against DPRK officials.

The statement was issued by the policy research director of the Institute for American Studies of the Foreign Ministry, and released by DPKR's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) without giving the name of the director.

The statement said the top leaders of the DPRK and the United States committed themselves to improving the DPRK-U.S. relations at the historic DPRK-U.S. summit held in Singapore in June, and currently the bilateral relations are advancing along the firm will of the two leaders to follow through their joint statement issued then.

However, it added, over the past six months, the U.S. State Department and the Treasury Department have carried out eight rounds of sanctions against DPRK companies, individuals and ships as well as other third countries through false pretexts.

"Recently, the U.S. is resorting to an anti-DPRK human rights plot in such a way that it carries a deliberate provocation by adding high-ranking government officials of the DPRK" to its unilateral sanctions list, while taking issue with a non-existent "human rights issue," the statement pointed out.

Washington announced on Dec. 10 that it would impose sanctions against three DPRK officials for serious human rights abuses and censorship, and DPRK's statement on Sunday seems to be a semi-official response to the U.S. decision.

"Far from the statements of the (U.S.) president, the State Department is instead bent on bringing DPRK-U.S. relations back to the status of last year which was marked by exchanges of fire. I cannot help but throw doubt on the ulterior motive of the State Department," KCNA quoted the director as saying, adding that the sanctions against the DPRK "would not work."

The director also stressed that if the high-ranking politicians within the U.S. administration wished to "drive us into giving up nuclear weapons by way of increasing anti-DPRK sanctions and pressure," it would be a miscalculation, and "will block the path to denuclearization on the Korean peninsula forever."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Iran army aviation to use drones: Comdr

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Dec 17, IRNA -- Drone unit of the Iranian Army Ground Force's Airborne Division (Havanirouz) is to be formed before long, the commander of the force told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

'The drone unit is to be formed soon,' said Brigadier-General Yousef Qorbani, adding that the force has already been using helicopters to do reconnaissance but drones are going to be used for that purpose.

He said from now on 'some operations' will be done by drones, adding that Iran enjoys one of the strongest drone units in the region, including assault, electronic, reconnaissance, transportation, and suicide ones.

9417**1771

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Iran will never talk to anybody who sets conditions for it: FM Zarif

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 17, 2018 04:01PM

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has strongly dismissed the possibility of holding negotiations with the United States after Washington set conditions for talks with Tehran, saying the Islamic Republic will never talk to those who set conditions for it.

In a post on his official Twitter account on Monday, Zarif released a video showing him seated with US journalist Robin Wright on the sidelines of the Doha Forum 2018 in the Qatari capital on Saturday.

In response to a question about US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's list of a dozen conditions, which Washington expects Tehran to meet before any further talks, Zarif said, "We will not talk to anybody who sets 12 conditions for us to talk to them after having violated a [UN] Security Council resolution that they sponsored themselves."

In an apparent reference to the lawless conduct of the administration of US President Donald Trump in the field of international relations and its disrespect for international agreements and treaties, the Iranian foreign minister emphasized that it is the leaders of the United States who must meet conditions before they talk to any other country.

"I am not asking them [US leaders] to be lawful, because that's asking them for the impossible, [but I ask them] at least [to] become less lawless," he pointed out.

Speaking weeks after the United States in May pulled out of the historic nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed between Iran and major powers in 2015, Pompeo laid out 12 tough conditions for any "new deal" with Tehran.

The conditions included withdrawal of Iran's military advisors from Syria, who have been helping the country's legitimate government in its fight against terrorist outfits, which have been mostly aided and abetted by the US and its Western and regional allies.

In a meeting with a number of Iranian lawmakers late in May, Zarif said the new strategies declared by the US secretary of state will lead to Washington's greater isolation among the international community.

"In my opinion, the new US strategies against Iran, which were announced by the country's secretary of state, will bring down more isolation on the US," Zarif said.

Under the deal, reached between Iran and six major powers -- the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China -- Tehran agreed to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions.

In November, the Trump administration announced the re-imposition of the "toughest" sanctions ever against Iran's banking and energy sectors with the aim of cutting off the country's oil sales and crucial exports.

A first round of American sanctions took effect in August, targeting Iran's access to the US dollar, metals trading, coal, industrial software, and auto sector.

In his address to the Doha Forum 2018 on Saturday, Zarif said economic sanctions imposed by the United States against Iran will fail to have any impact on the policies of the Islamic Republic at home or abroad.

"It's obviously the case that we are facing economic pressure because of the US sanctions. [The] US is a major global power and it can actually create painful conditions for other countries. But would that lead to a change of policy? I can assure you that it won't," the Iranian foreign minister added.

Elsewhere in his Monday tweet, the Iranian foreign minister vehemently dismissed claims about Tehran's intervention in the Middle East and said it is the US that is intervening in the region.

"It is our region and anywhere we have troops or military advisors, it's on the invitation of the governments. Can the United States make the same claim?"

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said in October that the Islamic Republic will keep its military advisory presence in Syria as long as Tehran finds it "effective and useful" and as long as the Arab country's government demands it.

In an exclusive interview with Press TV, IRGC spokesman Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif said the Islamic Republic has been supporting Syria in accordance with international regulations since the beginning of the crisis in the country.

Iran has been offering military advisory support to Syria and Iraq at the request of the two Arab countries' governments, enabling them to speed up their gains on various fronts against terror outfits.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Delusions, strategic mistake led Saudis to invade Yemen: Iran

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 17, 2018 11:17AM

Iran says Saudi Arabia's decision to invade Yemen is the result of the Riyadh regime's "delusions" about its military power and the "strategic mistake" it made by undermining Yemeni people's ability to defend themselves.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said Monday the fact that the Saudi side has agreed to sit down with the Houthi movement for peace talks speaks volumes about the thinking process that led Saudi Arabia and its allies to make their move.

"I think the Saudi-led coalition was preoccupied with this delusion that they could fulfill their objectives in Yemen in no time," Qassemi told Iran's Arabic language network Al Alam in an interview published Monday.

"They made a strategic mistake and began their operation without having a true understanding of occupation, invasion and Yemen's history."

The diplomat blasted Riyadh and its regional allies  including the UAE  for steaming ahead with their plans despite advice from "people who knew the region well and knew what awaits occupation and invasion."

He said it was obvious from the get-go that Yemen will endure and will do all it takes to defend itself against aggression.

"That is why we were certain from the beginning that a military solution was always bound to fail in Yemen, no matter the size of Saudi Arabia's and the UAE's arsenal and how much weapons their allies sent them," Qassemi continued.

"And as you can see, today we are at a stage wherein both sides have come to the negotiating table to think of a political solution for future," he added.

Houthi officials traveled to Swedish capital, Stockholm, last week to partake in UN-brokered peace talks with groups loyal to Yemen's fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.

The new UN-led peace initiative aims for, as a first step, an end to the maritime and aerial blockades that Saudi Arabia maintains on the impoverished country.

Iran has hailed preliminary deals between Yemeni parties, including resuming flights from Sana'a airport, expressing hope that they would prepare the ground for the next round of talks in order to reach a final agreement.

Qassemi described the talks as a "great triumph" for the Houthi movement and the Yemeni people. Their resistance, Qassemi said, forced Saudi leaders and the US to come to the negotiation table.

Iran proxy war 'a lie'

Qassemi denied allegations that Iran was providing weapons to the Houthi fighters and said the Saudi blockade in Yemen had made any connection with the Houthis virtually impossible.

He also denounced allegations of a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Yemen as "an obvious and blatant" lie put forward by the coalition.

US 'psychological war'

Qassemi also held a press briefing on Monday, where he dismissed reports that Chinese and Russian companies were withdrawing from Iranian oil projects under US pressure.

He said unless there were any official confirmations, such reports always amounted to "psychological warfare."

"Of course the US is seeking to pressure energy giants in the West and the East to cut ties with Iran but any developments in this area will be announced by the Oil Ministry," he said.

US President Donald Trump promised earlier this year that he would drive Iran's oil exports to zero under a new sanctions regime but was forced to exempt the eight main purchasers of Iranian crude after failing to find replacements in the global market.

Trade ties to grow despite US pressure

The diplomat also noted that Washington's threats of financial punishments have failed to affect Iran's growing trade ties with its western neighbor, Iraq.

Calling Baghdad one of Tehran's "good partners," Qassemi said Washington was "trying in vain" to disrupt this relationship.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Iran finds new oil, gas reserves, searches for more

Iran Press TV

Tue Dec 18, 2018 11:15AM

Iran is currently scouring 60 percent of its total area for new oil and gas reserves, including in places which were deemed until recently the least likely to have hydrocarbon-bearing formations.

One such place is the country's northwest, generally attributed as the Iranian Azarbaijan, where preliminary studies indicate the existence of oil reservoirs, head of exploration at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Saleh Hendi says.

"Our preliminary studies show that hydrocarbon resources are likely to be found in the Bostanabad and Miyaneh regions of East Azarbaijan Province," he told reporters in Tehran.

"We will soon begin the detailed operational work to further examine these two areas," he added.

An exploration block with a proven hydrocarbon system has already been found to the north in an area known as the Moghan basin in Ardabil Province.

Hendi said 35-40 new hydrocarbon reservoirs have been discovered across Iran, which need development. "We are now ranked first in the world for oil and gas reserves."

In the Sea of Oman, Iran struck gas at a depth of 800 meters. Hendi said drilling of exploration blocks is currently limited to the Persian Gulf and the country's southwest and northeast.

Iran's oil industry is headed for choppy waters from US re-enactment of sanctions, but the country's officials are undeterred.

In May, Hendi said 14 blocks were planned to be tendered for exploration this year and predicted at least six of them to be attractive to foreign investors.

But foreign companies refused to participate in the tenders due to the sanctions, he said on Monday.

That does not mean Iran's development operations are grounded. Hendi said the sanctions will accelerate the growth of domestic capabilities.

"A few years ago, we were begging to foreign and even Chinese companies for the purchase of some drilling equipment, but we have now become self-sufficient for them," he said.

"After the enactment of the new US sanctions against Iran, no problem has arisen and our exploration plans have not changed," he added.

On Monday, NIOC dismissed reports that Russian state oil giant Rosneft had canceled plans to invest in joint projects worth up to $30 billion in Iran due to US sanctions.

"There are no contracts signed with Rosneft, for the Russian company to withdraw from the Iranian oil industry and cut off its cooperation," the company said in a statement.

In November 2017, Rosneft announced a draft deal to jointly work on several "strategic" contracts in Iran, which together would bring up to $30 billion in investments and result in a total output of up to 55 million tonnes of oil per year.

NIOC said only a memorandum of understanding had been signed with Rosneft and no contract had been concluded between them.

Russia's Zarubezhneft clinched another preliminary deal in March to re-develop Iran's Aban and West Paydar oil fields near the Iraqi border in a joint project with Iran's Dana Energy.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi on Monday dismissed reports that Chinese and Russian companies were withdrawing from Iranian oil projects under US pressure.

He said unless there were any official confirmations, such reports always amounted to "psychological warfare."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Netanyahu: Israeli Missiles Can Reach Entire Middle East

Sputnik News

22:06 17.12.2018(updated 22:09 17.12.2018)

"They develop offensive missiles here that can reach any place in the region and any target," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday.

Speaking at the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries near Tel Aviv and standing in front of a display of weapons that he had just toured, Netanyahu explained, "This is an offensive force that belongs to the State of Israel and is relevant for all of our different fronts," according to a report by Jerusalem Post.

The prime minister, who is also Israel's defense minister following the November 14 resignation of Avigdor Lieberman, said, "There is a group of minds and people here who develop the best of the defenses needed for the State of Israel. This includes micro satellites that are fired into space and some missiles that you see here behind me. Space is a huge field that the State of Israel is entering."

The politician further discussed other defense matters, such as Israel's imminent sale of a dozen F-18C/D Barak fighter aircraft to Croatia, a deal that the US and Lockheed Martin have blocked as the three countries figures out what to do with intellectual property on the aircraft. Specifically, someone has to pony up some money to take certain systems off the F-18s before they can be delivered to Zagreb.

Some reports suggested the Trump administration was furious with the $500 million F-18 sale and blocked it on the grounds that Israel was profiting from US-made equipment that was paid for with US taxpayer funds.

Croatian Defense Minister Damir Krsticevic denied reports that Washington had blocked the deal, Sputnik reported.

Netanyahu assured reporters that he had intervened in the F-18 sale to Croatia personally, saying, "This is ongoing between the countries, and I have dealt with this personally," adding that it remains "too early to say anything clear about this."

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Zarif blasts Netanyahu for 'boasting of offensive missiles'

Iran Press TV

Tue Dec 18, 2018 08:31AM

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has blasted the hawkish Israeli premier for openly boasting of the regime's "offensive missiles," saying such a warmonger is in no position to voice "concerns" about Tehran's defensive missile program.

Zarif was reacting Tuesday to Benjamin Netanyahu's comments, who said a day earlier that the regime was developing missiles capable of hitting any target in the Middle East region.

Netanyahu also said the regime was working on weapons systems with "special capabilities that no other country has," adding, "This is the offensive power of Israel which is very important for us in all sectors."

In his tweet, Zarif wrote, "First, Netanyahu stands next to nuclear BOMB factory and threatens Iran with annihilation. Now, he openly boasts about his "OFFENSIVE" missiles that can reach anywhere."

The minister has in fact made a reference to Netanyahu's visit in August to the regime secretive Dimona nuclear weapons facility, from where he threatened Iran with a nuclear attack.

That threat drew strong criticisms from Tehran, which wrote to the United Nations, calling on the world body to condemn Israel and bring the regime's atomic weapons program under its supervision.

Netanyahu's latest comments come days after the hawkish prime minister said Israel was prepared to launch attacks inside Iran if its survival was at stake.

The Iranian foreign minister further pointed to the hype created by the Western states over Tehran's latest test of a conventional ballistic missile and said the Israeli premier "whines about Iran's Deterrent and DEFENSIVE missiles, and the West parrots his "concerns.""

Last week, the Security Council met at the request of France and Britain days after Iran tested a conventional ballistic missile. At the meeting, Israel's European allies and the US voiced "concerns" about Iran's national missile program.

The US even went as far as claiming that Iran's test was in defiance of UN Resolution 2231, which endorsed a 2015 multilateral deal on Tehran's nuclear program, without offering any evidence.

Since its creation in 1948 on occupied Palestinian land, the Israeli regime has waged numerous wars in the Middle East, the latest of which killed around 2,200 Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip in 2014.

The regime has in recent months stepped up threats of a new war against Lebanon. It also carries out airstrikes against Syrian soil from time to time in support of the Takfiri terror groups fighting the Damascus government.

Unlike Iran, the regime is not a member of the NPT -- whose aim is to prevent the spread of nuclear arms and weapons technology  in defiance of international pressure.

Israel is the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, and is estimated to have up to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal.

Besides premiership, Netanyahu also serves as Israel's minister of military affairs following the November 14 resignation of Avigdor Lieberman.

Lieberman stepped down from his post after Netanyahu bypassed him and accepted a ceasefire with Gaza-based resistance factions. Analysts described the developments as a sign of Israel's defeat both on the battlefield and the diplomatic front.

Lieberman's party quit the right-wing coalition government and its five MPs withdrew their support.

The loss of Lieberman's five parliamentary seats destabilized Netanyahu's majority coalition, forcing the premier to take over the empty office himself to avoid early elections.

Despite protests from opposition lawmakers, the parliament on Monday confirmed Netanyahu as the permanent minister of military affairs.

Opposition leader Tzipi Livni described the appointment "scary," saying Netanyahu's "political weakness" could bring "anything but security."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





UN agencies welcome green light for Rohingya projects in northern Myanmar; urge 'more effective access'

17 December 2018 - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, on Monday announced that they had received the Government go-ahead to develop community projects in Myanmar's Rakhine province, and called on authorities to provide "more effective access" to the area.

Since late August 2017, more than 725,000 mainly-Muslim Rohingya have fled Rakhine state, across the border into southern Bangladesh, fleeing widespread and systematic ethnic violence.

The "small-scale quick impact projects" were designed in consultation with affected communities and aim to improve livelihoods, build trust and promote social-cohesion among the various communities.

In a statement, the two UN agencies also said that they "remain strongly committed" to implementing the tripartite memorandum of understanding with Myanmar authorities, signed in June, to support the creation of conditions for the voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable returns of the Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh.

With security the primary concern, senior UN officials have cautioned against forceful return of refugees. Refugees have also voiced concerns for their safety and well-being, and Rohingya communities in Myanmar remain vulnerable, facing restrictions on their freedom of movement and limited access to essential services.

Senior UN delegation visits Myanmar

The project approvals coincided with a visit to the country, of UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Haoliang Xu, and UNHCR Deputy Regional Director, Bernard Doyle.

During their five-day visit, through to 14 December, the senior UN officials visited Rakhine, including the provincial capital Sittwe, and various villages where the two UN agencies have conducted initial rapid-needs assessments. They also talked to communities on the ground about the challenges they face, and prospects for the future.

The delegation also met State Counsellor, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and key Government Ministers, together with provincial and local officials.



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Moscow Court Rejects Russian National Guard Chief's Libel Lawsuit Against Navalny

By RFE/RL December 17, 2018

A court in Moscow has rejected a libel lawsuit filed by the head of Russia's National Guard, Viktor Zolotov, against opposition politician and anticorruption activist Aleksei Navalny.

The Lyublino District Court ruled on December 17 that the lawsuit filed by Zolotov, who is demanding 1 million rubles ($15,000) from Navalny in compensation for damaging his honor and dignity, has discrepancies contradicting Russia's Civic Procedural Code.

The court obliged Zolotov to refile the lawsuit in a proper form, with modified text and content by January 9.

Earlier on December 11, Zolotov's lawyer, Shota Gorgadze, said his client wanted a court to rule that Navalny's allegations about Zolotov being corrupt are not true.

Navalny then described the lawsuit against him as "very funny," citing Russian media reports that said the Federal Antimonopoly Service had received a request from the FSB security service to investigate possible violations in the National Guard's food purchasing program.

In August, Navalny issued a video showing images of luxurious properties that he claimed were bought by Zolotov and members of his family with "stolen money."

Zolotov, a former steelworker and longtime security chief for President Vladimir Putin, released a video in September in which he appeared in full dress uniform and challenged Navalny to a duel in the fighting form of his choice, vowing to "make mincemeat" of his opponent.

Navalny in October announced that he accepted Zolotov's challenge and proposed televised debates in a TV studio as his weapon of choice.

However, Zolotov rejected Navalny's offer.

With reporting by Dozhd and Meduza

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/moscow-court-rejects-russian-national-guard- chief-s-libel-lawsuit-against-navalny/29660459.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





Russian Aviation in Syria Carried Out Up to 100 Sorties Per Day - Minister

Sputnik News

10:10 17.12.2018

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said Monday that Russian military aircraft and helicopters managed to carry out up to 100 sorties per day from the Hmeymim air base in Syria due to efficient functioning of the engineering services.

"Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), Russian Helicopters, Tactical Missiles Corporation (KTRV) and other organizations of the military industrial complex contributed to the establishment of the engineering and technical platform designed to ensure functionality of aircraft at the Hmyimim air base. A well-coordinated work of our professionals provided a high level of intensity of the military activity that reached up to 100 sorties per day," Borisov told reporters.

Russia launched a military operation against terrorist groups in Syria in September 2015 at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad. On December 11, 2017, Russian leader Vladimir Putin ordered the withdrawal of a significant portion of Russian troops from the country, a week after his announcement that the Daesh* terrorist group was defeated in Syria. However, Russian servicemen have remained at Russia's naval facility in the city of Tartus and Hmeymim air base in order to continue helping maintain security in the country.

Reliability indicators of the Russian Su-35 and Su-30SM aircraft operating in Syria exceeded projected levels by three or four times, Yury Borisov said Monday.

"The achieved reliability indicators of the new Su-35 and Su-30SM aircraft in intensive combat operation were three-four times higher than the standard," the official said after his visit to Syria.

Borisov added that the Iskander-M missile system as well as the Tornado-G and Smerch rocket launchers had also proved its effectiveness in combat in Syria.

*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Holiday Pet Photoshoot Benefits Vallarta Animal Shelter

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Dress yourself and your furry friend in something festive and head out to the Malecon on Saturday, December 22 between 4:00 and 9:00 pm to have a professional photo taken for the holidays, during the Third Edition of 'Foto Tour Perruno.'

A non-profit initiative created by renowned local photographer Daniel Alvarez as a means of raising funds for the Puerto Vallarta Animal Shelter, El Centro de Control, Asistencia Animal y Albergue Municipal, Foto Tour Perruno gives dogs and cats a chance to strut their stuff, and pet owners the opportunity to have a festive holiday portrait taken with their four-legged friends - for a donation of just $250 pesos (or more!)

All of the event's proceeds will be given to the municipally run "pound". Better known as CCAAAM, the Puerto Vallarta Animal Shelter is staffed by fabulous veterinarians and caretakers who work hard every day to ensure each animal's basic needs are met, but they rely strictly on donations to provide food, medicine, and medical treatments to all of the dogs and cats that are housed there.

Make plans now to come out to the booth that will be set up near the lighthouse on the Malecon, where professional photographer Daniel Alvarez will capture holiday memories of you and your pet - just for making a small donation to a good cause!

After the shoot, a high resolution photo will be emailed to you and posted on the Foto Tour Perruno Facebook page.

For more information visit the Facebook event page.Complexes "Avant-garde" with a hypersonic unit will stand on combat duty in 2019

TASS

DEC 16, 5:01 PMUpdated 17:13

MOSCOW, December 17th. / TASS /. The first Avangard missile systems with a hypersonic block will take up combat duty in 2019 in the Dombarovsky unit (Orenburg Region). This was announced in an interview with the newspaper of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation "Krasnaya Zvezda" by thecommander of the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) Sergey Karakaev.

"The first samples will be put on alert in the Dombarovsky rocket regiment next year," said the commander. The general added that the novelty and complexity of the new technology will not be an obstacle to the successful launch of the complex on combat duty.

Karakayev noted that with the adoption of Avangard into service, the groups combat capabilities will be substantially increased, primarily in overcoming the missile defense system and defeating important point targets. He recalled that the NPO Mashinostroeniya has already begun to create serial samples of Avangard missiles.

As a source in the military-industrial complex told TASS at the end of October, the directive deadline for putting the Avangard main regiment on combat duty is the end of 2019. Initially, according to the source, the regiment will consist of at least two complexes, but subsequently their number will increase to the regular number - six.

For the first time, President Vladimir Putin told in his message to the Federal Assembly about the creation of the hypersonic Avangard on March 1. A little later, during the "Direct Line" on June 7, 2018, the head of state said that "the system ... is already in industrial production and in 2019 we plan to place it in the Armed Forces." Initially, the carrier of the strategic hypersonic weapon will be the UR-100N UTTH rocket, subsequently - the newest heavy rocket "Sarmat".

In Russia, Monday marks the Day of the Strategic Missile Forces.

 TASS

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Saudis rebuff US vote but face Canadian backlash

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 17, 2018 08:26AM

Saudi Arabia has denounced a US Senate resolution to end Washington's military support for the kingdom, but faced a new backlash as Canada announced plans to cancel a giant 2014 weapons deal with Riyadh.

The US Senate unanimously voted last week to hold Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) accountable for the murder of journalist and critic Khashoggi and halt Washington's assistance to the Saudi war in Yemen.

"The kingdom condemns the latest position of the US Senate that was built on untrue allegations and affirms a total rejection of any interference in its internal affairs," Saudi Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

Riyadh has been heartened by President Donald Trump's position that Washington will continue to remain a "steadfast partner" of the kingdom.

Trump and his senior administration officials have claimed that there is no "direct evidence" to link the Saudi leadership to the killing despite the CIA's conclusion that it was the Saudi crown prince who ordered Khashoggi's assassination.

Trump has admitted that MbS may have known about the killing, but stressed that he has no intention of cancelling $110 billion in military contracts with Riyadh.

"And implicit in Trump's justifications for not holding the Saudi royals accountable is the idea that it's simply not worth the sacrifice  that Saudi Arabia has too much leverage through its arms deals and control of the world oil supply," The Washington Post wrote.

The Senate resolution also calls the war in Yemen a "humanitarian crisis" and requires that the president withdraw any troops in or "affecting" Yemen within 30 days "unless they are fighting al-Qaeda."

It is unclear whether the House will consider the measure. The lower chamber would have to approve the resolution before it can be sent to the White House for Trump's signature.

Trump has vowed to veto it. If vetoed, the bill would go back to the Senate, where only a two-thirds vote can override a presidential veto.

On Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has had rocky relations with Trump, said he was looking into ways to cancel the largest arms deal in Canadian history worth US$11.5 billion.

"We inherited actually a (Can)$15 billion contract signed by (former prime minister) Stephen Harper to export light-armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia," he said.

"We are engaged with the export permits to try and see if there is a way of no longer exporting these vehicles to Saudi Arabia," he added.

Trudeau had earlier said that it would be "extremely difficult" to withdraw from the contract, signed by the previous conservative administration, "without Canadians paying exorbitant penalties."

In an interview with CBC Radio in October, Trudeau said the penalty for breaking the contract could exceed Can$1 billion.

Trudeau has been criticized by political opponents and Human Rights activists for failing to cancel the contract.

As evidence emerged of direct Saudi involvement in Khashoggi's killing, Canada in late November imposed sanctions against 17 Saudi nationals linked to the "abhorrent and extrajudicial" murder.

Last month, Denmark stopped selling weapons to Riyadh, joining Germany and Norway to suspend arms exports to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia launched its devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing Houthis.

According to a new report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi war has so far claimed the lives of around 56,000 Yemenis.

The war has also taken a heavy toll on the country's infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN has said a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger.

Ken Stone of Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War told Press TV that Washington wants an end to the Saudi aggression on Yemen, which he described as "a war by the US empire" and "a war for hegemony in the Middle East."

"The indication that there would be an end to the fighting was made at the beginning of November, when the US secretary of state and the secretary of defense both told Saudi Arabia that they wanted the fighting to end in a month," Stone said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Saudis Denounce U.S. Senate Over Yemen War, Khashoggi Resolutions

December 17, 2018

Saudi Arabia has rejected U.S. Senate resolutions to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen and to put direct blame on the country's crown prince for the murder of journalist critic Jamal Khashoggi.

"The kingdom condemns the latest position of the U.S. Senate that was built on untrue allegations and affirms a total rejection of any interference in its internal affairs," the Saudi Foreign Ministry said on December 16.

In a move seen as a rebuke to President Donald Trump, the Senate on December 13 backed a resolution to end U.S. military assistance for Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen, seen by many as a proxy war with Iran.

A low-level conflict in Yemen escalated in 2015 when Iran-backed Shi'ite Huthi rebels seized control of much of the west of the country, including the capital, Sanaa.

Saudi Arabia and eight other Arab states intervened militarily in an attempt to restore the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi.

They have received support from the United States, Britain, and France. However, with reports of deaths of nearly 10,000 people, many of them civilians, and with millions more facing the threat of starvation, sentiment in the West has been turning against involvement in the conflict.

Separately, the Senate passed a resolution that said Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman was responsible for the killing of Khashoggi.

Khashoggi was murdered in October during what he thought was a routine visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has said evidence strongly points to the involvement of the crown prince, who has denied any involvement in the death of the U.S. resident and columnist for The Washington Post.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/saudis-denounce-u-s-senate-over- yemen-war-khashoggi-resolutions/29660172.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





Canada Looking to End Arms Contract With Saudis Amid Khashoggi Case  Trudeau

Sputnik News

13:30 17.12.2018

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his administration had inherited a 15 billion Canadian dollars ($11 billion) arms contract with Saudi Arabia it now wanted to scrap.

"The murder of a journalist is absolutely unacceptable and that's why Canada from the very beginning had been demanding answers and solutions on that. Secondly, we inherited actually a $15-billion contract signed by Stephen Harper [Trudeau's predecessor] to export light-armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia. We are engaged with the export permits to try and see if there is a way of no longer exporting these vehicles to Saudi Arabia," Trudeau told CTV.

The contact struck by the government of Harper in 2014 to supply 928 LAV 6 armoured personnel carriers to Saudi Arabia will cost Canada a billion in cancellation penalties.

The announcement comes amid pressure on the Saudi government to disclose what it knows about the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at its consulate in Istanbul on October 2. According to Saudi authorities, some 21 individuals were arrested following an investigation of the murder, with 11 of them already facing charges.

Saudi officials have denied the involvement of the royal family, specifically of the crown prince, in Khashoggi's killing. Riyadh insists that he was murdered as a result of a "rogue operation".

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Riyadh Rejects US Senate's Position Blaming Saudi Crown Prince in Khashoggi Case

Sputnik News

04:24 17.12.2018

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Saudi Arabia rejects the position of the US Senate, blaming Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

On Thursday, the US Senate passed a resolution that blamed the Saudi Crown Prince for Khashoggi's assassination, and also warned the kingdom against purchasing arms from Russia or China.

"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia rejects the position expressed recently by the United States Senate, which was based upon unsubstantiated claims and allegations, and contained blatant interferences in the Kingdom's internal affairs, undermining the Kingdom's regional and international role," the statement reads, as quoted by the Saudi Press Agency.

At the same time, Riyadh noted that the country maintained strategic ties with the United States, and was committed to further develop them.

"The Kingdom categorically rejects any interference in its internal affairs, any and all accusations, in any manner, that disrespect its leadership, represented by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosque and the Crown Prince, and any attempts to undermine its sovereignty or diminish its stature," the statement stresses.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, known for his criticism of Saudi policies, went missing on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia's acknowledgement that the journalist had been killed inside the consulate came after two weeks of denials and growing pressure from Western allies to provide explanations.

On October 26, the Saudi prosecutor general acknowledged that the journalist's murder was premeditated. However, Riyadh maintains that the killing had nothing to do with the Saudi royal family, describing it as a rogue operation.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Erdogan: Turkey to launch East of Euphrates operation 'any moment'

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 17, 2018 03:22PM

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country's military is possible to start a new operation against US-backed Kurdish militants in Syria at "any moment."

Erdogan said during a speech in Turkey's central province of Konya on Monday that the army had completed preparations for a planned operation in the east of the Euphrates River -- a territory held by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), considered by Turkey a terrorist organization and an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been fighting for an autonomous region inside Turkey since 1984.

"We can start our operation any moment now in the Syrian territory at any place especially along the 500-kilometer border, without harming the US soldiers," the Turkish president said in his address.

Erdogan said US President Donald Trump had given a positive response to Ankara's plans for the operation in the area and that Turkey would do "what is necessary" regarding what he described as terror corridors east of the Euphrates.

"We talked to Trump. These terrorists have to leave areas east of the Euphrates. If they do not leave, we will dispatch them. Because they are disturbing us," he noted.

The possible anti-terror operation, which Turkey's leadership has been suggesting for months, follows two cross-border Turkish operations into Syria  Operation Euphrates Shield in August 2016 and Operation Olive Branch in January 2018  which were launched with the declared aim of eradicating the presence of Kurdish militants and Daesh terrorists near Turkey's borders.

Turkey ended its campaign in northern Syria in March 2017, but at the time did not rule out the possibility of yet another military offensive inside the Arab country.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu was quoted as saying earlier in the day that Washington had tried to hold Turkey back during operations against Daesh and the YPG in Syria over the last two years.

"The United States thought it could deter us with the men it has nurtured," Soylu said during a visit to Pakistan, state-owned news agency Anadolu reported. "Now, they will try to hold us back east of the Euphrates. Turkey did not, and will not, allow that."

Turkey has been infuriated by US support for the YPG, which forms the backbone of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an anti-Damascus alliance of predominantly Kurdish militants.

Ankara has repeatedly criticized Washington for providing military support to the YPG and threatened to attack areas held by the militant group.

European Union's top foreign policy official, Federica Mogherini, called on Turkey on Saturday to avoid taking any unilateral action in Syria that could destabilize the Arab country.

The Pentagon has also denounced as "unacceptable" any unilateral military action in northern Syria.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Turkey Will Not Let US Prevent Ankara's Op East of Euphrates in Syria  Minister

Sputnik News

13:14 17.12.2018

ANKARA (Sputnik)  Turkey will not let the United States prevent its military operation in the Syrian territories, east of the Euphrates River, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Monday.

"[The United States] has tried to hamper us in northern Iraq, it tried to hamper us in Afrin, [Syria]. And now, it will try to hamper us east of the Euphrates. Turkey did not let it happen back then and we will not let it happen this time," Soylu told reporters during a visit to the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, as quoted by the Anadolu news agency.

He pointed out that Turkey would overcome the possible international pressure on the country over the military operation east of the Euphrates.

"The US has thought that it could intimidate us by using the men it had nurtured. It tried to set an international encirclement but we have overcome it," Soylu added.

The statement was made after on Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara was ready to launch an operation against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) east of the Euphrates River. Commenting on that a day later, US Defense Department spokesperson Cmdr. Sean Robertson told Sputnik that the Turkish unilateral military operation in northeast Syria, if launched, would be unacceptable and Ankara should consult with the United States to address the security situation.

Turkey and the United States have had tense relations in recent years, in part due to Ankara's concerns over US support for the YPG, which is viewed by the Turkish authorities as an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization in Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Turkey has been claiming that the YPG's presence near its border threatened its national security. On January 20, Turkey and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) opposition forces launched Operation Olive Branch in the northern Syrian district of Afrin aimed at "clearing" the YPG and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) from Turkey's Syrian border. In March, Ankara announced that Afrin was under the complete control of the Turkish forces.

Ankara is also currently engaged in an operation to eliminate Kurdish strongholds in northern Iraq.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Arab League censures Turkish airstrikes in northern Iraq

Iran Press TV

Tue Dec 18, 2018 05:50PM

The Arab League has strongly condemned Turkey's repeated airstrikes against the purported positions of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group in Iraq's northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, stressing that "such actions are in violation of the Iraqi state's sovereignty."

Spokesman for the regional organization of Arab states, Mahmoud Afifi, stated on Tuesday that the Turkish aerial assaults, irrespective of the motive behind them, flout international law and the principles of good-neighborliness.

Turkey's constant disregard to the Arab stance indicated that Ankara does not care about keeping good ties with the Arab countries on the basis of respecting other states' sovereignty and rejecting interference in other states' internal affairs, Afifi pointed out.

The condemnation came on the same day that Turkish defense minister said Ankara will not allow the Kurdish-populated region of Sinjar, situated over 400 kilometers northwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, to become "a new stronghold for the PKK terror group."

"We expect the Baghdad government to cooperate with us in ending the separatist PKK terror group's presence in Iraqi territories," Hulusi Akar told the parliament.

Akar asserted that Turkey respects the territorial integrity of Syria, Iraq and its neighbors.

"However, for the security of the country and the nation, our operations will continue until the PKK terror group has been completely defeated in the locations they exist in Iraq," he said.

Sinjar "will never be allowed to become new Qandil [Mountains], Akar said, referring to main base of the PKK militants near the border with Turkey.

On Friday, Iraq's Foreign Ministry summoned Turkish Ambassador Fatih Yildiz to protest his country's airstrikes in northern Iraq.

The ministry said in a statement Friday that it had rebuked Ankara over two air raids on Sinjar and Makhmour mountains the previous night, calling the Turkish airstrikes a violation of Iraq's national sovereignty.

Turkey, along with the European Union and the United States, has declared the PKK a terrorist group and banned it. The militant group has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region since 1984.

A shaky ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015. Attacks on Turkish security forces have soared ever since.

Over the past few months, Turkish ground and air forces have been carrying out operations against PKK positions in the country as well as in northern Iraq and neighboring Syria.

More than 40,000 people have been killed during the three-decade conflict between Turkey and the autonomy-seeking militant group.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Russia deploys ten fighter jets to Crimea amid rising tensions with Ukraine

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 17, 2018 06:19PM

Russia has deployed a number of fighter jets to the Crimean Peninsula amid rising tensions with Ukraine, following remarks by the country's foreign minister that Kiev was planning an "armed provocation" in the coming weeks and before the end of the year.

Russian news agency Interfax said on Monday that Moscow had sent more than 10 Sukhoi SU-27 and SU-30 fighter jets to the overhauled Belbek air base in Crimea as part of a "permanent deployment."

The announcement came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview that Ukraine was preparing an "armed provocation with Russia on the border with Crimea during the last ten days of December."

The state-run TASS news agency quoted Lavrov as saying that Moscow would not allow the Ukrainian government to act on those plans and "they will regret it."

The top Russian diplomat also said that his country "will not wage war against Ukraine," and accused Kiev of having "Nazi characteristics."

"We are not fighting the Ukrainian regime," Lavrov said. "It is Ukrainian citizens living in Donbass who are fighting against the Ukrainian regime, which has full Nazi and neo-Nazi characteristics."

Crimea voted for reunification with Russia in 2014, following deep political changes in Kiev where a pro-Western movement staged weeks of street protests that led to the ouster of the pro-Russia government.

People in Crimea and in the industrial eastern territories of Ukraine, areas which are dominated by ethnic Russians, effectively refused to endorse the new administration in Kiev. Crimea decided to rejoin Russia in a referendum in March 2014 and two provinces in the east revolted by establishing self-declared republics.

Pro-Russians have turned the two regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in the east  collectively known as the Donbass  into self-proclaimed republics.

The West and Kiev lambast the reunification as annexation of the territory by Russia, accusing Moscow of having a hand in the bloody conflict in eastern Ukraine. Moscow, however, strongly dismisses both accusations.

The fighting has left over 10,000 people dead and more than a million others displaced, according to the United Nations.

Ties between the two countries further strained in November after Russia seized three Ukrainian naval ships that had illegally entered the Russian waters off the coast of the Crimean Peninsula.

The Sea of Azov is a strategic ocean route linked to the Black Sea by the narrow Strait of Kerch where Russia has built a bridge to link the Crimean Peninsula with the mainland.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





U.S. Ukraine Envoy: Idea Of Extra Russia Sanctions 'Gaining Traction'

By RFE/RL December 17, 2018

A drive to impose more sanctions on Russia seems to be "gaining some traction" following a naval confrontation in the Black Sea last month, according to the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine.

Kurt Volker made the comments during an online briefing in Brussels on December 17, after Russian seized three Ukrainian Navy ships and 24 crewmen in the Kerch Strait that links the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov.

The November 25 incident escalated tensions in the region and prompted international calls for the sailors' release.

Russia has alleged that the vessels had illegally entered Russian territorial waters near the Crimea region, which Russia seized from Ukraine in March 2014.

Kyiv has accused Moscow of stepping up "aggression" against Ukraine.

Volker told reporters that in Europe, "the notion that there needs to be a response and some additional sanctions and listing of names would occur seems to be one that's gaining some traction."

"I would not be surprised at all to see that happen in the next month or two," he added.

Volker said the restrictions could have a "deterrent effect" on Moscow because "it will be an indicator to Russia that future acts will also be met with sanctions."

The European Union, the United States, and other countries have imposed sanctions on Russia over Moscow's seizure of Crimea and its support for separatists in a conflict that has killed more than 10,300 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.

Volker also said that keeping a multinational, visible presence in and around Ukraine, whether it was in the Black Sea or in parts of Ukraine that are relatively safe, could be "an additional step because it would raise the visibility of Russia's actions compared to what we now see."

NATO has pledged support for Ukraine's navy to improve its naval capabilities and the alliance said it will also deliver secure communications equipment to Ukraine's military by the end of this year.

Volker said a foreign military-financing package of around $250 million to sell additional military equipment to Ukraine was currently being reviewed by the U.S. Congress.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-ukraine- envoy-idea-of-extra-russia-sanctions- gaining-traction-/29661254.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





Vallarta's Free Spay & Neuter Clinic Needs Your Support

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - The Cuale Spay and Neuter Clinic has provided over 2,000 sterilizations since the beginning of 2016. This is almost an unbelievable total! And yet, animals keep coming to the clinics in large numbers.

As a result of Vallarta's perfect year-round weather, the cats who survive breed up to four times a year, and dogs three times, so our area is continuously filled with more and more animals. Seeing this situation led local SPCA board member Luz Maria Wong to start a free spay and neuter clinic on the island for both cats and dogs.

Over the years, the numbers of surgeries performed have continued to grow from 665 in 2016 to 880 in 2017, and 1,062 animals this year. The Cuale Clinic has become well-known in the Vallarta area as a high quality, high volume clinic. The Facebook page is extremely popular and often there are over 400 Facebook shares just a week before the clinic.





Following several discussions, in October we decided to see if there was a need for more clinics. At our regular clinic on the first of October we provided 83 sterilizations, two weeks later it was 87, and another two weeks later, at our regular November clinic, we sterilized 95 dogs and cats. That's 265 animals within a month!

Another month later, the first of December, we had 101 animals. The need is obviously there, yet we've had to turn some people away because we don't have the resources to do more surgeries in a single day.

The Cuale Clinic is independent and not a part of any local charity. It receives no government funding, grant funding, nor any other funding. It relies solely on donations given by people who see that these clinics are making a huge difference to our community.

Our professional veterinarians charge for their services, and we have other expenses for supplies, so we are continually looking for donations. All recovery and other services, including keeping the Facebook page up-to-date, are provided by our dedicated volunteers - but vet fees and medical costs continue to increase.

To satisfy the increasing demand, we are looking to add another veterinarian, purchase additional medicines and possibly add additional clinics. Donations are the only way we can continue to provide and grow the clinic to meet the area's needs so we have set up a GoFundMe page. Donations are secure and 100% will go to fund future clinics.

You can view the Cuale Clinic Facebook page to learn more about the clinic. This is a long-term project to reduce the number of unwanted animals in Puerto Vallarta, and we need your help. Please click HERE to make a donation TODAY!US Not Ruling Out New Sanctions Against Russia Over Kerch Strait - State Dep't

Sputnik News

17:24 17.12.2018(updated 18:17 17.12.2018)

Washington has slapped sanctions on Russian individuals and firms operating in Crimea in connection with a November incident, in which Russia seized three Ukrainian Navy vessels that violated its maritime border.

US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker did not rule out that the United States would impose new sanctions on Russia over last month's Kerch Strait incident.

Speaking in Brussels, Washington's point man for Ukraine conceded that "it's not looking good to get the detained Ukrainian sailors released soon," according to Teri Schultz, a reporter covering the European Union and NATO.

Volker went on to describe Moscow's response to actions of Ukrainian boats in the Kerch Strait as "an incident that clearly has raised serious concerns across Europe."

He also announced US plans to build up military presence in the Black Sea and boost cooperation with Turkey in this regard. "As far as the Black Sea goes, Turkey plays a critically important role  It is critically important as an ally in that region. We would be respectful of Turkey's obligations under the Montreux Convention as Turkey is itself. We also want to work with Turkey on security in the Black Sea and on freedom of navigation", Volker noted.

"That said, I think that there are things that we should now be looking at that maybe we weren't looking at before  to increase presence in the Black Sea, whether on a bilateral basis or under EU auspices."

The United States has earlier imposed sanctions against three Russian individuals and nine entities operating in Ukraine, which were allegedly "supporting Russia's attempts" to incorporate Crimea through private investments and projects. Russia has pledged to take reciprocal steps, both political and economic.

Three Ukrainian Navy ships  gunboats Berdyansk and Nikopol, and tugboat Yanu Kapu  breached the Russian maritime border on 25 November, attempting to sail through the Kerch Strait, the entrance into the Sea of Azov. The vessels and their crew failed to respond to demands to stop and were subsequently detained by Russia.

Following the incident, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko decreed a three-month martial law in several regions of the country neighboring Russia, as well as the coast of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Russian President Putin branded the incident as a "provocation" designed as a pretext to introduce martial law in Ukraine. Putin suggested that it could be connected with Poroshenko's low approval ratings ahead of the 2019 presidential vote.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





UNGA Approves Ukraine Resolution on Navigation in Azov, Black Seas

Sputnik News

01:42 18.12.2018(updated 03:31 18.12.2018)

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United Nations General Assembly passed by a 2/3 majority vote Ukraine's draft resolution calling on Russia to stop restricting international navigation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

"The result of the vote is as follows: in favor  66, against  19, abstention  72. Draft resolution [titled Militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine), as well as parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov] is adopted," a UN official presiding over the plenary meeting announced on Monday.

Russia's First Deputy Envoy to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy told the General Assembly that the adoption of the draft resolution was deeply politicized.

"It is disappointing that Kiev and its Western sponsors of the General Assembly have submitted yet another extremely politicized and mendacious subject," Polyanskiy said on Monday. "We regret the vote that has happened, but we are heartened that many states abstained not wishing to have anything with this pernicious Ukrainian enterprise."

The resolution follows the recent incident in the Kerch Strait that connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The document urges Russia to stop restricting international navigation in the region.

On November 25, Ukraine's Berdyansk and Nikopol gunboats and the Yany Kapu tugboat illegally crossed the Russian maritime border as they sailed toward the Kerch Strait, the entrance to the Sea of Azov. The Ukrainian vessels were seized by Russia after failing to respond to a demand to stop.

Following the incident, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree declaring martial law in several Ukrainian regions located near the Russian border. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the incident was a provocation prepared in advance as a pretext to introduce martial law ahead of Ukraine's presidential election.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday Moscow was sure Kiev would continue provocations on the Russian border, stressing that he had information about Poroshenko planning a provocative incident for the end of December. The Russian foreign minister pledged a harsh response in case Poroshenko went ahead with the plans.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Pentagon Confirms They Received Russian Proposal on INF Treaty Talks - Spokesman

Sputnik News

21:21 17.12.2018

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Department of Defense has received the Russian proposal on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty discussion by military experts and will respond as appropriate, the Pentagon spokesman told Sputnik on Monday.

"Yes, we received a proposal last week from Russia for a military experts discussion on the INF Treaty and will respond to Russia as appropriate," Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said.

He clarified that the Pentagon did not receive a letter of request for the talks between US Defense Secretary James Mattis and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu.

"We received a proposal for a military experts discussion, not to meet with Secretary Mattis," the spokesman said.

In recent years, Russia and the US have regularly accused each other of violating the INF Treaty. Russia has repeatedly stated that it strictly complies with its obligations under the contract. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that Moscow has very serious questions regarding the implementation of the treaty by the United States. In early December, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States would suspend its adherence to the INF Treaty within 60 days unless Russia returned to full compliance with the agreement.

Moscow has repeatedly refuted US allegations that Russia has violated the INF treaty. In turn, Moscow has complained that launchers on US defence systems in Europe can fire cruise missiles at ranges that violate the INF's terms.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Avanguard / Vanguard

Avangard is a strategic system with an intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with a planning hypersonic winged combat unit. It is able to fly in dense layers of the atmosphere at hypersonic speed, maneuvering along the course and altitude and overcoming anti-missile defense. According to open sources, the guided hypersonic combat unit (head) of the Avangard intercontinental ballistic missile complex was created as part of the experimental design work "4202" by specialists of the NPO Mashinostroyenia Military Industrial Corporation (Reutov). Initially, the carrier of the strategic hypersonic weapon will be the UR-100N UTTH rocket, subsequently - the newest heavy rocket Sarmat.

Pavel Podvig of russianforces wrote 20 September 2020 that "Avangard is a system from the 1980s, which was kept on life support by NPOMash own funds. Decision to proceed with it was made only after ABM Treaty withdrawal. No investment was made before that." Vanguard was put on combat duty in December 2019. The first two UR-100N UTTX intercontinental ballistic missiles, equipped with the Avangard nuclear planning block, would be on pilot combat duty in late November - early December in the Dombarovsky division of the Strategic Missile Forces. TASS reported in October 2018 that a source in the defense industry stated that two Vanguard regiments, six missiles in silos in each, should enter combat duty in the RF Armed Forces.

The first regiment of the Avangard hypersonic complexes, which took up combat duty at the end of 2019 in the Orenburg region, will be brought up to full strength (six silo launchers) at the end of 2021. A source in the military-industrial complex told TASS on 23 December 2020. "The first regiment of the Yasnensky formation of the Strategic Missile Forces (Strategic Missile Forces) will have six silo launchers by the end of next year. Thus, it will be brought up to full strength," the source said. The next two UR-100N UTTKh missiles with the Avangard hypersonic combat equipment could take up combat duty in one of the regiments of the Yasnensky Strategic Missile Forces formation on approximately 25 December 2020.

At a meeting of the expanded collegium of the military department, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the continuation of rearmament of this regiment for complexes with the Avangard hypersonic gliding wing units. According to the collection "Main Results of the Activities of the RF Armed Forces in 2012-2020", prepared by the RF Ministry of Defense, which is at the disposal of TASS, by the end of December four Avangard missile systems will be on alert. According to the collection, to date, five successful launches of an intercontinental ballistic missile with these hypersonic units had been carried out.

Vladimir Putin congratulated Professor Gerbert Yefremov, prominent missile and space-rocket designer, Honorary CEO, Honorary Chief Designer, Advisor for Science at the MIC NPO Mashinostroyenia, on Gunsmith Day, 19 September 2020. Putin said " ... for decades we were always in a position of having to catch up. You are well aware of that. This concerned nuclear weapons, then long-range strategic aviation, and later also intercontinental missiles, which specialists call delivery systems. This always put our nation in a very challenging and even precarious position. In fact, there were moments when we were threatened while we had nothing to respond with. In reality, let me reiterate, it was an obvious and dangerous violation of the strategic balance.

"And now, for the first time in our contemporary history, Russia has the most cutting-edge types of weapons that are far superior to all earlier and current weapons in terms of their power, capability, speed, and, which is crucial, precision. Nobody else in the world has this type of weapons, at least at the moment.

"In this connection, on Gunsmith Day, I congratulate the designers and manufacturers of the Peresvet laser system, Kinzhal hypersonic air missile, Poseidon nuclear-powered unmanned underwater system, Burevestnik unlimited-range cruise missile, Zircon navy-based hypersonic missile, and other types of weapons that are already delivered or will be delivered shortly to our army and navy.

"But the Avangard system has a special place among them as it has a manoeuvrable hypersonic block that moves at over 27 times the speed of sound and changes its trajectory both vertically and horizontally. The Avangard is not just a new system, it is a new type of strategic weapon.

"The US withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 forced Russia to start designing hypersonic weapons. We had to do that in response to the US deployment of the strategic anti-missile system that potentially could actually neutralise and reduce to nothing all of our nuclear potential.

"Mr Yefremov, this has not happened thanks to you and your colleagues. I remember monitoring the launch of the first experimental gliding block in Plesetsk back in June 2001. That launch was a success.

"In the ensuing years we made every possible effort to achieve agreements with the US side on stopping work on the strategic anti-missile defence system or on its joint implementation in missile-threat directions, including with European countries' participation. However, all our attempts proved futile.

"In this context, in 2004 we launched large-scale work on implementing your ideas. We publicly informed everyone about that; I spoke about it publicly. To all appearances, no one believed us back then. They thought we would not be able to do it.

"In December 2018, the final launch was made. Thus all the testing was successfully completed.

"Mr Yefremov, since December 2019, the first strategic missile regiment with the Avangard system has been put on full combat alert.

This is a tremendous development in the country's life and ensuring its security, without any exaggeration. It is also undoubtedly a tremendous event in your life....

"Today is a holiday for all those who design Russia's weapons - it is a holiday of all weapons designers and producers, and on this day I signed an Executive Order on awarding you with the Order of St Andrew the Apostle the First-Called with swords. You fully deserve this combat decoration. It is with crossed swords..."

Infrastructure construction for the first regiment equipped with the Avangard missile systems has been completed. This was reported on 22 May 2019 at the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation with reference to the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN), Colonel-General Sergei Karakaev. "Acceptance into service with the stationary and mobile fifth-generation missile systems Yars and Avangard continues. The infrastructure for launching a missile regiment with the Avangard complex, which will be on combat duty by the end of 2019, is deployed at the Yasnensky missile compound. years, "said Karakaev.

Earlier, the leading researcher at the Peter the Great Military Academy of the Strategic Missile Forces, Lieutenant-General of the Reserve Vladimir Zakharov said that the first regiment armed with the Avangard complex would take up combat duty until the end of 2019. For the first time, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about this weapon on 01 March 2019 in his message to the Federal Assembly. According to the Strategic Missile Forces, the Avangard complexes will take up combat duty in 2019 in the Dombarovsky unit in the Orenburg region. As noted by the Ministry of Defense, in total in 2019 year, 31 silo launchers of the Yars and Avant-garde missile systems are to take over combat duty.

Herbert Efremov, a design engineer for rocket and rocket and space technology, denied the statement of US President Donald Trump that the Russian Federation had created hypersonic weapons after receiving information about such technologies from the United States. "Trump said that Obama handed over these 'secrets' to the Russians. Only Barack Obama has been the President of the United States since 2009. Our experiments on these matters began in Soviet times, when Obama was a teenager," Yefremov said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta 20 September 2020. The designer stressed that Obama went to school when the USSR was already experimenting with hypersound. The day before, Donald Trump said that Russia had received information on hypersonic weapons from the administration of former US President Barack Obama. In his opinion, the Russian Federation "stole this information."

The first Avangard missile systems with a hypersonic block will take up combat duty in 2019 in the Dombarovskiy unit (Orenburg Region), where the UR-100N 15A30 RS-18 / SS-19 STILLETO is stationed. This was announced 17 December 2018 in an interview with the newspaper of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation "Krasnaya Zvezda" by the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) Sergey Karakaev. "The first samples will be put on alert in the Dombarovsky rocket regiment next year," said the commander. The general added that the novelty and complexity of the new technology will not be an obstacle to the successful launch of the complex on combat duty.

Karakayev noted that with the adoption of Avangard into service, the groups combat capabilities will be substantially increased, primarily in overcoming the missile defense system and defeating important point targets. He recalled that the NPO Mashinostroeniya has already begun to create serial samples of Avangard missiles. As a source in the military-industrial complex told TASS at the end of October 2018, the directive deadline for putting the Avangard main regiment on combat duty is the end of 2019. Initially, according to the source, the regiment will consist of at least two complexes, but subsequently their number will increase to the regular number - six.

Pavel Podvig reported 29 October 2018 that "The first regiment will include two UR-100NUTTH/SS-19 missiles, each armed with a single boost-glide vehicle. ... Later the number of missiles in the regiment will be increased to six; a second regiment with six missiles is expected to be deployed by 2027..... the boost-glide vehicle was associated with UR-100NUTTH/SS-19 from the very beginning of the program in the 1980s, it used the missile during the tests, and will stay with it until the end. Russia got about 30 "dry" UR-100NUTTH missiles that it received from Ukraine - since these missiles have never been fueled they have a few decades of combat service in them."

The development of the Avangard hypersonic block almost ceased in 2014, but the developers convinced Putin to continue working and promised to achieve the required characteristics. This was announced on Friday by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov on the Russia-24 TV channel 28 December 2018. "This complex was born quite hard. Four years ago, at a meeting of the Supreme Commander, the question was to continue or close this work, because, unfortunately, this is a very difficult job ... I remember well how the Supreme Commander asked a direct question to the general designer and got enough convincing answer: Give us one more chance. And they used this chance, said Borisov.

Borisov noted that the test on 26 December 2018 was the third, it confirmed all the main declared characteristics.

This is not a plan, this is a stunt. This system is notionally intended to provide assured penetration of a thick nationwide anti-missile system intended as part of a splendid damage denial capability. The Americans might deploy such a system later on in the 21st Century, but no such deployment is in immediate prospect. In the early years of the Cold War, France based its nuclear posture on the "Moscow Criterion" - assuming that the assured destruction of Moscow would deter the Soviets. Now Moscow seems to assume that a not-implausible capability to destroy one or a few American cities would satisfy Russian assured destruction requirements. If so, the Moscow can eliminate the thousands of other nuclear weapons that are in excess of the prospective dozen Avanguard missiles deployed in two regiments.

The Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle flies 27 times faster than the speed of sound, making it impossible to intercept, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told Russias Zvezda television channel 28 December 2018. Borisov spoke a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw what he described as the conclusive successful test of the Avangard and hailed it as a reliable guarantee of Russias security for decades to come. The latest tests have shown that it has reached speeds close to 30 Machs. Practically at these speeds, no anti-missile can knock it down, Borisov said.

Mach 1.0 is the speed of sound in air, so a plane flying Mach 2.0 is flying twice as fast as the speed of sound. The speed of sound is not a constant, but depends on altitude (or actually the temperature at that altitude). The speed of sound is dependent on altitude, and ranges from a maximum of 340 meters/second [760 mph / 1225 km/hr] at sea level to a minimum 275 meters / second [615 mph / 990 km/hr] at an altitude of some 80 kilometers. Mach 27 at this altitude would be about 16,600 mph / 26,750 km/hr. Orbital velocity depends on the altitude of the satellite, but is about 17,500 miles/hr / 28,000 km/hr in low earth orbit.

Sergei Ivanov, a former Russian defence minister, said in televised comments that the Avangard constantly changes its course and altitude while it flies through the atmosphere, chaotically zigzagging on its path to its target, making it impossible to predict the weapon's location. He noted that Russia has a stockpile of several dozen such missiles, which are in a factory-mint condition and not filled with fuel, allowing them to serve for a long time to come. Ivanov added that they could be put in existing silos, reducing the costs of Avangard's deployment. "The Avangard has cost hundreds of times less than what the US has spent on its missile defence," Ivanov said. He noted that Russia began to develop the Avangard after 2002 when the US withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and began developing defences against ballistic missiles.

According to Alexey Leonkov, a former employee of the 30 Central Research Institute of Russia's Aerospace Force, the newest hypersonic missile , Avangard, which can travel at speeds up to Mach 20, makes US defenses totally useless because US counter-missiles can only travel at Mach 5. The missile is believed to be able to travel at 20 times the speed of sound, or just over 15,000 mph. That's nearly as fast as the space shuttle's atmospheric reentry speed of Mach 25, or 17,000 mph. "I think that this is an answer to the Americans on the missile defense systems they deploy in Europe. American interceptors, including the Aegis, can only travel at Mach 5. In order to catch up with a missile traveling at Mach 10, one must have an interceptor running at Mach 15. Americans don't have such a missile; they are helpless here," Leonkov told Sputnik 02 March 2018.

The first attempt to create hypersonic warheads was made in the USSR in the mid-1980s. However, due to technical difficulties, the project was closed. Only in the mid-1990s, NPO Mashinostroeniya resumed work on this subject, now under the designation product 4202. Tests started in the early 2000s, and the first public appearance of the future Avangard took place in 2004.

Then the Strategic Missile Forces for the first time since the collapse of the USSR conducted large-scale exercises. In their course, according to the then Chief of the General Staff, Yuri Baluyevsky, a unique spacecraft was tested, capable of flying at hypersonic speed and at the same time maneuvering both along the course and in height. According to the commander, this provided an opportunity to "bypass regional missile defense groups."

From prototypes to mass production, the path is not long. The launch of the product 4202 was preceded by a serious import substitution program, launched after 2014. I had to look for a replacement for the control system in Ukraine, which controls the flight of the USRA, hypersonic maneuver and targeting. Finally, on October 25, 2017, successful tests of the all-Russian Avangard passed. The device started from the starting area Dombarovsky in the Orenburg region and hit the target at the Kamchatka training ground Kura.

In mid-March 2018 it was reported that the newest hypersonic strategic missile system "Avangard" will be adopted for service no later than 2019. "Vanguard" with a hypersonic planning and maneuvering warhead has already been put into serial production. The strategic hypersonic missile system (RK) "Vanguard" of silo-based basing is included in the state armament program (GPO) until 2027, it will replace the mobile RK "Rubezh". Initially, it was planned to include both the Avangard and the Rubezh in the GPO, but later it became clear that there were not enough funds for the simultaneous financing of these two projects. Therefore, the final version of the new GPO included Avangard, as having more importance for ensuring the country's defense capability.

The newest hypersonic strategic missile system "Avangard" is planned to be adopted not later than 2019. This was reported by TASS on 15 March 2018, a source in the Russian military-industrial complex. "Complex Avangard after the release of the first series of planning combat units and in the case of a successful launch of a single missile with this combat equipment can be adopted at the end of 2018. The deadline for its adoption into service and deployment for combat duty is 2019" , - the interlocutor of the agency said. The source noted that with the adoption of "Avangard" the number of missile divisions in the combat composition of the Strategic Missile Forces (Strategic Missile Forces) will not increase: the newest complexes will be used for the existing missile compounds.

Earlier, Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said that the military department had signed a contract for the production of the hypersonic strategic complex Avangard. For the first time on March 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin told about the missile complex "Avangard" with a winged maneuvering block in his message to the Federal Assembly. Later, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Sergei Karakaev, specified that the trials of Avangard had been successfully completed.

"Vanguard" - a strategic complex with an intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with a planning hypersonic winged combat unit. According to open sources, "NPO Mashinostroenia" (Reutov, Moscow region) was developed, was tested since 2004. The combat unit is able to fly in dense layers of the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds, maneuvering at the rate and height and overcoming any missile defense.

In the "President's Address to the Federal Assembly" on 01 March 2018, Putin stated "A real technological breakthrough is the creation of a strategic missile complex with a fundamentally new combat equipment - a planning wing unit, which has also been successfully tested. I repeat once again that we have repeatedly told our American and European partners - NATO members that we will take the necessary measures to neutralize the threats that arise for us in connection with the deployment of the US global missile defense system. They talked about this during the talks, and even publicly. Back in 2004, after the exercises of the strategic nuclear forces, during which the system was tested for the first time, about which I now speak, at a meeting with the press I said. It's embarrassing to quote, but just today it will be right.

"So it was said: "In the conditions of qualitative and quantitative growth of the military potential of other states of Russia, a breakthrough is needed in order to have the weapons and equipment of the new generation. In this regard, I can be pleased to inform you that as a result of the experiments conducted in these exercises, the experiments that have ended successfully, we finally became convinced and confirmed - in the near future, the newest technical complexes will be supplied to the arsenal of the Russian Army, the Strategic Missile Forces, which are able to hit targets at intercontinental depth with hypersonic speed and high accuracy, with the possibility of a deep maneuver both in height and course. I must say that in every word that has just sounded, every word matters. At present there are no such weapon systems in any country of the world.

"When moving towards the goal, the planning wing unit, as I said in 2004, carries out deep maneuvering, both lateral (several thousand kilometers) and height. This makes it absolutely invulnerable to any means of anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense. The use of new composite materials has made it possible to solve the problem of a long-term controlled flight of a planning wing block practically under conditions of plasma formation. He goes to the goal as a meteorite, like a burning ball, like a fireball. The temperature on the surface of the product reaches 1600-2000 degrees Celsius, the winged unit at the same time is reliably controlled.

For obvious reasons, we can not show today the true appearance, the true appearance of this product. Even this now matters, serious significance. I think everyone understands this. But I assure you, all this is available and works well. Moreover, Russian industrial enterprises have started serial production of this system - this is another new type of strategic weapons in Russia. We called it the "Vanguard"."

In his annual state-of-the-nation address on 20 February 2019 to Russia's two-chamber parliament, President Vladimir Putin said "Just recently, it seemed inconceivable that Russia could make not just a breakthrough but also a high-tech breakthrough in defence. This was difficult, complex work. Much had to be restored or started from scratch It was necessary to break new ground and find bold, unique solutions. Nevertheless, this was done. It was done by our engineers, workers and scientists, including very young people that grew up with these projects. Let me repeat that I know all the details of this large-scale effort and I am completely justified in saying, for instance, that the development of the Avangard strategic hypersonic glide vehicle is tantamount to the launching of the world's first artificial satellite. And not just in terms of enhancing the countrys defence capability and security, although this is the primary goal, but in influencing the consolidation of our scientific potential and the development of unique technological assets."

Due to the stringent requirement of a high degree of accuracy for conventional vehicles, lifting re-entry can be used to attain the impact at the desired terminal flight path angle and speed and thus can potentially improve accuracy of the re-entry vehicle. The re-entry of a medium range and intermediate range vehicles is characterized by very high negative flight path angle and low re-entry speed as compared to a maneuverable re-entry vehicle or a common aero vehicle intended for an intercontinental range. Highly negative flight path angles at the re-entry impose high dynamic pressure as well as heat loads on the vehicle.

The design of flight control systems for high performance maneuvering reentry vehicles presents a significant challenge to the control systems designer. These vehicles typically have a much higher ballistic coefficient than piloted vehicles like as the Space Shuttle or proposed crew return vehicles such as the X-38. Moreover, the missions of high performance vehicles usually require a steeper reentry flight path angle, followed by a pull-out into level flight. These vehicles then must transit the entire atmosphere and robustly perform the maneuvers required for the mission. The vehicles must also be flown with small static margins in order to perform the required maneuvers, which can result in highly nonlinear aerodynamic characteristics that frequently transition from being aerodynamically stable to unstable as angle of attack increases. The control system design technique of dynamic inversion has been applied successfully to both high performance aircraft and low beta reentry vehicles.

It has been found that cross range capability of up to 35 km can be achieved with a lifting-body design within the heat rate and the dynamic pressure boundary at normal entry conditions. For shallow entry angle of -20 degree and intermediate ranges a cross range capability of up to 250 km can be attained for a lifting body design with less than 10 percent loss in overall range. The normal acceleration also remains within limits. The maneuvering capability could be used to complicate hit-to-kill or conventional warhead ballistic missile defense systems.

The MaRV/BMD terminal engagement scenario is partitioned into the tandem engagement subproblems of searching, tracking and discrimination, and interception, which are the various functions of the BMD system. For the MaRV search subproblem, which is typically a radar problem, the probability of acquisition is the performance measure of importance. In the MaRV tracking subproblem, which also is typically a radar problem, the tracking error is the performance measure of importance. The subproblem of MaRV discrimination is a classification or pattern recognition problem for which a measure of importance is the probability of correct discrimination or correct classification. The subproblem of MaRV interception is a guidance and control problem for which two measures of importance are the probability of interception, which is dependent on the definition of interception, and the miss distance. All of these performance measures are well established in the field of defense systems, and are sensitive to MaRV characteristics and trajectory evolution.

Missile defense interception of a mid-course trans-atmospheric warhead would confront similar considerations. The timeline would be at least an order of magnitude longer, the search and track subproblems might entail infra-red tracking systems, and discrimination would be much easier in the absence of credible decoys. The interception end game thus becomes a contest between the divert capabilities of the interceptor and the boost-glide vehicle. Understanding the potential maneuver parameters of the boost-glide vehicle would permit proper sizing of the interceptor divert propulsion.

As George Lewis points out, American exo-atmospheric"interceptors can only operate at altitudes above about 100 km, while almost all of the glide portion of a boost-glide weapons trajectory will take place at altitudes below 100 km, making intercepts by existing GBI or SM-3 interceptors essentially impossible. Even if a decision is made to develop a THAAD-ER system, which may be able to intercept down to altitudes of about 40 km, it may be difficult for it to intercept a highly maneuverable, intercontinental-range vehicle, and a large number of THAAD-ER systems might be needed to cover U.S. territory. In addition, the low-altitude and unpowered nature of the glide portion of a boost-glide weapons trajectory could pose severe problems for the U.S. early warning and missile defense sensors. It is possible that as the glide vehicle heats due to atmospheric friction, it may once again become visible to early warning satellites."

An attacker could prevent a missile defense system from intercepting nuclear warheads by using anti-simulation balloon decoys. An April 2000 study by the Union of Concerned Scientists noted that "The heavy balloon is spherical in shape, has a diameter of three meters, and is made of a laminate of a 0.001-inch-thick layer of aluminum foil and a 0.001-inch-thick layer of mylar (which gives it the same thickness as the NASA balloons). Balloons of roughly this size and thickness, and the gas used to inflate them, would weigh about 3 kilograms (6.5 pounds).... Considerably lighter balloons could be made by using thinner balloon materials. ... The total weight of the balloon, gas, and gas bottle would be about 500 grams (roughly 1 pound).... If we assume that a missile carrying a nuclear warhead could devote 100 kilograms of payload to the balloons, then the attacker could easily deploy dozens of balloons of various weights. " According to Ted Postol, "You can build decoys weighing literally ounces, deploy hundreds or thousands of them, and the radar would be saturated."

Two types of defenses are possible in midcourse: random subtractive and adaptive preferential. Random subtractive defenses would act in midcourse as in boost to subtract from the total number of objects in the threat. Even without discrimination, midcourse defenses can act preferentially. Modest numbers of adaptive preferential interceptors may be used efficiently whereas larger numbers of random subtractive interceptors may not. The midcourse interceptors may be deployed in an adaptive preferential manner to protect targets which are of high value, while ignoring objects that are not on trajectories that impact targets of value.

The bus that dispenses multiple actual warheads must act with precision, setting each one on a path towards an important target. Decoys, particularly large numbers of decoys, cannot be dispensed with such care or precision. Possibly all the decoys would be sprayed out soon after the bus entered midcourse, or possibly the decoys would dribble out during the dozen or so minutes of early midcourse. In any event, some fraction of the decoys would be on trajectories that would impact things the Americans held dear, while most would not.

The American population is urban. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 80.7 percent of the U.S. population lived in urban areas as of the 2010 Census. Just 486 urbanized areas accounted for 71.2 percent of the U.S. population, and the top 48 urbanized areas account for more than half of the entire urban population. A majority of the U.S. population lives in incorporated places or cities, although these areas only make up a small fraction of the U.S. land area, according to a report released 04 March 2015 by the U.S. Census Bureau. This report found that U.S. cities are home to 62.7 Percent of the U.S. Population, but comprised just 3.5 Percent of land area.

Thus, with a random spray of decoys, over 95% would be on trajectories taking them towards "relatively" uninhabited aim points, and many of the remainder would be on trajectories towards sparsely populated suburbs. American patriots might argue that even one nuclear weapon detonating over American solid is one too many. And Republicans might argue that any defense that failed to defend rural Red states was no defense at all, if all it did was defend Blue cities. But a determined attack might wish to do better than this, just as the French are determined to be able to destroy Moscow.

If the impact point prediction of an adaptive preferential defense could reduce the number of credible decoys from many hundred to a few dozen, the task of the defense become much more manageable. The task of missile defense might become merely difficult, rather than implausible. An while the defense might not provide a robust damage denial capability, it could constitute a not-implausible damage limitation capability.

This is where the Avanguard maneuvering reentry vehicle comes into play. Such a MaRV could be hidden in a balloon an a trajectory that would impact an uninhabited area. Upon reentry, the balloon would be torn away by atmospheric friction, and the MaRV would change course, heading towards a nearby city. Deeper analysis would disclose how much trajectory diversion the MaRV might produce, and thus what fraction of apparently "innocent" balloon decoys might hide such a MaRV.

In any event, this is not a threat against which the United States is presently seeking to defend. Such a defense would not be difficult, but it would require a small battery of interceptors [possibly a dozen or so THAAD] and a small radar [along the lines of the THAAD X-band radar]. The city's airport would be a logical location, and the total cost per emplacement would probably be of the order of half a billion dollars - $500 per head for a city of a million.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Xem them

...

Tin bai cuoi cung

Khong con du lieu e loadOops! There was a problem! Sorry, but we can't find what you were looking for right now. The content may have been removed, or is temporarily unavailable.

GreatAndhra.com powered by India Brains Infotech, LLC, its owners, associates and employees are not responsible for any errors, omissions or representations on any of our pages or on any links on any of our pages.



We do not endorse in anyway any advertisers on our web pages, links to personal pages, official pages, or commercial pages.



We have no control of the content of external information. Please verify the veracity of all information on your own before undertaking any reliance.



The linked sites are not under our control and we are not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site, or any changes or updates to such sites. We are providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by us of the site.



We hereby expressly disclaim any implied warranties imputed by the laws of any jurisdiction. We consider ourselves and intend to be subject to the jurisdiction only of the courts of the state of California.



Greatandhra.com also contains material in the form of inputs/feedbacks submitted by users and Greatandhra.com accepts no responsibility for the content or accuracy of such content nor does it make any representations by virtue of the contents of Greatandhra.com in respect of the existence or availability of any goods and services advertised in the contributory sections. Greatandhra.com makes no warranty that the site contents are Virus -free or anything else, which has destructive properties and shall have no liability in respect thereof.



Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, GreatAndhra.com takes no responsibility for and will not be liable for the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond its control.



If you have any questions or concerns about a published article, please send us email at venkat@greatandhra.com . We will review your request and article will be removed immediatly.



Manila (CNN Philippines Life)  Being a predominantly Catholic country, its no surprise that Christmas is one of the most celebrated and anticipated occasions  so much so that there are those who go all out with extravagant light displays, towering Christmas trees, and larger-than-life lanterns.

But Christmas in the Philippines is not always bright, light, and cheery. In a community in Brgy. Addition Hills, Mandaluyong, lost homes due to a fire has dampened the Christmas spirit for several years  in 2011 when 300 became homeless, in 2013 when another fire hit the neighborhood two days before Christmas, and in 2016 when two died and 1,400 people were left homeless.

Despite this, Filipinos continue to flock to this area because for most residents, it is one of the most accessible areas in Metro Manila as they find it easy to go from Mandaluyong to Quiapo and/or Cubao, two places they frequent to buy cheap goods for their homes or their tiangges.

This year, we visited a few homes in Addition Hills to see how theyre celebrating Christmas and what they hope to receive this holiday season.

In the Cabrera home, a small Christmas tree sits on top of a worn-out plastic drawer. Ang Christmas wish ko lang [ay] sana meron kaming pagkain sa pasko at bagong taon, says Maureen, a mother of three. Photo by JL JAVIER

Iba yung pasko dito, iba yung pasko doon [sa Hong Kong], says Fe Manuel, who worked as a waitress in Hong Kong for over 20 years before finally coming home. Photo by JL JAVIER

Emma Moyong has been living in this house for over 30 years but is aware that they may be kicked out of their residence anytime. Sana mabigyan kami ng house and lot kasi dito hindi pa rin sigurado. Photo by JL JAVIER

From left: Cedric, Mackie, Ban Ban, and Chan Chan Pilar. These kids are cousins, and as expected from kids their age, they all want a cellphone for Christmas. Photo by JL JAVIER

Sana maayos yung pangangatawan namin at saka walang maramdamang sakit, says Antonio Lacsamana, a school guard, who had Christmas lights hanging from the eaves of his home. Photo by JL JAVIER

Gusto ko na i-open yung gifts ko, says first-grader Andrea Racal, whose familys Christmas tree was peppered with big plastic poinsettia flowers. Photo by JL JAVIER

Yolly Lacsamana decorated her home with tiny parols dangling from the ceiling. She doesnt want much this Christmas but for her family to stay healthy. Photo by JL JAVIER

[Christmas wish ko ay] maging masaya, says Francisco Valenzuela, who takes care of his nephews house, which is probably the house in their street with the most Christmas decor. Photo by JL JAVIER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!WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Tuesday abandoned months of strident demands for Congress to give him $5 billion for his border wall, bowing to political reality as Republicans scrambled to avoid shutting down large portions of the government this weekend.

It was a stunning turnaround from one week ago, when Trump told Democratic congressional leaders during a bizarre on-camera sparring match that he'd be "proud" to shut down the government to get his wall money. Instead, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Tuesday, Trump does not want a shutdown and will identify "other ways" to fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

But the concession by the president, which came after lawmakers from both parties argued that his $5 billion wall plan wouldn't get through Congress, did not break the impasse that's overtaken Capitol Hill in the final days of unified GOP control of Washington.

Democrats rejected a Republican spending offer made shortly after Trump's retreat on the wall, and Congress appeared headed toward the lowest-common-denominator solution: a short-term funding extension that would keep the government open for a period of weeks and then hand Democrats the responsibility of passing a more lasting fix once they retake the House majority in January.

"That's probably the likeliest path at this point. It's disappointing," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said after emerging from a closed-door Senate GOP lunch. "We're very close to being able to finish out the budget process, the appropriations process around here."

A short-term funding extension, called a "continuing resolution," would become the only option for keeping the government open past a Friday midnight deadline if lawmakers and Trump can't agree on a broader deal. By late Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee had begun drafting a short-term bill that would carry government funding into February, said the panel's chairman, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.

But it was uncertain whether the president would sign such a measure, and the overall outcome was impossible to predict given Trump's tendency to swiftly embrace new demands and discard old ones.

Trump's wall ultimatum had been holding up spending bills for the Department of Homeland Security and numerous other agencies making up about 25 percent of the federal government, all of which will begin to shut down and furlough hundreds of thousands of workers without pay if Congress and Trump don't act before the deadline.

That's a scenario congressional Republicans are determined to avoid as their last act after two years of unified control of Washington. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., flatly told reporters Tuesday that there would not be a shutdown.

"The American people don't like it," McConnell said. "You remember my favorite country saying: There's no education in the second kick of a mule. We've been down this path before, and I don't believe we'll go down this path again."

A partial government shutdown would be the third this year, after Congress's terminal budget dysfunction forced two brief shutdowns in January and February before lawmakers managed to get their spending bills back on track. But that effort was derailed again in recent fighting over the border, as Trump demanded taxpayer funds for a wall he had long claimed Mexico would pay for.

The short-term approach emerged as the likeliest fallback Tuesday afternoon after hours of fast-paced maneuvering, starting with a morning appearance by Sanders on Fox News. Sanders said the White House wanted to avoid a shutdown and was exploring other ways to obtain $5 billion for the wall, rather than getting it from Congress.

Soon thereafter, Senate Republican leaders summoned their Democratic counterparts to a meeting in McConnell's office, where they made an offer: $1.6 billion for border security - a figure already agreed to on a bipartisan basis in the Senate - plus an additional $1 billion in unspent and reallocated money that could go to fund other Trump immigration priorities, but not a wall.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., took the offer to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. The Democrats rejected it almost immediately, terming the $1 billion a "slush fund" that would be spent on immigration policies they oppose.

"Leader Schumer and I have said that we cannot support the offer they made of a billion-dollar slush fund for the president to implement his very wrong immigration policies," Pelosi told reporters. "So, that won't happen."

Additionally, the $1.6 billion the Senate agreed on earlier this year is now too high for Democrats, especially liberals who are about to be part of the majority in the House and will accept no more than $1.3 billion for fencing.

That sent lawmakers and the White House "back to square one," said Shelby.

"I was disappointed in the response," Shelby said, calling the GOP proposal a reasonable offer. And now, he said, "I'm sure there'll be proposals back and forth, but you know, it's not long until midnight Friday."

At the White House shortly thereafter, Trump was asked at an event on school safety about avoiding a shutdown.

"We'll see what happens. It's too early to say," he said. He sidestepped a question on whether he was still willing to shut down the government to get $5 billion for the wall, saying only, "We need border security."

But Republican lawmakers who'd begun to fear that Trump's wall demands could precipitate a government shutdown - something they're determined to avoid - were plainly relieved to see the president back away and welcomed greater flexibility from the administration.

"It makes me feel great, because first of all, the acknowledgment or at least the intent to not shut down is enormously helpful, especially after last week," said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. "I think the general sense is that this is probably a loosening of the hardened positions."

At the same time, GOP lawmakers remained uncertain, as they have been for days, about what exactly Trump will accept. The White House has signaled opposition to a short-term spending bill, and senators said that while they hoped Trump would sign one if it came to that, they couldn't say for sure.

But the White House put the onus on the Senate.

"You know, at this point, the Senate has thrown out a lot of ideas. We're disappointed in the fact that they've yet to actually vote on something and pass something," Sanders said at a White House briefing. "So when they do that, we'll make a determination on whether or not we're going to sign that."

Tuesday's developments came after failed efforts by the White House and Republicans in recent days to try to get Democrats to sign onto $5 billion to pay for the construction of Trump's long-promised wall.

While meeting with Schumer and Pelosi last week, Trump said he would be "proud" to shut down the government over the issue, a statement that congressional Republicans openly said muddied their messaging that Democrats should be blamed for a shutdown.

With Democrats near-unanimously opposing Trump's demand for $5 billion, Republicans lacked a path to pass the funding because they could not assemble the 60 Senate votes needed to advance a homeland security spending bill.

House and Senate Republicans have been in talks with the White House in recent days looking at other ways to try to secure funding outside the traditional appropriations process. They have considered redirecting already approved money, among other things, according to a person briefed on the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the deliberations.

Trump has threatened to shut down the entire border if Democrats do not agree to give him $5 billion, a threat that did not appear to force their capitulation.

Monday evening, Shelby said he was expecting a proposal from the White House, perhaps at 5 p.m., that never materialized. But the White House never promised a 5 p.m. proposal, and then Senate Republicans signaled that they planned to move ahead on an overhaul of the criminal justice system this week, giving them very little time to negotiate a budget bill.

Meanwhile, the stock market has fallen precipitously in recent weeks, creating economic angst over Trump's agenda. The president has attacked the Federal Reserve, among others, for the market's tumble, but the slipping stocks have rattled him, according to people who have spoken with him both inside and outside the White House.

The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose the internal White House sentiment.

Congressional Republicans promised Trump several months ago that if he would delay a fight over the border wall until after the midterm elections, they would help him obtain the money in December. But those efforts never materialized, and the president was under heavy pressure to avoid a partial government shutdown just a few days before Christmas.

"The advice he's getting is to not do this, to just sign the bill, get this over with, and get into 2019 and then have this fight," said Steve Moore, who was an adviser to Trump during the 2016 campaign.

- - -

The Washington Post's John Wagner, Jeff Stein and Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.Use of vaping devices among teens nationwide has spiked about 10 percent in the past year, according to the National Institutes of Health.

According to the NIH, 37.3 percent of 12th-graders countrywide report any vaping in the past 12 month compared with 27.8 percent in 2017.

Statewide statistics show that youth vaping is up in Connecticut as well.

According to Connecticut Youth Tobacco Surveillance, released by the state Department of Public Health, between 2011 and 2017, the percentage of high school students who had used e-cigarettes on one or more of the past 30 days increased from 2.4 percent to 14.7 percent.

Between 2015 and 2017, the rate of current use more than doubled, from 7.2 percent to 14.7 percent statewide.

The jump wasnt surprising to Dr. Harris Jacobs, chairman of pediatrics at Bridgeport Hospital, who said companies that sell the products often target young people who might not be as cautious as their older counterparts.

Kids are susceptible to these kinds of marketing tools because they dont think about their own mortality, he said.

The national numbers come from the 2018 Monitoring the Future survey, an ongoing study of substance use and abuse in American students. Each year, about 50,000 eighth-, 10th- and 12th-grade students are surveyed.

The national survey results were announced Monday by the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of NIH.

Vaping is the process of inhaling vapor produced by an e-cigarette or another device. The liquid vaporized in the products typically includes nicotine, but also comes in a variety of flavors which experts say can make them more appealing to children and teens.

While all vaping was up about 10 percent, the specific vaping of nicotine also jumped from 11 percent in 2017 to 20.9 percent in 2018. Also, 10.9 percent of eighth-graders reported vaping nicotine in the past year.

Use of vaping products is up among all age groups surveyed.

Also of note is that reports of marijuana vaping also rose this year, at 13.1 percent for 12th-graders from 9.5 percent last year.

Jacobs said vaping is a dangerous game, as not only do the products contain nicotine but they can include other harmful chemicals, including diacetyl, which has been linked to a serious and potentially fatal lung disease known as popcorn lung.

These products are not safe, Jacobs said. They get young people hooked on nicotine and they carry other health risks as well.

Though the news on vaping was dire, there was positive data from the survey about teen use of other substances, including conventional tobacco products and prescription opioids.

The Monitoring the Future survey shows regular tobacco is still at its lowest point in the survey since it began measuring, with only 3.6 percent of high school seniors smoking daily, compared with 22.4 percent two decades ago. Smoking tobacco with a hookah is significantly lower than five years ago at 7.8 percent in the past year among high school seniors, compared with 21.4 percent in 2013.

The survey also contained optimistic news about teenage opioid use. The past year, use of prescription opioids is at 3.4 percent among 12th-graders  down from 4.2 percent in 2017. Only 1.7 percent of high school seniors report misuse of Vicodin in the past year, compared with a peak of 10.5 percent 15 years ago.It's one of the oldest business adages in the book: You don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate. Successful negotiation, particularly in high-stakes situations, is often the difference between a smashing success and a crushing failure.

Related: How to Deal With Jerks at Work Without Becoming One

In the past, negotiation has been conceived of as a battle of wills, a deadlock between two aggressive parties where the first one to blink loses. However, in my experience, successful negotiation is much more nuanced -- and much less testosterone-fueled.

Winning is good, but finding solutions that are satisfactory to both parties is best.

Women, with their innate emotional intelligence, are uniquely equipped with the soft skills required to succeed in negotiation. Here's why:

1. Successful negotiation requires building relationships.

The key to any successful negotiation is establishing relationships of trust. Without these mutual understandings, the parties will focus on serving their own selfish needs and compromise will be difficult.

It's rare for any two parties to enter negotiation ready to fully yield to the other's requests. The power of a healthy relationship can step into this gap and help build bridges between two otherwise estranged groups.

"Women tend to be better at emotional empathy than men, in general," Dr. Dan Goleman wrote in Psychology Today. "This kind of empathy fosters rapport and chemistry. People who excel in emotional empathy make good counselors, teachers and group leaders because of this ability to sense in the moment how others are reacting."

Ranking high in emotional intelligence gives women an edge when it comes to building relationships. Empathy -- understanding where people are coming from and what they need, is perhaps the single most important part of building a strong relationship -- and successfully negotiating with someone.

Related: Women, It's Time to Take Control

2. Being able to articulately describe feelings is key.

The ability to express one's feelings is another crucial element of negotiation. Two stiff-lipped negotiators can stare each other down for hours without success, waiting for the other to crack.

As women, society gives us the necessary permission to use the language we need to communicate our emotions. As LaRae Quy, an FBI counterintelligence agent, has noted, "Little girls are given permission by society to be empathetic, use language that expresses emotions, and place priorities on developing deep and meaningful relationships (starting with dolls)."

Unfortunately, men do not receive the same opportunity. Men's stoicism can be an Achilles heel in negotiation, as successfully identifying and matching emotional currents in the room can mean the difference between success and failure.

"The effective negotiator or mediator must take into account not only the economic, political and physical aspects of the process, but also the emotional tenor of themselves as well as that of all of the parties," Edward Kelly and Natalija Kaminskiene wrote in their landmark study on the importance of emotional intelligence in negotiation and mediation.

Women's ability to recognize and speak about their feelings and those of others make them naturally suited for negotiation.

3. In negotiation, influence means more than authority.

Men often approach negotiation from a position of authority. While there's nothing inherently wrong with that, I believe it is not the best or most effective tactic to use when trying to build consensus.

Everyone has some level of resistance to authority.

Related: Powerful Women Don't Need the Limelight to Be Influential. Here's Why.

With power always comes the threat of abuse. Influence, on the other hand, is a more subtle thing. It's generated by empathizing with the person you are negotiating with and steering their opinions in your direction. It's what really sparks the combustion in the engines of negotiation.

Women's empathy and relationship-building ability allows them to quickly build influence with others. They can read a room and gauge what the peripheral audience thinks of the situation.

All of this data collection gives them sway in the negotiation. Their influence over the situation increases the odds that the final compromise will swing in their favor.

4. Sensitivity to feedback is crucial when working out a compromise.

A 2016 study detailed in the Harvard Business Review compared dozens of male and female students at a Spanish business college, and found that the women were significantly more sensitive to peer feedback than their male counterparts.

While one's self-esteem should never be reliant on the opinions of others, sensitivity to feedback can be a tremendous advantage in some situations -- like high stakes negotiation. If you're not listening to the other party and taking their positions seriously, you're not engaged in a negotiation -- it's an argument.

Every negotiation is different, and of course, men have innate skills that are very valuable as well, but women are rightfully beginning to take their place at the table as expert negotiators, and it's not hard to see why.

Related:

4 Reasons Emotional Intelligence Gives Women an Upper Hand as Negotiators

Get Salary Negotiating Tips From Ellen Pompeo, One of the Highest Paid Women on TV

9 Things to Never Say in a Salary Negotiation



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedSenator Mitch McConnell has been a huge advocate of hemp legalization.

So as you can imagine, with the chamber approving a farm bill provision that would allow for the legalization of hemp, the Kentucky Senator was quick to cheer all the progress that had been made. He even said that hed be happy to let Trump use his hemp pen to sign the bill.

Can you imagine that? Donald Trump signs the farm bill with a hemp pen? That would make for one hell of a photo op. Certainly Mitch McConnells career will benefit from such a thing. And really, isnt that what its all about? Rich white politicians furthering their careers by legalizing something because it benefits them directly?

While Ive long been a vocal advocate of legalization, and while Im pleased that so much progress has been made towards ending prohibition, theres a certain reality that has not adequately being addressed: As the green rush unfolds, and rich white people get insanely rich off the legalization of cannabis, the very folks who were most negatively affected by the war on drugs continue to get screwed over.

From Persecution to Restitution

The very foundation of the war on drugs was built on the persecution of black and brown people. Back in the 1930s, Harry J. Anslinger, the nations first drug czar, used racism and fear to scare white folks into approving the prohibition of cannabis. This is the man, by the way, who once said 

There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.

This, dear reader, is the man who started the war on drugs. A war that has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people  mostly people of color  throughout the world.

For nearly a century, the war on drugs has ravaged minority communities, imprisoned far too many black and brown people, and laid the groundwork for a level of social and economic oppression that represents the very antithesis of freedom and justice for all.

Yes, its wonderful that hemp will soon be legal to grow. And its wonderful that were seeing more and more states defy the federal prohibition of cannabis.

But the bottom line is that legalization without some form of atonement and restitution for those who have suffered the most under prohibition serves as little more than a continuance of US policies that have empowered and enriched the wealthy elite at the expense of the poor and powerless.

Do you think anyone doing time for a dime bag is excited about Mitch McConnells hemp pen?

Do you think the children of the parents who have been shot and killed by overzealous police officers fighting the war on drugs will find solace in former House Speaker John Beohners recent decision to join the cannabis industry?

While the legalization of cannabis is a step in the right direction in terms of personal sovereignty and the quest for freedom and liberty, without ensuring that all Americans -- not just rich white ones -- are included in the wealth creation opportunities that stem from legalization, we do a huge disservice to the values we claim are embedded in our democracy: liberty, equality and justice.

Related: These Social Justice Weed Warriors Are Making a Difference

Justice, Equity and Reinvestment

Last week, I attended the Marijuana Justice, Equity, and Reinvestment conference in Albany, NY. It was there where I was given a much-needed reminder...

The trail of destruction caused by the war on drugs will not disappear with legalization.

More than half the states in this country have some form of legalization in place, yet our prisons are still overcrowded with non-violent drug offenders, most of whom are black and brown people. The communities that have been most affected by the war on drugs remain mazes of vacant homes, food deserts and chalk outlines that far exceed those found in wealthy, white communities.

Make no mistake: These conditions are primarily the result of the war on drugs, which has really been a war on poor and minority communities.

Related: Racial Injustice and the Legal Marijuana Industry

Social Justice in New York

Here in my home state of New York, its looking more and more likely that were on the path to legalization. It took a long time to get any real momentum going, but just recently we saw a number of lawmakers join the move to legalize cannabis after it was suggested that the tax revenue generated from legalized cannabis could be used to fund subway repairs.

New Yorks subway system is struggling, but not because New Yorkers havent ponied up enough in taxes or in fares. The system is falling apart because of fiscal mismanagement. The very government that has enforced the war on drugs, and mostly in minority communities, has been unable to responsibly fund the subway system. So now the burden of debt is supposed to fall on a legal cannabis industry?

The bitter irony is not lost on me.

Only in a fiscal emergency does the government now want to legalize cannabis in order to cover its transit debts. But what about a much bigger debt? The debt it owes to the people and communities terrorized by the war on drugs for nearly a century?

Such a debt seems much more urgent, and its a debt that can be properly paid by ensuring that the majority of tax revenue generated through the sale of cannabis is used to rebuild the communities that were on the front lines of the war on drugs.

The United States rebuilt a lot of Europes infrastructure after WWII. Certainly we can do the same in our own country, where our own communities were destroyed during the war on drugs. Not only would this serve as some sort of restitution for years of pain, death, and destruction, but it would also serve as a very smart investment opportunity.

It is estimated that with the adult-use of cannabis legalized in New York, the state would generate about $3.1 billion a year. This isnt even close to enough to cover all the repairs and upgrades that would need to be done to New Yorks subway system. And of course, using those funds to cover even part of this major undertaking would result in very little in terms of a worthwhile return on investment. Re-investing these funds, however, into the communities that have been hardest hit by the war on drugs could accomplish a significant return on investment.

Using some of that revenue to fund job training programs, adult education services, and an expansion of early childhood education and after school programs in minority and poverty-stricken communities would not only accomplish some level of restitution, but it would also serve as a much-need economic boost for these communities. A boost that could instigate a very real revitalization of local economies. This isnt just an exercise in social justice. Its an exercise in economic justice. And really, the two are intertwined. One simply cannot exist without the other.

Related: Challenges and Controversy Swirl Around Marijuana Social Equity Programs in California

As we head into 2019, legalization will take center stage, and it will be pitched as both a social justice issue and an opportunity for the state to generate some much-needed income. What the state decides to do with that income, however, is still up in the air. But make no mistake: If some of this tax revenue is not responsibly re-invested into the communities that have been most negatively affected by the war on drugs, then the social justice argument for legalization will be little more than another empty promise from the very people who have a long history of getting rich off the pain and suffering of black and brown people in this country. Such an outcome is simply unacceptable.

Related:

Cannabis Legalization and the Quest for Social and Economic Justice

These Social Justice Weed Warriors Are Making a Difference

Challenges and Controversy Swirl Around Marijuana Social Equity Programs in California



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedHeadlines are full of cybersecurity breaches, and big businesses like Google and Facebook are some of the latest to fall victim to outside attacks. A vulnerability in Google+ is at least partially responsible for the companys decision to shut down the platform for good, and a recent breach of Facebooks network security may have compromised the personal information of almost 50 million users.

Of course, for such enormous companies, a breach is an embarrassing blip on the radar. Google is mostly terminating its social platform because no one uses it (the company reported that 90 percent of user sessions last less than five seconds), and the even the notorious Cambridge Analytica scandal cost Facebook a mere $644,000 in fines imposed by British regulators -- peanuts for a company bringing in almost $100,000 in revenue every minute. But what would a $600,000 fine do to your small businesses?

Related: The Dos and Don'ts of Cyber Security Measures to Help You Protect Your Business and Assets

Face it: Small businesses like yours lack the resources to make data breaches disappear. Not only can fines and fees put you out of business, but the loss in customer trust after a breach can lead to increased levels of churn that you arent prepared to handle. According to the National Cyber Security Alliance, 60 percent of small businesses are forced to close their doors less than six months after a cyberattack. To protect your business and prevent it from becoming another statistic, follow these four steps:

1. Recognize that youre a target.

Many small business owners enjoy a false sense of security, assuming theyre too small to attract the attention of hackers. The problem is, hackers are no longer an elite few. The dark web -- the area of the internet accessible only through special software such as the Tor browser -- has made powerful hacking tools available to anyone with a few hundred dollars and a few hours to spare. According to Verizons 2018 Data Breach Investigations Report, small businesses account for 58 percent of malware attack victims. And the Ponemon Institute found in its 2017 State of Cybersecurity in Small & Medium-Sized Businesses report that cyberattacks on small businesses have increased in recent years, affecting 61 percent of SMBs in 2017, up from 55 percent in 2016.

While it might be more difficult for these hackers to break into the network of a financial institution or a large tech company, its easy for them to attack small businesses with ransomware or steal customer information and sell it on the dark web. You might not have been in danger when hacking required rare skills, but in the current climate youre the ideal target, so recognize that you should prepare accordingly.

Related: Here's Why Companies Can't Dismiss the Rising Need for Cyber Security

2. Do your due diligence in security practices.

When it comes to data breaches, its more a question of when than if, because attempts to compromise your systems cost hackers virtually nothing and all it takes for them to strike it rich is one successful effort against a lucrative target. With 86 percent of North American chief information security officers describing data breaches as "inevitable," according to a Kaspersky Lab survey, you should expect to be hacked at some point. Therefore, you should have a system in place to deal with the consequences of that attack quickly and effectively in order to safeguard your business and your customers. Part of surviving an attack is your business's story of effort: You want to demonstrate that you had the appropriate protections in place.

Implement a password policy and a security monitoring policy, perform firewall updates, conduct regular penetration testing and create an incident response plan. Nothing will protect you completely, but you can still institute some practical measures that are affordable for even small businesses. If you can show customers you were actively taking measures to protect them, they will be far more understanding in the event of a breach. But if your cybersecurity strategy involves crossing your fingers and hoping for the best, theyll abandon you in droves -- and rightfully so.

3. Train your employees continuously.

Even if you lived in a perfect world and had a fortune to spend on sophisticated cyber-defense systems, your data still wouldnt be totally protected. Even big corporations with massive cybersecurity budgets get hacked because their employees are human and therefore prone to making mistakes and being fooled.

Your employees are the most vulnerable part of your business from a cybersecurity standpoint, so train them to be more vigilant, especially around more common internal sources of security breaches such as email. Teach employees to recognize phishing attempts and more sophisticated spear-phishing emails and to delete any messages they have any doubts about. Set times for them to update their web browsers and operating systems in order to maintain the latest security software. To help minimize their odds of failure, invest in a good spam filter. According to Webroots SMB Cybersecurity Preparedness report published in June, nearly all businesses train employees on cybersecurity best practices, but fewer than half maintain that training continuously, which leaves room for error. Education on security practices must extend to all employees and must be ongoing in order to be effective.

Related: 5 Cybersecurity Tools Your Company Should Have

4. Use systems that are easy and ongoing.

In Webroots survey of 600 IT decision makers at SMBs in the Australia, the U.S. and the U.K., only about one-fifth said their businesses were ready to manage IT threats by themselves. Running a small business is highly demanding, so implementing cybersecurity measures in-house often proves to be too much work on top of that.

So many SMBs find that the best course of action is hiring a third party to regularly audit their defenses and conduct training, freeing up any in-house IT or tech talent to create new solutions for the business. Having professionals conduct training and ensure the systems security on an ongoing basis gives many businesses the peace of mind that they are proactively protecting customers data. Because every business transaction is built on a foundation of trust, this investment in security is seen as money well-spent.

With security breaches occurring in every major industry on what feels like a daily basis, its possible to become desensitized to the severe consequences of a breach. As a small business owner, its important for you to realize that your business lacks the ability to recover from a breach in the way that larger corporations can. To protect yourself, follow the above steps and establish a capable line of defense. When the target is on your businesss back, youll be glad you did.

Related:

For the Average Hacker, Your Small Business Is an Ideal Target

'Donald' Makes It on Annual Worst Passwords List

3 Ways to Make Employees Your Best Cybercrime Fighters



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedThis is the fifth article in an occasional series exploring wealth and income inequality in Connecticut and its impact on a state struggling to cope with massive debt.

For nearly a decade, it has been the favorite argument of those opposed to higher state taxes for Connecticut's wealthy  migration.

Simply put, if you tax them, they will leave.

For Republicans  and many moderate Democrats  income and wealth migration is not only a very real threat, but a problem that's already upon us as Connecticut increasingly raises taxes to cover surging pension costs.

Among labor, urban Democrats and other progressives, however, the millionaire-with-a-suitcase is a myth, a fiscal boogey man used to scare liberals.

But despite the preponderance of stories of wealthy residents fleeing Connecticut, the empirical evidence shows the rich tend to move less frequently than low- and middle-income residents. The need for employment is still one of the main reasons people move while home and business ownership  most common among high-income households  promote stability.

More importantly, income migration hasn't been a big driver of states' overall economic health. One of the largest tax cuts for the rich in modern Connecticut history nearly three decades ago did not spark a influx of millionaires into this state.

But that doesn't mean Connecticut has nothing to fear.

Research shows the wealthy pay more attention to state tax rates than any other economic class. Although the sample size is small, the ratio of income leaving Connecticut versus that moving in has accelerated in the last few years.

As decades of fiscal carelessness at the Capitol garner increasing media coverage, Connecticut's affluent can see a scenario in which they long have been targeted to pick up the tab. And as politicians raise state taxes with increasing frequency, while the highways and rail systems serving Fairfield County slow down, wealthy families say they are losing patience.

"People move because of professional opportunities," said University of Connecticut economist Fred Carstensen, who heads the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis. "They retire and choose a lifestyle, which leads some to move. Taxes have ranked as a particularly strong driver. It's not that important. But it's a convenient thing to talk about."

But former hedge fund manager David Stemerman of Greenwich, a Republican who centered his 2018 gubernatorial bid on a message that Connecticut taxpayers have been taken for granted for decades, said a reckoning is under way.

"This assumption that the wealth in Fairfield County would always be there was built up, to some degree, by a lack of engagement from Fairfield County," Stemerman added. "But they also have the view that they've been taken advantage of. Well, the door swings both ways."

Migration trends at first glance

At first glance, income migration appears very real.

Connecticut lost $16.33 billion in annual federally adjusted gross income between 1992 and 2016 according to an analysis of tax data prepared by regular Forbes contributor Travis H. Brown, creator of the website howmoneywalks.com

It was one of 25 states that lost income during that period due to migration.

There are exceptions. Hawaii, which ranks third in median household income, gained a modest $933 million in annual adjusted gross income. (The biggest winners and losers saw differentials in the tens of billions of dollars.)

But many of the biggest losers on that list are states that ranked  and still rank  among the highest in income in the nation. Beside Connecticut it also includes California, New Jersey, Maryland and Massachusetts.

In other words, the people moving out of rich states usually are richer than the people moving in, year after year.

Not surprisingly, the reverse is also generally true.

Of the 10 poorest states based on per capita income, four lost income via migration between 1992 and 2016, and only two  Louisiana and Oklahoma  lost more than $1 billion.

Arkansas gained $2.66 billion during this period, consistently adding income most years  yet still scores badly on most metrics used to measure poverty.

But even after the annual exodus, the rich states usually are still rich and the poor states usually are still poor.

According to statistics from the state Department of Revenue Services, the number of Connecticut households that reported earning more than $1 million erupted upward by 124 percent between 2002 and 2007, after climbing just 8.6 percent over the prior five years. This happened even while income was migrating annually out of the state.

Simply put, the boom within Connecticut overwhelmed any migration trends.

Embedded elites or transitory millionaires?

So maybe migration hasn't been a key factor in moving a state up or down the wealth scale, at least so far.

An analysis published in 2016 in the American Sociological Review concluded the wealthy generally are "embedded elites" and not "transitory millionaires."

"We find that millionaire tax flight is occurring, but only at the margins of statistical and socioeconomic significance," wrote the panel of Stanford University sociologists and U.S. Treasury Department economists, who reviewed census data and 45 million tax records dating back 13 years.

Researchers concluded the wealthy are sensitive to state and local tax rates, more so than the rest of the population.

But they are different in other ways as well.

Wealthy households "are embedded in the regions where they achieve success, and they have limited interest in moving to procure tax advantages," researchers wrote.

Why so? The study found that richer people are more likely to be married  (singles are twice as likely to migrate as couples)  have children, and to own their own homes and businesses.

It also found the business connection should not be underestimated as an impediment to moving.

"When economic success is a joint product  rather than a purely individual accomplishment  there is a difficult network coordination problem for migration: One's own willingness to migrate for tax purposes must align with that of co-founders, collaborators and perhaps even clients," analysts wrote. "People who achieve top incomes, in this view, are deeply embedded insiders who yield remarkable returns in part because of their social placement in a localized economic world."

The study found the migration rate nationally of households reporting more than $1 million in income per year was 2.4 percent  which is lower than the 2.9 percent rate for the general population.

Researchers did find that "Florida appears to be the core pathway for tax-induced migration," but other low-tax states are nowhere close to being equally attractive to the wealthy.

Florida, which ranked 39th in per capita income in 2017 according to the U.S. Census Bureau, gained the most income through migration. But Florida generally is considered an outlier, given its extremely attractive climate.

"When Florida is excluded, there is virtually no tax migration," the report states.

CT gave the rich a big tax break in 1991

The 2016 study of millionaire migration found much of the growing interest in higher tax rates for the wealthy is a response to federal tax policy of the past three decades.

That policy largely was "a shift away from taxation of the elite," a process "to untax the 1 percent" that includes reductions in tax rates on top incomes, capital gains and multi-million dollar inheritances.

An Oct. 23 poll commissioned by Sacred Heart University and Hearst Connecticut Media Group found almost two-thirds of Connecticut voters support raising income taxes on millionaires to balance the state budget if cuts to services can't do the job.

One hole in the millionaire migration theory can be found through an analysis of federal tax data and Connecticut history.

One of the forgotten side effects of the establishment of a state income tax in 1991 was that it offered an enormous tax break for Connecticut's wealthiest residents  who already had been paying income taxes for 20 years prior.

Connecticut used to impose taxes on capital gains, dividends and interest  provided a household made enough of them  since the early 1970s.

By 1991, Connecticut taxed capital gains at 7 percent. The top rate on dividends and interest was 14 percent. But once the state income tax was established, all earnings  capital gains, dividends, interest and general wages  were taxed at the same, flat 4.5 percent rate.

That was huge for Connecticut's wealthiest households, which traditionally derive the bulk of their income from investments.

According to a 2018 report from the legislature's nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis, a Connecticut household earning $96,000 per year generates less than 10 percent of its income from investments.

For a household making more than $2 million per year, the average share approaches 79 percent.

Even today, the top rate on the state income tax stands at 6.99 percent. That effectively matches the capital gains rate pre-1991 and represents only half of the top rate from back then on dividends.

In other words, many of Connecticut's wealthiest households pay the same or a lesser effective income tax rate now than they would have in 1991.

And when Connecticut dramatically cut taxes on investment earnings 28 years ago, did the rich come pouring into the state?

According to Internal Revenue Services' tax migration data, the incomes of those moving out of Connecticut topped those of the households moving into the state for the entire decade of the 1990s.

Major tax hikes coming more frequently

But this doesn't mean wealth and income migration don't exist. And there are reasons, Carstensen said, why Connecticut policymakers should be concerned.

For one thing, it's a short ride to any of Connecticut's borders.

"We have the highest proportion of residents who work out of state of any state in the country," Carstensen said, adding that's a major reason one key metric of economic health has been sketchy.

Economists look not just at overall state income tax receipts but also at what share they represent of overall household income.

Total receipts fell from almost 3.9 percent of total household earnings in Connecticut in 2012 to 3.6 percent in 2014, the last year of available data, Carstensen said.

Much of that decline, he added, involves Connecticut's struggles to regain financial services sector jobs lost in the last recession. Some of those displaced Connecticut residents found new jobs  in New York and New Jersey.

And there is another issue. The state tax hikes are coming more frequently.

A poll released in the summer of 2009 by Quinnipiac University found 55 percent of voters didn't believe increasing taxes would prompt the wealthy to leave Connecticut, compared with 42 percent who said it would.

But a few months after that, the legislature and Gov. M. Jodi Rell agreed upon a new budget that increased taxes by nearly $875 million. The centerpiece of that plan was a big bump in the top marginal income tax rate, from 5 to 6.5 percent.

Two years later, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed into law a tax hike worth more than $1.8 billion per year. And while it also raised income tax rates on middle-income households, it boosted the top marginal rate to 6.7 percent. Malloy, who warned frequently about the threat of wealth migration, had inherited an unprecedented $3.7 billion deficit, equal to more than 18 percent of the General Fund, during his first year in office.

A third major tax hike in 2015, worth almost $900 million per year, included another boost in the top income tax rate, up to 6.99 percent.

Is income migration starting to accelerate?

Income migration out of Connecticut may be nothing new, but a small sample size shows the rate appears to be accelerating.

Though IRS tax migration data is available going back several decades, the federal government switched to a new measurement methodology beginning with its comparison of the 2011 and 2012 tax years.

According to that new methodology, the ratio of income leaving Connecticut versus that moving into the state is larger now than it was for most of the past two decades.

And the ratio has risen significantly during the last two years on record.

In 2014, the ratio of income moving out of Connecticut grew 1.31 times faster than the incomes moving into the state  when compared against the previous year.

By 2015, the exit ratio was 1.53-to-1, and by 2016 it had reached 1.80-to-1.

"There's a whole cottage industry of financial advisors that are talking to people about this (tax trend) and showing them where else they can go," said Peter Gioia, chief economist for the Connecticut Business and Industry Association. "That's what is hurting Connecticut now more than anything, and I think it will continue to accelerate."

Gioia also dismissed the argument that migration isn't a problem as long as Florida is the only popular destination. One attractive alternative to Connecticut is risky enough.

"We're an old state and people want sunny weather," he said.

Decades of pension debt take taxpayers for granted

And don't underestimate the impact of growing news media coverage of Connecticut's irresponsible history of amassing pension debt, and the pressure it is putting on state finances, warned state Rep. Chris Davis of Ellington, ranking House Republican on the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.

"If you speak to a lot of people, especially those nearing the end of their working years, they are looking at the state of Connecticut now and they see a mindset of perpetual tax increases," said Davis.

Stemerman, who lost a five-way GOP primary to former GE executive Bob Stefanowski, raised similar concerns during the campaign.

"What's happened in Connecticut is now so bad that people all over the state, including Fairfield County, know something is wrong," said Stemerman.

Connecticut amassed more than $80 billion in retirement benefit debt and other unfunded liabilities, with most of that damage done between 1939 and 2010.

For decades, governors and legislatures routinely shortchanged contributions to pension benefits they pledged to state employees and teachers  effectively mailing a bill to future taxpayers.

Sometimes the fiscal abuse was extreme.

For example, between 1979 and 1988, the state never contributed more than 40 percent of the recommended payment for the teachers' pension.

Analysts now are projecting debt costs will skyrocket over the next decade and a half, placing extreme pressure on state programs  many of which have been cut in recent years  and taxes  which already have increased significantly.

Stemerman said those who discount the theory of wealth and income migration should not underestimate common sense.

The message Connecticut sent for generations is clear: The state could afford to postpone billions of dollars in contributions  thereby forfeiting billions more in potential investment earnings  because its wealthy taxpayers could always make up the difference at some time in the future.

"When I spoke to people about this, they were deeply disappointed, dismayed and disgusted by what they heard," Stemerman said. "They spoke about this in simple terms of fairness. They are being stuck with a bill from a failure to make responsible decisions."

According to state Department of Revenue Services' data, households that earned more than $350,000 per year in 2016  just 3 percent of all filers  paid 41 percent of all state income taxes.

Stemerman said while he believes taxpayers across Connecticut feel taken advantage of when they hear the state pension history, the sticker shock is severe in Fairfield County because of geography.

"It is part of the New York media market," he said. "They are somewhat disconnected to what is happening in Hartford. Some feel they've been taken advantage of while they were not as engaged, or paying attention, as well as they should have."

Greenwich billionaire Thomas Peterffy attracted headlines in 2012 when he funded a SuperPAC that spent tens of thousands of dollars on commercials criticizing Democrats running for the state legislature.

Peterffy, who grew up in socialist Hungary and immigrated to the United States in 1956, eventually would launch Interactive Brokers, an online brokerage firm based in Greenwich.

"I grew up in a socialist country," he said in a Youtube video titled Freedom to Succeed. "And I have seen what that does to people. There is no hope, no freedom, no pride in achievement. The nation became poorer and poorer and that is what I see happening here."

Peterffy added that "America's wealth comes from the efforts of people striving for success. Take away their incentive with bad-mouthing success and you take away the wealth that helps us take care of the needy."

Peterffy moved to Florida following the 2014 elections.

The most recent Forbes magazine list of the nation's 400 richest people listed nine billionaires from Connecticut, which is two more than last year. But just a few years ago Connecticut boasted 13 billionaires.

Doing too much, or too little, for hedge funds?

And those wary of Connecticut's rising taxes warn that a small-but-vital component of the economy, the hedge fund industry, has great potential to be mobile.

According to the state's nonpartisan Office of Legislative Research, Connecticut has the second-largest hedge fund industry in the U.S. There are 211 hedge fund managers and about 700 hedge funds listed on Preqin's, a leading online industry information source.

Two of the world's largest, Bridgewater Associates of Westport and AQR Capital Management of Greenwich, managed $151.7 billion and $74 billion in assets, respectively, based on 2015 data.

Together they employ about 2,400 people.

Connecticut has provided more than $80 million in grants to the two funds combined  including more than $50 million to Bridgewater to develop a new headquarters in Fairfield County.

Still, at the inaugural Greenwich Economic Forum last month, investment business leaders expressed fears that Connecticut's hedge fund industry could shrink as other states try to lure managers away.

Bruce McGuire of Darien, president of the Connecticut Hedge Fund Association, said the state should be developing high-speed rail services, creating vibrant cities and offering tax incentives to preserve and grow an industry that pays more than its fair share of taxes.

Instead it has allowed its highways to become congested and rail service is slower now than it was decades ago.

"I live here, I spend money here, I bought my house here," McGuire, 54, said, adding that his daughter  a recent college graduate  went to work for a tech company in Boston. "Now I feel like I should be telling my son to go to New York, go to Boston."

Easing the taxes on the rich

If state officials underestimate public indignation when it comes to Connecticut's legacy of pension debt, some argue the estate tax is another major turnoff for the wealthy.

The tax is applied only to estates valued at more than $2.6 million, though the maximum tax liability starting in 2019 is capped at $15 million.

Still, Connecticut is one of 17 states that levies an estate or an inheritance tax, and the trend is headed away from Connecticut.

Indiana and Tennessee repealed their taxes in 2013 and 2016, respectively, while Delaware's went away this year. New Jersey's estate tax will disappear starting Jan. 1.

Congress recently raised the exclusion level on the federal estate tax from $5.49 million to $11.2 million.

Connecticut has adopted a plan to gradually raise its exemption level up to the federal threshold by 2020. But with major state budget deficits projected between now and then, it remains unclear whether the General Assembly will stick with that plan.

Eliminating Connecticut's estate tax entirely, while reducing income tax rates, were two of the key recommendations this year from the state Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Competitiveness, a 14-member panel dominated by business leaders.

The co-chairmen, health care entrepreneur Robert Patricelli and Webster Bank chairman and former CEO Jim Smith, have taken heat from labor leaders and other progressives for the plan. Even though it recommends boosting the minimum wage to $15 per hour, it hinges on tax cuts that benefit the wealthy the most.

To fund the tax cuts, the commission also recommends boosting sales and business taxes and cutting $1 billion from the state's operating budget. Given that most of the state's debt costs are fixed by contract, critics say this cut likely would fall heavily on municipal aid, driving up property taxes.

"The commission's proposals, taken holistically, can change Connecticut's future," Smith said.

Patricelli says the panel's work is not perfect, adding the group essentially had just two months to chart a blueprint for reversing seven decades of irresponsible budgeting and promoting statewide economic prosperity.

"There's still room for improvement," he said. "For example, we didn't have enough time to deal with property taxes," which disproportionately burden low- and middle-income households.

Governor-elect Ned Lamont, who will take office early next month, is trying to strike a middle ground.

Lamont, who tapped former Bridgewater executive Ryan Drazewicz as his chief of staff, has pledged to keep income and sales tax rates stable despite inheriting major deficit projections for the next two fiscal years.

But when it comes to tax relief, Lamont's focus for his first budget, due in February, is clear. "Connecticut's middle class deserves a break, and that's where we're going to concentrate the energies of this administration and the budget," he said.

Labor pushes back

Critics of the fiscal stability panel often point to one comment from commission member Cindi Bigelow, CEO of Bigelow Tea, who said during a Feb. 9 public hearing that "We want to make sure we are protecting the wealthy because they will just leave."

The state's labor leaders, who've been among the commission's most vocal critics, argue the panel's plan is founded on the myth of income and wealth migration.

Donald E. Williams Jr., executive director of the Connecticut Education Association  the state's largest teachers' union  said the commission report "puts coal in the stockings of the state's middle class and gives diamonds and furs to the state's wealthiest residents."

Salvatore Luciano, the new head of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, said too many state officials won't tell the public the truth: The fastest-growing state expenses have nothing to do with present-day state employees or teachers. Rather they involve fixing the fiscal sins of legislators and governors from decades past.

Meanwhile, spending is draining resources from transportation, education, health care, municipal aid and every other priority voters care about.

Executive branch staffing during the eight years of the Malloy administration is down more than 9 percent.

"That lack of spending is really what's dragging the economy," Luciano said. "Meanwhile the overall tax rate for the wealthy has gone down" compared with 1991.

"People go where their quality of life is high," Luciano added. "The more austerity in our budget, the further away we are from our goal for Connecticut."



Haiti - Social : One million Euros to fight against forced labor





The Jesuit Service for Migrants / Solidarite "Fwontalye-Haiti" and the European Union launched in Ouanaminthe on December 13, the binational project "Ann leve kanpe pou dwa yo respekte", aimed at combating forced labor in the North , North-East Haiti and the Dominican Republic in the agricultural sector.



With a duration of 30 months, this project funded by the European Union to the tune of one million Euros, aims to support the Civil Society in its actions to protect vulnerable groups such as migrant workers, victims of forced labor.



More than 2,500 migrants will benefit from training activities and 500 from support for obtaining identity documents. A study will be conducted to better understand the problem of forced labor and identify measures to curb it. Workers will receive economic support.



Vincent Degert, the EU Ambassador present at this launch, declared "Our goal is, on the one hand, to supervise Haitian workers and organizations in this sector so that they can better identify and defend cases of violation caused often by the victim's ignorance of his rights. On the other hand, to work with private sector companies and public sector actors on the Haitian and Dominican side, so that they are aware of this issue and can deal with violations and expand human rights protections," adding "Forced labor at the border and the issue of migration must be linked to socio-economic conditions that must also be addressed and bring structural responses from the Haitian State."



HL/ HaitiLibre





















Haiti - Diaspora : More than 12 years of generosity for the health of Haitian children





Sunday at a press conference Marnatha Irene Ternier, the Minister The Minister of Haitians Living Abroad, accompanied by members of "Breakfast with Santa", a Diaspora organization based in Florida, thanked the professionals of this mission who organized During the past week, a mobile clinic in Cite Soleil https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-26407-icihaiti-diaspora-dental-clinic-of-breakfast-with-santa-in-cite-soleil.html where they gave dental care to several hundred children in this area.



Dr. Rudy Moise of "Breakfast with Santa" said he was very happy to have been able to convince some friends to be part of this mission of professionals who came to share their expertise with the children of his country.



Judith Joseph, President of the Organization, said that it is a privilege for her to be able to promote Haiti through positive actions capable of giving another image of her country. Recalling that for more than 12 years "each year we came to Haiti with our family members to allow many thousands of young people and children to experience moments of happiness by giving them free health care and sharing with them our generosity in our own way."



Calvin Hugues, Senior Journalist of the ABC , a member of the delegation, expressed his pride in participating in this mission declaring "Really that changed my life", emphasizing that during his stay, he had discovered Haitian hospitality and love, that shone in their eyes "I believe that this country must change and the actions to get there are done day by day. I am very happy to be here [...] I think I will bring my two cents in the renewal of Haiti."



In addition, Sunday the organization Breakfast with Santa distributed Christmas gifts to about 2,000 children of Cite Soleil https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26431-haiti-news-zapping.html "1,000 more will receive gifts in other parts of Haiti through our partners and our team members," said Joseph.



See also :

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-26407-icihaiti-diaspora-dental-clinic-of-breakfast-with-santa-in-cite-soleil.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26431-haiti-news-zapping.html



HL/ HaitiLibre

























Haiti - Religion : End of year message of the Episcopal Conference of Haiti





During this holiday season, the Episcopal Conference of Haiti (CEH) has sent its traditional message of Christmas and New Year, which this year marks a gloomy picture of the crisis in our country. We invite you to share the main excerpts of this message addressed to priests, men and women religious, lay faithful and men and women of good will.



Extract from the message of the CEH :



"[...] Dear sons and daughters of Haiti living outside and inside the country, we greet you with our pastoral affection. We are about to celebrate Christmas. It is the coming among us of Jesus Christ, Son of God, our Savior. He still comes today, at this time that is ours, to pitch his tent among us.



This time is marked by the great evils that affect our country, whose list is known to all. However, the failure of State institutions, the escalation of violence, armed gangs at the pay of powerful sponsors, the growing economic debacle leading to intolerable impoverishment, widespread corruption, arrogant impunity, mistrust, non-compliance respect for the sanctity of life and brazen attack on the dignity of the human person [...] To grieving families, we still express our strong sympathies and we wait for the perpetrators of these horrific crimes to be apprehended and brought to justice.



The Nation is digging the abyss of its annihilation. It is on the brink of this abyss that the Son of God comes today to join us. It holds out his hand to us and emphatically tells us to trust in Him, trust in ourselves and trust one another. This climate of trust is the sine qua non of any desire for dialogue [...]



We are more and more convinced that we must organize the rescue of our dear country. To this end, every son and daughter of this country must play an active and decisive role. This requires us to pull ourselves together, to make very demanding sacrifices, knowing that we will never do anything too much for the sake of our motherland, which we all love.



You elected officials, at all levels of the State [...] you must give up the undue and extravagant privileges that you grant to the detriment of the primary and vital needs of the people. You must act before it is too late. [...] You who are invested with the judiciary, you are called to make the law and the justice prevail in a system decried and considered corrupted [...] We call on your impartiality, your independence, your integrity and your courage.



You who are engaged in political parties and who work to conquer power, we remind you that power is a service. Therefore, you are called to silence your passions and personal ambitions so that it is the country that always wins.



You members of the Civil Society, men and women of good will, sincerely love this country. Work honestly on its development. Your role is to contribute to the transformation of society. Also, you are asking us to resist any blindness, pressure, intimidation and manipulation.



Sons and daughters of Haiti, all that we have just told you, will be a dead letter and a vain word as long as the venom of mistrust alters and distorts our relations. We must recognize this, the mistrust engendered by fear reigns between us and hampers the advancement of our country. We must fight it. And this fight goes through the education of the conscience for a culture of truth, loyalty and probity [...]



On the road of the Haitian people, there is Mary, a model of trust and compassionate respect for the other. She never despaired or lost confidence even at the foot of the cross. 'Every time we look at Mary we want to believe in the revolutionary force of tenderness and affection' (Pope Francis, Post-Synodal Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 288) [...]



Son and daughters of Haiti, our dearest wish for Christmas 2018 and the new Year 2019 is to walk and come to a true pact of trust and thus give real content to a new spring for our people."



HL/ HaitiLibre





















Haiti - Politic : The success of Minujusth depends on the good functioning of the Government





Helen La Lime, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Haiti and Head of the UN Mission in Support of Justice in Haiti (Minujusth) during her last address to the Security Council, explained that Haiti was facing a political crisis and it was in this context that the United Nations Mission was striving to implement and carry out its mandate.



"The political crisis triggered by the violent protests in July has been exacerbated by numerous allegations of government mismanagement of public funds," said La Lime.



According to her, despite the appointment in September of a new ministerial cabinet led by Prime Minister Jean-Henry Ceant, tensions have increased, the population continues to demand better governance and elements of the opposition demanding resignation President Jovenel Moise.



"Although the demonstrations of October 17 and November 18 were marked by tensions, the National Police of Haiti (PNH) has shown professionalism in facing large crowds, even at smaller demonstrations but a little more violent of November 18," she added.



Explaining "It is in this context that Minujusth strives to implement its mandate. Even if progress is slow, the Mission has a positive impact on the strengthening of the rule of law institutions, the capacity building of the PNH and the promotion of human rights in Haiti.



Special Representative La Lime said that the success of the UN mission "depends on the proper functioning of the Government". That is why, in recent weeks, she has met with the authorities and other political and private sector actors to advocate for a de-escalation of current tensions and respect for the constitutional order.



She said she was encouraged by the will of the Government to engage in a real dialogue with the political opposition and civil society, while launching a number of initiatives of social appeasement to respond to the grievances of the population.



She said it was important for the international community to help Haiti break the current political stalemate "Through a constructive and peaceful dialogue, the democratically elected Haitian government could set the stage for the next round of elections and continue to implement programs that improve the lives of its citizens," concluded La Lime.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26417-haiti-politic-presentation-of-the-situation-of-haiti-at-the-un-security-council.html



HL/ HaitiLibre





















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Young Journalist Award Winners

Pierre Michel Jean (1st Prize), Milo Milfort and Mauryle Azaine are the three winners of the 2018 edition of the Young Haitian Journalist Award (supported by the French Embassy). Several personalities including the Ambassador of France Jose Gomez, the writer Kettly Mars, President of the jury of the contest, intervened during the closing ceremony held on December 15, 2018 at the Fokal. The Ambassador of France personally presented the 1st Prize to Pierre Michel Jean, which includes a one-month internship at Mediapart in Paris "Congratulations to the other winners and to all participants," said the French diplomat.



MOPOD calls for continued mobilization

Jean Andre Victor, the National Coordinator of the Popular Opposition Movement Dessalinien (MOPOD) rejecting the dialogue advocated by the Head of Government calls for the continuation of the mobilization against the power in place and pleads for a sovereign national conference in order to have a change in the governance system stating that "If it is the people who make the convocation, President Jovenel Moise will have to resign."



Exchange rate, the BRH lacks authority

The Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) must assert its authority and remind banks that they must use the reference rate of the BRH with a maximum variation not exceeding 0.1%. Banks that do not respect this rule, should be punished, says the Economist Eddy Labossiere.



Days of closure of the Montreal Consulate

The Consulate General of Haiti in Montreal informs the Haitian community and the general public, that its offices will be closed from December 24, 2018 to January 2, 2019 due to the end of year celebrations. The services will resume as usual on Thursday, January 3, 2019 at 9:00 am The Consulate General of Haiti in Montreal takes this opportunity to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year 2019.



Gonaives : Conference-debate on the Rule of Law

300 participants from the Civil Society, grassroots organizations and local authorities took part to a conference-debate in Gonaives with the support of mobile teams from Minujusth, in the presence of Gonaives Mayor Neil Latorture, around the rule of law (the role of the judiciary, the PNH, elected representatives, the gender perspective and the rights and duties of the citizen, among others) and the adoption of the new penal code and code of criminal procedures.



International Migrants Day

On Friday, Giuseppe Loprete, the Head of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) accompanied by Shauna Martin, his Program Manager in Haiti, was received by Marnatha Irene Ternier, Minister of Haitians Living Abroad. Giuseppe Loprete reiterated IOM's commitment to accompany Haiti in issues related to migration issues and discussed the activities surrounding the next International Migrants Day (Tuesday, 18 December).



HL/ HaitiLibre

















Editors note: This version corrects comments on the reflectors Montana Department of Transportation installed on the edges of parts of Montana Secondary Highway 234 in Beaver Creek Park and about the availability of scales for weighing hay.

The Hill County Park Board Grazing and Haying Committee Monday went over a first draft of next season's policies and procedures for haying and grazing on Beaver Creek Park.

Committee Chair Chad Edgar, the superintendent of Beaver Creek Park, went through the grazing and haying policies and procedures paragraph by paragraph and the rest of the committee commented on what they thought of the verbiage.

Hill County Commissioner and committee member Diane McLean suggested meshing both the grazing and haying policies together as both had been printed out separately.

For example, under the Allotments section of the Grazing Policies and Procedures, item C reads: Available allotments will be divided between present grazers and those on the waiting list in the fairest way as determined by the Park Board and based on the allotments available.

McLean said she would like to see that wording added to the similar section under the Haying Policies and Procedures. Edgar said he would add the phrase.

McLean added that many of the examples that were provided in both policies and procedures should be taken out.

"Those examples, they take up a lot of room and they're good for you to know and for your people who are going to be hayers or grazers to know," she said. "But when you put it into this ordinance ... It's a big patch on this page and a big patch on this page also."

The examples show how allotments for land and hay are calculated by the park superintendent.

Lou Hagener, who sits on the board as a community member, said he would like to see the committee differentiate between policies and procedures and rules and regulations.

"Policies and procedures don't have weight like rules and regulations," Hagener said. "When I went and talked to the sheriff about that, and talked to a couple other people, they don't feel very good about trying to enforce policies and procedures because they are how we impose it upon ourselves. Rules and regulations, on the other hand, are very firm."

Edgar read over the Haying Policies and Procedures, with the committee suggesting some adjustments made to wording as well, and held a discussion about how and where to weigh the hay.

Various members of the committee agreed that most people bring their hay bales in to town to be weighed. However, committee member Bill Bradbury, a local rancher, said the weigh station in town is only staffed for a certain amount of time. The individual at the weigh station has the ability to provide the ranchers with a ticket showing the hay's weight which they take back to Edgar.

Committee Member Conrad Nystrom, also a local rancher, said people could buy a scale they could place on their loaders to weigh the hay.

Edgar said he felt like this would benefit not only ranchers, but himself as well.

"If somebody had one on their tractor that'd be great. 'Hey, Larry are you going to go weigh them today? OK, I'll go meet you up there,'" Edgar added. "All I have to do is run out there when they're baling."

Another item that was added to the Haying Policies and Procedures from the Grazing Policies and Procedures was a 1.5 percent penalty per month that would be imposed on any fees not paid within 30 days from the final billing date.

Edgar added that he was considering adjusting the 30 days to 60 days from the final billing for hay and asked the committee how they felt about that. The committee had no objections to the adjustment.

The committee also discussed reflectors that are along Montana highway through Beaver Creek Park was brought up again.

Hill County Commissioner Mark Petersen said he was told by a Montana Department of Transportation representative that the reflectors help to scare the deer away.

Edgar and several other committee members said they believe the reflectors made it more difficult for people to see animals at night.

Petersen said putting a fence along the highway instead of the reflectors was an option.

Havre Daily News/Ryan Berry The sun sets as cattle graze Sunday, December 16, 2018 at Beaver Creek Park south of Havre, Mont.

He added that he would look into the fence solution for the highway.

When the state took over maintenance of the highway early last decade, numerous people expressed opposition to fencing it in as was required by state law. The Legislature in 2001 unanimously passed a variance allowing counties to leave highways through county parks unfenced if factors to help keep livestock off the highway were implemented.

Edgar said the version of the policies and procedures seen Monday would not be the final draft and the committee would meet again in January to go over the revisions. Once a final draft was completed, he added, it would be sent to the Park Board for final approval. After the Park Board approved the final draft, it would then be open to the public for comments.Havre City Council started the process Monday to replace the position being vacated by City Judge Virginia Seigel.

Seigel announced her resignation to the City Council during the Nov. 19 council meeting. She will serve her last day as city judge Jan. 21.

The council did not take action at that time because Seigel had not requested to put the consideration of her resignation or appointing her recommended replacement, her clerk, Tyson Bliwernitz, on the council agenda.

Bliwernitz has since resigned as City Court clerk.

The council has 30 days after the vacancy has opened to find a replacement.

Seigels replacement will serve the rest of her term as city judge until the next election, in 2020.

The council decided that, due to the holiday season they will advertise the position for three weeks, until Jan. 11 of next year.

City Clerk Doug Kaercher said that, within that time, there will be three, possibly four, advertisements for the position through a variety of media, such as the newspaper and the radio.

The council will accept applications until Jan. 11.

Kaercher suggested that if the council receives more than two applicants for the position that the council set a special meeting to conduct the interviews and vote on them. The agenda of the special meeting would have to be published ahead of time.

In order to apply for city judge, applicants must be a resident of Havre and at least 18 years of age Mayor Tim Solomon said, adding that if appointed other training is required by the Montana Supreme Court.

After each election cycle, the Montana Supreme Court holds training classes. The class was attended this year by Seigel. Videos and training materials are available to the city.

The council also approved Solomons recommendation of Scott Dawson to the City-County Planning Board.

Council President Terry Lilletvedt said she very strongly recommends new development of storm drains within the city.

We do a lot of cleaning up afterwards when we dont have a storm drain system, she said.

She added that, initially, it might be more expensive to build storm drains, but the city will save money in the long term with less clean up.

Solomon said Lilletvedt should speak with the City-County Planning Board about the subject.

The council also approved adopting the Hill County Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan update.

Solomon said Police Chief Gabe Matosich and Fire Chief Mel Paulson were the main ones who worked on the Havre portion of the mitigation plan

He added that the mitigation plan covers weather, fires and anything else that can happen in the Hill County area as required by the Federal Government.

Solomon said Hill County Commission has already adopted the mitigation plan, adding that it is a joint effort between Havre, Hill County and Hingham.

The mitigation plan is not a plan for how to respond to an emergency but is a plan to prevent emergency situations from occurring, Solomon said. He said that could include preparing in advance for bad weather or for situations at the dike.

Anyone that has lived in this country kind of knows 90 percent of it, Solomon said.

He added that anyone can go to Havre City Hall and look through the mitigation plan.Three people today escaped an early morning house fire in the middle of Kremlin that officials say totally destroyed the residence.

Kremlin Fire Chief Kody Peterson said the call came in sometime before 2 a.m. today, but the fire was already significantly established by the time firefighters arrived. Havre Fire Department and Gildford Volunteer Fire Department were also called to help fight the fire.

Havre Assistant Fire Chief Kelly Jones said a Havre crew responded with one truck at 1:50 a.m. and by the time those crews arrived the house was fully engulfed, and a Havre ambulance responded at 3:38 a.m.

Peterson said the residents were treated for smoke inhalation.

The fire was contained to the house, Peterson said, adding that, luckily, the detached garage had a tin roof that protected it from embers and much of the city block was empty.

However, he said, because of dry conditions and high winds predicted today and tonight, Kremlin crews brought in an excavator to push the remains of the structure in to actively control the site until all materials are burned up.

Thats been a healthy concern of ours, he said.

The cause of the fire is not known, and Peterson said that unless the family can add some information, the amount of damage means they dont have enough to work with for an investigation.

NorthWestern Energy power and gas crews and Hill County Water District also responded.Heres a guide to arm you with the best and latest research and thinking on the onboarding process.

Step 1: It starts at the start (and maybe even before)

Companies with the most effective hiring processes realise that the onboarding process begins prior to the announcement of the formal hire. Effective onboarding will begin at the interview stage for the job, with clear delineation of expectations for the new employee as well as a clear indication of the kind of culture that the company wishes to promote, and how employees may help themselves to fit in as well as be helped to fit in.

Google is well known for their extensive interviewing process when hiring. One former Google HR director said this was so they could achieve a 360 degree perspective on the employee before making the call to hire. By 360 degree perspective they mean that often, potential employees will be interviewed not by one HR person, but by several individuals including those both above and below them in the organisational hierarchy. That way Google can get a better cross-sectional understanding of how a potential hire will fit in across multiple workplace contexts (most obviously as someone who both is a boss and has a boss).

That is to say  one of the most effective onboarding processes is to make sure that everyone is already on board with the hire.On the agenda will be AI, chat bots and machine learning in HR, using HR technology for continuous learning, real-time feedback and performance management, overcoming the challenges of HR technology implementation and a look at what the future holds for emerging HR technologies.

Super Saver registrations are closing tomorrow for the summit. To ensure access to this unmissable panel and more, HRD readers are encouraged to book in by tomorrow, Thursday 20 December to take advantage of the savings on offer.

For more information and to register, go to hrsummit.com.au.

The National HR Summit Australia will be held at Luna Park Sydney on 26-27 March 2019.WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  A biomarker for multiple sclerosis that could be an early warning for the disease has shown promise in both human and animal testing.

Researchers at Purdue University and the Indiana University School of Medicine found that acrolein, a molecule previously suspected as a metabolic waste product that accumulates in people with certain neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinsons disease, could possibly be used to help diagnose MS.

Multiple sclerosis affects an estimated 2.3 million people worldwide, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and an estimated 1 million people in the United States have MS. The disease usually is diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, and affects twice as many women as men.

Although there is no cure for MS, recent years have seen a flurry of activity around possible biomarkers and possible treatments.

Dr. David Mattson, professor of neurology and the director of the Indiana University Multiple Sclerosis Center, says that if the results are validated, acrolein could also allow medical professionals to monitor the effectiveness of treatments.

We are in the process of trying to correlate acrolein levels with MS disease activity, which potentially would help us monitor disease activity with a blood test, he says. If this is validated, it would help us decide how aggressive to be with immunotherapy, or whether a therapy is working or there is a need to switch to a different therapy.

Acrolein is a byproduct of fat metabolism. Dr. Riyi Shi, a professor of neuroscience and biomedical engineering in Purdue Universitys Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, has found that an accumulation of the molecule is present in animal models of neurological diseases such as MS, Parkinsons disease, or even spinal cord and brain injuries. Acrolein is thought to damage cells by disrupting the lipids, or fats, that protect nerve tissue, in a process called lipid peroxidation. Shi said that both blood and urine tests, or assays, have been able to measure acrolein levels in humans and in animal models.

The levels of this compound in urine and blood is correlated  the MS patients that had the highest level of acrolein in the blood also had the highest level in the urine, he said.

According to Shi, it is, therefore, possible that a high level of acrolein is indicative of more active MS, though low levels of acrolein do not rule out the possibility of having MS. Further study is needed to vailidate these initital observations.

Shi says the study also suggests that acrolein is not just a potential biomarker of MS disease activity but could also be a target for therapies.

There are drugs already on the market that are known to be acrolein scavengers, and it is possible that one of these drugs could be repurposed as a possible therapy for MS, Shi says. But these drugs also have strong effects on other targets, so more study would need to be done to see if they have a therapeutic effect to eliminate acrolein at a safe level.

The two drugs in this catogory are hydralazine, used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure, and phenelzine, which is used to treat major depression.

Before attempting to repurpose these drugs to lower acrolein in MS patients, we plan to first confirm if acrolein, indeed, correlates with disease activity in MS through a larger clinical study with more participants, Mattson says. Then we need to show that these drugs can, indeed, reduce acrolein levels in human MS patients, and if lowering acrolein levels is therapeutic in MS.

If it turns out these agents can reduce acrolein levels in MS and offer benefit for the disease process in MS, then patients on these agents for the blood pressure or psychiatric indications would get two benefits for one.

Shis health research aligns with Purdues Giant Leaps celebration, which acknowledges the universitys global advancements in health, longevity and quality of life as part of Purdues 150th anniversary. This is one of the four themes of the yearlong celebrations Ideas Festival, designed to showcase Purdue as an intellectual center solving real-world problems.

Shi is a faculty member of both the Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience and the Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery, which are located in Purdues interdisciplinary research facility, Discovery Park.

This work was supported by an Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute pilot program grant RR025761, the Indiana State Department of Health grant 204200, and the National Institutes of Health grant NS073636.

Shi also is the co-founder of Neuro Vigor, a startup company with business interests of developing effective therapies for CNS neurodegenerative diseases and trauma. Previously, Shi was one of three scientists who developed Ampyra, the first and only FDA-approved drug to help multiple sclerosis patients improve their motor skills. Mattson is on the Neuro Vigor advisory board.

Media contact/Writer: Steve Tally, 765-494-9809, steve@purdue.edu, @sciencewriter

Sources: Dr. Riyi Shi, 765-496-3018, riyi@purdue.edu,

Dr. David Mattson, 317-948-5450, kchamberlain@iuhealth.org

ABSTRACT

Systemic Acrolein Elevations in Mice With Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis and Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

Melissa Tully1,2, Jonathan Tang1,3, Lingxing Zheng1,3, Glen Acosta3, Ran Tian1,3, LeeHayward4,NicholasRace1,2,DavidMattson4 and RiyiShi1,3*

Demyelination and axonal injury are the key pathological processes in multiple sclerosis (MS), driven by inflammation and oxidative stress. Acrolein, a byproduct and instigator of oxidative stress, has been demonstrated as a neurotoxin in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of MS. However, due to the invasive nature of acrolein detection using immunoblotting techniques, the investigation of acrolein in MS has been limited to animal models. Recently, detection of a specific acrolein-glutathione metabolite, 3-HPMA, has been demonstrated in urine, enabling the noninvasive quantification of acrolein for the first time in humans with neurological disorders. In this study, we have demonstrated similar elevated levels of acrolein in both urine (3-HPMA) and in spinal cord tissue (acrolein-lysine adduct) in mice with EAE, which can be reduced through systemic application of acrolein scavenger hydralazine. Furthermore, using this approach we have demonstrated an increase of 3-HPMA in both the urine and serum of MS patients relative to controls. It is expected that this noninvasive acrolein detection could facilitate the investigation of the role of acrolein in the pathology of MS in human. It may also be used to monitor putative therapies aimed at suppressing acrolein levels, reducing severity of symptoms, and slowing progression as previously demonstrated in animal studies.

Purdue UniversityFemale Biology  Two Xs and Ovaries  Extends Life and Protects Mice From Aging

Around the world, women outlive men. This is true in sickness and in health, in war and in peace, even during severe epidemics and famine. In most animal species, females live longer than males.

Now, scientists at UC San Francisco have zeroed in on a possible genetic mechanism for this highly durable phenomenon, that  while it does not preclude the influence of other biological, social and environmental factors  suggests an important role for the second X chromosome, which is present in female mammals. The X chromosome contains many genes related to the brain, and it is crucial for survival. Without at least one X, an animal cannot live. The Y chromosome, present only in males, contains very few genes other than those that create secondary sex characteristics, like male genitals and facial hair, and it is not necessary for survival.

The researchers gave experimental mice four different combinations of chromosomes and gonads: the two found in nature  XX with ovaries and XY with testes  and two others created in the laboratory  XX testes and XY ovaries. The mice were genetically identical except for their sex chromosomes, but even when everything else about them, including their environment, was the same, having two Xs promoted survival. When two Xs were combined with ovaries, the mice lived to the furthest edges of the mouse lifespan.

Weve long wondered what causes female longevity, said Dena Dubal MD, PhD, associate professor of neurology at UCSF and senior author of the study published in Aging Cell. Dubal is the David Coulter Endowed Chair in Aging and Neurodegenerative Disease, and a member of the Weill Institute for Neurosciences at UCSF. One can imagine nature has driven females to evolve this way. When youre living longer, you can really ensure the well-being of your offspring, and maybe even their offspring.

The experiment, conducted by Emily Davis, a student in the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program at UCSF, is the first mechanistic study to show that females live longer than males, and that XX largely governs this trait in aging mice. It took several years to complete, since the mice were observed until they either died or survived until 30 months. Dubal and her team used the Four Core Genotypes (FCG) model developed two decades ago and then championed by UCLA scientist Arthur Arnold, PhD, for rigorous study of sex differences.

The technique manipulates the Sry gene, which normally resides on the Y chromosome and causes testes and other masculine features to develop. In the FCG mice, Sry has been moved to a different chromosome that does not determine sex, so it can be inherited whether or not a mouse has a Y chromosome.

The researchers found that having both female sex chromosomes and female gonads extended life in mice that were 12 to 30 months old, the mouse equivalent of midlife to old age. But most of the effect came from the sex chromosomes. The XX mice lived longer than the XY mice, whether either one had ovaries or testes. But the mice that lived the longest had ovaries, in addition to two X chromosomes  in other words, they displayed natural female mouse biology.

This suggests that the hormones produced by female gonads increase lifespan in mice with two X chromosomes, either by influencing how the mouse develops or by activating certain biological pathways during their lives, Dubal said.

When comparing the two different types of genetically female mice  those with ovaries and those with testes  the researchers found having two Xs plus ovaries enabled mice to live longer, beginning at 21 months, which is toward the end of a normal mouse lifespan. But for the laboratory mice who were genetically female but hormonally male  two Xs plus testes  the second X chromosome only protected them from dying earlier in life without extending their lives beyond the normal mouse lifespan. These benefits trailed off by the time the mice were 23 months old.

For an expanded lifespan, the mice needed to have ovaries working with XX, said Iryna Lobach, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF, who did the statistical analysis that found these cutoff points. But in terms of living a normal lifespan, it didnt matter if they had ovaries or testes. As long as they had XX, they escaped early death during aging.

A neurologist and neuroscientist who specializes in healthy aging, Dubal is actively investigating how the X and Y chromosomes exert such far-reaching influences.

We dont yet understand how the second X chromosome decreases mortality in aging, she said.

But there is much in the scientific literature to suggest the profoundly protective effect of having a second X chromosome. In females, half of the XX pair is randomly silenced  or turned off  in each cell of the body. So when there are defects, cells with the healthy X can compensate for those with the unhealthy X. And even without defects, the X that is silent still expresses itself somewhat, causing more X chromosome to be expressed in each female cell compared to male cells. Dubal said another possible explanation, which remains to be tested, is that the Y could somehow be harmful.

When things go wrong in aging, having more of the X chromosome, along with its diversity of expression, could be really beneficial, Dubal said.

Authors: Emily Davis, Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program at UCSF; Iryna Lobach, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF; Dena Dubal MD, PhD, associate professor of neurology, David Coulter Endowed Chair in Aging and Neurodegenerative Disease, and a member of the Weill Institute for Neurosciences at UCSF.

Funding: Supported by the NSF grant 1650113, NIH grants AG034531 and NS092918, Coulter-Weeks Foundation, Bakar Foundation, American Federation for Aging Research, and Glenn Foundation.

Disclosures: None.

UC San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It includes top-ranked graduate schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy; a graduate division with nationally renowned programs in basic, biomedical, translational and population sciences; and a preeminent biomedical research enterprise. It also includes UCSF Health, which comprises three top-ranked hospitals  UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospitals in San Francisco and Oakland  as well as Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital and Clinics, UCSF Benioff Childrens Physicians and the UCSF Faculty Practice. UCSF Health has affiliations with hospitals and health organizations throughout the Bay Area. UCSF faculty also provide all physician care at the public Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, and the SF VA Medical Center. The UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program is a major branch of the University of California, San Franciscos School of Medicine.LIGHTNING EDITORIAL: Hotel proposals encouraging sign downtown

The city could score a home run if one of two prospects for a downtown hotel comes to pass.

At the City Councils behest, the city sent out a request for proposals on Oct. 11 asking interested developers to submit plans for a hotel with 80 to 120 rooms and conference space for 150 to 300 people. The city has offered to sell the city-owned Dogwood parking lot at Fourth Avenue West and Washington Street and re-invest the proceeds in a parking garage that would offset the loss of 157 surface lot spaces.

The two developers that responded met the requirements the city set out.

The Charlotte-based Catellus Group proposed a 120-room five-story hotel with a 247-space parking garage, a 4,500-square-foot conference space and a first-floor lounge and restaurant. Blue Star Hospitality of Fletcher pitched an 88-room, six-floor structure with double the conference space  9,000 square feet  plus 9,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and a parking garage with 244 spaces.

Catellus, a smaller real estate developer, is currently in the planning or construction phases for a premiere boutique hotel in Charlottes trendy Dilworth neighborhood, an 85-room brand-name hotel in Shelby and an 81-room Comfort Suites hotel in Independence Township, Michigan.

Blue Star, which has built 22 hotels since its founding in 1995, boasts that it has worked with Marriott International Inc., Hilton Worldwide, Wyndham Worldwide, Choice Hotels International Inc. and Best Western International Inc.

Its a given in an attempted public-private partnership of this magnitude that thorny details will have to be worked out.

Obviously, part of the parking would be ours, Mayor pro tem Ron Stephens said. We dont want to lose any parking spaces and I dont think wed have to. Im told that one of them has the space to accommodate 200 people (for meetings). We can use the hotel and we can certainly use the meeting space, which would be an important addition to downtown. I hope it goes forward. This looks very encouraging.

City Councilman Steve Caraker, who renovated a historic home and started his city government experience as a member of the Historic Preservation Commission, said he preferred the brick facade Catellus showed in a rendering to the composite material of Blue Stars design.

Caraker wants the council to retain some design authority so that a hotel in downtown Hendersonville would be compatible with downtowns historic character. Thats not only a reasonable but imperative. Among the councils duties is to preserve downtown as an attraction, the golden goose of our small-business retail and dining economy.

The city also has the 65-foot building height cap to contend with, a result of the last attempted development of this magnitude downtown. We hope the historic preservationists realize that the nine-story Carolina Grand (nee Sunflower) was different proposition in size and location. A five-story building with a relatively compact footprint would not be out of scale on that block of Church Street.

The Dogwood Inn (to take creative license) would represent much more than a place for visitors and overflow family to lodge overnight. It could bring small conventions to downtown and add to our ever-expanding dining choices, maybe with a second penthouse or rooftop restaurant (after the new Shine). The city team  including City Manager John Connet, assistant manager Brian Pahle and downtown coordinator Lew Holloway  has a tough job ahead in filling in the details, of course. Its a smart team and one that has been aggressive and creative in pushing for this and other improvements, including the Grey Hosiery Mill redevelopment and Seventh Avenue revitalization. With the support of the City Council, the city team should push ahead to try and consummate a hotel deal that works for the real estate developer and steps up the citys appeal and potential.JOHN HOWELL is suppporting the Prime Minister over Brexit.

The Henley MP says he backs the withdrawal agreement that Theresa May negotiated with the European Union.

He was also one of the 200 Conservative MPs who supported her when she faced a vote of no confidence from her own party last week.

This followed her decision to postpone a vote on the deal, fearing she would not get it through the House of Commons. This will now take place in mid-January.

Mrs May survived after securing 63 per cent of the total vote but 117 MPs voted for her to go and she had to agree that she would resign before the next general election.

Mr Howell, who is the Prime Ministers trade envoy to Nigeria, said he expected her to come through what was a difficult time.

I voted with confidence for the Prime Minister, he said. I do think that she has done a very good job in negotiating with the EU. She may not have got a perfect agreement  a better agreement would be without the backstop  but I didnt think it was the time to change horses mid-stream. I think the result was actually very good. I was interviewed by the BBC who looked at it as 117 people who had voted against and I said they were looking at it the wrong way round.

Mr Howell critcised fellow Tory MP and Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg, who led the charge for the vote of no confidence and afterwards said that losing the support of a third of her MPs was terrible and that Mrs May should resign anyway.

Mr Howell said: Jacob Rees-Mogg overplayed his hand and he should now back off. It is ridiculous of him to call for her to resign when she has a massive percentage of Conservative votes. He is in cloud cuckoo land.

He added: It was inevitable that she wouldnt fight a general election, having messed up with the 2017 election.

Mr Howell believes there is still time to make the necessary adjustments to Mrs Mays deal to get Parliaments approval.

He said: From the beginning I have said there are good and bad bits to the proposed deal.

The good bits include sorting out the rights of Europeans in the UK and those from the UK in Europe. The bad bits include the Irish protocol, which has become to be known as the Irish backstop.

Although the risk analysis suggested that it wasnt ever going to be used, it is a bad thing to have a clause that didnt give us a unilateral opt-out and there was a number of us who made those points.

That is the main sticking point for most in the Conservative Party. What we told her is that she should solve the backstop problem then the party would fall in line and support the deal.

The delay to the vote came as no surprise to me as she said she had listened to the concerns that people had.

I am for it but I do believe it is not good to have an open-ended commitment however rare you might think you might use it.

Mr Howell said he supported Mrs Mays efforts in regularly meeting European leaders as he believes the deal can be improved.

He said: The backstop came in a large part from us. It is not something that is of great interest to the EU.

I think there is room for negotiation  there is a lot of bluff on both sides and it is not over until the ink is dry.Burnt out vans at the property near Strokestown

The vigilante gang that stormed the Roscommon farm at the centre of a controversial eviction may have been helped by local criminals.

Between 20 and 30 men attacked eight security guards at the farm in Falsk, near Strokestown, early on Sunday morning.

A guard dog injured in the brutal attack had to be put down, while several vehicles were burnt out.

The security workers were stationed at the property after the eviction of three people last Thursday.

It has now emerged that the vigilante mob - made up of some dissident republicans - was also joined by well-known criminals, gardai believe.

Republican elements may have "exploited" the anger surrounding the eviction and became involved in Sunday's violence.

Officers believe their involvement may have been "sanctioned" by local crime groups heavily involved in cattle smuggling.

"Dissidents from the North and Dublin are suspected of involvement," said a source.

"They reached a deal with local crime groups allowing them to carry out the attacks on their turf.

"In exchange, gardai now fear these cattle smugglers will be allowed to target farmers in republican strong-holds for a small tax.

"Those cheering on the actions on Sunday could well find themselves the victims of these criminals in the new year."

Notorious

These criminals include a CAB target who is originally from Sligo, as well as a notorious crime family operating in north Roscommon.

Anti-eviction groups are also believed to have been involved in the storming of the property.

It is understood that the men gathered on Saturday evening before heading to the Falsk property.

An incident room has been established by gardai to investigate the violent incident, which left three of the eight security workers hospitalised.

Gardai are also probing the eviction at the same property last Thursday where two minor assaults were reported.

It is understood a former garda and a 60-year-old man were assaulted during the eviction.

The farmer whose home was at the centre of the repossession, Anthony McGann, is not suspected of having any involvement in the violence.

Donal Hanley, a family friend, confirmed that two members of the McGann family have moved back into the house.

"They're asking to be left alone and in peace," said Mr Hanley.

"They're seriously traumatised by what happened. This family have been thrust into the media spotlight. They're not used to this.

"The family don't condone violence in any shape or manner whatsoever."

Anthony McGann has financial difficulties which stretch back almost a decade and include a more than 400,000 settlement secured by the Revenue Commissioners against him in 2015 for the under-declaration of VAT.

Land Registry records for the Falsk property also show that more than 18,000 was secured in a judgment in December 2008, which was subsequently registered against his property.

That judgment was obtained by a local company which operated a quarry at the time.

In 2015, the Revenue Commissioners secured a settlement of 429,500 against the evicted man as a tax defaulter for the under-declaration of VAT.

This included 177,000 in tax owed, almost 75,000 in interest, and more than 177,000 in penalties.

Most recently, in January this year, a judgment mortgage was secured against the Mr McGann in the Midland Circuit Court by Cabot Asset Purchases (Ireland). That judgment was registered against his property in February this year.

In 2004, Mr McGann secured a mortgage from IIB Homeloans, the Belgian-owned lender that rebranded as KBC in 2009.

In 2017, it emerged that KBC Bank Ireland sold a chunk of loans to credit-servicing and debt-collection firm Cabot Financial Ireland, a unit of the US-based Cabot group.

Condemned

Yesterday, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan condemned Sunday's violence and said vigilantism "cannot and will not be tolerated in this State".

The minister said a garda investigation is under way and it is important that this can take its course.

"While I do not wish to comment on any individual case, I wish to stress that violence is never justified," he added.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar also "condemned unreservedly" what he described as a "very highly organised, highly violent vigilante attack" in Roscommon.A doctor who stabbed her three-year-old autistic son 20 times told gardai "a power" made her go to a drawer and remove a knife, a court heard.

The Central Criminal Court was yesterday told that four stab wounds penetrated the boy's lungs and heart, severing a vital artery.

Maha Al Adheem (43), of Riverside, Poddle Park, Kimmage, Dublin 12, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murdering her son, Omar Omran (3), at their home on July 10 last year.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Michael Delaney told the court that there would be no "substantial controversy" between the prosecution and defence on the facts of the case.

Depression

He said Ms Al Adheem, who was diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia in 1996, came to Ireland in 2010 as part of an arranged marriage.

Mr Delaney said it was not a happy marriage and the couple separated in May 2014, a few months after their only child, Omar, was born.

The court was told that Omar had developmental delay, was non-verbal and was diagnosed with autism soon after his third birthday.

"This all forms part of the background to the case," said Mr Delaney.

Although Ms Al Adheem qualified as a doctor, she did not practice medicine in Ireland because of everything that was going on in her life.

In March 2017, a month after her son was diagnosed with autism, Ms Al Adheem was admitted to the psychiatric department of St James's Hospital with suicidal thoughts and was detained for five days.

Mr Delaney said the court would hear evidence that in the months prior to Omar's death, Ms Al Adheem became preoccupied with a tailless black cat that was wandering around her apartment complex.

"She associated this cat with an evil spirit that was making bad things happen," he said.

At 6.40pm on the day that Omar died, Dublin Fire Brigade received a 999 call from a woman who said her baby was dead. She then hung up.

The operator phoned the woman back, but she hung up again.

Mr Delaney said paramedics sent to the scene were unable to enter the second-floor flat and a sledgehammer was used to break down the front door.

Garda Diarmaid Kelly, who was the first person to enter the flat, saw Ms Al Adheem move back from the hallway to the living area.

She had blood on her clothes and held her thigh as if she was injured. Omar's body, which had multiple stab wounds, was lying on a single bed in the bedroom.

Rigor mortis had set in, which suggested death had occurred sometime earlier.

Ms Al Adheem told those in attendance at the scene that she had stabbed her son then stabbed herself because she wanted to die.

She had a number of superficial wounds to her abdomen.

Ms Al Adheem was taken to hospital and later transferred to a psychiatric unit.

Two days later, she was deemed fit for interview and was arrested.

Sleeping

Ms Al Adheem was taken to Crumlin Garda Station, where she was interviewed on four occasions.

"In those interviews, she spoke of the black cat without a tail wandering around the apartment complex and that a man, through the cat, was sleeping with her," said counsel.

Ms Al Adheem told gardai that she and Omar were in the sitting room at noon when she grabbed a knife and stabbed him. She then stabbed herself before passing out.

When she "came around" she called 999.

"She said a power had made her go to a drawer and take out a knife and stab her son," said Mr Delaney.

He said this was something she repeated on a number of occasions.

The trial resumes today before Ms Justice Eileen Creedon. It is expected to last three days.John Gilligan, who was arrested with 23,000 in a suitcase at Belfast International Airport in the summer, faces Christmas behind bars after his latest bail application was refused.

A defence barrister told Coleraine Magistrates' Court that Gilligan (66), of Greenfort Crescent, west Dublin, had been on remand in custody for 115 days on a charge of attempting to remove criminal property from Northern Ireland.

Gilligan appeared via video link from Maghaberry Prison, where he has been held since his arrest while trying to board a flight from Belfast to Spain.

At the time, the UK's Nation- al Crime Agency (NCA) said officers recovered around 23,000 at the scene.

At yesterday's hearing, Gilligan confirmed his name and that he could see and hear the court.

A defence lawyer said a bail application was being submitted on the basis of a delay in the case.

An NCA investigator said the full file on the case was submitted to prosecutors on November 1, and he had met the assistant director of the Public Prosecution Service a fortnight ago to discuss the case.

The investigator said the only thing outstanding on the file was an International Letter of Request, which was previously submitted in relation to enquiries with gardai and the Criminal Assets Bureau.

He said the letter was still going through various departments, including the Home Office, which would then send it to gardai.

The investigator said he wanted information from Ireland since the defendant was facing a "money-laundering" offence.

Absconding

Gilligan's lawyer said that at the airport in August, his client had given officials an account of the money, saying around 15,000 was for rent in Spain.

The barrister said his client had been in custody for 115 days and he believed the risk of him absconding could be dealt with by Gilligan being released on bail with an electronic tag, a curfew and daily reporting to police.

District Judge Liam McNally said the defendant had a number of previous bail applications refused on the grounds of a likelihood of committing further offences and not turning up for his trial.

He said the fresh bail application was on the grounds of a delay, and added that further information was being sought from gardai and the Criminal Assets Bureau.

The judge said it was getting close to a stage when the time taken for the case to proceed would be an issue, but he was satisfied that progress was being made.

However, Judge McNally said he was giving prosecutors "a yellow card" over the delay, and added that if a timetable for the case was not forthcoming next month he could revisit the issue of bail.

He refused bail and remanded Gilligan in custody to appear back at court in mid-January.Conor McGregor leaves Dublin District Court after the case was struck out

MMA star Conor McGregor has had the latest motoring case against him struck out by a court in less than 10 seconds.

The UFC fighter (30) appeared in Dublin District Court yesterday accused of uninsured and unlicensed driving - the second time in less than three weeks that he has come before a judge to answer road traffic offences.

However, Judge Geraldine Carthy dismissed the case at the request of gardai after his documents were produced in advance of the brief hearing.

Minders

McGregor, of Laraghcon, Lucan, was accused of driving without insurance or a licence and failing to produce documents at a garda station within 10 days of being stopped driving at Grove Road, Rathmines, last July 10.

McGregor, who was wearing a navy suit, white shirt and purple tie, arrived at the Criminal Courts of Justice shortly after 10.30am in a car with blacked-out back passenger windows.

He walked, flanked by minders, to the entrance and through a throng of reporters and photographers.

After a consultation with his solicitor, Graham Kenny, he remained in the corridor outside the packed courtroom until minutes before the case was called.

He stood in the public gallery and was seen smiling and chatting with RTE crime correspondent Paul Reynolds.

When the case was called, Mr Kenny told Judge Carthy he appeared for the accused, who came forward from the back of the courtroom.

Gda Keith Dolan made an application for the case to be struck out on behalf of prosecuting garda Gavin Kelly.

"Strike out all matters," Judge Carthy said.

McGregor nodded and murmured "thanks", then made his way out of the courtroom after a hearing that lasted less than 10 seconds.

Less than three weeks ago at Naas District Court, he was banned from driving for six months and fined 1,000 for speeding.

McGregor was caught driving at 154kph in a 100kph zone on the N7 in Co Kildare in the incident last year, and failed to pay the fixed penalty fine due to an administrative error, Naas District Court was told during that hearing.

Judge Desmond Zaidan noted at the time that McGreg-or had 12 previous motoring convictions and said he was fortunate he was not charged with careless or dangerous driving.

Guilty

McGregor had pleaded guilty to breaking the speed limit at Blackchurch on the N7 at Kill, Co Kildare, on October 11 last year.

In November last year, he was fined 400 for speeding in a separate incident on the Naas Road after he pleaded guilty at Blanchardstown District Court.Rafal Winter has not yet indicated how he will be pleading

A shop assistant accused of stealing more than 10,000 worth of National Lottery scratch cards from his employer has been sent for trial.

Rafal Winter (37) allegedly stole the Lotto cards over a three-month period.

He was served with the book of evidence when he appeared on bail before Blanchardstown District Court.

The accused, of Swallowbrook Crescent, Clonee, is charged with theft at Spar, The Crescent, Mulhuddart, on dates between July 2 and September 24 last year.

The DPP had directed summary trial in the district court, but a judge had previously refused jurisdiction to deal with it, saying that if one considered the moral quality of the matter, then the allegation was "up there".

Caution

Outlining the allegation, Gda Sgt Maria Callaghan previ- ously alleged that Mr Winter was working in the shop when he stole National Lottery scratch cards worth a total of 10,567.

The alleged theft was investigated by gardai and the accused was charged.

A state solicitor said the book of evidence was ready and had been served on the accused, who goes forward to the next sittings of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Judge David McHugh gave the accused the formal alibi caution.

The judge assigned defence solicitor Philip Hannon and one junior counsel on free legal aid.

Judge McHugh also ordered that a video of an interview which gardai conducted with the accused be furnished to his legal team.

Mr Winter has not yet indicated how he is pleading to the charge.Detectives will use DNA from the body of a baby found on a north Dublin beach in the hope of identifying her mother.

The newborn girl, named Baby Belle by gardai, was discovered at around 10am on Saturday at a beach in Balbriggan.

The stillborn infant was full-term.

Gardai are not treating the death as a criminal investigation and are anxious to trace the mother, who they believe needs urgent medical care.

Officers will take a DNA sample from Baby Belle and compare it for matches in the national database.

Welfare

Expand Close Gardai search the clifftops for clues / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Gardai search the clifftops for clues

CCTV from around the beach will also be reviewed as gardai believe the baby's remains were left on the beach rather than washed ashore.

Gardai made another public appeal yesterday for the mother to come forward and seek medical attention, adding that her welfare was of "paramount importance".

Sgt Fiona Savidge, of Balbriggan Garda Station, said: "I want to thank everyone in the area for their assistance. A number of phone calls have been received at Balbriggan Garda Station.

"The primary concern is the health, welfare and medical assistance that can be offered to Belle's mam.

"I also want to say the safety of Belle's mam is of paramount importance.

"The post mortem showed it was the birth of a baby girl. She was full-term and unfortunately baby Belle was stillborn."

Eilidh McNab, the Tusla north Dublin area manager, also urged the baby's mother to seek medical attention.

Officials have repeatedly stressed that she will be treated with care and compassion.

Gardai have also appealed to anybody else with information to make contact.

Baby Belle's body was partially covered in sand when discovered, but gardai believe this was the result of the wind rather than being done deliberately.

The baby was left on the beach "very, very shortly" after being born.

Apart from a cloth used to cover the child, no personal or identifying items were left.

Efforts will also be made to determine how the child was taken to the beach.

Prayer

The remains are currently with the coroner following the post mortem, and arrangements will be made with the local authority to organise a funeral.

It is expected this will take place in the Balbriggan community, where prayer services have already been held for the baby.

Sgt Savidge said she wanted the mother to know "you will be treated with the utmost of compassion, care and 100pc confidentiality".

"I know you are a daughter. You are possibly a sister, a cousin. You may have a husband or a boyfriend," she said.

"You may just have confided in a friend, so to anybody out there who the mother of this baby has got in touch with, I am appealing to you to make contact with us here."'It's not going away': Man still faces trial in 1988 assault on girlsManila (CNN Philippines Life)  As the world  or the universe rather  celebrates the victory of Miss Philippines 2018 Catriona Gray as the recently crowned Miss Universe 2018, another win is also being celebrated for representation, diversity, and inclusion by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer plus (LGBTIQ) community around the world: the historic participation of Miss Spain Angela Ponce, the first transgender (shortened as trans from here on) woman to ever compete in the Miss Universe pageant.

Long road to Miss Universe

Angela Ponce is certainly not the first trans woman to dream of becoming Miss Universe. Here in the Philippines, there is a story that has become an urban legend of sorts but is widely known and shared among trans women circles. In the early 90s, a daring trans woman attempted to join Binibining Pilipinas (Miss Philippines), the countrys national beauty pageant for women which sends its top winner to the Miss Universe pageant. The story goes that said trans woman actually passed the stringent screening process and made the cut as an official Binibining Pilipinas candidate. However, before the contest started she got cold feet. Fearing that pageant organizers would find out about her trans status, she decided to back out of the competition.

Fast forward to 2012 when Jenna Talackova joined Miss Universe Canada. Two years prior, Jenna Talackova joined the Miss International Queen (MIQ), an international pageant for trans women in Thailand but did not win. She was vocal about her feelings of not fitting in at MIQ and decided to join Miss Universe Canada. She then set her sights on Miss Universe Canada and made international headlines when she was initially disqualified as a candidate for not being a natural born woman but was later reinstated when the Miss Universe Organization (MUO), then owned by Donald Trump, changed the pageants rules allowing trans women to compete. Jenna Talackova eventually lost her bid for Miss Universe Canada. Donald Trump sold the Miss Universe franchise to WME-IMG, a talent agency in 2015, and in 2017, he became the 45th President of the United States.

After Jenna Talackova, there were other trans women who joined pageants to qualify for Miss Universe. In 2017, Anita Green, became the first openly trans contestant in the Miss Montana USA. Had she won, Anita Green would have gone on to compete in Miss USA, whose winner is sent to Miss Universe. In Israel, Tallen Abu Hanna became the first trans candidate in the 2018 Miss Universe Israel. Tallen Abu Hanna won the first Miss Trans Israel in 2016, and in the same year finished second runner up in the Barcelona-based pageant for trans women, Miss Trans Star International. Also this year, Solongo Batsukh became the first trans contestant in the Miss Mongolia Universe. Solongo Batsukh also lost in the pageant. Thus far, no other trans woman has achieved what Angela Ponce did at her time in Miss Universe Spain: to win the national pageant and gain entry to the global Miss Universe competition.

Trans misogyny rears its ugly head

Not surprisingly, Angela Ponces Miss Universe candidacy has attracted attention both good and bad. While she has received wide praise and support for her Miss Universe campaign to serve as a role model for young trans people, fight intolerance, and push for equality for all, she has also received tremendous flak primarily for being trans. Like other trans women before her, the most common criticism levelled against her participation in the Miss Universe is that she is not woman enough to be part of the pageant because she is not a natural born or biological woman.

According to trans activist Julia Serano, author of the book Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity, the idea that trans people are discriminated against for transgressing gender norms does not fully capture what trans women experience in reality. What is commonly understood as transphobia, or the negative attitude towards someone who is trans that manifests as discriminatory or violent behaviors, is in fact sexism based on a devaluation of femininity. Thus, when people describe a trans woman as a fake/not real/not natural born/not biological woman, they are not attacking her for breaking norms of gender but because they are denigrating her very femininity or womanhood. Julia Serano calls this trans misogyny.

Credit must be given to Angela Ponce who has always publicly maintained that her identity has always been with her since she was born. By saying so, she speaks for the many trans people around the world for whom their experience of their own gender, expression, and identity is the most real and the most natural thing in the world.

And in the lead up to the Miss Universe in Bangkok, Thailand, in which Angela Ponce ultimately did not make the top 20, trans misogyny reared its ugly head in the form of insults and put-downs that were directed at her disguised as well-meaning prescriptions to keep trans women out of the Miss Universe competition, ranging from the fact that Angela Ponce does not have a uterus (The Miss Universe is not a competition of who has a uterus or not), to the fact that she cannot bear a child (The Miss Universe is not a reproductive competition and has in fact disqualified married women and those who have borne children), and that she does not have the correct anatomy (The Miss Universe does not conduct a genital or gender check on its contestants). As well, common among comments like these is the insistence that trans women should join their own pageants. But as the writer Pat Califia said, Prejudice usually cant survive close contact with the people who are supposed to be so despicable, which is why the propagandists for hate always preach separation. Additionally, the existence of pageants for trans women is a direct result of their exclusion from so-called womens only spaces.

According to Julia Serano, trans womens exclusion from such spaces are based on charges that a trans woman is not natural or biological which are tied up with assumptions that femininity is artificial, a view that hurts not only feminine women including those who are trans but also men who are effeminate. From this point of view, femininity is viewed as the opposite of masculinity which is considered as natural, practical or uncomplicated, while femininity is artificial, contrived and frivolous. Using this lens, a feminine trans woman is doubly artificial and men who exhibit feminine behaviors should be looked down upon.

In short, anti-feminine attitudes and behaviors are rooted in the privilege people accord to masculinity. They are at core male-centric and therefore sexist. And their immediate consequence is the dismissal of any persons expression of femininity whether that person is a trans woman or not as inauthentic, fake, or unnatural.

Which is why credit must be given to Angela Ponce who has always publicly maintained that her identity has always been with her since she was born. By saying so, she speaks for the many trans people around the world for whom their experience of their own gender, expression, and identity is the most real and the most natural thing in the world.

Working in the face of intolerance

Moreover, Angela Ponce has remained grounded in the harsh realities of trans peoples existence. In Madrid, she has worked with a foundation fighting for a young trans persons right to be recognized as a girl in school. She has also called attention to the high rates of suicide among trans teenagers and the discrimination and abuse that trans people face because of their gender identity especially in contexts where they have no protection under the law.

Angela Ponces bid for the Miss Universe crown could not have come at a better time when other established institutions like the Olympics, the Girl Scouts, and the T.V. show Americas Next Top Model have made policy changes towards the inclusion of trans women. As well, the irony of her participation in the pageant is not lost on many observers that she has in fact Donald Trump to thank for the MUO policy change that made her candidacy possible. Since becoming President of the United States in 2017, Donald Trump has directed a ban against trans people in the military. He has also directed the Department of Health and Human Services to interpret sex under federal law as a binary (male or female), unchangeable, and based on the genitals a person is born with. This move led to the viral hashtag saying trans people #wontbeerased. This after bathroom bills denying trans people access to the facilities of their gender identity have floundered in several conservative states due to backlash ranging from businesses declaring non-support to protests from members of the LGBTIQ+ communities and their allies.

Meanwhile, trans communities around the world continue to face the worst forms of intolerance. Murder rates among trans people remain high based on the numerous deaths of trans people each year due to transphobic violence commemorated through the Trans Day of Remembrance. In the U.S., trans activist Monica Roberts has reported that 24 trans people have already been killed in 2018 alone, 17 of whom were black and female. In the UK, the reform of the Gender Recognition Act of 2004 that has since allowed trans people there to change their legal name and gender in their legal documents has resulted in a bitter debate on trans peoples identities. In Australia, marriage equality did not end discrimination as moves from religious conservatives there are targeting for schools to discriminate especially young trans people. In the Philippines recently, Jervi Li, better known as Kaladkaren Davila, was refused entry to a bar in Makati.

Clearly, all of these point to the fact that many trans peoples lives are marked by the trauma of the extreme violence and discrimination they experience in their daily lives. So to the question Is Angela Ponce woman enough for the Universe? the answer based on her participation alone must be a resounding yes for she stands as a representation of trans peoples triumph over an inherently dangerous existence and embodies someone who has turned her personal pains and sorrows to become the confident woman that the Miss Universe seeks to stand for and empower.

And it was perhaps fitting that while Angela Ponce did not win the Miss Universe crown, she was recognized for her effort at the pageant. In a poignant video interview broadcast to millions of homes around the world, she said, Were living in a century where we cant keep repeating patterns of the past. To eradicate intolerance, I think it would be very important to foster those values from a young age. My hope is for tomorrow, to be able to live in a world of equality for everyone, simply for us all to understand that we are human and that we must make all our lives easier together  that reality for many people is going to change. If I can give that to the world, I dont need to win Miss Universe, I only need to be here.

And that is more than enough.Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan along with son Taimur Ali Khan, left for South Africa on Sunday. However, unlike what was earlier reported, the purpose wasnt only to ring in Taimurs second birthday; the Bollywood couple will be shooting for an ad in Cape Town, according to a report in Mumbai Mirror.

The couple will then celebrate Taimurs birthday by riding horses and go and watch big cats.

Saif told Mumbai Mirror, Kareena and I will be shooting as ad in Cape Town for a luggage brand. After that we are going to ride horses and see some big cats for Tims birthday.

Meanwhile, in an article in Conde Nast Traveller, Saif and Kareena spoke at length about their favourite travel and holiday destinations across the globe. Turns out their favourite places tend to be the ones they have been to a number of times before--London in summers, Gstaad in winters and Rajasthan and Pataudi in India.

Saif said in the report that while Kareena doesnt like the idea much, he likes the idea of going to a known hotel and meeting the same people. They do have their wish list though -- Saif wants to explore South America while Kareena wants to go the French Riviera in southern France. On the question of travel with Taimur, Saif has some interesting insights. He revealed that even when they travelled before, it was never light but with Taimur, it has only become heavier. He also adds that while they may have seen things before, seeing them with Taimur makes it all so different. On the issue of date nights in Mumbai, Saif said: The poolside at The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Colaba. And our balcony at home.

Kareena, meanwhile, revealed that since she is a first-time mother, travelling with Taimur is a whole new experience.It is over a month since Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh got married in Italys Lake Como and then went ahead and hosted multiple wedding receptions in India but peoples fascination with the nuptials is far from over. Deepika, in a new interview to Filmfare, has answered all questions around her wedding. One of the most important being why her ex Ranbir Kapoor didnt attend the wedding reception.

Why Ranbir, Alia were missing from Deepika-Ranveers wedding reception?

Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukones wedding reception wasnt attended by Ranbir Kapoor.

Deepika and Ranveers wedding reception was attended by everyone from Amitabh Bachchan with family, to Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma and Shah Rukh Khan among others. Conspicuous by their absence were Ranbir as well as girlfriend Alia Bhatt.

Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone hosted two wedding receptions in Mumbai.

While an online portal later reported that the two actors were busy with shooting of their upcoming film Brahmastra, Deepika has now said, Weve not spoken. I mean, we spoke before the reception but we have not spoken after. But, thats him. Im not surprised at all. But, thats the relationship we share and thats the beauty of that relationship; so much is said without saying much at all.

Why Deepika and Ranveer chose Lake Como for their wedding

Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone chose Lake Como for privacy.

Deepika and Ranveers wedding took place in Lake Como amid security that is usually reserved for state heads. Deepika said the choice of venue was due to privacy. We announced everything, we announced (wedding dates) a month before we got married and Id anyway taken this year off as I needed to replenish emotionally, so it all just worked out. Why outside of India, because privacy was very important for us and somehow when we went around, that place just felt correct.

Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singhs wedding in lake Como was magical, says actor.

In the interview, Deepika called the wedding ceremonies  in accordance with Konkani and north Indian rituals  as a magical affair. More than fairytale, Id say it was magical. It was lovely- the weather was perfect, the sun was beautiful, I think magical is the one word to sum it up.The countrys first military flight using blended bio-jet fuel, on an AN-32 transport aircraft, was flown in Chandigarh on Monday. Bio-jet fuel is made from Jatropha oil sourced from the Chattisgarh Biodiesel Development Authority and processed at the CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun.

Experimental test pilots and Test engineers from the Aircrafts and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), the Indian Air Forces premier testing agency, were involved in the project.

The IAF, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Directorate General Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) and the CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum are combining their efforts for the project.

At a seminar in July, air chief marshal BS Dhanoa had said, The IAF intends to fly an AN-32 with 10% bio-jet fuel at the Republic Day flypast on January 26, 2019.Ranil Wickremesinghe has made a triumphant return as Sri Lankas Prime Minister after President Maithripala Sirisena backed down in a nearly two-month-long power struggle. But the crisis in the island nation may be far from over. Shortly after administering the oath of office to Mr Wickremesinghe on Sunday, Mr Sirisena accused the premier of corrupt leadership and said he was unsure there were guarantees they could continue their journey together. Clearly, everything is not well between the two leaders, whose relationship broke down in October because of differences over policy matters and other issues, including the award of a key infrastructure project to India. Mr Wickremesinghes return is also an embarrassment for Mr Sirisena, who had replaced him with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Though Mr Rajapaksa was emboldened by his partys success in local government elections earlier this year, he was unable to secure a majority in Parliament on two occasions and was forced to resign after the Supreme Court upheld a lower courts ruling suspending him from functioning as the prime minister. Mr Sirisena also had to go back on his repeated pledges not to reappoint Mr Wickremesinghe to gain parliamentary approval for a temporary budget by January 1.

Mr Wickremesinghe has said he will now focus on restoring normalcy and putting development programmes back on track but observers are pointing to the presidents acrimonious speech of Sunday as a sign of the gulf between the two leaders that can perhaps only be addressed by fresh elections. Though the two leaders might put aside their differences to clear government spending and the repayment of $1 billion in foreign debts in January, it seems highly unlikely they will be able to forge a sustainable working relationship. Several issues that led to the differences between Mr Sirisena and Mr Wickremesinghe  including the investigations of alleged abuses during Sri Lankas civil war and alleged insider trading during a bond issue that involved a close friend of the premier  are still unresolved and will only add to the lack of trust between them.

India, which had adopted a wait-and-watch stance as the political crisis played out in Sri Lanka, had refused to recognise the government of Rajapakse, who is widely perceived in New Delhi as pro-China. Mr Rajapaksas actions during his term as president, such as opening up Colombo port to Chinese warships, had drawn the ire of India and many in New Delhi will be glad he didnt succeed in his attempted power grab. But given the possibility of a fresh crisis, India must stand ready to do its bit to strengthen Sri Lankas democracy and institutions.Journalist and activist Jatin Desai, who made it a mission to get back Indian national Hamid Nehal Ansari jailed in Pakistan, accompanied Ansaris family to the Wagah border to receive him following his release.

Ansari, 33, a Mumbai resident, was released from a Pakistani jail on Tuesday to be repatriated to India, six years after he was detained by intelligence agencies for entering the country illegally reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.

Desai, who is general secretary of the Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), had started a dialogue for peace by establishing connection between the Press Club of Mumbai and its counterpart in Karachi.

The city-based activist pursued the case relentlessly by getting in touch with his contacts in the neighbouring country. His efforts led to Pakistani rights lawyer Rakshanda Naz and Qazi Mohammed Anwar taking up the case with authorities in their country.

On getting the news of his release, Desai went along with Hamids father Nihal Ansari and mother Fauzia Ansari to the Wagah border in Punjab to welcome him and get him back home.

We reached the Wagah border on Tuesday morning. We all are waiting for Hamid as he is expected to leave from the Pakistan side to India, said Desai.

Hamids release formalities will take some time. He will arrive anytime today. We are expected to be in Mumbai tomorrow, he said.

Hamids father Nihal Ansari, who is a retired bank officer, expressed happiness over his sons release and thanked Indian and Pakistan governments for their efforts towards it.

He said he and his other family members were eager to see Hamid.

The Indian national was released from Mardan jail on Tuesday and was shifted to Islamabad for his onward journey to India, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

Hamid Ansari, a software engineer, went missing after he was taken into custody by Pakistani intelligence agencies and local police at Kohat in 2012.

Realitves of Hamid Ansari, mother Fauzia Ansari (C) along with her husband Nehal Ansari (2R) and elder son Dr Khalid Ansari (2L), speak to the media ahead of the deportation of Hamid Ansari from Pakistan, in Amritsar on December 18,2018. (AFP Photo)

Finally, in reply to a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother, the high court was informed that he was in custody of the Pakistan Army and was being tried by a military court.

He entered Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.

Pakistan claims that Ansari was an Indian spy who had illegally entered Pakistan and was involved in anti-state crimes and forging documents. He was detained by Pakistans intelligence agencies in 2012 and subsequently sentenced to three years imprisonment by a military court in 2015 for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card.

The 33-year-old Mumbai resident was lodged in the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by the military court on December 15, 2015. His three-year jail term ended on December 15, 2018 but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.The Patiala House Court in Delhi has adjourned the hearing in the Aircel Maxis case till January 11, 2019. Last month, former union minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti were charged with money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate in the case.

Adjourning the case, the court also extended the interim protection from arrest provided to Karti Chidambaram and P Chidambaram till January 11 in both the CBI and ED cases.

The CBI had told the court last month that it had obtained the Centres approval to prosecute Chidambaram in the Aircel Maxis case.

In the previous hearing, the court had extended the arrest shield for P Chidambaram and his son till December 18 after the CBI had said that it needed two more weeks to get sanctions against the other accused in the case.

The Aircel Maxis case refers to a 2006 investment in Indian telco Aircel Ltd by Malaysias Maxis Communications which, the CBI says, was in violation of the then prevailing foreign investments laws.

The CBI has alleged that despite the fact that investment of $800 million (over Rs 3,500 crore) was made in Aircel by Maxis, and the Cabinet committee on economic affairs was the competent authority to grant approval, the investment proposal was wrongly projected as merely involving an investment of Rs 180 crore and the approval was granted by P Chidambaram, who was the then finance minister.

Investigators alleged that Aircel had paid around Rs 26 lakh to Advantage Strategic Consulting Private (ASCPL) Limited on April 11, 2006. The CBI alleged that ASCPL was controlled by Chidambarams son Karti Chidambaram.

Investigators have also alleged that another company of Karti Chidambaram, Chess Management Services Private Limited received $200,000 from Malaysian companies such as Bumi Armada Berhad and Astro All Asia Networks Plc, all connected with Maxis, between 2007 and 2012.An activist has lodged a police complaint against the alleged leaking of National Green Tribunal (NGT)s ruling for the reopening of Sterlites copper smelter plant in Tamil Nadus Thoothukudi. Fathima Babu, the activist, alleged the order was leaked to a public relations firm linked to the Vedanta Group, which owns Sterlite, before it was pronounced on Saturday.

The factory was closed on May 28, six days after 13 people were killed in police firing on protestors demanding its closure over environmental concerns.

We have lodged a complaint with the Cybercrime Division of the Delhi police, said Babu. She said there is a strong suspicion that judicial independence and confidentiality has been compromised. Babu also sought the Tamil Nadu governments help. A Microsoft Word DOCX file was released to select media organisations on December 15 at 1.14 pm, ahead of the NGT order pronounced in an open court even before the order was uploaded on the NGT website, said Babu. She added the analysis of the file revealed the file was created on a computer with the username NGT PA at 7.39 am. It was simultaneously modified on another computer with the username Abhas Pandya, who is senior group head of Adfactors, which manages Vedantas media relations. This shows that the NGT order has been leaked.

A Delhi Police official said the complaint was being examined. We are going through the complaint and will act on its merits, said deputy commissioner of police, Madhur Verma.

Adfactors denied the charge. We have not accessed any documents on the NGTs order before the order was pronounced or uploaded on the tribunals website. It is false information that we got prior information, an Adfactors official said on condition of anonymity.

Babus lawyer, Ritwick Dutta, cited NGTs rule 23 and said it says all orders must be pronounced in an open court. In this case, the order was not pronounced at all. In all orders, there is one author and rest of the judges sign the order but we noticed that there is no single person claiming authorship (in this case).

Lawyer Balendu Shekhar, who practices at the Supreme Court and NGT, said the order is very detailed and runs into 40 pages. I think it is highly unlikely that a draft would have been shared. The court may have pronounced a short order and a detailed order may have been uploaded thereafter. It often happens that a detailed order is published later.

An official with the NGT registrars office ruled out a leak. This is impossible. Orders are not shared with anyone before being pronounced. I think this is just gossip. We will not be able to comment on this matter officially.

The protesters were fired upon when they took out a protest march on May 22 to mark the conclusion of a 100-day agitation against the factory. Fresh protests have been held against the NGT order. Authorities have deployed 5,000 additional police personnel to ensure peace. District collector Sandeep Nanduri appealed for calm saying the state government will appeal the NGT order in Supreme Court.

Sterlite CEO P Ramnath said they have written to the Thoothukudi district administration seeking access to the plant. We lost access to the plant in May. As we have to launch maintenance works, we have sought permission from the district collector.There is no question of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Rafale issue and Congress president Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the people of the country for crossing all levels of decency, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said in Guwahati on Monday.

Adityanath was in Assam as part of the BJPs blitzkrieg after the Supreme Court (SC)s verdict on the Rafale fighter jet deal, refusing to order any probe of the government to government deal between India and France to procure jets for the Indian Airforce.

Adityanath said the Congress has been milking the issue. The Congress has used this malicious campaign fully. And Rahul Gandhi has crossed all limits of decency. The kind of language Rahul Gandhi has used against Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a crime, and Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the people, he said.

Adityanath said it has become a policy for the Congress to utter a lie a hundred times so that it will seem the truth.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, who spoke in Hindi, said, On the issue of Rafale, the SCs judgment has made everything clear. Now that the SC has clarified everything, there is no question of a JPC. A JPC is a committee of parliament and not different to it, he added.

Adityanath said that the BJP has been asking Congress and other parties to discuss it in Parliament. But to hide behind lies and keep the issue pending, they dont want to discuss it. So that as long as it is pending, they can continue to mislead the people of the country, he said.

Adityanath said the Congress was running away from discussion so that the truth about Rafale and other deals including the Agusta Westland helicopter scam, would not be exposed to the people of the country.

Adityanath termed Rahul Gandhis statement that he does not agree with the Supreme Courts judgement as extremely unfortunate and as contempt of court, even as it also demonstrates the Congress s irreverent attitude towards constitutional institutions.

The UP CM said that during its last 10-year-rule, Congress led UPA government could not take any solid steps when it came to defence requirements of the country and between 2007 and 2014, no decision on the Rafale deal. Further, every defence deal during the Congress era had a mediator, Adityanath said.

Congress could not close the deal between 2007 and 2014. That shows that the Congress could not find a Quattrocchi or Michel to play along with its choices, he said, referring to middlemen allegedly involved in the Bofors and Agusta Westland scams respectively.

The Congress played with the security of the country. The Congress and the leaders associated with it should apologise to the nation for not taking timely decisions when it comes to national security, Adityanath said.Two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs on Tuesday caught the party leadership off guard by raising the Ayodhya temple issue at the weekly meeting of parliamentarians, prompting home minister Rajnath Singh to urge them to be patient, two leaders present at the meeting said.

The BJP parliamentary party generally meets every Tuesday during sessions. This was the second meeting of the winter session.

Singh had just completed his speech when Salempur MP, Ravindra Kushawaha, and Ghosi MP, Hari Narayan Rajbhar  both from Uttar Pradesh  asked him about the BJPs stand on the issue of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. Singh replied that everyone wanted a Ram temple at the site where Lord Ram is believed to have been born, and asked party MPs to be patient, according to the two leaders.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, who generally attend these meetings, were absent on Tuesday.

Building a Ram temple at Ayodhya is a key promise of the BJP. Its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and other affiliates have been piling pressure on the ruling party to take affirmative action in this matter. There have been demands from outfits, such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), to bring an ordinance to construct a temple, but the government has remained non-committal. The issue is pending before the Supreme Court.

Earlier, Singh told the BJP MPs there was none to match Modi for the prime ministers job, and they should not worry about the 2019 general elections. After the setbacks in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh; Singh was trying to keep the morale of party MPs high, the first leader quoted above said.

We are far ahead of the opposition. Circumstances are very good for us, Singh was quoted as saying by parliamentary affairs minister, Narendra Singh Tomar. Tomar also told reporters that getting the triple talaq bill, which stipulates a jail term for Muslim men accused of giving instant divorce to their wives, passed in Parliament was a top priority for the government.

Law minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, briefed party MPs on the Supreme Courts judgment on the Rafale fighter jet deal, the conviction of Congress leader, Sajjan Kumar, in a 1984 anti-Sikh riot case, besides the triple talaq legislation, Tomar said.India is overtly cautious about Chinas sensitivities on Taiwan and Tibet but Beijing hasnt shown the same deference while dealing with New Delhis sovereignty concerns linked to Arunachal Pradesh or ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a parliamentary panel has said.

The two Asian giants have worked to normalise relations since the informal summit in April between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping at Wuhan, which helped break the deadlock created by last years military stand-off at Doklam. Chinas foreign minister Wang Yi is scheduled to visit New Delhi on December 21 to launch a new high-level mechanism for people-to-people ties.

In its latest report on India-China ties, Parliaments standing committee on external affairs expressed concern at the governments Taiwan policy and said that even when India is overtly cautious about Chinas sensitivities while dealing with Taiwan and Tibet, China does not exhibit the same deference while dealing with Indias sovereignty concerns, be it in the case of Arunachal Pradesh or that of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

India cant continue with a conventionally deferential foreign policy towards China and must adopt a flexible approach, the panel chaired by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor recommended. The Committee strongly feel that the Government should contemplate using all options including its relations with Taiwan, as part of such an approach, the report, which was tabled on Monday, said.

India has not given diplomatic recognition to Taiwan though economic and trade ties have expanded in recent years, and it recently acquiesced to Chinas demand to refer to Taiwan as Chinese Taipei, the report added.

New Delhi has repeatedly objected to Beijing about CPEC, a key part of which passes through PoK. However, at a recent event in New Delhi, Chinese envoy Luo Zhaohui Luo spoke of the need to synergise Indias Act East policy and Chinas Belt and Road Initiative.

While testifying before the committee in February, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale said there were several differences in bilateral relations, including Indias bid to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Chinas hold on Indian requests for listing Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar under UN Resolution 1267 and CPEC.

In its recommendations, the committee noted that Chinas economy today is five times the size of the Indian economy, with the consequent difference in capabilities, economic, military and political.

It is within this asymmetry that India has to define for itself a relationship with China by successfully avoiding adversarial posturing. The success of Indias overall foreign policy hinges on how skillfully this element of statecraft is achieved, the report said.

Constantino Xavier, a fellow at Brookings India, said the committees report reflects a contentious debate in New Delhi on what a long-term China strategy should look like, especially the balance between a conciliatory approach and coercive tools.

He added, Despite the post-Wuhan normalisation, there are decreasing levels of trust in India.A day after Kamal Nath took over as Madhya Pradesh chief minister, the police informed the state government on Tuesday that the Centres Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) has seized 11 hard disks related to the e-tendering scam.

Alongside, a probe was ordered by the state government into allegations of irregularities in the conduct of a clerks recruitment examination by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, called Vyapam, and a CBI court in Indore convicted an accused in the 2009 Vyapam scam in medical admissions.

V Madhukumar, director of the economic offences wing (EOW), confirmed that a CERT team had seized hard disks from the Madhya Pradesh State Electronic Development Corporation (MPSEDC) in the Rs 3,000 crore scam, which the Congress had made an issue in the recently concluded assembly elections.

The EOW had asked the CERT to assist it with investigations as the state agency did not have the technical expertise to decode the data on the hard disk.

The scam relates to the alleged hacking of the e-procurement portal hosted by the MPSEDC to see e-tenders before bids are opened and to lower the bids to favour certain companies. At present, the EOW is investigating nine e-tenders of three departments, all of which have been cancelled.

Those familiar with the investigation said the CERT visited the MPSEDC office in the first week of this month and scanned records over three days. We have informed the state government about the latest development today [Tuesday], a senior government official, who was not willing to be named, said.

The CERT is expected to sift through the data on the hard disks to find out the specific computer, its IP address and the time/place when the changes in tenders were made and submit a report within a month. Once the report is handed in, the EOW, which has been investigating the case over the last six months, will register an FIR, officials familiar with the matter said.

The e-tendering scam was an election issue for the Congress and the then leader of the Opposition, Ajay Singh, had claimed it was bigger than the Vyapam scam. The Congress had dema- nded that all the e-tenders floated by MPSEDC since its inception in 2013 should be examined.

Toppers scam

An inquiry was ordered into an alleged toppers scam in a clerks recruitment exam conducted by Vyapam where six candidates who had been under-performing in every other test suddenly emerged as toppers.

Principal secretary, technical education, Ashok Varnawal, will inquire into the allegations. The order came after a group of candidates, along with Congress MLA Kunal Chaudhary, met Nath.

Akshay Hunka, convener of the Berozgar Sena, an organisation of unemployed youth, claimed the scam took place in the Group 4 (assistant grade III) recruitment exam conducted to fill 2,700 clerical posts in different departments. The exam was conducted in July and the results were announced on December 12.

The six candidates who were unable to score even 50 per cent in two other recruitment exams suddenly scored 95 per cent and became toppers. Such improvement might be possible in one case, but six cases raise suspicion, Hunka said.

Five-year jail

A CBI special court in Indore sentenced a Vyapam accused to five years rigorous imprisonment on Tuesday. According to CBI advocate Ranjan Sharma, a resident of Morena, Manoj Jatav cleared the Pre-Medical Test, 2009, with the help of impersonators.A 33-year-old Indian was repatriated on Tuesday after spending six years in a Pakistani jail. A military court had tried Hamid Nehal Ansari on charges of espionage and sentenced him to three-year imprisonment in December 2015. He had three years earlier entered Pakistan illegally from Afghanistan. Ansaris family has maintained he had gone there to meet a woman he had befriended on social media.

The 33-year-olds family received him at the Attari border crossing in Punjab. He bowed down and kissed the ground as soon as he entered into the Indian territory.

His teary-eyed mother, Fauzia, was anxious about the torture her son may have faced in custody, a Border Security Force officer present at the border said. She embraced and checked whether her son had any torture marks. The officer quoted Ansari telling his mother that he was fine.

Ansari was taken to the local immigration office after a five-minute meeting with his family, where he was subjected to routine questioning done in such cases. He was not allowed to talk to journalists and was scheduled to fly to New Delhi with his family.

Ansaris father, Nehal, said they have not celebrated any festival since his son went missing. ...this is the day of celebration. We will celebrate all festivals today. He insisted his son had not gone to Pakistan with an intention to harm anyone. Nehal added he had gone there for a noble cause. That is why our prayers have been answered. He acknowledged going without a visa was his sons mistake.

Fauzia said they had no information about his whereabouts for at least three years. After knowing about my sons arrest in Pakistan, we approached Indian and Pakistani governments, which remained very supportive. We are thankful to both. She said all Indians, who have completed their sentences in Pakistan jails, should be released. Parents should also keep a watch on social media their children use.

Ansaris Facebook friend had sent him a fake Pakistani national identity card. He first went to Karak in Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and stayed there for two days. He was later arrested from Kohat.

The Peshawar high court was told Ansari was in the Pakistan armys custody after his mother filed a habeas corpus petition through Pakistani lawyers. Pakistans foreign office spokesman Mohammad Faisal tweeted on Monday saying Ansari was an Indian spy, who had illegally entered Pakistan. He accused him of anti-state crimes and forging documents.

Ansaris jail term ended on December 15 and he was repatriated after the high court gave the Pakistani government a months deadline to complete the process on Thursday.The death toll in Mumbais hospital fire shot up to eight, while another 147, mostly patients and staff, were rescued from a massive blaze that engulfed the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital in Andheri (East) on Monday, BMC Disaster Control said.

A two month old baby was also among those dead.

The level three fire was reported at 4:20 pm from the fourth floor of the ESIC Hospital. It was later raised to level four at 4:54pm, fire department officials said.

According to the fire brigade, smoke spread through out the multistorey hospital, trapping patients in the corridors and on the terrace. The rescued people were sent to three nearby hospitals.

All the nearby hospitals had been alerted while the rescue operation was continuing.

The fire department has sent 10 fire engines, six water tankers, three turn table ladders and as many as 16 ambulances for rescuing trapped people as senior officials supervised the operation.

Of those rescued, 19 have been admitted in Juhus Cooper Hospital, including two brought dead, 40 in Holy Spirit Hospital, 44 in Seven Hills Hospital including three dead, 39 were taken to Prabodhankar Thackeray Trauma Care Hospital, Jogeshwari, three in Hiranandani Hospital and two in Siddharth Hospital, for treatment.

Mumbai Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, who visited the spot along with other senior officials, said the fire would be probed and strict action taken against the guilty if any lapses found.A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator was caught on camera threatening a woman bureaucrat in Uttar Pradeshs Agra, boasting about his power as a politician.

A video of the incident shows Udaybhan Singh shouting at sub-divisional magistrate Garima Singh in Kirawali tehsil of the district reportedly on Monday.

Dont you know I am an MLA? How dare you talk to me like that? Dont you realise my power and the power of democracy? said the MLA from Fatehpur Sikri, who had gone to meet Singh over farmer issues.

Watch: BJP MLA Udaybhan Chaudhary threatens SDM Garima Singh

Chaudharys supporters can be heard shouting slogans against Singh in the background as he screams at her.

Hours after the incident, the IAS Association came out in support of SDM Garima Singh and tweeted that it was not acceptable to threaten IAS officers working in the field.

Threatening young IAS officers working in the field is not acceptable. IAS officers across the country work under challenging circumstances and ensure Rule of Law is upheld. Proud of Garima Singh IAS for standing firm and not giving in to intidimation, the association tweeted.It is late, but definitely not too little, senior advocate Harvinder Singh Phoolka said on the conviction of Congress politician and former member of Parliament Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

I agree we cannot say justice has been done... it is symbolic only, but nonetheless, the conviction of Sajjan Kumar is not a small issue. The entire machinery was behind him, Phoolka said, explaining the significance of Mondays verdict.

Phoolka has steadfastly pursued the anti-Sikh riot cases across forms and courts for decades. He quit as the leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly last year when the Delhi Bar Council objected to his continuing with his practice citing conflict of interest. This (pursuing the cases) was more important to me, he said.

Across the country, thousands of Sikhs were massacred after security personnel assassinated the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Sajjan Kumars conviction comes after 34 years, 1 month and 17 days, he said.

The challenges we faced were huge, Phoolka said flanked by the riot victims who had gathered at the Punjab Bhavan to congratulate him. But this judgment is historic ... it details how law and processes were subverted at every stage. The charge sheet for this case was buried in the files since 1992, Phoolka said. This is the kind of influence that was brought to bear to save Sajjan Kumar Efforts to scuttle the case was made at every level.

Read | Delhi high court judgment will serve as much needed balm for victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots

Since the massacre, there have been dozens of commissions and committees formed to investigate the 1984 riots. Months after the carnage, the Ved Marwah Commission was appointed to look into it. It was, however, wound up mid-way and replaced with the Ranganath Mishra Commission. Subsequently, the R C Shrivaastaav Committee was set up to look into the police mechanism and how to prevent a repeat of such an incident. Some of the other committees and commissions that were set-up to investigate the riots include the R K Ahuja Committee, the Kapoor-Mittal Committee, the Jain-Banerjee Committee and Jain-Aggarwal Committee that recommended registration of cases against politicians like HKL Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and others.

We are going to approach the Special Investigation Team, using this judgment as a building block to reinvestigate the involvement of other politicians, said Phoolka. There is need for new law to deal with mass killings/ genocides.Hamid Nehal Ansari is a free man and has been repatriated to India from Pakistan today. Ansari, who spent six years at the Peshawar Central Jail after he was arrested on November 14, 2012 and sentenced to three years in jail in December 2015, was brought to the Attari-Wagah border where he crossed over to the Indian side around 5.30 pm today.

He was met at the Attari border by his mother Fauzia, father Nehal and brother who hugged him as he crossed over into India and an official handed him a bottle of water. As soon as Ansari crossed over to India, he bowed down and kissed Indian soil. His mother broke down.

A BSF official present there said Ansari was examined by his mother. She embraced him and then examined him thoroughly to see whether he has any torture marks, he said. Ansari told his mother that he was fine.

After around five minutes of Ansari meeting his family, he was taken to an immigration office by BSF officials where he was questioned by Indian agencies. He was also not allowed to speak to media.

Parents and brother of Hamid Ansari wait at the Attari-Wagah border before his release. (ANI/Twitter)

Earlier in the day, Fauzia Ansari, Hamid Ansaris mother had said that he shouldnt have gone to Pakistan without a visa. He went with noble intentions but initially went missing and was later caught and framed. He shouldnt have gone without a visa. His release is a victory for humanity, she had told ANI.

For us, it is like Hamid has taken a new birth. We did not celebrate any festival since my son went missing, but this is the day of celebration, Hamids father said before receiving his son.

He said that his son hadnt entered Pakistani with an intention to harm someone, he had gone there for a noble cause only, and that is why their prayer has been addressed by the god.

Hamid, a teacher at the Mumbai Management College, had entered Pakistan on November 12, 2012, to meet a woman whom he had befriended on social media. He was taken into custody by Pakistani intelligence agencies and local police in Kohat in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

A fake identity card in the name of Hamza was also found on him at that time.

Soon after he was picked up by the intelligence agencies, Fauzia had filed a habeas corpus petition through Pakistani lawyers and had come to know that he was in the custody of the Pakistani army and was being tried by a militant court for anti-state activities.

Hamid, 33, had been handed a three-year sentence in 2015 for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card on December 15, 2015. Hamid, a resident of Mumbai, had been lodged in Peshawars central jail after being sentenced by the military court. His jail term ended on December 15, 2018, but he could not leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.From the next academic session, students graduating from under-graduate programmes at Indias colleges may be placed in industry-linked paid apprenticeships. The Human Resource Development (HRD) and Skills development ministries plan to launch an ambitious scheme aimed at boosting the employment prospects of nearly five million students by 2022.

On December 11, HRD minister Prakash Javadekar held a meeting with Skills Development minister Dharmendra Pradhan to chalk out the contours of the scheme, a senior government official said on condition of anonymity.

Significantly, the move to institutionalise industry-linked apprenticeships with graduate programmes comes at a time when the Narendra Modi-led central government is under attack from the opposition over the alleged lack of jobs. Industry bodies have held that the ability of students graduating from Indias colleges leaves a lot to be desired.

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship already runs a National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS). The idea is to add an apprenticeship under NAPS at the end of the degree programme, the official said.

The government plans to partner with leadings state-owned and private companies to put this plan into action.

The government may contribute to the stipend that the apprentices get. The minimum amount of government share can be Rs 1,500 while it can be increased to 25 per cent of the amount that is offered by the employer. The funds can be provided from the Rs 10,000 crore budget of NAPS, the official said.

The aim is to initiate the apprenticeship plan from the academic session starting July 2019 onwards, the official added.

The Ministry of Labour, which, under its National Career Scheme (NCS) runs a portal for bulk uploading of qualifications and credentials of students graduating from degree programmes will also be involved in this, the official said. Candidates who secure employment will get deleted from the waiting list.

The programme is to be launched by all the three ministries in late December or early January, the official said.

In the first year itself, the plan is to assist a million students, he added.

HRD minister Prakash Javadekar, when contacted, said his ministry along with the skill development ministry and the labour ministry was finalizing the details which will be disclosed later.

These measures (to improve employability) are long overdue. However, for long term impact they should be made part of the countrys education policy, which, unfortunately, is still awaited, said eminent educationist and former IGNOU VC M Aslam.The Congress is running away from a discussion on the Rafale deal in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, minister of state for parliamentary affairs Vijay Goel said on Tuesday while asserting that the government is ready for a debate on any issue.

A dispute, be it on Rafale, the Cauvery river water, the RBI or the CBI, can only be resolved through discussion, Goel told reporters outside Parliament.

The Congress is running away from a discussion on the Rafale issue in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The government is ready to have discussions on any issue in Parliament, he said. Referring to the recent Supreme Court order rejecting demands for a probe into the Rafale jet deal, the minister said it was clear that the Congress was spreading misinformation on the issue.

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the pleas challenging the deal between India and France for the procurement of 36 Rafale jets saying there was no occasion to really doubt the decision making process.

I want to tell the Congress that the government is ready for a discussion on the issue of Rafale... But the Congress is not ready for a discussion and its members are instead raising unimportant issues in both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, Goel said.

The Congress has repeatedly criticised the deal for the 36 Rafale jets, alleging that the government was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore finalised by the UPA government.

The government has, however, denied any irregularity in the deal.The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments in Gujarat and Assam on Tuesday decided to waive rural electricity bills and farm loans respectively, to the tune of Rs 650 crore and Rs 600 crore. The announcements came a day after the newly-formed Congress governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattishgarh waived farm loans. The new Congress government in Rajasthan is also expected to do the same shortly.

The bout of competitive populism is an indicator that the BJP is feeling the pressure, say political analysts.

Gujarats energy minister Saurabh Patel said the electricity bill waiver would benefit 6.22 lakh people in rural areas across the state. The minister added that these connections were cut off due to power theft and non-payment of bills. These are domestic, agricultural, as well as commercial connections, Patel said.

Junior minister for energy Pradeepsing Jadeja said people will have to make one-time settlement to the tune of Rs 500 to avail the benefits.

The Assam government said the waiver would benefit 8 lakh farmers in the state. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting held on Monday night. To encourage farmers who are paying their loans on time, we have decided to write off 25% of their debt up to a maximum of Rs 25,000, said cabinet minister Parimal Suklabaidya.

We have taken other decisions too. For example, the 4% interest burden on those who are paying their Kisan credit card loans on time will be reduced. We are also assessing the number or farmers who are not using their cards because they have Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000 pending on it and see how we can help them, Suklabaidya said adding that it was a budgetary promise. We took time because we wanted to do it properly, he said.

The government has also sanctioned an interest relief scheme which will enable around 1.9 million farmers to take loans at zero interest from the next financial year, he said.

The state Congress questioned the timing of the state governments decision. They have only done it after Rahul Gandhi made it an issue, said Ripun Bora, president of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee. Why are they waking up now? Our governments in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh decided to waive off loans within minutes of taking oath.

In Gujarat too, the Congress was quick to term the governments move as a poll sop. The announcement is done considering the December 20 Jasdan bypoll. If the BJP government is really concerned about the farmers, it should waive farm loans, said Congress leader Alpesh Thakor.

The Bhartiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) welcomed the decision but maintained that it doesnt address the demand for a farm loan waiver. Not all connection holders are farmers. And it is not sufficient. The BKS will still continue to demand loan waiver , said BKS general secretary Praful Sengalia.

This is a poll gimmick and also violation of model code of conduct as Jasdan by-poll is just a day away. Farmers are hardly to be benefited , political analyst Hari Desai said.

Monirul Hussain, the chair professor Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research Jamia Millia Islamia, said This kind of waiver is more of symbolism since other states have waived off a bigger amount.

According to Ashok Gulati, a professor at the think-tank ICRIER, subsidies and sweeping doles, which have always hogged a greater share of budgetary support to farming, will further limit the ability of governments to make public investment necessary for long-term growth in the farm sector.

Farmers across India are in the midst of an agrarian crisis caused largely by bumper harvests and poor market linkages. they have been demanding farm loan waivers. The Congress promised farm loan waivers in Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh within 10 days of coming to power.

Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab have already announced farm loan waivers.The father of Hadiya, a 26-year-old Kerala woman who converted to Islam and married a Muslim man against her parents wishes, has joined the BJP and pledged his support for the partys ongoing stir against the Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala temple.

The Bharatiya Janata Partys general secretary B Gopalakrishnan gave KM Ashokan, an ex-serviceman, the membership of the party on Monday.

Ashokan said while speaking to the media that the BJP was the only political outfit which is safeguarding the belief of Hindus. Facing threat from some fundamentalist outfits, he still is under police protection.

I was a Communist Party follower since my childhood. But of late the party is playing dirty vote-bank politics eyeing minority votes. I failed to understand if somebody talks about Hindus he turns communal in no time, he said adding he will actively participate in the ongoing stir in Sabarimala.

Like many Hindus of Kerala, I am also torn between my belief and law. I personally believe customs and traditions should not come under the preview of courts. Let religious scholars and other decide on such issues, he said.

The case of Hadiya, earlier known as Akila Ashokan, had grabbed nationwide attention after the homoeopathy doctor converted to Islam and took a Muslim name and married a Muslim man Shefin Jahan from Kollam in south Kerala.

Disapproving the marriage the father approached the Kerala High Court claiming his daughter was indoctrinated and forcibly converted. The high court annulled their marriage and sent Hadiya to her fathers custody. But later the Supreme Court struck down the high courts verdict and allowed her to go with her husband.

Ashokan had opposed his daughters relationship with Shefin Jahan saying he was an active member of the Popular Front of India, an extremist outfit, and involved in many cases.

Referring to the missing 21 from north Kerala two years ago, most of them were converts, he said he was not against any religion or conversion but he opposed a vicious campaign that pushed innocent girls to volatile areas.Two senior Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders, who were ministers in the Mehbooba Mufti government, are likely to join its arch-rival National Conference tomorrow.

Former Minister and two-time legislator from north Kashmirs Sangrama constituency Bashaarat Bukhari will formally resign from the PDP to join the Farooq Abdullah-led party.

Considered close to PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, he will be the fifth legislator to resign from the party. Sources close to Bukhari told Hindustan Times that on Wednesday morning, he will be joining National Conference in presence of its vice president Omar Abdullah.

Earlier, Bukhari also held series of meetings with his prominent supporters in Sangrama who endorsed his plan to quit the PDP and join the National Conference.

Another former minister, Peer Mohammad Hussain from south Kashmir, is also planning to join the National Conference on Wednesday.

Last week, another senior leader Raja Ajaj Ali Khan who had contested elections from Uri, also resigned from the PDP. Former ministers Haseeb Drabu and Imran Reza Ansari and former legislators Abid Ansari and Abas Wani resigned from the party recently.

While Imran and Abid Ansari joined the Peoples Conference, Khan and Wani are also likely to join the Sajjad Lone-led party.

After the dissolution of assembly, PDP has suffered many defections. Recently PDP president Mehbooba Mufti had called meeting of senior leaders and former legislators but many leaders had skipped the meeting,where the issue of senior leaders leaving the party was discussed.

Mehbooba Mufti, however, had recently said that during the election time, leaders come and go and all this will have no impact on the PDP.Pakistan has released Indian national Hamid Nehal Ansari from prison on Wednesday, reports PTI.

Hamid Nehal Ansari, an Indian national who spent three years in a Pakistani jail on charges of espionage after being arrested in 2012, will return home on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old was arrested by intelligence agencies in Pakistan in 2012 after he allegedly entered northwest Pakistan illegally to meet a woman he befriended online. He was tried by a military court and given a three-year sentence in 2015 for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card on December 15, 2015.

The Mumbai resident was lodged in the central jail in Peshawar after being sentenced by the military court. His jail term ended on December 15, 2018, but he could not leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.

According to legal experts, he should have been freed earlier as he had already spent three years in jail at the time of his sentencing.

Also read: Indian national Hamid Nehal Ansari to return from Pakistan prison on Tuesday

Ansari, a software engineer, went missing after he was taken into custody by Pakistani intelligence agencies and local police in Kohat in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The Peshawar high court was informed he was in custody of the Pakistan army and was being tried by a military court only after his mother, Fauzia Ansari, filed a habeas corpus petition through Pakistani lawyers.

Speaking to ANI, Hamid Ansaris mother Fauzia said that his release is a victory for humanity.

Saying that Hamids release was a victory for humanity, his mother Fauzia said, that he shouldnt have gone without a visa. He went with noble intentions but initially went missing and was later caught and framed. He shouldnt have gone without a visa. His release is a victory for humanity, she told ANI.

Indian national Hamid Ansari who was lodged in a jail in Pakistan, is being released today. His mother says, "He went with noble intentions but initially went missing and was later caught and framed. He shouldn't have gone without a visa. His release is a victory for humanity." pic.twitter.com/LcfHQxblyX  ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2018

The external affairs ministry had raised the issue of Ansari in a note verbale, or formal communication, sent to Pakistan on December 11 amid fears that he would be held for almost a month for completion of formalities after his sentence ended on December 15.

Also read: Pakistani court gives govt a month to deport jailed Indian national

The Peshawar high court had recently given a one-month deadline to the Pakistan government to complete formalities for Ansaris repatriation after hearing an appeal filed by his lawyer.

Officials said Ansaris case was a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Pakistan had not responded to 96 requests by India for consular access.

Also read: Imran Khan says will look into case of Indian prisoner in Pakistan

#HamidNehalAnsari, an Indian spy who had illegally entered Pakistan and was involved in anti-state crimes and forging documents, is being released upon completion of his sentence and is being repatriated to India, Pakistans foreign office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal tweeted on Monday.

#HamidNehalAnsari, an Indian spy who had illegally entered Pakistan and was involved in anti-state crimes and forging documents, is being released upon completion of his sentence and is being repatriated to India.  Dr Mohammad Faisal (@DrMFaisal) December 17, 2018

The external affairs ministry said it had received a note from Pakistan saying Ansari would be released on Tuesday.The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday launched the countrys newest satellite GSAT-7A, which will give a boost to the defence forces communication capabilities, from Andhra Pradeshs Sriharikota on Wednesday.

In the third mission in just over a month, the space agency launched the 2,250 kg operational communication satellite from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 4.10pm on Wednesday.

The satellite was carried by the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-F11 (GSLV-F11), Isros 35th communication satellite and the 13th flight of the GSLV rocket to orbit.

#WATCH: Communication satellite GSAT-7A on-board GSLV-F11 launched at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. pic.twitter.com/suR92wNBAL  ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2018

The GSLV-Mk II rocket launched the satellite into the temporary orbit after a flight of nearly 20 minutes. The rocket will be taken into the geostationary or circular orbit using the onboard propulsion system and it will take few days after the separation from the launcher to reach its orbital slot.

GSLV F11 is Isros fourth generation launch vehicle with three stages. The four liquid strap-ons and a solid rocket motor at the core form the first stage. The second stage is equipped with high thrust engine using liquid fuel. The Cryogenic Upper Stage forms the third and final stage of the vehicle, the space agency said on its website.

According to reports, GSAT-7A has been built exclusively for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Army and will add to the forces communication capabilities.

The satellite will allow IAF to interlink its ground radar stations, airbases and airborne early warning and control (AWACS) aircraft, and reduce the reliance on on-ground control stations for drones, they said. It will also boost the air forces network-dependent warfare capabilities, enhancing its abilities to operate globally.

Wednesdays mission will be the space agencys last mission for this year. This year, Isro launched GSAT-11 on December 5 on a European vehicle from French Guineas Kourou, GSAT-29 on November 14 on its GSLV-MkIII vehicle and the ill-fated GSAT-6A on March 29 from Sriharikota.

The launch of Chandrayaan-2 and the PSLV-C44 remote-sensing satellite launch are among the seven missions lined up in 2019.From riding bullock carts to making tea to dancing to the beat of the dhol, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have been trying every move to woo the voters of Jasdan, which will see an assembly by-poll on December 20. turning the last by-poll in the state before the 2019 Lok Sabha election into a prestige issue.

The poll was necessitated in this Congress bastion after its veteran representative and Koli community leader Kunwarji Bawaliya joined the BJP after resigning from both the legislature and the party; he was named a cabinet minister in the Vijay Rupani-led BJP government in the state in July.

For the BJP, the election is a test of its strategy to woo Gujarats largest community, the Kolis through Bawaliya, who is the partys candidate. What makes the by-poll interesting is the timing of the election. It comes a year after the BJP barely managed to win the assembly polls (with only 99 seats in 182 member-assembly) and couple of months before 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

For the Congress, the election is about retaining its stronghold.

Congress candidate Avsar Nakiya, who is educated up to the primary level, is trying to appeal to voters by showing he is one of them. I am no different than my voters who ride chhakkdas (motorcycles converted into rickshaws) for commuting. So, I go to meet them in chakkada, said Nakia, formely a close aide Bawaliya.

Bawaliya is a four time MLA and a one term MP and Nakias task isnt easy.

On Monday, local BJP leaders, including its candidate Bawaliya, were seen dancing to the beat of a dhol while campaigning.

Both the BJP and Congress have asked all available MLAs and MPs from the state to join the campaign, which ends on Tuesday. The Congress has also roped in star campaigners such as Navjot Siddhu and Ahmed Patel. For the BJP, Gujarat cabinet minister Saurabh Patel and union minister Manshukh Mandaviya will seek votes on behalf of Bawaliya.

The Kolis, a traditional fishing community found all over India, including the hinterland, account for about 44% of the other backward classes vote in Gujarat. In Jasdan, Kolis is the largest community and their vote will decide the winner.

When Patels are showing signs of unhappiness with the BJP over the unfulfilled demand for reservation, the BJP has been trying a strategy to woo Koli votes. It first wooed senior Congress leader Bawaliya and with his help it wants to win his community votes, said political analyst Jwalant Chhaya

Meanwhile, the Congress has been trying to turn the contest into test of the Rupani governments performance. In 2001, when the Keshubhai Government lost the by-polls, he was replaced by Narendra Modi by the BJP as Gujarat CM. The people are unhappy with the Rupani government. The BJP will lose this election and they will have to replace their CM, Congress president Amit Chavda recently said .

The fact that Rupani has not campaigned for Bawaliya is being projected by the Congress as sign of his nervousness.

In the BJP, our CM never campaigns for by-polls, said BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya, dismissing the Congress claim.With the death of 50-year-old Dundamma in Mysurus Cauvery Hospital on Tuesday, the toll in the temple prasad poisoning case in Karnataka has gone up to 15, district deputy health officer Basvaraj said.

Police on Tuesday also questioned the senior and junior pontiffs of Saluru Mutt which has a long association with the temple. While senior pontiff Immadi Guruswamy presided over the tragic event, his junior colleague Immadi Mahadevaswamy is the president of the temple association.

More than 100 devotees are battling for their lives after they consumed the prasad. They are admitted in several hospitals in Chamarajanagar and Mysuru districts. Six people are on ventilators and said to be in serious condition.

Police said that till now, nine people, including several members of the temple trust, have been taken into custody.

The tragic incident took place on December 14 at Kichchugutti Maramma temple at Sulawadi village of Hanur taluk in Karnatakas Chamarajanagar district. The devotees were taking part in a gopuram installation ceremony.

Lab tests had indicated the presence of monocrotophos, a commonly-used pesticide, in the prasad.

Amid mounting anger among locals at what is seen as a deliberate incident, possibly due to differences of opinion on revenue sharing of the temple, lawyers in Chamarajanagar have decided not to represent any of the accused according to district lawyers association president Indushekar.

There have also been demands that the governments temple endowment department take over the temple affairs, even as the department ordered all temples in the state to take prior permission before serving prasad to prevent recurrence of any such incident.The exit of Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar has raised the stock of Ram Vilas Paswan-led Lok Janshankati Party (LJP) in the coalition, giving it an opportunity to bargain for more seats. The LJP has currently has six MPs in the Lok Sabha, four more than the JD(U), which is the lead partner in the NDA in Bihar.

Paswans party now holds key to NDAs unity and strength in the state, where the opposition is strongly aligning under the Grand Alliance (GA) umbrella to oust the Nitish government from Bihar and pose a challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Both BJP and JD (U) leaders are treading cautiously around LJPs demands these days and also paying heed to their suggestions on policy issues. Both the bigger NDA allies are in agreement that RLSPs exit is going to affect a certain segment of their voters, and if LJP also breaks away from the alliance, the challenge of taking on a revitalised GA would become extremely tough in both the 2019 parliamentary and 2020 assembly polls.

Publicly, however, BJP leaders play down the RLSPs exit as a non-issue. RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha has no mandate of his own. Someone who has miserably failed to hold his flock together and keep his party intact had no relevance for the NDA. The LJP, however, remains our key ally and it would stay put with us as we are natural partners, said BJP legislator Manoj Kumar.

LJP leader and partys parliamentary board president Chirag Paswan has maintained that his party shall remain with the NDA come what may, but he did give moments of anxiety to the NDA leaders, demanding an honourable deal in the seat sharing without quoting a figure.

Also Read | 50 years later, politics still left in me, says Ram Vilas Paswan

The LJP had contested seven seats in the 2014 polls and won six of them. Early this year, when the NDA was united with five coalition partners in its foldJitan Ram Manjhis Hindustan Awami Morcha (HAM) and Kushwahas RLSP have defected now  the younger Paswan had claimed his party would not sacrifice any of those seven seats in the next polls.

Our partys stand is clear. We want a respectable share. We havent quoted any number yet. Let the NDA leaders sit and decide. We are in a better position since 2014 and hence we should be treated respectably, if not at par, said LJP spokesperson Ashraf Ansari.

During a preliminary discussion last month in Delhi, BJP and JD (U) presidents had announced they would contest on equal number of seats, but did not disclose the numbers. There was speculation that both the parties would contest 17 seats each, leaving five for LJP and one for RLSP.

The equations have since changed after RLSPs exit and BJPs defeat in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Both LJP and JD (U) are now trying to prevail upon the saffron party, sounding caution on issues like Ram Mandir that they feel would harm them as well if the BJP sticks to it in its 2019 agenda.

The two regional parties have also advised BJP to stop making personal attacks on Congress President Rahul Gandhi saying this was one reason why the BJP lost assembly elections in the Hindi heartland.

Unlike the GA grouping where caste-based voters are strong and loyal, in the NDA, barring LJP, neither BJP nor the JD (U) commands a mandate of any particular voters segment. Though JD (U) is considered a party of OBCs, especially Kurmis, its legislators are drawn from various castes. So is the case with BJP.

The LJP, however, has a strong backing of the 17.3 % SC/ ST population of Bihar and its voters remained loyal to the party in all the elections.Mizoram is set for a dry Christmas and New Year with the new Mizo National Front governments decision to designate December 21 to January 14 as dry days as it looks set to bring back prohibition. Imposing total prohibition in the Christian majority state was one of the poll promises of the Zoramthanga-led MNF which stormed back to power after 10 years in November 28 assembly polls.

We have decided to immediately stop sale of alcohol by government agencies. As for the private players, it is not possible immediately and we need legislation that will take some time. So as an interim measure we have decided that December 21 to January 14 will be dry days, chief minister Zoramthanga told Hindustan Times after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

During this period of dry days, we hope to complete formalities and bring in legislation. If we are able to bring it, then the problem will be solved. If we cannot, than the dry days could continue, he said.

MNF always stood for prohibition. It is the Congress which lifted it the last four years, he said.

Back in 1997, the Congress government with Lal Thanhawla at the helm brought in prohibition by enacting the Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition Act. However, in 2014, the Congress government headed by Lal Thanhawla passed the Mizoram Liquor Prohibition and Control Act to regulate the sale of alcohol.

The Congress also said it would moved towards prohibition had it come to power.

We would have done the same thing. The Church is against sale of liquor, said Congress spokesperson Lallianchhunga.

Lal Thanhawla had earlier told Hindustan Times that, wherever prohibition is imposed, it fails miserably. In Mizoram also we tried, but we failed I dont want liquor should be overflowing in Mizoram, I simply want Mizo community should not be disturbed or suffer because of liquor.

Earlier, at the behest of the church I tried 17 long years (of prohibition), but liquor was overflowing, he had said.

According to reports, alcohol sales brought in around Rs 200 crore as revenues for the state government between 2015 and 2018.The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is planning to utilise the 63rd birthday celebrations of its president Mayawati on January 15 to showcase the unity of parties trying to forge a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BSP may also launch its election campaign on the occasion.

A BSP leader, who did not wish to be named, said: Leaders of the Samajwadi Party, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Janata Dal (Secular), Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) and other regional parties will be invited to attend the programme.

Currently, Mayawati is camping in Delhi to review preparations for Lok Sabha elections and hold meetings with partners to give final touches to the alliance formula.

The BSP leader said that by skipping the oath-taking ceremony of the Congress chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, she sent out a message that though the BSP would support the Congress in two states, it would not ally with them for the Lok Sabha elections.

Mayawati as well as Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav had skipped a meeting held by the opposition parties in Delhi on December 10.

The policies and ideology of both the Congress and the BJP is against the weaker sections, she had said.

In Karnataka, Mayawati had played a pivotal role in the formation of JD (S)-Congress-BSP government to stopping the Bharatiya Janata Party from grabbing power, but a poor performance in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh gave jolt to the party which was looking forward to emerge as a kingmaker.

On Mayawatis future plans, another BSP leader said, Behenji (Mayawati) is likely to land in Lucknow in the first week of January. She will hold a meeting with party leaders and office-bearers to review preparations for Lok Sabha elections.

He said along with overhauling the organisation, she might also announce the launch of a campaign against the state governments anti-people policies to mobilise the cadre for election.

District units of the party have been directed to start preparations at the grassroots level. The party will also draw a fresh plan to stop the Bhim Army, led by Dalit leader Chandrashekhar, from making inroads into the BSP vote bank, he said.

BSP state unit president RS Kushwaha has held meetings with party office-bearers in all the districts.

Booth level committees, bhai-chara committees and cadre camps have been activated in districts, he said.

After losing 2007 assembly election, BSP has been celebrating Mayawatis birthday as Jankalyankari Diwas.

The party leaders help the needy, poor and handicapped. They also visit Dalit villages and hospitals to distribute fruits and blankets, said a senior BSP leader.

Mayawati is likely to release the new edition of A Travelogue of my Struggle Ridden Life and BSP movement penned by her along with a calendar of the party.

The birthday bash of BSP chief is usually a big occasion for party workers. After a month-long donation campaign, the party leaders present a moneybag as gift to Mayawati. She then cuts a cake and addresses party leaders and workers.After two animal rights activists lodged a complaint, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has ordered an inquiry against Punjab local government and tourism minister Navjot Singh Sidhu for possessing a stuffed black partridge, allegedly in violation of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Ordering an inquiry, AWBI chairman SP Gupta has asked director general of forests, Siddhanta Das, to send a report if any offence is committed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and the rules made there-under. AWBI is a statutory body established under Section 4 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

It has been noticed by the board that Navjot Singh Sidhu has brought a stuffed black partridge, which is protected under the Wild Life Protection Act. Further, it is illegal/prohibited to keep nails, hairs, skin of any animal or its bringing into the territory of India without permission, he wrote in a communication on Sunday, citing a complaint received from Sandeep K Jain, honorary state animal welfare officer, Punjab, and media reports.

The bird was gifted to the minister by a Pakistani journalist, while he was on a visit to the neighbouring nation for the launch of the Kartarpur corridor. Sidhu had, on December 12, gifted the partridge to chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh.

Gupta, a retired IAS officer of Haryana, told HT that he had asked the director general of forests in the Union ministry of environment and forests to send a report within three days for appropriate necessary action.

Jain and another activist, Naresh Kadyan, had complained to the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, seeking action against Sidhu for possessing the stuffed black partridge. Jain, in his complaint, said the black partridge was a protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act and sought action.

When asked, CMs media adviser Raveen Thukral said the chief ministers office (CMO) had sent the stuffed partridge to the chief wildlife conservator the same day with a letter to know whether he can keep the bird. The conservator was conveyed that in case the chief minister cannot keep the stuffed partridge it should be used for research, he added.After his suggestion that Congress president Rahul Gandhi should be the prime ministerial candidate of a united opposition found few takers within many parties, DMK chief MK Stalin has defended his proposal.

Most opposition parties said the issue should be settled only after the Lok Sabha elections next year, if an opportunity arises for such a grouping to form the government. Opposition leaders were also apprehensive that naming a candidate could prove counter-productive.

Stalin said in a late night statement on Monday that the Congress chief had the strength to dislodge the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime at the Centre and sought the support of friendly secular parties for his proposal.

Read:DMKs Stalin makes pitch for Rahul Gandhi as PM candidate in latest opposition gathering

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief appealed to other opposition parties to strengthen the hands of Rahul to guard democracy. Stalin said joining of forces was required to trounce the BJP in the Lok Sabha election next year. He said it may have led to a debate among friendly parties.

In a democracy, solutions have emerged only from debates... these deliberations too will cause good outcomes, he said in a letter to his party cadre.

Stalins comments on Gandhi on Sunday came during an event in Chennai to unveil the statue of his father, the late M Karunanidhi. The event was attended by Gandhi, his mother and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, and his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan.

Tamil superstar-cum-politician Rajinikanth and former Union minister and disgruntled BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha also attended the event.

The comments also come in the background of the Congress recent wins over the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

Also Read: Opposition unites as Congress chief ministers take oath

Stalin attended the oath-taking ceremonies of the Congress chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh earlier on Monday, which became a platform to showcase opposition unity ahead of the 2019 general election.

The DMK chief said his statement on Monday was based on the rationale that projecting Gandhi alone would be appropriate to bind secular forces. His statement, Stalin said, was made keeping with the legacy of Karunanidhi, who was for taking ideas forward at the opportune and appropriate time.

He also reiterated that the DMK under the leadership of his father had taken the lead at the right time during the previous Lok Sabha elections to propel the Congress towards victory.

The DMK chief once again accused the BJP government of being against pluralism, pushing the economy into a shambles, hurting communal harmony and being indifferent to Tamil Nadu.When the chowki in-charge asked the mob, kitne murge bhun diye (how many chickens had been roasted)... I felt I had lost faith in humanity, Jagdish Kaur, whose husband, son and three cousins were killed in Palam Colonys Raj Nagar in 1984, told a Delhi court on July 2, 2010. Jagdish  witness number 1 in the Palam Colony case  also said that around 9 pm on November 2, 1984, when she went to the police post to lodge a report, she heard Sajjan Kumar delivering a provocative speech, telling the public to murder Sikhs and kill Hindus who shelter them.

Eight years later, her account served as clinching evidence in the conviction of Kumar and five other accused by the Delhi High Court on Monday.

The high court said the accused were brought to justice primarily because of the courage and perseverance of three key eyewitnesses  Jagdish Kaur, her cousin Jagsher Singh and Nirpreet Kaur.

All three in their statements said they had seen Sajjan Kumar inciting the mobs to attack Sikhs.

According to Kaurs statement, around 2 pm on November 1, 1984, a mob entered her house with weapons, pounced on her son Gurpreet Singh and dragged her husband Kehar Singh, who died of head injuries. An injured Gurpreet ran some distance before he was set on fire.

Jagdish performed their last rites three days after their deaths, after making a pyre of the furniture and items left in the house.

Jagdish said the police post incharge threatened her when she was filing a report. She claimed the cop tried to intimidate her by saying the people she was naming were too powerful and she wouldnt be able to protect the rest of her family.

Nirpreet Kaur told the court she had seen a gurdwara being burnt down and her father Nirmal Singh being burnt alive by the mob. Nirpreet said her father was taken out of their Raj Nagar home by two accused  Balwan Khokhar, who used to introduce himself as Sajjan Kumars nephew, and Mahender Yadav.

Nirmal Singh, who ran a taxi stand in Anand Niketan, was president of the gurdwara.

Nirpreet said around 5.30am on November 1, 1984, a mob attacked the gurdwara and caught her father when two men took him out for a compromise.

She said one Ishwar Sharabi sprinkled kerosene on her father and a policeman gave the mob a matchbox. ...From his name plate, I could gather his name was Inspector Kaushik. He gave a matchbox to Kishan Khokhar, who set my father on fire. My father jumped into a nearby nala (drain) to save himself. They pulled him out and set him on fire again, she said in her statement.

The third witness, Jagsher Singh, said he survived as he was not a keshdhari (a turbaned Sikh) unlike his three brothers  Narender Pal Singh, Raghuvinder Singh and Kuldeep Singh  who were killed. Between 10pm and 11pm on November 1, 1984, a vehicle stopped at our gali at Shiv Mandir Marg... 30-40 people collected there. Sajjan Kumar, MP, came out (of the car) and asked if they have done the work assigned  one of them told him they were helpless as the thekedars ) were being saved by Hindus... Sajjan Kumar told them to kill those Hindus and burn their houses, he said in the statement.The moment he heard about Sajjan Kumars conviction in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case on Monday morning, 49-year-old Kanwaljeet Sandhu knew it was time for his symbolic celebration.

The man who lost two brothers in the riots would spend Monday evening lighting lamps at his home in east Delhis Trilokpuri -- one of the worst-hit neighbourhoods in the violence that broke out after former prime minister Indira Gandhis assassination.

The rioters had justified their violence by falsely accusing us of lighting lamps to celebrate Indira Gandhis killing. Today, I will actually light a lamp to celebrate justice. It has been a month of good news, said Sandhu, who himself suffered lifelong wounds.

Jassi Kaur, 86, offered a subdued response. Sitting expressionlessly on a cot in a sunny street in Widow Colony, near west Delhis Tilak Nagar, Kaur said, Sajjan Kumars relatives will be able to meet him in jail every week. He will appeal the judgment and will be out on bail soon. Is that justice?

Jassis 15 relatives, including her son and husband, were killed in the riots.

In Palam Colony, Mokam Singh and many other residents went about their work like any other day. We discussed the judgment but didnt celebrate. It took time but we are happy it has been delivered, said Singh.

Read | A cop asked, kitne murge bhun diye: 1984 riots witness recalls horror

Many Sikh residents left Palam for Punjab after the violence. We are just about a dozen families here now. Most left after their relatives were killed or their houses were destroyed, said Mokam, who owns a business of air-conditioners.

Mokam, who 10-years-old when the rioting happened, has faint memories of the violence. My father worked in the local Gurdwara and had seen so many people killed. But he ensured I stayed indoors, said Singh. Singh and his family survived but his house was destroyed.

The convictions in the anti-Sikh riots havent meant closure for people who lost their dear ones. While many young survivors say they are celebrating the recent convictions, for the older generations, it is delayed justice.

Thakri Kaur, 65, is afraid too much justice may lead to hatred. I worry when I hear talks about riots or even justice. I have seen how politics over religion destroy lives, said Thakri, who saw her father-in-law and two brothers-in-law burn to death.

Thakri was beaten up when she tried to offer water to her father-in-law. She had a metal in her leg for years. She panics when she sees neighbours fighting. She feels it will end up in riots, said Thakris daughter Kali.

Also Read | Carnage of unbelievable proportions: Delhi High Court convicts Sajjan Kumar for 1984 riots

Then, there are others make it a point to keep track of court cases. Auto driver Mahender Singh, 44, had left an entire day of work to attend hearing on November 20 when two other men were convicted by a city court.

I was forced to start working at a young age. The riots shattered my big dreams and left me poor. My heart feels lighter each time I see anyone being punished, said Mahender, a Tilak Nagar resident whose two brothers were killed in the riots. He escaped death by tying his hair like a girl and sneaking out in a frock.

Some feel Sajjan Kumars life sentence is an opportunity squandered away. The country had one opportunity to send the message that no rioter, however powerful, will be spared. We have wasted the opportunity by failing to award the death penalty to Sajjan Kumar, said Surjeet Kaur, 85, who lost her son and husband.

For most survivors, the convictions were too late and too little. But they were just thankful that they havent been outcast in recent years. Most stood by us, which made the convictions possible. The rioters have been finding very little open support, said Sonu Singh, an auto driver who lost his grandfather in the riots.

Jassi Kaur agrees that Sikhs in Delhi are safer today but the convictions do not mean closure. She still vividly remembers a policeman, someone named Sharma, comforting her family and asking them to stay safe indoors. Once we were inside our homes, he removed his cap and signalled to a mob. In the next few hours, I lost 15 relatives, Jassi said.

The policemen in our neighbourhood (Tilak Nagar) havent been oppressive towards Sikhs and limit themselves to bribery but I still cant trust them. I am unable to forgive or forget easily, she said.Two Indian nationals died and one is still missing from Moonee beach in Australia on Monday after they jumped into the water to rescue two children from their family.

The children were saved by a rescue team and taken to a hospital and are said to be stable. Among those rescued were two girls, aged 15 and 17, and a 15-year-old boy.

According to reports reaching Hyderabad, the deceased were identified as Ghousuddin (45) and his son-in-law Junaid (28) of Manyam Chelka colony of Nalgonda down and Rahat (35) from BHEL Colony on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Ghousuddin and Rahat were brought to shore but could not be revived, while search is still on to trace Junaid.

The Indian families from Sydney and Brisbane were spending their holidays at Coffs Harbour and were visiting the scenic Moonee Beach, 23 kilometres north of Coffs Harbour in New South Wales when members of the family got into difficulties in the surf at about 6 pm on Monday evening, website Australian website sbs.com.au reported.

It was like a reunion for them. The families from Sydney and Brisbane had come together to spend holidays together. They had rented a place and were visiting the nearby beach when the tragedy occurred, Mr Syed Siraj Patel, of the Indian Muslim Association of Australia (IMAA) was quoted as saying by the website.

Eyewitness Michelle Collard said the two men pulled out of the water were not in a good way after struggling in the ferocious surf, website abc.net.au reported. She said locals pitched in to help search for the missing man, while others assisted with CPR.The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Tuesday within hours after it met as both the opposition and treasury benches created a ruckus over the Rafale deal prompting admonitions from the Speaker for being unruly and worse than school kids.

Following the first adjournment at noon, when the House reassembled the scenes inside the lower House was no different than it was earlier or even during the last week.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan tried to transact the business for the day but was repeatedly intervened by the sloganeering. It is not sending a good message outside. I have heard from people from abroad asking what is happening in the Indian Parliament, she thundered.

She said she has received feedback even school children behave much better than parliamentarians.

But no amount of chiding helped as the Congress, AIADMK and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) members trooped near the Speakers podium and started sloganeering against the government.

The Congress demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 36 ready-to-fly Rafale fighter jets deal with France while accusing the government of lying before the Supreme Court on the matter.

The AIADMK members wanted Karnataka to take back its proposal to construct a dam across the Cauvery river at Mekadatu, while the TDP raised several issues related to their demand for special status to Andhra Pradesh.

Both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress members exchanged heated arguments with the opposition seeking an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi while the other demanding the same from Congress President Rahul Gandhi for misleading the House and the nation on the defence deal.

Amid sloganeering, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs introduced the National Institute of Design (Amendment) Bill 2018.

As the din continued, Mahajan urged the members to go back to their seats and allow smooth functioning of the House.

Parliament is for debate and discussion, but this is not the way. This session is very important and we all have to face elections next year. The government is ready for discussion.

We have a responsibility. We have to maintain the standard of Parliament, she said.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said that opposition was ready for discussion and urged the government to accept JPC probe into Rafale deal.

We respect democracy. But the Prime Minister is silent. We are demanding a JPC probe to look into the Rafale deal. The deal was discussed in length during the No-Confidence Motion.

Accept the probe for smooth functioning of the House, he said.

To this Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the government was ready for discussion on any issue but the JPC probe.

The need for JPC doesnt arise as the Supreme Court in its verdict has made it clear that a probe is not needed, he said.

As the din continued, Mahajan adjourned the House for the day.

Earlier when the House met Congress members trooped to the Speakers podium demanding a JPC probe into the Rafale aircraft deal, the AIADMK protested against the Mekadatu dam in Karnataka while the TDP sought special status for Andhra Pradesh.

Amid the din, Mahajan had to adjourn the House initially till noon.Hours after Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that his party wont allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sleep on the issue of farmers loan waivers, Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad returned the jab saying that the Congress president had reached a new low in public discourse with such statements.

Nothing better can be expected from the president of a party that ensured that the people of the country dont sleep due to their corruption and malpractices, Prasad said.

Referring to the issue of the Rafale deal, Prasad said that the Congress was afraid of having a debate on the issue in Parliament and that is why it was preventing the House from functioning properly. We are willing to have a debate with you on the Rafale deal. Dont run away from it. I know why the Congress is running away from the debate. It is afraid that if a debate happens, so many skeletons will tumble out of the Congress almirah, Prasad said.

Read: Wont allow PM Modi to sleep till farm loans written off: Rahul Gandhi after 2 Congress states waive loans

He said that the Congress had been unable to digest the fact that the Supreme Court had found nothing wrong with the Rafale deal.

Prasad took on Rahul Gandhis challenge to look them in the eye and have a debate and said that the party was willing to do so, but they, the Congress, was running away from the debate.

Earlier, back in Delhi after a whirlwind three-state tour during which he attended the swearing in ceremonies of Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan, Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh and Bhupesh Baghel in Chhattisgarh, Rahul Gandhi had renewed his attack on the BJP-led national coalition over the plight of farmers and had accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of worrying only about wealthy businessmen. Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, two of the three states that the Congress wrested from the BJP in the just-concluded state elections, have ordered a farm waiver within hours of taking charge.

Congress and all opposition parties will force Modi to give farm loan waiver to farmers Will not allow Modi to sleep till he waives the loan, Gandhi said on Parliament House premises on Tuesday.

Two states announced farm loan waivers within six hours, the third will also do it soon, the Congress president said, underlining how the Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh had gone for a loan waiver within six hours. The third, Rajasthan, would also follow suit.

But for the four years that Modiji has been Prime Minister, he hasnt forgiven loans of even Re 1, he said.

Prasad also responded to Rahul Gandhis wealthy businessmen remark and said that both Mallya and Nirav Modi had benefitted during the Congress partys regime.

Rahul Gandhi, you better not forget that Mallyas loans were restructured when your government was in power. Nirav Modi was given benefits just a week before the Modi government took charge, Prasad said.Government employees, public representatives from panch-sarpanch to members of Parliament and income tax payees cannot avail the crop loan waiver scheme announced by chief minister Kamal Nath on Monday in his first decision after assuming office, officials familiar with the matter have confirmed.

Also, farmers selling their agriculture produce to others by forming a registered company will also not be eligible for the loan waiver. Even those getting a pension of Rs 15,000 and above will not be covered under the scheme. However, retired army men have been exempted from the pension criterion, as per these sources.

Also, if a farmer has taken loans from multiple agencies, he can apply for waiver of loan taken from only one of the agencies, the sources added. The state government, meanwhile, has constituted a 22-member committee to monitor the implementation of the CMs loan waiver scheme.

Day 2 of the new Congress government saw hectic activities in the state secretariat with officials concerned holding a series of meetings to fix the criteria to weed out ineligible farmers from the list of beneficiaries.

On Monday, the CM through an order waived outstanding short-term crop loans of farmers up to Rs 2 lakh per head. According to officials familiar with the matter, as many as 3.4 million farmers are expected to benefit from the scheme, while the state will have to incur an additional financial burden of approximately Rs 38,000 crore.

Officials said linking of Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts of the farmers will be mandatory for availing the loan waiver.

The Aadhaar Card linking with bank accounts is made compulsory to maintain transparency in the process. There are many farmers who have taken loan from multiple banks but the government will waive off loan up to ~2 lakh from one bank only. The Aadhaar card will play an important role in this, said Rajesh Rajora, principal secretary, farmer welfare and agriculture development department.

A draft on the loan waiver will be presented to the state cabinet which will have its maiden meeting on December 26, as per official sources.

Meanwhile, a group of farmers from Sehore, the native district of former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, reached the secretariat to thank Kamal Nath for his decision on loan waiver.

Former Madhya Pradesh finance minister Jayant Malaiya on Tuesday said CM Nath announced the farm loan waiver in a haste and without planning, as he was under pressure to keep the poll promise.

Speaking to mediapersons Malaiya also dismissed the Congress charge that the erstwhile BJP government was responsible for the fiscal mess in Madhya Pradesh.

Reacting to the BJP leaders charges, state Congress spokesperson Bhupendra Gupta said nothing more could be expected from the BJP leaders. The BJP government failed to address farmers grievances, but when the Congress government had done this they were having a problems with it, he added.

(With input from agencies)The Maharashtra Governments special investigative team (SIT) led by deputy commissioner of police (cyber and economic offences wing) Jyotipriya Singh, continues to be clueless about the mastermind of the Rs 94.42 crore Cosmos Bank online fraud which took place on August 14.

In its bid to hunt the main conspirator(s), the SIT, constituted by the State government, has written to their counterparts in foreign nations, seeking forensic logs and digital evidence to be able to reach the main accused. The SIT is expecting more arrests in 2019, officials said. They are hopeful that the digital trail will gradually lead them towards the main architect of the scam.

On August 14, the first of the two malware attacks had hit Cosmos Bank on its online banking system during which cyber fraudsters created a proxy switch to bypass the regular banking system and all payment approvals were diverted using the proxy switching system.

In the initial attack on August 11, stolen card details were used to siphon approximately Rs 80.50 crore through transactions in 28 countries, while in the second attack, the hackers siphoned off Rs 13.92 crore via Swift transfers.

The fraud included at least 12,000 Visa card transactions and on the same day, approximately, Rs 2.5 crore was withdrawn through 2,800 debit card transactions in India at various locations.

Milind Kale, bank chairman said that both the Visa and Rupay debit cards fell victim to a malware attack on the ATM switch located at the banks headquarters on Ganeshkhind road. No sooner than the suspicious transactions were reported, the bank immediately shut its VISA and Rupay Debit Card Payment System. We are fully co-operating with the police and all the compliances of the Reserve Bank of India and forensic audit have been done to ensure utmost security of the deposits , he said.

Police inspector Jayram Paigude of Cyber Cell stated that a 17,500-page chargesheet against nine accused in the Cosmos Bank online heist case has been submitted before the court. A criminal conspiracy to distribute cloned debit cards to withdraw over Rs 97 lakh from 58 ATMs, including 52 in Kolhapur and six in Ajmer, was hatched in Thane .The accused received 109 cloned cards of account-holders from accomplices in Thane and used their Kolhapur and Rajasthan modules to withdraw the cash on August 11 and 13, Paigude stated.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by the State Government , has written to different foreign nations and agencies in getting back the siphoned money which has landed in foreign nations or havens. The SIT has sought forensic logs and digital evidence from different countries which will help the SIT reach the main accused.

Also, the cyber cell is getting more details of the involvement of the arrested accused in similar economic crimes when they struck different banks in the country.

Seven countries including Turkey, Bulgaria, Japan and United Kingdom are assisting the special investigation team (SIT), probing the Rs 94 crore online theft at Cosmos bank headquartered in Pune. Similarly banks from France, Hong Kong and Latvian nations are providing assistance to the Pune polices cyber cell to investigate the case.

Seven persons have been arrested in the case so far.The SIT suspects that the online theft was committed by hackers based in multiple places internationally.

The SIT has, so far, recovered about Rs 6 lakh from genuine bank customers referred to as accidental beneficiaries of the cyber attack as they had received additional sums in their account during the online attack.

WHAT HAPPENED

On August 14, the first of the two malware attacks had hit Cosmos Bank on its online banking system during which cyber fraudsters created a proxy switch to bypass the regular banking system and all payment approvals were diverted by the proxy switching system.

In the initial attack on August 11, stolen card details were used to siphon approximately Rs 80.50 crore through transactions in 28 countries, while in the second attack, the hackers siphoned off Rs 13.92 crore via Swift transfers.

Positive developments in the case

A 17,500-page chargesheet against nine accused in the Cosmos Bank online heist case has been submitted before the court.

 The Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by the State Government , has written to different foreign nations and agencies to recover the siphoned money which has landed in foreign nations or havens. It has also sought forensic logs and digital evidence from different countries to help trace the main accused.

Seven persons have been arrested in the case so far.

Poor Progress?

The SIT led by Deputy commissioner of police (cyber and economic offences wing) Jyotipriya Singh, continues to be clueless about the mastermind of the Rs 94.42 crore Cosmos Bank online fraud which took place on August 14.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2019

While the mastermind of online theft is still at large, SIT officials expect to make more arrests, especially from other parts of the country and abroad. The SIT has written to 29 nations asking for their help to arrest other suspects. In the legal front, SIT has already filed chargesheet in the case and the next step will be to frame charges.Rumblings of discontent have begun to surface within the Congress against the continuation of the grand alliance the party formed with three others ahead of the December 7 assembly elections in Telangana.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) swept the polls winning 88 out of 119 seats. The Congress won 19 out of the 100 seats it contested. Its alliance partner, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), won two seats. The other allies, the Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and Communist Party of India (CPI) could not win any seats.

A Congress leader said many within his party believe the alliance with the TDP did more harm than good. It was initially thought that TDP president N Chandrababu Naidus campaign would help attract votes of the (Andhra) settlers, he said on condition of anonymity.

Congress leader and former MP Vijayashanti said her party should have contested the elections alone. I cautioned against forging an alliance with the TDP, as the people of Telangana are still opposed to Naidu, she said referring to Andhra CMs opposition to Telanganas creation. But it was the high commands decision to go for the alliance. Now, we should be cautious.

The Congress Telangana campaign committee chairman, Malli Bhatti Vikramarka, underlined the alliance was only for the assembly elections. We cannot say now whether the alliance will continue. The party high command will take a call, he said.

TJS president M Kodandaram said the party would decide on whether to continue with the alliance when the need arises. CPI state secretary. Chada Venkat Reddy, blamed the Congresss delay in concluding the seat-sharing deal for the debacle.

The TDP is optimistic the alliance will continue. I do not see any reason why the experiment should fizzle out. The TDP, TJS and CPI leaders attended the swearing-in ceremonies of Congress chief ministers in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, said Telangana TDP general secretary Ravula Chandrasekhar Reddy. That shows we are still united.

Also Read | Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu biggest loser in Maha Kootami decimationBritain has granted citizenship to 303 Indians who arrived between 1948 and 1988 and whose uncertain residency status was part of the Windrush controversy that embarrassed the Theresa May government during the April Commonwealth summit.

Indians are the second-highest number of citizens affected by the row after Jamaica, whose 1,438 citizens top the list. The latest figures were provided by home secretary Sajid Javid to the home affairs select committee of parliament on Monday.

The workers who came to Britain after the Second World War are called the Windrush generation, comprising mostly citizens from Caribbean countries. They are named so after the MV Empire Windrush ship that brought them to Britain.

Many in the Windrush generation stayed on in Britain over the decades but did not obtain necessary documents to regularise their stay, resulting in some being deported, others facing problems in employment and other areas due lack of paperwork.

According to the new update, the status of 303 Indians has been regularised: they have either been granted British citizenship or documents showing they have indefinite leave to remain or no time limit to stay in the country.

Of the 303, 247 came to the UK before 1973 and 44 between 1973 and 1988. The figure also includes nine family members and one categorised as unrecorded. Two Indians who applied overseas as part of the Windrush process were also granted citizenship.

Over 1,000 cases remain outstanding which, due to their complexity, are taking longer than anticipated to processI can reassure members that my department remains entirely focussed on righting the wrongs experienced by the Windrush generation, Sajid told the committee.

The Home Office set up a task force to deal with the issue after the controversy arose during the Commonwealth meet. Prime Minister May and Javid have since apologised; a compensation scheme is also on the cards.Facing the 100-day Brexit countdown, UKs Theresa May government has allocated an extra 2 billion to departments to deal with the worst-case eventuality of leaving the EU without a deal, as parliamentary politics stayed in a logjam over the issue.

The opposition Labour Party tabled a non-binding no-confidence motion against May on Monday night, with the possibility of ramping it up into a binding one against the government. A decision on the motion is expected on Tuesday. The United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on March 29, 2019, lending urgency to preparations to deal with the imbroglio.

A no-deal scenario implies several crises, since EU rules and regulations affecting every aspect of life embedded in UK law over the decades will cease to be in force, with serious implications for trade, movement of people, security, and so forth.

Departments have already put in place emergency measures to stockpile medicines; many are produced in Europe and moved to the UK frictionless through borders. Rules governing flights will also be affected, besides new tariffs for goods imported from Europe, leading to price rise.

No-deal is one of the possibilities in the current impasse, given the fact that EU has ruled out fresh talks on the controversial withdrawal agreement that has no hope of being passed in parliament. Other scenarios include another referendum or another mid-term election.

May faced another tough day in the House of Commons on Monday, when she was accused of running down the clock by postponing vote on the agreement to the week beginning January 14, which many MPs see as forcing them to vote for the agreement to avoid the debilitating no-deal scenario.

Insisting that talks are on with EU to improve the terms of the agreement (which EU denies), May told MPs: Let us not break faith with the British people by trying to stage another referendum.

Another vote which would do irreparable damage to the integrity of our politics, because it would say to millions who trusted in democracy, that our democracy does not deliver.

Another vote which would likely leave us no further forward than the last. And another vote which would further divide our country at the very moment we should be working to unite it.US President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order soon, possibly as early as Tuesday, creating a US Space Command that will better organize and advance the militarys vast operations in space, US officials say.

Vice President Mike Pence will make the announcement Tuesday at the Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, two US officials said.

Trumps order is separate from his oft-stated goal of creating a Space Force as an independent armed service branch, but its considered a step in that direction. The move will launch a long and complicated process, requiring the Defense Department to pull together various space units and agencies from across the military services into a more coordinated, independent organization.

The US Air Forces existing Space Command would be a key component of the new joint entity, raising space to the same status as US Cyber Command.

The US officials said the order will be signed by the end of the year, but could happen as early as Tuesday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The move would actually recreate a US Space Command, which existed from 1985 to 2002. It was disbanded in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks so US Northern Command could be established, focusing on defense of the homeland.

Although Space Command went away, its functions did not. They were absorbed by US Strategic Command, and the Air Force retained its lead role in space through Air Force Space Command.

The military has been trying for decades to reorganize and accelerate technological advances in space. Some blame the Air Force for underinvesting in space because it prefers spending on warplanes.

The key goal is to find more effective ways to defend US interests in space, especially the constellations of satellites that US ground, sea and air forces rely on for navigation, communications and surveillance. These roles make them increasingly tempting military targets as China and Russia work on ways to disrupt, disable and even destroy American satellites.

The militarys role in space has been under scrutiny because the United States is increasingly reliant on orbiting satellites that are difficult to protect.

US intelligence agencies reported earlier this year that Russia and China were pursuing nondestructive and destructive anti-satellite weapons for use during a future war. And there are growing worries about cyberattacks that could target satellite technology, potentially leaving troops in combat without electronic communications or navigation abilities.The UK body responsible for holding the 2021 census has rejected demands that Sikh should be a separate ethnic identifier on the ground that it would not be acceptable to a proportion of the Sikh population, disappointing campaigners who say legal action is an option.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a white paper that it had always provided an other, specify box within the ethnic group question to allow respondents to answer as they wish to (such as defining their ethnicity as Sikh).

The 2021 Census will continue to include a religion question, with a specific Sikh response option, the ONS said, adding that a survey of gurdwaras on the acceptance of a Sikh ethnic group tick-box showed a high acceptance for inclusion. It added, Leaders of Sikh groups have provided information which has fed into the analysis. There are differing views within the Sikh population as to whether a specific response option should be added to the 2021 Census, and views on each side are passionately held.

Bhai Amrik Singh of campaign group, Sikh Federation (UK), said, The ONS has gone to great lengths to maintain the status quo and continue with reinforcing the institutionalised discrimination of Sikhs by public bodies. We are aware of some of the pressures that have been exerted on them.

However, these are proposals and the final decision on the Census questions rests with Parliament. Gurdwaras, Sikh organisations and the community are resourceful and will work with the APPG (All-Party Parliamentary Group) on the year-long campaign launched on Saturday. Legal action against the ONS remains an option.

Singh added that campaigners are confident of securing the support of nearly 350 MPs from across the political spectrum, including ministers and shadow ministers: We will be successful in securing an amendment to the Census Order when it is presented to Parliament in autumn 2019.

Population figures according to ethnicity are crucial for various political, social, cultural and economic purposes, including distribution of government funds. Over 80,000 Sikhs reportedly used Other in the 2011 census to identify themselves, and mentioned Sikh on the forms.For London's ethical last-minute shoppers

Just because you've left your shopping to the last minute, doesn't mean you can't still shop for stylish, sustainable gifts.

Ethical lifestyle website BICBIM has teamed up with some of the UKs coolest conscious brands to host a Christmas pop-up shop at Old Street station from Monday 17 December until Saturday 22 December.

Open from 7am until 8pm each day, with late-night shopping until 10pm on Friday 21, the pop-up will have a mix of contemporary ethical fashion brands, beauty products, pet accessories, festive candles and gifts for coffee and chocolate lovers.

All items are available to pre-order online and can be picked up at the Old Street station pop-up shop.What to buy in Milton Keynes

From 204,000 for a one-bedroom apartment to 485,000 for a five-bedroom house

The first residents will move into The Square @ Brooklands in the new year. This mixed-use scheme includes shops, cafes and restaurants, a gym, a nursery and a public square, as well as just over 50 houses and apartments.

> For more details visit www.brooklandsmk.co.ukSupplier News

18 December 2018

Dr. Ravi Mehrotra, co-founder, president and chief scientist of IDeaS Revenue Solutions, was named to the board of the Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship (PIHE) at Cornell University's S.C. College of Business Hotel School.

Along with his role leading IDeaS, Mehrotra is a noted author, speaker and innovator in the fields of predictive analytics, forecasting and dynamic-price optimization. As a new PIHE advisory board member, he will help steer the future direction of the Institute, engage its student body through teaching and research, and participate in other academic and social programs in the S.C. Johnson community.

Dr. Ravi Mehrotra, co-founder, president and chief scientist, IDeaS, said: "I am proud to join the Pillsbury Institute, which is the breeding ground for so much of the hospitality industry's innovation and future leadership. Today more than ever, the industry is being shaped by young professionals who understand the complex interplay of technology and decision-making as guides for profitability, as well as a great guest experience. I look forward to helping cultivate that knowledge at PIHE and participating in many aspects of life on campus in the coming months as we join IDeaS' spirit of innovation with the best academic minds and finest students in the industry."

Neil Tarallo, academic director, the Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship , said: "We are delighted to have Dr. Mehrotra join our board as we prepare for the most active and diverse year in the history of the Pillsbury Institute. We will announce the further expansion of our leadership in conjunction with our new strategy roll-out in early 2019. We look forward to an exciting future, in partnership with companies and individuals such as Dr. Mehrotra and IDeaS, who are the embodiment of entrepreneurial thinking and behavior."

About IDeaS and Dr. Ravi Mehrotra

IDeaS, a SAS company, is the world's leading provider of revenue management software and services. With nearly 30 years of expertise, IDeaS drives better revenue for more than 10,000 clients in 124 countries. Combining industry knowledge with innovative, data-analytics technology, IDeaS creates sophisticated yet simple ways to empower revenue leaders with precise, automated decisions they can trust. Results delivered. Revenue transformed. Discover greater profitability at ideas.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Dr. Ravi Mehrotra is the president, co-founder and chief scientist at IDeaS. Through the establishment of IDeaS in 1989, Mehrotra pioneered the "opportunity cost" approach that later became the industry standard for dealing with the complexities of the network or length-of-stay effects in revenue management.

Mehrotra's research and founding involvement in IDeaS is a natural progression of his scientific background. As an assistant professor at North Carolina State University, he invented new models for parallel computing; designed and analyzed both asynchronous and randomized algorithms for distributed processing; and reviewed many proposals for key government scientific agencies.

Today, Mehrotra remains an active and hands-on chief scientist at IDeaS. He continues to research increasingly sophisticated methods for dynamic pricing that optimize expected profits over longer time horizons and is a widely-recognized leader in the field of predictive analytics, forecasting and dynamic price optimization.

About the Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship

Founded in 2006, the Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship (PIHE) at the Cornell University SC College of Business Hotel School is the premier platform of knowledge in entrepreneurial thinking and behavior with an emphasis on hospitality, service, and customer experience. PIHE informs companies and students with respect to non-linear problem solving methodologies, opportunity identification, and innovation with constrained resources; all within the context of corporate, new venture, and social enterprises. In addition to preparing our students to launch sustainable new ventures, this approach to entrepreneurship education addresses the need for "entrepreneurial thinkers" within existing organizations and positions our students to make contributions to company missions early in their career. By focusing on entrepreneurial behavior & thinking, the Pillsbury Institute redefines entrepreneurship education and creates an expanded context for the direct application of entrepreneurship.HERSHEY >> The Council Rock North Marching Band capped a triumphant return to the competition circuit by winning the Silver Finalist award at the Cavalcade of Bands championship in Hershey recently. The remarkable comeback, after a break from competing last year due to the pandemic, also earned the 59-member ensemble the High Visual Performance award in the Liberty Conference A...Supplier News

18 December 2018

San Francisco, Dec. 18, 2018  When you've had a banner year like Beekeeper, it's difficult to see it end. Looking back on 2018, the leading communication and employee operations platform company is seeing an impressive list of accomplishments, yet it is even more excited for what is coming in 2019. Beekeeper is one of the most talked about and recognized technology providers today due to its ability to digitize hospitality workers who don't sit behind a traditional desk and don't have access to work email. By connecting operational systems and communication channels within one secure, intuitive platform, Beekeeper is helping hoteliers exchange information, share property updates, and communicate best practices within or across departments in 30 languages.

Here are just a few Beekeeper highlights from 2018:

Beekeeper was named "Most Innovative Technology of 2018" by Hospitality Technology Next Generation (HTNG); voted "People's Choice" at HITEC  Houston as part of the Entrepreneur 20X Competition hosted by Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals (HFTP); and earned the "Most Innovative Hotel Technology" designation during the Tech Pitch at HX: The Hotel Experience.

by Hospitality Technology Next Generation (HTNG); voted at HITEC Houston as part of the Entrepreneur 20X Competition hosted by Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals (HFTP); and earned the designation during the Tech Pitch at HX: The Hotel Experience. Beekeeper executives spoke at the following industry events: The Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS), Asian American Hotel Owners Association Convention & Trade Show, Boutique Hotel Investment Conference, HITEC Amsterdam and Houston, HR in Hospitality, HT-NEXT, HX: The Hotel Experience, and New York University International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference.

Beekeeper was named the 59th Fastest Growing Company by SaaS 1000.

by SaaS 1000. 1 Hotels, SIXTY Hotels, the iconic Watergate Hotel, Feather Falls Casino, Lodge & Brewing Co., and InterContinental Miami hotel chose Beekeeper to communicate more effectively with its employees.

Beekeeper raised an additional $13 million in funding as a part of its Series A extension round to invest in hospitality market growth.

Beekeeper became GDPR compliant and achieved ISO 27001 Certification to protect intellectual property, employee details, and information entrusted to Beekeeper by third parties. ISO certifies that Beekeeper's product and services will reduce its customers' risk significantly in the digital workplace.

Beekeeper added the following companies to its growing Marketplace: ADP, BambooHR, Gustaf, Microsoft Azure, Mirus, Swisscom eAlarm, UltiPro and Workday. The company also partnered with Hapi, a disruptive data streaming, integration and enrichment platform at HITEC to create the #BeeHapiBus.

Beekeeper hired Connie Rheams, named one of the most influential women in hospitality technology by HFTP, to serve as the new Vice President, Hospitality.

Beekeeper continued its Bee School webinar series that brings knowledge on workplace dynamics and behavior out from behind the paywall of an MBA certificate, ensuring that managers in non-desk industries can lead their teams to unprecedented success. The series was taught by Best-Selling Author and Employee Engagement Expert Jill Christensen. The company also hosted an Employee Engagement webinar with ALICE, a hotel operations platform that manages staff work and guest communications across departments.

"2018 was a banner year for Beekeeper," Rheams said. "It will be difficult to top these successes, but programs and partnerships are already underway that will make 2019 even more momentous. We will continue to drive innovation through technology and look for new opportunities to help hotel companies empower their organizations and deliver personalized end-customer experiences. Earning hospitality's top-three technology awards this year signifies that Beekeeper is truly the next frontier for hospitality. Our team looks forward to connecting with more hoteliers in the coming year and leading conversations at industry events about connecting hotel employees to their companies and culture."JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.



You should upgrade or use an You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browserThe property is located on Vesturbaer district in Reykjavik, which is close to the city centre and the Harpa concert hall. The opening is scheduled for the second quarter of 2020.

MEININGER hotel group announced the signing of an agreement for a hotel in Reykjavik. The property is located on Vesturbaer district in Reykjavik, which is close to the city centre and the Harpa concert hall. The opening is scheduled for the second quarter of 2020.

The MEININGER Hotel will be accommodated in the iconic JL House, a famous 1940s warehouse, and will be completely modernised to meet MEININGER's latest standards.

The hotel will have a gross floor area of 5,500 square meters. The 122 rooms and 442 beds will be spread over 5 floors. The room types will range from classic double rooms to private multi-bed-rooms through to a bed in a dorm. The public areas such as reception, lobby, lounge, bar and breakfast room as well as the guest kitchen and games zone, which are typical features of a MEININGER, will be located on the ground floor of the building. The interior design of the hotel will be based on an individual theme specific to the local area.

Iceland is the fastest growing market in Europe. In 2017, about 2.2 million tourists visited the country (fivefold increase compared to 2010), which is about six times the permanent resident population of the country. The rapid-fire growth made Reykjavik having the highest market-wide occupancy in Europe.

The main reason for visiting Iceland is its natural attractions, but Reykjavik is an equally popular tourist destination, as it has lots to offer like numerous museum and hosts many events and festivals. Due to the relatively small size of Iceland, many attractions and popular activities can be reached and completed in a day, making day trips from Reykjavik very popular.

Hannes Spanring, CEO of MEININGER Hotels, highlights the strategic importance of the agreement: "I'm very pleased, with the project in Reykjavik as it expands our geographical reach and provide options to our guests.''

"Reykjavik increased its significance as a hub between Europe and North America in the past years, also because the accessibility by air greatly improved. The major share of visitors is leisure tourists coming from both of these continents. Looking at the Iceland tourism market, we expect to host the typical mix of MEININGER guests, individual travellers like backpackers as well as groups and a small number of business travellers,'' stated Doros Theodorou, CCO of MEININGER Hotels.

Next year MEININGER will enter two further important new markets with the opening of a hotel in Budapest and a hotel in Paris.

Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe

 2021 Hotel News ResourceAs we all know, Beyonce and Jay Z took the stage at the Global Citizen Festival in Johannesburg at the FNB Stadium at the top of the month. Their performance came just a few weeks after they ended their On The Run Tour 2 and needless to say, it was a memorable experience for the Carter's and their family alike.

Beyonce was so moved by her attendance that she has taken to Instagram to share a note on her experience and the impact the festival has made. "After settling in at home from a beautiful trip to South Africa and India, I am still in awe that 7.1 BILLION dollars was raised to aid Global Citizen in its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty," she captioned alongside a video compilation of her and Jay's performance.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BriQSmnFm3N



Beyonce detailed how the money raised will help fund important change such as improving "education, healthcare, sanitation, womens rights, and countless other causes for millions across the globe."

"I felt so much positivity and pride in the audience at Global Citizen: Mandela 100. Madiba, Johannesburg, and all of my African sisters and brothers, we hope we made you as proud as you all make us. South Africa was an extraordinary trip for me and my family. God bless," she added.

In another post, Beyonce thanked the "talented African designers" who kept her "feeling fresh" and of course, look fresh. Check out a round-up of her stellar outfits below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BriVWVSHYUC



https://www.instagram.com/p/BriVrZ2HKKG

For the last week, Chris Brown has been actively sharing the most adorable moments he's spent with his daughter Royalty. When it was first announced that he was having a child years ago, many questioned how the controversial artist would fare as a parent. Despite some issues with Royalty's mother, Nia Guzman, Breezy has turned out to be a great father, spending lots of time with his girl and bringing her to several of his shows. The other day, the family gathered around the television to watch Chris' acting role in This Christmas, which got RoRo out of her seat and dancing. Now, CB shared another precious video of his baby girl as she hit BlocBoy JB's viral "Shoot" dance.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BriIUW0jwZr



The Memphis rapper may not get the credit he deserves but he is the rightful creator of the "Shoot" dance, not Fortnite. Chris loves to share the most adorable moments with his daughter and he came through again today with some wholesome content, posting a clip of Royalty dancing in the hallway. She's wearing a full Gucci set with some rain boots as she busts a move. Ah, the joys of being a rich kid.

Royalty has to be the cutest celebrity child in Hollywood. At this point, she doesn't have much competition.



Jonathan Leibson/Getty ImagesHouston-based Cheniere Energy has signed a 20-year liquefied natural gas supply deal with a subsidiary of Petronas, Malaysia's state-owned oil and natural gas company.

Under the deal, Cheniere's Sabine Pass LNG facility will supply 1.1 million tonnes of LNG per year to Petronas LNG.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but Cheniere reported that the purchase price of the LNG is indexed to the monthly Henry Hub price, plus a a fee. Under the deal, the point of sale is at loading and Petronas is responsible for arranging the shipping.

In a statement, Cheniere Energy CEO Jack Fusco said Petronas will be a foundation customer for the sixth production unit planned at the company's Sabine Pass LNG facility in Louisiana.

"This 20-year agreement with Sabine Pass Liquefaction continues our momentum on Train 6, where early engineering, procurement, and site preparation activities have recently commenced ahead of a final investment decision," We expect this (sale and purchase agreement) to support our continued progress toward a final investment decision in 2019."

The announcement comes less than a week after Cheniere shipped its first cargo to Greece. The Houston-based company has shipped nearly 500 LNG cargoes to 30 nations. Malaysia promises to be the 31st nation and a large customer.

Petronas entered the liquefied natural gas production business with the launch of Malaysia LNG in 1978. The state-owned oil and natural gas company launched Petronas LNG as its global trading and shipping arm in 2003.

In addition to producing LNG from a large facility in the state of Sarawak, Petronas also owns the the world's first floating LNG and is building the second.

"With the addition of this new volume, it will enhance Petronas' supply portfolio and further strengthen our position as a reliable global LNG portfolio player," Petronas Vice President of LNG Marketing & Trading, Ahmad Adly Alias said in a statement.WASHINGTON  Three years ago, following a series of catastrophic spills, Congress ordered rail tank cars built heavier and stronger while allowing older cars to be retrofitted to improve their safety.

But after a train transporting oil in the retrofitted cars crashed in Iowa this summer and spilled more than 230,000 gallons of crude, railroads have questioned the safety of the retrofitted cars moving on their track. Burlington Northern Santa Fe, one of the nations largest railroads, is now charging oil companies and refineries a significant premium to run those refurbished cars on its tracks across the western United States, aimed to push them toward a new and costlier model of tank car known as the DOT117J, which railroads argue is significantly safer.

The rates for retrofitted cars were as much as 30 percent above the standard rate for oil trains, petroleum industry officials said.

POWER LINES: Transmission is latest front in fossil fuels v. renewables battle

More Information . See More Collapse

The jump in rates is part of a fight between railroads and the oil industry that comes as pipeline shortages force oil companies to turn to other means of transport to move record crude production to market. In less than 16 months, the latest in a series of older models of tank car that Congress deemed not safe enough to run on the nations rail network must be phased out of service.

The bottom line is in order to meet these deadlines we have to have both new and retrofitted cars, said Mike OMalley, president of the Railway Supply Institute, a trade group representing rail car builders. If you just rely on new cars, itll be extremely difficult to meet these deadlines.

Ultimately, the railroads resistance to retrofitted cars could cost energy companies more to ship their crude across the nations railways and force them to scrap relatively new tank cars that otherwise might have decades more of service.

A BNSF spokesman said that as contracts with shippers expire, the railroad would seek agreements requiring the exclusive uses of the new DOT117J tank cars. Railroads dont own the cars themselves; they are owned by shipping firms or the oil companies themselves.

We believe the DOT117J is the appropriate tank car to safely move crude oil in unit trains, the spokesman said in an email. Tank car lessors and builders are getting this message and will bring more DOT117J online.

CHEMICAL BREAKDOWN: Houston produces a lot of chlorine so responders need to be prepared

Oil train use has declined from the boom year of 2014, but places such as the Permian Basin in West Texas, Bakken shale in North Dakota and Alberta oil sands in Canada remain reliant on rail as they wait for the completion of new pipelines. After years of decline, oil train traffic is starting to tick up again, according to the Energy Department. In September, more than 16.3 million barrels of crude were moved by rail, almost double that of the same month the previous year.

Those in the oil sector argue that Congress approved the retrofitted cars on the understanding that replacing tens of thousands of tank cars, many relatively new, was not feasible.

Congress deemed these cars safe. (The Transportation Department), after extensive economic and risk analysis, did too, and based on its decision, over 16,000 tank cars have been retrofitted to meet the robust safety standards, Rob Benedict, a senior director at refining trade group American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, said in a statement.

BNSFs position has sent shudders not just through the oil sector but other industries, such as chemicals and ethanol, which use those same tank cars to move their products.

For now, its just one railroad company and the oil sector, concerns are growing that other railroads might follow BNSFs lead and apply the higher tariffs to other industries moving volatile and toxic liquids, said Jeff Sloan, senior director of regulatory and technical affairs at the American Chemistry Council.

RELATED: Thousands of defects found on oil train routes

These things have a way of catching on, he said. Rail customers tend not to have a choice. Theres usually just one railroad (available), so they can dictate terms on the rates and service and ancillary services. Theres not a lot of recourse.

Congress passed tank car reforms in 2015 after a series of high-profile crashes beginning in 2013, when a runaway oil train plowed into the center of the small Canadian town of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, creating a fireball that burned much of the town to the ground and killed 47 people.

As the oil shale boom took off in areas such as West Texas and North Dakota where pipeline capacity was limited, producers increasingly turned to rail. By 2014, almost 32 million barrels of crude were being moved by rail each month, a more than eight-fold increase from 2011. With that increase came more crashes and explosions, from North Dakota to Alabama, Oregon to Virginia.

Oil tank cars are sold to last up to five decades, and oil companies balked at the prospect of having to replace tank cars that might have been only a couple years old. Congress, working in conjunction with Canadian regulators, decided on a compromise plan: Either buy new cars or upgrade existing cars to meet the new specifications, a significantly cheaper option.

The walls of the retrofitted cars measure between .44 inches and .5 inches thick, depending on the type of tank car that was retrofitted, according to the Railway Supply Institute, a trade group representing rail car manufacturers. The new cars have a wall thickness of .56 inches.

That might not sound like much, but in a lower-speed crash, that could be the difference between an oil tank car puncturing or not, said Fred Millar, an independent rail safety consultant.

Its all relative, of course, he said. If youre traveling in a crude oil train at speeds like 50 or 60 mph, you cannot build a tank car that will withstand puncture at that speed.

For now, the Federal Railroad Administration says the industry is still on track to meet its deadlines, with more than 6,500 new or retrofitted tank cars, or 38 percent of the total fleet, in operation as of June 30. About 1,500 of the older model of tanks cars the of the pre-reform tank cars, are scheduled to be out of commission by no later than May 2025.

Asked about the dispute over the retrofitted tank cars, an agency spokesman said, That is a commercial decision which falls outside of FRAs purview.

james.osborne@chron.com

Twitter: @osbornejaThe Boeing 767 touched down at Bush Intercontinental Airport at dawn, its red and yellow fuselage shimmering in the early morning light.

The cargo plane taxied to a DHL Express facility where crews unloaded 30 large freight containers teeming with more than 10,000 packages from around the world. The boxes cascaded down a conveyor belt where 75 workers scanned, sorted, labeled and loaded them onto dozens of delivery trucks headed across Houston to destinations from Beaumont to Bryan.

Were probably second to Santa when it comes to delivering packages, facility manager Joe Green said. A close second.

Monday, the week before Christmas, was the busiest day for couriers charged with delivering millions of packages sent by last-minute shoppers turning to the internet for gift-giving salvation. Americans spent a record $80.3 billion between Nov. 1 and Dec. 6, according to Adobe Analytics, a retail data firm tracking online holiday sales. That included $7.9 billion on Cyber Monday, a 17 percent increase from last year.

AIRPORTS: Houston airports expect more than 3.7M holiday travelers

DHL, which specializes in international shipments, anticitpates that it will make 156,000 delivery stops every day during December, a 56 percent increase over a typical month. The German shipping company, which operates distribution hubs at each of Houstons two major airports, did not disclose how many packages it expects to deliver this season, but anticipates it will handle 17 percent more package deliveries than last year.

Holiday Packages Couriers are expected to deliver hundreds of millions of packages this holiday season. U.S. Postal Service: 900 million packages UPS: 800 million packages FedEx: 400 million packages DHL: 156,000 delivery stops daily in December See More Collapse

Other couriers -- including the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx and UPS -- have worked around the clock since Black Friday to deliver millions of packages globally by Christmas morning.

The Post Office and the Atlanta shipper UPS expect to deliver 900 million and 800 million packages respectively this holiday season, each up by 50 million from last year. Federal Expess of Memphis expects to more than 400 million packages from Black Friday until Christmas Eve.

Courier companies have planned for peak season all year long. UPS hired 100,000 temporary workers, up about 5.3 percent from last year; and FedEx hired 55,000 seasonal workers, up 10 percent from last year. DHL also hired 10 percent more workers.

Houston, with its large immigrant communities, is among DHLs top 10 busiest cities for international shipping. DHLs Houston hub ships packages to and from 220 countries, mostly in Europe and Asia. The courier can move packages from Houston to most of the world in one or two days.

E-commerce and shipping networks have really made the world smaller, Green said.

ON THE ROAD: Texas one of the worst states for aggressive holiday driving

Amazon, the nations most valuable e-commerce retailer, has become a stronger competitor to traditional couriers such as UPS and FedEx this holiday season. The Seattle e-commerce giant, which launched its own air freight service called Amazon Air in 2016, operates 40 Boeing 767 cargo planes and is rolling out 25,000 Amazon-branded delivery vans nationally.

Amazon, which is building a $1.5 billion global hub in Cincinnati, earlier this month said it will build a regional facility at Fort Worth Alliance Airport to support its one-day and two-day package delivery in Texas and across the country.

The Fort Worth facility, set to open next year near a FedEx facility, is expected to save Amazon between $1 billion and $2 billion in shipping costs, according to Morgan Stanley. Amazon is poised to take market share from UPS and FedEx, whose revenues could decline by a combined 10 percent by 2025.

Amazons new air hub could compete directly with FedEx and UPS, said analyst Ravi Shanker.

Amazon has not disclosed how many packages it delivers through its Air network, but said its customers ordered more than 180 million items between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, the biggest shopping weekend in the companys history. Amazon is offering free shipping to all of its customers this holiday season.

PROCRASTINATORS: Last-minute gift ideas for everyone on your holiday list

FedEx, which has more than 650 cargo planes and 160,000 delivery trucks, has worked everishly to deliver millions of packages to customers around the world in time for Christmas.Inside the companys distribution center near NRG Stadium one recent morning, 200 FedEx workers unloaded thousands of packages from air freight containers onto conveyor belts and into 110 delivery trucks and vans headed for customers in the Galleria and downtown Houston.

Robert Watts, manager of FedEx Express Houston facility, has worked for FedEx for 31 years. He remembers planning for the holiday package rush decades ago, before Amazon and e-commerce existed. At the time, it seemed crazy busy, he recalled, but the couriers package volume was peanuts compared to today.

We become like Santa Claus every year, Watts said. And every year, we find a way to get it done.

paul.takahashi@chron.comAngela Ponce, better known as the reigning Miss Spain, didn't win the Miss Universe pageant Sunday.

But she didn't seem to mind.

Simply by representing her country this year, Ponce became the first transgender woman to compete in Miss Universe. After the preliminary rounds, the 27-year-old model said it was "an honor and pride" to be part of the history of the pageant.

"This is for you, for those who have no visibility, no voice, because we all deserve a world of respect, inclusion and freedom," Ponce wrote on Instagram on Friday. "And today I am here, proudly representing my nation, all women and human rights."

Though Miss Universe - and other beauty pageants - have undergone scrutiny (and changes) in recent years to avoid objectifying women, Ponce said she embraced the competition as a chance to fulfill not only her personal ambitions but to be an ambassador for Spanish culture.

For her national costume, she donned a traditional Spanish "bata de cola."

"This is an iconic piece in Spain, also known all over the world," Ponce explained on Instagram. "It is a precious reference of my country."

For the talent portion, Ponce danced the flamenco, something she said she had been doing since she was 6 years old. For the longest time, her dream was merely to perform the dance while wearing a flamenco dress. That didn't happen until she was 17 years old.

"For a long time those were things I always wanted to do," Ponce told Miss Universe organizers. "I put so much focus into it, that in the end, it became a reality."

She smiled and motioned to herself, as if to emphasize: She wasn't just dancing the flamenco in a dress now. She was doing it in a dress at Miss Universe.

"None of us are obligated to be here. And for me, it's a platform to share my voice," she told Today Style. "To me, feminism is freedom to do what you want, when you want to. We cannot put brakes on the freedom of women, on one platform or another."

The pageant seemed to embrace her, too, tweeting video of Ponce entering the stage with the caption: "A walk to remember. A historic night for #MissUniverse."

It was a sharp change for the Miss Universe organization, which was criticized in 2012 after disqualifying transgender woman Jenna Talackova from the Miss Canada competition that year because she was not "naturally born" a woman.

After Talackova threatened legal action, the organization - then owned by Donald Trump - changed the rules to allow transgender contestants in its pageants.

More for you Chelsi Smith, 1995 Miss Universe from Texas, dies at age 45

"As long as she meets the standards of legal gender recognition requirements of Canada, which we understand that she does, Jenna Talackova is free to compete in the 2012 Miss Universe Canada pageant," Trump attorney Michael Cohen said at the time. "Nobody is capitulating . . . Like all the other contestants, [Talackova] is wished the best of luck by Mr. Trump."

Talackova ultimately finished in the top 12 of the Miss Canada pageant and was one of four contestants awarded "Miss Congeniality." She did not advance to the Miss Universe pageant that year.

Fast-forward six years.

Ponce, who is from Pilas in southern Spain, acknowledged that it had been difficult at times to live as a woman "in a society where everyone said I couldn't do that" - but credited her family for supporting her.

"They're my foundation so that my life could unfold," Ponce told Today.com. "They saw to it that I did not have a traumatic childhood. They are my strength."

The final portions of the Miss Universe pageant were broadcast live Sunday. Miss Philippines, 24-year-old Catriona Gray, was crowned the 2018 winner.

---

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrP0IEpHjOK/?utm_source=ig_embedThe founders of Blood Bros. BBQ like to paint themselves as just some boys from Alief whose friendship became even stronger in the intense realm of smoked meats.

And while that description is true, it doesn't take into account the long, methodical manner in which they grew a shared passion into a full-fledged business. When Blood Bros. BBQ opens Dec. 20 in Bellaire, it marks the end of one journey and the beginning of another for brother Robin and Terry Wong and their partner Quy Hoang.Elizabeth Conley, Chronicle / Houston Chronicle

The Emancipation Economic Development Council nonprofit, promoting the Emancipation Avenue corridor in Third Ward, has appointed an executive director, Cary Yates, and deputy manager, Alicia Neal, to oversee new programs spurred by the Texas Historical Commission and the Kinder Foundation.

In October the community-led nonprofit received a "Texas Main Street City" designation from the state historical commission. It grants the group access to the state agency's services for design and historic preservation, planning and economic development projects through the Emancipation Avenue Main Street program.Galveston County Judge Mark Henry on Monday called on the county's auditor and purchasing agent to resign, blaming them for the theft by cyber scammers of more than $500,000 from the county earlier this year.

At a county commissioners meeting Monday, Henry said County Auditor Randall Rice and County Purchasing Agent Rufus Crowder should be held responsible for the June discovery of a wrongful electronic payment of $525,282.39 to a scammer posing as a county contractor. The scammer was pretending to represent Lucas Construction Co., a Houston company doing road work for the county. The cyber thief has not been caught and the lost funds have not been recovered.

While the stolen funds are a tiny fraction of Galveston County's $149 million budget, similar cyber attacks have raised the alarm in other Texas localities, including in Harris County, where $888,000 was nearly stolen by a person posing as an accountant with a Hurricane Harvey contractor. The city of El Paso was also robbed of $3 million in 2016 from a phony vendor.

Henry, in holding Rice and Crowder responsible for the scam, compared their lack of oversight to a person foregoing their tax payments. He noted that tax offenders typically suffer punishment, including the loss of their home.

"I find it unacceptable that homeowners are held to a different standard than county employees," said Henry, a conservative Republican who has led the county since 2011. "As a result of that, I'm calling for the resignation of the purchasing agent and the county auditor for their involvement and their refusal to take any responsibility for what has happened here."

The county judge acknowledged that he doesn't have authority to force out the two officials, as neither reports directly to the county judge and commissioners court. Henry said he would direct their boards to hold them responsible.

"The purchasing agent reports to a purchasing agent board and the auditor reports to a state district judge board, so all six state district judges appoint him and can remove him," Henry said.

Rice did not respond directly to Henry's demand, but he did point out that an investigation conducted by a private firm, the Dawson Forensic Group, absolved a single office or person for blame in the scam.

"I think that the report was fairly accurate... the conclusion they had was that everything that had been done was done according to the constitution of the state of Texas and the appropriate procedures were followed that were existing at the time and since that time, we've added additional procedures and policies in place and we're continuing to work to improve all of those things to further protect the county," Rice said.

Crowder did not respond to a request for comment.

The Dawson Forensic report, which was released publicly on Dec. 3, provided a detailed account of the scam and the county's lack of safeguards in protecting this kind of cyber attack from happening.

The scammer created fake email addresses to pose as both a county employee and as a representative for Lucas Construction Company, and used a form obtained through the county's website to request a change on the bank account information for the road contractor. The scammer requested that instead of paying with a paper check, the county should send funds to an account through an electronic transfer.

The scammer used email addresses that were nearly identical to the real email addresses used by the county and the contractor. The report stated that the county purchasing department lacked validation processes to ensure that the new bank account was valid.

Investigators also concluded that the county's treasurer, auditor, purchasing agent, and information technology office had "coordinated the design of new processes" to identify potential technological issues that will help identify future problems as they occur rather than after an attack.

Rice declined to elaborate on what changes the county auditor's office has implemented since the scam, for security reasons.

"The more that we tell the bad guys that we've done, the more they have opportunities to come up with ways to fight them, to build around them," Rice said.

Henry acknowledged that the report by Dawson Forensic did not assign blame for the scam, something he hoped to rectify with his comments on Monday. Henry was also annoyed that Rice had emailed the county on Dec. 10 requesting the surety bond for his office be reduced from $100,000 to $5,000.

A surety bond is a contract that ensures the government that an agency can perform its duties.

"He doesn't want taxpayers to have any recourse if he makes another mistake in the future," Henry said. "I find that extremely unacceptable and a slight to the taxpayers in this county who are forced to pay their taxes every year."

In a related matter, the county commissioners voted unanimously Monday to raise the surety bonds held by the county treasurer to the maximum amount, $500,000. Certain public officials in Texas are required to procure bonds before taking office. The premiums of the bonds are paid for by the county. The county had intended to pursue claims against the surety bonds held by the county auditor and purchasing agent as well, but only had the authority to do so for the county treasurer.

Henry said after the commissioners' court meeting that he hoped to establish a committee to offer recommendations to the county on how to further guard against a future cyber attack, evidently finding the changes Rice has implemented in the county auditor's office insufficient.

"We can't get to that level of detail," Henry said. "That's why, I told commissioners' court, if the auditor's going to acknowledge that he can't do his job, maybe we should hire another auditor to audit the auditor."

Nick Powell covers Galveston County for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter and send him tips at nick.powell@chron.comWASHINGTON - Former FBI director James Comey on Monday accused President Donald Trump of trying "to burn down the entire FBI" and charged that congressional Republicans were willing accomplices for failing to challenge him.

"The FBI's reputation has taken a big hit because the president with his acolytes has lied about it constantly," Comey told reporters, following his second closed-door interview this month with House lawmakers running a politically divisive investigation into how federal law enforcement officials handled probes of the Trump campaign's alleged Russia ties and Hillary Clinton's emails.

But Comey directed his vitriol not just at the GOP members of the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees, but at all Republicans - including retiring GOP lawmakers, such as Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who have openly criticized Trump but aren't seeking re-election.

"At some point someone as to stand up and face the fear of Fox News, fear of their base, fear of mean tweets, stand up for the values of this country and not slink away into retirement but stand up and speak the truth," Comey said, without naming names.

Comey testified for nearly six hours Monday, in addition to the six-hour closed-door discussion he had with panel members earlier this month.

During that session, he defended his decisions as FBI director - such as superseding then-Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch to declare the Clinton probe closed and then informing congressional leaders days before the 2016 election that it had been reopened.

Comey reiterated that defense even more strongly Monday, flatly refusing to take any personal responsibility for the reputation of the FBI having suffered under his stewardship. He instead blamed Trump for "lying about the FBI, attacking the FBI and attacking the rule of law in this country," and the "silence from people in this building" - meaning Capitol Hill - for allowing him to do it.

"Republicans used to understand that the actions of a president matter, the words of a president matter, the rule of law matter and the truth matters," he said. "Where are those Republicans today?"

Republicans on the panel have been in open conflict with Comey about whether he was appropriately forthcoming with his answers, and whether his testimony contradicted former statements he has made.

According to a transcript of the first round of proceedings, Comey declined to answer several questions pertaining to the FBI's probe of Trump, arguing that the details he was being asked to provide were too closely tied to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of the Trump campaign's suspected ties to Russia.

Comey also declined to say whether Trump, in firing him last year, had attempted to obstruct justice, although an FBI lawyer present at the interview appeared to confirm that the special counsel was looking into such matters.

Republican lawmakers asked Comey about former national security adviser Michael Flynn's FBI interview, suggesting his rights were violated because he was rushed into doing it without access to White House counsel. They were making those arguments as charges against Flynn's former business associates were being unveiled as part of a federal probe into secret lobbying by Turkey to pressure the United States to extradite a Turkish cleric.

Comey would not say what he knew of the FBI's investigation into Flynn's associates, but he defended the interrogation of Flynn as "extremely consistent" with bureau guidelines.

He also told reporters that he only informed then-acting Attorney General Sally Yates of Flynn's interview on the day it would be conducted because he feared "that if anything came of the interview, if it advanced our investigation, the attacks from the Trump administration would be that an Obama holdover had interfered in it."

Republicans emerged from both sessions frustrated by Comey's inability or refusal to answer certain questions."

Consistently, the FBI has had legal counsel there to try to discourage the answering of certain questions that might be good for the American people to know," Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said outside the meeting room.

Meadows said Monday that there were inconsistencies between Comey's testimony behind closed doors and his previous public statements. Democrats emerging from the session, and Comey himself, disputed this assessment. A transcript of the first session suggested that Comey's first closed-door testimony mirrored much of what he has said in public settings.

In between the two interviews with House panels,Comey said at an event in New York that if Trump were not president, he would be "in serious jeopardy of being charged" by New York prosecutors in a case concerning payments made to silence women who alleged affairs with him years ago.

Trump's longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for those and other matters that U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III called a "veritable smorgasbord of criminal conduct."

Comey is one of the last people the joint House panel is expected to question in the probe, which is expected to end - or drastically change in character - once Democrats take over the House majority next year. Democrats have accused the GOP of using the investigation to try to discredit the FBI and Justice Department, as a means of undermining Mueller's probe.

"They seem to be wanting to play defense counsel for the president," said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., who is currently ranking member of the Oversight committee and is expected to serve as its chairman next year.

On Monday, Oversight committee member Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr., D-Mo., said the interview was "the last gasp of the Republican majority in this House, to paint this narrative to protect the Trump administration and the Trump campaign."

"And they really don't have a leg to stand on," Clay added.

The joint panel is also expected to interview Lynch behind closed doors on Wednesday. No other interviews have been announced.

---

Video Embed Code

Video: Former FBI director James Comey on Dec. 17 called on Republicans to stand up for the values that 'this country was built upon.'(The Washington Post)

Embed code:They weren't exactly small time. But they also were not considered the worst of the worst.

Broken relationships with the Juarez drug cartel, large-scale police investigations and infighting kept El Paso-based gang Barrio Azteca labeled as a "Tier 2" threat in Texas for a few years with the Bloods and the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.

TOP GANGS: 14 top gangs operating in Houston and throughout southeast Texas

However, in the most recent threat assessment released by the Texas Department of Public Safety, the gang made a resurgence as one of the top four gang threats in the state, edging out the Latin Kings.

Its new Tier 1 classification is a result of territory expansion, its propensity for violence, evolving relationships with cartels and gangs, drug and weapons smuggling, exploitation of the border and increased police reporting, according to the assessment. Human smuggling also played a role.

"Barrio Azteca maintains a significant presence on both sides of the border as members continue their transnational criminal activities around the El Paso and Juarez corridor, including working with both the Sinaloa Cartel and Juarez Cartel," according to the assessment.

RELATED: Mother warned police about gang threats to Lamar HS student De'Lindsey Mack in 2016

The gang, which has up to 2,500 members, managed to regain a strong influence in Ciudad Juarez and El Paso despite its fluctuating power. They have a documented presence in Midland County, and they are one of the five gangs with the most arrests for violent crimes in West Texas, according to the assessment.

Law enforcement has tracked a small presence of the gang moving east. They reportedly have a presence in Harris, Montgomery, Galveston, Fort Bend counties. Click through the slideshow above to see more facts about Barrio Azteca.

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text messageThree men were shot in southwest Houston on Monday night, police said.

The shooting happened around 9:45 p.m. in the 5900 block of Melanite, not far from Beltway 8 and West Fuqua.

Two gunmen fired several rounds, striking the three men as they stood outside near a garage, said HPD Officer C. Bowling.

One of the men was shot in his torso and is in critical but stable condition, Bowling said. The other two were injured less seriously and are stable. The victims are 27, 34 and 40, police said.

Its unclear what caused the shooting.A state district judge on Tuesday dissolved a temporary restraining order blocking implementation of the voter-approved charter amendment granting pay parity to Houston firefighters and denied further attempts by the city and police union to delay the measure.

State District Judge Randy Wilson, ruling in favor of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association, decided that voters were informed of the amendments price tag  more than $100 million a year  before the election and approved it anyway. The measure, appearing on the November ballot as Proposition B, passed with 59 percent of the vote.

While this Court is sensitive to the budget difficulties the Pay-Parity Amendment will produce, the Houston voters decided they would rather have pay parity, Wilson wrote.

Tuesdays ruling throws out a temporary restraining order granted Nov. 30, by state District Judge Kristen Hawkins at the request of the Houston Police Officers Union, which further sought an injunction on the amendment.

The City of Houston, meanwhile, attempted to put the amendment on hold by applying for a stay. Wilson denied the city and police unions applications Tuesday while lifting Hawkins order.

The police union does not plan to appeal the ruling, president Joe Gamaldi said Tuesday.

A spokesman for Mayor Sylvester Turner said he did not know if the city would appeal the ruling, but the mayor said in a statement that the city will start the process of implementing the amendment, pending a final determination on the matter in the courts.

The implementation of Prop B will not happen overnight, but the process does start now, Turner said. I ask Houstonians to bear with us as we work through this process while the legal matters are still being resolved.

Wilsons ruling, fire union president Marty Lancton said, confirms what we have said all along: Proposition B is constitutional.

The mayor, as we see it, has two sensible options moving forward, Lancton told reporters. Implement Prop B, or pick up the phone and call firefighters so we can work toward a solution that implements the will of the voters in the best possible way.

In a statement Tuesday, the police union echoed warnings by Turner that the charter amendment would force hundreds of layoffs if the city is required to implement it.

While the HPOU feels for the fire employees who may be laid off and the reduction of service to the public, we have done everything in our power to stop the catastrophic effects of Prop B, the unions statement reads. Fire union leaders have said the Mayor is only bluffing and layoffs are a scare tactic. We shall see.

Asked what he would tell union members if the city lays off hundreds of firefighters, Lancton cast blame on Turners administration for being vindictive and retaliatory, saying city council and the mayor will be held accountable for whatever actions they take.

We remain committed to sitting here and talking with anybody, any time, any place, Lancton said, repeating his calls for Turner to return to the bargaining table, where Lancton hopes the two sides can work out a contract that would phase in pay parity, instead of requiring it be implemented in full.

Turner previously has declined the offer, saying any salary negotiations requested by the union were an attempt to confuse the issue before a court can decide whether collective bargaining can supersede the voter-approved amendment. The mayor said Tuesday that less senior firefighters would be laid off to fund the salaries of longer-tenured members of the department.

The latest ruling comes more than two weeks after the HPOU sued the fire union and city over the parity measure, contending the amendment, which would tie firefighter pay to that of police of corresponding rank and experience, is unconstitutional because it conflicts with a provision of state law requiring firefighters to receive comparable pay to that of private sector employees.

Wilson, ruling that the amendment does not conflict with state law, indicated the city had contradicted its argument in a separate case by claiming that no private sector jobs are comparable to those of firefighters.

The lawsuit has been underway since Nov. 30, when the police union filed the suit against the fire union and the city, and Hawkins granted a temporary restraining order.

The city later filed a cross-claim against the fire union, a remedy available to defendants seeking to take legal action against a co-defendant. In its claim, the city argued that the charter amendment directly conflicts with the collective bargaining process and guidelines for firefighter compensation laid out in the Texas Local Government Code, and therefore is invalid. Ultimately, the police union and city sought an injuction and stay on the parity amendment.

As the lawsuit has played out, the separate case referenced by Wilson  filed by the fire union against the city after contract talks stalled last year  has reached Texas 14th Court of Appeals. Houston City Council is set to vote Wednesday whether to approve an additional $185,500 to cover the citys legal expenses.

Staff writer St. John Barned-Smith contributed to this story.

jasper.scherer@chron.com

twitter.com/jaspschererThe Katy ISD board of trustees voted 4-3 Monday night to name Acting Superintendent Ken Gregorski their sole finalist to replace the outgoing and embattled Lance Hindt.

The majority, which included board president Courtney Doyle, decided on an in-house choice for the next leader of the 80,000 student district. However, three of the trustees - including Rebecca Fox, the longest-serving board member voted against Gregorski at the Monday night board meeting.

Fox, along with trustees Dawn Champagne and Susan Gessoff, had wanted to hire a firm to conduct a national search for a new superintendent.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Houston leaders dismayed by HISD board vote, foresee state takeover

This vote is not about Mr. Gregorski. My vote will be about the process, Fox said.

The meeting was occasionally acrimonious with trustee George Scott - a firm Gregorski advocate - accusing Fox and Champagne of being agents of anarchy and chaos after they earlier made social media comments about their concerns over the issue.

They have proven themselves to be non credible, Scott said.

After the vote, Doyle acknowledged some board members were not satisfied with the hiring process.

Thats okay. Were all entitled to our opinion, Doyle said. As you saw tonight, the majority of the board felt differently.

Gregorski has been with the district for two years as a senior KISD official and previously had been a teacher in the district. His advocates on the board worried that a pause to conduct a national search for superintendent would halt the districts forward momentum.

I have personally observed his extraordinary leadership for over two years, Scott said. Katy ISD has the people in place right now who understand the complexities of the challenges.

A new superintendent was required after Hindt resigned following allegations he had abused a Katy man decades ago while they were both junior high students. Hindt has denied the charge.

In addition to the abuse allegations, Hindt has been accused of plagiarizing work from another post graduate student while he was working on a doctoral degree from the University of Houston

Hindt earlier announced he was resigning because of what he characterized as attacks against his family after the first claims were made against him. He will receive about $700,000 in "separation pay" when he formally steps down after the end of the year.

Gregorski has been an educator for more than 25 years, from teacher to principal to assistant superintendent before taking the number two job at Katy ISD. He has two children who are Katy students.

"It is expected that Gregorski will maintain Katy ISD's educational excellence and sustain its continuity of leadership while also helping the district reach the goal of its five year strategic plan," the district said in a statement.

James Strickland, who has two children in Katy ISD, said he was supportive of Gregorski landing the top job.

"But, I definitely think the board needs to come together and iron out their differences," Strickland added.

mike.glenn@chron.com

@mrglennOn October 24-26, a U.S. State Department delegation headed by National Security Adviser Ambassador John Bolton visited the South Caucasian republics after talks in Moscow. The delegations visit to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia was immediately dubbed a reinvigoration of U.S. policy towards the Caucasus and a pragmatic reengagement with the conflicted region. Bolton appeared to refine the evolving U.S. priorities with each country, categorizing them in accordance with political capabilities, shared interests and the roles that Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia respectively seek in relations with the West. The visit, however, caused an angry reaction from Moscow, especially given the issues Bolton raised in Yerevan.

BACKGROUND: Reaching Baku on October 24, the delegation stressed Azerbaijans conspicuous role in diversifying Europes energy supplies. This gesture clearly indicated that the Southern Gas Corridor will receive a full waiver from U.S. sanctions against Iranian energy supplies, even though an Iranian oil company owns 10 percent of the shares in the Shah Deniz consortium. Highlighting the critical role of the U.S. in the OSCE Minsk Group and negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Bolton noted that it is of mutual interest to find a speedy resolution to this conflict, which prevents the Caucasus from fulfilling its strategic potential.

Commending Azerbaijans importance to the U.S. in terms of providing logistics to Afghanistan as part of the Northern Distribution Network, Bolton signaled a prospective role for Azerbaijan in the evolving U.S. sanctions policy towards Iran. U.S.-Azerbaijan bilateral relations have intensified over the last two years, aiming to establish a strategic partnership. This implies that the U.S. Administration seeks to enlist Azerbaijani support against Iran, opening for security-related support to Baku in return. Azerbaijani interlocutors reportedly raised Section 907 of the U.S. Freedom Support Act, which the U.S. Congress applied to Azerbaijan in 1992, a formal restriction banning direct military aid to the country. Bolton referred to this issue later while visiting Yerevan, although in the context of potential U.S. defense-related assistance to Armenia.

U.S.-Azerbaijan negotiations focused on the spectrum of risks stemming from Iran, such as Islamic radicalism and the occasional unrest in Ganja. For Baku, the tense situation in Ganja constitutes an argument for requesting U.S. assistance in the form of intelligence and data-sharing arrangement in order to enhance Azerbaijans internal security.

The next day, the delegation visited Yerevan for meetings with the interim Armenian government formed in the aftermath of the Velvet Revolution. The agenda included the U.S.-imposed sanctions against Iran and their prospective impact on Armenia, as well as the influence of Russia and Iran in the country. The Armenian side made clear that it is in no position to revise its close ties with Iran or to irritate Russia by pursuing alternative directions in its foreign policy, especially without proper alternative options.

Some of Boltons remarks in Yerevan triggered an immediate and angry reaction from Moscow. In particular, Bolton argued that it is fundamental to Armenia to exercise its full sovereignty and not being dependent on or subject to excessive foreign influence. It is not to be constrained by historical patterns. Referring to the narrative of Russias indispensability to Armenias security, Bolton argued that there is a lot of alternatives for Armenia to diversify its security policy in order not to depend entirely on Moscow. Moscow interpreted the statement as a signal to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to modify Armenias traditional foreign-political alignment into a more proactively balanced diplomacy. In order to increase Armenias options, Bolton asserted that he had discussed the question of arms sales with Pashinyan, hinting that U.S. equipment is better than the Russians. This indicates that U.S. interest in Armenia has less to do with Iran than diminishing Russias overwhelming influence in the country. In return, Russias Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on October 29, accusing Bolton of interfering in Armenias affairs, attempting to drive wedge between the cordial allies.

IMPLICATIONS: After ascending to power amid the crisis in Ukraine, the Trump administration has identified a need to reinforce its standing in the contested Caucasus to counter challenges from Russia and Iran. The administration firstly reassured its traditional regional ally Georgia of its backing, underlined by Vice President Mike Pences visit to Tbilisi in August 2017 and the introduction of the Georgia Support Act to Congress in June 2018. U.S. support further included Georgias procurement of sophisticated Javelin anti-tank hardware, aiming to improve the countrys defensive capabilities  something almost inconceivable during Barack Obamas Presidency. Moreover, according to Georgian Defense Minister Levan Izoria, the country is consulting with U.S. partners to obtain more U.S.-produced defensive equipment in 2019. In this light, Boltons three-country tour to the region is a significant political signal of proactive U.S. involvement in the Caucasus, with a distinctively new image and strategic behavior prioritizing political pragmatism over the normative approach related to the declining influence of the previous Administration.

Squeezed between Russia and Iran, the Caucasus is a vital region for European energy security and an important logistics hub for U.S. access to Central Asia and Afghanistan. In Washingtons evolving grand strategy, the independent states of the Caucasus can potentially fulfill the function of Threefold Containment simultaneously towards a revisionist Russia, a destructive Iran and an increasingly unreliable Turkey. Thus, the Bolton-led delegations visit to the region signified the Trump Administrations increasing attention to regional dynamics and its intention to further cultivate security-related strategic ties in the context of an increasingly competitive world order.

As was anticipated, the U.S. side expressed its disagreement with Armenias bid to deploy a military-humanitarian mission to Syria under Russias auspices, an initiative aiming to appease Russia after its increasingly critical stance against Pashinyans post-revolutionary regime. Moreover, it is hardly imaginable that Armenia, having proclaimed itself a true Western-style democracy after the power shift, could retain the uni-vectoral foreign policy of its authoritarian predecessors, aligning with the belligerent policies of autocratic regimes such as Russia and Iran.

Iranian influence in Armenia receives little attention from the countrys public and authorities. However, it certainly exists, not least in the form of a tendency towards religious conversion. A case in point is the murder of a Russian soldier of the 102nd Military Base in April 2017 by an Armenian national who converted to Islam and later radicalized. Bolton acknowledged that Armenia faces two security issues  the unbalanced dependence on Russia as well as the disparity in military power with Azerbaijan  and his statements indicated that the issue of Iran, albeit important, was not the main topic of his discussions in Yerevan. Armenias dependence on Russia is considerable and systemic, to the extent that even its state borders are under the control of Russian FSB-affiliated border guards. Russias reaction to U.S. overtures toward Armenia is therefore unsurprising.

Russias policy vis-a-vis Armenia stands out in comparison with virtually all other CIS members. It views Armenia as a critical pivot in its pursuit of regional hegemony and an integral part of its Caucasian security architecture. Without its footprint in Armenia, Russia would cease to be a dominant power in the Caucasus and its ability to project power in the Black Sea region would face additional constraints if Yerevan would opt a more balanced foreign policy. Therefore, Moscow views the arms race between Armenia and Azerbaijan as a tool for consolidating its dominance over them, and Boltons remarks posed a challenge to its utilization of this tool.

CONCLUSIONS: Amid the growing pressure on Iran and the standoff between Russia and the West, the Caucasus is regaining its strategic importance to the United States. Bolton virtually categorized the South Caucasian states in accordance with the U.S. strategic approach, acknowledging that Georgia is of great strategic importance; Azerbaijan of strategic importance and Armenia among the U.S. top priorities. While the tensions between the U.S. and Turkey have boosted Georgias strategic value, this has also paved the way for a more active role of Azerbaijani diplomacy in mediating between Washington and Ankara.

The Trump Administration could fruitfully initiate a new cooperative framework in the form of a U.S. + Caucasus platform, in order to jointly address common security challenges such as cyber and hybrid threats. Also, Bolton challenged Russia by questioning its privileged position as an arms supplier to both Azerbaijan and Armenia. Yet, the solution to this problem is hardly to substitute Russian arms with U.S. sales, but rather to impose an arms embargo on both sides. For this purpose, imposing the 1992 OSCE arms embargo on Nagorno-Karabakh as mandatory to all OSCE members would not only serve as stabilizing factor but would also limit Moscow ability to manipulate the conflicting sides.

AUTHORS BIO:

Eduard Abrahamyan is a regional security analyst with emphasis on the Black Sea, Caucasus and Central Asia. He is a CACI 2017 Rumsfeld Fellow and a PhD Candidate at University of Leicester, UK.A fake news article circulating on the internet claims that a Houston area woman killed her husband in a fit of rage by forcibly pouring hydrochloric acid into his body, a gruesome act of mariticide fit for a true-crime documentary.

The made-up story, published on Dec. 13, cites an unnamed source that the author claims to be within the Baytown Police Department.

It even features a real photo of a crime scene in Baytown, complete with a Baytown police patrol vehicle, crime scene tape and TV news trucks.

The only problem is that the murder described in the story never took place, police said.

REAL NEWS: Deputies warn public of armed robberies near Katy Mills Mall

The story appears on a fake news site called NBC News 6, mimicking what a real local TV station's website would look like.

Baytown Police Lt. Steve Dorris said the contents of the article are completely fabricated in an attempt to gather clicks.

The only scrap of truth on the story is the photo, which shows the outside of a real Baytown crime scene in 2016 where a woman was found stabbed to death. The photo was stolen from NBC's real Houston affiliate, KPRC-TV.

The author  whose name appears as James Bleich  has a history of writing false, salacious articles under that byline that readers believe are real, according to Snopes.com.

Dorris said if any crime were to actually take place in Baytown, the city will inform local news organizations and on its official website.

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text messageHung Les face lit up when his 7-year-old daughter came home from school Friday.

She took off her shoes with a wide grin on her face and skipped over to her father, who was sitting in the kitchen of her aunts Spring home. He gave her a side hug, the arm of his wheelchair creating a barrier between the two.

Theres no living if I go back to Vietnam, only death, Le said after she left the room.

He was referring to his fate if the Trump administrations latest immigration policy proposal goes into effect.

The U.S. and Vietnamese governments met last Monday to discuss dissolving a 2008 repatriation agreement, according to immigration advocacy groups and multiple media outlets. The memorandum of understanding between the countries barred the deportation of Vietnamese immigrants with final removal orders who arrived in the United States prior to July 12, 1995  the date Vietnam and the United States re-established diplomatic relations.

If Vietnam caves to pressure from the U.S. to back out of the agreement set to renew in January, an estimated 9,000 Vietnamese immigrants nationwide  and roughly 1,500 in Texas  would be subject to deportation at the start of the new year. With a criminal record from the late 1990s, Le could be one of them.

The move, immigration advocates and lawyers say, would be a devastating and unfair blow to a vulnerable population. Many came to the United States to flee the Vietnam War only to be placed in struggling neighborhoods with little or no resources. As a result, some may have looked to gangs for support they couldnt find in their homes, schools and communities.

The original agreement for us has been tremendously important in providing humanitarian relief and protection for Vietnamese-Americans who came over as refugees and unfortunately committed crimes they have served through sentences, many of them a decade old, said Quyen Dinh, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Southeast Asian Resource Action Center.

Dinh added that the government considers a criminal act by a noncitizen problematic in and of itself, thanks to major immigration law reforms passed in 1996. Those reforms expanded the definition of what is considered a felony by so many criteria, that even small crimes that are misdemeanors can be classified as aggravated felonies, Dinh said.

Those who entered the country illegally prior to 1995, or who overstayed temporary visas would also potentially be affected by the policy change, said Khanh Pham, attorney for the refugee and asylum advocacy group Boat People SOS.

Policy shifts

The Trump administration started shifting gears on the 2008 agreement in the spring of 2017, stating that it does not protect Vietnamese immigrants convicted of criminal offenses from deportation. Vietnamese immigrants with final deportation orders started getting detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement when they stopped by for their routine check-ins with the agency, and Vietnam accepted only about a dozen repatriates before hardening its stance again, Pham and Dinh said.

With nowhere to send the rest of the newly-detained immigrants, the administration was then sued by civil rights groups who claimed it was violating the ruling in Zadvydas v. Davis, a 2001 Supreme Court decision that deemed it illegal to hold immigrants in detention indefinitely.

However, the resource action committee released a report on Dec. 8 that the two governments were meeting to reconsider renewing the repatriation agreement. The Atlantic reported last week that a State Department spokesperson confirmed that officials with the Department of Homeland Security met with representatives of the Vietnamese embassy in Washington, D.C., but declined to provide details of when the talks took place or what was discussed.

Neither Homeland Security nor the Vietnamese embassy in Washington responded to requests for comment from the Houston Chronicle.

Experts say this is the Trump administrations latest move showing its hardened stance on immigration. Between 1998 and 2016, Vietnam accepted about 30 deported repatriates each year, Dinh said. That number more than doubled to 71 people in 2017.

Its very disturbing to me, targeting our community, because Vietnamese Americans have contributed significantly to the vibrant, diverse and strong communities here in Houston and in the U.S. with so many achievements and contributions, said community organizer Anhlanh Nguyen. America is a great place for the melting pot  I feel like were going backward.

Preparing for the worst

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner released a statement Monday in opposition to the potential policy change, saying that Houstons 91,000 Vietnamese immigrants have enriched the economic, cultural, religious and intellectual fabric of our city.

Potentially deporting thousands of these refugees strikes at the heart of Houston and the soul of America, Turner continued. To say to them now that they must return to a place where they suffered many years ago, and where they no longer have a home, is wrong.

Dinh said people have been coming to the resource center in a panic, unsure if they would be affected by the policy change and separated from their families.

We dont know if the agreement has been changed at all, but were preparing families for the worst-case scenario, she said.

The organization has been recommending people find immigration attorneys to reopen and examine their cases, and to seek pardons from state governors for past convictions.

For Le, being deported would separate him from his daughter, who he still calls his baby  a heartbreaking possibility for the single dad.

It would also mean risking his life, Le said. Two years ago, he was paralyzed from the chest down during a car accident. Le says that going back to Vietnam would mean death.

In my condition, theres no living if Im to go back, he said. I have to take medication for the rest of my life, have to use equipment to go pee, I cant live normally. Maximum for me  four months.

Staff writer Nguyen Le contributed to this report.

massarah.mikati@chron.com

twitter.com/massarahmikatiTexas led the nation in children without health insurance as the number without coverage jumped last year, according to a new national health care report.

An estimated 835,000 Texas children went without health insurance in 2017, an increase of about 80,000, or more than 10 percent, from 2016, according to the report by Georgetown Universitys Center for Children and Families. To put those numbers into perspective, one in five of the nations uninsured children lived in Texas.

Texas was already doing a bad job of making sure kids had health coverage and now Texas is doing even worse, said Adriana Kohler, senior health policy associate at Texans Care for Children, an Austin-based childrens advocacy group.

For Kyla McKay, the struggle to hold onto health coverage feels overwhelming as she cares for her three children, two with serious medical conditions. Chaos and exhaustion are a given as the 35-year-old stay-at-home mon spins through her days. But the threat of losing her childrens health insurance is what nearly brings her to her knees.

For the past dozen years, her family has careened between being insured, being uninsured and then back again, stitching together a patchwork of coverage programs.

Were safe right now, said McKay, of Pasadena. But it feels like storm clouds are gathering.

RELATED: Texas says not so fast to big health care changes

McKays fear is not without warrant. After years of declines, the number of uninsured children rose across the nation last year, up by more than 250,000, even as the national economy strengthened and unemployment fell.

Advocates say the rise in uninsured children is happening as existing assistance programs are threatened or hobbled as administrations in Washington and Austin continue to chip away at existing programs through budget cuts and delays as well as attempts to dismantle protections in the Affordable Care Act. At the same time, enrollment in government programs is dropping within immigrant communities as parents avoid enrolling children out of fear that under new Trump administration policies their citizenship status could be jeopardized for taking public assistance.

At one Houston assistance center, for instance, applications for government-funded health care programs for children are down 23 percent from year ago. Renewals for Childrens Medicaid, the federal health insurance for the poor, are down 28 percent.

I have been writing this report for 8 years and this is the first year that progress has not only come to a halt but now were going backwards. This is a very big red flag for me, said Joan Alker, executive director of the Georgetown center and co-author of the report.

She worries that the uptick in uninsured numbers will continue and the stakes are high. Its very hard for uninsured children to succeed.

A lack of well-baby exams, routine childhood check-ups and access to care and medication when needed has been linked to better school success as well as a better chance at long-term health and economic success into adulthood, advocates say.

RELATED: More scrutiny of legal immigrants using public assistance brings widespread fear

This is a disturbing report for anyone who wants Texas kids to get the eyeglasses they need to read the chalkboard at school, mental health treatment they need to be healthy, early treatment to stop cancer before it spreads, and everything else that health insurance can mean for a child, said Kohler, Texas leaders need to make a commitment to reducing the states sky-high uninsured rate for kids and adults.

Carrie Williams, press officer for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, said in an email that the 10.7 percent child uninsured rate in 2017 was a significant improvement over 2008 when the Texas rate was just over 18 percent. She credited the improvement to a strengthening economy.

Gov. Greg Abbotts office did not respond to a request for comment.

McKay, the Pasadena mother, said that years ago, as a young couple with two babies, they had skipped health insurance for their family, taking their chances, feeling invincible. Or maybe just lucky. Her husband could get insurance through his work, but the monthly premium deducted from his paycheck devastated their already tight budget. It was more expensive than their mortgage payment. Instead they bought a cut-rate plan only good for occasional doctor visits..

In 2006, about a year after their second child, Katie, was born, McKay noticed her daughter wasnt hitting the baby milestones such as trying to crawl. One day in day care Katie began screaming in pain, unable to open her eyes or hold up head. McKay was terrified and rushed her child to the pediatrician who brushed it off and sent them home. They went shopping for another doctor.

But they were warned by the doctors they met they better get coverage because there would be a lot of medical bills coming. Katie underwent tests and saw specialists for years in search of a diagnosis.

At first they bought private insurance just for her. That plan went out of business. Then they tried another insurer, which rejected Katie for having a pre-existing condition. Next they tried Texas high risk pool program, designed for those with chronic health problems.

The couple was turned down because McKays husband could get insurance through his work, even though they explained they could not afford it. Finally they landed in the Childrens Health Insurance Program. McKays husband had to take a pay cut to qualify.

Today, Katie is eligible for Medicaid because she is considered medically fragile. She is believed to have mitochondrial disease, a rare condition where parts of her cells fail to furnish enough energy for organ function. Her little sister, Josie, now three, was born with a heart defect and had open heart surgery at 6-months-old. She also has severe food allergies. Josie is now covered by CHIP, as is big brother, Nathan, 16.

McKay and her husband skipped coverage for years so their children could be insured. This year they they signed up for a plan for the first time through the Affordable Care Act.

She worries though that it will not last. In past years Texas lawmakers have proposed deep cuts to Medicaid for disabled children. Congress has also talked about slashing programs. This past year has been really frightening, she said, Even when we have insurance it feels precarious

jenny.deam@chron.com

twitter.com/jenny_deam

.WASHINGTON  Legal appeals of a Texas judges ruling invalidating the Affordable Care Act will push health care to the forefront of the 2020 election, sharpening a debate that helped Democrats win congressional seats in Texas and across the country in November.

Although President Donald Trump declared victory after Fridays court decision, Democrats see a wider opening for an attack that put Republicans on the defensive in the 2018 midterm elections, contributing to the loss of 40 seats in the U.S. House and handing Democrats control of the chamber.

Exhibit A might be Houston Republican John Culberson, a nine-term incumbent who was defeated in November. During the campaign, his Democratic challenger, Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, attacked Culberson for his many votes to repeal the Obama-era health care law, which includes protections for people with pre-existing medical problems such as asthma, diabetes and cancer.

Culberson argued for GOP replacement legislation that Republicans maintained could safeguard people with pre-existing conditions in other ways. But Culberson, like many other Republicans, struggled to reconcile their partys stated support for the patient protections of the Affordable Care Act with the Trump-backed challenge to the entire law.

While Democrats pressed the point in ads and debates, Culberson steadfastly refused to take a public position on the lawsuit against Obamacare led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Culbersons campaign would say simply that the congressman supported current protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions. But Culberson did not clarify for voters what current protections he meant. Then, as now, the only protections available are those of the Affordable Care Act.

On Friday, a federal judge in Fort Worth ruled in favor of Paxton and other Republican attorneys general, striking down the health care law.

Related: Democrats' closing argument against John Culberson: pre-existing conditions

With the Supreme Court likely to hear the case in 2019 - or in the middle of the 2020 election year - the stakes in the health care debate have risen dramatically.

Obamacare, especially the preexisting coverage element, is rapidly becoming the third rail in American politics, said University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus. If Republicans back removing coverage, they are serious electoral targets in an environment that favors keeping key Obamacare provisions.

Republicans have long promised their own plan, but never passed one during the four years they controlled both chambers of Congress. Now, with the GOP having lost the House, any Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act would need buy-in from Democrats.

Promised appeals will place the law before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, one of the most conservative in the nation. Trump recently appointed five right-leaning jurists to the Fifth Circuit, three of them from Texas: Andy Oldham, former general counsel to Gov. Greg Abbott; former Texas Solicitor General James Ho; and former State Supreme Court Justice Don Willett.

Abbott pledged Monday that Texas would work to lower healthcare costs and continue coverage for pre-existing conditions as the lawsuit moves on. But he offered few details.

If Obamacare remains struck down on appeal, Texas will be ready with replacement health care insurance that includes coverage for preexisting conditions, Abbott said on Twitter. We will also work with Congress to ensure Texans have access to the healthcare insurance they need.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank in Austin, called on state lawmakers to come up with fixes now.

Its time to get started now, not to wait for the ultimate outcome of this case, said general counsel Robert Henneke. Texas is going into a legislative session here. It should be a priority issue.

Until 2014, Texas relied on high-risk pools to insure people with pre-existing conditions, said Stacey Pogue, senior policy analyst at the left-leaning Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin. But at their peak, they covered just 28,000 out of 6 million uninsured residents, she said.

The details matter here, she said. We can make good coverage more affordable, or junky short-term plans more affordable.

Texas leads the nation in uninsured residents and in the number of uninsured youth, about 835,000 of whom who went without health care coverage in 2017, according to a recent study.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas leads nation in uninsured kids as gains slip away

While Republicans search for policy alternatives, Democratic leaders in Congress have vowed to intervene in the Paxton lawsuit and shore up protections for pre-existing conditions when they take over the House in January.

New York Democrat Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said he will seek votes in both chambers to defend Obamacare. The aim would be to put heat on potentially vulnerable Republicans in Congress, though it remains uncertain if that would change the political landscape much in Texas.

San Antonio Republican Rep. Will Hurd, who was re-elected by about 1,000 votes last month, has gone his own way on the health care issue. He was one of 20 Republicans who defected from his party last year, voting against a GOP measure to repeal Obamacare.

Other Texas Republicans, however, have vowed to hold the line, saying that Friday nights ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed OConnor presents an opportunity for a fresh start in the effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.

This, of course, is not the last word said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, a Republican from The Woodlands. Should the courts ultimately uphold this decision, both parties should start over, working together to make health care truly affordable, making sure patients can see local doctors and be treated at local hospitals, and ensuring that patient protections like pre-existing conditions, no lifetime limits, and allowing children to stay on their parents plans until age 26 are preserved.

Despite Republican assurances that they want to retain the more popular elements of the Affordable Care Act, Democrats accuse the GOP of seeking little but the destruction of the law.

A coalition of 16 states and the District of Columbia on Monday fired back against Judge Connors ruling, asking for more clarity on whether he expects it to take effect Jan. 1. Their motion warns of irreparable public harm if the Affordable Care Act were to be invalidated before Connors decision is appealed to higher courts.

If not reversed on appeal, we must find a legislative way of preventing this Republican conspiracy from denying Americans health care, said Texas U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee.

Democrats and Republicans bring different political calculations to the debate. Polls show protections for pre-existing conditions are overwhelmingly popular with voters, though conservative voters in Texas still rank immigration as a more pressing issue. Republicans have gotten mileage with their supporters, especially in Texas, by overturning the Affordable Care Acts requirement that everyone carry insurance or pay a tax penalty  the so-called individual mandate.

The mandate was at the heart of OConnors ruling, which held that once the Republican congress did away with the tax penalty for uninsured Americans in 2017, the entire law became invalid.

The Trump administration said the Affordable Care Act would stay in effect pending appeals.

One problem for a Republican replacement plan is that the individual mandate was the central mechanism by which the Affordable Care Act ensured that young, healthy people would buy coverage. Bringing the young and healthy into the insurance pool helped hold down costs for everyone and made it feasible for insurance companies to cover the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions.

Under the failed GOP replacement bill, people who maintained continuous coverage could not be charged higher premiums because of a pre-existing condition. Those with gaps could not be denied coverage, but could face premium hikes of 30 percent for one year.

Staff writer Jenny Deam and data journalist Jordan Rubio contributed to this report. Kevin Diaz reported from Washington; Allie Morris reported from Austin.Nick Wagner, MBO / Associated Press

No matter what one thinks about the legal basis for last Fridays ruling by a federal judge in Texas striking down the Affordable Care Act  and we see it as a reckless decision, likely to be overturned  there is no doubt the law itself has proven powerfully effective. More than 20 million Americans rely on the ACA for health insurance, and with it, more financial security and better medical care.

Its certainly more popular and more durable than what any of the Republicans who opposed its passage in 2010 or who have fought for nearly a decade to destroy it ever imagined. That includes Gov. Greg Abbott, who campaigned against the law, also known as Obamacare, in 2014 and again this year. Now hes promising that if Fridays ruling is upheld, Texas will be ready with a replacement. So determined to do the right thing, our governor is, hes even promising not to wait until a final ruling in the case. He said Texas is talking with the Trump administration about waivers so it can opt out of Obamacare, no matter what the courts decide.As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content.

When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to.

After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS!

OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK

The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those.Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print.

Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition.

If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create.On International Migrants Day, a sea change for Thai fishing?

by Jason Judd

December 17,2018 | Source: The Nation

Tomorrow, December 18, the world observes International Migrants Day. Its a day to recognise the contributions and struggles of those who have left home in search of work that provides fair income and safe working conditions.



Jobs that help put food on the table and protect their families. In short, what the International Labour Organisation calls decent work. International Migrants Day is a day to shed light on the one million or more Thais who work overseas  those fishing in Malaysia, farming in Israel, or building in Qatar for example  but also on the more than three million migrants working in Thailand  in fishing, farming, or construction. Their labour makes a vital contribution to the Thai economy. In fact it is hard to imagine the growth or survival of these industries in Thailand without the labour of migrants.



Lets look at the fishing sector. Nearly 90 per cent of the 60,000 fishers in the Thai commercial fishing industry are migrants from Myanmar and Cambodia. The Thai government followed the ILOs Work in Fishing Convention when setting standards in labour law for work in fishing  one of the worlds most arduous and dangerous occupations.



The convention calls for, among other things, the regular payment of wages, written work agreements, adequate food and water, and safety training for fishers. In Thailand, these basic workplace standards are already required by law in commercial fishing. They are the product of reforms introduced since the global media turned its attention to labour abuses in the Thai fishing industry in 2014.



With its recent decision to ratify the Work in Fishing Convention, and its adoption of the ILOs Forced Labour Protocol in June this year, the Thai government has chosen to lead the region. The November vote by the National Legislative Assembly to ratify the Work in Fishing Convention puts pressure on Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines  with a combined US$12 billion in seafood exports last year  to follow the Thai example.



Thailand also has an opportunity to lead with support at the new Southeast Asia Forum for Fishers, organised by the ILO. The Forum brings together governments, employers, and unions from the regions major seafood producers to reduce and eliminate forced labour in fishing.



Thailands decision to ratify the Work in Fishing Convention also sends an important signal to the governments of Myanmar and Cambodia. These countries are home to tens of thousands of fishers the Thai industry hopes to recruit, and their governments are looking for evidence that Thailands commitment to decent work in fishing will be long lasting.



This commitment means more than rulemaking. Next up is stronger and more consistent enforcement of the rules, which is more likely when migrant workers are able to organise themselves and bargain with their employers. Effective enforcement is good for workers and the Thai industrys reputation around the world, and ultimately for the many vessel owners who follow the rules, by enabling a fair competition with a level playing field. In Thailand this year, International Migrants Day is more than a day for migrants  wherever they are in the world, and wherever they call home. It is a day for all of us to think about how labour and livelihoods connect us all.

Theme(s): Communities and Organisations.Madagascar fishermen feel bullied by 6 Chinese trawlers

December 13,2018 | Source: AFP

The sun glistens on waves lapping against wooden fishing boats as their sails ripple in the breeze coming off the Indian Ocean.



Nearby a young man with a diving mask bobs below the water's surface armed with a stick to lure his catch into a net while also trying to snare fish on a nylon line.



In Anakao, a traditional fishing community in southwest Madagascar, the community known as Vezo  which means "rowing strength"  has fished for generations.



But the arrival last year of 6 fishing trawlers off the coast, and a subsequent deal between a local private body that promotes Madagascan businesses and Chinese investors, have stirred anger in recent months, at a time when the country is going to the polls in presidential elections.



"If this carries on, we'll be eating sand," warned Fulgence, a fisherman in Anakao.



He does not dare venture out when the 6 Chinese vessels are at sea, claiming that a number of his nets have been cut.





BULLIED. In this file photo taken on November 4, 2018 a Malagasy fisherman is seen at work in the waters in front of Anakao, a traditional fishing community in southwest Madagascar. Photo by Marco Longari/AFP

BULLIED. In this file photo taken on November 4, 2018 a Malagasy fisherman is seen at work in the waters in front of Anakao, a traditional fishing community in southwest Madagascar. Photo by Marco Longari/AFP



ANAKAO, Madagascar  The sun glistens on waves lapping against wooden fishing boats as their sails ripple in the breeze coming off the Indian Ocean.



Nearby a young man with a diving mask bobs below the water's surface armed with a stick to lure his catch into a net while also trying to snare fish on a nylon line.



In Anakao, a traditional fishing community in southwest Madagascar, the community known as Vezo  which means "rowing strength"  has fished for generations.



But the arrival last year of 6 fishing trawlers off the coast, and a subsequent deal between a local private body that promotes Madagascan businesses and Chinese investors, have stirred anger in recent months, at a time when the country is going to the polls in presidential elections.



"If this carries on, we'll be eating sand," warned Fulgence, a fisherman in Anakao.



He does not dare venture out when the 6 Chinese vessels are at sea, claiming that a number of his nets have been cut.



'The Chinese take everything'



"The Chinese take everything and chuck the little dead fish back into the sea," complained Marco Randrianjaka, echoing the grievances of many of his fellow seafarers.



"Without the small ones, they won't be able to reproduce down the line."



But China's Mapro South, the company responsible for the 6 new vessels, denies the claims.



Their nets' mesh is large enough to allow the smaller fish to escape, said Lifujun Li, a company manager in Toliara, a port town one hour away from Anakao by boat.



Against the backdrop of an already tense situation both locally and nationally due to the presidential poll, a new fisheries deal with Chinese investors has provoked an outcry on the island where malnutrition is widespread.



The deal, which was not publicized, is understood to go much further than the 6 Chinese-funded trawlers already in operation.



The $2.7-billion agreement includes, among other things, 330 modern, refrigerated vessels of up to 14 meters long (up to 46 feet) being delivered to Madagascan fishermen.

Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods.| BY Ricki Green |

Hamilton Island has launched a major new brand campaign via The General Store, following an investment of over $750million dollars from the Islands owners to develop the destination over the past decade.

The campaign, the first for the iconic destination in six years, takes a focus on the importance of human connection whilst highlighting the ever-growing trend of multi-generational travel.

Since being purchased by the Oatley family in 2003, Hamilton Island has undergone quantum change. The Island has improved luxury offerings, premium facilities and has an array of new natural experiences for guests to enjoy. Through a competitive pitch process, Hamilton Island wanted to engage a creative team that could not only show the upgraded offerings on the Island, but also show the importance of emotional connection while on holidays.

Underpinning the campaign was a brand strategy process undertaken by The General Store. The extensive strategic review included market research to identify key brand perceptions, resulting in the creation of the new strapline Remember Why.

Says Matt Newell, executive strategy director, The General Store: The vast majority of respondents revealed they had visited Hamilton Island before and many revealed their holidays had taken place as long as 10-20 years ago. Importantly, they held fond memories of their holiday around family connection. The communication challenge identified was that there was a perception amongst respondents that the destination had not changed since their last visit.

Our research revealed that holidaymakers want to disconnect from technology and reconnect with others, themselves and the environment. Remember Why is a two-fold call to action that speaks to those who have previously visited Hamilton Island and prompts them to retrieve some of those good memories and act on them again  and it asks all consumers to remember the importance of taking the time out of their busy lives to have a traditional holiday to reconnect.

Another key insight from the research was that respondents were enticed by the breadth and depth of what Hamilton Island offers  it caters to all ages, mindsets and incomes. This makes it an easy holiday choice for those looking to travel as a group, substantiating why the island is experiencing growth in the multigenerational travel category.

This insight led the creative team from The Aesthetic to turn the focus inward  on capturing the important emotional connections that people experience when they find the time and space to be in the present and in harmony, with destination backdrop as the secondary focus. To do this, Director Nick Leary chose to use real multigenerational families enjoying Hamilton Island without a script over a 10-day shoot period.

Nicky Oatley, Hamilton Islands brand manager, said that engaging The Aesthetic was about finding an agency who could reflect Hamilton Islands unique offering in a premium and down to earth way

Says Oatley: Our key objective was to show people that Hamilton Island has changed, it is now a world-class destination that Australia is proud of. Under Nick Leary and Jay Lyons guidance, we opted to go for closer, tighter shots with virtually no destination backdrop. This was very deliberate, as we were trying to show genuine connection with ones self, family, loved ones and nature not just inspiring destination centric images. We had to work with no script, as Nick wanted to follow real families enjoying the Island. It was a huge leap of faith, but I trusted him implicitly.

Director Nick Leary believed there was real value in Hamilton Islands legacy with holidaymakers and the fact that so many people had fond memories  and hence wanted to give a visual nod to the old-school memories through cinematic techniques as well as the use of two old-fashioned props  a pet rock and a hand-made toy sailing boat.

Says Leary: My father always told me that life is about the little things, and its something Ive held onto personally and in my work. These little props that feature throughout, are a reminder that the joy of reconnection can result from just going back to basics and enjoying simple little things together.Israeli naval forces wound fisherman, arrest 4 others and detain fishing boats

December 17,2018 | Source: PNN

On Saturday, 15 December 2018, Israeli gunboats opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats, wounded a fisherman and arrested him. Moreover, Israeli naval forces chased Palestinian fishing boats, arrested 4 fishermen and detained 2 fishing boats as part of the ongoing Israeli attacks against Palestinian fishermen and preventing them from freely sailing and accessing the fishing breeding areas.



According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 10:00 on Saturday, 15 December 2018, Israeli gunboats chased a Palestinian fishing boat, which was sailing within 9 nautical miles in Gaza Valley area, and opened fire at it. As a result, a fisherman, Mohammed Falah abu Riyalah (19), from al-Sadr area in Gaza, was wounded. The Israeli gunboats surrounded the fishing boat mentioned above, and the soldiers arrested the injured fisherman, Abu Riyalah, and another fisherman, Mohammed Salah Abu Riyalah (27), from Gaza City, and detained their fishing boat.



In a separate incident, at approximately 09:00 on the same day, Israeli gunboats chased a fishing boat sailing within 8 nautical miles off Gaza Valley shore manned by fishermen Mohammed Saleh Abu Riyalah (28) and Atef Saleh Abu Riyalah (16), from Gaza city. The Israeli naval soldiers ordered both fishermen to stop fishing, arrested them and detained their fishing boat.



It should be mentioned that at approximately 00:00 on Saturday, the Israeli authorities released Atef Salah Abu Riyalah while the 3 other fishermen are so far under arrest and the boats are still in custody.



PCHR emphasized that the attacks by the Israeli naval forces against the fishermen in the Gaza Strip fall within the collective punishments imposed against the Palestinian civilians. Moreover, PCHR stressed that the decision to reduce the area allowed for fishing violates the right to work recognized by Article (6) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.



Thus, PCHR called upon the international community, including the High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, to intervene to stop all Israeli violations against fishermen and allow them to fish freely in the Gaza Sea. It also called upon the Israeli authorities to stop chasing the fishermen and enable them to fish freely, especially that they do not pose threat to the Israel authorities; and s for releasing the arrested fishermen and compensate them for their losses.

 Palestine News Network 2018

Theme(s): Others.Kenya fishermen want L.Victoria boundary gazetted to end harassment by Uganda cops

by LAMECK BARAZA

December 17,2018 | Source: The Star

Siaya fishermen on Sunday asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to gazette the Lake Victoria boundary to end frequent friction with the Uganda authority.



The fishermen led by their chairman Obwanda Osunga said the only solution to address constant harassment by Uganda police is by gazetting the 2012 Lake Victoria boundary survey.



Osunga said they have recorded at least 12 islands that are currently being contested between Kenya and Uganda.



The chairman revealed that even the colonial boundary (1920 archives) states that the islands, Mageta, Wayasi, Hama, Migingo, and Lolwe among seven others belong to Kenya and not Uganda.



To date, these islands are inhabited and owned by indigenous Kenyans, stated the fishermen in a petition they want the President to act upon.



The fishermen also want the establishment of a marine patrol base at Mageta, Mfangano and Migingo islands to enhance security in the lake.



Osunga said fishermen have suffered in the hands of Ugandan authorities due to laxity by the Kenyan government.



The chairman expressed hopes that the handshake between Raila and Uhuru would help turn around their concerns.



Many fishermen have been arrested, tortured and detained in Ugandan prisons for allegedly trespassing into Ugandan waters. We are therefore appealing to the President to talk to his Ugandan counterpart President Yoweri Museveni to stop the harassment of Kenyan fishermen, they said.

Theme(s): Fisheries Resources.Ireland minister says EU fish quota negotiations very challenging

by Vivienne Clarke

December 17,2018 | Source: Irish Times

Ireland's Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has described EU negotiations on fish quotas as extremely challenging.



He told RTEs News at One that his concern was to navigate a line between an outcome thats sustainable from a fisheries stock point of view, compatible with the scientific advice, but also taking into account provision in the Common Fisheries Policy that requires us to take into account the socio-economic impact on fishing communities as well.



The challenge is to also face Brexit, the possibility of the UK leaving the EU and the balance between sustainable fishing practices and the landing obligation, he said.



All of those make for a particularly challenging outcome that Im really conscious about and in particular securing an outcome that is sustainable from the point of view of the fishing industry in those coastal communities.



The proposed cuts are  50 per cent cod, 14 per cent haddock, 32 per cent prawns, 20 per cent mackerel.



They are the worst side, there are other species where theres more positive news, what were trying to do is find a balanced outcome that takes account of the requirement to be compliant with the science, but also the requirement that obliges us to reach the destination of maximum sustainable yields, sustainable fishing without adversely impacting on those coastal communities.



This is a challenge, its particularly challenging in some specific species and thats acknowledged in the science.



The Minister said the goal is to navigate a line between the science and the sustainability of coastal communities. Thats not easy in the context of the science, it is a particularly challenging December council this year.



He added that mackerel negotiations (20 per cent cut) have concluded. Theyre between the European Union and other coastal states not part of the EU or the Common Fisheries Policy. The science is particularly challenging. The initial recommendation was for cuts up to 60 per cent, theres been a reduction in mackerel of 20 per cent, with a commitment to reviewing the science early in 2019 as well because there were some question marks around the scientific advice.

 2018 THE IRISH TIMES

Theme(s): Fisheries Development and Aquaculture.| BY Ricki Green |

Over the weekend, Heckler lead editor Andrew Holmes scored Best Editing in Branded Content at the Australian Screen Editors (ASE) The Ellie Awards for Bryon, a film to promote the Byron Bay Film Festival (2017) via Marcel Sydney. His work on Byron was also recently awarded a Silver Lotus for Editing at this years Asia-Pacific advertising festival, Adfest, and a Silver for Best Editing at AWARD Awards.

Says Holmes: What an awesome way to finish the year! Its truly an honour just to be nominated, but to win such a prestigious award from Australian Screen Editors; I just cant thank them enough.

Working with quality creative talent like director Justin McMillan, the poetic stylings of David Nobay, and my mentor and executive producer, Will Alexander, who were also instrumental to the success of this project, has been a real honour for me.

Im one of those lucky people who love what they do and to be recognised by my peers is a great honour. Congrats to all of the winners and nominees, there are some very talented individuals working in the Australian post production industry.

Says Will Alexander, co-founder and executive producer, Heckler: We are super proud of Andrews ongoing achievements as an outstanding and constantly celebrated editor. It goes without saying that Andrew is a uniquely gifted editor, whose ability to improvise and innovate has continued to drive the exceptional quality our clients have become accustom to with Hecklers work.

Presented by ASE vice president Jenny Hicks, The Ellie Awards is dedicated to the pursuit and recognition of excellence and aims to promote the role of editor as a significant contributor to all screen production.| BY Ricki Green |

HOYTS has launched its HOYTS Recliners campaign by BWM Dentsu Sydney, making extra comfy recliner seats the new norm for Aussie cinematic viewing experiences.

The mission for HOYTS is to bring innovation and a top-quality cinema experience to its guests. Over the past two years they have been investing in the moviegoing experience in many ways, from their mainstream recliner seating, to their premium offering HOYTS LUX, as well as through their food and beverage offering with the likes of Treat City and Arties Bar & Cafe.

For the HOYTS recliner campaign, the company wanted to highlight specifically how their movie experience delivers on so much more than the standard. With extra-comfy recliners now available in over 80% of the Australian cinema locations all for the price of a normal movie ticket, it was timely to promote the upgrade.

The creative depicts two moviegoers trading analogies back and forth over the comfort and quality of HOYTS recliner seating, an integral component of every moviegoers experience.

Over the course of the spot, the pair praise the seats which feature extra leg room, wider allocated seating and side tables complete with a large cup holder, attempting to one-up each other with increasingly nonsensical descriptions.

Eagle-eyed movie lovers will note references to iconic movies like ET, King Kong and Kung-Fu Panda.

Says Philipa Murphy, senior marketing manager: Our mission is to create the cinema of the future, and create memorable experiences for our guests. Theres nothing quite like enjoying the latest blockbusters on the big screen, with your feet up! Recliner seating brings an all new meaning to your standard trip to the cinema, and a key priority for us with this campaign was to highlight that our enhanced offering is the new normal.

Were excited that the BWM Dentsu team has created a campaign full of light-hearted humour that really shows off how our recliner seating gives HOYTS moviegoers added comfort and convenience, at great value.

Says Asheen Naidu, executive creative director, BWM Dentsu, Sydney: We wanted to communicate the total comfort of HOYTS recliner seats in a way that reflects the thrill of going to the movies. We certainly had fun throwing in some movie easter eggs for casual moviegoers and film buffs alike.

The campaign has launched to coincide with the official opening of HOYTS brand new cinema HOYTS The District Docklands. The campaign will then roll out nationally in 2019.

Creative Agency  BWM Dentsu

Asheen Naidu  Executive Creative Director

Robert Gordon  Art Director

Julian Hartley  Copywriter

Margot Fitzpatrick  Head of Onscreen Production

Gemma AP Geraint  Group Account Director

Tom Low  Senior Account Manager

Ella McNulty  Account Manager

Jack Spicer  Planner

Production Company  Scoundrel

Director  Cate Stewart

Philipa Murphy  HOYTS Senior Marketing MangerImperial Valley News Center

Florida Man Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for Role in Mail Fraud Scheme That Victimized Seniors

Miami, Florida - A federal court in Florida sentenced Eugene Marotta, 49, to 46 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for his role in a mail fraud scheme that victimized seniors and other vulnerable victims, the Department of Justice announced. The court also ordered restitution to victims. Marotta is due to surrender to authorities to begin his sentence on January 28, 2019.

The sentence imposed by United States District Judge Beth Bloom follows a guilty plea on September 24, 2018, in which Marotta admitted that he participated in a mail fraud scheme that deceived thousands of victims into sending money to claim a falsely promised $350,000 prize. The mailings sent to victims purportedly were from a business called Art Masters LLC, d/b/a Palm Beach Liquidation Gallery (PBLG). Marotta was the registrant of PBLG, a shell company, and was responsible for receiving payments from victims and handling other administrative responsibilities for the scheme. In his plea, Marotta admitted that victims had in fact won no prizes and never received anything for their submitted money. The scheme caused more than $1,000,000 in victim losses. At sentencing, Judge Bloom noted that Marotta and his co-conspirators targeted the elderly and vulnerable.

The Department of Justice will pursue those who defraud Americans through false promises and fraudulent schemes, said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt for the Department of Justices Civil Division. Schemes like this often target the elderly and vulnerable, and shutting them down remains a top priority for the Department.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service has been at the forefront of protecting consumers from fraud schemes for many years, said Criminal Investigations Group Inspector in Charge Delany De Leon-Colon. Deceptive solicitations take advantage of the American public with promises of large prizes, when in reality, the scammers are the only ones winning. Investigations like this one let the American public know that Postal Inspectors are working hard to protect them and ensure their confidence in the U.S. Mail.

Since President Trump signed the bipartisan Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act (EAPPA) into law, The Department of Justice has participated in hundreds of enforcement actions in criminal and civil cases that targeted or disproportionately affected seniors. In particular, this past February the Department announced the largest elder fraud enforcement action in American history, charging more than 200 defendants in a nationwide elder fraud sweep. The Department has likewise conducted hundreds of trainings and outreach sessions across the country since the passage of the Act.

Trial Attorney Ehren Reynolds of the departments Consumer Protection Branch prosecuted this case. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.Imperial Valley News Center

Former Congressional Staffer Sentenced to Prison for Extensive Fraud and Election Crimes

Houston, Texas - A former congressional staffer was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $800,000 in restitution, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for participating in a multi-year scheme to defraud charitable donors of hundreds of thousands of dollars and secretly to funnel the proceeds to pay for personal expenses and to illegally finance campaigns for federal office.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick of the Southern District of Texas, Assistant Director in Charge Nancy McNamara of FBIs Washington Field Office and Special Agent in Charge D. Richard Goss of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Houston Field Office made the announcement.

Thomas Dodd, 40, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas by Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal. Dodd was also ordered to forfeit $153,044.28 in illicit gains. Dodd pleaded guilty on March 20, 2017, to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to make conduit contributions and false statements. As part of his plea, Dodd admitted that he participated in a scheme led by former U.S. Representative Stephen E. Stockman, 62, who was convicted by a federal jury in Houston on April 12 of 23 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to make conduit contributions and false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, making excessive coordinated campaign contributions, money laundering, and filing a false tax return. Another of Stockmans former congressional staffers, Jason T. Posey, 48, of Tupelo, Mississippi, pleaded guilty on Oct. 11, 2017, to one count of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering.

According to the evidence presented at Stockmans trial, from May 2010 to February 2014, Stockman and his co-defendants solicited $1,250,571.65 in donations from charitable organizations and the individuals who ran those organizations based on false pretenses, then used a series of sham nonprofit organizations and dozens of bank accounts to launder the money before it was used for a variety of personal and campaign expenses.

Specifically, the evidence established that in 2010, Stockman and Dodd solicited an elderly donor in Baltimore, Maryland for $285,000 to be used for legitimate charitable and educational purposes. Stockman and Dodd used a sham charity named the Ross Center to funnel the money to be used for a variety of personal expenses. The evidence further established that, in 2011 and 2012, Stockman and Dodd received an additional $165,000 in charitable donations from the Baltimore donor, much of which Stockman used illegally to finance his 2012 congressional campaign.

The trial evidence also showed that shortly after Stockman took office as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013, he and Dodd used the name of another sham nonprofit entity, Life Without Limits, to solicit and receive a $350,000 charitable donation, to be used to create an educational center called the Freedom House. Stockman, Dodd, and Posey instead used this donation for a variety of personal and campaign expenses, including illegal conduit campaign contributions, a covert surveillance project targeting a perceived political opponent, an in-patient alcoholism treatment for a female associate, and payments for hundreds of thousands of robocalls and mailings promoting Stockmans candidacy for U.S. Senate in early 2014.

In addition, the evidence established that, in connection with Stockmans Senate campaign, Stockman and Posey used another sham nonprofit entity to secure a $450,571.65 donation in order to fund a purportedly legitimate independent expenditure promoting Stockmans candidacy. The evidence showed that the purportedly independent expenditure was in fact secretly controlled by Stockman, who directed his campaign and Posey to file false affidavits with the FEC covering up Stockmans involvement.

Finally, the evidence at trial demonstrated that Stockman failed to pay taxes on any of the $1,250,571.65 in fraudulently acquired donations. In addition, during the early stages of the investigation, Stockman directed Posey to flee to Cairo, Egypt, for two and a half years so that Posey could not be questioned by law enforcement.

The FBI and IRS-CI investigated the case. Deputy Chief Robert J. Heberle and Trial Attorney Ryan J. Ellersick of the Criminal Divisions Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Annis of the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case.| BY Ricki Green |

A competitive pitch has seen McCann Melbourne, awarded digital scope for Maybelline in 2019.

Says Louise Voyage, marketing manager for Maybelline: McCann brought a fresh and modern approach to digital, that leads with the brand at the heart of its creative. The aim is to connect with people in a relevant way, through narratives that will cut-through the ever-cluttered market of beauty content. We felt confident that McCanns approach would deliver on that mission.

Says Georgie Pownall, managing director, McCann: As the No.1 make-up brand, Maybelline New York has an incredible platform to connect with women in a way that many brands cant. We felt it was imperative to create an idea that was bold and truly meaningful to our Australian audience, we look forward to expanding our relationship with Louise and team to take the brand to the next stage.

McCann recently appointed Georgie Pownall as managing director for Melbourne.Imperial Valley News Center

Shipping Company Sentenced for Illegally Discharging Oily Waste at Sea

Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Navimax Corporation, incorporated in the Marshall Islands with its main offices in Greece, was sentenced to a $2,000,000 fine by a federal district court for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and obstructing a Coast Guard investigation.

The Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships is a codification of international treaties known as the MARPOL Protocol. To ensure that oily waste is properly stored and processed at sea, all ocean-going ships entering U.S. ports must maintain an Oil Record Book in which all transfers and discharges of oily waste, regardless of the ships location in international waters, are fully recorded.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Navimax operated the Nave Cielo, a 750-foot long oil tanker. Prior to a formal inspection on December 7, 2017, the U.S. Coast Guard boarded the vessel near Delaware City when a crewmember gave the officers a thumb drive containing two videos, depicting a high-volume discharge of dark brown and black oil waste from a five-inch pipe, located 15-feet above water level. Subsequent investigation during a more comprehensive inspection on December 7, 2017, disclosed that the approximately 10-minute discharge occurred on November 2, 2017, in international waters, after the ship left New Orleans en route to Belgium. During the Coast Guard boarding on December 7, 2017, crewmembers presented the ships Oil Record Book, which did not record this discharge.

The Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships helps protect the precious ocean and marine resources of the United States from harmful pollution, and those who knowingly violate this law will be held accountable, said Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark of the Justice Departments Environment and Natural Resources Division. The Department of Justice will continue to work with the Coast Guard and our other law enforcement partners to ensure that individuals and corporations alike comply with the nations environmental laws.

The defendant violated environmental laws that protect our marine environment from harmful pollution, said U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David C. Weiss. The conviction and criminal fine, reinforced by a four-year term of probation, during which the defendants fleet of ships will be monitored, ensures that defendant is held accountable. The message to the shipping industry is clear: environmental crimes at sea will not be tolerated.

I am exceptionally pleased with the outcome of this case, said Captain Scott Anderson, Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay. Personnel at Sector Delaware Bay, Marine Safety Detachment Lewes, DE, the Coast Guard Investigative Service Philadelphia Office, and legal staffs dedicated countless hours conducting an extensive and detailed investigation and processing the case. Outcomes like this help protect the environment by holding operators accountable for their actions.

The district court ordered Navimax to pay the $2,000,000 fine immediately and placed the company on probation for four years.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay and the Coast Guard Investigative Service. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney John Cashman in the Environmental Crimes Section of the Department of Justices Environment and Natural Resources Division and by Assistant U.S. Attorney Edmond Falgowski.Imperial Valley News Center

Two Men Charged with Conspiracy and Acting as Agents of a Foreign Government

Washington, DC - An indictment was unsealed today charging Bijan Rafiekian, aka Bijan Kian, 66, of San Juan Capistrano, California, and Kamil Ekim Alptekin, 41, of Istanbul, and a Turkish national, with conspiracy, acting in the United States as illegal agents of the government of Turkey, and making false statements to the FBI.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Assistant Director in Charge Nancy McNamara of the FBIs Washington Field Office, made the announcement.

According to allegations in the indictment, the two men were involved in a conspiracy to covertly influence U.S. politicians and public opinion against a Turkish citizen living in the United States whose extradition had been requested by the Government of Turkey. The plot included using a company founded by Rafiekian and a person referred to as Person A in the indictment. The company, referred to as Company A in the indictment, provided services based upon Person As national security expertise.

The indictment charges that the purpose of the conspiracy was to use Company A to delegitimize the Turkish citizen in the eyes of the American public and United States politicians, with the goal of obtaining his extradition, which was meeting resistance at the U.S. Department of Justice. At the same time, the conspirators sought to conceal that the Government of Turkey was directing the work. However, not only did Turkish cabinet-level officials approve the budget for the project, but Alptekin provided the Turkish officials updates on the work, and relayed their directions on the work to Rafiekian, Person A, and others at Company A.

According to allegations in the indictment, the scheme included using a Dutch company owned by Alptekin to appear to be the client of Company A and to pay the companys fee of $600,000, which was to be paid in three installments. Alptekin made the payments from an account in Turkey. The indictment alleges that after Alptekin made the payments to Company A, it was to kick back 20 percent of the payments to Alptekins company in the Netherlands, and two such kickbacks were made.

Rafiekian is charged with conspiracy and acting in the United States as an illegal agent of the government of Turkey. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison for the conspiracy charge, and 10 years in prison for the charge of acting as an agent of a foreign government.

Alptekin is charged with conspiracy, acting in the United States as an illegal agent of the government of Turkey, and four counts of making false statements to the FBI. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison for the conspiracy charge, 10 years in prison for the charge of acting as an agent of a foreign government, and 5 years in prison for each of the four false statement charges.

The maximum statutory sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes. If convicted of any offense, the sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant U.S. Attorney James P. Gillis of the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Evan N. Turgeon of the National Security Divisions Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.Former Non-Profit President Pleads Guilty to Scheme to Conceal Foreign Funding of 2013 Congressional Trip

Washington, DC - The former president of a Texas-based non-profit pleaded guilty last week for his role in a scheme to conceal the fact that a 2013 Congressional trip to Azerbaijan was funded by the Azerbaijan government.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu for the District of Columbia and Assistant Director in Charge Nancy McNamara of the FBIs Washington Field Office made the announcement.

Kemal Oksuz, aka "Kevin Oksuz," 49, and previously a resident of Arlington, Virginia, pleaded guilty to one count of devising a scheme to falsify, conceal and cover up material facts from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ethics. Oksuz will be sentenced on Feb. 11, 2019 before U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan for the District of Columbia.

According to admissions made in connection with his guilty plea, Oksuz lied on disclosure forms filed with the Ethics Committee prior to, and following, a privately sponsored Congressional trip to Azerbaijan. Oksuz falsely represented and certified on required disclosure forms that the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasions (TCAE), the Houston non-profit for which Oksuz was president, had not accepted funding for the Congressional trip from any outside sources. Oksuz admitted to, in truth, orchestrating a scheme to funnel money to fund the trip from the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), the wholly state-owned national oil and gas company of Azerbaijan, and then concealed the true source of funding, which violated House travel regulations.

A five-count indictment was returned earlier this year in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and ordered unsealed in September. Oksuz was recently extradited from Armenia where he was detained by authorities, pursuant to a warrant that was issued for his arrest.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Marco Palmieri of the Criminal Divisions Public Integrity Section, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Misler and Will Mackie of the National Security Divisions Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. Assistance in the investigation was provided by Trial Attorney Amanda Vaughn of the Public Integrity Section, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Hooks and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Bradford of the District of Columbia. Trial Attorney Natalya T. Savransky of the Criminal Divisions Office of International Affairs handled the extradition request to Armenia. The Office of International Affairs, along with the U.S. Department of State and cooperating Armenian authorities provided substantial assistance with the extradition.Vice President Mike Pences Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters of New Zealand

Washington, DC - Vice President Pence met today with Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters of New Zealand. The two reaffirmed the close strategic partnership between the United States and New Zealand and committed to maintaining the close ties of friendship between our two countries. Vice President Pence and Deputy Prime Minister Peters discussed the United States Indo-Pacific Strategy, with a particular focus on the Pacific Islands region. The Vice President welcomed the Deputy Prime Ministers recent announcement of increased New Zealand assistance to Pacific Island nations.

The two discussed the United States Indo-Pacific Transparency Initiative and New Zealands Pacific Reset, noting the importance of good governance, the need for broad economic development in the Pacific that includes the private sector, and strong and inclusive government institutions, based on principles of openness and transparency. The Vice President and Deputy Prime Minister agreed to the importance of the United States and New Zealand working closely together to achieve a breakthrough on improving bilateral trade. They also agreed to deepen our Trade and Investment Facilitation Agreement by supporting WTO reform and working together to eliminate unfair trade practices.United States Sues Freight Companies for Systematic Overcharging of Shipments

Buffalo, New York - The United States has filed a complaint in the Western District of New York against YRC Freight Inc., (YRC); Roadway Express Inc. (Roadway); and Yellow Transportation Inc. (Yellow), alleging that these companies systematically overcharged the government for freight carrier services and made false statements to the government that hid their misconduct, the Justice Department announced Friday.

The United States filed this lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York. The United States alleges that, for more than seven years, the defendants defrauded the Department of Defense by millions of dollars for shipments that were actually lighter, and thus cheaper, than the weights for which the defendants charged the government. The United States further alleges that the defendants knowingly made or used false statements concealing their overcharging practices to the Department of Defense.

Those who do business with the government must do so fairly and honestly, said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justices Civil Division. Knowingly overcharging the government is an affront to American taxpayers, and the Department of Justice will seek to ensure that those who engage in such misconduct are held accountable.

Specifically, the United States lawsuit alleges that the defendants reweighed thousands of shipments and suppressed the results whenever they indicated that a shipment was actually lighter than its original estimated weight. Thus, instead of charging the Department of Defense for shipments based on the correct weight, the defendants knowingly billed the government (and their other customers) based on weights that they knew to be inflated. The defendants also allegedly made false statements to induce the Department of Defense to use them as freight carriers and further knowingly made or used false statements to improperly avoid their obligations to correct inflated invoices and return overpayments.

When a federal agency, such as the Department of Defense, enters into a service contract with a private corporation or company, the expectation is that the agreement will be administered in good faith, stated U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy Jr. for the Western District of New York. In this case, YRC did not legally fulfill its agreed upon obligations to the Defense Department, choosing instead to line its pockets with tax payers dollars. Such actions are fraudulent and illegal. This case should serve as a warning to any organization that enters into a contract with the federal governmentif you try to rip us off, be prepared to pay a heavy price.

This complaint is the result of a successful investigation to identify those who seek to profit by defrauding the Defense Department," stated Leigh-Alistair Barzey, Special Agent-in-Charge, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Northeast Field Office. "DCIS will continue to investigate procurement fraud allegations, along with its law enforcement partners, in order to protect U.S. military members and the American tax payer."

The original lawsuit in this case was filed by James Hannum under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act. Under the act, private citizens can bring suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in any recovery. The act permits the government to intervene in such lawsuits, as it has done here. Those who violate the act are subject to treble damages and civil penalties.

This matter was investigated by the Civil Divisions Commercial Litigation Branch, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of New York, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division Command.

The case is captioned United States ex rel. Hannum v. YRC Freight, Inc.; Roadway Express, Inc.; and Yellow Transportation, Inc., Civil Action No. 08-0811(A) (W.D.N.Y.).

The claims asserted in the United States complaint are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.Bhutan National Day

Washington, DC - Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo: "On behalf of the Government of the United States of America, I would like to extend best wishes to the people of Bhutan on the occasion of their National Day on December 17.

"The United States is deeply appreciative of the growing connections between the American and Bhutanese people. As fellow democracies, the United States and Bhutan are committed to fundamental liberties and the rule of law. We commend Bhutans transition to democracy, enacted under the leadership of His Majesty the King, and demonstrated by the exemplary national elections held this year. We look forward to working with the government of Prime Minister Lotay Tshering.

"In the coming year, the United States looks forward to growing our strong relationship with Bhutan. We wish the Bhutanese people a prosperous and joyous year."Google will likely halt its censored search project for China, according to a report by The Intercept on Monday.

Members of the Dragonfly team are said to have been using large data sets pulled from the Beijing-based website 265.com, which Google owns, to help build the censored search product.

When Google's privacy team found out about the use of search data, however, they were reportedly "really pissed" and ultimately decided that the 265.com data could no longer be used.

Google had originally planned to launch its censored search engine, known as Dragonfly, between January and April 2019.

The report says that Google decided to shut down an integral data source for the project, and as a result, internal resources have been shifted to focus on products related to other countries, like India, Indonesia, and Brazil.

The news comes almost a week after Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified before Congress that "right now, there are no plans to launch a search service in China."

The likely end of Dragonfly

Work on the controversial project, according to the Intercept, hinged largely on the company's use of search data it obtained from the Beijing-based website, 265.com -- which Google owns. Unbeknownst to Google's privacy team, members of the Dragonfly team were using large data sets pulled from 265.com to inform and train the censored search product it was building, says the report.

In August, the Intercept broke news of the Dragonfly team using 265.com's search data, which is typically safeguarded at Google to protect users. According to the new report, the privacy team was "really pissed" to learn of this and after a series of internal meetings, the Dragonfly team was no longer permitted to use 265.com data.

"The 265 data was integral to Dragonfly," one source told The Intercept. "Access to the data has been suspended now, which has stopped progress."

Google had originally planned to launch its censored search engine, known as Dragonfly, between January and April 2019, according to reports.

A Google spokesperson reiterated to Business Insider on Monday that the company has no plans to launch a search product in China, but that it still anticipates finding some way to serve that market as a way of fulfilling its corporate mission of making information available to everyone.Update: This post has been updated to include a response from Facebook.

It may be time to rethink your social media strategy, or at least have a backup plan.

Facebook, the largest social media network in the world, is under hot water, again. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), one of the nation's oldest and largest civil rights groups, has called for a weeklong "digital protest" against the company starting Tuesday, according to a statement released on its website. The campaign encourages NAACP members and followers to log out of Instagram and Facebook in protest of its platform's "history of data hacks which unfairly target its users of color." The group also said it had returned an undisclosed donation it recently received from Facebook, after a Senate report released Monday revealed that a Russian misinformation campaign heavily targeted African American voters.

"We want Facebook and its peers to make provisions that ensure that their platforms aren't co-opted by bad agents [looking] to spread misinformation," NAACP communications director Malik Russell said in an emailed statement. He added that the protest aims to hold Facebook accountable and empower users to speak up. "The interference that occurred during the 2016 election cycle produced results that communities of color are disproportionately affected by today. Facebook allowed foreign agents to take advantage of the racial tensions in the country, and as we head into the 2020 elections, we need to see that they've put in adequate structures to reconcile their past mistakes."

In an emailed response, a Facebook spokesperson acknowledged and apologized for the social network's security incidents and privacy missteps, saying: "We continue to invest in solutions to keep our platform safe and improve...We've also doubled the team that works on security from 10,000 to 20,000." Further, Facebook on Tuesday released an update from a civil rights audit, which highlights tweaks to the company's political ads policy and community standards to increase transparency and curb misinformation in its platform.

African Americans are more likely to use Facebook to communicate with friends and family than the rest of the population, according to data from the Pew Research Center. The vast majority of black-American adults--70 percent--use Facebook and 43 percent use Instagram, data shows. While it is still unknown how successful this protest will be, it should be noted that it is not the first time users have threatened to boycott Facebook. Earlier this year, the movement #DeleteFacebook gained popularity in the U.S., although it didn't really impact the company's user stats, according to SEC filings.

Nevertheless, criticisms of Facebook are piling up. The company is also facing pressure from 31 nonprofit organizations, including Muslim Advocates, MoveOn, and the National LGBTQ Task Force, to change its leadership team. The groups penned an open letter asking CEO Mark Zuckerberg to step down from his role as chairman of the board, and to remove COO Sheryl Sandberg from the board entirely, among other changes."When I started this, I had people tell me I had to get out of Austin and move to L.A. or New York City to be a legitimate fashion brand," remembers Kendra Scott. "But something in my gut told me to stay." Smart move: Scott's eponymous jewelry and lifestyle company is now valued at $1 billion, and she still owns a majority stake.

That kind of success was unimaginable for Scott as recently as 2009, when the financial crisis almost killed her company. She founded the business in 2002, designing jewelry out of her spare bedroom and toting her 3-month-old to local boutiques to persuade them to carry her accessibly priced statement earrings. Eventually, she had distribution in mostly independent stores around the country--until the bottom fell out of the economy and many of those businesses shuttered. Even at her major retail partners, buyers were getting laid off or canceling orders. "Business went down 40 percent in a year," she says. "It was chaos."

Desperate for a way forward--and, at the time, recently divorced with two small children--Scott decided to make the least logical bet: open her own store. She decided if she was going to build a brand, she needed to forge a direct relationship with her customers, both in person and online. But bank after bank rejected her for a loan, until Texas Capital took a chance on her. "I will always bank with them," Scott says now. "They looked at me not as a loan number but as a human."

Scott opened her store on Austin's South Congress Avenue, the city's hippest shopping strip. But it was different from other jewelry stores, which she generally found creepy, with their locked glass-enclosed cases and hovering security guards. "I hated going into jewelry stores," she says. "I wanted customers to engage with the product and have fun, to touch and feel the pieces and try them on, like how we shop for clothes." So she did away with the typical trappings, instead creating a Color Bar, where shoppers could mix and match materials to personalize their pieces, while sipping champagne.

If Scott's first store proved her retail prescience, her second store gave her a lesson in staying authentic to her Austin roots. In 2011, Scott debuted her second location on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, only to discover that no one there knew or cared about her brand. The store flopped, and she decided to open her next store back in Texas. When Scott raised her first round of venture capital in 2014, she doubled down on opening stores around the South and the Midwest, catering to a multigenerational clientele that the fashion elite in New York and Los Angeles largely ignored. "Being away from those big cities gave me a unique perspective on what was happening in fashion, and then I put my own spin on it," says Scott.

In late 2016, Scott sold a large minority stake of her company to the private equity firm Berkshire Partners, at a valuation of $1 billion. By then, having established her brand on its own terms, she was ready to storm the coasts and beyond. She now has a thriving e-commerce operation and 92 stores, including a shop inside the London luxury department store Selfridges, and her first New York City outpost, a 1,700-square-foot store in SoHo."We're seeing a lot of flights from the coasts," say Tyler Haney, founder of Outdoor Voices, who relocated her company from NYC to Austin in 2017. "Real estate is significantly more affordable. There's no personal income tax. There's land. There's space to play, which does something mentally." Bryan Derballa

Just a few blocks from a forest of glassy new skyscrapers, including the tallest residential building west of the Mississippi, about 70 young women in yoga pants (and a few men) dance and stretch to a Cardi B song on an impossibly green lawn. At the head of the group stands Tyler Haney, the 30-year-old founder and CEO of Outdoor Voices, who uprooted her New York City athleisure e-apparel company to relocate to Austin in 2017.

"All right, everyone! Woo!" Haney shouts before leading the crowd into a huddle on the lawn next to her company's first store. Then off they jog to begin the company's inaugural "Hippie Triathlon," which will involve, among other things, laps at Deep Eddy Pool, a local institution, and burgers and beers at a tiki restaurant tucked behind a dive bar.

The scene verges on a parody of Austin circa 2018, no longer the scruffy college town known for its slacker culture, rowdy live music venues, and clothing-optional festivals. Today, the Austin area, with a population of 2.1 million, is one of the fastest-growing in the country. Funky old Austin still exists, but it lives in the shadow of the city's now-shiny lifestyle brand, one that's defined by the likes of Whole Foods and South by Southwest (both headquartered here; both formerly scruffy).

And now, too, by ambitious transplants like Haney, whose company has raised almost $60 million in venture capital and counts retail legend Mickey Drexler, of J.Crew fame, as its board chairman. The Austin store ("the worst retail location I've ever seen, potentially in the world," Haney remembers Drexler, a lifelong New Yorker, call it when he first saw it) now sells about as much as the company's stores in New York and San Francisco.

Haney was just starting Outdoor Voices in New York when she first visited Austin, in 2013. A former track athlete from Boulder, Colorado, who landed in New York to attend Parsons School of Design, she found herself at Barton Springs, a legendary Austin swimming hole just across the lake from downtown. "The moment I dipped into the water, I was like, 'Holy shit, this could be the spiritual home, potentially the long-term home, for OV,' " she says. New York was brimming with online apparel brands, but as Haney's company started to grow, she kept returning to Austin (where, at the time, she was dating a restaurateur). "It struck me that the city is super supportive of entrepreneurship," she says. She decided to make the move.

Haney's hardly alone. Startups from Nebraska (Spreetail), Tennessee (SnapShot Interactive), Arkansas (YouEarnedIt), and California (Optimizely, Outdoorsy) have all recently opened offices or relocated here, along with Peter Thiel's venture capital firm Mithril Capital Management, which in September announced it was ditching San Francisco in favor of the city. Tech giants including Facebook, Amazon, and Dropbox have all established presences here. Google recently planted a giant "G" logo atop a high-rise downtown. And in December, Apple, which already has its second-largest outpost in Austin--with some 6,000 employees--announced it will be investing $1 billion to build a new campus less than a mile away with a projected 15,000 new jobs. According to our Surge Cities Index analysis, Austin ranks first in the nation in population growth, third in its density of high-growth companies, and sixth in its rate of job creation.

But the city's rise has been three long decades in the making. When Dell minted a crop of so-called Dellionaires, the resulting wave of tech startups in the early aughts reinforced the Austin moniker Silicon Hills. After Whole Foods grew into a major force in the grocery business around the same time, it became a launchpad for dozens of startup food and personal care brands. After a late-'90s software outfit, Trilogy, lured hundreds of elite college grads to Austin with great perks, many of them went on to create a B2B software industry in the city. The Trilogy Mafia, as they're called, still control many of the most influential companies in town, such as the WordPress hosting platform WP Engine, run by an ex-Trilogy VP, Heather Brunner. Joshua Baer, another Trilogy alum, created and runs Capital Factory, an incubator, co-working place, and investment fund. And then there's South by Southwest, which began in 1987 as a music festival and has since ballooned into a two-week extravaganza of music, film, comedy, gaming, and all things startup.

According to our analysis, the amount of money being poured into Austin's startup scene still ranks only fourth in the nation when it comes to early-stage funding deals. Capital Factory's Baer says that's because Austin has yet to produce a giant, transformative consumer tech company, which typically leads to a flood of venture capital. But he believes it's only a matter of time. "Talent is the leading indicator, and funding is the trailing indicator," he says. "This is where all the talent is going."

As Austin's skyline fills with construction cranes, it's easy to draw parallels to cities like Seattle, where an Amazon boom has driven housing prices and homelessness to unsustainable levels. That may concern Austin locals, but for arrivals from places like New York and San Francisco, the city is still very affordable (the median price of a home here is $385,000, according to Zillow). The state's attitude toward taxes--"The only good tax is a dead tax," Governor Greg Abbott once said--doesn't hurt either.

When Haney decided to move Outdoor Voices to Austin, she had about 40 employees join her from around the country; 34 made the move with her--they all drove down in a caravan--and only a few have since left the city. The business has continued growing triple digits every year since its founding, Haney says, and now employs 130 people full time. She finds that Austin's lifestyle often seals the deal when she's hiring designers from New York--just as it did for her. "At first, I was nervous that we wouldn't be able to attract talent at all," she says. "But being away from New York has actually become an advantage."

Cracking the Austin Formula

Second-term Austin mayor Steve Adler offers his advice for other cities looking to discover their juju.

Create an atmosphere talent is drawn to. "Many of the kinds of people companies want to hire want to live in Austin. It's pretty nice here. But beyond that, it's a progressive city that leads on immigration and refugee protection, LGBTQ rights, and climate change mitigation. A lot of people see that it's a place that matches their values."

Be authentic to your roots. "Our identity goes back to the 'Keep Austin Weird' idea. When Willie Nelson was trying to reinvent country music, he came to Austin for that. The civic heroes here are the people who try something, learn, iterate, try, learn, iterate. And that is also, coincidentally, the formula for startups."| BY Ricki Green |

Tourism Fiji has announced a revitalized global brand campaign ready to roll-out in 2019. Created by Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand and Goodoil Films, the refined campaign builds upon the destinations current brand messaging; Where Happiness Finds You, while showcasing the breadth of experiences available to visitors.

The campaign assets have been developed to demonstrate that the Fiji brand goes beyond just relaxation by highlighting Fijis Bula Spirit, and emphasizing the range of unique experiences that are offered throughout Fijis 333 islands, with powerful imagery designed to evoke an emotive response and create real interest in the destination.

The suite of assets developed span TV commercial, out-of-home, digital / online, cinema, social media and variations have been made to appeal to families, couples, adventure and luxury travelers around the world.

Says Matthew Stoeckel, CEO for Tourism Fiji: Fiji is famous for its stunning environment, world-class resorts and of course its hospitality. The new creative assets also showcase the wide range of experiences within the destination while continuing to showcase Fijis stunning landscapes and sharing the bula spirit of Fiji, which makes it the place where happiness truly finds you.

Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand developed multiple versions of the campaign assets to suit each of Tourism Fijis global markets including the USA, UK, Europe, China, Japan, Singapore, India, Australia and New Zealand. The assets are currently rolling out on the destinations social media channels, before launching further activity in Tourism Fijis core markets in 2019.

Says Toby Talbot, chief creative officer, Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand: Everyone who comes to Fiji seems to leave happier. The authentic spirit of the people and the place are what makes it such a uniquely happy place in the world right now.

Everything we have created is grounded in the extraordinary emotive connection that the Fijian people make with visitors. From the incredible singing to the addictive bula! of locals that greet you throughout the islands, this campaign is about bottling that happiness and sharing it with the world.

Goodoil Films director, Justin McMillan, said he found it refreshing and rewarding to work on a project where the unpredictability of nature dictates the shoot schedule.

Says McMillanI found it refreshing to work on a project where I finally learnt the true value of time. Fiji will not bend for your schedule. Your schedule needs to work for Fiji. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by an amazing crew who respected these rules and lived by them. Tide vs light vs clouds vs trade winds dominated our daily conversations, with the local fisherman being our best source of knowledge when it comes to planning the next day of shooting. Fiji must be one of the trickiest places on the planet to forecast.

Ever since I visited Fiji years ago with my family, the people of Fiji have always held a special place in my heart, so I found it easy to go the extra mile on these films for them. We all left the shoot with a feeling of satisfaction knowing we couldnt have tried any harder for the people of Fiji.

In addition to the revamped global assets, Tourism Fiji is also developing a new website to be launched in 2019 which will share personal stories through video, featured blogs and listicles which highlight the diversity of experiences available throughout Fiji.

Tourism Fiji

Matt Stoeckel  CEO

Sera Cawanibuka  Global Brand Manager

Antonio Racika  Marketing Manager, Asia

Rush Pathak  Global Social Media Manager

Stephanie Robinson  Content Manager

Prodution company  Goodoil Films

Justin McMillan  Director

Mark Foster  Executive Producer

Katie Kempe  Producer

George Mackenzie  Business Director

Crighton Bone  D.O.P

Simon Njoo  Editor

Kim Tillbury  Production Design

Post Production  Blockhead

Sound Design  Franklin Road

Music  Igelese Ete

Creative agency  Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand

Paul Wilson  Managing Director

Toby Talbot  Chief Creative Officer

Susie Darling  Head of Account Management

Amanda Chambers  Head of Production and Content

David McIndoe  Head of Strategy

Jordan Sky  Creative Director

Kristal Knight  Creative Director

Guy Roberts  Creative DirectorA woman has spoken out about an alleged relationship with director Woody Allen that she claims started when she was 16, and he was 41.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Babi Christina Engelhardt claimed she first met the Annie Hall director in October 1976, in a New York restaurant, and that they swiftly embarked on what would become a clandestine eight-year affair. The legal age of consent in New York  then and now  is 17.

It is the first time Engelhardt has spoken publicly on the matter, but she said she unwilling to condemn Allen. What made me speak is I thought I could provide a perspective. Im not attacking Woody, she said. This is not bring down this man. Im talking about my love story. This made me who I am. I have no regrets.

According to Engelhardt, she was still living in New Jersey at the time with her parents, but was frequently in Manhattan to pursue her modelling career. She says Allen knew that she was still in high school, but never asked about her age. She describes the director as dictating the terms of their relationship from the beginning, with all talk of his work banned and their meetings only occurring in his apartment on Fifth Avenue.

She says she never pushed back against his alleged advances, adding: I was a pleaser, agreeable. Knowing he was a director, I didnt argue. I was coming from a place of devotion.

Engelhardt considers herself a partial inspiration for Allen's 1979 film Manhattan, in which the director plays Isaac Ike Davis, a 42-year-old who sleeps with 17-year-old Tracey (Mariel Hemingway). Actor Stacey Nelkin is also said to have dated Allen when she was 17 years old, with Engelhardt saying she presumes the character of Tracey is a composite of several women. I was a fragment, she said. Great artists cherry-pick.

Engelhardt, 59, is now divorced and the mother to two university-aged daughters, working as an assistant to Chinatown producer Robert Evans.

In 1992, Allens former partner Mia Farrow contacted authorities after her daughter, Dylan, allegedly described sexual abuse by the director. Though Allen has repeatedly denied the allegations and was not criminally charged, Farrow was granted with full custody after a judge found Dylans testimony to be credible.

As the allegations have returned to the spotlight thanks to the #MeToo movement, Allens latest film, A Rainy Day in New York  starring Timothee Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Rebecca Hall, and Selena Gomez  has yet to receive a release date or any promotional material, despite having been picked up for distribution by Amazon. Reports have suggested its been shelved indefinitely.

Allen declined to comment on the story.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Follow Independent Culture on Facebook for all the latest on Film, TV, Music, and moreThe Big Bang Theory is adding a new character to its cast for its final season.

Lindsey Kraft, previously seen on shows such as Dirty John and Grace and Frankie, will play Marissa, the new wife of Pennys ex Zack, Deadline reported.

She will return for multiple episodes of season 12, which is set to be the shows final instalment, as a recurring character.

Penny (Kaley Cuoco) was once married to Zack (Brian Thomas Smith) after tying the knot in Las Vegas, but the pair ended up having their union annulled.

In this new story line, Marissa and Zack will be dealing with infertility.

A newly released log line states that Zack and Marissa both want a child, but as Zack is infertile, they ask Leonard for help  though its not entirely clear just how the physicist would be able to assist them.

Kraft will make her first appearance on the show on 10 January.

15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Show all 15 1 /15 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix The Christmas Chronicles The Christmas Chronicles, a holiday adventure from producer Chris Columbus (Home Alone, "Harry Potter") and director Clay Kaytis ("The Angry Birds Movie"), tells the story of sister and brother, Kate (Darby Camp) and Teddy Pierce (Judah Lewis), whose Christmas Eve plan to catch Santa Claus (Kurt Russell) on camera turns into an unexpected journey that most kids could only dream about. After staking out Santas arrival, they sneak into his sleigh, cause it to crash and nearly derail Christmas. As their wild night unfolds, Kate and Teddy work together with Santa - as you've never seen him before - and his loyal Elves to save Christmas before it's too late. Michael Gibson/Netflix 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix The Princess Switch One week before Christmas, Margaret, the gorgeous Duchess of Montenaro, switches places with Stacy, a commoner from Chicago, who looks exactly like her. With the assistance of a magical Santa's helper, Margaret falls in love with Stacys handsome co-worker, while Stacy falls in love with Margaret's fiance, the dashing Prince. Netflix 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix The Holiday Calendar A struggling but talented photographer inherits an antique holiday advent calendar, the contents of which seem to predict the future. Will this magical calendar lead her to love this holiday season? Netflix 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix The Holiday Dumped and depressed, English rose Iris (Kate Winslet) agrees to swap homes with similarly unlucky in love Californian Amanda (Cameron Diaz) for a much-needed break. Iris finds herself in a palatial Hollywood mansion while Amanda navigates the lanes of a picture-perfect English village. Also starring Jude Law and Jack Black. YouTube 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Nativity! Paul (Martin Freeman), charged with directing the school nativity play, falsely boasts that his ex-girlfriend plans to turn the production into a film. YouTube 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Deck the Halls Neighbours Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito face off in this holiday comedy co-starring Kristen Davis. YouTube 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Arthur Christmas At Santa Clauss super-secret toy-making facility, Mr Claus entrusts his son, Arthur, to carry out an ultra-important Christmas mission. YouTube 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix A Christmas Prince Christmas comes early for an aspiring young journalist when she's sent abroad to get the scoop on a handsome prince who's poised to be king. Netflix 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding A year after Amber helped Richard secure the crown, the two are set to tie the knot in a royal Christmas wedding - but their plans are jeopardized when Amber finds herself second-guessing whether or not she's cut out to be queen, and Richard is faced with a political crisis that threatens to tarnish not only the holiday season, but the future of the kingdom. Netflix 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Last Holiday Upon learning that about terminal illness, Georgia, a shy woman decides to sell off all her possessions and live it up in a posh hotel. YouTube 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Angela's Christmas Based on the beloved childrens book by Frank McCourt (author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir Angelas Ashes), Angelas Christmas is a funny, heartwarming and poignant story about the power of family and the innocent desire of a child to ensure everyone is safe, warm and loved at Christmas time. Netflix 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Christmas Inheritance Before ambitious heiress Ellen Langford can inherit her father's business, she must deliver a special Christmas card to her dad's former partner in Snow Falls. When a snowstorm strands her at the town inn, she discovers the true gift of Christmas. Netflix 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Love the Coopers For their annual Christmas Eve celebration, Sam Cooper (John Goodman) and his wife Charlotte (Diane Keaton) welcome four generations of extended family, including son Hank (Ed Helms), daughter Eleanor (Olivia Wilde) and Charlotte's father, Bucky (Alan Arkin). Sam and Charlotte are separating after 40 years of marriage, while Hank is in the middle of a divorce. As the guests reveal their respective problems, they also rediscover the importance of kinship and the spirit of the holiday. YouTube 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Christmas Wedding Planner A wedding planner is in the midst of planning her cousin's lavish and exclusive wedding when a devilishly handsome private investigator turns her world upside down. YouTube 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Once Upon a Holiday A princess visiting New York during Christmas escapes her royal entourage to experience the city. She is saved from muggers by a handsome man, and romance blooms when he shows her his side of the city. YouTube

It was confirmed in August that The Big Bang Theorys 12th season would be its last.

The sitcom, co-created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, premiered in 2007 on CBS and quickly became a staple in the sitcom realm.

By the time it wraps up in 2019, the series will have become the longest running multi-camera comedy in history.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

We are forever grateful to our fans for their support of The Big Bang Theory during the past 12 seasons, producers Warner Bros Television and Chuck Lorre Productions told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement.

We, along with the cast, writers and crew, are extremely appreciative of the shows success and aim to deliver a final season, and series finale, that will bring The Big Bang Theory to an epic creative close.

The Big Bang Theorys 12th season premiered in September this year. Seasons typically run from September to May in the following year.The number of badgers killed in a bid to control bovine TB has reached a new high this year, according to new government figures.

A total of 32,601 were culled over autumn in operations carried out across 30 areas of England.

While government sources said the controversial operation was playing a successful role in disease control, environmental groups warned populations of British badgers were being pushed towards extinction.

Over 10,000 more badgers were killed than the previous year after legal culling was expanded across the country, bringing the total since 2013 to around 70,000.

Releasing a report on the cull, farming minister George Eustice said it was helping to achieve and maintain long-term reductions in the level of TB in cattle across the southwest and midlands.

Chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said the programme was helping in the fight against bovine TB, and that it should continue for the duration of areas one or two year licences.

In the Gloucestershire and Somerset locations where culls were first trialled, the government reported disease incidence in cattle had dropped by around half.

Areas in which badgers are killed now include Cheshire, Cornwall, Cumbria, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Somerset, Staffordshire and Wiltshire.

British mammals fight for survival Show all 11 1 /11 British mammals fight for survival British mammals fight for survival The Mammal Societys assessment of Britains mammal populations is the first such review in over 20 years. The results reveal winners and losers, and highlight some of the key threats facing the countrys wildlife such as habitat loss, invasive species and the spread of diseases. British mammals fight for survival Hedgehogs Populations of the much-loved insectivore may have declined by as much as 73% Richard Bowler British mammals fight for survival Greater mouse-eared bats Only one of these flying mammals has been recorded in the whole country, in a railway tunnel in West Sussex Andrew Harrington British mammals fight for survival Rabbits Despite being a common sight across the countryside, rabbits have decreased in number by nearly 10% Danni Thompson British mammals fight for survival Black Rats Though not generally considered threatened animals, black rats number have collapsed in recent years due largely to pest control measures. However their far more common cousins, the brown rats, are thriving. Tim Melling British mammals fight for survival Red Squirrels Though it is difficult to measure changes in squirrel numbers, their range has shrunk considerably due largely to the spread of squirrel pox virus by invasive grey squirrel Alistair Marsh British mammals fight for survival Wildcats There has been a marked decline in wildcat populations, with only around 200 left in Scotland Rachel Profit British mammals fight for survival Badgers Due to legal protections badgers have recovered from past persecution and the density of their setts (holes) has increased by over 100% in recent decades Phil Mumby British mammals fight for survival Otters The banning of persistent organic pesticides has had a positive population effect on otters Allan Chard British mammals fight for survival Fallow Deer The 2018 review estimates a population size of fallow deer almost three times the size of that estimated in the 1995 review  a positive trend that is seen in other deer species. James Shooter British mammals fight for survival Eurasian Beavers These aquatic mammals were nearly extinct in Europe at the start of the 20th century, but their reintroduction to the UK have been largely successful Paul Scott

However, campaigners have long said the scale of killing is not justified.

This is the largest destruction of a protected species in living memory and it comes after a record-breaking summer heatwave that has already led to a significant reduction in the badger population in England, said Dominic Dyer, chief executive of the Badger Trust.

By the end of 2018, the government will have spent over 50m of public funds killing over 67,000 badgers which could push the species to the verge of local extinction in areas of England where it has lived since the Ice Age.

Last month, a government-sponsored review of the effectiveness of culling concluded basic infection controls on farms had been neglected while tens of thousands of badgers were being slaughtered.

The scientists said cattle-to-cattle transmission was still the biggest factor and that placing all the blame on wildlife was misguided.

However, the report did conclude the cull had provided a modest but real benefit in reducing TB.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

The report clearly stated that poorly secured fencing on farms and frequent trading of cattle were the main causes of the spread of TB in England, said Philip Mansbridge, UK director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

In fact, the number of cattle slaughtered because of bovine TB continues to rise year-on-year despite more badgers being unnecessarily killed.

As an alternative to culling badgers, wildlife groups have suggested vaccination programmes that they say would provide the additional benefit of saving taxpayers money.

One Wildlife Trusts trial had costs of 82 per badger vaccinated compared to an average 339 cost per badger culled.Fresh off her acting debut in Netflixs new film Roma, Yalitza Aparicio has landed the cover of Vogue Mexicos January 2019 issue.

Written, produced and directed by Alfonso Cuaron, Roma is a black and white film set in early 1970s Mexico and has been praised by critics as one of the films of the year.

The main character, Cleo, played by Aparicio, is a maid working for a well-off middle class family and was inspired by Cuarons own childhood nanny.

Until recently, Aparicio was a primary school teacher in Tlaxiaco, Oxaca, but she was discovered for the role when Cuaron travelled to indigenous communities around Mexico for casting calls and she was convinced by her sister to go to one.

The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September, quickly gained the praise of critics and fans alike, thrusting Aparicio into the limelight.

Recommended Emily Blunt graces American Vogue cover dressed as Mary Poppins

Now, the 26-year-old has cemented her arrival into the industry, landing her first ever Vogue Mexico cover for the publications January 2019 issue.

In the image, Aparicio is sitting in a vintage chair, dressed in a monochrome lace dress from Diors latest collection and gazing at the camera.

In tiun ntavi, the cover reads in Mixtec language, A Star Is Born.

It is thought that this is one of the first times that Vogue Mexico has chosen to feature an indigenous woman on its cover.

This year alone, the publication has seen a plethora of famous supermodels such as Hailey Baldwin, Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski nab a position on the prized front page.

The cover has been praised by readers on social media, with one person describing Aparicios presence as A cover for the history books.

Another person commented: This breakthrough gives me the chills.

While a third wrote: This is the best cover in the history of Vogue Mexico! Congratulations Vogue!!

In addition to revealing Aparicios cover, the magazine also released a short video, where the actor discusses everything from her dreams to her fear of being in front of the camera and diversity.

Certain stereotypes are being broken: that only people with a certain profile can be actresses or be on the cover of magazines, Aparicio says in the video.

Other faces are now being recognised. It is something that makes me so happy and proud of my roots.When it comes to preparing the perfect Christmas dinner, the options are endless - with countless sides and mains to choose from.

However, for many families, sitting down to Christmas dinner wouldnt be complete without a roast turkey.

Despite the common claim that turkeys are the driest of birds, and lack flavour in comparison to other poultry options, it is possible to make a delicious, moist Christmas turkey, according to celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, who shared with The Independent his own tips for cooking turkey.

According to Puck, preparing the perfect Christmas turkey starts with choosing the right bird - which should not be the largest option in the store.

I prefer not too big, he told us. Like 15 or 16 pounds. In America, they offer 30 or 40-pound turkeys and the breasts are always dried out.

That's the stuff: Bill Granger's stress-free Christmas recipes Show all 3 1 /3 That's the stuff: Bill Granger's stress-free Christmas recipes That's the stuff: Bill Granger's stress-free Christmas recipes AN13601276Bill-Granger--Stu.jpg Kristin Perers That's the stuff: Bill Granger's stress-free Christmas recipes AN13601317Bill-Granger--Stu.jpg Kristin Perers That's the stuff: Bill Granger's stress-free Christmas recipes AN13601300Bill-Granger--Stu.jpg Kristin Perers

After youve chosen a mid-size turkey, Puck recommends brining it overnight - with a solution of salt, peppercorn and rosemary or thyme - which will give it flavour and moisture.

That is really the best thing, he said of the brine. And then when it is out of the brine, I dry it up really, really well and let it sit outside for a while.

Once the turkey has reached room temperature, which is essential before placing it in the oven, Puck creates a compound butter of rosemary, black pepper, and sage and places it under the skin, especially under the breast.

As for pre-oven seasoning, all you need is a little pepper and olive oil and thats it.

The most important step is the cooking of the turkey - which Puck says is impossible without a meat thermometer.

I think that the most important thing is that when you cook the turkey, not to cook it over, he told us. A meat thermometer is a good thing.

Dismissing the typical rule of 20 minutes per pound, which is way too much and often results in an overcooked bird, Puck told us it all depends on your oven - as the calibration of the oven is really important.

Although cooking time depends on the size of the bird, turkeys are considered fully cooked at 165 degrees.

 Gino D'Acampo's top tips for Christmas dinner

When the turkey is cooked but just slightly underdone, Puck recommends taking it out and letting the turkey rest for at least 15 minutes - at which point it will finish cooking.

The resulting turkey should be moist, flavourful and perfectly cooked through.

But if its not, Puck offered a solution: The great thing is to always make some really great rich mashed potatoes and even a dry turkey with mashed potatoes would be fine.

For the leftovers, in addition to turkey sandwiches, Pucks favourite way to use up the turkey is to make a pizza.

I chop up the meat that I have and I make a BBQ turkey pizza. I make the round pizza dough and put olive oil, mozzarella, fontina cheese and some onions and roasted peppers, and the cut-up turkey mixed with BBQ sauce and finish it with a little jalapeno and cilantro.

If turkey isnt for you, Puck recommends a few other options for Christmas dinner - including pheasants.

In England, you can get pheasants and stuff like that, he suggested. Or his other favourite is to go to Chinatown and buy a duck or two there.

The 10 Best cooking pots Show all 10 1 /10 The 10 Best cooking pots The 10 Best cooking pots The 10 Best cooking pots The 10 Best cooking pots The 10 Best cooking pots The 10 Best cooking pots The 10 Best cooking pots The 10 Best cooking pots The 10 Best cooking pots The 10 Best cooking pots The 10 Best cooking pots

Before they roast it, they air-dry it overnight and then I bring it home and cook myself, he told us.

Goose is also an option for Christmas dinner, however, they are easier to find in Pucks native Austria.

As for the most important component of Christmas dinner, Puck says it is tradition.

Everybody has different Christmas memories from their childhood, and for me, its really a traditional thing, so certain things have to be done the way they were, he told us.

Wherever you grew up and whatever [food] you had, it is great to keep traditions alive.For something that ends with something so pleasant, shoe shopping can sometimes seem like the worst kind of work: concern that a shop won't have your size, asking to find out if they do and try it on, only to discover that size doesn't fit and being forced to trudge back ashamed and ask for a different size, before being forced to wait all over again as you try and check out.

Nike, it turns out, wants to put a stop to that kind of shopping just as much as you do. And with its latest additions to its app, it appears to have succeeded. The company is just one of a range of firms betting that the future of retail looks a little like its past, and that traditional shops aren't being killed by technology but enhanced by it.

The company's new update  known as Nike App At Retail, and newly launched at its London Store right on Oxford Circus  allows you to shop right from the app, choosing your size and style and having it checked out seamlessly. Which sounds just as straightforward as buying online, except it comes with all the experience of actually heading to the shop.

The changes are intended as a way of bringing the best of the shopping experience into the app, and vice versa. In short, it works like a combination of the two: you can order and request clothes in the app, but try them in the store, and then check out with none of the stress but taking your new purchases (and the all-important bag) straight out of the store.

When described, it sounds like it could be just extra fuss and faff: great in principle but terrible in practice. But it works more seamlessly than even it sounds, because Nike has altered the way its stores work to ensure that everything happens as quickly and effortlessly as possible, at least as far as its customers are concerned.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

If you want to try on some shoes, say, just grab them from the wall, open the Nike app and scan the barcode inside, letting you choose what size. If they don't fit, ask again  they'll come within minutes, and you can order them to any part of the shop you like. If you do want them, just take them up to any of Nike's store staff and they'll let you buy them on your phone.

All of that process  which has required members of staff to be ferrying the shoes around, for instance, alongside other changes to the way the stores themselves work  began with an attempt to make things more simple for the people taking part in it, Nike says.

Recommended Sterling features in Nike advert following alleged racial abuse

"When we started this journey, we began as we always do: talk to customers," says Michelle Warvel, Nike's global senior director of member and athlete services. "We asked them a simple question: how is your shopping in a Nike store and how do we get in your way?

"They came back with three very distinct bits of feedback. One is that their number one issue and friction they feel is they want the product when they want it, and sometimes they can't get it. So how do we make it fast, convenient to get the product wherever they are?"

"Second, we heard that consumers really want the choice and the ability to speak with an athlete. It's about building these relationships. But there are instances where consumers want to self-serve." Customers wanted to be able to see details about the product, whether it is available online and how it could be bought, she says.

"Lastly, it was about personalisation. We have a very personal experience in stores, but with this experience we had to do both  as we start using an app, we have to remind ourselves that they're coming for an experience."

To ensure that, Nike made sure that if people don't want to engage with the app, nothing much will change: you can still ask for clothes or shoes in different sizes, for instance, and the process will be no more difficult if you never even open up your phone. But for the person who might want to use the app, nudges are everywhere: little announcements are dotted around Nike's stores, and the app will eventually allow people to request everything that one of its mannequins are wearing and have them all delivered, in your size, to one spot in the store, allowing you to buy the whole look in one quick move.

And whatever they do, plenty of staff are dotted around and willing to help, as well as being intimately involved with the process of actually using the app. This is nothing like the dread of a Tesco self-checkout system: all frustration as you attempt to convince a machine that there is no unexpected item in the bagging area, combined with a vague guilt about the fact the machine you're struggling with has probably replaced someone's job.

Instead, the app is intended to free up staff  given the person helping you select shoes isn't running around trying to find boxes of sneakers, they can actually talk to you about your choice. (Nike refers to its shop staff as athletes and its customers as members  a decision it claims is borne out by the fact that customers will sometimes be given rewards for turning up to its shops, and can get involved in things like running clubs.)

That kind of relationship is built into the app. "One of the things is that all the experiences are tied very closely to the store athletes. When you make a request, it's an athlete at the other end who's receiving it." Doing so ensures the kind of dialogue that was so important about speaking to store staff is preserved: it means that staff will still be able to suggest an alternative but similar shoe, for instance, in the same way they might have brought down another option when you dispatched them to try and find your size.

(Nike isn't alone in introducing apps in this way. Just down the road on Oxford Street, at the Apple Store, customers can stroll in and check out just by using their app; up the road, and at the other end of the market, even Wetherspoons is offering customers the ability to order and pay for their drinks through a devoted app. But those examples, just like Nike, are remarkable not because they're representative but because they're unusual; for most companies, online shopping and buying in-store remain mostly divided, with click and collect the most technologically advanced most shops have got.)

From here, the app is going to expand. Both in terms of the places its available  it will be a central part of the plans for a new Nike Paris  but also the kinds of different things it does.

So, for instance, in Nike's NYC store, that feature of scanning mannequins and having their clothes delivered to your dressing room is already rolling out. What's more, it is adding a new feature called instant checkout, which allows people buy their clothes entirely on their own  meaning that it's theoretically possible to head into a store, try on a variety of different shoes, and then actually buy them, all without talking to a single human being.

It is coming to more places, too, rolling out across Europe and in other stores elsewhere in the world. Some of that involves thinking about how to best suit those markets  some specific things might be right for London customers but don't work for those in San Francisco  and will be worked out as the app and experience continues to be rolled out.

But Warvel is particularly excited about the fact that all of those changes  the innovations in the app, and the alterations to the practical process of running the stores that have allowed them to be introduced  can function something like a platform to launch changes in the future. Its digital and physical teams are now full integrated, for instance, and the development of the app allows the company to seize on the kind of location and awareness that the little phone sat in your pocket can provide to the company.The plummeting price of bitcoin has seen a brief respite over the last 48 hours, with the cryptocurrency rising in value by more than 10 per cent.

The market turnaround comes after nearly a year of declining prices that has seen bitcoin fall from close to $20,000 (16,000) in December 2017, to todays price of $3,500.

Other major cryptocurrencies have experienced similar price rallies, including ripple, ethereum and stellar, but by far the biggest gains have been seen by EOS.

The worlds fourth most valuable cryptocurrency has risen in price by almost 50 per cent over the last couple of days, according to CoinMarketCap.

The price gains come as some cryptocurrency analysts were forecasting even more falls in the market. On Monday, one former advocate predicted bitcoin will become worthless in 2019.

Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Satoshi Nakamoto creates the first bitcoin block in 2009 On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled 'Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System' Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin is used as a currency for the first time On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins  the equivalent of $90 million at today's prices Lazlo Hanyecz Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Silk Road opens for business Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin Screenshot Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures The first bitcoin ATM appears On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures The fall of MtGox The world's biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Would the real Satoshi Nakamoto please stand up In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's big split On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's price sky rockets Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures What goes up... Bitcoin price crashes spectacularly, losing half of its value in a matter of days Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin plunges The cryptocurrency eventually bottoms out below $4,000 in 2019 before slowly rebuilding momentum to outperform more traditional assets Getty Images

Despite such dire predictions, one analyst said the recent rally shows there is still some life in the market.

The rise in cryptoasset value in the last 24 hours has many questioning if the market is experiencing a Santa Rally. The truth is crypto as a concept is still relatively new and we dont have enough data yet to show if this is a typical December trend, Mati Greenspan, a senior market analyst at online trading platform eToro, said in a statement to The Independent.

What we do know is that the price increase is a strong push off the floor for the market. This type of movement is encouraging and may just end up creating a bottom for this battered market and possibly even a bullish trend into 2019.

Such a positive spin on this relatively minor market movement is not shared by everyone within the cryptocurrency industry, however, with some saying investors should look towards 2019 rather than hope for any kind of Christmas miracle.

With the festive break rapidly approaching, those looking for any crumb of comfort from the crypto market or indeed broader macroeconomic news should probably just surrender to over eating, family arguments and endless re-runs early, said David Thomas, director and co-founder of Mayfair-based cryptocurrency exchange GlobalBlock.

Along with the ongoing Brexit saga and Donald J Trump show, crypto markets continue to leach value with overall market cap across cryptos now threatening to break down through the $100bn level... Perhaps the only crumb of comfort to take from the whole situation is that a recent study has shown that ID verified crypto users have doubled in the first three quarters of 2018 from 18 to 35 million users, perhaps suggesting that despite the adjustment in price, adoption is slowly picking up.Elon Musks tunnel-digging venture is set to unveil a prototype of its next-generation transport system, complete with ground to tunnel car elevators .

After almost two years of digging, The Boring Company will show off its Hawthorne Test Tunnel in California, which will include the OLeary Station.

The Boring Company said the test tunnel is being used for the research and development of the firms proposed public transportation system.

The purpose is to demonstrate that a lift can be built in very small footprints and within existing buildings, whether they are houses, office buildings, or retail parking lots, the company said.

Looking forward, one could have a lift in the basement of every office building, allowing extremely efficient commutes.

LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes: Paypal founder Elon Musk unveils 800mph Hyperloop 'trains' Show all 6 1 /6 LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes: Paypal founder Elon Musk unveils 800mph Hyperloop 'trains' LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes: Paypal founder Elon Musk unveils 800mph Hyperloop 'trains' hyperloop.jpg LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes: Paypal founder Elon Musk unveils 800mph Hyperloop 'trains' hyperloop-2.jpg Reuters LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes: Paypal founder Elon Musk unveils 800mph Hyperloop 'trains' hyperloop-3.jpg Reuters LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes: Paypal founder Elon Musk unveils 800mph Hyperloop 'trains' hyperloop-4.jpg spacex.com LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes: Paypal founder Elon Musk unveils 800mph Hyperloop 'trains' hyperloop-5.jpg spacex.com LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes: Paypal founder Elon Musk unveils 800mph Hyperloop 'trains' hyperloop-6.jpg spacex.com

Elon Musk, who founded The Boring Company after becoming frustrated with LA traffic, said earlier this month the 18 December event would be more than a tunnel opening.

He tweeted: Will include modded but fully road legal autonomous transport cars & ground to tunnel car elevators.

The two-mile Hawthorne Test Tunnel runs beneath 120th Street in LA, originating from the car park at SpaceX on Crenshaw Boulevard.

Images circulating on social media reveal the company has also built a medieval-style watchtower at the tunnels entrance, apparently referencing an article in Wired that claimed the entrepreneur interrupts meetings to play clips of Monty Python.

Mr Musk tweeted he is looking for a knight to yell insults at people in a French accent, referring to the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

The tower is a demonstration of how excavated dirt from the tunnels can be recycled into bricks for building structures.

In a recent interview with comedian Joe Rogan, Mr Musk revealed The Boring Company had started out as a joke and he is still uncertain about whether it will be successful.

We are going to build a tunnel, he said. And maybe that tunnel will be successful. And maybe it wont.

A tunnel digger in Los Angeles built by The Boring Company. (The Boring Company)

If it is successful, the tunnels will enable a transportation system called Loop, which the company says will solve the problem of soul-destroying traffic and transform how people travel around urban environments.

Loop is a high-speed underground public transportation system in which passengers are transported on autonomous electric skates traveling at 125-150 miles per hour, The Boring Companys website explains.

Electric skates will carry between 8 and 16 passengers (public transportation), or a single passenger vehicle... The electric skates are faster than conventional subway cars, and are autonomous vehicles. Most importantly, Loop is an express public transit system  through the use of a main artery with side tunnels for entry/exit, passengers travel directly to their final destination without stopping.A civil rights organisation in the US has called for a boycott of Facebook after a report found a Russian influence campaign on the platform was working to suppress African-American voter turnout.

The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) is leading the #LogOut protest on Tuesday, 18 December, while also calling on Congress to further investigate the social network.

A report for the US Senate Intelligence Committee into Russia's online meddling in the build up to the 2016 Presidential election determined black voters were specifically targetted by Russian operatives on social media.

Researchers at Oxford University and network analysis firm Graphika found Russians "sought to confuse, distract and ultimately discourage" black people from voting, as well as other voting blocks that could challenge Donald Trump.

"Over the last year, NAACP has expressed concerns about the numerous data breaches and privacy mishaps in which Facebook has been imtplicated," the NAACP said in a statement.

"And since the onset of the Silicon Valley boom, the organisation has been openly critical about the lack of employee diversity among the top technology firms in the country."

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.

The civil rights organisation called on its supporters to log out of Facebook and Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, for one week.

The NAACP said it also returned a recent donation from Facebook following the revelations.

"Facebook's engagement with partisan firms, its targeting of political opponents, the spread of misinformation and the utilisation of Facebook for propaganda promoting disingenuous portrayals of the African American community is reprehensible," said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP.

It is not the first boycott campaign Facebook has faced this year, with several high-profile figures in the tech industry calling for people to delete Facebook in March as a result of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

Among those leading the boycott was WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton, whose company was bought by Facebook for $19bn in 2014. Figures from the social network revealed around a million daily and active users in Europe left the social network in the three months leading up to October.

A spokesperson for Facebook responded to a request for comment from The Independent by referring to a post by Sheryl Sandberg, the firm's chief operating officer.

"Civil rights are core to American values of equality, dignity and freedom from discrimination. Advancing civil rights benefits all of us and is what we stand for as a people," the post stated.

"In May, we accepted the call to undertake a civil rights audit. We asked Laura Murphy, a highly respected civil rights and civil liberties leader, to guide the audit. After speaking with more than 90 civil rights organizations, today Laura is providing an important update on our progress.

"Facebook is committed to working with leading US civil rights organizations to strengthen and advance civil rights on our service. Theyve raised a number of important concerns, and Im grateful for their candor and guidance. We know that we need to do more: to listen, look deeper and take action to respect fundamental rights."Astronomers have identified what they believe is the farthest known object in our solar system, appropriately naming the pink cosmic body Farout.

The International Astronomical Unions Minor Planet Centre said the discovery was made last month using a telescope in Hawaii.

This discovery is truly an international achievement in research using telescopes located in Hawaii and Chile, operated by Japan, as well as by a consortium of research institutions and universities in the United States, Chad Trujillo, one of the researchers credited with the discovery, said in a statement.

He added, With new wide-field digital cameras on some of the worlds largest telescopes, we are finally exploring our Solar Systems fringes, far beyond Pluto.

Farout is located nearly 11 billion miles away  or 120 astronomical units  and is estimated to span nearly 310 miles (500 kilometres).

Recommended Nasa solar probe sends back image from next to the Sun

The cosmic body could take more than 1,000 years to orbit the sun. However, experts note the exact length of its orbit remains unclear since the object is so far away.

Scott Sheppard, who studies small bodies in the solar system at the Carnegie Institution for Science, said Monday it could take astronomers several years to determine the trajectory of Farouts exact orbit.

SpaceX's journey through the Solar System Show all 6 1 /6 SpaceX's journey through the Solar System SpaceX's journey through the Solar System SpaceX's journey through the Solar System SpaceX's journey through the Solar System SpaceX's journey through the Solar System SpaceX's journey through the Solar System SpaceX's journey through the Solar System

[Farout] is much more distant and slower moving than any other observed Solar System object, so it will take a few years to fully determine its orbit, he said as part of the announcement on Monday. But it was found in a similar location on the sky to the other known extreme Solar System objects, suggesting it might have the same type of orbit that most of them do.

The orbital similarities shown by many of the known small, distant Solar System bodies was the catalyst for our original assertion that there is a distant, massive planet at several hundred AU shepherding these smaller objects, he added.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Farout has surpassed the previous record-holder for the furthest object in the solar system.

The title used to belong to Eris, a dwarf planet nearly 96 astronomical units away.

Additional reporting by AP| BY Lynchy |

Outreach Nepals managing director Ujaya Shakya (pictured left) gets enlightened at Brandfest Kathmandu.

Brandfest is an annual franchise that has become popular in the advertising and marketing industry of Nepal since it launched five years. It is a perfect platform for international speakers to share their valuable knowledge and expertise with the key audiences of my country. As Nepal is poised for international growth, an event like Brandfest can play the role of a catalyst.

Brandfest is pivotal from Nepals standpoint. Nepal played host to some of the reputed and acclaimed international speakers for two days  7th & 8th December this year. It gave me an opportunity to delve in the minds of these knowledgeable speakers, know their thought process and learn. This year as well, like previous years, we had a star-studded line-up of speakers who mesmerized the audiences with their professional prowess and talent sharing experiences.

The first speaker of the day one was Neil George, writer of the unique book, made in comic book style, Building the Perfect Beast. He spoke about how the world is converging into a single world, where despite the differences in culture and geography, people have come to share a mutual interest towards everything sharing his Time Square moments. Sharing his six main aspects in which customer tastes and preferences have started to converge; citing examples of teenagers affinity towards tattoo, music and sports.

Ashraf Bin Taj, President of Marketing Society of Bangladesh, challenged the existing marketing theories, which no longer hold importance in this changing global marketing scenario. He showcased few beautiful heart-warming films from Bangladesh portraying the horrors of domestic violence through an ad. He highlighted the importance of human touch in branding and spoke about keeping our human values intact all the while embracing technology. Ramesh Narayan, Vice President of IAA, gave an enthralling presentation on how certain advertising campaigns in India spoke to the common people highlighting social issues. Another speaker Steve Owens, founder of I Am So Creative, emphasized on the importance of maintaining authenticity and simplicity in an increasingly impatient world. He gave rebranding examples of big brands who are opting for cleaner and simpler logos.

Day two started with Marc Israel who has come all the way from Mauritius. He spoke about Artificial Intelligence, and its influence on branding and advertising. He began with an interesting prospect of Artificial Intelligence (AI) possibly taking over the most revered of human skills and emotions like creativity and empathy. Annicia Manyaapelo, Founder and Creative Director, Nich Luxury Africa, evoked quite engaging reactions where attendees discussed whether luxury branding was really just a European domain. She spoke about how most luxury brands are increasingly shifting focus to exotic cultures. And mentioned that luxury is not just how expensive something is; it is anything that gives a special value or experience to the consumer.

Kainaz Karmakar and Harshad Rajadhyaksha, the celebrated award winning creative director duo from Ogilvy Mumbai showcased a unique case study of Savlon Healthy Hand Chalk Sticks Campaign. The duo emphasized on keeping thoughts creatively different and considering ideas, irrespective of how bizarre or insane it may sound. They also distributed their unique chalks to the participants. They said, Children are the most difficult target for any brand and you cannot afford to be boring with them.

And of course, building up more on a learning from the client and agency relationship and sharing few stories from his recently published book Sponge, Ambi Parameswaran, popularly known as Ambi and well-known brand strategist and founder of brand-building.com shared his experiences of learnings from his clients. He mentioned, If we re-evaluate the client-agency relationship as that of mutual learning and growing, we may end up having a win-win relationship with all our customers. He shared six stories from his book Sponge.

Knowledge has no alternative. Of course, knowledge is power. Brandfest is a platform for sharing knowledge and expertise. It was an educative immersive experience for not just me, but I am sure for all those who participated in this two-day event. There were many new learnings, refreshing ideas and new perspectives that were shared by the speakers at Brandfest Kathmandu which has enlighten all of us to prepare for the future.

This year, Brandfest theme was: what will be the scenario for BRANDS IN THE FUTURE. Brands shape people and markets alike. The best brands create a love affair with their most cherished consumers, making them special. But staying in your comfort zone can easily fall flat tomorrow. Nine speakers from UK, France, South Africa, Bangladesh and India enthralled the audiences with their captivating presentations. The title sponsor for the event is Asian Paints and organized by The Himalayan Times. Outreach Nepal is the creative partner for Brandfest for last 5 years. Other sponsors were Daraz online shopping & Absolut.

Ujaya Shakya is the managing director of Outreach Nepal and the author of Brandsutra.A second attempt to launch the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will take place in Florida today, as Elon Musks private space firm aims to deliver a spy satellite into orbit for the US Air Force.

It is the first time SpaceX is launching a satellite for the US military, following an $83 million contract with the Air Force.

The satellite launch is scheduled for 9.07am EST (2.07pm GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

It will be the first of three major rocket launches today, with Jeff Bezoss Blue Origin set to send its New Shepard capsule into the skies above West Texas just 19 minutes later.

A third launch is then planned from multinational satellite firm Arianespace and the US-based United Launch Alliance.

Follow all the latest news of the launches here.

Please allow a moment for the live blog to load...When Tash Bishop was 14, she took some red food colouring from her mums baking cupboard, poured the entire bottle into a pair of pants and proudly showed it to her friends.

I dont think anyones ever bled that much from one period before, the now 21-year-old says, laughing as she recalls how desperate she was for everyone to think shed started menstruating, even though she hadnt.

In fact, that moment would never come for Bishop  and it was only years later that she would find out why.

Bishop has Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome: a rare disorder that means she was born without a womb or a vagina. MRKH affects one in 5,000 women, but due to a lack of research, the cause is unknown and there are only a handful of doctors in the world who specialise in treating it.

Women with MRKH cannot get pregnant, they wont menstruate and will likely need to undergo special treatment in order to have sex. In most cases, they will have normal female chromosomes and ovaries with eggs, meaning they may be able to procreate with the help of IVF and a surrogate.

Bishop found out she had MRKH when she was 16. I dont remember much of what happened the day I was diagnosed, she recalls. Mum told me I cried. I think I just felt like a complete freak.

The activist runs a successful non-profit called The Pants Project, which raises money for infertility charities. Instagram is central to the organisations success and gives Bishop a platform to promote feminist causes and body positivity, which she does by posting unedited images of herself in her underwear: Im slowly learning to love myself again, reads a recent caption.

She launched the initiative shortly after a bout of poor mental health at the age of 19 that forced her to abandon her course at Leeds College of Music.

A nurse who had been treating me suggested I buy a pair of pants that would make me feel like superwoman. So I did exactly that, she says. I put on them on the day I lost my virginity, looked at myself in the mirror and thought Im sexy and Im female and thats okay. They made me feel like this pain inside me had been repaired somehow.

There are no visible signs that a person has MRKH. This means the majority of patients dont realise they have it until their late teens, when they either try to have sex and realise they cant, or start wondering why their period hasnt started yet.

The food colouring incident was enough to lead Bishops family and friends to believe there was nothing out of the ordinary. But concerns got the better of her and after two years she finally told the truth. Her mum said she was probably just a late bloomer.

But it really started to eat away at me, Bishop recalls, adamant there was something deeper going on. So I went to the GP and said, Im not leaving until you tell me whats wrong.

The diagnosis was a long process. It took one MRI scan, one ultrasound  when a doctor told Bishop there was a space where her womb should be  and several gynaecologist appointments to confirm her condition.

One doctor drew out my reproductive system and told me it looked like there were parts missing. It was all very vague, she remembers.

Another said Ive Googled your condition and turned her computer screen towards me to reveal a Wikipedia page. That was how Bishop received her diagnosis. When the doctor explained what it meant  no periods, no pregnancy and no sex without treatment  she was stunned.

Bishop was referred to Queen Charlottes and Chelsea Hospital in Hammersmith, London, one of two hospitals in the world that specialises in MRKH (the other is in Boston). Its here that she underwent one of the most physically and psychologically draining aspects of her condition: the treatment needed in order to have sex.

Because a woman with MRKH is born with just a third of what would constitute a normal vagina, in medical terms they dont have one, says Gillian Rose, consultant gynaecologist at Queen Charlottes. But the vagina is a muscle that can be stretched, either through surgery or a treatment called vaginal dilation. Once a woman undergoes either one or both of these, she should be able to enjoy comfortable sex, Rose adds.

My parents tell me Im an over-sharer, but all I want to do is make other women, whether they have MRKH or something else, feel like their condition isnt this silenced stigma Tasha Bishop

Bishop had both, and the process took its toll: With dilation, youre given this horrible rock solid piece of heavy plastic that you have to push inside of you. Its basically like a medical dildo. The then-18-year-old had just left school and spent the summer dilating, which involved lying down in bed with the piece of plastic inside of her for two hours every morning, every lunchtime and every evening for three months.

It was f***ing painful, she remembers, explaining how she would be given a larger instrument every few weeks in order to progress the stretching. It just made me feel so dirty, like I was having to hurt myself in order to have sex.

Bishop was then and still is in a stable relationship, something doctors recommend to women before they undergo dilation, the idea being that regular intercourse will prevent the vaginal muscle from shrinking back to its original size. Ive had sex with my boyfriend and burst into tears midway through, she says. It can feel like this isnt something my body is meant to experience But that isnt always the case. When its happening regularly, sex can be great because theres no pain, she adds. Then, I can have an orgasm just like anyone else.

Bishop doesnt hold back on details when discussing MRKH, but that is intentional. My parents tell me Im an over-sharer, but all I want to do is make other women, whether they have MRKH or something else that has rendered them infertile, feel like their condition isnt this silenced stigma.

There is no cure for MRKH, but Bishop is hopeful she will overcome one of the biggest difficulties imposed by her condition.

I really want kids, Bishops says, but Im not in any rush. I want to keep raising money for infertility charities and growing The Pants Project. Im also in the process of pitching a documentary about how infertility affects women around the world, which is something Im deeply passionate about. Despite living in a generation where feminism is such a core belief, these issues still carry a huge taboo. I just want to give these women a voice.Shay Mitchell has opened up about the dark side of social media and how she takes precautions to protect herself from over-zealous fans.

In a new interview with Cosmopolitan UK, the Pretty Little Liars actor revealed: When I go out, I dont say where I am in that exact moment.

I wont post about where I am until I leave. Id advise the same for everyone  you dont have to be a celebrity to get unwanted attention.

The 31-year-old stars in the up-coming Netflix thriller, You, about an aspiring writer called Joe who becomes obsessed with a woman he meets in a bookshop and uses social media to get closer to her.

While she hasnt experienced stalking herself, the star said she has had really intense encounters with fans".

Recommended Taylor Swift uses facial recognition software to identify stalkers

"Someone had a tattoo of my face on their leg, and its like, Well thank you, but thats permanent!" she said. "Its hard to know how to react."

Mitchell regularly documents her personal life on Instagram, sharing photos of her travels abroad, film projects, and fashion.

However, with over 21.5 million Instagram followers on the social media platform, the actor is wary of just how easy it is for users to find out information about a person.

Everybody can be a detective these days  or a stalker, she explained.

"So you're kind of choosing [to be] one or the other when it comes to using the internet for getting information. Im fascinated by that  the issues in You are so relevant to how we use social media nowadays."

While she finds Joes character in You too much, the Canadian star said she is guilty of becoming overly engrossed with peoples lives on social media.

Joe is relatable to me because there have been moments where Ive been with a friend [talking about a boy], and Ive been like, How do you know what his mums sisters cousin does? And she says, Oh, I found it on Facebook, and then I looked at them on Instagram or theyve Google searched the company. And youre like Woah!.

"It can be scary. You have to be careful."

The actors comments come hours after YouTube star James Charles posted a plea for privacy from his fans on Twitter.

On Sunday, the 19-year-old  who has over 11 million subscribers to his eponymous YouTube channel  said it was extremely disrespectful for fans to show up at his house as it makes him feel unsafe in his own home.

Charles later tweeted he was finding it hard to concentrate and was upset by a recent privacy breech at his New York home.Amnesty International has described Twitter as a toxic place for women following years of relentless abuse, threats and harassment on the social media platform.

On Tuesday, the non-governmental human rights organisation released a report into harassment against women on Twitter which found that women of colour were 34 per cent more likely to be targets of hate speech than white women.

Meanwhile, black women specifically were 84 per cent more likely to be mentioned in abusive tweets.

According to the report: Abusive content violates Twitters own rules and includes tweets that promote violence against or threaten people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability or serious disease.

Problematic content was defined as that which is hurtful or hostile, especially if repeated to an individual on multiple or cumulative occasions, but does not necessarily meet the threshold of abuse.

Recommended Follow the latest tweets from Donald Trump and what they really mean

The report also found that approximately one in 10 posts mentioning black women contained abusive or problematic language, as opposed to one in 15 for white women.

The study involved volunteers for Amnesty and Montreal-based startup Element AIs crowd-sourcing project, titled Troll Patrol, analysing 228,000 tweets sent to 778 female politicians and journalists across the political spectrum in the UK and US between January and December of 2017.

Twitter responded to the report explaining that its abusive behaviour policy strictly prohibits material that harasses, intimidates or silences another users voice.

Vijaya Gadde, Twitters legal, policy and safety chief, added: We are also transparently investing in better technology and tools to enable us to more proactively identify abusive, violative material, to limit its spread and reach on the platform and to encourage healthier conversations.

In response to the findings, shadow home secretary Diane Abbott called on the social media platform to clamp down on highly offensive racist and misogynist tweets.

My staff still spend a considerable amount of time removing and blocking abusive or threatening posts from social media, she said. Overwhelmingly the abuse is of a highly offensive racist and misogynist character.

She highlighted this kind of hate speech can lead to violence and that Twitter has the responsibility to shut down accounts sharing the material quicker than it currently does.

Twitter also does not have the option to delete offensive comments once an account has been blocked, she added. This would make a difference to conversations that are taking place.

A separate Amnesty study published in September 2017 found that Abbott, the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, received almost half (45.1 per cent) of all the abusive tweets sent to female MPs in the run-up to that years general election.

Abbott isnt alone in calling on Twitter to clamp down on hate speech in parliament.

Previously, Labour MP Jess Phillips opened about up about the harassment she endured on the platform after she received rape threats in May 2016.

At the time, she tweeted: To see the attack of a pack on here check out my mentions 600 odd notifications talking about my rape in one night. I think Twitter is dead.

The revelation came weeks before her parliamentary colleague Jo Cox was murdered by the far-right fanatic Thomas Mair.

Last week, Labour MP Luciana Berger tweeted several screengrabs of antisemitic messages she received after calling for her party leadership to table a vote of no confidence in Theresa Mays government.

Amnesty said: Politicians and journalists faced similar levels of online abuse and we observed both liberals and conservatives alike, as well as left- and right-leaning media organisations, were affected.

Kate Allen, Amnesty UKs director, added: Its clear that a staggering level of violence and abuse against women exists on Twitter. These results back up what women have long been saying  that Twitter is endemic with racism, misogyny and homophobia.

She continued: Twitter is failing to be transparent about the extent of the problem, but if our volunteers can gather meaningful data about online violence and abuse, so can Twitter.

The company must take concrete steps to properly protect womens rights on the platform.

The Independent has contacted Twitter for further comment.Britain needs a new watchdog to shake up the Big Four accounting firms and reduce their dominance of the market for auditing companies books, two government-requested reports said on Tuesday.

The reports proposals mark the most radical attempt yet to reform a sector in which just four firms - EY, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC - check the accounts of 341 of the top 350 listed companies in Britain.

Politicians have criticised a cosy audit sector and its timid regulator of failing to foresee the collapse of BHS and Carillion, among others.

In a report commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, John Kingman, chairman of insurer Legal & General, said the current regulator - the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) - should be replaced by a new watchdog with new management, stronger powers and a competition remit. It would be funded by a mandatory levy on accounting firms.

We need to build a new house, Mr Kingman told reporters.

Recommended KPMG is on the accountancy naughty step again over Ted Baker audit

The new watchdog - the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority - would directly regulate auditors, be forward looking and draw a line under a creaky, leaky, ramshackle and excessively consensual FRC perceived to be too close to the Big Four, Mr Kingman said.

The new watchdog would also have additional powers to pursue any company director if it found wrongdoing.

FRC chief executive Stephen Haddrill has already said he would step down next year. The board of the new regulator would decide whether to keep on current FRC staff.

Separately, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Tuesday published interim findings of its audit market review, which it began a few months ago.

We propose that FTSE 350 audit should be carried out jointly by two firms, at least one of which should be from outside the Big Four, the CMA said.

The subsidiaries of a company would be divided up among the two auditors, with both approving the consolidated accounts.

New laws would be needed to implement many of the Kingman recommendations and the CMA proposals, which will be finalised in early 2019.

The business ministry welcomed the recommendations, but it may have to hold a public consultation. It faces a parliament clogged by Brexit and a new regulator is unlikely to emerge before 2020.

Rachel Reeves, chair of parliaments business committee, said a new regulator should be able to spot signs of corporate failure and step in before it was too late.

We will take a close eye to the CMA and Kingman recommendations and examine what needs to be done to deliver on these reports, Ms Reeves said.

European Union and British reforms introduced in the past two years to increase audit market competition ended up with companies switching between the Big Four rather than hiring smaller rivals like Grant Thornton or BDO.

These intractable problems may take some years to sort out, said CMA chairman Andrew Tyrie. If it turns out that the proposals are not far-reaching enough, the CMA will persist until the problems are addressed.

Mr Kingman said a new regulator would bring an end to current industry self-regulation through professional bodies like the ICAEW. FRC oversight of actuaries should be moved to the Bank of England, he said.

In France, joint audits are already common and help smaller accountants like Mazars to break into the top end of the market. Joint audits are estimated to cost about 20 per cent more than having a single auditor.

The CMA said if joint audits did not work, a possible alternative would to be ensure that some major audit contracts were only available to non-Big Four accountants - a step the industry proposed in the summer.

The CMA stopped short of calling for a break-up of the Big Four but proposed putting their audit and advisory services into separate operating entities.

An audit business would have its own board, staff and profit pool for bonuses so it can focus on quality book-keeping.

Other recommendations include giving the new regulator powers to intervene in a firms audit, and a duty of alert that requires auditors to tell the regulator if they have serious concerns about a companys viability.

The CMA recommendations are open for public consultation until mid-January.

ReutersA company once hailed as a shining light of the UK technology startup scene collapsed into administration on Tuesday.

Blippar, which specialised in augmented reality and claimed to be valued at $1bn, said it was unable to secure the additional funding that it needed from one of its investors.

A statement on Blippars website said the companys services were likely to come to an end and all employees would be let go.

The companys technology allowed users to view a virtual overlay on the real world that provided additional information and opportunities to interact through their smartphones.

It was used for a broad range of purposes from education to advertising but ultimately failed to make money as augmented reality began being seen by advertisers as a gimmick.

Blippar's Twitter feed said: We're saddened to announce that Blippar has gone into administration today.

We're eternally grateful to all our team members, customers, partners, our board and investors who have been with us on this incredible journey.

This is an incredibly sad, disappointing and unfortunate outcome, the company said.

Founded by entrepreneurs Ambarish Mitra and Omar Tayeb in 2011, Blippar was a pioneer of promising secured funding from major investors including Qualcomm.

It claimed to have joined the exclusive club of unicorns - startups valued at $1bn or more - in March 2015, one of only a handful of UK tech firms to reach that status at the time.

Mr Mitra once said that what I'm trying to build is bigger than the internet itself.

But his company never looked like achieving those lofty aims as Blippar rapidly burned through cash and struggled to find a profitable niche.

Rumours circulated that users had deserted its platform and the company had little recurring revenue.

Its latest accounts filed it lost 35m in the 12 months to March 2017 and brought in just 5m.

It raised a further $26m this year, taking its total to around $125m, making it one of the best-funded UK tech startups.

Paul Appleton and Paul Cooper of insolvency firm David Rubin & Partners have been appointed as joint administrators.

The appointment of administrators has arisen effectively as a result of an alleged dispute over continued funding, said Mr Appleton.

Following their appointment, the administrators are now exploring all possible options for the future of the business for the benefit of all stakeholders.You meet someone, you fall in love, you spend some years together and eventually decide you want to grow a family. Its the seemingly simple path many of us take. However, according to the campaign group Fertility Fairness one in six couples in the UK suffers from infertility.

Sally and her partner  who wish to stay anonymous  are one of these couples. In 2016, after having tried naturally for two years without success, Sally got diagnosed with unexplained infertility. This means that not even specialists can find a cause for the couples inability to conceive. Sally, 39 at the time, and her partner decided to give IVF a go. The area they live in offers one full cycle of treatment to women up to 42, funded by the local NHS trust. At least that is what they were counting on, until their doctor called them into his office.

He sat us down, saying he was so angry, so upset for having to break the bad news to us, Sally recalls. The local clinical commissioning group (CCG) had made budget cuts. From one day to the other the age limit for IVF funding had dropped to 35. Thus, Sally wasnt eligible for a free cycle of treatment anymore. I started crying, thinking, where will we get the money from?Not many Russian nonagenarians get a birthday visit from Vladimir Putin. Not many Russian nonagenarians would take advantage of that presidential birthday visit to lobby for the release of a senator convicted on shaky grounds.

But though she called herself Grandma Lyuda, Lyudmila Alexeyeva was never going to be a harmless little old lady. The human rights activist, who died aged 91, made it her business to be a thorn in the side of the Kremlin until the very end of her life.

Lyudmila Alexeyeva was born in Yevpatoria, Crimea, at the height of Stalins reign of terror. She came from a well-connected Communist family and took a degree in history. During the Second World War she worked as a volunteer labourer. She experienced her political awakening during the tenure of of Nikita Khrushchev.

Between 1953 and 1964, the Soviet Union experienced what became known as the Krushchev Thaw. As the states grip on the private thoughts and philosophies of its citizens seemed to loosen, the reality of Stalins regime was re-examined. That thaw came to an abrupt end when Khrushchev was forced from the Kremlin. One of the writers arrested in the period that followed was Yuli Daniel, Alexeyevas friend.

Alekseyeva on her 90th birthday in July last year (Getty)

Fearing that Daniel wouldnt get a fair hearing as the Soviet Union returned to the old system of secret political trials, Alexeyeva campaigned for access to the court and did her best to spread the word about the states slide back into authoritarianism. As a result, in April 1968 she was fired from her publishing job and expelled from the Communist Party. However, Alexeyeva did not falter.

She began to work in secret on The Chronicle of Current Events, a pamphlet dedicated to documenting the treatment of those who opposed the post-Thaw regime. And in 1976, she helped to found the USSRs first human rights organisation, The Moscow Helsinki Group, in response to the Soviet Union having signed up to the Helsinki Accords. The group was intended to monitor the Soviet Unions observance of those accords. However in 1977, Alexeyeva was given a choice of prison or exile for her involvement in the group and The Chronicle. She chose to leave Russia for the United States.

Alexeyeva would spend a total of 16 years in exile. During that time, she worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America. She wrote in English and Russian, publishing Soviet Dissent, a history of the dissidents, and The Thaw Generation: Coming of Age in the Post-Stalin Era.

Alexeyeva became an American citizen in 1982, but after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1993, she returned to her homeland as soon as she was able. The Moscow Helsinki Group was brought back to life and from 1996, Alexeyeva chaired the group in Russia once again.

When Putin came to power in 1999, Alexeyeva was vocal in her disapproval of his government and in particular its actions during the second Chechen War. However, in 2000, she made the controversial decision to become part of a commission to advise Putin on human rights issues. The move drew disapproval from some of her fellow campaigners, but Alexeyeva wasnt about to become a Kremlin stooge. As Putin continued to curtail civil liberties, Alexeyeva continued to call him out, taking part in protests on the streets of Moscow even as she headed into her eighties.

In 2009, while protesting in defence of Article 31 of the Russian constitution, which enshrines the right to assemble peacefully, Alexeyeva was arrested and detained by riot police. She was dressed as a traditional Russian Christmas elf at the time. Her detention made the front page of The New York Times and drew international concern. However, while a small group of Russians lauded Alexeyevas bravery, there were many more who considered her the enemy. She was accused of being a Nazi by pro-Kremlin groups and was physically assaulted in a Moscow street.

Despite all this, it wasnt until 2012 that Alexeyeva finally gave up on Putins human rights council. She had taken the view that she would be better positioned to affect change from the inside, but could no longer pretend her ploy was working as the regime continued to crack down on her fellow Russians human rights. Still, on her 90th birthday five years later, Putin visited Alexeyeva at home with a bottle of champagne and a picture of the Crimean town of her birth. Critics saw the gift of the picture as a cynical attempt to make it appear as though Alexeyeva approved of Russias 2014 annexation of Crimea, especially when it was discovered that the film of the visit had been doctored.

Alexeyevas friends were equally unimpressed by Putins appearance at her funeral. He stayed for just a short while before heading to the unveiling of a statue of Alexeyevas fellow dissident, the writer Solzhenitsyn. The Kremlin refused permission for Alexeyevas fellow activist, 77-year-old Lev Ponomaryov, serving a 16-day jail sentence for advertising an illegal rally on Facebook, to say goodbye to his former colleague and friend.

A week before her death, Alexeyeva was still working from her hospital bed. In an address intended for the Moscow Helsinki Groups annual conference, she wrote: It seems to me there are not easy times ahead. We all see very well how weak is civil society, the culture of law and democratic institutions in our country.

Having seen Russia reach for more openness only to turn back to authoritarianism during her lifetime, Alexeyeva had grounds for pessimism. However, she urged her friends in the human rights movement to continue their work. When we started our difficult path in defence of human rights, we had far less grounds for optimism than today, but we believed in our hopeless business! I wish you such belief and also strength and luck with all my heart!

Alexeyeva is survived by two sons, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Lyudmila Alexeyeva, human rights activist, born 20 July 1927, died 8 December 2018Crucial DNA components have been created by scientists under conditions just like those found on meteorites soaring through space.

In these extraterrestrial simulations, scientists managed to make 2-deoxyribose, the backbone of the double helix code for all life on Earth.

Tests conducted on real meteorites supported this work, revealing for the first time the presence of an array of sugars derived from DNA, as well as other building blocks of life.

These substances add to a growing list of vital biological compounds found on space rocks, suggesting life on Earth may have been seeded by comets, meteorites or particles of space dust.

To simulate the conditions found in space, Nasa scientist Dr Michel Nuevo and his team created mixtures of ice containing water and methanol and blasted them with UV radiation.

The findings add to over 25 years of laboratory experiments that have shown how recreating the conditions of space can yield the building blocks of biology.

Though terrestrial processes must also have contributed to the emergence of life on our planet over 3.8 billion years ago, those meteoritic organics were available and may have played a role in the first biological processes, the authors concluded.

Their results were published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

The Earth was steadily bombarded with space rocks for the first several hundred million years of its existence.

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

Many scientists think this phase brought at least some of the compounds to Earth that were necessary for life to emerge.

Among the substances that have been thrown up by past experiments are nucleobases, molecules that store and transmit genetic information.

However, the Nasa teams experiment is the first to produce the sugars that form the scaffold for these components in lifes genetic code.

Though the scientists could not definitively confirm the presence of 2-deoxyribose on the actual meteorite samples they tested, they suggested larger meteorite samples may reveal its presence in space.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

In particular, insights can be gained by studying carbonaceous chondrites  rare objects that comprise only a tiny number of all known meteorites, and which date back to the earliest days of the solar system.

As the formation of biological molecules in space is thought to be a universal phenomenon, they concluded the components of life could have been delivered to other planets in the same way.

These ideas are distinct from the more extreme, and less mainstream, concept of panspermia, which holds that actual life-forms  probably in the form of microbes  were originally delivered to Earth from space by meteorites.A lookalike of Friends star David Schwimmer has gone on the run after failing to appear in court to answer theft and fraud charges.

Abdulah Husseni was charged by police with stealing a crate of beer from a restaurant in Blackpool in September after their online appeal unwittingly attracted international attention.

Social media users had suggested CCTV images of the suspect bore a striking resemblance to the actor, who played Ross Geller in the hit sitcom for a decade between 1994 and 2004.

Officers eventually detained Husseni in connection with the incident in November and he had been due to appear at Blackpool Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

However, after he failed to answer this summons, district judge Jane Goodwin issued a warrant for his arrest.

The defendant had received instructions to report to the court by 9.30am at the latest on Tuesday in order to attend the hearing.

The original appeal on Blackpool Polices Facebook page attracted tens of thousands of comments and shares when it was first posted in October.

Many users saw the funny side, offering Friends quotes and references in response to the attempt to identify the suspect.

Schwimmer, who police later confirmed had not been in the UK at the time of the incident, even joined in on the joke, posting mock security camera footage of himself on Twitter.

Officers, I swear it wasnt me. As you can see, I was in New York, he wrote in a post accompanying the video. To the hardworking Blackpool Police, good luck with the investigation.

Husseni, of Slough, Berkshire, is accused of stealing items including a coat, a phone and a wallet from the Mr Basrais World Cuisines buffet restaurant in Blackpool.

He was arrested over the incident by officers from the Metropolitan Police in Southall, southwest London, in November.

Additional reporting by PAEnvironmental campaigners are taking the government to court in the latest legal challenge over fracking policies.

In July ministers told local authorities to recognise the benefits of onshore oil and gas development and help facilitate new operations across the country.

There was also a proposal to remove the need for new wells to get planning permission, a move critics say would make it far too easy to establish fracking sites.

Two challenges are being launched by Friends of the Earth and businessman Joe Corre, who is the son of fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood and leader of campaign group Talk Fracking.

Both groups say the new planning guidance is unlawful because it was brought in without a public consultation or an environmental impact assessment.

Recommended Activists launch legal challenge against Cuadrilla fracking permit

Across a three-day hearing at the High Court, Mr Justice Dove will listen to arguments from campaigners and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

Ahead of proceedings, Will Rundle, head of legal at Friends of the Earth, said: The governments national planning framework, which directs development in every single community in England, has never been environmentally assessed.

This makes a mockery of the governments green credentials and undermines sustainable development.

How fracking works and where it could happen Show all 2 1 /2 How fracking works and where it could happen How fracking works and where it could happen 02-FrackingHowItWorks.jpg How fracking works and where it could happen 02-FrackingMapWeb.jpg

The governments failure to undertake any environmental assessment of its national planning policy, not only dangerously threatens our already warming climate and is, we believe, unlawful, but shows contempt for people and planet.

Before the hearing began, Dame Vivienne and Mr Corre staged a protest outside the courts in which they dressed as an angel and a shepherd in an alternative nativity scene warning of climate collapse.

Mr Corre said: Fracking is totally and utterly out of step with the times. We are now in a major climate emergency. We must put an end to this total and utter madness and keep it in the ground.

Many campaigners oppose fracking because they claim it locks the UK into a future of fossil fuel extraction at a time when the nation should be cutting carbon emissions to tackle climate change.

A spokesperson from MHCLG said it was not appropriate to comment on an ongoing legal challenge.

The new challenges are the latest in a series of court cases involving fracking, with Friends of the Earth bringing a case against the Environment Agency over fracking wastewater treatment techniques only last month.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

In October, three jailed anti-fracking protesters were freed after a judge ruled their sentences were manifestly excessive.

Previously Lancashire resident Bob Dennett had tried to get an injunction to block Cuadrilla from starting fracking at its controversial Preston New Road site near Blackpool.

The fossil fuel exploration company recently began fracking in the UK for the first time in seven years, but has been forced to halt operations several times due to small earthquakes at the site.The hostile environment is under the spotlight again. This time, government policy is being challenged in the High Court for its impact on renters  specifically, non-white British people who have been refused tenancy due to their skin colour and lack of a British passport.

Lawyers are contesting the Right to Rent scheme, introduced in 2016, which places the onus on landlords to check the immigration status of prospective tenants. A vital component in Theresa Mays plan to make Britain a hostile place for illegal migrants, it seeks to ensure that no one without the right to remain in the country manages to slip into private accommodation.

But, rather like the mistakes made in the Windrush fiasco, the measure has had unintended consequences.Campaigners have hacked hundreds of adverts on the London Underground, replacing them with notices telling passengers how to disrupt attempted deportations on passenger airlines.

The signs, branded See It, Say It, Stop It in reference to the British Transport Polices See It, Say It, Sorted public safety slogan, encouraged people to take action on commercial flights if they believe someone is being forcibly removed from the country.

Posters called on passengers to demand to talk to the pilot or to remain standing and refuse to sit down if a deportation is taking place.

More than 200 ads were replaced with the signs on the Piccadilly, Victoria and Central lines as part of the campaign by queer activist group Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants (LGSMigrants) on Tuesday to mark International Migrants Day.

Often when we are confronted with situations where we see vulnerable people falling victim to an abusive system we feel powerless to help, Sam Bjorn from the group said.

We want to change that. We aim to build a movement to resist this brutal, racist practice of secretive deportations and the hostile environment as a whole.

We hope to empower everyone to take a stand and refuse to sit in silence.

Recent months have seen a number of incidents on commercial airlines where passengers have rebelled against deportations being carried out.

In July, Swedish student Elin Ersson single-handedly stopped the deportation of an Afghan man on a flight from Gothenburg to Istanbul by refusing to sit down when ordered to do so by the pilot and airline crew.

The 21-year-old won widespread and international acclaim for her actions, but was later told she would be charged by prosecutors with violating aviation law. A date for her trial has yet to be set.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

In October, holidaymakers on a flight from Heathrow to Istanbul staged a protest forcing authorities to halt the deportation of 29-year-old Somalian national Yaqub Ahmed.

However, it later emerged Ahmed was being removed from the country after serving a nine-year prison sentence for taking part in a gang rape in north London.

Virgin Atlantic, which had previously offered seats to detainees and accompanying security officers on its flights, said in June it would no longer assist the Home Office amid concerns over the wrongful deportations of Windrush citizens to the Caribbean.

A charity helping people removed from the UK re-settle in Jamaica reported at the time that deportees had been regularly arriving on Virgin flights.One of Theresa Mays closest European allies has warned his voters against emulating the chaos caused by the UKs decision to leave the European Union.

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte took out a full page advert in the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper, where he compared the UK to a fragile vase which has been shattered by divisions in the politicians and the public.

In a blow to Ms May, who considers the Netherlands leader an ally, he held up the UK as an example of what happens if people refuse to compromise and work together for the common good.

It comes after a torrid week for Ms May, when EU leaders left her Brexit strategy in tatters by rebuffing attempts to secure concessions that would reassure restive Tory MPs.

In a letter to the Dutch people ahead of upcoming provincial elections, Mr Rutte warned against factions in society who were gripping the vase so tightly that it breaks.

Recommended Business leaders urge May to call fresh Brexit referendum

We have seen examples of societies where they dropped the vase, wrote Mr Rutte.

Look at Great Britain. The politicians and residents have forgotten what they achieved together. Now they are in chaos.

Addressing his letter to Dear Netherlanders, Mr Rutte said their country is somewhere that isnt perfect but where we do make progress.

The advert marked the start of campaigning for upcoming provincial elections, in which Mr Ruttes centre-right VVD faces a challenge from populist parties, including the right-wing PVV led by Geert Wilders.

It might come as a surprise to No10 as Mr Rutte has been reasonably supportive of Ms Mays efforts secure a Brexit deal.

Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal Show all 11 1 /11 Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Independent Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Daily Mirror Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Times Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Daily Express Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Financial Times Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Daily Telegraph Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The i Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Guardian Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Scotsman Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Daily Mail Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Metro

The prime minister visited the Hague on her whistle-stop tour of EU capitals last week, after she was forced to shelve a Commons vote on her Brexit deal in the face of impending defeat.

Ms May has now said the vote will be held in the third week of January but MPs are unlikely to back her proposals without further assurances.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn has tabled a no-confidence motion in the prime ministers leadership over the delay to the parliamentary vote.

However critics have accused him of bottling it as the motion will not trigger an election as it is non-binding on the government.Jeremy Corbyn has called for a vote of no confidence in Theresa May, but backed away from the official mechanism that could actually trigger an election to oust her.

The Labour leader said he was tabling the motion because Ms May had refused to allow parliament a vote on approving her proposed Brexit deal which was supposed be to held earlier this month.

However, the government says it will not allow parliamentary time for a vote on the motion, a Downing Street source said. We wont allow time for what is a stunt. The FTPA (Fixed Term Parliament Act) applies if Labour wants to put down a motion under the terms of that.

Mr Corbyn was immediately accused of bottling it by other opposition parties who are instead calling for him to back a move under the official motion of no-confidence procedure as set out in law, something the Labour leader has so far refused to do.

It came as Ms May appeared in the Commons to deliver a statement on the European Council meeting last week which ended with her still needing to win further concessions from the EU in order to make her deal viable.

On Monday afternoon Labour revealed that Mr Corbyn would call for a vote of no confidence in the prime minister if she failed to set a date for the vote on her Brexit proposals.

As it was Ms May did confirm a date  sometime during the week beginning 14 January  but Mr Corbyn still went ahead and called for his motion.

He said: A responsible prime minister would, for the good of this country, put this deal before the house this week so we could move on from this governments disastrous negotiation.

Labour confirmed however, that the move would not come under the auspices of the Fixed Term Parliament Act, which would potentially require election if the government loses the vote.

Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal Show all 11 1 /11 Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Independent Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Daily Mirror Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Times Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Daily Express Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Financial Times Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Daily Telegraph Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The i Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Guardian Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Scotsman Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Daily Mail Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Metro

However, even if the government did allocate time for it the result would not be binding on Ms May or the government in terms of resignation or an election.

If Ms May did lose the vote it might still be severely destabilising if lots of Tories refused to support her, something which might have been a prospect given that only last week 117 opposed her in an internal Tory party confidence vote.

But after Mr Corbyn made his call in the Commons, the European Research Group of backbench Tories, which has led internal opposition to Ms May, said it would back the government if the Labour motion ever came to the house.

Commenting on the motion, Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable said: Corbyn knows that for a no-confidence motion to matter it should relate to the Conservative government as a whole. That is the way to precipitate the general election he says he wants.

Instead he turns his fire not on the Tories or Brexit but Theresa May personally, ducking the real issue and bottling the real vote the Commons needs.

SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon said on Twitter: Labour tabling a motion just in the PM rather than in the entire government begs the question, which Tory do they want to see as PM?A total of 3,500 troops will be put on standby for any crisis triggered by a no-deal Brexit, the defence secretary has announced.

Gavin Williamson said the soldiers would be ready to support any government department on any contingencies they may need.

The comment came despite Downing Street indicating there would be no need for troop deployments as part of the decision to move in full to prepare for crashing out of the EU without an agreement.

It also comes after Tobias Ellwood, Mr Williamsons deputy at the Ministry of Defence went public on his departments assessment of readiness for no-deal Brexit.

Last week, Mr Ellwood told the BBC that crashing out of the bloc was not an option for the army, adding: MoD planning shows that arrangements are not in place  economically, and from a security perspective, its not possible.

At cabinet, ministers agreed that  with stalemate over Theresa Mays Brexit deal  they had a duty to ramp up long-promised no-deal planning.

Officials will now seek to communicate with six million British businesses, calling on them to enact their own contingency plans, and with private citizens on actions they should take.

Whitehall will also implement proposals already publicised including those designed to ensure vital food and medical supplies do not run out.

In the Commons, Mr Williamson was asked if he had received any approaches from other government departments about using our world-class armed forces personnel in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

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"

He replied: Weve, as yet, not had any formal requests from any government departments.

But what are doing is putting contingency plans in place, and what we will do is have 3,500 service personnel held at readiness, including regulars and reserves, in order to support any government department on any contingencies they may need.

Ian Murray, a Labour supporter of the anti-Brexit Best for Britain campaign group, said: Putting 3,500 military personnel on standby for a no-deal Brexit demonstrates just how incredibly serious this is.

This is the reality of a no-deal Brexit: soldiers on the streets; medicines being stockpiled in the NHS; and airports and ferry terminals grinding to a halt. This is scary tactics, pure and simple.

The prime ministers spokesperson said the government had allocated more than 4bn for spending on Brexit planning, 2bn to be allocated imminently.

He said it was impossible to say how much of this money would turn out to be wasted  if a no-deal Brexit was averted  because some would be spent on new systems, which would be required regardless.

The spokesman confirmed the plans included chartering space on cross-Channel shipping, to bring in supplies of food and medicines, if necessary.

But he refused to say whether businesses considering moving abroad in the event of no deal would be encouraged to take that course of action.The cabinet has given the go-ahead for all of the UKs no-deal Brexit planning to be implemented in full as the likelihood of dropping out out of the EU without any agreement increases.

Downing Street said the governments priority was still to secure a deal, but that it had a duty to plan for every outcome and would now make a series of no-deal announcements in coming days.

Officials will now seek to communicate with six million British businesses, calling on them to enact their own contingency plans, and with private citizens on actions they should take. Whitehall officials will also implement proposals already publicised like those designed to ensure vital food and medical supplies do not run out.

But the fault lines running through the cabinet also became more defined with one senior minister said to have branded the idea of a no-deal Brexit a unicorn that Ms Mays top team should seek to slay, while a disagreement also broke out over whether so-called indicative votes would be needd to work out what approach can pass through parliament.

Some 3,500 troops will also be on stand-by to help deal with the impact of a no-deal Brexit if needed, it emerged.

It comes days after Ms May returned from a European Council summit in Brussels, where she failed to secure enough assurances to make her proposed withdrawal deal viable and with her plans still looking like they will be defeated when they are put to a Commons vote in the new year.

Announcing the plans to step up no-deal preparations, Theresa Mays official spokesman said: Cabinet agreed that with just over three months until we exit from the European Union we have now reached the point where we need to ramp up these preparations.

This means we will now set in motion the remaining elements of our no-deal plans.

He went on: We have no deal plans and we will implement them in full.

 Theresa May confirms date for meaningful vote on Brexit deal for 2019

There was a clear warning to MPs in both the prime ministers party and those sitting on opposition benches, that the best way of mitigating the chances of no deal is to back Ms Mays proposals when they are voted upon on January 14.

HMRC has already contacted around 150,000 exporters last week to notify them about changes to customs arrangements, with officials set to email a further 80,000 key businesses and business groups relating to no-deal Brexit this week.

Cabinet agreed that with just over three months until we exit from the European Union we have now reached the point where we need to ramp up these preparations Theresa Mays spokesman

The government will also make available a 100-page partnership pack for all of the UKs firms, setting out measures that should be taken in relation to customs, VAT and regulatory changes.

Ministers have already announced plans to stockpile food and medicines, chartering ferries to bring in extra supplies and providing extra resources for border agencies. Downing Street said that advice on no-deal preparations will also be going out to households by various channels over the coming weeks.

The Treasury will supply an additional 2bn on top of the 2bn already provided, with the Home Office receiving 500m for border security and handling the settlement scheme for EU nationals who want to remain in the country.

Another 400m will go to Defra, the environment department, for projects including ensuring clean drinking water, which the UK treats with chemicals and gases imported from the EU.

"Brexit betrayal" march in London Show all 43 1 /43 "Brexit betrayal" march in London "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester holds an anti-BBC sign Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit demonstrator holds a sign in the picket line Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester carrying a noose at the "Brexit betrayal" march. The man carrying it told a reporter: "That's what the traitor May deserves." AP "Brexit betrayal" march in London Pro-brexit supporters hold a sign opposed to Nigel Farage Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Protesters carry a defaced British flag on the march Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Tommy Robinson addresses a rally after taking part in a Brexit 'betrayal' march in central London PA "Brexit betrayal" march in London Police officers attempts to keep rival protesters from clashing at the Brexit 'betrayal' march in London Victoria Jones/PA "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester holds an anti-Theresa May sign Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit demonstrator and his dog Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit demonstrator at the protest Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit sign at the rally Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Pro-brexit demonstrators endorse UKIP Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A Brexit 'betrayal' march protester wearing a Make Britain Great Again hat in London on 9 December 2018 Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty "Brexit betrayal" march in London Brexit 'betrayal' marchers gathering on Park Lane ahead of a protest Angela Christofilou/ The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London The "Brexit Betrayal" march passes through Central London Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Tommy Robinson tells protesters to join Ukip via their mobile phones on stage next to leader Gerard Batten (right) at the Brexit 'betrayal' march Gareth Fuller/PA "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester speaks thorugh a megaphone on the march Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit demonstrator walks in the picket line Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit anti-May sign at the rally Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester carries a Union Jack on the march Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit demonstrator wrapped in the Union Jack Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit anti-May sign at the rally Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Pro brexit demonstrators move through Central London Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit demonstrator marches with sign Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit demonstrator holds a rude sign in the rally Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London The march passes down Victoria Street near Parliament Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A festive protester marches near Parliament Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester holds a mock noose as the march passes down Victoria Street towards Parliament Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester wrapped in the Union Jack marches down Victoria Street towards Parliament Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester makes some noise on the march Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester dressed as a dinosaur holds a sign rallying against "Davocracy" - in reference to the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester holds a pro-brexit sign on the march Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London The march approaches parliament Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester distributes pro-brexit lapel badges Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A demonstrator wears an anti-EU poster and holds an anti-BBC sign Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A smoke bomb is deployed in Parliament Square as the march comes across the counter-demonstration Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A flag bearing the Arms of Plantagenet flies in theprot Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Protesters on the Brexit 'betrayal' march in London on 9 December 2018 Angela Christofilou/ The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Protesters on the Brexit 'betrayal' march in London on 9 December 2018 Angela Christofilou/ The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Brexit 'betrayal' marchers gathering on Park Lane ahead of a protest on 9 December 2018 Angela Christofilou/ The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Brexit 'betrayal' marchers gathering on Park Lane ahead of a protest on 9 December 2018 Angela Christofilou/ The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent

The Department of International Trade, which would need to accelerate efforts to replicate dozens of agreements between the EU and countries such as Japan, Mexico and South Korea, is expected to receive around 130m to recruit more trade negotiators.

In the Commons, defence secretary Gavin Williamson said that while there had not been a formal request for support in no-deal Brexit planning, what we will do is have 3,500 service personnel held at readiness  including regulars and reserves  in order to support any government department on any contingencies they may need.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said: The governments priority is to secure a deal  that hasnt changed.

But alongside that, as part of our continuation of preparing for no deal, a responsible government needs to ensure that we are ready for that default option  which we dont want to happen  but we are ready in the event that it did happen.

Thats why at cabinet today we agreed that preparing for no deal will be an operational priority within government, but our overall priority remains to secure a deal.

 MPs should vote on how to break brexit deadlock, says Greg Clark

The cabinet has been divided into different groups with some, such as international development secretary Penny Mordaunt pushing for a managed no deal Brexit, while others have threatened to resign if the government pulls the UK out without a deal.

Justice secretary David Gauke, among those who have threatened to quit, is said to have told colleagues: Managed no deal is not an option and its not on offer from the EU. The responsibility of cabinet ministers is not to propagate unicorns but to slay them.

The prime ministers spokesman did not deny that a managed no deal scenario, and the idea of indicative votes were discussed by ministers. Brexit-backing Commons leader Andrea Leadsom has been a main critic of fellow ministers  including Amber Rudd and Greg Clark  who have suggested the votes could take place in the Commons to ascertain what options can be taken forward.

Tim Morris, chief executive of the UK Major Ports Group, welcomed the cabinets announcement of accelerated planning, saying: Regardless of the politics we are 101 days away from Brexit, very close in business planning terms. Its crucial that businesses have their contingency plans firmly in place.

We continue to work very closely with Government to prepare for a range of different Brexit scenarios. The UKs ports, many of which already successfully handle large quantities of non-EU trade, are ready to provide a range of options for supply chains.Dozens of senior business leaders have added to growing calls for a Final Say referendum on the Brexit outcome, telling Theresa May her deal is dead.

The group of 53 business leaders urges the prime minister to take her deal to the British people if, as expected, MPs refuse to back it when the meaningful vote is finally held next month.

A letter has been signed by Sir Richard Sykes, the chair of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Michael Rake, a former chair of BT, Michael Eavis, founder of the Glastonbury music festival, Alex Chesterman, founder of property search engine Zoopla, and Arnaud Massenet, founder of fashion outlet Net-a-Porter.

If parliament cannot agree on any form of Brexit urgently, we, as entrepreneurs writing in a personal capacity, call on the prime minister to take her deal to the British people, they write.

The call comes as a poll of 2,000 voters offered fresh evidence of rising support for another public vote.

The survey for anti-Brexit lobby group Best for Britain found that 65 per cent of people back the public having the final say on the Brexit deal  with Conservative voters split almost 50-50 and Labour supporters strongly in favour.

Furthermore, asked how they would vote if offered a choice between staying in the EU and the governments deal, Remain would win by 56 per cent to 44 per cent.

In the Commons on Monday, the prime minister again tried to quash talk of another public vote, insisting the UK had accepted the decision we have taken after previous referendums.

But, in the letter to The Daily Telegraph, the City bosses write: The governments own figures show that the prime ministers deal would be bad for the economy, jobs and business.

It puts us in a weak position to negotiate a future trade pact with the EU and continues the uncertainty that has already made our economy weaker. Government figures also show that every version of Brexit will make us worse off.

Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal Show all 11 1 /11 Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Independent Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Daily Mirror Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Times Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Daily Express Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Financial Times Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Daily Telegraph Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The i Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Guardian Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Scotsman Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Daily Mail Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Metro

By contrast, our current deal inside the EU is good for enterprise and good for jobs  and means we are at the table making the rules. It also means we can generate the prosperity needed to pay for public services such as the NHS.

The letter argues Ms May had abandoned the most important vote in the House of Commons for a generation because she knew she could not secure a parliamentary majority for her deal.

The significant rebellion against her leadership underlines the impossibility of resuscitating it, it adds.

The pressure was applied after Jeremy Corbyn faced criticism for appearing to step back from tabling a vote of no confidence in the government.

Critics said the Labour leader was sitting on his hands to avoid moving to the next stage of the partys Brexit policy  supporting a new referendum  if the no-confidence vote failed to trigger a general election.

However, one senior referendum sceptic  Hilary Benn, the Labour chair of the Commons Brexit committee  has acknowledged it may now be the only way forward.

If it turns out that there is no alternative deal that can win a majority in the House of Commons, then I think it is increasingly likely that the only way we will resolve this is to go back to the British people, Mr Benn told The House magazine.

Indeed, it would not surprise me if the prime minister were to do this if her deal is defeated in the House of Commons.Thousands of troops have been put on standby to handle any fallout of Britain crashing out of the European Union without having secured a withdrawal deal.

The government has said that, with 100 days to go until Brexit day on 29 March, it will implement all of its no-deal planning in full  following a clash in cabinet reflected in the wider Tory Party.

Senior ministers went head-to-head, with one group demanding no deal become Britains central planning assumption, while others including the chancellor branded departing without an agreement a unicorn idea.

Jeremy Hunt, foreign secretary, is said to have told colleagues their party would never be forgiven if it fails to deliver Brexit, but other Conservatives vowed to do everything in their power to stop a no-deal scenario.

In yet another day of Brexit high drama, defence secretary Gavin Williamson revealed he had made 3,500 troops ready to support any government department on any contingencies they may need.

While he told MPs there had been no request for the troops yet, he said What we are doing is putting contingency plans in place, and what we will do is have 3,500 service personnel held at readiness, including regulars and reserves, in order to support any government department on any contingencies they may need.

The Ministry of Defence later confirmed the troops would be put on alert in addition to the 5,000 already on standby to deal with potential terror attacks.

The troops announcement came after Theresa May chaired a cabinet which eventually decided to push the button on all of the governments advanced no-deal plans  but only after a heated discussion over what the ramping up of preparations means.

 Brexit and Travel: Everything you need to know with 100 days to go

Downing Street insisted afterwards that the top priority was still securing support for Ms Mays deal, but details of the crunch meeting that later emerged underlined ongoing divisions at the top of government .

Mr Hunt said that if the Conservative Party fails to deliver Brexit then the issue will become as electorally toxic as the Liberal Democrats failure to hold down tuition fees.

Managed no deal is not an option and its not on offer from the EU. The responsibility of cabinet ministers is not to propagate unicorns but to slay them Justice secretary David Gauke

He slammed colleagues for fanning the flames of speculation around a second referendum, which he claimed had led to a lack of willingness in Brussels to offer further concessions.

Home secretary Sajid Javid and chief secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss were among those wanting no deal to become the central assumption of government planning.

But Philip Hammond made clear the decision to accelerate plans must be viewed as a precaution, rather than a policy shift  branding the managed no-deal approach advocated by the likes of aid secretary Penny Mordaunt as a unicorn idea.

Justice secretary David Gauke piled in, telling colleagues: Managed no deal is not an option and its not on offer from the EU.

"Brexit betrayal" march in London Show all 43 1 /43 "Brexit betrayal" march in London "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester holds an anti-BBC sign Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit demonstrator holds a sign in the picket line Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester carrying a noose at the "Brexit betrayal" march. The man carrying it told a reporter: "That's what the traitor May deserves." AP "Brexit betrayal" march in London Pro-brexit supporters hold a sign opposed to Nigel Farage Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Protesters carry a defaced British flag on the march Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Tommy Robinson addresses a rally after taking part in a Brexit 'betrayal' march in central London PA "Brexit betrayal" march in London Police officers attempts to keep rival protesters from clashing at the Brexit 'betrayal' march in London Victoria Jones/PA "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester holds an anti-Theresa May sign Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit demonstrator and his dog Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit demonstrator at the protest Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit sign at the rally Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Pro-brexit demonstrators endorse UKIP Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A Brexit 'betrayal' march protester wearing a Make Britain Great Again hat in London on 9 December 2018 Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty "Brexit betrayal" march in London Brexit 'betrayal' marchers gathering on Park Lane ahead of a protest Angela Christofilou/ The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London The "Brexit Betrayal" march passes through Central London Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Tommy Robinson tells protesters to join Ukip via their mobile phones on stage next to leader Gerard Batten (right) at the Brexit 'betrayal' march Gareth Fuller/PA "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester speaks thorugh a megaphone on the march Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit demonstrator walks in the picket line Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit anti-May sign at the rally Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester carries a Union Jack on the march Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit demonstrator wrapped in the Union Jack Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit anti-May sign at the rally Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Pro brexit demonstrators move through Central London Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit demonstrator marches with sign Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A pro-brexit demonstrator holds a rude sign in the rally Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London The march passes down Victoria Street near Parliament Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A festive protester marches near Parliament Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester holds a mock noose as the march passes down Victoria Street towards Parliament Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester wrapped in the Union Jack marches down Victoria Street towards Parliament Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester makes some noise on the march Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester dressed as a dinosaur holds a sign rallying against "Davocracy" - in reference to the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester holds a pro-brexit sign on the march Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London The march approaches parliament Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A protester distributes pro-brexit lapel badges Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A demonstrator wears an anti-EU poster and holds an anti-BBC sign Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A smoke bomb is deployed in Parliament Square as the march comes across the counter-demonstration Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London A flag bearing the Arms of Plantagenet flies in theprot Angela Christofilou/The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Protesters on the Brexit 'betrayal' march in London on 9 December 2018 Angela Christofilou/ The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Protesters on the Brexit 'betrayal' march in London on 9 December 2018 Angela Christofilou/ The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Brexit 'betrayal' marchers gathering on Park Lane ahead of a protest on 9 December 2018 Angela Christofilou/ The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Brexit 'betrayal' marchers gathering on Park Lane ahead of a protest on 9 December 2018 Angela Christofilou/ The Independent "Brexit betrayal" march in London Angela Christofilou/The Independent

The responsibility of cabinet ministers is not to propagate unicorns but to slay them.

Pensions secretary Amber Rudd said the UK would only have a bright future after Brexit if the country had a deal, and urged her colleagues to think about job losses in their constituencies if no deal comes to pass.

Of the decision to trigger advanced preparations, she said: Just because you put a seat belt on [it] doesnt mean you should crash the car.

The Independent understands the idea of holding an indicative vote in the Commons, to see what kind of Brexit outcome is passable, was rejected by more people than those who supported it  with backers still including Ms Rudd and education secretary Damian Hinds.

But Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley, a close ally of the prime minister, withheld her support and suggested that the prospect of the idea was fading.

 Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay: UK is readying businesses for no-deal scerario

HMRC contacted around 150,000 exporters last week to notify them about changes to customs arrangements, with officials set to email a further 80,000 key businesses and business groups this week.

The government will also make available a 100 page partnership pack for all of Britains firms, setting out measures that should be taken in relation to customs, VAT and regulatory changes.

Ministers have already announced plans to stockpile food and medicines, chartering ferries to bring in extra supplies and providing extra resources for border agencies. Downing Street said that advice on no-deal preparations would also be going out to households by various channels over the coming weeks.

The Treasury will supply an additional 2bn on top of the 2bn already provided, with the Home Office receiving 500m for border security and handling the settlement scheme for EU nationals who want to remain in the country.

Another 400m will go to Defra, the environment department, for projects including ensuring clean drinking water, which the UK treats with chemicals and gases imported from the EU.

 Theresa May confirms date for meaningful vote on Brexit deal for 2019

The Department for International Trade, which would need to accelerate efforts to replicate dozens of agreements between the EU and countries such as Japan, Mexico and South Korea, is expected to receive around 130m to recruit more trade negotiators.

Ms May returned from a European Council summit in Brussels, where she failed to secure enough assurances to make her proposed withdrawal deal viable. Her plan still looks like it will be defeated when put to a Commons vote in the new year.

Announcing the effort to step up no-deal preparations, Ms Mays spokesperson said she still believes she could win changes to the deal.

He added: Cabinet agreed that, with just over three months until we exit from the European Union, we have now reached the point where we need to ramp up these preparations.

Jenny Chapman MP, Labours shadow Brexit minister, said the move is testament to the prime ministers failure in negotiations, which would now cost the government billions of pounds of taxpayers money.

She said: A no-deal Brexit would be a disaster for jobs, the economy and the border in Northern Ireland. It is simply not a viable option.

Labour will work across parliament to prevent no deal, and ensure the public dont pay the price for this governments failure.Jeremy Corbyn has piled pressure on the prime minister to allow MPs to vote on her Brexit deal by tabling a motion of no confidence in her leadership.

The Labour leader condemned the unacceptable wait for a Commons vote on the deal after Theresa May announced the showdown would take place during the week of 14 January  more than a month later than it was originally due to be held.

However Mr Corbyn was accused of bottling it by other opposition parties. Here we explain why.Extremists are penetrating sub-Saharan Africa at an alarming rate, threatening states ill-prepared to deal with the resulting complex social and security challenge, western and African officials have said.

Islamic radical groups, which include Isis, Al Qaeda affiliates and homegrown movements such as Boko Haram, threaten the continent  despite recent defeats at the hands of African armed forces. The encroachment poses unique challenges for policymakers and officials of shaky governments struggling with limited resources.

The extremists are inside the community  they provide public services where the state has failed, said Bineta Diop, an official of the African Union. Speaking to The Independent last week at a conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, called Atlantic Dialogues, she added: They bring water, sanitation, education. They provide opportunities to young people they dont otherwise have. There is a need to address the basics elements of human security and not leave it to extremists.

Soldiers from Niger on a joint mission against Boko Haram in Nigeria (AFP/Getty)

African troops backed by western intelligence and security forces have beaten back Somalias militant al-Shabaab movement and have made strides against Boko Haram in Nigeria as well as similar groups in Mali. But in some ways, extremists have expanded their presence. Networks of Islamist militants now influence a vast area of Africa, drawing on contacts and resources from the Middle East and Europe, with radical groups exploiting ungoverned spaces throughout the continent.

Major General Christopher Craige, of the US military branch Africa Command, attributed the rise in radicalism in the continent to lack of strong governments, lack of government services, lack of opportunities. Speaking at the sidelines of the conference, which was organised by the Moroccan think tank Policy Centre for the New South, he added that extremism was also spreading because Europe, Africa, and the Middle East are now so connected  not just because of modern media devices, but because of travel.

Statistics show that terrorist incidents in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe fell last year, while sub-Saharan Africa held steady, suggesting a shift in focus towards Africa.

Everything is going south, said Rida Lyammouri, a researcher at the Policy Centre for the New South, describing militant groups expansion in Mali and Burkina Faso. Its very alarming. The conflicts have spread.

Extremist groups infiltrating sub-Saharan Africa often take a different approach to those drawing supporters in European or Arab cities.

Scholars increasingly find it useful to distinguish between radicalisation in urban spaces such as in Europe, or along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, and rural spaces such as in Mali or rural Nigeria, where radical global aims become fused with local grievances. Countering violent extremism in each area requires different approaches.

The militant groups in Mali and other places can easily find social empowerment by connecting to tribes or ethnic groups, and make common interest with the community, said Mostafa Rezrazi, president of the Moroccan Observatory for Extremism and Violence. At that point, it becomes quite difficult to fight them just as criminals.

Muslim women in the Brituetterie district of Yaounde in Cameroon, which has seen frequent attacks (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images))

Mr Lyammouri, who spent a number of months in 2013 and 2014 conducting research among radicalised villagers living along the Niger River in Mali, found that militants often began infiltration by co-opting local leaders and offering help with agriculture and other services.

Its more than just radicalisation or ideology, he said, in a presentation to former diplomats, researchers, and journalists.

Some of the youth joined did it for money, some joined for ideology. Some joined because they had no other option. There was no state. The groups were providing services that the state wasnt providing.

Eventually, the villages began to shun the state instead of begging for services, renaming their towns from local languages for Arabic equivalents, and choosing not to interact with non-radicalised towns. Local leaders were dispatched to Ghana or Ivory Coast to study conservative forms of Islam, and return to preach.

Maj Gen Christopher Craige (far left) and Bineta Diop (second from right) at the Atlantic Dialogues conference in Marrakech last week (Policy Centre for the New South)

They had a more conservative radical ideology and imposed some extremist ways of life, said Mr Lyammouri. Most of the communities were not educated  couldnt read or write  and were not able to challenge the preachers.

Why and at what point such communities or individuals within them choose to cross over into violence remains a question. One factor is the spread of violent messages via the internet. But perhaps more important are the mistakes made by governments that prod Islamist groups into violent resistance against the state.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

When the French arrived in northern Mali to fight extremists in 2013, the Malian army accompanying them committed atrocities that continue to haunt relations between the state and the locals. The Islamist militant group Ansar al-Islam emerged in Burkina Faso after the armed forces committed atrocities. Even Boko Haram in Nigeria turned to systematic violence only after their supreme leader was summarily executed by security forces following a messy 2009 confrontation.

Even more so than in Europe, Africas prisons are threatening to become incubators of radicalism as ordinary prisoners sometimes caught up in dragnets by police are warehoused in harsh conditions with hardened jihadists seeking recruits.

The French embassy in Ouagadougou, the Burkina Faso capital, saw multiple attacks in February (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

African governments also sometimes commit needless blunders that damage their own anti-radicalisation aims. In an effort to stop the spread of Boko Haram, the Nigerian government cut off the road to Lake Chad, destroying the livelihoods of fishing communities, and making them susceptible to the group.

Burkina Faso at one point sought to ban public prayer by Muslims, while Chad passed a law after a suicide bombing banning women from wearing face-covering Islamic garb. These kinds of moves create a lot of anger towards governments, said Mr Lyammouri.

The militant groups have built a trust with the communities thats hard to break, that took a decade to build, he said. Its going to take more than a decade to break that.A congressional delegation will visit the New Mexico border station where a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl was detained before dying at a nearby hospital  amid calls by her father for a transparent investigation into the circumstances that led to her death.

The child, Jakelin Caal Maquin, was with her father were in a group of 163 migrants that was detained by US Border Patrol on 6 December in a remote area of the New Mexico desert. She then became sick while being transferred on a 90-minute drive from Antelope Wells port of entry in New Mexico to a station on Lordsburg.

Officials say that she began vomiting and stopped breathing while in Border Patrol custody, and then suffered from cardiac arrest after being transferred to a Texas hospital. The death was not immediately reported by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to Congress, as is custom.

The death has become the latest flashpoint in the ongoing debate in the United States over the treatment of migrants attempting to cross into the US after travelling through Mexico, many to get away from violent and impoverished conditions in Central America. As those members of Congress planned their visit, the father has called for a thorough investigation into his childs death.

Eleven members of the House of Representatives now plan on visiting the station in Lordsburg on Tuesday, led by incoming Hispanic Caucus Chairman Representative Joaquin Castro. CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan is also expected to take a tour of the station.

Recommended How bad does the migrant crisis have to get for Trump to see sense

We can do better as a nation, Mr Castro said recently in a statement. This is a humanitarian crisis and we have a moral obligation to ensure these vulnerable families can safely seek asylum, which is legal under immigration and international law at our borders.

Jakelins father, Nery Gilberto Caal, has said that he initially told agents that his daughter was sick during the transport between stations, and that the CBP officer called ahead to indicate that she would need emergency care once she arrived. When they finally arrived, CBP officers performed emergency services on the girl before taking her to the hospital, where she was revived after a cardiac arrest but died about an hour later.

The father has since said that he does not blame CBP for his daughters death, and has indicated he is grateful for the efforts to save his daughters life. But, he has contradicted the Border Patrols official account of the events leading up to her death  they have indicated the she had not been given food or water for days while walking through the desert to the US-Mexico border  and have said they were dropped off about a 90-minute walk from the border instead.

Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border Show all 23 1 /23 Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border A group of migrants climb the US border fence in Tijuana AFP/Getty Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border A group of migrants cross the dried up Tijuana river AFP/Getty Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border Mexico police emerge from a cloud of tear gas Reuters Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border Mexico police work to keep migrants from getting over the border with the US AP Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border US border patrol agents stand guard as migrant seek to cross the border at Tijuana Reuters Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border Adults help a child over the US border fence AFP/Getty Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border Migrants near the US border in Tijuana Reuters Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border Migrants climb the US border fence in Tijuana AFP/Getty Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border Migrants clash with riot police as they near the US border in Tijuana Reuters Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border A migrant is detained by US border patrol officers after illegally crossing the border Reuters Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border A group of migrants cross the dried up Tijuana river Reuters Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border Tear gas is deployed at the border Reuters Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border A group of migrants make their way to the US border fence Reuters Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border A migrant man wears a homemade gas mask Reuters Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border Migrants stand on the banks of the Tijuana river opposite the US border fence Reuters Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border A group of migrants cross the Tijuana river Reuters Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border Migrants gather at the border crossing in Tijuana AP Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border Tear gas is fired by border police to deter migrants EPA Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border A migrant covers his face as tear gas surrounds him Reuters Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border Migrant families seek to cross the US border at Tijuana Reuters Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border Mexico police try to stop migrants from crossing Reuters Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border Migrants force their way through the border fence at Tijuana Reuters Migrants clash with authorities as they seek to cross the US border Reuters

In a statement released to the media, Mr Caal said he is grateful for the many first responders that tried to save young Jakelins life in New Mexico and Texas.

Ruben Garcia, the director of Annunciation House, a non-profit organization working with the family said they wanted a full investigation that will assess this incident within nationally recognised standards for the arrest and custody of children.

The family intends to assist in such an investigation into the cause and circumstances of Jakelins death, Mr Garcia added.

Both father and daughter had lived together with Jakelins mother and three other children in a remote area of Guatemala.A New Jersey corrections officer has been arrested for allegedly having an ongoing sexual relationship with an inmate.

Avril Richardson, 45, was allegedly involved in a romantic relationship with an inmate for about two years at a minimum security prison, it began in 2016 nd continuned until her arrest on Thursday, according to the Essex County Prosecutors Office.

Ms Richardson has worked as a state corrections officer for about eleven years.

She has been charged with second-degree assault. Under New Jersey Law, inmates cannot consent to sexual relationships.

The New Jersey Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division discovered the alleged affair between the Ms Richardson and the unidentified inmate.

Following her arrest, Ms Richardson was jailed overnight in Newarks Essex County jail.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Jessica L Apostolou, the assistant prosecutor handling the case, said the 45-year-old should be given bail on Friday.

Ms Richardson has a court appearance scheduled for January.The activist who climbed onto the base of the Statue of Liberty this summer to protest the Trump administrations policy of separating immigrant families at the US-Mexico border, has been found guilty on charges that carry with them up to 18 months in jail.

Therese Patricia Okoumou had told the judge overseeing her case, she had been moved to scale the lower portion of the statue after learning about policies that led to thousands of children being separated from their parents after crossing into the US.

I wanted to send a strong statement that children do not belong in cages, Okoumou said on Monday, during an teary-eyed appearance in Manhattan.

She continued, noting that she did not climb to the top of the statue because she feared for her life: I went as high as I could.

But judge Gabriel Gorenstein ultimately convicted her, saying that the political and moral convictions that led her to perform the high-profile protest on the Fourth of July did not supersede the law.

Recommended Woman who climbed Statue of Liberty in protest arrested

Okoumou said in court that she was motivated primarily by the children who were separated from their parents as a result of the Trump administrations, and that led her to protest and eventual retrieval by police strapped into harnesses and ropes.

Im sorry that Im crying, Okoumou said in court. I couldnt live with it.

She continued: It would never happen in my country  we dont treat children like political bait. I just have had nightmares and night sweats.

People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Show all 16 1 /16 People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Theopolis Waters/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Washington, DC, U.S., February 16, 2017. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants, marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants AUSTIN, TX - FEBRUARY 16: Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Theopolis Waters/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants, marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants High school student Kathia Suarez holds up a sign as she protests with others outside the Grayson County courthouse in downtown Sherman, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. LM Otero/AP People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants High school senior Vicky Sosa holds a sign outside the Grayson County courthouse in downtown Sherman, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. In an action called "A Day Without Immigrants," immigrants across the country are expected to stay home from school, work and close businesses to show how critical they are to the U.S. economy and way of life. LM Otero/AP

She later refused to promise not to climb the statue again, saying that she would act on her conscience as long as there are wrongs being committed.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order last summer after controversy swelled around the child separation policy, promising to end the harsh practice that had been met with swift condemnation from critics across the political spectrum.

But, reports show that the administration has continued to detain some children through a variety of strategies, and there is a growing encampment in El Paso, Texas, where thousands of children are reportedly being detained as they await the outcome of their immigration cases.

While Okoumou and her attorney focused on the purpose behind her protest, prosecutors instead focus on the structures and rules she had disregarded.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

She knew that what she was doing was wrong and illegal, the federal prosecutor on the case said. Whether one sympathises with the defendant politically and morally is not at issue in this case."The sentencing of Donald Trumps former national security advisor Michael Flynn has been abruptly delayed to allow him to finish his cooperation with Robert Muellers Russia probe, a move recommended to him if he wanted to avoid going to jail.

Judge Emmet Sullivan offered the lawyers for the 60-year-old former army general the opportunity both to reconsider his guilty plea and to postpone his sentencing as he continues to work with the special counsels team.

Mr Sullivan, who was concerned by the fact that prosecutors had recommended he receive no jail time, warned the man who briefly served in the Trump administration that he may have gone to prison if sentencing went ahead on Tuesday, as had been scheduled

The courts going to consider that. I cannot assure you, if you proceed today, you will not receive a sentence of incarceration, Mr Sullivan had said. Im not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offence. Arguably you sold your country out.

Flynn replied: Yes your honour.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Asked later whether the White House was concerned that Flynn had admitted lying, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said: There is certainly concern, but well let the courts determine that.

Reports said the hearing in Washington DC had started quietly as the judge asked Flynn, who once served as Director of the Defence Intelligence Agency under Barack Obama, whether he wished to change his plea. The former officer pleaded guilty last December to one count of lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials, among them Russias former US ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

I do not, replied Flynn.

But the mood began to darken as the judge then began expressing his views about Flynns offences. At one point he asked prosecutors if Flynn might have been indicted for treason. That was not something we were considering at the time, charging the defendant, said prosecutor Brandon Van Grack.

After a brief delay, Mr Sullivan returned to the courtroom to play down the project of a treason conviction.

Im not suggesting [Flynn committed treason]. I was just trying to determine the benefit and the generosity of the government, he said. Dont read too much into the questions I ask.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Reuters said the judge also noted that Flynn was operating as an undeclared lobbyist for Turkey even as he worked on Trumps election team and prepared to be his national security adviser.

The hearing came a day after two of Flynns business associates were charged with illegally lobbying for Turkey as part of a campaign to pressure the nation to expel a Turkish cleric.

Bijan Kian and Ekim Alptekin were accused in an indictment of conspiring to covertly and unlawfully influence US public opinion and politicians, all while concealing the Turkish government was controlling their work. The campaign took place during the final months of the 2016 presidential campaign while Flynn was a top surrogate for Mr Trumps campaign.

Mr Sullivan appeared ready to sentence Flynn to prison but then gave him the option of a delay in his sentencing so that he could further cooperate with any pending investigations, Reuters said. Flynn accepted that offer.

Quite what further cooperation he can provide is unclear. Earlier this month, in a sentencing memo filed with the court, Mr Mueller said Flynn had cooperated so much with investigators, they recommended he should not receive jail time.

His early cooperation was particularly valuable because he was one of the few people with long-term and firsthand insight, prosecutors wrote. The defendant deserves credit for accepting responsibility in a timely fashion and substantially assisting the government.

They added: Given the defendants substantial assistance and other considerations set forth below, a sentence at the low end of the guideline range  including a sentence that does not impose a term of incarceration  is appropriate and warranted.

Tuesday had started with Mr Trump wishing good luck to Flynn, who served as national security adviser from 20 January to 13 February 2017, until he was told to quit after admitting lying to vice president Mike Pence and others about the nature of his conversations with Russian officials.

Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion, he wrote.

Mr Mueller is leading the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, possible collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign officials and whether the president has unlawfully sought to obstruct the probe. Close Trump: FBI said Michael Flynn didn't lie

A judge has fiercely criticised Michael Flynn, Donald Trumps short-lived national security advisor, as he postponed his sentencing for lying to the FBI over contact with Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election campaign.

US District Judge Emmet Sullivan said Flynn had "arguably" sold out his country by lying to federal investigators in 2017, adding, "All along, you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the National Security Adviser to the President of the United States."

The sentencing was postponed pending a status report in March, despite Special Counsel Robert Mueller suggesting Flynn receive little to no jail time due to his cooperation in the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Please allow a moment for our liveblog to loadMonths after President Donald Trump took office, Russias disinformation teams trained their sites on a new target: special counsel Robert Mueller III. Having worked to help get Mr Trump into the White House, they now worked to neutralise the biggest threat to his staying there.

The Russian operatives unloaded on Mr Mueller through fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter and beyond, falsely claiming that the former FBI director was corrupt and the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election were crackpot conspiracies. One post on Instagram  which emerged as an especially potent weapon in the Russian social media arsenal  claimed Mr Mueller had worked in the past with radical Islamic groups.

Such tactics exemplified how Russian teams ranged nimbly across social media platforms in a shrewd online influence operation aimed squarely at American voters. The effort started earlier than commonly understood and lasted longer while relying on the strengths of different sites to manipulate distinct slices of the electorate, according to a pair of comprehensive new reports prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee and released on Monday.

One of the reports, written by Oxford Universitys Computational Propaganda Project and network analysis firm Graphika, became public when The Washington Post obtained it and published its highlights on Sunday. The other report was by social media research firm New Knowledge, Columbia University and Canfield Research.

Together the reports described the Russian campaign with sweep and detail not before available. The researchers analysed more than 10 million posts and messages on every major social media platform to understand how the Russians used American technology to build a sprawling online disinformation machine, with each piece playing a designated role while supporting the others with links and other connections.

The reports also underscore the difficulty of defeating Russian disinformation as operatives moved easily from platform to platform, making the process of detecting and deleting misleading posts impossible for any company on its own to manage.

Twitter hit political and journalistic elites. Facebook and its advertising targeting tools divided the electorate into demographic and ideological segments ripe for manipulation, with particular focus on energising conservatives and suppressing African-Americans, who traditionally are more likely to vote for Democrats.

YouTube provided a free online library of more than 1,100 disinformation videos. PayPal helped raise money and move politically-themed merchandise designed by the Russian teams, such as I SUPPORT AMERICAN LAW ENFORCEMENT T-shirts. Tumblr, Medium, Vine, Reddit and various websites also played roles.

We hope that these reports provide clarity for the American people and policymakers alike, and make clear the sweeping scope of the operation and the long game being played, said Renee DiResta, research director at New Knowledge.

Social media researchers said the weaponisation of these sites and services highlights the broadening challenge they face in combating the increasingly sophisticated tactics of Russia and other foreign malefactors online.

Some of the platforms that dont have as much traffic, but still have highly engaged communities, are the most vulnerable to a challenge like misinformation, said Graham Brookie, head of the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab. They dont have the resources to dedicate to making their platforms more resilient.

One unexpected star of the new reports on Monday was Facebooks photo-sharing subsidiary Instagram. Over the years of the disinformation campaign, Instagram generated responses on a scale beyond any of the others  with 187 million comments, likes and other user reactions, more than Twitter and Facebook combined.

But it had been the least scrutinised of the major platforms before this week as lawmakers, researchers and journalists focused more heavily on Facebook, Twitter and Google. Instagrams use by the Russians more than doubled in the first six months after Mr Trumps election, the researchers found. It also offered access to a younger demographic and provided easy likes in a simple, engaging format.

Instagrams appeal is thats where the kids are, and that seems to be where the Russians went, said Philip Howard, head of the Oxford research group.

Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Show all 23 1 /23 Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Joe Biden The former vice president - poised to be a frontrunner - has announced his run. He recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Bernie Sanders The 2016 runner-up has announced that he will be running again in 2020 Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Hillary Clinton The 2016 Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State says she is still considering whether she will run again. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Pete Buttigieg The Indiana mayor and war veteran will be running for president. If elected, he would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Kamala Harris The former California attorney general will be running for president in 2020. Introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony, she has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts Senator has formally launched her bid for president in 2020. A progressive Democrat, she is a major supporter of regulating Wall Street. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Beto ORourke The former Texas congressman told Oprah Winfrey that he has been thinking about running for presidency, but stopped short of formally announcing his bid to run in 2020. AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam has announced his bid. He intends to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. Vice News Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has announced that he will be running for the presidency in 2020. If he secures the nomination he said finding a female vice president would be a priority. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but is likely to face tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Andrew Yang The entrepreneur has announced his presidential candidacy, and has pledged that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18. AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual advisor has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? John Kerry The former secretary of state has said he is still thinking about whether to run. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Michael Bloomberg The entrepreneur and former New York mayor with a net worth of around $50bn  has said he will decide by the end of February whether to seek the presidency. AFP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Howard Schultz Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has not yet ruled out running for president in 2020, despite criticism that his bid could help re-elect Mr Trump by dividing the Democrat vote. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Eric Holder The former attorney general has said he will decide in the next month or so whether to run as a 2020 presidential candidate. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Eric Swalwell The California congressman said he is ready to do this and will decide before April whether to run. MSNBC Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Terry McAuliffe The former Virginia governor, who worked to elect Democratic governors during 2018 midterms, said there was a 50 per cent chance he would run. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Sherrod Brown The Ohio senator is still undecided about whether to run for president in 2020. Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Mitch Landrieu The former New Orleans mayor said he doesnt think he will run for president, but never say never. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

The report anchored by New Knowledge found the Russians posted on Instagram 116,000 times, nearly double the number of times they did on Facebook, as documented in the report. The most popular posts praised African-American culture and achievement, but the Russians also targeted this community for voter suppression messages on multiple platforms, urging boycotts of the election or spreading false information on how to vote.

On Monday, the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People called for a week-long boycott of Facebook starting on Tuesday, saying the companys business practices  and the spread of disingenuous portrayals of the African-American community on its site  should prompt further congressional investigation.

Facebook said in a statement that it has made progress in helping prevent interference on our platforms during elections, strengthened our policies against voter suppression ahead of the 2018 midterms, and funded independent research on the impact of social media on democracy.

Reddit said it is always evaluating and evolving our approaches to detecting malicious activity and have grown our team significantly since 2016. Medium did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Tumblr pointed to a November blog post, which said the company took down Russian-related disinformation ahead of the 2018 election. PayPal said it works to combat and prevent the illicit use of our services. Twitter said it has made significant strides since 2016 to counter manipulation of our service.

The emergence of Mr Mueller as a significant target also highlights the adaptability of the Russian campaign. He was appointed in May 2017 as special counsel to investigate allegations of Russian influence on the Trump campaign. In that role, he has indicted the St Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency, the Kremlin-linked troll farm behind the disinformation campaign, and others affiliated with the disinformation campaign on criminal charges.

A Clemson University research team, not affiliated with either of the reports released on Monday, found that the Russians tweeted about Mr Mueller more than 5,000 times, including retweets first posted by others. Some called for his firing, while others mocked him as incompetent and still others campaigned for the end of his entire fake investigation.

 Donald Trump will sit down with Robert Mueller 'only over my dead body' says Rudy Giuliani

The report by New Knowledge highlighted the focus on Mr Mueller and fired FBI director James Comey, who was falsely portrayed as a dirty cop.

The Russian operatives often spread jokes to undermine the investigations into their disinformation campaign, the researchers found. One showed Democrat Hillary Clinton saying, Everyone I dont like is A Russian Hacker. Another showed a woman in a car talking to a police officer, with the caption, ITS NOT MY FAULT OFFICER, THE RUSSIANS HACKED MY SPEEDOMETER.

At one point, shortly after the 2016 election, the Russian operatives also began to make fun of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for saying social media did not have an impact on Mr Trumps victory  a claim for which he later apologised.

On Capitol Hill, top Democrats said on Monday that the revelations in the pair of Senate reports underscored the need to study social media and consider fresh regulation in order to stop Russia and other foreign actors from manipulating American democracy in future elections.

I think all the platforms remain keenly vulnerable, and I dont have the confidence yet companies have invested the resources and people power necessary to deal with the scope of the problem, said Representative Adam Schiff, D-Calif, the incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

In particular, Mr Schiff described the Instagram revelations as surprising, contradicting the data and testimony Facebook previously provided to the committee. If Facebook was unaware of it, its one problem, he said. If they were aware of it and didnt share that information, thats a completely different problem.

Senator Richard Burr, R-NC, the chairman of the committee that asked the researchers to analyse the tech companies data, said the findings show how aggressively Russia sought to divide Americans by race, religion and ideology.

Every other GOP lawmaker on the Senate Intelligence Committee declined to comment or did not respond.

Facebook executives barely discussed the role of Instagram when they testified before Congress late last year about Russian meddling. At the time, the company said the Russian campaign reached 126 million people on Facebook and 20 million on Instagram.

The Washington PostThe Trump administration is planning to roll back Obama-era policies aimed at ensuring minority children are not unfairly disciplined, arguing that the efforts have eased up on punishment and contributed to rising violence in the nations schools, according to documents obtained by The New York Times.

The decision culminates a nearly year-long effort begun by the Trump administration after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The deaths of 17 students and staff members on 14 February prompted lawmakers in both parties to demand tougher gun laws, but after a brief flirtation with gun control, President Donald Trump abandoned that focus and instead empowered a school safety commission, led by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Almost immediately, the commission turned away from guns and instead scrutinised the Obama administrations school discipline policies, though none of the most high-profile school shootings were perpetrated by black students. The commissions focus was part of a broader effort to reject the previous administrations race-conscious education efforts, which have included siding with Asian students suing Harvard to end affirmative action and delaying an Obama-era rule to prevent disproportionate numbers of minority children from being funnelled into special education classes.

The documents obtained by The Times  a draft letter and a draft chapter of the safety commissions research  focus significantly on race and promote the idea that the federal crackdown on potentially discriminatory practices has made schools more dangerous.

The federal governments paramount obligation is to guarantee student safety, including when it is acting to ensure that educational programmes and policies are administered in a racially neutral fashion, the commission wrote. However, where well-meaning but flawed policies endanger student safety, they must be changed.

Disability and civil rights advocates will almost certainly denounce the latest policy manoeuvre. The Obama administration policies were adopted after strong evidence emerged that minority students were receiving more suspensions and tougher punishments than white students for the same or lesser offences, while disabled students were too quickly being shunted into remedial or special-education programmes.

Safety is a red herring intended to raise fears about our own children, said Eve Hill, a disability rights lawyer at Brown, Goldstein & Levy who worked on the Obama-era discipline guidance while a lawyer in the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division.

The Education and Justice departments plan to send a joint letter this week announcing the rescinding of policy statements dating to 2014, according to a draft letter signed by Kenneth L Marcus, the Education Departments head of civil rights, and Eric S Dreiband, assistant attorney general for civil rights.

The 2014 Obama policy advised schools on how to dole out discipline in a non-discriminatory manner, and examine education data to look for racial disparities that could flag a federal civil rights violation. Though the guidance is non-binding, critics have argued the edict pressured districts to keep suspensions low at the expense of student safety.

The guidance burdened local school districts, potentially exceeded the departments legal authority and may have made students less safe, Trump civil rights officials wrote.

Neither the draft letter nor the commission report was final.

Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Show all 10 1 /10 Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Young people march from the White House to Capitol Hill while participating in the national school walkout over gun violence. EPA Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Thousands of local students march down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to the US Capitol during a nationwide student walkout for gun control. AFP/Getty Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence A student has the words,'don't shoot,' written on her hands as she joins with other students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after walking out of their school to honor the memories of 17 students and teachers that were killed. Getty Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Students take part in a walkout at General McLane High School. AP Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Students from Harvest Collegiate High School stand in Washington Square Park in New York to take part in a national walkout to protest gun violence. AFP/Getty Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Students rally in front of the White House in Washington after walking out of school to protest gun violence in the biggest demonstration yet of the student activism that has emerged in response to last month's massacre of 17 people at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. AP Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Airport High School juniors Tony LaFata, 16, left, and Noah Doederlein, 17, stands for a moment of silence during a walkout at General McLane High School. AP Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Young people rally on the West Front of the US Capitol to participate in the national school walkout over gun violence, in Washington. EPA Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Students from Passaic High School hold photos of some of the 17 victims killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. AP Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Students join hands as they take part in a student walkout in Lafayette. AP

A Justice Department spokesperson defended the review as an effort to make sure policies do not go beyond the law or are inconsistent with the Constitution.

We are continuing to review documents to prevent improper rule making and executive branch overreach, said Kelly Laco, the spokesperson. The Justice Department remains committed to enforcing the law and protecting all Americans from all forms of illegal race-based discrimination.

The Education Department did not respond to requests for comment.

The school safety commission is expected to issue recommendations on Tuesday on a range of issues, including mental health resources, positive behavioural support programmes and school security. Trump officials wrote that six documents related to the Obama administrations Rethink Discipline package will be rescinded based on the commissions recommendation.

Trump officials argued in the commission report that the Obama administration employed a dubious reading of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to assert that civil rights law extended to even-handed policies that may unintentionally harm certain groups.

The report referred to two Supreme Court rulings, one in 1978 and another in 2001, which affirmed that Title VI extended only to intentional discrimination.

In undermining court rulings, the commission said the Obama administration gave schools a perverse incentive to make discipline rates proportional to enrolment figures, regardless of the appropriateness of discipline for any specific instance of misconduct.

The Obama-era guidelines were released when federal data showed black students were three times as likely to be suspended or expelled, and black and Hispanic students made up more than half of the nations school-related arrests and referrals. In the near-half-decade since the guidelines were issued, those numbers have not improved.

Obama administration officials wrote in 2014 that discipline rates may be caused by a range of factors, but they could not be explained solely by more frequent or more serious misbehaviour by students of colour.

In short, racial discrimination in school discipline is a real problem, they wrote.

The Education and Justice departments under Mr Trump argue they are not convinced large racial gaps are attributable to discrimination.

Research indicates that disparities that fall along racial lines may be due to societal factors other than race, they wrote.

In the year before Parkland, Ms DeVos met with education advocacy groups to hear their support for and opposition to the Obama-era guidelines.

Proponents of the guidance argued it had been an invaluable resource for schools and districts that want to foster a positive school environment and had improved educational outcomes for minority children.

Other educators told Ms DeVos they felt powerless to manage bad behaviour in their classrooms and were pressured by administrators to turn a blind eye to dangerous incidents.

The New York TimesA new government report on gun violence in American schools commissioned in the aftermath of the deadly massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day makes little mention of gun control in its analysis of the root causes of school shootings.

It does, however, spend an entire chapter analysing press coverage of mass shootings after the fact.

The report, compiled by the school safety commission created by President Donald Trump just after the Parkland, Florida shooting that killed 17 people mostly skirts around gun control issues, with just two mentions of the specific term in the entire report. Both mentions of the term gun control, according to a search of the 180-page report, are in reference to the name of a federal law.

The analysis of school gun crime led by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos avoided recommendations for the minimum age requirements to buy a firearm  an issue which Mr Trump notably asked for guidance on  but did encourage state adoption of extreme risk protection orders that prohibit access to guns for individuals deemed to temporarily be a danger to themselves or others.

Recommended Police officers hit and killed by train while chasing shooting suspect

The report also notes that the Trump administration has taken steps to ban so-called bump stocks that can be used to make a semi-automatic rifle shoot at near-automatic frequency.

Sadly, incidents of school violence are too common, and too many families and communities have faced these horrible challenges, Ms DeVos said during a press call with reporters on Tuesday. But Americans have never shied away from challenges, nor have we have cowered when evil manifests itself.

She continued: The report addresses a holistic view of school safety, based on the insights, experience, and expertise of these individuals. We identified some things for lawmakers and local leaders to consider, and we highlighted what's already working in states and communities.

Florida shooting  in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Florida shooting  in pictures Florida shooting  in pictures Police arrest a suspect in connection with the shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida Reuters Florida shooting  in pictures Parents wait for news after reports of a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida AP Florida shooting  in pictures Anxious family members wait for news of students AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee Florida shooting  in pictures Students being evacuated from the school AP Florida shooting  in pictures Students being evacuated from the school Getty Florida shooting  in pictures People gather waiting for word from students AP Florida shooting  in pictures Parents waiting for news on their children AP Florida shooting  in pictures People gather at a hotel where students were taken after the shooting Getty Florida shooting  in pictures Florida Governor Rick Scott speaks to the media as he visits Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School following the shooting AFP/Getty Florida shooting  in pictures Dr. Igor Nichiporenko, Medical Director Trauma, left, and Dr. Evan Boyer, Medical Director, Emergency Services, speak about treating victims and the suspect at a press conference outside Broward Health North hospital AP

Other recommendations hewed closer to what the president has suggested favourability for, including the hardening of schools to make it harder for active shooters to infiltrate the buildings and kill. The report did not recommend that teachers should be armed, an idea Mr Trump had championed after the February shooting, but did say that trained personnel in schools should have access to firearms in case of a shooting.

Critics were quick to disagree that anyone should be arming school administrators to fight Americas gun violence epidemic.

We dont need more school personnel roaming hallways with firearms. We do need real solutions to stop gun violence, Robin Lloyd, the director of government affairs for gun control advocacy group Giffords, said in a statement. Its time for Secretary DeVos and President Trump to recognise the importance of passing laws proven to make it harder for dangerous people to ever get a gun and cause others harm.

The report, which suggests that extensive press coverage of shootings can lead to copycat incidents, is a largely symbolic document that makes suggestions to stakeholders at all levels, but does not require much by way of action.

Critics like of the report like Ms Lloyd quickly pushed back on the reports findings, saying that the document prescribes unnecessary action while ignoring the bigger problems that allow guns to get into the hands of potentially violent individuals.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

The gun violence epidemic has made students afraid of what could happen to them at school and left parents wondering whether they will see their children at the end of the day. Americans want answers, Ms Lloyd said. But while Secretary DeVos vowed to study the problem, her final exam shows she failed.

The reports findings also indicate that violent video game use among American youth could have a harmful impact on those individuals, potentially encouraging them to pick up a gun or desensitising the horrors of shootings and blood shed.

The report also suggested that a Barack Obama-era school discipline policy that sought to keep teenagers out of jail through a variety of alternative disciplinary measures should be scrapped, citing the Parkland shooters history of bad behaviour.Of the dozens of potential investigations House Democrats may pursue in 2019, few have received as much coverage as the possibility of examining President Donald Trumps tax returns.

Mr Trump repeatedly promised  then refused  to release his returns in 2016. Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee now plan to formally request them from the treasury secretary during the 116th Congress.

Were keeping close-to-the-vest when were going to do this and how were going to do this, Representative Bill Pascrell Jr, said in an interview with The Washington Post last week, but leadership agrees that this should be one of our priorities.

Mr Pascrell has led 17 separate Democratic attempts over the past two years to obtain Mr Trumps tax returns via a little-known 1924 provision in the Internal Revenue Code that was added during America's Teapot Dome bribery scandal.

The relevant part (Section 6103 F1) says the treasury secretary shall furnish the tax return of any individual upon written request from the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee or the Joint Committee on Taxation.

George Yin, a University of Virginia law professor and the former executive director on the Joint Committee on Taxation, told The Washington Post that while the 6103 authority does not require a congressional subpoena, it could be considered analogous to a subpoena and therefore would likely require a legitimate legislative purpose if Mr Trump or the Treasury Department challenged it in the courts.

According to Mr Pascrell, Democrats plan to cite Mr Trumps potential conflicts of interest domestically and abroad, including whether Mr Trump is in violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, as the legislative purpose. Mr Pascrell says potential conflicts could put the president in a compromising position.

Id like to go back 15 to 20 years [in Trumps returns], and I dont say that haphazardly, because we want to know how involved he was in these [business dealings], Mr Pascrell said, adding he did not think there were limits on how much return information the committee could request.

 Key Watergate figure John Dean says Congress will have to 'start impeachment proceedings' against Donald Trump following court filing

Even if the Ways and Means Committee gets Mr Trumps returns, it may not provide a full picture of Mr Trumps foreign business dealings. And the public would not see Mr Trumps returns unless the full House voted to release them after being submitted by the committee, something Mr Pascrell says Democrats will discuss.

The provision has been used only a handful of times over the past century, including the investigation into whether the IRS targeted tax-exempt political groups in 2014 and the congressional investigation into President Richard Nixons returns in 1974 that resulted in Mr Nixon paying over $400,000 in back taxes to the IRS.

In November, Mr Trump warned of a war-like posture if Democrats requested his tax returns. Mr Yin, who has consulted with Mr Pascrell on obtaining Mr Trumps taxes, is unaware of any court challenges to the 6103 provision, but Democrats acknowledge Mr Trump could try to block the release of his returns, which could lead to a court battle.

This is not a way to embarrass the president. He does a good job at that himself, Mr Pascrell said. The chairman has the right to ask for those returns and the president may feel that theres no law which forces him to do that and then well see. Well go to the courts.

The Washington PostOnly Hungary backed the United States in a vote at the United Nations General Assembly against a non-binding agreement that provides greater support for countries where most of the worlds more than 25 million refugees live.

Meanwhile, 181 countries voted in favour of the annual resolution on the work of the UN refugee agency, while Libya, the Dominican Republic and Eritrea abstained.

The Global Compact on Refugees also strengthens shared responsibility to help those who are forced to flee their countries because of conflict or persecution.

The resolution has generally been approved by consensus for more than 60 years.

UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi called the compact historic in a tweet, adding: It is the biggest effort to broadly share refugee responsibilities that I have witnessed in 34 years of work with refugees.

Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily.

The agreement is separate from another non-binding agreement to ensure safe, orderly and humane migration which was approved on 10 December by nearly 85 percent of the UNs 193 member states in spite of fierce opposition from the US.

The Global Compact on Refugees was adopted at a time when a record 68.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes. This includes 25.4 million who have crossed borders to become refugees and 43.1 million who are displaced within their home countries.

According to the UN refugee agency, nine out of 10 refugees live in developing countries, where basic services like health or education are already strained.

The US has found itself increasingly isolated at the 193-member UN General Assembly over its concerns about the promotion of abortion and plans to address the global refugee crisis.

It was the only country to oppose the UN refugee agencys draft resolution last month when it was first negotiated and agreed by the General Assembly human rights committee. It said elements of the text ran counter to its sovereign interests, citing the global approach to refugees and migrants.

 Donald Trump attacks Angela Merkel for giving sanctuary to refugees

While General Assembly resolutions are non-binding, they can carry political weight. Donald Trump used his annual address to world leaders at the UN in September to lay out his drive to protect US sovereignty.

The US has also failed in a campaign which started last month during negotiations on several draft resolutions in the General Assembly human rights committee, against references to sexual and reproductive health and sexual and reproductive health-care services.

It said the language has accumulated connotations that suggest the promotion of abortion or a right to abortion that are unacceptable to our administration.

 Refugees in Paris forced to sleep among rats and rotting waste

On Monday, Washington unsuccessfully tried to remove two paragraphs from a General Assembly resolution on preventing violence and sexual harassment of women and girls. It was the only country to vote against the language, while 131 countries voted to keep it in the resolution and 31 abstained.

The US also failed in trying to remove similar language in another resolution on child, early and forced marriage on Monday, saying: We do not recognise abortion as a method of family planning, nor do we support abortion in our reproductive health assistance.

Only Nauru backed Washington in voting against the language, while 134 countries voted to keep it in the resolution and 32 abstained.

When Mr Trump came to power last year he reinstated the so-called Mexico City Policy, which withholds US funding for international organisations that perform abortions or provide information about abortion.Japan has approved plans to significantly increase its defence spending, which has been seen as a shift away from its constitutionally-enshrined principles of pacifism.

According to new spending guidelines that were agreed by Shinzo Abes cabinet on Tuesday, the country will acquire its first aircraft carrier as well as long range cruise missiles, giving it the ability to carry out offensive strikes against enemy bases for the first time since the Second World War.

Over the next decade, Japan will also acquire 147 US-made F-35 stealth fighters, as well as two units of the American ground-to-air defence system Aegis Ashore.

The spending amounts to a record five-year budget of 27 trillion yen (190bn) beginning in 2019, up more than 14bn from a previous five-year plan.

Officials and analysts both framed the changes as necessary in the context of rising threats in east Asia, from North Koreas nuclear arsenal to Chinas increasingly bold manoeuvres in the South China Sea.

But it also comes in the context of Mr Abes efforts to revise Article 9 of the Japanese constitution which, drafted by the US in 1947, denounces war and stipulates that land, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained.

Mr Abe has campaigned for an amendment which formally recognises the existence of the Japanese military, known as the self-defence forces (SDF), but polling suggests the public does not support even limited changes to the countrys commitment to peace.

The spending represents a new development moving away from the image of pacifism, said Kongdan Oh, an expert at the Institute for Defence Analyses who led a taskforce on rewriting US-Japan military guidelines in 2015.

But she told The Independent the change was an unavoidable evolution of Japans stance, given the threats it faces. If an adversary is building capability to hit Japan at any given time with WMDs, should Japans leadership tolerate this development and hold up its hands saying well, not much we can do?

The plans did not provide a cost for adding a first aircraft carrier to Japans navy, but did explain that it will be done by refitting an existing helicopter carrier with the capacity to carry 10 stealth fighters.

A carrier would be particularly useful in the western Pacific, where Japan tries to defend remote islands, including those disputed with China.

China has criticised the spending plans. In Beijing, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry told reporters: Due to historical reasons, neighbouring countries in Asia and the international community have long been highly concerned about Japans moves in military and security fields.

Dr Hoo Chiew Ping, a senior lecturer in strategic studies at the University of Malaysia, said it was predictable that China would react negatively to military expansion in Japan, even though the estimated budget is still not more than 0.9 per cent of Japans GDP.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

She described the purchase of 105 conventional F-35s and 42 F-35Bs as definitely the highlight of the budget  each F-35 costs about 10 billion yen (70bn).

But she suggested such an increase in capacity might present a problem with recruitment from among Japans ageing workforce. She said: Theres no clear indication that the expanded SDF would have adequate service members, [given the] dwindling numbers of recruit targets over the years.

Analysts are agreed that the Japanese public is generally averse to greater militarism. Polling earlier this year suggested that less than 40 per cent of Japanese citizens think the constitution should be amended under Mr Abe.

Nonetheless, particularly with talks over North Koreas denuclearisation stalling, there is growing understanding in Japan of the regional military challenges, said Dr Alessio Patalano, an expert on Japanese military policy at Kings College London.

That is why these changes are presented as the most conservative steps needed to maintain a credible defence posture, he said.The prospect of a fresh referendum over Brexit is now being regarded as a serious consideration for politicians and officials in the European Union as Theresa May faces gridlock over the plan she has negotiated and support grows for a new vote in parliament and among the people.

Brexiteers have complained regularly about supposed European interference in British domestic politics over Brexit. In reality, EU officials and diplomats have been extremely careful about what they say as the bitter arguments, accusations and recriminations have continued over leaving the union.

Mays cabinet  or whats left of it after numerous resignations  has decided to implement an emergency no-deal Brexit plan with 2bn allocated to ministries and advising businesses to do the same. This is seen, at least partly, as a warning to Brussels of what may happen if there are no further concessions in the terms she has negotiated. But the feeling among diplomats is that a threat of a no-deal hard Brexit will actually coalesce support behind the call for a peoples vote from those deeply concerned by the consequences.

The campaign for a new referendum was not, the officials point out, something suggested by Brussels, but one that originated in this country  and is supported by The Independent. We have seen how the call for this has grown and we have to take this into account, this is part of our job, a diplomat from a European embassy pointed out. It is obviously a matter for the UK whether they have another vote, but we would be failing in our jobs if we did not take this possibility into consideration. Of course we are taking account of the no-deal scenario as well  again, this is part of our job as well.

Second referendums have taken place in EU countries before, it is pointed out. Three key treaties  Maastricht, Nice and Lisbon  were turned down by voters in Ireland and Denmark and only ratified in a second vote after changes were made. Diplomats acknowledge that these were on specific issues and not something on the magnitude of Brexit. But the precedent is there.

The time factor, however, is of great importance. The European elections are due at the end of May in which the seats of British MEPs have already been redistributed among other member states. However, the consensus among diplomats and officials is that the EU would be prepared to extend the time on Article 50 if a referendum was to take place with continuing membership of the EU one of the options.

Over the two and half years of wrangling over the terms, Brexit has fallen in the pecking order of European concerns behind issues including the eurozone, rising populism, authoritarianism in countries such as Hungary, Donald Trumps antipathy to the EU and Nato, Russia and eastern Europe, and the coming European elections. The issue of foreign leaders speaking on Brexit surfaced early after Barack Obama, then in office, suggested that the UK would be at the back of the queue for a trade deal if Brexit took place. Brexiters like Boris Johnson accused the US president of interfering but, as one American diplomat observed, the only mistake Obama perhaps made was not to speak up even sooner in the campaign.

Statista (Statista)

Trump had been pressing May to go for a hard Brexit. But the US was among the first of the 20 countries that have attempted to block Britain from getting a fast-track deal with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on leaving the EU.

There has nevertheless been wariness in the EU about making statements which might complicate negotiations. The claims of Brussels attempting to influence opinion in the UK has not come just from hardline Brexiters but also the prime minister.

May accused European officials of meddling in last years election after newspaper reports appeared in Germany with details of a discussion between her and Jean-Claude Juncker  these she claimed had been deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election that will take place on 8 June. This was just after May had triggered Article 50 and was presenting as someone who would be extremely combative with Brussels, stressing that she would be a bloody difficult woman, in the negotiations.

After the prime ministers position weakened gravely following the election, this mood of caution continued because of a need to avoid even more political upheaval in the UK and the damaging impact that will have on the Brexit talks, say the diplomats. However, the current impasse has led to a view among many EU politicians and officials that signals must be sent that the UK would be welcomed to stay in the family if it so wishes; there is no need to jump off the cliff edge with a no-deal option.

Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, has pointed out: The option is there to revoke Article 50: while there may not be a majority for anything, or at least any deal, at the moment in the House of Commons, I do believe there is a majority that the UK should not be plunged into a no-deal scenario and it is in their hands at any point in time to take the threat of no deal off the table.

The message was repeated by Donald Tusk: We are prepared for a no-deal scenario but, of course, we are best prepared for a no-Brexit scenario. I dont share [Theresa Mays] enthusiasm about Brexit as such. Since the very beginning we have had no doubt that Brexit is a lose-lose situation and our negotiations are only about damage control.

The decision by the European Court of Justice that the UK can unilaterally revoke Article 50 has had a more widespread impact than it has, perhaps, been realised in this country.

Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal Show all 11 1 /11 Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Independent Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Daily Mirror Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Times Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Daily Express Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Financial Times Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Daily Telegraph Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The i Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Guardian Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Scotsman Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Daily Mail Newspapers react to Theresa May pulling the vote on her Brexit deal The Metro

The UK government had maintained that the legal action by a cross-party group of Scottish MPs, MEPs and MSPs to ensure that politicians in Westminster can halt the process without needing the consent of the other 27 EU member states should be ruled inadmissible. Lord Keen QC, representing the UK, had asked the court not to open this Pandoras box and resist a move which seeks to coopt this court into the ongoing political campaign of almost unparalleled controversy and sensitivity.

But the EU too was against opening the Pandoras box. Hubert Legal, representing the European Council, held that allowing unilateral withdrawal could lead to disaster of which the main victim could be the European project altogether. Article 50, he wanted to stress, was not ambiguous and the prerogative of acting alone will have been exhausted by putting notification letters on the councils table.

A senior diplomatic source said: There was alarm over this in Brussels, of course. Article 50 was meant to be the final decision. Unilateral cancellation means that member states can threaten to trigger it in disputes to get better terms or trigger it and then cancel it. But it has become a very important factor as far as Brexit is concerned.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

There is acknowledgement that there remains those in the European capitals who feel that the EU will be better off without Britain, allowing France, Germany and other states to drive on ahead to ever closer union. There are also those who feel that what they see as British arrogance and divisiveness must be punished.

But, said a northern European diplomat: There is a need for reconciliation but the terms have been negotiated, and it is up to the people of the UK to decide what to do now. This uncertainty, this confusion, is making matters very serious.Considering the popularity of the notion that women are inherently more fragile than men, its odd that when our fragility  usually actual, excruciating pain and suffering  presents itself in medical settings, were often left with nothing to remedy what were going through but a patronising instruction to just deal with it.

Having stomach cramps as severe as heart attacks? Wait until you have a baby, the pain will ease. Suspect your rapidly ballooning stomach and constant pain is a sign of fibroids? Sick of increasingly unbearable menopause-related migraines disrupting your life? Think again, youre probably exaggerating.

When it comes to morning sickness, that level of ignorance is just as pronounced.

Go home and deal with it like everyone else, a doctor is said to have told a woman grappling with pregnancy sickness when she went to them for help, according to a 2017 midwifery journal MIDIRS. The publication also found that a meagre 34 per cent of women surveyed were given the correct information about treating extreme morning sickness.

Even more alarmingly, it was revealed today that in many cases because of misinformation of that nature, up to 20,000 ambulances a year are called to help those experiencing morning sickness. Extreme cases of pregnancy related sickness, also known as hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), often require hospitalisation, with severe symptoms ranging from low blood pressure to ketosis, a serious condition that causes a build-up of acidic chemicals in blood and urine.

But in many instances, as Roger Gadsby, lead author of the University of Warwick study, pointed out, emergency calls of this nature, and the more than 60m it has cost the NHS, could have been avoided had GPs taken their concerns into account.

Citing the need for better advice and appropriate prescribing from healthcare professionals, Gadsby rightly pointed out just how harmful the misrepresentation of conditions like pregnancy related sickness has been, right down to the language we associate with it.

Like morning sickness, as its often called. As if the seven in 10 pregnant women who experience it are gifted with neat, timely bouts of mild nausea at the crack of dawn and at the crack of dawn only, when in actual fact, in many cases, women dealing with HG have reported vomiting up to 50 times a day.

The idea of necessary suffering is also rather frustratingly tied to all this. For those who can get pregnant, its often seen as a fundamentally joyful experience. If you go by the average Hollywood depiction of what its like to grow a child inside you, pregnant women glow, spend their days lovingly thumbing ultrasound pictures, and indulging quirky cravings and birth plan ideas. They do not know whats best for them because, you know, hormones. And if they claim to, doctors are  understandably, given their profession  seen as the only possible voice of reason.

Theres never room for the reality of dealing with pregnancy complications, or any reproductive health-related issues. And when there are other opportunities for professionals to let bias cloud their judgement  eg if you are a black or Asian woman, who are five and two times more likely to die from birth-related complications than white women respectively  youre even more likely to have people wildly underestimate the urgency of your health.

Issues which  thanks to high-profile women like Kate Middleton, whose openness about HG has led to widespread discussions about the condition, or Serena Williams, who sparked conversations about childbirth mortality among black women in the US  are increasingly being discussed.

The extra burden placed on hospitals isnt all down to errors on the part of GPs, of course, nor is it the fault of needlessly anxious pregnant women. But, as Gadsby points out: Better management will reduce the numbers that have to go. And part of that better management is examining what causes so many to underestimate womens pain in the first place.Plans for the new childrens hospital in Dublin (Childrens Hospital Group)

Increased construction expenses have been blamed for a rise in the projected cost of a major new childrens hospital in Ireland.

The National Childrens Hospital is currently under construction at St Jamess in Dublin.

It is set to replace three older hospitals in the city  Temple Street Childrens University Hospital, Our Ladys Childrens Hospital, Crumlin, and the National Childrens Hospital, Tallaght.

The new hospital was initially projected to cost 650 million euro, but that figure had increased to an expected 1 billion euro by April 2017.

There had been speculation that costs have increased further.

Responding to questions from Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar confirmed the current project cost is 1.433 billion euro.

Expand Close Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the new facility would be one of the best childrens hospitals in the world (Tom Honan/PA) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the new facility would be one of the best childrens hospitals in the world (Tom Honan/PA)

Mr Martin urged Mr Varadkar to explain the increase during Taoiseachs Questions on Tuesday.

In response, Mr Varadkar revealed that increased construction costs made up most of the additional 400 million euro.

This morning Cabinet met and discussed the issue, discussed the escalating costs. We agreed to accept the new overall cost which is 1.433 billion euro  that represents a 450 million euro increase on what we had projected in April 2017, Mr Varadkar said.

Of that, 319 million is made up of increased construction costs, 50 million is VAT and the remainder relates to staff planning, design teams, risk contingency and also the management equipment service to make sure the hospital is properly equipped.

There will be further investigations as to how these costs escalated by so much since April last year.

Mr Varadkar described the project as the biggest single investment in healthcare in Irish history.

It allows three rather old hospitals  Crumlin, Temple Street and Tallaght  to be replaced by a new state-of-the-art hospital, he said.

This is going from every antiquated old infrastructure, that is not up to standard, to what will be one of the best childrens hospitals in the world.FOUL play has been ruled out in the death of a woman found in a burning car in Cork.

A post mortem examination was conducted on the woman, aged in her 50s, at Cork University Hospital (CUH) today.

It revealed so sign of foul play.

Garda sources indicated the matter is now being treated as a tragedy.

The body of the woman, who has not been named, was found in the burning vehicle off the R618 Inniscarra Road on the outskirts of Cork city at 6.15pm on Monday.

The shocking discovery was made when a passerby noticed a vehicle on fire not far from a popular local pub.

Such was the heat of the fire people were unable to gain access to the vehicle to help the occupant.

Cork Fire Brigade were notified and managed to quickly extinguish the blaze.

Tragically, the body of the car's sole occupant was found in the vehicle.

The woman, who is from Cork city, had suffered extensive burn injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene before she could be transferred to hospital.

Such was the ferocity of the blaze, the vehicle was entirely destroyed.

Gardai stressed that the nature of their investigation would be determined by the post mortem examination findings.

The scene was preserved for a full forensic examination.

Gardai have appealed to anyone who travelled along the R618 Inniscarra Road between approximately 5.30pm and 6.15pm or can assist with their enquiries to contact them at Gurranabraher Garda Station 021-4946200 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.

Key statements have already been obtained from a number of people who were in the area at the time.

A file on the matter will now be prepared for the Cork Coroner Philip Comyn.The Minister for Childrens decision not to publish a review into Oberstown childrens detention centre was based on legal advice from the Attorney General, a committee has heard.

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Katherine Zappone said the publishing of the operational review of the childrens detention centre, commissioned in response to issues at the facility in 2016, presented substantial legal risks as individuals or bodies named in the report were not offered right of reply by the reports authors.

A major fire causing three million euro worth of property damage, protests by youths, and strike action by staff over health and safety concerns during 2016 sparked a review into security, health and safety and behavioural management at the facility.

Professors Barry Goldson, a child law expert from the University of Liverpool, and Nick Hardwick, the former chair of the UKs parole board, were commissioned to conduct the review of the Oberstown facility against international human rights standards.

The minister told the committee on Tuesday that there had been both legal advice from an independent legal office and the Attorney General before she decided not to publish the report.

Anne Rabbitte from Fianna Fail said she felt she was operating in the dark when reading the new recommendations for the facility as there was no context for where the recommendations came from without access to the report.

She added she had concerns over recommendations that females should not be kept in the centre, but could not properly enquire why without the report.

Likewise, fellow Fianna Fail TD Lisa Chambers added: I share concerns about not publishing the report, whats the point of the report if its not available? Even a redacted version?

One of points made was that lessons wont be learned unless there is a full understanding of what happened in the past, if we dont publish this report, how then do we learn the lessons? Thats the purpose of a report I wouldve thought.

The minister replied that it was a great disappointment to me that the report has not been published, but that is not to say lessons are not being learned.

She added that even a redacted version regrettably wouldnt serve a meaningful purpose due to the extent of the omissions.

Ms Zappone repeated on a number of occasions that the authors had gone outside the agreed terms of the report.

The minister added that an agreed action plan and time frame have been implemented based on some of the reports recommendations, despite the decision not to publish.

A number of TDs said they had concerns that questions were going unanswered and would like to revisit the issue in the new year.Moment of levity: Prime Minister Theresa May laughs as she listens to Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in the House of Commons. Photo: Getty

Theresa May has effectively challenged Jeremy Corbyn to call a parliamentary vote of no confidence in her government.

The Labour leader last night attempted to force Mrs May to accept a vote of no confidence in her leadership - a move which would have been symbolic, but carry no official weight.

But last night Downing Street sources dismissed the plan as a "silly political stunt" and instead challenged Mr Corbyn to call a full vote of no confidence in the government.

If passed, it could lead to the collapse of the government and ultimately a general election.

Last night a Downing Street source said: "There is a method under the Fixed Term Parliament Act if MPs want to express no confidence in the government.

"We are not going to allow time for a stunt vote at a crucial time for parliament and the country as we try to get a Brexit deal."

The high-risk move came after Brexiteer Tory MPs - who just last week attempted to have Mrs May removed as prime minister - said that they would back her in any parliamentary no-confidence vote.

Mrs May is also assured of the support of the Democratic Unionist Party - which she relies on for a parliamentary majority.

Nigel Dodds, the deputy leader of the DUP, said: "We are not interested in parliamentary antics or play-acting of the Labour Party.

"For our part we are focused on the meaningful vote and the need to secure necessary changes to ensure we have the right deal for the UK."

Instead the pressure is now on Mr Corbyn who for weeks has ignored calls by his own MPs and shadow Cabinet colleagues to try to bring down Mrs May's government.

The Labour leader yesterday laid a confidence motion before MPs at the 11th hour after the prime minister announced that her meaningful vote will now be held in the week starting January 14 rather than before Christmas as Labour MPs had demanded.

The government had been poised last night to announce that it would make time for the vote in the Commons. However it decided not to do so after some of the other opposition parties tabled an amendment which would have made Labour's amendment a full-blown motion of no-confidence.

Mr Corbyn's attempt to hold a non-binding vote was pitched as a proposal which would not prompt a general election or government collapse and therefore be appealing to Tory MPs who had simply lost faith in Mrs May's leadership.

The decision to allow the vote was in the gift of the government and Labour sources said that if they refused he would move to a full vote of no confidence in the government.

But it began to backfire when the Scottish National Party - usually firm critics of Mrs May - questioned his wisdom.

Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader, said: "Labour tabling a motion just in the PM rather than in the entire government begs the question, which Tory do they want to see as PM."

Mrs May's allies believe winning any vote could provide a significant boost to her authority in the run-up to Christmas after more than 117 Tory MPs voted for her to go last week.

Labour announced shortly before 3pm that Mr Corbyn was planning to table a motion of no confidence if the prime minister failed to name a date.

However minutes later the prime minister stood in the Commons and announced that the vote will be held in the week beginning January 14, with debates the week before.

Mr Corbyn did not issue his motion when he spoke at 3.45pm, and Labour claimed victory on social media that the threat alone had been enough to secure a date.

However just two hours later Mr Corbyn returned to the Commons to table his motion, with sources saying he had changed his mind after noting the "mood of the House".

Mr Corbyn said: "[It is] very clear that it's bad, unacceptable that we should be waiting almost a month before we have a meaningful vote."

The move almost immediately threatened to backfire. The SNP accused Mr Corbyn of "pathetic political cynicism" and insisted he get on with calling a proper vote of no confidence.

It criticised Mr Corbyn for tabling a motion of no confidence in the prime minister directly, which made it non-binding, rather than the government.

Steve Baker, a senior member of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic Tory MPs, said that they would back the prime minister.

He said: "Eurosceptic Conservatives are clear that we accept the democratic vote decision of our party to have confidence in Theresa May as PM. We will vote against Labour in any confidence motion." The Cabinet will today be told that planning for a no-deal Brexit will be significantly bolstered, with other non-essential government business suspended.Opposition: EU Supergirl Madeleina Kay stands in front of the anti-Brexit campaign bus in Co Louth. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is "not sure" if the British prime minister "loathes" him but has also insisted it is "patently not the case" that they do not communicate.

Responding to reports in the British media that Theresa May dislikes him, Mr Varadkar said the two leaders have a good working relationship.

It comes as he also suggested that EU member states would be willing to extend Brexit Day beyond March 29 to help facilitate a second UK referendum if the British government moved in that direction.

Mr Varadkar has become a target for some British media outlets since insisting the Irish backstop must remain in the Withdrawal Agreement.

Over the weekend, the Brexit-supporting 'Daily Mail' claimed relations between the Taoiseach and Mrs May have become cold.

The newspaper also claimed she "loathes" him and had "outsourced communication with Dublin to her No 2, David Lidington, because the relationship is so chilly".

Asked about the reports, Mr Varadkar said: "I'm not sure if the feeling's true, and I'm not quite sure where that particular idea comes from."

He said the idea that contacts were only happening between the British cabinet secretary and the Tanaiste was "patently not the case because as recently as last week we spoke on the phone".

Mr Varadkar reiterated his belief that Mrs May can rescue both the UK and EU from a no-deal scenario next year.

Although the prime minister is roundly rejecting a push for a second referendum, Mr Varadkar said the EU would see it as a preferable option to the UK crashing out.

"I can't speak for 27 member states, but my sense is that if the United Kingdom were to seek an extension to Article 50 and if the alternative to that was them crashing out of the European Union without a deal, my feeling is that the 27 member states would agree to that extension because it would be in all our interests in those circumstances," he said.

"But, once again, I need to emphasise the request would need to come from the United Kingdom.

"We're not asking them to do that, we're not pressuring them to do that, but the fact is that the United Kingdom can take a no-deal scenario at any stage off the table.

"Nobody in Ireland, nobody in the EU, is threatening a no-deal, and it is within the power of the UK to take it off the table if they so wish."

Ireland is due to get two more seats in the European Parliament when the UK leaves, but Mr Varadkar indicated he would have no problem maintaining the status quo for next May's elections if required.

Meanwhile, Tanaiste Simon Coveney is expected to update Cabinet on planning for a no-deal scenario today.

The Government will publish new details of its contingencies on Thursday.

Mr Varadkar said they spent Sunday "going through some plans we were making for a no-deal scenario, and also a deal scenario".

Around 45 pieces of legislation will be required to be passed in January and February, which could bring everything else in the Oireachtas to a virtual standstill.Department of Agriculture data shows that suckler cow numbers have fallen by 118,000 head in the five years from 2012 to 2017

The number of suckler farmers in the south and southeast has fallen by over 20pc since 2010, highlighting the scale of the exodus from beef. Nationally, 9,801 suckler farmers have exited the sector since 2010, a decline of almost 13pc.

Department of Agriculture data also shows that suckler cow numbers have fallen by 118,000 head in the five years from 2012 to 2017, with the bulk of the reduction concentrated in the south.

The beef cow herd hit a high of 1.1 million head in 2012, but fell to 987,000 head by 2017 - an 11pc drop. The fall-off in beef cow numbers is not as sharp when viewed over the longer time frame of 2010 to 2017, with the drop in numbers totalling 76,000 head or 7.2pc.

The latest Department figures confirm that the south and southeast have seen the sharpest falls in beef cow numbers, with the reductions attributed to the high level of dairy conversions in the region.

Cork experienced the biggest fall, with the county's suckler herd dropping from 84,795 to 72,035 - a reduction of 12,760 head, or 15pc.

The suckler herd in Tipperary also dropped 15pc between 2010 and 2017, losing 10,300 head.

However, Waterford saw the biggest proportional loss of beef cows, with the county's herd contracting by a quarter or 6,500 head in the seven-year period. Cork, Tipperary, Waterford and Kilkenny accounted for 45pc of the national reduction in suckler cow numbers between 2010 and 2017, with the four counties losing almost 35,000 cows.

Farmers are also abandoning the enterprise in huge numbers in these counties, with the total number of suckler farmers in Cork back 1,300 or almost 20pc.

Scale

Reductions of a similar scale are evident in Tipperary and Kilkenny, while there were 22pc fewer suckler farmers in Waterford in 2017 than in 2010.

Suckler cow numbers were far more stable in Connacht and the rest of the west. The number of beef cows fell by just 3.2pc in Connacht between 2010 and 2017, dropping almost 10,000 head from 290,000 to 280,000.

When Donegal, Clare and Kerry are added to the Connacht figures - to give a West of Ireland overview of the sector - the drop in cow numbers goes to almost 20,000 head or 4.3pc.

The beef cow herd has also remained relatively stable across the midlands, according to the Department figures, with suckler numbers actually increasing by around 1,000 head in Kildare.

However, industry sources point out that the figures up to the end of 2017 do not take account of sharp downturn in suckler farmer incomes this year, or the impact of this spring's fodder shortages and the summer drought.

Moreover, beef sector insiders point out that the Beef Data Genomics Programme (BDGP) scheme has tied in approximately 28,000 farmers and around 580,000 suckler cows until 2020 in order to qualify for their annual slice of the scheme's 50m payout.

The IFA has called for a payment of 200 per suckler cow to hold numbers.A farmer has agreed to comply with High Court orders to vacate 50 acres he owns.

The High Court heard on Tuesday that Tom Morrin will surrender vacant possession, remove all machinery and livestock from the land at Caragh, Naas, Co Kildare, to a bank-appointed receiver.

He has also agreed to cease interfering with agents of the receiver,Tom Kavanagh of Deloitte Ireland, from carrying out their duties in relation to the property.

Mr Morrin appeared before the court after Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds said she was "satisfied beyond reasonable doubt" Mr Morrin is in breach of orders made against him in July 2017.

She also dismissed applications by Mr Morrin of Poplar Square, Naas, Co Kildare, to have the receiver's case thrown out, on the grounds it was frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of process.

On Tuesday Ms Justice Reynolds was informed that Mr Morrin had agreed to orders including that he would remove all machinery and livestock from the lands, and not interfere with the receivership.

He also undertook not to appeal last week's decision and withdraw his appeal against the orders made against him in 2017.

It was also agreed that a stay is to be placed on those orders until February.

Previously the court heard that Mr Kavanagh was appointed as receiver over the lands in 2013 by Bank of Scotland Ireland arising out of a mortgage agreement alleged entered into between it an Mr Morrin in 2006.

The loan was subsequently acquired by a financial fund Pentire DAC.

The receiver then brought proceedings against Mr Morrin for his ongoing contempt of court orders.

The matter will return to court in February.A special patrol unit is being set up by An Garda Siochana nationally to deal specifically with trespassers who illegally hunt on farm land, according to the Irish Farmers Association.

The organisation's crime prevention officer Barry Carey said it was given the commitment by the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in a recent meeting where the issue of illegally hunting lands was discussed.

It comes as landowners across the country - particularly in north Dublin and north Kerry - noticed an increase in people on their lands hunting hares and killing sheep since last year.

The rural populations affected, who often live in isolated areas, also worry that these same individuals are casing their homes and farms.

At a recent meeting on the issue in Kerry, one incident was highlighted where a man reportedly saw 16 individuals with dogs hunting in a field.

A further case of a man in his late 70s not being able to sleep at night due to the worry of intruders was also highlighted. The same man had some of his sheep killed by dogs brought to his land.

In September, a Dublin farmer suffered a violent attack when he confronted a number of men who were trespassing on his land.

Father-of-three Pat Walsh (47), from Lispopple, Swords, suffered four cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder and needed stitches to his face after he was kicked repeatedly on the ground.

It followed another incident in which a farmer in St Margaret's, who found men illegally dumping on his land, went to ring the gardai but was hit by the men's van.

Recently, a farmer told senior gardai at a meeting on rural crime that if they don't take appropriate measures then someone will take the law into their own hands, referencing the Padraig Nally-John 'Frog' Ward case in 2004.

Speaking recently on the issue, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said that he had no immediate plans to change the law regarding trespass on farmland. Mr Flanagan said that the general legal position in respect to trespass is that it is a civil wrong and, for the most part, can be addressed by means of a civil remedy through the courts.

He said he acknowledged the interest of various farm and rural organisations, particularly the IFA, on this issue.

However, he said there are already significant legislative provisions and penalties relating to trespass.

Fianna Fail's spokesperson on justice, Jim O'Callaghan, said the minister's comments did not take into account the reality of what is happening on farmland.

"Farmers find that when people trespass on their land, they have no remedy in the criminal law," he said. "When they contact members of An Garda Siochana, they are told that officers can only intervene if there is a threat to commit a criminal offence or if criminal damage has been done.

"The type of remedy that farmers want is to be able to tell people trespassing on their land to leave and that there will be consequences if they do not do so."President Donald Trump on Monday said he authorized a second round of payments from an aid package of up to $12 billion designed to help farmers stung by the U.S. trade war with China, billing it as a promise kept to a key constituency.

Today I am making good on my promise to defend our Farmers & Ranchers from unjustified trade retaliation by foreign nations, Trump said in a Twitter post.

I have authorized Secretary Perdue to implement the 2nd round of Market Facilitation Payments, he said, referring to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.

The USDA in July authorized the aid program for farmers after China imposed a 25 percent tariff on American soybeans in retaliation for U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. The agency had outlined the first round of payments in late August, and farmers were eagerly awaiting the second round.

An announcement on the second tranche had been expected in early December but was delayed by a tug of war on the issue between the USDA and the White House Office of Management and Budget, which questioned the need for the additional payments given growing expectations that China would resume buying U.S. agriculture products.

Farmers hailed Trumps decision to proceed with the payments. They are a significant help as we continue to deal with low prices, said Kirk Leeds, chief executive of the Iowa Soybean Association. It has been a tough year for U.S. soybean farmers.

The USDA expects direct payments to farmers under the program to total $9.567 billion, with around $7.3 billion for soybean farmers, the hardest hit from the trade war. The USDA program includes an additional $1.2 billion in food purchases, and around $200 million to develop foreign markets, bringing the total estimated aid to just below $11 billion.

Corn farmers have complained that the payments for their crop have been absurdly small at around a penny per bushel relative to soy, which is amounts to around $1.65 per bushel. But the USDA did not change the rate.

The estimated amount for MFP (Market Facilitation Program) we released today factors in a certain percentage of producers who wont participate, payment and eligibility limitations of the program, and changes in actual production of commodities, USDA spokesman Tim Murtaugh said.

CHINESE PURCHASES

Last week, Chinese buyers purchased 1.13 million tonnes of U.S. soybeans in the first deal since the trade war with Washington began in July. But traders and farmers said the amount was not large enough on its own to lift slumping prices.

The sales came after Trump and Chinas President Xi Jinping agreed to a 90-day detente in their tit-for-tat tariff war to negotiate a trade deal after meeting at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires.

A day earlier, Trump told Reuters in an interview that China was buying tremendous amounts of soybeans. U.S. officials, however, have been unable to confirm further purchases or give clarity on when and how they might happen.

The issue is what do we do in 2019? said Leeds, of the Iowa Soybean Association.

We hope we get some resolution to the ongoing tariff battle. Its going to be tough because that window of opportunity is closing rapidly.

U.S. farmers fear they will not make major sales to China before Brazil harvests its next crop early next year.

China has been buying soy from Brazil instead of the United States during the trade war and typically buys from Brazil in the spring.For sale: The famous Luggala estate in Wicklow which has played host to many stars

The State will not buy famed Luggala House in Wicklow unless the asking price "falls to within a certain range".

The Luggala estate - which is also known as the Guinness estate - comprises the 18th-century Luggala hunting lodge and some 5,000 acres nestled in the Wicklow mountains.

The former home to Claddagh Records founder and well-known arts patron Garech de Brun is currently up for sale, with an advertised price of 28m.

It has played host to plenty of famous visitors down the years.

These include Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, John Hurt and Seamus Heaney.

Recreational users have enjoyed unrestricted public access to the 4,000 acres of mountainside habitat that form a large part of the Luggala estate.

And calls have been made for the State to purchase it.

A spokesperson for the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht said that the department was aware of the public good value.

But they said that it had to be balanced across a range of demands across the department.

"Minister Josepha Madigan could only consider acquiring this property if the price fell to within a certain range, or within the context of a donation or bequest," said the spokesperson.

This, the spokesperson added, is known to the vendors.

Wicklow Uplands Council said that it urged the State to buy the 4,000 acres surrounding the lodge due to the strategic importance of the location, in terms of its rich natural heritage, popular recreational use and tourism development.

It is understood that representatives from the department are engaged in discussion to buy the 4,000 acres of woodland.

The seven-bedroom property and another 1,000 acres would then be sold privately, it is believed.

Recreational users have for several decades, enjoyed unrestricted public access to the 4,000 acres of mountainside habitat that form a large part of the estate. Popular trails include the summits of Knocknacloghoge and Luggala (also known as Fancy Mountain) and a traverse across the valley to nearby Lough Dan.

The Wicklow Mountains National Park borders three sides of the 4,000 acres of mountainside.

Wicklow Uplands Council says the state purchase will ensure that recreational users continue to enjoy the uninterrupted access to one of Irelands great natural assets.

"We would suggest that the state acquisition consumes the land into the Wicklow Mountains National Park and the management of the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

"The NPWS offer the best expertise in managing the unique and sensitive biodiversity found on the site and its inclusion contributes to the states conservation commitments," a spokesperson for the Council said.

Following a recent meeting with Minister Madigan, Brian Dunne, Coordinator of Wicklow Uplands Council said We were greatly encouraged that the sale of the iconic estate remains high on Minister Madigans agenda.

"We were reassured that her department remained fully engaged with the process and that she clearly understood the value and potential of the upland estate.

In addition to the state purchase of the 4,000 acres, several other suggestions were also discussed at the meeting including that the state considers the strategic purchase of the key viewing points found along the Military Road which runs along one of the estates borders. The panoramic vista which overlooks the Luggala estate, its stunning Lough Tay and much of The Wicklow Mountains, is one of the most photographed locations in the county.

Recently, the erection of 10 signs along a 2km stretch notifying visitors that lands are private property, have created much upset and discussion among many of the stakeholders keenly observing developments.

It was also suggested by members of Wicklow Uplands Council, that the state considers the negotiation and purchase of the full estate and all of its buildings (5,000 acres).

This would allow for the 4,000 acres to added to the Wicklow Mountains National Park as detailed above.

The remaining 1,000 acres and its buildings, could be developed into a world renowned centre dedicated to the pursuit cultural activities.

Carriage Collection

During the meeting, another position the Wicklow Uplands Council advocated entered into the discussion.

The will of the late Garech de Brun, offered - subject to the condition of appropriate public access - to bequeath his extensive private collection of carriages to the state.

Wicklow Uplands Council advocate that the collection of 71 carriages, some of which are of great historical importance, should be fully restored and exhibited publicly in Co. Wicklow.The Dublin-listed software business Scisys has secured a 11.2m contract with Thales Alenia Space France.

Scisys provides IT and software services across a number of sectors including media and defence, while Thales Alenia Space is the prime contractor to the European Space Agency.

The contract, which is for a scheme related to the Galileo satelllites, has been awarded under a programme funded by the European Union.

The scheme is called the Ground Mission Segment (GMS) and comprises a global network of sensor stations to monitor the signals from satellites.

The chain of stations on Earth also uploads navigation data to the satellites and includes parallel communications networks. Last month Scisys was admitted to trading in Dublin, making it the first Brexit refugee to list on the Irish Stock Exchange.

Klaus Heidrich, chief executive of Scisys, said the company's decision to redomicile its parent company to Dublin in order to protect EU-funded work proved "decisive" in securing the contract.

"The future prospects of the group continue to look highly encouraging," he said.

Meanwhile, Kerry yesterday received a jobs boost with Central Pharma, a pharmaceutical packaging company, to establish a packaging and supply centre at the IDA's Advanced Technology Building. The IDA facility shares a campus with IT Tralee.

The decision will see the privately owned company create 100 jobs over the next five years. Central Pharma's chief executive, Alwyn Smit, said that post-Brexit Ireland offers a stable environment from which to service the company's European customer base.

"Thanks to the investment that has been made in IT Tralee, there exists great resource potential here for us to tap into," Mr Smit said.

"The fact that the site is adjacent to a university that has a STEM faculty played a major role in our decision to come here, as did the availability of the property itself - the building is an excellent turn-key property solution which is ideal for us." UK-headquartered Central Pharma handles products that are supplied to over 60 countries. Local Minister of State Brendan Griffin said the announcement was a "hugely positive development".Household incomes have gone up, but large numbers of people are still in poverty.

The typical Irish household had an income of 20,800 last year, a rise of 500 on the previous year.

However, thousands of people continue to struggle with poverty, despite many of them having jobs, with the number of 'working poor' higher than 10 years ago.

Almost one in five children live in households experiencing poverty, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

They show that the median, or mid-point, household income was 20,869 last year, up almost 540 from the previous year.

Disposable incomes grew for all income groups in 2017, from the poorest to the richest.

This is what remains after income taxes have been paid.

The figures also show that average disposable income increased last year.

Average household income was almost 48,500, up 4.7pc on 2016, a rise of 2,166.

However, economists argue that average income figures are too easily distorted and the median figure is a more accurate reflection of the income of households.

Statisticians calculated that 15.7pc of households were at risk of poverty last year, not much change from 2016.

This means that roughly one in six households has an income that is less than 60pc of the median.

Dr Sean Healy, of Social Justice Ireland, worked out that equates to around 760,000 people at risk of poverty.

Dr Healy said some 230,000 of those households have children, and 109,000 households are classed as being at risk of poverty despite having a job.

"The percentage of people in poverty today is higher than 10 years ago," he added.

"Some 120,000 more people are at risk of poverty than a decade ago. The Government is not putting in place the mechanisms to tackle the working poor issue."

Dr Healy argued that without social welfare payments, the poverty figure would be even higher.

Micheal Collins, economist at UCD Social Policy, said the figures were moving in the right direction.

He pointed to the rise in incomes and a slight fall in the numbers at risk of poverty.

However, he added that it was concerning that almost one in five children live in a household at risk of poverty.

Last year, 18.4pc of families were at risk of poverty, down slightly from a figure of 19.1pc in 2016, according to the Survey on Income and Living Conditions 2017.

St Vincent de Paul national president Kieran Stafford told how his organisation is getting 1,000 calls for help every day from worried families in the run-up to Christmas.

"The position of many people in private rented accommodation remains of grave concern," he said. "Increasing rents mean that households are going without essentials as they prioritise their rent payments over other expenses for fear of losing their homes."

A CSO survey on health, meanwhile, shows that a third of households find the cost of medical and dental treatments a financial burden and that 43pc of the population have private health insurance, while 45.1pc of households have a medical or a GP visitor card.

Around a third of households said they visited a GP between one and two times a year.

Two out of five people are in jobs that involve them mostly sitting. There were 12pc of those who mostly sit at work getting no exercise away from their jobs.

The World Health Organisation recommends people take two hours and 30 minutes of exercise a week.Pre-tax profits at retailer Michael Guiney fell by 11pc to 2.173m last year in spite of an increase in revenues.

New accounts filed by Michael Guiney Ltd show that revenues increased by 3pc from 23.8m to 24.4m.

The firm paid a dividend of 100,000 to shareholders during the year.

Numbers employed by the company remained static at 233 last year as staff costs reduced marginally from 4.46m to 4.42m.

The retailer has 12 outlets across the country.

The stores are in a number of towns and cities, including Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Castlebar, Tralee, Mullingar, Waterford, Clonmel, Dundalk, Belfast and Kilkenny.

The directors said that the group "is benefiting from a general improvement in economic activity in the economy". The Dublin-based group's balance sheet remains strong with accumulated profits of 15.5m contributing to shareholder funds totalling 15.62m. The shareholder funds included 4.45m in cash.

The profit takes account of operating lease rentals of 694,128 and non-cash depreciation costs of 708,494.Allegations: The firm says it will vigorously defend itself

Malaysian authorities turned up the heat on Goldman Sachs, filing the first criminal charges against the US bank in relation to the so called 1MDB scandal.

Authorities alleged that Goldman misled investors when the bank knew that proceeds from 1MDB bond sales it arranged would be misappropriated.

The Malaysian government is seeking fines well in excess of both the $2.7bn (2.3bn) of allegedly misused funds and the $600m in fees received by Goldman on the deals.

Goldman has blamed rogue employees for any wrongdoing in relation to 1MDB, a state-owned investment fund.

"Their fraud goes to the heart of our capital markets," Malaysian attorney general Tommy Thomas said in a statement in announcing the charges yesterday.

"If no criminal proceedings are instituted against the accused, their undermining of our financial system and market integrity will go unpunished."

Goldman Sachs's role, raising about $6.5bn for 1MDB in 2012 and 2013, has evolved into its thorniest scandal since the global financial crisis a decade ago triggered a public backlash against banks. Former Goldman partner Tim Leissner has pleaded guilty to US bribery charges and his former deputy, Roger Ng, was arrested in Malaysia.

It put a third Asian executive on leave.

Along with targeting the firm, Malaysia filed related charges against Mr Leissner and Mr Ng, as well as former 1MDB employee Jasmine Loo Ai Swan and fugitive financier Low Taek Jho.

Goldman Sachs said it will "vigorously defend" itself against the charges spokesman Edward Naylor said in an email.

"We believe these charges are misdirected," he said, adding that the bank continues to cooperate with all authorities investigating the matter.

The indictment focuses on circulars and memoranda that Goldman prepared for the 1MDB bonds, saying that they contained statements that were false or misleading or both. Malaysia is pursuing the claim on the basis that the relevant bond documents were sent to the regulator in its offshore banking haven in Labuan, and therefore were covered by its securities law, Thomas said in the statement.

Malaysia is filing the charges against three of the bank's units - Goldman Sachs International (UK), Goldman Sachs (Singapore) and Goldman Sachs (Asia) - 'The Edge' newspaper reported, citing charge sheets from the Kuala Lumpur court.

"The criminal charges of this nature are grave, and it goes to the core of Goldman's business as an investment bank," said Nizam Ismail, a partner at RHTLaw Taylor Wessing in Singapore.

"If the outcome of the case results in a criminal conviction against the bank, there are potentially severe reputational and financial risks to the bank, as well as the bank's standing as a licensed financial institution with regulators worldwide."

Officials in Malaysia had previously said they were seeking a full refund from Goldman Sachs for the fees it received for the 1MDB bond sales.

The $600m Goldman earned from the bond issues dwarfed what banks typically make from government deals.

BloombergNissan's CEO plans to meet one-on-one with the deputy CEO of automaking partner Renault in Amsterdam this week, sources told Reuters, amid tensions over the future of the alliance after chairman Carlos Ghosn's arrest last month.

The meeting would be the first face-to-face interaction between Nissan's Hiroto Saikawa and Renault's Thierry Bollore since Ghosn was arrested on November 19 in Tokyo.

It would take place alongside regular top-level, monthly talks between the partners and Mitsubishi that will be held over two days from Tuesday, according to one of the sources familiar with the matter.

Saikawa, who took over from Ghosn as CEO last year, is planning to discuss at the meeting with Bollore possible changes to the partnership's management and operations with an eye to continuing the alliance, another source who is close to Nissan's management said.

The talks in Amsterdam could provide Saikawa with an opportunity to try and convince Renault executives of the gravity of Ghosn's alleged misconduct discovered during an in-house investigation by the Japanese automaker.

They are being held a day after he rebuffed a demand from Renault for an extraordinary shareholder meeting that would have offered the French car maker a chance to weigh in on Ghosn's replacement as chairman and on other Nissan board appointments.

Mitsubishi chairman Osamu Masuko said late on Monday he will attend the Amsterdam meetings via video conference.

A Nissan spokesman said Saikawa would attend meetings with alliance partners in Amsterdam from Tuesday, but declined to comment on the possibility of the one-on-one meeting with Bollore.

Ghosn was charged last week alongside alleged accomplice Greg Kelly and Nissan itself over the company's failure to declare $43m in deferred income that Ghosn had arranged to be paid while chairman and CEO. Both men remain in custody.

The scandal has shaken the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, with Saikawa calling for changes to weaken Renault's control as he moved to oust Ghosn in the week of his arrest.

Renault directors were briefed last week on the Nissan investigation that led to Ghosn's arrest but reiterated their earlier decision to keep him in office as chairman and CEO.

But the Renault board has yet to be given direct access to Nissan's findings, which are being closely held by Renault lawyers answering to Ghosn's long-standing chief of staff and head of legal affairs at Renault, Mouna Sepehri.

"We understand that the raw details of the misconduct have yet to reach each of Renault's board members," Saikawa said on Monday after Nissan directors rebuffed the shareholder meeting demand. "We hope the board will listen to our explanation."

Renault owns 43.4pc of Nissan, whose 15pc stake in its French parent carries no voting rights. Nissan, in turn, controls Mitsubishi via a 34pc holding.Given that we live in the age of remakes, reboots, relaunches and re-hashes, it was I suppose inevitable that Disney would get around to making a sequel to their 1964 classic Mary Poppins one day.

Fifty four years later, theyve sprung into action with this big, glossy, family-friendly production that adopts a respectful and even reverential approach to the original film, which seems to mean a lot to quite a lot of people.

Whenever I have cynically raised my eyes to heaven at the prospect of going to see it, people of a certain age, mainly but not exclusively female, have given me a right chewing before describing how important the 1964 original was to them.

Its one of those films people grow up on, and in fairness was pretty special in its way. While the storys creator P.L. Travers might have been horrified by the whole affair, the Disney film caught the magic of her stern but magical nanny, the sequences combining live action and animation were beautifully rendered, and what about those Sherman and Sherman songs. In a recent review of this film, the Guardians Peter Bradshaw suggested that Lets Go Fly a Kite was not a great song: he might want to consider acquiring a tuning fork. Cheesy, yes, but surely irresistible.

Among this remakes biggest challenges, though, was how to cast a role so synonymous with Julie Andrews, and at least they got that part right. Emily Blunt is pitch perfect as a slightly older and more worldly but equally formidable Poppins, who descends from the skies just in time to save the Banks family from disaster - again.

Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw), the little boy from the original film, has grown up to have a family of his own, and still lives at No. 17 Cherry Tree Lane. He is, however, in imminent danger of losing it, as a loan he took out on the house has now fallen due, and his meagre salary at the bank wont be enough to save them from eviction. Meanwhile, his three young children are running wild, and when one of them hoists an old kite into the skies above the nearby park, it comes back down with a nanny attached to it.

Mary is not impressed by the general state of the household, and it doesnt take her long to put manners on the nippers, though she also treats them to regular doses of magic courtesy of that enchanted Gladstone bag. But she also notices that Michael is doing his best as a parent, but struggling in the aftermath of his wifes recent death.

Emily Mortimer plays Jane Banks, whos now a socialist and womens rights activist like her mother, while Lin-Manuel Miranda is the Dick Van Dyke proxy, an irrepressibly chirpy cockney lamplighter and Marys loyal ally.

Theres nothing all that wrong with any of this, and indeed quite a lot right early on. An animated sequence in which the children take a bath which turns into a technicolor undersea kingdom is beautifully executed, as is a music hall number Mary performs to an audience of cartoon animals. Emily Blunt is extremely good as Poppins (so good in fact that one wonders who else could have been cast in the role), abandoning her own English accent for a strangulated regal tone that seems to suit the occasion perfectly. The songs are not bad either, though I cant for the life of me recall a single one of them. And as I said, the film is scrupulously reverential to its predecessor throughout.

But maybe its too reverent, because it seems to me the the writers, producers and directors of this production were so fearful of tarnishing the good name of Ms. Poppins that theyve created something competent, workmanlike, shiny and dead. In and of itself, Mary Poppins Returns never really comes to life, save in the moments when Ms. Blunt is given a stage to herself. It feels like someone was carefully ticking off the boxes - song here, animated bit here, cheery Cockney dance here - so that any incidental creativity was stifled.

Video of the Day

Lin-Manuel Miranda may have a stellar reputation on Broadway, but is deadly dull here as Marys sidekick: he dances and sings well but blandly, and while the film has upheld the tradition of the dodgy cockney accent, his is merely slightly off and not the magnificently daft conversation piece created by Mr. Van Dyke.

Its fine, I suppose, but is that enough? Poppins fans will enjoy the nostalgia of it all, but may feel a little deflated afterwards.

(G, 130 mins)Americas Got Talent star Courtney Hadwin has signed with Simon Cowells record label, months after narrowly losing out in the talent shows final.

The British schoolgirl, 14, wowed audiences across the pond with energetic covers of hits including Otis Reddings Hard to Handle, Tina Turners River Deep, Mountain High, and James Browns Papas Got a Brand New Bag.

Courtney had been favourite to win Americas Got Talent  hosted by Cowell, Mel B, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel  but was beaten in Septembers final by magician Shin Lim.

So excited to finally say that I have signed a record deal with @syco & @aristarecords thank you so much this wouldn't be possible without all your support #dreamsdocometrue now let's make music pic.twitter.com/DCAL1qzzde  Courtney Hadwin (@CourtneyHadwin) December 17, 2018

The teenager has recovered quickly from the setback and on Monday signed with Cowells Syco records and Arista Records, which are both owned by Sony Music.

Announcing the news, Courtney, from the village of Hesleden, County Durham, shared a picture of herself with Cowell and another of her signing a contract.

She wrote: So excited to finally say that I have signed a record deal with @syco & @aristarecords thank you so much this wouldnt be possible without all your support #dreamsdocometrue now lets make music.

Cowell said: Courtney is an amazing artist. I will never forget her first audition on the show this year, and now we have the opportunity to work with her alongside Arista  its fantastic. We are all really excited about her future.

Courtney will shortly be recording a new album as well as taking part in Americas Got Talent: The Champions.

The series sees stars from previous series compete to be crowned the All Star winner.

Video of the Day

It will premiere in the US on January 7.Theres good news for everyone who was captivated by last nights penultimate episode of season two of Mr Mercedes, which saw miraculously recovered sociopathic serial killer Brady Hartsfield on the loose again.

Accidentally rehabilitated (so he claims) by brain surgery and Dr Babineaus unlicensed wonder drug, which he says have imbued him with a new sense of remorse, Hartsfield (the excellent Harry Treadaway) turned himself into the authorities and is playing everyone around him, as well as the media and the judicial system, like a harp.

Everyone, that is, except our bruised and battered hero Bill Hodges (a brilliant Brendan Gleeson), who knows exactly what the twisted murderer is up to.

Rather than leaving us dangling, biting our nails for the big finale, RTE2 has brought it forward to tonight. Presumably, this is to ensure it wont get in the way of such irresistible locally produced Christmas Eve treats as... er... Bridget and Eamon and The Podge and Rodge Show.

Expand Close Tormented ex-cop: Bill Hodges was splendidly played by Brendan Gleeson in Mr Mercedes, this years best drama by a long shot / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Tormented ex-cop: Bill Hodges was splendidly played by Brendan Gleeson in Mr Mercedes, this years best drama by a long shot

Frankly, who cares what the reason is? The move makes good sense. It would be a shame if the closing chapter of what was, for my money, the outstanding US drama of the year (and for that matter, of last year as well) were to get lost in the Christmas Eve frenzy, when many people are more concerned with the last-minute scramble for presents than with whats on television.

And speaking of getting lost, the even better news is that a third season of Mr Mercedes has already been commissioned. This is both a delight and a slight surprise, because I feared Mr Mercedes might not last the distance.

Ive previously used this column to express my bafflement at why the series  based, increasingly freely in its second season, on a trilogy of novels by Stephen King, who recently tweeted that its a personal favourite among adaptations of his work  isnt the enormous global success it richly deserves to be.

It has everything going for it: bulletproof source material, excellent scripts and a superb cast  not just Gleeson and Treadaway, but Justine Lupe, Holland Taylor, Nancy Travis, Jherome Jarrell and Breeda Wool  all playing engaging, beautifully realised characters.

Expand Close Brendan Gleeson steps into the shoes of retired Detective Hodges in Mr Mercedes / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Brendan Gleeson steps into the shoes of retired Detective Hodges in Mr Mercedes

With lesser talents involved, the shift into supernatural/science-fiction territory in season two could easily have ended up looking bonkers, and derailed the entire series.

But were in the hands of experts here: seasoned professionals like David E Kelley, who developed the series; Dennis Lehane, whos written or co-written many episodes; and Jack Bender, whos directed most of them.

Video of the Day

And yet, for two years running, Mr Mercedes didnt receive so much as a single nomination, let alone an award, at either the Emmys or Golden Globes.

Both, on the other hand, were happy to recognise the leaden and bloated second season of The Handmaids Tale, when it was painfully obvious to viewers who doggedly slogged through all 13 dour episodes that the series had overreached and lost the plot.

No wonder the source novels author, Margaret Atwood, who gets a complimentary executive producer credit but has no hands-on involvement, decided to write a sequel, The Testaments, which comes out late next year and is unconnected to the series.

Just as unfathomably, Mr Mercedes has little presence outside of the United States. The only two channels in Europe to pick up the first season last year were RTE2 and Canal+ in Poland. It finally landed in the UK in the summer on Amazon Primes Starzplay channel, but the audience is limited.

Perhaps we should just count ourselves lucky that were getting to see it at all. Tonights finale is a cracker, by the way, full of twists and turns, and bowing out in a way that will leave you dying (like a key character) to know what happens next.

Season 2 of Mr Mercedes concludes on RTE2 at 9.30pm tonightThe High Court has awarded more than 1m in damages and interest to 20 Portuguese workers over their treatment while building a section of the M7 motorway ten years ago.

Ms Justice Carmel Stewart said they were "treated appallingly by their employers".

They had worked here for periods up to two years and it "beggars belief that their ordeal could have lasted for so long", she said.

The workers claimed they were underpaid while working for a Portuguese partnership contracted to construct a section of the motorway between Limerick and Nenagh.

They claimed deductions taken from their wages for accommodation and laundry were not reasonable or fair and their accommodation was not of a reasonable standard.

They further alleged their employers maintained fraudulent records of the hours they worked.

The award was against Portuguese based Rosas Construtores SA, Constructocoes Gabriel AS Couto SA, and Empresa Deconstrucoes Amandio Carvalho SA, all trading under the title RAC Contractors or RAC Eire Partnership.

The defendant was not represented in court and the claims were uncontested.

The judge said the workers who gave evidence were "decent hardworking individuals" who were "entirely blameless" in the events that unfolded since the contract was awarded to build the road in 2006.

They had come to Ireland to support themselves and their families, she said.

The Judge praised the work of the State authorities in their works to "regularise the defendant's enterprise," adding that "the defendants had fought them every step of the way."

Their working conditions were brought to light following investigations conducted by the National Employment Rights Authority.

The employer was found in breach of numerous employment regulations including the Organisation of Working Time Act. The workers had worked far in excess of what the defendant's worksheets had indicated, the judge said.

Evidence was given that the Portuguese workers lived in a cramped prefab building with between six to eight people per room.

The prefab, located at a rural townland outside Nenagh, Co Tipperary, was also a fire hazard, she said.

There was no drinkable water at the accommodation, the showers didn't work all the time, and there was a smell from where the waste water flowed.

"The washing facilities provided by the defendants were unfit for any living thing, least of all human beings," the Judge said.

The conditions resulted in the worker's health being affected, she said

She accepted the defendants had made "extortionate deductions from the worker's wages."

Those deductions supposedly went towards items including their food but which was insufficient to properly feed them and for their accommodation that was not fit for purpose, the Judge said.

In all the circumstances, the workers were entitled to damages of 818,000 between them.

When interest is added to that figure, it is expected that the final award will exceed 1m.

The matter will be mentioned before the court in the new year.On trial: Maha Al Adheem called 999 and said her son was dead in their apartment

A doctor accused of murdering her three-year-old autistic son told a garda I did it, I stabbed my son and then stabbed myself when he arrived at the scene, a trial jury has heard.

The garda told the Central Criminal Court that he observed a large amount of blood on Maha Al Adheem's hands and clothing before he saw the body of her son lying on his back in the middle of a bed.

There were several puncture wounds to the boy's torso and legs and a silver metal knife was on the bed, he said.

Ms Al Adheem (43) has admitted stabbing her son and told gardai that a power had made her go to a drawer and remove a knife. The boy was stabbed 20 times and four stab wounds had penetrated his lungs and heart, severing a vital artery, the court has previously heard.

Opening the trial on Monday, prosecuting counsel Michael Delaney SC said the defence of insanity is being raised on behalf of Ms Al Adheem. This applies where the accused is suffering from a mental disorder at the time, he said, so as not to be held legally responsible for her actions. The barrister stated that expert psychiatrists for both the prosecution and defence are in agreement that Ms Al Adheem fulfils the criteria of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Ms Al Adheem, with an address at Riverside, Poddle Park, Kimmage, Dublin 12 has pleaded not guilty to murdering Omar Omran on July 10, 2017 at the same address.

Giving evidence today, Diarmaid Kelly told Mr Delaney that he was attached to Sundrive Road Garda Station in July last year.

Mr Kelly said he was the driver of an official patrol car on the Crumlin Road on July 10 when he was informed by Dublin Fire Brigade that a child was in cardiac arrest at Riverside, Poddle Park in Kimmage at 6.52pm

One fire truck was in attendance at the scene when Mr Kelly arrived. However, members of the fire brigade were preparing to leave the scene as they had tried to gain access to the accuseds apartment but there was no response.

Mr Kelly said he and some members of the fire brigade decided to go to the apartment on the second floor. The witness said he made several attempts to knock on the door of the apartment and rang the callers number who had previously dialled 999.

The court has heard that Dublin Fire Brigade got a 999 call from Ms Al Adheem at 6.40pm and she said that her baby was dead and then hung up. The person who took the call phoned the caller back but she hung up again.

Mr Kelly said there was a red smudge mark on the left-hand side of the apartment door which he believed was blood. A resident approached Mr Kelly while he was trying to gain access and told him that a female and her child lived there and pointed to a blue Micra car in the car park which he said belonged to the woman.

Mr Kelly said two firefighters breached Ms Al Adheem's apartment door using a sledgehammer which activated an intruder alarm. I also noticed a chub lock had been put on the door as well, he said, adding that he was first to enter the apartment.

The witness testified that Ms Al Adheem was standing in the hall directly in front of him and looked panicked. He identified himself as a member of An Garda Siochana.

Ms Al Adheeem held her hands up and said no, no, no and backed away into the living area where she sat on a couch, he said.

Mr Kelly said he observed a large amount of blood on her hands, her right hip and her clothing. The accused was in her pyjamas and wearing a headscarf.

He called for the assistance of paramedics and a doctor who had accompanied them to the scene.

The witness said he soon became aware of a degree of commotion coming from the bedroom of the apartment and went to see what the cause of this was.

Mr Kelly said he observed the body of a young male lying on his back in the middle of the bed. There was a substantial amount of blood at the scene and paramedics had connected an ECG monitor to the child, he said.

The witness said he noted several puncture wounds to his torso and his legs. A silver metal knife was also on the bed.

Paramedics informed Mr Kelly that the child was unresponsive and had no pulse before he returned to Ms Al Adheem in the living area.

Mr Kelly said he asked the accused repeatedly what had happened and she replied: I did it, I stabbed my son and then stabbed myself.

Ms Al Adheem was initially reluctant to be examined by staff and held a cushion to her side where her injuries were. Eventually, she allowed a doctor to examine her before she was brought by ambulance to St Jamess Hospital at 7.40pm.

Under cross-examination by Patrick Gageby SC, defending, Mr Kelly agreed that one of the pieces of information he was able to access from the Pulse record was that Ms Al Adheem had the benefit of a safety order in her favour. He further agreed with counsel that it is very common that a safety order is conveyed to the local garda station as gardai will give effect to it.

Mr Kelly agreed with Mr Gageby that he had entered the apartment in uniform and members of Dublin Fire Brigade were also dressed in uniform. Mr Gageby said Ms Al Adheems reaction to this was no, no, no" and the witness agreed with this.

The trial resumes this afternoon before Ms Justice Eileen Creedon and a jury of nine men and three women.The father of a six-year-old boy who was killed after being struck by a van breaking a red light at a pedestrian crossing has told the driver his family forgives him.

James O'Brien (37) of Kilbogget Grove, Cabinteely, Dublin was jailed for four years today after he pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing the death of Cian Marren at Shanganagh Road, Shankill, Dublin, on July 28, 2017.

At a sentence hearing last week, Cian's father, Liam, read from his victim impact statement and told O'Brien that despite the unbearable pain, hurt, suffering and anguish, and the life sentence of loss we are living, the one emotion we don't have is bitterness.

We want James O'Brien to know that our son Cian forgives you, he said, before adding that the rest of the family forgave him also.

He described seeing his son in a neck brace, unconscious but still breathing at the scene. He said paramedics told him his child was very, very ill and 20 minutes later a hospital consultant broke it to the family that there was nothing that could be done to save him.

The shock and the terror was unbearable. Even though we were told there was no hope, we prayed for a miracle, Mr Marren said.

Expand Close Cian Marren / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Cian Marren

Garda Barry Cormack told Karl Finnegan BL, prosecuting, that the child, his two sisters, then aged eight and 11 years old, and his aunt had been returning home to their granny's after a day out at the cinema and McDonalds.

He said the little boy had been anxious to press the pedestrian crossing button for the green man. Once the green man came up, he stepped out onto the road and was immediately struck by O'Brien's van.

O'Brien stopped his vehicle further up the road and returned to the scene. He later met with Mr Marren there and apologised for the accident, saying he didn't see the red light.

Gda Cormack told Mr Finnegan that drink, drugs and mobile phone use were ruled out as contributory factors in the investigation. He said the weather had been bright and dry on the day.

Expand Close Flowers placed on the Shanganagh Road in Shankill, near the entrance to Hazelwood, where Cian Marren was knocked down / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Flowers placed on the Shanganagh Road in Shankill, near the entrance to Hazelwood, where Cian Marren was knocked down

In his victim impact statement Mr Marren said: The person who suffered and lost most is our 6-year-old son.

He is the ultimate victim. He lost his life, his future, he lost his hopes and his dreams.

When Mr Marren had finished reading his statement, Judge Melanie Greally thanked him and extended her deepest condolences.

I don't know how you've done what you've done, but thank you very much, she said.

O'Brien, has 32 previous convictions at District Court level, including drink driving and a three year driving ban from 2012.

Sentencing O'Brien today Judge Greally noted that Cian was struck within moments of stepping off the footpath and was left with fatal head injuries.

He carried out to the letter all he had been taught to do before crossing the road, Judge Greally said before she noted that Cian didn't leave the pavement until the green man illuminated.

The judge noted that the lights were red for three seconds before the accident and amber for three seconds prior to that, it was a straight stretch of road with which O'Brien was familiar, it was daylight and the driving conditions were good.

It is impossible to say what passed through his mind in those three seconds, Judge Greally said before she noted that O'Brien was driving at 10 Km above the speed limit. She said this speeding was an aggravating factor.

She accepted that he remained at the scene until both gardai and emergency services arrived and expressed immediate concern for Cian.

Judge Greally accepted that O'Brien is racked with remorse but said he had unheeded a red light during which pedestrians have an expectation of being safe.

She sentenced O'Brien to four years in prison.

Judge Greally concluded her sentencing remarks by expressing her deepest sympathy to the Marren Family and all of those who were close to Cian and have been affected by his death.

She noted that Mr Marren had carried out the impossible task of expressing in words what they have been through and added that the family had demonstrated an extraordinary and admirable generosity of spirit in expressing forgiveness towards O'Brien.

It is a fitting tribute to their son and their brother, Judge Greally said.

She said the most aggravating feature of this tragic case was that a six year old child was lost and his family have been left broken and bereft as a result.

She further noted that his aunt and two older sisters, witnessed the accident and were themselves also in danger.

Mr Marren described phoning relatives to tell them they only had a few hours to say goodbye to Cian. He said he brought his daughters to the hospital the next day.

We simply said that Cian was never going to wake up and he would be going to heaven later that day, he said.

Mr Marren told the court that though his daughters were so young, they had the horror and anguish of any adult when hearing that news.

He said he and his wife suggested the girls draw pictures for Cian and tell him stories as they lay beside him to hug and cuddle him for the last time.

Mr Marren said he told his daughters Cian would be donating his organs, so when they said goodbye, they said goodbye to their real life hero.

He said on the Sunday morning relatives put their hands on his son's still beating heart before he was wheeled away to theatre.

This will haunt us forever, Mr Marren said. He added that his family is broken.

He described how that Christmas their family opened Cian's presents by his graveside and that he and his wife visit his grave every night to read him a bedside story.

He acknowledged that his daughters' childhoods had been severely impacted and that they know their mum and dad are not the same.

Gda Cormack agreed with Orla Crowe SC, defending, that O'Brien was in great state of distress and had asked to be remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing date.

Ms Crowe said her first instruction was to offer her client's deepest condolences to the Marren family on their unbearable loss.

She described the victim impact statement ready by Mr Marren as a model of charity towards her client.

She said O'Brien has had problems with alcohol and that his father was also a heavy drinker. She told the court that his wider family was devastated about what happened.

She submitted that O'Brien couldn't sleep at night thinking about the death and that he had arranged for prayers to be said for Cian and the Marren family.

She said a psychological assessment had placed O'Brien in the extremely low range of intellectual functioning.Commitment: Garda Commissioner Drew Harris was said by the Irish Farmers Association to have pledged the new unit to combat trespassing. Picture: Colin O'Riordan

A special patrol unit is being set up by An Garda Siochana nationally to deal with trespassers who illegally hunt on farm land, said the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA).

The organisation's crime prevention officer Barry Carey said it was given the commitment by the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in a recent meeting where the issue of illegally hunting lands was discussed.

It comes as landowners across the country - particularly in north Dublin and north Kerry - noticed an increase in people on their lands hunting hares and killing sheep since last year.

The rural populations affected, who often live in isolated areas, also worry that these same individuals are casing their homes and farms.

At a recent meeting on the issue in Kerry, one incident was highlighted where a man reportedly saw 16 individuals with dogs hunting in a field.

A further case of a man in his late 70s not being able to sleep at night due to the worry of intruders was also highlighted. The same man had some of his sheep killed by dogs brought to his land.

In September, a Dublin farmer suffered a violent attack when he confronted a number of men who were trespassing on his land.

Father-of-three Pat Walsh (47), from Lispopple, Swords, suffered four cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder and needed stitches to his face after he was kicked repeatedly on the ground.

It followed another incident in which a farmer in St Margaret's, who found men illegally dumping on his land, went to ring the gardai but was hit by the men's van.

Recently, a farmer told senior gardai at a meeting on rural crime that if they don't take appropriate measures then someone will take the law into their own hands, referencing the Padraig Nally-John 'Frog' Ward case in 2004.

Speaking recently on the issue, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said that he had no immediate plans to change the law regarding trespass on farmland. Mr Flanagan said that the general legal position in respect to trespass is that it is a civil wrong and, for the most part, can be addressed by means of a civil remedy through the courts.

He said he acknowledged the interest of various farm and rural organisations, particularly the IFA, on this issue.

However, he said there are already significant legislative provisions and penalties relating to trespass.

Fianna Fail's spokesperson on justice, Jim O'Callaghan, said the minister's comments did not take into account the reality of what is happening on farmland.

"Farmers find that when people trespass on their land, they have no remedy in the criminal law," he said. "When they contact members of An Garda Siochana, they are told that officers can only intervene if there is a threat to commit a criminal offence or if criminal damage has been done.

"The type of remedy that farmers want is to be able to tell people trespassing on their land to leave and that there will be consequences if they do not do so."Over 40pc of women experience some level of trauma during childbirth, according to research. Stock Image

The supply of vital nutrition for sick or premature infants could be in jeopardy if there is a hard Brexit.

Around 15pc of the feeding known as total parenteral nutrition (TPN) is imported into Ireland from the UK.

Concern about the supply of the feeding, which has a short shelf-life and is given to the baby intravenously to provide nutrients, is understood to be highlighted in the Government's contingency plan for a cliff-edge Brexit to be outlined this week.

Meanwhile, the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA), the medicines watchdog, said for many medicines licensed in Ireland, the licence holder is a UK-based company.

"For each of those medicines, the licence must be transferred to an EU-based holder by March 29, 2019," it said.

"Normally, where the licence holder changes, all packaging must be updated to reflect this prior to any further batch of that medicine being certified for the Irish market - this can take some time.

"However, for licence transfers directly related to Brexit and to facilitate continuity of supply, the HPRA has agreed that stock bearing the details of the UK-based licence holder can continue to be batch certified for Ireland for six months post transfer of the licence. On a case-by-case basis this period may be extended following discussions with the HPRA.

"The HPRA is committed to minimising the impact of Brexit on the supply of medicines to Irish patients and we are working to address all issues under our remit relating to Brexit.

"We are engaging with stakeholders involved in the supply of medicines to ensure that actions consistent with Irish and EU law are taken to minimise any potential disruption to the supply of medicines that may be transported to Ireland from or through the UK.

"We are also working closely with other State organisations who have roles which are relevant to the supply of medicines including the HSE and Revenue Customs to ensure a co-ordinated approach.

"This approach takes into account specific considerations such as the transport of medicines that are temperature sensitive and which may have a limited shelf-life.

"The HPRA has no role in relation to the purchase of medicines.

"Our Brexit planning involves proactive actions to facilitate the continued supply of all medicines and minimise the impact on patients and healthcare professionals. However, where any issues in relation to supply of a specific medicine are identified, the HPRA will work with others."Manager Karen Fox and Graham Keogh from the spar shop in Summerhill, they are raising money for a local elderly lady who was robbed. Picture credit; Damien Eagers/INM

More than 1,000 has been raised for an elderly woman who had her Christmas pension stolen by heartless thieves pretending to do work at her house.

A whip-round held by a Dublin north-inner-city pub and a collection box at the till of her local shop is set to ensure that the woman (92) will end up with more money than was taken from her. The till collection at the Spar in Summerhill has raised in the region of 700 in only five days, with manager at the store Karen Fox saying that "around here people wouldn't have money, but they're all digging deep for her".

Another 350 was collected at the Hill 16 pub after the woman's plight was announced over the weekend.

Posting online in the early hours of Sunday morning, the pub said: "Tonight, the winning captain of our annual Cabra v Town sing off, Greg Grimes, told the customers of this poor lady and what happened to her.

"Within five minutes, a bucket collection raised 335 to try help make this lady's Christmas a little better. Well done to all."

It followed 200 donated by two local businessmen - bringing the total to 1,250.

Expand Close The post office in Summerhill, Dublin, where the elderly woman took out her money before the theft. Photo: Damien Eagers / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The post office in Summerhill, Dublin, where the elderly woman took out her money before the theft. Photo: Damien Eagers

The woman was approached by two men shortly after she collected her double-week payment from the post office last week. They offered to repair roof slates at her house.

But as she was at the house discussing payment with one of the men, she realised her pension money had been taken from her coat in the hallway.

It is understood somewhere in the region of 700 was stolen.

"I said I have some money here and said hang on, I've got money in my coat in the hall," she told the Irish Independent.

"But the other fella must've seen it when they were coming in because like that they were gone," she added.

The woman said she had been left shaken and nervous following the incident, particularly when somebody comes to the door.

"I want to know who's there and what they're doing," she said. "I don't want any strangers knocking on my door."

The woman admitted she was overwhelmed by the support she had received from locals and neighbours.

But she said she was somewhat surprised people were willing to give her their money.Murder victim Justine Valdez died of asphyxia, an inquest into her death heard.

The 24-year-old student was abducted in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow on May 19 last.

She took the 5.40pm bus from Bray to Enniskerry and arrived in Enniskerry village around 6pm.

She was abducted in broad daylight on a busy road at 6.20pm. A witness who saw her being forced into the boot of a Nissan Qashqai rang 999.

Her body was discovered shortly before 3pm on May 21, 2018 in dense woodland at Rathmichael, south Dublin.

Her killer Mark Hennessy (40) was shot dead by a garda at Cherrywood Business Park, Co Dublin, on May 20 last.

Expand Close Jastine Valdez (24) was abducted and murdered on May 19 / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Jastine Valdez (24) was abducted and murdered on May 19

Read More

No family members of the Valdez family were present for the opening of an inquest into her death at Dublin Coroners Court. A family liaison officer has been appointed to the Valdez family.

Detective Inspector Frank Keenaghan applied to the court for a three month adjournment of the case.

The family will be back in the jurisdiction at that stage and we will have a clearer picture, D.I Keenaghan said.

Ms Valdezs parents Danny and Tess Valdez travelled to the city morgue on May 22 to identify their daughters remains. A statement from Danny Valdez was read out in court.

He said he travelled to Dublin City Morgue with Garda Patrick Mackey of Bray Garda Station.

There I saw my daughter Jastine and I identified her as my daughter, Mr Valdez said in his statement.

The formal identification took place in a viewing room at 6.10pm. A post-mortem conducted by Deputy State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan gave the cause of death as asphyxia.

Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane adjourned the inquest for further mention to March 14, 2019 and extended the condolences of the court to the Valdez family.Scenes of joy erupted at Dublin Airport this afternoon as a group of children from Belarus arrived to spend Christmas with their host families.

Its an annual Christmas tradition that has linked families from across the country with victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster for the past three decades.

Selection boxes were at the ready, and Christmas songs were being sung as the volunteer host families waited to greet the special guests, and a huge cheer went up when they finally came through the arrival gates.

Adi Roche, Volunteer CEO of Chernobyl Children International, the charity that brings the children here for this rest and recuperation programme, described their arrival as a magical moment.

She said that for her the message of Christmas was all about love, and it is about hope and it is about the warmth and love of one another, and reaching out to others to say that you are not forgotten. And Ireland has been stalwarts in doing this for the last 32 years, and this year is no exception, she told Independent.ie.

I think the volunteer families that are hosting the children this Christmas to me are the unsung heroes and heroines. They are really the embodiment of what Christmas is all about. They are opening their hearts and their homes to these children.

Expand Close Kathleen Ellen and Damien Meaney Bray welcomes Sasha Haldayeu from Chernobyl who arrived in Dublin Airport for their annual Visit from Belarus. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Kathleen Ellen and Damien Meaney Bray welcomes Sasha Haldayeu from Chernobyl who arrived in Dublin Airport for their annual Visit from Belarus.

The children have become like members of the Irish volunteer families, and I think they are just extraordinary people. They are the embodiment of the best of Irish, said Ms Roche.

The preparations for the children to arrive has taken place weeks in advance. We had a medical volunteer team out there last week, helping to prepare them. This is what they are sleeping, eating and breathing for, is coming to their Irish mamas and papas.

Expand Close Adi Roche leads the way for the Young people from Chernobyl who arrived in Dublin Airport for their annual Visit from Belarus. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Adi Roche leads the way for the Young people from Chernobyl who arrived in Dublin Airport for their annual Visit from Belarus.

There were a few surprises today too, in relation to two of the children who had outgrown their wheelchairs, which the charity had bought for them many years ago. We have raised the funds again for some new wheelchairs, Ms Roche revealed.

Among those who were waiting at the airport today was hosts Damien Meaney (39) from Bray, Co Wicklow, and he said it will be his familys 18th year hosting the kids from Belarus.

My parents Kathleen and Dave started it, and the whole family has been involved. We have four coming this Christmas. They stay for two weeks, and we look after them and they meet their friends. They are a part of the community, they have a great time.

I think it is something very special. You cant describe it what it means, to see them so happy and excited, that is what its all about, said Mr Meaney.

Expand Close Gillian Butler and Sarah Meaney Bray welcomes Aliaksandr Miadouski from Chernobyl who arrived in Dublin Airport for their annual Visit from Belarus. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Gillian Butler and Sarah Meaney Bray welcomes Aliaksandr Miadouski from Chernobyl who arrived in Dublin Airport for their annual Visit from Belarus.

It is a happy time for everybody. It is hard to put into words what it means to me and the family, but it is very special, he said.

Another host Trina Rooney from Oldtown, Co Dublin was thrilled when Maryna Malinovskaya (15) finally touched down, one of the 40-strong group of children. Its absolutely fantastic. You are sort of holding back happy tears, she said.

She has been coming to our family for the past six years, and she has been with us in the summer as well. Maryna is part of our family now.

Its an honour and a privilege to work with the kids, and we just feel so lucky to be able to do it, she said.

Expand Close Adi Roche with Young People from Chernobyl who arrived in Dublin Airport for their annual Visit from Belarus. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Adi Roche with Young People from Chernobyl who arrived in Dublin Airport for their annual Visit from Belarus.

The children, many of whom suffer from genetic disorders and congenital disabilities, come from some of the areas worst affected by radiation fallout from the worlds worst nuclear disaster in 1986.

They will spend two weeks with volunteer host families from nine counties who have opened their homes.

Tomorrow, in recognition of the work of the charitys volunteers, President Michael D Higgins will welcome a group of the children and their host families to the Aras for special Christmas celebration.

We cannot express how grateful we are to President Higgins for welcoming the children and their host families to Aras an Uachtarain, Ms Roche said.FORMER Workers Party President Sean Garland was not the man of steel he was often believed to be but a flesh and blood, social being, mourners at his funeral have heard.

His enemies were bankers who brought this country into need, those at the top of the rich list and those who were mean-minded enough to challenge workers rights in the courts, it was claimed.

A humanist ceremony was held for the former political leader at the Crematorium chapel at Glasnevin Cemetery with speakers including key members of the Workers Party, including former President Marian Donnelly and Chair of the Northern Committee, Gerry Grainger.

The small chapel was packed to standing room, with many people travelling down from the North to attend.

Expand Close The Funeral of Sean Garland at Glasnevin. PIC COLIN ORIORDAN / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The Funeral of Sean Garland at Glasnevin. PIC COLIN ORIORDAN

Unitarian clergyman and former trade unionist, Rev Chris Hudson, who played a key role in the peace process, told mourners that even last night, he had been speaking to a prominent loyalist figure who asked him to pass on his deepest sympathy to Mr Garlands wife, Mary and their family. He also asked him to express gratitude to them on his behalf for all the work he had done for workers.

Up until recently Sean had been helping me, and advising me, Rev Hudson revealed.

Referring to Mr Garlands role in the Official IRA ceasefire in 1972, after they split with the Belfast-led Provisionals in 1970, Rev Hudson asked: Why is it Sean could sit in that light in 1972 when we had to wait 30 years for others to sit in that same light?.

Mr Garlands remains were waked in West Belfast before being removed to Liberty Hall in Dublin, with a further wake before the funeral this afternoon. His wicker coffin was draped in both the tricolour and the Starry Plough.

His Belfast-born widow Mary, who he met while living in Glasgow, followed close to the wicker coffin with his daughter Caoimhe, which was covered in both the Tricolour and the Starry Plough flags.

A colour party comprising members of the Workers Party followed the hearse, carrying the same flags.

A recording of Dominic Behans anti-sectarian song, Our Last Hope formed part of the ceremony, as well as the Walt Whitman poem, To A Foild European Revolutionaire.

The trade unionist anthem Joe Hill was sung by Eilis Ryan, joined in by most of the mourners who faithfully knew the words.

Anne Finnegan, chair of the Workers Party described Mr Garland as a secular socialist Republican who was far from a man of steel but a flesh and blood, social being.

His tolerance for anyone who undermined the party was zero, she conceded but she said there was no doubt that he was strong and determined, noting how he had carried to dying Sean South from the attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary barracks in Brookborough in Co Fermanagh on January 1 1957, in an attempt to save his life.

Where did this commitment and determination come from? she asked  before explaining that it came from his upbringing with his family in the tenements of Dublin.

She said Sean had come to realise that removing Britain from the Six Counties meant nothing. Instead, all people were brothers with one hope and destiny, she said.

People needed freedom, not the land, she said he had come to believe.

Ms Finnegan said she did not believe the 1992 split of the political party had been explored in full, saying many factors had been at play, including the fall of the Soviet Union and some egos within the party. However she said the partys decline had resulted in a much needier country.The scene of a suspected pipe bomb attack near Dorset Street, Dublin (Photo: Kyran O'Brien)

The scene of a suspected pipe bomb attack near Dorset Street, Dublin (Photo: Kyran O'Brien)

The scene of a suspected pipe bomb attack near Dorset Street, Dublin (Photo: Kyran O'Brien)

The Army bomb squad were called to a city centre apartment block last night after a suspicious device was thrown at a house linked to a Hutch family member.

Gardai were alerted to the scene at around 9.30pm near Dorset Street after an object was thrown at the window of an apartment.

Following initial inquiries at the scene a decision was made to alert the Army EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Unit.

Members of the Special Detective Unit (SDU) were also made aware of the incident.

Expand Close The scene of a suspected pipe bomb attack near Dorset Street, Dublin (Photo: Kyran O'Brien) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The scene of a suspected pipe bomb attack near Dorset Street, Dublin (Photo: Kyran O'Brien)

Independent.ie understands that the home is linked to an innocent female Hutch family member, aged in her 30s, who has no involvement in crime.

However due to the ongoing Dublin feud the woman is considered to be under threat.

Expand Close The scene of a suspected pipe bomb attack near Dorset Street, Dublin (Photo: Kyran O'Brien) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The scene of a suspected pipe bomb attack near Dorset Street, Dublin (Photo: Kyran O'Brien)

She is close to Gareth Hutch, who was murdered in May 2016 as part of the ongoing feud which has claimed at least 18 lives.

At this stage Gardai believe a man wearing a black cap and driving a white car was involved in tonight's incident but no arrests have yet been made.

Initially Gardai were told that a brick had been thrown at the property, but further investigations led officers to believe that a pipe bomb was also left at the scene.Gardai are tonight questioning two men after seizing a sophisticated explosive device they believe was destined for use in the vicious crime feud in Drogheda.

The device was discovered after a garda plainclothes patrol searched a van at Brews Hill in Navan in the early hours of Monday morning.

Two men in the van were arrested and an Army bomb disposal team was called in to defuse the device, which had been built into an ice box type container that had been wrapped in cellophane.

The container had been wired and primed, according to gardai.

One officer said last night: "It was ready to go and only needed a timing device. It was very much a viable device".

The officer added: "It was a great seizure by young eagle-eyed gardai, who were not happy about the behaviour of the men in the van".

Two detectives became suspicious of the occupants of the van shortly after midnight.

They radioed for support and then interviewed the occupants. During a search of the van, they found the bomb hidden in the rear of the vehicle.

The suspects were arrested under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and taken to Navan station for questioning.

Both of the men are from Dublin and one is regarded as a "serious criminal", who is well known to officers in the capital.

Officers believe the the van was to be driven to Drogheda where the device was for use by one of the feuding gangs.

An Army bomb disposal team arrived at Brews Hill at around 3.20am and a cordon was put in place while gardai evacuated nearby houses until the operation was completed.

The device was made safe and removed by the Army five hours later and the cordon was lifted.

The Army removed the bomb and it has since been handed over to the gardai for more detailed examination by ballistic experts in the Garda technical bureau.

The Army advised the public that if they encountered munition components or suspect items, they should maintain a safe distance and inform the Garda.

Gardai are expected to consult with the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to determine if either of the suspects should be charged and brought directly before a court.

Gardai in Dublin, Louth and Meath have been closely monitoring contacts between crime gangs in the capital and those suspected of involvement in the feud in Drogheda.In what's been described as an "absolute disaster" for the southeast, Irish Ferries has said it's unlikely to operate a service between Rosslare and France next year.

The ferry firm, part of the stock market-listed Irish Continental Group, informed passengers earlier today of the move.

"Irish Ferries wish to inform our customers that we're unlikely to operate a service between Rosslare and France in 2019," it said.

"We continue to keep this situation under review. Our new WB Yeats ship will operate from Dublin to Cherbourg," it added.

Sinn Fein Brexit spokesman David Cullinane blasted the decision.

"For the southeast region to lose on of its main ferry routes to Europe would be an absolute disaster," he said.

Mr Cullinane said he would raise the matter with Transport Minister Shane Ross.

Brendan Howlin, the Labour leader and Co Wexford TD, also criticised the plan by Irish Ferries.

The ferry company said that a majority of its customers have a "clear preference" for the more central location and easy access of Dublin.

"Our new WB Yeats ship will operate from Dublin to Cherbourg, with 20pc greater passenger capacity up to four days per week," it added.

Last year, up to 19,000 passengers had their holiday plans thrown into disarray after Irish Ferries announced delays to the arrival of the WB Yeats ferry, which was built at a German shipyard

The 154m ship - part bankrolled with an 80m loan facility from the European Investment Bank - was due to start sailing between Ireland and France and the UK from July 30 last summer, but all sailings up to September 13 were later cancelled.We live in a divided nation. Incomes are on the rise again, but too many are being left behind.

Many people are getting up "early in the morning", but are still living in poverty. These people are being called the "working poor".

And huge numbers of children and lone parents, in particular, continue to experience high levels of poverty and deprivation.

That almost one in five children live in a household that is defined as being at risk of poverty is nothing short of shameful for a country with an advanced economy.

This situation, where so many are being left behind, reflects the experience of St Vincent de Paul, which said it was receiving an average of 1,000 calls for help every day from worried families in the run-up to Christmas.

The Central Statistics Office figures show a huge difference in poverty rates between children and those over the age of 65, something economists said might not be widely known. Consistent poverty is five times higher among children than it is for those over the age of 65.

Pensioners are articulate and vote in large numbers, so they tend to do relatively well out of each budget.

But the high rate of child poverty in this country is something that needs a greater focus from the Government.

Although some of the poverty measures have improved, around 760,000 people are living in straitened circumstances in Ireland today, calculations by Sean Healy, of Social Justice Ireland, show. Of this number, around 230,000 are under the age of 18.

Dr Healy makes the point that despite an increase in average incomes, more jobs and high levels of economic growth, a significant proportion of the population is still struggling.

This is despite average household disposable income rising by nearly 5pc to 48,476 last year. This was close to the boom-time high of 49,043 recorded in 2008.

Statisticians dislike average incomes, as a few big earners can skew the figures.

A better measure is the median, or mid-point, income of households, which was 20,869 last year, up almost 540 from the previous year.

Then there are the working poor.

They are among those that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar promised to look after when he referred to supporting those who "get up early in the morning".

Some 109,000 have jobs, so are getting up in the dark in the morning, yet are still classed as being poor. The numbers of people regarded as the working poor are little changed from a decade ago.

This is despite Ireland having one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe.

What this shows is that not everyone is gaining when the economy expands.

Tackling the shame of child poverty and the plight of the working poor needs more concentrated attention from the Government. St Vincent de Paul can only do so much.The picture show should be on its last legs. Since the middle of the last century, its decline has been predicted with gloomy authority and the nodding of wise heads. It was confidently forecast in the 1950s that television would see it off. Why go to a draughty old flea-pit when you can welcome the world into your comfortable living room?

Ever since, a variety of competing attractions - from videos and DVDs to gaming, streaming and downloads - have ganged up on the old fun palace and threatened to raze it to the ground.

However, here we are now with, according to box office receipts for the UK just released, more and more British people opting to patronise darkened auditoriums, enthusiastically willing to suspend their disbelief for a couple of hours.

In fact, cinema attendances in Britain have returned to the peak of the early 1970s. The US has also had a bumper year, and the last available numbers crunched in Ireland hint at a similar upward trend.

One of the most critically acclaimed films of this year has been 'Roma', written and directed by Alfonso Cuaron, which chronicles a year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City during the 1970s.

Cuaron has form. His 'Children Of Men', released in 2006 and based on a PD James novel, is one of the more chilling and smart dystopian dramas I have seen.

I can't wait to see 'Roma', and really I don't have to because even though it only opened in Dublin cinemas earlier this month, it is already available to watch on Netflix.

However, I have decided to hold off a few days and catch it in on the big screen instead because it merits that sort of respect and is owed that level of undivided attention.

No pausing to boil up the kettle or settling down with the takeaway ('Who ordered the sweet and sour?) or reflex-pawing the smartphone to sneak updates of @lfc or #Brexit.

Just sitting there in the dark and in the moment: an experience that is, at one and the same time, solitary and, by the nature of the medium, shared.

I can't tell exactly why the old picture show is enjoying this renaissance. It would take a lot to convince me that the industry is making better movies than it was a few decades ago.

However, it might be that at a time when the world seems even more dysfunctional, nasty and unsettled than usual, retreating to a magic room for a few hours is a sort of cheap and cheerful therapy.

Better still, movies constantly throw up makey-up grotesques, and Bond villains such as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and cartoonish toff Jacob Rees-Mogg, but they always get their comeuppance in the final reel.

It would be well worth the entrance fee for that alone.

Paris still can't beat comforts of home

Our daughter, halfway through her Erasmus year in Paris, flew home for Christmas at the weekend.

She was glad to be back too, if only to get away from the gilets jaunes, but more particularly because her flight rode the Storm Deirdre rollercoster all the way from Beauvais.

However, she loves the great city and, one term in, now feels familiar enough to see herself as something more than a tourist, though still a little less than a resident.

I even thought she carried herself with a modest touch of French insouciance through Arrivals, and her sense of individual style suggests that Paris is slowly seducing her.

However, within a few hours of settling in, she was couch-binging endless 'Friends' re-runs in her favourite jim-jams and contemplating ordering a spice bag for dinner.

Lots done, Paris. More to do.Hopes were raised of a second Brexit referendum by dint of Theresa May ruling it out. That's not entirely true - just yet - but it may soon be a reality as the prospect of a second vote moves slowly up the "likelihood ladder".

Given the recent history on this side of the water, it is a fair bet that if the Irish nation took such a momentous anti-EU decision as its neighbours did in June 2016, it would already have been reversed in another referendum.

So, are we a sheeplike race always open to persuasion by a political elite who know best what is good for us? Or are there other factors at play?

Well, first let's do a flick of recent EU votes in Ireland. In June 2001, Irish voters rejected the EU Treaty of Nice by 54pc to 46pc, with just one-in-three voters turning out. This was reversed in a second vote in October 2002 with 67pc in favour and 33pc against, and turnout significantly increased to 49pc.

Then, in June 2008, Irish voters did it again with the EU Lisbon Treaty, with 53pc against and 46pc in favour, and with a 53pc turnout. The reversal came in October 2009, this time 67pc said Yes, and 33pc voted No, on an almost six-out-of-10 turnout.

Unsurprisingly, those who successfully campaigned in each "mark one referendum" cried foul. The pub wags enjoyed jokes about "best of three" and calls of "we'll keep ye votin' til ye get it right". And there is some substance there - even in jest.

But there are other factors to be taken into account as Ireland was given a political guarantee in the case of the Nice Treaty, and a second guarantee on Lisbon which was given a certain legal force.

In the case of Nice, Irish military neutrality was identified as a voter concern, and a declaration was given by EU leaders meeting in Seville in June 2002 acknowledging Ireland's position.

In the case of Lisbon a number of issues, including effects upon family life, taxation, and again security and defence, were acknowledged. This time a legal guarantee, pledging Lisbon would not change the status quo on these issues, was given in 2009. A pledge to give this legal force was fulfilled in 2013 when it was tacked on as a protocol to the treaty that admitted Croatia to EU membership.

So, despite popular mirth, the votes were not just rerun without addressing voter concerns. At each second vote the turnout was higher, and the margins changed considerably.

It is also worth noting that Irish voters have voted nine times on EU issues since 1972 and are more used to referendums generally. There has been no deep-seated popular resentment at the revotes and surveys show Irish EU approval remains high.

Few on the other side of the Irish Sea will note this Irish experience. Unsurprisingly, the rolling Brexit calamity continues with a people overwhelmed by their own problems.

A second Brexit vote may be heading our way - with an uncertain outcome.The unprecedented mob attack at a repossessed farmhouse near Strokestown is now the subject of what will undoubtedly be a hugely complex, difficult and prolonged Garda investigation.

The sheer size and scale of the onslaught in the early hours of Sunday, which was clearly well-planned, suggests as many as 30 people are liable to criminal charges for participating in the actual crime.

The number of potential witnesses in possession of knowledge of the incident - if they dare to speak - is likely to be many times higher than that.

Despite the initial tacit public support the vigilantes have received over the past almost 48 hours - albeit based on sparse background information about the incident - it will be imperative for the State and the Garda to bring this criminal case to a successful prosecutorial conclusion.

The simple fact is that no matter how emotive the issue may be, society cannot tolerate such a flagrant violation of the law of the land.

History over the past five decades in this country has consistently shown that vigilantism in any guise is unacceptable because it attempts to corrode and undermine the very society it claimed to be protecting in the first place.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan articulated this indisputable fact when he warned yesterday: "This is a very dangerous road to go down and vigilantism cannot and will not be tolerated in this State."

The optics of angry citizens resorting to vigilante violence against an impersonal bank responsible for evicting a family from their home in the run-up to Christmas inevitably arouses an ambivalent response in a society that has good reason - countless billions of euro worth - to despise financial institutions.

People being evicted from their homestead arouses a sense of revulsion that runs deep in our collective DNA and can be traced all the way back to the Great Famine, which looms prominently in the history of the same area where it is estimated that 3,000 tenants were evicted from the local Strokestown estate between 1841 and 1861.

Seen through this lens and in a vacuum of information, the silent majority - many of them among the 23pc of the electorate who supported Peter Casey - will interpret the attack as justified: the boiling-over of a decade of simmering, silent anger at the universal hardship wrought as a result of bailing out the banks.

The reality is that tacit support for this type of violent, misjudged intervention - vigilantism - sets a dangerous precedent in favour of mob law which creates an even greater societal problem.

In the 1980s in Dublin, the well-intentioned Concerned Parents Against Drugs (CPAD) was infiltrated by the Provisional IRA who commenced vigilante attacks on suspected drug dealers and addicts.

But very soon the same 'Vigies' utilised the 'respect' - fear - their status as Republicans garnered on the streets to line their own pockets by taking payment from drug pushers in return for a 'licence' to sell heroin in the same streets.

Taking the law into our own hands, no matter how tempting or morally arguable, solves nothing. There is very good reason why society is governed by law. Thomas Hobbes, the father of modern political philosophy, warned that in the absence of a lawful authority, civil society would descend into a "war of all against all" and where the life of man would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short".Former English international footballer David Beckham (L) and his wife fashion designer Victoria Beckham pose on the red carpet upon arrival to attend the British Fashion Awards 2018 in London on December 10, 2018

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on stage during The Fashion Awards 2018 In Partnership With Swarovski at Royal Albert Hall on December 10, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Joe Maher/BFC/Getty Images)

Some of fashion's biggest names were reportedly annoyed at experiencing the inconvenience all non-VIPs have when in the presence of a princess.

Kendall Jenner, who pushed a security guard out of her shot at the Met Gala this year, Victoria Beckham, who travels with an expansive entourage and Rita Ora, are all reportedly annoyed with Meghan Markle over the intense security around her recent appearance at the British Fashion Awards. The prestigious event held at the Royal Albert Hall saw some of the biggest names in the industry celebrate the occasion, but the runaway star of the night was by far the Duchess of Sussex, who made a surprise appearance to pay homage to her wedding dress designer Clare Waight Keller.

Despite the screams of enthusiasm from the normally cool-and-collected crowd, the audience soon realised that such an appearance comes at a price: the price of free movement in a public building. The aforementioned stars were said to be "up in arms" about the restrictions in place, including the fact that the entire backstage area was guarded by Royal Protection Officers, according to TMZ.

Expand Close US model Kendall Jenner poses on the red carpet upon arrival to attend the British Fashion Awards 2018 in London on December 10, 2018. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp US model Kendall Jenner poses on the red carpet upon arrival to attend the British Fashion Awards 2018 in London on December 10, 2018.

Some were reportedly put out at not being in close proximity to the former actress, while others were affected by the 'Royal Movement' security plan, which requires all hallways and stairs to remain clear whenever the duchess was on foot. Meghan's appearance proved divisive with fans praising her elegant ensemble and adulatory speech, while critics pointed out it was poor timing to appear at such an elite event when there are continuous claims that she is a "diva" behind the scenes.

Meghan and Harry's security staff have been previously described as "very rude" during their recent trip to New Zealand and photographers in Dublin also had to work around the team in order to get an appropriate angle of the couple during meet and greets.

While heaping praise of Weller, the British creative director of Givenchy, Meghan, who is expecting her first child, also paid tribute to the importance of the fashion industry.

"As all of you in this room know, we have a deep connection to what we wear," she said. "Sometimes it's very personal, sometimes it's emotional. But for me, this connection is rooted in really being able to understand that it's about supporting and empowering each other, especially as women.

"When we choose to wear a certain designer, we're not just a reflection of their creativity and their vision, but we're also an extension of their values, of something in the fabric, so to speak, that is much more meaningful. I recently read an article that said, 'The culture of fashion has shifted from one where it was cool to be cruel to now, where it's cool to be kind.'Brittany Mason and Grainne Gallanagh at 'The Mane Event' hosted by Great Lengths at House Dublin. Picture: Stedman Photography

Catriona Gray of the Philippines waves to the audience after being crowned the new Miss Universe 2018 on December 17, 2018 in Bangkok. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)

Catriona Gray of the Philippines competes after being selected as top 10 finalist during the 2018 Miss Universe Pageant in Bangkok on December 17, 2018

Catriona Gray of the Philippines competes in swimsuit during the 2018 Miss Universe Pageant in Bangkok on December 17, 2018

Angela Ponce of Spain competes during the 2018 Miss Universe Pageant in Bangkok on December 17, 2018

Catriona Gray of the Philippines (C) is congratulated by contestants after winning the Miss Universe 2018 on December 17, 2018 in Bangkok. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)

Host Steve Harvey and Miss Ireland Grainne Gallanagh at the the 2018 MISS UNIVERSE competition airing live from Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday, Dec. 16

Grainne Gallanagh of Ireland competes in the swimsuit competition during the 2018 Miss Universe pageant in Bangkok on December 13, 2018. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)

Grainne Gallanagh of Ireland competes in the evening gown competition during the 2018 Miss Universe pageant in Bangkok on December 13, 2018. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)

Grainne Gallanagh, Miss Ireland 2018 walks on stage during the 2018 Miss Universe national costume presentation in Chonburi province on December 10, 2018. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)

Grainne Gallanagh of Ireland competes in the swimsuit competition during the 2018 Miss Universe pageant in Bangkok on December 13, 2018. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)

Never mind top of the world, it was top of the universe for Donegal nurse Grainne Gallanagh who finished in the top 20 at the Miss Universe pageant in Thailand.

The blonde beauty was also named in the top five in Europe, with the overall crown going to Miss Philippines, Catriona Gray. Miss Universe Ireland owner and model Brittany Mason told the Diary that Grainne (24) had been fantastic throughout the competition and helped make history  this is the first time Ireland has enjoyed back-to-back finals on the international stage. Last year, Cailin Aine Ni Toibin also made the final round.

Were so excited, she made history for Ireland, said Brittany (32). Im so happy, I hope to get the crown one day soon.

She couldnt speak highly enough of Grainne, and told how she had delivered an extra-cheesy Dominos pizza to the young model after the show as a reward for sashaying her way into the top 20.

Expand Close Grainne Gallanagh, Miss Ireland 2018 walks on stage during the 2018 Miss Universe national costume presentation in Chonburi province on December 10, 2018. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Grainne Gallanagh, Miss Ireland 2018 walks on stage during the 2018 Miss Universe national costume presentation in Chonburi province on December 10, 2018. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)

She has worked extremely hard and shes with her family now relaxing, she said. "When we saw her after the show we brought her a big cheesy, barbecue Dominos pizza. She has been talking about it since July, so thats what we rewarded her with.

I think Grainne really got her message around womens health across. She was also the only working health professional  a lot of the girls are training, but she was the only working health professional.

The pageant in Ireland has gone from strength to strength since Brittany took it on in 2016, but she has plenty more plans for the competition.

She hopes that one day the Miss Universe show will be held in Dublins 3Arena.

Expand Close Grainne Gallanagh of Ireland competes in the evening gown competition during the 2018 Miss Universe pageant in Bangkok on December 13, 2018. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Grainne Gallanagh of Ireland competes in the evening gown competition during the 2018 Miss Universe pageant in Bangkok on December 13, 2018. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)

I wish Ireland televised it. Ive had so many people asking and its really unfortunate no one supports the girls that go over, she said. Im hoping that will change.

She is grateful for the support from Irish brands Eleven Plus, Flormar, Great Lengths, Zero One Salon, and Dundrum Cosmetics Clinic, but would love to see more Irish businesses get on board.

Video of the Day

She thinks its a great springboard to launch a career too  fitness and food guru Roz Purcell is a household name who started out on the Miss Universe stage in 2010. Roz placed in the top 10 when she took part.

Model Joanna Cooper, who is dating rugby star Conor Murray, has also carved out a successful modelling career since the competition.

Expand Close Catriona Gray of the Philippines waves to the audience after being crowned the new Miss Universe 2018 on December 17, 2018 in Bangkok. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Catriona Gray of the Philippines waves to the audience after being crowned the new Miss Universe 2018 on December 17, 2018 in Bangkok. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)

Its a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a springboard for a career for so many women, said Brittany.First light: A visitor gazes at the sculpted figures on the walls of the tomb of Wahtye in Saqqara, Egypt. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

He was known as Wahtye, and served as a royal priest or high-ranking religious figure carrying the title "divine inspector".

He must have been someone of great importance because when he was buried in the southwest outskirts of what is now Cairo, his tomb was filled with colourful and elaborate stone carvings that give some sense of the rituals of life and death in ancient Egypt more than 4,400 years ago.

Egyptian antiquities authorities unveiled Wahtye's tomb at a press conference in Saqqara, south-west of Cairo, at the weekend .

They have also announced plans to dig deeper into the well-preserved complex, which was discovered during excavation work that began in April.

The astonishingly well-preserved tomb provides insights into life in the 24th century BC during the reign of Fifth Dynasty Egyptian King Neferirkare Kakai, a time of relative prosperity and order.

Archaeologists are to begin inspecting five shafts that led out from the tomb, believing one will lead to Wahtye's sarcophagus, which has yet to be discovered. The chamber's walls include scenes showing Wahtye with his wife, named Weret Ptah, his mother and other relatives.

They also feature depictions of pottery, furniture and wine production, religious rituals, musical performances, naval vessels and men hunting animals, according to Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities.

Statues

Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani announced the find in Saqqara, which is also home to the world-famous Step Pyramid.

He said the tomb contains scores of statues of different sizes and colours.

Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of Egypt's supreme council of antiquities, described the discovery as "one of a kind" in recent decades.

"The colour is almost intact, even though the tomb is almost 4,400 years old," he is reported to have said, according to Reuters.

The tomb is 10 metres long, three metres wide and just under three metres high, Mr Waziri said.

The walls are decorated with hieroglyphs and statues of pharaohs. Mr Waziri said the tomb was unique because of the statues and its near perfect condition.

Nearly two dozen foreign diplomats, members of Egypt's parliament and heads of international archaeological missions and institutes attended the unveiling of Wahtye's tomb.

The discovery comes as Egyptian authorities have been touting archaeological finds in an effort to entice tourists back to the country in the wake of years of turmoil ignited by the Arab Spring uprisings.

The vital tourism sector has suffered from the years of political turmoil that have followed the 2011 uprising.

The tombs at Saqqara, located around 20km south-east of the Great Pyramid and Sphinx at Giza, are less famous than other Egyptian sites. However, they boast some of the best-preserved burial sites in the nation, with elaborate hieroglyphs and vibrantly coloured stone figurines.

Among the recent discoveries announced at Saqqara were the tomb of a high-ranking military official dating back 3,300 years, a 2,500-year-old mummy wearing a gold and silver mask and a tomb complex filled with scores of statues depicting cats.A poacher has been ordered to repeatedly watch the movie Bambi as part of his sentence for a scheme to illegally kill hundreds of deer.

David Berry Jr, from Missouri, was ordered to watch the Disney classic at least once a month during his year-long jail sentence in what conservation agents have called one of the largest deer-poaching cases in state history, the Springfield News-Leader reported.

The deer were trophy bucks taken illegally, mostly at night, for their heads, leaving the bodies of the deer to waste, said Don Trotter, the prosecuting attorney in Lawrence County.

Expand Close David Berry Jr (Lawrence County Sheriff/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp David Berry Jr (Lawrence County Sheriff/AP)

Berry, his father, two brothers and another man who helped them had their hunting, fishing and trapping privileges revoked temporarily or permanently.

The men have paid a combined 51,000 dollars (40,000) in fines and court costs, and the judge ordered a special addition to Berrys sentence for illegally taking wildlife.

Court records show he was ordered by Lawrence County Judge Robert George to view the Walt Disney movie Bambi, with the first viewing being on or before December 23 2018, and at least one such viewing each month thereafter while at the county jail.

Berry was also sentenced to 120 days in jail in nearby Barton County for a firearms probation violation.

His father, David Berry Sr, and his brother Kyle were arrested in August after a nearly nine-month investigation that also involved cases in Kansas, Nebraska and Canada.

Missouri Department of Conservation said information from the investigation led to 14 Missouri residents facing more than 230 charges in 11 counties.

Investigators said Berry Srs other son Eric was later caught with another person spotlighting deer, where poachers use light at night to make deer pause and easier to hunt.

The investigation into the Berrys began in late 2015 when the conservation agency received an anonymous tip about deer poaching in Lawrence County.A three-year-old girl is in a critical condition in a New Delhi hospital where she was admitted over the weekend after allegedly being raped by her 40-year-old neighbour.

Officials yesterday said the girl's condition was "serious" following surgery and doctors were unsure whether the infant would survive.

"A three-year-old girl has been brutally raped in Bindapur in Delhi. She is bleeding profusely and is very critical," tweeted the Delhi Commissioner for Women, Swati Maliwal.

Police have arrested the suspect, who is a security guard living in the same building as the victim.

They said he tried to flee after reportedly raping the child, but was apprehended by her father and beaten up by other neighbours in their tenement after he raised the alarm.

He was arrested and admitted to the same hospital where the girl is undergoing treatment.

Police said they were alerted on Sunday afternoon after the girl's parents said their daughter had not returned home after going out to play with friends hours earlier.

One police officer said the girl's father, a daily wage labourer, then went to a neighbour's room in their tenement and found his daughter bleeding and unconscious on the floor with the security guard standing over her.

"The guard allegedly tried to escape, but was overpowered by the girl's father who also began shouting for help," the policemen said. Some neighbours arrived and thrashed the guard before handing him over to the police, he added.

The brutal incident took place on the sixth anniversary of the fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old medical student aboard a moving bus in New Delhi.Korean People's Army (KPA) soldiers leave after bowing before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il during National Memorial Day on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

North Korea has hit out at the US for stepping up sanctions against its regime, warning that it could force a return to "exchanges of fire" and block the path to nuclear disarmament forever.

Pyongyang's statement, cautioning that the US policy of "maximum pressure" would be its "greatest miscalculation", follows the decision last week to slap sanctions on three North Korean officials, including Choe Ryong-hae, a top aide to leader Kim Jong-un, for alleged human rights abuses.

The US state department justified its vow to seize the officials' US assets by accusing the regime of human rights abuses "among the worst in the world".

North Korea said the US was "bent on bringing... relations back to the status of last year which was marked by exchanges of fire".

It claimed that Washington had imposed sanctions up to eight times against companies, individuals and ships of North Korea, China and Russia and other third countries, adding: "It will block the path to denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula forever - a result desired by no one."

The statement nevertheless credited Donald Trump, the US president, for his "willingness" to improve relations with the North.

A second summit is still expected between Mr Kim and Mr Trump after their first encounter in June, although the US president indicated that he was in "no hurry" to conclude negotiations with Pyongyang. ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has resigned amid pressure on his government, after the biggest party in his coalition quit over his support for a UN-backed migration pact.

Mr Michel told Belgian legislators on Tuesday that he was "taking the decision to offer my resignation", adding he was "now going to see the king" to inform him.

The legislators had been demanding that he submit his new minority government to a confidence vote, but Mr Michel had so far refused and a confrontation seemed likely this week.

Amid calls from some in the assembly for an early election, Mr Michel again refused, saying it would only lead to "stagnation for the whole of 2019." The next election is due in Belgium in May.

As legislators applauded, he picked up his briefcase, shook the hands of a number of government ministers, and left.

The right-wing N-VA party quit the government after Mr Michel sought parliamentary approval to support the global migration deal against its wishes, branding his minority government "the Marrakech coalition," after the city where the agreement was signed just over a week ago.Taking a stand: Vice-chair of the Momentum party Anna Donath holds up a smoke grenade at protests in Budapest. Photo: AP

Viktor Orban, the populist prime minister of Hungary, is facing a rare challenge to his grip on power as protesters demand an end to controversial labour reforms and what they call his assault on democracy.

Budapest, the Hungarian capital, has been rocked by near-daily protests since the country's parliament adopted a bill liberalising overtime rules last Wednesday. Opposition MPs have called for the prime minister to go.

As part of the reform, which critics have dubbed "the slave law", employers would be allowed to delay payment for overtime for up to three years.

Several thousand people gathered outside the offices of the state television broadcaster MTVA on the fifth night of protests, after two opposition MPs were filmed being physically thrown out of the building.

Akos Hadhazy and Bernadett Szel, who wanted the station to broadcast a list of campaigners' demands, called a protest in response, under the slogan: "They threw us out the door, but we'll go back in through the windows."

Ms Szel, who filed a complaint with the police, said: "We knew this was no longer a democracy, but we did not know it was already a dictatorship."

The demonstrations peaked on Sunday night, when up to 15,000 people, chanting "we want democracy" and "we want free media" gathered outside parliament.

Half a dozen opposition MPs, including Mr Hadhazy and Ms Szel, led several thousand demonstrators on a march to the offices of MTVA. Some members of the crowd threw smoke bombs and paint when the station refused to broadcast their demands. Riot police responded with tear gas.

After the delegation of opposition MPs were allowed into the building to negotiate their demands, riot police guarding the headquarters outside used pepper spray on at least two occasions to repel protesters trying to break through the cordon.

Mr Hadhazy read the demands to camera in the early hours of yesterday, but it was not clear whether they would be broadcast.

The demands included the repeal of the labour law and a controversial judicial reform that was passed on the same day, which paves the way for new "administrative courts" to oversee cases concerning matters such as public procurement or electoral disputes.

Opposition leaders said it would grant Mr Orban near total control of the judicial system because Laszlo Trocsanyi, the justice minister and a close ally of the prime minister, would oversee the courts.

They are also demanding police reforms and editorial impartiality at the country's state media outlets.

The government said the labour reform, which increases the annual overtime that employers can demand from 250 to 400 hours, was needed by companies short of manpower.

The protest finished at Parliament Square, where protesters chanted "Orban get lost!"

"They don't negotiate with anyone. They just do whatever they want," said one protester, Zoli, a transport worker.

"They steal everything. It's intolerable. It cannot go on."

Protests in the past week have been the most violent in Hungary for over a decade, with dozens arrested and at least 14 police injured.

Anger over the legislation has prompted opposition parties across the spectrum, who accuse Mr Orban and his ruling Fidesz party of steering Hungary toward authoritarianism, to join forces.

Pro-government public and commercial media have portrayed the protesters as anarchists and "mercenaries of George Soros". Hungarian-born US billionaire Mr Soros has long been accused by Mr Orban of plotting to destabilise Hungary. ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]France's 'yellow vest' protesters are demanding the right to hold referendums on new legislation that would overrule parliamentary votes.

Referendums, which protesters say would be a "more direct" form of democracy, have become a key demand of the movement.

They are calling for a "citizens' initiative referendum" to be triggered if 700,000 people sign an online petition supervised by an independent body.

In addition to introducing or scrapping legislation, people's votes could be held on international agreements or to oust elected officials, including President Emmanuel Macron, who is the target of much of the protesters' anger.

The "yellow vests" have no leader, but protesters manning roadblocks across the country voiced the demand for a new system of government by referendum in interviews with French media yesterday.

Gregoire Blanchet (42), a protester on the A27 motorway in north-eastern France, said: "We want to govern ourselves."

The numbers of protesters have dwindled, but hardliners are defying government calls to end the unrest.

Many dismissed concessions by Mr Macron, including an increase in the minimum wage and subsidies for low-income families. "We'll continue this movement until our demands are met in full, not just some little measures that won't make much difference," said Mr Blanchet.( Daily Telegraph London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]A US federal judge has agreed to delay former national security adviser Michael Flynns sentencing so he can continue cooperating with the Russia probe.

Attorneys for Flynn had asked District Judge Emmet Sullivan to postpone the sentencing. The judge will hold a review conference in March.

The request came after Judge Sullivan warned Flynn that if he were sentenced as scheduled on Tuesday, he might not get all the credit for his cooperation with investigators that he is entitled to.

Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russia contacts. Prosecutors had recommended no prison time, citing his cooperation. But the judges rebuke raised the prospect that Flynn could get a harsher sentence.

Expand Close Michael Flynn (Carolyn Kaster/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Michael Flynn (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Judge Sullivan earlier lashed out at Donald Trumps first national security adviser, saying I cant hide my disgust, my disdain at his crime.

Arguably you sold your country out, he said.

Flynn, who served as national security adviser for only a few weeks, will be the first White House official sentenced in special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into possible co-ordination between Russia and the Trump campaign.

The hearing took place amid escalating legal peril for the president, who was implicated by federal prosecutors in New York this month in hush-money payments to cover up extramarital affairs.

Nearly half a dozen former aides and advisers  including Flynn  have pleaded guilty or agreed to co-operate with prosecutors.

Mr Trump signalled his interest in the case by tweeting good luck to Flynn hours before the sentencing hearing.

He added: Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!

Judge Sullivan told Flynn he would take into account his extensive co-operation with the government, which includes 19 meetings with investigators as well as a 33-year military career that included service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But he also said he was forced to weigh other factors including Flynns decision as national security adviser to lie to the FBI on the premises of the White House about contacts he had with the Russian ambassador to the US.Symbolic: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi arrives for a briefing on the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Capitol Hill. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Saudi Arabia has rejected as "interference" a US Senate resolution to end American military support for a Riyadh-led war in Yemen, and another holding its crown prince responsible for the murder of critic Jamal Khashoggi.

"The kingdom condemns the latest position of the US Senate that was based on unsubstantiated allegations and rejects the blatant interference in its internal affairs," the foreign ministry said in a statement released by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Though largely symbolic, the US Senate vote last Thursday dealt a fresh warning to president Donald Trump, who has staunchly backed the Saudi regime despite global uproar over the Yemen conflict and the murder of 'Washington Post' journalist Mr Khashoggi.

On the Yemen measure, which more broadly attacks the president's prerogative to launch military action, 49 Democrats or their allies voted in favour, along with seven Republicans, while another three Republicans abstained.

The Senate also approved a resolution condemning Mr Khashoggi's murder and calling Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, "responsible" for it.

The Saudi ministry said the kingdom would not tolerate any "disrespect" of its rulers.

"This position by the US Senate sends the wrong messages to all those who want to cause a rift in Saudi-US relationship," the ministry said.

"The kingdom hopes that it is not drawn into domestic political debates in the US to avoid any... significant negative impact on this important strategic relationship."

The resolution said US-Saudi ties were "important", but called on Riyadh to "moderate its increasingly erratic foreign policy".

The resolutions cannot be debated in the House of Representatives before January, and would likely be vetoed in any case by Mr Trump, but the Senate votes send a strong message to the White House over anger towards Riyadh.

Mr Khashoggi, a Saudi, was killed on October 2, shortly after entering the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul in what Riyadh called a "rogue" operation.

The murder has tarnished Riyadh's international reputation, and Western countries including the US, France and Canada, have placed sanctions on nearly 20 Saudi nationals.

UN chief Antonio Guterres called for a "credible" probe into the murder.

Anger at the human cost of the war in Yemen has also prompted a harder line in Congress about the US military's role in backing Saudi-led coalition strikes against Huthi rebels.A poacher has been ordered to repeatedly watch the movie Bambi as part of his sentence for a scheme to illegally kill hundreds of deer.

David Berry Jr, from Missouri, was ordered to watch the Disney classic at least once a month during his year-long jail sentence in what conservation agents have called one of the largest deer-poaching cases in state history, the Springfield News-Leader reported.

"The deer were trophy bucks taken illegally, mostly at night, for their heads, leaving the bodies of the deer to waste," said Don Trotter, the prosecuting attorney in Lawrence County.

Expand Close David Berry Jr (Lawrence County Sheriff/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp David Berry Jr (Lawrence County Sheriff/AP)

Berry, his father, two brothers and another man who helped them had their hunting, fishing and trapping privileges revoked temporarily or permanently.

The men have paid a combined $51,000 in fines and court costs, and the judge ordered a special addition to Berry's sentence for illegally taking wildlife.

Court records show he was ordered by Lawrence County Judge Robert George to "view the Walt Disney movie Bambi, with the first viewing being on or before December 23, 2018, and at least one such viewing each month thereafter" while at the county jail.

Berry was also sentenced to 120 days in jail in nearby Barton County for a firearms probation violation.

His father, David Berry Sr, and his brother Kyle were arrested in August after a nearly nine-month investigation that also involved cases in Kansas, Nebraska and Canada.

Missouri Department of Conservation said information from the investigation led to 14 Missouri residents facing more than 230 charges in 11 counties.

Investigators said Berry Sr's other son Eric was later caught with another person spotlighting deer, where poachers use light at night to make deer pause and easier to hunt.

The investigation into the Berrys began in late 2015 when the conservation agency received an anonymous tip about deer poaching in Lawrence County.Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election involved every major social media platform and was particularly aimed at suppressing black voters, two new reports have found.

The reports for the US Senate Intelligence Committee analysed data from major technology companies and confirmed that the Kremlin operation was even wider than previously thought.

They found that Russia also stepped up its campaign during 2017, seeking to bolster support for President Donald Trump, and unleashed a torrent of propaganda on Instagram which may have been even more extensive than its use of Facebook.

The reports give the clearest picture yet of the massive disinformation operation run by Russia's Internet Research Agency, based in St Petersburg.

One report was produced by the University of Oxford's Computational Propaganda Project and the social media analysis firm Graphika, the other by US cybersecurity company New Knowledge and Columbia University.

They studied millions of social media posts, concluding Russian efforts remain "active and ongoing" and would be for the "foreseeable future".

While Russia sought to demoralise Hispanic, millennial, and LGBTQ voters, there was a special focus on discouraging black Americans from going to the polls.

The Oxford study said black voters were encouraged to "boycott" the election as the Russians "spread cynicism and preyed on anger with structural inequalities including police violence, poverty, and disproportionate levels of incarceration".

Among the narratives shared with black audiences was a meme: "I won't vote, will you?"

Another said: "Everybody sucks. We're screwed 2016."

Others urged votes for Jill Stein, the Green candidate.

A host of sites was set up, including blackvswhite.info, blacktivist.info, and blackmattersusa.com, while "extreme right-wing voters were encouraged to be more confrontational".

"Differential messaging to each of these target groups was designed to push and pull them in different ways. What is clear is that all of the messaging clearly sought to benefit the Republican Party - and specifically, Donald Trump," the Oxford report said.

The New Knowledge report pointed out that social media companies should have picked up Russian operations earlier because many of the early advertisements they bought were paid for in roubles, and had Russian telephone numbers associated with them.

Researchers also concluded that Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, was the subject of favourable Russian posts shortly before his website released hacked emails embarrassing to the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton.

The reports found the operation to influence US voters stretched back to 2013, long before it was seeking to promote Mr Trump. It revealed a "nuanced and deep knowledge of American culture, media, and influencers in each community targeted".

Support for Mr Trump started in the early primaries, and posts attacked other candidates as establishment Republicans. One meme asked whether Florida's Marco Rubio was "a traitor". Another painted Ted Cruz of Texas as "The Trojan Cruz".

Russia has denied it meddled in the US election, contrary to the conclusion of US intelligence agencies.

The findings criticised social media companies for publicly minimising the use of their platforms - and for not sharing key data, such as the many comments generated, as well as the posts' metadata, so they could better judge the impact.

"It appears that the platforms may have misrepresented or evaded in some of their statements to Congress," researchers from New Knowledge wrote. "It is unclear whether these answers were the result of faulty or lacking analysis, or a more deliberate evasion."

Researchers analysed more than 10 million Twitter posts from thousands of Russian fake accounts, more than 116,000 Instagram posts and 61,000 on Facebook, and more than 1,000 YouTube videos. ( Daily Telegraph London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]Threats: Trump adviser Stephen Miller said the administration would do whatever was necessary to build the wall. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

US president Donald Trump and Congress, embroiled in a feud over his proposed US-Mexico border wall, have only days to reach a deal before a partial government shutdown could leave about a quarter of the federal workforce without pay.

Mr Trump has demanded $5bn (4.4bn) as a down-payment on construction of a huge wall that he argues is the only way to keep illegal immigrants and drugs from crossing into the US.

Democrats and some Republicans argue there are less costly, more effective border controls.

The money Mr Trump wants is only a fraction of the $450bn (397bn) Congress was poised to approve - before the latest battle over the proposed wall - to fund several agencies which will otherwise run out of money on Friday.

Large swathes of the government already are funded through to next September, including the military and agencies that operate public healthcare, education and veterans' programmes.

Several Republican and Democratic congressional aides last week said there was no apparent progress being made toward resolving the stand-off, after Mr Trump and leading congressional Democrats battled each other in front of TV cameras in the White House Oval Office.

"I am proud to shut down the government for border security," Mr Trump told House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

Since then, a senior House Republican aide said his party was "in a pickle" over how to keep the government open.

The aide said Republicans, who control both houses of Congress until January 3, would not be able to muster the 218 votes needed in the House to pass a funding bill if it contains Mr Trump's demand for wall money, which Democrats oppose.

If funds run out on Friday, the Nasa space programme would potentially be unfunded, along with national parks, the US diplomatic corps and agriculture programmes.

Similarly, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security would be vulnerable to shutdowns, although "essential" employees, such as FBI agents, airport security screeners and border patrol agents, would still report to work.

Their pay cheques, however, would not be issued until the shutdown ends and Congress would have to decide whether to award back pay for them, plus any furloughed workers.

A government in such disarray might not play well for Republicans over the Christmas period, especially if Americans also view images for two weeks of Mr Trump holidaying at his exclusive Florida beach-front mansion.

"After the president's comments, when he said he was going to own the shutdown, that sealed the deal for Democrats. There is absolutely no reason for them to cut a deal with this president," said Jim Manley, a political strategist and former Senate Democratic leadership aide.

With the clock ticking, the House is not even bothering to come to work until tomorrow night.

For now, Democrats are waiting for the White House to signal whether it will engage on legislation that would keep programmes operating, but without money for the wall.

White House adviser Stephen Miller told CBS News' 'Face The Nation' programme on Sunday that the administration would "do whatever is necessary to build the border wall". Asked if that included shutting down the government, he said: "If it comes to it, absolutely."

If not, Mr Manley predicted the government would limp along until January 3, when Democrats take control of the House and Ms Pelosi likely becomes the speaker and promptly advances funding, daring the Republican-led Senate to reject it.An aspiring actress who had a sexual relationship with Woody Allen as a teenager has spoken for the first time about their affair, describing her shock to find that she partially inspired the character played by Mariel Hemingway in his film 'Manhattan'.

Babi Christina Engelhardt was 16 in 1976 when she began an eight-year relationship with Allen, who was 41 at the time. The age of consent was 17.

She approached the director in a restaurant in New York City and passed him her number. He called, and they began meeting regularly at his Fifth Avenue penthouse, even though he knew she was still at school.

Ms Engelhardt, now a 59-year-old divorcee, told the 'Hollywood Reporter': "I'm not attacking Woody. This is not: 'Bring down this man.' I'm talking about my love story. I have no regrets."Donald Trumps charitable foundation has reached a deal to shut down amid a legal battle with New Yorks attorney general.

Barbara Underwood and the foundation filed a joint stipulation with the court laying out a process for dissolving the charity and distributing its remaining assets to other non-profit groups.

New York filed a lawsuit last spring accusing the foundation of operating like an extension of Mr Trumps businesses and political campaign. That suit will continue.

Lawyers for the foundation say any infractions were minor. They say they have been trying to shut down the foundation voluntarily for months.

A judge must still sign off on the agreement.

Ms Underwood is a Democrat and is seeking millions of dollars in penalties. She wants the president and his eldest children barred from running other charities.

This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone, Ms Underwood said in a statement.

Well continue to move our suit forward to ensure that the Trump Foundation and its directors are held to account for their clear and repeated violations of state and federal law.

Mr Trump had long pledged to dissolve the foundation and donate of its remaining funds to charity, but his lawyers said they were thwarted by the attorney generals office, which wanted oversight over the process.

Tuesdays agreement came weeks after a New York judge rejected arguments from the foundations lawyers that the case was politically motivated and should be thrown out.

Ms Underwoods predecessor as attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, is another Democrat who started investigating the foundation in 2016 after the Washington Post reported that some of its spending personally benefited the presidential candidate.

Mr Schneiderman ordered the foundation to stop fundraising in New York.

Ms Underwood was appointed to replace Mr Schneiderman in May when he resigned amid allegations he physically abused women.

The lawsuit accused Mr Trump of illegally using the charitys money to settle disputes involving his business empire and to boost his political fortunes during his run for the White House, including by giving out big grants of others people money to veterans organisations during the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, the first presidential nominating contest of 2016.

Lawyers for the foundation have said any infractions were minor.Send to Email Address

Your Name

Your Email Address

Post was not sent - check your email addresses!

Email check failed, please try again

Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone kept their relationship away from media spotlight but the world already knew what they were trying to hide. The relationship made headlines, their PDA was winning the internet and even without their official nod, they became #DeepVeer for everyone.

Agencies

Ranveer and Deepika tied the knot in Italy in November and the world watched. It was a wedding you only dream about. Only a few people close to them had flown down to Italy with them and it was a wedding that will be remembered for years!

Agencies

While we know what all is happening in their professional life post-wedding, there is a lot that happened in the last six years of their relationship.

From co-actors, they graduated to becoming each other's better-half and a lot conspired between these two!

Agencies

Giving all of us some dope on their courtship period, Padukone spoke to Jitesh Pillai for Filmfare's Famously Filmfare. In a first, Deepika didn't hesitate while divulging some inner deets between him and husband Ranveer. We have a few excerpts on what all Deepika spoke about on her wedding with her long-term boyfriend Ranveer Singh, why they chose Lake Como and other 'special' incidents.

1. The initial dating days: When Deepika spoke about the special moment between Ranveer and her.

2. On waking up to each other and why it's special for her:

3. When she was asked the relevance of 'Ek Chutki Sindoor' in her real life:

4. When she was asked why she and Ranveer chose Lake Como as their wedding destination:

5. Deepika Padukone on why they opted for both Sindhi and South Indian wedding traditions.

6. On what tips Ranveer's Mom gave Deepika.

7. When Deepika was asked her moment of realization that Ranveer was the 'special' one for her:1. Ranveer Singh Gatecrashes A Wedding During Simmba Promotions, Congratulates The Bride & Groom!

The actor was promoting the film at a hotel in Mumbai when he got to know about a wedding ceremony that was taking place. Without thinking twice, he went ahead and gatecrashed the wedding. After meeting the guests, the family and the bride-groom, Ranveer Singh even posed for the paps. The crowd present there was star-struck but the bride and groom were the happiest to see a superstar like Singh gatecrash and attend their wedding ceremony. He even clicked selfies with the guests.

2. T-Pain Accused Of Plagiarising Aashiqui 2 Song Tum Hi Ho, Gets Trolled By 'Brown Twitter'

What happened recently is definitely a rarity. American rapper T-Pain has been accused of plagiarising a recurring flute melody from Arijit Singhs popular song from Aashiqui 2, Tum Hi Ho.

3. Talking About His Struggling Phase, Shah Rukh Khan Says He Was Called 'Ugly' By A Director

"I was practical and knew that I didnt look the hero type, nor couldnt I dance like one. In fact, a director once told me that he could use me anywhere because I was so ugly and not the hero-type."

4. Naseeruddin Shah Calls Virat Kohli 'Worst Behaved Player, Stirs Up A Storm On The Internet

Just to jog your memory a little, a few weeks ago, Kohli was trolled for a video where the Indian skipper asked a fan to leave India. Kohli reacted to a fan comment during a promotional video, when the fan confessed that he liked English and Australian batsmen more than the current Indian players.

5. Kapil Sharma Donates Leftover Food From His Wedding, Wins Hearts With This Kind Gesture

Kapil Sharma is making headlines and thankfully for all the right reasons. A press release by Kapil Sharma's team states that when the NGO got to know about Kapil's wedding, the officials approached him as they knew it would be a big fat Punjabi wedding and there will not only be a lavish spread of food but also in excess quantity.A lot of Indian composers have often become a butt of jokes for getting 'inspired' by international songs and artists. However, it doesnt take a genius to figure out plagiarism, right?

What happened recently is definitely a rarity. American rapper T-Pain has been accused of plagiarising a recurring flute melody from Arijit Singhs popular song from Aashiqui 2, Tum Hi Ho.

Films director Mohit Suri was the first one who brought this to peoples attention.

Music composer Mithoon was also taken aback when it came to his notice.

Sir, the melody that you have used in your new song is my original work for a previously released Hindi film..The Label is looking into this.#tumhiho #Aashiqui2 https://t.co/5fnDf4sfg7  Mithoon (@Mithoon11) December 15, 2018

And soon, T-pain became a victim of trolls. He was facing the wrath of brown twitter, he said.

i cant listen to what t pain is saying i can only concentrate on tum hi ho in the background KDJFH  megha (@gorepeaches) December 17, 2018

T Pain: if I throw it at you baby thats yo money

Me: meri aashiqui ab tum hi ho   Queen Supreet  (@Queen_Supreet) December 15, 2018

Cannot believe T pain sampled Tum Hi Ho  Im so dead  Bhad Bhai (@DerrKaiser) December 15, 2018

t pain stealing tum hi ho tune is acc the funniest shit ever, labels r involved now skksksjfkdkd  fhams (@fhxmshoque) December 16, 2018

He took to twitter to clarify that he didnt produce the tune, and also stated that it was a small matter and his label was looking into it.

Woke up to getting dragged by brown twitter. Sooooo yea. I definitely didnt produce this song. Had no idea that was a sample and have never heard the music before I got the beat from the producer. Easy thing to work out. The labels will be in contact. Thanx  T-Pain (@TPAIN) December 15, 2018

Some people were just amazed by seeing all this happening for real.

The irony in seeing Bollywood fans attacking T Pain for sampling Tum Hi Ho on a trap beat, when Bollywood literally takes a WHOLE composition claiming it as their own track.

C'mon guys, lol.  Bhaveek N. Makan (@TehBhav) December 16, 2018

Meanwhile, T-pains song which was titled Thats Yo Money has been pulled off from YouTube. But its still available on other channels and fan pages. If you want to know whats all the ruckus about, listen to the tune below:

This isnt the first time that T-series has been embroiled in an international battle. Remember the labels feud with Swedish internet celebrity PewDiePie over YouTube followers? They are competing against each other for most followed YouTube channel. In the recent development, after YouTube purged spam accounts, PewDiePie has once again beaten T-Series as the most subscribed channel.The best time of the year is here. The moment you step out, there are Christmas trees and lights everywhere making red and green our favorite colors. From yummy cakes to exciting gifts, Christmas brings out the best in us for all the right reasons.

You may have plans on how we're going to celebrate Christmas, just in case you're a part of secret Santa at your workplace or elsewhere, you're most likely confused about what to gift. Well, we're here to solve that confusion. Here's a list of some incredible gifts that will make your loved ones smile. Share the joy with these exciting yet thoughtful gifts this Christmas.

Don't worry, the budget is taken care off!

1. A box of detectable cookies, because you can never go wrong with the goodness of desserts.

Unsplash





2. Idiva beauty box for the diva. You can buy it from here.

Idiva

3. A pretty wine holder for you fancy friend.

igp

4. Funky phone covers. You get bored of using the same one every day, right?

IndiaMART

5. Personalized family mugs because Christmas is all about adorable things.

Pinterest





6. A funky passport/card holder. We all need one.

Chumbak

7. A cozy and beautiful cushion for people to have sound sleep.

Unsplash

8. Bath products for that ultimate home-spa experience.

Health and Beauty Directory Dubai

9. Mug Cakes. Duh!

prezzybox

10. A subtle yet beautiful wall art to make your loved one smile.

gettingpersona

11. A travel pillow for your wanderlust buddy.

T3.com

Make this Christmas unforgettable for your loved ones with these thoughtful gifts!Rescue efforts which began on December 13 are still underway for the 13 miners who are stuck in a flooded 370-feet deep illegal coal mine in Meghalaya. The rescue efforts to pump out water have failed to yield any results.

It has been more than 100 hours and the rescue operation is still underway in East Jaintia Hills district.

The miners of ONGC have been called in to work their way into the mine after the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) failed to get out the labourers.

Also Read: Scuba Divers, Boats Summoned To Rescue Meghalaya Coal Miners from 320 Ft Deep Mine

PTI





The NDRF, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the local police have been involved in rescue operations to locate these labourers inside the mine.

Due to heavy flooding, the rescue operation has become even more cumbersome and water is being continuously pumped out to find them. NDTV reported that around 100 personnel have been sent to the coal site which is around 370 feet deep.

Poor visibility due to muddy water and coal dust is acting as an impediment to the rescue operation.

Also Read: At Least 13 Miners Feared Dead After Flooding In Illegal Coal Mine In Meghalaya

There is no navigation map of the mine that could tell the rescuers about the division of chambers is available.

REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE





The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had banned rat-hole coal mining across Meghalaya in 2014 citing environmental reasons.

"Rat hole" mines are common in Meghalaya as they are dug by locals but are very dangerous as the coal is pulled out from narrow, horizontal seams.In a bid to ensure that tribal women have access to safe clothes and sanitary napkins, an NGO based in Pune is urging people on social media to donate old clothes. The non-profit organisation makes sanitary pads from old clothes and distributes them to women living in nearby tribal villages.

Sachin, the founder of the non-profit 'Samajbandh' urges people to donate their old clothes through social media. He also goes to people's houses and collects clothes himself.

He started this initiative after his mother had to undergo an operation to remove her uterus for not taking care during menstrual period.

Representational Image

Speaking to ANI, Sachin said, "I started this work two years ago and we have reached to more than 2,000 women. The pads available in the market are expensive for them and they cannot afford it. I appeal to people to give their old clothes to me and sometimes I also go to their place to collect clothes."

Sachin and his team distribute the sanitary pads to tribal women and also teach them how to make it at home by themselves.

There are female volunteers who give sanitary napkins to tribal women, because they are shy to take napkins from male volunteers. They also make them aware about menstrual health.Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, on December 17, was sentenced to life for his role in 1984 Anti-Sikh riots that broke out in the country and killed 2,800 Sikhs, while unofficial figures stand close to 8,000.

After a 34-year-long wait, the victims were finally served justice after Delhi High Court convicted Kumar. After the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984, all hell broke loose for Sikhs in the national capital.

At Delhi Cantonments Raj Nagar, five Sikh of the same family namely Kehar Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Raghuvender Singh, Narender Pal Singh, and Kuldeep Singh were viciously slain.

Sajjan was accused of inciting mob to seek revenge. He announced, hamari maa maar di, Sardaron ko maaro.

Jagdish Kaur, one of the key witnesses in the case against Sajjan Kumar, lost her son, husband and three brothers.

When the chowki in-charge asked the mob, kitne murge bhun diye (how many chickens had been roasted)... I felt I had lost faith in humanity, Kaur told a Delhi court on July 2, 2010.

On November 1, a mob crushed my husbands head and my son was lying on the street. Somebody had brought water and gave my son only two sips when he breathed his last. I blessed him saying he was no longer my son and would join Guru Gobind Singh, recounted Jagdish, reliving the horror, according to an Indian Express report.

Also Read: Congress' Sajjan Kumar Sentenced To Life Imprisonment In 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots Case

Around 9 pm on November 2, 1984, Jagdish went to the police station to lodge a report. There she heard Sajjan Kumar delivering a provocative speech, telling the public to murder Sikhs and kill Hindus who shelter them.

The High Court noticed that the accused were brought to justice primarily because of the courage and perseverance of three key eyewitnesses  Jagdish Kaur, her cousin Jagsher Singh and Nirpreet Kaur.

All three stated that they had seen Sajjan Kumar inciting the mob to attack Sikhs.

PTI

Nirpeet, in her statement, said Ishwar Sharabi sprinkled kerosene on her father and policeman gave matchbox to mob. ...From his name plate, I could gather his name was Inspector Kaushik. He gave a matchbox to Kishan Khokhar, who set my father on fire. My father jumped into a nearby nala (drain) to save himself. They pulled him out and set him on fire again, she said in her statement, as reported by Hindustan Times.

She was just 16 years old when her father was burnt alive. Now, she is 50.

A Delhi police inspector gave them a matchbox and I remember his words to the mob: doob maro, tumse ek Sardar bhi nahi jalta (You are all useless, you cant even set a Sikh on fire).

While other accused were convicted in 2013, the trial court had acquitted Sajjan Kumar citing the lack of evidence. According to the Indian Express report, Kaur said, In every inquiry, I had mentioned that it was Sajjan Kumar who addressed a mob and asked them to not spare any Sikh.

34 saal ho gaye, kaash hume insaaf pehle mila hota. (It has been 34 years, if only we got justice earlier), said Nirpreet.Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, on December 17, was sentenced to life for his role in 1984 Anti-Sikh riots that broke out in the country and killed 2,800 Sikhs, while unofficial figures stand close to 8,000. Read more





Here's more top news of the day:





1) Amazing! Cyclone Phethai Causes 'Fish Rain' In Andhra Pradesh

While most parts of East Godavari West Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Nellore, Krishna, Guntur, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam are receiving incessant rains triggered by the Cyclone Phethai, residents of Amalapuram were in for a surprise. Read more

2) Shattering Stereotypes, Transgender Woman From Spain Competes For Miss Universe Competition

Getty Images





Angela Ponce broke barriers at the 67th Miss Universe pageant and how! The 27-year-old contender from Spain became the first transgender woman to ever participate in the coveted international competition. Read more

3) A Noble Gujarati Businessman Has Cremated 7,000 People Who Had No Relatives For Last Rites

toi





This is why he has cremated over 7,000 unclaimed bodies in the past 18 years in the city, neglecting his zari business and even spending his own money to give dignity to the dead. Read more

4) Four Transgenders, Who Were Earlier Denied Entry, Offer Prayers At Sabarimala Temple

ANI





Four transgender devotees who were earlier denied permission by police citing no clarity on issue finally offered prayers at the Sabarimala temple. They completed their darshan of the Lord Ayyappa shrine on Tuesday after securing permission a day ago. Read more

5) UP School Principal Thrashes Students For Greeting Him 'Good Morning' Instead Of As-Salaam-Alaikum'

Representational Image





Principal at a government school in Uttar Pradesh has been suspended for for allegedly beating up students for not greeting him with "As-Salaam-Alaikum". Read moreBeing a search engine, Google is really handy for helping you find things like business, restaurants, or just plain information.

But it's a search engine not a truth engine, so you have to know when it's a bad idea to rely on the information it throws up.

Unfortunately, one woman in the Seemapuri area of East Delhi didn't take that seriously, and it ended up costing her dearly.

A private company employee, she needed to get in touch with someone in customer care after her e-wallet made what looked like an accidental transaction. So, like anyone else would, she took to Google to hunt for a contact number, and was soon connected to a customer care executive.

Unfortunately for her, the number she had called was a scam helpline, masquerading as the real thing. Unaware of this, she shared the details of her debit card with the "customer care executive" on the phone, who promised her a full refund. And within minutes, she received an automated notification from her bank that Rs 1 lakh had disappeared from her account.

Also Read: If You Get This SMS On Income Tax Refund, Beware It's A Russian Scam With Thousands Of Victims

Just to clarify, the woman acted in a way most of us would. After all, while trying to sort out an issue, it's easy to forget that maybe you should be cross-checking the number with a website or other entries. And this sort of scam is fairly common.

Fairly recently, a scam artist changed the contact details of an Employee Provident Fund Office (EPFO) in Mumbai on Maps. He was thus able to dupe several victims after gaining enough personal details to allow him access to their bank accounts. Other scammers have now caught on and are imitating banks as well.

Which us bring us to the reminder that you can't fully trust that a phone number belongs to a particular company just because it's listed on Google Maps. The platform allows user edits so people can keep their business' contact lines updated, and it's easily abused.

Better would be to check for a company website that reflects the same number first. In addition, customer care will never ask for your PAN or Aadhaar number on calls nor for your passwords.For years now people have bemoaned Pluto's demotion from dwarf planet to just large rock. And as that debate continues, we're still not sure Pluto will become a planet once more.

In the meantime we might have just discovered another ninth planet alternative.

Images courtesy: Roberto Molar Candanosa/Carnegie Institution for Science

ALSO READ: Scientist At Mount Abu Observatory Make India Proud, Discover New Planet 600 Light Years Away

A joint team at the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, composed of Carnegie's Scott Sheppard, the University of Hawaii's David Tholen, and Northern Arizona University's Chad Trujillo, recently announced they'd discovered another far-flung object in our solar system. The object is orbiting more than 100 times the distance of the Earth from the Sun, making it the most-distant body we've ever discovered in our system.

Provisionally designated as 2018 VG18, it's nickname is 'Farout".

This discovery comes just three months after the same team discovered another distant object near Neptune, called "The Goblin". Preliminary reports indicate the Farout is a round, pinkish dwarf planet.

"All that we currently know about 2018 VG18 is its extreme distance from the sun, its approximate diameter, and its color," Tholen said in a statement. "Because 2018 VG18 is so distant, it orbits very slowly, likely taking more than 1,000 years to take one trip around the Sun."

Farou is 120 astronomical units (AU) from the sun. One AU is the distance between Earth and the sun, or about 150 million kilometers, putting Farout at about 18 billion kilometers from the sun. Another thing to note is that, when NASA's Voyager 2 recently left the heliopause, or the area of the Sun's influence, that was at about 120 AU.

According to telescope observations, the team estimates Farout to be about 500 km across, making it a very dwarf planet. Its pinkish color also indicates it's got a lot of ice on the surface.

Moreover, this discovery lends further credence to scientists' theory that a super-Earth named Planet Nine (aka Planet X) exists in the outer reaches of our solar system. Though we haven't seen it yet, researchers infer another gravitational influence in the are, thanks to the orbits of distant bodies like Farout.

So even if Farout never becomes a part of school curriculum when learning about the solar system, maybe it'll still lead to another large one that does.In a first, a test pilot and engineer of the Indian Air Force flew the AN-32 aircraft using biofuel. The sortie began from Chandigarh on December 17. The project is a combined effort of the IAF, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Directorate General Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) and Indian Institute of Petroleum.

"The IAF carried out extensive engine tests on the ground. This is now followed by flight trials using 10 per cent bio-jet blended ATF. This fuel is made from Jatropha oil sourced from Chattisgarh Biodiesel Development Authority (CBDA) and then processed at CSIR-IIP, Dehradun," the IAF said in a statement.

This fuel is made from Jatropha oil sourced from Chattisgarh Biodiesel Development Authority (CBDA) & then processed at CSIR-IIP, Dehradun. IAF intends to fly An-32 aircraft using biojet fuel on 26 Jan 2019, in the Republic Day flypast. pic.twitter.com/iH65muEpLh  Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) December 17, 2018

The project is a combined effort of IAF, DRDO, Directorate General Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) & CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum.

On 27Jul 2018, The CAS ACM BS Dhanoa, announced IAFs intention to promote biojet fuels.  Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) December 17, 2018

The IAF plans to fly a biofuel-powered AN-32 aircraft on January 26, 2019, at the grand celebration of Republic Day.Car thefts don't usually have happy endings, but in this car theft case, the thief actually returned it to the owner with a full tank of petrol.

Picture for representation

The incident is now being described as 'The most Canadian car-thief story of all time'.

According to Nova Scotia RCMP, a woman called police on December 9 to report that her vehicle had been stolen from a parking lot.

ALSO READ: Canadian Mine Company Unearths North Americas Biggest Ever 552 Carat Diamond

The owner of the vehicle said that she parked next to a vehicle identical to hers. When she came back from shopping, her vehicle was gone. The woman was in luck, after a thorough investigation by the police it was revealed that the thief who had taken the car, had done so by mistake as his car was identical to the womans.

"Although it doesn't appear either vehicle was left running, it serves as a reminder that vehicle thefts do occur during the winter months when vehicles are left running and unattended," Canadian police said in a statement.

Source

Police spokesperson Cpl Dal Hutchinson told Toronto Star such cases are rare and the man had admitted to his mistake.

"I jumped in, turned quickly and lookedand the woman sitting in the passenger side wasn't my wife. My wife was in the next vehicle watching this, laughing," said Hutchinson.

ALS READ: Woman Held At Delhi Airport For Carrying Colombian Cocaine Worth Rs 4 Crore In Her StomachThis Christmas, actor Gautam Rode is turning Santa Claus as the actor is hosting meals for children from various orphanages and showering them with gifts. (photo provided)A 60-day comment period closed Dec. 10 for the proposed public charge rule, which would potentially deny permanent legal residency in the U.S. to low-income immigrants who have used federal benefits. It is not hyperbole to say that the lives of many Americans will be put at great risk if this public charge rule goes into effect, wrote Shikha Bhatnagar, Indian American executive director of SAN, in a letter to DHS. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)Insurance fraud seems like it might be an easy thing to do. Insurance companies are often so huge, one wonders how they might not even notic...GBPAUD Consolidating Above Weekly Chart Triangle Resistance Tradable Patterns - 1 hour ago The (GBPAUD) is in the advanced stages of consolidating within an upchannel (on the daily chart). Significantly, the GBPAUD is forming a weekly Doji, digesting the break above triangle resistance (on... ^GBPAUD : 1.87232 (+0.32%)

Turkey's Erdogan replaces finance minister as lira crashes AP - 1 hour ago ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed a new treasury and finance minister early Thursday after Lutfi Elvan stepped down from the post as the currency has been tumbling... $SPX : 4,513.04 (-1.18%) $DOWI : 34,022.04 (-1.34%) $IUXX : 15,877.72 (-1.60%)Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 18)  The House's efforts to focus on alleged "insertions" in the budget is a smokescreen to "muddle the issue" of the supposed "pork" in the 2019 budget exposed by Senator Ping Lacson, the budget chief said Tuesday.

"They're (House) trying to divert the attention from the pork barrel that Senator Ping noticed in the submission of the House to the Senate," Budget Secretary Ben Diokno told CNN Philippines' The Source.

Lacson previously flagged multi-billion peso projects of a congressman and a congresswoman, some of which were farm-to-market roads in Lubao and Porac, Pampanga, which are in the province's second district, represented by House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Feeling alluded to, House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya and Arroyo denied that they got the lion's share of the budget allocations. At the height of the controversy, House leaders raised questions about alleged insertions in the budget and summoned Diokno to a Question Hour at the lower chamber.

However, Diokno said the 2019 budget contains no pork or lump sum fund which legislators have control over. Such funds were outlawed by the Supreme Court in 2013.

"Apparently there is some adjustments. That's their role," Diokno said. "It's not pork. The amendment is not pork."

The Budget Secretary also said calling the additional budget allotted to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) an "insertion" is a "misnomer," as these went through the normal budgetary process.

"That's a mistake. We made an adjustment," he said.

He explained that the additional 75 billion, questioned by House leaders, for the DPWH was in line with the recommendation of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) to ramp up infrastructure spending to five to six percent of the gross domestic product in the next 50 years.

The DBCC is chaired by Diokno and includes the Department of Finance, the National Economic and Development Authority, the Office of the President and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

House leaders have accused Diokno of "inserting" 75 billion into the DPWH's 2019 budget without its and President Rodrigo Duterte's knowledge.

READ: Palace to probe alleged 75 billion infra 'insertions' in 2018 budget

But Diokno said as he is Duterte's "alter-ego on budgeting," he can make adjustments based on the recommendation of the DBCC.

He also insisted that the President and the entire Cabinet knew of this, as it was brought up in a meeting between them and the DBCC, where it was not met with any objections.

Projects in in-laws' bailiwicks only worth 100-M

Diokno is also accused of having a hand in the allocation of 2.8 billion worth of infrastructure projects in Sorsogon, the bailiwick of his in-laws. Sorsogon Vice Governor Ester Hamor, the mother of Diokno's son-in-law, is running for Sorsogon City mayor next year. Her husband, Sorsogon Mayor Edwin Hamor, is seeking re-election.

However, Diokno said the town and the province led by the Hamors only got around 100 million for two infrastructure projects, adding that Andaya's numbers are "exaggerations."

He also reiterated that he had nothing to do with the government projects in those areas.

"I'm not a politician. That's taboo po in our gathering. We don't talk about politics, we don't talk about projects," Diokno said. "Siguro sila, mga pulitika [those in politics,] they talk about projects. Kami, hindi nag-uusap [For us, we don't talk about that.]"

"Ibang-iba ang values ko sa values nila. [I have very different values from them,]" he said.

House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez accused Diokno in a separate interview with CNN Philippines' The Source of allocating a large sum to the Hamors' bailiwick to support their candidacies and also said the budget chief was lying when he said he has no knowledge of the projects.

House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya said at least 550 million worth of infrastructure projects were found to have links to Diokno's in-laws. Mayor Hamor's daughter, Maria Minez Hamor, owns Aremar Construction Corp. which entered into a partnership with Bulacan-based CT Leoncio Construction and Trading for four projects in Sorsogon province.

Andaya and Suarez have questioned the qualifications of CT Leoncio, a single proprietorship, to take on big-ticket projects.

READ: 'Large-scale scam': House to subpoena sole contractor with 30 gov't projects

The House would be probing CT Leoncio and Aremar Construction on January 3.Extreme weather in northern Australia, and the cost of servicing this area, are partly to blame for the high premiums that many consumers are facing, ACCC said. But other factors have contributed, including moves by insurers to assess risk and set premiums at an individual address level, rather than pool risks across regions.

The ACCC inquiry found that instead of actively competing for market share, insurers in some high-risk areas in the region are raising premiums to deter customers and limit their exposure. Markets at the regional level were also found to be highly concentrated.

The interim report also highlighted that conflicts of interest in the market were common and significant, and that commission rates of 15% to 20% of base premiums paid were common.

Proposed reforms include the establishment of a national insurance comparison website, restricting commission payments by insurers and intermediaries to strata managers, and more transparency when it comes to discounts customers can get if they modify their home to mitigate their risks.

This is the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken of the home, contents and strata insurance markets in northern Australia, said Delia Rickard, ACCC deputy chair. The anxiety caused by often unaffordable insurance premiums, and the inability of some people to even insure their homes, is causing real distress for people living in northern Western Australia, northern Queensland and the Northern Territory, and has the potential to limit economic development in the region.

Responses to draft recommendations can be emailed to ACCC until April 12.

Related stories:

Report highlights premium disparity in Northern Australia

ACCCFormer head of property at JLT Bermuda, Wookey brings 17 years of experience in the US property and energy markets. Meanwhile Bowring, specialising in complex large risks, has worked as a casualty producer and placing broker for the Bermudian market. He first joined the US non-marine team at Price Forbes in 2011.

George Bowrings experience and relationships will bring an extra dimension to the BMS energy platform given Bermuda is a critical market for this sector, said BMS Group director Ian Gormley.

With London market capacity tightening in the property space, Kians track record of success in the Bermudian market will be a timely addition to our placement capabilities, benefiting existing clients and creating new opportunity.

The UK-headquartered broking arm of Minova Insurance, BMS Group is engaged in areas including wholesale, reinsurance, and direct insurance, as well as capital advisory. It has 16 offices worldwide manned by more than 375 people.

BMS has a long history with the Bermuda market; we first opened on the island back in 2002, noted Gormley. This latest build out enhances our ability to offer choice and local market knowledge on the island rather than remotely.Marks previous career was in insurance and financial services and, after delivering significant underlying improvement in the performance of Centricas consumer division against a very challenging environment, he has been offered the rare opportunity to lead a new company in a sector where he has spent the majority of his career, said Centrica in its announcement on the same day Hodgess move to ReAssure was revealed.

Given sufficient time for an orderly transition, the company has waived the remaining part of Marks 12-month notice period.

Upon his return to insurance, Hodges will steer the Swiss Re unit on its journey as an independent listed closed book consolidator. The industry veteran, prior to joining Centrica, was the group CEO at specialist insurance broker Towergate Partnership.

We are very pleased to have Mark Hodges as the new CEO for ReAssure, commented Swiss Re Life Capital chief executive Thierry Leger. He combines strong leadership skills with deep industry knowledge. I am confident that he is the right person to lead ReAssure through the next stage of its development into an even more successful future.According to The Detroit News, several Michigan lawmakers are attempting to push a bill similar to one backed a year ago by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and House Speaker Tom Leonard. That reform package would have allowed motorists to choose between three levels of personal injury protection, ending a longstanding requirement that all auto policies include unlimited lifetime medical coverage for costly catastrophic injuries.

Under the new proposal, consumers could choose between $225,000 for hospital care and $25,000 for post-hospitalization care, or $500,000 of medical care, or the existing requirement for unlimited medical care, according to The Detroit News.

Crains Detroit Business spoke to Michigan State Representative Joe Bellino, who conceded that getting the bill through was a heavy lift, but argued something has to be done to lower the high cost of auto insurance in Michigan.

If people think what we have now is working, theyre living in a glass house, Bellino told Cairns Detroit Business. Who wants to move to Detroit and work? We have this great renaissance going, except in auto insurance.Joining forces with EPIC allows us to continue offering our clients the highest level of service and expertise, while providing depth and scale to further invest in our combined capabilities, said Marc Kunney, President of North America operations at Integro.

Pete Garvey, Insurance Brokers & Consultants CEO at EPIC and a founder and former CEO of Integro Ltd, highlighted his own experience working with Integro.

I know firsthand what a high quality group Integro is, said Garvey. We cant be more delighted to have their US team join forces with EPIC.

Steve Denton, president of EPIC Holdings, agreed with Garvey.

EPIC and Integro USA fit together perfectly with common themes including a passion for client service and delivering specialty capabilities supported by actionable analytics, he said.Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has announced the acquisition of Pennsylvania-based Preston-Patterson Co. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Preston-Patterson, founded in 1947, is a retail property-casualty insurance broker that offers coverages and services to broadcasters and media clients throughout the US. They also serve other commercial clients and personal-lines clients, with a focus on coastal property exposures along the Atlantic coast. Stephen, John and Stuart Patterson and their associates will initially remain in their current locations in Conshohocken, Penn., and Barnegat Light, N.J. They will report to Dan Tropp, head of Gallaghers Mid-Atlantic retail property-casualty broker operations.Hundreds of volunteers attending an insurance conference in Chicago, Ill., took a chunk of their free time writing thank you notes to servicemen and women and well-wishes notes to children living in low-income situations.

Its the thought that counts, and thats the spirit that drives the annual Insurance Industry Charitable Foundations Week of Giving, according to Bill Ross, CEO of the nonprofit IICF.

Each year, the IICF Week of Giving seems to be breaking participation records from previous years, and its that participation  not the millions of dollars the group raises for charity  that Ross believes is so important for the industry and the community.

At the end of the day, giving back drives change within a community, and giving back to a community also drives change within an organization and the industry as well, Ross said. We learn about a community, we see what their needs are, and we learn how to put our focus on that.

The IICFs annual Week of Giving in October brings insurance industry professionals together for a week-long series of volunteer projects to serve local nonprofits and charities in their own communities.

This includes volunteer events designed to support at-risk women, children and youth, the homeless, those with disabilities, senior citizens, military veterans and other areas of focus for IICF divisions.

The years Week of Giving was held from Oct. 13 to Oct. 20 and included 560 volunteer projects in the five IICF divisions  Western, Southeast, Midwest, Northeast and United Kingdom  and involved 135 companies and 11,270 volunteer hours in 243 cities, 40 states and two countries.

The projects put people in the community together with employee and executive volunteers, so these insurance professionals arent merely writing checks for charity, according to Ross. Theyre putting a face on insurance, he added.

The aforementioned Week of Giving event in the Midwest involved 600 volunteers attending the Gamma Iota Sigma International Conference in Chicago and spending a day writing hundreds of thank you notes and well-wishes notes to servicemen and women and low-income children.

IICF Midwest also hosted several large volunteer projects, including the IICF Literacy Fair at Breakthrough in Chicago and events at Cradles to Crayons Chicago over a three-day period, where nearly 200 volunteers from numerous insurance companies donated essential items for children living in poverty.

Volunteer projects in the Northeast included building homes, serving meals to the homeless and working with students on interviewing skills.

The folks in the IICF Southeast hosted their annual clean-up, maintenance and beautification project at the National Cemeteries in Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston in honor of veterans.

More than 100 projects were part of the Week of Giving in the Western Division. Projects included the Early Literacy Initiative with the Childrens Bureau in Los Angeles, where 1,250 IICF Book Buddies storybooks were donated to the organization to complement the volunteer project.

More than 200 U.K. volunteers representing 20 companies contributed 500 hours of volunteer service in giving 23 projects involving 16 nonprofits in four cities across the country.

Now completing its 25th year in existence as an organization, the IICF has continued to grow the annual Week of Giving program to record highs each of the last three years, according to Ross.

The number of industry volunteers also grew in 2017 from the previous year. Last year, some 10,200 insurance professionals volunteered in 173 cities across the United States and the U.K.

Ross said giving is just part of the insurance industrys make up.

The reason that we can exceed goals is because this industry supports philanthropic work, Ross said.

Topics MarketThe Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that an employer has a legal duty to use reasonable care in safeguarding its employees sensitive personal information stored on an internet-accessible computer. This vacates an earlier trial court and Superior Court decision in the matter.

The case came about after employees of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and UPMC McKeesport (UPMC) filed a class action complaint against UPMC in the wake of a data breach in which personal and financial information  including names, birth dates, social security numbers, addresses, tax forms and bank account information  of all 62,000 UPMC employees and former employees was accessed and stolen from the computer systems.

Employees alleged that the stolen data, which consisted of information UPMC required employees to provide as a condition of employment, was used to file fraudulent tax returns on behalf of the victimized employees, resulting in actual damages.

As a result, employees asserted a negligence claim and breach of implied contract claim against UPMC, seeking monetary damages, among other forms of relief.

On July 16, 2014, UPMC filed preliminary objections to the employees complaint, arguing that no cause of action exists for negligence because the employees did not allege any physical injury or property damage and, under the Economic Loss Doctrine, no cause of action exists for negligence that results solely in economic damages unaccompanied by physical injury or property damage.

Trial Court Ruling

On Oct. 22, 2014, the parties appeared before the trial court for oral argument on UPMCs preliminary objections.

On May 28, 2015, the court sustained UPMCs preliminary objections and dismissed the employees negligence claim. Relying on the general description of the Economic Loss Doctrine, the trial court observed that although the employees claimed UPMC owed them a duty of care, the only losses sustained were economic in nature.

The trial court also explained that hundreds of thousands of lawsuits could result from the employees proposed solution of creating a private negligence cause of action to recover actual damages, which would overwhelm the judicial system and require entities to expend substantial resources in defending against those actions.

Additionally, the trial court explained that entities storing confidential information already have an incentive to protect that information because any breach will affect their operations, an improved system would not necessarily prevent a breach, and the entities were also victims of the criminal activity involved.

The employees then appealed to the Superior Court.

Superior Court Findings

In a split opinion, a three-judge panel of the Superior Court affirmed the order of the trial court sustaining UPMCs preliminary objections and dismissing the employees claims.

The court also reasoned that the benefit of electronically storing employees personal information to promote efficiency outweighed the nature of the risk imposed.

The Superior Court added to the trial courts reasoning that no judicially created duty of care is needed to incentivize companies to protect their employees confidential information because there are already safeguards in place to prevent employers from disclosing confidential information.

In addition, the Superior Court found it unnecessary to require employers to incur potentially significant costs to increase security measures when there was no true way to prevent data breaches altogether.

Supreme Court Decision

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court then allowed an appeal to address whether an employer has a legal duty to use reasonable care to safeguard employees sensitive personal information when stored on an internet accessible computer system, and whether the Economic Loss Doctrine permits recovery for purely economic damages which result from a breach.

In their argument, the employees contended that since UPMC collected employees sensitive personal data and stored it on its internet-accessible computer systems, it was under a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect them from the foreseeable risk that third parties would attempt to access and pilfer that information.

The employees claimed they are alleging misfeasance on behalf of UPMC in collecting and storing their sensitive personal data.

The employees also argued that troves of electronic data stored on internet-accessible computers held by large entities are obvious targets for cyber criminals and that a reasonable entity in UPMCs position should foresee that a failure to use basic security measures can lead to exposure of the data and serious financial consequences for the victims.

Because of this, the employees claimed it is appropriate to require employers to use reasonable care when handling and storing employee data in order to protect it from compromise, and there is no justification for exempting employers from a duty to act with reasonable care when they collect and store employees sensitive personal information.

Finally, the employees contended that although the ultimate harm in this case resulted from criminal activity, it does not eliminate the duty UPMC owed to its employees to handle its collection and storage of employee data with reasonable care.

In response, UPMC challenged the employees assertion that it assumed a legal duty to protect against a criminal data breach through commission of an affirmative act.

UPMC contended it merely possessed employee information incident to a general employment relationship, which cannot constitute an affirmative act that entails legal liability for third-party criminal conduct.

UPMC also noted that it is not in the business of providing data security, according to the opinion document.

According to UPMC, the employees are not claiming any affirmative misfeasance on UPMCs part but instead nonfeasance in that UPMC failed to prevent the harm incurred or speculative future harm.

In that regard, UPMC noted there is a no-duty rule in rescue/protection scenarios where the defendant did not create the risk resulting in harm to the plaintiff.

UPMC also added that [i]t is nonsensical to suggest that [it] created the risk of harm from a criminal data breach[] simply by possessing employee data and its business neither increased the risk of criminal activity nor posed a special danger to the public regarding unshielded data.

With this in mind, UPMC argued that the employees are proposing a radical reconstruction of duty where they are seeking to impose liability on UPMC for the criminal acts of unknown third parties.

In its opinion, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court stated it is true that, as a condition of employment, UPMC required employees to provide certain personal and financial information, which UPMC collected and stored on its internet-accessible computer system without use of adequate security measures, including proper encryption, adequate firewalls and an adequate authentication protocol.

These factual assertions plainly constitute affirmative conduct on the part of UPMC, the opinion document stated. Employees have sufficiently alleged that UPMCs affirmative conduct created the risk of a data breach. Thus, we agree with employees that, in collecting and storing employees data on its computer systems, UPMC owed employees a duty to exercise reasonable care in collecting and storing their personal and financial information on its computer systems.

Based on this, The Pennsylvania Supreme Court concluded that the trial and Superior Courts erred in determining UPMC did not owe a duty to its employees to use reasonable care to safeguard their sensitive personal data in collecting and storing it on an internet-accessible computer system.

It further held that the lower courts erred in concluding that Pennsylvanias economic loss doctrine bars the employees negligence claim.

As a result, it vacated the judgment of the Superior Court, reversed the order of the trial court, and remanded the matter to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.

Topics Cyber Legislation Commercial Lines Business Insurance PennsylvaniaA federal judge has sentenced the owner of a now-defunct southwest Ohio payroll services company to six months in federal prison and a $10,000 fine after being found guilty of workers compensation insurance fraud.

John R. Cacaro, 59, owner of the now-closed Employers Choice Plus LLC, was found guilty of defrauding the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) out of more than $425,000, the Ohio workers compensation insurance provider reported.

Under a sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson in the U.S. District Court for southern Ohio, Cacaro also must serve one year of house arrest and three years of supervision.

The Ohio BWC said Cacaro was convicted in June on wire fraud and money laundering charges after BWC and IRS investigators discovered a scheme he concocted to short BWC on the insurance premiums he received from employers and pocket the difference. According to the BWC and the IRS, Cacaro used the money to buy a second residence in Naples, Florida, as well as a motor home.

After his sentencing, Cacaro paid $425,247 in restitution to BWC.

Established in 1912, the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation provides workers compensation insurance to 242,000 public and private Ohio employers.

Topics Workers' Compensation Fraud OhioConnecticut Insurance Department Commissioner Katharine Wade plans to step down from her position on December 19, 2018.

Connecticuts incoming Governor-elect Ned Lamont, who is set to take office on January 9, will appoint a new commissioner. Connecticut Insurance Department Life & Health Director Paul Lombardo will serve as the acting commissioner in the interim.

Wade was initially appointed as Connecticuts 32nd Insurance Commissioner by Governor Dannel P. Malloy on March 20, 2015. She has more than 20 years of industry experience in the fields of public policy, regulatory compliance, consumer education and outreach.

As home to the Insurance Capitol of the World, Connecticut needs a world-class insurance regulatory agency, Malloy said in an email to reporters about the transition. And under Commissioner Katie Wades leadership, thats just what we have. Building upon our existing assets, she strengthened consumer protection, creating better network standards for health insurance, expanding choice in the marketplace, and increasing consumer education and outreach.

During her tenure at the department, Wade worked to enhance consumer education, regulatory efficiency and customer service, according to her biography on the Connecticut Insurance Department website. She created the free online consumer letter, Insurance Matters, and she oversaw the implementation of department-wide regulatory efficiency initiatives that reduced turnaround times for product review and company licensing.

Wade has also worked across state government to improve the health and welfare of Connecticut citizens as a member of the Governors Climate Change Council, the State Agencies Fostering Resiliency Council, the state Alcohol and Drug Policy Council and the board of directors of Access Health CT, the state-sponsored health insurance exchange, her biography states.

Prior to joining the department, Wade led a 130-member national team responsible for federal and state governmental affairs, public policy and U.S. compliance for the health and group life and disability businesses at Cigna.

During her tenure, Katie championed Connecticut as a center of excellence for innovation and InsurTech, highlighting the states deep pool of insurance industry and tech talent, Malloy added in his statement. For all that she accomplished and for her personal commitment and integrity for putting the interest of the consumer first, I thank Katie for her honorable service. Im proud to call her not only my colleague, but my friend.

Topics Legislation Training Development ConnecticutThe Connecticut Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on whether homeowners insurance policies should cover repairs to thousands of homes with crumbling foundations caused by defective concrete.

Justices will hear arguments in three cases Tuesday.

An estimated 35,000 homes in Connecticut and Massachusetts are affected by disintegrating concrete containing pyrrhotite, an iron sulfide that reacts naturally with oxygen and water. Replacing a foundation can cost $100,000 to $200,000.

In one of many lawsuits against insurers for failing to cover the damage, a federal judge earlier this year asked the state high court to better define the word collapse.

Insurers argue that policies only cover fixing foundations if homes collapse. Homeowners argue that under a 1987 state Supreme Court ruling, collapse also can mean impairment in structural integrity.

Related:

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics ConnecticutBritain needs a new watchdog to shake up the countrys Big Four accounting firms and reduce their dominance of the market for auditing companies books, two government-requested reports said on Tuesday.

The reports proposals mark the most radical attempt yet to reform a sector in which the Big Four firms  EY, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC  check the accounts of 341 of the top 350 listed companies in Britain.

Politicians have criticized a cozy audit sector and its timid regulator of failing to foresee the collapse of retailer BHS and construction company Carillion.

In a report commissioned by the business ministry, John Kingman, chairman of insurer Legal & General, said the current regulator  the Financial Reporting Council (FRC)  should be replaced by a new watchdog with new management, stronger powers and a competition remit. It would be funded by a mandatory levy on accounting firms.

We need to build a new house, Kingman told reporters.

The new watchdog  the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority  would directly regulate auditors, be forward looking and draw a line under a creaky, leaky, ramshackle and excessively consensual FRC perceived to be too close to the Big Four, Kingman said.

The new watchdog would also have new powers to pursue any company director if it found wrongdoing.

FRC Chief Executive Stephen Haddrill has already said he would step down next year. The board of the new regulator would decide whether to keep on current FRC staff.

AUDIT MARKET REVIEW

Separately, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Tuesday published interim findings of its audit market review, which it began a few months ago.

We propose that FTSE350 audit should be carried out jointly by two firms, at least one of which should be from outside the Big Four, the CMA said.

The subsidiaries of a company would be divided up among the two auditors, with both approving the consolidated accounts.

New laws would be needed to implement many of the Kingman recommendations and the CMA proposals, which will be finalized in early 2019.

The business ministry welcomed the recommendations, but it may have to hold a public consultation. It faces a parliament clogged by Brexit and a new regulator is unlikely to emerge before 2020.

Rachel Reeves, chair of parliaments business committee, said a new regulator should be able to spot signs of corporate failure and step in before it was too late.

We will take a close eye to the CMA and Kingman recommendations and examine what needs to be done to deliver on these reports, Reeves said.

INTRACTABLE PROBLEMS

European Union and British reforms introduced in the past two years to increase audit market competition ended up with companies switching between the Big Four rather than hiring smaller rivals like Grant Thornton or BDO.

These intractable problems may take some years to sort out, said CMA Chairman Andrew Tyrie. If it turns out that the proposals are not far-reaching enough, the CMA will persist until the problems are addressed.

Kingman said a new regulator would bring an end to current industry self-regulation through professional bodies like the ICAEW. FRC oversight of actuaries should be moved to the Bank of England, he said.

In France, joint audits are already common and help smaller accountants like Mazars to break into the top end of the market. Joint audits are estimated to cost about 20 percent more than having a single auditor.

The CMA said if joint audits did not work, a possible alternative would to be ensure that some major audit contracts were only available to non-Big Four accountants  a step the industry proposed in the summer.

The CMA stopped short of calling for a break-up of the Big Four but proposed putting their audit and advisory services into separate operating entities.

An audit business would have its own board, staff and profit pool for bonuses so it can focus on quality book-keeping.

Other recommendations include giving the new regulator powers to intervene in a firms audit, and a duty of alert that requires auditors to tell the regulator if they have serious concerns about a companys viability.

The CMA recommendations are open for public consultation until mid-January.

Topics UkGlobal specialty insurer and reinsurer Argo Group International Holdings, has appointed Matt Harris to be group head of the companys international insurance operations, including the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Bermuda.

Jose A. Hernandez, who is currently head of International Operations, will become responsible for strategic initiatives across the company as International Operations chair.

Both Harris and Hernandez will report to CEO Mark E. Watson III.

Harris joined Argo in 2017 and was previously responsible for a large portion of Argos international business, including Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He brings 25 years of insurance experience to his new role. Harris joined Argo from AIG where he led South East Asia Country Operations. Prior to that, he was CEO of AIG Malaysia Insurance and CEO of AIG New Zealand. Earlier in his career, Harris served as chief representative for Insurance Australia Group in Mumbai, India.

Hernandez joined Argo in 2016. He started his insurance career more than 30 years ago working for several insurers in the U.S. and abroad. He spent more than 20 years with AIG in a number of senior leadership roles in the consumer and commercial segments. He has expertise in field operations, distribution, underwriting, claims, strategic planning and management. Over the course of his career, Hernandez has held country (Mexico), regional (Asia), and global (New York corporate headquarters) roles.

Topics AIGA Texas lawmaker has proposed subsidizing the states underfunded windstorm insurance and flooding assistance by building casinos in coastal counties.

State Rep. Joe Deshotel filed the bill on Dec. 7 to cover the cost of subsidizing the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) by proposing to tax licensed casinos, Galveston County Daily News reported. The measure would give the Texas Lottery Commission the authority to issue six licenses to operate casinos across six counties.

The proposal would generate an 18 percent gaming tax of a casinos revenue and use some of the money to ensure the windstorm association has sufficient capital to cover its insured deficits and operating expenditures.

Deshotel, who first filed a similar bill in 2015, said this latest iteration would send part of the tax to a flooding assistance trust fund. The governors office could then use the trust fund for emergency assistance during natural disasters like Hurricane Harvey.

Just like the lottery, where a portion of funds go to public education, this is a need thats underfunded, Deshotel said. If the lottery helps education, we can help with the problem of windstorm, which is disproportionately paid for by the coastal counties.

Earlier this year, Gov. Greg Abbott blocked a proposal by the associations board to raise commercial and residential rates by 10 percent.

Both Democrat and Republican members of the legislature have opposed legalized casinos over the years for a variety of reasons. Deshotel said he anticipated that opposition to continue in the next session.

Its something we should do regardless of whether the funds are dedicated to those issues, he said. Every bordering state to Texas has legalized gambling. We lose millions of dollars in potential tax revenue to those areas. We have the consequences of gambling, but none of the positives.

The Texas Legislative Session begins on Jan. 8. The deadline to file bills is March 8.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Texas LegislationLucas Aloisi has opened a Brightway Insurance Agency located in Parkland, Fla.

Brightway, The Aloisi Agency is located at 6600 Parkside Drive, Unit 6680 in Parkland, Fla. The agency offers customized home, condo, renters, auto, flood, RV, motorcycle, boat, life and umbrella insurance policies from numerous insurance brands including American Colonial, Bankers, Burns and Wilcox, Foremost, Johnson & Johnson, National General, Nationwide, Olympus, Progressive, Safeco and Travelers.

Born and raised in South Florida, Aloisi comes to Brightway from MassMutual, where he worked in the financial planning and insurance industry for the past two years.

Brightway, a national property/casualty insurance retailer selling through a network of franchised independent stores throughout the country, offers its agency owners support including customer service, carrier relationships, marketing, accounting and technology.

Topics FloridaRepublican legislators have rejected another candidate from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper for the North Carolina Industrial Commission.

The House voted 34-59 on Thursday against confirming Judge Robby Hassell of Greensboro.

Cooper nominated Hassell for a commission seat designated for a representative of employers interests.

Rep. Nelson Dollar of Cary says Hassells background doesnt conform to that requirement.

The governor previously picked another person for that slot, but lawmakers also rejected that nominee in June because business interests argued his rulings as a commission deputy too often favored employees.

The position remains vacant on the six-member commission, which determines workers compensation awards for injured workers.

The legislature on Thursday did finalize the confirmation of Wake County District Judge Craig Croom to become a special Superior Court judge.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Workers' Compensation North CarolinaA few cannabis companies are reaping riches after the latest Nevada dispensary licensing round.

Green Growth Brands and TapRoot Holdings have each been awarded seven licenses to operate in the state, while GreenMart NLV took home four.

Nevada awarded 61 conditional recreational dispensary licenses in December, including 31 in Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County.

Currently, there are 65 dispensaries operating in the state.

The Nevada Department of Taxation, which oversees the industry, declined to name the awardees until they receive a final state license after inspection. That could take up to a year.

Green Growth and GreenMart, which are both publicly traded, issued statements announcing their awards. TapRoot CEO Shane Terry confirmed by email that his firm received seven licenses.

We certainly have the intention of opening up all seven locations, Terry said. With the addition of these new licenses we are now vertically integrated, as previously TapRoot only had cultivation and production here in Nevada.

Many companies were looking to snatch up a state dispensary license. Las Vegas in particular remains a top market for many cannabis companies seeking to build a national brand because of the large number of tourists who pass through town.

Our presence in Nevada has been strategic from the start. With 3 million residents and 42 million annual visitors, this is a market like no other, which is why we chose Nevada as the first state where we will present the full expression of our brands, products and services, Green Growth Brands CEO Peter Horvath said in a statement.

Nevada has so far lived up to the hype. The state posted nearly $425 million worth of recreational marijuana sales in its first 12 months, beating expectations. Brokerage firm Canaccord Genuity forecasts Nevada sales will reach $1 billion by 2022.

Surging sales mean licenses can fetch a hefty buck. Dispensary licenses in Clark County sell on the secondary market for between $10 million and $20 million, said John Laub, president of the Las Vegas Medical Marijuana Association.

Not all were pleased to see a few players receive so many licenses.

The Las Vegas Medical Marijuana Association said distribution should have been more widespread.

There were a large number of small businesses that were shut out. As a state we need to increase the diversity of ownership. It would be good for the industry and the community, the association said in a statement.

Nevada limits the amount of licenses held by any one person or group of people in a county of 100,000 or more to 10 percent.

Green Thumb Industries is currently the largest recreational dispensary operator by locations with five. Green Thumb, which last month bought the Essence dispensary brand, did not say if it was awarded more licenses.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Cannabis NevadaKELOWNA, BC - December 17, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) BC's annual Icewine harvest has arrived, with the cold temperatures prompting wineries in the Okanagan Valley and Similkameen Valley to start picking grapes on December 5 and continuing into the early morning hours on December 6.

KELOWNA, BC - BC's annual Icewine harvest has arrived, with the cold temperatures prompting wineries in the Okanagan Valley and Similkameen Valley to start picking grapes on December 5 and continuing into the early morning hours on December 6.

After last year's earliest start to Icewine harvest in the past ten years on November 5, 2017, winemakers and viticulturists in BC are collectively rejoicing at another early arrival of freezing temperatures.

"Icewine harvest in BC can be as early as November or as late as February," notes Laura Kittmer Media Relations Manager of the BC Wine Institute. "Wineries love early harvests as they avoid the risk of losing grapes to challenging weather and hungry animals, and the grapes preserve those pure varietal characters they are looking for."

While this year's harvest so far has been limited to just seven wineries whose mercury dipped and sustained below the required -8C (17.6F) and whose grapes reached the required 35 Brix, there are 20 wineries registered with the BC Wine Authority to pick an estimated 735 standard tonnes of Icewine grapes on an estimated 175 acres.

There have been three Icewine pickings in the Oliver, West Kelowna, Kelowna and Lake Country areas on December 5, 6 and 9 with temperatures ranging between -14C and -8 C. An estimated 135 tonnes of grapes have been brought in, leaving approximately 570 tonnes of grapes left to pick, according to the BC Wine Authority, the regulatory body for Icewine in BC.

For Inniskillin Okanagan, harvest came about three weeks earlier than last year. Viticulturist Troy Osborne said his crew began picking in the Oliver areas on Black Sage Road North on December 6, starting at 4:00 AM with temperatures ranging from -14 to -10C. Osborne says the fruit quality so far has been excellent, very clean and intact.

Unlike other Icewine producing regions of Canada and the world that experience these cold climatic conditions each year, Icewine harvest in BC is a rarity. The Okanagan Valley and Similkameen Valley are the only wine regions to regularly experience these temperatures in BC, but it is never a guarantee. Producers wait in anticipation each year for temperatures to drop, not knowing if or when they will have a window of opportunity to complete an Icewine harvest that vintage.

"There are few opportunities here in BC where temperatures get cold enough to harvest for Icewine," says Val Tait, viticulturist and winemaker at Bench 1775 Winery on the Naramata Bench. "We track weather systems for early warnings of cold weather and have crews at the ready to pick so we don't miss that early window. When we get the right conditions, the results are usually spectacular. It's not common to have a warm enough growing season to develop beautiful fruit flavours and in that same season reach cold enough temperatures to make Icewine. BC Icewine is very rare and special indeed." Tait produces Icewine for their Paradise Ranch and Whistler brands, and anticipates picking to begin in late December.

With the arrival of the Icewine harvest, wine lovers across BC can look forward to an excellent crop of new Icewine releases in 2019.

To keep up-to-date on the harvest, follow @WineBCdotcom, #BCWine and #Icewine on Twitter.

WINES OF MARKED QUALITY ICEWINE REGULATION

The Wines of Marked Quality Regulation controls the production of BC VQA Icewine. The key stipulations are that harvesting and pressing of the grapes takes place at temperatures of -8C (17.6F) or lower, and the pressed grape juice is a minimum of 35 Brix. Artificial refrigeration of grapes, juice, must or wine is strictly prohibited.

Producers must contact the BC Wine Authority to report the time harvesting begins, and to confirm prior reported tonnages and exact areas of vineyard left for Icewine production.

VITICULTURE

Harvest dates: Can be as early as November or as late as February. Producers track weather systems for early indications of imminent cold weather. The frozen grapes are brought as quickly as possible to the winery where they are pressed. One press cycle can last up to six hours.

Permitted varietals: All varietals are permitted. The most common are Riesling, Vidal, Ehrenfelser, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Gewurztraminer, though Zweigelt, Marechal Foch, Cabernet Sauvignon, Kerner, Lemberger, Oraniensteiner, Gamay Noir, Muscat and Merlot are all used as well.

Viticultural techniques: Most vineyards are netted against predators, particularly birds.

Harvesting method: Principally by hand. Usually takes place during the night or at dawn.

Harvest temperatures: Although regulation states the temperature must be at least -8C (17.6F), producers often wait for -10C (14F) or lower before harvesting.

Frequency: The Okanagan Valley and Similkameen Valley are the only areas to regularly experience these cold climatic conditions in British Columbia. When temperatures do not fall enough for Icewine harvests, producers often make Late Harvest wines.

ICEWINE VINIFICATION

The following are general production techniques.

Pressing: The frozen grapes are brought as quickly as possible to the winery where they are pressed. One press cycle can last up to six hours.

Yields: Yields can range from 150 to 300 litres per ton (compared to approximately 600 litres per ton for dry table wines).

Fermentation: Temperatures generally range from 15 to 20C over a three- to 12-week period, depending on the Brix and strain of yeast. Fermentation is generally stopped using cold temperatures resulting in alcohol levels between 9 and 12 percent.

Acidification: Icewines can be acidified or deacidified.

Yeast: Icewine is inoculated, generally using strong fermenting yeast such as PDM.

Cold and heat stabilization: Icewines are stabilized before bottling.

Filtration: Generally using an earth and a pad filter, as membrane filters can easily clog.

Bottling: Generally within 6 to 9 months of the harvest.

Ageing potential: Icewines, particularly from Riesling, can age for more than 10 years but are often preferred young and fresh.

About The British Columbia Wine Institute:

Since 1990, the BCWI has played a pivotal role in taking BC's wine industry from a vision to an internationally recognized niche region producing premium wines and providing exceptional wine tourism experiences. The BCWI markets the wine and regions of BC; delivers quality trade, media and consumer tastings; and acts as the voice of BC's wine industry by advocating to government on behalf of industry that contributes $2.8 billion in provincial economic growth annually.

The BCWI represents all wineries in British Columbia to grow the premium market share for the Wines of British Columbia, while driving awareness of our world-class wines and tourism product - currently drawing 1,000,000 visitors with $600 million in tourism and tourism employment related economic impact every year. For more information about BC Wine Institute's programs and services, please visit WineBC.com

For details on the Wines of British Columbia, go to WineBC.com, like the Wines of British Columbia Facebook page and follow @WineBCdotcom on Twitter and Instagram.

BeverageStocks.com - investing ideas in food and beverage stocks including wine and beer stocks Like Beverage Stocks? View our Beverage Stocks Directory

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Gothenburg, Sweden - December 18, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) According to a new research report from the IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, the market for lone worker protection solutions and services in Europe and North America is forecasted to grow from  110 million in 2017, to reach more than  260 million in 2022. The number of users of dedicated lone worker safety devices based on GPS and cellular technology on the European market is estimated to grow from 500,000 users in 2017 to reach 1.1 million users at the end of 2022. In North America, the number of such users is estimated to grow from 155,000 in 2017, to reach 375,000 at the end of 2022. In Europe, app-based solutions are today estimated to account for around 20 percent of all solutions, while in North America more than 40 percent of the solutions are based on apps for smartphones and tablets. In both regions, app-based solutions are forecasted to account for an increasing share of lone worker safety solutions in the coming years.

The lone worker safety market is led by a handful of specialist companies based mainly in the UK and Canada, where legislation specifically addressing the safety of lone workers has fostered growth. SoloProtect and Send For Help Group has grown to become two of the world's largest providers of lone worker safety solutions and services. Send For Help Group mainly serves the UK market and operates under the three subsidiaries Peoplesafe, Skyguard and Guardian24. SoloProtect is active in the US, Canada and other parts of Europe in addition to its main UK market. Both SoloProtect and Send For Help Group, also operate their own alarm receiving centre (ARC). Additional companies with notable market shares in the UK include Reliance High-Tech and Safe Apps. In Canada, the main providers of safety devices and services for lone workers are Blackline Safety, Tsunami Solutions and Aware360. Blackline Safety has been known for developing technologically advanced safety devices for lone workers using both cellular and satellite communications technology.

The market drivers for lone worker safety solutions include occupational safety regulations, increasing employee insurance costs and higher awareness of risks associated with lone working. The number of individuals working alone is also expected to grow as businesses strive for increased efficiency. A job previously performed by two persons or more is now being done by a single worker. "Traditionally, lone workers exposed to the highest social or environmental risks have been found in industries such as security and protective services, social care, field service maintenance and in heavy industries such as oil & gas and construction", says Martin Backman, IoT Analyst at Berg Insight. He adds that companies in other industries are now also starting to see the benefits of these services. "There is now an increasing demand for lone worker safety services from employees in retail, financial services, education and more, which fuels market growth", concludes Mr. Backman.

Download report brochure: People Monitoring and Safety Solutions

About Berg Insight

Berg Insight is a dedicated M2M/IoT market research firm based in Sweden. We have been specialising in all major M2M/IoT verticals such as fleet management, car telematics, smart metering, smart homes, mHealth and industrial M2M since 2004. Our vision is to be the most valuable source of intelligence for our customers. Berg Insight offers numerous market reports, detailed market forecast databases and advisory services. We provide custom research tailored to your requirements including focussed research papers, business case analysis, go-to-market strategies and bespoke market forecasting. We have provided analytical services to 900 clients in 72 countries on six continents to date. Our customers range from many of the world's largest mobile operators, IT companies and telecom vendors, to venture capitalists, technology start-ups and specialist consultants.

For additional information, please contact:

Johan Fagerberg, CEO

E-mail: johan.fagerberg@berginsight.com

Phone: +46 31 711 30 91

Twitter: www.twitter.com/berginsight

TechSectorStocks.com - investing ideas in tech stocks - mobile payments, social media, AI and Robotics, Drone Stocks, GPS, Internet of Things (IoT) Like Tech Stocks? View our Tech Stocks Directory Get News Alerts on Tech Stocks

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China should lower next years economic growth target to 6-6.5% as headwinds including a trade dispute with the US increases risks for the economy, according to government advisers recommendations.

The countrys top leaders will meet to map out the 2019 economic agenda at this weeks annual Central Economic Work Conference, a closed-door gathering of party leaders and policymakers.

The event will be closely watched by investors for any fresh policy steps to ward off a sharper slowdown in the worlds second-largest economy.

The conference is likely to convene tomorrow, two policy insiders said, a day after an event marking the 40th anniversary of Chinas reform and opening up, where President Xi Jinping is due to make what the official Xinhua news agency described as an important speech.

The meeting will not result in any public announcement of economic targets, which are usually reserved for the opening of the parliamentary session in early March.

Chinas trade war with the US is spurring some Chinese entrepreneurs, government advisers and think-tanks to call for faster economic reforms and the freeing up of a private sector stifled by state controls.

Government advisers and think-tanks, which are influential but arent empowered to execute policies, have recommended a growth target of 6-6.5% for 2019, versus around 6.5% in 2018.

Next years growth target could be 6-6.5% as the economy is likely to slow from this year, a policy insider who advises the government said on condition of anonymity.

The Chinese Academy of Social Science, a top government think-tank, has forecast growth to slow to 6.3% in 2019  which would be the weakest since 1990  from an estimated 6.6% in 2018.

Some advisers suggested the government should be more tolerant of weaker growth, pushing reforms and avoiding strong policy stimulus that could worsen the countrys debt problems.

Still, a growth rate of 6% for next year is seen as the bottom line, amid concerns about employment due to pressures on the economy both domestically and on the external front.

The economy is expected to slow next year, but the situation wont be very serious if we can manage it well, because room for expanding domestic demand is relatively big, said one adviser.

ReutersIrish Ferries says it is unlikely to operate a service in 2019 between Rosslare and France.

The company informed customers on social media today.

"Irish Ferries wish to inform our customers that we're unlikely to operate a service between Rosslare & France in 2019. We continue to keep this situation under review."

It added the new WB Yeats ship will operate from Dublin to Cherbourg.

In response to customers, the company said the move was based on customer feedback.

"Feedback from our customers suggests that it is easier to travel to Dublin Port for most people than it is to get to Rosslare," it said.

The company will continue to run a passenger service between Rosslare and Pembroke year round.

Fianna Fail Spokesperson on Transport, Robert Troy TD, called the announcement "bewildering".

This is a bewildering decision in light of Brexit.

"Increasing capacity at Rosslare Europort should have been the priority for improving connectivity with our European neighbours," he said.

"As the shortest sea route for goods and passengers to continental Europe, the Irish Ferries service was once a very popular and well-utilised service. I would like to know why efforts are not being made to restore it to its former glory.

"The withdrawal of this service represents a significant blow to Rosslare Europort. I have written to the CEO of Irish Ferries and asked him to explain the decision. I would implore him to revisit it in light of the increasingly likely no-deal Brexit scenario."A director of an Irish subsidiary of the video game giant Electronic Arts who was dismissed for allegedly making an inappropriate remark was reinstated and then fired again for no reason, the High Court has heard.

Philippe Grenet (56) has brought proceedings against the company over his dismissal as director of global delivery service for EA Ireland in Galway.

As part of his action, he seeks to have a temporary injunction, which he was granted earlier this month on an ex-parte (one side only represented) basis, remain in place until the full hearing of his claim has been determined.

The company denies any wrongdoing and opposes the application to extend the injunction.

Mark Connaughton SC, for EA said that the company is entitled under the terms of Mr Grenet's contract of employment to dismiss him from his post.

The application opened before Mr Justice Tony O'Connor today.

Oisin Quinn SC for Mr Grenet said his client was initially dismissed from his position in November for alleged misconduct arising out of an allegation he made an inappropriate remark during a one-to-one video call with a colleague.

Counsel said Mr Grenet denies he told Austin, Texas-based staff member, Tracy Simmons, he was not "going to pull my dick out and put it on the table to see who has the bigger dick".

He says what he actually said was:

I don't want to compare the length of my dick.

He accepts the remark was a clumsy, inelegant and ill-advised expression. But he says it means he "did not want to challenge" that particular person on a work matter.

Counsel said that on December 10 last, after his client had obtained the temporary injunction, Mr Grenet was informed in a letter that the company was withdrawing the decision to terminate his employment.

However, the letter said that the company was terminating his employment and gave him one month's notice which he did not have to see out.

Counsel said no reason was given by the employer for the so-called second decision to terminate his client's employment.

Counsel said the second termination is "a sham" was "contrived" and was clearly related to the earlier decision to dismiss him arising out of Ms Simmons' complaint.

Counsel also said the second decision was technically flawed because the person who purportedly made the decision, Mr John Pompei, is not an employee or an officer of the Irish company that employed Mr Grenet.

Mr Pompei, counsel said, is a senior employee of EA Ireland's American parent.

Counsel said the first decision was unlawful on grounds including was no proper investigation into Ms Simmons' complaint and fair procedures were not afforded to him before the dismissal decision was taken.

He also claims Ms Simmons is actuated by malice and she had not been successful after expressing an interest in the role he was appointed to.

Counsel said it is also Mr Grenet's case that a month before the complaint was made by Ms Simmons she had been described in emails to his client by Mr Pompei as a person who had "told lies."

Mr Grenet moved to take up the Galway job from France in July with his family. He says he was in charge of 420 EA staff in Galway and another 80 in Texas.Photo: The Canadian Press

A string of high-profile produce recalls may lead to shortages of the most recent culprits ahead of the holidays. But, even if cauliflower and some lettuce varieties stay in stock, experts say consumers may be hesitant to buy and serve them as part of a big, family meal.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced over the weekend a recall of certain cauliflower and lettuce products produced by California-based Adam Bros. Farming Inc. that were distributed in at least six provinces. There have been no reported illnesses associated with the wrapped cauliflower, and green leaf and red leaf lettuce that's sold in bulk without a brand name.

"We are likely  in the short run at least  to be short of those products," said Mike von Massow, an associate professor at the University of Guelph.

In the winter, Canada's supply of fresh fruit and vegetables tends to come from very specific areas, he said. The farm in question likely represents a significant proportion of the total cauliflower and leafy greens arriving in Canada and stopping those imports could create a strain on supply, resulting in higher prices for what is safe and available ahead of the holidays.

Metro Inc.'s Ontario and Quebec distribution centres did not receive product from that farm, wrote spokeswoman Saide Weinstein in an email. Sobeys Inc. also does not sell the products implicated in the recall, wrote company spokeswoman Sarah McLeah. Neither company anticipates a shortage.

Romaine lettuce, on the other hand, seems to be back in stock in at least some grocers' stores after a recent recall that prompted many companies to temporarily stop selling the product.

Empire, the parent company of Sobeys, has now sourced romaine from an unaffected region and the product is back in stock, an executive said during a conference call with analysts last week. Metro has also restocked romaine after sourcing it from Arizona, wrote Weinstein.

There are alternatives for each of these items, of course, like swapping brussels sprouts for cauliflower.

However, folks tend to be highly traditional over the holidays and some dishes may demand specific ingredients.

"I think about our Christmas traditions and we have very sort of established meals over the holidays," said von Massow.

"And so, that could put a crimp if cauliflower is central to that for families."

They may have to pay more than they otherwise would for that ingredient, he said.

A more budget-minded option may be purchasing frozen cauliflower, said Simon Somogyi, a professor at the University of Guelph who studies food consumer behaviour.

It's possible though, consumers may simply avoid these products and others implicated in recent recalls.

This recall comes shortly after a wide-ranging romaine lettuce recall in the country and south of the border. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency halted romaine lettuce imports from certain California counties after the leafy green was linked to 28 cases of E. coli in the country. Grocery stores pulled romaine lettuce off their shelves and many restaurants stopped serving dishes with the ingredient at the time.

"I think we're definitely in a period of recall fatigue and there seems to be so many recalls of late that consumers are getting just confused and that's a concern," Somogyi said.2018 has been the best year ever for Irish tourism, according to Tourism Ireland's end-of-year figures.

The organisation estimates that by 31st December, 11.2 million people will have visited the island of Ireland - that is an increase of 6% on 2017.

It is thought the spend by these visitors during 2018 will be 6.1bn - up 10% on last year.

Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons says a new campaign is being launched to target the 2019 market.

"Our new campaign 'Fill your heart with Ireland' is launching now in all our main markets across the globe over the next week or so

"It is backed by additional funding that the government has given us in the Budget.

"New advertising going across all channels - digital, social - and it will give Ireland a very strong resonance across our main markets particularly during the Christmas period in long-haul markets when people are thinking about where they are going to take their holiday in 2019."

Mr Gibbons said that all of Ireland's key markets performed very well this year.

"North America and mainland Europe producing record growth, long-haul markets like China and Australia very strong too and despite the uncertainty caused by Brexit, we are seeing Britain hold its share through the course of 2018."A Government group has called for improved wi-fi services in rural areas which are currently at risk of widespread drop outs in phone coverage.

The suggestion is included in the latest report of the Mobile Phone And Broadband Taskforce, which has been published by junior minister for digital development Sean Canney.

The report is based on the initial work of the taskforce in summer 2016 and a subsequent review group the following year, which has outlined dozens of changes needed to improve phone coverage nationwide.

And, in its latest quarterly report, the review group has said that the introduction of wi-fi calling systems in some rural areas from next year will improve coverage in these areas, helping to give businesses and communities greater access to services.

The report, available on the Department of Communications website, said officials support higher quality calls and faster mobile phone coverage through high-speed wi-fi broadband connections.

It said two out of three operators intend to provide this service by the end of March next year.

Among the other developments in the report are:

Reductions in Department of Transport rental charges for access to cable ducts along national roads, making improved services more affordable for companies;

Standardised applications fees for road opening licences nationally;

Greater utilisation of State assets for the deployment of telecommunications infrastructure.

Commenting on the developments, Mr Canney said: People living in poorly served areas must remain our focus as we progress this work, and ensuring access to quality mobile and broadband services must remain our number one priority as we support the development of our regions.

Meanwhile, a separate EU report has found that the abolition of roaming charges last year led to a big increase in mobile phone usage among European tourists.

A European Commission report on the impact of the long-sought June 2017 change has found that there has been a massive 500% increase in user calls since the new policy was introduced.

A decade ago, a four-minute call from France to Ireland could cost up to 5 and receiving a four-minute call while in France, another 3.97.

The European Commission report found the policy has brought tangible benefits to the public, with EU tourists now much more likely to use their phones in other EU countries.Respiratory professionals have called for the establishment of a national respiratory taskforce to stem the rise of respiratory disease in Ireland.

Respiratory disease is responsible for almost one in five deaths in Ireland and now accounts for more hospitalisations than for cardiovascular and non-lung cancer cases combined.

A report from the Irish Thoracic Society - Respiratory Health of the Nation 2018, shows that one in seven of all in-patient hospitalisations in 2016 were for respiratory disease and the vast majority (85%) were for emergency unscheduled care.

It points out that the big three respiratory conditions causing disability and death are lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pneumonia.

National strategies for cancer and cardiovascular disease in recent years have led to significant improvements in outcomes.

Between 2007 and 2016 the number of people dying from cardiovascular disease fell by 7.5%.

However, the number of people dying from respiratory disease over the same period increased by 14.6%.

There were 5,720 deaths associated with respiratory disease in 2016.

The report calls for greater public awareness of the signs and symptoms of respiratory disease and the importance of presenting earlier to a GP.

It points out that more than a quarter of lung cancer patients are diagnosed following an emergency hospital visit.

It wants national campaigns to raise awareness of symptoms of lung disease to be accompanied by improved diagnostic and treatment capacity.

It also supports strengthening immunisation programmes to maximise uptake of vaccination in children, the elderly and other at-risk groups.

Report co-author, Eimir Hurley, a biostatistician and pharmacist from Dunmanway, Co.Cork and based at the Center for Health Policy and Management, Trinity College Dublin said they looked at 11 common respiratory conditions and the age of patients.

My dad died of lung cancer four years ago on his 73rd birthday. That's why I got involved in the study. He should have lived until his mid-80s based on life expectancy.

He was a smoker and, while that is important to highlight, there should not be a taboo associated with lung cancer. People who have never smoked get lung cancer.

President of the Irish Thoracic Society, Prof Ross Morgan, said there are too few respiratory specialists, particularly consultants, with numbers lagging well behind other EU countries.

Prof Morgan said a national taskforce is needed to put respiratory disease on an equal footing with heart disease and cancer where, thanks for dedicated strategies in recent years, patients had experienced improved outcomes.

The taskforce is a key starting point if we are serious about stemming the tool of respiratory disease on people's health, quality of life, livelihood and longevity, said Prof Morgan.

The report says primary doctors need access to pulmonary function tests and improved access to community outreach, pulmonary rehabilitation and timely access to specialist respiratory expertise when needed.

One in four children's consultations with GPs are for respiratory problems.

Respiratory diseases account for almost a third of inpatient hospitalisations for 0-4 year olds and 27% of those aged 0-15 years.Drivers, by using a tolled motorway, are legally presumed to have accepted liability for payment of the toll, a judge has stated.

Circuit Court president Mr Justice Raymond Groarke clarified the situation for a Co Kilkenny man who had failed to pay a bill for 1,500 of tolls and penalties relating to unpaid passages along the M50.

David Walshe, who represented himself and, while not going into evidence in the Circuit Civil Court, suggested in his cross-examination of an Eflow executive that he had not used the toll on the dates stated and that someone else might have stolen his car registration and used it illegally to avoid toll charges.

Walshe, of Manor Walk, Rosehill, Kells Rd, Kilkenny, had been ordered by the Dublin District Court to pay 1,500 in tolls and penalties, in relation to 17 passages through the north Co Dublin M50 toll.

The bulk of the 1,500 had been made up of penalties. Walshe had appealed to the Circuit Court, which affirmed the order of the lower court and directed that he pay 1,000 in legal costs, on top of his fines and penalties.

Judge Groarke said the law stated that the registered owner of a vehicle that passes through a tolled area is responsible for paying. He said that drivers on a tolled road were presumed by law to have accepted payment of the toll charge.

If you dont want to pay the toll, then you take a different route to avoid it, Judge Groarke said. If you take a tolled route, you are accepting responsibility to pay the toll and that is the responsibility of the registered owner.

The judge said that, on 17 different journeys, the vehicle registered in the name of Mr Walshe passed the toll and no toll charge had been paid.

The court was satisfied that he had received all relevant correspondence from the National Roads Authority, trading as Eflow, with regard to liability to pay.

Judge Groarke said that Mr Walshe had suggested that the vehicle that had traversed the M50 toll had not been his car, but a vehicle carrying his personal car registration, which had been stolen and used with criminal intent to avoid payment of a toll.

The judge said he had heard no evidence from Mr Walshe that this had actually happened, even though the Eflow executive had told the court that this does happen occasionally.

There also had been no evidence of any complaint having been made to the gardai by Mr Walshe that his registration had been stolen.

Judge Groake said the evidence was conclusive that Mr Walshe was responsible for the tolls and he affirmed the order of the District Court, with additional legal costs.The party is keen to reclaim the seat held by Mr Crowley, who left the party in 2014 but who has not attended parliament once this term due to ill health.

As party leader, Micheal Martin has initiated an effective ban on current TDs and senators from contesting the European elections, the party is turning to Gorey-based councillor Malcolm Byrne to challenge for the seat.

It had been speculated that Cork North-Central Billy Kelleher was very keen to run, but was blocked by Mr Martin who does not want to deal with a by-election, which would be the case if an Oireachtas member stood.

Mr Byrne is said to have the backing of Mr Martin for the election but will have to be formally ratified in the New Year. He has, in recent weeks, attended Fianna Fail meetings across the vast constituency to seek support for his candidacy.

A spokesman for Mr Crowley was unable to state whether Mr Crowley will contest the next election.

As before, Brian will hold a press conference once given clearance from doctors and he will answer all your questions then, he told the Irish Examiner.

Speaking to this newspaper, Mr Byrne said: Next Mays European elections will be hugely important. Not just because we will be continuing to deal with Brexit but also with challenges to European values of democracy. It is essential that we have MEPs that can build alliances and influence European policymaking.

Mr Byrne is currently the head of communications with the Higher Education Authority and has been a councillor since 2009.

He was chosen to run for Fianna Fail in the 2016 general election in the Wexford constituency, although he failed to win a seat.

The party is also likely to name a female candidate from the Cork City or county area to contest the other seat.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner this summer, Mr Martin poured cold water on talk that Mr Kelleher would be the partys candidate.

We want our strong players in Dail Eireann, he said. I think we will be able to identify candidates who are not members of Dail Eireann for the European elections.A fly hook, discovered at an autopsy embedded in the skin of a salmon fishermans back, may have triggered an epileptic seizure, an inquest was told yesterday.

Tamas Nemeth, consultant pathologist at Mayo University Hospital, suggested that the pain may have triggered the seizure, causing John Newcombe, 52, to fall into the River Moy at Foxford which he fished regularly.

Mr Newcombe, who was single and lived locally, fell into the river on May 28 last. He had a history of epileptic seizures.

Dr Nemeth told the inquest hearing, conducted by the coroner for Mayo, Patrick OConnor, that the medical cause of death was freshwater drowning.

The coroner returned a verdict of accidental death.

The presence of the fish hook was probably as a result of an unfortunate cast, the pathologist said.

Dr Nemeth went on to suggest that the pain caused by the hook injury may have triggered an epileptic attack causing Mr Newcombe to fall into the water.

However, the pathologists theory as to what might have happened was rejected by a relative of the deceased.

Speaking from the body of the coroners court, the relative said Mr Newcombe was too good a fisherman to get a hook caught in his back.

The speaker suggested his relative could have suffered a seizure while holding his fishing rod and then sustained the hook injury.

A local woman Arleen Campbell, went into the river and held onto the deceased after seeing him getting into difficulty.

Ms Campbell, with her back against a rock, held onto Mr Newcombe until he could be taken from the water by Garda Patrick Coleman and local businessman Michael Tiernan.

Kevin Downey, of Moyview, Foxford, told the inquest Mr Newcombe called to his house on the morning of May 28 and asked him if he was going fishing.

When Mr Downey said he wouldnt bother, his friend said he would get one of his kids to go with him.

He usually wouldnt go fishing without them because he gets epileptic fits. I dont know why he went, Mr Downey continued in a statement which was read to the inquest.

After returning a verdict from natural causes, in accordance with the medical evidence, the coroner expressed his deepest sympathy with the relatives of the deceased.

John died doing what he loved best  fishing, Mr OConnor said. He had a freshwater life on the Moy, the envy of many.A father-of-three is to stand trial charged with laundering almost 2m in crime proceeds.

Adam Muhammed, 42, with an address at Cherry Orchard Green, Ballyfermot, Dublin, faces nine charges under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010.

He also has a connected charge for possession of a false instrument, a copy of a letter with headed paper from a Dublin credit union.

The alleged offences relate to nine international transfers, with a combined total of approximately 1.95m in proceeds of criminal conduct that were allegedly received into four bank accounts at various Irish financial institutions, between May 2014 and November 2015.

He appeared at Dublin District Court today.

Detective Thomas Victory from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau told Judge Michael Walsh the accused was arrested at 7.30am and made no reply after he was charged.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has directed trial on indictment, meaning his case will be later sent to the circuit court.

A book of evidence was required, Judge Walsh noted.

There was no objection to bail on condition he surrendered his passport and did not to apply for a new one or duplicate travel documents, resided at his current address and he was told he had to notify gardai of any change.

Defence solicitor Siobhan Conlon said her client has lived in Ireland for 20 years and had an Irish passport but he did not have it on him.

Judge Walsh remanded him in custody with consent to bail to appear again at the district court on Thursday.

The unemployed father-of-three, who has not yet indicated how he will plead, sought legal aid but the judge refused ruling on that application saying he wanted a vouched statement of his means to be furnished to the court.A Dublin man is seeking freezing orders against a financial advisor and two of his companies over his alleged failure to return 159,000 advanced to him as an investment.

The action has been taken by Jamie Murphy who claims that James Doherty trading as Demvera Capital partners has allegedly used the money advanced in 2017 for his own personal use.

Fearing that the monies might be dissipated, he now seeks an order from the High Court freezing assets of James Doherty trading as Demvera capital Partners, with a registered address at Serpentine Business Park, Serpentine Avenue Ballsbridge Dublin 4.

The proceedings are also against another related company Demvera Trust unlimited Company, with an address at Burnfoot Business Park, Main Street, Burnfoot, Co Donegal.

In his action, Mr Murphy seeks orders including that the defendant's assets, including two bank accounts, cannot be reduced beneath a value of 159,000.

Mr Murphy of St Annes Park, Quinn Road, Shankill Co Dublin also claims, despite hiring a private investigator, Mr Doherty cannot be located, although he is believed to somewhere in the UK

At the High Court on Tuesday Eugene Gleeson SC, appearing with Alanna McGurk BL for Mr Murphy said his client advanced some 159,000 to Mr Doherty in 2017.

Mr Murphy was introduced to Mr Doherty, who represented himself as an accountant and a financial advisor, by a friend of the plaintiff who also knew Mr Doherty.

The money, which came from a trust fund and personal savings. was to be invested in a firm that provides home care to those with disabilities.

Counsel said it appeared the money was allegedly never invested with that company. His client had sought explanations from Mr Doherty.

When proper explanations were not forthcoming his client sought the return of the investment, counsel said.

Counsel said meetings had been arranged with his client and Mr Doherty but had been cancelled by Mr Doherty.

Counsel said Mr Doherty had given excuses including his ill health as a reason for not returning the monies.

Counsel said that following a search his client could not find Mr Doherty listed as a member of any registered accountancy bodies in Ireland Northern Ireland and the UK.

Counsel said while Mr Doherty is believed to be in the UK a private investigator hired by his client had failed to locate him.

As a result, counsel said Mr Murphy fears that he may be the victim of a fraud and that Mr Murphy has no intention of returning the monies.

The matter came before Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds on Tuesday.

The judge, on an ex parte basis, granted Mr Murphy's lawyers permission to serve short notice of the proceedings aimed at freezing the assets on the defendants.

The matter will return before the court later this week.Photo: Contributed

Sunwing flew from Kelowna to Los Cabos, Mexico, for the first time on Saturday.

The airline will fly from YLW to the Mexican resort city every Saturday until April 20, joining the destinations of Cancun and Varadero, which Sunwing already serves out of the Okanagan.

There is a strong demand for winter travel to sunny destinations, and we are happy to make this a reality for Okanagan residents, YLW airport director Sam Samaddar said in a press release.

We look forward to continuing to strengthen our partnership with Sunwing to provide more destinations in the future.

For more on this story, visit Okanagan Edge.Cabinet ministers have been accused of being afraid to face the media after they snubbed the prospect of interviews over the Christmas period, preferring to rely on press releases.

Traditionally, Christmas recess is a time when ministers make themselves available to print media journalists. This year, a majority are refusing to engage.A man accused of stabbing his partner's lover to death after catching her cheating told gardai that the deceased introduced the knife, a murder trial has heard.

Keith Connorton (40) said he managed to turn the knife around and stab 32-year-old Graham McKeever who died at the accused's home at Deerpark Avenue, Tallaght on February 18, 2017.

Mr Connorton has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr McKeever and is on trial at the Central Criminal Court.

Defence counsel Michael O'Higgins SC was cross-examining the accused man's partner Claire McGrath.

Mr O'Higgins told Ms McGrath that the accused told gardai that he came home in the early hours and realised another man was in his bed.

He said he then slapped Ms McGrath before Mr McKeever entered the room, hit him and left him "dazed".

According to Mr Connorton's account Mr McKeever then introduced the knife leading to a struggle in which Mr McKeever was stabbed.

The witness accepted that this account differed from the one she gave to the jury last week.

It is also different, she said, to an account she gave to gardai immediately following the fatal stabbing.

Having been shown a video of the accused's garda interview the witness agreed that Mr Connorton's account could be more reliable than hers.

The trial continues in front of Justice Tony Hunt and a jury of nine men and three women.Former Minister Pat Rabbitte has been appointed chairperson of the board of Tusla.

The former Labour leader was appointed this morning after Cabinet approval.Fine Gael ministers were accused by a Cabinet colleague today of egging on a belief that Transport Minister Shane Ross is anti-rural Ireland in a heated discussion on proposed new road traffic measures.

Mr Ross had his wings clipped by several rural Fine Gael Cabinet ministers over his controversial plans to increase penalty points for driving offences.

Mr Ross felt the brunt of attacks from rural ministers Michael Ring, Heather Humphreys and Paul Kehoe.

As tempers increased, Mr Ring at one stage demanded the entire memo be withdrawn from Cabinet but Mr Ross and his colleague Finian McGrath refused to back down.

Eventually, it was agreed that a Cabinet sub-committee chaired by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will hammer out the more contentious elements of the bill.

At an earlier meeting of Fine Gael ministers, Mr Ring told his colleagues he would rather have an election than pass the measures which include significant increases in offences which would attract penalty points.

At Cabinet, however, Mr Ross was strongly defended by Mr McGrath and by Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe.

It is believed that Mr McGrath rounded on the Fine Gael ministers accusing them of feeding a belief that Mr Ross is hostile to the sensitivities of rural Ireland.

Finian defended Shane, he said 'bottom line, speed kills and we need to accept that reality'. He told them straight out that there is an impression being egged on by Fine Gael ministers and backbenchers that Shane is anti-rural Ireland, one source said.

But Mr Donohoe is said to have acted as the peacemaker backing Mr Ross' bill, saying road safety must be taken seriously.

Paschal weighed in at the end and backed Shane up to the surprise of some there, said one minister.

Mr Varadkar met with Mr Ross before the Cabinet meeting where the suggestion of the Cabinet sub-committee was raised and agreed.

It will see the two most controversial elements - removing the Garda discretion and graduated speed fines - referred to a Cabinet sub-committee, while the general scheme of the remainder of the Road Traffic Bill was approved.

Precise penalties appropriate to each speeding band have yet been determined and will be discussed in the Cabinet sub-committee, the drafting process and at the Transport Joint Oireachtas Committee.

Mr Ross moved to deny earlier reports saying that there has never been a proposal to impose penalty points on people who fail to produce a driving licence, and the fixed charge for this offence has yet to be determined.

Current legislation treats speeding as a single offence, no matter how much over the speed limit a person is driving.

The new Bill will mean that penalties for speeding will be divided according to bands, with increased penalties the higher the band.

This parallels the way in which drink driving is treated, with increased penalties determined by bands over the limit and more serious offenders receiving more serious penalties.Eve Kelliher meets the mum of two who, for the past 10 years, has hosted a charity Christmas Day swim in memory of her sister.

They may never have met her, but hundreds of Killarney people have raised over 50,000 during the past decade in memory of a talented and popular young Welsh woman whose life was cut tragically short by suicide.

Sylvan Money died in 2004 aged just 26 after battling depression. She is remembered by her sister, Niki McCarthy, of Tiernaboul, Killarney, as a really lovely, gentle warm person.

In the year before her death, Sylvan, from Powys, Wales, had been by Nikis side as her bridesmaid when Niki exchanged wedding vows with Dave McCarthy on Innisfallen Island on Lough Leane.

And it is another of Killarneys three famous lakes, Muckross Lake, that now provides the stunning backdrop to an annual event dreamed up by Niki in her sisters honour and in aid of depression support charity Aware.

Sylvan, who had attended art college, had many friends and is remembered by her sister as quirky and sensitive.

Sylvan had a passion for books and reading, said Niki. She also loved music and played the guitar.

As its name suggests, the Christmas Day Dip at Dundag invites you to take the plunge for a splash or a swim at 11am on Christmas morning.

Whats particularly appealing is you dont have to be a seasoned swimmer or all-weather water baby... simply dipping in and out of the water will suffice.

The fundraiser has transformed the festive season for countless locals and visitors to the town since it started and Niki hopes the 10th annual event will add extra sparkle to that all-important date, December 25, 2018.

You see, for Niki, the real magic of the dip is that it aims to unveil a different side to the festive season.

One of the motivations behind it was to prove that Christmas doesnt have to be all about presents, money and food, said the mum-of-two.

Bothered by the inescapable materialistic aspect of the modern season of goodwill, Nikis mission to set about changing the festive landscape for her family ended up inspiring a whole community.

The kids were making lists of what they wanted for Christmas and so I thought it would be positive to focus on thinking about others, she said.

Now they know no other way of celebrating Christmas morning.

Some 23 hardy souls togged out for the first dip in 2009 and since then it has risen to 100 happy splashers annually  frequently in fancy dress.

We now try to organise a fancy dress every year and we have a big selfie frame. Our tagline on social media is A Decade of Dipping for Aware, said Niki.

Its a community fundraiser which ends up helping Awares support groups and its school supports such as Beat the Blues.

The Killarney mother made national headlines when she braved sub-zero temperatures to pose for a photograph in her tankini to launch the 2010 dip.

I think that was the most memorable year, we literally had to break the ice to get into the water! she laughs.

But no matter what the weather, Niki, her husband Dave and their children Oscar, 13, and Mischa, 11, will be found swapping winter woollens for swimwear at Dundag every December 25.

Swimmers take part in the Killarney Muckross Lake charity Christmas Day swim at Dundag Bay in the Muckross Lake, Killarney in aid of AWARE. Photo: Don MacMonagle

Its so nice its now part of a tradition for so many locals Christmas morning. Many people come back year after year to take part. We even have some visitors who are staying in the town for Christmas, including American holidaymakers, get involved, said Niki.

Refreshments will be on offer should you need to refuel after taking a dive, and Niki promises hot dogs as well as the traditional dip staple of mince pies.

The local Order of Malta as well as lifeguards Conor and Derek OLeary always volunteer their services.

Fundraising efforts like the Killarney Christmas Day Dip are worth so much more than the monetary value of what is raised, according to Gerry OBrien of Aware.

Events such as this give visibility to Aware and our services; bring people together in a supportive atmosphere; and ultimately helps Aware in its mission to reduce stigma surrounding mental ill-health, he told the Irish Examiner.

We are incredibly grateful for the support of everyone who has taken part in the Christmas Day Dip over the past ten years, and particularly to Niki McCarthy who has been organising this event in support of Aware for all that time.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

The Christmas Day Dip in aid of Aware takes place at Dundag, Muckross Lake, Killarney, at 11am on December 25.

You can contact Niki to get a sponsorship pack by calling 086-1608673 or email nikimcmoney@gmail.com or see the Killarney Christmas Day Dip Facebook page.

Contact Niki McCarthy to get a sponsorship pack by calling 086-1608673 or email nikimcmoney@gmail.comor see the Killarney Christmas Day Dip Facebook page.

Then show up for the Christmas Day Dip in aid of Aware at Dundag, Muckross Lake, Killarney, at 11am on December 25.

This year is the 10 yr anniversary of the Killarney Christmas Day Dip for Aware, that's a decade of dipping! Last year over 100 people took part. It's a different way to start Christmas Day, so why not head along if you live near Killarney. All the details https://t.co/oEfr28DFRB pic.twitter.com/2oJ9XQ24mA  Aware (@Aware) December 11, 2018

ALL ABOUT AWARE

Aware is the national organisation providing support, education and information services for those impacted by depression, bipolar disorder and other mood-related conditions.

Founded in 1985 the organisation developed in response to the clear need for information, understanding and support, both for individuals with a diagnosis of depression or bipolar disorder as well as family members supporting a loved one.

For more information, visit www.aware.ie Aware is very grateful for the kind and generous support of our many donors, corporate supporters and those who fundraise on our behalf.

"As Aware received only 17% of its funding from the State in 2017, we are significantly reliant on donations and fundraisers to raise money that directly contributes to the provision, development and expansion of our services, said Gerry OBrien of Aware.

Aware offers support groups in 32 locations nationwide as well as education and life skills programmes.

The support line, Freephone 1800 80 48 48, operates 365 days a year, from 10am-10pm.

The support email is supportmail@aware.ie, with emails answered within 24 hours.Europe, recently the bastion of democracy at work, has seen some of its capital cities burn and member states vote to leave. It must now show unity, writes Richard N Haass.

It was not all that long ago  just a few years, as hard as that it is to believe  that Europe appeared to be the part of the world most closely resembling the end-of-history idyll depicted by Francis Fukuyama at the end of the Cold War.

Democracy, prosperity, and peace all seemed firmly entrenched.

Not anymore. Parts of Paris are literally burning. Britain is consumed and divided by Brexit. Italy is led by an unwieldy left-right coalition that is resisting EU budget rules.

Germany is contending with a political realignment and in the early phases of a transition to a new leader. Hungary and Poland have embraced the illiberalism seen across much of the world. Spain is confronting Catalan nationalism.

And Russia is committing new acts of aggression against Ukraine.

In what, by historical standards, constitutes an instant, the future of democracy, prosperity, and peace in Europe has become uncertain.

Much of what had been widely assumed to be settled is not. Natos rapid demobilisation after the Cold War looks premature and precipitous.

There is no single explanation for these developments. What we are seeing in France is populism of the left, the result of people having difficulty making ends meet and rejecting new taxes, whatever the justification for them.

This is different from what has fuelled the rise of the far right across Europe: Cultural defensiveness amid local and global challenges, above all immigration.

The EU, for its part, has gradually lost its hold on the public imagination. It has been too remote, too bureaucratic, and too elite-driven for too long.

Meanwhile, renewed Russian aggression may simply reflect President Vladimir Putins judgment that, having realised large political returns on his previous military investments in Ukraine and Syria, he had little to fear or lose from further actions.

Europes political class deserves its share of responsibility for todays growing disarray.

The EU introduced a common currency without a fiscal or banking union, making it all but impossible to conduct a coherent economic policy.

The decision to put Britains continued EU membership to a popular vote, while allowing a simple majority to decide the issue and failing to spell out the terms of departure, was misguided.

Likewise, opening Germanys borders to a flood of refugees, however pure Chancellor Angela Merkels motives, was sure to trigger a backlash.

Most recently, French president Emmanuel Macron did himself no favours by backing down to the yellow-vest protesters and offering compromises more likely to fuel additional demonstrations and exacerbate his countrys budget predicament.

We should not assume things will get better.

Protests in Paris this month. Video: Marita Moloney

It is only a matter of time before Frances far-right National Rally (formerly the National Front) and political parties across Europe figure out how to combine economic and cultural populism and threaten the post-Second World War political order.

Italys hybrid populist government is a version of just that.

Britain will remain torn over its relationship (or lack thereof) with the EU no matter what comes of Brexit; and it is entirely possible that a post-Brexit Britain might come under serious strain itself, given renewed calls for Irish unity and Scottish independence.

There is no formula for dividing power between Brussels and capitals that would be acceptable to both the EU and national governments.

Meanwhile, it is far from certain that Putin is content or done with his aggression against Ukraine or conceivably others.

In a world of increasing inequality, violence within and between countries, and climate change, the pressures posed by immigration are more likely to worsen than fade away.

And economic dislocation is bound to intensify in a world of global competition and new technologies that will eliminate millions of existing jobs.

Why this matters should be obvious. Europe still represents a quarter of the worlds economy. It is the largest constellation of democratic countries.

The last century demonstrated more than once the cost of a breakdown of order on the continent.

Alas, just as there is no single cause that explains Europes increasing disarray, there is no single solution either. To be precise, there is no solution of any sort.

There is, however, a set of policies that, if adopted, would help leaders manage the challenges.

A comprehensive immigration strategy that balances security, human rights, and economic competitiveness is one such policy.

A defence effort that focuses more on how money is spent than on how much is needed would go a considerable way in buttressing Europes security. Deterrence should be strengthened by bolstering Nato and further arming Ukraine.

Weaning Europe from Russian natural gas makes sense as well, which implies halting the Nord Stream II pipeline that is meant to bring gas directly from Russia to Germany, bypassing Ukraine.

Additional retraining programs are needed for workers whose jobs will disappear as a result of globalisation and automation.

Much of this agenda would benefit from American involvement and support. It would help if the US stopped viewing the EU as an enemy and Nato allies as free-riders.

Europe includes the countries most prepared to work with the US to deter Russian aggression; integrate China into global trade and investment frameworks on terms consistent with Western interests; mitigate and, where necessary, adapt to climate change; and set rules of the road for cyberspace.

Such an approach is unlikely to be forthcoming from Donald Trump. That leaves Europe with no choice but to confront its disarray mostly on its own.

Richard N. Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations and author of A World in Disarray: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old OrderThough the Big Fellow was engaged to Kitty Kiernan at the time he was killed, in 1922, there is still speculation about his sexuality, writes Ryle Dwyer.

We have a gay Taoiseach and we legalised gay marriage in 2015, but was one of the key founders of the State, Michael Collins, also gay? A new book indicates that he might have been.

History lecturers, Anne Dolan, of Trinity College, Dublin, and William Murphy, of Dublin City University, state in their new book  Michael Collins: The Man and the Revolution  that David Norris, the gay activist, has said the Big Fellow was gay.

Senator Norris wrote in his autobiography that an elderly man told him one night about being a boyfriend of Collins more than 50 years earlier.

When the senator mentioned this to an eminent historian, the reply was that this was known in certain Republican circles.

The authors say that their aim is to complicate our understanding of Collins by encouraging curiosity about all aspects of his life.

Thus, they seek to provoke questions, rather than to answer them. Dr Dolan and Dr Murphy clearly think that too much has been taken for granted about Collins.

A veritable industry has grown around commemorating him, with histories, novels, movies, and even a musical, based on his life. He was voted Irishman of the last century in an Irish Times poll.

Michael Collins, The Man and The Revolution from @WillMurphy8 and Anne Dolan takes a look at Collins through the framework of 8 key questions/themes and seeks to gain a greater understanding of the man and our relationship with him. https://t.co/GE51ZHKhmY pic.twitter.com/I6sQHzyxEP  The Collins Press (@CollinsPress) December 9, 2018

It wasnt always that way. I do not remember ever hearing his name being mentioned in class in primary or secondary school, in Tralee, during the 1950s and early 1960s.

But while at university in Texas during the 1960s, I became intrigued with his part in Irish history.

The distortions surrounding him sparked my interest in Irish history, even though I did not even sit history in the Leaving Cert in 1963.

After being commissioned to write a short biography of Eamon de Valera in the Gills Irish Lives Series, I was planning to write a book on Michael Collins, but Gill & Macmillan said it would not be commercially viable.

Tim Pat Coogan was told the same thing, so he had his biography published in England. Mine (and three other books that I wrote on Collins) was published by Mercier Press in Cork.

Collinss place in history was not well-served by his friend Piaras Beaslai, who sought to block others writing about him.

In May of 1923, Hayden Talbot published Michael Collins Own Story, which was based on interviews that Talbot had with Collins for the Hearst newspaper chain in the USA.

Beaslai denounced Talbots book as a forgery and tried to block its serialisation in the Sunday Express, in an obvious attempt to enhance prospects for his own two-volume biography of Collins, which was published in 1926.

Beaslais writings depicted the Big Fellow as misogynistic. Kitty Kiernan, whom Collins was engaged to marry, was never mentioned in the book.

Girls had apparently no attraction for him, according to Beaslai.

The usual philanderings and flirtations of young men of his age had little interest or attraction for him, though he sometimes amused himself by chaffing his young friends over their weaknesses in that direction, Beaslai added.

He preferred the company of young men, and never paid any attention to the girls belonging to the branch, not even to the sisters and friends of his male companions.

After reading Beaslais biography, a grandnephew of Collins told me that he concluded the Big Fellow was gay.

But when he mentioned this to his grandfather, Michaels older brother, his grandfather just laughed and said that if Michael had a problem, it was not that he was not fond of women.

His extensive correspondence with Kitty Kiernan certainly undermined the gay suggestion.

Kitty Kiernan

Subsequent biographers highlighted warm relationships with other women, such as Susan Killeen, Moya Llewelyn Davies, Susan Mason, Hazel Lavery, and even the ubiquitous Dilly Dicker.

A civil war opponent, Frank OConnor, wrote The Big Fellow. It was the most human of the earlier biographies.

It did not try to depict Collins as some kind of plaster saint, but as a man who drank, swore, and lost his temper, like other people. Thus, his Collins was all the richer for his faults, the authors of the latest book conclude.

Collins liked to say that he was just a plain soldier, but he saw very little of the actual fight, according to those authors.

Hes no good, Tom Barry suggested, because he never shot a man in his life. Of course, that kind of thinking tells us much more about Barry than Collins.

Collins was not a gunman, but a brilliant organiser and strategist. Militarily, Irish republicans were no match for the British, so confronting the British Army required something extra.

With all the comparisons of Theresa May & Michael Collins this week because of her #BrexitDeal you might want to brush up on your Collins' knowledge. Michael Collins, The Man & the Revolution by @WillMurphy8 & Anne Dolan provides an in-depth look at the man behind the persona. pic.twitter.com/hP4KZ0kqky  The Collins Press (@CollinsPress) November 17, 2018

He attacked the British in ways calculated to provoke their blind reaction.

Outrages of all sorts on the part of the enemy then reverberated to the advantage of Irish republicans, Collins believed.

The Crown forces undermined their own sympathy in Ireland by alienating Irish opinion.

They are losing the last few friends they have here, Collins wrote in September 1920. The Black and Tans essentially drove the Irish people into the arms of the Republicans.

He understood the limits of what could be achieved by violence, and the authors contend that he may have prevented as many killings as he ordered.

Most of all, they write, he knew when to stop. When Cathal Brugha planned to wipe out the British cabinet in January 1921, for instance, Collins blocked the crazy scheme.

No doubt, the authors conclude, he feared that the pendulum of public sympathy would swing back to London with such an act.

If a number of cabinet members were killed, the British people would have given their forces freedom to react in the most stringent way.

As a leader, the authors contend, Collins meddled too much, overstepped too many marks. He was ready to interfere anywhere he thought he could be effective.

If he could, his friend Batt OConnor said, Collins would most likely have insisted on attending the executive meetings of Cumann na mBan.

The authors go on to suggest that Collins exposed himself too often and too readily to unnecessary risks. This was actually the secret to his survival in Dublin.

He was so visible that the British became complacent and apparently assumed he was a person of no interest to them. He was, in effect, hiding in full public view.

Of course, this may have led to his ultimate undoing. Mick wouldnt keep down, according to Emmet Dalton, who accompanied him at Bealnablath during the ambush in which Collins was killed.

If he had ever been in a scrap, hed have learned to stay down, Dalton added.

And so, Mick was killed standing up.

Of course, Dalton also went on to say, We were all assholes that day.

This latest book on Michael Collins is not a biography, but a provocation to consider all facets of the man.

It is all the richer for its wealth of magnificent photographs, illustrations, and facsimile documents. It should be an invaluable source for anybody setting out to study, or write about, any aspect of the Big Fellows fascinating career.

Michael Collins: The Man and the Revolution, by Anne Dolan and William Murphy, is published by The Collins Press, Cork.Ahead of a Seanad motion on Yemen, Dominic MacSorley, CEO of Concern Worldwide, has cautiously welcomed the Hodeidah ceasefire announcement and UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths critical involvement in the peace talks.

Mr MacSorley said the announcement was a significant step forward for the 24 million Yemeni civilians who are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

The Stockholm agreement represents the first real breakthrough for UN-led peace efforts following five years of conflict.

The ceasefire between the two warring parties takes effect from today.

Working with an experienced NGO partner on the ground that has been working in Yemen since 2012, Concern has been supporting life-saving humanitarian assistance such as water and sanitation programmes along with support to vulnerable households livelihoods through cash transfer programmes since 2017.

Cautiously welcoming the recent agreement, Mr MacSorley said Yemen is the worlds worst humanitarian crisis, with extreme levels of need created by conflict and severely limited access to humanitarian assistance.

"Basic services such as healthcare and sanitation have shut down, the economy is on the verge of collapse and people are suffering from severe levels of malnutrition.

This agreement, which includes the withdrawal of troops from the port city of Hodeidah, the opening of road access to Sanaa and a plan for humanitarian corridors to the city of Taiz, means that much-needed humanitarian assistance should reach innocent civilians sooner rather than later.

Regional Director, Ros OSullivan, who oversees Concerns emergency operations and has visited Yemen went on:

Every effort is needed now to ensure that civilians get assistance and that more NGOs can access people, who desperately need aid.Photo: Contributed

Two Abbostford men have been arrested after police discovered drugs and weapons during a traffic stop.

Police says the two men, 19 and 20, were pulled over Dec. 16 as a result of failing to stop at a stop sign.

"Upon approaching the vehicle and speaking with the two occupants, the officer saw some illegal controlled drugs in plain view,' stated Cpl. Jodie Shelkie. "The two men were arrested and a search of the vehicle revealed other controlled drugs, $2000.00 in cash, two swords and a conducted energy weapon."

The two men, who were previously known to police, were released with a future court date.

All investigative information has been forwarded to the British Columbia Prosecution Service who will determine charges.Burma Armed Group, Locals Report Myanmar Air Force Attack in Rakhine

Arakan Army fighters hold rocket-propelled grenades in a photo posted to the group's Facebook page in May.

SITTWE, Rakhine State  The Myanmar militarys air force attacked positions held by the Arakan Army in northern Rakhine States Kyauktaw Township on Tuesday, according to locals and the armed group.

U Maung Ni, a resident of the townships Thalu Chaung village tract, said two military jet fighters started strafing a mountain range near his home with gunfire at about 8 a.m.

He said the attack has sent residents in at least six villages in the area fleeing their homes in fear.

Fighting between the military and the Arakan Army picked up in late November, with almost daily clashes in Rakhine States Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung and Buthidaung townships.

On its Facebook page on Tuesday, the Arakan Army said the military started shelling its positions at about 10 a.m. and sent in two fighter gets for air support three hours later.

On Sunday, three soldiers were killed and more than 10 wounded in a rocket-propelled-grenade attack on a Myanmar military truck in Rathedaung. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, though the site was near territory contested by the Arakan Army.

After a meeting with the governments Peace Commission on Wednesday, the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Taang National Liberation Army offered to stop fighting with the military in return for the right to join the countrys formal peace talks.

Translated from Burmese by Nyein Nyein.Burma Myanmar Couple, Children Murdered in Thailand

Thai police investigate the murder of a Myanmar couple and their children in Mae Sot, Thailand, on Monday. / Sin Thai / Facebook

YANGON  A Myanmar couple and their children, including a four-month-old baby, were murdered in the Thai border town of Mae Sot on Sunday, according to a community volunteer.

U Zayar, vice chairman of the Peoples Volunteer Association, said he visited the familys hut  where the attack occurred  with local police. He said the victims included the baby; husband, 47; wife, 45; and their other child, who was 4.

All four were bludgeoned to death. The four-month-old was beaten in the face and died near its mother. The others were beaten on the head. The four-year-old was beaten and thrown into a lake in front of the hut, he said.

Two bloodstained iron rods and a bloody piece of wood found near their bodies were collected as evidence by the police, he added.

U Zayar said the couple made a living cutting sugar cane or tending cattle in the area, and that the wifes three other children from a previous marriage were away from home when the attack occurred.

He said the womans 19-year-old daughter told police that her parents had a quarrel with a neighbor couple and their friend over a cow the night of the attack. He said the three were seen leaving the area that night and that police were searching for them as suspects.

The three suspects, including a couple living in the same compound and a male friend of theirs, ran away the same night. They had a quarrel with the victims earlier. The police suspect that they killed the victims and are looking for them, U Zayar said.

A police official in Karen States Myawaddy Township, across the border from Mae Sot, said Myanmar police would cooperate with their Thai counterparts to investigate the case.

Translated from Burmese by Myint Win Thein.On Tuesday, the minister discussed some of the security measures that would be taken at both centers. He added that a draft cyber law addressing social media, personal data, child protection and other issues would be ready for their consideration in 30 weeks.

Last week, four lawmakers debated the proposed project in Parliament and raised questions about cyber security.

Once the project is completed, people will receive better and around-the-clock e-government services covering everything from online payments to visa applications, according to Transportation and Communication Minister U Thant Sin Maung.

Myanmar will cover what the Korean loan does not from the national budget.

The three-year project is slated to start in January under the direction of the Department of Information Technology and Cyber Security. At a total cost of $104.3 million, it calls for an e-Government Integrated Data Center in Naypyitaw and a backup center in Thanlyin Township near Yangon.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communication proposed the loan earlier this month. On Tuesday, lawmakers overwhelmingly approved it by a vote of 453 to nine.

YANGON  Myanmars Union Parliament has approved a $93.8-million loan from the Export-Import Bank of Korea to help pay for the construction of a centralized e-government data center.

Crisis Group says No Word from China on Detained Canadian Employee

Credit Bureau to Be Up and Running Next Year

Shan Armed Group Kills At Least Four Ethnic Pa-O in Shooting

Activists Demand Release of Two Reuters Reporters on Anniversary of Arrests

In Fear of the State: Bangladeshi Journalists Self-Censor as Election Approaches

Number of Journalists Jailed For Doing Job Near Record High: Report

China Says Second Canadian Being Probed For Harming State Security

Army Captain Accused of Killing Man over Missing ID Card Goes on Trial

Youth Activists Speak Up on Lost Idols and Freedom of Expression

Can Myanmar Profit From the Trade and Currency Wars?

Ten Things to do in Yangon This Week

We do not encourage viewing this site in this width. Please increase the size of your window.Burma Peace Process Will Remain in Deadlock if Single Army Issue Cannot Be Resolved

Soldiers take part in an Armed Forces Day parade in Naypyitaw on March 27, 2018. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

YANGONThe issue of establishing a single army will remain an obstacle to the ongoing peace process as long as the stakeholders of the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Army) and the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) both hold their positions on the current conditions of the agreement, according to peace observers and stakeholders.

The ideology of the single army is blurred, thus the conditions were raised when we talked about the issues, said Col. Khun Okkar, patron of the Pa-O Nationalities Liberation Organization during his remarks at the book launch of Non-secession, Single Army and Self-Determination published by the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security (MIPS).

He said on Monday that the EAOs would raise questions about conditions of the would-be single army, including on its structure, responsibilities and so on, before fully agreeing on the issue. The Tatmadaw has urged them to accept the basic principles without knowing the full extent of the conditions of the proposed single army.

The issue of forming a single army has fallen behind other discussions because issues surrounding the security sector have not been able to move beyond the initial stages. Along with it, a common understanding of non-secession and self-determinationlabeled as part of the package dealhas not been reached and thus the discussions have been stalled for nearly two years.

Although the National League for Democracy (NLD) government does not strongly object to the package dealwhich includes conditions of non-secession, forming a single army and self-determinationno common understanding of the single army issue has yet been reached between the Tatmadaw and EAOs.

Khun Okkar said the Tatmadaws immovable position on these three issues has delayed the peace process, and that solutions should be widely discussed between the negotiators.

In the MIPS publication, solutions and suggestions for overcoming the deadlock on the package deal were documented. They felt the need to focus on those issues since no agreement was reached at the third session of the 21st Panglong Peace Conference [in July], according to Salai Ngun Gung Lian, a researcher at the MIPS.

The book included examples from a number of different democratic states and their constitutional clauses on the issues of secession, single armed forces and self-determination.

The publication also highlighted three important suggestions on the single army issue: for the stakeholders to agree to a single army which protects the Unions borders and to form an army and state armed police force which would take responsibility for law and order in the states and regions close to the borders. It suggested that the army and the state armed police force be under the command of the Tatmadaws commander-in-chief, but for the state armed police force to be a separate institution to the current Myanmar police force.

The suggestion caused confusion for observers who see the border guard forces and militia already in operation at Myanmars borders to be similar to his suggested groups.

The Tatmadaws forcing of the EAOs to form border guard forces back in 2009 resulted in renewed fighting, particularly between the Tatmadaw and the Kachin Independence Army.

However, Salai Ngan Cung Lian told The Irrawaddy on Monday that the suggestions in the publication are not about border guard forces. He said more publications they expect to produce in the next six months will have further details on the analysis of the single army issue, as well as other suggestions.Commentary Armys Willingness to Sit Down with FPNCC Members Shows Chinas Growing Clout

Chinese Special Envoy Sun Guoxiang addresses a summit of ethnic armed groups in Kachin State in July 2016. / Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy

China has stepped up its role in the peace process in Myanmar, especially as it relates to conflicts along the China-Myanmar border in northern Shan State. Beijing understands that stability and peace on the border will benefit both countries.

In particular, China is playing an important role as peace broker between the Myanmar Army and members of the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC). Sun Guoxiang, special envoy for Asian affairs at Chinas Foreign Ministry, is Beijings go-between tasked with convincing the Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) to sit down with the FPNCC in peace negotiations.

On several occasions Sun has traveled to Naypyitaw to meet with military leaders, then traveled to the border to relay their messages to FPNCC members. Previously, Sun had found it difficult to convince the Myanmar Army to enter peace negotiations with the FPNCC. Until recently, the Tatmadaw refused to accept the participation of the Arakan Army (AA), Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in peace negotiations.

Given the difficulty of convincing Myanmar military commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Sun sometimes resorted to telling FPNCC members at meetings how nicely dressed the senior generals wife was dressed, and describing her traditional attire. The FPNCC leaders wanted to hear a message regarding peace negotiations, but instead had to listen to talk of Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaings wife.

And while some FPNCC leaders may have found the discussion of Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaings wife meaningless, they themselves had nothing to say to Sun. At that time, the FPNCC leaders believed that the peace mission from China was a failure.

According to statements issued last week, however, the Myanmar Peace Commission has accepted the participation of the AA, TNLA and MNDAA in peace negotiations. The FPNCC members and China both feel that some progress has been made in peace negotiations, with this change of heart by the Myanmar Army.

If China is able to broker a peace agreement between the Myanmar Army and the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), it could bring the armed conflicts in northern Shan State and Arakan State to an end.

The Chinese Embassy in Yangon even issued a statement last week welcoming both the MPCs statement and a joint statement from the AA, TNLA and MNDAA agreeing to work toward further peace negotiations.

China places an emphasis on peace negotiations and would continue to provide the necessary support for the process, the embassy statement said.

China put a lot of pressure on the Myanmar Army to accept the participation of the three groups, according to some FPNCC leaders. Myanmar and China have agreed to build a railway from Muse in northern Shan to Mandalay. According to the FNPCC members, China is using such projects as economic leverage over Myanmars military leadership.

The railway project between the two countries forms part of a proposed economic corridor that is itself part of Beijings huge regional infrastructure development strategy known as the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang said at the October signing of a memorandum of understanding to build the project.

During his speech, the ambassador made a point of saying that the project will support economic development, peace and stability in northern Shan State.

China the priority for Myanmar military

The Myanmar government and militarys view of China has not always been so rosy. The previous government of former President U Thein Sein courted favor from Western countries to support the peace process and economic development. At that time, China was a lesser priority for Naypyitaw.

But as Western countries have put increasing pressure and sanctions on the Myanmar Army and government over the crisis in Rakhine State and rights abuses against the Rohingya, Naypyitaw has increasingly turned to China. Given the large portion of Myanmars economy that is controlled by the Tatmadaw, and Chinas increasing role in development projects, Beijing will find many ways to pressure the Myanmar Army to build peace.Tuesday, December 18th, 2018 (8:49 am) - Score 4,015

Ofcom has released their annual infrastructure report, which reveals that just 2% of the UK (677,000 premises) cannot access a 10Mbps capable fixed line broadband ISP service (down from 4% in 2017), while full fibre (FTTP) is available to 6% (up from 3%) and geographic coverage of 4G mobile has hit 66% (up from 43%).

The Connection Nations 2018 (PDF) report, which has been designed to provide a general summary of broadband and mobile network availability (as well as performance) from across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, is largely based off data that was gathered during the autumn.

Overall the picture Ofcom presents this year is one of gradual improvement, which is to be expected now that both fixed line superfast broadband and 4G mobile networks have reached a strong level of network maturity (i.e. these are now primarily focused on tackling the final few remote rural areas, which tend to be significantly more expensive and take much longer to reach).

Ofcoms Definitions of Network Performance Decent Broadband (Universal Service Obligation)

Areas that can access a broadband download speed of 10Mbps+ (Megabits per second) and uploads of 1Mbps+. Superfast Broadband

Areas that can access a broadband download speed of 30Mbps+. Ultrafast Broadband

Areas that can access a broadband download speed of 300Mbps+. Full Fibre

Areas that can access a pure fibre optic (FTTP/H) network right to their home or business, which are usually capable of Gigabit (1000Mbps+) speeds.

We should point out that most of the Governments older Broadband Delivery UK contracts tend to define superfast broadband by the slightly lower figure of 24Mbps+, although this only represents a difference of around 0.5% in network coverage vs 30Mbps+. Meanwhile Ofcoms definition of ultrafast has always been odd since almost everybody else pegs it to start at 100Mbps+.

Fixed Line Broadband

The big story of 2018 has undoubtedly been the rise in aggressive competition between full fibre ISPs, which seem to be jumping over each other to see who can roll-out the most fibre optic lines (Summary of UK Full Fibre Plans). Many of those are commercial deployments that have only really begun at any scale this year, which are predominantly focused on urban areas.

The Government has set a related aspiration for nationwide coverage of FTTP/H networks to be achieved by 2033 (here), although this would require the market to be adding around 2 million premises (not overbuild) to the national coverage every year for the next decade or more and at present were nowhere near. Nevertheless the rise from 3% to 6% (1.8 million premises) coverage is still a significant jump over the lacklustre growth of previous years.

Meanwhile superfast broadband coverage has now reached 94% under Ofcoms definition, which is important because this in turn means the gap that the 10Mbps+ Universal Service Obligation (USO) needs to fill is also shrinking and will continue to reduce before the start of 2020 (i.e. when the USO comes into force).

We should point out that at this stage Virgin Medias cable (HFC DOCSIS) network is still the one most responsible for increasing the national coverage of ultrafast speeds, particularly since a lot of the new full fibre deployments are primarily overbuilding Virgins existing network and its a similar story for Openreachs new hybrid fibre G.fast technology.

Kim Mears, Openreachs MD for Strategic Infrastructure, said: This year weve spent millions of pounds delivering upgrades to thousands more homes in the most challenging parts of the UK. Were doing that through a combination of commercial investment, subsidised partnerships and community schemes, and were using innovative techniques like drones to connect people that were previously unreachable. Its good to see that work is having an effect, with 98% of the country now able to order a decent fixed broadband service and the vast majority able to order superfast. But theres clearly more to do. Were keen to continue working with the Government, Ofcom and the wider industry to get those few remaining not-spots upgraded and, with our Fibre First approach, were prioritising the deployment of future-proof Fibre to the Premises technology throughout the UK.

In terms of take-up, some 45% of connections are now superfast services (up from 38% last year and 31% in 2016). Similarly, although 98% of premises have access to a decent broadband 10Mbps+ service, only 65% of premises actually have an active broadband connection that delivers this.

The growth in take-up has naturally led to an increase in average speeds across the UK. The average download speed of all active connections is now 49Mbps (up from 44Mbps in 2017), although this falls to 7Mbps for uploads (up from 6Mbps). The digital divide also remains present, with the average download in urban areas being 51Mbps and only 32Mbps in rural locations.

NOTE: Ofcoms avg. speeds in this report are based on data provided by ISPs for the sync speed of each active line (i.e. not actual speed tests). The figure is thus a much more optimistic estimate than the real-world testing conducted as part of their Ofcoms avg. speeds in this report are based on data provided by ISPs for the sync speed of each active line (i.e. not actual speed tests). The figure is thus a much more optimistic estimate than the real-world testing conducted as part of their 2018 Broadband Speeds Report

In addition, the average monthly data volumes per household on fixed broadband connections have also increased over the past year, jumping to 240 GigaBytes from 190GB last year. The median value of data use on fixed lines has also increased by almost 50% to 124GB from 84GB last year (i.e. this suggests that users with faster connections are using a lot more data).

Rising data consumption is one of the key reasons why so many unlimited ISPs hike their prices because it impacts their cost of provision.

Mobile Networks

The report also examines the coverage of mobile networks, such as via the usual 2G, 3G and 4G based platforms that most people should now be familiar with. The UK has four primary network operators (MNO) via O2, Three UK, EE (BT) and Vodafone, plus a plentiful supply of virtual operators (MVNO) that piggyback off those.

Overall Ofcom found that 92% of premises (indoor) in the UK should be about to make a mobile voice call (up from 90% last year) across all operators and this drops to 77% for 4G data connections (up from 65%). Meanwhile the outdoor geographic coverage of 4G services across the UK is still painfully low at 66% (up from 43%) from all four mobile operators or 91% from at least one operator.

Within this, individual operator coverage varies, with the highest being 84% and the lowest 74%.

Current 4G Coverage by Operator (% UK Land Area) BT/EE: 84%

O2: 74%

Three UK: 78%

Vodafone: 79%

Most network operators are currently reaching maturity in their 4G deployments, although EE has set itself a goal for landmass coverage of 95% by the end of December 2020 (currently c.91%). However geographic 4G coverage in rural areas from all operators is only 62% and this rises to 97% in urban locations.

Geographic 4G Coverage from All Operators (Regions)Tuesday, December 18th, 2018 (7:32 am) - Score 2,802

Cityfibre has today confirmed that theyve put in place a new debt financing package worth 1.12bn, which will support their wider 2.5bn roll-out (details) of a new 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to cover 5 million premises across 37 UK cities and towns by the end of 2024.

The deployment project, which is being supported by Vodafone, officially started last year with a funding pot of 500m (Phase One) and this was recently increased to 2.5bn. At the time the operator noted that this investment would reflect a combination of debt and equity, although the exact details were not revealed.

Today Cityfibre has followed this up by announcing that theyve put in place a debt package of 1.12 billion from seven major financial institutions, including ABN AMRO, Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Bank plc, Natixis, NatWest, Santander and Societe Generale. The operator claims that this is the largest debt financing package dedicated to full fibre rollouts in the UKs history and will support their initial roll-out to 2 million premises.

The package includes a 775 million seven-year capex facility and 45 million revolving overdraft and working-capital facility. It also includes a 300 million accordion facility. Rothschild & Co acted as financial adviser to CityFibre and Latham & Watkins as legal adviser.

Terry Hart, CityFibres Chief Finance Officer, said: The appetite from these institutions to support our financing is further evidence that CityFibres strategy is the right one for the UK. As our networks are rolled out, this will benefit everyone, driving innovation and increasing fibre penetration across the UK, providing the future-proof digital connectivity the UK needs. CityFibres target to reach five million homes by 2025, as well as thousands of businesses and public sector sites, will catalyse huge economic growth in regional towns and cities across the country.

Cityfibre is currently in the process of hiring 5,000 engineers to support their roll-out (challenging in the current market, where demand for such skilled telecoms engineers often outstrips supply).Photo: Contributed

Kelowna is known for its wine. And what goes well with wine? Cheese.

And what does Kelowna not currently have? A shop that sells cheese exclusively.

Actually, that just changed when Desiree Young and husband Philip Perseval launched Perseval & Young Cheesemongers. It is primarily an online venture at the moment, save for pop-up events, while Young and her husband search for a building to house their new business.

We have delis here, but we dont have a cheese shop, Young said. So, weve had a lot of communication with city hall. Theyre really excited about what were doing. Theyre completely on board. So within this marketing year, its really about finding out where we should be in the city, where we should open up a cheese shop.

Until that mission is complete, Perseval & Young will continue to serve some of the finest cheese in the Okanagan.

Were trying to bring in cheeses that you cant get anywhere in town, Young said. We want the fine cheese, and were going to be focusing on about 70 per cent Canadian and 30 per cent European. We want high-standard products. We want artisan, farmstead products. We just want to focus on finer cheese, and its just not offered right now.

For more on this story, visit Okanagan Edge.Pure Storage uses machine learning to help its customers' systems run better, and some of its customers use Pure Storage arrays to make their machine learning systems run better.

Each Pure Storage array generates between 600MB and 1GB of telemetry data per day, including behavioural data concerning workload characteristics, Pure Storage international chief technology officer Alex McMullan told iTWire.

Different types of data are directed to different streams. So temperature alerts and information about network issues flow to the help desk for immediate attention. Some issues can be fixed remotely, often before an actual fault occurs; others are brought to the customer's attention.

This type of service has led to Pure achieving an NPS (net promoter score) in the mid 80s, he said. For comparison, Macquarie Telecom claims "Australia's best" customer experience based on an NPS of 76, and the average NPS of the Australian retail industry is 15 according to the Perceptive Group.

If you think an NPS of 15 sounds low, keep in mind that retail achieved the second-highest industry-wide NPS in Australia for 2018, trailing only the charity sector which had an NPS of 27. US retail managed 54, according to Forbes

But back to Pure's telemetry. Applying machine learning to the data also allows the company to identify issues caused by hardware or software provided by other vendors. In addition, customers can use it to predict the effect of making changes to their arrays, such as upgrading a controller.

The company is very aware that there are significant differences between workloads. Pure Storage was originally used largely in conjunction with VMware, etc, but now software such as Mongo and Cassandra is commonplace, and these workloads have very different characteristics in terms of storage use. So the models used to analyse the telemetry data keep changing  Pure's "data science team never stops", said McMullan.

To process all this data, Pure augments its on-premises infrastructure with AWS, which McMullan describes as "a great force multiplier."

Pure has more than 10PB of data stored on AWS, but "much more" is stored on premises. The company is moving even more data on-premises in order to take advantage of its own FlashBlade hardware to improve analytics performance.

Looking at AI more generally, McMullan sees it as "an undisciplined, unregulated space." What regulations there are vary significantly in different jurisdictions, there's no agreement on how accurate a model needs to be (see, for example, recent concerns over the accuracy of face recognition used by the police in the UK), and the 'black box' nature of most models leaves people wondering whether any conscious or unconscious bias has gone into their development.

McMullan suggests that if the international community can agree on air traffic lanes, it should be able to come up with overarching guidelines for AI.

He's not suggesting that all applications should be regarded in the same way. But there will be a high level of reliance on some AIs (eg, autonomous vehicles), so lots of ongoing checks are reasonable, especially when a given set of inputs do not necessarily lead to the same output.

It's important to realise that the computer isn't always right, he suggested.

Another issue that needs attention is data ownership (does healthcare and vehicle data belong to the individual or the owner, or to the manufacturer or a third-party provider?), he said.

That raises some interesting issues. Should a hospital be allowed to train an AI using patients' data without their explicit consent? Is that consent meaningful if it was granted as part of 'take it or leave it' terms and conditions, eg no consent means no treatment. Should future patients only benefit from their predecessors' contribution to the development of AI-assisted diagnosis and treatment if they in turn allow their data to be used in that tool's ongoing development and training?Educational institutions follow a range of paths when it comes to using AWS, but they usually start with something simple such as their websites or dev/test environments, and then deploy enterprise applications (eg, SAP, PeopleSoft or student management systems) before developing cloud native apps, AWS APJ regional head of education and research Vincent Quah told iTWire .

Monash University is in the process of shutting down data centres, he said. (It has been reported elsewhere that Monash shut down one data centre following an aggressive four-month process, and that it uses Google as well as AWS.)

"They're still on that journey," said Quah.

In the US, the University of Notre Dame has spent three years migrating almost all of its workloads to AWS, he said. Any applications that couldn't be moved were replaced with new, cloud-native applications.

On the other side of the coin, local universities are working to help fill the shortage of cloud skills: the ACS estimates around 200,000 more IT professionals with such skills are required.

The AWS Educate program aims to help fill this gap, and to assist graduates and IT professionals who are finding it hard to get work with the acquisition of cloud skills that are in demand, said Quah.

The material  which is being used by La Trobe University as part of a cloud major  is all online and self service, he said, and incorporates content from some of the world's top ten computer science courses.

The La Trobe course provides three exit points, he observed. Students successfully completing year one receive a diploma, getting through the second year earns an associate degree, and passing third year is rewarded with a degree. In addition, completion of AWS Educate modules earns "microcredentials", he said.

Furthermore, RMIT is using Amazon Sumerian  AWS's VR/AR platform  to develop three short courses to help IT professionals acquire cloud skills.

The full AWS Educate program  which provides structured pathways aimed at various occupations such as data scientist or cloud architect, as well as a "job bot" to help match students with relevant job openings (including internships and contract positions)  is currently US-centric, but AWS is looking to implement it in Australia more broadly than the use of the materials by RMIT and La Trobe, said Quah.

"We're trying to build a content framework that can be easily adopted."

The materials are not always used as a formal part of the curriculum. In some cases they form part of electives that can be offered without requiring formal approval, and so can be more easily kept current. They are also used in short courses and workshops offered by participating institutions.

In addition, AWS is looking to work with the TAFE sector but is not discussing any specific projects at this time, he said

Outside the formal education system, Quah pointed to Bega, where the shire council and other bodies are encouraging people to improve their cloud skills with a view to creating 1000 new jobs. AWS has been involved in the project, for example by running workshops on how to implement Alexa skills. Earlier this year, a competition that set secondary students the task of writing an agricultural-themed skill was won by a team that created a skill to specify the exact doses of medication required by individual calves.

The writer attended AWS re:Invent as a guest of the company.Germany's tech watchdog says it has seen no evidence to back up claims being flung around that Chinese telecommunications equipment firm Huawei Technologies could use its products to spy for China.

The head of the Federal Office for Information Security, Arne Schoenbohm, told the news weekly Spiegel: "For such serious decisions like a ban, you need proof."

According to the website Phys.org, Schoenbohm said experts from his agency had inspected Huawei products used in other countries.

They had also spent time at the company's newly open laboratory in Bonn where German companies can inspect the cyber security measures adopted and the software used in the equipment.

In 2015, The Guardianthat the top American spy agency, the NSA, had been spying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her closest advisers for years.

The US has banned the use of Huawei equipment in its 5G networks, claiming that the company can be a conduit for spying by Beijing. Huawei has repeatedly denied that it can be forced to indulge in espionage.

Australia and New Zealand have both followed the US lead and banned Huawei from roles in their respective 5G rollouts.

Last month there were reports that the US was stepping up the pressure on its allies to give the cold shoulder to the Chinese firm which is the world's biggest supplier of telecommunications equipment.

Last Thursday, the Japanese news agency Nikkei reported that the SoftBank Group planned to replace 4G network equipment from Huawei with equipment from Nokia and Ericsson.

Huawei has been thrown into the centre of the ongoing US-China trade row after its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested by Canada on 1 December, due to her alleged involvement in sanctions busting through the sales of US products to Iran.

US President Donald Trump has said he may use Meng as a bargaining chip to obtain a better deal with China.

iTWire has contacted Huawei for comment.Updated: December 2018.

Every Java developer needs a programming editor or IDE that can assist with the grungier parts of writing Java and using class libraries and frameworks. Deciding which editor or IDE will best suit you depends on several things, including the nature of the projects under development, your role in the organization, the process used by the development team, and your level and skills as a programmer. Additional considerations are whether the team has standardized on tools, and your personal preferences.

The three IDEs most often chosen for server-side Java development are IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse, and NetBeans. These aren't the only choices, however, and this review will include some lightweight IDEs as well.

For this roundup, I did fresh installations of IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate 2018.3, Eclipse IDE 201809 for Java EE Developers, and Apache NetBeans (incubating) IDE 9 on a Mac. I also checked out several open source Java projects so that I could test all of the IDEs on the same projects.

About this update This IDE review was first published in September 2016, and has been updated in December 2018. In those intervening years the Java language, APIs, JVM ecosystem, and some frameworks have evolved significantly. Java EE 8 introduced or updated many Java technology specifications, including JSON-B (JavaScript Object Notation Binding), Java EE Security, Servlet 4.0, and JSF (JavaServer Faces) 2.3 for building server-side user interfaces. Java EE 8 was also the final Java enterprise release from Oracle: The Eclipse Foundation has taken charge of stewarding the technology, which it has rebranded to Jakarta EE. Meanwhile, JUnit has advanced to version 5, breaking integrations; IDEA and Eclipse both have native support for JUnit 5, but as of this writing NetBeans does not. All of these changes should be part of your evaluation of an IDE, whether for general use or for a particular project.Photo: Contributed

BC Tree Fruits was a big winner when the second annual Cidercraft Awards were handed out on Monday.

The Kelowna company received double gold recognition in the hopped cider category for its Broken Ladder Apple & Hops.

Cidercraft Magazine is the only publication dedicated to cider in Canada and the United States, and BC Tree Fruits is now a two-time winner.

We are elated to once again be a recipient of a Cidercraft Award and even more delighted to earn double gold in the Hopped category, cidermaker Nadine Harrison said in a press release. Craft cider continues to be one of the fastest growing categories in the beverage sector.

For more on this story, visit Okanagan Edge.Photo: Canadian Armed Forces

The longest-serving aircraft in the Canadian Armed Forces took their last flights on Monday.

A formation of Sea King helicopters took one last ride over Vancouver Island, departing from 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron near Victoria and flying over Patricia Bay to Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville and Qualicum

The Sea Kings are being retired as the Royal Canadian Air Force replaces them with modern Cyclone helicopters, CTV News reports.

"No other fleet has served as long as the Sea King, and its 55 years of service are a monument not only to its durability and capability, but to the men and women who operated, maintained and otherwise supported this incredible helicopter," said Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger, commander of the RCAF.

 with files from CTV Vancouver IslandToday, we present a series of letters from students at Kelowna Christian School

Over the last few years, the legalization of marijuana has been a topic concerning all Canadians. The controversy has been between whether or not Canada is ready for this significant change in our country.

But on Oct. 17, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finalized a very debatable decision by legalizing marijuana. Although there may be some benefits, Canada is not yet ready for this.

By far the biggest issue concerning the legalization of cannabis is driving high. Our nation has enough problems with people driving drunk, but driving high is a whole other concern.

Driving high puts the lives of you and others at risk.

The legalization of marijuana was a mistake and needs to be changed.

Canada is not ready for this new law. Trudeau, needs to put a stop to this.

Aliyana, Grade 8Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 18)  President Rodrigo Duterte will sign any bill that will legalize the use of medical marijuana in the Philippines, his spokesperson said Tuesday.

In a media briefing, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo reiterated that Duterte favors the use of medical marijuana and will support any legislative measure consistent with his stand.

"He (The President) is in favor of limited use of marijuana," Panelo told reporters in Malacanang.

"Logically then he will support and sign any bill that would be consistent with his stand."

The issue was thrust back into the spotlight after newly-crowned Miss Universe Catriona Gray said she was in favor of the legalization of medical marijuana.

In the Top 5 question-and-answer portion, the 24-year-old shared an affirmative stand, saying she was "for it" being used for medical purposes.

"I'm for it being used in a medical use but not so for recreational use," Gray answered during the pageant held in Bangkok, Thailand.

"Because I think if people were to argue 'What about alcohol and cigarettes?' Well everything is good but in moderation," she added.

Last September 2017, a House panel approved House Bill No. 6517 or the Philippine Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act, which seeks to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The bill is on second reading, pending before the House of Representatives.

Isabela Representative Rodolfo Albano III, the measure's principal author, said he was pleased with the renewed interest on the topic of legalization.

In a statement, Albano noted he is hopeful that the bill will be passed before the end of the 17th Congress.

"(House Bill 6517) adopts a very strict regulatory framework while at the same time promoting the people's right to health by ensuring affordable and safe access to quality medical cannabis," Albano wrote in his statement.

"(It) does not decriminalize the use of cannabis or marijuana. This is not about the recreational use of marijuana. What it does is to create a limited and narrow exception to the country's criminal and civil laws to allow a physician to recommend medical cannabis to patients with serious and debilitating medical conditions," he added.

However, Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III clarified that under the Republic Act No. 9165 or the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, the use of medical marijuana is already legal if used for appropriate medication.

A provision under the act states that patients can apply for a "compassionate special permit" from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The permit allows unregistered drugs in the country to be used for medication.

Because of this, Sotto maintains there is no need to pass a bill legalizing medical marijuana.

"Meron na ba kayong nabalitaan ang PNP (Philippine National Police) (na) hinuli ang medical marijuana? Wala. Hindi bawal eh. Ano ilelegalize mo? E legal," the Senate President said.

"Ang pinag-uusapan dito at ang bibigyan ng permit ng doctor at ng FDA (ay) yung medical cannabis, hindi yung medical marijuana na hinihithit. Because ibig sabihin noon recreational use na."

[Translation: Did you hear reports that the police are catching those with medical marijuana? It's not prohibited. What will we legalize? It's already legal. What we're talking about here-- and what is given permit by the doctors and the FDA-- is the medical cannabis and not the puffed medical marijuana. Because that means, it's already for recreational use.]

President's influence?

Pressed for reactions regarding Gray's answer, Panelo on Tuesday said the statement of Catriona "could have been influenced by the President's decision on that matter."

He added the President is in favor of legalizing the same if it's limited to healing purposes.

"Or I said, it could have been a conclusion reached by her because she listened to the pros and cons of the matter," he said.

In a press conference following her victory, Gray admitted she has read up on studies tackling the issue of medical weed.

"The question on marijuana is definitely relevant to the Philippines. I've seen studies on medical marijuana," the new Miss Universe said. "For recreational marijuana, I think we should study up on it more and we could put up regulations."

Even prior to his presidency, Duterte shared he was for the use of medical marijuana, as it is "an ingredient of modern medicine now."

Earlier this month, the President in the middle of a speech joked about his marijuana use something that was slammed by numerous human rights groups and advocates.

The possession and use of marijuana is illegal in the Philippines and can be punished by life imprisonment and a fine of up to P10 million.

READ: Palace on Duterte's 'jokes': If there's no logic, it's a joke

CNN Philippines Correspondent Joyce Ilas contributed to this report.Today, we present a series of letters from students at Kelowna Christian School

Despite some controversy, marijuana was legalized in Canada on Oct. 17. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in June that it would be legalized.

Various groups voiced their opinions on how young people will be affected and negative effects on future generations. But even so, legalizing marijuana is the right choice for Canada.

One of the most evident reasons is that legalizing cannabis will save the government money. Even though at times it seems that all the authorities care about is the cost, how do you want your tax dollars spent? Do you want them spent on chasing drug users, or would you like them to spend your hard earned money on infrastructure or education improvements?

Sellers of the drug will now have to uphold strict health guidelines. Previously, black market marijuana was being laced with fentanyl and other deadly drugs. This is highly dangerous because drugs like fentanyl have a 54 per cent chance of killing a person. But now, marijuana will be safer.

Although there are many cons to approving the use of cannabis, Trudeau made the right decision on legalizing this drug.

Ashley M., Grade 8Photo: The Canadian Press "Griffin" Hawley, the Golden Retriever service dog, is given a congratulations hug by his owner Brittany Hawley after being presented an honorary diploma by Clarkson, during the Clarkson University "December Recognition Ceremony" in Potsdam, N.Y., Saturday Dec. 15, 2018.

Whenever Brittany Hawley went to class, her loyal service dog Griffin was there. If she needed her cellphone, Griffin would fetch it. Even when she assisted patients as part of an internship, Griffin was there helping out as well.

So it's only fitting that when Hawley was honoured for receiving her master's degree in occupational therapy from Clarkson University over the weekend, Griffin was once again at her side  with an honorary diploma of his own.

"I pushed for him to graduate from Day One," Hawley said Monday. "He did everything I did."

The board of trustees of the Potsdam, New York, school honoured the 4-year-old golden retriever at a recognition ceremony Saturday, saying he demonstrated "extraordinary effort, steadfast commitment and diligent dedication to the well-being and student success" of Hawley.

Hawley, 25, of Wilson, North Carolina, uses a wheelchair and has chronic pain. She said Griffin does a wide range of physical tasks for her including opening doors, turning on lights and bringing her items she indicates with a laser pointer. But perhaps more important is the comfort the dog provides amid her relentless, severe pain that causes anxiety and depression.

Hawley got Griffin through "paws4prisons," a program that teaches inmates at West Virginia prisons to train and place high-level assistance dogs.

"The inmates allow many dogs to come up to you and let the dog choose you," Hawley said. "Some dogs were scared of the wheelchair. Griffin jumped right into my lap and licked me across the face."

Hawley and Griffin worked at Fort Bragg in North Carolina during an internship, helping soldiers with mobility impairments as well as psycho-social disorders. Brushing a dog can help improve a patient's range of motion, and stroking him helps ease anxiety, Hawley said.

"My patients would say, 'My therapist today is Brittany and Griffin,'" she said.

When she applies for jobs, she and Griffin will be a package deal, Hawley said.

"I couldn't participate in anything without him," she said. "I'm so used to him being there."Photo: The Canadian Press In this Dec. 11, 2018 photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a meets with Democratic leaders the Oval Office in Washington.

The fight over President Donald Trump's $5 billion wall funds has deepened, threatening a partial government shutdown in a standoff that has become increasingly common in Washington.

It wasn't always like this, with Congress and the White House at a crisis over government funding. The House and Senate used to pass annual appropriation bills, and the president signed them into law. But in recent years the shutdown scenario has become so routine that it raises the question: Have shutdowns as a negotiating tool lost their punch?

Monday brought few signs of progress. A partial shutdown that could occur at midnight Friday risks disrupting government operations and leaving hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed or working without pay over the holiday season. Costs would be likely in the billions of dollars.

Trump was meeting with his team and getting regular updates, said White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Trump was also tweeting Monday to keep up the pressure.

Exiting a Senate Republican leadership meeting late Monday, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota said, "It looks like it probably is going to have to build for a few days here before there's a solution."

The president is insisting on $5 billion for the wall along the southern border with Mexico, but he does not have the votes from the Republican-led Congress to support it. Democrats are offering to continue funding at current levels, $1.3 billion, not for the wall but for fencing and other border security.

It's unclear how many House Republicans, with just a few weeks left in the majority before relinquishing power to House Democrats, will even show up midweek for possible votes. Speaker Paul Ryan's office had no update. Many Republicans say it's up to Trump and Democrats to cut a deal.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Trump talk most days, but the senator's spokesman would not confirm if they spoke Monday about a plan. McConnell opened the chamber hoping for a "bipartisan collaborative spirit" that would enable Congress to finish its work.

"We need to make a substantial investment in the integrity of our border," McConnell said. "And we need to close out the year's appropriation process."

Meanwhile more than 800,000 government workers are preparing for the uncertainty ahead.

The dispute could affect nine of 15 Cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Interior, Agriculture, State and Justice, as well as national parks and forests.A crowd of students gather in front of the Fox Den Coffee House prior to class starting on Dec. 11.Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 18, 2018) - Pacific Empire Minerals Corp. (TSXV: PEMC) (OTCQB: PEMSF) ("Pacific Empire", "PEMC" or the "Company"), a hybrid prospect generator focused in British Columbia, is pleased to announce it has entered into an option agreement with a group of vendors and subsequently consolidated a significant land position of over 90 square kilometers in the Babine Copper-Gold Porphyry district in central British Columbia. The amalgamated "Paragon Project" combines the Company's Wasp Property, the recently optioned "Nilkitkwa Property", and prospective ground staked by the Company.

Highlights

PEMC signs option agreement to acquire 100% interest in certain mineral claims, where ongoing logging operations have exposed copper mineralization and quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration

PEMC stakes additional ground and consolidates land position to form Paragon Project

Recent due diligence outcrop sampling by PEMC from Nilkitkwa Property returns up to 1.9% copper

About the Paragon Project

The 9,099 hectare Paragon Project covers four copper  gold prospects in central British Columbia and is within 30 km of three copper-gold porphyry deposits, including the past-producing Bell and Granisle Mines and the advanced Morrison copper-gold porphyry deposit. These deposits are genetically and spatially associated with Biotite Feldspar Porphyry ("BFP") dikes. PEMC is targeting analogous geology at the various prospects situated within the Paragon Property boundary. Results from due diligence rock sampling program at the Nilkitkwa Property are summarized below.

Table 1. Outcrop grab samples from Nilkitkwa Property.

Sample ID UTM East UTM North Cu (%) 2095402 651117 6097944 1.89 2095403 651123 6097956 0.20

The four copper  gold prospects consist of the Rebinsky, HOL, Wasp, and Big Joe prospects. The Rebinsky prospects, which are the focus of the ground within the option agreement, cover multiple sulphide showings that were recently uncovered during ongoing logging activities. In the northern portion of the Nilkitkwa Property, extensive quartz-sericite-pyrite +/- magnetite alteration exists proximal to a covered magnetic anomaly. In the southern portion of the property, copper mineralization is found in a recently exposed rock quarry where it consists of localized chalcocite coating chalcopyrite and pyrite grains which are disseminated and filling fractures in chlorite-carbonate altered andesitic volcanics.

At the HOL prospect, a 1,500 m x 600 m copper-molybdenum soil anomaly is coincident with a strong IP chargeability anomaly immediately adjacent to a major northwest trending fault. Historical drilling at the southeastern margin of this area encountered copper mineralization associated with BFP dikes, though assay results were not reported. Historical drilling at the Wasp prospect encountered anomalous copper as disseminated and fracture filling pyrite-chalcopyrite associated with BFP dikes. The Big Joe prospect consists of two historical trenches over 1 km apart where copper as chalcopyrite +/- bornite was encountered and found to be associated with northwest trending structures.

The Paragon Project is ideally suited for PEMC's reverse circulation drill and the Company will be developing and refining targets for intended drill testing in 2019.

Details with respect to the consideration payable for the acquisition of 6 claims totaling 630 hectares are as follows:

Table 2. Option agreement terms.

Timing Cash Payments * Share issuances Upon signing $5,000 - First anniversary of Effective Date $5,000 50,000 Second anniversary of Effective Date $10,000 100,000 Third anniversary of Effective Date $20,000 150,000 Fourth anniversary of Effective Date $25,000 200,000 TOTAL = $65,000 500,000

The vendors of the property hold a 2% net smelter royalty ("NSR"). The Company may purchase one half of the NSR at any time from the vendors for $1,500,000. *

* Dollar amounts expressed in Canadian dollars

This property acquisition remains subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Any securities issued as consideration under this option agreement will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance.



Figure 1. Location map - Paragon Project.

About the Babine Copper-Gold Porphyry District

The most significant deposits and occurrences in the Babine Lake area are temporally and spatially related to Eocene (50 Ma) Babine intrusions. These host more than a dozen deposits and occurrences in addition to the past producing Bell and Granisle open-pit mines which processed 130 million tonnes with average recovered grades of 0.40% copper and 0.15% gold between 1966 and 1992.

Babine intrusions occur as small stocks, plugs and dike swarms emplaced along northwest-trending regional faults developed in arc-derived Mesozoic volcanic and sedimentary assemblages. The dominant hostrock for copper-gold mineralization is a distinctive, fine- to medium-grained, crowded biotite feldspar porphyry (BFP) of granodiorite composition. Copper-gold mineralization occurs as chalcopyrite and bornite within narrow quartz-filled fractures and stockworks and as disseminations within and marginal to BFP intrusions.

Although most of the known porphyry deposits and occurrences were found by basic prospecting and stream sediment geochemistry, subsequent exploration in the Babine area has been hampered by extensive glacial overburden cover.

Pacific Empire's President, Brad Peters, added: "We are excited to continue building our portfolio through a combination of staking and strategic option agreements. The Paragon Project is a good example of the type of projects PEMC intends to pursue moving forward and we look forward to advancing the project in 2019."

QA/QC Procedures

Rock samples were collected from outcrop placed in polyethylene sample bags before being sealed and subsequently shipped to MS Analytical in Langley, BC.

Qualified Person

Rory Ritchie, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration for the Company, serves as a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed the scientific and technical information in this news release, approving the disclosure herein.

About Pacific Empire Minerals Corp.

PEMC is an exploration company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that employs a "hybrid prospect generator" business model and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PEMC and on the OTCQB Markets under the symbol PEMSF.

By integrating the project generator business model with low-cost reverse circulation drilling, the company intends to leverage its portfolio by identifying, and focusing on, the highest quality projects for partnerships and advancement.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,

"Brad Peters"

President and Chief Executive Officer

Pacific Empire Minerals Corp.

Tel: +1-604-356-6246

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.pemcorp.ca

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: the need for additional financing; operational risks associated with mineral exploration; fluctuations in commodity prices; title matters; environmental liability claims and insurance; reliance on key personnel; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain officers, directors or promoters with certain other projects; the absence of dividends; competition; dilution; the volatility of our common share price and volume and the additional risks identified the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.Photo: CTV News

Parents are calling for more security cameras following the sexual assault of a six-year-old girl earlier this month near a South Vancouver school.

The J.W. Sexsmith Elementary parent advisory council has made several suggestions to the Vancouver School Board following the Dec. 5 attack, CTV News reports.

It wants security cameras around the exterior of the school and additional fencing around the perimeter to keep kids from wandering into less visible areas. The PAC is also asking that foliage be removed to reduce blind spots and that a forested hill to the west of the school be cleared.

The parent group says extra supervision should also be added.

Members are also requesting a meeting with the Vancouver Police Department.

The assaulted child was lured away and then walked back to the school, the VPD says.

Parents say they didn't find out about the assault until a week later.

The suspect is described as about 30 years old, with brown or grey hair.

 with files from CTV VancouverPhoto: Contributed Left: Michaela Pearson, Right: Candice Little

Two women seen on social media video helping three children smoke marijuana in North Carolina have now been sentenced to jail time.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports that 18-year-old Candice Little was found guilty of misdemeanour child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile on Monday. With time served and a partially suspended sentence, she'll serve one day in jail.

Last month, 21-year-old Michaela Pearson pleaded guilty to the same charges, and was sentenced to serve less than a year in jail.

The pair were originally charged with felonies, but prosecutors reduced the charges because there wasn't evidence their babysitting charges were seriously injured from smoking the marijuana.

Winston-Salem police say they got calls from as far as Louisiana regarding the video posted to Facebook.Pakistan on Monday released Indian prisoner Hamid Nihal Ansari, who was detained by the country's intelligence agencies in 2012 and subsequently sentenced to three years' imprisonment by a military court in 2015 for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card.

Ansari, a 33-year-old Mumbai resident, was lodged in the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by the military court on December 15, 2015. His three-year jail term ended on December 15, 2018 but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.

On Thursday, the Peshawar High Court gave the federal government a month deadline to complete his repatriation process.

"Ansari is being released upon completion of his sentence and is being repatriated to India," Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said.

He claimed that Ansari was an "Indian spy who had illegally entered Pakistan and was involved in anti-state crimes and forging documents."

Ansari went missing after he was taken into custody by Pakistani intelligence agencies and local police in Kohat in 2012 and finally in reply to a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother, Fauzia Ansari, the high court was informed that he was in custody of the Pakistan Army and was being tried by a military court.

He entered Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.

A two-judge Peshawar High Court bench, comprising Justice Roohul Amin and Justice Qalandar Ali Khan, on Thursday heard an appeal filed by Ansari through his lawyer Qazi Muhammad Anwar.

Anwar informed the bench that both the Ministry of Interior and authorities of prison, where he was lodged, were completely silent about his release and deportation to India.

After hearing this, Justice Khan asked the Additional Attorney General to explain how would they keep the prisoner in jail after completion of his term.

An officer, representing the interior ministry, informed the court that a prisoner could be kept for one month while the legal documents were being prepared.

After knowing the legal position, the court directed the ministry to make all the arrangements within a month for releasing and deportation of the prisoner.

-PTIMEDFORD, Ore. -- You are running out of time to ship presents in time for Christmas. The lines at the Post Office, UPS and FedEx are getting longer and longer as those deadline loom.

Mera Oliveria was one of the many people waiting in line at the UPS Store on Delta Waters Road in Medford to make sure her Christmas gifts get to her loved ones on the west and east coasts on time.

Knowing someone's Christmas gift will get there on time is very relieving, Oliveria said. It's a stressful time to get gifts in the mail and to get gifts before Christmas but to know that you're done and that it is in the mail you can rest. Its so nice because now you can enjoy the Christmas season.

"The person I'm sending it to would be very disappointed if she didn't get her present [on time]," added UPS customer Debby Brown.

You don't have much time left.

The prices only go up from here on out and those prices depend on where you send it. The UPS Stores manager Randall Harris said this is the busiest time of year with lines sometimes out of the door.

"This is essentially like the employees Super Bowl. This is what they train for all year. Everything that they've been training for has been working up to this moment, Harris said.

Employees will often be in the store long after it closes but he's happy to help make sure your gifts arrive on time.

You get to essentially be like a Santa. As silly as it sounds, just the idea that all of these people that are going to get some things that are going to mean something to them from someone that is beloved and to know that I had some small part in it actually does kind of warm your heart at Christmas time," Harris added.

Below are the shipping deadlines for UPS, (USPS) the Post Office and Fed Ex:

UPS:

 UPS 2nd Day Air: Thursday, December 20 (delivery on Monday, December 24)

 UPS Next Day Air: Friday, December 21 (delivery on Monday, December 24)

 UPS On-Call Pickup for UPS Next Day Air: Saturday, December 22 (delivery on Monday, December 24)

USPS (for the continental US, excluding Hawaii and Alaska):

 USPS Retail Ground: Friday, December 14

 First-Class Mail Service and Priority Mail Service: Thursday, December 20

 Priority Mail Express Service: Saturday, December 22

FedEx:

 FedEx Home Delivery and Ground: Monday, December 17

 FedEx Express Saver: Wednesday, December 19

 FedEx 2Day and FedEx 2Day A.M.: Thursday, December 20

 FedEx Standard Overnight, Priority Overnight and First Overnight: Friday, December 21

 FedEx SameDay, SameDay City Direct and SameDay City Priority: Tuesday, December 25CRESWELL, Ore.  Two owners of a Super 8 Motel in the Oregon town of Creswell are now in police custody  accused of trying to burn the building down on Thanksgiving day, according to Oregon State Police (OSP).

On the night of November 22, engines from multiple area fire departments converged on the Super 8 Motel at 345 Oregon Avenue after reports of a fire. Firefighters were able to find and extinguish the fire in relatively short order.

Just two days later, early in the morning on November 24, reports of another fire at the same motel brought firefighters back. Again, the fire was extinguished.

"Due to the suspicious nature of the fires, the Oregon State Police Arson Unit was requested to assist in the investigation," OSP said in a statement. Arson detectives, along with fire investigators and members of the Lane County Sheriff's Office, began a "joint origin and cause investigation" at the motel.

In the course of the investigation, the detectives came to believe that the fire had been "incendiary and intentionally set," according to OSP.

"Following an investigation, detectives learned the owners of the Super 8 Motel franchise, Inder Singh and Satinder Singh, intentionally planned and caused the fire," OSP said.

On Thanksgiving  the day of the first fire  OSP said that there were six rooms rented at the motel and at least seven people on the premises when the fire broke out.

Police arrested both of the owners on December 16 for arson charges, lodging them at the Lane County Jail. The investigation remains ongoing, according to OSP.YREKA, Ore. --

UPDATE: The Iowa man suspected of trying to murder another man with a "large knife" in Yreka on Sunday turned himself over to authorities on Thursday morning, according to the Yreka Police Department (YPD).

23-year-old suspect Jarrad Peterson reportedly turned himself in just after 11 a.m. Officers were working to get clothing and evidence from him shortly after that.

Peterson still faces charges for Attempted Murder, and YPD said that more charges could soon follow.

(Updated 12/20/18 at 12 p.m.)

INITIAL REPORT: An Iowa man is believed to be on the run after stabbing another man in a house on Bluebird Street in Yreka, California on Sunday night.

According to Yreka police, around midnight on Sunday Jarrad Allan Peterson stabbed a 39-year-old man and then ran before police arrived. The stabbing victim, who has not been identified, was taken to Fairchild medical Center for emergency life-threatening surgery. The victim is now is stable condition.

Peterson now has a warrant out for his arrest for attempted murder. He is 23 years old, 5'8'' and around 210 lbs. with brown hair and brown eyes.

Police believe he may be headed to Iowa by bus. According to police, Peterson's Iowa driver's license shows an address out of Sioux City, IA.

Police believe Peterson still has the large knife that he used in the attack.

If you have any information regarding this case, please contact the Yreka Police Department at 530-841-2300. If you see Peterson, please do not confront him. Call 911.

This is a developing story and the case is still under an active investigation according to police.CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Four people were arrested and another is in the hospital after a large fight broke out Monday in Corvallis involving a known Nazi sympathizer from Springfield, police said.

Just before 4 p.m. police responded to the 300 block of NW Monroe Avenue right in front of the U.S. Bank building, and the entire street was shut down.

A truck with a swastika on it and the message, "Nazi is just the N-word for white men," was parked nearby. Police said it belongs to James Marr, who has been arrested in Springfield for hate-related incidents.

Witnesses said the fight started when protesters covered up the signs on Marr's truck with blankets. Officers said Marr suffered a medical event during the fight and was taken to the hospital, but they don't know if it was directly related to the fight.

The four arrested on scene were Albert Grigorov, 22, Ralph Bolger Jr., 64, Noah Orduna, 23, and Conor Butler, 19. They were taken to the Benton County Jail, charged with second-degree disorderly conduct and released.

Marr has not been arrested, and police said they haven't interviewed him yet.

Officers said another person was involved in the fight but left before police got there.pabradyphoto/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- Conservation activists and Democrats have said they want to focus on political appointees at the Interior Department who are expected to continue carrying out President Donald Trump's agenda after Secretary Ryan Zinke leaves his post at the end of the year.



Over the weekend, Trump announced on Twitter Zinke would resign amid ethics investigations and promises for aggressive oversight from Democrats in January.



But Zinke's departure isn't expected to lead to a drastic shift in priorities for the department, which is charged with managing the nation's natural resources and cultural heritage.



Zinke generated headlines about ethics investigations and news that one of those investigations was referred to the Justice Department by Interior's inspector general. Zinke vehemently denied any wrongdoing, but said in a statement that he could not justify the cost of defending himself and his family, though he did not specify if he meant the ethics investigations or expected oversight from the Democratic House.



Conservation advocates say they were initially optimistic about Zinke because he previously defended public lands and pledged to follow in President Teddy Roosevelt's footsteps.



Roosevelt used his authority to establish 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, four national game preserves, five national parks and 18 national monuments on more than 230 million acres of public land, according to an Interior blog. But advocates were ultimately disappointed by his support for Trump's "America First" agenda, which included expanding energy production on federal land and rolling back regulations, such as rules to protect endangered species and migratory birds.



Collin O'Mara, president of the National Wildlife Federation and former Delaware secretary of natural resources, said he worked with Zinke when he was in Congress and that he supported him for the job, but that Zinke ultimately chose Trump's call for energy dominance over conservation.



"Zinke's most lasting legacy will be the millions of acres of public lands degraded, the climate pollution increased, the outdoor recreational opportunities forsaken, the national monuments decimated and the wildlife species imperiled by an all-consuming energy-dominance agenda that irreparably violated President Theodore Roosevelt's 'great central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us,'" O'Mara wrote in a Washington Post op-ed.



Conservation groups point out that Zinke led the efforts to shrink two national monuments in Utah and expand mining and energy production on public lands in support of the president's agenda.



Zinke has also pushed for his agency to be more involved at the border, touting a dramatic increase in arrests on public lands earlier this year. The agency has also worked on a joint opioid task force to increase enforcement and training on Native American reservations and has emphasized a bipartisan effort to direct more money to resolve a backlog of maintenance projects at national parks.



The Interior Department did not respond to a request for an interview from ABC News on Monday.



Some groups have already turned a critical eye to Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt, who is expected to take the lead at Interior until a new secretary is confirmed. Democrats in Congress who pledged to investigate Zinke now say they plan to call Bernhardt and any nominee for Interior secretary to testify on whether industry groups are being given too much influence on policy decisions.



"Deputy Secretary Bernhardt's conflicts of interest are well known. His years of lobbying on behalf of clients who stand to profit from Interior policy decisions are cause for serious concern. We intend to continue conducting vigorous oversight of how Interior political appointees arrive at major policy decisions, who they consult, who they ignore, and who stands to benefit financially," Rep. Raul Grijalva, ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement.



Activists said they will be watching closely whomever Trump nominates to replace Zinke. Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of the Defenders of Wildlife, said she expects a "massive uprising" if Bernhardt is nominated because of his connections to industry groups.



"There's not one of the names that we're hearing that has any bona fides to lead a department of this magnitude and of this importance," she said in an interview.



Bernhardt held several positions at Interior between 2001 and 2009 before being nominated by Trump last April. As deputy secretary he works as chief operating officer of the department, according to its website.



He previously worked as an energy lobbyist and critics have accused him of meeting with former clients since taking office despite recusing himself from projects that would be a conflict of interest.



Trump's nominee to take Zinke's place at Interior will be vetted by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, led by Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin. Trump tweeted that he would announce his nominee to replace Zinke this week.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 18)  Budget Secretary Ben Diokno plans to skip the House probe on alleged "insertions" in the 2019 budget, upon President Rodrigo Duterte's orders, unless rules are clear against "rude" treatment from lawmakers similar to what happened during Question Hour last week.

Asked about Diokno's mulling to snub House hearings after he said he was "ambushed" during Question Hour last week, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Tuesday the order "presumably [came] from the President."

"Perhaps the fear there is perhaps he might be receiving the same rude treatment," Panelo said during a Palace press briefing.

Malacanang and Diokno, however, said lawmakers' questions can still be answered in writing through an affidavit.

Speaking to CNN Philippines' The Source, Diokno said he was advised by Palace officials not to attend the House probe on alleged budget insertions on January 3.

"We want to know exactly the rules first," he said. In a separate interview after the show, Diokno said, "We cannot go there under the same condition that I went there."

Asked if he fears that he could be cited in contempt if he snubs summons from the House, he said, "They cannot cite me in contempt. I don't know the rules."

House rules on congressional inquiries state that any person who refuse to obey summons without a legal excuse could be cited in contempt by a two-thirds vote of committee members. Those cited in contempt would be detained in a place designated by the chairperson or acting chairperson of the congressional panel for up to 10 days.

Despite the planned no-show of Diokno at the House probe next year, House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya is undeterred, claiming that insiders from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) have given them information related to "questionable budget allocations" in the Bicol region.

"Now that more whistleblowers are coming out in the open, there is an urgent need for Congress to exercise its oversight function over the disbursement of government funds. Definitely, we will task the DBM for these questionable allocations. We will not stop in our investigation, whether Cabinet members appear or not in our hearings," Andaya said in a statement.

Cabinet officials have previously cried foul over the "unparliamentary" treatment of Diokno during the Question Hour at the House, where the budget chief was pummeled with questions about the 2019 budget and his supposed hand in allocating funds for multi-billion projects in the bailiwick of his in-laws, Sorsogon Vice Governor Ester Hamor and Casiguran, Sorsogon Mayor Edwin Hamor.

Vice Governor Hamor is running for Sorsogon City mayor in the May 2019 polls, while Mayor Hamor is running for re-election. The vice governor is the mother-in-law of Diokno's daughter.

Responding to the Cabinet's criticisms, House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez told CNN Philippines' The Source that they were only performing their check and balances on the executive branch of the government.

But for Diokno, congressmen could have exercised that function without hitting him "below the belt."

"Kasi diba [Because] they're honorable men, They're supposed to give me [respect,]" Diokno said.

The lower chamber of Congress would be holding a probe on CT Leoncio Construction and Trading and Aremar Construction Corp. which bagged billions in projects and are linked to Diokno's in-laws. The budget chief has repeatedly denied these allegations.

"I'm not a politician. That's taboo po in our gathering. We don't talk about politics, we don't talk about projects," Diokno said. "Siguro sila, mga pulitika [those in politics,] they talk about projects. Kami, hindi nag-uusap [For us, we don't talk about that.]"

Road Board abolition ruffles solons' feathers

Apart from using the issue on budget insertions as a diversionary tactic from the alleged presence of "pork" in the 2019 budget, Diokno said he is being singled out by lawmakers because he is pushing for the abolition of the Road Board, which manages the motor vehicle user's charge (MVUC) used for road repairs and improvements.

"That's why they're really after my head because it's election season. They need money, and they're not going to get it," Diokno said.

He said there are pending requests with him asking for the release of MVUC collections totaling to 11 billion, which he has not yet approved as Duterte himself wants the supposedly corruption-laden Road Board abolished.

Congress had passed a bill abolishing the Road Board when Davao del Norte 1st District Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez was House Speaker. But months after his ouster and replacement by Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the lower chamber approved a motion rescinding the passage of the bill on third and final reading.

The Senate had earlier adopted the House version of the measure to skip the bicameral conference committee and let it land on the President's table for his signature. But Diokno said they are still awaiting the enrolled copy of the bill.

Andaya told reporters in a text message that the enrolled bill could not be signed by Arroyo as the passage of the measure in the House was rescinded. He added that Duterte told him in a private conversation that as the Road Board has not yet been abolished, the MVUC should be released.

The Palace is standing pat on its desire to have the Road Board abolished, adding that Duterte would sign the bill into law as soon as it reaches him.

"We want that the fund to be returned to the treasury and let Congress appropriate again for a specific purpose," Panelo said.

However, Suarez said in a press briefing Tuesday that allegations of corruption involving the Road Board are baseless since procurement processes are conducted by the government agencies which implement the projects.

He also warned that abolishing the Road Board would do more harm than good as the funds intended to improve roads and promote road safety would be gone.

Still, Diokno is standing by his proposal to abolish the board, as he thinks it is "improper" for unelected officials like him to have control over a large sum of money.

"We're acting like mini-Congress. My proposal is abolish this after all it's so involved in corruption," he said.

The Commission on Audit has previously flagged the illegal use of the MVUC.

'File a case'

Diokno is resisting calls from the House for his resignation and has received the backing of his Cabinet colleagues.

Still, Andaya is pressing on his allegations against the budget chief, now citing supposed DBM insiders who told him that under Diokno's leadership, billions of projects in Sorsogon for 2018 have been bidded out as early as November 2017.

"The DBM under Secretary Diokno has taken Congress for a ride in the past two years. Ngayon lang namin nalaman ang anomalyang ito. Bale-wala pala ang mga committee hearings at plenary debates sa Kongreso. Sinisilip pa lang namin ang budget, sinisigurado na ng DBM ang bilyon-bilyong pondo na ibubuhos sa Sorsogon," Andaya said.

[Translation: The DBM under Secretary Diokno has taken Congress for a ride in the past two years. It is only now that we found out about this anomaly. Our committee hearings and plenary debates in Congress are apparently useless. While we are still taking a look at the budget, the DBM is already making sure that billions of funds would pour into Sorsogon.]

Meanwhile, the Palace continues to vouch for Diokno's integrity, daring his detractors to file cases against him if they have the evidence to back it up.

"The reputation of Secretary Diokno is solid. In 32 years of his service, there is nothing we can throw at him," Panelo said.

"You cannot be relying on 'according to him, according to this mayor, according to this other mayor, there is this and such an anomaly.' You can't be destroying reputations of people on the basis of hearsay. If you feel there is an offense, then please file it against the alleged wrongdoer," he said.

Andaya previously told CNN Philippines that at least six mayors have approached him, telling him of a 1.5 billion "parking" scheme of a former Cabinet official who is running for elections.

Parking is used to refer to the inclusion of a lump sum amount in a particular congressional district's budget. The amount, however, will be used for a different project or district.

CNN Philippines' Xianne Arcangel and Ina Andolong contributed to this report.UPDATE: Jacob Kaput entered not guilty pleas Tuesday in Mower County District Court to 1st degree DWI, criminal vehicular operation, limited license violation, and no proof of insurances. No trial date has been set.

AUSTIN, Minn.  A Rochester man is facing several criminal charges after a weekend collision in Mower County.

Jacob Robert Kaput, 32, is accused of 1st degree DWI, criminal vehicular operation causing bodily harm under the influence of alcohol, a limited license violation, and no proof of insurance.

The Minnesota State Patrol says Kaput was driving in Interstate 90 when he rear ended another vehicle Saturday evening. The other Driver, Harvey Friederichs, 23 of Rochester, was taken to Mayo Clinic in Rochester with non-life threatening injuries.

Law enforcement says when they arrived at the scene of the crash, Kaput claimed someone else had been driving and then ran from the scene. Investigators say there was no evidence anyone left the scene or that anyone besides Kaput had been in the vehicle. Witnesses also identified Kaput at the driver that crashed into Friederichs.

Court documents say a breath test found Kaput had a .16 blood alcohol level at the time of the collision, twice the legal limit.

Kaput has a 2017 conviction for felony DWI in Freeborn County.NORTHWOOD, Iowa  A Freeborn County man gets some jail time for a North Iowa crash.

Jonathan David Anderson, 21 of Emmons, MN, was arrested after authorities say he stole a truck and crashed it in Worth County on June 17. Law enforcement said multiple witnesses described Anderson as obviously drunk on the day of the crash.

He pleaded guilty to operating a motor vehicle without the owners consent and OWI.

Anderson has now been sentenced to two days in jail, with credit for time served, and two years of probation. He must also pay a $1,250 fine.According to a release by the Iowa Department of Education, 341 schools in Iowa are in need of improvement, and some of those are in north Iowa.

The following is how the schools on the list were assessed:

Comprehensive schools are identified for overall performance. These schools score in the lowest 5 percent of Title I schools on the index score for all students and/or their graduation rate is below 67.1 percent.

Targeted schools are identified due to subgroup performance. These schools have subgroup(s) performing lower than the lowest 5 percent of Title I schools (all students) on the index score.

Here are the schools in north Iowa on the list (all targeted):OSCEOLA, Iowa (AP)  An Iowa judge cited the courthouse arrest of a drunken prosecutor in dismissing charges against a man accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy.

Judge Marti Mertz issued the ruling Monday while chastising Clarke County Attorney Michelle Rivera. The judge says Rivera's unavailability at a recent hearing "was the finale following unexplained periods of inactivity and lack of responsiveness" since the man's arrest more than a year ago.

Rivera was arrested for being drunk in an Osceola courtroom on Oct. 18, moments before the man was scheduled to enter a new plea and be sentenced.

The man later sought a dismissal because he hadn't been tried within a year of his arraignment. Investigators say the man admitting engaging in a sex act with a minor.

Rivera and her attorney didn't immediately return messages Tuesday from The Associated Press.CLEAR LAKE, Iowa  A Waterloo man is facing numerous charges for burglaries throughout eastern and northern Iowa.

Jonathan H. Martin, 35 of Waterloo, is accused of 3rd degree burglary and four counts of lottery ticket theft for a November 23 break-in at Ventura Mart, one of around 20 crimes for which law enforcement believes Martin is responsible.

Jonathan Martin Jonathan Martin

Martin was finally arrested Sunday in Butler County after an investigation involving many law enforcement agencies.

Besides the Ventura Mart burglary, Martin is also charged with 3rd degree burglary and three counts of attempted burglary in Butler County. Hes also facing charges of 3rd degree burglary and attempted 3rd degree burglary for three incidents on December 16 where someone broke into the Town Mart in Rudd and tried to break into the Yesway in Rockford and Dugans Restaurant in Floyd. He's also accused of burglaries in Ionia and Lawler.

The investigation is continuing and more charges are pending.

Cooperating in this investigation was the sheriffs offices in Black Hawk, Butler, Chickasaw, Floyd, Linn, and Grundy counties, the police departments in Clear Lake, Sumner, Oelwein and Hampton, and the Iowa DOT Bureau of Investigation and Identity Protection.CRESCO, Iowa  A Minnesota man is pleading not guilty to attacking someone at a Howard County party.

Ty Sobolik, 20 of Ramsey, MN, is charged with assault causing serious injury. Authorities say Sobolik was at a party in Florenceville near the Iowa-Minnesota border on April 29. Court documents say the male victim passed out after using a drug called dab and Sobolik punched, kicked and body slammed the victim. He reportedly got angry because the victim was wasting the drug.

Law enforcement says the victim suffered a broken collar bone that required surgery.

Sobolik entered a not guilty plea Monday. His trial is set to begin on April 3, 2019.ROCHESTER, Minn.  A second sentence is handed out in a Rochester drug bust.

Joshua Kyle Crews, 26 of Stewartville, was given 20 years of supervised probation and 100 hours of community service Monday. He pleaded guilty to 3rd degree drug possession in October and received a stay of adjudication, which means this conviction will be removed from his record after serving his probation.



Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson

Melissa King Melissa King

Crews, Andrew Johnson, and Melissa King, were all arrested in August after Rochester police pulled over their vehicle on Highway 52 and found methamphetamines inside.

Johnson pleaded guilty to 1st degree sale of drugs and got 95 days in jail, followed by 40 years of supervised probation.

King has also pleaded guilty to 3rd degree drug possession. Her sentencing is set for December 26.OSAGE, Iowa - A juvenile is facing a felony charge for an alleged gun threat against the Osage School District.

The juvenile, whose name wasnt released, was charged with a felony threat of terrorism and is being held in a secure juvenile detention center.

Police said the alleged threat was made Wednesday, Dec. 12., and involved the threat of violence with a firearm against Osage schools. It was reported to police by Osage professional staff.

A detention hearing will be held at a later date at the Mitchell County Courthouse.

The alleged threat was made by an Osage High School student and the likelihood exists that they will be suspended, police said.

The threat appears to have been made on social media, police said.ROCHESTER, Minn. - A woman suffered a broken hip after police say she was attacked by her boyfriend.

Terry Hart, 45, of Madison, Wisconsin, is facing charges for third-degree assault and felony domestic assault after authorities said he beat a woman and broke her hip. The broken hip required surgery.

That incident occurred Monday between 6-6:30 a.m. in the 6200 block of 29th Ave. NW.

Police say the woman suspected the boyfriend was stealing from her and she found collectors coins inside a box he was removing from the house.

The man became agitated, according to police, and shoved her head into a wall and shoved her to the floor. The man was located a short time later walking down the street on Elton Hills Dr. NW near West River Parkway NW.ROCHESTER, Minn.- The Rochester City Council is managing growth and development within the city and a\within the Rochester Police Department.

That's why tonight they approved $1.2 million dollars to the architect company BKV Group for North Service Station Architectural Services.

This means renovations and an expansion to the current Rochester Police North Station are coming.

Chief of Police tells KIMT he is eager for the updates.

"I think it's a step in the right direction. It's a parallel with the growth of the city and community as a whole. The police department is paralleling that growth and it's needed. There's significant space needs across the entire city divisions."ROCHESTER, Minn.- As the city and DMC, or Destination Medical Center, move forward with a major project, residents can look forward to a facelift for the downtown area.

At Monday nights City Council Meeting, the council approved $1.7M to go toward services for design development, construction documents and bidding for the Heart of the City Phase 1 project.

This money will also give permission for the city to enter into an AIA (American Institute of Architect) agreement with the consultant company Coen + Partners. This agreement will make communication between the city and everyone involved easier.

This is not a levy funded project.

Bidding is set to begin in 2019 with construction predicted to begin around 2020.ROCHESTER, Minn.- Its a firefighters job to keep the community safe.

The Rochester Fire Department is the Hazardous Materials Team for Southeastern Minnesota.

From dangerous liquids to toxic gases, firefighters throughout the year train to handle spills and leaks.

Today theyre getting a refresher on how to quickly patch and fill a hole using various tools and kits during an emergency.

RFD Fire Captain Holly Mulholland tells KIMT it's been awhile since they received a call for a hazardous spill or leak.

We'll be called to a hazardous material leak but what that looks like can be different depending on the type of chemical, she said.

Mulholland adds that it's better to stay ready and be prepared for when the time comes.

It's really important to train on and do the hands on just to keep our skills fresh and up to date in case we did have to mitigate a leak of this nature, Mulholland said.

Last Monday, RFD was called to a home as police investigated what they believed to be a possible meth lab.

A hazmat team had to respond to the scene and secured a gas can that was found inside a bedroom.

The Hazardous Materials Team investigated the Rochester Police concerns.

Police say there was no threat to the public during that incident, different chemicals can present different risks. Firefighters have to learn how to react quickly to prevent a bad situation from getting worse.

It's really important to train on to do the hands on just to keep our skills fresh, said Mulholland.WAVERLY, Iowa  One of the men suspected in a series of Bremer County burglaries is pleading not guilty.

Benjamin Louis Schiel, 36 of Fredericka, is charged with 2nd degree burglary, four counts of 3rd degree burglary, and 3rd degree theft. The Bremer County Sheriffs Office says Schiel and Chad Lindquist, 46 of North Liberty, stole items out of vehicles and broke into two rural garages between October 5 and October 25.

Schiels trial is set to begin on February 26, 2019.

An arrest warrant in this matter has been issued for Lindquist but he is currently being prosecuted in Chickasaw County for forgery and credit card fraud.ROCHESTER, Minn. - A man who was wanted for felony warrants was arrested in a grocery store parking lot and was found with methamphetamine.

Rochester police said 28-year-old Richard Eaton, was wanted for domestic assault, interfering with a 911 call and fourth-degree possession of a controlled substance.

Officers received information that he was in a vehicle at Cub Foods, and he was taken into custody Friday at 11:34 a.m.

Meth was located in his pocket and he is facing an additional charge of fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance.NORTHWOOD, Three women, including a school teacher, facing drug charges in Worth County are pleading not guilty.

Taylor Kelli Pohar, Joya Leanne Salzkorn, and Sara Marie Fenske were arrested after Worth County sheriffs deputies searched a home in the 900 block of 3rd Avenue N on November 17. Deputies say the found methamphetamine, marijuana, prescription pills, a handgun, and drug paraphernalia.

Pohar, 22 of Northwood, is charged with possession of meth-3rd of subsequent offense, possession of a firearm as a felon, and possession of marijuana-3rd of subsequent offense. Her trial is set to begin on February 20. 2019.

Salzkorn, 23 of Hartley, is charged with possession of meth, possession of marijuana, and illegal possession of prescription drugs. Fenseke, 27 of Northwood and a teacher at Northwood-Kensett, is charged with possession of meth-2nd offense and possession of marijuana-2nd offense. Their trials are scheduled to start on January 23, 2019.

Fenske resigned from the Northwood-Kensett school district after charges were filed against her.Area schools recently joined forces to support many who were affected by recent hurricanes.

Photo ProvidedPeggy Haddock (left), Williamsburg County Farm Bureau Womens Committee Chair, received a special achievement award on behalf of Williamsburg County from SCFB State Womens Leadership Committee Chair Frances Price (right) during the organizations 75th annual meeting held recently in Myrtle Beach.

Photo ProvidedWilliamsburg Regional Hospital wins Zero Harm Award in recognition of their dedication to eliminating medical errorsWhat you need to know about the local school boardBRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission is still talking with the Italian government over Italys budget for next year, a spokesman said on Monday, declining to clarify whether recent tweaks decided by Rome were sufficient to avert a disciplinary procedure.

The dialogue continues between the European Commission and Italy concerning its budgetary plan for 2019, the spokesman for the EU executive told a news conference in Brussels.

Italys coalition government has agreed on Sunday night the numbers and contents of the revised budget, a League party spokeswoman said on Monday, but no details were published.

The Commission will decide on the next steps on the basis of the outcome of this ongoing dialogue, the Commissions spokesman added.LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday she would bring her Brexit deal back to parliament for a vote in mid-January, pledging to get assurances from the European Union to break the deadlock over Britains departure from the bloc.

With just over 100 days until Britain is due to leave the bloc on March 29, May faced accusations from some lawmakers of trying to force a deeply divided parliament into backing her deal by running the clock down to exit day.

So near to the departure date, a mid-January vote could pile pressure on lawmakers by confronting them with the choice of her deal or leaving without one, a nightmare scenario for business.

The British leader is pressing on with her deal to leave the EU, rejecting calls for a second referendum or to test support for different Brexit options in parliament, despite hardening opposition to the agreement to maintain close ties. [nL8N1YJ4IQ]

May said parliament would debate the deal in January, before a vote in the week beginning Jan. 14 - more than a month after an original Dec. 11 vote which May cancelled after admitting she faced a significant defeat.

After a tumultuous week in which she survived a confidence vote and sought last-minute changes to a Brexit agreement reached with Brussels last month, May said again that the choice was her deal, leaving without an agreement or no Brexit at all.

I know this is not everyones perfect deal. It is a compromise. But if we let the perfect be the enemy of the good then we risk leaving the EU with no deal, she told lawmakers, her speech punctuated by loud shouts of protest.

Avoiding no deal is only possible if we can reach an agreement or if we abandon Brexit entirely.

She said the EU had offered further clarification on the most contentious aspects of her divorce deal, or withdrawal agreement, and that her government was exploring getting further political and legal assurances.

But with the EU offering little in the way of concessions to win over lawmakers, an increasing number of politicians are calling for a second referendum - something some of her ministers say could be avoided if the government tested Brexit scenarios in parliamentary votes.

What is irresponsible is delaying a vote on her agreement, not because she is going to get any changes to it but because she wants to run down the clock and try and intimidate MPs (Members of Parliament) into supporting it to avoid no deal, opposition Labour lawmaker Liz Kendall said in parliament.

DIVISIONS

Parliament is deeply divided, with factions pressing for different options for future ties, exiting without a deal or remaining in the EU.

May and her ministers have repeatedly ruled out a replay of the referendum, saying it would deepen rifts and betray voters who backed Brexit by 52 percent to 48 percent in 2016.

That increases the risk of Britain leaving without a deal, a scenario some businesses fear would be catastrophic for the worlds fifth largest economy.

The political and economic uncertainty over Brexit is having an impact, with data on Monday showing a drop in consumer spending, falling house prices and growing pessimism in household finances. [nL8N1YJ4OU] [nL8N1YJ53P] [nL8N1YJ377]

Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said May was the architect of a constitutional crisis, leading the most shambolic and chaotic government in modern British history.

Just before Mays statement, Labour, which has been under pressure to push for a vote of no confidence in the government, threatened to call for a symbolic vote of confidence in May if she failed to name a date for the vote in parliament.

While Labour said they had forced her into doing so, critics said the move was simply political theatre.

Several members of Mays cabinet team, including Education Minister Damian Hinds, said at the weekend they were open to putting the range of options to parliament to gauge whether there was a majority for any of them.

Asked if he would rule out a so-called indicative vote, Mays spokesman said There are no plans to hold one.

The prime minister used her statement in parliament on Monday to reject the idea of a second referendum and to again set out that her agreement to keep close economic ties with the EU after Brexit is the only one on offer. [nS8N1U802B]

Let us not break faith with the British people by trying to stage another referendum, May said.

Another vote which would do irreparable damage to the integrity of our politics, because it would say to millions who trusted in democracy, that our democracy does not deliver. Another vote which would likely leave us no further forward than the last.(Reuters) - Alphabet Incs (GOOGL.O) Google is investing more than $1 billion on a new campus in New York, becoming the second major technology company after Amazon to pick Americas financial capital to expand and create thousands of jobs.

The 1.7 million square-foot campus, called Google Hudson Square, will include leased properties at Hudson Street and Washington Street, the company said in a blog post on Monday. Google hopes to start moving into the building by 2022.

The plan to invest outside its home base mirror those of other U.S. tech giants such as Apple Inc (AAPL.O), which said last week it would spend $1 billion to build a new campus in Austin, Texas.

Last month, Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) said it would open offices in New York and the Washington, D.C. area, creating more than 25,000 jobs.

Mountain View, California-based Googles move to invest in prime real estate on the Lower West Side of Manhattan also underscores the growing importance of New York as a hub for innovation and an incubator for technology companies.

With a plethora of white-collar workers and good infrastructure, the city provides a better option to other places that would require more investment.

Our investment in New York is a huge part of our commitment to grow and invest in U.S. facilities, offices and jobs. In fact, were growing faster outside the Bay Area than within it, said Ruth Porat, chief financial officer of Alphabet and Google.

U.S. corporations are also under pressure from the Trump administration to create more jobs domestically. Companies that have moved jobs overseas or closed factories have drawn sharp rebukes from President Donald Trump.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Google was nearing a deal to buy or lease an office building in New York City that could add space for more than 12,000 new workers.

Googles first New York office at 111 Eighth Avenue is one of the citys largest buildings that it bought in 2010 for $1.77 billion.

Earlier this year, the company announced a $2.4 billion purchase of the Manhattan Chelsea Market. It also has leased space on Pier 57 jutting into the Hudson, which will create a four-block campus.

With investments in Google Chelsea and Google Hudson Square, the company said it would more than double the number of employees in New York over the next 10 years. The company has more than 7,000 employees in New York.

The companys shares were marginally higher at $1,053 in premarket trading.KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia on Monday filed criminal charges against Goldman Sachs and two of the U.S. banks former employees in connection with an investigation into suspected corruption and money laundering at state fund 1MDB.

Malaysia will seek jail terms as well as billions in fines from Goldman Sachs and four other individuals who allegedly diverted about $2.7 billion from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), Attorney General Tommy Thomas said in a statement.

This is the first time Goldman Sachs, which has consistently denied wrongdoing, has faced criminal charges in the 1MDB scandal.

Goldman Sachs shares fell 2.2 percent to $169.20 in active premarket trade. The last time it traded that low in the regular session was Oct. 14, 2016. At Fridays close, the stock was already down 32.2 percent for the year to date, on track for its biggest annual decline since 2011.

A Goldman Sachs spokesman said the charges were misdirected and the bank would vigorously defend them. The bank continued to cooperate with all authorities in their investigations, he said.

Goldman Sachs has been under scrutiny for its role in helping raise $6.5 billion through three bond offerings for 1MDB, which is the subject of investigations in at least six countries.

The U.S. Department of Justice has said about $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB, including some money that Goldman Sachs helped raise, by high-level officials of the fund and their associates from 2009 through 2014.

Thomas said criminal charges under securities laws were filed on Monday against Goldman Sachs, its former bankers Tim Leissner and Roger Ng, former 1MDB employee Jasmine Loo and financier Jho Low in connection with the bond offerings.

The charges arise from the commission and abetment of false or misleading statements by all the accused in order to dishonestly misappropriate $2.7 billion from the proceeds of three bonds issued by the subsidiaries of 1MDB, which were arranged and underwritten by Goldman Sachs, Thomas said in a statement.

He said the offering circulars filed with the regulators contained statements that were false, misleading or with material omissions.

Having held themselves out as the pre-eminent global adviser/arranger for bonds, the highest standards are expected of Goldman Sachs. They have fallen short of any standard, Thomas said.

Prosecutors would seek fines against the accused well in excess of the allegedly misappropriated $2.7 billion bond proceeds plus $600 million in fees received by Goldman Sachs, he said.

Malaysia would also seek jail terms of up to 10 years for each of the individuals accused, he said.

RISKS

Thomas accused the four individuals charged of conspiring to bribe Malaysian public officials in order to procure the selection, involvement and participation of Goldman Sachs in the bond issuances.

U.S. prosecutors filed criminal charges against the former Goldman Sachs bankers, Leissner and Ng, last month.

Leissner pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Ng, detained in Malaysia, is facing extradition to the United States.

Lawyers for Leissner and Ng could not be reached immediately.

Loo, against whom Malaysia brought other 1MDB-related charges this month, has not commented on the 1MDB case and her whereabouts are not known.

Low, whom authorities have described as a central figure in the suspected fraud, maintained his innocence.

As has been stated previously, Mr. Low will not submit to any jurisdiction where guilt has been predetermined by politics and there is no independent legal process, Lows spokesman said in a statement.

Thomas also said the fees received by Goldman Sachs for the bond offering were higher than prevailing market rates.

Goldman has said the fees related to additional risks: It bought the unrated bonds while it sought investors and, in the case of a 2013 bond deal which raised $2.7 billion, 1MDB wanted the funds quickly.

The 1MDB scandal was a major reason for former premier Najib Razaks shock election defeat in May.

He has been charged with corruption over the scandal and has pleaded not guilty.MEXICO CITY, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Mexicos Deputy Finance Minister Arturo Herrera on Monday defended planned deep budget cuts to farming, education and health, saying the sectors were compensated in other areas of the plan. Herrera said adjustments to the budget were likely as it passes through Congress, mentioning cuts to national university UNAM should be reassessed. (Reporting by Anthony Esposito Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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) - Money managers have virtually eradicated the once-large net-bearish position they held in gold futures, with the most recent report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showing the market is now balanced.

Traders bought in order to cover short, or bearish, positions in both gold and silver during the week to Dec. 11.

During the week-long period to Dec. 11 covered by the report, Comex February gold edged up 60 cents $1,247.20 an ounce, while March silver slipped 1.2 cents to $14.628.

Net long or short positioning in the CFTC data reflect the difference between the total number of bullish (long) and bearish (short) contracts. Traders monitor the data to gauge the general mood of speculators, although excessively high or low numbers are viewed by many as signs of overbought or oversold markets that may be ripe for price corrections.

In the disaggregated report, money managers net-short position was nearly wiped out, falling to a mere 66 futures contracts from 9,787 contracts the week before. Two weeks ago, the net short stood at 58,390.

According to the CFTCs latest statistics, net-short positions  which until the end of November were still considerable  were eradicated completely in the space of two weeks, said Commerzbank. The position adjustments via the futures market amount to 181 tons. This equates to somewhat more than six months of industrial demand.

Measured against this, the price rise was actually rather moderate. This was due to a firmer U.S. dollar that climbed on Friday to an 18-month high on a trade-weighted basis.

The decline during the most recent reporting week occurred due to short covering, as reflected by a 19,193 fall in total shorts. There was also long liquidation, as gross longs fell by 9,472 lots.

TD Securities said gold has continued to catch a bid after Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan flagged risks from slowing global economic growth, along with the fading tailwinds of U.S. fiscal stimulus and headwinds from trade uncertainty.

These factors all contributed to helping gold break $1,240/oz resistance, which prompted many to aggressively cover their shorts, TDS said. That being said, while equities have increasingly reflected fears that stocks will no longer remain a one-way

bet, speculators have continued to prefer liquidating their gold longs rather than increasing their positions for the time being.

Meanwhile, money managers net-short position in silver futures contracted to 9,154 lots from 22,277 the week before. This was due mostly to short covering, as reflected by a 9,782 decline in gross longs. However, there was also fresh buying, reflected by an increase of 3,341 total longs.(Reuters) - Suspicious traffic to a Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) user forum appears to be part of a government-backed activity coming from China and Saudi Arabia, a Twitter spokesman told Reuters via email on Monday.

The company does not know the reason for the activity, but notified users earlier on Monday out of an abundance of caution, the spokesman said.

(This story corrects to show Twitter saying suspicious traffic appears to be coming from China and Saudi Arabia, not China and Russia)The Herald reports:

Justice Helen Winkelmann will be the new Supreme Court Chief Justice, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced at her post-Cabinet press conference today.

Justice Winkelmann will replace retiring Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias, who is leaving the role in March next year, having reached the compulsory retirement age of 70 for judges.  Winkelmann graduated with a law degree from the University of Auckland and was admitted to the Bar in 1985, when she was also awarded the Auckland District Law Society Centenary Prize for Best Graduate.

She was a partner at Phillips Fox (now DLA Piper) from 1988 until she became a barrister sole in May 2001, specialising in insolvency and commercial litigation.

She was appointed a High Court Judge in July 2004 and appointed as Chief High Court Judge in February 2010.

She joined the Court of Appeal bench in June 2015.

I blogged last month that Justice Winkelmann was one of the leading contenders. I said:

A judge for 14 years including three years on the Court of Appeal. Was Chief High Court Judge for five years. A very popular Judge with her colleagues. However has had a lot of decisions over-turned on appeal, especially in the Kim Dotcom cases.

Kim Dotcom has tweeted his approval of the appointment, but I dont think one should let that colour what is a very sound decision.

In fact I suspect Chief Justice Winkelmann will be in the minority far less than Chief Justice Elias who just this week used tortured reasoning to conclude that far far more of the Electoral Act is entrenched, despite the fact all the legislative history was clearly saying the opposite. It screamed of trying to find a legal basis for a personal preference against a law change enacted by Parliament. None of her colleagues thought the appeal had any merit.

Winkelmann is aged 56, so will be the 13th Chief Justice until around 2032.

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Reddit

WhatsApp

More

Pinterest

Print



Tumblr

Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

A shower or two around the area early, then partly cloudy during the afternoon. High 52F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening followed by mostly cloudy skies and a few showers after midnight. Low 32F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.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.(CNN)  The British government will not allow lawmakers to vote on a symbolic motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Theresa May, forcing the opposition to decide whether it will now try to topple her entire administration.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for the vote of no confidence in May after she delayed Parliament's vote on her Brexit deal until January.

May announced that she would reschedule the vote for the week of January 14 -- less than 80 days before Britain is due to leave the European Union on March 29.

It was originally set to take place on December 11, but May delayed the vote after it became clear she would lose by a significant margin.

Corbyn said it was "unacceptable" to make members of Parliament wait until January.

"The Prime Minister has obdurately refused to ensure a vote took place on the date she agreed, she refuses to allow a vote to take place this week and is now, I assume, thinking the vote will be on January 14 -- almost a month away," Corbyn told the Commons.

He said the motion was based on the Prime Minister's "failure to allow the House of Commons to have a meaningful vote straight away on the Withdrawal Agreement and framework for future relationships between the UK and European Union."

The motion -- directed at May as opposed to the Government as a whole -- would not force the administration to step down if Parliament approved it. But it would increase pressure on the Prime Minister.

However a Downing Street official said later on Monday that it would not allocate parliamentary time for the vote. As the motion was non-binding, the decision of whether to allow it to go ahead was up to the government. A no-confidence vote against the entire government, on the other hand, would have to be scheduled as it would be binding and could trigger a general election if lost.

Ahead of the move, Labour said "the government must now make time to debate this -- if they don't it's clear they believe she does not retain confidence of (the) House of Commons."

Corbyn: May is leading UK into a national crisis

Corbyn accused May on Monday of leading the UK into a "national crisis" as she ignored pleas to abandon her widely criticized Brexit deal.

"I know this is not everyone's perfect deal. It is a compromise," May said. "But if we let the perfect be the enemy of the good, we risk leaving the EU with no deal."

Corbyn accused the Prime Minister of "cynically running down the clock" until the UK leaves the EU by offering lawmakers "her deal or no deal." He added that May had been the architect of leading the UK into a "national crisis."

"A responsible prime minister would, for the good of this country, have put the deal before the House this week, so we can move on from this Government's disastrous negotiations," he told the House of Commons.

"It's clear the Prime Minister has failed to renegotiate her deal, failed to get any meaningful reassurances -- there is no excuse for any more dither or delay."

As pressure for a new vote grew inside and outside a bitterly divided Westminster, May dismissed calls to change course and firmly rejected holding a second Brexit referendum. She said doing so would be a betrayal of the British people.

"Let us not break faith with the British people by trying to stage another referendum, another vote, which would do irreparable damage to our politics. Because it would say to millions who trusted in our democracy that our democracy does not deliver," she told the Commons.

May also ignored calls from MPs to hold the parliamentary vote sooner, and described claims that a better Brexit agreement could be reached as "fiction."

"I know there are a range of very strongly held personal views on this issue across the House and I respect all of them," May said.

"But expressing our personal views is not what we are here to do. We asked the British people to take this decision."

The Prime Minister abruptly called off a vote on her Brexit plan last week after it became clear it would be defeated. She was then forced to fend off a leadership challenge from rebellious Tory MPs. The challenge failed, but left her weakened politically.

At a European Union summit in Brussels, May failed to secure guarantees that would satisfy her Brexit critics.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Brexit: PM's office rejects call for no-confidence vote in Theresa May"Maldives' newly-elected President, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih is in India on his maiden visit abroad. He is scheduled to be in India from December 16-18 and is accompanied by a high-level Maldivian delegation comprising of the ministers for finance, infrastructure, economic development, and foreign affairs.

Solih was received at New Delhi airport by Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted photographs of the Maldivian leaders arrival.

Fortifying close bonds of cooperation and friendship. President of #Maldives @ibusolih received by MoS @MoHUA_India @HardeepSPuri on arrival in Delhi - his first foreign visit after assuming office & within a month of visit of PM @narendramodi to Maldives.#NeighbourhoodFirst pic.twitter.com/D51xIcoJ20  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) December 16, 2018

Both India and Maldives are looking to reset their ties after the bilateral relationship took a nose dive under previous President Abdulla Yameens rule. Yameen tilted towards China and which had raised considerable consternation in India.

President Solih has already said he is looking to strengthen the India-Maldives bilateral relationship. His visit comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the formers swearing in ceremony in November.

Solih will be accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on December 17. He will then participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at Rajghat.

Later that day, the Maldives President is scheduled to meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, before holding delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Modi at the Hyderabad House. Exchange of agreements and press statements will be held after his meeting with Prime Minister Modi.

Among the issues to be discussed will be the possibility of a $1 billion aid package to Maldives to meet its Chinese debt. Maldives owes 70% of its total external debt to China. This aid package reportedly comes with the condition of placing Indian naval troops on Maldivian islands along with not allowing Chinese naval vessels a base in the country.

The Maldivian leader also wants to ensure easy travel between the two countries and hence has proposed a 90-day visa for Maldivians travelling for tourism, business and healthcare to India.

Solih is also scheduled to hold separate meetings with his Indian counterpart President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on the same day.

On December 18 before departing India, Solih who is accompanied by Maldives First Lady Fazna Ahmed will visit Agra to see the Taj Mahal. (With ANI inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 17, 2018 05:34 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).It is not often that we get to learn about the functions of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, so take this opportunity to find out more about this organisation. Check this article out for information on PSN Nigerias aims and objectives, as well as on the society itself.

Photo: independent.ng

Source: UGC

What are the functions of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria?

In case you do not know, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, or PSN for short, is a professional association that is meant to provide good quality pharmaceutical services for its members. The official website of the PSN lists the following things as aims and objectives of the organisation:

Maintaining a high standard of discipline and professional ethics among its members;

Promoting and maintaining a high standard of pharmaceutical education in the country;

Promoting legislation to enhance the interest and the image of the profession and practitioners of pharmacy;

Collecting and disseminating scientific, statistical and other information that concerns pharmacy and publishing it in the official journal;

Advising on pharmacists labour conditions.

Photo: steemkr.com

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Top multinational pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria

As for some of the more specific functions of PSN, these include:

Investigating acts of unethical misconduct and indiscipline among Pharmacists and making recommendations to the National Council;

Initiating sustainable policies and facilitating advocacy programmes that could launder the corporate image of pharmacists and pharmacy in general;

Evaluating pharmacy and drug statutes that should match the practitioners expectations;

Mentoring pharmacy students;

Designing sustainable schemes that could protect the future of pharmacists;

Alleviating pharmacists discomforts with the help of welfare programmes;

Conducting surveys and studies in areas of critical concern in pharmacy practice and so on.

As you can see, this organisation is concerned with all things that revolve around pharmacists, so unless you are somehow involved in the profession, it is unlikely that you will have any business with the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria.

5 facts you should know about the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria

Photo: guardian.ng

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Best university in Nigeria for pharmacy - Top 10

Now that you know about the aims, objectives and functions of PSN in Nigeria, take a minute to learn about some facts concerning this organisation:

PSN was established back in 1927, but its history can be traced to 1887, when European pharmacy was first introduced to Nigeria. In 1922, the Association of Nigeria Dispensers was created, which served as a parent organisation for PSN. In case you have not noticed, the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria logo you can see above looks quite interesting. It features the green-white background (like the colours of the Nigerian flag), an interesting cocktail of what looks like medicine, the outline of Nigeria adorned with palm trees, and a mortar and pestle, the traditional instrument used by many pharmacists back in the day. The first President of PSN was T.K.E. Philips, who was elected in 1947. The current President of PSN is Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, and he was elected in November this year (2018). There are four types of membership within the PSN: full (for registered pharmacists in Nigeria), associate (for intern pharmacists), affiliate (for pharmacy students in their final year) and honorary (for pharmacists registered outside of Nigeria). Do not confuse the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) with the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN). Although they are both involved in the pharmacy industry in Nigeria, they have different functions.

READ ALSO: Importance of plants in modern pharmacy

Source: LegitThe first military coup in Nigeria took place on the 15th of January, 1966, it has strongly influenced the life of Nigerians in every area of life. Although 50 years have passed since the first coup in Nigeria was staged, its legacy haunts the country even today. Continue reading to know more interesting facts about the first military coup in Nigeria and its consequences on the country.

Photo: guardian.ng

Who led the first military coup in Nigeria?

In January 1966, the Nigerian army led by Kaduna Nzeogwu killed 11 Nigerian politicians, 2 soldiers, and kidnapped 3 others. They attacked the cities of Lagos, Ibadan, and Kaduna as well as blockaded the Niger and Benue Rivers. Major Chukwuemeka Nzeogwu's colleague, an army officer, General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi used this opportunity to capture power over the government which ended Nigeria's democracy. This event had a strong influence on the future of Nigeria and caused the Nigerian-Biafran Civil War.

When was the first military coup in Nigeria?

On January 15, 1966, a group of British-trained army officers carried out a violent military coup to overthrow Nigeria's democratic government. It was represented to Nigerian people by coup leaders as an attempt to end corruption. In the morning of the coup day, Kaduna Nzeogwu with his troops took over the house of the leader of the northern region Ahmadu Bello. After the house was robbed, the president was killed.

The 1966 coup was fast, it looked like a small revolution which made things only worse exposing the vulnerability of Nigeria. Soldiers attacked the government very fast and easily which started a series of numerous coups in Nigeria. Although the 1966 coup was not completely successful, it laid the foundation for the following coups and counter-coups in the country.

After 6 months, a counter-coup was arranged. This coup also called the return match, was planned by northern officers and led to the death of Ironsi.

Nigeria has been independent of the British only for 6 years. The 1966 military coup has drawn the curtain on the First Republic of Nigeria. What the military rulers gained by their movement was a chaos caused by bad governance.

The coup leaders found themselves with no plan of action being unprepared for the responsibility of building the nation. Their competence was doubtful. While on the day of the coup, they behaved confidently harassing the ministers to hand over the power to them, the next day they realized that military regime is unable to provide the country with the spirit of peace and development.

Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi surrounded himself with his relatives which was not enough to unite the country at the time of crisis. General Ironsi further brought Nigeria to a state of anxiety by his Decree No 34, 1966. He commented on this decree:

"Nigeria shall cease to be a federation and shall accordingly be a republic.

The regions of Nigeria were replaced by provinces, the Federal Military Government was replaced by the National Military Government. These actions were aimed at achieving national unity through the abolition of regionalism.

READ ALSO: Nigerian leaders from 1960 till date

Photo: BBC.com

The consequences of the 1966 military coup in Nigeria

The rule of the military government lasted in Nigeria for 33 years. Democracy was restored in 1999. Below are some of the consequences of the 1966 coup Nigeria is still affected.

Nigerian-Biafran Civil War

The 1966 coup was led majorly by Igbo officers, four of the five officers belonged to Igbo ethnic group inhabiting Biafra state.

General Aguiyi-Ironsi from Igbo ethnic group repressed the coup and captured power. After 6 months, majorly Northern Nigerian soldiers arranged a bloody coup against Aguiyi-Ironsi, which also led to many Igbos being killed in the Northern parts of the country. In the result, Igbos moved to the south. In 1967, a new country, Biafra, was formed but it is not recognized by Nigeria.

The Nigerian-Biafran civil war lasted for 3 years. It caused many victims on both Nigerian and Biafran sides. Around one million people died in the civil war. The strategy of the federal government was to make Biafran people surrender through starvation.

Photo: washingtonpost.com

Corruption

In August 1965, the coup of the five majors was staged. It involved one Yoruba and four Igbo Majors who arranged a coup against the Prime Minister Abubakar Balewa who was killed in his mansion in Lagos. The Prime Ministers body was discovered 6 days later. According to five majors, that the politicians in charge were ruining Nigeria through corruption. Ministers lived careless life and spent public funds at the expense of the citizens. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the President of Nigeria and Obafemi Awolowo were lucky to escape the country.

General Kaduna Nzeogwu, a military leader of the 1966 coup once said:

"We wanted to get rid of rotten and corrupt ministers We wanted to gun down the bigwigs in our way."

This coup, however, consolidated the results achieved by the military leaders. After 10 years, a new constitution was proclaimed. It allowed the military government to control all the mineral resources. In fact, this constitution encouraged corruption.

On getting to power, the military rulers started to extend the policy of self-enrichment which made corruption the basis of their program of action.

READ ALSO: 10 Nigerian history facts you didn't know

'Class of 1966'

In January 1966, as a result of the coup, a group of young military officers became an elite. Even today, the group of these wealthy soldiers and officers have an enormous influence in Nigerian economy and politics. 'Class of 1966' included such influential figures as Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, Nigeria's first military ruler image, Olusegun Obasanjo, military general and an elected president, General Obasanjo, a retired military kingmaker and others.

Photo: lawakhigbe.com

Fear of the possible crisis

The military past of Nigeria haunts its citizens who live with the fear that if political crisis occurs, it will definitely lead to a coup. The way military officers rule the country has scared citizen to such an extent that the country experienced a prolonged economic stagnation.

The truth is Nigeria partially owes its existence to a strong desire to prevent any chances of repeating the story the preceded the 1966 bloody coup.

The first military coup in Nigeria was carried out by the military of Nigeria. The military officers took power over the federal government. It changed the history of Nigeria for over 50 years due to the negative consequences of military rule in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: History of Democracy Day in Nigeria

Source: Legit- Ex-governor Kwankwaso has said he does not plan to dump the PDP anytime in the future

- Kwankwaso described reports of his defection being circulated on the social media as fake news

Former governor of Kano state, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has debunked rumour that he has left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

There has been rumour that the senator who had defected to the PDP from the All Progressives Congress had again moved, but in a tweet via his social media page, Kwankwaso said he remains a PDP member.

READ ALSO: Breaking: Ex-OAU lecturer involved in sexual scandal bags 2 years in prison

He described the report as fake news. According to him, he has no intention of leaving the PDP.

Kwankwaso, senator representing Kano central, was one of the 15 senators that defected from the APC to the PDP in July 2018.

The notice of defection was contained in a letter read by Senate President Bukola Saraki on the floor of the upper legislative chamber. The senators said they took their decision after due consultation.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Balaraba Ibrahim Stegert, a former senior special assistant to Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso on solid minerals, quit the PDP on Sunday, December 16.

At the height of political intrigues in Kano state, Balaraba, a strong associate of Kwankwaso, decamped to the APC.

After being retained as SA on solid minerals by the Umar Ganduje administration, Balaraba had resigned and reunited with erstwhile political godfather (Kwankwaso) in PDP.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have updated to serve you better.

Senator Kwankwaso Rabiu announces his Presidential Bid (Election 2019) | Legit TV

Source: Legit- The chairman of the asset recovery panel, Okoi Obono-Obla, says the federal government has banned 29 prominent Nigerians from traveling abroad until their alleged corruption cases are determined

- Obla lists some of the persons under the travel ban to include former House of Representatives speaker, Dimeji Bankole, former deputy speaker, Usman Nafada and former aviation minister, Stella Odua among others

- The chairman dismisses suggestions that the president interfered with the anti-corruption fight, noting that every agency works without the interference of the presidency

The federal government has banned 29 prominent Nigerians from travelling out of the country following the ongoing alleged corruption cases against them.

The chairman of the special presidential investigation panel for the recovery of public property, Okoi Obono-Obla, at a media briefing on Monday, December 17, said the 29 people will be banned from traveling until their cases are determined, Leadership reports.

READ ALSO: We are brothers born from the womb of One Nigeria - Atiku to Buhari at 76

We have compiled 29 names and submitted to the controller general of the Immigration Service. The 29 people will be banned from traveling because they have corruption charges. Their names have been given to Immigration Service. They wont be allowed to travel, he said.

The chairman of the asset recovery panel listed some of those included in the travel ban to include:

1. Deputy Senate president Ike Ekweremadu,

2. Senator Hope Uzodimma,

3. Former Senate president David Mark,

4. Former House of Representatives speaker Dimeji Bankole,

5. Former deputy speaker Usman Nafada,

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

6. Former aviation minister Stella Odua,

7. Folake Oke,

8. Senator Peter Nwaoboshi,

9. Abubakar YarAdua,

10. Olisah Metuh,

11. Former Sokoto state governor Attahiru Bafarawa,

12. Tumsa brothers among others.

He dismissed suggestions that the president interfered with the anti-corruption fight, noting that every agency works without the interference of the presidency.

Obla stated that that some other prominent Nigerians are under investigation for their alleged involvement in corrupt practices, He said the asset recovery panel had visited the issue of the Panama Papers.

We have gone into area where others have left untouched,  Obla said referring to the Panama issue.

We have gone into investigating the issue of the Panama Papers. We have found out that many Nigerian public officers have properties abroad and we are in collaboration with the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to unravel the issue of the Panama papers, Obla stated.

In other news, President Buhari has reiterated his determination to ensure a level-playing field for all contestants into political offices in 2019 general elections.

The president said this when he received a delegation from International Republican and National Democratic Institute, United States of America, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday.

President Buhari assured the visitors that he had told the heads of the security agencies not to be partisan, but to do their work professionally, and allow the will of the people to prevail.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: We have updated to serve you better!

The proceeds of corruption are taken to our religious houses | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng News- The PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, alleges that the federal government has made corruption to become an official policy

- Atiku faults the reported warm treatment given to sacked secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), David Babachir Lawal, at the presidential villa recently

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has said Nigeria is more corrupt today than ever before.

Atiku in a statement on Monday, December 17, by his media adviser Paul Ibe, alleged that the federal government had made corruption to become an official policy, The Nation reports.

He made the claim when speaking on the backdrop of a visit of the sacked secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), David Babachir Lawal made at the presidential villa recently, where he reportedly received a warm welcome.

READ ALSO: I am still a member of PDP - Kwankwaso

The PDP candidate faulted the reported warm treatment given to a man he said was accused of diverting money meant for starving IDPs.

Atiku cited Transparency Internationals claim that the level of corruption in Nigeria was more than those of other previous regimes.

These are the actions that feed the perceptions that have made Nigeria turn in its worst ever Corruption Perception Index rating by Transparency International, where we went back 12 steps in 2018s rankings, moving from 136 under President Jonathan to 148 today," the statement said.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

Meanwhile, President Buhari has assured Nigerians that he will continue to serve the country with dedication and commitment as he celebrates his 76th birthday.

In a series of tweets via his twitter page on Monday, December 17, the president thanked those who helped to celebrate his birthday.

He noted that progress has been made since he came into office in 2015 particularly in the area social investment and human development.

He promised that nothing will come between his plans to bring change to Nigerians.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: We have updated to serve you better!

Check out Nigerians birthday wishes to President Buhari | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng- The Nigerian Army has taken a very decisive step in its effort to still discipline among its personnel

- The 2 Division of the force, headed by Major-General Okwudili Azinta, has inaugurated a General Court Martial (GCM) to try erring officers

- Azinta said that the inauguration of the GCM was in line with the extant civil and military laws and the Armed Forces act

The general officer commanding, 2 Division, Nigerian Army, Major-General Okwudili Azinta, has inaugurated a General Court Martial (GCM) to try erring personnel in the division.

This was disclosed in a statement issued on Monday, December 17, in Ibadan by Colonel Hassan Mohammed, the deputy director of Army public relations in the division, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

Azinta, according to the statement, said the inauguration of the court-martial was in line with the importance of discipline in the success of any organisation, particularly the military.

He enjoined members of the GCM to hinge the court-martial on due process and in conformity with extant civil and military laws, especially the constitution of the country and the Armed Forces act.

Members of the court are expected to painstakingly ensure that every step or action taken in the trial process is in conformity with the provisions of the laws, he said.

He explained that the president and members of the GCM were carefully appointed, considering their ranks, seniority, general service knowledge and wealth of experience to ensure a fair trial and to enhance the course of justice.

They are men of integrity and character, therefore, I have no doubt in their ability to dispense justice fairly, he said.

He urged the members of the GCM to expedite trial and not to allow delays based on unnecessary technicalities.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

While assuring all the accused persons that the court would be fair and just, he urged the prosecution and the defence counsel to advance the course of justice in their dealings and actions.

Azinta also urged all those concerned in the legal process to live above board, bearing in mind that doing otherwise would have implications on the dispensation of justice in the army.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the Nigerian Army on Friday, December 14, buried 19 soldiers among those who lost their lives in an attack by Boko Haram insurgents at Metele, Guzamala Local Government Area, Borno.

Not less than 23 soldiers were killed and 31 others wounded when the insurgents attacked 157 Task Force Battalion, Metele, on November 18.

The fallen heroes, who were laid to rest at the Military Cemetery, Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri, were Lt. Col. IA Sakaba and 18 soldiers.

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.ngNigerian Police Force (NPF) early on Tuesday morning, December 18, barricaded the National Assembly building following the industrial action by civil servants under the aegis of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria.

Legit.ng learnt that the officers' action prevented workers from gaining entry. The main entrance close to the Eagle Square has also been barricaded with patrol vans.

The security operatives also frisked journalists, construction workers, vendors and a few who they felt should be allowed in.

READ ALSO: FG places Ekweremadu, David Mark, 27 others on travel ban

Legit.ng team was on ground to follow up with updates from the barricade by the police as more details followed.

1.10pm: The members of the House of Representatives tell protesting National Assembly workers that activities in the complex must continue as usual despite the four days warning strike action by the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASSAN).

12.28pm: The House of Representatives are currently sitting amid the barricade by the police. Speaker Yakubu Dogara is absent, as the House is being presided over by the deputy speaker, Yusuf Sulaiman.

12.21pm: The national president of PASSAN, Bala Hadi, told Legit.ng that the National Assembly was locked by management of NASS and the Nigeria police.

12.05pm: Individuals are expected to show their identity cards after someone - especially for journalists - has identified you.

Bala Hadi, the president of the President Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASSAN)

Source: Depositphotos

12.01pm: Security started screening people to enter the complex. There are three clearance spots all headed by police officers.

11.50am: Information trickling in has it that lawmakers will be sitting shortly despite the protest by workers at the gate.

Business activities at the National Assembly remains grounded

Source: Depositphotos

11.40am: While the protest was going on at the main entrance of the complex, some members of the association were seen playing music and dancing to the rhythm.

The members singing syncing to songs bring played from a parked Toyota Haice bus said they were yet to receive alert for the job they have been doing at National Assembly.

11. 25am: One of the members said: "This is a warning strike, no entrance into the complex, but we just found out that some people especially the big shots have entered through the back side."

Security screened people before they could be allowed to enter the complex

Source: Depositphotos

Confirming the claim, another member who jumped into the conversation said the individuals managed to gain access to the building through the gate close to the presidential villa.

"People are entering through the Villa gate side."

All entranced to the National Assembly were manned by police officers

Source: Depositphotos

11.20am: Some members of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria accused the Nigerian police of opening the back entrance of the National Assembly despite an ongoing strike action.

Police prevented National Assembly workers from gaining entry in the Assembly complex

Source: Depositphotos

The security operatives also frisked journalists, construction workers, vendors and a few who felt they should be allowed in

Source: Depositphotos

The National Assembly workers are demanding payment of their outstanding salary arrears, allowances and other welfare packages.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

The business activities at the National Assembly complex, Abuja was paralysed over the strike by PASAN union

Source: Depositphotos

Watch a video of the barricade by the police below:

Legit.ng had earlier reported that the federal lawmakers were forced to vacate the National Assembly complex after civil servants under the aegis of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria, cut off electricity and water supply in the building as part of their four-day warning strike.

The workers embarked on the industrial action to demand for the payment of their outstanding salary arrears, allowances and other welfare package.

The aggrieved workers had initially prevented other people providing essential services from accessing the complex, but rescinded their decision from 10.30am.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: We have updated to serve you better!

Minimum Wage: Is N30,000 Too Much for FG to Pay Workers? - Nigeria Street Gist | Legit TV:

Source: LegitThe past few months have seen the extraordinary and remarkable growth of the GAC Motor brand within the Nigerian Automobile industry. Barely 2 months after the Dangote Foundation donated 150 cars to the Nigerian Police Force, the Edo state government follows suit, donating 50 units of the GA3S vehicles to the Nigerian Police Force.

GAC vehicles are the preferred brand for the security forces in China and are slowly expanding their footprint to other security parastatals around the globe, this choice by both Dangote and the Edo state Government attests to the quality and sturdiness of the GAC brand.

This is further recognition of GAC Motor's growth across Nigeria, and affirmation of the excellent quality and high safety standards of its vehicles.

The handover took place during the launch of the Edo State Security Trust Fund, the governor announced that the donation is a reaffirmation of the Edo state governments promise to fight insecurity in the state, using the vehicles as intended support for the Police Force in surveillance, crime prevention and promoting law and order. It was also announced that 2 billion has been set aside for the Edo State Security Trust Fund in the 2019 budget and over 1000 men are in training to drive this new security architecture. The governor requests for the support of all to ensure the success of these initiatives.

"At GAC, we understand that the intelligence and professionalism of the man behind the uniform and the engineering excellence of the machine he drives unleash the ultimate law enforcement hardware. Therefore, we take extra care in making sure our cars meet world class standards. Said Chief Diana Chen, Chairman of CIG Motors, the sole distributors of GAC Motors in Nigeria.

We remain steadfast in our vision and commitment to providing the best driving experience for all.

The ceremony is being attended by distinguished guests including the Edo state governor, Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki, Deputy Governor Rt. Hon Philip Shaibu, Secretary to the state governor, Barrister Osarodion Ogie Esq. and the Chairman Edo State Security Trust Fund, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede.

[Sponsored]

NAIJ.com > Legit.ng; we have upgraded to serve you better.

Source: Legit.ng- Diamond Bank's recent merger with Access Bank Plc is now a recipe for heated discussion and mixed reactions among shareholders in Nigeria

- The deal worth over N23.160 billion has been called into question by some top shareholders who have misgivings about it

- Diamond Bank admitted that it has submitted powers to Access Bank Plc, adding that the deal will bring about one of the biggest retail bank in Africa

Shareholders of Diamond Bank Plc have demanded an investigation into the financial institutions merger with Access Bank Plc. The deal worth over N23.160 billion cash consideration will see to shareholders of Diamond Bank getting N1 per share.

Nevertheless, they applauded the boards quick resolution in picking the alternative rather than allow degeneration to regulatory bridging, as was the case with Skye Bank Plc, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

After a series of denials by Diamond Bank, zero response by Access Bank, and silence from regulatory authorities, both lenders are finally headed for an outright acquisition disguised as a merger.

The Guardian however had earlier predicted that the deal would be sealed in record time despite the denials, with a similarity akin to Access Banks takeover of Intercontinental Bank Plc in 2012.

Diamond Bank affirmed its submission to the powers of Access Bank, describing the relationship as a union that would create Nigerias and Africas largest retail bank by customer-base.

It also admitted that the deal, which completion is subject to certain shareholder and regulatory approvals, is in the best interest of all stakeholders, including employees, customers, depositors, and shareholders.

According to the chief executive officer of Diamond Bank, Uzoma Dozie, the consolidation in the Nigerian banking industry is an inevitable and natural progression. There is clear strategic rationale for the proposed merger and strong complementarity between the two institutions, he said.

The chief executive officer of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe, on his part, noted: Access Bank has a strong track-record of acquisition and integration and has a clear growth strategy. We have a strong financial profile with attractive returns and a robust capital position with 20.1 per cent Capital Adequacy Ratio as at September 30, 2018.

We believe that this platform, together with the two banks shared focus on innovation, financial inclusion and sustainability, can bring benefits to Access Bank and Diamond Bank customers, staff and shareholders.

In his reaction, the founder of Independence Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Sunny Nwosu, described the move as a step in the right direction, especially when compared with the Skye Bank case.

What Access Bank needs now is to authenticate the deal by holding an extraordinary general meeting of its shareholders once all the regulatory processes are completed, he said.

What we want to hear is how they will administer such a big institution. This is better than what the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, and Central Bank of Nigeria are doing. It is a quoted company versus a quoted company. This shows that it is a peaceful transaction, he said.

The managing director of Proactive Shareholders Association, Taiwo Oderinde, also applauded the development, saying, Because we are the shareholders of the two banks, we have not lost anything, unlike in Skye Bank. This is a better deal for us as shareholders. All the regulatory parties to the transaction should approve it.

The chief research officer, Investdata Consulting Limited, Ambrose Omodion, further described it as a good deal for holders of Diamond Bank shares. With the acquisition, Access Bank is to pay Diamond Banks shareholders N1 per share, plus two units of its shares for every seven units of Diamond Banks shares.

The co-founder of Noble Shareholders Association, Gbadebo Olatokumbo, however, called for an investigation and sanction against directors superintending activities in the lead up to the banks failure. We should start holding these people accountable; they should not be allowed to go free. Those who are behind this must be held responsible, he declared.

A financial and investment analyst, Johnson Chukwu, was skeptical about the use of the key word defining the deal. It is not believable to say that the deal is a merger when Access Bank is offering N3.13 per share of Diamond Bank, which traded at N0.95 last Friday and appreciated to N1.04 yesterday after the announcement of the merger.

If one party is paying the other in cash consideration, by buying the others shares, it cannot be merger, but clearly an acquisition. Basically, they will use a term that will appear positive to the investing public and customers, he said.

Chukwu described the shareholders decision as proactive, to avoid a scenario like Skye Banks. Ultimately, it is better that an operator is saved from possible distress because the investors of Diamond Bank are better now than those of Skye Bank who may have lost some shares, he added.

Another cynical industry expert, who pleaded anonymity, stated: They can call it a merger or anything. For one thing, Access Bank is known for its aggressive takeover, as in the case of Intercontinental Bank. Again, it does not make business sense for a bank with less than N25 billion market capitalisation to merge with that of more than N200 billion.

In March 2012, Access Bank completed the acquisition of Intercontinental Bank after all relevant regulatory, judicial and shareholder approvals had been granted, a move many observers dubbed aggressive.

Speaking on the merger, the erstwhile group managing director/chief executive officer of Access Bank Plc, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, said: The conclusion of this transaction is a significant step forward for the Nigerian banking sector; it has preserved thousands of Nigerian jobs, protected the savings of millions of citizens and laid the foundation for the creation of a truly great, African bank.

But allegations have continued to trail the acquisition of Intercontinental Bank. Claims of underhand tactics remain unanswered, especially in relation to non-performing loans of N16.247 billion in the balance sheet of Intercontinental Bank Plc as at May 31, 2009, held against the then group managing director and deputy managing director of Access Bank Plc.

Indeed, the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) in March 2014 invited the former boss of the defunct Intercontinental Bank, Erastus Akingbola; former CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi; Aig-Imoukhuede; and Herbert Wigwe for a chat bordering on investigations into the accounts.

Later in March 2014, a group of shareholders of Intercontinental Bank Plc approached a Federal High Court in Abuja seeking N10 billion as damages from the former CBN governor over alleged fraudulent banking practices in the sale of Intercontinental Bank to Access Bank Plc.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

The plaintiffs, Abdullahi Sani, Adaeze Onwuegbusi and Chijioke Ezeikpe accused Sanusi of conniving with Aig-Imoukhuede, Wigwe and Senator Bukola Saraki to sell the bank in an alleged bid to enrich themselves.

The shareholders pleaded with the court to order the CBN to recover N16.2 billion and N8.9 billion, in addition to accrued interests owed Intercontinental Bank by Aig-Imoukhuede, Wigwe and Saraki.

They also requested the court to declare that the acquisition of Intercontinental Bank by Access Bank through the alleged backing of Sanusi without any lawful justification whatsoever in a bid to confer corrupt advantage upon himself and his friends/associates/cronies was illegal, null and void.

They consequently prayed the court to order the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to conduct a comprehensive public enquiry into the acquisition.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the management of Diamond Bank on Monday, December 17, announced its merger with Access Bank.

A statement by Uzoma Uja, the banks secretary/legal adviser, said the transaction will be completed by the first half of 2019.

The proposed merger would involve Access Bank acquiring the entire issued share capital of Diamond Bank in exchange for a combination of cash and shares in Access Bank via a Scheme of Merger, the disclosure, sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, said.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) upgrades to Legit.ng to serve its readers better.

Nigeria News: Offa Bank Robbery - The Untold Story (NAIJ EXCLUSIVE) | Legit TV

Source: Legit- NLC president, Comrade Ayub Wabba, has reacted to his election as the new ITUC president

- The labour leader said that he would resist the no work no pay policy of President Buhari-led government

- Wabba described his election as a victory for Nigerian workers and African continent as a whole

The president of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, has describe his election as the new president of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) as a victory for Nigerian workers and African continent as a whole.

Nigerian Tribune reports that the NLC president made this known while reinstating that the labour movement in Nigeria would resist the no work no pay policy of the present government, adding that such policy has no place in modern industrial relations.

Legit.ng gathered that Comrade Wabba spoke at a reception organised for him by leadership of the Medical and Health Workers Union (MHWUN) when he returned from Denmark, where he emerged the president of ITUC.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

It a victory for all of us, particularly, Nigerian workers. This also calls for more challenge and more action, it also calls for more proactive approach so that workers around the world despite the dynamics of change in technology can survive all situations, Wabba told the workers who received him.

While also vowing that the NLC would fight the recent introduction of no work, no pay policy by the federal government; Waba noted that such policy has no place in modern industrial relations.

He called on President Muhammadu Buhari to allow due consultations, saying, let him not only hear from one side, that is from his appointees, that have failed in most cases in their responsibilities.

He should also hear the perspectives of the unions and the workers and he will realise that where the truth lies is where the workers are standing.

Most of the people that have been given responsibility in this country, when they could not deliver on their responsibility, what they do is to feed the various strata of the country with lies.

I say so because the issue of no work, no pay has no place in modern day industrial relation. The law about no work, no pay in Nigeria has its basis from a military decree.

"That is Decree 54 of 1977. No government in Nigeria has implemented that law because you cannot implement the law in isolation. Therefore, we are going to engage that."

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) promised to work with the International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) to embarrass Nigerian governors who owe their workers salaries.

READ ALSO: Pastor makes prediction about 2019, says Buhari, Atiku are not solution to Nigeria's problems

The president of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba, in Abuja on Tuesday, December 11, said the congress would place names of governors in the states where workers are being owed salaries and pensions for several months on a watch list.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better

Minimum Wage: Is N30,000 Too Much for FG to Pay Workers? - Nigeria Street Gist | - on Legit TV

Source: Legit Newspaper- Adams Oshiomole says he is on the side of the workers on the issue of minimum wage

- The APC chairman said President Buhari was also concerned about the welfare of workers

- According to the former Edo governor, refusal to pay minimum wage would lead to a circle of poverty

The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, has backed Nigerian workers in their agitation for the implementation of a new minimum wage.

The Nation reports that the former governor of Edo state spoke at a reception for president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Comrade Ayuba Wabba on his election as president of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and financial secretary of NLC, Comrade Safiyanu Mohammed, who was appointed as the Africa regional secretary of the International Transport Federation.

READ ALSO: Former Gombe PDP chairman, 10,000 supporters defect to APC

Oshiomhole said refusal to pay the money would only create a circle of poverty.

The APC chairman assured workers that President Muhammadu Buhari will not do anything to undermine their welfare.

Oshiomhole said if governors of the 36 states receive the same salaries irrespective of their revenue bases, there was no reason why wages of workers should not be the same across the country.

The former NLC president said: I am sure you must have read some of my comments on the minimum wage. I have told people that even I was to become the Secretary General of the United Nations I am a creation of Labour and I will never, publicly or privately, do anything that will undermine or do anything that is designed to possibly affect the welfare of Nigeria workers.

I am a believer Nigeria needs to have a National minimum wage. I do not belong to those who say because we are in a Federation, we should have different wages. I join in amplifying that we cannot apply the principles of federalism separately.

If we have the National Salaries and Wages Commission that makes it possible for me as governor of Edo State presiding over about 4.3 million population to earn the same salary as the governor of Kano and Lagos state who are presiding over 15 million, that argument cannot change when it comes to fixing a National minimum wage.

This president is not about to put that asunder no matter the pressure from any section of governors or state.

I believe that we have to work together not only to get wages fixed, but to ensure also that they are paid. When the President makes public statements like the ones he has made, he has challenged you to take advantage and make sure that when he provide those resources as he has done almost four times, you ensure that they are used for the purpose for which he provided the money. If you dont, I dont think you have someone else to blame.

Oshiomhole noted that the issue of minimum wage is not a party issue but a Nigerian one. He said he has publicly told governors that when it comes to minimum wage, his support is with the workers and not with them.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

The former governor said he believes that Nigeria is capable of paying the national minimum wage. According to him, wages is a consequence of work and he who must employ must pay.

Meanwhile, the NLC president, Ayuba Wabba, has described his election as the new president of the ITUC as a victory for Nigerian workers and African continent as a whole.

The NLC president made this known while reinstating that the labour movement in Nigeria would resist the no work no pay policy of the present government, adding that such policy has no place in modern industrial relations.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better

Minimum Wage: Is N30,000 Too Much for FG to Pay Workers? - Nigeria Street Gist | - on Legit TV

Source: LegitThe former longtime director of an Allentown drum-and-bugle corps waived his preliminary hearing Tuesday and now faces possible trial on charges he sexually assaulting two women.

George Hopkins stepped down as the Allentown Cadets' director in April after a report by The Philadelphia Inquirer detailing numerous allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

The allegations ranged from making lewd comments and groping to rape, some dating back to 1980, the paper reported. The women victims ranged in age from 16 to 37 at the time of the alleged incidents.

The accusers in the Lehigh County criminal cases reported the alleged assaults in May, and Hopkins was charged Nov. 13 with two counts of sexual assault.

The 62-year-old Hopkins, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, remains free on $50,000 unsecured bail.

Defense attorney Thomas Bergstrom said there have been no plea negotiations in the cases and his client plans to plead not guilty at his formal arraignment.

Were gonna try this case for sure, Bergstrom said.

The first accuser worked for the Allentown-based Youth Education in the Arts (YEA), which sponsors and oversees the Cadets. The woman said Hopkins in 2008 asked her to come to his home.

The woman told investigators that Hopkins gave her a glass of wine and she began to feel peculiar, as if she was floating on the ceiling'," according to prosecutors. Hopkins allegedly kissed her on the couch and started removing her clothes before taking her to the bedroom and sexually assaulting her.

The second charge is from 2010. The second accuser woman, who at the time worked for a rival drum-and-bugle corps, said she had a work-related meeting with Hopkins in 2010 at an Allentown bar.

The woman told investigators she felt strange after accepting drinks provided by the band director. They went back to Hopkins' Allentown apartment, where he carried her to the bedroom and assaulted her, prosecutors said.

Both victims repeatedly told Hopkins to stop, authorities say.A Bucks County man will spend at least a decade, and up to 30 years, in state prison for selling the fentanyl that killed a 23-year-old then continuing to sell the powerful opioid painkiller.

William Frank Brennan, 21, of Hilltown Township was dealing in addiction in death, Bucks County Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr. said at Brennans sentencing Friday.

Brennan pleaded guilty Nov. 1 to drug delivery resulting in death, drug possession with intent to deliver, involuntary manslaughter and related charges. Bateman imposed consecutive sentences, ordering Brennan to serve seven and a half to 20 years for drug delivery resulting in death followed by two and a half to 10 years for the possession count.

The impact to families is immeasurable and life-lasting. And for you it was a few dollars in exchange for human life, Bateman told Brennan, according to a Bucks County District Attorneys Office news release on the sentencing.

The felony and misdemeanor counts stemmed from two separate cases -- one from the November 2017 death of Lukas Titus, 23 of Telford, Montgomery County, and another involving a series of controlled purchases of fentanyl last March and April, the DAs office said.

Titus was found dead of a fentanyl overdose Nov. 13, 2017, in a vacant lot along the 1500 block of Bethlehem Pike in Hilltown Township, just north of Montgomeryville. Found nearby, the mans cellphone contained text messages to and from Brennan appearing to arrange a drug transaction, the DAs office said; the investigation led police to execute a search warrant at Brennans home, where a plastic food container was recovered with 14 grams of fentanyl inside.

The judge said he considered in his sentence that Brennan not only sold fentanyl, as opposed to heroin, but did so knowing he was selling the more powerful drug, according to the release.

At some point you have to sober up and realize, but you didnt," Bateman reportedly told Brennan. You went back to business as usual.

Assistant District Attorney Ashley Towhey prosecuted the cases, which were investigated by the Hilltown Township and Towamencin police departments.

This case in particular, and drug delivery resulting in death prosecutions in general send two powerful messages: We will do the work to hold drug dealers accountable for the deaths they cause, and that all victims matter, District Attorney Matthew Weintraub says in the release.

Fentanyl Dealer Who Sold Fatal Dose Jailed 10-30 Years https://t.co/RxiZKfgquS  Bucks Co DA's Office (@BucksDa) December 18, 2018

In a victim impact statement, Veronica Titus said her son had been working on his recovery for 21 months prior to taking his fatal fix.

It was his choice. No one forced him and we all live with his choice every day, she said. But he was a loving young man who got caught up in this horrific epidemic. And with his last choice, he will be accountable for eternity.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.A Lehigh County man is accused of attacking a woman and holding a knife to her throat before threatening to kill her and her 9-year-old daughter.

Colonial Regional police said it was the womans daughter who called 911 a little after 4 a.m. Tuesday to report being held at knifepoint at the Extended Stay America Hotel at 3050 Schoenersville Road in Hanover Township, Northampton County.

The woman told officers Ramon Torres Jr. repeatedly punched her, choked her, kicked her and held a knife to her throat. The 34-year-old Torres threatened to stab the woman and her daughter, and then stabbed a hotel bed, causing $300 in damage, police said.

Torres, of the 1000 block of Broadway in Fountain Hill, allegedly took the womans cellphone so she could not call for help.

Torres was arrested and charged with strangulation, simple assault, harassment, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, unlawful restraint and two counts of making terroristic threats.

He was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $30,000 bail.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.What does the future hold for the Affordable Care Act and those who who receive health insurance coverage from an Obamacare policy?

For now, nothing has changed in the way Obamacare operates and provides heath care for millions of Americans. Last week a federal judge in Texas ruled that without the individual mandate  the part that required uninsured persons to buy a policy or pay a tax penalty  the rest of the law cannot stand. Congress eliminated the individual mandate as part of tax legislation in 2017.

Congressional leaders are uncertain where the Obamacare fight will head now. President Trump called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to get together to pass a replacement plan.

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the individual mandate was a tax that fell within Congressional power. Now the issue is expected make its way back to the Supreme Court under appeal.

The health care law has proven popular with people without access to employer-provided health care, even as partisans in Congress squared off over its viability. For the last two years Republicans pushed for repeal and replacement. Democrats have fought to preserve President Barack Obamas signature legislation; some support a Medicare-for-all plan to make health insurance available to everyone.

What do you think? Is Obamacare worth saving? Have a say in our informal, unscientific poll, and feel free to elaborate in the comments section.A 'planned' power outage in Portlaoise has hit the water supply in the town and is forcing Portlaoise students home from school early today as well as hitting homes and businesses.

Portlaoise College on the Mountrath Road in Portlaoise sent a text to parents this morning advising that pupils should be collected at 1.15pm because of a water shortage.

There are local reports of water outages and low water pressure in other areas of Portlaoise including Market Square and Lower Main Street.

A spokesperson for Irish Water told the Leinster Express that up to 500 people are affected by the outage in Portlaoise as there were 'technical difficulties' during valve replacement work overnight.

"In addition to the power outage by the ESB in Portlaoise, which may have some impact on water supply in the town there were also valve replacement works taking place overnight in the town last night as part of Irish Waters Leakage Reduction Programme which was due to be completed this morning.

"Unfortunately some technical difficulties were encountered which resulted in a pipe needing to be replaced. This delayed the works which are now due for completion at 2pm today.

"It may take a number of hours before full water supply is restored once the works are completed. Irish Water apologises for any inconvenience caused by this unplanned outage," the spokesperson said.

Noel Daly is the Principal of Portlaoise College. He said the school was given no warning of a power or water cut and they will test the water levels on Tuesday evening to determine whether they can open on Wednesday or not.

"We sent all students home at lunch-time, you couldn't stay open with no water and toilets not going and the canteen. We got no communication until we rang Irish Water this morning and they said to check the website. All we know now is what is on their website.

"If we had have known yesterday we could have prepared for it. If it's not back by tomorrow we won't be able to open fingers crossed that won't happen. It is an unnecessary disruption with 700 or 800 people in a building you can't operate without water," he said.

ESB Networks has stated that the planned power outage in Portlaoise is set to be restored by 4pm.

People are advised to allow 2-3 hours after the estimated restoration time for your supply to fully return.

Separately valve replacement works may cause supply disruptions to Market Square and surrounding areas in Portlaoise according to Irish Water from 10pm on 17 December until 11am on 18 December.Laois has one of the longest waiting lists in Ireland for Health Service Executive paid home helps for its vulnerable elderly and disabled citizens, with hours cut back in the past year.

The Laois Offaly waiting list for funding for Home Support Services stands at 578 people, the third longest waiting list in Ireland.

The figure compares to 19 waiting in Longford and Westmeath. Carlow/ Kilkenny has no waiting list at all.

The figures were obtained by Laois TD Brian Stanley in a Dail question in November.

The Sinn Fein TD has said that not enough money is given to the service.

Government has not given the necessary financial and human resources to ensure the HSE can deliver adequate home support nationwide.

There are 6,285 vulnerable people waiting for home support across the State and a shocking 578 who have been approved for home care by the HSE are waiting across Laois and Offaly, he said.

Fianna Fail councillor Catherine Fitzgerald called it a postcode lottery.

At the November meeting of Laois County Council, she tabled a motion asking for the council to contact the HSE regarding the long waiting lists for home help in Laois.

Home helps are vital for people to be able to live in their homes as long as possible. It is not as costly as nursing homes or hospital beds, she said.

Your eircode depends on getting home helps. I want it pointed out again to the Minister, this is an absolute scandal, that people have to wait that long, she said.

She said that carers feel obliged to stay on after their paid time to complete work.

People who were getting two hours are now getting half an hour. But to get an elderly person out of bed and ready for a shower could take half an hour. Thirty minutes to a person who is semi disabled, its not possible. Then they are told to run from one job to the next. The people who supply this service are the ones who go home feeling terrible because they cant do enough. Its free gratis work out of the goodness of their hearts, Cllr Fitzgerald said.

Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley seconded her motion. She said that in 2017, home help hours were cut back in Laois Offaly by 6,558 hours, from 316,097 in 2016 down to 309,539 hours.

I know people waiting six months plus to get home helps. It is a disgraceful way to treat our elderly and vulnerable, she said.

Cllr John Joe Fennelly supported the motion too.

These figures are absolutely staggering. When someone is sick in hospital they tell you we will give you all the supports, but its not happening. We will have families who wont take people out of Portlaoise hospital, he said.

We have a senior minister giving millions in grants but we can't look after our elderly, said Cllr Paschal McEvoy.A survivor of a Nazi concentration camp came to Laois last week to speak to students about his experience and urge them never to let history repeat itself.

Tomi Reichental, 83 is Jewish and originally from Slovakia. In 1944 when he was nine he was rounded up with his family and sent in a cattle trailer for a week long journey to hell on earth in Bergen Belsen death camp. He was liberated a year later when the war was won against Nazi Germany.

Mr Reichental now lives in Ireland where he has spent years speaking to schools and has also written a book to remind people what horrors can develop from racism and prejudice .

Last Thursday November 29, he was a guest of St Fergal's College in Rathdowney, wherer a packed hall of 150 TYs, 3rd Years, senior history students, LCA and invited TYs from Mountrath Community School listened in a hush as he spoke.

He spoke of his familys attempts to hide from the Nazis, their betrayal and capture, that horrific journey from Slovakia to Germany and his dreadful experience in Bergen-Belsen.

Mr Reichental gave the students his strong message 'never again'.

It is my priority to tell my story, so that you can learn from it. There will and have always been the holocaust deniers, and my job is to put an end to such talk, he said.

His description of bodies lying on the barbed wire every morning, of playing hide and seek among the piled up corpses and the awful stench of death and decay were both moving and heartbreaking, said St Fergal's student Niamh Bracken.

It was truly heartwarming and life affirming to hear him say 'make peace with your past so it doesnt spoil your present', said Chloe ORiordan.

What was most striking was that after all he had been through there was no hatred or bitterness, just a desire to tell his story, to ensure that these terrible events cannot happen again, said student Shane Coffey.

Mountrath Secondary school also gave their reactions.

He was just a 9 year old child at the time, and the horrors of life in Bergen Belsen touched the hearts of all gathered, said teacher Joan Hallissey.

His description of the antisemitism in Slovakia was heartbreaking, when he described how he couldn't go to school as Jews weren't welcome, she said.

Ciara Phelan was moved by his description of jumping for bread crusts thrown by the soldiers. They were just kids jumping for bread like puppies looking for food, she said.

Tadhg Carroll said that to hear him talk made history come alive.

I will never forget it. An inspiring person, said Sean Kitchen.

Mr Reichental speaking to the Laois students.The two Laois winners in the national Someone Like Me art competition come from neighbouring rural schools in south Laois.

St Pius X National School in Ballacolla had the Junior County Winner, Aoife Dunphy, 7, from First Class.

The senior winner is the nearby Scoil Fionntain Naofa in Abbeyleix.

The competition is supported by the National Disability Authority and aims to promote disability awareness and nurture understanding in children.

Aoife drew herself giving her granddad who uses walking sticks, a bunch of flowers to cheer him up. The submission was assisted by class teacher Ms Theloke.

We are so proud of Aoife, she is a brilliant artist. To be recognised nationally is a wonderful achievement for her and our school, she said.

The Abbeyleix school's submission was assisted by teachers Deirdre Bergin and Richard Connor. All of 5th and 6th class won for their summertime flowerbed installation of 3D paper flowers with handprints and the message 'together we make the world a more colourful place'.

The national final took place in Dublin recently.Labour representatives have pledged to increase pressure on Minister Shane Ross to include Newbridge in the 'Short Hop Zone' train service.

The move comes following a meeting with the National Transport Authority (NTA).

Last week, members of the Kildare South Labour Party met with NTA CEO Anne Graham in Leinster House.

General election candidate ,Councillor Mark Wall, Chairperson and local area representative for Newbridge, Ciara OReilly and Kildare South P.R.O. Mark Leigh were joined by Labour Spokesperson for Transport, Senator Kevin Humphreys and Deputy Brendan Ryan.

They discussed the urgent need to extend the Short Hop Zone to Newbridge. The meeting was also convened to present the NTA with it's petition of 6,000 signatories for the Fare deal for Newbridge" campaign.

Ciara OReilly addressed the issue head on and highlighted the ridiculous situation where people are now driving to an overcrowded Sallins train station to get the Short Hop Zone fare, the difference between the Sallins fare and the Newbridge fare being so vast. Sallins station is now getting a larger car park to cope with the overflow of cars at great cost to the taxpayer.

Councillor Mark Wall queried as to why the NTA increased the fare for students by 10% recently and described the situation as a regressive step and an attack on hard pressed students and their parents.

Again he stated that workers and students described by the Taoiseach as those who get up early were not being helped by this Transport Minister.

Senator Kevin Humphreys asked about capacity on that line.

"Anne Graham NTA CEO acknowledged all our issues and admitted the line was nearly at full capacity. She also stated 'The National Transport Authority could currently do nothing about bringing Newbridge into the Short Hop Zone because of the effect it would have on the loss of revenue to the overall transport network," said Labour.

"The upshot of our this meeting is that we urgently need Minister Ross to intervene. How can he allow a 10% increase in student fares at a time of a student accommodation crisis? How can this Government provide millions of euros to build a bigger car park in Sallins, simply to accommodate vast numbers of hard pressed commuters traveling from Newbridge and South Kildare."

The party asked; "Are we not being fined enough by Europe because of our failure to reduce our carbon footprint Unfortunately the NTAs hands are tied as the government and Minister for Transport, Shane Ross continue to sit on their hands in regard to public transport and the severe lack of funding."The annual Christmas Carol Service from Maynooth College Chapel will be lived-streamed by this evening, Tuesday 18 December from 7.30pm to 9.00pm, giving Kildare audiences and further afield a chance to witness the beautiful singing in the magnificent college chapel.

The Carol Service takes place over three nights with President Michael D. Higgins in attendance for the final night, tomorrow night, Wednesday, December 19.

Read also: 75,000 for Naas church from deceased UK supermarket millionaire

Four choirs are participating in Carol Service - the Maynooth University Choral Society and the Seminary Chapel Choir both conducted by Dr John OKeeffe; the Maynooth University Chamber Choir conducted by Ruaidhri O Dailaigh and the Schola Gregoriana directed by Dr Darina McCarthy.

This years Carol Service coincides with the 200th anniversary of the worlds most popular Christmas carol, Silent Night. The carol itself will be a centre piece of this years service, with a special performance by the choirs and the congregation of more than 700.

St Patricks College, Maynooth and Maynooth University are also hosting a special exhibition to mark 200 years of Silent Night. Called Silent Night 200  History. Message. Present.

The exhibition was brought together by the Austrian Foreign Ministry and traces the origins of the songs lyrics and melody. It also gives an insight into the carols Irish adaptations and runs from December 17 to 21 and from January 3 to 7 at the Presidents Arch in St Patricks College, Maynooth. It is free of charge and open to the public from 9am to 6pm. For more details, click here.

To watch the Carol Service, log on here.A farmer has agreed to comply with High Court orders to vacate 50 acres of land he owns.

The High Court heard on Tuesday that Tom Morrin will to surrender vacant possession, remove all machinery and livestock from 50 acres of land at Caragh, Naas, owned by Mr Morrin, to a bank-appointed receiver appointed over the property.

He has also agreed to cease interfering with agents of the receiver, Mr Tom Kavanagh of Deloitte Ireland, from carrying out their duties in respect of the property.

Mr Morrin appeared before the Court after Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds ruled last week that she was "satisfied beyond reasonable doubt" Mr Morrin is in breach of orders made against him by the High Court in July 2017.

The judge in her judgement also dismissed applications by Mr Morrin of Poplar Square, Naas, to have the receiver's case thrown out, on the grounds it was frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of process.

The Judge further dismissed Mr Morrin's bid for an order preventing Mr Kavanagh's and his agents from trespassing on his property.

On Tuesday Ms Justice Reynolds was informed that Mr Morrin had agreed to orders including that he would remove all machinery and livestock from the lands, and not interfere with the receivership.

He also undertook not to appeal last week's decision and withdraw his appeal against the orders made against him in 2017.

It was also agreed that a stay is to be placed on those orders until February.

Previously the court heard that Mr Kavanagh was appointed as receiver over the lands in 2013 by Bank of Scotland Ireland arising out of a mortgage agreement alleged entered into between it and Mr Morrin in 2006.

The loan was subsequently acquired by a financial fund Pentire DAC.

The receiver then brought proceedings against Mr Morrin for his ongoing contempt seeking orders including that the farmer be attached and brought before the court for his alleged ongoing contempt of the 2017 orders.

Mr Kavanagh, represented by Stephen Byrne Bl, claimed the defendant had flouted the order, on which no stay has been placed.

Mr Morrin had remained in occupation of the property and continued to farm the lands, it was claimed.

It was also claimed that on a number of occasions security firm personnel engaged by the receiver had engaged difficulties.

On certain days cattle were seen on the lands and agents the receiver had employed were told to leave the property by a person purporting to be an employee of the defendant.

The matter will return before the court in February.Almost three-quarters (72%) of drinking occasions in Ireland take place in the home, according to the latest Drinkaware research, the Drinkaware Index, which also revealed that avoiding alcohol on a work night and not drinking for a fixed time period are the most popular strategies Irish drinkers use to reduce their consumption.

During the Christmas party season, Drinkaware is encouraging everyone to get the facts on the guidelines and try out some tips for less harmful drinking, especially at home.

The Drinkaware Index found that setting personal restrictions including avoiding alcohol on a work night (50%), not drinking for a fixed time period (42%) and staying out of rounds (40%) are the most commonly used moderation techniques by Irish adults who drink.

Drinkaware has three top tips for less harmful drinking at home this Christmas:

- Always use a measure for spirits or wine. Never free-pour - this can make it almost impossible to know how much you are drinking. Order one for free

- Alternate each drink with a glass of water to reduce the dehydration associated with alcohol. Keep a jug of water handy to make this easier.

- Stock up on non-alcoholic alternatives for you and your guests. There is now a wide variety to take advantage of so its a good time to make the swap.

Sheena Horgan, CEO, Drinkaware said: Christmas is a time for celebration, which is something we all look forward to, but it also presents more opportunities to drink than any other. The Drinkaware Index research clearly shows that the majority of people - 98% - do not know the low-risk alcohol guidelines, which in turn means they dont have a clear understanding of what misuse is or how at risk they may be. Drinking at home can present its own issues that make it more likely a person will drink more alcohol than intended. For example, we have seen a rise in the number of people who find it increasingly easy to drink a full bottle of wine or six-pack of beer a few times a week, without setting out to or even realising until its too late. There are a number of factors at play here  people are comfortable, relaxed - but top of list really is free-pouring of spirits and wine.

"We have found that December is one of the busiest times for Drinkaware where last year 700 people ordered our measure cup and calorie calculator over a two week period, and 9,000 people used our online Drinks Calculator to find out the impact of their drinking habits.

"These practical tools put standard drinks and the guidelines into context and without this information, we cant expect people to feel a need to change their drinking habits. Our message this Christmas is to plan ahead. If you will be entertaining guests in your home or would simply like to keep track of your own drinking over the festive season, order a free pack now.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.LIMERICK Labour TD Jan OSullivan says it is extremely odd that Fianna Fail has agreed an extension to the confidence and supply deal with government.

In a move which looks like ensuring there won't be a general election until 2020, party leader Micheal Martin confirmed on Wednesday that his party had renewed the agreement which underpins the Fine Gael minority administration.

It came as a complete surprise to everybody, she said. At least with the first confidence and supply deal, there was a document. We were told the last budget would be a housing budget, but we got nothing but tax breaks for landlords and developers.

Ms OSullivan joined with her party leader Brendan Howlin in calling for the release of briefing documents so opposition parties can see a fresh government programme.

Its extremely odd that Fianna Fail would agree this and get nothing back. It appears they have got no commitments on housing, health or any of the big issues you would expect [that would bring] a price to pay for supporting government for another year, she said.

But Fianna Fail frontbencher Willie ODea insisted his party has secured a number of concessions which will be revealed in due course.

There are items of legislation which we are talking about among ourselves about that they agreed to rapidly progress themselves. We want to finalise that list.

We have made it clear to government as regards housing and health that their performance is going to have to improve and we will be monitoring this, he said.

Last Wednesdays move now means its likely Limerick people will only go to the polls once next year  on May 24 for European and local election.TRAFFIC calming measures for Mungret Village first mooted for November 2018 have been delayed, according to the Metropolitan Mayor of Limerick Daniel Butler.

Works including signaled junctions, pedestrian crossings and reduced speed limits for the N69 part of the village are currently delayed due to a redesign.

The main focus of progress has been getting the junction at the Mungret grotto right so that it works to facilitate all the adjacent businesses and landowners as the previous proposal was deemed inadequate after local consultations, Mayor Butler said.

Engineers have now been appointed to re-design this with a new proposal due in three or four months.

Clarity is needed on how the site behind the Westward Ho location will interact with the new scheme in order to understand the extent of the work to be funded by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), according to Mayor Butler.

This site has been designated in the Southern Environs Plan for enterprise and employment, he added.

This is not clear at present and may well give rise to further time being required for further consideration, he added.

The proposals for Mungret Village also include a road width reduction with footpaths covering a stretch from Bolands Cross to Moores Lane with a reduced 50kph speed limits.The FUNERAL Mass of the Polish man who was tragically killed in Hospital in County Limerick last week takes place this Wednesday in the towns church at 11.30am.

The father-of-two was struck by a van while crossing the Main Street in the town last week. He died at University Hospital Limerick on Saturday morning where he was being treated for serious injuries.

Canon Conor Ryan, who will say the Mass, said the death of Patryk Kacprowicz, aged 33, has come as a big shock in the parish and leaves a deep sense of sadness at Christmas time.

His remains will repose this Tuesday afternoon from 4.30pm to 6.30pm in OLearys funeral parlour in Hospital, before being brought to the Church of St John Baptist for 11.30am Mass, followed by cremation at Shannon Crematorium.

Canon Ryan said Patryk was a young father with a fiancee and two young children.

He was very good worker and provider for his family. He would have worked part-time in a local factory and he also would have worked part-time for local farmers. He was a very gentle, hard-working, young father, said Canon Ryan.

The Hospital community have rallied around his fiancee Katarzyna and two children Nicholas and Nanett. A Go Fund Me page set up to help the family has raised more than double the 10,000 target in just a couple of days.

Local councillor, Gerald Mitchell said it is a terrible tragedy to befall a family at any time of the year but especially at Christmas time.

The community is very saddened by this tragic accident. I would like to express my sincere sympathies, on behalf of the community, to his family and his relatives in Poland, said Cllr Mitchell.A DEAD tree has been transformed into a wonderful piece of art by County Limerick chainsaw sculptor, Will Fogarty.

The Hospital man was contacted by John Ahern of Kerry County Council earlier this year.

John had obviously been following my work. He said he had a big chestnut tree in the middle of Killarney. It was huge but it was diseased and dying and getting dangerous, said Will, of Fear na Coillte Chainsaw Sculptures

When they were taking the tree down John thought to himself, Well try and save a bit of this. He got in touch with me and one thing led to another. We decided on a red deer because of the proximity to the national park and there are deer all over the place, he added.

The stag is located on Port Road, close to the cathedral. It was recently officially unveiled by Cathaoirleach of Killarney municipal district, John Sheahan and Noel Grimes, of Killarney Deer Society. But Will carved the piece under the fierce June sun.

It took two weeks. It was during the really hot weather so it was tough going. The stag is over 15 feet high  it is larger than life-size. We used real antlers sourced from the national park. It is bolted in to the sculpture, said Will.

He has done a lot of commissions around the country but little in his home county.

Ive done work up in Carrick-on-Shannon, over to Wexford and a nice bit of stuff in Kerry and Cork. I had some pieces in the Peoples Park but it would always be nice to get some more stuff done in your home county. It is a pretty cost effective way of getting a nice piece of art compared to bronzes or things like that, said Will.

Even though the tree is diseased he expects his handiwork in Killarney to last over 20 years and longer again if it was a tree in good condition.

They dont rot that quickly as long as they are looked after, well treated and maintained every year. They do need a certain amount of love and care, said Will.

In the aftermath of Limericks All-Ireland win he carved a fantastic copy of the Liam MacCarthy Cup. It got the thumbs up from Declan Hannon and the story featured in the Limerick Leader.

Following the article in the Leader and word of mouth Ive got a few more requests for cups, said Will.(CNN)  The Chinese government is pushing Canada to release Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei chief financial officer detained for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran, as Ottawa braces for relations with Beijing to worsen and urges President Donald Trump not to politicize the situation.

Canadian government officials have asked for, and received, additional security at their diplomatic outposts in China, while Canadian companies that do business with China are bracing for lower sales and even a boycott of Canadian products.

The arrest has put the Canadian government  which has its own trade and other disputes with the Trump administration  in the awkward position of defending its role in honoring reciprocal law enforcement arrangements with the U.S., just as President Donald Trump has suggested he might be willing to drop the Meng case in exchange for a trade deal with Beijing.

The CFO of Chinese tech giant Huawei was arrested December 1 in Vancouver for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran  the same night Trump was dining with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the G20 summit in Argentina.

China's state-run media has repeatedly claimed that Meng's detention appears to be politically or economically motivated. Trump's suggestion that he could use Meng as a bargaining chip in trade talks  a flagrant breach of the U.S. practice of separating politics and issues of the law  has complicated the situation for Canada and fueled outrage in China.

'Mistakes'

"The Chinese side strongly urges Canada to immediately rectify its mistakes, and release the detained Chinese citizen and truly guarantee their relevant legal and just rights," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters Sunday at a regular Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefing. "We strongly urge the U.S. to revoke the relevant person's arrest warrant immediately."

Trump told Reuters in an interview last week that he might intervene in Meng's case if it would help the United States and China reach a trade deal.

"If I think it's good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever made, which is a very important thing, what's good for national security, I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary," Trump said.

That drew a rebuke from Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland the next day. "Our extradition partners should not seek to politicize the extradition process or use it for ends other than the pursuit of justice," Freeland told reporters.

China has detained two Canadians in the wake of Meng's arrest. Last week, Freeland confirmed the detention of Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat now with the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit organization. A second Canadian, businessman Michael Spavor, has also been detained.

For now, China has directed its anger at Canada, but the standoff highlights the potential for increased tensions between Beijing and Washington.

The U.S. has pending indictments against Chinese government hackers by the Justice Department for violating a 2015 pact by stealing American intellectual property and a cyberattack on the Marriott hotel chain linked to Chinese-intelligence gathering efforts that affected nearly 500 million guests.

"China is clearly being impulsive here, they're lashing out and they're not interested in building any political capital with Canada," said James Zimmerman, a partner with the law firm Perkins Cole who formerly represented a Canadian couple detained by Chinese authorities in 2014 accused of spying.

"This plays very well to those nationalists in China who argue that arresting the Huawei executive was pushing China too far," Zimmerman said.

Things could get worse

Many Chinese social media accounts are expressing outrage with Canada's move to execute the arrest, even though Canadian officials, including Freeland, say Canada was just following the terms of its extradition treaty with the U.S.. Freeland said that she's talked with American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the case.

Officials from Global Affairs Canada told CNN that relations with China could get worse.

"It has been very public, as you know, and it has been on social media and the Chinese government has been openly critical of the detention of Ms. Meng, so we have in general informed our personnel in Beijing and in our consulates ... to take extra precautions," one official said.

The Canadians have registered their concerns with the Chinese authorities, officials tell CNN.

"Part of our dialogue with the Chinese authorities has been around the notion that under international law it is actually the host country that is in charge of our security," the official said. "We have made them aware of our concerns and they have stepped up security."

However, the Chinese government says there's no comparison between the Canadians held in Chinese custody and Meng's arrest in Vancouver.

Comparing the detention of the Canadian men in Chinese custody to the arrest of the Huawei CFO, Hua said of the Canadians that, "no matter what ridiculous pretexts they come up with, covering up under the appearance of being legitimate, cannot cover up their ignorance for the real facts and their contempt for the rule of law and people around the world are ridiculing them for this."

This story was first published on CNN.com "Canada caught in the middle of US-China spat over Huawei executive"In this aerial image, self-defense force members extinguish fiery debris after the tsunami triggered by the magnitude-7.8 earthquake hit Okushiri Island on July 13, 1993.

WASHINGTON  Tsunamis, the giant waves generated by earthquakes under the sea, are known for flooding vulnerable coastal areas with vast quantities of water. But a tsunami that struck Japan in 1993 brought a different kind of destruction  it set the harbor on fire.

Following a magnitude-7.8 earthquake in the Sea of Japan on July 12 of that year, a tsunami wave barreled toward Okushiri Island in northern Japan. Suddenly, several boats in the port spontaneously burst into flames, and winds from the tsunami drove the blaze inland, to devastating effect, according to Yuji Enomoto, a professor emeritus at Shinshu University in Japan.

This astonishing phenomenon was documented at the time by video crews with NHK, Japan's biggest broadcasting company, but the footage has long been inaccessible, Enomoto told Live Science. [Waves of Destruction: History's Biggest Tsunamis]

Even so, Enomoto recently gained access to the elusive footage. He used the video  along with laboratory experiments  to interpret what caused the dangerous "tsunami fires," and he presented an explanation of the strange event on Dec. 13 here at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

"Utter Devastation"

The 1993 Hokkaido earthquake was the strongest to strike Japan in 25 years, producing "scenes of utter devastation, with houses and Buddhist temples splintered in the mud, boats thrown far inland, and roofs of some homes floating out to sea," The New York Times reported on July 14 of that year.

In the aftermath, rescue workers confirmed that 97 people were killed, as many as 190 were injured, and more than 160 people were missing, according to The Times.

Low-lying Okushiri Island bore the brunt of the tsunami. About 10 minutes after the earthquake, the first tsunami wave struck Aonae Harbor on the island's western coast, Enomoto and his colleagues reported. Without warning, five fishing boats spontaneously caught fire almost simultaneously. As the second tsunami wave hurtled toward shore, it generated powerful winds that pushed the burning boats to the coastal area, spreading the fire into the city.

What caused those fires? Methane gases buried in the seafloor and stirred up by the tsunami were likely to blame, according to the researchers.

"White and bubbling"

Witness accounts from the island in the minutes before the fires flared up described mists rising and seawater "foaming," Enomoto explained.

"The offshore area looked shining white and bubbling," one witness said.

Those bubbles might have been the result of released methane, which can be combustible under certain conditions. While there are no photographs or video that show the ocean bubbling, a similar scene was captured following the 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku  a magnitude 9.0 to 9.1  in video taken by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. And a similar fire emerged afterward, the researchers wrote. [Biggest Earthquakes in History]

While NHK captured footage of the 1993 fires, their video also included disturbing scenes of people swept away by the giant waves, and network officials prohibited its broadcast after the tragedy. However, Enomoto was able to view the footage  confirming eyewitness reports of the fires  and received permission from NHK to use several stills for the purpose of his research, he said.

According to Enomoto, the bubbles that people described seeing in 1993  and which appeared again in 2011  represented methane that was formerly embedded in the seafloor but was dislodged by the ground sliding; the methane bubbles were squeezed up and out into the air by the tsunami front, which transported them to the shore area.

"Bacterial mats suggesting methane release have been found off the west of Okushiri Island, where the tsunami originated," the researchers reported.

To test whether the released methane could have caused the fires, Enomoto and his colleagues conducted experiments with seawater that held methane, to see if certain conditions could generate an electrostatic charge. They found that when electrostatic energy generated a charge of 0.28 millijoules, the methane would catch fire. If the charged air during a tsunami reached at least that level of electrostatic energy, it would be enough to ignite the methane bubbles, Enomoto explained.

The researchers concluded that methane electrostatically ignited in 1993 when the wind violently drove released methane into Aonae Harbor's quay wall. Methane bubbles that had accumulated on the decks of the fishing boats sparked as well, and the fire spread further when it reached oil or gasoline leaking from a car that had been swept into the harbor.

These so-called tsunami fires are an underestimated and understudied hazard of tsunamis, Enomoto told Live Science. As there are significant quantities of methane buried in coastal regions off Japan, this merits closer attention in order to head off fires that could potentially be triggered by powerful earthquakes, he added.

Original article on Live Science.A man in China had a habit of walking home from work every day, taking off his socks and taking a great big whiff of them, according to news reports.

Bizarre? Yes. But harmful? Well, according to a video posted on the Chinese platform Pear Daily, also yes. The video says that the 37-year-old man was hospitalized for chest pain, and was diagnosed with a fungal infection in his lungs  an infection that his doctors attributed to fungal spores that he had inhaled from his socks.

But is it even possible to get an infection like this from smelling socks?

Technically, yes  but it's very unlikely that something like this would happen, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-disease specialist at Vanderbilt University who was not involved with the Chinese man's case. Indeed, Schaffner noted that in his "long clinical experience," he'd never heard of a case like this. The case is "very interesting, if true," he added. [27 Oddest Medical Case Reports]

However, the lack of details about the case in local news reports, such as what kind of fungus caused the infection, makes Schaffner "kind of dubious to start with, he said.

Biologically, it's possible for someone to develop a lung infection by inhaling fungal spores that had built up heavily in someone's socks, Schaffner told Live Science.

Indeed, lung infections from inhaling fungal spores are well-documented. Cave explorers, for example, run the risk of an infection called histoplasmosis, which is caused by inhaling fungal spores that can be found in bat droppings. And inhaling coccidioides fungal spores  which are found throughout the western and southwestern United States  can cause a flu-like infection called valley fever.

"We dont live in a sterile world, we're surrounded by bacteria and fungi all the time," Schaffner said. That doesn't mean we're definitely going to get sick, though. What makes the Chinese man's case different, though, is that he's said to have "put the source [of fungus] right up to his nose and inhaled quite frequently, in unusually large doses and repeated doses, [which would have] made him more susceptible to actually developing an illness, he said.

There's also not much known about the patient himself, based on the available reporting. For example, the man could have had a weakened immune system that would've made him more susceptible to such an infection, Schaffner said. The man's doctor said in local news reports that the man likely did have a weaker immune system, and this was due to a lack of rest because he was looking after a child.

But Schaffner said that he found that explanation "rather thin." That's not typically a reason doctors would consider a patient to be immune-suppressed, he said, "so [when] I saw that, I raised my eyebrows."

In any case, the whole situation "reinforces the notion that one ought to launder ones socks frequently rather than trying to make a daily assessment as to whether you want to put them on again for the seventeeth time," Schaffner added.

Still, the occasional sock-smeller  you know, the person who grabs a sock for a quick is-this-clean check before getting dressed  can rest easy, and need not fear a fungal infection.

"Not to worry," Schaffner said.

Originally published on Live Science.The holidays are a thorny time for people who are recently bereaved. On the one hand, all the get-togethers supply a steady stream of company. But being surrounded by joyful revelers can sometimes feel lonelier than simply being alone.

Those who have moved through grief know that it can feel as if no one has ever felt the same particular pain. While it seems as though friends and colleagues don't understand what you're going through, there is no shortage of authors who do - and who have experienced that familiar push-me/pull-me of simultaneously craving community and needing solitude. Is it better to grieve with others or do it solo? These books thoughtfully consider the options. They may not offer up concrete answers, but they're guaranteed to make readers who are suffering feel less isolated.

---

"A Grief Observed," by C.S. Lewis (1961)

When this memoir was published, grief was considered a private affair, so Lewis initially used a pseudonym. "No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear," the book begins, before Lewis explains how blindsided he feels by his emotions. For Lewis, a Christian, the loss is sharpened by its disruption of his faith. "Meanwhile, where is God?" he wonders. He can no longer count on his Christian community for solace because he isn't comforted by the fact that his wife is now with God. Ultimately he realizes that grief is a process, not a permanent state of being, and a renewed sense of faith emerges from his experiences.

---

"The Year of Magical Thinking," by Joan Didion (2005)

Didion broke new ground in 2005 with this chronicle of the aftermath of her husband's sudden death and the illness of her only daughter. One of the challenges for Didion, who has previously used "research and reading" to cope with life's challenges, was that so few people had written of their experiences with grief, which increased her sense of aloneness. But she went on to create a community of readers who understood what she was talking about when she described, for example, the "vortex effect" of being pulled into powerful memories, triggered by the presence of familiar places and objects.

---

"The Red Parts," by Maggie Nelson (2007)

When the man who murdered her aunt is finally arrested and brought to trial three decades after the crime, Nelson and her family mourn the young woman all over again. Nelson explores the paradoxical forces inside of her that tell her she is feeling "too much" or "not enough." Her previous belief that her family had grieved in "faulty" ways gives way to the discovery that mourning is complex and sometimes illogical, which brings her back to her family.

---

"The Light of the World," by Elizabeth Alexander (2015)

Poet Elizabeth Alexander was widowed without warning when her husband, Ficre, died of a heart attack while exercising. "I just lost my husband," she writes in her memoir. "Lost implies we are looking, he might be found." As she travels her own path of mourning, she also becomes a guide to help her two sons through their own grief. Comfort arrives over shared dinners as they begin making meals that combine the spices of Eritrea - Ficre's homeland - with his imagination as a professional chef.

---

"Grief is the Thing with Feathers," by Max Porter (2015)

Porter's novel follows a father of two sons who has just lost his wife. The widower's desire for privacy puts him in conflict with those who want to comfort him. He looks at the "orbiting grievers" who descend for the funeral with an almost anthropological eye, dividing them into: "the overwhelmed, the affectedly lackadaisicals, the nothing so fars, the overstayers, the new best friends of hers, of mine, of the boys." And he wonders if they will leave him alone long enough to comprehend the "black space" of his own grief.

---

"All at Sea," by Decca Aitkenhead (2016)

Aitkenhead's partner Tony drowned while they were vacationing in Jamaica, leaving her to raise their two sons. In her book, she writes that the tragic nature of Tony's death - which was covered in the news - appears to prolong the amount of time that people remain interested in her story. To warrant their comfort, she feels she will be "obliged under the terms of some bizarre contractual barter to offer them the story in return." The alternative, she feels, would be to remain completely alone.

---

"Let Me Be Like Water," by S.K. Perry (2018)

In her debut novel, Perry explores the limitations of solo grief. The novel takes place in the year after 20-something Holly moves from London to Brighton following the death of her partner. She has sought isolation to avoid reminders of him but also feels lonely. She eventually finds a community of people who have all suffered significant loss and are at various stages of moving forward. They show her just how human her feelings really are.

---

Berry has written about books for the Guardian and Salon, among other outlets, and tweets at @BerryFLW.The Annotated Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant

Edited with an introduction by Elizabeth D. Samet

Liveright. 1,068 pp. $45

---

"The Annotated Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant," edited by Elizabeth D. Samet, is everything a work of popular scholarship should be: Authoritative, thorough and compulsively readable. Where many annotated editions come across as perfunctory and unimaginative, this one truly illuminates its text with an abundance of relevant historical, biographical and literary material. If you're at all interested in the Civil War, you'll want to own it.

For a first-time reader, the book consistently dispels several half-truths and myths. Back in the 1950s and '60s when I was growing up in Ohio, schoolchildren were regularly taught certain "facts" about the Civil War, notably that the Confederate general Robert E. Lee, wasn't only a superb military tactician but also the 19th-century equivalent of Chaucer's "parfit gentil knyght." We even learned the name of his horse: Traveller.

By contrast, Lee's Northern counterpart Ulysses S. Grant would typically be characterized as a drunk with a certain brute aptitude for command. This view James Thurber immortalized in his brilliant incursion into alternate history, "If Grant Had Been Drinking at Appomattox." In it, the soused and confused Union commander surrenders to Lee. No wonder old-time comedians regularly quipped "Who's buried in Grant's tomb?" The man was, in short, something of a joke.

Samet, a professor of English at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, utterly rejects this reductionist view of Grant as well as all the romantic hooey still surrounding Lee and the Confederacy. The so-called Lost Cause was, as Grant firmly declared, "unholy" and at its heart festered the immoral enslavement and exploitation of men, women and children.

"The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant" - as the two volumes were titled when they first appeared in 1885-86 - has long been regarded as a classic of American autobiography and history. Grant's many strengths as a writer include his seemingly total recall of complex military engagements, the avoidance of bluster and self-glorification and, not least, what Henry James called the "hard limpidity" of his style. Both Gertrude Stein and Gore Vidal - two very different writers - thought it, in Vidal's words, "the best American prose."Moreover, contrary to persistent legend, Mark Twain didn't ghost-write the memoirs. Samet points out that Grant's earliest letters and wartime memoranda consistently demonstrate his distinctive clarity and forcefulness.

Born in Ohio in 1822, the young Ulysses never showed any particular aptitude for a soldier's life. The sensitive son of a tanner and leather-goods merchant, the boy liked to read the romantic adventure fiction of Walter Scott and James Fenimore Cooper, as well as more lurid fare such as Eugene Sue's "The Wandering Jew." Admitted to West Point, Grant proved a middling student overall, though he excelled in drawing and mathematics. In fact, he dreamed of becoming a math teacher at a small college.

His military career began in earnest when he served under Zachary Taylor during the Mexican-American War (1846-48). In Grant's view, the high-handed American "invasion" of Mexico - part of so-called Manifest Destiny - was callously conceived by Southern politicians and was "from its inception ... a conspiracy to acquire territory out of which slave states might be formed," starting with Texas.

Grant's detailed account of this ignoble conflict reveals much about his character. The young second lieutenant forthrightly admits that before his first battle he was sorry he'd enlisted. While he and his men do act with courage and dispatch, he concludes that the Americans would have won the Battle of Resaca de la Palma even if his company hadn't been there. Above all, in "Old Rough and Ready" Taylor - who wore casual civilian clothes even when leading his army - Grant found a model for the kind of unassuming, ultra-competent general he himself would become.

Most of all, though, Mexico provided a testing ground for the men who would fight in the Civil War. Not only was Grant there, so was Lee, George McClellan, P.G.T. Beauregard and a dozen other important commanders. One often hears that from 1861 to 1865 brother might confront brother on the battlefield. Grant reminds us that the Civil War was also a struggle between former brothers in arms, soldiers who had been friends and West Point classmates. That intimate knowledge of his opposing generals' strengths and weaknesses would later help shape Grant's own tactics and campaigns.

The April 12, 1861, attack on Fort Sumter, which opened hostilities between the South and the North, occurs in Chapter 17 of the "Memoirs." Virtually all the rest of the book, which contains 79 chapters and a conclusion, focuses on Grant's experiences during the four subsequent years. Above all, we learn of his thinking and decision-making at Shiloh and Vicksburg, Chattanooga and Spotsylvania, as well as the strategy behind controversial operations, such as William Tecumseh Sherman's scorched-earth march from Atlanta to the sea.

There's no room here to look closely at Grant's accounts of numerous battles or to discuss the Civil War buff's perennial question: "What if?" But I want to re-emphasize how much this edition's notes enhance the main narrative. Besides providing maps and photographs, Samet draws on contemporary documents and the specialist work of many other researchers, including Margaret Leech, author of the classic "Reveille in Washington." Most originally, though, Samet cites a wide variety of literary works that provide additional insight and context for Grant's own observations. Besides classical authors such as Xenophon, Plutarch, Livy and Julius Caesar, she quotes, with often surprising appropriateness, passages from Shakespeare, Scott, Dickens, Tolstoy, World War I memoirists, Joseph Heller, Ta-Nehisi Coates and others.

So let me end as I began: "The Annotated Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant" is an outstanding example of thoughtful appreciation and long-considered scholarship. Still, a magisterial work - one that you will live in, learn from and regularly go back to - really ought to have an index.Three Laredo police officers have been indicted on aggravated assault charges in Austin, local authorities said Tuesday.

On Dec. 13, a grand jury in Travis County charged Investigator Pedro Escamilla and Officer Juan A. Leal Jr. with aggravated assault. Each is a seven-year veteran with the department.Congressional Republicans struggled Monday to find a way to persuade President Donald Trump to back off a public threat to shut down the government over border wall money, staying largely in the dark over the impasse that could halt pay for hundreds of thousands of federal workers by the end of the week.

At the White House, Trump has remained disinclined to support even stopgap measures that would keep federal government operations running for a week or two, told by his closest advisers that he would have even less leverage when Democrats take control of the House next month. Trump is also bolstered by support of rank-and-file Border Patrol agents, whose union leader told the president in a recent Oval Office conversation that they would back a wall-induced shutdown if it came to that point.

All that has left Republican lawmakers who are eager avoid a shutdown unsure whether Trump would ultimately come around to at least one option that would end the impasse before Friday. Without a resolution that the president could sign before midnight Friday, about 800,000 federal workers will be furloughed or be forced to work without pay in a partial shutdown that Trump has already - and proudly - claimed as his own.

"How are we going to get out of it? Well I think that should factor into people's calculations," said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, who has been publicly critical of Trump's decision to embrace shutdown tactics. "Because it's not going to get any better in January."

After a meeting of Senate Republican leaders Monday evening, Cornyn said that "if there is" a plan to avoid a shutdown, "I'm not aware of it."

Trump has told people around him that he is frustrated he does not have much leverage in the fight, and two presidential advisers said a shutdown was unlikely because there was no way the president could win. The current White House plan is to not shut down the government, both of these people said.

"He's not going to get $5 billion for the wall," one of these people said. "They can say on TV all they want that it's going to happen, but it's not going to happen."

The White House's legislative affairs team has devised a plan to keep the government open, two of the people said, even as administration officials such as senior adviser Stephen Miller are touting a hard-line position on immigration and threatening a shutdown on television.

House Republicans last week considered putting legislation on the floor that would offer $5 billion for a border wall as Trump has demanded. But Hill leadership eventually told the president that there were not enough votes to pass it, as two top Democrats had already told Trump in a remarkable Oval Office encounter last week.

Confident that they will skirt blame for any government shutdown, Democrats have become more hardened in their resolve to deny Trump the additional border security money that he called for in a string of weekend tweets. No substantive discussion has occurred between Democrats and Trump since last week's Oval Office meeting with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., although their respective staffs have continued to talk.

Pelosi, who is poised to take over the House speakership in about two weeks, and Schumer have offered the White House two options that they say can pass Congress: funding the one-quarter of the government at risk of a shutdown at current spending levels through the end of the fiscal year, or full funding for all the relevant federal agencies except the Department of Homeland Security, which would operate on a one-year "continuing resolution."

"His temper tantrum will get him a shutdown," Schumer said Monday. "But it will not get him the wall."

As the impasse continues, House Democrats have started drafting legislation to continue federal funding in the new year, when they officially take control, whether to reopen the government in the case of a shutdown or continue operations if the federal workforce was running on a short-term bill.

A shutdown after Friday would halt funding for the departments of Homeland Security, State, Treasury, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, and Commerce. Of the roughly 800,000 federal workers who would be affected, about 40 percent would be furloughed, while the rest are deemed essential and would have to report to work without pay.

"I don't think most people would see it or feel it," Cornyn said. "But it would eliminate certain critical functions at the Department of Homeland Security and elsewhere, which would hurt public safety."

Elsewhere, Trump is getting strong support for his confrontational tactics. In an interview Monday, Brandon Judd, the president of the National Border Patrol Council, said he and other officials from his union told Trump in a White House meeting last month that if Trump were prompted to shut down the government in a border wall standoff, the agents would stand behind him.

"We would support the president 100 percent if he were to force the government to shut down over wall funding," Judd said Monday. "We absolutely, 100 percent, know the importance of the wall."

Although Trump wasn't declarative about a shutdown in that Nov. 19 meeting, Judd recalled that Trump "appreciated" the input from the union, which represents about 15,000 Border Patrol agents, who could be forced to work without pay during a shutdown.

Senior Senate Republicans met in a series of meetings Monday in the office of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell but had very little insight as to what Trump would actually do - or sign.

Asked what kind of spending bill Trump would support, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., responded: "We don't know that."

A Monday evening meeting with McConnell and the senator from Kentucky's top deputies also yielded little, with senior Republicans unaware of where exactly the White House stands. During the meeting, McConnell told other GOP senators that he had no information, and - referring to the White House - said "we're waiting for them," according to a senator in attendance.

"What Republicans don't want to see is us being blamed," said the senator, who requested anonymity to discuss a closed-door meeting. For his part, McConnell, in a floor speech Monday, backed a "substantial investment in the integrity of our border" while also urging a "bipartisan agreement" to ensure government operations remain open beyond Friday.

Any substantive movement on government funding legislation seemed unlikely until at least Wednesday, when House lawmakers return to Washington. The Senate has no plans to take up a government spending measure before the House does, and pressure may begin to build on lawmakers and Trump only as Washington nears the Friday shutdown deadline.

"No Senate Republican wants to see a shutdown," Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the incoming Republican whip, said Monday evening. "Discussions are preliminary and premature, but there's - obviously, we have no intention of having a government shutdown."

- - -

The Washington Post's Karoun Demirjian contributed to this report.Google announced Monday that it will spend more than $1 billion to build a new office complex in New York City that will allow the internet search giant to double the number of people it employs there.

It is the tech industry's latest major expansion beyond the Seattle-San Francisco Bay corridor. It follows recent steps by Amazon and Apple to set up large operations well outside their home turf.

Tech companies are "coming to the realization that the Bay Area, which has traditionally been the major center of tech activity in the U.S., is getting expensive and crowded," said Andrew Bartels, principal analyst at Forrester Research.

"A lot of vendors are coming to the realization that 'We can probably find top talent elsewhere at a more affordable cost, and perhaps a better style of life for employees who may be struggling to make ends meet.'"

The Northeast is attractive because of its large concentration of highly educated young people. New York in particular also offers proximity to Wall Street and already has the second-biggest concentration of tech startups behind the Bay Area and a large base of tech employees, Bartels said. Facebook, based in Menlo Park, Calif., has more than 2,000 employees in New York.

Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., will fashion a complex of more than 1.7 million square feet along the Hudson River in the city's West Village neighborhood, Ruth Porat, senior vice president and chief financial officer, said in a blog post.

Google opened its first office in New York nearly 20 years ago and now employs 7,000 people in the city. Its footprint is expanding rapidly. Google said earlier this year that it would buy the Chelsea Market building for $2.4 billion and planned to lease more space at Pier 57, both along the Hudson about a mile north of the newly announced complex.

Porat telegraphed Google's plans to double down in New York a month ago during a technology conference.

"Not everybody  big surprise  wants to live in Silicon Valley, so we want to make sure we have the opportunity to build vibrant centers across the country," she said.

The news follows Seattle-based Amazon's announcement a month ago that it plans to set up new headquarters in New York's Long Island City neighborhood and in Arlington, Va., creating upwards of 25,000 jobs in each location.

But it's not just the East Coast that is benefiting from the expansion. Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., said last week that it plans to build a $1 billion campus in Austin, Texas, that will create at least 5,000 jobs.

Even as it looks elsewhere, Google is still buying offices and drawing up plans to construct new campuses near its headquarters as it tries to build upon its success in internet search, email, web browsers, digital mapping, online video and smartphone software to make money in other markets such as health care and internet-connected homes.

The company recently agreed to pay more than $100 million for a swath of land in San Jose, Calif., for a big new campus that will include employee housing.

Microsoft likewise is overhauling its headquarters in Redmond, Wash., with an 18-building construction project that will make room for an additional 8,000 workers. It currently employs about 47,000 in the area.

But the competition for programmers is driving salaries higher, which in turn is catapulting the average prices of homes in many parts of the San Francisco Bay Area above $1 million. Many high-tech workers are choosing to live elsewhere, forcing major tech companies to look in new places for the employees they need.

Google hopes to move into the new campus by 2020. Porat said that the company's most recent investments give it the ability to more than double the number of Google employees in New York over the next 10 years.U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said Tuesday that "Israel wants a peace agreement but it doesn't need one," signaling the Trump administration's embrace of Israel's security-centered approach that may not include a Palestinian state as it works to craft a Middle East peace plan.

Giving what is probably her final U.N. address on the Middle East before she leaves office this month, Haley said Palestinians would gain "far greater political control" under a peace agreement, but that phrase stops well short of pledges from previous U.S. administrations to support a sovereign Palestinian nation.

The promised White House peace plan, spearheaded by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser, has been repeatedly delayed and is now expected to be released in early 2019. Palestinians have boycotted meeting with U.S. envoys since Trump announced more than a year ago that the United States would recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.

Haley said she has read the plan, which has been kept secret from Israeli and Palestinian leaders as well as from Congress and U.S. allies. She urged U.N. members to keep an open mind, even as she criticized the world body as "hopelessly biased" against Israel.

Her brief remarks contained no specifics. But they still provided the clearest view of the framework that Trump's peace team has in mind, focused on Israel's security concerns while offering the Palestinians economic opportunity but an uncertain amount of self-determination.

All recent U.S.-backed peace efforts before the Trump administration have started from the premise that the goal was an independent Palestinian state.

Haley said the administration's plan starts from the assumption that "the Palestinians would benefit more, and the Israelis would risk more," from a settlement.

"Like the Israelis, they are a deservedly proud people," she said of the Palestinians. "They, too, do not need to accept a peace agreement at any price. But the condition of the Palestinian people is very different."

Haley then laid out the administration's case for the benefits the Palestinians could receive under a deal.

"What awaits the Palestinian people with a peace agreement are the prospects of a massive improvement in the quality of their lives and far greater control over their political future," she said. "It is time we faced a hard truth: Both sides would benefit greatly from a peace agreement, but the Palestinians would benefit more, and the Israelis would risk more."

Haley urged other nations - chiefly Arab and European states that have traditionally been part of peacemaking efforts - to support Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

She said the plan offers a "choice between a hopeful future that sheds the tired, old and unrealistic demands of the past, or a darker future that sticks with the proven failed talking points."

That was principally a reference to the Palestinian demands for a return of all land occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab wars, a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem and the return of Palestinians or their descendants to land that is now part of Israel.

Arab and European states have publicly backed those demands, which Haley suggested had given Palestinians false hope.

Haley has made support for Israel and criticism of what she calls international Israel-bashing a hallmark of her nearly two-year tenure as U.N. envoy. She is celebrated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and among conservative pro-Israel groups in the United States, a potential building block for a future Republican presidential run.

Haley has said she does not intend to be a candidate in 2020 and will campaign in support of President Trump's reelection campaign. The former South Carolina governor is widely considered a Republican rising star and a potential presidential candidate in 2024.

Haley announced in October that she would leave her post at the end of the year, meaning she will have no official role in the peace plan rollout next year. She departs the Trump administration with greater national and international stature, and without the political damage or legal peril that has characterized other high-profile administration departures.

Trump had said, in late September, that he planned to release the peace package within four months. The Trump administration hopes to reveal the plan and begin negotiations far ahead of Israeli elections, which are likely to take place before a November deadline next year.

Underscoring the urgency of peace talks, Nikolay Mladenov, the U.N. coordinator for the Middle East peace process, reported that violence has escalated in the past three months in the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank.

In all, 75 Palestinians and seven Israelis have been killed, Mladenov said. His assessment of the negative trends on the ground was bleak. He noted that Palestinians had celebrated the killing of Israelis and that Israelis had called for harsh measures in response to the violence.

He repeated traditional international goals for a peace deal, including a sovereign Palestinian state.

Speaking after Haley, Kuwaiti U.N. Ambassador Mansour al-Otaibi said Kuwait and other Arab countries would reject any proposal that did not include an independent Palestinian state and the right of return, neither of which are expected to be part of the U.S. peace plan.

He said Gaza and the West Bank have become more dangerous "due to crimes perpetrated by Israel, the occupying force." He called on Israel to end all "illegal and illegitimate settlement activity," including in East Jerusalem.

Eight European countries with permanent or temporary seats on the Security Council issued a statement calling for negotiations that bring about two sovereign nations based on the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as the future capital of both states.

"Any peace plan that fails to recognize these internationally agreed parameters would risk being condemned to failure," said the joint statement by Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Britain.

At the Security Council, the Europeans repeatedly mentioned their support for Resolution 2334, passed two years ago this month. It called settlements an obstacle to peace, and demanded an immediate halt to settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Obama administration abstained, so it passed on a vote of 14-0.

But several of the European envoys said they feared settlement construction was making the goal of a two-state solution slip away. Mladenov said plans to build 2,200 units had been advanced or approved in the last quarter of this year, most of them in East Jerusalem.

"We have neared the point of no return," said Francois Delattre, the French ambassador." Fractured territorial integrity is taking place before our eyes. The culmination of this process will spell the abandonment of national aspirations for Palestinians. For Israelis, it will spell the renunciation of the dramatic nature of the state of Israel. The fates of Israelis and Palestinians are entwined."When it comes to certain key global issues, the world has become used to a familiar pattern over the last two years: The United States against them all. It's the only country outside the Paris climate accord and it is one of the only nations opposed to a recent U.N. agreement on migration, as well.

More surprisingly, the United States has now taken its rebellion against the global consensus to issues not usually considered controversial.

In July, U.S. officials forced Ecuador to refrain from backing a resolution in support of breast-feeding, opposing decades of academic consensus. Instead, the United States sided with American infant formula producers. U.S. officials dropped their opposition only after Russia threw its weight behind the resolution.

On Monday in the U.N. General Assembly, the United States found itself once again isolated on the world stage on two matters that are essential to women's rights. It was the only country that opposed non-binding language in a draft resolution designed to tackle violence against girls and women as well as sexual harassment. It was also almost alone in its opposition to language used in another draft resolution against early and forced marriage - only the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru felt comfortable with being on Washington's side this time. (Nauru is most commonly associated with an Australian offshore migrant camp, where children and other refugees are being held under inhumane conditions, according to rights groups.)

In both cases, the United States' opposition on Monday was triggered by references to "sexual and reproductive health," which the U.S. delegation implied could "suggest the promotion of abortion or a right to abortion that are unacceptable to our administration," according to Reuters.

"We do not recognize abortion as a method of family planning, nor do we support abortion in our reproductive health assistance," the U.S. delegation stated in a prior intervention back in November, even though it emphasized that "the United States supports the condemnation of both sexual harassment and violence and assault against women."

While Monday's opposition in the U.N. General Assembly put the United States in an awkward position, its stance on the issue isn't new.

In one of his first moves after becoming president, Trump signed an executive order last year that banned U.S. assistance to any non-U.S. organization performing, promoting or providing information on abortion. As a result, health providers around the world - with many of them operating in remote areas where help is direly needed - were cut off from U.S. funding. The executive order also affects the large number of NGOs that treat a vast array of illnesses and offer abortions as just one of many health services.

While prior Republican U.S. presidents have similarly stopped overseas family-planning funds for abortions, the current executive order applies to all global health aid funding, which is almost 15 times higher than the budget previously impacted.

Trump's decision has already triggered uncertainty in aid-dependent nations, The Washington Post reported Oct. 18.

But it has also complicated international efforts to agree on broader human rights frameworks, as Monday's votes showed. While the United States was the only country opposed to language included in the resolution on violence against girls and women, it certainly wasn't the only government opposed to encouraging abortions.

Instead of putting the resolution into jeopardy, however, 31 other countries with the same view decided to abstain.

More on WorldViews:

How two angry protests sum up Europe's politics

Miss Spain makes history as first transgender woman to compete in Miss Universe pageant

'Please reach out to me': Thomas Markle appeals to Meghan and Queen Elizabeth in not-so-rare interviewIf you are hankering to be one among millions this holiday, do not bother with the shopping malls, just head to the airport, where nearly 46 million people will mix travel anxiety with Christmas anxiety and a tad of family-get-together anxiety to create a merry little stew of emotions.

The projected number of people who plan to fly between Thursday and Jan. 6 is up more than 5 percent from last year.

"That's an increase of about 126,000 passengers a day," said Nick Calio, CEO of the trade group Airlines for America.

With a daily average of more than 2.5 million people flying, those with the very most holiday spirit may enjoy travel on Thursday, Friday and Dec. 26, which figure to be the busiest days during the holiday period. (The lightest travel days are Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Jan. 5.)

After the busiest Thanksgiving air travel period on record, airlines have promised to work with the Transportation Security Administration to get people to their flights on schedule.

"This holiday season, we are expecting passenger volumes at airports to again be at record highs," TSA Administrator David Pekoske said. "We ask passengers to arrive earlier than usual, don't overpack carry-ons, be prepared to divest items at security checkpoints, listen to advisements from our officers, and most importantly - patience and understanding go a long way."

With those sentiments in mind, the group AirHelp, which bills itself as the world's leading flight compensation company, provided a list of protections that are available to passengers in the United States and other countries.

AirHelp, a for-profit organization that collects 25 percent of the compensation when its customers win claims, says globally, 2018 has been among the worst years when it comes to disrupted flights. Some of that is due to the weather, and some is the result of airline issues.

The company says one reason Americans suffer is that 90 percent of them do not know their rights well enough to complain effectively.

"You can always complain when an airline doesn't fulfill the service they've promised. Some might even take your feedback seriously and try to improve their service," AirHelp says in its "10 Commandments of Air Travel."

AirHelp also outlines the rights you have when your flight is overbooked.

"Selling more tickets for a flight than seats available is a common practice in the airline industry," the company says. "The airline cannot get away with offering you a food voucher as consolation. If you're bumped, and you don't volunteer to deplane or take another flight, you can be eligible for compensation of up to $1,350, depending on the value of your ticket fare and ultimate delay in arrival to your final destination."

AirHelp says that on domestic flights, passengers may be entitled to up to twice the cost of a one-way ticket if a flight arrives two hours late and up to $1,350 if it is more than two hours late.

Luggage is less likely to get lost in this era of automatic scanners, but should that happen, AirHelp points to a regulation called the Montreal Convention that says passengers are entitled to compensation if a bag goes astray or is damaged or delayed.

"If your luggage is damaged, make sure to file a report within seven days, and complaints for delayed luggage should be filed within 21 days," AirHelp says. "Make sure to always hold onto your receipts, because you can be reimbursed for anything that was lost or damaged that you needed for your trip. For example, if you have to buy a suit for an important meeting, you can get reimbursed for the suit so you can replace it."

AirHelp says fliers don't need to leave their pets behind, but they should check with their airline so they know exactly what the current rules are, and they vary from one airline to the next.

"For example, some airlines only allow assistance or guide dogs to travel in the cabin," AirHelp says. "Others base their fees on your pet's size and weight, plus their carrier's measurements. When making the decision of whether to bring your pet along, you should consider: the size of your pet; the pet carrier; pet/dog carrier fees; the temperament of your four-legged friend; and the airline's overhead bin space availability."Tributes are pouring in for a young Polish man whose sudden passing has touched the local community.

Grzegorz Dolgozsyja, affectionately known as Greg among his friends, died suddenly only a couple of days after returning home to Poland where he would spend Christmas with his family.

The 34-year-old had been working in Kelleher's Spar on Longford Main Street for several years and was something of a technology expert.

The young Polish man was hugely popular with customers and hundreds of locals took the time to sign the book of condolences in Kelleher's Spar yesterday and so far today.

Jim Kelleher intends to send the book to Poland so that family and friends will see the enormous and heartfelt impact this young man had on so many lives in a faraway shore.

In a touching tribute to Greg, Kelleher's posted the following statement on social media:

"It is with deep sadness to hear of the loss of our friend Greg. We wish to extend our deepest sympathies to Greg's family and friends. There will be a book of condolences in Kelleher's Spar, Main Street Longford this Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th December as a mark of our love and respect for this young man. Rest in peace Greg. Miss you."

Cllr Joe Flaherty has also paid tribute to the young Polish man: "He had an infectious smile and was hugely popular with the local community and I know his work colleagues and boss, Jim Kelleher, are distraught at the news.

"We have a large and vibrant Polish community in Longford and Greg was one of the mainstays of that community. He had exceptionally good English and was regularly called on by local offices or companies to help with translating. Nothing was every a difficulty for Greg."

Away from work, one of Greg's great interests was paint-balling and he had several of his paint ball friends and enthusiasts featured in one of the videos for the recent Sean Connolly's GAA Club OsKars night.

The book of condolences will be available to sign in Kelleher's Spar today for any members of the public who would like to pay tribute to the young Polish man.Pupils in Scoil Mhuire, Clondra, are this week celebrating as the judges of a leading national art competition have named them as County Winners in both the Junior and Senior category respectively, placing them in the running for what has become a much sought-after national title.

The competition, which is entitled Someone Like Me, is supported by the National Disability Authority.

It aims to promote disability awareness and nurture understanding amongst primary school students and to highlight the similarities that exist within people of all abilities.

Now an annual initiative, Someone Like Me promotes inclusion and positive attitudes towards all persons, allowing children to learn about and discuss these topics and creatively express what they have learned through art and craft.

The Junior County Winner is Tony McDonnell, Senior Infants Scoil Mhuire Clondra whose drawing highlighted that everyone is special even if they are different.

Class teacher Colette McManus assisted in the submission.

The Senior County Winner was from pupil Emma Regan, 6th class Scoil Mhuire Clondra whose drawing emphasised the variety of activities that people with disabilities can participate in.

Class teacher Fiona Reilly assisted in the submission.

The judges, Caomhan Mac Con Iomaire, Mark Maguire and Ellen Keane, were greatly impressed with the artistic efforts of pupils and teachers at Scoil Mhuire Clondra for their imaginative Someone Like Me submissions which were selected for being exceptionally insightful and inspirational.

Scoil Mhuire Clondra will now go on to compete with 45 other schools from around the country for the overall national 'Someone Like Me' award which will be announced by the Minister for State with special responsibility for Disabilities, Finian McGrath TD at a ceremony at Dublin City Hall.

The competition, which offers a range of prizes up to the value of 750 was open to all primary school pupils from junior infants to sixth class and 2,400 entries were received from individual pupils, class groups and whole schools right across Ireland.

Entries ranged from posters and collages to large sculptural installations and multi-media pieces.Music, Movies & Entertainment, Local News, Arts & Culture, Press Releases

By Tom Needham Published: December 18 2018

The directors of Islam & the Future of Tolerance, Jay Shapiro and Desh Amila, are Tom Needhams guests on The Sounds of Film.

Stony Brook, NY - December 18, 2018 - Jay Shapiro and Desh Amila, the directors of a new film featuring Sam Harris and Maajid Nawaz called Islam & The Future of Islam, are Tom Needhams exclusive guests this Thursday at 6 pm on Jay Shapiro and Desh Amila, the directors of a new film featuring Sam Harris and Maajid Nawaz called Islam & The Future of Islam, are Tom Needhams exclusive guests this Thursday at 6 pm on WUSBs The Sounds of Film.

Islam & The Future of Islam tells the story of prominent atheist philosopher Sam Harris and Islamist-turned-liberal-Muslim Maajid Nawaz. After publicly fighting over the idea of Islamic reform in the Muslim world, they decided to reunite several years later in order to have an honest and thoughtful conversation about the topic. Through their discussion, they attempt to examine their disagreements about troubling passages from the Quran, the importance of precise language, and the dangers of this current politically correct environment. The film emphasizes the importance of conversation and tolerance when dealing with difficult modern issues.

Sam Harris is a popular author and the host of the Waking Up podcast. His work frequently touches on topics like free will, neuroscience and artificial intelligence. He is the author of The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, and Free Will.

Maajid Nawaz is a British activist, author, columnist, and broadcaster. He is the founding chairman of Quilliam, a think tank that challenges the ideas of Islamist extremism. His work is informed by years spent in his youth as a leadership member of a global Islamic group, and his gradual transformation toward liberal democratic values. Maajids autobiographical account of his life, RADICAL is available in the UK and US.

About the Sounds of FilmLocal News, Business & Finance, Health & Wellness, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: December 18 2018

The NSWCA is an organization comprised of water commissioners from 21 Nassau County and Suffolk County water districts.

Huntington Station, NY - December 18, 2018 - Long Island water commissioners who have been newly elected or re-elected by Long Island voters are either being welcomed or welcomed back to the Nassau Suffolk Water Commissioners Association (NSWCA), an organization comprised of water commissioners from 21 Nassau County and Suffolk County water districts that is dedicated to communication, efficiency and best practices for the betterment of our regions water and its consumers. Each newly elected or re-elected commissioner will serve a three-year term beginning January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2021.

There are three water district commissioner positions in each district. District residents vote for one of the three commissioner positions each year. Due to the passing or resignation of commissioners in 2018, the Locust Valley Water District and the Westbury Water District had elections for more than one commissioner seat.

NSWCA First Vice President and Oyster Bay Water District Commissioner Michael F. Rich III commented on the election results. With the election process being hyper-local and so close to the community, the vote of each individual truly counts, he said. I am extremely pleased to welcome both our new colleagues and returning colleagues to NSWCA. Commissioner-run water districts enable all registered residents to express their personal preferences for the men and women of their choice at the ballot box through the voting process. It also helps ensure that present day economic goals as well as longer term goals such as conservation, sustainability and aquifer health are truly reflective of the mindset of all 21 communities.

The NSWCA congratulates the following Long Island water district new elected and re-elected commissioners on their three-year term election, who are pictured in the following photo collage:



Photo Credit: NSWCA



(From left to right top row):

(From left to right bottom row):

*Not pictured are re-elect Bernard McCabe of Glenwood Water District, and new elect Francis J. Flood of Massapequa Water District.

About Nassau-Suffolk Water Commissioners Association (NSWCA)School & Education, Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: December 18 2018

Supervisor Lupinacci earned his Bachelors Degree in Political Science from Hofstra University, graduating Summa Cum Laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Carle Place, NY - December 18, 2018 - Town Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci was honored with a Distinguished Service Award by Hofstra Universitys George M. Estabrook Alumni Association at Chateau Briand in Huntington Town Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci was honored with a Distinguished Service Award by Hofstra Universitys George M. Estabrook Alumni Association at Chateau Briand in Carle Place on Sunday, December 16.

My career trajectory has been profoundly influenced by the opportunities afforded to me as a student at Hofstra Univserity and now as an adjunct professor. I incorporate aspects of my role in government in the classroom when I am teaching and every semester I have welcomed former students to intern in my office, so the teaching continues outside of the classroom, said Supervisor Lupinacci in his acceptance speech. I am a believer that the mark of any society is its educational system and the belief that the education of the next generation is the primary responsibility of the generation then governing. Thank you again for this great honor.

Supervisor Lupinacci earned his Bachelors Degree in Political Science from Hofstra University, graduating Summa Cum Laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. As an undergraduate, he held internships in both the offices of Assemblyman James D. Conte and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Lupinacci earned his MBA in Business Administration from the Zarb School of Business and his Juris Doctor from the Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. Throughout his years in elected office, Lupinacci has continued to teach college courses as an adjunct professor at SUNY Farmingdale, St. Josephs College and Hofstra University.GE has struggled in recent years as it seeks to restructure. The company, which posted a loss of $22.8 billion in the third quarter, ousted its previous CEO this fall after just over a year on the job, and it faces a federal accounting probe, among other challenges.Ambitious grillers will really enjoy the stuffed and rolled boneless lamb cooked over a charcoal fire or on a gas grill with wood chips added to create some smoke. I like cherry or apple wood with this recipe. Place a drip pan on the bottom of the grill to catch the juices and arrange the hot coals on two sides of the grill for indirect cooking. If grilling with gas, simply turn off the burners directly under the meat. Use an oven thermometer in the grill to maintain a steady grill temperature of 350 degrees. If you monitor the coals or the gas to maintain the grill temperature, the cooking time will be about the same. I plan an extra 30 minutes of wiggle time when it is super cold outside.Jaclyn Corin, a student who survived the shooting massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida last February, has been accepted into Harvard.

Corin took to Twitter last week to share a photo of her acceptance message from Harvard. HARD WORK PAYS OFF, she wrote.

Corin survived the shooting on Feb. 14, 2018 that left 17 others dead. Since then, she and other students created the March for Our Lives movement that spread across the country. The gun-reform campaign manifested in a number of enormous, student-led marches across the country last March, including in Boston and Massachusetts.

Corin and fellow student survivors, including David Hogg, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas have recently traveled to various countries to promote voting and gun reform. Last month the group received a Childrens Peace Prize in South Africa from Desmond Tutu, a human rights activist and Anglican cleric known for his work against apartheid.The man who caused the crash that killed Somerville Police Officer Louis Remigio last year was sentenced to seven to 14 years in prison.

Nineteen-year-old Michael Ricci, of Burlington, was sentenced in Rockingham Superior Court on Monday, more than a year after he drove a Mercedes-Benz the wrong way on a lane on I-95 in New Hampshire and fatally struck Remigio, of Tewksbury, who was off-duty and riding his motorcycle at the time. Prosecutors said Ricci was racing on the highway at the time of the crash on Oct. 8, 2017.

Ricci pleaded guilty to multiple charges on Oct. 4, according to WHDH, including a single count of negligent homicide, two counts of second-degree assault and a count of reckless conduct.

I understand the incredible loss and pain, and I accept the responsibility for my error in judgment that day. If I could go back in time and change things, I would do that. I would do that so Mr. Remigio would still be here, Ricci said Monday, addressing the court, according to reporting by WHDH.

Remigio was a 30-year police veteran and received multiple honors throughout his career, including two Life-Saving awards, a Meritorious service award, a Beyond the Call of Duty Award and several commendations. He was a single father after his wife Amy passed away in 2016, and left behind two daughters, Danielle and Ali Remigio.

In an impact statement given in court and broadcast by WMUR, the daughters said they were angry with the case and plea deal.

Some days, I feel like not only was my father taken from me, but so was my happiness, Ali Remigio said. She added that her father will never walk her down the aisle or dance with her at her wedding. He wont get to meet his grandchildren and be called vavo.SPRINGFIELD  Live in Springfields North End and you might not have a place to cash your paycheck or open a savings account.

We dont have a bank, said Jose Claudio, chief operating officer of the New North Citizens Council in Springfield. There are a lot of barriers. Barriers to jobs. Barriers to budgeting money properly.

With its newly launched Live Mutual initiative, MassMutual and the MassMutual Foundation want to help partners in the North End  and eventually in Mason Square and downtown  address a lack of access to financial resources and offer education in handling money, and to improve or create public spaces for education, collaboration and celebrations.

MassMutual and its foundation have for years supported causes in the cities where the company does business, said Dennis Duquette, MassMutual head of community responsibility and president of the MassMutual Foundation. MassMutual and the MassMutual Foundation invest more than $20 million annually in charitable contributions in Massachusetts and throughout the U.S.

Duquette said he doesnt yet know how much money MassMutual will put into projects specifically linked to Live Mutual.

(Live Mutual) is more of a strategic collaborative approach, Duquette said. We are going to become partners with the community.

The idea is to get community members working with MassMutual, which was founded here in 1851 and has about 3,000 employees in the city today, and with service providers, community organizations and national experts.

Duquette spoke Tuesday at a gathering MassMutual hosted with civic leaders at the Community Music School to mark the launch of the program.

Besides Springfield, MassMutual is starting Live Mutual in Memphis, Tennessee, focusing on a neighborhood hard hit by predatory home lending.

MassMutual has brought in help from national experts at the Center for Financial Services Innovation, which describes itself as an expert on consumer financial health, and Project for Public Spaces, a nonprofit planning, design and educational organization dedicated to helping people create and sustain public spaces that build stronger communities.

Locally, MassMutuals partners include Baystate Health, Way Finders and the New North Citizens Council.

Duquette said Live Mutual wont take resources away from causes MassMutual and its foundation already support.

Mutuality is all around us. You just need to look. Every day, people are going out of their way to look out for others. Its easy to miss these stories, thats why we set out to tell them. #LiveMutual  MassMutual (@massmutual) November 26, 2018

Claudio said he looks forward to the collaborative approach to problem solving.

Poverty shouldnt be a thing that keeps you down, he said. Poverty should be a thing you rise up from.Roger Stone, a longtime GOP consultant and former adviser to President Donald Trump, has settled a defamation suit that sought $100 million in damages over false online statements he published on InfoWars.com.

In lieu of paying damages, Stone will admit to making false statements on the far-right website; post retractions online; and run ads in newspapers apologizing for making defamatory statements about Chinese businessman Guo Wengui, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Stone had called the exiled Chinese businessman a turncoat criminal who is convicted of crimes here and in China. Further, Stone accused Guo of violating U.S. election laws by making political donations to Hillary Clinton and funding a presidential bid by Steve Bannon, according to the lawsuit.

Guo has criticized high-level corruption in China and applied for asylum in the U.S.

Stone texted The Wall Street Journal that his actions were irresponsible.

In a statement sent to The Washington Post, Stone blamed the falsehoods on Sam Nunberg, a former Trump aide, who fed him information that came from Bruno Wu, a Chinese-American businessman whom Guo has accused of being a Chinese spy.

Stones actions during the 2016 presidential election are being investigated by special counsel Robert Muellers probe into Russian interference on behalf of the Trump campaign.

Although he claimed in October 2016 to having back-channel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Stone has since insisted he had no warning that WikiLeaks would be releasing hacked Democratic National Committee emails and did not relay that information to Trump.Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Bakers economic development chief, Jay Ash, is leaving the administration as Team Baker gears up for a second four-year term.

In nearly four years on the job, Ash was a key figure in the administration and one of its public faces in cities and towns across the state, often posting selfies with local officials on Twitter while promoting initiatives. He also displayed an affinity for frappes as he traveled from community to community.

In a release announcing Ashs departure, Baker administration officials did not say where he was headed next, but the Boston Globe reported he is considered the frontrunner for the top executive job at the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, a nonprofit supported by CEOs of the states largest businesses.

Mike Kennealy, the current assistant secretary for business growth, is scheduled to be sworn in as the new secretary of housing and economic development on Friday, Dec. 28.

From day one, Jay has worked tirelessly with members of the Legislature, local officials and private companies to enhance economic development, housing and the life sciences industry in Massachusetts, Baker said in a statement.

Baker pointed to the reduction in the number of homeless families living in hotels and motels, to about 40 from over 1,500, as one of Ashs signature accomplishments.

Ash played a key role in helping draw the Pawtucket Red Sox to Worcester, backing the redevelopment of the citys Canal District with $35 million in infrastructure and affordable housing funds. He also worked to provide $12.5 million in state funds to the Berkshire Innovation Center, which will focus on life sciences in Pittsfield.

He was also part of the states pursuit of General Electric when the conglomerate was weighing where to put its world headquarters. The former Connecticut-based company ultimately chose to site its offices in Bostons Seaport District.

An October 2015 email exchange between Ash and a GE vice president at the time offers an example of Ashs gregarious demeanor. According to documents released to MassLive through a public records request, Ash emailed Ann Klee asking, Need/want anything from us?

Klee said they enjoyed a team visit to Boston weeks earlier, but she said she was mortified that the GE team was late to a get-together at the North End restaurant Tresca. They had kept Gov. Baker, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and UMass President Marty Meehan waiting.

Actually waiting at the restaurant turned into a great opportunity for all of us to hang on the sidewalk and bond, Ash responded. Had a barrel fire been near, we might have all started crooning.

Ash is a former manager of Chelsea, a city north of Boston.

He is the latest Baker administration official to depart as the governor prepares for the second term.

Dan Bennett, who served as public safety chief since 2015, was replaced by Thomas Turco, commissioner of the state Department of Correction. Others, like transportation chief Stephanie Pollack, have signaled their intent to stay in their jobs.

It was an honor to visit over 200 cities and towns over the last four years, Ash said in his own statement. I have been energized and inspired by the ingenuity and tenacity of our municipal, community and business leaders, and I am grateful to Governor Baker and Lieutenant Governor [Karyn] Polito for asking me to serve in this capacity.

Kennealy, the incoming secretary, worked in private equity and as special adviser to the state-appointed superintendent/receiver of the Lawrence Public Schools. He is a Lexington resident.A federal judge moved Tuesday to delay sentencing for President Donald Trumps former national security adviser, who has pleaded guilty to charges brought as part of Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan granted a request from Flynns attorneys to postpone sentencing so the former Trump administration official can continue cooperating with federal investigators.

The delay came after the judge -- who argued that Flynn had sold (his) country out -- officially accepted Flynns guilty plea, various news outlets have reported.

Although Sullivan called Flynns offense very serious, he noted that the court would consider his assistance to Mueller, the Washington Post reported. Special Counsel Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack told Sullivan that it remains a possibility that Flynn is still cooperating with the government.

Mueller had asked earlier this month that Flynn not receive any jail time and recommended a light sentence due to his substantial assistance in ongoing investigations over the past year.

Flynns attorneys had also asked that their client face no prison time due to his early cooperation with the special counsel, but suggested that the former national security adviser may have been tricked into lying to the FBI as he was not warned that it was a crime -- an assertion Mueller pushed back on in subsequent court filings.

Flynn, under questioning from the federal judge, acknowledged in court that he knew lying to the FBI was a crime when he did so, The Washington Post reported.

The former national security adviser pleaded guilty in federal court last December to one count of willfully and knowingly making false, fictitious and fraudulent statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition.

The special counsels office alleged that Flynn lied when telling investigators that he did not ask Kislyak to refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions then-President Barack Obama had announced against Russia for election-related hacking.

Flynn also reportedly lied when he said he did not ask the ambassador to delay or defeat a related United Nations Security Counsel resolution, Muellers office contended.

The special counsel detailed those allegations in a January 2017 FBI memo his office filed with the court ahead of Flynns sentencing hearing. The heavily redacted document reflected FBI agents' interview with the former national security adviser.

Ahead of Flynns Tuesday court appearance, Trump wished his former national security adviser good luck.

Good luck today in court to Gen. Michael Flynn, he tweeted. Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him about Russian collusion in our great and obviously highly successful political campaign. There was no collusion!"

Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn. Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2018

Flynn left his position as Trumps national security adviser just weeks into the Republicans term after reportedly misleading Vice President Mike Pence about his phone call with Kislyak.

Then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates warned administration officials at the time that Flynn could have been compromised or black mailed.

Flynns court appearance came just days after Trumps former personal attorney Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison on charges brought as part of Muellers investigation.

An associate of the former national security adviser, meanwhile, reportedly pleaded not guilty in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, Tuesday to charges of illegally lobbying for a U.S.-based Turkish dissidents extradition.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.BOSTON  A new coalition will launch Tuesday to push lawmakers to provide more money for public education.

Were basically just calling on legislators to keep their promise to cherish our public schools and fund them adequately, said Lisa Guisbond, executive director of Citizens for Public Schools, an advocacy group founded to support public K-12 education.

The coalition, which is planning a Tuesday event at the Statehouse, will be asking for more funding of both the K-12 system and public colleges and universities this year. This campaign will be called Fund our Future.

A 2015 report found that Massachusetts is significantly underfunding its public schools by not accurately accounting for the costs of special education and employee health benefits, among other things.

Lawmakers last summer were on the verge of adding hundreds of millions of dollars more into the school funding formula, but talks between the House and the Senate over exactly how to do that fell apart at the last minute.

Some cities have been talking about suing the state to force an update of the funding formula.

The debate over education funding is expected to be renewed when the Legislature returns in January.

The group also wants more money for the states public colleges and universities so that tuition and fees stop rising and students can graduate with less debt.

A 2014 report by a commission on higher education finance identified uneven and below average state funding as one problem facing the states public colleges.

The new coalition will include groups representing students, parents, educators and community leaders. These include Jobs with Justice, the Boston Teachers Union, PHENOM, the American Federation of Teachers in Massachusetts and others.

Guisbond said the group will eventually get behind a piece of legislation. For now, they are not proposing a specific funding amount, formula or funding source.

Were making a clear, simple case that students, parents, educators and community people cant wait anymore, Guisbond said. Its a crisis.

Guisbond said at stake are things like class sizes and funding for librarians, social workers and all the things our students need to be successful and learn.

But the educators could face opposition from businesses, who do not want to pay higher taxes without being assured of better results.

The Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, a business-backed advocacy group, has called on lawmakers to resist writing a blank check for education spending. The group, in a statement, stressed the need to reform the education system rather than simply add more money.

The businesses said lawmakers should set higher targets for student improvement and try to close the racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps. The businesses wrote that it is problematic that only 37 percent of Massachusetts ninth graders go on to complete a post-secondary degree, since most jobs today require a college or other post-secondary degree.

The group called for lawmakers to set aside money to spur school innovation to close the achievement gap and increase student readiness for college and careers. It also called on the state to develop opportunities for students to get work experience and obtain the credentials needed to work.

The solution is not just more funding, the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education wrote. How the money is spent matters.

Signers of that statement include Associated Industries of Massachusetts; chambers of commerce in Boston, Springfield, Worcester, the Berkshires and elsewhere; Springfield Business Leaders for Education; Massachusetts Competitive Partnership; and technology-related trade associations.SPRINGFIELD  Mayor Domenic J. Sarno on Tuesday vetoed an ordinance that would create Springfield as a welcoming community for all immigrants regardless of their legal status, saying the law would trigger unbudgeted financial and legal challenges for the city.

The 13-member City Council, which passed the ordinance by a 10-3 vote on Monday, could consider an override of the mayors veto in January. An override would need at least nine votes, a two-thirds majority, to override the veto.

Sarno reissued a statement that the ordinance would create Springfield as a sanctuary city and would create financial and legal challenges to our schools, health, housing and police departments.

Recently, in Forbes Magazine, it was stated that All told, Americans cross-subsidize health care for unauthorized immigrants to the tune of $18.5 billion a year, and 'Federal taxpayers provided $11.2 billion in subsidized care to unauthorized immigrants in 2016, Sarno said.

City councilors and supporters of the ordinance deny the mayors claim that it would create a sanctuary city and deny it will create any significant cost to the city. The councilors say the law justly welcomes all people.

The ordinance states in part that city officials including police and other city employees shall not question persons they encounter about their immigration status unless such inquiry is required by state or federal law or to provide a public benefit. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the Springfield Police department from using other investigatory tools to establish information about a suspect of a crime.

In addition, it states that a city official shall not target with legal action or discriminate against a medical, educational, or faith institution in their mission of providing refuge to immigrants and their families.

Sarno said that in speaking with Police Commissioner John Barbieri, Barbieri stated there are examples of some circumstances/investigations that might result in a municipal police department inquiring as to immigration status.

Sarno quoted Barbieri as saying those incidents might be persons that have been convicted of serious crimes, resulting in deportation and are later discovered in Springfield, criminally organized gangs, human trafficking, drug trafficking, fraud and identify theft.

The organization March for Our Lives: Springfield, in a press release Tuesday, praised the council for its vote, saying that when it passed, you heard laughter. Joy. Happiness. The sight of an unbearable weight being lifted from peoples shoulders. The group vowed to continue the fight for the local law.

Councilors voting for the ordinance were Adam Gomez, Justin Hurst, Tracye Whitfield, Timothy Ryan, Jesse Lederman, Michael Fenton, Melvin Edwards, E. Henry Twiggs, Marcus Williams, and council President Orlando Ramos.

Councilors opposed were Kenneth Shea, Kateri Walsh and Timothy Allen.In a poor neighborhood in New Bedford, a heavily Hispanic area where residents have little education and high unemployment, the average person will die at 68.1 years old.

In a white, wealthy neighborhood in Newton, where people are well-educated and most are working, the average resident will live until 94.2.

The vast difference in life expectancy is not coincidental.

The conditions in peoples lives are really what impact their health, said Cheryl Bartlett, CEO of the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center.

The Associated Press on Tuesday released data on life expectancy at birth, by census tract, as of 2015. The APs analysis of data from the National Center for Health Statistics shows massive variations and points clearly to some of the societal factors, often referred to as social determinants, that affect how long a person lives.

I think its generally understood that factors that we lump together under social determinants of health probably have the largest impact, and it relates to health behaviors and your living situation, said John McDonough, professor of public health practice at Harvards T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Massachusetts, a generally wealthy and educated state with good access to health care, has the sixth-highest life expectancy in the country: 80.7 years, compared to the national average of 78.7 percent. In the state with the highest life expectancy, Hawaii, the average person lives until age 82.

Map by Greg Saulmon / The Republican  Source: AP / National Center for Health Statistics The map above shows how life expectancy in Massachusetts census tracts compare to the national average. Tap or hover your cursor over a shape to see the tract number, county and additional data. Enter a city, town or street name in the search field to zoom to that area. White outlines show city and town borders. Some tracts are not included because populations were too low or standard errors for the estimates were too high.

But there are major variations within Massachusetts.

The New Bedford census tract that has the lowest life expectancy in the state is an 18-block area of 2,264 residents. Of those residents, 45.2 percent did not finish high school, 7.3 percent had no health insurance and 13.1 percent were unemployed, according to 2015 U.S. Census data. The population was split between whites and Hispanics. The median income was just above $32,000.

In the Newton neighborhood with the highest life expectancy, only 1.1 percent of the nearly 6,000 residents did not finish high school, 1.9 percent had no health insurance and 2.7 percent were unemployed. The neighborhood was mostly white, and the median income was $101,000.

Similar trends exist throughout the state.

The two census tracts with the second- and third-lowest life expectancies were in New Bedford and Fall River, struggling cities in southeastern Massachusetts that were hurt by the loss of manufacturing jobs.

Among the other 10 census tracts with the lowest life expectancies in the state  71.8 or lower  the median income in each was less than $31,000. Most had unemployment rates above the state average, often in the double digits. Levels of education were low and many residents lacked health insurance.

Bartlett said the latest assessments of public health around New Bedford and Fall River showed high rates of poverty and a huge percentage of students who drop out of high school. The area has many immigrants who do not speak English, which limits their work opportunities. Many residents do not own cars.

New Bedfords major commercial fishing port provides jobs  but many of the areas former manufacturing jobs no longer exist.

A lot of people are day wage earners or hourly wage earners, Bartlett said. They cant take time off to go for medical appointments. To think about people then investing their time and money into health-promoting activities is highly unlikely.

Chart by Greg Saulmon / The Republican  Source: AP / National Center for Health Statistics The chart above shows the relationship in Massachusetts census tracts between life expectancy at birth (y axis) and two variables: median income (x axis), and the percent of the population that did not finish high school (dot size). A national analysis by the Associated Press found that an increase of $10,000 in median income translates to a gain of half a year of life, while an increase of 10 percentage points in residents who do not finish high school translates to a loss of 10 months. Each dot represents one census tract. Use the slider in the lower right to filter tracts by the percentage of residents who did not finish high school.

In Springfield, the lowest life expectancies  between 70 and 74 years  were in the Metro Center, Bay and Pine Point neighborhoods. The highest life expectancies  over 81 years  were in Forest Park and the Outer Belt area of Sixteen Acres.

The median income in the Metro Center tract with the citys lowest life expectancy was $12,325. In the Forest Park tract with the highest life expectancy, it was $57,734.

Helen Caulton-Harris, the citys commissioner of health and human services, said low income levels appear to be a key factor in neighborhoods with the lowest life expectancies.

The Massachusetts districts with the highest life expectancies, after Newton, are a census tract including the rural hilltowns of Plainfield, Cummington and Middlefield, and another one that covers the tony Boston suburb of Lincoln.

Of the 10 census tracts with the highest life expectancies in Massachusetts  at least 88.9 years  eight have a median income of over $100,000, and all have unemployment rates under 4 percent. The percentage of the population without a high school degree in these areas tends to be in the low single digits, and almost all residents have health insurance.

McDonough said generally, education is a major factor in life expectancy, since people who are better educated tend to earn more money and be better able to take care of themselves and their families. For example, someone can afford a house in a healthy environment, where there is safe air and water, parks, no lead in the housing stock and a lower violent crime rate. They are more easily able to buy healthy food like fresh fruits and vegetables and take time to exercise. Stress also affects lifespan, as does access to medical treatment.

In any state in the country, and in any nation around the globe, and among nations, you have variation, McDonough said. The question is understanding whats behind the variation and what are the factors that are particularly important.

Brian Rosman, director of policy and government relations for the health care advocacy group Health Care for All, said Massachusetts is fortunate that medical care is available statewide, and 97 percent of residents have health insurance.

But theres still major differences in Massachusetts between poverty levels, access to adequate housing, access to adequate exercise and opportunities for nutritious food, Rosman said. And these differences result in very different health outcomes.

Rosman said the challenge for state officials is to figure out how to address social determinants of health. MassHealth recently got permission from the federal government to use Medicaid money to help patients with housing and nutritional needs.

For people to be healthy, they need to have the ability to go to doctors, go to hospitals, get immunizations, get prescription drugs, but they also need to have a life with less stress, to have good employment opportunities, to have good schools, access to good food and housing, recreational opportunities, less alcohol, less tobacco, Rosman said. These are a lot more complicated than giving people doctors and nurses and hospitals."

Greg Saulmon and Peter Goonan of The Republican contributed to this story.Pete isnt just dressing up R2-D2 action figures like pimps and calling himself an artist, said Brian Flynn, Super7 founder. A lot of people doing action figures go for easy references and leave it there, and there are a lot of people making action figures. But only a handful make a living on this. Pete does because hes evolving away from references. He was the first of these guys to invent new characters. I think of him now like a painter who started out influenced  in Gorals case, by G.I. Joe figures and Kenners old Star Wars line  then came into his own, to the point you no longer recognize references.EASTHAMPTON -- With the state giving the green light for the INSA medical marijuana dispensary to begin recreational cannabis sales, city officials are preparing for a large influx of visitors.

On Monday, I.N.S.A. Inc. received final authorization from the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission to open for adult use sales after a standard three-day waiting period.

Even though INSA could open as early as Friday, CEO Mark Zatyrka said he is hoping to shoot for Saturday, but waiting for final confirmation from the state.

Easthampton Police Chief Robert Alberti said Tuesday that he was putting together the department's weekend staffing plan based on the assumption the store will be open.

Alberti, citing his conversations with INSA officials, said he expects the store to be open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.

An aide to Mayor Nicole LaChapelle posted what he called a "press release" to Facebook Monday, describing the city's plans.

Police will direct traffic on Pleasant and Ferry streets to the parking lot behind the Keystone Mill at 122 Pleasant St., where INSA runs its dispensary. A traffic flow map will be distributed, instructing people to enter from Pleasant Street.

Neighbors close to the dispensary have been sent a mailing, mayoral aide Alan Wolf said in a press release.

He said LaChapelle has been meeting with INSA and city department heads since January to plan for opening day, and that those meetings will continue "to review and assess the impact on city resources."

"The Mayor has made clear that response to INSA's opening must be quick and responsive to concerns. INSA has been a very cooperative partner in this planning process. The Mayor has a full expectation that their cooperation will continue forward, knowing that adjustments to these plans will be made as often as necessary," Wolf wrote.

Wolf's press release included a prepared statement from LaChapelle.

"I have been carefully planning for retail cannabis since I took office, with the goal of making sure the people of Easthampton know what to expect, and that opening day is a safe and secure experience for everyone, balancing the least possible amount of disruption to life in Easthampton, while welcoming new growth to the city," the mayor said.HARDWICK - The art of local beer making has arrived in the Gilbertville village here.

Lost Towns Brewing opened its doors for the first time on Sunday to the delight of a roomful of patrons who were the first to purchase and taste the brand.

The business, located at 483 Main St., the former Czabaj's market, was named after the four Massachusetts towns -- Dana, Prescott, Greenwich and Enfield -- that were dissolved in the 1930s to make way for the Quabbin Reservoir public works project.

Currently, a half-dozen beers are on sale: Prescott Porter, Czabaj IPA, Kitchen Sink Pale Ale, Farm Dog Pale Ale, LTB EXP #1 American IPA and Winsor Dam Wheat.

"Our hope for the brewery is to create a community space for those who love what we love, and we are committed to sourcing as many local ingredients as possible while keeping it in within our local economy," Lost Towns states on its website.

"Local farm ingredients incorporated into our beers include summer fruits like apricots and cherries, fall produce like apples and pumpkins, and aromatic fresh herbs like lemongrass and basil. Lost Towns Brewing's connection with the farm gives us the unique opportunity to try some 'outside the box' beers with an emphasis on locally grown ingredients," the company said.

The brewing company is operated by Curtis Stillman, Paul McNeil and Pam and James Spurrell.

Spurrell Properties LLC purchased the former Czabaj market for $40,000 in September 2017.

The hours of operation at Lost Towns Brewing are Friday, 4 to 8 p.m., Saturday, noon to 8 p.m., and Sunday noon to 4 p.m.BELCHERTOWN -- Selectmen invited the police department's canine unit to Monday's meeting, when one of the force's two shepherds was ceremonially promoted with the board's unanimous approval.

"Officer" Apache, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois shepherd, is now "Sgt." Apache.

Apache has been a member of Belchertown Police Department's canine unit the past fours. The animal's general assignment is to locate missing persons, track down criminals, sniff out illicit drugs, and the like.

Canine Officer Adam Brougham, Assistant Canine Officer Jordyn Bradway, Chief Christopher Pronovost, Lt. Kevin Pacunas and several members of the force attended the ceremony, as did the force's explosives detection canine, Theia. Theia is a 4-year-old Dutch shepherd and has been a member of the squad since 2015.

In an interview following Apache's promotion, Brougham said the canine unit, which he has supervised since 2008, is an asset to the community and expressed gratitude to the town for supporting the unit.

"I'm very fortunate to work for the residents of Belchertown," he said. "I love what I do. To be able to provide this service ... is phenomenal."

Pronovost said in addition to the police work the animals do, they also visit the public schools and the senior center, and are involved with the town's community policing initiative.

"Everybody loves a dog," he said.

When the department's first canine, Falco, passed away in 2016, at age 10, the police department posted a memorial on the town's website.SPRINGFIELD -- A 23-year-old Northampton woman, wanted on two warrants for her alleged involvement in the concealment of the murder of Daniel Cruz in that city on March 10, was arrested here Tuesday morning.

Alondra E. Gil is slated to be arraigned in Franklin Superior Court at 2 p.m. , according to a release issued by the Northwestern District Attorney's office.

Gil will be arraigned on the charges for which she was indicted on Nov. 26: Accessory after the fact, burning personal property, withholding evidence from criminal proceeding, conspiracy (two counts) and improper disposition of a human body.

Prosecutors say Cruz was shot to death on March 10, allegedly by 22-year-old Nerkin Morales of Northampton. Cruz's body was found burning in a field in Hatfield later that night.

On Nov. 26, a Hampshire Grand Jury issued 51 indictments against eight people for their alleged involvement in the murder of Cruz, 44, of Northampton, the concealment of his murder, and/or the subsequent police and grand jury investigation.

Gil was the last of the eight suspects to be arrested or, in the case of suspects already in custody, scheduled for arraignment.

Nerkin Omar Morales, 22 of Northampton, was indicted for murder and other charges. He was arraigned on Dec. 5 and ordered held without bail.

Mercedes N. Diaz-Wright, 22, of Northampton; Kimberly A. Perez, 26, of Springfield; and Matthew M. Ross, 24, of Northampton; were indicted for accessory after the fact as well as other charges. They were arrested and arraigned on Nov. 27.

Pedro J. Soto-Rodriguez, 21, of Northampton, was indicted for accessory after the fact and other charges. He is in custody and his arraignment is now scheduled for Jan. 11 at 2 p.m.

Joshua T. Ealy, 20, of Northampton, was indicted for perjury. His is in custody and his arraignment is now scheduled for Jan. 4 at 2 p.m.

Chelsea T. Rodriguez, 22, of Northampton, was indicted for accessory after the fact and other charges. Rodriguez was arrested on Dec. 6 in DeLand, Florida, by the DeLand Police Department. She is currently in custody in Florida pending extradition back to the Commonwealth.As we wait to see if Trump decides to close down the government over the wall he said Mexico was going to pay for, I was struck by a New York Times article discussing Mexicos overtures to China. Trumps arguments for the wall assume that Americans are stupid and that Mexicans are even more estupido. As it turns out, Mexico is not quite as estupido as Trump thinks they are.

First of all, Mexico is not paying for the wall. Trump claims that his NAFTA 2.0 is paying for the wall, but it obviously is not because he is still asking for $5 billion. Instead, Mexico is initiating a $30 billion Central American Marshall Plan to address the root causes that cause the waves of migration in the first place. Shouldnt the United States applaud this initiative, and use the asked for border wall money to support this effort?

The pernicious wild card in all of this is the willingness of the Chinese to fill the vacuum left by the United States. As it turns out, Mexico is not so estupido. The know how to triangulate. They will play us against the Chinese. If you were the Mexicans, given what happened in the last two years with NAFTA, the wall, and troops on the border, wouldnt you be looking for a more stable trading partner? Part of the Trump legacy could be a China moving freely throughout Mexico. Mr. Trump, you are estupido.

Paul Chiampa, East LongmeadowFirebrand Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has made the creation and implementation of a comprehensive solution to economic inequality and climate change the center of her legislative agenda. Known as the Green New Deal, the plan, which also boasts support from Bernie Sanders and other liberal Democrats, would see the government creating a wave a new jobs in green technology. Proponents of the Green New Deal say that in order to save the planet, we need to drastically reframe our economy. Opponents worry about the cost on jobs. What do you think?

PERSPECTIVES

The Atlantic describes the many goals of the Green New Deal in its current form.

The plan has rapidly gained support in the last few months of 2018. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has made it the centerpiece of her legislative agenda, whipping up more support in her wake. According to the Huffington Post:

The legislation faces huge hurdles ahead of it, even before it reaches the Congressional floor for a vote. Per the Intercept:

According to GQ, some of the concern with different attempts to protect the climate, is that the plans will effectively wipe out a certain kind of blue collar jobs.

With its inclusion of a wave of new green jobs, supporters of the plan how to alleviate this concern. Others worry there will be pushback from members of the Democratic party who do not approve of the way the legislation is being pushed.

The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say.SPRINGFIELD  A West Springfield man on Monday pleaded guilty in Hampden Superior Court to child rape and was sentenced to eight to nine years in state prison.

Shawn Sockwell, 37, pleaded guilty to two counts of child rape and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.

Judge John S. Ferrara adopted the agreed-upon sentence recommendation of prosecution and defense and sentenced Sockwell to the eight- to nine-year sentence followed by seven years probation.

He must stay away from the girl and her family during the probation term. He must have no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16.

Assistant District Attorney Eileen M. Sears said the crimes happened between February 2016 and April 2017 when the girl was about 12 years old. Sears said as soon as Sockwell was interviewed by police, he admitted he had raped the girl many times.

The prosecutor said the plea agreement is in part because Sockwell is taking responsibility for what he did. Sears said any time a child can be relieved from testifying in court in these cases, she is open to a plea agreement.

Defense lawyer Bernard T. OConnor Jr. said Sockwell is ashamed of what he did. He had no prior criminal record, OConnor said.

OConnor said Sockwell was born to a crack-addicted mother and was sent to live with a grandfather and an abusive step-grandmother. He suffered beatings and neglect from them, and sexual abuse by cousins when he was 8 or 9, OConnor said.

Sockwell ran away at age 13 and was suicidal, causing him to be hospitalized for several years, but he then attended a two-year program and became employed, OConnor said.

A relative of the girl gave a victim impact statement, saying Sockwells actions have caused terrible trauma and pain for the girl.The city of Worcester is planning to enter into negotiations with five marijuana retail establishments, two marijuana cultivation facilities, one product manufacturing business and one microbusiness, which could contribute to the creation 225 jobs and substantial tax revenue for the city.

The negotiations are for a community host agreement, which includes language permitting a community impact fee and other local regulatory oversight, the city wrote in a news release. A signed host agreement is a requirement of the state Cannabis Control Commission application.

The five marijuana retail establishments are:

 Community Growers Partnership, LLC - 40 Jackson St.

 Evergreen Strategies, LLC - 143 SW Cutoff

 TDMA, LLC (DBA Diem) - 74 Grafton St.

 Mayflower Medicinals, Inc. - 645 Park Ave.

 Trichome Health Corp., Inc.  62 West Boylston St.

The first retail marijuana stores in the state opened last month. By Friday, Massachusetts could see openings for its fourth and fifth retail shops.

Worcester is required by state law to allow for 15 marijuana retail establishments.

In addition to the five newly proposed establishments, the existing four medical marijuana businesses in the city have also been granted approval to sell recreational marijuana, bringing the total to nine, according to the news release.

While the retail stores are open to adults age 21 and older, the cultivation, product manufacturing and microbusiness establishments are not open to the public.

The four establishments in that category are:

 The Curated Leaf, Inc. (cultivation)- 10 Pullman St.

 Magic Dragon LLC (microbusiness) - 45-61 Fremont St.

 SuperCritical Mass Laboratories, Inc. (product manufacturer) - 251 Brooks St.

 RC Cultivation LLC (cultivation) - 30 Pullman St.

Those proposed manufacturing facilities are in addition to Temescal Wellness, an already operating cultivation business located at 141 SW Cutoff.

Between the five new proposed retail shops, the four new proposed manufacturing businesses, the one existing co-located medical and recreational cultivation facility and the four co-located medical and recreational retail facilities, would could see an estimated 225 jobs, as well as substantial tax revenue.

Each potential business still needs to receive approval from the Cannabis Control Commission, the Planning Board and the License Commission.

The city must still issue an additional six retail licenses.Exploiting that very lunacy was Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who planned to auction off a mural created in 1995 by Kerry James Marshall for West Garfield Parks Legler Library. The sale would have capitalized on Marshalls status  set in May  as maker of the most expensive work by a living African-American artist, would have generated a projected $15 million for library renovations, and would have proved that public art is nothing but a tradeable commodity. This just one year after the mayors widely touted Year of Public Art. This the same year as the Cultural Centers gladdening display of panels from the late Keith Harings super-cool 488-foot-long street art mural, painted in 1989 with hundreds of CPS students. In the face of furious outcries from critics, museum directors and Marshall himself, the Mayor made the most extraordinary about-face of the year: he canceled the sale. And found money somewhere else in the city budget for some of the renovations.The double meaning of the verb in the title becomes clear when we realize that the old woman isnt merely brooding over her past  she sincerely desires to procreate, to find a nest for new life in this land of trash and emotional repression. But being a creature of id, she would also like more sugar for her tea. A silver chalice around her neck has a hint of the Eucharist about it  but like so much else in this story, it too has become an empty barren vessel, where the sacred has been bled of whatever power it once held.(CNN)  Malaysia has filed criminal charges against Goldman Sachs over its dealings with a state investment fund at the heart of a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal.

The case relates to bond sales that Goldman Sachs (GS) arranged and underwrote for 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) in 2012 and 2013.

The U.S. investment bank and four individuals  two of them former Goldman employees  are accused of "grave violations" of Malaysia's securities laws, Attorney General Tommy Thomas said in a statement Monday.

The Wall Street firm has become a central figure in a damaging scandal involving billions in missing money, Malaysia's former prime minister and a high-rolling financier with ties to Hollywood. But this is the first time Goldman Sachs has faced criminal charges for its role in the saga.

The U.S. Justice Department alleges a total of $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB by senior officials. U.S. officials claim that laundered funds were pumped into New York condos, hotels, yachts and a jet, and used to fund movies such as "The Wolf of Wall Street."

Thomas accused the bank and four individuals of misleading investors about the bond sales and fraudulently diverting $2.7 billion of the proceeds.

"Having held themselves out as the pre-eminent global adviser / arranger for bonds, the highest standards are expected of Goldman Sachs," Malaysia's attorney general said in the statement. "They have fallen far short of any standard. In consequence, they have to be held accountable."

Fines and prison sought

Prosecutors will seek fines against Goldman Sachs and the accused individuals in excess of $3.3 billion, he said. That figure represents the amount allegedly misappropriated plus an additional $600 million in fees that Goldman received for its work on the deals.

"We believe these charges are misdirected and we will vigorously defend them and look forward to the opportunity to present our case," a Goldman Sachs spokesman said in a statement. "The firm continues to cooperate with all authorities investigating these matters."

Prosecutors will also press for prison sentences of up to 10 years for the individuals, Thomas said.

One of the two former Goldman Sachs bankers facing criminal charges is its former South East Asia chairman Tim Leissner. Leissner pleaded guilty in August in the United States to conspiring to steal money from 1MDB. He told a U.S. federal court that Goldman's "culture" encouraged executives to work around the legal team to score business.

Thomas on Monday accused Goldman of receiving fees from the bond sales that were "several times higher than the prevailing market rates and industry norms." And he said bank employees personally received part of the misappropriated proceeds.

Financier still at large

The Malaysian prosecutors also filed criminal charges against Jho Low, a Malaysian financier who allegedly played a key role in laundering billions of dollars from 1MDB.

Malaysian authorities earlier this year recovered a $250 million yacht purchased by Low in 2014. Public money from 1MDB was allegedly used to buy the boat.

Low, who maintains his innocence, remains at large.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has already been hit with dozens of corruption-related charges over allegations that he siphoned off $681 million from 1MDB. Najib has pleaded not guilty to the offenses.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is also reported to be probing Goldman over its ties to 1MDB.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Malaysia files charges against Goldman Sachs over 1MDB scandal"The suit alleges that the filmmakers distorted events, and omitted key facts, in order to argue that Colborn and others framed Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey for murder. Griesbach, Colborn's attorney, is a veteran prosecutor in Manitowoc who published a book in 2016 entitled "Indefensible," which served as a rebuttal to the Netflix series. Griesbach was familiar with the case because he had previously written another book, "The Innocent Killer," about Avery's earlier wrongful conviction for sexual assault.An Endoscopy is a procedure that allows physicians or surgeons to look interior parts of the organ. The technique is used for both diagnostic and therapeutic purpose. To perform endoscopy a specialized instrument is used named as endoscope. Various types of endoscopes and adoption of endoscope depends upon the affected body organ, for instance, bronchoscopes are used for lungs related problem, arthroscopes are preferred for problems associated with joints, and many others. The Global Endoscopy Device Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.3% during the forecast period.

Rising prevalence of chronic diseases, advancing endoscopy technology, and increasing funding and reimbursement towards screening and treatment with endoscopic techniques are promoting the growth of the global endoscopy devices market. Additionally, increasing popularity of minimally invasive surgery is also creating a huge scope for the growth of market.

Get Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1967

Endoscopy Device Market  Major Players

Some of the key players in Endoscopy Device Market are

Cogentix Medical

Integrate Endoscopy

J&J services Inc.

Shaili Endoscopy

Interscope Inc.

Cantel Medical

Micro-Tech Endoscopy

Cognetix

Stryker

Olympus

Karl Storz Gmbh co. Kg

Fujifilm

Pentax medical

Richard Wolf

Industry News:

Pentax Medical

July 2017 PENTAX MEDICAL announced the collaboration with Shanghai Aohua Photoelectricity Endoscope Co., Ltd. (AOHUA) to improve the standard of patient care and quality of healthcare.

January 2017- PENTAX MEDICAL acquired C2 Therapeutics to expand interventional endoscopy offering. According company reports, this acquisition will expand the companys role in the gastroenterology worldwide from being a provider of advanced imaging for diagnostics, to now providing advanced therapeutic solutions.

Boston Scientific Corporation

June 2017: Boston Scientific Corporation launched Alair bronchial thermoplasty therapy in India. Alair bronchial thermoplasty treatment uses a bronchoscope to deliver radiofrequency energy to reduce the amount of excess smooth muscle tissue in the airways.

November 2016: Boston Scientific Corporation acquired EndoChoice Holdings, Inc., a Georgia based company focused on the development and commercialization of infection control products, pathology services, and single-use devices.

June 2017: Olympus launched 3D Surgical Endoscope for faster and more precise surgery.

Cantel Medical

September 2015: Acquired UK-based medical innovations for a purchase price of USD 79.6 million.

February 2015: Cantel medical expanded product portfolio with the acquisition of the North American Science Associates, Inc.

Stryker

September 2017  Stryker acquired NOVADAQ Technologies Inc., to expand its product portfolio in imaging technology. NOVADAQ is one of the leading developers of fluorescence imaging technology which in providing surgeons visualization of blood flow in vessels, and related tissue perfusion in cardiac, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, plastic, microsurgical, and reconstructive procedures.

Johnson & Johnson Services Inc.

September 2016: Acclarent Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, received FDA approval for ACCLARENT AERA Eustachian Tube Balloon Dilation System. It is a first FDA-approved device to treat Eustachian Tube Dysfunction effectively.

March 2016: Ethicon, a medical device company of the Johnson & Johnson, acquired NeuWave Medical, Inc.

June 2015: Verb Surgical Company was created by the collaboration of Ethicon and Verily.

March 2015: Ethicon, a medical device company of the Johnson & Johnson, enter into a collaboration with Google, Inc.

Integrate Endoscopy

July 2016: Integrated Endoscopy received clearance from the FDA for its nuvis Single-Use Arthroscope. It is the first FDA-approved disposable rigid endoscope.

In February 2016: Integrated Endoscopy demonstrated its nuvis Single-Use Arthroscope at the 2016 American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) Meeting in Orlando, USA.

Endoscopy Device Market  Segmentation

The Global Endoscopy Device Market is segmented on the basis of type, therapy, treatments & procedures, application, accessory & processors, and end user.

On the basis of type, it is segmented into flexible endoscopes, rigid endoscopes, capsule endoscopes, surgical endoscopes, and robot-assisted endoscopes.

On the basis of therapy, it is segmented into colonoscopy, gastroscopy, arthroscopy, laparoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreotography, ureteroscopy, and cystoscopy

Browse Complete 251 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled with Tables and Figures @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/endoscopy-devices-market-1967

Endoscopy Device Market  Regional Analysis

The Americas led by the U.S. dominate the market owing to the presence of large healthcare expenditure, and excellent reimbursement. Europe accounts for the second largest market owing to an emphasis on diagnosis, large healthcare expenditure, and increasing prevalence of cancer. As per Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Germany spent 11 % of the total GDP on healthcare in 2015.

The Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market owing to expanding economies of countries like India and China. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market, which is growing at a CAGR of 6.8 % from 2017 to 2023

The Middle East & Africa is expected to hold the least market share due to poor development of healthcare, and economy. The Middle East and Africa region are expected to be dominated by Gulf economies of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar.

Major Table of Content

Chapter 1. Report Prologue

Chapter 2. Market Introduction

2.1 Definition

2.2 Scope of the Study

2.2.1 Research Objective

2.2.2 Assumptions

2.2.3 Limitations

Chapter 3. Research Methodology

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Primary Research

3.3 Secondary Research

3.4 Market Size Estimation

Chapter 4. Market Dynamics

Continued.

To Know More Enquire @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/1967

About Market Research Future:

At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.

In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.

Contact:

Market Research Future

Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers

Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar,

Pune  411028

Maharashtra, India

+1 646 845 9312

Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.comMarket Research Future published a Half-Cooked research report on Peripheral Artery Disease Market Research Report  Forecast to 2023 Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2023.

Get Sample Copy @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1540

Industry Leading Players

Boston Scientific Corporation, KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V, Abbott, Medtronic, B. Braun Melsungen AG, TERUMO CORPORATION, Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), Sanofi S.A., Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., AstraZeneca Plc., Angioscore, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Betagenon AB, Proteon Therapeutics, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Symic Bio, Inc., CardioVascular BioTherapeutics, Inc., AnGes, Inc., TheraVasc Inc., Smith & Nephew plc, Stryker Corporation, Cook Medical, Cordis, Aspen Surgical Products, Inc., Alcon Laboratories, Inc., Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc., and others are some of the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the peripheral artery disease market and are profiled in MRFR Analysis.

Peripheral Artery Disease Market  Overview

The peripheral artery disease market is growing mainly due to rising prevalence of arterial diseases. According to a recent study report published by the Market Research Future, the peripheral artery disease market is booming and expected to gain prominence over the forecast period. The market is forecast to demonstrate a spectacular growth by 2023, surpassing its previous growth records in terms of value with a striking CAGR during the anticipated period (2017  2023).

Peripheral artery disease, also known as peripheral vascular diseases or peripheral Occlusive diseases, is a narrowing of the peripheral arteries due to deposition of plaque or cholesterol on the walls of artery. The most common symptoms of the disease includes painful cramping in hip, thigh or calf muscles, coldness in lower leg or foot, Hair loss or slower hair growth, no pulse or a weak pulse in legs or feet, sores on toes, feet or legs, and erectile dysfunction in men. Peripheral artery disease is mostly caused by atherosclerosis in the peripheral arteries. In atherosclerosis, plaque becomes brittle, and triggers clot formation which further narrow the artery, or completely block it.

Notably, rising research and development expenditure is the primary driver for peripheral artery disease market. In the year of 2016, the R&D expenditure in the Pharmaceutical Industry was EUR 35000 million, suggested by European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Association. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the per capita national health expenditures in 2015 was amounted to be USD 9,990 and total national health expenditure was USD 3.2 trillion. It is also reported that out of total national health expenditures in the US, prescription drugs 10.1% share.

Other push factors such as, rising prevalence of arterial diseases, and related complications, increasing awareness among the people, changing reimbursement policies, and growing geriatric population are also fuelling the growth of the market. As per the Pacific Bridge Medical, the government of China partially reimburses the cost of many drugs, provided the drug is in the list of Chinas National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL) which was first published in 2000. According to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), in 2016 the generics market of India stood at USD 26.1 billion.

Despite these drivers, presence of misbranded and spurious drugs, risk of infections, and side effects associated with treatment options are expected to hinder the growth of the market.

Peripheral Artery Disease Market  Competitive Analysis

The peripheral artery disease market is currently dominated by various players. Due to rising research and development expenditure various existing and new marketers are continuously coming up with advanced drugs to control this condition. The global peripheral artery disease market is currently dominated by numerous players.

Abbott is one of them by holding a strong share in the market. The company is a global leader that develops and manufactures pharmaceuticals and medical products. In 2017, the company entered into an agreement with Roxwood Medical for U.S. product distribution, and completed the acquisition of St. Jude Medical. In the year 2014, Abbott acquired Topera, Inc., a private, venture-backed medical device company to expand the catheter business. The significant strategies adopted by company is to merge with other market players to expand their portfolio in different business sectors, and to receive product clearance approval from government bodies.

Medtronic is another renowned market player in peripheral artery disease market. Medtronic is one of the worlds largest standalone medical equipment development company. The company offers a distinct portfolio of products such as Euphora Semicompliant Balloon Dilatation Catheter, NC Euphora Noncompliant Balloon Dilatation Catheter, NC Sprinter RX/ OTW Noncompliant Balloon Dilatation Catheter, and others.

Access Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/peripheral-artery-disease-market-1540

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

1.1 Definition

1.2 Scope Of Study

1.2.1 Research Objective

1.2.2 Assumptions & Limitations

1.2.2.1 Assumptions

1.2.2.2 Limitations

1.3 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 Macroeconomic Indicators

4 Market Factor Analysis

4.1 Porters Five Forces Model

4.2 Bargaining Power Of Suppliers

4.3 Bargaining Power Of Buyers

4.4 Threat Of New Entrants

4.5 Threat Of Substitutes

4.6 Intensity Of Rivalry



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Phototherapy Market  Sketch

Phototherapy is a treatment involving usages of a special kind of light to treat various skin disorders such as contact dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, dyshidrotic eczema, and nummular eczema. It is also majorly used to treat jaundice occurring in the newborns through a process called photo-oxidation. Similarly, it is also used to increase vitamin D production in the human body, and to ramp up bacteria-fighting systems in the skin.

With the growing concerns of environmental changes such as global warming and anthropogenic effects led by growing industries, the prevalence of skin diseases and disorders are increasing rapidly. Moreover, changing lifestyle led by the growing urbanization is playing a vital role in supporting the growth of various skin disorders. While people in the Asia Pacific region have to face the effects of scorching sunlight that leads to skin burns sometimes, people in the Americas and Europe are suffering from vitamin D deficiency due to weaker sun rays.

Get Exclusive Sample Copy of Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1844

Fortunately, the good news is that the economic conditions worldwide are improving availing access to the quality of life and the improved healthcare. All these factors commutatively drive the Phototherapy market. Moreover, factors such as the increasing number of skin diagnosis procedures and rising demand for new techniques to treat chronic skin diseases provide significant impetus to the market growth. Efficacies of phototherapy demonstrated in treating the symptoms of conditions mentioned above, in turn, are escalating the market on the ascending heights, making the market a well-developed space on the global platform.

Acknowledging the kind of expansion the market perceives currently, Market Research Future (MRFR) in its recently published study report asserts that the global phototherapy market will witness a modest growth by 2023, registering approximately 4.6 % CAGR throughout the forecast period (2017  2023).

The well-spread awareness about the availability of this therapy and the advantages it renders is fostering the market growth over the recent years. Simultaneously, environmental changes such as depletion of ozone layers and pollution that are increasing cases of various inflammatory skin diseases are predominantly fuelling the market growth.

Phototherapy Industry/Innovations/Related News:

February 28, 2018 - Clarify Medical (US), developer of a software-controlled home phototherapy system announced the issuance of a patent for its phototherapy light engine technology in the United States. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a US patent 9,901,747, entitled Phototherapy Light Engine.

The patent covers a specific, targeted phototherapy device that uses UVB LEDs, reflectors, window filter and thermal management system to optimize therapeutic power and uniformity of narrowband UVB light treatment.

Clarify Medicals home phototherapy system is the first ever system available in the US using UVB LED technology to treat chronic skin conditions. This innovative technology will improve precision and control over home phototherapy, further improving the outcomes for patients.

Key Players for Global Phototherapy Market

GE Healthcare (UK), Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherlands), Natus Medical Incorporated (U.S.), Beurer GmbH (Germany), Herbert Waldmann GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), PhotoMedex, Inc (U.S.), MTTS ASIA (Vietnam), VIA Global Health (U.S.), are some of the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the Global Phototherapy Market and are profiled in MRFR Analysis.

Global Phototherapy Market  Competitive Analysis

Characterized by the presence of several well-established and small players, the global market of phototherapy appears to be highly competitive and fragmented. With well-established market in the North America region major companies have their home in the region and generate maximum market share. These companies have expanded their operating unit in various other emerging regions as well. Moreover the other small and medium scale players are generating revenue from local market.

The phototherapy market has turned into a critical factor in the global point of care industry. Through extensive research it is found out that the market players have adopted the strategy of launching products in the market, the key player involved in this strategy are Koninklijke Philips N.V and F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG. Partnership was the second most widely adopted strategy which was adopted by the key market players. The number of key market player involved in mergers and acquisition was comparatively low, the market players which were involved in mergers and acquisition are F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and others in the Global Phototherapy market.

Regional Analysis for Global Phototherapy Market

The North American region is dominating the global phototherapy market. Factors substantiating the market growth include extensive uptake of technologically advanced therapies and associated medical devices, increasing governmental support for R&D activities, and high expenditures for health care.

Besides, the increasing cases of occurrence of infants jaundice, psoriasis, and vitiligo foster the market in the region. Furthermore, changing lifestyle and the presence of major players in this region is fuelling the market growth in the region. With the increasing prevalence of skin diseases and disorders, the market is expected to evaluate phenomenally by 2023.

The European region is another lucrative market for phototherapy due to the growing dermatological issues in the region. Further, the growth attributes to the increasing emphasis on the development of advent therapy, rising government support with the increased funding. Besides, the rising numbers of specialty services offered by various healthcare providers provide impetus to the market growth in the region.

Browse Complete Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/phototherapy-market-1844

Countries such as Germany and France backed by the increasing investment in the healthcare domain majorly drive the growth of the regional market.

The Asia Pacific region is rapidly emerging as a promising market for phototherapy. Increasing occurrences of skin disorders are fostering the market growth. Furthermore, factors such as the increasing demand for advent therapies alongside rapidly developing healthcare technology is expected to lead the market growth in the APAC region.

Countries such as India and South Korea, backed by the rapidly developing the economy and increasing government support are estimated to emerge as the fastest growing market across the globe.

Brief Table of Contents of Report

Chapter 1. Report Prologue

Chapter 2. Market Introduction

Chapter 3. Research Methodology

Chapter 4. Market Dynamics

Chapter 5. Market Factor Analysis

Chapter 6. Global Phototherapy Market, By Devices

Chapter 7. Global Phototherapy Market, By Indication

Chapter 8. Global Phototherapy Market, By End User

Chapter 9. Global Phototherapy Market, By Region

Chapter 10. Competitive Landscape

Chapter 11. Company Profile

Chapter 12. Conclusion

Chapter 13. Appendix

About Market Research Future:

At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Statistical Report, Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.

Contact Us:

Market Research Future

Hadapsar, Pune  411028

Maharashtra, India

Phone: +1 646 845 9312The Global Pregnancy Pillow Market has been evaluated as average growing market but is expected to show the high potential growth in coming years. Demand for these pregnancy pillows are quite high in developed countries like the U.S. but very low in other developing countries. Hence the major market players are focusing more on these developed markets.

Global Pregnancy Pillow Market  Key Players

Key players profiled in the report are

Leachco (US)

My Best Friend (US)

Pharmedoc (US)

Naomi Homes (US)

Boppy (US)

Todays Mom (US)

Get Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2999

Industry News:

Leachco, being the major market player in the global pregnancy pillow market with its product Snoogle. The company operates majorly in the U.S. with the tie ups with major online and offline retailers. The manufacturer has tie ups with more than 30 online local and national retailers and also with more than 8 offline retail stores in US selling its product throughout the world. Most sold products include the Leachco BackNBelly Contoured Body Pillow. It is proved to be one of the best body pillows by the number of sales and positive reviews from customers.

Boppy, is another major market player. The companys product price ranges from $13 to $100. The company provides wedge pillow, bump support pillow, slipcover and multiuse pillow in their product range. The company has tie ups with some of the major online and offline retailers including amazon, Walmart, Kmart etc. the company majorly sells its product through offline market retailers in North America and in other places through online retailers. The company promotes its product majorly through various social events and charity in newborn and baby programs such as Denver healths foundations Newborn program etc.

My Best Friend is also one of the major companies in the market with the U.S. as a base area. The company had patented wrap around design, which are being sold in around 35 countries. The company has tie ups with many of the major retailers and online portals and also had their own stores in some places in Europe.

Some of the other companies includes Todays Mom and others which are also contributing large market share of global pregnancy pillow market. These companies are currently focusing on developed regions with minimum efforts were made to sell their products in other areas.

Global Pregnancy Pillow Market  Segmentation

The Global Pregnancy Pillow Market is segmented on the basis of type or shape of pillows, and materials. Based on the type or shape of the pillow, the market has been segmented as C shaped, J shaped, U shaped and others, other types comprise of low selling types such as wedge and full length etc. U shaped pillow is the most common form used by the pregnant ladies and hence commands the maximum market share in 2016 and is anticipated to show similar growth during the forecasted period. Based on materials, the market has been segmented into hypoallergenic fillings, memory foam, organic fillings and others. Memory foam as being the soft and more comfortable commands the maximum market share in 2016 the only factor restricting the market growth for such material is the cost. Further on the basis of end users the market has been segmented as hospitals, maternity homes or clinics, household and others. Pregnancy pillows are more commonly used in homes by the pregnant women during late pregnancy to support bump and hence household commands the maximum market share while hospitals and maternity homes are expected to show significant growth in the coming years.

Browse Complete 80 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled with Tables and Figures @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/pregnancy-pillow-market-2999

Global Pregnancy Pillow Market  Regional Analysis

US accounts for the maximum market share of the global pregnancy pillow market and the market is expected to increase continuously in coming years. This can be attributed to increasing pool of aware females along with need for proper sleep during pregnancy. Advancing technologies within the pregnancy pillow or pregnancy solutions available is also driving the market and will see strategic growth over the next five years. Asia pacific with the upcoming developments in healthcare, increasing awareness and rising per capita income is expected to be the fastest growing region of the global pregnancy pillow market.

Major Table of Content

Chapter 1. Report Prologue

Chapter 2. Market Introduction

2.1 Definition

2.2 Scope of the Study

2.2.1 Research Objective

2.2.2 Assumptions

2.2.3 Limitations

Chapter 3. Research Methodology

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Primary Research

3.3 Secondary Research

3.4 Market Size Estimation

Chapter 4. Market Dynamics

Continued.

To Know More Enquire @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/2999

About Market Research Future:

At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.

In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.

Contact:

Market Research Future

Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers

Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar

Pune  411028

Maharashtra, India

+1 646 845 9312

Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.comby Alex Weprin , December 18, 2018

The streaming video wars are heading to another platform: virtual reality.

Sling TV, the Dish Networks-owned streaming virtual multichannel video provider (vMVPD), says it will launch on Oculus Go, the VR headset platform owned by Facebook.

In addition, ESPN will be bringing an app (including its ESPN+ subscription service) to Oculus Go, as will Foxs Fox Now app.

Oculus Go owners will be able to download the Sling, ESPN and Fox apps in the Oculus app store this week. In addition, new buyers of the Oculus Go headset will receive an $80 credit toward Sling TV.

Watching Sling content through the headset will be equivalent to watching it on a 180-inch TV screen. Once they have opened the app, the headset will transport the viewer into a modern lounge with a mountain view, Sling says. On the wall of the lounge will be the virtual TV set.

advertisement advertisement

In addition to being a more immersive experience, the app allows the user to watch TV even if they dont have access to a TV set. Only power and an internet connection are required.

Sling is the first vMVPD to launch on Oculus, which counts Netflix, Hulu and Showtime as developers on its platform. Sling provides live streams of select broadcast and cable networks, as well as on-demand content.

While Oculus is not yet a big business, the addition of these TV apps to the VR ecosystem suggests media companies and streaming video players think the platform has potential.

by Melynda Fuller , December 18, 2018



The New York Times is known for its record-breaking numbers, most notably its more than 4 million paid subscribers. Today, the company released a closer look at its year in numbers, zooming in across its newsroom, stories, subscriber base and more, to offer an in-depth look at what makes The Times tick.

This year, the newspaper publish many important stories, including a blockbuster special investigation about the Trump familys taxes: Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches From His Father. (It took three dedicated reporters 18 months to sift through 10,000 financial documents and 200 Trump family tax returns, resulting in a 14,000 word story).

To reach the level of reporting demanded by the country's paper of record, The New York Times counts 1,550 journalists on staff, with over 100 new journalists added this year.

advertisement advertisement

Those journalists report from 160+ countries and their stories are published in 11 languages, including English, Chinese, Spanish, German, French, Korean, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Arabic.

What does all that reporting look like? After publishing over 55,000 stories, the word count rose to more than 50,000,000.

The Times introduced new columns this year, including Overlooked, a series of obituaries highlighting the lives of notable women whose deaths went unrecorded. The paper has now published 54 in all.The NAACP is calling for a boycott of Facebook amid revelations that it failed to stop the spread of political misinformation among the African-American community, leading up to the 2016 presidential election.

Starting on Tuesday, the civil-rights organization is encouraging all users and businesses that support its cause to #LogOut of Instagram and Facebooks flagship app for one week.

In addition, the NAACP says it has returned a recent donation from Facebook, while it is officially calling on Congress to conduct further investigations into the company.

advertisement advertisement

The NAACP said its decision was prompted by a report released for the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee this week, which was prepared by the organization New Knowledge.

Among other findings, the report concluded that Russian operatives used Instagram, Facebook and other platforms to suppress turnout among potential black voters in 2016.

Along with voter suppression, the Kremlin-supported Internet Research Agency specifically discouraged black people from voting for Hillary Clinton.

Illustrating the sort of content that reached specific voting demographics in 2016, one Russian-backed Instagram account opined: The excuse that a lost Black vote for Hillary is a Trump win is bs. It could be late, but yall might want to support Jill Stein instead.

Derrick Johnson, President-CEO of the NAACP, said the organization is also disturbed by Facebooks repeated data breaches; its recent hiring of Definers Public Affairs -- the Republican consultancy that sought to undermine Facebooks critics by linking them to billionaire George Soros; and the companys inability to diversify its workforce.

Facebooks engagement with partisan firms, its targeting of political opponents, the spread of misinformation and the utilization of Facebook for propaganda promoting disingenuous portrayals of the African American community is reprehensible, Johnson stated.

For Facebook, this is not the first accusation of racial insensitivity, or of letting down the broader African American community.

Last month, a former employee accused the company of not doing enough to support African Americans on its platform or among its ranks.

Facebook has a black people problem, Mark Luckie, who served as a strategic partner manager for global influencers at Facebook before leaving the company, said in a blog post. Racial discrimination at Facebook is real.

In response to Luckies nearly 2,500-word memo, Facebook said it aspired to create the most compassionate culture possible for its employees. At last count, Facebook said 3.5% of its domestic workforce was black.by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, December 18, 2018

Siding with ad network Turn, a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing the company of using a controversial technology to recreate cookies that users deleted.

U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White in the Northern District of California said in an opinion issued Monday that the consumers who sued didn't spell out in the complaint how they were injured by the tracking technology. White gave the consumers leave to amend, meaning they can beef up their allegations and re-file the complaint.

The decision grows out of a 2015 lawsuit brought against Turn by New York residents Anthony Henson and William Cintron. They alleged that Turn violated a New York consumer protection law prohibiting deceptive practices, and also trespassed on their devices.

The allegations centered on Turn's use of headers -- 50-character alphanumeric strings -- that Verizon Wireless previously injected into all unencrypted mobile traffic. Those headers became known as "supercookies" or "zombie cookies," because they enabled ad companies like Turn to recreate cookies that users delete.

advertisement advertisement

Verizon originally said ad networks weren't likely to draw on the headers in order to compile profiles of Web users. But in January of 2015, researcher Jonathan Mayer reported that Turn was drawing on Verizon's headers to collect data and send targeted ads to mobile users who delete their cookies.

Turn, now owned by Amobee, initially acknowledged Mayer's report, and defended use of the tracking headers. Several days later, the company changed its position and stopped using the headers to recreate cookies.

The company -- which previously settled Federal Trade Commission charges related to its tracking technology -- urged White to dismiss the lawsuit for several reasons.

The company argued that the allegations by Henson and Cintron, even if true, weren't enough to prove that it deceived consumers.

White rejected that theory. The question of whether the failure to disclose the nature of how the cookies work to defeat the deletion would mislead a reasonable consumer is sufficient to withstand the motion to dismiss, he wrote.

But he also found that Henson and Cintron didn't spell out how they were injured by the zombie cookies. He said in the ruling that the consumers didn't spell out in their complaint that the data collected was confidential and personally identifiable.

White also dismissed the claim that Turn trespassed on the consumers' devices, but said they could re-file that claim if they're able to allege that the zombie cookies caused substantial degradation to the functioning of their devices.

White gave Cintron and Henson until early January to bring an amended complaint.by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, December 18, 2018

Marin Software and Google have entered into a three-year revenue-share deal that extends through September 30, 2021.

The deal aims to help Marin further develop the company's enterprise technology platform and software products.

The 8-K U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing states that Marin will receive payments from Google based on "revenue generated on the company's tech platform in connection with the company's clients' spend on search ads that only appear on Google Search during a relevant calendar quarter. It also will receive revenue generated on the companys tech platform in connection with its clients spend on Search Ads that serve up on eligible search engines as defined in the agreement and exclude Google Search.

advertisement advertisement

Chris Lien, CEO at Marin, believes the support from Google will lead to increased search innovation through ads based on machine learning and other innovative technologies.

Along with the announcement and as a result of the deal with Google, Marin updated its fourth-quarter earning guidance. The company now expects revenue of between $14.6 million and $15.1 million, rather than $11.6 million and $12.1 million. Marin also anticipates an adjusted operating loss of between $2.4 million and $2.9 million, rather than a loss of between $5.4 million and $5.9 million.

The SEC filing states that the companies can terminate or renew the agreement at least three months prior to the expiration date.

Google may terminate the agreement under certain circumstances, such as the companies breaching the confidentiality and publicity provisions of the agreement, or if either company experiences a change of control, as defined in the Agreement.

Marketwatch reported on Monday that Marins stock jumped on the news. Marin Software shares rallied 60% after hours, following a 16% drop to close the regular session at $2.56, per the media outlet.by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, December 18, 2018

Charter has agreed to refund New York customers $62.5 million in order to resolve allegations that Time Warner Cable duped consumers by advertising faster Internet speeds than it delivered.

The settlement, announced Tuesday by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, also requires Charter to offer current subscribers free premium channels and streaming services. In addition, the company agreed to substantiate the internet speeds it advertises, and disclose that wireless speeds vary from wired speeds based on factors like the number of users. Underwood pegs the value of the settlement at $174 million.

The deal resolves a lawsuit filed in February of 2017, when former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman alleged that Time Warner Cable fraudulently induced at least 640,000 subscribers in New York to purchase plans with speeds higher than the company could provide. (Charter purchased Time Warner Cable in 2016 and renamed the company Spectrum.)

advertisement advertisement

The complaint included allegations that subscribers on a plan promising 300 Mbps typically received 15% of the promised speed when connecting wirelessly. The broadband provider also allegedly failed to provide many customers with modems capable of enabling web-surfing at the advertised speeds.

The complaint also alleges that Time Warner Cable didn't do enough to prevent congestion -- apparently referring to Netflix users' prior problems with choppy streams. In 2014, Netflix largely resolved the issue by agreeing to pay providers extra fees in order to interconnect directly with their networks.

Charter unsuccessfully argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed for several reasons, including that the Attorney General was holding the company to tougher standards than those set out by the FCC in its transparency regulations.

New York County Justice Peter Sherwood rejected that argument, ruling that the FCC's transparency standards don't immunize broadband providers from lawsuits by state attorneys general. "The FCC promulgated the Transparency Rule with full recognition of concurrent state authority over deceptive practices, and it is clear that the claims brought here do not conflict with that rule," he wrote in a ruling issued in February.

Charter also argued that the ads only promised consumers speeds of "up to" a certain maximum -- meaning that consumers could expect speeds that were equal to, or slower than, the advertised figure.

Sherwood rejected that contention as well, writing that Charter's position was "contrary to New York law."

The settlement agreement calls for Charter to provide direct refunds of $62.5 million to more than 700,000 subscribers, who will receive between $75 and $150. The deal also calls for Charter to offer streaming services and premium channels for free to more than 2.2 million subscribers; that portion of the deal is valued at more than $100 million.

Charter stated it was pleased to have put this litigation behind us. The company also said it has made substantial investments enhancing internet service across the state since the 2016 merger with Time Warner.This is one smart picture book about a brick wall, a bevy of fierce beasts and a knight congratulating himself on being on the other side, where he is safe. The beasts do indeed look scary, but as the knight climbs a ladder toward the top of the wall, we cant help but notice threats on his side as well. Striking illustrations of big bulky creatures with highly expressive faces enhance a resonant fable about the dangers of seeing the world in terms of us and them.by Fern Siegel , December 18, 2018

Telemundo plans to debut an English-language newscast on YouTube in third-quarter 2019.

The objective is to reach young, millennial Hispanics with news relevant to the demographic. The platform was chosen because U.S. Hispanics over-index on YouTube, notes Romina Rosado, senior vice president of digital media and emerging business, Telemundo Digital Enterprises.

The average age for U.S. Hispanic YouTube users is 27, per Nielsen.

Rosado says the future 20-minute newscast will be monetized through ads and sponsorship, as well as a revenue-share arrangement with YouTube.

The newscast is thanks, in part, to a Google News Innovation YouTube grant, which focuses on empowering news organizations and business models that can sustain growth.

It will be the first Noticias Telemundo production outside the traditional Telemundo platform. (Telemundo has had a YouTube platform since 2007.)

advertisement advertisement

We want to appeal to young Latinos living here in the U.S. who are bilingual and bicultural. We call them 200%ers: 100% Latino and 100% American. For them, language and platform are simply choices, says a Telemundo rep.

A major news provider for U.S. Hispanics, the companys newscasts include Noticias Telemundo Fin de Semana with Julio Vaqueiro, Noticias Telemundo Mediodia with Felicidad Aveleyra, and the Sunday current affairs show Enfoque con Jose Diaz-Balart.

Telemundos goal, Rosado adds, is to reinvent the traditional broadcast news for the LatinX generation: the multicultural, multiracial, mobile, millennials in the United States.Highlights for metoprolol Metoprolol oral tablet is available as generic drugs and as brand-name drugs. Brand names: Lopressor and Toprol XL. Metoprolol comes as immediate-release and extended-release tablets, and an extended-release capsule. It also comes in an injectable form thats only given by a healthcare provider. Metoprolol is a drug called a beta-blocker. Its used to treat conditions such as high blood pressure, heart failure, and angina (chest pain).

What is metoprolol? Metoprolol is a prescription drug. It comes as immediate-release and extended-release oral tablets, and extended-release oral capsules. It also comes in an injectable form thats only given by a healthcare provider. Metoprolol oral tablets are available as the brand-name drugs Lopressor and Toprol XL. Theyre also available as generic drugs. Generic drugs usually cost less than the brand-name versions. In some cases, they may not be available in all strengths or forms as the brand-name drugs. The two brand-name forms of metoprolol (as well as the different generic forms) are different versions of the medication. Theyre both metoprolol, but they contain different salt forms. Lopressor is metoprolol tartrate, while Toprol-XL is metoprolol succinate. The different salt forms enable the drugs to be used to treat different conditions. Metoprolol succinate is an extended-release version of metoprolol, so it remains in your bloodstream for a longer time. Metoprolol tartrate is an immediate-release version of metoprolol. Why its used Both forms of metoprolol  metoprolol tartrate (Lopressor) and metoprolol succinate (Toprol-XL)  are used to: lower high blood pressure

reduce chest pain (angina) However, metoprolol tartrate is also used to treat and prevent heart attacks, while metoprolol succinate is also used to treat heart failure. Metoprolol may be used as part of a combination therapy. That means you may have to take it with hydrochlorothiazide or chlorthalidone. How it works Both versions of metoprolol belong to a class of drugs called beta-blockers. A class of drugs is a group of medications that work in a similar way. These drugs are often used to treat similar conditions. Blood pressure is often raised because blood vessels are tightened. This puts a strain on the heart and increases the bodys oxygen demand. Beta-blockers work by preventing norepinephrine (adrenalin) from acting on beta receptors in blood vessels and in the heart. This causes blood vessels to relax. By relaxing the blood vessels, beta-blockers help to lower the heart rate and decrease the hearts demand for oxygen. This in turn helps decrease blood pressure and reduce chest pain.

Metoprolol side effects Metoprolol oral tablet can cause certain side effects. More common side effects The more common side effects that can occur with metoprolol include: tiredness

dizziness

diarrhea

constipation

breathing problems such as shortness of breath, cough, and wheezing

bradycardia (heart rate thats slower than normal)

reduced interest in sex

rash If these effects are mild, they may go away within a few days or a couple of weeks. If theyre more severe or dont go away, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. Serious side effects Call your doctor right away if you have serious side effects. Call 911 if your symptoms feel life-threatening or if you think youre having a medical emergency. Serious side effects and their symptoms can include the following: Low blood pressure (hypotension). Symptoms can include: severe dizziness lightheadedness fainting

Cold hands and feet. Symptoms can include hands and feet that are cold and may be painful

Very slow heart rate (severe bradycardia)

Extreme fatigue. Symptoms can include: feeling more tired than usual tiredness that gets progressively worse each day

Serious depression. Symptoms can include: continuous feelings of sadness or anxiety feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness lack of interest in hobbies you once enjoyed eating too much or too little trouble concentrating



Metoprolol may interact with other medications Metoprolol oral tablet can interact with other medications, vitamins, or herbs you may be taking. An interaction is when a substance changes the way a drug works. This can be harmful or prevent the drug from working well. To help avoid interactions, your doctor should manage all of your medications carefully. Be sure to tell your doctor about all medications, vitamins, or herbs youre taking. To find out how this drug might interact with something else youre taking, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. Examples of drugs that can cause interactions with metoprolol are listed below. Mental health drugs Taking metoprolol with reserpine and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) may increase or add to the effects of metoprolol. They may also increase lightheadedness or slow your heart rate more. MAOIs can continue to interact with metoprolol for up to 14 days after taking them. Examples of MAOIs include: isocarboxazid

phenelzine

selegiline

tranylcypromine Heart rhythm drugs Taking heart rhythm drugs with metoprolol can slow down your heart rate too much. Examples of these drugs include: digoxin

quinidine

propafenone Calcium channel blockers Like metoprolol, these drugs are used to treat high blood pressure and several other heart problems. Combined with metoprolol, calcium channel blockers may slow your heart rate even more. Doctors sometimes use this combination under close supervision. Examples of calcium channel blockers include: amlodipine

diltiazem

felodipine

isradipine

nicardipine

nifedipine

nimodipine

nisoldipine

verapamil Drugs processed in the same way as metoprolol Drugs used to treat depression and other mood disturbances are processed in your body by the same systems as metoprolol. Using these drugs with metoprolol could increase the levels of metoprolol in your body. Examples of these drugs include: fluoxetine

fluvoxamine

paroxetine

sertraline

bupropion

clomipramine

desipramine

chlorpromazine

fluphenazine

haloperidol

thioridazine Other drugs that are processed in the body the same way as metoprolol include: the antiretroviral ritonavir

antihistamines, including diphenhydramine

antimalarial drugs, such as hydroxychoroquine and quinidine

antifungal drugs, such as terbinafine

the blood pressure drug hydralazine These drugs can all increase the level of metoprolol in the body. Alpha-blockers Alpha-blockers also lower blood pressure. They may decrease blood pressure too much when combined with metoprolol. Examples of these drugs include: reserpine

alpha-methyldopa

clonidine

prazosin Clonidine must be carefully managed if its combined with metoprolol. Stopping the drug suddenly while also taking metoprolol can cause a big jump in blood pressure. Ergot alkaloids Ergot alkaloids, such as dihydroergotamine, narrow blood vessels to treat headaches. If you take them at the same time as metoprolol, they may cause dangerous narrowing of blood vessels. Dipyridamole Dipyridamole is used for heart testing. Because metoprolol affects your heart rate, you should stop taking it before youre given dipyridamole to help ensure an accurate test result.

How to take metoprolol All possible dosages and forms may not be included here. Your dosage, form, and how often you take the drug will depend on: your age

the condition being treated

how severe your condition is

other medical conditions you have

how you react to the first dose Dosage for high blood pressure Generic: Metoprolol Form: immediate-release oral tablet (metoprolol tartrate)

immediate-release oral tablet (metoprolol tartrate) Strength: 25 mg, 37.5 mg, 50 mg, 75 mg, and 100 mg

25 mg, 37.5 mg, 50 mg, 75 mg, and 100 mg Form: extended-release oral tablet (metoprolol succinate)

extended-release oral tablet (metoprolol succinate) Strength: 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, and 200 mg Brand: Lopressor Form: immediate-release oral tablet (metoprolol tartrate)

immediate-release oral tablet (metoprolol tartrate) Strength: 50 mg and 100 mg Brand: Toprol XL Form: extended-release oral tablet (metoprolol succinate)

extended-release oral tablet (metoprolol succinate) Strength: 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, and 200 mg Adult dosage (ages 1864 years) Immediate-release tablets Typical starting dosage: 100 mg daily in a single or divided doses. This may be gradually increased if needed.

100 mg daily in a single or divided doses. This may be gradually increased if needed. Typical maintenance dosage: 100450 mg per day.

100450 mg per day. Maximum dosage: 450 mg per day. Extended-release tablets Typical starting dosage: 25100 mg daily in a single dose. This may be gradually increased if needed.

25100 mg daily in a single dose. This may be gradually increased if needed. Maximum dosage: 400 mg per day. Child dosage (ages 617 years) Extended-release tablets Typical starting dosage: 1 mg/kg once daily (maximum initial dose should not exceed 50 mg once daily). This dosage may be gradually increased if needed.

1 mg/kg once daily (maximum initial dose should not exceed 50 mg once daily). This dosage may be gradually increased if needed. Maximum dosage: 2 mg/kg (or 200 mg) once daily. Immediate-release tablets These tablets are not approved for use in this age group. Child dosage (ages 05 years) Dosage for people younger than 6 years hasnt been established. Senior dosage (ages 65 years and older) Your body may process this drug more slowly. Your doctor may start you on a lowered dosage so that too much of this drug does not build up in your body. Too much of the drug in your body can be dangerous. Dosage for angina (chest pain) Generic: Metoprolol Form: immediate-release oral tablet (metoprolol tartrate)

immediate-release oral tablet (metoprolol tartrate) Strength: 25 mg, 37.5 mg, 50 mg, 75 mg, and 100 mg

25 mg, 37.5 mg, 50 mg, 75 mg, and 100 mg Form: extended-release oral tablet (metoprolol succinate)

extended-release oral tablet (metoprolol succinate) Strength: 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, and 200 mg Brand: Lopressor Form: immediate-release oral tablet (metoprolol tartrate)

immediate-release oral tablet (metoprolol tartrate) Strength: 50 mg and 100 mg Brand: Toprol XL Form: extended-release oral tablet (metoprolol succinate)

extended-release oral tablet (metoprolol succinate) Strength: 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, and 200 mg Adult dosage (ages 1864 years) Immediate-release tablets Typical starting dosage: 50 mg, taken twice a day. This may be gradually increased as needed.

50 mg, taken twice a day. This may be gradually increased as needed. Typical maintenance dosage : 100400 mg per day.

: 100400 mg per day. Maximum dosage: 400 mg per day. Extended-release tablets Typical starting dosage: 100 mg taken once a day. This may be gradually increased if needed.

100 mg taken once a day. This may be gradually increased if needed. Maximum dosage: 400 mg per day. Child dosage (ages 017 years) Dosage for people younger than 18 years hasnt been established. Senior dosage (ages 65 years and older) Your body may process this drug more slowly. Your doctor may start you on a lowered dosage so that too much of this drug does not build up in your body. Too much of the drug in your body can be dangerous. Dosage for after a heart attack Generic: Metoprolol Form: immediate-release oral tablet (metoprolol tartrate)

immediate-release oral tablet (metoprolol tartrate) Strength: 25 mg, 37.5 mg, 50 mg, 75 mg, and 100 mg Brand: Lopressor Form: immediate-release oral tablet (metoprolol tartrate)

immediate-release oral tablet (metoprolol tartrate) Strength: 50 mg and 100 mg Adult dosage (ages 1864 years) Immediate-release tablets Treatment with this drug is often started in the hospital with the intravenous formulation as soon as possible after a heart attack. Treatment with the oral medication as noted below is begun if your body tolerates the intravenous dosing. Typical starting dosage: 50 mg every 6 hours starting 15 minutes after the last intravenous dose and continuing for 48 hours.

50 mg every 6 hours starting 15 minutes after the last intravenous dose and continuing for 48 hours. Typical maintenance dosage: 100 mg twice daily. Child dosage (ages 017 years) Dosage for people younger than 18 years hasnt been established. Senior dosage (ages 65 years and older) Your body may process this drug more slowly. Your doctor may start you on a lowered dosage so that too much of this drug does not build up in your body. Too much of the drug in your body can be dangerous. Dosage for heart failure Generic: Metoprolol Form: extended-release oral tablet (metoprolol succinate)

extended-release oral tablet (metoprolol succinate) Strength: 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, and 200 mg Brand: Toprol XL Form: extended-release oral tablet (metoprolol succinate)

extended-release oral tablet (metoprolol succinate) Strength: 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, and 200 mg Adult dosage (ages 1864 years) Extended-release tablets Typical starting dosage: For people with NYHA Class II heart failure, its 25 mg once daily for 2 weeks. For people with more severe heart failure, its 12.5 mg once daily.

For people with NYHA Class II heart failure, its 25 mg once daily for 2 weeks. For people with more severe heart failure, its 12.5 mg once daily. Typical maintenance dosage: Your doctor can double the dosage every 2 weeks to the highest dosage level your body will tolerate, or up to 200 mg per day. Child dosage (ages 017 years) Dosage for people younger than 18 years hasnt been established. Senior dosage (ages 65 years and older) Your body may process this drug more slowly. Your doctor may start you on a lowered dosage so that too much of this drug does not build up in your body. Too much of the drug in your body can be dangerous. Special dosage considerations For people with liver disease: Liver disease may affect your dosage. Your doctor can tell you more. Disclaimer: Our goal is to provide you with the most relevant and current information. However, because drugs affect each person differently, we cannot guarantee that this list includes all possible dosages. This information is not a substitute for medical advice. Always speak with your doctor or pharmacist about dosages that are right for you.

Warnings Allergy warning This drug can cause a severe allergic reaction. Symptoms can include: trouble breathing

swelling of your throat or tongue If you develop these symptoms, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Dont take this drug again if youve ever had an allergic reaction to it. Taking it again could be fatal (cause death). Warnings for people with certain health conditions For people with asthma or COPD: Generally, people with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) shouldnt take metoprolol. A doctor may still prescribe it, but with careful monitoring. At higher doses, metoprolol can block different receptors on the breathing passages. This narrows the passages, which worsens asthma or COPD. For people with diabetes: Metoprolol may eliminate tremors and reduce heart rate. Tremors and an increased heart rate are signs of low blood sugar. Without these signals, it becomes more difficult to recognize low blood sugar levels. For people with poor circulation: If you have poor circulation in your feet and hands, it may become worse when taking metoprolol. Because metoprolol reduces blood pressure, you may get even less blood to these parts of your body. Warnings for other groups For pregnant women: Metoprolol is a category C pregnancy drug. That means two things: Research in animals has shown adverse effects to the fetus when the mother takes the drug. There havent been enough studies done in humans. If youre pregnant and have high blood pressure, speak with your healthcare provider about your treatment options during pregnancy. For women who are breastfeeding: Metoprolol enters the breast milk and could be passed to your baby if you breastfeed while taking this drug. Talk to your healthcare provider before breastfeeding. For seniors: Seniors may need a smaller dosage of metoprolol at first. The dosage may then increase gradually. For children: The immediate-release form of the drug has not been established as safe or effective in children. The extended-release form of this drug can be used to treat high blood pressure in children 6 years of age or older.

Take as directed Metoprolol oral tablet can be used either as a short-term drug or a long-term drug. It comes with serious risks if you dont take it as prescribed. If you stop taking the drug or dont take it at all: You risk: increasing your blood pressure

damaging your blood vessels or main organs, such as your lungs, heart, or liver

increasing your risk of a heart attack Also, if you suddenly stop taking metoprolol for high blood pressure, chest pain, or after a heart attack, you raise your risk of heart attack. If you miss doses or dont take the drug on schedule: Not taking metoprolol every day, skipping days, or taking doses at different times of day also come with risks. Your blood pressure might fluctuate too often. That might increase your risk for a heart attack. If you take too much: You could have dangerous levels of the drug in your body. Symptoms of an overdose of this drug can include: severe low blood pressure

heart rhythm changes

nausea

vomiting If you think youve taken too much of this drug, call your doctor or seek guidance from the American Association of Poison Control Centers at 800-222-1222 or through their online tool. But if your symptoms are severe, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room right away. What to do if you miss a dose: If you miss a dose, just take the next dose as planned. Dont double your dose. How to tell if the drug is working: For high blood pressure or heart failure: You may not be able to tell if this drug is working. Your doctor can do tests to determine if the drug is helping to treat your condition.

You may not be able to tell if this drug is working. Your doctor can do tests to determine if the drug is helping to treat your condition. For angina: Your chest pain should be reduced.

Important considerations for taking metoprolol Keep these considerations in mind if your doctor prescribes metoprolol oral tablet for you. General Take metoprolol with food. This drug may cause nausea. Taking it with food will allow your stomach to digest it better. Take it either with a meal or right after a meal.

Dont crush the extended-release tablet. However, you can cut the tablet along the score marks (the groove on the tablet) if your doctor recommends a smaller dose.

You can cut the immediate-release tablet. Storage Store at room temperature between 68F and 77F (20C and 25C). You may briefly store the drug at temperatures as low as 59F (15C) and as high as 86F (30C).

Keep this drug away from light.

Dont store this medication in moist or damp areas, such as bathrooms. Refills A prescription for this medication is not refillable.You or your pharmacy will have to contact your doctor for a new prescription if you need this medication refilled.Women with current migraine have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a recent large observational study. Share on Pinterest Migraines may be extremely painful, but they may also lower womens risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The study also found that migraine declined in the years preceding a diabetes diagnosis. Although migraine and type 2 diabetes are both common conditions, data on a link between the two are scarce, say the researchers. They describe their findings in a paper that now features in the journal JAMA Neurology. For their investigation, they analyzed survey data on more than 70,000 women living in France who were members of a health insurance scheme and in the E3N Prospective Cohort Study. The women had filled in health and lifestyle questionnaires every few years between 1990 and 2014. These included questions about migraines. Information on diagnosed type 2 diabetes came from the insurance schemes drug reimbursement database. The analysis revealed that women with active migraine had an approximate 30 percent decreased risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared with women with no history of migraine headaches. The investigators defined active migraine as having experienced migraine in the period since the last survey.

Need to understand underlying mechanisms First and corresponding author Dr. Guy Fagherazzi of the Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (INSERM) in France and colleagues call for further research to focus on understanding the mechanisms involved in explaining these findings. According to the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017, headache disorders (consisting mainly of migraine), are the second leading cause of disability worldwide. Diabetes is the fourth. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggest that migraine affects  at least 1 in 7 adults  worldwide, with women nearly three times more likely to develop them than men. While the condition mostly affects those in the 35-45 year age group, it can also affect others, including children. In their discussion of the results, Dr. Fagherazzi and his colleagues speculate on what might underpin the link between migraine and type 2 diabetes. One mechanism that they suggest is the activity of a molecule called calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) that is common in the development of migraine and is also involved in glucose metabolism. It has been reported, they write, that rats with experimentally induced diabetes have a decreased density of CGRP sensory nerve fibers.We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. Heres our process.

Depression and anxiety may be just as bad for your health as smoking and obesity. However, cancer does not correlate with these mental health conditions. These are the main takeaways of a new study that investigates the physical health risks of these psychiatric conditions. Share on Pinterest Anxiety and depression may seriously impact a persons physical health. In the 17th century, Enlightenment philosopher Rene Descartes posited that the mind and the body were separate entities. While this dualist idea has shaped much of modern science and thought, recent scientific advances show that the dichotomy between the mind and the body is a false one. For instance, neuroscientist Antonio Damasio famously wrote the book he entitled Descartes error to prove precisely the point that our brains, emotions, and judgment are much more intertwined than people previously believed. The findings of a new study may further contribute to this latter argument. Aoife ODonovan, Ph.D., of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco, and her colleague Andrea Niles, Ph.D., set out to examine the effects that psychiatric conditions, such as depression and anxiety, may have on a persons physical health. The researchers investigated the health of more than 15,000 seniors over 4 years and published their findings in Health Psychology, the journal of the American Psychological Association.

Anxiety and depression similar to smoking The study looked at the health data of 15,418 retirees who were 68 years old, on average. The data came from a governmental study that used interviews to assess the participants symptoms of anxiety and depression. The participants also answered questions about their weight, smoking status, and medical conditions they had a diagnosis of. In addition, they provided information about weight recordings from hospital visits. Of the total number of participants, ODonovan and colleagues found that 16 percent had high levels of anxiety and depression, 31 percent had obesity, and 14 percent were smokers. Those living with high levels of anxiety and depression were 65 percent more likely to develop a heart condition, 64 percent more likely to have a stroke, 50 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure, and 87 percent more likely to have arthritis than people who did not have anxiety or depression. These increased odds are similar to those of participants who are smokers or are obese, says ODonovan. However, she adds, for arthritis, high anxiety and depression seem to confer higher risks than smoking and obesity.Dorain Yates, on Joe Rogan's podcast, once said that the exercises to build muscle will never change. And every day, in the gym, hustling my way through iron, I find this as the supreme truth. That's exactly what the old school exercises gave us- thick and big muscles. Fancy new school exercises are well, yeah, just fancy to look at. The big compound moves will always be the cornerstone of the muscular development. One such old school giving is the dumbbell pullover. Lost in time, this exercise was once a staple in every meathead's upper body routine. Now, not many people do it. Why and how did the pullover become such a controversial exercise? Let's decipher.

The Dumbbell Pullover

 Pinterest

Right through the 50s till the early 70s, the dumbbell pullover was a staple chest and back exercise. Reg Park, Sergio Olivia, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Feriggno and many other golden era kings advocated this exercise.

The Disappearance Of The Pull-Over

 Facebook

Enter Arthur Nautilus, the man who introduced the pullover machine into the world of bodybuilding. Nothing was the same after that. Since the bodybuilders now had access to a more specific machine, the inclination towards the free weight dumbbell pullover diminished. Soon after, the 90s saw the exit of the pullover with the pompous entry of the functional fitness advocates. Bashed left, right and centre and the pullovers were labeled a 'shoulder-killer'.

Does It Really Cause Shoulder Injuries?

Almost any exercise done wrongly can cause injury. Either you are just too weak or simply lack the mobility to perform the pullover. Before jumping right into a pullover, check your over head shoulder pressing. Can you press with a full range of motion? If yes, go ahead. If no, you need mobility work. Can you do dead-hang pull-ups- all the way down and all the way up? If yes, you can try the pullover. To know whether if this exercise is for you or not, take a lighter weight and perform some initial reps. If you feel something weird in your shoulders, it's not for you.

How Bros Do It Wrong!

1) Not bracing the core.

2) Dead straight arms by locking the elbow. Always maintain a slight bend.

3) Bending the elbows way too much and hence involving the triceps.

How To Do It Right

1) First things first, tighten your core.

2) Use a moderately heavy weight to start with.

3) Don't lock the elbows into a straight arm. Keep a slight bend, not too much either.

4) Don't over-stretch in the over head position.

5) Keep the shoulders depressed (retracted) into the bench.

What Does it Really Build Though?

 Facebook

Well, both. The pullover was once called the upper-body squat for a reason. It hits nearly every damn inch of your back and the chest. Depends on how you perform it, chest and back can be targeted separately. But all in all, it does hit both the muscle groups.Soaring high up in the sky, maneuvering a loaded, uber-hefty aircraft under your able hands, and zooming around the sky fighting enemy planes in the sky, is a dream many young boys come to live for. However, the same cannot be said for young girls, who usually do not even consider being fighter pilots on most perfect days.

 TOI

But this scenario might be changing real soon because young women are now constantly proving that sky is indeed the limit when it comes to dreaming big, and living it too. One such stellar example is that of Priya Sharma from Rajasthan, who decided to go all out and turn her dream into a reality by donning that hat of India's 7th woman fighter pilot, in the otherwise male dominated industry.

 TOI

Not just that, Priya has now also become the 3rd woman fighter pilot to come out of the western state. As per reports, out of the 139 cadets that graduated from the Indian Air Force academy in Dundigul, only 35 were fighter pilots and Priya happened to be the only woman amongst the lot!

It was her father's posting at the Air Force station in Karnataka that first sowed the seed of becoming a fighter, and well there was no going back on it with her graduation now!

 BCCL

This is a proud moment for our nation, but more so for the young girls and women, who had so far stuck to more regular career choices in this field.

 Panchayat Times

Earlier with Avani Chaturvedi who made history by flying solo on a fighter jet, and now with Priya joining the league of female fighter pilots in the country, we can only wish them greater successes in the future.Online shopping has now become an integral part of our life with Amazon leading the way. Whether it's a Rs 100 coffee pouch or Rs 1,00,000 smartphone, everything is available online. With urban life getting even more stressful due to a population boom and crumbling infrastructure, more and more people are opting to do their holiday shopping online instead of walking into a brick and mortar store.

This explosion in online shopping has led to "porch pirates" and "stoop surfers" who swipe holiday packages from unsuspecting residents. In the USA, the courier delivery is often left on the porch or mailbox when someone isn't present to physically accept it.

 Reuters

To counter these thieves, Police in Jersey City have been placing fake Amazon packages outside people's homes to catch thieves. These Amazon packages are insight of cameras near the home and also equipped with GPS devices to track the robber's movements. Police and Amazon picked locations for the sting operation using Jersey City crime statistics and maps of theft locations provided by Amazon.

Jersey City police captain James Crecco, who is overseeing the mission, told the AP it only took three minutes for one bait package to be stolen earlier this week. We thought it was a mistake at first, he said, adding that the suspect was caught.

 AP News

Exact figures on porch thefts are hard to come by though. Amazon uses its own logistics network as well as relies on UPS and FedEx for last-mile delivery. Unfortunately, all the concerned companies have declined to share figures.

Amazon is offering the necessary equipment for free to the Jersey City program. Most of the package thefts we've made arrests on revolving around (closed-circuit TV) or private surveillance cameras that give us a still image, Jersey City Police Chief Michael Kelly said. With the bait packages, some will be under video surveillance, and some will have GPS.

 Reuters

The Jersey City police hope to catch thieves before they snatch up someone's holiday gifts. The program has undergone legal review and was approved by the local prosecutor.

To prevent theft, users also have the option of purchasing a parcel box that allows only the owner and delivery person access. Amazon Key Smart Lock is one such product and has proven to be useful on most occasions.

Source: AP NewsMonique Davis, the office manager for the dental clinic, steps into the room, and the Mitchells eye her somewhat warily. Davis beams  its just what she does. She spends her days bustling through the hospital hallways, keeping the clinic on track, but her main job, as she sees it, is to reassure and make comfortable people whose everyday struggle has honed their tenacity to a sharp edge. Her mission is clear: She is here to help. We specialize in special-needs patients, she tells the Mitchells. There is nowhere else for them to go, so even if insurance becomes a problem, we will work with you. We are just a small community hospital, but we see everybody here. We do everything. The Mitchells are quiet, but they nod, ask a couple of questions, relax a bit. Davis smiles her huge smile again. Dont worry, she says. Were taking care of him now.Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Markos Bolaris represented Greece in the 39th Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) organised on 14 December 2018 by Azerbaijan, a country which exercised its presidency during the second half of 2018.

Recent developments were discussed on issues related to the work of the BSEC, such as transports, information technology, energy, the environment, small to medium-sized businesses, tackling organised crime, agriculture, and cultural cooperation. The participating Ministers developed their positions and exchanged views regarding the steps that should be taken to render the BSEC more functional, aiming to establish interregional cooperation further.

Greece is one of the 11 founding members of the BSEC -which boasts 12 members since 2004, following the inclusion of Serbia. It has developed significant initiatives in the BSEC and constitutes a substantive financier of its bodies, two of which are hosted in Greece: The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank in Thessaloniki, and the International Centre for Black Sea Studies in Athens. Ambassador emeritus Michael Christides is acting as the Organisation's Secretary General.

During his trip to Baku, Mr Bolaris met, on 13 December 2018, with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Mammad Guliyev, with whom he discussed issues of bilateral relations. The excellent relations between the two countries were reviewed, which have the potential to develop much further, inter alia with regard to issues of economic cooperation, as well as social, educational, cultural, and agricultural issues, for which the Azerbaijani side expressed specific interest. In addition, the number of Azerbaijanis who visit Greece can increase considerably with a direct airline connection between Baku and Athens. In Baku, two University departments are already in operation for the study of Greek language and culture, where more than 70 students are presently studying.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs also visited Bakus Greek Community, the members of which amount to 550, who received him with overt emotion.JOURNALIST: What message did you bring for the Trump administration? Why did you feel a need to launch a bilateral strategic dialogue between longtime allies and NATO partners? Why do you say U.S.-Greek bilateral relations are at their best point ever?

G. KATROUGALOS: It is indeed the apex of our bilateral relations. It is true that Greece and the United States have always been on the same side, since the time when American philhellenes came to fight with us in our liberation war of 1821. The current reposition of our strategic relation on a new basis, on equal terms, stems from the alignment of interests and the new challenges we have to face in our region. We have tried to answer to these challenges by becoming a stabilizing factor in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean, promoting regional security and cooperation. The United States recognized in this framework our leadership and vision and, in particular, our initiatives to resolve disputes and to facilitate common regional economic and security benefits.

JOURNALIST: Energy appears to have been a major point of discussion in your talks here. Do you share U.S. concerns about the Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream pipelines? Were any specific agreements made on your trip here to increase Greeces role in European energy security?

G. KATROUGALOS: A basic component of the new economic model we want to forge is exactly our comparative geopolitical advantage to be a natural bridge between Europe and Asia and Africa. Based on that, Greece should become a hub of commerce, logistics and transports but also an energy hub. Therefore, we favor a diversification of energy resources based on the multiplication of pipelines and [liquefied natural gas] centers, both for economic reasons and for reasons pertaining to energy security. Regarding the Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream pipelines, we consider that they must be treated in the same way by the European Union, as it is not acceptable to have double standards in assessing essentially similar projects.

JOURNALIST: For many years, the news out of Greece was dominated by the economic crisis, debt talks with the International Monetary Fund, and battles over bailouts and austerity measures. Do you feel the country has turned a corner on its economic and fiscal problems?

G. KATROUGALOS: It is clear that not only have we turned a new page, but we are now in a completely new chapter of our history. Leaving behind us the adjustment programs does not signify only a return to economic normality, but also a return of our country to full democratic sovereignty. After many years, we have had our economy growing for six consecutive quarters, the latest recording a growth of 2.2 percent. The forecast for 2019 is even better, as we estimate our economy to grow by 2.5 percent.

JOURNALIST: Greece has historically had good relations with Russia, and Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos recently talked of closer military and technical cooperation with Moscow. How does Athens balance that with closer ties to Washington and Russian pressure on NATO states and Ukraine?

G. KATROUGALOS: We are trying to have a fully independent and multidimensional foreign policy. It is clear that our political home is the EU, but we envisage becoming a bridge between Europe and the Arab world, between Russia and China. We can play this mediating, constructive role as we have never been a colonial power and we have diasporas in many countries of the area. Especially regarding Russia, we consider one of the most important challenges of our time how to reintegrate it in the European regional system of security. We have done that with the Soviet Union through the Helsinki agreements. Why not now?

JOURNALIST: Greece has been on the front lines of the EUs immigration crisis. Do you feel you are getting sufficient support and understanding from the U.S. and EU? Do you see things getting better or worse in 2019?

G. KATROUGALOS: We have in the last decade faced a perfect storm of crises  an economic and a migration one. And we have managed to tackle both with openness and respect to fundamental human rights. After all, we still remember the time when we were migrants and refugees ourselves. The support from our allies was a substantive condition to cope with it. But it should be made clear that migration is a global problem. It cannot be treated by one nation alone. Especially in the EU, we need a European response based on our common values, solidarity and burden-sharing. Unfortunately, not all member states have responded in this way to the challenge. Therefore, this is going to be one of the basic dilemmas of the next European parliamentary elections. Two camps are confronting each other: one faithful to the humane character of our societies, committed to the protection of human rights and openness, and one promising a fortress Europe, by a return to a golden national past which never existed.

JOURNALIST: Bonus question: Any predictions for the 2019 Greek national elections?

G. KATROUGALOS: This is an easy one. We are going to win them. Bets are welcome.Nine in 10 of all the urine samples taken from the expectant moms tested positive for chemicals that fall into one of the three chemical classes of concern, with slightly lower percentages (about seven in 10) with respect to a chemical called triclosan. An antimicrobial, triclosan was banned for use in soap by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2017, but it can still be found in some toothpastes, the researchers noted.But those flavors were merely a primer for the next night's visit to Aska, a Michelin-starred destination in Brooklyn under the Williamsburg Bridge. It's owned and run by Fredrik Berselius, who grew up foraging and fishing in Sweden. The dining room, anchored by an open kitchen, is dark and theatrical (though a cellar bar is more casual and lighthearted). Many dishes are served on rustic wood bowls or boards. The food is refined yet user-friendly. And exquisite. Among the dishes I sampled was a stunning arrangement of vendace roe (a salmon relative) served with two types of roasted cabbage, a jam made with dulse, rhubarb root oil, and a sauce of fermented white asparagus juice and whey. Eating the uncommonly tiny roe was like crunching on fossilized champagne bubbles.They were successful at going after my husband and locking him up and throwing away the key. And because no one stopped them for doing that to my husband, they are going after a bigger target. Theyve been emboldened because they got away with it with my husband. They undid an election, going after someone they didnt like for some reason and used every means within power to do it.It has been five years since U. of I. last ousted a tenured faculty member. An engineering professor, Louis Wozniak, who had taught at U. of I. for nearly five decades, had a long history of clashing with the administration before he was dismissed in November 2013 for misconduct. Laker Elementary first graders, who jumped into the Christmas spirit and performed holiday tunes for their family and friends during a special Christmas program.

 Haili Gusa, of Ubly High School, who was named the winner of the Michigan Farm Bureau's Youth Discussion meet.

 North Huron's agricultural program, which received the National Association of Agricultural Educators Outstanding Middle/Secondary Agricultural Education Program Award at a convention in San Antonio, Texas.

 Unionville-Sebewaing Area's Tyler Heckroth, who was named the Agri-Valley Communications Athlete of the Week. The senior guard scored a career-high 30 points against Greater Thumb Conference rival Harbor Beach. Heckroth knocked down six triples and scored 12 key points in the third quarter.

 All of the area's agribusinesses and attendees who helped make this year's Thumb Ag Day another big success.

 Olivia Brown, Brady Bachman, Kelsey Baun and Malisa Partaka, who were all named Bad Axe's Citizens of the Month for December.

 All of the hunters from around the Thumb who attended the first-ever Greater Thumb Hunting Contest banquet. This year's winners were: Benjamin Geiger, youth firearm; Kyle Hiller, youth archer; Connie Osentoski, adult archer; Connie Osentoski, adult firearm; and Lorene Wessels, readers' choice.

 Port Austin Kayak, which claimed first place in this year's Catapult Your Business Plan Competition. PAK won $2,500 for its presentation on its floating cottages.

 Shelby Hagle, of Port Austin, who was one of four students selected for a fellowship that will provide her with opportunities to apply her liberal arts education in a professional setting. Hagle is a psychology major at Saginaw Valley State University.

 Cody Simmons, who was named the Huron Area Technical Center's Student of the Month for November.

 All of the area fire, police, EMS and military personnel, who teamed up with the local children for the return of the Shop with a Hero program. This year was the biggest turnout in event history.

 Miranda Smigielski, Joy Aumann, Tess Grifka, Josephine Gusa, Danielle Tschirhart and Mikaela Vanerp, of Ubly High School, who were all named Students of the Month for November.

 All of the students at Unionville-Sebewaing Area middle and high schools, who were named on the first trimester honor roll.

 The Bad Axe Lions Club, which recently donated $5,000 to the Bad Axe FFA to help with the expenses to build a new shed at the school.

 Emily Dennis, Tate Gordon, Samuel Hass, Alexis Blackstock, Eli Buss and Olivia Britt, who were named Bad Axe's Students of the Month for December.

 The Ubly Student Council and National Honor Society, which adopted 12 local families for Christmas this year. They shopped for 47 children and raised more than $2,300 for the project.INDIANFIELDS TOWNSHIP  Even before she became a Vietnam Agent Orange widow, Gail Lesoski had deep appreciation for those who served and to make sure they are not forgotten.

Her latest mission was helping place Wreaths Across America with others Saturday.

We have 131 wreaths to be placed on graves, said Tuscola County Veteran Affairs Director Mark Zmierski on Thursday.

There were more than that before the event actually took place on Saturday. There were 150 wreaths placed on veteran graves in the Indianfields Township Cemetery.

I had to make sure one of the 150 wreaths from Wreaths Across America went to my old neighbor and Vietnam casualty Danny Bower, said Lesoski. Sexton Chuck Frick and I also distributed to a few others from different wars.

The Cass River Composite Squadron coordinated the event, and did a brief ceremony of honor before placing the wreaths.

Indianfields looks quite nice this winter with the 157 wreaths laid along with the 34 we did privately," Lesoski said. "Thanks again to all who helped.

Lesoski and two of her friends personally bought 34 wreaths.

Wreaths Across America had another 150 wreaths, designated for Indianfields Cemetery, donated by local residents, businesses, and organizations, plus the seven ceremonial wreaths.

Next year a group of us is going to try to purchase more locally. As of this time, Wreaths Across America is only visiting Indianfields Cemetery in Tuscola County and has done so a few times, Lesoski explained. If other townships are interested in having their cemeteries honored by Wreaths Across America, they should contact them to see what is involved in applying.

The website is www.wreathsacrossamerica.org.

Some of Lesoskis other efforts to honor veterans have included: getting townships to recognize it is their responsibility to provide free of charge flag holders for veterans graves, hosting special displays of war memorabilia at the Caro Road House museum, and she provided information for Cass Citys commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War this summer.

Also, Lesoski is related to Orlando LeValley, who was in command of the GARs Department of Michigan from 1945 until his death at the age of 99. At the time of his passing, he was last surviving Civil War Veteran in Michigan.

It's estimated there are 400 veterans buried in Indianfields Township Cemetery.Guzman promised to solve the dispute that had led to Flores being kidnapped, and indeed, Flores said he heard that the man, Guadalupe Ledesma, eventually had been suffocated on El Chapos orders. Flores said his anxiety around Guzman eventually faded in future meetings, and that he brought El Chapo the gift of the guns  which were laughed at for being too heavy  and a gag gift of a pair of jean shorts like the ones Flores had been mocked for, which he gave the kingpin in a box shaped like a Viagra pill.NEW HAVEN  The co-chairwoman of Gov.-elect Ned Lamonts transition team sent a not-so-subtle message to Yale University inquiring about its progress in hiring 1,000 New Haven workers by April.

State Rep. Toni Walker, D-New Haven, and the Rev. Kelcy Steele of Varick Memorial AME Zion Church held a news conference Wednesday asking that aldermanic President Tyisha Walker-Myers hold a public hearing where the community can hear from the university directly.

Yale, Unite Here, which represent two Yale unions, and New Haven Works, a jobs training center, came to the hiring agreement three years ago this month.

After several protests, the university promised to hire 1,000 city residents with 500 of them from the Hill, Dwight, West River, West Rock, Newhallville, Dixwell and Fair Haven neighborhoods, which have the highest levels of poverty.

Walker, the co-chairwoman of Lamonts large transition team, as well as co-chairwoman of the powerful state Appropriations Committee and vice principal and coordinator of special services and grants at New Haven Adult Education, said Lamont wants to see the New Haven hiring commitment succeed.

Walker said the commitment is an important model for our city and our state for other employers to follow. She said Lamont knows that cities are the main drivers of Connecticuts economy.

The cities, and New Haven in particular, were big contributors to Lamonts victory over Republican Bob Stefanowski in the gubernatorial race in November. Lamont rolled up more than 20,000 votes over his opponent in New Haven, although the 66 percent increase in turnout statewide also factored into the win, according to a Hearst analysis.

Walker said she knows Yale and other large employers here can provide similar economic opportunities as our mighty factories once provided in New Haven.

The state representative said they have gotten a variety of answers from officials close to the program on the number of hires, so a clarification was among the reasons to schedule a hearing.

Walker-Myers said she expects to hold the hearing in early 2019 before the April deadline to attain the hiring goal.

Walker-Myers said later that Yale and members of the aldermanic Black and Hispanic Caucus recently had a quick briefing on the jobs goal, but the exact number of hires was still up in the air.

She said Yale representatives assured the group that the universitys commitment was firm and they strongly believe they will have the results the groups are seeking. Walker-Myers said the deal called for a report to the community, which the public hearing will provide.

Yale spokesman Tom Conroy reiterated that optimism.

Yale is committed to reaching its goal on hiring New Haven residents by the date agreed to, has made significant progress, and is working diligently with New Haven Works on the hiring initiative. Yale already employs more than 6,000 New Haven residents, he said in an email.

Melissa Mason, executive director of New Haven Works, sent an email in response to a request for comment.

"We are working closely with Yale to achieve the goals of the hiring agreement. Good jobs like the ones at Yale have been transformative for New Haven Works members and their families. We would like to see other employers follow Yales lead by signing similar agreements to hire New Haven residents, particularly those from Neighborhoods of Need, she wrote.

She said New Haven residents who are interested in joining New Haven Works can visit newhavenworkspipeline.org for more information.

Walker said a constant theme during the run-up to the election was the need for more jobs. We have to seize the time now to make sure that all the people who have been committed to this follow through, she said.

Steele, who works closely with the unions, said he was a strong supporter of Lamont because he shares my vision that large employers must do more to provide opportunities for all neighborhoods in our city.

He said it is the reason he campaigned in his community, knocked on doors and held rallies  not to make myself great, but to see a change in our community. He said Lamont won support in New Haven because he shared the same vision as his constituents.

Steele said he is an example of someone who grew up poor and whose single mother worked hard to get by. I am breathing proof that low income doesnt mean low intelligence. If you give us a chance, if you give us an interview and if you give us a job, Dixwell can rise again, he said of his neighborhood.

He said 75 percent of children in the citys low-income neighborhoods come from homes earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, he said they grow up in a household that brings in less than $47,700, while a living wage for the same family would be $83,000.

In a message to Yale, Steele said:

I have so much respect for you, but dont be the grinch that stole Christmas. I have a new wish list this year: Jobs for the Hill, jobs for Dwight, West River, West Rock, Newhallville, Dixwell and Fair Haven.

mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577President Donald Trump's open support for a former Green Beret facing murder charges in the death of an alleged Afghan bombmaker could jeopardize the Army's case on the grounds that the president was attempting to exert influence over the outcome.

"Could Trump kill the case? Sure, he could," said Yale University professor Eugene Fidell on Monday.

Fidell, who was a member of the defense team for former Pvt. Bowe Bergdahl, told Military.com that Trump's support could be interpreted as exercising "unlawful command influence" in the early stages of a military justice matter.

Commander-in-Chief Trump sent out a tweet Sunday stating, "'At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a U.S. Military hero, Maj. Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder. He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a Terrorist bomb maker while overseas."

The potential influence issue in the Golsteyn case would be the reverse of the argument made by the defense team in Bergdahl's court-martial, Fidell said.

In Bergdahl's trial on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, the defense played videos of Trump as a candidate calling Bergdahl a "no-good traitor" and a "dirty rotten traitor" who should get the maximum punishment.

The military judge called Trump's statements "disturbing," but Bergdahl eventually was convicted and sentenced in November 2017 to a dishonorable discharge, reduction of rank to private and to pay $1,000 per month for 10 months.

The sentence did not include prison time. At the time, Trump called the lack of jail time a "complete and total disgrace to our country and our military."

The case against Golsteyn dates to 2010, when he was a captain with 3rd Special Forces Group in Afghanistan, taking part in operations against the Taliban around the flashpoint town of Marja in southwestern Helmand province.

During the fighting, an improvised explosive device rigged to a door killed two Marines and wounded three others who were working with Golsteyn's unit.

Golsteyn's valor in the mission earned him the Silver Star.

But in 2011, during a job interview with the Central Intelligence Agency, he allegedly admitted he had killed an Afghan bombmaker who had been taken into custody.

An Army investigation resulted in Golsteyn being stripped of the Silver Star and his Special Forces tab. He also was issued a letter of reprimand and placed on inactive status while awaiting discharge.

There matters stood until 2016, when Golsteyn did an interview with Fox News and again said he had killed the alleged Afghan bombmaker. A second Army investigation began, resulting in the murder charge last week.

If convicted, Golsteyn could face the death penalty.

The officer's supporters include Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, who said in a tweet Monday that "what the Army is doing to Maj. Golsteyn is a travesty." He praised Trump for "heeding my call to review the full facts of this case."

Hunter, who narrowly won re-election in the midterms, was indicted in August, along with his wife, on federal charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and violating campaign finance laws. The charges are pending.

The issue of a commander-in-chief exercising undue influence arose in 2013 during the administration of former President Barack Obama. At the White House, Obama said that service members who commit sexual assault should be "prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court-martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged."

Obama's remarks were later cited by judges and defense lawyers at several courts-martial. In Hawaii, a Navy trial judge ruled that two defendants could not be punitively discharged because of Obama's statement.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.Many of you have suffered in silence for decades, Paulson wrote. Our concern and prayers are with you and we hope and pray that this step will strengthen the trust of those we serve. We recognize that our feelings on this day are nothing compared to the depth of suffering endured by those who have been abused, especially by one as trusted as a priest or vowed religious.WASHINGTON -- A cost-saving proposal that sparked backlash from veterans in 2017 has resurfaced in a new Congressional Budget Office report as an option to help reduce the federal budget deficit.

The report suggests removing approximately 235,000 disabled veterans from a Department of Veterans Affairs program called Individual Unemployability in 2020, projecting it could save $47.6 billion in the next 10 years. Veterans removed from the program would see their monthly incomes decrease by an average of $1,300, according to CBO estimates.

One veterans group, AMVETS, is urging the White House and the VA to publicly disavow the proposal before it creates a groundswell of anger within the veteran community.

"We want the White House to immediately make a statement saying this recommendation is out of line and will not be considered," said Joe Chenelly, director of AMVETS. "We understand that the White House is looking to trim costs, but this cannot be an option in that."

The program applies to veterans who have disability ratings through the VA of between 60 percent and 100 percent and are unable to secure jobs because of their disabilities. It allows them to receive the highest compensation rate.

The CBO suggested removing veterans from Individual Unemployability once they reach age 67, claiming those veterans would be eligible for Social Security by that time.

The cut was one of 121 cost-saving proposals included in the CBO report, titled "Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2019 to 2028." The CBO periodically compiles the list of policy options to help inform lawmakers.

The CBO's inclusion of the cut to Individual Unemployability in its report doesn't mean the White House or Congress will consider the proposal. However, now that it's public, it's likely to trigger concern among veterans who would face substantial financial consequences if the idea ever became law, Chenelly said.

AMVETS and other veterans' groups said they heard from thousands of veterans in 2017 when the same cost-saving measure was included in President Donald Trump's 2018 budget.

Then-VA Secretary David Shulkin quickly backed off the proposal, but concerns have lingered.

"We received hundreds of phone calls from veterans and emails and social media posts telling us how devastating this would be and how much anxiety and worry it was causing -- and I'm talking about at dangerous levels," Chenelly said. "We're really worried since this became public again that the worry will come back. The White House can save these vets a whole lot of angst by being very clear and immediate in saying this is something we're not going to ever consider again."

The White House and the VA did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.

Released Thursday, the CBO report comes as the White House prepares its budget recommendations for fiscal year 2020. The president's budget is sent to Congress every February.

In its report, the CBO offered an alternative option to allow veterans already enrolled in the Individual Unemployability program to keep their benefit while applying the age cutoff to veterans who enroll after December 2019. The CBO estimated that option would save $6.7 billion in the next 10 years.

Cuts to other VA benefits also were included in the report. One option would stop disability compensation for seven medical conditions: arteriosclerotic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Crohn's disease, hemorrhoids, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis and uterine fibroids.

Another option would reduce veterans' disability compensation by 30 percent once they reach age 67. The CBO also suggested ending VA payments to veterans with disability ratings of 30 percent or lower.

In an October meeting, Trump requested each Cabinet secretary present ideas to cut costs, citing an increase in spending in his first two years as president. He told them to "get rid of the fat" and suggested the cuts could be as much as 5 percent of each department's budget.

Despite that, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said in November that he believed next year's budget could be bigger than the last one. Congress appropriated more than $200 billion for the VA in fiscal 2019 -- another in a series of budget increases during the past decade.

"In the last presidential campaign, the president committed with everything he had to making sure the Department of Veterans Affairs was the most robust it's ever been," Wilkie said at the time. "I am convinced that the budget that gets through both chambers will replace this last budget as the largest in our history."Nearly 9,000 Marines Didn't Get Vaccinated By the Deadline. Many Risk Getting Kicked Out of the Corps.

The Marine Corps reported that 5% of the force had not gotten even one shot before the deadline passed.STUTTGART, Germany -- The Army has negotiated refunds for the majority of the 250 soldiers on rotation in Europe who had bought airline tickets home for the holidays before learning the leave granted by their unit hadn't been approved at higher levels.

"The command and refund coordinators have been working nonstop to rectify the situation and it is still an ongoing process," said Elisia Lukasik, a U.S. Army Europe spokeswoman.

The 4th Combat Aviation Brigade out of Fort Carson, Colo., is deployed to Europe in support of the U.S. military's effort to reinforce NATO's eastern flank. In November, many troops made vacation plans. The problem: whatever informal approval soldiers received from their command had not cleared U.S. Army Europe.

USAREUR policy states that deployed units are not authorized ordinary leave and that special exceptions must be granted. However, due to mission requirements an exception was not supportable, USAREUR determined. The troops are spread out on missions stretching from the Baltics and Poland to Germany.

To resolve the situation and ease the financial burden on soldiers, the Army assigned refund coordinators to each of the brigade's battalions to help soldiers secure refunds. There are still some unresolved cases.

"Currently the refund coordinators are working diligently on about 50 refunds, all others have been fully refunded or a refund is expected," Lukasik said in a statement. "The command truly regrets the undue stress this has created for our soldiers and their families and will continue to work with each solider to address their individual situation."

The 4th CAB is nearing the end of a nine-month deployment in Europe. The rotations are part of the military's Atlantic Resolve campaign, which aims to deter potential Russian aggression against allies.

The troops are deployed at a time of heightened tensions in Europe. Russia's attack last month on three Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea, and subsequent capture of about 25 Ukrainian sailors, prompted condemnations from the U.S.-led NATO alliance. Ukraine enacted martial law for 30 days in some parts of the country following the attack.

On Monday, Russia said it was deploying more than 10 fighter jets to Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the jets would be permanently stationed on the peninsula.The U.S. Army awarded contracts Monday to two defense firms to build prototypes of a new lightweight tank to give infantry units the firepower to destroy hardened enemy targets.

The service awarded General Dynamics Land Systems Inc. and BAE Systems Land & Armaments LP with what's known as Middle Tier Acquisition (Section 804) contracts worth up to $376 million each to produce prototypes of the Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) system.

The two companies will build 12 prototypes each and begin delivering them to the Army in about 14 months so testing can begin in spring 2020. The goal is to down-select to a winner by fiscal 2022 and begin fielding the first of 504 of these lightweight tanks sometime in fiscal 2025.

"This capability is much needed in our infantry forces," Brig. Gen. Ross Coffman, director of the Next Generation Combat Vehicle Cross Functional Team, told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday evening.

"As we close with the enemy, at this time, there is artillery -- which is area fires that can be used -- but there is no precision munition to remove bunkers from the battlefield and to shoot into buildings in dense urban terrain to allow infantryman to close with the enemy," he said.

The MPF concept emerged several years ago when maneuver leaders started calling for a lightweight, armored platform armed with a large enough cannon to destroy hardened targets for light infantry forces. The idea was to field it to airborne units for forced-entry operations.

Parachute infantry battalions can be used to seize airfields as an entry point for heavier follow-on forces. Airborne forces, however, lack the staying power of Stryker and mechanized infantry.

The 82nd Airborne Division was equipped with the M551 Sheridan Armored Reconnaissance Airborne Assault Vehicle until the mid-1990s. Developed during the Vietnam War, the Sheridan resembled a light tank and featured a 152mm main gun capable of firing standard ammunition or the MGM-51 Shillelagh anti-tank missile.

The MPF, however, will not be air-droppable, Coffman said, explaining that Air Force C-17 Globemasters will carry two MPFs each and air-land them after an airfield has been secured.

Army requirements call for the MPF to be armed with a 105mm or possibly a 120mm cannon and rely on tracks to maneuver over terrain so it can keep up with advancing infantry, Coffman said.

GDLS and BAE beat out SAIC and its partner ST Kinetics, but Army officials would not comment on the reason the winners were chosen.

"This is an integration of mature technology. The vehicles don't exist, but the technologies -- the pieces, the systems, the subsystems -- they do exist," said David Dopp, project manager for MPF.

The plan is to conduct developmental testing to assess the prototypes' mobility, survivability and lethality.

"So these have a long-range precision weapon system on them, so over ... several kilometers, how well do they perform? How lethal are they?" Coffman said. "They are going to take a couple of these vehicles out, and they are going to shoot them with likely enemy caliber munitions. They are going to see which ones can absolutely protect our soldiers."

The Army then will move into a soldier vehicle assessment followed by a limited user test scheduled for fiscal 2021, Dopp said.

"In the soldier user test, we will execute likely missions that [infantry brigade combat team] will have in full-scale combat," Coffman said. "So this isn't driving down the road looking for IEDs; this is American soldiers engaged in full-scale combat."

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.Vice President Mike Pence announced Tuesday that President Donald Trump has signed a memorandum creating the latest unified, combatant command: U.S. Space Command.

"It is my privilege to announce that today, President Trump will direct the Department of Defense to establish a combatant command that will oversee all of our military activities in space," Pence said at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Pence had planned to make the announcement during the latest SpaceX launch to send the U.S. Air Force's next-generation GPS III satellite into space. The launch itself was pushed back until Wednesday.

Pence said the command, which will be the 11th combatant command, is the stepping stone to creating a U.S. Space Force.

Related content:

"In the days ahead, President Trump will also sign a new space policy directive that will lay out our plans and our timeline to create the new sixth branch of the armed forces, the U.S. Space Force," Pence said. "We're working as we speak with leaders in both parties in Congress."

The creation of a separate space command was anticipated before the end of the year.

DefenseOne reported in July that the DoD intended to create a new combatant command solely focused on space before lawmakers begin debating a Space Force proposal in the fiscal 2020 budget.

While creating a new, separate branch within the DoD, as ordered by the president, requires congressional approval, the Pentagon said it has the authority to create a combatant command, DefenseOne said at the time, referencing a draft report outlining the decision.

"It is urgent that we address space as a warfighting domain, and this combatant command is a critical step in that direction," Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan tweeted Tuesday after the vice president's speech.

"U.S. Space Command will allow us to accelerate our space capabilities to defend our national interests and deter our adversaries," said Shanahan, considered the Pentagon's leading architect of the Space Force proposal.

"Once both organizations are fully operational, the differences between Space Force and U.S. Space Command will largely parallel those of the other five military services and four functional combatant commands," he said, referring to Strategic Command, overseer of the U.S.' nuclear arsenal; Transportation Command, which manages mobility and transportation for the military; Cyber Command, both an offensive and defensive force for bolstering U.S. cyber capabilities; and Special Operations Command, which is in charge of all special operations missions across the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force.

"The Space Force will serve as a force provider for personnel, assets and capabilities supporting space operations, while Space Command will serve as the operational command that will employ space capabilities and lead space operations," he added.

The news comes as Congress is set to debate how best to execute the Trump administration's proposal to create a more robust space entity.

"We will work with Congress to determine the timeline to full operational capability for US Space Command," Shanahan said.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.Helen Wells, a 94-year-old volunteer librarian assistant at the 59th Medical Wing on Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, recently celebrated 53 years of service.

Before volunteering at Wilford Hall to serve as a library assistant, Wells dedicated 23 years of active duty service to the United States Air Force.

"In 1950, I volunteered to join the Air Force to travel the world," said Wells. "My first duty station was at Scott Air Force Base, which was about 60 miles away from my home."

Having been to about two dozen bases during her active duty career, one base stood out the most for Wells.

"When I was stationed at Wheelus Air Base in Tripoli, Libya, it was a whole different culture," said Wells. "The climate was different. I was there before the days of Gaddafi, it was very pleasant being there. It was all peaceful, and there was no fighting as far as the American troops were concerned."

Before retiring in 1973, Wells' last eight years of active duty was dedicated to teaching future nurses. She taught enlisted members for the first five years, and officers for the remaining three.

"I may have been away from patients, but I had a room full of students," said Wells. "It was nice and I enjoyed teaching."

Wells started volunteering at Wilford Hall in November 1988. Working one day a week, she provided data entry and transfers from written to digital copies and entered approximately 500 records a month into a tracking system.

"I enjoy volunteering here at Wilford Hall," said Wells. "I enjoy the work and I like to contribute. I think people should contribute to those who can't get everything in life."

In the beginning, Wells worked with manual and electric typewriters, wet process photocopiers, and telephone fax systems. As technology advanced, Wells demonstrated her adaptability by learning the emerging technologies. She understood adapting to change is key in life.

"I first learned [to work] on the old typewriters, and now I'm working with modern computers," said Wells. "In high school, I learned typing, and with all of this new technology, the keyboard is still the same that I've learned on. They've just added new keys, but the basic alphabet is all the same. If I have to use , I had to learn it. You have to keep learning, life is about constant learning. As technology evolves, you have to increase your knowledge on new technology."

Throughout her nursing career, from actively working with patients to training a new generation of nurses, Wells was dedicated to service. Her experience continues to benefit the readiness of warrior medics at the current WHASC. After serving the nation for 53 years, Wells wants to continue serving the 59th MDW for many more years.

"I want to volunteer as long as I can. It's a great outlet when you're retired," said Wells. "You got to have a purpose, a reason to get up in the morning. It's nice to volunteer and give your time to an organization that needs help or could use your help. It's good for you and good for the organization."ELIZABETHTOWN, KY -- As a handful of radio stations across the country have taken to banning the holiday song Baby Its Cold Outside" WAKY in Kentucky decided it would show support for the song by playing different versions of it for two hours Sunday morning, according to WLKY-CBS.

Im not sure why its controversial, said Joe Fredele, director of programming for WAKY. Weve played this song for years, you know, this song is older than WAKY is. Its almost 70 years old.

Originally written and published in 1944 by Frank Loesser, the song gained national fame in 1949 when it was performed in Neptunes Daughter. It has been covered by countless artists over the years including Dean Martin, Ray Charles, Bette Midler, Michael Buble and Idina Menzel.

However, the song has come under fire in recent weeks as critics of the tune say it promotes sexual aggression toward women as the lyrics can be interpreted to have a man coercing a woman into staying overnight at his house instead of leaving as she planned. Theres also a lyric about whats in this drink? which some critics likened to slipping a drug in a drink.

While the calls to remove the song from radio rotations have slowed down, some outlets are still refusing to play the song. Fredele says people should relax and his station will continue to play versions of the song throughout the holidays.

Its just a fun way of saying, Hey this our vote for that song. Its a fun song. Its a romantic song, dont pick on it, Fredele said.

WAKY played five versions of the song from 8-10 a.m. Sunday morning.The Michigan Court of Appeals has agreed to consider whether Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina was biased in her sentencing of Larry Nassar, and whether she should have been allowed to decide on a motion for resentencing.

The three-member panel rejected Nassars appeal of his sentencing in Eaton County Circuit Court.

Nassar, the former Michigan State University doctor accused of molesting hundreds of patients, was sentenced to 40-175 years in prison in January by Aquilina in Ingham County Circuit Court after he pleaded guilty to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual assault. In February, he was sentenced to 40 to 125 years on additional charges in Eaton County Circuit Court.

Nassars lawyer in the case, Malaika Ramsey-Heath, an attorney with the State Appellate Defender Office, issued a statement saying she is pleased with the decision.

The Court of Appeals agreed to review the question of whether Judge Aquilina should have been allowed to decide the Motion for Resentencing, and whether Judge Aquilina was biased or created an appearance of impropriety, and whether either of those things entitles Dr. Nassar to resentencing before a difference judge, the statement said.

We are pleased that the cases have moved along to the next step toward an ultimate determination of whether the judges followed the law in imposing sentences in these cases. While no one should be above the law in our country it is also important for us to remember that no one should be beneath the law either. It is in the most difficult cases that we must be especially vigilant to ensure that the rule of law prevails, the statement said.

However, Andrea Bitely, spokeswoman for Attorney General Bill Schuette, issued a statement saying: While Nassar is entitled to the judicial process, the continued appeals and attention he receives as a result continue to revictimize the survivors of the assaults for which he pleaded guilty.

Aquilina presided over Nassars sentencing hearing in January, which drew national attention as 152 Nassar victims presented witness statements about his abuse.

Aquilina drew attention herself for comments during the seven-day hearing, with some saying she crossed a line as she criticized Nassar in stark terms, saying: It is my honor and privilege to sentence you, and Our Constitution does not allow for cruel and unusual punishment. If it did  I would allow some or many people to do to him what he did to others.

Nassars attorneys alleged that Aquilina used the sentencing -- which was broadcast on national TV -- to advance her own agenda. Nassar was attacked in federal prison hours after being booked, his lawyers claimed. They filed motions in July to disqualify Aqualina as the judge in his case and to seek re-sentencing under a new judge.

Aquilina denied the motion to disqualify herself, a decision that was later upheld by Chief Judge Richard Garcia., and she denied the request for a new sentencing.

Judge denies Nassars request for new sentencing

In August, Assistant Attorney General Christopher Allen argued that Aquilina was fair and unbiased during the fact-seeking portion of the trial, as she should be, but that once Nassar pleaded guilty, her role shifted to that of a voice for the community.

And Chief Deputy Attorney General Laura Moody said in August that Nassar brought the attention on himself when he committed the numerous crimes to which he pleaded guilty.

Moody said Nassar himself is responsible for the vortex and outrage of the public response. Moody pointed out that Nassar agreed to the sentence.We believe that its very possible  for reasons that we cannot explain, without ever looking in the freezer, someone came and locked this freezer door so that Kenneka could not exit, he said at the news conference near Midway Airport.HARRISON TOWNSHIP, MI -- Michigan State Police say a man has been arrested after he threatened to shoot up the Selfridge Air National Guard Base recently. In a series of tweets sent out by MSP, it was revealed a search warrant executed on the mans home found more than 70 firearms and hundreds of round of ammunition were recovered.

Police were alerted to the threat Sunday after receiving a call from the base that someone was threatening to shoot up the base and personnel on the property.

The man is a former employee at the base and recently left his job there. However, police say the motive behind the threats is unknown. The suspect in the case is facing up to 20 years in prison as he has been charged with one count of false report or threat of terrorism by the Macomb County Prosecutors Office.

Police arrested the suspect without incident while executing the search warrant Sunday. He is scheduled to be arraigned in the 41B District Court on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018 at approximately 1 p.m.Michigan residents watched the statewide testing for PFAS chemicals in drinking water during 2018 while hearing messages that health risks were minimal if the results stayed below a certain level.

Now, a panel of scientists say, that level  accepted at 70 parts per trillion (ppt) for two types of PFAS  likely is too high.

That benchmark may not provide a sufficient margin of safety, said Dr. David Savitz, professor of epidemiology at Brown University and the chief scientific consultant for Michigans PFAS initiative.

Savitz released that finding on Tuesday during a media presentation that coincided with distribution of a report requested earlier this year by Gov. Rick Snyder amid escalating concerns about the per- and polyfluorinated chemicals in Michigan waterways and public drinking water sources.

Savitz collaborated with five other scientists who study the so-called forever chemicals across the U.S., producing Scientific Evidence and Recommendations for Managing PFAS Contamination in Michigan as a guideline for state policy. The chemicals are linked to cancer, thyroid disorders and neurodevelopment problems.

The timing of the report coincided with a vote by the state House of Representatives on a passed state Senate bill that did not consider the science: Senate Bill 1244 requires PFAS cleanup standards to be based on an outdated database of toxicity criteria, and some say the lame-duck proposal would lock in existing cleanup criteria even as understanding of the chemicals and their dangers to public health continue to evolve.

The Legislature received a copy of the report, and Snyder said through a spokesperson that he hopes elected officials consider the recommendations.

He does agree that thorough and deliberative reviews that include the Legislature should be taken up as soon as possible next year to ensure the proper standards are set and the appropriate policies to enact those standards are put into place, said Ari Adler in an email.

A spokesperson for Gov.-elect Gretchen Whitmer said her transition team will evaluate the report, among other information on the chemicals, and make a recommendation.

The Governor-elect has been clear that PFAS contamination is a man-made catastrophe years in the making and anything less than an all-hands-on-deck approach to cleaning up our waterways is unacceptable, according to the statement.

The science panel considered research in both toxicology and epidemiology to conclude that a lower health standard may be warranted, Savitz said. That approach allowed consideration of the family of chemicals and their makeup, as well as human health effects and diseases.

PFAS research historically focused on PFOS and PFOA, the chemical used for decades in consumer products like Teflon pans. Its the research for PFOA, in particular, where the combined evidence supports the potential for health effects resulting from long-term exposure to drinking water with concentrations below 70 ppt, according to the report.

However, the scientists would not make a recommendation for a new health benchmark for lifetime PFAS consumption.

Science does not provide a definitive answer to that question, Savitz said. More likely will be a range where health effects could be better minimized based on available evidence that, over time, will become more apparent.

That creates confusion, he acknowledged, as various entities make their own guidelines. However, as the research builds toward clearer conclusions on PFAS, public policy needs to be able to follow in order to protect the most people.

Information is evolving, Savitz said, and that will help reconcile scientific evidence and the kinds of decisions the state is facing now and will face into the future.

Among other PFAS developments in the future will be technology to better address contamination clean-up, the scientists said, noting that destroying it by incineration is the best technique to keep it from remaining in the environment.

Researchers also expect to gain understanding on the spectrum of PFAS chemicals, which is one reason they consider PFAS as a class in this report instead of focusing on just PFOS and PFOA and the handful of other compounds that are increasing in public concern.

Detection in the environment needs to consider the full spectrum, Savitz said,  to have a complete a look as we can.

That includes considering the short-chain versions and precursor chemicals, or the related chemicals that remain in use in both industry and consumer products.

One consideration for Michigan  particularly its plating industry, which supports manufacturing  is how little information chemical companies provide about their products. Thats become an issue as the state identifies high levels of PFAS coming through its public wastewater treatment plants. An MLive investigation in November traced PFOS in levels about the regulated 12-ppt flowing into the plants from dozens of active businesses.

The proprietary nature of the PFAS composition of products and goods in the marketplace is problematic for states like Michigan as it impedes the ability to monitor and plan mitigation of human exposure where needed, the report said. While concealing the identity of PFAS and other components in products may be important to protect intellectual property and patents, it is problematic when chemicals like PFAS end up in the environment, impacting soil, water, food quality, and ultimately the ecosystem and human health.

The study also addresses that people may encounter multiple routes of exposure to PFAS, but concluded that drinking water is the most significant for public health. However, more research is warranted for many of those routes, including through food, air particles and skin contact, the researchers said.

Biomonitoring studies are recommended in the state to build more understanding of all PFAS and all of these routes, including quantifying which routes carry more risks.

That, in turn, will feed regulatory decision-making.

I think we recognize this is not a process of looking at individual chemicals when there are hundreds or thousands (of them) involved, but we need an understating in a more systematic or global way, Savitz said.

While the report makes 17 recommendations for Michigan, the application of the information should be used as a model for other states as they begin to address this national problem, wrote Snyder in an opening statement.

Snyders comment conveys some of the national issues with the contaminants: States largely are on their own to determine the presence of PFAS and the public health risks to their residents. At the same time, the Environmental Protection Agency has promised all year to release a PFAS management plan by the end of 2018. Experts, including Michigan leaders, say they hope the EPA addresses the chemicals as a class instead of individual compounds, and sets cleanup standards and an enforceable health advisory limit.

The report, said Savitz, a professor at Brown University, represents the independent opinions of the scientists  neither the opinion of their employers, nor the state. The other researchers on the project were:

 Dr. Scott Bartell, Risk Assessment, Epidemiology and Toxicology, University of California, Irvine

 Dr. Christopher Lau, Senior Researcher and Toxicologist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

 Dr. Susan Masten, Water Quality Treatment Engineer, Michigan State University

 Dr. Dan Jones, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mass Spectrometry, Michigan State University

 Dr. Jennifer Field, Environmental and Molecular Ecology, Oregon State University.

As far as the rest of the year-long PFAS effort in Michigan, Isaacs said, the plan met its goals and mitigated exposure to public health  from the most extensive public water testing in the nation.

In addition to public water supplies, wells, public schools and wastewater plants, the testing touched airports  which have used fire-fighting foam containing PFAS. One example of progress, Isaacs said, We will need to dispose of 37,000 gallons of PFAS.

Isaacs concluded the presentation by announcing that shed be retiring this week, a move that puts the leadership of MPART into the broad state government transition as Whitmer and a wave of newly elected officials take office in January.

The next logical step for Michigan, Isaacs said, is for legislators and the incoming administrators to review the report and MPARTs progress.

They need to look at the appropriateness of setting a standard and understanding how standards are actually set, Isaacs said.

State Rep. Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, introduced a bill in December 2017 to set a drinking water standard in Michigan for PFAS at 5-ppt. That never moved out of the Republican-controlled committee, something that she finds contradictory to the SB 1244 discussion - and the latest science report.

She said MPART has helped shed light on the scope of contamination in Michigan and the entire effort is undermined" by the lame-duck proposal.

My position has been that the legislature needs to pay attention to this and put a definitive limit on drinking water into statute," Brinks said, "and thats just the beginning of what we need to do.

(MLive reporter Garret Ellison contributed to this report.)

See full Michigan Science Advisory Panel report here.WASHINGTON -- Former national security advisor Michael Flynn was scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday, however that sentencing has been delayed after an explosive day in court.

Flynn was to be sentenced after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the nature of a conversation with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition period of President Donald Trumps team following the 2016 election.

During the proceedings, the former general told Judge Emmet Sullivan that he was in fact aware he was lying to the FBI and admitted his guilt. Flynn and his lawyers asked Sullivan for leniency in sentencing citing his cooperation with the ongoing Muller investigation.

Last week, special counsel Robert Muellers team filed a memo suggesting some sort of lesser punishment for Flynn based on his efforts to cooperate with the investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 election.

It was also revealed Flynn could possibly continue to help with the investigation as it unfolds. Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack said Flynn has already provided substantial assistance in the investigation. That assistance could go a long way in a reduced sentence, Sullivan informed Flynn.

The judge also reminded Flynn that he could postpone the sentencing until he is finished cooperating with the investigation. Initially Flynn wanted to proceed, but that was before Sullivan launched into a scathing critique of Flynn.

Sullivan called Flynns actions very serious hammering Flynn for lying to multiple people.

All along you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the National Security Adviser to the President of the United States, Sullivan said. That undermines everything this flag over here stands for. Arguably you sold your country out."

Sullivan continued by adding that he was not hiding his feelings of disgust over Flynns actions. At one point he asked prosecutors if Flynn could have been charged with treason for working with a foreign agent to undermine U.S. sanctions. However, prosecutors said they did not want to go there.

After that line of questioning, the hearing was postponed by nearly 30 minutes at Flynns request. When Sullivan returned to the bench, he made it clear that he was not saying Flynn was guilty of treason but was asking questions about it. Prosecutors also said there was no reason to believe treason was committed.

Shortly after the recess, Flynns lawyers asked to have the sentencing delayed, taking Sullivan up on his earlier reminder. That request was granted and sentencing will begin again at some point in March.ANN ARBOR, MI  PFAS levels in Ann Arbors drinking water have been on the rise this year, and seven types of the forever chemicals have been detected so far, city records show.

Previously unreleased test results obtained by The Ann Arbor News/MLive under the Freedom of Information Act shed new light on the problem, showing a concerning trend that city leaders are hoping new carbon filters at the water treatment plant will help reverse.

The good news: PFOS and PFOA, the two types of PFAS the city has been most closely watching, have mostly stayed below minimum-risk levels set by a federal public health agency.

But those two compounds account for only a fraction of the total PFAS in the citys drinking water, and the overall levels have more than quadrupled since April, the records show.

PFAS are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances that have links to cancer, liver damage, birth defects and autoimmune diseases.

The detected levels have been as high as 119.6 parts per trillion in Ann Arbors intake water from the Huron River this year and 88.1 ppt in the treated water delivered to roughly 125,000 customers.

City officials arent sure whats causing the increases or what to make of the larger numbers at this point, since there arent regulations or health standards for some of the compounds, and thousands of them are still going untested.

The fact that Ann Arbor has seen PFAS in its drinking water steadily climb from 12.6 ppt in April to between 53.2 and 88.1 ppt in recent months is problematic and poses a health risk, Richard DeGrandchamp, a University of Colorado toxicology professor, said.

The problem with these compounds is once they get in the body, its the end of the story, he said, noting the compounds bind tightly to protein in the blood and stay in peoples bodies for decades.

DeGrandchamp, a University of Michigan alumnus who co-authored a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality report six years ago that warned of widespread PFAS pollution, said the science on PFAS is evolving and study after study has shown the chemicals are more dangerous than previously believed.

Ann Arbor officials, without sharing much information publicly about overall PFAS levels, have repeatedly assured residents their tap water is safe to drink since PFOS and PFOA levels are well below a 70-ppt health advisory level set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2016.

We all drink it at city hall, said Robert Kellar, a city spokesman.

The EPA advisory is outdated, DeGrandchamp said. Current science says the level should be in the single digits or low teens, he said.

The city should stop citing the EPA advisory and instead look to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, DeGrandchamp said.

Its 2018 now and ATSDR is the only health agency in the United States that is chartered by Congress to look solely at the toxicity of these compounds. Its not the EPA, he said.

Sorry, but your browser does not support frames.

ATSDR recently published new minimum-risk levels for four types of PFAS, including child-exposure screening levels of 14 ppt for PFOS, 21 ppt for PFOA, 21 ppt for PFNA and 140 ppt for PFHxS, with adult-exposure levels nearly four times those amounts.

If you wait another year, these numbers are going to go down. Thats the trend that were seeing, DeGrandchamp said.

Exposure below the minimum-risk levels is not expected to result in adverse health impacts, according to ATSDR. Ann Arbor has mostly stayed below the ATSDR-recommended levels, with the exception of an Oct. 9 reading showing 22 ppt of PFOS in treated water.

But there arent any standards for five other types of PFAS found in the citys water: PFBA, PFPeA, PFBS, PFHxA and PFHpA.

This is an emerging issue, said Brian Steglitz, the citys water treatment plant manager. Because our customers are consuming the water, we want to make sure they feel comfortable, but we also have limited knowledge on certain things, so we are trying to stay on top of the science as its developed.

I cant answer the question on what is the health impact associated with things that the science just isnt there yet.

Sorry, but your browser does not support frames.

Ann Arbor gets most of its drinking water from Barton Pond, an impoundment on the Huron River, which has been contaminated with PFAS by upstream pollution, including a Wixom manufacturing plant that makes chrome-plated auto parts.

Because the compounds can linger in the environment without breaking down, theyre a threat to drinking water supplies around the world. The chemicals have been found in municipal drinking water serving more than 2 million people around Michigan.

They were first detected in Ann Arbors water at 43 ppt in March 2014 after the EPA required testing.

After months of testing for PFOS and PFOA, usually resulting in single-digit readings, the city began testing at least monthly for 21 different PFAS compounds in April.

Total detected PFAS in the citys intake water gradually climbed from 16.9 ppt in April to 64.1 ppt in September, before spiking at 119.6 ppt in October, and then ticking down to 99 ppt in November.

The levels remaining in the citys treated drinking water steadily climbed from 12.6 ppt in April to 53.2 ppt in September, before spiking at 88.1 ppt in October, and then ticking down to 53.6 ppt in November.

Steglitz said the city hasnt been sharing those larger totals publicly until now because there havent been any regulations or health advisory levels to put them into context.

Thats one of the things were struggling with as a utility, because no one knows  when you add up all of those PFAS, theres no metric to compare that to, Steglitz said, adding the citys goal is to get the numbers as low as possible.

This map shows average PFAS levels in Ann Arbor's intake water and treated drinking water, based on test results from April to November 2018. The city has detected seven types of PFAS, including PFOA and PFOS.

The city and the University of Michigan are experimenting with a pilot filter system inside the water treatment plant, using a series of floor-to-ceiling tubes to test techniques.

That research is not related to PFAS, but a two-year PFAS study using the same tubes is expected to begin next summer, Steglitz said. With a grant from the nonprofit Water Research Foundation, the city plans to partner with North Carolina State University and the Colorado School of Mines to study and refine techniques for filtering out PFAS.

Theyll be exploring new ways to optimize removal of longer-chain molecules such as PFOS and PFOA, as well as shorter-chain molecules that not much is known about, in hopes of helping the water industry better understand and tackle PFAS, Steglitz said.

In the meantime, as part of a roughly $1 million undertaking, the city is replacing filters at the plant with new granular activated carbon to better filter out PFAS in the water delivered to customers.

The city is moving as aggressively as it can, Steglitz said. Ten of the plants 26 filters have had the new carbon installed since October and the rest are expected to be changed out by the end of May

The city plans to keep up with regular replacement of the carbon material to optimize PFAS removal. PFAS sticks to the carbon as water filters through, so filter efficiency decreases over time.

Theyre not fail-safe and they certainly dont pick up everything they were intended to, DeGrandchamp said.

Test results between April and October suggest, at best, only about a quarter of the total detected PFAS was being removed from the citys water before the city started the transition to GAC filters. The latest test results from November show an improvement, with nearly half the PFAS filtered out, including about two-thirds of PFOS.

The issue was discussed at the City Councils annual retreat last week. Council members are hopeful the carbon filters will work.

Its going to be interesting to see that data as it comes in, said Council Member Ali Ramlawi, D-5th Ward, who sees PFAS as an added concern on top of the dioxane plume spreading through the city. Its alarming."

City officials are hopeful the state will do more to identify and cut off sources of pollution in the Huron River watershed.

An MLive investigation earlier this year found that, since 2017, 18 wastewater plants in Michigan were in violation of the states surface water quality standard of 12 ppt for PFOS due to the industrial pollution passing through their systems.

The Wixom wastewater plant, as of July, had discharged effluent with as much as 290 ppt of PFOS and 10,927 ppt of total PFAS.

Lab tests have shown several types of PFAS in the Wixom plants discharge, including those found in Ann Arbors water.

Testing at Norton Creek by the state on July 24 showed a reading of 5,500 ppt of PFOS.

Testing of PFAS-laced foam on the Huron River in the Ann Arbor area showed as much as 56,868 ppt.

Tribar Manufacturing was identified earlier this year as a major source of the PFAS pollution that has channeled through the Wixom plant to the Huron River watershed.

The company, which claims it stopped using the chemicals in 2015, is now taking steps to filter its wastewater.

PFAS chemicals, which have been used over the years in many consumer products and in industrial manufacturing, probably have been in Ann Arbors water for decades, Steglitz said.

As Ann Arbor officials seek to better understand and address threats posed by the toxic chemicals, much remains unknown.

Were learning every day, Steglitz said. The capability to test for some of these compounds is increasing. We can test for 21 now and its going to be 24 imminently. Theyre working on the methods.

Ann Arbor officials also are looking to the federal government for more regulatory guidance.

This is a dynamic issue and its unique, because there are not many other contaminants that are in this situation where all states are taking a different approach, Steglitz said.

It would be great if EPA came in and said, Heres what you need to meet, and then well achieve that.

Ann Arbor will implement the best-available technology and meet the most stringent regulations, Steglitz said.

While PFAS is a problem that needs to be addressed, Steglitz said, hes an Ann Arbor resident and hes confident the tap water he drinks every day is safe. He said there are home filter systems people can install if theyre concerned, but he doesnt have one.

I feel very comfortable drinking the water, and I have kids and they drink the water, he said. Its important for me that our customers know and believe and trust us to deliver safe water to their homes.

DeGrandchamp suggests the city needs to do more frequent testing of its water for PFAS, at least weekly, if it wants to make sure residents are being protected.ANN ARBOR, MI - Christopher Machacek stood with a 13-year-old girl dead at his feet nearly 32 years ago.

He stood at a podium, his voice shaking, his body trembling, and pleaded for his own life - for mercy - on Tuesday, Dec. 18, in Washtenaw County Trial Court.

"But I dont know if I deserve it," he said.

Still, he got his shot.

The final remaining so-called "juvenile lifer" in Washtenaw County was resentenced to 37 to 60 years in prison for the Dec. 30, 1986 shooting death of Mary Ann Hulbert in a Superior Township field. He'll receive credit for nearly 32 years served.

Though initially sentenced to life without parole in 1988, a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling has given killers who received such sentences as juveniles, such as Machacek, a second chance at life on the outside. The ruling found the sentences cruel and unusual except for special cases and a 2016 decision found it should be applied retroactively.

Following several days of testimony by Machacek, his loved ones, law enforcement officials and experts in corrections and adolescent brain development, Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Darlene OBrien ruled against a request by prosecutors that he be resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Machacek's teary-eyed loved ones broke out in smiles and hugs at the news. Seated across them in the gallery, Hulbert's loved ones didn't move. Her aunt kept her head down as she wept.

Machacek shouldve been resentenced to life without parole, Marjorie McGarry, Hulberts 82-year-old grandmother, said after the hearing.

Hes just a cold-blooded murderer and hes not sorry for it - hes still lying all the time, she said through her own tears.

The accusation was levied repeatedly by prosecutors as Machacek testified during the hearing. Court video showed Machacek didnt deny that hed lied repeatedly over the years about what happened that December day, blaming his co-defendant Steven Stamper and changing his story.

Testifying Friday, Machacek said Hulbert, who had sexual relations with him and Stamper, called him that day and said she might be pregnant and he might be the father.

He haggled with Assistant Washtenaw County Prosecutor Anthony Kendrick over the plan - whether it was to kill or to scare the girl into telling the truth when he and Stamper took her and a pair of guns to the field.

Stamper told the 13-year-old he wanted to have sex against a tree in order to get her to undress, blindfold her and bind her hands together, but he ultimately allowed her to put clothes back on, Machacek said. She was also given a stuffed animal.

Machacek said he didn't mean to shoot her the seven times he did. She'd wiggled out of the blindfold, he said, and he started firing. The pair then dragged her body to the tree line, where it would be found frozen a week later.

"I left her there like an animal," he said.

Kendrick, in his closing statement, questioned how Machacek could've accidentally shot someone seven times. He said Stamper, who was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, claimed Machacek shot the girl again after she fell and explained that animals "twitch" when they die.

In her decision, OBrien said she considered the crime, as well as factors including the lack of brain development Machacek likely had at the age of the shooting, testimony of his growth in prison and his efforts to save a guard from being shanked. One expert, she noted, found Machacek to be rehabilitated.

McGarry recalled her granddaughter as incredibly sweet. She reminisced about the time they lived in Africa together and her competitive roller-skating.

In a victim's impact statement dated in 2016 and read during the hearing, Hulbert's mother, Deborah Hulbert, recalled the last time she saw her young daughter.

She knew something was wrong but couldn't get her daughter to say what it was, she said.

"I break out in a cold sweat with just the thought of Christopher Machacek or Steven Stamper gaining the freedom to walk our streets to harm another child or carry out their threats for myself to be next"

Deborah Hulbert died in March of cancer, McGarry said.

Still, Mike Chegwidden, a 46-year-old former prisoner, said the right decision was reached Tuesday.

Chegwidden said Machacek kept him from going down the wrong path when he was in prison, saying, Do you want to die in here with me?

"I'm sorry for the family," Chegwidden said. "(But) Chris is a changed man."

Sofia Nelson, Machacek's attorney through the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office, complimented O'Brien for reaching the decision, as "sometimes it can be hard to follow the law in the context of those overwhelming emotions."

Machacek, for his part, apologized during his testimony and at his sentencing. He was a terrible person back in 1986, he said.

"I couldnt feel the terror that I caused in Mary," he said. "I couldnt feel the remorse with her dead body laying at my feet. I couldnt hear the panic in her mother's and her aunt's voice when they came looking for her. I couldn't feel it."

I could never ever take back what Ive done, he said.FLINT, MI  The idea of a north side grocery store co-op has moved one step forward with the purchase of a former Flint church building.

The North Flint Reinvestment Corporation, a parent organization of the North Flint Food Market, has purchased the former Abundant Life Community Church building with plans to re-purpose the site at 5402 Clio Road for the store.

It will be aided by a $40,000 Catalytic Investment award from the Michigan Good Food Fund, a statewide initiative working to increase healthy food access and spur economic development and job growth. Funds will be used for pre-development work for the co-op.

Rev. Reginald Flynn, executive director of the North Flint Reinvestment Corporation and co-founder of the North Flint Food Market, called the award and building purchase all positive signs for a successful opening in 2020.

The co-op is still seeking members, Flynn said, with approximately 560 residents, churches, businesses and organizations signed up to date. His hope is to reach 800 members prior to the opening.

Flynn declined any further comment on the purchase or plans at this time.

The North Flint Reinvestment Corporation was awarded $125,000 by the city in February in unspent federal Community Development Block Grant dollars for the purchase of an undisclosed building.

City records previously obtained by MLive-The Flint Journal through a Freedom of Information Act request show Flynn requested reprogrammed block grant money on Nov. 30, 2017, to put toward purchasing the Abundant Life Ministries facility.

News of the purchase comes a little more than one month after Hamady Complete Food Centers closed on the citys north end. The store was open for less than four months.MONTCALM COUNTY, MI  After 40 years, Steve Klackle is saying goodbye to the apple orchard business.

The 64-year-old third-generation farmer is putting Klackle Orchards, a 450-acre swath of land just west of Greenville that draws thousands of visitors during fall weekends, up for auction.

Im ready for something else, said Klackle, who studied civil engineering in college but took over the family orchard in late 1978 after his father, Ray, died. I dont want to die in the saddle. A lot of farmers do.

Klackle and his wife, Rosemary, announced this month that they are retiring this spring. The couple tapped into the growing agri-tourism trend in recent years, expanding their u-pick apple business to include hay rides, a petting zoo, an apple-shaped carousel, pony rides, a pumpkin patch and a corn maize.

Klackle said his farm  which produces 125,000 apple bushels per year  could draw as many as 8,000 visitors during a prime, fall weekend. Those visitors would come from throughout West Michigan, as well as communities as far east as Bay City and Saginaw. He likened those busy fall weekends to what Christmas time is to retailers.

You have a little bit of a sigh of relief, Klackle said, adding: Well, I think we can pay some bills this year.

While the orchard has long been a family business, Klackle says theres no one else in his family who is interested in stepping up to run the farm in his absence. His brother is not interested in running the orchard, and his son, Ryan, works as an EMT for Montcalm County. His daughter, Natalie, does sales and marketing work for the farm but is not trained in fruit growing.

So he decided to sell.

Its a little tough, he said. When you hit 65 those decisions come a little easier. Youve been thinking about it for a few years.

He listed the 450-acre farm and its agritourism equipment  a carousel, jump pad, and other tractors and equipment  with Sheridan Realty & Auction Co., which is based in Mason. He said he doesnt have a specific amount hes looking to sell the farm for but added that hes confident hell get a good price.

I think the economy speaks for itself, he said.

The property is comprised of 13 separate parcels, so the farm doesnt have to go to one buyer. He said it could be used by farmers, an agritourism business, a cider producer, and there could be commercial uses as well. He sold a parcel to Walmart in 2004, he said.

Weve had some interest, he said. Its just a matter of everybody registering and bidding. Well see where we wind up.GRAND RAPIDS, MI  The attorney for a man accused of mutilating a womans body said his client tried to talk to police before her body was found but was turned away.

Jared Chance, 29, was taken by his parents to Grand Rapids Police Department on Saturday, Dec. 1, in the disappearance of Ashley Young, 30, of Kalamazoo, attorney Andrew Rodenhouse said Tuesday, Dec. 18.

He said that Chances father, James Chance, a retired Rock Island, Illinois, police officer, took him into police headquarters but was told to contact Kalamazoo police about the missing woman.

Chance was arrested the next day after Grand Rapids police found the victims body parts in the basement of his rental house on Franklin Street SE.

I would say they certainly dropped the ball on this one, Rodenhouse said, outside of Grand Rapids District Court after a short hearing.

He said his client probably would have answered investigators questions the day he turned himself in. He was arrested the next day and would not talk to police without an attorney.

Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker, who was not in court, said Rodenhouses account was not quite how things went down.

He said he could not elaborate given the developing nature of the investigation.

Grand Rapids police Sgt. Cathy Williams said any release of information will go through the prosecutor.

Police are investigating Youngs death as a homicide. She last seen early on Nov. 29 with Jared Chance at Mulligans Pub in Eastown, according to a Facebook site set up to find the missing woman.

Police say Chance dismembered the woman. No one has been charged in the killing.

At the courthouse, Youngs family and friends wore T-shirts that said, #Justice for Ashley and Lets Bring her Home.

Meanwhile, Chances parents, James Howard Chance, 76, and Barbara Louise Chance, 63, are free on bond accused of being accessories after the fact, and perjury, for allegedly not telling police their son committed the crime.

Rodenhouse said it is not unusual to file charges against family members to put pressure on a suspect.

Police said in court records the couple, who live in Holland, were aware that their son allegedly cut Ashley Youngs body into multiple pieces without telling police.

The victim was identified by DNA testing.

Jared Chances preliminary examination, to determine if he should stand trial in Kent County Circuit Court, will be Jan. 4 before Judge Jennifer Faber. He is held on $750,000 bond.JACKSON, MI  Dozens of large vehicles have fought a pair of downtown Jackson railroad bridges in the past century.

The bridges always win.

But these bridges that take trains over Mechanic and Jackson streets in Jackson have finally met their match. Both are being replaced in 2020 with taller bridges, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation. The project costs $13 million.

Built in 1901, the Mechanic Street bridge has 10 feet of clearance, said Ryan Hoensheid, MDOT rail bridge engineer. Its being extended just 7 inches.

MDOT cant build a taller bridge there due to the surrounding infrastructure, such as the railway bridge over the Grand River, the train station and the Louis Glick Highway intersection, Hoensheid said.

"There still is a possibility of bridge strike," he said.

A truck got stuck under the Mechanic Street railroad bridge near the intersection of Louis Glick Highway on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. The passenger in the truck was transported by Jackson Community Ambulance to the hospital from the scene. (J. Scott Park | MLive.com) MLive Media GroupMLive Media Group

Both bridges are hit about a half-dozen times each year, said Rob Lippert, MDOT railroad infrastructure section manager. The most recent collision was Saturday, Dec. 15, when a U-Hauls roof was destroyed.

Big vehicles hitting the bridges are pretty common, said Christopher Ermatinger, Jackson Fire Department assistant fire chief. Towing companies are called to unstick the vehicles and the fire department comes if there are injuries, he said.

The Jackson Street bridge is being raised to 14 feet, 6 inches. It currently sits 11 feet, 9 inches from the road, Hoensheid said. It was built in 1902 and, like the Mechanic Street bridge, has only seen preventative maintenance in recent years, Hoensheid said.

"Our forefathers were really good at overbuilding," Hoensheid said. "These railroad structures are very tough. They are quite resilient when they have these bridge strikes."

The pair of north-south roads will close during construction, although trains will operate during about 95 percent of the project, Hoensheid said. The bridges can be built ahead of time and craned or slid into position, he said.

The state bought the rail line in 2012 and has been inspecting bridges to determine which need replacing first, Hoensheid said. These two in Jackson were near the top of the list, he said.

These bridges have exceeded their useful life," Hoensheid said.BLACKMAN TWP., MI  Soldiers serving in four foreign countries and the Persian Gulf will have a little sweeter holiday thanks to Northwest Community Schools students.

For the sixth year in a row, students at Northwest elementary and early elementary schools participated in Sweets for Soldiers, organized by former U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Nugent.

More than 1,100 pounds of candy were shipped out in 83 boxes to soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen deployed this holiday season, Nugent said.

It is totally amazing what these kids can do along with their parents and community supporting our service members abroad during the Christmas season, Nugent said in an email. The giving spirit definitely shows at Jackson Northwest.

Employees at the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility, where Nugent is a corrections officer, donated funds raised at their annual Veterans Day cookout to pay the postage to ship the boxes.

We just want to let our service members know that we appreciate what they do for us and want to share a little bit of home with them, Nugent said.Officer Jason Van Dyke also faces firing over the same allegations, but Johnson signaled the board may handle his disciplinary hearing separately in light of his October conviction for the on-duty killing of the 17-year-old McDonald. A Cook County jury convicted Van Dyke of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery for each time he shot McDonald.JACKSON, MI  A Jackson man suspected of destroying a house during a home invasion is behind bars while police still search for his alleged accomplice.

Mario Oliver, 18, was arraigned Monday, Dec. 17, on one felony count each of second-degree arson, second-degree home invasion and larceny from a building, court records show.

Oliver is accused of starting a fire during a home invasion in the early morning hours of Aug. 3 that significantly damaged a house at 404 S. Elm Ave., Jackson Director of Police and Fire Services Elmer Hitt said.

Aided by an accomplice, a 22-year-old man, the pair entered the home while the family renting the house was visiting relatives in Florida, Hitt said.

They stole several items such as televisions and a PlayStation gaming system during the home invasion, Hitt said.

Sometime during the incident, the pair started a fire on the first floor of the home which caused significant damage, ultimately making it uninhabitable, officials said.

Oliver and his accomplice knew the family and knew they were out of town when they burglarized the home, Hitt said.

A warrant has been issued for the accomplice though he has not yet been located, Hitt said.

The home has not been inhabited since the incident and is now slated for demolition, according to Jackson city assessor records.

Oliver is scheduled for a preliminary examination, Jan. 2, before District Judge Joseph Filip. He is currently lodged in the Jackson County Jail.PARCHMENT, MI -- Kalamazoo Township will provide fire protection and emergency response services to the city of Parchment while it searches for a new fire chief.

A $21,000 contact between Parchment and Kalamazoo Township approved by the City Commission Monday secures the township's services for six months. Parchment firefighters will work under the supervision of Township Fire Chief David Obrieter, who is also responsible for administrative duties, training and incident reporting.

The agreement is effective Jan. 1, 2019. Parchment received no applications from qualified applicants in the last three months, said City Manager Nancy Stoddard.

The city will be without a fire chief soon. Chief Joe Bonhomme intends to retire at the end of December.

Kalamazoo Township approved the contract in December.

Commissioner Richard Bagley expressed concern that the contract was not provided sooner.

"I don't know about you guys, but I don't have time to go over contracts when I get them Monday afternoon," Bagley said while entering the commission chambers before the Dec. 17 meeting.

Commissioner Douglas Fooy said his colleagues were "over-thinking" the contract's language. Parchment can exit the agreement when a new chief is hired or if it is dissatisfied with services provided, with 30 days notice.

Mayor Robert Britigan said Parchment is essentially "renting a chief." Parchment staff will still respond to incidents, but any equipment or personal dispatched are under the command of the Kalamazoo Township Fire Department.

"This isn't the demise of the fire department," said Commissioner Robert Heasley. "We're still up and running, we still have firemen  it's our intent to respond when we're asked to respond. With the language here, it looks like we're doing away with it, but we're not."

Kalamazoo Township has mutual aid agreements with all municipalities in Kalamazoo County to provide assistance when requested, and in return those municipalities will provide assistance to the township. In 2017, the township offered aid 159 times and received help 256 times from another municipality.

Kalamazoo Township assumes no liability if it is unable to respond to requests for fire or emergency medical services, under the contract. Parchment will pay $3,500 per month and maintain its own insurance for any injuries suffered by its fire personnel.

Commissioners said another municipality will dispatch a fire chief if Kalamazoo Township is responding to another situation elsewhere.

"We will not be without a fire chief or at least an assistant fire chief for all calls," Stoddard said.

Parchment manages a department of 19 on-call firefighters who provide fire suppression and emergency medical response services, according to the citys website.

A listing for a paid on-call fire chief offers $463 monthly salary as well as additional hourly payments for time on call or at incidents. Applications can be mailed to 650 S. Riverview Dr. or sent by email to manager@parchment.org. The fire chief works under the direction of the city manager.

Parchment was scheduled to review a retail water contract with the city of Kalamazoo, which has provided water to Parchment since its municipal water supply was found to be contaminated with high levels of PFAS this summer. Action on the contract was pushed back to January because a final version was not available before the Dec. 17 meeting.

Commissioners were also scheduled to vote on an amendment to a 2008 purchase agreement with River Reach Partners LLC. The Colorado developer bought an 84-acre mill site formerly operated by paper manufacturers for $1 with the intent to demolish blighted structures, clean up contamination and build 350 apartments, retail and office space.

Recent email correspondences show the city is seeking to obtain the property if River Reach reneges on its promise to complete demolition work within a set deadline. Action on the contract was also pushed to January. A final version of the contract was not available Monday.SAGINAW, MI  Prosecutors have charged 15-year-old Naparion Riley with open murder in connection with the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Nasir Owens in Saginaw.

Owens, a Bridgeport High School senior who planned to join the Army, was gunned down on Dec. 15 in the Sheridan Park subdivision. Police found Owens suffering from a gunshot wound about 6:15 p.m. in the parking lot of the former Nelle Haley Elementary School.

Riley is charged as an adult with one count of open murder and three counts of assault with intent to murder.

During Rileys video arraignment on Monday, Dec. 17, before Saginaw County District Court Judge Randall Jurrens, prosecutors asked that he be held without bond due to the seriousness of the charges as well as three witnesses placing him at the scene.

Riley, who is represented by attorney Jeffrey Rupp, sat quietly through the court proceeding. Riley is being held without bond in the Saginaw County Juvenile Detention Center.

A preliminary examination is scheduled for Dec. 28.SAGINAW, MI  A man who has evaded police for more than a year in connection with a homicide case in Saginaw was taken into custody on Monday, Dec. 17.

Eddie D. Bowens, 39, was arraigned by Saginaw County District Court Judge A. T. Frank on Tuesday, Dec. 18, on a count of open murder in connection with the death of Veris Thompson.

Thompson, 27, was found suffering life-threatening injuries near a car that was crashed into a tree about 1:40 a.m. on Sept. 16, 2017, on Braley and Division on the citys West Side.

Thompson, a city resident, was transported to a local hospital where she later died of her injuries.

Police issued a warrant for Bowens arrest in November of last year.

On Tuesday, Judge Frank denied bond on the charge and Bowen is being held in the Saginaw County Jail.KALKASKA, MI  With a deputys body camera recording, Midland County Sheriff Scott A. Stephenson stood beside his car, begging and pleading, mumbling and cursing in an effort to keep himself from going to jail. The video shows the result of his preliminary breath test - 0.233 - puts him in the states super drunk range.

He was jailed on a drunken-driving charge.

Through a Freedom of Information Act request submitted to the Kalkaska County Sheriffs Office, MLive obtained police reports and body camera footage pertaining to Stephensons arrest in northern Michigan during firearm deer season.

The documents state that about 4 p.m. on Nov. 16, Kalkaska County Sheriffs Deputy Ashley Vansloten responded to a location on M-66 just south of Lund Road in Garfield Township after citizens had reported a vehicle stopped on the side of the road with an unresponsive male slumped over the steering wheel.

Vanslotens body camera footage shows her open the drivers side door of the black Ford Fusion and encountering Stephenson inside. The sheriff is initially unresponsive, then awakes and slurs incoherently.

I dont understand, Vansloten tells him. Whatre you doing? Youre on the side of the road, slumped over.

Stephenson does not respond.

I need to know youre alright, Vansloten tells him. Right now, you dont look alright.

Vansloten tells Stephenson how someone had called police after seeing his vehicle parked on the shoulder. Asked again if hes been drinking, Stephenson says he has, but states hes not driving.

Vansloten then asks him how he arrived at the current spot.

Midland County Sheriff Scott A. Stephenson's mug shot after being booked in the Kalkaska County Jail on a drunken driving charge.

Yeah, I know, I, I, I bad, bad deal-ee-o, Stephenson says, adding hes coming from Midland. You know who I am or not?

I dont know who you are, Vansloten says before asking Stephenson to step from his vehicle.

At that point, an ambulance arrives, causing Stephenson to begin cursing and asserting hes good.

Im the f------ Midland County sheriff, Stephenson says, displaying a commemorative badge. Im f------ good. I had a bad day. I dont need EMS. I dont need you.

Garfield Township Police Chief and former Kalkaska County Sheriff Nelson Jerry Cannon arrives on the scene.

Stephenson goes on to tell Vansloten he had some drinks a few hours prior.

What kind of a person would I be if I just let you go and drive off? Vansloten says.

I can take responsibility for it, Stephenson says. I know you gotta do what you gotta do. Im fine, Im embarrassed.

Cannon asks Stephenson how many drinks hes had in the last four hours. Stephenson says hes had four beers and had consumed them in Gladwin, about 75 miles from where he was parked at on M-66.

Jesus Christ, Im begging you, Stephenson says, adding he was driving to Chief Cannons place and that hes sorry to Vansloten for putting her in such a position.

Cannon suggests Stephenson perform field sobriety tests, which Vansloten conducts. The footage and Vanslotens reports indicate the sheriff performed poorly.

Vansloten tells the sheriff he must submit to a preliminary Breathalyzer test.

I dont know if I can pass that thing, I gotta be honest with you, Stephenson says. Jesus, Jerry, you cant do anything? I Jerry, Jerry I can follow you to my brothers place. You know where Im going.

Stephenson again apologizes to Vansloten for putting her in such a position, then says there are ways to get around the predicament. Cannon tells him to be careful what he says and that he has no choice in taking the PBT.

Jesus Christ, Im a sheriff, Stephenson says. Im a constitutional f------ officer. You cant take me to f------ jail; Im a g------- sheriff.

Stephenson blows into the PBT, the results of which indicate his blood-alcohol level is 0.233. In Michigan, a person is legally intoxicated when his or her blood-alcohol level hits 0.08; a person is super drunk at 0.17.

Cannon tells Stephenson hes got to go jail.

The cats out of the bag, Cannon says. You know, its not like the old days. I know you were hoping this would turn out differently, but theres nothing I can do.

Cannon takes Stephensons car keys as the sheriff repeats hes done.

Stephenson was transported from the scene to the local jail, then to Kalkaska Memorial Health Center for a blood sample to be taken. Police reports do not state what the results of that draw were.

Stephenson on Nov. 30 issued a press release informing the public of his arrest. In it, he said he had been at a deer camp in Kalkaska County the morning of Nov. 16 and had consumed alcohol, then driven from the camp to get better cellphone reception.

"I felt the alcohol take an effect while driving," Stephenson said in the prepared statement. "I pulled over to the side of the road to attempt to get service for the camp to pick me up. I received no answer and decided to wait."

In the same statement, Stephenson apologized to the public.

"I failed to hold myself to the standards to which I have set for myself," he said. "I am embarrassed, ashamed and deeply regret the decision to consume alcohol and drive. My poor decision affects not only myself, but my family, the Midland County Sheriff's Office and my constituents. I will accept full responsibility for my decision that day. No one else is responsible."

Stephenson on Dec. 13 appeared in Kalkaska County District Court for arraignment and ended up pleading guilty to one count of operating a motor vehicle while visibly impaired. In exchange, the prosecution dismissed a charge of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

Stephenson was not charged under the super drunk statute, which comes with maximum potential penalty of 180 days in jail, as opposed to the 93-day maximum of standard operating while intoxicated.

Stephenson was fined $1,030, which he has paid. The presiding judge also ordered Stephenson be on probation for one year, during which he must complete a victim-impact panel, complete a drug and alcohol highway safety awareness program, submit to preliminary Breathalyzer tests, not consume alcohol, and not enter businesses where alcohol is served by the glass.

Kalkaska County Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Ziegler said on Dec. 13 after Stephenson appeared in court that the plea deal was standard.

If the defendant has no criminal history, this is very common, Ziegler said.

The court has no jurisdiction on the status of Stephensons drivers license, Ziegler said.

The court will send notice to the Secretary of State, and they will do whatever they think is appropriate, he said. Its not something the court decides.

Speaking again to MLive on Dec. 18, Ziegler said Stephenson was not charged with being super drunk as the roadside Breathalyzer tests results are not admissible in court.

We would need either a Datamaster, which is a more refined, more accurate (test), or a blood test, Zielger said. While prosecutors were awaiting analysis of the blood sample, Stephensons attorney contacted them and offered to have his client plead to the impaired driving charge.

We found that was an appropriate resolution, Ziegler said. He added that their request for blood sample analysis was then canceled.

MLive could not immediately reach Stephenson for comment about the body camera footage.

I paid the standard fines and costs, and I have been sentenced, as anyone else would be, Stephenson said in another prepared statement issued the day he pleaded. My poor choice has made a difficult time for my family and loved ones, and I truly appreciate the support they gave, and continue to give to me.

Stephenson was elected sheriff in 2012 and took the oath of office in January 2013. He is on the Board of Directors of the Michigan Sheriffs' Association, serving as the organizations District III director.SAGINAW TWP, MI  The Old Country Buffet restaurant in Saginaw Township has closed, less than a month after the chains Burton location closed.

A sign posted on the Saginaw restaurants door on Monday, Dec. 17, said it was closed, telling customers that they hope to serve them at another location. That location wont be in Michigan though, as Saginaw Township was the last Old Country Buffet restaurant in the state.

Nadine and Jim Sly hopped out of their truck and headed for the the eatery on Monday until they realized the business was closed.

Ill be darned. We havent eaten here in a while. Im shocked. We had coupons to eat here, Nadine Sly said.

Lights were on inside the building and employees appeared to be inside.

The Slys said they used to frequent the business regularly. The couple drove off headed toward Chens Mongolian Grill.

Old Country Buffet in Burton closed Monday, Nov. 27 due to issues with the lease, according to Old Country Buffet management. Management said the Burton closure was in no way is a reflection on the future of any of our other locations, including the restaurant in Saginaw, Michigan.

The restaurants website on Tuesday displays a map of which cities have a restaurant. When you hover over the state of Michigan, it displays no locations.

MLive and The Saginaw News could not reach restaurant officials immediately for comment.

Ovation Brands is the parent company of Old Country Buffet, Ryans Grill, Buffet and Bakery, HomeTown Buffet, Country Buffet and Tahoe Joes.Soprons mother said it would be easy to hate the witnesses who put her son behind bars for so long. But hearing them speak now, she said, made her realize they were just weak, mixed-up, crazy 17-year-old kids that (were) desperate and, you know, came up with this lie  and then the states attorney just ran with it.Porter took the job last year in the days after a victims rights advocate alleged she was harassed by a state senator and her complaints went unanswered for nearly a year. Denise Rotheimer told lawmakers that Democratic Sen. Ira Silverstein made unwanted comments about her appearance, sent her hundreds of Facebook messages and placed midnight phone calls as she was working with him to pass a bill for nearly 18 months. Silverstein disputed the allegations and said he apologized if I made her uncomfortable.I have been profoundly troubled by the news that the offices of (Burke) had been raided twice by the FBI and his alleged interference in the Department of Aviation, Preckwinkle said in a statement, noting that Burke has contributed to her county and aldermanic accounts despite having little contact and no relationship with the alderman.Mendoza, the state comptroller, said if elected she would push for funding after-school staff at 50 school buildings over eight years with some of the $70 million in state money coming to Chicago annually under the new school funding formula. These employees would help tutor students in the buildings, she said.Domingo Caal Chub, 61, holds a smartphone displaying a photo of his granddaughter, Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin, in Raxruha, Guatemala, on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. (Oliver de Ros / AP)Imagine a hotel where there's no specific check-in or check-out time, no welcome drinks and no set breakfast hours. Kapil Chopra, a veteran in the Indian hospitality sector, offers all this and more at his new luxury hospitality brand The Postcard.

The Postcard Hotel group is expected to start 50 luxury hotels in the next five years across the country.

The Postcard Hotel has announced the opening of three luxury hotels in Goa. The Postcard Moira, nestled in one of the four heritage villages of Goa, The Postcard Velha, surrounded by 300 acres of coconut plantations in old Goa; and further south, The Postcard Cuelim, that also houses a 350-year-old chapel in the premises.

To keep the experience intimate and personal, none of the upcoming or existing hotels would have more than 50 rooms. Most of the hotels would be an eight to fifty room property with room rentals in the range of Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000.

"What I wanted to do with The Postcard Hotel is make luxury hotels for the modern audience but bring back the romance and charm of sun-kissed holidays. We wanted it to be rich in its experience but also wanted it to be simple. We believe guests want to stay in a place where the hotel does the thinking for them, where they get the simple things right, yet offer fantastic spaces for them to relax, meet likeminded people and experience local culture. This is why, we handpick our locations and our hotels, so that guests have a different experience whether they are in Goa or overlooking the snow clad Himalayas," said Chopra.

To explain the bespoke experiences better, Chopra said he had handpicked the chef at one of his Goa hotels from 50 home cooks in the area. A guest gets to go shopping with the chef, come back to the hotel and cook it with the chef and also take the recipe back with them.

"We want everyone to take a piece of the hotel back with them," Chopra said.

In the next 12 to 18 months, The Postcard Hotel will be present in Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Dhauladhar Mountain Range, Ravangla Sikkim, Darjeeling, Sunderbands and Kanha.

Some of these hotels would be in partnership with strategic brands. For instance, in eastern India, The Postcard Hotel will jointly deliver the three hotels in Sikkim, Darjeeling and Sundarban with Harsh Neotia's Ambuja Group.

Among other strategic partners who have pitched in to put together the brand are Akshat Bhatt of Architecture Discipline and designer Jas Arora. Coimbatore-based Purnarnava Ayurveda has been brought to run Ayurvedic healing programmes ranging between 7 to 21 days in all the Goa properties. Forest Essentials has been roped in for some amenities.

As it starts its operations, the hotel company, funded by UAE-headquartered Small Ventures has Rs 600 crore of assets under management. The brand has set up a REIT (real estate investment trust) for strategic buyouts.live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

For JHS Svendgaard Laboratories, a small Delhi-based FMCG contract manufacturer, FY10 was a breakthrough year.

The company's sales had more than doubled that year to Rs 68.5 crore and most importantly, it had won a huge contract from global FMCG major P&G to manufacture toothbrushes, toothpastes and detergent under its brands Oral B and Tide. It was expecting the deal to start contributing nearly half of its overall revenue.

To meet P&G's demands, JHS Svendgaard went ahead with capital expenditure of over Rs 100 crore in Himachal Pradesh to start making Tide detergent. Much of the capex was financed through debt.

The contract with P&G restricted the company from signing contracts with any of the global powerhouse's competitors.

All this made sense for JHS Svendgaard at the time, as P&G was investing aggressively to take on Colgate Palmolive and HUL in the oral care and detergent segments. Any success that P&G tasted would have percolated down to JHS Svendgaard in the form of more volumes and more revenue.

But that didn't pan out exactly as planned.

Success proved elusive for P&G. With the exception of toothbrushes, neither Oral-B nor Tide made any significant dent in the market share of its rivals. Within a few years of launch, P&G pulled out its toothpaste in 2016.

These failures took a toll on JHS Svendgaard too. The company alleged that due to conditions imposed by P&G and the latter not placing enough orders as promised, it had to keep its plant idle and incur losses.

"The were trying to wriggle out of the contract," Nikhil Nanda, Managing Director at JHS Svendgaard told Moneycontrol.

By 2013-14, the company was in deep trouble. It had already slipped into the red and was now reporting a loss for the third year in a row. Its loss for FY14 had risen to Rs 28 crore.

P&G finally terminated the contract, much before it was due to expire in 2016. Given the fact that Svendgaard was relying heavily on P&G, the loss of contract put the company in an existential crisis, as it defaulted on loans and was unable to pay wages to employees.

In FY16, the company sold the detergent manufacturing facility for Rs 16.25 crore and further settled the litigation with P&G in 2016 for Rs 30 crore as compensation. The proceeds of the sale and the settlement were used to pare its debt.

The compensation helped Nanda to tide over the crisis. But what about the future?

Enter Patanjali's Dant Kanti

As JHS Svendgaard was trying to claw its way back, it got a huge boost in the form of Patanjali's Ayurvedic toothpaste Dant Kanti.

"We were manufacturing tooth brushes for Patanjali, when we told them that we also make tooth paste and have built good capacity, they were excited, as they too were looking for a manufacturing partner for Dant Kanti," Nanda said.

Soon, in 2016, JHS Svendgaard was contracted to manufacture Dant Kanti. The Ayurvedic toothpaste, which is muddy-brown in colour and leaves a tingling taste, has shaken up the Rs 10,000 crore Indian toothpaste market like never before.

Multinational consumer goods companies such as Colgate Palmolive and HUL, which dominated the toothpaste segment earlier, were outsmarted by Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, who brought vigor to the Rs 200 crore Ayurveda and herbal toothpaste market with Dant Kanti by promoting it as a wellness and swadeshi brands and pricing it aggressively.

The Ayurveda and herbal toothpaste sub-segment is now worth Rs 2000 crore, and is growing at 20 percent. Dant Kanti has a share of around 8 percent in the toothpaste market, while Dabur has a share of 10-11 percent, again thanks to Patanjali's Ayurveda push.

Market leader Colgate, which saw its market share dropping from 58 percent to 53 percent over the last two financial years, was forced to venture into the natural toothpaste sub-segment by launching the Vedshakti brand.

Now, around 30 percent of JHS Svendgaard revenue comes from Patanjali. The company is also a major contract manufacturer for Dabur as well. The changes have worked for it. Even as its topline increased from Rs 98 crore in FY16 to Rs 138 crore in FY18, JHS Svendgaard's bottomline to was back in the black. In FY17, it reported a net profit of Rs 21.9 crore, which increased to Rs 28 crore the next year.

Proprietary products

While JHS Svendgaard gets the lion's share of its revenues from contract manufacturing, it is also trying to break into the high-margin branded segment with its own portfolio of proprietary brands of toothpastes and toothbrushes under the brand name Aquawhite.

Even under its own label, the company has narrowed its focus on children's oral care, in which the competition is relatively less.

But Nanda continues to believe that the decade 2020-2030 is going to belong to the contracting business. He expects the contract business to grow 20 percent every year.

"The way MNCs and India companies are thinking now a days , they are going to move out of manufacturing completely and focus on enhancing brand value. So there is huge potential in the years to come," he said.

The company plans to triple its sales by FY21.

JHS Svendgaard is also widening its relationship with Patanjali. It has tied up with Baba Ramdev-promoted company to set up retail stores to exclusively sell the latter's products at various airports across the country.

The company opened its first store in Delhi, and is planning to launch another one at Raipur airport.

"The target is to have 10 stores by end of FY20," Nanda said.

Nanda, who calls Baba Ramdev 'Swamiji', credits Patanjali for aiding the company's turnaround.

He said the opportunity provided by Patanjali would never have come up if Svendgaard had given up on staying in business.

"You are not lost until you give up," he quipped.Huawei Technologies on December 18 said it would spend $2 billion over the next 5 years to focus on cybersecurity by adding more people and upgrading lab facilities, as it battles global concerns about risks associated with its network gear.

The typically secretive Chinese technology giant made the comments at one of its most indepth press conferences at its Dongguan offices, after welcoming about two dozen international journalists into its new campus in the southern Chinese city.

Huawei has been in the news these past weeks for the arrest of its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou - also the daughter of its billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei - in Canada at the request of the United States.

This has exacerbated the woes of the Chinese firm, which has already been virtually locked out of the US market and has been prohibited by Australia and New Zealand from building 5G networks amid concerns its gear could facilitate Chinese spying.

"Locking out competitors from a playing field cannot make yourself better. We think any concerns or allegations on security at Huawei should be based on factual evidence," its rotating chairman Ken Hu said. "Without factual evidence we don't accept and we oppose those allegations."

Huawei has been communicating with governments worldwide regarding the independence of its operation, he said. He added that Japan and France had not formally banned its telecom equipment. Recent media reports have indicated moves by these governments to shun the company's equipment.

Sources have told Reuters that Japan planned to ban government purchases of equipment.

Other media reported that the country's three top operators planned not to use current equipment and upcoming 5G gear from Huawei, and that France was considering adding items to its "high-alert" list that tacitly targets Huawei.

Huawei has repeatedly said Beijing has no influence over it.

At the tour of Huawei's Shenzhen headquarters on December 18, journalists glimpsed some of Huawei's most advanced R&D labs housed in a three-storey building with a white facade and four columns, referred to by insiders as the "White House".

Wu said Huawei had secured more than 25 commercial contracts for 5G, slightly above the 22 the Chinese technology giant had announced in November.

The company has shipped more than 10,000 base stations for the fifth generation of mobile communications, he said, adding that Huawei expects revenue to exceed $100 billion this year - up 8.7 percent from last year.

Huawei is the world's largest supplier of telecommunications network equipment and second-biggest maker of smartphones and unlike other big Chinese technology firms, derives half its revenue from overseas.

"A JUST CONCLUSION"

Wu said on December 17 that Huawei was looking forward to "a just conclusion" in the case of Meng, who was arrested in Vancouver on December 1 after US officials alleged Huawei was trying to use banks to evade sanctions against Iran and move money out.

She is awaiting possible extradition to the United States in a case that has roiled global markets amid concerns it would exacerbate tensions between the United States and China, which are already strained over trade matters.

Meng, the 46-year-old daughter of Ren, has said in a sworn affidavit she is innocent and will contest the allegations against her at trial if she is surrendered to the United States.

Wu said Meng's arrest has had no impact on the travel of the company's senior executives.live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

With the top management of the proposed joint venture between thyssenkrupp and the European unit of Tata Steel in place, the 'trouble' that trade unions in Germany were warning about may have been quelled for now.

But the new management announcement sets the stage for several rounds of negotiations between trade union leaders and senior executives of the JV.

"The talks will be contentious, and will bring out several issues," said a senior executive from the industry.

The talks will be crucial for the JV, which is already under a probe by the European Commission, to start operations and avoid further delay.

The two sides had signed definitive agreements on of the deal in June and expected to complete the process by December. The two companies had first signed a MoU to form the JV in September 2017.

Union talk

In early December, a union leader had warned in an interview to Reuters that if the new management is not announced soon, "..we will make trouble."

"There is a lot to talk about, but we don't have anyone to talk to, "Tekin Nasikkol, head of works council of thyssenkrupp steel unit, told Reuters.

Sources told Moneycontrol the talks will centre around wage hikes and assurances against job cuts. "The German unit is also wary about subsidies to the UK units of the proposed JV," said an executive.

The UK units are currently under Tata Steel Europe, which has underperformed its German partner. Any concession to the UK units could bear on its German half.

Named thyssenkrupp Tata Steel BV, the JV will employ 48,000 across 34 sites and will produce 21 million tons of steel a year. Its revenue will be about 17 billion Euros.

EU probe

The proposed venture is currently under a probe by the EU, which is studying if the JV will limit customers choices in the local steel industry.

The probe is specifically looking into three segments - speciality flat carbon steel and electrical steel products, automotive steel and steel used by the packaging industry.

The JV has also been delayed due to a leadership crisis at thyssenkrupp, which saw its Chairman and CEO exiting in quick succession, in June. The seats were filled only by September.

The JV will be led by Andreas Goss, who is currently CEO of the latter's steel division. Hans Fischer, the current CEO of Tata Steel Europe, will be the Deputy CEO & Chief Technology Officer of the new company. Sandip Biswas, who is currently the Group Executive Vice President, Finance, Tata Steel Limited, is the designated Chief Financial Officer.Dubai's DP World has approached an Indian court to quash an antitrust investigation recently ordered into its alleged anti-competitive behaviour at the country's largest container port in Mumbai, a legal document reviewed by Reuters showed.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) last month said it suspected alleged antitrust violations by DP World and Denmark's AP Moller-Maersk at the terminals they operate at state-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).

The CCI's probe followed a complaint by Singapore's PSA International Pte Ltd, which had alleged that Maersk and DP World businesses created barriers to hinder the growth of PSA's terminal by colluding on certain charges they levy at JNPT, Reuters reported last month.

In a filing in the High Court in Mumbai last week, the DP World unit Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal said the CCI's decision to order an investigation was "arbitrary" and "capricious".

The filing, dated Dec. 13, has been reviewed by Reuters. It has not been previously reported.

Allowing the CCI's order to stand "would lead to gross discrimination and grave economic harm" on the business, the DP World unit said in its petition, urging the court to quash the CCI's order, put it on hold, or ask the watchdog to withdraw it.

A spokesperson for DP World in India declined to comment, saying the matter was sub judice. PSA declined to comment.

A.P. Moller-Maersk, the world's biggest container shipping group, did not respond to queries.

The CCI did not respond to Reuters questions. The case is due to come up for hearing on Tuesday in Mumbai.

Handling 66 million tonnes of cargo in the last fiscal year to March, JNPT is critical to India's international trade. The port handles more than half of India's traffic of shipping containers each year.

Units of Maersk, DP World and PSA operate four of the port's five terminals, with the fifth owned by the government. The PSA terminal, inaugurated in February, is planned to be the largest, expected to nearly double JNPT's capacity.

The dispute centres around so-called inter-terminal transfers.

Under the system, freight trains arriving at JNPT typically carry containers destined for several terminals, but stop at just one that handles all the cargo on a given day. Other operators then collect their containers by truck for loading at their own terminals. A similar procedure is followed, in reverse, when imported containers are unloaded.

In June, PSA, which is owned by Singapore government-owned investment fund Temasek Holdings, lodged a complaint with the CCI alleging it was facing discrimination because Maersk and DP World were imposing a higher fee on shipping companies for handling containers that arrived at the PSA terminal.

In its petition, DP World said the matter was a "business" issue and should be looked into by India's Tariff Authority for Major Ports, not the CCI.

Chairman of the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, T. S. Balasubramanian, did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

The CCI in its Nov. 9 order, however, had said it did not agree that the matter pertains only to tariff fixation and it was rather a case of "coordinated conduct" which raised "anti-competitive concerns".

The regulator had asked its investigations unit to probe the allegations and submit a report by January. The probe would also look at the role of individual company executives, sources have previously told Reuters.

A government source told Reuters on Monday that the matter could be looked at by both the Tariff Authority as well as the CCI, and the watchdog was going to defend its decision in court.Rank 2 | USA | Number of migrants hosted: 51 million (Image: Reuters)

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has extended the EB-5 visa programme for immigrant investors until December 21.

However, the wait period for a green card for Indian applicants to this visa category could extend to seven years in 2019 from three years now.

In an interaction with Moneycontrol, Ashish Saraff, MD (South Asia & Middle East), AVG America Investments said, The waiting period is on a steady rise. Those who apply towards the end of 2019 may see up to 7 years wait to get a green card. So, it is better to plan ahead.

AVG America Investment provides a range of financial services including EB-5 services to clients. The group is run by the Indian-American Shalabh Kumar family. His son Vikram Aditya Kumar is the Founder and CEO of the firm. Shalabh Kumar was one of the largest financial backers of the US President Donald Trump for his presidential campaign.

Planning early

In markets like China, he said applicants start planning for EB-5 visa as soon as the child turns ten years. This is to ensure the process is completed before they move to the US to pursue higher education.

Saraff said for Indian clients, it is also crucial they are transparent on the source of funds. He said about 20-30 percent applications from India are rejected, the primary reason for which is improper disclosures on the fund sources.

Each application runs to about 1,000 pages is also reviewed by a legal expert. The exact source of the funds has to be detailed in the application. Further, background checks are also conducted to ensure that individuals are not looking to immigrate to the United States for unlawful purposes.

Earlier, there was a provision where the authorities could request further evidence in case of any discrepancies. Now, the proposal is rejected and the applicant will have to re-apply.

How much could students with EB-5 visas save?

At UC Berkeley for instance, the savings for an undergraduate programme once an individual gets a green card could be $47,256 for a four-year course. This is because the fee structure for local and international students is different at the educational institutes.

China and India top the list of foreign students studying in the US. In the academic year 2017-18, there were 350,755 Chinese students and 186,267 Indian students pursuing an education in the US.

For students wanting to work in the US after their education, the EB-5 visa is a better option than H1-B that requires sponsorship by companies.

What is the EB-5 programme?

The USCIS allocates 10,000 visas every year under the EB-5 programme or Immigrant Investor Program to immigrants and their families, whose qualifying investments result in the creation or preservation of at least ten full-time jobs for US workers.

Of the total, 3,000 visas are specifically allocated to immigrants who invest through the USCIS-designated regional centers.

EB-5 provides foreign nationals with the opportunity to become conditional residents for a period of two years upon making an investment of $1 million, or $500,000 in a designated Targeted Employment Area, in a new commercial enterprise.

To be sure, this is only if the entrepreneurs make the necessary investment in a commercial enterprise in the United States, and plan to create or preserve 10 permanent full-time jobs for qualified US workers.

The programme is named EB-5 for the name of the employment-based fifth preference visa that participants receive. The US Congress created the EB-5 programme in 1990 to stimulate the United States economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors.

Asian countries see a rise in demand

Saraff said there is a rise in the demand for EB-5 visas from Asian countries. AVG America Investment is now looking to scale up operations in South Asia, Middle East as well as North Africa.

In 2019, AVG America Investment is also looking to set up a special purpose vehicle to allow similar permanent visa opportunities in Europe. With an investment limit of 500,000 euro, the permanent resident programmes in Europe also offer similar opportunities.

Consolidation ahead

Saraff said a wave of consolidation among EB-5 service providers is expected as the US government is tightening rules around compliance.

Smaller players investing in dubious projects could go out of business as the authorities are striking down on errant behaviour by entities, he added.5. Bharat Dynamics | Return: -33.93% | Issue size: Rs 960 crore | Listing date: March 23, 2018 | Subscription ratio: 0.32 | Bharat Dynamics is one of the leading defence PSUs in India engaged in the manufacture of surface to air missiles (SAMs), anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), underwater weapons, launchers, countermeasures, and test equipment.

4. Hindustan Aeronautics | Return: -35.50% | Issue size: Rs 4,144 crore | Listing date: March 28, 2018 | Subscription ratio: 0.99 | Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) is engaged in the design, development, manufacture, repair, overhaul, upgrade and servicing of a wide range of products including, aircraft, helicopters, aero-engines, avionics, accessories and aerospace structures. (Image: Facebook)

3. Indostar Capital Finance | Return: -43.69% | Issue size: Rs 1,846 crore | Listing date: May 21, 2018 | Subscription ratio: 6.80 | IndoStar Capital Finance offers structured term financing solutions for corporates, and loans to small and medium enterprise (SME) borrowers in India.

2. ICICI Securities | Return: -48.57% | Issue size: Rs 3,514 crore | Listing date: April 4, 2018 | Subscription ratio: 0.73 | ICICI securities offers a wide range of financial services including brokerage, financial product distribution and investment banking and focuses on both retail and institutional clients.

1. Apollo Micro Systems | Return: -54.18% | Issue size: Rs 113 crore | Listing date: January 22, 2018 | Subscription ratio: 248.51 | Apollo Micro Systems caters primarily to the defence and aerospace sectors. (Image: Reuters)

5. Mishra Dhatu Nigam | Return: 33.72% | Issue size: Rs 438 crore | Listing date: April 4, 2018 | Subscription ratio: 1.21 | Mishra Dhatu Nigam (MIDHANI) is one of the leading manufacturers of special steels, superalloys and only manufacturer of Titanium alloys in India.

4. HDFC Asset Management Company (AMC) | Return: 42.41% | Issue size: Rs 2800 crore | Listing date: August 6, 2018 | Subscription ratio: 83.06 | HDFC AMC operates as a joint venture between Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) and Standard Life Investments.

3. Fine Organic Industries | Return: 48.44% | Issue size: Rs 600 crore | Listing date: July 2, 2018 | Subscription ratio: 8.99 | Fine Organic is the largest manufacturer of oleochemical-based additives in India. Oleochemical-based additives are used in food, plastic, cosmetics, paint, ink, coatings and other specialty application in various industries. (Image: Pixabay)

2. Bandhan Bank | Return: 50.32% | Issue size: Rs 4473 crore | Listing date: March 27, 2018 | Subscription ratio: 14.63 | Bandhan Bank is a subsidiary of Bandhan Financial Holdings which in turn is a subsidiary of Bandhan Financial Services.Mahindra & Mahindra | Subsidiary Mahindra Holdings agreed to sell its entire 100 percent stake in Mahindra First Choice Services (MFCS) and Optionally Convertible Redeemable Preference Shares in Auto Digitech (ADPL) to TVS Automobile Solutions (TASL). M&M signed a Share Subscription Agreement for subscribing securities of TVS Automobile Solutions (TASL). (Image: PTI)

live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Mahindra & Mahindra said on Monday it has inked a share subscription agreement with its Finland-based associate firm Sampo Rosenlew to increase its stake to 49.04 percent from the existing 35 percent for Rs 37.74 crore.

"The company has signed a Share Subscription Agreement with Sampo Rosenlew Oy, Finland, an Associate of the Company ("Sampo") and has agreed to subscribe to 822 equity shares and 192 compulsorily convertible preference shares. Pursuant to this, the voting rights of the Company in Sampo would increase from 35 percent to up to 49.04 percent," a BSE filing said.

According to statement total acquisition cost is Euro 46,59,534 (equivalent to around Rs 37.74 crore at the foreign exchange rate of Rs 81 per Euro).

It will acquire 822 equity shares at Euro 3,333 per share and 192 CCPS at Euro 9,999 per CCPS. The acquisition of share would be completed in four weeks.

The Sampo was founded in 1853 and is based out of Pori, Finland. Sampo is a manufacturer of combine harvesters and forest machinery with market presence in Europe, CIS and Algeria.

Sampo is a European combine harvester company, well-known for mid-sized combine harvesters in the markets of Europe, Eurasian countries and North Africa and is also a joint venture partner for combine harvesters in Algeria.

Together with its existing strategy in the core markets, Sampo is developing a new range of combine harvesters for developing markets and for specialty crops. The Company and Sampo will jointly focus on the combine & specialty harvester business in Asia, Africa and Eurasian Economic Union countries and Latin America.

The Sampo had a total revenue of Euro 52 million during the period October, 2017 to September, 2018, it added.live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Mahindra and Mahindra shares gained 1.5 percent in morning on Tuesday on signing pact to increase its equity in associate firm Sampo.

"Company has signed a Share Subscription Agreement with Sampo Rosenlew Oy, Finland, an associate of the company and has agreed to subscribe to 822 equity shares and 192 compulsorily convertible preference shares," the auto major said.

After this acquisition, the voting rights of the company in Sampo would increase from 35 percent to upto 49.04 percent.

"The Investment is intended to consolidate presence in combine harvesters in the global markets, which is in furtherance to the main line of business of the company," M&M said.

Total acquisition cost for the company is 46,59,534 euro (equivalent to around Rs 37.74 crore at the foreign exchange rate of Rs 81 per Euro).

Founded in 1853, Sampo is a manufacturer of combine harvesters and forest machinery with market presence in Europe, CIS and Algeria.

It had a total revenue of 52 million euro during the period October 2017 - September 2018 against 40 million euro in previous year.

At 10:15 hours IST, the stock was quoting at Rs 768.00, up Rs 9.50, or 1.25 percent on the BSE.Jyotivardhan Jaipuria, founder and Managing Director of Valentis Advisors, spoke to CNBC-TV18 about the current rally in stocks market and outlook.

The markets are not cheap. We have seen a nice rally and now again valuations have not been exactly cheap. The other thing, which I have been trying to highlight is we have to juxtapose this with the fact that we are probably close to the bottom of the earnings cycle. So we will have a strong earnings cycle going ahead. We could live with a probably slightly higher valuation but probably not at this level. Partly what we are seeing now is the year-end Santa Claus rally, which is probably a phenomenon we get in most of the year-ends. That tends to unwind itself somewhere in January-February, Jaipuria said on December 17.

Talking about the US Federal Reserve policy expectations, Jaipuria said, General consensus is that there will be a rate hike by US Fed. I expect a rate hike this year. I think they will probably do a rate hike but it is whether they start giving a view that next year the rate hikes will not be as sharp as what market is factoring in. So the general consensus used to be another four rate hikes next year which has now moved closer to three rate hikes and I think that is where probably we could see better markets for emerging markets (EMs) next year where we see that Fed is probably not going to hike as aggressively as they were hiking this year because the US economy starts to slowdown. So I would say we get a rate hike this year but probably we start getting commentary which indicates that the rate hike next year is not going to be as quick as what was earlier believed."

With regards to Indian markets and upcoming general elections, he said, India per se over the next four-five months, there would be some focus on politics because that is something, which we cannot ignore in the run up to elections."

"People would have one eye there and generally people dont like uncertainty. All of us know that if we look at longer-term, which government is formed and all is not very important to the market but at the same time, near the elections people generally dont want change, they just want status quo to continue so that we can ignore politics and get back to company fundamentals. So to that extent, people will be a little nervous ahead of the elections, said Jaipuria.

Source: CNBC-TV18This year's results are similar to opinions offered by CEOs at the December 2017 summit, when more than four-fifths of CEOs said they were embarrassed by Trump's representation of U.S. interests and image on the world stage and three-quarters worried the country had alienated allies. At Yale's mid-2017 summit, 50 percent of the CEOs in attendance gave Trump an "F" for his first 130 days in office and more than 60 percent strongly agreed his decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord diminished the global standing of the United States.live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Here are stocks that are in the news today:

Tata Steel: Andreas Goss, currently Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of thyssenkrupp's Steel division, will be the future Chief Executive Officer of the planned Joint Venture and chair the Management Board of thyssenkrupp Tata Steel BV. Hans Fischer, currently the CEO of Tata Steel Europe, will be the Deputy CEO & Chief Technology Officer of the Joint Venture.

Standard Chartered Plc: The Group agreed terms for the spin out of its private equity business and a sale of the majority of its private equity investment portfolio to funds managed by ICG Strategic Equity, part of Intermediate Capital Group Plc (ICG).

NMDC: Company fixes lump ore price at Rs 3,250 per tonne and price of fines at Rs 2,860 per tonne from December 13.

Ashoka Buildcon: Subsidiary raises Rs 150 crore from Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure.

Godrej Industries: National Company Law Tribunal approved the Scheme of Amalgamation of Vora Soaps Limited with company.

Bank of Baroda to shut three overseas branches by June

Glenmark Pharma: Company announces new data on GBR 1302, a HER2xCD3 Bispecific antibody, presented at the ESMO Immuno-Oncology Congress 2018.

Bombay Dyeing: Company has given its consent by signing the shareholder's resolution of its subsidiary in Indonesia i.e. PT Five Star Textile Indonesia (PTFS) for closure of the same.

Graphite India: Kamataka State Pollution Control Board has renewed the consent for operations at Bengaluru graphite electrode plant for a period up to 30.6.2020 only with condition to shift the unit from the existing location.

IL&FS Transportation Networks: The interest due and payable on December 17 on the NCDs was not paid to the debenture holders due to insufficient funds.

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services: India Ratings reaffirmed its AAA/Outlook-Stable rating for Rs 10,000 crore worth public issue of non-convertible debentures.

Infibeam Avenues: Suvidhaa Infoserve Private Limited acquires 5 percent equity stake in company's subsidiary NSI Infinium Global Private Limited.

RITES: Board fixed December 28 as the record date for the purpose of payment of dividend.

Punjab and Sind Bank revised MCLR rate w.e.f. December 16

Goldiam International: Company announces the closure of the buyback with effect from December 17.

M&M signed agreement with Sampo Rosenlew Oy, Finland, an Associate of the Company to increase stake from 35% to 49.04%

Mac Hotels: Goa based public listed company will add another 160 rooms effective from 1st January 2019, taking the total number of rooms to 238.

Corporation Bank - ICRA reaffirmed rating on certificate of deposits of Rs 30000 crore to ICRA A1+

Ongoing litigation amongst the Company, Sadbhav Engineering on the one side and Montecarlo on the other have arrived at amicable settlement

NCLT and High Court of Gujarat dispose the matter and accordingly the said legal matters now stands closed

Bulk Deals on December 17

DRS Dilip Roadlines: Babulal Vadilal Shah sold 94,400 shares of the company at Rs 75.5 per share on the NSE.

Godha Cabcon Insulat: Mark Corporate Adviosrs sold 72,000 shares of the company at Rs 30 per share on the NSE.

Manaksia Steels: Payal Agrawal bought 3,38,715 shares of the company at Rs 26.91 per share on the NSE.

BC Power Controls: Deepen Bharat Shah bought 3,00,000 shares of the company at Rs 28.71 per share on the BSE.

(For more bulk deals, click here)

Analyst or Board Meet/Briefings

Sandhar Technologies: Board meeting is scheduled on February 2, 2019 to consider the un-audited standalone financial results, for the quarter and nine months ended December 2018.

JCT Limited: Board meeting is scheduled on December 31 to consider fresh issuance of equity shares aggregating to Rs 9.16 crore on preferential basis to term lenders.

Tube Investments of India: Meeting with institutional investors/analysts on the unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended September 2018 is scheduled on December 18.

Dishman Carbogen Amcis: Management meet and plant visit at company's Bavla plant with certain institutional investors and analysts has been scheduled on December 18 and 19.

Genus Power Infrastructures: Officials of the company will be meeting investors and analyst at its plant in Jaipur on December 18.

: Company's officials will be meeting ICICI Pru AMC on December 18.live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Pramerica Financial and Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) have signed a binding term sheet for Pramerica to acquire DHFLs stake in their 50:50 joint venture asset management company, DHFL Pramerica Asset Managers (DPAM), according to a press release from the fund house.

The transaction will make DPAM a wholly-owned business of PGIM, the global asset management business of Prudential Financial.

PGIM Inc., formerly Prudential Investment Management is the asset management arm of American life insurance company Prudential Financial.

The transaction will not change DPAMs scope of business, the release said.

This is a strategic call by DHFL to focus more on our core business. We firmly believe that this move is in the best interest of all parties and will have a positive outcome for all stakeholders. said Kapil Wadhawan, chairman and managing director, DHFL.

As on November 30, the average assets under management of DHFL Pramerica Mutual Fund stood at Rs 11,163 crore.

Prudential Financial is among the top 10 largest investment managers in the world with more than $1 trillion in assets under management.

We see tremendous opportunity in the asset management market in India and are very excited to be entering this next phase of growth, said Glen Baptist, Chief Executive Officer, PGIM Global Partners.

Pramerica and DHFL formed the joint venture in 2014 and immediately expanded its business through the acquisition of Deutsche Asset Management (India).IL&FS Transportation Networks | The company defaulted on the interest on non-convertible debentures due on August 25, 2020. (Image: Reuters)

live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

A dozen bidders have shown interest for the securities business of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), including lenders HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's private equity firm Rare Enterprises, The Economic Times reported.

IL&FS's new management is looking to sell parts of the defaulting company to pare its Rs 91,000-crore debt and IL&FS Securities Services (ISSL) is the first of its subsidiaries being sold. The company expects to raise Rs 400 crore through the sale, sources told the paper.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had previously approved a deal for the sale of ISSL to IndusInd Bank, but the new management wanted a new and transparent bidding process.

The procedure for the deal started on November 12. "A shortlist will happen soon. The valuation of the company should be around IndusInd Banks offer of Rs 400 crore," a source was quoted as saying.

ISSL was established in 2007. It posted a profit of Rs 45 crore on a revenue of Rs 324.5 crore for FY18, according to IL&FS' annual report. The company reportedly has over 1,000 broker client accounts and foreign institutional investors. It engages in over 3 million transactions daily on stock exchanges.

For the sale, Arpwood Capital and JM Financial were appointed as financial and transaction advisors, while Alvarez & Marsal came in as the resolution consultant.In its recent order, the apex consumer commission - National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) - has ruled that a real estate developer cannot cite excuses such as delay in approvals by authorities, issues of land acquisition to justify late delivery of projects.

This order, say real estate and legal experts, is expected to have repercussions on most projects located across the country.

The bench directed a subsidiary of real estate major DLF to hand over possession to 16 homebuyers who have booked units in Panchkula in Haryana.

It directed the company to pay compensation of Rs 1 lakh per annum as delay and interest on the amounts paid by homebuyers and ordered the builder to complete the process of getting the sale deeds registered.

So, what are the excuses that real estate developers are most likely to make or have made in the past?

According to Mihir Kumar, advocate, these range from NGT ban, land acquisition issues, labour problems, restrictions on extraction of groundwater.

The issue here is that these problems existed even when builders took money from homebuyers to book the flats. Also, an issue such as the NGT ban was put in place only in 2013 which was way past the period of possession for most of these projects located in Noida and Greater Noida. The handing over period according to most agreements was 2011 onwards.

This is likely to have a pan-India an impact. This will be a law in so far as all the consumer forums are concerned. National commission orders are binding on the state commissions and on the district forums.

This order is bound to set a benchmark. Excuses for delay by developers such as delay in cement supply, lack of bank funding hopefully will come to an end. It will provide a direction to the presiding officers and ensure that excuses for delays will not be entertained. RERA cannot copy the order but may take a cue from it, says Abhay Updhayay, president, Forum for People's Collective Efforts.

NCDRC is an apex court for consumer matters. Most apartment acts clearly lay down that developers cannot take bookings and collect money from homebuyers without having permissions in place. If a developer decides to do so it is a statutory violation. Homebuyers too on their part should do some basic due diligence and ensure that the builder has a licence and has plans approved by the authorities, advises S K Pal, Lead Counsel, Advocates and Consultants.

vandana.ramnani@nw18.comlive bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

World's largest oil exporter Saudi Arabia and richest Indian Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries are discussing joint investment in petrochemicals and refinery projects, the Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih said.

Al-Falih, who has known Ambani for over a decade now, travelled to Udaipur earlier this month to attend the pre-wedding festivities of Ambani's daughter Isha's marriage with Ajay Piramal's son Anand.

During that visit, he also held talks with Ambani but choose to tweet about those discussions only this week.

In an Arabic tweet, which was translated using online tools, Al-Falih said he was delighted to meet Ambani.

At the meeting "we discussed opportunities for joint investments and cooperation in petrochemical, refining and communications projects."

He also tweeted a picture of the meeting where Ambani is dressed in a business suit, a sharp contrast to other pictures of his in traditional attire during the pre-wedding festivities held on December 8 and 9.

No details of the meeting were available from Reliance.

Reliance operates two refineries at Jamnagar with a total capacity of 68.2 million tonnes per annum.

Reliance plans to expand its only-for-exports SEZ refining capacity to just over 41 million tonnes from current 35.2 million tonnes but does not have any plans to set up a new refinery in the country.

It is presently focused on expanding petrochemical and telecom business, industry sources said.

Crude oil is the basic raw material for the manufacturing of petrochemicals.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is keen to get a foothold in the world's fastest-growing fuel market so as to get a captive customer for crude oil it produces.

Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil company, and its partner Abu Dabhi National Oil Co (ADNOC) have picked up 50 per cent stake in a planned USD 44-billion refinery in Maharashtra but the project is facing problems in acquiring land due to protests from local politicians.

Aramco and ADNOC will together hold 50 per cent stake in the 60 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) refinery and adjacent 18 MTPA petrochemical complex planned to be built at Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra by 2025.

The two will supply half of the crude oil required for processing at the refinery.

Like other major producers, the two are looking to lock in customers in the world's third-largest oil consumer through the investment. Kuwait too is looking to invest in projects in return for getting an assured offtake of their crude oil.

Saudi Aramco is also keen on retailing fuel in India. A refinery in India can also be a base for it to export fuel to deficit countries in Europe and the Americas.

India has a refining capacity of 247.6 million tonnes, which exceeded the demand of 206.2 million tonnes.live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

SPA Securities' report on V-Guard Industries

V-Guard's revenue base is very well diversified with stabilisers (19% of revenue), UPS (12%), C&W ( 30%), Pumps (12%), Water heaters (12%), and Fans (10%). Revenues are growing consistently at 15% annually very much in line with mgt. Guidance. In FY'19, due to exceptional event of heavy floods in Kerala, revenue growth was a tad lower at ~ 10% to Rs 1,232 crs. Kerala forms as high as 25% of the company's revenue. V-Guard has strong pipeline of new & innovative products developed through its R&D team. The company last year enetered air coolers business on pilot basis & has plans to launch the same pan-India in current year.

Outlook

We estimate earnings to compound at 33% annually over FY'18-'20. Strong double digit revenue growth (14% CAGR) & robust return ratios aided by debt free BS enables us to recommend BUY on the stock with PT of Rs 248 ( 45x FY'20 E EPS).

For all recommendations report, click here

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Read MoreAttari: Hamid Nihal Ansari, who was repatriated by Pakistan after six years in jail, being received by his mother Fauzia Ansari, father Nehal Ansari (background R in tie) and elder brother Khali Ansari, at Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. (PTI Photo) (PTI12_18_2018_000195B)

A software engineer from Mumbai, who had spent around six years in a Pakistan jail, was reunited with his family after he returned to India through the Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday evening.

Hamid Ansari, 33, was earlier released from a jail in Peshawar on December 18 for repatriation. He was arrested in 2012 for illegally entering Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online

The software engineer was subsequently sentenced to three years' imprisonment by a military court in 2015 for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card. The Mumbai resident's term ended on December 15, but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.

It was an emotional moment for the Ansari family when his parents hugged their son soon after he entered the Indian territory through the Attari-Wagah land route.

The 33-year-old, who was sporting a beard and wearing a cap, could be seen consoling his mother, Fauzia, and wiping her tears as she repeatedly hugged and kissed him.

The bespectacled Hamid Ansari and his family members kissed the Indian soil after his return and thanked the Almighty for answering their prayers.

Shortly before his arrival, Hamid Ansari's mother had told reporters that the prayers of the family and of all those who wished for his safe return had been answered. "I am immensely happy today. I don't have words to describe my feelings."

His father, Nihal Ansari, said, "It is a new dawn for us".

Hamid Ansari was received by Indian officials at the Attari-Wagah route and crossed over into Indian territory after the conclusion of the beating-retreat ceremony.

Immediately after his return, his medical checkup was conducted by doctors. He crossed over to India on the basis of emergency travel certificate issued by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

Last week, the Peshawar High Court had given the Pakistan government a month's deadline to complete his repatriation process.Political parties have realised Rs 1,045.53 crore so far by encashing electoral bonds, Parliament was informed on December 18.

Electoral bonds of the aggregated amount of Rs 1,056.73 crore were purchased by citizens or entities till the completion of sixth phase of issuance of electoral bonds in November 2018, Minister of State for Finance P Radhakrishnan said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

"So far six tranches of electoral bonds have been released by the Government as per the terms & conditions of the Notification dated 2.1.2018. An aggregated amount of Rs 1,056.73 crore was mobilised through sale of electoral bonds in six tranches. Out of the collected amount, a sum of Rs 1,045.53 crore was encashed by political parties," he said.

The government notified the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018 on January 2, 2018 to establish and cleanse the system of political funding in the country, the minister added.

As per provisions of the scheme, electoral bonds may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or entities incorporated or established in India.

Registered political parties that have secured not less than 1 percent of the votes polled in the last election of the Lok Sabha or legislative assembly will be eligible to receive electoral bonds.

Electoral bonds, which is issued for a certain value denominations from the specified branches of the State Bank of India (SBI), has a tenure of 15 days.

It does not carry the name of payee or the donor.

The bonds under the scheme will be available for purchase for a period of 10 days, each in the months of January, April, July and October, as may be specified by the central government, Radhakrishnan said.

An additional period of 30 days will be specified by the central government in the year of the General election, he added.

Electoral Bond (EB) is a bearer instrument in the nature of a Promissory Note and an interest free banking instrument.Amit Shah_BJP

BJP chief Amit Shah will on Sunday give a management formula to over 12,000 booth incharges of the party's Delhi unit at the IGI stadium here in the run up to 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The booth incharges are being issued bar-coded identity cards to ensure that they attend event without fail, said party leaders.

There are a total of 13,816 polling booths across Delhi and so far over 12,000 booth incharges have been appointed by the party.

The district and lower level booth incharge meetings of the party have been held. It is for the first time that a state-level interaction between the national president and the booth incharges is being organised, said Dharambir Singh, head of booth management department of the Delhi BJP.

"The booth incharges will also be given a chance to put across their suggestions before the party president during the interaction," Singh said.

The party will ensure that booth presidents mandatorily attend the event. The bar-coded identity cards with photographs will be scanned when they will arrive for the event at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari and other senior party leaders will also attend the interactive session.Highlighting Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's "outsider" background, BJP leaders on Tuesday termed "divisive" his claim that jobs given to people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh deny employment to youth of his state.

Nath told reporters after taking office on Monday that his government will give incentives to industries that give 70 per cent of their jobs to those from his state and added that people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh get employment in Madhya Pradesh at the cost of the local population.

Criticising Nath, Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar said he appeared to be unaware of existing rules that prioritise jobs for the native population.

"He has also been a Union minister. He should be aware of these rules. What he is talking about is already in place... by making such a claim, he is misleading people," the BJP leader and Lok Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh told reporters.

BJP general secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya agreed with his colleague and accused Nath of promoting "divisive" politics and pitting one region against another.

Taking a dig at the chief minister, Vijaywargiya raised his "outsider" background and asked if the statement he has made should be implemented in politics too.

"Kamal Nath was born in Kanpur. He received his education in (West) Bengal. His business is spread across the country. He is now chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. Such a statement does not behove him," the BJP leader, who is also from Madhya Pradesh, said.

Former Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, an MP from Bihar, said people from his state and Uttar Pradesh have been working in different parts of the country and have played a role in the development of these states.Prime Minister_Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday suggested that a case study of the socio-political history of last four to five decades by way of cartoons be taken up by a university in Maharashtra.

He said cartoons do not hurt but have a "healing power".

He was speaking after launching a coffee table book, titled "Timeless Laxman", on the life and times of renowned cartoonist late R K Laxman, who was known for his iconic caricature of 'The Common Man'.

Fadnavis and Governor C Vidyasagar Rao were also present at the event.

"I would like to tell Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to see if any university in the state can do a case study of the socio-political history through the medium of cartoons. The base can be Laxman's works," Modi said.

He said Laxman's cartoons were the "easiest way of teaching social science".

"Laxman was not just an individual but a fundamental thread that held together crores of common people and their hearts," he said.

He congratulated the late cartoonist's family for digitalising the 'Common Man' cartoon and deciding to release his works in an animated form.

Cartoonists are "closer to God" as they can minutely observe different characteristics of various human beings, he said.

"The common man is constant. He is modern and strong. Even through his way of dressing, one cannot make out which part of India he represents. Laxman's approach was to find diversity in caricatures and bring them together. Cartoons don't hurt. They have a healing power," he said.

Modi recalled how Laxman's cartoons made a lasting impression on his mind.

"I always used to feel why aeroplanes should have the 'Maharaja' tag and not that of a common man. My thought reached then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and some flights have the common man pictures on them," he said.

"After coming to power, I dreamt that those wearing hawai chappals (slippers) should also be able to fly in planes. Now, more people travel by air than second class air-conditioned train compartments," he said.

On the occasion, Fadnavis said Laxman's cartoons connected several generations.Moneycontrol News

Leaders of Telangana Congress feel that the partys decision to contest the assembly elections in an alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) did more harm than good, according to a report by the Hindustan Times.

The Congress had jointly fought the state polls with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP, Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and Communist Party of India (CPI).

Despite intense campaigning by national and local level leaders, the alliance lost, winning just 21 out of the 119 assembly seats. Out of these, Congress won 19 and the TDP won two. The other two allies could not win any seat.

After the results were declared, Congress leader and former Member of Parliament (MP) Vijayashanti told the newspaper that he had cautioned the party against forging an alliance with the TDP, as people in the state are still upset with Naidu due to his opposition to Telanganas creation. However, it was high commands decision to go for the alliance, he said, adding that the party should be cautious now.

The Congress Telangana campaign committee chairman, Malli Bhatti Vikramarka also did not give any assurance to continue the electoral alliance in the state, the report suggests.

We cannot say now whether the alliance will continue. The party high command will take a call, he told the newspaper.

TDP is however hopeful that the alliance will continue. I do not see any reason why the experiment should fizzle out, Telangana TDP General Secretary Ravula Chandrasekhar Reddy said. Referring to the presence of Naidu in oath taking ceremony of Congress leaders, he said that shows we are still united.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) retained power in the state by winning 88 seats.Rafale jet

The Congress is running away from a discussion on the Rafale deal in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said on Tuesday while asserting that the government is ready for a debate on any issue.

A dispute, be it on Rafale, the Cauvery river water, the RBI or the CBI, can only be resolved through discussion, Goel told reporters outside Parliament.

"The Congress is running away from a discussion on the Rafale issue in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The government is ready to have discussions on any issue in Parliament," he said.

Referring to the recent Supreme Court order rejecting demands for a probe into the Rafale jet deal, the minister said it was clear that the Congress was spreading "misinformation" on the issue.

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the pleas challenging the deal between India and France for the procurement of 36 Rafale jets saying there was no occasion to "really doubt the decision making process".

"I want to tell the Congress that the government is ready for a discussion on the issue of Rafale... But the Congress is not ready for a discussion and its members are instead raising unimportant issues in both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha," Goel said.

The Congress has repeatedly criticised the deal for the 36 Rafale jets, alleging that the government was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore finalised by the UPA government.

The government has, however, denied any irregularity in the deal.Sajjan Kumar

Kamlendra Kanwar

Its an irony of fate! On the day Congress veteran Kamal Nath is sworn in as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, justice has finally caught up with Congress leader Sajjan Kumar for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that took place in Delhi in the wake of the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Its ironic because Nath himself is under a cloud for his alleged role in the riots.

On Monday, 73-year-old Sajjan Kumar, who was sentenced to jail by the Delhi High Court for the remainder of his natural life, is the first Congress leader to be brought to book for the carnage that took place 34 years ago. The high court judgment reverses a 2013 judgment in which Kumar was acquitted of the charge of involvement in the killing of five members of a family. The latest judgment has convicted Kumar of criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity and for acts against communal harmony.

Seething with anger for over three decades, the Sikhs see light at the end of the tunnel with renewed hope that other victims of what the court called genocide would also be brought to justice. While many accused have died in the intervening period including prominent minister of the time, HKL Bhagat, former minister Jagdish Tytler who was tried but exonerated for lack of evidence is still around.

Nath, who was alleged to have led a mob that killed two Sikhs in cold blood outside Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in New Delhi, is not chargesheeted. Whether Nath would now face the heat remains to be seen but the demand for his trial is increasing even as the country prepares for the general elections in which it is bound to be an issue.

In Punjab, where the scars of the carnage linger, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh of the Congress has welcomed Kumars conviction but has exonerated the Gandhi family as having had no role to play and has also sought to clear the role of the Congress. There is a crescendo among the Akalis that the Gandhis be punished. The BJP has also upped the ante against the Congress on this case. However, that seems too far-fetched for the moment.

In August this year, while addressing a foreign audience, Congress President Rahul Gandhi distanced the Congress from the mayhem that followed Indira Gandhis assassination. With Kumars conviction, that exoneration stands compromised. It is noteworthy that the lawyer who defended Kumar in the high court was Congress leader Kapil Sibals son.

What has, indeed, added a new dimension to the whole controversy is Congress choice of Nath as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.

With the Damocles sword hanging over Nath, the BJP-Akali campaign to try him and Tytler would gain new momentum, especially because the commission appointed in 2015 will be looking into the role of politicians in the violence.

In Tytlers case, an official commission of inquiry (Nanavati Commission) had noted that the balance of probability indicated he was involved in inciting and leading murderous mobs against the Sikh community in Delhi.

Without doubt, the conviction of Sajjan Kumar has instilled faith and hope in the lives of survivors and victims of the 1984 riots. The pressure against Kamal Nath and Jagdish Tytler will increase in the days and months to come. This will also cast a shadow on the Congress as it campaigns for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Kamlendra Kanwar is a senior journalist. Views are personal.Raigad: Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray addresses a farmers' rally at Mangaon in Raigad, Thursday, Nov 01, 2018. (PTI Photo)(PTI11_1_2018_000157B)

Sujata Anandan

Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray cannot help smiling from ear to ear ever since results to elections in the three Hindi heartland sets were out. The Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP's) drubbing has come as a shot in the arm to the Shiv Sena with BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, renewing their pleas for an alliance during the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and assembly elections six months later.

Suddenly, the BJP is bargaining from a position of weakness, and is having to cool its heels as Uddhav is yet to decide whether or not he wants to go in for an alliance with the BJP. Without having to work for it, this is a sweet victory for the Shiv Sena, which was unceremoniously kicked out of the alliance days before the October 2014 assembly polls.

In Maharashtra, the BJP was not growing under the shadow of Bal Thackeray and leaders such as Nitin Gadkari and late Gopinath Munde wanted to break the alliance. They were, however, reined in by the older guard, especially LK Advani, who were wary of risking losses, particularly because the Congress and the NCP were in alliance.

When the four parties fought it out alone during the 2014 assembly polls in Maharashtra, the BJP discovered that despite the Narendra Modi wave, it could not make a clean sweep. On the other hand, despite the shock of having just 15 days to get its act together, the Shiv Sena made a far better showing than anyone expected.

At the peak of Bal Thackerays charisma, the Shiv Sena was able to win 85 out of the total 288 assembly seats and that too when in an alliance with the BJP. On the other hand, his son Uddhav, pulled off 63 seats all on his own, while the BJP won 123 seats. The Sena won more seats than the Congress (43) and the NCP (41).

The Congress and the NCP have learnt their lessons and have almost worked out a seat-by-seat alliance much ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Now, after the December 11 results, the BJP is on the back foot and cannot afford to keep an alliance partner hanging in limbo. Sensing BJPs situation, the Shiv Sena is making it difficult by not making its stand clear on whether it wants an alliance or not.

While congratulating Congress President Rahul Gandhi on his victory at the recent polls, Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena MP and spokesperson, lost no time in reminding the BJP that the 25-year-old alliance, the longest in Indias political history, broke not because of the Shiv Sena. You broke up, we will decide when or if at all we want to get back together again, Raut said in response to Fadnavis presumption that the alliance was a done deal.

For weeks now, Fadnavis has been emphasising that the two saffron allies cannot afford to go their separate ways in view of the Congress-NCP combine. Compared to the Shiv Sena, the stakes are far higher for the BJP given the collapse of most of its policies at the Centre and the failure of the Ram temple issue to take off again.

Uddhav is also trying to appropriate the BJP's core base of Hindutva  last month he visited Ayodhya and demanded that the temple be built there. There he also described the BJPs failure to fulfil its promise of building a Ram temple in Ayodhya as yet another jumla. A week later, Saamna, the Sena mouthpiece, carried an editorial calling for compulsory sterilisation of Muslims to control their population, thereby attempting to prove they were more Hindutva-oriented than the party which originally formulated Hindutva as a political philosophy in India.

Although BJP President Amit Shah tried to convince himself and others that the Sena was coming round to the alliance by adopting Hindutva, the fact remains that the Sena can cut into more of the BJP votes by going it alone than benefit the party in places. That said, not forming an alliance is a risk neither can afford to take  the BJP for fear of losing more seats and the Sena for losing its bargaining power in case it does worse than expected.

It is expected that the saffron allies will eventually come together but not before Uddhav Thackeray extracts his pound of flesh from the BJP. Either way, the BJP is likely to bleed.

Sujata Anandan is a senior journalist and author. Views are personalHyundai Santro | The South Korean auto major launched the much awaited Santro after keeping the immensely popular hatchback under wraps for three years. Hyundai spent $100 million in developing the car that has garnered more than 32,000 bookings since launch.

Honda Amaze | Japanese automaker globally unveiled the latest iteration of its subcompact sedan earlier this year in India. Amaze got off to a blazing start with an initial monthly sales volume of 9000, becoming the second highest selling car in the segment after Maruti Suzuki Dzire.

Mahindra Marazzo | The Anand Mahindra-led company launched the multi-utility vehicle (MUV) in October starting at a nifty price of Rs 9.99 lakh (ex-showroom, India). Marazzo, which was engineered in the US, is not only the most modern vehicle from the company but is also the safest with a global NCAP rating of 4 stars.

TVS Ntorq 125 | The Indian bike maker made its debut in the 125cc segment with the launch of the NTorq. Since entering the market, the single cylinder, four-stroke motor scooter has been giving segment leaders- Honda Activa 125, Suzuki Access 125, Honda Grazia - a run for their money.

Hero Destini 125 | Another major addition to the 125cc segment came with the launch of Destini 125 in late October. After a lukewarm response for its scooter range, the New Delhi-based company has its bets placed on the ultra-modern two-wheeler.

Royal Enfield | Interceptor and Continental GT | The Indian bikemaker ended 2018 on a high note with the launch of the 650 twins in early December. The two bikes are manufactured in India and exported to the UK, US and Europe.

Mahindra and Mahindra | Jawa, Jawa Forty Two and Perak | The celebrated bike maker re-entered the Indian market with the launch of 3 new bikes on November 15. The Jawa and Jawa 42 feature a retro design, which is reminiscent of the original Jawas from the late 20th century. The Perak, on the other hand, comes with a contemporary bobber-style. All three bikes were developed in Pune and will be manufactured at an M&M facility in Madhya Pradesh.

Toyota Kirloskar Yaris | Boasting of an advanced and emotional design with superior comfort, Yaris was one of the most anticipated cars of the year, prior to its launch. However, the mid-size sedan has received a poor response from consumers, with sales tapering off month-on-month.

BMW | G310 R and G310 GS | After being under development for three years, BMW finally launched the 300cc motorbikes in India, earlier this year in July. Both bikes are manufactured by TVS Motor in Tamil Nadu.

Hero Xtreme 200R | The two-wheeler major made a grand debut in the premium segment with the launch of the Xtreme 200R. While Hero has struggled in the premium segment in the past, the launch of Xtreme 200R has been met with positive reviews with critics claiming that it stays true to its Xtreme moniker.

Honda XBlade | The Japanese automaker launched the 160cc motorcycle that will challenge segment bigwig Bajaj Pulsar. The company already has several motorcycles in the 150ccsuch as the Unicorn.Representative image

Afghanistan has voiced appreciation for the "flexibility" shown by its "strategic partner" the US in exempting the Chabahar port project, being developed by India, from its tough sanctions against Iran.

Last month, the Trump administration exempted India from imposition of certain sanctions for the development of the strategically-located Chabahar Port in Iran, along with the construction of the railway line connecting it with Afghanistan.

The US had imposed "the toughest ever" sanctions on a defiant Iran aimed at altering the Iranian regime's "behaviour". The sanctions cover Iran's banking and energy sectors and reinstate penalties for countries and companies in Europe, Asia and elsewhere that do not halt Iranian oil imports.

However, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said that eight countries -- India, China, Italy, Greece, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey -- were temporarily allowed to continue buying Iranian oil as they showed "significant reduction" in oil purchase from the Persian Gulf country.

"The Chabahar Port remains an important gateway for providing commercially viable access to the sea linking the Indian Ocean with Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond. In this regard, we appreciate the collaboration and flexibility of our strategic partner, the United States to work with Afghanistan, Iran and India towards exempting the port from its Sanctions, Afghanistan's Permanent Representative to the UN Mahmoud Saikal said Monday at a Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan.

Saikal said since last year, Kabul has operationalised air-cargo corridors with India, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Europe, Russia, UAE, Saudi Arabia and China, leading to a substantial increase in export of Afghan products abroad.

The year 2018 also witnessed the implementation of the Afghanistan section of the TAPI gas pipeline project, "which will revolutionise the energy sector in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India".

A State Department spokesperson had said that the fate of Chabahar Port that the "exception relates to reconstruction assistance and economic development for Afghanistan. These activities are vital for the ongoing support of Afghanistan's growth and humanitarian relief."

India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Tanmaya Lal told the Security Council meeting that New Delhi is working closely with Kabul in implementing development projects.

In May 2016, India, Iran and Afghanistan inked a pact which entailed establishment of Transit and Transport Corridor among the three countries using Chabahar Port as one of the regional hubs for sea transportation in Iran, besides multi-modal transport of goods and passengers across the three nations.

The port in the Sistan-Balochistan province on the energy-rich nations southern coast is easily accessible from India's western coast and is increasingly seen as a counter to Pakistan's Gwadar Port, which is being developed with Chinese investment and is located at distance of around 80 kms from Chabahar.

The Chabahar Port is considered a gateway to golden opportunities for trade by India, Iran and Afghanistan with central Asian countries besides ramping up trade among the three countries after Pakistan denied transit access to India.

India also criticised the inability and unwillingness of the international community and the Security Council to deal effectively with the source of deteriorating security situation and growing terror attacks in the war-torn country.

"The sanctuaries and safe havens provided to these terror networks for years are well known. The activities of Taliban, Haqqani Network, Da'esh, Al Qaeda and its proscribed affiliates including the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed have to be stopped," Lal said.

He also strongly criticized the Security Council sanctions committee for refusing to designate new leaders of the Taliban or to freeze the assets of the slain leader of Taliban, saying the powerful UN body is falling short of what is expected of it by the Afghans and international community. 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.Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba

Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed has donned the hat of a column writer for a leading Urdu newspaper, stirring a debate among journalists as to how the media house allowed the head of a banned terror group to write on the Kashmir issue and the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.

Saeed was declared a global terrorist by the US and the UN after the 2008 Mumbai attack and was put under house arrest in November 2008 but freed by a court some months later.

He carries a $10 million American bounty on his head for his role in terror activities.

'Illegal aggression of India on East Pakistan... Why Pakistan is avoiding advocating for Kashmiri people' written by "Professor Hafiz Mohammad Saeed" appeared in Daily Dunya (an Urdu publication of Dunya media group of Mian Amer Mahmood) on Sunday.

The article carries a picture of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and some young men holding guns in Dhaka.

Allowing the head of a banned terror group to contribute for a known media house has stirred a debate with journalists questioning whether the company in question allowed Saeed to write due to some "direct links" with the owner or under "someone's pressure".

A court has ordered the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to ensure that the Pakistani media does not display Saeed's pictures.

In his article, "Saeed said Indira hatched a conspiracy to dismember Pakistan", lamenting the then Pakistani rulers for their failure.

Saeed has extensively explained the role of India in the creation of Bangladesh and expressed his opinion as to why Kashmir is important for Pakistan.

He said Pakistan should support the Kashmiri people.

India has been demanding Pakistan not only to arrest the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder and try him in the Mumbai attack case but also punish all those involved in this carnage.

Saeed launched the Milli Muslim League (MML) party in August 2017 with a so-called mission to implement the ideology of Pakistan in accordance with the 1973 Constitution.

In April this year, the US placed the MML on its list of foreign terror organisations for its links with the LeT.

The government has said that the MML is an off-shoot of Saeed's Jamat-ud Dawah (JuD), which has been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.Pakistans Prime Minister Imran Khan wished all Hindu citizens on the occasion of Diwali. Prime Minister Imran Khan wishes a happy Diwali to all Hindu citizens, tweeted Prime Ministers Office in Pakistan.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said Tuesday that Pakistan will do everything within its power to further the peace process in Afghanistan as talks sponsored by the country between the US and the Taliban were being held in the UAE to end the 17-year bloody conflict.

The US and the Taliban have previously met on at least two occasions in Qatar but it is the first time that they are holding talks outside Doha, where the insurgent group has a political office, according to officials.

Khan highlighted the role being played by Pakistan in holding the talks between the US and the Taliban in Abu Dhabi.

He expressed his desire for peace to end the sufferings of the people of Afghanistan.

"Pakistan has helped in the dialogue between the Taliban and the US in Abu Dhabi. Let us pray that this leads to peace and ends almost three decades of suffering of the brave Afghan people," Khan said on Twitter

Khan also said "Pakistan will be doing everything within its power to further the peace process".

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Pakistan were the only three nations to recognise the Taliban government during its five-year rule from 1996-2001.Sri Lanka's Parliament is set to convene on Tuesday for the first time after the reinstatement of Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister that ended the 51-day political standoff in the country, but he and President Maithripala Sirisena are yet to agree on Cabinet positions.

Sirisena, whose controversial actions plunged the island nation into an unprecedented political turmoil for nearly two months, reinstated Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister on Sunday, after sacking him on October 26 and appointing ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place and also dissolving Parliament, some 20 months early.

Sirisena was left with no other option following two separate decisions by the Supreme Court, which nullified his illegal moves.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya is scheduled to chair a meeting on Tuesday to decide on the business of Parliament this week.

As Cabinet ministers are yet to take oaths, only the Prime Minister will be assigned a seat in the Chamber, Parliament Deputy Secretary General Neil Iddawela said.

"We are hopeful that the list can be finalised soon. We are also looking at some of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (Sirisena's party) members to join," Nalin Bandara, a parliamentarian from Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP), said.

The UNP sources said Sirisena is demanding the ministries of law and order and mass media.

It has been reported that the UNP has been assigned seats in the government side and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MPs have been assigned seats of the Opposition.

A final decision has not been taken on the opposition leader's position. State newspaper Daily News reported that about 10 UPFA MPs are expected to join the UNP side.

"The SLFP members decided last night that none would join the government," Nishantha Muthuhettigama, a Sirisena loyalist said.

The Sirisena camp now is divided between the SLFP and Rajapaksa's SLPP. They are to join together to form a united alliance at the next election.

Parliamentary officials said that seats would be allocated based on the seniority this afternoon when parliament meets for the first time since the crisis ended. Sirisena and Rajapaksa loyalista, who have been boycotting parliament since mid last month, are set to return to Parliament on Tuesday.We need to do more to cut carbon emissions.

Thats according to the Australian Financial Review (AFR).

Were now even worse than Italywhatever that means. The AFR writes:

the serious takeouts from the meeting [climate change meeting] in the city of Katowice [Poland] are that pressure is building on Australia and other laggard countries to adopt carbon policies that can demonstrably achieve their Paris targets and the much more ambitious targets that would be required to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The paper pointed to our manufacturing industry (yes, we still have one).

In this free report, economy expert reveals four ways you could cash in on the global infrastructure boom. Download now.

The pressure is building on Australia

When we make stuff we use a lot more energy than others. In fact, were lagging all other developed countries in terms of efficiency.

We have no way of meeting our Paris agreement targets either, the paper says.

And this is our great source of shame. Delegates at the climate change meeting were shaking their heads at us.

Tsk-tsk Australia! Youve got to do better.

OK, so what should we do?

How do we want to punish an inefficient industry (manufacturing) thats losing cheap labour to Asia anyway?

Should we just tax people and those businesses?

Are we just hoping that the people of Australia dont turn into the people of France?

Why the European Union is destined to fail

This is something I dont understand. And its not just about climate change.

For some reason, people want governments to do more. They want policy makers to intervene. If government pokes its head into more problems, maybe theyll have the solution

But has that worked ever?

Is there a point in history where government had all the solutions? Is there a time when we gave governments more power over people and it turned out to be a good thing?

When listening to the mainstream, its almost as if theyve forgotten the purpose of governments.

Officials and politicians, their sole role is to serve.

Not to control.

The only power governments should have is to protect our rights.

They have a duty to make sure I dont infringe on your rights and you dont infringe on mine.

This is the very limited role governments should play.

But thats not how people want it.

They want politicians to think for them. They want government to make the tough decisions.

But what they come up with are terrible solutions. Its because politicians, like everyone else, have their own influences and biases too.

French President Emmanuel Macron found out firsthand what happens when governments overstep their role.

The French government, along with many others in Europe, have been doing it for years.

They tax citizens like crazy. They try to have a hand in almost everything. And they make just about everything worse.

Its why there are riots in France.

Its why there are riots in Brussels.

A carbon fuel tax was the last straw.

People took to the streets and demanded government to get out of their lives.

Who knows whats best for the individual? The individual themselves, or a separate third party with their own incentives and biases?

Its one of the reasons why I think the European Union (EU) is destined to fail.

What affect does Europes political turmoil have on the markets?

How can you expect people in Italy to suffer for the benefit of Germans? How can you put limitations on one country and not the other?

Yet this is what the EU does.

And its why the UK is getting out.

Not only are the French suffering under Macron, people of Italy are even worse off.

As an EU member, Italy needs to submit budget plans every so often.

According to the EU, these budgets need to be in the best interest of the Union.

They cant let anyone spend all their money and go broke. If they do, then it will be the EU that has to pick up the pieces.

Right now, the EU doesnt want Italy to spend any more than they have to.

From Reuters:

Italys 2.3 trillion euro national debt dwarfs that of Greece and the euro zone bailout fund would not be able to cope with the costs of supporting its government in a crisis. Any such crisis could threaten the euro itself, seen by many as the EUs greatest achievement.

But spending is exactly what Italy wants to do. One of their policies is to give handouts to the poor in southern Italy.

I doubt it will help the poor much, but this vote baiting policy has momentum. And the EU wants them to cut it out.

Its why they sent Italys budget back to Rome and told them to come up with something better.

From Politico:

The European Commission on Tuesday gave Italy three weeks to rewrite it budget draft  or face further consequences. 5Stars leader and Deputy Prime Minister Luis Di Maio immediately posted on his Facebook page: We wont give up because if we do, technocrats who are pro-banks and pro-austerity would be backIts the first Italian budget the European Commission doesnt like. It doesnt surprise me because its the first budget that is written in Rome and not in Brussels.

If you remember yesterday, I wrote about what I thought could push stocks around in 2019.

This is it. The political disruption going on in Europe could be a defining moment of 2019.

But while it might push stocks prices around (in the short-term), you shouldnt let it dictate where you invest in the new year.

In fact, you shouldnt even take notice.

There are a lot of stocks on the ASX that will move up or down because of whats happening in Europe. But the events in Europe really have no material effect on what these businesses can earn.

And this is what you probably want to focus on in 2019.

You want to look for cheap businesses earning lots of cash. And perhaps even ones that are growing their cash earnings.

Your friend,

Harje Ronngard,

Editor, Money Morning

PS: In this just released report, Matt Hibbard shows you his top five dividend picks for 2019. Click here to claim your copy today.October 03, 2017 The "Russian Ads" On Facebook Are Just Another Click-Bait Scheme Congress is investigating 3,000 "suspicious" ads which were run on Facebook. They were claimed to have been bought by "Russia" to influence the U.S.presidential election in favor of Trump. With more details now known we can conclude that these Facebook ads had nothing to do with the election. The mini-ads were bought to promote click-bait pages and sites. These pages and sites were created and promoted to sell further advertisement. The media though, has still not understood the issue. On September 6 the NYT asserted: Providing new evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election, Facebook disclosed on Wednesday that it had identified more than $100,000 worth of divisive ads on hot-button issues purchased by a shadowy Russian company linked to the Kremlin.

...

The disclosure adds to the evidence of the broad scope of the Russian influence campaign, which American intelligence agencies concluded was designed to damage Hillary Clinton and boost Donald J. Trump during the election. Like any Congress investigation the current one concerned with Facebook ads is leaking like a sieve. What oozes out makes little sense. If "Russia" aimed to make Congress and U.S. media a laughing stock it has surely achieved that. Today the NYT says that the ads were bought by "the Russians" "in disguise" to promote variously themed Facebook pages: There was Defend the 2nd, a Facebook page for gun-rights supporters, festooned with firearms and tough rhetoric. There was a rainbow-hued page for gay rights activists, LGBT United. There was even a Facebook group for animal lovers with memes of adorable puppies that spread across the site with the help of paid ads. No one has explained how these pages are connected to a Russian "influence" campaign. It is unexplained how these are connected to the 2016 election. Both is simply asserted because Facebook said, for unknown reasons, that these ads may have come from some Russian agency. How Facebook has determined that is not known. With each new detail from the "Russian ads" investigation the framework of "election manipulation" falls further apart: Late Monday, Facebook said in a post that about 10 million people had seen the ads in question. About 44 percent of the ads were seen before the 2016 election and the rest after, the company said. The original claim was that "Russia" intended to influence the election in favor of Trump. But why then was the majority of the ads in questions run after November 9? And how would an animal-lovers page with adorable puppies help to achieve Trump's election victory? More details via the Wall Street Journal: Roughly 25% of the ads were never shown to anyone. Thats because advertising auctions are designed so that ads reach people based on relevance, and certain ads may not reach anyone as a result.

...

For 50% of the ads, less than $3 was spent; for 99% of the ads, less than $1,000 was spent. Of the 3,000 ads Facebook originally claimed were "Russian" only 2,200 were ever viewed. Most of the advertisements were mini-ads which, for the price of a coffee, promoted private pages related to hobbies and a wide spectrum of controversial issues. The majority of the ads ran after the election. All that "adds to the evidence of the broad scope of the Russian influence campaign"? "...designed to damage Hillary Clinton and boost Donald J. Trump during the election"? No. But the NYT still finds "experts" who believe in the "Russian influence" nonsense and find the most stupid explanations for their claims: Clinton Watts, a former F.B.I. agent now at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, said Russia had been entrepreneurial in trying to develop diverse channels of influence. Some, like the dogs page, may have been created without a specific goal and held in reserve for future use. Puppy pictures for "future use"? Nonsense. Lunacy! The pages described and the ads leading to them are typical click-bait, not part of a political influence op. The for-profit scheme runs as follows: One builds pages with "hot" stuff that hopefully attracts lots of viewers. One creates ad-space on these pages and fills it with Google ads. One attracts viewers and promotes the spiked pages by buying $3 Facebook mini-ads for them. The mini-ads are targeted at the most susceptible groups. A few thousand users will come and look at such pages. Some will 'like' the puppy pictures or the rant for or against LGBT and further spread them. Some will click the Google ads. Money then flows into the pockets of the page creator. One can rinse and repeat this scheme forever. Each such page is a small effort for a small revenue. But the scheme is highly scaleable and parts of it can be automatized. This is, in essence, the same business model traditional media publishers use. They create "news" and controversies to attract readers. The attention of the readers is then sold to advertisers. The business is no longer limited to a few rich oligarchs. One no longer needs reporters or a printing press to join it. Anyone can now run a similar business. We learned after the election that some youths in Macedonia created whole "news"-websites filled with highly attractive but fake partisan stories. They were not interested in the veracity or political direction of their content. Their only interest was to attract viewers. They made thousands of dollars by selling advertisements on their sites: The teen said his monthly revenue was in the four figures, a considerable sum in a country where the average monthly pay is 360 euros ($383). As he navigated his sites statistics, he dropped nuggets of journalism advice. You have to write what people want to see, not what you want to show, he said, scrolling through The Political Insiders stories as a large banner read ARREST HILLARY NOW. The 3,000 Facebook ads Congress is investigating are part of a similar scheme. The mini-ads promoted pages with hot button issues and click-bait puppy pictures. These pages were themselves created to generate ad-clicks and revenue. Facebook claims that "Russia" is behind them. We will likely find some Russian teens who simply repeated the scheme their Macedonian friends were running on. With its "Russian influence" scare the NYT follows the same business model. It produces fake news which attracts viewers and readers who's attention is then sold to advertisers. Facebook is also profiting from this. Its current piecemeal release of vague information keeps its name in the news. The mystery of "Russian" $3 ads for "adorable puppies" pages on Facebook has been solved, Congress and the New York Times will have to move on. There next subject is probably the "Russian influence campaign" on Youtube. Russian Car Crash Compilations have for years attracted millions of viewers. The "Russians" want to increase road rage on U.S. highways. This again help - according to expert Clinton Watts - "amplify divisive political issues across the political spectrum". The car crash compilations, like the puppy pages, are another sign that Russia is waging war against the United States! You don't believe that? You should. Trust your experienced politician! Samantha Power @SamanthaJPower - 3:45 PM - 3 Oct 2017 This gets more chilling daily: now we learn Russia targeted Americans on Facebook by demographics, geography, gender & interests, across websites & devices, reached millions, kept going after Nov. An attack on all Americans, not just HRC campaign washingtonpost.com/business/econo This nonsense indeed gets more chilling. It's fall after all. But it also generates ad revenue. Posted by b on October 3, 2017 at 18:09 UTC | Permalink CommentsFebruary 17, 2018 Mueller Indictment - The "Russian Influence" Is A Commercial Marketing Scheme Yesterday the U.S. Justice Department indicted the Russian Internet Research Agency on some dubious legal grounds. It covers thirteen Russian people and three Russian legal entities. The main count of the indictment is an alleged "Conspiracy to Defraud the United States". The published indictment gives support to our long held believe that there was no "Russian influence" campaign during the U.S. election. What is described and denounced as such was instead a commercial marketing scheme which ran click-bait websites to generate advertisement revenue and created online crowds around virtual persona to promote whatever its commercial customers wanted to promote. The size of the operation was tiny when compared to the hundreds of millions in campaign expenditures. It had no influence on the election outcome. The indictment is fodder for the public to prove that the Mueller investigation is "doing something". It distracts from further questioning the origin of the Steele dossier. It is full of unproven assertions and assumptions. It is a sham in that none of the Russian persons or companies indicted will ever come in front of a U.S. court. That is bad because the indictment is build on the theory of a new crime which, unless a court throws it out, can be used to incriminate other people in other cases and might even apply to this blog. The later part of this post will refer to that. In the early 1990s some dude in St.Petersburg made a good business selling hot dogs. He opened a colorful restaurant. Local celebrities and politicians were invited to gain notoriety while the restaurant served cheap food for too high prices. It was a good business. A few years later he moved to Moscow and gained contracts to cater to schools and to the military. The food he served was still substandard. But catering bad food as school lunches gave him, by chance, the idea for a new business: Parents were soon up in arms. Their children wouldnt eat the food, saying it smelled rotten. As the bad publicity mounted, Mr. Prigozhins company, Concord Catering, launched a counterattack, a former colleague said. He hired young men and women to overwhelm the internet with comments and blog posts praising the food and dismissing the parents protests. In five minutes, pages were drowning in comments, said Andrei Ilin, whose website serves as a discussion board about public schools. And all the trolls were supporting Concord. The trick worked beyond expectations. Prigozhin had found a new business. He hired some IT staff and low paid temps to populate various message boards, social networks and the general internet with whatever his customers asked him for. You have a bad online reputation? Prigozhin can help. His internet company will fill the net with positive stories and remarks about you. Your old and bad reputation will be drowned by the new and good one. Want to promote a product or service? Prigozhin's online marketeers can address the right crowds.

Pic: A Russian influencer To achieve those results the few temps who worked on such projects needed to multiply their online personalities. It is better to have fifty people vouch for you online than just five. No one cares if these are real people or just virtual ones. The internet makes it easy to create such sock-puppets. The virtual crowd can then be used to push personalities, products or political opinions. Such schemes are nothing new or special. Every decent "western" public relations and marketing company will offer a similar service and has done so for years. While it is relatively easy to have sock-puppets swamp the comment threads of such sites as this blog, it is more difficult to have a real effect on social networks. These depend on multiplier effects. To gain many real "likes", "re-tweets" or "followers" an online persona needs a certain history and reputation. Real people need to feel attached to it. It takes some time and effort to build such a multiplier personality, be it real or virtual. At some point Prigozhin, or whoever by then owned the internet marketing company, decided to expand into the lucrative English speaking market. This would require to build many English language online persona and to give those some history and time to gain crowds of followers and a credible reputation. The company sent a few of its staff to the U.S. to gain some impressions, pictures and experience of the surroundings. They would later use these to impersonate as U.S. locals. It was a medium size, long-term investment of maybe a hundred-thousand bucks over two or three years. The U.S. election provided an excellent environment to build reputable online persona with large followings of people with discriminable mindsets. The political affinity was not important. The personalities only had to be very engaged and stick to their issue - be it left or right or whatever. The sole point was to gain as many followers as possible who could be segmented along social-political lines and marketed to the companies customers. Again - there is nothing new to this. It is something hundreds, if not thousands of companies are doing as their daily business. The Russian company hoped to enter the business with a cost advantage. Even its mid-ranking managers were paid as little as $1,200 per month. The students and other temporary workers who would 'work' the virtual personas as puppeteers would earn even less. Any U.S. company in a similar business would have higher costs. In parallel to building virtual online persona the company also built some click-bait websites and groups and promoted these through mini Facebook advertisements. These were the "Russian influence ads" on Facebook the U.S. media were so enraged about. They included the promotion of a Facebook page about cute puppies. Back in October we described how those "Russian influence" ads (most of which were shown after the election or were not seen at all) were simply part of a commercial scheme: The pages described and the ads leading to them are typical click-bait, not part of a political influence op.

...

One builds pages with "hot" stuff that hopefully attracts lots of viewers. One creates ad-space on these pages and fills it with Google ads. One attracts viewers and promotes the spiked pages by buying $3 Facebook mini-ads for them. The mini-ads are targeted at the most susceptible groups. A few thousand users will come and look at such pages. Some will 'like' the puppy pictures or the rant for or against LGBT and further spread them. Some will click the Google ads. Money then flows into the pockets of the page creator. One can rinse and repeat this scheme forever. Each such page is a small effort for a small revenue. But the scheme is highly scaleable and parts of it can be automatized. Because of the myriad of U.S. sanctions against Russia the monetization of these business schemes required some creativity. One can easily find the name of a real U.S. person together with the assigned social security number and its date of birth. Those data are enough to open, for example, a Paypal account under a U.S. name. A U.S. customer of the cloaked Russian Internet company could then pay to the Paypal account and the money could be transferred from there to Moscow. These accounts could also be used to buy advertisement on Facebook. The person who's data was used to create the account would never learn of it and would have no loss or other damage. Another scheme is to simply pay some U.S. person to open a U.S. bank account and to then hand over the 'keys' to that account. The Justice Department indictment is quite long and detailed. It must have been expensive. If you read it do so with the above in mind. Skip over the assumptions and claims of political interference and digest only the facts. All that is left is, as explained, a commercial marketing scheme. I will not go into all its detail of the indictment but here are some points that support the above description. Point 4: Defendants, posing as US. persons and creating false U.S. personas, operated social media pages and groups designed to attract U.S. audiences. These groups and pages, which addressed divisive US. political and social issues, falsely claimed to be controlled by US. activists when, in fact, they were controlled by Defendants. Defendants also used the stolen identities of real U.S. persons to post on social media accounts. Over time, these social media accounts became Defendants' means to reach significant numbers of Americans ... Point 10d: By in or around April 2014, the ORGANIZATION formed a department that went by various names but was at times referred to as the "translator project." This project focused on the US. population and conducted operations on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. By approximately July 2016, more than eighty ORGANIZATION employees were assigned to the translator project. (Some U.S. media today made the false claim that $1.25 million per month were spend by the company for its U.S. campaign. But Point 11 of the indictment says that the company ran a number of such projects directed at a Russian audience while only the one described in 10d above is aimed at an U.S. audience. All these projects together had a monthly budget of $1.25 million.) (Point 17, 18 and 19 indict individual persons who have worked for the "translator" project" "to at least in and around [some month] 2014". It is completely unclear how these persons, who seem to have left the company two years before the U.S. election, are supposed to have anything to do with the claimed "Russian influence" on the U.S. election and the indictment.) Point 32: Defendants and their co-conspirators, through fraud and deceit, created hundreds of social media accounts and used them to develop certain fictitious U.S. personas into "leader[s] of public opinion" in the United States. The indictment then goes on and on describing the "political activities" of the sock-puppet personas. Some posted pro-Hillary slogans, some anti-Hillary stuff, some were pro-Trump, some anti-everyone, some urged not to vote, others to vote for third party candidates. The sock-puppets did not create or post fake news. They posted mainstream media stories. Some of the persona called for going to anti-Islam rallies while others promoted pro-Islam rallies. The Mueller indictment lists a total of eight rallies. Most of these did not take place at all. No one joined the "Miners For Trump" rallies in Philly and Pittsburgh. A "Charlotte against Trump" march on November 19 - after the election - was attended by one hundred people. Eight people came for a pro-Trump rally in Fort Myers. The sock-puppets called for rallies to establish themselves as 'activist' and 'leadership' persona, to generated more online traffic and additional followers. There was in fact no overall political trend in what the sock-puppets did. The sole point of all such activities was to create a large total following by having multiple personas which together covered all potential social-political strata. At Point 86 the indictment turns to Count Two - "Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Bank Fraud". The puppeteers opened, as explained above, various Paypal accounts using 'borrowed' data. Then comes the point which confirms the commercial marketing story as laid out above: Point 95: Defendants and their co-conspirators also used the accounts to receive money from real U.S. persons in exchange for posting promotions and advertisements on the ORGANIZATION-controlled social media pages. Defendants and their co-conspirators typically charged certain U.S. merchants and U.S. social media sites between 25 and 50 U.S. dollars per post for promotional content on their popular false U.S. persona accounts, including Being Patriotic, Defend the 2nd, and Blacktivist. There you have it. There was no political point to what the Russian company did. Whatever political slogans one of the company's sock-puppets posted had only one aim: to increase the number of followers for that sock-puppet. The sole point of creating a diverse army of sock-puppets with large following crowds was to sell the 'eyeballs' of the followers to the paying customers of the marketing company. There were, according to the indictment, eighty people working on the "translator project". These controlled "hundreds" of sock-puppets online accounts each with a distinct "political" personality. Each of these sock-puppets had a large number of followers - in total several hundred-thousands. Now let's assume that one to five promotional posts can be sold per day on each of the sock-puppets content stream. The scheme generates several thousand dollars per day ($25 per promo, hundreds of sock-puppets, 1-5 promos per day per sock-puppet). The costs for this were limited to the wages of up to eighty persons in Moscow, many of them temps, of which the highest paid received some $1,000 per month. While the upfront multiyear investment to create and establish the virtual personas was probably significant, this likely was, over all, a profitable business. Again - this had nothing to do with political influence on the election. The sole point of political posts was to create 'engagement' and a larger number of followers in each potential social-political segment. People who buy promotional posts want these to be targeted at a specific audience. The Russian company could offer whatever audience was needed. It had sock-puppets with pro-LGBT view and a large following and sock-puppets with anti-LGBT views and a large following. It could provide pro-2nd amendment crowds as well as Jill Stein followers. Each of the sock-puppets had over time generated a group of followers that were like minded. The entity buying the promotion simply had to choose which group it preferred to address. The panic of the U.S. establishment over the loss of their preferred candidate created an artificial storm over "Russian influence" and assumed "collusion" with the Trump campaign. (Certain Democrats though, like Adam Schiff, profit from creating a new Cold War through their sponsoring armament companies.) The Mueller investigation found no "collusion" between anything Russia and the Trump campaign. The indictment does not mentions any. The whole "Russian influence" storm is based on a misunderstanding of commercial activities of a Russian marketing company in U.S. social networks. There is a danger in this. The indictment sets up a new theory of nefarious foreign influence that could be applied to even this blog. As U.S. lawyer Robert Barns explains: The only thing frightening about this indictment is the dangerous and dumb precedent it could set: foreign nationals criminally prohibited from public expression in the US during elections unless registered as foreign agents and reporting their expenditures to the FEC.

...

Mueller's new crime only requires 3 elements: 1) a foreign national; 2) outspoken on US social media during US election; and 3) failed to register as a foreign agent or failed to report receipts/expenditures of speech activity. Could indict millions under that theory.

...

The legal theory of the indictment for most of the defendants and most of the charges alleges that the "fraud" was simply not registering as a foreign agent or not reporting expenses to the FEC because they were a foreign national expressing views in a US election. Author Leonid Bershidsky, who prominently writes for Bloomberg, remarks: I'm actually surprised I haven't been indicted. I'm Russian, I was in the U.S. in 2016 and I published columns critical of both Clinton and Trump w/o registering as a foreign agent. As most of you will know your author writing this is German. I write pseudo-anonymously for a mostly U.S. audience. My postings are political and during the U.S. election campaign expressed an anti-Hillary view. The blog is hosted on U.S, infrastructure paid for by me. I am not registered as Foreign Agent or with the Federal Election Commission. Under the theory on which the indictment is based I could also be indicted for a similar "Conspiracy to Defraud the United States". (Are those of you who kindly donate for this blog co-conspiractors?) When Yevgeni Prigozhin, the hot dog caterer who allegedly owns the internet promotion business, was asked about the indictment he responded: "The Americans are really impressionable people, they see what they want to see. [...] If they want to see the devil, let them see him." Posted by b on February 17, 2018 at 20:09 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page December 18, 2018

Senate Reports On 'Russian Influence Campaign' Fail To Discuss Its Only Known Motive

U.S. media is again making a big fuzz about the alleged 'Russian' attempts to 'influence' the presidential elections in 2016.

In March the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee commissioned two reports about the alleged 'Russian influence' via social media. Those reports (1, 2) were released yesterday but not endorsed by the committee.

Both reports rely on data that Facebook, Google and Twitter gave to the intelligence committee. The data includes tweets, Facebook posts, videos and how many likes, shares or retweets they received. These are from accounts which for some reason are believed to be related to the Internet Research Agency (IRA) in St. Petersburg. Most of these activities occurred after the 2016 election.

Both reports look at the usage data and the content themes the IRA run pages provided. Both claim that the intent of the IRA was to influence the election and to sow discord within the U.S. population. But there is no, none, nada, zero evidence in the data that the IRA had such an intent. Nor is their any testimony or statement from persons involved that claims such. Even if there were data of an influence operation, there is no reason to believe that silly IRA memes, like the "Army of Jesus" one below, changed even one vote.

In contrast the Muller investigation, which looked into the case, found evidence that the IRA had a commercial intent. Unfortunately this is mentioned neither in the two reports, nor in the current news about them. The only really known motive the IRA had when it created those accounts and filled them with content is simply ignored.

We showed in The "Russian Ads" On Facebook Are Just Another Click-Bait Scheme that the IRA people simply created pages on Facebook and elsewhere to attract as many 'eyeballs' as possible. This so called 'click bait' was used to lead people to webpages on which the IRA sold advertisement space.

This was confirmed when the Muller investigation indicted the IRA as described in Mueller Indictment - The "Russian Influence" Is A Commercial Marketing Scheme. Point 95 of the indictment says in relation to wire fraud accusations:

Defendants and their co-conspirators also used the accounts to receive money from real U.S. persons in exchange for posting promotions and advertisements on the ORGANIZATION-controlled social media pages. Defendants and their co-conspirators typically charged certain U.S. merchants and U.S. social media sites between 25 and 50 U.S. dollars per post for promotional content on their popular false U.S. persona accounts, including Being Patriotic, Defend the 2nd, and Blacktivist.

The IRA was out to make money, not to influence elections.

It therefore naturally concentrated on content themes that took the least effort to create while attracting a maximum numbers of 'eyeballs' which could then be sold to advertisers. That is why some of its pages were about cute puppies. Cute puppies always sell. In 2016, using the news value of the election campaign, the IRA created pages that were pro-Trump and pages that were anti-Trump. Themes that did not attract enough eye-balls were discarded, those which did well were further promoted. This maximized the numbers of potential eyeballs and thus its advertisement income.

The reports say that a relatively high share of the IRA pages were about issues that interested African Americans.

The New York Times thus headlines: Russian 2016 Influence Operation Targeted African-Americans on Social Media:

[One] report gives particular attention to the Russians focus on African-Americans, which is evident to anyone who examines collections of their memes and messages. The most prolific I.R.A. efforts on Facebook and Instagram specifically targeted black American communities and appear to have been focused on developing black audiences and recruiting black Americans as assets, the report says.

...

The Internet Research Agency also created a dozen websites disguised as African-American in origin, with names like blackmattersus.com, blacktivist.info, blacktolive.org and blacksoul.us. On YouTube, the largest share of Russian material covered the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality, with channels called Dont Shoot and BlackToLive.

...

The report does not seek to explain the heavy focus on African-Americans. But the Internet Research Agencys tactics echo Soviet propaganda efforts from decades ago that often highlighted racism and racial conflict in the United States, as well as recent Russian influence operations in other countries that sought to stir ethnic strife.

"The commies are coming to steal our slaves!" The New York Times could just have reprinted this page 3 story from 1930:

There is of course no evidence that the IRA had any special intention in catering to a black audience except for making money. The Mueller indictment even highlights the IRA created site 'Blacktivist' as one of its commercial advertisement assets. Attracting people from marginal groups, who are not well served by mainstream media, is obviously easier than to market to a mainstream audience which already gets flooded with news relevant to it. Moreover, creating Youtube channels with publicly available videos of police attacks on black citizens takes little effort while potentially attracting a significant audience.

Both reports published yesterday fail to investigate the content and available date with regard to its commercial value. Both fail to look into it under the aspect of the only documented motive the Internet Research Agency had.

These reports are thus just extensions of the sorry excuse the Hillary Clinton campaign made up after she lost the election: "Blame the Russians!"

Posted by b on December 18, 2018 at 18:05 UTC | Permalink

CommentsA mere decade after the last devastation, a global recession in 2019 is more likely than one might expect  and such a wide-scale downturn will particularly make itself felt in Canada, Gluskin Sheff + Associates chief economist and strategist David Rosenberg warned.

Nothing is inevitable, but the risks of recession for Canada for next year are higher than a lot of people think, Rosenberg told BNN Bloomberg.

And while next years potential recession will most likely not reach the nadir of the late 2000s, Ontarios new Conservative government might hinder a coordinated response among Canadian policymakers wishing to give the national economy a boost.Bill Nugent

The industry requires technology, but the consumer still needs to have a strong relationship with their broker. The regulations and differences between mortgages are often confusing for clients, and brokers need to educate the consumer about proper qualification guidelines and documentation requirements, as well as fully meeting FSCO disclosure requirements.

We must embrace technology to speed up the approval process, reduce the duplication of information and make it easier for clients to meet conditions. It all comes down to making the process faster and less stressful through technology, while still establishing a relationship by educating the client.

Bobby Kay

Technology will only enhance our business further. As a mortgage broker or brokerage, its crucial to perceive mortgage brokering as a business, rather than a job. As technology evolves, so should your business. Innovating and thinking outside the box will put you ahead of the curve.There was no obvious political gain to be had from sticking her neck out. Gillibrand could have downplayed Frankens sins, which were less severe than, say, Donald Trumps or Roy Moores. She could have waited to see what other Democrats did. She could have held back until it was clear which way public sentiment was going. That she acted decisively, even ruthlessly, to hold a fellow Democratic senator to account was brave, not cynical.Mulvaneys selection ends a chaotic attempt to replace the departing Kelly, in which several of Trumps picks for the job declined the offer. Trumps first choice, Nick Ayers, is currently chief of staff for Vice President Mike Pence. Ayers, however, declined the job and decided to leave the White House altogether. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie also declined the post.

Mulvaney is the head of the Office of Management and Budget, and also served as acting director of the CFPB until current CFPB head Kathy Kraninger was confirmed earlier this month.

Mulvaneys time at the CFPB was marked by controversy, with Democratic lawmakers insisting that his leadership decisions undermined the agencys stated mission and were too friendly to Wall Street.

Trump reportedly gets along well with Mulvaney  a departure from his relationship with Kelly, with whom the president frequently clashed. However, Mulvaneys relationship with Trump may become strained now that he has been tapped for the chief of staff position  several newspapers have reported on an incident in 2016 in which the former CFPB head called Trump a terrible human being during a campaign forum.A lawsuit alleging that Wells Fargo discriminated in its mortgage lending has been put on hold

The lawsuit was filed last year by the city of Philadelphia. The city alleged that Wells Fargo discriminated against minorities in its lending practices, causing high foreclosure rates in minority neighborhoods and lowering the citys tax revenues as a result. According to the lawsuit, the lending giant issued more than 1,000 high-cost or high-risk loans to minority borrowers.

Last week, US District Judge Anita Brody stayed the suit pending mediation. The city of Philadelphia and Wells Fargo will begin trying to reach an out-of-court settlement next month, according to Yahoo News.They weren't exactly small time. But they also were not considered the worst of the worst.

Broken relationships with the Juarez drug cartel, large-scale police investigations and infighting kept El Paso-based gang Barrio Azteca labeled as a "Tier 2" threat in Texas for a few years with the Bloods and the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.

TOP GANGS: DPS study: High-profile gangs have local presence

However, in the most recent threat assessment released by the Texas Department of Public Safety, the gang made a resurgence as one of the top four gang threats in the state, edging out the Latin Kings.

Its new Tier 1 classification is a result of territory expansion, its propensity for violence, evolving relationships with cartels and gangs, drug and weapons smuggling, exploitation of the border and increased police reporting, according to the assessment. Human smuggling also played a role.

"Barrio Azteca maintains a significant presence on both sides of the border as members continue their transnational criminal activities around the El Paso and Juarez corridor, including working with both the Sinaloa Cartel and Juarez Cartel," according to the assessment.

RELATED: Mugshots: Fugitives sought by Midland-area police

The gang, which has up to 2,500 members, managed to regain a strong influence in Ciudad Juarez and El Paso despite its fluctuating power. They have a documented presence in Midland County, and they are one of the five gangs with the most arrests for violent crimes in West Texas, according to the assessment.

Law enforcement has tracked a small presence of the gang moving east. They reportedly have a presence in Harris, Montgomery, Galveston, Fort Bend counties. Click through the slideshow above to see more facts about Barrio Azteca.

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text messageWhen it comes to Midland ISDs Call for Quality Schools, Elise Kail, chief transformation officer, said everything is on the table.

The Midland ISD board on Monday approved for the district to proceed with five recommendations, including three whole-school models. One is that Midland ISD will continue to negotiate with Idea Public Schools, which operates 79 tuition-free public schools in Texas and Louisiana.

A request from a CQS committee asked for continued negotiations with IDEA Public Schools for a pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade campus. Opportunities to expand this partnership beyond one campus is also a recommendation. Idea isnt currently in Midland or Odessa, although Idea Permian Basin is expected to open in 2021, according to its website.

IDEA is open to starts in August 2020 and eventually expanding to become a K-12 campus, according to a district report. IDEA has a reputation of quality. Four IDEA schools in the Rio Grande Valley (Brownsville, Mission, Edinburg and San Juan) are among the top 22 high schools in the state, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Which MISD campus might eventually be a home for an Idea school remains to be seen. District officials said that talks with Legacy Traditional Schools have ceased. District officials had hoped for a partnership with Legacy to turn the current Travis Elementary campus into Midland ISDs first in-district charter. Midland ISD officials said such a large transformation likely will have to wait because the process cant be rushed.

We are looking at all options for supporting the students at Travis, Kail said.

Other whole school opportunities in front of the school board Monday included a potential partnership with Midland College for the expansion of pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds through an in-district partnership. The recommendation may be made to the school board at the January meeting.

The Call for Quality Schools committee also sought a redesign at Coleman High School to strengthen its alternative learning environment. Coleman would be expanded into a year-round model. A target date for this recommendation is at a spring board meeting.

A talent opportunity in front of the board involved using Abell Junior High to develop a training center for student teachers. A program opportunity involves working with Solution Tree at most at-need campuses.

Complete design for implementation takes place in the spring, according to documents related to the school board agenda. When looking at all transformation opportunities, the district must look at what grants are available, funding options and how those changes could impact district students and staff.

Wed like to be able to snap our fingers and make it happen, Kail said. But we want to make sure we are doing it right for all of our taxpayers and all the kids in the district.Finally, House Republicans' refusal to fulfill their constitutional obligations was not rewarded. Congress, which has been AWOL in the battle to defend our democratic norms and institutions, will now have a critical role to play in oversight, investigation and legislation. At least for now, Democrats have maintained a responsible tone, an interest in ethics reform and, as we saw on display in the Oval Office last week, determination to defend objective reality and hold Trump accountable for his lies. The joyous reaction to a likely speaker of the House willing to look Trump in the face and tell him he's not telling the truth suggests the public hasn't been blinded by Trump's blizzard of lies. So long as a majority of Americans are determined to defend objective reality, which is essential to hold leaders accountable in a democracy, there is hope that Trump and his sycophants will continue to shed support.Les Moonves, the once-powerful head of CBS, will not receive any severance payment in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations, the CBS Board of Directors announced Monday.

The network made the announcement after the completion of a company investigation that found Moonves was guilty of "willful and material malfeasance" and a failure to comply with the investigation. He was set to receive as much as $120 million as part of his severance package, depending on the results of the inquiry.

Moonves resigned in September after several women accused him of sexual misconduct in a pair of scathing exposes in the New Yorker.

A lawyer for Moonves called the CBS Board conclusions "without merit."

"The press was informed of these baseless conclusions before Mr. Moonves, further damaging his name, reputation, career and legacy," Moonves attorney Andrew Levander said in a statement. "Mr. Moonves vehemently denies any nonconsensual sexual relations and cooperated extensively and fully with investigators."

Severance packages, which often result from the terms of an employee's contract, have become flash points in high-profile workplace harassment and assault cases. Fox News abruptly terminated Bill O'Reilly's contract in 2017 after he was accused of harassing female employees, and the former host walked away with $25 million. Roger Ailes received a $40 million severance package after he stepped down as head of Fox News in 2016 after his own sexual harassment scandal. And critics closely watched whether Matt Lauer's departure from NBC News would include a hefty payout as well.

CBS faced scrutiny last year after eight women accused longtime television host Charlie Rose of sexual harassment. Both CBS and PBS terminated Rose shortly thereafter. And "60 Minutes" executive producer Jeff Fager left CBS in September amid accusations of harassment and threatening texts.

The independent investigation into Moonves "also concluded that harassment and retaliation are not pervasive at CBS," the board of directors said in a Monday statement.

Before the allegations against Moonves were made public, he had earned the status of one of the industry's top executives. He joined CBS from Warner Brothers Television in 1995, after helping to establish cultural touchstones as "Friends" and "E.R."

Soon after his arrival, he transformed CBS into a ratings powerhouse. It has been the top network in total viewers for the past decade, with the New York Times going so far as to say that he "engineered one of the most spectacular turnarounds in television history."

Throughout this time, he was often portrayed favorably. When the #MeToo movement gained steam, Moonves was heralded as a supportive male voice. In December 2017, he helped found the Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace, chaired by Anita Hill.

"It's a watershed moment," Moonves said at the time. "I think it's important that a company's culture will not allow for this."

But in August, Ronan Farrow published a detailed profile in the New Yorker in which six women accused Moonves of sexual harassment over a 30-year period, from the late 1980s to the late 2000s. These included allegations of unwanted touching and kissing accompanied by physical or professional threats.

Moonves denied any wrongdoing in a statement: "I recognize that there were times decades ago when I may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances. But I always understood and respected - and abided by the principle - that 'no' means 'no.'"

A month later, Farrow published another story in which six additional women accused Moonves of sexual misconduct during the same time period. One woman, a veteran television executive named Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, said that Moonves physically restrained her and forced her to perform oral sex on him. Many of these women also said that the executive retaliated and damaged their careers after they rebuffed his sexual advances.

Moonves stepped down from his position at CBS hours after the New Yorker published its second story containing allegations against him.Unlike the many situations where a criminal probe may be merited but no public agency has yet complained about it to prosecutors, none of you has to wait for a referral in this case. The elections board has been handing out copies of the documents in question to anyone who requests them. You can have your own sets if each of you simply has someone phone in a request. Then you can pursue the origin of those documents. The documents are evidence; their origin is the mystery for you and your investigators to unravel.The Morgan County Board of Commissioners will work with Klein, Thorpe and Jenkins of Chicago as the board revises the countys wind ordinance and during any future wind farm projects.

The board approved the use of the firm Monday during its regular meeting.

The board is working to update its wind ordinance as several companies research the potential for wind farms in the county, board chairman Brad Zeller said.

As we update our wind ordinance, we want to make sure to do it correctly, Zeller said. We want to make sure that we have everything covered and worded correctly.

The firm specializes in county boards and municipal law, Zeller said.

They were recommended to me by the Logan County board chair, he said. (Logan) County used them during their wind farm project and they have an expertise in road use.

It will be a good thing to have someone with expertise in county ordinances to help through the process, Commissioner Ginny Fanning said.

This will allow us to have another set of eyes to make sure we are doing things the right way, she said.

The board will not begin working with the firm until at least January, Zeller said.

While the firm primarily will be used as a sounding board during the ordinance revision, the board also could use it for other things during the wind farm process, Zeller said.

If we get any applications for a wind farm, which we have not at this time, we could use them to make sure everything is in order, Zeller said. We want to make sure we are doing things correctly and in the right way.

The county also will continue to be represented and advised by the Morgan County States Attorneys office, Zeller said.

Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree can be reached at 217-245-6121, ext. 1233, or on Twitter @JCNews_samantha.Illinois State Police is encouraging people to take precautions as they travel for the holidays.

Police will be out throughout the weekend and into next week to enforce laws, with an emphasis on the four main causes of fatal traffic crashes  driving under the influence, speeding, not using seat belts and driving distracted.Attorney General Lisa Madigan has joined a coalition of 17 attorneys general in filing an expedited motion to prevent disruptions to the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.

The motion challenges Fridays opinion in Texas v. HHS, which ruled the ACA was unconstitutional. The attorneys general ask that the court makes clear the ACA will still function as the law of the land, being enforced as such. According to Madigan, the coalition believes the courts decision has caused uncertainty in the nations health care system.If Trump thinks Golsteyn did nothing worthy of punishment, he is always free to grant him a pardon, either before or after his case is resolved. And maybe that is all he was alluding to in his tweet. But wed prefer to see the case proceed normally so that the facts can be brought forth in an orderly way.Angels Camp, CA  This weeks City of Angels Council meeting, the last one for 2018, will include the swearing in of council members and service recognitions.

Recently elected new council member Alvin Broglio and Mayor Amanda Folendorf, who was reelected to the council, will both take their oaths of office. The mayor will also present outgoing Councilmember Scott Behiel with a certificate of appreciation from the city and recognize the service of Building Inspector Steve Flaigg.

Among regular agenda matters, the members anticipate accepting a grant of nearly $290,000 from the states Department of Justice Tobacco Grant program that will be dispersed over the next three years. Obtained by Angels Camp Police Chief Scott Ellis in an effort to fund a fulltime School Resource Officer and other resources to help support tobacco reduction programs aimed at the areas juvenile population, the grant application received backing from Bret Harte High and Calaveras County Public Health officials.

Staff is also recommending that the council approve its recommendation to close City Hall and the Community Development Offices to the public on Fridays. According to the meeting documents, with a switch to using more consultants, there is not enough staff onsite to keep the doors open to the public five days a week. Under the proposal, staff would still be in office Fridays and continue to work existing schedules.

The council has also slated to initiate a discussion of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., which authorizes states to begin collecting sales and use taxes from online and out-of-state retailers without a physical presence in California. State lawmakers are currently considering legislation to move forward on fairly implementing the decision, described as potentially the most important development in tax law in decades  expected to bring in up to $1 billion annually in additional state and local tax revenue.

Tuesdays meeting opens to the public at 6 p.m. at Angels Firehouse (1404 Vallecito Road) following a 5:30 closed conference with legal counsel.He called it an exciting new attraction in downtown Aurora. He also has pointed out that it ties in nicely with other traditional Aurora light displays, such as the Lehnertz Avenue display of the Christmas story told through the cartoon Peanuts characters, and the Festival of Lights run by the Aurora Rotary Club, with much community help, in Phillips Park on the East Side.Plainview Independent School District is looking into establishing its own police department.

During a regular meeting Thursday night, Rick Garcia, executive director of ancillary services for the district, presented the Plainview ISD school board with data and the ideal first phases of a plan for what it would take to make it happen.

"This was an exercise toward gathering more information toward the development and possible implementation of a Plainview ISD police department," Garcia said.

The district currently shares employment of two officers with the Plainview Police Department, he said. Those two individuals are responsible for keeping each of the 10 school campuses  with a total of about 5,400 students  secure. There are also two truant officers who serve as security officers when necessary.

"That's challenging," Garcia said Friday during an interview at the Plainview ISD administrative offices.

Garcia emphasized that the district's security audits have consistently done well and adding a district police department should not be thought of as a negative measure against security the current SROs provide.

A Plainview ISD police department is simply an effort to comply with the governor's vision and to beef up the district's security a bit more, he said.

"The rationale for us is number one, student safety," he said. "Above everything else, it's the number one reason of us wanting to do this. This is not anything that is against the City of Plainview because it's a great partnership that we have."

Planning is still in the very early phases and if the school board decides to move forward, the department likely wouldn't even begin to exist until the 2019-2020 school year, Garcia said. He's still in he data gathering phase.

The first thing that would have to happen is the school board would have to vote to approve it, he said. The board would then have to figure out the scope and duties of the department and its personnel before moving forward to develop a budget and hire a chief who would essentially be tasked with building a program from scratch.

Gerardo Villavicencio, Plainview ISD's Public Information Officer, said there is still much information to be gathered.

If this does move forward, he said, "we want this to be as successful as possible."

There could be a vote as early as the board's next meeting in January, he said, but it more likely won't happen until later in the spring.

If the board decides to move forward with the plan, Garcia said the district will still work to maintain a partnership with each of the other Plainview area law enforcement agencies.

"If we do, we still have to have the City of Plainview Police Department, we still have to have the Hale County Sheriff's Office support everything we do," he said. "There's no way that we can function by ourselves so that's extremely important that everyone understands."District Judge Robert W. Kinkaid, Jr. was all smiles Friday afternoon as an intimate group of his family, friends and colleagues made their way in and out of a retirement reception in his honor at the Justice Center.

Kinkaid is set to retire on Dec. 31 after a 32-year-long career  16 of those spent as district judge.

"I feel great," he said. "I've had a great career!"

Kinkaid was elected to be the 64th District Court judge in November 2002 after serving as an assistant district attorney for Hale and Swisher Counties, according to a story from Herald archives.

Old and current colleagues who spoke with The Herald repeatedly described him as "excellent" and very knowledgeable about the law.

"I have the utmost respect for him," said Carla Cannon, district clerk for Hale County and the organizer of his retirement reception.

It's a sentiment shared by many who attended the reception.

Hale County Attorney Jim Tirey said he's worked with Kinkaid for about 17 years in both private practice and as the county attorney. Not every case with Kinkaid has gone the way Tirey had hoped but he said he's always found the judge to be "easy to work with."

On Friday, Tirey took some time at the end of his day to honor him.

Marty Mejorado, deputy director of the adult probation department, said she's worked with Kinkaid for 26 years since he was an assistant district attorney.

"He knows everything about law," she said.

"I admire him," she later said. "He's a wonderful judge."

Kinkaid has lived in Plainview all his life. He graduated from Plainview High School, graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1985 and earned a J.D. degree from the Texas Tech University School of Law.

Teresa Kinkaid, the judge's wife, described him as "very dedicated" to his profession.

Eloyce Matthews, director of probation in Deaf Smith County, said she worked with the judge when he first started.

"Thank you and God bless," she said, when asked to share a few words for Kinkaid.

Debra Smith, current court reporter for the 287th District Court, is Kinkaid's former court reporter.

"He always handled things very professionally, very fair," she noted.

Kinkaid said Smith was one of the individuals who spent time working closely with him through part of his career adding that she knows him well.

"To be a good judge, you've got to be a good man  and he is," Smith said.Of the 16 years Jessica Thompson has been a dispatcher in Hale County, she can count on one hand the number of Christmas days she's gotten to spend with her family.

Texas State Trooper Nathan Jaskins, with the Texas Department of Public Safety, said this year was the first in four years that he's had a holiday off.

"As law enforcement, we get used to the idea," said Plainview Police Chief Ken Coughlin.

It becomes the norm, he added.

That's why Lemons Funeral Home hosted a Christmas lunch reception for area first responders on Friday.

Luis Mendoza, manager of Lemons Funeral Home, said this is the third year the funeral home has hosted the event and his first to be a part of it.

"We are all on-call for the holidays," Mendoza said. "We wanted to show our thankfulness to them."

First responders from all area agencies including the PD, DPS, Hale County Sheriff's Office and Plainview Fire/EMS enjoyed a lunch of Week Ends-catered barbecue with the trimmings in on tables decked out in Christmas decorations with prayers for each profession as Santa Claus made rounds and drew names for door prizes.

"It's totally awesome when the community supports its first responders," said Coughlin.

As a first responder, he said, you learn to adapt to the schedule. You celebrate holidays early or later. Your family knows the sacrifice, he said.

When many families are gathered together for the holidays, Jaskins said DPS Troopers who work that day spend much of it watching traffic, ensuring driver safety, catching up on paperwork or doing other tasks to ensure members of the general public are safe.

Captain Harrison Hart, with Plainview Fire/EMS said: "When there's an emergency, you've got to have someone there to help."

That's why, he and every individual at the lunch that spoke with The Herald said they were appreciative of the effort made by Lemons Funeral Home.

"It's nice to be appreciated," Thompson said.Monday, Dec. 10

Plainview police arrested 32-year-old David Jose Gonzales Monday for a warrant for an out-of-county felony. Police responded o the 600 block of N. Interstate 27 at 12:17 p.m. and made the arrest.

A theft was reported Monday at the 2400 block of Dimmitt Road around 3:30 a.m.

A vehicle crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported Monday at the 3000 block of Dimmitt Road at 7:54 a.m.

Plainview police responded to the 100 block of SE Seventh Street Monday around 7:50 a.m. in reference to criminal mischief involving damage to a vehicle.

Identity theft was reported at the 900 block of Houston Street on Monday just before 11 a.m.

Police responded to a hit and run resulting in vehicle damage at the 1000 block of W. 24th Street Monday just after 8:20 a.m.

Officers responded to the 2900 block of Lometa Street just before 7 p.m. Monday in reference to vehicle burglary.

A theft was reported Monday at the 300 block of Zephyr just after 1:30 p.m.

Fraudulent use of credit/debit cards at the 2100 block of W. 11th St. Monday at 11:49 a.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 11

Plainview police arrested a 68-year-old man on Tuesday at 8:27 a.m. at the 1300 block of Sam Hearn. The individual was charged for parking facing traffic and failure to identify himself.

An assault was reported to Plainview police on Tuesday just after 12:30 a.m. at the 2100 block of W. Eighth Street.

A vehicle crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported Tuesday at 10:44 a.m. at the 300 block of W. Fifth Street. Officers arrested two individuals Tuesday at the 700 block of W. Sixth Street. One individual, a 37-year-old woman was arrested for a warrant for assault. The other individual, a 49-year-old man, was arrested for driving with an invalid license with previous conviction/suspension without financial resolution.

A vehicle crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported Tuesday at 2:17 p.m. at the 1800 block of Floydada Street.

A 28-year-old man was arrested Tuesday at the 1300 block of Kokomo Street for driving with an invalid license with previous conviction/suspension without financial resolution. Officers responded to the call at 10:17 p.m.

A 19-year-old man was arrested Tuesday at the 1900 block of S. Columbia Street for an active warrant. The incident was reported around 8:30 p.m.

Police responded to the 4000 block of Olton Road on Tuesday just before 1:30 p.m. in reference to a theft/shoplifting.

Wednesday, Dec. 12

Plainview police responded to a car crash with injury at 20th Street and Quincy at 6:47 a.m. on Wednesday. Officers said a passenger vehicle hit a concrete truck injuring a female passenger who refused transport by EMS to a hospital.

Officers were called to the 600 block of W. 24th Street Wednesday at 9:47 a.m. in response to criminal mischief resulting in damaged property.

A 22-year-old man was arrested Wednesday when police responded to the 2500 block of W. Fifth Street and found a controlled substance just after 10:20 a.m. The individual was arrested for possession of marijuana, less than 2 ounces.

Plainview police arrested a 25-year-old woman Wednesday just before 10 a.m. for active warrants at the 2000 block of W. 14th Street.

Police responded to a traffic problem at Ennis and Third Streets Wednesday at 11:11 a.m. According to the police incident report, the traffic problem was an abandoned vehicle.

A theft was reported Wednesday at the 1600 block of Jefferson Street just after 1:20 p.m. According to the incident report, the victim reported stolen parts from a vehicle.

Officers found cocaine during a traffic stop Wednesday just before 4 p.m. at the 4000 block of Olton Road. Detectives arrested Escamilla Salvador for driving with an invalid license and manufacture/delivery of cocaine.

A theft was reported at the 100 block of W. Ninth Street Wednesday at 3:10 p.m.

A theft with a forced entry was reported Wednesday just after 5 p.m. at the 800 block of Canyon Street.

Plainview police arrested a 54-year-old man Wednesday at the 1400 block of N. Columbia St. during a traffic stop just after 9:30 p.m. The individual was arrested for possession/delivery of drug paraphernalia and for driving with a license invalid with previous conviction/suspension without financial resolution.

Thursday, Dec. 13

Plainview police arrested a 50-year-old woman on Thursday at the 3000 block of Castro St. The individual was charged with public intoxication. Officers were called to he location at 7:50 a.m.

A 49-year-old woman was arrested during a traffic stop at 10:26 p.m. Thursday at the 1300 block of W. Fifth St. for driving with an invalid license with previous conviction/suspension without financial resolution.

A burglary was reported at 602 Wayland St. Thursday just after 7 p.m. The victim reported a firearm stolen.

Officers responded to the 1500 block of Quincy St. Thursday just after 2:20 p.m. in reference to criminal mischief resulting in damaged property.

A bomb threat was reported at the 1100 block of Walter Griffin St. Thursday just before 1:15 p.m.

Criminal mischief at a business was reported to Plainview police at the 2500 block of W. 16th St. just after 11 a.m. Thursday.

A 46-year-old man was arrested Wednesday at the 900 block of Denver St. just after 1 a.m. for criminal trespassing.Dear Mr. Premack: A married man and woman own a house in Texas, and raise their four children there. He dies in 1981, intestate, while in Oklahoma. There is no legal action taken when he dies. Surviving wife continues to live in the Texas house. Oklahoma law gives one half of all real property as well as all personal to wife and one half to kids, while Texas law gives all real property to the wife only. In 1997, wife (mother) deeds house to son, but son dies in 1999. In 2000, wife (mother) dies. Her estate is probated, but based on the deed house title goes to son's wife. Now sons wife wants to sell the house, but title company is confused by the difference between Oklahoma and Texas laws. Can sons wife get clear title by doing probate, say in Oklahoma?  GB

That story is compelling, but in the way the facts are expressed it is presumptions which are expressed as fact. To understand the position now held by sons wife, and what action is available to her, the story must be adjusted.

First, the fact that husband died in Oklahoma is a red herring. He was a Texas resident who happened to be in Oklahoma when he died. Oklahoma law therefor does not apply in this situation. Texas law does apply because he was a Texas resident and the house is in Texas.

Second, Texas law was different in 1981 than it is today. It changed in 1993. The law that existed in Texas in 1981 is what determined who inherited deceased husbands intestate estate. Now, the law today in Texas is as you say (the real estate generally goes to the surviving spouse). But the law in 1981 in Texas was like you report as Oklahoma law (1/2 the real estate stays with the surviving spouse and the decedents half goes to the children). That is why you think the Title Company is applying Oklahoma law. They arent. They are applying Texas law as it existed in 1981. [If husband had died with a will leaving house to his wife then this whole confusion would have been avoided. Never die intestate.]

Hence, when wife (mother) deeded the house to son, because husband died intestate, she was giving away something she did not entirely own. She could deed her half to son, but she could not deed deceased husbands (fathers) half to son. That half was owned equally by the four children. That son, then, already owned 25 percent of the half (that is 1/8) of the house because of his fathers death. When mother deeded her interest to him, he got another half (so he now owned 5/8 interest in the house.

When wife (mother) died, the house should have not been involved in her estate or probate. She had already deeded away whatever interest she had. However, that does not mean sons wife became owner of 100 percent of the house. That could not have been the true legal result of mother-in-laws probate. Her mother-in-law could not give away the 3/8 that had belonged her the other three children since 1981 (pursuant to the Texas law that existed in 1981 but just happened to look very similar to Oklahoma law).

So, the Title Company is exactly right that sons wife cannot sell 100 percent of the house. She only owns 5/8th of it. Her solution is to speak with her deceased husbands siblings to see if they will agree to either 1) gift their shares to her so she does own it all, or 2) sell their shares in cooperation with her, so that the buyer gets clear title, they each get 1/8 of the money, and she gets 5/8 of the money, or 3) they elect not to cooperate, in which case the new Texas Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act would be applied (see my column from November 9, 2018).

Paul Premack is a Certified Elder Law Attorney with offices in San Antonio and Seattle, handling Wills and Trusts, Probate, and Business Entity issues. View past legal columns or submit free questions on legal issues via www.TexasEstateandProbate.com or www.Premack.com.Lyft has been keeping tabs on where San Antonians like to party, and the results are in.

It's the fourth year in a row the ridesharing company has announced the most popular venues in major cities, but it appears to be the first year San Antonio has been included on the list, which is now more than 40 cities long.In 2011, the company decreased its fees to the city by 5 percent due to the citys tight revenue situation during the recession. In 2013, the company got a 3.75 percent increase, and in 2015, a 2 percent raise. There were no raises in 2016, 2017 or 2018, Voigt said.With Alvin Braziel's execution Tuesday night in Huntsville, 13 men have been executed by the state of Texas in 2018  more than the last two years.

Braziel was convicted of murdering Douglas White and sexually assaulting his newlywed bride, Lora White, in a botched robbery as the couple enjoyed an evening jog in a Dallas-area community college in 1993.

Braziel wasn't caught until new DNA evidence pointed to him as the main suspect in 2001.

He was serving a five-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting a child when he was convicted in Douglas White's murder. He was immediately sentenced to death.

EXECUTION SET: Second-to-last 'Texas 7' escapee gets March execution date

Prior to Braziel's execution, 12 others  including a Houston serial killer  have been given a lethal injection for capital murder in 2018.

Texas executed seven people each in 2017 and 2016.

There are already five executions scheduled for 2019, the soonest of which is for Blaine Milam on Jan. 15. Milam killed a 13-month-old girl in Henderson in 2008, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

See the slideshow above to see all 13 men who were executed and the crimes that sent them to death row.

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text messageWASHINGTON - President Donald Trump has agreed to shut down his embattled personal charity and to give away its remaining money amid allegations that he used the foundation for his personal and political benefit, New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced Tuesday.

As Trump prepares for his holiday respite in Florida, he is more isolated than ever

Underwood said that the Donald J. Trump Foundation is dissolving as her office pursues its lawsuit against the charity, Trump and his three eldest children.

The suit, filed in June, alleged "persistently illegal conduct" at the foundation, which Trump began in 1987. Underwood is continuing to seek more than $2.8 million in restitution and has asked a judge to ban the Trumps temporarily from serving on the boards of other New York nonprofit organizations.

Underwood said Tuesday that her investigation found "a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation - including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more."

"This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone," she added in a statement.

The shuttering comes after The Washington Post documented apparent lapses at the foundation. Trump used the charity's money to pay legal settlements for his private business, to purchase art for one of his clubs and to make a prohibited political donation.

Trump denied that the organization had done anything wrong. In late 2016, he said he wanted to close the foundation before he became president to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest. But the New York attorney general blocked that move while the investigation continued.

The settlement with Underwood's office represents a concession by Trump to a state inquiry he has decried as a partisan attack. The case is one of numerous legal investigations of Trump organizations that have proliferated during his presidency.

In a court filing in New York, Underwood said the foundation's remaining $1.75 million will be distributed to other charities approved by her office and a state judge.

Alan Futerfas, an attorney for the Trump Foundation, issued a statement criticizing Underwood for "politicizing" the agreement.

"The Foundation has been seeking to dissolve and distribute its remaining assets to worthwhile charitable causes since Donald J. Trump's victory in the 2016 Presidential election," Futerfas said. "Unfortunately, the NYAG sought to prevent dissolution for almost two years, thereby depriving those most in need" of the foundation's money, he said.

Futerfas said that, over its life, the foundation had given away about $19 million, including $8.25 million donated by Trump himself. The rest of the money came from other donors, notably pro-wrestling moguls Vince and Linda McMahon, who gave $5 million. Trump later chose Linda McMahon to head the Small Business Administration.

As part of its agreement with the attorney general's office, the foundation will be required to sell its remaining assets and donate the proceeds, said Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for Underwood.

That includes a Denver Broncos football helmet signed by former quarterback Tim Tebow, which Trump bought at a charity auction in 2012 with $12,000 in Trump Foundation money. The charity also owns two large portraits of Trump, for which Trump paid a combined $30,000 in foundation money.

Trump now values the three items - for which he spent $42,000 in charity money - at a combined $975, according to a recent IRS filing.

The attorney general's suit alleges that Trump used his charity's money as his own piggy bank - including to help his presidential campaign by paying for giveaways at Iowa rallies.

"The Foundation was little more than a checkbook for payments to not-for-profits from Mr. Trump or the Trump Organization," Underwood wrote in the initial suit.

The Washington Post's reporting showed that, for years, Trump appeared to use the foundation - which was, by law, an independent entity - to make payments that bolstered his interests.

The largest donation in the charity's history - a $264,231 gift to the Central Park Conservancy in 1989 - appeared to benefit Trump's business: It paid to restore a fountain outside Trump's Plaza Hotel. The smallest, a $7 foundation gift to the Boy Scouts that same year, appeared to benefit Trump's family. It matched the amount required to enroll a boy in the Scouts the year that his son Donald Trump Jr. was 11.

The attorney general's investigation turned up evidence that Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump - all listed as officers of the charity - had never held a board meeting. The board hadn't met since 1999. The charity's official treasurer, Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg, told investigators that he wasn't aware that he was on the board.

State investigators asked him what the foundation's policies were to determine whether its payments were proper.

"There's no policy, just so you understand," Weisselberg said.

At one point, Trump used the charity's money to make a $25,000 political donation to Florida Attorney General Pamela Bondi, a Republican. The charity didn't tell the IRS about that, as required - and instead listed that donation as a gift to an unrelated charity in Kansas with a similar name. Trump's team blamed accounting mistakes.

In 2016, state investigators allege, Trump effectively "ceded control" of his charity to his political campaign. He raised more than $2 million at a fundraiser in Iowa that flowed into the foundation. Then, the state said, Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski determined when and where it would be given away.

"Is there any way we can make some disbursements . . . this week while in Iowa?" Lewandowski wrote in an email cited in Underwood's lawsuit.

Trump gave away oversize checks from the foundation at campaign events in the key early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, pausing his campaign rallies to donate to local veterans' groups.

Federal law prohibits charities from participating in political campaigns. As president, Trump has called repeatedly for that law to be repealed.

Underwood has asked the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether the Trump charity broke tax laws. Both agencies have declined to comment.

In his statement on Tuesday, Futerfas praised the foundation for operating with "virtually zero expenses."

Indeed, the Trump Foundation had no paid employees.

It also spent very little on advice from lawyers. From 2001 to 2016, Trump's charity spent a total of $163 on legal fees - and, in many of those years, it spent $0.

The demise of the Trump Foundation still leaves one mystery regarding a large portrait of Trump that he bought for $20,000 in 2007, using money from the charity. What became of it after that is unknown.

In 2017, after The Post wrote about the portrait, Trump listed it as an asset on his charity's IRS forms. He assigned it a value of $700. But he did not say where it was.

On this year's tax forms, however, the painting's value was listed at $0. Trump's attorney did not respond to a query from The Washington Post about why.

---

Video Embed Code

Video: President Trump shut down his Donald J. Trump Foundation on Dec. 18, amid an ongoing lawsuit that says Trump used the charity's money for personal and political gain.(Joyce Koh/The Washington Post)

Embed code:Joseph Little, a graduate of Houston's St. Thomas High School, died of strokes due to seizures induced by the combination of snorting of Adderall and smoking marijuana, according to an autopsy.

On Monday, the Travis County Medical Examiner released a report regarding the accidental death of Texas A&M University freshman Joseph Little, who died on August 29, 2018.

Little's death was allegedly caused by seizures and strokes due to toxic effects of the prescription drug Adderall, an amphetamine, the coroner ruled in the autopsy report.

The report also revealed that Little may have combined Adderall, which abc13 says he snorted, with smoking marijuana.

The report states the 18-year-old "may have smoked marijuana at the evening (fraternity) rush event and ingested Adderall to stay awake for the pledge event the next morning."

Immediately following Little's death, the Dean of Student Life reportedly launched an investigation related to possible alcohol, drug, and hazing violations in Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, of which Little was a member.

The fraternity was subsequently suspended from campus and has appealed the decision.

Little, who was a graduate of Houston's St. Thomas High School, was at a housing complex in College Station at the time of his passing, according to abc13.

The Department of Student Activities and the Office of the Dean of Student Life within the Division of Student Affairs are reviewing this recently-released report to determine any additional actions. A criminal investigation is ongoing.

Marcy de Luna is a digital reporter specializing in social media, the famous, and food. You can follow her on Twitter @MarcydeLuna and Facebook @MarcydeLuna. Read her stories on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | Marcy.deLuna@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text messageAirport passengers could experience delays to and from Houston this morning because of dense fog in the region, according to airport officials.

George Bush Intercontinental Airport is under a ground stop, meaning no planes are arriving at this time, according to airport communications. That could affect departures, however.Houston  the home of highway spools, perpetual road construction and potholes.

Thousands of Houstonians phoned into the city's 311 service in 2018 complaining about the latter, and some neighborhoods made a multitude of calls more than others.

In Montrose alone, with the neighborhood's small, gridded roadways, more than 350 potholes were reported  the most out of any other Houston neighborhood.

TEXAS GANGS: See the 14 gangs active throughout Houston

Inner-loopers accounted for the next three most pothole reports by neighborhood  including the Washington Avenue/Memorial Park area, Greater Heights and Upper Kirby with a total close to 700 reports.

Did your neighborhood see a high number of pothole reports? Look through the slideshow to find out.

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text messageThieves broke into an ATM in the Ellington area early Tuesday, according to Metro Video.

An unknown number of men arrived at a Chase Bank on South Sam Houston Parkway and Sagearbor around 1:30 a.m. and took the vault from inside the ATM.The settlement totals $7.9 million, with a nurse who was taken hostage receiving $650,000 and two other nurses receiving $25,000 each, according to documents obtained in an open records request. Salters pointed a gun at and threatened the third nurse and the fourth nurse was in the area while the incident occurred, according to court documents.At least on Twitter, there's a consensus: 2018 felt long.

Describing the year in five words, people across the country tweeted let this be over with and that this year felt like four. Others expressed amazement that it was just earlier this year that the Winter Olympics took place in Korea and and a gunman opened fire at a high school in Parkland, Fla., killing 17.

RELATED: People who shook things up in San Antonio this year

San Antonio had its fair share of notable deaths and unexpected business departures, but it also welcomed a plethora of new things and people: popular new restaurant chains, towering downtown skyscrapers, well-known news anchors and sweeping changes to a city landmark.

The popular burger joint Chris Madrids opened (again) after a fire gutted their property. The Rampage rebranded as Los Chimuelos in honor of Dia de los Muertos festivities. Six Flags Fiesta Texas introduced its first 30-hour coffin challenge in which participants had to remain in a coffin for 30 hours to win a prize. Two new public parks were unveiled.

Click through the slideshow to see what else San Antonio said "hello" to in 2018.

S. M. Chavey is a breaking news and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | sarah.chavey@express-news.net | @smchaveyKirby city officials have responded to social media posts blasting their police department and a towing company after a nonprofit organizations supply trailer was reported missing and ended up in a tow yard.

On Dec. 5, the rescue organization Hand-Me-Down Hounds reported on Facebook that its trailer had been stolen from inside the Kirby-Bexar Animal Facility on Duffek Drive, behind the Kirby Fire Department. In a local television broadcast, organizers for Hand-Me-Down reported dozens of portable kennels had been stolen with the trailer, hindering an upcoming animal transfer.

Subsequent social media posts blasted the towing company and the city of Kirby police for their responses to the incident. But Kirby Mayor Lisa Pierce and city council members took time during their Dec. 13 council meeting to examine what had occurred and the timeline involved.

The trailer that was reported stolen on Dec. 5 actually turned up in a city alley shortly after noon on Nov. 29, a full week earlier.

Kirby Police Lt. James Laymon showed the city council a video from a police officers body cam that detailed the trailers discovery on Nov. 29, according to the video time stamp.

A resident on Blue Jay Drive called police to alert them to a trailer found in the alley behind his property, in an alley between Borchers Drive and Boatman Road, four-tenths of a mile from the animal facility.

Laymon narrated the video, which showed officers attend to the trailer, which had no commercial markings or signs of registration anywhere on it. Officers opened the trailer doors to show about seven or eight folded-up dog kennels to the front of the trailer, and a spare tire on the floor in the rear.

Laymon said officers checked to see if anyone had reported any missing property to the city, but there had been none. He said officers checked the vehicle identification number on the trailer, but it came back as unregistered. There was no license plate on the trailer, leaving the officer with little to go on. Because the trailer was blocking a city alleyway in violation of a city ordinance, the trailer was impounded for a code violation and towed by Roadrunner Towing to an impound lot.

Typically with a registered vehicle well attempt to contact the owner and ask them to retrieve or move it, Laymon said. (The trailer) had no plates, it was unregistered, and it was not in our system at all. It did have a VIN plate and the VIN was run, but no registration linked to it.

Laymon said on Dec. 6, Bexar County officials entered the stolen report and we got a delayed notification on it  for the fact we ran the trailer and posted the time that the alleged theft occurred, he said, adding that they were not notified as to who owned the trailer.

It wasnt until later in the day that we put 2 and 2 together, about that trailer being related to the alleged theft.

Laymon said the trailer was found with no external damage, no lock on the doors, and nine dog creates and a spare tire still inside.

He said Hand-Me-Down had contacted Bexar County Sheriffs Office of the theft Dec. 5. Laymon said Kirby police were not notified of the alleged theft, and were not in contact with Bexar County until Dec. 6  one day after the theft report was made, and eight days after the trailer was found, cited and impounded.

Thats a large visible area for it to be sitting. And it took them eight days to realize that wasnt there? Kirby Councilman Mike Grant asked.

Social media posts on the Hand-Me-Down Hounds Facebook page reporting the trailer stolen first appeared on the afternoon of Dec. 5, despite the trailer being found in the Kirby alley seven days earlier.

We had our trailers and all our kennels stolen this week from outside one of the animal shelters we pull from, Hand-Me-Down Hounds original Facebook post stated. An update said the trailer had been found, but was found empty. A second clarification stated the organization was told the trailer was empty, but in fact was found with seven kennels inside.

Pierce said the city wanted to clarify that its police force processed the trailer as it would any found property before having it towed.

Since there were such disparaging (social media) comments the integrity of our police department and our city  I just wanted to make sure the council understood the exact chain of events, she said.

We had no indication, Laymon said, that there was anything further than somebody had left a trailer in the alley. It wasnt registered, so we had nobody to contact once we found it.

jflinn@express-news.netAmerican Legion Hall is available for rentals if you need a Southeast location for family or class reunions, baby showers or other celebrations. American Legion Post 375 is at 9608 S. Presa. Air and heat, kitchen, ample parking in back of building. For information, contact Richard Holloway, post commander, 210-260-7317.

Mixed martial arts classes 6-8 p.m. Mondays, St. Michael Catholic Church hall, 418 Indiana St. Taught by Mike Ortiz, a mixed martial arts champion. Contact: 210-264-5291.

Masonic Anchor Lodge 424 meets 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays, 700 Hot Wells Blvd.

Bilingual Baby Time/La Hora del bebe bilingue 10:15-10:45 a.m. Wednesdays, Cortez Branch Library, 2803 Hunter Blvd. Rhythm, rhyme and repetition of songs and stories. El ritmo, la rima y la repeticion de las canciones y los cuentos. For babies up to 18 months with their caregivers. Para bebes recien nacido hasta 18 meses con sus cuidadores.

12-step recovery group for compulsive overeaters Noon-1 p.m. Thursdays, Cresholme Presbyterian Church, 1602 Goliad Road (inside small building behind church). Free. Contact: 210-977-8379.

City Base Cancer Support Group 7 p.m. Thursdays, Brookhill Baptist Church, 631 Utopia Lane. Contact: Brenda Fox, 210-415-2830.

Cortez Chess Club 3:30-5:30 p.m. Fridays, Cortez Branch Library, 2803 Hunter Blvd. For beginners and experts. Chess sets provided or bring your own. Free. Contact: 210-207-9130.

Celebrate Recovery Fridays, Mayfield Park Church, 700 W. Hutchins Place. Free 12-step program for people struggling with hurts, hang-ups and habits. Meetings with meal 6:30 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. Large group time 7:15 p.m.; smaller groups 8:15 p.m. Child care available. Contact: 210-923-2241.

Monthly Adult Computer Classes 6-7 p.m. second and fourth Tuesdays of month, Cortez Branch Library, 2803 Hunter Blvd. Classes cover computer and internet basics. Contact: Contact: 210-207-9130.

Free clothes closet 9 a.m.-noon, first Saturday of month Brookhill Baptist Church, 631 Utopia Lane. Free clothing distributed. Contact: 210-333-4947.

Trunk of Treasures 9 a.m.-2 p.m. first Saturday of month, St. Benedict Catholic Church, 4535 Lord Road. Cars with trunks open to sell garage-sale-type items line parking lot. $10 for parking slot to sell items; free admission to shop.

Wednesday, Dec. 19

Journeys of Hope: Marys Journey 8-9 p.m. Guadalupe Radio Network, 89.7 FM-KJMA. Take a spiritual pilgrimage with Deacon Tom and Mary Jane Fox to Ein Karem, Jerusalem, the site of the Visitation. Learn about the home of Elizabeth, cousin of Mary and mother of John the Baptist. PilgrimCenterofHope.org; 210-521-3377.

Monday, Dec. 24

All branches of the San Antonio Public Library will be closed Dec. 24-26 in observance of the Christmas holiday. Regular business hours will resume Dec. 27.

Upcoming

Migration Mass is set for Jan. 6 at the Chapel of the Incarnate Word, 4503 Broadway. The Migration Mass marks the Feast of the Epiphany. It will be followed by a talk on migrants and refugees for National Migration Week.

Fiesta de Los Tres Reyes Magos 1 p.m. San Fernando Cathedral Hall, 231 W. Commerce St. The Puerto Rican Heritage Society celebrates the Epiphany with its annual Three Kings Day. The childrens event features a visit by Melchoir, Gaspar and Balthasar. Free.

Friends of McCreless Library will meet at 6 p.m. Jan. 7 at the library, 1023 Ada St., just north of the HEB Plus. The meeting is free and open to the public. Plans for 2019, including fundraising, will be discussed. The all-volunteer group was organized in 1993 by 16 community members with the purpose of supporting the librarys programs. The group has raised over $22,000 in 25 years. Volunteers and new members are welcome; membership forms are available at the library. For more information, call 210-207-9170.

Harlandale High School Class of 1969 plans its 50th reunion on Oct. 19, 2019, at Embassy Suites, Brooks City Base. Organizers are updating their address books. Contact: Frank Garza, figarza@satx.rr.com, or Ann Franz (Fisher), cdcfranz@yahoo.com with your information.

Burbank High School Class of 1969 is planning its 50th class reunion for Oct. 19, 2019. Contact: Pearl (Reyes) Montez, 210-422-0761 (cell) or Helen (Martinez) Aguirre, 210-885-7302 (cell).

Harlandale High School class of 1970 plans its 50th class reunion for October 2020. Details being finalized. Organizers seek classmates. Contact: Robert Ramirez, 210-496-7687; Jesus C. Vega (or Yolanda Vasquez-Vega), 210-383-0613.

Compiled by Melissa Renteria

Send details and a phone number to mrenteria@express-news.net. Deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday before publication.Officials are awaiting a medical examiner's ruling to determine whether to upgrade charges against a man accused of beating his girlfriend so badly she was placed on life support and later died, Converse police officials said.

Ryan Stanush, 28, is currently facing a charge of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury. He was booked into the Bexar County Jail Friday on a $100,000 bond.

READ ALSO: Woman found unresponsive after apparent scooter crash on East Side

According to Converse police, Stanush rushed Dorinda Ma, 25, into Northeast Baptist Hospital on Friday. She was not breathing and showed serious signs of trauma. Doctors placed her on life support, but just over two days later, she was taken off and died.

Stanush told investigators Ma's injuries were the result of "rough sex," but doctors said her injuries were not consistent with such an explanation, authorities said.

Converse police detectives interviewed him and later secured a warrant for his arrest.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

According to Ma's LinkedIn profile, she was formerly an English teacher at Mercedes High School in the Rio Grande Valley with the Teach for America program. Daniel Trevino, the superintendent of Mercedes ISD, said she taught at the district for two-and-a-half years and resigned in November citing personal reasons.

"She was greatly loved and respected by her students and peers. There will be a tremendous void in the Mercedes High School staff as we struggle with this tragic news," he said.

Converse Police Lt. Jeff Shook said Ma was living in San Antonio at the time of the attack.

Her Facebook profile contains a photo of herself with Stanush. The caption reads "Boyfriend".

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

Caleb Downs covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com |

cdowns@mysa.com | @calebjdownsA seasonal UPS employee helped orchestrate the theft of a high-end guitar from a Northwest Side home, according to San Antonio police.

Nadja Essler, 36, and Isaac Lagunas, 38, were arrested on suspicion of theft Tuesday at the Prue police substation. Both remained silent as they were put in a car to be taken to jail.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

Property crime investigators asked UPS for help when they received footage from the homeowner that captured the theft, police spokesman Officer Carlos Ortiz said. UPS identified Essler as one of the suspects. She was a seasonal employee during the holidays, authorities said.

Officials did not give an address for the theft.

These two were working in conjunction and were actually responsible for stealing this high-end guitar, Ortiz said.

Ortiz did not have specific numbers on package thefts during the holiday season this year, but said investigators are working hard to solve them.

READ ALSO: San Antonio musician 'grateful' after suspected burglar arrested, but many items remain missing

SAPD is actively working those cases so we can make arrests just like the one we made today, Ortiz said.

To avoid becoming a victim of theft, Ortiz suggested residents track their packages online to ensure they are home at the time of the delivery. Customers can also get gifts delivered to their workplace or utilize services like the Amazon Locker to keep the packages from being stolen.

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

Fares Sabawi covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | fsabawi@mysa.com|@FaresInSARe: Sculley chooses not to take bonus, Front Page, Dec. 11:

I am confused about bonuses!

Entities spend thousands of dollars for searches to find the best qualified executive type employee for the position they have open or is coming open. When a name is recommended, they then interview that recommended candidate to get an indication of which candidate is deemed to be the best qualified for the job.

After having read the candidates application which should contain a history of his or her work and the recommendations provided, they have a general idea of what they are willing to pay for that candidates work.

If the candidate feels he or she not only can but will perform to these expectations it is so indicated and hiring is recommended.

In some cases, there may be a difference in what the candidate feels the value of these services are worth and what the entity thought the services were worth. There are now two options available. One is to decline to pay more to the applicant, and thank the applicant for his or her interest in the position. The other is to compromise with regard to an amount acceptable and accepted by all parties.

If the applicant performs as promised, they are paid and employment continues. If the service is not as promised, employment is terminated.

But why would any reasonable and intelligent person expect more compensation than that to which he or she agreed for the services to be rendered? Conversely, why would the employer give a bonus to an employee for performing the services for which they were originally hired and did in fact perform??

We should be dealing with adults and not some youngster one bribes for eating the spinach or doing his or her homework?

I strongly believe the idea of a bonus should be eliminated.

I know we have a major employer in San Antonio who seems to take great delight in announcing that all of their employees were given a bonus because the company had a great year.

What they do not tell you is that they had a great year because they raised the price of their services to their clients to pay this bonus.

I, for one, have ceased doing business with that company because they are pricing themselves out of my market just to pay a bonus.

Good luck on that concept!

I applaud both City Manager Ms. Sheryl Sculley and SAWS President and CEO Mr. Robert Puente for their job well done but refusing the offered bonus. Both agreed to work for an agreed-to amount and they honored that agreement just like every lesser paid city employee.

Virgil E Mielke lives in San Antonio.Videos

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.Foundation officials say only one scholarship is awarded to any one student in a given year to help as many students as possible.PROPERTY worth about $800 000 was lost when a fire gutted Bulawayos Kumalo Hotel in the early hours of Sunday.

The cause of the fire at the hotel located in Kumalo suburb could not be established immediately.

Bulawayo Fire Brigade Senior Divisional officer, Mr Edward Mpofu, said investigations to establish the cause of the fire were still underway but an electrical fault or arson could not be ruled out.

He said the Fire Brigade received the first call at 0125hours and they arrived at the scene after five minutes but the entire roof had collapsed and cooking gas cylinders were exploding.

About 80 guests, mostly delegates to Zanu-PFs conference and hotel workers were evacuated from the hotel premises and no one was injured.

There were a number of gas cylinders, refrigerators, stoves, dishes that were destroyed. The building was extensively damaged by fire to the extent that fire spread pointers were destroyed, said Mr Mpofu.

He said property worth over $800 000 was destroyed while that worth only $200 000 was saved.

Mr Mpofu said workers tried to contact the owner of the hotel at approximately 0109hrs but could not reach him. He said they delayed alerting the Fire Brigade as they did not know the contact numbers and only phoned at about 0125hrs.

Two neighbours to the hotel stated that they saw the fire at something to one oclock in the morning and tried to alert the hotel staff to no avail, said Mr Mpofu.

He said people waste a lot of time communicating among themselves and with their bosses instead of calling the Fire Brigade.

Mr Mpofu advised people to always keep their numbers: (0292) 71717 or when one is calling from a landline on toll free numbers 993 or 994 to save property and prevent loss of lives in case of fire.

He said those in charge of public buildings, residential care homes and business premises must ensure that routine checks are done before closing for the day or when sleeping.

Last Wednesday, a double storey residential house and a three-roomed cottage were gutted by fire in Bulawayos Matsheumhlope suburb after a woman left a candle in her bedroom on while she was cooking outside. Property worth $2 000 was destroyed.

 Chronicle

Breaking News via Email

Loading...

Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsFINANCE Minister Mthuli Ncube has put-paid to any lingering hopes striking doctors may receive their wages in US dollars one day, declaring at a Monday briefing that governments primary revenue sources were not in hard currency.

Ncube said this at a Harare media briefing while accepting a US$1 million cholera emergency grant availed by the African Development Bank Group (AFDB) on governments behalf.

Junior doctors have gone on a 17 day strike action to demand, top among their grievances, payment in US dollars, constant availability of medicines and other paraphernalia to use in their day to day duties.

Health and Child Care Minister Obadiah Moyo last week said government had no means to pay doctors in forex.

But the treasury boss buttressed the position with a Monday declaration no civil servant shall receive their wages in foreign currency, adding that government had done enough for the health professionals.

Government cannot pay any civil servant hard currency because we are not earning any forex, Ncube said.

There is no question of us paying in foreign currency. I urge them (doctors) to accept what they are getting. Government can only pay in RTGS for now.

I believe government has done enough to meet their demands. We are doing our part in responding to their demands. So, I urge the striking doctors to go back to work.

People are dying in hospitals and they should provide the service.

Ncube also dismissed any prospects of a salary hike for doctors, saying such action may create complications within the economy.

Increments will create complications for the country but we will do our part to make sure their needs are met, he said.

Ncubes statement comes as senior doctors weekend joined the strike action by their junior peers.

In demanding for US dollar wages, the doctors say their Real Time Gross Settlement wages have been eroded by a recent wave of price increases.

Teachers have, likewise, been demanding for a return to US dollar salaries while proffering the same reasons.

 New Zimbabwe

Breaking News via Email

Loading...

Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsMalawi Vice President Saulos Chilima was elected head of the United Transformation Movement (UTM) party on Monday, paving way for him to challenge President Peter Mutharika in May elections.

Chilima was handpicked by Mutharika to run alongside him in the 2014 elections on the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) ticket.

But Chilima quit the DPP in June to form the UTM, citing corruption, nepotism and cronyism in the ruling party.

About 900 delegates gathered in Lilongwe for the UTMs first convention since the party was founded five months ago.

We cannot continue in the business-as-usual manner in which our country has been run, Chilima said after being elected unopposed.

Our calling is a call to service and to reclaim Malawi.

Under the constitution, the vice president cannot be sacked by the president.

Chilima (45) is seen as a young challenger to Mutharika (79) who won the election in 2014, two years after his brother, Bingu wa Mutharika, died while serving as president.

Chilimas chances of launching a serious challenge to Mutharika remain uncertain.

Food shortages, power outages and ballooning external debt have hurt the presidents popularity.

Chilima could be a dark horse as people are increasingly disturbed by the current government, said Switzerland-based political analyst Onjezani Kenani.

Joyce Banda (69) is back in the country after a four-year absence, hoping to reclaim the presidency that she held between 2012 and 2014.

Malawi is one of the worlds most aid-dependent countries and its economy is mainly based on subsistence farming.

-News24/AFP

Breaking News via Email

Loading...

Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsBefore we turn to the meat of todays post (short because I am still recovering from a bad bug), its disappointing to see Corbyn make such a hash of things. I really would like to be able to cheer Labour on, but the party isnt looking any more competent that the Tories.

Yesterday, Corbyn threatened the stunt of a vote of no confidence in May, as opposed to the government, which would have no practical effect even if he were to succeed. Then this happened:

This is where things appeared to stand at the end of the day per the Guardian:

Labour and the Conservatives were embroiled in a high-stakes row over whether to stage an immediate vote of no confidence in the government after the opposition chose not to table a binding vote on the issue on Monday night. The opposition accused Downing Street of running scared because it had refused to allow time to debate an alternative, non-binding no-confidence vote in Theresa May as prime minister. The Tories hit back, saying that Labour had bottled it by failing to exercise their right to force a no-confidence vote in the government when it looked like they might not win it.

Corbyn appears to be way too eager to be Doing Something when he should be following the maxim attributed to Napoleon: Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

On top of that, the very last thing Corbyn wants to do now, or in January, is win a no confidence vote. That would virtually guarantee a crash out. Well go through the timetable in a post soon, hopefully later this week, but the drill is:

14 days to try to form a new government. If not, then the general election process starts. The election process is twenty-five working days, or a minimum of five weeks, per statute.

That means seven weeks on the tightest possible timetable. As Clive adds:

And it is just fanciful to suggest that Parliament could come to a hard-stop after the 14-day period had elapsed without at least a few days to have an orderly wind-down and passing over caretaker government responsibilities to the civil service. Similarly that Parliament could sit the very next day after an election result. While the invitation to form a government, the Queens Speech and the State opening are largely ceremonial, there is a constitutional requirement for the Sovereign to set out, in broad terms, the agreed legislative programme for the Parliament and for the Parliament to be legally opened and its sitting to commence. Otherwise, laws passed could not have valid statutory force. I think it is therefore 8 weeks start-to-finish  cutting it to the barest possible timeframe. If there was a hung Parliament (which you couldnt rule out, especially with politics being, as they currently are, all over the place) and coalition negotiations were needed, youd have at least another week, possibly several.

Understand what this means. Lets say Labour were to win a motion of no confidence on the heels of Parliament nixing Mays Withdrawal Agreement. That vote is scheduled for the week of January 14. Parliament would take no meaningful new action prior to a new Parliament being seated and a government being formed, which would be mid-March at the best.

It would take legislation to allow the new Prime Minister to run and beg the EU for an extension to Article 50, since the exit date is hard-coded in the Withdrawal Act. Think that could get done in two weeks? And how close to the wire is the EU likely to accept an extension request?

As vlade wrote:

To be honest, I believe this is the ERG strategy  get in a GE in Feb/March, ensuring no-deal Brexit, get Labour to win it, and then run around blaming it all on incompetent handling by Labour, ensuring Tory time in wilderness is short. Given that its IMO quite likely Labour would have to rule in a coalition (it would lose Scotland voters to SNP, and quite a bit of city votes to LibDem that it picked up in 2017), it may not be even that long. It pains me to say, but even as incompetenet nutcases as ERG seems to have a better strategy than Labour.

Now to the two officially dead unicorns of the day, although Sir Ivan Rogers, among others, have already given them their last rites a long time ago. And let us not forget that the UK has a thing for zombie unicorns. Too many pols and pundits are still talking up the clearly putrified ideas of Canada plus and Norway plus.

The first is the oxymoron of a managed no deal, where we turn to Sir Ivans speech in Liverpool, posted December 13:

Besides Canada +++ or SuperCanada, as it was termed by the former Foreign Secretary, we have Norway +, which used to be NorwaythenCanada then became Norwayfornow and then became Norway + forever. And now even No deal +, which also makes appearances as managed no deal and no deal mini deals. What is depressing about the nomenclature is the sheer dishonesty. The pluses are inserted to enable one to say that one is well aware of why existing FTA x or y or Economic Area deal a or b does not really work as a Brexit destination, but that with the additions you are proposing, the template is complete No deal+ is brought to us courtesy of all the people who told a great free trade deal would be struck before we even left because the mercantile interests of key manufacturing players in Member States would prevail against the pettifogging legalistic ivory tower instincts of the Brussels ayatollahs. Forgive me for pointing out that, as some of us forecast well over 2 years ago, it did not turn out like that. And that the Brussels theologians exhibited rather more flexibility than the key Member States when it came to the crunch. And that not a peep was heard from the titans of corporate Europe. Except to back very robustly the position in capitals that the continued integrity of the Single Market project was vastly more important to them than the terms of a framework agreement with the U.K. A position which wont change during the trade negotiations ahead either. The no deal +  fantasy is that if we just had the guts to walk away, refuse to sign the Withdrawal Agreement with the backstop in it, and withhold a good half of the money the Prime Minister promised this time last year, capitals, suddenly realising we were serious, would come running for a series of mini deals which assured full trading continuity in all key sectors on basically unchanged Single Market and Customs Union terms. I dont know what tablets these people are taking, but I must confess I wish I were on them. It will be said of them as it was said of the Bourbons, I think: they have learned nothing and they have forgotten nothing.

Its now official, courtesy leaks from Europe. From the Telegraph:

The European Commission will put forward measures to reduce the worst damage of a no deal Brexit when it publishes delayed contingency plans for Britain crashing out of the EU on Wednesday but will rule out any British hopes of a managed no deal. The strategy will, if backed, allow the EU will unilaterally declare the extension of agreements in selected sectors for between six to nine months to give its member countries time to strike bilateral agreements with Britain. The plans are likely to be seized upon by some Brexiteers as evidence that Brussels could accept a managed no deal but, according to the commission, no deal will mean an end to all Brexit negotiations with the UK. An EU official said, The underlying principle is it has to be temporary to bridge a significant disruption. They will only remedy the most disruptive elements of Brexit in case of no deal. Because the measures are unilateral they could be broken off at any time, an official said. Were not talking about engaging in parallel negotiation with no deal deals with the UK.

Moreover, as you can infer from this Bloomberg story, not only are these measures temporary, but the EU will decide unilaterally when to cancel them:

The European Union will rule out doing mini deals with the U.K. to ease the chaos of Britain crashing out without a divorce agreement, stepping up pressure on British lawmakers to approve the deal thats on table or risk disaster.

If the British Parliament fails to ratify the withdrawal treaty before the countrys scheduled leaving date of March 29, the EU wont seek a managed no-deal, according to an EU official.

Instead, it will take unilateral steps to protect its interests, putting in place a bare minimum of emergency measures, and only if the U.K. reciprocates with its own actions, the person said.

The EU is preparing no-deal measures in eight areas. The European Commission will say that steps generally wont last longer than until the end of 2019, when it publishes details of proposed EU legislation on Wednesday. The areas are:

Aviation:

The EU will allow airliners from the U.K. to fly over the EU, land in the EU and fly back to the U.K, and make refueling stops in the EU. Financial services

The EU would allow the U.K.s derivatives clearinghouses to continue serving banks in the bloc  under a so-called equivalence arrangement  for 12 months after Brexit in the case of no deal. Customs

The EU will levy duties and taxes on U.K. goods and is stepping up arrangements to carry out customs checks at entry points from the U.K. Road transport

Permits will still be given to U.K. truck drivers but these would be far more restricted than is currently the case under EU membership. Climate policy

EU climate change legislation wont apply to the U.K. The Commission will take steps to ensure its emissions trading system isnt affected. Rights of citizens

The EU will say it is taking a generous approach to British citizens living in one of its 27 countries at the moment of Brexit and will enable them to obtain long-term residency status if they fulfill the necessary conditions. Livestock and animal products

The EU hopes to allow the import of live animals and animal products from the U.K. as long as the country meets sanitary standards. Disruption will be expected, however, because new checks will have to take place on entry into the EU. Personal data

If the U.K. leaves the EU with no deal, the country will be governed by the rules covering international transfers, which makes it far more difficult to exchange personal data.

On the referendum front, someone in the UK has finally worked out what we have been saying for a while, that there is not even close to enough runway for a second referendum. However, the UK press and pols being hopelessly narcissistic, the issue weve cited, that no way, no how is the EU willing to extend the Article 50 deadline long enough to allow for UK MPs to be seated in the European Parliament, is now being spun as a UK issue. We said that the European Parliament trigger date was the absolute limit, but we werent sure what the trigger was, and was hoping some lawyers would get on it and report back. That has happened. From the Telegraph:

The Government has taken secret legal advice on extending Article 50 which it argues effectively rules out a second referendum, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. The advice states that Britain will be legally obliged to take part in European Parliament elections in May of next year if it extends Article 50 and subsequently send British MEPs to Brussels. It warns that there will be a high risk of a successful legal challenge if the UK refuses to take part in the elections because doing so will be breaching peoples rights as EU citizens. Ministers who have seen the advice argue that this means that July 2nd, the start of the next five-year session of the European Parliament, is a hard deadline for extending Article 50. They say it will take at least a year to complete preparations and hold a second vote, making it technically impossible to have another EU referendum.

If were lucky, MPs and pundits will sober up over the holidays and the pressure of Brexit in a mere three months will focus a few minds come the new year. But by then, the options will be few indeed.By Chloe Farand. Originally published at desmogblog.

Following two tension-filled weeks at the UN climate talks in Poland, countries finally agreed on the operating manual to implement the Paris Agreement. While this rulebook is essential to kick-start the agreement in 2020, campaigners and scientists have warned of a stark disconnect between the urgency to prevent climate breakdown and the failed opportunity for radical action.

The rulebook covers a wide range of issues such as how countries should report their greenhouse gas emission reductions and who should pay what to help developing countries leapfrog fossil fuels and develop sustainably.

Given the elections of climate deniers Donald Trump in the US and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and strong obstruction from powerful oil and gas exporting countries such as the US and Saudi Arabia, the talks started in Katowice with low expectations.

Campaigners have accused the rulebook of being a compromise favouring corporate interests and countries which have been the most obstructive in the negotiation process.

Vitumbiko Chinoko, from CARE  an international humanitarian agency  in Southern Africa, accused a few powerful countries of holding multilateralism hostage during the conference.

Vulnerable countries cannot carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. It is unacceptable for governments to continue to cower behind the inaction of the US and other big polluters, he said.

Patti Lynn, executive director of NGO Corporate Accountability, said the climate talks had ended without delivering what the world needs.

Governments fell far short of crafting a just and equitable roadmap to Paris implementation. The root cause of this failure  the fossil fuel industrys interference  was on full display at these negotiations, she said.

Compromise

For those deeply involved in the process, the fact countries managed to agree on a single set of rules to implement the Paris Agreement  with flexibility in some areas  was a victory for multilateralism diplomacy in the face of growing populist movements rejecting climate action.

Despite all the headwinds, the Paris Agreement has stayed course at COP24, demonstrating the kind of resilience it has been designed for, said Laurence Tubiana, CEO of NGO the European Climate Foundation and one of the architects of the Paris Agreement.

The climate negotiations are a unique and very technical diplomatic exercise in which every country around the world have to agree on how to save the planet.

As Spanish ecology minister Teresa Ribera told the BBC, this is a difficult process.

It is like organising a party for 200 friends, and theres a single menu that everybody has to eat. It is not so easy but we have got it, she said.

COP24 President Micha Kurtyka when the Paris Agreement rulebook is adopted. Image Credit: IISD ENB

But there is also widespread acknowledgement that the package which was agreed late on Saturday night in Katowice is far from ambitious enough to deliver the level of climate action necessary to prevent climate breakdown.

Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of UN Climate Change (UNFCCC), said the rulebook was an important step but that no one is entirely happy with it.

Reflecting on the final hours of the negotiation, Camilla Born, senior policy advisor at the environmental think tank E3G, told Climate Home News: We are not going to agree what is necessary for the climate but we are going to agree what is possible in these politics. And that has gone a step further than what we have seen before going into these negotiations.

Faced with the lack of leadership during the talks, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was forced to intervene during the conference and warned: To waste this opportunity would compromise our last best chance to stop runaway climate change. It would not only be immoral, it would be suicidal.

In many ways, the talks have shown some of the limits of international diplomacy to deliver on climate action in line with the scientific consensus.

Urgency Versus diplomacy

Urgency was very much the watchword for the talks.

In October, leading climate scientists from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), warned that the world had 12 years to take rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

To achieve the 1.5 degree target, global emissions need to fall by 45 percent by 2030, according to the report. But the current trend is in the opposite direction.

During the first week of the talks, the Global Carbon Project launched a report estimating that global CO2 emissions will rise by 2.7 percent in 2018  the fastest increase in seven years.

One of the biggest setbacks in the negotiations was the joint effort from the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait to block the welcoming of the IPCCs findings, and instead simply note the report.

The final text welcomes the timely completion of the report, rather than the findings themselves. Instead, the rulebook invites parties [countries] to make use of the information contained in the report.

For campaigners and NGOs pushing for a radical system change, this was a failed opportunity to raise the level of ambition.

Mohamed Adow, international climate lead for Christian Aid, said: This was the first opportunity since the IPCC report for countries to prove to the world that they were taking this seriously.

But the fact countries had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the finish line shows that some nations have not woken up to the urgent call of the IPCC report.

Countries current emission reduction pledges are on track to reach three to four degrees of warming  far from the 1.5 degree target. According to a UN report, countries have to raise their current targets fivefold in order to meet the 1.5 degree goal.

In the final text agreed at Katowice, countries are not specifically asked to increase their ambitions but simply invited to consider enhancing their pledges by 2020. The Paris Agreement will kick in that year, and countries are set to re-submit or update their climate pledges.

In a statement read out in Katowice when the text was adopted, UN chief Guterres said, from now on my five priorities will be ambition, ambition, ambition, ambition and ambition.

Corporate Capture and Article 6

One of the most technical parts of the rulebook has been left as unfinished business.

Rules around voluntary carbon markets  known as Article 6  were delayed because of obstruction from Brazil, which tried to water down efforts to stop double counting emissions cuts.

DeSmog UK reported that Article 6 is also one of the sections of the Paris Agreement most vulnerable to corporate capture. The CEO of IETA, a business lobby representing big corporations and fossil fuel companies, told DeSmog UK that the group was engaging in the negotiations under Article 6 and hoping to influence its outcome.

#COP24 just got a major shake-up  hundreds of people from around the world took over the main hall to demand real solutions & an end to polluter influence. The movement for climate justice is growing stronger by the day! #KeepItInTheGround pic.twitter.com/JEODh8YrZz  Sierra Club (@SierraClub) 14 December 2018

Lynn, of Corporate Accountability, said: While Article 6 has been stalled, the current text to be negotiated at COP25 [next years climate talks] reflects big polluters wishlists, not peoples needs.

Sara Shaw, co-coordinator of Friends of the Earth International, said: We stand on the brink of catastrophe because corporate interests and fossil fuel money have infiltrated the climate talks to perpetuate the dirty energy system regardless of the cost for people and planet.

Radical Action in the Real World

One of the most memorable part of this years talks was the presence of 15-year-old Greta Thunberg, who warned the conference that adults were behaving like children and that it was time for young peoples voices to be heard.

We have come here to let them [world leaders] know that change is coming whether they like it or not, she said.

Teen climate activist accuses world leaders at United Nations COP24 conference of stealing kids futures https://t.co/SZjNApS9qm pic.twitter.com/lEf6cx2QDT  CNN (@CNN) 16 December 2018

Adow, from Christian Aid, said that the most hopeful stories about climate change over the past two weeks have been from outside the walls of the summit, pointing to school strikes for climate action, grassroots movements mobilising around the world and the rise of Extinction Rebellion.

The global transition is under way and cannot be stopped. The question is will governments help it go fast enough to help the worlds poorest on the front lines of climate change, he added.

Lynn, of Corporate Accountability agreed, adding that more than 250,000 people and 300 organisations from 129 countries signed a Peoples Demands petition calling on world leaders to put people and the planet before corporate interests.

With the Peoples Demands as our guiding light, the movement to demand climate justice has never been more united, organised or determined, she said.

You can read all of DeSmog UKs coverage of the UN climate talks here.

Image credit: Avaaz/Flickr/1.0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.(As delivered)

Thank you, Jacek. Like Federica Mogherini, I am very sorry to have to leave so early. You know there is no place else Id rather be  with so many friends and colleagues today and talking about these important issues. But this is budget time at NATO, and Im afraid my current duties pull me in other directions that are not so natural to my professional background. But nonetheless I need to be present, so I apologise in advance.

I am very impressed that this is the 7th of these meetings. I cannot say that I was actually at the very first of those, but I did participate in some of the earlier meetings in my previous capacity. So I am delighted again to see that these meetings go from strength to strength. I see many truly excellent experts in the field around the room, and I know youll have a great discussion today. I take my hat off to you and your colleagues, Jacek, for organising this once again. The consortium has really been doing fantastic work, so thank you for that.

You know, its really great for me to have this opportunity to be here today because the dialogue and cooperation between NATO and the European Union have become ever more deep, lasting, and strong. My presence here reflects our shared commitment to a stronger global weapons of mass destruction non-proliferation system.

While both our organisations are based in Europe, todays security challenges  and, especially, the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction  are global, so I welcome all the partner organisations represented here from around the world.

Of course, as a NATO senior official, you know Im going to quote our latest Summit in July. I want to highlight the great statement the Brussels Summit delivered on arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation. Allies reiterated how important arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation are to achieving our security objectives. They are an equal partner, when they are done right, with measures for deterrence and defence.

And, of course, enhancing military transparency is a top priority. NATO is committed to strengthening and modernizing conventional arms control and confidence and security-building measures, such as the Vienna Document, as a cornerstone of Euro-Atlantic security.

However, we have to acknowledge that the global security environment is under enormous pressure, and a lot of that is down to the policies and actions of the Russian Federation. Russias use of force against Ukraine came as a wake-up call, but they have been working against the global, rules-based order for longer than that.

Their invasion of Ukraine is only part of a broader pattern of behavior aimed at eroding the security architecture we are enjoying and have enjoyed since the end of the Cold War. Russia continues to seek recognition for their military presence in Georgia, they continue to ignore their obligations under the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, they continue to pose compliance concerns with regard to the Open Skies Treaty, and selectively implement the Vienna Document. Which brings me to the INF Treaty youve already heard about this morning.

Lets be clear  Russia took steps a long time ago to violate the INF Treaty, betting that the West would fail to respond with unity, to stand together, to stand on principle. I first demarched my much-respected senior colleagues from the Russian Federation in May 2013 on this matter. So it has been an issue that two Administrations have worked very hard to pursue. In so violating the treaty, Russia bet, I think, that the West would fail to respond with unity. But Russia was wrong. Allies remain united in their desire to preserve the INF Treaty, but only if Russia returns to full and verifiable compliance by destroying their Treaty-violating missiles, launchers, and related equipment.

And yet, confronted with a choice between returning to compliance or throwing away the INF Treaty, Russia continues to distort and distract. All of NATO stands with the United States in support of their steadfast and consistent efforts, again, over two Administrations to bring Russia back to compliance. Russia has refused, despite collective NATO and individual Allied efforts to convince them to return to compliance. The demise of this vital Treaty, if it happens, lies solely on Russias shoulders.

But, beyond the INF Treaty, the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction are only increasing. Russia itself has used chemical weapons on NATO territory and sought to shield Syria from the consequences of unrestrained use of chemical weapons against its own citizens, in violation of its CWC treaty obligations as well as global norms that have existed for 100 years. This assertion of impunity for chemical weapons use has emboldened non-state actors to seek and use WMD, leaving us all worse off.

Going forward, I feel that we must tackle three urgent challenges:

First, the risk of nuclear weapons use has increased, with more in the hands of state actors. Allies must work to ensure deterrence functions effectively.

And we must also work together to support the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the cornerstone of the multilateral nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime, in the run up to the critically important 2020 Review Conference  the 50th anniversary of the Treaty.

Ambassador Grossi, please know that NATO will do all we can do to help ensure your success.

Second, as I mentioned, chemical use by state actors in recent years requires a concerted international effort to restore the norm against chemical weapons acquisition and use that was born 100 years ago, right here in Belgium on the back of terrible CW use in places such as Ypres. That was 100 years ago  we just acknowledged the end of World War I this year. And the year before, 2017, was a year acknowledging the 100th anniversary of the use of chemical weapons at Ypres, so this is a norm that has its roots 100 years back, and it needs to be strengthened and re-emphasized. I applaud the extraordinary work of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for the work underway on attribution, and I welcome Ambassador Arias here today.

Third, the proliferation of ballistic and cruise missiles, particularly those of intermediate and long range, capable of delivering Weapons of Mass Destruction, must be addressed in a far more comprehensive way if we are to have a more secure world.

Despite the diplomatic progress on the Korean peninsula, the threat of North Korean missile development and proliferation continues. It is clear, too, that Iran continues its efforts to develop and test effective and accurate missiles to longer and longer ranges in defiance of the United Nations. And many more countries around the world are turning to enhanced longer-range precision missile technologis, adding instability to conflicts all around the word.

We must work together to stop the spread of missile technology by every instrument available to us. I applaud the work that is being done so far in the Missile Technology Control Regime and also in the Hague Code of Conduct regime. I hope we can continue to drive forward in strengthening and enhancing these important regimes as well as other important regimes of missile constraint and restraint. And I underscore again the necessity of doing everything we can to try to preserve the INF Treaty.

***

In conclusion let me state clearly what we all know: The world today is a less predictable place than it has been since the end of the Cold War.

The answer to todays instability is more cooperation among nations, stronger global governance, and resolve in the face of the threats before us.

We need not only to protect, but to strengthen the rules-based international order we have developed since World War II. To make the world safer, we need to reinforce it through stronger and closer cooperation, and we need to work together to develop new ways to counter the threats before us.

The North Atlantic Alliance remains steadfast in its engagement and commitment to support disarmament talks, develop proposals to limit and reduce conventional and nuclear weapons, and to prevent the spread of all types of weapons of mass destruction.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you today. I wish you every success in your important discussions."Because so many have been a part of establishing the culture and climate, we constantly honor our traditions and look to create new ones. We are fortunate to have a community that believes in what we are doing at the high school and are supportive of our initiatives," said Hiscock.(Natural News) The CDC is one of the most evil, dishonest and dangerous institutions to ever exist on our planet. It espouses toxic medical interventions that maim and kill children on a routine basis, and it censors any science that might bring the truth to light.

Published December 17, 2018 by the Weston A Price Foundation:

Mark Green, currently a senator in Tennessee and a newly elected member of the U.S. House of Representatives, publically stated in a town hall meeting that he intends to hold the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) accountable regarding their own fraudulently managed data on autism and vaccines.

As a graduate of West Point, a decorated war hero, AND an emergency care physician, Green intends to stand on the CDCs desk and get the real data on vaccines.

The autism rate in America is skyrocketing. It is up 30,000 percent since the early 1980s, now affecting 1 in 36 children (between 3 and 17 years of age). And the CDC has indeed fraudulently managed the data  senior CDC researcher Dr. William Thompson and his team found a strong association between vaccines and autism, but did as their bosses told them and changed the parameters of the study to get rid of the association, so the CDC would not have to report it to the public.

Please help us thank Congressman-elect Green for his courageous and honest voice. We want him to have a stack of letters from people all over the country that he can share with his colleagues when he starts in Congress in January!

View Greens town hall speech here: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/12/tennessee-mark-green-vaccine-autism-cdc-congressman-anti-vax/2288164002/

TAKE ACTION

Email or send a letter to Mark Green and thank him for vowing to hold the CDC accountable regarding vaccine and autism. Be sure to include your name, city and state.

Send letters to his State Senate Office:

425 5th Avenue North

Suite 748, Cordell Hull Bldg.

Nashville, TN 37243

Fax: (615) 253-0193

Email: [email protected]

If you or a family member has experienced a vaccine reaction  whether related to autism or any other type of vaccine reaction  we encourage you to share that fact in your letter.

Or, your letter can be simply a thank you and encouragement for Congressman-elect Green to push ahead with the inquiry.

MORE INFORMATION:

1) According to senior CDC research scientist Dr. William Thompson, his team found a strong association between vaccines and autism, but changed the parameters of the study to get rid of the association, so they would not have to report it to the public. To date, despite efforts by Congressman Bill Posy, Congress has not subpoenaed Dr. Thompson to testify, nor have they held hearings to investigate his claims.

2) The CDC recommends 70 doses of 16 vaccines to todays child. Today 1 in 36 children has autism. There has been a 30,000 percent increase in autism since the early 1980s  during which time we have nearly quadrupled the number of vaccines given to children.

3) This is a political issue as well as a devastating reality for many families. Who will pay for the future needs of so many autistic persons? Autism is already crippling our schools, in addition to impacting the quality of education. https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/vaccinations/twenty-first-century-classroom/

4) Denying the increase in autism hurts our children. Tens of thousands of parents report that their previously-healthy children regressed after vaccination; yet, our government, the medical community, pharmaceutical companies, and mainstream media continue to do everything in their power to conceal the truth that vaccines cause autism.

5) The U.S. Supreme Court ruled vaccines are unavoidably unsafe[i] and the U.S. government has paid out approximately $3.9 billion for vaccine injury claims, including millions of dollars to vaccine-injured-autistic-children.

6) Vaccine makers and the healthcare providers who administer them bear zero liability for vaccine injuries and deaths. The vaccine manufactures reap all the profits from vaccines, without having to pay for any of the injuries or harm. The global vaccine market is projected to be worth 77 billion dollars by 2024.

Learn more truth about vaccines at Vaccines.news.(Natural News) An international study in The Journal of Alternative and Contemporary Medicine has found that microcurrent point simulation can relieve chronic neck pain. The team, which included both American and British researchers, looked at how applying microcurrents to acupuncture points in the lower back can affect neck pain.

Acupuncture and microcurrent stimulation have both been used in treating chronic pain; however, there is little evidence on its ability to manage neck pain.

In the study, the team used a cohort analysis to interpret outcomes both before and after microcurrent stimulation. The researchers involved 34 patients for the trial, all of whom have a history of non-specific back pain.

During the trials, the patients were assigned to therapists who have attended educational seminars on the practice. The patients were then asked to rate their pain levels both before the application and after 48 hours.

Direct microcurrent point stimulation was applied to acupuncture points on the lower back. These were evaluated using a visual analog scale (VAS) for pain.

The patients were first measured before undergoing the trial, then tested twice after therapy.

Patients reported a significant decrease in pain intensity after protocol treatment. In particular, those who underwent microcurrent point simulation had reduced their pain by 68 percent, compared to initial pain levels. Total average pain relief level noted to be 80 percent.

The researchers concluded that microcurrent point stimulation could provide a positive outcome for those affected by chronic neck pain.

Read the full study at this link.

Find more ways to naturally treat neck pain by following NaturalCures.news.

Journal Reference:

Armstrong K, Gokal R, Chevalier A, Todorsky W, Lim M. Microcurrent Point Stimulation Applied to Lower Back Acupuncture Points for the Treatment of Nonspecific Neck Pain. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 1 April 2017;23(4):295299. DOI: 10.1089/acm.2016.0313(Natural News) A new study has just confirmed that using wastewater to water crops is a major threat to public health. Now, there are even more questions about the safety of using biosolids, or biosludge, which comes from wastewater, to fertilize soil and crops here in the United States. The re-purposing of human waste for agricultural purposes is one of the biggest crimes against humanity ever perpetrated  and theyre doing it all under the guise of environmental concerns. Whether its wastewater or the biosolids derived from it, we shouldnt be growing food in it.

After all, if wastewater is dangerous, one might surmise that biosolids  which are basically concentrated wastewater remnants  are not so safe, either. Indeed, many experts are already highly concerned about the effects of biosolids, both in the environment and in the food supply. Many of these concerns have been whitewashed by the corrupt agribusiness industry. Now that the truth about wastewater is finally being realized, the dangers of biosolids cannot be hidden forever.

Wastewater used on crops spreads disease

A new study led by experts from the University of Birmingham have found that using wastewater on crops in Africa is a major threat to public health. Urban farmers are looking to feed Africas fast-growing cities, but their use of wastewater sets the stage for pathogenic bacteria and drug-resistant microbes to spread like wildfire. Wastewater is popular due to its low cost and availability, but it may not be worth the risk.

As Science Daily reports, scientists from the university led an international team from Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Germany in studying wastewater samples from three canals in the capital city of Ouagadougou  home to 2.2 million people. Together, they found that the wastewater was a prime source of harmful pathogens and antibiotic resistant genes. The finding shows that wastewater poses a major risk in terms of spreading disease.

Professor Laura Piddick, from the University of Birmingham, commented on the findings, stating, Using wastewater for agricultural irrigation represents a very serious health risk, not least as it increases exposure to faecal pathogens. Wastewater appears to be a hot spot for antibiotic resistant bacteria in Burkina Faso.

As sources note, some 50 to 90 percent of the antibiotics taken by humans and animals are excreted as a mixture of parent drug and metabolite form. This means a substantial amount of the active drugs make their way into wastewater systems, where they are then released into the environment. This is problematic in and of itself, well before the wastewater is used to grow food.

Its not just the smell

Biosolids is the politically correct name for treated wastewater leftovers, also known as sewage sludge or biosludge. Many people have complained about the odor that these biosolids give off, but thats not the only thing people should be worrying about.

While the industry has made many claims about the safety of biosolids, there is no shortage of experts who disagree.

Indeed, there is much evidence which shows biosludge is a massive vector for disease and toxicity  and that the sludge industry worked with the EPA to obscure the scientific reality of using chemically treated human waste as fertilizer.

Dr. David Lewis, a former EPA scientist, has blown the whistle on the governments hand in faking the science on biosludge in the 1990s. Dr. Lewis was fired by the agency for voicing his concerns about the risks of biosludge, under charges of scientific misconduct. Since that time, Lewis has spoken out about the wide range of toxins, heavy metals, pathogens, and other dangers hiding in biosludge.

Mike Adams, founder of Natural News and creator of Brighteon.com, has also spoken out about the danger of biosludge. There is even a new documentary on the horrors being hidden in the soil of North America, Biosludged.

Adams has described biosludge as a very severe problem that if not rectified soon will have a detrimental impact on our health and environment.

Sources for this article include:

ScienceDaily.com

TheSpec.comIn her application for the order, the woman, 63, said in August 2017 that she received a notice from a credit company that the car loan had been taken out in her name. As she began looking into her credit history, the woman said she found other loans taken out in her name, and she reported it to authorities.Tech firm founder Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne have given a $15 million gift to UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland to address a shortage in mental health services for children in the East Bay.

University of California at San Francisco announced the gift today and said it is the final piece of a $50 million commitment the Benioffs made to the hospital in 2014. Benioff is the founder and chairman of the San Francisco-based cloud computing company Salesforce.

The funds will enhance current mental health programs at the hospital, including by increasing the number of providers on staff. The money is expected to allow an additional 5,000 psychiatric visits per year, twice the hospital's current capacity, UCSF officials said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is now the second leading cause of death for adolescents worldwide.

One in five youth under the age of 18 suffers from some type of diagnosable mental illness such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders or attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, UCSF officials said.

"Children are suffering from an extraordinary amount of stress and mental illness, and we must rise to the challenge of meeting this need in what is truly a public health crisis," Dr. Michael Anderson, president of the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals in Oakland and San Francisco, said in a news release.

"Thanks to the generous foresight of Lynne and Marc Benioff, we can lay the groundwork to become an international leader in pediatric mental health care," Anderson said.

Lynne Benioff said, "There's nothing more important than the health and well-being of our children. Marc and I hope that this gift will raise awareness of the mental health crisis facing children here in our community and that others will join us in supporting the hospital's mental health mission.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf issued a statement thanking the Benioffs for helping address an issue "that cuts across all races, all cultures and all socioeconomic levels."The U.S. State Department has granted a waiver to allow a Yemeni mother to visit her 2-year-old son who is clinging to life at an Oakland hospital, the Council on American-Islamic Relations announced Tuesday.

Shaima Swileh was in Egypt as of Tuesday, hoping to get on the earliest flight that will let her visit her son Abdullah at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, CNN first reported about the announcement. She is expected to arrive in the Bay Area Wednesday night.

Abdullah's father, Ali Hassan of Stockton, said Swileh has been crying out in happiness to be able to see her son, who has a genetic brain condition that has worsened.

"This was the best day ever," Hassan said. "I'm glad that my wife got her visa."

Hassan previously broke down in tears at a news conference held Monday in Sacramento as he pleaded with authorities to allow Swileh to travel to the U.S.

"My wife is calling me every day wanting to kiss and hold our son for one last time," Hassan said. "Time is running out, please help us get my family together again."

Abdullah turned 2 years old last week. His father brought him to the U.S. earlier this year. Both Abdullah and his father are U.S. citizens.

Swileh, however, is a Yemeni national and, before receiving the visa, was unable to visit under President Donald Trump's travel ban, which applies to mostly Muslim majority nations.

Doctors had told the family that the boy's body wouldn't withstand life support much longer.

"Our hearts are breaking for this family," said Saad Sweilem, a civil rights attorney with the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "The loss of a child is something no parent should experience, but not being able to be there in your child's last moments is unfathomably cruel."

The family's plight had drawn support from a wide spectrum of religious leaders and civil rights activists, who hope to put pressure on Congress and the Trump administration.

Betty Williams, president of the Sacramento branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, also called on Trump to allow an exception.

"It's criminal that we have to stand before you and beg" for the family to be together, Williams said.

An online action alert by CAIR, demanding that the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Cairo reunite the family, had received more than 6,000 entries of support.

Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee released a statement Monday:

"As a mother myself, I am stunned by the cruelty of barring a mother from reuniting with her sick child. The case of Shaima Swileh shows clearly the damage wreaked on families across this country by the Trump administrations un-American travel ban. I am committed to doing all I can to fight it and to restore decency and humanity to our nations immigration laws. I have written to the State Department to urge this administration to grant Swilehs request for a ban waiver and will work with her family and federal authorities to help reunite her with her son, Abdullah."Imagine saving for years to buy a home. You budget. You scrimp. You dream. And then, you take the plunge.

But, just as you're supposed to get the keys, you discover that when you wired your down payment you mistakenly sent it to a thief's bank account. And now it's gone for good.

That can happen. And, sadly, it does happen. Daily.

Hackers and spoofers are preying on unsuspecting home buyers and raking in hundreds of millions of dollars. The online crooks pose as real estate salespeople, title agents, and mortgage brokers. They infiltrate e-mail chains, mimic an agent, and trick the buyer. When someone falls for the bogus bank wire instructions, the imposter transfers their money offshore and vanishes. All without a trace.

NBC Bay Area is exposing the growing scam and showing how hurtful it is for families to lose their savings in an instant. We are also highlighting a security gap that gives the thieves a way in: personal e-mail accounts. Data collected by NBC Bay Area reveals - in stark terms -- that the majority of local realtors continue to use the very e-mail accounts that the FBI says hackers can easily exploit. The big question is: why?

Many in real estate believe the scammers are targeting virtually all home sales. But many victims believe the industry is ignoring the problem. Families are speaking up for change and to warn others that home buying is under attack.

SF FIRM OFFERS SOLUTION

New technology developed in San Francisco offers a "safe room" to keep funds safe. So, why hasn't the real estate industry embraced tighter security to protect clients' money? The NBC Bay Area Responds team investigates. Full Story

Hackers target hundreds of real estate transactions every day, sometimes stealing six-figure sums from home buyers. New technology developed in San Francisco offers a safe room to keep funds safe. So, why hasnt the real estate industry embraced tighter security to protect clients money? The NBC Bay Area Responds team investigates.

SANTA CLARA DA TAKES ACTION

The Santa Clara District Attorney's Office takes action on stolen deposits. But, can the DA really find the thieves? Full Story

The Santa Clara County District Attorney is investigating the theft of $25,000 from a San Jose family, after a series of NBC Bay Area reports exposed the depth of the problem. Chris Chmura reports.

'THEY FAILED TO PROTECT MY MONEY'

An NBC Bay Area investigation reveals widespread realtor use of vulnerable e-mail accounts. Full Story

The email practices of real estate professionals are under scrutiny as NBC Bay Area investigates an increasing number of wire fraud scams stealing home buyers down payments.

DREAM DESTROYED

A family that lost almost $89,000 demands answers from the real estate industry. Full Story

Bay Area families are losing their life savings to a fast-growing scam that targets homebuyers. But a software solution may offer hope to prevent more Californians from becoming victims.

VULNERABLE TO HACKERS

Real estate industry insiders say virtually all home sales are at risk of hack attacks. Full Story

Real estate professionals and the FBI have a warning for California homebuyers and sellers: You will be targeted by thieves and hackers. Consumer investigator Chris Chmura reports.

HOMEBUYERS, BEWARE

A San Jose familys move to Ohio is suddenly upended when thieves hack into the transaction and steal their down payment. Full Story

A sophisticated scam targeting homebuyers robbed a San Jose couple of their life savings, and real estate experts say everyone shopping for a place to live is at risk. Consumer investigator Chris Chmura reports.

HOW THE SCAM WORKS

Here are some tips to prevent home loan scams.

Watch out! Thieves are targeting your money! Here are some tips to prevent home loan scams.Hawthorne-based SpaceX scrubbed the launch of a U.S. Air Force GPS satellite Tuesday from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

SpaceX called of the launch due to a readying on a first-stage sensor just minutes before the launch window closed. Another launch window is planned for Wednesday.

The rocket will carry a GPS III SV01 satellite nicknamed Vespucci in honor of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci. If successful, it will be the 21st launch of the year for SpaceX.

The SpaceX launch was one of four scheduled for Tuesday, when United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin and Arianespace were all counting down to lift-off. The Arianespace mission will carry a satellite for the French military into space at 8:37 a.m. A ULA Delta IV Heavy rocket is set for liftoff from the Southern California Coast Tueday night.

Blue Origin's reusable space vehicle was scheduled for launch from a site in West Texas, but that mission was scrubbed for Tuesday due to what the company called a ground infrastructure issue.

SpaceX will be using a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket for the launch. While the Block 5 variety of the Falcon 9 was designed to be re-usable in as many as 10 missions, SpaceX will not attempt to recover the rocket, meaning it will be allowed to splash into the sea.

It was unclear exactly why SpaceX -- which prides itself on recovering rockets for future use by landing them back on the ground or on a barge at sea -- will not attempt to recover the multimillion-dollar rocket. A company executive told reporters recently the rocket will not be outfitted with any landing equipment, and described the launch as a "challenging mission."

SpaceX officially stated that it would not attempt to recover the rocket "due to mission requirements." Some pundits have speculated that the parameters of the mission would not leave enough excess fuel for a booster-rocket reentry burn, or possibly that SpaceX's customer -- the Air Force -- didn't want a recovery effort to elevate the risk level for the overall mission.

The satellite itself was built by Lockheed Martin. A company executive said the satellite "will be the first step in modernizing the Air Force's GPS constellation with the most powerful and resilient GPS satellites ever designed and built."

The satellite being launched Tuesday will join 31 GPS satellites already in orbit. Air Force officials said the constellation will "provide the `gold standard' in positioning, navigation and timing services for more than 4 billion users worldwide." SpaceX is already under contract to launch four more GPS III missions.With only the United States and Hungary voting no, the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a non-binding compact Monday that provides more robust support for countries where most of the world's more than 25 million refugees live.

The Global Compact on Refugees also sets out measures to share responsibility to help those who are forced to flee their countries because of conflict or persecution, and ease the burden on the small number of nations that host the majority of refugees.

U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi called the compact "historic" in a tweet, adding: "It is the biggest effort to broadly share refugee responsibilities that I have witnessed in 34 years of work with refugees."

The vote in the 193-member assembly was 181-2, with the Dominican Republic, Eritrea and Libya abstaining.

U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said the Global Compact is very important because "in recent years, we have seen a contagion of closed borders, contrary to international refugee and human rights law."

"Millions of refugees are facing years in exile, or risking their lives on dangerous journeys to an uncertain future," she told an event marking the adoption. "Refugees are among those furthest behind. Persecuted, isolated and marginalized in their home countries, and too often in their countries of destination, they have struggled to be counted  and to count."

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Grandi stressed that the compact is not just "a U.N. document that stays in a drawer."

The rollout of the compact in 15 countries so far has mobilized $6.5 billion that wouldn't have been accessible otherwise, he said. And it has already created "new momentum" and spurred "extraordinary projects," including in Ethiopia, Kenya and Jordan, in such areas as energy, connectivity, communications and technology.

The agreement is separate from another non-binding compact to ensure safe, orderly and humane migration that was approved Dec. 10 by nearly 85 percent of the U.N. member states over fierce opposition from the United States.

The Global Compact for Migration is expected to be endorsed by the General Assembly on Wednesday.

The Global Compact on Refugees was adopted at a time when a record-high 68.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes. This includes 25.4 million who have crossed borders to become refugees, 40 million who are displaced within their home countries and 3.1 million who are seeking asylum.

According to the U.N. refugee agency, nine out of 10 refugees live in developing countries, where basic services like health or education are already strained.

Grandi stressed that it's "a tough world" for refugees and migrants who are often stigmatized and politicized as threats.

"One message is that these people not only deserve compassion and protection and solidarity, but when given the opportunity, they can make a formidable contribution to society," he said.

He called the refugee compact "a powerful expression of how we work together in today's fragmented world" and stressed that "no country should be left alone to respond to a huge influx of refugees."

The compact aims to provide more investment from governments and the private sector for infrastructure and services to benefit both refugees and host communities, including access to education.

It also aims to address the environmental impact of hosting refugees, promotes the use of alternative energy, and envisions more resettlement opportunities through family reunification, student scholarships, or humanitarian visas so that refugees can travel safely.

The compact builds on the 1951 Refugee Convention in addition to human rights and humanitarian law and makes way for a follow-up Global Refugee Forum every four years.

Despite the Trump administration's opposition to the compact, Grandi said the United States has voiced support for refugees. And his office is "about to close the year with the highest-ever contribution from the U.S. to the UNHCR," he said.

Hungarian Ambassador Katalin Annamaria Bogyay, whose government since 2015 has adopted increasingly strict anti-immigration policies, said existing international laws "adequately address refugee and asylum matters" and the compact was not needed.

"The government is also concerned that the differentiation between refugees and migrants as well as the voluntary nature of responsibility sharing is not adequately reflected in the document, she said.Russians seeking to influence U.S. elections through social media had their eyes on Instagram and the black community.

These were among the findings in two reports released Monday by the Senate intelligence committee. Separate studies from University of Oxford researchers and the cybersecurity firm New Knowledge reveal insights into how Russian agents sought to influence Americans by saturating their favorite online services and apps with hidden propaganda.

Here are the highlights:

INSTAGRAM'S "MEME WARFARE"

Both reports show that misinformation on Facebook's Instagram may have had broader reach than the interference on Facebook itself.

The New Knowledge study says that since 2015, the Instagram posts generated 187 million engagements, such as comments or likes, compared with 77 million on Facebook.

And the barrage of image-centric Instagram "memes" has only grown since the 2016 election. Russian agents shifted their focus to Instagram after the public last year became aware of the widespread manipulation on Facebook and Twitter.

NOT JUST ADS

Revelations last year that Russian agents used rubles to pay for some of their propaganda ads drew attention to how gullible tech companies were in allowing their services to be manipulated.

But neither ads nor automated "bots" were as effective as unpaid posts hand-crafted by human agents pretending to be Americans. Such posts were more likely to be shared and commented on, and they rose in volume during key dates in U.S. politics such as during the presidential debates in 2016 or after the Obama administration's post-election announcement that it would investigate Russian hacking.

"These personalized messages exposed U.S. users to a wide range of disinformation and junk news linked to on external websites, including content designed to elicit outrage and cynicism," says the report by Oxford researchers, who worked with social media analysis firm Graphika.

DEMOGRAPHIC TARGETING

Both reports found that Russian agents tried to polarize Americans in part by targeting African-American communities extensively. They did so by campaigning for black voters to boycott elections or follow the wrong voting procedures in 2016, according to the Oxford report.

The New Knowledge report added that agents were "developing Black audiences and recruiting Black Americans as assets" beyond how they were targeting either left- or right-leaning voters.

The reports also support previous findings that the influence operations sought to polarize Americans by sowing political divisions on issues such as immigration and cultural and religious identities. The goal, according to the New Knowledge report, was to "create and reinforce tribalism within each targeted community."

Such efforts extended to Google-owned YouTube, despite Google's earlier assertion to Congress that Russian-made videos didn't target specific segments of the population.

PINTEREST TO POKEMON

The New Knowledge report says the Russian troll operation worked in many ways like a conventional corporate branding campaign, using a variety of different technology services to deliver the same messages to different groups of people.

Among the sites infiltrated with propaganda were popular image-heavy services like Pinterest and Tumblr, chatty forums like Reddit, and a wonky geopolitics blog promoted from Russian-run accounts on Facebook and YouTube.

Even the silly smartphone game "Pokemon Go" wasn't immune. A Tumblr post encouraged players to name their Pokemon character after a victim of police brutality.

WHAT NOW?

Both reports warn that some of these influence campaigns are ongoing.

The Oxford researchers note that 2016 and 2017 saw "significant efforts" to disrupt elections around the world not just by Russia, but by domestic political parties spreading disinformation.

They warn that online propaganda represents a threat to democracies and public life. They urge social media companies to share data with the public far more broadly than they have so far.

"Protecting our democracies now means setting the rules of fair play before voting day, not after," the Oxford report says.Barrier systems will be coming to new CT Transit buses to better protect the drivers.

NBC Connecticut Investigates was the first to report on dozens of CT Transit bus drivers who said they had been assaulted on the job in recent years.

"You pick a certain number of buses, you put it in there and try to get as many people operating that bus as possible to get their feedback on it," said Cole Pouliot, general manager of CT Transit, which serves passengers in the Hartford, New Haven and Stamford regions.

Were currently working to get a prototype driver barrier installed on one of our buses, Pouliot told NBC Connecticut Investigates. Provided it passes our evaluation and testing, we plan to have it installed on all of the new buses were purchasing in 2019.

"We see how the employees feel, to make sure they feel safe and protected or if this is a solution that they are interested in," Pouliot said.

CT Transit's barriers will be similar to what is already in place at Greater Bridgeport Transit (GBT), according to Pouliot.

"It was a good decision," said Mustafa Salahuddin, president and business agent for the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1336. "Safety is paramount here."

Two-panel barrier systems were installed on 35 GBT buses over the last year and a half. GBT officials said there had not been any assaults on drivers since the barriers were added.

"Nothing but positive feedback from the operators," said Doug Holcomb, CEO of Greater Bridgeport Transit. "We've had no concerns raised by the customers. No safety issues in the first 18 months of deployment."

Unlike GBT, which is an independent transit authority, CT Transit is overseen by the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

Since 2016, 42 CT Transit drivers have reported being punched, having food and drinks thrown their way, or having a passenger spitting at them, among other incidents. All of the incidents were documented in reports that drivers filed with CT Transit, which NBC Connecticut Investigates obtained.

CT Transit bus operator Desiree Martone said an angry passenger dumped ice cream over her head.

"It bothered me. It still does today," said Martone, who believes a driver barrier may have prevented the incident. She also said there is a need for more respect from the passengers she transports every day.

"Let them know that they can't treat the drivers like this," Martone said. "Basically, thats what it falls down to."

It has not been decided if CT Transit drivers would be required to use the protective barriers at all times or only when a driver feels the need. Expect to see the barriers on CT Transit buses by summer 2019.The town of North Haven may have to spend up to $800,000 to replace North Haven Fire Department gear that was contaminated when firefighters responded to an industrial fire in November.

This is the largest emergency purchase weve had to make, First Selectman Michael Freda (R-North Haven) said of his nine years in office.

In the early morning hours of Saturday Nov. 24, a North Haven police officer called in a fire after noticing smoke billowing from a business in the Defco Industrial Park.

Had we not aggressively put that fire out when we did, it would have turned much worse, North Haven Fire Chief Paul Januszewski told NBC Connecticut.

But since that fire everything has been taken out of service because of exposure to chemicals from the Parker-Hannifin Corporation where the fire originated, Januszewski said.

We were able to look at a lot of the runoff from the water and visualize inside of the building where the fire was actually taking place and noticed a chemical substance, Januszewski explained.

More than 40 North Haven firefighters need new helmets, boots, gloves and protective gear.

It could be as much as $800,000, Januszewski said.

The most expensive piece of equipment needing to be replaced is the self-contained breathing apparatus. Two air tanks and a breathing mask combined are about $14,000, according to the chief.

We cannot have our firefighters and our fire department without those air packs and all that gears that needed so we moved pretty quickly on that, Freda said.

The town is seeking reimbursements through insurance claims, Freda said.

In crisis situations like this, when we have to tap into our reserves to purchase the equipment we have the cash flow if you will so that we can spend the money, Freda said of the towns finances.

Several North Haven taxpayers told NBC Connecticut that this big purchase is an appropriate use of the towns emergency funds.

Firefighters are sharing gear and the department has borrowed some breathing packs from the Stamford Fire Department until all of the replacement gear arrives by the end of the month, Januszewski said.

The town has been fantastic in recognizing the need to replace this equipment as fast as possible, he added.

A majority of the firefighters filled out forms documenting their exposure to the chemicals during the Nov. 24 fire.

NBC Connecticut reached out to Parker-Hannifin in North Haven, but the company had no comment Monday afternoon.Every year in Connecticut, job loss, financial troubles health problems or a devastating life event quietly leave hundreds of families with nowhere to go.

But there are community groups fighting the cycle of homelessness, and thanks to their efforts a local family from New Haven will have a place of their own this holiday season.

Zelema Harris found herself living in her car when the initial expense of getting into an apartment was far out of reach.

I started working and my job is a good job but I was not able to come up with a lump sum at the drop of a dime, Harris said.

Sometimes thats all it takes to get off the streets- the clearing of an overdue utility bill, catching up on back rent, repairing a car, or coming up with a down payment on a new apartment.

Thanks to the collaborative work of the Greater New Haven Coordinated Access Network, Harris received the help she needed and ended her days of homelessness.

I got approved, and I was completely shocked and grateful cause I didnt think this was going to happen for me, and I told my kids and they were ecstatic, she said.

Harris new home is the happy ending groups like the United Way of Greater New Haven and New Reach work hard to see.

We know that diverting people from shelters is better as long as they are diverted safely, explained KellyAnn Day, CEO of New Reach. And that they stay diverted that they dont come back to the system.

In total, the groups have worked to get 40 families off the streets and into homes. Harris said when she found out it was happening for her family, she got emotional.

I cried, I was in tears because this is something weve been waiting for so when you get that, all I could do is thank God.

This is what its all about, so families that were literally homeless, they did not know where they were going to go and at the door of a shelter and now were able to make sure theyre home for the holiday. Thats the most exciting thing we could do, said Amy Casavina Hall, chief impact officer for the United Way of Greater New Haven.A burglar broke into a home through a bedroom window in Dallas Friday and stole jewelry, Christmas presents and the homeowner's dog, police say.

The incident happened between 8 a.m. and 4:40 p.m., according to Dallas police, while the homeowner said she was at work.

"Presents can be replaced, material things can be replaced," Diana Alvarado, the homeowner, said. "They also stole our piggy bank that we'd been saving for a long time. It was a water jug filled with coins and dollar bills, but we want our dog back. That's the most important thing for us, is our dog."

Alvarado said her family posted pictures of the dog, Smokey, around the neighborhood Saturday in hopes that someone could help find him.

She said she also hoped police would catch the person who burglarized her family's home.To identify the companies that pay no tax, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the July 29, 2021, report " Corporate Tax Avoidance Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act " from Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Companies are ranked by their effective tax rate. Market values and year-to-date stock price gains are as of the first week of November. For similar lists visit 24/7 Wall St.Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has named his deputy chief of staff Texas' new secretary of state.

David Whitley replaces Rolando Pablos, who announced earlier this month that he was resigning after two years in the office.

In a statement Monday, Abbott's office said Whitley has worked for Abbott in various capacities since 2004.

He'd previously served as the governor's appointment's director and was assistant deputy attorney general while Abbott was attorney general, before being elected governor in 2014.

Abbott praised Whitley as having "a keen understanding of the election process." He added that he is confident Whitley "will continue to safeguard the integrity of our elections."Former first lady Michelle Obama spoke in front of a sellout crowd at the American Airlines Center Monday night as part of a tour to promote her memoir, "Becoming."

Obama pulled off a big surprise for area high schoolers earlier in the day, surprising 150 students from across North Texas during the first annual Young Women's Leadership Conference in Dallas.

A small group of young women were in a workshop discussing Obama's memoir when she walked out to greet the students.

Stunned, it took a few seconds for the group to realize it was Michelle Obama.

One by one, the girls stood and gave Obama a hug, many with tears in their eyes.

"When I gave Michelle a hug I just felt all this love and her need to just like help," 17-year-old Brittany Clay of Fort Worth said.

"Everything she went through, it wasn't for herself. It was for kids like me that are dealing with struggles," Clay said. "To make us understand and acknowledge that we can be who we want to be."

Obama spoke candidly with the young women about overcoming self-doubt and criticism throughout her life.

"Do you take in the negative or do you remember all the positives?" Obama asked.

The former first lady encouraged the students to find a college that fits their individual needs and encouraged them to travel and meet those who are different.

"I just want you guys to not be afraid to try something new and connect with other people," she said.

Obama's book tour began Nov. 13 in Chicago and was extended to include 2019 dates in Canada and Europe. She is scheduled to speak in Austin Feb. 28 and in Houston March 2.

As of last week, "Becoming" had been purchased more times than any other book in 2018, according to Forbes. The Associated Press reported that "Becoming" is "among the fastest-selling nonfiction books in history" and is "among the best-selling political memoirs of all time."An off-duty Oakland police officer was in stable condition Monday after accidentally shooting himself Saturday night in the Northern California city of San Leandro, according to police.

At about 8:55 p.m. Saturday, San Leandro Police officers responded to an apartment in the 400 block of Dolores Avenue on reports of a man who had been shot, San Leandro police said. When officers arrived, a female told them her boyfriend, an off-duty Oakland police officer, was inside the apartment suffering from a gunshot wound.

Officers immediately began first aid until paramedics arrived. The off-duty officer was alert and talking to investigating officers, police said.

"At this point in the case, we know the shooting occurred in the parking lot of Bayfair Mall, and appears that he accidentally shot himself," San Leandro police Lt. Isaac Benabou said.

The off-duty officer was taken to a hospital, where he remains in stable condition, police said.

Anyone with information on the incident should contact the San Leandro Police Department at 510-577-3315.About a quarter of a million veterans call San Diego home and that number is growing. Sadly, the number of veterans who commit suicide is also going up.

This number grew from 93 in 2016 to 111 in 2017, according to the state.

One mother who lost her son to suicide said these numbers were disturbing given the sacrifices of service members and their families. You answer a calling that not everybody answers, she said.

Kathy Shotts son took his life five years ago on Christmas Day.

From the time Tony Shott was little, his mother said he knew he wanted to follow in her footsteps and join the military.

I think it was in his heart that he knew he needed to give something back, Kathy told NBC 7. And his way of giving back was to join the military.

He graduated from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in the Midway District three days after the Sept. 11th attacks and went on to serve his country for more than a decade.

But when he left the military, like many veterans, he left something else behind  his identity.

I think we lose a part of who we were, and then we fight to try and find it, said Kathy.

Tony was coping with post-traumatic stress and working through what his mother said was a difficult marriage. As a new father, he was doing his best to make sure he could be with his son.

In 2013, two days before Christmas, he went to the Veterans Affairs Office in Missouri and told them he wasnt going to make it through the holidays.

His mother said they gave him anti-anxiety medication and sent him home.

They failed him. They failed him in a big way, she said.

Thats when Tony took his life on Christmas Day.

The California Department of Public Health said 93 veterans committed suicide in San Diego County in 2016, compared to 105 in Los Angeles County.

But in 2017, that number jumped to 111 veterans in San Diego, while the number dropped to 93 in L.A., where there are 30,000 more veterans.

One reason for the increase could be that the San Diego VA is now working with San Diego County Medical Examiners Office to better identify veteran suicides, the local VA healthcare system told NBC 7.

The Coroners Office in L.A. said they dont work with their VA.

A new bill will require the state to better track and report veteran suicide numbers in 2019 with the hopes of helping increase funding for prevention.

While its not always the case, numbers show that veterans who reach out to the VA are less likely to commit suicide than those who dont.

Kathy said its critical for veterans to reach out and remember, Whatever this minute looks like, the next minute is going to be better.

And no matter the number, any loss of life is tragic, especially for families and children like Tony's son, Aiden.

Aiden is going to miss out on a great guy, Kathy said. I can only pray that Aiden grows up to be like his dad.

If you or someone you know needs help, call the Suicide Crisis Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.What to Know Tuesday, Dec. 18

Dine-in, take-out, online all fine; check your local CPK regarding participation

"20% of participating purchases" will be donated to the California Fire Foundation

Seeking ways to reach out to communities recovering from the recent fires, and to help them rebuild, and to thank firefighters, and to tell our neighbors that we're thinking of them, not only during this holiday season but always?

There are multiple routes, through several organizations, to do just that right now, and thousands of Californians are stepping up and donating money, time, and hosting a plethora of fundraising events.

And a major one will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 18 when California Pizza Kitchen restaurants across the country donate "20 percent of participating purchases" to "the California Fire Foundation to support firefighters and impacted communities."

Indeed, "across the country" is the theme, though there will be exceptions on the participating locations list, including airport and university locations, as well as a few other spots.

The best bet? Check with your local CPK to see if they're on board for the fundraiser.

What next?

Dine in, or order out, or order online, and mention the fundraiser to your server or the employee taking your order. (Or, yes, you can show them this page.)

Then, 20% of your bill will go to the California Fire Foundation, "..a non-profit organization that provides emotional and financial assistance to families of fallen firefighters, firefighters, and the communities they protect."The federal agency responsible for detaining immigrants facing deportation, along with the Orange County Sheriff's Department and a national prison management corporation, are being sued in federal court for allegedly undermining communication between detainees and their attorneys at detention centers, it was announced Monday.

"Legal representation is fundamental to ensuring due process for immigrants facing removal, but when our detained clients can't effectively communicate with us, our abilities to be effective advocates are compromised," said Meeth Soni, co-director at the Los Angeles-based Immigrant Defenders Law Center, a party of interest in the case.

The Stanford University-based Immigrants' Rights Clinic joined the ACLU Foundation of Southern California in filing the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Riverside against U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, as well as the Orange County sheriff and Boca Raton, Florida-based Geo Group Inc.

The proposed class-action complaint filed Friday alleges breaches of the First and Fourth amendments to the U.S. Constitution and violation of the Immigration & Nationality of 1965.

ICE, the principal defendant in the civil complaint, declined to respond to the plaintiffs' claims, citing federal policy that prohibits comment on pending litigation.

The sheriff's department issued a statement saying that it "houses detainees under contract with federal authorities. We do not deny the ability for detainees to have access to their attorneys or telephones. We follow federal guidelines and the law, while maintaining the safety and security of our jails."

According to the ACLU, immigrant detainees and their attorneys have repeatedly encountered obstacles when trying to meet at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County, operated by Geo, which provides prison contract services throughout the country.

The plaintiffs also allege that sheriff's deputies managing the Theo Lacy and James Musick correctional facilities in Orange County are engaging in similar activity, hobbling immigration attorneys in their efforts to communicate with clients.

"The U.S. government has placed arbitrary barriers between immigrant detainees and their lawyers, which must be eliminated if justice is to be served," said Ben Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Among specific individuals named as plaintiffs in the suit is asylum-seeker Desmond Tenghe, who is housed at the Adelanto facility. His attorneys allege that he has been denied free phone calls, and his $1 per day payment for doing odd jobs within the facility doesn't provide him the means to pay for calls related to his case.

Another detainee, Jason Nsinano, has been in custody over three years -- first in Adelanto, and now at the Lacy detention facility, according to the ACLU. His attorneys allege that he's locked down 22 hours a day, and his limited use of the telephone prevents him from "calling human rights organizations, impeding his efforts to obtain critical information relating to his asylum case."

The plaintiffs are requesting relief in the form of changing detention policy to permit detainees "to make private, un-monitored legal phone calls; establish reasonable accommodations for detainees who cannot afford to make calls; and provide sufficient spaces for confidential legal visits."

No court hearings have been scheduled in the lawsuit yet.Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday officially called on the Office of Inspector General to investigate a dramatic spike in the use of pepper spray by probation officers at juvenile halls and camps.

The move came during a Board meeting Tuesday and after an NBC4 investigation found pepper spray use skyrocketed from 2015 to 2017 as many other agencies across the country are shunning its practice.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who spurred the action, called the spike in pepper spray use very troubling at a department with a history of federal oversight for the way it treats its youth in custody.

"It's clear that the board has demonstrated time and time again that reforming our probation department is very, very important," Ridley-Thomas said. "The need for reform, investigation and oversight may never have been as vital.

"All of us are concerned about the trauma that these youngsters have endured and we maintain that this re-traumatizes them."

The move was unprecedented, Ridley-Thomas said, as the OIG, created out of a jail crisis in 2014, has been tasked with investigating problems at the county jails and the sheriff's department.

Sheila Mitchell, the probation department's chief deputy of juvenile services, said that the department welcomes the outside review. She said the department is working first on training officers who use pepper spray excessively.

But, she acknowleged, much work remains.

When she noted a decline of 20 percent in uses of pepper spray this year, LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn told her it was misleading because the department documented a three-fold jump since 2015.

An NBCLA.com and I-Team investigation shows that probation officers are using pepper spray  the highest level of force used in the county's facilities at a higher rate than they have in years. Pepper spray, while authorized for use in the halls and camps in LA, is deemed to be dangerous for health, especially for those who are pregnant and for those who have asthma, the investigation found.

The increase comes after federal monitoring of the department by the U.S. Department of Justice ended in 2015. The investigation found that it appears the trend is likely to continue. Between January and July of this year the department reported 404 such uses of force, according to an NBC4 analysis of probation department data.

The spike comes as departments across the country have shunned it saying it exacerbates violence, has the reverse effects of rehabilitating youth, and is a potential liability. It also comes as agencies are moving away from juvenile incarceration and toward rehabilitation.

California is one of six states that allows probation officers in juvenile facilities to carry pepper spray, according to the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators. A proposed law to restrtict pepper spray in the state failed this spring.

But Kenneth Batiste, who spent 25 years as a probation officer at Central Juvenile Hall near downtown Los Angeles, said the halls can be dangerous.

He recalled a time when a kid hit, kicked and choked a female probation officer unprovoked.

"When you give a lady that's 4 foot 9, 4 foot 10 and you tell her to go into juvenile hall and deal with a girl that is 5 foot 10, twice her size, you better have something to go ahead and cut down on it," he said. "I believe that you should have oversight."

But, he added, "if the staff is not safe, nobody in there's safe."What to Know 200 N. San Fernando Boulevard

Special Burbank-only offerings are on the menu, including the Hopscotch frozen custard concrete

The Roadside Double, a burger that's exclusive to Los Angeles, is also on the menu

Saying you won't encounter a queue during the rush-rush of the holiday season is, let's be honest, some real wishful thinking.

Because lines do abound, even year-round, at popular Southern California shops and attractions and restaurants.

And when a new location for a boutique burgery debuts? And the burger chain in question is known for its extreme popularity, and, yes, opening-week, er, month lines?

It's queue time, and that's that, but you can take solace that a savory 'n munchable icon is at the end of the process for you.

And that icon is the Shake Shack burger, a meaty treat that has built a mondo reputation around SoCal (and, indeed, in New York City, where it was founded in 2004).

Now the latest Shake Shack is here, at 200 N. San Fernando Boulevard in Burbank, and it boasts a bevy of burger-luscious options, as well as those famous frozen custard concretes.

Including a few that will be only sold in Burbank, like the Hopscotch. The spoon-diggable dessert includes vanilla custard, salted caramel sauce, Mast Brothers dark chocolate chunks, and chocolate toffee.

Mmm to all that.

And if you're hoping and crossing various fingers that the Roadside Burger will make a menu showing, uncross those fingers and wrap them around the edible in question: Yes, is the answer, the LA-exclusive burger will be on the Shake Shack Burbank menu.

Think "onions simmered in bacon and beer" and Dijon mustard and a double burger sitch, oh yeah.

Best think about getting to the Burbank location, which debuted on Dec. 17, soon, if you're looking for hearty fare to complement your holiday running-around.

So what if there's a bit of a line? Maybe you'll chat up other Shake Shackers while waiting, or figure out which burger you'll order, which is not the easiest choice to make.

But make it, many will, at this latest Shake Shack, in the days/weeks/months ahead.

Years, we mean. Yeah, years.What to Know A pair of beagle mixes are on the mend after authorities say someone threw them out of a moving vehicle on a snowy New York highway

The dogs were rescued by a passing trucker, but one was so badly mangled that a front leg had to be amputated

New York State Police on Saturday asked for the public's help in finding the suspect or suspects in the incident

A pair of beagle mixes are on the mend after authorities say someone threw them out of a moving vehicle on a snowy New York highway. The dogs were rescued by a passing trucker, but one was so badly mangled that a front leg had to be amputated.

New York State Police on Saturday asked for the public's help in finding the suspect or suspects in the incident Wednesday morning on Interstate 81 near Whitney Point, about 16 miles (26 kilometers) north of Binghamton. So far, they said, they have no leads.

"These animals have been through a lot, and people need to understand that this is not OK," said Amberly Ondria, shelter manager for the Broome County Humane Society. "This is not something that should be done."

The trucker told investigators that the dogs were thrown out of the right, rear window of a dirty, rusty Dodge Durango heading north toward Cortland.

State police said the trucker immediately stopped his big rig and brought the dogs to safety, scooping up the one that was severely injured while the other one, unscathed other than a few abrasions, followed on his own.

State troopers bandaged the badly injured dog and splinted his leg on the side of the highway, keeping him warm with a blanket and the trucker's sweatshirt. Meanwhile, the other dog gobbled half a box of dog biscuits.

The dogs were later renamed Trooper, for the state troopers who aided them, and Adam, after the trucker. Trooper is 6 to 8 years old, Ondria said. Adam is about a year old.

Trooper suffered a compound fracture of his distal radius and ulna on the front right leg that was amputated and a hairline fracture of the ulna on the left front leg, as well as broken ribs and contusions to his lungs and shoulder, the humane society said.

Because of the damage to his left leg, Trooper will require assistance getting around and perhaps even a harness to stabilize him, Ondria said.

"He has quite the road to recovery ahead of him," she said.First Presbyterian Church of Homewood: 17929 Gottschalk Ave.  The Free Community Dinners on Monday evenings, including Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, will be from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Westminster Hall throughout the winter. The Christmas Eve candlelight Communion service will be at 7 p.m. Dec. 24 in the sanctuary. There will be an extended musical prelude by Tim VanNasdale preceding the service. Information: 708-798-0490 or www.fpchw.org.The father of a suspect charged in the murder of a missing Florida Keys man whose body was found in the trunk of a car in Homestead has been arrested on a charge of accessory after the fact, officials said.

William Earnshaw, 58, was arrested Monday, days after his son, 38-year-old Justin Earnshaw, was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of 39-year-old Jose Daniel Munoz, of Key Largo, police said.

The body of Munoz was found Thursday in his white Honda in the parking lot of a Walmart at 13600 Southwest 288th Street. Police said Munoz's brother called 911 saying he was following the car, which matched the description of the one belonging to Munoz, who had been reported missing in Monroe County two days earlier.

When officers arrived, they noticed a strong odor coming from the car and found the body of Munoz wrapped in plastic in the trunk, police said. The two Earnshaws and a woman were detained at the scene.

According to an arrest report, Justin Earnshaw told detectives he became irate with Munoz while they were in a hotel room. Prosecutors said Justin Earnshaw punched Munoz several times in the face and neck then started to choke him with his hands until he stopped breathing.

When he was initially questioned, William Earnshaw denied any involvement in the death of Munoz, an arrest report said. But when detectives went to the Florida City hotel, they found surveillance footage that showed the elder Earnshaw helping his son put Munoz's body into the trunk of the car, the report said.

William Earnshaw, of Naples, Florida, was ordered held on $100,000 bond Tuesday. His son remains behind bars without bond, jail records showed. Attorney information wasn't available.A massive 18-foot Burmese python was captured in the Florida Everglades, officials said Tuesday.

The python was caught in the Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area by a python removal contractor, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials said.

Hunters are paid in four South Florida counties  Broward, Collier, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach  to find the snakes, including bonuses based on the length of the animal as well as nests with eggs in an effort to help protect the natural wildlife in the area.

Officials say people are more likely to see pythons during the day during cooler months.What to Know Terrance Reynolds was arrested Monday and charged with conspiring to commit civil rights violations and making false statements.

Brendan Butler was sentenced to two years in prison earlier this year after pleading guilty to a civil rights charge in Miami federal court.

Authorities say two Florida prison guards assaulted and intimidated several young inmates at the facility where they worked.

Court records show Terrance Reynolds was arrested Monday and charged with conspiring to commit civil rights violations and making false statements. Brendan Butler was sentenced to two years in prison earlier this year after pleading guilty to a civil rights charge in Miami federal court.

Investigators say Reynolds and Butler were working at the South Florida Reception Center in March 2017 when they took three youthful offenders, who had been separated from the general population, to a broom closet.

Officials say the guards hit one of the inmates with a broomstick while the other two watched. Another inmate was reportedly assaulted the next day for talking about the previous day's beating.A lucky diner says he happened upon a pearl while eating an oyster dish at a famous New York City restaurant.

Sixty-six-year-old Rick Antosh was out to lunch with a friend and ordered his usual at the Grand Central Oyster Bar on Dec. 5  a $14.75 pan roast, which includes six oysters. Antosh tells the New York Post that he felt a small object rolling around his mouth after diving into the dish, and feared he had damaged a tooth.

The Edgewater, New Jersey resident says it turned out to be a pea-sized pearl. He has not had the prize appraised.

Executive Chef Sandy Ingber says it's the second time in his 28 years there that a customer has found a pearl.What to Know HUD Secretary Ben Carson will meet with Mayor de Blasio in New York City Tuesday to discuss the future of NYCHA

De Blasio promises to speed up $24 billion worth of urgent repairs at the nation's biggest public housing system

Carson says New York must come up with what he called an 'acceptable' plan or the feds will take over NYCHA

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson met with Mayor Bill de Blasio Tuesday to talk about about the future of public housing in New York City.

In his first visit to a NYCHA building, Carson toured the Queensbridge Houses, the nation's largest public housing development, then met with the mayor. The city has until Jan. 31 to show an acceptable plan to fix issues, or else the federal government threatens to take over management.

De Blasio does not want the federal government to take over NYCHA, and he said the meeting with Carson was a big step to show the city is taking the right measures to avoid that.

"There's a real acknowledgement from Secretary Carson that we made some big steps last week announcing our plans around new investments in NYCHA," he said.

Last week, de Blasio promised to speed up $24 billion worth of urgent repairs to improve the quality of life for the 400,000 New Yorkers who call NYCHA home." He also laid out a plan for maintenance work seven days a week.

For years, problems for NYCHA residents have been piling on, including heat and water issues, rat infestation and lead paint in older buildings.

"My mom's a resident and she's yet to get a new stove and refrigerator or windows fixed, so that would be great," said Natasha Soltero, one of the thousands of people who call NYCHA home.What to Know State Sen. Kevin Parker tweeted Kill yourself! to a woman who claimed he misused a parking placard

The tweet was quickly deleted, but captured in screenshots

Parker later apologized for the tweet, saying he "used a poor choice of words" and adding that suicide "should not be made light of"

A New York state lawmaker who tweeted Kill yourself! to a woman who claimed he misused a parking placard later apologized for using "a poor choice of words."

State Sen. Kevin Parker sent the message to Twitter user Candice Giove, a Republican aide, on Tuesday after she tweeted that a New York State Senate placard placed on a car blocking a bike lane in Manhattan belonged to Parker.

The placard is assigned to @SenatorParker. However, the license plate # on the placard does not match the vehicle. So he either used it in another car or gave it to someone to use, both of which are not permitted, Giove wrote.

Kill yourself! Parker responded.

Giove is a spokeswoman for the Senate's Republican conference. The tweet was deleted soon after, but captured in screenshots.

A few hours after the first tweet, Parker offered an apology to Giove.

"I sincerely apologize. I used a poor choice of words," he wrote. "Suicide is a serious thing and should not be made light of."

A spokeswoman for Parker didnt immediately respond to request for comment.

Republican Senate Majority Leader John J. Flanagan called Parker's tweet "reprehensible."

"I am angry and disappointed that Senator Parker would go after one of my employees, or any employee of the New York State Senate, in this way," he said in a statement. "Suicide is a serious issue, and his cavalier and harmful language shouldn't be dismissed as just a poor choice of words. These words are beyond the pale and beneath the State Senate."

"There is simply no place for discourse like this in politics, in government, or anywhere. Actions have consequences, and as a member of the incoming Democrat Majority in the Senate, Kevin Parker should be reprimanded by his leadership immediately," Flanagan said.

Parker was arrested in Brooklyn in 2009 after a New York Post photographer claimed the lawmaker attacked him for taking his photo. He was acquitted of felony assault for the incident, but convicted of misdemeanor criminal mischief and sentenced to three years probation.

Less than a month ago, the state senator proposed a change to New Yorks gun laws that would allow authorities to search social media for potential red flags before approving a handgun license.What to Know Sean Ellis will not be re-tried in Boston Police Det. John Mulligan's 1993 murder, Suffolk County DA John Pappas announced.

Ellis was imprisoned for more than 22 years until the state SJC overturned his conviction, citing corruption of involved police detectives.

Pappas said his office decided against a re-trial after the "strength" of evidence "declined with time."

Suffolk District Attorney John Pappas announced Monday that his office is ending prosecution of Sean Ellis for first degree murder and armed robbery in the 1993 slaying of a Boston police officer.

The case is being dropped because prosecutors don't believe they would be successful in a retrial due to the amount of time that has since passed.

"The nature of the evidence has not changed in 25 years, but the strength of it has declined with time," Pappas said.

He also said the involvement of corrupt police detectives in the investigation has compromised their ability to prosecute the case.

"This was not an easy decision. It may not be a popular decision, but it is the right decision," Pappas said.

Ellis was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted in 1995 of the shooting death of Detective John Mulligan. Mulligan was shot five times in the face at about 3:30 a.m. on Sept. 26, 1993, while he slept in his car while on a security detail outside a pharmacy.

The Supreme Judicial Court released Ellis from jail in 2015, saying he didn't get a fair trial because two police detectives who played key roles in the investigation later pleaded guilty to corruption charges, and prosecutors didn't provide Ellis' defense team with all of the evidence.

"It's kind of like surreal," Ellis told NBC10 Boston on Monday. "To say that I'm happy and ecstatic is an understatement."

He said he still had the GPS monitoring device on his ankle as he heard the news Monday.

Asked what he has learned about himself since 1993, he said he has learned that he is "resilient." He still maintains his innocence.

As for what's next, he said he wants to go back to school so he can get a better job. He's in his 40s now and says he's doing entry level work that someone in their late teens, early 20s would typically be doing.

Boston Police Commissioner William Gross said he agrees with the district attorney's decision but said that doesn't mean that Ellis didn't kill Mulligan.

"He's a father, and a brother and a son. It was with heavy heart we had to discuss this with the family for this final outcome," Gross said of Mulligan.

"Sean Ellis is culpable," he added. "Not innocent at all."Pennsylvania has a state dog, a state insect, a state fossil, and even a state beverage.

Why, Bob Swaim wonders, can't it also have a state toy?

Swaim, a retired math teacher from Springfield Township in upper Bucks County, has made it his mission over the last five years to persuade the state legislature to do just that with the Slinky, the springy, walking wonder that became on overnight sensation in the 1940s -- thanks to shoppers in Philadelphia. It saw a resurgence with a generation of latchkey kids in the 1980s and is still being produced today at a plant outside Altoona.

The Slinky, Swaim said, is a Pennsylvania story. It is also a women's story. Yet, getting legislators to adopt his cause has been a challenge.

"It's been fun, but I never realized how difficult it would be," Swaim told Philly.com on a recent weekday afternoon, as he sat at a table in the municipal building in nearby Coopersburg, surrounded by mounds of paper he has amassed in his research on the toy. "Nobody wants to go out on that limb politically. ... Maybe they think people will make fun of them -- that the only legislation they ever passed is a Slinky bill."

If people knew the toy's history, Swaim believes, they wouldn't feel embarrassed.

Swaim is happy to tell the tale to anyone who will listen. The 73-year-old is a collector of human-powered toys and has spent a chunk of his retirement doing demonstrations of his collections, which he carts around in a large white van.

The Slinky, of course, is among them. On a recent frigid December afternoon he set up different types of stairs and ramps in a spacious room to show the toy's simple yet oddly mesmerizing walk. The teacher in him -- he taught math and computer science at Souderton Area High School -- can't help noting the toy's value in teaching about math and physics.

But it's the story behind the toy that animates Swaim.

As with so many innovations, he says, the Slinky came to life by accident.

Its inventor, Richard James, was a Pennsylvania State University graduate working at the Cramp shipyard in Philadelphia in 1943. His mission was to devise a spring to stabilize equipment on ships, when one day, a coil sitting atop a shelf was knocked down. It began to do a bouncy dance that would later become the signature move of the Slinky.

James spent the next two years perfecting a spiral that could replicate that "walk," and enlisted his wife, Betty, to name it. She came up with Slinky after poring over a dictionary. "Sleek and sinuous in movement or outline," the definition goes.

Sales were initially slow. But that changed in an instant when, in 1945, the Gimbels department store in Philadelphia let James demonstrate the Slinky during perhaps the best time of the year: the sweet spot between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

"They sold 400 of them in 90 minutes," marvels Swaim, adding that the toy sold for a crisp $1 at the time.

Success followed -- and then ebbed. By the 1960s, the company was beset with financial problems and was dealt another blow when James announced to Betty and their six children that he was moving to Bolivia to join a religious mission.

That is where it turns into a woman's story, Swaim said.

Betty James, who also attended Penn State, took over running the company. She not only nursed it back to health; she led the charge on a marketing campaign that helped turn the Slinky into one of the landmark toys for a generation of kids -- one with staying power, despite the growing popularity of battery-powered toys.

"It's Slinky, it's Slinky. It's fun, it's a wonderful toy," went the catchy jingle on television commercials.

"She was a risk-taker," said Swaim.

Betty James moved production to Hollidaysburg, outside Altoona in central Pennsylvania, where she had grown up. And when she sold the company in the 1990s, multiple accounts of the sale state that she required that production remain there.

Indeed, it is still there today. And the classic metal Slinky is still produced in Hollidaysburg, said Lauren Diani, senior marketing manager at Alex Brands, which now owns the Slinky -- although a handful of other Slinky items, she said, are made in China.

The Slinky has been "made here in Hollidaysburg since 1964," said Paul Luther, the plant's general manager, who has worked for the company either as a contractor or an employee for nearly 40 years.

In an interview, Luther credited Betty James for that.

"She looked after people," he said of James, who died at age 90 in 2008. "She took care of people."

Swaim said he has spoken to several lawmakers over the last six years in efforts to persuade them to introduce a bill on the Slinky. Among the arguments he presents: They wouldn't be charting new territory, just righting a historical wrong of failing to recognize the Slinky's deep roots in the state.

Back in the early 2000s, several lawmakers pushed legislation to make the Slinky the state toy. One was former State Rep. Rick Geist, a Republican from Blair County whose district included Hollidaysburg and who recalled standing in the Capitol rotunda and launching Slinkys down the marble steps that lead to the House and Senate.

By then, the Slinky had been inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame, in Rochester, N.Y.

Geist said in an interview his colleagues liked the idea, but his bill never got a vote.

"Everybody just smiled and did nothing," he said. "People think it's frivolous to pass that kind of legislation."

Yet, the legislature has passed numerous bills designating everything from a state game bird (the ruffed grouse) to a state steam locomotive (the Pennsylvania Railroad K4s), according to state records.

The Great Dane was named the state dog in 1965, the firefly was designated the state insect in 1974 (the legislature in 1988 even fine-tuned that to name a particular species of firefly, Photuris pennsylvanica), and milk was chosen as the state beverage in 1982. Phacops rana, a small water animal, has been the state fossil since 1988.

And just in the last legislative session, there was polite disagreement between the House and Senate over whether the Eastern hellbender -- sometimes called a snot otter -- or Wehrle's salamander should be the state's official amphibian. (The two sides never reached a meeting of the minds, and the effort died with the close of the legislature's two-year session last month.)

Newly elected Sen. Judy Ward, a Republican from Blair County who said she admired Betty James growing up, said she is open to the idea of introducing legislation. But she thinks she would need to hit precisely the right timing to make it successful.

"I so appreciate his efforts," Ward said of Swaim, recalling when he contacted her as she made her first successful run for office in 2014. "He has so much energy and he has such a passion and fascination with the Slinky. I'm grateful for him because he's kept this alive."

For Swaim, that means hope.

"An injustice was done by not passing a law," said Swaim, who envisions the legislature recognizing one person or product every year as a way to market the state.

"We should be proud of Pennsylvania," he said, "And one way to show that is to recognize its history and teach it to the kids."Starting next year recreational marijuana will be available everywhere in California via licensed delivery operations, even in places that have banned pot businesses.

The Bureau for Cannabis Control has decided voters approved Proposition 64, legalizing recreational marijuana statewide, and if cities do not want businesses to operate in their jurisdictions, citizens are still entitled to access.

Del Mar was one of the cities in San Diego County that has banned recreational marijuana businesses within city limits.

Some people in Del Mar were happy to hear marijuana deliveries will not be banned in their city while others said they worry marijuana deliveries will bring more crime such as robberies and driving under the influence.

The California Police Chiefs Association shares that concern and believes marijuana deliveries will increase costs for local law enforcement.

Torrey Holistics, a legal and licensed marijuana dispensary located in Sorrento Valley, is the northern-most dispensary but has been unable to deliver to other communities in the North County.

Kyle Dukes, Delivery Operations Manager at Torrey Holistics said up until now, the regulations were vague as to where they could deliver.

"Most folks took the conservative interpretation that we should not go into those communities until the state explicitly says 'You may go there' which is what they've done now," said Dukes.

He said if and when the new regulations take effect on Jan. 16, the dispensary will expand their service to approximately 20 additional deliveries per day.

All customers will receive a compliant product from a legal service, said Ruthie Edelson, Marketing Director and Educator at Torrey Holistics. Its really a safety issue more than anything for the customer and for the products they are receiving.

Edelson added the dispensary's drivers will be background checked.

All delivery vehicles are required by the state to be tracked by a GPS locator, the inventory should be a reasonable amount and locked inside a safe within the vehicle.

The delivery issue was included in regulations drafted by the Bureau of Cannabis Control, which issues most retail permits.The School Board in February would have to file documents with the Cook County clerks office indicating how much they would abate to property tax payers by March 21. Similar documents would have to be filed with the Illinois State Board of Education by April 15.Millions more gallons of polluted water flowed into the United States this weekend despite the federal commission in charge of monitoring that water saying the flow had stopped Friday morning.

A local Border Patrol union leader said he plans on getting the information directly to the President of the United States.

Its obviously this kind of funky sewage smell. It is of decay and sewage, feces.

Thats how retired U.S. Border Patrol Agent Christopher Harris described the smell of the Tijuana River Valley Monday.

Theres a serious problem, he said.

That problem continued to be the runoff and flow of polluted water from Tijuana into the southern part of San Diego County. Pollutants in the water include human waste, chemicals, and diseases.

It is an ongoing problem that is historically monitored by the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC). The IBWC sent a message Friday that said the flow of polluted water stemming from a ruptured pipe underneath a Tijuana junkyard ceased Friday morning.

However, the community watchdog group Citizens Against Sewage told NBC 7 that Tijuana River gauges show more than 11 million gallons of polluted water flowed over the border since Friday morning.

It makes your skin crawl a little bit, said Harris who spent the latter part of his career speaking on behalf of Border Patrol issues as a member of the local union leadership.

They are getting ill and injured. Weve documented. We have pictures of guys with chemical burns on their feet, he argued. The men and women of the Border Patrol deserve better. The people that live down here deserve better.

Harris questioned why the IBWC was able to say the flow stopped Friday morning but didnt bother to warn anyone that it started again over the weekend. He said agents already take precautions but the knowledge would have added a level of personal security.

Youll be a little bit more cautious. Theres other precautions you can take. You can tell people, Hey, you might not want to recreate down there right now, he said.

An IBWC spokeswoman confirmed for NBC 7 the flow did restart during the weekend. She could not explain why the commission did not warn anyone in San Diego County. She said a local IBWC engineer is responsible for monitoring the gauges but she never received any information until Monday morning.

That kind of stuff shouldnt shut down on the weekend, said Harris.

Harris, who recently did not seek reelection as the Secretary for his local Border Patrol union, said he will reach out to the leadership for the Border Patrols national union. Harris said they regularly meet with President Donald Trump.

He [the President] has been made aware of the situation and hes tweeted about it. Hes not happy with it. So, I think were going to try to go that route.

Harris said he hoped pressure from the White House would force the IBWC and Mexico to work faster towards a fix.

In the meantime, the IBWC spokeswoman said one of their engineers was in Mexico Monday observing the repairs to the pipe. However, she said Mexico has not asked for any equipment or help from the United States.

Also on Monday, San Diego County health officials reopened Imperial Beach because the water quality returned to normal. The beach will likely close again during the next heavy rainfall when rainwater would flush the Tijuana River Valley and push the pollutants from Mexico out to the Pacific Ocean.Two people were arrested and nearly 130 pounds of meth was seized after El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents spotted an ultralight aircraft fly over the border Monday.

Agents noticed the ultralight flying without any lights just after midnight and were able to track its route just north of Calexico.

Ultralights are typically a one- or two-seated aircraft that cannot weigh more than 254 pounds and cannot travel more than 63 miles per hour, according to the Experimental Aircraft Association. In the U.S., ultralight pilots do not need a license.

The aircraft reportedly dropped off a package before flying back toward Mexico, according to El Centro Sector Border.

Ultralight aircraft not only pose a threat to legitimate air traffic in the vicinity, but also to national security, said Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez. These aircraft are able to carry small payloads of dangerous cargo.

When agents arrived at the scene, they found two bags containing 60 duct-taped bundles of meth lying under heavy brush, totaling 129.33 pounds, El Centro Sector Border Patrol said.

The agency estimated the packages value at $1,422,553.

Agents also found a metal cage and a bicycle at the scene.

El Centro Sector Border Patrol interviewed two people in the area and later arrested them on suspicion of trying to receive the dropped narcotics.

The Drug Enforcement Administration will continue to investigate.What to Know Last year, Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Sergey Kislyak, then Russian ambassador to the U.S.

President Donald Trump signaled his intense interest in the case with a "Good luck" tweet to Flynn on Tuesday

Flynn cooperated extensively and largely eschewed the aggressive tactics of others involved in the Mueller probe, until last week

A federal judge postponed Michael Flynn's sentencing for lying to the FBI after a dramatic hearing in which he told the former Trump national security adviser, "arguably, you sold your country out," and warned him he could receive jail time despite his cooperation with prosecutors.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan asked prosecutors in a Washington, D.C., courtroom if Flynn could have been charged with treason  he later clarified he wasn't suggesting Flynn be charged with that crime  and said that he "can't hide my disgust, my disdain" for Flynn's crime of lying to FBI agents about his Russian contacts while in the White House, to which he has pleaded guilty.

The court went into recess for 30 minutes after Sullivan asked Flynn if he wants to postpone his sentencing so that he can get full credit for cooperating with prosecutors from special counsel Robert Mueller's office, who told the judge Flynn may still be helping with ongoing cases.

After the recess, defense attorney Robert Kelner noted that there was a possibility that Flynn might be asked to testify in another case involving a business associate.

"We are prepared to take your honor up on the suggestion of delaying sentencing," Kelner said. Sullivan accepted it, adjourning the court after setting a status hearing in March.

Flynn didn't comment as he left the courthouse.

Later Tuesday, the judge ordered that should Flynn wish to travel outside of a 50-mile radius from Washington he must first notify the court, effective Jan. 4.

The hearing began with Flynn turning down the opportunity to challenge the circumstances of the interview or withdraw his guilty plea  Flynn's lawyers had suggested that investigators discouraged him from having an attorney present during the January 2017 interview and never informed him it was a crime to lie.

Prosecutors had shot back, "He does not need to be warned it is a crime to lie to federal agents to know the importance of telling them the truth."

On Monday evening, the dispute  and a judge's intervention  led prosecutors to publicly file a redacted copy of the notes from Flynn's FBI interview that largely bolster the case, showing he told agents things he later said were false.

In court, Tuesday Sullivan asked if Flynn continues to accept responsibility for his actions. Flynn replied, "I am, your honor."

Flynn's defense team said their filings were meant to distinguish their case from others in the Mueller probe.

"This is a very serious offense," Sullivan said. "A high-ranking senior official of the government making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation while in the White House."

President Donald Trump signaled his intense interest in the case with a "Good luck" tweet to Flynn before the hearing on Tuesday. He added: "Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!"

Asked about the sentencing delay, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "We wish General Flynn well and we'll continue to focus on doing what we do here every single day."

She said "there's certainly concern" about the fact that Flynn lied to members of Trump's government and advocated for another government during the campaign  Flynn has provided prosecutors with records from his business, Flynn Intel Group, which carried out lobbying work for Turkey during the campaign. Two of Flynn's associates were charged for the work, though Flynn was not.

The mere insinuation of underhanded tactics has been startling given the seemingly productive relationship between the two sides, and it was especially striking since prosecutors have praised Flynn's cooperation and recommended against prison time. The defense arguments spurred speculation that Flynn may be trying to get sympathy from Trump or may be playing to a judge known for a zero-tolerance view of government misconduct.

"It's an attempt, I think, to perhaps characterize Flynn as a victim or perhaps to make him look sympathetic in the eyes of a judge  and, at the same time, to portray the special counsel in a negative light," said former federal prosecutor Jimmy Gurule, a University of Notre Dame law school professor.

Until the dueling memos were filed last week, Flynn had cooperated extensively and largely eschewed the aggressive tactics of others involved in the Mueller probe.

Prosecutors, for instance, have accused former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort of lying to them even after he agreed to cooperate. Another potential target, Jerome Corsi, leaked draft court documents and accused Mueller's team of bullying him. And George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser recently released from a two-week prison sentence, has lambasted the investigation and publicly claimed that he was set up.

But then came Flynn's sentencing memo.

Although Flynn and his attorneys stopped short of any direct accusations of wrongdoing, they suggested the FBI, which approached Flynn at the White House just days after Trump's inauguration, played to his desire to keep the encounter quiet and as a result kept him from involving a lawyer.

They also insinuated that Flynn deserves credit for not publicly seizing on the fact that FBI officials involved in the investigation later came under scrutiny themselves. Former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who contacted Flynn to arrange the interview, was fired this year for what the Justice Department said was a lack of candor over a news media leak. Peter Strzok, one of the two agents who interviewed Flynn, was removed from Mueller's team and later fired for trading anti-Trump texts with another FBI official.

Mueller's team sharply pushed back at any suggestion that Flynn was duped, with prosecutors responding that as a high-ranking military officer steeped in national security issues Flynn "knows he should not lie to federal agents."

Trump has made no secret that he sees Mueller's investigation as a "witch hunt" and has continued to lash out at prosecutors he sees as biased against him and those who help them. He's shown continued sympathy for Flynn, though, calling him a "great person" and asserting erroneously last week that the FBI said he didn't lie.

Arun Rao, a former Justice Department prosecutor in Maryland, said the defense memo was striking because it's "inconsistent" with Flynn's cooperative stance so far.

"You also wonder in this very unusual situation," he said, "whether it is a play for a pardon."What to Know The woman was walking home from the Naylor Road Metro Station about 12:05 a.m. Dec. 3 when she was forced into a car, police said.

Two men sexually assaulted her, then left her in Southeast D.C. 45 minutes later, police said.

Nick Savoy turned himself into police in Roanoke, Virginia, Tuesday. Police on Monday arrested Mark Blue.

A second man has been arrested in the abduction and sexual assault of a Maryland woman.

D.C. Police confirm that Mark Blue, 29, of the 1200 block of Floral Street in Northwest, was arrested Monday in the Winston-Salem area.

The other suspect, Nick Savoy, 25, of Southeast D.C. turned himself in to police in Roanoke, Virginia, on Dec. 11.

Prince George's County Police

Surveillance camera video was helpful, D.C. police Cmdr. Leslie Parsons said. I believe Prince Georges County released some video. We also released video. It was very helpful in this case.

The woman was walking home from the Naylor Road Metro Station on Curtis Drive near Branch Avenue in Temple Hills about 12:05 a.m. Dec. 3 when two men she didn't know approached, according to Prince George's County Police.

They forced her into a car at gunpoint, sexually assaulted her and drove to the 1500 block of Ridge Place in Southeast D.C., police said.

After 45 minutes, they released her without her clothing. She ran to a nearby home and called police.

D.C. police named the citys four most-wanted murder suspects and said they want to arrest the men before the holidays. Lets bring these families some closure, D.C. police chief Peter Newsham said about relatives of the victims. News4s Pat Collins reports.

Savoy is awaiting extradition from Roanoke.

Prince George's County Crime Solvers is offering a $25,000 reward for information that helps solve the case. If you have any information, call police at 301-772-4908.The person who shot and killed a teenage boy in Southeast D.C. last week is another teen boy, police said.

A 16-year-old has been charged in the shooting death of 15-year-old Gerald Watson, D.C. police chief Peter Newsham announced at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Malik Holston of Southeast, D.C., was charged with first-degree murder while armed.

The case remains under investigation, and at least one other suspect is still sought.

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 police chief characterized the killing as "one of these senseless disputes between two neighborhood groups."

Watson is believed to have been the shooter's intended target.

Watson, a ninth-grader at Anacostia High School, was chased and shot in Southeast D.C. on Thursday.

About 3:30 p.m. Thursday two suspects wearing masks chased the teen into a stairwell at the Langston Lane Apartments on Knox Place SE and shot him multiple times, police said. Watson lived there.

The teen was conscious and breathing when he was rushed to a hospital with grave injuries. He died a short time later.

Residents told News4 they heard as many as 16 shots.

"Who's going to shoot a kid? This is the holiday season. You know, it's supposed to be a celebratory time, and we're out here with a young kid and a family that's devastated," Newsham said after the crime.

The suspect did not attend the same school, the police chief said.

Later Tuesday, detectives searched a building on Hartford Street SE, where the suspect lived near Watson.

Anyone with information for police is asked to call 202-727-9099, or send an anonymous tip via text to 50411.The Justice Department on Monday challenged a federal judge's decision to allow a case accusing President Donald Trump of profiting off the presidency to go forward.

Justice lawyers want an appeals court to take the case instead. They filed papers Monday asking the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, to overrule the Maryland federal judge and allow a mid-case appeal or to dismiss the case outright.

The government lawyers also want the court to suspend legal discovery recently approved by U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte, which would force 13 Trump corporate entities to turn over business tax returns, receipts and other documents.

Justice lawyers have said in court filings that "discovery would necessarily be a distraction to the president's performance of his constitutional duties" and could cause separation of powers concerns. Trump's personal attorney made a similar argument last week.

The lawsuit brought by the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia alleges that because Trump has not divested himself of his business holdings, foreign and domestic government spending at Trump's Washington hotel amounts to gifts to the president in violation of the Constitution's emoluments clause.

The filing is the second effort by the Justice Department to delay or stop the proceedings. Messitte responded in November to Justice efforts for a mid-case appeal with a blistering opinion that said merely disagreeing with the court doesn't constitute a required "substantial" reason for appeal.

Monday, Justice lawyers fought back with similarly strong language, lambasting the district court for having "clearly abused its discretion" and stopping the appeals court from weighing in.

Justice has long argued that the framers of the Constitution did not intend for emoluments to include hotel stays.

"The complaint rests on a host of novel and fundamentally flawed constitutional premises," the Justice Department said in its court papers. "Litigating the claims would entail intrusive discovery into the President's personal financial affairs and the official actions of his Administration.''

A first round of subpoenas in the case filed Dec. 4 target 37 entities, including Trump businesses and the federal agency that oversees the lease for Trump's Washington hotel. Subpoenas were also sent to the General Services Administration and the departments of Defense, Commerce and Agriculture, all of which have spent taxpayer dollars at the hotel or have information on Trump's finances relevant to the case.

"President Trump is going to extraordinary lengths to try to stop us from gathering information about how he is illegally profiting from the presidency," D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine said in a statement. "Unless the 4th Circuit rules otherwise, we will continue to work hard to gather the evidence needed to put a stop to the President's ongoing violations of the Constitution's original anti-corruption law.''

A petition to a higher court requires a high standard of proof that would partly rest on showing that Messitte's decisions are clearly wrong and lawyers have no adequate alternative for relief in the case.

If the petition is not granted by the appeals court, it is possible that Justice Department attorneys may ask the Supreme Court to consider the case. Otherwise, any appeal would typically wait until the end of the case.

Two other lawsuits accusing the president of violating the emoluments clause are being heard in other federal courts. Neither has reached the discovery stage.A Maryland restaurateur has acknowledged he paid a man to both frame his wife as a terrorist and burn down his restaurant.

The Capital Gazette reports 51-year-old Khalil Ahmad pleaded guilty Wednesday to stalking his estranged wife. In exchange, cases pending against him in three Baltimore area counties were dropped.

Federal court documents say Ahmad already faced financial ruin, and was worried about a divorce settlement's financial impact. He discussed having her killed, but settled on paying an informant to frame her, with "a ballistic vest, firearm, bottles of alcohol and extremist jihad writings."

Ahmad also planned to collect the insurance policy on his Pakistani restaurant, Allah Rakha, which means, roughly, "protected by God."

He faces five years on the stalking charge, and could be deported upon his release.A man living at a group home in Lanham, Maryland, has been charged with murder after police say he killed his roommate.

Robert Jackson was arrested Saturday and charged with the death of 25-year-old Bryant Stigall. Prince George's County police say the men lived in a group home for adults with mental health disorders.

Officers were called to the home on the 6000 block of Trexler Road just before 6 a.m. Saturday for a report of a stabbing. They found Stigall suffering from a stab wound inside his bedroom. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Jackson, 35, has been charged with first- and second-degree murder.

Police say they don't know why Jackson stabbed Stigall. Anyone with information that can help police is asked to call 1-866-411-8477.Washington Redskins player Montae Nicholson is accused of assaulting a man early Tuesday in Loudoun County, Virginia, the sheriff's office says.

Nicholson, 23, was charged with assault and battery, and drunk in public. A woman he was with, 24-year-old Sydney Maggiore, also was charged.

Washington's Highest-Paid Athletes: Do You Know Who Makes the Most?

The Redskins are aware of Nicholson's arrest, team spokesman Tony Wyllie said.

"We are gathering more information and will not comment until we have further details," he said in a statement.

According to the sheriff's office, deputies responded to a report of a fight at the One Loudoun shopping center in Ashburn just before 2 a.m. Tuesday. They found two victims in the 20400 block of Exchange Street outside the World of Beer restaurant. They said a man and woman assaulted them.

An investigation determined that Nicholson assaulted the man, and Maggiore hit the woman with a bottle and assaulted the man as well, the sheriff's office said. The Redskins player and woman left the area and returned while deputies were still there.

One of the victims said the trouble started when Nicholson and Maggiore "pulled up in a vehicle and honked the horn at them." An argument escalated to physical violence. It wasn't clear if Nicholson and Maggiore knew the victims.

Nicholson was held at the Loudoun County jail on $2,500 bond. Maggiore was charged with assault and battery, and malicious wounding, and held at the jail on no bond.

The victims were taken to a hospital for serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Nicholson is a second-year safety with a contract worth more than $3 million.

Stay with News4 for more details on this developing story.Police in North Texas are searching for an aggressive coyote that attacked two women early Monday morning  the fifth coyote incident in the area since October.

The two friends were out for a morning jog in Frisco just before sunrise when the coyote attacked. They say their bite marks could have been worse if not for a good Samaritan.

"They were like, 'Let us in your car.' I'm like, 'Yes, please get in my car, get in my car.' And so I unlocked the doors and they jumped in," Michael Harvey said.

He was driving to work near Preston Road and Eldorado Parkway when he spotted Sheri Devore and her friend trying to escape the coyote.

We were just trying to beat it off, like I was using whatever I had, my water bottle, keys and my lanyard," Devore said.

A runner in Frisco says she was nearly attacked by an aggressive coyote during an early morning jog. Three other reports have been made since then.

"The coyote was sitting there, like he was waiting for us to get back out," Harvey said.

"At this point we do believe it's just one coyote acting very abnormally and extremely out of character for coyotes in this area," said Sgt. Jeff Inman with the Frisco Police Department.

Frisco police have issued a warning after a coyote attacked a jogger Wednesday morning.

A Frisco officer captured video of the coyote stalking a runner on Nov. 11. So far, there have been five documented incidents in two months. At least four people have been attacked, including a 9-year-old.

Sheri Devore, one of the two joggers attacked Monday, said her injuries were minor. Her friend Marcia Foster had several puncture wounds that required a rabies shot. Both are now out of the hospital and hoping others heed the warning from police to avoid the area along Eldorado, where the coyote seems to live.

"Our animal services has been working very hard, day and night and weekends trying to catch the animal," Inman said.

Police said they're on watch. The city also hired a private contractor to hunt the animal down. Meanwhile, Harvey said he's thankful he was in the right place to help.

"They were in distress and I just couldn't keep going, I just couldn't," he said.

NBC 5 News

The attacks have all happened in a two-mile stretch of Eldorado Parkway, west of Granbury Drive. They've all been before 9 a.m., so police said don't jog, bike or walk here and report the coyote if you see it.

If it's just a sighting, residents are urged to call the non-emergency line, 972-292-6010.

Officials with the Texas Parks & Wildlife department have teamed up with the Frisco Police Department after a coyote attacked a jogger Wednesday morning.Rodgers alleged sin was that she wrote her home address two different ways. On the top of the form, she stated her address as being in Homer Glen. Shes lived in the same home on the villages far southeast side for about 20 years, she testified. Shes a sitting trustee, and without question she resides within the villages corporate limits.A statue of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa will remain in downtown Tucson despite an effort by a conservative watchdog group to remove it.

Members of the Public Art and Community Design Committee last week unanimously rejected a removal request by Washington, D.C.-based Judicial Watch, the Arizona Daily Star reported Sunday.

The 14-foot (4-meter) bronze statue of Pancho Villa on a horse stands in Veinte de Agosto Park. It was a gift to the state from the Mexican government and a Mexico press group.

Judicial Watch claimed city records do not indicate that a public hearing was held to hear complaints about the statue before it was unveiled in 1981. Mark Spencer, the Phoenix-based coordinator of Judicial Watch's Southwest Projects, advocated for the removal, saying three Tucson residents approached him for help in voicing their complaint.

Spencer said the statue "needs to go" because "Pancho Villa did great harm to people."

Following the meeting, Spencer said he would consult with his legal team to see if the panel adhered to city policies

The committee, which manages the city's public art collection, said the request did not meet any of the 10 criteria used to consider removing public art, such as damage or a request from the artist.

A dozen residents gave statements in defense of the statute during the meeting, pointing to its aesthetic value and role in celebrating local Mexican-American culture.

"We don't want to forget that history, that history that is grounded in Mexican-ness," said Lydia Otero, a professor of Mexican-American studies at the University of Arizona.

"Each person that walks up to the statue has to ask questions about why this statue is here, right downtown," Otero said. "And they have to come up with their own answers. You know why? Because we are Tucson and it is complicated."Two business associates of Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, were charged Monday with illegally lobbying for Turkey as part of a campaign to pressure the United States to expel a Turkish cleric.

Bijan Kian and Ekim Alptekin are accused in an indictment of conspiring to "covertly and unlawfully" influence U.S. public opinion and politicians, all while concealing that the Turkish government was directing their work. The campaign came during the final months of the 2016 presidential campaign while Flynn was a top surrogate for Trump's campaign.

The case sheds further light on how Flynn and those around him worked to benefit a foreign country in the months before he became one of America's top national security officials. The goal of the work was to get the United States to expel Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen from the country.

Gulen, who holds a U.S. green card and lives in rural Pennsylvania, is a rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has accused the cleric of directing a failed coup and who wanted the U.S. to extradite him back to Turkey. Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup.

Though Flynn and his company feature prominently in the latest indictment, he is not charged with any new crimes. A retired three-star U.S. Army general, Flynn is to be sentenced Tuesday in a separate case brought by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. Flynn has pleaded guilty to lying about his Russian contacts.

As part of his cooperation in that probe, he has provided prosecutors with voluminous records from his business, Flynn Intel Group, which carried out the lobbying work. Flynn and Kian were co-founders of the firm.

On Monday, Kian, a former Trump transition official whose full name is Bijan Rafiekian, made a brief appearance in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. He has an arraignment scheduled for Tuesday. His lawyer, Robert Trout, declined to comment.

Alptekin, a dual Turkish-Dutch citizen living in Istanbul whose full name is Kamil Ekim Alpetekin, remains at large. He has previously denied any wrongdoing and said he directed the lobbying on his own.

"Ekim maintains that the government of Turkey was not a participant in any of the work that he did with the Flynn Intel Group. He has not changed his story, and he does not plan to," said Molly Toomey, a spokeswoman for Alptekin.

Both men are charged with conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. Alptekin is also charged with lying during an interview with the FBI.

The indictment brought by federal prosecutors in Virginia accuses the two men of using Alptekin's company as a cutout to disguise the Turkish government's involvement. Prosecutors say that Turkish officials approved the budget for the $600,000 lobbying contract and received regular progress reports.

The indictment does not say Turkey's government directly funded the effort, but it raises questions about an unusual payment arrangement revealed last year.

According to the indictment, Alptekin paid Flynn's firm through wire transfers from a Turkish bank account in his name. But prosecutors say he also received portions of the money as "kickbacks" arranged by Kian. Flynn's company was ultimately paid $530,000. Alptekin has said the payments were refunds for unfulfilled work.

The indictment also provides the backstory behind a Nov. 8, 2016, op-ed Flynn published in The Hill newspaper titled "Our Ally Turkey Is in Crisis and Needs Our Support," which compares Gulen to Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini. The indictment notes that Flynn's column uses identical or very similar language to that prepared by Kian in a draft op-ed.

"We all remember another quiet, bearded elder cleric who sat under an apple tree ... in the suburbs of Paris in 1978," Flynn wrote in the op-ed, mimicking language provided to him by Kian. "He claimed to be a man of God who wanted to be a dictator."

Several days before the column was published, Kian crowed to Alptekin in an email about the advantageous timing of the pending op-ed piece coinciding with Election Day. "The arrow has left the bow!"

Alptekin, who had complained a week earlier that the Flynn Group had not done enough work to honor the contract, responded that Kian's op-ed was "right on target."

But by the end of November that year, the op-ed caught the Justice Department's attention, and that scrutiny ultimately led to Monday's indictment.

Day reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Michael Balsamo contributed to this report.A Harvard University professor and writer for The New Yorker is asking a court to order the release of documents related to two grand juries that sat in Boston nearly 50 years ago to investigate the leak of the Pentagon Papers.

Jill Lepore said in documents filed in federal court on Monday that the long-secret records will shed light on the probe into the publication of the top-secret study that revealed the U.S. government misled the public about the Vietnam War. While much is known about the Pentagon Papers, a great deal about the Boston grand juries that convened in 1971 remains a mystery, she says.

"Why and when was the investigation opened? Why was it closed? To what lengths did the government go in conducting the investigation? Did those lengths include illegal wiretapping, as critics alleged at the time?" Lepore asks in the filings. "Unsealing the records is the only way to know the answers to these questions," she said.

Lepore is seeking witness testimony, FBI reports and other documents related to the 1971 grand jury investigation, which she describes as a "landmark in the history of the federal government's willingness to investigate and prosecute dissidents, scholars, journalists, and anyone else suspected of involvement with the release and publication of classified government material."

Some details about the grand juries were revealed in newspaper accounts at the time, including the names of people who were subpoenaed to testify. They included linguist and activist Noam Chomsky, who received a copy of the Pentagon Papers from leaker Daniel Ellsberg, a friend of his. The goal of the second grand jury appears to have been to investigate Neil Sheehan, The New York Times reporter who first wrote about the documents, Lepore says.

Among those supporting the effort to unseal the documents is Ellsberg, the RAND Corporation analyst who gave the papers to The New York Times, Washington Post and other newspapers. Ellsberg says in a declaration filed in court that it is important "now more than ever'' to release the grand jury investigation records because it represented one of the government's earliest attempts "to use the Espionage Act to indict journalists for doing journalism."

"The theory that journalists can be charged under the Espionage Act for publishing information to the American public is one that has never been tested in the courts. The Boston grand jury records could shed light on the government's strategy for investigation of journalists, and its theory of the constitutionality of such an approach," Ellsberg said.Police have arrested a 79-year-old New Hampshire man accused of sexually assaulting a child.

Phillip Andrews of Gilford was arrested Monday following an investigation that lasted five months. Andrews is charged with one count of aggravated felonious sexual assault, but authorities say additional charges are expected.

The victim was 11 to 12 years old at the time of the 2016 assault, police said.

Gilford police and the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a search warrant at Andrews' home around noon Monday. He was later arrested and released on bail.

Andrews is due to be arraigned Jan. 3 at Belknap County Superior Court in Laconia. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.Customers in Massachusetts will have a chance to buy legal recreational marijuana from two more locations in the coming days.

The Cannabis Control Commission gave I.N.S.A., Inc. of Easthampton and Verilife of Wareham the green light to start selling recreational marijuana to adults 21 and older as early as Friday, the commission announced Monday.

The companies will become the fourth and fifth stores to be permitted to sell recreational marijuana since cannabis sales were legalized by Massachusetts voters in 2016.

NETA in Northampton and Cultivate in Leicester opened their doors to recreational marijuana customers on Nov. 20, and Alternative Therapies Group in Salem began selling to all adults 21 and over this past weekend.

All locations were previously permitted to sell medical marijuana to patients.Downed wires were reported in two New England towns Tuesday morning following a dusting of snow overnight and powerful wind gusts.

In Hopkinton, Massachusetts, crews responded to a downed tree that knocked down wires and power to the area. Officials closed Ash Street in both directions from the Doughboy Statue at the Hopkinton Town Common to 22 Ash St.

Massachusetts needs to work harder to help community college students land paid internships. That's the conclusion of a study by The Boston Foundation, which found the largest percentage of paid internships in Massachusetts goes to students from four-year colleges.

Authorities urged commuters to avoid the area while crews responded to the incident. As a result of the power outage, Hopkinton Public Schools canceled Tuesday classes.

As of 6:30 a.m., approximately 6,000 customers were without power Tuesday in Massachusetts. Most outages were reported in Hopkinton, Foxborough, Hamilton and Wenham.

By 5 p.m., power had been restored to all but 50 customers. Eversource crews were working to install a transformer.

Power outages across New England...only several hundred for most states but Massachusetts leads the way owing to wind gusts in excess of 40 mph. Widespread damage is not expected, but continued isolated outages into the early afternoon and wind chill values in the teens. pic.twitter.com/q1VNP9iLc6  Matt Noyes NBC10 Boston & NECN (@MattNBCBoston) December 18, 2018

Meanwhile, police in Manchester, New Hampshire warned residents to avoid Lake Shore Road south of Candia Road and north of Island Pond. The area was affected by downed live wires, according to officials.

Eversource responded to the Manchester incident, as well.

Police in Methuen, Massachusetts, are blocking traffic on Maple Street by the Salem, New Hampshire border after a tree fell on a utility pole. Drivers are being asked to find alternative routes through the area.Some New Hampshire families whose budgets didnt allow for a Christmas tree this year received a holiday surprise in the form of a free treethanks to a partnership between a Catholic church and a police department.

I just wasnt going to have one, Paul Newcity of Canaan, New Hampshire said Monday of a Christmas tree.

Newcity said he didnt have the spare cash to buy a tree this year, with six grandkids to get presents for, and his wife back in school.

Shes got three more months to finish, Newcity said. Its been one income coming in.

Newcity was able to pick up a free tree Mondayone of 18 distributed by the Lebanon Police Department.

Trees are not cheap this time of year, and there are a lot of families out there that may need money to put toward presents or just to general living expenses, observed Chief Rich Mello of the Lebanon Police Department. The fact we can provide them with a little bit of help during the Christmas season and holiday season is definitely nice.

Father Charles Pawlowski of the Sacred Heart Parish in Lebanon teamed with Chief Mello, whose large Facebook reach found folks who could really use the help.

The trees were left over from a church event, and the pastor said he hopes the simple gifts may remind everyoneno matter where they areof the impact thoughtfulness and kindness can have, year-round.

A little bit will go a long way, Rev. Pawlowski said. No matter how little you think something may be, for another individual, itll brighten their day in a capacity that we will never understand.

While the 18 donated trees were all spoken for by midday Monday, Lebanons chief said if there are still members of his community who cant afford a tree and are going to go without one this Christmas, they could contact him at the department and he would help them find one.

We didnt anticipate them going so quickly, and it shows the need in the community, Mello told necn & NBC 10 Boston.

For Newcity, this Christmas surprise should take a bit of stress out of the holidays, he indicated.

Just a little extra money in my pocket, he said as he prepared to drive home with his tree.A federal judge's ruling that the Obama health law is unconstitutional has healthcare advocates fearing millions of people are now at risk, including 300,000 people in Massachusetts who have access to healthcare through the Affordable Care Act.

Nationwide that number jumps to 20 million Americans.

Of the Texas judge's decision, Congressman Seth Moulton said, People need to understand that this is why the Washington Republican agenda is just so dangerous for Americans.

MIT Professor Jonathan Gruber, a key advisor on Obamacare, says the decision is bad for the health of the country and the health of the democracy in addition to not being accurate.

Removing the individual mandate has clearly weakened the law," he said, "but the notion that its killed the law is just plain wrong.

Gruber says no one should panic that theyre going to lose their health coverage anytime soon.

He says Medicare expansions are unaffected by the individual mandate and they cover most of the people adding, So really, the people who suffer from the individual mandate going away are sort of non-low income people who now face very high premiums they have to pay. And they will drop out. And they have.

Healthcare advocates are confident the outcry against this decision will be a loud one based on the popularity of key aspects of Obamacare like pre-existing conditions, being able to stay on your parents' health plan until age 26 and caps on out-of-pocket spending.

All thats the entirety of the affordable healthcare act," Gruber said. "That would all go away.

Gruber says the decision will go to the Appeals court and possibly on to the Supreme Court so that nothing would happen to affect Obamacare coverage until June 2020.

Many are hopeful the ruling will be thrown out long before that.A Massachusetts man is being held without bail after police say he stole a car with a child in the backseat in Lynn last week.

Jonathan Leighton, 30, of Lynn, was arrested Friday. Authorities say he was driving a car that had been reported stolen earlier in the day when he broke down. A man stopped to try to help him, and Leighton allegedly hopped in that man's car and drove off.

The man's 1-year-old child was in the backseat at the time.

Police say Leighton crashed into parked cars and an unmarked cruiser that had also stopped to help after the car broke down. He drove a short distance, then police say he bailed from the SUV and fled on foot. Officers stopped him and put him in custody.

Charges against Leighton include two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, leaving the scene of an accident, carjacking, resisting arrest and receiving stolen property.

In court Monday, the focus was primarily on Leighton's mental health and whether or not he recognized the seriousness of his alleged crimes.

A judge ordered Leighton to be held without bail and undergo an evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital to determine whether he is mentally fit to stand trial.

He is due back in court in January.Martinez, who must register for life as a sexual offender as a result of the conviction, had his $5,000 bond revoked and is being held in the Kane County jail, the release said.A judge is pressing lawyers to complete their work so that a March or April trial can be scheduled for a Vermont man facing murder charges in a wrong-way highway crash that killed five teenagers in 2016.

Steven Bourgoin has pleaded not guilty to five counts of second-degree murder for the interstate crash in Williston, Vermont.

His lawyer, Robert Katims, has said he would use an insanity defense.

In a status conference on Monday, Judge Kevin Griffin set deadlines for lawyers to complete their remaining depositions. A state prosecutor said Bourgoin's co-workers and medical personnel that treated him after the crash are being interviewed this week.

Four Harwood Union High School students and a friend who attended Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire were killed in the crash.Police have accused a New Hampshire man of recklessly discharging his shotgun at home, causing a fire at a nearby fireworks store.

Police say a 12-gauge, slug-style shotgun round went through a wall at the Winchester home in September, across the street and into Stateline Fireworks. Police say the 3,000-square-foot store was filled with fire, smoke, and exploding fireworks in less than 48 seconds. No one was hurt.

Damage is estimated to be between $600,000 and $1 million.

Police recently arrested 75-year-old Joseph Champagne on charges including reckless conduct, criminal mischief and falsifying physical evidence. He's been released on bail and is scheduled for arraignment on Jan. 3, 2019.

It wasn't immediately known if he had a lawyer and a phone number was unpublished.What to Know Nghia Le, 18, of Manchester, New Hampshire, faces multiple charges for allegedly stabbing an MSP Ttooper after a multi-state pursuit.

Le is being held on $1 million cash bail pending arraignment.

A Franklin County grand jury indicted Le on the charges in December.

A New Hampshire teen has been indicted months after allegedly stabbing a Massachusetts State Police trooper after a high-speed chase.

Nghia Le, an 18-year-old from Manchester, was arrested Oct. 19. He is accused of stabbing 47-year-old trooper Mark Whitcomb in the head, neck, shoulders and arm after he led police on a pursuit that ended in New Salem.

A Franklin County grand jury indicted Le on charges of armed assault with intent to murder, armed assault with intent to rob, aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a public employee, assault with a dangerous weapon, mayhem, armed carjacking and reckless operation.

Le was held on a $1 million cash bail after an October court appearance.

On Oct. 19, authorities responded around noon to an armed carjacking in Walpole, New Hampshire. According to police, Le drove through Vermont and down I-91 to Massachusetts before the chase ended on Fay and Orange Road in New Salem when the suspect crashed at an intersection.

A woman told NBC10 Boston that Le allegedly got out of the stolen vehicle and ran to a police car.

"I was watching from the van, and I thought they were just punching, but I realized after that he was stabbing the police officer," Hannah Hunting said.

Police say the trooper, a 12-year veteran of the force, shot the suspect in response to the stabbing. Le was treated at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester and was later released to the Franklin County Sheriff.

Prosecutors say Le attempted to steal a state trooper cruiser during the confrontation. They say he bailed out of jail just a day before the alleged stabbing.I am thrilled to take on this role, Cosentino said. He worked for the Elgin as assistant city manager until he left briefly in early 2018 to work with an education company. The cty already has a strong foundation of communication and technology initiatives that have made it easier to connect with the city. I want to build on that foundation to ensure our neighborhoods remain safe, vibrant and a point of pride for Elgin.Donations were immediately put to use, with new books placed in the hospitals waiting area. During a hospital tour, "what really struck us was how much the complete effort of Shriners was really for the kids, for their welfare and well-being," Martinico said.Concerns about how businesses use employees to support colleagues with mental health issues, highlighted by University of Nottingham research, have prompted new guidance for bosses.

The guidance, released by the chartered body for health and safety professionals, assists businesses with designing robust mental health systems and highlights how 'mental health first aid' (MHFA) needs to be included in a wider system of support for employees.

Workplace MHFA is due to be debated by MPs in Parliament tomorrow as the Government faces calls to put it on an equal footing with physical first aid.

But the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) cautions against an over-reliance on volunteer MHFAs as they don't tackle the root causes of mental health issues. Instead, IOSH argues they should be only part of a much wider business approach.

Such concerns were raised following Nottingham's research, which exposed "significant issues" with workplace MHFA implementation, and in a subsequent high-level round table featuring organizations including Mind and the Institute of Directors.

IOSH's guidance is split into two sections:

* Mental health in the workplace: benchmarking questions is a simple tool to help organizations with the design of their mental wellness systems and asks benchmarking questions about workplace mental health and wellbeing support.

* Mental Health First Aid: workplace considerations is an information sheet which considers the adoption and implementation of this intervention. It summarises some limitations and how 'mental health first aiders' (MHFAs) can be integrated into a wider system of support.

Using MHFAs more widely may ensure that they are better integrated into the organization's plans and activities that are designed to enhance wellbeing in the workforce.

Professor Avril Drummond, from the School of Health Sciences at The University of Nottingham, said:

"We are delighted that IOSH have moved so quickly following our research publication to produce some practical guidance and resources for the workplace.

"The bottom line is that mental health initiatives must be both top down and bottom up: they must be a whole organization approach."

Duncan Spencer, Head of Advice and Practice at IOSH, said:

"Mental health first aid and similar training courses are specific interventions that may be considered for managing mental wellbeing, but they don't tackle the root cause of the issue.

"IOSH calls for a 'prevention first' approach incorporating MHFA as part of an organization's overall efforts to protect their workforce from mental health problems.

"Good mental health and wellness at work should be governed by a whole-system approach where OSH professionals, HR, and all managers contribute.

"The real cause of work-related mental ill health is related to culture and the way an organization operates. Only good management can change that."

Mental health problems are a global issue and the economic consequences are large. In the UK alone, the annual cost to the economy is estimated to be between 70 and 100 billion, with around 15.8 million working days lost per year. The consequences for employers can include increased staff turnover, burn-out, exhaustion and presenteeism. There is, therefore, an increasing recognition of the need to address mental health in the workplace.At the time of the 2013 shooting, which took place in the 2000 block of Darrow Avenue in Evanston, Connerly was on probation for a previous unnamed conviction, according the police. They also said that he and Gibert were suspected street gang members and that the two groups had been involved in a simmering dispute that was fueled by posts on social media.School districts property tax levies are required to be capped at a rate that will be the lesser of 5 percent or the consumer price index, not counting new construction. If the amount of property taxes that the district receives is more than CPI, the district will authorize Cook County to reduce the levies for working cash, liability insurance and special education funds to bring the district in line with CPI. These funds will most easily be able to absorb those reductions, Hatfield said. A resolution toward that end also was adopted by school board trustees Dec. 13.Marvel Comics may have just confirmed the new Iron Fist is exactly who we think it is

It seems a lot like Marvel Comics has just confirmed the identity of the new Iron Fist - and it's exactly who we thinkSorry!

This content is not available in your regionIt reminds me of the sustainability of the black church, Gary said. As long as we continue to look to the hills which comes our help, God will see us further down the years. There is an old Negro spiritual that says we have come this far by faith, which summarizes St. Paul.New Delhi:

NDMC Recruitment 2018: The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) has invited candidates for the post of professor, associate professor and assistant professor. Interested candidates can attend the walk-in-interview on December 27. The applicant should possess a basic university or equivalent qualification included in any one of the schedules to the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 and must be registered in a State Medical Registrar of Indian Medical Council. The candidate should be an MD/MS in specialised subject from a recognised university and should have at least eight years of total experience.

Read More | Telangana: Panchayat secretary recruitment process complete

Vacancy details:

Total posts: 9 Professor: 3 Associate Professor: 3 Assistant Professor: 3

Educational qualification required: The applicant should possess a basic university or equivalent qualification included in any one of the schedules to the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 and must be registered in a State Medical Registrar of Indian Medical Council. The candidate should be an MD/MS in specialised subject from a recognised university and should have at least eight years of total experience.

Age limit:

Professor, Associate Professor: The applicant should not exceed the maximum age limit of 68 years.

Assistant Professor: The candidates should not be more than 62 years.

Date of the walk-in interview: December 27

Time: 10 am to 12 noon

Venue: Conference Room, IV Floor, Dr SPM Civic Centre, E-1 Wing, Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg, New Delhi - 110002

For more details, candidates can check the official notification.

For all the Latest Education News, Jobs News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Rima Das' National Award-winning feature Village Rockstars that was chosen to represent India in the Best Foreign Language category at the 91st Academy Awards is out of the race for the honour.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences on Monday announced that nine films have advanced to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 91st Academy Awards, according to the official Oscars website.

The coming-of-age film follows Dhunu, a girl who grows up in poverty and learns to fend for herself. However, that does not prevent her from following her dream of forming a rock band and owning a guitar someday.

The film had its world premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and has toured more than 70 prestigious international and national film festivals.

Indias Village Rockstars had also won the top honour in the country. At the National Film Awards 2018, the film won Best Feature Film, Best Child Artist, Best Location Sound Recordist and Best Editing.

Iram Haq's Norwegian drama What Will People Say, starring Indian actors is also out of the league.

So far, Mother India, Salaam Bombay! and Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India are the only Indian films that made it to the top five in the Best Foreign language Film category at the Academy Awards.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat, Alia Bhatt starrer Raazi, Rani Mukerji fronted Hichki, Shoojit Sircar's October, Love Sonia directed by Tabrez Noorani, Tumbaad, Halkaa, Kadvi Hawa and latest release Manto were part of the list of 28 films submitted for Oscars.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

What feels like a sigh of relief to ex-DUSU president Ankiv Baisoya, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea of NSUI's Sunny Chillar challenging the election of the former for allegedly furnishing a fake bachelor's degree to get admission to the varsity. In his plea, Chillar sought re-election for the present session, claiming that once the degree was found to be fake, the nomination itself becomes void ab-initio. However, Justice Yogesh Khanna rejected Chillar's plea seeking to conduct fresh elections this morning.

On November 15, Baisoya resigned from the post of DUSU president and was also relieved from all the organisational responsibilities of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) till the enquiry in the fake degree case is over.

Read | Delhi University Teacher's Association seeks Kejriwal's support for resolution of roster issue, regularisation of teachers

Taking to Facebook, Baisoya said he was resigning from his post because he respects the mandate of Delhi University students, who voted for him.

Speculations have been also rife that ABVP's Shakti Singh, who is currently serving as the DUSU vice-president could be promoted to president's post since the two month period for fresh election has expired in November.

The DUSU polls took place on September 12 and the results were declared on the very next day.

Read | NSUI national secretary Akshay Kumar submitted fake degree for admission in PhD course: DU official

In DUSU elections 2018, Chillar had lost to Baisoya in the race for the post of DUSU president. Days after NSUI, the students' wing of the Congress and several other organisations started raising questions about the authenticity of Ankivs degree.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

DMK president MK Stalins proposal to project Congress Rahul Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate has not only found a few takers within the ranks of the Opposition, but also didnt go down well with the BJP, with its party general secretary Ram Madhav asserting the PM's post was not vacant for another 10 years.

"We do not know if (any) other thing is cooking...no single party in country has the courage or stamina to take on prime minister Modi or the BJP," Madhav said, calling the opposition's unity efforts a "tamasha".

Targeting Stalin for his criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government, the BJP leader said, "I pity some leaders...khud naam Stalin (a reference to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin) hai... (and) he calls others fascists...We have seen the face of fascism in the state under the great DMK."

Speaking at an event organised to unveil a statue of his father and former Tamil Nadu chief minister K Karunanidhi in Chennai on Sunday, Stalin made a strong pitch for Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate of the Opposition for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, saying the Gandhi scion had the ability to defeat the "fascist" Narendra Modi government.

"In 2018, on the occasion of unveiling Thalaivar Kalaignar statue, I propose, we will install a new prime minister in Delhi. We will build a new India, as the Son of Thalaivar Kalaignar, I propose the candidature of Rahul Gandhi from Tamil Nadu," Stalin said.

However, several Opposition leaders have expressed their reservations over Stalins suggestion. Leaders of the Samajwadi Party, the Telugu Desam Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Trinamool Congress, the National Congress Party are understood to have reservations over naming any prime ministerial nominee for the Opposition alliance for the 2019 general elections.

Madhav said Stalin's proposal had not found resonance even within the parties the Congress wants in the proposed grand alliance.

Speaking on the Rafale deal, Madhav challenged the opposition to a debate in Parliament in the presence of all its members instead of seeking an "escape route" of a Joint Parliamentary Committee, which would comprise only 25-30 members.

"We are challenging the Opposition. If they are ready, let us debate it (the Rafale issue) in Parliament. They cannot take an escape route in the name of JPC and try and continue their propaganda of lies....this shall not be allowed."

"JPC is not more powerful than Parliament which is supreme," he told a press conference.

(With PTI inputs)

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi :

A day after his conviction and sentencing in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Congress leader Sajjan Kumar on Tuesday resigned from the primary membership of the party. Kumar wrote a letter to Congress president Rahul Gandhi submitting his resignation from the primary membership and all the posts of the party. "I tender my resignation with immediate effect from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress in the wake of the judgment of the Honble High Court of Delhi against me," he said in the letter to Gandhi.

On Monday, the Delhi High Court had convicted Sajjan Kumar and sentenced him to life imprisonment in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He was held guilty for killing five Sikhs in Delhis cantonment area following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.

Also Read | Rahul Gandhi says he supports punishment to those involved in 1984 anti-Sikh riots

While pronouncing the verdict, A bench of Delhi High Court comprising Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said, In the summer of 1947, during partition, several people were massacred. 37 years later Delhi was the witness of a similar tragedy. The accused enjoyed political patronage and escaped trial.



Besides Sajjan Kumar, Captain Bhagmal, Girdhari Lal and former Congress councilor Balwan Khokhar have been sentenced to life imprisonment, while Kishan Khokkar and former legislator Mahender Yadav have been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Kumar has been ordered to surrender before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) before the end of this year. Earlier when Kumar was asked to react on his sentencing, he evaded the questions and escape the cameras.

Also Read | Delhi High Court mentions 2002 Gujarat riots in 1984 anti-Sikh genocide verdict

Politicians across the party lines welcomed the Delhi High Court judgment. Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said that the Sikhs got justice after 34 years and expressed hope that other big leaders involved in 1984 anti-Sikh riots and 2002 Gujarat riots and Muzaffarnagar riots would be punished.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Indian national Hamid Nihal Ansari, who was released from a Pakistani jail on Tuesday, crossed the Attari-Wagah border to reach India, six years after he was detained by intelligence agencies for entering the country illegally reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online. Ansari, 33, was met at the border by members of his family in an emotional reunion.

Ansari was released from the Pakistani prison after a court-mandated jail-term came to an end. Though his jail term ended last week, he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready. On Thursday, the Peshawar High Court gave the federal government a month deadline to complete his repatriation process.

#WATCH: Indian national Hamid Ansari crosses the Attari-Wagah border to reach India. He was lodged in a jail in Pakistan and was released today. pic.twitter.com/FYJAlAZGac  ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2018

Official sources told news agency PTI that the release became possible due to relentless pressure from India on Pakistan. According to the sources, India issued 96 note verbales to Pakistan seeking consular access and clarity on the charges against Ansari, on which India received no satisfactory response.

Hamid Nihal Ansari likely to be released today: https://t.co/G1WrcaD56S via @YouTube  News Nation (@NewsNationTV) December 18, 2018

The sources added that with his jail term was coming to an end on December 16, New Delhi had mounted pressure on Islamabad at multiple levels in the past few weeks, seeking to ensure Ansari's release and quick repatriation to India.

Ansari had gone missing after he was taken into custody by Pakistani intelligence agencies and local police in Kohat in 2012 and finally in reply to a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother, Fauzia Ansari, the high court was informed that he was in custody of the Pakistan Army and was being tried by a military court.

A two-judge Peshawar High Court bench, comprising Justice Roohul Amin and Justice Qalandar Ali Khan, on Thursday heard an appeal filed by Ansari through his lawyer Qazi Muhammad Anwar.

Anwar informed the bench that both the Ministry of Interior and authorities of prison, where he was lodged, were completely silent about his release and deportation to India.

After hearing this, Justice Khan asked the Additional Attorney General to explain how would they keep the prisoner in jail after completion of his term.

(With PTI inputs)





For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday came out with all guns blazing against the Narendra Modi government, saying he wasnat afraid of talking to the press when he was the PM, and his book 'Changing India' spoke for itself. Singh also said the relationship between the government and the RBI is like of "husband-wife" and the difference of opinions must be resolved in a manner that the two institutions work in harmony.A A

aPeople say I was a silent Prime Minister. I think these volumes (his book 'Changing India') speak for themselves. I wasn't the PM who was afraid of talking to the press. I met press regularly and on every foreign trip I undertook, I had a press conference on return,a said Singh.

Dr Manmohan Singh: People say I was a silent Prime Minister. I think these volumes(his book 'Changing India') speak for themselves. I wasn't the PM who was afraid of talking to the press. I met press regularly & on evey foreign trip I undertook, I had a press conference on return pic.twitter.com/2JprH7ZZ79 a ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2018

The Opposition and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi often take swipe at Prime Minister Modi for not holding a press conference during his tenure.A

The former prime minister, who is also a renowned economist, said India has witnessed an average growth rate of about 7 per cent since 1991. "Despite all hiccups, hurdles, India will get its action right... India is destined to be a major powerhouse of global economy," he said.

Speaking on farm loan waivers in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Singh: aWe have to honour that commitment, that is a part of the election manifesto of the states which went to polls recently. So, the chief ministers have announced that.a

Singh hoped that the Reserve Bank and the Centre would find ways and means to work in harmony with each other. The comments came against the backdrop of Urjit Patel resigning as RBI Governor earlier this month amid a tussle between the central bank and the finance ministry on matters ranging from the appropriate size of reserves the central bank must hold to the easing of lending norms for sectors such as small and medium enterprises.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the launch of his six-volume series of books titled 'Changing India' in New Delhi, Singh, who is also a former RBI governor, said one has to respect the autonomy and the independence of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). "At the same time, I would say the relation between government and RBI is like husband-wife relationship," Singh said.

Following the resignation of Patel, the government appointed former Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, who spearheaded normalisation of economy post demonetisation of November 2016, as new RBI Governor. "Whosoever is Governor of RBI, I wish him well," Singh said.

The former PM and Rajya Sabha member further said "we need" a strong and independent RBI which has to work in close cooperation with the central government. "I do hope and pray that the government and the RBI find a way to work together," he added.

(With PTI inputs)

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday asked Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to give three tentative dates for the proposed 'Rath Yatra', news agency ANI reported. The court has also asked A Mamata Banerjee ledA TrinamoolA Congress government for the video footage of the meeting held between them and the BJP delegates over the rally on December 13. The next hearing on the matter has been fixed for tomorrow.

West Bengal: Calcutta HC asks BJP to give three tentative dates for the 'Rath Yatra'. Court also asked Advocate General (state government)* for the video footage of the meeting held between BJP delegates & the state government on December 13. Matter fixed for hearing for tomorrow https://t.co/rOvWFM7mxu a ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2018

BJP presidentA Amit ShahA was to kickstart the campaign titled aSave Democracy Rallya from the Cooch Behar district in NorthA Bengal on Friday, from Kakdwip in the South 24 Parganas district on December 9, and from Tarapith temple in Birbhum district on December 14.



Earlier, the West Bengal government denied permission forA Rath Yatra, citing intelligence reports of possible communal violence in areas where the party was planning to take out the yatra ahead of theA Lok SabhaA elections scheduled next year.



In a letter to state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh, the West Bengal government said it was unable to allow the yatra as intelligence reports indicated that ain several districts, organisations with overtly communal agenda, such as theA RSS, the Bajrang Dal and theA VHP, would actively join the yatra. There is a grave apprehension of major breach of peace... during and after the yatraa, the state government said in the letter.



According to the yatra schedule submitted by the BJP, there were plans to hold 158 meetings across West Bengal and the three segments of yatra would cover religious sites. The yatras would continue simultaneously for at least 34 days.A

The BJP moved a division bench of the CalcuttaA High CourtA after a single-judge bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty refused permission to the party to hold the yatra. The division bench had on December 7 directed the West Bengal chief secretary, the home secretary and the director general of police to hold a meeting with three representatives of the BJP by December 12 and take a decision on the arath yatraa by December 14.A

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Mumbai:

Saira Banu Tuesday said she is yet to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the release of builder Samir Bhojwani, who had falsely claimed ownership of two plots on which Dilip Kumar's bungalow was built, and would go to Delhi if needed. On Sunday via Kumar's official Twitter account, Banu had requested a meeting with the prime minister in the wake of Bhojwani's release.

The former actor said she was unable to meet the prime minister when he was on a one-day visit to Maharashtra on Tuesday but she plans to follow up with the matter.

I did not meet the prime minister here as he has been busy. But I have learnt that his office has asked people here to look into the matter. I have tweeted about it. I will meet him in Delhi if needed. I have no idea how I will follow this up. But I will follow it up,A Banu, 74, told PTI.

Banu, in a tweet later from the official Twitter handle of Kumar, said, "To the honourable @PMOIndia Shri @narendramodi. awaiting for an appointment. Ian tired of repeated assurances from CM @Dev_Fadnavis "I Am Trying".A Sir, you are the last hope of protecting Dilip Sagan's only house from land mafia Samir Bhojwani. I beg (sic)."

Request from Saira Banu Khan: To the Honable @PMOIndia Shri @narendramodi Awaiting for appointment. I am tired of repeated assurances from CM @Dev_Fadnavis aI AM TRYINGa Sir you are the last hope of protecting DILIP SAHABas only house from Land Mafia Samir Bhojwani. I beg YYY a Dilip Kumar (@TheDilipKumar) December 18, 2018

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said he will speak to Kumar, 96, and his family to allay their fears over the property issue involving Bhojwani. Kumar's bungalow is located in the upscale Pali Hill area of Bandra.

Earlier this year, Banu had approached police and lodged a complaint against Bhojwani. In January, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai police had registered a case of cheating against the builder for allegedly trying to grab the bungalow of the veteran actor.

The police officials suspected that Bhojwani forged certain documents to grab the property. After the offence was registered, a team of EOW sleuths raided Bhojwani's residence in Bandra from where they seized weapons, including knives and daggers. Bhojwani was arrested by EOW in April.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Two men from Telangana have drowned off Moonee beach in New South Wales, Australia, while another man is still missing, according to reports. News agency ANI reported that the victims jumped into the water to save drowning children but were caught in the currents. The incident took place on Monday.

Australia: 3 Indian nationals went missing from Moonee beach yesterday, 2 bodies recovered, search for other person underway.They jumped into water to rescue drowning children(from family) but were caught in the currents. The children were saved by a rescue team&taken to hospital a ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2018

Hindustan Times reported that the children were saved by a rescue team and rushed to a hospital and are said to be stable. Among those rescued were two girls and a boy. The deceased have been identified as Ghousuddin, 45, and his son-in-law Junaid, 28, of Manyam Chelka colony of Nalgonda down and Rahat, 35, from BHEL Colony on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

This is awful. Moonee Beach can be really dangerous, especially near the creek mouth https://t.co/R9lyMmVbD7 a Stephen Jeffery (@stephenejeffery) December 17, 2018

The bodies of Ghousuddin and Rahat were brought to shore, while the search for Junaid was still on."We just came here for a get togetheraand we thought of having a good time together. It's too much to bear," Shahbaz Mohammed, a relative told a local TV channel.A

The Indian families from Sydney and Brisbane had come to spend their holidays at Coffs Harbour and were visiting the scenic Moonee Beach, 23 kilometres north of Coffs Harbour in New South Wales.A

Moonee Beach: It's hard to imagine the grief being felt by a Sydney family tonight after two relatives drowned while swimming at an unpatrolled beach. A third man is still missing with hope fading of finding him alive. @NatashaSquarey #7News pic.twitter.com/42AGk6ZVnG a 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) December 18, 2018

aIt was like a reunion for them. The families from Sydney and Brisbane had come together to spend holidays together. They had rented a place and were visiting the nearby beach when the tragedy occurred,a Syed Siraj Patel, of the Indian Muslim Association of Australia (IMAA) was quoted as saying by the website.

"My brother Mohammed Abdul Junaid went to Australia in the year 2014 for completing his masters and since then he was staying in Sydney. Yesterday, Junaid along with his father-in-law Mohammed Ghousuddin, his two daughters Easha, 17, Ramsha, 12, one son Mohammed Aaqib, 15, and his cousin Rahat went to Moonee beach near Coffs Harbour for a holiday,"A Nazreen, sister of Junaid, told ANI.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

The refugee crisis of the Middle East left the world flabbergasted after the lifeless body of the Turkish toddler, Aylan Kurdi washed ashore the Greek Islands in 2015. Amnesty International Magazine following the predicament, featured a model in life jackets, lying on a bed of life jackets. This 'tasteless' part on the magazine's side has now come under extreme backlash for sexualising the crisis. The cover of Glamoria magazine, supposedly, an attempt to call for attention to the humanitarian disaster on the refugee camps in the Greek islands, has however apologised and also taken down their magazine cover after facing major backlash by other humanitarian organisations for sexualising the crisis.

Read | Gay Singapore doctor wins right to adopt surrogate child

The organisation in an apology statement wrote, "We apologise for any offence this may have caused. We never intended to offend anyone and regret that the choice for the cover has been a distraction from our ongoing work to end the dire situation for many trapped on the Greek islands."

We apologise for any offence this may have caused. We never intended to offend anyone and regret that the choice for the cover has been a distraction from our ongoing work to end the dire situation for many trapped on the Greek islands.  Amnesty NL (@amnestynl) December 17, 2018

"We have removed the front cover of the magazine. Together with (former) refugees and activist we made a glossy magazine to draw attention to the sharp contrast between the luxurious lifestyle portrayed in magazines and the terrible situation of people in the camps," the organisation wrote.

One journalist, Jenan Moussa took to social media to express her anger on the magazine's 'tasteless' approach. ON her Twitter handle, she wrote, Tasteless this. @amnestyNL makes online glossy about refugees & puts on cover a sensual model, half naked and draped in life jackets in order "to reach a broader audience". With thousands dead in the Mediterranean, its very disrespectful to sexualize the tragedy of refugees."

Tasteless this. @amnestyNL makes online glossy about refugees & puts on cover a sensual model, half naked and draped in life jackets in order "to reach a broader audience".



With thousands dead in the Mediterranean, its very disrespectful to sexualize the tragedy of refugees. pic.twitter.com/vEoENeeyTl  Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) December 17, 2018

Moussa also shared a refugees response to the magazines cover on her Twitter account where the refugee had said, "Long story short, I arrived to Greece last year, wearing such life jacket. I was with my wife, two friends and 57 other refugees from different nationalities. And guess what.. most of the life jackets were too bad, I believed that they will never do the job in case our little lovely small crowded plastic boat drowned. There were children, women and men there." "I am not exactly sure why the lady in this photo looks... relaxed?" asked the refugee, adding, "I also don't know if you realise that most of the life jackets refugees are just useless (sic)."

Following the conflicts in the Middle East, the refugee crisis and migration across the Mediterranean Sea has soared regardless of life and death in their ordeal. A report from September 2018 said that over 1600 people had died just this year while trying to cross the Mediterranean.

For all the Latest Lifestyle News, Others News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Pakistans minister of state for interior Shehryar Khan Afridi in a leaked video has been caught expressing support for Hafiz Saeed and his political front, the Milli Muslim League (MML), which was designated a terror group by the United States in April. Hafiz Saeed was declared a global terrorist by the US and the UN after the 2008 Mumbai attack . India has been long demanding Pakistan to try him in the Mumbai attack case. Hafiz Saeed carries a US dollar 10 million American bounty on his head for his role in terror activities.

In a two-minute video clip, Shehryar Afridi talking to Milli Muslim League (MML) leaders was drawn attention towards non-registration of Hafiz Saeed's party by the Election Commission (ECP). The minister said: "We will not let this happen."

"As long as we (the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf) are in the government all those including Hafiz Saeed who are raising voice for Pakistan and righteousness, we are with them," Mr Afridi said, adding "this is our belief."



ALSO READ | Pakistan released Ansari due to pressure from India: Official sources

"I request you to come to the National Assembly and see whether we are supporting those who on the right path or not," he told them.

In the leaked video, an MML leader said the high court ordered the ECP to register the MML as a political party but the top election body said that it had come to know that the US had declared MML a terrorist organisation.

On this, the minister assured that "this will not happen in the Imran Khan's government."



Insha Allah, (let) any mothers son (do what they want), as long as we are in the (National) Assembly and Tehreek-e-Insaf is there, leave alone Hafiz Saeed saab, anyone who is supporting Pakistans rights... we will support them. This is our tradition, he is heard as saying.

MML was launched by Saeed in August 2017 with a so-called mission to implement the ideology of Pakistan in accordance with the 1973 Constitution.

In April, the US placed the MML on its list of foreign terror organisations for its links with the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The interior ministry had written to the ECP recommending to not register the MML as it is an off-shoot of Saeed's Jamaat-ud Dawah, which has been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people.



ALSO READ | Pakistani court acquits 2 key accused in Sarabjit Singh murder

The MML contested general elections on the platform of the "dormant" political entity Allaha-u-Akbar Tehreek (AAT), which was registered with the ECP.

The Supreme Court in September last permitted the JuD and its arm Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) to continue their relief and charity work in the country.



Earlier, the government banned companies and individuals from making donations to the JuD, the FIF, and other organisations on the UN Security Council sanctions list.

With about 50,000 volunteers, JuD's network includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance services, according to two counter-terrorism officials.



(With PTI inputs)

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Kornblatt, an attorney who grew up in Highland Park, is seeking a full term after he stepped in to fill a vacancy in early 2017. He currently serves as the boards vice president and chairs the facility committee. Prior to his appointment, he was a member of the Reconfiguration 2.0 launch team and steering committee. He is the father of two young children not yet enrolled in the district.Revitalization of Bridgeports Downtown West area has continued with Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust once again leading the effort.

Though it was later than expected, the local non-profit has opened its new Thrifty @ 505 resale store and Operation Suds laundromat at 505 West Ave.

The businesses, which are part of BNTs Social Enterprise Initiative, are on the ground-level storefronts of the Westgate Apartments development, which the nonprofit opened last year at 515 West Ave.

This is giving the people that live here options and opportunities if there are other businesses that are thriving and other employment opportunities, said BNT interim CEO John Heyder.

The 2,000-square-foot thrift store was one of two businesses to fill the ground-level storefronts of the Westgate Apartments. The $13 million apartment complex brought 48 units of market rate and affordable housing to what was an empty lot behind the Walgreens a few years prior.

Thrifty @ 505 carries a mix of gently-used and new clothing ranging from what its owners described as medium to high end prices, while the laundromat is open to Westgate tenants and surrounding residents.

We go through a process in saying these are the items we want in the store, said manager Bill Sze said, adding that the items that dont make it on the racks are donated to other organizations.

BNT also partners with local workforce development organizations to offer participants with employment opportunities and job training.

The thrift store employs three people, including Sze, who is running both businesses for the BNT. He is also expected to manage the DoWest Cafe, which is supposed to open in the corner building across from Westgate.

DoWest will provide customers with a full cafe and market where they can purchase healthy food and produce, he said. The project is still waiting on city approvals.

Filling Westgates commercial spaces has been in the works since BNT was led by former CEO Liz Torres, who left the nonprofit in August to become executive director of the Womens Institute for Housing and Economic Development.

Both businesses were projected to open in July, but a series of changes pushed the date back, according to Heyder.

Everything plays a factor, he said. Things sometimes take longer than you expect.

The non-profit missed a deadline to apply for tax relief for the Westgate development, but according to Heydar, BNT was able to obtain its urban enterprise zone designation, which helped in that effort.

Torres, who attended the opening, said she was excited to see the next phase of the project come to fruition.

I am pleased that BNT was able to deliver on their word  to deliver these businesses and this community, Torres said. Not only are the businesses creating jobs, but they are also providing a service that does not exist in this community, and our residents deserve to live in a community where they can get the services and offerings that they deserve.

BNT owns 20 buildings containing a total of 208 apartments, plus commercial space.

Along with Westgate and its two new businesses, the organization is planning to build an 18-unit townhouse-style development at 273-301 West Ave., securing $5 million in funding for the project, this year. They are still waiting on state bonding before moving forward, Heydar said.

The nonprofit also has its sights on a third site at 601-611 State St., which executives said they were interested in bringing another 55 apartments and 12,000 square feet of commercial space to Downtown West.

Jordan.grice@hearstmediact.comDANBURY  Veteran Jennifer Tanner has lived with buckets in her basement and living room to catch the rainfall dripping into her home from her faulty roof.

But the Vietnam veteran has stored them away after students at Henry Abbott Technical High School repaired the roof, which was at risk of collapsing in the snow this winter.

Tanner said she otherwise would have had to move into an assisted living place or home for veterans.

They saved my life, she said. Im going to live happily here for a long time.

She has had to replace the roof three times since buying the Driftway Road home in 1982. Tanner said the roof was fine two years ago when she received a Veterans Affairs mortgage, but last winter noticed a divot on the roof.

By the spring, the roof looked like it was going to collapse.

Everything started happening very rapidly, Tanner said. I knew I wasnt going to make it through another winter.

Tanner contacted Daniel Hayes, the citys director of Veteran Affairs.

Hayes talked to his cousin, Kevin Durkin, the assistant principal at Abbott Tech. Durkin pushed Tanners roof to the top of list of students projects.

Students in the carpentry program complete various construction jobs as part of their curriculum, Durkin said. The group of sophomores, juniors and seniors spent about a month repairing the roof, gaining experience in their trades, while helping others, he said.

The students got a good sense of what it means to give back and provide a service to a person that has served our community and our nation, Durkin said.

Hayes said he was impressed with the quality of the work and plans to use Abbott Tech students for other projects.

Theyre looking for work and, believe me, I have a lot of vets who cant afford $100 an hour or more from an electrician, Hayes said.

Tanner said the job cost her less than $4,000, which included the labor fee to the school and materials, which she bought with a veterans discount. Without the students, she estimated she would have had to pay a roofing company $12,000 to $13,000, a price tag she could not afford.

Tanner, who is active in various Danbury veterans organizations, joined the Navy in 1969 and climbed through the ranks to become an electrical warfare specialist. She flew in helicopters in Vietnam and detected radiation to send reports back to Washington, D.C.

She enjoyed the job, but it exposed her to Agent Orange, an herbicide the United States used to clear plants and trees in Vietnam. She said the chemical gave her Stage 4 cancer, which she had surgery to treat.

So many people I know have lost their lives because of it, Tanner said. I happen to be one of the lucky ones.

Tanner has had three other forms of cancer and suffers from neuropathy, a condition that numbs the back of her knees down to her feet. The condition prevented her from repairing the roof herself, she said.

Tanner has lived in Danbury since 1964 and bought her home in 1982. She had been living at an apartment on Balmforth Avenue and wanted to get off the busy street. She knew the Driftway Road house would be her home as soon as she saw the listing.

I just immediately called the realtor and said, Im buying it, Tanner said. I didnt even have to look inside. It was the charming ambience of the pine trees, the grounds.

She said she couldnt fathom leaving the home where she raised her daughter and son and where she now lives with her best friend, her 9-year-old cat, Lily.

Its why she is so grateful to Hayes and the students.

(They) gave me a new lease on life, she said. It enables me to remain a part of my community.BRIDGEPORT  Brandon Roberts, the subject of an intense manhunt after police said he fatally shot a young Bethel woman here, was in a Cleveland-area jail Monday night.

The 26-year-old Roberts, who is charged in Bridgeport with murder, felony murder, first-degree robbery, using a firearm in the commission of a felony and carrying a pistol without a permit, had a brief appearance in the Cuyahoga County Courthouse earlier Monday. A court clerk said Roberts was advised of his constitutional rights and then given time to consult a lawyer on whether to fight or waive extradition back to Connecticut.

Roberts is accused of shooting 25-year-old Emily Todd in the back of the head near the boat ramp on Seaview Avenue on Dec. 9.

Todd, a therapist at a Danbury senior center, was found lying face down in the sand along the shore.

Police said Todd was fully dressed and appeared to be wearing a long, blond wig. A single spent bullet shell casing was found near her feet.

Police said Todds mother later told detectives that her daughter had met Roberts, who was staying with relatives at a Stratford hotel, on an online dating app.

After several dates, police said, Todd called off the relationship. But they said Roberts convinced Todd to meet him one more time, luring her to the area of the boat ramp.

After killing her, Roberts took Todds car, cell phone and credit cards, according to police.

Video surveillance showed Roberts driving Todds car into the drive through at the Peoples United Bank in Trumbull on Dec. 9 where he used Todds debit card to withdraw $400 from her bank account, police said.

Police raided the Stratford hotel room after finding Todds car in the parking lot. However, they said, Roberts uncle told them that Roberts had left without saying goodbye.

When the uncle later called Roberts to let him know police were looking for him, police said Roberts told the uncle sorry unc, and hung up.

Police said they arrested Roberts at his fathers home in Shaker Heights, Ohio, on Dec. 14 without incident.

Todds family have said that they were told Roberts confessed to killing Todd, but police would not confirm that.BRIDGEPORT - Brandon Roberts will soon be back in the Park City.

The Ohio man, the subject of an intensive manhunt after police said he fatally shot a young Bethel woman here, waived extradition back to Connecticut during a hearing Tuesday morning.

He waived extradition and our detectives will be traveling to Ohio in the next couple of days to pick him up, said Police Capt. Brian Fitzgerald.

The 26-year-old Roberts is charged here with murder, felony murder, first-degree robbery, using a firearm in the commission of a felony and carrying a pistol without a permit.

Roberts is accused of shooting 25-year-old Emily Todd in the back of the head near the boat ramp on Seaview Avenue in Bridgeport.

Todd a therapist at a Danbury senior center, was found lying face down in the sand along the shore.

Police said she was fully dressed and appeared to be wearing a long, blond wig when she was found on Dec. 9. She had been shot, and that a single spent bullet shell casing was found near her feet.

Police said Todds mother later told detectives that her daughter had met Roberts, who was staying with relatives at a Stratford hotel, on an online dating app.

After several dates, police said, Todd called off the relationship. But they said Roberts convinced Todd to meet him one more time, luring her to the area of the boat ramp.

After killing her, Roberts took Todds car, cell phone and credit cards, police said.

Video surveillance later showed Roberts driving Todds car into the drive through at the Peoples United Bank in Trumbull, where he used Todds debit card to withdraw $400 from Todds bank account, police said.

Police raided the Stratford hotel room after finding Todds car in the parking lot. However, they said Roberts uncle told them that Roberts had left without saying goodbye.

When the uncle later called Roberts to let him know police were looking for him, police said Roberts told the uncle sorry Unc, and hung up.

Police said they arrested Roberts at his fathers home in Shaker Heights, Ohio, on Dec. 14, without incident.

Todds family have said that Roberts confessed to killing Todd, but police would not confirm that.BRIDGEPORT  Short term, the Lamont Administration should launch a quality rating system for preschools, improve the delivery of so-called STEM instruction, and launch low-cost loan and scholarship program tied to science, technology, engineering and math fields.

Long-term recommendations range from committing to funding the states Education Cost Sharing Grant at statutory levels to establishing a minimum school district size, which over time would require small school districts to consolidate or share resources.

The list of suggestions unveiled Tuesday by an Education Policy Transition Committee in a third floor open classroom space at the Fairchild Wheeler Interdistrict Campus, took up several pages.

Lt. Gov.-Elect Susan Bysiewicz sat in the front row of the presentation and said the focus, once Lamont takes office next month, will be to do as many things as they can within existing resources.

It is all about incentives, to make the cost of education and government more affordable, Bysiewicz said after the morning session attended by members of the committee, local lawmakers and others.

Lamont and Bysiewicz had 15 transition policy committees from womens issue to public safety  who have been reporting out this week on their work. The ideas will be used to formulate Lamonts legislative agenda which is to be announced on Jan. 9, 2018.

Education, Bysiewicz said, is a top priority because it it key to improving the economy and bringing more jobs to the state.

Although many of the suggestions to come out of the education committee are not new, Bysiewicz said it is all about having the leadership to make them happen.

There are suggestions to create more grow your own programs that encourage school aides to become certified teachers in urban districts and making sure federal money is not left on the table when it comes to grant programs and student loans.

I thought some of the ideas were brilliant, Bysiewicz said.

More Information First 100 Days Quality Rating system for early childhood programs Re-examine Regional Educational Service centers to make them more useful. Create state STEM education action plan Create a math leadership institute for principals Launch a PR campaign for the teaching profession. Change out of state reciprocity for teacher certification Implement marking plan for CT higher education system Long-term Raise Care4Kid payment rates and expand access Audit early childhood care access and levels of unmet demand Launch a statewide curricula Make computer science a high school requirement Improve state's longitudinal data system to be more timely and user-friendly Commit to funding ECS at statutory level in biennium Implement new school funding formula Create a state office focused on securing grant dollars Establish a minimum school district size. Require small districts to consolidate or regionalize to share services. educe statutory red tape See More Collapse

The 18-member education committee, which has been meeting since Thanksgiving, was chaired by Yvette Melendez and Fran Rabinowitz. Melendez is a former vice chairman of the state Board of Regents for Higher Education. Rabinowitz, a former interim superintendent of schools in Bridgeport who is now director of the Connecticut Associations of Public School Superintendents.

Rabinowitz said in the area of preschool, the issue is not just getting enough slots but getting them in access where parents can reach them. That happened when she was in Bridgeport.

As for reorganizing, Rabinowitz said the state has 169 school districts all with own curriculum.

Does that make sense. I dont think so, said Rabinowitz.

The committee is also recommending the state consolidate the electronic system it uses to record and track individual education plans for special education students.

The plan to tackle the states long-broken school funding system, would tackle not just the main Educational Cost Sharing formula, but all 21 state education funding areas Rabinowitz says there are. Former Commissioner of Education Ted Sergi is working with the committee on the new formula.

Some components might be ready next year, but most not before 2020, Rabinowitz said.

The idea to establish a minimum school district size, just makes sense, Rabinowitz told the group. There are some districts with barely 300 students.

Besides getting local buy in, it would take statutory changes to make the consolidations happen.

The incentives for towns would be to save money, Bysiewicz said.

Next steps are for the recommendations from all 15 committees to be reviewed by the governor elect right after the new year.The state is looking to reduce the number of new human immunodeficiency virus infections and HIV-related deaths by a significant amount  all the way to zero.

On Monday, the Connecticut Department of Public Health issued a report filled with recommendations for implementing Getting to Zero, a campaign to obliterate HIV infections, death and stigma in the state. The campaign calls for the campaign to be launched statewide and in five major cities: Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, Stamford and Waterbury.

I am extremely proud of the work done over the last six months by the G2Z Commission to focus on the population groups and the areas in Connecticut where HIV continues to have a disproportionate impact, specifically the states five largest cities and among young men having sex with men, particularly in communities of color, black women and transgender individuals, said DPH Commissioner Raul Pino in a statement.

According to the new Getting to Zero report, there were 269 HIV newly diagnosed in Connecticut in 2016, the most recent year for which data was provided. Between 2010 and 2015, the five cities targeted by the campaign each had more than 50 cases of HIV diagnosed among residents.

Though new cases of HIV are on the decline in some Connecticut populations, the HIV rate is increasing in several demographic groups.

For instance, in 2016, about 50 percent of HIV cases in Connecticut were among men having sex with men, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that men of color who have sex with men are especially vulnerable. The CDC reports that one in two black men who have sex with men will contract HIV in his lifetime, as will one in four Latino men having sex with men.

Black women in Connecticut are also especially at risk. The state reports that black women in the state are living with HIV at a rate about 12 times that of white females, and black women were diagnosed with HIV at a rate 20 times that of white women between 2012 and 2016.

The National Center for Transgender Equality Survey reports that transgender individuals are also five times more likely than cisgender individuals to be infected with HIV.

The Getting to Zero report outline six main recommendations for eradicating the virus, including implementing standardized medical care for people living with HIV and encouraging the development HIV testing legislation in accordance with CDC recommendations for routine HIV testing for those 15 to 64.

More information on the campaign is available at the new Getting to Zero web site, www.gettingtozeroct.org.A late candidate entry Monday created a contested election for the four full terms to be decided by voters April 2. Bannockburn real estate agent Joe Tyler Gerber added his name to a list that included incumbents Gayle Byck of Deerfield and Kenneth Fishbain of Highland Park along with Michael Perlman and Daniel Struck, both of Highland Park. All but Gerber appeared before the District 113 Caucus and received the groups endorsement.If I have learned one thing over the last few years, the seniors continue to look for ways to maintain a purpose in their lives, Schumacher said. This opportunity to come together and sing together, perform for their friends and others in the area, and sharing the gift of music with the kids is something that gives all of us a sense of belonging and community.MERIDEN  Its time to renovate and expand Gov. Dannel P. Malloys legacy on homelessness and affordable housing, with an emphasis on more collaboration.

Thats what a group of about 20 housing advocates, developers and housing authority leaders advised the team guiding Ned Lamonts transition into the governors office on Tuesday.

Overcoming the natural friction of interagency collaboration can be achieved with a continued, purpose-driven transformation of the states bureaucratic culture, said Vin Tufo, CEO of Charter Oak Communities in Stamford.

They recommended that Lamont use a member of his executive-office staff to lead a joint effort among the Department of Housing, the Department of Tranportation and other state agencies on projects. They pushed increasing reliance on public private partnerships. And the committee suggested the state promote shared services among local housing authorities.

They pointed to Meriden Commons, where the meeting was held, as an example of what they were looking for: a mixed-income, mixed-use apartment complex in downtown Meriden. Within walking distance of the train station, it was constructed by a partnership between two private companies and the Meriden Housing Authority, with an influx of some state and federal dollars.

Clay Fowler, chairman and CEO of Spinnaker Real Estate Partners, which is now working on projects in New Haven and Bridgeport, called for an attitude adjustment.

I know I go to people at times (who think) Im the enemy, he said. Im not the enemy. Im the solution. Im the private-enterprise developer who will do what is necessary to get projects done, given the tools and given cooperation.

emunson@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @emiliemunsonHARTFORD Whether homeowners insurance policies should cover repairs to thousands of homes with crumbling foundations caused by defective concrete was the subject of three separate lawsuits heard Tuesday by the Connecticut Supreme Court.

An estimated 35,000 or more homes and condominiums in eastern and central Connecticut, as well as some public buildings, could have failing foundations because of a mineral called pyrrhotite that causes concrete to crack and crumble.

Insurance companies have not been covering the claims filed by homeowners, citing a change in policy that only requires them to cover a sudden or abrupt collapse. Whereas the condition involving the crumbling foundations happens over a number of years. According to the insurance companies, this means it doesnt qualify as a sudden collapse.

Lawyers for homeowners argue that a 1987 Connecticut Supreme Court ruling said collapse also can mean impairment in structural integrity.

A federal judge has asked the current Connecticut Supreme Court for a better definition of the word collapse that could help decide whether homeowner insurance policies should cover repairs to thousands of homes with crumbling foundations caused by defective concrete.

The three cases for which the Supreme Court heard arguments, in front of a packed courtroom, all involve homeowners; in two cases Liberty Insurance were the policy owners; in one it was Hartford Casualty Insurance.

The cases are:

 Steven Karas v. Liberty Insurance Corporation SC 20149

 Steven Vera v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. SC 20178

 Edith Jemiola, trustee of the Edith Jemiola Living Trust v. Hartford Casualty Insurance Company SC 19978

Chief Justice Richard Robinson asked Michael Parker, lawyer for the two plaintiffs against Liberty, Steven Karas and Steven Vera, whether a homes foundation is considered part of the overall building structure.

It is clear that the foundation is part of the building, Parker told Robinson and the other justices. All of us have basements under our houses.

Robinson pressed on, asking Parker how the court should decide on the overall issue.

This is where the rubber hits the road, Robinson said. A structure may collapse, it may not collapse. It may last 50 years.

Parkers answer? This isnt rocket science. This is basic engineering, that the foundation is part of a houses structure and should be covered by insurance if it is poorly constructed.

The majority of the back-and-forth between the lawyers and the justices on Tuesday were about the Karas case. The Karas purchased a house in Vernon and several years afterward, according to briefs in the case, they learned that cracks in the concrete basement walls of their house were caused, at least in part, by a chemical reaction leading to the deterioration of the concrete.

They submitted a claim under their policy, and Liberty denied the claim on the grounds that the plaintiffs policy does not afford coverage for deterioration.

Questions by the justices on the reason for denying insurance claims, such as the one submitted by the Karas, Liberty attorney Robert Kole said it comes to whether a home is in imminent danger of collapsing.

It needs to be about to happen, said Kole.

Much of Tuesdays argument centered around a 1987 case (Beach v. Middlesex Mutual Assurance) where the Supreme Court held that the term collapse in a homeowners insurance policy, when undefined, is sufficiently ambiguous to include coverage for any substantial impairment of the structural integrity of a building.

Liberty is contending that the collapse provision is not ambiguous and therefore that substantial impairment of structural integrity is not the applicable standard.

Parker countered, however, that in the 1987 the court made it clear that insurers had the right to redefine the word collapse in policy to make it less ambiguous.

It took until 2016 to redefine the policy, Parker said. It took 30 years to redefine the policy. Liberty knows very well that it has thousands of policies that predate the change of language in 2016.

Earlier this year the General Assembly passed a bill that imposes a $12 fee on homeowner policies to help owners of homes with crumbling foundations.

But that money will only raise a pittance of what is needed to address the overall cost of the problem.

Upward of 35,000 plus homes in the north, east, and central parts of Connecticut are facing a potentially devastating issue because of the presence of a naturally occurring iron sulfide originating from a quarry in Willington.

The mineral  pyrrhotite  causes the slow deterioration of concrete foundations when exposed to oxygen and water. While the presence of pyrrhotite indicates the potential for concrete deterioration, its existence alone does not necessarily cause it.

Homes and structures in approximately 41 towns may be affected by what appears to be a slow-moving natural disaster. As a structure continues to deteriorate, it often becomes unsound. Cracking, flaking, bowing, and separation of the concrete has already appeared on some homes built between 1983 and 2015.

The cracking starts small and can take more than a decade to appear. Cracks that go horizontal or splinter out like a web are the most concerning. A rust color or white powder may appear. The drywall in a finished basement may need to be removed to examine the concrete, although the damage is often visible on the outside of the home.

The damage is irreversible. The most effective repair is to replace the existing foundation with a new one that does not contain pyrrhotite. The cost to replace a foundation can differ based on multiple factors, but current estimates range between $150,000 to $250,000 per home.HARTFORD  If the repeal of the Affordable Care Act by a Texas judge is upheld, some Connecticut residents will be protected from elimination of the popular clause requiring coverage of pre-existing conditions.

Insurance Commission Katherine Wade said Monday that any plan in the individual or small group market thats longer than six months, includes protections for residents with pre-existing conditions.

Connecticuts health insurance laws  Chapter 7, Section 38a-476, Pre-existing condition coverage  already states that no individual health insurance plan or insurance arrangement shall impose a pre-existing conditions provision on any individual.

However, any short-term insurance plan for less than six months can impose a pre-existing conditions provision, but it cant eliminate the mandate on essential benefits, according to an Aug. 9, 2018 memo from Wade.

The Connecticut law protecting pre-existing conditions was on the books before the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010.

But Connecticuts laws only impact about 35 percent of fully insured plans in the state. The other 65 percent are governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or the federal government.

In Connecticut there are 2,215,923 privately insured residents. Of those about 1.85 million get their insurance from large group plans, 131,000 have individual plans, and 235,000 people are covered under small group plans. The Insurance Department doesnt regulate the 1.85 million who have plans in the large group market.

In anticipation the ACA would be repealed, Connecticut lawmakers passed some extra protections earlier this year.

HB 5210 protects the ACAs essential health benefits, such as prescription drug coverage, maternity care, pediatric services, and preventative care, for anyone who has a plan regulated by the state Insurance Department. It also requires some plans to provide preventative services for women, children and adolescents at no cost.

State Rep. Sean Scanlon, who chairs the Insurance and Real Estate Committee, said Republicans were so intent on repealing this law they failed to realize that millions of Americans are benefiting from this whether you buy your insurance on the exchange or not.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy described the Texas ruling as a five-alarm fire.

The anti-health care zealots in the Republican Party are intentionally ripping health care away from the working poor, increasing costs on seniors, and making insurance harder to afford for people with pre-existing conditions, Murphy said. Dont be fooled, this rests one hundred percent on the shoulders of President Trump and Republicans in Congress who empower him. Trump took the extraordinary step of sending his lawyers to argue to end health coverage for 20 million people and he got his wish. Not a single Senate Republican challenged him, and now they own this disaster as much as he does.

This years midterm election results seemed to demonstrate that American voters want quality, affordable health care that protects individuals with pre-existing conditions. On the campaign trail this year Republican candidates nationwide said they supported a healthcare system that protects individuals with pre-existing conditions.

I would suggest to any right wingers celebrating this decision to be careful what you wish for, Tom Swan, executive director of the CT Citizen Action Group, said. People do not want to see health care ripped away from millions of Americans so that insurance companies can discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions or so women can be treated as second class citizens. If they thought 2018 was a blue wave, wait until 2020.

The Texas lawsuit was filed by 19 Republican attorneys general.

Curtis Hill, the Republican Attorney General from Indiana who helped challenge the ACA, said the decision was a victory for all Americans who believe in the principles enshrined in our U.S. Constitution.

In a statement, he said Congress should continue to play a strong role in promoting access to quality healthcare for all Americans. At the same time, however, it also must respect the authority of Indiana and all other states to exercise freedom in ways we address the issue of health care for our own citizens.

While the political battle will continue, so will the legal battle.

I think there are a lot of people who are viewing this as an end to the ACA and we are very far from that, Scanlon said Saturday.

He said it will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has twice ruled that the law is constitutional.

Quinnipiac University Professor Angela Mattie said Monday that people with health insurance in Connecticut shouldnt be panicking right now.

The exchanges are going to move forward, Mattie, who is in the Dept. of Healthcare Management and Organizational Leadership, said. The end result of what happened in Texas is a long way away.

She said everyone should want people to have insurance because when people are uninsured usually the only care available to them is often expensive and inappropriate care in the emergency department for minor conditions or delaying preventive care until a serious condition develops.

Ultimately, society bears this cost, Mattie added.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a statement Monday explaining that the ruling was not an injunction that halts enforcement of the law and was not a final judgment.

HHS will continue administering and enforcing all aspects of the ACA as it had before the court issued its decision. This decision does not require that HHS make any changes to any of the ACA programs it administers or its enforcement of any portion of the ACA at this time. As always, the Trump Administration stands ready to work with Congress on policy solutions that will deliver more insurance choices, better healthcare, and lower costs while continuing to protect individuals with pre-existing conditions.NEW HAVEN  Some Connecticut drivers for two of the nations largest ride-sharing services  Uber and Lyft  are planning to not work Friday to protest a reduction in what they get paid by at least one of the companies.

Organizers of the protest are hoping to get as many as 500 drivers to take off Friday as part of their protest, said Carlos Gomez, one of the organizers of the work stoppage. Speaking mostly through an interpreter, Gomez said he and others are trying to get drivers from Stamford, New Haven and Hartford areas to join in the protest, as well as anyone working for the ride-sharing services who regularly serves Bradley International Airport.

About a dozen of the drivers met in a Long Wharf parking lot to discuss their plight.

Until recently, Uber drivers had been getting paid 85 cents per mile for transporting passengers, said Casimiro Morales, a driver who lives in New Haven. The company has now lowered its rate to 65 cents per mile.

The customer is still paying the same rate, but were not getting the same amount, Morales said. When they (Uber) first started here, we were getting paid a lot more.

Officials from Uber and Lyft were not immediately available for comment Tuesday.

Both ride-sharing services began operating in Connecticut about four years ago. It was not clear what the drivers issues were with Lyft.

Gomez said the drivers are hoping to unionize and have reached out to Connecticut-based leaders of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Because get paid on a per-mile basis, they make more money when they take passengers longer distances, including to Boston and New York City. But when taking passengers to out-of-state locations, drivers are not allowed to try to pick up Uber users who may be headed to Connecticut.

I have to come back home with an empty car, so Im not getting paid for my time and mileage, said Rosane Olin, a driver from New Haven. Its not fair.

Olin said the ride-sharing service services also dont have fair reimbursement rates for drivers when food spills or someone vomits in their vehicles.

Somebody spilled some sauce in my car and I spent $100 getting it cleaned, she said. They only gave $40 back for that. What happens to the other $60?

Ride-sharing service drivers basically work when they want, and for how long they want, and all work is taken on a voluntary basis.

Guillermo Estrella of Branford said he worked 14 hours on one day recently and only made $100, $30 of which went toward gasoline.

We have to make a living, Estrella said. Its insane what were getting paid.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.comMILFORD  Plans are moving forward for a new police station on the Boston Post Road even though Mayor Ben Blake said this week he still wants to consider revamping the current police station.

A design for a new Milford Police Station is near completed, and both the police chief and building committee chairman think a new police station is definitely the way to go.

Still, Blake said he is not completely sold on the idea of a new station.

Last January, city leaders voted to buy about six acres of land on the Boston Post Road for $4.5 million for a new Milford police station. The site is roughly across the street from the Planet Fitness gym. It is the same area where a new Big Y grocery store was recently announced.

The current police station was built in 1978 at 430 Boston Post Road, and police and other city officials have said it was too small and obsolete from day one. An expanded police station has been in the citys capital improvement plan since 1998.

All available space has been utilized to the point where we are using external storage space for recovered property as well as off-site space for task force and special operation initiatives, a proposal included in a previous years capital improvement plan said.

Police Chief Keith Mello has for a number of years painted a picture of a police station designed just before the world and policing evolved.

Today there are more female officers than in the past, there is a computer forensics area in need of a lab, and there is a juvenile justice bill that requires juveniles be held separately from adults  issues that make the current building obsolete.

And thats just the tip of the iceberg, according to the chief.

Mello also noted that the combined police, fire and EMS dispatch center at the Milford Police Department requires more space: Police and fire dispatch were once separate.

City officials have said that they would eventually sell the current police station property to help pay some of the cost for the new one. The new site is close enough to the current station that the communication tower will not have to be moved, and that would have cost at least $1 million, city officials said.

The current police station is about 43,000 square feet, plus another 4,000-square-foot garage. The chief said the proposed station is now planned at 62,000 square feet, plus another 14,000-square-foot garage and outbuilding.

Its likely that this will be the last police department ever built for Milford, Mello said, adding that if more space is ever needed in the future, there is room to expand.

Kaestle Boos out of New Britain is doing the design work; the contractor is Downes Construction, also out of New Britain.

Police Commission Chairman Rich Smith estimates construction costs will be $30 million to $33 million, and said that because of trade tensions with China and increased tariffs, construction costs could go up dramatically if the city waits too long to start construction.

The sooner the cheaper, Smith said.

Smith said a lot of work has gone into the design phase.

Our most critical challenge was to ensure we did not deliver a station that did not fully meet the current and future needs of our police department, Smith said.

Unfortunately, when the Milford police force moved into the current location back in 1979, the building was already too small. Our committee recognized if we are to build, it needed to be done right, with an understanding that this facility would need to meet our citys needs and the needs of our police department for generations, he said.

He said the building committee has delivered a detailed design document and is preparing to move on to final design and construction planning.

Smith said the building committee explored all options regarding upgrading or adding onto the existing police station and said there is not a configuration that works in that location.

Mayor Blake said this week, however, that it might be possible to expand the current police station toward the Public Works Department, which is behind the police station.

The design for the new police station is bigger than what we budgeted, Blake said, adding, We are still considering both options  meaning building new or renovating the current building.

Blake said the land that the city bought last year on the Boston Post Road is worth considerably more today than it was a year ago, and if the city doesnt use it for a police station it can sell the land for a profit. He said hes gotten calls from prospective buyers.

Smith said the building committee plans to meet with the mayor soon and hopes to reach a consensus. If a design is finalized for a new police station, and the city agrees that is the way to go, the plans will have to go to the aldermen for bonding approval.

Mello said that once construction starts on a new police station, it would take about 20 months to build.WASHINGTON  Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse was one of the 20 children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting, won recognition of her campaign for social and emotional learning in the Trump administrations much-anticipated school safety report released Tuesday.

I want to thank you for your courage, Lewis told the president at a meeting in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on Tuesday. You really listened.

Lewis was among five family members at the meeting who lost loved ones either at Sandy Hook or earlier this year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. JT Lewis, 18, a UConn freshman and older brother of Jesse, also attended.

We are profoundly grateful to all of the families that are working with us to help prevent others from suffering the same terrible heartache and tragedy, Trump told the families, plus Parkland survivor Carson Abt.

The group gathered to mark release of the 180-page report of Trumps Federal Commission on School Safety, headed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

The report included a list of remedies for school violence from The Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement to rolling back some Obama-era rules to banning so-called bumpstocks to arming teachers. Some of the recommendations were hailed, others panned.

Connecticut lawmakers and most gun-violence-prevention advocates have questioned the wisdom of arming teachers as a solution to school attacks.

Teachers dont want this, parents dont want this, said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., in a statement after the meeting. Only Betsy DeVos, President Trump and the gun industry think the best way to stop a school shooting is to load schools up with guns.

Civil rights guidelines that protect children of color from discrimination dont cause school shootings, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., in a statement. Guns do. Forcing educators to carry firearms wont save lives. Keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people will.

The report incorporated virtually all of the recommendations put forward by Lewis and the project she started in the aftermath of the Newtown shooting: The Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement.

Lewis has been a tireless promoter nationwide of the movements no-cost enrichment program, which aims to help students become connected, resilient and empowered individuals.

It essentially incorporates emotional mental health awareness into the school curriculum, Lewis said. She cited research that is incorporated into the report: SEL, as its known, can lead to improved outcomes for educational attainment, employment and earnings.

Emotional training at an early age can also lead to a significant decrease in the likelihood of crime and delinquency, substance use, antisocial behavioral conditions, aggression and violent behavior, the report said.

I thought it was a good meeting, Scarlett Lewis said afterward. It was a great first step. The next step is implementation, which is equally important.

The report endorsed the concept of risk-prevention orders, a form of which Connecticut has had on the books since 1999. The orders enable family members and others to petition courts and obtain warrants that temporarily take firearms away from individuals when there is evidence they present a danger to themselves or others.

Separately, Trump announced the Justice Department had promulgated a final rule banning so-called Bumpstocks  devices that turn semi-automatic single-trigger-pull rifles into rapid-fire machine guns. The mass-killing in Las Vegas last year resulting in 58 deaths involved a shooter using a bumpstock device.

Tuesdays report also contained several controversial items, including a proposed rollback of President Obamas school disciplinary guidelines based on disparate impact  seemingly neutral rules that impact minorities disproportionately more than whites.

Where well-meaning but flawed policies endanger student safety, they must be changed, the report said.

Its most controversial recommendation, however, was arming teachers in schools  provided they have training or are willing to undergo it.

This is critical to the hardening of our schools against attacks, Trump said at the meeting. They truly love their students.

Scarlett Lewis said her focus has been on emotional training, not the gun issue. But, she added, it should be up to individual teachers and what theyre comfortable with.

And, she added, I think its important to provide a safe haven for students.

dan@hearstdc.comWALLINGFORD  The Board of Education has eliminated two of the six options it had been considering as part of a facilities upgrade plan for the school district.

The board voted unanimously to eliminate Options 4 and 5 from consideration. Both options called for having only one middle school; the district currently has two middle schools.

Before the boards vote, several students and residents spoke against plans for having just one middle school and one high school.

Kids will get lost in the shuffle, said Lisa Miller, who lives on Longview Lane. These are children, not dollar signs.

Louis Faiella, president of the Wallingford Education Association, which represents more than 580 teachers, said plans calling for a single middle school and single high school were educationally unsound.

Were not worried (about teachers jobs being lost), Faiella said. More than half our teachers are nearing retirement.

The board also voted to modify Option 6. Board members want the option to include two middle schools. As originally proposed, Option 6 called for just one middle school and a single high school. Currently, the district has two high schools: Mark T. Sheehan and Lyman Hall.

Option 6 as proposed called for:

Dag Hammarskjold Middle School converted to central office and administrative space.

Moran Middle School closed and returned to the town.

Lyman Hall renovated to a district wide high school.

Mark T. Sheehan renovated into a districtwide middle school.

Option 6 as originally proposed called for the elimination of 58 teaching jobs because of the plan to go with one middle school and a single high school. It also called for more than $4.1 million in savings, largely through the elimination of teaching jobs.

Because the boards vote alters Option 6 as originally proposed, Superintendent of Schools Salvatore Menzo now will ask the boards consultant, Cheshire-based Milone & MacBroom, to rework its plans. Menzo said he is scheduled to meet with Milone & MacBroom officials on Jan. 3 and hopes to have cost estimates and other pertinent details ready for the board a week or two later.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.comShe knows sometimes the volunteers get emotional seeing the residents  some wearing helmets, some in wheelchairs, some unable to speak and others talking loudly. Once the volunteers, get past the residents specialness, they see the beauty of each one of them just as they see the beauty in every other person, she said.ALBANY  An association representing county health departments across New York expressed concern Tuesday about state leaders' plans to legalize recreational marijuana.

Citing various health risks associated with marijuana, the New York State Association of County Health Officials called on lawmakers to "approach legalization thoughtfully and with extreme caution."

Among their concerns, they said, are "future high risk" of addiction to other drugs, harmful cognitive and academic effects, adverse cardiac and respiratory events, unintentional exposure to children, and crashes resulting from drugged driving.

"As county health officials who serve as the first line of defense in our communities, we have seen up close the devastation associated with the abuse of legal prescription opioid medications," said Paul Pettit, president of the association. "We need to be certain that the implementation of any recreational marijuana policy does not create another unintended public health crisis."

The group issued a memo earlier in the year opposing legal marijuana after the state Health Department recommended the state establish a regulated, adult-use marijuana program. On Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced he intends to work with lawmakers to legalize a recreational program within the first few months of 2019.

On Tuesday, county health officials said they remain fundamentally opposed to recreational use of marijuana. However, should such a policy be enacted, they said, their association is calling for certain safeguards, including:NEW HAVEN  One of the seven members of the Board of Education resigned his position this month, citing personal reasons.

Frank Redente, who Mayor Toni Harp appointed to serve on the school board in late 2016, sent a letter to City Hall this month saying he would not complete his four-year term. Redente declined to discuss his resignation with the Register Monday, saying he would not be interviewed for 50 stories about his resignation after first speaking to the New Haven Independent.

There was a question as to whether he had resigned, said Jason Bartlett, youth services director and Harps liaison to the school board. He started to resign back in September, but he contacted (then-Chief of Staff) Pattie Lawlor and rescinded his resignation. I wanted him to consider doing 30 or 60 days so there wasnt a long vacancy, because it takes time to get someone through.

Redente has been mostly absent from school board meetings in the latter half of 2018, as well as from meetings of the Finance Committee , which he leads as co-chairman. When he was active in the committee, Redente criticized the school district for construction and maintenance inefficiencies, criticizing central office staffers for allowing repairs to turn into a coffee klatch instead of a work zone. He zeroed in on cracked sidewalks outside of schools as a concern the district was not keeping its property in shape.

City spokesman Laurence Grotheer said Harp is aware of Redentes resignation and she enjoyed working with him.

She knows very well his longstanding service to the young people of New Haven in other capacities and is grateful for his continuing service to young people, most recently on the Board of Education, he said.

Redente, who once worked at the Farnam Neighborhood House, recused himself when his son, youth development counselor Frank Redente Jr., was under investigation after a scuffle with a teenager at Wilbur Cross High School. In September, around the time of the elder Redentes initial resignation, school board President Darnell Goldson said he would probably hire lawyers to investigate ethics claims made in an anonymous email, including an allegation that Redente protected his son. Harp later made an official statement that the school board would not hire anyone to investigate.

Grotheer said the mayor invites city residents interested in applying to serve out the remainder of Redentes term to contact Esther Armmand, the mayors legislative liaison. In the interest of minority representation, he said the mayor wants to extend a special invitation to unaffiliated voters or registered Republicans.

Esther will be doing a preliminary round of interviews, and shell send recommendations to the mayor, and the mayor will interview, he said.

Currently, board Vice President Jamell Cotto, whose term ends at the end of the month, is in the process of being reappointed to the school board after Harp selected him for another four-year term. That appointment sits with the Board of Alders. Hypothetically, Grotheer confirmed, the school board could begin the new year with five seated members.

A group of parents who have organized under the name NHPS Advocates presented Harp Dec. 4 with a list of nine candidates who all expressed interest in serving on the school board, including professors, youth service program directors, parents and teachers. The group posted the list of names: Lauren Anderson, Hillary Bridges, Chaz Carmon, Nora Heaphy, Allison Kenney, Anika Singh Lemar, Amber Moye, Matt Wilcox and Delores Williams, on its website.

We hope she will consider them and anyone else who meets the criteria, parent Sarah Miller said in an email.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.comWEST HAVEN  Zuppardis Apizza, one of the understated stalwarts among Connecticut pizza joints, has branched out and broadened its footprint this year  doubling mail-orders over last year and building a new wholesale kitchen to put Zupps on grocery store shelves far and wide.

Long one of the most popular pizza joints in both West Haven and Greater New Haven, Zuppardis  a neighborhood pizza parlor believed to be the second-oldest pizzeria in Connecticut after Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in New Haven  can now be found in grocery stores as far away as Texas, its owners say.

In recent years, Zuppardis, which celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2014, also added its own pizza truck and began serving pies at an outpost at The Hops Co. in Derby.

On the mail-order front, Zuppardis expects this year to ship 1,000 orders of six, 10-inch pizzas , said sisters Lori Zuppardi and Cheryl Zuppardi Pearce, grandaughters of the late Domenico and Angelina Zuppardi and daughters of the late Anthony and Frances Zuppardi.

They spoke as they and more than a dozen friends, relatives and co-workers put the finishing touches on packing 146 orders Monday, which they expected to be their busiest day of the year. Among those on the scene was 9-month-old Sebastian Ormrod, Lori Zuppardis grandson, who didnt do much work but kept his aunt, Brittany Nadeau, and other relatives entertained.

Zuppardis has now shipped its pies to all 50 states  they finally added holdout Kansas this year after a Zupps fan bought six pies to ship to a Kansas soup kitchen so they could cross the state off their list.

Mondays shipments included one order of six pies to Hawaii. Like all of Zuppardis orders, it was frozen, wrapped in plastic and carefully packed in a white corrugated box lined on six sides with Styrofoam, with a brick of dry ice on top.

The packing is a family operation that is just part of what Christmas is all about if youre a Zuppardi, said cousin Pat DiNenno of West Haven, who used to work at the restaurant when her aunt and uncle owned it. She still helps out each December.

I love it! said DiNenno as she wrapped the last couple of boxes  going to Bridgeport and Florida  in green tape.

Were more like sisters than cousins  we grew up together, she said as Silent Night played out of a nearby ceiling speaker. I look forward to it every year  its part of Christmas for us!

Domenic Zuppardi, an immigrant from Maiori, Italy  the same town as Frank Pepe  opened the restaurant on Union Avenue just off Main Street in 1934.

Lori Zuppardi, who oversees the mail-order operation (her sister oversees the pizza making) attributed the increase at least in part to sponsored Facebook ads and Instagram posts that her son, Jimmy Ormrod  Sebastians dad, who runs the food truck and Hops Co. operations  began putting up.

Zuppardis also garned high-profile attention this year from the Pizza By Munchies show on Vice TV, as well as its inclusion in the annual Daily Meal pizza ratings, which this year rated Zuppardis as the 58th best pizzeria in the nation.

(Zuppardis was close behind No. 1 Pepes, No. 3 Colony Grill Pizza in Stamford, No. 4 Modern Apizza in New Haven, No. 6 Sallys Apizza in New Haven, No. 20 Mulberry Street Pizza in Manchester and No. 22 Bru Room at Bar in New Haven, and just ahead of No. 27 Roseland Apizza in Derby.)

One critic, Ed Levine of Slice.SeriousEats.com, once called Zuppardis white clam pie the grand slam of clam pizzas, the best clam pie Ive ever had.

Cheryl Zuppardi Pearces daughter, Cheri Zuppardi, has been working hard all year to get the new U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified wholesale kitchen up and running in a nearby building on Main Street  and as of Monday had it stocked with thousands of frozen Zuppardis pies ready to go out to stores.

Cheri Zuppardi does occasional pizza demos in the stores its in. Shell be doing one this weekend on Saturday from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Shop Rite store in Norwalk, she said.

While Zuppardis is still working on getting into some key Greater New Haven stores, the pizzas currently are available at Cingari family-owned Shop Rite stores in Derby, Shelton, Fairfield, Danbury, Norwalk and Southbury, Cheri Zuppardi said.

Its also available at Carons Corner in Branford, the three Caraluzzis stores in Newtown, Bethel and Wilton, Brodys Seafood Market and Deli in Norwich and Pats IGA in Wolcott  as well as much farther afield at 10 Central Market supermarkets in Texas.

She expects to get into other area stores after the first of the year.

Zuppardis recently was contacted by a former Zuppardis employee, Julianna Krizsan, a former New Havener who now lives in Texas and was thrilled to be able to pick up a Zuppardis pizza at a Central Market in San Antonio.

How did Zuppardis make the connection to a supermarket chain in Texas?

He contacted me, Cheri Zuppardi said of the buyer for Central Market, who she said is originally from New Jersey and knew that Greater New Haven is known for great pizza. Zuppardis initially sent him 21/2 pallets  about 1,400 pies  and he sold them within 21/2 to 3 weeks, she said.

More recently, I just got a call from a guy in North Carolina, she said. They want to put our pizzas in there.

Because its still very much a small business, Cheri Zuppardi pretty much runs the wholesale operation herself, but being a family business, everybody helps when I need the help, she said.

Zuppardis, located at 179 Union Ave., is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays or noon-8:30pm Sundays and can be reach during those hours at 203-934-1949, or anytime at zuppardisapizza.com.

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.comWe might try to expand it next year, but we might keep it the way it is. We were practically filled today, she said. I think they like having a place to come together to do it. And it doesnt make a mess in their own house. It was low key and fun.We hear in Poland what happens with the Jews. They kill Jews and gas Jews  We really didnt believe that something like that is possible ...

They had a big roaster thing that they burned the people  there was not really any real hope whatever  not any spark of hope there, that you can come out ever  

These are the words of former Polish Army soldier Chaim Engel from an oral history recorded by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Captured by the Germans and sent to the Sobibor death camp early in 1943, Engel lived his life in seconds and minutes. As the result of one escape attempt, the Nazi SS leaders who ran the death camp executed every 10th prisoner. Engel was ninth in one line of prisoners.

Sobibor was a model of Nazi efficiency. Thousands of Jews would arrive daily and would be gassed or burned to death within an hour of arrival.

The healthy prisoners were forced into slave labor and fed black water and bread that was inedible, like clay.

Engel would meet the love of his life in this death camp where about 250,000 people were murdered. He would play a crucial role in the Oct. 14, 1943 uprising in which 300 prisoners escaped. Fifty of those managed to survive until the end of World War II.

Their story is told in the film Escape from a Nazi Death Camp, which premiered May 20 on PBS.

Very few prisoners had any military training. Their ranks were given a boost with the arrival of certain new prisoners  soldiers who were Russian Jews. A small group probed weaknesses in what was described as one of the most heavily fortified prison camps in World War II, surrounded by land mines.

Facing certain death, they hatched a plot to kill SS camp bosses in ones and twos in secluded locations using axes and knives.

Engel would tell Selma Wijnberg just before the uprising on Oct. 14, 1943 to wear her warmest clothing.

They had met months earlier after a roll call when they were sent to a building where they slept and forced to dance for the Nazis, according to Selma Wijnberg Engels oral history at the Holocaust Museum.

In between the fire was burning and you could smell, you know from the bones and hair  and the fire was burning that was like over the whole camp  and we had to dance. The Germans were standing there laughing and having fun  And Chaim my husband asked me to dance and that was the first time I met Chaim 

And one day Chaim tells me, Try to get some clothes. Try to get some boots and dress yourself up   

Selma Engel is one of several survivors featured in the PBS documentary in which she reflects, I never had a man before who was so much in love with me, but we never believed wed get out of there  never.

They married after their escape and ultimately settled in Branford, Connecticut.

Chaim Engel worked in a grocery store, owned a bread distribution route and a greeting card store and became a jeweler in Old Saybrook, according to the New York Times. He died on the Fourth of July 2003 at age 87.

Selma Engel, now 92, was honored in 2011 by the New Haven Symphony Orchestra with a performance of Polish composer Henryk Goreckis Symphony of Sorrowful Songs.

Its not a good feeling, she told the New Haven Register about the tribute.   How was it possible that whole families went to gas chambers? The whole world looks to it, and everyone knows it, but the whole world didnt care.

They have two children in New England: a daughter, Alida Engel, who works as a speech and language pathologist in New Haven; and a son, Ferdinand Engel, who works as a high-tech manufacturing consultant in Rhode Island.

I was able to speak with Selma Engel briefly on a couple occasions after the PBS premiere.

I need to see it soon  I dont have a lot of time, she told me.

She also recommended reading Richard Rashkes book, Escape From Sobibor, which was made into a TV movie starring Alan Arkin. Chaim Engel was a cast member for the film.

Rashke quotes Selma Engel about her husband: He was the only man who took his girlfriend along.

Andy Thibault is a contributing editor for 21st Century Medias Connecticut publications and the author of Law & Justice In Everyday Life. He formerly served as a commissioner for Connecticuts Freedom of Information Commission. Reach Thibault by email at tntcomm82@cs.com. Follow him on Twitter @cooljustice.Those at the heart of the April Kauffman murder case are either dead or convicted and imprisoned, but that will likely not stop the headline-generating twists and turns.

The latest revelation is a reopened criminal investigation into the death of Francis Mulholland, the alleged triggerman in the 2012 killing, who authorities first concluded died of an accidental heroin overdose the following year in his Lower Township home.

The Cape May County Prosecutors Office confirmed Monday they have reopened the investigation to determine whether the 46-year-olds death was criminal.

The change was first discovered and reported by journalist Kevin Shelly, who was conducting research for a book proposal on the Kauffman case.

Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland said the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office contacted his office about reviewing the death case, presumably because they gleaned more useful information during their prosecutions in the Kauffman murder plot.

The Atlantic County Prosecutors Office has said Kauffmans husband, Dr. James Kauffman, 68, then an endocrinologist in Linwood, paid Mulholland to shoot his wife to death in 2012 because he feared she would expose the oxycodone-selling operation he was running with members of the Pagan Outlaw Motorcycle Gang.

Mulholland died in October 2013 and James Kauffman killed himself in jail earlier this year, but the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office still succeeded in getting convictions for others associated with the killing and drug ring.

Ferdinand Freddy Augello, 62, of Petersburg, whom they say managed the drug operation and recruited the hitman, was convicted of murder and sentenced earlier this month to life in prison plus 30 years. Augello denies setting up the hit, blaming co-defendants Francis and Joseph Mulholland.

Though they share the last name, the two friends were not related. Joseph Mulholland, 52, of Villas, flipped for the prosecution, testifying at Augellos trial about his role as the getaway driver in the hit in exchange for a plea deal to drug charges.

Joseph Mulholland, left, appears in court with his attorney, Ed Weinstock, center. Ferdinand "Freddy" Augello speaks during his sentencing. (Photos: Matt Gray | For NJ.com & Craig Matthews | The Press of Atlantic City via AP)

Joseph Mulholland was also one of the two men who found Francis Mulhollands dead body in 2013, according to authorities.

In court, Augello has suggested that Joseph Mulholland gave Francis Mulholland the heroin that caused his death.

Investigators found packets of heroin and a syringe at the scene, as well as an empty prescription pill bottle with Joseph Mulhollands name on it. The prescription for the painkillers had been written by Dr. Kauffman, authorities have said.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tipsIts a scam in which the perpetrator calls a grandparent and tells them their grandchild is in trouble, and they need to wire them money.

Often, the victim sends the cash, unknowingly to the scammer, and the money is gone forever.

On Monday, police in Bordentown Township and Arkansas teamed up with federal authorities to stop one of the scams, and arrested a Paterson couple when they picked up the cash.

Kevelin Garcia, 21, and Edgar Trejo-Tavarez, also 21, are charged with conspiracy to commit theft by deception.

Heres how Bordentown police alleged it happened:

The FBI and the Chicot County Sheriffs Office called police last Thursday, Dec. 13, and said a 93-year-old man there had received a grandchild in distress phone call. The caller said he was a lawyer representing the mans grandson, who had just been in a car crash while driving drunk.

The caller even spiced up the story, and said a pregnant woman was injured and might lose her baby. The grandson needed his grandfather to send $3,500 in bail money - to Bordentown.

The 93-year-old suspected a scam and called the Chicot sheriffs, who contacted the FBI.

Bordentown Township police brought in the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and arranged for a controlled delivery of the cash to the address, in a apartment complex.

On Monday afternoon, officers were watching when they say Garcia and Trejo-Tavarez drove up and accepted the shipping envelope from a postal carrier. They pulled the pair over and found the postal service envelope with the cash, and found them with an additional $10,130.00 in cash they suspect was from similar phone scams. Trejo-Tavarez also carried a fictitious New Jersey drivers license, police allege.

Garcia was released pending court and Trejo-Tavarez, who was also charged with possessing a false government document, was jailed in Burlington County pending a detention hearing.

This investigation is a textbook example of inter-agency cooperation at its finest. Federal, county and local authorities quickly banded together to interdict a group of scammers whose main purpose is to prey on the elderly," Bordentown Township Chief Brian Pesce said in a statement.

Chicot County, Arkansas sits on the Mississippi River in the southeastern part of the state on the border with Louisiana. It has a population just over 10,000.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.Police seized heroin worth as much as $4.5 million following a traffic stop on Interstate 295 in Gloucester County, officials reported this week.

Logan Township Police stopped a tractor trailer driven by Jose Meza, 50, of California, and a narcotics-detecting K-9 indicated the presence of heroin in the vehicles cab.

Officers found 10 kilograms of heroin in a hidden compartment.

The kilograms were individually packaged and stamped with unique markings, according to an announcement from the Gloucester County Prosecutors Office, which collaborated on the arrest.

Authorities called the bust historic.

This quantity of the drug could have produced 200,000 to 300,000 individual doses, which would have sold on the street for $10-$15 each, county Prosecutor Charles Fiore estimated.

This seizure represents a major impact on illegal drug distribution activities in our region, Fiore said in a statement.

Officials cited the importance of this bust, given the ongoing opioid addiction crisis in New Jersey. Gloucester County alone has reported more than 130 fatal overdoses in 2018, the prosecutors office noted.

Meza was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, a first-degree charge, and possession of CDS, a third-degree offense.

He was released pending future court appearances.A jury on Tuesday convicted a 26-year-old man on all counts for the double murder of a couple whose bodies were found dead in an Long Branch apartment in 2013.

Carlos I. Menjivar, of Long Branch, who was 22 at the time of the murders, was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder and two weapons charges, following a two-month trial in front of Monmouth County Superior Court Judge David F. Bauman, the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office said Tuesday.

On March 25, 2013, authorities were investigating a report that Maria Yolanda Cotejo-Munoz, 35, of Long Branch had been reported missing.

Around noon, police intended to speak with Feredis Ventura, Cotejo-Munozs boyfriend, at his apartment on Sairs Avenue.

There, they found both Cotejo-Munozs and Venturas bodies - both had been stabbed multiple times.

Evidence at the trial revealed that Ventura invited Menjivar, a third man and Catejo-Munoz to his residence in the early morning hours of Mar. 24, 2013. After the third man had left the apartment, Menjivar fatally stabbed them, the prosecutors office said.

Cotejo-Munoz came to the United States from Chile about 10 years before the murder and was survived by a young son who lives in Long Branch and a daughter who lives in Chile, the Asbury Park Press reported.

Menjivar faces a life sentence when hes sentenced, which is scheduled for February 2019.

Paige Gross may be reached at pgross@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @By_paigegross.Jerry Gant is crouched above the city he loved, its skyline underneath him in a painting that artist Alim Smith started two days ago.

Hes wearing a chartreuse colored blazer, its hue brilliant and bright like Gant, a legendary visual and performance artist and poet and from Newark. His signature shades frame his eyes, a fedora hat crowns his head.

Gants creations can be found in every ward of Newark.

In this canvassed image, though, its just Gant. He towers above Newark, looking at us pensively, his spirit still alive and well a month after he died on November 11 of liver cancer. Gant was 56.

Even though hes gone, hes bigger than this realm," said Smith, the artist from Wilmington, Delaware, who was putting the finishing touches on the artwork.

Hes a giant."

The painting, one of several to reflect Gant, was part of a celebration to honor him during a gathering Sunday night at the Newark Museum. There was spoken word poetry and music and reflection, and a family reunion of sorts that Gant would have approved of from his good friend, Akintola Hanif.

Painting of Jerry Gant by Alim Smith, an artist from Wilmington, DE, who created the artwork to honor Gant, a legendary Newark visual and performance artist. Smith is at the Newark Museum, where Gant's life was celebrated during a tribute

Hanif, founder and editor-in-chief of HYCIDE - a photography magazine dedicated to subculture, art and conflict - pulled together the affair in memory of Gant, whom he met and admired since he was an 11 year-old child. Hanif, known for his street photography, said Gant inspired him to spread his wings and talent beyond the city.

I took my photography dead serious after that," Hanif said.

Gants fans took him seriously Sunday night. In spite of the soggy weather, they chanted his name in memory of his work with textile and clothing design, metal sculpture, woodcarving, and wall murals. In a career that spanned 25 years, Gant received numerous accolades and was part of solo and group exhibitions.

Thirteen of his metal sculptures are in Nat Turner Park, a project he considered to be his legacy. Early on his career, Gant made his mark as a well-known 1980s New York City graffiti artist, whose popular tag, Two Nastie Nas, and street murals were in NYC, Newark and other urban centers.

Jeff Billingsley, his long time friend, was stunned during those years to learn that he and Gant lived in the same South Ward neighborhood.

I said, thats you?" said Billingsley, now chief executive officer of Cobblestone Multimedia.

When Gant transitioned to visual and performance arts, his work captured life in Newark as he saw it. More installations are at Penn Station and along Clinton Avenue. His work is among a collection of international artists selected to decorate a 30-foot high Art Wall facade of the PSE&G Fairmount Heights Switching Station.

His last public art project was a statue of Eric Bowens, better known to Newark residents as Uggie, a popular street dancer who was senselessly killed in 2016.

Hes the kind of artist that you always saw yourself in something that he did," said Linda Street, his business partner and head of Pink Dragon Artist Syndicate.

He would do art in the snow, in the rain, with money, with no money, with paper, with wood, with trash, with snow," said Jeremy Johnson, executive director of Newark Arts.

Jerry Gant's artwork at Penn Station in Newark.

Lifting up his spirit is more than symbolic. Its about where are we going as a city."

Street said a GoFundMe page has been started to raise money for a Jerry Gant Art Legacy Building for programming and to display artists work.

During his funeral service in the Terrace Ballroom of Newark Symphony Hall, Mayor Ras Baraka said he and Gant had talked about developing a sculpture park in the city.

Were going to do it anyway for Jerry Gant," Baraka said. Were going to do what we can to keep his name alive. Jerry Gant is Newark."

Mourners sign casket of Jerry Gant with graffiti tags. Gant, a visual and performing artist from Newark, got his start as a graffiti artist

During his life, Gant touted a social consciousness that became his art. HIs Detox the Ghetto," movement was inspired by a period in his life when he had to stop using drugs.

In order for the ghetto to detox, you got to detox on yourself, son," he said in a documentary The Gantalist, by Dubois Ashong.

You cant keep saying you want to live and yet youre participating in death. You dont want to die because there is so much more that you want to experience."

Rev. Kevin Taylor of Unity Fellowship Church NewArk calls Gants style, Swagnitism" -- he challenged people to be bigger.

He had that kind of presence of mind to put it on the street, to put it on metal and sculptures, to put it on clothing and most importantly to leave it in you," Taylor said.

Jerry Gant, legendary Newark artist.

Jahmane West, an artist from Connecticut, said his friend and contemporary was ahead of his time in that he transmitted ideas from another place.

Jerry was a go between two worlds, a spiritual and ancestral world and the world that we live in," West said

Gant did his best work, he said, when had something to say and he did it in solitude.

I believe that in silence the nuances of sound and the meditative quality of what you do resonate," he said in the Gantalist documentary.

When he emerged from that space, Gant was a loving brother and father, who always had wisdom to impart and an encouraging word to share.

Having him as a brother was a special bond," said his sister, Sheila Cannon, of Newark.

Newark loved him, too. The people chanted his name at the funeral, swarming the casket to sign it with graffiti tags, a final salute. They chanted his name then with same cadence as they did Sunday night.

Long live Jerry Gant. Long Live Jerry Gant."

Read More

Barry Carter may be reached at bcarter@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.The driver in the fatal crash that killed four young children, including two of his own, has been slapped with a slew of charges and faces more than 100 years in prison, the Greenville (South Carolina) News reported.

Arnez Yaron Jamison, 27, who moved south from Jersey City a few years ago, was driving his car in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, just after midnight on Friday, Dec. 7, when he veered off the road and struck several trees.

Arnez Yaron Jamison Jr., 4, Robbiana Evans, 6, and Jamire Halley, 8, all died at the scene. The fourth child, Armani Jamison, 2, was taken from the scene in critical condition, but succumbed to her injuries later that weekend. The elder Jamison, biological father of Arnez Jr. and ArMani, was hospitalized after the crash.

The mother of the children, Jackie Brown, also a former Jersey City resident, could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but she said in aFacebook post that her children taught me how to live, but never taught me how to live without them. This dream is so unreal.

Mommy love yall always and forever dont forget it, said Brown, who lived in Travelers Rest with Jamison and the four children.

Jamison, who was in a relationship with Brown, was charged with four counts of felony DUI resulting in death, driving under suspension, driving an uninsured motor vehicle and child endangerment. Each of the felony DUI charges carries a sentence of up to 25 years in prison.

His family described him as the sweetest, most generous boy that really screwed up.

I want the community to know that hes a good kid, Carol McNeil, who said she raised Jamison, told The Greenville News. I understand theyre upset and mad, but hes not a monster. He loved his kids. If he can sacrifice his own life for them, he would.

Visitation for the children is set for Wednesday, Dec. 19, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Johns Baptist Church at 525 Bramhall Ave. in Jersey City. The funeral service will follow. The arrangements are being handled by West Funeral and Cremation Services in Bayonne.A man was shot on Rutgers Avenue in Jersey City Saturday night, hours after a city man was shot and killed, police said in radio transmissions.

The man, who was not identified in the Jersey City Police Departments response to a request for information on the shooting, suffered gunshot wounds to the back and shoulder, according to police radio transmissions.

Police responded to the scene on Rutgers Avenue near Chapel Avenue just after 11 p.m. Saturday and found shell casings.

The Jersey Journal relied on police radio transmissions for this report because the police departments response to a request for more information did not call the shooting a shooting. The police department described the shooting as an assault with a weapon," but there was no description of the weapon.

Earlier on Dec. 15, at 2 a.m., 43-year-old Quincy McCrae was fatally shot on Orient Avenue near Ocean Avenue, a little more than one mile away. Authorities have not arrested anyone in McCraes slaying.JERSEY CITY  A recent change in health plans for Jersey City Public Schools staff has been plagued by errors and incompetence, the president of the local teachers union says in a letter to district officials.

The district underestimated how much teachers would have to pay out of pocket for the new plan and gave out inaccurate premium rates, while teachers have had their health coverage dropped and been placed in the wrong plan, the letter from Jersey City Education Association President Ron Greco says.

The Dec. 14 letter to Schools Superintendent Marcia V. Lyles and Board of Education President Sudhan Thomas shows things are still not hunky dory between the districts leaders and its 2,900 teachers.

In March teachers walked off the job for one day after negotiations for a new contract fell apart largely over rising health care costs. Teachers won a new contract but clashed with the district again in June when the school board voted to move its employees to a new health care plan that the union said it knew nothing about.

According to Grecos letter, the districts errors are wreaking havoc on teachers who elected for certain health coverage based on false information.

"Our members made their respective elections in good faith based upon those initial rates, which the board now acknowledges were incorrect," Greco's letter says. "Other members, however, not only made coverage elections based upon those incorrect rates, but relied upon those rates in making their personal household budgeting decisions."

Over the summer the district switched its roughly 4,000 employees from the State Health Benefits Plan into a Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield self-insurance plan, saying it could save $15 million annually. They said workers would see no change in benefits other than a $5 increase in co-pays, to $15.

At the time, Thomas referred to the new plan as the Roman-Valentin affordable health care program, which referred to board members Marilyn Roman and Angel Valentin. Roman asked for her name to be taken off the measure.

On Monday Thomas told The Jersey Journal that he will review Grecos claims. The health plan change has saved taxpayers $22 million over the last five months, Thomas said.

The coverage transfer of about 12,000 lives (including dependents) could have been managed better, something the board leadership, district administration have repeatedly acknowledged these shortcomings in various forums, Thomas said in an email.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.Developers ruining Bayonne parks

The city of Bayonne is set to vote on a resolution that will allow a developer to remove trees from a public park under a Temporary Use Agreement granted by NJDEP Green Acres based on a misunderstanding of the facts.

Dr. David Morris Park in Bayonne is the only park in Bayonne named for an African American. Dr. Morris was the president of the physicians of Bayonne Hospital and president of the NAACP. He was a humanitarian. The park was created, in his honor, as a quiet, meditative, green space.

This small park has 11 trees. Aesthetically and environmentally they are an important part of the urban "forest". We are losing more and more trees in Bayonne and they are not being replaced. The park is important to the quality of life of the neighborhood.

A very large development is being erected next to the park. It will occupy nearly the entire block. The developer has created a proposal for the park that depends on the removal of all the trees.

The developer went to DEP Green Acres and was granted a Temporary Use Agreement allowing him to put up scaffolding in the park. The misunderstanding by Green Acres was that the city's approved plan included the eventual removal of all the trees. The city council has NOT approved this or any plan. Because of this misunderstanding Green Acres granted this temporary use agreement allowing some trees to be cut down immediately.

The city council will vote on a resolution to adopt this agreement on Wednesday Dec. 19, 7 p.m. Bayonne City Hall 630 Avenue C, Bayonne.

This issue extends beyond one park. Development is running unchecked in Bayonne. All the city parks are going to be "improved". The city is proceeding with no public hearings whatsoever. Two parks have been bulldozed of all trees already for "improvement". The residents have had no input in any park improvement.

The Bayonne council must adjourn the vote on this temporary use agreement and rewrite it to preserve the trees and honor their commitment to represent all the people of Bayonne and not just the developers's interests.

Jill Pustorino, Bayonne, Morris Park Neighborhood Association

Thanks to Angela McKnight

I would like to thank a true friend Angela McKnight who has been helping us for years. She is a godsend.

It takes a lot of hard work preparing dinners. Angela and her staff of volunteers are courteous and friendly; to our seniors I am a senior and I can't get out like I used to.

I like Angela because she does things to aide people who are in need. This is the real meaning of the holidays. Thanks Angela, for all that you do.

Rodney Warnick, Jersey City

Send caravan members to Hollywood

I have a solution for the migrant caravan. We should put them all on buses and send them to Hollywood where all the elites are so concerned about all these illegal immigrants.

We will see how they really react when they unload them in their neighborhood. These people who just want open borders and just let anyone in are such phonies.

Bob Manning, Bayonne

Brennan should not be ignored

Not 10-20-30 years ago but most recently charges of rape by Katie Brennan were ignored by our local police, Hudson County Prosecutor, Gov. Murphy and his administrators along with N.J. State Attorney General.

Lets pick up that heavy rug and gather "all" the filth leaving no dust behind. An open public hearing is not a "maybe" but a must. To be a victim of rape and then be raped over and over again is a no-no.

If need be, lawmakers must summons those who refuse to testify willingly. Noone is "above to the law." Sorry, I thought we were dealing with Hudson County.

Vicky Dee, Jersey City

Submit letters to the editor and guest columns at jjletters@jjournal.comThere are unfortunate political shenanigans afoot concerning the West Side SID (Special Improvement District), which is poised to be voted on and passed by the Jersey City Council Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018.

The West Side Community Alliance has long supported plans for an SID on West Side Avenue, and notably, so have our elected officials, both past and present. Now, there is suddenly a plan in the works to derail the formation of this much needed organization. Why? Public meetings have been held and information has been circulated to all concerned. Due diligence is complete and the time has come for the West Side SID to be created.

Existing SIDs are successful around Jersey City and will be on the West Side. Our commercial corridor will enjoy cleaner and brighter streets and storefronts and businesses will profit from a clientele who want to shop and dine at both existing and new stores and restaurants. SIDs create a pool of funds that will drive the standards of the community upward. This stimulus is exactly what our community needs, has asked for and now expects.

It is foolhardy for JC Council members to play politics with the lives and livelihoods of residents and business owners on the West Side. We elect representatives to work to elevate our communities and we demand nothing less.

The vote of the Council on Wednesday should be a unanimous confirmation of this ordinance.

Jodi Drennan, president, West Side Community Alliance (WSCA)

SIDs supplement municipal services

The public discussion on the proposed Special Improvement District for West Side Avenue has deteriorated. As Central Avenue property and business owners entrusted with Jersey City's first SID program, we feel the need to correct the narrative.

Improvement Districts empower stakeholders to accomplish what local government is simply unable or unwilling to do. By design, SIDs only supplement, not substitute, municipal services. This is the reason many commercial corridors establish SIDs as benefits are well known and widespread. There are now 6 Improvement Districts serving 7 out of 10 commercial corridors in Jersey City. New York City alone has 74 Improvement District while 90 Improvement Districts exist across that state of New Jersey.

The Central Avenue SID is one of the few in New Jersey that has a sunset clause built in requiring a referendum vote periodically among stakeholders. We take pride that the majority of our property and/ or business owners have voted to extend our SID program 12 times since it was established in 1992 and continue to self-impose the annual special assessment.

The opinions of those who directly pay and benefit from the special assessment continues to drive investment in our main street community. The median commercial property within the district has 25 linear feet with an annual SID assessment of $454 ($18.15 per linear foot). This means cost of the SID program and the benefits provided is only $1.25 per day. By comparison, the average cost of a cup of coffee is $2.00 or more.

For over two decades our SID has focused on the changing needs of our district and invested in meaningful solutions such as business development, marketing, creative placemaking, and various other district services. Today Central Avenue enjoys a 95% storefront occupancy rate and increased property value as a result.

We are very proud of what has been accomplished through our SID program for the past 26 years. Our SID continues our annual holiday lighting tradition; successfully advocated for streetscape improvements in the mid-90s; implemented strategies with the city to keep our district clean; embraced creative placemaking initiatives to bring public art and cultural events to our neighborhood; and created a large online and social media presence for our shopping district. Anyone who would like to learn about the Central Avenue SID can explore our website, www.CentralAveSID.org, for more highlights on the work we do.

As Jersey City continues to grow, its business community needs every tool available to be an active part of the conversation. Please support the commercial corridors who invest in Jersey City via a SID program to make our neighborhoods a better place to live, work, dine, and shop.

Sanford Fishman, president and CASID Board of Trustees

Submit letters to the editor and guest columns at jjletters@jjournal.comAnne Maselli, the director of communications and marketing for the archdiocese, said in a statement: We are selling a portion of the parish site to the Village of Norridge for the villages use. We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with the Village of Norridge and ensuring the Divine Savior Parish and the surrounding property are an anchor for the community.After a can of bear repellent ruptured at an Amazon warehouse in Robbinsville earlier this month and sent dozens to the hospital, warehouse workers and supporters from around the state rallied Tuesday outside the sprawling facility to call for better safety and pay increases.

We are here to say, we have your back, we are not going to forget what happened here, Megan Chambers, the co-manager of Laundry Distribution and Food Service Joint Board, SEIU, said in an interview after the rally. What happened here was not an isolated event, either for Amazon or for the warehouse industry in New Jersey.

NJ Advance Media previously reported that an automated machine ruptured a 9-ounce can of bear repellent, causing it to disperse in a confined area on the third floor in the south end of the warehouse. The substance caused 54 workers to experience difficulty breathing, as well as burning in the eyes and throat. One woman was injured critically, but expected to make a full recovery. Another 24 were taken to local hospitals and released following treatment.

Amazon is still investigating the incident, and said in a statement its too early to make too many suppositions about the root cause but the can was not ripped open or punctured by a robot.

A spokesperson also said Tuesdays rally was comprised of union members outside of the company, eager to target our employees as a new source of profit for their business.

Its simply not true to say that Amazon fulfillment centers are unsafe. Ensuring the safety of these associates is our number one priority," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday, noting orientations, trainings and meetings focus on safety. "Todays small event, which did not include a single current Amazon associate, shows how uninformed these so-called spokespersons for the workers are about actual working conditions at Amazon.

Around 30 people rallied in Robbinsville Tuesday morning, Chambers said. They included state officials, representatives from the union, a former Amazon employee and other organizations. The workers at the Robbinsville warehouse are not represented by the union.

This is a campaign to raise standards for warehouse workers, she said, noting the union is calling on the state to step in and investigate, as well. Were not going to let Amazon sweep this under the rug.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched an investigation into practices at the fulfillment center following the accident. It could take up to six months to complete, but an Amazon spokesperson said the company is in the process of removing that item from all robotics fulfillment centers.

OSHA fined the same location $7,000 in 2015 for a violation of recording criteria. It also investigated an Amazon facility in Avenel in 2013 after a worker was crushed and killed by equipment. Citations in that incident were issued to Genco, a third-party logistics firm operating the facility, and four temporary staffing agencies.

The agencys data shows Amazons violations in New Jersey are relatively minor, while other companies have seen penalties of $300,000 in some cases.

While Tuesdays demonstration emphasized the need for safety, organizers have other concerns with the industry.

Last week, statewide coalition Warehouse Workers Stand Up, released a report on conditions in New Jersey and called for a standard $15 minimum wage for works, set schedules, a right to organize and safe work places. Its authors took particularly concern with practices at Amazon, the largest warehouse employer in the state.

As a top employer in New Jersey, Amazon must improve the quality of its warehouse jobs," the report said. It can easily afford to offer better quality, full-time jobs that offer real living wages, decent benefits, fair production quotas, stable schedules, and career paths. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is one of the wealthiest people on the planet."

If Amazon is serious about listening to its critics, and wanting to lead, it will create more full-time living wage jobs for warehouse workers in its New Jersey supply chain, it continued.

An Amazon spokesperson noted the calls for $15 an hour should not apply to this facility, as workers are paid between $15 and $18.15 an hour.

That is why most people at todays media event are union employees and not current Amazon employees  Amazon employees are inside working together with leadership as a team to continually improve and provide a world class customer experience, the Amazon statement said.

This story has been updated to include a statement from Amazon.

Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.An East Windsor man who pleaded guilty his past summer to sexually assaulting two young girls was sentenced to 15 years in state prison recently, the Mercer County Prosecutors Office said.

Allan Montepeque-Nunez, 38, of the Windsor Castle apartments, assaulted the girls on various dates between 2011 and 2016 in East Windsor while the victims - who were known to him - were in his care.

He pleaded pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault in July 2018. On Dec. 7, Mercer Superior Court Judge Robert W. Bingham II sentenced him to two, concurrent 15-year terms, for which hes have to serve 85 percent of the time before hes eligible for parole.

Montepeque-Nunez will be under parole supervision for life when he leaves prison and has to register as a sex offender as part of Megans Law.

Last summer, while jailed in Mercer County awaiting this case, he pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal sexual contact for a 2016 incident in Manalapan, Monmouth County, involving a 14-year-old girl, court records show.

Assistant Mercer County Prosecutor Laura Kotarba of the offices Special Victims Unit handled the case.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.A Sayreville police sergeant is facing vehicular assault and drunk driving charges after an off-duty wreck Tuesday in Old Bridge left another driver in critical condition, investigators say.

Jeffrey Kutz, 57, has been charged with third-degree vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated in connection with the wreck on Route 9 South early Tuesday, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office.

Prosecutors said the other driver in the wreck, which occurred near the Old Texas Road intersection, was airlifted to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

Authorities have not released the identity of the victim or the types of vehicles involved in the crash.

It was not immediately clear whether Kutz sustained any injuries of his own in the wreck, or whether he had an attorney who could comment on the charges.

Kutz, a Marlboro resident, was hired by the Sayreville Police Department in 1997, records show.

The prosecutors office said he is scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in New Brunswick on Jan. 24, 2019.

Authorities have asked anyone with information regarding the crash to call Officer Henry Penley of the Old Bridge Police Department at 732-721-5600, or prosecutors office Detective Donald Heck at 732-745-8842.

Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.A bill aimed at closing a jet fuel tax loophole is moving through the state assembly, with legislators hopeful it could create revenue for a long-awaited PATH extension.

But opponents are worried it could force higher, unfair fares on those flying out of Newark Liberty International Airport.

Under current law, airlines do not pay a fuel tax on interstate and foreign flights, aside from the amount of fuel used in burnout, which occurs during taxiing and takeoff. The new legislation would require airlines to pay $0.04 per gallon on fuel purchased in New Jersey, unless the airlines are operating at an airport in the state which sees less than 20,000 commercial flights a year (thats every airport except Newark).

The bills sponsors, assemblymen John Burzichelli, D-Salem, and Thomas Giblin, D-Clifton, are eyeing the new-found revenue as a means to fund a $1.7 billion PATH extension to Newark Liberty International Airport. But Burzichelli also sees it as a way to right a past wrong, yanking an undeserved privilege from airlines.

I dont get how this original tax as its presently shaped ever occurred, he said in a call with NJ Advance Media. If youre from North Carolina, you pay the New Jersey tax buying [gasoline] here. I just think its fair that the tax be assessed on whats purchased."

The bill, introduced in September, was amended Dec. 10. It is awaiting scheduling for a vote on the General Assembly floor.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates PATH, has pegged the extensions completion for 2026, making it part of the agencys 10-year, $32 billion capital plan. The extension will also include a PATH station in Newarks South Ward, which officials hope will spur jobs and revitalize the area.

But for airlines, the tax is a burden they may have to pass onto customers, ultimately saddling travelers with the cost of a big government project that should be funded by other tax revenue theyre paying in state.

New Jersey would be going in the completely opposite direction of other states, Sean Williams, the vice president of state and local affairs with Airlines For America, a trade association and lobbying group representing some of the countrys largest airlines, told NJ Advance Media. Most other states are either rejecting increases in jet fuel taxes or lowering them or getting rid of them altogether.

The states current tax policy puts it at the low-end nationally, ranking 44th in jet fuel taxes. The change would bump New Jersey to 25th, Williams said.

The bill has put legislators at odds with United Airlines, the largest carrier at Newark Liberty, as it would take the hardest hit. Initial legislation didnt call out United by name, it applied only to airlines moving more than 8 million passengers a year. Here, only United fit that description.

That move had the airline in September hypothetically talking of moving its Northeast hub someplace else. An October amendment of the bill did away with the passenger quota, but kept it only at airports seeing 20,000 flights a year. That lets operators at airports like Atlantic City International, Trenton-Mercer and Teterboro avoid the new tax rules.

United Airlines does not receive a special tax break and pays the same jet fuel tax rate as other commercial air carriers that serve in New Jersey, the airline said in a statement Monday.

United has invested more than $400 million in Newark over the past two years, and pays around $500 million in state and local taxes stemming from its Newark revenue, according to the company. Travelers who flew United into Newark spent an estimated $1.6 billion in the state, according to Uniteds estimates.

We are proud of our 14,000 employees in New Jersey, the role we as a company take on as a vital economic engine for the state and look forward to making further investments in our terminal in the years to come," the statement continued.

Some, including United, have questioned the legality of such a bill, noting Federal Aviation Administration guidelines block states from using fuel tax revenue for non-aviation-related expenses.

It really, truly is a tax in search of a project," Williams said. The people that are going to pay for this are passengers. It will either have the impact of increasing fares or reducing service. Not only would New Jersey be uncompetitive nationally, it would be uncompetitive in the region."

With large hubs in New York and Philadelphia, travelers could find other routes, usually just an hours drive away.

Its not clear how much that current loophole is saving travelers, or the impact the increase would have on fares. Williams said the issue is too complex to speculate, and a United spokeswoman declined to comment on future pricing, citing statutes that prevent such disclosures.

An index ranking airport affordability in 2016 put Newark Liberty at 49th in the country, according to Cheapflights.com. LaGuardia came in third, Philadelphia 10th and JFK 95th.

Burzichelli said neither the competition, nor perceived legal concerns, have him worried. He sees the train extension as essential aviation infrastructure, as it will move both employees and travelers to and from the airport, and questions how airlines would move to airports like Philadelphia or JFK, which are already bustling with other operators.

And to him, its only fair they pay tax on goods purchased in New Jersey.

If these airlines think that shouldnt be the case, then dont buy the the fuel here, Burzichelli said. I think theyll still buy the fuel here.

Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.A new round of appeals will likely keep two former aides of Gov. Chris Christie who were convicted in the Bridgegate scandal out of prison for the foreseeable future.

Earlier this week, the trial judge in the high-profile case signed an order suspending the dates for Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly to report to federal prison, pending a still-unscheduled re-sentencing hearing after an appeals court decision led to the dismissal of some of the charges against them. The U.S. Attorneys office did not object to the delay.

In her order, U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton in Newark, who presided over the Bridgegate trial, agreed to delay their surrender dates and ordered their lawyers to file an update on their appeal status by Jan. 11.

Baroni, 46, had been facing 24 months in prison. Kelly, 45, had originally been sentenced to a term of 18 months. Both have remained free on bail since their convictions.

Attorneys for the pair, meanwhile said in a filing that they plan to file a petition with the appeals court for a rehearing by the full court, in connection with their efforts to have all the criminal charges against them dismissed.

Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Kelly who served as Christies deputy chief of staff, were found guilty in November 2016 in plan of political retribution involving the unauthorized shutdown of several local access lanes to the toll plaza of the George Washington Bridge. Prosecutors said they conspired to cause massive traffic jams in Fort Lee as payback against Mayor Mark Sokolich after he walked away from an expected endorsement during Christies re-election campaign for governor.

Christie, who has repeatedly denied any advance knowledge of the scheme, was never charged of any wrongdoing or involvement, although the episode and the criminal investigation it sparked would haunt the former governors ill-fated campaign for president.

Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia upheld a major part of the convictions of the two. The court said federal prosecutors presented evidence sufficient to prove that the two fraudulently obtained the labor of public employees, and in a harsh rebuke, said there was no "legitimate justification" for Baroni and Kelly's conduct.

However, the three-judge panel threw out a part of the case dealing with civil rights violations against the two former Christie associates, which focused on whether there was a right to intrastate travel. In its ruling, the Third Circuit said "there is hardly a 'robust consensus'" that the right to interstate travel exists, and sent the case back to Wigenton for resentencing on the remaining charges.

Kellys attorney, Michael Critchley of West Orange, said he intended to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.Two priests with ties to South Jersey were among a list of Jesuit priests who faced credible or established accusations of sexual abuse of minors dating to 1950 released Monday by the Roman Catholic Jesuit province which serves much of the eastern United States.

In a letter, the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus identified five living Jesuits facing offenses that took place in the province and another eight who are dead. The men  part of a Catholic order that includes more than 16,000 men worldwide  served in churches, high schools, colleges and other institutions.

Michael Barber, who is still alive, pled guilty in 1994 to charge of harassment by offensive touching after he was accused of sexual abuse in Upper Township the same year, according to the report.

Barber was assigned to Saint Josephs University in Philadelphia when the abuse occurred and was removed from the ministry and was living in a restricted environment on a safety plan, the report stated. He also served at St. Peters University in Jersey City from 1979-1983.

Another priest with South Jersey ties, Jeffries Burton, who died in 2011, faced a single allegation in 1982 of unwanted touching over clothing, the report stated.

However, the report does not say if Burton, who served at a youth ministry in North Carolina when the alleged abuse occurred, was ever convicted.

Burton served at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and Atlantic Cape Community College, and the Holy Spirit Rectory, all in Atlantic City from 1989-2006, the report said. He also served at Holy Name Church in Camden from 1983-1988.

The report said that he was removed from the ministry in 2007.

Its the latest in a string of similar disclosures from Jesuit governing bodies. Earlier this month, two other Jesuit provinces that cover nearly half the U.S. released the names of more than 150 priests and other ministry leaders found to have credible allegations of sexual abuse made against them.

The letter from the Rev. Robert Hussey, the leader of the Jesuit province headquartered in Maryland, states that most cases date back decades and the most recent incident occurred in 2002. The five still alive are listed as living in supervised housing "on a safety plan." He said in the letter, dated Monday, that the province hopes the disclosure "will contribute to reconciliation and healing."

"We are deeply sorry for the harm we have caused to victims and their families," said Hussey, whose statement was attached to the list of names and accusations.

None of the living named Jesuits are in active ministry in the grouping that extends through South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia, southern New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.

While some of the named Jesuit priests were removed from ministry in the 1990s, others were not removed until well after the U.S. church sex abuse scourge exploded in Boston in 2002. One accused priest, Neil McLaughlin, was not removed from ministry until 2007 despite the fact he is believed to have abused youngsters from his ordination in 1959 until the 1980s, with multiple accusations of abuse from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Georgia, New York and Massachusetts.

Another Jesuit priest, J. Glenn Murray, was only removed from ministry in 2011, decades after he was accused of a single allegation of sex abuse in Baltimore dating from 1981, a few years after his ordination.

David Lorenz, a clergy sex abuse survivor who leads the Maryland chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said he was glad the Jesuits were putting out a list of abusers so some victims could get some relief and move ahead in their lives. But he stressed that the list was "wholly inadequate," in his view, and the only way to get all the information about church abuse was through subpoenas by independent investigators.

Unless you force them to open up their records you cant believe that what theyre giving you is complete, Lorenz said in a phone interview Monday.

The Jesuits have previously settled lawsuits across the country, including a $166 million settlement involving about 500 abuse claims in Oregon in 2011, one of the largest settlements involving clergy abuse allegations.

The Jesuit president of Maryland's Loyola University, the Rev. Brian F. Linnanne, issued a statement Monday that seven Jesuits on the list were previously affiliated with the institution or with Loyola's Jesuit community. None of the allegations occurred while they were on campus.

"Transparency and openness can reveal weighty truths. We must confront them and address them so we can move forward with optimism, hope, and a conviction that we will never allow such deplorable actions to occur in the future," he wrote.

In an email, the spokesman for the Baltimore Archdiocese said there was hope that the "disclosure will advance the culture of transparency that we have worked hard to create and that it will inspire other potential courageous victim-survivors to come forward."

Catholic bishops adopted widespread reforms in 2002 when clergy abuse became a national crisis for the church in the U.S., including stricter requirements for reporting accusations to law enforcement and a streamlined process for removing clerics.

But a Pennsylvania grand jury this year made very clear that more changes are needed. In a nearly 900-page report released Aug. 14, the grand jury alleged that more than 300 Roman Catholic priests had abused at least 1,000 children over the past seven decades in six Pennsylvania dioceses. It also accused senior church officials of systematically covering up complaints.A 63-year-old licensed insurance broker from New Jersey set up fake companies to defraud three Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates out of about $10 million over a more than seven-year period, federal authorities said.

Jonas Knopf, of Lakewood, was charged with three counts of health care fraud after selling insurance to hundreds of individuals not eligible for benefits, the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a statement Monday. If convicted, the CEO of Madison Financial Services faces up to 10 years in federal prison one each count.

Two other alleged co-conspirators are not named in court papers.

Knopf created the 11 sham companies to market and sell insurance premiums at inflated prices to people who didnt actually work for him, according to court papers. The companies claimed to employ hundreds of people in Pennsylvania and the Washington, D.C. area, though the phony workers were mainly residents of Lakewood and Brooklyn, New York.

None of the companies actually conducted any legitimate business, authorities said. In most instances, the companies did little more than rent office space where no actual work was performed, authorities said. Court documents gave one example in which a company formed by Knopf was nothing more than a desk in a rear office of a used car dealership in Pennsylvania. Though some of the companies claimed to employ hundreds of people, one consisted of two men from Lakewood who are related to Knopf, authorities said.

Knopf even went so far as to issue fake payroll checks, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. Blue Cross Blue Shield in Pennsylvania caught on in 2013 when an internal investigation revealed irregularities in the information Knopf provided through his phony companies. Then the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance began looking into Knopf and he gave up his license to sell insurance in Pennsylvania, authorities said.

He allegedly continued the fraud in Virginia until January 2017, though. Knopf made his first appearance in federal court in Newark on Monday.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.Most of my fellow members of the mainstream media are of the opinion that last week was a bad one for President Donald Trump.

I beg to differ.

Last week it was announced that the Weekly Standard was going out of business. It seems theres no market for a conservative publication dedicated to opposing Trump.

Thats good news. Its further proof that - if theres one thing Trump has done since assuming office - it is solidifying his support among conservatives.

As for the conservatives who worked in the offices of the Standard until last week, only inside the Beltway could such characters as editor Bill Kristol be considered conservative.

If you doubt that, consider the current scrum over immigration. If The Donald goes ahead and shuts down the government later this week over funding his border wall, that may anger the establishment. But it will serve to solidify his support out here in the hinterlands.

Its left to the inside-the Beltway Republicans to say the sort of thing Kristol said about immigration last year.

In an interview, Kristol began by saying that basically if you are in free society, a capitalist society, after two or three generations of hard work everyone becomes kind of decadent, lazy, spoiled  whatever.

Then, luckily, you have these waves of people coming in from Italy, Ireland, Russia, and now Mexico, who really want to work hard and really want to succeed  and arent sort of clipping coupons or hoping that they can hang on and meanwhile grew up as spoiled kids and so forth.

Kristol prefaced that by saying, I hope this isnt being videotaped. But it was. And in conservative circles, that video is circulated in the same way the video of Hillary Clintons speech about the deplorables was.

Kristol was also much closer to Clinton than Trump on foreign policy. Like Clinton, he was an early supporter of the Iraq War.

In 2003, he declared that This is going to be a two-month war, not an eight-year war." He also said, "There has been a certain amount of pop sociology ... that the Shi'a can't get along with the Sunni ... There's almost no evidence of that at all."

As for Trump, he said in 2004, Does anybody really believe that Iraq is going to be a wonderful democracy where people are going to run down to the voting box and gently put in their ballot and the winner is happily going to step up to lead the country?

Trump rejected the idea of deposing any more secular dictators, such as Bashar Assad in Syria  a goal supported by both Clinton and Kristol.

All of this got Kristol so agitated that he announced a personal search for someone to replace Trump on the ticket. (Hes at it again for 2020. Why doesnt this guy just become a Democrat?)

At a rally in May of that year, Trump responded with a two-minute tirade against the lightweight Bill Kristol.

Heres what I dont understand, he said. Why do you keep putting a guy on television when hes been wrong for so long? All he wants to do is go to war and kill people, even though he knows its not working.

I suspect the reason Kristol is so often asked to provide the conservative side of an issue is that his idea of conservatism has been so thoroughly discredited that hearing him makes liberals more content in their own beliefs.

As for Trump, his version of conservatism will only get stronger as the Democrats take over the House.

In his first two years, Trump often fought with fellow Republicans who held both houses. But with Nancy Pelosi storming their castle, Republicans will have to man the ramparts.

And if the House Democrats agenda includes impeachment, the Republican majority in the Senate is likely to look at things the way U.S. Sen. Rand Paul does.

Last week the Kentucky Republican offered a defense guaranteed to resonate with Republicans  and even some Democrats.

"We have to decide whether or not really criminal penalties are the way we should approach campaign finance," the Kentucky Senator said. He added, "Its just like a lot of other things weve done in Washington. Weve over-criminalized campaign finance."

Paul brought up the case of John Edwards, the failed candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination who used campaign funds to pay off a woman with whom hed had a baby out of wedlock. He noted that a jury acquitted Edwards of campaign-finance violations.

I dont know what those jurors were thinking. But I think I know what a lot of politicians were thinking:

There but for fortune New Jersey's top legislative leaders just tried to pull a slippery stunt that would have cheapened our democracy by tilting the electoral map in their favor, but they were forced to abandon it last weekend after the party's base revolted.

"We don't have to cheat to win," said Analilia Mejia, head of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance.

Imagine if the Republican base in this Trump era had the same respect for fair play.

The question is relevant today as a federal judge prepares to rule on a challenge to the Trump administration's shameless effort to undercount Latinos in the 2020 census by adding a question on citizenship status. There is no doubt that the question will scare off a portion of the Latino population, leading to an undercount.

That means states like New Jersey, with heavy Latino populations, will not get their fair share of political power in Congress, since the size of each state's delegation is based on Census data. It means that within New Jersey, cities and towns with heavy Latino populations will not get their fair share of political power in Trenton, since the state's political map is based on Census data as well.

And because Washington distributes hundreds of billions of dollars based on this same data, states like New Jersey will get less than they deserve, again. Keep in mind that New Jersey already ranks among the biggest losers when it comes to federal aid, receiving 74 cents for every dollar we send to Washington, according to a 2015 study by the Rockefeller Institute. The Trump tax plan added to the imbalance by capping the federal tax deduction for state and local taxes, and Trump Census plan will now make it worse again.

But it's the offense to democracy that really stings. The Trump administration pretends that its only goal is to accurately describe the country's population, as if they are adding a question about pet ownership. Wilbur Ross, who runs the Census as the Secretary of Commerce, told Congress that he had added this question without even discussing it with Trump or his senior aides. That, we know now, was a flat-out lie. The idea was first raised to him by Steven Bannon, Trump's former political strategist.

Why would Ross lie about that? The only reasonable answer is that he was trying to hide the political nature of this move. It's not about accuracy. It's about gaining partisan advantage.

Since Trump opened his campaign, he has been bashing immigrants with malicious lies, starting with his claim that they are more likely to commit crimes. He has threatened mass deportations. He has taken every opportunity to rile up his base by describing desperate parents and their children as threats to our national security.

The Census Bureau is barred by law from sharing information with immigration officials. But if you were an undocumented immigrant, would you trust this administration to play by the rules at the risk of being deported? Suppose you are a legal immigrant but are one of the estimated 500,000 people in New Jersey living in a home with at least one undocumented immigrant. Would you want to draw the attention of the federal government these days? In focus groups organized by experts at the Census Bureau, legal and illegal immigrants expressed fear that their information would be shared.

A handful of Republicans in New Jersey have objected to this scheme, including Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi, R-Bergen, who warns that it will cut into federal aid to New Jersey. But most Republicans are going along quietly, either because they agree with Trump or they are scared of his ability to rile up the party's base voters against his critics. New Jersey is one of 18 states that have joined this suit, but not a single Republican attorney general has joined them.

These are scary times. Our democracy is not about to collapse into chaos or military rule, but that's now how democracies usually die. They die from 1,000 small cuts, as authoritarian leaders attack the press, challenge the independence of judges, and corrupt the integrity of elections. This attempt to undermine the accuracy of the Census for political advantage would be just one more cut. Given the indifference of most Republicans, our best hope to prevent it lies with the federal courts.

More: Tom Moran columns

Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or call (973) 836-4909. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.WASHINGTON  The high cost of housing in New Jersey helped lead to a 10.1 percent increase in homelessness this year, the sixth biggest increase in the country.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress found 9,398 homeless individuals in the state this year, up from 8,536 in 2017. The homeless are counted on one day each year.

In the last decade, the number of homeless individuals in the state has declined by 32.1 percent.

Kate Kelly, an associate with Monarch Housing, blamed the recent increase in part on the high cost of housing. Monarch based in Cranford, works to expand the supply of affordable housing in the state.

For example, she said, a household would need to earn $28.17 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment, but the average salary is $18.21 an hour.

That speaks to the housing affordability crisis in our state and how expensive it is to afford a home in New Jersey, she said.

The figures are slightly higher than the figures reported in October by Monarch, which leads the annual count. The 2018 count was conducted on Jan. 23.

In October, Monarch senior associate Taiisa Kelly said more homeless individuals may have been counted than in previous years due to state programs, including Housing First, which finds apartments for individuals before trying to provide any social services they may need. In addition, the state has been partnering with hospitals who treat homeless individuals their emergency rooms, Kate Kelly said.

Nationally, the number of homeless individuals remained steady from 2017 to 2018, growing at just 0.3 percent.

President Barack Obamas administration in 2010 began a nationwide effort to eliminate homelessness. Since then, the number has declined by 13.2 percent.

Much progress is being made, Housing Secretary Ben Carson said on a conference call with reporters. Much work remains to be done.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.UPDATE: Murphys chief of staff testifies he asked Brennans accused rapist to leave months earlier than previously disclosed

A top aide to Gov. Phil Murphy testified Tuesday that he told both the governors transition counsel and chief of staff to-be in November of last year that a member of the Murphys transition team had accused another transition official of raping her.

The testimony from Justin Braz, a close friend to Katie Brennan  the top staffer who has accused Albert J. Alvarez of rape  and Murphys deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs, builds out the timeline leading up to an October Wall Street Journal report in which Brennan publicly revealed her accusations.

Braz is the first administration official to testify before a special legislative committee investigating how Murphys team handled Brennans allegations. More than a half dozen have accepted the panels invitations and several are expected to testify Tuesday at the Statehouse in Trenton or at a later date.

Brennan, chief of staff to the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, has accused the administration of ignoring her allegations until it became a political problem for them. In an appearance before the committee earlier this month, she revealed the campaign, transition and administration officials she told in the days and months following the April 2017 alleged rape.

Brennan testified on Dec. 4 that Braz was the first person she told. Braz was working for state Assemblyman Gary Schaer, D-Passaic, at the time and becoming involved with Murphys team.

Justin Braz, deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs, is the first member of Gov. Phil Murphy's administration to testify before a special legislative committee on Tuesday in Trenton. (Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media)NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Brennan said she confided in Braz with the understanding he wouldnt share the information.

I was shocked and horrified and felt devastated for my friend," Braz told lawmakers on Tuesday.

He testified that they spoke again in November 2017, when Brennan called to let him know the prosecutors office could soon be filing charges against Alvarez.

At the time, Braz said, Mr. Alvarez was working on Governor Murphys transition, as was I. Katie and I spoke about the need to inform the transition and her desire not to be identified.

With Brennans permission, Braz said he contacted Raj Parikh, transition counsel, and Pete Cammarano, who was Brazs direct supervisor.

I told them that Mr. Alvarez was accused of sexual assault by someone involved in a transition committee and that he might be arrested in the near future, Braz said. "When they asked me the name of the accuser, I said I was not authorized to give that information.

They thanked me and said they appreciated me bringing it to their attention," he added.

Brennan followed up that day with an update that the Hudson County Prosecutors Office would not be pressing charges, Braz said. He relayed that information to Parikh and Cammarano.

This was the last time I spoke to anyone about Katies claims until the Wall Street Journal started making inquiries of the governors office many months later, Braz said.

He told the committee he did not raise the issue again because I didnt want to elevate anything without her permission.

Cammarano is scheduled to testify later Tuesday. Parikh has not yet been invited.

Alvarez, who resigned as chief of staff to the New Jersey Schools Development Authority on Oct. 2, the same day he was contacted by the Wall Street Journal, declined the committees invitation.

Brennan said that Alvarez raped her after a Murphy campaign event last April while he was working for the campaign and she was a volunteer.

He was later hired by the transition and the administration. Alvarez has not been charged in relation to Brennans accusations and has denied he raped her.

Alvarez remained in his schools authority job until October, when he resigned after the Wall Street Journal asked him about the allegations.

Also expected to testify Tuesday are Parimal Garg, Murphys deputy chief counsel; Heather Taylor, Murphys chief ethics officer; and Charlie McKenna, the former CEO of the Schools Development Authority.

The committees co-chair, state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, said the panel will try to hear from as many as possible Tuesday.

Matt Platkin, Murphys chief counsel, and Lizette Delgado-Polanco, the new CEO of the Schools Development Authority, have scheduling conflicts and will appear at a later date, Weinberg said.

The committees next hearing is Jan. 8.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.UPDATE: Top Murphy staffer accused of rape was told to leave his job twice. But he didnt.

Gov. Phil Murphys former campaign manager called a state lawmaker a straight up liar" Tuesday after she suggested without evidence he was college roommates with Albert J. Alvarez, a former top Murphy staffer who was hired for and remained in a top state job for months after senior Murphy aides learned he was accused of rape.

State Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi, R-Bergen, suggested the connection between Brendan Gill, the ex-campaign manager, and Alvarez while questioning another Murphy official during a public hearing on how the governors team handled Katie Brennans allegations that Alvarez raped her.

Schepisi later said she was referring to a rumor in her line of questioning.

Gill, now an influential Murphy adviser, told NJ Advance Media he believes Alvarez attended Seton Hall University at the same time he did. But, he stressed, they were not roommates because Gill was a commuter.

I didnt know him in undergrad," Gill said of Alvarez.

Gill later went to law school at Seton Hall, while Alvarez went to Rutgers Law School.

Schepisis line of questioning appeared to suggest deep personal ties between Alvarez and a member of the Democratic governors inner circle.

The Republican lawmaker brought it up while asking questions to Justin Braz, Murphys deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs. Schepisi asked Braz if he knew anything about Alvarezs relationship with Gill.

You werent aware that they were college roommates as well? Schepisi asked.

Gill  an Essex County freeholder who now runs a nonprofit that promotes Murphys agenda  began vehemently denying the claim on Twitter.

Holly is a straight up liar, clearly fed information by enemies of the governor. I was a commuter!! Gill said in one tweet.

yes Holly is a straight up liar, clearly fed information by enemies of the Governor. I was a commuter!!  Brendan Gill (@BrendanWGill) December 18, 2018

my roommate was my my 11 year old brother who I shared a bunk bed with while I was in college.  Brendan Gill (@BrendanWGill) December 18, 2018

After Gills social media comments, Schepisi  an attorney by trade  attempted to clarify the situation. She said her comments sent Gill into a Twitter frenzy.

I just want to clarify that when I asked you the question about college roommates, I had meant to ask, Have you ever heard that rumor from anybody prior and were you aware that they attended college together? Scepisi asked Braz.

Braz said no.

Schepisi later told NJ Advance Media she heard a rumor from a third party that Gill and Alvarez were roommates. Then, Schepisi said, she had a casual conversation with someone in the governors office" who confirmed they heard a rumor Gill and Alvarez shared an apartment at some point in college.

The lawmaker said she asked the question to run it to ground during the hearing.

I never expected it to hit such a nerve with Brendan Gill, Schepisi said.

State Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi questions Justin Braz, Gov. Phil Murphys deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs, during Tuesday's hearing at the Statehouse in Trenton.NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Schepisi also took to Twitter to defend herself.

The goal of the committee is to understand why someone credibly accused of felonious sexual assault was hired, retained and given a raise. Nothing more, nothing less.  Holly Schepisi (@HollySchepisi) December 18, 2018

Never said someone in Governors office asked me to bring it up. It was discussed casually in a conversation. It is pertinent if a prior relationship/friendship contributed to hiring someone notwithstanding allegations raised. If they werent friends than nothing to follow.  Holly Schepisi (@HollySchepisi) December 18, 2018

The committee of state lawmakers is investigating how Murphys team handled Brennans allegations.

Five of Murphys current or former staff members are scheduled to testify either Tuesday or at a later date before the committee of state lawmakers. Braz was the first to appear.

Brennan, who is now chief of staff of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, testified earlier this month she told four Murphy staffers about the allegations over the last year. But Alvarez was hired and remained in his job until Oct. 2, when the Wall Street Journal contacted him about the accusations.

Murphy insists he did not know about the allegations until the day Alvarez resigned.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus.

Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.Democrats who lead the state Legislature made a sudden about-face this weekend when they canceled a Monday vote on a redistricting plan that drew outrage from practically everyone but the sponsors  including fellow Democrats like Gov. Phil Murphy and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

The question now: Is the plan dead or simply sleeping?

The Legislatures top Democrats, state Senate President Stephen Sweeney and state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, both said Monday theyre not completely dropping the idea of revamping redistricting.

But, they said, theyre taking a step back to look over the sea of complaints and discuss a possible compromise with opponents.

So if Democrats do move forward with a redistricting proposal next year, it wont look like the one just shelved.

The reason we were holding hearings is to listen to everyone, listen to what opposition does exist, and to see if we can find the sweet spot, Sweeney, D-Gloucester, told reporters after Mondays voting session at the Statehouse in Trenton  the final one of the year.

There were some mistakes made, he added in an interview with NJ Advance Media later Monday night.

Coughlin, D-Middlesex, had a similar view.

(Critics) think theres probably a better way of doing redistricting, he said. So well take a look at it.

But, Coughlin stressed, it wouldnt be that bill.

The proposal (SCR152/ACR205) would have asked New Jersey voters on next Novembers ballot to approve an amendment to the state constitution to alter how the state draws its legislative districts  the areas represented by the elected members of the Legislature, the body that makes the states laws.

But the plan united critics who are not usually on the same side: Republicans, Democrats, left-leaning groups, good-government advocates, and nonpartisan academics.

They warned the amendment would write a partisan formula into the constitution that could guarantee Democrats' control of the Legislature for decades.

It would require at least 10 of the states 40 districts be drawn within five points of the average statewide vote in statewide elections  for president, U.S. Senate, and governor  over the last decade.

That would likely favor Democrats because there are 900,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate hasnt been elected here since 1972, and a Republican presidential candidate hasnt won here since 1988.

Democratic sponsors said they were simply trying to make the process of choosing lawmakers fairer and more reflective of the states voters, who happen to lean Democratic right now. They argued Republicans could benefit in the future if the states voter makeup changes.

A similar plan died after backlash in 2015. But this time, the pushback was more pronounced, coming at a time when progressive activism is blossoming.

Murphy, a more progressive Democrat who sometimes spars with the moderate Democrats who lead the Legislature, spoke out. So did liberal groups who are aligned with Murphy  and who helped Democrats flip four U.S. House seats in Novembers midterm elections.

They argued the plan wasnt fair and threatened to undermine national Democrats' efforts to battle Republican gerrymandering in other states. And they complained it was being ramrodded through at the end of the year.

Holder chimed in from afar, and national media outlets covered the controversy.

By Saturday, it became clear Democratic legislative leaders might not have enough votes to pass the plan. That night, they canceled the Monday vote.

Murphy celebrated the move.

Quite simply, this was the right thing to do, the governor said at an unrelated news conference in Kearny on Monday. We dont need to rig the system. We need to, in fact, further open up the system.

Murphy said hed be wide open to overhauling redistricting in a way thats more transparent, more inclusive, and less political.

Murphy first says Democratic lawmakers decision to pull the controversial redistricting plan was the right thing to do. We dont need to rig the system. Background: https://t.co/KAxiVA63Lv pic.twitter.com/aIJ4aLoE9a  Brent Johnson (@johnsb01) December 17, 2018

The state next redraws its districts in 2021.

If Democratic lawmakers do want to revamp the proposal by then, the Legislature would have to pass it by a three-fifths majority next year to get it on Novembers ballot, according to the state constitution. Otherwise, they could pass it by simple majorities in each of the next two years to get it before voters in 2020.

Sweeney said one mistake was having the measure say it would protect communities of interest rather than communities of color. Some critics worried the plan could have disenfranchised minority voters.

Unfortunately, it did not specify that commitment and that scared a lot of people, the Senate president said. Well come back and look at it.

Another idea being floated by activists is to fill the commission that redraws the districts with members of the public  a citizens commission of sorts  to take politics out of the process.

Asked if that was a possibility, Sweeney said: I am open to looking at what was proposed, what was testified to, and to look at it.

This is a citizens legislature, isnt it? he added. The people voted for us.

Right now, theres an 11-member commission in charge of the maps. The Democratic and Republican party state chairs pick five members each, while the final member is picked by the state Supreme Court chief justice.

The amendment would have changed it to a 13-member panel, with four legislative members choosing two members a piece, the party chairs choosing two apiece, and the justice choosing the final slot.

Sweeney dismissed he idea that redistricting would be his biggest priority in 2019.

No, my biggest priorities are minimum wage and marijuana, he said of proposals to increase New Jerseys minimum wage to $15 an hour and legalizing recreational marijuana in the state. I think we are close on minimum wage  I hope we are  and marijuana.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.

Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.Seven months after a school bus crash left a Paramus fifth-grade student and middle-school teacher dead, Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday signed four more safety laws that aim to prevent more bus accidents from happening in New Jersey.

The bills Murphy signed into law include:

Requiring permanent and substitute school bus drivers and aides in the state to take safety classes twice a year ( A4345 ).

Requiring school bus operations in the state to comply with federal regulations ( A4339 ).

Requiring those who hold a bus drivers license in the state to submit a medical report, those over the age of 70 to submit proof of physical fitness every year, and those over 75 to submit proof every six months ( S2848 ).

Requiring that when when a school bus driver in the state has had their license suspended or revoked, the local school board or bus driver must verify to the state Department of Education that the driver no longer operates a bus for them ( S2850 ).

The student, Miranda Faith Vargas, 10, and the teacher, Jennifer Williamson, 51  both from East Brook Middle School in Paramus  were killed in May when their bus collided with a dump truck on Route 80 while headed to a class trip.

The driver of the bus, Hudy Muldrow Sr., 77, of Jersey City, was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide.

After the tragic school bus accident in Paramus earlier this year, it became clearer than ever that we must act to protect our children and educators through common sense school bus safety reforms," Murphy, a Democrat, said in a statement Monday.

Thanks to our actions in partnership with the Legislature, parents will be able to send their children to school knowing that school buses and school bus drivers are being held to extremely high standards designed to ensure the safety of students, the governor added.

In August, Murphy signed a law inspired by the crash that requires all New Jersey school buses have lap and shoulder seat belts.

Murphy on Monday also conditionally vetoed a school safety bill (A4342) that would require public school students to carry identification card at school-sponsored off-campus activities and require principals to keep list of students on school buses used for such activities in case of emergencies.

In his veto statement, Murphy said the the broad and mandatory nature of the measure could be subject to a legal challenge. He asked the state Legislature to make changes before he would sign it.

All of the bills Murphy acted on Monday were passed without opposition in either house of the Democrat-controlled Legislature.

State Sen. Joseph Lagana, D-Bergen, a main sponsor, said they laws should help ensure "no parent or child will have to go through what too many have endured these past few months.

At the same time Monday, the state Assembly gave final legislative passage to another bill inspired by the Paramus crash  one that would require school district transportation supervisors to complete a training program.

Creating a culture of school bus safety begins with supervisors at the top, said Assemblyman Anthony Bucco, R-Morris, a sponsor of the measure (A2436).

Its now up to Murphy whether to sign or veto the bill.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.Struggling New Jersey families who rely on welfare assistance will see a 10 percent increase in monthly payments thanks to a bill Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law Monday.

The state has not raised the value of the monthly grant since 1987, during Gov. Tom Keans administration, when Ronald Reagan was president.

The increase means the $424-a-month check for a family of three rises to $466, according to the new law (S2845).

In 2016, the last time there was a fiscal analysis on the measure, the money needed in the state budget for the first year was estimated at $14.2 million, based on enrollment projections. The change takes effect immediately.

If state lawmakers want the increase to last beyond the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30, another law must be passed. The law does not extend beyond the current fiscal year, according to the bill.

There were 12,600 families enrolled in the welfare program known as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, according to state statistics from September, the most recent available. The increase also benefits the 11,300 childless adults enrolled in the general assistance program, who receive typically $140 a month.

Raising the welfare grant has been a goal of social service advocates for decades, and a 10 percent increase does not make up for that time. A family getting $424 a month 31 years ago had the purchasing power of about $946 in todays dollars.

A similar bill passed the Democrat-controlled state Legislature in 2016 but Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, vetoed it.

Murphy is a Democrat.

This bill was sponsored by state Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, and state Assemblyman William Spearman, D-Camden.

Vitale called the increase decades overdue.

This provides a needed cost-of-living increase allowing recipients a better opportunity to support their families, Vitale added. He said he would sponsor legislation to ensure the increase continues.

The welfare program is time-limited to 60 months over a recipients life, and enrollment in a work program or holding down a job has been a requirement of the program since 1996.

Editors note: The story has been updated to reflect the benefit applies to both families and adults without children.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.The board governing operations of the Delaware Memorial Bridge has approved a $1 hike in the base toll which will go into effect next year.

The price to use the bridge, which crosses the Delaware River and connects Pennsville in New Jersey to New Castle in Delaware, will rise from $4 to $5. Rates for commercial vehicles will go up by $2 an axle.

The fresh money is needed, officials say, to help fund more than $440 million in capital improvements, mostly for the bridge.

Whether its traveling home from a family visit, commuting to work or transporting goods to the marketplace, millions of people rely on the Delaware Memorial Bridge , said Jim Hogan, chairman of the Delaware River and Bay Authority which operates the twin span. Over the next five years, the DRBA will need to make significant infrastructure investments at the bridge that are both expensive and necessary to ensure public safety and uninterrupted traffic flow.

DRBA commissioners, meeting Tuesday in New Castle, voted 11 to 0 to approve the toll hike, which begins March 1.

But users of the twin span will still be able to cross at a steep discount if they subscribe to one of the bridges discount toll plans.

Users of E-ZPass who opt for the DRBAs frequent traveler plan will be able to cross for $2, up from the current discount of $1.25. Drivers on the commuter plan will see their per-crossing toll go from $1 to $1.25  still a $3.75 discount from what will be the new base fare.

This will be the first time in 30 years that the frequent traveler and commuter discount plans have been increased, DRBA officials say. The last increase in the base fare was in 2011.

As public stewards of important regional transportation assets, we must continue to make necessary and prudent infrastructure investments in our network of transportation services that benefits the traveling public, said Bill Lowe, vice chairman of the bi-state authority.

Delaware River Port Authority bridges to the north  Commodore Barry, Walt Whitman, Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross  already charge $5. Bridges and tunnels operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have a base fare of $15 for a single crossing.

The DRBA depends on tolls to fund its operations. It receives no taxpayer money from either New Jersey or Delaware.

Officials made the point the new money from the toll increases will go toward the capital budget, not the authoritys operating budget.

The authority held meetings to gather public input on the toll-increase proposal in the past weeks.

The public process provided a valuable forum for the exchange of information and ideas, said DRBA Executive Director Tom Cook. The response and feedback from local citizens and bridge customers helped shape the decision-making process and some changes were made to the commuter and frequent user plans as a result.

Tolls are collected one-way  southbound  on the bridge. About 36 million vehicles use the twin span each year.

The first span of the bridge opened in August 1951 and the second in September 1968 and are constantly undergoing maintenance.

Capital improvements paid for by the increased tolls will include $48 million for bridge painting, $45 million for a ship-collision protection system, $80 million for various steel work and suspender rope replacements and $21 million for deck repair on the original span, officials say.

The DRBAs capital plan also includes nearly $14 million for improvements at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry which the authority also operates along with several regional airports and a New Jersey business park.After eight years of trying, registered nurses at a South Jersey hospital have voted to approve their first-ever contract.

In a twist, the pact OKd by the 110 members of the Health Professionals and Allied Employees Local 5142 isnt with the current owner of The Memorial Hospital of Salem County, but with the future owner.

This has been a long journey for the nursing staff at the hospital, but we never gave up. We look forward to working with a new owner to improve patient safety and working conditions, said Pam Thomas, president of HPAE Local 5142.

The union had sought, for years, to strike a deal with the hospital owner Community Health Systems, but could never reach an agreement.

Nurses voted in September 2010 to unionize. CHS had fought the union. It wasnt until after a final court ruling that HPAE members and the hospital began talks in April 2016. However, a deal was never reached.

The hospitals potential buyer, Community Healthcare Associates, reached an agreement with the local HPAE bargaining unit in just two months, union officials said.

The one-year contract takes effect when CHA closes on the deal, which is expected in the coming weeks. With the new owner will come a new name for the Mannington Township hospital  Salem Medical Center.

A key state panel earlier this month recommended the commissioner of health give final approval to the deal.

We are pleased to have reached this agreement and look forward to this important piece of the new Salem Medical Centers staff helping to pave the way for better healthcare for the patients we serve, said Bill Colgan, managing partner with CHA.

Among the terms of the contract, the union says, are:

 Form a Staffing Committee comprised of unionized nurses and hospital management to address staffing concerns.

 A grievance and arbitration procedure to protect the rights and voices of nurses who advocate for patient care.

 Wage increases for all nursing staff of 3 percent.

 Provide equivalent health insurance coverage for all nursing staff that cannot be changed without bargaining with the union.

A spokesman for the hospitals current owner didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Founded in 1919, the hospital has struggled in recent years because of a lack of investment in the facility and because of competition from other regional medical networks.

Under CHA the facility will operate as a non-profit, acute care hospital. Plans are to hire substantially all current employees, make infrastructure improvements and add long-term and psychiatric care beds.

Bill Gallo Jr. may be reached at bgallo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Bill Gallo Jr. on Twitter @bgallojr. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tipsIsrael, who is completing his second term as board member, said he is running for a third term because there are things that are yet for me to do.For Oak Park and River Forest High School, three school board seats will be available, with incumbent Jennifer Cassell previously announcing she will not seek an additional term. Appearing on the ballot for OPRF board members seats will be incumbents Fred Arkin and Sara Dixon Spivy, as well as Victor Guarino, Ralph Martire, Amanda J. Massie and Gina Harris.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 Jim Brown, director of community preservation and development for the city of Park Ridge, said Monday that businesses with licenses to sell tobacco products had not yet been notified by the city of the proposed change in the law. Staff will be sending letters to the businesses, advising them that the new law takes effect Feb. 1, and work to develop a plan to publicize it to the community, he said.Martin admitted that he participated in the removal of the victim's vehicle and helping to dispose of several items that were used during the murder of Ms. Garnett including the clothes the suspect was wearing as well as the knife used to commit the crime, according to a probable cause affidavit in Lake County court records.In December 2017, Washington was charged with three counts of felony criminal confinement; two felony counts of intimidation; one count of misdemeanor battery resulting in bodily injury; one count of misdemeanor battery and one count of misdemeanor interference with the reporting of a crime, authorities said. Ahead of Washingtons trial, prosecutors dismissed two counts of criminal confinement and one count of battery.Since becoming a symbol of Wall Street greed during the financial crisis, Goldman Sachs has tried to recast its image as an investment bank that cares as much about ethics as it does its bottom line.

Now, that makeover is being undone by the banks work for an obscure investment fund in Malaysia, which has entangled it in civil and criminal investigations around the world. Goldman recently received subpoenas from New York regulators, held talks with federal prosecutors and is likely to incur billions of dollars in penalties. It is one of the most serious crises in the banks 149-year history.

The international legal assault on Goldman intensified on Monday, with prosecutors in Malaysia filing criminal charges against the bank, accusing it of defrauding investors by raising more than $6 billion for the fund, which was supposed to benefit the Malaysian public but ended up enriching Goldman and others.

And that is just the start of the banks troubles.

Lawyers for Goldman met this fall with federal prosecutors in what appeared to be an early step in settlement negotiations, according to three people familiar with those talks. Two of its senior employees have already been charged.In the village of Cooks Bay, on the remote side of the remote island of Erromango, in the remote South Pacific nation of Vanuatu, 1-month-old Joy Nowai was given shots for hepatitis and tuberculosis that were delivered by a flying drone on Monday.

It may not have been the first vial of vaccine ever delivered that way, but it was the first in Vanuatu, which is the only country in the world to make its childhood vaccine program officially drone-dependent.

I am so happy the drone brought the stick medicine to Cooks Bay as I dont have to walk several hours to Port Narvin for her vaccines, her mother, Julie Nowai told a Unicef representative. It is only 15 minutes walk from my home.

Even paradise can be tough on vaccinators. Vanuatu is an archipelago of 83 volcanic islands. Many villages are reachable only by banana boats, single-engine skiffs that 12-foot waves sometimes roll over or smash into cliffs. Other villages are at the end of mountain footpaths that become bogs when it rains, which it does a lot.[What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.]

The Uzbek man charged with using a truck to kill eight people on a Manhattan bike path last year was recorded on an F.B.I. wiretap the day before the attack and was heard on other calls going back three years, according to two court filings by defense lawyers.

The filings do not reveal the contents of the conversations or whether the man, Sayfullo Saipov, 30, was overheard making threats or talking about an impending attack. Still, the filings suggested that Mr. Saipov was in touch with other people under F.B.I. surveillance.

The attack on Halloween last year was the deadliest terrorist attack in New York since Sept. 11, 2001. Mr. Saipov is accused of driving a pickup truck down a bike path along the Hudson River, killing eight people and injuring others. He then crashed into a school bus, ran down the highway waving a pellet gun and a paintball gun and shouted God is great in Arabic.

Mr. Saipovs lawyers said in court papers that they had received a trove of materials from the government concerning surreptitious F.B.I. surveillance of Mr. Saipovs communications. Those materials included numerous audio recordings of conversations between Mr. Saipov and various targets of F.B.I. surveillance, along with about 1,000 pages of translated summaries of the calls, which were largely in Uzbek, the lawyers said.Ahmed Abdulwahabs family has survived airstrikes and firefights. They endured daylong drives across crumbled roads and on mountain ledges so steep it felt as if gravity would surely bring them tumbling down.

Mr. Abdulwahab has crossed into Yemen territory controlled by various factions: Al Qaeda, Houthi rebels and the government, all to get his wife, mother and young daughter out of the country and into the United States. An American citizen, Mr. Abdulwahab described the weekslong journey as the most terrifying travel of his life.

But now hes up against one final obstacle: the United States State Department.

Mr. Abdulwahab, 32, is one of hundreds of Yemeni-Americans in New York who were separated from non-U. S. citizen spouses or children following the Trump administrations so-called travel ban, which severely restricts entry into the United States by people from seven countries, five of them Muslim-majority.

Some, like Mr. Abdulwahabs wife, Aisha Mahyoub, 30, were approved for a visa only to have it revoked once the ban went into effect. Such an action violated the terms of the ban, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday by the Center for Constitutional Rights, a legal advocacy organization based in New York. Three other Yemeni-Americans are involved in the case, which follows a similar class-action suit filed in September on behalf of more than 100 others.On the Senate side, Mr. Schumers office has maintained that everything depends on whether the Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, can persuade the president to embrace a deal that Democrats can live with. The offer currently on the table is for a one-year continuing resolution, or C.R., that would delay the fight by temporarily funding parts of the government at current levels.

Some Hill Republicans thought the smart move was for Mr. Trump to push for a much shorter, two-week continuing resolution that would kick the battle into early January, allowing Republicans to try to shift some of the blame onto the incoming Democratic House majority. But the president reportedly wasnt keen on this option.

Early this week, the White House was signaling that the president wasnt in an accommodating mood. The administration sent the hard-liner Stephen Miller on Face the Nation Sunday to declare that, absent wall funding, a shutdown was  absolutely  on the table. During his executive time on Monday, Mr. Trump tweeted that a wall was vital for good Boarder Security.

By Tuesday, the president had reversed course and begun searching for a way out of the hole hed dug  but in a way that wouldnt look like he was caving. His press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said hed be open to something resembling the bipartisan compromise hammered out by Senate appropriators earlier this year, which included $1.6 billion to fortify existing barriers. The rest of the $5 billion, she said, could be siphoned from other agencies, an idea that prompted immediate blowback from Democrats. Mr. Schumer and Ms. Pelosi also smacked down Mr. McConnells offer of a spending plan that contained an extra $1 billion for what they deemed an immigration slush fund.

Lawmakers from both parties say some kind of continuing resolution is still the most likely way forward. But what exactly the president would agree to remains foggy, and Ms. Sanders refused to provide any clarity at a press briefing Tuesday afternoon.

Whatever his plan  assuming he has one  the president is clearly looking to wring every ounce of drama he can from this game of chicken. These standoffs jibe neatly with his belief that negotiations, and life in general, are a never-ending battle of nerve. He lives to make the other side blink and is eager to signal that hell do whatever it takes to get his way  even when he ultimately winds up capitulating.

Shutdown showdowns are especially fertile ground for Mr. Trump because they pit him against a political establishment that, as he sees it, obstinately refuses to pay proper deference to his genius. He has repeatedly voiced frustration at Congresss unwillingness to lie back and let him run things as he sees fit. Threatening to throw the government into chaos  to furlough, or in the case of personnel deemed essential, withhold paychecks from hundreds of thousands of workers  lets him exact a bit of cathartic payback, reminding lawmakers just how uncomfortable he can make their lives.Last Thursday, Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, an Army Special Forces officer, was charged with the murder of a suspected Taliban bomb maker in Afghanistan. On Sunday, President Trump came to his defense on Twitter after watching a program on Fox News detailing his case. In his tweet, the president called Major Golsteyn a U.S. Military hero, referring to a Silver Star he was awarded for separate actions in Afghanistan, a medal that the Army has revoked.

The charges against Major Golsteyn stem from an incident when he was a captain in Afghanistan in 2010. Two Marines were killed by a roadside bomb, and according to an Army investigation, when Captain Golsteyns Special Forces team took the suspected bomb maker to their base, he inadvertently saw a local tribal leader who had been cooperating with the American forces. After receiving orders to release the bomb maker, Captain Golsteyn determined that the tribal leaders life would be in jeopardy if his cooperation with the Special Forces was revealed.

Captain Golsteyn and another soldier, investigators say, then led the suspected bomb maker off base, executed him and buried his body in a shallow grave. Captain Golsteyn returned with two other soldiers who helped him dig up the body so that it could be incinerated in the base trash pit. The major admitted to the killing on a Fox News program in 2016.

I served in the Marines for eight years, first in the infantry and later, like Major Golsteyn, as a special operations officer. I fought in Iraq and Afghanistan and saw my fair share of death, both of friends and enemies. I was in my early 20s when I first saw combat, and fought alongside others even younger.These cyber actors are using social media platforms to spread disinformation  and set Americans against each other  targeting both sides of a countrys most divisive issues. Youre watching a recent Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about how foreign internet trolls are using social media to influence American politics. In the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election, Russian trolls used disinformation campaigns to sow discord. Experts are now seeing similar activity heading into the 2018 midterms. The trolls are trying to improve their tactics. Theyre trying to get better at hiding their traces. So its going to be a game of cat and mouse. Ben Nimmo is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab. He works to identify and analyze online disinformation. The way these accounts work has always been a combination of infiltration and radicalization. He walked us through some of the imagery and strategies used by notorious online trolls from Russia and, perhaps, elsewhere. First, they pick a hot-button issue. There are certain very high-profile problems that American society has, which are well-known abroad. And it tended to be those ones which are targeted. So the original troll factory accounts were very heavily engaged in the debate on gun control and the Second Amendment, on womens rights and abortion rights. They were heavily engaged on Black Lives Matter. A slew of inauthentic accounts that Facebook recently deleted took the same approach, updated to fit the latest top news. They use identity politics and emotion to appeal to followers. Next step, tap into a community. So you start off by making positive comments about the target group. Lets say you want to masquerade as a Black Lives Matter supporter. You start by making lots of positive comments about the African-American community. You talk about how beautiful the girls are. You talk about their glorious cultural history and you try and engage with real activists who are busy on this subject. Now its time to ramp it up. Once youve established your credentials, you start slipping more and more toxic content into the mix. So, rather than saying positive things about your community, you start saying negative things about other communities. The war against colonialism is a theme that comes up on this page time and again. Its a hint at violence. And last, they try to move from the online world into real life. And then maybe you slip into the mix a suggestion: Lets have a protest. Lets get real people out on the streets. And then, because youre operating probably from some time zones away, you need to think, Well, how do we get this to happen? And you start trying to reach out to genuine local organizations. Maybe you say, Well, we cant turn up on that day because weve got something else going on. Why dont you organize this for us? In 2016, Russian trolls organized political events for and against both presidential candidates. At an Islamic center in Houston, they organized a protest and the corresponding counterprotest. Down with the racists! Down with the Nazis! So why go to such lengths? These bad actors are trying to polarize the American public by exploiting existing tensions in our society. The goal? Make Americans see each other as enemies, especially during high-stakes events such as elections. If people feel they cant trust their neighbors or their government, democracy falters. There is a massive, sophisticated, persistent campaign on multiple fronts to misinform, divide and ultimately manipulate the American people. Is that accurate? Yes.WASHINGTON  An F.B.I. document released late Monday provides new details of how Michael T. Flynn, President Trumps first national security adviser, lied to federal investigators about his conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition.

Prosecutors filed the document  an account by F.B.I. agents of their Jan. 24, 2017, interview with Mr. Flynn  on the eve of Mr. Flynns sentencing for lying to F.B.I. agents about his talks with the ambassador at the time, Sergey I. Kislyak. Mr. Flynn faces up to six months in prison for the offense, a felony.

Mr. Flynn has pleaded guilty to misleading investigators about a series of conversations he had with Mr. Kislyak in late December 2016 while serving as a key member of Mr. Trumps transition team. The federal judge who will sentence him on Tuesday morning, Emmet G. Sullivan of the Federal District Court in Washington, ordered prosecutors to file a redacted version of the interview account, citing the strong public presumption in favor of public access to judicial records.

Mr. Flynn has admitted that he requested that Russia not escalate tensions between the countries after the outgoing Obama administration imposed sanctions against Russia for its interference in the 2016 presidential race. Russia agreed to not retaliate, an unusual decision that Mr. Trump himself praised.The act would expand amendments first added to the Export Administration Act in 1977, initially to protect American companies from the Arab League boycott of Israel.

Supporters of the measure dispute critics who say it would stifle pro-Palestinian activism.

These kinds of First Amendment issues were not raised in 77, said Stuart E. Eizenstat, the chief White House domestic policy adviser during the Carter administration when the amendments were negotiated. Since its come up here, in many ways, this legislation is stronger in protecting First Amendment rights because it explicitly indicates that political views are protected.

The bill sponsored by Mr. Cardin and Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, was conceived after the United Nations Human Rights Council announced that it would create a database of companies that have business in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, whose governance and status have been in dispute since the Six Day War in 1967.

From our perspective, we have to protect U.S. companies from being put in a position that could harm them, Ms. Walitsky said.

The bill, which would impose penalties on boycott participants, has already been modified after complaints from the A.C.L.U., which does not publicly take a stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, about the infringement on First Amendment rights. Supporters of the legislation say that the language does not prevent companies and individuals, independent of direction from foreign countries or international agencies, from announcing their intent to boycott Israel.

Our bipartisan legislation is a direct response to highly selective and discriminatory efforts to isolate Israel, such as those by the U.N. Human Rights Council, Mr. Portman said in a statement.

But the changes, which most notably reduce the most significant penalty for participation to a fine of up to $1 million, were not seen as sufficient by critics, who scorned efforts to wrap a final version into a spending package without public debate.WASHINGTON  California and 15 other states asked a federal judge on Monday to protect current health care coverage for millions of Americans while courts sort out the implications of his ruling that the Affordable Care Act was invalid in its entirety.

The states, which support the health care law, said the ruling on Friday, by Judge Reed OConnor of the Federal District Court in Fort Worth, had caused immense confusion about whether the law was still in effect, and whether consumers were still entitled to its benefits and protections.

The states asked Judge OConnor to clarify whether he meant his decision to have any immediate legal effect.

In his sweeping decision, Judge OConnor held that a provision at the heart of the Affordable Care Act  a requirement for most Americans to have health insurance known as the individual mandate  was unconstitutional and that other provisions of the law could not survive because they were inextricably linked to the coverage mandate. The sprawling law includes not only health insurance exchanges and an expansion of Medicaid, but also protections for people with pre-existing conditions, requirements for what insurance must cover and much more.Board member Dana Dumezich said the consolidation efforts have been in the works for several years, plans have been put together, plans never materialized, and she thought it would be worth the board making a formal direction to the staff.When Russia targets Americans on social media, it has political goals: in 2016, to damage Hillary Clinton and help elect Donald J. Trump; since then, to press Russian views on issues like the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine; and in the future  who knows?

To wield influence, Russian online operators must first build an audience. Posing as Americans, they have to persuade Americans to pay attention and give them at least a modicum of trust.

Two reports prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee and released on Monday shed some light on how Russia does it. The reports identify some of the most popular of the images and themes created by the Internet Research Agency, which is based in St. Petersburg, Russia, and owned by a businessman with close ties to President Vladimir V. Putin.

[Read more about the reports here.]

Here are a few of the Russians greatest hits.BUDAPEST  At least four opposition lawmakers were assaulted on Monday in Hungary, one of whom was hospitalized, after they visited the state media headquarters to request that the broadcasters end their wall-to-wall support for Hungarys far-right prime minister, Viktor Orban.

After a 10-hour standoff in which editors refused to give the legislators airtime, security guards forcibly ejected two of the lawmakers. A third, Laszlo Varju, managed to stay inside with several colleagues, but was injured during a scuffle with security guards later in the day. He was eventually taken to a hospital in an ambulance.

A fourth lawmaker was subsequently injured when she tried to burst through police lines to assist Mr. Varju.

The episode, which followed nearly a week of growing protests against the governments increasingly authoritarian behavior, was a turning point for Hungary under Mr. Orban.Growing up in southern Indiana, Benjamin W. Bradley was somewhat isolated and, as a teenager, besotted with Christmas and its trappings. One year, he unwrapped a gift from his mother and was delighted to find a cylindrical lamp, decorated with Santa and his sleigh; heat from a bulb inside set the image spinning as if by magic. Mr. Bradley learned years later that the gift hed been given was a rare Econolite motion lamp.

Later, on holiday break from Purdue University, he received a copy of a reference work, Christmas Collectibles by Margaret and Kenn Whitmyer.

It opened up a whole world for me, with information on the things I collected or dreamed of owning, Mr. Bradley said. Id spend hours looking over photos in this book. I still do.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous nights highlights that lets you sleep  and lets us get paid to watch comedy. If youre interested in hearing from The Times regularly about great TV, sign up for our Watching newsletter and get recommendations straight to your inbox.

For the Funk of It

Stephen Miller, the senior White House adviser, said on Sunday that the Trump administration would force a government shutdown this week if Congress refused to pass funding for a border wall. But all the late-night hosts really wanted to talk about was his hair  or what looks like his hair.

Stephen Colbert poked fun at Millers appearance on Face the Nation, in which the White House aides hairline looked conspicuously low, compared to past public interviews.Catch Ellen DeGeneress return to stand-up on Netflix. Or watch new episodes of Terrace House: Opening New Doors.

Whats Streaming

ELLEN DEGENERES: RELATABLE (2018) on Netflix. Much of the world knows Ellen DeGeneres as the gift-giving daytime talk-show host Ellen  not the stand-up comic Ellen. But after a 15-year hiatus, DeGeneres returns to her stand-up roots in this new special, directed by Tig Notaro and Joel Gallen. She jokes about both hard truths (her reputation makes her feel as if she can never do anything unkind ever) and mundane things (When we try on shoes, we do things were never going to do in them). In a recent interview with The New York Times, DeGeneres, 60, said she has been considering retiring from Ellen and has learned to care less about others expectations. I wanted to show all of me, she said, referring to her return to stand-up. The talk show is me, but Im also playing a character of a talk-show host. Theres a tiny, tiny bit of difference.

EVAN ALMIGHTY (2007) on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube. Those who miss the goofy side of Steve Carell can turn to this sequel to Bruce Almighty," in which he plays a newly elected congressman who is instructed by God (Morgan Freeman) to build an ark. Wanda Sykes, Molly Shannon and Jonah Hill round out the cast.

TERRACE HOUSE: OPENING NEW DOORS on Netflix. The fifth batch of Opening New Doors episodes premieres. When three superfans from The Times unpacked this popular Japanese reality shows appeal, the critic Amanda Hess applauded the beautiful male tears. Stranded here in the desert of American masculinity, she wrote, the scenes of the male housemates crying are a rare and inviting oasis.More troubling is Judiss embrace of some of the presumptions that underlie the hawkish nationalism he aims to analyze. A small tell is his adoption of aquatic language when discussing immigration: Twice we read of a flood of refugees. Elsewhere a trickle of migrants becomes a raging stream. Its only a small act of dehumanization, but it is such a common trope of anti-immigrant rhetoric that one would have expected Judis to be on guard against it.

It is striking too that Judis accepts the link that xenophobic nationalists make between immigration and terrorism. True, he is careful to write that this is the perception of anxious voters drawn toward nationalism, but he could surely have devoted a sentence or two to the question of whether that perception has a solid basis in fact. Some of the terrorist incidents involved refugees, he writes. Thats true of a handful of cases in Europe, though the vast majority of incidents did not involve refugees. Meanwhile, the number of acts of terror that have been committed by refugees in the United States since 1980 hovers between one and zero, depending on whether you count only fatal acts (zero) or nonfatal ones (one).

Judis handles other (white) nationalist prejudices the same way. Many Americans blamed the rise of welfare spending  on new Hispanic immigrants and newly empowered blacks using relaxed welfare laws to free ride, he writes, again without challenge. Later we learn of the resentment that many in the Euro-American core felt toward African-Americans and Latino immigrants, whom they believed to be benefiting from government programs without paying taxes to support them. Sure, the verbs here are blamed and believed, but it would not have impaired Judiss exercise in understanding to note that black and Latino Americans are of course taxpayers too.

Theres a reason this matters. The fact that many of these hostile perceptions of migrants and minorities are often only loosely grounded in reality is surely central to understanding the current nationalist surge. It tells us that this is as much about fear as it is about reality. Judis himself provides the evidence, noting that the number of illegal immigrants entering the United States peaked in 2007 and has declined ever since. Yet Trump was able to use the issue of supposedly rampant illegal immigration as rocket fuel for his campaign. Fear is the heart of the matter.

In a well-informed survey of the nationalist ascendancy in Europe, Judis again scolds liberals for being oblivious to nationalisms enduring power. He upbraids the European Union for insufficient sensitivity to the national yearnings of Poland and Hungary  never quite saying whether the E.U.s error has been in condemning those countries drift toward illiberal democracy or in admitting them into the E.U. club in the first place  and admonishes the Clinton and Obama administrations for a similar tin ear toward Russia. But here too he slips from explanation to justification, adopting what sounds a lot like Putins narrative. In his telling Russia did not invade or annex Crimea, for example, but merely reclaimed it.

Still, Judis would surely wave aside these objections as typical liberal fastidiousness, untuned to the more elemental, raw longings of national identity that liberals need to accommodate fast. On that point, he makes a robust case: Liberals have indeed underestimated for too long the need for a collective sense of belonging, failing to see that any social democratic project involving redistribution or welfare spending requires a basic level of fellow-feeling among citizens. That too is nationalism, and this book is a timely, if flawed, reminder of its importance.Germany had Goethe. India had Tagore. For France, it was Victor Hugo. When nationalism swept the world in the 19th century, country after country, along with flag and anthem, demanded a guiding literary voice to stand as an avatar for the country as a whole  a national poet. In America, no one embodied this role like Walt Whitman.

I think Walt Whitman went to the help-wanted section and found a squib that said, Wanted: National Poet, the novelist Allan Gurganus once said in a PBS interview. And he was innocent enough to believe that if he could just write a poem that incorporated everything he felt and suspected and hoped for from America, that he would have the position. And you know, by God, he did it.1. Calling the crimes a very serious offense, a federal judge postponed the sentencing of Michael Flynn, President Trumps former national security adviser.

The judge warned that Mr. Flynn could face prison for lying to federal investigators about his conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition and hiding his role lobbying for Turkey.

I cannot assure that if you proceed today you will not receive a sentence of incarceration, the judge said. He gave Mr. Flynn, above, the option of delaying the sentencing until he had completed his cooperation agreement with federal prosecutors.He declined to comment on the executive committees discussions about Dr. Fryer and whether the group had asked for his resignation. A spokesman for Dr. Fryer said he would not be issuing a statement.

Dr. Fryer, 41, has been one of the nations most celebrated young economists, and he is one of the highest-paid professors at Harvard. He won tenure at 30, the youngest African-American professor ever to do so at the university. In 2015 he received the John Bates Clark Medal, which honors an American under 40 for a significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge.

His position could be in jeopardy as Harvard officials weigh the findings of several investigations into his conduct. An investigator has already substantiated seven distinct claims of instances in which Dr. Fryer subjected women to unwelcome sexual comments. At least one investigation into allegations of harassment and retaliation is continuing. The university is also investigating Dr. Fryers spending and the labs finances.

Dr. Fryer was already under investigation  and barred by Harvard from entering his lab  when the economic association nominated him for the executive committee, Dr. Blanchard said this fall. Members of the nominating commitee were unaware of the investigations, which Dr. Fryer did not disclose, Dr. Blanchard said. Some members learned of the allegations when The Harvard Crimson first reported on some of the investigations. But the groups leadership never asked Dr. Fryer about the matter, Dr. Blanchard said.

This fall, Dr. Fryer was elected, but the vote caused a stir in the profession. Members of the executive committee posted a statement noting the allegations but saying they would wait for Harvard to conclude its investigations before considering how to respond.A federal government committee and other top regulators in the United States have approved the proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, paving the way for a union between the countrys third- and fourth-largest wireless operators.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States  a body that reviews foreign investments in the United States for national security threats  the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense all agreed to the $26.5 billion deal, T-Mobile said in a statement on Monday.

Some investors, consumer advocates and government officials opposed the merger, claiming that the new telecommunications giant would limit customer choices and result in high prices for consumers.

Proponents of the deal said it would make the combined company, with about 100 million customers, a competitor that would be able to go toe-to-toe with AT&T and Verizon in the battle to dominate the next frontiers of wireless technology in the United States. John Legere, T-Mobiles chief executive, has argued that he would lower prices to attract new customers.Hammond and East Chicago police officers said some trains have sat on crossings for hours, creating lengthy backups. Children going to a Hammond school have crawled through stopped trains and motorists irritated by blocked crossings have taken out their frustrations by driving recklessly or too fast, officials said.Jimmy Bradley and Danny Abrams opened the Red Cat in 1999, on the west side of 10th Avenue north of 23rd Street, just south of a carwash. The restaurant was meant to evoke, Mr. Bradley said, New England by way of Paris, and his cooking did the same, with side trips all over the world. The restaurant evinced a particular kind of New York elegance: confident and relaxed, witty, not too formal but not informal, either.

The Red Cat feels vaguely colonial and tavernlike, Frank Bruni, then the restaurant critic for The New York Times, wrote in a two-star review in 2005, except when it feels downtown-gallery cool, and apart from those moments when it feels modestly and eclectically elegant. Choose your mood.

Mr. Bradleys current mood is both cheerful and elegiac. He is closing the restaurant on Dec. 23, and heading home to Rhode Island, and from there to parts unknown. He wasnt facing a rent increase or a slump in business. (He and Mr. Abrams dissolved their partnership years ago.) Mr. Bradley just wanted to quit: 51 years old, Generation X, raised at the nexus of hippies and punk.

Its time for something new, he said recently, his eyes laughing, as if he were Buddha, or a drummer with a line on a place to stay. I dont know what it is, and Im not going looking for it. Its going to come.Headliner

Barca

This sleek seafood destination on Staten Island, with waterfront views that take in the sweep of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is the latest from the restaurateur Victor Rallo. Its directly across the street from his restaurant Surf, which, despite its name, is more about turf, and has a sibling for barbecue in Rumson, N.J. Mr. Rallos partner in the new venture is Dave Pasternack, the executive chef and an owner of Esca, the long-running Italian seafood magnet in Manhattan. So it comes as no surprise that Mr. Rallos executive chef is Katie ODonnell, who was a chef de cuisine at Esca several years ago. Offerings like a crudo tasting, spicy spaghetti with lobster, and Sicilian-style fish stew with sea urchin and crab meat echo some of Escas specialties. But there are also baked clams with pancetta, swordfish Milanese-style, a chicken breast and a pork chop. The restaurant, with windows all around, features blue accents and glass. It has a dramatically backlit wall of mostly Italian wines, white marble tabletops and some industrial touches. (Opens Wednesday)

44 Navy Pier Court (Front Street), Stapleton, Staten Island, 718-556-9300, barcany.com.

Opening

Madame Vo BBQ

Technically, its still fall. So Yen Vo and her husband, the chef Jimmy Ly, who had spoken of an autumn opening, are opening this restaurant just under the wire. Here, the couple who own the nearby Madame Vo offer Vietnamese barbecue, which they call more fun and interactive, with burners on the tables for servers to apply that final sizzle to the food. The menu, which doesnt duplicate any dishes from Madame Vo, includes beef wrapped around onions and skewered, ground Wagyu in betel leaves, Berkshire pork meatballs and five-spice beef tongue, all to be seared at the table then wrapped in softened rice paper, lettuce, rice vermicelli, pineapple, chiles and other accouterments. Some grilled items like giant freshwater prawns, oysters with uni mayonnaise and charred uni with beurre blanc and fish sauce are grilled in the kitchen. Ms. Vo recommends warming bowls of oxtail congee as a finale. Theres a seven-course feast for $59. The room, on a windowed corner, is done in blue, with tropical touches and a bright mural. (Wednesday)

104 Second Avenue (East Sixth Street), 917-675-7570, madamevobbq.com.

Chicks Isan

The owners of Fish Cheeks, a Thai restaurant in NoHo, have opened this food-hall offshoot in Brooklyn. Its focus is the food of the northeastern Thai region of Isan, where no one is shy with the chiles. The chef is Ohm Suansilphong, also a partner in Fish Cheeks. Barbecued chicken, skewered as in Isan, is the signature. Fried chicken wings, sour-cured pork riblet, and the inevitable papaya salad are also on the menu at the new stall.

DeKalb Market Hall, 445 Albee Square West, Lower Level (DeKalb Avenue), Downtown Brooklyn, 917-945-3797, chicksisan.com.

Closing

Cornelia Street Cafe

After 41 years as a West Village staple anchoring a small food-focused street, this cafe and club will close at the end of Jan. 2. Its the old rent-increase story. The cafe opened when Murrays Cheese was still on the corner but predated Po, Mario Batalis restaurant debut. The ground-floor cafe, an all-day spot before the term gained in popularity, offered a brief menu, since the kitchen consisted of a toaster oven and a cappuccino machine. The restaurant expanded in 1981, and a full dinner menu was added. The downstairs was a performance space that became an incubator and showcase for musicians, comedians, artists, intellectuals and others. There has been an outpouring of sentiment over this, said the owner, Robin Hirsch, adding that, at 76, he is not ready to retire.

29 Cornelia Street (Bleecker Street), 212-989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com.Over and over again, in articles and conferences and interviews, authoritative industry members declare it with absolute certainty. It appears as gospel in outlets as varied as Fast Company and The Guardian. It played a prominent part in a feature-length documentary.

What is it?

The definitive, and damning, pronouncement that the fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in the world. Its so shocking, so catchy and so easy to believe. Theres only one problem.

It is not factually true, said Jason Kibbey, the chief executive of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition.

At the close of a year when lies and so-called alternative facts have dominated the conversation; when misinformation was chosen as the word of the year by Dictionary.com; and when the reduction of difficult issues to the most tweet-able black-and-white assertions has distorted perception, its time to put an end to this particular eco-myth once and for all. Only then can we really grapple with the actual problem in all its complicated, multifaceted reality.Ms. Guerard, who runs Tara Guerard Soiree, recently started incorporating beauty bars in the ladies bathrooms at the receptions of weddings she organizes. Depending on the size of the event, shell have two to three hair and makeup artists available, complete with lipsticks, curling irons, hair spray and more to fix any beauty malfunctions. She adds flowers and a Glam Bar sign.

She collaborates with a local freelance makeup artist and hair stylist, Deidre Outlaw, who actually came up with the idea. Ms. Outlaw frequently heard from brides that they wanted a zhuzh before the reception after their inevitable tears during the ceremony. I thought this could be a great service to add for the guests of weddings, too, Ms. Outlaw said.

The pair noted that the service is particularly successful in hot summer months or generally warm weather. This past June, Ms. Outlaw hosted a glam bar at a wedding in Adairsville, Ga., where the space exuded charm but lacked air-conditioning To say it was a total hit is an understatement, Ms. Outlaw said of the steady flow of guests looking for touch-ups. We did quick five-minute touch-ups to get their frizzy hair off their necks, T-zones de-shined, and a fresh lip.

Brittany Lo, the founder of Beautini, a hair and makeup business in New York City, also offers beauty amenities to guests at weddings and other social events. She will set up in the lounge area of large restrooms at luxury hotels, or private rooms near the reception area if the restroom is small, or stake out a spot next to the photo booth. Even male guests may receive a puff of powder.

People run to the bathroom every 10 dances or so to make sure that their makeup is in place and they dont look like a hot mess, Ms. Lo said. This provides a next-level service for them: Someone else quickly does it, and then the guest runs back out to the dance floor.Her practice admits up to 10 new patients weekly. Id say 75 percent have vapes as part of their story, she said.

The other day she was assessing a middle-schooler whose dependence was so severe that he had been skipping classes to vape in the bathroom.

Hes going to class now but sees himself as vulnerable, because hes worried he wont be able to resist the cravings, Dr. Levy said. Its all he thinks about. Its like treating a patient who has stopped heroin but wants to inject himself with an empty needle.

She occasionally combines talk therapy with nicotine patches. Some doctors prescribe antidepressants to ease withdrawal. Dr. Levy also recommends deep breathing, yoga and exercise.

Typically, that initial intervention doesnt occur with a doctor. Schools are usually the first to catch young people vaping and then try to figure out what to do, said Dr. Halpern-Felsher. She and her team developed a free online guide called the Tobacco Prevention Toolkit, which includes a major unit on vaping and Juuls. The program has reached 200,000 students.

One school told her that the kits message about how manufacturers are manipulating teens inspired some indignant students to cut back.

Without a holy grail for vaping cessation, the toll on families is searing.

I believe the companies who created these things should pay for treatment, Vicki, the suburban Boston mother, said through angry tears. They targeted children. They said it was just about trying different flavors and having fun. Well, theyre the devil to me.The myth of the war photographer is hard to dispel. Infused with machismo, the Hollywood archetype is the hard-living, scarf-wearing loner dashing from one war zone to the next, with romantic partners as expendable as bullets. But cliches ignore the doubts, fears and moral quandaries as well as the loneliness and pain that shadow those who document the depths of human depravity. Such emotional whiplash creates that other cliche  of the tragic, fallen heroes (or heroines) broken by the horrors theyve witnessed.

The reality of the war photographer is, of course, far more nuanced.

The psychiatrist Anthony Feinstein explores this complexity in his book, Shooting War (Glitterati Editions). Starting with a single, striking image from each photographer, Dr. Feinstein profiles 18 conflict photographers, including Don McCullin, Tim Hetherington and Corinne Dufka, and examines their motivations, traumas, and, most important, their resilience.

Unlike soldiers, they are not schooled in violence, he writes. And yet their longevity on the front lines is unequaled. Time and again they return to the fray, knowing all too well the toll that in the end is likely to be exacted.In Afghanistan, we had a really big home, but nothing here, Haidari said. Were starting over, one by one. After getting him into an apartment, the group helped Haidari enroll in a vocational school to become an electrician, while he worked overnight as a machine operator at a factory for $12 an hour. He didnt have any background to help him get a start as an electrician. The only thing I had done was changed a couple of light bulbs, Haidari said. Hes now an apprentice making $16 an hour. Though two of his younger brothers have also relocated to Rochester, his parents and four of his siblings are still back in Afghanistan. The eldest is stuck in the S.I.V. application backlog. I feel really bad  hes been working for the U.S. since 2007, Haidari said. Its not fair. He should be here before me.

New York is the sixth-largest state for S.I.V. resettlement. That includes 1,632 Afghans, according to the Refugee Admissions Program and the Refugee Processing Center. When a refugee first arrives in the country, the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program provides money toward basic resettlement services  such as transportation and temporary housing  for up to three months, after which responsibility for newly arrived refugees is handed off to the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement. For the past decade, the total amount of funding that O.R.R. provides for S.I.V. arrivals has slowly declined, partly because of fewer refugees are being allowed into the United States. In addition, much of the O.R.R.s funding is being reallocated away from foreign interests, like the S.I.V. program, to domestic needs, like caring for unaccompanied children at the U.S.-Mexico border. Government-funded resettlement organizations like World Relief have increasingly had to rely on nonprofit organizations to help with financial and social assistance programs when the benefits run out. Knowing how tight government benefits are, Ellen Smith tries to get families on a very strict budget right away once they connect with No One Left Behind. With this budget, I know that theyll survive their first year: getting a car, getting a job, she said. I have to be this taskmaster, because if they dont stick to it, they wont make it. Theyll run into financial difficulties.

Along with job and educational placement, No One Left Behind provides families with first-months rent and a security deposit, which typically requires a co-signer: usually one of the more than 250 volunteers Smith has enlisted in Rochester. But finding employers willing to hire Afghans has proved difficult for Smith and those under her care. One potential employer interviewed several Afghans, some of whom had worked with the Army Corps of Engineers as civil engineers in Afghanistan. But the employer never made any offers. They were concerned about cultural differences,  Smith said, her voice rising. These guys have been hanging out with soldiers. What are you worried about? That they dont eat pork? That they pray five times a day? According to Smith, the company argued that hiring Afghans onto a staff full of military veterans would be like asking an American World War II soldier to work alongside a Japanese soldier, Smith said. Thats a terrible analogy.

For Sharifi, the late nights at a Wegmans grocery store distribution warehouse and days spent on the phone working as a certified interpreter are starting to pay off. He recently bought his first house, a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom home in a quiet suburb south of Rochester. Even if he is invited out to dinner or drinks or to play pool in Rochester, Sharifi prefers the dim light of his sparsely decorated living room and a quiet dinner of beef korma with yellow rice with his family, in the house he has worked hard to provide for his wife and children. After the years of danger he faced working as an interpreter in Afghanistan, he said, right now I just want to stay home.

Next door, a house displays a Gold Star flag, typically used to signal that a family member died in combat. People in the neighborhood like Lani Bauer, who moved to the neighborhood in 1973, said that Sharifi and his family have brought a sense of fellowship and camaraderie to the neighborhood that it was missing. They met when Sharifi and his son offered to help Bauer rake the leaves piling up in her yard. He made a tremendous impression, a very great impression, Bauer said. He seemed naturally caring and concerned. Thats something you dont encounter often. Were supposed to be more open and welcoming. Isnt that what the U.S. stands for? Or, at least, thats what it stood for.As part of the magazines annual The Lives They Lived issue, we invite readers to contribute a photograph and a story of a loved one who died this year. A number of submissions will be chosen to be published on The New York Times Magazine website. Entries are limited to 400 words and must be submitted by Dec. 24, 2018, to be eligible for consideration.Still, you might want to suggest to your grandniece that if she wants these South Asians to be open to hearing her good news, she should probably be open to hearing theirs, too. That way, she can make an effort to understand the traditions of the place shes going, which you rightly suggest is a good idea. Whether she should honor those traditions as well depends on what they are  and she wont be able to decide about that if she doesnt know anything about them. There are, after all, a great many ways of not being a Christian.

I worked in a creative industry that has a close-knit community. An individual in a prominent position within the industry has been accused of sexually assaulting several subordinates. This person is currently under investigation, which some are aware of, to varying degrees. I know and believe many of the victims. Heres the snag: Not many within the industry are aware of the abuse. The individual is very good at covering their tracks, and the victims, for their own privacy, have avoided taking their details public. As a result, several former co-workers of mine, unaware of the assaults, have been vocal in supporting this person. I am horrified by the thought that these former co-workers and friends are being hoodwinked. Should I tell them that this individual has been accused of multiple sexual assaults? Or, given that Im not a victim myself and that the information has been only quietly circulated, should I say nothing? If I keep quiet, am I enabling this abuser to continue their pattern of abuse? Name Withheld

If youre right, this abuser is wrongly gaining the support of your credulous co-workers. They surely wouldnt be speaking up for this person if they knew what you know. Assuming youre confident in your assessment of the facts, you should go ahead and tell them what youve learned. Otherwise, by allowing this abuser to gain undeserved support, you would indeed be helping to defer the day of reckoning.

Ive been divorced for 27 years, and my ex-wife died recently. Her pension plan called me trying to locate her. I told them that weve had absolutely no contact in 27 years. The pension plan called again and told me that I was her beneficiary. She has a son, but she hadnt made him her beneficiary. Should I accept the money? Name Withheld



I assume you think your ex-wife would have wanted the money to go to her son, not to you. If so, trying to make it happen would be more respectful of her will than scrupulous attention to what was long ago written on some piece of paper. Explore the most tax-efficient way of getting this money to her son. Where it doesnt conflict with other moral imperatives, we should try to honor the wishes of the departed, including ex-spouses we havent seen in a long time.

I teach journalism at a major state university, and one of my favorite courses is basic editing. I give 10 A.P.-style quizzes in the first half of the course, graded from 0 to 100. Student grades run from very low to 100. I always tell students the grade range when I hand quizzes back, but I exaggerate. If the lowest grade was 45, I tell them the lowest grade was 40. Similarly, if the highest grade was 90, I say it was 95. I do this so the worst-performing students dont feel quite so bad and the high achievers have something to strive for.

A colleague says I am being dishonest and serving no real purpose, but I see no harm. After all, I do record the accurate grades for everyone. What do you say? Name Withheld

Isnt one of the principles of basic editing in the field of journalism that truth is better than fiction, however benevolently intended?What steps were taken, and not taken, to respond to hurricanes in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands?

How were the family-separation and migrant-detention policies planned and executed, and why was the administration inconsistent in public statements about these plans, policies and consequences?

How has the Department of Justices prioritization of immigration-only offenses affected federal law-enforcement resources for other priorities?

Did some Mar-a-Lago club members approve personnel and policy decisions at the Department of Veterans Affairs?On Sept. 15, Nyx, a Belgian Malinois, while on-duty at the Bacon Fest at Founders Square, attacked the terrier, biting on its head. Nyx's handler did not have a tight hold on her when the incident occurred, according to a police report. The terrier was taken to the Purdue Veterinary Clinic in West Lafayette, where the small dog died.Born in Brooklyn, Ms. EL-Amin moved to North Carolina with her family when she was 6. In 2006, she returned to New York in search of new opportunities.

It was not an easy transition.

It took six months to find work as a billing clerk at a carpet and tile plant. That lasted a year before the company reduced its staff. She then worked for two years as a financial analyst at a Manhattan company before she was laid off. During some of those unsteady stretches, she slept on the floor of an aunts apartment.

Years later, she found herself heating her Brooklyn apartment with the stove and wondering how to get winter coats for two of her sons, then ages 7 and 8.

Her sons were attending the Gary Klinsky Childrens Center at Public School 149, run by Brooklyn Community Services, one of the eight organizations supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund.Having someone to just call and make sure youre O.K. and make sure youve eaten, its a huge loss, Ms. Diaz said. Simple things, they mean so much.

Amid her fathers illness, Ms. Diaz had applied to Per Scholas, a program that offers free technology education and job placement to low-income young adults. The possibility of losing her father and a growing tension in her marriage had motivated Ms. Diaz to consider better employment opportunities for the future.

When she learned she had been accepted to Per Scholas the first week of December, Ms. Diaz had to ask herself if she could handle starting a rigorous program just two weeks after her fathers death. She and her husband had recently separated; their son, who is developmentally delayed, was undergoing tests as doctors sought a diagnosis; and Angelie was acting out in response to losing her grandfather.

Ive always been the strong one of the family, Ms. Diaz said. I dont really show too much emotion to them.

She decided to go for it, and focusing on her studies helped her cope with the grief. It really distracted me from such a sad, sad moment, she said.[What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.]

Restitution is coming.

After experiencing years of buffering beach balls, price gouging and righteously rude service in New York State, at least two million customers of Charter Communications, formerly Time Warner Cable, will get sweet revenge, thanks to the New York attorney general, Barbara Underwood.

An investigation found that the company had cheated customers by falsely advertising internet speeds beyond its capability.

In announcing a settlement on Tuesday, the attorney generals office said it was the largest consumer payout by an internet service provider in United States history: $62.5 million paid directly to customers, with a total market value of $174.2 million.

Within the next three months, more than 700,000 active customers will get a $75 refund, plus their choice of premium cable channels  six free months of Showtime or three free months of HBO. (Game of Thrones is set to start its final season in April.)Any safety concerns?

Theres a bunch of suggested evidence that more people dying in traffic accidents are found with THC in their blood after legalization than before. Law enforcement will tell you impaired driving with marijuana is a much bigger problem than it was before.

Did marijuana use increase?

Use among adults has risen. Some new people who werent previously using might start.

Has law enforcement been able to reduce its focus on marijuana to concentrate on other crimes?

Theres not as many reductions as you might have expected. Tracking the product in the commercial system is very onerous.

We dedicated money for a Drug Enforcement Task Force to respond to concerns about a possible spike in black market marijuana activity associated with legalization.

What do you see and smell?

Public consumption is a little more conspicuous. In public places, youre pretty used to catching a whiff of marijuana now. People have just gotten used to it.

How do you have a debate with 23 candidates?

A partial answer may emerge tonight when at least 16 candidates for New York City public advocate participate in a 7 p.m. forum at the First Unitarian Church in Brooklyn Heights.

The candidates will be lumped into four groups, and each group will have about 25 minutes to talk.

The public advocates duties are murky, the strength of the office is questionable and its funding has shrunk. But two of the four people who have served as public advocate have gone on to bigger things: Mayor Bill de Blasio and Letitia James, who in January becomes the state attorney general.The increasing refusal of Muslims to share water or food with Christians suggests an inability to come to terms with a past that defies the religious identifications meant to structure all of Pakistans social relations.

The debate about blasphemy is also tied to cultural issues assuming unprecedented importance with the emergence of a technologically mediated global arena after the Cold War. But such protests and violence over depictions of Islams prophet began during the middle of the 19th century in colonial India, where they had to do with urban politics and competition in newly capitalist societies.

These controversies are about struggles over representation in a public space. What defines Muslim outrage is never the traumatic encounter of the believers with the images of the prophet or his representation, but merely the rumor of circulation of his images and his representation beyond their control.

When controversies over insults to the Prophet Muhammad first arose in colonial India, the cases arising from them were dealt with under the Indian Penal Code written by the British politician Thomas Babington Macaulay, who criminalized the injury of religious and other sentiments in secular rather than theological terms by treating it the same way as defamation, libel and other such offenses.

In post-colonial India and Pakistan, religious offense among Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians continues to deploy the secular language of hurt sentiments rather than the theological category of blasphemy. In Pakistan, Lord Macaulays equal-opportunity conception of injury was done away with, and insulting the Prophet Muhammad was made into a specific crime above all others.

In the early years of Pakistan, a group called the Ahmadis, who are accused of not accepting Muhammad as the last prophet, were the first to be charged with blasphemy. But the charge of blasphemy was soon being leveled by even the most acceptable of Muslims against one another, often for petty and personal reasons. Such accusations are ways of legitimizing the individual motives of those who make them, whether these are concerned with quarrels over money, property or marri age.

But the accusations of blasphemy are also related to anxieties about the Muslim prophets vulnerability to insult, which have emerged from profound shifts in the life of Muslim societies.In response to my inquiries, the Port Authority said through its press office that the matter had been referred to the agencys independent Office of the Inspector General. We hold our officers to the highest standards, the statement says. And any conduct that would require disciplinary action will be addressed following the conclusion of the investigation.

The investigators may want to begin with a close examination of the polices official account, as written in a criminal complaint to the court. The police claim that Mr. Espinosa resisted arrest in that he manipulated his arms and hands to avoid handcuffing, continuously flailed his legs, and laid down on the ground  a characterization that seems exaggerated at best. (Surveillance cameras on the corner, to which the Port Authority has access, should provide useful information for investigators.)

The police also wrote in their official complaint that Mr. Espinosa, while in custody on the way to the hospital, repeatedly kicked an officer, hurting his hand. Mr. Espinosa is contesting all the charges and has declined to plead guilty to reduced non-felony charges.

Mr. Espinosas public defender, Rebecca Phipps, informed the Manhattan district attorneys office that the Port Authority inspector general had begun an investigation. He was released on Dec. 13; his next court date is Feb. 5.

Citing privacy concerns, Ms. Phipps would not provide me with any further personal information about Mr. Espinosa. The facility commander of the Port Authority Police declined to comment in response to inquiries about Mr. Espinosas initial felony-assault charge.

After I briefed him on the details of the case, Scott Hechinger, a senior staff attorney and director of policy at Brooklyn Defender Services, expressed skepticism about the police account, while cautioning that each case is different. These are the quintessential allegations police make against someone who has been the victim of excessive force, he said.

While the truth of what happened on the way to Bellevue Hospital may end up a matter of Mr. Espinosas word versus that of the Port Authority police officers, the polices less than forthright characterization of Mr. Espinosas arrest suggests this incident may be yet another case of excessive force by New York City public safety officers.The Russian trolls have been really good customers of Facebook, Google and Twitter.

Thats the key takeaway from reports released this week by the Senate Intelligence Committee on efforts by the Russian agents to spread fake stories and discourage Americans from voting.

Lets be dead clear: Purveyors of propaganda used these powerful platforms exactly as they were designed to be used. It should not surprise us that what happened was entirely avoidable and pretty much in plain sight of those who ran the platforms.

Now we know that the tech companies were not particularly helpful in trying to work with government investigators to unravel the mess, asserting that they were in the dark about the situation, both as the deception was happening and well after it was pointed out to them.

An article in The New York Times described the dribs and drabs of information released by the foot-dragging tech giants: The data they did provide lacked core components that would have provided a fuller and more actionable picture, said one of the reports. That report noted, Regrettably, it appears that the platforms may have misrepresented or evaded in some of their statements to Congress.So did Republican attacks on immigrants mobilize any voters in 2018? Yes, but it came in the form of Latino voters who reversed their record-low turnout in 2014 with record-high turnout in 2018. In the Election Eve poll, 73 percent of Latinos said Mr. Trump made them angry, while 72 percent said that they felt disrespected. Forty-eight percent of Latino voters agreed that Mr. Trump is a racist whose policies are intended to hurt Latinos, and 27 percent said that Trump policies have had a negative impact on Latinos, while 18 percent said Mr. Trump was having a positive impact on Latinos.

In 2001, the political scientists Adrian Pantoja, Ricardo Ramirez and Gary Segura established that perceived immigrant attacks have a strong mobilizing effect among Latino voters. In 2018, Latino voters once again proved that thesis correct.

In California, Latino voters increased their turnout enough to oust five Republican incumbents and help Democrats pick up two open seats. In Texas, Democrats won two House seats where Latino turnout was up. In New Jersey, Democrats gained four seats. Next door in New York, Democrats picked up three seats. There were two more Democratic pickups in Latino-majority districts in Florida, and one each in New Mexico and Arizona, while Democrats held on to two hotly contested seats in Nevada.

A recent analysis by the Latino Policy and Politics Initiative, a research center at U.C.L.A. that I helped found, revealed that across eight states with sizable Latino communities, the Latino vote grew by 96 percent from 2014 to 2018, compared with a more modest 37 percent in growth in the votes cast by non-Latinos. In a postelection analysis, Latino Victory Project and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee noted that early voting among Latinos increased by 174 percent. The U.C.L.A. study also concluded that higher Latino turnout was influential in flipping 20 of the 40 House seats that Democrats gained.

When asked how they engaged were by the 2018 election, 77 percent of Latino voters in the 70 swing districts identified by The Cook Political Report said that they actively encouraged their friends and family to vote. But it was not just self-mobilization; campaign outreach mobilized Latinos. In these 70 competitive districts, 53 percent of Latinos said someone contacted them and asked them to register or vote, thanks in part to efforts by the D.C.C.C., which invested $30 million in targeting Latino voters in battleground districts. (My firm, Latino Decisions, worked with the D.C.C.C., although I did not work on any direct campaign efforts for individual candidates.)

So what does this mean for 2020? First, its going to be much harder for Mr. Trump and Republicans to persuade Americans that immigrants are ruining our country. Before Mr. Trump took office, Republicans were more trusted than Democrats on immigration, but now its Democrats who are more trusted.

Nonetheless, Mr. Trump will continue attacking immigrants in 2019 and 2020. Indeed, he vows to shut down the federal government to get his border wall. While he is likely to get standing ovations at his rallies when he denigrates immigrants, the number of voters who favor his immigration agenda is shrinking. Perhaps worse news for the Republican Party is that many Latino voters view Mr. Trumps deeds, words  and the man himself  as racist, and the 2018 election demonstrated that the community is eagerly awaiting its chance to vote him out in 2020.

Matt A. Barreto (@realMABarreto) is a professor of Chicano studies and political science at the University of California, Los Angeles, a co-founder of the polling firm Latino Decisions and the author of Latino America: How Americas Most Dynamic Population Is Poised to Transform the Politics of the Nation.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.Every year on Christmas Eve, my extended family gathers for a meal that can be served at the last minute, whenever were ready to eat. This tradition of cold salads, ham balls and cookies goes back to my moms childhood.

My mothers father was a North Dakota postal employee, so on Christmas Eve, she never knew when he would get home. He was determined to keep working, my mom would tell us, until every Christmas package that could be delivered would be delivered. He started working for the Postal Service in 1911, and family lore has it that he sometimes had to trudge through the snow on horseback to deliver the mail.

As in my grandfathers day, todays postal workers have a mandate to provide universal service, delivering mail and packages to every American household at uniform rates, no matter where they live. That mandate has helped bind our vast nation.

This principle of affordable universal service is under threat. This year, the White House Office of Management and Budget recommended selling the public Postal Service to a private, for-profit corporation.A few weeks ago, Jeremy Foster, a photographer, and Marikh Mathias, a model and former contestant on The Bachelor, were riding around Salt Lake City, looking for a place to do an Instagram photo shoot.

The mountains were a 10-minute drive away, but it was raining that day. A coffee shop is a reliable backdrop, but Mr. Foster finds them too crowded and overly photographed. Instead, the pair ended up at 4th Street Coin Laundry, where Ms. Mathias sat in an orange plastic chair and stood in high-heels and designer jeans in front of a Speed Queen commercial washing machine.

In their choice of setting, the photographer and model were right on trend. Yes, it seems your corner suds shop has become a strangely coveted location.All of this is part of the solution, if there is a solution. Until we reduce the demand for the drug, it is not going away, he said. Were not going to eliminate it but maybe we can do what they did with smoking, turn a corner and reduce the demand.For Reza

I believed that if I did a good enough job acting in his play, I could will my beloved director, Reza Abdoh, not to die. Even though Reza was emaciated, his legs spattered with sarcoma lesions, he still seemed like someone who could scare off death: He had defied AIDS all the years I had been acting in his experimental plays. But when we actors assembled for the first rehearsal of his new play, we learned that he had been placed on life support. I had lost my chance. Or had I? Every play I have done in the two decades since has secretly been for him.  Juliana Francis-KellyPARIS  With the so-called Yellow Vest movement forcing concessions that have widened the countrys budget shortfall, the French government is accelerating a plan to place hefty taxes on American technology giants that have long maneuvered to keep their bills low while reaping huge sums of money.

France has been working with other countries on a European Union-wide digital tax on companies including Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, but some members of the bloc have balked at the proposal.

Bruno Le Maire, the French finance minister, said last week that France would move ahead on its own if the union did not approve such a tax by March.

On Monday, he moved up that date.

The tax will be introduced no matter what on Jan. 1, and it will be for the whole of 2019, Mr. Le Maire said. A week ago, he urged the public to fight with me on the issue in an interview on French radio, during which he said, Its time for these companies to pay the taxes that they owe.Now, the companys aggressive ways have been cast in a new light. The United States has accused Meng Wanzhou, a top Huawei executive and daughter of its founder, of committing bank fraud to help the companys business in Iran.

It is not clear precisely how Huaweis culture shaped its dealings in Iran. But an intense will to get ahead, which helped propel it to the head of the global market for telecom network equipment, seems to have informed employees actions in previous cases that put the company under scrutiny.

Huawei workers have been accused of bribing government officials to win business in Africa, copying an American competitors source code and even stealing the fingertip of a robot in a T-Mobile lab in Bellevue, Wash. In 2015, Huaweis founder and chief executive, Ren Zhengfei, said that as part of a company amnesty program, thousands of employees had admitted to violations ranging from fraudulent reporting of financial information to bribery.

In an emailed statement, a spokesman said that Huawei requires all employees to study and sign guidelines on business conduct every year. At the heart of the guidelines is the principle of acting in accordance with all local laws and regulations, said the spokesman, Joe Kelly. Where employees are found to have acted outside these guidelines, the company takes decisive action which can include immediate termination of employment.

Mr. Ren said in 2015 that Huawei had toughened its safeguards against employee misconduct. But the following year, in a speech that was emailed to employees, he acknowledged that many workers did not pay attention to internal rules and controls  perhaps, he said, because Huawei used to evaluate staff solely according to how much business they won.Children whose births are unplanned are likelier to have health complications, to be born into poverty, to stop their education sooner and to earn less. Mothers of unplanned children tend to give birth when they are younger, leave school earlier and earn less when older.

I think if were looking for the biggest levers we have in this country to expand opportunity, one of the most important ones is helping women to achieve their own goals, said one of Upstreams founders, Mark Edwards. The whole conversation about opportunity begins before the child is born.

Two more states  Washington and Massachusetts  announced this year that they would bring in the company to start similar projects there.

Set it and forget it

There is some resistance to contraception in America  the Roman Catholic Church remains broadly opposed, and some anti-abortion and religious groups object to particular forms  but birth control is mostly uncontroversial. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 99 percent of sexually active women between 15 and 44 have used some form of contraception.

Access widened in 2012, when the Affordable Care Act started requiring all insurers to cover every form of F.D.A.-approved contraception without any co-payment. (The Trump administration is trying to weaken those rules.) But that doesnt mean that women are using birth control all the time  or using the methods that work best. Over the course of a year, 70 women out of 1,000 using birth control pills will become pregnant. For women using a hormonal IUD, a small device placed in the uterus, fewer than 4 out of 1,000 will become pregnant.

Use of long-acting devices remains low in the United States compared with other developed nations, in part because of the harmful poor design of an IUD in the 1970s. But modern IUDs are considered very safe. And an implant  a newer, match-size device in a womans upper arm  lasts three years and is the most effective form of contraception available.

These devices, often called LARCs, for long-acting reversible contraceptive, change a womans fertility default. Without a LARC, preventing pregnancy means taking steps like filling prescriptions and remembering to take a pill every day. With one, a woman wont become pregnant until she takes the step of removing it.Good morning.

(Heres the sign-up, if you dont already receive California Today by email.)

Last week, news that the Trump administration was moving to deport certain Vietnamese immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for decades sparked fear and anger in a community that has deep roots in California  and one that includes strong supporters of the presidents hard line on immigration, as The Los Angeles Times recently reported.

Katie Waldman, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that its a priority of this administration to remove criminal aliens to their home country, and that 7,000 Vietnamese people have removal orders.

These are noncitizens who during previous administrations were arrested, convicted and ultimately ordered removed by a federal immigration judge, Ms. Waldman said.

But the deportation of Vietnamese immigrants  even ones with past deportation orders  has been rare. I asked Jenny Zhao, a staff attorney with Asian-Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus, which has advocated for immigrants, to talk about the possible changes. (The interview has been edited and condensed.)CHICAGO  A procession of police cars snaked through this citys streets before dawn on Tuesday, guiding to the morgue the bodies of two Chicago police officers who were struck and killed by a train while chasing someone believed to have fired a gun.

The deaths Monday night of the two officers, Conrad Gary and Eduardo Marmolejo, were the latest in a series of losses for the Chicago Police Department in 2018  a year Eddie Johnson, the police superintendent, described as immensely difficult during an emotional news conference.

Last month, Officer Samuel Jimenez, who had joined the department last year and had recently finished his probationary period, was shot and killed after a man opened fire in a hospital. And in February, a Chicago police commander, Paul R. Bauer, was shot and killed during a confrontation with a man on a busy downtown workday, not far from City Hall.

Officers Gary and Marmolejo were killed instantly on Monday evening, the authorities said, after they were hit by a passenger train on the citys far South Side. The officers, who were working as partners, were answering a report of gunshots after the citys ShotSpotter technology detected the gunfire.In the 1942 Disney movie Bambi, the little fawn is wobbling on stick-thin legs as it runs through the forest, urged on ahead of its mother after she hears a gunshot. Eventually, Bambi stops and turns around. We made it! Bambi says.

But the fawn is alone in the desolate landscape. Its mother has been felled by a hunter.

The tear-jerking power of the scene from the classic animated film, which has both touched and charmed children over the decades, went this month from screens to a Missouri courtroom, where it has become central to what officials are calling the largest case of deer poaching in the state.

On Dec. 6, a judge in circuit court ordered that a Missouri man, David H. Berry Jr., 29, must watch Bambi once a month while serving a one-year sentence for his role in a poaching operation believed to have killed hundreds of deer, officials said.

The judge is hoping there will be some kind of emotional reaction, Don Trotter, a prosecutor who worked on the case, said in an interview on Tuesday.LOS ANGELES  A Honduran woman who was photographed pulling her two toddlers to safety as she fled tear gas along the Mexican border has been provisionally admitted onto American soil and is now applying for asylum.

The woman, Maria Meza, was allowed in to the border crossing at Otay Mesa, Calif., with her five children late Monday after several hours of waiting with lawyers and two members of Congress who had personally escorted them to the entry station.

Eight other unaccompanied children and a man were also part of the group.

The path to settling in the United States is still far from clear for Ms. Meza and her family, who are part of a caravan of migrants, mainly from Honduras, who have been waiting for weeks in Mexico for a chance to present their asylum claims. In order to gain admission, Ms. Meza and the others must first pass a credible fear interview to determine whether they would be in danger if they returned home.

If authorities at the border allow her case to proceed, Ms. Meza could either be sent to a detention center or released on bond with an ankle monitor.In an unusual twist, Ms. McSally will be paired in the Senate with the woman who just beat her, Kyrsten Sinema. It was Ms. McSallys performance in that campaign, which she lost by just over two points after struggling to appeal to moderate voters, that gave Mr. Ducey and his advisers pause about appointing her, according to Republicans familiar with their thinking.

But the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, advocated for Ms. McSally, and the governor recognized that she alone had the sort of fund-raising base and statewide name recognition that will be pivotal in 2020, when she will have to run again to serve out Mr. McCains unexpired term.

I look forward to working closely with Kyrsten Sinema in the Senate, as we did in the House, Ms. McSally said at a news conference with Mr. Ducey, glossing over a fiercely fought campaign in which, at one point, she accused the Democrat of treason.

To receive the appointment, though, Ms. McSally, a Tucson-area lawmaker, was encouraged by the governor to make amends with the McCain family. Ms. McSally, who distanced herself from Mr. McCain during the Republican primary this year, visited the late senators widow, Cindy, on Friday in Phoenix.

The meeting went well enough that an individual close to the family said afterward that Mrs. McCain would not oppose the appointment. But on Tuesday she offered more advice for Ms. McSally and praise for Mr. Ducey than she did enthusiasm about his selection.The real motive for the scrutiny, Mr. Bigley said, stemmed from complaints Mr. Lovinger made in 2016 about lucrative Pentagon contracts awarded to outside consultants, including at the Office of Net Assessment, the Pentagons strategy group where he worked.

Their defense took on its deep-state tinge over the summer after an academic named Stefan Halper, the recipient of one of the contracts Mr. Lovinger had questioned, was identified as an F.B.I. informant who sought information from Trump associates during the early stages of the investigation into ties between the campaign and Russia.

As Mr. Trump and conservative media began to portray Mr. Halper as a deep-state spy inside the Trump campaign, labeling it Spygate, Mr. Bigley amplified his deep-state defense. Though Mr. Lovinger had not known about Mr. Halpers work for the F.B.I., he had complained about his Pentagon contract.

Mr. Lovinger was targeted because he blew the whistle on Stefan Halper and a Clinton crony getting suspicious defense contracts, said Tom Fitton of the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, which has sued for files about the case. It is disturbing that the Defense Department may now be implicated in Spygate targeting of President Trump.

But there is no evidence Mr. Lovingers clearance was revoked for political reasons, said Robert O. Work, the deputy secretary of defense in both the Obama and Trump administrations, asserting the officials who oversaw Mr. Lovinger were fiercely apolitical. It is quite surprising to me that someone would think this is some sort of deep state, Mr. Work said.

Mr. Lovinger has found a champion in Representative Louie Gohmert, Republican of Texas, who said this year without evidence that he believed the Justice Department was spying on him for his criticism of the Russia inquiry. Mr. Gohmert has introduced a bill, the Adam S. Lovinger Whistleblower Reprisal Act of 2018, aimed at giving additional protections to government employees who report wrongdoing.

A Spreading Strategy

While Mr. Lovinger may have seized on the defense early, it is spreading. Jerome Corsi, who recently published a book called Killing the Deep State, employed it as he began publicly discussing his potential plea deal last month with the special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation, Robert S. Mueller III.He said positive train control technology would not have helped in this tragedy. It would have zero effect, he said because the officers appeared so quickly in front of the train, the technology could not have reacted in time.I think its not a very desirable outcome, he said.

But Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said his party would be open to the idea. Wed certainly very seriously look at it, he told reporters.

After days of eerie quiet with a partial shutdown looming, the burst of activity suggested that all sides might be preparing for a brief holiday reprieve from their stalemate.

Ms. Sanders offered the first glimmers of a way out of the impasse in an interview Tuesday morning on Fox News, in which she said Mr. Trump  who only a week ago said he would be proud to force a shutdown over wall funding  did not want to see government funding lapse. She said the president was open to spending options short of the $5 billion lump sum he has demanded, and would find different funding sources to finance the wall.

The president has asked every agency to look and see if they have money that could be used for that purpose, she told reporters later.

Still, that would require approval from Congress, which Democrats said they would not grant.

In an evening tweet, the president appeared to continue to inch closer to the restrictions of the $1.6 billion funding in the Senate bill, claiming that we are not building a Concrete Wall. (Mr. Trump has mentioned concrete in his frequent, but fluctuating, descriptions of a wall.)

We are building artistically designed steel slats, so that you can easily see through it, the president wrote. It will be beautiful and, at the same time, give our Country the security that our citizens deserve.

Mr. McConnell had suggested a plan that would have provided $1.6 billion for border security but prohibited spending it on a wall, while allowing Mr. Trump to spend as much as $1 billion in unspent funds from other agencies on his immigration priorities. Mr. Schumer and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the presumptive incoming speaker, quickly rejected it.Although Judge Sullivan has a reputation for being hard on government misconduct, he found no fault with the conduct of the F.B.I. or prosecutors. He said Mr. Flynn deceived not only F.B.I. agents, but also senior White House officials, who then repeated his lies to the American public.

This is a very serious offense, he said. This case is in a category by itself.

At one point, he asked Brandon L. Van Grack, the lead prosecutor, whether Mr. Flynn was guilty of treason. The question clearly surprised a phalanx of lawyers on Mr. Muellers team who were present for the proceedings. Mr. Van Grack at first hesitated to answer, then later said the government had no evidence of treason, and the judge dropped the point.

Some of Judge Sullivans sharpest rebukes involved Mr. Flynns lies about his lobbying work for the Turkish government. Wrongly asserting that Mr. Flynn continued to work as an unregistered foreign agent during his short tenure as national security adviser, the judge gestured to the American flag at his side and declared: I mean, arguably, that undermines everything this flag over here stands for. Arguably, you sold your country out.

For Mr. Flynn, who once led supporters of Mr. Trumps campaign in chants of lock her up against Hillary Clinton, more uncertainty lies ahead. Although prosecutors said they had gleaned almost all they could from him, Mr. Kelner told the judge that Mr. Flynn wanted to postpone his sentencing to put himself in the best position to eke out the last modicum of cooperation.

Under his plea deal, Mr. Flynn met with investigators and prosecutors for the special counsels office 19 times. In doing so, he became an early cooperator in an investigation that has spun off criminal cases now in the hands of other federal prosecutors.

The special counsels office is investigating whether Mr. Trump obstructed justice, including by asking James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director at the time, to end the investigation into Mr. Flynn in early 2017. It is unclear whether Mr. Flynn knew about the presidents reported attempt to intervene on his behalf, or whether he has offered any insights on that front.

Prosecutors acknowledged that Mr. Flynn had helped the government secure an indictment in Northern Virginia against two of his former business associates for violating foreign lobbying rules. Prosecutors said the two men conspired with Turkey in 2016 to pressure the United States to expel a rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Good Tuesday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today.

_____________________

 Two reports commissioned by the Senate Intelligence Committee found an extraordinary effort by Russia to target African-Americans and suppress turnout among Democratic voters by using fake Instagram accounts. Heres more about the reports, and here are five takeaways.

 Two former business associates of Michael T. Flynn, President Trumps first national security adviser, have been indicted as part of a federal investigation into a secret lobbying campaign sponsored by Turkey.

 The Trump administration will roll back Obama-era policies aimed at ensuring that minority children and students with disabilities are not unfairly disciplined in schools. The administration said the policies contributed to rising violence in the nations schools.As the report took shape, Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly promised his loyalty to both the Second Amendment and the N.R.A., relaxed some of the statements he made on the greater need for gun control after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting. Instead, he settled on promoting the idea of training and arming school personnel.

The commission also recommended that schools continue to put character education programs in place and highlighted several models for improving mental health resources. It also urged federal agencies to help states address cyberbullying, an advocacy issue of the first lady, Melania Trump.

There is no universal school safety plan that will work for every school across the country, the report said. Such a prescriptive approach by the federal government would be inappropriate, imprudent and ineffective. We focused instead on learning more about, and then raising awareness of, ideas that are already working for communities across the country.

Besides Ms. DeVos, the other members of the commission included Matthew G. Whitaker, the acting attorney general, who took the place of Jeff Sessions after he resigned; Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services; and Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of homeland security.

The administration also focused on an Obama-era policy that advised schools on how to discipline students in a nondiscriminatory manner and examine education data for racial disparities that could flag a federal civil rights violation. Though the guidance is nonbinding, critics have argued that the edict pressured districts to keep policies that allowed dangerous students to stay in schools.

A senior administration official said the plan would be rescinded because research had found a recurring narrative that teachers and students felt threatened by the idea that people trending toward violent behavior were left unpunished or unchecked.

The guidance sent the unfortunate message that the federal government, rather than teachers and local administrators, best handles school discipline, the commission wrote. As a result, fearful of potential investigations, some school districts may have driven their discipline policies and practices more by numbers than by teacher input.The mother of a child on life support in California was granted a visa waiver to enter the United States after her application was stalled because she is from Yemen, one of the countries included in President Trumps ban on travel from several predominantly Muslim countries.

The mothers plea to see her dying child received widespread news coverage in recent days, as the boys father begged the federal government to allow his wife to enter the country.

The waiver was approved on Tuesday morning, and the mother, Shaima Swileh, 21, will land in San Francisco on Wednesday evening and see her son for the first time in months.

The boy, Abdullah, 2, has a degenerative brain condition and has been hospitalized at the U.C.S.F. Benioff Childrens Hospital, in Oakland, Calif., since October.In several recent cases, for example in New York and Colorado, courts have stepped in to mediate cases where a patient received a big balance bill from an out-of-network provider. They ordered hospitals to accept amounts far closer to what they agree to from in-network private insurers or Medicare.

This is the amount they are legally entitled to collect, said Mr. Richman.

Dr. Lopezs bill came after he sought help at the emergency room following excruciating abdominal pain. Sent home with pain medication, he awoke hours later to a phone call from the hospital: Come back! A review of his tests showed he needed surgery. He didnt stop to ask if the hospital was in his network, or for a cost estimate.

So, in an example like that, is there mutual assent?

Hospitals say yes, that signed admission forms, which include a promise to pay, constitute mutual assent, even if there was no price disclosed.

No, counters Mr. Richman. If a tax preparer provided no upfront estimate, he could not suddenly bill a client for $10,000 if the going rate for the service was $1,000 or less. The higher fee would never hold up in a court of law, since there was no mutual assent about price.

But what, if anything, should Dr. Lopez offer to pay? What is reasonable or average in a system where the price of a hip replacement can range from $15,000 to $150,000, or a blood test can be $5 to $500?

Based on the hospitals list prices, Dr. Lopezs bill came to nearly $21,000. His insurer, Cigna, using a formula it said is similar to what Medicare uses, said the maximum it would cover was $11,160. It paid 80 percent of that lower amount, and Dr. Lopez paid the remainder. Baptist Hospital is billing Dr. Lopez for nearly $8,000 more, saying it wants the full charges.

Im an economist, said Dr. Lopez, who teaches at the University of Memphis. I understand how abusive these practices are. There is not a single market price.For the first time in Colombia, the murder of a transgender woman has been punished as a gender-based hate crime, three years after the passage of a law that imposes tough sentences for hate crimes against women.

The woman, Anyela Ramos Claros, was killed last year in the municipality of Garzon after being shot in the back by Davinson Stiven Erazo Sanchez, who months earlier had tried to attack her with a knife, according to court documents. She died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Ms. Claros owned a hair salon where he was a client, the documents said. After being apprehended by the authorities, Mr. Sanchez tried to justify his actions by citing Ms. Claross sexual orientation, according to prosecutors in Garzon, which is about 100 miles southeast of Cali.

On Dec. 3, Mr. Sanchez was sentenced to 20 years in a psychiatric facility for aggravated feminicide  the killing of a woman because of her gender  and for a weapons charge.SEOUL, South Korea  As if air travel did not have enough nuisances, some K-pop fans have invented a new one: They board planes just to get a closer look at their favorite stars and then disembark, canceling their flights just before the gate closes.

Screaming fans jostling each other to take a peek at South Korean K-pop stars have become a regular scene at airports across Asia. But recently, some have become bolder, booking first-class seats that get them near enough to snap pictures and ask for autographs in VIP lounges or aboard the planes themselves. They then leave the flight and cancel their ticket.

These fans have caused disruptions at several Asian airports recently, and the incidents have angered passengers and airline officials alike: Security regulations require all passengers to leave the plane and repeat security checks whenever anyone voluntarily leaves a flight before takeoff.

On Saturday, a Korean Air flight from Hong Kong to Incheon International Airport, which serves Seoul, was delayed for an hour because three fans boarded to get a glimpse at the boy band Wanna One. About 360 other passengers also had to leave the plane with their carry-on luggage.WELLINGTON, New Zealand  New Zealand is known for its tourism campaigns emphasizing what a clean, green country it is, and after 2020 it might be even greener: A referendum will be held that year on whether recreational cannabis use should be legal, the justice minister said on Wednesday.

It appears that New Zealand would be the first country to put the issue to a nationwide vote.

Andrew Little, the justice minister, said the referendum would be on the ballot during the next national election, due to be held in 2020. He told reporters that the results would be binding, though he said there was still a bit of detail still to work through, particularly regarding how the question would be worded.

The announcement came a week after New Zealands Parliament passed a law that will ease restrictions on medicinal marijuana.

Public opinion in New Zealand has become more supportive of recreational cannabis use in recent years; an October poll by 1 News found that 46 percent of those questioned favored legalizing the drug, while 41 percent were against. The poll questioned 1,006 eligible voters and had a margin-of-sampling error of 3.1 percent.The subject will not be in school during the foreseeable future, Sgt. Joe Hall, public information officer for the Valparaiso Police Department, said in a release, adding the threat is not believed to be credible and remains under investigation by the police department.BEIJING  Facing deepening tensions abroad and anxieties at home, Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, delivered an unabashed defense of his policies on Tuesday, using a key anniversary to argue that his recipe of guided growth under strong Communist Party control must not waver.

Mr. Xi made his case to some 3,000 officials and guests gathered in the imposing Great Hall of the People in Beijing to commemorate 40 years since China embarked on far-reaching economic changes after decades of upheaval and malaise under Mao Zedong.

The resonant date had inspired expectations among some analysts and investors that Mr. Xi would give clearer priorities to counter economic headwinds and trade tensions that have flared with the United States. But he offered none, referring only obliquely to the economic and diplomatic challenges confronting China.

Instead, he used the meeting, broadcast live on Chinese television, to stress that only the partys dominance would allow China to continue its stunning transformation into the decades ahead. The first lesson from 40 years of reform, he said, was the need to maintain party leadership over all tasks.BUDAPEST  Inside the Hungarian state broadcaster on Monday afternoon, an opposition lawmaker was lying on the floor, surrounded by security guards. Outside the building, a fellow member of Parliament was trying to burst through police lines to reach him.

Both filmed themselves on their phones to broadcast the encounters on Facebook.

But on the main state television channel, the talk was all about pigeons.

Pigeon meat, said the narrator of a program extolling the virtues of pigeon farming, is highly sought-after abroad.

Under Hungarys far-right prime minister, Viktor Orban, the country has long been a place of parallel realities.BRUSSELS  Belgiums prime minister, under pressure from the right and left, submitted his resignation Tuesday in the face of a populist revolt over his migration policy, which opponents say threatens Belgian sovereignty.

Prime Minister Charles Michels problems echo those of other European leaders, including President Emmanuel Macron of France, who are trying to maintain centrist governments in the face of opposition from both flanks.

Right-wing allies of Mr. Michels center-right government abandoned him earlier this month, angry over his migration policy which had Belgium join a United Nations accord that agrees to share the burdens of immigration. Left-wing opponents, meanwhile, demanded more ambitious environmental policies, lower taxes and more affordable prescription drugs.

Mr. Michel made an impassioned, last-gasp speech to Parliament and asked his left-wing opponents to forge a new alliance that would keep him in office.CAIRO  An internationally backed cease-fire in the key Yemen port of Hudaydah got off to a shaky start on Tuesday when fighting erupted moments after it took effect at midnight.

The clashes died down hours later, and by late Tuesday residents of the war-torn port were enjoying their first respite from a fight that has raged since June, displacing at least 550,000 people and leading to thousands of civilian deaths.

The truce, agreed to in Sweden last week by Yemens Saudi-backed government and its Houthi foes, is intended to ensure humanitarian access to Hudaydah, which is the conduit for 70 percent of aid to Yemen. The deal has stoked hopes the belligerents could start full-blown talks to end a war that has driven the Arab worlds poorest country to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.

But the cessation of hostilities, which followed a weekend of heavy combat in the city, is fragile. And the sporadic bursts of gunfire that rang out even late on Tuesday were a reminder that without concerted international support, heavy fighting could resume there.Twice in December, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee hauled in former FBI director Comey to talk more about Hillary's emails. They plan to bring in former attorney general Loretta Lynch on Wednesday for another private interview about the same. This all follows scores of probes into the Benghazi attacks, Planned Parenthood (each merited a select committee), IRS targeting, Operation Fast and Furious, Clinton's emails, Solyndra, Obamacare and more. In the first three years of GOP control, the oversight chairman issued more subpoenas (96) than had been issued in the previous eight years.Kanathip Nathip, a 53-year-old man from Phitsanulok, Thailand, never has to worry about locking the door of his home whenever he goes out, as anyone foolish enough to try and rob it would get the surprise of a lifetime. The Thai man shares his house with a full grown crocodile thats free to move around as he pleases and doesnt take kindly to uninvited guests.

Nathip got the crocodile 20 years ago, as a pet for his two children. He had taken them to a crocodile farm in Nakorn Sawan and they loved the reptiles so much that he ended up buying not one but two of them. At first both Thong (Gold) and Ngern (Silver) lived in the family home, but as time went by, it became clear that Ngern wasnt meant to be a house pet, so they built a small pond in the yard and moved him there. Thong, on the other hand, seemed much more comfortable in the house, so hes been living there for the past two decades. Even though Nathips two sons have grown up and moved out of the house, the 53-year-old still has Thong, who he considers his third son.

Photo: Sanook

The Phitsanulok man recently told Thai web portal Sanook that Thong has always been docile and has never harmed anybody. He mostly keeps to himself, spending most of his time under a small wooden table on the tiled floor of the house, and as long as he have food and water available, hes pretty happy. Nathip admits that the croc isnt the most affectionate pet a person can have, so he refrains from touching him, but he will let you stroke his scaly tale from time to time.

Photo: YouTube

All of Nathips neighbors know about Thong and how docile he is, so whenever they see him sleeping in the middle of the street, instead of calling the police, they simply call Nathip to come pick him up.



Kanathip Nathip isnt the only person in the world to share their home with a crocodile. Earlier this year we also wrote about an Indonesian family who had been living with a 200kg gentle giant for over 20 years.A Missouri poacher who is suspected to have illegally killed hundreds of deer over the past decade has recently been ordered to watch the Disney classic Bambi at least once a month for one year, as part of his sentence.

Its not clear exactly how many deer David Berry and his two sons  David Berry Jr. and Kyle Berry  have poached in the forests of southern Missouri over the last nine years, but investigators suspect that the number reaches into the hundreds. The three men hunted the defenceless animals mostly at night, cutting off their heads and antlers as trophies and leaving the bodies to rot where they fell. Although their cruel and illegal activities were financially motivated, police evidence suggests that cutting off the heads of the deer was mostly about satisfying the poachers personal egos. Now, one of the twelve men accused in what has been described as one of the largest deer poaching cases in the history of Missouri will have to watch the Disney classic Bambi repeatedly to hopefully realize the error of his ways.

Photo: Disney

According to court records obtained by the News-Leader, Lawrence County Judge Robert George ordered David Berry Jr. to view the Walt Disney movie Bambi, with the first viewing being on or before December 23, 2018, and at least one such viewing each month thereafter, during Defendants incarceration in the Lawrence County Jail. He will be in jail for a year, so thats at least 12 viewings.

Its not known why the judge singled out Berry Jr. to watch the popular Disney animated movie, but judges are allowed to impose special conditions when issuing sentences, and sometimes they come up with pretty creative ideas. However, its hard to believe that after gruesomely killing hundreds of real deer, this poacher will be impressed by the death of a fictional character, and an animated one at that.Jill Kozeny, chief of staff to Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, will join the American Council of Life Insurers on Jan. 2 as senior VP-communications and PA.

She advised Grassley in his role as chairman of the Senate Judiciary and earlier as ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee.

Her responsibilities included crafting strategic communications strategy around issues such as taxes, healthcare, retirement security, international trade and government reform.

Susan Neely, who was head of the American Beverage Assn., took the helm of the ACLI in September. Earler, she served in the George W. Bush administration as assistant secretary for PA at the Dept. of Homeland Security.

Neely took over ACLI from former Idaho Republican Senator and Interior Secretary under Bush II Dirk Kempthorne, who headed the group for eight years.

ACLIs 290 members provide life insurance, annuities, retirement plans, disability income insurance and dental/vision plans to 90M US families.

Bob Moran

Bob Moran, who spent a dozen years at Halliburton directing the energy services giants PR and government affairs, has joined FTI Consulting as senior managing director and co-head of its government relations offering.

Hell pair with former Alabama Democratic Congressman Bud Cramer in the GR unit, which is part of FTIs strategic communications offering.

Most recently, Moran ran his own consulting firm

Until exiting Halliburton in January, Moran handled energy, environmental, tax, regulatory matters, government oversight and investigations.

Earlier, he was DC lobbyist for the American Petroleum Institute and National Ocean Industries Assn.

Based in Washington, Moran and Cramer report to Jackson Dunn, who heads the PA/GR practice for the Americas.The more I learn about the SDNY investigations into Trump's criminal enterprise, the more apparent it becomes that he's being looked at like you would a mob boss. I'm calling it here and now that the first indictment against that orange moron will be a RICO statute violation, and he'll spend the rest of his miserable life in prison where he belongs.GovTech Singapore, the government agency responsible for developing Singapores public digital services as well as improving the digital infrastructure between various government networks, has signed a pact with Burson Cohn & Wolfe for PR support.

The WPP subsidiary will provide GovTech Singapore strategic PR and communications counsel as well as support on media and stakeholder outreach, according to Foreign Agents Registration Acts documents filed in December.

BCW will also pitch and secure phone interviews between GovTech and U.S.-based principals. The work will be coordinated between BCWs offices in Singapore and New York.

The pact, which wraps up at the end of December, brings BCW $13,500 SGD (approx. $10,000).

Burson-Marsteller and sister WPP unit Cohn & Wolfe were merged earlier this year to form Burson Cohn & Wolfe. The newly-combined operation counts 4,000 staffers.The Chairman and Board and Management of Lakeland Dairies have expressed their pride in milk supplying dairy farmers Mairead and Pat McLoughlin of Birr, Co. Offaly who have been identified as Champions of Sustainability having won the overall Small/Medium Herd Category of the Bord Bia Origin Green Farmer Awards.

The McLoughlins emerged as overall national winners from a shortlist of 15 dairy finalists selected from 16,200 dairy farmers who are members of the Bord Bia Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme.

This is not the first time that the McLoughlins have won accolades for the high quality of their dairy farming. Earlier this year they won the Lakeland Dairies Milk Quality Award for Sustainability for their outstanding commitment to sustainable milk production, based on measures including carbon footprint, biodiversity, water management and milk quality results.

The McLoughlins currently milk 56 cows with plans to increase this number to 66. They are new entrants to dairying having taken over from Maireads father, Michael Gleeson, in 2014. The judges found that thanks to their dedication to measuring performance on-farm they have achieved excellent farm sustainability. The importance of animal health and welfare also stood out for the judges.

The Origin Green Farmer Awards recognise and reward the exceptional performance being achieved by members of its Sustainable Quality Assurance schemes for beef, horticulture and dairy. These schemes are pivotal to differentiating Irish food products in the global marketplace. Participating farms meet high standards around hygiene, farm safety, traceability, animal welfare, remedy use and commitment to their locality.

Paying tribute to Mr and Mrs McLoughlin, Lakeland Dairies Chairman Alo Duffy said, Lakeland Dairies understands our farmers position as guardians of the countryside and we know that farming is at the heart of thriving rural communities. We work with our members to develop farm based initiatives to enhance farm profitability and environmental protection and we prioritise environmentally efficient manufacturing at our processing facilities.

Mairead and Pat McLoughlin are exemplary of both the very best traditions and the advanced modern day practices of dairy farming and they are also exemplary of the excellent milk supply base and high quality dairy farmers who we are fortunate to have across our entire catchment areas in Lakeland Dairies.

The markets that we deal with are largely demand led, with multiple supply channels for customers and consumers to choose from. They want products that are safely, securely and sustainably produced and we need to be able to verify that this is the case to the satisfaction of our international customers. The milk we collect for processing, produced from pasture fed herds on family owned farms, is the high quality raw material on which we have built our reputation as a global dairy provider."

Lakeland Dairies is a farmer owned dairy processing co-operative with operations across 15 counties on a cross border basis. Lakeland collects and processes over 1.2 Billion litres of locally produced milk each year into a wide range of value-added dairy foodservice and food ingredient products which it exports worldwide.Chef, TV personality and star of RTE 1s Meals in Minutes, Donal Skehan will officially open the brand new SPAR in Tullamore this Wednesday.

The new store is on the Arden Road in Tullamore and Donal will be on hand from 12pm to 3pm.

Join Donal Skehan on Wednesday as he officially opens the brand new SPAR in Tullamore. There will be plenty of photo opps and chances to meet and chat with the star.

Donal returns to Ireland this week from LA as the last in the current TV Series Meals in Minutes - the Christmas special, is broadcast on RTE 1 on Wednesday evening at 7.30pm. This is the last episode in the current series which is sponsored by SPAR.

Donal will also sign copies of his current cookery book Meals in Minutes, that accompanies the TV series.

In the last of his current TV series on Wednesday, The Christmas Special, Donal conjures up five delicious recipes with tips and tricks that will impress the most cynical guest.

Kick off Christmas or Stephens morning with a delicious Boxty Breakfast, a complete twist on the traditional smoked eggs and salmon , whip up a baked camembert platter as a starter or serve as a tasty bite for your visitor  a very simple tasty but impressive nibbly, where you bake a whole camembert in a crusty loaf, drizzled with Irish honey rosemary and garlic .

Donal also share his speedy signature Chicken Pot Pie topped with tasty dumplings, yet again another simple dish where you use the cooked meat from a chicken or indeed a turkey left overs.

And of course no meal would be complete with a mouth-watering dessert. Not everyone is fan of the traditional Christmas pudding and fruit cake, Donals spectacular Chocolate and Cherry Lava Cake with Vanilla, Cardamom Whipped Cream and Shaved Chocolate is guaranteed to have your guests clamouring for more.The Offaly based RENUA Ireland Leader has warned vulture funds planning to foreclose on family farms and homes in rural Ireland that there will be, as he describes it, zero tolerance for their activities across the country-side'.

Cllr John Leahy said, "Vulture funds are a new generation of landlords and they will be treated in the same way as their predecessors. Rural Ireland is not going to stand idly by whilst families are evicted by the zombie economics of the vulture fund."

The Offaly County Councillor acknowledged that moral hazard should always apply to loans and mortgages but he added that the banks themselves had 'fatally undermined that principle' with their reckless lending policies.

He commented, "where they (banks) make bad loans, they should negotiate settlements. Instead they have outsourced their failure to vulture funds who only care about making a quick buck. The governments decision to back the banks over the people is now coming back to haunt them."

Cllr Leahy claimed that 'a plague of foreclosures' is about to be unleashed upon rural Ireland.

"To date the vultures have held back on rural Ireland because they have been distracted by commercial property but they are now however waiting on the fence posts preparing to strike," he said.

He also warned families dealing with vulture funds not to expect fair play stating that 'there will be no compromises or settlements from vulture funds'.

"When it comes to our homesteads the position must be not an inch without a guarantee of families staying in their homes."

Cllr Leahy said that RENUA Ireland believes the best long-term policy for vultures would be for the state and people to 'excise this foreign banking methodology from the country'.

"Like St Patrick and the snakes, its time to chase the vultures out of Ireland," he continued. "Sadly, all precedents to date suggest that the government and the Central Bank's ongoing policy of appeasement that the people will be alone in taking on the vultures. We warn them in advance though that The Field by JB Keane will look like a romantic comedy when compared to the furies a return to landlordism in rural Ireland will spark. We say not a yard, not a field without negotiations. Rural Ireland has seen off many land-grabbers before and our vulture friends will experience a similar fate. The government should intervene now if it wants to avoid an unprecedented campaign of civil disobedience."During his time in Vernon Hills, Carey handled several redevelopment proposals for commercial property along Townline Road and was a top official in reviewing the $200 million mixed retail and housing development known as Mellody Farm, located at Townline Road and Milwaukee Avenue. He was also the villages liaison to the chamber of commerce.Professor calls girl student to his house to come and cook when wife is out

Four times the joy! Woman gives birth to quadruplets at AIIMS in Uttarakhand

Within 10 days of reopening, more than 8,000 tourists flock in to Rishikesh for river rafting

Uttarakhand: Teen set ablaze for rejecting love proposal

Dehradun

oi-Vikas SV

Dehradun, Dec 18: A 31-year-old married man expressed his love to a college girl and when she refused, he poured petrol on her and set her ablaze. The ghastly incident took place in Uttarakhand's Pauri Garhwal region.

The girl is a student of B.Sc second year while the accused, identified as Manoj Singh, is a driver by profession. Singh has now been arrested.

The girl sustained about 80% burn injuries and is undergoing treatment in AIIMS Rishikesh where she is said to be critical, said a Hindustan Times report.

Kerala: Jilted lover sets self and woman on fire; both succumb to burn injuries

The 18-year-old girl, the victim, was on her way back home from college in her two-wheeler when the accused stopped her. He expressed his love to which the girl refused straightaway saying she did not want to talk to him. He then poured petrol on her and set her ablaze. Singh then fled the spot, according to senior superintendent of police Pauri Garhwal, Jagat Ram Joshi.

The HT report further quoted Joshi as saying that Singh had been stalking her over the last few days and wanted to talk to her, which she refused repeatedly.

The students of the college where the girl studies have take to streets over the incident and Monday staged a protest at the district collectorate. Around 70-80 students, including the victim's classmates, raised slogans and demanded that the accused be hanged.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 10:09 [IST]2018: How forces took the battle to the naxalites, but the fight is far from over

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Dec 18: One of India's biggest security challenges are posed by the Naxalites. They are an internal threat with an external support, which makes the battle against them even more harder.

The year 2018, one could saw many hits and some misses in the battle against naxalites. Indian agencies say that the high number of surrenders this year is what was the highlight of the battle.

The surrenders, not only helped in reducing the strength of the naxalites, but their spread as well.

Failing ideology, reduction of geographic spread led to regime change in naxal leadership

Moreover, those who surrendered have spoken extensively about how flawed the ideology of the naxalites has been. This has helped spread across a larger message, which in turn has reduced the number of new recruits.

The fight:

From 2,258 incidents of naxalite violence in 2009 to around 190 in 2018, the fight against the naxals has been a successful one for the forces this year. The spread to has decreased considerably States reporting violence reduced from 10 (2013) to 9. Districts reporting violence reduced from 76 (2013) to 58. Police Stations reporting violence reduced from 330 (2013) to 291.

The data provided by the Union Home Ministry shows that between 2016 and 2018, 4,123 naxalites have been arrested. In the year 2016, the number of arrests carried out stood at 1,840 while in 2017 it was 1,888. The figures till March 15, 2018, suggests that the number of arrests made stood at 395.

The lavish life of naxals: SUVs, flats and how ill-gotten money is being invested in land

In the month of March 2018, there were two major incidents reported from Odisha and the Chattisgarh-Telangana border. While three women cadres of the naxals were killed in the Odisha encounter, the one on the Telangana border on March 1 2018 saw the killing of six women naxalites. One Greyhound constable was however martyred in the attack.

In February the security forces managed to kill four naxalites- Rakesh Bhuiyan, Lallu Yadav, Rinki and Ruby. The encounter took place at Jharkhand.

The Home Ministry says that that a comparison of various statistics of left wing extremism related violence indicated a significant improvement. Incidents of violence reduced by 36.6% from 6524 to 4136. LWE related deaths decreased by 55.5% from 2428 to 1081. Elimination of LWE cadres increased by 14.6% from 445 to 510. Surrenders by LWE cadres increased by 143% from 1387 to 3,373. Security officials say that the mounting pressure is what is leading to such a large number of surrenders. Another important aspect is the reduction in the numbers of civilian casualties. 188 were reported in 2017 which is the lowest in the category since 1999.

The maximum number of civilians killed in naxalite violence was in 2010 when 720 deaths were reported. Data prepared by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SAT) suggested that the number districts from where fatalities were reported declined from 42 in 2016 to 40 in 2017.

The fight is far from over:

Security officials argue that while there has been a massive dip in the strength of the naxalites, the need to sustain the strategy is crucial. Any let up in the strategy could see the naxalites bouncing back. The Home Ministry says that it has introduced a host of measures to ensure that the naxalite menace is completely curbed. While security forces would continue to do the job on the ground, a host of reforms have also been introduced. A new scheme with an outlay of Rs. 3,000 crore (Rs. 1,000 crore per annum) has been introduced. Under the scheme funds will be provided to 35 most affected LWE districts to fill the critical gaps in public infrastructure and services, which are of emergent nature. Rs.175 crore has been released under the scheme in 2017-18.

To earn their daily bread, how the urban naxals have spread

An Empowered Committee was constituted under Additional Secretary (LWE) to monitor and guide developmental initiatives through co-ordination with various Central Ministries. Two committees have been formed in May 2017 for improving operational performance of forces in LWE areas. These are- Committee for use of Cutting Edge technologies in LWE Theatre. Committee for fixing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for LWE Theatre.

The committees have already submitted the reports. In order to enhance local representation among the security forces and also provide employment to local youth, a Bastariya Battalion has been raised.

743 Scheduled Tribes candidates from four most affected LWE districts of Chhattisgarh, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur and Sukma have been recruited. This figure includes 242 female candidates.Marquardt works in real estate management and development. He was first appointed to the Village Board by Byrne in 2004 to fill a vacancy, and then was elected to an unexpired two-year term in 2005 and subsequent four-year terms.AAP to revisit its plans to join hands with the Congress post Sajjan Kumar conviction

India

oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla

New Delhi, Dec 18: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) might change its stand on forging an alliance with the Congress in view of one of the senior party leader and former Lok Sabha MP Sajjan Kumar getting convicted by the Delhi High Court. The Aam Aadmi Party has been trying very hard to enter into an alliance with the Congress of which Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken is opposed to.

But in the changed scenario where a Congress leader is convicted in the case of riots against the Sikh community in 1984 and case against the issue was argued in the court by an AAP leader HS Phoolka. But the most important thing is that Sikhs are against the Congress since the riot took place and the verdict revived their misery. So in such a situation, the AAP is likely to revisit its plan to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi by joining hands with the Congress.

Congress leaders raped women and killed men in cold blood during 1984 riots: Amit Shah

Actually, the vote share of the AAP that was 53 percent in 2015 Assembly elections has come down to 28 on an average. It defers even in Delhi region-wise. So it was looking for an alliance with the Congress. The moment AAP enters into an alliance with the Congress in Delhi, the Sikhs that are supporting the party will move away and it might even have some impact in Punjab as well.

Sources said that around 11 per cent Muslim vote bank of Delhi are solidly behind the AAP and its grip over the rest of the communities is getting loosen so it was seeking an alliance with the Congress. Sources said that the party gets funds from the NRI businessmen from the UK, the US and Canada that will also dry up if it goes with the Congress.

Sajjan Kumar's conviction: Leaders cutting across party lines welcome HC verdict

So the AAP is left with no other options but to devise some other strategy to take the BJP on in Delhi which had won all seven seats in the city. However, the AAP has already announced seven conveners for all the seven Lok Sabha constituencies who will ultimately be declared candidates of the respective seats. AAP also wanted to get the support of the middle-class vote bank which is angry with it and might go the Congress way. This section is also angry with the BJP for its policies hurting the section the most.After Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan to follow the suit on loan waiver

India

oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla

New Delhi, Dec 18: After Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh governments waived farmer loans, the newly elected Congress government in Rajasthan looking to do the same. All the important officials of the government are involved in it that how it should be done.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi had promised to waive loan of farmers within 10 days if the Congress comes to power in these states. After the formation of the government, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh governments have fulfilled promises made by the Congress and loan of farmers up to Rs 2 lakh have been waived and order to this effect has been issued.

This is how Rahul Gandhi reacted when asked about farm loans waiver

Chief minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot got involved in the entire exercise of loan waiver after the swearing-in ceremony. He is holding meetings with senior officials of the government on this issue. They are preparing details about the loans of farmers. They are assessing what is the situation of debt in private and government lending.

Sources said that chief secretary of Rajasthan D B Gupta is making all calculation of loan waiver with his officials. He met with the CM at his residence and it is being believed that in a day or two debt of farmers of Rajasthan too will be waived.

Sources said that Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have taken the decision on loan waiver, it is being observed that if it takes the same method adopted by the other Congress government or come up with a new methodology of debt waiver.

'1 done. 2 to go': Rahul Gandhi on Kamal Nath waiving farm loans in MP

It is also being said that loan waiver is not going to benefit much to the farmers of these states. It is for sure going to harm the financial condition of the state which is already in tatters. People have started saying this this will halt the development process.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 17:15 [IST]After six years in jail, Pakistan to release Indian national Hamid Ansari today

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Dec 17: After six years in jail, Pakistan to release Indian national Hamid Ansari who crossed border for love tomorrow. Earlier, a Pakistani court had asked the government to complete formalities for Ansari's deportation within a month as his three-year jail term ended on December 15.

Ansari, a 33-year-old Mumbai resident, is currently lodged in the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by a military court to three years' imprisonment for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card on December 15, 2015.

He was arrested in Pakistan in 2012 for illegally entering the country from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.

23 Indian passports go missing from Pakistan High Commission

Ansari's lawyer, Qazi Muhammad Anwar, said that his client's prison term will end on December 15 and he should be released on the morning of December 16.

Anwar informed the bench that the sentence of Indian national would complete after two days and both the Ministry of Interior and authorities of prison, where he was lodged, were completely silent about his release and deportation to India.

Ansari had gone missing after he was taken into custody by Pakistani intelligence agencies and local police in Kohat in 2012 and finally in reply to a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother, Fauzia Ansari, the high court was informed that he was in custody of the Pakistan Army and was being tried by a military court.

Balloons with Pakistan Zindabad slogans found at Gita Mahotsavvenue

The decision comes days after Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a note verbale to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, asking them to make necessary arrangements for the "earliest" release of Indian prisoners who have either completed their sentence or have been identified as Indian nationals lodged in Pakistani prisons.

(with PTI inputs)After Telangana debacle, Congress casts doubts on TDP alliance

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Hyderabad, Dec 18: Did the political calculations for the Congress and TDP go wrong in Telangana. Called the Mahakutami, this was a force set up ahead of the elections to take on the mighty KCR.

The alliance failed to put up a fight and the TRS won the polls handsomely. The TRS ended up with 88 out of the 119 seats while the Congress and TDP won 19 and 2 respectively.

Post the elections, several Congress leaders are now demanding that the alliance with the TDP may have hurt the party. Many within the Congress feel that had they gone alone, they would have been in with a good chance.

Common man needs infrastructure, mandir, surgical strikes not the only narrative says KTR

Ahead of the formation of the Telangana state in 2014, there had a negative sentiment against Chandrababu Naidu as he was blamed for stalling the bifurcation. While the Congress was well aware of this sentiment, it still went with Naidu as he was expected to bring in the voters of the settlers.

However, the calculations went wrong as the Reddys do not back Naidu. They back Y S Jaganmohan Reddy instead and this led to Naidu failing to bring in these votes. The Congress in Telangana is worried that if the alliance continues in 2019, the result could be somewhat similar. However the party leaders say that while at the local level an alliance with the TDP was opposed, the decision was finally made by the High Command.

The Congress leadership is looking at Naidu from the 2019 perspective. He has been instrumental in getting a large chunk of the opposition together. While Naidu magic did not work in Telangana, he is still a force to reckon with in Andhra Pradesh. Although he faces tough competition in the next election from Jagan Reddy, he is still a major player in the state.

Telangana election result: Should Congress rethink power equation with Chandrababu Naidu's TDP?

The Congress high command would tread carefully on this issue. It would not only be looking at Telangana alone but AP as well. The Congress is literally non-existent in AP as most of the people there blame the party for bifurcating the state. Going by the images that came from the swearing-in ceremonies at Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, it seems that the Congress and TDP are still on the same stage.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 13:31 [IST]Ageing Cheetah, Chetak choppers to be replaced: All you need to know about new LUH

India

oi-Vikas SV

New Delhi, Dec 18: The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's (HAL) Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), which is set to replace ageing Cheetah and Chetak helicopters, completed its maiden flight on December 14. The maiden test flight of the third prototype (PT3) of the 3-ton class new generation helicopter was flawless, as per HAL.

The first flight of LUH PT-1 was carried on September 6, 2016, and the second Prototype flew on May 22, 2017. The configuration of the third prototype (PT3) were augmented based on the feedback from flight testing of PT1 and PT2.

HAL gets order of 41 ALH helicopters; 40 for Army, one for Navy

The LUH is a 3-ton class new generation helicopter being indigenously developed by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to meet the requirements of both military and civil operators. The machine which has been developed by Rotary Wing Research and Design Center (RWR&DC) of HAL will be manufactured at a green field helicopter manufacturing facility at Tumakuru, Karnataka, which is under progress.

The design and development was launched in February 2009. The initial Ground Test Vehicle (GTV) run was carried out on Dec 6, 2014.

The successful completion of the first flight of LUH's third prototype is a quantum leap and will soon replace the aging fleet of Cheetah and Chetak helicopters, said HAL Director (Engg and R&D) Arup Chatterjee, as per a PTI report.

Features of HAL Light Utility Helicopter (LUH):

The HAL Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) is a 3-tonne light helicopter. According to HAL, it possesses a cruise speed of 235 km/h, maximum speed of 260 km/h, service ceiling of up to 6.5 km, a range of 350 km, a maximum take-off weight of 3.12 tonne and an empty weight of 1.91 tonne. The LUH will be capable of accommodating a maximum of two pilots and six passengers, all of which shall be seated on crashworthy seats; externally, it is capable of carrying cargoes of up to 1 tonne underslung. It will be able to undertake various missions, including emergency medical services (EMS), troop transport, utility, search and rescue (S&R), VVIP, aerial reconnaissance and surveillance missions.

The LUH is powered by a single HAL/Turbomeca Shakti turboshaft engine, which is equipped with a dual channel FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) system along with a backup fuel control system. The helicopter will be equipped with a glass cockpit, featuring a smart cockpit display system (SCDS), along with a skid-based landing gear arrangement.

Manufacturing of LUH:

HAL intends to perform mass production of the LUH at its new helicopter manufacturing complex at Tumakuru unit. The Tumakuru assembly line would be able to produce around 30 LUHs per year initially.

PM Modi to lay foundation stone for HAL's chopper facility in Tumakuru

In the next 2-3 years, production would be ramped up to 60 helicopters per year. HAL has an order for 187 LUH, including 126 for Indian Army and 61 for Indian Air Force (IAF).

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 13:04 [IST]AIMPLB to seek help of other political parties to stall Triple Talaq Bill in Parliament

India

oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla

New Delhi, Dec 18: Similar to the stand taken by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Ram Temple issue, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) too will seek help of other political parties to stall the passage of the Triple Talaq Bill in Parliament.

The government has introduced the Triple Talaq Bill in Parliament with some changes in it. The bill is not only opposed by the Congress when its MP Shashi Tharoor sighted some constitutional provisions.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board and Darul Uloom, Deoband Ulama have not only opposed this government move but decided to do whatever possible to stall this move of the government. In-charge of fatwa online of Darul Uloom, Deoband, Mufti Arshad Farooqui and another Mufti from Darul Uloom Yade Ilahi Qasmi said that Muslim community opposes triple talaq but interference into Shariat matter would not be tolerated.

Winter Session: Triple Talaq Bill tabled in Lok Sabha

They have accused the government that it wanted to divert attention from many important issues and wanted to keep people involved with issues related with Islam and Muslims. They said that there was a provision of triple talaq in Sharia.

Women right activists Amber Zaidi told Oneindia, "The government has been working on the issue from very long. This is a welcome move from the government and it was expected that the government will introduce this bill in the winter session to help Muslim women."

On being asked that the government is being accused of interference, she said, "If this is interference then abolition of Sati Pratha was also an interference and Raja Ram Mohan Roy was called a stooge and an agent of the British government. Any good thing that is initiated is opposed by some people but gradually everyone will understand that it was for the larger good of the community."

"Moreover, people opposing the move are mostly working under the political agenda of someone. Otherwise everyone knows that this is the basic right of women. The way talaq is being given to Muslim women, it is absolutely wrong and inhuman. No one can support it if we take the issue away from political ideologies," added Zaidi.

AIMPLB said that law on triple talaq is not in the interest of the Muslim community and Muslim women. If some traditions of Muslims need change then they will be discussed and opinion of everyone will be sought on them and only then they will be amended.

RSS-affiliated think tank to release interaction-based book on triple talaq

The Board has already started working in this regard in some important cities of big states. The Board will ask help from other political parties not to get this bill passed. If it required, they will go to the Supreme Court. But getting the bill passed from Parliament once again will be a big challenge for the BJP with the Congress opposing it.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 13:25 [IST]Winter Session 2021: BJP issues whip for its Rajya Sabha MPs to be present in House on day 1

Be present in Lok Sabha, RS says BJP in 3 line whip to its MPs

BJP leader on hunger strike against Kamal Nath as MP CM over anti-Sikh riots

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Dec 18: A Delhi BJP leader on Monday started an indefinite hunger strike against Kamal Nath as Madhya Pradesh CM, alleging that the Congress leader was involved in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.

Speaking o media, Bagga says, "until Sikhs' murderer Kamal Nath is removed from this post, our fight will continue."

''In 2004 also, Congress gave Sajjan Kumar & Tytler tickets but had to withdraw it after protests. They also had to roll back decision of appointing Nath as in-charge of its Punjab unit. By appointing him as MP CM, Congress has rubbed salt into wounds of Sikhs,'' he further said.

Sajjan Kumar resigns from Congress party cites 1984 riots conviction in letter to Rahul Gandhi

Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga started his hunger strike at Tilak Nagar in West Delhi where several families affected in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots live.

Bagga said his hunger strike will continue till Kamal Nath is replaced by someone else as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. Several BJP leaders are supporting Bagga's protest.

Interestingly, the protest against Kamal Nath's appointment comes hours after the Delhi High Court convicted a once-prominent Delhi Congress leader, Sajjan Kumar, in a case over the anti-Sikh riots.

(with PTI inputs)

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 15:47 [IST]This is the second best police station in the country

Farm owner in Odisha files complaint after chickens 'die of shock from loud music'

BJP promises farm loan waiver in Odisha if voted to power in polls

India

oi-PTI

Bhubaneswar, Dec 18: The BJP's Odisha unit on Tuesday promised to waive farm loans in the state if the party comes to power in the 2019 Assembly elections.

The announcement was made by BJP state president Basant Panda at a press conference in Bhubaneswar. Assembly elections in Odisha are due in 2019 along with the Lok Sabha elections.

"We will waive farm loans if BJP comes to power in the state in the 2019 Assembly elections," Panda told reporters, adding that the party will also make provision of interest free loans for the farmers in Odisha.

Madhya Pradesh: Hours after taking oath, CM Kamal Nath announces farm loan waiver

While highlighting the difficulties faced by farmers at different mandis, Mr Panda said the BJP would launch Mandi Chala Abhiyan from Wednesday till January 7 in which party members will protest the irregular functioning of mandis and the delay in paddy procurement in Odisha.

Though the Odisha government has opened 4,381 mandis across the state to procure paddy from farmers, the people are "facing difficulties" there, Mr Panda said.

He said BJP workers in Odisha will gherao the state secretariat on January 8 to press for their demand of farm loan waiver.

The ruling Biju Janata Dal in Odisha had already given a call for gherao of Parliament in Delhi on January 8 demanding proper minimum support price (MSP) on paddy.

On the BJD's proposed Parliament gherao plan, Mr Panda said, "The BJD is only shedding crocodile tears in the name of protest for farmers."

The BJD all along has taken "anti-farmers" stand during its 19 years of rule, he alleged.

The BJD criticised the BJP and termed its Mandi Chalo Abhiyan as a farce.

"Vinash Kale Vipreet Buddhi (taking wrong decisions when on path of destruction)," said BJD spokesman PK Deb.

On the BJP's demand of farm loan waiver, Mr Deb said, "BJP should ask Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in this regard. The Centre is opposed to farm loan waiver. There are other means to help farmers rather than announcing farm loan waiver."

Senior Congress leader Srikant Jena also asked the Naveen Patnaik government to announce loan waiver for farmers of all categories. Earlier, state Congress chief Niranjan Patnaik announced that they would waive loan of farmers if Congress comes to power in Odisha in the 2019 Assembly elections.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 19:01 [IST]BSP and SP not joining the swearing-in of Congress CMs a warning signal to the party in UP

India

oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla

New Delhi, Dec 18: The Congress has formed the government in three states with the support of the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party but things are not going to be that easy in Uttar Pradesh for the frail Congress where these two political parties have a very strong base.

Both the political parties have clearly indicated the Congress by not attending the swearing-in ceremony of chief ministers that it is not necessary for them to take along the Congress in the state. Supporting the Congress was a political compulsion so they did it but in Uttar Pradesh, they don't need the Congress. Both the political parties have already shown the mirror by offering 'honorable seats'.

The plan of the opposition unity was actually prepared during the swearing-in ceremony of the chief minister of Karnataka and JD (S) leader H. D. Kumaraswamy. Both Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati were present in this ceremony but unity got vanished during the elections in the five states.

BSP chief Mayawati extends support, takes Congress past magic number in Madhya Pradesh

The BSP and the SP wanted to forge an alliance with the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan but the Congress did not give them much of an importance. The BSP tried to put pressure on the Congress for an alliance in other states by joining hands with Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) in the state. But the Congress still did not pay heed to it.

Finally, the BSP contested elections in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan alone and the SP joined hands with the regional outfit called Gondwana Gantantra Party. The BSP managed to win 10 seats in these three states but the SP managed to win just one seat in Madhya Pradesh.

The number of seat of the BSP has come down to two from four as alliance did not happen and even the status of the national party to the BSP is in peril. Mayawati did not join the swearing in because she is hurt with the outcome in Madhya Pradesh. She holds the Congress responsible for it. The same is the case with the SP.

These two political parties have supported the Congress in these three states however the Congress does not need it in Chhattisgarh. But they will have the opportunity to equal the score in the Lok Sabha elections and they want to use it an occasion to reply the Congress.

SP still apprehensive about its alliance with the Congress; non-committal on leadership issue

The SP and the BSP has a mass support base in the state and they proved it by defeating the BJP in Gorakhpur, Phoolpur and Kairana constituencies. The BSP might not have been able to win even a single Lok Sabha seat in 2014 but managed to get 19.77 per cent votes while the SP got 22.35 per cent votes and RLD 0.86 per cent. They jointly managed 43.08 per cent votes which were ahead of 42.63 per cent of the BJP in 2014.

Similarly, in the 2017 Assembly elections, these political parties managed to get 44/05 per cent (BSP 22.23, SP 21.82) while BJP got 39.67 per cent and Congress got 6.25 per cent votes. So their absence from the swearing-in will put pressure on the Congress for a future alliance.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 10:19 [IST]Demonetisation hit India's growth, says paper by Gita Gopinath

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Dec 18: The government's note ban decision shaved off economic growth by at least 2 percentage points for the October-December quarter of 2016 in which the demonetisation move was effected, according to a research paper co-authored by eminent economist Gita Gopinath.

India-born Harvard professor Gopinath, 46, is set to take charge as the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next month.

The paper further said that districts experiencing more severe demonetisation had relative reductions in economic activity, faster adoption of alternative payment technologies and lower bank credit growth.

Demonetisation was a massive, draconian, monetary shock: Arvind Subramanian

"Our results imply demonetisation lowered the growth rate of economic activity by at least 2 percentage points in the quarter of demonetisation," said the research paper titled 'Cash And The Economy: Evidence From India's Demonetisation'.

The paper is published by US-based National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and its co-authors include economist Prachi Mishra, who had headed the strategic research unit at the RBI, Abhinav Narayanan, manager-research at RBI, and Harvard professor Gabriel Chodorow-Reich is the lead author.

According to the paper, note ban also led to a decline in nightlights-based economic activity and a 3 percentage points or more drop in employment generation in November and December of 2016 relative to the counterfactual path.

Chidambaram questions govt after it names backer of Modi's demonetization as RBI head

"The cross-sectional responses cumulate to a contraction in employment and nightlights-based output due to demonetisation of 2 percentage points and of bank credit of 2 percentage points in 2016 Q4 (calendar year) relative to their counterfactual paths, effects which dissipate over the next few months," the paper said.

Night lights satellite imagery has been seen as an alternative means for measuring economic activity. Night lights-based data rely on a scientific model for reaching at an estimated total economic activities, including formal and informal, for countries and states of the world.

The Indian economy grew at 7 per cent in the third quarter (when demonetisation was implemented) of 2016-17 and at 6.1 per cent in the subsequent quarter. In 2017-18, the Indian economy grew by 6.7 per cent.

In the six quarters before demonetisation, growth averaged 8 per cent and in the seven quarters after, it averaged about 6.8 per cent (with a four-quarter window, the relevant numbers are 8.1 per cent before and 6.2 per cent after).

The paper also noted that cash continues to serve an essential role in facilitating economic activities in modern India. It also pointed out that there may be longer term advantages from demonetisation that arise from improvements in tax collections and in a shift to savings in financial instruments and non-cash payment mechanisms.

"Evaluating these long-term consequences requires waiting for more data and an empirical strategy suited to the study of longer term effects," it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a televised address on November 8, 2016 had announced to ban the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes from the system aimed at curbing black money, fake currency and terror funding, among others.

This policy made 86 per cent of cash in circulation illegal tender overnight, with new notes gradually introduced over the next several months.

The authors used a new household survey of employment and satellite data on human-generated nightlight activity to measure demonetisation's effects at the district level Gopinath is the second Indian to be appointed to the role of chief economist after Raghuram Rajan.

PTIChina is expected to enact stronger measures, such as additional tax cuts and incentives for consumption and investment, to bolster the national economy next year, a stance that may be clarified at the annual priority-setting Central Economic Work Conference, analysts said.



The authorities have not said when the conference will be convened, but generally it is held in December.

The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held a meeting on Thursday to discuss economic work for next year. During the meeting, the leadership agreed that there have been changes in the international and domestic situation, and the country will make efforts to stabilize economic growth while continuing to carry out reform and opening-up.

China faces some headwinds for growth next year, such as downward pressure from an easing real estate sector, shifting of the policy focus to quality of growth, financial regulatory tightening and fallout from China-US trade disputes, said Chen Xingdong, chief economist at BNP Paribas China.

In the long run, the country's pursuit of high-quality growth will benefit its economic development and its urbanization policy. If implemented well, it will contribute about 1 to 2 percentage points annually to GDP growth, he said.

"In the short term, growth stabilization remains the top priority," Chen told China Daily. "Next year, there will be more tax cuts, the value of which is expected to exceed that of this year," he said. Value-added taxes may be the focus of the tax cut initiative and there is room for business income taxes and tariffs to be reduced, he said.

"We expect China to launch larger-scale tax cuts, boost consumption and encourage development of high-tech sectors."

The country may continue to use fiscal resources to support growth, he said, forecasting that China's fiscal deficit to GDP ratio will not exceed 3 percent next year.

China may cut 1.5 trillion yuan ($217.4 billion) worth taxes next year, Xiao Lisheng, an economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Chinese media. Zhou Tianyong, a professor at the Party School of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, told the media that he suggested that from 2019 to 2021, China's tax cuts would reach 5.6 trillion yuan. He did not elaborate.

China also may make more investments in infrastructure, and keep its monetary stance at an appropriate level to stabilize the economy, said Louis Kuijs, head of Asia Economics at Oxford Economics. Policymakers are expected to take further measures that could "include possibly more reserve requirement ratio cuts (to banks' cash reserves), additional support for infrastructure and further cuts in taxes and social security contributions".

He said it is important not to jeopardize the achievements of the campaign to rein in credit growth.In UP, Nadda explains all the good PM has done for farmers

Farmers' outfits hold meeting to decide on five names for panel on MSP

Farmer who sent onion earnings to Modi, writes to PMP on false findings

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Mumbai, Dec 18: The farmer from Nashik, who had sent his onion sale earnings to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to highlight low returns, has alleged that the district authorities wrongly described his produce as of "low quality".

Sanjay Sathe, from Niphad tehsil in Nashik district of Maharashtra, on Monday wrote a letter to the PMO in which he said the authorities prepared a report about his onion produce without any inquiry and that it was "false".

Sathe had earlier sent Rs 1,064, his earnings from onion sale in the wholesale market, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 29 as a protest.

After selling 750 kg onions for Rs 1,064, farmer donates money in protest to PM relief fund

However, a report later submitted to the Maharashtra government by the district deputy registrar office said the farmer's onions were of "medium to low quality" and "blackish" in colour.

Refuting the claim, Sathe, in his letter to the PMO, said, "I sold 750 kg onion and earned Rs 1,064. But without any inquiry, the state government officials in their report stated that my onions were blackish and of low quality. It is false and officials are misguiding you."

"I hope you will understand that if authorities can lie to you, what challenges a common man would be facing in government offices," he said in the letter sent from the local office of India Post.

Almost every onion grower was facing the same situation of low rates and the state's "apathy" towards it, Sathe claimed, and requested the prime minister to find a solution to it.

Notably, authorities of the Lasalgaon Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) had said last week that the report submitted by the district deputy registrar office to the state government was "false".

Farmer who sent Rs 1,064 to PMO to protest poor crop price asked to pay the money online

No official of the district deputy registrar office had met the APMC authorities in connection with the farmer's case, they said.

Nashik district in north Maharashtra accounts for about 50 per cent of onion production in India. The Lasalgaon APMC in Nashik is the country's largest wholesale onion market.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 16:13 [IST]Flashback 2018: Major defence related developments of the year

India

oi-Vikas SV

New Delhi, Dec 18: From the purchase of S-400 air defence systems to INS Arihant completing its first deterrence patrol, 2018 was an important year for India. There are several defence related developments which are worth recalling now that the year is coming to an end.

Here are some of the important defence related developments of 2018:

S-400 missiles deal with Russia:

In October this year, India signed the much-anticipated deal worth $5.43-billion (around (Rs. 39,000 crore) to buy five Russian S-400 Triumf air defence systems. The Triumf missile deal with Russia will give the military a much-needed boost, which would act as a deterrent against China's growing presence in the region and a superior edge over Pakistan. The S-400 Triumf missiles are extremely efficient to track and hunt down combat aircraft, even stealth planes, at unprecedented ranges.

[Why has Pakistan developed tactical nuclear weapons? Major Gen PK Sehgal explains]

Each system of S-400 includes a command and control centre, a 3D phased array acquisition radar, optional tracking radar and firing units with associated multi-mode engagement radar. The acquisition radar can not only detect and track up to 300 targets within a distance of 600km, but can also engage 36 targets at one point.

INS Arihant completes deterrence patrol:

In November this year, India's first indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant successfully completed its first deterrence patrol. With Arihant successfully completing its patrol, India now has a dependable nuclear triad. A nuclear triad means that the country now has the capability of firing nuclear weapons from land, air and sea. This three-pronged capability is crucial for India's declared no-first use policy for nuclear weapons. Under this policy, India will never attack any country with nuclear weapons. The ability to fire nuclear missiles from under the sea -- an ability that Arihant has -- is particularly important because submarines, unlike fighter aircraft and land-based missile systems, are harder to track and destroy.

[How INS Arihant will significantly change India's strategic position?]

COMCASA agreement:

In September this year, India and United States signed Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) that will lead to a new generation of bilateral military partnership. It was signed at end of inaugural India-US '2+2' Ministerial Dialogue held in New Delhi. COMCASA is one of the four foundational agreements that the U.S. signs with allies and close partners to facilitate interoperability between militaries and sale of high end technology.

COMCASA is an India-specific version of the Communication and Information on Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA). It comes into force immediately, and is valid for a period 10 years. COMCASA allows India to procure transfer specialised equipment for encrypted communications for US origin military platforms like the C-17, C-130 and P-8Is. Currently, these platforms use commercially available communication systems.

K9 Vajra and M-777 howitzers artillery guns inducted:

The Indian Army on November 9 inducted three major artillery gun systems, including the M777 A2 Ultra Light Howitzers, K-9 Vajra self-propelled gun and a 'Composite Gun Towing Vehicle'. the Indian Army on Friday (November 9) inducted three major artillery gun systems, including the M777 A2 Ultra Light Howitzers, K-9 Vajra self-propelled gun and a 'Composite Gun Towing Vehicle'. The 155mm, 39 calibre Ultra light Howitzers have been procured from USA under Government to Government Foreign Military Sales and will be assembled in India by BAE Systems in partnership with Mahindra Defence.

[Dhanush is a formidable artillery gun, but why army preferred M777 Howitzer?]

The first ten K9 Vajra 155mm/52 calibre guns have been imported from Hanwha Techwin of South Korea in semi-knocked down state and have been assembled by L&T in India. The K9 VAJRA-T 155mm/ 52 is a tracked self-propelled howitzer, which has its roots in the K9 Thunder, the mainstay of the South Korean Army. The Vajra offers a high rate of fire at a long range and is compatible with Indian and standard NATO ammunition.

Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) program: PDV successfully tested:

In September, India successfully conducted interceptor missile test off the Odisha coast at night. With this, Defence Research and Development Organization achieved major milestone in developing indigenous two-layer Ballistic Missile Defence system.

[Akash, PAD, AAD and now S-400 triumf air defence missile system]

PDV interceptor missile was launched from Abdul Kalam Island (earlier known as Wheeler Island) of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) off Odisha coast. Its mission was aimed at test-firing of interceptor missile of coast of Odisha to intercept an incoming ballistic missile off the Bay of Bengal During the test, both PDV interceptor and target missile were successfully engaged in automated operation. In this operation mode, the radar-based detection and tracking system of missile system detected and tracked target ballistic missile.

Procurement of P-8I Training Solution and LICEWS approved:

In January this year, the Defence Ministry approved procurement of P-8I Training Solution for Indian Navy and Low Intensity Conflict Electronic Warfare System (LICEWS) for Indian Army at total cost of Rs 2419.32 crore. The P-8I Training Solution accurately simulates P-8I aircraft and mission systems. It will help Indian Navy train and realistically rehearse for sophisticated missions involving P-8I aircraft, at a fraction of the cost of live aircraft training.

The first P-8I aircraft was inducted in Indian Navy in 2013 and as of date, eight aircraft, based at INS Rajali, have been fully integrated into operations. In 2016, the Ministry placed a follow-on order for four additional P-8I, the delivery of which will begin in 2020.

LICEWS will equip Indian Army with upgraded communications infrastructure that will help forces to effectively deal with advanced communications systems being used by terrorist groups.

Tejas' mid-air refuelling:

The first ever mid-air refuelling of the indigenously developed light combat aircraft Tejas was successfully carried out in September this year. The milestone was achieved when 1,900 kg of fuel was transferred from the mid-air refuelling tanker of IAF's IL78 to the Tejas LSP8 at an altitude of 20,000 feet, which has developed the light combat aircraft (LCA). With this, India joined in elite group of countries which have successfully developed air-to-air refuelling system for military aircraft.

MANPADS deal with Russia:

After a series of delays, Russia has been declared the lowest bidder in the Army's multi-billion dollar deal for man portable air defence systems (MANPADS). The Russian Igla-S system is expected to replace the IGLA M systems of Russia that is being used since the 1980s. The deal is valued at $1.5 bln with the Russian bid considerably undercutting offers by Sweden's SAAB RBS70 NG and France's MBDA Mistral. After five years of rigorous trials, Igla-S system fielded by Rosoboronexport emerged as the best system for the Indian Army.

MPATGM tested sucessfully:

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted first successful trials of indigenously developed third generation Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM). Two rounds of missile were flight tested in operational configuration in two days from Ahmednagar range in Maharashtra.

The two tests were intended for two different ranges. After its launch from platform, the missile

tracked target all through its trajectory and destroyed it with high precision. The missile performed as expected during the test by meeting all mission objectives successfully and validated its maximum range capability. Apart from stand alone and warhead testing, the missile also had undergone series of tests including integrated static trial to characterise trust vector control.

DAC approves procurement of 155 mm Advanced Towed Artillery Gun Systems

In August this year, Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved procurement of 150 indigenously designed and developed 155 mm Advanced Towed Artillery Gun Systems for Indian Army at approximate cost of Rs 3,364.78 crores. This procurement will further quest for modernisation of Armed forces. These guns have been indigenously designed & developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). They will be manufactured by production agencies as nominated by DRDO.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 5:00 [IST]Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

Kejriwal said ordinary people are peace-loving and wish to live in harmony, but such riots are "incited politically".

"I welcome Delhi High Court verdict convicting Sajjan Kumar in 1984 riots case.. It took a lot of time. It was delayed, but it finally came," he said on the sidelines of an event here.

Sajjan Kumar

"And, I hope all other big leaders involved in this (1984 anti-Sikh riots), with time they would also get the toughest of punishments. As, also those involved in other such mass killings which took place after it, whether it was 2002 Gujarat riots or the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots," Kejriwal told reporters.

Sajjan Kumar resigns from Congress party cites 1984 riots conviction in letter to Rahul Gandhi

"People wish to live peacefully, and Hindus and Muslims do not want to fight with each other, but parties instigate it and big political leaders do it," he said.

The Delhi High Court

The AAP chief said if tough punishment is given, then in future, such incidents would not happen. The Delhi High Court Monday sentenced Kumar, a Congress veteran, to life in the deadly anti-Sikh riots in 1984, holding it was perpetrated by those with "political patronage" and pushed for a new law for speedy prosecution of genocide and mass killings.

1984 anti-Sikh riots left thousands dead

Calling for strengthening of the legal system to ensure perpetrators of mass crimes are made answerable, the court said neither 'crimes against humanity' nor 'genocide' is part of the domestic law of crime and this loophole needs to be addressed urgently.

Sajjan Kumar's conviction: Leaders cutting across party lines welcome HC verdict

It also named 2002 post-Godhra Gujarat riots and Muzaffarnagar riots in Uttar Pradesh in 2013 among other mass killings since 1947 where minorities were targeted.

OneIndia News with PTI inputsImran Khans minister proved yet again that Hafiz Saeed is Pakistans asset No. 1

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Dec 18: The seriousness of Imran Khan's government in its war against terror has been exposed. Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan's junior interior minister was heard saying that he would protect Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief, Hafiz Saeed.

The leaked video showed Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi talking to the Milli Muslim League (MML) leaders. When his attention was drawn towards the non-registration of the party by the Election Commission of Pakistan due to pressure from the US, the minister said he would let that happen. As long as we (the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf) are in the government all those including Hafiz Saeed who is raising voice for Pakistan and righteousness, we are with them, "Afridi said.

Leaked video shows Pak minister vowing to 'protect' Hafiz Saeed and his party

The news did make headlines, but comes as no surprise. Saeed has for several years now been referred to as the darling of the ISI and Pakistan army. India has always maintained that all governments in Pakistan would be soft towards the Mumbai attack mastermind as he enjoys the support of the ISI as a result of which he is a free spirit in Pakistan.

Looking at how the ISI has handled Saeed it is evident that he is one man they would not ever give up, as he holds the key to pushing Pakistan's policy against India.

Born at Sargodha (Punjab province of Pakistan) in 1950 to a Pakistani-Punjabi family, his hatred towards India started to build up when he lost 38 members of his family during the partition of India.

His family was based out of Shimla and while migrating to Lahore his family members were killed in the riots.

Hold your breath: Hafiz Saeed could be Pakistan's next Prime Minister

He was very outspoken and his fiery speeches against India and the Kashmir issue made the Pakistan establishment sit up and take notice. Former Pakistan president General Zia-ul-Haq was the first to spot his abilities and appointed him as a member of the council on Islamic Study. He also served as an Islamic teacher at the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore.

His journey:

In 1980s he left for Saudi Arabia for higher studies where he made his first contact with jihadis, who discussed the war in Afghanistan with him. Saeed was told to join one Professor Zafar Iqbal and asked to dedicate more time in joining the warriors in Afghanistan against the Russians. To further this agenda Saeed floated the Markaz Dawa Wal Irshad with another member called Abdullah Azzam and a few youths.

The ISI which realised the potential of this group helped Saeed float the LeT in the 1990s. The primary intention of floating the Lashkar was the carry forward the battle at Kashmir. Saeed had become an inspirational figure, thanks to his oratory skills and this in turn helped the Lashkar pick up youth to take up jihad with ease. Saeed's anti-India remarks were an instant hit with the Pakistani youth and the establishment, and over the years, the Lashkar became a force to reckon with.

He is capable of Kashmir and more:

However, Saeed's war was not restricted to Kashmir alone. He realised that his group required to get more attention, and the best way to do this was to keep hitting a key locations in India so that the world took notice.

Saeed probably is the only terrorist in Pakistan who has an unblemished record with the ISI. He is the man who is capable of carrying out the Pakistan agenda against India. Moreover, he is much loved by the younger recruits who swear by him while taking up the path of Jihad. Indian officials say that the ISI cannot afford to lose him.

Under Imran Khan, Hafiz Saeed's JuD and FIF now have legit status

"Acting tough on Saeed could either weaken the LeT, or the outfit could spin out of control. The ISI would not want something of this sort to happen to it, as it is the only outfit which blindly executes the Pakistan policy against India," says an officer.

Former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing, C D Sahay says every group or leader in Pakistan has at least once been on the back burner due to an altercation with the ISI. However this has not been so in the case of the Lashkar and Saeed.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 16:45 [IST]TMC moves statutory resolutions in RS against Centre's ordinances to extend tenure of ED, CBI chiefs

PIL in SC challenges Centre's ordinances on powers to extend tenure of Directors of CBI, ED

Govt tells Lok Sabha 64 cases under CBI probe for more than 5 years

Interim CBI chief Nageshwara Rao promoted to additional director rank

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Dec 18: M Nageswara Rao, who is holding post of interim CBI Director, was on Tuesday promoted to the rank of an additional director by the government.

A 1986-batch IPS officer from the Odisha cadre, Rao's name was cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

The promotion of Rao, who took over as interim CBI Director amid a midnight drama on October 24, came after the government stepped in between Director CBI Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana fight, which reached court.

Rao was not considered for the rank of additional director in November 2016 as well as when a review of this batch took place in April 2018.

He had joined the CBI as a joint director in 2016.

CBI vs CBI: Court grants bail to Dubai based investment banker Manoj Prasad

The Supreme Court has asked Rao not to take any policy decisions until it hears the petition related to the feud between Verma and Asthana.

Rao took over as interim CBI director following a midnight government order giving him Verma's powers.

He affixed signatures on over dozen transfer orders, mainly of those officers who were probing Asthana, besides ordering search and sealing of CBI Director's office.

(with PTI inputs)

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 20:25 [IST]After SC said no Jihad, only Love in Hadiya case, father considers review plea

No more controversies over me, says Hadiya

Kerala: Hadiya's father Ashokan K M joins BJP, vows support to partys Sabarimala stir

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 18: Asokan, the father of Hadiya, a 26-year-old Kerala woman who converted to Islam and married a Muslim man against her parents' wishes has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and pledged his support for the party's ongoing stir against the Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala temple.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's general secretary B Gopalakrishnan gave KM Ashokan, an ex-serviceman, the membership of the party on Monday.

Files untouched: SC returns NIA reports on love jihad

Ashokan said while speaking to the media that the BJP was the only political outfit which is safeguarding the belief of Hindus. Facing threat from some fundamentalist outfits, he still is under police protection.

Hadiya, earlier Akhila Ashokan, converted to Islam and married Shafin Jahan, a Muslim. Her father had claimed that his daughter was forcibly converted by groups with links to terrorist outfits.

In November 2017, the Supreme Court freed Hadiya of her parent's custody and allowed her to go back to finish her studies. Her marriage, conversion to Islam and the question of her "indoctrination" remained sub judice, with the NIA continuing its investigation into the matter. In March 2018, the Supreme Court finally restored Hadiya's marriage, 10 months after the Kerala High Court annulled it.

Choice of partner lies within individual's zone of core privacy: SC in Hadiya case

Ashokan had opposed his daughter's relationship with Shefin Jahan saying he was an active member of the Popular Front of India, an extremist outfit, and involved in many cases.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 11:26 [IST]Keralas ticking time bomb: The silent returnees of the Islamic State are back

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Dec 18: The Islamic State set in motion a pattern, whereby several of its recruits were told to return to their home country and carry out attacks. This modus operandi had proven to be lethal and the Paris attack was one such example.

India's problem with the Islamic State has been discussed on several occasions and it has been found that the issue is most problematic in Kerala. The first big sign of the ISIS spread in Kerala was found when a batch of young people left the state for Afghanistan.

While this had given everyone the jitters, another batch of persons from Kannur in Kerala left the state and are suspected to be part of the ISIS.

Islamic State fighters increase rapidly in Philippines; a new caliphate might come up, say experts

While this is one part of the worry, Intelligence Bureau officials say that the bigger problem is with those who are returning. The agencies are keeping a close watch on those persons returning from the UAE, Turkey and Syria. Most of these persons had left Kerala for Afghanistan and then landed in Syria or Turkey.

This was the big plan says an IB official. He tells OneIndia that the intention of leaving the country was not continue fighting in Afghanistan or Syria. It was largely with an intent of undergoing training and then returning to India, with an intention of carrying out attacks, brainwashing locals and also setting up modules.

The Indian agencies, apart from Syria are also focusing on those persons returning to Kerala from UAE and other West Asian countries. The task on hand is humongous. The problem is that they do not come in batches. They come in as individuals and then go about their business.

The other problem is keeping a track on those who have left from other states. The focus so far has been extensively on those who have joined the ISIS from Kerala. The possibility of those who have left from other states coming to Kerala is also high. This poses a different level of threat all together as monitoring such persons is hard, says the officer.

Officials also add that the ISIS modus operandi is in the procedure of completing a full cycle. It was at first thought that they were recruiting from Kerala so that they could be used in the fight at Afghanistan. However, the coordination with other agencies has suggested that many who had joined the ISIS in Afghanistan had gradually moved out of there for Syria or Turkey. Now these persons are gradually making their return to Kerala and this is worrisome, the official also explained.

The IB terms such persons as silent returnees of the ISIS. This is a new challenge for us and the vigil is high, the IB officer says. There are various routes that these recruits have been using. Those coming into India from Afghanistan had often entered into Nepal before making their entry. In these cases, the recruits are most likely to use the land route to avoid scrutiny. Once in India, it becomes easier for them to travel by road and reach their destination in Kerala.

Kerala Muslims find Islamic State most attractive in India says a Pakistan study

The entire strategy being adopted by these recruits is in line with what the chief of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Bhagdadi had said last year. He had said that the outfit was losing significant territory in Iraq and Syria. Now it was time for those foreign recruits to return to their homeland and carry out lone wolf attacks, he had said in an audio message.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 9:52 [IST]'Listen to allies before it's too late': Chirag Paswan

India

oi-Deepika S

Patna, Dec 18: The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP)'s Parliamentary Board chairman Chirag Paswan on Tuesday suggested that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) must address the concerns of the remaining constituents "before it is too late".

In a series of tweets, Chirag Paswan expressed disappointment over "no headway" despite "a number of meetings with the BJP leadership" over the issue of seat-sharing in Bihar.

Besides Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), the LJP is the only constituent of the BJP-led NDA left in Bihar after the exit of the former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP).

"Following the exit of the TDP and the RLSP, the NDA is passing through trying times. In view of this, it is imperative that the BJP addresses the concerns of those still in the alliance in a timely and respectable manner", Paswan tweeted in Hindi.

Chirag's suggestion to the BJP comes less than a week after ally Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) quit the NDA over seat-sharing for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. On December 10, RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha had resigned from the Union Cabinet after a long drawn battle with its alliance partners.

Kamal Nath's 'UP-Bihar' comment singes ally SP, BJP

Kushwaha, in his resignation letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said he was "dejected" and "betrayed" by the PM's leadership, according to reports.

Kushwaha had been sulking ever since the BJP and the JD(U), reportedly, reached an agreement that the two parties would contest 17 seats each in Bihar.

Under the arrangement, it was reported that RLSP was to be given two seats - one less than the number it had fought and won in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Bihar has 40 parliamentary seats.

The TDP, headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, had pulled out of the NDA a few months ago in protest against the truncated state not getting special assistance from the Centre, which was promised at the time of the creation of Telangana.

"No headway has been made on seat-sharing despite a number of meetings with leaders of the BJP. If things are not settled in time, it could prove to be damaging", the LJP leader, whose father Ram Vilas Paswan is a member of the Union cabinet, said in another tweet.

The LJP, which was previously with the Congress-led UPA, had joined the NDA ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and won six out of the seven seats it had contested. The party also got a ministerial berth in the state government when Nitish Kumar returned to the NDA last year.

Notably, Chirag Paswan had also expressed disapproval of raising issues like the Ayodhya Ram temple in elections after the BJP lost power in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.SKM to observe May 26 as 'black day' to mark 6 months of protest against farm laws

Sad day for democracy if line between right to protest, terrorist activity blur: High Court

Maharashtra: ESIC Kamgar hospital staff stage protest over lack of proper facilities

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Mumbai, Dec 18: ESIC Kamgar Hospital staff on Tuessday protested alleging inadequate facilities in the hospital in Andheri, Mumbai. At least eight people, including a 5-month-old baby girl, died and 157 were injured after a massive fire swept through the state government-run Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital at Andheri East on Monday.

A fire broke out in the government-run hospital building located at Marol in suburban Andheri at around 4 pm on Monday. It took firefighting officials over three hours to douse the level 4 fire, which is the second level on the scale for fire severity alarm.

Mumbai: 6 dead, around 100 rescued after fire at hospital in Andheri

"Altogether 176 persons, including three firemen, are now being treated in city hospitals," an official from Disaster Management Unit of BMC said.

Among the admitted, over 25 are critical while 26 have been discharged after primary treatment, " he said.

Union Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar on Monday announced Rs 10 lakh each as compensation for the next of the kin of those who died in the massive fire at the state-run ESIC Kamgar hospital in Andheri East, Mumbai.

A total of 147 people, including patients and visitors, were rescued after the fire broke out at the hospital at Marol in suburban Andheri, said an official of the Disaster Management Cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). According to the fire brigade, more than 200 people were inside the hospital at the time.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 12:42 [IST]Meet Gurmeet Singh, the man who feeds abandoned patients at Patna hospital

India

oi-Shubham Ghosh

Patna, Dec 18: There are quite a few Good Samaritans among and around us but we never really lose interest in hearing their stories since they inspire hope and faith in our hearts. Gurmeet Singh from Patna is one such soul. The veteran Sikh arrives every night around 9 at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) to give food and medicines to patients in the ward of the so-called 'abandoned'. Singh, owner of a small garment shop in Patna, buys the food items from a roadside eatery before reaching them to the luckless patients at the hospital.

This is a habit Singh has not grown overnight. He started it in 1992 after seeing unattended patients in pain at the city's biggest hospital. He also washes the dishes after the dinner gets over and enquires about the patients' well-being. The man also used to donate blood in the past but with his age turning 60, he has been advised by the doctors against it now. He also raises an alert if he sees any patient in need of urgent attention, the report added.

Dogs eagerly wait at hospital entrance for homeless man who undergoes treatment inside

The hospital authorities tried to stop him from doing what he does fearing a negative publicity for themselves but Singh has always found a way out and found the law backing him. When asked on how he manages to carry this charity work, Singh told The Hindu that he and his four brothers put aside 10 per cent of their monthly earnings for this.

Singh also received the World Sikh Award in 2016 for his selfless service.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 17:27 [IST]Mark Wilson/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- White House press secretary Sarah Sanders is standing by a claim that FBI investigators "ambushed" the then-national security adviser Michael Flynn during an interview in January of last year.



We dont have any reason to want to walk that back, Sanders said in Tuesday's White House press briefing.



Her comments came shortly after Flynn's appearance in a federal court where he was slated to be sentenced for lying to federal investigators about his contacts with Russian officials. During the hearing, Flynn took full responsibility for lying to the FBI and his admitted that he knew doing so was illegal.



When asked by Judge Emmet Sullivan if Flynn believed he had been entrapped by the FBI, his attorneys replied "no your honor."



Flynn has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI regarding his contacts with the ambassador of Russia and conversations related to sanctions on Russia.



His sentencing was delayed at the request of his defense attorney. The next status report is now set for March.



Sanders also defended President Donald Trump's tweeted well-wishes for Flynn earlier in the day and said the White House is not concerned with Flynn's legal proceedings as it relates to the president.



"Not when it comes to things having to do with the president, the activities he is said to  we'll let the court make that determination  that he's said to have engaged in don't have anything to do with the president," Sander said when asked if the White House had concerns that one of the president's top aides lied to the FBI and had done work for a foreign government.



"Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn," Trump tweeted just hours before Flynn's scheduled court appearance. "Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign."



In an appearance on FOX News later in the morning, Sanders accused the FBI of "ambushing" Flynn with how he was approached for an interview.



"They threw FBI protocol out the window for one reason and one reason only: because it was the Trump administration and they thought they could get away with it," Sanders said.



Flynn could ultimately face up to six months in prison, though Mueller's team has recommended no jail time, citing Flynn's "substantial assistance" in his interviews with the special counsel since his guilty plea.



"Given the defendants substantial assistance and other considerations set forth, a sentence at the low end of the guideline rangeincluding a sentence that does not impose a term of incarcerationis appropriate and warranted, Mueller wrote.



Flynn served a total of 23 days as Trump's national security adviser before his sudden firing in February 2017 after he was found to have lied to Vice President Mike Pence and other top White House officials about whether he had discussed lifting sanctions against Russia with its ambassador during the transition.



Trump has since repeatedly stated that he believes Flynn was unfairly targeted by Mueller's investigation and has even suggested he no longer believes Flynn actually lied to FBI agents despite his guilty plea, as he did in this tweet from Dec. 13.



In a sentencing memo last week, Flynn's attorney Robert Kelner accused the FBI of being manipulative and potentially deceitful in how its agents approached Flynn initially.



The special counsel's office responded to the allegations in court documents Friday, where it argued that Flynn's years of military service should essentially have taught him not to lie to federal investigators.



Nothing about the way the interview was arranged or conducted caused the defendant to make false statements to the FBI, the special counsel's office said. The defendant chose to make false statements about his communications with the Russian ambassador weeks before the FBI interview when he lied about that topic to the media, the incoming Vice President, and other members of the Presidential Transition Team.



On Monday evening the government filed the FBI's formerly secret internal report based on two investigators' interview with Flynn on Jan. 24, 2017.



The February 2017 document, called a "302" in FBI parlance, shows how the agents went into the meeting armed with knowledge of conversations Flynn had during the transition period after the election with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, including calls and text messages they exchanged in the U.S. and while Flynn and his wife were on vacation in the Dominican Republic.



The report shows Flynn repeatedly said "no" or didn't remember when they asked him specific questions about his contacts with Kislyak on the subject of a UN vote on Israeli settlements the Obama administration abstained from and sanctions the Obama White House imposed on Russia for interfering with the 2016 presidential election.



The reason the judge ordered the 302 placed on the public docket was that Flynn's legal team raised the question in their sentencing memo to the judge of whether FBI agents tried to lay a perjury trap on Flynn. The government, in response, said, "When the defendant said he did not remember something they knew he said, they used the exact words the defendant had used in order to prompt a truthful response."



Judge Sullivan said the report is "relevant to Mr. Flynn's sentencing," though he did not indicate how it will factor into his ruling on Flynn's sentence.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.State vs national issues: Key lessons for the BJP to learn in Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana

'Not necessary that alliance has the same opinion': Akhilesh on Stalin's pitch for Rahul as PM

India

oi-Deepika S

Lucknow, Dec 18: The Samajwadi Party chief on Tuesday distanced itself from DMK president MK Stalin's proposal of projecting Congress chief Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate of the United Opposition, saying that it is not necessary that alliance has the same opinion.

"People are unhappy with BJP. Telangana chief miniser, Mamataji and Sharad Pawarji had attempted to bring together all leaders to form an alliance. If someone is giving his opinion, (it) isn't necessary that alliance has the same opinion," ANI quoted Yadav as saying.

Stalin had on Sunday made a strong pitch for the Congress chief as the prime ministerial candidate of the Opposition, saying the Gandhi scion had the ability to defeat the "fascist" Narendra Modi government.

Stalin proposes Rahul Gandhi as next Prime Minister

He made the announcement in the presence of national opposition leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Stalin had said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi should be the prime ministerial candidate for Lok Sabha elections 2019. "Rahul has got the ability to defeat fascist Modi government. Let's strengthen Rahul Gandhi's hands, let's save the country," had said Stalin.

The DMK chief had also urged all political parties to join forces and support Gandhi to defeat the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government.

Rahul Gandhi as PM? Opposition disagrees with Stalin's pitch for 2019 elections

Notably, Stalin's proposal came at a time when the Congress has been making attempts to stitch a grand alliance (mahagathbandhan) with anti-BJP opposition parties in its bid to dethrone the NDA government at the Centre.

The saffron party had suffered a major electoral setback in the recently held assembly elections. The Congress emerged victorious in three Hindi belt states-Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan-which was ruled by the BJP.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 18:30 [IST]PM to meet all BJP MPs in 11 days from Dec 20 to get their feedback on LS polls

India

oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla

New Delhi, Dec 18: With the Lok Sabha elections coming closure by the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to meet Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs in groups to get their feedback. The PM will start meeting with the party MPs from December 20, 2018.

Sources said that the entire exercise of PM meeting with the BJP lawmakers will be completed in 10-11 days with 30-40 MPs being part of the one group. Party sources further said that Uttar Pradesh is the only state whose MPs will meet the PM in three different groups which is divided into eastern UP, central UP and western UP.

It has also been learnt that all these meetings will take place at the residence of one of the ministers in the Modi government on either lunch or dinner. Some of the programmes are decided and some are yet to decided. The leadership has plan to meet MPs of Madhya Pradesh on December 28, 2018.

BJP MPs takes up the issue of Ram temple in the parliamentary party meeting

Sources said that to start with the PM will meet Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana MPs on December 20 as these are smaller states with less number of BJP MPs. It is likely that their suggestions will be asked that what is required to be done keeping in view that Lok Sabha elections are not too far.

Sources said that issues like how election should be contested in any particular region of which they are more familiar with. What are the issues that these leaders themselves want to share with the leadership? Such issue will figure in the meeting. Party president Amit Shah will compulsory be part of these meetings.

Every MP is expected to come up with some suggestions and many good suggestions have come up from such interactions. The party always wanted to know what could be done and what should not be done for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Idea about Ujjwala gas scheme to be given to upper caste poor as well came from such interactions.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 20:39 [IST]As Mamata Banerjee takes swipe at Rahul Gandhi, Cong says such posturing for personal ambition will help BJP

Rahul Gandhi refuses to comment on Sajjan Kumar's conviction

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar P

New Delhi, Dec 18: Speaking for the first time after Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said he stood by his comments made earlier on the issue.

Rahul Gandhi, said, "I have made my position on the riots very clear, and I have said this before." He did not comment further on the question.

Sajjan Kumar resigns from Congress party cites 1984 riots conviction in letter to Rahul Gandhi

He told reporters that this press conference is about the farmers of the country and that Mr.Modi refuses to waive off even 1 rupee of loan.

Taking jibe at the BJP, Rahul Gandhi said, "JPC, Rafale, farm loan waivers, demonetization, typo errors will soon emerge in everything. People have been lied to, farmers and small traders are being looted. Demonetization is the biggest scam in the world."

He went on say that PM Narendra Modi government hasn't waived off a single rupee of farmers.

"We will not let PM Modi sleep till he waives of loans of farmers, all opposition parties will unitedly demand this. Till now PM has not waived off a single rupee of farmers, "said Rahul Gandhi.

It may be recalled that when Rahul Gandhi was on a two-day visit to the UK, he told an audience of UK-based parliamentarians and local leaders that while the riot was a tragedy, he disagreed with the view that the Congress was "involved".

Congress leaders raped women and killed men in cold blood during 1984 riots: Amit Shah

"I think any violence done against anybody is wrong. There are legal processes ongoing in India but as far as I'm concerned anything is done that was wrong during that period should be punished and I would support that 100 per cent," he said. "I have no confusion in my mind about that. It was a tragedy, it was a painful experience. You say that the Congress party was involved in that, I don't agree with that. Certainly there was violence, certainly, there was a tragedy."

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 14:03 [IST]Transgenders may soon be recruited in paramilitary forces; Govt mulls at allowing them to take UPSC

Alisha Patel, first trans woman to be recognized by Gujarat govt, gets transgender identity card

Sabarimala row: Transgenders offer prayers at Lord Ayyappa's shrine day after they were stopped

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 18: Four transgenders, who were stopped from entering Sabrimala temple by police a day ago, on Monday got the sanction to pray at the temple after discussions with the chief priest.

After meeting Director General of Police A. Hemachandran, Ananya told the media in the morning that they had placed their demand before the DGP, and wished to pray in the dress of their choice - a saree.

#WATCH Kerala: A transgender delegation which was stopped from entering #Sabarimala temple by police on 16 December has been granted permission after discussions with the chief priest. pic.twitter.com/3S9n4453Po  ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2018

On Sunday, the four-member transgender team, who came from Ernakulam, was stopped by the police at Erumely, the first base camp of the temple town.

Sabarimala violence case: Police arrest Rahul Easwar for defying bail condition

The police first told them that if they change into men's attire, they would be allowed. However, later the police refused them the permission to visit the Lord Ayyappa shrine. Ananya said they were subjected to ridicules, threats and asked to return by the police.

The Kerala High Court on November 27 had set up a three-member observer panel to oversee the Sabarimala pilgrimage season after numerous complaints surfaced against the manner in which the police were acting in the temple town.Sexual harassment at workplaces up by 54 per cent between 2014 & 2017: Govt report

India

oi-Shubham Ghosh

New Delhi, Dec 18: Registered instances of sexual harassment at workplaces in India have increased from 371 in 2014 to 570 in 2017 - a percentage point of 54, according to official documents. In the last four years ending July 27, 2018, over 2,500 cases of sexual harassment were registered which means nearly two cases every day, as per data presented in the Lok Sabha on July 27 this year and December 15 last year (see below). Till July 27 this year, the cases of reported sexual harassment have been 533 and it could surpass the figure received for the previous year.

At a time when India has joined the global chorus of #MeToo movement after it surfaced in the West, these trending figures are not encouraging. It also reflects an aspect of crime against women, a domain which has in its history, a dreaded date of December 16. It was in the night of this day in 2012 that a young woman was brutally gangraped on a moving bus in New Delhi, resulting in her death later.

#MeToo was Instagram's top hashtag in 2018 with 1.5 million usage

Recently, mode-actress Tanushree Dutta came out to accuse veteran actor Nana Patekar and some others of harassing her on the sets of film Horn Ok Please in 2008. Her allegations left the entire industry rattled and more people came out with similar allegations subsequently. Things turned worse within a few days after as many as 10 women journalists came out accusing former minister of state for external affairs and a noted journalist MJ Akbar of serious sexual harassment at the workplace. Akbar had to step down and now, his membership of the Editor's Guild has also been suspended.

State-wise, Uttar Pradesh has seen the most number of reports on such cases over 2014-18 (726 or 29 per cent) and it is followed by Delhi (369), Haryana (171), Madhya Pradesh (154) and Maharashtra (147), as per the Lok Sabha data.

Lok Sabha data as on July 27, 2018:

Lok Sabha data as on Dec 15, 2017:In Sikhs for Justice case, NGO and their source of funds come under NIA scanner

SJF trying to legitimise Khalistan movement by calling on Pak political leadership

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Dec 18: The Sikhs for Justice, which is spearheading the Referendum 2020 seeking a steerage Punjab nation has knocked on the doors of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The SJF which would organise the next Referendum 2020 in Pakistan has called on Imran Khan seeking political support for the movement. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of the SJF was quoted by TOI stating that the organisation had called on Khan for political support for the movement.

There is no doubt that this entire movement seeking a separate Khalistan nation is backed by the ISI.

How Pakistan has made Nankana Sahib a playground for Khalistan terrorists

The backing by the ISI is not a new development. It has been going on since the past two decades now.

It is the ISI that is helping the Khalistan terrorist re-group. The latest is the Referendum 2020, which is aimed at declaring a separate Punjab nation by the year 2020. A declaration in London was held to this effect and the next one would be at Lahore.

Calling on Imran Khan is a ploy explains an Intelligence Bureau official to OneIndia. It is a well-known fact that the SJF has the backing of the ISI. By calling on Khan, the outfit wants to make the movement look political in nature. It wants the political leadership of Pakistan to make an official announcement supporting their cause so that they can drum beat the issue on international platforms.

The officer says that while on one hand, they call on the Pakistan PM, on the other hand, they hold meetings with the ISI. We have proof of the three meetings that have taken place between the SFJ and ISI at Nankana Sahib, the officer also explained.

The SJF moreover has been open about its activities in Pakistan. The cause is an illegal one as the demand is to separate Punjab from India. Despite that, they have made an open statement about their next Referendum 2020 being held in Pakistan.

The Indian intelligence has warned that the ISI is trying to brainwash Sikh pilgrims. This would be done through the Referendum 2020 center that has been opened by the SJF in Lahore.

Khalistan terror: How India got Canada to acknowledge the real threat

Pannun in a recent letter stated that several 100s of its campaigners have reached Pakistan to coordinate the Referendum 2020 campaign in the Nankana Sahib during the ongoing 549th birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Devji.

The letter further said Referendum 2020 banners and Khalistan flags with the life-size portrait of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale have been placed throughout the Nankana Sahib complex.

"SJF will initiate the registration of votes of Referendum 2020 during the next years scheduled 550th birth celebrations at Kartarpur Sahib. A permanent office of he SJF will be established in Lahore to coordinate the registration of Referendum votes.

The worry for the agencies is that the ISI would try and propagate among the pilgrims the need for a pro-Khalistan movement.

Khalistan terror is real and even Canada has finally recognised it

The ISI would also look to evoke sentiments, the agencies believe. The agencies also feel that the ISI and its agents would go all out to whip up passions. This becomes necessary for both the ISI and pro-Khalistan groups as the movement has failed to generate any great mass support. While on one hand, the ISI could build a terror infrastructure, they realise that no movement would take off as desired unless and until there are mass support and sympathy among the people. In this context, all efforts would be made to utilise the pilgrimage to Pakistan, an Intelligence Bureau officer informed.We heeded to people's plights during the pandemic: Stalin on 100 years of governance

Stalin stands ground, defends his Rahul Gandhi for PM pitch

India

oi-Vikas SV

Chennai, Dec 18: Despite stiff opposition to his remark pitching Rahul Gandhi as a prime ministerial candidate for next year general elections, DMK chief MK Stalin stood his ground and said projecting Rahul Gandhi for PM "is the right thing to unite secular forces'.

DMK chief M K Stalin Sunday made a strong pitch for Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate of the Opposition for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, saying the Gandhi scion had the ability to defeat the "fascist" Narendra Modi government.

Rahul Gandhi as PM? Opposition disagrees with Stalin's pitch for 2019 elections

A number of opposition leaders are understood to have reservations over naming any prime ministerial nominee for the opposition alliance for 2019 Lok Sabha elections

"Rahul was responsible for Congress victory in the three BJP bastions. We require a strong leadership to coordinate democratic forces. That's why I have proposed Rahul's name. I am confident our allies would understand," Stalin said in response to apprehensions on his assertion by some sections of the opposition camp.

Stalin's sudden proclamation did find many takers in the opposition camp which has struggled so far to forge an anti-BJP bloc before 2019 Lok Sabha elections. .

Stalin said "I propose to install new PM in Delhi. I propose candidature of Rahul Gandhi from Tamil Nadu. He has got the ability to defeat the fascist Modi government. We will save this nation. We will work to strengthen the hands of Rahul Gandhi."

Stalin proposes Rahul Gandhi as next Prime Minister

Stalin's plea is in line with the tradition of his late father M Karunanidhi who had earlier invited Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi for leadership roles. The DMK president was speaking at a rally attended by chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, N Chandrababu Naidu and Pinarayi Vijayan, respectively.

Incidentally, Naidu, post his split with the BJP-led NDA earlier this year, is attempting to cobble up a mega coalition of anti-BJP front for the next parliamentary elections. Stalin recalled that Karunanidhi had in 1980 declared "Welcome daughter of Pandit Nehru. Give a Stable Regime" while extending support to the late Indira Gandhi.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 13:53 [IST]Induction of Congress MLAs into BJP is death of Parrikar's legacy, says outgoing Goa deputy CM

Swaraj, Parrikar, Ananth Kumar: BJP has lost some of its tallest leaders recently

Stop politicising Manohar Parrikar's health: Goa BJP tells Congress

India

oi-PTI

Panaji, Dec 18: A day after Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar inspected two under-construction bridges, the ruling BJP Monday said the Congress should stop politicising his health issue.

The Congress has been holding Jan Akrosh' rallies across Goa demanding "resumption" of governance in the state, claiming Parrikar's health has affected the functioning of the administration.

For the last two months, Congress has been raising the issue of CMs health by holding various protests. They don't get any response for it because people have high regards for Parrikar.

Inhuman to force Parrikar to continue working: Omar Abdullah

"Everyone knows the contribution of Parrikar to the state," state BJP General Secretary Sadanand Tanavade said at a press conference.

He said the Congress should stop politicising the health issue of CM.

Referring to Parrikar's visit to two under- construction bridges on Mandovi and Zuari rivers, he said people have now fully realised that what the Congress had been saying about Parrikar's health was far from truth.

PTI

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 11:44 [IST]To resolve Doklam issue, how Indian Army stood its ground against the Chinese

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Dec 18: It took a lot of grit and determination to wade away the Chinese threat at Dolkam. It was the timely action of India's security forces that checked the People's Liberation Army from continuing with their road construction activity in South Doklam.

The grit of the Indian Army coupled with 13 rounds of diplomatic discussions between India and China finally led to the resolution of the Doklam standoff.

The report by the committee on External Affairs termed the Chinese intrusion at Doklam as a "blatant but unsuccessful attempt" to unilaterally change the status quo at the India, Bhutan, China tri-junction in Doklam, seriously affecting India's security interests.

After Doklam stand-off, armies of India & China to partake in joint military drill

The committee also referred to 24 rounds of boundary talks between China and Bhutan and said China has been trying to persuade it to barter Doklam for some other territory further north and that Bhutan requires all support and assurances from its "time tested" ally India for it to take a firm position on this issue.

Complimenting the government's handling of the face-off, the committee said it remained concerned that Chinese infrastructure built "uncomfortably" close to the tri-junction has not yet been dismantled.The committee, headed by former minister of state in External Affairs Ministry Shashi Tharoor, said Doklam was not a sovereignty issue for India as the disputed territory was Bhutanese, but nevertheless it was a major security challenge for New Delhi.

"The committee would like to put on record their highest appreciation for the brave and timely action of our security forces which checked the PLA (People's Liberation Army) troops from continuing with their road construction activity in South Doklam," the panel said in the report tabled in Parliament on Monday.

Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day face-off in Doklam from June 16 last year after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed area by the Chinese Army. The impasse ended on August 28. The report quoted the then Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar as telling the panel on October 18 last year that 13 rounds of diplomatic discussions were held with China and they were led by the Indian envoy in Beijing.Vijay Gokhale, who succeeded Jaishankar as Foreign Secretary in January, was India's Ambassador to China during the Doklam crisis.

The report said diplomatic communications with China began following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Hamburg on July 7 last year on the sidelines of the G20 summit.In the talks, India contested the Chinese claim of sovereignty in Doklam region, conveyed to Beijing that its action represented a significant change in status quo with serious security implications for India and amounted to unilateral determination of the tri-junction point, according to then foreign secretary.

How India and China are easing tensions after Doklam

The committee complimented the government's overall handling of the crisis as it managed to send necessary signals to China that India will not "acquiesce" in its unilateral and forceful attempts to change the status quo at any of India's territorial boundaries.It expressed concerns over multiple reports which allude to Chinese presence around Doklam plateau and the statements from Chinese authorities about chances of similar happenings in future also even after the standoff at Doklam ended.

"The government has categorically denied that there is any direct threat from Chinese troops presently. The committee, however, are of the opinion that while dealing with China, it is always better to have a sense of 'healthy scepticism'," it said.The panel said India's defence forces and the diplomatic corps have shown firmness in responding to the crisis without actually being drawn into any kind of political rhetoric.The foreign secretary was quoted in the report as saying that during the entire course of the Doklam standoff, the ground situation was "very civil and that there was no body contact".

To avoid border skirmishes, the panel strongly desired that a comprehensive Border Engagement Agreement is concluded between the Indian Army and the PLA, subsuming all established mechanisms for confidence building between the two sides.It also said that it was not the first time that PLA troops entered the Doklam area and that the Chinese troops have been crossing the Batang La-Meruga La-Sinchela Ridge line over the years and making ingress into the Bhutanese territory.

The Committee also expressed unhappiness over grossly inadequate border road infrastructure along the India-China frontier.It was of the opinion that an objective and in-depth assessment of India's relationship with China should be carried out by the government promptly so that a broad national consensus is evolved on how to deal effectively with China.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 6:46 [IST]Members of farmers' body detained in Lucknow for trying to burn effigies of PM Modi, Shah

Uttar Pradesh Assembly's Winter Session to begin today

India

oi-Vikas SV

Lucknow, Dec 18: The Winter Session of the the Uttar Pradesh Assembly will get underway from Tuesday.

During the brief winter session, the government will table several ordinances and bills along with the second supplementary budget. The second supplementary budget would be tabled in Assembly on December 19.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Speaker Hriday Narayan Dikshit, during the all-party meeting on Monday, appealed to the opposition parties for smooth conduct of the House.

Law and order situation, farmers issue and laxity in recruitment drive are some of the issues over which the opposition would look to corner the ruling government.

"The government is ready to discuss all issues that the opposition feels prudent for the development of the state," Chief Minister Yogi said in a statement issued after the meeting.

[Congress won polls through deceit: Yogi Adityanath]

The oppositions leaders have been demanding a longer Winter Session. Even Yogi had earlier said there that there should be around 90 sittings of the Assembly in a year. Reports say that, including these four days of the Winter Session, there have only been around 25 sessions this year.

The Assembly will pass the supplementary budget on December 20 along with the other bills.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 8:51 [IST]The nation's top economic regulator has quickened the pace of fixed-asset investment project approvals in a move to ease downside risks to the economy.

In the third quarter, 147 such projects valued at 697.7 billion yuan ($101.1 billion) were approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, which is 4.8 times more in terms of value than that seen in the second quarter, the NDRC said.

Compared with the first half, during which the central government placed a higher emphasis on high-tech projects, the key focus shifted toward transportation sector projects in the second half, the commission said.

As the economy may face strong headwinds in 2019, local governments have prepared "a large number of projects that are able to play a role in stabilizing the economy", said an official at a provincial bureau of the commission, who declined to be identified.

"Only a few have entered into the construction phase, and many have not, with anticipated construction start dates possibly in early 2019," the official said.

Approval rights of many fixed-asset projects in China have been given to local governments as part of efforts to streamline government administration.

Only strategically important projectslarge scale projects often valued in the billions of dollarsrequire commission approval.

"The government will not tolerate a sharp decline of fixed-asset investment," said Robin Xing, chief China economist at Morgan Stanley.

Some policy maneuvering has taken place at the top decision-making levels, Xing said.

The annual limit for local special bond issuances is often set in March, but it is expected to come out earlier next year, in January. This represents the government's strong intention to accelerate the issuance of special-purpose bonds by local governments to stabilize investment, expand domestic demand and strengthen areas of weakness, he added.

The issuance of special bonds is a funding measure introduced in 2017 to boost fixed-asset investment and ease funding pressure to help make debt burdens more transparent.

Fixed-asset investment ticked up in the second half after it slumped in August.

It expanded 5.9 percent year-on-year in the first 11 months, picking up pace for the third straight month from a nadir in August, and exceeding market expectations, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.I wasnt the PM afraid to talk to Press: Manmohan Singh hits back at Modi

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Dec 18: In a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is yet to hold a press conference, his predecessor and Congress veteran Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said as a Prime Minister, he was never afraid of speaking to the press.

"People say I was a silent Prime Minister. I think these volumes (his book 'Changing India') speak for themselves. I wasn't the PM who was afraid of talking to the press. I met press regularly and on every foreign trip that I undertook. I had a press conference on return in the plane," said Manmohan Singh at the launch his five-volume book 'Changing India'.

Modi used to mockingly call his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh "Maun Mohan Singh", but to the latter's credit he did field questions from the press.

Urjit Patel's resignation 'severe blow to nation's economy': Manmohan Singh

PM Modi has not addressed a single press conference ever since he stormed to power in 2014. This distinction has often drawn criticism from political detractors, especially Congress president Rahul Gandhi who recently asked him to "try one someday, because it's fun having questions thrown at you".

On the farm loan waiver announced by the newly sworn-in Congress governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh on their first day in office, Manmohan Singh said, "We have to honour the commitment that was part of the election manifesto.

Madhya Pradesh: Hours after taking oath, CM Kamal Nath announces farm loan waiver

"I haven't studied the impact but since commitment has been made so we have to honour it. These are commitments made to people and what has been promised, has to be delivered," he said.

Singh said the country needs a "strong and independent" central bank which has to work in "close cooperation" with the central government.

"I do hope and pray that government and the RBI find a way to work in harmony," said the former Prime Minister , who had also served as the RBI governor from 1982 to 1985. He had earlier termed RBI governor Urjit Patel's resignation "very unfortunate" and a "severe blow" to the country's economy.Honours are even today, which way will wind blow in 2022: P Chidambaram on bypoll results

You have in the past, you can do it now, Chidambarams retort on JPC probe into Rafale

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Dec 18: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram rejected finance minister Arun Jaitley's argument against a JPC probe into the Rafale deal, saying the government and Parliament have overruled Supreme Court verdicts in the past, most recently in the SC/ST Act.

His counter came as Jaitley, while ruling out referring the Rafale deal to a parliamentary panel after the Supreme Court verdict against a probe, asserted a political body cannot review what the Supreme Court has ruled and called the Congress "bad losers".

Chidambaram took to Twitter to say, "FM asks 'Is a Committee of Politicians fit to review issues decided by SC?'. When Government/Parliament amended the Atrocities Prevention Act to overrule the judgment of the SC, was it not a review by politicians of a judgment of the SC?".

Rafale: Rahul Gandhi spread lies, maligned IAF, says Smriti Irani

Chidambaram also said several aspects of the Rafale deal were not decided by the Supreme Court. "Who will examine those issues? Or will they go unexamined?" he asked.

The Congress has been alleging corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal and demanding a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).

Jaitley, while ruling out referring the Rafale deal to a parliamentary panel, said a political body cannot review what the Supreme Court has ruled and launched a blistering attack on the Congress.

The finance minister also said the CAG's view of the deal is not relevant after the Supreme Court's clean chit.

Winter Session: Rafale likely to dominate proceedings, opposition in no mood to relent

"After the Supreme Court has spoken the last word, it gets legitimacy. A political body can never come to a finding contrary to what the Court has said," Jaitley wrote in a Facebook blog, titled 'Rafale - Lies, Shortlived lies and now further lies?'.

Both houses of Parliament witnessed uproarious scenes on Friday and Monday amid a demand for the JPC probe into the Rafale issue.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 6:54 [IST]Do you have a habit of smelling your stinky socks? If you have, read this

International

oi-Shubham Ghosh

Beijing, Dec 18: Do you have a habit of smelling your stinky socks after returning from work every day? If you have, better get rid of it.

A man in China has had a similar 'obsession' of sniffing his socks that smelled, everyday after returning from work before throwing them into the laundry basket. The 37-year-old from Zhangzhou, Fujian province, surnamed Peng did not know what was waiting for him because of the habit. He was admitted in hospital recently after developing cough and chest pain and it was diagnosed that the man was affected by severe pulmonary fungal infection. Doctors said that the reason for the infection was inhaling spores of fungus that grows in footwear.

Why you should say 'no' to tea or coffee while on a plane

That Peng is not an exception when it comes to sniffing smelly socks was known when several others admitted online about their similar habit and the worry for their health after the news about Peng surfaced on Chinese social media platform Weibo which received a whopping 65 million views last week.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 9:57 [IST]Maldives President Solih wants every citizen of his country to plant a tree

International

oi-Shubham Ghosh

Male, Dec 17: Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who assumed office on November 17 after toppling the regime of Abdulla Yameen in elections on September, has stressed that every citizen of the archipelago should plant at least one tree in his or her household.

On December 15, the 54-year-old president was present at the inauguration of a national tree plantation campaign 'RahFehi' and he said there that planting of trees can see people deriving benefits from them and that in turn, can reduce the cost of living. He said every citizen should plant at least one tree in the house, especially that which gives fruits and vegetables.

Security of Indian Ocean Region concern of both India and Maldives

Solih, who is on a three-day visit to India at the moment concluding Tuesday, December 18, also said the environment should not be compromised in pursuit of economic development. He also stressed on the importance of adhering to environmental laws to tackle the problems of deforestation and desertification.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 7:41 [IST]2 suspects arrested in connection with blast outside Hafiz Saeed's house in Pak

26/11: As India grieved, Saeed grew in Pak, while Lakhvi fathered a child in jail

Mumbai terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed writes column for Pakistani newspaper on Kashmir issue

International

pti-PTI

Islamabad, Dec 18: Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed has donned the hat of a column writer for a leading Urdu newspaper, stirring a debate among journalists as to how the media house allowed the head of a banned terror group to write on the Kashmir issue and the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.

Saeed was declared a global terrorist by the US and the UN after the 2008 Mumbai attack and was put under house arrest in November 2008 but freed by a court some months later.He carries a USD 10 million American bounty on his head for his role in terror activities.

Imran Khan's minister proved yet again that Hafiz Saeed is Pakistan's asset No. 1

'Illegal aggression of India on East Pakistan... Why Pakistan is avoiding advocating for Kashmiri people' written by "Professor Hafiz Mohammad Saeed" appeared in Daily Dunya (an Urdu publication of Dunya media group of Mian Amer Mahmood) on Sunday.

The article carries a picture of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and some young men holding guns in Dhaka.

Allowing the head of a banned terror group to contribute for a known media house has stirred a debate with journalists questioning whether the company in question allowed Saeed to write due to some "direct links" with the owner or under "someone's pressure".

Leaked video shows Pak minister vowing to 'protect' Hafiz Saeed and his party

A court has ordered the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to ensure that the Pakistani media does not display Saeed's pictures.

In his article, "Saeed said Indira hatched a conspiracy to dismember Pakistan", lamenting the then Pakistani rulers for their failure.

Saeed has extensively explained the role of India in the creation of Bangladesh and expressed his opinion as to why Kashmir is important for Pakistan.

He said Pakistan should support the Kashmiri people.

India has been demanding Pakistan not only to arrest the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder and try him in the Mumbai attack case but also punish all those involved in this carnage.

Saeed launched the Milli Muslim League (MML) party in August 2017 with a so-called mission to implement the ideology of Pakistan in accordance with the 1973 Constitution.

In April this year, the US placed the MML on its list of foreign terror organisations for its links with the LeT.

The government has said that the MML is an off-shoot of Saeed's Jamat-ud Dawah (JuD), which has been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including some Americans.

PTIUS: Trump remains adamant on wall funding even as govt approaches shutdown

International

oi-Shubham Ghosh

Washington, Dec 18: The United States administration is staring at a partial shutdown that would affect key departments like transportation, security and justice but President Donald Trump is not ready to cede any ground on his plan to build a wall on the border with Mexico. He has continued with his demand for increased funds for the proposed wall aimed at securing the US from immigrants and if his demand is not met by Friday, December 21, sites like Statue of Liberty could close for the upcoming holidays and public sector workers will left without pay.

Trump will leave for his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for 16 days starting Friday. On Monday, the president lashed out at the Democrats in a tweet saying: "Anytime you hear a Democrat saying that you can have good Boarder (sic) Security without a Wall, write them off as just another politician following the party line." He later deleted the tweet which had yet another wrong spelling and posted it again with the blunder rectified.

Anytime you hear a Democrat saying that you can have good Border Security without a Wall, write them off as just another politician following the party line. Time for us to save billions of dollars a year and have, at the same time, far greater safety and control!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2018

The Democrats policy of Child Seperation on the Border during the Obama Administration was far worse than the way we handle it now. Remember the 2014 picture of children in cages - the Obama years. However, if you dont separate, FAR more people will come. Smugglers use the kids!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 16, 2018

President Trump is threatening to shut down the federal government, including the @NatlParkService. With virtually no staff on hand, park visitors & resources are left unprotected -- as evidenced by damage and impacts from the last #shutdown, to name a few:  National Parks Conservation Association (@NPCA) December 16, 2018

On Sunday, December 16, Trump also took a dig at the previous Barack Obama administration saying its policy of child separation (again Trump erred, spelled it "Seperation") on the border was worse than how it is done now. He said the separation is important to prevent more people entering the US and added that the children were used by smugglers.

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen gets 36 months of jail

The Trump administration has come under severe criticism over its handling of families of immigrants at the border by separating the kids from their parents during the interrogation of the latter.

The Congress could see the third shutdown in two years with funding yet to be agreed for nine of 15 government agencies, including key ones like NASA and FDA.

The president said last week during a confrontational meeting with Democratic leaders at the Oval Office that he would be "proud" to shut down the government if the funding for the wall was not approved by the Congress.

Trump sees his impeachment as a real threat: Report

Trump's Republican Party lost its majority in the House of Representatives in the mid-term elections held last month and the Democrats made a comeback. The GOP though has retained its control over the Senate.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 10:04 [IST]British fashion and furniture retailer Laura Ashley is to close 40 of its stores in the United Kingdom and expand its presence in China.

The company's newly appointed executive chairman, Andrew Khoo Boo Yeow, confirmed to the Press Association that the company will close a quarter of its 160 UK stores, having already shut eight this year.

Khoo also said the company is considering opening its first bricks-and-mortar stores in China, where Laura Ashley products have been available to online shoppers since 2016 via Alibaba's e-commerce platform Tmall.

Often labeled as one of Britain's "heritage brands", Laura Ashley has recently contended with plunging profits amid adverse high-street conditions in the UK.

"It's a challenging environment and it could become more challenging," Khoo said. "We're moving to Asia in a much bigger way. We have a regional office in Singapore, it's a dedicated office of about 10 people and it's focused purely on e-commerce into China. Once we get a significant foothold in digital retail in China, we can look at the physical stores rollout."

Khoo said he is mulling the expansion of some of the stores that will remain in the UK, enabling them to take on some of the employees from the closed shops.

"The direction I want to go is to have not so many stores, but maybe the ones we have could be larger," said Khoo, who is the son of former Laura Ashley executive chairman Khoo Kay Peng. "It's more showcasing the brand. It doesn't really matter if they buy online or offline, we just want them to get inspired."

Laura Ashley was founded in 1953 and its floral prints became hugely popular in the 1970s and 1980s. Khoo Kay Peng's Malaysia-based business group Malayan United Industries Berhad became a major shareholder in Laura Ashley in 1998.

Industry analysts have criticized Laura Ashley for failing to remain relevant as consumer trends have evolved. The company has struggled to evolve at a time when online shopping has dealt a blow to many bricks-and-mortar retailers.

Laura Ashley had pinned hopes on the recent launch of a new e-commerce platform. However, profits have gone on to plummet 98 percent from 6.3 million pounds ($7.94 million) in 2017 to 100,000 pounds in 2018, due to a decline in sales and an impairment charge on the sale of a commercial property in Singapore.

The last decade has seen the collapse of several well-established high street brands in Britain, including department store British Home Stores, retailer Woolworths, electronics retailer Maplin, and Toys R Us UK.One of the third-generation European pressurized reactors (EPR) in Taishan nuclear power plant has completed test operations in Guangdong province, making it the first among the EPR units ready for power generation, and was considered a milestone in the world's nuclear power sector, said industry insiders.

Taishan nuclear power plant is the biggest cooperation project between China and France in the energy sector, with two 1750-megawatt EPR units in its first phase of construction.

The first reactor completed a 168-hour trial run at 5 pm on Thursday, putting it on course to become the world's first commercial nuclear reactor using third-generation EPR technology, according to China General Nuclear Power Corp and its French partner Electricite de France.

The success of the reactor proves EPR is a reliable technology, and will provide the companies with useful experience relating to the construction and management of similar nuclear projects, including the second reactor unit in Taishan, said Guo Limin, general manager of the Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Co Ltd, constructor and operator of the Taishan project.

The second reactor unit started hot functional tests 10 days ahead of schedule on Dec 10, and is expected to go into operation next year as planned, according to Guo.

The hot functional test is a critical pre-operational requirement which ensures that certain major systems function together as designed.

Fabrice Fourcade, vice-president of EDF and chairman of EDF China, said experience gained from the Taishan project can help with the construction of other nuclear power projects. Also, as the Taishan project demonstrates the safety, competence and maturity of EPR technology, it can help to solve the energy shortage problems facing many economies experiencing rapid growth, Fourcade added.

Han Xiaopeng, chief analyst with China Energy Net Consulting, said the operation of the EPR unit is not only a positive outcome from deepening energy cooperation between China and France, but also proves EPR technology is safe and effective, and that nuclear power is a good choice for building a lower-carbon energy future.

The construction of Taishan's first two reactors started in 2009 and 2010 respectively, following the other two in Olkiluoto in Finland and Flamanville in France, as the world's third and fourth third-generation EPRs.

Once they are fully operational, the two reactors in Taishan will be capable of replacing about 8.03 million metric tons of standard coal consumption annually, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 21 million tons, equivalent to planting 58,500 hectares of forest, according to China General Nuclear Power's statement.





President Xi Jinping voiced his commendation for the work of the governments of the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions on Monday as he called on the two SARs to foster new strengths and achieve new developments.

Xi made the remark during meetings in Beijing with Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, the Hong Kong SAR chief executive, and Fernando Chui Sai-on, chief executive of the Macao SAR.

Over the past year, the Hong Kong SAR government, led by Lam, stood firm in safeguarding the policy of "one country, two systems" and the Basic Law, and it carefully planned the long-term development of Hong Kong, Xi said.

The regions' governments have actively taken part in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the joint building of Belt and Road, prioritized efforts to solve problems that touch on the interests of citizens and created conditions for the growth and development of young people, he said.

Xi said he met with a delegation from the two SARs last month. China's process of reform and opening-up is a process of Hong Kong, Macao and the mainland offering one another complementary strengths and achieving joint development. It is also a process of the transformation of "one country, two systems" from scientific concept to successful practice, he said.

The country will unwaveringly uphold the principle of "one country, two systems" and support the greater integration of the two SARs with the national development plan so they can achieve new developments and make new contributions.



In the meeting with Chui, Xi also lauded the efforts of the Macao SAR government in promoting the diversified development of the economy, boosting the public's livelihood and stepping up development of disaster prevention systems.

Xi said he believes Macao people will seize opportunities, cultivate new growth engines and welcome the 20th anniversary of the region's return to China next year with new development outcomes.

Lam and Chui were in Beijing on Monday to report to the central government about their work.

After hearing their reports, Premier Li Keqiang said that Hong Kong's stable economic growth under the complicated international circumstances did not come easily.

He said he hopes Hong Kong will continue to seize opportunities with the country's new round of reform and opening-up, prevent and control financial risks, make continuous efforts to improve livelihoods and keep improving the region's competitiveness.

While meeting with Chui, Li encouraged the Macao SAR government to keep moving forward with adjustments in economic structure, foster key industries such as leisure tourism and exhibitions, and improve the business environment.

Xi's remarks in the meeting with Lam already have evoked positive responses in Hong Kong.

Nancy Ip Yuk-yu, a neuroscientist and member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that in the next year, Hong Kong will continue its strong efforts in the development of the Bay Area by deepening cooperation in scientific research with the mainland. By doing so, the city can fulfill its ambition of becoming an innovation and technology center and contribute to development of an innovation-driven country, she said.

Thomas Cheung Tsun-yung, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People's Congress, said more breakthroughs in policies and institutional systems are needed for development of a world-class bay area.

Stanley Ng Chau-pei, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, said the city can connect its research findings with domestic industrial chains in Guangdong province to facilitate transformation of scientific products.More young Chinese believe their country is changing for the better and identify with its development path, a recent survey says.

The study by China Youth Daily and the Communist Youth League of China Central Committee found that 92.9 percent of young people surveyed think China is heading in the right direction, compared with 89.9 percent in 1998.

The Survey on Young Chinese, conducted in mid-November to mark the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up, says only 0.6 percent think the country is getting worse, down from 1.2 percent 20 years ago.

Some 2.4 percent of respondents chose "neither better nor worse", and 4.1 percent said "sometimes better and sometimes worse".

The findings were based on a nine-day online survey of 6,081 people.

About 52.4 percent of the respondents were male, 83.4 percent had college diplomas and 12.4 percent were from rural areas.

The survey indicated that young people feel moderately fulfilled, happy and secure about their lives. Those living in county-level cities were among the most content, responding with an average mark of more than 80 percent for their sense of happiness.

Respondents in first-tier cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, are among the least happy young Chinese, with an average score of 77 percent, the report said.

Responses from those born in the 1990s indicated a higher degree of happiness, compared with those born in the 1980s, but those born in the '80s tended to be more fulfilled, it said.

Most young Chinese are beneficiaries of reform and opening-up, according to Chen Zihan, a graduate student in Beijing. The policy, which was launched in 1978, helped put an end to longtime domestic turmoil and kicked off decades of double-digit economic growth.

The 23-year-old geoscience student, who is applying for a doctoral program at a Canadian university, said the past 40 years have given millions of young Chinese opportunities to connect to the world and broaden their horizons.

"Only a generation ago, attending college was too much of a luxury to think of," he said.

Wang Meili, an English teacher at a private school in Yulin, Shaanxi province, was not surprised by the survey findings. The 26-year-old, who has a bachelor of arts degree, said a college education has allowed her to secure a job that she likes and to lead a relatively well-off life, despite the cost of housing.

"I come from a rural family, and I have noticed great advancement in the country's input in rural regions and the welfare of rural residents. My parents now benefit from numerous agricultural subsidies and health insurance for farmers."

Li Xin, a government employee in Yongshou county, Shaanxi, said that although money cannot buy happiness, the rapid increase of disposable income over the past decades and online shopping and food delivery services have contributed a lot to people's sense of fulfillment and happiness.Researchers from Fudan University in Shanghai and Cornell University in the United States have found evidence of a new type of quantum Hall effect existent in nanostructures of three-dimensional topological semimetal.

The research, published online in Nature on Monday, represents a breakthrough in the research of the quantum Hall effect, which, discovered decades ago, remains one of the most studied phenomena in condensed matter physics. Studies of the quantum Hall effect is relevant to research areas such as topological phases, strong electron correlations and quantum computing.

Before the recent discovery, the quantum Hall effect was observed and investigated only in two-dimensional electron systems when subjected to low temperatures and strong magnetic fields.

While there has been intense interest in exploring the quantum Hall effect in higher dimensions, conditions for relevant observation are highly demanding. It took the research team three years to develop high-quality nanostructures of topological semimetals for the experiment, said Xiu Faxian, a professor in physics from Fudan University who is the corresponding author of the research paper in Nature.

Xiu's two doctoral students Zhang Cheng and Yuan Xiang, along with Zhang Yi, a Fudan alumnus and a post-doctor at Cornell University, are the co-first authors of the paper.

The team first discovered the existence of the quantum effect in three-dimensional nanostructures of semimetal last year, which was also reported in Nature Communications in November 2017. The discovery was later confirmed by another two similar research projects in Japan and the United States.

Over the past year, Xiu and his students have fine tuned their experiment with extricate designs that allow a clear observation of the underlying physics of the quantum Hall effect in three-dimensional structures.

Xiu said the discovery is only a start in the exploration of quantum Hall physics in three-dimensional materials.

"Much remains unknown and we're keen to explore further," Xiu said.

Xiu added that the team and the rest of the scientific community can tap into one legacy of their recent success.

"We have proved that nanostructures of topological semimetals provide a way of exploring quantum Hall physics in three-dimensional materials with enhanced tunability," Xiu said.As the first finished project under a framework agreement, the Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park of Co-operation between Guangdong and Macao is attracting much attention.

Located in the Hengqin area of Zhuhai city, the industrial park was jointly established by Macao and Hengqin aiming to accelerate the industrial management and internationalization of traditional Chinese medicine.

Since its establishment, the industrial park has continued to innovate the cooperative model and helped traditional Chinese medicine companies from both the mainland and Macao to go global.

Promoting traditional Chinese medicine in Portuguese-speaking countries

The industrial park is cooperating with Mozambique through training courses focused on traditional Chinese medicine practice. At present, 209 doctors and physical therapists from public hospitals in Mozambique are attending such courses.

This June, 30 doctors from Angola, Cape Verde, and Guinea-Bissau attended courses held in the park. This was the first time traditional Chinese medicine training has penetrated Portuguese-speaking countries other than Mozambique.

Helping traditional Chinese medicine explore overseas markets

The industrial park holds a regular traditional Chinese medicine forum and fair in Portugal, Spain and Holland and is seeking to further expand its sales channels, said Yang Bo, an official with its department of recruiting, investment and operation.

The preparatory office of the Mozambique Traditional Chinese Medicine Center was unveiled last July in the countrys capital of Maputo. The center focuses on training, outpatient treatment, sales and joint development of medicines.

Constructing comprehensive platform for Chinese medicine resources

Since 2015, the industrial park has organized nine international forums of Chinese medicine in countries such as Thailand and Portugal, Yang said, with almost 700 enterprises and over 2,500 guests attending.

A total of 104 enterprises have been incorporated in the park so far, including 26 from Macao. They are involved in various areas such as Chinese medicine, health care products, medical instruments and medical services.



Opalesque Industry Update - The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index declined 2.36% as of November 2018 year-to-date, in contrast to the 8.45% gain made in 2017, which turned out to be the best year for hedge funds and equity markets since 2013. The first quarter of 2018 saw the return of market volatility, which pushed nearly every major strategic mandate down into the red in February. CTA/managed futures hedge funds suffered the heftiest losses, with the Eurekahedge CTA/Managed Futures Hedge Fund Index down 4.12% in February alone. The mandate saw performance-based losses totalling US$22.6 billion during the month. Long/short equities mandate bore the brunt of the equity market selloff in October, with the Eurekahedge Long Short Equities Hedge Fund Index ending the month down 3.63%, dragging its year-to-date return into the red for the first time in 2018. Roughly 80% of the funds constituting the mandate posted losses during the month, resulting in performance-based losses of US$29.1 billion which was the steepest decline since 2008 global financial crisis, as well as investor redemptions totalling US$13.2 billion at the same time. Hedge fund managers struggle in Europe European hedge fund managers have been struggling under the uncertainties surrounding Brexit negotiations and Italy's budget concerns throughout most of 2018. The Eurekahedge European Hedge Fund Index spent eight out of the first 11 months of 2018 in the red, and is on track to post its worst yearly return since the peak of the Eurozone crisis in 2011. Hedge fund managers focusing on Asia Pacific have been suffering from the US-China tariff spat and the Fed's rate hikes, which sent Asian equity markets and currencies plummeting. Greater China and India mandates, the two best performers in 2017, ended up at the bottom of the table this year as they posted losses of 11.47% and 6.83% respectively. Fund managers utilising AI/machine learning strategies were up 1.25% in November, ending their streak of losses which placed them on track to record their worst year since the inception of the Eurekahedge AI Hedge Fund Index. On a year-to-date basis, the index is still down 5.27%. The Eurekahedge ILS Advisers Index declined 2.84% throughout the month of November, dragging its year-to-date loss to 2.13%. As the catastrophic losses incurred by Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael came to light, ILS funds with exposure towards the region were adversely affected. The Eurekahedge Crypto-Currency Hedge Fund Index was down 64.90% year-to-date, largely in line with how Bitcoin price has plummeted past the US$4,000 level throughout the year. Crypto-currency hedge fund managers returned 1708.50% last year, owing to the gravity-defying coin prices throughout 2017. Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index ended the month of November down 0.14% The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index ended the month of November down 0.14%, dragging its year-to-date decline to 2.36%. Hedge fund managers struggled to position themselves to capture the upward movement in the equity markets as they recovered from the slump in October. Throughout the month, only 24.3% of the hedge fund managers tracked by the Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index were able to outperform the global equity market, as represented by the MSCI AC World Index (Local) which gained 1.11% in November. Dovish stance from the US Federal Reserve and anticipation over the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires helped the North American and Asian equity markets recover from the severe losses they suffered last month. On the other hand, uncertainties continued to loom over the European economies as Brexit negotiation remained inconclusive, and Italy's budget plan raised concerns over the country's debt levels. In terms of year-to-date performance, preliminary numbers revealed that roughly 9.5% of the hedge fund managers tracked by Eurekahedge were able to maintain double-digit returns throughout the first eleven months of 2018. North American hedge fund managers ended the month up 0.48%, recovering a small portion of the losses they suffered in October, during which the Eurekahedge North American Hedge Fund Index recorded its worst performance (-2.76%) since the global financial crisis. The S&P 500 index gained 1.79% in November as the region's equity markets began to recover. The Eurekahedge Asia ex Japan Hedge Fund Index ended their losing streak and climbed 1.81% in November, as market sentiment improved on the back of expectations that the Fed would increase rates in a more gradual pace. November 2018 and October 2018 returns across regions On a year-to-date basis, North American fund managers were up 0.87%, as the losses they posted in October wiped out a significant portion of the gains made in the preceding months. Latin American fund managers were up 7.82% year-to-date, owing to the underlying equity market performance which benefited from improving economic outlook and dwindling political concerns. Meanwhile, Asia ex-Japan fund managers continued to lag behind their peers focusing on other regions despite the gains they made in November, with the Eurekahedge Asia ex Japan Hedge Fund Index still down 7.73% year-to-date, following multiple months of losses over the better part of the year. Mizuho-Eurekahedge Asset Weighted Index The asset-weighted Mizuho-Eurekahedge Index - USD ended November down 0.71%, bringing their 2018 year-to-date return to -3.76%. It should also be noted that the Mizuho-Eurekahedge Index is US dollar denominated, and during months of strong US dollar gains, the index results include the currency conversion loss for funds that are denominated in other currencies. Majority of the indices in the suite of Mizuho-Eurekahedge Indices were down during the month, with only the Mizuho-Eurekahedge Asia Pacific Index gaining 0.88% over the month, supported by the rebound in the region's equity markets as risk outlook in the regions improved and currencies strengthened against the US dollar. On a year-to-date basis, all of the Mizuho-Eurekahedge Indices remained in the red, with Asia Pacific and long short equities fund managers posting the sharpest declines as they ended the first eleven months of 2018 down 6.24% and 5.49% respectively. CBOE Eurekahedge Volatility Indexes The CBOE Eurekahedge Volatility Indexes comprise four equally-weighted volatility indices - long volatility, short volatility, relative value and tail risk. The CBOE Eurekahedge Long Volatility Index is designed to track the performance of underlying hedge fund managers who take a net long view on implied volatility with a goal of positive absolute return. In contrast, the CBOE Eurekahedge Short Volatility Index tracks the performance of underlying hedge fund managers who take a net short view on implied volatility with a goal of positive absolute return. This strategy often involves the selling of options to take advantage of the discrepancies in current implied volatility versus expectations of subsequent implied or realised volatility. The CBOE Eurekahedge Relative Value Volatility Index on the other hand measures the performance of underlying hedge fund managers that trade relative value or opportunistic volatility strategies. Managers utilising this strategy can pursue long, short or neutral views on volatility with a goal of positive absolute return. Meanwhile, the CBOE Eurekahedge Tail Risk Index tracks the performance of underlying hedge fund managers that specifically seek to achieve capital appreciation during periods of extreme market stress. The CBOE Eurekahedge Long Volatility Hedge Fund Index ended the month down 0.83% as the market volatility subsided amidst equity market recovery. The CBOE VIX index ended the month 14.88% lower than its end of October level. In the same vein, fund managers utilising short volatility strategies ended the month up 0.30%. On a year-to-date basis, all of the volatility strategies remained in the red, with short volatility fund managers posting the steepest losses of 8.08%. The CBOE Eurekahedge Relative Value Volatility Hedge Fund Index posted the smallest loss of 1.36% as of November 2018 year-to-date.Cloud Backup Market by Top Manufacturers  Code42 Software Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Datto Inc., IBM Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Druva Software, Veeam Software, Amazon Web Services., Dropbox Inc., Google Inc.

Cloud Backup Market

https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/request-sample/2835887?utm_source=OPR&utm_medium=Anil

https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/request-for-discount/2835887?utm_source=OPR&utm_medium=Anil

https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/2835887?utm_source=OPR&utm_medium=Anil

Cloud Backup Market By Service (Infrastructure-As-A-Service, Software As A Services, Integration Is A Service and Platform-As-A-Service), Solution Type (Support & Maintenance, Training & Consulting, Managed Services and Cloud Integration & Migration) and End User (IT & Telecommunication, BFSI, Education, Consumer Goods And Retail and Other End Users) - Global Industry Analysis And Forecast To 2025Industry OutlookThe cloud backup technology, otherwise referred to as online backup, is the method for backing up the information that includes sending the duplicate of the information over an exclusive or open network to the off-site server.Get Sample Copy of this Report @This server is normally facilitated by the service provider that is third-party that charges the client opting for backup an expense dependent on bandwidth, number of users or capacity. In the endeavor, the server off-site may be possessed by the organization; however the chargeback technique would be comparative. Therefore, the Cloud Backup Market is anticipated to expand and has tremendous scope during the forecast period. The global Cloud Backup Market anticipated to flourish in the future by growing at a significantly higher CAGR.Drivers & RestrainsThe driving factors of the market are; the increasing demand for this technology for the virtual machines, tis system has various advantages like the faster improvisation & usage of resources of system in better way, increasing utilization & demand for cloud computing, mobile technology, & web-based applications, growing demand from both industrial as well as commercial sector, increasing fear in the enterprises & businesses for the data loss and various other factors. The restraining factors of the market can be the time consuming process of recovery of services & solutions backed up on cloud.Regional InsightsThe North American region is leading the global Cloud Backup Market and will showcase more rate of growth while the European region will show significant arte of growth owing to well-developed IT sector in this region, increasing utilization of various cloud based services, etc.Competitive AnalysisThe major players in the market are profiled in detail in view of qualities, for example, company portfolio, business strategies, financial overview, recent developments, and market share of the overall industry.Top Manufacturers: Code42 Software Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Datto Inc., IBM Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Druva Software, Veeam Software, Amazon Web Services., Dropbox Inc., Google Inc., EMC Corporation, Barracuda Networks Inc., VMware Inc.Get a discount on this research report @Table of Contents:1. Introduction1.1. Report Description2. Executive Summary2.1. Key Highlights3. Market Overview3.1. Introduction3.1.1. Market Definition3.1.2. Market Segmentation3.2. Market Dynamics3.2.1. Drivers3.2.2. Restraints3.2.3. Opportunities3.3. SWOT Analysis4. Market Analysis by Regions4.1. North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)4.1.1. United States Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.1.2. Canada Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.1.3. Mexico Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.2. Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Rest of Europe)4.2.1. Germany Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.2.2. France Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.2.3. UK Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.2.4. Russia Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.2.5. Italy Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.2.6. Rest of Europe Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.3. Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Rest of Asia-Pacific)4.3.1. China Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.3.2. Japan Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.3.3. Korea Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.3.4. India Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.3.5. Southeast Asia Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.3.6. Rest of Asia-Pacific Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.4. South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Rest of South America)4.4.1. Brazil Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.4.2. Argentina Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.4.3. Columbia Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.4.4. Rest of South America Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.5. Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Rest of MEA)4.5.1. Saudi Arabia Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.5.2. United Arab Emirates Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.5.3. Egypt Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.5.4. Nigeria Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.5.5. South Africa Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.5.6. Turkey Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)4.5.7. Rest of Middle East and Africa Market Status and Outlook (2014-2025)5. Cloud Backup Market, By Service5.1. Introduction5.2. Global Cloud Backup Revenue and Market Share by Service (2014-2018)5.2.1. Global Cloud Backup Revenue and Revenue Share by Service (2014-2018)5.3. Infrastructure-As-A-Service5.3.1. Global Infrastructure-As-A-Service Revenue and Growth Rate (2014-2018)5.4. Software As A Services5.4.1. Global Software As A Services Revenue and Growth Rate (2014-2018)5.5. Integration Is A Service5.5.1. Global Integration Is A Service Revenue and Growth Rate (2014-2018)5.6. Platform-As-A-Service5.6.1. Global Platform-As-A-Service Revenue and Growth Rate (2014-2018)Inquiry before Buy @About Us:Industry executives tend to keep a tab on their business competitors. This keeps them updated on strategic business activities and investment trends. Company profiles are crucial to participating players of interconnected verticals.5933 NE Win Sivers Drive, #205, Portland,OR 97220 United StatesCall answer Direct: +1-971-202-1575Call answer Toll Free: +1-800-910-6452Email help@bigmarketresearch.comElectronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) Market Forecast to 2024 Focusing on Key Players Benchmark Electronics, Celestica, Foxconn, Jabil, Plexus Corp., Sanmina, TT Electronics plc, Sparton Corporation

Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) Market

https://bit.ly/2GoBZRR

https://bit.ly/2PHYgJC

https://bit.ly/2PMj4zI

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/consumer-electronics-market

www.gminsights.com

www.fractovia.org/

EMS market will be driven by the electronic manufacturing, which is expected to exceed 55% of the revenue share due to the continuous demand for electronic components in various industry verticals such as automotive, consumer electronics, and others. The products include manufacturing of printed circuit boards, microelectronics, optoelectronics, and radio frequency & wireless devices for the electronics, medical, and telecommunication applications. The growing concerns regarding the production of technically and legally compliant products by the OEMs enforce them to utilize these products on a larger scale. This is attributed to the efficiency, high-quality, and application-specific products offered by the service providers. Moreover, these providers also offer services based on the low to high quantity of product demand from OEMs.Request for Sample Copy of This Report @The demand for green and energy-efficient devices & components that creates a need for these services further contributes to the electronics manufacturing services market growth. To cater to these demands, OEMs are developing strategic partnerships with the service providers that aids them in controlling manufacturing costs. The service providers offer product design, development, and manufacturing operations according to the demand from OEMs. Due to these facilities, OEMs achieve appropriate product supplies and save major development costs. This trend allows the EMS market players to develop green manufacturing facilities and energy-efficient products that support the global sustainable goals.Automotive electronics manufacturing services market will grow at a CAGR of around 5% in the coming years owing to the penetration of electronic devices and components in vehicular systems. Increasing utilization of automotive electronics including electronic systems, sensors, and ECUs in the safety, comfort, and infotainment devices creates a demand for EMS. Auto manufacturers develop contracts with the EMS providers for a continual supply of the electronic components. EMS market players have developed specialized design, manufacture, and diagnostic services for the automotive companies. For instance, Actia Group offers automotive industry-specific services to its vehicle manufacturing customers by supporting the production standards such as ISO TS 16949.Browse Complete Report Summary:The U.S. electronics manufacturing services (EMS) market dominates the global industry; the electronic manufacturing services demand in the country is estimated to exceed USD 70 billion by 2024. The emergence of several manufacturing companies across all industry verticals in the U.S. has increased competition and enforced OEMs to partner with the EMS providers. Additionally, increasing government rules to produce safe and tested electronic products to be used in industrial applications, such as medical devices and automobiles, supports EMS market growth. To save the labor costs involved in manufacturing and logistics operations, OEMs in the U.S. are shifting toward electronics contract services. These factors coupled with the growth in outsourcing activities account for the rapid development in the industry.The key companies operating in the EMS market include Flex Ltd., Kimball International, Foxconn, Celestica, Inc., Benchmark Electronics, Actia Group, Key Tronic EMS, Asteelflash, Venture Corporation, and Sanmina Corporation.Make an Inquiry for purchasing this Report @News: - In February 2017, Flex announced its acquisition over AGM automotive, an interior component supplier for automobiles. The acquisition aids Flex to achieve efficient design capabilities from AGM and cater to the major global OEMs.Related Report: - Consumer Electronics Market Size By Product (Audio & Video Equipment [Personal, Professional], Major Household Appliance, Small Household Appliance, Digital Photo Equipment [Personal, Professional]), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa), Growth Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Landscape & Forecast, 2017  2024About 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.Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:Companies in The Hyperscale Data Center Market - Intel Corporation, Nlyte Software, Sandisk Corporation, Avago Technologies, Cisco Systems, INC., Hewlett-Packard, Ericsson, Cavium, Inc.

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/1406

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/1406

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/hyperscale-data-center-market

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com

The global hyperscale data center market would grow at a CAGR of 20.7% through 2022 owing to their surge in adoption across various industries, downfall in total cost of ownership, and improvement in energy efficiency.Request Sample Report at:Allied Market Research published a report, titled, Hyperscale Data Center Market by Type (Cloud Providers, Colocation, and Enterprises) and Application (Manufacturing, Government Utilities, BFSI, IT & Telecommunication, Healthcare, and Energy) - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014 - 2022. The report provides in-depth information on market trends, value chain analysis, drivers & opportunities, competitive landscape, new strategic developments, and market player positioning analysis. According to the report, the global hyperscale data center market is expected to generate $71.2 billion by 2022 from $26.33 billion in 2017, growing at a CAGR of 20.7% from 2017 to 2022.Increase in adoption of hyperscale data centers across various industries, low total cost of ownership (TCO), and improved energy efficiency have fueled the growth of the global hyperscale data center market. However, prolonged power outage in some regions, storage limitations, and massive heat generation have restrained the growth of the industry. On the other hand, increase in applications of cloud computing, big data, social media, online gaming, and others are expected to create new pathways for the market in future.Cloud service to contribute lion's share by 2022Cloud service provider segment contributed more than two-thirds of the total market share in 2017 and would continue to maintain its leading position throughout the forecast period, owing to enhanced reliability and improved speed of adopting cloud-based services. However, enterprises segment would register the fastest CAGR of 27.7% from 2017 to 2022, owing to their capability to cater to the evolving business requirements as well as improve energy efficiency. The other type of hyperscale data center analyzed in the report is colocation.For Purchase Enquiry:IT & Telecom sector dominant, manufacturing sector fastestIT & Telecom sector contributed nearly one-fifth share of the global hyperscale data center industry in 2017, owing to the surge in smartphone & tablet users and rise in dependence on IT systems and services. However, manufacturing sector would grow at the fastest CAGR of 23.7% during the forecast period, owing to ease in identifying relationships and patterns in various processes.Asia-Pacific to lead from the front by 2022Burgeoning demand for cloud services among small-, medium-, and large-scale enterprises along with growing adoption of new architecture & technologies across various sectors would enable the Asia-Pacific region to grow at the fastest CAGR of 24% during the forecast period. However, North America accounted for the major market share of nearly one-third of the total market share in 2017.Leading players the industryThe key companies analyzed in the study include Intel Corporation, SanDisk Corporation, Nlyte Software, Cisco Systems, Inc., Avago Technologies, Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard, International Business Machines Corporation, Cavium, Inc., and Mellanox Technologies, Inc. In addition, the report includes various strategies including new product launches, partnerships, mergers & acquisitions, collaborations, joint ventures, and others that have been adopted by these players to gain a strong footprint and expand their presence in the industry.Access Full Summary@About UsAllied 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:Shriram Dighe5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free: +1-800-792-5285UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1855550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:High Demand Drives Global Automotive Exhaust Sensor Market Progress through 2017-2026 | Key Players are Bosal International N.V., SANGO Co. Ltd., Yutaka Giken Co. Ltd., Futaba Industrial Co. Ltd., etc.

https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=474

https://www.factmr.com/report/474/automotive-exhaust-sensor-market

https://www.factmr.com/checkout/474/S

https://www.factmr.com/

https://factmrblog.com/

This research report titled High Demand Drives Global Automotive Exhaust Sensor Market Progress through 2017-2026 focuses on the Automotive Exhaust Sensor Market, published to the vast repository managed by FactMR. The analysis focuses on the prime geographical regions based on their market size, revenue and attractiveness factors. Furthermore, the research discusses various segments from the Automotive Exhaust Sensor Market to examine future lucrativeness and spot growth prospects during 2017-2026. Readers can even access information such as key developments, technologies, innovations, etc., concerned to the Automotive Exhaust Sensor Market.Request 100 Page Sample Report from Here -Miniaturization of integrated circuits is likely to provide an impetus to the development of automotive exhaust sensors in the near future. Adoption of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) sensors, a miniaturized form of conventional ICs manufactured by using microfabrication technology, is witnessing a tremendous surge. Use of microfabrication technology enables automotive exhaust sensors in being more accurate and reliable, meanwhile enhancing their response time, efficiency, communication capabilities, and robustness. In addition, a large number of automotive exhaust sensor manufacturers are making enormous investments in research & development activities for coming up with better microfabrication technologies, which in turn will help them in boosting their revenue generation.The global market for automotive exhaust sensor will exhibit a steady 4.0% CAGR, in terms of value, between the forecast period 2017 and 2026, as slated by a new FactMR report. Over 160,000,000 units of automotive exhaust sensors are expected to be sold worldwide by 2026-end.The market for automotive exhaust sensor in Europe and North America has reached a maturity stage, and is currently stable on the back of a slack in production and rising competition from developing economies in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) and Latin America. However, with implementation of the Euro VI norms in 2017, demand for exhaust sensors is expected to witness a gradual rise in Europe in the near future. Europe will remain the largest market for automotive exhaust sensor, in terms of value.In terms of value, passenger cars among vehicles type segments will account for the lions share of the global automotive exhaust sensor market. Dominance of passenger cars in the market can be primarily attributed to the advent of stringent emission norms, which demand installation of automotive exhaust sensors in passenger cars for controlling air pollutants, thereby boosting sales of the emission-efficient passenger cars significantly. In addition, sales of automotive exhaust sensors in passenger cars and heavy commercial vehicles are projected to register an equal and the highest CAGR, in terms of value, through 2026, closely trailed by light commercial vehicles.Request Global Market Report with TOC Here -Automotive exhaust sensors will witness the highest demand for use in gasoline engines. However, growing penetration of diesel engines in developed nations has resulted into rapid adoption of automotive exhaust sensors for use in these engines recently. Automotive exhaust sensors are projected to register the fastest expansion for use in diesel engines through 2026, in terms of value. Although OEM remains the dominant sales channel for automotive exhaust sensors in terms of revenues, sales in aftermarket are poised to exhibit a relatively faster expansion through 2026.Nature of the global automotive exhaust sensor market is highly competitive and fragmented on the back of the occupancy of numerous international and regional players worldwide. As international players are concentrating on the expansion of their geographical reach, regional vendors are finding it difficult in competing against them based on product cost, safety, and quality. Key players actively contributing to the market expansion include Sejong Industrial Co., Ltd., Harbin Airui Automotive Exhaust Systems Co. Ltd., Bosal International N.V., SANGO Co., Ltd., Yutaka Giken Co., Ltd., Futaba Industrial Co., Ltd., Benteler International AG, Friedrich Boysen GmbH & Co. KG, Eberspacher Group, Tenneco Inc., and Faurecia S.A.Table of Content:Global Economic OutlookGlobal Automotive Exhaust Sensor Market - Executive Summary2.1. Opportunity Assessment2.2. Mega TrendsGlobal Automotive Exhaust Sensor Market Overview3.1. Introduction3.1.1. Global Automotive Exhaust Sensor Market Taxonomy3.1.2. Global Automotive Exhaust Sensor Market Definition3.2. Global Automotive Exhaust Sensor Market Size (US$ Mn), Volume (Units) and Forecast, 2012-20263.2.1. Global Automotive Exhaust Sensor Market Y-o-Y GrowthContinued..Buy Hassle Free Global Automotive Exhaust Sensor Market Research Report Here -About FactMrFactMR 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 UsFactMR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400, Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb:Blog:Inulin Market 2025 | Cargill, Beneo-Orafati SA, Cosucra Groupe Warcoing SA, Jarrow Formulas, Shandong Baolingbao Biotechnology Co. Ltd, Sensus B.V, Fenchem, Inc

https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upsample/120124640/Inulin-Market

https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/TOC/120124640/Inulin-Market

https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upcomming/120124640/Inulin-Market

https://www.researchreportinsights.com

Market Overview:Inulin is basically a type of starch which is mostly available in herbs, fruits and vegetables. fruits, vegetables and herbs. It is mostly consumed by consumers in their daily routine products such as wheat, garlic, chicory root, onion, wild yams and leeks among others. Inulin comprises of rich fiber and low calories. It is also considered as a dietary fiber because it is used for growth of intestinal bacteria. Also, consumers these days are more conscious about their health and use inulin as a nutritional component. Global Inulin market is estimated to raise in the coming years, in 2017 market size of the Inulin was XX million and in 2025 is expected to reach at XX million with growing CAGR of XX%.Market Dynamics:The multitude characteristics in terms of health benefits and its role as a functional food in inulin, advantages such as helps in weight loss and constipation are the factors boosting the growth of the market. Furthermore, the growing demand from dietary industry such as cheese, yogurts, ice-creams, and others, increasing awareness towards health-friendly foods, increase in the number of diabetic patients, growing pharmaceuticals sector and increasing demand for naturally delivered ingredients are the factors expected to boost the growth of inulin market over the forecast period. However, development of symbiotic and rising use of alternative probiotic and prebiotic ingredients is expected to hamper the growth of the market over the forecast period.Request For Report Sample:Market Players:Cargill, Beneo-Orafati SA, Cosucra Groupe Warcoing SA, Jarrow Formulas, Shandong Baolingbao Biotechnology Co. Ltd, Sensus B.V, Fenchem, Inc, The Tierra Group, Ciranda, Inc, Wuxi Cima Science Co. Ltd, Adept Impex Private Limited, PMV Nutrient Products Pvt. Ltd., DingxiLonghai Dairy Co., Ltd, The Green Labs LLC are some of the prominent players in the Inulin market.Market Segmentation:Dietary supplement is expected to grow with the fastest CAGR over the forecast period. The reasons attributing to the growth of the market are inulin benefits to stimulate bacterial development through its non-digestible fiber which supports in maintaining human body calorie level. Asia Pacific region is expected to be the the fastest growing region majorly due to owing to growth of end-use industries such as food & beverages, pharmaceuticals and dietary supplements. Countries such as China and India are expected to grow with the fastest CAGR due to government policies, disposable income and increasing demand for dietary products among others.Request For Report TOC:Market segmented on the basis of application:Food & BeveragesPharmaceuticalsDietary SupplementOthersMarket segmented on the basis of region:North AmericaUSCanadaMexicoEuropeUKGermanyFranceRest of EuropeAsia-PacificChinaJapanIndiaAustraliaRest of Asia-PacificLatin AmericaBrazilRest of Latin AmericaMiddle East and Africa (MEA)South AfricaSaudi ArabiaRest of MEAReport Analysis:About UsResearch 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 personalized 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 trendsContact Us:Research Report Insights (RRI42 Joseph StreetPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website:Email: sales@researchreportinsights.comAnti-body Coupled T Receptor Therapy Market 2026 Revenue Opportunies By Global Key Vendors Seattle Genetics, Inc. and Unum Therapeutics

Anti-body Coupled T Receptor Therapy

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-pdf/1600

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-customization/1600

Anti-body coupled T receptor (ACTR) therapy is kind of immunotherapy used to treat cancer in which bodys own immune response is utilized to act on cancerous cell. Anti-body coupled T receptor therapy utilizes T cells from body, engineered it to express specific T cell receptor, multiplying it in lab and then administering it along with targeting antibodies. The advantage in this approach is, that these T cells do not attack normal antigens from blood circulation but attack only antigens attached to the cancerous cells. This is possible as tumor specific monoclonal antibodies are given together with ACTR T cells. ACTR therapy is cost effective as it can be used in various cancer therapy. Also, greater therapeutic benefit with minimum side effects can be possible by adjusting the amount of targeting antibody which is essential for activation of the ACTR T cells.Download PDF Brochure of Research Report @Rising incidence of cancer and new products to be launched in future to drive the market for anti-body coupled T receptor therapy market.According to World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is one of the leading non-communicable disease and second leading cause of death globally. As reported by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2012, there were 14.1 million new cases, 8.8 million deaths and 32.6 million people living with cancer worldwide. As per 2017 report by Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, U.S. alone is expected to have prevalence of 8,16,834 and 80,500 annual new cases of lymphoma. Therefore, such high number of cancer patient would propel the anti-body coupled T receptor therapy market.ACTR therapy is better in its approach than other adoptive T cell transfer technologies such as CAR-T cell therapy. CAR-T therapy products such as Kymriah (Novartis AG) or Yescarta (Gilead Lifescience, Inc.) has side effects such as cytokine release syndrome, and neurological toxicity as discussed in their respective product literatures and other studies. ACTR therapy being specific in its action do not produce such side effects. This advantage would drive the anti-body coupled T receptor therapy market in future. Also CAR-T therapy has application in specific type of cancer such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, multiple myeloma whereas ACTR therapy has potential use even in solid tumorous cancer such as breast cancer, and neuroblastoma.Cost of product can be a major concern. Kymriah which is a CAR-T therapy costs approximately US$ 4,75,000 per patient. Considering such high cost for CAR-T therapy it can be assumed that anti-body coupled T receptor therapy can also costs on similar line as it works in same segment of immuno oncology, which may limit the potential growth of anti-body coupled T receptor therapy market.Strategic merger and acquisition amongst the companies to expand the market for anti-body coupled T receptor therapy.Unum Therapeutics is currently the only company that is working actively in anti-body coupled T receptor therapy. It has several product in its pipeline, and they vary based on the technology used for expression of receptor in patients T cell such as mRNA or viral vector. There is also combination of different monoclonal antibodies to be used for coupling such as rituximab, and trastuzumab. In phase one clinical trial, rituximab coupled t receptor therapy found to produce desired therapeutic effects. Seattle Genetics, Inc. and Unum Therapeutics, Inc. in 2015 entered into a strategic collaboration and license agreement to develop and commercialize novel antibody-coupled T-cell receptor (ACTR) therapies for cancer. This collaboration would enable study of different combination of the tumor-specific monoclonal antibodies with T receptor and cater to patient specific treatment needs.Request For Customization of Research Report @About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comAt-Home Drug of Abuse Testing Market 2023 by Key Companies are UCP Biosciences, Inc., Express Diagnostics International, Inc., Psychemedics Corporation, Confirm BioSciences, Phamatech, Inc

https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/at-home-doa-testing-market/report-sample

https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/at-home-doa-testing-market

https://www.psmarketresearch.com/send-enquiry?enquiry-url=at-home-doa-testing-market

https://www.psmarketresearch.com

Global at-home DOA testing market is projected to attain a size of $831.9 million by 2023. The market is mainly driven by the increased production and trade of illicit drugs worldwide, growing use of illicit drugs amongst teenagers, and initiatives by government organizations to reduce the level of drug abuse.Download free report sample at:On the basis of various types of products, the at-home DOA testing market has been categorized into rapid DOA test kits and breath analyzers. The market for rapid DOA test kits is expected to witness faster growth during the forecast period, attributed to the increasing adoption of various types of rapid DOA test kits, including test cups and dip cards. Also, these test kits are much cheaper as compared to breath analyzers.Further, the rapid DOA test kits are bifurcated into test cups, test strips, test dip cards, and other types of kits. Amongst all these, the DOA test cups dominated the global rapid DOA test kits market in 2017. Extensive use of test cups for at-home urine drug testing is a key factor driving the market for this product category.Browse report at:*At-home DOA testing market is projected to witness the fastest growth in Asia-Pacific (APAC)During the forecast period, the at-home DOA testing market is forecasted to witness the fastest growth in APAC, at a CAGR of 11.0%. This growth is attributed to the rising consumption of illicit drugs in the region. Also, the region is a large producer and trader of illicit drugs, including opium, heroin, amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), and methamphetamines.*Market players are acquiring other firms to increase their market shareThe companies operating in the at-home DOA testing industry are acquiring other firms and establishing their presence in different economies to increase their market share. Abbott Laboratories (Abbott) being a major player in the production of at-home DOA testing products acquired Alere Inc. in 2017, to increase its share in the point-of-care testing diagnostics market. The addition of this business aligns with Abbott's strategy for the growth of company and complements the leadership positions across its other businesses, which include medical devices, nutritional supplements, and pharmaceuticals.Pre-Purchase Inquiry at:Some of the other key players in the at-home DOA testing industry are UCP Biosciences Inc., Orient New Life Medical Co. Ltd., Express Diagnostics Intl Inc., Assure Tech (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., Psychemedics Corporation, Confirm BioSciences, Phamatech Inc., Home Health (U.K.) Ltd., and Quest Products Inc.About P&S IntelligenceP&S Intelligence, a brand of P&S Market Research, is a provider of market research and consulting services catering to the market information needs of burgeoning industries across the world. Providing the plinth of market intelligence, P&S as an enterprising research and consulting company, believes in providing thorough landscape analyses on the ever-changing market scenario, to empower companies to make informed decisions and base their business strategies with astuteness.Contact:P&S IntelligenceToll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)International: +1-347-960-6455Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb:Global Network Traffic Analysis Solutions Market 2017 - 2025 : GREYCORTEX s.r.o., Genie Networks, Flowmon Networks, Zoho Corporation, Ipswitch, Inc. and Cisco Systems, Inc.

Global Network Traffic Analysis Solutions Market

https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1461507

https://www.researchmoz.us/network-traffic-analysis-solutions-market-global-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2017-2025-report.html/toc

https://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1461507

https://www.researchmoz.us/

http://marketresearchlatestreports.blogspot.com/

Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Network Traffic Analysis Solutions Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025" to its huge collection of research reports. An insight on the important factors and trends influencing the market.Global Network Traffic Analysis Solutions Market: OverviewThis report on the global Network Traffic Analysis Solutions Market provides analysis for the period 20152025, wherein 2016 is the base year and the period from 2017 to 2025 is the forecast period. Data for 2015 has been included as historical information. The report covers market dynamics including drivers, restraints, opportunities, and trends expected to influence the global network traffic analysis solutions market growth during the said period. Technologies that are playing a major role in driving the global network traffic analysis solutions market have also been covered in the study. The study provides a comprehensive analysis on market growth throughout the above forecast period in terms of value estimates (in US$ Mn), across different geographies.Get a Sample PDF at:Global Network Traffic Analysis Solutions Market: SegmentationThe network traffic analysis solutions market has been segmented on the basis of deployment type, user type, industry vertical and geography. Based on deployment type, the market has been divided into on-premise and cloud. Cloud based deployment could be defined as delivery of hosted services over the internet. Cloud based deployment model can include public, private and hybrid cloud whereas on-premise deployment model would refer to the computation that is located within the physical confines of an organization. The market on the basis of user type has been divided into small and medium enterprise (SME) and large enterprise. The market on the basis of industry vertical has been segmented into Banking, Financial Services, & Insurance (BFSI), Government, Healthcare, Energy & Utilities, Education, Telecom & IT, Manufacturing, Retail and Others (Media & Entertainment, Aerospace & Defense, and Hospitality)Global Network Traffic Analysis Solutions Market: Regional OverviewGeographically, the report classifies the global network traffic analysis solutions market into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (MEA), and South America; the regions are analyzed in terms of market revenue. Furthermore, region wise prominent countries covered in the report include the following - the U.S, Canada, Germany, France, the U.K., China, India, Japan, GCC Countries, South Africa and Brazil.The report also includes key developments in the network traffic analysis solutions market. Porter Five Force analysis and financials are also included in the report. The report also covers segment wise comparison matrix, market attractiveness analysis and market share analysis for all regions covered in the scope of study.Comparison matrix includes segment growth matrix, 2015 - 2025 (%), segment value share contribution, 2015 - 2025 (%), and segment compounded growth matrix (CAGR %). Market attractiveness identifies and compares segments market attractiveness on the basis of CAGR and market share index.Global Network Traffic Analysis Solutions Market: Competitive LandscapeThe report also includes competition landscape which include competition matrix, market share analysis of major players in the global network traffic analysis solutions market based on their projected value share, and business profiling of major players. The competition matrix benchmarks leading players on the basis of their capabilities and potential to grow. Factors including market position, offerings and R&D focus are attributed to companys capabilities. Factors including top line growth, market share, segment growth, infrastructure facilities and future outlook are attributed to companys potential to grow. This section also identifies and includes various recent developments carried out by the leading players.Get Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Company profiling includes company overview, major business strategies adopted and SWOT analysis. Major players in the network traffic analysis solutions market include GREYCORTEX s.r.o., Genie Networks, Flowmon Networks, Zoho Corporation, Ipswitch, Inc. and Cisco Systems, Inc.. Other prominent market players include Palo Alto Networks, Inc., Netreo Inc., Dynatrace LLC and Netmon Inc.The Global Network traffic analysis solutions Market is segmented as below:Global Network traffic analysis solutions Market, By Deployment Type- Cloud- On-PremiseGlobal Network traffic analysis solutions Market, By User Type- Small and Medium Enterprise (SME)- Large EnterpriseGlobal Network traffic analysis solutions Market, By Industry Vertical- Banking, Financial Services, & Insurance (BFSI)- Government- Healthcare- Energy & Utilities- Education- Telecom & IT- Manufacturing- Retail- Others (Media & Entertainment, Aerospace & Defense, and Hospitality)Global Network traffic analysis solutions Market, By GeographyNorth America- U.S.- Canada- Rest of North AmericaEurope- U.K- Germany- France- Rest of EuropeMake an Enquiry of this report @Asia Pacific (APAC)- China- India- Japan- Rest of APACMiddle East and Africa (MEA)- GCC Countries- South Africa- Rest of MEASouth America- Brazil- Rest of South 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 @Structured Cabling Market - Statistical surveying report 2025 | Schneider Electric SE

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=1745

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=1745

https://www.tmrresearch.com/structured-cabling-market

Global Structured Cabling Market: SnapshotTypical business requirements and environments have intensified the need for structured and flexible data and voice cabling system. The pressing need for flexible open systems that are vendor-independent in offices and work locations is a key factor driving the demand for structured cabling. The need for high-speed and reliable internet services and data transfers is a key factor bolstering the demand for structured cabling. Various initiatives undertaken by vendors to modernize communication network and the rising demand for robust telecommunication network drive the market. A surge in number of internet providers in several emerging economies bodes well for the structured cabling market. Advancements made in telecom network used by corporate sector is a notable factor boosting the market. In addition, the substantially rising demand for enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a key trend contributing to the growth of the market. There is a marked trend of moving customer relationship management (CRM) application to data centers hosted by third party for various commercial institutions. This is a notable factor fortifying the demand for structured cabling in various developing and developed regions. A number of leading players are focusing on strategic mergers and acquisitions in order to consolidate their operational areas. They are also expanding their geographical outreach to strengthen their shares in the overall market. North America has emerged as a prominent market for structured cabling. The robust presence of data centers has kept the regional market at the forefront. Europe is also witnessing promising opportunities for market players. The regional market is fueled by the efforts of various organizations to reduce carbon emissions, cut down on the electricity wasted in transmissions, and the focus on low-carbon economy.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Structured Cabling Market: OverviewStructured cabling market has been gaining momentum due to the high demand for comprehensive cabling infrastructure that includes hardware. Structured cabling has enabled high-speed internet and transmission of data along with seamless voice and video signals from one point to the other. The demand for sturdy telecommunication network and infrastructure is yet another reason for the buoyant market. Analysts anticipate that the demand for structured cabling will remain steady between 2017 and 2025 as telecommunication forms the backbone of every industry and will thus require advanced cabling solutions for smooth operations.Global Structured Cabling Market: Drivers and TrendsThe spurt of internet providers across the globe has augmented the demand for structured cabling in recent years. The progressively rising number of internet users have led to surging demand for structured cabling in recent years. Analysts anticipate that the demand for this type of cabling will be especially high in the corporate sector as it is known to be an advanced solution. Furthermore, efforts to bring in modernization in communication networks is also projected to favor markets growth in the near future.Request TOC of the Report @Structured cabling is predominantly used in areas such as industrial, transportation, government, residential, and commercial. The report indicates that the commercial sector will dominate the global market due to a soaring demand for enterprise resource planning (ERP). The emerging trend of moving customer relationship management (CRM) to third-party datacenters has created a need for better bandwidth in various commercial. Thus, this trend will also be responsible for rising demand for structured cabling in various commercial sectors in the near future.Global Structured Cabling Market: Market PotentialSeveral leading players are expected to focus on mergers and acquisitions to expand their operational areas and improve their geographical reach. For instance, Scheider Electric SE acquired a Gunsan Elektrik, a Turkish wire and cable manufacturer in December 2014. This move is expected to help the company expand its operations to commercial and residential sectors. On a similar note, earlier in the same year, Scheider Electric SE bought over Invensys plc, which has allowed the company to venture into structured cabling for software businesses across the globe.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Scheider Electric SE also plans to build a research and development facility in the U.S. The Global Innovation and Technology Center will serve as a key research and development unit for the entire North America in due time. Thus, the efforts to expand horizons in terms of developing better technology and operations is expected to be the winning strategy of market players operating in the global structured cabling market.Global Structured Cabling Market: Regional OutlookIn terms of geography, the global structured cabling market segmented into Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. The report indicates that the North America structured cabling market is likely to lead the pack in the coming years. The regions progress will be attributable to the strong presence of datacenters that have led to a high penetration of internet in remotest parts of the region. The regional market is expected to prosper against the backdrop of rising demand for internet in the region.The analysts predict that Europe is also expected grow steadily in the global structured cabling market. The emergence of Europe structured cabling market will be due to the efforts made by the European Commission to cut down carbon emission and consumption of electricity.Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:Some of the leading players operating in the global structured cabling market are Schneider Electric SE, Legrand SA, CommScope Holding Company Inc., Belden Inc., and Corning Inc. among others.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.comSri Lanka Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband Market Outlook 2018  Growth Drivers and Industry Key Players  Mobitel; Dialog Axiata; Etisalat Sri Lanka and Forecast Analysis to 2023

Sri Lanka Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband Industry 2018-2023

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/650973-sri-lanka-telecoms-mobile-and-broadband-statistics-and-analyses

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/650973-sri-lanka-telecoms-mobile-and-broadband-statistics-and-analyses

www.wiseguyreports.com

WiseGuyReports.com Sri Lanka - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses report has been added to its Research Database.Scope of the Report:Sri Lankas makes significant progress in its IoT ventures. In 2018 the governments Board of Investment of Sri Lanka formally approved a significant investment for network expansion and upgrade work on 4G mobile and fixed broadband services.Fixed broadband penetration in Sri Lanka remains very low mainly due to the dominance of the mobile platform and the limited and declining number of fixed lines is restricting more widespread development of fixed broadband. However, the market has grown strongly over the past five years from a very small base. Over the next five years to 2023 strong growth is expected to continue.Sri Lankas mobile market has experienced strong growth over the last six years. Slow growth is predicted over the next five years to 2023. The market will be constrained from higher growth due to very strong local competition and a highly saturated mobile market.The market is now moving from 4G towards 5G mobile services. Dialog Axiata has carried out a 5G network capability trial with technology partners Ericsson and Huawei in Colombo. The demonstration included a range of 5G solutions including Massive MIMO, cloud radio and IoT-based smart parking and real time 4K video streaming.Request a Sample Report @Dialog Axiata has claimed South Asias first launch of a NB-IoT-enabled network supporting IoT solutions such as Connected Home and Car Connect. Mobitel has completed a further round of proof-of-concept (PoC) tests of LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro) technology in Colombo.Sri Lanka has seen a very strong increase in mobile broadband penetration over the past six years, driven by a rising level of 4G mobile subscribers. However, the mobile broadband market is still at an early stage of development with penetration well below most other developed Asian countries. Strong growth is predicted over the next five years to 2023.Key developments:Dialog Axiata has claimed South Asias first launch of a NB-IoT-enabled network.Mobitel has completed a further round of proof-of-concept (PoC) tests of LTE-Advanced Pro.The market is now moving from 4G towards 5G mobile services.Fixed broadband penetration in Sri Lanka remains very low mainly due to the dominance of the mobile platform.Sri Lanka has seen a very strong increase in mobile broadband penetration over the past five years.Companies mentioned in this report:SLT (Sri Lanka Telecom), Mobitel, Dialog Axiata; Etisalat Sri Lanka; Hutchison Lanka; Bharti Airtel Lanka; SLT, Lanka Bell, Suntel.For Detailed Reading Please visit @Major Key Points in Table of Content:1. Executive summary2. Key statistics3. Country overview3.1 Background4. Telecommunications market4.1 Market overview and analysis4.2 Regional Asian market comparison5. Regulatory environment5.1 Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC)5.2 National Policy on Telecommunications6. Fixed network operators6.1 Overview of operators6.2 SLT (Sri Lanka Telecom)6.3 Lanka Bell7. Telecommunications infrastructure7.1 Introduction7.2 Fixed-line statistics7.3 National Broadband NetworkContinuous...Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.Contact Us:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Biosimilars Market 26% CAGR to be Achieved by Top Players till 2023 | Astra Zeneca, Biocon Ltd., Celltrion, Dr. Reddys Laboratories Ltd., Eli Lilly, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., etc

Biosimilars Market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1329

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/biosimilars-market-1329

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/1329

Market Research Future (MRFR) recently published a study report and asserts that the Global Biosimilars Market is projected to accrue voluminously by 2023 with registering a phenomenal CAGR of 26% during the review period (2017 to 2023).Key Players for Global Biosimilars MarketThe key players in the global biosimilars market include Accord Healthcare (UK), Amgen Inc. (USA), Astra Zeneca (UK), Biocon Ltd. (India), Celltrion, Inc. (South Korea), Dr. Reddys Laboratories Ltd. (India), Eli Lilly (USA), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (Switzerland), Novartis (Switzerland), Pfizer Inc. (USA), Samsung Bioepis (South Korea), Sandoz International GmbH (Germany), and Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. (Israel).Get Sample PDF Illustration @Latest Industry NewsMundipharma, a network of independent pharma companies, has acquired Spanish biosimilars development company Cinfa Biotech. The deal gives Mundipharma, access to a biosimilar to Amgens Neulasta (pegfilgrastim). 10 OCT 2018The new white paper issued by the Association of European Cancer Leagues, a nonprofit, pan-European organization of national and regional cancer societies, has called for the greater use of biosimilars as a means to increase patient access to cancer treatment, and reduce costs. 10 OCT 2018Biosimilars Market - OverviewA Biosimilar is described as a biological, medical product which is an identical copy of the original medical product. Market Research Future (MRFR) has published and released a research report about the global biosimilars market that predicts massive enlargement for this market with 26% CAGR during the forecast period between 2016 and 2023. In terms of cash, the market has been anticipated to rise to the US $ 16.97 bn.Analyzing the market structure, this report estimates the future growth potential of the market. It observes the strategies of the key players in the market and follows the competitive developments like joint ventures, new product developments, mergers and acquisitions, research and developments (R & D) in the market. This report also covers insights on the major countries/regions in which this industry is flourishing, along with the list and description of untapped regions which could be the potential markets in the future.The key factors aiding the growth of the global biosimilars market include clinical trial activities for biosimilars, increasing demand for the cheap medical products, increasing incident of different diseases, and strategic collaborations resulting in enhanced productivity. However, lack of awareness and physician skepticism are the major restraining factor regarding market growth.Regional Analysis for Global Biosimilars MarketThe regional segmentation of the global biosimilars market segments the market into continent-based regional markets namely Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and rest of the world (RoW). According to the report, Europe is the biggest regional market for the biosimilars due to the advanced medical research, increasing the prevalence of diseases and rising geriatric population. Due to technological advancement, Western Europe is a bigger market than Eastern Europe. The key country-specific markets in Western Europe include France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and the United Kingdom (UK), followed by the rest of Western Europe.North America is the second largest market, being ahead of Europe in terms of technological advancement and being equal to Europe in terms of medical research. North Americas approach towards biosimilars is not as welcome as Europes is. Major country-specific markets in North America are Canada and the United States of America (USA). The Asia Pacific has been expected to emerge as the fast-growing market during the forecast period. The country-specific markets generating maximum revenue in this region are Australia, India, Japan, South Korea, and China, followed by the rest of the Asia Pacific region.Segments for Global Biosimilars MarketThe segmentation global biosimilars market is on the basis of application, manufacturing, product, and region. The application based segmentation segments the market into blood-related disorders, immunity-related diseases, oncology, and other. Based on manufacturing, the market has contract manufacturing and in-house manufacturing. As per segmentation based on product, the market has been segmented into recombinant glycosylated proteins, recombinant non-glycosylated proteins, and others. Recombinant glycosylated proteins have been further segmented into Monoclonal antibody (mAb) and EPO. Recombinant non-glycosylated proteins have been further segmented into growth hormones, insulin, and other.Browse Complete Report @Some Brief Table of Contents of ReportChapter 1. Report PrologueChapter 2. Market Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 LimitationsChapter 3. Research Methodology3.1 Introduction3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size EstimationChapter 4. Market Dynamics4.1 Drivers4.2 Restrains4.3 Opportunities4.4 Challenges4.5 Macroeconomic Indicators4.6 Technology Trends & AssessmentChapter 5. Market Factor Analysis5.1 Porters Five Forces Analysis5.1.1 Bargaining Power Of SuppliersTOC ContinuedDo You Have Specific Requirement? Ask To Our Experts@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), Statistical Report, Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact Us:Market Research FutureHadapsar, Pune  411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comGallium Oxide Market Soaring Demand Assures Motivated Revenue Share during 2018-2028

https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=2027

https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2027

https://www.factmr.com/report/2027/gallium-oxide-market

https://www.factmr.com/

https://factmrblog.com/

Gallium Oxide Market: IntroductionGallium oxide is an inorganic chemical compound in which Gallium and Oxygen are in a stoichiometric ratio of 2:3. The molecular formula of Gallium Oxide is Ga2O3 and its molecular weight is 187.44 g/mol. Gallium oxide, also known as gallium sesquioxide, is insoluble in water but slightly soluble in alkalis and is a thermally stable compound. Gallium oxide has a large band gap of around 4.8 eV. Larger band gap permits producers to use a thinner device for a certain voltage. In the electronics industry, the more thinner a device, the lower will be the resistance offered by it and thus, it will be more efficient.The electronic components used in inverters, power supplies and electric motors are expected to be economic, efficient and must also be able to handle high voltage from source. Considering such requirements, gallium oxide is anticipated to be the best available alternative in the semiconductors and electronics market. However, gallium oxide, even though efficient, is not as inexpensive as silicon. However, with technological advancements, the cost of gallium oxide is expected to drop down. This will ensure that the gallium oxide market witnesses growth in near future.Click here to subscribe Sample @Gallium Oxide Market: DynamicsFor a long time now, silicon has been used in large scale production of semiconductors and microelectronics. However, certain limitations have been found with the use of silicon, such as scalability issue for power electronics. The semiconductor technology demands smaller designs and higher density. For microelectronics, the use of power always acts as an obstacle and the manufacturers are keen on reducing power consumption as well as the heat generated. The technologies used today employ silicon and are close to their operating voltage limits required in many applications. Gallium oxide has been found to function well in such applications. Gallium oxide is also a transparent conductive oxide which offers conductivity and transparency over the visual spectrum. As a result of these factors, the gallium oxide market is anticipated to witness robust growth throughout the forecast period. However, the only hitch in the growth of gallium market will be the cost associated with it.It has been recently observed in academic studies that field effect transistors (FETs) could potentially benefit from gallium oxide critical electric field strength. The doping limits that might destroy other FET materials do not affect gallium oxide and gallium oxide offers a wide range of conductivity. Gallium oxide is being studied widely for its properties and new scope of applications are being developed.Gallium Oxide Market: SegmentationThe gallium oxide market can be segmented on the basis of form, application and end use.On the basis of form, the gallium oxide market can be segmented into:PelletsPowderOthersOn the basis of application, the gallium oxide market can be segmented into:Computer Processor ChipLED ChipSemiconductorPhoto detectorDiodeTransistorOthersOn the basis of end use, the gallium oxide market can be segmented into:Power ElectronicsConsumer ElectronicsDefenseSolar IndustryAerospaceOthersRequest/View TOC@Gallium Oxide Market: Regional OutlookRegionally, the North America gallium oxide market is anticipated to grow at a significant rate due to the increasing number of smart device owners in the region. The shift from silicon to gallium oxide is expected to be the fastest in countries, such as the United States of America. Following the North America gallium oxide market are the mature markets of countries in Europe. Asia Pacific has been seeing tremendous growth in the number of users and this growth is expected to increase further throughout the forecast period. China and the United States of America have a much bigger and technologically advanced defense sector and will quickly adopt the shifting trend from silicon to gallium oxide.Some of the market participants identified across the value chain of the global gallium oxide market include TAMURA Corporation, Kyma Technologies, Inc., American Elements, Nanoshel LLC and FLOSFIA Corporation.This analytical research study imparts an all-inclusive assessment on the market, while propounding historical intelligence, actionable insights, and industry-validated & statistically-upheld market forecast. Verified and suitable set of assumptions and methodology has been leveraged for developing this comprehensive study. Information and analysis on key market segments incorporated in the report has been delivered in weighted chapters. A thorough analysis has been offered by the report onMarket DynamicsMarket SizeMarket SegmentsDemand & Supply TrendsCurrent Issues and ChallengesCompanies and Competitor LandscapeValue ChainTechnologyRegional Segments Analyzed IncludeNorth America (U.S., Canada)Latin America (Mexico. Brazil)Western Europe (Germany, Italy, France, U.K, Spain)Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand)JapanMiddle East and Africa (GCC, S. Africa, N. Africa)Compilation of authentic and first-hand intelligence, insights offered in the report are based on quantitative and qualitative assessment by leading industry experts, and inputs from opinion leaders & industry participants around the value chain. Growth determinants, macroeconomic indicators, and parent market trends have been scrutinized and delivered, coupled with the market attractiveness for each market segment encompassed. Qualitative impact of growth influencers on the market segments across regions has also been mapped by the report.Highlights from the ReportElaborated scenario of the parent marketTransformations in the market dynamicsDetailed segmentation of the target marketHistorical, current and forecast market size based on value and volumeLatest industry developments and trendsCompetition landscapeStrategies adopted by the market players and product developments madePotential and niche segments, along with their regional analysisUnbiased analysis on performance of the marketUp-to-date and must-have intelligence for the market players to enhance and sustain their competitivenessReport Analysis@NOTE - All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed in reports are those of the respective analysts. They do not necessarily reflect formal positions or views of Fact.MRAbout Fact.MRFact.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; thats why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsRohit BhiseyFact.MR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb:Blog:Robotics Prosthetics Market New Investment Analysis by 2027  Shadow Robot Company, Stryker Corporation, Smith & Nephew, Aethon, ReWalk Robotics, etc

Robotics Prosthetics Market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1316

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/robotics-prosthetics-market-1316

Global Robotics Prosthetics Market is estimated to grow at an approximate CAGR of 9.5% from 2018 to 2027. Experts predicts that market will cross highest growth rate during forcasted period. Report is available with exclusive analysis with recent trends, industry size and share which is completely unique.Robotics Prosthetics Market  ScenarioRobotic prosthetics are artificial limbs which combine the prosthetics with robotics to offer fully functional prosthetics which allow patients to carry out normal functions with their artificial limbs. This factor alone has boosted the robotic prosthetics market. Market Research Future's survey of the global robotics prosthetics market has found that the growth of the market is anticipated at a CAGR of 9.5% during the forecast period from 2016 to 2027.Get Exclusive Sample Copy of Report @Robotics prosthetics represent immense promise for advanced medical technology, which is in high demand. Medical advancements are being achieved at a rapid pace, and the ability of robotics prosthetics to promote normal limb function after the loss of a natural limb is in high demand. The increasing prevalence of various chronic diseases which can result in limb loss is a key factor driving the growth of the global market. The expanding geriatric population is another driver of the global robotics prosthetics market  increasing cases of fragility fractures combined with an increase in awareness regarding innovative medical technology. Increasing spending on healthcare as well as investments in R&D in the advancement of existing technology are some other factors contributing to the growth of the market.Robotic prosthetics are not well covered in insurance reimbursement policies which has been a challenge to the adoption of robotic prosthetics. Moreover, robotics prosthetics are expensive, which makes them inaccessible, thus restraining market growth.Regional AnalysisThe Americas which comprise of North America and South America are also subdivided into various country level markets. Among these, the U.S leads growth for the Americas regional robotics prosthetics market. The regions high prevalence of orthopedic diseases has resulted in the high demand for robotic prosthetics. High healthcare investments and the presence of a developed healthcare sector which has an affinity toward the adoption of advanced technology are some other factors driving market growth. Notably, Mexican Americas have a high risk for osteoporosis and as such are vulnerable to bone issues that may result in a need for robotic prosthetics.Europe is a significant market which has a strong affinity toward R&D as evidenced by government support, via encouraging regulations. The high availability for funds toward investments in R&D is driving the growth of the robotics prosthetics market.The Asia Pacific is a highly promising market due to its sheer size. The region has an immense patient population with growing awareness regarding advanced medical technology. The presence of a rapidly expanding geriatric population is a key driver of the market. The region's healthcare sector is undergoing heavy reforms as well as witnessing increasing investments. Increasing demand among patients for high-quality treatment options is driving international market players to focus on the region. The region also significant in the medical tourism market and as such is likely to attract more patients as the quality of healthcare improves.Market SegmentationThe robotics prosthetics market has been segmented in MRFR's report on the basis of product, application, technology, end-user, and region. Products available in the robotics prosthetics market include prosthetic hands, prosthetic legs & knees, prosthetic arms, prosthetics feet/ankles, and others.Technology employed in robotic prosthetics include Bluetooth, microprocessor knees, myoelectric technology, prosthetic foot materials, and others.Applications of robotic prosthetics are divided between lower body extremities and upper body extremities.End users of robot prosthetics include hospitals, clinics, and others.Key Players in the Robotics Prosthetics Market:The Global Robotics Prosthetics Market is highly fragmented with the presence of many local players and international players. The main focus of these players is cost reduction and innovation to ensure sustainability. In addition, the international players implemented growth strategies through collaborations and partnerships to expand their overall market share.SynTouch, LLC, Transenterix, Inc., Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Touch Bionics Inc., Mazor Robotics Ltd., Stryker Corporation, HDT Global Inc, Medrobotics Corporation, Hansen Medical, Inc., KUKA Roboter GmbH, ZOLL Medical Corporation, Smith & Nephew, ReWalk Robotics, Aethon, and Shadow Robot CompanyBrowse Complete Report @Some Brief Table of Contents of ReportChapter 1. Report PrologueChapter 2. Market Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 LimitationsChapter 3. Research Methodology3.1 Introduction3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size EstimationChapter 4. Market Dynamics4.1 Drivers4.2 Restrains4.3 Opportunities4.4 Challenges4.5 Macroeconomic Indicators4.6 Technology Trends & AssessmentChapter 5. Market Factor Analysis5.1 Porters Five Forces Analysis5.1.1 Bargaining Power Of SuppliersTOC ContinuedAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Statistical Report, Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact Us:Market Research FutureHadapsar, Pune  411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comPorokeratosis Market 2018 | Increasing Demand for Laser Therapy is Projected to Boost the Market by 2023 | MRFR

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/6067

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/porokeratosis-market-6067

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/6067

Porokeratosis is a keratinization disorder characterized by one or more atrophic macules surrounded by a distinctive hyperkeratotic, ridge-like border called a cornoid lamella.A number of factors such as the increasing demand for laser therapy, rising cases of renal transplant, improved reimbursement policies in developed countries, growing research funding, and rising competition among market players are propelling the growth of the global porokeratosis treatment market.However, the high cost of laser systems, lack of skilled or trained physicians, side effects associated with drugs, and poor healthcare system in low and middle-income countries may hamper the growth of the market.REQUEST FREE SAMPLE REPORT ATIt is estimated that the porokeratosis treatment market is expected to register a CAGR of 6.0% during the forecast period of 20182023.Porokeratosis Market - Key PlayersSome of the key players in the global porokeratosis treatment market are Angiodynamics, Inc. (U.S.), Allergan (Republic of Ireland), Alma Lasers (Israel), Beiersdorf AG (Germany), Biogen (U.S.), Biolase Inc. (U.S.), Coherent, Inc. (U.S.), Coty Inc. (U.S.), Cutera (U.S.), Danaher Corporation (U.S.), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (Switzerland), Hologic Inc. (U.S.), IPG Photonics Corporation (U.S.), IRIDEX Corp. (U.S.), LOreal (France), Lumenis (U.S.), Pfizer (U.S.), PhotoMedex, Inc. (U.S.), Valeant Pharmaceuticals (Canada), and others.Porokeratosis Market - SegmentationThe global porokeratosis treatment market is segmented on the basis of type of porokeratosis, diagnosis and treatment, and end-user.On the basis of type of porokeratosis, the market is classified as Disseminated Actinic Porokeratosis (DSAP), linear porokeratosis, porokeratosis of mantoux, Porokeratotic Eccrine Ostial And Dermal Duct Nevus (PEODDN), and punctate porokeratosis.Based on diagnosis and treatment, the market is classified as diagnosis and treatment. The diagnosis segment is further classified as biopsy, differential diagnosis, and others. The sub-segments of differential diagnosis include squamous cell carcinoma, lichenoid keratosis, and epidermal nevus. The treatment segment is further classified as topical diclofenac, ingenol mebutate, topical vitamin D analog, 5-Fluorouracil, immunomodulators, photodynamic therapy, retinoids, cryotherapy, lasers, immunosuppressive agents, and others. The sub-segments of immunomodulators include imiquimod and resiquimod. The sub-segments of retinoids include topical retinoids and oral retinoids. The sub-segments of immunosuppressive agents include calcineurin inhibitors and others.By end-user, the market is classified as hospitals and clinics, diagnostic centers, drug stores, research and academic institutes, and others.BROWSE COMPLETE 100 PAGES PREMIUM RESEARCH REPORT ENABLED WITH 85 RESPECTIVE TABLES AND FIGURES ATPorokeratosis Market - Regional AnalysisThe Americas dominates the porokeratosis market owing to the rising prevalence of disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis and increasing renal transplant cases, as around 10.68% of renal transplant recipients suffered from porokeratosis. According to the National Kidney Foundation, Inc., in 2014, 17,107 kidney transplants took place in the U.S. Moreover, advanced diagnostic and therapeutic solutions, high healthcare expenditure, and the presence of leading players are expected to boost the American porokeratosis treatment market.Europe holds the second position in the porokeratosis treatment market. It is expected that the rising contribution of various marketers is likely to drive the European porokeratosis treatment market. For instance, in July 2016, Chugai and Galderma announced the global license agreement for the development and marketing of Nemolizumab worldwide. The Nemolizumab is a novel biologic for skin diseases.Asia Pacific is the fastest growing porokeratosis treatment market owing to a huge patient pool, increasing demand for treatments, and rising healthcare expenditure. In this region, the Mibelli type is most frequent as compared to other types. In Singapore, the Mibelli type of porokeratosis was present in 56% of porokeratosis patients in 2013, suggested by a study published in the Cases in Dermatology.The Middle East and Africa holds the lowest share of the global porokeratosis treatment market due to the presence of poor and slow developing countries, especially, in the African region.Major Table of Contents:Chapter 1. Report PrologueChapter 2. Market Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 LimitationsChapter 3. Research Methodology3.1 Introduction3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size EstimationChapter 4. Market DynamicsTOC Continued..!ENQUIRY FOR DISCOUNT ATAbout 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Urgent Care Apps Market with Global Growing Industry Crucial Key Players Forward Health, Pivot Design Group, Johnson & Johnson, Vocera Communications, Hospify Etc. Till 2023

Urgent Care Apps Market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/6677

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/urgent-care-apps-market-6677

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/6677

The Global Urgent Care Apps Market continues a gradual upward trajectory and is expected to cross USD 2595 Mn mark by the end of 2023. The Global Urgent Care Apps Market stood at USD 314.2 Mn in 2017 and Market Research Future (MRFR) anticipates dynamite growth in the market with a CAGR over 42.20% over the forecast period which ends in 2023.Urgent Care Apps Market - Competitive LandscapeSome of the prominent players operating in the global urgent care apps market include Forward Health, Pivot Design Group, Johnson & Johnson, Twiage, Siilo, Alayacare, PatientSafe Solutions, Vocera Communications, Hospify, Argusoft, Voalte, Pulsara, Imprivata, Allm, and TigerConnect.Urgent Care Apps Market - Segmental AnalysisThe Global Urgent Care Apps Market has been segmented based on type and clinical area.By type, the urgent care apps market has been segmented into emergency care triage apps, in-hospital communication & collaboration apps, and post-hospital apps. The post-hospital apps segment has been further segmented into medication management apps, care provider communication & collaboration apps, and rehabilitation apps.Get Sample Report @By clinical area, the global urgent care apps market has been segmented into trauma, stroke, cardiac conditions, and others. The trauma segment is the largest segment on account of rising incidences of road accidents which necessitates trauma care and increasing awareness to address trauma by healthcare organizations. The cardiac conditions segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment owing to the gradual realization of the benefits of urgent care apps in the management of critical cardiac conditions.Urgent Care Apps Market  Business InsightsUrgent Care Apps are advantageous in managing medical conditions which need immediate attention. They act as an additional pathway for medical conditions which require prompt action but are non-life-threatening concerns. They offer an effective and low-cost option for the management of health conditions such as pregnancy, stroke, cardiac diseases, trauma, and others. Multiple use cases presented by urgent care apps are boosting the growth of the market. Also, these apps have been proven beneficial in post-hospital or post-operative care among patients.The ubiquity of smartphones coupled with the growing penetration of 3G and 4G networks, especially in the emerging economies are contemplated to be reflecting positively on the growth of the global urgent care apps market. The digital revolution in healthcare is speeding up the adoption of urgent care apps and consequently fostering market growth.Raising awareness regarding the availability of medication management apps in combination with the factors mentioned above add fuel to the growth of the global urgent care apps market. However, the market might be met by some challenges including the bulk of miscategorized apps in the App Store & Google Play and poor internet connectivity issues in underdeveloped regions which restrict the growth of the market.Research MethodologyMRFR conducts a thorough analysis of the market, presenting a comprehensive research. MRFR's research methodologies adhere to rigorous industry-specific standards which ensures complete understanding of the market. Sound data is gathered through a combination of primary and secondary research methods which provide objectivity and accuracy of research information. The preliminary values of the accumulated data are evaluated using a multiple-layer validation procedure to present well-researched judgment about the market. For estimation of the market size, both the top-down and bottom-up approaches are leveraged.Urgent Care Apps Market - Detailed Regional AnalysisThe Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa are the key markets for urgent care apps.North America is a significant market for urgent care apps, led by North America. Deep penetration of smartphones and 3G and 4G networks along with escalating healthcare cost and constant need to address the same are augmenting the market in North America. Moreover, the region tends to quickly adapt to emerging technologies which further supports the growth of the urgent care apps market. Other driving factors include raising awareness and increasing focus on personalized healthcare.Browse Complete 100 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled with Tables and Figures @Europe's market growth can be exclusively attributed to increasing initiatives by the government towards the promotion of such apps and towering need to curtail healthcare costs. Germany, Italy, France, Spain, and the UK are the major markets in Europe.Asia Pacific market for urgent care apps is anticipated to have an expeditious growth in the coming years. Growing penetration of smartphones in the emerging economies of Asia Pacific coupled with raising awareness about healthcare management apps can be accredited for the growth of the urgent care apps market in Asia Pacific.Major Table of ContentChapter 1. Report PrologueChapter 2. Market Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope of the Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 LimitationsChapter 3. Research Methodology3.1 Introduction3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size EstimationChapter 4. Market DynamicsContinued.To Know More Enquire @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune  411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.comFuture Growth of Global IT Security Consulting Services Market By 2023 With CAGR +10% Focusing On Top Key Players like Accenture, Deloitte, E&Y, EMC , HP, IBM, KPMG, PwC, Above Security

IT Security Consulting Services Market

https://www.reportconsultant.com/request_sample.php?id=3937

https://www.reportconsultant.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=3937

https://www.reportconsultant.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=3937

https://www.reportconsultant.com

In management, information technology consulting (also called IT consulting, computer consultancy, business and technology services, computing consultancy, technology consulting, and IT advisory) as a field of activity focuses on advising organizations on how best to use information technology (IT) in achieving their business objectives.IT Security Consulting Services market is expected to grow from USD +14 billion in 2018 to USD +26 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 10.2% from 2018 to 2023.Request Sample Copy of this reportTop Key VendorsAccenture, Deloitte, E&Y, EMC , HP, IBM, KPMG, PwC, Above Security, Accuvant, AON, AppSec Consulting , AsTech Consulting , Booz Allen Hamilton, Carve Systems , CenturyLink Technologies Solutions, Cigital, Core securities , CSC, Dell, Denim Group, FishNet Security, GuardSite, HCL, Health Security Solutions, IOActive, KLC ConsultingThe IT Security Consulting Services Market report analyzes the details thoroughly and presents an in-depth outline of the market based on the factors that are predictable to have determinate impact on the markets growth scenarios over the forecast term. It provides a detailed analysis of the industry and examines the factors that impact on the markets demand, key trends and challenges faced by industry participants.This report provides valuable information for companies like manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, traders, customers, investors and individuals who have interests in this industry. The IT Consulting Services Market look into report likewise exhibits an exhaustive evaluation of the market key sections and its relative piece of the overall industry, most recent patterns, and innovations utilized in IT Consulting Services industry, an enlightening diagram on seller scene and geological enlargement of the market.Information Security Consulting Market is currently dominated by North America due to the technological advancements and early adoption of cyber security in this region. Asia Pacific Information Security Consulting Market is expected to have the highest growth rate during the forecast period.To get more informationTable of Content:IT Security Consulting Services Market 2018Chapter 1: Industry Overview of IT Security Consulting Services MarketChapter 2: Manufacturing Cost Structure of MarketChapter 3: Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of IT Security Consulting Services MarketChapter 4: Overall Market Overview of IT Security Consulting Services MarketChapter 5: IT Security Consulting Services Market AnalysisChapter 6: Major Manufacturers of MarketChapter 7: Development Trend of MarketChapter 8: Marketing Type Analysis of IT Security Consulting ServicesChapter 9: Conclusion of IT Security Consulting Services Market Report 2018Early buyers will receive up to 30% Discount on this report:Report Consultant  A global leader in analytics, research and advisory that can assist you to renovate your business and modify your approach. With us, you will learn to take decisions intrepidly. We make sense of drawbacks, opportunities, circumstances, estimations and information using our experienced skills and verified methodologies.Our research reports will give you an exceptional experience of innovative solutions and outcomes. We have effectively steered businesses all over the world with our market research reports and are outstandingly positioned to lead digital transformations. Thus, we craft greater value for clients by presenting advanced opportunities in the global market.Contact Us:Rebecca ParkerAkasaka biz tower,5-3-1 akasaka minato-ku,Tokyo, JapanContact No. +81-368444299sales@reportconsultant.comGrowing Demand for Orifice Reducers Market to Significantly Increase Revenues Through 2028

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-7439

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-7439

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/

Orifice Reducers Market: An Overview - Whether the container needs a precise drop or a small handful, the orifice reducers always complement the product. Orifice reducers are closures accessories that cover a container to reduce the flow of liquid and allow it flow out drop by drop. The technological advancement in the orifice reducers offers an ultimate dispensing control and bring functionality as well as reliability to the containers. The orifice reducers are easily accessible and can be simply pressed into the opening of a bottle to allow the regulated amount of flow. The orifice reducers are considered as ideal for the dispensing liquid such as inks, dyes, food coloring, lotion, sauces, essential oils, eye dropper, and others. Hence, the orifice reducers are highly prevalent in end-user industries such as healthcare, food and beverage, cosmetics and personal care, chemicals and others. The orifice reducers meets all the industry standard and specification and widely used in many applications. Therefore, the global outlook for orifice reducers market is expected to remain positive during the forecast period.Orifice Reducers Market: Dynamics - Continuously, an unimaginable amount of fluids are packed into bottles daily which need an effective dispensing system to regulate the flow of the product. This factor is expected to propel the growth of orifice reducers market during the forecast period. The outstanding properties of orifice reducers such as temperature tolerance, moisture barrier, high impact & scuff resistance, light-weight nature are also contributing to the growth of global orifice reducers market during the forecast period. The orifice reducers are versatile and work with standard bottles, and securely connect to the container ensuring the accurate dosing are among the factors driving the growth of global orifice reducer market during the forecast period. The consumers positive response towards the use of orifice reducers to limit the flow and outpouring of the liquid products is expected to fuel the growth of global orifice reducers market during the forecast period. Therefore, the orifice reducers market is projected to expand with a notable growth rate during the forecast period.Orifice Reducers Market: Segmentation - On the basis of material,the orifice reducers market is segmented into: Low-density polyethylene (LDPE), High-density polyethylene (HDPE), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Polypropylene (PP), Other resins; On the basis of neck size,the orifice reducers market is segmented into: Up to 15 mm, 15-20 mm, More than 20 mm; On the basis of applications,the orifice reducers market is segmented into: Eye Droppers, Sauces Bottles, Lotion Bottles, Essential Oils, Others; On the basis of End Use,the orifice reducers market is segmented into: Healthcare, Pharma, Oral Care, RX Retail, Oral, Medical, Food and Beverage, Cosmetics and Personal Care, Chemicals, Others;Request for Table of Contents @Orifice Reducers Market: Regional Outlook - The Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region is expected to dominate the global orifice reducers market account healthy market share during the forecast period. The countries such as China and India appears as a key market driver of APEJ orifice reducers during the forecast period. The Western Europe region is expected to follow the APEJ region in terms of market size and projected to register a notable growth rate of orifice reducers market during the forecast period. The countries in this region such as Germany, U.K., France, and Italy is expected to demand orifice reducers during the forecast period. The North America region is a significant shareholder of global orifice reducers market and projected to expand with lucrative CAGR during the forecast period. The continuous expansion of end-use industries is a key factor driving the North America orifice reducers market during the forecast period. The Latin America orifice reducers market is expected to attain significant growth rate during the forecast period and contribute to the growth of global orifice reducers market during the forecast period. The Middle East & Africa region is expected to witness the significant demand of orifice reducers market during the forecast period. The region such as Eastern Europe and Japan is expected to register a positive growth rate during the forecast period.Orifice Reducers Market: Key Players - Some of the key players operating the global orifice reducers market are listed below: Amcor Limited, Berry Global Inc., Comar LLC., Plastipro Canada Ltd., O.Berk Company, LLC., Acadiana Plastics Molding, Inc., Acme Vial and Glass Company, LLC., Weener Plastic Packaging Group, SKS Bottles and Packaging;The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides an in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macroeconomic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.Regional Analysis Includes- North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Middle East & Africa (MEA), Japan;Orifice Reducers Market Reports Highlights: A detailed overview of parent market, Changing market dynamics in the industry, In-depth market segmentation, Historical, current, and projected market size regarding volume and value, Recent industry trends and developments, Competitive landscape, Strategies for key players and products offered, Potential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growth, A neutral perspective on market performance, Must-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprintGet more information on Orifice Reducers Market @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 centres 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 customised 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:Greenhouse Film Market 2018 Comprehensive Analysis | Key Players  Ginegar Plastic Products Ltd., Lumite Inc. , RPC Group plc, Agriplast, Agriplast Tech India Pvt. Ltd., Essen Multipack and More

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1724

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/greenhouse-film-market-1724

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/1724

The global greenhouse films market is expected to grow to a valuation of USD 6,408.2 million by 2023 at an 8.25% CAGR from 2018 to 2023 (forecast period), as per the latest findings by Market Research Future (MRFR). It was valued at USD 3,956.2 million in 2017. Greenhouse films are used to cover the plants being grown in a greenhouse in such a way as to maximize the amount of light entering within and to minimize the entry of other harmful environmental elements that could hamper the growth of the plants. They are a major help in controlling the amount of sunlight, and consequently the temperature, inside a greenhouse and have thus emerged as a major aid in greenhouse usage. Greenhouse films also help protect the plants from adverse environmental conditions. The market is primarily driven by the growing demand for greenhouses.Get Sample Copy@The agriculture industrys inability to meet the demands of the growing global population has resulted in steady growth of the greenhouse market. With the focus on nutritious foods and indoor farming to witness a rise owing to the paucity of land, the market can accumulate massive demand till 2023. Increasing government spending on agricultural schemes to maximize food production through innovative means is likely to result in massive demand for the greenhouse films market. Greenhouses offer better crop quality than conventional agriculture through an increased level of control over their growth, as well as minimizing pest activity and allowing for off-season cultivation due to the use of artificial lights. Greenhouse agriculture is also extremely efficient in terms of water conservation and provides a significant benefit in this regard over conventional agriculture. This is likely to be a major driver for the global greenhouse films market over the forecast period.Technological advancement in greenhouse films is also likely to be a major driver for the global market. UV-protective and pressure-stabilized greenhouse films, which offer enhanced protection for the plants being grown in the greenhouse, are likely to be exceedingly popular in the coming years, leading to steady growth of the greenhouse films market.Report OverviewThe report presents a detailed analysis of the global greenhouse films markets segmentation in order to elucidate key points in the markets growth and development. It is segmented by resin type, thickness, application, and region in order to understand the fine granular structure of the market. The dominating segments in the greenhouse films market are highlighted and elaborated upon to shed light on their market figures factors contributing to their dominance. This gives readers a clear idea of which market strategies are likely to be most favorable for them in the coming years.Browse Full Report@Segment OverviewThe report segments the global greenhouse films market by resin type into LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE, PVC, PC, EVA, and EBA. By thickness, it is segmented into 200 microns. By application, the market is segmented into vegetables, fruits, flowers and ornamentals, and others. By region, the report covers market trends across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa.Research MethodologyThe analysts at Market Research Future (MRFR) have relied on extensive primary and secondary research mechanisms in order to analyze the global greenhouse films market. The analysis is based on years of professional expertise in the respective domain, backed up by industry-validated analysis tools. Analysis of the past and present trends in the market provides a clear idea of the direction the market is headed in the next few years. Extensive primary research is carried out through interviews with VPs, CEOs, etc. and this is further backed up by extensive secondary research to ensure the validity of the data gained through primary research and give it a more comprehensive outlook.Competitive LandscapeThe report provides a complete analysis of the competitive factors prevailing in the global greenhouse films market and detailed profiles of the key players in the market in order to shed light on the competitive makeup of the market. Leading players in the global greenhouse films market include Ginegar Plastic Products Ltd. (Israel), Lumite Inc. (U.S.), RPC Group plc (U.K.), Agriplast (Italy), Agriplast Tech India Pvt. Ltd. (India), Essen Multipack (India), Beijing Kingpeng International Hi-Tech Corporation (China), Central Worldwide Co. Ltd. (Thailand), Vis and Son Company Limited (Thailand), Thai Charoen Thong Karntor Co. Ltd. (Thailand), and Tuflex India.Analysis Period Base Year - 2017 Projection Period - From 2018 to 2023 Market Valuation - USD MillionResin Type LDPE LLDPE HDPE PVC PC EVA EBAThickness 200 micronsApplication Vegetables Fruits Flowers and Ornamentals OthersRegion North Americao The U.S.o Canada Latin Americao Mexicoo Brazilo Argentinao Rest of Latin America Europeo Spaino Italyo Germanyo Russiao Franceo Polando U.K.o Rest of Europe Asia Pacific (APAC)o Chinao Indiao Japano Malaysiao Indonesiao Thailando Australia & New Zealando South Koreao Rest of APAC Middle East & Africa (MEA)o Turkeyo Egypto Israelo UAEo Saudi Arabiao Rest of MEAIntended Audience: Greenhouse Films Producers Greenhouse Films Service Providers Agricultural Association Traders & Distributors Resin ProducersAsk Query@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 FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comCorneal Surgery Devices Market 2018 | By Device Type Diagnostic and Corneal Surgery Devices, Vision Care with Reach USD 18.5 Bn. Till 2023

Corneal Surgery Devices Market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/913

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/corneal-surgery-devices-market-913

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/913

The Worldwide Corneal Surgery Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.2% during forecasted period 2018-2023. Corneal surgery is a surgical procedure where a damaged or infected cornea is treated by transplantation of corneal tissue. There are two major types of transplantation namely, penetrating keratoplasty and lamellar keratoplasty. An unhealthy or damaged cornea affects the vision by scattering or distorting light and causing glare and blurred vision. Corneal eye disease is the fourth most common cause of blindness after cataracts, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration.Causes of damaged cornea include infections such as eye herpes or fungal keratitis, trichiasis, Fuchs' dystrophy, advanced keratoconus, complications from LASIK surgery, chemical burns of the cornea or damage from an eye injury, edema of the cornea, graft rejection following a previous corneal transplant and others.Get Exclusive Sample Copy atAccording to World Health Organization, in 2014, worldwide 285 million people estimated to be visually impaired in which 246 had low vision and 39 million were completely blind and 82% of people living with blindness are aged 50 and above. Increasing prevalence of ophthalmic diseases and increasing aging population is the major factor for the growth of the market.Moreover, continuous developments and high advancement in the corneal surgery devices, increasing incident of diabetes, and increasing number of corneal surgeries has provided fuel for the growth of the market. Whereas, high cost of treatment and risk of infection due to devices has hampered the growth of the market. The risk of infection is very high since the cornea has no blood vessels and it derives its nutrients from the aqueous humour. Thus, prophylaxis treatment is an important part of the treatment even if there is no infection.Cornea rejection, occurs in about 20% of cases. Graft failure can also occur at any time after the cornea has been transplanted, even years or decades later. These complications are the greatest barriers for the global corneal surgery market.Corneal Surgery Devices Market Regional Analysis:Global corneal surgery devices market is dominated by America due to increasing geriatric population and well developed healthcare sector. Additionally, the greater number of hospitalization procedures due to greater healthcare penetration in the U.S. and Canada drives the urethritis market. The high concentration of the major hospitals in the developed countries of this region coupled with good reimbursement rates is adding fuel to the market growth. The consolidation of large healthcare players in the U.S. also causes the growth in the market due to increase in buying power of the healthcare players which results in the economies of scale.Europe accounts for the second largest market which is followed by Asia Pacific. The growth of Europe market is majorly driven by the increasing number of ophthalmic clinics and other health care organization. Europe is the second largest market in the world due to growing healthcare industry and healthcare penetration. The European market growth is led by countries such as Germany and France. Germany is expected to be the fastest growing market over the assessment period due to its large pharmaceutical industry.Asia Pacific has the fastest growing market due to the increasing number of patients suffering from visual impairment, and increasing demand for better treatment options. China and India are likely to lead this market due to fast growing healthcare sector and large unmet needs over the forecast period. South East Asian countries such as China, India, and Malaysia are projected to contribute highly to the market growth. The growing penetration of healthcare industry in the Asia Pacific region is expected to drive the future urethritis market in the region.Browse Complete 80 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled with 68 Respective Tables and Figures atGulf nations such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE are estimated to drive the Middle East & African market. Other Middle East nations to watch out for are Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and Iran. The African region is expected to witness a poor growth owing to poor economic and political conditions, and poor healthcare development. Other regions are expected to be laggards due to poor social development and tribal identities such as sub Saharan Africa.Key players for global corneal surgery devices market:Alcon Laboratories Inc. (Switzerland), KeraMED (Canada), Abbott Medical Optics Inc. (U.S.), Bausch & Lomb, Inc. (U.S.), Carl Zeiss Meditec AG (Germany), Haag-Streit AG (Switzerland), Ziemer Ophthalmic Systems AG (Switzerland), Topcon Corporation (Japan), Essilor International S.A. (France), Johnson & Johnson Private Limited (U.S.), Nidek Co. Ltd. (Japan), Cooper Vision (U.S.).Corneal Surgery Devices Market Segmentation:Global Corneal Surgery Devices Market is segmented on the basis of devices types, into diagnostic devices, corneal surgery devices, vision care. Diagnostic devices are further segmented into fundus cameras, keratometers, corneal topographer, ophthalmic ultrasound imaging systems and other.On the basis of transplantation type, market is segmented into deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty, penetrating keratoplasty, synthetic corneas, and other. Synthetic corneas are further segmented into boston keratoprosthesis, alphacor, osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis.On the basis of procedures, they are segmented into pre-operative examination, penetrating keratoplasty, and lamellar Keratoplasty. On the basis of end users, they are segmented into ophthalmic clinics, hospitals and other.Major TOC of Global Corneal Surgery Devices Market Research Report - Forecast to 2023:1 INTRODUCTION1.1 DEFINITION1.2 SCOPE OF STUDY1.2.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE1.2.2 ASSUMPTIONS & LIMITATIONS1.2.2.1 ASSUMPTIONS1.2.2.2 LIMITATIONS1.3 MARKET STRUCTURE:2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY2.1 RESEARCH PROCESS:2.2 PRIMARY RESEARCH2.3 SECONDARY RESEARCH:3 MARKET DYNAMICS3.1 DRIVERS3.2 RESTRAINTS3.3 OPPORTUNITIES3.4 MACROECONOMIC INDICATORSTOC Continued.!Ask to Expertise @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Octocrylene Market 2018 |New Business Opportunities and Investment | Most Eminent Players- Frutarom, Novacap, Abbott, Wako, ID Biomedical, Hologic, Lonza, Exact Sciences, Fujirebio, Becton Dickinson and More

Octocrylene Market

https://www.inforgrowth.com/samplerequest/r/438581/global-octocrylene-market-research-report-2018

https://www.inforgrowth.com/requestdiscount/r/438581/global-octocrylene-market-research-report-2018

https://www.inforgrowth.com/enquiry/r/438581/global-octocrylene-market-research-report-2018

The report titled Global Octocrylene Market throws light on the crucial trends and dynamics impacting the development of the market, including the restraints, drivers, and opportunities. A number of analysis tools such as Porters five forces analysis and SWOT analysis have been employed to provide an accurate understanding of this market. The detail segmentation of the market along with the key players operating in the market are mentioned in the reportGet Sample Copy of this Report @Top Key Vendors in Market: Frutarom, Novacap, Abbott, Wako, ID Biomedical, Hologic, Lonza, Exact Sciences, Fujirebio, Becton DickinsonThe research lists key organizations operating inside the worldwide market and additionally highlights the key changing trends adopted via the businesses to maintain their dominance. The major strategies followed by the established players for a better penetration in the worldwide Octocrylene market additionally forms a key segment of this study. The business overview and financial overview of each of the companies have been analyzed.Get Up to 50% Discount:Also, this study is been carried out in all the major parts of regions of the world and information is been given considering a forecast period of 2018 to 2025 respectively. The Octocrylene Market based on regional classification is studied for North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa markets. The questions like why the region leads on this market, which elements are driving this market, what are major opportunities and plenty of such are mentioned in detail.The report further explains the detailed segmentation of the Octocrylene market. Valuable data and information related to the key segments have been established via this market research report. The revenue share coupled with insightful forecasts for the major segments and the other significant sub-segments is detailed via this report. Thus, the report presents a widespread synopsis of market based factors that are expected to have a substantial and determinate influence on the markets growth prospects over the forecast period.For more Information:Table of Content:Global Octocrylene Market Research Report 2018-20251 Octocrylene Market Overview2 Global Octocrylene Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Octocrylene Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2013-2018)4 Global Octocrylene Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2013-2018)5 Global Octocrylene Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Octocrylene Market Analysis by Application7 Global Octocrylene Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Octocrylene Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Octocrylene Market Forecast (2018-2025)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixAbout InForGrowth:We are a market-intelligence company formed with the objective of providing clients access to the most relevant and accurate research content for their growth needs. At InForGrowth, we understand Research requirements and help a client in taking informed business critical decisions. Given the complexities and interdependencies of market-intelligence, there is always more than one source to explore and arrive at the right answer. Through our smart search feature and our reliable & trusted publishing partners, we are paving way for a more simplified and relevant research.For all your Research needs, reach out to us at:Address: 6400 Village Pkwy suite # 104, Dublin, CA 94568, USAContact Person: NikitaEmail: sales@inforgrowth.comUS: +1-909-329-2808UK: +44 (203) 743 1890Composite Filling Market Worth US$ 536.0 million in 2024

https://www.stratviewresearch.com/262/composite-filling-market-in-dental-composites.html

https://www.stratviewresearch.com/toc/262/composite-filling-market-in-dental-composites.html

https://www.stratviewresearch.com/Request-Sample/262/composite-filling-market-in-dental-composites.html

https://www.stratviewresearch.com/market/report/Advanced-Materials.html

Stratview Research announces the launch of a new research report on Composite Filling Market This extensive report from Stratview Research, studies the Composite Filling Market over the trend period of 2012 to 2017 and forecast period of 2018 to 2023. The report provides detailed insights on the market dynamics to enable informed business decision making and growth strategy formulation based on the opportunities present in the market.Click here to read the detailed description:This Composite Filling Market analysis has been segmented in three ways, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. by Material Type (Nanohybrid, Micro-hybrid, Nanofilled, Microfilled and Others)  Nanohybrid and micro hybrid currently dominate the global composite filling market by Defect Class Type (Class 1 ,Class 2,Class 3 ,Class 4,Class 5 )  class 1 type of defect is likely to remain the largest and fastest-growing defect type and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)  Europe is expected to remain the largest market for composite filling for dental restorationGo through the detailed TOC:OrGet a free sample:Composite Filling Market in Dental Restoration: InsightsThe global composite filling market in dental restoration was is projected to grow at a healthy rate over the next five years to reach US$ 536.0 million in 2024. An aging population, increasing awareness for oral hygiene causing a worldwide rise in dental check-ups, advantages of composite resin over amalgam in tooth-filling, and increasing demand for dental esthetics are major growth drivers of the composite filling market in dental restoration.The market is segmented based on the material type as nanohybrid, micro hybrid, microfilled, nanofilled, and others. Nanohybrid and micro hybrid currently dominate the global composite filling market in dental restoration, driven by a wide array of factors including easy to apply, reduced sitting period, and easy availability. These materials are also projected to witness higher growth rates during the forecast period, driven by an increasing demand from the dentists and dental care organizations.Based on defect class type, class 1 type of defect is likely to remain the largest and fastest-growing defect type during the forecast period. The rising index of the population and unhealthy eating habits amongst teenagers and young children have significantly increased the cases of class 1 defect amongst the population, supporting the fastest growth of class 1 defect type. Class 5 is the second fastest-growing defect type during the same period.Europe is expected to remain the largest market for composite filling for dental restoration during the forecast period, owing to the higher preference of composite filling over amalgam and the presence of key dental companies in this region. Asia-Pacific is projected to witness the highest growth rate during the same period. This is mainly because of the high population base of key Asian countries, such as India, and China, and a gradual shift from amalgam to the composite filling. Additionally, the rise in the demand for regular oral check-ups to have the oral hygiene is further elevating the growth of composite filling in this region.The supply chain of this market comprises resin suppliers, dental composite filling manufacturers, dentists/dental experts, and patients. The resin suppliers include the chemical/advanced material manufacturing companies, such as 3M and The Dow Company. The dental composite filling manufacturers include 3MESPE, Dentsply Sirona, Coltene Holding, The Danaher Corporation, Denmat Holdings, Heraeus Kulzer GmbH, etc. These companies manufacture the dental composite filling materials either in the form of injectable or paste materials along with their accessories as complete dental kits. The dental experts include qualified practitioners or dental doctors belonging to the recognized dental organizations. The patients include the different age group population suffering from dental defects.Report FeaturesThis report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights into the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report: Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porters five forces analysis, SWOT analysis Market trend and forecast analysis Market segment trend and forecast Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc. Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities Emerging trends Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players Key success factorsClick Here for Other Reports from Stratview Research in the Chemicals & Materials Industry:Stratview Research is a global market intelligence firm offering a wide range of services including syndicated market reports, consulting, sourcing intelligence, and customer research.We have a strong experienced team of industry veterans and research analysts with a perfect blend of wisdom, knowledge and attitude. We have been serving multiple clients across a wide array of industries.400 Renaissance Center,Suite 2600,Detroit, Michigan, MI 48243United States of AmericaGlobal Engineering Plastics Market Analysis and Forecast 2025 by Size, Share and Growth Rate

https://www.adroitmarketresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/309

https://www.adroitmarketresearch.com/industry-reports/engineering-plastics-market

https://www.adroitmarketresearch.com/researchreport/purchase/309

https://www.facebook.com/adroitmarketresearchreports

AdroitMarketResearch.com has published "Global Engineering Plastics Market Dynamics, Application Share, Growth, Vendor Competition, Trends and Forecast 2018-2025" report to its new research report offeringRequest a sample @In 2017, the global engineering plastics market size was $xx Billion. It is anticipated to accelerate the market up to $xx Billion with a CAGR of xx% during the forecast period. Engineering plastics are high-performance polymers which have physical properties for prolonged and efficient use. The main drivers of global engineering plastics market are alternatives of traditional materials like commodity and metals and developing end-use industries of engineering plastics. Mixture of lightweight and high strength properties makes engineering plastics appropriate for industrial applications and are propelled to fuel the engineering plastics market over the forecast period. Growth in demand for engineering plastics, companies is demanding new products that are used in several applications. In addition, companies are investing in the development of innovative technologies to improve the benefit of competition to increase the global engineering plastics market. Healthcare and packaging are the industries developing innovative technologies from the super engineering plastics market in the coming years.Factors that are driving the growth of engineering plastics market are rising the trend of improving the efficiency of fuel and decreasing weight of the vehicle related to the alternative of metal in the electrical & electronics and construction industry. Moreover, value of engineering plastics market is augmented by its development in end-use industries, as engineered plastics are used by molding the end-product. In addition, variation in the cost of crude oil and challenges of government about CO2 emissions are estimated to control the growth of global engineering plastics market.Browse the full report @Transportation & automotive is leading the engineering plastics industry. Engineering plastics are used in transportation & automotive industry for applications like housing & connectors, lighting, wheel well and components like fog lamp & headlamp, headlamp for structural housings, lighting sockets & reflectors. Value for engineering plastics in transportation & automotive industry is rising at fastest pace in APAC due to the enlargement of automobile sector in countries like China, India, South Korea and Japan. Growth of automobile sector in these regions is strongly driving the growth of engineering plastics industry.Development and growth in the automotive industry are the factors that are fueling the global engineering plastics industry. Rise in the demand for electronics and electrical appliances across the globe surge to boost the engineering plastics market. Engineering plastics are mostly used in the aerospace industry for building spaceships which provide new opportunities for the growth of engineering plastics market globally.Global engineering plastics market is segmented on the basis of type, end-use and region. On the basis of type, engineering plastics industry is divided into polyamide (PA), polyacetal (POM), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polycarbonate (PC), fluoropolymer, thermoplastic polyester (PBT/ PET) and many more. Based on end-use industry, engineering plastics market is divided into machinery & industry, transportation & automotive, packaging, electronics & electrical, customer appliances and more.Geographically, regions focusing on the development of engineering plastics market size are Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, South America and Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific is leading the engineering plastics market and is growing rapidly. China is expected to hold the largest engineering plastics market share in the coming years. India is anticipated to develop the engineering plastics market over the forecast period.Key players involved in the development of global engineering plastics market are Solvay, Evonik Industries, BASF SE, Celanese Corporation and more.Key Segments in the Global Engineering Plastics Market are-By Type, market is segmented into:Polyamide (PA)Polyacetal (POM)Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)Polycarbonate (PC)FluoropolymerThermoplastic polyester (PBT/ PET)OthersBy End-Use Industry, market is segmented into:Machinery & industryTransportation & automotivePackagingElectronics & electricalCustomer appliancesOthersBy Regions market is segmented into:EuropeNorth AmericaAsia PacificSouth AmericaMiddle East & AfricaWhat to expect from the Global Engineering Plastics Market report?- Predictions of future made for this market during the forecast period.- Information on the current technologies, trends, devices, procedures, and products in the industry.- Detailed analysis of the market segmentation, depending on the types, devices, and products.- Government regulations and economic factors affecting the growth of the market.- An insight into the leading manufacturers.- Regional demographics of the market.Who should buy this report?- Venture capitalists, Investors, financial institutions, Analysts, Government organizations, regulatory authorities, policymakers ,researchers, strategy managers, and academic institutions looking for insights into the market to determine future strategiesPre-book the research study on Engineering Plastics @About Us:Adroit Market Research is an India-based business analytics and consulting company incorporated in 2018. Our target audience is a wide range of corporations, manufacturing companies, product/technology development institutions and industry associations that require understanding of a markets size, key trends, participants and future outlook of an industry. We intend to become our clients knowledge partner and provide them with valuable market insights to help create opportunities that increase their revenues. We follow a code Explore, Learn and Transform. At our core, we are curious people who love to identify and understand industry patterns, create an insightful study around our findings and churn out money-making roadmaps.Contact Us:Ryan JohnsonAccount Manager - Global3131 McKinney Ave Ste 600Dallas, TX 75204Email ID: sales@adroitmarketresearch.comPhone No.:+1 (214) 884-6068FB:Software Product Type Segment Projected to Register Notable Growth with a 10.3% CAGR as Software is Quintessential for Hardware Products

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/REP-GB-2378

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/2378

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com

Recent market study on transformer monitoring systems has uncovered global aspects influencing the growth of the market in a new publication titled Transformer Monitoring System Market: Global Industry Analysis (2012-2016) and Opportunity Assessment (2017-2027), skilfully crafted by Future Market Insights. The research report unveils in-depth analysis on numerous factors along with key participants involved in transformer monitoring systems.Key trends, drivers, developments and innovations and restraints have been included in this research report that impact the growth of the global market for transformer monitoring systems. An all-inclusive angle of the global transformer monitoring system market has been assessed with a weighted market segmentation that covers every aspect of the market. Along with historical data representations and current scenario of the global market, future market insights have been deduced for a period of 10 years starting from 2017 till 2027.Global Transformer Monitoring System Market: Forecast AnalysisThe global market for transformer monitoring system market is anticipated to register significant growth during the forecast period, 2017-2027. Research says that the global transformer monitoring system market is projected to grow at a stellar CAGR of 10.4% during the period of assessment to reach a value of more than US$ 3 Bn by the end of the assessment year from a valuation of US$ 1346.3 Mn in 2017.Request Sample Report@Global Transformer Monitoring System Market: Segmental SnapshotThe global transformer monitoring system market is segmented by product, by installation type, by application, by end use and by region.By product type, the market is segmented by hardware and software. Hardware is further categorized by direct winding transformer monitors and intelligent transformer monitors. Of these, the digital winding transformer monitors segment is leading in terms of high market value and is expected to grow at a high value CAGR of 10.4% throughout the period of assessment. The software segment is expected to register a CAGR of 10.3% during 2017-2027 and is estimated at US$ 277.6 Mn in 2017By installation type, retrofit segment is expected to reflect high market valuation by the end of the period of assessment. However, the new installation segment is poised to grow at a comparatively faster pace to register a CAGR of 11.0% throughout the period of assessmentBy application, the bushing monitoring segment is dominating the market and is expected to provide huge opportunities to players in the coming years. It is projected to rise at a CAGR of 12.1%By end use, power transformers segment shows high market attractiveness during the period of forecast. The distribution transformers segment, on the contrary, is expected to grow at a higher pace in the years to follow to register a CAGR of 10.7%By region, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) is expected to show high potential for the growth of transformer monitoring systems. The transformer monitoring system market in APEJ is expected to lead the global market in terms of value and is estimated to showcase a high valuation of about US$ 1.2 Bn by 2027 endGlobal Transformer Monitoring System Market: Factors Impacting Revenue GrowthAgeing power infrastructure, increasing need for monitoring large and complex power networks, rising demand for retrofit installations, increasing renewable energy penetration to accelerate demand for transformer monitoring systems, rising focus on grid reliability, emerging green power transformers, rising electricity consumption, expanding wind and solar energy sectors, rising investment in power systems network, investment in smart grid infrastructure by utilities and reforms to strengthen electricity infrastructure have propelled the growth of the global transformer monitoring system market. However, factors such as high installation costs of transformer monitoring systems, unpredictable regulations and policies and capital supply constraints have challenged the growth of the global market for transformer monitoring systems.Get Full Report Now @Global Transformer Monitoring System Market: Competition AnalysisThe research report on global transformer monitoring system market includes a detailed market assessment that includes competition tracking along with key developments undertaken by the competitor, SWOT analysis, company overview, strategies undertaken, mergers and acquisitions, product portfolios etc. Major Companies such as ABB Group, Siemens AG, General Electric, Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Inc., Eaton Corporation, Hitachi Ltd., Qualitrol Company LLC, Koncar-Electrical Engineering Institute Inc., Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen GmbH (MR), CETT Co., Ltd., Groupe Cahors, Camlin Power, MTE Meter Test Equipment AG and Advanced Power Technologies LLC have been assessed during the course of the research.ABOUT US:Future 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 centres 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 customised 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.Future Market InsightsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb:2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market 2018 Global Analysis By Key Players  Huawei, Ericsson, ZTE, Samsung, Nortel, Juniper, Cisco Systems

2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3611461-global-2g-3g-4g-5g-wireless-network-infrastructure

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/3611461-global-2g-3g-4g-5g-wireless-network-infrastructure

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=3611461

WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On  2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market 2018 Global Analysis By Key Players  Huawei, Ericsson, ZTE, Samsung, Nortel, Juniper, Cisco Systems.Description:-In 2017, the global 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure market size was million US$ and it is expected to reach million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of during 2018-2025.This report focuses on the global 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure development in United States, Europe and China.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comThe key players covered in this studyHuaweiEricssonNokia (ALU+MOTO)ZTESamsungNortelLGJuniperCisco SystemsFujitsuQualcommCommScopeHUBER+SUHNERCorningOthersMarket segment by Type, the product can be split into2G/3G4G5GMarket segment by Application, split intoMilitary UseCivil UseMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaCentral & South AmericaEnquiry About Report @Table Of Contents  Major Key Points1 Report Overview1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Players Covered1.4 Market Analysis by Type1.4.1 Global 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market Size Growth Rate by Type (2013-2025)1.4.2 2G/3G1.4.3 4G1.4.4 5G1.5 Market by Application1.5.1 Global 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market Share by Application (2013-2025)1.5.2 Military Use1.5.3 Civil Use1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Global Growth Trends2.1 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market Size2.2 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Growth Trends by Regions2.2.1 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market Size by Regions (2013-2025)2.2.2 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure 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 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market Size by Manufacturers3.1.1 Global 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Revenue by Manufacturers (2013-2018)3.1.2 Global 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Revenue Market Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)3.1.3 Global 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)3.2 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Key Players Head office and Area Served3.3 Key Players 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Product/Solution/Service3.4 Date of Enter into 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market3.5 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans4 Breakdown Data by Type and Application4.1 Global 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market Size by Type (2013-2018)4.2 Global 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market Size by Application (2013-2018)5 United States5.1 United States 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market Size (2013-2018)5.2 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Key Players in United States5.3 United States 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market Size by Type5.4 United States 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market Size by Application6 Europe6.1 Europe 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market Size (2013-2018)6.2 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Key Players in Europe6.3 Europe 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market Size by Type6.4 Europe 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Wireless Network Infrastructure Market Size by ApplicationContinuedBuy 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.Medical Aesthetics Market - Latest Trends, Capability Assessment up to 2025

https://www.stratviewresearch.com/426/medical-aesthetics-market.html

https://www.stratviewresearch.com/toc/426/medical-aesthetics-market.html

https://www.stratviewresearch.com/Request-Sample/426/medical-aesthetics-market.html

https://www.stratviewresearch.com/market/report/Healthcare-and-Life-Sciences.html

Stratview Research announces the launch of a new research report on the Medical Aesthetics Market. This extensive report from Stratview Research, studies The Global Medical Aesthetics Market over the trend period of 2014 to 2017 and forecast period of 2018 to 2025. The report provides detailed insights into the market dynamics to enable informed business decision making and growth strategy formulation based on the opportunities present in the market.Click here to read the detailed description:This Interventional Radiology Market analysis has been segmented in three ways, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. By Procedures  Botox, Dermal Filler, Laser Hair Removal, Liposuction, Cellulite Reduction, Rhinoplasty, Skin Tightening, Breast Implant, Others By End-User - Advanced Aesthetic and Skin Clinics, Hospitals and Private Clinics, Others By Region - North America, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific, Rest of the WorldClick here to request the detailed TOC of the report:-ORRequest a sample here:-The Global Medical Aesthetics Market: HighlightsThe power of technology and the need for beauty enhancement procedures has given a tremendous push to the global aesthetics market. Although this segment is showing significant growth, it is also promoting an influx of competition, business, and investment, which will directly impact the overall growth of the industry.Trends in the market, hint that the male to female ratio interested in aesthetic procedures is 1:1 in 2018. Earlier perceived to only driven by the female, the industry is finding a good proportion of men keeping themselves updated and educated about treatment options, costs and the outcomes involved. The market is also capitalizing on growing their male clientele by appealing to their increased image-consciousness, through minimally invasive cosmetic procedures. Statistics gathered by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) note that non-surgical aesthetic procedures performed in the U.S. in 2017 rose by 186% since 2000. Thereby reaching 15.7 million procedures last year in the US market alone. Cellulite is one of the consumers top concerns, with the number of cellulite reduction treatments performed jumping 19% in 2017-2018.While subdermal laser treatments were the first to receive FDA approval, these treatments remain very expensive and time-consuming, making them a much harder sell to prospective patients looking for a quicker fix. The report gives a comparative analysis of the most sought after medical aesthetics procedures in different regions.The report also looks at the opportunity geography wise hence giving a 360 degree view of the market, its opportunities and gaps for the reader.Report FeaturesThis report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights into the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report: Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porters five forces analysis, SWOT analysis Market trend and forecast analysis Market segment trend and forecast Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, Product portfolio, New launches, etc. Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities Emerging trends Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players Key success factors Future outlookThe Burning Questions This Report Will Answer:1. Men and women are equally demanding medical aesthetic procedures at lower cost with higher success rates, which are the markets that are offering such services? Whats New? Whats Reimbursed, and Whats Next?2. Which market is more lucrative breast implants or liposuction or cellulite reduction? Are these covered under medical insurance?3. Which technologies are available currently and how will the future technologies disrupt the market?Stratview Research has several high value market reports in the healthcare & life science industry. Please refer to the following link to browse through our reports:About Stratview ResearchStratview Research is a global market intelligence firm offering a wide range of services including syndicated market reports, consulting, sourcing intelligence, and customer research. We are a trusted brand in the research industry with capability of commissioning complex projects within a short span of time with high level of accuracy.Stratview Research400 Renaissance Center,Suite 2600,Detroit, Michigan, MI 48243United States of AmericaPhone No. +1-313-307-4176sales@stratviewresearch.comPaper Trays Market to Showcase Vigorous Demand during the Period until 2027 || Top Market Players- Mondi Group, International Paper, Huhtamaki Oyj, UFP Technologies, Stora Enso Oyj, CS Packaging, Proactive Packaging & Display

https://www.factmr.com/report/2215/paper-trays-market#rep_toc

https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=RM&rep_id=2215

https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=AE&rep_id=2215

https://www.factmr.com/

https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/

Tier one companies in the paper trays market, namely, Mondi Group Plc, Huhtamaki Oyj and Billerud AB, are consolidating their positions in the developed countries. Collectively accounting for over 15 percent of the overall paper trays market, these companies have their grounds set up in the North America region and Europe respectively.Request for Table of Content-However, these companies have been focusing on emerging economies in the Asia Pacific, such as China and India, in a bid to expand their footprint at the international level. Moreover, tapping huge growth potential in Asia Pacific with respect to sales potential of paper trays has been the focal point of tier 1 companies.Key strategies of tier 1 companies in paper trays market have been expansion of manufacturing facilities, new product launches and strategic alliances. Using these strategies, they are fixated on expanding their visibility in the forthcoming years. In 2017, Mondi Group Plc acquired Powerflute Group that operates paper and pulp mill. The 365 million acquisition would ensure high quality packaging and paper assets for the company along with geographic expansion and enhancement of Mondis paper trays scenario.Tier 2 Players Account for Over 25% Market ShareTwo main participants in the tier 2 category involved in the manufacturing of paper trays collectively account for a significant share of the overall paper trays market. Companies such as Stora Enso Oyj, and International Paper account for over 25 percent revenue share of the paper trays market with a significant revenue generation from European countries and North America region respectively.Companies in the paper trays market are also initiating collaborations with local players to enhance their paper tray product penetration. For instance, Graphic Packaging combined with International Papers consumer packaging business in North America, with the latter owning 20.5% share and former owning 79.5% share of the combined company. This strategic amalgamation can serve as a huge platform for Graphic Packaging in the paper trays space, making it one of the leading companies in paper-based packaging sector.Supermarkets to Prefer Paper Trays Over Plastic CounterpartsThe paper trays market is largely influenced with growing demand from supermarkets worldwide. The ongoing plastic bans on account of environmental safety has transformed the FMCG packaging landscape as vendors of FMCG products and other consumer goods including food and beverages opt for paper trays and their variants such as fiber paper trays. Sustainability and fit for purpose paper trays are making a new entrance among food chains and supermarkets on the back of environment friendly production process of paper trays.Companies in the paper trays market are leveraging this factor by linking with such supermarkets to promote their products. For instance, in 2018, Iceland Foods has linked with Stora Enso Oyj to replace plastic trays with paper trays. Iceland Foods would now be introducing its street food range in paper trays.Likewise, tier 1 players have also started collaborations with local supermarkets for the same cause. For instance, in October 2018, Huhtamaki Oyj has collaborated with Waitrose & Partners, a UK based supermarket. The collaboration is to test the fiber-based recyclable tray by Huhtamaki for a period of two months.Molded-Fiber Paper Trays Gain MomentumMolded fiber paper trays are gaining significant traction on the back of growing inclination toward sustainable packaging. Apart from being eco-friendly and biodegradable, paper trays from molded fibers feature relatively higher strength and high resistance against dampening. In addition, molded fiber paper trays are cost effective with minimum warehouse and inventory cost.Know the methodology behind the report-Plant-Based Plastic Trays Emerge as Effective Alternative to Paper TraysPlayers involved in plastic packaging have been focused on solving plastic problem. A shift toward using plant-based plastics in the manufacturing of paper trays has been witnessed. Paper trays from plant-based plastics are environment friendly, feature high strength and are a sustainable business practice. Cornstarch is one of the widely used material in paper trays made from plant-based plastics and have limited negative impact on environment. This factor continues to challenge the adoption of paper trays, in turn restricting the growth of the paper trays market.Competitive LandscapeThe report on paper trays market includes detailed assessment and business outlook of key companies involved in the manufacturing and distribution of paper trays. Key facets of the paper trays market competition landscape such as SWOT analysis, product portfolio, developments, acquisitions, strategies and key financials are covered. Key manufacturers of paper trays such as Colpac Ltd., Mondi Group Plc., Huhtamaki Oyj, and International Paper have been profiled in the report.Companies in the paper trays market are focused on enhancing their paper trays portfolio by launching novel paper trays that can be used across a variety of applications. Colpac Ltd., has launched compostable ovenable tray, an extension to its paper food packaging portfolio. Likewise, in September 2018, Mondi Group Plc has launched patented barrier and paper solution for food packaging. The new offering will feature a paper construction with unique barrier protection, which is well-suited for the food industry.In 2017, Yash Papers has launched a new range of eco-friendly and compostable tableware, an extension to its paper trays portfolio. With an investment of over 60 cores, the company established a new plant manufacturing biodegradable and eco-friendly paper trays and other tableware.In a bid to expand their global reach, paper trays market participants are acquiring packaging operations of other counterparts. Huhtamaki Oyj acquired International Papers food service operations in China in order to enhance its brand visibility across emerging economies and grab major share in the Asia Pacific paper trays market.Key players in the paper trays market are initiating joint ventures and acquisitions in a bid to cater to growing needs of new clientele. Huhtamaki Oyj has initiated a joint venture with CupPrint, wherein it acquires majority of shares (70%). Main focus behind this US$ 22 million acquisition is to enhance Huhtamakis digitalization competences. This acquisition in the paper trays space can facilitate reduced lead times and benefits of Huhtamakis financial strength and global footprint.Market StructureThe paper trays market structure is detailed that includes every angle of the paper trays market. This detailed segmentation of paper trays market provides holistic view to the reader. The paper trays market is structure on the basis of source, by material type, by end use and by region. The source segment includes analysis on virgin fiber paper trays and recycled fiber paper trays. The material type includes intelligence on paper trays manufactured from corrugated boards, boxboards/cartons and molded pulp. End use applications of paper trays such as retail based uses, food products, beverage products, personal care and cosmetics, healthcare products and consumer durables and electronic products are covered in the paper trays market report.The paper trays market has been assessed across key regions such as North America, Latin America, Europe, Japan, Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ). A country level analysis reflecting sales of paper trays across major countries in these regions is also provided.Grow Your Business From Expert Advice-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-Color Cosmetics Products Market 2018 by Evolving Technology, Projections & Estimations, Business Competitors, Cost Structure, Key Companies and Forecast to 2025

https://www.adroitmarketresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/427

https://www.adroitmarketresearch.com/industry-reports/color-cosmetics-products-market

https://www.adroitmarketresearch.com/researchreport/purchase/427

https://www.facebook.com/adroitmarketresearchreports

AdroitMarketResearch.com has published "Global Color Cosmetics Products Market Drivers, Restraints, Potential Growth Opportunities, Vendor Competitive Landscape, Trends and Forecast 2018-2025" report to its new research report offeringRequest a sample @The global color cosmetics products market size was estimated at USD XXXX billion in the year 2016 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of XXX%, during the forecast period (2017  2025). Color cosmetics are products used for personal care that help to enhance the way human look. Color cosmetics are referred to as colorants and cosmetic elements used for skin care, make-up, personal hygiene, fragrance, hair care and oral care.Growing consumer awareness and spending in color cosmetics is the driving factor for color cosmetics products market growth. Color cosmetics include products such as eye shadows, foundations, powders, nail paints, concealers, lipsticks, bronzers and other. People have become more and more conscious about their appearance, leading to new product innovations. Color cosmetics are widely used to reduce age related skin issues, and better life quality. The growing awareness towards fashion trends among the women is growing the market for color cosmetics. Recent study of color cosmetics products market trends indicate growth owing to the need for looking aesthetically pleasing by the female population. Another factor is social media fashion bloggers influencing and educating the masses.Browse the full report @Furthermore, color cosmetics products market growth is influenced by the growth of e-commerce, which allows users to compare, select and buy products from a large range of products. Also, with e-commerce buyers have the ease and comfort of buying anywhere and anytime. E-commerce is growing at a high pace, for example, China reported almost 37% of cosmetic sale through online platform in the year 2017. Color cosmetics products market growth is also influenced by the growing disposal income and spending power of the people. Additionally, growing demand for organic color cosmetics has grownThe global color cosmetics products market size is segmented on the basis of product type, distribution sector and region. On the basis of product type the market is segmented as nail-care, face make-up, eye make-up, and lip-care. Segmentation on the basis of distribution channels is done as hypermarkets, specialty stores, superstores and online stores. Among the types, face market is expected to contribute maximum to color cosmetics products market growth. This is mainly due to the increased options of face make-up products available at considerable lower cost, along with the increased awareness among the population.Based on region color cosmetics products market growth is segmented as Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe and Middle East. Asia Pacific contributes the maximum share in the color cosmetic market. China leads the market in the region, due to increased presence of the western culture and demand for branded cosmetic products. LOreal led the color cosmetic market in 2016 in China due to its huge brand awareness and efficient distribution network. Another leading market in Asia-Pacific segment is India, due to growing demand from tier 2 and 3 cities. There is a stiff market competition due to presence of growing retailers and distributors across the country. Europe is projected to be the second largest market in color cosmetics in terms of revenue share over the forecast period.The key players in color cosmetics products market size are Avon Products, Inc., Beiersdorf, Johnson & Johnson, Revlon, and many others.Segmentation:The various segments of color cosmetics products market size are,By Type:Nail-careFace make-upEye make-upLip-careBy Distribution Channel:HypermarketsSpecialty storesSuperstoresOnline storesBy Region:Asia PacificNorth AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeMiddle EastWhat to expect from the upcoming report on color cosmetics products market size:- Future prospects and current trends of the color cosmetics products market size by the end of forecast period (2017  2025).- Information regarding technological progressions as well as innovations across the world.- Supportive initiatives by government likely to influence the market dynamics.- In-depth analysis of different market segmentations including regional segmentations, applications and types.- Deep analysis about the competitive landscape of the market and the initiatives by them to improve this market.- Trends, drivers, opportunities, restraints, challenges and key developments in the marketWho should buy this report?Venture capitalists, Investors, financial institutions, Analysts, Government organizations, regulatory authorities, policymakers ,researchers, strategy managers, and academic institutions looking for insights into the market to determine future strategies.Pre-book the research study on color cosmetics products @About Us:Adroit Market Research is an India-based business analytics and consulting company incorporated in 2018. Our target audience is a wide range of corporations, manufacturing companies, product/technology development institutions and industry associations that require understanding of a markets size, key trends, participants and future outlook of an industry. We intend to become our clients knowledge partner and provide them with valuable market insights to help create opportunities that increase their revenues. We follow a code Explore, Learn and Transform. At our core, we are curious people who love to identify and understand industry patterns, create an insightful study around our findings and churn out money-making roadmaps.Contact Us:Ryan JohnsonAccount Manager - Global3131 McKinney Ave Ste 600Dallas, TX 75204Email ID: sales@adroitmarketresearch.comPhone No.:+1 (214) 884-6068FB:Gas Sensor Market Trends 2024 | Key Competitors are ABB, ams AG, DENSO, Siemens, Yokogawa, AlphaSense, Inc.

Gas Sensor Market

https://bit.ly/2d4Dsx2

https://bit.ly/2ea1Uit

https://bit.ly/2cNN6lI

www.gminsights.com

www.fractovia.org/

The automotive gas sensor market is will reach over USD 1 billion due to an extensive use of these components to meet stringent emission levels and minimize vehicle energy consumption levels. Gas sensors also play a vital role as they offer emission management systems and provide real-time feedback to vehicular fuel, thus reducing the discrepancy between emissions observed in factory tests. Moreover, stringent government regulations across the globe to protect the environment are playing a crucial role in implementing these components in automotive vehicles for both, diesel and gasoline systems.The major players in the gas sensor market comprise: - ABB Ltd, AMS AG, BlueSens Gas Sensor GmbH, Denso Corporation, eLichens, Optosense AS, Sensors, Inc, Siemens AG, Yokogawa Electric Corporation, City Technology Ltd., Dynament Ltd., Alphasense, Amphenol Advanced Sensors, Bosch Sensortec GmbH, and Figaro Engineering, Inc.Request for Sample Copy of This Report @Increasing government initiatives to provide safe working environment to the workers at industrial plants is anticipated to provide lucrative growth prospects for the gas sensor market. Moreover, with rapid global urbanization, greenhouse gas emissions have increased tremendously, necessitating the deployment of gas sensing devices. Manufacturing industries, transportation sector, energy sector, and building sector are the major industries contributing to poor air quality. Environmental organizations globally have been working on addressing the growing concerns regarding deteriorating air quality. Many countries have been able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly by increasing awareness regarding emissions, regulations, standards, and codes for gas leakage detection. This is compelling industries to integrate such components, driving the market.The components based on conventional metal-oxide semiconductors face severe drawbacks, such as low selectivity, as they are dependent on surface chemistry. The pitfalls associated with these semiconductor sensors are slow recovery or a dosimeter-type response and sensitivity to humidity. Technical issues such as the inability to detect gas leakages, inability to detect gases at certain temperature levels, and producing false alarms are restraining the overall market growth.Make an Inquiry for purchasing this Report @Low costs and high efficiency of the electrochemical gas sensor market which was valued at over USD 820 million in 2017 will drive the demand over the forecast period. These components are predominantly preferred in several applications due to their capability of accurately sensing combustible and toxic gases. These components are being extensively adopted across industrial plants, particularly in refineries and confined spaces owing to their ability to measure toxic gases having relatively low concentrations. The technology is also widely adopted across manufacturing plants as it helps in detecting a wide range of gases.The carbon dioxide gas sensor market will grow significantly in the future due to its widespread use in the bulk food storage industry. These components keep a check on the admissible levels of CO2 in the storage units while detecting early food spoilage. Moreover, the growing penetration of CO2 components in automotive applications will safeguard drivers from the emission of hazardous gases. These sensors are used for monitoring indoor air quality as well as industrial process control.Browse Complete Report Summary:The Asia Pacific gas sensor market is poised to witness a growth of 9% in terms of unit shipped due to increasing air pollution levels in China and India as a result of increasing industrialization and the presence of a large number of manufacturing plants. Beijing and Shanghai are the major contributors to the increasingly deteriorating outdoor air quality, exceeding the average particulate matter concentration set by the WHO at an exponential rate in 2017. This is augmenting the use of advanced gas sensors across several industries in China. Furthermore, growing investments in construction, medical, and infrastructure sectors will offer huge growth opportunities to the APAC market due to urbanization.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: -Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:Historians agree that violence has never brought prosperity to any region. Certainly, the foreign ministers of Afghanistan, Pakistan and China concur with that belief. As they gathered in Kabul on December 15, they renewed the call on all parties to end the fighting in Afghanistan.



The meeting was second in a series of dialogues between the foreign ministers of the three countries. Exploring options to ensure regional peace, it was highly significant in three interconnected aspects.

First, the joint statement reaffirmed the commitment to lead Afghanistan back onto the path to peace through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process. This is the only way if Kabul is to be able to bring all warring elements under its influence and provide them with a channel to abandon their extremist links.

Secondly, stress has been laid on countering terrorism. Coordination in this regard has been enhanced with signing of an MoU that all terrorist threats in the region will be neutralized without any discrimination.

The third aspect addresses inadequate infrastructure facilities that restrict Afghanistan from making full use of its trade capacity. During the dialogue, China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), already helping Pakistan in overcoming its logistical shortcomings, was warmly praised by Afghanistan. The joint statement endorsed advancing connectivity under the BRI and other regional economic modes.

Stability in Afghanistan is one of the prime national concerns of Pakistan, seeing that it hosts 1.3 million registered Afghan refugees. Even though Pakistan has been making efforts to encourage their gradual return to Afghanistan, the process is not easy to achieve.

Then, there is the massive international trade that can materialize for Pakistan with the bringing of peace in its western neighbor. Afghanistan has, for centuries, served as a transit route for trade between Central and South Asia. Although the volume of trade has dropped after decades of conflict, its potential hasn't. For this very reason, Pakistan is engaged in progressive peace overtures to rejuvenate its own and the Afghan economies.

Bringing Afghanistan into the BRI net is also a priority for Pakistan. Islamabad intends a westward extension of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the BRI, for the benefit of its underdeveloped regions and improve connectivity with Afghanistan.

BRI, by the same token, connects Central Asian states with China on the east and with Europe on the west. Afghanistan's participation in the initiative will open up a new and economical route for these states to connect with South Asian, Middle Eastern and African markets  simultaneously offering the same advantages to Afghanistan.

The Chinese government supports an improvement of Afghanistan's infrastructure network, while Afghan President Ashraf Ghani sees the BRI as a means to strengthen regional cooperation. It is, therefore, only a matter of time before the Afghan government formally joins the Belt and Road program.

As Afghanistan steps up collaboration with China, an increase in bilateral trade will lead to an assured recovery of its own economy. Export costs will be lowered in transporting goods to a regional market as compared to far-flung ones, and access to Chinese consumers will contribute to its industrial productivity.

In short, the dialogue initiated by China, Pakistan and Afghanistan makes it clear that regional players are serious about ending a conflict that can be termed, at best, a multi-billion-dollar stalemate.

All three also agree on the need for a settlement and seek practical ways to achieve this through the dialogue. Since the prospects of a strong, stable and prosperous Afghanistan are far too appealing to consider any other option.

Daniel Hyatt is a Pakistan-based freelance journalist and commentator.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.Airport Security Market Opportunity and Drivers Analysis with Key Players (Axis Communications, Bosch Security and Safety Systems, FLIR Systems, G4S, Hitachi, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Safran, Siemens, Thales, Leidos)

Airport Security Market

https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/367

https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/367

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/airport-security-market-report

www.gminsights.com

www.fractovia.org/

The rising penetration of smart technologies and IoT in airports is fueling the demand for airport security market. These include technologies such as remote check-ins, sensor equipment, e-gates, RFID baggage reconciliation systems, etc. A major portion of the data is collected in real-time and stored in large central databases. The presence of security issues in such cases can leave the data vulnerable to attacks from internal and external parties. Wireless tracking technologies, for instance, can allow a hacker to utilize triangular algorithms or Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) Information to track the location of the Wi-Fi end-point user and unearth historical data such as the route taken by the users, purchasing data, etc.Request for Sample Copy of This Report @A major factor contributing to the high growth of the airport security market is the increase in the traveler populations, primarily in the Middle East and Asia Pacific. Large scale globalization and rapid industrialization is driving the movement of goods and people across country borders. Owing to this, airports in urban locations are increasingly experiencing high passenger traffic causing governments of varying economies to undertake massive projects for the upgrade of existing technologies and the development of new airports. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the U.S government has increased the stringency of security procedures in and around the aircraft and passenger areas.High penetration of these solutions is due to the demand for advanced security systems such as biometrics in identity and access monitoring, contactless entryway checkpoints, x-ray scanners, and thermal cameras. Conventional security measures employ invasive procedures and protocols such as physical checks and body pat-downs which are highly uncomfortable. To boost passenger convenience, airport security market vendors are investing in R&D activities for the development of technologies such as x-ray scanners. In high-risk settings, preventive measures are required over reactive technologies. In such cases, it is essential to track and forecast security threats in contrast to taking measures to fix the issues after their occurrence.Make an Inquiry for purchasing this Report @The North America airport security market is anticipated to dominate in terms of revenue in the following years. This is mainly attributed to the high emphasis of the U.S government on security measures such as surveillance cameras and cyber security solutions. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has launched the testing of 3D checkpoint scanning technology at the Phoenix Sky Harbor and the Logan International Airport. The computed tomography screening equipment improves the threat detection capabilities by providing a more through 3D image of the screened cargo.Some of the players operating in the global airport security market include Thales Group, American Science and Engineering, Inc, Westminster Group PLC, Axis Communications,FLIR Systems, Scanna MSC Ltd., Bosch Security Systems, RedXDefense LLC, Fisher Research Laboratory, Hitachi Ltd, OSI Systems, Inc., and MilliVision Technologies. Companies are increasingly entering into long term partnerships with airports for the testing and deployment of their technologies.Browse Related Report: -For instance, Izmir International Airport has entered into an agreement with Tyco Security Products for the provision of unified security solutions such as access control, location monitoring, and intrusion tracking.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: -Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:Digital Media Market booming worldwide by Amazon.com, Apple Inc., Google, Facebook, Sony Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, IAC/InterActiveCorp (IAC), Verizon Communications Inc., Yahoo Inc., Ancestry.com Inc., Groupon Inc

http://qyreports.com/request-sample?report-id=83264

http://qyreports.com/enquiry-before-buying?report-id=83264

http://qyreports.com/ask-for-discount?report-id=83264

www.qyreports.com

In this Digital Media Market research report, the major factors driving the growth of this market were documented and the business partners & end operators were long-winded. The configuration of the business division, examples and complications manipulating the market internationally are similarly a piece of this broad analysis. Numerous gatherings and meetings were led by the noticeable pioneers of this industry to get steadfast and refreshed insights concerned to the market.The various factors supporting the markets trajectory and those posing threat are studied in the report in detail. Furthermore, the market study segments the Global Digital Media Market based on application and industry chain structure.Get Sample Copy Of Report:Top key vendors: Amazon.com, Apple Inc., Google, Facebook, Sony Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, IAC/InterActiveCorp (IAC), Verizon Communications Inc., Yahoo Inc., Ancestry.com Inc., Groupon Inc., Netflix, Inc.,News Corporation, Zynga Inc., The Walt Disney Company, The New York Times CompanyRevenue in the Digital Media market amounts to US$1,447m in 2018.The markets largest segment is Video Games with a market volume of US$909m in 2018.In global comparison, most revenue is generated in in the United States (US$47,402m in 2018).For more Information:Population growth and fast paced social progress in developing countries has led to the growth of global Digital Media market. With the increase in economic conditions, even a relatively poor economy is implementing and introducing these projects with fast pace. Technological growth is one of the major driving forces for the global market. In numerous regions, since there is a huge dominance by the local and regional vendors, it is expected to increase the competition in coming times.Moreover, the research highlights the changing trends in the global Digital Media market. Technological developments are predicted to allow key companies to introduce a new Digital Media market in the global market, thus widening the scope of this global market.Table of Content:Global Digital Media Market Research Report 2018-2023Chapter 1: Digital Media market OverviewChapter 2: market Economic ImpactChapter 3: Competition by ManufacturerChapter 4: Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2018-2023)Chapter 5: Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2018-2023)Chapter 6: Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by TypeChapter 7: market Analysis by ApplicationChapter 8: Digital Media Market by Manufacturing Cost AnalysisChapter 9: Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersChapter 10: Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersChapter 11: Market Effect Factors AnalysisChapter 12: Digital Media Market Forecast (2018-2023)Chapter 13: AppendixAsk For Discount:About QYReports:We at, QYReports, a leading market research report published accommodate more than 4,000 celebrated clients worldwide putting them at advantage in todays competitive world with our understanding of research. Our list of customers includes prestigious Chinese companies, multinational companies, SMEs and private equity firms whom we have helped grow and sustain with our fact-based research. Our business study covers a market size of over 30 industries offering unfailing insights into the analysis to reimagine your business. We specialize in forecasts needed for investing in a new project, to revolutionize your business, to become more customer centric and improve the quality of output.Contact:QYReportsJones John(Sales Manager)+91-9764607607sales@qyreports.comAutomotive Intelligent Park Assist System Market Begins to Take Bite out of Versioned Long Term Growth

Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System Market

https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/1503445-global-automotive-intelligent-park-assist-system-market-2

https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/1503445-global-automotive-intelligent-park-assist-system-market-2

https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=1503445

https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/1503445-global-automotive-intelligent-park-assist-system-market-2

https://www.linkedin.com/company/13388569/

https://www.facebook.com/htfmarketintelligence/

https://twitter.com/htfmarketreport

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+NidhiBhawsar-SEO_Expert?rel=author

HTF Market Intelligence released a new research report of 119 pages on title 'Global Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System Market Report 2018' with detailed analysis, forecast and strategies. The study covers key regions that includes North America Country (United States, Canada), South America, Asia Country (China, Japan, India, Korea), Europe Country (Germany, UK, France, Italy), Other Country (Middle East, Africa, GCC) and important players such as Aptiv, HELLA, Magna, Robert Bosch, Valeo.Request a sample report @With the slowdown in world economic growth, the Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System industry has also suffered a certain impact, but still maintained a relatively optimistic growth, the past four years, Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System market size to maintain the average annual growth rate of XXX from XXX million $ in 2014 to XXX million $ in 2017, HTF MI analysts believe that in the next few years, Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System market size will be further expanded, we expect that by 2022, The market size of the Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System will reach XXX million $.This 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. If you need more information, please contact HTF MIGet Customization in the Report, Enquire Now @Section 1: FreeDefinitionSection (2 3): 1200 USDManufacturer Detail: Aptiv, HELLA, Magna, Robert Bosch, ValeoSection 4: 900 USDRegion Segmentation: North America Country (United States, Canada), South America, Asia Country (China, Japan, India, Korea), Europe Country (Germany, UK, France, Italy), Other Country (Middle East, Africa, GCC)Section (5 6 7): 500 USDProduct Type SegmentationSemi-autonomousFully autonomousIndustry SegmentationPassenger CarCommercial VehicleChannel (Direct Sales, Distributor) SegmentationSection 8: 400 USDTrend (2018-2022)Section 9: 300 USDProduct Type DetailSection 10: 700 USDDownstream ConsumerSection 11: 200 USDCost StructureSection 12: 500 USDConclusionBuy this report @Table of ContentsSection 1 Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System Product DefinitionSection 2 Global Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System Market Manufacturer Share and Market Overview2.1 Global Manufacturer Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System Shipments2.2 Global Manufacturer Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System Business Revenue2.3 Global Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System Market OverviewSection 3 Manufacturer Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System Business Introduction3.1 Aptiv Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System Business Introduction3.1.1 Aptiv Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System Shipments, Price, Revenue and Gross profit 2014-20173.1.2 Aptiv Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System Business Distribution by Region3.1.3 Aptiv Interview Record3.1.4 Aptiv Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System Business Profile3.1.5 Aptiv Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System Product Specification3.2 HELLA Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System Business Introduction3.2.1 HELLA Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System Shipments, Price, Revenue and Gross profit 2014-20173.2.2 HELLA Automotive Intelligent Park Assist System Business Distribution by Region....ContinuedView Detailed Table of Content @Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.About Author:HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact US :Craig Francis (PR & Marketing Manager)HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA  08837Phone: +1 (206) 317 1218sales@htfmarketreport.comConnect with us atPublic Cloud Business Process Services Market Technological Advancement and increasing demand with Leading key players: Accenture, Cognizant Technology, Microsoft, IBM, Fujitsu

ReportsWeb

https://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00012370642/sample

https://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00012370642/discount

https://www.reportsweb.com/buy&RW00012370642/buy/3900

ReportsWeb newly added the Global Public Cloud Business Process Services Market Report that gives meticulous investigation of current scenario of the Market size, share, demand, growth, trends, and forecast in the coming years.Global Public Cloud Business Process Services Market Size Status and Forecast 2018-2025This report focuses on the global Public Cloud Business Process Services status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Public Cloud Business Process Services development in United States, Europe and China.Public cloud business process services alongside cloud BPM incorporate a feature-rich platform for business process services to deliver automated business outcomes for vertical as well as horizontal business processes. With the help of public cloud business process services, enterprises could be benefited with simplified operation and accelerated performance, informed decisions, flexibility, virtualized workplaces, and augmented transparency. Furthermore, public cloud business process services could find application in improving the agility of business processes, avoiding vendor locking, and amplifying the cost-effectiveness of process executions.Get Sample Copy Of this report:Companies Profiled in this report includes: Accenture, Cognizant Technology, Microsoft, IBM, Fujitsu, Oracle, Amazon Web, Salesforce, SAP, VMwareThe reports provide a thorough evaluation of the key growth drivers, restraints, regulatory scenario, prime, and opportunities presented by these markets in the present scenario, helping companies in these markets to gain a larger scope of growth and penetration in their respective fields.Market segment by Type, the product can be split intoType IType IIMarket segment by Application, split intoLarge BusinessSmall and Medium EnterprisesGet Discount of this report:The study objectives of this report are:To analyze global Public Cloud Business Process Services status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players.To present the Public Cloud Business Process Services 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.Table of Content:1 Report Overview2 Global Growth Trends3 Market Share by Key Players4 Breakdown Data by Type and Application5 United States6 Europe7 China8 Japan9 Southeast Asia10 India11 Central & South America12 International Players Profiles12.1 Accenture12.1.1 Accenture Company Details12.1.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.1.3 Public Cloud Business Process Services Introduction12.1.4 Accenture Revenue in Public Cloud Business Process Services Business (2013-2018)12.1.5 Accenture Recent Development12.2 Cognizant Technology12.2.1 Cognizant Technology Company Details12.2.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.2.3 Public Cloud Business Process Services Introduction12.2.4 Cognizant Technology Revenue in Public Cloud Business Process Services Business (2013-2018)12.2.5 Cognizant Technology Recent Development12.3 Microsoft12.3.1 Microsoft Company Details12.3.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.3.3 Public Cloud Business Process Services Introduction12.3.4 Microsoft Revenue in Public Cloud Business Process Services Business (2013-2018)12.3.5 Microsoft Recent Development12.4 IBM13 Market Forecast 2018-2025Complete Report:Contact Info:Name: Sameer JoshiEmail: sales@reportsweb.comCompany Name: ReportsWebWebsite: Reportsweb.comPhone: +1-646-491-9876Request for Customization:Any special requirements about this report, please let us know and we can provide custom report.About ReportsWeb:ReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of Market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.533, 5th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028Adult Incontinence: Market 2019 Emerging Technology Research Report by Key Players - Abena A/S, Kimberly-Clark, Essity AB, First Quality Enterprises, Procter & Gamble, DSG International, Unicharm

Adult Incontinence

https://www.globalinforeports.com/request-sample/1071102

https://www.globalinforeports.com/check-discount/1071102

https://www.globalinforeports.com/checkout/1071102

An exclusive Adult Incontinence market research report created through broad primary research (inputs from industry experts, companies, and stakeholders) and secondary research, the report aims to present the analysis of Global Adult Incontinence Market By Type, By Application, By Region - North America, Europe, South America, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa. The report intends to provide cutting-edge market intelligence and help decision makers take sound investment evaluation. Besides, the report also identifies and analyses the emerging trends along with major drivers, challenges and opportunities in the global Adult Incontinence market. Additionally, the report also highlights market entry strategies for various companies across the globe.Global Adult Incontinence Market which estimates that the global market size of Adult Incontinence is said to flourish with a considerable Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in the predicted forecast period, and this is accredited to the escalating need for this product/service worldwide backed by new inventions and technological advancements in the market.GET Access PDF SAMPLE COPY of This Report NOW @Adult Incontinence Market Players: Abena A/S Kimberly-Clark Corporation Essity AB First Quality Enterprises, Inc. Procter & Gamble Co. DSG International Ltd Unicharm Corporation Hengan Group Covidien plc Hollister IncorporatedBy Product Type Pads Pants Adult Diaper OtherBy Distribution Channel Pharmacy & Drug Stores Online Stores Supermarket OtherMajor regions are as follows: North America Europe Asia-Pacific South America Middle East and AfricaGET Exclusive DISCOUNT @This market report orbits the Adult Incontinence Market, predominantly in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America and Middle East and Africa. This report fragments the market based on many regions, market manufacturers and the segments in which the market is split into.Also, key Adult Incontinence market players influencing the market are profiled in the study along with their SWOT analysis and market strategies. The report also focuses on leading industry players with information such as company profiles, products and services offered, financial information of last 3 years, key development in past five years.Reason to Buy- Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies.- The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Adult Incontinence market, thereby allowing players to develop effective long term strategies.- Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets.- Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it.- Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to products, segmentation and industry verticals.Access Full Report @The report is worth a buy because:This report on Adult Incontinence Market assists in analyzing the condition and situation of the market in primary regions of the world. Apart from rendering an overview of product manufacturing processes, the research report also renders impeded strategy of the industry, latest technological developments, cost structures, product specifications, etc. Future predictions based on the development of this industry are also covered. The report also reviews micro and macro factors vital for the new entrants along with the current market players.About Us:Global Info Reports is a pioneer in off-the-rack market research. We study markets across the globe to assist our clients to analyze competitive activity and perceive further than market disruptions, and eventually grow intellectual business strategies. We offer vast portfolio of research reports with respect to geographical coverage, topics, and profiled companies. Global Info Reports has an experienced and skilled team which is dedicated to top-notch analysis and research. Our research team comprehends the demands of its clients and therefore keeps updating the reports as the market requirement changes. Our in-house professionals are highly motivated towards their work and meet the clients demands and deadlines irrespective of any time zone, thereby impeccably delivering projects.Contact Us:Call: +1-888-248-7621Email: sales@globalinforeports.com539 West Commerce, Suite #499, Dallas TX 75208, United StatesOBD Aftermarket to grow at 17% CAGR to 2024| Key players are Innova, Intel Corporation, Metromile, Mojio, Vector Informatik, Verizon Communications, Xirgo Technologies, Azuga, Bosch, CalAmp, Continental, Danlaw, GEOTAB

https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2839

https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2839

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/on-board-diagnostics-obd-aftermarket

https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/by-2024-atm-market-to-reach-25-billion-2018-09-19

https://www.gminsights.com

http://solutionrocket.com

Companies operating in the On-board Diagnostics Aftermarket focus on offering new products along with strategic acquisitions to leverage their mutual technological capabilities and create innovative offerings. For instance, in April 2018, Quartix launched a new installation option; plug, and track. The new tracking device can be easily installed into the OBD port and it eases the installation and flexibility when moving the tracking function from one vehicle to another without disconnecting the hardwiring. In April 2017, SiriusXM acquired Automatic, the maker of the Automatic Pro and Automatic Lite connected car OBD II ports accessories for USD 10 million. The acquisition enabled the company to expand and improve its connected vehicles services.Request for a sample of this research report @OBD Aftermarket size is set to exceed USD 1.5 billion by 2024; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. The increasing emphasis on developing connected vehicle solutions and the growing adoption of IoT technology in the automobile sector are driving the growth of the OBD aftermarket. The increase in vehicle production, particularly LCVs and HCVs, has generated the demand for more stringent emission control standards. The government agencies around the world have implemented stringent emission control regulations to combat the increasing impact of air pollution on the environment. The increasing complexities in vehicles have generated the need to have more robust remote diagnostics solutions. Remote diagnostics technology is also gaining more popularity as it provides the vehicle owners and technicians with the real-time information about the vehicles status and helps in the effective monitoring of vehicle components remotely.Company profiled in this report based on Business overview, Financial data, Product landscape, Strategic outlook & SWOT analysis: Autel Intelligent Technology Corp.,Ltd. Automatic Labs AVL Ditest Azuga Bosch Diagnostics CalAmp Continental AG Danlaw, Inc. ERM Electronic Systems LTD Geotab Inc. Innova Intel Corporation Magneti Marelli S.p.A. Metromile Mojio TomTom International BV. Vector Informatik Verizon Communications Xirgo Technologies, Inc.The passenger vehicles segment held a dominant share of over 40% in 2017 in the global OBD aftermarket. The increased production of passenger vehicles, particularly in the U.S. and China, is majorly contributing to the adoption of OBD telematics solutions in the segment. According to the American Auto Council, the U.S. auto production is expected to exceed 12 million vehicles per year through 2019 and reach 13 million by 2020. As it has been made mandatory by government institutions in various countries to have OBD compatibility for passenger vehicles, the segment is projected to grow consistently during the forecast timeline.The hardware segment held a majority share of over 40% in the OBD aftermarket in 2017 due to the large-scale adoption of traditional OBD scanners such as scan tools and code readers to access the vehicles OBD port. These scanners act as an interface to provide users with the vehicles engine-related parameters. However, with the emergence of OBD dongles, additional information, such as driver behavior analytics and remote diagnostics, can be effectively extracted from vehicles.The OBD apps segment is expected to exhibit the fastest growth by 2024 at a CAGR of over 25%. The increasing penetration of smartphones and the adoption of advanced telematics technologies have triggered the demand for mobile-based apps. As the OBD apps reduce the dependency on any hardware to gather information and make it possible for the user to convert the smartphone or tablet into a portable OBD scanner for gathering diagnostic information, the demand for apps is likely to grow during the forecast timeline. These apps handle all the information collected from the OBD systems and ease the task of monitoring the vehicle parameters in the real-time, allowing the continuous monitoring of the vehicles status.The fleet management segment dominated the OBD aftermarket in 2017 with a market share of over 45% and is expected to maintain the dominance throughout the forecast period. The use of OBD in the fleet management software offers effective management of fleet operations and provides access to the real-time data regarding the vehicles location. It also monitors the driving patterns and helps in early diagnosis and mitigation of any malfunction in the vehicle components. With the significant growth in the electric vehicle technology, the demand for OBD telematics systems for managing and controlling the vehicle components is expected to increase significantly. The fleet management software in electric vehicles helps in increasing the fleet efficiency and reducing the operational costs.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @North America held a major share of the OBD aftermarket in 2017. The proliferation of OBD dongle-based solutions is estimated to grow at a faster pace in the region between 2018 and 2024. The automobile sector in this region continues to record a steady growth due to the high penetration of advanced technologies in the transportation systems and the increased momentum of autonomous vehicles. The presence of some major global automobile players and the increasing investments by foreign auto suppliers in their manufacturing facilities are driving the regions automobile market growth.For instance, in January 2018, Ford planned to invest USD 11 billion in electric vehicles to have 40 hybrid and fully electric vehicles in its model lineup by 2020. Similarly, in April 2016, Nissan made strategic investments in its U.S. operations to meet the growing need of the U.S. consumers. The company has invested around USD 10.8 billion in its U.S. operations since 1981.Browse Full Report @Some of the key players operating in the OBD aftermarket are Continental, Automatic Labs (SiriusXM), Magneti Marelli, Tom Tom, Geotab, Danlaw, CalAmp, Verizone, Mojio, Intel, Metromile, ERM Telematics, Azuga, Xirgo Technologies, AVL Ditest, Vector Informatik, Bosch Diagnostics, and Autel.Browse Related Report:ATM Market Size By Solution (Deployment [Onsite, Offsite, Worksite, Mobile], Managed Services), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, France, Italy, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa), ApplicationPotential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2017  2024About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:Global Micro Gas Generator Market 2018| Growth With Top Players: Autoliv, Nippon Kayaku Group, Daicel Corporation, Hirtenberger, Shaanxi Qinghua Vehicle System Co.

Micro Gas Generator Market

https://www.researchreportsinc.com/sample-request?id=228119

https://www.researchreportsinc.com/check-discount?id=228119

https://researchreportsinc.com/checkout/?add-to-cart=228119&&attribute_pa_choose-license=single-user&&quantity=1

Research Reports Inc. provides complete summary of world Micro Gas Generator Market considering all the most important business trends, market dynamics. Micro Gas Generator. A micro gas generator is a device that acts to retract the seatbelt (seatbelt pretensioner) in the event of a collision.The retraction of the seatbelt fixes the body to the ideal position in relation to the inflated airbag. This increases the effectiveness of the airbag, maximizing the safety for the passenger. A gas generator is a device for generating gas. A gas generator may create gas by a chemical reaction or from a solid or liquid source, when storing a pressurized gas is undesirable or impractical.Request Sample Copy atThe report also presents the market competition landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the major vendor/manufacturers in the market. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Autoliv, Nippon Kayaku Group, Daicel Corporation, Hirtenberger, Shaanxi Qinghua Vehicle System Co., LTDAccording to this study, over the next five years the Micro Gas Generator market will register a xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ xx million by 2023, from US$ xx million in 2017. In particular, this report presents the global market share (sales and revenue) of key companies in Micro Gas Generator business, shared in Chapter 3.For Assured Discount Up to 30%, Click AtThis report presents a comprehensive overview, market shares, and growth opportunities of Micro Gas Generator market by product type, application, key manufacturers and key regions. To calculate the market size, Research Reports Inc. considers value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments: Segmentation by product type: Aftermarket, OEMs Market. Segmentation by application: Passenger Vehicle, Commercial Vehicle This report also splits the market by region: Americas, United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, APAC, China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, India, Australia, Europe, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, Spain, Middle East & Africa, Egypt, South Africa, Israel, Turkey, GCC Countries etc.In addition, this report discusses the key drivers influencing market growth, opportunities, the challenges and the risks faced by key manufacturers and the market as a whole. It also analyzes key emerging trends and their impact on present and future development.To Browse Full Report, Purchase It Now AtResearch objectives To study and analyze the global Micro Gas Generator (value & volume) by key regions/countries, product type and application, history data from 2013 to 2017, and forecast to 2023. To understand the structure of Micro Gas Generator market by identifying its various sub-segments. Focuses on the key global Micro Gas Generator manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the sales volume, value, market share, market competition landscape, SWOT analysis and development plans in next few years. To analyze the Micro Gas Generator with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market. To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks). To project the consumption of Micro Gas Generator submarkets, with respect to key regions (along with their respective key countries). To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market. To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.About usResearch Reports Inc. is one of the leading destinations for market research reports across all industries, companies, and technologies. Our repository features an exhaustive list of market research reports from thousands of publishers worldwide. We take pride in curating a database covering virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories. We are one of the premier sources for such reports & report customization services.Contact usDavid,Sales Manager,#766, 99 Wall Street, New YorkNY 10005, United StatesUS/Canada: +1-855-419-2424UK: +4403308087757Email: sales@reseasrchreportsinc.comManicure Set Market 2018 Global Analysis By Key Players  Sephora, The Body Shop, D'Marge, Venus Beauty, Cotton On

Manicure Set Market

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3608499-global-manicure-set-market-insights-forecast-to-2025

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3608499-global-manicure-set-market-insights-forecast-to-2025

Manicure Set Market 2018Wiseguyreports.Com adds Manicure Set Market Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities, Analysis of Top Key Players and Forecast to 2025 To Its Research Database.Report Details:This report provides in depth study of Manicure Set Market using SWOT analysis i.e. Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat to the organization. The Manicure Set 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.In 2017, the global Manicure Set market size was million US$ and is forecast to million US in 2025, growing at a CAGR of from 2018. The objectives of this study are to define, segment, and project the size of the Manicure Set market based on company, product type, application and key regions.This report studies the global market size of Manicure Set in key regions like North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Central & South America and Middle East & Africa, focuses on the consumption of Manicure Set in these regions.This research report categorizes the global Manicure Set market by players/brands, region, type and application. This report also studies the global market status, competition landscape, market share, growth rate, future trends, market drivers, opportunities and challenges, sales channels, distributors and Porter's Five Forces Analysis.The various contributors involved in the value chain of Manicure Set include manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, intermediaries, and customers.The key manufacturers in the Manicure Set includeSephoraThe Body ShopD'MargeVenus BeautyCotton OnFAMILIFEWUSTHOFOutils Rubisonyx-brandsDR HarrisFu Hong Industries LimitedTruefitt & Hill SGStargazer CosmeticsNUS CoopMerakiFar East (Wu's) Industrial Company LimitedLe TanneurMacy'sRequest a Sample Report @Market Size Split by TypeUnisexFemaleMarket Size Split by ApplicationNail Salons and Beauty barsSPA CentersHotelsHouseholdsOthersMarket size split by RegionNorth AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeMalaysiaPhilippinesThailandVietnamEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaCentral & South AmericaBrazilRest of Central & South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaGCC CountriesTurkeyEgyptSouth AfricaKey StakeholdersManicure Set ManufacturersManicure Set Distributors/Traders/WholesalersManicure Set Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Complete Report Details@Major Key Points in Table of Content:1 Study Coverage1.1 Manicure Set Product1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Key Manufacturers Covered1.4 Market by Type1.4.1 Global Manicure Set Market Size Growth Rate by Type1.4.2 Unisex1.4.3 Female1.5 Market by Application1.5.1 Global Manicure Set Market Size Growth Rate by Application1.5.2 Nail Salons and Beauty bars1.5.3 SPA Centers1.5.4 Hotels1.5.5 Households1.5.6 Others1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Executive Summary2.1 Global Manicure Set Market Size2.1.1 Global Manicure Set Revenue 2016-20252.1.2 Global Manicure Set Sales 2016-20252.2 Manicure Set Growth Rate by Regions2.2.1 Global Manicure Set Sales by Regions2.2.2 Global Manicure Set Revenue by Regions3 Breakdown Data by Manufacturers3.1 Manicure Set Sales by Manufacturers3.1.1 Manicure Set Sales by Manufacturers3.1.2 Manicure Set Sales Market Share by Manufacturers3.1.3 Global Manicure Set Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)3.2 Manicure Set Revenue by Manufacturers3.2.1 Manicure Set Revenue by Manufacturers (2016-2018)3.2.2 Manicure Set Revenue Share by Manufacturers (2016-2018)3.3 Manicure Set Price by Manufacturers3.4 Manicure Set Manufacturing Base Distribution, Product Types3.4.1 Manicure Set Manufacturers Manufacturing Base Distribution, Headquarters3.4.2 Manufacturers Manicure Set Product Category3.4.3 Date of International Manufacturers Enter into Manicure Set Market3.5 Manufacturers Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans..11 Company Profiles11.1 Sephora11.1.1 Sephora Company Details11.1.2 Company Description11.1.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Manicure Set11.1.4 Manicure Set Product Description11.1.5 Recent Development11.2 The Body Shop11.2.1 The Body Shop Company Details11.2.2 Company Description11.2.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Manicure Set11.2.4 Manicure Set Product Description11.2.5 Recent Development11.3 D'Marge11.3.1 D'Marge Company Details11.3.2 Company Description11.3.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Manicure Set11.3.4 Manicure Set Product Description11.3.5 Recent Development11.4 Venus Beauty11.4.1 Venus Beauty Company Details11.4.2 Company Description11.4.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Manicure Set11.4.4 Manicure Set Product Description11.4.5 Recent Development11.5 Cotton On11.5.1 Cotton On Company Details11.5.2 Company Description11.5.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Manicure Set11.5.4 Manicure Set Product Description11.5.5 Recent Development11.6 FAMILIFE11.6.1 FAMILIFE Company Details11.6.2 Company Description11.6.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Manicure Set11.6.4 Manicure Set Product Description11.6.5 Recent Development11.7 WUSTHOF11.7.1 WUSTHOF Company Details11.7.2 Company Description11.7.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Manicure Set11.7.4 Manicure Set Product Description11.7.5 Recent Development11.8 Outils Rubis11.8.1 Outils Rubis Company Details11.8.2 Company Description11.8.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Manicure Set11.8.4 Manicure Set Product Description11.8.5 Recent Development11.9 onyx-brands11.9.1 onyx-brands Company Details11.9.2 Company Description11.9.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Manicure Set11.9.4 Manicure Set Product Description11.9.5 Recent Development11.10 DR Harris11.10.1 DR Harris Company Details11.10.2 Company Description11.10.3 Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin of Manicure Set11.10.4 Manicure Set Product Description11.10.5 Recent DevelopmentContinued.Contact Us:NORAH TRENTPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Sales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +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 LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaDigital Transformation Market Insights | Key Players: Cognizant, SAP, Dell EMC, Microsoft, Adobe Systems and Accenture

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/digital-transformation-market-43010479.html?utm_source=OpenPr

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=43010479&utm_source=OpenPr

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/discountreports.asp?id=43010479&utm_source=OpenPr

According to recent research "Digital Transformation Market by Component (Solution (Cloud Computing, Big Data & Analytics, Mobility, Disruptive Technologies, and Social Media) and Service), End User, Deployment Type (On-premise and Cloud), Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2022", The digital transformation market is projected to grow from USD 205.99 Billion in 2017 to USD 493.39 Billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 19.1% from 2017 to 2022. The market is primarily driven by innovation in businesses, changing customer preferences, the proliferation of mobile devices & apps, increasing penetration of IoT, and rising adoption of the cloud platform.Browse 61 Market Data Tables and 38 Figures spread through 133 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Digital Transformation Market"Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.Based on component, the service segment is expected to witness the highest CAGR during the forecast periodBased on component, the digital transformation market has been segmented into solution and service. The service segment is expected to witness the highest growth rate during the forecast period due to the increasing need for professional services and system integration.Based on deployment type, the cloud segment is expected to witness the highest CAGR during the forecast periodBased on deployment type, the digital transformation market has been segmented into on-premise and cloud. The cloud segment is expected to witness the highest growth rate during the forecast period. Cloud computing solution enables easy access to data and information from anywhere and anytime. It also involves pay per use, which is cost effective for an organization.Based on end user, the SMBs segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast periodBased on end user, the SMBs (small & medium businesses) segment of the digital transformation market is estimated to witness a higher growth rate than the enterprises segment during the forecast period. SMBs predominantly opt for SaaS-based digital transformation solutions as these solutions are cost-effective and require basic IT infrastructure.Based on vertical, the education segment is expected to witness the highest CAGR during the forecast periodBased on vertical, the education segment of the digital transformation market is projected to grow at the highest rate in the coming years. The education vertical includes academic and research industries. Increasing demand for platform independent or cross-platform applications from the education vertical translates into huge growth opportunities for the digital transformation solution vendors.Get Free 10% Customization@North America is estimated to lead the digital transformation market in 2017North America is estimated to lead the digital transformation market in 2017. An early adopter of cloud technologies, the region has advanced infrastructure capabilities, which have helped in supporting the adoption of digital transformation solutions and services. Digital transformation requires a very agile and flexible IT support, which is present in the majority of companies in this region.The report encompasses the competitive landscape, which presents the positioning of 25 key vendors of digital transformation solutions and services, based on their product offerings and business strategies. Some of the major solution and service vendors include Cognizant (US), SAP (Germany), Dell EMC (US), Microsoft (US), Adobe Systems (US), Accenture (Ireland), Capgemini (France), IBM (US), Oracle (US), Google (US), HPE (US), and CA Technologies (US).IBM focuses on both inorganic and organic strategies, such as partnerships, collaborations, agreements, contracts, and new solution launches, to achieve growth in the digital transformation market. For instance, in June 2017, the company partnered with American Airlines (US) to help the Airlines transform and enhance its business processes with better customer experiences through the IBM Cloud. IBM also partnered with Finastra (UK) in June 2017, to accelerate digital transformation in banking operations using IBM Cloud and Cognitive technologies. Earlier, in March 2017, IBM and Cisco announced new solutions for VersaStack, a jointly developed converged infrastructure. The new solutions offer various benefits to IT organizations, such as improved manageability, recovery, and storage of data; and simplified & standardized service delivery through infrastructure automation.Microsoft majorly focuses on inorganic growth strategies to gain a competitive advantage in the digital transformation market. For instance, in May 2017, it entered into a partnership agreement with Dell EMC (US) in which the Dell EMC Cloud, a new cloud platform, will be provided for the Microsoft Azure Stack. Earlier in April 2017, Microsoft also partnered with Maersk, an integrated transport & logistics company. Through this partnership, the Microsoft Azure digital platform will empower Maersks app store, thus helping enhance business model innovations.Ask for Discount@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 marketsMr. Shelly SinghMarketsandMarkets INC.630 Dundee RoadSuite 430Northbrook, IL 60062USA : 1-888-600-6441newsletter@marketsandmarkets.comGlobal Side-entry Mixer Market Insights, Industry Player (ALFA LAVAL, Dover, Philadelphia), Key County Analysis (North America, United States, Europe, China, Japan, India), Segmentation, Analysis and Forecast till 2018-2025

Market Research Hub

https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1945732

https://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/global-side-entry-mixer-market-insights-forecast-to-2025-report.html

This research report titled Global Side-entry Mixer Market Insights, Forecast to 2025 has been added to the wide online database managed by Market Research Hub (MRH). The study discusses the prime market growth factors along with future projections expected to impact the Side-entry Mixer Market during the period between 2018 and 2025. The concerned sector is analyzed based on different market factors including drivers, restraints and opportunities in order to enlighten the readers about the actual scenario prevailing in the Side-entry Mixer Market.Get Sample Copy of This Report @The Side-entry Mixer market was valued at xx Million US$ in 2017 and is projected to reach xx Million US$ by 2025, at a CAGR of xx% during the forecast period. In this study, 2017 has been considered as the base year and 2018 to 2025 as the forecast period to estimate the market size for Side-entry Mixer.This report presents the worldwide Side-entry Mixer market size (value, production and consumption), splits the breakdown (data status 2013-2018 and forecast to 2025), by manufacturers, region, type and application.This study also analyzes the market status, market share, growth rate, future trends, market drivers, opportunities and challenges, risks and entry barriers, sales channels, distributors and Porter's Five Forces Analysis.The following manufacturers are covered in this report:SPX FlowEKATOSulzerXylemNational Oilwell VarcoALFA LAVALDoverPhiladelphiaMitsubishi Kakoki KaishaSatakeDCISilverson MachinesInoxpaSide-entry Mixer Breakdown Data by TypePaddle MixerTurbine MixerMagnetic MixerOtherSide-entry Mixer Breakdown Data by ApplicationChemicalWater & WastewaterMinerals ProcessingFood and BeveragePharm/BioPharmEnergy & EnvironmentOthersSide-entry Mixer Production by RegionUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanOther RegionsSide-entry Mixer Consumption by RegionNorth AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaMalaysiaPhilippinesThailandVietnamEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalyRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaGCC CountriesTurkeyEgyptSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaBROWSE Full Report NOW @Table of Contents1 Study Coverage1.1 Side-entry Mixer Product1.2 Key Market Segments in This Study1.3 Key Manufacturers Covered1.4 Market by Type1.4.1 Global Side-entry Mixer Market Size Growth Rate by Type1.4.2 Paddle Mixer1.4.3 Turbine Mixer1.4.4 Magnetic Mixer1.4.5 Other1.5 Market by Application1.5.1 Global Side-entry Mixer Market Size Growth Rate by Application1.5.2 Chemical1.5.3 Water & Wastewater1.5.4 Minerals Processing1.5.5 Food and Beverage1.5.6 Pharm/BioPharm1.5.7 Energy & Environment1.5.8 Others1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Executive Summary2.1 Global Side-entry Mixer Market Size2.1.1 Global Side-entry Mixer Revenue 2013-20252.1.2 Global Side-entry Mixer Production 2013-20252.2 Side-entry Mixer Growth Rate (CAGR) 2018-20252.3 Analysis of Competitive Landscape2.3.1 Manufacturers Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)2.3.2 Key Side-entry Mixer Manufacturers2.3.2.1 Side-entry Mixer Manufacturing Base Distribution, Headquarters2.3.2.2 Manufacturers Side-entry Mixer Product Offered2.3.2.3 Date of Manufacturers Enter into Side-entry Mixer Market2.4 Key Trends for Side-entry Mixer Markets & Products3 Market Size by Manufacturers3.1 Side-entry Mixer Production by Manufacturers3.1.1 Side-entry Mixer Production by Manufacturers3.1.2 Side-entry Mixer Production Market Share by Manufacturers3.2 Side-entry Mixer Revenue by Manufacturers3.2.1 Side-entry Mixer Revenue by Manufacturers (2013-2018)3.2.2 Side-entry Mixer Revenue Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)3.3 Side-entry Mixer Price by Manufacturers3.4 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion PlansMore Information@@@About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports of different sector like machinery market research and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of industry reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email: press@marketresearchhub.com Flash

The number of journalists killed since the beginning of 2018 has climbed by 14 percent to 113 compared with a year ago, the Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) said Monday.

The PEC said in its annual report that since the beginning of this year, 113 journalists were killed in 30 countries, 17 in Afghanistan, 17 in Mexico, and 11 in Syria.

The most dangerous countries following Afghanistan, Mexico and Syria were Yemen and India, with eight killed in each. The five countries account for 61, or more than half of those killed.

Terrorist groups in Afghanistan and criminal groups in Mexico were responsible for the deaths.

Ranking six is the United States with six killed by a gunman at the Capital Gazette newspaper at Annapolis in June. Pakistan follows with five killed.

The number of women journalists killed climbed sharply, from five in 2016 to 16 in 2017. This year, seven female journalists were slain.

The most noted decrease in fatalities was in Iraq where nine journalists were killed last year, but only one this year.

The most significant increase was in Afghanistan where the numbers of fatalities more than doubled from eight in 2017.

From 2009 to 2018, a total of 1,221 journalists and media workers were killed.Global Shooting Ranges Market 2018- Cubic Corporation, Action Target, Inc., Sevage Range Systems, Laser shot, Polytronic International AG, Saab Ab

Shooting Ranges Market

https://www.adroitmarketresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/328

https://www.adroitmarketresearch.com/industry-reports/shooting-ranges-market

The global shooting ranges market size is estimated to reach USD xx.xx billion from USD xx.xx billion at a CAGR of xx% by end of the forecast year. The shooting ranges are superior facility intended specifically for archery practice and firearms. The shooting ranges usually located in the forest areas or at the borders of a city. The shooting ranges are generally indoor and outdoor and restricted to certain archery and firearms. The increasing request for live fire training is growing the need of shooting ranges through the law enforcement agencies and defense forces worldwide. The increasing demand of live fire training helps soldiers to better understanding of the situations. Because of this, the law enforcement agencies and defense forces are trying to increase live fire training centers. Hence the global shooting ranges market is heavily focused by the increasing demand for live fire training centers.Click Here to Request Sample Report @The global shooting ranges market is segmented on the basis of application, modes and geography. The numerous modes of shooting ranges comprises indoor shooting ranges and outdoor shooting ranges. The indoor shooting ranges is sub divided as indoor moving targets, indoor virtual targets and indoor fixed targets. The outdoor shooting ranges further segmented as outdoor fixed targets and outdoor moving targets. The global shooting ranges market analysis covers the market strategies and growth factors over the upcoming years.The global shooting ranges market trends: For a detailed list our report Modular shooting rangeThe key players in global shooting ranges market across the world are Cubic Corporation (U.S), Action Target, Inc. (U.S), Sevage Range Systems (U.S), Laser shot (U.S), Polytronic International AG (Switzerland), Saab Ab (Sweden), and others.Browse Full Report @Segment of shooting ranges market include: By application Indoor OutdoorDuring previous years, the outdoor application segment valued for the key shares of the global shooting ranges market. Growing utilization by the law enforcement agencies and army for training their corresponding forces with innovative weapon system will contribute to the progress of this industry segment in the upcoming years. By region: North America United States Canada Latin America Mexico Chile Peru Brazil Others Western Europe France U.K Belgium Spain Netherlands Italy Luxembourg Nordic countries Eastern Europe Poland Russia Asia Pacific Japan India China Australia New Zealand ASEAN Middle East and Africa Southern Africa North Africa GCCThe global shooting ranges market study estimates by geographic regions, the Americas will be the main revenue sponsor to the global shooting ranges market all over the forecast period.Following market drivers are contributing to the progress of global shooting ranges market: Growing procurement of progressive handheld firearms Increasing interest in shooting alleys Improved attention on military trainingThe global shooting ranges market: opportunityThe defense forces and government are retrofitting the older shooting ranges with the new amenities in order to involve the law enforcement officers and soldiers with the real time fire situation. This factor is estimated to a huge opportunity for the development of shooting ranges market in the forecast years.What to expect from the upcoming report on Global Shooting Ranges Market:- Future prospects and current trends of the global shooting ranges market by end of forecast period (2018-2025)- Information regarding technological progressions as well as innovations taking place in developing economies- Supportive initiatives by government likely to influence the market dynamics- Trends, drivers, opportunities, restraints, challenges and key developments in the market- In-depth analysis of different market segmentations including regional segmentations, and product types- Deep analysis about the competitive landscape of the market and the initiatives by them to improve this marketWho should buy this report?Venture capitalists, Investors, financial institutions, Analysts, Government organizations, regulatory authorities, policymakers ,researchers, strategy managers, and academic institutions looking for insights into the market to determine future strategies.Adroit Market Research is an India-based business analytics and consulting company incorporated in 2018. Our target audience is a wide range of corporations, manufacturing companies, product/technology development institutions and industry associations that require understanding of a markets size, key trends, participants and future outlook of an industry. We intend to become our clients knowledge partner and provide them with valuable market insights to help create opportunities that increase their revenues. We follow a code Explore, Learn and Transform. At our core, we are curious people who love to identify and understand industry patterns, create an insightful study around our findings and churn out money-making roadmaps.Ryan JohnsonAccount Manager Global3131 McKinney Ave Ste 600, Dallas,TX75204, U.S.A.Enquire: enquiry@adroitmarketresearch.comEmail Id: sales@adroitmarketresearch.comPhone No.: USA: +1 (214) 884-6068 / +91 9665341414Padded Mailers Market Predicted to Grow at a Moderate Pace Through 2027

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5750

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-5750

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-5750

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/

Padded Mailers  Market OverviewThe growth of protective packaging is rising consistently as the online purchasing of products is increasing. Padded mailer is a packaging solution used for the protective packaging of the products. E-commerce is rapidly increasing which is a main driver of the padded mailers market. Padded mailers are made of paper or paperboard, with a padding of different materials, such as foam, bubble wraps, and others, pasted on the inner side. Padded mailers are used for shipping and handling of products which require protective packaging which can resist shock, abrasion, and vibrations. Padded mailers have various end-use applications such as electronic goods, medical devices, machinery parts, chemicals packaging and others. Padded mailer is a popular product for products which require protective packaging. Padded mailers have various features such as shock absorption, water resistance, lightweight, and abrasion resistant. The growth of the padded mailers market is propelled by the increase in the penetration of e-commerce. The consistent increase in the demand for efficient packaging solutions for the shipment of small and medium sized products e-commerce has increased the growth of the padded mailers market.Request to Sample of Report @Padded Mailers Market  Drivers & RestraintsThe growth of the global padded market is expected to grow over the forecast period due to various reasons. In recent years, manufacturers are introduced in the padded mailers market. The penetration of e-commerce in the emerging economies such as China, India, Argentina and South Africa is expected to increase the demand of padded mailers. The attractive features of padded mailers such as shock absorption, light in weight, cost-effectiveness, and water resistance, increases the growth of the global padded mailer market. Increasing e-commerce is the main driver of the global padded mailers market. The efficient and protective packaging is provided by padded mailers.The increasing awareness towards the environment is expected to restrain the growth of the padded mailers market. Stringent government rules, regulations and guidelines against materials such as plastic, which is used majorly in the manufacturing of the padded mailer may hinder the growth of the global padded mailers market. Increase in the production of biodegradable & easily recyclable materials is expected to positively increase the growth of the padded mailers market.Padded Mailers Market - Regional OutlookGlobally, the Padded Mailers market has been segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Middle East & Africa (MEA) and Japan. North America is expected to dominate the global padded mailers market. Due to the continuous increase of the e-commerce in the North American region. The U.S. majorly contributes in the North America padded mailers market. The developing countries in the Western Europe are fuelling the growth of the market in the region. Moreover, China in the APEJ region is also contributing in the market.Request Report for Table of Contents @Padded Mailers Market - Key PlayersSome of the key players of the padded mailers market are Uline Inc., Sealed Air Corporation, Beta Package Products Co., Ltd., PAC Worldwide, Inc., Pregis Corporation, Alpine Plastics, Jiffy Packaging Co. Limited, Supremex Inc., Sancell Pty Ltd., Bravo Pack Inc., and others.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, application, and industry.The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.Report Highlights : Detailed overview of parent market,Changing market dynamics in the industry,In-depth market segmentation,Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value,Recent industry trends and developments,Competitive landscape,Strategies of key players and products offered,Potential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growth,A neutral perspective on market performance,Must-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprint.Request to Report Methodology @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 centres 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 customised 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:Tonsil Cancer Market 2023 Top Key Players are F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Novartis AG, Abbott, Beckman Coulter Inc., Bayer AG (Germany), AstraZeneca Plc., GlaxoSmithKline Plc., Bayer AG and More

Tonsil Cancer Market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4062

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/tonsil-cancer-market-4062

Market Research Future published a half cooked research report on Global Tonsil Cancer Market Research Report - Forecast to 2023  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2023.Get Sample Copy @The global market consist of players such as F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (Switzerland), Amgen Inc. (US), Novartis AG(Switzerland), Abbott (US), Beckman Coulter Inc. (US), Debiopharm Group (Switzerland), AbbVie Inc. (US), Bayer AG (Germany), Amgen, Inc. (US), Eli Lilly and Company (US), AstraZeneca Plc. (UK), GlaxoSmithKline Plc. (UK), Bayer AG (Germany), and others. These are some of the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the global tonsil cancer market.Global Tonsil Cancer Market  OverviewCancer is one of the major disease that has affected millions of lives all across the world. Especially, cancer has gained huge attention in last couple of decades due to the rapidly increasing number of people facing the consequences of the deadly disease. As a result, the research and development activities in the oncology have intensified in last decade.According to National cancer Institute, in 2016, nearly 1,685,210 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in the United States and it was estimated that 595,690 people will die from the cancer.Tonsil cancer begins in the cells of tonsils. It cause difficulty in swallowing and stimulates a feeling of something being stuck in the throat. Rise in the smoking, and alcohol consumption has increasd the risk of development of the tonsil cancer. Although some treatment options are available to manage the disease to a certain level, complete cure for the tonsil cancer is not yet available.According to a recent study published by the Market Research Future analysts, the global tonsil cancer market is growing steadily; this steady growth is mainly to rising need for the better treatment options in cancer management, increased interest by the government in new company ventures and their R&D activities, financial support by the government.That being said, there are some hurdles in the growth of the tonsil cancer market. These include adverse effects of the medication, extended time for approval of drugs, high cost of the treatment. These factors are more likely to thwart the growth of the market to an extent.Global Tonsil Cancer Market - Competitive AnalysisThe market for tonsil cancer is well established market with number of companies operating in this market which are developing products including the drugs, molecules.Tonsil cancer Market is growing with increasing demand for the novel treatment options. Lack of availability of a concrete treatment option has created a wide range of opportunities for the development of the market. Companies are focusing on the development of new products which will be cost effective and will have minimum side effects. Various companies are involved in the development of specific types of molecules, and novel therapies.In September 2017, Merck, an American pharmaceutical company, launched an anticancer drug, Keytruda in IndiaIn August 2016, two U.S. based pharmaceutical company Merck and Bristol Myer Squibb's sold block buster cancer drugs Keytruda and Opdivo respectively. Keytruda and Opdivo have generated global sales of USD 566 million and USD 942 million respectively.In August 2016, Mercks Pembrolizumab drug for the treatment of Head and Neck Cancer received approval from US FDA.Additionally, a number of drugs are in the pipeline and is expected to launch soon in the market due to increasing need for the drugs. In coming years, introduction of the new and advanced drug may revolutionize the market.Access Report Details @Global Tonsil Cancer Market - Regional AnalysisGeographically, market of tonsil cancer is fairly dominated by American region which is majorly relied upon North American market. United States is said to have the best medical and healthcare facilities in the world. The advanced diagnostic services and state of the art treatment facilities are supported by huge funding by companies and government to further carry out research and develop effective cure for the deadly disease. These factors have pushed the growth of the market in American region. As far as South America is concerned, the healthcare industry is still developing and expected to have a moderate growth during the forecast period.European tonsil cancer market is majorly fuelled by the rise in the smoking population and alcohol consumption. According to WHO reports, Europe tops the list of tobacco smoking regions with 28% prevalence which is highest among all regions. Advanced healthcare facilities and enough availability of skilled professionals is also pushing the market growth in the region.Asia Pacific region presents huge opportunities owing to the rapidly developing pharmaceutical and medical industry. Rapidly developing economies, increased investments in healthcare sector and research and development by government and market giants has positively affected the growth of the market. Huge population base is another major factor in the growth of market in this region. At last, Middle East & Africa has contributed least in the tonsil cancer market owing to the lack of investments in R&D, lack of knowledge and awareness, poor diagnostic services in the region, and low disposable income.Brief Table of Content1 Report Prologue2 Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 Limitations2.3 Market Structure2.4. Market Segmentation3 Research Methodology3.1 Research Process3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size Estimation3.5 Forecast Model4 Market Dynamics4.1 Drivers4.2 Restraints4.3 Opportunities4.4 Mega Trends4.5 Macroeconomic IndicatorsAbout 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Fluoropolymers Market to 2023  Global Analysis and Forecasts by Types, Technologies, Applications and End-User Verticals

Fluoropolymers Market

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3608034-global-fluoropolymers-market-type-ptfe-pvdf-fkm-fep

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/3608034-global-fluoropolymers-market-type-ptfe-pvdf-fkm-fep

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=3608034

WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On  Fluoropolymers Market to 2023  Global Analysis and Forecasts by Types, Technologies, Applications and End-User Verticals.Description:-Global Fluoropolymers Market: Type (PTFE, PVDF, FKM, FEP, ETFE, PCTFE), Application (Paints & Coating, Films, Additives, Tubing, Additives, Others) End Use (Chemical Processing, Construction, Automobile & Transportation, Household) - Forecast Till 2023Market ScenarioThe Fluoropolymer is a kind of chemical compound which is made of the carbon fluoride bonds. It provides one with different properties including stress cracking, mechanical and electrical insulation properties, chemical resistance, thermal resistance, and others. Because of these properties, the fluoropolymers are highly used in various applications, right from coatings to the industrial films. Furthermore, it is also utilized in various household applications, electrical & electronics, construction sectors, and others. The Global Fluoropolymer market is anticipated to reach the value of USD 9,912.5 million by the year 2023. The global market is growing rapidly at a CAGR 6.45% during the valuation period (2017-2023).Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comThere is an increasing demand for the high-quality performance material in the constructional and architectural coatings which is contributing to the growth of the global Fluoropolymer market. Also, there is a growing requirement for the best quality lightweight materials; especially in the automobile industry which is positively adding to the global fluoropolymers market and its growth. Due to its heat resistance properties, the fluoropolymers are found to be suitable for the utilization in the aerospace and semiconductor industry. Furthermore, the increasing consciousness regarding the environmental impacts has made the consumers shift their preference towards the usage of green fluoropolymers, which is projected to boost the market growth. Thus, the growing applications of the fluoropolymers in the different industries are driving the growth of the market during the forecast period.Market SegmentationThe global fluoropolymers market is bifurcated on the basis of type, end use, application, and geography. Based on its type, the market is divided into polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), fluoroelastomers (FKM), ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), fluorinated ethylene-propylene (FEP), polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE), and others. On the basis of its application, the market has been segmented into films, paints & coatings, additives, tubing, and others. The markets end-user industries include chemical processing, electrical & electronics, automotive & transportation, construction, medical, industrial equipment, household, and others. Lastly, based on its geographical demand, the global market has been covered across regions like North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East & Africa.Key PlayersThe list of major industry players in the global fluoropolymers market are Solvay SA(Belgium), DowDupont, Inc (U.S.), Asahi Glass Co, Ltd (Japan), Zeus Industrial Products, Inc. (the U.S), Daikin Industries, Ltd (Japan), 3M (U.S.), Honeywell International Inc. (U.S.), Saint-Gobain S.A. (France), and Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd (India) among others.Enquiry About Report @Table Of Contents  Major Key Points1 Report Prologue2 Market Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope of the Study2.3 List of Assumptions2.4 Market Structure2.5 Key Takeaways3 Market Insights4 Research Methodology4.1 Research Process4.2 Primary Research4.3 Secondary Research4.4 Market Size Estimation4.5 Forecast Model5 Market Dynamics5.1 Introduction5.2 Drivers5.2.1 Growing demand for refrigerants in various end-use industries5.2.2 Expanding Automotive Industry5.2.3 Drivers Impact Analysis5.3 Restraint5.3.1 Stringent Environmental Regulations5.3.2 Restraints Impact Analysis5.4 Opportunity5.4.1 Increasing adoption of fluoropolymers in emerging applications5.5 Trend5.5.1 Introduction of HFCs with low global warming potential6 Market Factor Analysis6.1 Supply Chain Analysis6.1.1 Raw Material Suppliers6.1.2 Fluorochemicals Manufacturers6.1.3 Distribution Channel6.1.4 End-Use Industry6.2 Porters Five Forces Model6.2.1 Threat of New Entrants6.2.2 Threat of Rivalry6.2.3 Threat of Substitutes6.2.4 Bargaining Power of Suppliers6.2.5 Bargaining Power of BuyersContinuedBuy 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.Scleritis Market 2022 Top Key Players are Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Bayer AG and Shasun

Scleritis Market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1756

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/scleritis-market-1756

Market Research Future published a Half-Cooked research report on Scleritis Market Research Report - Forecast till 2022  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2022.Get Sample Copy @Pfizer Inc. (U. S.), Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. (U. S.), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Mumbai), Bayer AG (Germany) and Shasun are some of the leading players at the cutting edge of the competition in the market of scleritis, globally.Sclera is the white outer coating of the eye, which help eye to move. Scleritis is the inflammatory disease in which the sclera becomes severely inflamed and red and it may occur in single or both eyes. There are various types of scleritis depends upon the location of the inflammation such as diffuse sclerosis, nodular sclerosis, and necrotizing scleritis. The symptom associated with scleritis is pain in eye movement, excessive tearing, decreased vision, blurry vision, sensitivity to light, deep-seated headaches, eye irritation, and double vision. It is more common in women as it is associated with autoimmune diseases, whereas men are more likely to have infectious scleritis than women. It can be diagnosed ultrasonography, complete blood count, and biopsy and many more.Global Scleritis Market  OverviewThe global scleritis market is showing the significant growth; mainly due to increase in the patient population and also companies are showing much interest toward the scleritis market, as they feel there are huge opportunities and gaps between the market demand and supply of effective treatments. Thus, companies are showing more interest in research and development activities for introducing best treatment that meets the requirement of market. These inventions help companies to meet the requirement of the market and maximize the profit share across the globe. Moreover, they have focused on developing countries such as India, China, Malaysia, and Brazil. Government of these regions is more focus to adopt better treatment for their citizen. There has been a growing awareness within the region that improving population health will lead the development of a society. Most of the countries are reforming the health care system with a special focus on the poor or disadvantaged groups, who face financial barriers to have access to health care services and are exposed to financial risk due to illness. Thus, government trying to introduce cheapest treatment or a way out to reimburse the cost of treatment. Most of the reforms appeal to social health insurance as the main approach to improve health care systems so as to protect the poor. In both scenarios it is the profitable situation for the Market players. Many companies such as Pfizer Inc. (U. S.), Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. (U. S.), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Mumbai), Bayer AG (Germany) and Shasun working together to minimize the gap between demand and supply of the market.Access Report Details @Global Scleritis Market - Regional AnalysisThe market of scleritis is much higher in the Americas region. There are several factors for tremendous growth of the scleritis market in this region such as growing patient population, presence of major market players, and increasing awareness about scleritis. The government has more focus towards research and development for introducing the best treatment for their population.Europe is also considering the huge market for scleritis players, owing to present of huge population affected by the disease. Government is more focused to educate their public in order to minimize the patient population about scleritis.The market of scleritis is growing rapidly in Asia Pacific region, owing to unhealthy life balance, disturb immune system. These are the factor which leads the scleritis affected patient population in this region. Most of the countries of this region have common lifestyle and economic conditions. Government of developing countries within this region are more focusing towards new technology and advance treatment option, thus more research and development programs are initiated for the development of better treatment. Countries such as India and China are more focused market for major market players owing to the huge patient population suffering with disease, and growing purchasing power as compare to other countries in this region. Japan is a well-developed country and have well established healthcare system and technology, whereas developing countries are still focusing on better technology for the treatment, this gap between the developed and developing countries will present significant growth opportunities for the scleritis market players in the next few years.There are huge opportunities and challenges for improving health systems in the Middle East and Africa region. Countries of Africa region are seeking to address simultaneously a range of infectious diseases. However, the health systems that are trying to cope with these challenges are underdeveloped relative to those in other regions.Brief Toc:1 Report Prologue2 Introduction3 Research Methodology4 Market Dynamics5 Market Factor Analysis6 Scleritis Market By Types8 Scleritis Market By Treatment9 Scleritis Market By RegionAbout 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Crane Market 2018-2024 Revenue, Trend By Regional Players Konecranes, Terex Corporation, Liebherr Group, XCMG Group, Welbilt Inc, Komatsu Ltd.

Crane Market

https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2398

https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2398

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/crane-market

https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2960

https://www.gminsights.com/

Crane Market is expected to exceed USD 20 billion by 2024. Increasing construction spending across the globe is a major factor driving the crane market growth. Shifting focus of the government entities on infrastructure development coupled with growing consumer preference for aesthetic and luxurious constructions will drive the industry growth. Urbanization, environmental impacts, and population growth have surged the need for sustainable and smart infrastructure solutions.The construction and transportation sectors are the major segments contributing toward the adoption of mobile cranes with many on-going projects.Request for a sample copy of this report @In the Crane Market, the oil & gas industry accounted for around 20% of the overall revenue and is anticipated to grow at a steady rate over the forecast timespan. The rise in the adoption of mobile Crane Market is expected to accelerate owing to the expansion in the cement plants and infrastructure development.Several major economies across the globe are contributing toward the industry growth, with construction and retrofit market growing at a significantly high pace. The crane market will witness a growing demand for the upgrading of mobile cranes in the coming years.In addition, the growing demand for fuel-efficient and advanced cranes is rapidly gaining popularity due to their cost-effective performance and a high level of safety. Construction companies prefer using fuel-efficient equipment as it emits less carbon and enables fuel savings.Crane Market, By Product Mobile Crane Truck Loader Crane Rough Terrain Crane All Terrain Crane Crawler Crane Fixed Crane Monorail Crane Stiffleg Crane Tower Crane Gantry CraneMake an Inquiry for purchasing this Report @Growing adoption of mobile and tower cranes for construction activities is accelerating the U.S. crane market growth. Increasing adoption of the cranes was owing to the rise in home construction, nonresidential building, and government construction activities. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the construction spending rose to 0.9 percent in November 2016 by 0.3 percent. The constantly-growing population in the region has resulted in increased investments in the infrastructure development sector. Rapid urbanization in the country is demanding the faster construction of facilities and buildings for the growing population. In addition, the rising government investments in infrastructural operations have provided a potential for the growth of the crane market.Public infrastructure and government utilities in North America will witness a high adoption of cranes owing to the construction of reservoirs, wastewater treatment plants, and power lines across the region thereby providing an impetus to the crane market.In Europe, the focus of the crane manufacturers is on implementing new safety standards relating to the assembly and dismantling of the machine. An important product development issue across the entire range of crane types is the reduction of diesel engine exhaust emissions in compliance with Stage V of the EU Regulation on emission limits for mobile machinery. Europe accounted for the second largest revenue in crane market owing to the growing usage of cranes across the construction and oil & gas industries. However, the European market was hurt by changes in subsidies in the wind power market in Germany, resulting in fewer crawler crane sales.Browse Report Summery @Key players participating in crane market include Palfinger AG Terex Corporation, Komatsu Ltd., Konecranes PLC, Liebherr Group, Tadano, Ltd., XCMG Group, Hitachi Sumitomo Heavy Industries, and Manitowoc among others. The crane industry is highly fragmented and competitive in nature owing to the presence of several regional and international players, who are actively investing in R&D and developing technologically-advanced products to sustain in the industry. There is an inclination toward energy-efficient cranes as they help in reducing carbon emissions. Several players are ensuring new product development initiatives to foster the crane market growth.Browse Related Reports:Crawler Crane Market to reach US$ 3 bn by 2024Crawler Crane Market size is set to exceed USD 3 billion by 2024; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. The shipments are expected to grow at a CAGR of over 4%.Increasing utilization of crawler cranes in the energy sector is anticipated to drive the crawler crane market growth. These machines offer heavy lifting operations at the nuclear and renewable energy sites and facilitate the operators in handling the materials efficiently. Several manufacturers have developed energy sector-specific machines that witness a high demand. For instance, Manitowoc has launched a wind power crane, Grove GTK1100, that is used for wind turbine operations such as erection and construction. Additionally, the crawler crane market is witnessing growth opportunities due to the increasing infrastructure projects across the globe.Request for a sample copy of this report @About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone:1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Waste to Energy Market to Witness Huge Growth from 2018-2025 and Focusing on Top Key Players - Sanfeng Covanta, China Everbright, Grandblue, Shanghai Environmental, Shenzhen Energy,

Waste to Energy Market

https://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00012372873/sample

https://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00012372873/discount

https://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00012372873/buying

Waste to Energy Market Overview:Excellence consistency maintains by Reports Web in Research Report in which studies the global Waste to Energy market status and forecast, categorizes and Equipment market value by manufacturers, type, application, and region.Waste to Energy (WTE) facilities worldwide over 6000 to be precised are accounting for a substantial production of electricity, steam and recoveries of metals for recycling annually by combusting tons of municipal solid waste. Conversion of waste to energy is becoming a key component of integrated waste management strategies across the globe. The ever increasing waste volumes are prompting the governing agencies to revisit their approach to waste management. Both political and environmental attention is turning towards the development of cost effective and sustainable solutions for WTE. The Waste to Energy market has been showing positive trends in recent times gaining the prominence on the global platform.Get Access to Download Report Sample:Major Key Players of the Waste to Energy Market are:Sanfeng Covanta, China Everbright, Grandblue, Shanghai Environmental, Shenzhen Energy, Tianjin TedaThe research report titled, Waste to Energy market has adopted a systematic way to evaluate the dynamics of the overall market. It provides a comprehensive study comprising of a top-to-bottom research on the market dynamics, including growth drivers, challenges, threats, and potential growth opportunities, with a key focus on not only the global market but also the regional market. In a chapter-wise format, the report evaluated the global supply and demand trends in the global market, including the significant insights and graphical representation.Waste to Energy market was valued at Million US$ in 2018 and is projected to reach Million US$ by 2023, at a CAGR of during the forecast period. In this study, 2018 has been considered as the base year and 2018 to 2023 as the forecast period to estimate the market size for Waste to Energy.Major Types of Waste to Energy covered are:Thermal TechnologiesBiochemical ReactionsGet Discount on this Report:Regional Waste to Energy Market (Regional Output, Demand & Forecast by Countries):-USAEuropeJapanChinaIndiaSouth East AsiaThe research report studies the historical, present, and future performance of the global market. The report further evaluates the present competitive landscape, prevalent business models, and the likely advancements in offerings by significant players in the coming years.Important Features that are under offering & key highlights of the report: Detailed overview of Waste to Energy market Changing market dynamics of the industry In-depth market segmentation Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value Recent industry trends and developments Competitive landscape of Waste to Energy market Strategies of key players and product offerings Potential and niche segments/regions exhibiting promising growth A neutral perspective towards Waste to Energy market performance Must-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprintView Full Report Description with TOC:Reasons to Purchase Waste to Energy Market Report:1. Current and future of keyword market outlook in the developed and emerging markets.2. Analysis of various perspectives of the market with the help of Porters five forces analysis.3. The segment that is expected to dominate the keyword market.4. Regions that are expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period.5. Identify the latest developments, keyword market shares, and strategies employed by the major market players.Besides, the market study affirms the leading players across the globe in the Waste to Energy market. Their key marketing dispositions and advertising enterprise have been highlighted to offer a clear understanding of the Waste to Energy market.About ReportsWeb:ReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comWomen Health Diagnostics Market 2018 by Top Key Players: Quest Diagnostics, Abbott, BD, Roche, GE Healthcare, Biomrieux, Philips, DIALAB, Fujifilm, GenMark, Hologic, Luminex, Nova Biomedical, PerkinElmer, Siemens Healthineers

Women Health Diagnostics Market

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1290496?utm_source=OPR&utm_medium=Abhijeet

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/1290496?utm_source=OPR&utm_medium=Abhijeet

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-women-health-diagnostics-market-2018-by-manufacturers-countries-type-and-application-forecast-to-2023

https://www.marketstudyreport.com

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog

Market Study Report Add New 2018-2023 Global Women Health Diagnostics Market Report to its research database presenting an informative study covering the market with detailed analysis. The Global Women Health Diagnostics market research report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of global Industry.This report studies the Women Health Diagnostics market status and outlook of Global and major regions, from angles of players, countries, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top players in global market, and splits the Women Health Diagnostics market by product type and applications/end industries.Request a sample of this premium report titled atMarket Segment by Companies, this report coversQuest Diagnostics, Abbott, BD, Roche, GE Healthcare, Biomrieux, Philips, DIALAB, Fujifilm, GenMark, Hologic, Luminex, Nova Biomedical, PerkinElmer, Siemens HealthineersWomen's experience of health and disease differ from those of men, due to unique biological, social and behavioural conditions. Biological differences vary all the way from phenotype to the cellular, and manifest unique risks for the development of ill health.Rising prevalence of infectious diseases in women coupled with the increasing incidences of the chronic & lifestyle disorders are the key factors driving the global women health diagnostics market.The global Women Health Diagnostics market is valued at xx million in 2017 and is expected to reach xx million by the end of 2023, growing at a CAGR of xx% between 2017 and 2023.The Asia-Pacific will occupy for more market share in following years, especially in China, also fast growing India and Southeast Asia regions.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report atNorth America, especially The United States, will still play an important role which cannot be ignored. Any changes from United States might affect the development trend of Women Health Diagnostics.Europe also play important roles in global market, with market size of xx million in 2017 and will be xx million in 2023, with a CAGR of xx%.Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (United States, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversBreast cancer testingCervical cancer testingOsteoporosis testingPregnancy & fertility testingOvarian cancer testingInfectious disease testingPrenatal genetic screening and carrier testingUltrasound testsHIV testingMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoDiagnostic and imaging centersHospitals and clinicsHome careTable of Contents1 Women Health Diagnostics Market Overview2 Manufacturers Profiles3 Global Women Health Diagnostics Market Competition, by Players4 Global Women Health Diagnostics Market Size by Regions5 North America Women Health Diagnostics Revenue by Countries6 Europe Women Health Diagnostics Revenue by Countries7 Asia-Pacific Women Health Diagnostics Revenue by Countries8 South America Women Health Diagnostics Revenue by Countries9 Middle East and Africa Revenue Women Health Diagnostics by Countries10 Global Women Health Diagnostics Market Segment by Type11 Global Women Health Diagnostics Market Segment by Application12 Global Women Health Diagnostics Market Size Forecast (2018-2023)18-2023)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixComplete report atAbout 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:Global Semiconductor Dicing Machines Market Brief Analysis by Top Key Players - ACCRETECH (Tokyo Seimitsu's brand), Synova, Disco, IPG Photonics Corporation and More

Semiconductor Dicing Machines Market, Semiconductor Dicing Machines Market Trends, Semiconductor Dicing Machines Market Growth, Se

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1356640/?utm_source=open&utm_medium=Deepak

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/1356640/?utm_source=open&utm_medium=Deepak

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-semiconductor-dicing-machines-market-growth-2018-2023/?utm_source=open&utm_medium=Deepak

https://www.marketstudyreport.com

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog

Market Study Report adds global Semiconductor Dicing Machines market report that gives meticulous investigation of current scenario of the market size, share, demand, growth, trends, companies active in the industry and forecasts for the coming 2023.This report presents a comprehensive overview, market shares, and growth opportunities of Semiconductor Dicing Machines market by product type, application, key manufacturers and key regions and countries.Semiconductor Dicing Machines is used in semiconductor manufacturing process, cutting wafers into individual semiconductor chips with blades or lasers.Request a sample of this premium report at:According to this study, over the next five years the Semiconductor Dicing Machines market will register a xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ xx million by 2023, from US$ xx million in 2017. In particular, this report presents the global market share (sales and revenue) of key companies in Semiconductor Dicing Machines business, shared in Chapter 3.This study considers the Semiconductor Dicing Machines value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments:Segmentation by product type: breakdown data from 2013 to 2018, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2023 in section 11.7.Fully Automatic TypeSemi-Automatic TypeSegmentation by application: breakdown data from 2013 to 2018, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2023 in section 11.8.Pureplay FoundriesIDMsThis report also splits the market by region: Breakdown data in Chapter 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.Americas, United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, APAC, China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, India, Australia, Europe, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, Spain, Middle East & Africa, Egypt, South Africa, Israel, Turkey, GCC Countries and MoreThe report also presents the market competition landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the major vendor/manufacturers in the market. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in in Chapter 3. ACCRETECH (Tokyo Seimitsu's brand) Synova Disco IPG Photonics Corporation...In addition, this report discusses the key drivers influencing market growth, opportunities, the challenges and the risks faced by key manufacturers and the market as a whole. It also analyzes key emerging trends and their impact on present and future development.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at:Research objectivesTo study and analyze the global Semiconductor Dicing Machines consumption (value & volume) by key regions/countries, product type and application, history data from 2013 to 2017, and forecast to 2023.To understand the structure of Semiconductor Dicing Machines market by identifying its various subsegments.Focuses on the key global Semiconductor Dicing Machines manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the sales volume, value, market share, market competition landscape, SWOT analysis and development plans in next few years.To analyze the Semiconductor Dicing Machines with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market.To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks).To project the consumption of Semiconductor Dicing Machines submarkets, with respect to key regions (along with their respective key countries).To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market.To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.Table of Contents2018-2023 Global Semiconductor Dicing Machines Consumption Market Report1 Semiconductor Dicing Machines Market Overview2 Manufacturers Profiles3 Global Semiconductor Dicing Machines Market Competition, by Players4 Global Semiconductor Dicing Machines Market Size by Regions5 North America Semiconductor Dicing Machines Revenue by Countries6 Europe Semiconductor Dicing Machines Revenue by Countries7 Asia-Pacific Semiconductor Dicing Machines Revenue by Countries8 South America Semiconductor Dicing Machines Revenue by Countries9 Middle East and Africa Revenue Semiconductor Dicing Machines by Countries10 Global Semiconductor Dicing Machines Market Segment by Type11 Global Semiconductor Dicing Machines Market Segment by Application12 Global Semiconductor Dicing Machines Market Size Forecast (2018-2023)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixMore Details on this Report: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:Car Sharing Market Technological Growth Analysis On Car2Go, Autolib, Cambio CarSharing, Orix Corporation, Lyft, Inc., and Zipcar, Inc.

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/289538/?utm_source=Open&utm_medium=DC

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/289538/?utm_source=Open&utm_medium=DC

https://bit.ly/2BWitK8

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/data-center-cooling-market?utm_source=RR&utm_medium=DC

https://www.marketstudyreport.com

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog

Global Car Sharing Market Size, Status and Forecast 2024 provides Market information about Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application. This Industry report also states Company Profile, sales, Car Sharing Market revenue and price, market share, market growth and gross margin by regions.In the coming years, the car sharing market is estimated to expand relatively swiftly owing to increasing traffic congestion on roads coupled with economic benefits of renting a car compared to the total cost of ownership. For instance, for people who need a car infrequently and for short travels, renting is a better option than purchasing in terms of cost. It can be aptly stated however, that the car sharing market has experienced momentum owing to the presence of distinguished players operating across myriad geographies. In Europe for example, some of the key players include DriveNow, Car2Go, and Flinkster, while prominent companies partaking in North America car sharing market share include DriveNow and Zipcar. The China car sharing market boasts of PPzuche and EVCard while Park24 and Orix offer car sharing services in Japan. According to industry experts, the car sharing market is anticipated to join the ranks of leading verticals that have made their presence felt across the multibillion-dollar worth business cosmos.Request a sample of this premium report at:Car sharing is gradually gaining ground in major urban areas in both the developed and the developing economies. Currently, APAC is being touted as one of the biggest markets, owing to the contribution of leading contenders such as China, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan, with approximately 2.3 million users and roughly 33,000 vehicles. In a recent turn of events, Toyota Motor Corp and Daimler AG reportedly declared their intentions to launch mobility services in Paris next year, in a bid to outcompete Renault SA which has already started rolling out car sharing services in the French capital. Lately, it has been observed that automakers across the world are venturing into mobility services as the transition toward car sharing has changed the traditional vehicle ownership scenario. Meanwhile, sources cite that Daimlers Car2Go would be launched in Paris prior to Toyota.Car Sharing Market is projected to surpass USD 11 billion by 2024. Increasing initiatives by the government to increase the usage of these services are expected to be one of the major factors driving the car sharing market growth. In July 2017, the ministry of transport of China drafted a policy to provide incentives to the users of these services, such as preferential parking slots & rates. Increasing government support is encouraging the implementation of these services with the traditional transportation modes. For instance, the local public transport operator in Brussels, STIB has partnered with Cambio CarSharing to facilitate the integration of these services with public transportation, thus positively impacting the car sharing market in the country.Car sharing market is projected to witness growth due to the benefits experienced by the users such as reduction in costs incurred including the purchase of vehicles, parking, insurance, fuel, maintenance, etc. The users can avoid the fixed costs of ownership by accessing the vehicles on the pay-per-use basis. Furthermore, the environmental benefits due to traffic congestion are attracting customers to these services. In March 2014, Paris imposed a partial vehicle ban due to persistent air pollution above the stipulated European standards. During this time, the city has granted access to only car sharing and public transport vehicles.Car sharing market in business applications is expected to witness growth, due to advantages such as flexibility for employees and reduction in fleet management costs. These services allow employees of the organization access to a large fleet of vehicles and flexibility of booking vehicles as & when needed. These services allow the fleet managers to streamline fleet operations and make an optimal use of vehicles. Furthermore, these services allow the organizations to save more by reducing total cost of mobility by about 30%.Some of the key vendors in the car sharing market are Car2Go, Autolib, Cambio CarSharing, Orix Corporation, Lyft, Inc., and Zipcar, Inc. These companies are constantly devising strategies such as lowering fares and offering promotional discounts to remain competitive in the industry. Furthermore, the industry is characterized by strong competition among both global and regional players.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at:Increasing competition from other mobility services, such as ride-hailing, and car rental, are expected to challenge the car sharing market during the forecast timespan. The perceived benefits of these models such as more reduction in traffic and pollution are encouraging the consumers to use these services often. Furthermore, the vendors in the industry are increasingly providing low-cost ride-sharing services, threatening the car sharing market growth.Europe car sharing market is expected to witness a significant growth due to the increasing awareness regarding these services among people and increasing government support. Under Initiativa Car Sharing, the government of Italy provides an extensive support to the players in the industry including incentives for drivers such as free parking in city centers and access to low emission zones. London Municipality, in association with the Transport for London (TfL), has introduced Car Clubs Strategy to support local clubs to penetrate the industry. The local authorities actively promote the use of these services and their benefits to the consumers.Complete report for 2017-2024 on Car Sharing market is now available atRelated Report:World Data Center Cooling Market Research Report 2024 (Covering USA, Europe, China, Japan, India and etc)Data Center Cooling research report is added by Market Study report by covering all major market aspects. The report also touches the key scenarios like top players, competition, types, applications, regions, recent developments and future market predictions.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 LLC.4 North Main Street,Selbyville, Delaware 19975USAPhone: 1-302-273-0910US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:Blog:BEAUTY DEVICE PRODUCT MARKET SEGMENTATION, ANALYSIS, GROWTH, FORECAST WITH KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., YA-MAN LTD, MTG CO. LTD, CAROL COLE COMPANY, LOREAL SA, ETC.

BEAUTY DEVICE PRODUCT MARKET

https://bit.ly/2yk6AZg

https://www.blueweaveconsulting.com/beauty-device-market/

https://www.blueweaveconsulting.com

According to a new market report published by BlueWeave Consulting, The Global Beauty Device Market was valued at USD 31.26 billion in 2017 and is projected to expand at a CAGR of 19.14% from 2018 to 2024, by value, reaching around USD 106.31 billion by the end of the forecast period. According to the report, North America was the largest contributor in terms of revenue to global beauty device market in 2017.Growing hormonal disorders leading to abnormal hair loss and hair growth is driving the global beauty device market.Due to increasing exposure to pollution skin diseases, skin diseases are common in modern society and it is ever increasing. This is causing papules, hives, warts etc. Other factors contributing to skin diseases are excessive alcohol consumption and consumption of tobacco. Acne, hyperpigmentation, depigmentation, psoriasis, freckles, deep wrinkles, atopic dermatitis and melisma are some of the common skin problems.Increase in the level of disposable income across the globe has led to a high spending on personal and beauty care products and devices. Rise in GDP per capita income and high disposable income has led to increasing spending power of the Asian population to purchase various beauty devices, which further drives the growth of the global market.The key driver for the global beauty device market is rise in appearance consciousness consumers worldwide. Major aspect of peoples life is engrossed by social media. This in turn has attracted people towards beauty devices to enhance their appearance. For example the technological advancements in beauty devices with presence of laser treatments for skin lightening and tightening in short span of time will generate higher market revenue over the forecast period.Get an Exclusive Christmas Discount on this Report@Scope of the ReportThe global market for beauty device is segmented by type of devices, application, and geography. The type is further segmented into hair removal devices, cleansing devices, acne devices, light/led therapy and photo rejuvenation devices, oxygen and steamer devices, hair growth devices, skin dermal rollers, cellulite reduction devices and others. The application is further segment into salon, spa, at home and others.Geographically, the global beauty device market is bifurcated into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World. North America beauty device market was the most prominent market because beauty device industry is one the major revenue contributor within the manufacturing industries. Thus, the demands for beauty device products, like hair removal devices, cleansing devices, acne devices, light/LED therapy, etc will generate higher revenue returns over the forecast period.Competitive DynamicsMajor industry players in global beauty device market are adopting different strategic initiatives such as mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, and collaborations for strategic expansion in the beauty device market. For instance, In January 2017, LOreal signed an agreement with Valeant Pharmaceuticals to acquire; its the skincare brands including CeraVe, AcneFree, and Ambi for a consideration of USD 1.3 billion in cash. The acquisition is aimed to expand LOreals Active cosmetics division.Market SegmentationBy TypeBy ApplicationBy RegionBrowse full Research Report@Contact Us:info@blueweaveconsulting.comPhone Number: 18666586826About BlueWeave Consulting & Research Pvt Ltd. (BWC)BlueWeave Consulting provides a full scope of business intelligence solution for solving your toughest challenges. BWC is an emerging global expert & pioneer in the market research and provision of exclusive market INTEL. We optimize your decision making by equipping your industry with an accurate & better market research according to your industry demands through our professionally designed qualitative & quantitative research methods. Our trendy & efficient sample collection methods, integrated data solutions as well as methodologies certainly make us a better partner that you can rely on. With collective experience in the varied fields of retail, market research and reporting, we provide the business insight and business practices that would give the required impetus for your companys growth.GD-69, Sector G, East Kolkata Twp,Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) Market  2025 Forecasts by United States, Europe, China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan

SDMR

http://www.supplydemandmarketresearch.com/home/contact/93146?ref=Sample-and-Brochure&toccode=SDMREL93146

http://www.supplydemandmarketresearch.com/home/toc_publisher/93146?code=SDMREL93146

The Global Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) Market status and forecast, categorizes the global Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in United States, Europe, China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and other regions.The major manufacturers covered in this reportAdeka Corporation(Japan)Aixtron SE(Germany)Applied Materials Inc(US)ASM International NV(Nertherlands)IHI Corporation(Japan)Lam Research Corporation(US)Plasma-Therm(US)Denton Vacuum(US)Richter Precision Inc(US)Tokyo Electron Limited(Japan)Veeco Instruments Inc(US)Ulvac Inc(Japan)Intevac Inc(US)CVD Equipment Corporation(US)Praxair Surface Technologies(US)Buhler AG(Switzerland)Oerlikon Balzers(Liechtenstein)Oxford Instruments(UK)Singulus Technologies AG(Germany)Geographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGet Sample of Premium Report @We can also provide the customized separate regional or country-level reports, for the following regions:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & AfricaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoAtomic Layer CVDLaser Induced CVDOrganometallic CVDPlasma Enhanced CVDPlasma Assisted CVDLow Pressure CVDOthersOn 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, includingMicroelectronicsData StorageSolar ProductsCutting ToolsMedical EquipmentOthersBrowse Complete Report Details @The study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025);Focuses on the key Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future.Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategiesAbout us:SupplyDemandMarketResearch.com have a strong network of high powered and experienced global consultants who have about 10+ years of experience in the specific industry to deliver quality research and analysis.Having such an experienced network, our services not only cater to the client who wants the basic reference of market numbers and related high growth areas in the demand side, but also we provide detailed and granular information using which the client can definitely plan the strategies with respect to both supply and demand side.Canada Office:302-20 Misssisauga Valley, Missisauga,L5A 3S1, TorontoGlobal +1-778-686-7521Email sales@supplydemandmarketresearch.comThe invisible touch, the invisible feel of invisible cotton quilts has led the Better Business Bureau to give a business with a Salem address an F rating.

Amelia Cotton Quilt Co. is a scam, the consumer rating services said Tuesday, and the phony business has been scamming consumers across the country during the holidays.

Better Business Bureaus Pacific Northwest wing has processed hundreds of complaints from consumers who said they bought a cotton quilt but havent received anything from the alleged business. More than two dozen reviewers posted comments on the BBBs website describing losing out on anywhere from $65 to more than $200 in quilts.

There is no business registered with that name or any deviation in the state of Oregon. The business is allegedly connected to a home in Northeast Salem.

Remember, purchasing with a credit card can give you more protection against fake businesses that dont deliver, Dawn Johnson, Marketplace Manager for the Better Business Bureau said in a statement. And, always check out retailers at bbb.org before you shop.

The Amelia quilt company snared customers through a Facebook advertisement, which directed shoppers to Ameliacotton10.com. That website is now defunct. A separate website, Ameliaquilt.com, has limited information and says the shop is temporarily closed to process and deliver past orders.

According to the business watchdog group, the scammer is now thought to be using sleepious.co.

BBB added the following names to be wary of:

Weirdo Stuff

Kathleen Quilt

Ducha

Emacotton

Amelia Quilt

Amelia Cotton

Ecrafta

EMA Cotton

Elsie Quilt

Uscrafta

Cotton Blanket

Elsie May Quilt

USA Crafta

ARA Cotton

Umovietee

Joyce Quilt

weirdostuff.net

emmacotton09.com

Amelia-quilt.com

bellaquilt.net

aracotton.com

hellodobo.com

uscrafta.com

emmacotton13.com

bellaquilt.com

emacotton.com

ameliacotton10.com

duhuquilt.com

emastore10.comLONGVIEW, Washington  Can the global campaign to limit climate change benefit from a $2 billion Washington plant making methanol for shipment to Chinas plastic industry?

Yes, according to a study of greenhouse-gas emissions requested by the state Shoreline Hearings Board for the project planned for a 90-acre site at the Port of Kalama, 40 miles from downtown Portland.

The 241-page document concludes that Washington methanol made from cleaner-burning natural gas will slow the growth of a Chinese methanol industry based on more expensive  and much more polluting  coal-based technology. If that happens, global greenhouse-gas emissions could be reduced by an estimated 9.7 million to 12.6 million metric tons annually, which would be the equivalent to the emissions from 2.2 million to 2.7 million cars.

At the end of the day, the more natural gas-based methanol you produce, the more coal-based methanol is displaced,  said Stefan Unnasch, managing director of California-based Life Cycle Associates, which produced the report with funding from project developer NW Innovation Works.

The study addresses an important policy question in an environmental battle that is playing out on a planetary scale. But it has not ended the controversy over building the giant plant along the shores of the Columbia River, a development that would increase, by roughly a third, Washington states annual use of natural gas.

Some say the study seriously underestimates the amount of methane  a potent greenhouse gas  that would be leaked into the atmosphere during the production of British Columbia natural gas and delivery to the Kalama plant. They also find it overstates the prospects for Washington methanol replacing coal-based Chinese methanol and, in turn, the prospects for helping to combat climate change.

It is not possible to say with any degree of certainty that this will displace coal-based methanol, said Peter Erickson, a senior scientist with the Seattle office of the Stockholm Environment Institute. Erickson is a co-author of an analysis released this year that concluded the Kalama methanol plant would result in a net increase in global greenhouse-gas emissions, and thus would be inconsistent with a low-carbon future.

The Life Cycle Associates assessment will be reviewed by the Port of Kalama and Cowlitz County, which are putting together a final environmental-impact statement that also will receive scrutiny from the state Department of Ecology. Project developers hope permits can be finalized in time to break ground in late 2o19 for construction work that is expected to take three years.

The plants big appetite for natural gas has helped to make it a major target of environmentalist groups, which successfully challenged an early permit ruling and are likely to mount more legal challenges in the future. Within Washington state, the plants Kalama operation would have a significant greenhouse-gas footprint, boosting statewide emissions by more than 1 percent.

A Longview hearing last Thursday on the study drew hundreds of people, the vast majority wearing the red shirts of the environmental opposition that includes the Sierra Club and Columbia Riverkeeper. Both groups have fought the Kalama plant as an unwanted expansion of the regions fossil-fuel use at a time they are pushing for more renewable-energy production.

We think this is fundamentally the wrong type of project for Washington and the Columbia River, said Dan Serres, Conservation Director for Columbia Riverkeeper.

The critics also include Kalama Mayor Mike Reuter, who is wary that the plants enormous use of natural gas would strain the pipeline network that feeds the region.

It is too much gas for one company  and that is my biggest concern, said Reuter, who campaigned against the methanol plant in a 2017 election he won with 44 percent of the vote in a three-way race. He said in an interview that he was speaking for himself, not on behalf of the city, where many support the project.

A NW Innovation vice president, Clay Riding, says the natural gas coming from British Canada would roughly equal the amount that Puget Sound Energy delivers to its Western Washington companies. He says the regional pipeline system can handle the gas, which would not all travel some the same route. Some would come in along a north-south route through Western Washington. Other natural gas, also from British Columbia, would come through Eastern Washington and then west through the Columbia River Gorge.

The gas would reach the plant through a proposed 3.1-mile pipeline extension that would be built by Northwest Pipeline.

NW Innovation Works is a joint venture that was formed by CAS Holdings, a spinoff from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which also proposed a plant in Tacoma that was scuttled after fierce opposition and is still considering a plant in Oregon.

NW Innovation first signed a lease with the Port of Kalama in 2014. It would generate tens of millions of dollars in tax revenues over the years, 1,000 construction jobs and 200 permanent jobs. That promised economic boost has generated considerable support as many in the trade unions would like to find more work within Longview and nearby communities such as Kalama.

I worked in this town in the paper industry for several years and unfortunately we dont have a lot of jobs here anymore  so Ive had employment outside of our county, said Cameron Wilkinson, a 35-year old union steamfitter from Kelso. Its been a godsend for this community, and I look forward to this project.

NW Innovation also has received praise from Gov. Jay Inslee , who early on called it one of the most innovative clean-energy projects in the nation.

The push to finalize permits comes as Inslee launches a new legislative effort to reduce the states greenhouse-gas emissions, and the governor has not made many recent public comments on the methanol plant.

Kent Caputo, NW Innovation Works commercial officer, says he has spent time with the governors staff, and the support is still there. Very much so.

A statement from Inslees office said NW Innovation Works is going through a rigorous review and permitting process, we support and have confidence in this process.The second version of Portlands beleaguered community panel formed to help oversee federally ordered police reforms is already off to a rocky start with allegations of a hostile work environment and the resignation of a contractor who was supposed to create "group cohesion."

Brandon Lee didnt show up for the panels first meeting and has since cut ties with the city.

The city granted Lee and his wife, Hun Taing, who run Training 4 Transformation, a $100,000 one-year contract to help support Portlands new Committee on Community-Engaged Policing.

The city has been without community oversight of police reforms for almost two years after the first committee dissolved in acrimony and an exodus of leaders and members. The committee is a key part of the settlement agreement between the city and U.S. Department of Justice that followed federal investigators finding that Portland officers too often used excessive force on people suffering from mental illness. It called for significant changes to police policies, training and oversight.

Training 4 Transformation was one of two firms hired by the city to work as facilitators for the new panel. Tiang and Lee say they turned to civil rights advocacy to build partnerships between communities and police after personally experiencing racial profiling. Lee was born and raised in Oakland, the former home of Portland's new Police Chief Danielle Outlaw.

But before the committee held its first meeting late last month, Lee complained that a committee member was racially hostile to him and urged the city to intervene and address his complaint.

Not satisfied by the citys response, Lee and his wife severed ties with the committee.

On the night of the committees first public meeting, staff from the mayors office denied to The Oregonian/OregonLive that Lees absence was tied to a hostile workplace allegation or that any mediation was involved.

But emails obtained by the newsroom through a public records request show otherwise.

Taing wrote to the mayors staff on Oct. 23, concerned that Lees experience of racism with one of the committee members was not called out. Taing wrote that the city accepted the committee members concerns as if Brandons racist experience did not matter.

Committee member Patrick Nolen, who formerly worked as a community organizer for Sisters of the Road, had questioned city staff when one day of a two-day private retreat for the new citizen group was cut short in mid-October. He asked why.

Brandon J. Lee, who co-founded Training 4 Transformation with his wife, will no longer serve the Portland Committee on Community-Engaged Policing.

The reason he had heard was because it was sunny that day. Nolen wasnt satisfied with that explanation and objected to the facilitators deciding the schedule for the committees retreat and training without input from its members.

Lee called Nolen the next day and the relationship soured even further.

"I felt kind of like he was bullying me and trying to get me to recant my concern about the postponement,'' Nolen wrote to the committees project manager. "He used terms like 'I have won cases against the police in Berkeley and I have trained in this field, you wouldnt understand what we are doing.''

Nolen also said the committee members had prepared to discuss the committees governance that day but the facilitators werent prepared and that adding another day to training to cover the subject was an undue burden.

In turn, Taing complained that Nolens concerns created a hostile work environment for Lee.

As the CEO of T4T, I cannot expect him to continue to play a role in (the committee) until this is confronted and resolved in person, Taing wrote to city staff.

Much like the settlement agreement, we responded empathetically with a mental health lens but were completely silenced on a racial lens, Taing continued.

She also wrote that the committee will lose credibility from the black community if Brandon is out of the picture! and characterized Lee as the glue and hope for people of color in the community to support of the committees work.

Hun Taing, one of the co-founders of Training 4 Transformation, wrote this to the mayor's senior policy advisor on Oct. 23, after Taing's husband and company co-founder Brandon Lee complained of a hostile work environment in his facilitation work with the Committee on Community-Engaged Policing.

The mayors staff tried to bring in the citys Bureau of Human Resources and coordinate a mediation between Nolen and Lee.

On Nov. 19, Nolen indicated to the city he was willing to be involved in a mediation with Lee. Three days later, Lee asked to bring his peer support specialist to any meeting with city staff and Nolen. He also wrote, Mental Health for people of color seems to have taken a backseat while focusing on Patrick.

As the city was dealing with Lee and Taings complaint, Training 4 Transformation also sought more money. On Nov. 20, Nicole Grant, the mayors senior policy adviser, asked other staff if the city could adjust the total amount of the companys contract, hoping to add another 25 percent.

That became moot.

In a Nov. 29 email, the morning after the committees first public meeting, Grant told committee members that Training 4 Transformation would no longer serve as a facilitator.

Grant wrote that she didnt think it was right that Taing or Lee from Training 4 Transformation had shared some of their concerns with other committee members because similar dynamics irreparably harmed the original community panel. That panel disbanded in January 2017 amid internal conflict and frustration in part over lack of feedback from the prior mayor and previous police chiefs.

Grant said Taing acknowledged that Lee no longer was interested in mediation and their company wanted out of the contract.

As of today, they are no longer facilitators for the PCCEP, Grant wrote.

Taing, in a brief interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive, said Monday that we decided it was a good time to part ways.

The company spent most of the $100,000 in the first six months of the contract because Brandon spent a lot of time recruiting the members, Taing said.

Lees concerns about his work environment also were never resolved, she said. I believe the city is supposed to work through all this from a racial equity lens, she said.

I think they could have been more involved in making that very explicit, Taing added.

Grant wrote to committee members last month that she valued Lees and Taings work in helping to form the committee.

The Portland Committee on Community-Engaged Policing was scheduled to hold its second public meeting Monday night.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonianA former owner of two Thai restaurants who fraudulently obtained visas to bring cooks from Thailand to work for him and then compelled them to work long hours with minimal pay was sentenced Tuesday to three years and one month in federal prison.

The prosecution of Paul Jumroon, 55, and his ex-wife, Tanya Jumroon, 59, mark the first forced labor case pursued in federal court in Oregon in recent history, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Hannah Horsley.

The Jumroons owned Curry in a Hurry in Lake Oswego and Teriyaki Thai in Ridgefield, Washington. They manipulated their cooks by exaggerating debt they owed, holding onto their passports and Social Security cards, traveling to and from work with them and subjecting them to verbal abuse in the kitchens, according to prosecutors.

U.S District Judge Anna J. Brown said she struggled with the case, partly because shes unfamiliar with this particular criminal conduct -- what she called "this dark secret'' thats more common in the restaurant industry, which thrives on immigrant labor.

Despite a prosecutors characterization that Paul Jumroon "carefully orchestrated'' a forced labor scheme, the judge said she didnt believe his actions were premeditated but the result of Jumroons "ignorance of the United States laws'' and his drive to succeed economically.

The government sought a three year and 10-month sentence, partly to send a strong message to other small business owners that they cant take advantage of their employees. Paul Jumroons defense lawyer urged probation or home detention.

"What he already endured is significant,'' defense lawyer Kristen Winemiller said, noting he sold his two businesses and his home. "This has been a very shaming and humbling experience.''

After cooks kept leaving the restaurants to work elsewhere, Paul Jumroon traveled to his native Thailand multiple times between 2011 and 2014 to recruit chefs to come to the United States to work for him.

He promised to pay for their travel and obtain special E-2 visas, which are designed for foreign nationals who invest substantial money in a U.S business and allows them to enter the country to develop and work for that business for two years. Jumroon also promised to cover their room and board, according to prosecutors.

The cooks who Jumroon brought to the United States, though, never invested money in the businesses and worked only in the kitchens. Because none could pay the cost of their visas or travel to the United States, Jumroon paid the expenses and forced the cooks to work to reimburse him.

As a result, they were indebted to the Jumroons, prosecutors said. Most couldnt leave because Jumroon held onto their passports and Social Security cards. They worked seven days a week, 12 hours a day. They lived in the Jumroons' Beaverton house, though at times their accommodations were meager. Two men shared a makeshift plywood-made room built in the middle of the Jumroons living room and had to sleep on the floor for months, Horsley said.

The cooks werent given keys to the home and had to travel to and from the restaurants with their boss, Horsley said. Winemiller, though, contested that, saying the cooks knew the key code to the Jumroons' Beaverton home and Jumroon helped some of the cooks learn to drive.

In his restaurant kitchens, Paul Jumroon yelled at cooks, threw kitchen utensils and threatened to send cooks home if they didnt work fast enough, according to a sentencing memo. After one cook ran away, another was given no breaks but was too afraid to complain, the memo said.

"He knows he was intemperate in the kitchen,'' Winemiller said. "He wants things done a certain way.''

Paul Jumroon pleaded guilty in February to forced labor, conspiracy to commit visa fraud and making and subscribing a false federal income tax return in 2013.

"Im sorry for what I did,'' he said, standing before the judge in Portland. "Im sorry to the cooks.''

Paul Jumroon also submitted a video about his life to the judge. In it, he described arriving in the United States in 1995, living in the back room of a laundromat at first and doing machinery work for the optics company Leopold & Stevens Inc. for 15 years before opening his own restaurants. "Im sorry for not doing everything above board and as I should have,'' he said in the video. "We were thinking it would be a good opportunity for the cooks and thinking we would all come out good in the end.''

Sentencing guidelines called for 46 to 57 months in prison, but Brown said she took into account Jumroons age, lack of a prior criminal history, that he accepted responsibility early for his crimes and is paying the victims full restitution for their losses.

Paul Jumroon has agreed to pay $131,390.95 in restitution to four victims and $120,384 to the Internal Revenue Service for taxes due, for a total restitution of $251,774.95.

When the sentencing hearing was done, the 55-year-old walked over to his family members and thanked them for supporting him. His daughter, who is in medical school, broke down in tears, as her father wrapped his arms around her, repeatedly trying to assure her, "Thats OK. Im fine.''

His former wife pleaded guilty to benefiting from forced labor, an offense thats rarely prosecuted. Tanya Jumroon is set to be sentenced Wednesday. Prosecutors are seeking a probationary sentence for her.

Labor trafficking cases arent easy to identify because victims often are unwilling to report the crime and are wary of law enforcement or dont understand the law in the United States, Horsley said. They also may be isolated because they dont know English or face other cultural barriers, she said.

Between 2009 and 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice prosecuted an average of 24 forced labor cases a year.

The case against the Jumroons resulted from a tip to the U.S. Department of Justices Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., which was forwarded to federal prosecutors in Oregon in 2015.

Investigators from the FBI, the Homeland Security Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S Department of States Diplomatic Security Services sifted through employment, financial and travel records, conducted surveillance and worked with community-based organizations and interpreters to help contact and interview the victims. Federal, state and local investigators collaborated through the Oregon Foreign-Born Human Trafficking Task Force.

The collaboration is crucial because these cases are so hard to identify and victims are hesitant to come forward, Horsley said.

To obtain the E-2 visas for his cooks, Paul Jumroon identified fake investors and used financial scams to mask the absence of investments, according to the government. The couple also engaged in a cash-skimming scheme, in which they didnt report their restaurants cash income.

Unlike other human trafficking crimes, forced labor doesnt require violence. In this case, the Jumroons engaged in non-violent coercion, according to Horsley.

Images of people restrained by chains or kept in cages isnt the norm, and is a myth were trying to debunk, the prosecutor said.

The federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which passed 20 years ago, was adopted to recognize modern-day trafficking, which is much more subtle, Horsley said.

Anyone identified as a victim of a severe form of trafficking, such as forced labor, is entitled to a special visa that allows a nonimmigrant to remain in the United States for four years after theyve been identified as a victim. One of the main purposes of this T-visa is to ensure the victims remain available to law enforcement to assist in ongoing investigations, Horsley said.

The laws of the United States are in place to protect workers rights and ensure theyre treated with basic fairness and human dignity, Horsley said. You cant circumvent that, whether its a restaurant or a cleaning service, construction, agriculture or the fishing industry.

Neighbors, co-workers, building inspectors may be best suited to identify forced labor cases. Potential signs may include: workers working and living with their trafficker, workers unable to hold onto their own identification and a boss constantly speaking on behalf of their employee, Horsley said.

Prosecutors encourage anyone who may have information on other forced labor cases to contact the National Human Trafficking Response Centers tip line at 1-888-373-7888. Callers can be anonymous.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonianControversy continues to grow in the wake of Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlsons comments about immigration, as an increasing number of companies have pulled their advertising from his show, Tucker Carlson Tonight. Among the sponsors who have stopped airing ads -- at least for the moment -- during Tucker Carlson Tonight is Bowflex, the Vancouver-based fitness equipment company.

In a statement printed on the Hollywood Reporter site, Bowflexs parent company, Nautilus Inc., confirmed that the company has pulled its ads from the Tucker Carlson Tonight show.

The statement continues: We buy media broadly across many news networks, and do not target ads based on specific programs or hosts. However, we have requested that Fox News remove our ads from airing in conjunction with Tucker Carlson Tonight in the future. Aside from our decision to remove our ads from his show, we have no other association or affiliation with Mr. Carlson.

Weve emailed Nautilus asking for further comment, and will share if we hear back from the Vancouver company.

Update: We have received an email statement from Bowflex, in response to our earlier query. The statement reads: Bowflex buys media broadly across many networks. Fox News, like many of the news networks on which we advertise, is responsible for determining the time and placement of our commercials. Our advertisements will continue to air across other Fox News network programming, but have been redirected from Tucker Carlson Tonight to keep the conversation focused on helping people achieve their health and fitness goals.

As the Wrap and other sources are reporting, companies that are not advertising on Tucker Carlson Tonight include NerdWallet, Minted, Pacific Life Insurance and Ancestry.com.

A message from Pacific Life: pic.twitter.com/bDq9hzia53  Pacific Life (@pacificlife) December 14, 2018

The advertiser exits have followed an episode of Carlsons show last Thursday, in which the host talked about Central American migrants at the U.S. border, commenting that illegal immigration makes the U.S. dirtier.

Carlson addressed the backlash to his remarks on his show Monday evening. He again aired the clip from his Thursday show, in which he said that rather than immigrants who possess the skills needed to work in an evolving economy, instead were getting waves of people with high school educations or less. Nice people, no one doubts that, but as an economic matter this is insane. Its indefensible, so nobody even tries to defend it. Instead our leaders demand that you shut up and accept this. We have a moral obligation to admit the worlds poor, they tell us, even if it makes our own country poorer and dirtier and more divided.

Monday night, Carlson again stated that illegal immigration has been harmful to the environment and stated that he had no plans to change his position. Were not intimidated," Carlson said, and we plan to try to say whats true until the last day. An on-air message appeared at the bottom of the screen, which read: We wont stop telling the truth and any attack on this show is an attack on you, the audience.

In a report on the CNBC site, a Fox News Channel spokesperson shared a statement that said: It is a shame that left wing advocacy groups, under the guise of being supposed media watchdogs weaponize social media against companies in an effort to stifle free speech. We continue to stand by and work with our advertisers through these unfortunate and unnecessary distractions.

Update: On Tuesday afternoon, Fox News emailed a statement regarding the situation. The statement reads: "We cannot and will not allow voices like Tucker Carlson to be censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts from the likes of Moveon.org, Media Matters and Sleeping Giants. Attempts were made last month to bully and terrorize Tucker and his family at their home. He is now once again being threatened via Twitter by far left activist groups with deeply political motives. While we do not advocate boycotts, these same groups never target other broadcasters and operate under a grossly hypocritical double standard given their intolerance to all opposing points of view.Correction Appended

Updated 2:43 p.m.

A man viewed as a fixture in Oregons white nationalist movement was hospitalized Monday after an altercation with antifascist activists in downtown Corvallis.

Jimmy Marr, known for driving a pickup truck around the state with racist and anti-Semitic messages emblazoned on the sides , was admitted to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, hospital staff told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Corvallis police on Tuesday said he suffered from a medical event during the incident. His condition is unknown, and he did not respond to phone calls or an email seeking comment.

A fight involving Marr, a 65-year-old Springfield resident, and five other people erupted on Northwest Monroe Avenue near Third and Fourth streets just before 4 p.m., police said.

Marrs truck, painted with a large swastika and the slogan Nazi is just the N-word for white men, could be seen parked on a section of Monroe blocked off by police, the Corvallis Gazette-Times reported.

Corvallis police Lt. Dan Duncan said four people were jailed on suspicion of disorderly conduct and later released. Police on Tuesday identified the suspects as Connor Butler, 19, Ralph Bolger Jr., 64, Albert Grigorov, 22, and Noah Orduna, 23.

Duncan, a police spokesman, said he did not know what prompted the fight.

A crowdfunding campaign began circulating on social media Monday night to support the Corvallis antifascist community who may have been injured or arrested in the incident.

Marr has been linked with Andrew Oswalt, a graduate student at Oregon State University, who is currently serving 40 days behind bars.

Last month, Oswalt was convicted in Benton County on multiple counts of first-degree intimidation, a hate crime, for plastering racist bumper stickers on cars parked outside a Corvallis food co-op in 2017.

Marr publicly supported Oswalt in the months after his January arrest, appeared several times at OSU in his pickup truck.

Oswalt was transferred to the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Center in The Dalles on Dec. 13, one day after he was sentenced, said Benton County Undersheriff Greg Ridler.

Ridler said the county has a contract with the facility, which takes Benton County inmates who have been convicted and sentenced.

In addition to his infamous truck, Marr has drawn attention  and anger  for hanging banners with pro-white messages off freeway overpasses.

During Holocaust Remembrance Day in April, a small group in Nazi regalia gathered outside Marr's home.

In an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive last year, Marr advocated for the extermination of Jewish people.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported where Andrew Oswalt was serving his sentence. He was transferred to the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Center on Dec. 13.BY MARGARET SULLIVAN  (c) 2018, The Washington Post

Lies are coming at the American public in torrents -- raining down on them everywhere they turn.

A report prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee, and obtained by The Washington Post, made that breathtakingly clear over the weekend. The intentional spreading of disinformation on every platform -- from Facebook all the way to PayPal -- should frighten everyone who cares about democracy.

One place that truth can prevail is in the reality-based news media, where editorial judgment comes into play.

That means it's more important than ever not to give falsehoods a megaphone there.

Which brings us to Chris Cuomo's 39-minute interview on Thursday with Kellyanne Conway, President Donald Trump's top dissembler.

It should have been no surprise that Conway -- who coined the immortal phrase alternative facts in early 2017 -- blithely spun her way through the interview.

In her usual never-been-wrong tone, she waved away the undeniable facts about the pre-election hush-money payments made to two women, Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, who say they had been sexually involved with Trump.

"Christopher, in April of 2018, Donald J. Trump, the president, and everybody else were told about the payments," she said.

This, of course, is straight-up false -- and Conway knows it, which makes it a lie. After all, in an audio recording from August 2016 (made public this summer), Trump and his then-fixer/lawyer Michael Cohen are discussing one of the payments.

A New York Times fact-check branded Conway's statement false: Her assertion "that the president did not know about these payments until this year is not credible, given the audio recording, news reports and statements from Mr. Trump's current lawyer."

Even George Conway, Conways husband (and frequent political opposite), seemed to fact-check his wife. He tweeted: Given that Trump has repeatedly lied about the Daniels and McDougal payments -- and given that he lies about virtually everything else, to the point that his own former personal lawyer described him as a f****ing liar -- why should we take his word over that of federal prosecutors?

Cuomo's CNN colleagues smacked him around, with Don Lemon leading the way, and with Brian Stelter devoting time to the Cuomo/Conway shoutfest on his "Reliable Sources" show Sunday.

Perhaps most absurd among Conway's declarations was her objection to Cuomo's referring to Trump as a liar, although she wouldn't repeat the term. "You're saying he's not telling the truth. That's a slur. That's a slur."

It may not be pretty to hear, but it's undeniable: Trump very, very often doesn't tell the truth. (The falsehood count is more than 6,000, says The Post's Fact Checker.)

No, it's not a slur to state the facts. But it is a shame to give liars a megaphone. So it's time (actually, well past time) for the mainstream media to enter the No Kellyanne Zone. And that goes far beyond banning her, or any particular adviser, from cable interview shows.

The news media continue - even now when they should know better - to be addicted to "both sides" journalism. In the name of fairness, objectivity and respect for the office of the presidency, they still seem to take Trump - along with his array of deceptive surrogates - at his word, while knowing full well that his word isn't good.

When major news organizations publish tweets and news alerts that repeat falsehoods merely because the president uttered them, it's the same kind of journalistic malpractice as offering a prime interview spot to Kellyanne Conway.

This is how NBC News spread the news of Trump's reaction to recent legal developments that were extraordinarily negative - maybe devastating - to him:

NEW: "Totally clears the President. Thank you!" President Trump asserts in a tweet after new Cohen and Manafort case filings.

Reuters and the Associated Press did much the same: "BREAKING," said the AP's tweet: "White House says Cohen, Manafort filings offer nothing new or damaging about Trump." (The AP later deleted its tweet, and explained that it lacked context.)

Citizens, meanwhile, seem to be catching on. A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows that 62 percent of Americans think Trump has been untruthful about the investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Given all of this, the responsibility to bear down on reality is greater than ever.

When news organizations hand a megaphone to lies -- or liars -- they do actual harm. What the president himself says must be reported, of course, but only within the context of what we know.

To state it without immediate, adjacent reference to factual reality is to enter the Kellyanne Zone.

In an era rife with disinformation - and American democracy teetering on a precipice -- thats the wrong place to be.A hand sanitizer-fueled joyride on a sheriffs office ATV last month earned two Deschutes County inmates longer stays behind bars.

Christopher G. Turre, 30, received a three month jail sentence Monday for unauthorized use of a vehicle and second-degree escape. Shawn D. McCallister, 34, was sentenced last Wednesday to two years and a month in prison for driving under the influence of intoxicants, second-degree escape and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, according to Oregon court records.

A judge ordered McCallisters drivers license be suspended for the rest of his life.

Turre and McCallister were part of a four-inmate work crew at the Rickard Road Animal Ranch east of Bend on Nov. 14 tasked with feeding rescue animals and cleaning up the property, the sheriffs office said. The agency houses animals that have been abandoned or seized on the property.

At some point, Turner and McCallister drank hand sanitizer from a container left in the jail van, the sheriffs office said. Its not clear how much they drank.

The amount of alcohol in hand sanitizer ranges from 45 percent to 95 percent, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. Wine has 10 percent to 15 percent alcohol, and beer contains 5 to 10 percent.

Most hand-sanitizing products have more than 60 percent ethyl alcohol, which is found in beer, brandy and whiskey.

Deputy Terry Abeyta, who was in charge of overseeing the four inmates, reported that Turre and McCallister told him they were going to work at a chicken coop on the opposite side of the ranch, according to a motion to revoke Turres probation. The ATV was parked behind the building.

Abeyta said he later saw both men riding down a driveway on the four-wheeler, but didnt know anything was amiss because he thought they were going to the other part of the ranch, the court documents said. Its not clear why that didnt trigger alarm, because he also reported neither inmate had permission or were instructed to use the ATV.

It wasnt until Abeyta heard on his radio that there were two men speeding on a Sheriffs Office ATV that he realized something was wrong, according to the motion. The sheriffs office said someone had called 911 and reported seeing the men speeding on the ATV and riding in circles.

Abeyta then saw a ranch entrance gate had been forced open.

An Oregon State Police plane was deployed to help look for the men and the ATV. They crashed into a large lava field near Oregon 97 and ran away, the motion said. Turre was found on national forest land, and McCallister was tracked down in the area about 35 minutes later.

They were off the ranch property for at least an hour, the sheriffs office said. The duo caused roughly $1,000 in damages to the gate they rammed through, according to the motion.

The men were both in the Deschutes County jail at the time due to previous driving-related convictions, court records show.

Turre was sentenced in September to 100 days in jail for driving under the influence of intoxicants and fourth-degree assault. His drivers license was also suspended for life in that case.

McCallister was in the midst of serving a 90-day jail sentence after being convicted in August of first-degree theft, heroin possession, reckless endangering and driving while suspended.

A judge at the time ordered McCallister's driver's license be suspended for 90 days.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 |@EvertonBailey Flash

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said on Monday that the priority of the Syrian government is to liberate Idlib Province, state news agency SANA reported.

There is coordination between Syria and Russia in the efforts to liberate Idlib from the "terrorist groups," al-Moallem said.

His remarks about Idlib come as Turkey, Iran and Russia will soon meet in Geneva to discuss the Syrian issues, including the formation of a constitutional committee.

Turkey and Russia brokered a deal in September to impose a demilitarized zone in Idlib and its surrounding areas. However, violations are still being reported on an almost daily basis.

The extremist groups such as the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the umbrella group of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, refused to withdraw from the zone.

Speaking of the liberation of all Syrian areas, al-Moallem said any independent or federal Kurdish entity in northern Syria is rejected, in a sign that the Syrian government will shift its focus to Kurdish-held areas in northern and northeastern Syria.

The Kurdish self-administration in northern Syria recently urged the Syrian government to respond to the Turkish threats of renewed a military campaign against the Kurdish militia in eastern Syria.

The Syrian Kurds are part of the Syrian social fabric, and the Syrian government is ready to launch dialogues for the interest of the state, al-Moallem said.

The Syrian minister also warned that foreign forces illegally operating in Syira without the permission of the Syrian government should end their occupation, referring to the Turkish and the U.S. forces.Updated Tuesday Dec. 18

The owners of a Eugene-area Super 8 motel were arrested Sunday after police say they intentionally set fires at their business twice over three days last month.

Inder P. Singh, 29, and his uncle Satinder P. Singh, 50, are both accused of first-degree arson.

The two men are suspected of setting fires at their Creswell motel around 9:20 p.m. on Thanksgiving and around 1:40 a.m. on Nov. 24, according to Oregon State Police. The fires were extinguished and no one was hurt.

There were at least seven people inside six rented rooms on Thanksgiving and the hotel was closed due to the first fire when the second occurred.

An investigation of the fires later determined the owners planned and intentionally caused them, state police said. Authorities have not said if its been determine why the fires were set.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 |@EvertonBaileyWASHINGTON - Former FBI director James Comey on Monday accused President Donald Trump of trying to burn down the entire FBI and charged that congressional Republicans were willing accomplices for failing to challenge him.

"The FBI's reputation has taken a big hit because the president with his acolytes has lied about it constantly," Comey told reporters, following his second closed-door interview this month with House lawmakers running a politically divisive investigation into how federal law enforcement officials handled probes of the Trump campaign's alleged Russia ties and Hillary Clinton's emails.

But Comey directed his vitriol not just at the GOP members of the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees, but at all Republicans  including retiring GOP lawmakers, such as Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who have openly criticized Trump but arent seeking re-election.

At some point someone has to stand up and face the fear of Fox News, fear of their base, fear of mean tweets, stand up for the values of this country and not slink away into retirement but stand up and speak the truth, Comey said, without naming names.

Comey testified for nearly six hours Monday, in addition to the six-hour closed-door discussion he had with panel members earlier this month.

During that session, he defended his decisions as FBI director  such as superseding then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch to declare the Clinton investigation closed and then informing congressional leaders days before the 2016 election that it had been reopened.

Comey reiterated that defense even more strongly Monday, flatly refusing to take any personal responsibility for the reputation of the FBI having suffered under his stewardship. He instead blamed Trump for lying about the FBI, attacking the FBI and attacking the rule of law in this country, and the silence from people in this building  meaning Capitol Hill  for allowing him to do it.

"Republicans used to understand that the actions of a president matter, the words of a president matter, the rule of law matter and the truth matters," he said. "Where are those Republicans today?"

Republicans on the panel have been in open conflict with Comey about whether he was appropriately forthcoming with his answers, and whether his testimony contradicted former statements he has made.

According to a transcript of the first round of proceedings, Comey declined to answer several questions pertaining to the FBI's probe of Trump, arguing that the details he was being asked to provide were too closely tied to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of the Trump campaign's suspected ties to Russia.

Comey also declined to say whether Trump, in firing him last year, had attempted to obstruct justice, although an FBI lawyer present at the interview appeared to confirm that the special counsel was looking into such matters.

Republican lawmakers asked Comey about former national security adviser Michael Flynn's FBI interview, suggesting his rights were violated because he was rushed into doing it without access to White House counsel. They were making those arguments as charges against Flynn's former business associates were being unveiled as part of a federal probe into secret lobbying by Turkey to pressure the United States to extradite a Turkish cleric.

Comey would not say what he knew of the FBI's investigation into Flynn's associates, but he defended the interrogation of Flynn as "extremely consistent" with bureau guidelines.Republicans emerged from both sessions frustrated by Comey's inability or refusal to answer certain questions."

Consistently, the FBI has had legal counsel there to try to discourage the answering of certain questions that might be good for the American people to know," Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said outside the meeting room.

Meadows said Monday that there were inconsistencies between Comey's testimony behind closed doors and his previous public statements. Democrats emerging from the session, and Comey himself, disputed this assessment. A transcript of the first session suggested that Comey's first closed-door testimony mirrored much of what he has said in public settings.

In between the two interviews with House panels,Comey said at an event in New York that if Trump were not president, he would be "in serious jeopardy of being charged" by New York prosecutors in a case concerning payments made to silence women who alleged affairs with him years ago.

Trump's longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for those and other matters that U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III called a "veritable smorgasbord of criminal conduct."

Comey is one of the last people the joint House panel is expected to question in the probe, which is expected to end  or drastically change in character  once Democrats take over the House majority next year. Democrats have accused the GOP of using the investigation to try to discredit the FBI and Justice Department, as a means of undermining Muellers probe.

"They seem to be wanting to play defense counsel for the president," said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., who is currently ranking member of the Oversight committee and is expected to serve as its chairman next year.

On Monday, Oversight committee member Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr., D-Mo., said the interview was "the last gasp of the Republican majority in this House, to paint this narrative to protect the Trump administration and the Trump campaign."

"And they really don't have a leg to stand on," Clay added.

The joint panel is also expected to interview Lynch behind closed doors on Wednesday. No other interviews have been announced.

 The Washington PostIn an unusual move, the ranking Republican on the Oregon Senate Finance and Revenue committee plans to introduce legislation requiring large companies to disclose how much they pay in taxes.

Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, said he has asked legislative lawyers to replicate the corporate transparency initiative that public employee unions had planned to take to voters in November, until they struck an agreement with Gov. Kate Brown and Nike to keep it off the ballot.

In addition to tax information, Initiative Petition 25 would have required large companies such as Nike to share other closely held business information in state filings or pay a fine. State-level tax information is not available in corporate filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

After striking that deal, the unions, Nike and a handful of other businesses worked together to defeat conservative ballot initiatives, re-elect Brown and raise billions of dollars in business taxes in 2019. That could make it challenging for Boquist to line up support for his bill. Sen. Mark Hass, a Beaverton Democrat who is chair of the Senate Finance and Revenue committee, said he didnt think it would be good policy to make Oregon companies less competitive, and thats what youre doing by opening up their books to competitors.

Currently, tax returns can be viewed only by employees of the Oregon Department of Revenue and state economists conducting research, and the economists must go through a process to access the information.

Boquist, who is vice chair of the Senate committee that handles tax law, said lawmakers and other public officials need the corporate information in order to write good tax law.

At this point, were just operating completely blind, said Boquist, whose own small businesses include military training and aviation companies.

His proposal also was motivated by Nikes actions. I call it the Nike bill because theyre the ones that killed it.

When asked whether the proposal is a jab at public employee unions or the governor, Boquist said, no.

Im poking at large corporations who are talking out both sides of [their] mouth, Boquist said, referring to a special deal Nike secured with the state in 2012 guaranteeing the method of the companys income tax calculation for three decades to come.

Greg Rossiter, a spokesman for Nike, declined to comment on Boquists proposal but reiterated the companys support for changing Oregons tax code to treat individuals and businesses fairly.

The company parted ways with other Oregon businesses over the summer, when it joined public employees unions to oppose tax initiatives backed by grocers, soda companies and the real estate industry. Now, a group formed by Nike and the unions is developing plans to raise business taxes in private meetings that include check-ins with the governor and top legislative Democrats.

Im actually with the Our Oregon camp, Boquist said, referring to the union-backed political nonprofit whose political action committee spent more than $500,000 to gather signatures to qualify the initiative for the ballot. If youre publicly traded, then we should have access to some of your data.

A spokeswoman for Our Oregon did not immediately have any comment on whether the group supports Boquists plan to replicate the proposal in 2019.

Through her press secretary Kate Kondayen, the governor declined to comment on Boquists proposal. Kondayen wrote in an email that Brown had not received a copy of the plan.

Boquist said he also plans to introduce two more limited corporate transparency bills that would allow either the House and Senate revenue committees or the chair and vice chairs of those committees to view companies tax returns. Even those ideas could face tough odds. Among the Senate Finance and Revenue committees priorities going into 2019, Hass said he was not sure that hits the top 100.

-- Hillary Borrud

hborrud@oregonian.com

503-294-4034; @hborrudSunlin Chou, who spent 34 years at Intel and was among its top Oregon researchers, died Dec. 5. He was 72.

Chou started his career in the chip industry in 1968 at Fairchild Semiconductor, an Intel forerunner, and joined his former colleagues at Intel three years later. He later ran Intels Portland Technology Development unit in Aloha and became an Intel vice president. He was named head of Intels manufacturing group in 1998 and ran it until his retirement in 2005.

Born in Hong Kong, where his mother taught high school and his father taught economics, Chou told The Oregonian in 1996 that he found his mind worked differently from his classmates.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how things worked as a child, Chou said, attributing that early inquisitiveness with spawning his career in semiconductors. He studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University before joining Intel.

Intel credits Chou with creating a methodology for taking advanced technologies from the research stage into production, and leading the development of new memory chip technologies during the 1980s. He was also an accomplished classical guitarist, an avid ping pong player and a cook.

Chou resided in Battle Ground, Washington, just north of Vancouver, at the time of his death.

He is survived by his wife Priscilla, a software contractor whom he met at a party hosted by legendary Intel chief executive Andy Grove in the 1970s.

-- Mike Rogoway | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699Midland County Sheriff Scott Stephenson had a blood-alcohol content of 0.23 percent when he was arrested by a Kalkaska County sheriff's deputy on Nov. 16, according to the police report of the incident.

That would qualify him as being "super drunk," according to Michigan law.

According to ABC12 WJRT, Stephenson was arrested after a passerby reported him unresponsive on the side of the road. A responding deputy found Stephenson asleep behind the wheel in his vehicle.

The report also revealed his blood alcohol level. Super drunk in Michigan is a blood alcohol level of 0.17 or greater.

According to ABC12 WJRT, body camera footage taken by the deputy also recorded Stephenson's pleas not to be arrested.

"Jesus Christ, I'm a sheriff. I'm a constitutional (expletive) officer," Stephenson said. "You can't take me to (expletive) jail. I'm a (expletive) sheriff."

On Nov. 29, Stephenson announced in a prepared statement that he had been arrested for intoxicated driving two weeks earlier while he was at a deer hunting camp. Stephenson said he had consumed alcohol and began to drive in search of cell phone reception.

I felt the alcohol take an effect while driving. I pulled over to the side of the road to attempt to get service for the camp to pick me up. I received no answer and decided to wait, his statement said.

Stephenson could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Stephenson was arraigned by the Kalkaska County District Court on Dec. 13, where he plead guilty to impaired driving. He was sentenced to one year probation, as well as $600 in costs and fines to the court. Stephenson will also have to submit to breath and urine tests and undergo an alcohol education course.You are here: World

 Flash

Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng Monday met with Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti first deputy prime minister and defense minister.





Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah during his state visit to China in July this year, reaching a series of important consensus.





The establishment of strategic partnership between China and Kuwait during the visit injected great vitality to bilateral ties, Han said.





He called on both sides to "implement consensus reached by both heads of state to enhance political mutual trust, strengthen alignment of development strategies and promote the Belt and Road construction."





Han also encouraged both countries to intensify people-to-people exchanges and enhance coordination on regional and international issues.





Hailing the traditional friendship between Kuwait and China, Nasser said the two countries had always trusted and supported each other.





"Kuwait admires the remarkable achievements China has scored under the reform and opening-up policy," Nasser said. "Kuwait looks forward to learning from China's state governance experience and stands ready to participate in the Belt and Road construction."The President of the United States is in big trouble. We have been given an extraordinary amount of detail as it relates to collusion, and intent to collude with a foreign adversary was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt the moment that Donald Trump Jr. released the e-mails saying hed love to meet with members of the Russian government to get dirt on Hillary Clinton. With the reports of Trump Tower Moscow being considered deep into 2016, its clear what Team Trump got out of the deal: potential business and an election victory. What has received less coverage is exactly what Russia tried to get out of this collusion mess.

According to The Daily Beast, Robert Mueller is about to give us more information on that front:

For more than a year, Special Counsel Robert Muellers office has questioned witnesses broadly about their interactions with well-connected Russians. But three sources familiar with Muellers probe told The Daily Beast that his team is now zeroing in on Trumpworld figures who may have attempted to shape the administrations foreign policy by offering to ease U.S. sanctions on Russia.

The Special Counsels Office is preparing court filings that are expected to detail Trump associates conversations about sanctions reliefand spell out how those offers and counter-proposals were characterized to top figures on the campaign and in the administration, those same sources said.

As I write this, Michael Flynn is in court for his sentencing hearing, and he is the obvious player at the heart of potential sanctions relief. We know that he spoke to the Russian Ambassador during the transition period, since lying about that to the FBI is what initially got him into this whole messand by all accountssanctions relief was at the heart of the discussion. It also seemed to be a centerpiece of the infamous Trump Tower meeting, as Trump himself initially said that it was about adoptions, referencing one of the ripple effects of the sanctions placed on Russia known as the Magnitsky Act. However, there are more members of Team Trump being scrutinized over Russian sanctions, as The Daily Beast continued:

Several individuals in Trumps inner circle were developing their own plans to put pressure on other parts of the government to roll back the sanctions. which have cost the Russian economy more than a hundred billion dollars, according to Kremlin estimates.

Its still unclear if Trump adviser Erik Prince and Kirill Dmitriev, the head of one of Russias sovereign wealth funds, spoke about sanctions in their now-infamous meeting in the Seychelles held during the last days of the transition. But The Daily Beast previously reported that the two spoke broadly about Russian investment opportunities in the U.S. and the potential for peace in Ukraine.

Ukrainian lawmaker Andrii V. Artemenko handed Michael Cohen a peace plan about a week after Trump took office, and around the same time, Michael Isikoff of Yahoo reported that Trump was asking the State Department to come up with a plan to roll back sanctions. Per Isikoff in June 2017:

In the early weeks of the Trump administration, former Obama administration officials and State Department staffers fought an intense, behind-the-scenes battle to head off efforts by incoming officials to normalize relations with Russia, according to multiple sources familiar with the events.

Unknown to the public at the time, top Trump administration officials, almost as soon as they took office, tasked State Department staffers with developing proposals for the lifting of economic sanctions, the return of diplomatic compounds and other steps to relieve tensions with Moscow.

These efforts to relax or remove punitive measures imposed by President Obama in retaliation for Russias intervention in Ukraine and meddling in the 2016 election alarmed some State Department officials, who immediately began lobbying congressional leaders to quickly pass legislation to block the move, the sources said.

Now, the key thing to keep in mind is that despite all this activity surrounding sanctions relief for the Kremlin, the Treasury Department has actually increased the amount of sanctions on Russia since Trump took office. The Daily Beasts report details a transition team too disorganized and incompetent to implement their sanctions relief, and after the presidency officially began, they turned their efforts to lobbying congress to lift sanctions (to no avail).

I noted this last night, but as Flynn's sentencing gets going, note that a number of filings in the docket remain sealed (and govt submitted an ex parte version of his cooperation addendum). pic.twitter.com/SzilZxcSST  emptywheel (@emptywheel) December 18, 2018

After a year and a half of digging by the special counsel, it's clear as day that there was some level of collusion between Team Trump and the Kremlin. The only question is how far they went. Michael Flynn's sentencing hearing today demonstrates that our judicial system believes that the conspiracy goes as high up as Trump's National Security Adviser, and given the comments of a judge who MAGAland expected to be friendly to Flynn, Team Trump should be concerned.

Sullivan is really heating up now. Talks about his "disgust" and "disdain" for Flynn's offense.  Andrew Prokop (@awprokop) December 18, 2018

This case is in a category by itself, says Sullivan. He's very interested in the notion that Flynn committed his crime on White House grounds.  Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 18, 2018

As national security reporter Marcy Wheeler wrote, what we have learned about Michael Flynn this week is incredibly damaging to Team Trump:

In response to Judge Sullivans order, the government filed Flynns 302 under seal [a 302 is an interview report with the government]. After Sullivan reviewed it, he deemed it pertinent to Flynns sentencing, and had the government release a redacted version.

And it is unbelievably damning, in part because it shows the degree to which Flynns lies served to protect Trump.

The 302 shows how the FBI Agents first let Flynn offer up his explanation for his conversation with Kislyak. He lied about the purpose for his call to Kislyak on December 29 (he said he had called to offer condolences about the assassination of Russias Ambassador to Turkey) and he lied about the purpose of his call about Israel (he claimed he was, in part, doing a battle drill to see who the administration could reach in a crisis and in the process tried to find out how countries were voting on the Israeli motion; Flynn denied he had asked for any specific action).

Flynns sentencing today was postponed to give him time to fully finish cooperating with prosecutors, and it sure seems as if we have barely breached the tip of the iceberg of the Russian side of the collusion investigation. Given all we know about Team Trumps side of the deal (like the Moscow Trump Tower that Michael Cohen admitted was still being pursued during the 2016 campaign), its highly unlikely that there is no fire at the base of the plume of smoke hanging over the topic of Russian sanctions. Trumps incompetence in trying to lift them, and the subsequent imposition of more sanctions out of congress may be Team Trumps best argument that they are innocent on this front. That said, our judicial system has criminalized attempts at crime for a reason, because incompetence is not a defense of innocence, as we may find out through more probing of Team Trump.

Jacob Weindling is a staff writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling.The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 37 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover an interesting invention with a twist to today's iPhones. Today's iPhone X models have glass on both the front and back. Technically Apple could integrate touch sensors on the back glass and Apple's new patent claims just that. Apple also wants to add tilt controls allowing a user to turn pages of a document. In many ways it sounds like this version of a proposed iPhone could put emphasis on gaming by using advanced tilt controls. Pushing that thinking, it could be considered a Gaming iPhone.

During Qualcomm's Snapdragon Tech Summit 2018 held in Hawaii earlier this month they placed a lot of emphasis on gaming on a smartphone and the 51% of gaming is now geared for mobile devices as their marketing chart indicates. Could Apple be thinking of aiming deeper into that market? Qualcomm said that there are over 500 million online gamers in China alone. No wonder oddball new phones are coming from gaming hardware company Razer.

Could Apple be thinking of introducing a powerhouse iPhone for gamers in the future? Today's granted patent would suggest it's at least a possibility

Granted Patent: Electronic Device with Wrapped Display

Apple's newly granted patent covers their invention relating to an iDevice with a wrapped display. Apple's original patent filing for this invention was covered by Patently Apple back 5 years ago this month. Apple tweaked the patent in 2016 and was issued a granted patent in March of this year. Apple's second granted patent introduces more tweaks to their patent claims.

Our report only touches on 7 of the 16 patent claims that clearly point to something new being added to this next-gen iDevice and we highlight the text to clarify it in quick reviews.





Apple's patent FIG. 25 above is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in displaying content on an electronic device with a continuously wrapped display and controlling the display of the content using tilting operations or other user input; FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system including an electronic device with a continuously wrapped display.

Apple's patent FIG. 27 below is a perspective view of device where you can see a user running their finger on the backside of a device as a control for content on the face. Apple future notes that a user can run a finger on the rear side of the display to move forwards or backwards through content screens on the face side of the display and perform other tasks such as flipping pages of content, scrolling through content, changing a content scrolling direction or speed, and take actions in a game.

A Few of the Key new Patent Claims

Patent Figure #1: An electronic device, comprising: a transparent display cover structure that wraps around an axis of the electronic device; a flexible display layer that wraps around the axis of the electronic device to cover an interior surface of the transparent display cover structure; and control circuitry that gathers sensor data indicative of a rate of rotation of the electronic device about the axis and that changes content that is displayed on the flexible display layer based on the rate of rotation of the electronic device about the axis.

Patent Figure #2: The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the control circuitry comprises an accelerometer that gathers tilt data indicative of a tilt angle for the electronic device.

Patent Figure #3: The electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein the control circuitry adjusts a scroll speed on the flexible display layer based on the tilt angle.

Patent Figure #4: The electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein the control circuitry changes the content by flipping pages of text displayed on the flexible display layer based on the tilt angle.

Patent Figure #7: The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising a touch sensor, wherein the electronic device has a front face and a rear face and wherein the flexible display layer is configured to display content on the front face based on touch input gathered using the touch sensor on the rear face.

Patent Figure #13: An electronic device comprising: a flexible display; a display cover layer that wraps around the flexible display; a sensor that detects an orientation of the electronic device; and control circuitry that controls content displayed on the flexible display by changing a first portion of the content based on the orientation of the device without changing a second portion of the content, wherein the sensor comprises an accelerometer that detects a tilt angle of the electronic device, wherein the first portion of the content changes in response to the tilt angle, and wherein the first portion of the content changes at a first rate when the tilt angle has a first value and changes at a second rate that is greater than the first rate when the tilt angle has a second value that is greater than the first value.

Apple's granted patent 10,156,869 was filed in Q3 2016 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Apple first filed for a patent about adding backside controls for the iPad back in 2006 and we added the patent figures from that patent into our report titled The Tablet Prophecies that you could see below. Implementing it on aluminum apparently never worked out, but on an iDevice with a glass back panel and touch sensors added would allow Apple to introduce this feature.

On a last note, Chinese smartphone vendor Nubia just released a smartphone with backside gaming controls. So does Apple's granted patent with its new patent claims with backside controls for gaming (and other functions) sound all that farfetched now?







Apple opened their latest Champs-Elysees flagship store in France in November and France is now thanking Apple for that investment by enforcing a newly invented tax on them starting in the New Year. More specifically, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire says the country will move ahead with a new tax on Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon starting Jan. 1, 2019. The tax is expected to raise US$570 million in 2019.

France and Germany had originally pushed for an EU-wide 3% tax on big tech firms online revenues, in part to prevent companies like Apple from sheltering their profits in countries with the lowest tax rates.

The deal, which required the support of all 28 EU states, appeared to crumble earlier this month, with opposition from countries including Ireland, home to the European headquarters of Google and Apple.

France and Germany worked around their laws to ensure that their deal would go ahead no matter what. It demonstrates that democracy doesn't rule in the EU, the dictatorship of France and especially Germany does.

In the meantime, France is moving ahead with its own tax on Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon, which are collectively known in the region as GAFA. For more read the full Quartz report here.



It was made public over the weekend that Switzerlands Competition Commission (COMCO) had launched an investigation into several Swiss financial institutions. The object of this investigation is a suspected boycott of mobile payment solutions from international providers such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.

The investigation is aimed at clarifying whether several Swiss financial institutions have reached an agreement to boycott mobile payment solutions of international providers such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Several Swiss financial institutions are suspected of having jointly agreed not to enable their credit cards for use with Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, in order to protect TWINT, their own Swiss payment solution.

The investigation has been launched against: Aduno Holding AG, Credit Suisse (Switzerland) AG, PostFinance AG, Swisscard AECS GmbH, UBS Switzerland AG. COMCO carried out on-site inspections at the premises of the target companies.

On another front, COMCO published a press release today concerning their work with Apple in resolving a problem with Apple Pay

COMCO stated that "The automatic launch of Apple Pay at POS terminals can interfere with payments made by the TWINT application. Following the intervention of the COMCO Secretariat, Apple is committed to offering a pro-competitive technical solution.

Apple offers with Apple Pay a mobile payment solution for its devices, in particular the iPhone and Apple Watch. Apple devices and their apps are set to launch Apple Pay automatically when held close to a POS terminal to allow a contactless payment.

Payments with the TWINT application are effectuated by scanning a QR-code that appears on the screen of the POS terminal. Until now, Apple Pay was likely to launch automatically and thus disrupt a current payment transaction made with the TWINT App.

Apple has committed to immediately provide a technical solution enabling TWINT to suppress Apple Pay during the payment transaction effectuated with TWINT. Due to these commit-ments, the secretariat decided to close the preliminary investigation against Apple."

In the end, Apple Pay has been hated and feared by many financial institutions. Two years ago the Australian Bank Cartel was denied the ability to force Apple to open their Apple Pay API's on their terms. Today, as presented below, it's a different story in Australia.



Last week Patently Apple posted a report titled "Four Years After Apple Pay was introduced, German Banks & Retailers are Finally onboard." There's no doubt that Apple Pay has had resistance by financial institutions around the globe and so the investigation into the six institutions in Switzerland by COMCO should come as no surprise.



A crash has closed a ramp to Route 581 in Cumberland County.

The crash happened near the northbound lanes of the Carlisle Pike at Exit (PA 581 WEST/TO I-81), according to 511PA.com.

Along with the ramp closure, heavy traffic is reported in the area on the Carlisle Pike.Update: Armed and dangerous suspect sought

Harrisburg police are investigating after a man was shot to death outside of Double Ds Bar and Grill early Tuesday.

Police were called to the bar at 546 S. 19th Street at 12:48 a.m., about 15 minutes after the bar announced last call for drinks, according to bar employees.

Police did not release the name of the victim, but he is believed to be in his early 30s. He was talking to someone in a car in the parking lot when another man confronted him with a gun and opened fire. Police did not release any additional details about the killing, including a suspect description or possible motive.

It was the second killing outside the bar this year

In the early hours of Saturday March 24, police say Charles Williams, 41, fatally shot 20-year-old Jawan Washington.

In that case, police received multiple 911 calls about 1:51 a.m. There were a lot of people around at that time, leading to a chaotic situation as customers ran for cover when the shots went off, police said.

Responding officers found Washington with several gunshot wounds lying in the parking lot.

Through the investigation, police identified Williams as the shooter. He evaded arrest for nearly three months before he was arrested in Williamstown.

Tuesdays homicide marked the 10th homicide in the city so far this year. The city recorded 14 homicides in 2017 and 16 homicides in 2016.

The bar also was the scene of three shootings within eight months in 2015 and early 2016, including a bar bouncer who was wounded while breaking up a fight in the parking lot.

To address violence in the parking lot, the owner upgraded the camera system, added lighting and uses metal detectors and trained bouncers. The owner also allows police access to the video system. The owner raised cover charges in 2015 for younger customers on the weekends to try to reduce problems.

Police plan to meet again with the owner this week to discuss public safety in light of the latest homicide.PHILADELPHIA (AP)  Police have located a man sought in the death of a woman who was shot in Philadelphia while her newborn daughter slept in a nearby crib.

Authorities say the man, identified as Tyrese Lynch, surrendered to police around noon Monday.

Police say he was 24-year-old Isis Williams' boyfriend and is the father of their child. Police say Lynch shot his girlfriend in the head after an argument, 6abc reported.

Officers responded to a home in the city's East Germantown section Friday morning and found Williams with a gunshot wound to the head.

Chief Inspector Scott Small says the woman's 5-day-old daughter, who was feet away in her crib, was unhurt.

Police say a struggle occurred inside the home, and neighbors say they heard the couple arguing before the shooting.

A vigil for Williams was held Monday evening.Some areas of Pennsylvania could see some snow showers through Tuesday morning.

Harrisburg, according to AccuWeather, isnt expected to see any fresh accumulation.

The snow is thanks to a shot of cold air coming in from Canada to the Northeast. Areas such as Erie and others to the north have the best chance to see any snow - even then, the best chance for snow to accumulate will be even farther north.

The snow showers can quickly coat grassy and elevated surfaces, as well as lead to slippery patches along parts of interstates 80, 81, 86 and 90, and less-traveled secondary roadways, AccuWeather reports. Outside of Maine, the greatest risk of a couple inches of snow to accumulate and slippery travel will be over central and upstate New York, where snow showers will be most persistent.

Rain is expected to move into central Pennsylvania as the weekend approaches as temperatures warm slightly.

Heres a look at the forecast for Harrisburg:

Tuesday  Mostly sunny skies. High: 41

Tuesday night - Clear skies. Low: 23

Wednesday - Mostly sunny skies. High: 45

Wednesday night - Patchy clouds. Low: 29

Thursday - Increasing cloudiness, a little rain in the afternoon. High: 43

Thursday night - Rain. Low: 40

Friday - Occasional rain and drizzle, not as cool. High: 56

Friday night - Partly to mostly cloudy, a shower in some spots late. Low: 43Authorities have identified the University of Pittsburgh student who was found dead Saturday morning on the roof of a dormitory.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiners office did not release a cause of death but said the student was 19-year-old Kidus Lemma, of Fairfax, Va., TribLive.com is reporting.

Pittsburgh police responded to the universitys 14-story Lothrop Hall Saturday morning, where Lemma was found unresponsive.

University officials said no foul play is suspected, WTAE reported over the weekend.

Police continue to investigate, according to reports.A man with a sword who had barricaded himself in a home and threatened officers has been taken into custody after an incident police in Philadelphia are describing as bizarre.

The 42-year-olds identity has not yet been released, but police say he tried to urinate on officers, threatened to cut off their heads, and threw items that included a weed whacker at them, NBC 10 of Philadelphia is reporting.

Police were called to the home on the 2400 block of Myrtlewood Street around 8 p.m. Monday for a report of a man high on narcotics carrying a sword, according to reports.

When police got there, he started swinging a 2-foot sword. Officers used a Taser to little effect, and he ran, still swinging , and barricaded himself inside, NBC 10 reports.

As he threatened to slice the officers and himself, he urinated out of the window onto the officers and threw outside furniture, weights, speakers, a knife, a door, glass, a weed whacker and a fiery pillow, according to reports.

After about four hours, a SWAT team took him into custody for a mental-health evaluation, according to reports.Bay View cottage destroyed in Monday fire

Officials said the cottage was destroyed to the point where it will be considered a complete loss, and will have to be demolished and removed.As reported by Bicycle Retaile r, police arrested a suspect in relation to a series of test ride thefts that took place at multiple Southern California bike shops.The suspect, Anthony Negreary, was identified after facial recognition software was used on security camera footage from Newbury Park Bicycle Shop, where a $6,600 bike was stolen on a test ride. The bike was later recovered through a Craigslist ad, according to owner Ben Cox.It's common practice for shops to require test riders to leave a credit card and their ID with a staff member, but in this case, according to Ventura County Sheriff's Department Detective Paul Ferruzza, Negreary used stolen identity information to create credit cards and identification with his own photo.According to Bicycle Retailer, shop owner Ben Cox has compiled a list of as many as 14 other shops in Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange counties who have had bikes stolen in the same or similar way in recent months. Mike France, owner of Fullerton Bicycles and Buena Park Bicycles in Orange County, said Negreary left one of his managers a credit card, driver's license, wallet, set of keys, and a cell phone before riding off with a $4,900 Santa Cruz Hightower LT.Authorities are encouraging retailers who have experienced similar thefts to contact their local law enforcement agency.1.8k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

After emerging from a closed-door congressional hearing, former FBI Director James Comey unloaded on Trump for his rat tweet and called on the American people to reject Trump and speak out.

Comey said, It undermines the rule of law. This is the president of the United States calling a witness who is cooperated with his own justice a rat. Say that again to yourself at home and remind yourself where we have ended up. This is not about Republicans and Democrats. This is about, what does it mean to be an American? What are the things that we care about? Above our policy disputes, which are important, theres a set of values that represent the glue of this country, and they are under attack by things just like that. We have to stop being numb to it whether you are Republican or Democrat. You need to stand on your feet, overcome your shame and say something.

Video:

After emerging from a closed-door congressional hearing, former FBI Director James Comey unloaded on Trump for his rat tweet and called on the American people to reject Trump and speak out. https://t.co/JljsEeU4zb pic.twitter.com/5xe0IYLwmE  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) December 17, 2018

James Comey is telling America never to accept what Trump is doing. The former FBI director was right. This isnt about Republicans and Democrats. Its about standing up for American values. When little girls are dying on the border because this president wont open the ports of entry fully so that refugees can seek asylum, thats un-American. When a president is so obviously on the take from foreign governments that he covers up their murder of a US resident, thats un-American. When a president undermines the rule of law on a daily basis, thats un-American.

Donald Trump is un-American. Voters took a big step on election day by putting Democrats in charge of the House, but we should never accept a lie as just another Trump lie, or an attack on the norms of our government and society as just another attack.

Americans are fighting for their country, and those who stay silent are only helping Donald Trump.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.6.1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Robert Mueller is preparing to subpoena Donald Trump if he abuses his power to kill the special counsel investigation as it reaches its conclusion.

In an interview with MSNBCs Ari Melber, Caroline Polisi  the lawyer for George Papadopoulos  said Muellers team isnt afraid to play hardball if Trump tries to do an end-run around the probe or use pardons.

Ive heard reporting that theyre gearing up for a potential subpoena showdown, she said.

Video:

Robert Mueller is already planning for what Trump may do next as the Russia investigation gets closer to him and his family. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/jtdvq2nrUJ  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) December 18, 2018

The exchange:

MELBER: Based on your dealings with the special counsels office, do you think theyre ready for what Trump may do next, including potentially trying to do an end-run around the probe or use pardons? POLISI: Oh gosh, I have no idea. Ive heard reporting that theyre gearing up for a potential subpoena showdown. We heard Rudy say over his dead body that Trump would go in and talk to  MELBER: You think Mueller would still subpoena for actual live testimony? POLISI: I think if he felt like he needed it, he would absolutely do so. If he felt like the law was on his side. Hes a sort of a straight-laced guy. Hes probably going to follow that office of legal counsel memorandum saying  MELBER: And whats one thing you learned about them from dealing directly with them that the rest of us might not know? POLISI: They play hardball. I will say that.  They are tough.

Mueller is prepping for the worst-case Trump scenario

Trump is becoming increasingly desperate as the Russia investigation gets closer to him and his family, and Bob Mueller appears to be taking notice.

Instead of assuming that Trump will cooperate as this investigation reaches its conclusion, Muellers team is preparing for the more likely scenario in which the president goes completely off the cliff and wages war on the rule of law.

If the president tries to pardon his way out of trouble or if he further abuses his presidential powers to thwart the special counsel investigation, Mueller is prepared to deal with it.

As Timothy OBrien of Bloomberg wrote on Monday, Trump is caught in a legal vise and Bob Mueller isnt about to let him get out of it.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook.9.1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

According to former National Enquirer bureau chief Jerry George, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have engaged in criminal activity.

George was asked on MSNBCs The Beat with Ari Melber if the dirt that The Enquirer has on Trump is embarrassing or criminal.

He answered, Well, actually both. Theyre certainly embarrassing. And then when you get involved with the actions of his children, including his daughter and son-in-law, were getting closer to criminal activity.

Video:

According to former National Enquirer bureau chief Jerry George, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner engaged in criminal activity. https://t.co/l8yzJ8lv5m pic.twitter.com/CXtmQ9pobr  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) December 18, 2018

The other shoe to drop in the Trump scandals involves the Trump kids. Donald Trump is worried that his son, Don Jr. is going to be indicted by Robert Mueller for his crimes with Russia. The Trump Foundation, where Trumps kids sit on the board is being sued for being a criminal enterprise, and Ivanka Trump could face charges for violating tax laws during the Trump inauguration.

Trumps pardon pen might not be able to save his kids, because many of their issues involve the state of New York, and Trump cant pardon anyone charged with state crimes.

It would surprise no one if Jared Kushner was indicted, but Ivanka Trump has her own set of legal problems, and since The Enquirer is cooperating with prosecutors, it might not be long until an indictment is issued with Ivanka Trumps name on it.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.3.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Donald Trump and his close associates are currently under at least 17 investigations for potential criminal wrongdoing.

As MSNBCs Chris Hayes reported on Monday night, Trump is being scrutinized on a host of fronts, from Russian collusion during the 2016 campaign to obstruction of justice to emoluments clause violations.

Keep in mind, these are the investigations that we know about, Hayes cautioned.

Video:

Chris Hayes lists all the legal trouble Trump and his associates are in as multiple investigations head toward their conclusions. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/4rcFle2lkS  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) December 18, 2018

Hayes reported:

There are at least 17 ongoing lines of investigation into Trump and his associates. Theres the Russian governments election attack, then theres Wikileaks and whether Trump associates had advance knowledge or coordinated those plans. There is the question of Middle Eastern influence into the Trump campaign. Former Trump campaign Paul Manafort has already been convicted of eight felonies and there is still a world of things we dont know about the extent of his legal troubles. Just last week Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying about the time and scope of the Trump Tower Moscow project. Remember that? It was just last week. Robert Mueller is looking into even more contacts between Russia and the campaign and transition teams, including the infamous Trump Tower meeting between Manafort, Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and several Russians. He is also investigating possible obstruction of justice resulting from Trumps dismissal of James Comey and his efforts to get Michael Flynn off the hook. The SDNY named then-candidate Trump as Individual 1 in Cohens guilty plea last week relating to alleged hush money payments in violation of federal law. We know prosecutors are looking into the record $107 million raised by Trumps inaugural committee, 40 million or so of which we dont know what happened to. There are also reports they are looking into possible foreign money flowing into the Trump super PAC. Investigation into foreign lobbying resulted in a Dutch lawyer pleading guilty earlier this year. Just last week, Russian agent Maria Butina agreed to cooperate about Russian attempts to influence prominent U.S. organizations like the NRA, which backed Trump in record donations. There is also separate charge for the alleged chief accountant of Russias internet agency. And an investigation into Turkish influence that led to those two indictments today. Finally, on a state level, there are investigations into Trump taxes, a state lawsuit charging Trumps charity with sweeping violations of campaign finance laws, and finally, the 17th investigation, the emoluments lawsuit alleging the president is accepting payments from foreign powers while in office, in violation of the U.S. Constitution. And, keep in mind, these are the investigations that we know about.

Trump is under too many investigations to keep his story straight

As multiple investigations began to come to a head over the past week, Donald Trump is simply drowning in criminal probes.

As Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse pointed out on Monday, there are too many for him to lie his way out of.

Its too many investigations to keep your stories straight, the Democratic senator said.

Once Democrats take power in January, this list is going to grow larger and Trumps legal troubles will only further mount.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook.By Jan Wolfe

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  The Justice Department on Monday asked a federal appeals court to step in and halt a lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of violating anti-corruption provisions in the U.S. Constitution after the trial judge ruled the case could proceed.

The department asked the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse U.S. District Judge Peter Messittes rulings that let the Democratic attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia move ahead with the lawsuit against the Republican president, including requests for tax returns and revenue statements.

The departments request represents an aggressive legal move because federal appellate courts like the 4th Circuit typically do not weigh in on legal disputes until there is a judgment at a lower court level. Trumps legal team said this was a rare case in which emergency interim relief was necessary.

The two attorneys general on Dec. 4 issued subpoenas for financial records from Trumps businesses as part of their lawsuit that said his dealings with foreign governments have violated the Constitutions so-called emoluments provisions.

The complaint rests on a host of novel and fundamentally flawed constitutional premises, and litigating the claims would entail intrusive discovery into the Presidents personal financial affairs and the official actions of his Administration, Trumps lawyers said in a court filing.

Karl Racine, the District of Columbias attorney general, said in a statement that Trump is going to extraordinary lengths to try to stop us from gathering information about how he is illegally profiting from the presidency.

Requests for such an expedited appeal rarely succeed, according to Boston College Law School professor George Brown. But Brown said the 4th Circuit might grant this request because the case implicates the president and raises novel legal questions.

The lawsuit, filed in June 2017, said Trump failed to disentangle himself from his hotels and other businesses, making him vulnerable to inducements by foreign officials seeking to curry favor. One of the Constitutions emoluments provisions bars U.S. officials from accepting gifts or other emoluments from foreign governments without congressional approval.

Messitte, presiding over the case in Greenbelt, Maryland, has narrowed the lawsuit to claims involving Trump International Hotel in Washington and not Trumps businesses beyond the U.S. capital.

Messitte ruled in March that the two attorneys general had legal standing to pursue the case, and in July rejected what he called Trumps cramped view that emoluments were limited essentially to outright bribes.

Those rulings allowed the case to enter the discovery phase, evidence-gathering that could force disclosure of Trumps financial records.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Will Dunham)263 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  Arizona Governor Doug Ducey said on Tuesday he will appoint Republican Representative Martha McSally to fill the seat held by U.S. Senator John Kyl when he leaves at the end of the year.

Kyl had been appointed by Ducey following the death of John McCain earlier this year. McSally lost her bid for the states other Senate seat to Democrat Krysten Sinema in November.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey)1.8k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Speaking with ABCs George Stephanopoulos, Donald Trumps lawyer Rudy Giuliani really messed up. He accidentally made the mistake of admitting that Trump committed a crime, which he had previously denied. He also set forth a legal argument that was completely false and therefore he watered down the Trump teams previous denials.

In talking to ABC, Giuliani tried to argue that Michael Cohens hush-money payments made on Trumps behalf could not be considered campaign finance violations if they served any kind of personal purpose, in addition to a campaign purpose.

Giuliani argued:

It has to be for the sole purpose. If theres another purpose, its no longer a campaign contribution  if theres a personal purpose.

He then wrongly said that the failed prosecution of John Edwards for a campaign finance violation supported his point:

Its not a contribution if its intended for a purpose in addition to the campaign purpose. In the case of Edwardss lover Rielle Hunter, right, the payment of $1.1 million was intended to shut her up and was intended to avoid embarrassment with Edwardss wife and with his children.

But what Giuliani said is simply not true.

The law does not say that a campaign finance legal violation has taken place only if the sole purpose of it is to affect a campaign.

The law says a campaign contribution is:

Any gift, subscription, loan, advance, or deposit of money or anything of value made by any person for the purpose of influencing any election for Federal office.

So there is no exception for contributions that were also for some personal purpose. Which means the President of the United States has hired a lawyer who went on national television and misstated the law. Not good.

The law says anything with a campaign benefit is a contribution, and so the Edwards case doesnt help Giulianis argument at all. In fact, it hurts it.

George Conway, Kellyannes husband, co-authored a Washington Post op-ed that was published last Friday. It said, in part:

Edwards repeatedly argued that the payments were not campaign contributions because they were not made exclusively to further his campaign. The judge rejected this argument as a matter of law, ruling that a payment to a candidates extramarital sexual partner is a campaign contribution if one of the reasons the payment is made is to influence the election.

As a legal matter, that aspect of the Edwards case is what matters now  and its damning for Trump. It provides a precedent that other courts could follow in any prosecution arising out of the hush-money schemes Trump paid: The president could face criminal charges for conspiring with Cohen to make the payments because the evidence shows the payments were made, at least in part, for campaign purposes.

Why is Trumps lawyer citing a case that actually makes the president appear guilty of a crime? Not good.

Giuliani and Trump have now admitted to the presidents involvement in the hush money payments.

Originally Giuliani argued that the payments were personal, and thus not criminal. He said a few months ago:

I think neither one of them [Cohen or Trump] saw it as a campaign thing; they thought of it as a personal thing. This was for personal reasons. This was  the president had been hurt personally . . . so much and the first lady, by some of the false allegations . . . It was to save their marriage  not their marriage, so much, but their reputation.

And now Giuliani is saying that the payments were not solely personal but, instead, served a dual purpose that included the campaign.

Its not a contribution if its intended for a personal purpose in addition to the campaign purpose, he told ABC.

In other words, the presidents lawyer said that there was a campaign purpose, as well as a personal purpose.

Since there WAS a campaign purpose, it WAS a violation of federal election law.

Which means that Giuliani has now admitted on national television that his client, the president, committed a crime by violating campaign finance laws. Which is a felony, and an impeachable offense.

Trump is so out of it, and so ignorant, that he doesnt even know that his own lawyer is helping federal prosecutors make their criminal case against him. Sad.2.8k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

By Jan Wolfe

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  Michael Flynn, President Donald Trumps former U.S. national security adviser, said on Tuesday he knew that lying to the FBI was a crime as he faced a judge during a sentencing hearing who said the retired lieutenant general had arguably sold out his country.

Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to FBI agents about his conversations with Sergei Kislyak, Russias ambassador in Washington at the time, in a case that grew out of a federal investigation into possible collusion between Trumps campaign and Russia in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

In court for his sentencing, Flynn stood by his guilty plea as U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan warned him he could face prison time and gave him an opportunity to postpone sentencing.

Im not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense, Sullivan said, noting that Flynn had lied to White House officials, who in turn lied to the public.

Arguably that undermines everything that flag over there stands for, he said, referring to the American flag. Arguably you sold your country out.

In an earlier filing with the court, a lawyer for Flynn had noted that he was not warned during an FBI interview that lying would be a crime. But an attorney for Flynn told the court during the sentencing hearing that Flynn was not entrapped.Hours before the hearing, Trump appeared to offer support for his former campaign adviser and White House aide. Several protesters were at the courthouse as Flynn arrived, along with a large inflatable rat.

Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn. Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion! Trump wrote on Twitter.

Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, leading the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether Trump has unlawfully sought to obstruct the probe, has asked Sullivan not to imprison Flynn because of his military service and his substantial cooperation with the probe.

Flynn told investigators in January 2017 that he had not discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with Kislyak, when in fact he had, according to his plea agreement.

Lying to the FBI carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison. Flynns plea agreement states that he is eligible for a sentence of between zero and six months and can ask the court not to impose a fine.

Flynns lawyers have asked the court for a probation term of no more than one year, with minimal conditions of supervision, and 200 hours of community service. They said he deserved leniency because he was not warned before the meeting with FBI agents that it was a crime to lie to the agents.

They also said that then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe had told Flynn the quickest way to conduct the interview was without counsel present.

Critics of the Mueller probe argue that Flynn, who held the White House job for only 24 days, was set up.

He was certainly ambushed, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told Fox News in an interview ahead of the hearing, referring to Flynn. Sanders also alleged that the FBI had a clear political bias against Trump, although in June a Justice Department inspector general report found no evidence of bias at the top U.S. law enforcement agency.

Mueller countered in a court filing last week that Flynn had no cause to lie in the interviews and that a sitting National Security Adviser, former head of an intelligence agency, retired Lieutenant General, and 33-year veteran of the armed forces knows he should not lie to federal agents.

On Monday, Sullivan ordered the special counsel to release a redacted, five-page FBI account of Flynns January 2017 interview, saying it was relevant to his sentencing. Muellers team later filed their 10-page memo detailing Flynns responses to investigators.

Muellers wide-ranging probe has so far ensnared 32 individuals and three Russian firms. Trump has said he fired Flynn in early 2017 for lying to Vice President Mike Pence over his contacts with Russians, but that Flynns actions were lawful.

Trump has denied any collusion with Moscow and has labeled Muellers investigation a witch hunt. Russia denies it meddled in the election, contrary to the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies.

Also on Tuesday, Bijan Rafiekian, Flynns former business partner, entered a plea of not guilty in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, after being charged with unregistered lobbying for Turkey aimed at extraditing a Muslim cleric living in the United States. Rafiekians trial date is Feb. 11.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey and Ginger Gibson; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Will Dunham)1.1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Special counsel Robert Mueller has released to the public the January 2017 memo describing in detail the FBIs interview with Michael Flynn. The memo proves that the former three-star general and head of the Defense Intelligence Agency told numerous lies during the interview, in violation of federal law.

The lies Flynn told led to the criminal case against Flynn, who at the time was President Trumps national security adviser.

The memo makes very clear that Flynn lied extensively about his contacts during the presidential transition in 2016 with Russian officials. Flynn had denied contacts with Russians, including the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak.

The memo shows that Flynn had denied that he had made policy requests of Russia, through Kislyak. The FBI agents were able to get Flynn to talk more and give them more detailed descriptions of what he and the ambassador talked about.

Mueller released the memo on Monday night, the day before Flynn goes before a judge for his criminal sentencing. He pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI investigators.

Muellers prosecutors have told Judge Emmet Sullivan that Flynn has provided substantial assistance in their Russia investigation and should get little to no prison time.

The release of the FBI interview memo to the public comes at a time when President Trump, his attorneys, and his allies on Fox News have been attacking special counsel Mueller. They have accused Mueller and his investigators of various misdeeds, including treating Flynn unfairly, and luring him into a minor lie in the interview.

But the transcript shows that Flynn did extensive lying and was not prodded to do so by the FBI.

Trump has accused Mueller of pursuing Flynn on a made-up criminal charge that was not in line with the FBIs initial conclusions that were reached after the interview.

Trump and his allies have attempted to create public doubts that the FBI had made a valid case against Flynn.

This is because one of the interviewers was former FBI agent Peter Strzok, who has been accused of bias. Also, they say that Flynn was not warned he could be prosecuted for lying and had no lawyer in the room with him during the interview.

Trump and others have alleged (based on no evidence) that the FBI determined the day of the interview that Flynn had NOT lied. Yet the memo from January 24, 2017, that was released Monday night does not say the FBI agents made any determinations about Flynns truthfulness on that date. The memo clearly describes what Flynn said in very straightforward manner, with no value judgments or conclusions about the National Security Adviser.

A memo released by Muellers office last week described how the FBI had known the facts of Flynns conversations with Kislyak before the agency approached him to do an interview in the White House.

The memo describes how Flynn told the agents that no, he had not sought to influence Russias vote on a United Nations Security Council resolution about Israeli settlements.

But investigators knew, according to charging documents filed last year, that Flynn had asked for Russia to vote against or delay the resolution.

The FBI memo described another Flynn lie which he made in answering a question the agents asked him about the expulsion of Russian diplomats and closing Russian properties following the Kremlins interference in the 2016 election. They asked him if he had discussed these actions with Kislyak.

Flynn responded, Not really. I dont remember. It wasnt, Dont do anything,  the memo said.

But the FBI knew that Flynn had asked Russia on that call not to escalate its response to the US.

The FBI memo also describes Flynns extensive contacts with Russian officials, as well as the trips he took to Russia. It goes into detail about Flynns close relationship with Ambassador Kislyak. The trips and the contacts with Russian government officials began back in 2013. At that time he was the Defense Intelligence Agency and he visited the Russian military intelligence headquarters in Moscow.

What Mueller has done is proven his critics wrong. Flynn was in bed with the Russians and told numerous lies in his attempts to cover it up. The memo released last night will remove any doubts that Michael Flynn deserved to be charged with numerous federal crimes.Donald Trumps allies in Russia are trying to help him out by attacking special counsel Robert Mueller.

The Washington Post reported Monday evening that a new report prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee shows that Mueller has become a target of Russian social media warfare efforts. The report also shows how Russia helped Trump win the 2016 election.

As Mueller is close to finishing his investigation, Russian bots on social media sites are extensively spreading false information about the prosecutor to hurt his reputation and undermine public confidence and trust in the FBI and Department of Justice.

The Post reported that there are several teams of disinformation operatives working for Russian intelligence agencies under Vladimir Putin. These Russian operatives have created huge numbers of posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social networks attacking Mueller. They have alleged that Mueller is corrupt and that his investigation into Donald Trumps ties to Russia is based on conspiracy theories and is a witch hunt.

The Senate Intelligence Committee report also noted that Instagram was an especially effective platform for the bots. Posts on that popular social media platform claimed that the special counsel had worked for radical Islamic groups.

According to the Post, the report:

describes the Russian campaign with sweep and detail not before available. The researchers analyzed more than 10 million posts and messages on every major social media platform to understand how the Russians used American technology to build a sprawling online disinformation machine, with each piece playing a designated role while supporting the others with links and other connections.

They also said that they cant defeat the Russian disinformation campaign since they have large numbers of operatives moving easily from platform to platform. This makes it impossible to detect and delete misleading posts because there are just too many of them. Its like trying to fight back a tidal wave of information that just keeps coming in large numbers no matter what steps are taken to attempt to stop it.

Renee DiResta, research director at one of the companies that prepared the report, said that she hoped the report would provide clarity for the American people and policymakers alike, and make clear the sweeping scope of the operation and the long game being played.

If we are to save American democracy we must find a way to stop Russia from using social media to destroy American institutions. If we dont stop the Russian bots and social media disinformation campaigns, then lawlessness will rule, and criminals will be allowed to take over our government. Stopping these attacks on Mueller and the FBI and other government agencies must become a top priority of the U.S. government.

Russian bots helped Donald Trump win the presidency, and they are working hard now trying to keep him there.3.6k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi stood firm on no funding for the wall, so in the face of a government shutdown, Trump is beginning to cave.

MSBNBCs Hallie Jackson said, And forgive me, because when you talk about a possible shutdown deal, it is too early to say deal, but outlines of the agreement that is coming together, but it is clear that the White House is softening their position, and softening the presidents stance and no longer saying $5 billion or bust for the border wall. Now, there appears to be wiggle room, and the Capitol Hill team according to my colleague Garrett Haake, Nancy Pelosi is not wiggling or budging on, this and so it is up for the president.

Video:

House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi stood firm on no funding for the wall, so in the face of a government shutdown, Trump is beginning to cave. https://t.co/VhMxHVFLJq pic.twitter.com/lsW8n5QATT  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) December 18, 2018

After Trump blew up and threatened a government shutdown, Democratic leaders Pelosi and Schumer gave Trump two options that he could take or leave. Neither of the options included funding for the wall, so Trump has a choice. Either he can shut the government down for Christmas, and the shutdown will be all on him, or he can keep the government open and try to find the money for his wall elsewhere. Maybe from Mexico, like he promised during the campaign?

The White House is caving and trying to back away from Trumps promise that he would be happy to own a government shutdown. The odds are that Trump will quietly keep the government open before he leaves on his 16 day Christmas vacation, and be handed his first loss to Nancy Pelosi and the incoming Democratic House majority.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.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.The intersection of Hagood Avenue and Fishburne Street remain partially flooded after heavy overnight rains made for one of the wettest Decembers on the record, according to the National Weather Services local office Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. Grace Beahm Alford/StaffAndreas, 11, and Samuel, 6, Magers bought heads-on shrimp with their father and grandfather at Geechee Seafood on Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant in July. Wade Spees/StaffYou are the owner of this article.Hannah Alani is a reporter at The Post and Courier covering race, immigration and rural life across the Palmetto State. Before graduating from Indiana University and moving to Charleston in 2017, her byline appeared in The New York Times.U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., on Aug. 12, 2018 said President Donald Trump has taken steps that have helped "move us in a better direction" as a nation when it comes to race relations. Screenshot. CBS.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.Editorials represent the institutional view of the newspaper. They are written and edited by the editorial staff, which operates separately from the news department. Editorial writers are not involved in newsroom operations.Southerners are still reckoning with how Civil War dead and segregation-era figures should be honored in public spaces, and a new poll has found divided opinions over what these symbols mean.

A Winthrop University poll of 969 residents in the 11 Southern states that seceded from the Union has found a majority of respondents want some action taken regarding Confederate monuments, but they aren't united as far as what they'd like to see happen.

The college in Rock Hill randomly dialed and questioned residents in South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia from Nov. 10-20, and Nov. 26-Dec. 2.

"All told, 56 percent want to do something other than simply leave the monuments and statues as they are, but these folks are very divided on what should be done," said poll director Scott Huffmon. "A strong plurality advocate leaving them as they are."

The results carry an error margin of plus or minus 3.15 percent. Winthrop University is the most consistent surveyor of voter moods in South Carolina, issuing its polls several times a year.

Forty-two percent of the Southerners surveyed said Civil War memorials should be left alone, but 28 percent said they'd like to see them modified with a new plaque that adds historical context.

About a quarter want to move the statutes to museums, while only 5 percent want to remove them completely.

When it comes to memorials that honor politicians and leaders who supported racial segregation, Southerners were less sympathetic.

Only 30 percent said they favored leaving those statues in public spaces, while 26 percent said they'd like to add a marker.

Another 26 percent said such statues should be put in a museum, while 13 percent wanted them removed completely.

Along racial lines, the splits are even greater. Thirty-seven percent of African Americans polled said statutes of known segregationists should be put in a museum while 25 percent said they'd like them removed. Meanwhile, 30 percent of whites said the statues should stay, compared to 34 percent who would like to see a marker added.

The complexities of the debate played out in Charleston City Hall earlier this year, when some City Council members tried and failed add a plaque to the towering John C. Calhoun monument in Marion Square.

The effort stalled when members couldn't agree on the language.

The call to remove Confederate symbols nationwide accelerated in June 2015 when a self-avowed white supremacist  who posed with the Confederate battle flag and revered Confederate symbols  shot and killed nine black worshipers inside Charleston's Emanuel AME Church.

In response, South Carolina legislators in July 2015 voted to remove the Confederate battle flag from its spot next to the Confederate soldier's monument on the Statehouse grounds.

Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email

Sign Up!

For any historic monument to be removed in South Carolina, the Heritage Act requires a two-thirds vote by members of the Statehouse. The law has been in place since 2000.

Keeping the monuments in place does have supporters outside the Statehouse Dome. The American Heritage Association of South Carolina, a recently formed nonprofit, has been fighting to keep the state law in place as part of a larger effort to preserve monuments.

A group spokesman said the plaque and context addition idea, though it may sound simple, can create issues.

Weve never been opposed to plaques. We just dont want to see editorials masquerading as historical fact, said Brett Barry, the president of the American Heritage Association.

Barry reiterated that his group believes monuments of all kinds should not be decided by what he called mob rule.

Additionally, the group has also called on lawmakers to add a provision to the Heritage Act to allow illegally removed monuments to be put back in place within 90 days.

During his gubernatorial campaign, Gov. Henry McMaster stated he supported the Heritage Act "as it is."

That has not stopped state lawmakers from challenging the law. State Sen. John Scott, D-Richland, has pre-filed a bill for the legislative session that begins in January that would eliminate the Heritage Act.

The efforts to remove Confederate symbols were renewed again after last year's violent Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., where one person was killed and dozens were injured after a man drove his car into a crowd of anti-racist marchers.

In North Carolina, the state's flagship university is in turmoil over what should be done with "Silent Sam," a bronze Confederate statue seen by some as a symbol of racism and seen by others as a historical monument.

Protesters pulled down Silent Sam down in August, damaging it and forcing University of North Carolina officials to determine its fate. No consensus has been reached.

Behind 'Silent Sam's' toppling at UNC, a lesson for South Carolina, historians say The toppling of a Confederate monument in Chapel Hill, North Carolina was fueled in part by overt white supremacy voiced during its 1913 dedication. Some also feel the state' restrictive heritage law played a big role.

The Southern Poverty Law Center earlier this year reported some 110 monuments and other symbols of the Confederacy have been removed nationwide since the summer of 2015, but it also found 1,740 Confederate monuments, street names and other symbols still stand in public spaces.

The list, which has been continuously updated since its release, counts 195 symbols in South Carolina, including 13 in Charleston County, where nine are streets named after Confederate leaders.

With 38, Richland County has the most Confederate symbols in the state, where 29 are roads and highways, according to the count.

The SPLC began tracking the symbols after the 2015 shooting in Charleston. Its first "Whose Heritage?" report in 2016 found 1,853 Confederate symbols nationwide.

What these symbols even mean to Southerners is up for debate.

While half of all respondents in the Winthrop poll said they view the Confederate battle flag as a symbol of Southern pride, a sharp racial divide remains. The survey found 55 percent of whites view it as Southern pride but 64 percent of African Americans view it as a symbol of racial conflict.FILE - In this Dec. 28, 2007, file photo, Adam Piper, one of only four full-time staffers for Mike Huckabee's Presidential Campaign in South Carolina, answers calls and returns emails from the state campaign headquarters in Columbia, S.C. On Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018, Piper was named executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association, a national organization that aims to elect Republicans to top prosecutor offices across the country. (AP Photo/Brett Flashnick, File)This gentleman, born and raised in Rochester, has been a finalist in the Post Bulletins annual holiday cookie contest at least five times. If not a finalist, he has entered recipes almost from the beginning. In fact, when Jeff Pieters handed over the mound of recipes to me recently, he added, "Theres one from Gerald."

As it turns out, that cookie was judged the winner. What vaults Dormadys creations to the top is that they are nicely decorated, tasty, sometimes unusual but always distinctive.

Wanting to know more about how he pulls off these tasty tidbits so often, I decided to pay him a visit.

As is true of so many with a passion for baking, it began in his home kitchen with a mother and grandmother who were excellent bakers, especially around the holidays. He still has his mothers recipes and uses them, maybe with a tweak here and there.His sisters, also proficient bakers, do the same.

Dormady comes to this with a career spent in the military, both as a cook in the Air Force and then with food services that supplied military bases. He definitely knows his way around the kitchen, though it wasnt always cookies.

One of his first baking ventures was decorating cakes, everything from birthday cakes to wedding cakes. However after a kerfluffle with a client about cost  he billed $75 and this was in the early 80s, what a bargain  he decided to do cookies instead. The rest is history. Plus, he says, "Cookies were a whole lot easier."

Most of his baking happens during the holidays, with four dozen going to the Gift of Life Transplant House. This year included in the donation were his winning mitten cookie, a mint cookie with a lemon glaze, and decorated sugar cookies. A daughter in California gets a big batch, and  lucky me  I also received a tin with a delicious assortment.

As youd expect from someone who does cookies, Dormady always is on the lookout for new recipes. In fact, he has a three-ring binder chock-full of recipes as well as copies of all the PB cookie contest recipes. An estimate would be close to 75, all neatly organized, not jammed in a drawer like many of us do.

Is there a special ingredient that attracts Dormady to a recipe  say, almond flavoring or coconut?

"No, not really," he said. "I just want the end result to taste good. I can pretty much tell by looking if its going to be a good one. But believe me, Ive had my share of failures."

Cookies arent the only thing he turns out. Candies are also one of his sweet talents, including raspberry truffles, chocolate-covered cherries, chocolate-covered marshmallows, his take on an Almond Joy, and mint and orange patties.

With the hundreds of dozens of cookies he has baked over the years, is there a favorite? He answered with no hesitation: "A honey cookie. The recipe has been handed down through the years and came from my great grandmother who brought it with her from the Czech Republic. It was my favorite as a child and still is. " Hes shared the recipe with us.

When Dormady isnt deciding what to bake or cook next, he drives a van twice daily for Kids on the Go, a door-to-door transportation service for youngsters and young adults with disabilities.Most years, I come to the end of our 12 months together in filmdom and end up picking a smallish, nearly flawless picture for my No.1 slot. Then theres a larger, more expansive, more obviously imperfect No. 2. This year, "The Rider," #1; "Roma," #2." See?

"Worst" lists are different. I dont seem to veer in a particular direction for those, though nothing stings like a terrible comedy. Then again, at this point in the Marvel and DC superhero cycles (three clicks past the rinse cycle, and one click the right of "enough already"), theres something especially grinding about a franchise product rollout that holds next to nothing for you, personally. Its all personal, of course. Criticism is subjectivity, not objectivity.

With this exception: These 10 films really were the stinkin worst.

10 "Red Sparrow."

A lugubrious semester spent in what Jennifer Lawrences Mata Hari knockoff describes as "whore school."

9"Death Wish."

Sleaziest reboot of the year. Vigilante slaughter as self-actualization therapy. Director Eli Roth is a moral idiot.

8"Rampage."

Joel Coen describes a directors job as "tone management." For the years worst example of tone mismanagement, try the Dwayne Johnson/killer gorilla movie, cute one minute, punishing the next.

7"The 15:17 to Paris."

Clint Eastwood couldnt figure out how to tell this true-life, good-news, anti-terrorism story, but he went ahead and starting filming anyway.

6"Aquaman."

Even with a talented, versatile director (James Wan) at the helm, this one feels like being trapped in a Wisconsin Dells water park for, like, a week.

5"Avengers: Infinity War."

Two billion dollars in the coffers cant possibly indicate a granite slab of mediocrity, can it? Can it?

4"Welcome to Marwen."

See the documentary on Mark Hogancamps life and work sometime; the Hollywood version, directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Steve Carell, turns everything to creepy sentimentality.

3"Death of a Nation."

Dinesh DSouzas Trump infomercial equates the presidents accomplishments with those of Abraham Lincolns. No more need be said at this time.

2"Life Itself."

From the creator of "This is Us" comes the most resent-able romantic weepie of the year.

1"The Happytime Murders."

Brutally unfunny revenge on the Muppets, starring Melissa McCarthy, who also led one of the years best films, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" Which proves the axiom: Everything truly wrong with a movie goes wrong long before the actors are called to the set.Thirty-four of the Guam National Guard's airmen are getting deployed to various locations in the Southwest Asia area of operation.

A sendoff ceremony will be held today at the Guard Readiness Center in Barrigada.

Airmen from the Guam Air National Guard headquarters, 254th Air Base Group, 254th Security Forces Squadron, and 254th Force Support Squadron are scheduled to deploy in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel and Operation Inherent Resolve later this month.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request.

The Guard confirmed the airmen will be deployed to various locations "in the Southwest Asia area of operations."

Operation Freedom Sentinel involves the United States' ongoing war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Operation Inherent Resolve is the United States' continuing battle against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. As of June 30, 2017, the total cost of operations related to ISIS since kinetic operations started on Aug. 8, 2014, is $14.3 billion and the average daily cost is $13.6 million for 1,058 days of operations, according to the Department of Defense.

'Keep them ... in your thoughts and prayers'

The Guam Guard asks members of the public for their continued support as this deployment will, once again, have a significant impact on the island's Air Guard component, the Guam Guard stated in a press release.

"A very special thank you to the people of Guam, especially the employers, for their continued support of our airmen and their families," said Maj. Gen. Roderick Leon Guerrero. "We still have other airmen from the 254th Red Horse Squadron and the 254th Security Forces Squadron who are currently deployed or supporting missions around the world."

He added, "Please keep them and these airmen in your thoughts and prayers now as they prepare to deploy and for the duration of their deployment."

The airmen are scheduled to leave next month and will be deployed for about six months.Writings on the Wall

This past week, an off-island couple contacted me about getting married. They will be visiting Guam soon and wanted to get married before goin Read moreNORTH COVENTRY  The East Pikeland man who authorities contend beat his girlfriend to death after accusing her of cheating on him has been held for trial on first-degree murder charges.

District Judge John Hipple ordered Mark Turner bound over to Chester County Common Pleas Court on all charges against him for the Nov. 2 death of 45-year-old Rachel Yeager.

Turner is being held without bail in Chester County Prison.

According to Deputy District Attorney Michele Frei, who is prosecuting the case of fatal domestic violence, the preliminary hearing consisted of testimony by Chester County Detective John ODonnell, the lead investigator in the case.

ODonnell took a videotaped statement from Turner in the early morning hour of Nov. 2 at the Pottstown Police Department headquarters, where Turner was brought after police were called to the home he and Yeager shared on Ridge Road in the township northwest of Phoenixville.

Turner told the detective that he had punched and kicked Yeager after becoming upset that she may have slept with another man inside their home that day.

The defendant told ODonnell that he had been at work as a handyman that day but had come home at some point to find Yeager and a friend inside the house, drinking alcohol. He told the man to leave, and then returned to work.

After leaving his job, Turner said he went to two bars, one in Phoenixville and another in Upper Providence, where he drank. He left the second bar with a quart bottle of beer, and returned home to find Yeager alone.

He said that he went upstairs to his bedroom, but that when he turned down the sheets he noticed a wet spot on the bed that convinced him that Yeager and the friend had had sex there.

Turner punched Yeager in her head with a closed fist repeatedly, hit her on both sides of her jaw, and used his steel-toed work books to kick her in the vaginal area multiple times.

East Pikeland Police responded to a 911 report of a domestic disturbance, and found Yeager unresponsive on the couch. She was transported to Phoenixville Hospital, then to the trauma center at Paoli Hospital, where she lingered on life support for some time, but died at approximately 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 2.

The autopsy, which ODonnell presented to the court in preliminary form, revealed that Dr. Gary Collins determined that Yeager died of blunt impact injuries to her head.

Tuner, 53, was represented at the hearing by attorney Frank Moser of Philadelphia.

The case will now be listed for trial.NORRISTOWN  A Lower Pottsgrove man faces court supervision for his cruel treatment of a dog by keeping the animal in a hot shed with no ventilation, a crime that was discovered when the dog tried to chew his way out.

Harry Albert Linderman, 55, who lived in Shaners Trailer Park in the 3000 block of East High Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to three years probation after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of cruelty to animals and neglect of animals in connection with the July 5, 2018, incident.

Judge Thomas C. Branca, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, also ordered Linderman to complete 100 hours of community service.

The judge added Linderman cannot own or possess animals other than the one cat that he currently owns.

An investigation of Linderman began about 4:10 p.m. July 5 when Lower Pottsgrove police responded to the trailer park for a report of a dog trapped in a shed. When police arrived at Lindermans lot they observed a dogs head protruding from underneath two doors of a shed that was latched shut, court documents alleged.

It appeared that the dog chewed his way through the bottom of the doors and then got stuck once his head was out, Lower Pottsgrove Police Officer David A. McKechnie alleged in the arrest affidavit. The dog was panting heavily and had bloody scrapes and missing skin all over his face. There was saliva and blood pooling around the dogs head. It appeared he had been trapped like that for some time.

At the time of the incident, police said the thermometer in the patrol car read 99 degrees and the temperature inside the shed was significantly higher, McKechnie alleged.

There was feces covering the floor of the shed where the dog was being kept. There was no ventilation to let air flow in and out of the shed, McKechnie alleged.

When confronted by police, Linderman stated he was taking care of the dog and admitted he was aware of the conditions in which the animal was being kept, according to the arrest affidavit.

An animal control officer responded to the scene and confirmed these conditions were cruel and placed the animal at imminent risk of serious bodily injury. The dog was transported to a local veterinary hospital where he was treated for overheating and facial wounds, court papers indicate.After revelations of alleged breaches of campaign finance laws by associates of Donald Trump, his backers and detractors rushed to give their takes.

As a Washington political reporter put it: If what prosecutors say is true, what then?

In answer, and as has happened before when Democrats get hot and bothered about the latest breach of either mere decorum or something larger by Trump, the touchy issue of impeachment comes up.

But even most leaders of that party are wary of the I word. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York, says that the allegations hes seen amount to an impeachable offense. And since Nadler will be the head of the House Judiciary Committee come January, his views matter.

Its important to remember that impeachment is the creation of a trial process, not an outcome. President Clinton was impeached by a Republican Congress, and in the process his public approval ratings shot up, not down. The Democrats are well aware of the dangers of over-reacting.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky believes that even if the violations amount to felonies, they are really mere technicalities. He told Meet the Press: If were going to prosecute people and put them in jail for campaign finance, were going to have a banana republic.

Is this whole process surrounding the long investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller much ado about nothing, or has Trumps presidency already been irrevocably damaged, even without impeachment? If the whole outcome of the Mueller investigation is this, rather than collusion with Russia, is it still doomsday for the administration?

The president gave his view in a tweet: This whole deal is a Rigged Fraud headed up by dishonest people who would do anything so that I could not become President. Others believe the $130,000 Trump paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who said she had an affair with Trump, is an excessive campaign contribution (the legal limit is $2,700) and that her silence helped his successful election.

Dont waste the militarys time

The United States has a standing Army  as well as other service branches  to protect the interests of our nation overseas. To the extent its members have duties stateside, they are entirely to train for such missions.

For internal affairs that for some reason require a military presence beyond the ken of local police forces, we have the National Guard.

ADVERTISING

Thats why it was such a mistake  ethically, economically, perhaps legally  for President Trump to have sent some 5,000 active-duty troops to our border with Mexico as the so-called caravan of Central American asylum-seekers arrived there.

Armed forces were not approaching. Certainly no one expected the Army to head over the border into another country to perform its duties against unorganized poor people. By definition, these troops were being redirected from other duties training for their one and only professional task.

Plainly, with the presidential orders coming right before the midterm elections, the choice of sending in the Army was made simply because it sounded like a more impressive organization to deploy than any other. Such presidential grandstanding for partisan political purposes is not what we elect a national leader for.

While some Army troop deployments at the border are being extended through the end of January, other units have thankfully been sent back to their home bases. Unfortunately, as was shown in the presidents recent testy Oval Office exchange with Democratic congressional leaders, he is now threatening to order the Army to build parts of a border wall. Hes talking about reprogramming/transferring funds from other (Department of Defense) programs, federal budget analyst Stan Collender told NPR. That would indeed take away resources from other activities.

At the deployment, the presidents former Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan, a former Marine, tweeted: Service members who have repeatedly spent long periods of time away from home dont need this.

And the US doesnt need its military to defend against a group of unarmed migrants, inc. many women & kids. As he negotiates with Congress on enhanced border security, the president needs to keep the Army out of it.

 Orange County Register, Digital First MediaMichael Flynns sentencing hearing ended this morning without Flynn receiving a sentence. Judge Emmet Sullivan seemed inclined to sentence Flynn to jail time, notwithstanding the recommendation of the prosecutors that Flynn serve none. However, Sullivan agreed to hold off until he has time to consider the matter of Flynns lobbying for the Turkish government.

As to charges of lying to the FBI, Flynn affirmed that he stands by his guilty plea. He admitted the offense and confirmed that he knew lying to the FBI is a crime.

Judge Sullivan chastised Flynn for the crime. Here is the Washington Posts account:

This is a very serious offense  a high-ranking senior official of the government, making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation while on the physical premises of the White House, Sullivan said, emphasizing every word.

But Sullivan added that the court will also consider [Flynns] substantial assistance in several investigations.

Lying to the FBI is a serious offense. And given Flynns guilty plea, the court had no basis for doubting that Flynn did lie.

As I read accounts of the hearing, however, the real sticking point for Sullivan seems to be the matter of Flynns lobbying for Turkey. He accused Flynn of acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign country, while serving as the national security adviser to the president of the United States. The Post reports:

After reviewing some of the allegations against Flynn, including that he worked to advance the interests of the Turkish government in the United States during the 2016 presidential campaign, the judge pointed to an American flag behind him in the courtroom and said heatedly, Arguably, that undermines everything this flag over here stands for. Arguably you sold your country out.

Judge Sullivan then asked prosecutors whether Flynn could be accused of treason. The lead prosecutor in the case said he had no reason to believe that Mr. Flynn committed treason . . . and no concerns over issues related to treason.

Judge Sullivan later walked back the treason comment as well as the allegation that Flynn served Turkeys interest while working as national security adviser. Sullivan had confused the dates of Flynns lobbying efforts  an inexcusable error if youre going to throw the word treason at anyone, and certainly at someone who has served his country as magnificently as Flynn has.

In the end, Judge Sullivan asked Flynn whether he wanted to be sentenced today, given that he might receive jail time if Sullivan does so. Naturally, Flynn said he prefers a delay.

The delay will give Flynn more time to cooperate with prosecutors on the matter of lobbying for Turkey. Such cooperation presumably will improve the prospect of leniency.

The Turkish angle, though it has flown under the radar, was always present. Indeed, Flynn admitted in his plea deal that he had lied about his business dealings with the Turkish government.

Readers of the Washington Post were greeted this morning with a front-page story about how Michael Flynns business associates have been charged with illegally lobbying for Turkey. Is it just a coincidence that federal prosecutors unsealed this indictment on the eve of Flynns sentencing hearing?

Meanwhile, in a morning tweet, President Trump wished Flynn good luck in court. Flynns luck, as we have seen, ran the other way.

However, Trump retains the power to pardon Flynn, who, in my view, was entrapped by an FBI hostile both to Flynn and to Trump. Trump also has the lesser power to commute any jail sentence Judge Sullivan decides to impose. Given the prosecutors recommendation of no jail time as well as Flynns service to America, Trump should, at a minimum, do that much.It looks like Arizona will be represented in the Senate by both an aviator and a bloviator. The bloviator will be Kyrsten Sinema, the hippie-dippie elected by Arizona voters last month. The aviator will be Martha McSally a fighter pilot who lost to Sinema in the election.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey today named McSally to fill the seat Senator John Kyl will give up at the end of the year. Kyl had been appointed to fill the seat of John McCain. McSallys appointment will run through 2020.

McSally isnt as conservative as I would like, but thats not my main concern. The focus needs to be on holding this seat in 2020. They key was to give the remaining two years of Kyls term to someone who could use that momentum to win the next election.

Is McSally an optimal appointment for that purpose? Im not convinced. Her race against Sinema was not impressive. I thought Sinema outperformed her in their debate.

McSally ran miles behind Ducey, who won handily. The aviator vs. bloviator ad was excellent, but represented the high-water mark of her campaign as far as I can tell.

On the other hand, Gov. Ducey knows infinitely more about Arizona politics and players than I do. Lets hope he made the right call.Today, on the eve of Michael Flynns sentencing hearing, Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered Robert Muellers team to file publicly a redacted version of the interview notes (the 302) that FBI Agent Joe Pientka prepared regarding the interview of Flynn that he and Peter Strzok conducted on January 24, 2017. Judge Sullivan stated, in relevant part:

[T]he court finds that the January 24, 2017 FD 302, which was drafted immediately after Mr. Flynns FBI interview, is relevant to Mr. Flynns sentencing. The court also finds that the governments proposed redactions to that document are appropriate. As such, and in view of the strong public presumption in favor of public access to judicial records. . .the court FORTHWITH ORDERS the government to file its proposed redacted version of the January 24, 2017 FD 302 on the public docket.

Muellers team has complied. You can find the full FD 302, entered on February 15, 2017, here.

Ill quote the portions that may relate to the false statements Flynn allegedly made during the interview. As I understand it, Mueller has cited four false statements:

First, Flynn denied asking Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak to delay or defeat a vote on a pending U.N. resolution condemning Israel. Second, he denied that Kislyak told him Russia was declining that request. Third, Flynn denied requesting of Kislyak that the Kremlin refrain from responding to the Obama administrations imposition of sanctions by escalating the situation  i.e., by some retaliatory measure. Fourth, he denied that Kislyak subsequently told him that Russia had chosen to moderate its response in deference to Flynns request.

Here the portions of the 302, filed on February 15, that may relate to these matters:

The interviewing agents asked FLYNN if he recalled any conversations with KISLYAK about a United Nations vote surrounding the issue of Israeli settlements. FLYNN quickly responded, Yes, good reminder. On the 22nd of December, FLYNN called a litany of countries to include Israel, the UK, Senegal, Egypt, maybe France and maybe Russia/KISLYAK. Part of the reason for Flynns calls was to conduct an exercise

to see how fast the incoming administration could get someone on the line. . . . The interviewing agents asked FLYNN if he made any request of KISLYAK to vote in a particular way or take any action. FLYNN stated he did not. FLYNN stated he did not believe his calls to the various countries would change anything. . .FLYNN stated his calls were about asking where countries would stand on a vote, not any requests of hey, if you do this. The interviewing agents asked FLYNN if he made any comment to KISLYAK about voting in a certain manner, or slowing down the vote, or if KISLYAK described any Russian response to a request by FLYNN. FLYNN answered No. FLYNN stated the conversations were along the lines of where do you stand, and whats your position. FLYNN heard through other channels that [REDACTED] did not like the vote, and believed that the [REDACTED] of their own accord delayed the vote a day. . . . The interviewing agents asked FLYNN if he recalled any conversation with KISLYAK surrounding the expulsion of Russian diplomats or closing of Russian properties in response to Russian hacking activities surrounding the election. FLYNN stated that he did not. . .FLYNN noted that he was not aware of the then-upcoming actions as he did not have access to television news in the Dominican Republic [where he had been vacationing] and his government BlackBerry was not working. The interviewing agents asked FLYNN if he recalled any conversations with KISLYAK in which the expulsions were discussed where FLYNN might have encouraged KISLYAK not to escalate the situation, to keep the Russian reciprocal, or not to engage in a tit-for-tat. FLYNN responded, Not really. I dont remember. It wasnt dont do anything.. . . . The interviewing agents asked FLYNN if he recalled any conversations with KISLYAK in which KISLYAK told him the Government of Russia had taken into account the incoming administrations position about the expulsions, or where KISLYAK said the Government of Russia had responded, or chosen to modulate their response, in any way to the U.S.s actions as a result of a request by the incoming administration. FLYNN stated it was possible that he talked to KISLYAK on the issue, but if he did, he did not remember doing so. FLYNN stated he was attempting to start a good relationship with KISLYAK and move forward. . . FLYNN reflected and stated he did not think he would have had a conversation with KISLYAK about the matter, as he did not know the expulsions were coming. FLYNN stated he did not have a long drawn out conversation with KISLYAK where he would have asked him dont do something.

As I read these notes, Flynn only denied the first two of the four propositions listed above that form the basis for the charge Flynn lied. On the other two propositions, Flynn just said, in effect, he didnt recall saying the things in question to the Russian ambassador. On one of them, he acknowledge he might have said it.

As to the first two propositions, Flynn didnt deny discussing the matters, but did deny making specific comments that apparently are on the recording of the conversation in question. Its possible, however, that Flynn wasnt lying  he simply didnt remember correctly. Its also possible that the notes dont reflect exactly what Flynn told the FBI agents.

It should be noted that, as originally written, this 302 had the header DRAFT DOCUMENT/DELIBERATIVE PROCESS. A later version, identical but without the header, was re-signed and resubmitted on May 31, 2017.

In his transmittal letter, Mueller told Judge Sullivan that the header on the original version was an error. In other words, the original version was not a draft.

In any case, the two versions are identical in substance. Whether deliberations about the substance occurred after the original 302 was submitted on February 15, and if so who participated in the deliberations, we do not know.We attended the afternoon screening of They Shall Not Grow Old at our local suburban multiplex yesterday. The movie is a documentary drawn from 100 hours of archival World War I footage held by the Imperial War Museum and accompanying audio drawn from 600 hours of museum interviews of British soldiers. Peter Jackson is the director of the film; the screening yesterday included a separate half-hour film of Jackson in front of the camera explaining how he came to make the documentary and the techniques he used to create it.

Watching the film on the big screen makes for a harrowing theatrical experience. With little in the way of historical context, it vividly conveys the trench-level experience of the British soldier. Jackson seems to have wrought something like a miracle in doing so.

Not a single person at the showing we attended yesterday left at the conclusion of the documentary. We all stayed for Jacksons half-hour backgrounder, moving in its own way. Jackson modestly claims the goal of inspiring younger viewers to ask their parents about our grandparents who fought in the war.

That hit home with me. My grandfather Max Rikess emigrated to the United States from Russia around 1916. He was drafted in 1917 and served on the Western front portrayed in the film. He was incredibly proud of his service. I wish I had tried harder to get him to talk to me about it. He was at the Battle of the Argonne Forest when the Armistice was declared.

I should hope that the film inspires viewers to learn more about the war. The average citizens knowledge of anything about it must be pitifully small.

The title of the film is drawn from the 1914 poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon: They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. In his book on the British literature coming out of World War I, Paul Fussell observed that the poem was written with uncanny prescience of the appropriate imagery in September, 1914, when the war was a mere seven weeks along.

The New York Times provided illuminating background on the creation of the film in Mekado Murphys excellent weekend feature How Peter Jackson Made WWI Footage Seem Astonishingly New (accessible here on Outline without the videos included in the Times feature). Ed Driscoll has more at InstaPundit. I have embedded the trailer below.

Something is happening here. Each showing of the film at the Edina AMC yesterday was sold out. The film is to be shown again on December 27 in theaters playing Fathom Events. Highly recommended.I wrote here about Sen. Tom Cottons proposed amendments to First Step  the jailbreak legislation thats on the verge of passing the Senate. Now, in an article for NRO, Sen. Cotton explains the need for his amendments.

Cotton focuses on the fact that First Step, though it excludes some federal criminals from eligibility for early release, fails to exclude a number of very serious felonies, including violent ones. He writes:

Among those crimes [not excluded] are certain kinds of child molestation and sex trafficking, assaults on law-enforcement officers, violent bank robberies, carjackings, and hate crimes. Fittingly, the First Step Act would even allow early release for the accomplices in jailbreaks. Another crime still eligible for early release under the bill is 18 U.S.C.  2422. This is a commonly used statute to prosecute sex offenders who attempt to coerce children into illicit activity, often through the Internet. There are 1,446 sex offenders in federal prison convicted under this statute, and not one of them deserves to be released a day early.

As an example of a felon who deserves to serve his entire sentence in prison, but wont under First Step as written, Cotton cites former NASCAR driver Richard Crawford:

Crawford is a former NASCAR driver who was convicted in August of trying to force a twelve-year-old girl to have sex with him. Crawford was sentenced to nearly 11 years in federal prison, but the statute he was convicted under does not appear in First Steps ineligible prisoners list. If the bill passes, he will therefore be eligible for time credits that would reduce his time in prison by up to one-third, or nearly four years. At the end of his prison sentence he would be moved into pre-release custody or supervised release. He would essentially be a free man. Crawfords sex crime was not obscure, low-level, or victimless. Quite the opposite. His crime had the potential to shatter a childs life. It was punished accordingly by a judge and a jury of his peers. That is how criminal justice ought to work in America. Now a group of politicians and activists are in a position to overturn that public judgment with the First Step Act. Conservatives should resist this revolution.

Another of Sen. Cottons amendments would require the Bureau of Prisons to track the recidivism of federal inmates who are granted early release. This, Cotton explains, would allow the public to see exactly what First Steps supporters mean when they claim released prisoners will pose minimal or low risk of returning to crime.

Its telling that supporters of First Step, who describe the programs through which felons can earn credits that will enable them to get out of jail early as evidence based, reject a provision that would require the collection of, you know, evidence. If this Cotton amendment is rejected, it will fully expose the label evidence based for the euphemistic hoax it is.Persistence Market Research (PMR) has published a new report on airway clearance systems. The report has been titled, Airway Clearance Systems Market: Global Industry Analysis (2012-2016) and Forecast (2017-2025).

Persistence Market Research

PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 15:21:16

Press Information

Persistence Market Research

Persistence Market Research



305 Broadway



7th Floor, New York City,



NY 10007, United States,



USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353



Yogesh Sengar

Team Lead

800-961-0353

email

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com





# 551 Words

Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Team Lead800-961-0353

Companies in the airway clearance systems market are mainly focusing on expanding in other regions, launching innovative airway clearance technology according to the customer needs in order to gain a relatively larger share of the pie in the market. Large-scale companies are collaborating among each other or with small scale ones to strengthen their market position and create sustainable positioning. For instance, in May 2015, Koninklijke Philips signed an agreement with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to move its U.S.-based R&D headquarters to Cambridge in order to enhance its technological expertise. The other companies operating in the market are Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc., Allergan plc, Thayer Medical, General Physiotherapy Inc., and VORTRAN Medical Technology, among others.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/16768 Persistence Market Research (PMR) has published a new report on airway clearance systems. The report has been titled, Airway Clearance Systems Market: Global Industry Analysis (2012-2016) and Forecast (2017-2025). The demand for airway cleaners is expanding with the improvement in the reimbursement structure and the growing concerns on a healthy living. In order to meet the growing requirement, the companies operating in the market have pulled up their socks.According to the report, the global airway cleaner systems market is projected to exhibit a CAGR of 7.6% from 2017 to 2025. Rising from a valuation of US$ 434.0 Mn in 2016, the market is expected to reach a valuation of US$ 838.7 Mn by the end of 2025.Growing Elderly Population to Prove Beneficial for the Global MarketOver the last few decades, the life expectancy of people has increased significantly. Aging wanes the immune system of a person, hence, people in the higher age group are extremely susceptible to contracting diseases. According to the National Institute of Aging, 8% of the worlds population is aged 65 years and above. The number of old people in developing countries is likely to increase over 250% between 2010 and 2050 in comparison to the 71% in the developed countries. Aging upsurges the incidence rate of respiratory disease. This is anticipated to drive the global respiratory devices market over the course of the forecast period.Reforming insurance strategies would play a crucial role in increasing the demand for respiratory services across the globe. Government authorities are focusing on cost cutting of respiratory treatment management plans, which are executed on insurance carriers. These plans have been formulated by governments to benefit healthcare insurance providers. This would facilitate more focus on specific life-saving services such as oncology, imaging, and others.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC)@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/16768 Need to Comply with Strict FDA Regulations to Act as a Roadblock to Market GrowthVariations in the premarket and post-market approval policies by FDA for medical devices may affect the growth of the airway clearance devices market. Investigation devices exemption policies for clinical trial of medical devices may hamper the growth of the airway clearance devices market. While COPD prevalence is high in the Middle East and Asia Pacific, the adoption of airway clearance devices is comparatively less than other developed regions due to high product type cost. In contrast to this, economic recession, dearth of awareness regarding respiratory diseases and related symptoms, large number of undiagnosed cases and issues related to reimbursement are some of the major factors restraining the growth of the global airway clearance devices market.PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 08:26:51

Press Information

Xplore-MR

111 North Market Street, Suite 300,



San Jose, CA 95113, United States



Sales

sales@xploremr.com

+16692840108

email

http://www.xploremr.com





# 458 Words

111 North Market Street, Suite 300,San Jose, CA 95113, United Statessales@xploremr.com+16692840108

Global Healthcare Sector OutlookDespite the economic and political uncertainty in the recent past, the global healthcare industry has been receiving positive nudges from reformative and technological disruptions in medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotech, in-vitro diagnostics, and medical imaging.Key markets across the world are facing a massive rise in demand for critical care services that are pushing global healthcare spending levels to unimaginable limits.A rapidly multiplying geriatric population; increasing prevalence of chronic ailments such as cancer and cardiac disease; growing awareness among patients; and heavy investments in clinical innovation are just some of the factors that are impacting the performance of the global healthcare industry.Proactive measures such as healthcare cost containment, primary care delivery, innovation in medical procedures (3-D printing, blockchain, and robotic surgery to name a few), safe and effective drug delivery, and well-defined healthcare regulatory compliance models are targeted at placing the sector on a high growth trajectory across key regional markets.XploreMR presents thorough research study on the global airway clearance systems market. The report talks about all the aspects associated with airway clearance technology and systems, along with special emphasis on the key factors influencing the market scenario in the next few years. The report provides detailed analyses of market fields over 2017-2025.Buy Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/cart/reports/buynow/2271 Research MethodologyXploreMR utilizes a triangulation methodology that is primarily based on experimental techniques such as patient-level data, number of procedures and capital equipment install base to obtain precise market estimations and insights on various medical devices and medical technology. Bottom-up approach is always used to obtain insightful data for the specific country/regions.The country specific data is again analysed to derive data at a global level. This methodology ensures high quality and accuracy of information. Secondary research is used at the initial phase to identify the feasibility of the target products/technology categories and its respective segments, product offerings, usage pattern as per disease indications, product installed base in target healthcare facilities, life span of a device, reimbursement scenario, adoption rate and future impact of new technologies.Each piece of information is eventually analysed during the entire research project which builds a strong base for the primary research information.Download Free Sample Copy of this report @ https://www.xploremr.com/connectus/sample/2271 By RegionNorth AmericaLatin AmericaWestern EuropeEastern EuropeAPEJMEASpecific Report InputsAn analyst involved in the research study of the global airway clearance systems industry has taken into consideration the region-wise occurrence of the total number of respiratory diseases. The diagnosis rate has then been considered along with the data as to how many have opted for airway clearance and how many patients have chosen other treatment devices and methods.Research Report Insights

PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 17:34:03

Press Information

Research Report Insights

Research Report Insights





42 joseph street,





Portcarling P0B 1J0,





Muskoka, Ontario





T: +1-631-721-4201



Vikas Bahurupi

Manager

6317214201

email

https://www.researchreportinsights.com





# 474 Words

Research Report Insights42 joseph street,Portcarling P0B 1J0,Muskoka, OntarioT: +1-631-721-4201Manager6317214201

The global automotive tire market is estimated to witness huge growth across key regions such as North America, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Japan, and Middle East and Africa (MEA) over the forecast period (2017-2027).Drivers and TrendsThe developing technology which is positively affecting to change future scenario of tires, rising mergers and acquisitions with the motive of growth of retail network, rising use of tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) thereby increasing awareness of tires and its functionality among consumers are some key factors that are boosting growth of the market. Increasing preference of consumers to buy tires through online channels and trend of switching to green tires as an environment friendly option and reduction in selling price of small tires are some other factors positively influencing growth of the automotive tire market.Request For Report Sample with Table of Contents@ https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/sample/110114964/Automotive-Tire-Market Long-term OverviewGlobal automotive tire market is anticipated to witness high expansion at single-digit CAGR and estimated to reach nearly US$ 650 Bn by the end of 2027.Market Segmentation on the Basis of Vehicle TypeBased on vehicle type, passenger car segment is projected to remain most lucrative in the global automotive tire market. The segment is estimated to ride on high CAGR of 7 % over the forecast period. Commercial vehicle segment is poised to expand at high single-digit CAGR over the forecast period. The light commercial vehicle segment is estimated to exhibit high growth, securing a valuation more than 100 Bn by 2027-end.Market Segmentation on the Basis of Tire StructureRadial tire segment by tire structure is estimated to reach over US$ 550 witnessing expansion at robust growth rate over the forecast period. Based on sales channels, OEM segment exhibits high CAGR of single-digit. However, aftermarket segment is poised to reflect high market value throughout the forecast period.Request For Report Discount@ https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/discount/110114964/Automotive-Tire-Market Market Segmentation on the Basis of RegionGeographically, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) and Western Europe are anticipated to expand at similar growth rates. In terms of revenue share, APEJ is poised to lead the market throughout the forecast period and the market is estimated to secure nearly US$ 195 Bn over the assessment period.Various companies operating in automotive tire market have been profiled in the market research report. Nexen Tire America Inc., Continental AG, Michelin, Titan Tire Corporation, Madras Rubber Factory Limited, Goodyear Tire And Rubber Company, Cooper Tire and Rubber Company, Yokohama Rubber Company, Limited, Shandong Linglong Tyre, Hankook Tire, Apollo Tyres Ltd, Cheng Shin Rubber Industries, Trelleborg AB, Toyo Tire & Rubber Company, Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd., Kumho Tire Co. Inc., Sailun Tires Ltd, Nokian Renkaat Ojy, Pirelli & C. S.P.A, and Bridgestone Corp. are some leading player operating in the market.Report Analysis@ https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/rd/110114964/Automotive-Tire-MarketBulletproof Security Glass Market

PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 12:43:09

Press Information

Research Report Insights

42 joseph street, Portcarling P0B 1J0, Ontario, Muskoka, canada



vikas

analyst

6317214201

email

https://www.researchreportinsights.com





# 531 Words

42 joseph street, Portcarling P0B 1J0, Ontario, Muskoka, canadaanalyst6317214201

Steady growth of the global market for bulletproof security glass can be attributed to increased security concerns worldwide. Rising incidences of crime and terrorist attacks have increased deployment of modules that deliver safety and security. With this, growth of the global bulletproof security glass market is projected to generate revenues of worth US$ 2,000 million by the end of 2026, as forecasted by a new report available with Research Report Insights.Report For Report Sample with Table of Contents@ https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/sample/110114875/Bulletproof-Security-Glass-Market Bulletproof security glass finds application in multiple end-user industries including financial services, commercial services, institutional construction, residential construction, aviation industry and automotive industry among others. Based on the application in end- user industry, the bulletproof glass is used in the banks, ATM booth, armored cash trucks, residential buildings, premium vehicles and display cases. Thickness, weight, transparency, and level of bullet resistance are few of the prime prerequisites considered in the manufacturing of the bulletproof security glass.With the help of advanced manufacturing and processing technologies, manufacturer of bulletproof glass as well as providers of building materials have introduced a variety of entities. For instance, bulletproof glass manufacturers deliver different bullet resistant barrier systems that include bullet resistant transaction windows and doors, bullet resistant frames, and ballistic counters among others. All these bullet resistant systems are highly deployed in new construction projects of financial services, schools, vehicles and other crime prone locations.The financial community remains dynamic due to consistent merger and acquisition activities and sometimes institution failures. However, integrations of one or more entities lead to prominent infrastructure changes in the financial institutions. As these institutes are prone to crimes and terrorist attacks, demand for bulletproof security glass has dramatically increased in this industry.According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the numbers of new residential construction have increased steadily in past decade in the United States. Owing to increased numbers of breaches and crimes, construction industry is adopting bulletproof security glass in the construction projects, particularly in different educational institutions as well as residential buildings. With the increasing numbers of construction projects, and intensified security concerns, bulletproof security glass are likely to witness steady demand in the construction industry.Request For Report Discount@ https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/discount/110114875/Bulletproof-Security-Glass-Market Across the globe, terrorist attacks continues to generate concerns of human safety. Highly vulnerable regions to terrorist attacks such as Israel, Iraq and Syria, have witnessed incremental demand for bulletproof security glass in automotive as well as construction industries. Apart from these industries, military and defense sectors have also increased installation of bulletproof security glass.Despite being a highly sought after material for security, bulletproof security glass may experience hindrance of adoption in automotive industry. Challenges to reduce the weight of bulletproof glass and increasing demand for light and fuel efficient vehicles do not support adoption of heavy bulletproof security glass. Further, stringent government regulations on the use of bulletproof security glass can obstruct utilization in specific world regions. For instance, the government of Philadelphia has passed a bill to regulate use of bulletproof security glass in different constructions.Report Analysis@ https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/rd/110114875/Bulletproof-Security-Glass-MarketPR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 12:28:11

Press Information

Persistence Market Research

305 Broadway



7th Floor, New York City,



NY 10007, United States,



Telephone - +1-646-568-7751



USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353



Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com



Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com



Yogesh Senger

Manager

6465687751

email

https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com





# 660 Words

305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Telephone - +1-646-568-7751USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comManager6465687751

Cananga odorata is also known as the cananga tree, is a large evergreen tropical tree originated in the rain forest of various Asian and South Pacific Islands such as Indonesia, Philippines, Polynesia, Sumatra, Java, and Comoro. The essential oil of Cananga odorata can be extracted by the steam distillation of its fresh flowers called ylang ylang. The essential flower oil has found wide usage in aromatherapy owing to its pleasing fragrance. Cananga odorata (ylang ylang) flower oil has emerged as an essential perfumery ingredient with strong demand in floral and oriental compositions. Ylang ylang flower oil is of high medicinal value due to its properties such as an antidepressant, antiseptic, antiseborrhoeic, hypotensive, aphrodisiac, nervine, and sedative substance. The high growth of cananga odorata (ylang ylang) flower oil is attributable to its perfumery and medicinal applications.The market of Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) flower oil is expected to be driven by its high perfumery and medicinal values. Owing to its gentle fragrance, it has found wide application in the perfumes and aromatherapy treatments. It provides various health benefits such as relief from anxiety, stress, blood pressure and depression. The flower oil can also heal the wounds, and treated as a remedy in hair fall. Some of the macro-economic factors such as population growth, recovered GDP, and increased disposable income are fueling the growth of Cananga Odorata (ylang ylang) flower oil market during the reviewed period. Apart from this, rising demand of aromatic flavors in perfumes, shift from synthetic to natural products, and growing emphasis of preventive health care practices among health conscious consumers also propels the growth of Cananga Odorata (ylang ylang) flower oil.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12718 The segmentation of Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) flower oil market is based upon application, and geography. On the basis of application, Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) Flower oil market is segmented into food & beverages, medical, personal care, and others. Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) Flower oil is used as a preservative and flavoring agent in the food and beverages application. The increasing health consciousness of consumers has escalated the demand of Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) Flower oil in the medical segment. The personal care segment is expected to grow at a rapid pace in the Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) flower oil market owing to the rising demand of aromatic flavors as well as fragrances in personal care products such as perfumes and cosmetic products. Additionally, the increased demand of spa and relaxation applications due to the change in life-style is anticipated to fuel the market growth in upcoming years.On the basis of geography, Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) flower oil market is segmented into five different regions namely North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East and Africa. The market size of Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) flower oil is expected to be prominent in the European region owing to the rising awareness and increasing demand of cosmetics and beauty products, medicines, and nutraceuticals. Europe was followed by North America to emerge as the second major region in the Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) Flower oil market. Factors such as highly developed industries, increasing per capita income, subsidies and tax benefits from the government, contribute vitally to growth of the market in the North America region. Asia Pacific region is projected to be the fastest growing market owing to the change in life style and increased awareness about health benefits of the products derived from natural sources.The players in the Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) Flower oil market focuses upon the integration across the value chain to attain cost-benefit ratio in the longer run. Some of the key players in the Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) Flower oil market include Biolandes SAS, doTerra International, Sydney Essential Oils Co., The Lebermuth Co., Inc., Young Living Essential Oils, Farotti Essenze, and Essential Oils of New Zealand, among others.Request for the Sample Copy: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12718PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 15:26:33

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 1033 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 18, 2018 / Cielo Waste Solutions Corp. (CSE: CMC) ("Cielo" or the "Company") announces a non-brokered private placement ("Offering") of up to 15,384,615 ("Units") at $0.13 per Unit. Each Unit is comprised of one Common Share and one warrant ("Warrant"), with each Warrant having an exercise price of $0.20 and an expiration date of the earlier of 36 months from the date of issuance of the Units and the date that is 30 days from the date that Cielo provides notice ("Notice") to the warrant holder that the expiration date of the Warrants has been accelerated. The Notice may only be delivered to the Warrant Holders after Cielo's listed common shares trade at $0.40, or higher, for 20 consecutive days, any time after 4 months and a day from the date of issuance of the Units. Any Warrants that have not been exercised on or before the expiry of the 30-day period will automatically expire.The Offering will close in one or more tranches. Cielo has closed the first tranche of the Offering ("First Tranche"), raising gross proceeds of $74,406 through the issuance of 6,726,200 Units. $42,406 of the gross proceeds were paid by way of debt settlement.Although the Offering is non-brokered, the Company may, as determined in its sole discretion, pay reasonable customary brokers' and/or finders' fees ("Fees"), as applicable, in connection with the completion of the Offering. With respect to the closing of the First Tranche, Cielo has paid Fees equal to $58,240 and issued 291,200 warrants ("Finder's Warrant"). Each Finder's Warrant has the same terms as the Warrants issued pursuant to the Offering and all securities issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to applicable resale restrictions. The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to acquire equipment and pay service costs to advance the commissioning of Cielo's first commercial waste to renewable diesel fuel refinery in Aldersyde, Alberta ("Aldersyde Refinery"), as well as for working capital.As an insider participated in the Offering, it is considered to be a "related party transaction" under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company relies on the exemption from valuation requirement pursuant to subsection 5.5(b) of MI 61-101, as the securities of the Company are not listed or quoted on an enumerated stock exchange, and the Company relies on the exemption from minority approval under subsection 5.7(b) of MI 61-101, as the securities of the Company are not listed or quoted on an enumerated stock exchange; neither consideration received, nor the fair value of the securities distributed exceeds $2,500,000; and at least two thirds of independent directors of the Company voted in favour of the related party transaction.Grande Prairie Joint Venture UpdateFurther to the previously announced Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with Renewable U Energy Inc. ("Renewable U"), announced on November 1, 2018, Cielo's management has visited Grande Prairie so as to advance site selection for the contemplated joint venture refinery in Grande Prairie. Cielo's management has also visited Medicine Hat in order to meet with and assist Renewable U in their due diligence process prior to exercising their option to build one or more joint venture refineries with Cielo in or around Medicine Hat, Alberta ("Option"). In the event Renewable U exercises the Option, Renewable U will enter into a second memorandum of understanding with Cielo, which will require Renewable U to pay Cielo an additional $250,000. The MOU provided for the Option to be exercised within 45 days of the date of the MOU, however. Cielo has granted Renewable U an extension to January 31, 2019 to exercise the Option, due to Renewable U's request for additional time for due diligence.Raphael Bohlmann, President of Renewable U, stated, "Subsequent to Don Allan's visit to Grande Prairie, we have narrowed down our site selection to one of three properties on which to begin acquisition negotiations. In addition, based on the positive feedback that we have received after our last group of meetings in Medicine Hat, along with the significant advancements being made by Cielo in their commissioning efforts of their Aldersyde Refinery, we are confident that we will be exercising our Option with Cielo to build additional joint venture refineries together in or around Medicine Hat." Don Allan, President and CEO of Cielo, stated, "The recent announcements by the Alberta and British Columbia governments regarding their continued support for "green" initiatives reaffirms our belief of the immediate need for Cielo's waste to renewable fuels technology. Although the commissioning of our Aldersyde Refinery has taken longer with higher capital costs than originally contemplated, we believe that the engineering and design changes that are being implemented will help us to scale-up and build out multiple refineries. Over the past several months, while evaluating different capital options to purchase additional equipment to facilitate the Aldersyde Refinery to operate on a continuous-flow basis, we have successfully been able to convert sawdust into distillate, which we are then able to convert into renewable diesel, kerosene and naphtha fuels. We anticipate being able to achieve our first sales in Q1 of 2019 and thereafter proceed forward with our next phase of our business plan and building multiple refineries in Canada." *Actual amount $874,406Join Cielo shareholders on 8020 Connect: http://bit.ly/Cielogroup For more information please contact:Cielo Waste Solutions Corp.Don AllanPresident & CEO(403) 348-2972 Ext. 101donallan@ cielows.com Michael Yeung, CFAVP, Business Development & Capital Markets(403) 348-2972 Ext. 103michaelyeung@ cielows.com About Cielo Waste Solutions Corp.Cielo Waste Solutions Corp. is a publicly traded company with its shares listed to trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") under the symbol "CMC". Cielo holds the exclusive license for the global rights to a transformational, patent-pending, technology engineered to convert garbage-derived feedstocks to high grade renewable diesel, at a significantly lower cost than biofuel companies. With landfills being one of the world's leading contributors to Green House Gas emissions and being projected to double in size over the next 7 years, Cielo can potentially resolve this crisis, on a cost-efPR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 05:58:03

Press Information

Research Report Insights

42 Joseph Street



Research Report Insights (RRI



Port carling P0B 1J0



Muskoka, Ontario1



Phone - +1-631-721-4201



Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/



Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com



BISHU

6317214201

6317214201

email

http://www..





# 476 Words

42 Joseph StreetResearch Report Insights (RRIPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com63172142016317214201http://www.. researchreportinsights.com

Connected or smart street light is the intelligent street lightning system that adjusts automatically based on the real time traffic conditions and change according to realistic condition. The conventional street light is one of the major source of electricity consumption owing to the continuous operation of lighting during the night time, thus in order to reduce the unnecessary electricity consumption, the existing conventional system has to be adapted to intelligent lighting system. This smart street lights consists of IR sensor, PIR sensor, low cost embedded controller and memory devices.Countries such as India and China in the Asia Pacific region, along with African countries are heavily investing in solar streetlights. European countries such as U.K and Germany are also implementing the solar-powered lighting which is economical considering their low-power dependency which makes them suitable even for adverse climatic conditions.The global smart/connected street lights market is expected to reach approximately USD XX million by 2025 growing at a XX% CAGR over the forecast period 2017-2025The global connected street lights market can be segmented on the basis of its connectivity and components. Based on the connectivity, the market is segregated into wired and wireless.Request For Report Sample: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upsample/120124775/Connected-(Smart)-Street-Lights-Market The wired segment is further sub-divided into power line communication and others. In terms of component, the connected street lights market is categorized into hardware, services, and software. In which, hardware segment is sub-divided into controllers/relays and sensors.Technological developments has undoubtedly boosted the demand for connected (smart) street lights market on the international level in last few years. It has enhanced the capacity of street lights, which is more efficient than the regular street lights. The never-ending demand for sustainable lighting solutions has led to significant growth for connected (smart) street lights across nations in both developed and developing regions. In addition, the development of smart cities across nations around the world has forced the government and companies to look forward to smart lighting solutions. As these smart lighting technologies helps in reducing carbon emissions, available at lower cost, and help increase overall efficiency.Request For Report TOC: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/TOC/120124775/Connected-(Smart)-Street-Lights-Market Depending on the networking technology, the market is sub-segmented into narrowband, medium-band, and broadband technology. The narrow-band technology is further categorized into Sigfox, LoRa, RPMA, and others. The medium band includes PLC, RF mesh, and others, whereas the broadband technology consists of 3G/4G cellular, Wi-Fi, and others.Some of the few players in the market are Silver Springs Network Inc., Acuity Brands Lighting Inc., EnGo PLANET, Twilight Citelum S.A., OSRAM Licht Group, Flashnet SRL, Dimonoff Inc., General Electric Co., Philips Lighting N.V., Schreder Group, Echelon Corporation, Toshiba Lighting, Led Roadway Lighting Ltd, and Telensa Ltd.Report Analysis: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upcomming/120124775/Connected-%28Smart%29-Street-Lights-MarketPR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 08:05:02









Strategic collaboration agreement with Sandoz to develop digital anti-infectives platform

Collaboration leverages Ares Genetics antibiotic resistance database ARESdb

Short-term focus on repurposing existing antibiotics to treat infections with multi drug resistant pathogens

Vienna, Austria, Holzgerlingen, Germany and Amsterdam, The Netherlands; December 18, 2018; published at 08:00 am CET  Curetis N.V. (the "Company" and, together with its subsidiaries, "Curetis"), today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Ares Genetics GmbH signed a collaboration agreement with Sandoz to leverage Ares Genetics database on the genetics of antibiotic resistance, ARESdb, and the ARES Technology Platform for Sandoz anti-infective portfolio.

Under the agreement, the companies intend to develop a digital anti-infectives platform combining established microbiology laboratory methods with advanced bioinformatics and artificial intelligence methods to support drug development and life cycle management. The collaboration in the short- to mid-term aims at rapidly and cost-effectively re-purposing existing antibiotics and designing value-added medicines with the objective of expanding indication areas and overcoming antibiotic resistance, in particular in infections with bacteria that already developed resistance against multiple treatment options. Longer-term, the platform is expected to inform the development of novel anti-infectives that are less prone to encounter resistance and thereby preserve antibiotics as an effective treatment option.

The collaboration agreement covers the first phases of the collaboration with Sandoz providing certain R&D funding to Ares Genetics. Further financial details were not disclosed.

Together with Sandoz, we are working on informing drug positioning and life cycle management using big data and artificial intelligence approaches in combination with experimental data and our extensively curated reference database on antibiotic resistance, said Dr. Andreas Posch, Managing Director & CEO of Ares Genetics. We believe that our approach can substantially and cost-effectively help in overcoming antibiotic resistance with existing drugs as well as developing new drugs that are less prone to encounter resistance.

The collaboration between Sandoz and Ares Genetics is a great example how the Curetis Group expanded its offerings for pharmaceutical industry partners in the anti-infectives space, explained Dr. Achim Plum, Chief Business Officer of Curetis and Managing Director of Ares Genetics. Our offerings range from data-driven approaches to antimicrobial drug development and life cycle management by Ares Genetics to customized rapid diagnostic test panels for enhanced clinical trial enrollment and companion diagnostics based on Curetis Unyvero Platform.

The spread of antibiotic resistance, particularly among pathogens that are resistant to multiple drugs is one of the key challenges of global healthcare systems. It is currently estimated to cause 700,000 deaths worldwide and projected to claim more lives than cancer by 2050 if no decisive action is taken. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics in healthcare and agriculture is seen as major causes of the rapid emergence of resistance even against novel drugs. Approaches to fight antibiotic resistance include a more targeted and informed use of available antibiotics through rapid diagnostics, repurposing and novel combinations, as well as the development of antibiotics that are less prone to encounter resistance. To counteract antibiotic resistance, Ares Genetics has recently launched the ARES&CO Pharma Partnering Program supported by the Vienna Business Agency, as well as the The Digital Microbe R&D Program supported by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG).

###

About Curetis and Ares Genetics

Curetis N.V.s (Euronext: CURE) goal is to become a leading provider of innovative solutions for molecular microbiology diagnostics designed to address the global challenge of diagnosing severe infectious diseases and identifying antibiotic resistances in hospitalized patients.

Curetis Unyvero System is a versatile, fast and highly automated molecular diagnostic platform for easy-to-use, cartridge-based solutions for the comprehensive and rapid detection of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance markers in a range of severe infectious disease indications. Results are available within hours, a process that can take days or even weeks if performed with standard diagnostic procedures, and thereby facilitates improved patient outcomes, stringent antibiotic stewardship and health economic benefits. Unyvero in vitro diagnostic (IVD) products are marketed in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the U.S.

Curetis wholly owned subsidiary Ares Genetics GmbH offers next-generation solutions for infectious disease diagnostics and therapeutics. The ARES Technology Platform combines the worlds most comprehensive database on the genetics of antimicrobial resistances, ARESdb, with advanced bioinformatics and artificial intelligence.

For further information, please visit www.ares-genetics.com and www.curetis.com .

Legal Disclaimer

This announcement contains inside information. This is a public announcement pursuant to article 17 paragraph 1 of the European Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014).

This document constitutes neither an offer to buy nor to subscribe for securities and neither this document nor any part of it should form the basis of any investment decision in Curetis.

The information contained in this press release has been carefully prepared. However, Curetis bears and assumes no liability of whatever kind for the correctness and completeness of the information provided herein. Curetis does not assume an obligation of whatever kind to update or correct information contained in this press release whether as a result of new information, future events or for other reasons.

This press release includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms believes, estimates, anticipates, expects, intends, may, will, or should and include statements Curetis makes concerning the intended results of its strategy. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Curetis actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements. Curetis undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.

Curetis Contact Details

Curetis GmbH

Max-Eyth-Str. 42

71088 Holzgerlingen, Germany

Tel. +49 7031 49195-10

pr@curetis.com or ir@curetis.com

www.curetis.com



Ares Genetics Contact Details

Ares Genetics GmbH

Karl-Farkas-Gasse 18

1030 Vienna, Austria

Tel. +43 1 361 8880 10

contact@ares-genetics.com

www.ares-genetics.com

Curetis International Media & Investor Inquiries

akampion

Dr. Ludger Wess / Ines-Regina Buth

Managing Partners

info(@)akampion.com

Tel. +49 40 88 16 59 64

Tel. +49 30 23 63 27 68

Curetis U.S. Media & Investor Inquiries

The Ruth Group

Lee Roth

lroth@theruthgroup.com

Tel. +1 646 536 7012

AttachmentPMR delivers key insights on the global Industrial cable reels market in its new report titled Industrial Cable Reels Market: Global Industry Analysis 2013  2017 and Forecast 2018  2026

Persistence Market Research

PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 15:23:13

Press Information

Persistence Market Research

Persistence Market Research



305 Broadway



7th Floor, New York City,



NY 10007, United States,



USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353



Yogesh Sengar

Team Lead

800-961-0353

email

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com





# 587 Words

Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Team Lead800-961-0353

PMR delivers key insights on the global Industrial cable reels market in its new report titled Industrial Cable Reels Market: Global Industry Analysis 2013  2017 and Forecast 2018  2026. The long-term outlook on the global Industrial cable reels market will remain positive with the industrial cable reels market value expected to increase at a CAGR of 4.0% during the forecast period. According to sources, the spring loaded industrial cable reels segment is expected to register healthy growth during the forecast period, primarily due its growing adoption in manufacturing plants.Sales of industrial cable reels in the global market is estimated to reach US$ 2,480.0 Mn by the end of 2018, witnessing a Y-o-Y growth rate of 4.0% over 2017. In terms of volume of industrial cable reels, China is expected to account for nearly 22.2% of the total share in the global industrial cable reels market by the end of 2018 and is expected to retain its position in the industrial cable reels market during the forecast period.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/25111 Global Industrial Cable Reels Market: DynamicsThe demand for industrial cable reels is driven by investments in public and private sector construction projects across the globe. Increasing investments made by governments as well as private sector companies in infrastructural development projects will create a requirement for construction and logistic equipment, such as cranes, and will be a major factor driving the growth of the global industrial cable reels market. Within these infrastructural projects, some of the key demand drivers are expected to be construction, urban infrastructure, irrigation and mining operations. Investments in infrastructure can be classified into investments on roads, ports, airports, railways, pipelines, waterways and urban infrastructure. Also, the Middle East region has presence of well-known construction companies, especially in Dubai, Qatar, Doha and UAE. That apart, the upcoming Expo 2020 (Dubai) will create significant opportunities for industrial cable reels manufacturers to cater to the demand from the construction sector in due time.Also, due to the flourishing industrial sector, including manufacturing, mining, construction, utilities and oil and gas, the demand for cable reels across the globe is expected to rise during the forecast period. Many companies engaged in the manufacturing of industrial cable reels are entering markets in Asia-Pacific and Middle East and Africa with the hope of capitalizing on demand and thus, expand their geographical footprint. For this, companies are focusing on developing products that comply with the operational standards in local markets.Global Industrial Cable Reels Market: ForecastThe industrial cable reels market insights suggest that manual the industrial reels segment will continue to dominate the industrial cable reels market during the forecast period.On the basis of cable core, the market varies from region to region. The demand for less than 4 core industrial cable reels is significantly higher at a global level.The North America Industrial cable reels market is found to be a high value region and is further expected to dominate in terms of sales over the forecast period. However, China and Southeast Asia & Pacific are expected to grow at an above-average growth rate in the global Industrial cable reels market over the forecast period.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC)@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/25111 Global Industrial Cable Reels Market: Competitive LandscapeSome of the market participants included in the report on the industrial cable reels market are Delachaux SA, Cavotec SA, Stemmann-Technik GmbH, Paul Vahle GmbH & Co. KG, United Equipment Accessories, Inc., Hubbell Incorporated, Scame Parre S.p.A., Nederman Holding AB, Eaton(cooper industries), Emerson Electric Co., Legrand SA and Schneider-Electric.PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 06:00:54

Press Information

Research Report Insights

42 Joseph Street



Research Report Insights (RRI



Port carling P0B 1J0



Muskoka, Ontario1



Phone - +1-631-721-4201



Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/



Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com



BISHU

6317214201

6317214201

email

http://www..





# 509 Words

42 Joseph StreetResearch Report Insights (RRIPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com63172142016317214201http://www.. researchreportinsights.com

Distributed processing is a system in which numerous individual central processing units (CPU) work on the same platforms, systems or functions for the purpose of providing additional capability for a computer or any other device.Orthodox microprocessors involved only one CPU on a single chip but with the evolution in the microprocessor engineering, manufacturers discovered that for the purpose of speeding up the processes, more than one processor can be combined on the single unit. Continuous growth in peer to peer networks and massive multiplayer online gaming is going to create significant opportunity for the market in the forecast period.For the purpose of doing in depth analysis, the Global Distributed Processing Market has been segregated on the basis of types, application, network size and geography. Based on type, the Global Distributed Processing Market has been segregated mainly into three types they are like grid, cluster and cloud.Based on different network sizing market has been segregated mainly into four types they are like personal area network,wide area network,local area network and metropolitan area network.Different types of applicationof distributed processing include application in telecommunication network, parallel computation, real time process control and network application. Moreover, this article also provide cross diversified functional analysis of all the segment across various regions like North America, Europe, APAC, Middle East & Africa and Latin America.Request For Report Sample: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upsample/120124776/Distributed-Processing-Market Improved performance and reduced processing time by using distributed processing instead of single computer which helps in augmenting system performance is acting as a major growth driver for the Global Distributed Processing Market. Lowering cost of data sharing and networking across various organizations by comprising multiple minicomputers is also one of the major factor for the growth of the market. Therefore, the growing need of organizational distributed network for parallel data processing in interconnected machines is expected to catalyse the growing demand of distributed processing. In addition, presence of multiple control centers in data processing to avoid hardware glitches and software anomalies is also anticipated to increase the demand of distributed processing in the upcoming years.Inspite of various driving factors, the Global Distributed Processing Market is expected to show slight fluctuation and shrink in the growth rate because of lack of correctness in algorithms due to parallel system operations. Greater potential of bugs and higher time consumption during failure of part of system are also the major restraining factors for the Global Distributed Processing Market. Better system reliability during machine failure and equally accessible system flexibility in the overall system is going to create significant opportunity for distributed processing in the forecast period.Request For Report TOC: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/TOC/120124776/Distributed-Processing-Market Some of the leading players operating in the Global Distributed Processing Market includes Blockstream (The U.S.),Nutanix (The U.S.),Paxata (The U.S.),Databricks (The U.S.),Aryaka(The U.S.),MemSQL(The U.S.)Nerdalize (Netherlands),Infinit (France),Eurotech (Italy) and PrismTech (The U.K.) among others.Report Analysis: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upcomming/120124776/Distributed-Processing-MarketAntithrombin III Deficiency Testing Market

PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 05:28:08

Press Information

Persistence Market Research

305 Broadway



7th Floor, New York City,



NY 10007, United States,



USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353



Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com



Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com



Yogesh Sengar

Team Lead

800-961-0353

email

https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/





# 579 Words

305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comTeam Lead800-961-0353

Antithrombin III is a non-vitamin, K-dependent protease that naturally blocks abnormal blood clot formation in the bloodstream. Deficiency of antithrombin III causes various blood clot disorders in the human body. For instance, congenital antithrombin III deficiency is a common antithrombin deficiency, which usually occurs when individuals receive the abnormal antithrombin III gene from their parents. This abnormal gene causes abnormal blood clots in the human body which block blood flow and damage organs.Antithrombin deficiencies are mainly divided into two types: type I and type II. The type I antithrombin deficiency is characterized by an inadequate amount of normal antithrombin present in the bloodstream. In this condition, there is simply not enough antithrombin present to inactivate the coagulation factors. The type II antithrombin deficiency is characterized by adequate amount of antithrombin present in the bloodstream. However, it does not function properly and is unable to carry out its normal functions.Request Sample Report@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4272 The major symptoms of blood clotting include fainting, coughing up blood, shortness of breath, pain when taking deep breaths, and swelling of legs. In addition, some physical symptoms of blood clots are abnormal lung sounds, fast breathing, swollen foot or leg, and fast heart rate.The global antithrombin III deficiency testing market is categorized on the basis of various types of deficiencies, diagnostic procedures, and end users. Based on the type of deficiencies, the report covers type I antithrombin deficiency and type II antithrombin deficiency. Based on the type of technology, the report covers monoclonal antibodies, molecular diagnostics, differential light scattering, immunoassays, flow cytometry, chromatography, gel micro droplets, diagnostic imaging, and others. Based on end users, the report covers commercial or private labs, physician offices, hospitals, public health labs, and academic research institutes.In terms of geography, North America dominates the global antithrombin III deficiency testing market. This is due to increased government funding on healthcare infrastructure in the region. In addition, technological advancement in antithrombin III diagnostic procedures has also propelled the market in North America. The U.S. represents the largest market for antithrombin deficiency testing in North America, followed by Canada. In Europe, Germany, France, and the U.K. hold the major shares of the antithrombin III deficiency testing market. The antithrombin III deficiency testing market in Asia is also expected to show high growth rates in the next five years. This is due to the various initiatives undertaken by governments to increase awareness about blood clotting disorders in the region. In addition, increased investments by many foreign diagnostic instrument companies have also propelled the growth of the antithrombin III deficiency testing market in the region. India, China, and Japan are expected to be the fastest-growing markets for antithrombin III deficiency testing in Asia.Advanced applications of antithrombin deficiency diagnostic instruments and increasing prevalence of blood clot disorders are the key drivers for the global antithrombin III deficiency testing market. Also, increased government support in the form of funding and rapid technological advancements have fueled the growth of this market.Request Report TOC@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/4272 An increasing number of mergers and acquisitions involving diagnostic consumables manufacturing companies and rapid product launches are the key trends in the global antithrombin III deficiency testing market.The major companies operating in this market are Abbott Laboratories, Avocet Medical Inc., Axis-Shield plc, Beckman Coulter Inc., Becton, Dickinson and Company, Trinity Biotech PLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Siemens AG, Roche, Chrono-log Corporation, Sysmex Corporation, Hyphen Biomed and American Diagnostica GmbH.PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 06:05:45

Press Information

Research Report Insights

42 Joseph Street



Research Report Insights (RRI



Port carling P0B 1J0



Muskoka, Ontario1



Phone - +1-631-721-4201



Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/



Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com



BISHU

6317214201

6317214201

email

http://www..





# 505 Words

42 Joseph StreetResearch Report Insights (RRIPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com63172142016317214201http://www.. researchreportinsights.com

Facial injectable aid in rejuvenating facial skin by reducing or eliminating wrinkles, raising scar depressions, and enhancing lips. Facial injectable are products that include collagen fillers, hyaluronic acid fillers, and synthetic fillers such as calcium hydroxyl apatite. The use of injectable products such as hyaluronic acid increases skin hydration, improves skin, and protects from UV damage and has relatively low side effects.Facial injectable, also called dermal fillers, are generally the products that aid in facial transformation. In general, the facial injectable products are widely used to extravagance the early signs of age and wrinkles thereby increasing the visual appearance and the beauty. In addition, changing insight of beauty is demanding the increased use of dermal fillers and other facial injectable all over the world.The global market for facial injectable is expected to reach USD 9.04 billion by the end of the forecasted period and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.2%The global facial injectable market is driven by increasing demand to look young and beautiful. The target age group for the facile injectable products are primarily women age between 35 to 60 years. Nonetheless, both women and men are using facial injectable products to achieve and maintain the young look.Request For Report Sample: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upsample/120124779/Facial-Injectable-Market The regions covered in the report are North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (ROW). The Americas is set to be the leading region for the facial injectable market growth followed by Europe. Asia Pacific and ROW are set to be the emerging regions. Brazil is set to be the most attractive destination, and in Latin America, the popularity and the usage of facial injectable are expected to increase in the coming years.The report is segmented in various types such as based on product type, applications, end users and region. There are two types of facial Injectable which are majorly used in the facial Injectable market. Two types of facial Injectable are dermal fillers and botulinum toxin. Dermal fillers are injected with small gauge injectors into deep dermal area to fill the space and also to induce the body production of collagen. Dermal fillers may be of Hyaluronic acid based, Calcium Hydroxyapatite based, Poly-Lactic acid based, collagen based or Polymethylmethacrylate-based (non-absorbable). Botulinum toxin is a single chain of about 150KD and then is cleaved to form a dichain molecule with a disulphide bridge. Some of the key commercially available botulinum toxin brands include Dysport, Xeomin, Meditoxin, Botulax and Nabota. There are various applications of facial Injectable including aesthetic restoration, dentistry and reconstructive surgery.Request For Report TOC: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/TOC/120124779/Facial-Injectable-Market Some of the prominent key players in the market includes Allergan plc, Galderma S.A., Merz Pharma Gmbh & Co. KGaA, Merck & Co. Inc., Ipsen S.A., and other predominate & niche players. Nestle skin health, Sinclair pharma, zimmer Biomet, Allergan, Anika therapeutics Inc., Merz Pharma, Ipsen, Teoxane laboratories, Prollelium Medical Technologies Inc., Suneva Medical Inc. and others.Report Analysis: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upcomming/120124779/Facial-Injectable-MarketPR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 12:26:59

Press Information

Persistence Market Research

305 Broadway



7th Floor, New York City,



NY 10007, United States,



Telephone - +1-646-568-7751



USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353



Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com



Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com



Yogesh Senger

Manager

6465687751

email

https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/





# 655 Words

305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,Telephone - +1-646-568-7751USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comManager6465687751

Food ingredients sterilization equipment is used to sterile the food ingredients. There are different processes through which food ingredients are processed such as heat, moisture, radiation etc. in order to reduce or destroy the micro-organisms present in food ingredients. Increasing demand for and increasing demand for processed and packaged food from last few decades has led to increasing in demand of food ingredients in global food and beverage industry. In addition, the demand for food ingredients sterilization also rising to increase shelf life of treated food ingredients. Growing demand for spices, herbs, meat, poultry, cereals, pulses etc. in the food industry is expected to drive the growth of food ingredients sterilization in developing regions. In terms of value, it is expected that North America accounts for the majority of share in global food ingredients sterilization market and Asia-Pacific is expected as the fastest growing market.Global Food Ingredients Sterilization Market: Market DriversSome of the key drivers influencing the demand for food ingredients sterilization the global market are driven by the food safety and health protection. Proper sterilization of food keeps the food products safe and also increases the potential of food manufacturers to deliver quality food with extended shelf life. On the other side, the increasing trend of packaged and prepared food in developing region has led to increasing in demand for food sterilization among food manufacturers as it adds significant shelf life to food ingredients and keeps the packaged food safe for the longer period of time. Demand for food ingredients sterilization also increasing in the global market due to stringent food safety norms of government regarding the use of sterilization equipment in food and beverage industry. In near future, the demand for food ingredients sterilization is expected to create better opportunities in food industry as advancement in sterilization technology and development of new sterilization products is creating opportunities for the food manufacturers to develop new food products to meet growing demand of consumers.Global Food Ingredients Sterilization Market: Market SegmentFood ingredients sterilization segment have been segmented on the basis of ingredients and sterilization method. Market segment by ingredients, it includes spices, herbs and seasonings, dried fruits and vegetables, meat and poultry, seafood, dairy ingredients, cereals and pulses, tea blends and nuts. Market segmentation, on the basis of sterilization method, its market is segmented by heat, moisture, radiation and others. Further, on analyzing the demand for food ingredients sterilization market, it assessed that the demand for food ingredients sterilization equipment is expected to increase in spices, herbs and seasonings as they have wide application in food processing industry. On the other side, food ingredients sterilization by heat is expected to account largest share in the global market followed by radiation method. Moreover, the regulations of government regarding food safety and health concern led to support the growth of food ingredients sterilization equipment in the global food industry.A sample of this report is available upon request @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12724 Global Food Ingredients Sterilization Market: Regional segmentOn the basis of regional segment, food ingredients sterilization market is segmented into five regions including North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific & Japan and the Middle East and Africa. On analyzing the demand for food ingredients sterilization market, it is expected that North America and Europe accounts for the largest market share in the global food ingredients sterilization market in terms of value. Moreover, demand for food ingredients sterilization is also expected to increase in Asia-Pacific & Japan in near future due to an increasing number of food manufacturing plants in the region.Global Food Ingredients Sterilization Market: Key playersSome of the key players in food ingredients sterilization market are Sterigenics International LLC, Croll Reynolds, Balchem Corporation, Global Sterilization and Fumigation, Wenda Ingredients, Namah Steam Sterilization, Napasol AG, Cosmed Group, Safe Spice and ATTEC Food Technology among others.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/12724PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 05:12:24

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 570 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Fusionex, an award-winning data technology company that specializesin Big Data, Analytics, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligencecontinues to dominate the business intelligence space in the region.KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA / ACCESSWIRE / December 17, 2018 / Fusionex, an award-winning data technology company that specializes in Big Data, Analytics, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence continues to dominate the business intelligence space in the region. With Ivan Teh at the helm, the company helps businesses across different industries leverage the power of data technology to understand consumer behaviors, buying interests, and sales patterns.For more info, please visit: http://www.matrisearch.com/fusionex-founder-and-employees-take-active-position-on-social-media/ Kuala Lumpur, KL:Earlier this year, Fusionex worked with an institution of higher learning to improve their web portal and other online domains. The goal was to convert their web portal from a traditional platform into one that captures critical metrics about its users. Through advanced data collection technology, Fusionex transformed the way in which the institution approached prospective students as well as their overall plans for their courses.This astonishing feat allowed Fusionex to emphasize how powerful data technology can be not only for businesses that appear to stand to benefit the most but also for learning institutions. Making the necessary improvements in the client's web portal enabled the institution to identify weak points, reasons against enrollment, and student interests.By witnessing how each student interacted with the web portal, the institution was able to produce insights from valuable data that ultimately allowed them to transform their perception about each prospect. Included in the changes is the ability to monitor each page and determine what pages failed to grab user interest and caused them to leave the web portal. In many ways, this is the same approach used by online marketplaces to keep users on their platform and boost their sales.Fusionex, however, doesn't stop at data collection. The highly-acclaimed data technology company also offers search engine optimization, search engine marketing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence services. By incorporating these digital marketing solutions into their client's overall strategy, the company aims to build an all-in-one solution that their clients can rely on several years down the road.Ivan Teh, Fusionex Founder and CEO, shared his excitement following the rapid rise of his company both in the local and international business landscape. "The stiff competition in the data management space offers an exciting opportunity for everyone to start future-proofing their business plans. At Fusionex, we strive to come up with the most advanced and unique data collection strategies to help our clients stay ahead of the curve. Our mission is to bring targeted customers to our clients through effective data gathering techniques, ones that even technologically-challenged business owners and marketers can use to improve their respective marketing strategies." About FusionexFusionex is a multi-award winning data management provider best known for their expertise in Big Data, Analytics, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence. Their services are tailor-made based on the unique requirements of their clients. With their experienced team of data collection and digital marketing experts, Fusionex empowers businesses by generating customer data and deriving useful insights which they can turn into powerful marketing strategies. Fusionex was the only company from the ASEAN region to be recognized as a Major Player in the IDC MarketScape Big Data and Analytics Platform.Contact Info:Name: KM ChenOrganization: KM ChenPhone: +603 77115200Website: https://www.fusionex-international.com/ Source URL: https://marketersmedia.com/fusionex-founder-ivan-teh-empowers-businesses-through-data-technology/460669 SOURCE: FusionexPR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 08:01:02

LONDON and DUBAI, UAE, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FXCM Group, LLC ("FXCM Group" or FXCM), a leading international provider of online foreign exchange trading, CFD trading, bitcoin and related services, together with The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), agreeing to collaborate on launching new and innovative products on the DGCX Exchange.



Les Male, Chief Executive Officer of DGCX, stated: It is our aim to ensure that we continue to offer our members and market participants truly innovative contracts, backed by our state of the art technology and Clearing House. These contracts must appeal to not only our international participants, but also to local banks and trading houses too. This MOU with FXCM is the first step in developing ever more pioneering contracts contributing to the DGCXs global offerings allowing us to cross-pollinate each others diverse client base.

Mario Sanchez-Wandemberg, Managing Director, FXCM Group, noted: This partnership will expand both companies footprint in this region and will allow its members to experience the many benefits of trading with DGCX. With FXCMs long history and expertise as one of the worlds leading FX and CFD brokers, working alongside Dubais first commodity derivatives exchange, we know that we can create new innovative product offerings and are enthusiastic on the many possibilities. We look forward to sharing them with the market in the future.





Les Male, CEO of DGCX, signed the agreement at the FXCM Group headquarters in London on Tuesday December 4with Mario Sanchez, Managing Directors and Global Head of FXCM Pro Sales.

About FXCM: FXCM is a leading provider of online foreign exchange (FX) trading, CFD trading, and related services. Founded in 1999, the company's mission is to provide global traders with access to the world's largest and most liquid market by offering innovative trading tools, hiring excellent trading educators, meeting strict financial standards and striving for the best online trading experience in the market. Clients have the advantage of mobile trading, one-click order execution and trading from real-time charts. In addition, FXCM offers educational courses on FX trading and provides trading tools, proprietary data and premium resources. FXCM Pro provides retail brokers, small hedge funds and emerging market banks access to wholesale execution and liquidity, while providing high and medium frequency funds access to prime brokerage services via FXCM Prime. FXCM is a Leucadia Company.

Trading Forex/CFD's on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors as you could sustain losses in excess of deposits. Leverage can work against you. The products are intended for retail, professional and eligible counterparty clients. For clients who maintain account(s) with Forex Capital Markets Limited ("FXCM LTD"), retail clients could sustain a total loss of deposited funds but are not subject to subsequent payment obligations beyond the deposited funds and professional clients could sustain losses in excess of deposits. Prior to trading any products offered by Forex Capital Markets Limited , inclusive of all EU branches, FXCM Australia Pty. Limited , FXCM South Africa (PTY) Ltd , any affiliates of aforementioned firms, or other firms within the FXCM group of companies [collectively the FXCM Group], carefully consider your financial situation and experience level. If you decide to trade products offered by FXCM Australia Pty. Limited (FXCM AU) (AFSL 309763), you must read and understand the Financial Services Guide , Product Disclosure Statement , and Terms of Business . The FXCM Group may provide general commentary which is not intended as investment advice and must not be construed as such. Seek advice from a separate financial advisor. The FXCM Group assumes no liability for errors, inaccuracies or omissions; does not warrant the accuracy, completeness of information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these materials. Read and understand the Terms and Conditions on the FXCM Groups websites prior to taking further action. Read full disclaimer.

About DGCX: Established in 2005, DGCX is the regions leading derivatives exchange and the only one allowing global participants to trade, clear and settle transactions within the Gulf region. The Exchange has played a pioneering role in developing the regional market for derivatives and financial infrastructure. DGCX is an electronic commodity and currency derivatives exchange with over 175 members from across the globe, offering futures and options contracts covering the precious metals, energy, equities and currency sectors. DGCX is a subsidiary of DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre), a Dubai Government Authority for trade, enterprise and commodities. For more information: www.dgcx.ae

DGCX also owns and operates the regions largest and only multi-asset Clearing House  Dubai Commodities Clearing Corporation (DCCC). DCCC is federally regulated by the Securities & Commodities Authority (SCA) and is recognized as a Third-Country CCP by European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) with over 80 clearers from across the globe. For more information: www.dccc.co.ae

For further information, please contact:

Jonathan Fisher

Weber Shandwick PR

Tel: +971 (0) 4 445 4222

Email: JFisher@webershandwick.com

OR

Jaclyn Sales, 646-432-2463

Vice-President, Corporate Communications

jsales@fxcm.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/13a87f07-a33d-4411-b83f-9ab5f6b5ed285G Network Equipment Market

PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 12:45:23

Press Information

Research Report Insights

42 joseph street, Portcarling P0B 1J0, Ontario, Muskoka, canada



vikas

analyst

6317214201

email

https://www.researchreportinsights.com





# 453 Words

42 joseph street, Portcarling P0B 1J0, Ontario, Muskoka, canadaanalyst6317214201

5G also referred as 5th generation wireless systems, are enhanced wireless network advancements positioning them in 2018 and later. On the other hand, early inclusion of organizations in the market could profit them from numerous points of view and network equipment makers would have created mature products before the business arrangement of 5G starts.The worldwide market for 5G network equipment is likely to foresee a market estimate of more than US$ 1,100 Million in 2019 and is projected to grow over US$ 18,200 Million by 2025 end. The global market is projected to expand at a remarkable 59.3% CAGR all through the duration of 2019-2025.Report For Report Sample with Table of Contents@ https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/sample/110114878/5G-Network-Equipment-Market Market SegmentationIn terms of the component type, the worldwide market includes macro cell, small cell, RRU, AAU, RF filter, BBU, phase shifters and energy supply equipment. Amid these components, the worldwide market is likely to foresee an increase in the number of small cells category. Although the macro cells have been used until now, the category offered radio coverage to a broad geographical area as well as small cells was dependent and connected to macro cells.Request For Report Discount@ https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/discount/110114878/5G-Network-Equipment-Market In terms of the region, the worldwide market includes APAC, Europe, North America, MEA and Latin America. In growth rate terms, Europe regional market is anticipated to remain the largely attractive region in the worldwide market for 5G network equipment. The region is estimated to record an increase at a remarkable CAGR of 65% all through the six years forecast period 2019-2025. In the Europe regional market, nations, for example, the U.K., France and Germany are dominating in contrast to other regions for before time commercialization of the 5G services. On the other hand, the overall market share of Asia Pacific (APAC) regional market is considered to remain the biggest in the years to follow.This regional market is estimated to dominate the worldwide market with a market evaluation of more than US$ 10,300 Million towards the end of the calculated year 2025. This is moreover an outcome of the regional concentration on the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) inclination with the intention of improving workforce efficiency by the flexible employment of enterprise resources to fulfill the rising business requirements. The expansion of the 5G network equipment market is also likely to be rapid in nations of the Middle East.Key Market PlayersThe major companies functional in the global market includeSamsung Electronics Co., LtdQualcomm Technologies, Inc.Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.NEC CorporationNokiaZTE CorporationCisco Systems, Inc.CommScopeEricsson ABAirspan Networks, Inc.Hitachi, Ltd.QorvoEquinix, Inc.OthersReport Analysis@ https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/rd/110114878/5G-Network-Equipment-MarketPR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 07:21:01

Heijmans and housing association Staedion have signed an agreement to develop an urban planning vision for The Hague Southwest together with the municipality of The Hague, to restructure and renovate the neighbourhoods Zichten, Dreven and De Gaarden. Earlier this year, the municipality of The Hague and Staedion announced their intention to give these three neighbourhoods a boost as part of the initiative to restructure The Hague Southwest.

The partnership in part means that Heijmans will contribute its knowledge and expertise relating to area and project development in support of the planned renovation of these neighbourhoods.

Diverse and Future-Proof

The parties want to invest in these neighbourhoods to make them more diverse, climate and future-proof, and improve connections with the city. The renewal of these neighbourhoods will also give considerable attention to social cohesion. Over the coming 10 years the housing supply will be significantly expanded, whereby the current number of approximately 1,200 social rental homes will remain the same and at least 3,000 owner-occupied and private-sector rental homes will be added. In addition to improving the housing supply, the plans also focus on redesigning the public space and expanding educational and other social, cultural and commercial facilities.

Focus on liveability and a healthy living environment

With its projects, Heijmans contributes to creating green, healthy and liveable districts and neighbourhoods. The partnership with Staedion to restructure the neighbourhoods in The Hague Southwest is in line with these goals. Heijmans was previously involved in the transformation of city centre areas, such as Kooiplein Leiden and Katendrecht Rotterdam. Together, Staedion and Heijmans are already working the same way on the transformation of the Energy Quarter in The Hague.

About Heijmans

Heijmans is a listed company that combines activities related to property development, building & technology, roads and civil engineering in the areas living, working and connecting. Our constant focus on quality improvements, innovation and integrated solutions enables us to generate added value for our clients. Heijmans realises projects for private consumers, companies and public sector bodies, and together we are building the spatial contours of tomorrow. You will find additional information at our website: www.heijmans.nl .





One in seven homes in The Hague is owned by Staedion. As a housing association, Staedion rents over 36,000 homes and 6,000 other objects, such as shops, business premises and garages in The Hague. Our mission is to bring an own home within reach together with our residents. Staedion offers affordable homes for people with a vulnerable position on the housing market. A focal point in this respect is safe and quality living. Our aim is to ensure that all of our residents feel at home. We cannot do this alone, but do this together with residents and our social and other partners.

For more information / not for publication:

Media

Rik Hammer

Communications

+31 73 543 52 17

rhammer@heijmans.nl

Marte Brouns

Communicatie Staedion

+ 31 6 83 58 14 25

pers@staedion.nl

Analysts

Guido Peters

Investor Relations

+ 31 73 543 52 17

gpeters@heijmans.nl

AttachmentXploreMR is one of the worlds leading resellers of high-quality market research reports. We feature in-depth reports from some of the worlds most reputed market research companies and international organizations. We serve across a broad spectrum  from Fortune 500 to small and medium businesses.

XploreMR

PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 06:02:04

Press Information

XploreMR

Contact Us





XploreMR





111 North Market Street, Suite 300





San Jose, CA 95113, United States





Tel: +1-669-284-0108





Email: sales@xploremr.com



sales@xploremr.com

Sales

6692840108

email

http://www.xploremr.com





# 1000 Words

Contact UsXploreMR111 North Market Street, Suite 300San Jose, CA 95113, United StatesTel: +1-669-284-0108Email: sales@xploremr.comSales6692840108

This Market Insights report examines the High Content Screening (HCS) market for the period 20152025. New product launches are resulting in product assortment and thus, increased installation of High Content Screening (HCS) instruments. This is expected to bolster growth of the High Content Screening (HCS) market over the next five to six years.Report overview @ https://www.xploremr.com/report/800/high-content-screening-hcs-market Furthermore, increasing government support for research and development for drug discovery processes across the globe is expected to drive the growth of High Content Screening (HCS) market during the forecast period. Companies are focussing on penetrating untapped markets, such as Asia Pacific and Latin America, where growth of the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industry is expected to increase significantly.The High Content Screening (HCS) market report starts with an overview of cell analysis instrumentation market. In addition, this section includes FMIs analysis of the key trends, drivers and restraints from the supply, demand and economy side, which are influencing the High Content Screening (HCS) market. Impact analysis of key growth drivers and restraints, based on the weighted average model is included in the High Content Screening (HCS) Market report to better equip and arm clients with crystal clear decision-making insights.Download Sample Copy of this report @ https://www.xploremr.com/connectus/sample/800 The global High Content Screening (HCS) market is segmented on the basis of product, application, industry and regions. On the basis of product, the market is segmented as cell imaging and analysis equipment, consumables, software and services. Cell imaging and analysis equipment is further sub-segmented as High Content Screening (HCS) instruments and flow cytometers.Also, High Content Screening (HCS) instruments are categorised into high-end High Content Screening (HCS), mid-end High Content Screening(HCS) and low-end High Content Screening (HCS) instruments. A detailed analysis has been provided for every segment in terms of market size and volume analysis for High Content Screening (HCS) instruments across the globe.In the next section, FMI covers the High Content Screening (HCS) market performance in terms of application. On the basis of application, the High Content Screening (HCS) market is segmented into primary and secondary screening, target identification and validation, toxicity studies, compound profiling and others. A detailed analysis has been provided for every segment in terms of market size.Also, FMI provides the High Content Screening (HCS) market analysis of end-use sectors for High Content Screening (HCS). The segmentation includes pharmaceutical and healthcare, biotechnology companies, educational institutions, government organisations and others. A detailed analysis has been provided for every segment in terms of market size.As highlighted earlier, the High Content Screening (HCS) market is segmented on the basis of product, application, industry and regions. All these segments are included in this section to make the study more comprehensive. The subsequent sections provide detailed analysis on the product type, industry and application of the High Content Screening (HCS) market report. The sections provide detailed analysis covering key trends, absolute dollar opportunity and BPS Analysis.The next section of the report highlights High Content Screening (HCS) adoption by regions. It provides market outlook for 20152025 and sets the forecast within the context of the High Content Screening (HCS) ecosystem, including the new technological developments as well as product offerings in the High Content Screening (HCS) market.This study discusses the key region trends contributing to growth of the High Content Screening (HCS) market globally, as well as analyses the degree at which drivers are influencing this market in each region. Key regions assessed in this report include North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and Middle East and Africa.All the above sections, by product, by application, by industry or by regions, evaluate the present scenario and the growth prospects of the High Content Screening (HCS) market for the period 2015 2025. We have considered 2014 as the base year and provide data for the trailing 12 months.To calculate the High Content Screening (HCS) market size, we have considered revenue generated by the High Content Screening (HCS) manufacturers. The forecast presented here assesses the total revenue by value across the High Content Screening (HCS) market. In order to offer an accurate forecast, we started by sizing the current market, which forms the basis of how the High Content Screening (HCS) market will develop in the future. Given the characteristics of the market, we triangulated the outcome of three different types of analysis, based on supply side, downstream industry demand and economic envelope.In addition, it is imperative to note that in an ever-fluctuating global economy, we not only conduct forecasts in terms of CAGR, but also analyse on the basis of key parameters such as year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth to understand the predictability of the market and to identify the right opportunities across the High Content Screening (HCS) market.As previously highlighted, the High Content Screening (HCS) market is split into a number of segments and sub-segments. All the High Content Screening (HCS) segments in terms of product type, application, industry and regions are analysed in terms of Basis Point Share to understand individual segments relative contributions to market growth. This detailed level of information is important for the identification of various key trends of the High Content Screening (HCS) market.Also, another key feature of this report is the analysis of all key segments and sub-segments in terms of absolute dollar. This is traditionally overlooked while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical in assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify potential resources from a sales and delivery perspective in the High Content Screening (HCS) market.Furthermore, to understand key growth segments in terms of growth & adoption of high content screening for cell analysis along with preferred application across the globe in the near future, Market Insights developed the High Content Screening (HCS) Market Attractiveness Index. The resulting index should help providers identify real market opportunities.Buy Now Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/cart/reports/buynow/800PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 19:04:21

Press Information

Research Report Insights

Research Report Insights



42 joseph street,



Portcarling P0B 1J0,



Muskoka, Ontario, Canada



T: +1-631-721-4201



Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com



Web Site: http://www.researchreportinsights.com



Phone - (+91) 7875758555



Manager



+1-631-721-4201

email





Published by

Ethan Taylor

+44-631-787-4201

e-mail

https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com







# 452 Words

Research Report Insights42 joseph street,Portcarling P0B 1J0,Muskoka, Ontario, CanadaT: +1-631-721-4201Email: sales@researchreportinsights.comWeb Site: http://www.researchreportinsights.comPhone - (+91) 7875758555+1-631-721-4201Ethan Taylor+44-631-787-4201

Demand for mobile phone protective cases continues to grow steadily in Asia Pacific, as more consumers move from basic mobiles to mid-tier smartphones. The Asia Pacific mobile phone protective case market, valued at nearly US$ 9.9 billion in 2016, is projected to grow at 5.9% CAGR through 2026. China will remain the largest market during the forecast period.Smartphone penetration is steadily growing in APAC on account of rising disposable income among the behemoth middle class in China and India. Collectively, the middle class in these two countries is estimated to be over 700 million, a lucrative statistic for manufacturers looking to increase volume sales. As more consumers migrate from a basic phone to a smartphone, the tendency to invest in protecting the phone is also gaining traction. Owing to these factors, demand for protective case market in Asia Pacific is witnessing steady gains.Report For Sample with Table of Contents@ https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/sample/110114933/Mobile-Phone-Protective-Cases-Market Protective case sales are also anticipated to be driven by fashion-conscious millennials, who use the cover as a style statement. The millennial demographic will continue to drive sales of protective cases during the forecast period.Although the outlook on the APAC protective case market is positive, lack of standardization has been identified as a major impediment.Undefined standards create high product and price differentiation, hindering the growth of the market.Multi- and single-brand stores account for bulk of sales of the APAC mobile phone protective case market. These two segments collectively accounted for over 70% revenue share of the market in 2016. However, sales through these channels will witness a significant dip in the future, as e-commerce channels offer tempting discounts and free home delivery to consumers.Request For Report Discount@ https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/discount/110114933/Mobile-Phone-Protective-Cases-Market The China mobile phone protective case market was valued at over US$ 5 billion in 2016. It is projected to grow at 6.4% CAGR through 2026, and surpass US$ 9.4 billion in revenues through 2026.Leading players in the Asia Pacific mobile phone protective case market are Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Reiko Wireless Inc., Pelican Products Inc., and Moshi.Key players in this market are focusing on a multi-pronged strategy, channelizing their efforts on both value and volume. The protective case portfolio of leading companies involves a range of products across the price spectrum. This strategy is aimed at catering to all the ends of the spectrum. However, several local companies are copying the logo and design of these leading companies and selling off the dummy products at a fraction of the cost. This is eating into the revenue share of leading players. Lax copyright laws and poor implementation will continue to be a concern for leading companies.Report Analysis@ https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/rd/110114933/Mobile-Phone-Protective-Cases-MarketPR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 05:56:18

Press Information

Research Report Insights

42 Joseph Street



Research Report Insights (RRI



Port carling P0B 1J0



Muskoka, Ontario1



Phone - +1-631-721-4201



Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/



Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com



BISHU

6317214201

6317214201

email

http://www..





# 400 Words

42 Joseph StreetResearch Report Insights (RRIPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com63172142016317214201http://www.. researchreportinsights.com

Radio frequency integrated circuits are the elementary units for components that enable long-range connectivity such as LTE networks and short-range connectivity such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in computing devices. Radio frequency integrated circuits are predominantly used in devices that perform functions that include amplification, frequency conversion and signal filtering.The increasing demand for optical, wireless, and other high frequency consumer electronic products has fuelled the growth of the global RF integrated circuits (RFIC) market in the recent years. The advancement in IC fabrication technology has boosted the cost and performance of RF integrated circuits in consumer electronics.Request For Report Sample: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upsample/120124773/Radio-Frequency-Integrated-Circuit-(RFIC)-Market In this report, segmented the global radio frequency integrated circuit market on the basis of product type, vertical and region. By product type, the market is sub-segmented into transceivers, power amplifiers, wireless chips, Bluetooth chips and others. The transceivers sub-segment is surging the growth of global radio frequency integrated circuit market because high-speed serial transceivers form the backbone of networks. Communications, servers and many other electronic systems depend upon high-speed serial transceivers. Moreover, the global adoption of the Internet is rapidly driving the usage of advanced radio frequency integrated circuits.Based on vertical, the radio frequency integrated circuit market is sub-segmented into consumer electronics, telecommunication, media & broadcasting, automotive, government and others. Due to the increasing demand from the consumer electronics manufacturers, the consumer electronics segment is expected to register a high growth CAGR of 7.1% during the forecast periodRequest For Report TOC: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/TOC/120124773/Radio-Frequency-Integrated-Circuit-(RFIC)-Market On the basis of geography, the North America radio frequency integrated circuit market is expected to dominate the global radio frequency integrated circuit market due to the advent of next-generation technological advancements in the country. The Radio frequency integrated circuit market has huge potential in China owing to major technological advancements in the telecommunication industry and increasing smart city projects in the country. In recent years, China has witnessed a high growth in radio frequency integrated circuit market.Japan is projected to show single digit growth rate during the forecast period.Some prominent key players in the market are Texas Instruments Incorporated; NXP Semiconductors; STMicroelectronics; Analog Devices, Inc.; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; QUALCOMM Incorporated; Skyworks Solutions; SILICON LABORATORIES INC.; Maxim Integrated; Cree, Inc. and TriQuint Semiconductor (Qorvo, Inc.).Report Analysis: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upcomming/120124773/Radio-Frequency-Integrated-Circuit-%28RFIC%29-MarketPR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 08:32:52

Press Information

Xplore-MR

111 North Market Street, Suite 300,





San Jose, CA 95113, United States



Sales

sales@xploremr.com

+16692840108

email

http://www.xploremr.com





# 366 Words

111 North Market Street, Suite 300,San Jose, CA 95113, United Statessales@xploremr.com+16692840108

A new research report of XploreMR delivers valuable intelligence on the global rare endocrine disease treatment market by providing an all-inclusive forecast on the market growth between the period 2017 and 2026.Addressing key concerns of drug makers for rare endocrine disease treatment, and reflecting impact of latest industry trends on demand for rare endocrine disease treatment, the report imparts precise analysis & forecast on the global rare endocrine disease treatment market.This report also acts as a credible business document for companies partaking in the rare endocrine disease treatment market globally.Buy Full Report @ https://www.xploremr.com/cart/reports/buynow/2285 Valuable Intelligence on Global Rare Endocrine Disease Treatment MarketThis research report contains an array of distinct chapters, which provide a detailed segmentation of the global rare endocrine disease treatment market, encompassing various aspects driving the market expansion.Research findings from the report depict potential for consumer base expansion and enhancing exposure of rare endocrine disease treatment across various industrial sectors worldwide.Impact of transforming directives related to formulation, transportation and storage of rare endocrine disease treatment has been directed toward estimating advancements in rare endocrine disease treatment in the foreseeable future.Technology trends, and industrial regulations have been unveiled by the report for increasing lucrativeness of rare endocrine disease treatment.Referring to insights offered in this report, drug makers of rare endocrine disease treatment can formulate methods for expanding their businesses globally beyond conventional margins.Download Free Sample Copy of this report @ https://www.xploremr.com/connectus/sample/2285 The expansion of the automotive industry, growth of cyber threats and attacks, and digital transformation of the automotive industry are some of the primary factors which are fueling the growth of the automotive cyber security market. North America is projected to hold more than 40% of the market share in 2018. One of the major reasons for the dominance of North America is the presence of top automotive OEMs and IT solution and service providers. However, the SEA & others market in the APAC region is expected to create more potential growth opportunities in the automotive cyber security market in the coming years, owing to the increasing threat of cyber-attacks in the transportation and automotive systems in India and ASEAN countries.PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 05:07:42

Press Information

Persistence Market Research

305 Broadway



7th Floor, New York City,



NY 10007, United States,



USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353



Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com



Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com



Yogesh Sengar

Team Lead

800-961-0353

email

https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/





# 547 Words

305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comTeam Lead800-961-0353

Single-use, also known as disposable, refers to products that are intended for one-time use. These products are made from a plastic (polyamide {PA}, polyethylene {PE}, polycarbonate {PC}, polyethersulfone {PESU}, polypropylene {PP}, polyvinyl chloride {PVC}, polytetrafluorethylene {PTFE}, cellulose acetate {CA}, and ethylene vinyl acetate {EVA}) and are disposed after use. Single-use products have revolutionized the field of bioproduction. These products are becoming popular in the biopharmaceutical arena as they reduce the risk of contamination during development and production. Various disposable products such as laboratory instruments, including petri plates, flasks, filling and tubing systems, cell culture apparatus, filters, pumps, bioreactors, are used in bioproduction.Single-use technologies are mainly used in bio-therapeutic development and manufacturing processes. These technologies facilitate the development of small amounts of drug products for use in preclinical and clinical testing procedures.The global single-use technologies market is categorized based on technology and application. Based on technology, the report covers membrane adsorber, bioreactors, disposable mixing systems, tangential flow filtration, tubing and connectors, depth filtration, buffer containers, waste containers and media bags, and filter cartridges. The application segment is further sub-segmented into monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, gene therapy, recombinant proteins, and blood derivativesRequest Sample Report@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4220 In terms of geography, North America dominates the global single-use technologies market. This is due to improved biopharmaceutical industry in the region. Moreover, increased awareness about therapeutic applications of biotherapeutics has also fueled the market in North America. The U.S. represents the largest market for single-use technologies in North America, followed by Canada. In Europe, Germany, France, and the U.K. hold major shares of the single-use technologies market. The single-use technologies market in Asia too, is expected to experience high growth rate over the next five years. This is due to improving Life Sciences arena in the region. Furthermore, increased foreign investment in this field is also supporting the growth of the single-use technologies market in the region. India, China, and Japan are expected to be the fastest growing markets for single-use technologies in Asia.Rising awareness about therapeutic applications of biotherapeutics is a key driver for the global single-use technologies market. Also, increasing demand of biologics and advancements in medical technology are fuelling the growth of this market. Low manufacturing and maintenance costs of single-use products and instruments attract end-users to adopt this technology in bioproduction. Increasing research on cell biology and stem cell is propelling the demand for single-use products.Moreover, drug pricing control is forcing large and emerging biotech companies to change their overall approach in development and production of bioproducts. This is leading to rise in demand for improved process optimization and more efficient operations such as single-use technologies and bioengineering. This is creating growth opportunities for single use-use technologies market.Request Report TOC@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/4220 However, stringent regulations imposed by various governments hamper the growth of global single-use technologies market. Increasing number of mergers and acquisitions of biotech and pharmaceutical companies and rapid product launches are key trends in the global single-use technologies market.The major companies operating in this market are Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc, Applikon Biotechnology B.V., GE Healthcare, Pall Corporation, NewAge Industries, Inc., Saint-Gobain S.A., BioPure Technology Limited, Sartorius AG, RENOLIT, Novasep, W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc., EMD Millipore, and Dow Corning Corporation.PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 08:37:14

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 920 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

BISHOPSGATE, LONDON / ACCESSWIRE / December 18, 2018 / In accordance with the Disclosure and Transparency Rules (DTR"), SolGold Plc (the "Company") (LSE: SOLG) (TSX: SOLG) (OTC PINK: SLGGF) was informed today by Newcrest International Pty Ltd being a wholly-owned subsidiary of Newcrest Mining Ltd, an ASX top 50 listed Company in Australia, in fulfilment of the obligation of Rule 5 of the DTR, and as a result of the purchase of 27,870,000 ordinary shares with voting rights on 14 December 2018, Newcrest International Pty Ltd has increased its shares held to 281,216,471 ordinary shares of 1 penny each in the Company, or approximately 15.23% of the Company's issued share capital.References to figures and tables relate to the version visible in PDF format by clicking the link below:By order of the BoardKarl SchlobohmCompany SecretaryCONTACTSNicholas MatherSolGold Plc (Chief Executive Officer)nmather@ solgold.com.au Tel: +61 (0) 7 3303 0665+61 (0) 417 880 448Karl SchlobohmSolGold Plc (Company Secretary)kschlobohm@ solgold.com.au Tel: +61 (0) 7 3303 0661Anna LeggeSolGold Plc (Corporate Communications)alegge@ solgold.com.au Tel: +44 (0) 20 3823 2131Gordon Poole / Nick HennisCamarco (Financial PR / IR)solgold@ camarco.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 20 3757 4997Andrew Chubb / Ingo HofmaierHannam & Partners (Joint Broker)solgold@ hannam.partners Tel: +44 (0) 20 7907 8500Clayton Bush / Trystan Cullen / Laura HamiltonLiberum Capital Limited (Joint Broker)solgold@ liberum.com Tel: +44 (0) 20 3100 2222Jason Ellefson/Stephanie LariviereNational Bank of Canada (Joint Broker)Tel: +1 416 869 8414Follow us on twitter @SolGold_plcABOUT SOLGOLDSolGold is a leading exploration company focussed on the discovery and definition of world-class copper and gold deposits. In 2017 SolGold's management team was recognised by the "Mines and Money" Forum as an example of excellence in the industry, and was awarded again in 2018. The team continues to strive to deliver objectives efficiently and in the interests of shareholders. SolGold is the largest and most active concession holder in Ecuador and is aggressively exploring the length and breadth of this highly prospective, but underexplored, and gold-rich section of the Andean Copper Belt. SolGold aims to bring Alpala in to production, and build a copper gold major in the process.Ecuador dedicated to become a serious mining nationEcuador has, over the last 5 years, been recognised globally as a frontrunner in emerging mining nations as it develops regulatory and fiscal frameworks to facilitate the development of a fiscally, socially and environmentally strong and responsible mining industry.Dedicated stakeholdersSolGold employs a staff of over 450 and at least 90% are Ecuadorean. This is expected to grow as the operations at Alpala, and in Ecuador generally, expand. SolGold focusses operations on safety and strives to be reliable and environmentally responsible. SolGold maintains close relationships with its local communities. SolGold has engaged an increasingly skilled refined and experienced team of geoscientists using state of the art geophysical and geochemical modelling applied to an extensive data base to enable the delivery of ore grade intersections from nearly every drill hole at Alpala. SolGold has 86 geologists, of which 25% are female, on the ground in Ecuador looking for copper and gold, most of whom are at Alpala.About AlpalaThe Alpala deposit located on the northern section of the heavily endowed Andean Copper Belt, the entirety of which is renowned as the base for nearly half of the world's copper production. The project area hosts mineralisation of Eocene age, the same age as numerous Tier 1 deposits along the Andean Copper Belt in Chile and Peru to the south. The project base is located at Rocafuerte is an approximately three hour drive on sealed highway north of Quito, close to water, power supply and Pacific ports.Alpala has produced some of the greatest drill hole intercepts in porphyry copper-gold exploration history, as exemplified by Hole 12 (CSD-16-012) returning 1560m grading 0.59% copper and 0.54 g/t gold including, 1044m grading 0.74% copper and 0.54 g/t gold.Having fulfilled its earn-in requirements, SolGold is a registered shareholder with an unencumbered legal and beneficial 85% interest in ENSA (Exploraciones Novomining S.A.) which holds 100% of the concession covering approximately 50km2. The junior equity owner in ENSA is required to repay 15% of costs since SolGold's earn in was completed, from 90% of its share of distribution of earnings or dividends from ENSA or the concession. It is also required to contribute to development or be diluted, and if its interest falls below 10%, it shall reduce to a 0.5% NSR royalty which SolGold may acquire for US$3.5m.Over 160,000m of diamond drilling has been completed on the project. With 12 rigs currently active on the project, SolGold produces up to approximately 10,500m of core every month. SolGold is encouraged by recent drilling results, expected to further expand and enrich the existing resource base at Alpala in 2019. The Company is also encouraged by notable drill hole results outside the previous resource area which promise further growth for the 2019 drilling campaign ahead. The 2019 drilling campaign will focus on further expansion of the existing resource base at Alpala, namely high priority drill targets at Alpala SE, Alpala NW, Trivinio and Alpala Western Limb.On 3 January 2018, SolGold announced its Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE). This was updated and announced in November 2018. The November 2018 Alpala MRE update was estimated from 68,173 assays, with 66,739 assays representing diamond drill core samples, and 1434 assays representing rock-saw channel samples cut from surface rock exposures. Drill core samples were obtained from total of 133,576m of drilling comprising 128 diamond drill holes, including 75 drill holes (Holes 1-75), 34 daughter holes, 8 redrills, and 11 over-runs, and represents full assay data from holes 1-67 and partial assay data received from holes 68 to 75. Rock-saw samples were obtained from 2743m of rock-saw cuts fPR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 19:21:56

Press Information

Research Report Insights

Research Report Insights





42 joseph street,





Portcarling P0B 1J0,





Muskoka, Ontario, Canada





T: +1-631-721-4201





Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com





Web Site: http://www.researchreportinsights.com





Phone - (+91) 7875758555







+1-631-721-4201

email





Published by

Ethan Taylor

+44-631-787-4201

e-mail

https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com







# 757 Words

Research Report Insights42 joseph street,Portcarling P0B 1J0,Muskoka, Ontario, CanadaT: +1-631-721-4201Email: sales@researchreportinsights.comWeb Site: http://www.researchreportinsights.comPhone - (+91) 7875758555+1-631-721-4201Ethan Taylor+44-631-787-4201

According to the latest market report published by Research Report Insights (RRI) titled Tissue Paper Converting Machines Market by 2027, Toilet rolls tissue paper converting machines segmentis expected to be the largest contributor to the global tissue paper converting machines market over the forecast period, 2017-2027.Globally, the revenue generated from sales of tissue paper converting machines has been estimated to be around US$ 1,123.8Mnin 2016, and is projected to increase at a CAGR of 5.0% during forecast period 2017-2027.The globally rising urban population and increasing concern among the consumers regarding proper hygiene has propelled the market for tissue paper products. This inclination in the demand of tissue paper products has been recognised by the tissue paper converting firms across the globe. This has led to the expansion in the production capacity of multinational tissue paper products manufacturers by either adding machinery to the manufacturing facility or by acquiring the emerging small and regional tissue converting companies. The trend among tissue paper converting firms to expand the production capacity to meet the increasing demand of tissue paper products has fuelled the tissue paper converting machines market.Report For Sample with Table of Contents@ https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/sample/110114938/Tissue-Paper-Converting-Machines-Market Due to rapid expansion of global tissue paper products production capacity, the required production capacity to meet the global demand of tissue paper products has reached to around 80% of the present production capacity. Thus, the global overcapacity of tissue paper products production has restrained the growth of tissue paper converting machines market. Moreover, the slower acceptance of proper hygiene in developing countries of Asia Pacific is the reason for low per capita consumption of tissue paper, while the demand for the same is expected to rise at a considerable pace. China and India are the producers of low production capacity tissue paper converting machines at very low prices as compared to the machines manufactured by European and North American manufacturers. Thus, a large portion of tissue paper converting machines demand in the region is served by low cost machines produced by regional players. This fact has restrained the global revenue generated by the tissue paper converting machines market.Request For Report Discount@ https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/discount/110114938/Tissue-Paper-Converting-Machines-Market Industry 4.0, which is the wireless connectivity among various machinery in the production line with the help of technology such as internet of things (IOT), cognitive computing, cyber-physical systems and others, is the trend impacting the tissue paper converting machines market players across the globe. Other than this, the tissue paper converting firms keep on innovating to improve the brand position in the global market. This leads to the demand of highly customized machines over the standard tissue paper converting solutions. To enhance the pace of production of tissue paper products, the key market players are focusing on developing the rewinding machine, which is highly responsible for the productivity of the complete converting line. Forte rewinder launched by PCMC, and Constellation technology based rewinder launched by Fabio Perini are trend setter for the tissue paper converting machines market.Although, the key global players of tissue paper converting market has made the market highly competitive for the small and emerging players to sustain in the market, the private label brands of tissue paper products are experiencing considerable growth. Thus, the increasing market for nationwide retail chains and their attraction towards the tissue paper market has created ample opportunities for the tissue paper converting machines market players. In terms of opportunity created by the geographical regions, North Africa is expected to create very high opportunity for the market. This is due to more than twice the demand of tissue paper than the tissue paper converting capacity of the region. Thus, North Africa creates a lucrative market for the global tissue paper converting firms to export to the region, and also for regional players to emerge in the region.Some of the players operating in the global tissue paper converting machines market include Fabio Perini S.p.A, Paper Converting Machine Company Italia S.p.A., Omet S.R.L., KawanoeZoki Co., Ltd., MtorresDisenosIndustriales Sau, BaoSuo Paper Machinery Manufacture Co., Ltd., A.Celli Group, United Converting S.R.L., Futura S.p.A., Dechangyu Paper Machinery Manufacture Co., Ltd., Gambini S.p.A, C.G. Bretting Manufacturing Co. Inc., Wangda Industrial Co., Limited, ZambakKagitSan.VeTic.Ltd.Sti ., Unimax Group Engineering & Development Corporation, Tissuewell S.R.L., 9. Septembar- Tissue Converting D.O.O., Maflex S.R.L., Hinnli Co., Ltd., and Chan Li Machinery Co., Ltd.Report Analysis@ https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/rd/110114938/Tissue-Paper-Converting-Machines-MarketThe Truck Landing Gear market is expected to create incremental $ opportunity worth US$ 111.8 Mn over the forecast period.

Persistence Market Research

PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 15:20:43

Press Information

Persistence Market Research

Persistence Market Research



305 Broadway



7th Floor, New York City,



NY 10007, United States,



USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353



Yogesh Sengar

Team Lead

800-961-0353

email

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com





# 779 Words

Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Team Lead800-961-0353

Persistence Market Research has published a new market research report titled Truck Landing Gear Market: Global Industry Analysis 2013  2017 and Forecast 2018  2026, which examines the Truck Landing Gear market and provides useful insights for the next eight years. According to the report, the market is anticipated to witness rise in demand and first fit installation in newly manufactured trailers. The projected valuation of the global Truck Landing Gear market in 2018 is US$ 252.5 Mn and the market is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 4.7% and reach US$ 364.3 Mn by 2026. The Truck Landing Gear market is expected to create incremental $ opportunity worth US$ 111.8 Mn over the forecast period.Global Truck Landing Gear Market DynamicsGrowing transportation using trucks & trailers and booming heavy duty truck production are the two major factors projected to boost the global truck landing gear market growth during the period of forecast. Moreover, the automotive industry is rapidly shifting towards light weight and fuel efficient vehicles, which is another the prominent factor anticipated to give a boost to the global truck landing gear market over the slated time period.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/25051 In addition, growing support from government regulations, such as AAR, TUV and StVZO, are also anticipated to hike the demand for truck landing gears. Furthermore, regulations pertaining the total length and load capacity of truck landing gears are also likely to create demand in the global truck landing gear market during the stipulated time period.On the flip side, manually operated truck landing gears are creating hurdles in the truck landing gear market. During uplifting and down lifting, these truck landing gears can lead to health issues, such as back pain. Therefore, the truck landing gear manufacturers are focused on the launch of automatic truck landing gears. Though the cost of automatic truck landing gears is high, their output is also higher than that of manual truck landing gears.Global Truck Landing Gear Market ForecastBy lifting capacity, in terms of revenue, the 20,000 lbs to 50,000 lbs segment is projected to hold considerable share in the truck landing gear market on account of the significantly growing demand for this type across the globe. In brief, the more than 50,000 lbs segment is projected to account for nearly half of the market share as compared to 20,000 lbs and 50,000 lbs segment. Moreover, the lifting capacity segment is projected to create incremental $ opportunity worth US$ 111.8 Mn in the global truck landing gear market during the forecast period.Based on operation, the manual segment holds leading share in the global truck landing gear market as manual truck landing gears are cheaper and do not require any extra power source, such as batteries to uplift and down lift the truck landing gear. However, in growth terms, the automatic segment will represent significant potential in the global truck landing gear market as the automotive industry in inclining towards automation.By sales channel, the OEM segment is projected to dominate in the global truck landing gear market throughout the forecast period. In terms of value share, the aftermarket segment is expected to account for ~12.7% share in 2018 and by 2026, the segment is anticipated to hold ~81.7% share in the overall markets absolute $ opportunity over the slated time period.Among the regional markets, Europe is projected to dominate the global truck landing gear market and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.0% in the global market. China is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.9% in the global truck landing gear market and will be followed by Europe. In China, the government is highly focused on improving overall vehicle efficiency through the use of light weight materials as well as by imposing government regulations pertaining to safety of trailers. This will augment the growth of the truck landing gear market in the country over the forecast period. The Latin America region is anticipated to grow at a noteworthy CAGR in the global truck landing gear market during the forecast period. Moreover, South East Asia & Pacific region is projected to witness 5.2% CAGR in the global truck landing gear market as major manufacturers are shifting their trailer components manufacturing plants to Australia.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC)@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/25051 Global Truck Landing Gear Market Competitive LandscapeSome of the leading players manufacturing Truck Landing Gear and featured in this study on Truck Landing Gear are JOST Werke AG, SAF-HOLLAND S.A., Guangdong Fuwa Engineering Group Co., Ltd., Butler Products Corp., BPW Bergische Achsen KG, York Transport Equipment (Asia) Pte Ltd., AXN Heavy Duty, LLC, H. D. Trailers Pvt. Ltd., Sinotruck Howo Sales Co.,Ltd ., Zhenjiang Baohua Semi-Trailer Parts Co., Ltd., haacon hebetechnik gmbh, and Yangzhou Tongyi Machinery Co., Ltd.PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-18 03:11:01

Why Logistics Real Estate in India is the Next Big Thing, How to Use Blockchain to Secure Property Deals and Where to Buy in Case of Armageddon; These Are Just a Few of the Topics Covered in the Latest Issue of Savills Prospects

For further Information, please contact:

Simon Smith , Head of Research, Asia Pacific - +852 2842 4573



Elizabeth Henderson

Head of Regional PR & Marketing, Asia Pacific - +852 2842 4210 / +852 6202 0092

In the second edition of Prospects: Asia Pacific Real Estate Intelligence, the online magazine dedicated to commercial real estate in this region, we also cover the recovering Singapore office market, the Greater Bay Area and the market outlook for 2019.

Prospects includes research, data, forward-thinking features as well as views from Savills experts and guest columnist Henry Cheng, chief executive of Chongbang Group.

Hot topics in this issue of Prospects:

Property at the end of the world: where is the safest place to sit out the apocalypse?

How landlords can make green buildings pay

Why tourism is boosting Japans retail property market

Five things you need to think about for 2019

Antifragile: the importance of resilience in real estate investment

Christian F. Mancini, CEO, Asia Pacific (Ex Greater China), says: The underlying demographic strength of developing Asia and its expanding middle class underpins real estate in this region. Markets such as India and Vietnam are more attractive to real estate investors than ever before.

Raymond Lee, CEO, Greater China says The new issue of Prospects looks at the fast-growing city of Wuhan and the development of the Greater Bay Area, two stories which show how the underlying growth in China will continue to drive the real estate market there and be a catalyst for growth elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region.

Simon Smith, Head of Research & Consultancy, Asia Pacific, says: Political and economic uncertainties are set to continue in 2019 however Asia Pacific presents a number of opportunities for real estate investors. In particular, we see technology having an increasing influence on property investment throughout the region.

Prospects draws not only on Savills network of market experts, but also on our clients and contacts in the wider world of Asia Pacific real estate.

The publication covers a broad range of commercial real estate topics and the whole of the Asia Pacific region, but with a focus on capital markets and key investment destinations.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181217005Following the development of the Global Principles for Responsible Banking by Access Bank and 27 other global banks, other financial institutions have now become early endorsers of the Principles.

The banks include Caixa Bank, Corporacion Financiera de Desarrollo (Ccofide), DGB Financial Group, GLS Bank, KB Financial Group,KBC Group, Keystone Bank, Natixis, Qatar National Bank, Standard Chartered PLC, and Zenith Bank PLC.

The Global Principles for Responsible Banking was launched for public consultation in Paris, three weeks ago by the Arab African International Bank (AAIB) (Egypt), Access Bank (Nigeria),Banco Pichincha (Ecuador), Banorte (Mexico), Barclays (United Kingdom), BBVA (Spain), BNP Paribas (France), Bradesco (Brazil), Caixa Bank and CIMB Bank (Malaysia).

Others are Commercial International Bank (CIB) (Egypt), Corporacion Financiera de Desarrollo (Ccofide), DGB Financial Group, First Rand (South Africa), Garanti Bank (Turkey), GLS Bank, Golomt Bank (Mongolia), Hana Financial Group (South Korea), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (China), ING (Netherlands), KB Financial Group, KBC Group,Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group (Kenya) and Land Bank (South Africa).

Also included are National Australia Bank (NAB) (Australia), Natixis, Nordea (Sweden), Piraeus Bank (Greece), Qatar National Bank, Santander (Spain), Shinhan Financial Group (South Korea), Societe Generale (France), Standard Bank (South Africa), Standard Chartered PLC, Triodos Bank (Netherlands), Westpac (Australia), and YES Bank (India).

The Principles will first be available for signature in September next year, but until then, banks and stakeholders can signal their support for and join the initiative by becoming official endorsers of the Principles.

The global principles will align the banking industry with, and scale up its contribution to societys goals as expressed in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement.

By adopting the Principles, Access Bank and the other institutions have signified a commitment to help promote the uptake of the Principles among their members and networks. As a member of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), Access Bank is a leading partner on the initiative.

Speaking after the announcement, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe, explained that as a member of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), sustainability is an important global platform for the bank, especially in achieving sustainable growth through socially-responsible corporate practices.

At Access Bank, we have stayed committed to ensuring that we place priority on not just being a profitable venture but also one that is deeply concerned about the planet and the people. With specific guidelines that have been developed, applied, and with rigorous monitoring, we can all ensure that we build a sustainable and prosperous future, achieve long-term business and financial benefits while driving urgent action that reduces the risk to the environment, he said.

Supporting the Banks commitment, the head of sustainability, Access Bank, Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan said, In order to continuously increase on impact through sustainability practices, we will consistently align our corporate strategies with ideas and activities that contribute to our customers needs, proactively engage and partner with relevant stakeholders in order to achieve Nigerias Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Climate Agreement and relevant national and regional frameworks to which the country remains committed.

Eric Usher, head of UNEP FI said he is delighted that the Principles are already gathering support as we know that we need to see urgent action to address climate change and the other social and environmental challenges the world faces.

UNEP FI Banking Lead, Simone Dettling, added that the Principles for Responsible Banking provide an actionable framework for banks of any size and at any starting point to align their business strategies with societys goals.

We commend the first group of endorsers for taking this important step, and call on banks around the world to endorse the Principles and help develop the sustainable banking system of the future.

The European Banking Federation, Natural Capital Coalition, SITAWI Finance for Good, the Spanish Banking Association, the European Association of Co-operative Banks, the European Sustainable Investment Forum, the BBVA Microfinance Foundation and the Spanish Savings Banks Confederation are other institutions who have also officially endorsed the Principles.

The Principles of Responsible Banking set the global standard for what it means to be a responsible bank and will ensure that banks create value for both their shareholders and society.

They provide the first global framework that guides the integration of sustainability across all business areas of a bank, from strategic to portfolio to transaction level.

The transparency and accountability mechanisms in the Principles require signatories to manage what matters most, set public targets and report back on progress.The Ethiopian House of Peoples Representatives (HoPR) on Tuesday declared a national day of mourning to commemorate former Ethiopian President Girma Wolde-Giorgis.

Mr Wolde-Giorgis, who was the East African countrys president for more than a decade, passed away on Saturday at the age of 94.

The HoPR, the Ethiopian parliaments lower house, declared Wednesday a day of national mourning across the East African country to honour Wolde-Giorgis and his legacy.

According to a motion presented before the house, as part of the national day of mourning, Ethiopias flag will be flown at half-mast throughout the country, as well as Ethiopian embassies, consular offices and Ethiopian owned ships outside the countrys territory.

The body of the late president is scheduled to be laid to rest on Wednesday at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Ethiopias capital Addis Ababa.

Members of the Ethiopian parliaments lower house have extended their profound grief over the death of Wolde-Giorgis, who was Ethiopias president from 2001 to 2013.

The Ethiopian government, soon after his death, had revealed preparations to honour the former long-serving president with state funeral amid mounting tributes from foreign leaders as well as Ethiopian government officials.

Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, in his message of condolence that followed the death of the veteran politician with more than 50 years of service in higher government posts, said that Wolde-Giorgis will be laid to rest in a state funeral.

The office of the prime minister on Monday also said various activities that aimed at honouring the legacy of the long-serving president were being arranged.

High level Ethiopian and regional officials, heads of international organisations, and foreign envoys are invited to pay their respects until late Tuesday, according to the planned schedule for the state funeral.

Ahmed in his message of condolence said, It is with deep sadness that I share the passing.

President Girma rendered his service to people and country through his knowledge and experience with an exceptional sense of service and determination, making him a role model for many, Ahmed said.

Ahmed also extended sincere condolences to the family of Wolde-Giorgis as well as to the people of Ethiopia.

Wolde-Giorgis, with a military background in the Ethiopian Air Force, had served his country in various senior positions since the imperial period of Haile Selassie I, the last emperor of Ethiopia.

Among his posts, Wolde-Giorgis was appointed director-general of the Ethiopian Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Planning following his service at the Ethiopian civil aviation.

Regarded as one of Ethiopias long-serving leaders as well as a renowned philanthropy, Wolde-Giorgis was survived by his five children.

(Xihnua/NAN)A judge will decide on Tuesday whether former national security adviser Michael Flynn should be sent to prison.

He is to be sentenced for lying to FBI in a case stemming from the investigation into possible collusion between President Donald Trumps campaign team and Russia in 2016 election-run-up.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan will sentence Flynn in Washington at 11 a.m. ET (1600 GMT).

Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller who is leading the investigation into Russian interference, has asked Sullivan not to imprison Flynn.

Flynn is a former general, because of his military service and because he provided substantial cooperation with the probe Sullivan makes plea for him.

Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to FBI agents about his conversations with Sergei Kislyak, Russia ambassador in Washington at the time.

Flynn told investigators in January 2017 that he had not discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with Kislyak, when in fact he had, according to his plea agreement.

Lying to the FBI carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Flynns plea agreement states that he is eligible for a sentence of between zero and six months, however, and can ask the court not to impose a fine.

Flynns lawyers have asked the court for a probation term of no more than one year, with minimal conditions of supervision, and 200 hours of community service.

Flynn also deserves leniency because he was not warned before the meeting with FBI agents that it was a crime to lie to them, his lawyers said in a recent court filing.

They also said that then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe had told Flynn that the quickest way to conduct the interview was without counsel present.

Critics of the Mueller probe argue that Flynn, who held the White House job for only 24 days, was set up.

Mueller last week countered in a court filing that Flynn had no cause to lie in the interviews.

He added that a sitting National Security Adviser, former head of an intelligence agency, retired Lieutenant General, and 33-year veteran of the armed forces knows he should not lie to federal agents.

Flynn is so far the only member of Trumps administration to plead guilty to a crime uncovered during Muellers wide-ranging probe.

The probe has so far ensnared 32 individuals and three Russian firms.

Trump denies there was any collusion and has labeled the investigation a witch hunt.

Russia also denies it meddled in the election, contrary to the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies.

On Monday, Sullivan ordered the special counsel to release a redacted, five-page FBI account of Flynns January 2017 interview, saying it was relevant to his sentencing.(Reuters/NAN)Some oil companies operating in Nigeria are contributing to the countrys economic adversity, chairman of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property, Okoi Obono-Obla, said on Monday.

Mr Obono-Obla, a presidential aide, made the observation in Abuja during a media briefing on the activities of the panel. He identified one of those multi-national oil companies to include Addax Petroleum Nigeria, who, he said, refused to pay company income tax of over N700 million for about six years.

The chairman also accused ExxonMobil Corporation Nigeria of acquiring an oil bloc since 2009 for about $2.5 billion, and paying only paid $600 million till date.

He said the panel is working with the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) to draft a report which established conclusively that Addax was owing huge tax revenues to the government.

A lot of oil companies are contributing to the economic adversity of Nigeria by denying Nigeria tax revenues and royalties that would have helped the government develop infrastructures in Nigeria.

Giving an update on the effort of the panel to recover public property, Mr Obono-Obla said so far, about N523.2 million has been recovered, apart from over $1 million and lands valued at N1.5 billion from the Nigerian Export-Import Bank.

He said the panel has the power to charge public officers who use corruption to enrich themselves and refuse to give true information about their assets or abuse their office to acquire assets.

Such persons found guilty of any of the allegations by the court could be jailed 25 years, he said.

The presidential aide said some lawmakers are already being charged for such crimes.

He listed those to include the deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu; former senate president, David Mark; former aviation minister, Stella Oduah; Hope Uzodinma, Peter Nwabuchi, Ambe Bassey, Adeniji Bankole, and Usman Bayero.

Also accused of illegal acquisition of property are Cyril Agbele (the Accountant General of Delta State), former managing director of the Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Robert Onyia for who is accused of mismanagement and Folake Oke of NEXIM bank.

Others charged for different reasons are Amah Kajole of the Nigeria Customs Service; Abubakar Yaradua of NNPC; and the former spokesperson for the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh.

Some of these officials, who he said resisted investigations, include about 39 names of public officers who are under investigation and submitted to the Nigerian Immigration Service to place them on travel ban.

Also, the management of the National Theater, Iganmu, Lagos were charged to court for abuse of office and embezzlement of about N24 billion recovered from the directors, while the case file has been handed over to the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation.

He said the Tumsah brothers (Tijani and Ibrahim) were charged with alleged abuse of office, corruption, possession of unaccounted wealth beyond the legitimate earning. He said about 86 brand new cars including 23 which had bullet proof without permit, as well as landed properties located in highbrow areas of the city were recovered.

In collaboration with National Intelligence Agency of Nigeria, Mr Obono-Obla said the panel was also investigating findings of the Panama papers and businessmen who have properties offshore and those who evade tax.

He said the panel is also investigating a petition filed by human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, about a bail-out fund of $7 billion by the central bank in 2006 to a commercial bank when Chukwuma Soludo was CBN governor. He said the petitioner alleged that the fund is yet to be recovered, with the CBN saying the money was a gift to the commercial bank.

Among those charged to court, he said, included the secretary of the National Film and Video Censor Board, Adebayo William (for alleged theft of government property).

He also spoke about questionable funds found in some accounts.

In one of the accounts, we found about $3 billion belonging to a purported NNPC account. We also noticed a withdrawal of $20 million on the 29th of June 2015 from one of the accounts. The money was withdrawn by National Security Adviser (NSA) (office of the NSA), he said.

Mr ObonoObla applauded persons that have been providing useful lead to his panel.

He urged members of the public to provide useful information that could lead to the recovery of the countrys looted commonwealth from unscrupulous individuals, assuring them of absolute confidentiality and protection.Officers of the Nigerian police have blocked the entrance of the National Assembly, preventing staff, journalists and others from entering the complex.

The police who took strategic positions from the State House entrance, turned back whoever dared to enter the gate of the legislative premises.

The lock down follows a directive by the leadership of the National Assembly who asked the operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) and the police to secure the chamber for plenary.

The move, according to a statement by the Clerk to the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori is to enable members and staff come in and perform their legitimate duties without any hinderance. Workers of the National Assembly under the umbrella body of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) on Monday prevented staff of the complex from working in protest of what they called poor working conditions. A similar protest was held two weeks ago when the workers demanded pay rise, promotions trainings among other things. The Monday protest follows a four-day warning strike that commenced on Monday. The strike may affect President Muhammadu Buharis presentation of the 2019 Appropriation Bill to the joint National Assembly on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, hundreds of staff of the assembly were seen in front of the complex stranded.

When approached, officials of the Nigeria Police allowed a Premium Times journalist to enter the complex after an initial turn back.

Some other police officers situated about 50 meters from the gate, however, turned the reporter back telling him he has no business here.

It is not yet clear whether the lawmakers would be allowed entry for todays plenary as requested by the assembly leadership.

Details laterPresident Muhammadu Buhari has accused the National Assembly of inflating debts to be repaid by the federal government to deserving states.

He also asked the National Assembly to review the amount it approved as debt repayment to the states.

The debt repayment in promissory notes is for projects executed on behalf of the federal government by various state governments.

A promissory note is a debt instrument which one party promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of money to the other, either at a fixed or determinable future time, under specific terms.

His request was communicated via a letter which was read out by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki on Tuesday.

In the letter, Mr Buhari pointed out that the total amount approved by the National Assembly was higher than the amount approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

He also queried the National Assembly for approving reimbursement to 21 states even after the FEC approved for 25 states.

Part of the statement read: You may wish to refer to the letter from the National Assembly REF: NASS/CNA/106/Vol.10/277 dated 27th of July 2018 which communicated the approval by the National Assembly of the promissory note programme and a bond issuance to settle inherited local debts and contractual obligations on refund to state governments on projects executed on behalf of the federal government in the sum of N488,743,526,204.77.

The Senate may wish to know that in view of the approval by the National Assembly, the following were observed:

 While the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the total 0f N487,842,888,574.74 only, as reimbursement to the state governments, the National Assembly approved N488,743,526,204.77, implying that the amount approved by the National Assembly was N890,537,630,03 higher than the amount approved by FEC.

 While FEC approved reimbursement to 25 states, National Assembly approved reimbursement to 21 states.

 National Assembly did not approve any reimbursement for four states; Bauchi, Delta, Kogi and Taraba whereas the FEC had approved reimbursement for them.

 And note that the amount approved by the National Assembly for reimbursement by 21 states are higher than the amounts approved by the Federal Executive Council for reimbursement to 25 states.

 The amounts approved by the National Assembly for reimbursement to each of the 21 states is higher than the amounts approved by FEC to each of these states except for Adamawa, Jigawa, Kano and Niger.

The president referred to the provisions of the Public Procurement Act 2007 which empowers the Bureau of Public Procurement to approve vendors and contract sum before presentation to the National Assembly for approval after FEC approval.

This, he said, is after the projects have been inspected under the chairmanship of the works minister.

Since the BPP is charged with the responsibility of approving contract sums, and theres a need for compliance with the Public Procurement Act 2007, I wish to request that you forward to us details relating to the amounts approved by the National Assembly for the 17 states excess of what was certified by the BPP for necessary certification and approval.

Furthermore, I wish to request for review of the reimbursement earlier submitted in favour of Bauchi, Delta, Kogi and Taraba States. Meanwhile, the federal government shall proceed with the implementation on the following basis:

1. Where the amount approved by the National Assembly is the same as the amount approved by FEC, the jointly approved amount will be reimbursed. The states ate Adamawa, Jigawa, Kano and Niger.

2. Where the amount approved by the National Assembly is higher than the amount approved by FEC, the amount approved by FEC will be reimbursed. The states are Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Ebonyi, Benue, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Kwara, Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Plateau and Zamfara.

3. And where no amount is approved by National Assembly, no reimbursement will be made. The affected states are Bauchi, Delta, Kogi and Taraba, he said.A former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, is dead.

Mr Badeh, a retired air chief marshal, was shot dead along the Abuja-Keffi road.

The air force confirmed the death in a couple of tweets on its official Twitter handle.

It is with a heavy heart that I regretfully announce the unfortunate demise of former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, who died today, 18 Dec 18, from gunshot wounds sustained when his vehicle was attacked while returning from his farm along Abuja-Keffi Road.

On behalf officers, airmen and airwomen of the Nigerian Air Force, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar, commiserates with the family of the late former Chief of Defence Staff over this irreparable loss. We pray that the Almighty God grants his soul eternal rest.

The content of the tweet was later sent to PREMIUM TIMES by the air force spokesperson, Ibikunle Daramola, an air commodore.

Mr Badeh before his death was being prosecuted for alleged N3.9 billion fraud while in office during the Goodluck Jonathan administration.The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 2 Division Nigerian Army, Odogbo Ibadan, Fidelis O Azinta, a Major General, on Monday, inaugurated a General Court Martial (GCM) to try no fewer than nine erring personnel of the division.

Mr Azinta made this known via a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES by the deputy director, army public relations, Hassan Ifijeh Mohammed, a colonel.

The inauguration of the GCM according to the GOC, was in line with the importance of discipline to the success of any organization, particularly, the military, in peace or in war.

Mr Azinta, while addressing members of the panel, at the Tiger Officers Mess, Agodi, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, enjoined members of the GCM to base the Court Martial on due process and in conformity with extant civil and military laws especially the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Armed Forces Act.

He said, In view of this, members of the court are expected to painstakingly ensure that every step or action taken in the trial process is in conformity with the provisions of the laws.

He emphasized that military justice is not an instrument of discipline, rather it is used to promote discipline.

Mr Azinta noted that The president and members of this GCM have been carefully appointed considering their ranks, seniority, general service knowledge and wealth of experience to ensure fair trial and enhance the course of justice.

They are men of integrity and character, therefore I have no doubt in their ability to dispense justice fairly.

He also noted that justice, as argued by late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, is three-way: justice for the accused, justice for the victim and justice for the state.

Mr Azinta added that, It is equally important to recall that both Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution as amended and Section 122 of the Armed Forces Act 2004, emphasize that expeditious and speedy trial provides basis for trial.

This is one of the advantages of a GCM. This advantage will be lost if we allow delays on unnecessary technicalities to characterize the day to day proceedings of the court.

He however assured all the accused persons seated at GCM that the court will be fair and just.

He also reminded the president and members of the GCM as well as the prosecution and defence counsel that as Ministers in the temple of justice, you must all be seen to advance the course of justice in all your actions and dealings.

Mr Azinta urged all to live above board, bearing in mind that doing otherwise will have implications on the dispensation of justice in the army.

He concluded that it is better to set ten criminals free than to convict one innocent person.Staff of the National Assembly will not stop the president, Muhammadu Buhari, from presenting the 2019 budget to federal lawmakers, the chairman of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), Bature Mohammed, has said.

Speaking as the police barricaded the National Assembly Tuesday morning, Mr Mohammed said the president is free to present the budget anytime.

Mr Buhari is billed to present the 2019 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday. The presentation could, however, be hampered by a four-day warning strike, which parliamentary staff began on Monday.

The staff, on Monday, blocked the main entrance into the assembly complex preventing usual movement of people and vehicles.

In reaction to this, the leadership of the National Assembly asked the police and State Security Service (SSS) to secure the assembly for Tuesdays plenary.

The lawmakers hold plenaries on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays of the week.

In carrying out this order, uniformed police officials, on Tuesday, blocked the entrance into the National Assembly, preventing workers, journalists and others from entering.

Some journalists were later allowed to enter.

Speaking on the development, Mr Mohammed said the assemblys leadership has worsened the situation by its latest move.

The leadership of the National Assembly are making all issues worse by asking for security to secure the National Assembly against its staff.

Just some hours ago, they selected some of our staff against their wish, threatening them to go and work for them. Some of our chamber attendants are there now, working for them against their wish.

Despite this, however, the staff will allow Mr Buhari to present the budget anytime he so wishes, Mr Mohammed noted.

He denied reports that some of the staff cut off power and water supply on Monday, saying they are law abiding in their protest.

As far as we are concerned, we do not intend, by any means, to stop the president from presenting his budget. If we can allow cleaners and bankers to go in and discharge their duties, how can we stop Mr President from presenting his budget? But you can see that the action of the presiding officers is sending wrong signals by (locking) the gate. We are not the ones that locked this gate. Its a very wrong signal and we condemn it in totality.

We are law abiding citizens. Weve been following all rules guided by due process.

So, Mr President is free. If he can even come now well guide him to make sure that he presents the budget and comes out freely.

He said the association will regroup after the warning strike to decide the next line of actions.

After the warning strike, well get back to our people and consult about the next line of action. But I want to assure you that we will not back down until our demands are met, he said.

As at 11.10 a.m., no one had come out to address the workers. Also, no SSS operative was sighted in the assembly premises.A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court 14, Jabi, presided over by Honourable Justice Danlami Senchi, has committed a Deputy Director of the Federal Government Property Alienation Committee, Patrick Pillah, to jail for fraudulently converting a plot of land belonging to another person to use by his relations and associates.

Mr. Pillah was charged to court by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on three counts, one of which was conferring corrupt advantage upon himself by virtue of the office he was occupying in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).

The Commission, in the charge sheet, told the court that Pillah, in July 2000, used his position as a public officer in AMAC to confer corrupt advantage upon his relations and associates by transferring the title document for plot SS1 Jikwoyi Extension 111, to an unregistered company, Pax Education Resources belonging to them.

Counsel to ICPC, Adesola Michael told the court that the offence violated Sections 19 and 26 (1) (c) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 and punishable under Section 19 of the same Act.

One of the counts read: That you Patrick Pillah, on or about the month of July 2000 at Abuja while being a public officer in Abuja Municipal Area Council, Abuja, as Secretary of Committee of Resolution of Disputes involving land and Zonal Land Manager respectively used your said office to confer corrupt advantage upon relations and associates of Patrick Pillah by causing title documents of plot SS1 Jikwoyi Extension 111, to be issued in favour of Pax Education Resources an unregistered company belonging to Patrick Pillahs relations and associates and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 19 of Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

The trial judge, Hon. Senchi, handing down the judgment, found the accused guilty of the charge and therefore sentenced him to one month in jail without an option of fine. He also ruled that the land be returned to the original owner.Four former presidents of African countries on Monday converged in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, to commence a two-day meeting. The meeting is aimed at finding a solution to the disruptive use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on the electoral process in the continent.

They include John Mahama (Ghana); Ernest Koroma of Sierra Leone; former Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga; and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria who was the chairman. The event was organised by the Centre for Human Security and Dialogue of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in conjunction with the Open Society Foundations.

The meeting has the theme, High-Level Working Group Meeting on Mitigating Disruptive Applications of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on the Electoral Process in Africa.

A communique is expected to be issued after the meeting.

Other attendees at the meeting include the immediate past chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega; Muthoni Wanyaki and Amir Osman from the Open Society Foundation; Pansy Tiakula from South Africa; and Greg Mills from Brenthurst Foundation.

Mr Obasanjo in his opening remarks said the essence of the meeting was to review electoral systems in Africa especially inputs, processes and output/outcomes. Secondly, to examine the strengths and weaknesses in the use of ICT in electoral systems in Africa and elsewhere in the world.

To illustrate how ICT can be used to ease the electoral process rather than inhibit it; To document good practices in e-voting across the world and extract lessons for Africa; and to propose models of successful deployment of ICT in electoral systems in Africa for the sustenance of democracy in the region.

Mr Obasanjo said, About three weeks ago, the Africa Progress Group (APG) which I chair was formally inaugurated and we are delighted that the Secretariat of APG is the venue of this important meeting which has to do with the progress of Africa. One of the pillars of Africas progress in my five Ps as adopted by APG at its inaugural meeting of November 27, 2018, is Politics; the others are Prosperity, Population, Protection and Partnerships.

This meeting on the election process is within the framework of the pillar of politics. Deficit in the election process will translate to a deficit in politics (and vice versa) which in turn will impede sound governance, a much sought-after element in the development of Africa, Mr Obasanjo added.

The former Nigerian President added that during the course of this meeting, we will be addressing one of the key issues that is at the heart of credible elections in Africa  Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the election process. ICT is here to stay, pervading and increasingly impacting all aspects of our lives including the conduct of elections.

But it can be a good servant or a bad master. This is why, I believe, that the outcomes of our deliberations will have far-reaching implications for the quality and credibility of the election firmament in Africa now and in the future.

It is a subject that has engaged the attention of numerous regional and global organisations including the African Union. This meeting presents an important addition to those previous efforts. More than an addition, our meeting hopefully will present new and refreshing insights into how ICT can be better used in delivering credible elections in Africa and for the rest of the world.

We can achieve this with the array of people assembled for this meeting; persons who have experienced the good, the bad and the ugly sides of the use of ICT in the election process and experts who are skilled in ICT and how its downsides for electioneering can be mitigated while enhancing its usefulness in enhancing credibility and integrity of elections.

Mr Jega in his paper titled: Practical Experience in the use of ICT in the Election Process in Africa: The Nigerian Experience submitted that two essentially areas that technology has not yet been fully utilised are the electronic collation and transmission of results; and electronic voting.

He said that the use of appropriate technology goes a long way to improve the efficiency of the conduct of elections, as well as the integrity of elections, worldwide and especially in Africa.

Opportunities need to be explored and adequately utilised. But, we must constantly remember that use of ICT in elections is a means to an end and not an end in itself. That end perhaps is electoral integrity for deepening and consolidating democracy. We need to constantly deploy measures that can ensure secure and sustainable use of ICTs in our electoral processes. We must think carefully, choose well, and make haste slowly.The Port-Harcourt Division of the Rivers State High Court on Monday adjourned until January 9, 2019, hearing on a motion challenging its jurisdiction to hear a defamation suit brought by Peter Odili.

Mr Odili, a former governor of Rivers State, recently sued Chidi Odinkalu and Ayisha Osori over claims that the authors defamed him in their latest book, Too Good To Die: Third Term and the Myth of the Indispensable Man in Africa.

He demanded a published apology and N1 billion from Mr Odinkalu and Ms Osori, and that further publication of copies of the book must cease immediately.

Mr Odilis lawyers, led by Kanu Agabi, a senior lawyer, had initial court approval to an interlocutory motion which sought to ban further printing of the books.

The court was expected to hear the interlocutory application (a judicial process in which parts of a case could be enforced pending the final judgement of the original case) on December 17, but the authors legal team, led by Idaye Opi, said the judge should allow more time for them to file a response.

They also immediately challenged the jurisdiction of the court to hear the matter. Both Mr Odinkalu and Ms Osori live and work in Abuja, and they argued the book was not published in Rivers States, even though it might have been taken to the state by those who purchased copies.

The presiding judge, A.U. Kingsley-Chukwu, then adjourned hearing in the matter until January 9.

Mr Odinkalu said in a statement that allowing Mr Odili to get an interlocutory injunction against further printing and sales could effectively kill the book, which explored rich history about the intrigues of former President Olusegun Obasanjos alleged plot to perpetuate himself in power beyond the two terms allowed by the Constitution.

In Nigeria, where court proceedings can last until the day after eternity, an interlocutory injunction in this kind of case could amount to get everything that the claimant asks for in the case without even having to prove anything, Mr Odinkalu said. That would be a travesty.

Mr Odili was the governor of Rivers State from 1999 until 2007. He was amongst over two-dozen governors identified by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as having corruption questions to answer for their use of public resources at the time.

After leaving office, the EFCC filed corruption charges against Mr Odili for alleged misappropriation, but the politician strongly denied wrongdoing and has managed to lock the case down in court via a controversial perpetual injunction he was granted.

In his court filings, Mr Odili said he took note of excerpts of the book in which the authors narrated how late politician, Harry Marshall, was assassinated soon after they publicly fell out with each other in 2003.

The book cited a letter which Mr Marshall had written to the police in Rivers at the time, expressing strong concerns about a growing spate of intimidation and violent attacks against members of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in the state.

Mr Marshall said the attackers were loyalists of Mr Odili, and they had the support of the police (to) regularly unleash mayhem ahead of the 2003 elections.

The book also painted vivid details of how Mr Odili allegedly helped bankroll the third term agenda which Mr Obasanjo pushed to perpetuate himself in power beyond the 2007 expiration of his constitutionally-approved two terms of eight years.

Most of the cash distributed in support of the project were wrapped in bundles bearing the stamp of First Inland Bank. Unknown to most people, First Inland Banks history lay buried in networks of loyalty between some of the most influential leaders of the ruling party, including President Obasanjo himself, the authors wrote on page 162.

The corporate trail however disclosed a deep financial bond between the president, Senator Ararume and the governments of Bauchi and Rivers States, then ruled, respectively, by two of President Obasanjos closest governorship acolytes, Adamu Muazu and Peter Odili, who were at the centre of shadowy, complex, unlawful and, almost certaining, criminal financial operations behind third term, the authors added.

In his lawsuit, Mr Odili said the book cast him in a distasteful light before reasonable people across the world who have read it, including eminent scholars in the United States.

The former governor listed scores of awards he has received from persons and organisations across the world throughout his career, and said there was no way he could have been involved in the slew of criminal exploits Mr Odinkalu and Ms Osori linked to him in their book, which was unveiled in September, 2018.The Miyetti Allah Kautal-Hore, a Fulani socio-cultural association, on Tuesday said it has not endorsed any presidential candidate for the 2019 election.

The two leading candidates, incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari and main opposition Atiku Abubakar, are ethnic Fulani, but the group said no candidate has unveiled a favourable plan for its members.

It called on the Federal and State governments to secure grazing reserves across the country, to curb farmers/herders crisis.

The national president of the group, Bello Badejo made the call in Sokoto during a courtesy visit to the Gov. Aminu Tambuwal.

He said most gazetted grazing reserves had been appropriated by farmers and should be retrieved by government.

The Federal Government should bring back our grazing reserves, some are gazetted and some are not.

We do not know the reason why the the government is delaying the preparation of the grazing reserves so that cattle herders can go back to their grazing areas.

We have the national and the international cattle route, where are they now? This is because the government is not serious about the reserves.

We are saying that if these ranches are in place, farmers and herders crisis would have been resolved most significantly, he said

Mr Badejo alleged that recently the National Economic Council gave the Kaduna state government N5 billion to build ranches, which he said was yet to be seen.

On politics, the Fulani leader said the group has not endorsed any presidential candidate, because none of them has unveiled any agenda for herders.

He said while the federal government has many intervention packages for farmers, including soft loans and distribution of fertilizer, nothing is done for the cattle herders.

Endorsing any candidate is a very difficult position for the association to make, noting that President Muhammadu Buhari is Fulani and his main rival, Atiku Abubakar, is also Fulani.

What we want is just a solution to national problems, so that peace reigns, he said.

Mr Badejo accused the media of being biased in their reporting of the crisis involving farmers and Fulani herdsmen in the country. (NAN)President Muhammadu Buhari has declined assent to a bill that seeks to amend the law establishing the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

The National Assembly had earlier passed the amendment bill that guide the NBC, which regulates Nigerias broadcasting industry.

Mr Buhari stated this rejection in a letter addressed to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

The letter was read by Mr Saraki on Tuesday at the Senate plenary.

In it, the president explained that his decision to withhold assent to the bill was because the amendment to the powers of the commission deletes existing paragraphs 21(U) which contains an important omnibus clause that grants the commission incidental powers which are not specifically provided for in other sections of the Act.

Pursuant to Section 58(4) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, I hereby convey to the Senate, my decision on the 26th November 2018, to decline presidential assent to the National Broadcasting Commission Amendment Bill 2018.

I am declining assent to the bill because the amendment to the powers of the commission deletes existing paragraphs 21(U) which contains an important omnibus clause that grants the commission incidental powers which are not specifically provided for in other sections of the Act.

We suggest that a more appropriate approach for the amendment for the creation of a new paragraph (U) as contained in the bill and the renumbering in the current paragraph (U), as a new paragraph (Y).

Please accept, Distinguished Senate President, the assurance of my highest consideration, the president wrote.The Nigerian political activist, Deji Adeyanju, who was rearrested last week by the police, has been transferred from Abuja to Kano where authorities claim he has questions to answer in a murder case that was closed nearly a decade ago, his associates told PREMIUM TIMES Tuesday.

Mr Adeyanju was acquitted in the case in 2009, but the police have indicated they are revisiting the matter, a move activists say is an attempt by the Buhari administration to clampdown on a critical voice.

Mr Adeyanjus associates said his transfer to Kano was part of a plot by the Police to eliminate the activist. Mr Adeyanju has yet to be charged five days after his latest arrest.

We wish to urgently draw the attention of Nigerians and the international community to the illegal incarceration, ethnocentric persecution, and state-engineered lethal plot to assassinate Comrade Deji Adeyanju, one of Nigerias leading civil rights activists by the government of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, using the institution of the Nigerian Police Force through the office of the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Kpotum Idris, the activists said in a prepared statement at a press conference Tuesday.

The press conference was addressed by Ariyo-Dare Atoye, Raphael Adebayo and Moses Paul, three Abuja-based rights activists who have worked to get the police to release Mr Adeyanju since he was arrested last week.

The police held Mr Adeyanju at about 3:00 p.m. on Thursday as he went to pick up his phone at the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit in Abuja. He was asked to come for the last of the three phones seized from him by the police when he was first arrested in late November and spent eight nights in custody.

Mr Adeyanjus associates said the police had no grounds to re-arrest the activist, much less keep him behind bars without public explanation for five days.

A senior police source in Abuja confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES over the weekend that the activist was being held because homicide detectives wanted to clarify some grey areas arising from the trial, which ran from 2005 until Mr Adeyanju was discharged and acquitted in 2009.

Mr Adeyanjus latest detention has been condemned by rights activists who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES, including Amnesty International which warned Nigerian government against violation of the activists rights and said it was monitoring the situation.

Festus Keyamo,the spokesperson for Mr Buharis re-election campaign, was Mr Adeyanjus defence lawyer in the 2009 homicide case. He told PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday that the activist was indeed discharged and acquitted, and made available the court documents which PREMIUM TIMES published over the weekend.

In this latest act of desperation by the Buhari government to silence, detain and possibly eliminate Comrade Deji Adeyanju, the Nigeria Police have now illegally and wickedly elected to review a case of culpable Homicide, from which he was discharged and acquitted about 10 years ago, ignoring the long-established principle of Utre Fois Acquit  which makes the case a dead issue that cannot be reawakened, those campaigning for Mr Adeyanjus release said Tuesday.

Again, we wish to reiterate, as mentioned during our press conference one week ago, we have been informed by multiple veritable sources that the nucleus of the continued persecution of Comrade Deji Adeyanju is a state-backed lethal plot to eliminate him and other fearsome activists in the country.

We are compelled, therefore, to state unequivocally that should anything untoward happen to our comrade Deji Adeyanju, the remaining days of the present regime of General Buhari shall witness neither peace nor tranquility.

While the Buhari government and Police have in flagrant violation of our laws chosen to embark on this fruitless voyage of illegal discovery, we are shocked by their recoil into ethnoreligious biases and vendetta, arresting only Deji Adeyanju  the only Yoruba-Christian in a group of four persons that include three Hausa-Fulanis, that were discharged and acquitted.

It is, therefore, unfortunate that while the present regime of General Buhari continues to give a false impression  to Nigerians and especially the international community  that it is committed to a united Nigeria that is free of ethnic bigotry and intolerance, its actions, however, especially as it relates to respect for human rights and dissenting voices, have proved otherwise.

The Abuja police commissioner, Bala Ciroma, told PREMIUM TIMES he did not know whether Mr Adeyanju had been transferred from Abuja. His counterpart in Kano, Rabiu Yusuf, declined to speak on the matter when contacted.Three suspected internet fraudsters have been arrested in Abuja by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC.

The EFCC in a statement signed by the acting Head, Media & Publicity, Tony Orilade, and made available to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday gave the names of the suspects as Marvin Nwankwo, Prince Ojenike and Jude Olatekobowale.

According to the EFCC, their arrest was based on intelligence report that the suspects turned No 24, 1st Avenue, Fort Royal Estate, Airport road, Abuja as their office, using laptops, phone and other gadgets to defraud innocent people, including foreigners, of their hard earned money and other valuables.

The statement also added that the intelligence further revealed that the suspects aged between 22 to 30 years, used the proceeds of their crimes to acquire different properties such as cars which include a GLK Mercedes Benz Jeep, a Toyota Corolla, amongst others.

EFCC said on receipt of the intelligence report, operatives of the agency swung into action and mounted surveillance on the said address, to monitor the activities of the suspects.

The statement added that after thorough investigations, the suspects were arrested and items, which included several laptops of different makes, very expensive mobile phones, modems, many Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards, amongst others were recovered.

Alleged fraudster, Olatekobowale Jude Alleged fraudster, Ojenike Prince

The suspects would be charged to court at the end of the investigation, the EFCC said.

EFCC in a previous statement said it arraigned Gift Onyinechi, also known as Mario Amando, over a similar offence.A week is what the Senate committees on judiciary and police affairs have to investigate circumstances surrounding the arrest of an activist, Deji Adeyanju.

The resolution was the only request of Dino Melaye (Kogi-PDP) who raised the issue in a point of order on Tuesday.

Mr Adeyanju was first arrested on November 28 while leading a protest against alleged bias by security chiefs in the build up to the general elections.

Even though he was arraigned and granted bail same day, Mr Adeyanju could not meet his conditions until December 6 when he finally gained freedom.

Barely a week later, Mr Adeyanju was re-arrested for his alleged connection to a 2005 a murder involving him. He has remained with the police since then.

However, PREMIUM TIMES findings show Mr Adeyanju was discharged and acquitted then by the court. The lawyer who represented him then, Festus Keyamo, also confirmed this despite now being a spokesperson for President Muhammadu Buharis re-election.

One of my constituents named Umar Adeyanju Deji was invited by the Nigerian police having been arrested twice for protest. He is a pro-democracy activist. He has been arrested twice by the police and released on bail for organising protest in the defence of human rights and democracy, Mr Melaye said.

This activist was again rearrested last Thursday on the orders of the inspector-general of police (IGP) over a matter that took place in Kano in the year 2000, specifically about 18 years ago. Mr President this matter was decided by a competent court of law in the Kano division of the high court of justice. The Court of Justice A. M Haliru, the judgement has been given and Deji Adeyanju and two others have been discharged and acquitted.

Mr President I have the judgement here that i will lay before the Senate. We are in a democracy, where our rights should be allowed. The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has given us freedom of expression, association, freedom of the press. A situation whereby a security agency of government will be used to gag individuals from expressing opinions or criticising the government of the day is not acceptable to me, to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and should not be acceptable to the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Mr Melaye added that the police has concluded plans to transfer Mr Adeyanju to Kano.

His comments were supported by Emmanuel Paulker who urged his other colleagues to support Mr Melayes only prayer.

The lawmakers unanimously mandated the Senate committees on judiciary and police affairs to investigate the matter and report in one week.An appreciable improvement in power supply in Maiduguri has led to outrageous billings by the electricity company, some residents the city have said.

The electricity consumers, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, described the billings by the Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) as worrisome, adding that it was not in the interest of the masses because it has hindered economic activities and social life of the people.

They also alleged that YEDC hiked electricity bills by over 100 percent for commercial and residential areas sequel to the improvement in power supply in the area.

Esther Chukwuma, one of the consumers, described the new billing adopted by the power distribution company as frustrating and lamentable.

My bill indicated that I used 605 units in November and they charged N14,000 as against N6,500 for September, where I used the same units.

They are charging me for what I did not consume because, during the day, I spend most of my time in my shop. I only use the electricity at night at home.

I have a prepaid metre in the shop and I dont spend more than N2,000 in a whole month.

So how come I am not staying at home and I am being asked to pay N14, 000?

I am here in their office, demanding an explanation, she said.

Also speaking, Fatima Musa, a widow, said, I was given a bill of N15,000 monthly instead of the N5,000 I used to get monthly.

I strongly disagree with this outrageous charges given without any explanation.

She said electricity consumers were at the receiving end, especially those without prepaid metres, noting that the billing process was opaque and lacks transparency.

Ibrahim Suleiman, another consumer who lives in Bolori, appealed to the YEDC to go back to the former status quo where electricity was supplied for 12 hours and not 24 hours.

Mr Suleiman described the stable power supply as a wastage because many consumers cannot use electricity during working hours.

I work from 7 p.m. to 4 p.m. So I do not need any electricity until I get home. But in this case, whether you consume power or not, you will be billed to pay for it. I think this is not fair, he said.

Abdullahi Bako, who lives in Gwange, asked, how YEDC can bring a bill between N9,000 and N15,000 to a room apartment in a month.

We are being forced to pay for electricity we never consumed. This is extortion. We demand for transparency in the billing methodology, Mr Bako said.

Responding, Usman Wakta, the YEDC Maiduguri Business Manager, said the company does not bill its customers arbitrarily.

These complaints may be as a result of the commissioning of the 330kV transmission line which now supplies electricity 24 hours.

He said that before the commissioning of the new line, the stations relied on the 132KV controlled from Biu, which can only supply for a period of ten to 12 hours per day.

On the average, we now supply electricity in the town for a minimum of 22 hours in a day, which simply implies that the consumption of energy by residents in the state have multiplied or even tripled itself.

We took a simple study from our prepaid metres users and we found out that the people that usually came to buy unit of N2000 or N3000 in a month now have to spend N15,000 or N20,000 because of their energy usage.

One thing we notice about the consumers is that they waste energy. People have this habit of leaving their lights on, even in the afternoon.

Go to some supermarkets or filling stations, you will see more than 200 bulbs on in the afternoon. So the more you load you use, the more energy you consume.

On the allegation of exorbitant billing of consumers without meter, Mr Wakta said, We go to peoples home to do load assessment based on the gadgets they have in the house and bill them accordingly.

(NAN)The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Adamawa State, has fixed Thursday December 20 for governorship candidates peace accord in the state.

Kasim Gaidam, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, made this disclosure to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Yola, the state capital.

He said the signing of the peace accord was part of the commissions preparation for credible and acceptable 2019 general elections.

Governorship candidates in the state will sign the peace accord on Dec. 20, 2018.

The peace accord is for peaceful conduct of the 2019 poll under the leadership of the Adamawa Commissioner of Police, Mr Gaidam said.

On the security situation in the northern parts of the state and Madagali Local Government Area in particular, he said the commission had recently conducted registration of Permanent Voter Cards and it was hitch free.

He called on eligible voters, who were recently captured in the registration to go to their Local Government INEC offices and collect their PVCs.

(NAN)The Kano State Hisbah Command on Monday arrested 11 women for allegedly organising a same-sex marriage.

The women, however, denied the allegation, saying they were members of a dance group.

The hisbah is a local religious police established by the Kano State Government.

The women were arrested in Sabon Gari area of Fagge Local Government Area.

The officer in charge of the operation, Nasiru Ibrahim, said the hisbah received an intelligence report that Safiyya Yobe was about to get married to Fatima Gezawa at the event.

Mr Ibrahim said the hisbah raided the event and arrested 11 women including the alleged groom and bride.

However, one of the suspects Fati Jaririyar-Zuciya said they organised the party in honour of the appointment of Fatima Gezawa as the deputy chairperson of their dance club while the alleged groom Safiyya Yobe is the chairperson of the club.

In April 2007, there was a similar a case in Kano when a woman called Aunty Maiduguri was alleged to have wedded four wives. She, however, said she organised the party to raise money for a sex worker who was getting married to a man.Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State on Tuesday, swore in Justice Onuoha Ogwe as the new Chief Judge of the state.

Speaking during the ceremony at the Government House, Umuahia, the state capital, Mr Ikpeazu expressed confidence in the ability of the new Chief Judge to make a difference in the judicial system of the state.

The governor said the present administration had a robust working relationship with the judiciary, which he noted had played a significant role in boosting socioeconomic development in Abia State.

He also said the Abia State Government was making efforts to provide a conducive working environment for judiciary workers in the state to boost their productivity.

Mr Ikpeazu called on the new chief judge to evolve progressive ideas that would improve and aid the judiciary in complementing other arms of government.

Responding, Mr Ogwe thanked the governor for giving him the opportunity to serve the people of Abia State in the capacity of chief judge.

He promised to discharge his duties without fear or favour and solicited regular interface among the three arms of government to move the state forward.

Mr Ogwe assured that the judiciary would continue to support the present administration to deliver on its mandate.

(NAN)Abubakar Maikobi, a major general, has assumed duty as the new General Officer Commanding (GOC), 82 Division of the Nigerian Army with a promise to maintain the enviable standard of the Division.

Mr Maikobi took over from the outgone GOC of the Division, Emmanuel Kabuk, also a major general, after an official handing and taking ceremony and quarter guard salute at the headquarters of the Division in Enugu on Tuesday.

The new GOC told commanders and senior officers of the Division that he would maintain a high level discipline and regimentation in-line with the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Tukur Buratai.

He said his tenure would be in line with vision of Mr Buratai to reposition the Nigerian Army to a professionalised force.

Mr Maikobi said the outgoing GOC had briefed him on how he had kept the crime in the Divisions Area of Responsibility (AR) very low.

I will not fail to thank the outgoing GOC, Maj.-Gen. E. Kabuk, for all his efforts to ensure that crime rate is low and trouble-makers did not have a foothold in the Divisions Area of Responsibility, he said.

Earlier, Mr Kabuk said he had strived to add value to the Division both in its discipline, regimental procedures and physical structures.

He, however, thanked the various commanders of formations, principal officers and senior officers in the Division for supporting him to excel.

He urged the officers and men of the Divisoon.to extend the same co-operation and discipline to the new GOC.

I must thank the COAS for finding me worthy to head this Division, even as I am coming from a Signal Command background in the Nigerian Army.

I must thank God for His grace, protection, wisdom and guidance to this very last day as an officer of the Nigerian Army, he said.

In a related development, the outgoing GOC also inaugurated a renovated five block of classrooms, which has two offices and toilet facilities, at Nigeria Army Officers Wives Association (NAOWA) Nursery 3 Section.

The renovation was done by the outgoing GOCs wife, Talatu Kabuk, to uplift the learning and teaching environment of children attending the NAOWA Nursery School.

(NAN)The national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, on Monday called on party members to work hard to ensure victory for the party in 2019 general elections.

Mr Tinubu made the call in Ikeja while addressing members at the ACME Road party secretariat.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, his deputy, Idiat Adebule, APC governorship candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his running-mate, Obafemi Hamzat attended the meeting.

Mr Tinubu urged members to immediately begin to reach out to residents the need to sustain the development strides in the state and at the federal level by voting for APC.

The APC chieftain described the 16 years of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as years of failures and monumental corruption, saying the opposition should never be allowed to return.

Mr Tinubu further appealed to them.to at least, deliver three million votes for Buhari, Sanwo-Olu and other APC candidates, to further the progress of the state and country.

We must maintain a strong outing for APC; the party of progress, the party of development, the party of the economy in 2019.

We must differentiate between a development economy from a container economy of the PDP.

We must educate our people that, we will not accept or allow Nigeria to be corrupt again, never!

We have seen the 16 years of their failures and empty promises. We should never allow a return to that era.

There are six million solid votes in the state. I challenge all of you; your target must be 50 per cent of that votes, three million votes.

Or the entire six million votes for APC, for Buhari, Osinbajo, for Sanwo-Olu,for senators and other candidates in the state, he said.

Mr Tinubu commended members for putting the differences of the primaries behind them, urging them to carry the spirit of unity into the elections.

The APC chieftain said the party had not officially inaugurated its campaigns because it was awaiting the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish final list of candidates.

According to Mr Tinubu, said as soon as the list is released, campaigns would begin in earnest.

Also.speaking, Mr Ambode urged party members to forget past grievances and approach the general elections as a united house.

He said if he could accept the outcome of the governorship primaries, party members should settle whatever differences with one another and work for progress of the party.

I appeal to all our party members, who are in one way or the other been wronged or feel aggrieved that they should find a place in their heart to let it just be the same way I have accepted the greatness of the party.

The party is supreme to all our individual interests because it has a common good for all of us and we must find a place in our hearts to let the party reign supreme.

I want to further appeal to all our party leaders, when there is a platform for reconciliation, they should proceed also to continue to reconcile.

When there is a platform for compensation, they should also make those promissory notes.

All our aspirants who are not candidates must be ready to sacrifice for the collective interest of our party. It is very important so that we can move this campaign forward.

It is only when you win that we can compensate. It is only when we win that we can reconcile. So, let us have that collective decision to move APC forward, he said.

Mr Ambode also urged them to give the necessary support to Messrs Buhari, Sanwo-Olu and all the party candidates to ensure resounding victory.

Mr Sanwo-Olu, in his speech, urged residents of the state to reject the PDP, adding the party had no capacity to move the state forward.

He said the state progressed,exponentially, under APC denied the claim by the PDP candidate, Jimi Agbaje that the state was under bondage.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said that a state that had grown to be an economic giant in Africa, with opportunities for residents, could not be said to be under bondage.

The candidate urged the people to keep faith with the APC for more development in 2019.

NAN reports that members present went in excitement when Mr Ambode later raised the hands of Messrs Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat in open endorsement of their joint candidature.

(NAN)The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Oyo State, Adebayo Adelabu, has unveiled a seven-point agenda that would form the thrust of his administration, if elected.

He spoke at a media parley held in Ibadan, the state capital as part of his electioneering campaign activities.

Mr Adelabu had resigned his appointment as a deputy governor at the Central Bank of Nigeria to contest the governorship position on the APC platform.

Mr Adelabu listed as top on his agenda the issues of security, agriculture, housing, education, health and environment, employment as well as transportation.

He said: I wish to commend the present administration led by Governor Abiola Ajimobi for the unprecedented successes recorded so far.

This administration has raised the bar of good governance. I make bold to say the administration has done well and I will leverage on the successes of the Ajimobis government if elected to govern the state.

The governorship candidate, who stated that security would take the lead on his agenda, said technology, Internally Generated Revenue and prosperity of the people would serve as an enabler in implementing the agenda.

Mr Adelabu promised to boost the states IGR, saying his area of competence was revenue generation and deployment of funds.

The present administration has laid a solid foundation in the area of protection of lives and properties. The administration has transformed the state from the era of brigandage to a safe haven.

The latest is the installation of CCTV cameras and inauguration of the Central Control centre in Ibadan. We will expand this to other parts of the state, and build a call and response centre.

We will also bring on board Operation Light Up Oyo State and ensure that the people enjoyed all human rights, he said.

He said agriculture would also be the platform of his administrations economic transformation, promising to ensure full implementation of his agenda.

Mr Adelabu gave an assurance that the civil service would be given adequate attention, while special consideration, as well as extra benefit would be given to teachers.

The governorship candidate also promised to give priority to the vulnerable, women, children and people with disabilities.

My desire and passion to foster economic prosperity in Oyo State rather than pecuniary and personal aggrandisement inspired my interest in the number one seat of the state.

Our administration will boost tourism, ensure youth inclusiveness, re-introduce farm settlements and exploit potentials in agro-allied industries, he added.

He also affirmed that the party was one in the state, saying all members including those earlier aggrieved had resolved to work for the common goal of the party.

The governorship candidate expressed optimism that he would be supported and encouraged as youth coming to take the state to the next level of development from where Ajimobi stopped.

He said APC was the party to beat in the 2019 general elections, assuring the people of more dividends in continuity.

Mr Adelabu also called on the people to vote for all the partys candidates in the forthcoming general elections.

(NAN)The Court of Appeal in Ibadan on Tuesday set aside a court order which directed INEC to recognise the list of candidates submitted for the 2019 general elections by a faction of Ogun PDP loyal to Buruji Kashamu.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Shittu Abubakar of the Federal High Court Abeokuta had on October 2 ordered INEC to recognise the list of candidates submitted by the Bayo Dayo executives loyal to Mr Kashamu.

The applicants in the appeal are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its National Chairman, Uche Secondus, and Secretary, Ibrahim Tsauri.

The respondents are the Mr Dayo-led Ogun PDP executives loyal to Mr Kashamu and INEC.

The three-member appeal panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani unanimously agreed that the lower court was wrong in its decision and consequently set aside the order, saying it was null and void.

Mr Tsammani, however, said the applicants were not properly served the originating summons at the lower court which would notify them that there existed a case before the judge assumed jurisdiction.

The judge said service of the originating summons was fundamental and a precondition which would affect and determine the validity of the court s proceedings.

Non-service of the originating summons on the applicants at the lower court rendered all the order given at the lower court against the applicants a nullity and this is an indication that the applicants were not given a fair hearing.

In the interest of justice, the order of the lower court is set aside, null and void and an academic exercise, the judge said.

Mr Tsammani ordered that the case be returned to the chief judge for reassignment to another judge other than Justice Abubakar.

Speaking to journalists after the judgment, the counsel to the Dayo-led executive, Ifeoma Esom, expressed dissatisfaction with the judgment of the court.

She said her client had directed her to proceed to the Supreme Court.

But counsel to the PDP, Emeka Etioba, said he was satisfied with the judgment and commended the judges.

NAN reports that the PDP had earlier submitted the list of candidates which had Oladipupo Adebutu as the governorship candidate of the party in Ogun to INEC before the October 2 order of the lower court recognising Mr Kahamus list.

(NAN)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.



CHADDS FORD, Pa., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Arora Engineers, Inc. (Arora) is pleased to announce that they have entered into an agreement in connection with the acquisition of Electronic Data, Inc. (EDI), a business process consulting and technology firm that specializes in maintenance, asset, and facility life cycles, as well as integrated workplace management systems (IWMS), located in St. Petersburg, FL.

Electronic Data, Inc.

"The acquisition of EDI is the next chapter in 'Improving the Quality of Life by Rethinking Infrastructure.' Arora's portfolio of planning and design, program and construction management, facilities management, information technology, and now asset management will allow us to participate in the entire life cycle of an asset, from creation to retirement," says Manik K. Arora, PE, Arora's President and CEO. "The Arora-EDI affiliation is an important progression in Arora's effort to bolster our information technology, facilities management, and geospatial services."

Joseph Mahaz, EDI's President and CEO, explains, "Together, Arora and EDI will provide our clients with real actionable information and offer the highest quality services and solutions to significantly improve the life cycle management in facility and asset operations."

The acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2019, is subject to customary closing conditions.

About Arora:

For over 30 years, Arora has provided engineering, program/construction management, information technology, and facilities management services tailored for clients in aviation, transportation, education, government, and commercial sectors. The firm specializes in mechanical, electrical, plumbing (MEP), fire/life safety, special systems, and geospatial technologies. Arora is headquartered in the Philadelphia region with offices in New York, San Jose, Boston, Atlanta, Baltimore, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Nashville, and Fort Lauderdale.

About EDI:

Electronic Data, Inc. (EDI) is a professional services firm and software solutions provider specializing in maintenance best practices, facility management, enterprise asset management, integrated workplace management systems, and bundled enterprise asset/real time asset health monitoring solutions. EDI has developed industry-specific solutions that significantly reduce systems implementation time and costs, which provide their clients with cost effective and timely value proposition return on investment. Additionally, EDI is the only North American company to implement the new IBM Maximo for Aviation Maintenance Management System for a large airline company.

Contact: Brittany Scott

Phone: (610) 880-8202

Cell: (484) 757-1159

E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Arora Engineers, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.aroraengineers.com

CHICAGO, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Josh Harwood has joined AXA XL's Broker and Client Management team as Client Distribution Leader for the US North Central Region. Based in Chicago and reporting to Todd Sutherland, US North Central Regional Leader, Mr. Harwood will be one of AXA XL's key points of contact for brokers and clients throughout the region, helping them address their multi-line property, casualty and specialty insurance needs.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Sutherland said, "Josh brings a valuable perspective to our team. He's been a risk manager. He's been a broker. Tapping into his experiences, Josh's insight will help us develop and deliver the insurance offerings that our clients and brokers need and want. And given his experiences, I'm confident that he decided to join us knowing that AXA XL could deliver the insurance and risk management solutions that his fellow risk managers and brokers need."

Mr. Harwood joins AXA XL from Telephone & Data Systems (TDS), a Chicago-based Fortune 500 company where he served for 17 years, most recently as director of risk management. His career also includes tenure as a property broker with AON. Mr. Harwood earned his MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management and an undergraduate degree in risk management and insurance from the University of Wisconsin.

Follow AXA XL on Twitter and on LinkedIn.

ABOUT AXA XL1

AXA XL1 provides insurance and risk management products and services for mid-sized companies through to large multinationals, and reinsurance solutions to insurance companies globally. We partner with those who move the world forward. To learn more, visit www.axaxl.com

ABOUT AXA XL1 INSURANCE

AXA XL1 Insurance offers property, casualty, professional, financial lines and specialty insurance solutions to mid-sized companies through to large multinationals globally. We partner with those who move the world forward. To learn more, visit www.axaxl.com

MEDIA RELATIONS:

Christine Weirsky

[email protected]

610-968-9395

1AXA XL is a division of AXA Group providing products and services through four business groups: AXA XL Insurance, AXA XL Reinsurance, AXA XL Art & Lifestyle and AXA XL Risk Consulting. The integration project related to the activities of AXA Corporate Solutions, AXA Matrix, AXA Art and XL Catlin will be subject to legal and social validations prior to its implementation

SOURCE AXA XL

Related Links

http://www.axaxl.com

HOUSTON, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- BBVA Compass wraps up a four-month pilot program in December designed to provide financial education workshops through partnerships with local nonprofit organizations. Based on the success of the pilot program, the bank plans to execute a full program launch next year.

The pilot program, which began in late August, included 28 nonprofits organizations in 19 markets across the bank's footprint. The total impact currently exceeds 2,600 participants, with more expected before the program concludes in the next week. Workshops were customized to focus on small business, personal finance and home ownership and led by local bank volunteers with expertise in each of the subject areas.

According to BBVA Compass Director of Corporate Responsibility and Reputation Reymundo Ocanas, the program underscores the bank's purpose to bringing the age of opportunity to everyone by improving the lives and financial capabilities of the people in the communities served by the bank.

"We have seen a strong positive response to this pilot which, for us, emphasizes the need to expand the depth and breadth of our reach," Ocanas said. "Our goal for 2019 is to partner with more nonprofit organizations across our footprint to provide the financial education foundation that will help create opportunities for more people to improve their financial capabilities and achieve financial security."

The BBVA Compass Foundation, the bank's charitable-giving arm, selected the nonprofits to receive grants and host financial education workshops led by BBVA Compass subject matter experts. These workshops are designed to help participants improve their understanding of the financial system in order to identify and seize opportunities to increase their financial stability. The grant recipients have a demonstrated ability to provide financial capability programming to low- and moderate-income families, to unbanked or underbanked populations, or to small businesses in underserved areas.

BBVA Compass will expand the program in 2019 to include up to 12 additional markets using similar selection criteria, and will pursue a goal of educating 10,000 low- to moderate-income adults throughout the whole of 2019.

BBVA Compass provided the workshop curricula, which it developed using its own subject-matter experts in partnership with leading education technology firm EverFi.

"As experts in the field of financial matters, we believe we have an obligation to share our knowledge with the people in our communities," said Ocanas. "We want to do whatever we can to help them make sound, responsible financial choices."

For more information on the bank's Center for Financial Education Workshops, please contact [email protected]

To learn more about BBVA Compass, visit: www.bbvacompass.com

For more news visit: www.bbva.com and newsroom.bbvacompass.com

About BBVA Group

BBVA (NYSE: BBVA) is a customer-centric global financial services group founded in 1857. The Group has a strong leadership position in the Spanish market, is the largest financial institution in Mexico, it has leading franchises in South America and the Sunbelt Region of the United States; and it is also the leading shareholder in Garanti, Turkey's biggest bank for market capitalization. Its diversified business is focused on high-growth markets and it relies on technology as a key sustainable competitive advantage. Corporate responsibility is at the core of its business model. BBVA fosters financial education and inclusion, and supports scientific research and culture. It operates with the highest integrity, a long-term vision and applies the best practices. More information about BBVA Group can be found at bbva.com.

About BBVA Compass

BBVA Compass is a Sunbelt-based financial institution that operates 645 branches, including 332 in Texas, 89 in Alabama, 63 in Arizona, 61 in California, 45 in Florida, 37 in Colorado and 18 in New Mexico. BBVA Compass ranks among the top 25 largest U.S. commercial banks based on deposit market share and ranks among the largest banks in Alabama (2nd), Texas (4th) and Arizona (6th). BBVA Compass has been recognized as one of the leading small business lenders by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and ranked 6th nationally in the total number of SBA loans originated in fiscal year 2017. Additional information about BBVA Compass can be found under the Investor Relations tab at bbvacompass.com. For more BBVA Compass news, follow @BBVACompassNews on Twitter, visit newsroom.bbvacompass.com, or visit bbva.com.

SOURCE BBVA Compass

Related Links

https://www.bbvacompass.com

HEBER, Utah, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Boojum Group is pleased to announce that they have received their industrial hemp processor license from the Utah Department of Agriculture.

Boojum Group logo

Founded in 2018 by Dashiel Kulander and Britni King in beautiful Heber City, Utah, Boojum Group is a privately funded, locally owned and operated company that will function as a state-licensed B2B hemp-processing facility. Boojum Group plans to work with top cultivation companies and hemp farmers from within the state of Utah, processing locally grown biomaterial and refining it into highly purified CBD concentrates and distillates via its ethanol distillation process.

Their mission is to nurture the budding hemp industry in Utah by offering the necessary processing services to local cultivators, allowing them to deliver hemp-derived products of exceptional quality to product manufacturers and CBD businesses. They believe in the incredible healing potential of hemp and endeavor to increase the public's access to it as they build lasting relationships within the industry, the surrounding community and beyond.

Contact: Dashiel Kulander

Office: 435-654-6494

Mobile: 619-985-7028

Email: [email protected]

Related Files

Boojum-Group-For-Immediate-Release.pdf

Related Links

Company Website

SOURCE Boojum Group LLC

Related Links

http://boojumgroup.com

NEW YORK, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Brooklyn Law School ("the Law School") today announced the appointment of Michael T. Cahill as its next President and Joseph Crea Dean, effective July 1, 2019.

A prominent criminal law scholar and experienced law school leader, Cahill returns to Brooklyn Law School from Rutgers Law School, where he has served as Co-Dean and Professor of Law since July 2016. Prior to his time at Rutgers, Cahill was a member of the faculty at Brooklyn Law School for 13 years. He also served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2010 to 2013 and as Vice Dean from 2013 to 2015.

"We are very excited to welcome back Dean Cahill to lead our great Law School forward," said Stuart Subotnick, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Class of 1968. "His wealth of experience in legal academia; his deep knowledge of the Law School from his many years here as Vice Dean and Associate Dean and faculty member; and his vision to advance the Law School's academic excellence while maintaining its financial strength made him the clear choice among a field of exceptionally strong candidates."

During his time with Brooklyn Law School's leadership team, Cahill was involved in nearly every aspect of the Law School's operation, including curricular oversight and reform, support for faculty research, admissions and financial-aid policy, budgetary planning, maintenance and improvement of school facilities, external relations, fundraising, and close collaboration with administrators and staff.

His new priorities as Dean will include supporting the school's highly qualified and diverse faculty, as well as enhancing the student experience and opportunities for success by capitalizing on the Law School's strategic advantages and innovative clinical and legal writing programs. Cahill will also focus on maintaining the financial strength of the Law School through enhanced alumni engagement and other initiatives.

"I could not be more excited, personally and professionally, to have been given this opportunity to lead Brooklyn Law School," said Cahill. "I am honored and grateful to have received the support of the Board, faculty, and administration, and I am determined to make good on the investment this school has made in me. While I am hardly eager to leave Rutgers Law School, itself an outstanding institution, the chance to return to Brooklyn Law School is a dream come true and an opportunity I could not pass up. I greatly look forward to working with the Board and faculty to ensure that Brooklyn Law School's profile and reputation reflect its true value, and that its future will respond to a dynamic legal landscape while respecting its proud history."

Subotnick continued:

"We are tremendously grateful as well for the ongoing strong leadership and dedication of Interim Dean Maryellen Fullerton, whom we are thrilled will continue to serve BLS as a Professor of Law. She has been an extremely effective ambassador and advocate for the School and has laid the foundation for an even greater future.

"Additionally, I'd like to thank our students, faculty, staff, and alumni for their thoughtful feedback. I'd also like to recognize the tireless and diligent work of the Dean Search Committee, including Trustees Francis J. Aquila '83, Debra Humphreys '84, Hon. Claire Kelly '93, and Eileen Nugent '78; and faculty members Christopher Beauchamp, I. Bennett Capers, Christina Mulligan, and David Reiss. They led an extensive national search with almost a thousand potential candidates."

Interim Dean Maryellen Fullerton will remain in her role until Cahill begins his post in July 2019. Fullerton, an expert on refugee and asylum law, took over as Interim Dean when Nicholas W. Allard, Professor of Law, stepped down in June 2018 after six years in the role.

"It was a privilege and pleasure to work closely with my remarkably talented and brilliant friend Michael Cahill before his departure to serve as co-dean of Rutger's Law School," said Former Dean and Professor of Law Nicholas W. Allard. "Without doubt it is great news that Michael will return to the Law School to serve as its new dean and we all can count on him to continue Brooklyn Law School's upward trajectory."

About Brooklyn Law School

Founded in 1901, Brooklyn Law School offers a vibrant intellectual community emphasizing teaching excellence, leading-edge scholarship, and an innovative academic program designed to prepare students for public service, business, and private practice, nationwide and across the globe. It is an independent institution, unaffiliated with any university or college, and the only law school in Brooklyn. The Law School offers students the J.D. 2-3-4 Program, with degree options that include an accelerated 2-year J.D. program, traditional 3-year program, and extended part-time 4-year program. Visit Brooklyn Law School at www.brooklaw.edu.

About Michael T. Cahill

Michael T. Cahill has served as co-dean of Rutgers Law School since July 2016. Before coming to Rutgers, he taught at Chicago-Kent College of Law (2002-03) and at Brooklyn Law School (2003-16), where he also served as associate dean for academic affairs (2010-13) and vice dean (2013-15).

Cahill received a B.A. from Yale University, and J.D. (magna cum laude) and M.P.P. degrees from the University of Michigan. After graduating from law school, where he was a note editor for the Michigan Law Review, he served as a law clerk to Judge James B. Loken of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He was then involved as staff director and consultant, respectively, for major criminal-code reform projects in the states of Illinois and Kentucky.

His scholarly work focuses primarily on criminal law, and he also has written about and taught health law and policy. He has co-authored three books with University of Pennsylvania Law Professor Paul H. Robinson: the general one-volume treatise Criminal Law (Aspen, 2d ed. 2012), the casebook Criminal Law: Case Studies and Controversies (also with Shima Baradaran Baughman; Wolters Kluwer, 4th ed. 2016), and Law Without Justice (Oxford University Press, 2006). Cahill's work has also appeared in top law reviews, including Texas Law Review, Iowa Law Review, Washington University Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review, and American Journal of Law & Medicine, among other publications.

Media Contacts

Arielle Patrick

[email protected]

O: +1 (212) 738-6120

M: +1 (917) 624-3004

Laurie Hays

[email protected]

O: +1 (212) 704-8160

M: +1 (646) 250-2425

SOURCE Brooklyn Law School

Related Links

http://www.brooklaw.edu

"We are beyond thrilled to present a new website designed and programmed by KISSPR.com, a Dallas based lawyer marketing and web design company. The new website serves those who are in need of legal assistance with personal injury claims," said Attorney Zach Herbert, the Founder of Herbert Law Group. "KISS PR designed the website to help the public understand the scope of the services the law firm provides. Our design goal was to create a friendly space for everyone to connect with Herbert Law Group online, but without looking like a cookie cutter law firm website that most law firms have. Herbert Law Group is a unique team and their website reflects that personality," says Katie Lynn, Web project manager at KISS PR.

Herbert Law Group's new website has been updated to provide a more comprehensive overview of the legal services they provide, including information on the innovative data-backed trial technology that they employ when strategizing on how to present and win car wreck lawsuits for their clients.

One of the most prominent features of Herbert Law Group's new website can be found on their " What We Do " page, where visitors can access information on very specific types of personal injury cases  from car and truck wrecks, nail salon negligence and dog bites, to wrongful death lawsuits. The streamlined design adds an element of comfort and convenience for potential clients who are suffering through an unfortunate situation.

"We know that when people come to us, they're looking for trust and a solution," said Jessica Williams, Paralegal at Herbert Law Group. "We've always prided ourselves on providing these things to the community. Now, our new website communicates these and our other core values of honesty, honor, and communication, on a digital platform that's easily accessible to people who need our help."

Herbert Law Group, headed by Attorney Zach Herbert, is a boutique law firm that offers professional, thorough, and compassionate legal representation to victims in personal injury cases. Their proven track record of success and experience in handling the sensitive aspects of personal injury cases has helped them build a reputation of respect as a legal authority in the community. Herbert Law Group invites you to visit their new website and contact them directly for a free review of your case.

About

Herbert Law Group is a team of legal professionals with a specialized focus on personal injury cases. Their success comes from the use of data-backed trial technology and impeccable knowledge of personal injury law. Herbert Law Group is located in Richardson, Texas and serves the greater Dallas-Fort Worth Metro area. They can be contacted through their new website or reached at (214) 414-3808 .

Follow them on IG https://www.instagram.com/herblawgroup/

And Facebook https://www.facebook.com/herblawgroup

Media Contact

Katie Lynn

(T): 972-646-2789

KISS PR - Dallas SEO for Lawyers

SOURCE Herbert Law Group

Related Links

http://zachherbert.attorney

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy today provided an update on the strong progress to permanently and safely close all the company's remaining coal ash basins.

The scope and scale of the company's work to close 56 basins at 21 plants continues to move forward. Highlights of the progress include:

More than 7 million work hours were logged in 2018 by expert teams focused on basin closure, demonstrating the company's commitment to safely managing coal ash.

Work to prepare basins for closure is underway across the fleet. By early 2019, the company will stop sending ash and wastewater to nearly all basins, well in advance of state and federal requirements. To accomplish this, the company constructed dry bottom ash handling systems, lined water treatment basins and new lined retention basins at a number of operating coal plants.

Ash has been excavated from seven basins at the Asheville plant ( Asheville, N.C. ), Rogers Energy Complex ( Mooresboro, N.C. ), W.S. Lee facility ( Belton, S.C. ), Cayuga Generating Station ( Cayuga, Ind ), Gibson Generating Station ( Owensville, Ind ), and Gallagher Generating Station ( New Albany, Ind ).

plant ( ), Rogers Energy Complex ( ), W.S. facility ( ), Cayuga Generating Station ( ), Gibson Generating Station ( ), and Gallagher Generating Station ( ). In the coming months, excavation will be completed at seven additional basins at the Dan River facility ( Eden, N.C. ), Riverbend Steam Station ( Mount Holly, N.C. ), Sutton Energy Complex ( Wilmington, N.C. ) and East Bend Station (Boone Co., KY).

), Riverbend Steam Station ( ), Sutton Energy Complex ( ) and East Bend Station (Boone Co., KY). Approximately 22 million tons of ash have been excavated since basin closure began in recent years, with more than 5 million tons moved in 2018 alone.

A vital step in closure is to remove the free water from the basins, which will happen at both excavated and capped facilities. That process is underway at many locations and is the most effective step in improving groundwater quality. In addition, the company has begun work to determine additional corrective actions to improve groundwater, and it will monitor groundwater for decades to ensure that the environment remains well protected.

Company responds to Southern Environmental Law Center

All utilities in the country are required to release information related to mandatory groundwater testing at their respective plants.

Information posted to the company's Coal Combustion Residuals rule compliance page shows that, in many cases, groundwater near the edges of ash basins does not meet federal standards, as expected. It is important to note that these are not drinking water well samples and the broader body of evidence tells us that drinking water around Duke Energy facilities remains well-protected from plant operations.

In a Dec. 18 news release, the Southern Environmental Law Center knowingly mischaracterizes yet another step in a comprehensive regulatory process to mislead the public. Despite the group's false claims, the company is in full compliance with the federal law.

The results the company posted are consistent with historic and ongoing sampling being conducted by the company and submitted to regulators over many years. The information is intended to help inform closure decisions, but Duke Energy has already made that commitment and the company is well down the path to safely closing all ash basins in ways that protect people and the environment.

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'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.

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.

Media Contact:

24-Hour: 800.559.3853

SOURCE Duke Energy

Related Links

http://www.duke-energy.com

The field of atmospheric water generation is an emerging market, and Exaeris' newly patented technology fills a distinct gap in the marketplace for outdoor adventurers, survivalists, mobile living, disaster recovery and military personnel. Exaeris is developing an affordable line of AWG products and peripheral devices that efficiently and economically produce water from moisture in the air, providing a reliable source of fresh water in areas where access is limited.

Exaeris anticipates its AWG products will save lives and improve conditions during future natural or man-made disasters. The design also will alleviate the fear of little to no access to fresh drinking water. "We are very excited for the life-changing potential this technology has to ease hardship in times when water is needed the most," said John Galbraith, co-founder and chief executive officer of Exaeris. "This patent will provide significant opportunities as we build our current pipeline of products and continue to develop exciting technologies."

TU exclusively has licensed the technology to Exaeris, who has completed its first round of funding to begin commercialization. Exaeris will unveil the new technology at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January of 2019 and expects to have the final product ready for market later that year.

Exaeris Water Innovations, LLC is a closely-held Delaware limited liability company with primary offices located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For more information about the company and its products, visit Exaeris.com or contact Exaeris at [email protected].

1709 Utica Square, Suite 276

Tulsa, OK 74114

SOURCE Exaeris Water Innovations, LLC

Related Links

http://Exaeris.com

DALLAS, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time in the Firm's history, Ryan, a leading global tax services and software provider, has been named to FORTUNE's 2018 Best Workplaces for Parents. The recognition highlights companies that offer generous, fully paid business days for parental leave, on-site daycare, and compensation for offsite childcare.

"Building trust is one of Ryan's most important values. Knowing our employees who are working parents trust us to create an environment that offers work-life success is a testament to the culture we have established," said G. Brint Ryan, chairman and CEO of Ryan. "We believe in open communication and encourage our employees to share their ideas for making Ryan a great place to work. Using platforms like RyanInnovates to proactively seek and gather feedback from them has enabled us to create an outstanding team environment where everyone can excel."

The Firm created RyanInnovates as a tool for employees to make suggestions that enhance client satisfaction, increase financial growth, and enrich the employee experience. All recommendations are open for every employee to see, share, and comment how each idea would benefit their role at Ryan. These suggestions are closely monitored and have brought Firm-wide improvements to the team culture, such as providing a tax-free adoption assistance benefit of $5,000 and eight weeks of paid leave for parental leave.

According to one Ryan employee, "myRyan has been a blessing to me and my family and has been very beneficial as a single mother with teenagers. Thank you, Ryan!"

Great Place to Work conducted surveys across the country to determine whether an employer qualifies for the list. This survey pool represents more than 60 anonymous survey questions rating their employers. Of the 905 Ryan employee responses, 37 percent of the respondents are parents.

95 percent of parents believe they can take time off when necessary

93 percent feel encouraged to balance work and personal life

92 percent believe that the benefits offered by Ryan are special and unique

97 percent feel Ryan is a great place to work

"The companies featured on the 2018 Best Workplaces for Parents list offer excellent, flexible, and balanced workplaces," said Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work. "What makes these companies stand out is how they respond to parents' needs beyond childcare and continue to invest in their development, which shows how they continue to value them after they became parents."

About Best Workplaces for Parents

Great Place to Work based its ranking on a data-driven methodology applied to anonymous Trust Index survey responses representing more than five-million employees at Great Place to Work-Certified organizations. Its analysis focused on parents' overall feedback, analyzing how their experiences compared to that of their colleagues, and assessing the quality of parental leave, adoption, flexible schedule, child care, and dependent health care benefits. To learn more about Great Place to Work Certification and recognition on Best Workplaces lists published with FORTUNE, visit greatplacetowork.com.

About Great Place to Work

Great Place to Work is a global people analytics and consulting firm that helps companies produce better business results by focusing on workplace culture. Powered by more than 30 years of research, Emprising, its SaaS-enabled survey and analytics platform, gives companies access to the assessments, data, and reporting needed to build a high-trust, high-performance culture.

About Ryan

Ryan, an award-winning global tax services and software provider, is the largest Firm in the world dedicated exclusively to business taxes. With global headquarters in Dallas, Texas, the Firm provides an integrated suite of federal, state, local, and international tax services on a multijurisdictional basis, including tax recovery, consulting, advocacy, compliance, and technology services. Ryan is a six-time recipient of the International Service Excellence Award from the Customer Service Institute of America (CSIA) for its commitment to world-class client service. Empowered by the dynamic myRyan work environment, which is widely recognized as the most innovative in the tax services industry, Ryan's multidisciplinary team of more than 2,200 professionals and associates serves over 14,000 clients in more than 50 countries, including many of the world's most prominent Global 5000 companies. More information about Ryan can be found at ryan.com. "Ryan" and "Firm" refer to the global organizational network and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ryan International, each of which is a separate legal entity.

MEDIA CONTACT

Patty Sullivan

Director, Communications

Ryan

469.399.4721

[email protected]

SOURCE Ryan

Related Links

http://www.ryan.com

MAHWAH, N.J., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, a research-led global integrated pharmaceutical company, today announced its foray into the branded dermatology segment in the United States. The branded portfolio for the US market will be developed and commercialized by Glenmark Therapeutics Inc., USA, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Glenmark Holding, SA. This represents an important step in the company's long-term strategy to build a robust branded business in the US, alongside the company's existing and successful generics business.

In support of this new business, Glenmark Therapeutics recently acquired the rights to seven branded dermatology products from Exeltis USA, Inc. The acquisition includes Ecoza (econazole nitrate) topical foam, 1%, an antifungal medicine indicated for the treatment of interdigital tinea pedis or athlete's foot, and Recedo topical gel, a leading prescription product for scar management. The cumulative sales of the seven acquired brands were USD 9 million.

All the acquired products are currently approved and marketed in the US, giving Glenmark Therapeutics an immediate entry into the topical branded products segment. In addition, Glenmark Therapeutics intends to launch other dermatology products over the next 12 months.

"Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has been committed to the area of dermatology globally for more than two decades. With our significant presence in the generic dermatology market in the US, this acquisition will give us a leading edge as we enter into a new segment of branded products. It will also serve as the foundation for commercialization of future branded assets in the US," said Glenn Saldanha, Chairman and Managing Director, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.

"We see strong growth potential in the branded segment, particularly with the kind of products we have acquired and the products we have in our own pipeline in the areas of dermatology and respiratory. With our strategic focus on moving up the value chain, we remain optimistic that these franchises will catalyze the growth trajectory of our US business," said Robert Matsuk, President  North America and Global API, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.

Glenmark Therapeutics' acquisition also include the Exeltis dermatology field force, which manages well-established relationships with healthcare professionals. Glenmark plans to have a field force of about 30 sales representatives for the branded division.

According to IQVIA sales data for the 12-month period ending October 2018, the topical branded dermatology products market in the US is estimated to be valued at $1.9 billion USD and has been growing at a CAGR of 6.6% over the last five years.1

About Glenmark Therapeutics

Glenmark Therapeutics Inc., USA, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glenmark Holding SA. The company is dedicated to building a franchise of branded products for Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, a global pharmaceutical company with operations in more than 50 countries. Glenmark Therapeutics will initially focus its efforts on launching and commercializing assets in the therapeutic areas of dermatology and respiratory. Glenmark Therapeutics has a short- and long-term pipeline of investigational medicines intended to meet the needs of patients suffering from a variety of dermatological and respiratory conditions and is consistently working to expand its product portfolio.

About Glenmark Pharmaceuticals

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (GPL) is a research-driven, global, integrated pharmaceutical organization. It is ranked among the top 75 Pharma & Biotech companies of the world in terms of revenue (SCRIP 100 Rankings published in the year 2018). Glenmark is a leading player in the discovery of new molecules both NCEs (new chemical entity) and NBEs (new biological entity). Glenmark has several molecules in various stages of clinical development and is focused in the areas of oncology, dermatology and respiratory.

The company has a significant presence in the branded generics markets across emerging economies including India. Glenmark has 16 manufacturing facilities across five countries and has six R&D centers. The Generics business of Glenmark services the requirements of the US and Western European markets. The API business sells its products in over 80 countries, including the US, various countries in the EU, South America and India.

References:

IQVIA National Sales Perspectives. October 2018 .

SOURCE Glenmark PharmaceuticalsDUBLIN, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The "Wireless EV Charging Market by Charging Station (Home, Commercial), Charging (Stationary, Dynamic), Propulsion (BEV, PHEV), Power Supply (3-<11 KW, 11-50 KW, & >50 KW), Vehicle, Component, Installation, and Region - Global Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The wireless EV charging market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 117.56% during the forecast period, from USD 8 million in 2020 to USD 407 million by 2025.

Wireless charging system for EVs is a growing technology that can efficiently charge an EV without plugging-in wires or cords. This technology can charge an EV when it is parked at wireless charging-enabled parking lots located in shopping malls, offices, and homes. Wireless car chargers provide a high degree of convenience to electric and hybrid vehicle users.



The companies in the wireless EV charging market are now focusing on dynamic wireless EV charging systems to cater the growing demand for commercial EVs. Wireless charging system manufacturers such as Momentum Dynamics Corporation (US) and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. (US) have demonstrated the dynamic wireless charging technology by constructing 100 meters of test roads embedded with the wireless charging system.



Qualcomm, Inc. has emerged as one of the leading companies in the field of dynamic EV charging systems. The dynamic EV charging system is easy to use, and vehicles can be charged while traveling in forward as well as reverse direction. Qualcomm has also demonstrated its dynamic charging capability on a 100-meter FABRIC test track.



Asia Pacific is estimated to be the largest market in wireless EV charging technology, followed by Europe and North America. The growth of the market in the region is attributed to the huge development of wireless EV technology in China, Japan, and South Korea. Also, China and South Korea are majorly developing dynamic wireless charging system.

For instance, in 2013, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) launched an electric highway in 2013. A couple of electric buses operate on a 15-mile route in Gumi, South Korea. The charging power is supplied by strips under the roads. China is also investing huge amounts of money in the dynamic charging system. In 2018, China built a 1,080-meter-long (3,540-foot-long) stretch of road in the eastern city of Jinan which can charge EVs when they are in motion.



The wireless EV charging market is projected to reach USD 8,352.7 thousand in 2020 and grow further to USD 407,117.3 thousand by 2025, registering a CAGR of 117.56% from 2020 to 2025. The major players in the market include WiTricity Corporation, Evatran Group (Plugless), Momentum Dynamics Corporation, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., Bombardier, Inc., and many others.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Introduction

1.1 Objectives

1.2 Market Definition

1.3 Market Scope

1.4 Currency & Pricing

1.5 Package Size

1.6 Limitations

1.7 Stakeholders



2 Research Methodology

2.1 Research Data

2.2 Secondary Data

2.3 Primary Data

2.4 Market Size Estimation

2.5 Market Breakdown and Data Triangulation

2.6 Data Triangulation

2.7 Assumptions



3 Executive Summary



4 Premium Insights

4.1 Attractive Opportunities in Wireless EV Charging Market

4.2 Wireless EV Charging Market, By Region

4.3 Wireless EV Charging Market, By Power Supply Range

4.4 Wireless EV Charging Market, By Propulsion Type

4.5 Wireless EV Charging Market, By Charging Type

4.6 Wireless EV Charging Market, By Installation

4.7 Wireless EV Charging Market, By Charging Station



5 Market Overview

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Market Dynamics

5.2.1 Drivers

5.2.1.1 Increasing Demand for Safety and Convenience

5.2.1.2 Growing Fast-Charging Infrastructure for EVs

5.2.1.3 Increase in Miles Driven By EVs

5.2.2 Restraints

5.2.2.1 High Cost of Upgrading to Wireless Charging Technology

5.2.3 Opportunities

5.2.3.1 Rise in Demand for Semi-Autonomous and Autonomous Vehicles

5.2.3.2 Development of Wireless Charging Systems for Commercial EVs

5.2.4 Challenges

5.2.4.1 Minimizing Loss of Efficiency and Fast Charging

5.2.4.2 High Level of Safety

5.2.4.3 Long Routes for Dynamic Charging

5.2.5 Impact of Market Dynamics

5.3 Porters Five Forces Analysis

5.3.1 Competitive Rivalry

5.3.2 Threat of Substitutes

5.3.3 Bargaining Power of Buyers

5.3.4 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

5.3.5 Threat of New Entrants

5.4 Market Scenario Analysis



6 Industry Trends

6.1 Technological Overview

6.1.1 Wireless Charging System Technology

6.1.2 Inductive Coupling

6.1.3 Magnetic Resonance Coupling

6.1.4 Magneto Dynamic Coupling

6.2 Electric Taxi

6.3 Robo-Taxi

6.3.1 List of Companies Collaborating to Develop Robo-Taxi

6.4 Light Electric Vehicle

6.5 Battery Swapping

6.6 Electric Autonomous Vehicles

6.7 Electric Vehicle Government Regulations

6.7.1 Canada

6.7.1.1 Subsidies and Tax Rebates

6.7.2 China

6.7.2.1 Existing Charging Station Standards in China

6.7.2.2 Subsidies and Tax Rebates

6.7.3 Denmark

6.7.3.1 Subsidies and Tax Rebates

6.7.4 France

6.7.4.1 Subsidies and Tax Rebates

6.8 Upcoming Electric Commercial Vehicles



7 Wireless EV Charging Market, By Installation Type

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Aftermarket

7.2.1 Low Cost for Retrofitting Wireless EV Charging Systems in Vehicles Will Drive the Market

7.3 OE Market

7.3.1 Technological Advancement in the Electrification of Vehicles Will Contribute to the Rising Demand for Wireless EV Charging



8 Wireless EV Charging Market, By Propulsion Type

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)

8.2.1 Increasing Sales of BEV Will Boost the Demand for Wireless EV Charging

8.3 Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV)

8.3.1 Rising Popularity of Luxury PHEVs is Likely to Drive the Market



9 Wireless EV Charging Market, By Charging Station Type

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Commercial Charging Stations

9.2.1 Increasing Popularity of Wireless Charging Technology for Commercial Vehicles Will Boost the Demand

9.3 Home Charging Stations

9.3.1 Rising Demand for Private Vehicles is Likely to Drive the Demand for this Market



10 Wireless EV Charging Market, By Component

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Base Charging Pad

10.2.1 Increased Demand for EVs Will Propel the Overall Growth of the Market

10.3 Power Control Unit

10.3.1 Increased Focus on the Development of Wireless EV Charging Infrastructure

10.4 Vehicle Charging Pad

10.4.1 Home Charging Stations is Likely to Drive the Demand for Wireless EV Charging Market



11 Wireless EV Charging Market, By Power Supply Range

11.1 Introduction

11.2 3-<11 kW

11.2.1 Growing Demand for Home Charging Stations Will Impact the Market Positively

11.3 11-50 kW

11.3.1 Increasing Focus on the Luxury EVs Will Propel the Market Growth

11.4 >50 kW

11.4.1 Development of Wireless EV Charging Infrastructure for Commercial Vehicles is Boosting the Demand for Wireless EV Charging Market



12 Wireless EV Charging Market, By Charging Type

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Dynamic Wireless Charging System

12.2.1 High Focus on Commercial EVs Will Propel the Overall Growth

12.3 Stationary Wireless Charging System

12.3.1 Increasing Sales of EVs is Likely to Drive the Market



13 Wireless EV Charging Market, By Vehicle Type

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Passenger Cars (PC)

13.3 Electric Commercial Vehicle (ECV)

13.4 Electric Two Wheeler



14 Wireless EV Charging Market, By Region

14.1 Introduction

14.2 Asia Pacific

14.2.1 China

14.2.1.1 Advancement in the EV Technology Will Boost the Market

14.2.2 India

14.2.2.1 Government Policies Will Impact the Market Positively

14.2.3 Japan

14.2.3.1 Development of Advanced EV Technology Will Fuel the Market

14.2.4 South Korea

14.2.4.1 Huge Investments in R&D to Propel the Market

14.2.5 Rest of Asia Pacific

14.2.5.1 Increasing Focus on Low Emission Vehicles Will Drive the Market

14.3 Europe

14.3.1 France

14.3.1.1 High Demand for Luxury PHEVs Will Drive the Market

14.3.2 Germany

14.3.2.1 Large Penetration of Wireless EV Charging Manufacturers and Suppliers is Driving the Market

14.3.3 Italy

14.3.3.1 Government Incentives are Driving the Market

14.3.4 The Netherlands

14.3.4.1 Huge Investments in EV Technology is the Key Factor in the Overall Growth

14.3.5 Russia

14.3.5.1 Increasing Focus on EV Technology is Driving the Demand

14.3.6 Norway

14.3.6.1 Increasing EV Sales in the Country Will Boost the Market

14.3.7 UK

14.3.7.1 Rising Demand for PHEVs Will Fuel the Growth of Wireless EV Charging System

14.3.8 Spain

14.3.8.1 Increasing Focus on Low Emission Vehicles is Driving the Demand

14.3.9 Rest of Europe

14.3.9.1 Stringent Norms to Curb Emissions Will Increase the Overall Demand

14.4 North America

14.4.1 Canada

14.4.1.1 Developments in EV Infrastructure Will Propel the Growth

14.4.2 Mexico

14.4.2.1 Rising Awareness for Low Emission Vehicles Will Drive the Market

14.4.3 Us

14.4.3.1 Availability of Wireless EV Charging System Manufacturers and Increased EV Sales Will Boost the Market

14.5 Rest of the World (RoW)

14.5.1 Brazil

14.5.1.1 Reduced Battery Prices May Impact the Market Positively

14.5.2 South Africa

14.5.2.1 Growing Adoption of EV Technology Will Impact the Market



15 Competitive Landscape

15.1 Overview

15.2 Market Ranking Analysis

15.3 Competitive Scenario

15.3.1 New Product Developments

15.3.2 Collaborations/Joint Ventures/Supply Contracts/Partnerships/Agreements

15.3.3 Expansions, 2015-2017

15.4 Competitive Leadership Mapping

15.4.1 Visionary Leaders

15.4.2 Innovators

15.4.3 Dynamic Differentiators

15.4.4 Emerging Companies



16 Company Profiles

16.1 Continental AG

16.2 Robert Bosch GmbH

16.3 Qualcomm, Inc.

16.4 Toyota Motor Corporation

16.5 Bombardier Inc.

16.6 Witricity Corporation

16.7 Hella KGaA Hueck & Co.

16.8 Evatran Group Inc.

16.9 Toshiba Corporation

16.10 ZTE Corporation

16.11 Elix Wireless

16.12 Hevo Power

16.13 Key Players From Other Regions

16.13.1 North America

16.13.1.1 Addenergie

16.13.1.2 Blink Charging

16.13.1.3 Chargepoint

16.13.1.4 Clippercreek

16.13.1.5 Evgo

16.13.1.6 Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.

16.13.1.7 Semaconnect

16.13.2 Europe

16.13.2.1 ABB

16.13.2.2 Alfen

16.13.2.3 Allego

16.13.2.4 Siemens

16.13.2.5 Efacec

16.13.2.6 Ionity

16.13.2.7 Schneider Electric

16.13.3 Asia Pacific

16.13.3.1 Samsung SDI

16.13.3.2 Tgood

16.13.3.3 Mitsubishi Electric

16.13.3.4 Automotive Energy Supply Corporation

16.13.4 Rest of the World (RoW)

16.13.4.1 Tritium



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/qcgfcn/global_wireless?w=5

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

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 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The "Gas Insulated Transformer Market by Type (Instrument Transformer, Others), Voltage (Medium Voltage, High Voltage, Extra High Voltage), Installation (Outdoor, Indoor), End-User (Utility, Industrial, Commercial), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The gas insulated transformer market is projected to grow from USD 2.75 Billion in 2018 to USD 3.45 Billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 4.61%.

Gas insulated transformers are compact in size and has no risk of oil leakage. These features has resulted in increasing demand of gas insulated transformers. The other factors such as rising electrical infrastructure investments and initiatives to improve electrification rate are further driving the gas insulated transformer market during the forecast period.

The report further segments the gas insulated transformer market based on voltage into medium, high, and extra high voltage. The extra high voltage segment is expected to be the fastest growing market during the forecast period. The market for this segment is primarily driven by the rapidly ongoing improvements in the T&D sector through the implementation of smart grid and smart metering technology. The medium voltage segment is projected to the largest market for gas insulated transformers during the forecast period. The medium voltage transformers offer electrical protection against overload currents, insulation failure, and emergency switching for the residential, industrial and commercial infrastructure.

The global gas insulated transformer market based on type has been segmented into instrument transformers and others. Other types of transformers include power and distribution transformers. Instrument transformers are expected to hold a larger share of the market, and is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The growth of this segment is attributed to the increasing emphasis on renewable energy generation and rising smart grid investments globally.

On the basis of installation, the gas insulated transformer market has been segmented into indoor and outdoor. The indoor installation is expected to be the fastest growing segment during the forecast period. Gas insulated transformers are preferred for installations in underground and indoor substations in urban areas due to their compact design. The construction of outdoor gas insulated transformers' enclosure is aimed at protecting the apparatus from harsh environmental conditions, including possible contamination. Owing to such construction, these transformers are preferred for the transmission and distribution of electricity over a long distance.

The gas insulated transformer market has been segmented on the basis of end user into utility, commercial, and industrial. The utility segment is expected to account for the largest share of the gas insulated transformer market during the forecast period. The predicted growth of the market for this segment during the forecast years is attributed to the growing demand for reliable power supply and increasing investments in the power infrastructure. The growth of the commercial sector is driven by the rapid urbanization and the development of commercial trade hubs. The urbanization and increasing number of commercial trade hubs seeking for the options to curb operating expenses are expected to boost the growth of the gas insulated transformer market for the commercial sector.

In this report, the gas insulated transformer market has been analyzed with respect to 4 major regions Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and Rest of the World. Rest of the World includes South America, and the Middle East and Africa. Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the gas insulated transformer market during the forecast period owing to the rise in investments in smart grid technologies and smart cities, along with the increase in the number of data centers, with a surge in IT hubs and commercial institutions.

The countries such as China, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia are increasing their power generation capacities to meet the elevating power demand. Europe is expected to be the second-largest region in the gas insulated transformer market owing to various government initiatives; for instance, the European Union (EU) has proposed a 20:20:20 plan that aims at reducing the greenhouse gas emissions, which, in turn, attracts its focus on renewable energy, further driving investments in the grid infrastructure.

The environmental regulations regarding the use of SF6 and high cost of equipment are major factors restraining the growth of the gas insulated transformer market.

Some of the leading players in the gas insulated transformer market include ABB (Switzerland), GE (US), Mitsubishi Electric (Japan), Siemens (Germany), Toshiba (Japan), and Arteche (Spain).



Key Topics Covered:



1 Introduction

1.1 Objectives of the Study

1.2 Market Definition

1.3 Market Scope

1.4 Years Considered for the Study

1.5 Currency

1.6 Stakeholders

2 Research Methodology

2.1 Research Data

2.2 Market Size Estimation

2.3 Market Breakdown and Data Triangulation

2.4 Limitations

2.5 Assumptions



3 Executive Summary



4 Premium Insights

4.1 Attractive Opportunities in the Gas Insulated Transformer Market

4.2 Gas Insulated Transformer Market, By Type

4.3 Gas Insulated Transformer Market, By Voltage

4.4 Gas Insulated Transformer Market, By Installation

4.5 Gas Insulated Transformer Market, By End-User

4.6 Asia Pacific Gas Insulated Transformer Market, By Country and By End-User

4.7 Gas Insulated Transformer Market, By Region



5 Market Overview

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Market Dynamics

5.2.1 Drivers

5.2.1.1 No Risk of Oil Leakage

5.2.1.2 Space Constraints in Densely Populated Urban Areas

5.2.1.3 Government Initiatives Toward Improving Electrification Rate

5.2.1.4 Rising Electrical Network Expenditure and Increasing Investments in the T&D Sector

5.2.2 Restraints

5.2.2.1 Environmental Regulations Regarding the Use of Sf6

5.2.2.2 High Cost of Equipment

5.2.3 Opportunities

5.2.3.1 Increasing Transformer Oil Theft

5.2.3.2 Adoption of HVDC Technology

5.2.4 Challenges

5.2.4.1 Availability of Substitutes

5.2.4.2 Delay in Grid Expansion Projects



6 Gas Insulated Transformer Market, By Voltage

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Medium Voltage (Up to 72.5 Kv)

6.3 High Voltage (72.5 Kv to 220 Kv)

6.4 Extra High Voltage (Above 220 Kv)



7 Gas Insulated Transformer Market, By Type

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Instrument Transformer

7.3 Others



8 Gas Insulated Transformer Market, By Installation

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Indoor

8.3 Outdoor



9 Gas Insulated Transformer Market, By End-User

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Utility

9.3 Industrial

9.4 Commercial



10 Gas Insulated Transformer Market, By Region



11 Competitive Landscape

11.1 Overview

11.2 Key Players & Market Concentration

11.3 Competitive Scenario

11.3.1 Contracts & Agreements

11.3.2 Expansions

11.3.3 New Product Launches

11.3.4 Mergers & Acquisitions



12 Company Profiles

12.1 Benchmarking

12.2 Toshiba

12.3 Mitsubishi Electric

12.4 Siemens

12.5 ABB

12.6 GE

12.7 Arteche

12.8 Meidensha

12.9 Hyosung Corporation

12.10 Fuji Electric

12.11 Nissan Electric

12.12 Chint Group

12.13 Takaoka Toko Co., Ltd.

12.14 Yangzhou Power Electric Co., Ltd.

12.15 Kharkovenergopribor Ltd.



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/w8t4qb/global_gas?w=5

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

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

WEST PALM BEACH, FL, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc. ("iAnthus"), (CSE: IAN) (OTCQX: ITHUF), which owns, operates, and partners with best-in-class regulated cannabis operations across the United States, is pleased to announce that it will open its first and flagship dispensary in Florida on December 19, 2018. The dispensary will operate under iAnthus' "GrowHealthy" Florida dispensary brand, with plans to open two more GrowHealthy dispensaries before the end of 2018. The new retail locations will offer a wide selection of locally-sourced, lab-tested vape cartridges, tinctures, topicals, and oral dispensing syringes, dispensed by a highly-knowledgeable and friendly staff.

The GrowHealthy flagship dispensary is located at 4237 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach. The next two locations planned to open in December are located at 5614 SR-7 in Lake Worth/Wellington and 1525 E. Brandon Blvd. in Brandon. GrowHealthy plans to open 16 additional dispensaries in 2019 and a total of 30 dispensaries by the end of 2020.

"While we have offered free statewide delivery since February, the opening of our first dispensaries in Florida will allow us to expand patients' access to medical cannabis products and create new jobs in Palm Beach and Hillsborough counties," said Randy Maslow, President of iAnthus. "We've made a substantial investment in developing an original dispensary design that provides an inviting, immersive and educational experience, along with a wide array of high-quality medical cannabis products. This is just the start in our plans for a rapid expansion of GrowHealthy dispensaries throughout Florida."

GrowHealthy will continue its current delivery program, while the physical dispensary locations will offer new limited-release products and on-hand access to expert staff. The dispensaries will feature design and technology elements new to the medical cannabis industry in Florida, bringing a unique and educational experience to patients.

"Each location was designed with the customer experience in mind," said Carlos Perea, iAnthus' Chief Operating Officer and President of GrowHealthy operations in Florida. "From the moment you enter the store, you are connected to the patient-centered values of the company. Every detail was considered; it is truly a retail work of art."

GrowHealthy invites the public to join it in celebrating the opening of its flagship store on December 19 from 12-3pm ET, at the West Palm Beach dispensary. The event will include educational presentations from staff, food trucks, a raffle, and memorabilia. Under Florida law, the public can visit the dispensaries to consult with patient care representatives, although only those with a valid medical marijuana card can purchase products. All dispensary openings are subject to final Florida Department of Health approvals.

For more information about GrowHealthy or to place an order, please visit www.growhealthy.com

About GrowHealthy

The GrowHealthy organization was formed in 2014 to apply for a license as a Dispensing Organization under the original Florida low-THC medical cannabis program in partnership with McCrory's Sunny Hill Nursery, LLC ("McCrory's"). McCrory's was licensed as a Dispensing Organization by the Florida Department of Health on December 21, 2016, and then subsequently licensed on July 5, 2017 to cultivate, process, transport, and dispense full-strength medical cannabis as a Medical Marijuana Treatment Center under the new Medical Use of Marijuana Act passed in June 2017.

SOURCE GrowHealthy Holdings, LLCHONOLULU, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Available January 1, 2019, this "riveting" tale about a group of young American heroin smugglers recounts real-life events behind 'Orange Is The New Black' (as well as political rise and legal travails of Nigerian Senator Buruji Kashamu).



When twenty-something post-grad Nicholas Fillmore discovers the zine he's been recruited to edit is a front for drug profits, he begins a dangerous flirtation with an international heroin smuggling operation and in a matter of months finds himself on a fast ride he doesn't know how to get off of.



Nicholas Fillmore Smuggler by Nicholas Fillmore

After a bag goes missing in an airport transit lounge, the author is summoned to West Africa to take a voodoo oath with Nigerian mafia. Bound to drug boss Alhaji, he returns to Europe to put the job right, but in Chicago O'Hare customs agents "blitz" the plane and a courier is arrested. Thus begins a harried yearlong effort to elude the Feds, prison and a looming existential dead end.



About Nicholas Fillmore

Author Nicholas Fillmore attended the graduate writing program at University of New Hampshire, was a finalist for the Juniper Prize in poetry and co-founded and published SQUiD magazine in Provincetown, MA. Fillmore is currently at work on 'Sins of Our Fathers,' a family romance. He is a reporter for Courthouse News Service and lecturer in English at Hawaii Pacific University.



Fast-paced and literary, 'Smuggler' promises fans of Chandler and Camus alike a good time. Available to purchase at http://www.nicholasfillmore.com.



Advanced Review Copies available at NetGalley / Hard copy from Author



Author available for interview.



290 pp

iambic Books

memoir / true crime

Media Contact:

Nicholas Fillmore

860.989.4014

[email protected]

SOURCE iambic Books

Related Links

http://www.nicholasfillmore.com

Starting Jan. 18, guests will be able to purchase a four-day, 4-Park Magic Value Ticket for $85 per day (plus tax) for a total price of $340 (plus tax). The 4-Park Magic Tickets include one day of admission to Magic Kingdom Park, one day of admission to Epcot, one day of admission to Disney's Hollywood Studios and one day of admission to Disney's Animal Kingdom, for a total of four admissions over four separate days.

4-Park Magic Tickets will be available for purchase beginning Jan. 18, 2019, at Disneyworld.com/parkmagic, through the Disney Reservation Center or authorized travel professionals and ticket sellers. 4-Park Magic Tickets are seasonally priced for varied usage between Jan. 18 and Sept. 30, 2019, as follows:

4-Park Magic Value Ticket : Valid for admission Jan. 18-March 1, 2019 ; must be used within seven days from first use, or by March 1, 2019 , whichever comes first

: Valid for admission ; must be used within seven days from first use, or by , whichever comes first Adult: $85 per day, plus tax ( $340 total, plus tax)

per day, plus tax ( total, plus tax)

Child: $80 per day, plus tax ( $320 total, plus tax)





per day, plus tax ( total, plus tax) 4-Park Magic Select Ticket : Valid for admission March 2-March 14 ; March 27-April 9 ; April 27-May 27 ; and Aug. 19-Sept. 30, 2019 ; must be used within seven days from first use, or by Sept. 30, 2019 , whichever comes first

: Valid for admission ; ; ; and ; must be used within seven days from first use, or by , whichever comes first Adult: $89 per day, plus tax ( $356 total, plus tax)

per day, plus tax ( total, plus tax)

Child: $84 per day, plus tax ( $336 total, plus tax)





per day, plus tax ( total, plus tax) 4-Park Magic Summer Ticket : Valid for admission May 28-Aug. 18, 2019 ; must be used within seven days from first use or by Sept. 30, 2019 , whichever comes first

: Valid for admission ; must be used within seven days from first use or by , whichever comes first Adult: $95 per day, plus tax ( $380 total, plus tax)

per day, plus tax ( total, plus tax)

Child: $90 per day, plus tax ( $360 total, plus tax)

Note: 4-Park Magic Tickets are valid for one theme park per day; tickets can be used to enter each theme park only once. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable and exclude activities/events separately priced. Higher-priced tickets are valid for use on dates with a lower price. For more information about the 4-Park Magic Tickets, visit Disneyworld.com/parkmagic.

2019 will be a fantastic time to visit Walt Disney World, with new shows, parties, character experiences and more debuting at all four theme parks, starting Jan. 18:

Anything can happen during Mickey & Minnie's Surprise Celebration at Magic Kingdom , including the new "Move It! Shake It! MousekeDance It! Street Party," featuring those true originals, Mickey and Minnie Mouse . ( Jan. 18-Sept. 30 )

, including the new "Move It! Shake It! MousekeDance It! Street Party," featuring those true originals, . ( ) Pixar pals will party with guests at Disney's Hollywood Studios during the park's 30 th anniversary year, featuring The Incredibles, Mike and Sulley from DisneyPixar's "Monsters, Inc." and Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the gang at the new Toy Story Land.

during the park's 30 anniversary year, featuring The Incredibles, Mike and Sulley from DisneyPixar's "Monsters, Inc." and Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the gang at the new Toy Story Land. To celebrate the 25 th anniversary of the Disney animated classic "The Lion King," Rafiki and Timon will help guests let their inner animals loose on the dance floor during the "Hakuna Matata Time Dance Party" at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

anniversary of the Disney animated classic "The Lion King," Rafiki and Timon will help guests let their inner animals loose on the dance floor during the at Disney's Animal Kingdom. As part of the Epcot International Festival of the Arts, the Disney on Broadway Concert Series expands to seven days a week, providing more opportunities than ever before for guests to hear pairs of Disney on Broadway stars sing favorite tunes from award-winning productions. ( Jan. 18-Feb. 25 )

There are more than 30 resort hotels at Walt Disney World. From the African savanna to the classic American boardwalk and so many more themes in between, these resort hotels allow guests to remain inside the magic of a Disney vacation for the entirety of their stay. When booking now through Jan. 2, 2019, guests can save up to 25 percent on rooms at select Walt Disney World resort hotels for stays most nights Jan. 1-April 27, 2019*. For more information or to book a room, visit Disneyworld.com.

*The number of rooms allocated for this offer is limited. Savings based on the non-discounted price for the same room. Additional per-adult charges may apply if there are more than two adults per room at Disney Value, Moderate, Deluxe and Studios at Deluxe Villa Resorts. Advance reservations required. Offer excludes the following room types: campsites, three-bedroom villas, Cabins at Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, The Little Mermaid Standard Rooms at Disney's Art of Animation Resort and Bungalows at Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows. 25 percent savings is for select Disney Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resorts. Lower savings may be available for other Disney Resort hotels. Cannot be combined with any other discount or promotion.

SOURCE Walt Disney World ResortDUBLIN, Dec. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The "Malaysian Biodiesel Mandate" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This study offers a detailed overview of the biodiesel mandate in Malaysia and the steps taken by the Malaysian government to protect the Malaysian palm oil industry.

Palm oil is a key ingredient in the biodiesel produced in Malaysia. Biodiesel is the main kind of biofuel used in the country. This research service gives an understanding of the factors leading to the B10 mandate in Malaysia. It analyses the strategically important factors, market trends, regulatory trends, and the impact of the same on the automotive sector.



Factors such as strong government support, excellent R&D facilities, a large number of plantation estates, low crude palm oil market price and a global commitment to use renewable and sustainable sources of energy are the key market drivers for the growth of the biofuel market.

However, for sustained growth, the industry must overcome certain challenges and restraints such as the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) that restricts the import of palm oil from Malaysia from 2021, biodiesel chemical incompatibility with diesel engine, labor shortage at plantation estates, and inconsistencies in weather.

In 2006 the Malaysian government launched the National Biofuel Policy (NBP) as an initiative to further spur the biofuel market.



Research Scope



This study includes an executive summary, introduction, strategically important factors, national biofuel policy, market overview, regulatory and legislative trends, impacts on the automotive sectors, industry scenario, timeline, current status and next steps, challenges, and the drivers and restraints that affect the biofuel market.



The base year for the study is 2017, with the forecast period being 2018 to 2020.



Key Features

To offer an elaborate and detailed overview of the biofuel mandate in Malaysia .

. To build a comprehensive picture of the biodiesel mandate in Malaysia , including how it was proposed, why it was proposed, and what is the ultimate objective of the policy.

, including how it was proposed, why it was proposed, and what is the ultimate objective of the policy. To highlight the main issues at hand including what is the industry feedback on the B10 mandate and how the government is handling the issue.

Key Issues Addressed

What is the Malaysia Government stance in introducing alternative fuel from renewable sources?

What is the reaction from the industry with regard to the Malaysia Biofuel Mandate?

What is the impact (negative and positive) and the implication of introducing Biofuel Mandate to the market?

Who are the beneficiaries of this policy and vice versa?

What is the latest status of the policy and what is the interim solution for this mandate?

Topics Covered



1. Executive Summary

Key Findings

Reasons for Implementation of Biodiesel Mandate

2. Research Scope, Objectives, Background and Methodology

Research Scope

Research Aims and Objectives

Key Questions this Study will Answer

Research Background

Research Methodology

Key Participants Discussed in this Study

3. Introduction

Key Definitions

Usage-Buildings, Industrial, and Automotive Applications

Global Biodiesel Mandates

4. National Biofuel Policy

National Biofuel Policy - Objectives

National Biofuel Policy - Strategic Thrusts

National Biofuel Policy - Implementation Plan

Summary of Biofuel Legal Activities in Malaysia

Biodiesel Mandate on Automotive Industry

Biodiesel Mandate - Stakeholders' Positions

5. Strategic Importance

Crucial Need for the Implementation of the Biodiesel Mandate in Malaysia

Strategic Importance - Cleaner Environment

Strategic Importance - Economic Factors

Strategic Importance - Market Demand Creation

Strategic Importance - Enhancing Plant Capacity

6. Market Overview

Palm Oil Plantation Area in Malaysia

Malaysia Context - Biodiesel Production

Malaysia Context - Biodiesel Export Trend

Malaysia Context - Export Destinations

Malaysia Context - Malaysia Biodiesel Refineries

Malaysia Context - List of Biodiesel Companies

ASEAN Context

7. Regulatory and Legislative Trends

Regulatory Breakthrough

Legislation Regulating the Malaysian Palm Oil Industry

Legislative Process

8. Impact on the Automotive Sector

Technical Impact - Engine Components

Technical Impact - Fuel Injection Equipment (FIE)

Tests Conducted by Government Agencies

Results of Tests Conducted by Government Agencies and JAMA

JAMA Position on B10 Biodiesel in Malaysia

OEMs' Stance on B10 Mandate

9. Industry Scenario

Key Participants and Stakeholders

10 Timeline, Current Status and Next Steps

Chronology, Current Situation and Future Scenario

11. Drivers and Restraints

Market Drivers

Drivers Explained

Market Restraints

Restraints Explained

12. Growth Opportunities and Companies to Action

Growth Opportunity - Opportunities for OEMs/Government Agencies

Strategic Imperatives for Success and Growth

13. Key Conclusion and Future Outlook

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ddwhpj/malaysian?w=5

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

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

UPPER MARLBORO, Md., Dec. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Envision Realty, a full-service brokerage firm serving Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C., today announced that the company has chosen to affiliate with Century 21 Real Estate LLC, and will now conduct business as CENTURY 21 Envision Realty. Specializing in residential luxury homes, the company, with the global, iconic CENTURY 21 brand behind it, has its eye on expanding deeper into commercial real estate in the coming months.

"We look forward to joining the CENTURY 21 franchise as it will be instrumental in helping us as we look to expand into other specialties," said Reggie Butler, broker owner. "Being really active in our community has assisted us tremendously in gaining brand recognition. Now, being affiliated with Century 21 Real Estate, a global brand that is one of the most recognized real estate companies in the world, we are excited to grow even more as a team and further develop our client base."

Under Butler's leadership, CENTURY 21 Envision Realty has developed an extremely successful philanthropic business model that sets the team apart from its competitors. Through various grassroots initiatives, Butler and his agents have raised money for a variety of worthy causes, including breast cancer research and feeding the hungry, which the team conducts monthly. The business's mantra is that if he and his agents are not active in their community, they won't be able to properly serve the community.

"This is an exciting affiliation for the CENTURY 21 brand. It's obvious that Reggie Butler has created a special team of agents based on their dedication to philanthropy and improving their community," said Nick Bailey, president and chief executive officer, Century 21 Real Estate. "I'm excited to see how CENTURY 21 Envision Realty grows in the coming year under Reggie's leadership."

Butler opened the office in 2013 and has over a decade of real estate experience. The team prides itself on their commitment toward excellence  striving to explore news ideas and equip themselves with the latest technologies so their valued clients can benefit from each real estate transaction.

About CENTURY 21 Envision Realty

CENTURY 21 Envision Realty is a full-service real estate company, serving the buyers and sellers in the Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C. regions. The office is located at 14746 Main St., Suite D, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772.

CENTURY 21 Envision Realty is an independently owned and operated franchise affiliate of Century 21 Real Estate, franchisor of the iconic CENTURY 21 brand, comprised of approximately 9,400 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 80 countries and territories worldwide with more than 127,000 independent sales professionals.





 2018 Century 21 Real Estate LLC. All rights reserved. CENTURY 21 and the CENTURY 21 Logo are registered service marks owned by Century 21 Real Estate LLC. Century 21 Real Estate LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each office is independently owned and operated.

Media Contact:

Dana Hershman

MullenLowe for CENTURY 21 Envision Realty

617.226.9345

[email protected]

SOURCE CENTURY 21 Envision RealtySAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Made by True, purveyors of healthy, ethical, and damn delicious meat snacks, has announced the Grand Opening of the flagship 'Carne Diem!' shop in San Francisco, taking place Wednesday, December 20th. The new neighborhood shop is located at 2266 Union Street, Ste. A. With an array of planned events, special tastings and branded merchandise, Made by True aims to provide a special retail experience, in addition to clean & tasty snacks.

"Snackable meats have come a long way, and we hope that trend continues as people embrace new flavors, forms, and occasions for snacking," said Jess Thomas, CEO, and Co-Founder of Made by True. "Our new flagship store in San Francisco brings the True brand to life in a way that is both educational and, hopefully, fun. We are excited to connect one-on-one with the Bay Area community and its many visitors by providing them with authentic food and one-of-a-kind experiences."

While in store, visitors can purchase Made by True's entire range of products, from its award-winning jerky and interesting trail re-mixes, to the buzzy Biltong, a dried meat product rooted in South Africa that contains just 80 calories per serving and zero sugar, and offers 50% more protein than conventional jerky. The Biltong is available in three adventurous flavors: Cape Town Classic (Salt, Pepper and Coriander), South African Savory (Garlic, Herb and Spices) and Little Bit of Spice (Coriander, Chili Powder and Paprika). With this new line, Made by True continues to maintain its commitment to sourcing only 100% U.S. raised beef.

The store also serves as Made by True's corporate office, where San Francisco residents and visitors will be able to engage with the founders and gain insights about the history and origin of the company.

Currently, Made by True jerky is available in over 2,500 locations, including Sprouts Farmers Market, Safeway-Albertsons, and World Market. Biltong is currently available on the company's website, Amazon and coming to local and national retailers starting January. For more information on all Made by True products, including Biltong, or to purchase products, visit: https://www.madebytrue.com

About Made By True:

Made by True are crafters and curators of clean, exotic and ethical meaty snacks from the highest protein butcher cuts. The Made by True line includes beef and turkey jerky in six globally inspired flavors, Trail Re-Mixes with optimal ratios of good carbs, fats and proteins, and Biltong  a South African style air-dried meat snack. With a 3rd-generation rancher as a co-founder, Made by True sources 100% of its meats from conscientious producers in California, Colorado and North Carolina. The company started in 2015 when three college friends set out to make healthy, fun and addictively delicious snacks. Find a retailer or start a subscription at MadeByTrue.com or see them socially at @MadeByTrue. #CarneDiem!

Contact:

Jarrett Love

Harmonica PR

[email protected]

SOURCE Made by True

Related Links

http://www.madebytrue.com

MIAMI, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- NEORIS releases its 2019 insight report, "RETHINK IMPOSSIBLE," a captivating analysis of trends and new technologies that invoke companies to reimagine their value, customer relationships and core aspirations.

Featured content:

The Interconnected World: defines technological innovations that push business relationship boundaries and cultivate uncharted interactions;

defines technological innovations that push business relationship boundaries and cultivate uncharted interactions; Industry Specific Insights: encompasses four industries, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Health, Telecom & Media, while incorporating transformative business paths for solutions and innovation;

encompasses four industries, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Health, Telecom & Media, while incorporating transformative business paths for solutions and innovation; A New Frontier in 360 Visibility: illustrates advanced analytics that create hyper-personalized interactions across industries;

illustrates advanced analytics that create hyper-personalized interactions across industries; Cyber Resiliency: highlights critical threats in 2019 and beyond;

highlights critical threats in 2019 and beyond; Culture Transformation: reshapes traditional corporate culture for enriched collaboration, while aligning global teams and harmonizing output;

reshapes traditional corporate culture for enriched collaboration, while aligning global teams and harmonizing output; Tech Innovation: transforms what once seemed impossible.

"Distinct technologies that threaten the shift of global interactions and relationships are constantly emerging  Is it possible to create value in your industry by cross-applying insights from others? Is your operational business model willing to apply revolutionary agile paradigms? If you answered yes, our report will accelerate your digital disruption journey," said Martin Mendez, NEORIS CEO.

"Recent advances in deep learning, conversational technology, and intelligent process automation enables companies to reimagine core value and market positioning. The report cites case studies, thorough research and perspective from global NEORIS practitioners. It offers an 18 months outlook on trends that will challenge privacy, ethics, global partnerships and cultural interactions," said Anthony DeLima, NEORIS Head of Digital Transformation and Global CTO.

To download the full report, visit https://www.neoris.com/

About NEORIS

NEORIS is a global innovation services company that co-creates disruptive solutions for digitally aspiring companies to boost their interactions with their customers, employees and stakeholders. For this, NEORIS has a team of creative professionals that combines design, a deep development understanding in technological innovation and dominance in its core industries (Healthcare, Financial Services, Manufacturing and Telecommunications) to drive business transformation. Headquartered in Miami, FL., NEORIS has a network of global delivery centers, design studios and operations in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, Africa, and India.

More information is available at http://www.neoris.com, on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter @NEORIS.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Jessica Barrios

NEORIS

[email protected]

SOURCE NEORIS

Related Links

https://www.neoris.com

It is relevant to any airline or travel merchant doing business in the region  or in any emerging region where financial inclusion, alternative payment methods and cross-border ecommerce are converging to create new and larger travel and tourism markets.

The report includes:

High-level business analysis of Latin America and the Caribbean , market-specific intelligence, and traveler-focused profiles of individual countries including Cuba and Brazil.

and the , market-specific intelligence, and traveler-focused profiles of individual countries including and Brazil. Detailed overview of the many alternative payment methods (APMs) in the region, including bank transfers and cash vouchers, installments, local/regional credit cards and full-functioning mobile wallets.

Best-practices on how Latin American and Caribbean airlines can start integrating ancillaries into a more holistic, seamless mobile experience where they can engage growing volumes of passengers and capture more of their travel dollars (or Pesos, or Reals...).

CellPoint Mobile provides digital commerce and payment solutions to airlines and other travel merchants in Latin America and the Caribbean. Based on the company's experience in this growing and diverse region, CellPoint Mobile developed the Outlook 2019 report to explore the real, on-the-ground challenges and opportunities facing airlines, cruise lines, hotels and other travel merchants operating there. This includes the fact that mobile is the growth channel in Latin Americas and Caribbean travel sectors (the smartphone adoption rate in the region is outpacing the global average), and how payment service providers (PSPs) have "filled a vacuum" by helping travel merchants expand beyond traditional payment networks.

Airlines and other travel merchants can download the Outlook 2019: Looking Ahead at Latin America and the Caribbean report now to better understand their market and accelerate the path to profits. The report can be downloaded here.

For more information about the report, or to schedule an interview with one of CellPoint Mobile's Latin America and Caribbean regional experts, please contact Vanessa Horwell at [email protected].

About CellPoint Mobile

We Make Travel Easier for airlines, travel merchants and their customers.

CellPoint Mobile provides airlines, ground and sea transportation providers, and hospitality firms across the globe with flexible and efficient digital commerce and payment solutions to optimize the entire sales cycle. With a mobile-first culture since 2007, CellPoint Mobile's solutions are omnichannel and focus on boosting travel merchant's digital transactions. As both a fintech and a travel-tech company, CellPoint Mobile's portfolio include Velocity (Digital Payment), Voyage (Digital commerce), Vantage (Digital Promotion) and Vision (Digital Intelligence). CellPoint Mobile has locations in Miami, London, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dubai, Pune and Singapore. Visit www.cellpointmobile.com to learn more.

SOURCE CellPoint Mobile

Related Links

http://www.cellpointmobile.com

ST. LOUIS, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile blood collections staff at the American Red Cross in St. Louis, Missouri, voted 32-1 yesterday to become members of Teamsters Local 682.

The group of 44 workers is seeking affordable health insurance and a voice to increase equality and fairness in the workplace. They're also looking forward to a contract that provides stability and consistency on the job.

"We're very happy to have more Red Cross workers join the Teamster family here in Missouri," said Ed Kimbrell, President of Local 682 in St. Louis. "Through partnering with the Teamsters Public Services Division and the Organizing Department, we were able to achieve a victory for the working men and women of the Red Cross, who are a vital component of our community and deserve respect and fairness in the workplace."

"My co-workers and I are very excited to be Teamsters and are thrilled by the near unanimous vote," said Robert Zalinsky, a Red Cross collections specialist. "We are looking forward to negotiating a contract that is beneficial for both employees and the mission of the American Red Cross."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.

Contact:

Kara Deniz, (202) 624-6911

[email protected]

SOURCE Teamsters Local 682NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The results of a recent week-long survey of noise levels in San Francisco restaurants shows that the Northern California city is currently on par with Manhattan as having one of the noisiest restaurant scenes worldwide.

SoundPrint, a crowdsourcing app known as the "Yelp for noise," has a built-in decibel meter that allows users to measure sound levels at establishments and find quieter restaurants, bars and cafes nationwide. SoundPrint partnered with two San Francisco agencies, the Sound Speech and Hearing Clinic and the Hearing and Speech Center of Northern California, for a data collection "mapathon" where members used the app to measure and submit decibel levels in nearly 100 San Francisco restaurants.

The sound readings taken during the week were combined with SoundPrint's existing San Francisco database of more than 700 restaurants, bars and cafes, together contributing to the initial SoundPrint San Francisco "Quiet List" of restaurants, which can be accessed on the website at https://www.soundprint.co and includes Alice's, Acquarello, Bobo's, Eric's and Mozzeria, among others.

The data shows that on average, San Francisco restaurants have noise levels of 78 dBA, which is too loud for conversation; while a high number of the venues were above 80 dBA, which is a level that can endanger the hearing health of venue employees and patrons.

"As fans of the Bay Area restaurant scene, we want to support SoundPrint because it offers diners a resource to discover quieter places," said Melissa Wilson Beer, Audiologist at Sound Speech and Hearing Clinic. "Bay Area restaurants can be quite loud, and those with hearing loss or sensory disorders may be socially excluded if there is too much noise."

"Many people don't have a concept of healthy noise levels," said Gregory Scott, an East Bay native and founder of SoundPrint, who currently resides in NYC. "This can pose a problem when you are trying to have a conversation, and can be dangerous to one's health. Excessive noise has become a serious public health issue as 40 million American adults, nearly 24%, may have noise-induced hearing loss."

Scott was inspired to create the app after finding that existing review sites lacked accurate and objective noise level readings, making it very difficult to hear his date in most New York City establishments. SoundPrint users can search for restaurants based on how quiet or loud they are, much like one uses filters to search for a restaurant on Yelp.

To download the app, search for SoundPrint in the Apple app store.

About Sound Speech and Hearing Clinic

Sound Speech and Hearing Clinic ( https://www.soundshc.com) is a private practice located in the Potrero neighborhood offering multidisciplinary care under one roof. The doctors and clinicians offer comprehensive services for both children and adults, creating customized assessment and treatment plans for speech, language, voice, auditory processing and hearing health.

About Hearing and Speech Center of Northern California

The Hearing and Speech Center of Northern California ( https://www.hearingspeech.org/ ) is a non-profit that provides holistic clinical, educational and social support services for those with communication challenges regardless of income. The center's goal is to improve accessibility and affordability of hearing healthcare for all individuals, which includes increasing education and awareness about all levels of technology and apps.

About SoundPrint

SoundPrint ( https://www.soundprint.co) is an app that enables users to find restaurants, bars and cafes nationwide by how quiet or noisy they are. SoundPrint's decibel meter allows users to measure the noise in a venue and relies on user submissions to enrich its database. SoundPrint also enables patrons, managers and employees to monitor sound levels, raise awareness and protect against noise-induced hearing loss in the workplace. Download SoundPrint, and find your quiet place.

CONTACT: Melanie Scharler, (917) 239-5008, [email protected]

SOURCE SoundPrint

Related Links

https://www.soundprint.co

NEW YORK, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Sogou Inc. ("Sogou" or the "Company") (NYSE: SOGO). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, ext. 9980.

The investigation concerns whether Sogou and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here to join a class action]

On or around November 9, 2017, Sogou commenced an initial public offering of 45,000,000 American Depositary Shares ("ADSs"), priced at $13.00 per share. In June and July 2018, Chinese media sources reported that Chinese authorities had ordered Sogou to remove illegal content from its search engine.

On July 30, 2018, Sogou announced its financial and operating results for the second quarter of 2018. The Company revised guidance for its third quarter 2018 financial results, citing an investigation by Chinese regulatory authorities and the implementation of "remedial measures", which included a ten-day suspension of part of its advertising business. Following this announcement, the price of Sogou ADSs fell $0.78, or 7.55%, to close at $9.55 on July 30, 2018.

On October 25, 2018, Sogou announced its financial and operating results for the third quarter of 2018, advising investors that revenues had fallen short of guidance by $5.24 million and disclosing disappointing guidance for 2019. Following this news, the price of Sogou ADSs fell $0.25, or 4.35%, over the following three trading sessions, closing at $5.50 on October 30, 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

[email protected]

888-476-6529 ext. 9980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP

Related Links

http://www.pomerantzlaw.com

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 500 volunteers from Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and Meet Each Need With Dignity (MEND), the largest poverty relief agency in the San Fernando Valley, provided boxes of food, blankets, and holiday toys and gifts to more than 600 homeless individuals and families throughout the Northeast San Fernando Valley. In addition to food and gifts, attendees also enjoyed a performance by the LIFE community choir. SoCalGas sponsored this morning's event with a $10,000 contribution. Photos from today's event are available here.

Pictured: SoCalGas employee volunteers assembling toiletry kits for homeless individuals and families who attend the luncheon.

"With more than 53,000 men, women, and children without a home, homelessness continues to be a major issue in Los Angeles County," said Trisha Muse, director of community relations at SoCalGas. "SoCalGas is proud to support our friends at MEND who work tirelessly to provide critical and transformative services to this population. I am also very proud of our employees who generously give their own time and resources toward this cause."

"We are very grateful for partners like SoCalGas, who help make our community a better place for vulnerable families and homeless individuals," said Maggie Gregor, program director for MEND.

For over 47 years, MEND has served homeless individuals and families throughout the San Fernando Valley, providing food; medical, dental, and vision care; adult literacy, education, and job training classes; after school youth programs; clothing; homeless care and case management services; and a Holiday Basket Program for families in need. Each month, the organization serves an average of 30,000 members of the local community.

SoCalGas is a longtime supporter of MEND. Since 2003, the utility has contributed more than $100,000 to help the organization assist individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

SoCalGas is committed to giving back to the communities that it serves. In 2018, the utility contributed approximately $6 million to more than 800 educational, environmental, and community organizations across its service territory. Learn more about SoCalGas' corporate giving at socalgas/com/our-community.

About SoCalGas

Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas is the largest natural gas distribution utility in the United States. SoCalGas delivers affordable, reliable, clean and increasingly renewable natural gas service to 21.8 million customers across 24,000 square miles of Central and Southern California, where more than 90 percent of residents use natural gas for heating, hot water, cooking, drying clothes or other uses. Natural gas delivered through the company's pipelines also plays a key role in providing electricity to Californiansabout 60 percent of electric power generated in the state comes from gas-fired power plants.

SoCalGas is committed to investing in its natural gas system infrastructure, while keeping bills affordable for our customers. From 2013 through 2017, the company spent nearly $6 billion to upgrade and modernize its natural gas system to enhance safety and reliability. The company is also committed to being a leader in the region's clean energy future, and is working to accelerate the use of renewable natural gas from dairy farms, landfills and wastewater treatment plants and the development of renewable energy storage technologies. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), an energy services holding company based in San Diego. For more information, visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook.

About MEND

MEND - Meet Each Need with Dignity's mission is to meet the immediate needs of individuals and families and increase their access to opportunities that strengthen their capacity to thrive. To this end, we offer a range of comprehensive services delivered with dignity and respect by MEND's exceptionally dedicated staff and "army" of volunteers. For 47 years, MEND has opened its doors to the most vulnerable members of our community and over the years we have become one of the most comprehensive and empowering poverty relief agencies in Los Angeles County, serving, in 2017, over 14,600 unduplicated individuals but providing an average of 30,000 client encounters each month. Started in a San Fernando Valley garage in 1971, MEND is an anchor institution with the largest food bank in the Valley, medical, dental and vision clinics, clothing, homeless care services, as well as support and care through case management services.

SOURCE Southern California Gas Company

Related Links

http://www.socalgas.com/

INDIANA, Pa., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- S&T Bank, a full-service financial institution with assets of $7.1 billion, and locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York, is proud to welcome Paula Berezansky as S&T Bank's senior vice president, financial intelligence group officer.

Paula will manage the Financial Intelligence Group within the Compliance Department and S&T Bancorp's enterprise-wide compliance monitoring programs for the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering and the Office of Foreign Assets Control, Identity Theft, and Fraud.

"Paula is a highly accomplished intelligence professional with a proven track record of nearly three decades of experience," said Todd D. Brice, president and chief executive officer of S&T Bank. "Her strong leadership skills and extensive background offer invaluable insight on financial crime to S&T Bank's Compliance Department, providing us with unwavering confidence in the Bank's overall fraud and anti-money laundering practices."

Paula brings 15 years of experience with the National Drug Intelligence Center of the U.S. Department of Justice. As a supervisory intelligence analyst, she was involved in developing threat assessments and assisting multiple federal law enforcement agencies with combatting financial crimes such as money laundering and bank fraud.

In addition, she spent six years as a private industry business intelligence analyst and eight years with the National Institute of Standards and Technology as a research chemist, where she authored several published studies.

Paula is a magna cum laude graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and minor in mathematics and completed all doctoral-level coursework at the University of Maryland in analytical chemistry. She also received training at the federal government's Center for Leadership Development, Eastern Management Development Center.

For more information about S&T Bank, please visit www.stbank.com.

About S&T Bancorp, Inc. and S&T Bank: S&T Bancorp, Inc. is a $7.1 billion bank holding company that is headquartered in Indiana, Pa. and trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol STBA. Its principal subsidiary, S&T Bank, was established in 1902, and operates locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York. For more information visit www.stbancorp.com, www.stbank.com, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

SOURCE S&T Bancorp, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.stbank.com

Davao has thus become the fourth Philippine city where Xiamen Airlines operates direct flights, after Manila, Cebu and Kalibo. As the airline company enjoying the largest share of the commercial flight market between China and the Philippines, Xiamen Airlines has been facilitating the exchanges between the two nations through its flight network for 32 years in a row.

Davao's First Direct Flight Route to Mainland China

Quanzhou, one of the three central cities in China's Fujian Province, holds the distinction of being the only UNESCO-accredited starting point of the Maritime Silk Road. A large number of ethnic Chinese in the Philippines trace their ancestry to Quanzhou as well. Davao, the third largest Philippine city, is one of the leading cities in the country in terms of interaction with China.

In October, the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Davao officially opened. At the inauguration ceremony, China's foreign minister Wang Yi specifically introduced Xiamen Airlines' Davao-Quanzhou flight route, stating that it "is set to inject fresh vitality into the development of Davao and the southern part of the Philippines." In November, Davao and Jinjiang of Quanzhou were paired up as sister cities, creating a solid platform for both cities to deepen goodwill cooperation and exchange on all fronts.

The Davao-Quanzhou flight route is serviced with Boeing 737s. The flight departs from Quanzhou Jinjiang International Airport at 09:00 every Tuesday and Friday, arriving in Davao at 12:15. The return flight leaves Davao International Airport at 13:15, arriving in Quanzhou at 16:30. It is currently the only direct flight between Davao and Mainland China.

The opening of the flight route not only provides ethnic Chinese in the Philippines with a fast and convenient "through bus in the air;" it also significantly facilitates business travels between China's Fujian Province and Davao, and is expected to boost economic, trade, cultural and tourist exchanges between the two regions.

The Airline with the Largest Share of the China-Philippine Commercial Flight Market

In recent years, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on six different occasions, and the cooperation between the two nations in tourism, culture and education has produced fruitful results. On November 20th, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid his first visit to the Philippines, opening a new chapter in the relations between the two nations.

At present, China is the largest trading partner, destination of exports and source of imports for the Philippines and second largest source of tourists for the Philippines. Private-sector investment between the two nations has surged and cultural exchanges have sharply increased; in addition, more and more Philippine fruits are finding their ways to the dining tables of Chinese people, and more and more Philippine attractions are included into the itineraries of Chinese tourists.

Xiamen Airlines opened direct flights between Manila and Xiamen as early as November 1st, 1986, making it one of the first Chinese carriers to offer direct flights between China and the Philippines. In recent years, Xiamen Airlines has devoted a greater part of its transportation capacity to the Philippines, providing vital air transportation support for the exchanges between the two nations on various fronts.

Before the opening of the Davao-Quanzhou flight route, Xiamen Airlines' flight network covered three Philippine cities  Manila, Cebu and Kalibo, with six flight routes  Manila-Xiamen/Quanzhou, Cebu-Xiamen/Fuzhou, and Kalibo-Hangzhou/Fuzhou. These flights routes connected to all major cities across China. There were 34 flights a week on these routes, with an accumulative total of 7,690 flights and nearly 1 million passengers, giving Xiamen Airlines the largest share of the commercial flight market between the two nations.

Going forward, Xiamen Airlines will devote greater resources to flights between the two countries to create a flight network that offers regular services between major Philippine cities and China's Fujian, Beijing and Hangzhou, which are the bases of Xiamen Airlines. This is expected to further facilitate the economic and trade exchanges between the nations.

The Chinese Airline with the Best Service

With 34 years of robust growth, Xiamen Airlines, a member of SkyTeam, now ranks as China's fifth largest carrier, boasting a fleet of 210 aircrafts. As the only Chinese carrier with a 31-year track record of profitability, Xiamen Airlines is hailed as the "epitome of the development of China's civil aviation industry."

Ever since its inception, Xiamen Airlines has been making unremitting efforts to ensure flight safety and enhance service quality. For six consecutive years from 2012 to 2018, Xiamen Airlines was rated by Chinese passengers as the "Best Airline Company" in air service. In March 2016, it received the second China Quality Award, becoming the first company in the nation's service sector and the only Chinese airline to win this prestigious accolade.

While pursuing growth, Xiamen Airlines remains committed to charitable causes and diligently fulfills its corporate social responsibility by carrying out poverty relief programs, offering financial assistance to needy students, providing voluntary services and promoting energy conservation and emission reduction to protect the environment. On February 15th, 2017, Xiamen Airlines entered into an agreement with the UN at its headquarters in New York, becoming the first airline in the world to collaborate with the UN in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Since 2015, Xiamen Airlines has opened 11 intercontinental flight routes to Amsterdam, Sydney, Melbourne, Vancouver, Seattle, New York, Los Angeles and Paris. Its flight network now covers Europe, North America and Oceania.

Going forward, Xiamen Airlines will continue fulfilling its mission of "touching the hearts of its customers, facilitating the professional success of its employees, and giving back to society." It is committed to delivering the ultimate flight experience to passengers.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Xiamen AirlinesWASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Jazz musician Sasha Berliner will perform a seven-city international tour of North America after winning the LetterOne RISING STARS Jazz Award . Berliner was selected out of 230 contestants by a jury of musicians, journalists and record producers, chaired by Mikhail Fridman , an international businessman, philanthropist and jazz fan.

Berliner, just 19, is a musician, composer, producer and bandleader from San Francisco. She started playing drums at age eight, picked up the vibraphone at age 13 and is now an alumna of the SF Jazz High School All-Stars Orchestra and the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music. She is currently a student of The New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York.

"We were very impressed by the quality of the group of artists who were in the final round of voting and it was not easy to come to a decision about the winner," said the jury, which, in addition to Fridman, consisted of record producer Brian Bacchus, journalist Michelle Mercer, Montreal Jazz Festival Director Andre Menard and legendary Jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater. "Sasha Berliner convinced us with her musicality and dedication, but also that she is pushing the jazz envelope forward. We are convinced that we will hear a lot from her in the future."

Berliner will perform at the San Francisco Jazz Festival, the D.C. Jazz Festival, the Blue Note Jazz Festival in New York City, the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival, the CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival, the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, and the Iowa City Jazz Festival in June 2019.

More About the LetterOne RISING STARS Jazz Award

Open to artists throughout the USA and Canada, this competition is a golden opportunity for U.S.-based musicians to be catapulted onto the nations prestigious jazz scene. Read more at http://us.l1risingstarsjazzaward.com/.

SOURCE LetterOne RISING STARS Jazz AwardPHOENIX, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Set to open on December 17, 2018, Big Whisker, LLC is a family-owned and operated online platform at http://bigwhiskerguns.com, designed to offer outdoor and shooting enthusiasts a friendly and safe place for buying, selling, and trading firearms. As proud supporters of the Second Amendment, Carmen Sanchez and Renee Card (together with their husbands) have created a place where fellow firearms enthusiasts can gather for education, thoughtful discussion, and more, filling a much-needed space in Arizona's outdoor and firearms market. When BigWhiskerGuns.com debuts in mid-December, it will provide users with a wide range of benefits, including low fees for firearms transactions, a safe and secure platform, and the ability to connect with like-minded locals.

Sanchez and Card are two Arizona women who were inspired to create a place that could supply users with a safe and enjoyable platform for firearms transactions, as well as information about responsible gun ownership, research topics and more. Their shared passion for Second Amendment rights and recreational shooting was a large part of the inspiration for BigWhiskerGuns.com, which they now run in partnership with their husbands. Both families are proud members of the NRA and believe that BigWhiskerGuns.com, is the welcoming, safe place that Arizona gun enthusiasts have been searching for. The Big Whisker, LLC team believes firmly in the need for a positive firearm buying and selling platform precisely created for honest, law-abiding citizens.

According to the site's founders, their mission is rooted in their love for firearms enthusiasts' community, and everything it stands for:

We have created Big Whisker Guns in an effort to provide a platform for gun enthusiasts and everyone alike to research, buy/sell/trade, discuss and support responsible gun ownership and preserve our second amendment right to bear arms. ~Founders, Carmen Sanchez, and Renee Card

The Big Whiskers Guns website will offer a wide range of pricing plans and options to fit users' needs. For first-time sellers or buyers, a basic plan can provide access to the platform for a nominal fee, while other users may find premium options more fitting for their needs. The Big Whiskers Guns blog will be regularly updated with content focusing on firearms education, safety, and use, giving users access to a variety of articles of interest. As a whole, Big Whisker Guns is intended as a multi-use platform for outdoor and gun enthusiasts, an online community where they can go to buy, sell, or trade guns, as well as expand their gun knowledge.

The founding families behind Big Whisker, LLC are proud Americans and Arizona natives, connected by brother and sister Felix Sanchez (husband to Carmen) and Renee Card (wife to Jesse). In addition to being longtime natives of the desert state, the Sanchez family line can be traced back to the early 20th century, to the community of Williams and the construction of the Santa Fe Railroad. The families' love for firearms and outdoor recreation stems from fond childhood memories and first-hand experience in the industry.

Aside from their dedication to preserving Second Amendment rights and advocating for responsible gun ownership, the Sanchez and Card families also enjoy a number of recreational activities including shooting, hunting, fishing, camping, and more. Together with their children, the founders of Big Whisker, LLC love and respect the natural beauty of Arizona, venturing across the state to explore the great outdoors. As the co-founders of Big Whisker Guns, Renee and Carmen are passionate advocates for the positive impact of responsible gun ownership, particularly by women, including for the purpose of both self-defense and recreation.

BigWhiskerGuns.com will open to the public on December 17, 2018. A selection of pricing plans and options will be offered at this time. The site is projected to continue expanding not only at the state level but also nationally as well. Future endeavors may include an online market for outdoor gear and clothing, knives, optics, tactical gear, and more.

To learn more about Big Whisker Guns and the platform's upcoming debut, contact the Renee Card, CEO of Big Whisker, LLC at 623-439-5850 or [email protected]

SOURCE Big Whisker, LLC

Related Links

http://bigwhiskerguns.com

INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Capping off a year that saw 4medica, the clinical data exchange company, move to the front of the U.S. market for enterprise-scale patient identity matching, the company is setting its sights on matching patient data to the right records on an international level.

Healthcare organizations around the world are experiencing the same digital data challenges as their counterparts in the U.S., to whom they are looking for guidance on how to inject patient data integrity and interoperability into electronic health records. 4medica has joined with World Trade Center Indianapolis in a strategic move to cultivate business relationships with these organizations and to further Indiana's reputation as a growing tech corridor in the Midwest.

"As the patient identity matching partner for some of the nation's leading state health information exchanges and networks, 4medica will be an invaluable resource for WTC Indianapolis partners, clients and visiting dignitaries from other countries who are seeking best-in-breed U.S. healthcare data management and interoperability solutions," said Doris Anne Sadler, President and CEO of WTC Indianapolis.

Why accurate patient matching is a global need

Across the world, countries have adopted electronic health records, along with the inherent challenges in making sure the data in these records are about the right patients. This applies even to countries that assign patient-specific numbers. In the U.S., of course, no such number is assigned by the government, but some state healthcare entities are easily circumventing that problem with the 4medica Big Data MPI, a master patient index solution which includes a "4ever ID" to assign to every patient identity. Once assigned, the 4medica Big Data MPI correctly matches incoming patient data to the right patient record in real timeand going several leaps forward, enriches this master patient record with the latest information after vetting its accuracy.

These powerful capabilities are needed by every organization that exchanges health data, regardless if a patient ID is in place, and represent the kind of best-in-class technology that other countries seek to mirror. As a member of the powerful World Trade Centers Association (WTCA), which has over 300 World Trade Centers in 90 countries, WTC Indianapolis is a dynamic conduit to introduce 4medica to these countries.

Indeed, since engaging with WTC Indianapolis, 4medica has already met with officials from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), whose largest city, Dubai, is within an 8-hour flight of two thirds of the world's population. The UAE's Ministry of Health is actively exploring healthcare technology in the United States, in addition to numerous other countries intent on making the exchange of electronic health data accurate and efficient.

"WTC Indianapolis, paired with Indiana's business-friendly environment and highly capable workforce, has positioned the state to become a global hub of innovation. Our own Indiana offices are a strategic location for us as we seek to spread life-saving patient data integrity across the state and the Midwest, and with our partnership with WTC Indianapolis, around the world," said Gregg Church, President of 4medica.

About 4medica

4medica provides the industry's leading SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) Big Data MPI and clinical data exchange platform to help healthcare organizations of diverse types create a seamless view of the patient care experience and further drive better health outcomes. The 4medica Big Data MPI, 4medica Big Data CDR, 4medica Big Data Enrichment and ClinXdata Clinical Data Exchange platform integrate with and build upon disparate systems to facilitate patient identity management and interoperable data exchange across various care settings to promote care continuity. The cloud computing model is scalable, lower cost, maintenance-free, easy to use and deployable in a few months or less, eliminating large capital outlays or resource utilization. 4medica connects hundreds of organizations including ACOS, HIEs, hospitals, health systems, physicians, laboratories, and radiology imaging centers. The company's national footprint includes offices in Indiana, North Carolina and Oregon, with headquarters located in Marina Del Rey, CA. Learn more at www.4medica.com and www.bigdatampi.com.

Media Contact:

Stephanie Janard

Amendola Communications for 4medica

1.828.288.2831

SOURCE 4medica

Related Links

http://www.4medica.com

WOOD DALE, Ill., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AAR CORP. (NYSE: AIR) today reported second quarter fiscal year 2019 consolidated sales of $493.3 million and income from continuing operations of $11.2 million, or $0.32 per diluted share. Second quarter results included a non-cash pre-tax charge of $12.4 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, driven by a European airline customer bankruptcy. For the second quarter of the prior year, the Company reported sales of $420.6 million and income from continuing operations of $13.2 million, or $0.38 per diluted share. Our adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations increased 51% from $0.39 last year to $0.59 in the current quarter.

Consolidated sales increased 17.3% over the prior year period due to continued growth in our trading, distribution and programs activities. Excluding the impact of the wind-down of the KC-10 CLS program and despite softness in our MRO activities, our Aviation Services sales grew 21.0% year over year.

"Our robust growth continued into the second quarter driven by exceptional performance in our trading, distribution and programs activities. These strong results were adversely impacted by a charge related to the bankruptcy of a European program customer which occurred late in the quarter. While this was an unfortunate development, overall we are confident in the strength and quality of our diverse customer base," said John M. Holmes, President and Chief Executive Officer of AAR CORP.

During the quarter, we announced several new business wins across the Company which include:

Distribution agreement with Zodiac Aerospace of the Safran Group to distribute water and waste products

Distribution agreement with Ontic of BBA Aviation to distribute electronics products across multiple military platforms

Engine supply agreement with Ameco, a Lufthansa Technik and Air China joint venture

Government contract to provide maintenance and logistics support for the U.S. Marshals' fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft

Joint venture with Napier Park Global Capital, a London based private equity firm, to acquire late life aircraft

Holmes continued, "We are very pleased with the number of new contract awards across multiple product lines. We are further encouraged by the robust pipeline of opportunities we see in both the government and commercial markets which validates our growth strategy."

Sales to government and defense customers were 32% of consolidated sales compared to 26% in the prior year's quarter reflecting growth from the WASS program and other government sales. Second quarter sales to commercial customers, which also increased during the period, represented 68% of consolidated sales compared to 74% of consolidated sales in the second quarter of last year.

Gross profit margins decreased to 15.9% in the current quarter from 16.8% in the prior year quarter due primarily to lower volumes in our airframe maintenance facilities. Selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of sales were 10.0% for the quarter, compared to 11.6% last year, reflecting continued leverage of our cost structure to support our double-digit sales growth.

Net interest expense for the quarter was $2.4 million compared to $1.8 million last year. Also during the quarter, the Company paid cash dividends of $2.6 million, or $0.075 per share. Average diluted share count for the quarter was 35.0 million compared to 34.5 million in the second quarter last year. Cash flow used in operating activities from continuing operations was $8.3 million.

Holmes concluded, "We acted upon numerous investment opportunities to support the significant growth in our trading, distribution and programs activities. As previously communicated, we expect to generate significant cash flow in the second half of the year and will become cash positive for the entire year."

Conference Call Information

AAR will hold its quarterly conference call at 3:45 p.m. CT on December 18, 2018. The conference call can be accessed by calling 866-802-4322 from inside the U.S. or 703-639-1319 from outside the U.S. A replay of the conference call will also be available by calling 855-859-2056 from inside the U.S. or 404-537-3406 from outside the U.S. (access code 4196825). The replay will be available from 7:15 p.m. CT on December 18, 2018 until 10:59 p.m. CT on December 25, 2018.

About AAR

AAR is a global aerospace and defense aftermarket solutions company that employs more than 6,000 people in over 20 countries. Headquartered in the Chicago area, AAR supports commercial and government customers through two operating segments: Aviation Services and Expeditionary Services. AAR's Aviation Services include parts supply; OEM solutions; integrated solutions; maintenance, repair, overhaul; and engineering. AAR's Expeditionary Services include mobility systems and composite manufacturing operations. Additional information can be found at www.aarcorp.com.

This press release contains certain statements relating to future results, which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on beliefs of Company management, as well as assumptions and estimates based on information currently available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or those anticipated, including those factors discussed under Item 1A, entitled "Risk Factors", included in the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2018. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize adversely, or should underlying assumptions or estimates prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described. These events and uncertainties are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many are beyond the Company's control. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events. For additional information, see the comments included in AAR's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

AAR CORP. and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Statements of Operations (In millions except per share data - unaudited) Three Months Ended November 30,

Six Months Ended November 30,

2018

2017

2018

2017







Sales $493.3

$420.6

$959.6

$818.5 Cost and expenses:













Cost of sales 415.0

349.9

810.1

686.2 Provision for doubtful accounts 12.4

0.1

13.0

0.3 Selling, general and administrative 49.1

48.8

97.3

93.1















Operating income 16.8

21.8

39.2

38.9















Interest expense, net (2.4)

(1.8)

(4.0)

(3.5) Other income (expense), net (0.2)

-

0.2

-















Income from continuing operations before income tax expense 14.2

20.0

35.4

35.4 Income tax expense 3.0

6.8

5.3

11.2 Income from continuing operations 11.2

13.2

30.1

24.2 Loss from discontinued operations (4.2)

(35.8)

(8.0)

(36.2) Net income (loss) $7.0

$(22.6)

$22.1

$(12.0)















Earnings (Loss) per share  Basic:













Earnings from continuing operations $0.32

$0.39

$0.87

$0.71 Loss from discontinued operations (0.12)

(1.05)

(0.23)

(1.06) Earnings (Loss) per share  Basic $0.20

$(0.66)

$0.64

$(0.35)















Earnings (Loss) per share  Diluted:













Earnings from continuing operations $0.32

$0.38

$0.85

$0.70 Loss from discontinued operations (0.12)

(1.04)

(0.23)

(1.05) Earnings (Loss) per share  Diluted $0.20

$(0.66)

$0.62

$(0.35)















Share Data:













Weighted average shares outstanding  Basic 34.6

34.0

34.6

34.1 Weighted average shares outstanding  Diluted 35.0

34.5

35.1

34.5

AAR CORP. and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Balance Sheet Highlights (In millions except per share data  unaudited) November 30, 2018

May 31, 2018







Cash and cash equivalents $ 25.7

$ 31.1 Current assets 1,040.7

942.7 Current liabilities 344.2

333.3 Property, plant and equipment, net 133.4

133.2 Total assets 1,604.2

1,524.7 Total debt 220.3

178.9 Stockholders' equity 935.6

936.3 Book value per share $26.66

$26.98 Shares outstanding 35.1

34.7









Sales By Business Segment (1) (In millions - unaudited) Three Months Ended November 30,

Six Months Ended November 30,

2018

2017

2018

2017 Aviation Services $ 462.9

$ 391.7

$ 901.3

$ 763.0 Expeditionary Services 30.4

28.9

58.3

55.5

$ 493.3

$ 420.6

$ 959.6

$ 818.5











Gross Profit by Business Segment (1) (In millions- unaudited) Three Months Ended November 30,

Six Months Ended November 30,

2018 2017

2018

2017 Aviation Services $ 74.9

$ 66.0

$ 142.0

$ 123.8 Expeditionary Services 3.4

4.7

7.5

8.5

$ 78.3

$ 70.7

$ 149.5

$ 132.3





(1) In the first quarter of fiscal 2019, we re-aligned the composition of our operating segments to leverage the full breadth of our operational expertise in Aviation Services. Our government-owned, contractor-operated business, which includes the INL/A WASS program, was previously included in our Expeditionary Services segment and is now reported within our Aviation Services segment for all periods presented.



Adjusted income from continuing operations, adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations, adjusted selling, general, and administrative expenses, adjusted EBITDA, and net debt are "non-GAAP financial measures" as defined in Regulation G of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). We believe these non-GAAP financial measures are relevant and useful for investors as they provide a better understanding of our actual operating performance unaffected by the impact of severance charges and other items. When reviewed in conjunction with our GAAP results and the accompanying reconciliations, we believe these non-GAAP financial measures provide additional information that is useful to gain an understanding of the factors and trends affecting our business and provide a means by which to compare our operating performance against that of other companies in the industries we compete. Adjusted EBITDA is income from continuing operations before interest income (expense), other income (expense), income taxes, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation and other items of an unusual nature including severance costs and significant customer bankruptcies.

Pursuant to the requirements of Regulation G of the Exchange Act, we are providing the following tables that reconcile the above mentioned non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures:

Adjusted Income from Continuing Operations (In millions - unaudited) Three Months Ended November 30,

Six Months Ended November 30,

2018

2017

2018

2017 Income from continuing operations $ 11.2

$ 13.2

$ 30.1

$24.2 Customer bankruptcy charge, net of tax 9.6

-

9.6

- Severance and restructuring charges (reversals), net of tax -

0.1

(0.1)

0.5 Adjusted income from continuing operations $ 20.8

$ 13.3

$ 39.6

$ 24.7















Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share from Continuing Operations (In millions - unaudited) Three Months Ended November 30,

Six Months Ended November 30,

2018

2017

2018

2017 Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations $ 0.32

$ 0.38

$ 0.85

$0.70 Customer bankruptcy charge, net of tax 0.27

-

0.27

- Severance and restructuring charges, net of tax -

0.01

-

0.02 Adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations $ 0.59

$ 0.39

$ 1.12

$ 0.72















Adjusted Selling, General and Administrative Expenses (In millions - unaudited) Three Months Ended November 30,

Six Months Ended November 30,

2018

2017

2018

2017 Selling, general and administrative expenses $ 49.1

$ 48.8

$ 97.3

$ 93.1 Severance and restructuring (charges) reversals -

(0.2)

0.1

(0.8) Stock-based compensation (1.2)

(2.8)

(5.2)

(5.3) Adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses $ 47.9

$ 45.8

$ 92.2

$ 87.0

Adjusted EBITDA (In millions - unaudited) Three Months Ended November 30,

Six Months Ended November 30,

Year Ended

May 31,

2018

2017

2018

2017

2018 Net income (loss) $ 7.0

$ (22.6)

$ 22.1

$ (12.0)

$ 15.6 Loss from discontinued operations 4.2

35.8

8.0

36.2

58.1 Income tax expense 3.0

6.8

5.3

11.2

3.5 Other expense (income), net 0.2

-

(0.2)

-

0.9 Interest expense, net 2.4

1.8

4.0

3.5

7.9 Depreciation and intangible amortization 10.4

10.6

20.5

20.8

40.5 Customer bankruptcy charge 12.4

-

12.4

-

- Severance and restructuring charges (reversals) -

0.2

(0.1)

0.8

4.5 Stock-based compensation 1.2

2.8

5.2

5.3

15.3 Adjusted EBITDA $ 40.8

$ 35.4

$ 77.2

$ 65.8

$ 146.3

Net Debt (In millions- unaudited) November 30,

2018

November 30,

2017 Total debt $220.3

$217.2 Less: Cash and cash equivalents (25.7)

(27.1) Net debt $194.6

$190.1

Adjusted Aviation Services Sales (In millions - unaudited) Three Months Ended November 30,

2018

2017 Aviation Services sales $462.9

$ 391.7 Less: KC-10 program sales (0.2)

(9.3) Adjusted Aviation Services sales $ 462.7

$ 382.4 Growth 21.0%

Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA (In millions - unaudited)

Adjusted EBITDA for the year ended May 31, 2018 $146.3 Less: Adjusted EBITDA for the six months ended November 30, 2017 (65.8) Plus: Adjusted EBITDA for the six months ended November 30, 2018 77.2 Adjusted EBITDA for the twelve months ended November 30, 2018 157.7 Net debt at November 30, 2018 $194.6 Net debt to Adjusted EBITDA 1.23

SOURCE AAR

Related Links

http://www.aarcorp.com

- Company to Install Additional Mammalian Bioreactors and New Microbial Facility -

TOKYO, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AGC Inc., a world-leading manufacturer of glass, chemicals and high-tech materials, has announced a major expansion of AGC Biologics headquartered in the U.S., a CDMO (*1) subsidiary of the company.

(Logo: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M000303/201812171505/_prw_PI3fl_zX43347F.png)

Photo: AGC Biologics, Seattle manufacturing base https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M000303/201812171505/_prw_PI1fl_lV4B1ChZ.png

At AGC Biologics' Seattle site, plans have been finalized to install twelve additional 2,000L single-use (*2) mammalian cell bioreactors, and to establish a brand-new microbial contract development and manufacturing facility. AGC Biologics' current microbial capacities are in Europe and Japan, and the addition of the Seattle facility will provide wider regional coverage across the continents for microbial services as well. Once operational, AGC's biopharmaceutical production capacity in the U.S. will be tripled. The total investment for this expansion is estimated to be about 10 billion yen, with full-scale operations slated to start from July 2020.

Under its "AGC plus" management policy, the AGC Group has made a commitment positioning life science-related business as one of its strategic initiatives, aiming at sales in the 100 billion yen range by 2025. AGC has developed manufacturing and sales bases in Europe and the U.S. through the acquisitions of Biomeva in 2016 and CMC Biologics in 2017. Since then, the company has been making multiple investments in equipment and facilities at its locations across Japan, Europe, and the U.S.

AGC intends to continue to pursue acquisition opportunities and to make capital investment in its synthetic and biopharmaceutical business, expected to exhibit significant growth in demand in the coming years, in order to continue providing customers in every region with globally consistent, top-level quality and service. By maximizing synergies among its sites, AGC will continue to pursue its goal of being a company that contributes to pharmaceutical companies, medical patients, and the wider society in general.

Notes

(*1) CDMO: Contract Development & Manufacturing Organization. A company which is contracted or acts on behalf of another company to handle product manufacturing as well as the development of manufacturing methods.

(*2) Single-use: Culture tanks that use a disposable vessel.

Reference Information

About the AGC Group

AGC Inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President & CEO: Takuya Shimamura) is the parent company of the AGC Group, a world-leading glass solution provider and supplier of flat, automotive and display glass, chemicals, ceramics and other high-tech materials and components. Based on more than a century of technical innovation, the AGC Group has developed a wide range of cutting-edge products. The AGC Group employs some 50,000 people worldwide and generates annual sales of approximately 1.5 trillion Japanese yen through business in about 30 countries.

For more information, please visit www.agc.com/en

AGC Group's Life Science Operations Bases:

https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M000303/201812171505/_prw_PI2fl_D25SAO82.png

SOURCE AGC Inc.

Related Links

http://www.agc.com/en

AGC Biologics plans to install an additional twelve 2,000L single-use *2 animal cell bioreactors at their Seattle site, as well as establish a brand new contract development and manufacturing facility for microbial manufacturing, a function that was previously only operated in Europe and Japan. This expansion will triple AGC's biopharmaceutical production capacity in the US while also ensuring seamless operation of microbial and animal cell based biopharmaceutical CDMO activities across the Japan, Europe, and the US regions. The total investment of this expansion is estimated to be about 10 billion yen ($90 million US Dollars), with full-scale operations slated from July 2020.

Under its AGC plus management policy, the AGC Group has made a commitment to positioning life-sciences related business as one of its strategic initiatives, aiming at sales in the 100 billion yen range by 2025. AGC has developed manufacturing and sales bases in Europe and the US through the acquisitions of Biomeva in 2016 and CMC Biologics in 2017. Since then, the company has consolidated the operations under the AGC Biologics brand and has been making aggressive investments in equipment and facilities at its locations across Japan, Europe, and the US.

In order to continue providing our customers consistent top-level quality and service, AGC intends to pursue necessary acquisitions and capital investments in the synthetic and biopharmaceutical business. Gustavo Mahler, CEO of AGC Biologics stated, "We expect significant growth in demand during the coming years. By maximizing synergies among our operations, AGC will continue to pursue its goal of being a leading company that supports pharmaceutical companies, medical patients, and all of society."

Notes

1 CDMO: Contract Development & Manufacturing Organization. A company which is contracted or acts on behalf of another company to handle product manufacturing as well as the development of manufacturing methods.

2 Single-use: Culture tanks that use a disposable vessel.

About AGC Biologics

AGC Biologics is a leading global Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization, with a strong commitment to deliver the highest standard of service to our clients. AGC Biologics has an extensive network of cGMP facilities in the US, Europe and Asia. We offer deep industry expertise, innovative solutions and technologies, and customized services for the scale-up and cGMP manufacture of protein-based therapeutics, from pre-clinical to commercial, for mammalian and microbial. We forge exceptionally strong partnerships with our clients, and we never lose sight of our pledge to deliver reliable and compliant drug substance supply, on time. For more information, visit www.agcbio.com.

AGC Biologics Media Contact Information:

Robert J. Broeze, PhD

Chief Business Officer

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE AGC Biologics

Related Links

http://www.agcbio.com

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The United Nations' climate talks in Poland this month report that scientists worldwide are projecting that global emissions of carbon dioxide will reach the highest levels on record. As carbon emissions are projected to increase, one Connecticut-based company is taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

American GreenFuels, LLC ("American GreenFuels") recently launched its "You Are What You Heat" campaign, which is dedicated to educate consumers about the option to heat their home with Bioheat heating oil, utilizing certified biodiesel produced by American GreenFuels. Biodiesel is a renewable, cleaner-burning alternative to diesel fuel that reduces dependence on foreign oil, creates jobs right here in Connecticut, and lowers the negative impact of carbon emissions on the environment.

"I am very excited about this campaign," said Raf Aviner, President of American GreenFuels, LLC and its parent company, Kolmar Americas, Inc., which is based in Bridgeport. "We have worked hard to quadruple our capacity, which now makes us the largest biodiesel manufacturer in the Northeast. This provides a good opportunity to reach out to Connecticut consumers to let them know we are right here in Connecticut working to provide a cleaner environment. We are very proud to employ more than 40 people directly and countless others indirectly in Connecticut to make biodiesel that is blended into heating oil. Certified biodiesel from American GreenFuels meets specific standards and offers environmental benefits to consumers in Connecticut. We hope consumers ask their home heating dealers to make sure they blend American GreenFuels biodiesel into their heating oil."

American GreenFuels' manufacturing plant, located in New Haven, CT, uses waste products from other industries to produce its certified biodiesel, which often includes waste oils like used cooking oil from restaurants and/or food factories. Currently, select heating oil distributors in Connecticut blend certified biodiesel produced by American GreenFuels into traditional ultra low sulfur heating oil to create what is known as Bioheat heating oil. Bioheat heating oil typically contains a minimum of 2% to 5% biodiesel. However, higher percentages of biodiesel can be blended into heating oil; all you have to do is ask for it from your home heating oil dealer.

"This is a very exciting campaign for American GreenFuels," said Paul F. Teta, Vice President & General Counsel of American GreenFuels and Kolmar Americas. "Connecticut residents can now know that they can make a difference to our environment because certified biodiesel from American GreenFuels, when sold within Connecticut, provides greenhouse gas emission savings of 78% to 93% as compared with the ultra low sulfur heating oil made from traditional fossil fuels. Our biodiesel plant has only been in operation since 2013, and during that time, has made great progress in expanding its capacity and quality standards. Now with the help of Connecticut consumers, we can all work towards improving our environment."

Most importantly to consumers  including homeowners, building managers, office parks and more  biodiesel is compatible with most heating oil systems; in fact, biodiesel burns cleaner than conventional heating oil. Certified biodiesel produced by American GreenFuels is certified to:

have a distinct environmental benefit to Connecticut consumers because it provides greenhouse gas savings of minimum 78% up to 93% as compared with ultra low sulfur heating oil;

consumers because it provides greenhouse gas savings of minimum 78% up to 93% as compared with ultra low sulfur heating oil; meet ASTM D6751 specification standards; and

be manufactured at a facility that is accredited as a BQ-9000 Producer.

The more consumers request biodiesel from their local heating oil retailer, the more Connecticut can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. To learn more about certified biodiesel produced by American GreenFuels, please visit: www.AmericanGreenFuelsCT.com.

About American GreenFuels, LLC

American GreenFuels, LLC ("American GreenFuels") is Connecticut's local producer of environmentally-friendly biodiesel, which reduces carbon emissions as compared with traditional ultra low sulfur heating oil. When sold within Connecticut, certified biodiesel produced by American GreenFuels provides greenhouse gas emission savings of 78% to 93% as compared with ultra low sulfur heating oil. American GreenFuels' certifications can be found here.

American GreenFuels manufactures high-quality biodiesel in New Haven, Connecticut. Certified biodiesel produced by American GreenFuels is manufactured from a multitude of feedstocks, which include wastes collected from other industries. Once produced, the certified biodiesel is then blended by American GreenFuels' distributor network with ultra-low sulfur heating oil to create Bioheat heating oil.

Our New Haven plant was built in 2012, became operational in 2013, and presently employs more than 40 people. Currently, we have the capacity to produce approximately 40 million gallons of biodiesel annually.

As part of the Kolmar Americas family, we continue to work hard to increase the amount of biodiesel that we produce for the marketplace  which creates more jobs for Connecticut and provides greater benefits to both the environment and the economy.

SOURCE American GreenFuels, LLC

Related Links

http://www.AmericanGreenFuelsCT.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AvidXchange, a leading fintech provider of accounts payable (AP) and payment automation solutions for midsize companies, announced that it will expand its corporate headquarters, adding over 1,200 new jobs made possible in part by a recently awarded North Carolina Job Development Investment Grant. This announcement comes on the heels of the company confirming that it exceeded its original Job Development Investment Grant commitment made in 2015 by 42%. This is in addition to commitments made to grow the company's operations center in Sandy, Utah, with plans to add up to an additional 218 jobs there over the next five years.

The announcement was made by AvidXchange CEO Michael Praeger and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper during a press conference on Tuesday at the company's headquarters.

AvidXchange will add a variety of positions with this expansion, including software development, financial, marketing, and professional services personnel. Salaries for the new positions will average $68,569, exceeding the current Mecklenburg County average wage. The new positions will be introduced progressively over the next five years. The North Carolina Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) led the state's support for the company's expansion.

"AvidXchange has realized incredible growth over the past four years. When we broke ground on our new campus in 2015, we had 300 employees. Today we have more than 1,200 and we expect to double that again in the next five years," said AvidXchange CEO Michael Praeger. "Our employees are the heart of our business, allowing us to continue to innovate and provide amazing service to our customers. I'm thrilled to have the support of the Charlotte community and State of North Carolina to continue to help us grow here."

The North Carolina Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) is a performance-based, discretionary incentive program that provides cash grants to new and expanding companies to help offset the cost of locating or expanding a facility in the state. Using a formula that takes into account the new tax revenues generated by the new jobs, the JDIG agreement authorizes the potential reimbursement to the company of up to $19,614,000, spread over 12 years. Over the term of this grant, the project is anticipated to grow the state's economy by an estimated $2.6 billion. This is the second time AvidXchange has been awarded a JDIG. The first grant, worth a potential $7.5 million over its 12-year life, coincided with the company's groundbreaking of its Charlotte headquarters in 2014. AvidXchange's first JDIG commitment called for the addition of 481 new North Carolina jobs between 2015 and 2017. AvidXchange surpassed its commitment to the state by adding 683 jobs within the time frame.

"North Carolina leads the nation in the IT and financial services industries," Governor Cooper said. "North Carolina's talented workforce helps companies like AvidXchange develop big ideas and build innovative products."

Partnering with the North Carolina Department of Commerce and the EDPNC on this project were the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Community College System, Mecklenburg County, the City of Charlotte, Duke Energy and the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance.

About AvidXchange

AvidXchange revolutionizes the way companies pay their bills. Serving more than 5,500 clients throughout North America, AvidXchange is an industry leader in automating invoice and payment processes for midmarket companies spanning multiple industries including Real Estate, Financial Services, Construction, Health and Human Resources, and Hospitality. AvidXchange has been recognized as the top software company in North Carolina by the North Carolina Technology Association, one of the 50 fastest-growing private companies in the Charlotte area for six consecutive years, ranked among Deloitte's Fast 500 this past year, and was recently named the top 100 technology companies in North America by Red Herring. In the midst of record growth, AvidXchange has remained true to its most valued competitive advantageits people. AvidXchange has been recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Charlotte for eight consecutive years. For more information, contact us at 800.560.9305 or [email protected].

SOURCE AvidXchange

Related Links

http://www.avidxchange.com

PANAMA CITY, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. ("Bladex" or the "Bank") today announced the successful closing of a US$50 million 5-year senior, secured, amortizing acquisition finance facility (the "Facility") for G.B. Group Corporation, the parent company of Global Bank Corporation ("Global Bank").

Established in Panama in 1994, Global Bank is the second largest Panamanian-owned bank, with US$6.5 billion in assets, US$5.0 billion in loans and US$3.5 billion in deposits as of June 30, 2018. The bank is rated BBB- (stable outlook) from both S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings.

Bladex acted as Joint Lead Arranger and Bookrunner, together with JP Morgan Chase & Co. Bladex is also the Administrative Agent under the Facility.

Proceeds of the Facility were used to support Global Banks acquisition of Banco Panameno de la Vivienda, S.A. ("Banvivienda"), the fifth largest Panamanian-owned bank in terms of assets. Through the acquisition, Global Bank will strengthen its market position in the country, increasing its total assets by more than U$1.8 billion, diversify its loan portfolio mix, mainly in the consumer loan segment, and enlarge its deposit base with more than 39,000 new clients.

The Facility attracted the interest of various financial institutions from Central America and the Caribbean, Europe and North America, some of which represent new banking relationships for Global Bank.

This transaction marks the second syndicated facility co-arranged by Bladex for Global Bank, following a US$135.5 million medium-term facility successfully closed in 2016.

Gabriel Tolchinsky, Chief Executive Officer of Bladex, stated: "We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to support Global Bank with medium-term financing for its strategic acquisition and to have teamed-up with JP Morgan to structure a tailor-made solution. The success of the transaction attests to Bladexs strong origination, structuring and syndication capabilities and its commitment to help its clients grow their businesses in the Region."

Jorge E. Vallarino Miranda, Executive Vice President of Global Bank, highlighted: "The acquisition of Banvivienda shows our shareholders' continued commitment to the development of Panama's financial sector. This transaction solidifies Global Bank's market position and will generate significant value for our customers and investors. We would like to thank the Joint Lead Arrangers and participating financial institutions for their continued support in growing our business."

Bladex, a multinational bank originally established by the central banks of Latin-American and Caribbean countries, began operations in 1979 to promote foreign trade and economic integration in the Region. The Bank, headquartered in Panama, also has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and the United States of America, supporting the regional expansion and servicing its customer base, which includes financial institutions and corporations.

Bladex is listed on the NYSE in the United States of America (NYSE: BLX), since 1992, and its shareholders include: central banks and state-owned banks and entities representing 23 Latin American countries; commercial banks and financial institutions; and institutional and retail investors through its public listing.

For further information on Bladex, please access its website at www.bladex.com or contact:

Monica Cosulich  VP, Finance and Investor Relations

E-mail address: [email protected] Tel.: (+507) 210-8563

Head Office Address: Torre V, Business Park, Avenida La Rotonda, Urb. Costa del Este,

Panama, Republic of Panama

SOURCE Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (Bladex)

Related Links

http://www.bladex.com

PHOENIX, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) and Phoenix Children's Hospital announced the two organizations reached agreement on a new three-year contract. Under this new Contract, Phoenix Children's Hospital will continue to be an in-network provider for BCBSAZ members and those families insured under plans that utilize the BCBSAZ network.

"We are very glad to continue to be a participating provider with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona," said Robert Meyer, President and CEO of Phoenix Children's Hospital. "This new contract will allow Phoenix Children's to maintain our quality standards and continue providing comprehensive services and specialized care to Arizona's children covered by BCBSAZ."

The new agreement covers Phoenix Children's wide range of services for BCBSAZ members, including Phoenix Children's inpatient care, outpatient care, physician and ancillary providers, imaging, laboratory tests, surgery, emergency department care, specialty and urgent care centers, as well as other Phoenix Children's facilities and services.

"Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and Phoenix Children's have a longstanding relationship and together we will continue to provide care to children and families across the state," said Pam Kehaly, President and CEO, BCBSAZ. "Our three-year agreement reinforces our commitment to ensuring our member families have access and support to the care they need, when they need it most."

About Phoenix Children's Hospital

Phoenix Children's is Arizona's only children's hospital recognized by U.S. News & World Report's Best Children's Hospitals. For 35 years, Phoenix Children's has provided world-class inpatient, outpatient, trauma, emergency and urgent care to children and families in Arizona and throughout the Southwest. As one of the largest children's hospitals in the country, Phoenix Children's delivers care across more than 75 pediatric specialties. Recognized specifically for its patient-focused innovation, medical education, growth and research, Phoenix Children's was named Business of the Year and Exceptional Innovator by the Greater Phoenix Chamber in 2018. For more information about the Hospital, visit http://www.phoenixchildrens.org.

About BlueCross BlueShield of Arizona

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) is committed to helping Arizonans get healthier faster and stay healthier longer. With a focus on connecting people with the care they need, BCBSAZ offers health insurance and related services to more than 1.5 million customers. BCBSAZ, a not-for-profit company, is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. The company employs nearly 1,500 people in its Phoenix, Chandler, Flagstaff, and Tucson offices. Through advanced clinical programs and community outreach, BCBSAZ is inspiring health. To learn more, visit azblue.com.

SOURCE Phoenix Childrens Hospital

Related Links

http://www.phoenixchildrens.org

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery recently hosted its annual Partner Appreciation Breakfast in appreciation of the community members and organizations that worked with CITGO throughout 2018. The event was held at the Art Museum of South Texas and more than 150 representatives from local non-profit organizations and area businesses attended along with city and county dignitaries.

The celebration served as an opportunity for CITGO to acknowledge the organizations and community leaders who contribute to the company's commitment of "Fueling Good" in the Coastal Bend. "CITGO understands that we operate as a privilege in the communities where we live and work," said Trina Martinez, Vice President & General Manager of the CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery. "The connections we share with our community partners allow CITGO to advance our pledge to improve the quality of life for the communities across our operational foot print. As part of this commitment, we invest in a wide variety of social programs and encourage our employees to implement a culture of volunteerism as part of their daily lives."

In early 2018, CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery partnered with Habitat for Humanity Aransas to launch "Fueling Good. Rebuilding Lives" in the Coastal Bend. "With CITGO funding and their volunteers' support, we have helped and are currently helping 30 plus families get back to a place of being made whole," said Patty Butters executive director for Habitat for Humanity Aransas. "Thanks to CITGO, we are now in a place to continue to help with disaster recovery in our community. CITGO has brought compassion, hope and renewal to a broken community when it was needed the most."

CITGO founded "Fueling Good. Rebuilding Lives." in 2017. Its outreach is dedicated to community recovery in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. Through this initiative, CITGO has committed $10.9 million to storm recovery over the next three years, rebuilding homes and providing relief throughout Texas, including in the Coastal Bend region.

About CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery

The CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery, which celebrated 80 years of operations in 2015, provides more than 1,000 jobs locally, while generating more than $345 million per year on average in support of the local economy through salaries, services and taxes. With a crude refining capacity of approximately 157,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) and a versatile product mix, which includes an average of 4.2 million gallons of gasoline, the CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery is one of the most sophisticated and efficient fuel and petrochemical refineries in the nation. In addition to producing high-quality fuels for a network of more than 300 independently owned and operated CITGO branded stations in the State of Texas and thousands more across the country, CITGO Corpus Christi refinery employees are dedicated to making a positive difference in their communities. CITGO Corpus Christi employees volunteer more than 2,500 hours on average annually to support causes and organizations including United Way, Charlie's Place, Muscular Dystrophy Association, The Miracle League, Catholic Charities, the Special Olympics, Hans and Pat Suter Park and Adopt-A-Beach Clean Up, among many others. For more information, visit www.citgocorpuschristi.com.

About CITGO

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, CITGO Petroleum Corporation is a recognized leader in the refining industry with a well-known brand. CITGO operates three refineries located in Corpus Christi, Texas; Lake Charles, La.; and Lemont, Ill., and wholly and/or jointly owns 48 terminals, nine pipelines and three lubricants blending and packaging plants. With approximately 3,400 employees and a combined crude capacity of approximately 749,000 barrels-per-day (bpd), CITGO is ranked as the sixth-largest, and one of the most complex independent refiners in the United States. CITGO transports and markets transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products and supplies a network of approximately 5,200 locally owned and operated branded retail outlets in 30 states and the District of Columbia. CITGO Petroleum Corporation is owned by CITGO Holding, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. For more information, visit www.citgo.com.

SOURCE CITGO

Related Links

http://www.citgo.com

HONG KONG, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CNOOC Limited (the "Company", SEHK: 00883,NYSE: CEO, TSX: CNU) announced today that its parent company, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), has signed Strategic Cooperation Agreements with 9 international oil companies including: Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Equinor, Husky, KUFPEC, Roc Oil, Shell, SK Innovation and TOTAL (in alphabetical order).

According to the agreements, the Strategic Cooperation Areas are located in the Pearl River Mouth Basin offshore China, including Area A and Area B (existing mining license areas and the contract areas are not included). Area A is approximately 15,300 square kilometers, with a water depth of 80-120 meters and only open for the deep layers below Enping Formation of Paleogene. Area B is approximately 48,700 square kilometers, with a water depth of 500-3,000 meters and open for all the layers.

The agreements will facilitate the establishment of a long term and stable cooperation and share the development opportunities to a certain extent in the Strategic Cooperation Areas, creating conditions for the final signing of contracts. CNOOC Limited, as an independent oil and gas exploration and production company, is the only vehicle through which CNOOC engages in exploration, development, production and sale of crude oil and natural gas.

Notes to Editors:

More information about the Company is available at http://www.cnoocltd.com.



This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding expected future events, business prospectus or financial results. The words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors the Company believes are appropriate under the circumstances. However, whether actual results and developments will meet the expectations and predictions of the Company depends on a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause the actual results, performance and financial condition to differ materially from the Company's expectations, including but not limited to those associated with fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas prices, the exploration or development activities, the capital expenditure requirements, the business strategy, whether the transactions entered into by the Group can complete on schedule pursuant to their terms and timetable or at all, the highly competitive nature of the oil and natural gas industries, the foreign operations, environmental liabilities and compliance requirements, and economic and political conditions in the People's Republic of China. For a description of these and other risks and uncertainties, please see the documents the Company files from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 20-F filed in April of the latest fiscal year.

Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. The Company cannot assure that the results or developments anticipated will be realised or, even if substantially realised, that they will have the expected effect on the Company, its business or operations.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Ms. Jing Liu

Manager, Media & Public Relations

CNOOC Limited

Tel: +86-10-8452-3404

Fax: +86-10-8452-1441

E-mail: [email protected]

Ms. Iris Wong

Hill+Knowlton Strategies Asia

Tel: +852-2894-6263

Fax: +852-2576-1990

E-mail: [email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20150819/8521505396LOGO

SOURCE CNOOC Limited

Related Links

http://www.cnoocltd.com

TURKU, Finland, December 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

DelSiTech Ltd, a Finnish drug delivery technology and drug development company and Innovare R&D, a leading Mexican pharmaceutical company, have signed a world-wide, exclusive licence agreement for the use of DelSiTech's Silica Matrix drug delivery platform in the development and commercialisation of a long acting HIV therapy.

Under the terms of the agreement, Innovare will use DelSiTech's technology on its peptide membrane fusion inhibitor, targeting the envelope protein of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1). DelSiTech is entitled to receive an upfront payment, milestone payments and royalties on development, commercialization and sales of the Silica Matrix formulated T1144 drug product. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

"This agreement with Innovare follows an already successful and long-lasting collaboration on this peptide", said Dr. Lasse Leino, CEO of DelSiTech. "Using DelSiTech's platform, we have developed a long acting and controlled release form of Innovare's peptide drug showing excellent in vitro and in vivo release control with high payloads that have not been accomplished using competing technologies. We are very excited about the next stage of development of this product."

The difficulties faced in the past to formulate this peptide, using other technologies even for shorter release times than the one achieved, proves the robustness of DelSiTech's Technology which can be applied to any type of molecule. We are very excited by this collaboration and to play a key role in development of new long acting drugs to improve patients' outcomes in HIV" said Mr. Gerardo Cardenas Vogel, General Director, CEO of Innovare .

About DelSiTech Ltd

DelSiTech Ltd. located in Turku, Finland, is the leading technology specialist in biodegradable silica-based controlled release of small molecule drugs, biopharmaceuticals and viral vectors. It develops and commercializes its proprietary, drug delivery technology in collaboration with a number of pharma and biotech companies to turn their ideas into novel drug products. In addition, the Company is developing its own pipeline of supergeneric/505(b)(2) products to address significant unmet medical and commercial needs. Its lead product, a long acting antiviral product for hepatitis B, will enter the clinic in 2019. For more information, see www.delsitech.com

DelSiTechTMSilica Matrix

This is an advanced delivery technology for parenteral and local administration of injectable and implant dosage forms as well as eye drops. The proprietary technology is based on silica (SiO 2 ) matrix into which the molecule or therapeutic agent of interest is embedded using a process called sol-gel. The resulting Matrix is non-porous, biocompatible and it can be designed to biodegrade by matrix dissolution at the desired rate to ensure a tightly controlled release of the active substance over periods of days up to many months or a year. One important feature of DelSiTech's technology is that it can be applied to all types of molecules including therapeutic peptides of various lengths.

About Innovare R. & D., S.A. DE C.V.

Innovare R&D, located in Mexico City, Mexico, englobes a group of pharmaceutical companies that develop and commercialize drugs in the areas of haematology, immunology, infectious disease, CNS, as well as urology. Innovare R&D has built a unique partnering model with biopharmaceutical companies by implementing a strategy to prove the applicability of their platform. For such, we work in close collaboration with partners throughout the United States and Europe implementing feasibility studies in order to enable the further clinical development of each product. www.innovare-rd.com.mx

SOURCE DelSiTechInitiation of Environmental Assessment process: The submission of a Project Description ("PD"), to Federal and Provincial Regulatory Authorities is planned for early 2019, which is expected to initiate a multi-year EA, consultation, and permitting processes for the project.





The submission of a Project Description ("PD"), to Federal and Provincial Regulatory Authorities is planned for early 2019, which is expected to initiate a multi-year EA, consultation, and permitting processes for the project. Commencement of ISR wellfield tests: Field tests involving the drilling of ISR wells into the Phoenix deposit will be designed to assess permeability throughout the deposit by completing pump and other hydraulic tests within the orezone. The drilling of ISR wells will also allow for the collection of additional groundwater and ore samples, as well as provide assistance in refining the estimated cost of wellfield development.





Field tests involving the drilling of ISR wells into the deposit will be designed to assess permeability throughout the deposit by completing pump and other hydraulic tests within the orezone. The drilling of ISR wells will also allow for the collection of additional groundwater and ore samples, as well as provide assistance in refining the estimated cost of wellfield development. Initiation of metallurgical ISR pilot plant testing : Extensive laboratory studies replicating the ISR flowsheet are planned to test and optimize the mineral processing aspects of the Phoenix operation. Studies are expected to include the assessment of lixiviant chemistry and performance under a variety of permeability and grade conditions.





: Extensive laboratory studies replicating the ISR flowsheet are planned to test and optimize the mineral processing aspects of the operation. Studies are expected to include the assessment of lixiviant chemistry and performance under a variety of permeability and grade conditions. Discovery focused exploration program: Following years of delineation drilling for the Phoenix and Gryphon deposits, planned exploration activities in 2019 are designed to evaluate high priority regional target areas by focusing on initial testing of targets at the sub- Athabasca unconformity  which could lead to the discovery of further uranium deposits that may be amenable to ISR mining.

David Cates, President and CEO of Denison, commented "With the potential for a Phoenix ISR operation to have the industry's lowest operating cost per pound of U 3 O 8 , as outlined in the Wheeler River PFS, the Board of Directors unanimously approved the advancement of the project and the 2019 budget. The initiation of the EA process, as well as engineering and field studies designed to ultimately support a feasibility study, illustrates the Company's commitment to achieving the project development timeline outlined in the PFS and claiming the 'pole-position' amongst undeveloped uranium projects in the Athabasca Basin region. With plans for 2019 including a discovery-oriented exploration program and various engineering programs designed to de-risk the mine plan for the Phoenix ISR operation, we have the potential for several meaningful catalysts to emerge during the year."

A location map of the Wheeler River project is provided in Figure 1, showing existing and proposed infrastructure. Figure 2 shows the location of the high priority regional target areas planned for exploration drill testing in 2019.

Figure 1: Location map of the Wheeler River project, showing existing and proposed infrastructure (Full Resolution)

Figure 2: Location of the high priority regional target areas planned for exploration drill testing in 2019, shown on the Wheeler River basement geology map. (Full Resolution)



Wheeler River PFS: Phoenix ISR Highlights

The PFS considers the potential economic merit of co-developing the Phoenix and Gryphon deposits. The high-grade Phoenix deposit is designed as an ISR mining operation, with associated processing to a finished product occurring at a plant to be built on site at Wheeler River. Based on the PFS plan, first production from Phoenix is expected in 2024, with the development of the Gryphon deposit to follow with first production from Gryphon projected for 2030. The Phoenix operation is estimated to have a base case pre-tax Net Present Value ("NPV") of $930.4 million (at 8% discount rate) representing the large majority of the project's overall estimated pre-tax NPV(8%) of $1.31 billion  which includes the self-funding development of the Gryphon operation from cash-flows generated by the Phoenix operation.

The novel use of the ISR mining method at Phoenix pairs the world's lowest cost uranium mining method with the world's highest grade undeveloped uranium deposit (Phoenix)  in what could prove to be one of the world's (1) lowest cost and (2) most environmentally friendly and responsible uranium mining operations.

Industry leading operating costs and comparatively low initial capex with ISR for Phoenix

Mine life 10 years (6.0 million lbs U 3 O 8 per year on average) Probable reserves(1) 59.7 million lbs U 3 O 8 (141,000 tonnes at 19.1% U 3 O 8 ) Average cash operating costs $4.33 (US$3.33) per lb U 3 O 8 Initial capital costs $322.5 million (100%) Base case pre-tax IRR(2) 43.3% Base case pre-tax NPV 8% (2) $930.4 million (100%) Base case price assumption UxC spot price(3) (from ~US$29 to US$45/lb U 3 O 8 ) Operating profit margin(4) 89.0% at US$29/lb U 3 O 8 All-in cost(5) $11.57 (US$8.90) per lb U 3 O 8





(1) For further details on mineral reserves refer to the NI 43-101 Technical Report on Wheeler River titled "Pre-feasibility Study for the

Wheeler River Uranium Project, Saskatchewan, Canada" dated October 30, 2018 available on Denison's website or on SEDAR at

www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml (2) NPV and IRR are calculated to the start of pre-production activities for the Phoenix operation in 2021; (3) Spot price forecast is based on "Composite Midpoint" scenario from UxC's Q3'2018 Uranium Market Outlook ("UMO") and is stated

in constant (not-inflated) dollars; (4) Operating profit margin is calculated as uranium revenue less operating costs, divided by uranium revenue. Operating costs

exclude all royalties, surcharges and income taxes; (5) All-in cost is estimated on a pre-tax basis and includes all project operating costs and capital costs, divided by the estimated

number of pounds U3O8 to be produced

Environmental advantages of ISR mining at Phoenix  The Company's evaluation of the ISR mining method for Phoenix has also identified several significant environmental and permitting advantages, namely the absence of tailings generation, the potential for no water discharge to surface water bodies, and the potential to use the existing Provincial power grid to operate on a near zero carbon emissions basis. In addition, the use of a freeze wall, to encapsulate the ore zone and contain the lixiviant used in an ISR operation, eliminates common environmental concerns associated with ISR mining and facilitates a controlled reclamation of the site. Taken together, the Phoenix operation has the potential to be one of the most environmentally friendly mining operations in the world. Owing largely to these benefits, consultation with federal and provincial representatives and stakeholder communities, to date, has been encouraging regarding the use of ISR mining.

Initiation of Environmental Assessment process

The PFS process identified the EA as a key element of the project's critical path. The PFS estimated a 3-4 year timeline to receive approvals under the existing regulations of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act ("CEAA 2012"), allowing for construction to commence in 2022 with first production planned by 2024.

After careful consideration of the risks and opportunities associated with permitting and concurrent advancement of project engineering activities, the Company has decided to submit a PD and initiate the EA process in early 2019 for the Phoenix ISR operation, and to bring the Gryphon operation forward, at a later date, as required to achieve the PFS plan of Gryphon first production by 2030. This is expected to simplify the EA and permitting process for the Phoenix operation and reduce the capital required to advance the project to a definitive development decision.

EA related expenditures planned for 2019 are estimated to be $2.5 million (100% basis) and, in addition to advancing the actual EA process, will include the continuation and expansion of the collection of certain baseline environmental data and the continuation of stakeholder consultation efforts.

Commencement of ISR wellfield tests

Additional field and laboratory work is needed to increase confidence and reduce risk in the ISR application at Phoenix. While preliminary field data supports the use of ISR, the ability to move fluids through the ore zone is an important technical risk that requires additional evaluation ahead of the initiation of a formal Feasibility Study ("FS").

ISR field testing planned for 2019 is expected to include the installation of approximately 15 to 20 ISR wells into the Phoenix orebody, which is expected to provide a representative test of the various ore domains associated with Phoenix and the expected conditions in actual ISR operations. The field test is expected to have the following key objectives:

Confirm the ability to pump fluids through the various domains of the orebody and quantify volumes, pressures and other conditions required within the ore zones and surrounding host rock;

Confirm the ability, costs and schedule to drill larger diameter (8 inch) boreholes and set impermeable casings within the ground surrounding Phoenix ;

; Confirm baseline water conditions in, and surrounding, the deposit for the design of water treatment during operations, closure plans and the completion of expected environmental assessments;

Obtain additional representative ore samples from core drilling to facilitate extensive ISR metallurgical testing; and

Obtain surface geotechnical data of soils for foundation designs.

Expenditures related to the field testing planned for 2019 are estimated to be $2.4 million (100% basis).

Initiation of metallurgical ISR pilot plant testing

The PFS results are based on metallurgical test work which was focused on proving the applicability of ISR mining (via column test) and leachability (via conventional leach tests) for the development of the Phoenix operation. As the project advances through the EA process and towards the initiation of a FS, additional metallurgical test work is required to both test and optimize the metallurgical processing elements of the Phoenix operation. A customized laboratory test program is expected to be developed to properly achieve the desired metallurgical test objectives  which are likely to include the following:

Assess the performance of different lixiviants in a variety of permeability and grade conditions;

Evaluate the potential for build-up of contaminants in the lixiviant;

Evaluate opportunities to recover rare earth metals as a by-product;

Increase confidence in the concentration of the lixiviant for the process plant design; and

Improve confidence in ground restoration abilities and cost estimates.

A laboratory scale pilot plant is planned to run over a one-year period, starting during the second half of 2019, with approximately $0.5 million (100% basis) budgeted for the setup and initial operation of the pilot plant in 2019.

Other project development activities

A further approximately $1.7 million (100% basis) is budgeted for project development / evaluation related activities in 2019, including the completion of certain third-party review studies, additional engineering trade-off studies related to the proposed Gryphon operation, program management costs, and operator fees to the WRJV.

The 2019 program is part of a multi-year project development plan that calls for the completion of a FS by the end of 2020 and receipt of final environmental and permitting approvals in 2021 or 2022  which is expected to position Denison to make a definitive development decision on the project. Future activities in 2020 and beyond may include:

Drilling of pilot / test freeze holes to increase confidence in costs associated with establishing the freeze wall surrounding the Phoenix deposit;

deposit; Completion of condemnation drilling and mineral resource updates at Phoenix to ensure potentially economic mineral resources are encapsulated within the freeze wall perimeter; and

to ensure potentially economic mineral resources are encapsulated within the freeze wall perimeter; and Initiation of a formal FS in accordance with NI 43-101.

Discovery focused exploration program

The 2019 budget also calls for a $3.2 million (100% basis) discovery focused exploration program at Wheeler River. The program consists exclusively of diamond drilling, including approximately 13,500 metres in 23 planned drill holes.

Following the completion of the PFS and given the highly encouraging results from the proposed Phoenix ISR operation, the exploration drilling program will be focused on initial testing of targets at the sub-Athabasca unconformity, with the potential to discover additional ISR amenable uranium deposits. Potential for basement hosted uranium mineralization will not be ignored where opportunities also exist to evaluate prospective basement targets.

High priority regional target areas planned for testing in 2019 include K West, M Zone, K South, Gryphon South, Q South (East), and O Zone, each of which is shown in Figure 2.

About Wheeler River

Wheeler River is the largest undeveloped uranium project in the infrastructure rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin region, in northern Saskatchewan  including combined Indicated Mineral Resources of 132.1 million pounds U 3 O 8 at an average grade of 3.3% U 3 O 8 , plus combined Inferred Mineral Resources of 3.0 million pounds U 3 O 8 at an average grade of 1.7% U 3 O 8 . The project is host to the high-grade Phoenix and Gryphon uranium deposits (discovered by Denison in 2008 and 2014, respectively), and is a joint venture between Denison (90% and operator) and JCU (Canada) Exploration Company Limited (10%).

A PFS was completed, considering the potential economic merit of co-developing the high-grade Phoenix and Gryphon deposits, the results of which were announced on September 24, 2018. Taken together, the project is estimated to have mine production of 109.4 million pounds U 3 O 8 over a 14-year mine life, with a base case pre-tax NPV of $1.31 billion (8% discount rate), Internal Rate of Return ("IRR") of 38.7%, and initial pre-production capital expenditures of $322.5 million. The PFS is prepared on a project (100% ownership) and pre-tax basis, as each of the partners to the Wheeler River Joint Venture ("WRJV") are subject to different tax and other obligations.

Further details regarding the Wheeler River project, including additional scientific and technical information relevant to the PFS, as well as after-tax results attributable to Denison's ownership interest, are described in greater detail in the NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Wheeler River project titled "Pre-feasibility Study for the Wheeler River Uranium Project, Saskatchewan, Canada" dated October 30, 2018 with an effective date of September 24, 2018. A copy of this report is available on Denison's website and under its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

Qualified Persons

The disclosure of the results of the PFS contained in this news release, including the mineral reserves, was reviewed and approved by Peter Longo, P. Eng, MBA, PMP, Denison's Vice-President, Project Development, who is a Qualified Person in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101.

The disclosure of a scientific or technical nature regarding the Phoenix and Gryphon deposits, including the mineral resources, contained in this news release was reviewed and approved by Dale Verran, MSc, P.Geo., Pr.Sci.Nat., Denison's Vice President, Exploration, who is a Qualified Person in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101.

For a description of the data verification, assay procedures and the quality assurance program and quality control measures applied by Denison in its exploration activities, please see Denison's Annual Information Form dated March 27, 2018 filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About Denison

Denison is a uranium exploration and development company with interests focused in the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan, Canada. In addition to its 90% owned Wheeler River project, which ranks as the largest undeveloped high-grade uranium project in the infrastructure rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin region, Denison's Athabasca Basin exploration portfolio consists of numerous projects covering approximately 320,000 hectares. Denison's interests in the Athabasca Basin also include a 22.5% ownership interest in the McClean Lake joint venture ("MLJV"), which includes several uranium deposits and the McClean Lake uranium mill, which is currently processing ore from the Cigar Lake mine under a toll milling agreement, plus a 25.17% interest in the Midwest and Midwest A deposits, and a 65.92% interest in the J Zone and Huskie deposits on the Waterbury Lake property. Each of Midwest, Midwest A, J Zone and Huskie are located within 20 kilometres of the McClean Lake mill.

Denison is also engaged in mine decommissioning and environmental services through its Denison Environmental Services division and is the manager of Uranium Participation Corp., a publicly traded company which invests in uranium oxide and uranium hexafluoride.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information", within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and similar Canadian legislation concerning the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Denison.

Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes", or the negatives and / or variations of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur", "be achieved" or "has the potential to". In particular, this press release contains forward-looking information pertaining to the results of, and estimates, assumptions and projections provided in, the PFS, including future development methods and plans, market prices, costs and capital expenditures; the Company's current plans with respect to the commencement and completion of an EA and feasibility study on the project; assumptions regarding Denison's ability to obtain all necessary regulatory approvals to commence development; Denison's percentage interest in its projects and its agreements with its joint venture partners; and the availability of services to be provided by third parties. Statements relating to "mineral resources" are deemed to be forward-looking information, as they involve the implied assessment, based on certain estimates and assumptions that the mineral resources described can be profitably produced in the future.

Forward looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made, and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Denison to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Denison faces certain risks, including the inability to permit or develop the project as currently planned, the unpredictability of market prices, the use of mining methods which are novel and untested in the Athabasca Basin, events that could materially increase costs, changes in the regulatory environment governing the project lands, and unanticipated claims against title and rights to the project. Denison believes that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable but there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and may differ materially from those anticipated in this forward looking information. For a discussion in respect of risks and other factors that could influence forward-looking events, please refer to the "Risk Factors" in Denison's Annual Information Form dated March 27, 2018 available under its profile at www.sedar.com and its Form 40-F available at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. These factors are not, and should not be construed as being exhaustive.

Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Any forward-looking information and the assumptions made with respect thereto speaks only as of the date of this press release. Denison does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information after the date of this press release to conform such information to actual results or to changes in its expectations except as otherwise required by applicable legislation.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources and Probable Mineral Reserves: This news release may use the terms 'measured', 'indicated' and 'inferred' mineral resources. United States investors are advised that while such terms have been prepared in accordance with the definition standards on mineral reserves of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum referred to in Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Mineral Disclosure Standards ("NI 43-101") and are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") does not recognize them. 'Inferred mineral resources' have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. United States investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of measured or indicated mineral resources will ever be converted into mineral reserves. United States investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists, or is economically or legally mineable. The estimates of mineral reserves in this press release have been prepared in accordance with 43-101. The definition of probable mineral reserves used in NI 43-101 differs from the definition used by the SEC in the SEC's Industry Guide 7. Under the requirements of the SEC, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made, pursuant to a "final" or "bankable" feasibility study that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. Accordingly, Denison's probable mineral reserves disclosure may not be comparable to information from U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC.

SOURCE Denison Mines Corp.

Related Links

www.denisonmines.com

FAIRFAX, Va., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) announced today it will provide technology support services to the U.S. Department of Education through a new contract. The Portfolio of Integrated Value-Oriented Technologies - Integration (PIVOT-I) contract was awarded to SRA International LLC, a managed affiliate of GDIT. It holds an estimated ceiling value of $208 million and includes a base period of six months, with five one-year options and two award terms.

"We are excited to work with the Department of Education and provide a rapid integration of our next-generation technology," said Gil Dussek, Vice President for GDIT's Federal Civilian Division. "Through GDIT's legacy of integration excellence, we will combine unique tools and techniques to simplify the process and enable the department to accelerate important tasks. We look forward to making their mission a success."

The Department of Education PIVOT contracts support a new portfolio of integrated, value-oriented technologies designed to optimize user experience. They also foster innovation to increase opportunities for improved IT infrastructure efficiency and effectiveness. GDIT, as the PIVOT Integrator (PIVOT-I), will play a central role in the new Education IT enterprise. The company will provide situational awareness on status reporting, performance metrics, resource utilization, asset location and security incidents.

Through GDIT's experience operating in a complex, multi-vendor environment, the department will expand its capabilities, including end-user services, network, security and operations management. GDIT will also leverage its managed services portfolio and its Integrated Technology Center in Bossier City, Louisiana to provide a cost-effective model. This will allow a full operational awareness of the department's IT enterprise and inform future investment decisions. GDIT will also provide end-user support, unified communications, engineering, infrastructure oversight and monitoring support services.

For more information about General Dynamics Information Technology, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), please visit www.gdit.com.

SOURCE General Dynamics Information Technology

Related Links

http://www.gdit.com

With the increasing costs of medical services, people are forgoing medical treatment in fear of how much it may cost them. Eligible is on a mission to change this by reinventing the current manual, error prone process that is used in most facilities today. It is Eligible's goal is to bring coverage and cost verification out of the stone age in order to better protect the patient from surprise medical bills and allow for greater care options.

Eligible's Hosted Eligibility Solution enables new insurers to support legacy protocols mandated for all insurers. Oscar's integration provides access to coverage and benefit information for Oscar members, which includes the information patients need to make care option decisions. Integrating Eligible's Hosted Eligibility Solution is simple for both providers and insurers alike. Providers using Eligible's platform can send eligibility and benefit requests to Oscar with no additional effort or setup. In addition, a payer can integrate with Eligible's Hosted Eligibility Solution in less than one engineer's work day. The nature of this offering provides insurers with both instant compliance and an interoperable design making it the perfect solution for new payers who may not have the time or resources to build mandated x12 interfaces.

Within days of the release of Eligible's hosted solution, Oscar's patient eligibility was set up to reach over 100,000 providers across the country including Radnet, a leading Radiology group with locations in 7 states. Radnet integrated Eligible's Oscar solution at their 341 imaging centers to provide their patients a transparent cost estimate at the time of service. The use of Eligible's Oscar Hosted Eligibility Solution decreases the chances of surprise medical bills, thus increasing cost transparency for the patient and creating a better patient experience. It also provides a more streamlined automated option to confirm patient coverage and eligibility making it a win for both the patient and the provider.

With the help of disruptive new health insurers and patient focused Healthcare Systems, Eligible is dedicated to continuing their Patient Protection Promise Initiative. It is Eligible's goal to further revolutionize the medical billing process to ensure that no patient goes untreated due to the fear of unknown costs. There is a long battle ahead for patient cost transparency within healthcare, but Eligible is at the helm of the fight and won't give up until their mission is achieved.

About Eligible

Eligible is the leading billing infrastructure company for healthcare in the U.S. Eligible's API enables providers and other healthcare services to present patients with an easy-to-understand bill even before they enter the doctor's office. The company works with more than 2,000 insurers, covering more than 90% of the insured U.S. population, along with the country's leading healthcare providers, including Cleveland Clinic, HMS Holdings, and RadNet Radiology. Eligible's technology also powers modern healthcare services like Omada, Heal, and Carbon Health. Eligible is a New York-based company backed by more than $25 million in funding from Silicon Valley's leading investors. For more information, visit https://eligible.com/.

About Oscar

Oscar, founded by Josh Kushner and Mario Schlosser, is a patient focused healthcare solution which was born out of necessity for transparency in medical billing and coverage. Currently doing business in 9 states including Ohio, New York, and California, Oscars plans cover 200,000 individuals and small businesses. Oscar's mission is not only to provide care options for their members, but to ensure that they are providing quality care options. To accomplish their goal, they have partnered with more than half of the top 20 health systems in the U.S.

Contact:

Kelly Gentile

[email protected]

SOURCE Eligible

Related Links

https://eligible.com

PHOENIX, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Execs In The Know, a community of senior brand leaders dedicated to customer experience, have announced the details of their national event  Customer Response Summit (CRS) New Orleans. The Summit will be held February 4th-6th, 2019. Customer engagement, AI, emotional loyalty, advanced technologies, and other CX topics will be covered over three days of discussion, case studies, panels, and small group presentations. The conference will include keynotes from executives at Tesla, HomeAway at Expedia, Inc., and Peloton.

The Customer Response Summit brings customer service senior leaders across varied brands and verticals together, with the objective of bringing excellent customer experience alive in their own organizations. The three-day Summit will feature top-tier brands sharing insights, engaging in networking opportunities, and presenting real-world CX solutions.

"I am continually impressed with the individuals that join us at our Summits," said Chad McDaniel, President and CEO of Execs In The Know. "We attract innovative brand leaders to our community, making it a diverse and dynamic group of people whose main goal is to move the needle and achieve the next level of CX greatness. For those who have not been a part of a CRS, I encourage leaders to join us in New Orleansthere's no event like this one."

Other leading corporate brands that will speak at the customer care event include Quicken Loans, Waymo, Square, Symantec, Groupon, Marriott, and more.

To learn more, visit the event website at https://www.execsintheknow.com/events/crs-new-orleans/.

About Execs In The Know

Execs In The Know is a global community of customer experience professionals focused on excellence in customer experience. Execs In The Know gives brands a platform to share and gain insights, benchmark their brand, stay on top of the latest trends in CX, and create lasting relationships with their peers  "Leaders Learning From Leaders."

Execs In The Know holds numerous live events each year including Customer Response Summit, Subject Matter Briefings, Lunch & Learns, and Dinners. They also offer industry content and thought leadership, webinars, reports, and various social communities. Learn more at www.execsintheknow.com.

SOURCE Execs In The Know

Related Links

http://www.execsintheknow.com

BRISTOL, England, December 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Graphcore reaches $1.7Bn valuation with new funding from leading venture capital, financial and strategic investors including Atomico, BMW i Ventures, Merian Chrysalis Investment Company Limited, Microsoft, Sequoia and Sofina.

Graphcore, a world-leading AI chipmaker, has today announced a new $200 million funding round which values the company at $1.7 billion. BMW i Ventures and Microsoft have joined the round alongside new and existing investors.

This new funding brings the total capital raised by Graphcore to date to over $300M from the world's leading venture capital, financial and strategic investors that also include Robert Bosch, Dell Technologies and Samsung Electronics.

Graphcore has built a completely new kind of processor and software for AI and machine intelligence. It has been shipping first products to early access customers and generated first revenues this year, just two years after the company was founded. High volume production is now ramping up to meet customer demand for its Intelligence Processor Unit (IPU) PCIe processor cards. Graphcore's IPU is the first processor to be designed specifically for machine intelligence training and inference and delivers an increase in speed of 10x to 100x compared to today's hardware.

The company is currently in a stage of rapid global growth, tripling the size of the team and opening new offices in London, Palo Alto and Beijing in 2018. This latest round of funding will allow Graphcore to execute on its product roadmap, accelerate scaling and expand the company's global footprint. It is a further step towards fulfilling the company's ambition to build a global technology company, focused on this new and fast-growing machine intelligence market.

Nigel Toon, CEO and co-founder of Graphcore, said: "Machine intelligence marks the start of a new age of computing which needs a radically different type of processor and software tools. This new, fast growing market creates the opportunity for Graphcore to build a major global technology company that can help innovators in AI achieve important breakthroughs."

This Series D round was led by existing investor Atomico, one of Europe's leading venture capital firms and by new investor, Sofina, a large European investment firm. Merian Global Investors has also joined the round as a major new investor across a number of its managed funds, including Merian Chrysalis Investment Company Limited, in addition to BMW iVentures and Microsoft.

The funding was fully supported with follow on investments from existing investors including: Amadeus Capital Partners, Atomico, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, C4 Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital, Draper Esprit, Foundation Capital, Pitango and Sequoia Capital.

Graphcore has already attracted investments from many of the biggest names in machine intelligence including Demis Hassabis, co-founder of DeepMind, Zoubin Ghahramani of Cambridge University and Chief Scientist at Uber, Pieter Abbeel from UC Berkeley, and Greg Brockman, Scott Grey and Ilya Sutskever, from OpenAI.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as placement agent for Graphcore for this financing round and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP provided legal advice.

About Graphcore

Graphcore's Intelligence Processing Unit (IPU) hardware and software lets innovators create next generation machine intelligence solutions. The IPU is the first processor to be designed specifically for Machine Intelligence and delivers between 10x to 100x speed up compared to today's hardware. Graphcore has raised over $300m in funding from leading financial and strategic investors and is headquartered in Bristol UK, with offices in London UK, Oslo Norway, Palo Alto USA and Beijing China.

More information can be found at https://www.graphcore.ai.

SOURCE GraphcoreAUSTIN, Texas, Dec.18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The holiday countdown is on and for shoppers still attacking some last-minute holiday shopping, make sure to select the right shipping options to avoid any last-minute overspending. For those who have spent the time scouring the internet for the perfect presents, RetailMeNot has compiled the delivery options from over 70 different retailers to ensure that all of the gifts make it in time this year.

Shopping and trends expert for RetailMeNot, Sara Skirboll, says, "Last-minute holiday shopping can be stressful, and holiday burnout is a real thing. Avoid the long lines and crazy crowds by keeping the shopping to online and use websites that offer free shipping or in-store pick up." Skirboll also reminds shoppers that time is of the essence this week. "Retailers have a few tricks up their sleeves to keep shoppers shopping, so I always encourage shoppers to set a time limit for every store they hit. Whether it's the pleasant holiday aromas or music playing throughout the store, it increases shopper's likelihood to make an impulse purchase."

For the full list of delivery options from some of the top retailers this holiday season, check out the RetailMeNot blog, The Real Deal.

Buy Online - Pick Up in Store:

Purchase a product online from the comfort of the couch, wait for the retailer to send an alert when the item is ready, and pick it up at the earliest convenience. If you haven't used this service, not only is it convenient, but it also saves you money since you aren't paying for shipping. Here are a few of the top retailers that offer this delivery option:

Apple

Bed Bath & Beyond

Best Buy

Bloomingdales

Dick's Sporting Goods

Forever 21

Gap

GameStop

Home Depot

JCPenney

Kohl's

Macy's

Nordstrom

PetSmart

Target

World Market

Expedited Shipping:

Amazon: Amazon Prime offers free two-day shipping for a $99 yearly membership fee. If shoppers live in a delivery area for Amazon Prime Now, one-hour delivery is an option for select items. This year, Amazon is offering free shipping with no subscription or minimum purchase on orders delivered through the holidays.

Amazon Prime offers free two-day shipping for a yearly membership fee. If shoppers live in a delivery area for Amazon Prime Now, one-hour delivery is an option for select items. This year, Amazon is offering free shipping with no subscription or minimum purchase on orders delivered through the holidays. Barnes & Noble: For $25 , members can get free express shipping, not to mention 40% off in-store savings on hardcovers and $50 in bonus coupons.

For , members can get free express shipping, not to mention 40% off in-store savings on hardcovers and in bonus coupons. Target: From November 1, 2018 through Saturday, December 22, 2018 , shoppers receive free standard or 2-day shipping online at Target.

From through , shoppers receive free standard or 2-day shipping online at Target. Walmart: On top of free two-day shipping in the U.S. on purchases of at least $35 , Walmart is offering free two-day shipping from both third-party sellers and the retail giant itself, with no membership fee required.

Same-Day Delivery:

While Amazon and Google Express offer this in select cities with their annual memberships, other retailers like Walmart, Home Depot, Macy's and Bloomingdale's also offer same-day delivery to select locations. Head to The Real Deal for a full list of stores that offer same-day delivery:

Amazon

Cost : Non-prime members pay $9.98 for the first item and 99 cents for each additional item. Prime members pay a flat rate of $5.99.

Non-prime members pay $9.98 for the first item and 99 cents for each additional item. Prime members pay a flat rate of $5.99.

Order by : Noon in all cities except Chicago ( 7:45 a.m. ) for delivery by 9 p.m.

Noon in all cities except Chicago ( ) for delivery by 9 p.m. Nordstrom Instant Delivery

Cost : $15

$15

Order by : 1 p.m. for delivery by 8 p.m.

1 p.m. for delivery by 8 p.m. Macy ' s

Cost : $5 for orders qualifying for free shipping and $14.95 for all other orders

for orders qualifying for free shipping and $14.95 for all other orders

Order by : 1 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sundays

1 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sundays Target

Cost : Membership is cost-effective at $14/month or $99/year after a free two-week trial. Members get free delivery on orders over $35.

Membership is cost-effective at $14/month or $99/year after a free two-week trial. Members get free delivery on orders over $35.

Order by: During store hours (varies by location)

Order-by Dates:

The RetailMeNot guide to shipping deadlines will help ensure packages arrive on time. Many stores are offering free shipping deals throughout the holidays, but buyers beware: Just because it's free doesn't mean it will be on time. Shoppers should remember the sooner, the better. Head to The Real Deal for a full list of standard shipping deadlines and requirements.

About RetailMeNot, Inc.

RetailMeNot, Inc. (https://www.retailmenot.com/corp/) is a leading savings destination connecting consumers with retailers, restaurants and brands, both online and in-store. The company enables consumers across the globe to find hundreds of thousands of offers to save money while they shop or dine out. RetailMeNot, Inc. estimates that $4.8 billion in retailer sales were attributable to consumer transactions from paid digital offers in its marketplace in 2017, more than $560 million of which were attributable to its in-store solution. The RetailMeNot, Inc. portfolio of websites and mobile applications includes RetailMeNot.com in the United States; RetailMeNot.ca in Canada; VoucherCodes.co.uk in the United Kingdom; ma-reduc.com and Poulpeo.com in France; and GiftCardZen.com and Deals2Buy.com in North America. As wholly owned subsidiaries of Harland Clarke Holdings , RetailMeNot and Valassis, a leader in intelligent media delivery, are partnering to connect retailers and consumers through meaningful digital, mobile and print promotions both online and in store.

Media Contact:

Hillary White

RetailMeNot

[email protected]

(832) 278-5615

SOURCE RetailMeNot

Related Links

http://www.retailmenot.com/corp/

WEST ORANGE, N.J., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Addiction has always carried a stigma. An individual's (or family's) struggle with addiction, difficulty finding quality treatment or attempts at sobriety are rarely discussed openly. However, recent Hollywood movies like "Ben is Back," where addiction is a theme, should help change that perception. Indra Cidambi, M.D., a nationally recognized addiction expert and founder of Center for Network Therapy commented, "The attention is welcome, as it not only highlights the pervasiveness of addiction throughout the country, but also helps to humanize the disease and lessen the stigma associated with it."

Addressing different facets of addiction, these films highlight the fact that addiction touches everyone, regardless of social status, education or zip code. In "Ben is Back," Julia Roberts plays a mother who is the only one who thinks her son can live sober at home (after taking precautions), when he returns home unannounced from rehab on Christmas eve for a short stay.

"Without intending to, the film highlights the shortcomings of the incumbent, and dominant, treatment model - inpatient detoxification and rehab  where the patient receives treatment in a bubble, far from reality," said Dr. Cidambi. When the patient returns from treatment and faces the stressors in his/her living environment, the results are not predictable.

Integration between the patient's home and treatment

Outpatient detoxification for alcohol, benzodiazepines and opiates and continued outpatient treatment is often more successful because it integrates the home environment into treatment. Accessing treatment while in their real-life environment helps patients to learn coping skills and work through triggers in real time together with their treatment team.

"Further, outpatient treatment also helps to correct the perception that, somehow, addiction is a shameful behavioral problem, and those needing treatment be hidden away for extended periods until they learn to modify their 'behavior.' Such treatment plans are rarely employed with other chronic diseases, even contagious HIV," Dr. Cidambi continued.

These movies help underscore the message that, first and foremost, addiction is not a behavioral problem. It is a chronic disease! Repeated abuse of alcohol/drugs changes the circuitry in the brain, where the brain becomes dependent on the substance abused to stimulate the release of dopamine to feel pleasure. The brain's own triggers to release dopamine become suppressed and the individual suffering from addiction may feel depressed when not actively using. These changes take years to correct, leaving the individual susceptible to relapse.

Changing the way addiction is perceived by the public

"As more movies include addiction as a theme, it will be easier for addiction to be accepted as a disease that needs treatment," Dr. Cidambi stated. "It is through acceptance, compassion and non-stigmatizing treatment that we can make it easy for individuals to openly accept that they have a problem, and Hollywood giving the disease of addiction a starring role should help reverse the stigma."

Indra Cidambi, M.D., Medical Director, Center for Network Therapy, is a pioneer in Addiction Treatment. She introduced the Ambulatory Detoxification model for treating withdrawal from Alcohol, Benzodiazepines, and Opiates. She has a fellowship in addiction from NYU/Bellevue and is board certified in Addiction Medicine and Psychiatry.

About Center for Network Therapy (CNT)

CNT is New Jersey's first facility to be licensed to provide Ambulatory (Outpatient) Detoxification and withdrawal management for all substances of abuse  alcohol, anesthetics, benzodiazepines, and opiates. Led by Board Certified Addiction Psychiatrist, Indra Cidambi, M.D., experienced physicians and nurses closely monitor patient's progress. With CNT's superior client care and high-quality treatment, Dr. Cidambi and her team have successfully detoxed over 1500 patients in five years.

SOURCE Center for Network Therapy

Related Links

www.recoverycnt.com

"Our inaugural Huobi Prestige Investor events in Singapore were a huge success, so it made sense to expand our series beyond Singapore as well," said Edward Chen, Huobi's APAC Managing Director. "We've been gratified to see a real hunger among sophisticated traders both within the cryptocurrency space and beyond it for advanced tools, strategies, and data. In addition, there is a real lack of options in APAC for sophisticated traders and analysts to network, build relationships, and share strategies. Our Prestige Investor events series are our solution to that need."

At the first-ever Prestige Investor Fireside Dialogue in Hong Kong last Wednesday, 105 elite investors and traders gathered to hear crypto market forecasts for 2019 from Lucy Gazmaranian, Senior Manager of PWC Hong Kong & China; Bing Lin, Founder and CEO of C Block Capital; Chao Deng, CEO of Hashkey; and Li Huo, Managing Director of Huobi Capital.

"I am feeling positive about the state of cryptocurrency in 2019," said Huo at the event. "The silver lining of the rise and fall in prices this year is that there is a lot more public awareness of crypto and blockchain now. It is important for industry players to show the public that blockchain is sustainable over the long term. That said, though, the general growth of knowledge, along with the rise of prudent blockchain and cryptocurrency regulation, as well as blockchain's increasing acceptance by a range of different industries mean that it will become even more mainstream over the next twelve months. I think we can even expect to see a breakthrough killer app emerge in the next few years."

In Singapore yesterday, Huobi Global hosted 45 investors and traders for a deep dive into liquidity issues led by Paul Walsh, Head of Trading for Tilde, and Ting Gao, Founder of Tau Strategy. Among other topics, Walsh and Gao explored OTC versus exchange liquidity for top cryptocurrency pairs, liquidity imbalances in perp swaps, futures versus the spot market, the use of smart contracts in facilitating decentralized derivatives, and the need for institutional-grade derivatives to aid price discovery.

"APAC's traders can expect to see more great events in 2019 on a range of topics," said Chen.

About Huobi:

Consisting of ten upstream and downstream enterprises, Huobi Group is the world's leading blockchain company. Established in 2013, Huobi Group's accumulative turnover exceeds US $1 trillion. It proudly provides safe, secure, and convenient cryptocurrency trading and asset management services to millions of users in 130+ countries.

SOURCE Huobi GlobalBOSTON, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- IFM Therapeutics, LLC (IFM), a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies that modulate novel targets in the innate immune system, today announced the discovery of new immune system triggers that are associated with certain inflammatory diseases. The study, published in the Journal of Immunology, was co-authored by IFM co-founder Eicke Latz, M.D., Ph.D., along with colleagues Bernardo Franklin, M.D., Ph.D. and Juan Francisco Rodriguez-Alcazar of the Institute of Innate Immunity at the University of Bonn.

Charcot-Leyden Crystals (CLCs) are protein crystals that appear and persist in the tissues of patients with conditions such as asthma, allergic reactions, and fungal and parasitic diseases. Collectively, these are known as Eosinophilic diseases because of the marked increase of eosinophils, a part of the immune system consisting of a variety of white blood cells.

Following immune stimulus, eosinophils degranulate, releasing an array of cytotoxic proteins. One of these proteins, Galectin-10, crystallizes to form CLCs. Higher levels of CLCs correlate with higher eosinophil activity, which is believed to contribute to disease severity.

In this study, Dr. Latz's team demonstrates that CLCs are engulfed by human macrophages in vitro, resulting in the release of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1. Additionally, CLCs were shown to promote inflammation in vivo, as evidenced by an increased tissue presence of IL-1. Importantly, chemical inhibition and small interfering RNA (siRNA) knock-down of NLRP3 in primary human macrophages reduced IL-1B production in response to CLCs, suggesting that the inflammatory response occurs via the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway.

"CLCs have been observed in patients for over 150 years. However, until recently, they were believed to be inert by-products of eosinophil activity with no immune activation," says Eicke Latz, M.D., Ph.D. "This study suggests that degradation of eosinophils leaves behind remnants that sustain immune activity. At a fundamental level, this supports the hypothesis that NLRP3 inhibition may be a therapeutically relevant approach for eosinophilic disorders, such as asthma and allergic disease."

NLRP3 (NOD-, LRR- and pyrin domain-containing 3) is an intracellular innate immune signaling receptor that allows immune cells to detect the presence of foreign or endogenous molecules that signal infection or tissue damage. Abnormal activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome typically occurs without the presence of a foreign pathogen, and is known to cause negative downstream effects.

"The work of our scientific founders, including Dr. Eicke Latz, further underscores the strong scientific rationale for targeting NLRP3 to treat chronic inflammation," said Martin Seidel, Ph.D., executive vice president of R&D at IFM. "By building on our vast knowledge of innate immune system pathways and their links to inflammatory processes, we are better equipped to lead the development of therapies for patients with serious inflammatory diseases."

About IFM Therapeutics, LLC

IFM Therapeutics, LLC (IFM) is a privately held biopharmaceutical company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was founded by an international group of preeminent scientists and physicians who have spent decades understanding innate immunity and the role it plays in regulating the immune system. IFM's team has discovered and developed small molecules that modulate novel targets in the innate immune system as next-generation therapies for cancer, auto-immunity, and inflammatory disorders. IFM owns and operates IFM Tre, a subsidiary company launched in July of 2018 that is developing a suite of small-molecule antagonists targeting inappropriate inflammatory responses of the innate immune system via the NLRP3 pathway. For more information, please visit www.ifmthera.com.

SOURCE IFM Therapeutics, LLC

Related Links

http://www.ifmthera.com

SINGAPORE and HAMBURG, Germany, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Indivumed GmbH today announced the launch of the "Cancer Library Initiative", an operation to further accelerate precision diagnostics and personalised treatment for cancer patients, in collaboration with A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB).

According to the Singapore Cancer Registry Annual Registry Report 2015[1] published by the National Registry of Diseases Office, cancer is the leading cause of death in Singapore (29.7%), with about 35 people diagnosed with cancer every day.

Through this initiative, Indivumed and IMCB aim to build an Asian-centric Cancer Database (ACD) which leverages Singapore's clinical network to achieve a truly integrated, comprehensive multiomic dataset containing rich clinical information of consenting patients. This data will be made available to scientists and clinicians in Singapore for academic and translational research.

The ACD will become an integral part of Indivumed's global cancer database "IndivuType" and is the first-of-its-kind, integrating multiomics data such as genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, precision proteomic, and digital histopathology data together with extensive clinical information. All data is derived from biospecimens collected under Indivumed's stringent proprietary SOPs, which are recognized by professionals as being the gold standard for sample collection. The application of those standards for tissue collection and processing ensure the preservation of the biological reality of the tumor and therefore the reliability of the multiomics analysis.

Indivumed's collaboration with IMCB builds on an agreement[2] inked earlier this year between Indivumed and A*STAR's Research Support Centre, to perform proteomic and phosphoproteomic analysis of tissue samples from Indivumed's unique biobank.

The ACD will be populated with comprehensive proteogenomic profiling data obtained from consenting patients. Cutting-edge analytical technology together with bioinformatic and artificial intelligence solutions integrated in a portal IT solution, provide highly reliable information for researchers and clinicians.

"Indivumed's global access to biospecimens, as well as its professional standards for tissue collection, processing, and clinical data, provide unique opportunities to understand phenotypic effects in cancer patients," said Prof. Wanjin Hong, Executive Director of A*STAR's IMCB. "We are pleased to forge a strong clinical research partnership with Indivumed in Singapore and participate in building this global multiomics cancer database that contributes to better healthcare outcomes," he added.

Prof. Soo Yong Tan, leading pathologist and Principal Investigator of the Cancer Library Initiative, said: "We are delighted to partner with a global leader in personalised medicine who has the expertise to generate and analyse big molecular and clinical data from patients, and importantly also has established robust and scientifically-sound SOPs for tissue and clinical information collection. This collaboration enables us to unlock the wealth of tissue samples to obtain reliable, comprehensive data for the benefit of clinicians and researchers in Singapore."

Prof. Hartmut Juhl, Founder and CEO of Indivumed, added: "A*STAR's IMCB in Singapore is one of the world's leading research institutions, and Singapore represents a kind of "mini-Asia" adding important ethnical aspects to our global cancer database IndivuType. The outstanding scientific expertise and infrastructure of IMCB and the clinical expertise of Singapore clinics provide a unique opportunity to expand our global phenotypic cancer database, opening novel avenues and treatment modalities to fight this devastating malady."

About Indivumed GmbH

INDIVUMED an ISO-certified global oncology research company based in Hamburg, Germany, has established the world's leading Cancer Database and biobank, retaining unique patterns of biomolecules such as RNA, DNA, and proteins as they existed in the human body. This Cancer Database makes possible multi-omics capabilities that allows for characterization of samples and data such as whole genome gene expression analysis, expression analysis of cancer relevant proteins, expression analysis of cancer relevant phosphoproteins and bioinformatic solutions for integrating molecular, biological and clinical information.

Indivumed's data analytics capabilities allow for in-depth understanding of the underlying mechanisms of a patient's cancer, addressing important demands in translational research and molecular diagnostics to support implementation of personalized healthcare.

For more information see www.indivumed.com

About the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is Singapore's lead public sector agency that spearheads economic oriented research to advance scientific discovery and develop innovative technology. Through open innovation, we collaborate with our partners in both the public and private sectors to benefit society. A*STAR's R&D activities span biomedical sciences and physical sciences and engineering, with research entities primarily located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis.

A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) has a vision of being a premier cell and molecular biology institute which addresses the mechanistic basis of human diseases and its mission is to conduct cutting-edge discovery research in disease pathways; to groom early career researchers to be future leaders in research; and to collaborate with medical and industry communities for research impact.

A*STAR's Research Support Centre (RSC) is a one-stop support centre for all biomedical R&D needs. RSC offers a diversified portfolio of scientific services which now includes more than 20 platforms.

For ongoing news, visit www.a-star.edu.sg .

[1] Source: Singapore Cancer Registry Annual Registry Report 2015 by the National Registry of Diseases Office (NRDO) https://www.nrdo.gov.sg/docs/librariesprovider3/Publications-Cancer/cancer-registry-annual-report-2015_web.pdf?sfvrsn=10

[2] Source: Indivumed Press Release https://www.indivumed.com/news-and-media/indivumed-signs-agreement-with-imcb-to-build-the-first-global-multiomics-cancer-database/

Contact:

Indivumed Marketing & PR

Tel.: +49(40)41-33-83-0

[email protected]

www.indivumed.com

SOURCE Indivumed GmbH

Related Links

http://www.indivumed.com

EL PASO, Texas, Dec. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Interstate Capital, North America's leading invoice factoring company, announced today the publication of a new interview that provides insights from an invoice factoring expert with more than 10 years working with small businesses. The piece, "A Day in the Life of a Factoring Account Exec," centers around the experiences of Mariana Regalado-Guerrero, an account manager at Interstate Capital. It's available to view in its entirety on www.InterstateCapital.com.

Interstate Capital, North America's leading invoice factoring company

The interview aims to remedy many of the misconceptions small business owners may have about factoring, while providing a high-level overview of how factoring can improve a company's cash flow.

"Many people think we're a collections agency," Regalado-Guerrero said. "But that's not at all what we do. We're helping with cash flow. We offer a collections system so invoices get paid."

She says many of their clients come to them because they've tried to get traditional loans and don't qualify, which is a common concern for small and midsize companies. Her company, Interstate Capital, helps small businesses solve cash flow issues with a process known as invoice factoring. This involves purchasing invoices from their clients for work already performed and providing immediate payment. The factoring company then follows up with the debtor and collects the money owed.

Using this service, business owners keep money rolling in quickly, rather than waiting 60 to 90 days or more for invoices to be paid.

"When a typical company has cash flow issues, business may stall," she says. "But when trucking companies, for instance, have cash flow issues, they may literally be stuck in the middle of nowhere until they get cash. I can't put those kinds of things on hold. Making sure they have cash ASAP could be the difference between being stranded and going home to their family."

Regalado-Guerrero says relationship-building is paramount to her success. She speaks to her clients regularly. When new clients come on board, she is quick to introduce herself and make sure that they understand the invoice factoring process.

"You get to know them when you work together so much," she said. "I know their businesses, their families, the names of their kids."

The full interview gives in-depth coverage to the types of duties she performs, as well as some of the high points and challenges associated with the job. Business owners interested in reading the complete interview or learning more about invoice factoring are encouraged to visit Interstate Capital's website. Those who are ready to explore their factoring options can also get a free instant rate quote by going to www.interstatecapital.com.

About Interstate Capital:

Interstate Capital purchases nearly $1 billion in invoices annually. Established in 1993, the company has successfully funded more than 10,000 growing companies throughout the United States and Canada, speeding up cash flow and improving profitability. Interstate Capital is a division of Triumph Business Capital.

Interstate Capital is presently accepting applications from B2B providers. Those who would like to speed up their client payments are urged to visit www.InterstateCapital.com for a free quote today.

Press Contact:

Eric Baca

Phone: 469-312-7166

[email protected]

SOURCE Interstate Capital

Related Links

https://www.interstatecapital.com

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A once homeless New Braunfels, Texas family who slept in their car and in a local storage facility finally has a fully furnished home to call their own thanks to Clayton, a leading builder of prefabricated and site built homes, and Ashley HomeStore.

The owners of a mobile roadside assistance company, Mona Lisa and Oscar De Paz tried to live their dream of owning a business and providing for their family of five. However when receiving payments from clients proved to be a challenge, the De Paz family with their three boys under the age of 12 suddenly found themselves without a place to live.

Fortunately, the manager of the storage facility where the De Paz family lived and kept their belongings suggested they contact Family Promise, a national nonprofit organization helping homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence through a community-based response.

In three months, the family successfully completed the program's requirements, secured steady employment and housing and achieved sustainable independence.

"The family is a shining example of perseverance in the most challenging of circumstances," says Gary Seals, CEO of New Braunfels-based Hill Country Holdings, licensee of 34 Ashley HomeStore locations in Texas, Seattle, Oregon and Idaho. "When we learned about the opportunity to complete their dream of home ownership, we jumped right in."

Besides donating furniture for the family room and bedrooms, the Ashley HomeStore team added accessories with inspirational messages based on the De Paz family story.

"We wanted the family to have a real connection to their new home furnishings," Seals said.

Helping a New Braunfels family was particularly significant for Hill Country Holdings, Seals added, given the company's presence in the community where it operates its corporate offices, a regional distribution center and an Ashley HomeStore location.

"New Braunfels is our home," he said. "It means a lot to help out a neighbor."

About Hill Country Holdings

Hill Country Holdings, one of the largest independent owners of Ashley HomeStores, operates 35 stores throughout Texas, Seattle, Oregon, and Idaho. Ashley HomeStore locations in Texas can be found in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and the Rio Grande Valley. Seattle area locations include Silverdale, Burlington, Tukwila, Tacoma, Olympia, and Richland. Oregon HomeStores are located in Portland.

SOURCE Ashley HomeStoreTEL AVIV, Israel, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- KPMG Fintech Israel, a local partner of the leading global network of professional advisory services firms providing guidance to financial institutions, has selected Binah.ai as one of its selected fintech partners.

Binah.ai makes data science accessible with out-of-the-box financial services-focused use cases, combining signal processing and AI to deliver previously impossible levels of accuracy, stability and performance. Available use cases include tradable assets trend prediction, foreign exchange benchmarks, yield curve analysis, customer churn, sector profitability analysis, volatility analysis, and credit risk, among others.

KPMG Global Fintech comprises professionals in more than 45 hubs around the world working closely with financial institutions and fintech companies to help them understand the signals of change, identify growth opportunities, and to develop and execute their strategic plans.

"Our intensive selection process ensures that we choose only fintech providers that can directly address critical issues within the financial services industry," says Ilanit Adesman, KPMG Fintech practice, KPMG Israel.

Binah.ai delivers an end-to-end data science solution focused on business results. Its custom-built, proprietary, comprehensive mathematical back-end leverages signal processing to strengthen data value. Signal processing helps eliminate the outliers, create cleaner data, and reduce the noise to deliver a better overall data set - accelerating the path from challenge to solution. Binah's technology can use any data set, meaning the financial institution can use its own data or publicly available information to drive results.

"Binah.ai focuses on simplicity," said David Maman, CEO, CTO & Co-founder of Binah.ai. "Our technology allows financial institutions to increase profit and reduce costs without requiring millions in investment in digital transformation."

About Binah.ai

Binah.ai provides actionable answers to critical business challenges with a combination of signal processing and machine learning, which accelerates the path from data to insights. The Binah team leverages 90+ years of development in big data, analytics, signal processing, machine learning, corporate expertise and technology to deliver a unique combination of out-of-the-box data science solutions. Clients include major financial institutions around the world, as well as large enterprises across multiple industries. Visit http://www.binah.ai/ for more information.

About KPMG Fintech

The Financial Services industry is transforming with the emergence of innovative new products, channels and business models. This wave of change is driven by evolving customer expectations, digitalization, as well as continued regulatory and cost pressures. We are passionate about supporting clients to successfully navigate this transformation, mitigating the threats and capitalizing on the opportunities. KPMG Global Fintech comprises professionals in over 45 fintech hubs around the world, working closely with financial institutions and fintech companies, to help them understand the signals of change, identify the growth opportunities and to develop and execute on their strategic plans.

About KPMG International

KPMG is a global network of professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. We operate in 154 countries and territories and have 200,000 people working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such.

For more information, contact:

Media Contact

Amy Kenigsberg

K2 Global Communications

[email protected]

tel: +972-9-794-1681 (+2 GMT)

mobile: +972-524-761-341

U.S.: +1-913-440-4072 (+7 ET)

SOURCE Binah.ai

Related Links

http://www.binah.ai/

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Massachusetts retained its No. 1 ranking in the Milken Institute's 2018 State Technology and Science Index, a biennial assessment of states' capabilities and competitiveness in a tech-focused economy.

The top four states were unchanged from the 2016 index. Colorado ranked No. 2, followed by No. 3 Maryland and No. 4 California. Fifth-place Utah was the only new member of the top-5. Utah rose to fifth from eighth on the strength of rapid employment growth in technology and science. Washington fell to sixth from fifth.

2018 State Technology and Science Index Top-10

Massachusetts Colorado Maryland California Utah Washington Delaware Minnesota New Hampshire Oregon

Complete results are available online at www.milkeninstitute.org

"The success stories of states profiled in this year's index reflect sustained efforts to not only build but to maintain their ecosystem," said Kevin Klowden, executive director of the Milken Institute Center for Regional Economics. "Making the changes that are necessary to perform well on the State Technology and Science Index can contribute to stronger long-term economic performance."

Massachusetts benefitted from the presence of major research universities, the availability of venture capital, entrepreneurial expertise, and a tech-oriented workforce, according to the report. The state was first in three of the index's five composite indexes and finished third in another. Massachusetts continues to strengthen its position in tech and science by increasing public funding of neuroscience research, cybersecurity innovation, and startup development.

Utah's move to fifth was driven by tech-sector employment growth  the fastest in the nation  averaging 4.3 percent annually. The state also had the most university graduates with degrees in science and engineering  15.4 per 1,000 students. Utah stood out for the success of its universities in spinning research into commercial ventures.

Delaware rose to seventh from 10th, strengthened by an increase in venture capital invested in technology companies. The Legislature authorized a 25 percent tax credit for small companies (those with fewer than 25 employees) engaged in research and development in specific high-tech fields. The state ranks fifth in the number of business startups with 53.4 per 1,000 residents.

The State Technology and Science Index provides a benchmark for policymakers to evaluate their state's capabilities and formulate strategies for improving STEM education, attracting businesses, and creating jobs in the tech sector. Indices considered in the report include the number of patents issued and doctoral degrees granted in each state.

"Investing in human capital and developing a STEM workforce is crucial for regional economies that want to attract large technology companies and the jobs they bring," explains Minoli Ratnatunga, Milken Institute's director of regional economics research.

In addition to the index, the report offers case studies that examine issues such as non-compete contracts that limit employee mobility, along with access to higher education in building a vibrant, adaptable workforce.

Drawing on this data, the report recommends steps policymakers can take to improve their state's competitiveness:

Increase scholarships and other financial aid to lower the cost of higher education for in-state students who plan STEM careers.

Better align STEM curriculums to make it easier for students to transfer credits from lower-cost two-year colleges to four-year institutions.

Encourage partnerships between higher-education institutions and private companies to provide students with work experience to improve workforce readiness and job placement.

Make employee noncompete laws less restrictive to encourage a freer exchange of ideas and talent among tech companies.

The index draws on data from government and private sources dating from 2015 to 2017, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Science Foundation, the Small Business Administration, the American Community Survey, and Moody's Analytics.

About the Milken Institute

The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank determined to increase global prosperity by advancing collaborative solutions that widen access to capital, create jobs, and improve health. The Institute conducts independent, data-driven research, action-oriented meetings, and meaningful policy initiatives. For more information, visit milkeninstitute.org

Contact: Geoffrey Baum, [email protected]

SOURCE Milken Institute

Related Links

http://www.milkeninstitute.org

PASADENA, Calif., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Maya Cinemas recently named Marc Walton as their new Chief Financial Officer. Previous to Maya, Marc worked for Millennia Housing Management, Ltd as their Chief Accounting Officer and for GK Management Co., Inc. as their Chief Financial Officer. Marc's cinema exhibition experience includes 10 years at Reading International, Inc. which currently owns and operates 56 cinemas. Marc's financial expertise is grounded in rapidly changing organizations making him well suited for Maya. Maya Cinemas, since inception, has been focused on growth as evident by the recently launched luxury cinema in Delano, CA and the upcoming 14 screen state-of-the-art multiplex in North Las Vegas.WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Mill Creek Residential, a leading multifamily investor and operator specializing in premier apartment communities across the U.S., today announced the grand opening of Modera Sedici, a luxury apartment community located on the venerable grounds of the former Italian Embassy.

The captivating community offers 134 apartment homes, including 22 with distinct customized floor plans in the redeveloped original Italian Embassy building. The additional 112 residences are located in a newly constructed nine-story high-rise that complements and links to the iconic historic structure. Situated along esteemed 16th Street in the nation's capital, Modera Sedici is built with an enchanting European cosmopolitan aesthetic interior design and features many restored original features.

"Modera Sedici is one of the most unique communities in the nation, and certainly in the Mill Creek portfolio," said Sean Caldwell, senior managing director of the Mid-Atlantic region for Mill Creek Residential. "We worked extensively to preserve the charming qualities and original aesthetic of the Italian Embassy building to cultivate a truly one-of-a-kind living experience in one of the most appealing areas of the city."

Among the historic components in Modera Sedici are restored parquet, a grand piano, original travertine and modern marble. The community also includes the Soggiorno  a grand ballroom with preserved crown moulding and parquet floors, and the Biblioteca  a curated resident lounge with fireplaces and stunning millwork. The original Neo-Renaissance architecture was maintained in the redevelopment of the embassy building, which Grand Central Station architects Whitney Warren and Charles Wetmore originally designed in 1925.

Located at 2700 16th Street NW, Modera Sedici residents are interconnected to three of the city's most-desirable neighborhoods  Adams Morgan, the U Street Corridor, and Columbia Heights  and their variety of boutique shopping, nightlife and dining options. Residents will also benefit from Modera Sedici's position in a quieter portion of the downtown area.

"While the awe-inspiring beauty of the building is what first stands out, our primary mission remains the same as it always does  to provide an exceptional living experience," said Joe Muffler, managing director of development for Mill Creek Residential. "With its quiet location, elegant interior features and quick accessibility to the city's bustling hot spots, we believe Modera Sedici will set the standard for refined apartment living in the area."

Modera Sedici consists of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom homes with two-story townhome-style layouts available. Additional community amenities include the Vista  a rooftop terrace with city views; the Palestra  a club-quality fitness center with elite equipment imported from Italy; and the Terraza  a programmed green space with water features, covered seating and grills. The community also includes a historic piazza with public and private seating areas and 24-hour concierge service.

Apartment interiors include several luxurious touches, including upscale GE or Bosch appliance packages that include in-home washers and dryers, Kohler and Moen fixtures, classic-tiled kitchen backsplashes, Kaindl wood plank-style flooring in French Walnut or Orchard Walnut, genuine Italian marble counters in the historic kitchens and baths, elegant recessed lighting and spa-inspired bathrooms with illuminated mirrors, mosaic tile floors, showers, tubs and floating vanities.

The commuter-friendly site provides near-direct access to K Street in downtown, the Capital Beltway and Silver Spring, a thriving business hub on the northern edge of the Metro Area. 16th Street is one of the city's only north-south thoroughfares and borders Modera Sedici to the east. Fuller Street borders the community to the south and Mozart Street to the west.

Modera Sedici is the seventh development community by Mill Creek in the Washington, D.C. area.

About Mill Creek Residential

Mill Creek Residential Trust LLC is a national multifamily company focused on the development, acquisition and operation of apartment communities in targeted markets nationwide. The company proactively pursues development, acquisition and construction opportunities through its seasoned team of real estate professionals in 14 offices across the United States. Mill Creek is building its portfolio in many of the nation's most desirable apartment markets in Seattle, Portland, the San Francisco Bay area, Southern California, Denver, Dallas, Austin, Houston, South Florida, Tampa, Orlando, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, New York, and Boston. As of September 30, 2018, the company's portfolio comprises of 73 communities representing over 19,400 apartment homes that are operating and/or under construction. For more information, please visit www.MillCreekPlaces.com.

About Rockwood Capital

Rockwood Capital, LLC (Rockwood) is a real estate investment management firm founded in 1995 that provides equity capital combined with real estate operating expertise for the repositioning, recapitalization, development and redevelopment of residential, office, research and development, retail and hotel space in key markets throughout the United States. Rockwood and its principals have invested on behalf of their clients approximately $28.4 billion of real estate through ten value-add vehicles and ten separate accounts. Today, Rockwood is a 76 person organization with offices in New York, NY, San Francisco, CA, and Los Angeles, CA that manages a portfolio of approximately $3.4 billion of net equity value in approximately $6.8 billion of gross real estate value as of 6/30/2018. Rockwood's investors include public and private pension funds, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, fund of funds, high net worth individuals and family offices.

Media Contact

Samantha Chalmers

LinnellTaylor Marketing

(303) 682-5001

[email protected]

SOURCE Mill Creek Residential

Related Links

http://www.millcreekplaces.com

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, after eight months of public input, commission meetings and field visits across the county, the Federal School Safety Commission released its report on ways to keep students safe at school. The report includes several recommendations aligned with National PTA positions and A Framework for Safe and Successful Schools  joint recommendations written and endorsed by our nation's leading education stakeholders and practitioners  on improved access to school-based mental and behavioral health services, threat assessments protocols, comprehensive school safety plans, and role of school resource officers (SROs).

However, we would have liked to see the Commission include common sense proposals to limit youth access to firearms, strengthen background checks, fund gun violence research efforts, and ban assault weapons. Our association believes any effort to improve the safety of our nation's youth must be comprehensive and include gun safety and violence prevention measures.

National PTA supports positive school discipline policies that include a strong family engagement component and keep children in school and learning over exclusionary discipline. We are disappointed to see the report recommends the rescission of the 2014 school discipline guidance from the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice. Without this guidance, we are concerned that students of color and students with special needs will face even more disparate levels of discipline compared to their white peers.

Our association also believes that to promote positive school climates that encourage nurturing relationships, connectedness and mutual trust and respect among students, staff and families, there must be people and practices within the school building to ensure a safe and supportive learning environment. While the report focuses on the need for increased use of evidence-based frameworks to support and implement behavioral, health and mental health services, the report does not include a recommendation to increase the staffing ratios of school counselors, school psychologists, school social workers, and school nurses who can provide those supports.

"While the Commission's report does not explicitly recommend arming educators, National PTA believes the most effective day-to-day school climate is a gun-free campuswhich includes not arming teachers and administrators. Teachers and administrators should be able to focus on their primary responsibility, which is to educate our children," said Jim Accomando, president of National PTA. "Our association opposes any attempt to use federal funds to arm or provide firearm training for educators. National PTA recognizes that school safety is a multi-faceted issue with no one clear solution for every community. We believe any effort to address school safety must involve all stakeholders who should consider a variety of factors, including the physical and psychological safety of students."

"All of us share the responsibility to create and ensure safe, supportive and welcoming learning environments. We look forward to working with the Commission, the administration, Congress, and state and local policy makers to shape policies based on evidenced-based best practices in school safety and climate, discipline, student mental health, instructional leadership, teaching and learning," said Nathan Monell, executive director of National PTA.

About National PTA

National PTA comprises millions of families, students, teachers, administrators, and business and community leaders devoted to the educational success of children and the promotion of family engagement in schools. PTA is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit association that prides itself on being a powerful voice for all children, a relevant resource for families and communities, and a strong advocate for public education. Membership in PTA is open to anyone who wants to be involved and make a difference for the education, health and welfare of children and youth. For more information, visit PTA.org.

SOURCE National PTA

Related Links

http://www.pta.org

CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program (NJMEP) has received $250,000 in State funds as part of Senate Bill No. 2839 in an effort to support NJMEP's Apprenticeship Programs.

The funds will be used to support NJMEP's Technical Sales Training & Apprenticeship program and the MSSC (Manufacturing Skills Standards Council) training  national credentials in Production Technician & Logistics Technician.

The Governor signed Senate Bill S2389 into law yesterday and stated, "I commend the sponsors of this bill for recognizing the importance of investing in the Manufacturing Extension Program, which has shown an 11:1 rate of return on such investments, in addition to creating and saving jobs across New Jersey. The availability of matching federal funds to support entry-level training programs focusing on the underserved, veterans, under-employed, and re-entry workers in diverse areas of manufacturing makes this an even more appealing investment." "We will continue to work closely with the Governor's office and the NJEDA and believe this State funding will make a big difference to the state's ecosystem," says John W. Kennedy, CEO, NJMEP.

"The NJMEP Team worked closely with the New Jersey Legislative Bipartisan Manufacturing Caucus, led by Senators Vin Gopal and Steve Oroho, and crafted legislation that would support all requirements. Senate Bill S2839 will provide NJMEP with $500,000 (includes matching federal funds) to be spent on expanding our Apprenticeships Programs within the critical Advanced Manufacturing / STEM /TLD Sectors with an initial focus on Trenton, Newark & Paterson. Current plans have us expanding into our geographical regions after this large pilot effort," adds Kennedy.

NJMEP expects key educational partners to include - the CTE / Vo-Technical Schools, County Colleges, and Industrial Schools as well; with additional plans to work closely with Industry, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL), The State Employment and Training Commission (SETC), Department of Education (DOE), and Higher Education to ensure that New Jersey citizens (especially Young Adults) have viable career pathways which includes the State's excellent 4-year colleges.

NJMEP lost State funding in 2008 when the financial crisis hit the country. NJMEP had to operate at a high level and create a Scope of Work with viable metrics that would allow them (again) to show their value. This first happened through their performance as one of the (51) NIST-MEP Centers in the nation. Their efforts led them to being ranked as the top-performing Center, and resulted in an additional $250,000 in Federal Funds in 2018, which needed to be matched with a 1:1 State Investment.

About NJMEP: NJMEP is a private, notfor-profit organization that improves the profitability and competitiveness of New Jersey's manufacturers. Backed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), NJMEP enables organizations to enhance their productivity and efficiencies, reduce costs, and improve employee performance. For more than 20 years, NJMEP has used its extensive network of connections and proven track record of success to help manufacturers adapt to the latest innovative technologies and best practices to realize more than $3.8 billion in value. Our services are categorized into the following three areas: Operational Excellence, Innovation and Growth Strategies, and Workforce Development. NJMEP also has a signature philanthropic program, Manufacturing Cares, which is designed to provide a platform for manufacturers to give back to the community by pooling efforts to increase our impact.



SOURCE New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program, Inc.PATCHOGUE, N.Y., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Have you been asked to evade your own morals at work? Has your company been engaging in some suspicious activity that you know about? An employee shouldn't have to be roped into their employer's fraud schemes, but it can be hard to step forward to authorities when your livelihood is on the line. Non-attorney whistleblower advocates, FEA, know when you should blow the whistle on your company's ill-intentions. If you've been hesitating to step forward about fraud or other illegal activities, check out their suggestions below.

You have a hunch, confirm it. You need to confirm your suspicions before moving forward, so try to confirm that the alleged wrongdoing is legitimate. If your boss asked you to do something you think is unethical, ask them to clarify your task. Make sure you are not misunderstanding their intentions and avoid reacting to an odd request emotionally. Maintaining professionalism is important here, since you don't want your boss to become suspicious of you.

You need to confirm your suspicions before moving forward, so try to confirm that the alleged wrongdoing is legitimate. If your boss asked you to do something you think is unethical, ask them to clarify your task. Make sure you are not misunderstanding their intentions and avoid reacting to an odd request emotionally. Maintaining professionalism is important here, since you don't want your boss to become suspicious of you. Gather evidence. Begin to compile proof of the illegal activity, whether it's recorded phone calls, suspicious company files, or a written statement citing facts. If you are involved firsthand in the illicit activity, record what tasks your boss has you doing and whether you did it knowingly or under fear of losing your job. Saving these records to be provided as evidence is key to a successful fraud claim later.

Begin to compile proof of the illegal activity, whether it's recorded phone calls, suspicious company files, or a written statement citing facts. If you are involved firsthand in the illicit activity, record what tasks your boss has you doing and whether you did it knowingly or under fear of losing your job. Saving these records to be provided as evidence is key to a successful fraud claim later. Discuss your findings with a non-attorney whistleblower advisor. As you are gathering evidence of company wrongdoing, reach out to a non-attorney whistleblower advisor like those at FEA. Discuss your claim, the evidence you've gathered, and where you'd like to go from that point on. Professional whistleblower advisors will work with you in identifying similar past cases and the expectations you should have about becoming a whistleblower.

As you are gathering evidence of company wrongdoing, reach out to a non-attorney whistleblower advisor like those at FEA. Discuss your claim, the evidence you've gathered, and where you'd like to go from that point on. Professional whistleblower advisors will work with you in identifying similar past cases and the expectations you should have about becoming a whistleblower. Reach out to an attorney. Once you've discussed your case with an advisor, work together with them to reach out to an attorney to represent your case in court. Research attorney's that have been through similar cases alongside your advisor and contact ones that you think have a good chance of picking up your fraud claim.

Coming forward about your employer's illegal activity can be nerve-racking, but with the trusted support of a whistleblower advisor and a reliable attorney, you can get through the legal process smoothly, knowing you did the right thing and stuck to your morals. Contact FEA today with a claim if you think you've experienced fraud or other illicit activity at work.

About Fraud Expert Advisors (FEA): Fraud Expert Advisors are not attorneys; they are a community of whistleblowers ready to advise others on what it's like to become a whistleblower and guide those seeking to blow the whistle on fraud through the often-daunting legal process. FEA provides a safe space for whistleblowers to share information and experiences, while addressing any concerns and uncertainties regarding fraud claims. FEA has recovered billions of dollars in the past five years in consulting whistleblowers facing against big and small businesses alike, speaking to their ability to instill the confidence needed to step forward as a whistleblower. Put your trust into an FEA advisor today if you think your employer is engaging in fraud or other illegal activities.

SOURCE Fraud Expert Advisors

Related Links

http://fraudexpertadvisors.com

ZUG, Switzerland and CALGARY, Alberta, Dec. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- In a pilot program unveiled today, ODEM , creator of the On-Demand Education Marketplace, is partnering with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology to issue blockchain-based academic certificates to a select group of SAIT students. They will become the first graduating class at a Canadian post-secondary institution to be granted digital credentials using blockchain technology.

Blockchain certificates enable students to directly share their academic achievements with recruiters and potential employers around the world without requesting their paper or electronic records from SAIT. Blockchain technology creates a decentralized digital ledger to cryptographically assure the validity of recipient-controlled credentials.

"I'm very excited for SAIT, its students, faculty, and staff whose passion is to shape a new world as entrepreneurs and leaders," says Richard Maaghul, ODEM's CEO. "What a great way to fulfill their mission by becoming the first Canadian school to securely store and share its students' accomplishments with the world."

Twenty five graduates of SAIT's Automotive Service Technician program will receive blockchain certificates issued through the ODEM Platform, a global education portal. The virtual certificates will look just like traditional academic records, featuring the Province of Alberta's coat of arms and SAIT's official seal. They also include the signatures of the institute's Chairman of the Board of Directors, the President and CEO, and the Registrar.

"At SAIT we are thought leaders and this is a strong example of how we're increasing our value proposition," says Dr. David Ross, SAIT's President and CEO. "This is only the beginning as we continue to put the potential of blockchain technology into practice."

The idea of digitizing academic credentials at SAIT originated with students. George Chase,

Instructor in the School of Information and Communications Technologies, worked with the students to present the concept to SAIT's leadership. The idea was eventually expanded upon to create a full-scale solution for the institution.

ODEM is developing its Platform on the Ethereum Blockchain to make higher education more accessible, affordable, transferable, and verifiable. The Platform also empowers students to customize their education through interaction with educators. Its official rollout is scheduled for February 2019.

Blockchain technology:

Enables the creation of a decentralized repository to secure academic records in a format that is globally verifiable and transferable.

Allows self-permissioned peer-to-peer sharing of educational records with institutions, recruiting firms, and potential employers.

Facilitates the linking of academic records as students add their accomplishments over a lifetime of learning.

Academic certificates issued on a blockchain generate a tamper-proof digital signature. The signature can be cross-referenced with the issuing institution's digital signature, allowing students to control their academic records and provide real-time cryptographic proof of validity.

Established in 1916, SAIT was the first publicly funded technical school of its kind in North America. Today, SAIT is a global leader in applied education and offers more than 100 career programs and more than 1,300 part-time courses. Action-based learning, solution-focused research, and enterprising collaborations with industry partners ensure SAIT students are career-ready when they graduate.

ODEM Contact:

Katherine Banks,

Sr Director, Marketing

[email protected]

[email protected]

Tel: +1 (657) 254-7526

Bahnhofstrasse 10

6300 Zug, Switzerland

Join The ODEM.IO Conversation on Telegram .

https://www.linkedin.com/company/odem-io/

https://www.facebook.com/odemio/

https://twitter.com/ODEM_IO

SAIT Contact:

Chris Gerritsen,

Associate Director of Communications

Direct: 403-284-8473 / Cell: 403-975-6366

[email protected]

SOURCE ODEM.IO

Related Links

https://odem.io

OM1 was selected as part of PM360's 7th Annual Innovations Issue published each December. This issue was established to serve as a guide to the year's most innovative Companies, Startups, Divisions, Products, Services, and Strategies from within the healthcare and life sciences industries. This comprehensive overview of the year's most innovative achievements in these six categories helps other companies in the industry to find potential partners and offerings that can help them advance healthcare and life sciences.

"We are honored to be recognized by PM360 for our innovation. At OM1, we have lofty goals to fundamentally improve healthcare through a better understanding of real world results and through unprecedented insights into the relationships between care and outcomes and outcomes and value," said Dr. Richard Gliklich, CEO of OM1. "Our registries, platforms and technologies enable clients to accelerate research, to measure and benchmark health outcomes, and to personalize patient care in ways previously not possible."

PM360 received hundreds of submissions from across the healthcare and life sciences industries. The editorial staff of PM360 evaluated each submission and selected their picks for the most innovative, regardless of category. Ultimately, more than 60 total innovations were featured in the issue. Within the Startup category, a total of 8 startups were featured.

"Our selections represent the companies, offerings, and strategies that demonstrated what we believe to be unique in its ability to impact the industry," says Anna Stashower, CEO/Publisher of PM360. "We hope others in the industry are able to work with these innovators or use these innovations to better serve patients, physicians, and other healthcare stakeholders."

All of this year's selections can be found at: www.pm360online.com/pm360-presents-the-2018-innovators.

Contact:

Renee Hurley

[email protected]

(617) 620-9571

About OM1

OM1 is a health outcomes and technology company leveraging big clinical data and AI to better understand, compare, and predict patient outcomes. OM1's real world evidence platform, clinical registries and AI technologies enable clients to accelerate research, measure and benchmark health outcomes and to personalize patient care.

About PM360

PM360 is the premier, must-read magazine for marketing decision makers in the pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, and diagnostics industries. Published monthly, PM360 is the only journal that focuses on delivering the full spectrum of practical information necessary for product managers and pharmaceutical marketing professionals to succeed in the complex and highly regulated healthcare environment.

The journal's targeted and insightful editorial focuses on issues that directly impact critical decision making, including: Planning and implementation of cutting-edge strategies, trends, the latest technological advances, branding/marketing, advertising/promotion, patient/professional education, sales, market research, PR, and leadership. Additionally, the "360" in the title signifies the span of this critical, how-to info with personal and career insights for an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.

By providing the full circle of enriching content, PM360 is truly an indispensable tool for busy and productive marketing professionals to stay at the top of their game.

SOURCE OM1

Related Links

http://www.om1.com

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Yaniv Leven, CEO of Panoply , the smart cloud data warehouse built for business intelligence, today issued a statement challenging Airbnb's decision to ban Israeli rental listings in Judea and Samaria. Panoply will no longer use Airbnb for corporate travel and events going forward.

In an internal letter, Leven stated that, "I have given this a month to pass by to see if they [Airbnb] can correct the reversal of their November decision in the matter, but they have not since they have announced today they are '...developing the tools needed to implement our policy'"

Leven went on to state, "I believe that in this case, Airbnb inducted two flawed logical assumptions stemming from the hubris of knowledge... first in thinking the company 'knows' what 'truth' is and secondly, that current knowledge is sufficient to define what is 'good.'"

In a personal tweet Leven wrote earlier today, "@Airbnb no person in @panoplyio will use your services until you dismiss your #antiSemitic policy by either implementing it on all disputed territories in the world or pulling back from the initial statement."

Leven welcomes a reversal from Airbnb and looks forward to this outcome.

SOURCE Panoply

Related Links

www.panoply.io

VANCOUVER, Wash., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- PeaceHealth and ZOOM+Care ("Zoom") today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for PeaceHealth to acquire ZOOM+Care. PeaceHealth and Zoom will provide access to a continuum of care that offers consumers more choice and convenience in how they receive healthcare services, ranging from mobile app-driven services and neighborhood clinics to sophisticated specialty and hospital services.

PeaceHealth is a leading health system serving communities throughout the Pacific Northwest and Zoom provides an innovative, on-demand neighborhood health platform and is based in Portland, Oregon.

"The addition of Zoom to PeaceHealth's networks accelerates our vision of ensuring greater healthcare accessibility and affordability in our communities while increasing our ability to meet the on-demand needs of today's consumer," said Liz Dunne, PeaceHealth President and Chief Executive Officer. "What is so exciting about this relationship is the complementary nature of our organizations and our shared passion for being the stewards of our communities' health and well-being."

Founded in 2006, ZOOM+Care has led the on-demand healthcare movement, building one of the country's leading platforms for the innovative delivery of retail and digital healthcare. In just over 10 years, Zoom has grown to serve hundreds of thousands of people annually in 37 neighborhood clinics in Oregon and Washington, providing a full range of healthcare services, as well as innovative telemedicine services.

"Over the past decade, we imagined a future with our customer (we call her Sarah) at the center, managing her care using our mobile app and having easy access to neighborhood locations for her care," said Dave Sanders, MD, Zoom's Co-Founder and CEO. "We found in PeaceHealth a shared vision and recognition that healthcare is continually evolving with increasing preferences for on-demand care. PeaceHealth and ZOOM+Care both aim to create a magnetic consumer experience, provide superb clinical results and help make healthcare more accessible and affordable.

"I'm also delighted for our hundreds of thousands of loyal patients who've come to rely on Zoom, because they can be confident that Zoom and its dedicated healthcare professionals and associates will continue to be there for them," added Sanders.

Under the terms of the agreement, ZOOM+Care will operate under its own brand name with separate leadership and board of directors and will further its focus on innovation, consumer experience and expanding access. PeaceHealth's acquisition of ZOOM+Care is expected to close Dec. 31, 2018.

For more information, read some anticipated questions and answers about the agreement.

About PeaceHealth: PeaceHealth, based in Vancouver, Wash., is a nonprofit Catholic health system offering care to communities in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. PeaceHealth has approximately 16,000 caregivers, a multi-specialty medical group practice with more than 1,200 physicians and providers, and 10 medical centers serving both urban and rural communities throughout the Northwest. In 1890, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace founded what has become PeaceHealth. The Sisters shared expertise and transferred wisdom from one medical center to another, always finding the best way to serve the unmet need for healthcare in their communities. PeaceHealth is the legacy of the founding Sisters and continues with a spirit of respect, stewardship, collaboration and social justice in fulfilling its Mission. Visit us online at peacehealth.org.

About ZOOM+Care: ZOOM+Care is creating a better way to get and give healthcare. The Portland-based innovator is the leading provider of on-demand retail and digital healthcare. Zoom cares for hundreds of thousands of people per year at 37 neighborhood clinics in Portland, Vancouver, Seattle and Salem. Zoom provides complete care including urgent care, primary care, specialty care, mental health, telemedicine and more. ZOOM+Care was founded in 2006 by Portland, Oregon, physicians David Sanders, MD, and Albert DiPiero, MD, MPH. ZOOM+Care was built on the promise of Twice 1/2 Ten - twice the health, half the cost, ten times the delight. ZOOM+Care is credited with many healthcare firsts that have accelerated improvements in the delivery of care and has been selected as one of Oregon's "Most Admired Companies" for five consecutive years. ZOOM+Care and Zoom are registered trademarks of ZOOM+Care. Visit us online at zoomcare.com.

SOURCE PeaceHealth

Related Links

http://www.peacehealth.org

https://www.zoomcare.com

PELLA, Iowa, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Pella Corporation, a premium window and door manufacturer and designer, announced that it acquired the Avanti business, a vinyl window and patio door manufacturer based in Glendale, Arizona. This acquisition will expand Pella's footprint in the strong and growing southwestern region of the U.S. and leverage Avanti's expertise and capabilities in providing express customer service and in turnkey window and door installation.

"This acquisition helps Pella Corporation build strength in several areas, including installation, and reinforces our presence in the southwest," said Tim Yaggi, President & CEO, Pella Corporation.

The acquisition provides resources to help Avanti further grow its business. Avanti will remain a stand-alone company with its nearly 300 team members.

"Avanti will continue to provide sales, installation and service to homebuilders from its existing sites, including the Phoenix, Las Vegas and Tucson markets," said Jerry Petty, CEO, Avanti. "Day-to-day operations will remain the same for our team members, and our customers can expect the same business processes and helpful service that they enjoy today."

About Pella Corporation

Pella Corporation doesn't just create windows and doors, we innovate with purpose, design with passion, build with integrity, and deliver with pride. From testing beyond industry requirements to continuous innovation, Pella goes beyond what meets the eye. Pella's goal is to perfect every detail and make beautifully designed windows and doors. The company is headquartered in Pella, Iowa and employs nearly 7,000 people with 15 manufacturing locations and more than 200 showrooms across the country. For more information, call 888-847-3552 or visit pressroom.pella.com. Follow Pella on Facebook, YouTube, Houzz, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.

About Avanti

The Avanti business is a leading manufacturer and installation contractor of vinyl window and door systems throughout the southwestern United States. Avanti produces and installs windows for 19 of the Nation's top 30 single-family homebuilders, within the Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Tucson markets. Avanti sets the standard for providing window products and installation services for the Big Builder customer. Avanti is located in Glendale, Arizona, and employs nearly 300 people with locations in Tucson and Henderson, Nevada. For more information, visit http://www.avantiwindow.com/home.

SOURCE Pella Corporation

Related Links

http://www.pella.com

PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Varian (NYSE: VAR) announced the Phoenix Cyberknife and Radiation Oncology Center in Phoenix, AZ recently completed its first HyperArc High Definition Radiotherapy (HDRT) treatments for two recent post-operative cancer patients at its facility. A new type of radiosurgery treatment solution, HyperArc is designed to automate and simplify sophisticated treatments such as stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and make them available to more cancer patients around the world.

"Post-surgical stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is an important indication for intracranial radiosurgery, whose goal is to increase long term survival and quality of life by ablating any remaining microscopic disease at the margins of the surgical bed," said John Kresl, MD, PhD and medical director of Phoenix Cyberknife and Radiation Oncology Center. "The fast HyperArc treatment times of approximately 15 minutes in a single treatment timeslot are especially important for patients who have recently undergone complex neurosurgical procedures such as a craniotomy and have one or multiple brain metastases. They can be treated in a tumor-focused manner and potentially avoid whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) side effects. An entire HyperArc treatment can be completed in 1-5 fractions vs 10-15 fractions for WBRT. We are proud to be the first private practice clinic globally to be offering HyperArc treatments."

"Brain radiosurgery is a growing and critical part of radiation oncology practices," said Chris Toth, president of Varian Oncology Solutions. "The efficiency and automation of HyperArc is providing the opportunity to broaden patient access to these treatments."

HyperArc capitalizes on the unique capabilities of Varian's TrueBeam and EDGE treatment systems. HyperArc treatments allow clinicians the ability to deliver more compact radiation doses that closely conform to the size, shape, and location of tumors while sparing more surrounding healthy tissue. These advanced treatments can be delivered in a conventional treatment time slot. The treatment planning for HyperArc is supported by Varian's Eclipse treatment planning software and ARIA oncology information system.

For more information on HyperArc, visit www.varian.com/hyperarc

About Varian

Varian is a leader in developing and delivering cancer care solutions and is focused on creating a world without fear of cancer. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Varian employs approximately 7,000 people around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com and follow @VarianMedSys on Twitter.

About Phoenix Cyberknife and Radiation Oncology Center

Phoenix CyberKnife and Radiation Oncology Center (PCROC) combines cutting-edge technology with a team of highly experienced physicians who are nationally recognized in the field of radiation oncology, to provide patients with advanced cancer treatments designed specifically for their unique cases. PCROC's physician-owned clinic prides themselves in offering new hope to cancer patients to help them return to their lives sooner and healthier. Visit www.pcroc.com for more information.

Press Contact

Mark Plungy

Director, Public Relations

+1 (650) 424-5630

[email protected]

Investor Relations Contact

J. Michael Bruff

Senior Vice President, Investor Relations

+1 (650) 424-5163

[email protected]

SOURCE Varian

Related Links

http://www.varian.com

SHANGHAI, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- PPDAI Group Inc. ("PPDAI," "Paipaidai," or the "Company") (NYSE: PPDF), a leading online consumer finance marketplace in China, today announced its participation in the following investor conferences:

Morgan Stanley China New Economy Summit, January 7-8 at Rosewood Hotel Beijing

at Rosewood Hotel Beijing UBS 2019 Greater China Conference, January 8-9 at Pudong Shangri-La Shanghai

at Pudong Shangri-La Shanghai Credit Suisse 2019 Great China Technology and Internet Conference, January 10-11 at Conrad Hong Kong

at Conrad Hong Kong Deutsche Bank 17th Annual dbAccess China Conference 2019, January 14-15 at Grand Hyatt Shenzhen

Management will meet with institutional investors throughout these events. For additional information, please contact your respective institutional sales representative at each sponsoring bank.

About PPDAI Group Inc.

PPDAI is a leading online consumer finance marketplace in China with strong brand recognition. Launched in 2007, the Company is the first online consumer finance marketplace in China connecting borrowers and investors. As a pioneer in China's online consumer finance marketplace, the Company benefits from both its early-mover advantages and the invaluable data and experience accumulated throughout multiple complete loan lifecycles. The Company's platform, empowered by its proprietary, cutting-edge technologies, features a highly automated loan transaction process, which enables a superior user experience, as evidenced by the rapid growth of the Company's user base and loan origination volume. As of September 30, 2018, the Company had over 83 million cumulative registered users.

For more information, please visit http://ir.ppdai.com.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

In China:

PPDAI Group Inc.

Jimmy Tan / Sally Huo

Tel: +86 (21) 8030 3200- Ext 8601

E-mail: [email protected]

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Ross Warner

Tel: +86 (10) 5730-6202

E-mail: [email protected]

In the United States:

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Brandi Piacente

Tel: +1-212-481-2050

E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE PPDAI Group Inc.

Related Links

http://ir.ppdai.com

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- PRN, part of the STRATACACHE family of marketing technology companies, today announced that its pharmacy-focused division, iDklic, and partner VPharma have announced the renewal, three-year extension and upgrade of their current point-of-sale communication contract to January 1, 2022, reflecting VPharma's trust in iDklic's Pharmaseen solution. As part of the extension agreement, iDklic will add and manage sensors in the pharmacy network, gathering deep shopper insights to optimize screen content.

Pharmaseen by iDklic is a well-established platform for visual digital communication inside pharmacies across Europe. Since 2009, iDklic has broadcasted VPharma TV in dual languages, spanning dozens of pharmacies across the Verviers region and the German-speaking population of Belgium.

The entire network will get a hardware upgrade including media players from Scala, another company in the STRATACACHE family, and new 32-42" LCD screens. Point-of-sale communication in retail pharmacy is highly effective in influencing the consumer and allows VPharma to offer a comprehensive communications approach for driving the purchase of impulse items and supporting monthly promotions within their pharmacies.

In addition to the refresh, iDklic will bring new digital technology to VPharma, enabling them to offer more innovative digital solutions within their pharmacies. "Consumption habits have changed considerably in recent years, and by using digital technology to address this change, pharmacists can close a significant gap with increasingly mobile, informed and interconnected consumers," said Kevin Carbone, CEO of PRN.

One such technology iDklic will integrate for VPharma is Walkbase, STRATACACHE's in-store marketing and analytics platform that digitizes the in-store customer journey. Walkbase combines a variety of sensor data including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth beacons, and cameras with other relevant data including point of sale and CRM/loyalty data to collect important behavioral and traffic data that helps pharmacies understand how customers are spending their time and money in-store. Using these insights pharmacists will be able to engage customers based on their location and buying behavior in the pharmacy. The new digital tools will offer customers more personalized advice and improved service and once again make the customer relationship the focus at the point of sale.

The deployment of Walkbase at VPharma starts in January and will represent the first of its kind in a European pharmacy and will be the first in Belgium.

Jean-Charles Figoni, CEO of iDklic, said, "Walkbase is the single best solution for making screens smart and for enabling pharmacies to analyze customer flow and traffic patterns. Most of our customers are eager to deploy this technology within their pharmacies, and I predict it will have a great future in the market. Adding this to Scala smart digital signage software, iDklic is well-positioned to offer the very best digital solutions for pharmacies in Europe."

Learn more at www.iDklic.com, www.prn.com/prn-health, www.scala.com/media-players.

About PRN Health

PRN Health delivers in-store digital shopper solutions for wellness retailers and brands. Our solutions and services drive in-store conversion, support shopper well-being and compliance, and rapidly pay for themselves. PRN Health, a STRATACACHE company, is the leading digital media company specializing in retail centric digital solutions that activate shoppers along the path-to-purchase right up to the point-of-sale. With the LIFT interactive point of purchase network at pharmacy stores, in-aisle interactive touchscreens, and smart video signage, PRN Health increases sales and encourages repeat visits to the local pharmacy. Providing turn-key solutions to pharmacy retailers, PRN Health's services include brand advertising and network monetization, content strategy and consumer experience, product design and integration, and technical support. With headquarters in San Francisco, PRN has over 25 years of in-store technology and shopper activation experience. To learn more, visit www.prn.com/tse, follow them on Twitter @PRNllc, or like them on Facebook.

About iDklic

iDklic is a digital marketing specialist in retail pharmacy. Its technology and services are present in more than 1,250 pharmacies across Europe. With its roots in the heart of Europe, iDklic responded to a need from the pharmacy retail market: maximize direct communication with the customer and trigger impulse purchases with high-in return products. With its creativity, innovation and application of new technologies, iDklic will improve healthcare outcomes thanks to its new approaches to traditional challenges across multiple channels and areas in the healthcare industry. To learn more, visit www.iDklic.com follow them on LinkedIn, Twitter @iDklic or like them on Facebook.

SOURCE PRN Health

Related Links

https://www.prn.com/prn-health

The survey, now in its second year, includes data from 468 employers across Canada from a variety of industries, showing the challenges facing organizations in attracting and retaining top talent. Its findings also identify industry best practices to help employers effectively meet those challenges.

"Because we are in a tight labour market, organizations understand the importance of offering competitive benefit packages," says Leslie Lemenager, head of Gallagher's Canadian employee benefit consulting operations. "But today's workforce encompasses five generations, and each wants a benefits package that addresses their own individual set of needs. To win the war for talent while keeping costs sustainable, employers need to look beyond the most expensive options and incorporate data to ensure they offer benefits that are cost-effective, competitive and appealing to key talent."

Overlooking Tools to Keep Rising Healthcare Costs in Check

The 2018 Benefits Strategy & Benchmarking Survey  Canada Edition identifies employers' biggest pain points within healthcare. More than half (55 percent) say high prescription costs is a top cost-management challenge, and 64 percent mandate generic or least-cost alternative drugs to cut costs. However, the study finds just 5 percent employ expense management tactics, such as step therapy, streamlining the supply chain or mail-order options, which can significantly reduce drug expenses.

Employers Not Quite There Yet on Holistic Employee Wellbeing Strategies

A common misunderstanding about employee wellbeing and its role in the workplace helps to explain why only 46 percent of Canadian employers have an employee wellbeing strategy. Many employers may not recognize that employees bring their entire selves to work, including their personal challenges, which can impact job performance. As a result, employee wellbeing should ideally take a holistic approach, addressing physical and emotional health, career growth and financial security, among other areas.

With many employees under financial stress, more organizations are offering access to financial advisors or financial literacy education to help employees make smarter saving and spending decisions. The research also finds many organizations actually already have the resources they need to strengthen employee wellbeing or could add voluntary benefits to do so.

Relying on Data to Develop and Measure Benefit and Compensation Strategies

Most Canadian employers believe their benefits are competitive, but base that conclusion on perception rather than data. For example, 60 percent of employers feel their workforce is highly engaged, but only 42 percent have conducted an engagement survey since 2016. In addition, 32 percent say they lack any communication strategy, making benefits education or feedback difficult.

"Employers cannot afford to offer the same healthcare and retirement packages year after year," Lemenager says. "Employee demographics are diverse and their needs are changing constantly. Organizations that recognize this, and continue to adjust accordingly, will do a better job of recruiting and retaining top talent."

For more information about the 2018 Benefits Strategy & Benchmarking Survey  Canada Edition, visit www.ajg.com/CNBS-2018.

ABOUT THE BENEFITS STRATEGY & BENCHMARKING SURVEY

Gallagher Benefit Services, Inc., the employee benefits consulting and brokerage operation of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., developed the Benefits Strategy & Benchmarking Survey to provide employers with insights into how their peers are addressing benefit and human capital challenges. The 2018 survey, conducted from April to June of this year, aggregates responses from 468 organizations across Canada. Additional survey results can be found at www.ajg.com/CNBS-2018.

ABOUT GALLAGHER

Gallagher (NYSE: AJG) is a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm 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.

SOURCE Gallagher

Related Links

http://www.ajg.com

Ms. Downes is a senior executive with over 35 years of experience leading technology-based and professional service businesses. She currently owns and operates Downes Consulting, a financial consultancy firm providing highly sophisticated revenue recognition, contract compliance, and other financial operations support. She is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Versar Inc., a $170 million engineering and construction management company.

"Ms. Downes' leadership and wealth of knowledge adds great value to our board," said Mr. John Giering, Chairman of the not-for-profit's Board of Trustees. In the past year, Riverside Research has been awarded several large contracts to support customers in the Department of Defense and intelligence community. "Her extensive financial experience will help ensure Riverside Research's strong growth continues in a sustainable direction."

Ms. Downes began her Riverside Research Board of Trustee duties effective November 13, 2018.

About Riverside Research

Riverside Research is a not-for-profit organization chartered to advance scientific research for the benefit of the US government and in the public interest. Through the company's open innovation concept, they invest in multi-disciplinary research and development and encourage collaboration to accelerate innovation and advance science. Riverside Research conducts independent research in machine learning, trusted and resilient systems, optics and photonics, and plasma physics. Learn more at www.riversideresearch.org .

SOURCE Riverside Research

Related Links

http://www.riversideresearch.org

SANTA FE, N.M., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- LongView Asset Management, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor based in Santa Fe, NM, in conjunction with United World College-USA and TIAA, is pleased to announce the launch of a groundbreaking series of age-based model portfolios incorporating environmental, social and governance ("ESG") criteria into the college's retirement plan as its default investment.

"LongView believes stewardship of our planet is an essential part of investing for the future," said Douglas Lynam, Director of Educator Retirement Services. "UWC-USA is the first school in the country to offer employees a retirement plan with a default investment that integrates ESG principles. The LongView ESG LifeCycle Portfolios provide employees a convenient, diversified retirement investment solution. The plan seeks to support environmental sustainability in line with UWC-USA's values, without sacrificing expected returns or assuming greater investment risk."

With the custom portfolios as the retirement plan default, faculty and staff benefit from a turnkey, professionally designed and managed retirement portfolio. The models are comprised of socially responsible equity and bond funds combined with TIAA Traditional, a fixed annuity.

"Our mission is to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future," said Dr. Victoria J. Mora, President of United World College-USA. "It is in line with our values to create a plan that considers positive social outcomes while helping our faculty and staff prepare for a secure retirement."

LongView worked with UWC-USA's existing plan recordkeeper, TIAA (the leading provider of financial services to academic institutions nationwide), to implement this innovative default investment option. "For five decades, TIAA has been committed to the practice and continuous advancement of responsible investment," said Dan O'Toole, Senior Managing Director of Institutional Investments & Research at TIAA. "Our Custom Portfolio Model Service is designed to be simple and flexible, so we were delighted to be able to help UWC-USA create a retirement plan default with ESG elements in keeping with their deep commitment to serving others."

Established in 2002, LongView is an independent, fee-only fiduciary offering sustainable investment solutions for clients around the country. For more information, and legal disclaimers, contact Doug Lynam at [email protected] or 505-988-9555.

Investment, insurance and annuity products are not FDIC insured, not bank guaranteed, not deposits, not insured by any federal government agency, not a condition to any banking service or activity, and may lose value.

SOURCE LongView Asset Management, LLC

Related Links

https://www.longviewasset.com

DUBLIN, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The "Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market (2018-2024): Market Forecast by Types, by Lubrication Method, by Technology, Centrifugal, Reciprocating, by Applications, by Regions and Competitive Landscape" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Saudi Arabia Air Compressor market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 3.1% during 2018-24.

Air compressors are prominently used in the oil & gas industry in Saudi Arabia; however, with the government taking initiatives to expand other industrial segments, the market for air compressor in Saudi Arabia is expected to increase over the next six years. Saudi Vision 2030 and National Transformation Program would boost the demand for air compressors during 2018-24.

A major drop in oil prices in 2015 led to the downfall in construction and oil & gas industry resulting in negative growth of air compressors in Saudi Arabia. Post-2017, the market is expected to revive due to the increase in the oil prices after years of slump and shift towards non-oil sector would drive the growth of air compressors over the next six years.

The ambitious Saudi Vision 2030 plan to improve the economy is exhibited to revitalize the construction market. The Eastern region occupies a maximum share of air compressor market due to the presence of major oil companies such as ARAMCO and SABIC. Moreover, ongoing and upcoming infrastructural advancement are escalating the growth of air compressors in Saudi Arabia.

In Saudi Arabia, rotary air compressors captured the majority of the market share in 2017 and is expected to dominate during the forecast period. Centrifugal air compressors are also growing at a healthy rate and are expected to expand in the coming years.

Oil & Gas, construction and industrial applications garnered maximum revenue share from the air compressor sales due to the steady growth of large-scale projects. Applications such as construction and oil & gas are projected to grow at relatively higher CAGR during 2018-24.

The report thoroughly covers Air Compressor market by types, technology, power rating, lubrication method, applications, and regions. The report provides an unbiased and detailed analysis of the on-going trends, opportunities/high growth areas and market drivers, which would help the stakeholders to decide and align their market strategies according to the current and future market dynamics.

Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Introduction

2.1. Key Highlights of the Report

2.2. Report Description

2.3. Market Scope & Segmentation

2.4. Research Methodology

2.5. Assumptions



3. Global Air Compressor Market Overview

3.1. Global Air Compressor Market Revenues (2014-2024F)

3.2. Global Air Compressor Market Revenue Share, By Regions, 2017



4. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Overview

4.1. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume, (2014-2024F)

4.2. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market - Industry Life Cycle

4.3. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market - Porter's Five Forces

4.4. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market - Opportunistic Matrix

4.5. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market - Value Chain Analysis

4.6. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Revenue Share, By Types, (2017 & 2024F)

4.7. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Revenue Share, By Technology, (2017 & 2024F)

4.8. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Revenue Share, By Lubrication Method, (2017 & 2024F)

4.9. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Revenue Share, By Power Rating, (2017 & 2024F)

4.10. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Revenue Share, By End User Applications, (2017 & 2024F)

4.11. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Revenue Share, By Regions, (2017 & 2024F)



5. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Dynamics

5.1. Impact Analysis

5.2. Market Drivers

5.3. Market Restraints



6. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Trends



7. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Overview, By Types

7.1. Portable Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)

7.2. Stationary Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)



8. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Overview, By Lubrication Method

8.1. Oil Injected Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)

8.2. Oil Free Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)



9. Saudi Arabia Rotary Air Compressor Market Overview

9.1. Rotary Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)

9.2. Rotary Air Compressor Market Overview, By Power Rating

9.2.1. Up to 75kW Rotary Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)

9.2.2. 76-160kW Rotary Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)

9.2.3. Above 160kW Rotary Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)



10. Saudi Arabia Centrifugal Air Compressor Market Overview

10.1. Centrifugal Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)

10.2. Centrifugal Air Compressor Market Overview, By Power Rating

10.2.1. Up to 500kW Centrifugal Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)

10.2.2. Above 500kW Centrifugal Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)



11. Saudi Arabia Reciprocating Air Compressor Market Overview

11.1. Reciprocating Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)

11.2. Reciprocating Air Compressor Market Overview, By Power Rating

11.2.1. Up to 10kW Reciprocating Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)

11.2.2. Above 10kW Reciprocating Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)



12. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Overview, By End User Applications

12.1. Industrial Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)

12.2. Oil & Gas Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)

12.3. Construction Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)

12.4. Food & Beverages Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)

12.5. Other End User Applications Air Compressor Market Revenues & Volume (2014-2024F)



13. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Overview, By Regions

13.1. Central Region Air Compressors Market Revenues (2014-2024F)

13.2. Southern Region Air Compressors Market Revenues (2014-2024F)

13.3. Western Region Air Compressors Market Revenues (2014-2024F)

13.4. Eastern Region Air Compressors Market Revenues (2014-2024F)



14. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Opportunity Assessment (Target/Focus Area)

14.1. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Opportunity Assessment, By Technology (2024F)

14.2. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market Opportunity Assessment, By End User Applications (2024F)



15. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market - Price Point Analysis



16. Saudi Arabia Air Compressor Market - Competitive Landscape

16.1. Market Players' Revenue Share Analysis, By Product Technology (2017)

16.2. Competitive Benchmarking, By Product Type

16.3. Competitive Benchmarking, By Operating Parameters



17. Company Profiles

17.1. Atlas Copco AB

17.2. Ingersoll Rand PLC

17.3. Doosan Infracore Co. Ltd.

17.4. Sullair LLC

17.5. Kaeser Kompressoren FZE

17.6. Gardner Denver FZE

17.7. Elgi Gulf (FZE)

17.8. BOGE Kompressoren Otto Boge GmbH & Co. KG

17.9. Hokuetsu Industries Co. Ltd.

17.10. FS-Elliott Saudi Arabia Ltd



18. Recommendations



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/k3pfbt/saudi_arabia_air?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

LONDON, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The global strategy consulting market accounted to US$43.07 Bn in 2017 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.9% during the forecast period 2018 - 2025, to account to US$91.38 Bn by 2025.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5653785



Strategy consulting is referred as strategic advisory or boardroom consulting, is considered by the majority of consultants as the most 'high-end' and prestigious consultancy within the professional services industry. This mainly focuses on private sector clients with the growth of corporate, organizational or functional strategies and also serving public sector organizations and institutions with economic policy.



Need for strategic planning in exceedingly competitive market ecosystem and the need for developing business capabilities for meeting & exceeding the evolving requirements, are surging the growth of strategy consulting market, whereas swiftly evolving new business models at high pace than traditional companies structure act as one of the growth factors for the strategy consulting market. Driving factors such as rising competence across business sectors driving the needs for consulting and gain competitive edge, and increasing regional business diversities demand for skilled driven consultations and implementations are anticipated to have a huge impact on the development of strategy consulting market in the coming years.



The global strategy consulting market has been segmented on the basis of services and industry vertical.There is a myriad of services present to be catered by the consulting services players.



For the strategy consulting market, some of the widely used services have been broadly segmented into business model transformation, corporate strategy, economic policy, organizational strategy, mergers & acquisitions, functional strategy, strategy & operations, and digital strategy.Further, the strategy consulting market has been segmented on the basis of industry verticals into IT & telecommunication, healthcare, BFSI, retail, manufacturing, and others.



The analysis for market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America (SAM) is also provided in the strategy consulting market report.



US is a major adopter of this service and is still in its growing phase with implementation of several tools, and techniques pertaining to strategy consulting.The presence of some of the world's largest business firms coupled with huge competition in the region has driven the demands from the end-user industry for adoptions of strategy consulting services.



Additionally, US is also considered to be the hub of innovations and therefore, the technological disruptions take place in this part of the world first before spreading to the other regions.And the market is becoming gradually prevalent across other developed and developing economies including Europe and APAC.



Also, countries in Asia are experiencing a high growth in industrial sector thus, propelling the growth of strategy consulting market.



The top companies operating in the strategy consulting market include A.T. Kearney, Inc., Accenture PLC, Delloite, Bain & Company, Ernst & Young Ltd., KPMG, McKinsey & Company, Mercer LLC, The Boston Consulting Group, and PwC among others. Various other companies operating in the strategy consulting market and are coming up with new technologies and offerings which is helping the strategy consulting market to expand over the years in terms of revenue.



Reasons to Buy

Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies.

The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the strategy consulting market, thereby allowing players to develop effective long term strategies.

Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering in developed and emerging markets.

Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it.

Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to segmentations like service and industry vertical.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5653785



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +1 (718) 213 4904

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

http://www.reportbuyer.com

LAS VEGAS, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Trustifi, a leading email security service, is announcing a partnership with The Iowa State Bar Association (ISBA). As of January 2019, it will be the ISBA's exclusive provider of email encryption and will be made available to every single association member at a deeply discounted rate.

The Iowa State Bar Association provides legal education, research, practice aids, and more to over 7,600 attorneys in Iowa. The ISBA is one of the oldest state bar associations in the country and boasts one of the highest membership rates for voluntary state bar associations.

With this new partnership, The Iowa State Bar Association will be able to provide members with the opportunity to easily integrate email encryption, tracking, reverse DNS lookup, and more into their email communications. At a time when law firms are becoming increasingly targeted by cyber criminals, this is a crucial service for attorneys who want to protect their business.

"To emphasize the importance of law firms strengthening cybersecurity infrastructures, we heavily subsidized the cost for every member so they can utilize Trustifi's encryption and security offerings," says Harry Shipley, the Assistant Executive Director of the ISBA.

"The ISBA's goal is to help attorneys have the highest level of email security possible," says Shipley. "Trustifi is the ideal service for the ISBA because it's easy for the sender and recipient, has superior technology to competitors, and offers an additional layer of security."

With this new partnership to close out the year, Trustifi is quickly becoming the market leader for email encryption for the legal industry. Thanks to the software's easy-to-integrate, Trustifi has signed many legal firms, and is looking forward to helping other industries strengthen their cybersecurity infrastructure.

About Trustifi Corporation

Trustifi Corporation (Trustifi), is a Software as a Service (SaaS) company located in Las Vegas, dedicated to developing push-postmarked encryption email, eDelivery, and eSignature solutions. Trustifi is an agile, proactive approach to protecting a company's business communications from cybercrime and data breaches, specializing in encryption and certified email services. For more information please visit https://trustifi.com/.

Media Contact:

Alex James

[email protected]

(858) 946-0246

SOURCE Trustifi

Related Links

https://trustifi.com

PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide, announced today that Allison J. Bender has joined the firm's privacy and cybersecurity practice as Of Counsel in the Washington, D.C., office.

From 2006 to 2015, Bender was an attorney at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the Office of the General Counsel, where she advised on cybersecurity laws, regulations, and policies. While at DHS, she also advised on technology programs related to international law, compliance and policy, export controls, and the SAFETY Act. Prior to joining WSGR, she was an attorney at ZwillGen in Washington, D.C., where she provided legal guidance to technology-focused clients on privacy and cybersecurity issues.

"We are delighted to have Allison join our team. Companies in all sectors face real challenges ensuring their compliance with increasingly complicated privacy and data protection standards, both in the U.S. and around the world," said Lydia Parnes, a partner in WSGR's Washington, D.C., office and co-chair of the firm's privacy and cybersecurity practice. "Our team provides comprehensive representation to companies seeking guidance on how to operate and grow their businesses in the face of these complex global standards. We're pleased Allison has joined the firm and expands our expertise in these important areas."

Bender earned an LL.M., in National Security Law with distinction, from Georgetown University in 2012, and her J.D. at Washington and Lee University in 2006. She received her B.A. degree in foreign affairs at the University of Virginia in 2003. She is admitted to practice in California and Washington, D.C., and is CIPP/US and CISSP certified.

In addition to private law practice, Bender is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Maryland Baltimore County, teaching courses concerning national security regulation and cyber law.

Bender is the second senior-level attorney to join the firm's privacy and data protection practice in recent months. In October 2018, WSGR announced that Lore Leitner had joined WSGR's London office as Of Counsel.

About Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

For more than 50 years, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offered a broad range of services and legal disciplines focused on serving the principal challenges faced by the management and boards of directors of business enterprises. The firm is nationally recognized as a leader in the fields of corporate governance and finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, securities litigation, employment law, intellectual property, and antitrust, among many other areas of law. With deep roots in Silicon Valley, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offices in Austin; Beijing; Boston; Brussels; Hong Kong; London; Los Angeles; New York; Palo Alto; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Shanghai; Washington, D.C.; and Wilmington, DE. For more information, please visit www.wsgr.com.

SOURCE Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Related Links

http://www.wsgr.com

CHICAGO, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Since the Workers' Compensation Benchmarking Study launched in 2013, claims leaders have consistently ranked medical management as the core competency most critical to claim outcomes. With medical costs representing more than 60 percent of claims costs in many jurisdictions, the study's Advisory Council recommended the 2018 study further investigate how high performing claims payers are surmounting this top industry challenge.

"Five years of data shows the claims community ideologically agrees on what's most critical to successful claims resolution," says Rachel Fikes, Vice President and Study Program Director at Rising Medical Solutions. "However, the data does not show that medical performance management is a critical industry priority, in practice" she says. "It's important that we don't become desensitized to the persistent medical challenges that have become the 'new norm.' We must continue to pursue and deploy viable strategies on the frontlines."

The sixth annual study draws upon first-person, focus group research for its 2018 Report, with over 40 industry executives examining forefront topics. These topics were chosen based on data results from the five prior annual studies, and include:

Focusing on a Triple Aim model to improve claim outcomes

Employing a medical concierge model and moving away from discount methodologies

Integrating behavioral health into programs

Using predictive and prescriptive modeling to effectively manage treatment and interventions

Enabling employee self-reporting

Leveraging technology to enhance employee resilience and recovery

Incorporating employee wellness and patient-centered outcomes

Enhancing employer education around employee advocacy and communication

Utilizing universal provider scorecards and publishing results

Measuring provider outcomes by using existing benchmarking data and tools more effectively

Leveraging value-based payment and Accountable Care Organization models

The 2018 focus group participants include a national cross-section of self-insured employers, national and regional carriers, state funds, third party administrators, brokerages, and industry consultancies. Participants were segmented into two focus groups of 1) claims leaders, and 2) clinicians / managed care leaders. This segmentation allowed the study to identify commonalities in the groups' medical management priorities and approaches, as well as variances to expose gaps that may need to be bridged to improve outcomes.

To date, more than 1,800 claims leaders nationwide have contributed their collective intelligence to the study's research. Their insights have helped build a robust profile of the successful claims organization and established a mature benchmarking tool by which to measure industry advancement.

As in prior years, the 2018 Report will be available to all without cost or obligation as a contribution to the workers' compensation industry. The 2018 Report may be requested here.

About the Workers' Compensation Benchmarking Study

The Workers' Compensation Benchmarking Study is a national research program examining the complex forces impacting claims management in workers' compensation today. The study's mission is to advance claims management in the industry by providing quantitative and qualitative research that identifies what high performing claims payers are doing differently than their peers. Through surveys and interviews with claims leaders nationwide, the program generates actionable data for claims organizations to evaluate their priorities, challenges, and strategies. Conceived and directed by Rising Medical Solutions, the ongoing program is a collaboration of industry executives representing diverse organizational perspectives, including the Study's Principal Researcher and Advisory Council:

Denise Algire , Director of Risk Initiatives & National Medical Director | Albertsons Companies

, Director of Risk Initiatives & National Medical Director | Albertsons Companies Raymond Jacobsen , Senior Managing Director | AON Benfield

, Senior Managing Director | AON Benfield Daniel T. Holden , Risk Operations Manager | BBSI

, Risk Operations Manager | BBSI Marcos Iglesias , MD, SVP, Chief Medical Officer | Broadspire

, MD, SVP, Chief Medical Officer | Broadspire Rich Cangiolosi , VP, Western Region | CCMSI

, VP, Western Region | CCMSI Trecia Sigle , VP, Enterprise TPA & Multinational Claim | CNA

, VP, Enterprise TPA & Multinational Claim | CNA Kelly Kuri , Claims Manager | Frank Winston Crum Insurance

, Claims Manager | Frank Winston Crum Insurance Helen Weber , AVP, Head of Medical Strategy | The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc.

, AVP, Head of Medical Strategy | The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. Adam Seidner , MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer | The Hartford

, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer | The Scott Emery , Senior Director, Claims | Markel

, Senior Director, Claims | Markel Tom Stark , Technical Director, Workers' Compensation | Nationwide Insurance

, Technical Director, Workers' Compensation | Nationwide Insurance Tom McCauley , Owner & Consultant | Networks by Design

, Owner & Consultant | Networks by Design Darrell Brown , Chief Claims Officer | Sedgwick

, Chief Claims Officer | Sedgwick John Smolk , Principal Manager, Workers' Compensation | Southern California Edison

, Principal Manager, Workers' Compensation | Southern California Edison Jim Kerr , VP of Claims Operations | TRISTAR

, VP of Claims Operations | TRISTAR David Price , VP, Risk Management | UMR, Inc.

, VP, Risk Management | UMR, Inc. Linda Butler , Director, Claims Management | Walt Disney World Resort

, Director, Claims Management | Walt Disney World Resort Brian Trick , Senior Manager of Claims | Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.

, Senior Manager of Claims | Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. Kyle Cato , Workers' Compensation & Safety Manager | Williams-Sonoma, Inc.

About Rising Medical Solutions

Rising Medical Solutions (www.risingms.com) is a national medical-financial solutions firm that provides medical cost containment and medical care management services to the workers' compensation, auto, liability, and group health markets.

Contact:

Rachel Fikes

[email protected]

SOURCE Rising Medical Solutions

Related Links

http://www.risingms.com

Gandhinagar, Dec 18 : In a bid to boost India-Africa trade ties, the ninth edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investment Summit 2019 will celebrate Africa Day on January 19.

Talking to reporters, SJ Haider, principal secretary, Tourism said, "On January 19th, we will be celebrating the Africa Day, marking the trade ties between India and African countries."

"Over the last four years, the exports from the ports of Gujarat have doubled. Gujarat is exporting its products in 51 out of the total 54 African countries. We will be focussing on around 14 sectors where trade between the two sides is good," Haider informed.

"More than 12 MoUs will be signed during the event, most notably in healthcare, education and mineral development sectors," he added.

As many as 32 African countries are participating in the summit.

"32 out of 54 countries have confirmed their participation and other are expected to join," said Haider.

The trade show at the exhibition centre will have an African Pavillion, featuring various projects' progress carried out under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Gujarat and over 20 African countries.

"The VGGIS will be inaugurated on January 17, most probably by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The significant addition in this year's edition of the global trade show will be business through buyer-sellers meet. For the first time we will have a reverse buyer-seller meet and vendor development sections," Haider stated.

A bullet train simulator will also be placed at the trade show. Also, there will be a display of Innovation and technology with Robotic and Laser cutting. There will also be a display of digital economy and disruptive technology.

The trade show will be spread across 2,00,000 square meters with 5 pavillions where 1500 participants will be displaying their stalls and products. There will also be 15 partner country pavillions and Indian states pavillions and pavilliions featuring central government's flagships programs like 'Make In India', Digital India', Start-Up India', ITES, Sagarmala, Ayushyaman Bharat and Indradhanush.

The VGGIS will also have trade shows focussed on the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. There will be a special MSME zone.

Besides, the global trade show will also see a fashion show based on 'Farm to Fabric' theme.Wellington, Dec 18 : New Zealand will hold a referendum in 2020 to decide on the legalisation of recreational marijuana, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced on Tuesday, a week after Parliament gave the green light to its use for medicinal purposes.

"We need to fine-tune some details, but we are informing the Election Commission when it has to be held," the Minister told the media, adding that the referendum will be held alongside the 2020 general election.

Among the details still being discussed is the wording of the question that will be posed in the referendum, which comes as part of the agreement with the Green Party, one of the partners in government.

Leader of the opposition National Party, Simon Bridges slammed the decision to hold the referendum at the same time as the elections, considering it a "cynical" gesture that seeks to distract the electorate from "central issues" such as governance and the economy.

The New Zealand Parliament on December 11 approved the medical use of cannabis, which will soon be available in the country with a prescription for patients with chronic pain.

The amendment to the Drug Abuse Law, which passed the third and final reading in the legislature, eliminates the definition of cannabis as a controlled drug and converts it into a prescription drug.

Fifty-two per cent of New Zealanders aged between 15 and 45 have used cannabis at some point in their lives, of which 16 per cent are frequent users, according to NORML NZ, an organisation seeking legalisation of this substance in New Zealand, one of the countries with the highest rate of consumption.Washington, Dec 18 : Special Counsel Robert Mueller has released a January 2017 memo detailing the FBI's interview that month with Michael Flynn, a moment that led to a high-profile criminal case against President Donald Trump's former National Security Adviser.

According to the memo released on Monday night, Flynn in the interview lied about his contact during the presidential transition in 2016 with then-Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, CNN reported.

At times, the former official offered the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents more benign descriptions of what he and Kislyak had said about Russian policy.

The memo comes on the eve of Flynn's criminal sentencing for lying to investigators.

Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to investigators in that interview and about his lobbying for the Turkish government.

He will likely face zero to six months in prison, though Mueller's team has asked the judge to give him no prison time because he has helped their investigation, along with other federal probes.

Meanwhile, a memo released by Mueller's office last week described how the FBI had known the facts of Flynn's conversations with Kislyak before the agency approached him in the West Wing.United Nations, Dec 18 : Afghanistan has welcomed the exemption from the Iran sanctions given by the US for the India-developed Chabahar Port project.

"We appreciate the collaboration and flexibility of our strategic partner, the US to work with Afghanistan, Iran and India towards exempting the port from its sanctions," Afghanistan's Permanent Representative Mahmoud Saikal told the Security Council on Monday at its meeting on his country.

"The Chabahar Port remains an important gateway for providing commercially viable access to the sea linking the Indian Ocean with Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond," he said.

India is investing $500 million in the port project in Iran and the road link to Afghanistan, which gives the land-locked nation where the US is heavily invested an alternative sea outlet.

Despite President Donald Trump's animosity towards Iran, the US had to give the exemption to Chabahar to enable Indian assistance to reach Afghanistan, where Washington is mired in a 17-year-war against the Taliban, the Al Qaeda and their allies.

Without access to Chabahar, Afghanistan would be forced to depend solely on Pakistan for a sea passage.

Last month, Washington imposed harsh restrictions on trade relations with Iran, threatening sanctions on those violating the embargo.

This followed Trump pulling out of the nuclear deal signed during former President Barack Obama's tenure between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and the European Union, to end sanctions in return for Tehran stopping nuclear weapons development.

Announcing the US exemption for the Chabahar Port, a State Department spokesperson said last month that it "relates to reconstruction assistance and economic development for Afghanistan. These activities are vital for the ongoing support of Afghanistan's growth and humanitarian relief".

India has sent 1.1 million tonnes of wheat through the port to Afghanistan, where the eastern region has suffered a drought.

Trump's South Asia strategy "underscores our ongoing support of Afghanistan's economic growth and development as well as our close partnership with India", the spokesperson added.

Last year, Trump assigned a "critical" role for India in his country's South Asia strategy for fighting terrorism, building up a safe Afghanistan and appealed for help from New Delhi.

Chabahar would be essential for any large-scale assistance from India to Afghanistan.

With the prospects of peace negotiations with the Taliban improving, Saikal took a conciliatory approach to Pakistan, which he had sternly accused in the past of being complicit in cross-border terrorist attacks.

"We have always asserted that the government of Pakistan has a particularly important role to play, given its leverage over key Taliban figures," he said.

Taliban leaders and Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, met in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday for talks facilitated by Pakistan.

At the trilateral meeting of Foreign Ministers, Salahuddin Rabbani of Afghanistan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi of Pakistan and Wang Yi of China in Kabul last weekend, " we reiterated our request from Pakistan to do what is necessary to facilitate direct talks", Saikal said.

"And in regards to security, we asserted that mutual trust and confidence is only possible when we see a reduction in violence, and more tangible measures against terrorist elements," he added.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)Mumbai, Dec 18 : A Mumbai man, who spent around six years in a Pakistani jail on espionage charges, has been released and will return home on Tuesday, an activist said here.

"Yes it's really a great news. Hamid Nehal Ansari has been released from jail and will be handed over to India at the Wagah Border later this afternoon," Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) General Secretary Jatin Desai told IANS.

Ansari's family members, including father Nehal and mother Fauzia, a large number of India-Pakistan friendship activists, officials and political personalities will be present at the border to welcome him.

Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activist and former legislator Krishna Hegde, who helped the family in the past few years, said they had gone to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi to complete the formalities and secure his repatriation.

Pakistan had alleged that Ansari, 33, an engineer, was an "Indian spy" who illegally entered the country, and accused him of involvement in anti-state crimes, forging documents, and jailed him.

For the Ansari family, it was an ordeal since November 2012 when he left the country for Kabul for employment and then was reported "missing".

He reportedly became friendly with a Pakistan girl on social media and reached Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to save her from a forced marriage.

On November 12, 2012, Ansari crossed over from Afghanistan border in Jalalabad to Peshawar in Pakistan where he was nabbed by Pakistan intelligence.

Later, a military court sentenced him to three years in jail.

Despite his three-year jail term having ended, he was kept in prison.

On Monday, the External Affairs Ministry said that it has received a note from Pakistan that they would be releasing Ansari on Tuesday.

"It is a matter of great relief, especially for the family members, that six years of incarceration of the Indian civilian in Pakistan jail is coming to an end," Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

"We would like Pakistan to take action to also end misery of other Indian nationals and fishermen whose nationality has been confirmed and who have completed their sentences, but continue to languish in Pakistan jails."Bengaluru, Dec 18 : With a wide range of Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools at its disposal, Amazon Web Services (AWS), the Cloud arm of online retail giant Amazon, is busy helping its customers in India, bringing to their doorsteps innovative solutions that address the challenges they face.

Amazon Internet Services Private Limited (AISPL), the Indian subsidiary of the Amazon Group that undertakes the resale and marketing of AWS Cloud services in India, brought to the country earlier this year a digital innovation programme headed by Madhusudan Shekar.

"In a heterogeneous country like India, the scope of innovation is tremendous," Shekar, Head of Digital Innovation at AISPL, told IANS here, pointing out the diversity of needs in a country of over 1.2 billion people.

According to him, while start-ups are by nature quite innovative in their approach, the risk of inertia to innovation seeping in is higher in large enterprises.

"But large enterprises are always looking for innovations in areas such as optimising operational costs. We can help them find innovation solutions in these areas too," Shekar noted in an interview on the sidelines of the Amazon AI Conclave held here last week.

"With the availability of a wide range of AI, ML, analytics and Internet of Things (IoT) tools and pre-trained models with AWS, the cost and time required for innovation come down drastically," he explained, adding that businesses just need to fine-tune these models according to their needs, thereby saving time spent on building them from scratch.

Among the start-ups that showcased their innovative solutions at the event was ChironX, a Gurugram-based company which is using AI and Deep Learning for medical diagnostics.

The AI model that the company has built analyses retinal fundus images in seconds to detect several diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, hypertensive retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema.

"Our solution is now used by several hospitals in India," said Rito Maitra, Vice President for Product at ChironX, adding that its data infrastructure needs are supported by AWS.

AWS, which is betting big on AI and ML for its growth, has over hundreds and thousands of active customers in the country.

"Every customer conversation that we have today has an element of AI and ML in it -- whether they are enterprises, start-ups or other organisations," Navdeep Manaktala, Head of Business Development, AISPL, told IANS, adding that over 85 per cent of what AWS does is driven by customer needs.

AWS has a broad portfolio of AI and ML services in areas such as text-to speech conversion, image analysis and document analysis, among others.

Shaadi.com, one of the world's largest online matrimonial services, and Woo, a dating app, are among the company's two biggest customers from India that use Amazon "Rekognition" -- a Deep Learning-based image-analysis service.

The matrimonial website believes that with the use of "Rekognition", it could reduce the time it takes for a picture to appear on a user's profile by 95 per cent as a lot of time spent on manual moderation of the picture to see whether it matches the description in the profile can be cut.

"Amazon Rekognition APIs (application programming interface), particularly 'DetectFaces', provide rich image metadata that we can use to apply our business-specific quality guidelines to. Utilising information such as number of faces, size of faces, and estimated age range, we were able to remove photo-level manual curation work entirely," said Sumesh Menon, Co-Founder of Woo.

Manaktala said that ML is also helping AWS better understand the customer needs, helping them secure their data. "The pace of innovation, in spite of our size, is tremendous," Manaktala added.

With services such as Amazon "SageMaker", the company also allows developers and data scientists to build, train and deploy Machine Learning models.

It also has what is known as AWS Partner Network (APN), a global programme focused on helping APN Partners build successful businesses or solutions by providing business, technical, marketing and go-to-market support.

Overall, the company offers over 125 fully featured services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, ML and AI, IoT, mobile, security, hybrid, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), media, and application development, deployment, and management.

(Gokul Bhagabati can be contacted at gokul.b@ians.in)New Delhi, Dec 18 : Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday adjourned the House till 2 p.m. as some members came near the Chair's podium and started sloganeering.

Minutes after the House met for the day, members from the Tamil Nadu-based parties, the AIADMK and DMK, came near the podium holding placards and raising slogans. They were protesting against a proposed dam on the Cauvery river.

Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the most important issue was that of the breach of privilege of the House by the government in the Rafale deal.

"The government has misled Parliament, it has misled the Supreme Court through a wrong affidavit and thus it has misled the country on the Rafale deal," Azad said.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said the government was ready to discuss all issues including Rafale on the floor of the House.

"It is the opposition that is running away from discussion," he said.

Amid the ruckus, Naidu adjourned the House till 2 p.m.Islamabad, Dec 18 : Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said he hoped that the Islamabad-backed US-Taliban negotiations which was held a day earlier in the UAE, could bring an end to "almost three decades of suffering of the brave Afghan people".

"Pakistan has helped in the dialogue between Taliban and the US in Abu Dhabi," Khan tweeted.

"Let us pray that this leads to peace and ends almost three decades of suffering of the brave Afghan people. Pakistan will be doing everything within its power to further the peace process."

Khan's remarks come a day after US diplomats and Taliban representatives met in the United Arab Emirates for the first round of talks facilitated by Pakistan on finding a negotiated settlement for the Afghan war, Dawn news reported.

The meeting in Abu Dhabi was also attended by officials from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

There were no statements from the participating parties at the end of the daylong meeting, although Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal had officially announced the start of the talks through a tweet.

It was the third meeting between the Taliban and US officials since the appointment of Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad as Washington's special envoy for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.

Their meeting last month had continued for three days.

However, it was the first meeting sponsored by Islamabad and also the first outside Doha which hosts Taliban's political office and was the venue of the earlier two rounds.

Pakistan had arranged the meeting after receiving a request from US President Donald Trump for help in the peace process a fortnight ago.

The Afghan government was not represented at Monday's meeting because Taliban have stood firmly on not talking to them whom they call the "puppet regime" and insisted on speaking directly to the US.London, Dec 18 : While you may be trying hard to get a chance to visit or live in the the US, but according to new research, approximately one in three American-born citizens living in the country consider leaving and living their lives abroad.

The desire to explore other lands (87.4 per cent) was found as the leading factor to leave the US, said Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels from the UK's University of Kent.

The study, published in the International Migration Review, also found that the aspiration to live abroad is strongly predicted by national identity.

On the other hand, there is almost no correlation between political ideology -- whether someone identifies as politically liberal or conservative -- and Americans' aspiration to live abroad.

"When we looked at what underlying factors played a role in Americans' thinking about migrating, we found that having a less than "very strong" American national identity was an important factor," von Koppenfels said.

"Others that played a role were knowing other Americans who had lived abroad or having served in the US military, both of which are networks our respondents might tap into.

"While one might think that ideological orientation plays a role, at least in this pre-Trump survey, we found out that it did not, at least not directly," von Koppenfels noted.

Other reasons identified were retirement (50.8 per cent); leaving a bad or disappointing situation in the US (49.0 per cent); and working (48.3 per cent).

Previous research has shown that adventure or exploration is the primary reason American migrants who are already abroad give for migration, with marriage or partnership a very close second.

This study builds on that research and examines what motivations prospective American migrants have, whether they end up leaving or not.Gwalior, Dec 18 : Smoking has been banned in every government office here in Madhya Pradesh and anybody found smoking will have to cough up a fine of Rs 200, an official said on Tuesday.

"Smoking is banned in every office. If found smoking, then a fine of Rs 200 will be imposed. To recover the fines, receipt tags will be printed and stored in all the offices. Smokers will be charged for the penalty amount," Divisional Commissioner B.M. Sharma.

He also instructed all the departmental officers that cleanliness has to be maintained in their respective offices by each one of the employees.

The newly formed Congress government in the state has come up with several other diktats aiming to make the city improve its ranking on the national hygiene meter.

Everyone needs to be conscious about cleanliness and work, Sharma said.

Government officials and employees have to lead from the front. In each government office, two-to-three dustbins will be kept in each room. In addition, an officer-employee will be made in-charge of cleanliness in every office, he added.

Sharma has instructed the Divisional Level Officers in the meeting of the Inter-departmental Coordination Committee about cleanliness surveys that would be taken up from time-to-time.Islamabad, Dec 18 : An FIR was lodged here on Tuesday against five persons, including the security guards of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, for violently assaulting a TV cameraman a day earlier.

Footage on Monday showed Syed Wajid Ali, the cameraman of Samaa TV, lying on the ground outside the parliament building after a security guard allegedly shoved him for coming in Sharif's way while recording him, reports Dawn news.

Another guard was then seen rushing towards the cameraman and kicking him in the face.

The guard, as per the footage, then escapes the scene in one of the vehicles of protocol.

The cameraman, who lost consciousness due to the kick, was shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims).

According to doctors, Ali had sustained injuries on his lip, where he was administered three stitches, and on his head.

Sharif, while speaking to the media, described the incident as unfortunate and assured that "every measure will be taken in accordance with the law", Dawn said.

The former leader regretted the incident but claimed that the assaulted cameraman had first hit his guard with his camera.

"That is no way (to behave)," Sharif said. "(But) the cameraman had hit the guard on his forehead with his equipment."Lucknow, Dec 18 : After successful electoral outings in three states, even as the Congress is on the upswing as it braces to take down the Narenda Modi government at the centre in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the two other key players - the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) - are busy rethinking their prospective grand alliance with the Grand Old Party, at least in UP.

In May, flash bulbs popped with maddening frenzy as opposition leaders converged at Bengaluru at H.D. Kumarswamy's swearing-in as the Karnataka Chief Minister. However, the buzz was missing at the oath-taking cerremonies in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh earlier this week as both the regional satraps from Uttar Pradesh - Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati skipped the events.

This, despite the fact that both BSP and SP extended their support in government formation in MP. What is both interesting and intriguing is that the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) also skipped the ceremonies despite Ajit Singh's sole legislator helping the Congress get a majority in Rajasthan.

While many reasons are being floated for their absence, from sprain in the leg to delayed flights, insiders here say there is more than meets the eye in the absence. Sources in the opposition camp say that with a "common minority vote bank at stake", the SP and BSP both are "uncomfortable with the prospect of coming together with the Congress, which might eat into the Muslim votes".

A senior BSP leader told IANS that while the rivalry with the SP was a "thing of the past" and that both parties had "almost arrived at a seat-sharing formula for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the chances of Congress being on board were almost negligible. The problem, he pointed, out was the possibility of UP's Muslims changing track to the erstwhile weak and lost Congress in Muslim-majority parliamentary constituencies as they feel it is a better option in national elections.

A reliable source said that 'Behen ji' (Mayawati) had offered 40 seats to SP and would contest an equal number of UP's 80 Lok Sabha seats. The Dalit powerhouse had made it clear to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav that if he thought Congress should be on board, he would have to cede seats from his quota to both the Congress and the RLD.

With the Congress now making a string comeback in the Hindi heartland, the SP-BSP leaders are jittery about a vote transfer of Muslims to the Grand Old Party, a development that could cost them dearly in the general elections.

The BJP had won 73 seats along with its ally Apna Dal in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. With the support of the backward classes and the Jats, it had swept western UP. A Similar voting trend was seen in the 2017 state assembly polls. It has been an accepted norm for some years now that the RLD and the BJP have the Jat vote bank, Mayawati draws the Dalit votes and the Muslims go to the Congress, the BSP and the SP.

There are 35 seats in Uttar Pradesh where Muslims, who constitute 19 per cent of the state's 22 crore-plus population, play a crucial role. The Muslim voter population is more than 30 per cent in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies. It is more than 40 per cent In constituencies like Moradabad, Bijnore, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur and between 30-40 per cent in Kairana, Baghpat, Meerut. Ghaziabad has 25 per cent Muslim voters, while Nagina and Bareilly also have sizeable Muslim voters as do Sambhal and Rampur.

This vote could in 2019 till in favour of the Congress, the original preference of the Muslims, but the party had, in the past 10 years, lost out to the BSP and the SP.

A senior leader pointed out that RLD, which fought the election with Congress in Rajasthan and even won a seat from Bharatpur, is leaning towards the BSP-SP combine, which it feels, could not only prevent a split votes in western UP, its pocket borough, but will also get its vote bank transferred to it where the RLD contests.

While Congress leaders in the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) were initially clamouring for a space in the proposed 'Maha Gathbandhan' in the state, it now appears to be on a trip of its own. The recent wins in the state assembly elections has pumped in enough adrenalin in the Congress camp for its leaders to say it was "not dying to be in the grand alliance".

"We want a respectable seat share or else we, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi will fight on our own," a veteran Congress leader said while pointing out that in the 2009 general elections, the Congress beat doomsday sayers and won 20 plus seats.

Whatever be the case, the prospects of the grand alliance seem to be getting bleaker with every passing day.

(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in)New Delhi, Dec 18 : The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day on Tuesday minutes after it met in the post lunch session amid ruckus by both opposition and treasury benches.

As soon as the House met, Congress member Anand Sharma raised a point of order and referred to a remark made by Minister of State (MoS) for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel in the morning with respect to Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

Sharma said Goel -- who had sought an apology from Gandhi for allegedly making false allegations against the government on the Rafale deal -- had violated the rules as the Congress chief was not a member of the Rajya Sabha.

"This morning when the Leader of Opposition was speaking about the privilege notices that have been given, what could not be heard in the din and I checked the records, the MoS for Parliamentary Affairs referred to Rahul Gandhi who is Congress President but the member of Lok Sabha, and asking him to apologise. First the government lies...and then the Minister violates the rules," Sharma said.

He demanded to know as to "on what basis" Goel made such a remark.

This led to noisy exchanges between the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Paty (BJP) members, who were on their feet.

In the mean, the AIADMK members again trooped to the podium with placards.

Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the House for the day amid the ruckus.

Earlier in the day, as the upper House met, members from the Tamil Nadu-based parties, the AIADMK and DMK, came near the podium holding placards and raising slogans. They were protesting against a proposed dam on the Cauvery river.

Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the most important issue was the breach of privilege of the House by the government in the Rafale deal.

"The government has misled Parliament, it has misled the Supreme Court through a wrong affidavit and thus it has misled the country on the Rafale deal," Azad said.

Chairman Naidu said that he was "examining" the breach of privilege notices given by the opposition and would soon take a decision.

Goel said the government was ready to discuss all issues including Rafale on the floor of the House.

"It is the opposition that is running away from discussion," he said. The House was then adjourned till 2 p.m.New Delhi : Conversations in India rarely revolve around the subject of climate change. The discussions around the topic are largely limited to the highest offices and international forums, while the countrys citizens remain mostly disassociated from it. And yet it is no secret that the country will be the worst affected in the world once the full-scale repercussions of the global crisis are realised.

The UN report by the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released earlier this year noted that a mere increase in global temperatures by 1.5AC will "disproportionately affect disadvantaged and vulnerable populations through food insecurity, higher food prices, incomes losses, lost livelihood opportunities, adverse health impact, and population displacements".

These sombre warnings show why India will be one of the most significantly-affected nations, given its huge population, inequality and poverty levels. The country's vast coastline also puts a large number of livelihoods at risk. Apart from rising sea levels, deadly heatwaves and catastrophic cyclones are also becoming more frequent, which are manifest evidence of climate change. With this background, the climate change negotiations that were recently concluded at Katowice in Poland should be enthusiastically welcomed.

The 24th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP24, involved fortnight-long negotiations between 196 countries to finalise a rule book that had been under formulation since 2016 as a follow-up to the 2015 Paris Agreement. The countries were supposed to ensure that the rule book is finalised so that all provisions of the Paris Agreement become operational by the intended date of implementation, January 2021.

The successful achievement of a compromise among the countries, firstly, comes as a relief. Since the announcement by President Donald Trump in 2017 that the US would be withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, the very survival of the climate pact stood in jeopardy.

Under the Paris Agreement, global cooperation was required on three fronts: first, the nations had to set carbon-reduction targets for themselves; second, the countries were to be held accountable for meeting these targets; and finally, the rich states were meant to subsidise the transition of developing nations to a carbon-free future. But, most of it was feared to be difficult to achieve with the withdrawal of US.

In fact, over the last few years, rising right-wing nationalism upset the global solidarity that was crucial to avoid an inevitable catastrophe. The US renegading on the deal has encouraged others to behave along similar lines. Saudi Arabia, for instance, played a key role in attempting to ensure that the summit does not "welcome" the IPCC report. Last month, even Brazil chose a climate-change denier as its Foreign Minister and the nation pulled out of hosting COP25.

In the face of such dangerous manifestations, the outcome of COP24 seems promising. The rule book ensures that from 2020, the fight against climate change will be driven by actions rather than promises. The agreement defines the responsibilities of each of the 195 signatory states for tackling climate change, report progress and intensify their efforts in the future. The very act of reaching an agreement shows that even if multilateralism has been desecrated in the last few years, it is not yet dead.

The negotiators at the summit believed that the rule book is a robust tool to combat the worst effects of climate change. But the reality is not as promising. Against the Paris Agreement's long-term goal of limiting the increase in global average temperature to well below 2AC, the current pledges put the world on track for up to 4 degrees of warming.

It might disappoint many that COP24 could not urge governments to commit to more ambitious targets, especially after the findings of the IPCC report. All eyes will now be on the next deadline in 2020 when countries are expected to demonstrate that they have met their previous targets and set new tougher ones for themselves.

India, on its part, is on track to meet at least two of the three commitments it made in Paris. The intensity of the country's greenhouse gas emissions was to be reduced by 33-35 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Second, 40 percent of its power capacity was to be based on non-fossil fuel sources. Third, India promised to create an additional 'carbon sink' of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes through additional forest and tree cover by 2030. India is well on its way to achieve the first two targets.

It is heartening that most of the countries around the world are resolute in their commitment to the fight against climate change. Katowice has once again reaffirmed that belief. The world now has a solid road map for the actions it needs to take to carry on the fight. What is missing is strong leadership, the sense of unified urgency and scaled-up national ambitions. Hopefully, 2020 will change that. As Greta Thunberg, the 15-year-old Swedish activist said at COP24: "Until you start focussing on what needs to be done rather than what is politically possible, there is no hope."

(Amit Kapoor is chair, Institute for Competitiveness, India. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at amit.kapoor@competitiveness.in and tweets @kautiliya. Chirag Yadav, senior researcher, Institute for Competitiveness, India has contributed to the article)Hyderabad, Dec 18 : A Hyderabad court on Tuesday sentenced to life Bhanu Kiran, a prime accused in the murder of gangster Gangula Suranarayana Reddy alias Maddelachervu Suri.

The court sentenced another accused Manmohan Singh Bhadauria to five years but acquitted four others.

The judgement came nearly eight years after Suri, a key accused in former Andhra Pradesh Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Paritala Ravi's murder, was shot dead in a car in the city.

The incident had created a flutter in then undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Bhanu, an aide of Suri, shot him dead while they were returning home after meeting a lawyer on January 3, 2011. He killed Suri following differences over some financial matters.

Bhanu was arrested by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in 2012. His other associates were arrested subsequently.

Suri, a Congress leader involved in several criminal cases in the faction-ridden Anantapur district, was key accused in the killing of Paritala Ravi, who was gunned down in Anantapur town Jan 24, 2005.

The factional rivalry between the families of Ravi and Suri had hit the national headlines in 2010 following the release of "Rakta Charitra", a multilingual film by Ram Gopal Varma.

Reacting to court verdict, Suri's widow Bhanumati said Bhanu Kiran should have been sentenced to death. She said Bhanu had taken Rs 1 crore from Suri's enemies to kill him.Thane (Maharashtra), Dec 18 : Virtually kicking off the BJP campaign for 2019 elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the Congress governments for various lapses while laying foundation stones for Thane district Metro Rail and a mass housing project here on Tuesday.

In Kalyan, Modi performed the ground-breaking ceremony for the Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan Metro and the Dahisar-Mira-Bhayander Metro corridor projects to ease the transportation problems in these bustling towns, at an estimated cost of around Rs 33,000 crore.

Simultaneously, he also laid the foundation stone for an ambitious project to construct 90,000 homes for poor sections of society under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (PMAY) to be completed within three years.

Speaking on the occasion, he said Mumbai and Thane are expanding and exerting huge pressures on the local resources, especially road and rail transports.

To mitigate the sufferings of the masses, many efforts have been taken up to improve the transport systems of the two cities in the past four-and-half years of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, he said.

"India is the world's only country where urbanisation is taking place at a fast pace. Mumbai is the centre of economic activities and will further expand in the coming time. Hence transportation is a vital link to the development of any city or the country," Modi pointed out.

Targeting the previous Congress government, he said the first Metro project in Mumbai was taken up in 2006 and after eight years, only 11 km was started in 2014.

"We don't know why it was stuck. After 2014, we decided to increase the pace of laying Metro lines and the scale in the form of a Metro Net in the city. It will add 35 km within the next three years and between 2022 and 2024, Mumbai will have have around 275 km of Metro network," Modi said.

To mark the Platinum Jubilee (75 years) of India's Independence, he said the government is moving to ensure that every family in India has a permanent home to live.

"The goal here is to build 90,000 new homes for the poor which I am told will be ready in three years. Maharashtra will get 800,000 new houses for the weaker sections under the PMAY. Under this, we are directly crediting Rs 250,000 loan into the bank accounts, besides helping the lower and middle classes to get bank housing loans," Modi said.

He said with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) getting notified in most states, Maharashtra became the first to implement it, and it has resulted in huge transparency in all housing deals, which did not exist in the past 70 years.

"Around 35,000 real estate projects across India and 27,000 real estate agents have been registered under RERA. According to a report, the speed of buying new homes has doubled in the past seven-eight months compared to the previous year," Modi pointed out.

He reiterated that in the final four years of the previous UPA government, only 2.55 million homes were construction, but in the past four years of the present NDA government, 12.50 million houses have been constructed under the PMAY.

Present on the occasion were Maharashtra Governor C.V. Rao and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis besides other dignitaries and he later departed for Pune to lay the foundation stone for a Metro project there.Mumbai, Dec 18 : Actress Supriya Pilgaonkar will play a police commissioner in the show "Ishqbaaaz - Pyaar Ki Ek Dhinchaak Kahaani", which also stars Nakuul Mehta and Manjiri Pupala.

"I am very excited to be part of a long-running show like 'Ishqbaaaz' because I get to play a character that I have never played before, that of a police commissioner. I have always loved women in armed forces and the sense of power they exude," Surpriya said in a statement.

"On the show, my character gets to show her human side along with her strong and independent demeanour. As opposed to my previous roles on screen, I will be seen in a completely different light on 'Ishqbaaaz' which was instrumental for me to give a nod to the role in flat half an hour. I hope viewers love my unique avatar on screen and enjoy watching my performance," she added.

The episode featuring her will first air on StarPlus on Thursday.

Supriya, who has also done films and plays, is known for her work in shows like "Tu Tu Main Main", "Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi", "Sasural Genda Phool" and "Nach Baliye".Kabul, Dec 18 : The government-backed Afghanistan Peace Consultative Board (APCB) has advocated for talks between the government and the Taliban, a statement of the Presidential Palace said.

An Afghan government negotiating team led by Abdul Salam Rahimi has arrived in Abu Dhabi, UAE, to initiate talks with the Taliban, Xinhau quoted other media.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Majahid, however, has rejected holding any talks. The statement comes amid intensifying efforts by its neighbours support the Afghan-led peace process, Xinhua news agency reported.

Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah has already made it clear that the government is the only authorised institution to negotiate for a peace deal with the Taliban, Xinhua news agency reported.

A trilateral meeting among Afghanistan, Pakistan and China held in Kabul on December 15 agreed to enhance trilateral efforts to bring about peace in Afghanistan and fight against terrorism in the region.

An US delegation, too, held a meeting with the Taliban representatives in the UAE on Monday, according to media reports and Taliban sources.

Taliban militants, in the talks, discussed swap of prisoners, withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and formation of an interim government.

The APCB has told President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani that holding meetings with the Taliban could help find negotiated settlement to the country's prolonged conflict, the statement added.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Air Force has killed eight Taliban militants in Helmand province, an army statement on Tuesday said.Chennai, Dec 18 : The US-China trade war is having a positive rub-off effect on the Indian rubber industries as they are now witnessing a trend in increased export orders to the USA, said officials of the All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA) here on Tuesday.

"The US-China trade war is positive for the Indian rubber industries that are exporting to the US. There are some rubber products for which getting approvals from the US companies are relatively easier. The trade war is a positive for such product makers," AIRIA President Vikram Makar told reporters.

Indian companies exporting rubber products to the US will have increased stability because of the trade war, he added.

He was here as part of the road show organised by AIRIA for its "India Rubber Expo 2019" to be held next month in Mumbai.

According to V.T. Chandhrasekharan, Senior Vice President, the US-China trade war is definitely a positive for the Indian industry.

Makar said the Indian rubber products industry is estimated to be around $7 billion.

Speaking about the India Rubber Expo, Chandhrasekharan said two reverse buyer-seller meets (international and domestic) will be held which in turn is expected to increase exports from India.

"As per our information, about $4 million business was transacted after such a buyer-seller meet held during the last edition of India Rubber Expo," Makar added.

About 300 exhibitors from India and overseas will be exhibiting their products -- ranging from raw material producers, rubber machinery, testing instruments and others, said Vishnu Bhimrajka, Chief Convener of India Rubber Expo 2019.Colombo, Dec 18 : Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who resigned from the prime ministerial position on December 15, was appointed Leader of Opposition by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on Tuesday amid a row.

The parliament convened on Tuesday for the first time since the reinstatement of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, putting an end to a political impasse, that erupted since his sudden dismissal on October 26.

Jayasuriya said since President Maithripala Sirisena's United People's Freedom Alliance is the largest opposition party, he recognised Rajapaksa as the Leader of Opposition even as the ruling United National party (UNP) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) objected to the decision.

TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran said Rajapaksa could not be appointed as he had resigned from the United People's Freedom Alliance and joined the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.

He urged the Speaker to appoint a committee to probe Rajapaksa's appointment.

Sumanthiran was asked to hand over his complaints in writing to be considered on Friday.

The island nation was plunged into a political crisis since October, when President Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe as the prime minister and appointed Rajapaksa to the post.

Sirisena later appointed a new caretaker government, amid objections from Wickremesinghe and his UNP, who said the sudden move was illegal.

After a nearly two-month political turmoil, Rajapaksa last Saturday stepped down as the prime minister to pave way for Wickremesinghe's reinstatement.New York, Dec 18 : A retired detective has sued Netflix and the filmmakers of hit series and Emmy award winner "Making a Murderer" for defamation.

Andrew Colborn alleges the documentary series suggested he planted evidence to frame murder suspect, Steven Avery, the BBC reported.

His lawyer, Michael Griesbach, says his client has been subjected to "worldwide ridicule, contempt, and disdain" since the show's 2015 debut.

The BBC has contacted Netflix for a comment. The case was filed in Manitowoc County in Wisconsin.

"He is filing this lawsuit to set the record straight and to restore his good name," Griesbach said of Colborn.

The 10-part documentary, written and directed by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, followed the case of Steven Avery and his 16-year-old nephew Brendan Dassey, who were both convicted of murdering freelance photographer Teresa Halbach.

Variety reports that Colborn's case alleges the filmmakers left out key facts and distorted events in order to argue that Colborn and other officers framed the suspects and manipulated trial testimonies, leading viewers to false conclusions.

"Making a Murderer" was one of Netflix's biggest hits in 2015, with the series collecting four Emmy awards in 2016 for its writing and directing.

It has gone on to spawn another series, "Making a Murderer 2", which took up the story after Avery and Dassey were convicted.Attari/Wagah, Dec 18 : Hamid Nehal Ansari, the Mumbai man who was released from a Pakistani jail after six years for alleged espionage charges, crossed over to the Indian side at the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab on Tuesday.

A weary looking bespectacled Ansari in a jacket, muffler and a pashtun cap, was welcomed by his parents, Nehal and Fauzia, who were waiting at the border along with a large contingent of India-Pakistan friendship activists and officials.

Stepping on to the Indian side, the 33-year-old along with his family knelt down and touched the soil of his motherland with their foreheads.

As Ansari, stood up, he first hugged his mother and then embraced his father in an emotional reunion.

The three were then whisked away by the authorities without allowing any small talks with the media.

Pakistan had alleged that Ansari, an engineer, was an "Indian spy" who illegally entered the country. Islamabad accused him of involvement in anti-state crimes, forging documents, and jailed him.

For the family, it was an ordeal since November 2012 when he left the country for Kabul for employment and then was reported "missing".

He reportedly became friendly with a Pakistan girl on social media and reached Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to save her from a forced marriage.

On November 12, 2012, Ansari crossed over from Afghanistan border in Jalalabad to Peshawar in Pakistan where he was nabbed by Pakistan intelligence.

Later, a military court sentenced him to three years in jail, a term that he completed on December 15.

On Monday, the External Affairs Ministry said that it has received a note from Pakistan that they would be releasing Ansari on Tuesday.

"It is a matter of great relief, especially for the family members, that six years of incarceration of the Indian civilian in Pakistan jail is coming to an end," Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

"We would like Pakistan to take action to also end misery of other Indian nationals and fishermen whose nationality has been confirmed and who have completed their sentences, but continue to languish in Pakistan jails."New Delhi, Dec 18 : The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday sought a report from the Maharashtra government on the death of eight people in a fire at a hospital in Mumbai, while not ruling out negligence by the hospital administration.

Taking cognisance of the Monday blaze at the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital in Andheri East, the Commission issued a notice to the Chief Secretary calling for a detailed report including the outcome of the probe "reportedly mentioned by the city Mayor".

"The Commission would like to know whether the building has a valid 'No Objection Certificate' from the Fire Department and whether the fire audit was conducted. A report from the DGP, Maharashtra, is also expected to intimate about registration of an FIR, if any, and status thereof," the NHRC said in a statement.

Observing that "the possibility of negligence by the hospital administration cannot be ruled out in the incident", the Commission has also sought a report from the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment under whose jurisdiction the hospital falls.

In its notice to the Secretary, Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, the NHRC called for a detailed report in the matter within four weeks, including action taken against the guilty and steps taken/ proposed to be taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur.

"The Commission has also observed that the patients, who generally approach the ESIC hospitals, belong to economically weaker sections, employed with various private sector units, who cannot afford treatment at private hospitals," it added.

Reports say over 150 people were also injured in the incident, of which 25 are critical.London, Dec 18 : The British cabinet met to discuss whether to ramp up preparations for a no-deal Brexit amid uncertainty over the fate of Theresa May's proposed EU exit deal on Tuesday.

With 101 days left until Brexit and many MPs still opposed to the government's withdrawal agreement, ministers met for two and a half hours -- for a longer-then-usual cabinet meet, the BBC reported.

Although they were focusing on preparing, in case of the UK leaving the EU in March without a negotiated deal with the EU, a no-deal Brexit is thought to be opposed by a majority of MPs.

Ministers were hearing how much money each department was being given to prepare, should the UK leave the EU on March 29 without a formal agreement, the BBC reported.

MPs will not vote on the May's deal until the third week in January.

Labour, which has tabled a Motion of No Confidence, has accused May of trying to "run down the clock".

Number 10 Downing Street, though, has dismissed the motion, which was unlikely to be debated until early 2019, as "silly political games", the BBC report said.

A cross-party group of 60 MPs have written to May, saying it would do "unnecessary economic damage".

In the autumn of 2017, The Treasury earmarked three billion pound for 'no deal' planning.

In March, Chancellor Philip Hammond said half of that had been allocated to 20 government departments, with the Home Office, transport, the environment and business among the largest recipients.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC that he had ordered full 'no deal' planning across the National Health Service.

Communities Secretary James Brokenshire told the BBC that there would be "consequences" of a no-deal exit but "a lot of work" was going into minimising the disruption if it happened.

"We have been taking 'no deal' seriously for quite some considerable period. It's not what we want to do, it's not what we still expect to do... but I think it is right and proper that we maintain our work on preparing for no deal, however reluctantly."New Delhi, Dec 18 : India's border guarding force SSB has increased its deployment on the India-Bhutan border in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, not far from the mountainous terrains of Diban, Dua-Delai and Lohit valleys along the China border in the Tibetan region, following last year's Doklam standoff.

In the run-up to raising security, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) established 18 new Border Outposts (BOPs) in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh which have started functioning this year.

"Three new BOPs in Sikkim and 15 in Arunachal Pradesh were established and they have started functioning this year to provide better security and patrolling in the areas bordering Bhutan. The three new BOPs are in Western Sikkim which touches Bhutan border," SSB Director General Surjeet Singh Deswal told IANS.

Deswal, who was speaking on the sidelines of the 55th raising Day programme of the SSB, however, clarified that his force has nothing to do with the operations along the India-China border. The 18 new BOPs are among those 72 which began functioning this year, he added.

The SSB's action comes months after the troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day Doklam standoff -- the tri-junction of India-Bhutan-China -- from June 16, 2017 after the Indian side stopped road construction by China's People's Liberation Army in the area. The standoff ended on August 28.

At present, 53 battalions of SSB are deployed on the 699 km Indo-Bhutan and 1,751 km India-Nepal borders as part of its primary task to provide security with establishment and operationalisation of 708 BOPs along the borders of the two countries.

Another SSB official said that 176 operational BOPs are functioning along the India-Bhutan border that runs along the states of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam while 533 are along the India-Nepal border that runs across the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim.

The SSB is deployed along the borders of the two countries and is instrumental in safeguarding and promoting a sense of security among the people living in the border areas and also in preventing trans-border crimes like smuggling, human trafficking and other illegal activities.

Speaking on the occasion, SSB DG said the force has received a substantial expansion in its cadre from the Central government with the sanction of 19 posts of SSB officers -- two in the rank of Inspector General, four Deputy Inspector General, two Deputy Commandant and four Assistant Commandant.

This year so far, the DG said the SSB has seized narcotics, fake Indian currency, wildlife and forest product worth more than Rs 260 crore. "The force has also destroyed over 500 acres of illegal poppy cultivation in Bihar and Jharkhand."

The SSB has apprehended 6,573 persons with large cache of arms and ammunition, which includes high tech weapons and explosives such as AK-56 rifles, LMGs, 5.56 mm rifles, MK II rifles, .22 mm pistols, hand grenades, explosives and live cartridges this year so far, the DG said.

"The SSB has also cracked down on the menace of human trafficking this year and has rescued 782 victims of human trafficking, which includes 426 men and 356 women. A total of 263 human traffickers have also been apprehended under 180 human trafficking cases," he added.

(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in)New Delhi, Dec 18 : A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to Manoj Prasad, an alleged middleman in a corruption case involving Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Director Rakesh Asthana.

Special CBI judge Santosh Snehi Mann granted bail to Prasad, observing that no purpose would be served by keeping him behind bars.

Granting him bail on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with two sureties of the like amount, the court directed him to not leave the country without the permission and also mandated him to report to the CBI every Monday.

The CBI had on October 15 registered a case against Asthana for allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs 2 crore from one Sana Sathish Babu which was given through two middlemen -- Manoj Prasad and Somesh Prasad -- to wreck the probe against meat exporter Moin Qureshi.

Manoj Prasad was arrested on October 17.

CBI's Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar, who is accused of falsifying records of the corruption case, was arrested on October 22. Kumar was granted bail by a trial court on October 31.

Kumar was an investigating officer in a case against Qureshi, who is facing multiple cases of money laundering and corruption.

On October 24, CBI chief Alok Verma was divested of his charge and Joint Director M. Nageshwar Rao was made the Interim Director.

Asthana was also divested of all his supervisory responsibilities.

The government took the decision after Verma and Asthana accused each other of accepting bribes.

Meanwhile, Prasad's father Dineshwar Prasad, a retired Research and Analysis Wing officer, claimed his son was falsely implicated in the case.

"Manoj has never spoken to or ever met Asthana. The entire matter looks so fishy and fabricated," the father told a TV channel.Kolkata, Dec 18 : The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party to provide three tentative dates for its proposed Rath Yatra in Bengal and submit a list of self-restrictions to be followed during the rally.

The BJP had moved court with a fresh plea on Monday after the Bengal government denied permission for the statewide rally, also known as 'Ganatantra Bachao Yatra' (save democracy rally), earlier this week, stating there was "grave apprehension of major breach of peace and communal violence during and in the aftermath" of the programme.

The single judge bench further instructed the Advocate-General of the state to submit video recordings of the meeting held between the state government officials and a BJP delegation on December 13 to find a solution to the impasse.

Hearing in the matter is slated to continue on Wednesday.

The saffron outfit was originally scheduled to hold three 'rath yatras' from north Bengal's Cooch Behar, South 24 Parganas district's Gangasagar and Birbhum district's temple town of Tarapith on December 6, 9 and 14 respectively but was denied permission by a single judge bench of the Calcutta High Court.

The party then moved a division bench of the High Court which directed the West Bengal chief secretary, the home secretary and the director general of police to hold a meeting with a three-member BJP delegation to take a decision on the matter.

Following Tuesday's hearing, the Bengal BJP leadership said they are hopeful to get a positive verdict from the court.

"The Trinamool Congress government is hellbent on stopping our programmes. But we are hopeful that we will be able to get a positive verdict from the court to hold the save democracy rally," said state BJP leader Jay Prakash Majumdar.

The ruling Trinamool Congress, however, ridiculed the BJP, claiming the party does not have enough supporters to hold rallies of such magnitude.

"The BJP would have taken out the Rath Yatra if they had the manpower. But do they have the support base to hold such programmes? They themselves are scared," said Panchayat Minister Subrata Chatterjee.

"It is up to the government to give permission for political programmes. Aren't the other opposition parties holding their programmes in the state? But if there is a possibility of communal tension and violence due to a particular programme, the government cannot permit that," he said.Agra : Agra Dec 18 (IANS) Maldives' newly-elected President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Tuesday afternoon visited the 17th century Mughal monument of love, the Taj Mahal.

At the Kheria airport, he was received by district officials and UP's Minister for Energy Kant Sharma.

ASI officials who accompanied him said the President spent an hour evincing keen interest in the intricate architecture and history.

For the tourists, the Taj remained closed for nearly two hours.Gandhinagar, Dec 18 : After newly formed Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh governments announced a waiver on farmers' debts, the BJP-ruled Gujarat government, too, waived power dues worth Rs 625 crore.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday decided to forgo the dues of residential, commercial and agricultural power connections with immediate effect.

Minister for Power Saurabh Patel said, "We have decided to waive all the dues from such power connections with immediate effect from December 19. There are more than 6.22 lakh consumers with such connections, who will be able to avail of the one-time settlement by paying just Rs 500. The total dues of such connections are around Rs 625 crore."

The minister said that even those who have lost their power connections permanently or temporarily due to non-payment of dues will also be able to avail of the waiver and could get their connections restored. "This is a historic decion, said Saurabh Patel.

Minister of state for Power Pradeepsinh Chudasama said, "The waiver also applies to customers against whom there are charges of power theft as well as non-payment due to financial problems. The procedure to restore the disconnected power connections will be initiated shortly."

All the residential, commercial and agricultural power connections with dues till December 18 will be considered eligible for the one-time waiver. It will be available from December 19 2018 to February 28, 2019.Beijing, Dec 18 : Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday vowed that his country will not develop at the expense of other nations, in a speech marking 40 years since China introduced major economic reforms.

However, he also said that the global superpower would not be told what to do by anyone, the BBC reported.

Late leader Deng Xiaoping's campaign of "reform and opening up" began four decades ago. The resulting growth has made China the second-largest economy in the world.

Hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty but in recent years, China has struggled with mounting debt and slowing economic growth.

Xi said despite his country's economic achievements, China would "never seek global hegemony" and also highlighted its contributions towards a "shared future for mankind".

He did not mention the current trade dispute with the US.

China continues to crack down on political dissent and is accused of locking up hundreds of thousands of Muslims without trial in the western region of Xinjiang.

Its militarisation of islands in the South China Sea -- home to vital shipping lanes -- has sparked concerns among Asian neighbours that it seeks to dominate the region.

Critics also say that while China is helping to build much-needed infrastructure across Asia and Africa, it is saddling countries with billions in debt in a bid to gain strategic influence.

Xi spent much of his lengthy speech listing examples of China's progress over the past decades, praising them as "epic achievements that moved heaven and Earth".

He said that given its success, "no one is in a position to dictate to the Chinese people what should or should not be done".

At the same time, he stressed what he described as Chinese efforts to work towards the greater global good, saying Beijing was a "promoter of world peace", a "defender of international order" and holding "a leading role in dealing with climate change".

China's economic reform was initiated by then leader Deng Xiaoping in 1978 and the programme was ratified on December 18 that year.

The reform path turned the country away from the old-style communism of Mao Zedong when collectivisation had led to an impoverished and inefficient economy.

The transformation focussed on agricultural reform, private sector liberalisation, industry modernisation and opening to international trade.

Xi Jinping described the reforms as a "break from the shackles" of previous mistakes.

He said the last 40 years had been a "quantum leap for socialism with Chinese characteristics," driving China's "great rejuvenation in modern times".

The Chinese President made no direct mention of the current trade dispute with the US but stressed his country's contribution to economic globalisation and international order.

Despite the economic reforms, the past decades have not brought change to China's rigid one-party system of communist rule.

The Chinese President gave his speech on Tuesday in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, where calls for political reforms were brutally crushed by the military in 1989.

Xi Jinping is widely seen as China's most influential leader since Mao Zedong. In 2017, he cemented his power, enshrining his political views in the constitution.

In his address, Xi reiterated his belief in strengthening the party leadership and praised Beijing's crackdown on corruption.

Critics say the rule of Xi Jinping has been marked by an ever-intensifying crackdown on political dissent and any groups that the Communist Party sees as a threat to its authority, such as unofficial Christian churches and labour activists.Ankara, Dec 18 : Turkey supports an expected UN plan to form a Syrian constitutional committee and rewrite the country's constitution, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.

Speaking to lawmakers at Turkish Parliament, Cavusoglu said Turkey has opened a final window of opportunity for a political solution over Syria issues, Xinhua news agency reported.

Cavusoglu reiterated determination to fight against Kurdish rebels in Syria, including the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) and its Syrian wing the People's Protection Units (YPG), following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's warnings to launch new batch of military operation in northern Syria.

Turkey, Iran and Russia diplomats gathered in Geneva on Monday for the talks at the UN, hosted by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, regarding the formation of the Syrian constitution.

The Syrian constitutional committee is expected to have 150 members from both the Syrian government and opposition.Moscow, Dec 18 : Russia will have to take additional measures to boost its security if the US withdraws from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

US withdrawal from the INF Treaty may ruin the entire arms control system, said the Russian President.

"Such a step will have the most negative consequences, and will noticeably weaken regional and global security," Putin said while speaking at an extended meeting of the Russian Defence Ministry board, Xinhua news agency reported.

"In fact, in the long term, the talk is about the degradation and even collapse of the entire arms control architecture and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," he added.

For a long time, the US has been using unsubstantiated accusations that Russia had violated its obligations under the treaty as a pretext to withdraw from it unilaterally, thus violating the treaty itself, Putin said.

He agreed that the INF Treaty did not involve other countries which have medium and shorter range missiles.

"But what prevents us from starting negotiations on their accession to the current agreement, or starting to discuss the parameters of a new treaty?" Putin said.

The treaty, in modern conditions, plays the role of a stabilising factor, which allows maintaining a certain level of predictability and restraint in the military sphere, he said.

He recalled that the INF Treaty signed in 1987 involved the elimination of medium-range and shorter-range (500-5,000 km) ground-based missiles. At the time, the USSR had no other missiles, while the US had sea-based and air-launched missiles.

Russia, since the signing of the treaty, has developed sea-based and air-launched missiles, which was the cause for Washington's concern, Putin said.

According to Putin, it will not be difficult for Russia, if necessary, to create appropriate land-based systems as a response to the US withdrawal from the INF.

However, Russia is always open to any proposals and initiatives that lead to the strengthening of universal security including the prevention of a new arms race in the interests not only of Russia, but of the US and the whole world, Putin said.New Delhi, Dec 18 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought to know whether a person can be kept in jail indefinitely for committing a murder, even if he has alreaday served the sentence.

A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal raised the query while hearing a plea filed by former youth Congress leader Sushil Kumar Sharma, who is serving life term in the 1995 murder of his wife Naina Sahni.

Asking whether a person could be allowed to be kept in jail indefinitely for the offence of murder, the bench observed it is a human rights concern of the prisoner and termed the issue as "very serious".

Sharma is seeking release after having undergone nearly 29 years of incarceration.

The Sentence Review Board has rejected the plea of Sharma seeking premature release, saying that he had been convicted for brutal killing of his wife.

The high court bench pointed that the Supreme Court, while commuting death penalty to life imprisonment to Sharma, had clearly observed that "the medical evidence does not establish that the dead body of the deceased was cut".

"The second post-mortem report states that no opinion could be given as to whether the dead body was cut as dislocation could be due to burning of the body. There is no recovery of any weapon like chopper which could suggest that the appellant had cut the dead body," the apex court had stated.

The high court also noted that the top court had ruled that the murder was the outcome of strained personal relationship which was not an offence against the society.

"He is incarcerated for over 25 years including remission," Justice Mridul said asking why should the authorities keep Sharma in jail indefinitely.

The bench observed that there is no possibility of Sharma committing a similar offence again and the authorities do not see him as a menace to the society.

The court has listed the matter for further hearing on Wednesday and asked the Delhi government to present the original records on Sharma's application to the Sentence Review Board for premature release.

Sharma's advocate Amit Sahni told the court that Sharma is in prison since 1995 and he has already undergone the maximum prescribed sentence as mandated under the guidelines.

The Delhi government told the court that the Lieutenant General is the competent authority to decide the pre-mature release of convicts and he had accepted the Sentence Review Board's recommendations not to release Sharma.

Congress worker Naina Sahni was murdered on July 2, 1995, night. Her husband and Congress leader Sushil Sharma shot her, chopped up her body and tried to dispose it of in the tandoor of a restaurant, the Delhi Police alleged.New Delhi, Dec 18 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and Delhi government to respond to a plea seeking permission to put up a statue of former South African President Nelson Mandela on a road named after him in the city.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V. Kameswar Rao asked Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Urban Development and Delhi government to file their replies on the application by the Honorary Consul of Republic of South Africa through senior advocate Rupinder Singh Suri.

In the plea, senior advocate Suri has sought directions to the authorities to permit putting up the statue of Mandela on the Nelson Mandela road in the national capital.

A similar application was filed by Vikramjit S. Sahney, the Honorary Consul of South Africa in the Supreme Court in 2016, which was hearing a matter related to encroachments of public places by religious structures, before the BRICS summit in the city.

Sahney has told the court that despite all requisite clearances from the various civic bodies, the Ministry of Urban Development was not allowing it to put up the statue.

In January, the apex court transferred the matter to high courts directing them to deal with issues related to any other development connected with it.Mumbai, Dec 18 : Admitting using Section 7 of the RBI Act to force a discussion with the central bank on liquidity and credit issues, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said he could not have let the economy starve for liquidity.

As for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s economic capital, he said it was never the main issue between the government and the RBI and that the government does not want any money from the bank's reserves to fix its fiscal deficit.

"The main issue was not the economic capital framework. It's an issue for a medium term. But the immediate issue is we can't allow our economy to starve (on liquidity)," Jaitley said at a summit hosted by television channel Republic TV here.

Stating that his government had the best fiscal deficit track record, he declared that even in the current year, he will meet the announced fiscal deficit target within the available resources.

"I don't want any money from the Reserve Bank's reserves at the moment. The only question which was raised were really two...there were several questions around two important facts -- first relating to liquidity in certain sectors of the economy and availability of credit," he said.

In his tiff with the RBI, which ended with Governor Urjit Patel resigning last week, Jaitley said he always respects the bank's autonomy, but as a sovereign and accountable government, he had to flag the liquidity issue for which he used all tools available.

"We used every instrument available to our advantage to force a discussion and whatever steps we took -- informal plus formal and statutory -- were really to flag the issue of liquidity and credit," he said hinting at the Section 7 of the RBI Act, which was never used earlier.

The section empowers the government to give directions to the central bank on matters of public interest even if the RBI or its Governor holds a different view.

Stating that there was never a breakdown in his relationship with the central banker, Jaitley said he wanted the autonomous and independent RBI to hold stakeholder consultations and resolve the problem, which was related to monetary policy.

"I say I have read some books, some data, some research papers, some statistics and I am forming an opinion. The empirical evidence in the market would be entirely different... All these institutions must be autonomous but must never be isolationist. If they are isolationists, there is a fair chance they will go wrong," he added.New Delhi, Dec 18 : Welcoming the sentencing of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday hoped that those involved in the 2002 Gujarat communal riots and the 2013 Muzaffarnagar violence are also punished.

"I welcome the judgement of the High Court on Sajjan Kumar. Though it took 34 long years for the decision to come... better late than never," Kejriwal told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

"I also hope that justice will be done for all the other mass murders which happened in the country after that, be it 2002 (Gujarat violence) or 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots... all such riots are carried out for political benefits," he added.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor also hoped that all other politicians involved in the 'Sikh genocide' will get the "harshest of punishment".

Kejriwal said the people of the country want to live in peace, and Hindus and Muslims do not want to fight with each other.

"Riots are carried out at the behest of political parties and political leaders. If exemplary punishments are given, no one would dare to do it in future," he said.

Meanwhile, AAP legislator Jarnail Singh said that a law should be brought against all mob lynching incidents and communal riots.

Sajjan Kumar, a Congress veteran, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court on Monday in the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 after which Kumar quit the Congress party on Tuesday morning.

Elected thrice to the Lok Sabha from the Outer Delhi constituency, the latest being 2004, Kumar had been sidelined by the party since 2009 when he was denied a ticket to contest the general elections following allegations of his involvement in the riots which the High Court on Monday described as a "crime against humanity".New Delhi, Dec 18 : Private lender Yes Bank on Tuesday said it has sold 2.13 per cent share stake of Fortis Healthcare.

According to a BSE filing, the bank said it sold the stake in various tranches.

"Yes Bank Limited has sold 12,337,323 equity shares having nominal value of Rs 10 each, constituting 2.1279 per cent of the paid-up share capital of Fortis Healthcare Limited, in various tranches last being on December 18, 2018," the statement said.

The transactions have resulted "into a change in holding of the Bank by more than 2 per cent of the total shareholding of FHL, from the last disclosure made by the bank on March 15, 2018," it added.

On Tuesday, shares of Yes Bank settled at Rs 178.90, lower by Rs 2.20 or 1.21 per cent from its previous close.Attari/Wagah, Dec 18 : Hamid Nehal Ansari, the man from Mumbai who was released from a Pakistani jail after six years for alleged espionage charges, crossed over to the Indian side at the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab on Tuesday.

A weary looking bespectacled Ansari in a jacket, muffler and a Pashtun cap, was welcomed by his parents, Nehal and Fauzia, who were waiting at the border along with a large contingent of India-Pakistan friendship activists and officials.

Stepping on to the Indian side, the 33-year-old along with his family knelt down and touched the soil of his motherland with their foreheads.

As Ansari stood up, he first hugged his mother and then embraced his father in an emotional reunion.

The three were then whisked away by the authorities without allowing any interaction with the media.

In Mumbai, Bharatiya Janata Party activist and former legislator Krishna Hegde, who helped the family in the past few years, expressed happiness following Ansari's return.

"Very happy for Hamid, specially his parents who have worked very hard for his release and his family," Hegde said.

He also thanked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and officials from both India and Pakistan.

"A special mention should also be made for his lawyers, media and NGOs who have supported his parents for the past six years," Hegde said.

Pakistan had alleged that Ansari, an engineer, was an "Indian spy" who illegally entered the country. Islamabad accused him of involvement in anti-state crimes, forging documents, and jailed him.

For the family, it was an ordeal since November 2012 when he left the country for Kabul for employment and then was reported "missing".

He reportedly became friendly with a Pakistan girl on social media and reached Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to save her from a forced marriage.

On November 12, 2012, Ansari crossed over from Afghanistan border in Jalalabad to Peshawar in Pakistan where he was nabbed by Pakistan intelligence.

Later, a military court sentenced him to three years in jail, a term that he completed on December 15.

On Monday, the External Affairs Ministry said it has received a note from Pakistan that they would be releasing Ansari on Tuesday.

"It is a matter of great relief, especially for the family members, that six years of incarceration of the Indian civilian in Pakistan jail is coming to an end," Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.Agra, Dec 18 : A Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Fatehpur Sikri assembly constituency of Uttar Pradesh has stirred a controversy after a video in which he can be seen threatening a Sub Divisional Magistrate in public went viral on social media.

"You don't know how powerful I am, I am an MLA," BJP MLA Chaudhary Uday Bhan Singh is seen threatening Kiraoli SDM Garima Singh in the video.

Chaudhary had gone to Agra to meet the SDM over issues faced by farmers demanding compensation over loss of crops due to a hailstorm earlier this year in April.

District magistrate N.G. Ravi Kumar told mediapersons that an inquiry has been ordered. ADM administration Nidhi Srivastav will conduct the inquiry and submit a report soon.Washington, Dec 18 : US President Donald Trump issued an order on Tuesday directing the establishment of a "Space Command."

Trump said the new command will be created as a "unified combatant command", according to his memo to Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, which was made public by the White House, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Space Command will oversee all US military activities in space, and the president has asked Mattis to recommend officers for the command's leadership, the one-page memo said.

It added that a comprehensive list of authorities and responsibilities for the Space Command will be included in the next update to the Unified Command Plan.

Analysts say the new command, to be led by a four-star general, is separate from the administration's plan to build an independent "Space Force", but could be a step in that direction.

Trump has been pushing to establish a Space Force by 2020, an idea that has been questioned by Pentagon officials and military experts worried about adding cost and bureaucracy.

US Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday said the Space Command will integrate space capabilities across all branches of the US military, adding that Trump will sign a new "space policy directive" in the coming days.

Pence was speaking at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where he was to watch the launch of a SpaceX rocket with a military cargo.

The launch, however, had to be postponed until Wednesday because of a technical problem.

The Space Command will be the Pentagon's 11th combatant command, along with others including Central Command and Europe Command.

The US military had a Space Command between 1985 and 2002 but it was disbanded in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks so that the US Northern Command could be established, which focuses on homeland defence.New Delhi, Dec 18 : The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday approved new tourist and trekking routes in Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, a government statement said.

The new tourists routes are Merak-Lema Bend, Chushul-Kartsangla-Mahe, Durbuk-Shahikul-Tharuk-Sato Kargyam-Parma-Erath-Chusul and Loma-Hanley, Korzok-Nurbo-Sumdo-Parangla-Kazaand, and Agyam-Shayok-Durbuk.

The proposed new trekking routes are Phyang-Dokla-HunderDok-Hunder, Basgo-Ney-HunderDok-Hunder, Temisgam-Largyap-Panchathang-Skuru and Saspol-Saspochey-Rakurala-Skuru.

"Buoyed by the success of many tourism initiatives under Prime Minister's Development Package-2015, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has taken yet another leap by proposing to open up more tourists/trekking routes in Ladakh with the aim of recapturing the glory, rich culture and beauty of the region," said the statement.

With the objective of giving fillip to the tourism sector and enhancing the economic activity in the "Land of High Passes" (Ladakh), the Home Ministry has approved the proposal of Jammu and Kashmir government to open up more tourists and trekking routes in the region.

"To ensure smooth movement of the tourists within the Leh district, the validity of permit system for tourists visiting Ladakh region has been increased to 15 days from previous limit of seven days. To ensure safety and security, the tourists/ trekkers shall not be allowed to night-stay on all trekking routes.

"For effective management of the new routes, Jammu and Kashmir government has been advised to constitute a Coordinate Committee at the district level chaired by Deputy Commissioner, Leh, with the representatives of Army, state police, ITBP and other security agencies. The Committee will meet once in three months to ensure smooth management of the existing as well as new routes," said the statement.Belagavi (Karnataka), Dec 19 : Ahead of the cabinet expansion of the coalition government in the state on December 22, several party legislators are lobbying for their inclusion with party's leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, said an official.

"Many legislators, including senior leaders have urged Siddaramaiah to recommend them to the party high command for the six cabinet posts vacant from the party's quota in the 6-month-old JD(S)-Congress government," a party official told IANS here on Tuesday.

As Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader, Siddaramaiah discussed the cabinet expansion and appointment of chairmen of boards and corporations with about 70 legislators on short-listing some of them for approval by party President Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on December 21.

"Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara of the Congress will submit the list of names finalised at the CLP meeting to ensure regional balance and fair representation of them region and caste wise," said the official from the state's northwest city, about 500km northwest of Bengaluru.

Among the senior legislators - HK Patil, MB Patil, Ramalinga Reddy and Roshan Baig were left out of the cabinet, formed in June after two parties forged an alliance following a hung verdict in the May 12 Assembly elections.

In the 34-member ministry, the Congress made 15 of its 80 legislators cabinet ministers while the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) filled 9 out of 11 posts as part of its quota.

"As all the legislators, including seniors cannot be accommodated in the ministry due to the 34-member limit, some of them have been shortlisted for posts of state-run boards and corporations.

As per the worked-out formula, the Congress is entitled to 20 of the 30 state-run boards and corporations and JD-S the remaining 10 posts.

The cabinet expansion is slated to take place in Bengaluru after the 10-day winter session of the state legislature concludes on Friday here.

"Heads of boards and corporations will be named after the cabinet expansion," added the official.Baghdad, Dec 19 : Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi said that he will complete filling his 22 cabinet members at next parliament session slated for Thursday despite intense political differences.

"Thursday session of the Council of Representatives (parliament) will witness completing (approval) of candidates of remaining ministries, and I'm ready to submit new names to the vacant ministries," Xinhua quoted Abdul Mahdi as saying to reporters on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi decided that the next parliament session to be held on Thursday after the lawmakers approved three more ministers of Abdul Mahdi's cabinet.

The lawmakers voted in majority for Qusai al-Suhail as higher education minister, Abdul Amir al-Hamdani as culture minister and Nuri Sabah al-Dulaimi as planning minister, while no confidence was given for the two female candidates for the Migration and Education Ministries.

The latest voting brought to 17 the number of filled posts in Abdul Mahdi's 22-ministry cabinet.

Hassan Khalatti, a lawmaker from Sairoon Coalition, told reporters after Tuesday's session that Abdul Mahdi would submit new candidates of migration and education portfolios to replace the failed candidates within 24 to 48 hours.

As for the remaining three portfolios of defense, interior and justice, Khalatti said "there is no political consensus yet about the candidates of these ministries as the political blocs are still in negotiation about the names."

On Oct. 24, Abdul Mahdi was sworn in as the new prime minister of Iraq after the parliament passed 14 out of 22 cabinet members, while differences among the political blocs prevented the approval of eight other portfolios.Schumann was part of the team at Di Jones Real Estate Eastern Suburbs for the past 13 years.

She was credited as the firms number one agent in the east. She was the group's top auction lister in 2017.

She had sold 27 properties in the last 12 months, with an average sale price of $2.4 million and total sales valued at $26.5 million, according to her now disappeared Domain profile.

Jane worked with son Samuel Schumann and Jean-Michel Rudsdale on 19 of these sales.

The Di Jones group sold over 400 properties during 2018, with sales totalling $700 million.

While it was more transactions than achieved in 2017, the Di Jones chief Rob Ward acknowledged there had been a decline in the average sale price of 14 per cent due to falling sales prices and the expansion into new markets.

The merger with LJ Hooker Wahroonga took place in early 2016, with the combined offices having separately reaped sales worth $530 million during 2015.

The real estate industry pioneer Diane Jones passed away in June surrounded by family, having sold out of the business in 2016, but then staying on as an ambassador.The REA Groups chief financial officer Owen Wilson has been promoted to CEO of REA Group, replacing Tracey Fellows.

Fellows will step down from her role in January to become president of global digital real estate at News Corp in New York.

The new CEO joined REA Group in 2014.

Wilsons previous roles include positions at MacLeod Group, where he was CFO and company secretary, as well as chief operating officer at ANZs Institutional and Investment Bank.

Hamish McLennan, chairman of the REA Group board, said Wilson had played a critical role in the groups growth.

He has a deep understanding of the company, our long-term strategy and the importance of our customers in driving business success, McLennan said.

"The board has a long-term commitment to succession planning, and I am pleased that this internal appointment reflects the strength of our REA Group talent, he said.

He commences his new role on January 7 with plans to expand the real estate listings companys Asia operations as part of his growth strategy.VIA Founder Stevie Kim (center) with VIA Faculty members Sarah Heller MW (left) and Henry Davar (right). I am grateful for these 170 VIA-certified Italian Wine Ambassadors and Experts worldwide. Our community, however, is larger, since over the years we engaged 450 wine professionals. With the development of the VIA Ecosystem, we plan to build up to a more significant number of wine pros.--Stevie Kim

170 Italian Wine Ambassadors certified by the Vinitaly International Academy and operating in wine markets all over the world have been trained to the highest level since 2015 and are now promoting and educating about Italian wine culture in their respective countries. The ongoing educational efforts of the Vinitaly International Academy have been particularly forceful in 2018, with VIA running its Italian Wine Ambassador certification courses in Chengdu (China) in March, in Verona in April before the Vinitaly trade fair, and in Hong Kong in November.

In Chengdu, 8 new Italian Wine Ambassadors joined the community, while in Verona 23 candidates became Ambassadors and 2 obtained VIAs highest title, the Italian Wine Expert. The Hong Kong edition certified 7 Ambassadors and 2 Experts and saw the debut of the re-formatted curriculum and of the new Faculty members Sarah Heller MW and Henry Davar, the first a Hong Kong-based Master of Wine and VIA Italian Wine Ambassador, the second an American wine educator and wine business development manager as well as VIA Italian Wine Expert.

The Hong Kong edition came after a busy summer for VIA Founder Stevie Kim and her team who worked to bring the Vinitaly International Academy project to the next level. Following the appointment of Heller and Davar in June, in July vine genetics academic Attilio Scienza was nominated VIA Chief Scientist and Italian trade associations Federvini, Federdoc, FIVI Vignaioli Indipendenti, and Unione Italiana Vini were called to form the Institutional Advisory Board. In addition to being the academic guarantor of the program, Prof. Attilio Scienza lends its expertise to VIA to connect the world of wine education in Italy with wine education abroad. Advisory Board members Federvini, Federdoc, FIVI Vignaioli Indipendenti, and Unione Italiana Vini have given their official support to the implementation of the so-called VIA Ecosystem, the educational and administrative infrastructure that engages wineries, Italian local bodies such as consortiums, and professionals from all over the world that are interested in learning about Italian wine.

Stevie Kim, Vinitaly International Academy Founder, comments on the productive year for VIA: I am grateful for these 170 VIA-certified Italian Wine Ambassadors and Experts worldwide. It is a result that my team and I achieved slowly, yet steadily and persistently. Our community, however, is larger, since over the years we engaged 450 wine professionals and hopefully inspired them to continue learning about Italian wine! With the development of the VIA Ecosystem the plan is to build up to a more significant number of international wine pros who are highly knowledgeable about Italian wine. VIA aims to become the benchmark for Italian wine education and promotion and I am cautiously optimistic that, with the new members and the reformatted curriculum, we are on the right track. Stay tuned for a sparkling 2019 in the name of Italian wine!

Stevie Kim, Vinitaly International Academy Founder, comments on the productive year for VIA: I am grateful for these 170 VIA-certified Italian Wine Ambassadors and Experts worldwide. It is a result that my team and I achieved slowly, yet steadily and persistently. Our community, however, is larger, since over the years we engaged 450 wine professionals and hopefully inspired them to continue learning about Italian wine! With the development of the VIA Ecosystem the plan is to build up to a more significant number of international wine pros who are highly knowledgeable about Italian wine. VIA aims to become the benchmark for Italian wine education and promotion and I am cautiously optimistic that, with the new members and the reformatted curriculum, we are on the right track. Stay tuned for a sparkling 2019 in the name of Italian wine!

The revised curriculum for the Italian Wine Ambassador program launched in Hong Kong last November included systematic theory lectures on Italys grape varieties, wine styles, and the history and culture of Italian wine terroirs, along with guided tastings and additional self-guided tasting labs. The enhanced focus on the tasting is also reflected in the exam with a blind tasting of two wines, one red and one white. VIA Faculty Sarah Heller MW comments on the tasting component of the course, that is both exciting and challenging: I think the thing that students find both more accessible and challenging is the tastings. So, we are really making an effort to introduce as many Italian wine styles as possible in the theoretical lectures and really make them understand by tasting what the difference in grape varieties and differences in territories are. However, after going through this tasting process analyzing all these new grape varieties in depth, taking that knowledge and immediately going and doing a blind tasting is tough. Its always going to be something that students will have to keep working on. VIA Faculty Henry Davar adds that despite the difficulty of the blind tasting the response during the course in Hong Kong was positive: In our experience just in Hong Kong this time around we found that students were able to recognize the grape varieties. Weve offered the tastings of the Gavi di Gavi (Cortese grape) and Amarone della Valpolicella for example, two very typical and very specific styles of wines that many of our students were able to pick out in a blind tasting. So, we are seeing that the theoretical education is being matched by the experience that our students are already bringing.

For 2019, two dates and locations for the Italian Wine Ambassador courses have been confirmed: February 18th to 22nd in Los Angeles, California, and March 29th to April 2nd in Verona, Italy. Enrolment for both dates is now open and additional information can be found on the Vinitaly International Academy course page. In early 2019, the Vinitaly International Academy will also run the intermediate-level Italian Wine Maestro course, a new certification that will prepare wine professionals for the advanced-level course Italian Wine Ambassador. Next year, VIA will also launch the Italian Wine Educator program, an online course granting Italian Wine Ambassadors the license to teach Italian Wine Maestro courses and a new beginner-level certification course currently under construction, the Italian Wine Fellow, the latter aimed at Italian wine lovers worldwide.

About: The grand Vinitaly 2019 will be held from April 7th to the 10th. Every year, Vinitaly counts more than 4,000 exhibitors on a 100,000+ square meter area and 130,000 visitors from over 140 different countries with more than 30,000 top international buyers. The premier event to Vinitaly, OperaWine Finest Italian Wines: 100 Great Producers, which will be held on the 6th of April, one day prior to Vinitaly will unite international wine professionals in the heart of Verona, offering them the unique opportunity to discover and taste the wines of the 100 Best Italian Producers, as selected by Wine Spectator. Since 1998 Vinitaly International travels to several countries such as Russia, China, USA and Hong Kong thanks to its strategic arm abroad, Vinitaly International. In February 2014 Vinitaly International launched an educational project, the Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) with the aim of divulging and broadcasting the excellence and diversity of Italian wine around the globe. VIA this year launched the seventh edition of its Certification Course and today counts 157 Italian Wine Ambassadors and 13 Italian Wine Experts.Im happy to replace the EZR with Acumeras solution because I can eliminate additional hardware in my back-office and use Acumera as both my Verifone MNSP and as my perimeter security partner.

Acumera, a managed security services provider to retailers and restaurants, announced that they have received certification by Verifone as a Managed Network Service Provider (MNSP) to support Verifones Commander point-of-sale (POS) system. Acumeras advanced security device and AcuLink Commander Remote Access were successfully tested and launched at six Jacksons Food Stores locations across Idaho to replace the Verifone Enhanced Zone Router (EZR). Acumeras MNSP solution provides PCI-compliant remote access between the Verifone Commander POS systems and Verifone's internal support network.

As part of the certification process, Acumeras security device and AcuLink Commander Remote Access Service were tested in the Verifone Quality Assurance (QA) lab, and at Jacksons live pilot sites. The certification process consists of a set of rigorous security and functionality requirements to ensure smooth and scalable operation of the Verifone Commander at customer sites.

Im happy to replace the EZR with Acumeras solution because I can eliminate additional hardware in my back-office and use Acumera as both my Verifone MNSP and as my perimeter security partner, says Patrick Abernathy, Director of IT, Jacksons Food Stores. Acumeras platform simplifies and secures my support connection to Verifone and gives us visibility and control over every network device across all of our locations.

When Verifone support connects to the customers Commander POS, they use AcuLink Commander remote access, explains Dirk Heinen, CEO of Acumera. The connection gives Verifone support automated controls to eliminate persistent connections between the POS and the remote support team. This functionality is essential for remaining PCI compliant during remote support connections. AcuLink Commander meets PCI DSS requirements 12.3.8 and PCI 12.3.9 (click here for details about AcuLink Remote Access and PCI DSS requirements).

Acumeras MNSP solution provides advanced levels of security and networking services to improve C-store operations including managed firewall service, WAN Failover, broadband service management, software-defined VPNs, and 24x7x365 technical support. To learn more about Acumeras Verifone-certified MNSP program visit: acumera.net/verifone-mnsp-program.

About Jacksons Food Stores

Jacksons Food Stores, Inc. headquartered in Meridian, Idaho, was founded in Caldwell, Idaho in 1975 as a single service station. Jacksons has grown to be a nationally recognized chain of over 250+ Chevron, Shell, and Texaco branded convenience stores in 6 western states. All company operations currently employ approximately 2,500 associates. To learn more visit jacksons.com.

About Acumera

Acumera provides managed security and network visibility for the payment systems and operations of multi-site convenience stores, retail, and restaurants. Our clients focus on growing their business when they use Acumeras services, remote systems visibility, strong data security, and compliance tools. Since 2002, Acumera has managed and secured thousands of retail networks. To learn more visit acumera.net.Sarah Homitsky, MD, Medical Director, Alexis Joy D'Achille Center for Perinatal Mental Health We have created a novel therapeuitc enviroment at this new Center that brings every available resource to women and their families in an effort to help them get well, bond and grow together, Sarah Homitsky, MD, medical director, Alexis Joy D'Achille Center for Perinatal Mental Health

Allegheny Health Network(AHN) and the Alexis Joy DAchille Foundation today celebrated the grand opening of The Alexis Joy DAchille Center for Perinatal Mental Health at West Penn Hospital, an innovative new facilty that offers women with pregnancy-related depression access to a spectrum of family-focused care options under one roof.

The 7,300-square-foot, $2.5 million center is designed so that mothers can stay with their babies while undergoing treatment. The facility houses rooms for individual therapy as well as space for Intensive Outpatient care - a three-hours-daily, three-day-a-week program that focuses on group therapy, mother-child bonding and complementary modalities for stress relief, such as yoga and mediation. The center will also offer child care services for older children, addressing a major barrier to care for women.

It is estimated that one in seven new mothers experiences clinically significant depression or anxiety during or after her pregnancy. One such mother was Alexis Joy DAchille, who tragically took her own life six weeks after the birth of her daughter, Adriana, in 2013. Alexis husband, Steven DAchille, started the Alexis Joy DAchille Foundation in his wifes memory, vowing to raise awareness and find new ways to combat postpartum depression. He found partners in Allegheny Health Network (AHN) and Highmark Health and together they began working on a new paradigm for treatment of this common and debilitating illness.

Alexis was loved deeply by family and friends alike. She had so looked forward to meeting Adriana, and becoming a mother,DAchille said. I couldnt understand how this could happen to Alexis, or why she couldnt get the help she so desperately needed.

I envisioned a place where women could find compassionate care and therapies that met their individual needs; a place that would remove barriers to treatment, where it was understood that postpartum depression impacts the entire family. This place now exists at AHN, at the Alexis Joy DAchille Center for Perinatal Mental Health.

Alexis led a life filled with joy and hope. This center is the legacy she leaves for Adriana, a place where other women will find joy and hope at a time when they most need it, DAchille said.

In addition to the Alexis Joy DAchille Foundation, the new center at West Penn Hospital was built with the generous financial support of West Penn Hospital Foundation, Highmark Foundation, Jewish Healthcare Foundation, Staunton Farm Foundation, and Pittsburgh Pirates Alumni Association. The centers child care services are made possible by the support of The Pittsburgh Foundation and its donors, Jewish Womens Foundation and Flexable, LLC.

The opening of this wonderful new facility is the culmination of a three-year journey by AHN and the Alexis Joy DAchille Foundation aimed at transforming the way postpartum depression is treated, said Cynthia Hundorfean, President and Chief Executive Officer, AHN. The DAchille familys passion and determination, together with our organizations commitment to excellence in womens health, has resulted in a game-changing resource that will improve the lives of women and their families for many years to come.

The Alexis Joy DAchille Center for Perinatal Mental Health embodies our highest values at AHN: providing expert patient care that is innovative, compassionate, accessible and above all focused on meeting our patients complete, holistic needs, Hundorfean said. I would like to thank everyone involved for embracing this project and leading the development of a center that is truly unique to western Pennsylvania and the tri-state area.

Perinatal (pregnancy-related) depression is believed to be widely under-recognized and under diagnosed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly 60% of women with depressive symptoms during or after pregnancy do not receive a clinical diagnosis, and 50% of women with a diagnosis do not receive any treatment.

At AHN, doctors are also focusing on better detection of perinatal mood disorders, and on responding quickly to women in need. All AHN OBGYN practices screen women three times for mood disorders, twice before pregnancy and once after, using two different tests. One of the tests detects bipolar disorder specifically, an important indicator for perinatal mental health issues. Once a woman screens positive, she is contacted by the perinatal mental health team on average within two business days of the referral.

Since January 2017, 2,500 women have been referred to AHN for pregnancy-related depression and the network expects to treat more than 2,000 women next year at the new center from a wide geographic area. P.V. Nickell, MD, Chair of Psychiatry at AHN, and Allan Klapper, MD, Chair, AHN Women and Children Institute, played critical roles in the development of universal perinatal depression screening as well as the center itself.

Raising a healthy child requires a healthy mother and family, said Sarah Homitsky, MD, an AHN psychiatrist and Medical Director of the Alexis Joy DAchille Center for Perinatal Mental Health. Caring for an infant can be challenging for any woman, but when a woman suffers from postpartum depression, her bond with her baby and her family suffers, at a time when bonding is critical to healthy development.

We have created a novel therapeuitc enviroment at this new Center that brings every available resource to women and their families in an effort to help them get well, bond and grow together, Dr. Homitsky said

In addition to Dr. Homitsky, the Alexis Joy DAchille Center for Perinatal Mental Health is staffed by clinical psychologist Rebecca Weinberg, PhD; a pediatrician, a nurse practitioner, a nurse, a licensed clinical social worker, a licensed social worker, and multiple licensed professional counselors. A second psychiatrist is coming on board in 2019.

More and more women are turning to AHN for expert, personalized, close-to-home health care services. An estimated 7,700 babies will be born at AHN hospitals in 2018, a 60 percent increase from 2013. AHN currently offers women access to OBGYN services at more than 35 locations across western PA and delivers babies at four hospitals, including West Penn, Saint Vincent, Forbes and Jefferson.

The Network also recently announced plans to open a fifth obstetrics program at its new Wexford Hospital in Pine Township, which is currently under construction, and will soon cut the ribbon to a new, expanded neonatal intensive care unit at West Penn.

About the Allegheny Health Network:

Allegheny Health Network (AHN.ORG), a Highmark Health company, is an integrated healthcare delivery system serving the Western Pennsylvania region. The Network is comprised of eight hospitals, including its flagship academic medical center Allegheny General Hospital, Allegheny Valley Hospital, Canonsburg Hospital, Forbes Hospital, Jefferson Hospital, Saint Vincent Hospital, Westfield Memorial Hospital and West Penn Hospital; an employed physician organization, a research institute, health + wellness pavilions, home and community-based health services and a group purchasing organization. The Network employs approximately 19,000 people, and has more than 2,400 physicians on its medical staff. The Network also serves as a clinical campus for Temple University School of Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine and the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.With SAP B1 to Walmart integration, users pay for only those services needed. A no-contract model offers the option to cancel at any time.

The Alluvia managed integration platform now automates integration between the SAP Business One ERP system and the Walmart ecommerce marketplace. Businesses of all sizes can now quickly and affordably reap the benefits of SAP Business One and Walmart integration.

Walmart is enjoying steady growth. The company expects ecommerce sales to be up 40 percent for 2018. This is due in large part to updates to the companys website, app, and online marketplace. More third-party ecommerce sellers are moving to Walmart as an alternative to Amazon, which is getting overcrowded. The online retailer is welcoming independent ecommerce retailers with open arms by making returns easier and allowing third-party sellers to take advantage of discounted shipping rates for returns.

Independent sellers need an ERP system to manage inventory and orders. Many small and mid-sized businesses are using SAP Business One. Retailers need to integrate SAP Business One with the Walmart marketplace in order to achieve operational efficiencies, such as faster order fulfillment. Automated integration also eliminates the possibility of manual data entry errors, which can lead to missed orders and inaccurate inventory.

The cloud-based managed integration platform from Alluvia provides an intuitive interface that makes integration easy to set up and manage. Synchronizations are established with just a few clicks, using a mapping wizard and pre-built templates. Assistance from integration specialists is always available at no extra charge, making this already-affordable platform an even more valuable solution.

Alluvia is excited to add the Walmart integration to its extensive list of supported synchronizations. Users pay for only those services needed, with options including business transactions; items and inventory; and customers and accounts. A no-contract model offers the option to cancel at any time. Fast, automated integration with a flexible solution is here.

About Alluvia

Alluvia is changing the very nature of integration with a revolutionary cloud-based, managed platform that automates the integration process between SAP Business One and ecommerce marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay; shopping cart systems such as Shopify and Magento; CRM systems such as Salesforce and Hubspot; EDI files; and custom files. The company was founded and is run by SAP Business One system integrators who developed the application to simplify and automate integration.Using the AssetPack solar powered system has offered our clients a truly wireless solution with global coverage and many usages for safety, security and visibility of assets, said Ryan Clarke, Owner and Director of Comprehensive Security Solutions, Inc.

AssetLink Global LLC announces the launch of its Small Vessel Monitoring Solution (SVMS) to equip small-scale fishing vessels with satellite monitoring systems to track their location relative to fisheries and other boundaries and route distress calls. This system will improve fisherman safety, enhance maritime security, and promote sustainable fisheries in the region. Affordable and easy to use, it enables the benefits of modern communications technology to reach smaller fishermen and their stakeholders.

The Suriname Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (LVV), Under Directorate of Fisheries has informed local fishermen about the new SVMS system, which will be placed on their boats. The system has undergone several years of testing through a trial program.

The AssetLink SVMS system consists of an environmentally sealed, solar-powered, two-way AssetPack satellite tracking device easily installed on any vessel with no external power cables. The device is housed in a marine grade protective enclosure to protect against impacts, as well as a tamper detection switch that alerts in case of removal. It includes a marine-grade panic button in case of distress at sea. The AssetLink SVMS can be enhanced with external power connectivity, audible alarms and other sensors to comply with other regulatory mandates.

Using the AssetPack solar powered system has offered our clients a truly wireless solution with global coverage and many usages for safety, security and visibility of assets, said Ryan Clarke, Owner and Director of Comprehensive Security Solutions, Inc. (CSS), the local VMS provider supporting the project.

Operating on Iridiums pole to pole satellite coverage provides a continuous connection, no service interruptions, and complete vessel traceability even when far from shore or in remote coastal areas. The device features configurable reporting parameters, allowing the fisheries manager to customize the location transmit rate for each fishing vessel remotely, as well as an on-board geofence to immediately send a notification and alert when the vessel enters and exits specific zones. The on-board geofences can also be used to automatically change reporting configurations without the need for manual intervention.

The AssetPack is configured out of the box to send reports from every few hours up to every 15 minutes (more if supplemental power is supplied) with location, time, speed, and heading. It has a simple on/off and mounting process and can be reconfigured over the air, allowing fisheries managers to simply install the device right out of the box. On shore at the control center, fisheries managers have complete fleet visibility, allowing them to comply with various regulatory requirements, develop sustainable fishing programs that ensure fishermens livelihoods, and aid in safety and rescue activities.

Complex VMS and AIS systems have existed for years, with numerous benefits for government and commercial organizations but few direct tangible benefits for smaller fishermen themselves. The technology costs of these systems have been out of reach for smaller vessels and countries that have the highest need. We are pleased to be able to bring our solution to this market and support a sustainable global fishing economy and, most importantly, support safety of human lives, said David J. Goldstein, President & CEO of AssetLink Global.

The devices are integrated with operations of the Sub-Directorate Fisheries Suriname, Coast Guard Suriname, and the local VMS provider Comprehensive Security Solutions (CSS), Inc. Fishermen are being trained on how they can handle the SVMS device.

About AssetLink

AssetLink is a fast-growing technology and satellite company connecting the physical world of industrial field operations to cloud analytics platforms, via intelligent satellite-enabled hardware and a unique cloud computing stack. Building best in class GPS satellite, cellular, and sensor-interface hardware for global geolocation and complex sensor monitoring, we expand enterprise connectivity and help the core of our economy  energy, transportation, construction, and agriculture  do more with less. Satisfied customers include industrial, Fortune 500, and government enterprises worldwide. AssetLink connects enterprises with their equipment and assets, no matter how remote.

Contact AssetLink Global:

Phone : +1 (303) 862-8745

Email: sales(at)assetlinkglobal(dot)com

Web: http://www.assetlinkglobal.comBuilding Engines, the commercial real estate (CRE) industrys innovation leader for property operations platforms, and backed by Wavecrest Growth Partners, today announced the appointment of Scott Morey, Executive Director of GPG Advisers, to the companys Board of Directors.

With 30 years of global experience in the real estate industry, Morey has worked with numerous real estate owners, operators, developers, and advisors with the objective of maximizing the value of their holdings.

He is a longtime member of the Realcomm Advisory Council and has served in executive-level roles for several large real estate and CRE tech organizations including General Growth Properties (GGP); Alvarez and Marsal and RealFoundations in the United Kingdom; Cityscape in Lagos, Nigeria; Equity Office Properties; Ernst & Young Kenneth Leventhal; and Accenture.

Morey has provided strategic advice relative to market positioning, improving underlying operations and using technology in ways that creates real, long-term, sustainable value. He has developed a strong reputation for his knowledge, creativity, integrity and ability to execute.

Scott has the perfect background to advise and direct as we expand our leadership position in building operations intelligence software, said Building Engines CEO, Tim Curran. Scotts commercial real estate experiences are outstanding and rare  spanning software development, business and IT strategy consulting across all categories of real estate and technology market spaces. His perspective as the ex-CIO of one of the worlds largest commercial property owners, and experience in international markets will add meaningful value to our customers and team. Scott will be instrumental in helping us shape our product roadmap, buy-build-partner strategy, and international expansion plans. I couldnt be happier to welcome Scott to the Board and look forward to working with him.

"I'm excited to be joining the Building Engines mission to drive intelligence into Commercial Real Estate operations," said Morey. "This company is on the leading edge of CRE technology innovation, with a clear commitment to serving world-class organizations of all sizes in improving the value of their underlying assets. We are aligned on the same vision of the future: connected buildings and systems operating with efficiency and delivering economic value to real estate investors and operators as well as the customers they serve."

Todays news caps a year of steady growth and traction for the growing SaaS company. In the past twelve months, the team announced the addition of Tim Curran as CEO and Daniel Cozza as Chief Product Officer; completed the acquisition of software firm AwareManager; expanded its headquarters in downtown Boston; and released the worlds first AI-powered intelligent building conversation platform, BengieTM.

Scott is a great addition to our Board of Directors, confirmed David Osborn, Founder and Chairman of Building Engines. Weve known him since his days as CIO at Equity Office where he helped define their industry-leading technology path. He is a direct, no-nonsense expert in the field, with a long record of success advising the leading real estate owners and operators in our market. With Scotts long tenure in the PropTech community, his broad network of influential leaders, and demonstrated success as an impactful advisor, I know hell help drive our product and organization to another level.

About Building Engines

Building Engines is an operations platform designed for modern commercial real estate organizations to connect and align people, processes, and activities. Our property management tools transform activity into intelligence so that CRE professionals can control their changing work environment with confidence, improve building operations performance, and increase asset value.

Many of the leading public REITs, private owner-managers and third-party management firms use Building Engines to provide outstanding tenant service, maintain assets, improve operational efficiency, mitigate operational risk, and make better, data-driven decisions. Building Engines is used in over 2 billion square feet of multi-tenant commercial office, medical office, retail, and industrial properties in the United States and Canada. http://www.buildingengines.com

Monica Eaton-Cardone, COO of Chargebacks911, explores how the growth of affiliate marketing has led to an increase in scammers striving for personal gain. Theres a reason affiliate marketing continues to grow at such a rapid paceand thats because it works. However, that profit potential has also attracted scammers looking to game the system for personal gain, and they can decimate revenues if retailers arent careful.

Adobe revealed that U.S. consumers set new a new record on Cyber Monday 2018, which marked the nations largest-ever online shopping day at $7.9 billion.(1) Affiliate marketing represented 16% of U.S. eCommerce orders as of BI Intelligences last report on the channel;(2) at that rate, affiliates would have contributed nearly $1.3 billion of this years record-breaking Cyber Monday sales. Chargebacks911, a leading dispute mitigation and loss prevention firm, notes that affiliate-driven profitability is sparking interest among merchants and publishers alikebut may also draw more criminals to commit affiliate fraud unless the industry takes action.

Forrester Research projected U.S. affiliate marketing spend would increase at a 10% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2015 to 2020, when it is expected to surpass $6.8 billion.(3) Forrester also found that 81% of advertisers and 84% of publishers include affiliate marketing as part of their overall marketing mix.(3) While affiliates financial contribution to this years record Cyber Monday sales is based on extrapolation, a recent survey confirmed that active affiliate partnerships increased between 2017 and 2018; they were up 20% on Thanksgiving, 34% on Black Friday and 15% on Cyber Monday.(4)

In the hands of ethical, high-performing content providers and honest merchants, affiliate marketing can be extremely profitable for both parties, observed Monica Eaton-Cardone, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Chargebacks911. Theres a reason affiliate marketing continues to grow at such a rapid paceand thats because it works. However, that profit potential has also attracted scammers looking to game the system for personal gain, and they can decimate revenues if retailers arent careful.

Eaton-Cardone says that an estimated 2% of performance-driven transactions are likely cases of affiliate fraud. While that suggests the majority of affiliates are legitimate, fraud-related losses can still add up. For example, a 2016 study found that 38.1% of Amazons affiliate partners engaged in fraud, with 18.2% of conversions associated with a fraudulent affiliate identifier.(5) And just last month, Bulgarian authorities arrested Russian national Alexander Zhukov based on an Interpol warrant; he was accused of affiliate fraud by U.S. prosecutors and indicted in absentia. Zhukov is accused of committing computer fraud that resulted in more than $7 million in damages.(6)

According to Eaton-Cardone, scammers use a variety of tactics to commit affiliate fraud, ranging from unethical to illegal. A few examples:



Spam  Affiliates bombard consumers with unsolicited emails to generate clicks. This approach can tarnish a brands reputation.

Typo-Squatting  Fraudsters buy domain names similar to a merchants own; if consumers mistype the URL, the affiliates site redirects and gets credit for a referral.

Cookie-Stuffing  These web cookies stay with consumers after leaving an affiliate site, so the affiliate gets future referral credits for unrelated visits to a merchants site.

Diversion and Site Cloning  Unethical affiliates may copy content or divert traffic from legitimate affiliates and merchants, stealing their leads and rightful income.

Bot Activity  Cybercriminals often use scripts or software to imitate consumers, automatically generating clicks or even orders to boost commissions.

Malware  Some fraudsters get visitors to download spyware or adware that injects affiliate code, while others use affiliate sites to steal consumers personal data.

Identity Theft  Criminals have been known to sign up as affiliates and place bogus orders using stolen credit card data. They profit from unearned referral commissions, while the merchant is left with chargebacks and fees for the unauthorized purchases.

To combat these tactics, Eaton-Cardone advises online merchants to develop and enforce an affiliate policy that outlines unacceptable practices and their penalties. She recommends carefully vetting prospective affiliates and networks, regularly monitoring affiliates activities and checking out sites that generate a high volume of referrals to verify they are legitimate. In addition, she suggests buying up similar domain names before affiliate fraudsters, competitors or other cybercriminals have a chance to do so.

Eaton-Cardone also emphasizes the importance of using multi-layered fraud prevention tools, including an affiliate fraud solution that uses technology to conduct risk analysis and advanced human forensics to ensure accuracy. (In the past year, Chargebacks911s Affiliate Fraud Shield prevented over $12 million in losses,(7) including shipping costs, product loss and chargeback fees.) Finally, she advocates for public blacklisting of known/proven affiliate fraudsters, and urges merchants to report illegal activities to the authorities.

Merchants need to take proactive steps and work together to fight scammers; otherwise, theyll keep siphoning profits and damaging brands, asserted Eaton-Cardone. By sharing details on banned affiliates and taking legal action against those suspected of data or identity theft, retailers can help rid the industry of these fraudsters. This not only prevents revenue loss, but also protects legitimate affiliate partners and valued customers.

Chargebacks911 is committed to educating and supporting eCommerce merchants with services designed to enhance profitability, reduce chargebacks and combat fraud. To that end, Monica Eaton-Cardone and her team will be participating in a number of upcoming industry events, including Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas and NRF 2019: Retails Big Show in New York City. For details on Chargebacks911s comprehensive risk management solutions, informative articles and other merchant resources, visit https://chargebacks911.com.

About Chargebacks911/The Chargebacks Company

Chargebacks911 empowers businesses to combat constantly evolving fraud tactics and mounting customer disputes that directly threaten profitability. Operating as The Chargeback Company in Europe, Chargebacks911 has pioneered effective, industry-leading solutions designed to reduce chargeback fraud, alleviate processing costs, mitigate risk and recover revenues.

The companys unparalleled expertise and proprietary technology have earned three consecutive CNP Customer Choice Awards for Best Chargeback Management Solution, three successive AI Lions Den Awards for Best Airline Industry Solution, and Gold and Silver Stevie Awards from the American Business Awards (ABA). With innovative and highly scalable services ranging from Intelligent Source Detection (ISD) to Tactical Representment, Chargebacks911 uncovers the true source of chargebacks, battles unjustified disputes, rescues lost revenue, safeguards reputations, and defends against relentless, ever-changing cyberthreats.

Discover why Chargebacks911 is a hero to the payments industry, nemesis of fraudsters and trusted protector of over 2.4 billion transactions per year, representing clients worldwidevisit https://www.chargebacks911.com.

1. Adobe. Adobe Analytics Data Shows Cyber Monday Broke Online Sales Record With $7.9 Billion; press release issued November 26, 2018.

2. Business Insider Intelligence. Mainstream Publishers Are Turning Performance-Based Marketing Into a Fine ArtHeres How; Business Insider; September 1, 2016.

3. Forrester Research for Rakuten Affiliate Network. Networks Help Drive Affiliate Marketing Into the Mainstream; February 2016.

4. Polizzi, Christina. Affiliate Marketing Results From Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday; Acceleration Partners blog post; December 6, 2018.

5. Snyder, Peter and Chris Kanich. Characterizing Fraud and Its Ramifications in Affiliate Marketing Networks; Journal of Cybersecurity; December 2016.

6. Stone, Jeff. Suspected Russian Cybercriminal Arrested in Bulgaria at U.S. Request, Lawyer Says; CyberScoop; November 15, 2018.

7. Chargebacks911. Learn How to Identify and Prevent Affiliate Fraud; blog post; May 16, 2018.W. Kamau Bell

Salt Lake Community College, in partnership with Westminster College, will host W. Kamau Bell, host of CNNs United Shades of America.

The event is scheduled for 7-8:30 p.m., Jan. 17 at the Grand Theatre on SLCCs South City Campus, 1575 S. State St., Salt Lake City.

Bell will give a presentation followed by a Q&A. Free tickets to this event can be reserved by clicking here. Doors open at 6 p.m. for general seating.

The Emmy-nominated comic is known for delivering incisive, scathingly funny commentary on modern society. Bell travels the country, offering viewers a look inside the various subcultures of American life. He first captured audiences attention with his thought-provoking, one-man show, The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour, and later, with his widely praised FX comedy series, Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.

The multitalented entertainer also hosts the podcasts, Denzel Washington is The Greatest Actor of All Time Period and Politically Reactive, as well as the live public radio show, Kamau Right Now! Kamaus book, The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell, will be released May 2. His one-man show Ending Racism in About an Hour has been praised by audiences and critics from leading outlets, including The Guardian and Time Out New York.

Salt Lake Community College is Utahs only accredited, comprehensive community college. Home to more than 60,000 students each year, the college is Utahs leading provider of workforce development programs and the largest supplier of transfer students to the states four-year institutions. SLCC is also a top 10 college nationally for total associate degrees awarded and the leading provider of applied technology courses in the Salt Lake area.

The lecture is part of Westminsters B.W. Bastian Diversity Lecture Series. Westminster is a private, independent and comprehensive college in Salt Lake City. Students experience liberal arts blended with professional programs in an atmosphere dedicated to civic engagement. With the goal of enabling its graduates to live vibrant, just and successful lives, Westminster provides transformational learning experiences for both undergraduate and graduate students in a student-centered environment. Faculty focus on teaching, learning and developing distinctive, innovative programs, while students thrive on Westminsters urban Sugar House campus within minutes of the Rocky Mountains. For more information, visit http://www.westminstercollege.edu or follow WestminsterSLC on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.... this transaction adds an industry leading SAP consulting and staffing business to our already strong company and establishes Consulting Solutions as one of the top 40 IT staffing companies in the United States.

Consulting Solutions (CS), a portfolio company of White Wolf Capital (White Wolf), is pleased to announce the acquisition of JDC Group (JDC). Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Corry Doyle, Managing Director of White Wolf, noted We are excited to add JDCs management team, clients, and consultants to Consulting Solutions. In addition to providing numerous organic growth opportunities, this transaction adds an industry leading SAP consulting and staffing business to our already strong company and establishes Consulting Solutions as one of the top 40 IT staffing companies in the United States.

Scott Dungey, EVP Business Development of Consulting Solutions, commented, The benefits of this transaction are compelling. We have built a world class IT consulting, staffing, and recruiting platform and the addition of JDC continues our strategy of expanding our geographic coverage and platform expertise to provide more value to our clients and more opportunities for our employees, consultants and supplier partners. Johannes Dorsch, President of JDC, is a great addition to our senior management team and I look forward to working with him and all of the JDC team to help realize the synergies of this combination.

Johannes Dorsch, Founder & President of JDC, stated, I am pleased JDC is now part of Consulting Solutions. After a very thorough review process, we chose to sell JDC to Consulting Solutions because of the many additional opportunities that will present themselves through this combination. Im proud of the JDC team and what weve built together, and I look forward to bringing the additional value we can now provide to our clients.

About Consulting Solutions

Consulting Solutions is an information technology, consulting and recruiting company that is primarily focused on providing permanent and contract IT resources to augment a clients existing staff while implementing or upgrading complex systems. Consulting Solutions has been providing experienced IT resources that enable their clients to complete their complex projects on time and on budget for over eighteen years. CSI is headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida. For further information, please visit: http://www.csifl.com.

About JDC

JDC is a leading regional SAP focused consulting and staffing company, founded in 2005 by Johannes Dorsch, who was one of the first 750 SAP employees. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and with an office in Nashville, Tennessee, JDC services clients across the Eastern seaboard and throughout the Southeast. JDC provides consulting and staff augmentation services to some of the worlds largest corporations running SAP, including helping their clients migrate to the cloud. http://www.jdc-group.com

About White Wolf

White Wolf is a private investment firm that began operations in late 2011 and is focused on management buyouts, recapitalizations and investments in leading middle market companies. In general, White Wolf seeks both mezzanine and private equity investment opportunities in companies that are headquartered in North America with $10 million to $100 million in revenues and up to $10 million in EBITDA. Preferred industries include: manufacturing, business services, information technology, security, aerospace and defense. For further information, please visit: http://www.whitewolfcapital.com.

CS Acquisition Criteria

CS is actively seeking add-on acquisition opportunities that meet the following criteria:



Revenue of $10 million to $100 million

Providers of IT staffing, consulting, and related services

Focus on ERP implementations (platform agnostic) and cloud application migrations

US development & support centers

Regional or national focus

Please contact Corry Doyle at (917) 607-1085 or by email at corry.doyle(at)whitewolfcapital.com to discuss potential acquisition candidates."REGENXBIO presented Cresa with a unique challenge of wanting to consolidate several locations while still allowing for room to continue to grow," said Managing Principal Rich Rhodes

Cresa, the worlds largest occupier-centric commercial real estate firm, and REGENXBIO Inc., a leading clinical-stage biotechnology company seeking to improve lives through the curative potential of gene therapy, recently announced a long-term lease agreement for REGENXBIOs new headquarters at 9800 Medical Center Drive with landlord Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc., a California-based real estate investment trust with a focus on life sciences and tech campuses.

The transaction closed in November 2018 and was led by the Cresa team, including Managing Principal, Rich Rhodes, and Senior Advisor, Lauren Rizzo, with assistance from Cresas Lease Forensics team members, Principal, Lease Audit, Mike Hetchkop, and Senior Financial Analyst, Lease Audit, Evan Solomon. REGENXBIO's new office will sit at almost four floors totaling 132,000 square feet of the 177,000 square foot building, with potential for expansion into the remainder of the facility.

Oversight of the expansion has been led by Kathy Thomas, Managing Principal, Project Management. The office location is part of a 460,000-square-foot campus known as the Alexandria Life Science and Translational Research Center, aimed at biotech and research entities, including current tenants National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Advanced BioScience Laboratories Inc., BioReliance Corp., Sanaria Inc. and The Stanley Medical Research Institute.

REGENXBIO presented Cresa with a unique challenge of wanting to consolidate several locations while still allowing for room to continue to grow, said Rhodes. Under close collaboration with the REGENXBIO team, we were able to utilize a variety of integrated services including Transaction Management, Project Management, Workplace Strategy and Lease Forensics/Auditing to identify a location that would meet their current, and future, goals as a thriving biotechnology company.

The new headquarters will house REGENXBIOs corporate and research and development activities. The Alexandria Life Science and Translational Research Center location will help the company grow under one roof while supporting its mission as a public company whose therapy has been groundbreaking for the treatment of retinal, metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases.

As the Washington, DC metropolitan area continues to see significant real estate investment, Cresa is assisting companies across sectors make smart, scalable, real estate decisions. With over 100+ offices worldwide and new locations locally in Orange County and Silicon Valley as well as globally in Poland, Spain and Beijing, the company continues to see significant growth with over 1,700 clients across 59 industries in 891 cities globally. For more information, please visit http://www.cresa.com.

About Cresa

Cresa is the world's largest commercial real estate advisory firm that exclusively represents occupiers and specializes in the delivery of fully integrated real estate solutions. Delivered across every industry,

its services include Consulting, Facilities Management, Global Portfolio Solutions, Investment Banking, Lease Administration, Location Strategy & Economic Development Incentives, Project Management,

Transaction Management and Workplace Intelligence. With over 1000 employees in more than 80 offices globally, Cresa partners with occupiers everywhere. For more information, visit http://www.cresa.com.

For more information, please contact:

Cori Hays

Matter

cresa(at)matternow.com

971.361-9604We've been very clear that we're focused on the medium and long term, and we're investing for growth. We think the demand is going to continue to be very strong in 2019.

Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell says in an exclusive interview with CRN and CRNtv that he will continue to run the company he founded with an eye on the "medium and long term" when the company officially returns to the public market on December 28. The reports by CRN Senior Associate Editor Mark Haranas and CRNtv Reporter Diana Blass were published December 17 on CRN.com.

We're operating with the same approach that we have been for the last five, six years, said Dell in an exclusive question-and-answer session with CRN.com, the No.1 source for IT channel news, analysis and insight, and CRNtv, the broadcast arm of CRN. We've been very clear that we're focused on the medium and long term, and we're investing for growth. We think the demand is going to continue to be very strong in 2019.

In the interview, Dell also addressed a wide range of issues from the greater-than-expected revenue synergies created by the landmark acquisition of EMC to Amazon Web Services' entry into the on-premises market with AWS Outposts to the impact of breakthrough 5G technology.

In a CRNtv report, which expands on the CRN.com coverage, Dell reflected on his management style and the customer-focused culture that has helped make the company a success. We think of ourselves as a company with big ears, he said, noting the customer is at the center of everything that we do.

To view the CRN and CRNtv Michael Dell interview coverage, visit: https://www.crn.com/michaeldell

About CRN and The Channel Company

CRN, a leading technology news outlet for more than 36 years, is the trusted media arm of The Channel Company. The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. We draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. http://www.thechannelco.com

###municipal, state and federal governments often charge a convenience fee on tax bills paid with credit cards.

There are a lot of people who still get confused when to use their credit and debit card that is why National Debt Relief shares some tips to distinguish one from the other. The article titled How To Know When To Swipe Debit Vs. Credit released December 17, 2018, aims to give consumers an idea of how to best use their cards.

The article starts off by explaining that a lot of Americans have a mix of credit and debit cards in their wallets. The problem is that not all of them have an idea when to use one in lieu of the other. People need to understand that there are considerable differences between credit and debit card transactions. As such, there are times to use a credit card or times when using a debit card may be a better choice

The article shares that for people who are trying to get out of debt, it is best to use their debit card when making purchases. This helps consumers break-free from relying heavily on their credit cards which can put them deeper in debt if they do not manage it well. Using debit cards also helps them budget better because they need to work with whatever they have and cannot overspend.

The article also explains that for consumers who make a lot of online purchases, using a credit card would be a great idea. This is because it gives them an additional layer of online protection from fraud, theft, and other illegal activities. Lenders usually offer excellent fraud protection even to the point of limiting a borrowers liability in the event the card is stolen or used fraudulently.

The article then points out that for consumers who plan on paying for taxes and utilities, it is best down with a debit card. The reason for this is that municipal, state, and federal governments often charge a convenience fee on tax bills paid with credit cards. To read the full article, click https://www.nationaldebtrelief.com/when-to-use-credit-vs-debit/For suppliers, effectively preparing your organization for a hospitals value analysis process is one key strategy to help introduce new products and shorten the selling cycle," said Dee Donatelli, RN, MBA, principal, Dee Donatelli Consulting.

Dee Donatelli Consulting, LLC, in conjunction with the Association of Healthcare Value Analysis Professionals (AHVAP), today announced the opening of registration for the inaugural Value Analysis Apex (VAApex) event, to be held March 7-8, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. The VAApex forum will assemble a faculty of leading value analysis experts, who will guide supplier sales and marketing executives through a 1  day curriculum designed to build a profound understanding of the hospital value analysis process, in turn providing healthcare suppliers with and effective ways to introduce products to hospital Value Analysis Committees (VACs).

VAApex creates a unique forum for sales and marketing executives at healthcare suppliers that manufacture, market and sell products and devices to hospitals and other provider organizations. As value analysis continues to accelerate in importance to hospital decision makers, supplier executives need to know the most efficient ways to position and represent their products, to help aid in the selection process of products by their customers, toward the mutual goal of delivering the safest and most cost-effective patient care.

Working with leaders at both hospital and supplier organizations, I often hear people express frustration with the difficulty of introducing products to hospitals, said Dee Donatelli, RN, MBA, principal, Dee Donatelli Consulting, LLC. Throughout the healthcare industry, were all working together to improve patient outcomes and the cost of care. For suppliers, effectively preparing your organization for a hospitals value analysis process is one key strategy to help introduce new products and shorten the selling cycle. When you fully understand Value Analysis, you can present your products to the Value Analysis Committee (VAC) with answers to all the right questions  demonstrating the value and effectiveness of your products and devices, in ways that support the VACs decision-making process.

The event will be held at The Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, Texas. Dee Donatelli and a team of leading AHVAP members will provide in-depth, unique perspectives that include a live Value Analysis (VA) demonstration meeting, representing a hospital value analysis process for participants. Event attendees will build an understanding of how to position their products, services and organization most effectively for review by a VAC, and will participate in interactive discussions that provide tools, tips and techniques, and a follow-up Simulated Value Analysis Committee (SimVAC) review, which will help strengthen an organizations preparedness to present their product or service line to a VAC.

This program provides participants with an unprecedented understanding of VA techniques and processes, including:



A real-world VA meeting, facilitated by AHVAP experts

Keys to the VA decision making process

Steps for marketing and sales to use within a VA environment, toward the goal of supporting faster decision-making by provider organizations

Preparing answers to key questions

Strengthening product positioning

Improving the organizations value proposition, moving from basic selling to a value-based discussion

Adaptions to sales and marketing materials to help address todays VA Think, building understanding of VA as the new customer

Key ideas to improve time-to-close and product launch success

Ways to differentiate an organization through value analysis mentoring

Preparation for participation in the SimVAC session

The most distinctive feature of the VAApex is the SimVAC, which is where supplier participants can make enormous advancement, said Donatelli. Following the VAApex event, attendees and their associates will participate in a remote, virtual SimVAC, which is a one hour session with members of the faculty from the Dallas meeting, specifically focused on a product or service identified by the supplier. The SimVAC uniquely creates a real-world environment designed to help overcome the barriers of selling to VACs. During the session, supplier participants field test their updated product positioning, messaging and answers to key VAC questions, and receive feedback on their approach to selling and marketing the selected product or service. Its like having a focus group of industry experts for each individual organization.

VAApex is endorsed and supported by AHVAP, an organization of clinical professionals whose expertise bridges the gap between clinical staff and the supply chain process. Today, many provider organizations use VACs to help further their efforts to understand and measure Cost, Quality and Outcomes, a key component of hospital quality measurement endorsed by the Association of Healthcare Resource Materials Management (AHRMM).

To register for the inaugural VAApex event on March 7-8, 2019, please visit VAApex.com or AHVAP.org.

About Dee Donatelli Consulting, LLC

Dee Donatelli, BSN, MBA is the principal of Dee Donatelli Consulting, LLC. Dee is a renowned icon in the healthcare industry, a deeply experienced healthcare professional with more than 40 years experience, and one of the first clinicians to take on a leadership role in supply chain management, paving the way for provider organizations to understand the value of blending clinical knowledge with supply chain management. A nationally recognized speaker, Dee has advised some of the countrys leading healthcare organizations on cost reduction based upon a clinically integrated value analysis process. Dee has in-depth clinical experience from her background as a nurse, and over 25 years of consulting expertise focused on large scale supply chain operations improvement. She is a past President of AHVAP and Chair-Elect of AHRMM. She holds certifications as both a CVAHP & CMRP. For more information about Dee Donatelli visit DeeDonatelli.com.Dr. Andres Sanchez, Periodontist in Eden Prairie, MN, Celebrates Practice 10-Year Anniversary

Trusted Eden Prairie, MN, periodontist Dr. Andres Sanchez, celebrates a decade of practicing at PerioWest. Although he founded the practice 10 years ago, he has not lost his passion for helping his neighbors improve their oral health and achieve their unique dental goals. He now welcomes new patients to this leading-edge and trusted periodontal practice for personalized consultations.

During his time working in the community, he has completed hundreds of continuing education hours above and beyond the necessary amounts to keep his certifications current. He also became recertified as a board-certified periodontist and recently trained in Italy with Dr. Pierpaolo Cortellini and Dr. Maurizio Tonetti. In celebration of 10 years at his practice serving people of all ages in the Twin Cities, he continues to bring leading-edge tools, technologies and protocols to his patients.

At his welcoming, modern office, Dr. Sanchez specializes in offering minimally invasive periodontal treatments including dental implants, LANAP laser gum disease therapy, and the revolutionary Pinhole Surgical Technique to reverse gum recession. Although many of his patients rely on his expertise to help with gum disease issues and concerns, some travel to PerioWests large, state-of-the-art location for placement of lasting and reliable dental implants.

Dental implants offer the only fixed solution to replace missing teeth. When placed by a board-certified periodontist, dental implants can last for many years. Plus, statistics from the American Academy of Implant Dentistry indicate that dental implant success rates hover in the 98-percent range. This makes them a reliable treatment for appropriate candidates with one or more missing teeth.

To help patients receive the periodontal treatments they need, Dr. Sanchez and his team work with many insurance carriers and some third-party patient financing providers. They also create custom treatment plans to accommodate patients health and financing needs ensuring they are able to maintain a happy and healthy lifestyle.

Those with gum disease or other issues that can be addressed with a partnership with a periodontist in Eden Prairie, MN, are encouraged to call 952-479-4705 for an appointment with Dr. Sanchez.

About the Practice

PerioWest is a periodontal practice offering personalized dental care for patients in Eden Prairie, MN and the Twin Cities areas. Dr. Andres R. Sanchez received his Certificate & Masters Degree in Periodontics from the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in 2004. He is a Board-Certified periodontist and a Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology. In addition, Dr. Sanchez has been involved as a primary author in more than ten scientific papers published in major periodontal and implant dentistry journals. To learn more about Dr. Sanchez and the services he provides, please visit his website at http://www.periowestmn.com or call 952-479-4705.Sailfish, Costa Rica We take pride in helping promote the sport of fishing and providing excellent opportunities for anglers to expand their fishing knowledge.

Having recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, FishAnywhere has become the leading booking platform for fishing charters and guides with over 7,000 trips available to some of the hottest fishing destinations in North America, the Bahamas, Caribbean and Costa Rica. Our passion for bringing anglers and fishing charters and guides together has truly driven our success, explains Doug Hughes, CEO of FishAnywhere. Being part of the Columbus Expo is a milestone for us, and were looking forward to being part of this great event, continued Hughes.

The Columbus Fishing Expo will be held at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus Ohio on February 8-10, 2019. The facility, boasting more than 150,000 square feet, will feature vendors across categories including tackle, boats, and more. Over 100 educational seminars are also planned.

We take pride in helping promote the sport of fishing and providing excellent opportunities for anglers to expand their fishing knowledge, says Hughes.

Founded in 2017, FishAnywhere has become the go-to source for anglers to search, find and book charters. The platform offers a variety of fishing trips across the world for anglers to book with just a few simple steps. However, FishAnywhere differentiates itself by bringing on only the most professional fishing charter captains and guides as part of their platform. We didnt just want people to book trips. We really wanted to make sure that our customers had a great fishing experience. Thats why we only work with the finest captains and guides, explains Hughes.

FishAnywhere is also committed to marine and wildlife conservation. A portion of all bookings goes to supporting great eco-organizations such as Captains for Clean Water, Trout Unlimited, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust and the Coastal Conservation Association.

Meet FishAnywhere at the Columbus Fishing Expo  stop by booth #431.

To learn more about FishAnywhere, visit their website at http://www.FishAnywhere.com and learn how easy it is to search, compare rates and book fishing charters and guides.

About FishAnywhere

FishAnywhere is the worlds largest online booking platform for professional charters and fishing guides. With more than 7,000 available trips and growing, FishAnywhere is the leading destination for avid fishing enthusiasts to find, compare prices and book a professional charter or guide in thousands of destinations across the United States and the world including exotic fishing destinations like Costa Rica, the Bahamas, and more. To learn more about FishAnywhere, visit their website at http://www.FishAnywhere.com.Boyce Adams, Jr., BankTEL's President/CEO, receives the award from Governor Bryant I am truly excited about how successful weve been in growing our presence in financial markets beyond the US." - Boyce Adams, Jr., BankTEL President/CEO

BankTEL Systems was among the honorees at the 2018 Governors Awards for Excellence in Exporting, in recognition of its success in increasing export sales of accounting software for financial institutions.

BankTEL is the developer of ASCEND, a cloud-based software solution used by banks, credit unions, insurance companies, and other financial institutions worldwide. BankTEL serves over a quarter of the domestic market, making it the top FI accounting software provider in the US. Since 2009, it has had a growing overseas presence, and now includes institutions all across the globe.

Im proud of serving the American community and regional banks that support small business owners and are the literal economic engines of their towns. Im also truly excited about how successful weve been in growing our presence in financial markets beyond the US, said Boyce Adams, Jr., President and CEO of BankTEL. Mississippi supports entrepreneurship and industry, and it has always been a privilege for BankTEL to call Mississippi home. I consider it a big honor for our success to be recognized and celebrated by our states leader.

Gov. Phil Bryant presented the awards at an Excellence in Exporting event at the Old Capitol Inn in Jackson.

The companies honored at this years Export Awards ceremony have successfully demonstrated their commitment to doing business in our state, while strengthening the economy and creating jobs through international trade, Gov. Bryant said. They are a powerful testament to the fact Made in Mississippi is a stamp of quality known around the world, and I commend each of them for making a difference in the lives of many through their exporting efforts.

Other honored companies include NaturePlex, Flathaus Fine Foods, Hyperion Technology Group, Agape Medical Tourism Center, CoxMPH, Inc., Fast Flow Pumps and Gods Way Enterprises.

About BankTEL Systems

BankTEL helps financial institutions manage expenses with easy-to-use software solutions that maintain transparency, accountability, and regulatory compliance. BankTEL is the only international software company that focuses solely on accounting solutions for financial institutions and has over 25% of the U.S. market share with a 27-year history of serving clients of all sizes.

Great Hotels of the World Member Hotel Okura Amsterdam Bleisure trips increased by 46% last year in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and business travelers who added a Saturday night stay in their destination rose globally by 20% in 2017 over the previous year.

According to top travel and tourism experts, Bleisure, the savvy travelers trend of pairing business trips with leisurely getaways, is on the rise as one of the top travel trendsand it isnt slowing down. Bleisure trips increased by 46% last year in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and business travelers who added a Saturday night stay in their destination rose globally by 20% in 2017 over the previous year.* Bleisure travelersincreasingly Millennialsare seeking independent, distinctive hotels in exciting destinations with excellent meeting facilities and luxurious leisure amenities as well as immediate access to local cultural experiences and cuisine.

Great Hotels of the World (GHOTW), one of the top consortia representing upscale, independent hotels around the globe, is uniquely positioned to host the bleisure market. GHOTW offers a thoughtfully curated collection of more than 60 upscale and luxury hotels across Europe and the Middle East, with their newest member hotel in South America.

The GHOTW portfolio includes exceptional properties including:

Irelands Dunboyne Castle Hotel and Spa. Travelers looking for a peaceful retreat steeped in history will be charmed by this property just 14 miles outside of Dublin. A short walk from an unspoiled traditional village, Dunboyne Castle Hotel & Spa offers acres of stunning landscaped grounds, spacious rooms, an award-winning restaurant for dining and tea, and a first-rate spa with an impeccable reputation.

Amsterdams Hotel Okura is ideally positioned to offer the authentic and local experiential business travel experiences sought by bleisure travelers. The hotel overlooks the Amstel Canal in the trendy Pijp area, which is home to local hangouts and one-of-a-kind shops.

In the heart of Europe, guests at Le Plaza Brussels in Belgium wont even need to leave the property to discover local history: this city-center hotel features an original movie theater dating back to 1928, now transformed into a stunning event venue. Le Plaza Brussels combines elegance, tradition and the comfort of premium modernity, and a truly passionate team with more than 85 years of experience combining efficiency and friendliness is on hand to ensure an unforgettable stay.

In Lisbon, Portugal, elegance, sophistication, and comfort seamlessly combine at the super central and well-appointed Altis Grand Hotel. Perfectly located in one of the capitals most affluent neighborhood while within walking distance of the more traditional and historical quarters, guests are perfectly positioned to get a genuine taste of Lisbon life. Minutes by foot is the capitals most celebrated shopping artery  Av. da Liberdade, where the worlds luxury retail brands keep shop. Following a day of meetings in one of the Hotels 19 renowned meeting rooms, guests can make their way to the trendy rooftop bar and enjoy a drink with other guests and locals alike.

Further afield, in Dubaithe fast-paced, fascinating hub of the Middle Eastdiscover the iconic Atlantis The Palm Dubai, a landmark hotel in this breathtaking country with its eyes set firmly in the future. In addition to the hotels 14 meeting rooms, three ballrooms, and two boardrooms, guests can enjoy private sandy beaches, an underwater aquarium, 23 restaurants, spa and fitness facilities, and shops and boutiques.

Travelers looking for authentic local experiences, independent character, top-tier business facilities, and indulgent leisure offerings will find themselves at home wherever they travel with Great Hotels of the World. To learn more about Great Hotels of the World and find more Bleisure, visit http://www.ghotw.com

About Great Hotels of the World:

Great Hotels of the World is a well-established hotel representation company which provides global hotel sales and marketing services, as well as innovative technology solutions, for an exclusive portfolio of some 60 primarily independent hotels and resorts worldwide. Just as each hotel is unique, so are the tailored sales and marketing products and services that GHOTW provides to each one. This highly personal approach ensures that each hotel retains its personality and authenticity, while accessing state-of-the-art technology, distribution channels, and new source markets. GHOTW is based in Lisbon, Portugal.

Hard-hitting attorney Lori G. Cohen, co-chair of the Global Litigation Practice at Greenberg Traurig, LLP, as well as chair of the firm's Trial Practice Group and its Pharmaceutical, Medical Device & Health Care Litigation Practice, has been selected by Law360 as a 2018 Life Sciences MVP attorney. No stranger to the honor, this is the second time Cohen has been recognized by Law360 as an MVP; in 2016, she was recognized under the publications Trials category.

Law360s MVP series showcases standout attorneys who have had significant client wins and contributions to their practice area in the last year. In that time, Cohen and her team have represented major pharmaceutical and medical device companies in multidistrict litigation and mass tort proceedings involving opioids, talcum powder products, generic anti-arrhythmic medication amiodarone, taxotere, IVC filters, and mesh, as well as single-plaintiff cases for a wide variety of medical devices and drugs. Cohen attributes her successes over her career and in this past year to her strong supporting team of fellow shareholders, associates, paralegals, nurses, and others.

Cohen, a shareholder in the firms Atlanta office and co-chair of the Atlanta Litigation Practice, is nationally recognized for her extraordinary trial record of 57 defense verdicts, virtually unmatched by any other attorney who handles high-stakes products liability trials. Under Cohens direction, her team represents clients in some of the largest multi-district litigations and mass tort cases in the country, while defending some of the most dangerous single-plaintiff catastrophic injury cases in challenging, plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions. Cohens team routinely takes complex cases to trial and wins, manages mass litigation, and adeptly handles product liability cases and claims through dispositive motions and strategic early resolution.

Cohen leads the team that was awarded The American Lawyers 2018 Litigation Department of the Year for Product Liability and Georgia Regional Litigation Department of the Year. This year, she was also awarded LMG Life Sciences Product Liability Attorney of the Year and inducted into the LMG Life Sciences Hall of Fame. Cohen and her team have been recognized by The American Lawyer, Law360, Benchmark Litigation, Chambers & Partners, The Legal 500, LMG Life Sciences, and The National Law Journal, among others.

About Greenberg Traurigs Pharmaceutical, Medical Device & Health Care Litigation Practice: The Pharmaceutical, Medical Device & Health Care Litigation Practice is an integral part of the firms 600-plus member national Litigation Practice. The team is nationally recognized for its dynamic courtroom presence, responsiveness to clients, and deep subject matter knowledge. Recent recognitions include national rankings for 2018 Litigation Department of the Year for Product Liability from The American Lawyer; 2017 Products Liability & Mass Torts from Chambers USA Guide; national rankings for 2017 Practice Liability & Mass Torts Defense: Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices from The Legal 500 United States; and being named the Products Liability/Mass Torts Litigation Department of the Year by The Daily Report in 2013 and from 2015 - 2017. In addition, Greenberg Traurig is recognized as a "Product Liability Litigation Standout" in the BTI Litigation Outlook 2018 published by BTI Consulting Group.

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.

These investments allow Groundworks to focus solely on serving our customers and make us unique in the Home Services sector.

Groundworks Companies, the nations largest privately held foundation services company, announced today the acquisition of both Independence Materials Group and KBH Management Software to facilitate its objective of building the first national foundation services company.

Since 2010, KBHs software, Biz Wiz, has been the nations leading workflow software for home service and foundation repair companies. The software is a unique cloud-based, ERP, CRM, and business intelligence workflow solution that automates leads, sales, installation, service, and accounting. The software was developed and launched by engineer Jesse Waltz.

Independence Materials Group (IMG) based in Columbia, SC., is a manufacturer and distributor of specialty, patented products for the foundation repair, basement waterproofing and crawl space encapsulation industries.

These two acquisitions allow our company to not only vertically integrate, but to also insulate our business from any dependency on outside forces that could interfere with our mission to protect, preserve and repair our customers greatest asset; their home, said Matt Malone, CEO of Groundworks Companies. Groundworks is now the only foundation services business in the country with its own manufacturing and world-class software solution. These investments allow Groundworks to focus solely on serving our customers and make us unique in the Home Services sector.

Both KBH and IMG will continue to offer the same high-quality services its customers have come to know and trust. KBH will be renamed Bizwiz, after its flagship product.

"This is the seventh acquisition in less than three years, noted Kim McDonald, CTO of Groundworks. We are thrilled to leverage these businesses to enhance our focus on homeowners.

About Groundworks

Groundworks is the nations largest privately held foundation services company with its corporate office headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA. Groundworks is comprised of Mount Valley Foundation Services, Tar Heel Basement Systems, JES Foundation Repair, Indiana Foundation Service, and Foundation Recovery Systems. The combined companies have helped over 125,000 homeowners since 1986. Groundworks operates out of fifteen offices that serve Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. The company has been named to the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies and Best Places to Work. For more information about Groundworks, please visit http://www.Groundworkscompanies.com.Link! Shop! Earn!

Harris Teeter announced today a donation of $204,404.38 to schools participating in the companys Together In Education (TIE) program. TIE is Harris Teeters fundraising program for schools within its communities; it allow schools the opportunity to earn funds when shoppers link their VIC card to the schools code, then shop eligible Harris Teeter brands.

This is the first of three payouts the Company will make to schools during the current school year; 350 schools will receive a check during this payout, which brings the total donated since the programs inception in 1998 to over $27.8 million.

Top Earning Schools, First Payout*:

Community School of Davidson, Davidson, N.C.: $4,393.06

Francis Scott Key Elementary Middle School, Baltimore, Md.: $4,074.62

Grimsley Senior High - Choral Program, Greensboro, N.C.: $2,994.25

Myers Park HS IB PAC, Charlotte, N.C.: $2,434.94

Sgt. Eugene Ashley High NJROTC, Wilmington, N.C.: $2,109.52

Panther Creek HS - Cross Country, Cary, N.C.: $1,943.86

Elon Park Elementary, Charlotte, N.C.: $1,900.42

Herndon High School PTSA, Herndon, Va.: $1,770.88

Jennie Moore Elementary, Mount Pleasant, S.C.: $1,640.66

Middle Creek High School Stampede Club, Apex, N.C.: $1,617.43

*Funds earned Aug. 1, 2018  Nov. 30, 2018

Active participation by both TIE schools and loyal Harris Teeter shoppers is integral to the success of the TIE program. To receive a check in the first payout period, schools must have accrued at least $250 since the re-start of the annual program on Aug. 1, 2018. The second payout will occur in March, 2019; the third and final payout will occur in June, 2019. There are over 5,196 active schools participating in TIE.

The TIE school year runs annually from Aug. 1  May 31. Shoppers may link their VIC card now through May 31, 2019 to help the school or schools of their choice earn funds for the 2018-2019 school year.

For more information about Together In Education, please click here.

Our work with 10 million students and educators from 13,000 schools across the country shows the need for a more comprehensive approach to helping students navigate life beyond high school, said Dr. Kim Oppelt, Director, Research at Hobsons.

Research indicates that the current approach to college and career readiness is too narrow. These findings drove Hobsons, the education technology leader and provider of Naviance, to develop an entirely new framework for college, career and life readiness and issue the report Expanding the Definition of College and Career Readiness to advance changes in the field.

Traditionally, the focus of college and career readiness (CCR) includes three areas: academic skills, career knowledge, and college knowledge. The current approach omits the life skills that students need to be successful after they are admitted to college or begin a career. Hobsons report expands the definition of CCR to include six competencies that students must achieve to not only enroll in college and find careers, but also succeed once they are there: academic skills, career knowledge, college knowledge, interpersonal skills, self knowledge, and transition skills.

Our work with 10 million students and educators from 13,000 schools across the country shows the need for a more comprehensive approach to helping students navigate life beyond high school, said Dr. Kim Oppelt, Director, Research at Hobsons.

Several districts are already making significant strides by expanding college and career readiness. Everett Public Schools, located just north of Seattle, Washington, has adopted a whole student approach, a change that delivered a district-wide increase for on-time high school graduation to 95 percent, an increase of 64 percent.

We had many students coming to our district with a story of what was going on in their lives that was preventing them from graduating and achieving their high school and postsecondary goals. When a foundation for social and emotional skills is established early on, students transform into effective adults, said Becky Ballbach, Director of Student Support Services at Everett Public Schools.

Research Behind CCLR

The Framework and report are informed by Hobsons deep roots in career and college readiness through its Naviance platform. The Framework is built on a review of relevant research, state individualized learning plans, approved ESSA plans, and various school and district scope and sequences. Professional standards from leading counseling and social emotional learning associations also informed the Framework.

To download the full white paper, visit https://www.naviance.com/resources/entry/white-paper-expanding-the-definition-of-college-and-career-readiness-whitep.

About Hobsons

Hobsons helps students identify their strengths, explore careers, create academic plans, match to best-fit educational opportunities, and reach their education and life goals. Through our solutions, we enable thousands of educational institutions to improve college and career planning, admissions and best-fit matching, enrollment management, and student success and advising for millions of students. Our leading college and career readiness platform Naviance was named the 2017 and 2018 SIIA CODiE Award winner in the Best College and Career Readiness Solution category."The awards celebrate the commitment of hospital leaders and staff to improving patient safety, patient experience and quality of care. This achievement requires consistent dedication and attention to systems of care and to each patient they serve. Marc Bennett, President and CEO

HealthInsight is recognizing 32 hospitals across four states for excellence in measures of quality of care for patient outcomes and satisfaction. The HealthInsight Quality Award Program recognizes high-performing health care provider organizations in the states for which HealthInsight serves as the Medicare programs Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) contractor.

Eligibility for the Hospital Quality Award is based on a composite ranking of performance on quality measures reported on Medicares Hospital Compare website. Hospitals that perform in the top 25th percentile for the composite score are eligible for a 2018 Quality Award. To see a full description of how the composite score is calculated visit our website: https://healthinsight.org/quality-awards.

HealthInsight is excited to recognize the performance of these hospitals, said Marc Bennett President and CEO of HealthInsight. The facilities include a mix of large and small, urban and rural providers. The awards celebrate the commitment of hospital leaders and staff to improving patient safety, patient experience and quality of care. This achievement requires consistent dedication and attention to systems of care and to each patient they serve.

The HealthInsight Quality Award Program was launched in September 2004 to promote transparency in health care. As defined by the Institute of Medicine, a transparent health care system is accountable to the public, works openly, makes results known, and builds trust through disclosure. By using available quality data to identify high-performing providers and publicizing the results, HealthInsight aims to help providers improve health care and help patients become more active and informed participants in their own care.

The 2018 HealthInsight Quality Award hospital recipients are:

Nevada



Renown South Meadows Medical Center (Reno)

New Mexico



Guadalupe County Hospital (Santa Rosa)

Lincoln County Medical Center (Ruidoso)

Lovelace Regional Hospital (Roswell)

Lovelace Westside Hospital (Albuquerque)

Nor-Lea General Hospital (Lovington)

Plains Regional Medical Center (Clovis)

Presbyterian Espanola Hospital (Espanola)

University of New Mexico Sandoval Regional Medical Center (Rio Rancho)

Oregon



Adventist Health Portland (Portland)

Asante Three Rivers Medical Center (Grants Pass)

Asante Ashland Community Hospital (Ashland)

Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center (Corvallis)

Kaiser Foundation Hospital Sunnyside (Clackamas)

Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center (Portland)

Legacy Silverton Medical Center (Silverton)

Providence Milwaukie Hospital (Milwaukie)

Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center (Oregon City)

Saint Alphonsus Medical Center Ontario (Ontario)

Sky Lakes Medical Center (Klamath Falls)

St. Charles Redmond (Redmond)

Willamette Valley Medical Center (McMinnville)

Utah



Bear River Valley Hospital (Tremonton)

Delta Community Hospital (Delta)

Intermountain Fillmore Community Hospital (Fillmore)

Intermountain Logan Regional Hospital (Logan)

Mckay-Dee Hospital (Ogden)

TOSH - The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (Salt Lake City)

Sevier Valley Hospital (Richfield)

Uintah Basin Healthcare (Roosevelt)

University of Utah Health (Salt Lake City)

Utah Valley Hospital (Provo)

For more information on how a given hospital compares to others in the nation, visit healthinsight.org. More hospital quality data are available by visiting medicare.gov or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE

(1-800-633-4227).

About HealthInsight

HealthInsight is a regional health improvement collaborative that oversees affiliated 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporations in Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah, and End Stage Renal Disease Networks across the western United States. HealthInsight holds contracts and grants in key areas of health care improvement, including leading quality improvement activities for the Medicare program as the Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) for the four-state region. HealthInsight has experience assisting front-line providers and engaging health care stakeholders to improve health care and outcomes. Its programs focus on transparency and public reporting; effective use of health information technology; engaging patients and communities to improve their health; and redesigning how care is paid for and delivered.

In April 2018, HealthInsight and Qualis Health announced a formal merger, combining the two organizations and their operations across the U.S. Both Qualis Health and HealthInsight have been engaged in health care quality consulting and providing quality improvement services for more than 40 years.1TRYBE leverages the power of human belonging, rewards relationship building and encourages meaningful community connections, and in doing so, makes life better, said 1TRYBE Founder Ed Silansky.

Artificial intelligence start-up 1TRYBE today announced the selection of Clearstream Agency as their brand agency partner for the US launch of their new patented AI-driven platform. Set to roll-out in cities across the US in late 2019, 1TRYBE bridges the gap between social media and local communities using an innovative new platform. The new App is designed to empower human connection through AI, by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to allow millennials to live local: see more, do more, and make a difference.

"1TRYBE leverages the power of human belonging, rewards relationship building and encourages meaningful community connections, and in doing so, makes life better," said 1TRYBE Founder Ed Silansky. "We have uniquely harnessed the power of AI to redefine how we live and communicate locally, with the goal of living happier, healthier lives. This new paradigm-shifting app is designed to enable the millennial generation to reconnect where they live and work, and to empower them to engage locally as leaders. My hope is that this new tool encourages them to take on the roles they must in order to build a better community, added Silansky.

1TRYBE was founded in light of the fact that our society spends too much time Liking and not nearly enough time living. We are more focused on growing Followers, than on growing friendships. That is why 1TRYBE was created: to help people wake up and live IRL - in real life, with meaning, purpose and intention.

1TRYBE is a different social media and content company: it is more than an App, it is a Movement, said Clearstream Agency President and Founder, Wendy Watson. "Clearstream is excited to lead the marketing efforts for this new visionary startup, added Watson. Our agencys deep experience targeting millennials makes us perfectly suited for this campaign.

About 1TRYBE: Established in 2018, 1TRYBE (http://www.1TRYBE.com) is an innovative online millennial community fostering offline engagement in the communities where they live and work. The companys vision is to empower human connection through AI. Combining patented artificial intelligence technology, psychology and anthropology, 1TRYBE leverages the power of human belonging, rewards relationship building, encourages meaningful community connections and in doing so, makes lives better. The company is comprised of a nationwide 1TRYBE Council- a community of millennials that is charting a path forward to reclaim their lives -- to make their generation feel more fulfilled, to make lives more meaningful, and to make themselves and their communities happier. The 1TRYBE mission is to enable people to see more, do more, and make a difference.

About Clearstream Agency: Clearstream (http://www.clearstreamagency.com) is an award-winning boutique PR firm focused on developing comprehensive communications strategies that build brands across media. The agency is privately held and headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in New York, Miami and Dallas. The agency has directed campaigns that have won numerous industry awards including the 2017 Game Changers Award by Finance Monthly for their work with Artificial Intelligence. President and Founder Wendy Watson is a 20+ year agency veteran who has been recognized as CEO Todays Top Women in Business 2018 and PRWeek's 40 under 40 Stars of PR. Clearstream clients include innovative startups, established brands and Fortune 500 companies. To see what is 'In the Stream', visit clearstreamagency.com. Like on Instagram, Facebook or follow on Twitter.The League of AI is a collective of Human and Machine experts working together to collaborate, cooperate and reach consensus enabling swarming activities to solve tough problems.

The League of AI has built a best of breed framework for native cloud computing which they can apply to AI and Cognitive Engines for solving specific domain problems. The League of AI has hired Nir Daliot as their head of the research center as Chief Security Technology Officer (CSTO). A security veteran and experience from the Israeli Defense Force, Nir brings a level of leadership that will not only protect and find weaknesses in enterprise organizations but recommend strategies to enable protection across their threat landscape. Along with the opening of the LofAI Research Center is a launch of a number of cyber security services from Pen Testing, Security Assessment and Incident Response.

Unlike prescriptive programming efforts of old that only produced software that did what it is told, Cognitive software is more intuitive and can handle mundane reasoning tasks better than humans. At the core of the software are AI-Bots who specialize in solving part of the problem and coordinate to exchange information and leverage Machine Learning to expose patterns of bad behavior.

The virtual lab has brought together the most amazing minds and technologies in the industry into a think tank around AI said Thomas Caldwell, founder and CTO for League of AI.  We look to collect the brightest AI and ML minds to solve tough business industry problems and augment todays cyber professionals. We also have an active network of consultants that are providing value to our clients."

Cognitive Computing was first introduced and supported by IBM where they found that Cognitive initiatives produced a surprisingly set of positive business results across their clients. IBM Watson was an early leader in this technology. As AI evolved into a buzz word, the Cognitive software concept has expanded across companies like Arista and their "Cognitive Campus". Then on the dark side of computing we have seen the Miria Botnet evolve from hacking well know passwords in IoT devices to an even darker and powerful cloud of evil. League of AI is on a mission to create a set of building blocks to help companies and vendors build a Cognitive Computing strategy to do amazing things. The opening of the LofAI Research Lab is the first step in delivering high value AI through the lenses of Machines partnering with Humans (we call this Machine-Human swarming).

Thomas Caldwell will be speaking on Cognitive Security and Robotics and how physical security will be converging with Cyber Security at RSA 2019 this year in the session MBS-T07 Evolution of AI-Bot Swarming Intelligence with Robots

About League of AI

League of AI is focused on leading the industry in Cyber Cognitive Computing, swarming AI-Bots and the basic protection of businesses from security threats. The company offers a range of security services, strategy consulting and software building blocks to help organizations develop a cost-effective layer of protection which includes a roadmap for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The company was founded and is managed by an experienced management team, which includes Thomas Caldwell, former executive at Cisco Systems and Nir Daliot, Cyber Security expert and formerly with the Israeli Defense Force. League of AI is a privately held company headquartered in San Diego, California that offers services for clients in the Australia, Europe and the US, including the Silicon Valley. For more information, please visit http://www.leagueofai.com.

Contacts

For League of AI:

Tom Caldwell, +1-619-853-0334

pr(at)leagueofai(dot)comFranklin and Betsy Dixon acquired Mighty of SW Florida, a Cape Coral-based Mighty Auto Parts franchise. Mighty appreciates Franklins distinguished military career and we are pleased to support the IFAs VetFran program as the Dixons become Mighty franchise owners.

Mighty Distributing System is proud to announce that U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Franklin Dixon, and his wife, Betsy, have acquired Mighty of SW Florida, a Cape Coral-based Mighty Auto Parts franchise. The previous owners, Brad and Karin Helm, have decided to retire after 22 years with Mighty.

Franklin Dixon is a New Jersey native and life-long car enthusiast. After receiving his B.S. degree in Administration of Justice from Rutgers University, he spent ten years in the U.S. Marine Corps as an officer that included numerous tours abroad. He was discharged from the Marine Corps at the rank of Captain. Franklin went on to work for the U.S. Department of States Bureau of Diplomatic Security as a Foreign Affairs Officer. Betsy Dixon is originally from Hawaii and is in the real estate business. The couple decided to relocate to Florida and pursue small business ownership. They found Mighty online and Franklin was able to take advantage of special incentives for veterans offered through the International Franchise Associations VetFran program, of which Mighty is a member company.

Franklin Dixon said, I am very grateful to Mightys leadership team for helping to bring a lifelong dream of business ownership to fruition. I am extremely proud to become part of a well-established, well led, and dedicated organization. I want to thank the former franchise owners, Brad and Karin, for their support, hospitality, and 22 years of excellence with Mighty. As a Marine Corps veteran accustomed to long hours and hard work, I will work just as hard to ensure our business succeeds and that our customers thrive."

Ken Voelker, Mightys President & CEO said, All of us at Mighty are delighted to have Franklin and Betsy join the Mighty family. We appreciate Franklins distinguished military career and are pleased to support the IFAs VetFran program as the Dixons become Mighty franchise owners.

About Mighty Distributing System

Mighty is headquartered in Norcross, GA and supports 100 franchised distributors in 44 U.S. states and five international markets. The Mighty System features local service, inventory management expertise, and training in conjunction with extensive offerings of OE quality underhood and undercar parts, chemical products, lubricants and shop supplies. The Mighty business model attracts independent repair shops, quick lubes, tire centers and new car dealerships across the nation and abroad. Mightys unique approach of dealing directly and exclusively with automotive professionals began in 1963.

December 2018 Morphisec Labs Threat Report Attacks targeting the banking industry, and specifically payment records and credentials, consistently topped Morphisecs threat list for the second half of 2018. However, the preferred variant of banking trojans shifted as Emotet disappeared from the scene in Q3, giving way to Trickbot attacks.

Morphisec, the worldwide leader in Moving Target Defense for the enterprise and the mid-market, today released the December 2018 edition of the Morphisec Labs Threat Report (MLTR). The report analyzes comprehensive threat data collected from approximately 2,000,000 Morphisec protected endpoints globally during the second part of the year, as well as from in-depth investigations conducted by the Morphisec Labs threat research team.

Morphisec research reveals key cyber threat trends, with a specific focus on highly advanced, evasive types of attacks that are able to bypass antivirus and other security tools. It includes technical details on specific attack techniques and tactics used, with a set of comprehensive threat analyses and risk-assessments on five of the most critical threats to enterprise organizations. This expanded edition also takes a look at threats and threat trends specific to the Finance and Banking industry, and how these impact customer outlook and behavior.

Key findings of the December 2018 MLTR include:



Banking Trojans represented 25% of all attacks, up from 16.7% in Q1.

Adware and potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) continue to be the largest group of threats - prevented by Morphisec, representing 40% of all attacks.

Coin mining malware remained popular accounting for 30% of attacks.

Exploit kits, some which hadn't seen updating years, are back in play, incorporating new Flash, VBScript and Acrobat vulnerabilities.

The top ransomware threat prevented was GandCrab.

100% of attacks prevented by Morphisec involved at least one fileless technique, with approximately 15% of attacks never dropping a malicious executable on disk.

Morphisec Labs performs dynamic threat research for our customers and partners because of the dynamic nature of the way attack campaigns can occur, said Michael Gorelik, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Threat Research at Morphisec. Attacks targeting the banking industry, and specifically payment records and credentials, consistently topped Morphisecs threat list for the second half of 2018. However, the preferred variant of banking trojans shifted as Emotet disappeared from the scene in Q3, giving way to Trickbot attacks. Malicious actors utilizing banking trojans to make a quick financial profit are especially dangerous during Q4 as holiday browsing habits make victims more susceptible to threats.

Fortunately, the majority of enterprises and consumers are aware of these growingly sophisticated attacks targeting their financial data. Despite the highly publicized cyber threat to the U.S. voting system this year, research commissioned by Morphisec in the second half of 2018 found 80% of the general population is more concerned with their personal financial data being breached by a state-sponsored cyber attack than their voter registration data.

Morphisec Labs is dedicated to fostering strong collaboration, data sharing and offering investigative assistance. The team continuously researches attacks and threats to improve defenses and to share insight with the broader cyber community. Morphisec is also actively working with The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop ways to prevent cyberattacks on Americas financial institutions.

The landscape of threats continues to iterate based on IT modernization trends, access to systems and, for attackers, how quickly and efficiently they can deconstruct traditional defense techniques and technology, said Keyur Dessar, CIO Essar Ports & Shipping and Head Info-Security, Network & Communications, Essar Group in his foreword for the report. The research out of Morphisec Labs is essential to understanding exactly what some of the key threat trends really are, and its important for every security practitioner to explore how dedicated researchers are analyzing threats for the betterment of the market.

To learn more, download a free copy of the December 2018 MLTR.

About Morphisec

Morphisec offers an entirely new level of innovation to customers in its Endpoint Threat Prevention product, delivering protection against the most advanced cyberattacks. The companys patented Moving Target Defense technology prevents threats others cant, including APTs, zero-days, ransomware, evasive fileless attacks and web-borne exploits. Morphisec provides a crucial, small-footprint memory-defense layer that easily deploys into a companys existing security infrastructure to form a simple, highly effective, cost-efficient prevention stack that is truly disruptive to todays existing cybersecurity model.Pam Patenaude has been a friend of NAHREP throughout her career and has been a leader on issues relating to Hispanic homeownership, said 2018 NAHREP President Daisy Lopez-Cid. NAHREP thanks her for her tenacious commitment and unwavering support of recovery efforts in Puerto Rico."

Monday morning, housing industry leader Pam Patenaude submitted her resignation as the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Patenaudes extensive career in the housing industry and depth of knowledge were the primary drivers behind NAHREPs enthusiastic support of her nomination as Deputy Secretary in April of 2017.

NAHREP has worked closely with the Deputy Secretary throughout her tenure on policy priorities regarding inventory demands, access to credit, and disaster recovery efforts. Earlier this month, Deputy Secretary Patenaude traveled to Puerto Rico to meet with NAHREP leaders and Puerto Rican government officials to share her efforts to expedite the recovery of the post-Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico housing market.

Pam Patenaude has been a friend of NAHREP throughout her career and has been a leader on issues relating to Hispanic homeownership, said 2018 NAHREP President Daisy Lopez-Cid. NAHREP thanks her for her tenacious commitment and unwavering support of recovery efforts in Puerto Rico. We will definitely miss her.

While Patenaudes departure is a loss to the housing industry, NAHREP is looking forward to working with Brian Montgomery, current FHA Commissioner, in his new role as Acting Deputy Director of HUD. NAHREP enjoys a longstanding relationship with Brian Montgomery and is confident in the continuity of our shared missions to increase sustainable Hispanic homeownership.

About NAHREP: The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, a nonprofit 501(c)6 trade association, is dedicated to advancing sustainable homeownership among Latinos by educating and empowering the real estate professionals who serve them. NAHREP is the premier trade organization for Hispanics and has more than 30,000 members in 48 states and 70 chapters.

Press Contact: Katherine Wood, NAHREP, kwood(at)nahrep.org, (619) 719 4814New Molding Press Now Operating at NAI Gaylord, MI plant. The (new) molding equipment enables NAI to manufacture other custom products and components, extending their ability to manufacture products for new customers and applications, such as medical and surgical devices.

The opening of the Gaylord plant was announced a year ago. NAI is now expanding its initial operations in Gaylord with significant capital investments in new equipment.

Many of the new molding machines are now in place and fully operational. This equipment features advanced digital control technology, providing extremely tight tolerances for precision molding.

The new equipment installed at the time of this release includes 10 Injection Molding presses, 45 to 258 metric tons. Six of these presses are 45 to 55 metric ton machines for overmolding and insert molding. The 55-ton press is a 2-position shuttle press.

The remaining four machines are horizontal Injection Molding presses, which are fully servo-controlled and loaded with state-of-the-art components and features. They are also outfitted with multi-axis servo-controlled robots, integrated hot runners and valve gate controllers. These larger presses include one 138 metric ton press, two 208 metric ton presses, and one 258 metric ton press. They all feature a full complement of advanced additive color feeders, dehumidifying dryers and mold temperature controllers. Additional digital controllers round out the rest of the equipment and auxiliaries for precise molding control of products requiring extremely tight tolerances.

Molded products in Gaylord will support existing customer business, as components will be shipped to NAIs four plants in Hermosillo, Mexico, where final assembly takes place. In addition, the molding equipment enables NAI to manufacture other custom products and components, extending their ability to manufacture products for new customers and applications, such as medical and surgical devices.

The NAI Gaylord plant is currently adding a 2nd shift and will operate a 2x10 schedule. The company is hiring for related positions.

NAI is also currently building a new Clean Room in the Gaylord, MI plant for the application of advanced hydrophilic coatings on proprietary medical products and advanced vacuum thermo-sealing of specialty packaging, prior to specialized electron beam sterilization. ISO 13485 certification has been applied for and is expected to be completed in March 2019.

The Gaylord plant also supports NAI customers with a U.S. location for design and manufacture of its interconnect assemblies. The Gaylord facility currently manufactures many SKUs for customers who desire a U.S. manufacturing location.

One of the largest capital investments NAI is making is in new equipment for manufacturing coaxial assemblies. NAI purchases coaxial cable, coax connectors and other components and performs overmolding, testing and assembly of coax units in its Gaylord, MI plant. NAI currently manufactures industrial-grade coax assemblies with  ODs, with straight and right-angle connectors. Many of these assemblies are used on antenna towers for connecting wireless radios to base equipment.

The new coax assembly equipment includes cutting, stripping, additional overmolding and testing equipment, which will allow NAI to manufacture 500 coax assembly units per day by the end of 1st Quarter, 2019. Plans to increase this capacity are already underway.

In summary, the new equipment recently purchased and operating, or that will be operational in the next quarter, provides new capabilities for NAI:



To support existing customer projects in NAI Mexico plants with molded components

To manufacture custom molded products for new customers and applications

To provide Clean Room capabilities for medical and industrial projects

To broaden their ability to manufacture custom coaxial cable assemblies for other customers

To support customers who wish to have a U.S. manufacturing location serve them

To learn more about NAI, please visit the NAI website at http://www.nai-group.com.

About NAI

NAI has been a global leader in the manufacturing of advanced mission-critical and high-reliability fiber optic and copper https://www.nai-group.com/prod ucts/ [cable assemblies and harnesses __title__ NAI Interconnect Solutions] since 1993. NAI features a world class integrated supply chain, expert operations management, and a global manufacturing footprint in low cost regions. These all combine to provide NAI customers with a unique solution for their connectivity product requirements, from fiber optic and copper cable assemblies to box and panel build-outs and assemblies. In addition, NAIs global locations provide more flexibility in the manufacture and shipping of assemblies to lower customer costs, including tariffs.

NAI manufactures assemblies across diverse markets including fiber optics, telecom, industrial, and medical industries. The companys unique ability to service both high mix / low volume and low mix / high volume programs, while complying with complex regulatory requirements, supports the unique business needs of all customers, delivering the confidence and reliability that enable their success.Margot MacCallum offers step-by-step practices from the traditions of mindfulness and Buddhism to escape the trauma of domestic psychological and emotional abuse in her new self-help book, Healing the Trauma of Psychological Abuse: A Lived Experience Roadmap to a Mindful Recovery (published by Balboa Press AU). The book is available for purchase at: https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Trauma-Psychological-Abuse-Experience-ebook/dp/B07K7843XK.

According to the author, Abused women make up between 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 of the female population. The type of covert abuser revealed in this book is currently estimated to make up 1 in 25 of the human population.  This book is about both these types.

Speaking about her journey, MacCallum shares that waking up to abuse and healing was fraught with misunderstanding, ignorance, denial and lack of support. The author discusses how hidden abuse can be life-threatening without the use of physical violence because it sometimes causes post-traumatic stress disorder, accompanied by chronic physical pain. She writes how victims can lose their self-worth, life-savings, careers, place in the world and hope of recovery due to manipulative predators. In the book, she provides a pathway to understanding, self-acceptance and recovery via mindfulness practices.

I hope that readers will find hope, courage, insight and a deeper belief in their own good hearts, their own basic decency and their own resilience, MacCallum says. If one woman reads my book, finds the mindfulness practices helpful and is able to heal herself as a result, then I will have fulfilled my purpose in writing it.

Healing the Trauma of Psychological Abuse

By Margot MacCallum

Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 250 pages | ISBN 9781504315326

E-Book | 250 pages | ISBN 9781504315333

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Margot MacCallum is an actor torn between the drive to communicate and the need to hide. She has worked in film, television, voiceover and stage, as a group facilitator and administrator. She hopes her story of surviving abuse and healing from trauma will be the key that unlocks someone elses prison.

Balboa Press Australia is a division of Hay House, Inc., a leading provider in publishing products that specialise in self-help and the mind, body and spirit genre. Through an alliance with indie book publishing leader Author Solutions, LLC, authors benefit from the leadership of Hay House Publishing and the speed-to-market advantages of the Author Solutions self-publishing model. For more information or to start publishing today, visit balboapress.com.au/ or call 1800 050 315. For the latest, follow @balboapress on Twitter and Like us at facebook.com/BalboaPress.A new study from TilesforMyHome.com says that prices for granite and marble prices have remained constant for 2018. In fact, big box retailers have even seen a small drop in prices for Q3 and Q4. This small drop may be attributed to a slowing real estate market in most of the United States.

China is a major supplier of granite tiles in the United States and many industry analysts expected recently enacted tariffs to raise prices. Domestic granite production in the U.S. is minimal but a large segment of retail inventory is also imported from Brazil and India.

Despite the tile market remaining relatively unchanged, there has been a disruption in some parts of the industry. Granite slabs and countertop prices have increased substantially. Major big box retailers are charging as much as 20% more than last fiscal year for large slabs of stone. The price increase is also seen in the quartz and marble stone markets.

In 2018, importers have been forced to learn several new tariff classifications for the natural stone market. The new tariff classifications have become increasingly focused on details such as surface coating and thickness. Countertops and large slabs are certainly impacted more by such regulations.

Tiles For My Home is working hard to provide the lowest prices to consumers regardless of customs duties. Unlike any other retail outlet, Tiles For My Home promises to beat the price of every competitor. Customers are also guaranteed 100% satisfaction by Tiles For My Home.

Luxury hotels, condominium developments and home builders across the world purchase tiles from the same factory that TilesforMyHome.com uses. The tiles are natural stone and available in nearly any color. Order sizes are customizable and samples can be ordered easily on the website.Oakbrook Solutions, one of the USAs foremost systems, process, and delivery experts for the wealth management industry has been shortlisted for the 2019 Private Asset Management (PAM) Awards for the fourth consecutive year in the best consulting firm for family offices category.

Chris Martinez, Managing Director, Oakbrooks Family Office Practice says, We are honored to again be included among the prestigious roster of industry leading firms shortlisted for this years PAM Awards. Being nominated for the fourth consecutive year is a reflection of the daily efforts of our team to provide unparalleled expertise in our effort to deliver the highest level of service and counsel for our clients.

About the Private Asset Management Awards:

For over two decades, the PAM Awards have become a very highly desired industry accolade. The annual Private Asset Management Awards ceremony is an evening of recognition and reward for top investment professionals, wealth advisors, legal firms, consultants and other key service providers operating within the private asset management industry.

The winners will be announced at an evening ceremony on February 7, 2019 at 583 Park Avenue, New York.

About Oakbrook Solutions

Since 2000, Oakbrook Solutions has been a leading systems, process, and delivery expert for the wealth management industry. The firm provides consulting services and software solutions to solve common problems within our industry. Through focus, expertise, and commitment to their clients, Oakbrook has successfully serviced firms of all sizes, from start-up organizations to the worlds largest financial institutions. For more information, visit http://www.oakbrooksolutions.com.

About Private Asset Management Magazine

Private Asset Management (PAM) Magazine  the industry publication that exclusively covers the wealth management and family office industry  brings to readers actionable information regarding best business practices, investment management and trust services. It incorporates breaking industry news, people moves, in-depth trend articles and profiles on top multi and single-family offices and wealth management firms. In conjunction with PAMs monthly breakfast briefings, the magazine advises, educates and fosters a sense of community and peer-to-peer networking opportunities. PAMs readership includes family offices, private bankers, money managers, high-net-worth units, hedge fund managers, consultants, concierge firms, lawyers and accountants. PAM is published by Pageant Media, a leading provider of business information and insight.

Tim is a recognized expert in all aspects of non-qualified retirement plans and were proud that he was selected to contribute to this important publication, said Kevin J. Keane, Managing Partner.

PKF OConnor Davies, LLP, the nation's 29th largest accounting and advisory firm, announced today that Partner Timothy Desmond was published as a contributing author in Wolters Kluwers recently released Ninth Edition of Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Answer Book. Desmond, who is the partner-in-charge of the firms employee benefit services group, is a widely-recognized expert on employee benefit plans and has deep expertise in qualified and nonqualified plans. For the book he provided insights on some of the most up-to-date and significant legislative, regulatory and case law developments affecting nonqualified plans.

Tim is a recognized expert in all aspects of nonqualified retirement plans and were proud that he was selected to contribute to this important publication, said Kevin J. Keane, Managing Partner. His team and his clients benefit from his expertise every day and its exciting for both him and the firm to have his insights shared so widely with some of the other leaders in the field.

With more than 25 years of experience, Desmond has provided auditing and accounting services to a wide range of industry organizations and employee benefit plans. He is a Partner of the Firm and currently serves as Director of the Employee Benefit Services Practice. In addition to being a certified public accountant (CPA) in New York and New Jersey, Desmond is affiliated with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center and several not-for-profit boards.

This is an important book for those in the nonqualified space and Im honored and humbled to be selected to contribute my expertise, said Desmond. Were in a rapidly changing regulatory environment and this book serves as a practical resource for many plans as they try to stay ahead of the changes. Id like to thank Wolters Kluwer for involving me in this effort and as always thank the firm and my fellow partners for supporting me in this exciting endeavor.

A recognized leader of educating industry professionals, Desmond is one of four contributing authors selected to discuss key topics in this focus area. In addition to his involvement in several professional accounting organizations, he is a frequent speaker to employee benefit industry groups.

PKF OConnor Davies has 10 offices in four states and continues to expand through organic growth and acquisitions in the Northeast and Washington, D.C. region. Its supported this growth with a strategic combination of promoting from within coupled with tactical external hires.

About PKF OConnor Davies, LLP

PKF OConnor Davies, LLP is a full service certified public accounting and advisory firm with a long history of serving clients both domestically and internationally. With roots tracing to 1891, 10 offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland, and more than 700 professionals, led by over 100 partners, the Firm provides a complete range of accounting, auditing, tax and management advisory services.

PKF OConnor Davies is ranked number 29 in Accounting Todays 2018 Top 100 Firms list and the Firm is also recognized as a Leader in Audit and Accounting, a Pacesetter in Growth and one of the Top Firms in the Mid-Atlantic. In 2018, PKF O'Connor Davies was named one of Vault's Accounting 50, a ranking of the 50 best accounting employers to work for in North America and ranked among the top 50 most prestigious accounting firms in America in a complementary Vault survey. The Firm is the 12th largest accounting firm in the New York Metropolitan area, according to Crains New York Business, and the 10th top accounting firm in New Jersey according to NJBizs 2018 rankings.

By consistently delivering proactive, thorough and efficient service, PKF O'Connor Davies has built long-lasting, valuable relationships with its clients. Partners are intimately involved in the day-to-day management of engagements, ensuring a high degree of client service and cost effectiveness. The Firms seasoned professional staff members employ a team approach to all engagements to provide clients with the utmost quality and timely services aimed at helping them succeed. Continuity of staffing and attention to detail in all client engagements make the Firm stand out among its competitors.

PKF OConnor Davies is the lead North American representative of the international association of PKF member firms. PKF International is a network of legally independent member firms providing accounting and business advisory services in over 400 locations in 150 countries around the world. With its tradition, experience and focus on the future, PKF OConnor Davies is ready to help clients meet todays ever-changing economic conditions and manage the growing complexities of the regulatory environment. For more information, visit http://www.PKFOD.com.Renters Warehouse "With his technology background coupled with single-family rental industry experience, Todd is a big addition to our leadership team here at Renters Warehouse, shared Kevin Ortner, CEO of Renters Warehouse.

Renters Warehouse, America's leading real estate investment services company, is thrilled to announce that Todd Jable will be joining the executive team as Chief Technology Officer.

"With his technology background coupled with single-family rental industry experience, Todd is a big addition to our leadership team here at Renters Warehouse, shared Kevin Ortner, CEO of Renters Warehouse. He has a great vision on where we can take not only our internal systems, but how we can shape and further improve our client experience through consumer facing technology and tools."

As the new CTO, Jables role will be focused on continuously working with employees, customers, and providers to ensure that Renters Warehouse is ahead of valuable opportunities for efficiency and innovation. Todd will get to the know the team and business processes while determining short, medium, and long-term strategies for the companys information technology. He will begin by exploring and understanding the existing technology infrastructure and system landscape.

With the incredible business that Kevin and the Renters Warehouse team has built over the last ten years, including the r ecent acquisition of Own America, I think that Renters Warehouse is uniquely positioned to tackle the largest segment of single-family rental investing  non-institutional, shared Jable. I love the companys vision going forward, and I truly believe that technology will play a big part in achieving that vision.

Jable has been in IT since the beginning of his career and has played a role in the single-family rental industry since its inception as an institutional asset class. Before Renters Warehouse, Jable was the founding CTO for Silver Bay Realty Trust Corp. Silver Bay, which was the first public company in the SFR sector went public in Q4 of 2012. After the company sold to Tricon American Homes in 2017, Jable served as CTO of FirstKey Homes in Atlanta.

What does Jable predict for Renters Warehouse in 2019? I see the new year as an opportunity to take IT at Renters Warehouse to the next level by putting processes and technologies in place to enable and facilitate continuous improvement, growth, and innovation for the company. My team and I will ensure that Renters Warehouse is offering the best-in-class user experience in the industry.

Ortner added, "This hire further demonstrates our commitment to leading innovation in our industry and further cements Renters Warehouse as America's leading real estate investment services company."

Renters Warehouse is the only property management company focused on single-family rentals to be rated by Morningstar Credit Ratings, a nationally recognized statistical rating organization. Since acquiring OwnAmerica in December 2018, renters can find quality homes to lease, and investors can plan, research, buy, track and sell their real estate investments all in one place with the Renters Warehouse investor marketplace. To learn more about Renters Warehouse, visit http://www.renterswarehouse.com.

-30-

About Renters Warehouse

Renters Warehouse is one of the fastest growing and highest reviewed residential property management companies in America. Backed by growth equity investor and majority stakeholder Northern Pacific Group, and under the leadership of President and CEO Kevin Ortner, Renters Warehouse now manages more than $3 billion in residential real estate, servicing over 14,000+ investors across 22,000+ residential homes over 42 markets and 25 states. NPG Managing Partner Scott Honour, who in 1999 was a founder of YapStone, a leading online rental property payment service provider, serves as Chairman.

Renters Warehouse expertly serves everyday single-property homeowners as well as real estate investors. In 2015, the company officially trademarked the term Rent Estate to redefine the entire SFR (Single Family Rental) industry as more traditional real estate gives way to this new lucrative asset. Through their dedicated Portfolio Services Division led by Chief Investment Officer Anthony Cazazian, the company also brings professional, scalable and efficient single property management solutions to investment portfolios with both centralized services and local market expertise and staff. Not only has Renters Warehouse received the prestigious honor of being included on the Inc. 500 | 5000 list of fastest-growing privately held companies in America eight consecutive years in a row, it was also named one of the Best Places to Work in Minnesota (where they are headquartered) by the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016. The company was also honored as a best place to work in Arizona (a centralized corporate services center) by the Phoenix Business Journal in 2013, 2014 and 2017, and achieved a spot on the prestigious 2016 Top Companies to Work for in AZ list. Nationwide, Renters Warehouse has been honored as one of America's "Best Places to Work" in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016 by Outside Magazine. Recognized as pioneers in real estate, business management and innovation, Renters Warehouse has been awarded 22 Business Stevie Awards both internationally and stateside.

In 2017, Renters Warehouse received an A rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) after meeting the BBBs eight Standards of Trust and earning BBB Accreditation. In 2016, Morningstar Credit Ratings, LLC, a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) offering a wide array of services including operational risk assessments, assigned its MOR RV2 residential-vendor ranking to Renters Warehouse as a residential property manager, indicating that the company demonstrates proficiency in managing key areas of operational risk.

In 2017, Renters Warehouse published its first book - Rent Estate Revolution. Authored by CEO Kevin Ortner, the book shares the Renters Warehouse philosophy and business expertise around single-family rentals and the power of Rent Estate to drive long-term wealth creation, retirement security and financial freedom for the everyday person. Order your copy today: http://www.rentestaterevolution.com.We are committed to investing in the growth of locally owned businesses and securing additional jobs as Sacramentos stature grows on the national stage, said Steve Fleming, President and CEO of River City Bank.

As one of three local banks involved in the Responsible Investments for a Stronger Economy program, also known as RISE, River City Bank received a $5 million deposit from SMUD which will be used to provide loans to local businesses. RISE was developed by Region Finance, a local non-profit that advocates for local economic development and job creation. As Sacramentos premier business bank, River City Bank has committed to loan at least 50 percent of the designated funds to qualified applicants in the SMUD service area and will provide periodic updates to SMUD regarding the number of loans made and the projected number of jobs created.

We are committed to investing in the growth of locally owned businesses and securing additional jobs as Sacramentos stature grows on the national stage, said Steve Fleming, President and CEO of River City Bank. As a founding member of Region Finance and a firm supporter of the RISE program, River City Bank is excited to partner with SMUD to ensure the growth of our local economy, and our bankers look forward to leveraging this investment for the benefit of our entire region.

TWEET THIS: With a $5M investment from #SMUD, Sacramento-based @RiverCityBank commits to growing the local economy and creating more jobs in Sacramento. #businessbanking

River City Bank has been headquartered in Sacramento for more than 45 years and is heavily involved in the local community through its banking services and philanthropy. The bank recently announced that it is providing the loan financing for the new Fort Sutter Hotel in support of the Sacramento-based Paragary family. The 105-room boutique hotel is part of the Hilton Tapestry Collection and will open in Midtown Sacramento in 2020. With the recent launch of its Clean Energy Division, River City Bank also has taken the lead in servicing clients in this fast-growing space and is dedicated to expanding relationships with Community Choice Aggregation businesses such as Yolo County-based Valley Clean Energy and other players.

To learn more about River City Bank, visit RiverCityBank.com.

About Region Finance

Region Finance is a new trade association of Region Business for community banks and related institutions focused on advancing regional economic growth by improving access to capital for businesses in the Sacramento region. Region Finance advocates for government entities and regional corporations to keep money local through the use of local community banks whose business leadership, staff and customers are all located in the Sacramento area. Its mission is to catalyze success for the local business community by keeping and expanding the capital available in local banks that allow for a larger investment into the region. For additional information, please visit RegionBusiness.org/Region-Finance.

About SMUD

As the nations sixth-largest community-owned electric service provider, SMUD has been providing low-cost, reliable electricity for more than 70 years to Sacramento County (and small adjoining portions of Placer and Yolo Counties). SMUD is a recognized industry leader and award winner for its innovative energy efficiency programs, renewable power technologies, and for its sustainable solutions for a healthier environment. SMUDs power mix is about 50 percent non-carbon emitting. For more information, visit SMUD.org.

About River City Bank

Named one of Sacramento Business Journals 50 Fastest Growing Companies for each of the past two years, River City Bank is the Sacramento regions premier business bank with assets over $2.1 billion. River City Bank offers a comprehensive suite of banking services, including loans, deposits and cash management tools to the business, consumer and commercial real estate sectors. With tailored, executive-level service and a Five Star Superior financial rating from the nations leading independent bank-rating firm, Bauer Financial, River City Bank redefines the banking experience and every touch point that surrounds it. River City Bank is the largest, independent, locally-owned bank in the Sacramento region with an office in the San Francisco Bay Area and a growing presence in Southern California. For additional information, please visit RiverCityBank.com or call (916) 567-2600. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender."Part of what makes this show so engaging every year is the broad variety of cultural experience and expertise that come together in one room," - Travel & Adventure Show CEO, John Golicz

The San Diego Travel & Adventure Show, scheduled to return to the San Diego Convention Center (111 W. Harbor Drive) Jan. 19-20, is thrilled to announce its full list of programming for 2019. The agenda includes a variety of brand new interactive experiences, celebrity speakers and first-time exhibitors that will be sure to elevate and expand the range of travel opportunities available for the 6th Annual San Diego Travel & Adventure Show.

For media interested in covering this event, please note that press accreditation is still open. To apply for credentials click here.

The San Diego Travel & Adventure Show provides its visitors with the ultimate destination to find, plan and book their next vacation. Thousands of travel destinations will be represented for guests to explore, with free on-site experiences including Segway rides and the Visit Redding Photo Booth. Some of the worlds top travel experts and celebrities including Josh Gates, Peter Greenberg, Pauline Frommer and local favorite Wayne Dunlap, will be present to answer questions on all things travel. You can also interact one-on-one with many of these celebrities at the show!

Part of what makes this show so engaging every year is the broad variety of cultural experience and expertise that come together in one room, said Travel & Adventure Show CEO John Golicz. Whether it is a travel icon, master chef or unique travel destination, we want to welcome both old and new faces to the San Diego Travel and Adventure Show this year.

MSC Cruises, a new addition to the roster of sponsors, will serve as the Major Sponsor for the 2019 San Diego Travel & Adventure Show. The events Supporting Sponsor is Taiwan and Contributing Sponsors include Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Company and Baja Norte.

Other exhibitors of note include Cook Islands Tourism, an emerging travel hot spot that provides visitors with an authentic island experience. Let the Cook Islands be your personal paradise where the water is strikingly blue and no building is taller than a coconut tree.

The San Diego Travel & Adventure Show will run from Saturday, Jan. 19  Sunday, Jan. 20 with timing as follows:

Saturday, January 19



9:30 a.m.  5 p.m. for media and travel professionals.

10 a.m.  5 p.m. for the general public

Sunday, January 20



11 a.m.  4 p.m. for the general public

For a limited time, attendees can purchase tickets online now for a discounted rate with promo code SDPR19. Single day tickets will be available at the reduced price of $11 and it will be just $18 two-day passes. If you miss this promotion, dont fret! On-site tickets can be purchased via cash only at a rate of $15 for a single day and $22 for two-day passes. Military offers are available with valid military ID, receiving 4 free tickets to the show. Children 16 and under are free, an event filled with activities and knowledge for the whole family.

For tickets and event information, visit http://www.TravelShows.com/sandiego.

About Unicomm, LLC and the Travel & Adventure Show Series

UNICOMM LLC is an independent business-to-business communications company specializing in originating and managing world-class trade shows and conferences. Unicomms properties include the nations largest and longest running series of travel events, the Travel & Adventure Show in Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco/Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Philadelphia and Dallas.

For more information on attending or exhibiting at the event, please visit http://www.travelshows.com/sandiego.The Irrigation Association congratulates Congress on passing the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, otherwise known as the farm bill. Though not perfect, the farm bill has many key elements that the IA supports, and the IA looks forward to working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in implementing these programs, once signed into law by President Trump. These key elements include



funding of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program at $1.75 billion in fiscal year 2019 and increasing to $2.025 billion in fiscal year 2023.

increasing the opportunities for EQIP participation to irrigation districts.

recognizing the benefits of efficient irrigation relating to nutrient management and application.

funding of the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research at $185 million.

increasing the investment in rural broadband to $350 million.

investing in irrigation-specific crop insurance research and provisions.

The IA now calls for President Trump to sign this farm bill and for the new Congress to continue investing in the future of agricultural irrigation, focusing on programs that ensure the United States agricultural industry not only remains globally competitive, but also provides a safe and reliable food supply for years to come.

About the Irrigation Association

The Irrigation Association is the leading membership organization for irrigation companies and professionals. The IA is committed to promoting efficient irrigation and to long-term sustainability of water resources for future generations. The IA works to improve industry proficiency, advocate sound water management and grow demand for water-efficient products and services. For more information, visit http://www.irrigation.org.Jay Acunzo explains how trusting your intuition leads to exceptional work Jay Acunzo discusses work best practices, following trends, creative team practices and key tips for building a better career.

Magnificent Marketing is excited to present a new podcast episode featuring an interview with award-winning podcaster and content expert Jay Acunzo.

Jay is a multi-awarded podcaster who is an expert on moving away from conventional thinking to accelerate the growth of companies and careers. He is an excellent keynote speaker and a seasoned digital content marketer.

He was tasked with heading content for numerous startup companies including HubSpot. He also worked for Google as a digital media strategist, perhaps his most impressive career endeavor.

Harvard Business School has cited Jays work, as well as writers from the New York Times and Washington Post. Today, Jay is the host and producer of multiple web series that focus on the meaning people find in their work. He has built editorial strategies for startups and produced awe-inspiring shows about the importance of intuition at work. His mission is to help you own and trust your intuition that leads to exceptional work. Jay has traveled the globe speaking to organizations of all sizes about the dangers of best practices.

In this episode of Magnificent Marketing's marketing podcast, Jay Acunzo discusses work best practices, following trends, creative team practices and key tips for building a better career.

The full interview can be found on Magnificent Marketing's YouTube channel and, with an accompanying blog, on magnificent.com. Find it here.

About Magnificent Marketing:

Magnificent Marketing is your full-service content marketing agency that will take care of all your marketing needs so that you can concentrate on the core duties needed to manage and grow your business.

Their objective is to generate leads that turn into customers while focusing on expanding the visibility of your company and brand, and positioning you to be "top of mind" for future potential clients.

In order to achieve this, they draw on their experience and belief that a mixture of traditional marketing techniques combined with modern marketing tools will yield the best results. In other words, they blend old and new school marketing to create the best school of thought.

About Jay Acunzo:

Jay is the founder of Unthinkable Media, which works with fast-growing startups and challenger brands to create entertaining B2B shows. In a world where storyteller has become a buzzword, Jay actually understands how to tell great stories -- stories that entertain, surprise, teach, and above all, push people beyond conventional thinking so they can do their best work. His book, Break the Wheel, inspires others to do exactly that.Brands are increasingly flocking to Instagram due to its superiority among social platforms in successfully engaging consumers. Its important for brands to identify competitive campaigns and accurately understand their effectiveness, especially as Instagram continues to grow in popularity.

Unmetric, an enterprise solution for branded content analysis and discovery, today announced it added data on Instagram post impressions (number of times a post is displayed) and reach (number of people who saw a post) to its Analyze product. The company also added Instagram Campaign Intelligence to the platform. Analyze for social media analysts is one of three core Unmetric products alongside Discover for brand content creators and Track for marketers.

Unmetric adding Instagram impressions & reach data to its platform is significant, as existing solutions for Instagram measure reach based solely on the absolute number of audience interactions a post receives and number of followers for their own brand page, making it a challenge for social media analysts to both understand the true influence of their campaigns and benchmark against competitors.

Unmetric uses machine learning algorithms to estimate a brands Instagram post reach and impressions based on a number of factors including the time of day the content was posted, type of post, region of brand, and the number, type, and velocity of audience interactions (e.g. Shares affect reach more than Likes).

To date, estimating impressions and reach for brands and their competitors on Instagram has been a challenge due to the limited availability of markers that impact these metrics. Understanding how many times a post is viewed, by both passive and active participants, requires capturing complex patterns in audience interactions, which is not possible by simplistic algebraic models, said Kumar Krishnasami, Head of Product. However, our Machine Learning based approach addresses these issues, pulling engagement data in real time and taking into account a variety of factors so we can provide the most accurate estimate of influence, reach, and impressions, for competitive tracking as well as improving ones own campaigns.

Unmetrics new Instagram Campaign Intelligence feature uses AI-driven insights to showcase the performance of any brands campaigns on Instagram. Unmetric tracks any brands past and ongoing campaigns and provides detailed interaction metrics such as likes, comments, and video views, as well as engagement over time. Brands can harness Instagram Campaign Intelligence in two ways:

Focus on one brands campaigns: Brands can focus on improving their own campaigns by tracking their performance in real time. Alternatively, they can gather intel on other brands past and ongoing campaigns. Brands can view metrics for individual brand campaigns, as well as a breakdown of metrics for each post that is part of the campaign.

Compare campaigns: Brands can benchmark their campaigns with competitors and see how the perform head to head. Brands can also see how competitors campaigns performed against each other and use those insights when planning their own campaigns.

Brands are increasingly flocking to Instagram due to its superiority among social platforms in successfully engaging consumers. Its important for brands to identify competitive campaigns and accurately understand their effectiveness, especially as Instagram continues to grow in popularity, said Lux Narayan, CEO of Unmetric. The ability to track campaigns is one of the top features our brand and agency clients request. Instagram Campaign Intelligence will give our clients access to this much-needed data along with detailed metrics, ensuring our clients fully understand their campaign performance -- what is working and what isnt -- in real time, particularly in terms of measuring influence as gauged against other brands.

Unmetric Analyze clients can immediately gain access to Instagram impression & reach data and Campaign Intelligence. For further details and to request a demo, visit https://unmetric.com/analyze/.

About Unmetric

Unmetric helps brands and agencies get better engagement, more certainty, and faster reporting on their social media efforts. The companys enterprise platform enables digital marketers to research, plan, and optimize branded social content, and analysts to report on learnings to create more engaging content. Hundreds of global brands and digital agencies including American Airlines, The Chicago Bulls, Tiffany & Co., General Motors, GroupM, and Ogilvy use Unmetrics AI-powered insights from the owned channels of over 100,000 qualified brands across more than 30 sectors on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Founded in 2011, Unmetric is headquartered in New York City with offices in Chennai, India and the U.S. For more information, visit http://www.unmetric.com.www.VCGFL.com Its so important to continuously raise awareness about domestic violence. It can affect anyone, says Sandra Lawson, director of operations at Venture Construction Group of Florida, co-founder of Gemmas Angels, sister of Gemma Burlakoff.

Venture Construction Group of Florida (VCGFL) teams up with Kendra Scott to raise funds for local nonprofits dedicated to ending domestic violence. The Kendra Gives Back Party takes place on Dec. 20 from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. at Kendra Scott, Mizner Park at 411 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. The event is open to the public. The Kendra Gives Back Party features a lively shopping event with drinks and light appetizers and an array of holiday gifts for purchase. 20 percent of all sale proceeds will benefit the Gemmas Angels Foundation Boca Raton and Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse (AVDA). Orders will be accepted onsite at the Kendra Gives Back Party and via phone during the event. Please call 561-430-2520 to place your order. VCGFL is matching all donations.

According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1 in 4 women (24.3 percent) and 1 in 7 men (13.8 percent) aged 18 and older in the United States have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime. On average, 24 people per minute are victims of physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States  more than 12 million women and men over the course of a year.

Founded in 2014, the Gemmas Angels Foundation Boca Raton is dedicated to raising awareness and ending domestic violence in honor of Gemma Burlakoff and her fight to save her children. In 2013, Burlakoff was the victim in a violent domestic dispute and murdered by her husband, the father of her children. The Gemmas Angels Foundation aims to end domestic violence and works with local and national organizations to raise awareness throughout the year.

Its so important to continuously raise awareness about domestic violence. It can affect anyone. We also have January Stalking Awareness Month just around the corner and its another very important initiative that is often connected with domestic violence, says Sandra Lawson, director of operations at Venture Construction Group of Florida, co-founder of Gemmas Angels, sister of Gemma Burlakoff.

AVDAs mission is to promote violence-free relationships and social change by offering alternative choices to end violence and domestic abuse. AVDA provides a state-certified domestic violence center that offers a comprehensive array of services for victims of domestic violence including a 24-hour crisis hotline, emergency and transitional housing, advocacy, counseling and support to help them live violence-free and self-sufficient lives. AVDA also works throughout the community to educate and engage people of all ages in the commitment to prevent violence. AVDA is accredited for Excellence in Nonprofit Management and was one of the first agencies in Palm Beach County to receive accreditation from Nonprofits First.

The Kendra Scott fundraiser is a great event for a great cause! says Michael DiPerna, community outreach coordinator, Venture Construction Group of Florida.

January marks the fifteenth annual National Stalking Awareness Month (NSAM), an annual call to action to recognize and respond to the serious crime of stalking. Stalking impacts over 1 in 6 women and 1 in 17 men in the United States. NSAM addresses the issue of stalking as its own form of violence as well as a crime that frequently predicts and co-occurs with physical and sexual assault.

About Venture Construction Group of Florida

Founded in 1998, Venture Construction Group of Florida (VCGFL) is an award-winning leader in construction, restoration, renovations, roofing, storm damage repairs, and 24/7 emergency services throughout Florida, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Bahamas and the Caribbean. Specializing in industrial/ commercial projects, VCGFL assists property managers, condominium boards, homeowner associations, association boards, hotels and business complexes with general contractor services, specialty construction, historical restoration, water and flood mitigation, and property repairs due to fire, flood, water, wind and hurricanes. VCGFL holds leading industry awards including the Coatings Pro Contractor Award, Pro Remodeler Forty Under 40 Award, Qualified Remodeler Top 500 Remodelers Award, Qualified Remodeler Master Design Award, Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association S.T.A.R. Spotlight Trophy for the Advancement of Roofing Awards in Sustainability and Community Service. CEO Stephen Shanton is a proud member of the prestigious Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). Entrepreneur Magazine hails YEC Consists of Some of the Most Well-Respected Minds in Entrepreneurship. With offices in Boca Raton, Ft. Myers, Naples, Panama City Beach, Orlando, Stuart, Tampa, San Juan, and Nassau, VCGFL is committed to operational excellence and exceptional customer service. VCGFL takes care of the details every step of the way including roofing, siding, windows, drywall, flooring, paint, gutters to rebuilding properties after major storm events from hurricanes, tornadoes, and hailstorms. VCGFL carries the industrys leading accreditations and is an exclusive certified National Storm Damage Center Preferred Contractor, Windstorm Insurance Network WIND Certified Umpire, WIND Certified Appraiser, WIND Certified Fellow, Certified Member of the United Association of Storm Restoration Contractors, Platinum Preferred Certified Contractor with the National Insurance Restoration Council. VCGFL is a proud member of Insurance Appraisal and Umpire Association (IAUA), Restoration Industry Association (RIA), Property Liability and Resource Bureau (PLRB), Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association (FRSA), Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS) Industry Members Association (EIMA), National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). VCGFL is a registered U.S. Federal Government Contractor and holds leading certifications including Owens Corning Platinum Preferred Contractor, Mule-Hide Legacy Contractor, Certified CertainTeed Contractor and Duro-Last Certified Contractor status. VCGFL credentials have been vetted and screened through independent third-party Global Risk Management Solutions. For more information call 866-459-8351 or visit us online at http://www.VCGFL.com.

About Kendra Scott

Kendra Scott is a leading fashion accessories brand inspired by the personal experiences, travel and sense of community of its CEO and Designer, Kendra Scott. A true omni-channel business, Kendra Scott is sold at premiere retailers including Nieman Marcus, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Von Maur and over 600 specialty boutiques worldwide, the brand boasts a thriving web business and over 50 stand alone retail stores across the United States. The brand is well-known for its comprehensive suite of elegantly designed jewelry pieces as well as lifestyle categories such as beauty, home goods and fine jewelry. The brand also offers the Kendra Scott Color Bar, an innovative jewelry customization experience available in all Kendra Scott stores as well as http://www.KendraScott.com.

About Gemmas Angels Foundation

Headquartered in Boca Raton, the Gemmas Angels Foundation is dedicated to raising awareness to end domestic violence in honor of Gemma Burlakoffs fight to save her three daughters. Gemma was brutally murdered in front of her children in a domestic dispute in 2013. Gemma successfully saved her children's lives and lost her life in doing so. Gemma fought heroically to protect her children. Unfortunately, no financial support was left behind to provide and care for her daughters. Gemmas Angels Foundation was launched in 2014 and thrives on the support of businesses, fundraisers and major awareness events. Anyone who needs help please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE. Florida residents in need of help may contact the Florida Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-500-1119.

About Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse (AVDA)

AVDA has been a safe haven for thousands of victims of domestic abuse. Adults and children are provided 24-hour, 7 days a week emergency shelter, crisis counseling, food, clothing, individual and group counseling services. AVDA promotes violence-free relationships and social change by offering alternative choices to end violence and domestic abuse. Learn more at http://www.avdaonline.org/.The Donadio & Olson literary agency filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy December 3 following years of embezzlement by its former bookkeeper, Darin Webb, who was sentenced December 17 to two years in jail for his crimes.

The agency filed for Chapter 7 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, listing assets of $47,241.90 and liabilities of $186,613.90. The agency's authors are owed a total of $2.7 million in royalty payments. The firm has already begun liquidation proceedings.

The two principals in the firm, Edward Hibbert and Neil Olson, explained how the embezzlement led to the downfall of D&O in separate letters to the judge made public at the time of Webbs sentencing. Olson provided the more complete explanation of what took place, saying that Webb had been the agencys bookkeeper for about 20 years and, during that time, had taken over most of the agencys back office functions. What looked like dedication to the job, Olson wrote, was really part of Webbs scheme to steal $3.4 million.

According to Olson, Webb, over time, stole an ever larger portion of our and our clients money. His means of doing this were complexhidden bank accounts, fraudulent reports, gently squeezing out a part-time assistant who asked too many questions.

When Webb confessed to the theft, it became clear, Olson wrote, that he did not "have the means to repair what he has ruined, and we do not have the means to continue." As a result, Olson wrote, the agency will cease to exist within weeks. (The letter was dated October 21, 2018.)

Olson expressed deep regret for harming the financial interests of the agencys clients, and for any other pain the embezzlement caused. "The shame of this for us who looked after [our clients'] interests is not something that any amount of time or recompense can erase, Olson wrote.

He also noted that his own loses have been severe." When the theft was discovered, Olson explained, "the agencys bank accounts were virtually empty. Olson said he used personal funds to try to find out what happened and spent hundreds of hours assisting our lawyer and forensic accountant to try to get to the bottom of Webbs scheme.

Despite those efforts, Olson acknowledged, we will never untangle the theft completely, or account for all of the loss. We have simply run out of time and resources.Darin Webb, the bookkeeper who stole more than $3.4 million over eight years from venerable New York literary agency Donadio & Olson, was sentenced to two years in prison on Monday, less than half the 51-63 month term the government had recommended.

Calling the sentencing guidelines high, and clearly swayed by the defenses Sentencing Memorandum, which portrayed Webbs theft as a stark departure from character that was "not motivated by personal greed," judge Edgardo Ramos sentenced the former bookkeeper to two years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. There was no fine, (since, the judge concluded, Webb had no ability to pay) but a final restitution order for roughly $3.3 million will be added pending a submission by the government, within 90 days.

Choking back tears, Webb apologized to his victims, including his former employers, agency principals Neil Olson and Edward Hibbert, who, Webb said, he regarded as family.

There are no words to describe how sorry I am, Webb told the court, acknowledging that his actions have caused so much heartache.

Olson, meanwhile, sat expressionless in the front row of the courtroom, and did not react to Webbs apology. Hibbert was unable to be in court.

In a pre-sentencing memo filed last week, Webbs attorneys detailed the theft, explaining that the vast majority of the stolen funds went to support Webbs business, Sum Innovation, which, as part of its mission, had included a non-profit arm that provided training and employment opportunities for underserved communities.

But over the years, as Webb's payroll ballooned, rather than scale back his vision, Webb began siphoning funds from his main client, literary agency Donadio & Olson, to cover his business's payroll expenses. The vast majority of the stolen funds, Webb's attorneys contended, were paid out to cover payroll expenses, not for Webb's personal use.

In a letter to the court, Webb explained that he was able to pull off the scheme because, over time, he came to think of himself as running the agency.

I dont recall exactly the first time I transferred money from the agency into Sum Innovation, Webbs letter to the court states. I told myself I was investing in my company and it would benefit the agency in the end. I told myself I was supporting the families that worked for me. I told myself I would pay it back. I could not let this fail. I saw the potential we were striving for, I just needed to hold on until it all worked. I suppose you could compare the feeling to gambling or drug addiction. Just one more card, one more hit.

The scheme did eventually fail, however, after a perplexed Neil Olson confronted Webb in March of this year, according to court fillings.

 An appended document also shows that of more than the $3.4 million Webb stole, more than $2.7 million came from royalty payments due the agencys authors, estates, or their assignees... 

Meanwhile, sentencing documents filed last week by the government show the breadth of the destruction caused by Webbs criminal conduct. Somehow running undetected for years, Webb's actions nearly bankrupted bestselling author Chuck Palahniuk, and ultimately destroyed Donadio & Olson, which officially filed for Chapter 7 protections on December 3.

Over the course of approximately eight years, Webb transferred at least $3,414,650 from D&Os bank accounts into bank accounts controlled by Webb, the sentencing documents reveal. The scheme spanned more than seven years, beginning in 2011 and ended only when the fraud was uncovered, in March 2018. It caused D&O to cease operations and declare bankruptcy, and the owners of the agency to lose their business and livelihoods. It also harmed many of D&Os clients and their successors."

In asking for a sentence of 4-5 years in prison, U.S. attorneys rejected Webbs contention that his crime was merely a stark departure from a previously straight and laudable path. Rather, prosecutors portrayed Webb as a self-serving criminal who engaged in hundreds of unlawful transfers; hundreds of individual acts of theft and deceit; and countless lies to cover it all up.

Among the details in the filing was the astonishing number of unauthorized transfers Webb made over the span of his theft, which ranged from $1,000 to $75,000. According to the filing:

In 2011, Webb made 40 unauthorized transfers, totaling $288,500.

In 2012, Webb made 45 unauthorized transfers, totaling $380,000.

In 2013, Webb made 43 unauthorized transfers, totaling $425,000.

In 2014, Webb made 33 unauthorized transfers, totaling $392,500.

In 2015, Webb made 45 unauthorized transfers, totaling $565,500.

In 2016, Webb made 48 unauthorized transfers, totaling $413,000.

In 2017, Webb made 97 unauthorized transfers, totaling $963,900.

An appended document also shows that of the $3.4 million Webb stole, more than $2.7 million came from royalty payments due the agencys authors, estates, or their assignees, with two clients suffering the greatest: Chuck Palahniuk, the bestselling author of Fight Club, who was bilked of $1.44 million; and the five children and the Estate of Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather, which was cheated out of a combined $757,000.

Among the other major victims: the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust ($59,829.84); The Peter Mathiessen Trust ($64,208.96); Joseph Hellers assignee ($35,665.97); Studs Terkels assignee ($60,458.22), and Michal Herrs assignee ($71,988.70).

'Overwhelming and Complete'

Despite Webbs insistence that he would try to pay back the money he stole, the prosecutions sentencing documents suggest there is little chance that he will be able to do so, since Webb owns no property that can be seized and most of the stolen money was paid out to employees. Meanwhile, the impact of Webbs crime, the government stressed, has been devastating.

The financial impact of Webbs embezzlement on D&O and its owners cannot be overstated, the filing states, noting that D&O has ceased to be a going concern, is in the process of liquidation, and has virtually no assets.

In a victim impact letter to the Court, Neil Olson also described the harm Webb inflicted, citing not only the negative financial impact upon the agency, but the psychological and career harm as well. The shame of this for us who looked after [our authors] interests is not something that any amount of time or recompense can erase, Olson wrote. "An agency that started in the 1960s, which cared for so many great writers, so many talented unknowns, so many friends, will cease to exist within weeks."

In a separate victim impact statement, Hibbert described the destruction inflicted by Webb as "overwhelming and complete."

I turned 63 a few weeks ago, Hibbert wrote. This betrayal has affected me financially, physically, and mentally. I have developed chronic insomnia, panic attacks, and acute anxiety as to how I will be able to support myself in the years to come.

Following his sentencing, Ramos also agreed to recommend, at Webb's request, that Webb serve his time at the Otisville Satellite Camp, a minimum security facility in upstate New York. Ramos ordered that he surrender himself on February 18, 2019.

After the sentencing, Webb declined comment to PW.WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Purdue University researchers are working with some of the worlds largest energy companies to create new ways to produce fuels and chemicals from United States light alkane deposits. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, these shale gas resources are believed to contain enough untapped reserves to provide the nations transportation fuels and chemicals for a hundred years, creating an unparalleled opportunity to revitalize the economy and build a powerful bridge to a more sustainable future.

Our challenge is to make the best and most responsible use of these staggering resources, said Peter Keeling, director of industry and innovation for Purdues Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources, or CISTAR. This center makes it possible to take giant leaps toward new technologies in the production of fuels and chemicals by transferring our knowledge from Purdue to industry as part of an ecosystem that brings industry in close contact with cutting-edge research in academia and national labs.

CISTAR is a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. A video about CISTAR is available at https://youtu.be/lEZEPE9rdR0.

CISTARs award-winning researchers and industry partners are working to convert light hydrocarbons from shale gas deposits into chemicals and transportation fuels. The research, part of Purdues efforts to continue and amplify its impact on energy research and technology, could inject up to $20 billion annually into the U.S. economy.

The centers research focuses on developing new catalysts, separation methods and process design, including modular systems that deliver cost-effective solutions for the transformation of alkane resources with major positive potential impacts on the environment, society and economy.

CISTAR is organized around four pillars to achieve success: research; industry and innovation; workforce development; and diversity.

We are striving to revitalize the U.S. industry and its workforce through STEM research aimed at responsibly realizing the potential of shale resources, said Fabio Ribeiro, the R. Norris and Eleanor Shreve Professor of Chemical Engineering and CISTAR director.

The center offers a powerful value proposition by bringing together experienced academic teams of professors and graduate students from Purdue, the University of New Mexico, Northwestern University, the University of Notre Dame and the University of Texas at Austin. CISTAR held its semiannual meetings in May and October.

NSF will provide $19.75 million over five years for the center with an expectation to augment funding for a total of ten years. Industrial and university partners will contribute additional funding and critical resources to create an innovation engine and portfolio of technology.

The technology aligns with Purdue's Giant Leaps celebration of the universitys global advancements made in health, space, artificial intelligence and sustainability as part of Purdues 150th anniversary. Those are the four themes of the yearlong celebrations Ideas Festival, designed to showcase Purdue as an intellectual center solving real-world issues.

CISTAR works closely with the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization on securing intellectual property for the work being done. CISTAR is looking for additional industry partners to join the center and the 19 current industry members from some of the largest energy companies in the world.

About Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization

The Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2016 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Innovation from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org. The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University.

Chris Adam, 765-588-3341Peter Keeling, pkeeling@purdue.eduPublished on:

17 December 2018





This has been a very busy week for Brexit, even in these days when Brexit always dominates current affairs. This weeks shower has included a judgment from the European Court of Justice that Article 50 (which triggered the Brexit process) may be unilaterally revoked; the prime ministers deferral (or abandonment?) of the parliamentary meaningful vote on her Withdrawal Agreement; her subsequent dash to European capitals in an unsuccessful attempt to alter that Agreements terms; closely followed by an unsuccessful attempt by some Tory MPs to depose her as leader.

In all of this excitement, some may have missed another highly important court judgment on a very significant aspect of Brexit. This was the judgment delivered this Thursday by the UK Supreme Court on the legality of the Scottish Continuity Bill adopted by the Scottish parliament back in March, and its compatibility with the UK EU Withdrawal Act (EUWA) which became law in June 2018. The UK governments approach to Brexit has not found favour with the Scottish government, which considers that the needs of a Scotland which voted 62 per cent Remain have been ignored in the process. Hence, the Scottish parliament adopted its own approach in its Continuity Bill, some of which the Supreme Court has now found to be beyond the competence of the Scottish parliament, and therefore unable to come into effect.

But just why is this important? Whereas we are all familiar with the significance of Northern Ireland in Brexit mattersand the difficulty of squaring the circle of the UK leaving the EU without imposing a hard border through the island of Ireland, hence the problem of the backstopthe Scottish perspective has received much less attention in UK commentary. And yet, this precious union, to which Theresa May referred, consists of four nations, each with their own needs, and any Brexit settlement which ignores the position of one of those nations risks destabilising that union.

Devolution in the scope of EU membership

Devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has taken place within the scope of EU membership. To an extent perhaps not appreciated, the EU has provided overarching legal and governance frameworks for areas such as agriculture and fisheries, which are devolved matters. Holyrood, while being responsible for devolved matters under the devolution settlement, was also bound by regulation from the EU in those areas, rather than London. After Brexit, this must change, as powers formally held by the EU are repatriated.

The UK government, in its White Paper on what became the EU Withdrawal Act, committed to intensive discussions with devolved administrations about how devolved powers repatriated to the UK from the EU would be managed. Therefore, it was controversial that the UK EU Withdrawal Bill, when first published in July 2017, brought those powers directly back to Westminster (under the general label of retained EU law). Both Scottish and Welsh first ministers immediately labelled this a naked power grab. Under s 12 EUWA, devolved authorities cannot stop UK ministers from ultimately limiting those authoritiespowers to amend retained EU law. This means the UK government can unilaterally limit devolved powers in these areas.

This is why the Scottish parliament refused to give its consent to the UK EU Withdrawal Bill and additionally passed its own UK Withdrawal from the EU (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2018by 95 to 32 votes in March 2018. The Scottish Continuity Bill shared a structure and approach with the EUWA, seeking to complement it, but diverged from it in some areas. For example, it did not exclude the Charter of Fundamental Rights from retained EU law, and would allow Scotland to keep pace with EU developments in future. It also, in s 17, required the consent of Scottish ministers, should UK ministers wish to alter or repeal retained EU law within devolved areasa provision seen as crucial to protecting Scotlands interests but notably lacking in the EUWA.

Legal challenges

The legal competence of this Scottish legislation was challenged by the UK government before the UK Supreme Court, making constitutional history as the first Scottish parliament legislation to be referred to the UK Supreme Court by the UK law officers under s 33 of the Scotland Act 1998. Notably, this referral occurred before the EUWA had been adopted and become law at Westminster. Until judgment was given in this case, the Scottish Continuity Bill remained in limbo and could not come into force.

I wrote for Prospect about the Supreme Court Continuity Bill litigation in July, and space precludes detailed consideration of the parties main arguments here, but a brief recap sets the scene.

The UK governments case, presented by Lord Keen, Advocate General for Scotland, was that, given that the EUWA 2018 had now become law, the Scottish Continuity Bill lay outside of the Scottish parliaments competence. This is underlined by the fact that the EUWA is now incorporated into an amended Scotland Act 1998 as a protected enactment (namely a statute that cannot be modified by devolved legislation) and much discussion in court centred on whether the Continuity Bill modifies UK legislation. Lord Wolffe, the Scottish Lord Advocate, argued that the Scottish parliament has competence to legislate regarding any matter not reserved to the UK and even if EU law ceases to apply in the UK, that does not affect this division of responsibility. EU powers should still return in line with the current division of powers under the devolution settlement. On the other hand, Lord Keen argued that these areas would revert to the UK government. But this, as pointed out in court, would create a new restriction on devolved authorities not previously in place, justifying claims that Brexit and the EUWA constitute a power grab from devolved nations.

So what did the Supreme Court decide? Notably, this was a unanimous judgment (from a Bench of seven, composed of Lady Hale (President of the Court) together with both Scottish Justices (Lord Hodge and Lord Reed, who is also the Deputy President of the Court) as well as Lord Kerr, the Northern Ireland judge, and Lord Lloyd Jones, who has Welsh roots. (Judgment had been expected in late Septemberit is hard to know why it has taken longer to deliver, but as Lady Hale had during the hearing in July described this case as definitely one for the wet towels, one may assume the Court found it to be highly complex and sensitive.)

The judgment itself is long and complicated, but the essential holding is this: the Court did not find all of the Continuity Bill to be outside of Holyroods competence, only section 17. However section 17 is a very important provision (remember, this is the section which prohibits UK ministers from regulating, ie repealing or amending, EU retained law on matters formerly within devolved competence, without consent of the Scottish government). The Court found s17 was outside of the Scottish parliaments competence because it would modify both the Scotland Act 1998 and provisions in the EU Withdrawal Act itself.

Both sides claiming victory

What to make of this judgment? Both sides seem to have claimed victory. On the one hand, Michael Russell MSP, Scottish Constitutional Affairs Secretary, claimed The Scottish governments position has been vindicated by the Supreme Court judgment but that sections of the Continuity Bill had been thwarted as a result of steps taken by the UK government, retrospectively introducing powers in the EUWA which, he said, limited the rights of MSPs to issue legislation regarding Brexit. On the other hand, the UK government Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell stated that The Supreme Court has provided much-needed legal clarity that the Continuity Bill goes beyond the powers of the Scottish parliament and that This demonstrates clearly that it was the right thing for the UK government to refer the Bill to the court.

However, the UK governments case is perhaps undermined by the judgment itself, which unanimously found that the whole of the Scottish Bill would not be outside the legislative competence of the Scottish parliament, but, rather only s17, due to enactments in the EUWA. The obvious conclusion is that the Continuity Bill was largely competent when it was passed by the Scottish parliament in March. Note therefore this consequence: would it not be possible for the UK government to challenge any devolved legislation it disliked, and in the meantime, adopt its own protected legislation, providing rock solid protection against competing devolved legislation? Would this not thoroughly undermine the devolution settlement? One might argue Brexit is a special case, and unifying legislation is needed for all the UK, but with the UKs four nations so clearly divided, imposing and enforcing a unified approach is a risky strategy that may backfire.

So what now? The Scottish government must decide how much of this Continuity legislation may be salvaged and pass into law, if indeed any of it. The Supreme Court helpfully considered, at the end of its judgment, other sections in the Bill that would also be outside competence as a result of the impact of the enactment of the EUWA on s17. These included the Scottish attempt to maintain the Charter of Fundamental Rights in law. Scotland has struck a different approach to human rights from England, setting up a first ministers advisory group which recently adopted recommendations on directions Scotland could take in the human rights field, with specific recommendations on Brexit.

Second, it is highly significant that the UK parliament enacted the EUWA in spite of the Scottish parliaments refusal of legislative consent. Although such consent to UK wide legislation is not legally necessary, it is required by a constitutional convention (known as the Sewel convention). Indeed the Westminster parliament recently endorsed the Sewel convention in its own legislation, in the Scotland Act 1998, s28(8) (as inserted by Scotland Act 2016, s2), although Westminster failed clearly to give it express legally binding force. And in the famous Gina Miller case in 2017, the UK Supreme Court held that the Sewel convention is not legally enforceable. The willingness of the Westminster parliament to persist in enacting the EUWA without the Scottish parliaments consent may be a striking illustration of Westminster parliamentary (or perhaps UK government?) sovereignty. Yet ignoring refusal of consent may have serious implications for the integrity and endurance of the United Kingdom, and will not be forgotten quickly in Scotland.

Third, and a rather different pointthe Scottish Bill was not termed a Continuity Bill for nothing. It was intended, like the EUWA, to prepare the legal system for Brexit, to avoid huge gaps and ensure continuity in Scottish law. This in reality means transferring existing EU law into domestic law and amending or repealing it where necessary to make it workable in a post-Brexit Britain. But can this be accomplished in time for Brexit? The UK governments progress in adopting delegated legislation (in the form of statutory instruments) preparing former EU laws for Brexit has already been slow, as well as worryingly untransparent and lacking in parliamentary scrutiny, (even taking the form of notorious Henry VIII powers, namely, the power to amend primary legislation by ministerial order). The Hansard Society statutory instruments dashboard sets out what has been achieved so far. If the Scottish authorities powers are curtailed by restrictions in the EUWA which limit their ability to prepare for Brexit, but mean they must instead wait for UK government ministers to act, then Scottish law may not be ready in time. As events this week have shown, Brexit may happen sooner than many would like, on 29 March in the form of a Hard Brexit by default, and it is unlikely that the UK legal system will be prepared. Scottish ministers will lack power to prepare in certain areas. This is a further problematic consequence of this lawsuit.

A disunited kingdom

As I noted, writing back in July, the United Kingdom is a disunited kingdom and Brexit illustrates this very clearly. Devolved authorities feel their interests have not been taken seriously. In the EU referendum, the UK as whole voted to Leave. However, the vote was split by many things, including geographical location and cultural background. Sixty-two per cent of Scotlands voting electorate voted to Remain, and the Scottish government remains opposed to Brexit. Yet, unlike federal states, devolved nations have no legal means of ensuring their different perspectives and needs are taken into account. These needs are real and often different from those of England, for example, Scotlands greater need for immigrant labour. In other words, securing legal protection for devolved concerns is not merely a covert attempt to gain independence. Devolved authorities have no formal role in the Article 50 negotiations, and their amendments failed to pass when the EUWA was debated in Westminster. A Continuity Bill was pursued as a legal mechanism to protect devolved constitutional interests. When that also fails, legal routes of opposing their exclusion from the EU withdrawal process appear exhausted. At present, Brexit brings these issues into sharp focus, without, however, suggesting any solutions. When (and if?) Brexit is finally concluded, will the United Kingdom still exist?

This opinion piece was originally published in Prospect Magazine on 14 December 2018.A councillor is calling for a strengthened Labour Inspectorate following a human trafficking and slavery operation that has been ongoing since the 1990s.

Viliamu Samu, a 64-year-old Samoan national, was charged with 18 counts of human trafficking and slavery on Monday.

The joint investigation by Immigration NZ and NZ Police has alleged that Samu recruited Samoan nationals with the promise of well-paid jobs in the horticultural industry.

"This type of exploitation is unacceptable," said Josephine Bartley, Councillor for Maungakiekie Tamaki. "And there are so many that will be affected by this."

The victims allege they weren't paid for their work, had their passports confiscated and were threatened and physically assaulted.

Ms Bartley said the alleged crimes illustrate the extent of human trafficking in New Zealand. "I do think it's more common than we know," she said.

Indeed, New Zealand saw its first human trafficking conviction in 2016 with a man found guilty of helping 15 Fijian workers enter New Zealand illegally and paying them less than minimum wage.

In 2017, the Labour Inspectorate found that last least half of Bay of Plenty kiwifruit contractors who had been audited or investigated failed to provide employment contracts or pay minimum wage.

"It's just indicative of the employment situation out there. It is an unfair playing field," Ms Bartley said.

Ms Bartley suggests expanding the Labour Inspectorate to work with specific communities that could be at risk for exploitation.

A 24/7 hotline has also been suggested to be set up in order to help workers call the whistle on exploitive employers.

Anyone who is being made to work in New Zealand under illegal conditions, such as being paid less than minimum wage or having work excessive hours, is urged to contact INZ or the Labour Inspectorate.

They can also call CrimeStoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

RadioLIVE.Auckland City Mission is struggling to meet the demands of long queues at its three Christmas food parcel handout sites.

There isn't enough food to go around with queues stretching around streets, and the majority of those people are mums and their children.

"We have far more people queuing on the three sites this morning than we can actually assist today and shortly we'll be sending people away and that's pretty heartbreaking," said Auckland City Mission chief executive Chris Farrelly.

"The numbers are actually greater than we can serve today. It's been huge every day but we'll continue up till Christmas and we're doing our best."

Auckland City Mission is handing out Christmas emergency food parcels at three sites across Auckland: Eden Park, the Papakura marae and the Nga Whare Waatea marae in Mangere.

Those seeking food parcels are often sole parents with children who have been caught in a debt trap trying to meet their family obligations and have either exhausted all other avenues to source food, the Citizens Advice Bureau says.

Before they're given food parcels, staff and volunteers at the sites will check whether they have other opportunities or entitlements to help them in the future.

Work and Income has been working with Auckland City Mission at the sites, Mr Farrelly told RadioLIVE, calling the organisation "absolutely incredible" for backing them during the holiday season.

"All year we have highlighted the growth of food poverty and food security in New Zealand where so many families are earning minimum wage and have debt to loan sharks and that kind of thing."

He said there were queues from before midnight at the three sites on Monday night, adding that it was particularly distressing at the Papakura marae where there were queues well before midnight.

"People now realise that perhaps to get through they have to be there early and that means sleeping overnight."

Tony Kake, chief executive of Papakura marae, says the feeling among the people queuing up at is desperate and overwhelming, and Eden Park chief executive Nick Saunter says it emphasises the importance of the mission.

Auckland City Mission expects to assist up to another 20,000 people at its distribution centres by Friday, and the need for donations is critical because the funds help not only over Christmas but in the New Year when many people continue to struggle.

"We open every single day of the year and we have to find [resources] post-Christmas," said Mr Farrelly. We're still a very generous country and I want to say thank you to people who are assisting us."

So far the mission has raised just $500,000 of the $1.5 million appeal target and is urging all Aucklanders to donate just a few dollars each to help a fellow Aucklander this Christmas.

"I'm ashamed to see the extent of poverty we've got at one level," says Mr Farrelly, "and proud to see the response at another."

Donations can be made here.

RadioLIVE/Newshub.

USA: Norfolk Southern Corp has confirmed its intention to relocate its corporate headquarters from Norfolk in Virginia to Atlanta in Georgia.The United States is blessed with a geography that has given it two wide oceans to guard its flanks, insulating it from many direct challenges to the homeland. But the same isolation that helps protect the United States also becomes a tyranny of distance when it comes to the U.S. military's ability to project force on the Eurasian landmass. During both World War II and the Cold War, the United States had to account for (and, in the case of World War II, battle across) the Atlantic Ocean to deploy forces in Europe. Similarly, the United States has created a vast logistics chain to ensure its ability to project forces across the Pacific Ocean to East Asia, Australasia and beyond.

Today, the United States benefits greatly from supply chains and transportation infrastructure that allow it to trade and deploy its forces across large distances in peacetime. Nevertheless, the United States must prepare for the real possibility that it will not enjoy such unencumbered access to maritime routes if its competition with either China or Russia escalates into open hostilities. And compounding the issue for Washington is the emergence of new disruptive technologies, the weakening strength of the United States' merchant marine fleet and the myriad diplomatic issues that Washington must consider every time it crosses national boundaries.

Washington's Transport Woes

If it faces its great power competitors in any armed conflict, the United States would have to move its forces rapidly across huge distances, since forward-deployed U.S. forces in Europe and the western Pacific would not be sufficient on their own to address Russia and China, respectively. Naturally, reinforcements in the form of troops and munitions would have to reach these forces as quickly as possible, yet their route would more likely be by ship than by plane, since there are limits to how much the United States can send by air to a conflict region  even with Washington's large inventory of transport aircraft. As the former head of the U.S. Transportation Command noted last year, the United States only has enough strategic transport aircraft to lift one armored brigade combat team (amounting to 5,000 troops and several hundred vehicles) to a theater of operations. It is thus the Navy that would have to shoulder most of the responsibility for transporting material to sustain a major conflict in Eurasia; in fact, the force has calculated that it would need to transport about 90 percent of the Marine Corps and Army equipment necessary to fight such a battle.

In so doing, Russia and China would naturally attempt to intercept U.S. forces on the high seas, long before American forces arrive at their destination. Russian submarines are, once more, displaying increasing activity in the North Atlantic, while the Chinese navy is dispatching vessels further into the Pacific as it grows in strength each year. Furthermore, emerging technologies could make the slow-going U.S. transport ships even more vulnerable to attack. The development of cruise missiles with ever-longer ranges, anti-ship ballistic missiles and hypersonic weapons could allow Russian and Chinese forces to engage U.S. transport ships from huge distances, especially when enabled by sophisticated satellite constellations such as China's BeiDou navigational satellite network.

An aging sealift roster and a lack of sufficient escorts would also challenge the U.S. logistical effort. According to Defense News, the U.S. Navy has been warning the U.S. Military Sealift Command that there are simply too few warships to adequately escort the slow transports, as the former will be too busy fighting at the front during a major conflict. And according to a U.S. Navy report on the issue from March, Sealift Command itself will seriously lack enough transport vessels, especially come the end of the 2020s.

The U.S. military requirement is for 15.3 million square feet (1.4 million square meters) of government-owned sealift capacity, along with an additional 4.3 million square feet (399,000 square meters) of capacity to be supplied by U.S. flagged commercial ships. But according to the study, this capacity is rapidly declining and will likely fall as far as 12 million square feet (1.11 million square meters) by 2030. What's more, many of the vessels currently in service require extensive maintenance because of their advanced age; the fact that a significant number of these ships still use obsolete, steam-based propulsion will only compound Washington's headaches.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Deena Nicole Cortese is celebrating her 38th week of pregnancy.

ADVERTISEMENT

The 31-year-old "Jersey Shore" star shared a baby bump photo and reflected on her "pregnancy journey" in an Instagram post Sunday.

Cortese is expecting a baby boy with her husband, Christopher Buckner.

The picture shows Cortese wearing the same blue dress she sported in photos at 14, 16, 20, 24 and 30 weeks pregnant.

"My Pregnancy Journey (Picture was taken a couple days ago) #bumppic #letsgobabybuckner #mommysready #daddysready," she captioned the post.

Cortese announced her pregnancy in an Instagram post in July. She told fans she plans to name her son Christopher John.

"Now that we are safely into our second trimester.. us and our little monkey are ready to tell the world Our little family is growing! We have a sweet little boy on the way!" the star wrote.

"We Are truly blessed and our hearts are filled with so much joy and happiness," she said. "December can't come soon enough! Daddy and Mommy can't wait to meet you Christopher John."

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!

The "Jersey Shore" star told People in November she was working on finishing her baby's nursery.

"We're just anxiously waiting for him to arrive," she said. "I'm so excited, and now he's moving more. It's just amazing. We can't wait for him to be here."

Cortese came to fame on the MTV series "Jersey Shore" and returned to star in "Jersey Shore: Family Vacation" this year.

Her co-star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi is also expecting a baby boy.,



We're sorry, this article is not currently availableRonnie Ortiz-Magro and Jen Harley are sharing their family Christmas photos with fans.

ADVERTISEMENT

The couple, who recently reconciled after tumultuous year in their relationship, looked happy in new pictures with 8-month-old daughter Ariana Sky.

Ortiz-Magro posted a snapshot with his family Sunday on Instagram. The photo shows the "Jersey Shore" star and Harley smiling for the camera as they lovingly support their baby girl.

Another snapshot on Harley's account shows Harley and Ortiz-Magro clinking mugs that read "Hubby" and "Wifey" as Ariana looks at the camera.

Harley is also parent to a son, Mason, from a previous relationship.

"1st family Christmas pics! This is going to be our new tradition! Special thanks to @pajamagramcompany for our amazing matching pajamas even the dogs matched us! #merrychristmas," she captioned a photo with Mason.

Ortiz-Mago and Harley have clashed several times this year, including Harley's arrest for domestic battery in June.

Ortiz-Magro apologized in November after an episode of "Jersey Shore: Family Vacation" showed him getting close to another woman.

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!

"It's edited to make it look worse. I was in a bad place in my life and my relationship and I acted out of anger & immature resentment," the star wrote on Instagram Stories, according to Us Weekly.

"Since than I've grown & wouldn't want to hurt my girlfriend or my daughter," he said. "I wouldn't never put myself in that position again to hurt the two people I love the most in my life."

Ortiz-Magro came to fame on the MTV series "Jersey Shore" and returned in "Jersey Shore: Family Vacation" this year.

The show co-stars Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Deena Nicole Cortese, who are both expecting baby boys.The "Vanderpump Rules" cast came together to celebrate Lala Kent's engagement.

ADVERTISEMENT

Kent, 28, and her fiance, Randall Emmett, were feted Saturday in Los Angeles by her co-stars Scheana Marie Stassi Schroeder and other friends and family.

Scheana Marie shared a photo Saturday on Instagram of herself with Kent at the party at Avenue nightclub. The bride-to-be wore a plunging dress covered in sequins.

"This babe is getting hitched!!! Congrats Lala!!! I'm so happy for you two!!! @lalakent @randallemmettfilms #pumprules," Scheana Marie captioned the post.

Emmett, a producer and the co-founder of Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films, posted a snapshot Sunday of Kent and Schroeder at the bash.

"Im so lucky thank you @stassischroeder and everyone who came out to celebrate last night!!!!! @lalakent," he wrote.

Kent voiced her love for Emmett in a post on her own account.

"Last night. WE'RE ENGAGED, BABY! I looooove youuuuu! @randallemmettfilms," she captioned a photo with her fiance.

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!

Kent and Emmett got engaged in September during a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Kent subsequently told People she is "so excited" for her wedding.

"We are so excited to start planning the rest of our lives together and I'm excited to put as much detail as Randall did in our engagement into our wedding!" she said.

Kent came to fame on "Vanderpump Rules," which premiered its seventh season on Bravo this month.

The show revolves around "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Lisa Vanderpump and the staff at her restaurant Sur.Editors Note: The following article was originally published by our friends at OFFGRID. It appears here in its entirety with their permission.

These Principles from Counter-Custody Expert Ed Calderon Can Make You a Kidnappers Worst Nightmare

In May 2017, Frank Massabki and his fiancee, Jennifer, traveled to Mexico City to scout locations for their upcoming wedding. An hour after renting a car in the city, they were rear-ended by another vehicle. The couple told Inside Edition that they stepped out to inspect the damage, but were approached by several men with guns who threw them into the backseat and drove them to a location they didnt recognize. The kidnappers bound their wrists with shoelaces, blindfolded them, and said they planned to demand a ransom. The men then attempted to sexually assault Jennifer, but she fought back, receiving a punch to the face that broke her nose. During this struggle, Frank managed to escape from his crude restraints and ran to call for help. Realizing they had lost control, the kidnappers fled, and the couple were able to return home to the United States.

As a result of countless melodramatic Hollywood depictions, kidnapping may seem like a distant threat  the sort of thing that only happens if youre a secret agent, millionaire businessman, or key witness in a mafia murder trial. But the unfortunate reality is that it does happen to ordinary people like the Massabkis, especially in impoverished countries where ruthless criminals and corrupt officials view foreigners as high-value targets. And if these individuals cant get what they want, most wont hesitate to resort to torture, rape, or murder.

Eds Manifesto: Counter-Custody Training

Ed Calderon, who you may recognize from our Survivalist Spotlight interview in Issue 25, has forged a career as a specific type of survival instructor. Based on firsthand experience with the cartels during his time as a Mexican law enforcement officer, Calderon has developed an in-depth curriculum that teaches students how to avoid abduction and escape captivity. These courses are more than just academic theory  they place students in simulated kidnapping scenarios, and give each individual a jarring glimpse of the physical and psychological trauma that can ensue.

We recently attended one of Eds two-day counter-custody courses, and learned several skills that can help you turn the tables on kidnappers and increase your odds of making it home alive. These principles can help you avoid unnecessary attention from would-be attackers, and develop the resolve to escape life-threatening illegal imprisonment.

1. Know Thy Enemy

Situational awareness and threat identification are cornerstones of self-defense, whether youre concerned about theft, assault, or abduction. Given Eds experience in Mexico, the first portion of the class was dedicated to spotting cartel members and their associates. If you think that these individuals only exist south of the border, hell be the first to tell you that youre sorely mistaken  demand for street drugs and human trafficking has maintained a healthy network throughout the United States.

There are many physical cues that can help you identify someone whos accustomed to violence. A crooked nose, cauliflower ears, and scarring on the knuckles are clear signs of physical brawls; a callus on the middle finger of the dominant hand speaks of many hours rubbing against the trigger guard of a weapon. Muscular physical build isnt necessarily an indicator, as many hardened criminals are overweight or out of shape. Tattoos are also hit or miss, as high-level criminals know better than to brand themselves with identifying marks. In modern cartel circles, streetwear fashion is increasingly popular  skinny jeans and high-end sneakers have replaced stereotypical cowboy apparel and snakeskin boots.

Above: Students were blindfolded, doused in aerosol body spray, and exposed to continuous loud music as a form of sensory deprivation.

Ed says cartel members are often armed to the teeth with weapons ranging from full-auto-converted civilian ARs and AKs to grenades and belt-fed machine guns. Unsurprisingly, gun laws in the U.S. and Mexico havent prevented them from acquiring these weapons. Fighting tactics and communications are generally primitive, but this is changing as new-generation cartel members realize the value of thermal optics, drones, and other modern resources. Restraints often consist of surplus or off-brand handcuffs, rope, duct tape, and commercial zip ties or purpose-built zip cuffs. These basic materials are combined in devious variations  for example, tethering cuffs to a belt loop to restrict arm movement.

Above: You may have seen videos depicting how to break out of zip ties using a swift downward motion of the arms. Cartel members saw them too, and developed these vampire cuffs to cut open the wrists of captives who try to break free.

The ability to piece together these clues and understand the threat early can provide time to defend against it instead of being blindsided. Knowing your enemy also lets you know what to expect if youre taken captive.

2. Never Go Without Tools

In any survival situation, tools provide a tremendous advantage, and this is especially true in captivity. With proper training, items such as handcuff keys, shims, a Kevlar cord saw, and a sharp blade can help you escape most restraints. However, getting these tools through a rudimentary pat down  much less a thorough search  isnt an easy task.

Above: Handcuffs, scraps of cord, and duct tape were combined to make multi-stage restraints that selectively restricted movement.

During the counter-custody class, students practiced escaping handcuffs in various positions using cuff keys and shims. We were then tasked with concealing these tools to make it through a head-to-toe search. This process led to an acronym Ed Calderon refers to as ACPN:

Access: Can you get to the tool while wearing cuffs? What if its behind your back? What if youre blindfolded and lying face-down? The waistline and ankles are generally easiest to access while restrained.

Concealment: Can the tool be hidden from a visual inspection, pat-down, metal detector, or even a strip search? This must be balanced with accessibility, since deep-concealed items may not be reachable when you need them.

Above: Ed Calderon showed us a shim retained in the stitching on the inside of his belt loop, and a hidden cuff key slipped into the waistband of his jeans.

Permanence: Will the item stay with you in a SHTF situation? For example, your fancy SERE kit paracord bracelet will almost certainly be removed by kidnappers, so storing critical items there is unwise.

Narrative: If your tools are found, what do they say about you? A concealed ceramic knife may lead captors to think youre a spy or assassin; a set of lockpicks could be considered burglary tools. Also consider disposability and traceability  a dollar store paring knife is superior to an expensive dagger engraved with a serial number.

3. Prepare to Improvise

In many cases, carrying purpose-built tools isnt an option. Perhaps the search is extremely thorough, or the consequences of getting caught are too severe to risk carrying them. In these cases, youll have to improvise once youve cleared security.

Above: Students were told to conceal escape tools for each scenario, and were then thoroughly searched before being restrained. In the final test, pants and shoes were also confiscated.

One key point stuck with us: You dont have to carry what you need  you just have to get the materials to make what you need. Knives might be banned where youre going, but there are countless unrestricted items you can carry to craft a deadly shiv in a few minutes. A toothbrush can be sharpened into a point on sandpaper or concrete; rubbing a clear plastic BIC pen rapidly against carpet makes a syringe-like ventilator weapon in less than 10 seconds. A basic metal hair clip or the tweezers from a Swiss Army Knife serve as surprisingly effective handcuff shims.

Ed describes this mindset as software over hardware. Despite the undeniable value of tools, knowledge and resourcefulness are far more valuable.

Above: Students crafted concealable shivs from wood, plastic, and metal. One particularly vicious weapon (at bottom right) even included breakaway cactus spines attached with electrical tape.

4. The Clock is Ticking

In general, captivity situations dont get easier as time passes. They get more difficult and more dangerous. Minutes after youre taken prisoner, you may still have your shoes, clothes, and concealed tools. After a few hours or days, its likely that these items will be found and stripped away. The last thing you want is to end up naked, blindfolded, and hogtied. On top of this, abuse and malnutrition will gradually weaken your body and dull your senses, or your assailants may decide youre a liability and execute you. Calderon tells us many of those abducted by the cartels are never found. Theyre killed, the flesh is melted in caustic soda, and the bones are dumped in mass graves.

Above: A length of braided Kevlar cord (sold in bulk as competition kite string) can easily be woven through the waistband or inseam. Looping it around each foot and moving in a pedaling motion can cut through many restraints in seconds.

The point is simple: The best time to escape is immediately. Look for the first possible opportunity and seize it like your life depends on it  it probably does.

5. Fight for Your Life

Escape isnt always as simple as breaking your restraints and sneaking past a distracted guard. In many cases, you may have to fight your way through an armed individual to create an opening. In these cases, youll need to use the element of surprise and attack with deadly force.

Since its unlikely youll have access to a gun, knife, or any other purpose-built weapon in these scenarios, start thinking like a prisoner  make a shiv. A slim and solid piercing weapon that reaches the length of your outstretched thumb is enough to kill. Repeated sewing machine strikes with a hammer-fist motion are powerful, especially when targeting vital areas like the subclavian artery (behind the collarbone) or the heart (two finger widths below the left nipple). Even simple items such as a screwdriver or sharp piece of plastic can be deadly in this capacity, and little to no experience is needed to wield them. Calderon reinforced this point by showing the class several graphic LiveLeak videos of stabbing incidents (here's one fatal example), and letting students watch as the victims bled out in minutes. These unfortunate individuals are often fatally wounded before they even realize theyre being stabbed.

When youre facing captivity, torture, or worse, fighting fair is off the table. Using deadly force with an improvised weapon may be your only way to survive.

Escaping Handcuffs

Many people assume handcuffs are only used by law enforcement officers on criminals  or perhaps used in the bedroom if youre feeling adventurous. Unfortunately, criminals have firsthand experience with the effectiveness of these devices, and will have no qualms about using them to illegally restrain their captives. Knowing how to break free from a pair of handcuffs is a valuable skill, since doing so may be the last thing your captors expect.

1. A cuff key (left) and shim (right) from SerePick provide two effective means of escaping most standard handcuffs. Calderon recommends a metal key, since plastic keys are easy to snap and may generate the wrong narrative if found by authorities.

2. The shim is inserted into the locking mechanism atop the ratcheting teeth.

3. While applying downward and inward pressure to the shim, the cuffs are tightened by at least two clicks to force the shim deeper into the mechanism.

4. Once the shim is fully inserted, holding it in place while rolling the wrist will cause the cuff to slide open.

5. The open cuff can now be used as an improvised impact weapon.

The Prison Wallet

Where do you hide tools when theres nowhere left to hide? The answer is an unpleasant but necessary option that has developed a reputation among prison inmates. No matter what nickname you use or how many jokes you make about this smelly stash spot, it provides a last-resort means of smuggling essential escape tools past a strip-search. If your life depends on it, you wont be laughing.

Ed showed us a few examples of caches that are effective for this purpose, including a metal lip balm tube from the 1960s, a WWII-era threaded metal capsule, and a custom tube made out of bamboo. These containers are small enough to be retrieved safely, but large enough to carry keys, shims, lockpicks, or even a blade. Plastic and other fragile materials should be avoided since they may break open in transit, leading to a very awkward trip to the emergency room.

Conclusion

For many of us, the likelihood of being kidnapped or held prisoner is relatively low. But as any prepared individual should know, we must weigh the likelihood of an event with the severity of its consequences. These scenarios are some of the most dangerous you could ever face, since they place you almost entirely at the mercy of captors who are likely to be merciless. But by leveraging these five principles, youll be better prepared for captivity and give yourself a fighting chance at becoming the one who got away.

Sources:Young folklorico dancer performs Friday, Dec. 14, 2018 at Navidad Folklorica, presented by Ballet Folklorico Oro De Mexico at the Porterville Memorial Auditorium. Dancers from Porerville High School, Monache High School, Granite Hills High School and Infantil Orgullo Mexicano entertained hundreds of audience.The aftermath of a five-car collision Monday morning on Highway 65 at Linda Vista Ave. in Porterville that ended the frenzied crime spree of Gustavo Garcia, who committed multiple shootings and robberies over the previous 24 hours around Tulare County, including a homicide in Visalia. Authorities say Garcia was driving southbound of SR 65 fleeing officers when he crossed over into the northbound lanes in a deliberate attempt to hit other vehicles.'The recent incident in the US has no bearing in India.'

'We are not aware of any request from the US to India about 5G.'

Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

Chinese telecom giant Huawei's Chief Executive Officer in India, Jay Chen, said the company was ready to start 5G trials the country in the first quarter (Q1) of 2019.

He was responding to speculation that the government might ban it from supplying 5G gear.

Chen said: "We have already received the invitation from the DoT (department of telecommunications) to conduct the trials.

"We expect to start the trials in Q1 of 2019, which could go on for two-three quarters or longer."

The CEO said it was in talks with the government on the specifics of cities in which trials would be conducted.

For this purpose, Huawei is planning to create an inclusive ecosystem by partnering with telcos, academics, and local vendors.

As soon as spectrum is allotted for 5G, India-specific use cases would be tried out.

Huawei has been facing headwinds globally, since the US banned its entry citing security concerns over its products.

The US has also been pushing its allies to prevent the Chinese company from participating in 5G roll-outs in these countries.

Responding to the call, Australia, New Zealand, and even Japan have either banned or are putting restrictions on Chinese companies.

There has been speculation that India, too, might follow suit.

Responding to the US ban and speculations about India, Chen said: "We continue to receive full support from the government and industry partners alike.

"The recent incident in the US has no bearing in India.

"We are not aware of any request from the US to India about 5G."

Chen also said India was a key market and the company had the largest and most-localised presence here, outside China.

In 5G, too, the Chinese company had conducted India's first network trial earlier this year with Bharti Airtel.

At the recently concluded Indian Mobile Congress, Huawei demonstrated three cutting-edge use cases on live 5G network in partnership with Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio.

With Bharti Airtel, it demonstrated AR-based holographic communication while with RJio with it demonstrated telemedicine-based remote diagnosis.Not only were Urjit and Rajan outsiders, they also hired laterally, bypassing the existing talent, especially in the field of economics

With a former bureaucrat at the helm of affairs at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), employees are expecting the return of the old times where everything worked to well-established traditions and norms.

For, the central bank is a tightly bureaucratic, conservative and closed organisation that doesnt take departure from tradition lightly, particularly when it comes to outsiders not aware of the rule book.

That also explains why the central bank worked smoothly with the government when the governor was from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

In many ways, it is the culture that the past two governors, Urjit Patel and Raghuram Rajan, upset the most. Not only were they outsiders, they also hired laterally, bypassing the existing talent, especially in the field of economics, when RBI staffers pride themselves on their domain knowledge.

These lateral hires were uneasy arrangements, inviting resentment not easily ameliorated.

It is now for Shaktikanta Das (pictured) to restore that old culture at the RBI, something the central bank staffers want the most.

At least, some of the senior staffers say the past five years had been stressful at the central bank.

Lower-level employees, though, admired Rajan and Patel because both fought with the government on employee rights, especially on the pension issue.

Patel introduced a special medical scheme for retired employees to extend some benefits in lieu of the revised pension scheme.

Das initial days have been promising, say insiders. Last week, at the L K Jha memorial lecture (Jha was RBI governor and belonged to the Indian Civil Service), the new governor greeted the audience with folded hands. Dignitaries and the guests apart, most of the hall was filled with Reserve Bank employees of all ranks, who felt a connect with the gesture.

It was an unprecedented gesture in recent memory, said a mid-senior level employee present at the event.

Much of this was missing under Rajan and Patel. In the past five years, employees tried hard to adjust to the working styles of the celebrated global economists or helicopter drops as central bank staffers like to call them, implying that they were specialists brought in at a time of crisis.

Rajan came at a time when the rupee was undergoing a crisis of confidence, plunging every day to record low levels.

Rajans first-day press conference dramatically reversed the situation.

Patels rise to the top at the central bank followed a more natural choice, filling the post left vacant by Rajans non-renewal of contract.

But there was the challenging demonetisation planned for him.

Patel and Rajan were also very different in their personalities.

Rajan loved to talk, and Patel liked being alone. What the central bank needed was a balanced approach, said another senior staff member.

Both Rajan and Patel violated the cardinal principles through their open criticism of the government.

This is something Das is not expected to do even as he could be as much a defender of central bank autonomy as his illustrious predecessors.

In all probability, Das may not agree to transfer the Rs 3 trillion of RBI reserves to the government, even as there could be some increase in yearly pay-outs.

This happened even during Rajans tenure, when the annual dividend jumped from Rs 360 billion to Rs 57,000 crore under the recommendations of an RBI-appointed committee.

The dividend pay-out continues to remain high and increased every year till demonetisation dented much of it.

Senior RBI executives say all governments have been unreasonable in their demands, but they also know the central bank wont be in a position to entertain those requests.

The whole process is that of an elaborate role play.

The RBI is expected to examine every demand carefully before it is communicated back in mild terms about it being untenable.

It is never the culture that you go out in public and say that the government has been unreasonable. That sets in motion a number of factors that sends the situation out of control, said a senior central banker.

A seasoned bureaucrat who is aware of the hierarchy and egos of various players involved, Das is unlikely to upset visitors.

My experience of working with IAS officers is that they never do anything that disturbs the balance of the system, said another senior official.

This officials past working experience with Das, when he was in the ministry, says the new RBI governor is a level-headed, balanced person, but strictly his own man.

Das is expected to be consultative in his approach, expect the RBI staffers.

The culture of the central bank is not to make a noise but work tirelessly to a shared goal of economic stability, they say.

It is important to have the communication channel open both internally and with the government. All the present issues have arisen because communication channels were tightly shut, said a senior RBI executive.

Das is expected to open up those rusted channels and make the relations between the two warring parties smoother.

Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/ReutersCOAI has argued that in India the government has been working to keep telecom networks secure, with reviews of the security policy and the insertion of specific clauses into the licences to prevent any risk to network security.

In a twist to the controversy over Indias national security and the Chinese giant Huawei Technologies, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) defended the company, saying it acknowledges and appreciates the Chinese company to be in the forefront of 5G innovation.

In a letter to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) secretary on Monday, the COAI, which represents telecom service providers, said: They (Huawei) are suitably equipped to prepare operators and industry to build 5G capabilities in operations, in organisation and most importantly in the eco-system and to ensure they are fully compliant with all government requirements.

This defence of Huawei came after it emerged that the Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC) plans to write to the National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, asking for restrictions to be imposed on the use of equipment manufactured by Huawei and by all other Chinese majors.

The reason for wanting restrictions is the fear that Indias national security could be compromised by a company such as Huawei that, though private, could work with the Chinese government to intercept calls or remotely control networks.

The background to the TEPCs anxiety is that several other countries have imposed bans or restrictions on the use of Huaweis 5G telecom equipment.

For the COAI, these concerns are unfounded. In the letter, it says that arbitrary exclusion of certain companies on hearsay may be detrimental to the overall digital communications aspirations of the nation.

It further adds that the DoT is competent to judge for itself if there are any concerns in the Indian context and to put suitable measures to ensure the security of customers and that of the country is in no way compromised.

While Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and the US have banned or restricted the use of Huaweis 5G equipment, the DoT has given it permission to do trial runs for 5G which will begin in the first quarter of 2019.

COAI has argued that in India the government has been working to keep telecom networks secure, with reviews of the security policy and the insertion of specific clauses into the licences to prevent any risk to network security.

A licence amendment in 2011 has mandated a security audit of the telecom networks, something which the DoT has been doing regularly.

No equipment is allowed in the network without proper test certifications.

Moreover, as part of the licensing conditions, the telecom service provider has to ensure that all equipment installed in the network is safe.

However, the Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association of India backs the TEPC view. In a recent statement, it said the government should review buying equipment from Chinese companies to protect the national interest.

Photograph: ReutersMissed these amazing pictures this year? We give you a recap.

Bollywood's glamorous lifestyle is no longer a secret.

Thanks to Instagram, fans are privy to every tiny detail about their favourite star -- from the designer they are wearing to the destination they are holidaying in.

But it's the more personal posts that reveal they're just as human.

Our favourite Instagram pictures from Bollywood this year offer glimpses of their cheer, children and crisis.

Sukanya Verma rifts through Instagram's amazing celebrity pictures, and brings you the best.

AB meets ABram

Photograph: Kind courtesy Amitabh Bachchan/Instagram

Who wouldn't want to be related to Amitabh Bachchan? Shah Rukh Khan's youngest child ABram agrees.

The Big B warmly recounts how the five year old believes him to be 'his father's father' and wished to know why the superstar doesn't live with them in Mannat.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham sequel, anyone?

KJo's biggest multistarrer

Photograph: Kind courtesy Karan Johar/Instagram

Speaking of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, this cozy picture of Bollywood's biggest stars is a perfect example of letting bygones be bygones.

Things could get awkward considering the history between Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone and their respective loves Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh.

Or even Shah Rukh and Aamir Khan who engaged in a war of wisecracks not too long ago.

Except the sheer warmth of their togetherness leaves little room for cynicism.

Being Virat's Chand Ka Tukda

Photograph: Kind courtesy Anushka Sharma/Instagram

Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli's karva chauth celebration is one of the most liked tweets of 2018.

And why not?

The photograph captures their adoration for one another most romantically.

Bonds of love

Photograph: Kind courtesy Sara Ali Khan/Instagram

Sara Ali Khan tying a rakhi to her baby brother Taimur is easily one of the cutest sights we saw this year.

Clearly, there's no ill-will between Saif's children from his ex-wife Amrita Singh and Taimur's mommy Kareena.

The last one

Photograph: Kind courtesy Sridevi/Instagram

We miss Sridevi. We always will.

This last picture she updated before her untimely demise during a family wedding is special.

That's how we'll remember her -- sparkling, smiling and surrounded by loved ones.

Kapoor and Daughters

Photograph: Kind courtesy Sonam Kapoor/Instagram

The manner in which the entire Kapoor family gathered around to shield and support Sridevi's daughters is undeniably touching.

On Janhvi's 21st birthday, just days after her mom's passing, all her cousins rallied around the youngster.

Happy birthday, Sunshine!

Photograph: Kind courtesy Alia Bhatt/Instagram

Alia Bhatt's adorable birthday wishes for her beau Ranbir Kapoor and Brahmastra co-star gave us warm fuzzies.

Can't wait to see these two talented actors make magic on screen.

Like mommy like daughter

Photograph: Kind courtesy Aishwarya Rai Bachchan/Instagram

'My Aaradhya'.

'My Life'.

'My Eternal Love'.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's Instagram account is full of mommy-daughter PDA.

But this one set against Disneyland Paris is our absolute favourite.

Thugs of Gaul-istan!

Photograph: Kind courtesy Aamir Khan/Instagram

Not one to do anything half-heartedly even if it's just his son's pre-birthday bash in Matheran, Aamir Khan makes sure he gets into the skin of his character.

The actor works every bit of his famous perfectionism as Obelix while wife Kiran Rao and their son Azad are happy to be Getafix and Asterix.

Let's not forget Dogmatix!

Sonam Ki Shaadi

Photograph: Kind courtesy Anaita Shroff Adajania/Instagram

Candid shots are the best.

This one of a giggling Sonam Kapoor and besotted Anand Ahuja on their wedding day gets our vote over all those magazine spread worthy-photus in a heartbeat.

Sallu and Ammi!

Photograph: Kind courtesy Salman Khan/Instagram

Salman Khan takes time off in Malta with 'the love of his life'.

Also the one who has stuck by him the longest -- mommy Salma.

Saif, Soha, spouses and babies

Photograph: Kind courtesy Soha Ali Khan/Instagram

Saif Ali Khan and sister Soha, their significant others -- Kareena and Kunal Khemu and respective kids -- Taimur and Inaaya enjoy a family vacation at a fancy Maldives resort.

Perks of being moderately famous, huh?

Ain't nobody like my desi girl!

Photograph: Kind courtesy Priyanka Chopra/Instagram

Roka, bridal showers, reception, saat pheras, the works -- the Priyanka Chopra-Nick Jonas wedding was one elaborate affair.

As stunning as she looked at every single celebration, that moment of her dancing in the cheerful yellow lehenga on her mehendi day is quintessential Bollywood dulhania.

Shahid's big announcement

Photograph: Kind courtesy Shahid Kapoor/Instagram

Shahid and Mira Kapoor picked a fun and creative way to announce their second child's arrival.

Big sister Misha's participation and enthusiasm for the same makes it all the more attractive.

DeepVeer make it official!

Photograph: Kind courtesy Deepika Padukone/Instagram

The power couple's Italian wedding was a strictly private affair and the lack of inhibition it allowed them, as they embrace the biggest day of their lives, is unmistakable in their glorious wedding album.

We love the masti-filled mood around Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh's beaming smiles during one of the many, many ceremonies.

Sonali Bendre's heartbreaking revelation

Photograph: Kind courtesy Sonali Bendre/Instagram

'Sometimes, when you least expect it, life throws you a curveball. I have recently been diagnosed with a high grade cancer that has metastised, which we frankly did not see coming'.

Neither did we, Sonali.

And yet the remarkable courage, grace and determination with which she's accepted this painful challenge is inspiring to say the least.

More power to you.

The Khan parivaar

Photograph: Kind courtesy Gauri Khan/Instagram

SRK and Gauri's brood has definitely inherited their parents' stylish demeanour.

Aryan, Suhana, ABram show off their swag whilst holidaying with their mum and dad in Pompei, Italy.

No 1 Family!

Photograph: Kind courtesy Varun Dhawan/Instagram

The maker of all the No 1 movies, dadu David Dhawan and his wife turned dadi Lali, chachu Varun, daddy Rohit and mommy Jaanvi welcome the newest entrant in the family in twinning T-shirts.'If Rahul Gandhi's authority was absolute, he could have picked his man.'

That this did not happen shows there is more inner party democracy in the Congress than otherwise assumed.'

Compare this with the ease with which outsiders like Adityanath in UP, Khattar in Haryana and Fadnavis in Maharashtra were picked without public dissent,' says Aakar Patel.

IMAGE: Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at a press conference at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi. Photograph: Manvender Vashist/PTI Photo

When I turned 18 and was able to vote, the member of parliament from Surat was Kashiram Rana of the BJP. He remained MP till I was almost 40. He was a popular grassroots figure and won six times and was never defeated, being also a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cabinet.

Without any reason or scandal, Rana was denied a ticket in 2008 from Gujarat and he died a few years later, a broken and disillusioned man. I will come to why I referred to him in a little while.

The Congress party had one good day when the votes for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were counted. The next day it was hammered again in the media for being unable to decide quickly on its leadership in these three states.

The party pointed out that this had happened to the Bharatiya Janata Party also, when it won in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra and so it was not unusual. But it felt unusual in the minds of many people and let's take a look at why.

The first thing is that we are told that Congress has a 'high command'. The party's leaders themselves use this term. It means a leadership above all the rest which has a final authority. It refers to the Gandhi family, mother and son, who control the party.

But the events of the day after the election show that this authority is not absolute. If it was, Rahul Gandhi could have picked his man and it would have ended there.

The fact that this did not happen can only mean that the high command' does not have the power to command in absolute terms.

This is not a bad thing by itself. It shows that there is more inner party democracy in the Congress than otherwise assumed.

Compare this with the ease with which outsiders like Yogi Adityanath in UP, M L Khattar in Haryana and Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra were picked without public dissent.

Each of them was given a chance over leaders who had been with the party and had built it in these states for decades, but their claims were ignored and they had to accept this.

This is also what happened to Kashiram Rana who was denied a ticket by then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.

It shows that it is the BJP that has a 'high command' that can impose its will on the second line of leadership without resistance and not the Congress.

We think of the Congress party as being a dictatorship internally because it is dynastic. I have referred to it as a private limited company where one family holds all the shares as opposed to the BJP which is more like a public limited company with wider shareholding.

But recent events show that this may not necessarily be the right way of looking at it.

There was no fear in the aggressive manner with which supporters appeared on television demanding their leader's elevation while the 'high command' was still deciding.

The dissent by Congress workers and supporters against what they thought the high command was about to do expressed itself in violence in Rajasthan.

The lack of absolute authority also showed in the sequence of events. The contenders from Rajasthan were called to Delhi for discussions. Then they were asked to return, but mid-way again asked to come to come back.

What does this tell us? Either it was difficult for the high command to decide or it was difficult for it to implement its decision.

The presence of Sonia and Priyanka (as reported by the media) around some of the meetings again indicates that this was something in which Congress President Rahul needed support.

The defiance by the old guard and their ultimate victory over the younger faces also shows a certain degree or independence. It tells us that the campaign victories of MP and Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh were not dependent on any significant extent on the Delhi leadership.

This is the difference between the two national parties. In the BJP it is assumed that Modi's contribution to a victory is so disproportionate that he has absolute authority in deciding what happens afterwards.

The last thing that we can surmise from the events is that the approach Rahul Gandhi has taken, or has been forced to take, is different from his father's.

When Rajiv took over, he addressed the internal issues by a threatening behaviour. He said in a speech about dissent inside the Congress that 'unko naani yaad dila denge.'

This is quite different from the manner in which Rahul dealt with those who disagreed. It is thought that Rahul wanted the younger and fresher faces of Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia to lead Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

That he was unable to get this done tells us a lot more about the Congress leadership and its structure and its limitations, than phrases like 'high command'.

Aakar Patel -- winner of the 2018 Prem Bhatia Award for Political Reporting -- is Executive Director, Amnesty International India. The views expressed here are his own.For Stalin and the DMK, the declaration was the essence of the commencement of seat-sharing talks with the Congress, and even more, the launch of their combined campaign for the LS polls. That meant the DMK had to send out a message also to the minorities in the state, who had deserted the DMK and very badly at that in the critical, post-Jaya R K Nagar assembly bypolls last year, says N Sathiya Moorthy.

IMAGE: Congress President Rahul Gandhi is presented a sword by DMK president MK Stalin at a public meeting after unveiling a life-size bronze statue of late Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in Chennai, on December 16, 2018. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/PTI Photo

The occasion was not one for a regional partner in the Congress-UPA to pronounce party president Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate of the common Opposition, that too without possible consultation within the existing combine and other national and regional parties that also want the BJP-NDA and Prime Minister Narendra Modi defeated in the Lok Sabha polls of May 2019.

Yet, the DMKs young president M K Stalin, hosting his first national Opposition conclave of a kind, did precisely that. In his speech at the party-organised function where UPA chief Sonia Gandhi unveiled late DMK supremo M Karunanidhis statue at Chennai on Sunday, Stalin left his proposal at that, without exactly seeking endorsement from the other national and regional leaders from non-Congress, non-DMK parties who were on the dais.

Going by post-Chennai media reactions of leaders from other parties who were present on the occasion, and those who were not present but may still join hands with the Congress, pre-poll or post-poll, Stalin did not seem to have consulted or informed them before making his declaration.

And, why?

Stalin was not addressing a national audience, or national party leaders, on this issue. Nor may have the DMK closed its post-poll options. The party is also equally aware of Rahul Gandhis weeks-old declaration that the Congress was ready to discuss the prime ministerial issue with other partners, post-poll.

For Stalin and the DMK, the declaration was the essence of the commencement of seat-sharing talks with the Congress, and even more, the launch of their combined campaign for the LS polls. That meant the DMK had to send out a message also to the minorities in the state, who had deserted the DMK and very badly at that in the critical, post-Jaya R K Nagar assembly bypolls last year.

Apart from the fact that the ruling AIADMK rebel candidate T T V Dhinakaran of what is now the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam swept the by-election by a huge margin, the DMK nominee also lost his security deposit. Suburban R K Nagar constituency in Chennai being a microcosm of Tamil Nadu, with near-equitable distribution of various castes and communities, rural-urban and rich-poor divide, though not of the elite variety so to say, the bypoll result was a big shock for the DMK leadership and strategists alike.

Their post-poll analysis showed that the DMK defeat owed to the money factor allegedly linked to Dhinakaran and also the ruling AIADMK. As they claimed, Stalin in particular had strictly discouraged the cash-for-vote concept, both as a new party policy and also to avoid getting caught by local police officials whom DMK cadres claimed were partisan.

Yet, the DMK had hoped to either win the bypoll, given the division of AIADMK votes, or getting the second slot, pushing one or the other of the ruling party factions to the third slot. The shocking loss of deposit for the party meant only one thing for the DMK strategists. It meant that the minorities had deserted the party wholesale.

And the reason?

Only weeks before the bypolls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, almost out of the blue, decided to call on ailing supremo Karunanidhi at his Gopalapuram residence in the city, and at short notice. Stalin, who was holidaying in the Gulf, rushed to receive the PM, after being sounded out reportedly by none other than the BJP boss Amit Shah.

Even without the Modi visit, the local media had begun speculating earlier that the BJP was keeping the DMK option for the LS polls in Tamil Nadu open, as the party was not sure of the ability of either or both the AIADMK factions, separately or together, to deliver the states 40 LS seats, including the one in Puducherry UT, to the NDA in elections 2019.

All of it seemed to have convinced the minority voters from the Muslim and Christian communities, as also a section of the local Dalits uncomfortable with the BJPs brand of casteist Hindutva, as some dubbed it, to vote en bloc for Dhinakaran. Or, so went the DMKs post-poll analysis, it is said.

According to some, these sections of the states voters, and many more, were also convinced that the new AIADMK leadership, more than under the late chief minister Jayalalithaa, was more BJP than the state BJP. Ironically, these voters were convinced that the AIADMK leadership would wilt under the weight of investigations by central agencies, whereas they were even more convinced that Dhinakaran and his jailed aunt V K Sasikala Natarajan would become more diffident than earlier owing to similar actions against them. The logic was illogical to say the least, but that however was the minorities voter-mood.

The DMK is convinced that sending out wrong signals, or no convincing signals, to the Congress at this stage could lead to a continuing split in the minorities vote share in the state ahead of the LS polls. The Stalin leadership wanted to strike the iron when it was hot, and not chase the minorities votes after some sections thereof had jumped to avoidable pre-conceived conclusions.

There is another, more immediate reasons. A full 50 years-plus after losing power in the state, the Congress in Tamil Nadu is less than a shadow of its original self. Independent pollsters do not put the partys stand-alone vote-base at anything more than five per cent, some uncharitable sections putting it at even half that figure.

Yet, the Tamil Nadu Congress is a store-house of yesteryear leaders, who are spent forces in reality. Yet, in any seat share talks with the DMK ally in an anti-BJP election of the kind, state Congress leaders, who all are aspiring candidates for LS and/or assembly tickets, have been able to convince the high command of their need for contesting at every turn.

These Congress leaders have also been able to convince the high command to demand and obtain from the DMK ally in particular a higher number of votes than the partys real strength could justify -- all because of the pro-minority image of the Congress, as much in the state as at the national level.

As late Karunanidhi went public with the Congresss contribution to the alliance in the 2016 assembly elections, the party could win only eight of the 41 seats that the high command forced the regional partner to part with. In most other seats, the Congress candidates fared too badly to give any hope for the future.

This was in an election in which the DMK combine, which included the IUML, obtained 40 per cent votes against the victorious AIADMKs 41 per cent -- a mere one per cent margin. But that was enough to make the difference to seat shares. With polling for two seats countermanded, the AIADMK bagged 136 seats against the DMK combines 98, including the Congresss eight, in the 234-member state assembly.

The story was no different or no better earlier, either. As if by putting the gun at DMKs head, the ruling Congress ally at the Centre obtained an unimaginatively high number of 68 seats in elections 2011, again for the state assembly. Apart from the 2-G scam, the poor performance by Congress candidates did in the alliance, according to the DMKs reported post-poll analysis at the time.

Hence the DMKs reported decision to break away from the Congress in the crucial LS polls of 2014, in which both fared badly, going beyond Jayas Lady vs Modi? question to the states voters and the otherwise sweeping Modi effect elsewhere across the country.

Now, by jumping the gun and declaring Rahul as the DMKs prime ministerial favourite, Stalin seems to have sent out a public message to the Congress high command, to cooperate with his party on seat-sharing and seat-identification process, without falling prey to the machinations of failed party leaders in the state.

Even without it all, Stalin has a real problem on hand. Having branded Modi as a failed PM and his government as anti-minorities, et al, a host of parties, both national and regional, are knocking at the DMKs doors for seats, which they have concluded they could win only in the combined DMK-Congress company.

The list includes the CPI, CPM, MDMK, VCK, and possibly the PMK and the DMDK. They may have an option in the Dhinakarans AMMK, or even the AIADMK sans BJP, as their cadres are not favourably disposed to such an idea.

Barring the PMK, which came a distant third with 5.6 per cent vote-share in the 2016 assembly polls despite a long and massive campaign, other aspiring allies of the DMK combine have even fewer votes than the Congress, but without value addition in the form of pro-minorities image or a possible prime ministerial candidate in Rahul Gandhi, now.

Worse still, like in the state Congress, there are enough aspirants for an LS ticket in these parties, and their leaderships political ego too would not permit them to settle for fewer seats than what could convince their cadres. With Stalin still seen as young and unsure of himself (as some of these aspiring allies seem to have concluded), they too would want to strike when the iron is hot -- or, not too hot.

Against this background, Stalin would have to ensure that the Congress is on his side fully and whole-heartedly and would settle for a reasonable share of LS seats, without insisting on numbers that the DMK cadres cannot see his leadership as yielding just now. He may then be able to negotiate from a position of relative strength with other aspiring allies.

However, Stalins task may have been made more difficult by the perceived weakening of Dhinakarans AMMK and his voters going back to the parent party ahead of the LS polls. This could mean that the DMK strategists would have to look at vote-shares closer to the 2016 proportions even if the party were to be considered the favourite.

This would mean that the DMK could not afford to let these other aspiring allies to go the AIADMK camp, rather the party would want to get all those seats for the combine, however small their individual shares may be -- but without enough number of seats to spare them, the demands for which may be disproportionate to their real strength, independent of the cumulative value addition it might entail.

This should also explain why the DMK leadership chose not to seat MDMKs Vaiko and VCKs Thol Thirumavalavan at the statue function dais alongside Sonia and Rahul, but provided them seats in the front audience row. There is also the unpredictable pro-LTTE calls of these two aspiring allies, which at times end up taking an anti-national tone and an anti-Congress tenor, leaving the DMK and Congress partners possibly embarrassed and the BJP rival at the high end on the nationalist campaign, in the state and outside.

N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and political analyst, is director, Observer Research Foundation, Chennai Chapter.Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed has donned the hat of a column writer for a leading Urdu newspaper, stirring a debate among journalists as to how the media house allowed the head of a banned terror group to write on the Kashmir issue and the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.

Saeed was declared a global terrorist by the United States and the United Nations after the 2008 Mumbai attack and was put under house arrest in November 2008 but freed by a court some months later.

He carries a $10 million American bounty on his head for his role in terror activities.

Illegal aggression of India on East Pakistan... Why Pakistan is avoiding advocating for Kashmiri people written by Professor Hafiz Mohammad Saeed appeared in Daily Dunya (an Urdu publication of Dunya media group of Mian Amer Mahmood) on Sunday.

The article carries a picture of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and some young men holding guns in Dhaka.

Allowing the head of a banned terror group to contribute for a known media house has stirred a debate with journalists questioning whether the company in question allowed Saeed to write due to some direct links with the owner or under someones pressure.

A court has ordered the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to ensure that the Pakistani media does not display Saeeds pictures.

In his article, Saeed said Indira hatched a conspiracy to dismember Pakistan, lamenting the then Pakistani rulers for their failure.

Saeed has extensively explained the role of India in the creation of Bangladesh and expressed his opinion as to why Kashmir is important for Pakistan.

He said Pakistan should support the Kashmiri people.

India has been demanding Pakistan not only to arrest the Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder and try him in the Mumbai attack case but also punish all those involved in this carnage.

Saeed launched the Milli Muslim League party in August 2017 with a so-called mission to implement the ideology of Pakistan in accordance with the 1973 Constitution.

In April this year, the US placed the MML on its list of foreign terror organisations for its links with the LeT.

The government has said that the MML is an off-shoot of Saeeds Jamat-ud Dawah, which has been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including some Americans.For the kin of Hamid Ansari, the software engineers return to India after six years in a Pakistan jail is nothing short of Bakri Eid festivities.

IMAGE: Hamid Nihal Ansari with his mother after he was released by Pakistan after six years. Photograph: PTI Photo

The 33-year-old from Mumbai was reunited with his family after he returned to India through the Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday evening.

Hamid is expected to reach Mumbai on Wednesday and family and friends are all set to welcome him back after the long gap.

This feels nothing short of Bakri Eid. This is a big day for us and the family is going to celebrate his return to the motherland, Hamids cousin Zia Ur Rahman said.

Zia Ur, 43, said: Our family is very happy on the arrival of Hamid and we are grateful to Allah for bringing him back in our midst.

WATCH: Hamid Nihal Ansari crosses over into India from Pakistan

Hamid was released from a jail in Peshawar on Tuesday for repatriation. He was arrested in 2012 for illegally entering Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.

The software engineer was subsequently sentenced to three years imprisonment by a military court in 2015 for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card. The Mumbai

residents term ended on December 15, but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.

Zia Ur, who is also a software engineer and works with Tata Consultancy Services, stays with his family in Mumbai Central area.

He credited Hamids mother for ensuring her sons safe return to India. It was a fight between the aged mother and the system in which the mother won, he said, adding she single-handedly struggled to get Hamid back.

The Indian government, specially External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan played very crucial role in Hamids release and our family is grateful to these leaders, he said.

I spoke to Hamids brother, who was at the Wagah border to receive him. He said they are returning home on Wednesday, he said.

He said his 70-year-old mother Meharunnisa regularly prayed for Hamid and his family.

Now he is back safe and secure, let us give him enough time to settle down and then I will go to meet him. But for now, he needs a break. Let him forget everything that happened with him in Pakistan prison, he said.The Bharatiya Janata Party and its ally Janata Dal-United slammed Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath for his comments linking youth of his state being deprived of jobs to migrants coming from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with even opposition parties like the Samajwadi Party and the Congress ally Rashtriya Janata Dal expressing their disapproval.

As his remarks made soon after he took oath of office Monday snowballed into a political row, Congress president Rahul Gandhi told reporters he will look into the matter and offer a reply later.

Nath had said in Bhopal, Lot of industries are set up in which people from other states, like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, come to work. I do not want to criticise them, but the youth of Madhya Pradesh are deprived (of jobs).

Highlighting Naths own outsider background, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya took a dig at him wondering whether whatever he has said should be implemented in politics as well.

The BJP leader said the Congress leader was born in Kanpur, studied in West Bengal and has now become the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, as he accused the new chief minister of promoting divisive politics and regional chauvinism.

Such a statement does not behove a chief minister, he said.

Nath is a nine-time MP from Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh.

Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who like Vijaywargiya is also a leader from Madhya Pradesh, accused Nath of misleading people and said industries in a state always give primacy to locals in jobs.

He has also been a union minister. He should be aware of these rules. What he is talking about is already in place... By making such a claim, he is misleading people, he told reporters.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, who was a Congress ally in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls last year, said Naths comments were wrong.

He said such statements targeting people from north India are often made by some leaders in Maharashtra and asserted it is the north Indians who decide who will rule the country.

The Delhi BJP unit staged a protest outside Naths residence in the national capital and painted his nameplate black.

In Patna, Congress was isolated as its ally RJD criticised Nath with its spokesman Bhai Virendra saying such comments should be avoided as every citizen of the country is free to live and work anywhere.

Joining the issue, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumars Janata Dal-United, a BJP ally, hit out at the Congress.

Its spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said it is ironical that Rahul Gandhi keeps talking about the Constitution being under threat from the Narendra Modi government but a senior leader of his own party takes a stand that is nothing short of an assault on the countrys federal structure.

Bihar BJP chief Nityanand Rai alleged the Congress has started spewing the venom of parochialism no sooner than it won power in Madhya Pradesh.

It should apologise to the people of UP and Bihar, though this may be expecting too much from a party which is yet to express regret over the role of its Gujarat MLA Alpesh Thakore in attacks on Biharis in the western state, he said.

However, state Congress working president Kaukab Qadri defended Nath, saying he was not spreading hatred against people of UP and Bihar, or threatening to drive them out, something which was witnessed in the BJP-ruled Gujarat and which has been a pet theme of Shiv Sena, the BJPs ally in Maharashtra.

He said Naths thrust was on giving incentives to employment-generating industries in the state, which he will be governing.

Communist Party of India asked Nath not to follow the ideals of the Shiv Sena and as moving from one state to the other for employment is a common phenomenon.

Speaking to reporters in Parliament complex in the national capital, union minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh lashed out at Nath and sought an apology from Gandhi.

They (people from UP and Bihar) contribute to the progress of the states (they work in) through their hard work. Kamal Nath should answer whether India is in a federal structure or not. Congress president Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the people of Bihar and UP, he said.Hamid Nihal Ansari was awarded imprisonment by a Pakistani military court in December 2015 after being slapped with charges of espionage and involvement in anti-state activities on him.

IMAGE: Hamid Nihal Ansari, who was repatriated by Pakistan after six years in jail, being received by his mother Fauzia Ansari, at Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar. Photograph: PTI Photo

Indian national Hamid Nihal Ansari, who was arrested eight years back after he came to Pakistan to meet a woman he had befriended through social media, has returned to India after completing his three-year prison sentence in Pakistan jail.

It was an emotional reunion for the Ansari family at the Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday, whose long struggle ended and eventually their efforts bore fruit.

His mother, Fauzia Nehal Ahmed Ansari, who called her sons release a victory of humanity, said that he had no bad intentions.

My son went with noble intentions. Hamid had no bad intentions, but initially went missing and was later caught and framed. He shouldnt have gone without a visa. His release is a victory for humanity, Hamids mother said.

IMAGE: Hamid and his family touched the ground at the Wagah border after he was released by the Pakistani authorities. Photograph: PTI Photo

Ansari was awarded three-year imprisonment by a military court in December 2015 after being slapped with charges of espionage and involvement in anti-state activities on him.

The court gave the verdict after Pakistans ministry of interior appraised it that Ansari will be repatriated to India after completion of his prison term on December 15.

The Pakistani security agencies had claimed that Hamid had used fake identity card in the name of Hamza and had entered Pakistan through Afghanistan without travel documents. They had charged him for anti-state activities.

IMAGE: Ansari, who was repatriated by Pakistan after six years in jail, being received by his mother Fauzia Ansari, father Nehal Ansari (in tie) and elder brother Khali Ansari, at Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar. Photograph: PTI Photo

A former teacher at the Mumbai Management College, Ansari went to Pakistan in 2012 to meet a woman whom he had befriended through social media. Ansari went missing after he was apprehended by the Pakistan intelligence agencies and local police from Kohat district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan in November 2012.

Following the news of his release, India on Monday welcomed Pakistans decision to repatriate him, saying that it came as a great relief for the family members.

Meanwhile, in a Mumbai suburb, an entire neighbourhood was glued to the TV sets on Tuesday to catch a glimpse of Hamid Nihar Ansari, who they saw last six years ago.

His mother filed a habeas corpus petition in Delhi high court, following which the news about his arrest became public.

IMAGE: Fauzia Ansari, mother of Hamid Nihal Ansari who is being released by Pakistan after six years in jail, addresses the media. Photograph: PTI Photo

As soon as the 33-year-old, released from a Pakistani jail to be repatriated to India, crossed the Wagah-Attari border and kissed the Indian soil, his neighbours in suburban Versova celebrated by hugging each other and distributing sweets.

Ansari then hugged his parents who were present at the border to receive him, six years after he was detained by Pakistani intelligence agencies for entering the country illegally reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.

It was an emotional scene as we saw Hamid cross the border around 5.30 pm and kneel down to kiss the Indian soil, said senior journalist and social activist Jatin Desai, who accompanied the youths family from Mumbai to Wagah.

-- With inputs from PTIThe Travel Photographer of The Year Awards winners have been chosen and theyre a stunning selection celebrating the beauty of our planet and all its inhabitants.

Photographers from 142 countries submitted over 20,000 jaw-dropping pictures that were shot on everything from high-end professional cameras to mobile phones, in categories including faces, people, cultures; the natural world and the beauty of light.

The winning images can be seen at the TPOTY exhibition, which is free, and will be on show at London Bridge City next Spring.

Rediff.com was kindly granted permission to publish 22 of the 150 winning and shortlisted images.

Scroll down to see our picks of the bunch.

(Click on the images for full-screen resolution)

In the last light of day the inhabitants of Timbuktu wash their clothes and take a shower in the port of Kabara. Photograph: Stefano Pensotti/www.tpoty.com

Prayer time in one of little temples in the plain of Bagan -- a young girl stops on her way to school. Photograph: Stefano Pensotti/www.tpoty.com

A member of the Baye Fall in the Touba Mosque. Photograph: Stefano Pensotti/www.tpoty.com

Szechenyi Baths, built in 1913, is the most popular the inhabitants of Budapest who come here to relax with friends. Photograph: Stefano Pensotti/www.tpoty.com

A moment of relaxation in front of the entrance to a gym for wrestlers. Photograph: Stefano Pensotti/www.tpoty.com

This really grabbed my attention! I thought this local boy using oranges as balls, was the opposite of kids in my country playing with expensive toys. Photograph: Isabella Smith/www.tpoty.com

On my summer holidays in India our neighbours 30+ year old Mango tree was cut down. It was a sad sight to watch as this was a fruit yielding tree, home to many birds and a lot of shade under it on a hot sunny day. Photograph: Daniel Kurian/www.tpoty.com

These children, who came to bathe in the river, were very friendly. One of them went to take a bath on the river and the other one followed by rushing towards his mate; at that moment, I took the photo. Photograph: Fardin Oyan/www.tpoty.com

In Tanzania, when you have albinism, you are thought to be evil. There even is a price on the head of children with albinism since killing a person with albinism is considered to bring good luck. Photograph: Marinka Masseus/www.tpoty.com

Elie, 45, struts his stuff in the streets of Brazzaville. He has been a Sapeur for 35 years and his elaborate outfits bring joy to himself and his community. Photograph: Tariq Zaidi/www.tpoty.com

A boy stands among the copper bracelets worn by the Suri women in Kibish, Ethiopia. Photograph: Danny Yen Sin Wong/www.tpoty.com

Maleficent at the entrance of the fabled Green Door. Dark, mysterious and extremely beautiful, she beckons me to follow her with my camera. Photograph: Robin Yong/www.tpoty.com

The chum-- the Nenets dwelling -- is as mobile as they are. It consists of long sticks, and stitched reindeer skins stretched over it. Photograph: Vladimir Alekseev/www.tpoty.com

A kingfisher grabs a fish underwater. It took weeks and thousands of attempts to get this image. Photograph: Petar Sabol/www.tpoty.com

A mother Polar bear and her two young cubs are migrating north, as the sea ice melts quicker than previous years. Photograph: Roie Galitz/www.tpoty.com

Onno, a teenage girl from the Arbore tribe in the Omo Valley, Ethiopia. Photograph: Matjaz Krivic/www.tpoty.com

Kids playing on the main minaret of the Grand Mosque in Bani, Burkina Faso during Eid al-Fitr. Photograph: Matjaz Krivic/www.tpoty.com

A Sikh pilgrim performs his ritual washing in the lake with the most famous place of worship for the Sikhs in the background. Photograph: Matjaz Krivic/www.tpoty.com

I was roaming the back alleys of the tiny village and discovered this charming old lady in Yunnan, China. Photograph: Magdalena Strakova/www.tpoty.com

Honey hunting from Himalayan cliffs, a tradition that's carried on for generations. Photograph: Mauro Di Bettio/www.tpoty.com

Taj and Akash travel every day from station to station with their mother, begging to make a living in Gazipur, Bangladesh. Photograph: Mauro Di Bettio/www.tpoty.com

This huge mural by Argentinian artist Francisco Bosoletti was breathtaking, but the scene in front of my eyes was equally beautiful. It reminded me of my own childhood and felt like stepping into a time machine. Photograph: Marina Spironetti/www.tpoty.comParliament is geared up for another showdown between the government and the opposition a day after Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was sentenced to life by the Delhi high court in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been facing continuous disruptions over the Rafale jet deal and Cauvery issues.

Will Parliament function today?Addressing the countrys distressed farmers directly from outside Parliament, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he will not let Prime Minister Narendra Modi sleep until all farm loans are waived.

IMAGE: Congress president Rahul Gandhi addresses the media during the winter session of Parliament in New Delhi. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo

In a stinging attack on what he described as crony capitalism, Gandhi said the government has turned a blind eye to the loans given to 15 top industrialists of the country, including Reliances Anil Ambani, but made no effort to alleviate the woes of the farmers in the last four years.

We promised to waive loans in 10 days. In two states, we did it within six hours and we would do it in the third state very soon, he told reporters outside Parliament.

He was referring to the Congresss newly-formed governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh fulfilling promises made ahead of the assembly polls and waiving loans on Monday. A Congress government, led by Ashok Gehlot, was also sworn-in in Rajasthan.

Gandhi said the recent win of the Congress in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh is the victory of the poor, the farmers, the youth, labour and small shopkeepers.

Modi ji has been prime minister for 4.5 years, but has not waived a single rupee of farmers loans. I want to tell you that the Congress party and other opposition parties will unite till all farm loans are waived. We will stand up and fight against them, we will not retract a single inch, we will not let him (PM) sleep at night, till the time Indian farmers loans are waived.

I want to give this message and tell the farmers that this country is yours and not of 15-20 industrialists. That injustice being done to you, despite the hard work and toil that help provide food to the country. Your voice does not reach and we will help do it. We have done it in three states and you remember that we will exert pressure on Narendra Modi to waive farm loans, he said.

WATCH: 'This is a victory of the poor, the farmers, the youth, labour and small shopkeepers'

Issuing a challenge to the prime minister, Gandhi said, If the Modi government does not waive farm loans, we guarantee to waive farm loans if voted to power in 2019.

He said a united opposition will exert such pressure on Modi that not a single farmer will be left out.

The Congress and other opposition parties are behind you. You dont worry. Your work is being done, he told the farmers.

He also claimed that the loans of friends of Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah had been waived.

Alleging that Rs 3.5 lakh crore was waived for 15 people, including for Anil Ambani, he said poor people and small shopkeepers were on one side and the group of industrialists on the other.

He assured the people that the Congress and all other opposition parties would stand by them.

Terming demonetisation the worlds biggest scam, Gandhi said the government has stolen from the public, shopkeepers and farmers.

There will be many more typos coming now, he said when asked about governments claim on the typo in the affidavit given to the Supreme Court on the Rafale issue.

IMAGE: Rahul with party MP Jyotiraditya Scindia arrives to address the media during the Winter Session of Parliament. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo

The government claimed in its affidavit that the Rafale pricing issue has been looked into by the CAG whose report has been discussed in Parliaments Public Accounts Committee.

A number of typo errors will come out now. This is just a beginning of type errors, now one after the other type errors will come, on JPC issue, on Rafale issue, on farmers, on demonetisation, you will start seeing type errors.

Basically, what is happening is that money of people of India is being stolen, of farmers, of small shopkeepers. I consider demonetisation as the biggest scam of the world. The purpose of note ban was to snatch money of the poor and give to the friends of Narendra Modi...., Gandhi claimed.

Raising the issue of alleged corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal, he accused the BJP of running away from a debate in Parliament.

We will force a JPC on the Rafale issue. Why are they (government and BJP) running away from a debate in Parliament, he said.

Gandhi, however, skirted a question on Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and the apology demanded by the BJP from him after he was convicted by the Delhi High Court a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

My position on the riots, I have made it very clear before. That is absolutely clear, the issue is very simple. This press conference is about farmers of this country and the fact is Mr Narendra Modi refuses to waive one rupee of their loan and is ready to give Rs 45,000 crore to an industrialist through corruption, he said.

He also did not answer a question on Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Naths statement about workers from Bihar and said he will ascertain the facts before speaking on it.

I will discuss this. I am not aware of this issue. I have just been told about this and I will reply to you after studying it, he said.

Nath was quoted as saying that workers from Madhya Pradesh were being denied jobs and many industries offered employment to workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.The contracts with Israel Aerospace Industries will condemn the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft to a marginal presence in the IAF's future fleet.

Ajai Shukla reports.

Equipping the Tejas Mark 1A with Elta's ELM-2052 radar will ensure the fighter never carries the world-beating Meteor 'beyond visual range' air-to-air missile.

The MBDA, the European consortium that builds the Meteor, has repeatedly told the Indian Air Force that it would only fit that missile onto a fighter with a European airborne radar.

On October 26, the ministry of defence and the IAF watched from the sidelines as Hindustan Aeronautics signed two contracts with Israel Aerospace Industries which will condemn the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft to a marginal presence in the IAF's future fleet.

The contracts signed were for two major avionics systems that will determine the combat capability of an improved Tejas fighter called the Tejas Mark 1A.

One was for the ELM-2052 'active electronically scanned array' radar, developed by an IAI subsidiary, Elta.

The other was for Elta's 'electronic warfare' system.

Choosing an Elta AESA radar for the Tejas Mark 1A, therefore, rules out the Meteor and, with it, any hope that the IAF will buy the Mark 1A in significant numbers.

Why the Meteor?

The IAF has ordered 40 Tejas fighter of the current Mark 1 version, but it believes their Israeli radar and missiles do not provide a decisive combat edge.

In September 2015, the IAF, the HAL and the MoD agreed on specifications for a new improved version called the Tejas Mark 1A, with five specific improvements -- including AESA radar and the Meteor missile.

Last December, the MoD sanctioned the purchase of 83 new Tejas Mark 1A fighters for Rs 330 billion.

MBDA's Meteor BVR missile has the matchless ability to engage enemy fighters 200 to 250 km away, before the adversaries can fire their own missiles.

For shooting down aircraft at closer ranges, the IAF wants the Tejas Mark 1A to also carry MBDA's eponymous Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile.

In 2017, the IAF issued a formal tender to HAL -- termed request for proposal -- stipulating that the Tejas Mark 1A must have the Meteor and ASRAAM.

Why a European radar?

All through this year, the IAF has known that MBDA would allow the Meteor missile to be integrated only with European (or, conditionally Indian) AESA radars.

Yet, the IAF remained silent while HAL's tendering processes resulted in the selection of the Israeli ELM 2052 AESA radar -- and the rejection of two European AESA radars offered by French firm Thales, and Swedish firm Saab.

The Thales radar and the Meteor missile have already been integrated into Dassault's Rafale fighter, which the IAF rates highly.

Likewise, the Meteor is already integrated with the Saab radar in the Gripen E fighter.

In making it clear to the IAF that selecting an Israeli radar would mean ruling out the Meteor, the MBDA has written five letters to the IAF this year, explaining why it would only integrate the Meteor with European radar.

A BVR missile like the Meteor must be tightly integrated with the fighter's radar.

At the time the missile is fired, its on-board seeker cannot lock onto the target, which is too far away.

During the initial period of the missile's flight, the aircraft's radar tracks the adversary fighter and transmits directions to the missile through two-way data links.

Only when the Meteor reaches a few tens of kilometres from the enemy fighter does its on-board seeker get activated and homes onto the target.

Given the missile's tight relationship with the radar, there is a need for deep integration and sharing of source codes.

In its letters to the IAF, the MBDA has cited technology security concerns that integrating the Meteor with Israeli radar would endanger secret source codes and technologies.

The MBDA, a consortium of firms from six European countries, also believes getting clearances from six capitals would be complicated.

In a February 19, 2018 letter to IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa, the MBDA pointed out that the Meteor 'has already been successfully integrated with 3 major European platforms and sensors. The risks inherent to such a demanding Tejas integration programme will be significantly minimised by the selection of a European radar similar to those with which we have already qualified Meteor'.

On May 17, 2018, the MBDA wrote again to the IAF chief that with six nations involved in the MBDA, clearing the Meteor's integration with a non-European radar would be complicated. 'Therefore, from a purely technical point of view, and considering the required clearances, Meteor on LCA may only be considered with a European radar,' MBDA stated.

On May 29, 2018, the MBDA wrote yet again to the IAF chief, stating: 'As design authority and OEM (original equipment manufacturer) of the Meteor missile, we wish to confirm to you that integration of this missile can only be possible with a European radar and our proprietary data link.'

Ruling out any possibility of the Israeli firm carrying out the integration, the MBDA categorically stated: 'No other mode of integration is possible and any other suggestion from third parties is misinformed.'

In yet another letter to the IAF deputy chief on June 21, 2018, the MBDA wrote: 'The MBDA will not be able to offer Meteor for (Tejas) LCA, if a non-European radar is chosen for that platform -- we will not be able to gain 6 Partner Nation clearance. Furthermore, the integration of Meteor is only possible using MBDA's proprietary datalink technology. No other 3rd party is capable of carrying out Meteor integration.'

Then, in response to an IAF query whether the Meteor could be integrated onto the Uttam AESA radar the Defence R&D Organisation was developing, the MBDA gave conditional acceptance on July 13, 2018.

Writing to the deputy chief, the MBDA wrote: 'integration would be perfectly feasible (provided) this DRDO 'UTTAM' radar would need to be shown to be completely indigenous.'

Making its security concerns clear, the MBDA wrote: 'Security concerns (for all parties) over the implementation, architecture and day to day operation would need to be addressed (and) the 6 partner nations would need to obtain access to full working prototypes (of the Uttam radar) before progressing to the next stage.'

Despite these repeated cautions from the MBDA, the IAF and the MoD allowed HAL to choose the lowest-priced AESA radar that could be integrated onto the Tejas.

Asked how it had chosen the Elta ELM 2052 AESA radar for the Tejas Mark 1A and ruled out the Thales and Saab radars, HAL chief R Madhavan stated: 'The contract has been finalised as per HAL's techno-commercial (procurement) procedures and the lowest bidder was chosen.'

The IAF and the MoD did not respond to a request for comments.

In most fighter aircraft programmes, the airborne radar -- which is key to the fighter's combat capability -- is chosen by the air force concerned, not left to the OEM.

Yet, the HAL was allowed to choose -- a selection that could unknowingly leave the Tejas Mark 1A without a Meteor missile.

"It is almost as if there is a death wish for the Tejas. Now the IAF will fault the Tejas Mark 1A for not being integrated with the Meteor," says a retired air marshal who closely oversaw the Tejas programme.

From HAL's perspective, Elta's ELM 2052 AESA is the logical choice of radar.

The Israeli firm developed this radar specifically for the IAF's ongoing upgrade of 61 Jaguars.

For that upgrade -- which involves fitting AESA radar to enhance the Jaguar's capability -- Elta developed the ELM 2052 AESA radar at its own cost, apparently in the expectation that it would also find place in future Tejas upgrades.

With the IAF poised to clear the Jaguar upgrade, the ELM 2052 radar could quickly go into production in India in an IAI-HAL joint venture.

With the ELM 2052 AESA radar being built for two fighter programmes -- the Jaguar upgrade and the Tejas Mark 1A -- it would work out significantly cheaper than the Thales and Saab radars, making Elta's price bid the most attractive.

However, given MBDA's concerns, that would leave the Tejas without the Meteor missile, and therefore without the IAF's buy-in.

The choice of radar would not impact the integration of ASRAAM.

Being a short-range missile, ASRAAM is guided by its own seeker from launch onwards, and so does not require integration with the on-board radar.WASHINGTON  A federal shutdown would affect some 1,500 federal employees in Connecticut and impact state residents seeking certain services - but it wouldnt be felt like the 2013 shutdown that shuttered Head Start centers and provoked the states defense contractors to prepare to furlough employees.

Still, there are more than 8,000 federal employees in Connecticut. While many  more than 2,600  work for the Pentagon at the Naval Submarine Base in New London, and would not be affected, others would work without pay and many sent home without a paycheck.

Some services Connecticut residents depend upon would also be affected, but many, including delivery of the mail and the receipt of Social Security checks, would continue uninterrupted.

Large parts, but not all, of the federal government will shut down at midnight on Friday unless President Donald Trump reaches an agreement this week with congressional Democrats over funding of agencies whose 2019 budgets have not been approved by Congress.

A major sticking point is Trumps demand for $5 billion to pay for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Democrats strongly oppose that plan, but say they are willing to increase funding for other border protection initiatives.

In a heated, televised meeting with Democratic leaders of Congress last week, Trump pledged to shoulder full public responsibility for a government shutdown if Democrats dont cave and fund the wall.

I will take the mantle of shutting down, and Im going to shut it down for border security, Trump said.

But on Tuesday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders indicated there may be a way to fund the wall through other legislation. This would also require approval by Democrats, however, because 60 votes are needed to pass most legislation in the Senate.

If no agreement is reached this week, agencies that would close include the departments of Homeland Security, State, Transportation, Commerce, Interior, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development and Justice.

Some independent agencies, including NASA, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, will also be closed.

But those considered essential employees  some 420,000 government workers, including those who work for the FBI, Border Patrol and the Coast Guard  will continue to be on the job without pay.

Transportation Safety Agency, or TSA, employees will still be screening airline passengers in one of the busiest travel periods of the year, but wont get paid unless Congress approves legislation to give back pay to all federal employees who werent paid during the shutdown.

President Trump said hed be proud to shut down the government if he doesnt get $5 billion in taxpayer money to build a border wall no one wants and he said Mexico would pay for, said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. A government shutdown right around Christmas would be a total disaster. At Bradley Airport, if President Trump gets his wish, TSA agents would be forced to work with no pay during the busy holiday travel season.

Since the State Department will furlough all but its essential personnel, Connecticut residents who want to obtain, or renew, a passport may have to wait; so too will people seeking citizenship, or residency, since federal immigration offices will be shuttered.

There is likely to be a disruption in the flow of some federal grant money to the state, and those who hoped to visit national parks over the holiday might be disappointed.

The Washington Monument would close, as would museums along the National Mall and some national parks. Others parks would stay open, but without guides, rangers or open visitors centers.

Not like the last shutdown

The Malloy administration says its preparing, and trying to mitigate the effects, of a federal shutdown, but it did not provide details.

While some in Connecticut may feel the impact of the partial shutdown, it will not be anything like the one that occurred in 2013, largely as the result of a fight over the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

During that shutdown five years ago, United Technologies, then the parent company of both Sikorsky and Pratt & Whitney, announced it would have to furlough thousands of workers at its facilities in Connecticut and elsewhere.

The reason? Federal auditors determined that non-essential employees be furloughed in the 2013 shutdown, requiring that certain manufacturing work at the plants be halted.

But Congress has already approved the Pentagons 2019 budget, and the military is spared fallout from the shutdown that could begin this weekend.

There was also a panic in 2013 over Head Start centers in the state who could not renew their contracts and began to close. But, like the Pentagon, the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees and funds the Head Start program, is not part of this shutdown.

With no new funding from the Justice Department, Connecticuts federal court would curtail or postpone civil cases, but criminal cases probably wouldnt be affected unless the shutdown drags on for more than two weeks. Thats because the federal courts have some money from fees and fines that could be used to run operations in the interim.

There have been about 20 federal government shutdowns since 1977. Most have lasted three days or less. The one in 2013, however, lasted 16 days.

Meanwhile, the president is trying to blame congressional Democrats for the threat of a shutdown, and congressional Democrats are blaming Trump and Republican lawmakers.

People in Connecticut dont want this to happen, Murphy said. Congress has already agreed to bipartisan budget bills to fund the government. We can pass them this week and keep the government open if Trump just stops his shutdown threats.

David Bednarz, spokesman for Gov. Dannel Malloy, said, This imminent shutdown lies squarely on the shoulders of President Trump and his GOP allies in Congress, and their tactics could not be more cynical.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., also weighed in, saying, President Trumps temper tantrum over a hateful, wasteful vanity project shouldnt stop the Republican-led Congress from doing its job and funding our government.

A shutdown would have real life consequences for Connecticut and all Americans - stalling deliveries to foodbanks at the time of greatest need, blocking resources for small businesses, and harming access to safe and affordable housing, Blumenthal said. Failing to keep the lights on and plunging American families into uncertainty three days before Christmas - the lowest bar for good governance - would be a stunning abdication of leadershipTORRINGTON  A spill of up to 1,000 gallons of heating fuel was contained at the the University of Connecticut Torrington Campus on Tuesday.

The Torrington Fire Department responded to the spill at 855 University Drive around 8:30 a.m.

Upon arrival, Engine 4 and Truck 1 found a large oil spill located in the boiler room. Absorbent material was applied to the spill for containment purposes, the fire department said in a release.

It was determined that upwards of 1,000 gallons of heating oil had spilled into the drains leading out to the rear yard from the boiler room drain system due to a break in the inside piping system.

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was was dispatched to the scene, as well as a cleanup contractor.

It was determined that there was no extension of the spill into any of the remainder of the building.

In an emailed statement, UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said, UConn closed the campus in 2016 has no active operations in the building. Therefore, it was determined there are no life safety concerns.

Further, Reitz said, the spill does not affect the former campus propertys sale to Five Points Center for the Visual Arts, which was approved by the UConn Board of Trustees (Monday).

UConn has contacted Five Points and the City of Torrington to assure them that the University will return the property to its previous condition, Reitz said. This does not delay the sale, since the cleanup and repairs will be accomplished well before the legal aspects of the transaction are finalized.

The UConn Department of Facilities Operations, fire marshal, and Office of Environmental Health and Safety responded immediately the spill was found, alerted DEEP and UConn is coordinating the cleanup with DEEPs assistance, according to Reitz. Fire department personnel remained on scene to assist DEEP.

.The tree is decorated, check marks are next to almost everyone on your gift list, more than enough cookies are baked, but are there ever enough Oh well, theres always a reason to bake some more, especially if you participate in a cookie swap or enjoy the scent of freshly baked cookies; and who doesnt? To that end, Out of the Box Holiday Baking: Gingerbread Cupcakes, Peppermint Cheesecake, and More Festive Semi-Homemade Sweets by Hayley Parker (2018, The Countryman Press, $21.95) offers recipes with all the cheer and seasonal flavor of the classics, but without all the work. Recipes use easily accessible shortcuts such as a cake mix, cookie dough, or pudding mix. If you are short on time, youll appreciate Parkers quick-and-easy recipes for: seasonal flavors: chai snowballs, white chocolate peppermint cupcakes, cranberry marshmallow cheesecake; classics reimagined: easiest-ever gingerbread men, fruitcake cupcakes, eggnog cream pie (for this recipe please visit https://bit.ly/2rbvov7; regional favorites: maple sugar cream pie, salted nut roll cookies, sticky toffee pudding cake; easy no-bake treats: peppermint mocha chewies; reindeer chow; chocolate cookie cherry truffles. Below are four recipes to get you started.

Have some fun with the kids too, while creating popular character and holiday-shaped treats for holiday parties and events. Easy Christmas Cut-Up Cakes, by Melissa Barlow (2018, Gibbs-Smith, $14.99) shows how to bake packaged cake mixes in rectangular, square, and round pans, and then cut them up and piece them back together as iconic characters or holiday shapes such as: a toy train, wreath, snowman, penguin, and Santa.

Building a gingerbread house is an activity the family can do together, and it doesnt have to be difficult. Easy Gingerbread Houses, by Lisa Anderson (2018, Gibbs-Smith, $14.99) makes it quick and easy with no need for the messy and time-consuming tasks of mixing dough, rolling it out, baking it, and waiting for it to harden. The houses are made using graham crackers, cookies, cereal, ice cream cones, frostings, and candy. The kids will have fun building a sweetheart cottage, a cozy cabin, a big red barn, a blue dollhouse, a mermaid palace, Santas castle, or a tiki hut. With some practice now, perhaps next year, youll enter a gingerbread house competition and your creation will win.

Shortcut Gingerbread Men

1 small box instant butterscotch pudding mix

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened

 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

 teaspoon ground cloves

 teaspoon baking soda

 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cups all- purpose flour

Royal icing, assorted candy, or sprinkle decorations for decoration, optional

Combine the dry pudding mix, butter, and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and cream until smooth, 2 minutes. Add in the egg until blended. Add in cinnamon, ginger, cloves, baking soda, salt, and flour, and gently combine until a soft dough is formed. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.

Roll the cookie dough out until it is a quarter- inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Using cookie cutters, cut out gingerbread people shapes. Evenly place them on the prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time, until golden brown. Cool on the baking sheets completely. Once cooled, decorate with royal icing, sprinkles, and assorted candies, if using. Makes 20-24 cookies

Salted Caramel Macaroons

5 cups shredded coconut

 cup all- purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

One 13-ounce can dulce de leche

Sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.

Toss together the shredded coconut and flour in a large bowl until the flour coats the coconut evenly. Add in the vanilla extract and dulce de leche and mix well mixture will be very thick.

Using a tablespoon- size cookie dough scoop, drop rounded dough balls 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. If any pieces of coconut are poking out of the dough ball, gently wet your fingers to press the coconut into the cookie. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with sea salt.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time, until golden brown. Cool on the baking sheets completely before serving. Makes 15 18 cookies

Pomegranate Raspberry Bars

Crust

1 box white cake mix

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

1 large egg

Filling and topping

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature

3 large eggs

1 16- ounce box confectioners sugar

1 1  ounce package freeze- dried raspberries, finely ground into powder

1 ounce raspberry gelatin powder

4 tablespoons butter, melted

 cup pomegranate juice

Additional confectioners sugar, fresh pomegranate arils (seeds), and raspberries for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9- by- 13 inch baking pan with foil or parchment paper, extending the foil over the edges of the pan. Spray the foil lightly with cooking spray; set aside.

Combine the crust ingredients in a large bowl and stir until moistened and incorporated. Press the crust mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.

For the filling: Beat the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until fluffy, 1 minute. Gradually add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the confectioners sugar, followed by the freeze- dried raspberry powder and raspberry gelatin powder. Lastly, add in the melted butter and pomegranate juice and mix slowly to combine, scraping the sides of the bowl so everything is completely combined.

Pour the mixture evenly over the crust layer and smooth out the top. Bake for 38 to 45 minutes or until the top is light golden brown and the center is just about set. If it jiggles slightly, thats okay but it should mostly be set. Cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate at least 2 hours before cutting into squares.

Just before serving, sprinkle the tops of the bars with the additional confectioners sugar, pomegranate arils (seeds), and fresh raspberries. Makes 15 18 bars.

Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

For the truffles

3 cups finely crushed chocolate hazelnut cookies

3 cups finely chopped hazelnuts

2 cups Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)

For the coating

2 16-ounce packages chocolate bark coating

1 cup finely chopped hazelnuts

Star sprinkles, optional

Mix the crushed hazelnut cookies and 3 cups chopped hazelnuts in a large bowl until combined. Add in the chocolate hazelnut spread and stir to combine. The mixture will be thick, so you may want to use your hands. Make sure everything is moistened and coated with the chocolate hazelnut spread.

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Using a cookie dough scoop, roll out tablespoon- size balls of truffles and place on the prepared baking sheets. Its often helpful to wet your hands with water while rolling and forming the truffles as they are quite sticky. Repeat with the remaining truffles and refrigerate or freeze until firm.

For the coating: Melt the chocolate bark coating according to package instructions, or until smooth. Stir in the finely chopped hazelnuts. Drop a truffle into the chocolate mixture one at a time and use a fork to coat the truffle completely with the chocolate. Use the same fork to gently lift the truffle out of the chocolate and allow the excess chocolate to drip off. Return the truffle to the baking sheet to let the chocolate set. If desired, sprinkle the set truffles with the edible star sprinkles. Makes 38 40 truffles.

What chef would you like me to interview? Which restaurant recipes or other recipes would you like to have? Which food products do you have difficulty finding? Do you have cooking questions? Send them to me: Stephen Fries, professor and coordinator of the Hospitality Management Programs at Gateway Community College, at gw-stephen.fries@gwcc.commnet.edu or Dept. FC, Gateway Community College, 20 Church St., New Haven, 06510. Include your full name, address and phone number. (Due to volume, I might not be able to publish every request. For more, go to stephenfries.com.)

CULINARY CALENDAR

Miracle: pop-up holiday cocktail bars, now through New Years Eve at 80 locations around the world, including two locations in CT. New Haven: Ordinary, 990 Chapel St., 203-907-0238 and Waterbury: Highland Brass Co., 728 Highland Ave., 203-596-0070. The Connecticut bars will feature nostalgic holiday decor and a signature cocktail menu like the Snowball Old Fashioned (butterscotch rye, spiced demerara, wormwood bitters, orange zest) and Christmas Carol Barrel (aged rum, Aquavit, Amaro, pumpkin pie, demerara syrup, lime, vanilla and Angostura bitters). miraclepopup.com

Consiglios Murder Mystery Dinner: End This Tonight Dec. 31, 9:30 pm Consiglios Restaurant, 165 Wooster St., New Haven, reservations at 203-865-4489 https://bit.ly/2O3TQzQ , $75 includes dinner and show, and Champagne toast at midnight (other beverages, tax and gratuity not included). An interactive comedy show that goes on throughout the evening during a 3-course meal. Cast mingles table to table, dropping clues for a mystery only you can solve.

Gnocchi Workshop: Dec. 21, 2-4:30 p.m., Chefs Emporium, 449 Boston Post Road, Orange, $49.99. Reservations at 203-799-2665, https://bit.ly/2UlMQ1I . Learn the secrets to getting light as a feather traditional gnocchi using potatoes. You will learn a quick version of gnocchi using ricotta cheese (gnudi). Working in groups, you will also prepare delicious sauces to embellish your hand-made gnocchi. Menu: Classic Gnocchi with Bolognese sauce, Gnudi (Ricotta Gnocchi) with spinach and a brown butter sage sauce.

Kids-Lets make Tex Mex Cooking Class, Dec. 27 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Chefs Emporium, 449 Boston Post Road, Orange, $49.99. Reservations at 203-799-2665, https://bit.ly/2Bjft75 Learn how to make some Tex Mex favorites such as cheesy chicken enchiladas and churros. Kitchen safety, measurements, and cooking techniques will be discussed. At the end of the workshop, enjoy a Tex-Mex feast you created.Roxbury Land Trust

ROXBURY  The Roxbury Land Trust received the Working Land Alliances Outstanding Organization 2018 Pathfinder Award. Recognized for its accomplishment in advancing farmland preservation in the State of Connecticut, the Land Trust recently developed, under the supervision of the Farm Management Committee and Property and Land Manager James Curren, a lime management program to improve the soil quality on its agricultural lands. The mission of WLAs Pathfinder Program to increase the productivity of the soil now and for future generations of farmers.

The Roxbury Land Trust is dedicated to the preservation and sustainability of its working farmlands. Founded in 1970, the Roxbury Land Trust has preserved just over 3,700 acres, most of which is within the Town of Roxbury. Throughout its history the land trust has actively sought working farmland properties for preservation.WINDSOR LOCKS  Frontier Airlines will return to Bradley International Airport in 2019, adding three flights a week to Denver starting March 28, officials announced Tuesday morning.

Frontier will be the third airline with direct flights to Denver from Bradley. Southwest Airlines and United Airlines already offer service there.

Frontier is based in Denver, and connections to more than 100 destinations are available from there, the airline said.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Connecticut Airport Authority Executive Director Kevin Dillon, and other airport officials held a news conference in the Bradley terminal to announce the new routes. Dillon said terms are still being finalized, but could include one-year waivers of landing fees and terminal rent, which are common when a new carrier adds routes to an airport. He said marketing worth up to $100,000 could also be provided by the airport to promote Frontiers Denver flight.

Flights will be offered Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, and fares will be offered for as low as $59.

Malloy says Connecticuts future is linked directly to its transportation system and investments in Bradley Airport are helping businesses large and small

Its another step forward for our transportation system and its another step forward for our ability to be connected to the rest of the world, Malloy said. Our future as a state is linked directly to our transportation system and as we invest in Bradley Airport we are helping businesses large and small.

Frontier Vice President of Network and Revenue Josh Flyr said the company flew between Bradley and Denver in 2007 and 2008, but ended the flight due to rising fuel prices and the global recession. There was also a short-lived flight from Bradley to Milwaukee in 2011, he said.

Frontier is under new ownership since then, and has emerged as an ultra low cost carrier that also prioritizes customer service, Flyr said.

A lot has changed since Frontier last served Hartford, Flyr said. We are in many ways a new Frontier. Were a Frontier thats committed to the idea that travel should be accessible and affordable for all, and that getting a great low fare and having outstanding customer service need not be inconsistent.

Flyr said his flight to Bradley on Monday proved the value of Frontiers new route coming next year. His ticket, booked more than seven days in advance, cost more than $1,000 and a delay in the midwest extended the trip from Denver to 14 hours and separated him from his luggage.

Its a good reminder why Frontier is going to be a great addition here, Flyr said. Days like yesterday need not happen anymore.

Flyr and Dillon said they expect the Denver flight to be a starting point for Frontier to add more destinations from Bradley in the future.

Frontier is a great addition to our menu of service here. Their ultra low cost model is really going to do wonderful things for fares here at Bradley Airport, Dillon said.

He said Denver is already a busy destination from Connecticut, and theres a clear demand for more options to get there.

We know its a popular destination, Dillon said. The load factors on [the existing] carriers are very high, meaning there is a need for additional capacity so were expecting Frontier to do very well in that market.

The flight from Bradley International Airport to Denver International Airport takes 4 hours, 30 minutes, and the return flight takes 3 hours, 30 minutes.

Its a key connecting hub for us, certainly out to the west coast, Dillon said.In this April 13, 2018, photo, Cambodia's self-exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy speaks during a press conference in Tokyo. Rainsy vowed to return to Cambodia in 2019 at a CNRP open forum event on Sunday.

Cambodian opposition politician Sam Rainsy, living in self-imposed exile since 2016, has vowed to return to Cambodia in 2019 to fight for democracy, amid stark divisions among the governments political opponents.

Recently appointed as the acting president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), Sam Rainsy made the pledge to return at a public forum for party supporters in Paris on Sunday.

I am asking all Cambodians to rise up and join me at that time, so that we can jointly fight for real change, Sam Rainsy said, adding, We need to stand up against Hun Sen and bring back democracy in 2019.

Once the major opposition party to Prime Minister Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP), the CNRP was dissolved by Cambodias Supreme Court in Nov 2017.

Sam Rainsy had cofounded the party in 2012 after merging his Sam Rainsy Party with Kem Sokhas Human Rights Party. Sam Rainsy served as the new partys president, but stepped down while in exile in Feb 2017 in favor of Kem Sokha, who was then vice president.

However, with Kem Sokha currently under house arrest while awaiting trial on charges of treason, Sam Rainsy became acting president on Dec. 9 after being nominated during a two-day international conference of the CNRP in Atlanta that was boycotted by Kem Sokhas supporters.

The two factions of the CNRP had differing reactions to Sam Rainsys promise to return.

CNRP lawmaker Mao Monivan, who left the Sam Rainsy Party for the Human Rights Party prior to their merger told RFAs Khmer Service, Its too little too late now!

Sam Rainsy should have returned to Cambodia in the immediate aftermath of the dissolution of the CNRP, he said.

Mao Monivann also lashed out at Sam Rainsy for creating the Association for Democracy in Cambodia and the Cambodian National Rescue Movement, two pro-democratic organizations that call for reform in Cambodia that were set up to be run by him in exile.

Both organizations were created shortly after the CNRP was banned, and Kem Sokha supporters view them as Sam Rainsys acceptance of the partys dissolution.

As part of a move to inform the international community and an effort to promote transparency, the CNRP issued a statement to the U.S. State Department detailing how Sam Rainsy was appointed as acting president.

The statement explained that one of the CNRPs top priorities is to fight for the release of Party President Kem Sokha, but made no mention of any factionalism within the party.

Speaking to RFA on Tuesday, Party Vice President Eng Chhai Eang said that the statement should serve as notice to the international community of the partys temporary change in leadership until they can secure the release of President Kem Sokha and he is cleared for a return to politics.

The CNRP at the moment cant proceed without a leader, Eng Chhai Eang said. We need a transitional leader to lead the party in our campaign [to restore democracy in Cambodia.]

He said that the statement was the first official communication of the party since Sam Rainsys appointment.

Meanwhile, political commentator Kim Sok said that Hun Sen is now cornered as the EU and the international community are pressuring him for the restoration of human rights and democracy in Cambodia.

Kim Sok was supportive of Sam Rainsys promise to return.

Its not too late, he said.

Its very necessary that he returns to Cambodia during this very critical time, when Cambodians need a leader who can unite them in fighting for human rights and democracy, said Kim Sok.

Kim Sok stressed that unity within the CNRP is of the utmost importance, but the party seems to be anything but unified over the prospect of taking leadership.

Sok Eysan, a spokesman for the ruling CPP mocked Sam Rainsys pledge to return.

I dont believe Sam Rainsy will return to Cambodia in 2019, he said, writing on the Telegram messaging app.

Sam Rainsy remains a coward. He is very good at lying too, he continued.

This is not the first time he has lied about his return to Cambodia. His call for people to rise up against the government is a provocation for revolt, Sok Eysan wrote. If he returns, we will surely welcome him in prison, where he will be detained as soon as he sets foot on Cambodian soil.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Nareth Muong. Written in English by Eugene Whong.A Chinese activist detained by police after marking the 27th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre in 2016 has arrived safely in the United States with the help of Washington and a dissident organization.



Zhao Changqing, a former student leader in the 1989 pro-democracy movement who has been jailed six times, arrived in San Francisco late on Monday after U.S. officials and rights groups campaigned for his release.



He was met at the airport by his wife Liu Xiaodong and the couple's two children, who had arrived in the U.S. two years ago after fleeing China and applying for political refugee status at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangkok.



Former fellow 1989 activists including Fang Zheng were also there to meet Zhao, who made a brief speech vowing to continue to work for democracy in China from the U.S.



"I got off the plane at 4.00 p.m. [Monday] and was reunited with my wife, child, and friends in San Francisco at 6.00 p.m.," Zhao told RFA.



"My daughter was born in San Francisco, she's now two years, four months, while my son, the eldest, is now six-and-a-half years old," he said.



"I would like to thank [veteran exile dissident] Yang Jianli, founder of Citizen Power For China, for helping me to come to the U.S. at this time," Zhao added.



Yang's Initiatives for China/Citizen Power For China group "believes that continued world democracies leadership in holding China accountable for respecting the human and political rights of its citizens is a critical component for world stability and for the peaceful transition to a democratic society in China," according to its website.



'Very hard'



Zhao said Liu had found the past two years caring for the children in a strange country "very hard."



"I saw how hard it was for my wife raising two children alone, so I left, but I was in a very mixed-up state of mind about it," he said.



"As a veteran of the 1989 movement, I have been working for 30 years [for democracy], during which time I have been imprisoned six times, and yet the democracy we were working for in 1989 is still only a dream," Zhao said. "This has made me very heavy-hearted."



"Now I have left, and I'm away from the front line, with the Chinese people, but that doesn't mean I have left the ideals of 1989 behind," he said. "I will try to start over with these efforts in a new time and a new place, and under different circumstances."



Zhao said the human rights situation, and the ruling Chinese Communist Party's suppression of dissent, is at its harshest now under the administration of President Xi Jinping since the 1989 military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests.



He said the crackdown seems permanent, and shows no sign of abating.



"The Chinese government has continually targeted the people in the past decades, in a way that is basically consistent," Zhao said. "But the last six years have been the darkest since 1989."



"There are blows being aimed in all directions, and ... there is no sign of any relaxation; ... at least I haven't seen any," he said, citing the recent detention of dozens of members of the Early Rain Covenant Church in the southwestern province of Sichuan.



A heavy price



A fellow activist surnamed Wang who knows Zhao said he has paid a heavy price for his beliefs under the ruling Chinese Communist Party.



"Now he has flown the cage, everyone is happy for him, and I hope that his family will start a happy life in the United States," Wang said.



Zhao was detained on June 1, 2016 in Beijing after meeting in private with a group of fellow activists to mark the 27th anniversary of the 1989 military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square democracy movement.



Liu said on her arrival that she had fled China to seek a better life for the couple's children.



Dissidents' children are frequently targeted by the ruling Chinese Communist Party for retaliation over their parents' political activities, with some being denied schooling altogether.



U.S.-based rights activist Yang Jianli, who advised Liu Xiaodong on her application, said at the time that Zhao, 49, had been concerned for the safety of his wife and child for some time, and had wanted them to leave China.



Others also detained



Zhao, who served two-and-a-half years in prison for "gathering a crowd to disrupt order of a public place" after being detained in April 2013, was detained alongside other activists who also tried to mark the politically sensitive anniversary, including Li Meiqing, Li Wei, Liang Taiping, Lu Fuhai, and Zhang Baocheng. He was released in October 2015.



The group had also posted a photo of themselves online, sitting in front of a slogan calling for the release of political prisoners Guo Feixiong and Yu Shiwen, and calling for a memorial for the victims of the June 4 military crackdown, which ended weeks of pro-democracy protests in Beijing.



The detentions came amid tight security ahead of the June 4 anniversary, public commemoration of which is banned by the government, which styles the 1989 democracy protests a "counterrevolutionary rebellion."



A native of northern Shaanxi province, Zhao has served six jail terms in total, including after taking part as a student leader in the 1989 pro-democracy movement, and subsequently for calling for a reappraisal of the official verdict of "counterrevolutionary rebellion" used by the Communist Party to describe the movement.



Since his release in 2007, he has devoted himself to promoting civic activism and organizing advocacy campaigns on issues ranging from equal education rights to anti-corruption measures.



Reported by Wong Siu-san and Sing Man for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.Four women have protested with shaved heads outside China's supreme court in Beijing over the continued detention of a human rights lawyer by authorities in the northern city of Tianjin, accusing two judges of repeatedly breaking the law.



Li Wenzu, wife of rights attorney Wang Quanzhang, who has been held incommunicado on suspicion of "subversion of state power" since July 2015, said she and three other activists had shaved their heads in a reference to a Chinese saying: "I can go without hair, but you can't go without the law."



The phrase, attributed to a Buddhist monk, puns on the similarity of the words for "hair" and "law" in Mandarin Chinese.



Li was joined in the protest by Yuan Shanshan, wife of rights lawyer Xie Yanyi, Wang Qiaoling, wife of rights lawyer Li Heping and Liu Ermin, wife of rights activist Zhai Yanmin.



The women gathered outside the Supreme People's Court in Beijing on Monday, where they presented a letter calling on the court to investigate the actions of two judges at the Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, which has held Wang far beyond legally allowed time limits.



"The presiding judges in his case have blatantly disregarded the law all along," Li told RFA after the protest. "This has led to Wang's detention extending far beyond the administrative limits."



"A government-appointed lawyer has been allowed to meet with him, but no details of that meeting have emerged," she said. "[These two judges] are continuing to make it up as they go along."



Wang's case was sent to the Tianjin No. 2 People's Court on Feb. 14, 2017, and he should have then stood trial for subversion, but presiding judges Lin Kun and Zhou Hong had dragged their feet on the case, leaving him in pretrial detention far beyond the legal maximum, she said.



Wang Qiaoling said she had joined the protest because of her support for the rule of law.



"The law is one of the founding pillars of any country, and China is always talking about ruling by law," she said.



She said Monday's protest was the 31st attempt by Li and her fellow activists to complain about the situation.



"But we will keep going," she said.



'Brilliant strategy'



U.S.-based legal scholar Teng Biao said the women's action was "a brilliant protest strategy."



But he added: "I still feel very sad for them, because while they're willing to shave their own heads for their husbands, there is absolutely no way of knowing whether this will have any effect."



U.S.-based Chen Guangcheng, who once acted as an unofficial lawyer to rural women faced with abuses under the draconian "one child policy," said the families of lawyers still detained following a nationwide crackdown involving more than 300 lawyers, activists and family members in July 2015 had exhausted legal channels of redress.



"Judicial channels have not worked for the July 2015 families, and this head-shaving protest should make more Chinese people aware that the country's judiciary is a big nothing," Chen said.



"It's a cosmetic arrangement that is only there to fool ordinary people."



Last month, Li was awarded Sweden's Edelstam Prize for "exceptional courage" in defending human rights, but the prize was presented to U.S.-based activist Yuan Weijing in her place, as Li was prevented from traveling to Stockholm to receive the award in person.



The award ceremony featured a large Chinese character meaning "love," as well as the iconic red buckets used by Li and fellow activists to highlight the plight of detainees.



Wang, who has been held in police detention without trial for three years, has been forced to take medication while in the custody of the Tianjin No. 1 Detention Center, his attorney Liu Weiguo said after being allowed to visit his client for the first time in July.



According to international law, family members of the disappeared are recognized as victims of enforced disappearance as well.



The Edelstam Foundation called on Beijing to free Wang and other detained rights attorneys, and to end its "harassment, threats and retaliatory actions" against Li and the couple's young child.



Reported by Jia Ao for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Ng Yik-tung and Tam Siu-yin for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.Vietnamese political prisoner Tran Thi Nga has been allowed to see her family in a move reversing an earlier decision by authorities to refuse prison visits to punish her for refusing to follow prison rules, her husband told RFA on Monday.



The visit at Gia Trung prison in Gia Lai province in Vietnams Central Highlands took place on Dec. 15, Ngas husband Phan Van Phong told RFAs Vietnamese Service.



She is not being ill-treated like before, but her health is not good. She has problems with her spine, which is always hurting her, he said.



Though prison authorities have given her some medication, they have not allowed her to see a doctor for a medical check-up. She is in good spirits, though.



Nga had been refused permission to see her husband and children in September when her family came to see her, her husband told RFAs Vietnamese Service in an earlier report.



Prison authorities told me that she had not followed prison rules and has refused to admit guilt [in the charge for which she was convicted], so they would not let her see us, Phan Van Phong told RFA on Sept. 29.



I asked them to at least let her see her children, but they just said no, he said.



Prisoners in Vietnam are normally allowed monthly visits with their families according to prison rules.



Beaten, threatened



Nga, 40, was sentenced in July 2017 to nine years in prison for spreading propaganda against the state under Article 88 of Vietnams penal code, a provision frequently used to silence dissident bloggers and other activists.



Her appeal was rejected in December.



Now held at Gia Trung prison, Nga told her husband in August she had been beaten and threatened with death by a cellmate assigned to her by authorities, Phong told RFA in an earlier report.



Phong then appealed for her protection in a petition sent to Gia Trung prison, the ministry of police, the supreme peoples procurator, Gia Lai province judicial authorities, and international organizations, he said.



Vietnams one-party communist government currently holds at least 130 political prisoners, including rights advocates and bloggers deemed threats to national security, Human Rights Watch says.



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 Richard Finney.Afghan government negotiators have arrived in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) to join U.S.-brokered talks with the Taliban, as efforts intensify to negotiate an end to Afghanistan's 17-year war.

The three-day talks that started on December 17 are seen as an important step to launch formal peace negotiations with the militant group.

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the U.A.E. -- countries that have significant influence over the Taliban -- are also participating in the talks.

It was not clear what has been discussed, although previous talks have focused on proposals for a cease-fire in Afghanistan and the future withdrawal of foreign forces. The militants have previously asked for the release of Taliban prisoners and a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops.

Kabuls chief negotiator, Abdul Salam Rahimi, met with U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Abu Dhabi on December 18, Afghan presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri said in statement.

Chakhansuri said government negotiators will "begin proximity dialogue with the Taliban delegation and prepare for a face-to-face meeting between the two sides."

Omid Meysam, a spokesman for Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, said the "possibility of direct talks between the Taliban and the Afghan delegation is high."

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied that the militant group would meet with the Afghan delegation.

"Discussions are taking place with the representatives of the United States about ending the occupation, a matter that does not concern the Kabul administration whatsoever," Mujahid said in a statement.

The Taliban has long refused to hold formal talks with the Afghan government, insisting on first brokering an agreement with the United States.

Mujahid said Taliban representatives held talks with Khalilzad and officials from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E. on December 17 and that the discussions would continue.

While Washington did not confirm direct meetings between Khalilzad and the Taliban, the U.S. envoy has previously held at least two rounds of talks with Taliban officials.

Khalilzad has said he would like to see a "road map" agreement reached before the Afghan presidential election scheduled for April.

The decision to move the venue of the talks from Qatar to the U.A.E. was seen as an effort to involve Saudi Arabia, which is hostile to Qatar, more closely in the process and to exert influence on its ally, Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., and Pakistan were the only three countries to recognize the Taliban government during its five-year rule, which ended following the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

The Taliban controls or contests nearly half of Afghanistan, where it is waging a deadly insurgency against the Western-backed Kabul government and government security forces.

With reporting by Reuters and AFPThe Economist has named Armenia as its country of the year, saying the South Caucasus nation has a "chance of democracy and renewal" after street protests led to a peaceful change of government.

Nikol Pashinian, a former anticorruption journalist and opposition lawmaker, "was swept into power, legally and properly, on a wave of revulsion against corruption and incompetence," the London-based weekly news magazine said on December 18.

He was elected to the prime minister's post in May after spearheading weeks of mass protests that forced his predecessor, long-entrenched leader Serzh Sarkisian, to resign.

Pashinians My Step alliance won more than 70 percent of the vote in December 9 snap parliamentary elections.

"A Putinesque potentate was ejected, and no one was killed. Russia was given no excuse to interfere," The Economist said, adding that "an ancient and often misruled nation in a turbulent region has a chance of democracy and renewal."

However, the weekly cautioned that Armenias "nasty territorial dispute" with Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh "has not been resolved and could ignite again."

The Economist has picked a "country of the year" since 2013. The title goes to a country that "has improved the most in the past 12 months."Russian lawmakers have asked for an explanation following media reports quoting Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying that Moscow could potentially hand over two islands in the disputed Southern Kuriles chain to Japan.

Communist Party lawmaker Nikolai Kharitonov raised the issue on December 18, asking State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin to invite Lavrov to come to the lower parliament house and clarify the government's position.

After a brief debate, Volodin instructed deputy speaker Aleksandr Zhukov to work on an invitation for Lavrov.

The Soviet Union seized four islands off Hokkaido in the closing days of World War II, and the territorial dispute has prevented Moscow and Tokyo from concluding a peace treaty. Russia calls the islands the Southern Kuriles, while Japan calls them the Northern Territories.

In an interview published on December 17, Lavrov told the tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda that Moscow could hand Japan the two smaller islands, Shikotan and a group of islets called Habomai, if Tokyo "recognizes the results" of World War II -- something he said Tokyo was "not ready for yet."

Recognition of the results, in Russia's eyes, means that Japan would have to accept Russian possession of the disputed islands as legal, potentially ruling out any further dispute or claims by Tokyo on the two larger, more populated islands, Iturup and Kunashir.

Media reports in Russia in recent weeks have said that Moscow might hand some parts of the disputed islands over to Japan following a November 14 meeting in Singapore between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who agreed to step up negotiations on concluding a peace treaty.

Russian politicians tend to publicly oppose ceding any Russian territory to neighbors, and President Vladimir Putin's ratings got a boost when Russia seized control of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

The calls for a clarification could reflect concerns among lawmakers that Moscow might hand over the islands, and the desire of Communists or other politicians outside of the ruling United Russia party to score points with constituents could also be a factor.

But if Putin's government is considering ceding the two smaller islands to Japan as part of a peace treaty, having Lavrov appear before the Duma could be a chance for the Kremlin to explain the move to the populace in advance.

Some Russian media reports suggested that the Kremlin might be seeking to resolve the long-standing dispute with Japan in the near future in hopes that it would draw global attention away from its actions in Ukraine, where it holds Crimea and supports separatists who control parts of two provinces in the eastern region known as the Donbas, and potentially lead to an easing of the sanctions imposed as a result.

Amid increased talk about the possibility of a treaty, the Kremlin said recently that Abe may visit Moscow on January 21.

But tensions were raised on December 17, when the Russian Defense Ministry said it planned to shift troops next week into four housing complexes it has built on Iturup and Kunashir.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told a regular news conference later the same day that Tokyo would lodge a protest over the military move.

Japan said in July that it asked Russia to reduce its military activity on the islands but Moscow seemed to dismiss the idea, accusing Japan of negotiation through the media and public statements.

With reporting by Reuters, TASS, Interfax, and Komsomolskaya PravdaBritish Airways says it will resume flights to Pakistan next summer, a decade after suspending operations due to security fears.

The British carrier announced on December 18 that it will return in June 2019 with three weekly flights from London's Heathrow airport to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

British Airways halted services in 2008 in the wake of a suicide truck bombing that killed more than 50 people at Islamabads Marriott Hotel.

The carrier's announcement was "a reflection of the great improvements in the security situation in Pakistan" in the years since, said Thomas Drew, Britain's top diplomat in Pakistan.

The resumption of flights will "give a particular boost to our growing trade and investment links," Drew also said.

Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari, a special assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, said his country was "becoming less isolated and more connected to the world, and that's the Pakistan we want to see."

Pakistani military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said the development was a result of the struggle of the Pakistani nation and security forces to restore peace and stability in the country.

Pakistan has battled homegrown militancy for nearly 15 years, with tens of thousands of people killed.

A little-known militant group claimed responsibility for the September 2008 devastating attack in Islamabad, but authorities blamed Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

Britain is home to more than 1 million residents of Pakistani origin, making it the largest Pakistani diaspora community in Europe.

Pakistan International Airlines is currently the only carrier with direct flights between the two countries.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and ReutersA federal judge delivered a sharp rebuke and delayed sentencing of U.S. President Donald Trumps first national-security adviser, Michael Flynn, who had pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents about his conversations with Russias ambassador.

Lawyers for Flynn asked on December 18 for a continuance that would allow him to continue cooperating in the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into interactions between Trump associates and Russia officials.

A new sentencing date was not scheduled.

Flynn admitted to lying to FBI agents during a January 2017 meeting at the White House, just four days after Trump was inaugurated into office.



Three weeks after that White House meeting, Flynn was fired when more details emerged as to the timing and content of his conversations with the then-Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak.



Mueller's investigators have praised Flynn for cooperating with the Russia probe and even recommended no prison time for him.

During the December 18 hearing, Judge Emmet Sullivan lashed out at Flynn, saying: "I can't hide my disgust, my disdain" at his crime of lying to the FBI.

"Arguably, you sold your country out," Sullivan told Flynn.



Several of the people who have been prosecuted by Mueller have been charged with lying to federal agents, including Trumps former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, who will be sentenced in March.



Flynn also faced questions about lobbying and involvement with Turkish-government connected businessmen.

Two of them, including one who was Flynn's business partner, were indicted by a federal jury on December 17 with charges including conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government.

With reporting by AP and ReutersPETROZAVODSK, Russia -- The trial of Yury Dmitriyev, a Russian historian charged with sexually assaulting his adopted daughter, has started in the northwestern region of Karelia.

Speaking to reporters outside Petrozavodsk City Court after the trial began behind closed doors on December 18, defense lawyer Viktor Anufriyev said that Dmitriyev maintained his innocence.

Supporters of Dmitryev contend that he is being victimized by Russian authorities who want to keep the state crimes of the Soviet era under wraps.

"Yury Alekseyevich [Dmitriyev] refused to accept guilt...and that is my position as well," Anufriyev said.

He said prosecutors have provided no convincing evidence against his client.

Dmitriyev, 62, is the chief of the Moscow-based human rights group Memorial's branch in Karelia, which border Finland. He has worked for decades to expose crimes committed in the region by the Soviet state under dictator Josef Stalin.

Dmitriyev has overseen research at the Sandarmokh mass-burial site, where several thousand victims of Stalinist terror were executed and buried in 1931-41.

Supporters contend that said the case was brought against him because he exposed a side of history that complicates the Kremlin's glorification of the Soviet past.

Dmitriyev was charged in July with "violent acts of a sexual nature committed against a person under 14 years of age."

The trial that began on December 18 is the second one Dmitriyev has faced this year.

The historian spent 13 months in custody before he was acquitted of child-pornography charges in early April, in a trial he also dismissed as politically motivated.

An appeals court in Karelia overturned that verdict two months later, sending the case back to prosecutors for further investigation.



Dmitriyev was rearrested on June 27 on the new, more severe sexual-assault charge.

After the hearing on December 18, Anufriyev said the court prolonged Dmitriyev's detention in jail until March 25.

It is not clear when a verdict is expected.The Kremlin says it will look into charges that Jehovah's Witnesses are being subjected to persecution in Russia.

Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, said in Moscow on December 18 that "it is necessary to look into each individual case."

"The issue cannot be settled theoretically because there are many factors arguing 'for' and 'against,'" he said. "But at the very least, they will look into this matter more carefully."

Peskov was amplifying comments made by Putin on December 11 during a Kremlin meeting with the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights.

Council member and political analyst Yekaterina Shulman told Putin that 404 of the 489 entries on Russia's list of extremist organizations were Jehovah's Witnesses chapters, even though "they certainly do not incite violence or carry it out."

Putin responded by saying that "probably we can, and even at some point should, be much more liberal toward representatives of various religious sects."

"It is true that we should treat representatives of all religions the same, but it is also necessary to take into account the country and the society in which we live," Putin said.

"Granted, this certainly does not mean that we should label representatives of religious communities as members of destructive, even terrorist, organizations. That is complete nonsense and this needs to be dealt with carefully."

Returning to the topic later in the meeting, Putin added: "Jehovah's Witnesses are Christians too. I don't quite understand why they are persecuted. So this should be looked into. This must be done."

There are some 170,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.

In April 2017, Russia's Supreme Court ruled that the central organization of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and all its member organization be added to the government's official list of extremist organizations. Russian officials have argued that the Jehovah's Witnesses sow "religious discord" by asserting theirs is the only "true" faith.

Nearly 100 Jehovah's Witnesses are facing criminal charges across Russia.

In June, the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights issued a statement saying "the situation evokes associations with the Soviet period when Jehovah's Witnesses suffered groundless repression because of their faith."

The council called on the Prosecutor-General's Office to protect the group's religious freedom.

The United States and the European Union have criticized the Russian Supreme Court's decision to add the Jehovah's Witnesses to the list of extremist organizations.

With reporting by TASS and APA Russian cargo ship was refloated and towed back to sea, hours after it ran aground off southwestern England in bad weather.

British naval authorities said the 15,000-ton Kuzma Minin, with 18 crew members on board, was being towed to sea by three tugs late on December 18, with the help of a higher tide.

 spokeswoman for Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency said there were no reports of pollution.

The Kuzma Minin was heading toward Spain when it unexpectedly changed its course, apparently due to a malfunction, and then ran aground near Cornwall.

The vessel was "dangerously close" to a nearby beach, according to the Daily Mirror, a British newspaper.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, and TASSRussian President Vladimir Putin has suggested he is open to the idea of other countries joining a Cold War nuclear-arms treaty between Russia and the United States or to starting talks on a new pact.

Speaking on December 18, Putin also repeated his denial of U.S. accusations that Russia is violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), saying Moscow has plenty of missiles with similar ranges that do not breach the pact.



And amid tension over U.S. plans to withdraw from the bilateral 1987 pact, Putin said Russia has weapons that should "make those who have become accustomed to militaristic and aggressive rhetoric" think twice.

Washington said earlier this month that it will abandon the treaty unless Moscow returns to compliance with the accord within 60 days.



The INF prohibits Russia and the United States from producing, possessing, and deploying ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers.



President Donald Trump announced in October that the United States would withdraw from the agreement, citing alleged Russian violations and concerns that the bilateral treaty binds Washington to restrictions while leaving nuclear-armed countries that are not signatories, such as China, free to develop and deploy the missiles.

Moscow denies it is in breach of the accord and accuses the United States of violating it. Washington denies that.

Speaking at a Defense Ministry meeting, Putin said there was nothing to stop Russia and the United States from holding talks with other countries about the possibility of them joining the INF Treaty in a bid to salvage it.

"Yes, indeed, there are certain difficulties with this treaty," Putin said. "Other countries possessing short- and intermediate-range missiles are not party to it.

"But what prevents [us] from starting talks on their accession to the existing treaty or starting to negotiate the parameters of a new treaty?" Putin asked.

He also said that Russia could easily make and deploy land-based intermediate-range missiles if the United States ditched the accord.

"Whatever the complaints about the treaty, in the current conditions it plays a stabilizing role [and] works to support a certain level of predictability and restraint in the military sphere," the Russian president said.

In a tweet on December 3, Trump expressed certainty that "at some time in the future" he, Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping "will start talking about a meaningful halt to what has become a major and uncontrollable Arms Race."

While suggesting the INF treaty could be saved, revamped, or replaced by bringing in other countries, Putin also asserted that Russia has no need to violate it -- but could swiftly develop weapons prohibited by the pact if the United States pulls out.



He asserted that it has successfully tested air-launched Kh-101 and sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles with a range of 4,500 kilometers in combat in Syria.



This has "probably made our partners worry, but it doesn't violate the INF treaty," Putin said.



Russia could develop and deploy land-based intermediate-range missiles if the United States ditches the accord, Putin said.



"If we have similar air- and sea-launched systems, it wouldn't be that difficult for us to do some research and development to put them on land if needed," Putin said.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFPThe newlywed son-in-law of Iranian President Hassan Rohani has resigned from a senior institutional appointment two days after starting the job amid accusations of nepotism against Rohani's already embattled government.

The lightning appointment and exit of 33-year-old Kambiz Mehdizadeh comes roughly four months after reports said he married one of Rohani's daughters in August.

In his December 17 letter of resignation, Mehdizadeh thanked the minister of Industry and Mines for entrusting him to head the Geological Survey of Iran but asked "to be relieved of my service so that I can continue my scientific and research activities."

His mid-December appointment had sparked questions about Mehdizadeh's experience and qualifications to lead the Geological Survey, a mostly scientific body responsible for exploring and mapping Iran's geology and its resources and cooperating on related topics with its counterparts abroad.

It is a potentially embarrassing blow to Rohani, a longtime establishment figure who has won two terms as a reformist bent on providing jobs and -- more controversially -- reengaging with the West.

Rohani has recently seen a handful of cabinet appointments shot down by hard-liners who dominate virtually all sectors of Iran's government, while a steady trickle of corruption and nepotism scandals has risked feeding Iranians' anger over economic setbacks and a flagging currency.

Iranians have also taken to social media to scrutinize the lifestyles and privileges enjoyed by relatives of state officials.

Meanwhile, a U.S. official has floated the possibility of revoking the visas of relatives of Iranian officials "to pressure the corrupt hypocrites" in the Iranian government "to change their behavior."

Washington also recently reimposed unilateral economic sanctions that had been lifted as part of a 2015 deal to curb Iran's nuclear activities.

State-dominated Iranian media are generally guarded in their coverage of government officials' family members, but Mehdizadeh was said to have married one of Rohani's three daughters in an August ceremony described as "simple."

Several lawmakers criticized his appointment, and a major daily described it as part of a pattern that threatens the country and its Islamic leadership at a difficult time for many Iranians.

"The prevalence of family appointments at a difficult time when the country faces a regiment of unemployed is a threat to the revolution and the Islamic republic," wrote the newspaper, Jomhuri Eslami.

The daily had called on Rohani to fire ministers and managers who commit such "unforgivable mistakes."

Industry, Mines, and Business Minister Reza Rahmani, who only took up his job in late October, had defended the appointment by saying it was unrelated to any family ties and that Mehdizadeh had a "strong resume."

The hard-line Tasnim news agency said Mehdizadeh had also served as an adviser to the governor of Karaj, Iran's oil ministry, the tae kwon do federation, and the national youth organization.

Iranians have also criticized the recent appointment of the son of a powerful hard-line cleric to lead the management department of Iran's Planning and Budget Organization, whose work is supervised by the president.

Cleric Ahmad Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts, which names and oversees the work of the supreme leader, confirmed reports that his son-in-law Hossein Mirkhalili had been named to the post.

But Khatami, who is a substitute Friday Prayers leader in Tehran, denied in a December 17 statement having influenced the decision or recommending the 37-year-old through "phone calls," "text messages," or any "written" form.

Earlier this year, Iranians launched a social-media campaign to target officials to come clean about potential privileges their children enjoy due to their influence and connections.The media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says 2018 was a year of unprecedented hostility toward journalists around the world.

In a December 18 roundup on the abusive treatment of journalists, RSF says a total of 80 journalists were killed worldwide in connection with their work during 2018.

More than half of the journalists killed during the year were deliberately targeted, it says, adding that the overall death toll does not include 10 deaths that RSF is still investigating.

The report reinforces the findings of the media rights group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which said in October that 324 journalists during the past decade have been silenced through murder worldwide and that no perpetrators have been convicted in more than 85 percent of those cases.

RSF Secretary-General Christophe Deloire said violence against journalists has reached unprecedented levels this year, and the situation is now critical.

The increased violence reflects the hatred of journalists that is voiced, and sometimes very openly proclaimed, by unscrupulous politicians, religious leaders, and businessmen, Deloire said.

He said social-media networks also bear heavy responsibility for amplifying expressions of hatred against journalists that legitimize violence -- undermining journalism, and democracy itself, a bit more every day.

RSF listed the worlds deadliest country for journalists in 2018 as Afghanistan, where it says 13 journalists and two media workers were killed -- all before Afghanistans October 20 parliamentary elections.

Nine of those slain journalists were killed in April by a suicide attack against a group of journalists in Kabul.

By comparison, 11 journalists were killed while covering the war in Syria during 2018.

In fact, RSF said 2018 has been the deadliest year for journalists in Afghanistan since the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001.

Reza Moini, the head of RSFs Afghanistan-Iran desk, said the increase in targeted attacks and the deterioration of security for women journalists in the run-up to the elections had threatened the Afghan peoples sovereignty and democratic choice.

RSFs roundup also noted the killings of prominent Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi and the young Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak, saying their deaths highlighted the lengths to which press freedoms enemies are prepared to go.

As of December 18, RSF said at least 348 journalists were being held in prisons around the world.

More than half of the worlds imprisoned journalists are being held in just five countries -- China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey, the report said.

China remains the worlds biggest jailer of journalists with 60 currently held, RSF said, noting that about 45 of those detainees are bloggers or other nonprofessional journalists.

Meanwhile, RSF says 60 journalists are being held as hostages of militant groups or other nonstate actors -- all but one of them in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.

The one exception noted by RSF was RFE/RLs Ukrainian Service journalist Stanislav Aseyev. He has been held since June 2017 by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine who accuse him of spying.

"Journalists have never before been subjected to as much violence and abusive treatment as in 2018," Deloire concluded.

With additional reporting by AFPA Russian Investigative Committee colonel has been detained on a bribery charge in the Samara region.

Federal Security Service (FSB) officials said on December 18 that Colonel Vera Rabinovich was detained while receiving 10 million rubles ($150,000) in cash as a bribe at the airport in the regional capital, Samara.

Rabinovich is the chief of the Investigative Committee's economic-crimes department in the region.

Two suspected intermediaries were also detained, the FSB officials said, adding that all three had been placed in a detention center.

According to the FSB, the sum was a part of a bigger bribe, 15 million rubles ($225,000), which Rabinovich agreed to receive from a victim of a financial crime in order to speed up sending the case to court.

Based on reporting by TASS and InterfaxA 23-year-old soldier serving at a Russian military base in Armenia has been charged with beating an Armenian woman to death, lawyers for the victims' daughter say.

Julieta Ghukasian, 57, was attacked on a street in Armenia's northwestern city of Gyumri and died during her transfer to a local hospital early on December 2.

She worked as a street sweeper in Armenia's second-largest city, which is home to the headquarters of Russia's 102nd military base.

Armenian prosecutors have so far refused to give any details about the criminal investigation or the suspect's age, name, or whereabouts.

However, lawyers for the victim's daughter, Anahit, told RFE/RL that the soldier, identified by the initials A.R., had been charged by Armenian prosecutors with brutal assault and involuntary manslaughter.

The lawyers said A.R. is being held at the Russian base despite being prosecuted under Armenian law.

The soldier's Armenian attorney, Narine Rshtuni, has confirmed the information.

The cause of the attack remains unclear.

The suspect was arrested on December 10 in connection with Ghukasian's violent death.

Under Armenia's Criminal Code, such crimes are punishable by between five and 10 years in prison.

In 2015, another Russian soldier murdered seven members of an Armenian family in Gyumri. A local court in August 2016 sentenced Private Valery Permyakov to life in prison.

Permyakov was held in detention at the Russian base before and during his trial. He was transferred to Russia to serve his sentence.Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that proponents say is aimed at banning what they call "online Columbine communities" that allegedly encourage violence by schoolchildren.

The law, signed on December 18 and posted on an official website, says it targets information that encourages children to do things that could pose a threat to the health or lives of other people.

It says it also is aimed at "protecting children from information damaging to their health and development."

There have been several attacks on schools in Russia this year, as well as a gun-and-bomb attack on a college in Russian-controlled Crimea in which authorities say an 18-year-old student killed 20 other people on October 17 before fatally shooting himself

Lawmakers who passed the bill earlier in December said the purpose is to shut down websites encouraging violence by schoolchildren.

According to the law, local executive organs are authorized to define websites as dangerous for children and ban them.

The law also says that owners of banned websites must remove them from the Internet or limit access to them immediately after they are placed on an official registry.

Hours before the newly endorsed law was made public, 17-year-old boy was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison after being convicted over a knife attack at his former school in the city of Perm that left 12 people hospitalized with stab wounds.

The Motovilikha District Court in Perm, 1,150 kilometers northeast of Moscow, found the defendant guilty of the attempted murder of 30 people and of damaging school property.

The boy, whose name was not disclosed because he is a minor, was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison.

Authorities said the boy and another teenager, a student at the school, entered the building carrying knives and injured 15 people.

The second suspect was found mentally unfit to face trial and sent to a psychiatric hospital.

On December 6, a Moscow secondary school was evacuated after a 16-year-old student brought a knife into the building and threatened to kill himself, officials said.

On November 12, authorities said a 14-year-old boy in the Volgograd region brought an ax, several knives, and a gas canister to his school, and was hospitalized for a day after he swallowed rat poison.

Nobody else was hurt.

With reporting by Interfax and TASSThousands of demonstrators have rallied outside Hungary's state TV broadcaster in a fifth night of protests against the right-wing government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Demonstrators on December 17 chanted slogans like "We won't leave" and "They are lying day and night!"

Two lawmakers were thrown out of the building after they tried to broadcast a petition against Orban, who has overseen a steady tightening of power over Hungary's courts, media, and much of the country's political system.

Independent deputies Bernadette Szel and Akos Hadhazy, who were seeking to read a petition live on air, were dragged out of the building on December 17 after they tried to circumvent security guards.

Szel streamed the incident live on Facebook.

The petition called for the withdrawal of what they called the government's "slave laws" and for independent public media and courts.

The two lawmakers were among about a dozen members of parliament who spent the night at the offices of Hungary's main news channel, MTVA, trying to get a list of demands broadcast on air.

The protests are some of the largest in months, and erupted after passage of a new labor law that in essence enables the return of a six-day work week.

But protesters have also been demanding more be done to fight government corruption, to create an independent judiciary, and protect independent media.

"We will continue with protests all the while our demands are not read out over state media. We are not going anywhere," Timea Szabo, a parliament member for the small, centrist party, told the crowd.

The government has defended the new labor law, saying it will ease the shortage of workers, most especially in the booming auto and manufacturing sectors.

Orban's allies have denounced the protests as the work of liberal groups financed by Hungarian-American financier George Soros, who has been a regular target of Orban.

With reporting by the BBC and ReutersU.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the establishment of a space command that will oversee the country's military operations in space.

Trump signed the one-page memorandum on December 18 directing the Department of Defense to create the new command to oversee and organize space operations, accelerate technical advances, and find more effective ways to defend U.S. assets in space, including satellites.

The move comes amid growing concerns that China and Russia are working on ways to disrupt, disable, or even destroy satellites on which U.S. forces rely for navigation, communications, and surveillance.

The new command is separate from Trump's goal to create an independent space force, but could be a step in that direction.

Speaking at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Vice President Mike Pence said: "A new era of American national security in space begins today."



Space Command will integrate space capabilities across all branches of the military, Pence said, adding that it will develop the space doctrine, tactics, techniques, and procedures that will enable our war fighters to defend our nation in this new era."



It will be the Pentagon's 11th combatant command, along with well-known commands such as Central Command and Europe Command.



Space Command will pull about 600 staff from existing military space offices, and then add at least another 1,000 over the coming years, the Associated Press quoted an unidentified U.S. official as saying.



Its funding will be included in the budget for fiscal year 2020.

Based on reporting by AP and AFPThe United Nations envoy for Afghanistan says the prospect of negotiated end to the war in Afghanistan is closer than it has ever been.

The comments by Tadamichi Yamamoto on December 17 came as the Afghan Taliban said its representatives met with U.S. officials in the United Arab Emirates.

The preliminary talks were seen as an important step to launch formal peace negotiations with the Taliban.

Speaking at the UN Security Council, Yamamoto called on countries in the region "to contribute" in supporting the peace talks.

A negotiated peace "has never been more real...than it is now," he said

"The key next step would be for representatives of the government and the Taliban to meet, or at least to formally initiate what in mediation is referred to as talks about talks," he said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid offered few details of the December 17 meeting except to say that "discussions were held with the American side over the end to the invasion of Afghanistan."

The Taliban has long refused to hold formal talks with the Afghan government, insisting on first brokering an agreement with the United States.

While Washington has neither denied nor confirmed previous meetings with the Taliban, U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has previously held at least two rounds of talks with Taliban officials.

The Taliban controls or contests nearly half of Afghanistan, where it is waging a deadly insurgency against the Western-backed Kabul government and government security forces.

The country has been at war on and off for more than 20 years.

Based on reporting by dpa and APSuccess! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.(Glendive, MT)  Montana State Parks (stateparks.mt.gov) will host Dinocember, a series of dinosaur themed programs, at Makoshika State Park in December. Join us at the park and expand your dinosaur knowledge during Dinocember. Each program will include a presentation on a different dinosaur subject followed by an opportunity to meet real fossils, make dinosaur crafts, and win fun prizes. Participants may also pick up a Dinosaur Ranger workbook and complete it to earn an official Dinosaur Ranger patch.

Dinocember Event Schedule:

Saturday, December 22, 2 p.m.  Weird Dinosaurs

Saturday, December 29, 2 p.m.  Growing up Dinosaur

Sunday, December 30, 2 p.m.  Birds are Dinosaurs?!

All programs begin at 2 p.m. and will take place at the visitor center. These presentations are geared towards children 5 to 10 years old, but all ages are welcome. For more information, contact the Makoshika State Park Visitor Center at 406-377-6256.Richland Countys flu season has begun, just as we enter the holiday season of family gatherings! There has been one positive Influenza B case and one positive Influenza A case tested locally during the past week. No one has been hospitalized and neither received a vaccination for this influenza season. The lab results were sent for confirmation by MT Public Health Laboratory in Helena.

Richland County Health Department wants residents to know that there is time to get a flu shot from the Health Department, a local healthcare provider or your choice of pharmacy.

The symptoms of influenza include a sudden onset of fever, chills, fatigue, body aches, headache, chest discomfort and a cough. A person may experience all or most of these symptoms. You may catch influenza or the flu when you breathe in the virus from someone elses cough or when you touch a surface with the virus on it (such as a phone or faucet) and then touch your nose, mouth or eyes.

The risk of infection from influenza is higher in crowded public areas and living quarters. People begin to show symptoms within a week of being exposed to the virus.

Vaccination remains the best prevention for influenza and influenza-related complications. Influenza vaccine is recommended for everyone from ages 6 months and older.

People who have any chronic health condition, such as diabetes, heart disease, cancers, immune suppressed, pregnant, and other compromised lung/respiratory diseases are at higher risk of complications from influenza illness and are strongly urged to get yearly influenza vaccinations. Please speak to your healthcare provider for specific questions related to your medical condition.

In addition to vaccination please take precautions to limit the spread of disease, including:

 Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently;

 Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing;

 Stay home from work, school, daycare and large gatherings when youre sick;

 Get plenty of rest; and

 Eat nutritious foods and drink plenty of fluids.

Vaccinations are given Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday from noon to 4:30 pm at the Richland County Health Department located in Community Services Building. No appointment is needed but you may call 433-2207 for more information.DMK president M K Stalin

Chennai, Dec 18 (PTI) DMK president M K Stalin strongly defended backing Rahul Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate, saying the Congress chief had the strength to dislodge the BJP regime at the Centre and sought the support of friendly secular parties for his proposal. Amid murmurs in the opposition ranks about reservations over the proposal, Stalin said it may have led to a debate among friendly parties.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi

Advertisement

"In a democracy, solutions have emerged only from debates... these deliberations too will cause good outcomes," he said in a letter to his party cadre late Monday. Stalin appealed to other opposition parties to "strengthen the hands of Rahul to guard democracy". He said joining of forces was required to trounce the BJP in the Lok Sabha election next year. The DMK chief said his statement was based on the rationale that projecting Gandhi alone would be appropriate to bind secular forces.

Noting that the Congress beat the saffron party in the recently concluded assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, he said Gandhi had the strength to defeat the Modi-led BJP government. Stalin said his statement was made keeping with the legacy of his father and late DMK patriarch Karunanidhi, who was for taking ideas forward at the opportune and appropriate time.

Stalin defends 'Rahul for PM' cry

Advertisement

He also reiterated that the DMK under the leadership of his father had taken the lead at the right time during previous Lok Sabha elections to propel the Congress towards victory. The DMK chief again accused the BJP government of being against pluralism, pushing economy into a shambles, hurting communal harmony and being indifferent to Tamil Nadu.Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh

Spokesman News Service: Chandigarh, December 18: The statement by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) seeking Pakistans help to liberate Punjab from India has exposed the nefarious designs of the organisation and its nexus with the Pakistani Army and ISI, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said on Tuesday. In a hard-hitting reaction to the statement of SFJs Legal Advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, Captain Amarinder Singh said the cat is now well and truly out of the bag, and the truth of the deep-rooted connection between SJF and Pakistani Army is out in the open.

The statement has nailed SJFs lies that it is a peaceful movement to build momentum for a referendum on a separate state of Khalistan, said the Chief Minister, adding that it is more than evident now that the organisation, with the full support and backing of Pak Army and ISI, is striving to foment trouble in Indian Punjab. Through his statement, Pannu has made clear his intentions of going all out to force the secession of Punjab from India, with the backing of Pak Army and ISI, said the Punjab Chief Minister, rubbishing SFJs claims to the contrary.

Advertisement

SFJs Legal Advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannu

The Chief Minister has also taken strong exception to SFJs plans to hold the Kartarpur Sahib Convention  2019, coinciding with the auspicious occasion of the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji. This, he said, has lent credence to his fears that Pakistans decision to open the Kartarpur Corridor was an ISI game-plan to help forces inimical to India, including SFJ. It has also once again proved that the Pak government had always been, and continues to remain, a puppet regime, working at the behest of the Army there, he added.

The whole affair is a bigger conspiracy by the Pak Army, which is persistently trying to revive militancy in Punjab, said the Chief Minister, reiterating his stand on the issue. Captain Amarinder Singh also reiterated that Punjab, and the Indian Army, are well prepared to counter any such plans of the neighbouring country.

Advertisement

Punjab is today much better equipped than it was in the 80s and 90s when Pak-backed terrorism had swept the state, he said, warning Islamabad against extending any further support to SFJ or other such outfits that are bent on disturbing the states hard-earned peace.

Kartarpur Sahib

The Pak Army would do well to remember the ignominious defeats it had suffered at the hands of the Indian Army on every occasion it had tried to take on the might of the latter, right from the 1965 and 1971 wars to the more recent Kargil battle, warned Captain Amarinder Singh. Asserting that he was all in favour of the Kartarpur Corridor to fulfil the long-pending aspirations of the Sikh community in India, the Chief Minister said it was the misuse of the initiative that he was opposed to.

Advertisement

If Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was truly in favour of opening the doors for long-lasting peace with India through this corridor he should not only unequivocally condemn the SFJ statement but should also ensure that Pak soil is not used by the anti-India outfit to further its campaign, said Captain Amarinder Singh, urging the Pak leader to put a stop to the Kartarpur Sahib Convention  2019 plans.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan

Let the two countries build a corridor of peace in the true sense of the word, without the auspicious occasion of the 550th Prakash Purb being allowed by Islamabad to be abused by anti-Indian forces, said the Chief Minister, once again hailing the Kartarpur Corridor as a great opportunity to bridge the differences between the two nations.Fast track to success

School of Medicine and Honors College partner to offer joint seven-year degree program

First-year medical student Aalia Soherwardy is on track to earn her undergraduate degree and medical degree in just seven years with the help of the BARSC-MD program, a joint initiative between the South Carolina Honors College and the School of Medicine.

As one of the first five students accepted into the BARSC-MD program, first-year medical student Aalia Soherwardy is on track to earn her undergraduate degree and medical degree in just seven years.

The joint initiative between the University of South Carolina Honors College and the USC School of Medicine allows a select group of students to receive conditional acceptance to medical school as freshmen, and then enter medical school after their third year of undergraduate coursework.

Honors freshmen who are invited to apply to the program have engaged in many health and science activities during high school, and are already committed to a career in medicine, says Anita Hood, M.D., director of pre-med programs and the BARSC-MD program at the South Carolina Honors College.

Soherwardy, the daughter of a family medicine physician, began exploring medical careers when she was still in middle school. By high school, she was shadowing physicians at a local hospital and her dream to become a physician was solidified.

When I found out about the BARSC-MD program I thought it was amazing because I knew that if I did the seven-year program, then I wouldnt have to take the MCAT and I would save a year in the path to becoming a physician, says Soherwardy.

Benefits

The first cohort of BARSC-MD students was accepted into the program in the fall of 2015, and they began medical school in the fall of 2018. Throughout their undergraduate career, the students received individualized advising and mentoring, special programming and even a yearly dinner with the dean of the School of Medicine.





We are very intentional in providing opportunities for BARSC-MD students to interact with School of Medicine faculty and current medical students. The goal is to introduce the students to topics and resources that will help them become successful medical students in the future. Robert Rhinehart, School of Medicine director of enrollment services and assistant dean for diversity and inclusion

BARSC-MD students complete the Baccalaureus Artium et Scientiae degree, a unique and highly selective degree offered only by the South Carolina Honors College, in just three years. They also are required to take more honors and science courses than other Honors College students to help prepare them for the rigors of medical school a year early. Additionally, they conduct research, become proficient in a foreign language, participate in community service and complete a nine-hour senior thesis.

These students know what they want, excel academically and demonstrate the maturity and focus required for an accelerated path of study. I enjoy working with them, and were excited to provide this program to encourage them to stay in the USC system and in South Carolina, says Hood, who is also an alumna of both the Honors College (83) and the School of Medicine (87).

Despite the programs arduous requirements, Soherwardy says she was pleasantly surprised by its flexibility. Students are able to customize their curriculum by choosing from a large number of health-related electives and are encouraged to pursue a variety of undergraduate experiences.

One of the things that I always wanted to do was study abroad and I was able to study abroad for a month in France, says Soherwardy. I was really happy that with all the other perks, I was still able to do those types of things that I enjoyed.

Students also benefit from being able to apply their last year of undergraduate scholarship funds to their first year of medical school.

That was definitely a nice perk that I was very grateful for because were all going to take on so many loans and such eventually. It was nice to know that we had a little bit of a financial benefit because of the program, says Soherwardy.

Transition

The School of Medicine works closely with the Honors College to ensure BARSC-MD students are as prepared as possible to enter medical school.

We are very intentional in providing opportunities for BARSC-MD students to interact with School of Medicine faculty and current medical students. The goal is to introduce the students to topics and resources that will help them become successful medical students in the future, says Robert Rhinehart, School of Medicine director of enrollment services and assistant dean for diversity and inclusion.

Soherwardy says conversations with her friends who have gone on to other medical schools has affirmed that the BARSC-MD program and the USC School of Medicine were the right choice for her.

One of the things that I was really happy about with this school was the family feel, says Soherwardy. Ive had friends whove gone to other institutions whove said their schools are so competitive. Here, everyone is very supportive of each other and always goes out of their way to help one another.

Soherwardy adds that her friends also are surprised she and her peers are already getting clinical experience through UofSCs renowned integrated ultrasound curriculum. Although the transition into medical school can be overwhelming at times, Soherwardy says she has felt well supported and welcomed at the School of Medicine.

The faculty has made a difference, everyone cares so much about our well-being, says Soherwardy. Even when I get intimidated, its so rewarding to think about the future and how Ill be changing peoples lives.

Share this Story! Let friends in your social network know what you are reading aboutWild animals are increasingly exploited for entertainment and photo opportunities. A new study highlights that tourists in Morocco object to the use of barbary macaques as photo props, raising concerns about the animal's welfare and risk to human health. The findings are presented today at the British Ecological Society annual conference in Birmingham.

Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus, L.), the only primate species endemic to Morocco and Algeria, have been categorised as 'endangered to extinction' on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 2008. It is prohibited to sell or keep them as pets.

Despite the restrictions, barbary macaques are used as photo props for tourists, principally in Marrakech's famous Jemaa el-Fna square (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and reportedly in other major Moroccan cities and Algeria. An infant macaque might act as a photo prop 18 times per hour costing visitors as much as 100 Dirhams (~20). This practice could earn their handlers the equivalent of an average monthly Moroccan household income in just 3-4 working days.

Researchers from Edinburgh Napier University surveyed 513 national and international visitors to Jemaa el-Fna square during an Easter holiday period when tourism was at a peak, using a 25-item questionnaire to evaluate their perception of primate photo props.

88% of the respondents neither intended to use the photo props nor did. More than 200 people found it unacceptable because of ethical or animal welfare reasons.

Jay Mackinnon, a lecturer in applied sciences at Edinburgh Napier University, commented: "Most of the survey respondents didn't see the macaques as an attraction and found the photo props off-putting. They pitied the animals and raised concerns about hygiene and the risk of serious infections being transmitted."

Interestingly, while 66% agreed the practice should be illegal, 80% were unaware it is already illegal in the country.

advertisement

"Barbary macaque numbers have plummeted by more than 50% since the 1980s due to habitat loss and juveniles being sold illegally as pets. Only one in four survey participants was aware that this species is endangered," said Kristina Stazaker who led the research as part of her master's project at the university.

"Seeing primates as pets or photo props, whether that is in the media or at tourism destinations, can lead to the assumption that there are a lot of them and it is suitable to keep them as pets," she added.

Visitors who did have their photos taken with a macaque, or planned to do so, valued the rare opportunity to interact with the animal, although half of them said they did not enjoy the experience as traders had pressured them or mistreated the macaques.

Mackinnon concluded: "Jemaa el-Fna square is a stunning place with street performers, food and souvenir stalls, attracting tourists from all over the world. We know that the perception of poor animal welfare can contribute to a negative experience or image of the destination visited. It would be a shame if tourists were taking away some memories of Morocco that are negative because of this unethical practice."

Barbary macaques can be seen in the wild at Ifrane National Park and the waterfalls of Ouzoud. The study points out that, if managed appropriately, ecotourism enterprises could provide a better experience for tourists who value animal encounters at these sites.

The team will present their findings on Tuesday 18 December 2018 at the British Ecological Society annual meeting, which will bring together 1,200 ecologists from more than 40 countries to discuss the latest research.The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a New York-based banking consultant with insider trading in advance of an airline merger based on confidential information he learned by eavesdropping on the phone conversations of his then-fiance, who was an investment banker working on the deal.

The SEC's complaint alleges that Peter Cho illegally bought Virgin America Inc. options prior to the April 4, 2016 public announcement that Alaska Air Group, Inc. would acquire Virgin. Cho learned of Alaska's efforts to purchase Virgin by listening to conversations of his now-wife, who worked on the deal from their shared apartment at night and on weekends. The two were engaged to be married at the time. Cho misappropriated this information and purchased aggressive call options betting that Virgin's stock price would rise quickly. In several instances, Cho was the only investor who purchased or held the series of options he traded, which included "out-of-the-money" options due to expire in a matter of weeks. By purchasing these aggressive options based on material non-public information, Cho was able to turn an initial investment of approximately $4,000 into profits of more than $250,000 in less than one month.

The SEC's complaint, filed in district court in Manhattan, charges Cho with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, Cho has consented to the entry of a final judgment permanently enjoining him from violating the above-mentioned provisions of the federal securities laws, and ordering him to return $251,386 in illegal profits with prejudgment interest plus a one-time penalty of the same amount, for a total of $532,777. The settlement is subject to court approval.

The SECs investigation was conducted by John P. Lucas, Martin Zerwitz and Deborah A. Tarasevich, with assistance from John Rymas of the Market Abuse Units Analysis and Detection Center. The investigation was supervised by Market Abuse Unit Chief Joseph G. Sansone. The SEC appreciates the assistance of FINRA, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.A $15 million gift from philanthropists Marc and Lynne Benioff will go toward expanding mental health services at the Oakland childrens hospital that bears their name, in an effort to bring much-needed psychiatric care to East Bay kids and families suffering from lack of resources.

The donation is the final part of a promised $50 million gift by the San Francisco couple to UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital in Oakland. The Benioffs have donated a total of $200 million to UCSFs two childrens hospitals, in Oakland and San Francisco.

The last installment is not an especially large part of the total, but UCSF officials said it will provide invaluable seed money to invest in pediatric mental health, which experts have identified as a national public health crisis. Services for children with mental illness are woefully inadequate in the East Bay and almost all other parts of the country, leaving potentially millions of young people undiagnosed and undertreated.

UCSF will put the $15 million toward hiring child psychiatrists  ideally doubling the number of patient visits possible each year  and improving resources for pediatricians, who are often the first line of treatment for children with mental health problems. The money also will pay for increased training programs for young psychiatrists.

This gift is extraordinary. It is going to put us in a place very different from where weve been, and its going to make a real difference, said Dr. Bryan King, vice president for child behavioral health services at UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospitals. But its a big job that we need to take care of.

Rates of childhood mental illness have been climbing in recent years, and studies show that about 20 percent of children age 18 and under suffer some type of mental health condition, such as depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress.

Suicide rates among young people are especially alarming. Since 2000, the rate for boys and men age 10 to 24 has risen 20 percent; among girls and women in the same age group its climbed 80 percent to the highest prevalence on record in that demographic.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among all young people in that age group.

But the number of people trained to treat these children has not increased to match the need. Studies have found that the country would need 40,000 child and adolescent psychiatrists to treat everyone who needs help  but there are only 8,000 such providers, said Dr. Petra Steinbuchel, a child psychiatrist at UCSF. Many communities do not have a single child psychiatrist; even larger cities often have only one or two.

Since it first opened, UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital in Oakland has always had one to three psychiatrists on staff, said King. The new money will help the hospital hire six more psychiatrists  a massive increase, but still far short of what the community could actually use, he said.

Jennifer Weiss of Concord has three children who have needed mental health care. For her two youngest, she spent years trying to find psychiatrists near their home who were able to treat their complex needs, including autism and severe anxiety and depression.

She had been told that the Oakland childrens hospital had the best services, but when she tried to take her older child there, she learned the wait list was two years. Later, when she wanted to bring in the younger child, the wait list was so long that the hospital wasnt even taking new names.

Eventually she got both children into psychiatric care at the hospital, and for one of them, she says it was lifesaving. Her older child finally got a formal diagnosis after more than five years of being mislabeled and over- or under-treated.

The younger child is still dealing with significant challenges, but Weiss takes comfort in having a team of doctors she can call for help.

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.

Definitely we are right now on a good track with them, Weiss said. But it took several years for each of them to get the help they needed. It took a lot of time, and a lot of damage was done in the process.

Dr. Michael Anderson, president of UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospitals, said the new gift would go toward programs that will immediately improve services for children and families, starting with the hiring of additional child psychiatrists.

The other key resource to fund is training and other services for pediatricians. Children with mental health issues often are seen first by their primary care doctors, and its those physicians who are likely to refer them for more advanced psychiatric care. But pediatricians arent trained much, if at all, in psychiatric conditions.

Ideally, pediatricians could be trained to identify mental health problems and even treat some less serious conditions, referring the more severe cases to psychiatrists as needed. That would potentially ease up some bottlenecks in mental health services.

Mental health experts at UCSF said the $15 million will undoubtedly improve care and  hopefully  inspire gifts from other donors. But they also recognize that the shortage of mental health resources is severe, and cant be resolved quickly or without massive financial investments.

In the short term, we were looking at where we could make the biggest impact, Anderson said. But weve got a lot of work to do. There are other challenges that lie ahead.

Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@

sfchronicle.comThe San Francisco Planning Commissions recent ruling that a property owner must rebuild a 1936 house that was illegally demolished has set off a debate between those who say the punishment fits the offense and others who call it a Disneyesque response that the original architect would have hated.

On Thursday, the commission rejected a proposed 4,000-square-foot house on a Twin Peaks site that for more than 80 years was home to one of five structures that famed modernist architect Richard Neutra designed in San Francisco. Instead, the commission ordered the property owner to build a replica that echoes the footprint, massing, method and materials of the original house.

The move, unprecedented in San Francisco, was heralded by Neutras 92-year-old son and former partner, architect Dion Neutra, who said that he would love to see the house rebuilt according to the original plans and operated as a publicly accessible cultural center. Dion Neutra said that news of what had happened at the planning commission provoked an avalanche of response among those who care about modernism and his fathers work; he received more than 50 emails about the vote.

I wish we had a planning commission here in L.A. that had the guts to do what the planning commission in San Francisco did, he said. I take my hat off to them.

The controversial decision comes more than a year after the two-story redwood and concrete block house at 49 Hopkins Ave., known as the Largent House, was almost entirely torn down during a remodel that was supposed to preserve the majority of the first floor. After receiving a notice of violation for the unpermitted demolition, the property owner, a limited liability company controlled by investor Ross Johnston, submitted an application to construct a house three times the size of the one that was torn down.

Johnstons attorney argued during the commission hearing that the historic integrity of the Neutra house had been erased gradually over the past 50 years, first in a fire in the 1960s and later in a series of remodels. Attorney Justin Zucker blamed the general contractor for the teardown, saying the construction crew decided the house was structurally unsound. We acknowledge and apologize for the fact that a small portion of the work exceeded the scope in the approved plans, Zucker told the commission, adding that the decision was made for life-safety reasons.

Zucker did not return calls seeking comment on Monday. Johnston could not be reached.

Experts questioned whether the city has the authority to order that a property owner re-create an 80-year-old house. Also unclear is whether the architectural plans are available and how much they would have to be altered to comply with current building codes. And then there is the cost: Johnston paid $1.7 million for the property, and its unlikely that he would agree to invest more money in a project that wouldnt meet his familys needs.

Can this be backed up legally? We have no idea, said Barbara Lamprecht, an architectural historian who wrote three books on Neutra. If it is constructed, what would happen if a subsequent owner wants to change or alter the plan? What are the (California Environmental Quality Act) implications? There are all kinds of questions floating around.

Plans for the Largent House are likely in storage at UCLA, where the Richard and Dion Neutra papers are located, Lamprecht said.

I was shocked, as were many of us, because by any measure its a very dramatic gesture, she said of the commissions decision. Neutra buildings are well-built and robustly built, but they are exceptionally fragile because people demolish them overnight.

Architect and architecture historian Jonathan Pearlman called the decision a petty and political move that serves no purpose. Pearlman, a friend of the Neutra family, said that the modernist architect with a cult-like following would have been appalled by the commissions insistence that the house be recreated.

His approach to design was extremely client-focused, producing his unique and masterful homes that reflect both his own vision married to the direct needs and desires of his client and to the natural environment of the site, said Pearlman. To rebuild this house, designed specifically for the Largents over 80 years ago, to represent a current political issue hardly seems like something Neutra would endorse.

Instead, Pearlman said the property owner should have been hit with a substantial fine, which would then be put into a historic preservation fund, similar to the punishment the city settled on in the 2004 expansion of the Westfield San Francisco Centre mall. In that case the developer was fined $2.5 million after razing a 65-foot facade that was supposed to be preserved.

The 2019 version of a significantly remodeled house, originally designed by one of the greatest 20th century architects, is certainly not a way to address this problem, he said.

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.

San Francisco law allows the city to punish property owners guilty of illegal demolitions by restricting any development on the site for five years, according to land use attorney Brett Gladstone, who has been practicing in San Francisco for 30 years. But Gladstone said the commission has rarely done that, and he has never seen it order a property owner to rebuild exactly a house that had been removed.

The devil is in the details, he said. Whether its defendable in court depends on how the city writes up its decision.

The Secretary of the Interiors Standards, a federal guideline for historic preservation, stipulates that the reconstruction of lost historic buildings should take into consideration the economic and technical feasibility of each project and whether such reconstruction is essential to the public understanding of the property. The reconstruction should be in cases where documentary and physical evidence is available to permit accurate reconstruction with minimal conjecture.

Miltiades Mandros, an architect and the leading expert on Neutras 20 Northern California projects, said what happened in Twin Peaks is happening all over the state, where the dirt is worth more than the house ever was. He said he understands the contention that a reproduction is inauthentic but that it establishes a track record and a great precedent for the next time this comes along. The Largent House is one of five Neutra did in San Francisco.

It was a cool little building, and I am just saddened its gone, he said.

Dion Neutra said one-third of the houses built by his fathers firm have been destroyed. If the Largent House is reconstructed, he would like to help out. We would be happy to work on restoring this home, he said.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @sfjkdineenA tax to fund early childhood education and college readiness programs for Oakland students didnt get the two-thirds vote in November usually required for special taxes to pass, but city officials now say, based on a recent legal opinion, a simple majority vote is good enough.

The Oakland City Council certified Measure AA on Friday evening, the first step toward enacting the parcel tax, even as council members acknowledged that doing so creates legal exposure for the city.

The measures opponents have vowed to sue.

The authority to move the education parcel tax forward comes from the San Francisco city attorneys interpretation of a recent California Supreme Court decision. Dennis Herreras office last year said in a memo that citizen-initiated tax measures need only a simple majority to pass but government-driven ones still need a supermajority.

Certifying the measure allows the city to collect the taxes, even if it does not spend the money pending a legal ruling.

Measure AA would tax single-family homes at a rate of $198 a year and multiunit residences at $135. It was expected to generate $30 million in annual revenue and last for 30 years.

Most of the revenue would go toward early child-care and preschool programs, and another portion would fund college readiness programs, tuition assistance and efforts to fix racial inequities in access to higher education. The measure would also create a citizen commission to conduct oversight and audits.

The measure was championed by Schaaf and backed by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland; Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda; the Oakland branch of the NAACP; the citys SEIU Local 1021 and others.

The City Council, 6-1, certified the measure despite only 62 percent of voters approving it. Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney voted against certification, and Councilwoman Desley Brooks was absent.

The council is following the example set by San Francisco, which certified three tax measures that received a simple majority of voter support but did not reach the two-thirds threshold. Those measures, which would provide funding for homelessness programs, early childhood education and teacher raises, are already facing legal challenges.

The Oakland vote means City Attorney Barbara Parker will now file a validation action in court  essentially asking a judge to approve the citys authority to certify the measure.

Shuwaski Young, campaign manager for Yes on AA, applauded the councils move.

It was brave and the right, moral thing to do for Oakland communities, he said. This gives way for an opportunity to really give low-income families an equal shot at quality education.

Since the mid-1990s, ballot measures to raise taxes for specific purposes must get a two-thirds supermajority to pass. Taxes for the general fund need only a simple majority.

Sometimes, the distinction is blurred. Oaklands soda tax was written as a general one, but supporters understood it would fund health programs. When Schaaf last year proposed using the money to help eliminate a budget deficit, she was lambasted by her colleagues on the council, and she quickly changed course.

The action by Oakland officials is a misuse of power and the electoral process, said Larry Tramutola, a political consultant for the No on AA campaign.

This is a blatant power play by the proponents of this measure to use untested legal principles to move the measure forward when they didnt get the two-thirds, Tramutola said.

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.

Angry homeowners charged that city officials were attempting to pass the measure without proper public noticing. An initial agenda item Tuesday about the election results included which initiatives passed and which ones failed but listed an ambiguous passed/failed next to Measure AA.

Marleen Sacks, an attorney who sued the city years ago over how a public safety parcel tax was being spent, wrote a letter to officials last week alleging violations of California open-meetings law. Afterward, the City Council brought the measure back on Friday.

Sacks and other opponents of the measure said that even if San Franciscos analysis is right the Oakland initiative was not truly citizen-driven and instead written by an amalgam of public officials and union leaders.

Darien Shanske, a professor at UC Davis School of Law who specializes in state and local taxation, said that argument could be politically persuasive but not legally so.

But there remain some tricky questions specific to Oakland, Shanske said, given that Parker said in ballot materials the initiative needed two-thirds approval. That was unlike San Franciscos contested Proposition C, which was advertised as only needing a simple majority.

I think the San Francisco city attorney is correct and they will be vindicated, but it is an open question, he said. Ultimately, everyone is waiting to see what happens in the San Francisco litigation. If San Francisco wins, thats going to be huge for California cities.

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerovIts not easy keeping track of how many lords are leaping, but the special-education students of the Access program in San Francisco nailed it for the 10th year in a row.

Their annual holiday sing-along concert Monday seemed to make all of South of Market jingle like the things on one-horse open sleighs.

I just feel more comfortable when I sing, said Karina Duran, 20, one of the student performers. It gives me confidence.

Every year, the students put on red sweaters and red Rudolph noses and invite the community to join in, sing a few tunes and learn about the program thats part of San Francisco Unified School District. It helps special-education students make their own way in the city in the years after high school.

Duran, when shes not calling the calling birds and the French hens, takes tickets at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Other students work at public service jobs all over town.

The program helps me get around, Duran said. It makes me feel independent. I learn how to ride the Muni. Im 20 years old. You cant ride a school bus forever.

For this years concert, about 150 folks showed up to belt out the tunes, including school district Superintendent Vincent Matthews, who thumped expertly on a set of bongo drums, and Police Chief Bill Scott, who didnt need the printed lyrics to know how many swans were swimming, and former state Sen. Mark Leno, who did.

The Access program, said Matthews, gives students a lift up to help them do what they do well.

Program director Heidi Seretan said her curriculum is independence, which is at least as important as anything else a kid picks up at school. She started the sing-along when her program was based at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, but it quickly outgrew the school library. Now the program operates out of the The Arc center for adults with developmental disabilities at 11th and Howard streets.

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 song lineup  Frosty, Rudolph and the maids a-milking  never changes but the young people in the program do, going on to hold down jobs and apartments.

Anybody can conquer anything, disability or not, said Joey Bechelli, 19, one of the sing-along emcees.

Bechelli, when he isnt passing out red Rudolph noses, helps care for the police horses at their Golden Gate Park stable. Its fun, he said, even sweeping out the stalls.

Overcoming my fears, standing up for my rights, choosing where and when I go places, he said. Thats what you learn.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein

@sfchronicle.comSan Francisco is rife with tourist attractions, and its filled with lovely homes. But in the Venn diagram between the two, the overlap is minuscule.

Nobodys living in the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, secretly stowing away in a cable car or camping out at Alcatraz. Well, not that I know of anyway. (If Im wrong, let me know! Now that would make a good column.)

No, residents of the citys best-known tourist destinations remain few and far between. I got the chance to meet one of these rarities the other day when I visited the owner of one of the Painted Ladies, the gorgeous, colorful Victorian homes on Steiner Street bordering Alamo Square.

Catherine Horsfall, an 86-year-old retired teacher, used to live in a home in Upper Terrace, the tony neighborhood south of Buena Vista Park. She long had her sights set on owning a Victorian home  ideally one of the Painted Ladies  and would leave letters declaring her desire in the mailboxes of the homes owners.

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

She bid on a Painted Lady once many years ago and lost out. But in 2001, the real estate gods smiled down on her, and she purchased her very own tourist attraction.

If I ever want to go around the world, I have my son wheel me over to the park and I meet people from all over, Horsfall said with a beaming smile. Uganda, France, Italy.

The famous homes date to the 1890s and survived the 1906 earthquake and fire, but only scored their memorable monikers in 1978 when writers Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen penned Painted Ladies  San Franciscos Resplendent Victorians.

And resplendent they are. Horsfall sat in her living room beneath a towering Christmas tree during our visit. A coffee table was piled with postcards, books and puzzles with her home on the front. An entire binder was filled with memorabilia featuring her home including Ferrari ads, newspaper clippings about movies filmed there and a picture of the famous San Francisco skyline hat from Beach Blanket Babylon.

Were on the hat! said Horsfalls son, George Horsfall, 62, who lives on Lombard Street near that other famous tourist attraction, but spends many nights at his mothers home.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

The three-story home (plus basement) is filled with stained glass, lace curtains, fancy chandeliers and antique furniture. My favorite part, strangely, was the ceilings. They were hand silk-screened in stunning colors and designs  including the lavender one in the living room bedecked with silver stars.

Yes, this Painted Lady drips with charm. But is it worth the tourist hordes outside? No question, the Horsfalls agree.

Every day, I hear, Nobody lives in those houses  theyre just for movies, said George Horsfall of the chatter outside. Or people say it must be terrible, it must be a goldfish bowl. But we never feel that way. Never.

Odd incidents that might bother most people dont faze the Horsfalls at all. Like little kids sent to ring the doorbell by nosy parents. Or the time they opened the front door to find a man standing on his head, posing for a goofy picture.

Or the occasional shouts from outside of Hey, Stephanie! after the mistaken belief the show Full House  which featured the Tanner family including sisters D.J., Stephanie and Michelle  was set inside. The real Full House house is on Broderick Street. One dad even asked Catherine Horsfall to pretend she was Michelle Tanners grandmother for the sake of his little girl, and she willingly complied.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

Weve seen some funny things. Like a lot of brides and grooms come and take pictures here, Catherine Horsfall said. I invite them in sometimes.

One couple scored the ultimate wedding photo when Horsfall allowed them to stand in adjoining bedrooms upstairs and hold hands out the windows.

The Horsfalls said they never worry about their security in a house that so many people are curious about.

Its the best free security system on the planet, George Horsfall said. Theyd be photographed 50 times breaking in the window.

Catherine Horsfall has other measures of security, too. In addition to regular visits from her son, she has a nurse who comes every day. And she rented out a room upstairs to a 23-year-old San Francisco State University student who helps her care for her three golden retrievers and reads her poetry every night.

Catherine Horsfall said its been a pleasant surprise that she never feels like shes being stared at  she knows the tourists are out there, but she has enough privacy, too.

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.

Its fun! she said of life inside a Painted Lady. Every day is an adventure.

Flowers for the grooms: February will mark the 15th anniversary of then-Mayor Gavin Newsoms decision to allow thousands of same-sex weddings at City Hall despite them being illegal at the time.

One of the sweetest aspects of that story was the bouquets ordered by people all over the United States with directions to deliver them to any couple standing in line. They came with notes like, To a loving couple, have a happy life, and, Nice day for a white wedding.

The grassroots movement called Flowers from the Heartland started with an email that went viral. It was written by Greg Scanlan of Minneapolis who saw photos of the weddings on sfgate.com and came up with the idea.

Well, I heard from Scanlans soon-to-be-husband the other day. Yes, now that same-sex marriage is sanctioned nationwide, the creative man behind the wedding bouquets is getting hitched himself.

He and Brad Althoff met two-stepping in a local LGBT country dance group. He asked me to dance and that was it, said Althoff, a public radio producer.

Scanlan is a public defender, described by Althoff as still trying to change the world.

The men will have a wedding with 35 people, including Althoffs ex-wife serving as the maid of honor and their daughter as the flower girl. This is Scanlans first marriage. Ironically, they hadnt planned for any wedding flowers when I talked to Althoff.

Other than a boutonniere for each of us, no, he said.

Are you thinking what Im thinking? Their wedding is set for 4 p.m. Jan. 4 at the Landmark Center, the Butler Room, 75 Fifth St. West, St. Paul, Minn. Surely there are florists there whod be happy to make some deliveries.

And with that, dear readers, Im out for the holidays. Thanks for making 2018 so memorable. Lets do it again next year.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsfThe planned closure of Berkeleys Alta Bates Summit Medical Center would severely restrict health care access for poor, elderly and minority East Bay residents, increase wait times for emergency care, and result in a loss of jobs, according to a new report by UC Berkeleys Institute of Urban and Regional Development.

Sutter Health, which owns Alta Bates, said in 2015 it would close the 347-bed hospital on Ashby Avenue by 2030, the year that California hospitals must comply with new seismic retrofitting standards or be decommissioned. Alta Bates is the only 24-hour emergency department in Berkeley, and has one of the highest volumes of emergency room patients in the East Bay.

Sutter has said it will move services to its nearest medical facility, Alta Bates in Oakland, three miles away. Executives have said it would not be cost-efficient to operate two hospitals so close to each other. Alta Bates in Berkeley is not seismically safe, and there is not enough room to operate the hospital and undergo new construction at the same time, a Sutter spokeswoman said Monday.

The health systems plan to close the Berkeley medical center has prompted outcry from residents and Berkeley city officials, who have fought for months to pressure Sutter to reverse course.

The biggest effects would be more crowding at emergency departments in the region and longer travel times to emergency rooms; reduced access to prenatal, birthing and neonatal care; delayed care, increased hospitalizations and increased costs for people of color; and the loss of emergency capacity to treat earthquake and fire victims in the event of a disaster, according to the report commissioned by the city of Berkeley.

It takes Berkeley EMS about 12 minutes longer to get to Summit medical center in Oakland compared to Alta Bates in Berkeley, according to estimates from Berkeley Fire and Alameda County EMS. But Alta Bates in Oakland has already been the designated EMS ambulance receiving center for acute heart attack and stroke patients since 2011, Sutter reported.

The Summit medical center in Oakland would need to double its emergency department capacity in order to accommodate all of Alta Bates patients, the report found.

Without access to Alta Bates, West Contra Costa County residents would have to go to Kaiser-Richmond, which has limited capacity, or hospitals 18 to 25 miles east, such as Contra Costa Regional Medical Center and John Muir Hospital, the report said.

It confirms our worst fears that if Alta Bates in Berkeley were to close, it would have a negative impact on emergency and health care not just for Berkeley but the whole I-80 corridor, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin said.

The study was limited in scope and does not take into account the current health care landscape, Sutter spokeswoman Amy Thoma Tan said. Sutter is committed to the East Bay and to developing a regional solution that works for all, Thoma Tan added.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Alta Bates serves about 50,000 patients each year, and more than 60 percent are on Medi-Cal, Californias Medicaid program for the poor, or are indigent or uninsured.

The report found the closure would lead to a likely loss of living-wage jobs for entry-level hospital workers and some skilled positions, such as nurses, but it did not have a specific projected number of job losses. SEIU-UHW, the union that represents many health care workers, estimates that in 2015 the hospital employed 280 people in low-skilled jobs such as clerks, patient aides, food service and custodial staff, nursing assistants and technical support staff.

Berkeley officials have floated the possibility of Sutter selling Alta Bates to another health care operator, though it is unclear if other providers would be interested in acquiring the hospital.

The conversations with Sutter continue, Arreguin said. Weve been meeting with them for the past two years; were eager to continue to work with them to find a solution.

Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_HoA crane operator dispatched to clean up the aftermath of the Camp Fire in Butte County was fired over the weekend, with two other workers, after making posts mocking the destruction on his Facebook page.

Rob Freestone, who worked for Bigge Crane and Rigging, shared multiple photos of himself and others, dating to Nov. 16, climbing on broken structures, posing in lots filled with debris and making jokes.

The San Leandro-based construction company released a statement Saturday saying that the three individuals involved had been fired.

It came to our attention Friday night and Saturday morning, company spokesman Randy Smith said Monday. We got it from our inside sources and phone calls from other people in the industry who had seen the posts.

The town of Paradise posted on Saturday morning condemning Freestone and stating that the towns police department would look into possible criminal charges.

This is unacceptable and reprehensible behavior, the post read. Town leadership has contacted this subjects employer and he will no longer be working in our town.

A department spokesperson did not immediately return a call Monday.

Freestone, a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers, had traveled from Indiana to work the Camp Fire, Smith said. He had been working for Bigge Crane and Rigging for about six weeks.

A spokesperson for Local 103, where Freestone holds membership, could not be reached for comment.

A picture from Dec. 9 showed Freestone straddling what appeared to be a mailbox painted like a firetruck with the caption, I got to ride on a fire truck today. Another image, posted Dec. 5, showed Freestone jumping in the middle of a broken trampoline, with the caption, Trampolines are stupid. BTW, it used to be called a Jumpoline until your mom got on it.

Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California

On Dec. 13, Freestone posted a picture of two other workers sitting in what looks like a destroyed RV, with the caption, Theyre off on a fun filled vacation to unknown destinations in their new RV.

In a post from Nov. 17, Freestone photographed a dead cat with a beer bottle in its mouth, captioned, Dude ... I was just chilling with my homies, having a couple of cold ones, and BAM ... damn fire breaks out.

The Camp Fire, which ignited Nov. 8, destroyed nearly 14,000 homes in Paradise and the surrounding communities and killed at least 86 people.

Ashley McBride is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ashley.mcbride@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ashleynmcbFacing scrutiny from regulators who accuse it of falsifying gas pipeline safety records, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. over the weekend disclosed a vague series of critical corrective actions, including the departure of unnamed company officials.

PG&E said in a statement posted Sunday that it acknowledges the serious concerns raised by the California Public Utilities Commission and said the company took and continues to take several steps to fulfill regulatory requirements.

But its not clear when the corrective actions referenced by the utility took place, and PG&E did not provide further details to The Chronicle after a request Monday.

The utilities commission announced Friday that an investigation by staff in its safety and enforcement division found PG&E repeatedly made false claims in its gas safety records from 2012 through 2017.

The investigation determined PG&E would falsify data about its efforts to locate and mark natural gas pipelines in a timely manner for the safety of construction crews and others.

A case against the utility will be heard by an administrative law judge for the commission.

One of the corrective measures PG&E listed Sunday is making a number of personnel and organizational changes including some leaders no longer being with the company.

The company did not state how many people left, their names, roles or whether they were fired.

PG&E spokesman Matt Nauman declined to go into specifics about the executive departures. PG&Es most important responsibility is public and employee safety, he said in an email.

As we noted, one of our corrective actions was personnel and organizational changes including some leaders no longer being with the company. He said employee privacy laws prevented the company from saying more.

In July, the utility announced that Nick Stavropoulos, its president and chief operating officer, would retire at the end of September.

Stavropoulos, 60, was hired by PG&E in 2011 to lead the reform of the utilitys natural gas operations following the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion in 2010 that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes. He was promoted to his most recent role in 2017.

Stavropoulos was one of the PG&E officers examined under oath as part of the commissions staff investigation, according to Fridays order opening the case against the utility.

But its not clear if Stavropoulos retirement had anything to do with the investigation. The Chronicle was not able to reach him for comment Monday.

Snapshots of PG&Es website captured by the Internet Archive and LinkedIn profiles indicate a few other PG&E executives with potentially relevant roles left the company in the last six months, including a vice president of safety and health and a senior vice president and chief information officer. PG&E declined to comment on any specific departures.

PG&Es statement also said it has engaged independent consultants to audit how it marks and locates gas lines. PG&E said it is providing the findings to regulators and the federal monitor overseeing the utilitys gas operations because of the deadly San Bruno explosion.

Additionally, PG&E is increasing the number of workers responsible for locating and marking gas lines and bolstering the training those people receive for the work, the company said in its statement.

In its order opening the case against PG&E on Friday, the commission said failing to comply with safety laws compromises the safety of the public and the safety of PG&Es own employees.

By their nature and importance, safety laws require rigorous utility compliance at all times and instances, the order said. The Commission deems utility falsification of safety-related records to be a serious violation of law, again diminishing safety, and a violation of the trust this Commission places in utilities to provide accurate, truthful, and timely information to the Commission.

The gas pipeline investigation comes at a time of extreme pressure for PG&E, which faces mounting legal challenges over its potential role in sparking last months Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history.

Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California

PG&E equipment was already found responsible for igniting 17 fires in Northern California last year. The cause of the worst of last years fires, the Tubbs Fire, is still under investigation, but the utility may be found responsible for that blaze, too.

Steven Weissman, a former administrative law judge for the utilities commission, said PG&E could face very significant, substantial fines if the commissions investigation verifies a high number of safety violations.

The allegations the commission unveiled Friday are very serious, Weissman said.

The suggestion that a utility might falsely tell its customers that its safe to dig in a certain place when it doesnt know if its safe to dig there is just absolutely astounding, Weissman said.

Weissman said the commissions investigation announcement should also be of interest to U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who is overseeing PG&Es probation resulting from its 2016 criminal conviction in the San Bruno case.

Alsup has already asked PG&E and prosecutors a series of questions about the Camp Fire and other blazes, seeking answers by Dec. 31.

Perhaps, if there are infractions, some of them may have occurred during a period thats under the sphere of Judge Alsup, Weissman said. But beyond that, even if all of the activity occurred before that sentencing, what this does is raise concerns about potential ongoing violations and certainly raises safety culture questions. And those are things Im sure that hes going to want to look at.

Editors note: This story has been updated to remove a reference to an executive departure that was not related to PG&Es statement and to clarify that PG&E did not comment on any specific departures.

J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorrisThe story  which has no Bay Area connection  was passed along by a friend (Bruce Gerstman) of its teller, through a layer of Facebook, finally through Carol Pogash of Berkeley, who called it to The Chronicles attention. Finally, I talked about it firsthand with Matias Verna, a psychiatrist who works in Manhattan. His father, breast cancer surgeon/specialist Mario Verna, had died on Dec. 3.

Mario Verna was born in Buenos Aires in 1937, and he immigrated to the United States once as a young man, and then in 1976 when a military dictatorship was running Argentina. As a kid, he was in a Catholic Action youth group, said Matias Verna. We used to hear a lot about this group growing up because a lot of his friends were from this group. Then when Francis became pope in 2013, my dad started telling us that he was one of the kids in that group. It seemed believable, but at the same time my dad has always been known for regaling people with his stories  and he was already starting to struggle with dementia. ...

At one pont he mentioned that he would drink mate with Jorge (Bergoglio). In the last few years, my dad became increasingly impaired with his dementia, said Matias, and in the past few months, it really deteriorated rapidly. When he died  on Monday, Dec. 3  my brother and I were starting to make phone calls. They split up the list of people who needed to be called, and then He said, kind of chuckling, we have to call the pope. ... I just instinctively responded, Yeah, Ill take care of that  seriously, I will take care of that.

At home later that day, I composed a one-page fax message. because I had learned, just looking it up online, that thats the way to get in touch with the pope, by fax. Email is no good and he doesnt respond to direct messages on Twitter.

Matias researched fax numbers and called some of them to see which calls reached a fax machine. When he found one he thought would work, he sent the pope a short letter to say his father had died, that he thought theyd been schoolmates. When he sent his brothers copies of the fax, one of them berated him. You wrote Dear Pope, what is the matter with you? Youre supposed to write Supreme Pontiff or 

I said I understood that this guy is kind of a guys guy, and I just wanted to make it personal. Later on I told my wife, Oh, I faxed the pope by the way. She glanced up from her laptop and nodded.

He turned up the ringer on his phone, and left it on all night, just in case. The next morning I am driving to the nursing home, to where my father had been, to clean up the room.

The phone rang, the caller identified as unknown. With the fax, on my mind, I said, Hello, and I heard his voice and recognized it immediately. The conversation was in Spanish, which was Matias first language.

Are you from the Verna family? the Pope asked. I received your message. Of course I remember El Flaco (the skinny guy) well. And then he paused and said, We are at that age when were starting to get called back.

So I did my best to reconstruct the conversation in my head, and I wrote it down immediately. The conversation consisted of me profusely thanking him, and the rest of the conversation on his part was I will pray for your father at tomorrows Mass. ... I remember thanking him. And I remembered that Paul had said I was supposed to call him Holiest Father. So I said, Holiest Father. I dont know how to thank you for this. Then we said our good-byes and I sat in my car crying and shaking.

Had Matias Vernas been a religious man? No, not really, he said. His father had been religious in his youth, but that was about it. He sent along his account of the conversation with Pope Francis, as remembered right afterward.

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.

My favorite part was the greeting: Is this the Verna family? asked the caller from Rome. Soy el Papa Francisco.

PUBLIC EAVESDROPPING

I love my new condo! Its in a great neighborhood and five minutes away from my grandkids  only thing wrong is its older and in need of some rehab.

Arent we all, dear?

Two women at Temescal Farmers Market in Oakland

More Information PUBLIC EAVESDROPPING I love my new condo! Its in a great neighborhood and five minutes away from my grandkids  only thing wrong is its older and in need of some rehab. Arent we all, dear? Two women at Temescal Farmers Market in Oakland See More Collapse

Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, 415-777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchikKristen Biel, a fifth-grade Catholic school teacher in California, was fired after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and needed time off for chemotherapy. A federal judge dismissed her discrimination suit, saying Biel, whose everyday curriculum included religious instruction, was effectively a minister who was constitutionally barred from suing the church.

On Monday, a federal appeals court in San Francisco reinstated Biels suit and said teaching religion, among other subjects, in a religious school doesnt necessarily make someone a minister.

The Constitutions guarantee of religious freedom allows religious organizations to choose leaders and representatives of their faith, but it does not provide carte blanche to disregard antidiscrimination laws when it comes to other employees who do not serve a leadership role in the faith, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 2-1 ruling.

Biel worked as a public and private schoolteacher and a tutor for four years before St. James Catholic School in Torrance (Los Angeles County) hired her in 2013 as a substitute teacher. The school promoted her to the full-time job several months later, and the principal gave her a positive evaluation in November 2013, saying she had done a very good job in promoting a safe and caring learning environment.

After her breast cancer diagnosis less than six months later, Biel told the school she would need time off for surgery and chemotherapy. A few weeks later, the principal, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, told Biel she would not be rehired for the following academic year. Kreuper said Biels classroom management was not strict and added that it was not fair ... to have two teachers for the children during the school year.

Kreuper retired this year. Last week, school officials accused Kreuper and another nun at St. James, Sister Lana Chang, of embezzling $500,000 from the school and using the money for travel and casino gambling.

Biels suit claimed the school violated the federal ban on job discrimination against the disabled. In response, St. James invoked the U.S. Supreme Courts 2012 ruling that exempted another religious school from the same law for firing an ailing teacher. In a unanimous decision, the high court said the Lutheran Church could classify the teacher as a religious employee, noting that she led her students in prayers, was given a ministers title and extra job protections by her school, and claimed a ministers tax exemption with the government.

Biel shared few of those job characteristics, the appeals court said.

She taught religion a half hour each day, four days a week, using the schools workbook on Catholicism, and used religious themes and symbols in her overall curriculum as the school required, Judge Michelle Friedland said in the majority opinion. She said Biel, who is Catholic, joined her students in twice-daily prayers but did not lead them, and also attended a monthly mass at the school, where her job was to keep her class quiet and orderly.

There was no evidence that Biel considered herself a minister, the school did not describe her as one, and her year-to-year job offered no special ministerial protections or benefits, Friedland said.

The opinion was joined by D. Michael Fisher, a federal appeals court judge from Washington, D.C., temporarily assigned to the Ninth Circuit. Judge Raymond Fisher dissented, saying that Biels job expressly required her to propagate and manifest the Catholic faith in all aspects of the role and that the church was entitled to consider her a religious employee.

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.

Biels lawyer, Andrew Pletcher, said Biel is still struggling with cancer but is delighted by the ruling.

We needed a case to define the outer edges of classifying religious-school employees as ministers, Pletcher said, and this is the first one to do so.

Lawyers for the school were unavailable for comment.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelkoWASHINGTON - President Donald Trump has agreed to shut down his embattled personal charity and to give away its remaining money amid allegations that he used the foundation for his personal and political benefit, New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced Tuesday.

As Trump prepares for his holiday respite in Florida, he is more isolated than ever

Underwood said that the Donald J. Trump Foundation is dissolving as her office pursues its lawsuit against the charity, Trump and his three eldest children.

The suit, filed in June, alleged "persistently illegal conduct" at the foundation, which Trump began in 1987. Underwood is continuing to seek more than $2.8 million in restitution and has asked a judge to ban the Trumps temporarily from serving on the boards of other New York nonprofit organizations.

Underwood said Tuesday that her investigation found "a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation - including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more."

"This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone," she added in a statement.

The shuttering comes after The Washington Post documented apparent lapses at the foundation. Trump used the charity's money to pay legal settlements for his private business, to purchase art for one of his clubs and to make a prohibited political donation.

Trump denied that the organization had done anything wrong. In late 2016, he said he wanted to close the foundation before he became president to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest. But the New York attorney general blocked that move while the investigation continued.

The settlement with Underwood's office represents a concession by Trump to a state inquiry he has decried as a partisan attack. The case is one of numerous legal investigations of Trump organizations that have proliferated during his presidency.

In a court filing in New York, Underwood said the foundation's remaining $1.75 million will be distributed to other charities approved by her office and a state judge.

Alan Futerfas, an attorney for the Trump Foundation, issued a statement criticizing Underwood for "politicizing" the agreement.

"The Foundation has been seeking to dissolve and distribute its remaining assets to worthwhile charitable causes since Donald J. Trump's victory in the 2016 Presidential election," Futerfas said. "Unfortunately, the NYAG sought to prevent dissolution for almost two years, thereby depriving those most in need" of the foundation's money, he said.

Futerfas said that, over its life, the foundation had given away about $19 million, including $8.25 million donated by Trump himself. The rest of the money came from other donors, notably pro-wrestling moguls Vince and Linda McMahon, who gave $5 million. Trump later chose Linda McMahon to head the Small Business Administration.

As part of its agreement with the attorney general's office, the foundation will be required to sell its remaining assets and donate the proceeds, said Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for Underwood.

That includes a Denver Broncos football helmet signed by former quarterback Tim Tebow, which Trump bought at a charity auction in 2012 with $12,000 in Trump Foundation money. The charity also owns two large portraits of Trump, for which Trump paid a combined $30,000 in foundation money.

Trump now values the three items - for which he spent $42,000 in charity money - at a combined $975, according to a recent IRS filing.

The attorney general's suit alleges that Trump used his charity's money as his own piggy bank - including to help his presidential campaign by paying for giveaways at Iowa rallies.

"The Foundation was little more than a checkbook for payments to not-for-profits from Mr. Trump or the Trump Organization," Underwood wrote in the initial suit.

The Washington Post's reporting showed that, for years, Trump appeared to use the foundation - which was, by law, an independent entity - to make payments that bolstered his interests.

The largest donation in the charity's history - a $264,231 gift to the Central Park Conservancy in 1989 - appeared to benefit Trump's business: It paid to restore a fountain outside Trump's Plaza Hotel. The smallest, a $7 foundation gift to the Boy Scouts that same year, appeared to benefit Trump's family. It matched the amount required to enroll a boy in the Scouts the year that his son Donald Trump Jr. was 11.

The attorney general's investigation turned up evidence that Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump - all listed as officers of the charity - had never held a board meeting. The board hadn't met since 1999. The charity's official treasurer, Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg, told investigators that he wasn't aware that he was on the board.

State investigators asked him what the foundation's policies were to determine whether its payments were proper.

"There's no policy, just so you understand," Weisselberg said.

At one point, Trump used the charity's money to make a $25,000 political donation to Florida Attorney General Pamela Bondi, a Republican. The charity didn't tell the IRS about that, as required - and instead listed that donation as a gift to an unrelated charity in Kansas with a similar name. Trump's team blamed accounting mistakes.

In 2016, state investigators allege, Trump effectively "ceded control" of his charity to his political campaign. He raised more than $2 million at a fundraiser in Iowa that flowed into the foundation. Then, the state said, Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski determined when and where it would be given away.

"Is there any way we can make some disbursements . . . this week while in Iowa?" Lewandowski wrote in an email cited in Underwood's lawsuit.

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.

Trump gave away oversize checks from the foundation at campaign events in the key early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, pausing his campaign rallies to donate to local veterans' groups.

Federal law prohibits charities from participating in political campaigns. As president, Trump has called repeatedly for that law to be repealed.

Underwood has asked the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether the Trump charity broke tax laws. Both agencies have declined to comment.

In his statement on Tuesday, Futerfas praised the foundation for operating with "virtually zero expenses."

Indeed, the Trump Foundation had no paid employees.

It also spent very little on advice from lawyers. From 2001 to 2016, Trump's charity spent a total of $163 on legal fees - and, in many of those years, it spent $0.

The demise of the Trump Foundation still leaves one mystery regarding a large portrait of Trump that he bought for $20,000 in 2007, using money from the charity. What became of it after that is unknown.

In 2017, after The Post wrote about the portrait, Trump listed it as an asset on his charity's IRS forms. He assigned it a value of $700. But he did not say where it was.

On this year's tax forms, however, the painting's value was listed at $0. Trump's attorney did not respond to a query from The Washington Post about why.

---

Video Embed Code

Video: President Trump shut down his Donald J. Trump Foundation on Dec. 18, amid an ongoing lawsuit that says Trump used the charity's money for personal and political gain.(Joyce Koh/The Washington Post)

Embed code:A federal judge in Texas struck down the Affordable Care Act on Friday, but its not the end of the line for the crucial, long-beleaguered health insurance program.

The judge, Reed OConnor, did not rule that the law must be enjoined immediately. That effectively means the Affordable Care Act can proceed as usual while the latest legal challenge works its way through the appeals courts.

The 20 million Americans who depend on the Affordable Care Act for coverage  including nearly 4 million Californians  should feel secure about attending their currently scheduled medical appointments.

Several states  California included  are even extending their enrollment periods into January in an effort to counteract the depressing effect the past years worth of conflicting headlines has had on signups.

California is also planning a strong legal counterattack in concert with many other states.

The ACA has already survived more than 70 unsuccessful repeal attempts and withstood scrutiny in the Supreme Court, said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in a statement. Our coalition will continue to fight in court for the health and well-being of all Americans.

There are plenty of reasons to believe the ACA could come through this latest battle mostly intact.

One of the biggest? The fact that the U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled in favor of it.

In 2012, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the 5-4 decision upholding the individual mandate to buy health insurance as a valid exercise of Congress power under the Taxing Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Thats particularly significant in light of OConnors argument for deciding the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional: He argued that the rest of the law fell apart after Congress repealed the individual mandate in 2017.

But thats quite a stretch of imagination for OConnor to make while millions of Americans continue to sign up for the ACA. Roberts is not the type of justice whos impressed by large leaps in legal judgment.

The courts are also not immune to public opinion, and the voters have made it clear they want the ACA to survive  partially by voting overwhelmingly for Democrats in the midterm elections, and partially by approving Medi-Cal expansions in multiple states.

California should lead this legal fight with determination and confidence.

This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.Jon Elswick / Associated Press

The Russian campaign to elect Donald Trump, much like its candidate of choice, avidly used social media to spread disinformation and relentlessly exploited Americas racial and other divisions. A pair of new reports for the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee detail the startling scope and sophistication of the Kremlins role in an election that came down to relatively few votes.

The reports find that the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency infiltrated every major social media platform  including Facebook, Twitter, Facebooks Instagram and Googles YouTube  and many minor ones, right down to Gab, a hub for extremists, and Google+, a hub for almost no one. The Russians reached nearly 150 million users on Facebooks networks alone.Jackie and Chris Tompkins of Sacramento worry about what the future holds for their son, Deven. He was born with a neurodevelopmental disorder called hypoplasia  or thinning  of the corpus callosum, which is the part of the brain that connects the left and right hemispheres. Later, he also was diagnosed as falling on the autism spectrum. Deven has had extensive special needs, including daily speech, occupational and physical therapy.

The Tompkins wonder how they will provide for Devens future. Without the financial support of his parents, will Deven find himself living on the brink of poverty, like so many other individuals with disabilities?

For the Tompkins, and thousands of other families across California, there is new reason for optimism. Beginning Tuesday, the CalABLE (Californias Achieving a Better Life Experience) program will empower hundreds of thousands of Californians with disabilities to save for their futures, without worrying that theyll lose access to vital public programs.

Many with disabilities face the daunting hardship of shouldering expensive support services, from housing and transportation, to education and specialized care. And for an individual to qualify for the federal SSI program, their total countable assets must be worth no more than $2,000, or $3,000 for a couple.

According to the Census Bureau, these individuals are twice as likely to be trapped in poverty as the rest of the population. Thats because surveys show they tend to have little savings and many are unemployed or underemployed.

Meanwhile, approximately 7 percent of Californians under the age of 65 have some type of disability, suggesting that hundreds of thousands of Californians with disabilities are caught in a bureaucratic Catch 22, in which the financial support they receive from public programs essentially precludes them from building significant savings.

CalABLE will be a game changer for Californians with disabilities.

Mirrored after the 2014 federal Stephen Beck Jr. Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, CalABLE will provide individuals with disabilities the opportunity to save more than the $2,000 they were previously allowed under asset limitation rules for government programs. Individuals will now be able to deposit $15,000 a year  up to a maximum of $529,000 into an ABLE account and still maintain such benefits as MediCal and CalFresh. Those who wish to remain eligible for SSI can save the annual $15,000, but can deposit up to $100,000 into their ABLE account without the funds counting as assets.

Better yet, family, friends and employers can all contribute to the account, in addition to the beneficiary.

The savings grow tax-free, and the withdrawals, provided they are applied to qualifying disability expenses, are tax-free as well, giving those in the program access to funds to cover the extra costs of living with a disability. CalABLE was created by the Legislature in 2015. People with significant disabilities that onset before age 26 are eligible for CalABLE.

And for those not dependent on public benefits, CalABLE becomes a long-term savings vehicle, similar to Californias ScholarShare 529 education savings plan, and provides an alternative or supplement to a special needs trust. The result empowers disabled Californians with a degree of autonomy and control over their finances.

CalABLE launches Dec. 18. Were kicking off the program in Berkeley, the birthplace of the disability rights and independent living movement.

Whether youre a parent raising a child with a disability  like the Tompkins  or an adult with a disability, CalABLE affirms our commitment to equity and equality, and will finally usher in a new level of financial inclusion and security for Californians across our state.

John Chiang is the California treasurer. To sign up, go to http://www.CalABLE.ca.gov.Text messages at 3:30 a.m. never bring good news, and the one that woke me Nov. 9 was no exception.

Before I went to sleep on the East Coast that night, I was aware of the wildfire bearing down on Paradise, where my parents, brother and family reside. At the time, I was preparing for a speech at a disaster resilience conference for the following day and naturally scanned the news for more information. I learned that the mildly named Camp Fire had swallowed the town of Paradise.

I have spent my career working to understand and ease the effects of the disrupted lives, displaced families and financial losses that Mother Nature tows in her wake. I have seen how it looks when a lifetime of memories is hauled to the curb after a flood, hurricane or wildfire. I understand the trauma and have grieved the losses with strangers. But nothing prepares you for the scarring moment of hearing your mothers piercing words, Our home is gone. Where do we start?

Where, indeed?

While the Camp Fire was one of the hottest, fastest, most violent wildfires in the history of California, it is part of rise in frequency in wildfires in the West. No state in the United States is spared from wildfires. Florida experiences wildfires on a three- to five-year cycle. In 2016, we saw lives and homes lost in Gatlinburg, Tenn., and last year, 47,000 acres were scorched in North Carolina. Yet the scale and intensity of the fires is unprecedented, and no natural cure is in the cards. The recent National Climate Assessment asserts that over the next 30 years, the areas burned by wildfire could increase by six-fold.

Forget any notion of a one-and-done solution to the scourge of wildfire. Consistently funded and executed forestry management to thin woodlands, clear underbrush and destroy nonnative species, along with customized wildland vegetation strategies in areas surrounded by chaparral and shrub land are state and federal activities that require policymakers, local leaders and voters to act.

More capacity to fight wildfires should complement these activities, along with homeowner and business loan programs to support improved resilience. Its not just the vast American landscape that is burning, but also the homes, schools, businesses and natural resources of the American people.

Home and property owners and renters also must lean in. Preparedness can dramatically improve our odds. Policymakers and homeowners must wake up and overcome the ignorance so often revealed in statements like: I cannot do anything about it, I cannot afford it, it is too difficult, it will lose me votes.

The debates, legal battles, and resulting inertia must end. An all of the above strategy is necessary.

Even through my mothers tears, we agreed that our family would rebound, that the ashes would not last, and they are merely the residue of our familys experience  a family that is still here to build again.

Roy E. Wright is president and CEO of the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety. He formerly led the Federal Emergency Management Agencys National Flood Insurance Program.Donald Trump has described the payments his bagman, Michael Cohen, made to two women during the 2016 campaign so they wouldnt discuss their alleged affairs with him as a simple private transaction.

Last week, when ABCs George Stephanopoulos asked Cohen whether Trump knew the payments were wrong and were made to help his election, Cohen replied, Of course. ... He was very concerned about how this would affect the election.

But even if Trump intended that the payments aid his presidential bid, it doesnt necessarily follow that he knew they were wrong.

Trump might have reasoned that a deal is a deal: The women got hundreds of thousands of dollars in return for agreeing not to talk about his affairs with them. So wheres the harm?

After two years of Trump, we may have overlooked the essence of his insanity: His brain sees only private interests transacting. It doesnt comprehend the public interest.

Private transactions cant be wrong or immoral because, by definition, they require that every party to them be satisfied. Otherwise there wouldnt be a deal.

Viewed this way, everything else falls into place.

For example, absent a public interest, there cant be conflicts of interest.

So when lobbyists representing the Saudi government paid for an estimated 500 nights at Trumps Washington, D.C., hotel within a month of his election, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman rented so many rooms at the Trump International Hotel in Manhattan that its revenue rose in 2018 after years of decline, Trump saw it as half of a private transaction.

The other half: Trump would continually go to bat for Saudi Arabia and the crown prince, even after the Senate passed a resolution blaming the prince for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Saudi Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million, Trump told a crowd at an Alabama rally in August 2015. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.

Ethics shmethics. Without a public interest, no deals can be ethical violations. All are just private transactions.

So someone donated $1 million to Trumps inaugural committee and subsequently received a $5 billion loan from the Energy Department. Whats the problem? Both parties got what they wanted. (Federal prosecutors are now reportedly investigating this.)

Trump aide and former Fox News executive Bill Shine continues to rake in millions each year from Fox News, and Fox News continues to give Trump the positive coverage he wants. Why worry? Its a good deal for both sides.

This private transactional worldview also helps explain Trumps odd foreign policy.

According to Trump, North Koreas Kim Jong Un writes him such beautiful letters that we fell in love.

Trump doesnt care that Kim continues to develop nuclear missiles. Trump gets bragging rights as the first American president to have a good private relationship with the North Korean leader.

Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have a beautiful relationship, presumably opening the way to all sorts of private transactions.

In July 2016, after emails from the Democratic National Committee were leaked to the public, Trump declared Putin likes me and thinks Im a genius. Trump then publicly called on Russia to find emails Hillary Clinton had deleted from the private account she used when she was secretary of state.

That same day, Russians made their first effort to break into the servers used by her personal office, according to an indictment from the special counsels office charging 12 Russians with election hacking.

So what? Trump asks.

Even as evidence mounts that Trump aides were in frequent contact with Russian agents during this time, Trump insists he wasnt involved in any collusion with Putin.

Collusion means joining together in violation of the public interest. If Trumps brain comprehends only private interests, even a transaction in which Putin offered explicit help winning the election in return for Trump weakening NATO and giving Russia unfettered license in Ukraine wouldnt be collusive.

When private deals are everything, the law is irrelevant. This also seems to fit with Trumps worldview.

If he genuinely believes that the hush money he had Cohen pay was a simple private transaction, Trump must not think the nations campaign finance laws apply to him. But if they dont, why would laws and constitutional provisions barring collusion with foreign powers apply to him?

As we enter the third year of his presidency, Trumps utter blindness to the public interest is a terrifying possibility. At least a scoundrel knows when he is doing bad things. A megalomaniac who only sees the art of the deal, doesnt.

 2018 Robert Reich

Robert Reichs latest book is The Common Good, and his newest documentary is Saving Capitalism. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at SFChronicle.com/letters.WASHINGTON  Sen. Kamala Harris traveled to Afghanistan over the weekend as part of a congressional delegation, her office said Tuesday.

Such congressional trips are often kept secret until the lawmakers have returned.

Harris went to Kabul, Mazar-e Sharif and Kandahar in Afghanistan. She received briefings and met with U.S. troops, diplomats and national security professionals, according to her office.

The California Democrat serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Two Republicans from the Intelligence Committee traveled with her, panel chairman Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma.

The timing of the trip is likely to invite speculation about Harris 2020 presidential ambitions. Harris is a former prosecutor and ex-California attorney general, and foreign policy is one area where she could be looking to bolster her credentials heading into a wide-open Democratic primary season.

Harris has said she will decide over the holidays whether to run.

The senator has previously visited U.S. forces in Iraq and has met with troops and service members spouses at California military bases.

In a statement, Harris said she was honored to meet troops in Afghanistan who make daily sacrifices for the U.S.

I was grateful to receive on-the-ground briefings on the state of the region and discuss how best to keep our country and our allies safe from the threat posed by terrorism, Harris said. I remain eager to find a political solution to the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan so we can bring U.S. service members and national security professionals home.

Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopanIts that most wonderful time of the year when a party-beat reporter revels in a merry roundelay of purpose-free soirees: No assigned seating, lengthy dinner programs or scribbling of quotes in her notepad. And sans a luxury auction benefiting some very fine cause de jour, Miss Bigelow can easily slip in, out and on to the next holiday hootenanny.

This years December do-si-do featured a few holiday gatherings underpinned by intention, and well get to those next Sunday in Holiday Parties, Part 2. But as Dr. Freud (kinda, sorta) once said, Sometimes a party is just a party.

At the holiday lunch hosted by OJ and Gary Shansby at Harris Restaurant, OJ nixed a mike request by co-host Dr. Seth Matarasso.

Seth would never stop talking, she said, with a laugh. This is an afternoon to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season with dear friends.

Festive it was: Santa and his helpers welcomed 200 guests at the beautiful, old-school steakhouse (adorned with bounteous bouquets by floral designer Claire Marie Johnston) on Pacific Avenue  a favorite spot of the hosts, who just slide down the hill from their homes to dine in the classic wood-paneled bar accented with murals and banquettes.

This was their third holiday lunch, an Old Guard tradition inspired by the late John Traina and Ken Rainin. However, this new edition is biennial, which as one socially-savvy guest noted is rather smart.

That allows hosts to prune their guest list, she naughtily noted. When someone realizes they didnt make the cut, they seek cover with the age-old excuse: Unfortunately we had to be in New York that week.

Wilsey whirl: For 36 years running, blue bloods beat a path to the couture cocktail klatch hosted by Dede Wilsey. And even if Wilsey, Fine Arts Museums board president, runs late from one of her many meetings, the party begins in earnest without her.

Atop black-and-white parquet in Wilseys foyer, gloriously adorned with green boughs trimmed in pink bows and eye-popping masterworks, her staff expertly threads through the 300-strong crowd proffering bountiful silver platters. Holiday tunes by Marianne Kent and her musicians set toes tapping. And caterer Diane Glotzer wows palates with her classic hors doeuvres: bacon-wrapped chestnuts! Caviar beggar purses! Piping-hot onion puffs!

But this year, on Dec. 6, four key guests were missing: Her son, Ambassador Trevor Traina, his wife, Alexis, and their children Johnny and Delphina, now residents in Vienna, where Trevor diplomatically waves the United States flag.

Trevor called, saying theyd miss my party. But they just entertained 400 military members and their families at the American Embassy, which is a lovely holiday gesture, said Wilsey. I told Trevor, with that big a crowd he could easily pretend he was at my party.

Cool yules: Bohemians  both members of that old-school club and actual artists, though some lay claim to both heritages  flock to two anticipated fetes of the artistic persuasion each year.

Following a brief hiatus, architect Sandy Walker and his wife, former gallerist Kay Walker, dove back into the fray with a gathering in their artful home, where a pianist tickled the ivories as guests nibbled McCalls delicacies.

Among the crowd: gallerists Gretchen and John Berggruen; designer Stanlee Gatti; photographer Fred Lyon and his wife, interior designer Penny Rozis; Jennifer Morla (whose design monograph just landed) and artist Tom McKinley dressed in a hot-pink Christmas tree costume.

Keeping with a 26-year-tradition, Chronicle Books CEO Nion McEvoy and his partner, editor Leslie Berriman, hosted a hip hothouse featuring sublime sushi and joyful carousing.

I have a lot of friends from different areas of my life and we like to mix them all together, said McEvoy, newly appointed SFFilm Board chairman and founder of McEvoy Foundation for the Arts.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

McEvoy also has a lot of cousins (Kit Tobin, Connie Goodyear Baron, Helen Spalding), who descend from Gold Rush-era founders of the San Francisco Chronicle (now owned by Hearst Corp.).

Describing current events at his foundation (housed at Minnesota Street Project), McEvoy detailed what inspires this nonprofits programming.

I look for works that move me rather than better-known works. The collection is a mix of well-known art and completely unknown, he said. Pretty much like our friends at this party.

Traina treat: Film producer Todd Traina and his wife, Katie Traina, once again shared his mothers holiday stage to host their annual fete on Dec. 13. Founded with his brother, Trevor, 29 years ago as a blue-blazer kegger reunion for their high school pals, its grown into an elegantly relaxed affair for 240 of their mid-married friends.

This year we really miss Alexis and Trevor, who was the great corraler of guests to conduct our carol sing-along, said Todd. But the tradition and consistency remain the same: my mothers beautiful decorations, great staff and pigs in a blanket.

Yet with help from his Los Angeles pal Kathy Hilton, Todd ably led the late-night carol chorus.

Our group is a bit more diverse from high school with actors, filmmakers, tech entrepreneurs, hedge fund managers, Todd said. After so many years, our party almost throws itself. Even if Trevor and I were both away, people enjoy it so much I think theyd still show up.

Catherine Bigelow is The San Francisco Chronicles society correspondent. Email: missbigelow@sfgate.com Instagram: @missbigelowEllen DeGeneres got sick of dancing, and really, can you blame her?

She has to be the only 60-year-old woman in America who is expected to dance with total strangers wherever she goes. Theres been times someone wants a picture, and while Im doing a selfie, theyre like: Youre not dancing!, DeGeneres said in her office on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank. Of course Im not dancing. Im walking down the street.

As she prepares to release her first comedy special in 15 years, DeGeneres is considering a much bigger change, retiring from the long-running hit show that bears her name. Shes been receiving conflicting advice from her wife, actress Portia de Rossi, and from her older brother, Vance DeGeneres, a comedian, and has changed her mind more than once.

At a transitional moment in her remarkable career, DeGeneres agreed to sit for a rare series of interviews over two days. As much as anyone possibly could, she has taken on Oprah Winfreys mantle as the queen of inspirational daytime talk, providing an oasis of positivity and escapist comedy in a culture short on both. But with DeGeneres status as a sunny stalwart come certain burdens and constrictions, like the expectation to dance, which she finally stopped doing on her show two years ago, after some agonizing over how her audience would react.

In person, she is more blunt, introspective and interesting than she is on the show, willing to express mild irritation that might seem off-key in front of a national audience. Shes also much more likely to explore dark corners of her psyche, regrets, second thoughts, anxieties that linger. And DeGeneres is appealingly open about the tensions in her career between providing a cultural safe space and delivering laughs, and says she has learned to care less about being liked.

Spoofing her own approachable, down-to-earth image, her surprising new special, Relatable (available Dec. 18 on Netflix), doesnt just reveal a refreshingly irreverent version of DeGeneres. It also provides a window into her state of mind.

In sharp contrast to her public image as everyones good friend, happy to listen, she presents herself  with tongue in cheek  as cartoonishly aloof and indifferent, stuck in a privileged bubble, cracking several jokes, for instance, about her fabulous wealth. (Forbes reports that she earned $87.5 million this year, making her the 15th-highest-paid celebrity in the world.) When she mentions a seat in the 10th row of an airplane, she admits, with practiced cluelessness, that the back of the plane is a mystery to her, asking if the seats even go that far.

For a famously nice talk show host, this is risky stuff. Yet the most jarring jokes in this special are those that subvert her reputation for kindness. After a lifetime of clean comedy, she startles her crowd with a curse. Comic Tig Notaro, who co-directed this special with Joel Gallen, calls it a decades-long payoff, adding, Then youre like: Ellens a real person with a foul mouth.

More Information "Relatable" launches on Netflix on Tuesday, Dec. 18. See More Collapse

Asked why his sister returned to stand-up, Vance DeGeneres, a former correspondent for The Daily Show who helped create the Mr. Bill shorts for Saturday Night Live, said: After doing the show for 16 years, its second nature. She wanted to break out of, not a rut, but a mold.

Because daytime talk shows get less attention than their late-night counterparts, DeGeneres is often overlooked in discussions of important hosts. But make no mistake: No other current daily host has been as successful or celebrated. Among her vast collection of awards are the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and 32 Emmys. And apart from Conan OBrien, no one matches her television longevity (shes been daytime host for as many years as Jon Stewart led The Daily Show) or her influence. Years before Jimmy Fallon turned games into standard elements of The Tonight Show, DeGeneres regularly invited guests to play them.

Fallon has become known for these segments, and they have been imitated on other shows, but they all clearly owe DeGeneres a debt. (Last year, she started a hit game show Ellens Game of Games, which returns for a second season in January.) Im flattered that hes taken stuff, DeGeneres told me, adding: He said he was going to steal everything, so its fine.

During an October taping of her show, what stood out was the stark contrast between the relaxed, low-key charisma of DeGeneres and the chaotic, charged-up energy of her audience. The crowd is encouraged to stand and dance, but they dont need to be told; they are ready to party, while DeGeneres projects a seemingly paradoxical blend of warmth and reserve, actively engaging, waving at people, listening intently to guests, adding a quip here and there, but never pushing too hard.

With the supreme confidence of a professional who has seen it all before, she pingpongs from a monologue of topical jokes to an interview with a chef dying of cancer, from playfully joking with Sean Hayes of Will & Grace to talking to a Tennessee assistant principal whose dance video went viral. Some guests cry. More than one leaves with a big check. DeGeneres is clearly having a good time, but her energy remains steady. She doesnt look like someone going through the motions, ready to retire, nor does she appear particularly challenged.

After the show  without her makeup on, she still looks a decade younger, her alert blue eyes her most distinguishing feature  she sat in an elegantly airy office surrounded by paintings as she analyzed her performance, beat by beat, with the authority of a doctor explaining lab results.

The next morning, DeGeneres, in jeans and a casual white shirt, sat staring at the ocean from her beach house outside Los Angeles in Carpinteria, where you can see dolphins leaping from the water. George Lucas lives two doors over, and Conan OBrien is down the way, as are Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis. She has a farm nearby and a place in the city, but she seems to prefer this tranquil spot, where she walks her dogs and chats with neighbors. Its the most community I have ever felt, she said.

As her private chef dropped off a drink, she explained that she spent a year struggling to come up with a subject to make comedy about. I used to talk about airplane food, she said, summing up her gentle mainstream style of observational humor. What do I do now?

As she spoke, she glanced at her phone on the kitchen counter, made a call and immediately tensed up. What do you mean? she asked urgently. Is anything broken? Baby! She put the phone down and explained that de Rossi had been riding, fell off her horse during a jump and sustained a concussion. She was taken to the hospital and was now heading to the beach house.

This is my biggest fear, she said, sounding shaken. Im scared all the time for her.

Minutes later, as if on cue, de Rossi entered in full riding gear, cutting a glamorous figure in jodhpurs and dark sunglasses. DeGeneres embraced her and shouted, Baby, stop riding horses!

De Rossi seemed unscathed, although her condition would worsen the next day, when she would have trouble concentrating. (Shes doing better, but is still healing.) And as she bantered lovingly with her wife, she seemed charming and at ease, talking effusively about the special. Shes just a bit more complicated than she appears on the show, de Rossi said. Theres more range of emotion.

DeGeneres recently took the option to extend her contract  until the summer of 2020  although she had been close to declining. On the question of leaving, she changes her mind all the time. Her brother has been an advocate for staying on, making the case that in the age of Trump, the country needs her positive, unifying voice on television every day.

She gets mad when my brother tells me I cant stop, DeGeneres said, glancing over at de Rossi to see if shes gone too far.

I just think shes such a brilliant actress and stand-up that it doesnt have to be this talk show for her creativity, de Rossi said. There are other things she could tackle.

DeGeneres, who has largely done voice work in film, most famously as Dory in Finding Nemo, said she would love to do another movie and play someone unappealing; her wife mentions doing radio or a podcast.

I dont see the end of her show as her career ending, de Rossi said.

DeGeneres smiled and considered the comment for a second. But she skipped the kindest response and went straight for the laugh: You have a concussion. What do you know?

Jason Zinoman is a New York Times writer.California wouldn't be ringing the New Year in properly without at least one new law regulating soda.

In 2019, kids' menus will be seeing a health-friendly change. Milk  or non-diary milk substitutes  and water  sparkling is OK  will be the only options listed for little ones. If your tot wants a Coke or juice to go with their meal, they won't be barred from getting one (we're not quite a nanny state). It just won't appear as a default option on menus.Update: Police say they've tracked down a tiny home that was stolen in St. Louis.

Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said detectives found the home Wednesday morning about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from St. Louis in the unincorporated community of House Springs. An anonymous tip led police to the 12-foot-tall house.

Marshak says a towing company will take the house to owner Meghan Panu free of charge.

End of update.

Meghan Panu spent two years and $20,000 building a custom tiny home from scratch. She completed the project in September and, in the spring, planned to plant her home-on-wheels at an intentional living community she founded with other St. Louis residents.

On Sunday, her plans took a turn. Someone stole the tiny home from its parking spot near downtown St. Louis by hitching it to a pickup truck and driving off, she said in an Instagram post.

Panu has been keeping her followers updated on social media. On Monday night, she reported the house was spotted on westbound Interstate 40 toward California. I-40 runs from the southeastern tip of North Carolina, through Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona. It turns into Interstate 15 near Barstow, about 130 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

According to reports from witnesses, some of whom have been writing to Panu on Facebook, the 20-foot-long home is being pulled by a gray Ford pickup driven by two men.

Earlier Monday morning, the house was spotted in a restaurant parking lot in Kingdom City, near Columbia, Missouri.

"It's been a hectic few days," Panu said in her most recent Facebook post, "but we're getting this house back one way or another."

Anyone who sees the house, pictured above, or has anyone information regarding the theft should contact the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department or send a tip to Panu on her tiny home Facebook page.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.

Start receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news.For more than a year, Ali Hassan has been refreshing the website for his wifes visa application. Every time, he received the same generic response: undergoing administrative processing.

Hassans wife, Shaima Swileh, had been pleading with the U.S. State Department to allow her into the country to see their 2-year-old son, Abdullah Hassan, who is dying from a rare brain condition in an Oakland hospital. Swileh, a Yemeni citizen, has had her visa application repeatedly denied because of the Trump administrations 2017 ban for citizens of certain Muslim-majority countries coming to the U.S., the family said.

But on Tuesday, Swileh received a call to report to the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, where she has been living since shortly after Abdullah was born. When she arrived, embassy officials handed her a presidential proclamation waiver and a visa, clearing the way for her to travel to the U.S., her lawyer said.

Thousands of miles away on Tuesday, Hassan refreshed the webpage for his wifes visa application and saw the stunning news. A few minutes later, his phone received a photo of the document with a message from Swileh in Arabic: We got it!

She is very relieved, very thankful, and she just cannot wait to come and see her son, said Saad Sweilem, Swilehs lawyer.

Abdullah has been hospitalized at UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland for five months after being diagnosed with hypomyelination, a rare brain disease that prevents the formation of fatty tissue that surrounds nerve cells and helps them communicate with one another. His case is severe enough that he cant breathe on his own, and the toddler has been on a ventilator for about a month, Hassan said.

He is not expected to live much longer, and Abdullahs parents have been petitioning the State Department to grant Swileh a waiver so she can hold Abdullah one more time before he is taken off life support.

We are extremely happy and my son already bought a ticket for her, said Fawzi Hassan, Abdullahs grandfather. Shes going to fly (Wednesday) and shell arrive in the evening.

Abdullah was born in Yemen in December 2016 during the countrys ongoing civil war. Though his parents didnt immediately notice anything wrong with the boy, Abdullah started missing developmental milestones and wasnt gaining a proper amount of weight.

His father, Ali Hassan, is a U.S. citizen. He said the family had always planned to move to Stockton, where the boys grandparents have been living since the 1980s. But Abdullahs worsening medical condition made the move even more urgent.

In August 2017, Swileh and Ali Hassan went to Cairo with then-8-month-old Abdullah and immediately started work to get the documents needed to move to the U.S.

Months passed without word from the U.S. Embassy on the status of Swilehs visa application, and Abdullahs condition deteriorated. Meanwhile, the Trump administrations ban went into effect, restricting citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, from traveling to the U.S.

When the family finally heard from the U.S. Embassy, Swileh was told she would not be granted a visa because of the travel ban restrictions.

Trumps travel ban has faced multiple legal challenges before the most recent version was upheld this summer by the Supreme Court. The current ban forbids travel to the U.S. by citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, North Korea and Venezuela.

While Swilehs waiver application process continued, the parents realized Abdullah would have to go to the U.S. without his mother for medical care. In August, Ali Hassan moved to California and checked their boy into Childrens Hospital in Oakland.

Only then did the family learn Abdullahs condition is fatal.

More than a year after the family started working to get Swileh approved to come to the States  and less than a week after the story became national news  she was able to walk into the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to receive her waiver and visa.

They apologized for what theyve put her through, and they apologized for how long this took, said Sweilem, a civil rights attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Sweilem credits recent media attention for the U.S. Embassys sudden response on the waiver application. He noted that State Department officials have had the same information about Abdullahs medical condition for months. Even Abdullahs doctors had reached out to the U.S. Embassy, attempting to persuade officials of the graveness of his condition, he said.

Only about 2 percent of travelers from the countries listed in the travel ban have been able to obtain the waivers, Sweilem said, adding that this is the first case he has worked on where a client has been able to obtain a waiver.

The fact that a case with this fact pattern  a child on his deathbed, a U.S. citizen, American child  if that wasnt going to get a waiver before we stepped in, you have to ask yourself: How legitimate is this waiver process? he said.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ashley McBride is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ashley.mcbride@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ashleynmcbSpaceX canceled a flight scheduled to lift off Tuesday morning that would have launched a rocket carrying a new GPS satellite for the U.S. Air Force, officials said.

On a day when four launches by private space companies were scheduled, none left the Earth.

SpaceX said the computer on the spacecraft triggered the cancellation because of sensor readings.

The launch, from SpaceXs site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, had already dealt with delays due to unfavorable weather conditions. The next attempt was scheduled for Wednesday morning, officials said.

Three other launches scheduled for Tuesday were also canceled.

Blue Origin, the space company run by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, scrubbed a planned launch of NASA payloads from Texas because of what it called ground infrastructure issues. It said the rocket is sound and it will try again Wednesday, weather permitting.

A launch of a Soyuz rocket by Europes Arianespace was done in by bad weather at Soyuz Space Center in French Guiana. It will wait 24 hours and try again.

Senior Airman Clayton Wear/Associated Press

A rocket built by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, scheduled to carry a new spy satellite into orbit, remained on the ground at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County because of high winds.

It plans to try again Wednesday also.

Perhaps the most notable setback for SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company headed by Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, occurred Sept. 1, 2016, when a Falcon 9 rocket exploded during a prelaunch test.

On board the rocket was a $195 million satellite Facebook had designed to bring wider internet access to the continent of Africa. But the rocket and its payload blew up on the launch pad during what was supposed to be a routine test.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who was in Kenya meeting with entrepreneurs and developers at the time, wrote in a Facebook post that he was deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceXs launch failure destroyed our satellite that would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent.

Chronicle news services contributed to this report.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@

sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavaniTravelSkills on SFGate is brought to you by Visa

After much anticipation and a few delays, United Airlines says it will open its fifth Polaris business class lounge at Los Angeles International Airport's Terminal 7 on January 12, 2019.

The lounge will be located near Gate 73 in a space that was the former home of airline's international first class lounge. All of United's transpacific and transatlantic departures leave from Terminal 7 so it'll be a short walk from the lounge to the gate for most travelers who want to maximize their time in the airline club.

United says it is investing heavily to debut its growing network of Polaris Lounges as the creme de la creme of airline clubs-- and it has largely succeeded. The lounges at SFO and other airports are garnering rave reviews from passengers and media.

Lounge visitors can find restaurant-style dining, showers, day beds and other amenities to help people get ready for long-haul flights.

However, access is restricted to passengers flying in United Polaris business class, and those who are booked in international first or business class on other Star Alliance carriers. That's it. There's no other way to get in.

United currently has four other Polaris Lounges open in San Francisco, Newark-Liberty, Houston and at Chicago-O'Hare.

You can check out our visit to the SFO United Polaris Lounge here.

And our look at the Newark lounge, which we called "a feast for the eyes" here.

The carrier has not revealed much about how big the LAX lounge will be, or if it has an outdoor patio similar to ones found at the LAX United Club in Terminal 7 or the Star Alliance Business Class Lounge in the Tom Bradley International Terminal (both have become a huge hit with fliers).

Although the Polaris Lounges look pretty consistent in design and amenities, the airline incorporates local touches to the decor and the food menu to provide a few notes of local color.

See the slideshow at the top of this post for a look inside three Polaris Lounges

At the SFO location, food and drink items include many Asian specialties and Northern California craft beer. In Newark, lox and schmear greet travelers at a bagel bar. And in Houston, pulled pork sliders and picadillo stew keep fliers well fed.

According to United, the LAX lounge will "feature signature California elements, including locally inspired food and beverages." We'll be excited to see what's on offer at a media preview a few days before the official opening.

The LAX location was due to open in Fall 2018, but the opening has been delayed by several months. United has plans (but few details or dates) for other Polaris Lounges at Washington-Dulles, Hong Kong, London-Heathrow and Tokyo-Narita.

Have you visited a Polaris lounge yet? What did you think? Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

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.ALEXANDRIA, Va.  Two business associates of Michael Flynn, President Trumps former national security adviser, were charged Monday with illegally lobbying for Turkey as part of a campaign to pressure the United States to expel a Turkish cleric.

Bijan Kian and Ekim Alptekin are accused in an indictment of conspiring to covertly and unlawfully influence U.S. public opinion and politicians, all while concealing that the Turkish government was directing their work. The campaign came during the final months of the 2016 presidential campaign while Flynn was a top surrogate for Trumps campaign.

The case sheds further light on how Flynn and those around him worked to benefit a foreign country in the months before he became one of Americas top national security officials. The goal of the work was to get the United States to expel Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen from the country.

Gulen, who holds a U.S. green card and lives in Pennsylvania, is a rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has accused the cleric of directing a failed coup and who wanted the U.S. to extradite him back to Turkey. Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup.

Though Flynn and his company feature prominently in the latest indictment, he is not charged with any new crimes. A retired three-star U.S. Army general, Flynn is to be sentenced Tuesday in a separate case brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. Flynn has pleaded guilty to lying about his Russian contacts.

As part of his cooperation in that probe, he has provided prosecutors with voluminous records from his business, Flynn Intel Group, which carried out the lobbying work. Flynn and Kian were co-founders of the firm.

On Monday, Kian, a former Trump transition official whose full name is Bijan Rafiekian, made a brief appearance in federal court in Alexandria, Va. He has an arraignment scheduled for Tuesday. His lawyer, Robert Trout, declined to comment.

Alptekin, a dual Turkish-Dutch citizen living in Istanbul whose full name is Kamil Ekim Alpetekin, remains at large. He has previously denied any wrongdoing and said he directed the lobbying on his own.

Matthew Barakat and Chad Day are Associated Press writers.A 14-year-old student was arrested Monday for allegedly bringing a knife and potentially explosive materials to a San Ramon school, authorities said.

Students at Dougherty Valley High School told administrators that another student allegedly had a knife on campus, according to San Ramon Police.

Administrators immediately contacted authorities and shortly thereafter the suspected student was arrested.

Following the arrest, officers discovered that the student also had muriatic acid, police said. When combined with other materials, muriatic acid can create an explosive detonation.

The student, who was not identified, was booked into Juvenile Hall in Martinez and faces charges for possession of a knife on school grounds and possession of concealed explosive components.

We cannot emphasize enough that, If you see something or know something, say something, the San Ramon Police Department said in a statement.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavaniThe Bay Area prides itself on weirdness, but too often, San Francisco gets all the praise.

Yes, it's got the Wave Organ and the Seward Street Slides, a vibrator museum, and a tiki bar where it rains inside, but if you leave the 7x7, you'll find the sorts of oddities only suburbs can produce.WASHINGTON  A federal judge abruptly postponed the sentencing of President Trumps first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, on Tuesday, saying he could not hide his disgust for Flynns crime of lying to the FBI and warning that he could send the retired Army lieutenant general to prison.

Lawyers for Flynn, who pleaded guilty last year to lying to the agency about his Russia contacts, requested the delay during a stunning hearing in which U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan gave Flynn a blistering rebuke.

Arguably you sold your country out, Sullivan told Flynn, who was flanked by his attorneys.

The judge added: I cant hide my disgust, my disdain.

Sullivans harsh words raised the prospect that he could send Flynn to prison  an unexpected development since prosecutors have recommended against prison time, citing his cooperation in special counsel Robert Muellers Russia probe.

The hearing came amid escalating legal peril for Trump, who was implicated by federal prosecutors in New York this month in hush-money payments to cover up extramarital affairs. Nearly a half-dozen former aides and advisers  including Flynn  have pleaded guilty or agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Flynn became known during the Trump presidential campaign for leading chants of Lock her up during rallies, referring to Trumps rival Hillary Clinton.

Trump signaled his continued close interest in the case by tweeting good luck to Flynn hours before the sentencing hearing. He added: Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!

At the White House afterward, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked if the administration had changed its stance on Flynn or the FBI in light of his admissions and guilty plea.

Maybe he did do those things, but it doesnt have anything to do with the president, she said. Its perfectly acceptable for the president to make a positive comment about somebody while we wait to see what the courts determination is.

Sanders repeated her allegation that the FBI ambushed Flynn in an interview in which he denied contacts with Russian officials, and she said of Trumps earlier criticism, We dont have any reason to want to walk that back.

The new delay in sentencing will allow Flynn to continue cooperating with the Russia investigation and get credit for it in his punishment. The change upset what had been a carefully crafted agreement, with Muellers office saying Flynn had already provided the vast majority of information he could.

Eric Tucker and Chad Day are Associated Press writers.NASHVILLE  Republican U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee announced Monday that he wont seek re-election in 2020, a decision that gives the red state its second open Senate contest in two years.

Alexander said in a news release that hes deeply grateful for being elected to serve more combined years as governor and senator than anyone else in Tennessee. But the 78-year-old said its now time for someone else to have that privilege.

The long-tenured Tennessee leaders decision raises speculation that popular Republican Gov. Bill Haslam could make a run for the Senate. Haslam declined to run for the seat that Republican Sen. Bob Corker is vacating and that Republican Sen.-elect Marsha Blackburn won in November. Haslam is leaving office in January due to term limits.

Republican strategist Ward Baker, who led Blackburn to victory, said President Trump spoke with Alexander on Sunday night and wanted him to seek re-election, but that Alexander wanted to go out on top after serving a long time.

Alexander served as governor from 1979 until 1987, and helped bring the auto industry to the state. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 and was re-elected in 2008 and 2014.

He developed a reputation as a consensus builder, including recent laws to address the opioid crisis and overhaul the way music is licensed and songwriters are paid. He also teamed with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington to try to stabilize health insurance markets after Republicans failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, though the effort has so far come up short.

I have gotten up every day thinking that I could help make our state and country a little better, and gone to bed most nights thinking that I have, Alexander said in his statement. I will continue to serve with that same spirit during the remaining two years of my term.

Alexander also was a candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 1996 and 2000 and was U.S. education secretary from 1991 to 1993 under George H.W. Bush.

After leaving the governors office, Alexander also served as president of the University of Tennessee from 1988 to 1991.

Alexander had shown signs that he might have been gearing up for another re-election. For instance, his campaign had just ordered up a poll that found he was still very popular among Tennessee Republican primary voters.

Now Alexanders announcement sets off a scramble for candidates to replace him just a month after the race to replace Corker was finally settled. In the states most expensive race ever, Blackburn won by about 10 percentage points against former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen.

Corker on Monday called Alexander the legislator of the decade because of the effective way he has worked across the aisle to pass legislation that directly affects the lives of so many throughout our state and around the country.

Tom Ingram, a Tennessee GOP strategist with stints as Alexanders chief of staff as governor and in the Senate, said he believes Haslams decision controls who else considers entering the race.

Jonathan Mattise is an Associated Press writer.The Russian influence campaign on social media in the 2016 election made an extraordinary effort to target African Americans, used an array of tactics to try to suppress turnout among Democratic voters and unleashed a blizzard of posts on Instagram that rivaled or exceeded its Facebook operations, according to a report produced for the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The report adds new details to the portrait that has emerged over the past two years of the energy and imagination of the Russian effort to sway American opinion and divide the country, which the authors said continues to this day.

Active and ongoing interference operations remain on several platforms, says the report, produced by New Knowledge, a cybersecurity company based in Austin, Texas, along with researchers at Columbia University and Canfield Research LLC. One continuing Russian campaign, for instance, seeks to influence opinion on Syria by promoting Bashar Assad, the Syrian president and a Russian ally in the brutal conflict there.

The New Knowledge report released Monday is one of two commissioned by the Senate committee on a bipartisan basis. They are based largely on data about the Russian operations provided to the Senate by Facebook, Twitter and the other companies whose platforms were used.

The second report was written by the Computational Propaganda Project at Oxford University along with Graphika, a company that specializes in analyzing social media. The Washington Post first reported on the Oxford report Sunday.

The Russian influence campaign in 2016 was run by a St. Petersburg company called the Internet Research Agency, owned by a businessman, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is a close ally of President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Prigozhin and a dozen of the companys employees were indicted in February as part of the investigation of Russian interference by Robert Mueller, the special counsel.

Both reports stress that the Internet Research Agency created social media accounts under fake names on virtually every available platform. A major goal was to support Donald Trump, first against his Republican rivals in the presidential race, then in the general election, and as president since his inauguration.

Creating accounts designed to pass as belonging to Americans, the Internet Research Agency spread its messages not only via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, which have drawn the most attention, but also on YouTube, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine and Google+, among other platforms. Its attack on the United States used almost exclusively high-tech tools created by American companies.

The report does not seek to explain the heavy focus on African Americans. But the Internet Research Agencys tactics echo Soviet propaganda efforts from decades ago that often highlighted racism and racial conflict in the United States, as well as recent Russian influence operations in other countries that sought to stir ethnic strife.

Scott Shane and Sheera Frenkel are New York Times writers.Facebook Inc.s Instagram played a much bigger role in Russias manipulation of U.S. voters than the company has previously discussed, and will be a key Russian tool in the 2020 elections, according to a report commissioned by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The Russian Internet Research Agency, the troll farm that has sought to divide Americans with misinformation and meme content around the 2016 election, received more engagement on Instagram than it did on any other social media platform, including Facebook, according to a joint report by three groups of researchers.

Instagram was a significant front in the IRAs influence operation, something that Facebook executives appear to have avoided mentioning in Congressional testimony, the report says. IRA activity shifted there after the media began to write about Russian activity on Twitter and Facebook. Our assessment is that Instagram is likely to be a key battleground on an ongoing basis.

There were 187 million interactions with Instagram content, compared with 77 million on Facebook and 73 million on Twitter, according to a data set of posts between 2015 and 2018, analyzed by New Knowledge, Columbia University and Canfield Research.

Facebook didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement, a Twitter Inc. spokesperson said: Our singular focus is to improve the health of the public conversation on our platform, and protecting the integrity of elections is an important aspect of that mission. Weve made significant strides since 2016 to counter manipulation of our service, including our release of additional data in October related to previously disclosed activities to enable further independent academic research and investigation.

The fact that Instagram outperformed Facebook for the IRA could be an indicator of the platform being more ideal for memetic warfare -- changing peoples minds using viral memes, the researchers said. Instagram is organized by interest and hashtags, and is based on photos and videos more than text. It could also mean the IRA used click farms to boost their numbers.

Facebook has given Instagram only passing mention in its disclosures about Russian activity on its platform. At the companys first Congressional testimony on Russian influence last November, it didnt include Instagram in its count of how many Americans were reached by Russian content until specifically asked. The photo app has a relatively untarnished brand, in part because theres no share button, so content doesnt go viral there like it does on Facebook.

Still, the researchers said, content that the IRA posted sparked conversation, with the overall goal of emboldening followers of Donald Trump and criticizing Hillary Clinton, sometimes in subtle ways. About 40 percent of the Instagram accounts achieved more than 10,000 followers, and 12 had over 100,000 followers. The biggest account, @blackstagram, attracted 303,663 followers, and may have used e-commerce to make money or gather information about U.S. voters. Another account, @femenismtag, promoted feminist ideas and the idea that Clinton was a bad feminist.

Content on Facebook encouraged people to follow such accounts on Instagram, which reinforced messages the IRA was spreading on other networks, including Alphabet Inc.s YouTube and Twitter. The Instagram accounts for particular interest groups mentioned each other and sometimes legitimate accounts, run by real Americans, to boost their profile.

Although the Facebook operation received more attention in the mainstream press, more content was created on Instagram, and overall Instagram engagement exceeded that of Facebook, the paper states.

Alphabet didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

--With assistance from Ben Brody.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sarah Frier in San Francisco at sfrier1@bloomberg.net;Steven T. Dennis in Washington at sdennis17@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Robin Ajello, Kathleen Hunter

2018 Bloomberg L.P.OAKLAND (BCN)



Tech firm founder Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne have given a $15 million gift to UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland to address a shortage in mental health services for children in the East Bay.



University of California at San Francisco announced the gift today and said it is the final piece of a $50 million commitment the Benioffs made to the hospital in 2014. Benioff is the founder and chairman of the San Francisco-based cloud computing company Salesforce.



The funds will enhance current mental health programs at the hospital, including by increasing the number of providers on staff. The money is expected to allow an additional 5,000 psychiatric visits per year, twice the hospital's current capacity, UCSF officials said.



According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is now the second leading cause of death for adolescents worldwide.



One in five youth under the age of 18 suffers from some type of diagnosable mental illness such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders or attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, UCSF officials said.



"Children are suffering from an extraordinary amount of stress and mental illness, and we must rise to the challenge of meeting this need in what is truly a public health crisis," Dr. Michael Anderson, president of the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals in Oakland and San Francisco, said in a news release.



"Thanks to the generous foresight of Lynne and Marc Benioff, we can lay the groundwork to become an international leader in pediatric mental health care," Anderson said.



Lynne Benioff said, "There's nothing more important than the health and well-being of our children. Marc and I hope that this gift will raise awareness of the mental health crisis facing children here in our community and that others will join us in supporting the hospital's mental health mission.



Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf issued a statement thanking the Benioffs for helping address an issue "that cuts across all races, all cultures and all socioeconomic levels."





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.Deputies cited a bicyclist who allegedly assaulted a woman last Wednesday in the unincorporated Sonoma County community of Kenwood, sheriff's officials said today.



Robert Deis, 62, of Santa Rosa was cited on suspicion of misdemeanor battery and released pending a court date after he got in touch with the sheriff's office to provide his side of the story.



Sheriff's officials said Deis told deputies that he had an argument with two Kenwood residents and the woman came after him while he was straddling his bicycle and shoved him.



According to the sheriff's office, Deis told deputies that he grabbed the woman's arms and pushed her away in self-defense and she fell back toward her husband.



Deis rode away to avoid any more conflict with the residents.



According to sheriff's officials, one of the residents' neighbors took a photo of Deis and distributed it.





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 Sonoma County Board of Supervisors this morning announced a $3 million settlement of a federal excessive force civil lawsuit filed by the family of 13-year-old Andy Lopez, who was fatally shot by a county sheriff's deputy in 2013.



The board unanimously approved the settlement in a closed-door session. County Counsel Bruce Goldstein said the county did not admit liability or fault in Lopez's death on Oct. 22, 2013.



Lopez, 13, was shot seven times by Deputy Erick Gelhaus, now a sergeant, as he walked along Moorland Avenue south of Santa Rosa with a pellet gun that was designed to look like an AK-47 assault rifle. Gelhaus said he believed the rifle was real and the barrel raised upward as Lopez turned toward him.



Goldstein said the plaintiffs and defendants in the suit evaluated the risk of going to trial and agreed the settlement was best for the Lopez family, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office and the county.



Goldstein said the settlement is important to continue the healing process for the community, the Lopez family and the county.



The trial was expected to start this summer in San Francisco.





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)



A 35-year-old Hayward man was found guilty today of attempted murder and other felonies for shooting at two San Francisco police officers in the Castro District last year, prosecutors said.



Sesar Valadez was convicted for the shooting that occurred on Nov. 1, 2017, in the area of the first block of Diamond Street.



The case began when Officers Samuel Fung and Shawn Kai Hintzen were on foot patrol on 18th Street between Castro and Collingwood streets and a man approached them to report seeing someone breaking into a vehicle nearby, according to the district attorney's office.



The officers approached and noticed a man, later identified as Valadez, inside a parked car with his legs facing outside of the open rear passenger door and three other people standing on the sidewalk near the car, prosecutors said.



The trio walked away as the officers approached, but Valadez closed the door and locked himself inside. The officers asked whom the car belonged to and asked that he exit the vehicle, but he refused, saying he did not have the keys, prosecutors said.



Valadez pushed the driver's side door open shortly afterward and fired two shots at Hintzen's chest. They did not pierce his bulletproof vest but caused him to stumble backwards and onto the ground, according to the district attorney's office.



Valadez then got out of the vehicle and pointed his handgun at Fung, who ducked, drew his firearm and moved south on Diamond Street. Valadez chased the officer and shot 14 times at him, prompting Fung to return fire and empty his magazine, prosecutors said.



After taking cover behind a parked car, Fung reloaded his firearm and fired more shots until seeing Valadez crouched on the ground, wounded from gunfire in the right pelvic area, prosecutors said.



Caught in the crossfire was Hintzen, who suffered gunshot wounds to the hand and stomach. He was hospitalized for more than three weeks, according to the district attorney's office.



Valadez was found guilty by a San Francisco Superior Court jury of two counts of attempted murder of a peace officer, two counts of assault on a peace officer with a semi-automatic firearm, and one count each of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence, prosecutors said.



"I know far too well the dangers associated with wearing the uniform," District Attorney and former San Francisco police Chief George Gascon said in a news release. "Police officers take an oath to serve and protect, and those who take aim at them will feel the full weight of their actions."



Valadez is set to be sentenced on Jan. 18.





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 LEANDRO (BCN)



An off-duty Oakland police officer accidentally shot himself Saturday night in the parking lot of a San Leandro shopping center, police said today.



The officer, who remains in stable condition today at a hospital, was found at 8:55 p.m. with a single gunshot wound when police were dispatched to an apartment in the 400 block of Dolores Avenue.



A woman who said her boyfriend, the officer, had been shot met them at the apartment, said San Leandro police Lt. Issac Benabou.



"At this point in the case, we know the shooting occurred in the parking lot of Bayfair Mall and appears that he accidentally shot himself," Benabou said.



Police gave the officer first aid until paramedics arrived.



Bayfair Center is a few miles from the apartment on Dolores, but no details were released on how the officer made it there after being shot.



The officer's name has not been released. The San Leandro Police Department is investigating the shooting.



Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact police at (510) 577-3315.





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 RAMON (BCN)



Police today arrested a Dougherty Valley High School student on suspicion of possessing a knife and concealed explosive components on the San Ramon campus.



Police said they were called to the school after students told administrators that a student was in possession of a knife. After arresting the 14-year-old freshman for the knife, an officer discovered that the student also possessed muriatic acid, which when combined with other materials can create an explosive detonation, according to Lt. Cary Goldberg. Police are investigating why the student was in possession of the material.



The student was booked into Juvenile Hall.



"At this time, we believe that this incident has been contained and there is no additional threat to students or the school," Goldberg said in a news release.



Police commended the students who reported the suspicious activity and the administrators who immediately notified them.



Anyone with information about this case can call police at (925) 973-2779.





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 Alameda County Board of Supervisors will vote on a proposal today to buy a new voting system and software for $23.7 million.



Registrar of Voters Tim Dupuis told the board in a letter that the new system is needed because "the existing voting equipment used by the county has reached the end of its life after 12 years of usage."



Dupuis said, "The vendor no longer provides replacement parts, therefore necessary repairs for the voting equipment must be made by using replacement parts that have been refurbished from secondhand voting equipment."



Dupuis proposes buying a new voting system and software from Dominion Voting Systems of Denver.



He said there will be no increase in the county's net cost.



The board's regular meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:45 a.m. today in the board's chambers on the fifth floor of the Alameda County building at 1221 Oak St. in Oakland.





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 Yemeni mother is receiving a visa waiver that will allow her to see her 2-year-old son clinging to life at an Oakland hospital after previously being unable to come to the U.S. because of President Donald Trump's travel ban applying to mostly Muslim-majority countries.



The Sacramento Valley chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations announced this morning that Shaima Swileh, who is currently in Egypt, will be able to come see her son Abdullah, who has a genetic brain condition that is worsening and is being treated at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital.



Doctors have told the family that the boy's body won't withstand life support much longer.



Abdullah's father, Ali Hassan of Stockton, joined CAIR and other civil rights and religious leaders for a news conference in Sacramento on Monday to call on the Trump administration to grant a waiver for Swileh.



He broke down in tears as he pleaded with U.S. officials to allow Swileh to travel to the U.S.



"My wife is calling me every day wanting to kiss and hold our son for one last time," Hassan said. "Time is running out, please help us get my family together again."



Lynn Berkley-Baskin, community outreach chair for the Jewish Community Relations Council, also urged the government to grant Swileh a waiver that "will show what we say about family values is true" and to show compassion for the mother and son.



"Lack of compassion robs our country of our soul," she said.



Officials with CAIR Sacramento Valley wrote on Twitter this morning that "We're getting her here ASAP."





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.MEXICO CITY  The United States pledged $5.8 billion in aid and investment Tuesday for strengthening government and economic development in Central America, and another $4.8 billion in development aid for southern Mexico.

The U.S aid aims to promote better security conditions and job opportunities as part of a regional plan to allow Central Americans and Mexicans to remain in their countries and not have to emigrate.VATICAN CITY  Organizers of an upcoming Vatican summit on sex abuse prevention are warning that the credibility of the Catholic Church is in jeopardy over the abuse scandal and are urging participants to meet with victims personally before coming to Rome.

In a letter sent Tuesday to the presidents of bishops conferences worldwide, organizers said the church must develop a comprehensive and communal response to the crisis, and that the first step is acknowledging the truth of what has happened.

Pope Francis invited the church leaders to the Feb. 21-24 summit to respond to what has become the gravest threat to his papacy, as the abuse and cover-up scandal erupted in the U.S., Chile and elsewhere this year.

In revealing the first details of the meeting, the Vatican said the summit would focus on three main areas: responsibility, accountability and transparency. That suggests that church leaders will confront not only the crime of priests who rape and molest minors, but the cover-up by their superiors as well.

Abuse survivors and their advocates have long blasted the Vatican for failing to discipline and remove bishops who fail to protect their flocks, and until recently Francis appeared unwilling to significantly change course.

Absent a comprehensive and communal response, not only will we fail to bring healing to victim survivors, but the very credibility of the Church to carry on the mission of Christ will be in jeopardy throughout the world, the organizers wrote their brother bishops.

Each of us needs to own this challenge, coming together in solidarity, humility, and penitence to repair the damage done, sharing a common commitment to transparency, and holding everyone in the church accountable, they said.

It was signed by the four members of the preparatory committee for the meeting: Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, a Francis-appointee and supporter; Mumbai Cardinal Oswald Gracias, a member of the popes informal cabinet; as well as the Vaticans leading abuse experts Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna; and the Rev. Hans Zollner.

They urged conference presidents to meet with victims before they come to Rome to learn firsthand the suffering they have endured.

The appeal was an indication that throughout the church, many bishops continue to deny the scope of the problem and have never met with a victim. Some bishops conferences in Africa, for example, have yet to respond to a 2011 Vatican request to develop guidelines to deal with cases.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said that meeting with victims is a concrete way of putting victims first and acknowledging the horror of what happened.

Francis announced he was convening the summit in September, signaling awareness at the top of the church that clergy abuse is a global problem.

He did so as he worked to recover from his botched handling of the scandal in Chile, sparked earlier this year when he repeatedly discredited victims of a notorious Chilean predator priest and defended a bishop who had protected him.

Francis eventually admitted he was wrong, apologized to the victims and secured offers of resignation for every active bishop in the country.

Nicole Winfield is an Associated Press writer.LIMA, Peru  The three Venezuelan migrants eke out a living 90 seconds at a time in a busy intersection of Perus capital. When the traffic light flashes red, the acrobatics and break dancing starts.

With a captive audience of pedestrians and commuters packed inside city buses, the dancers headstands, dizzying spins and fast-paced steps on a good day net up to $20 in pocket change  nearly three times the monthly minimum wage in Venezuela.

You never know how it will go in the street, said dancer Karin Rojas. One day its good and the next day its bad.

The trio is just part of a flood of Venezuelans fighting for survival after fleeing their homeland and the worst economic crisis anybody in Latin America can remember.

Most Venezuelan migrants head to neighboring Colombia, overwhelming border towns. They hawk their valuables on the street, sell hotdogs or repair shoes.

Farther-off Peru is the second-most-common destination.

Rojas, 25, and her husband, Francisco Diaz, arrived in Lima in 2016, leaving behind their mountainous home in the Venezuelan state of Merida, where they ran a break dancing collective.

In Peru, they met the third partner, Angel Fernandez, a short and stout 22-year-old from their home state. The three settled on a busy intersection in Lima to perform.

Six days a week, they bound into the intersection with each red light  an exhausting 80 times over a 13-hour workday. They end some days just $5 richer, and hurting physically.

Still, Rojas said, their life is better than in Venezuela, where she would go two days in a row without eating. Now, she can afford three meals a day.

Rojas and Diaz hope to parlay earnings from their street dancing into buying a three-wheel motorcycle taxi, a common form of transportation in Limas poor outskirts.

Were never going to stop dancing, Rojas said. Dancing helps us forget all of our sorrows.

Franklin Briceno is an Associated Press writer.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 29-year-old man already facing separate drug and weapons charges is now accused of using graffiti to mar poles and buildings in neighborhoods on the South and East shores.

Philip Cancilla, of Dorval Avenue, Annadale, is accused of etching his tag, KAZE, on utility, traffic-control and light poles, plus at least one building, between February and November, according to the criminal complaint.

Cancilla was arrested in the graffiti incidents on Dec. 7 when he also was dinged on weapons and drug charges, according to the criminal complaint and public records. He is due back in Criminal Court on Jan. 14.

I did most of these when I was high, Cancilla allegedly told police about the graffiti, according to the criminal complaint.

The East Shore graffiti incidents included two on Lincoln Avenue near the Grant City train station, according to the complaint.

In his home community of Annadale, some of the tags were found near his residence while others were discovered on and near a commercial building close to the train station, according to the criminal complaint.

Cancilla also allegedly left his mark in Greenridge at Watkins Avenue and Drumgoole Road West near the access road to the Korean War Veterans Memorial Parkway.

He faces 15 counts each of misdemeanor making graffiti and criminal mischief.

His attorney declined to comment to the Advance.

In separate incidents, police allegedly spotted Cancilla selling oxycodone to another man at the corner of Annadale Road and Drumgoole Road West in Annadale on Nov. 27 at about 5:55 p.m., according to the criminal complaint in that case.

Cancilla allegedly was found to have a total of 81 light blue oxycodone pills marked M30 in his car. Except for two pills found on the passenger side of the vehicle, all of the other tablets were in a pill bottle.

A search warrant executed at his house in November allegedly found various weapons and drugs.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A Pleasant Plains man who threatened to slice workers at Target with a box cutter during a robbery five months ago was sentenced Monday to up to four years behind bars.

Richard Becker, 25, of the 300 block of Sharrott Avenue, snatched 10 cans of Enfamil baby food from a shelf at the Charleston store at about 2 p.m. on July 8, said a criminal complaint.

When workers tried to stop him, the defendant whipped out a box cutter and snarled, Dont touch me or Im gonna (expletive) slice you, the complaint quotes him as saying.

Becker had previously swiped multiple cans of Enfamil from the store on June 29, 30 and July 3, said the complaint.

The defendant was arrested on July 11, said police.

He was also accused of kicking and damaging a garage door on Sharrott Avenue in an unrelated incident during the early-morning hours of April 28.

Becker pleaded guilty two months ago to third-degree robbery and disorderly conduct to satisfy charges against him.

In exchange, he was sentenced Monday in state Supreme Court, St. George, to two to four years in prison for the robbery conviction.

He received a concurrent term of 15 days behind bars for disorderly conduct.

Beckers lawyer declined comment on the case.

Assistant District Attorney Travis Atkinson prosecuted it.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The city Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) on Monday began erecting a fence along the perimeter of a recently cleaned lot on Front Street, citing safety concerns.

To lose access because of individuals who decide to litter is not fair, said New Dorp resident Kevin Ryan.

Ryan grew up in Clifton and said hes been fishing and launching his kayak off the waterfront on Front Street for at least 30 years.

He said hes seen people littering, and agrees that the RVs and derelict vehicles that were parked on the 860,000-square-foot lot were a disaster, but he thinks there are better solutions -- like enforcement and restricting overnight parking.

Im a big advocate of, If you take it in, take it out. And if you can take out some extra with you, then take that, too, Ryan said of the litter.

We need access to the water and want it to be clean, but fencing it off is not the answer, he said.

DCAS spokesman Nick Benson said safety is the citys top priority, adding that it discourages trespassing.

New York City has a world-class network of parks and other public spaces that are provided for the enjoyment of all New Yorkers. While the city owns over 14,000 properties, not all are developed for public use, including this site, said Benson when asked about the fences erection.

FOLLOWING ADVANCE REPORT, FRONT STREET IS CLEANED

Following an Advance report Dec. 3 about the litter, garbage, drug paraphernalia and derelict vehicles along the shoreline on Front Street, the city began cleaning the lot two days later.

The lot is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Small Business Services and is managed by DCAS.

During several afternoon and late-night visits to the hidden street behind the Clifton train station, the Advance observed stacks of old mattresses, food wrappers, empty alcohol bottles, old electronics and piles of garbage bags.

People were seen eating lunch in their cars during the day and, at night, vehicles were parked far away from each other with no lights on. Loud arguing could be heard coming from one of the vehicles.

Piles of needles, some with caps and some without, were spotted in various spots.

While cleaning Front Street, a DSNY employee told the Advance hed never seen so many needles in his life."

The Lot Cleaning Unit removed eight loads of debris that weighed a total of 73.38 tons, a DSNY spokesman told the Advance.

The spokesman said DSNY also towed three vehicles from the lot.

DERELICT CARS, RVS MOVED TO RESIDENTIAL STREETS

In the days following the massive cleanup, residents told the Advance that the cars and RVs that had been parked at the lot were now a few blocks away on Willow Avenue and on Carroll Place in St. George.

An RV, two vehicles and a motorcycle were spotted on Willow Avenue, a few hundred feet from the intersection at Bay Street.

On Carroll Place was the RV that Mike, an 18-year-old who was living on Front Street, said he recently purchased to live in. Mike said the RV does not run.

We had a problem [with abandoned RVs] two or three years ago before they went down to Front Street and now theyre back again, said a Carroll Place resident.

The DSNY spokesman said the vehicles on Willow Avenue and Carroll Place were not towed by the agency.

A DCAS spokesman also said that DSNY did not move the vehicles to the residential streets; the vehicles that were towed were taken to designated impound facilities.

The Advance also contacted a private towing company that was seen towing vehicles on Front Street during the cleanup. An employee who answered the phone said that the vehicles owners called the company for a tow and they were not contracted by any city agencies.CITY HALL -- Even though they are technically no longer city employees, some 37,288 retired New York City uniformed officers received a $12,000 check Dec. 15 known as a Christmas bonus.

In addition to their regular pension, eligible retirees annually receive the Variable Supplement Fund (VSF) payment -- or Christmas bonus, according to a report from the non partisan Citizens Budget Commission.

The CBC said police and fire retirees who do not receive disability pensions are eligible for the Christmas bonus.

VSF payments are not only a benefit typically not available to retired officers in other jurisdictions, they also are a drain on the fiscal health of the pension funds, CBC Vice President Maria Doulis said. Police and fire personnel each have a separate pension fund; correction officers are part of a larger general city employee pension fund.

The payment emerged from an agreement made between union and city leaders in 1968 at a time when the city was trying to increase its investment return of pension funds by diversifying portfolios.

As the city sought to diversity portfolios, union reps on the board of the police and fire pension funds agreed to allow investments in equities on the condition that excess earnings be used to give supplemental payment for retirees, the CBC said.

Supplemental benefits were variable each year and were determined by the strength of investment earnings. In some years, retirees got a check and in other years they did not.

But, in 1993 the set-up changed, and payments for police and fire retirees got converted to guaranteed fixed payments that would increase by $500 every year until 2007, when they reached $12,000.

In 2013, there were 41,603 VSF recipients, and the vast majority of those recipients were retired police, followed by firefighters.

That year, 28,773 retired police officers and superiors received VSF payments, so did 5,373 retired firefighters and officers, and 7,457 correction officers. And, transit and housing police do, too.

About one-third of all fire retirees receive a VSF payment, compared to 62 percent of police retirees.

In 2018, Corrections Officers did not receive the payment, but in 2019 they will be again, the CBC said.

In fiscal 2018, 31,352 retired police officers and superiors received VSF payments, 5,010 retired firefighters and officers did too, and 926 transit and housing officers received the payment.

The CBC said fewer firefighters receive VSF payments because the citys fire department is smaller and because the agency has a higher rate of disability pensions.

The CBC pointed out that, unlike regular pension benefits, VSF payments are not constitutionally protected.

Because the payment is not considered part of the pension system and is considered separate fiduciary funds, it can be reduced, mitigated or eliminated by the state legislature, the CBC said.

Phasing out or eliminating the VSF should be part of the mayor and City Councils agenda in Albany next year, Doulis said. Gradually eliminating these unusual pension bonuses for retirees would enhance the fiscal condition of the pension funds and reduce the needed contributions from taxpayers.

Correction: This article was updated to reflect the number of VSF recipients in 2018.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his 2019 Justice Agenda on Monday, the states top elected official reiterated his fervent support for the introduction of congestion pricing to provide funding to fix the citys ailing transit system while easing gridlock traffic conditions.

We have to take the bull by the horns with the MTA and pass a dedicated funding stream so the MTA has the funding it needs," said Cuomo.

"Congestion pricing is the only alternative, Cuomo added.

Borough President James Oddo, who opposed congestion pricing in 2008 as a city councilman, has since reversed is position on the initiative, now voicing support for the plan.

I voted against it, not because I argued it was a tax on outer-boroughs like some of my colleagues. I voted against it because Vinny Ignizio (then-City Councilman) wanted to meet with [Mayor Michael] Bloomberg and Kevin Sheekey and try to cut a better deal," Oddo said during a meeting with the Staten Island Advance Editorial Board in September.

They wanted to give us $60 million, $35 million of which was Bus Rapid Transit down Hylan Boulevard that never would have worked, and the rest was for not new buses, but newer buses. So they wanted to give us newer, older buses and a Bus Rapid Transit that never would have worked so I voted no, Oddo continued.

He said he now realizes that the additional value of curbing congestion in Manhattan, in addition to the $60 million, would have been worth the vote in favor.

There is a value to Staten Island and I didnt appreciate it at the time. I thought they were selling us a used car and I resented it, said Oddo.

The other value on top of the $60 million that I did not appreciate then that I do now is the value to Staten Islanders who get stuck in that congestion every day, Oddo added. Today I would vote yes and I will back any elected official that proposes a rational plan.

In early 2018, Fix NYC, Cuomos transportation advisory panel, released its congestion pricing report, which outlined a proposed congestion pricing system for implementation in New York City.

Congestion pricing refers to the use of electronic tolling to charge vehicles for entering certain areas during peak commuting hours.

According to recommendations from the Fix NYC report, cars that travel south of 60th Street in Manhattan would have been subject to a $11.52 charge, while trucks would pay $25.34.

There is no doubt that we must finally address the undeniable, growing problem of traffic congestion in Manhattans central business district and present a real, feasible plan that will pass the legislature to raise money for MTA improvements, without raising rider fares, Cuomo said in January.

However, state lawmakers failed to include congestion pricing in next years budget, with various members of both state Assembly and Senate objecting to the initiative as a tax on middle-class commuters.

The only aspect of the Fix NYC proposal to make its way into the upcoming state budget was a for-hire-vehicle surcharge south of 96th Street in Manhattan: charging $2.50 for yellow taxis, $2.75 for for-hire-vehicles, including Uber and Lyft, and $0.75 for carpool rides, like Via and UberPool.

In order to implement any further congestion pricing charges, Cuomo will need the approval of state legislators.

Many of Staten Islands state Assembly and state Senate members came out in opposition of Fix NYCs congestion pricing proposal in January.

I will fight any scheme which punishes Staten Islanders as they commute to work. The Manhattan elitists dont want outer borough residents clogging their streets, said State Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island). Well, we have traffic on Staten Island too, shouldnt it follow, by their logic, that there be another tariff keeping outside cars from coming through Staten Island! Staten Islanders already suffer horrible commute times to work because of years of neglect, incompetence and discrimination at the hands of New York Citys liberal government and I wont let them add insult to injury.

State Sen. Diane Savino (D-North Shore/Brooklyn) said: I have been strong, outspoken proponent of the MoveNY plan, which should be the foundation of any plan. Staten Island residents have the longest and most expensive commutes. I believe that the MoveNY plan is the most fair and equitable for the residents of New York City and the neighboring regions. I will continue to advocate for a plan that treats everyone fairly and benefits all commuters and taxpayers."

Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-Mid-Island) stated: I am not in favor of congestion pricing, particularly since this plan does not address the fairness of toll equity on bridges throughout the rest of the boroughs.

Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-East Shore/Brooklyn) said she could support the surcharge for limos, rideshare and tour buses, but not on all New York City drivers, particularly Staten Islanders who are already subject to unfair tolls. Instead of this egregious form of congestion pricing, we should focus on improving the MoveNY plan, which is equitable among all boroughs and would reduce the Verrazano Bridge toll for both Brooklynites and Staten Islanders. I believe it is a much better starting point for negotiation and a plan I can support if there is a commitment to cap bridge tolls and dedicate revenue for transit projects in the most transportation-starved communities like ours.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y .-- Gov. Andrew Cuomo says hell push to legalize adult use of marijuana in New York by early 2019.

Experts say the move could generate more than $1.7 billion in sales annually, as the New Jersey legislature draws closer to its own bill, Canada has legalized nationwide and dispensaries are now open to the public in Massachusetts.

The announcement came Monday in Manhattan, where Cuomo addressed his plans for the first 100 days of his third term. Addressing marijuana laws and the societal impact, Cuomo referenced two criminal justice systems. "One for the wealthy and the well off, and one for everyone else.

He said the legal justice system has for too long targeted African-American and minority communities, echoing the sentiment long held by community activist groups throughout the city. Those groups now fear minorities will be overlooked financially and medically as legalized adult-use becomes a reality.

We Rise to Legalize -- a coalition of faith, civil rights and workers' rights activists -- is applying pressure on Albany to ensure new laws "prioritize racial justice and empower communities of color harmed by the war on drugs, according to a press release Monday.

The group is comprised of members from the National Action Network, The Black Institute, Adams Advisors, New York City Action Lab, the Conference of National Black Churches and CCG-NY. The website remains under construction, with a cryptic message at the bottom of the home page that reads: "Meet us in Albany, 2.16

Its demands include the expungement of non-violent marijuana convictions, investment of marijuana-related proceeds back into the community, the expansion of medical marijuana programs in communities of color, and business opportunities for women and minorities.

In September, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. dismissed 3,000 marijuana cases, dating back 40 years.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, meanwhile, has set in motion a plan to dismiss up to 20,000 low-level pot convictions, according to a Patch.com report.

Staten Island residents and business owners voiced their opinions about the possibility of legalization in October at an open forum, one of 15 state wide, hosted by the staff of Gov. Andrew Cuomos Regulated Marijuana Workgroup.

Among those in opposition were parents concerned that the drug would become too easily available for children, and a faction of the drug rehabilitation community, Including Luke Nasta, chief executive officer of Camelot Counseling. Hes long argued that introducing a psychoactive substance, with potency levels far higher than years past, during an opioid epidemic is counterproductive.

In July, the states Department of Health announced that anyone prescribed an opioid in New York could request medical marijuana instead.

In June, the states Health Department determined that the benefits of legalizing, regulating and taxing marijuana outweighed the disadvantages.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Robbing a Castleton Corners bank six months ago comes at a real cost to a New Brighton man: Up to three years behind bars.

Daniel Haggarty, 30, of the 100 block of Norma Place, pleaded guilty Monday to attempted third-degree robbery stemming from the June 6 heist at the Santander Bank branch at 1850 Victory Blvd.

A criminal complaint said Haggarty entered the bank around 6 p.m. and passed a teller a note instructing her to hand over cash in denominations of $5, $10, $20 and $100 bills.

The note also warned the teller against placing any dye packs with the money or sounding any alarms, said the complaint.

The teller handed over about $3,500, a police spokesman previously told the Advance.

The theft was captured on surveillance videotape, said the complaint.

Haggarty was busted the next morning on Carreau Avenue in Bulls Head, the complaint said.

Besides attempted third-degree robbery, the defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of petit larceny to satisfy charges arising from two unrelated cases.

In exchange, hell be sentenced on Jan. 31 in state Supreme Court, St. George, to 18 months to three years in prison for attempted robbery.

Hell also receive 30 days behind bars for each of the petit-larceny convictions.

The sentences will run concurrently.

Defense lawyer Mark Geisser declined comment on the cases.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Mobilia is prosecuting them.MANHATTAN, N.Y.  The Staten Island woman who scaled the Statue of Liberty on the Fourth of July took a trip to Lady Libertys French homeland and allegedly climbed the outside of the Eiffel Tower  twice.

The Parisians had to evacuate the landmark both times, but declined to prosecute Therese Patricia Okoumou for the political stunts designed to protest American immigration policies, prosecutors said.

The feds, however, werent as kindly.

A U.S. Magistrate judge on Monday found Okoumou guilty of trespassing, disorderly conduct and interference with agency functions after a brief bench trial in Manhattan federal court.

The defendantgarbed in blue jacket saying No Human Is Illegal on Stolen Land and a matching headband that read I careseemed at ease when the judge read his verdict to the courtroom packed with fellow activists.

I am not a bit discouraged today, Okoumou said in a press conference after the proceeding. Our laws sometimes lack morality and this is a perfect example of that.

According to prosecutors, Okoumou made her way up the landmark and refused to get down after propping herself by the bottom of the statue. The incident led to approximately 4,000 people being evacuated from Liberty Island.

Okoumou had been on the Island with other Rise and Resist activists to protest I.C.E., and decided on her own to climb the Statue of Liberty to protest the administrations draconian, zero-tolerance policy on immigration, including separating children from parents at the border.

In rendering his verdict, the judge recognized Okoumous convictions, but felt obliged to follow the law.

I do not doubt the sincerity of her beliefs, he said, adding that he would be violating his oath if he considered her motives in his ruling.

During her testimony, Okoumou, who at one point was undocumented until she became a U.S. citizen in 2016, compared the caged minors to concentration camps. The images, she said, struck a deep nerve, giving her nightmares and night sweats.

I couldnt live with it, she said, fighting back the tears. As long as children are in cages, my moral values is to stand up for them."

Its inhumane and cruel, she added. It would never happen in my country.

The Republic of Congo native picked the Statue of Liberty because it was the welcome venue for immigrants to come to the United States, and said shed do it again.

I went as high as I could, she testified. I was prepared to stay there as long as I could.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Michael Kalikow said the borough resident climbed more than 133 feet up the statue and stayed on the base for more than three hours.

She also repeatedly ignored officers commands to come down, and even threatened to push the ladder an NYPD detective was climbing in an effort to reach her, said the prosecutor.

Shes entitled to express her dissent, but it does not allow her to put others in harm," Kalikow said in his summation. The defendant is not a law unto herself.

The detective said he tried to coax Okoumou into coming down the base by talking to her about family and faith, and she shared her concerns at the Texas border. But she eventually moved further away from him by walking around the base, forcing the officers to follow her.

I told the detective I wouldnt leave until the kids were released," she said. Im emotional about the subject.

After the NYPD took her into custody, the officers noticed she had placed Abolish ICE stickers on the landmark. They were unable to remove the markers.

Okoumou, who showed off a pair of black socks with a bright green Statue of Liberty design to her supporters while waiting for the verdict, faces up to 18 months in jail when she is sentenced March 5, 2019.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A long-vacant property in Tompkinsville will soon be home to Staten Islands seventh Wendys restaurant.

Construction at the 23,000-square-foot site along Bay Street recently started, said Rob Nixon of the Nixon McGowan Team of Casandra Properties, who worked as the listing agent for the property.

Doors are expected to open in early to mid-2019, Nixon said.

"We are so excited to welcome this tenant and its high-quality food, said Rob Nixon. The sleek, new design of Wendys restaurants has a lot of curb appeal and will really light up this part of Bay Street.

Said Gary Angiuli, CEO of The Angiuli Group and the owner of the property: We believe that this new Wendys will be one more piece to the North Shore renaissance 

Wendys, the worlds third largest quick-service hamburger company, was founded in 1969 by Dave Thomas in Columbus, Ohio.

Wendys is best known for its made-to-order square hamburgers, using fresh beef; freshly prepared salads with hand-chopped lettuce; and other signature items like chili, baked potatoes and its Frosty dessert.

Wendys and its franchisees employ hundreds of thousands of people across more than 6,600 restaurants worldwide.

Wendys also supports the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and Wendys Wonderful Kids program, which seeks to find every child in the North American foster care system a loving, forever home.

FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER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 Australian Competition and Consumer Commissions core conclusion in its latest review of the east coast gas markets, that there is sufficient gas to meet the available demand next year, comes with some significant caveats and question marks.

Theres sufficient gas  at a price  because the three big Queensland LNG producers that control about 80 per cent of the east coasts proven gas reserves arent fully utilising their capacity and dont expect to over the next decade.

Developments in the international market for LNG will shape the avilability and price of domestic gas. Credit:Michele Mossop

The ACCC says the Queensland projects could sell up to 3600 petajoules (PJ) of gas above their contractual export commitments but currently expect to sell only 1100 PJ into spot markets.

The fate of the remaining 2500 PJ of capacity presumably rests with spot prices  higher prices might see that capacity deployed and reserves now available to the domestic market redirected offshore, although the federal governments "domestic gas security mechanism enables it to impose export controls.That confusion, as Barker tries to fit in, is at the heart of The Last O.G., and in classic fish-out-of-water style, the comedian has an absolute ball being utterly lost.

Im like Rip Van Winkle, Tray complains at one point, and I dont even know who that dude is!

But he does know who Tray Barker is  Morgans character in The Last O.G. is living a life not too far from what could have been the comedians

Tracy Morgan returns to television with The Last O.G.

own.

After dropping out of high school, Morgan was a teenage father living on welfare payments and occasionally selling crack cocaine to make ends meet.

Fortunately, he was also already working on his comedy act and after the murder of a close friend, decided to turn his back on crime and focus on performing.

It still bothers me today, Tracey said in 2009 of his brief stint selling drugs.

But its something that I did. It was survival."

After working New York comedy clubs and slowly building a following, Morgans first major break came in 1996 when he was named as a cast regular on Saturday Night Live (beating Stephen Colbert for the spot).

His over the top style soon made him a fan favourite and when fellow SNL castmate Tina Fey went out on her own to create the hit series 30 Rock, she wrote a role for Morgan.

Playing an exaggerated version of himself, Morgan once again became the heart of the show and was catapulted into global fame.

All that ended in 2014, however, when the minibus he was returning from a performance in was involved in a huge traffic accident outside New Jersey involving six vehicles.

Morgans friend, James McNair, who was travelling with him, was killed and Morgan was airlifted to hospital with multiple injuries. He spent two weeks in a coma and went through months of rehab to learn how to walk and talk again.

The Last O.G. is Morgans first full-time role since the accident, a return many thought might never happen.

When the comedian made a surprise appearance at the 2015 Emmy Awards, he admitted it had been a long road back to health.

Comedians and co-stars on 30 Rock Jack McBrayer, Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, and Alec Baldwin stand on stage during a monologue on Saturday Night Live. Credit:NBC via AP

Two years later when confirming The Last O.G., he said he was finally ready to put the accident behind him and like Tray, move on with the next chapter of his life.

Thank God, Morgan said.

Thats all I got to say: Thank God. Maybe Im a better man since the accident. Im thankful.

I had to get hit by that truck. If I didnt, I wouldnt get to make the impact on the world Im having now.

Check out The Last O.G. here: https://www.stan.com.au/watch/the-last-og

And take a look at the trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exWo7Kub5XI&feature=youtu.be

Stan is Australias leading local SVoD service, providing unlimited access to thousands of hours of entertainment for the whole family. Get access to the biggest Hollywood shows, blockbuster movies, cult classics and popular kids content on your favourite device. Start your free 30-day trial at Stan.com.au.Heres nine films and series that had their start on the printed page.

The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair

Published in French in 2012, this murder mystery follows novelist Marcus Graham as he struggles to learn the truth about his accused mentor. A massive success in Europe (it outsold 50 Shades Of Grey in France), the novel was translated into English in 2014 and with very few tweaks, converted to a mini-series starring Patrick Dempsey in 2018.

Watch The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair here: https://www.stan.com.au/watch/the-truth-about-the-harry-quebert-affair

Edge of Tomorrow

Originally a 2004 Japanese novel titled All You Need Is Kill, this science fiction story introduces Major William Cage (Keiji Kiriya in the original) who is killed in a future battle with aliens, but respawns each day to learn from his mistakes and hopefully save the world. Tom Cruise stars in the screen version.

Watch Edge Of Tomorrow here: https://www.stan.com.au/watch/edge-of-tomorrow-2014

Sherlock/Elementary

One of the most remade written stories ever, Sir Arthur Conan Doyles brilliant detective Sherlock Holmes is currently alive and well in two modern remakes of his story, more than a century after he was first created. One set in New York and the other in London, both of these reinterpretation still remain true to the original premise.

Check out Sherlock here: https://www.stan.com.au/watch/sherlock

And take a look at Elementary here: https://www.stan.com.au/watch/elementary

Under The Dome

From the pen of horror master Stephen King, this is a glimpse into a town suddenly cut off from the rest of the world by a transparent and impenetrable force-field dome. Outside, the world future struggles to understand what happened, but inside its a fight for survival as resources slowly disappear.

Check out Under The Dome here: https://www.stan.com.au/watch/under-the-dome

Condor

Extending the story of the 1975 book Six Days Of The Condor, (and a 1975 film Three Days Of The Condor), the action here centres on CIA analyst Joe Turner (played by Max Irons) who discovers a plot that could kill millions and is forced to become the warrior he never imagined he was to save the day.

Watch Condor here: https://www.stan.com.au/watch/condor

Father Brown

One of the original English detective series, Father Brown appeared in more than 50 stories written by GK Chesterton from 1910. In this adaptation starring Mark Williams, the mysteries are moved to the 1950s and a different location, but the father himself is largely unchanged and the crimes he tackles every bit as challenging.

Watch Father Brown here: https://www.stan.com.au/watch/father-brown

Philip K Dicks Electric Dreams

From the writings of Philip K. Dick (who wrote other book-to-movie successes including Blade Runner), this is a collection of science fiction stories that show a future where technology has given mankind so much, but still left a lot of questions to be answered.

Watch Electric Dreams here: https://www.stan.com.au/watch/electric-dreams

Black Sails

A must for fans of Robert Louis Stephensons classic adventure story Treasure Island, this is the prequel, showing up how a young sailor fell in with pirates, travelled the world and went on to become Long John Silver. Starring Australian Luke Arnold, its every bit as much fun as the original  although a little bit sexier.

Watch Black Sails here: https://www.stan.com.au/watch/tv-shows

Preacher

Adapted from the adult-oriented comic of the same name, the preacher in this case is Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper) who inherits the heavenly power to tell others what to do and sets out to find God  literally  to find out why, with the help of his best friend Cassidy, who just happens to be a vampire.

Watch Preacher here: https://www.stan.com.au/watch/preacher

Keen to take a look at these and more stories ripped from the pages of best sellers? How about Tomorrow When The War Began, Call The Midwife, The Wrong Girl or Little Women?

Find them  and more - here: https://www.stan.com.au/watch/tv-shows

Stan is Australias leading local SVoD service, providing unlimited access to thousands of hours of entertainment for the whole family. Get access to the biggest Hollywood shows, blockbuster movies, cult classics and popular kids content on your favourite device. Start your free 30-day trial at Stan.com.au.I have fair skin, a tendency to burn, light eyes and hair along with a family history of melanoma. That puts me in the high risk group for skin cancer.

But, I am one of the one in three Australians who has never had a skin check.

Check your skin or get it checked this summer. Credit:Stocksy

Many people dont get a check because two thirds dont realise how common skin cancer is, according to the research commissioned by life insurance company TAL.

Skin cancer accounts for 81 per cent of all new cases of cancer diagnosed in Australia each year and about two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the time they are 70.Derek O'Connor, Paris '68, 2017 (detail) in At home he's a tourist at Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Gorman Arts Centre.

The Canberra visual arts scene in 2018 was as rich and varied as one could ask; a richness and variety that one comes to expect as normal in our culturally fertile and diverse national capital.

It is very difficult (impossible?) to select just five exhibitions that I regarded as my highlights and indeed I am unable not to include at least a mention of exhibitions/artists outside that group.

The Canberra Contemporary Art Space (CCAS) exhibition program began with the continuation from November 2017 of Derek OConnors At home hes a tourist.

I have followed this artists work for many years and he never fails to reinforce a well-deserved reputation. I said of this special exhibition that it was a visual tour de force full of power and aesthetic seduction. Its memory remains strongly with me.

A very different exhibition but equally enthralling was Brenda Crofts heart-in-hand.Online travel companies are on notice that they are subject to Australian law after a man successfully sued global travel giant Expedia, a consumer law expert said Tuesday.

A tribunal ordered Expedia pay Canberra man Hugh Selby more than $600 in damages after its Wotif website misled him when he booked two nights at the Rocky Point Beachfront/Paradise in Haleiwa, Hawaii.

A photo of the beachside accommodation's supposed view as published on Wotif. Credit:Wotif

He and his wife had paid for what appeared to be a neat beachside shack with stunning views of the ocean.

However, when they arrived to check in for their holiday in April this year the couple found their $300-per-night room was actually in the basement of a deteriorating property.Bupa Aged Care in Calwell has been slapped with sanctions after failing to meet key outcomes, including clinical care and medication management.

The nursing home was audited by the Department of Health in October and informed in December it would not receive funding for any new residents until May.

A Calwell nursing home will not be allowed to take new patients for the next six months.

It must also appoint an advisor to help it meet its clinical responsibilities and provide additional training to staff.

BaptistCare Griffith nursing home also failed a snap audit in August this year and faced similar sanctions.The St Vincent De Paul Society's Canberra arm is asking the government to ensure those in financial crisis in country towns will be supported after being told their federal government funding would take a hit from 2020.

The charity recently reapplied for a five-year grant from the federal government, for which it previously received $335,000 a year to go towards helping people in financial crisis across the Canberra and southern and western NSW regions.

Dickson Vinnies volunteers, from left: Emanuella Gambale, Sheree Huddleston, and Ming Hui Choy. Credit:Jamila Toderas

In mid-November Vinnies was told by the Department of Social Services it would only receive $253,776 for each year, a 25 per cent cut on the levels previously provided.

After lobbying the department, Vinnies was told transitional funding of $81,957 would be provided to the organisation for the 2019 calendar year. Vinnies chief executive Barnie van Wyk wrote again to the department, receiving confirmation about the lower funding level for future years on Friday.Australias oldest human remains, including Mungo Man and Mungo Lady, will be reburied in the original locations from which they were removed, following a unanimous decision by the region's Aboriginal advisory group.

A year ago, the ancestral remains of 105 people, including the 40,000-year-old Mungo Man  one of the worlds earliest cremations, were returned to the traditional owners of the Willandra Lakes region in south-western NSW.

Mungo Man's remains have come home. Credit:Justin Mcmanus

The remains were stored while the community decided on their final resting place.

A number of options were considered, including reburial or building a keeping place alongside a scientific research centre.A Canadian man has been sentenced to eight years and five months jail after attempting to smuggle 72.6 kilograms of cocaine into Australia via cruise ship alongside two others.

Andre Tamine, 65, was sentenced only in relation to 42.7 kilograms of cocaine, said to have a street value of up to $29 million, which was found in his cabin when the Sea Princess berthed in Sydney in August 2016.

Judge Kate Traill handed down the sentence on Tuesday and said she believed Tamine was "remorseful" for his actions and read aloud a letter addressed to the court that said he was "embarrassed" and "humiliated" for his first offence.

A total of 72.6kg of cocaine was found in four suitcases in the two cabins. Credit:Australian Border Force

She also told the courts how she believed Tamine was "not merely a drug mule" and was "integral" to the drug operation, but did not realise the "seriousness" of the crime he was committing.A senior Queensland police officer who is at the centre of domestic violence allegations has been suspended.

The 41-year-old cop from the Ethical Standards Command was moved to desk duties in November.

Two cops have been stood down in the past week over issues relating to domestic violence.

The detective sergeant, who has not been named by police, was initially stood down from his role and would not perform operational duties - but now has been suspended.

The officer was the subject of an investigation into allegations of breaching a temporary domestic violence order.The announcement by the University of Wollongong that it would establish a degree with funding from the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation caught all but a small handful of staff by surprise on Monday.

Normally a new degree winds its way through a very long university digestive system, a process that makes degrees better. Surely the Bachelor of Arts (Western Civilisation), announced with the promise that it will encourage rigorous debate among its students, should not begin life seemingly fearful of discussion among academic peers?

Perhaps this timidity reflects an awareness among the degrees proponents that one of the architects of the Ramsay vision, former prime minister Tony Abbott, has been explicit about the aims of the Ramsay bequests.

The University of Wollongong will have 30 students studying the new Ramsay Centre course from 2020. Credit:Kirk Gilmour

Complaining of the presence of Asian, Indigenous and sustainability perspectives throughout the curriculum, Abbott says in an essay for Quadrant that "The key to understanding the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation is that its not merely about Western civilisation but in favour of it. The fact that it is 'for' the cultural inheritance of countries such as ours, rather than just interested in it, makes it distinctive."A revolutionary cancer therapy that supercharges a patient's immune cells to hunt and destroy cancer cells has been approved for use in Australia, ushering in a new era in medicine.

Desperate patients with aggressive blood cancers who have not responded to conventional treatments have been heading overseas to receive a shot of the "custom-made" drug and experiencing "miraculous" results.

Daniel Clarke, left, travelled to the US in September to undergo CAR-T therapy for lymphoma cancer.

In a last-ditch attempt, Daniel Clarke, 45, and his family dropped everything and travelled to Boston so that he could undergo CAR-T therapy for diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). One month later, scans showed the cancer was gone.

"I felt like someone had just handed my life back to me," Mr Clarke, a Qantas engineer from the Sutherland Shire, said.Six months ago he was a restaurant manager in Sydney when a messy relationship breakdown compelled him to move to Melbourne, a city he loved, for a fresh start.

His face lights up and he claps along as the band plays Santa Claus is Coming to Town, sitting at a table decked with balloons and tinsel.

But you would never know it, watching him at the Salvation Armys Christmas lunch at its Bourke Street headquarters on Tuesday.

Glyn Lewis has had a terrible time in the past six months.

But at age 61, he couldnt find work. His savings ran out and for four months he slept on the floor of the Salvos Bourke Street cafe and sometimes outdoors.

Being homeless was scary and cold, but the loneliness was worse.

Things are looking up, at last. Five weeks ago, the Salvos and Launch Housing found him a room in a Lalor house. He is looking for work again.

He has no family in Melbourne to spend Christmas with. But he sees no point in being maudlin. And so he came to the Salvos' Christmas lunch, determined to find a little joy.

"Its great because a lot of us are all in the same boat, and they just make it a happy event to attend," he said.A former federal court judge is set to weigh in on incoming laws that will force priests to break the seal of confession to report child abuse in the ACT.

The Honourable Justice Julie Dodds-Streeton QC will hand a review to ACT Attorney-General next month on how new laws stemming from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse impact on the confessional seal.

The ACT's reportable conduct scheme will include child abuse allegations from the confessional after March 31, 2019. Credit:Michael Rayner

The ACT's parliament in June voted to extend the territory's reportable conduct scheme to the confessional, despite concerns about the law's impact on religious freedoms.

The provision will take effect after March 31 and would require religious organisations to report allegations, offences or convictions related to children to the ACT Ombudsman within 30 days, even if the information was gleaned under the seal of confession.A federal parliamentary committee examining the restoration of territory rights could be key to unshackling the ACT and Northern Territory to legalise voluntary euthanasia, a longtime campaigner says.

With the ACT looking to revive its push to repeal the Andrews Bill next year, former ACT Labor MLA Mary Porter said sharing personal stories would be critical to overturning the decades-old legislation that has prevented the territories from making laws on assisted dying.

Former ACT Labor MLA Mary Porter. Credit:Graham Tidy GGT

Ms Porter, who made end-of-life issues a signature of her decade in the ACT Legislative Assembly, urged the ACT to keep up the pressure on Federal Parliament to revoke the laws.

"That doesn't mean to say if the bill is repealed the ACT would make a decision to put in place legislation that would allow voluntary euthanasia, but we should be given the opportunity to discuss it," Ms Porter, who retired to Lake Macquarie in 2016, said.Earlier this year, the then ABC chairman, Justin Milne, wanted to sack senior journalist Emma Alberici. So he fired off an email telling the managing director to discuss "external career development opportunities" with her.

When the Four Corners program later quizzed Mr Milne about the meaning of those words, he eventually explained: "That's a silly corporate euphemism for firing her."

Wordsmith: Justin Milne (centre) wanted Michelle Guthrie (right) to sack Emma Alberici (left), so he suggested she explore "external career development opportunities". Credit:Fairfax Media

The Plain English Foundation has now honoured Mr Milne's turn of phase as the worst of 2018, beating some tough competition.

The foundation's executive director, Neil James, said the year was marked by awful examples of corporate doublespeak and spin.Nationals Party president Larry Anthony is pushing for a woman to run in the plum seat being vacated by disgraced MP Andrew Broad as the party seeks to repair its battered image in the wake of its latest scandal.

Mr Anthonys enthusiasm for a female candidate in the Victorian seat of Mallee - which is shared by other prominent members of the party - helps position current deputy leader Bridget McKenzie for a possible tilt at the seat, which would shift her from the Senate to the lower house and put her in contention to become the partys first woman leader.

The party was in damage control mode on Tuesday as it defended its handling of Mr Broads behaviour. The married former frontbencher declared he would quit politics at the next election after it was revealed he sent explicit text messages to a much younger woman he met on a "sugar daddy" website and met her in Hong Kong for dinner.

Mr Anthony, a former Howard government minister who is now the top federal Nationals official, said he was "very disappointed" by Mr Broads behaviour, having regarded him as a good MP.Washington: Authorities have no idea how many deer the Berry family and their associates illegally killed in the fields and forests of southern Missouri over the last decade, but the details of their poaching operation would make any animal lover's stomach turn.

Over nearly nine years, David Berry and his two sons, David Berry jnr and Kyle Berry, killed the deer, mostly at night, then cut off their heads and antlers - leaving the bodies to rot where they fell.

David Berry jnr was ordered to watch the Walt Disney movie Bambi at least once each month during his one-year jail sentence. Credit:Lawrence County Sheriff/AP

There was some financial motivation in the carnage, but authorities said collecting the deer heads was mostly about ego.

"Taking just the heads is their version of obtaining a 'trophy' and leaving the carcass behind is merely an afterthought," Randy Doman, the division chief of the Missouri Department of Conservation, told the Springfield News-Leader. "While there are some cases where poachers go after the antlers for profit, with this bunch it was more about the thrill of the kill itself."PHILIPSBURG: --- Minister of Health and Labor Emil Lee has traveled to Italy with INSO representatives seeking the assistance from the Italian Government on behalf of INSO in order for them to continue with the New General Hospital project.

SMN News learned that Lee accompanied representatives of INSO to Italy hoping that he could convince the Italian government to issue a letter of comfort to his chosen contractor INSO that came under fire these past weeks when it was disclosed that INSOs parent company Ferfina S.P. A Group filed for bankruptcy in Italy. INSO and Condotte both affiliate companies of Ferfina S.P.A. Group also sought reprieve from Courte de Roma which was granted.

SMN News learned that the Minister of VSA who is supposed to be looking out for St. Maartens best interest and to also protect its finances are desperate to have INSO construct the New General Hospital since he does not want to go through another bidding process or contract the next contractor in line that participated in the 2016 bidding process. That contractor would be VAMED the company that took SZV to court and accepted USD 1M in a settlement.

It is more than obvious that the Minister is seeking to protect his interest and or investment in the New General Hospital project as it is clear that the Minister and his supporters from the Democratic Party will get kickbacks from the New General Hospital Project.

SMN News further learned that some Members of Parliament from the UD faction in Parliament are peeved with the new developments regarding INSO.2010-2018 eight years of inspection and supervision in law enforcement on St. Maarten

Prologue

The Law Enforcement Council ("the Council") was set up by Kingdom Decree of 10th of July 2010, between the countries within the Kingdom: Curacao, the Netherlands and St. Maarten.

Following the establishment of the Council, the participating countries worked on the establishment of the Council, by appointing councilors, providing budgets for the Council in 2010 and 2011. Since 2012, the Council has been operational, with the first inspection surveys taking place from the various locations. In 2012, the Council presented its first reports. Since then the Council has produced 103 reports, 40 of which pertain to St. Maarten.

The composition of the Council consists of three members, among which the Chair (which rotates):

G.H.E. Camelia (Councilor on behalf of Curacao, appointed by Royal decree per 27 April 2011);

On October 11, 2014, a new councilor also by Royal decree was appointed on behalf of the Netherlands, in the person of T.P.L. Bot. He succeeded J.J. van Eck, who was appointed councilor on behalf of the Netherlands on October 11, 2010;

And yours truly, appointed by Royal decree as Councilor on behalf of Sint Maarten per 29 December 2010.

After two four-year terms, as the longest-sitting councilor, as the law requires, I say farewell to the Council as member and as Chairman, as of the 29th of December 2018.

The Council's experiences that Im about to share with you this afternoon is from the viewpoint as councilor on behalf of Sint Maarten.

The role of the Council can be viewed from several perspectives.

Ive chosen to give:

Firstly, a quick view of the history and development of the Council 2010-2018;

Secondly, from a legal viewpoint as an entity that supervises the Justice chain;

Thirdly and lastly, recommendations for the future;

I. A quick view of the history and development of the Council 2010-2018

Introduction

History

The law Enforcement Council was established by Kingdom Decree in 2010, together with three other judicial laws. These judicial laws are also called the Consensus-Kingdom Laws which, based on article 38 of the Statute, were created upon the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles. These acts pertain to the Police, the Prosecutors Office, the Common Court of Justice. Unlike the other three, the Kingdom Act of the Law Enforcement Council is a result of one of the recommendations of the report of the Committee on the Law Enforcement of the Netherlands Antilles, the so-called Camelia-Romer Report of 2006. It includes the recommendation to establish an independent inspection body for the supervision of the judicial chain. The follow-up to that recommendation has led to the existence of a new monitoring phenomenon, namely the monitoring of the functioning of the organizations within that judicial chain. It also considered that the operation of the chain and judicial cooperation between the countries within the Kingdom should be subject to supervision.

The European part of the kingdom is not covered by the Law Enforcement Council. The Netherlands does not have a Law Enforcement Council for the European part of the Netherlands, nor any other independent body entrusted with the supervision of the justice chain.

Given the acknowledgement of the importance of independent supervision in the entire Kingdom, the Caribbean part of the Kingdom can be considered a trailblazer where it concerns St. Maarten, Curacao, Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius.

In 2010 and 2011, the Council completed its establishment with the appointment of three members, after which it began to setup its operations. With a team of delegates from the countries and external expertise, the Council has set up its own organization, which serves as the basis for what the Council has been since 2012. The Council operates from three offices, each staffed with inspectors and managed by a Secretary.

Development

Over the years, the Council has developed within each country. While the scope of research increased, and the research capacity remained available, more expertise has emerged. As a result, the Council has been able to draw an increasingly comprehensive picture of the functioning of the chain within law enforcement. The representatives in the Justice chain seem to have become accustomed to the Council: where, in the first instance, the Council was regarded by some as a new phenomenon, it has now become interwoven with those organizations. For several years now, the previously experienced inspection pressure has been replaced by enthusiasm when conducting investigations. The organizations are now seeing the benefits of the inspection reports.

There has also been some divergence in the investigations, over the course of time. That is also logical, given the differences in practice between the countries. The experience in the various countries lies with the follow-up of recommendations. The Council is expected to provide tailored advice for each respective country. The overarching function of the Council is, however, indeed of added value: the comparison and cooperation between the countries is also part of the Council's mission. In view of the developments in the reports and recommendations made per country, the Council will, soon, put more emphasis on St. Maarten. St. Maarten is lagging behind the other countries.

The Council, but also other bodies within and outside of Sint Maarten, have already expressed their concerns. Equally, the Council has a role to play here: In the end, there must be improvement and progress in the way the judicial chain functions. For experience of the Council but also insight in this respect I refer you to the annual ' State of law enforcement ', which is directly addressed to the Minister of Justice and parliament.

The Council's reports as well as the annual ' State of law enforcement are all posted on the council's website (www.raadrechtshandhaving.com). These documents are the core products of the Council.

2017: Hurricanes Irma and Maria

In 2017, Sint Maarten had to endure a catastrophic blow. With the passing of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, society was thrown many steps back in time. However, with the assistance of other countries, law enforcement too has demonstrated to be resilient. The Council has expressed its admiration for this and concludes that that the organizations of the judicial chain are well anchored.

Following the Hurricanes, the Council itself also had to carry out a re-organization. The council's office in Philipsburg was devastated and there was a budgetary uncertainty about the future. Vacancies at the secretariats Sint Maarten and the Caribbean Netherlands have been halted, and cooperation between these two secretariats has intensified. With less capacity, the Council has proven to be able to execute the annual plans 2017 and 2018 for the bigger part as well. The implementation of the annual plan has been carried out in an efficient manner. The Council has also set up a new fixed workplace in Pointe Blanche. The secretariats Sint Maarten and the Caribbean Netherlands intend to further optimize this cooperation through further intensifying cooperation.

2018: Sint Maarten under reconstruction

The enormous impact of the Hurricanes in 2017, however, has also brought a different sentiment to St. Maarten: Build back better. On all fronts, St. Maarten is attempting to comeback better than before, from the rubble of natures wrath.

This requires lots of willpower and conviction. Plans are made on many fronts. Also, in the area of law enforcement -- Build back better is applicable. The Council is therefore convinced that the current state of affairs will provide opportunities for the future. The Council expresses the hope that these opportunities will be exploited. The examples of cooperation between the KPSM and the Police of the Netherlands serve as a key illustration of what is possible when working well together.

Above all, it shows what is possible when two minds think together. With the latter, the use of seizing opportunities for a good reconstruction begins.

II. The Council's legal perspective

From a legal perspective, the Council plays a role both in the field of public and private law. More specifically, the Council plays a role within and for the benefit of public and administrative law, national and international criminal justice, and civil law.

The rule of law

The Council has a role to play in ensuring the rule of law.

The statute or Kingdom Constitution, laws and regulations, as well as the system of norms and values that we call the rule of law, define the framework within which the organizations must act and is thus the Council's playing field. From our own experiences, but also from reports, it is apparent that there is still much progress to be made in the field of justice. In addition, as is the case for all sectors, the judicial sector is constantly on the move. It is therefore in the interest of society that bottlenecks and matters for improvements are addressed in a constructive manner and provided with an opinion on possible solutions. There is also a need to assess and measure progress, standstill, or delays. In this way, ministers can also give substance to their ministerial responsibilities.

Executive and controlling function

The Government, Council of Ministers and the Parliament should legislate, implement, execute and enforce. The Parliament has a controlling function as regards to the implementation of the policy. However, practice shows a lack thereof. The Council has pointed out in several reports that the Parliament does not function in its controlling role. There are several causes and reasons for this, many related to St. Maarten being a very young democracy. The transition to dualism may also play a role here. The Councils role is to be critical on both the Government and the Parliament. It tries to be instrumental in doing so by carrying out its role in a supporting way. This fits into the system of checks and balances.

The reports of the Council are to support the Government and the Parliament in their constitutional roles and their functioning.

The functioning of the Government and therefore that of the judicial chain must be in the spirit of the law. This requires legislation to be adapted to the social desirability and to equip law enforcement authorities. The Council identifies obsolete laws and regulations in many areas. This can still be functional. Society is on the move and, as has been said before, so is the judicial chain. Legislation cannot be left behind. The sealing of legal imperfections with practical solutions should not be a prolonged practice.

None of the organizations may be required to be fully aware of all the requirements of the overarching legislation for the entire chain.

The added value of the Council's reports is therefore that the inspections identify shortcomings and indicate the desirability of making choices and taking decisions in such cases. Over time, the Council has in this way thoroughly assessed legislation over the entire chain. The Council is impressed by the improvising capacity of agencies to provide practical solutions to factual or legal imperfections. However, practical solutions should have a temporary character. In practice, it often means that practical solutions without further decision-making are of a structural character.

The Council continues to monitor recommendations and therefore maintains a continuous overview of the state of play in law enforcement. Because of the powers of the entire chain, the Council can assess the functioning of the chain from a helicopter view.

The council from a criminal law perspective

The Council's investigations are aimed at the management, quality and effectiveness of the organizations in criminal law enforcement. The Council therefore does not look at individual criminal cases. Indirectly, the Council considers how the government deals with criminal law and, in particular, the investigation and prosecution in such cases. Research into prosecution policy, scrutiny of legal principles and, of course, the obedience of the law, are part of the Council's review framework.

Inspecting the handling of suspects and detainees is a topic to be examined annually. The detention system is an important part of the chain. For St. Maarten, this part is very poorly organized. Unfortunately, and despite repeated investigations and recommendations, the Council has not yet been able to observe any positive changes in the detention system which should be brought to an acceptable level. The Councils reports of 2016 and 2017 have observed violations of human rights. That is a bad development. The fact that nothing structural is done about this is an even worse observation. Commitment from the administrative authorities in this area is hardly perceptible.

The Council from an administrative and civil law perspective

The Councils reports on the detention system on St. Maarten have been presented to the Minister of Justice as supporting evidence in connection with a lawsuit against the Association of Prisoners (Inmates Association). In his judgement, the judge, based on these reports, proceeded to order government to carry out improvements in the detention conditions under threat of a penalty. Thus, the Councils reports are acknowledged substantive evidence to be used in administrative law, civil justice, and in criminal matters.

III. Recommendations for the future

Since 2012, the Council has made more than 350 recommendations regarding St. Maartens judicial chain. Review studies show that about half of these recommendations were followed to a greater or lesser extent.

In particular, where the organizations were able to implement recommendations themselves, this was the case. Where the government authorities were also required to do so, the outcome is depressingly different.

In the state of law enforcement 2016, the Council has considered the state of affairs and the prospect of law enforcement in detail. To this end, the Council carried out an analysis which concluded that there were structural bottlenecks that could be categorized into seventeen categories. In the state of law enforcement 2017  issue May 2018-the Council came to the same conclusions. However, the passage of the Hurricanes Irma and Maria has revealed even more vulnerabilities. This led, on the one hand, to hard but factual conclusions, but also to the observation of opportunities for improvements. The momentum in which St. Maarten found itself in immediately after the Hurricanes was specific reason to seek cooperation within the Kingdom. The Council believes that this is the key to a hopeful future. To this end, however, there must be willingness on both sides of the Atlantic. The Council sees that the chain itself is a great supporter of cooperation. The results do not lie. It is important that politicians on this island also become aware of this and start listening to the professionals in the field.

The ability of the organizations

The Council considers it important to dwell on several important developments which have occurred because of the passage of the Hurricanes. The passage of the hurricanes, especially Hurricane Irma, has changed St. Maarten, within a few hours, in a disaster area. In the hours and days after, extreme situations arose in the area of maintaining public order and security. The core of law enforcement was faced with a situation totally unprepared for. With a high level of improvisation and cooperation, the enforcing organizations have, within a short period of time, drawn up an approach required for those circumstances. With very limited resources, they were able to recover from the chaos and disorder, particularly after the necessary military assistance and police assistance from the other countries arrived. The Council therefore has a positive view of the ability of these organizations to cooperate in an ad hoc setting in such circumstances and to achieve results. This is already an admirable result.

Follow-up recommendations

In the case of a comparison between the countries, it is quickly apparent that St. Maarten is lagging behind with the Council's recommendations. When it comes to the follow-up of recommendations, the Caribbean Netherlands is leading. In the Caribbean Netherlands, the reports are consistently considered by the respective minister, and the organizations are also better placed to work with the recommendations. In Sint Maarten, the picture shows the contrary: the organizations themselves can work with the recommendations as far as possible, but they hardly get any (policy) support. Parliament has not addressed the government that there is no or little consideration for improvements. In fact, in some cases this could not be because several council reports to date have not been offered to the Parliament. The controlling task of the Parliament on the Government thus loses its importance. This creates the image that the administrative authorities remain far from implementation. As a structural bottleneck, the Council already mentioned the attention of the administrative authorities for law enforcement.

Law enforcement

Without the full attention of the Government, the availability and allocations of enough resources, policy making, and awareness law enforcement cannot be guaranteed!

To guarantee law enforcement Im strongly of the opinion that St. Maarten should mainly seek cooperation within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. More so when seeing the current financial situation Sint Maarten finds itself in. Sint Maarten lacks the necessary resources for better construction and execution of law enforcement, which is desperately needed to safeguard its people particularly after the passage of Hurricane Irma.

Conclusion

Looking at the agencies and people who are active in law enforcement on Sint Maarten I must say that they care enormously for their work! They work with conviction! They are dedicated! They are committed! And that's where it all starts in building back better the Justice chain and law enforcement on Sint Maarten.

Continuing building back better and stronger the full attention of Government in adequately guaranteeing law enforcement is imperative!

In concluding, permit me to offer three solutions respectively 3 recommendations going forward, which I believe will lead to a structural enhancement of the Justice Chain and thus provide the golden key for success in guaranteeing a better Justice chain and law enforcement on Sint Maarten on all levels.

The solutions I offer are:

1. Cooperation;

2. Cooperation;

3. Cooperation.

Reason for my offer is that cooperation leads to empowerment.

Which brings me to the following recommendations:

1. Search together within the Kingdom for solutions!

2. Once you have found and decided on the solutions, carry them out them together!

3. Once the solutions have executed, be proud together of the result!PHILIPSBURG:--- During the recent visit of Rotary District 7020 Governor Patrick Adizua to St. Maarten, while visiting The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle, he was asked to present four Paul Harris Fellow Awards on their behalf.

Individuals who have contributed more than $1000 to the Annual Program Fund, the Polio Plus Fund or the Humanitarian Grants Program of the Rotary Foundation are recognized as Paul Harris Fellows. Additionally, individual Rotary clubs may from time to time award the honor to individuals who meet high professional and personal standards set forth by Paul Harris. The recognition is not limited to Rotarians.

Asha Stevens was awarded a Paul Harris Fellow for her dedication and commitment to education here on St. Maarten. Asha has been involved in the development of educational progress on St. Maarten most of her adult life. Receiving his Paul Harris+5 was Foundation Chair David Antrobus, also receiving a Paul Harris Fellow were Past President Veronica Jansen-Webster and Treasurer Tony Da Cunha.

A Paul Harris Fellow receives a special certificate and a gold pin. At the discretion of the Fellow's club, they may also receive a gold medallion on a blue-and-gold ribbon.

Multiple-time Fellows are recognized as they continue to contribute. Additionally, Fellows receive recognition points which they may contribute towards the recognition of other members as Paul Harris Fellows.

The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle meets Tuesday at 7pm at Pineapple Pete in Simpson Bay. For more information please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit our face book page Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle.Cay Hill:--- In recognition of Rotarys December theme, Disease Prevention and Treatment, the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset brought some cheer to the patrons of the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) by donating much-needed supplies.

A few weeks prior, a wish list was sent by the MHF to the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset requesting items needed for the clients of the Mental Health Foundation. This list included items such as a washing machine, two burner stove, mens clothing, boots, overalls, gift bags, office chairs, a printer, and a mini-fridge. The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset, having sought sponsorship from Office World, Cotton Cool, Kwik Ideas, 5 Star Hardware, Kooyman, Adolphus Technology and Super Plaza, was able to fulfill all the wishes of the MHF and was elated to make the donation in the presence of the Rotary International President, Barry Rassin.

While visiting the Mental Health Foundation in Cay Hill, the RI President, along with members of the club were taken on a tour of the facility to see the housing services, the amenities that are offered, the kitchen, candle making area, library and met with several of the patrons and staff of the Foundation. Rotary International President Barry applauded the MHF for the work that they have been doing in helping mentally unstable individuals to be able to obtain mainstream schooling and jobs, successfully. He also congratulated the club for this initiative and recognized the efforts of the members in making our communities a better place.

The Farajas department along with our clients are full of gratitude when we say, Thank you Rotary Sunset. The limited facility and recourses do not divert our passion to provide the best quality care to our clients. Every item donated will benefit our clients in areas such as job and independence skills. We are looking forward to continuously work with the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset, who shared our passion in making a positive change in our community, MHFs Faraja/Short and Long Stay Coordinator, Giselle Codrington, stated.

The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset would like to thank all companies involved in making this presentation a reality.A10 Networks? Cloud-Native Application Delivery Solution Now Available in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace

Theale, UK. ? 18th December, 2018 ? A10 Networks, a leading provider of intelligent and automated cybersecurity solutions, today announced the availability of its cloud-native Application Delivery solution including the Harmony Controller, vThunder ADC and Lightning ADC in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, an online store providing applications and services for use on Microsoft Azure. A10?s customers can now take advantage of the scalability, high availability, and security of Azure, with streamlined deployment and management.

A10 Networks? Harmony Controller provides centralised management and analytics for A10 secure application services, including A10 Thunder ADC and Lightning ADC, SSLi, CFW, and CGN in multi-cloud environments for application configuration and policy enforcement. With the Harmony Controller, organisations can efficiently automate deployment and operations of application services, increase operational efficiency and agility, and enhance end-user experiences. The AI-powered analytics solution simplifies the management of distributed application services to dramatically shorten troubleshooting times, receive alerts on performance or security anomalies, improve capacity planning, and optimise IT infrastructure and multi-cloud environments.

?We are very excited that enterprise customers worldwide will be able to leverage the Azure Marketplace to gain access to A10?s cloud-native Application Delivery solution including the Harmony Controller and the high level of agility and efficiency it delivers to meet their scalability, reliability, and performance requirements,? said Kamal Anand, Vice President, Cloud Business Unit at A10 Networks. ?Multi-cloud convenience and flexibility comes with many management challenges, and the Harmony Controller alleviates many of those issues with its ability to deliver centralised management and analytics across any underlying infrastructure ? from traditional on-premises datacenters to public, private and hybrid clouds and Kubernetes container environments.?

?Through Microsoft Azure Marketplace, customers around the world can easily find, buy, and deploy partner solutions they can trust, all certified and optimised to run on Azure,? said Sajan Parihar, Director, Microsoft Azure Platform at Microsoft Corp. ?We?re happy to welcome A10 Networks? cloud-native application delivery solution to the growing Azure Marketplace ecosystem.?

The Azure Marketplace is an online market for buying and selling finished Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications and premium datasets. The Azure Marketplace helps connect companies seeking innovative, cloud-based solutions with partners who have developed solutions that are ready to use.

Capabilities of the A10 Harmony Controller include:

? Centralised management: Easily configure and manage policies across applications deployed in datacenters, private and public clouds

? Traffic and security analytics: Gain visibility and actionable insights into per-application traffic and simplify troubleshooting via access to contextualised data and logs

? Multi-tenancy and self-service: A hierarchical tenancy model enhances agility without compromising governance across the infrastructure

? Highly scalable and platform-agnostic: The container-based, microservices architecture allows controller capacity to be scaled without interrupting operations

? Device lifecycle management: Centralised device lifecycle management for A10 hardware appliances or software instances allows for easy management of a large number of devices by grouping devices and applying common templates

? Integration with Kubernetes environments via the A10 Ingress Controller

To learn more about the Harmony Controller, please visit www.a10networks.com/products/service-analytics-management and its page in the Azure Marketplace.EnWave Receives Purchase Order for Third 120kW REVTM Machine from Milne Fruit Products

Posted by Publisher Internet

EnWave Corporation (TSX-V:ENW | FSE:E4U) (?EnWave?, or the \Company\  http://www.commodity-tv.net/c/search_adv/?v=297852) announced today that it has signed an Equipment Purchase Agreement (the ?EPA?) with Milne Fruit Products d.b.a. Milne MicroDried Inc. (?Milne?)? to provide Milne with its third 120kW Radiant Energy Vacuum (?REV??) machine for the production of an extensive portfolio of dried vegetable and fruit applications. The EPA also confirms Milne?s exclusive right to produce REV?-dried strawberries and blueberries in the United States of America. Additionally, EnWave and Milne amended the existing commercial license agreement to include prickly pear and table grapes in their MicroDried? product portfolio.

Not all dried fruits and vegetables are created equal.? Milne, a family-owned, vertically integrated, proven leader in the fruit and vegetable ingredient and snack industry, has chosen to use REV? technology in order to differentiate themselves from the status quo. Milne MicroDried? ingredients are 100% all-natural, high quality dried fruit and vegetables that are rich in nutritional values and health benefits ? retaining higher levels of polyphenols than other commercial drying processes. MicroDried? products bring real fruit color, flavor and enhanced nutritional values to consumer products.? These fruit and vegetable ingredients come in whole pieces and fragments in chewy and crunchy textures, and coarse or fine grind powders for different applications.

About Milne MicroDried

Milne MicroDried? is committed to creating innovative solutions and healthier ingredients for international, national and regional food, beverage and nutraceutical manufacturers. This includes bringing new fruit and vegetable varieties with no added colors, sugars or preservatives to market and customizing ingredient characteristics to meet customer specifications.

Milne MicroDried is increasing its capacity to meet the industrial ingredient needs of customers by adding a third REV? dryer line to its Nampa, Idaho plant. As part of its commitment to the industrial food industry, Milne MicroDried is dedicated to responsive customer service and finding innovative solutions for new product applications.

For more information about Milne MicroDried please visit www.milnemicrodried.com. ?

About EnWave

EnWave Corporation, a Vancouver-based advanced technology company, has developed Radiant Energy Vacuum (?REV??) ? an innovative, proprietary method for the precise dehydration of organic materials. EnWave has further developed patent-pending methods for uniformly drying and decontaminating cannabis through the use of REV? technology, shortening the time from harvest to marketable cannabis products.?

REV? technology?s commercial viability has been demonstrated and is growing rapidly across several market verticals in the food, and pharmaceutical sectors including legal cannabis. EnWave?s strategy is to sign royalty-bearing commercial licenses with industry leaders in multiple verticals for the use of REV? technology. The company has signed over twenty royalty-bearing licenses to date, opening up nine distinct market sectors for commercialization of new and innovative products. In addition to these licenses, EnWave has formed a Limited Liability Corporation, NutraDried Food Company, LLC, to develop, manufacture, market and sell all-natural cheese snack products in the United States under the Moon Cheese? brand.?

EnWave has introduced REV? as the new dehydration standard in the food and biological material sectors: faster than freeze drying, with better end product quality than air drying or spray drying. EnWave currently has three commercial REV? platforms:

nutraREV? which is used in the food industry to dry food products quickly and at low-cost, while maintaining high levels of nutrition, taste, texture and colour;

powderREV? which is used for the bulk dehydration of food cultures, probiotics and fine biochemicals such as enzymes below the freezing point, and

quantaREV? which is used for continuous, high-volume low-temperature drying.

An additional platform, freezeREV?, is being developed as a new method to stabilize and dehydrate biopharmaceuticals such as vaccines and antibodies. More information about EnWave is available at www.enwave.net.

Safe Harbour for Forward-Looking Information Statements: This press release may contain forward-looking information based on management\-\-s expectations, estimates and projections. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about the Company\-\-s strategy for growth, product development, market position, expected expenditures, and the expected synergies following the closing are forward-looking statements. All third party claims referred to in this release are not guaranteed to be accurate. All third party references to market information in this release are not guaranteed to be accurate as the Company did not conduct the original primary research. These statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, 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. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.The United States Mint has revealed the design for its 2019 coin celebrating the roles of Native Americans in space exploration.

The "American Indians in the Space Program" 2019 Native American $1 coin, to be released on Feb. 13, highlights individuals and achievements spanning the decades between NASA's Gemini program and the International Space Station.

"Native Americans have been on the modern frontier of space flight since the beginning of NASA," described the U.S. Mint on its website. [Google Doodle Honors Mary Ross, Aerospace's 1st Native American Female Engineer]

The 2019 Native American dollar, which is the 11th release in an annual series that began in 2009, retains the "Sacagawea" heads-side (or obverse) design  depicting the Shoshone interpreter who assisted the Lewis and Clark Expedition  first introduced by the Mint in 2000.

The reverse, or tails design, prominently features Mary Golda Ross, the first known Native American woman to become an engineer. Ross' work for Lockheed Martin helped to advance the Agena rocket upper stage that NASA used for rendezvous and docking trials during the Gemini program. The mid-1960s tests were crucial to landing Apollo astronauts on the moon and later were applied to assembling the International Space Station.

"Her achievements deeply impressed me and I was excited for the opportunity to tell her story through numismatic art," said science illustrator Emily Damstra, who the U.S. Mint chose to design the coin, in an interview with the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian magazine. "From the beginning of my design process, before I had anything else worked out, I knew that my design would include a figure of her."

Ross, who died in 2008 at the age of 99, is depicted on the coin as writing out calculations and is set against the image of an Atlas-Agena launching into space. An equation, which describes the energy needed to depart Earth and reach the orbit of another planet, is engraved in the rocket's billowing plume.

Willis Jenkins, an engineer and program executive in NASA's heliophysics division, assisted the Mint in identifying an appropriate formula of the type Ross used when calculating interplanetary trajectories.

"Mary Golda Ross worked on designs for rockets and I have managed rockets in my career. Also, she was of Cherokee descent and I believe my mother's family is as well," Jenkins told Herman Viola, a senior advisor for the National Museum of the American Indian's Native American Veterans Memorial Project and a member of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.

The coin's third major design element is a spacewalking astronaut, which the Mint describes as "symbolic of Native American astronauts, including John Herrington."

John Herrington was the first enrolled member of a Native American tribe to fly into space. Herrington logged 14 days helping to build the International Space Station in 2002. (Image credit: NASA)

A NASA astronaut from 1996 through 2005, Herrington was the first enrolled member of a Native American tribe, the Chickasaw Nation, to fly in space. In November 2002, Herrington launched as a mission specialist on the space shuttle Endeavour's two-week STS-113 mission, during which he helped to install a new segment of the International Space Station's backbone truss on three spacewalks.

U.S. law prohibits living individuals from being honored on currency, which is why the astronaut on the 2019 Native American $1 coin is not identified as Herrington.

"Though we don't see his face, the astronaut in my design is outfitted as John Herrington would have been for extravehicular activity," said Damstra.

The late astronaut Willam "Bill" Pogue, who served on the third and final crew of the first U.S. space station Skylab, was of Cherokee and Choctaw ancestry. Unlike Herrington though, Pogue was not enrolled with a tribe.

The "American Indians in the Space Program" 2019 Native American $1 coin will be offered by the Mint in proof, uncirculated, circulated and enhanced uncirculated finishes. The Mint produces the circulating quality coins as collectibles and though they are legal tender, are not intended for everyday transactions.

The Native American $1 coin will be the U.S. Mint's second space-themed release in 2019. On Jan. 24, the Mint will issue commemorative coins celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 first moon landing.

Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2018 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.This tweeted picture from NASA astronaut Anne McClain shows an "elf" on top of the MELFI, a freezer on the International Space Station, in December 2018.

While NASA astronaut Anne McClain can't take her son to space with her, she's spreading Christmas cheer for all kids watching her cosmic Elf on the Shelf campaign.

An "elf" gets a little tangled up with spacesuit hardware on the International Space Station on December 2018. (Image credit: Anne McClain/ Twitter

For those parents not in the know, Elf on the Shelf is a toy series based in part on a 2005 book written by Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chanda Bell and illustrated by Coe Steinwart. The premise is that Santa Claus knows if children are naughty or nice because he has a fleet of helper elves who hide in people's houses, watching the families' activities.

It looks like the space station is also under Santa's watch. McClain's first tweet showed her elf cleverly hiding in a small box, looking all innocent while bundled up. But McClain's words showed that she knows what the character is up to. "I guess we all have to be good now! I hope, with his mischievous ways, he doesn't get into anything TOO important! We will have to wait and see " [9 Weird Things That Flew on NASA's Space Shuttles]

Stealth elf: This picture from NASA astronaut Anne McClain shows the hiding spot for one of Santa's helpers on the International Space Station. (Image credit: Anne McClain/ Twitter

It appears the elf was interested not only in astronaut behavior, but also in their activities. The elf made a stop to check out an astronaut spacesuit. Another of McClain's pictures showed not an elf on a shelf, but an elf on a MELFI. (That's a shorthand for the cleverly-named Minus Eighty-Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS, in case your kids are curious.)

"Ohhhh, I see what you did here.  ELF ON THE MELFI!" McClain said (or maybe she shouted?) in another tweet from space. "And yes, buddy, those are cold temperatures  colder than the North Pole. They preserve our science samples until we can get them back to scientists on the ground. #ElfInSpace"

This delivery isn't Santa's, but it probably felt like it. A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft (background) is berthed with the International Space Station in this picture taken Dec. 8. In the foreground is a dragon stuffed animal from NASA astronaut Anne McClain's young son. (Image credit: Anne McClain/ Twitter

While it's unclear where the elf is hiding now, McClain did report on another important matter on the station: where her son's dragon stuffed animal was stored. The elf actually gave the dragon a hug during launch, as shown in pictures broadcast from McClain's Soyuz spacecraft as Expedition 58 went into orbit on Dec. 3. But another picture taken just days later shows the dragon is also roaming about.

"The number of Dragons on @Space_Station just doubled!" McClain tweeted on Dec. 8, sharing a picture from the space station's Cupola window. In front of the windowpane was her son's dragon toy, while behind the windowpane floated the Dragon spacecraft from SpaceX, carrying a load of precious cargo to the station. "Congratulations to @SpaceX on a successful launch and to all the teams across the world who enable such amazing feats," she added.

A Christmas elf embraces a dragon stuffed toy (top of picture) during the launch of Expedition 58 on Dec. 3, 2018. The dragon belongs to the son of NASA astronaut Anne McClain, who is pictured just below the floating toys. This picture is a screenshot of a launch video. (Image credit: NASA/Roscosmos)

Let's hope that cargo delivery included Christmas candy for the hardworking Expedition 58 crew, which will assume solo duties of the space station after Expedition 57 departs on Dec. 20. Flying along with McClain are Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko.

Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. Original article on Space.com.Update for Dec. 19: After all four launches scheduled for Tuesday were delayed, SpaceX and Blue Origin have again postponed their launches. Arianespace and United Launch Alliance are on track for a Dec. 19 launch, while the Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launched its GSAT-7A communications satellite into orbit.

Original story: If you're a space fan, Christmas comes a week early this year. There are four  count 'em, four!  launches scheduled to take place today (Dec. 18), and you can watch them all live.

The action begins in the morning with a one-two punch. At 9:34 a.m. EST (1434 GMT), SpaceX plans to launch a next-generation GPS satellite for the U.S. Air Force from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Nineteen minutes later, at 9:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT), Blue Origin's suborbital New Shepard capsule will take to the skies from West Texas on the 10th uncrewed test flight of the reusable vehicle. You can watch both missions live here at Space.com, or directly via SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Then, at 11:37 a.m. EST (1637 GMT), an Arianespace Soyuz rocket will loft a spy satellite for the French military called CSO-1. You can watch that liftoff, which will take place from Kourou, French Guiana, at Arianespace's website.

Another spysat launch will wrap things up tonight. A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying the classified NROL-71 spacecraft for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 8:57 p.m. EST (5:57 p.m. local California time; 0157 GMT on Dec. 19). You can watch that one live on Space.com as well, or directly via ULA (though it appears the weather may not cooperate for an on-time liftoff).

Blue Origin's reusable New Shepard suborbital spaceflight system is scheduled to launch on its 10th uncrewed test flight on Dec. 18, 2018. (Image credit: Blue Origin)

There will be another flurry of spaceflight activity around the new year. NASA's asteroid-sampling OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, which has been flying along with the space rock Bennu since Dec. 3, will slip into orbit around that object on Dec. 31.

Just hours later, NASA's New Horizons probe will zoom past the small, distant object Ultima Thule, which lies about 1 billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) beyond Pluto. That dwarf planet was New Horizons' first flyby target, you probably recall; the spacecraft cruised past Pluto in July 2015, returning stunning images of water-ice mountains, vast plains of nitrogen ice and other dramatic landscapes.

And sometime in the first few days of January, China's Chang'e 4 mission will drop onto the far side of the moon, if all goes according to plan. Chang'e 4, which launched on Dec. 7, consists of a lander and rover, which will touch down within the huge South Pole-Aitken Basin. No probe has ever touched down on the lunar far side, which always faces away from Earth.

Editor's note: This story was updated with a new launch time for SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.

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.Chances are, you wouldn't recognize Saturn without its trademark thick band of rings. But if you could travel 300 million years into the future, you would need to, because by then, chances are those rings would be gone  and they could disappear even faster.

That's the conclusion of a new investigation into a phenomenon called "ring rain," which pulls water out of Saturn's rings and into the planet's midlatitude regions. Combined with earlier research this year using Cassini data to look at a different type of inflow from the rings to the planet, that find means the stunning structures could be gone in as little as 100 million years.

"We are lucky to be around to see Saturn's ring system, which appears to be in the middle of its lifetime," lead author James O'Donoghue, a space physicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a statement. "However, if rings are temporary, perhaps we just missed out on seeing giant ring systems of Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, which have only thin ringlets today!" [Saturn's Glorious Rings in Pictures]

See more

The new research relies on ground-based observations gathered over a couple of hours in 2011 from Hawaii of a special form of hydrogen that glows in infrared light. That specific form of hydrogen makes up "ring rain," a phenomenon scientists have been working to pin down for decades.

The Cassini spacecraft captured this stunning view of Saturn and its rings on April 25, 2016. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)

And the results were stark: If the sheer volume of ring rain the scientists spotted during those few hours is typical for Saturn's weather forecast, that rain would eat up a huge amount of the icy rings, between 925 and 6,000 lbs. (420 to 2,800 kilograms) every second. That rate, combined with the current mass of Saturn's rings, is what lets scientists calculate that 300-million-year life expectancy, although the large range on the infall calculation means there's quite a bit of uncertainty about the rings' lifetime.

The fate of the rings looks even grimmer considering research published earlier this year using Cassini data, which looked at a different, still-more-voluminous, type of infall from Saturn's rings that's descending into the planet. O'Donoghue and his co-authors didn't include that infall in the estimates presented in their paper, but suggested in an accompanying statement that the two phenomena combined could gorge through the rings in more like 100 million years.

The research is described in a paper published yesterday (Dec. 17) in the journal Icarus.

Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her @meghanbartels. Follow us @Spacedotcom and Facebook. Original article on Space.com.NASA is searching for partners to build technology that would help astronauts land on the moon from a future orbiting Gateway station. This artist's concept shows the Human Landing System and an astronaut.

NASA has serious plans to send astronauts back to the moon by 2028, and the agency is looking for help from U.S. companies to develop technology to accomplish this feat.

On Dec. 13, NASA announced plans under Space Policy Directive-1 to partner with U.S. companies to design and develop new reusable systems for astronauts to land on the lunar surface, according to a statement from the space agency.

NASA will test new human-class landers on the moon in 2024 and expects to send a crewed mission to the lunar surface as early as 2028, according to the statement. [21 Most Marvelous Moon Missions of All Time]

Current plans for sending humans to the moon involve a multisystem approach that relies on three separate elements to provide transfer, landing, and safe return to and from the surface of the moon. Part of this plan includes using NASA's planned Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway outpost. The space agency plans to start building this moon-orbiting space station in the next half-decade, NASA officials have said.

"Building on our model in low-Earth orbit, we'll expand our partnerships with industry and other nations to explore the moon and advance our missions to farther destinations such as Mars, with America leading the way," Jim Bridenstine, NASA's administrator, said in the statement. "When we send astronauts to the surface of the mMoon in the next decade, it will be in a sustainable fashion."

NASA will issue an appendix to its Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships 2 (NextSTEP-2) program early next year, calling for proposals from U.S. partners to develop lunar landers designed for astronauts. Under this initiative, NASA will fund the development and flight demonstrations of the landers, according to the statement.

As part of the partnership, NASA will ask U.S. companies to study the best approach for landing astronauts on the moon and then start developing the technology as quickly as possible, according to the statement.

"When NASA again sends humans to the moon, the surface will be buzzing with new research and robotic activity, and there will be more opportunities for discovery than ever before," NASA officials said in the statement. "Private sector innovation is key to these NASA missions, and the NextSTEP public-private partnership model is advancing capabilities for human spaceflight while stimulating commercial activities in space."

The LOP-G outpost is a key part of building reusable lunar landers for round-trip journeys to and from the surface of the moon. Two of the lander elements are expected to be reusable and refueled by cargo ships carrying fuel from Earth to the Gateway, NASA officials have said.

Additionally, astronomers recently announced the discovery of water ice on the lunar surface. Mining this natural resource and the lunar-surface material called regolith could produce the materials needed to create hydrogen-oxygen rocket propellant, which could fuel the lander.

"Once the ability to harness resources from the moon for propellant becomes viable, NASA plans to refuel these elements with the moon's own resources," NASA officials said in the statement. "This process, known as in-situ resource utilization or ISRU, will make the third [lander] element also re-fuelable and reusable."

Follow Samantha Mathewson @Sam_Ashley13. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.Sidney (Australia), December 17, 2018 (SPS) - Australia Western Sahara Association (AWSA) on Wednesday held its annual assembly in Sidney, Australia, evaluated its work in the past year and drew up a schedule for the next year, and elected a new leadership.



In a statement, AWSA welcomed the recently concluded first round of negotiations held on 5-6 December 2018 in Geneva on the UN mandate to conduct a referendum on the sovereignty of Western Sahara.



AWSA reaffirmed its solidarity and support for the people of Western Sahara who have suffered much during four decades of occupation of their homeland. (SPS)



062/SPSW hen I was growing up in Kiev, HIV was talked about as a capitalist disease. It was the disease of capitalist countries and loose moral values. For most Ukrainians, HIV positive citizens were written off as people with no chance of survival  a danger to society.

The fear was everywhere, and we were all so ignorant. I remember being too scared to use a pop vending machine in school because it meant drinking out of communal glasses.

Three decades on, the ignorance is still with us. Only 23 per cent of our people aged between 15 and 25 know about HIV. The school curriculum covers sexual education only superficially.

Some teachers find these issues too difficult to talk about; for others religion gets in the way. Prejudice is still with us too. Not only is prejudice wrong on a moral level, but also it gets in the way of progress.

It hinders us from making the right policy calls, and achieving diagnostic success and successful treatment.

According to statistics in 2014, every fifth Ukrainian living with HIV is subjected to threats and verbal abuse. In another survey, 65 per cent said they would not buy vegetables from a market seller if they knew he or she had HIV.

We see it in Kiev. Casual stigma and discrimination mean people, especially young people, are scared to get tested and receive treatment. This fear leads to deaths from Aids, new infections, and to the spreading of the virus.

Ukraines epidemic remains serious, but most often, silent. Worryingly, one in two people do not know they are living with the disease. Diagnoses are usually made far too late.

Spreading the message: Vitali Klitschko is now the mayor of Kiev / AFP/Getty Images

The nature of our epidemic is changing. Before, HIV mainly affected people who injected drugs. Today, heterosexual sex is the main route of transmission.

The war in the east of the country has also had an impact, with the internal displacement of 1.7 million people leading to a redistribution of the virus. One in four Ukrainians with HIV lived in the Donbass, for example.

But there are positive trends too, and Im cautiously optimistic about our efforts to fight the epidemic.

Young people, for a start, are beginning to demand better sexual education in schools. They understand it concerns their health.

Ukraine healthcare is also being reformed. The system has become more flexible and efficient. We are now able to give Ukrainians living with HIV the latest advances in medical care.

TODO: define component type apester

Slowly and surely, we are also beginning to reach those at the highest risk of infection. Weve put a lot of efforts into distributing free condoms, and introducing rapid home HIV tests, as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Over the last few years, we have benefited from breakthroughs in diagnosis and treatment regimens.

In 2016, my administration signed up to the WHOs 90-90-90 goals  we want at least 90 per cent of people with HIV to know about their status, 90 per cent of those to be receiving effective therapy, and 90 per cent of those to have undetectable viral loads.

Were making reasonable progress. This year weve managed to diagnose 61 per cent of all infections, treat 68 per cent, and suppress the virus in 83 per cent of cases.

But we still have three problems.

First, Ukrainian society remains fixed in the view that HIV is a problem for marginal groups. Ukrainians believe this problem will never affect them.

Many patients who start therapy find it difficult to keep the regimen, and stop taking the medicine

Second, many patients who start therapy find it difficult to keep the regimen, and stop taking the medicine. This creates the perfect conditions for the virus to mutate and become more resistant.

Third, there is a lack of social workers and medical staff with experience of HIV. They determine the future fate of these patients. So were doing our best to recruit and train more.

Ukrainians must take responsibility for their own health. People need to know that early detection and treatment can help to save lives.

That it can help to make lives longer and healthier. And it can significantly reduce the risk of further transmission.

I am sure that the Evening Standard Christmas Appeal will help to raise global attention and reduce the problem of discrimination of those living with the virus.C hipmaker Graphcore has become the latest UK tech unicorn after raising $200 million (159 million) in new funding as it works towards a stock-market float.

Chief executive Nigel Toon said an IPO could take place within the next two years, providing liquidity for its investors and employees, although he refused to set out an exact timeline.

He said: It is something we are looking at but there is no rush. We plan to scale the business very quickly but have deliberately brought in patient capital investors to help us.

Graphcore makes high-end chips that can be put into computers to make them faster at crunching data. The chips are specifically designed to accelerate machine learning, otherwise known as AI. Founded just two years ago, todays funding values the company at $1.7 billion, meaning it joins fintech firms Monzo and Revolut as the latest UK companies to earn unicorn status. Unicorns are private companies valued at more than $1 billion.

The round saw BMW and Microsoft join the investor base, while existing investors Dell Technologies and Robert Bosch Venture Capital also took part. Goldman Sachs was brought in to advise.

The company, headquartered in Bristol, plans to use the money to open offices in Beijing and Hsinchu, Taiwan. Since its last financing a year ago its staff has increased from 75 to 200.

Toon argues that the chips designed for the PC age, mostly made by Intel and Nvidia, are no longer good enough, adding that more tailored solutions are required to achieve better speed.

The chips are particularly useful for power-intensive tasks such as AI in cloud computing as well as for autonomous vehicles.U pmarket Danish fashion brand Ganni has chosen to make its UK store debut in Soho, the Evening Standard can reveal.

The Copenhagen-based label, which counts TV presenter Holly Willoughby and actress Jessica Alba among its celebrity fans, has signed a lease for a 2750 square feet store at 36 Beak Street.

The brand, owned by husband and wife duo Nicolaj and Ditte Reffstrup since 2009, has a huge following in Scandinavia with outlets in Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

In Britain its clothes are sold online or in stores such as Selfridges.

Matt Paulson-Ellis at Levy Real Estate, which advised the landlord Titan Investments on the deal, said: London remains an essential location for cutting-edge international brands like Ganni.

He added: Soho is the perfect environment for their debut in the capital. Theres no sign of these brands being deterred by the ongoing Brexit confusion.T heresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, for all their declared differences, are both struggling with a Brexit that can neither be fully delivered nor painlessly undone. Both have an extraordinary capacity for dodging the question on everyones mind: will the UK leave the EU at the end of March and, if so, on what terms? The chieftains of the two main political clans now talk about anything except what really matters.

The Prime Ministers strategy (never a reliable entity) has become a day-to-day survival manual, albeit one she embraces with some steel. Because she cannot offer any solid advance on the limitations of the deal, she simply talks about something else. The Commons debate on Monday provided a long disquisition on the risks of a second referendum and an accompanying broadside against the shortcomings of Tony Blair.

It all sounded pretty desperate until Corbyn saved the moment. The Labour leaders position on Brexit is so fiendishly convoluted in its Dastardly and Muttley way that Labour MPs (including those broadly sympathetic to Corbyns ideas) struggle to explain why a party that had megaphoned plaintively that it backs a general election to get rid of the dreadful, heartless, unfit Tories has just botched a major chance to shoot for one.

Corbyns call for a non-binding confidence vote in May personally (rather than one on her Government, which would, if won, force an election) told us that, for all the damage the Prime Minister sustained in a confidence challenge brought by her own side last week, Labour no longer believes it can trigger the Governments downfall via a parliamentary confrontation.

It also confirmed that the Corbyn project remains airborne in the Brexit tempests on the strict understanding that Labours pro-EU membership is not seriously offered the option of a second referendum. (To cut a long story short, Corbyn is determined to avoid any route that could lead there.)

Anne McElvoy

This is not, as is so often claimed, principally the result of his longstanding Bennite Euroscepticism. The more urgent anxiety for Camp Corbyn is the prospect of an avenue which could re-engage Labour moderates and end up with unpredictable consequences outside the grip of the Lefts disciplinary mechanisms. Its the wrong kind of revolution, quips a former aide.

For a PM who now measures her survival chances by the week, the backfired Labour attack was an unexpected boon. Her more fundamental problems persist closer to home and are less swiftly dispatched.

Because so few Tories now have any steady faith in her ability to rescue an ill-fated deal, even those loyal Cabinet members who argued vociferously for the withdrawal agreement in early December are focusing on addressing the risks of a no deal outcome.

Today the Cabinet finally issues advice to businesses across the country on how to prepare for such a dire eventuality a hundred days hence. The timing is, of course, lamentable. How many managers, on the eve of the Christmas jolly, tidying up the filing and payroll duties for the holiday, fancy getting their heads down over the detail of what to do about supply chains if no back-up arrangements are in place when Britain is set to depart the European Union?

"Today the Cabinet issues advice to businesses across the country on preparing for a no deal outcome"

Where is my bloody backstop? one irate entrepreneur demanded of Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, recently. In fairness, Clark has been one of the figures pushing May to accept more openly the risk of a no deal.

Her reluctance unleashed particularly fierce tussles in Cabinet in the run-up to the cancelled vote. Since then she has been subjected to what one source describes as a forthright stream of communications from all ends of the table saying that silence on the matter is no longer tolerable.

At heart, this development reflects a bleak pessimism about the chances of success when some modestly tweaked version of the withdrawal agreement deal returns to the Commons in January. In the process, it has also crystallised the three main tribes of the Cabinet, vying for control of what May does next.

One grouping, including Amber Rudd, David Lidington and Philip Hammond, is so appalled by the prospect of a disorderly exit that it is is pressuring the PM to open the route towards an alternative negotiation (a Norway option) or a second vote, rather than risk a hard landing.

Another, led by Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid, has switched to embracing the possibility of no deal on the grounds that it might happen anyway. They believe that sounding more sanguine than the worriers alongside them is their surest route to attract Brexiteer votes in an upcoming leadership contest.

In between, pragmatists range from Matt Hancock and Michael Gove, at pains to avoid a deal-less exit, but (especially in Hancocks position as Heath Secretary) grasping the danger of appearing to be in denial of the possibility.

The final week of the parliamentary year is thus being spent in a frantic rush to prepare for an outcome that the PM has spent two years dodging. It also throws up a more awkward challenge ahead  namely, that if a hard Brexit in March is so risky as to demand urgent damage limitation, why does she not seek a delay to the leaving date to avoid it? The steadfast No 10 line has been that that remains unthinkable. These days, that means it is on the cards.I s it just incredible bad luck that Britain has at the same time a weak Government and a useless Opposition? Or are they both the products of the same big historical forces at play?

The case for the latter is easy to make. During the financial crash the country was exposed to an economic shock second only to the Great Depression.

At that moment we also saw with the arrival of social media a change in communications as revolutionary as the invention of the printing press or the television.

Combined, these two phenomena have disrupted our politics, discrediting the established order and shattering party allegiances. Hence, the historians will tell us, we got Brexit and Jeremy Corbyn.

That is a powerful theory but it doesnt explain the utter incompetence on display over the past 24 hours.

The Conservatives were heading into Christmas in open civil war, saddled with a lame-duck leader and with their parliamentary majority imperilled by a rebellious DUP. Until, that was, the Leader of the Opposition rose to his feet twice in the Commons yesterday.

On the first occasion he called off his rumoured vote of no confidence because the Government had conceded naming a firm date for the delayed Brexit vote.

The shadow chancellor headed to the TV studios to proclaim victory  although, as in practice a vote had to be held by January 21, holding it in the week commencing January 14 was hardly a concession.

But then, unexpectedly, Mr Corbyn got back up at the dispatch box and announced that the confidence vote was back on, although it wouldnt be in the Government as a whole, just in the Prime Minister.

This had two effects.

First, it switched the attention away from the divisions in the Government to the divisions in the Labour Party, as moderates smelt a cunning plan to avoid yet again the real confidence vote that the partys conference motion requires before it supports a second referendum. This morning, as Downing Street called their bluff, Mr Corbyns allies signalled a full and ignominious retreat.

The second effect of this farce has been to prompt an outbreak of unity on the Government benches. A ridiculous-looking Jacob Rees-Mogg pledged his fealty to the Prime Minister just days after demanding her resignation, and the DUP reaffirmed its support for the Tory administration.

So Mr Corbyn has accomplished what Mrs May could not  hes united the Tories and divided Labour.

No clever historical theory can explain how that has happened. Its just an unfortunate accident that at the very moment when Britain most needs a strong alternative, it has this shower of an Opposition.

TODO: define component type apester

Common sense banking

When payday lenders charged massive rates on short-term loans, regulators were right to crack down.

Today the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has followed by clamping down on overdraft charges on current accounts  which made banks 2.4 billion in profits last year.

The trick is that banks make much of their money out of hard-to-understand fixed charges, rather than interest. Now they will be made to keep things simple, with a clear rate for the money thats being borrowed.

But heres the catch: banks like to claim they offer free banking to those not in debt. But of course they still make money from customers. They do it by offering rock-bottom rates on deposits and charging fees.

Todays move by the FCA is a good one. But it doesnt mean customers wont still pay out to the banks.

Red card for Mourinho

Jose Mourinhos sacking this morning isnt just big news in Manchester, it will go around the world.

Losing 3-1 to Liverpool at the weekend was the final straw but the problems were clear long beforehand.

Hed lost the dressing room and the way the team played showed it  which is exactly what happened when he was at Chelsea. Maybe the age of the all-controlling manager is over?

The Special One has turned out to be ordinary after all.

TODO: define component type apester STICKS and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. How many times did we hear that from our parents when we were children? Yet strangely, that sage advice seems to have passed some Europhobic Tories by. They are apparently outraged at being called nasty names by some of the bigger boys in the Westminster playground, including the Chancellor himself [Tory party risks splitting as storm rages over Hammonds extremist Brexiteers jibe, December 14].

It is surely pretty rich of them to complain, given their constant sniping at colleagues who, instead of flouncing off in a huff as soon as things dont go their way, have been doing their damnedest to pull off the near-impossible trick of delivering a Brexit that will take back control of the UKs borders without trashing the economy or re-establishing a hard border in Ireland.

Anyway, this sort of rough and tumble is hardly without precedent in Conservative Party history. One only has to go back to the Nineties to recall some of the invective heaped on Tory PM John Major by those opposed to the Maastricht Treaty, many of whom had never forgiven him for replacing their political pin-up, Margaret Thatcher. No wonder the normally mild-mannered Mr Major got caught calling them bastards.

But bastards was a badge sceptics wore with honour. Their successors should stop being so sensitive.

Tim Bale

Professor of politics, Queen Mary, University of London

EDITOR'S REPLY

Dear Tim

As you say, cruel words in politics are not new  and nor, by the way, are Tories the only ones to use them. John McDonnell, now the shadow chancellor, once quoted someone saying they wanted to lynch the Tory MP Esther McVey.

Nasty stuff? Sure. But what I miss is the wit. Australias former PM Paul Keating was a genius at political put-downs. He described one opponent as all tip and no iceberg and told another, the leader of the opposition, that I suppose that the Honourable Gentlemans hair, like his intellect, will recede into the darkness. Or there was the Tory MP who took down Corbyn recently.

Last week I was in Brussels, he had started, meeting European leaders and heads of socialist parties. And one of them said to me The Tory MP cried out: Who are you?

Are people upset by it? Only when the contempt is real. Thats the thing about the Chancellors description of Tory Brexiteers as extremists. He thinks it is the case  and they know it is. Its not the personal language they are really complaining about, but the fact hes telling the truth.

Julian Glover, Associate Editor (Comment)

Pets should not be given as presents

WE ARE gravely concerned about the many pets bought online as Christmas presents this year. Not only is it always a bad idea to get a pet as a surprise gift, there are currently no laws around the sale of pets online. Thousands are sold through website adverts every year and we fear that many vulnerable pets could easily be exploited by sellers.

Many kittens and puppies are removed from their mothers too early, do not get vaccinated against deadly diseases and are kept in poor conditions, meaning they are likely to grow into fearful, stressed adults who may then get neglected, sold on or abandoned through no fault of their own.Meghan Markle stepped out on Tuesday for a solo visit, her outfit choice allowing her baby bump to be on full display.

A week after making a surprise appearance at the British Fashion Awards in a sleek figure-hugging Givenchy dress, the duchess donned yet another number that accentuated her growing bump to visit the Royal Variety Charity's residential nursing and care home in Twickenham.

Stepping away from her sartorial favourites, Meghan debuted the addition of two new brands to her maternity wardrobe.

The 37-year-old arrived wrapped up in a chic longline grey coat by Canadian brand, Soia & Kyo. Meghan is no stranger to championing independent labels from the country which remained the former actresses home whilst filming Suits. However, this is the first time she has worn the Montreal-based brand, which was founded in 2004.

Meghan stepped out in the Adelaida slim fit maxi-length classic wool coat / Getty Images

Meghan opted for the label's 435 Adelaida Wool Coat, which comes in black and and ash grey. She wore the slim fit belted coat open, to reveal her baby bump.

In contrast to her sister-in-law Kate Middleton's festive ensembles over the past few weeks, Meghan chose a spring-ready floral number by Brock Collection, a Los Angeles label run by husband-and-wife duo Kristopher Brock and Laura Vassar.

The duchess who is expecting her first child in spring wore a figure-hugging dress / Getty Images

The pregnant duchess cut a feminine figure in the brands 'Odilia floral-print panelled midi dress', an 835 frock which features trendy ruched sleeves and a square neckline.

Odilia floral-print poplin midi dress by Brock Collection (Selfridges ) / SelfridgesGetting dressed up for a black or white tie party might be a lot of fun, but it can also be a wardrobe minefield.

How long or short should you go with your dress ? What style of jacket should you wear? What exactly is the difference between black tie and white tie?

As you'll have probably gathered from watching period dramas , dressing up in the evening has been popular for centuries, but black and white tie dress codes first came into force in the Edwardian era, when the practice of wearing a waistcoat and black bow tie with a dinner jacket became the default after-dark look.

AFP/Getty Images

But what are the black and white tie dress code rules?

To save you from turning heads for the wrong reason, we've complied a complete guide for both men and women - with a few shopping ideas thrown in too.

What is a black tie dress code?

Emily Blunt and John Krasinski in black tie at the Golden Globes / Getty Images

Black tie is a formal dress code for a social function that starts after 6pm. The dress code will mean different things for men and women. According to etiquette guide Debrett's , a true black tie outfit for a man will feature a black wool (barathea) or ultra-fine herringbone dinner jacket.

The jacket should be single-breasted or double-breasted with no vents, silk peaked lapels (or a shawl collar) and covered buttons.

White dinner jackets have also been traditionally worn for black tie in hot climates, but not usually in Britain.

Rami Malek at the Emmys in black tie / Getty Images

Traditional black tie also features a white evening shirt - in Marcella, a slightly stiffer cotton fabric - with a bib detail and double cuffs. The shirt should have a turn-down collar (not a wing-collar) and should be worn with cufflinks.

Black tie trousers should be smart with a natural taper, and (if you're a real black tie purist) a single row of braid down the outside of each leg.

As for the black bow tie itself? Debrett's advises men to select one that's proportionate to head size - to avoid a comedy clown look - and one you make up yourself rather than a 'ready tied' bow tie.

David Beckham wearing a black tie dinner jacket with a shawl collar and satin lapels (Getty)

A man's black tie look is usually finished off with a white handkerchief in the left breast pocket and polished black shoes.

Optional pieces of black tie attire include cummerbunds and waistcoats - though the two should never be worn together.

Idris Elba in a double-breasted black tie jacket (Getty)

Women tend to have more flexibility with a black tie dress code, though Debrett's advises ladies avoid 'tight red-carpet dresses' or 'those with a dramatic split as they can be uncomfortable or inappropriate at a formal event that involves both a reception and a sit-down dinner.'

(Getty Images for National Board ) / Getty Images for National Board

A dress can be full length or knee-length, but no shorter, and should only reveal a little decolletage. Trousers are another acceptable option for women, but Debretts recommend a palazzo cut, rather than anything too form-fitting.

Getty Images

Costume jewellery or simple bracelets and necklaces are most appropriate, instead of anything too bling (that's apparently reserved for white tie).

Getty Images for YouTube

Tiaras are also apparently a no-no for black tie (though that's probably not an issue for most of us). Although the dress code is black tie, dresses do not need to be black, unless explicitly stated on the invitation.

What is a white tie dress code?

Chrissy Teigen and Johny Legend in white tie at the 2014 Met Gala / Getty Images

White tie has been known as 'full evening dress, full dress, evening dress or, informally, as tails.

Before the Second World War, it was the regular evening dress for gentlemen. Today, a white tie dress code is typically reserved for presidential dinners, state dinners with royalty and events like Le Bal Des Debutantes in Paris.

As one of the rarer dress codes youll see on an invitation, even celebrities struggle to nail the look. Anna Wintour revealed that many of her 2014 Met Gala male guests barely scraped by, as they were required to wear white tie that year. Speaking on Late Night with Seth Meyers, she said she had no idea how much panic [the dress code] would make the men of New York and all over the world think about their outfits and scored her attendees looks on air.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Ford wearing white tie at the Met Gala (Rex)

Benedict Cumberbatch that year nailed it according to Wintour, and it helped that Cumberbatch was accompanied by designer Tom Ford. Ford, who dressed many male stars that evening, reportedly told Wintour in an email that he had hundreds of men coming in and asking him to explain what white tie meant that year.

Unlike black tie, there's very little room for style manoeuvring, as a white tie dress code comes with strict guidelines. Men have to ensure their outfit includes a black, single-breasted tailcoat in black wool (barathea) or ultra-fine herringbone with silk peaked lapels, which is worn unbuttoned, though Wintour added that its okay for men to wear dark blue.

Getty Images

The coat is shorter at the front than a morning coat, and is paired with black trousers with a natural taper and two lines of braids down the outside leg.

The white tie shirt is in Marcella (stiff cotton) with a starched detachable wing collar and double cufflinks. The shirt will usually be closed with studs, rather than buttons, though and as Wintour assessed Bradley Coopers 2014 Met Gala look, she said he only got it 99.55 right as white tie studs are typically made of onyx - rather than the mother of pearl that Cooper opted for.

Eddie Redmayne in white tie (Rex)

The shirt is then worn underneath a low-cut, white Marcella evening waistcoat (double or single breasted). To complete your white tie look, wear a thin, white hand-tied Marcella bow tie.

Put your best (Fred Astaire) foot forward in patent black lace-up shoes, worn with black laces (though if you want something really traditional it's black ribbon) and black socks.

If you really want to stray into Downton Abbey territory, you can also add a black top hat, a black overcoat and white silk scarf.

Blake Lively at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival / Getty Images

White-tie rules for women are less strict but the main requirement is a full-length ball gown or dress.

According to Debrett's a 'good' ball gown design will feature a fitted bodice with a full-skirt which reaches the ground.

Lupita Nyong'o (Getty Images)

Traditionally, long gloves have also been worn by women at white tie balls, but over time have become less of a requirement.

Jameela Jamil / Invision/AP

Gloves should be worn on arrival at an event or in a receiving line (shaking hands with the host) and dancing.

Lady Gaga nailing white tie at the 2019 / Getty Images

They are supposed to be removed when eating and at the dinner table - no-one likes a red wine spillage.

Shop the look

Black tie suits

Prada Two Button Virgin Wool Blend Tuxedo

This sleek black suit is the epitome of a classic tux, with silk peak lapels and a sharp tailored cut.

Burberry English Fit Monogram Wool Blend Jacquard Tuxedo

Burberrys brand new monogram makes an appearance with this subtle black suit, which will quickly establish you as the most fashion forward man in the room.

Giorgio Armani Cream Mulberry Silk-Satin Tuxedo Shirt

Bend the black tie rules a little with this silk shirt by Giorgio Armani.

810 | Mr Porter | Buy it now

Tateossian Murex Shell Cufflinks with an Oxidised Finish

These shell cufflinks are an unusual yet utterly stylish choice for those looking for something a little different.

159 | Tateossian | Buy it now

Balenciaga Leather Logo Derby Shoes

Balenciaga's a brand that's down with the kids and their logo brings a streetwear-vibe to these classic shoes.

675 | Harrods | Buy it now

Black tie dresses

Rejina Pyo Amelia Midi Dress

Take animal-print to the next level with this sophisticated silhouette and contrasting sleeves.

GHOST London Sydney Dress

Velvet is always a winner in the autumn/winter months and this stunner by Ghost is a great shout. Featuring a sweetheart neckline and button detail, the real highlight is that its all business in the front and party in the back as its backless.

245 | Ghost | Buy it now

Aquazzura Metallic Cord-Trimmed Suede Mules

These classy black shoes will elevate even the simplest of outfits.

565 | Moda Operandi | Buy it now

The party bag edit 1 /15 The party bag edit Edie Parker oval wristlet clutch, 1,020 available from Harrods Harrods Jimmy Choo metallic celeste glitter clutch, 895 available from Brown's Browns The Vampire's Wife ruffle-trimmed woven clutch, 450 available from MatchesFashion.com MatchesFashion.com Roksanda aplin clutch, 425.00 available from Harrods Harrods Chloe nile bracelet mini textured-leather shoulder bag, 1,050 available from Net-A-Porter Net-A-Porter Anya Hindmarch chubby heart quilted textured-leather clutch, 295 available from Net-A-Porter Net-A-Porter Gucci leather metallic quilted purse, 670 available from Brown's Browns Bottega Veneta catena studded clutch bag, 2,275 available from Brown's Browns Marzook Pink Lucid Pearlescent Sphere Clutch, 1,080 available from Brown's Browns Hillier Bartley bunny leather clutch, 595 available from MatchesFashion.com MatchesFashion.com Hillier Bartley lantern tassel-embellished leather clutch, 550 exclusively available from MatchesFashion.com MatchesFashion.com Nita Suri Lia sequined leather handbag, 780.00 exclusively available from Selfridges Selfridges M2Malletier Mini Amor/Fati velvet shoulder bag, 960.00 exclusively available from Selfridges Selfridges Shrimps Molly faux peral purse, 350.00 available from Liberty London Liberty London Versace Embroidered icon clutch bag, 1,870.00 available from Versace Versace

White tie suits

Scalpers Classic Wool Two-Piece Morning Coat

Its not easy to find a morning coat online and after some digging, we found this classic piece.

Tom Ford Pre-Tied Satin Bow Tie

Take the fuss out of tying a bow yourself with this textured white pre-tied version from Tom Ford

170 | Tom Ford | Buy it now

Tom Ford White Slim-Fit Bib-Front Double-Cuff Cotton Tuxedo Shirt

Designed especially to pair with a tuxedo, this dress shirt is of exquisite quality.

480 | Harrods | Buy it now

Montblanc Sartorial Cufflinks

These silver cufflinks are a timeless classic - the epitome of understated sophistication.

260 | Montblanc | Buy it now

Saint Laurent Wyatt Patent-Leather Derby Shoes

These glossy shoes from Saint Laurent mean business.

605 | Mr Porter | Buy it now

White Tie Dresses

Oscar De La Renta Strapless Pleated Tulle Gown

This unusual gown is ideal for the modern day belle of the ball.

Galvan Phoebe Blush Sequin Tulle Gown

Make a statement with this sparkling Galvan gown.

2,550 | Harvey Nichols | Buy it now

Lee Matthews Rayne Polka-dot Organza Maxi Dress

Were all about puff sleeves this season and this Lee Matthews dress is nothing short of a modern fairytale. Featuring polkadots in a sheer fabric, the black trim adds is the perfect punch of interest to round off the sophisticated look.

LAlingi London Eternity Band Swarovski Evening Bag

This party bag is one of the most unique we've seen yet.

936 | Moda Operandi | Buy it now

Roger Vivier I Love Vivier Pumps

You can never go wrong with a black heel, especially these cute ones with a little widow's peak.

465 | Roger Vivier | Buy it nowP roperty giant Landsec got an early Christmas present on Tuesday, as it landed a tenant for the final bit of remaining office space at its huge Nova development in Victoria.

Nord Anglia Education, which operates 56 international schools across the globe, has signed a 10-year lease for 10,000 square feet it will use for its new headquarters.

The deal at the Nova South building means the total development, comprising some 480,000 square feet across two properties, is fully-let for the first time since construction completed in April 2017.

The latest letting will be welcome against a backdrop of Brexit-induced jitters in the commercial property market, as some businesses freeze or scrap office moves until there is more political certainty in Britain.

Matt Flood, commercial director at Landsec, said: Its fantastic to see Victoria established both as a hub for world-class businesses and a thriving community for people to live, work and socialise.L ondon's top murder prosecutor today appealed for an end to the wall of silence that is protecting gang killers from justice.

Julius Capon warned that a lack of co-operation within some communities was hindering efforts to put murderers behind bars. He said cases affected by the refusal of witnesses to provide evidence included shootings at venues where hundreds of people had been present.

Others included fatal stabbings in which friends of the victim  as well as those linked to the perpetrator had refused to testify despite being at the scene. Mr Capon, who leads a 14-strong CPS team of homicide prosecutors, said they were striving to overcome the problem by using CCTV, phone tracking and other evidence to prove offenders guilt and had managed to increase the number of convictions and their success rate in recent months.

But he said even more guilty verdicts could be obtained with greater public support and it was time for those in communities affected by gang crime to stand up and be counted to stop killers staying free.

Mr Capons comments follow the publication of Met figures showing that only about one in 10 violent knife crimes in the capital between the start of 2016 and the end of June this year had so far led to a charge.

Everyone looked the other way The refusal of witnesses to testify allowed the killer of a 24-year-old student to go unpunished, a prosecutor said. Victim Chleve Massi, pictured, whose distraught sister later killed herself by jumping off a ferry, was shot moments after walking into a party at the Sark Tower block in Thamesmead in February 2015. Scion Fogah-Brown, 26, was jailed for eight years in January for possessing a firearm but was found not guilty of murder at the Old Bailey after claiming that someone else opened fire. One of Julius Capons colleagues, lawyer Sarah Dale, who has dealt with 50 cases since joining the London homicide team, said: Nobody saw it apparently. Everybody was looking the other way. We couldnt get a single person to say who it was.

In more than 2,500 of the unsolved offences, a key factor in the failure of the inquiry had been the refusal of the victim to testify against an attacker. Many further cases have similarly run into the sand because of the failure of other witnesses to give evidence.

Mr Capon said the lack of assistance was a big problem and added: The wall of silence that we often get in gang cases is difficult to break a way through. Weve had shootings in crowded nightclubs but hundreds of people there say they havent seen anything.

Particularly in gang crime, you often find that the victims group dont want to give evidence, just as much as the defendants dont want to give an account. The message is if you as a community are worried about what is happening, someone needs to stand up and be counted for us to be able to bring people to justice.

Chleve Massi

Mr Capon said that prosecutors and police used CCTV footage, mobile phone cell site tracking, automatic number plate recognition cameras, social media posts and other evidence to bring charges. They also sometimes use a reluctant witness procedure to compel them to testify, although this could fail if the person chose to lie.

But he added: Wed rather have an eye-witness who says he did it but we dont often get that in murder cases. We also have to bear in mind that in a lot of those gang cases people were wearing scarves or masks so identification is always going to be difficult at the point of the murder.

To help witnesses give evidence, prosecutors can apply to the courts for special measures which allow people to testify anonymously. They can also be taken to and from court by police and given further protection to ensure they are kept safe and their identities remain secret. The homicide team also meets every bereaved family to explain any charging decisions and what will happen in court.

The conviction rate for homicide cases in London fluctuates monthly and fell as low as 54.3 per cent in May. But it has risen since to above 80 per cent. Mr Capon said that another reason why convictions were sometimes not possible was that knife homicide victims in gang cases had often been carrying a knife themselves. This allowed the perpetrator to plead self-defence and either escape charges or potentially be cleared by a jury.K atie Price has been charged with being drunk in charge of a vehicle and is due to appear in court in the New Year, police said.

The 40-year-old, of Horsham, Sussex, has been charged by postal requisition and is due to appear at Bromley Magistrates Court on January 7.

Her pink Range Rover was found in a bush by police on October 10 in Woolwich, south-east London.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "Police in Greenwich have charged a woman with being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle.

"Katie Price was charged by postal requisition on Monday, 10 December.

"She is to appear at Bromley Magistrates' Court on Monday, 7 January.

"The charge relates to an arrest for drink drive on Wednesday, 10 October in Shooters Hill Road, Woolwich."A poacher has been ordered to watch Bambi repeatedly in prison after being convicted of illegally killing hundreds of deer.

David Berry Jr, must watch the Disney film at least one a month during his year-long sentence in the US.

The Missouri hunter was arrested along with two family members in August for killing the deer.

It was one of the biggest poaching cases in Missouri history, according to reports.

Jailed: David Berry Jr. He must watch Bambi at least once a month in prison / AP

The deer were trophy bucks taken illegally, mostly at night, for their heads, leaving the bodies of the deer to waste, said Don Trotter, the prosecuting attorney in Lawrence county in the states south-west.

Berry, his father, two brothers and another man who helped them had their hunting, fishing and trapping privileges removed as part of the sentences.S cotland Yard spent more than 2,250 police hours, the equivalent to more than 130,000 of police resources, on its Croydon cat killer investigation, it was claimed today.

Operation Takahe was set up to investigate the deaths of up to 500 pets amid fears a serial cat killer was on the loose. The three-year investigation concluded in September that the most likely culprits were foxes.

The costs of the inquiry have now been revealed by the force to BuzzFeed News. The Met spent 6,000 on pet post-mortem examinations in 2016 alone, according to a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

An extra 800 was spent on re-examining some of the post-mortem findings in 2018. The force also spent 1,300 on microscopic hair-testing this year.

The investigation had a team of four officers based in Croydon from January, including two detective constables who worked part-time, and two police constables, who left the investigation in March.

The probe finally drew to a close in September after officers concluded injuries inflicted on the cats were likely to be the result of predation or scavenging by wildlife on cats killed in vehicle collisions.

Frontline Policing Commander Amanda Pearson said reports of mutilated cats were allocated to officers looking into similar cases in Croydon to reduce the resources needed to individually record and assess each allegation. She added that by collating the reports officers found that no further police investigations were required.

Some animal rights activists and pet owners remain convinced the deaths are the work of a serial pet killer.A man filmed brandishing a knife in a road-rage row has been warned he could face a prison sentence.

Keith Driver, 50, angrily confronted brothers Chris and Ryan Knox as they sat in their van in Temple Street, Bethnal Green, accusing them of being on drugs and causing trouble, before threatening in a foul-mouthed tirade to hit them.

After being told to jog on, Driver pulled out a kitchen knife and jabbed it at the drivers window before the pair hastily drove away.

Video of the confrontation on Friday, filmed by one of the Knox brothers, went viral after being posted online and Driver was arrested and charged.

At Thames magistrates court yesterday, he admitted possession of the black handled kitchen knife and a public order offence causing the Knox brothers to fear unlawful violence.

Driver, who lives in council-provided sheltered housing in Bow, had been held in custody since his arrest but was freed on bail by the court.A n arrest warrant has been issued after a lookalike of Friends actor David Schwimmer failed to attend court on charges of theft and fraud.

A district judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of Abdulah Husseni after he failed to turn up to court on Tuesday.

He had been summonsed to appear before Blackpool magistrates to face charges of theft and fraud.

District Judge Jane Goodwin issued a warrant not backed for bail after Husseni, 36, of Spencer Road, Slough, failed to answer his summons.

The defendant had received instructions by post to come to the court for 9.30am.

NBC via Getty Images

Social media users pointed out the likeness to Schwimmer's character Ross Geller in the popular US sitcom when police in Blackpool posted an image of a man leaving a restaurant on September 20 and carrying what appeared to be a carton of beer cans.

The image of the man quickly went viral, with many questioning whether or not it was Schwimmer.

The 52-year-old hilariously replied to the online attention with a video of himself reenacting the CCTV stills, where he said it wasn't him.

Police in Lancashire thanked the Friends actor for supporting the appeal and replied to say a man had been arrested in west London.

Writing on Twitter, a police spokesman said: Following the appeal we posted looking for a man who resembles a well-known actor, we now have an update.A teenage drug dealer obsessed with knives removed his electronic tag before travelling almost 300 miles and stabbing a youth worker to death, the Evening Standard understands.

Charlie Hurd, 17, had been released from a young offender institution five weeks before the attack outside a Tube station in west London.

He killed Omid Saidy after being told by the 20-year-old to stop peddling heroin and crack cocaine outside his home. Hurd had been served with an order to wear the tag as a condition of his release from a sentence for a previous knife offence, but apparently tore it off to evade detection.

The action should have triggered an alert and the case raises questions over what efforts were undertaken to trace and detain Hurd.

He is thought to have removed the tag before he travelled from his home in Durham to London before the clash near Parsons Green station on October 16 last year.

Charlie Hurd poses with a hunting knife

He had been detained after being sentenced to two years for a machete robbery. His criminal history includes carrying a lock knife and taking a weapon to school when he was 12.

Today the victims father Majid Saidy, 51, said he had been told that Hurd had torn off his electronic tag to travel to the capital.

Stabbed to death: Omid Saidy / Family handout

He questioned why he had not been monitored and urged the Government to bring in mandatory five-year sentences for carrying knives, saying possession of a blade should be viewed in the same way as carrying a gun.

Mr Saidy said: The Government has let me down. He should not have been let out. The penalties for carrying a knife should be tougher. These young men know that getting caught for carrying a knife means nothing. They can serve a few years in jail and be out knowing they will have a bigger status on the street.

Mr Saidy, a supermarket delivery driver, added: The Government has to do something to stop the killing. Crack dealers get 20 years yet this boy killed someone and will be out in a few years. There is no reason to carry any kind of weapon on the street.

Police confirmed that Hurd was ordered to wear an electronic tag at the time of his release, although they could not confirm he had removed the device when he killed Mr Saidy.

Hurd was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in a young offender institution in June this year. A court order prevented publication of his name until now. He lost an appeal against the sentence on Friday with a judge ruling the teenager, who turns 18 next week, could be identified.

Sir Brian Keith, the appeal judge, acknowledged that Hurd had been chased and stabbed by Mr Saidy, but rejected an argument that the eight-year sentence was too harsh. He said: He was on the street, dealing class A drugs, with a knife with a 12-inch blade. This case shows how terrible things can happen, even unintentionally, when you arm yourself with a knife. It is said insufficient credit was given in regard to his age. We disagree.

The teenager was acquitted of murder at trial after arguing he did not intend to cause Mr Saidy serious harm. He was convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of excessive self defence.

During Hurds trial at the Old Bailey it emerged that an accomplice had been stopped by police on a moped in possession of a hunting knife just four days before the killing. Shafiq Smith, 19, of Balham, was charged with possession of an offensive weapon, but released on bail by magistrates after he appeared in court the following day.

Smith was found not guilty of murder or manslaughter in relation to Mr Saidy, but convicted of grievous bodily harm with intent in relation to another man. He was jailed for six years. Hurds trial was told he had an unhealthy fascination with knives and had posed for Instagram pictures brandishing a samurai sword and a hunting knife.

One of the photos, believed to have been posted online less than three weeks before the fatal stabbing, was captioned, Always moving aggy wen Im pokin, which prosecutors argued mean he gets aggressive (aggy) when he is stabbing people (pokin). Mr Saidy today described Hurds sentence  eight years detention with an extra three years on licence  as rubbish, adding: They just laugh it off like its nothing.D iane Abbott, shadow home secretary and long-time ally of Jeremy Corbyn, is in favour of a peoples vote  a referendum on Theresa Mays deal versus No Deal and Remain  The Londoner has learned.

Abbott, who has kept her cards close to her chest on Brexit publicly, is said by senior Labour sources to be vociferously supportive behind closed doors of what has been branded Peoples Vote.

The news marks an interesting shift within Labours top team, a number of whom have been moving gradually to the view that another referendum might be easier to achieve than Labours stated policy of wanting a general election.

They include John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, who told the BBC a second vote looked inevitable, and Keir Starmer, Labours shadow Brexit secretary, who was reportedly in favour of this course in a shadow Cabinet meeting earlier this month. However, their view has been strongly rebuffed by Karie Murphy, Corbyns chief of staff. Murphy, often described as Corbyns gatekeeper, enforcer and really quite terrifying, is adamant that a second referendum will happen over my dead body, says the source.

Abbott is believed to have come to a more strident view in recent weeks, seeing opportunity following Mays mishandling of the negotiations with Europe, the withdrawal agreement and the fact that time is running out to vote on the deal before the March 29 deadline. In November, Abbott, the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, told Nick Robinsons Political Thinking podcast that she thought another referendum was not off the table but that those advocating it should be careful what they wish for as it would probably deliver a Leave result yet again.

Diane Abbott told us this morning: I am not commenting on second referendum stories.

---

Piers Corbyn, Jeremys big brother, certainly knows when to weigh in and help. Yesterday, as Jez executed more U-turns than a lost Uber over whether, or not, Labour would table a no-confidence vote, Piers tweeted breaking news from YouTube: The Greatest Lie Ever Told! Nasa Admits We Never Went To The Moon. There followed the ramblings of a self-confessed Moon-landing denier. Except Nasa admitted no such thing. Citizens! Piers pleaded. Dont get so upset (those of you who did). [It] might have something interesting in if you watch it. As one Labour MP sighed: No wonder they collect conspiracy theorists.

---

Nick Timothy has an identity problem. Bitcoin enthusiasts are mistaking Theresa Mays former adviser for Timothy C. May, a prominent cryptographer. Nick Timothys picture adorns Timothy C. Mays Bitcoin Wiki page, and more troublingly for the politico, online news reports yesterday of the death of cypherpunk legend. Wrong Timothy: though his stock has crashed like Bitcoin.

---

Dominic West compares acting with Olivia Colman, who he stars alongside in the BBCs Les Miserables, to top-level sports. Its how frivolous you can be up to Action! and then be amazing. He describes her as really f*****g good ... way, way, way better than me.

---

Gemma Arterton takes a trip down memory lane (Karwai Tang/WireImage) / WireImage

Gemma Arterton goes way back with her Watership Down co-star John Boyega  but doesnt think hell remember.

He interviewed me once when he was starting out, she says.

I think it was for his school magazine or something like that.

I remember he was so sweet because I was doing a play and he came to meet me beforehand and gave me some flowers.

Boyega has since gone on to appear in the Star Wars franchise.

Hes such a huge star, Arterton reflects. Its funny. I wonder if he remembers that  I bet he doesnt.

SW1A

Labour MPs are backing a Citizens Assembly to sort Brexit. After Blurs Damon Albarn yesterday launched the campaign for a group of citizens to answer the big Brexit question, Stella Creasy (below) said it would strengthen democracy. Lisa Nandy sees a way out: We either adapt and change or we will be erased.

Stella Creasy (Nicola Tree/Getty Images) / Getty Images

The meetings between Cabinet Office minister David Lidington and Labour MPs to gauge whether theres a possibility of them voting for the PMs Brexit plan were said to be secret when reported over the weekend. Not quite. Ben Bradshaw stepped out of one in the Cabinet Office two weeks ago and talked all about it on TV.

An untold story from behind the scenes of Labours back and forth over the no-confidence vote: a source says Labour chairman Ian Lavery was trying to stop the motion going down because he feared it would unite the Tories for the first time in ages. Looks like he was right.

Provoked, attracted and seduced ... Idris head to Mouret's

Fashionable set: Sabrina Dhowre, Roland Mouret and Idris Elba at Mouret's book launch / Dave Benett/Getty Images

Actor Idris Elba and his fiancee, Sabrina Dhowre  a model and former beauty queen  made quite a pairing last night as they showed their support for Roland Mouret. The fashion designer held a party at his store in Mayfair to launch of his new book, Provoke, Attract, Seduce. A few days ago Elba was applauded for an interview in which he weighed in on those who say the #MeToo campaign has made it harder for men in the industry. It should only be a struggle to be a man in Hollywood if you have something to hide. He and Dhowre got engaged earlier this year. At an event presented by Unit London at the Saatchi Gallery, model Lily Cole and actor Daisy Lewis posed with Philip Colbert, the artist famed for his neo pop surrealist works. Colbert came in suitably on brand attire, dressed head-to-toe in holly-berry red.

Quote of the Day

Ed Milliband (Jay Shaw Baker/Getty Images) / NurPhoto via Getty Images

It turned out I had a sliver of a personalityF amilies across Britain will be given official advice on preparing for a chaotic no-deal Brexit, Downing Street announced today.

The move came after the Cabinet voted to ramp up Whitehall planning for the possibility of an accidental no-deal departure from the European Union.

The Treasury unlocked 2 billion of extra spending on official preparations, taking the total allocated so far to 4 billion. The Government also decided to write to thousands of businesses urging them to invoke no-deal contingency plans as they see appropriate.

This will be a series of announcements rolled out in coming weeks, Theresa Mays spokesman said. Its important messages are delivered in a clear way where people are able to take in what the advice is.

The Prime Ministers spokesman said the aim was not to cause concern but get people ready. This is about government taking sensible actions to ensure Government is prepared, businesses are prepared, citizens are prepared for all eventualities including no deal.

Todays meeting marks a decision to begin the full implementation of no-deal planning drawn up over the past two years.

Technical notices telling families how to prepare will be issued over coming weeks.

David Gauke said No Deal was a unicorn that needs to be slayed / AFP/Getty Images

The action was agreed in a meeting in Downing Street lasting nearly three hours, where splits over Brexit were apparent.

Work & Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd made plan she could nto back a deliberate no-deal outcome, telling Cabinet: Just because you put a seat belt on, it doesn't mean you should crash the car.

Mr Gauke said: Managed no-deal is not a viable option. Its not on offer from the EU and the responsibility of Cabinet Ministers is not to propagate unicorns but to slay them.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds urged his colleagues to back a plan to stage Commons votes on differnet Brexit options in the hope that a Plan B would be revealed that could command a majority.



The Government will secure space on ferries and ships for essential medicines and other priority supplies in case border delays cause shortages.

Ministers have taken extensive steps including 126 technical notices and 320 no-deal work streams across departments. This is a process that will be rolled out in coming days, the spokesman added.

The latest action was agreed today in a meeting in Downing Street lasting nearly three hours, where ministers were also said to have clashed over Brexit strategy.

Cabinet minister David Gauke rounded on Tories seeking a no-deal Brexit saying the idea was a unicorn that needs to be slayed.

Penny Mordaunt has proposed a 'managed no-deal' an idea criticised by Europe / Getty Images

The Justice Secretary was thought to be taking aim at colleagues including Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom and International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt who are proposing a managed no-deal exit, which they think could be achieved by paying about 20 billion to the EU in return for a transition period and agreements to keep flights and transport running.

Twenty five Cabinet ministers spoke in the meeting. Treasury Chief Secretary Liz Truss called for daily no-deal meetings of the Cobra emergency committee from the New Year onwards. The Cabinet agreed that its best no-deal mitigation was to safely deliver the Prime Ministers withdrawal agreement with the EU  a deal currently blocked by Tory opposition to the so-called Northern Ireland backstop.

The Cabinet agreed that delivering the deal agreed with Brussels remains the Governments top priority and our best no deal mitigation, Mrs Mays spokesman.

However, the Governments continued duty is to prepare for every eventuality, including no deal.

So with just over three months to exit we have reached the point where we need to ramp up no deal preparations and thats what we will now do.

There are only 101 days until the formal Brexit date of March 29 2019. Among emergency measures, the military may be tasked with taking over some police duties to free up officers to keep order in areas facing traffic chaos.

The Health department is chartering planes to ferry medicines, while the Environment department is urging food companies to stockpile ingredients that could run short. The Transport department has the biggest headache, following warnings that the area around Dover will face chaos as lorries queue for new regulatory checks.

Farmers leaders today warned that a no-deal Brexit would be disastrous and threaten to hit supplies of seed, animal medicines and workers.

The developments came as ministers were warned that thousands of illegal immigrants will enter Britain from France after a no-deal Brexit.

A Whitehall analysis concluded that desperate migrants will inevitably slip on board food and goods lorries held up at Calais by new checks when Britain leaves the smooth-flowing European Union trade area.

The alert was issued by Michael Goves Department for the Environment which is responsible for food imports.Business Secretary Greg Clark: Parliament should be invited to say what it would agree with if MPs vote down Brexit deal

Parliament should be "invited to say what it would agree with" if MPs vote down the Prime Minister's Brexit deal, Business Secretary Greg Clark has said.

Asked whether he was tempted to give MPs a range of options to vote on, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think, obviously, it's important once the Prime Minister has finished her negotiations with other European leaders and the Commission that Parliament votes on that.

"If that were not to be successful, we do need to have agreement - we can't just have continuing uncertainty and I think Parliament should be invited to say what it would agree with, and that's something that I think businesses up and down the country would expect elected members to take responsibility, rather than just be critics."J eremy Corbyn was today accused of turning Labours Brexit policy into a pantomime after he stopped short of triggering a vote of no-confidence in the Government.

The Labour leader was criticised for pulling punches and of allegedly adopting an in then out, on then off approach to such a challenge to the Government which was branded overdue.

Yesterday media were briefed that Mr Corbyn would call a vote of no-confidence in Theresa May if the Prime Minister did not name a date for a vote on her Brexit plans.

But when he stood up in the Commons at about 3.45pm he initially did not do so after Mrs May announced that such a vote would take place in the week starting January 14.

Corbyn did eventually table a vote of No Confidence yesterday / EPA

After more than two hours of debate, and criticism on social media of the failure to table the motion, Mr Corbyn announced he would in fact put one down. But the Government does not have to allow parliamentary time for a motion of no-confidence in the Prime Minister.

Labour could have escalated the stand-off by tabling a motion of no-confidence in the Government, for which ministers would have to find time. But party chiefs backed away from doing so before Christmas.

Shadow housing secretary John Healey signalled that Labour would make the move after the Brexit proposals are voted on, with the widespread expectation that they will be heavily defeated unless the European Union makes a significant concession over the Irish border backstop.

TODO: define component type apester

It is still a question of when, not if, we move to confront the Government with a full vote of no-confidence, he told the Today programme.

But campaigners for a second referendum reacted angrily as Labours policy is first to push for a general election, through a vote of no-confidence in the Government, and only then to consider another public vote on Brexit.

Former Labour minister Chris Leslie said: This feels like a pantomime on the vote: in then out, on then off. It seems the leadership will do anything including pulling its punches against the Government to avoid a Peoples Vote.

Mr Corbyn is reluctant to back another public vote amid concerns it will hit support for the party in Leave constituencies. Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery said: We want a general election and will wait for the optimum time to lay down a motion of no-confidence. Theresa May is running scared of Parliament, and wasting precious time in doing so.

However, Streatham MP Chuka Umunna, who backs a second referendum, said: We need to settle the issue of whether there can be a general election to resolve the chaos so this confidence motion is overdue. If it fails we can then move straight on to holding a Peoples Vote on Brexit and let the electorate decide  the only way of breaking the deadlock in Westminster.T housands of illegal immigrants will enter Britain from France after a no-deal Brexit, ministers have been warned.

A Whitehall analysis concluded that desperate migrants will inevitably slip on board food and goods lorries held up at Calais by new checks when Britain leaves the smooth-flowing European Union trade area.

The alert was revealed as the Cabinet met this morning to ramp up no-deal preparations, including the appointment of hundreds of extra officials to protect Britains borders and attempt to speed up traffic flows.

With just 101 days left until the official date for Brexit on March 29, ministers were expected to press the button on an 11th-hour spending spree to counter the risk of goods and medicines running out amid cross-Channel gridlock.

Among emergency measures, the military may be tasked to take over some police duties to free up officers to keep order in areas facing traffic chaos.

Preparations: Penny Mordaunt, the International Development Secretary, arriving for todays Cabinet meeting / Getty Images

The Health department is chartering planes to ferry medicines, while the Environment department is urging food companies to stockpile ingredients that could run short.

The Transport department has the biggest headache, following warnings that the area around Dover will face chaos as lorries queue for new regulatory checks.

TODO: define component type apester

Farmers leaders today warned that a no-deal Brexit would be disastrous and threaten to hit supplies of seed, animal medicines and workers.

The alert about illegal migrants was issued by Michael Goves Department for the Environment which is responsible for food imports, most of which are carried in lorries that are already targeted by people smugglers and would-be asylum seekers.

Officials warned that hold-ups on the French side could lead to an influx of stowaways. Former immigration minister Damian Green told the Standard that stowaways were a regular problem. If there are problems at Channel ports that delay lorries in France, its easier for asylum seekers to climb on board and get to Britain illegally.

This is another reason why no-deal poses a threat, not just to our economy but to our borders as well. Its absolutely essential that we maintain the goodwill of the French authorities in stopping refugee camps building up on the other side of the Channel.

The National Farmers Union appealed to farmers to write to their MPs  many of them hardline Brexiteers  and urge them not to back the UK crashing out of the EU in March. Amid growing anger at the political chaos in Westminster, NFU president Minette Batters warned that no-deal would be catastrophic for farming.

The more we have seen, the more disastrous it looks, said Ms Batters, who runs a family farm in Wiltshire. Ninety-five per cent of our animal medicines and vaccines are currently produced in the EU, many of our seeds are coming from the EU, our fertilisers, water chemicals, vital things that are coming from the EU at the moment.T heresa May has dared Jeremy Corbyn to call a vote of no confidence in the Government.

Downing Street accused the Labour leader of a political "stunt" after he tabled a long-threatened but non-binding motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister. He said he was tabling the motion after Mrs May refused to hold a meaningful vote on the Withdrawal Agreement before Christmas.

But Mr Corbyn stopped short of bringing a motion of no confidence in the Government under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act (FTPA) which, if the opposition won, could trigger a General Election.

Mrs May looked likely to win a vote after Brexiteer critics in her own party and the DUP said they would back her.

It comes after the Prime Minister set out the timetable for MPs to pass judgment on her Brexit deal with Brussels in January.

The Prime Minister clashed with Mr Corbyn in the Commons yesterday / AFP/Getty Images

A Downing Street source said of Mr Corbyn's move on Monday night: We won't allow time for what is a stunt.

Mr Corbyn's decision to table a motion on the Prime Minister rather than the entire government was mocked by Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. She said: "Labour tabling a motion just in the PM rather than in the entire government begs the question, which Tory do they want to see as PM?"

Before Downing Street indicated that it would not allow time to debate Mr Corbyn's motion, rendering it meaningless, leaders of other opposition parties put down an amendment to turn it into a full blown confidence vote in the Government.

Labour has previously indicated that it would not table a no confidence motion in the Government until it was certain it would win.

Mrs May said on Monday that MPs would finally have the chance to decide on her Withdrawal Agreement when Parliament returns after Christmas.

Jeremy Corbyn: I will table no-confidence motion in Prime Minister

The vote will take place in the week beginning January 14.

Mrs May, who suffered another bruising session in Parliament as unhappy MPs from all sides lined up to attack her handling of Brexit, said: It is now only just over 14 weeks until the UK leaves the EU and I know many members of this House are concerned that we need to take a decision soon.

"I can confirm today that we intend to return to the meaningful vote debate in the week commencing January 7 and hold the vote the following week."

TODO: define component type apester

The Prime Minister had pulled the vote on Tuesday last week as she faced a humiliating defeat. On Monday, she threatened MPs with the possibility of a no deal Brexit if they reject her plans next month.

Jeremy Corbyn had said he would table the motion / AFP/Getty Images

"Avoiding 'no deal' is only possible, she said, if we can reach an agreement or if we abandon Brexit entirely.

Mr Corbyn told Mrs May: "A responsible prime minister would, for the good of this country, put this deal before the House this week so we could move on from this Government's disastrous negotiation."

He said it was "unacceptable" to delay the vote and confirmed he was tabling a motion "that this House has no confidence in the Prime Minister".

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn during a debate in the Commons on Monday / AFP/Getty Images

The wording of the motion, targeted at Mrs May rather than the Government as a whole, would not trigger the process set out under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act which could eventually lead to a general election.

But Labour said it was clearly a confidence motion and should be allocated time for debate by the Government.

A House of Commons spokesman said: "By established convention the Government always accedes to the demand from the Leader of the Opposition to allot a day for the discussion of a motion tabled by the official Opposition which, in the Government's view, would have the effect of testing the confidence of the House

"It will be for the Government to determine whether to schedule time for debate on this."T housands of soldiers, sailors and air crew were today put on standby to tackle Brexit chaos.

The Brexit Brigade was revealed in the Commons by Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson moments after Cabinet voted to ramp up preparations for crashing out without a deal.

The Defence Secretary told MPs that the Ministry of Defence had not yet had a formal request for support in no-deal Brexit planning.

But he went on: What we will do is have 3,500 service personnel held at readiness - including regulars and reserves - in order to support any Government department on any contingencies they may need.

Gavin Williamson said 3,500 troops were on standby / Getty Images

Among the tasks that service personnel are likely to be asked to carry out, according to experts, are:

Guarding sensitive sites so that regular police are freed up to deal with traffic disruption and threats to law and order.

Flying vital medicines like insulin that cannot be stored for long periods so safeguard patients and the NHS from shortages.

Guarding the English Channel from smugglers and people traffickers.

Using giant ships to ferry food and priority supplies in the event of ports being blocked by chaos or deliberately extra disruption.

Using MoD estates to store food or park lorries waiting for embarkation checks.

Mr Williamson did not go into details but said: The MOD routinely undertakes contingency planning.

If required, they will be ready to assist civil authorities with a variety of tasks at the request of other government departments and authorities.

It is absolutely right that the Government ensures we are prepared and resourced for any scenario when we leave the EU in March.

TODO: define component type apester

The move came after the Cabinet voted to ramp up Whitehall planning for the possibility of an accidental no-deal departure from the European Union.

David Gauke said no deal Brexit was a unicorn that needs to be slayed / AFP/Getty Images

The Treasury unlocked 2 billion of extra spending on official preparations, taking the total allocated so far to 4 billion. The Government also decided to write to thousands of businesses urging them to invoke no-deal contingency plans as they see appropriate.

This will be a series of announcements rolled out in coming weeks, Theresa Mays spokesman said.

Its important messages are delivered in a clear way where people are able to take in what the advice is.

The Government will secure space on ferries and ships for essential medicines and other priority supplies in case border delays cause shortages.

Ministers have taken extensive steps including 126 technical notices and 320 no-deal work streams across departments. This is a process that will be rolled out in coming days, the spokesman added.

The latest action was agreed today in a meeting in Downing Street lasting nearly three hours, where ministers were also said to have clashed over Brexit strategy.

Cabinet minister David Gauke rounded on Tories seeking a no-deal Brexit saying the idea was a unicorn that needs to be slayed.

There are only 101 days until the formal Brexit date of March 29 2019.D iane Abbott has condemned Twitter over thousands of racist and misogynistic tweets appearing on the platform.

The shadow Home Secretarys remarks came as a damning study found thousands of tweets disproportionately targeted black female politicians and journalists.

She warned that hate speech can lead to violence, adding that the social media giant had a responsibility to shut down the accounts of the culprits.

She added: "Twitter also does not have the option to delete offensive comments once an account has been blocked. This would make a difference to conversations that are taking place."

The shadow Home Secretary said the social media giant should shut down the accounts of those who spread hate messages / REUTERS

The Amnesty International study found that black women were 84 per cent more likely than white women to be mentioned in abusive tweets, with one in ten posts mentioning black women containing "abusive or problematic" language.

A separate Amnesty study published in September 2017 showed that Ms Abbott received almost half (45.14 per cent) of all the abusive tweets sent to female MPs in the run-up to that year's general election.

In response to the latest findings, Ms Abbott said: "My staff still spend a considerable amount of time removing and blocking abusive or threatening posts from social media. Overwhelmingly the abuse is of a highly offensive racist and misogynist character.

"I have always felt that this type of hate speech can lead to violence, and Twitter has a responsibility to shut these accounts down a lot quicker then it currently does."

She added: "Twitter also does not have the option to delete offensive comments once an account has been blocked. This would make a difference to conversations that are taking place."

For its latest study, volunteers for Amnesty's "Troll Patrol" crowd-sourcing project analysed 228,000 Tweets sent to 778 female politicians and journalists across the political spectrum in the UK and US.

The report found that 7.1 per cent of tweets to women in the study contained abusive or problematic language.

The report read: "Abusive content violates Twitter's own rules and includes tweets that promote violence against or threaten people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease."

Meanwhile, "problematic content" was defined as that which is "hurtful or hostile, especially if repeated to an individual on multiple or cumulative occasions", but do not necessarily meet the threshold of abuse.

Twitter responded to the report by saying its abusive behaviour policy strictly prohibits any material that harasses, intimidates or silences another users voice.

The firms legal, policy and safety chief Vijaya Gadde said: "We are also transparently investing in better technology and tools to enable us to more proactively identify abusive, violative material, to limit its spread and reach on the platform and to encourage healthier conversations."

Previously, Labour MP Jess Phillips spoke out about harassment on Twitter after a wave of violent abuse was launched against her in May 2016.

At the time, she tweeted: "To see the attack of a pack on here check out my mentions 600 odd notifications talking about my rape in one night. I think Twitter is dead."

Only a month later, parliamentary colleague Jo Cox was murdered by a far-right fanatic Thomas Mair while carrying out work in her constituency.

Jo Cox was murdered by a far-right fanatic / BBC/Amos Pictures

This week fellow Labour MP Luciana Berger tweeted screengrabs of numerous anti-Semitic messages after voicing her position on a vote of no confidence in Theresa May.

Abuse has not been only been directed toward politicians on the left. A University of Sheffield study of tweets between 2015 and 2017 published last year found that male Conservative MPs had seen the most abuse during the period, while female Tory MPs saw the largest increase in abuse.

Conservative MP Nadine Dorries said earlier this year that colleagues had been advised by Parliament's Health and Wellbeing Service to close down their Twitter accounts due to the angry messages they were receiving from members of the public.

Amnesty said: "Politicians and journalists faced similar levels of online abuse and we observed both liberals and conservatives alike, as well as left and right leaning media organisations, were affected."

Kate Allen, Amnesty UK's director, said: "It's clear that a staggering level of violence and abuse against women exists on Twitter. These results back up what women have long been saying - that Twitter is endemic with racism, misogyny and homophobia."

She continued: "Twitter is failing to be transparent about the extent of the problem, but if our volunteers can gather meaningful data about online violence and abuse, so can Twitter.A major incident has been declared after multiple lorries toppled over on a ferry in Scotland.

Extreme weather conditions caused six vehicles to fall over on the P&O ship at Cairnryan.

Crossings from the Wigtownshire port to Larne, Northern Ireland, are delayed while high winds batter the port.

The incident was downgraded "as soon as police knew everyone was safe."

Emergency services are currently on the scene, but the ferry operator confirmed no one was injured.

A P&O Ferries spokesman said: We can confirm that an incident took place on the European Causeway this morning.

In extreme weather conditions, a number of vehicles have moved position on the decks causing damage onboard.

All passengers and crew are safely accounted for, there are no reports of injuries and the emergency services are in attendance.

Dumfries and Galloway Police added: Shortly after 07:40 this morning (Tuesday 18th December 2018) Police Scotland were notified of a number of vehicles having overturned on the P&O European Causeway Ferry while sailing from Larne to Cairnryan.

A multi-agency response was implemented and emergency services attended Cairnryan Port awaiting the ferry.

The ferry is now docked safely at Stranraer and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, ambulance crews and Police Scotland are in attendance.

During a choppy sailing, there has been a movement of vehicles on the car deck and this has caused around 6 vehicles to tip over onto their side. Due to the movement on the deck, there are a number of passengers confined to vehicles.

A huge emergency response was seen at the port / BBC

We are able to confirm all 52 passengers and 56 crew on board are safe and well and no-one has any injuries.W rongly-jailed Matthew Hedges and his wife are over the moon to be back together" but their lives are not back to where they were yet, the couple have revealed.

In his first televised interview, the Durham University PHD student who was jailed for spying in the UAE, described the psychological torture he faced at the hands of those who imprisoned him, and spoke about his life after returning to the UK.

Earlier this month, Mr Hedges was granted a presidential pardon from a life term in jail on allegations of spying. He was detained by Emirati state security officers in May.

His wife, Daniela Tejada, told Good Morning Britain the couple are struggling to live their life in the way they did before Mr Hedges arrest.

The married couple appeared on GMB on Tuesday morning / Good Morning Britain

Ms Tejada said: I dont think either of us have been able to process it still. It was very traumatic for the two of us. For our friends, family, Matts colleagues in academia.

All the uncertainty of the situation, all the months of waiting not knowing what we could do to help or when this situation would come to an end.

Were obviously over the moon to be back together but our lives arent back yet. Theres still been that shadow of doubt cast upon Matt of his academic legitimacy.

Matthew Hedges back in his wife's arms after returning to the UK after being freed from a jail in the UAE

Our main priority is Matts physical recovery but in parallel with that is clearing his name so theres no doubt about his legitimacy.

Mr Hedges has previously said he experienced suicidal thoughts during his ordeal, and dreamed that he had hung himself.

AFP/Getty Images

The 31-year-old had revealed the toll on his mental health was unbearable.

Mr Hedges and Ms Tejada will join a carol service at Downing Street tonight in support of Richard Ratcliffe and his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who is currently serving a prison sentence in Iran.A guest was branded Good Morning Britain's "worst ever" by Piers Morgan after switching sides in an argument.

The row started over a banned Tube advert which depicted a 58-year-old man with his shirt off.

The Lumen dating app campaign showed Paul Orchard, wearing just braces, holding a phone with the tagline: Pull a cracker this Christmas.This showed a 58-year-old, Paul Orchard, wearing braces but no shirt and was captioned: Pull a cracker this Christmas.

It was banned from appearing across the London Underground network amid claims it "sexually objectified him".

Podcaster and freelance journalist Richard Holt, 45, began by siding with Mr Morgan's in defending the poster and stating that "all men like to be objectified".

But the pair clashed while debating with Harriet Minter, a talkRADIO presenter who agreed with the poster being banned.

As Mr Morgan spoke, Mr Holt said: Youre shouting so much I now want to join Harriets side.

"I object to the fact this man took his top off I now find it a little bit offensive."

Mr Morgan's co-host Susanna Reid said: I'm not sure what you think.

Mr Morgan said: I dont think you are the best guest we could have booked for this. I have no idea what are you doing.

"You're abusing everybody including the guests and the hosts."

At the end he said: "Bye mate nice to have you on."

After the interview, Mr Morgan said: "He was literally the worst guest we've ever booked. Ever. In the history of Good Morning Britain."

Piers Morgan questioned why the poster was a problem / PA

He called Mr Holt "obnoxious", an annoying little twerp and said he would "never darken these doors again", in regards to a possible future appearance.

The section got off to a rocky start, when Ms Reid asked Mr Holt his age.

Before this spat, Mr Holt commented on the barred ad and said: I really dont see what we have a problem with, to be honest.

The reason were talking about it is because he looks great.

Hes knocking on 60 years old. Were talking about objectifying him, most men love being objectified, as Piers says, at any age.

But Ms Minter said she wondered: How many men are looking at that advert and thinking. Am I too skinny? Do I need to tone up?'

She said we should celebrate a diverse range of people.

Lets have a diverse range of bodies, Ms Minter said.

She then championed the app which was advertised for targeting an audience over 50, a point which host Ms Reid said was lost due to the argument.

Mr Morgan also shared his views that both female and male bodies should be able to be seen.

He said people should stop whining about the female supposed objectification, most of which is not objectification.A group of hair and beauty workers who were poisoned with carbon monoxide from a boiler that was blocked for two years have been awarded almost 100,000 in damages.

The nine women suffered persistent headaches, dizziness, vomiting and even hair loss as toxic fumes were pumped into their classrooms and work areas at Havering College in Essex.

Some put their mystery symptoms down to stress but it was revealed in December 2012 that a crumbling boiler flue had been blocked since late 2010.

Receptionist and beauty therapist Kelly Rodway, 35, believed she was exposed to the fumes for the first six months of her pregnancy. It was a really frightening time, she said.

Judge Richard Roberts, sitting at the Central London county court, awarded payouts to all nine women, finding that Essex county council and the governing body of the former school in Brentwood, where the hairdressing college was based, were liable for the womens suffering. He also ruled that the college had failed to properly investigate their symptoms.

There was an emission of carbon monoxide and products of combustion from the boiler room between late 2010 and December 2012, said the judge. The flue system has not been inspected or even tested correctly. Madelene Holdsworth, from law firm Slater and Gordon, representing the women, said: They suffered terribly as a result of prolonged exposure and I hope this will serve as a warning to others of how dangerous this poisonous gas can be.

Ms Rodway added: Id had constant headaches and sickness for weeks and a really bad chest infection I couldnt seem to shake, but Id just put it down to being pregnant. For me the worst part was the stress of not knowing whether it had harmed my baby. Thankfully she was healthy but its still something that plays on my mind even now.

Receptionist Cate Cullen, 58, suffered severe tiredness, headaches and nausea, and was eventually forced to quit her job. I felt I had no other choice. I loved my job but I just felt like I didnt have the energy to carry on, she said.

Beauty lecturer Joanne Davies, 44, told the court her students had also complained of headaches and dizziness, and she regularly opened the windows to keep them alert, unaware of the fumes in the classroom.B elgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has said he will resign after facing a no confidence motion in his government.

Mr Michel made the announcement after the N-VA, the biggest party in his minority coalition, quit over his migration stance.

The Prime Minister, who had only relaunched his government last week, said on Tuesday evening: I am taking the decision to offer my resignation. I am now going to see the king.

As lawmakers applauded, he picked up his briefcase, shook the hands of government ministers and left.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, centre, arrives at the Royal Castle of Laeken in Brussels to offer the resignation of his government / AFP/Getty Images

His leadership collapsed after the right-wing N-VAs protests against his support of the United Nations global pact on migration to support refugees.

The N-VA quit after Mr Michel sought parliamentary approval to support the UN pact against its wishes.

Charles Michel pictured at the EU summit on Thursday last week / Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP

It branded his minority government "the Marrakech coalition" after the city where the pact was signed last week.

However, with parliamentary elections due in May next year, Mr Michel could be asked by King Philippe to stay on in a caretaker capacity - but with limited power.

The king may also speak to other political leaders in a bid to resolve the issue.D onald Trump has been condemned by actors Alec Baldwin and Robert de Niro with his presidency called a curse and a "nightmare".

The first attack came in a statement from the Alec Baldwin Foundation page on Twitter and read: Trump is a curse, brought down on us as punishment 4 our sins. The slaughter of Native Americans, slavery, Japanese internment, Vietnam. Every hateful, misogynistic, racist notion, intertwined w our better nature, Trump embodies those. He is us. Now we can face it + exorcise it.

It was the second of two posts aimed at President Trump, on Sunday, the first of which said the period of healing for us will be long when President Trump is succeeded in his role.

It came hours after President Trump criticised Democrat spin machines like Saturday Night Live, a programme on which Mr Baldwin frequently parodies the American leader.

Last weekend Saturday Night Live launched a sketch called Its a Wonderful Trump, in which Mr Baldwin played President Trump and reflected upon what life would be like if he were not President.

It was not clear if President Trumps tweet was directed at Mr Baldwin.

However, he has previously criticised the actor, calling his depiction of him agony to watch.

Alec Baldwin waits to speak during the Iowa Democratic Party's Fall Gala, in Des Moines, Iowa / AP

Mr Baldwin, the eldest of the famous Baldwin brothers, won a Primetime Emmy in 2017 for his role as President Trump on the sketch show.

Following this fallout, Academy Award winner Mr De Niro and Saturday Night Live star was interviewed by CNN and shared his highly critical views of the American leader.

Mr De Niro has played Robert Mueller, the head of the investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election, in sketches on the show.

He said: Weve seen horrible things over the years but this is one of the worst that I have ever seen and that I thought I ever would see. But its real.

Itll be one of those things itll be like a nightmare that you remember.

Ill be with my trainer, well be five years from now, saying, Remember all that stuff and how terrible it was? At least I lived to see the time when it all passed, like any nightmare.

He said also that he is a New Yorker I would never want to meet and a disgrace.

Mr De Niro has launched scathing reviews of the President in the past, which have not gone unnoticed.

Robert De Niro has long been critical of President Trump / Getty Images for Nobu

President Trump previously called him a very low IQ individual after he made comments against him previously.

The American leader, Mr Baldwin and Mr De Niro have each received criticism for their comments.

Mr Baldwin was questioned for not supporting President Trump, while Mr De Niro was told to stick to acting on social media.A merica is facing a government shutdown as divisions deepen over President Donald Trumps demands for $5 billion for a wall along the border with Mexico to deter migrants.

Hundreds of thousands of government employees will be told to stay at home or work without pay over the holiday season unless a deal can be struck by midnight on Friday.

Republican and Democrat politicians are deadlocked over Mr Trumps insistence that $5 billion (3.9 billion) is included in the 2019 budget to build the wall on Americas southern border.

The President said last week that he would be proud to shut down the government if it meant Congress would help fulfil his controversial 2016 election campaign promise to crackdown on illegal immigration.

Last night, he launched a new attack on opposition Democrats, tweeting: Anytime you hear a Democrat saying that you can have good Border Security without a Wall, write them off as just another politician following the party line.

Democrats, who take back the reins of the House of Representatives in the new year, are united in their opposition to the extra wall funding.

Donald Trump clashed with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer over the issue / Getty Images

Leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have told Mr Trump that they will only agree to keep funding at its current level of $1.3 million for improved fencing.

Mr Schumer said: No threat or temper tantrum will get the President his wall.

Mr Trump claimed during the 2016 campaign that Mexico would pay for the wall, but it has refused. Now he has been accused of playing brinkmanship with livelihoods to fund his plan with US taxpayers money.

The border wall represents a small part of the $450 billion budget package that must be agreed by December 21 for government bills to be paid.B ritains relationship with the US is under "disturbing pressure" and the damage will be made worse if Donald Trump secures a second term, peers have warned.

The presidents actions over the Paris climate deal, Iran nuclear accord and steel tariffs were contrary to the UKs interests, a committee has said.

The Lords International Relations Committees remarks follow an inquiry that collected evidence from senior politicians and foreign policy experts in both the US and UK.

In a wide-ranging report examining the shifting state of global affairs, the committee said Britain may have to place "less reliance" on reaching a common position on foreign policy with Washington than it had in the past.

Trump's decisions have caused tensions between the UK and US, the peers warned / AFP/Getty Images

With the next US election in 2020, the committee said another Trump victory - or the election of another similar administration - could further weaken the transatlantic alliance.

The report noted that while intelligence and defence co-operation with the US continued, "the difficulty the UK and its allies have faced in trying to influence the US demonstrates the challenge of working with the administration".

"How damaging this will be to what has hitherto been the UK's most important international relationship will depend on whether the current approach is an enduring trend.

"Should President Trump win a second term, or a similar administration succeed him, the damage to UK-US relations will be longer lasting; and the Government will need to place less reliance on reaching a common US/UK approach to the main issues of the day than has often been the case in the past."

The peers said some of the decisions taken in Washington do not stem solely from Mr Trump's "America First" agenda, but form part of a broader shift towards a more inward-looking US.

On China, the committee acknowledged concerns over its human rights record and behaviour in cyberspace, but said the UK should continue to work closely with Beijing on international issues.

"In the longer term, the Government will need to weigh up the strategic challenges posed by China's approach to its international role, and its impact on the rules-based international order, against China's growing economic significance."

Turning to Russia, the peers said "the UK should continue to work closely with its allies to counter Russian disinformation campaigns and deter its hybrid warfare tactics".

The report added: "In the context of a strained transatlantic relationship, an increasingly assertive China, a disruptive Russia and broad shifts to the global balance of power, it remains firmly in the UK's national interest to maintain the strongest possible partnership on foreign and security policy with its like-minded European partners, both bilaterally and at an EU level, after Brexit."

Tory former Cabinet minister Lord Howell of Guildford, the committee's chairman, said: "International affairs are in a state of upheaval, and the re-shaping and conduct of British foreign policy must respond.M ore than 100 women killed in UK last year knew their killer, report reveals

One hundred and thirty-nine women were killed by men in the UK last year, new research has revealed.

And 76 per cent of the victims knew their killer, according to the latest Femicide Census report.

Its authors said that in our society, men's violence against women and girls is not only routine, but tolerated and normalised".

PM dares Corbyn to call confidence vote

Theresa May has effectively dared Jeremy Corbyn to call a vote of confidence in the Government.

The Labour leader last night announced plans to table the long-threatened motion in a day of drama at Westminster.

A Down Street source has since said the Government won't allow time for what is a stunt.

Mr Corbyns remarks came after the Prime Minister said MPs would finally have the chance to decide on her Brexit deal after Christmas.

A Commons vote is set to take place in the week beginning January 14.

Weather warnings as rain batters UK

The Met Office has issued two severe weather warnings as rain continues to batter the UK.

A huge rain alert was issued for the south-west, including south Wales and much of southern England.

The warning came into force at 5am and will not be lifted until 9pm this evening.

A combined rain and wind warning was also set for Northern Ireland between 3am and 9am.

It follow chaos caused by Storm Deirdre, which brought freezing rain, gales and heavy snow to parts of the UK on Sunday.

Diane Abbott hits out at Twitter over racist and misogynistic posts

Diane Abbott has condemned Twitter over thousands of racist and misogynistic tweets appearing on the platform.

She warned that hate speech can lead to violence, adding that the firm had a responsibility to shut down the accounts of the culprits.

The shadow Home Secretarys remarks came after a study found thousands of tweets disproportionately targeted black female politicians and journalists.

Twitter responded to the report by saying its abusive behaviour policy strictly prohibits any material that harasses, intimidates or silences another users voice.

Trump's decisions 'damaging' UK-US relations

Donald Trumps decisions on foreign policy are damaging the relationship between the UK and US, peers have warned.

Relations are under disturbing pressure and the damage will be made worse if the president secures a second term, they added.

The Lords International Relations Committee said his actions over the Paris climate accord, Iran nuclear deal and steel tariffs were contrary to the UKs interests.

Most distant object ever identified in solar system is discovered

Astronomers have discovered the most distant known object ever identified within our solar system.

The cosmic body, nicknamed Farout, is believed to be round and its pink shade indicates an ice-rich object.

Experts said the object is so far away and moving so slowly it could take more than 1,000 years to orbit the sun.

On this day...

1865: The United States officially abolished slavery with the ratification of the 13th Amendment.

1952: Bill and Ben, the Flowerpot Men, were first seen on BBC TV, along with Little Weed.

1969: The death penalty for murder was formally abolished in Britain.

1970: Divorce became legal in Italy.P arents are using apps to track their grown-up children at university in a breach of common decency, a leading US technology author has claimed.

Dave Eggers, whose dystopian bestseller The Circle was made into a film starring Tom Hanks, Emma Watson and Karen Gillan, warned that this type of surveillance had been normalised by societys addiction to social media and it was fuelling tolerance of spying by government and tech providers.

Eggers, 48, who has disconnected his home internet, wants Silicon Valley tech giants to be held more accountable and is campaigning for the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be updated for the digital world.

Giving the HG Wells lecture, hosted by writers charity English PEN at the Bridge Theatre in Southwark, Eggers told how he became aware of the problem during a talk about privacy with young students at a university. One young woman mentioned that her parents regularly tracked her location and online activities on her smartphone, he said.

I asked the rest of the students how many of them were being regularly monitored by their parents  about half raised their hands.

Vicious circle: Dave Eggers, author of The Circle / PR handout

Most students I met didnt have an overwhelming problem with any of this. They had been tracked most of their lives and had grown to expect, and even desire, constant parental contact.

Describing how social media had allowed society to forget every basic rule of etiquette and consideration, he added: We want more information, often information to which were not entitled. We need to examine how we as citizens aid in the erosion of digital rights  and how we can change course.The kindest thing you can say about 2018 is that it was definitely a year. There's no denying that. Yep, it was an entire year. A long, emotionally exhausting year that's left us feeling like we've had the shit beaten out of us from every direction imaginable. Here are a couple of reasons for that ... Advertisement

12 China Legalized Internment Camps For Muslims As part of its crackdown on several Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang, the Chinese government authorized the use of internment camps to imprison Muslims whom they suspect of being extremists, terrorists, and petty criminals. How many people have they locked up so far, you might ask? Oh, only one fucking million. Continue Reading Below Advertisement These facilities aren't literal concentration camps, of course. They're just "education and training centers" designed to hold "people influenced by extremism," a malady which is apparently solved -- according to former inmates -- by forcing people to renounce Islam, undergo "ideological education, psychological rehabilitation and behavior correction," learn Mandarin, and declare their everlasting loyalty to the state. Wow, it's almost as if the whole "They're bad people" thing is nothing but a flimsy pretense to justify locking up minorities. At least we never have to worry about that happening over he- oh ... Continue Reading Below Advertisement

11 Experts Say We Have Until 2030 To Prevent Catastrophic Climate Change Surprise! Climate change is a still a thing, and it's going to absolutely wipe the floor with our asses if we don't do something about it within the next decade. Earlier this year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a damning report outlining how badly the planet -- and by extension, us -- would be screwed if the world warmed by two degrees, the figure which forms the baseline of the Paris Agreement (you know, that thing America pulled out of). Shockingly, it's really bad. As in, entire major cities would disappear and millions of people would die or be displaced, which itself would give rise to the biggest refugee crisis ever. Therefore, the IPCC is recommending that we knuckle the fuck down and try to limit warming to 1.5 degrees -- a minuscule difference that would wind up saving the world. Continue Reading Below Advertisement However, accomplishing this would require major political action. It's nice that we're all recycling and cutting out plastics and stuff, but there's no getting away from the fact that 71 percent of global emissions are caused by only 100 companies -- including the oil and gas companies that have spent years promoting climate denial agitprop ... only to turn around and ask the government to spend billions funding the construction of seawalls along the Gulf Coast to protect refineries from rising sea levels. Continue Reading Below Advertisement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Mario Tama/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Two former business associates of Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, have been indicted for conspiring to influence both U.S. politicians and public opinion concerning a political rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016.



Prosecutors charged Bijan Rafiekian, also known as Bijan Kian, and Kamil Ekim Alptekin with acting as unregistered agents of the Turkish government in a plot centered around Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania. U.S. Department of Justice attorneys allege the two business associates sought to discredit and delegitimize the Turkish citizen in the eyes of politicians and the public, and ultimately to secure the Turkish citizens extradition.



Alptekin is also charged with several counts of lying to federal investigators about his roles in the operation.



Gulen has been blamed by the Turkish government for orchestrating a failed military coup against Erdrogans government.



According to the indictment, Flynn, Kian and Alptekin's secret lobbying effort against Gulen, initially dubbed the 90-day "Truth Campaign" and later named "Project Confidence," began in late July 2016, after the U.S. Justice Department rejected the Turkish government's request to extradite Gulen from the United States earlier that year.



The indictment details how Kian and Alptekin plotted a 90-day anti-Gulen campaign  and disguised the fact that the real source of funding for the operation was the Turkish government.



The whole time, Kian and Alptekin were in contact with high-level Turkish officials, receiving a "green light" from unnamed Turkish ministers on the procedure of the operation and arranging a meeting with the ministers in New York City in September of 2016, according to the indictment.



In November of 2016, The Hill published an op-ed written by Flynn comparing Gulen to Osama bin Laden and urging the U.S. to adjust our foreign policy to recognize Turkey as a priority.



The forces of radical Islam derive their ideology from radical clerics like Gulen, who is running a scam, Flynn wrote. We should not provide him safe haven. In this crisis, it is imperative that we remember who our real friends are.



Though not mentioned in the indictment, ABC News has also previously reported that Flynn was also accused of raising the idea of kidnapping Gulen to be turned over to the Turkish government. Flynn's lawyer has denied any such discussion.



Kian's attorney Robert Trout declined to comment on the matter.



During an interview with ABC News in May 2017 Alptekin had denied ever working for the Turkish government.



"I've never represented the government of Turkey, he said. All of the reports that implicated or imply that I was in any way representing the government are simply not true."



Bijan Kian faces up to 15 years of imprisonment, and Kamil Ekim Alptekin faces up to 30 years of imprisonment.



Although Flynn, identified as "Person A," is described in the court filing as heavily involved in the lobbying operation, he is not a defendant in the new indictment.



The revelation of the indictment, which was unsealed on Monday, comes on the eve of the retired three-star general Flynns sentencing hearing. Last December, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and agreed to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller in his ongoing investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.



According to a sentencing memo submitted by Mueller's team earlier this month, Flynn has provided "substantial assistance" in several unspecified investigations, one of which is believed to be the Turkish lobbying effort involving Kian and Alptekin. Special counsel's prosecutors have asked the judge for no prison time for Flynn, citing his assistance.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Ugandas coffee exports for the last 12 (November 2017 to October 2018) totalled to 4.27 million bags worth US $454 million comprising Robusta 3.19 million bags worth US $322 million and Arabica 1.11 million bags worth US $140 million, according to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA).

Meanwhile, UCDA in its October report says coffee exports during the month amounted to 350,743 60-kilo bags worth US $ 35.22 million. This comprised 242,870 bags (US $23.59 million) of Robusta and 107,873 bags (US $11.62 million) of Arabica. This was a decrease of 8.09 per cent and 19.48 per cent in quantity and value respectively from the same month last year.

By comparing quantity of coffee exported by type in the same month of last coffee year (September 2017/18 and 2018/19), both Robusta and Arabica registered a percentage decrease in both Quantity and Value; Robusta (6.36 per cent and 17.08 per cent) respectively, Arabica (11.80 per cent and 23.93 per cent) respectively. Coffee exports for a year were 10.56 per cent and 19.61 per cent lower in both quantity and value respectively compared to the previous year.

Stories Continues after ad

Some of the factors that led to this were: Low global prices on account of higher crop in Brazil which affected export prices as well as lower production from the main harvest in Masaka and South-Western regions compared to the previous year, new trees coming into production notwithstanding.

Ugandas coffee exports by destination

Coffee exports to EU countries amounted to 243,964 bags higher than 179,978 bags exported in the previous month. This represented a 69.56 per cent of total exports. EU was followed by Sudan with 29,020 bags (8.27 per cent) compared to 45,454 bags (15.50 per cent) the previous month.

USA imported 15,794 (4.50 per cent) compared to 16,627 (5.67 per cent), India 12,164 bags (4.15 percent) compared to 18,520 (5.31 per cent) and Morocco 8,100 (2.76 per cent) compared to 14,292(4.10 per cent).

Coffee exports to Africa amounted to 44,304 bags, a market share of 13 per cent compared to 60,699 (20.70 per cent) bags exported in the previous month.Minister of National Defence Gabriel Les on Tuesday had a meeting in Brussels with the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, in which context he voiced Romania's support in strengthening the EU profile in the field of security and defence, on the coordinates of action complementarity and synergy with NATO.

Discussions with the EU official focused on the current status of preparations for Romania to take over and exercise the presidency of the Council of the EU, as well as on the priorities our country has for this mandate, reads a press release of the National Defence Ministry (MApN).

Read also: USR, PNL notify CCR about law on approval of GEO on creation of section for investigation of magistrates

"Moreover, they approached topical issues on the European defence and security agenda, with an emphasis on the ongoing initiatives. Thus, the Minister of Defence voiced Romania's support for the strengthening of the EU's defence and security profile, on the coordinates of action complementarity and synergy with NATO. In this context, Gabriel Les underscored the relevance for Romania in the Common Foreign and Security Policy/Common Security and Defence Policy and its inclusion among the central topics of the mandate of the future Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU. Moreover, discussions between the two officials approached aspects related to the European initiatives in the defence fields, such as PESCO, EDF, CARD, EU-NATO cooperation, ongoing operations and missions under the CSDP aegis," reads the release.

The same source mentioned that the meeting with Federica Mogherini also represented a good occasion to reiterate Romania's support and interest in "strengthening the CSDP dimension of the European Union, as well as to highlighted Romania's commitment to ensuring a successful presidency of the Council of the EU."

AGERPRES .National Defence Minister Gabriel Les met on Tuesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels with Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg, whom he tackled with the topic related to the developments of the security situation in the Black Sea region.

According to a release of the National Defence Ministry (MApN), the agenda of talks with the NATO Secretary General included issues regarding the developments of the security situation in the Black Sea region, strengthening the deterrence and defence posture on the Eastern Flank of NATO, with an emphasis on the advanced adapted presence, the Multi-national South-East Brigade, the development of command and control capability of ground level army corps.

Read also: Minister for Romanians Abroad Intotero meets representatives of Romanian community in Emirates

The quoted source mentions that within the meeting also discussed were the stage of preparations for Romania to take over and exercise the Presidency of the EU Council, as of 1 January 2019 and the priorities that our country proposes during this mandate.

AGERPRES .National Minorities Day is a day when we can express our appreciation for the ethnic diversity and cultural richness, fundamental elements of the Romanian culture, Deputy Prime Minister Ana Birchall said on Tuesday.

"18 December has a special significance for us, being the date on which the National Minorities Day has been celebrated since 1998 - a day when we can express our appreciation for the ethnic diversity and cultural richness, the profound, fundamental elements of the Romanian culture. Observing all rights and freedoms of citizens is a prerequisite for any democracy, and in the context of threats such as xenophobia, chauvinism or acts of discrimination becoming increasingly more present around us, it is our duty to promote tolerance, mutual respect and dialogue between cultures. Many happy returns to all minorities in Romania!", Ana Birchall wrote on Facebook.Former President Ion Iliescu, honorary president of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), accused on Monday "an act of media war on him", given that the central press in Bucharest published a statement of his quoted by the French newspaper Le Figaro, which he says is not true.

"I read with amazement mixed with disgust a sort of compilation about PSD and about the political situation in Romania, in Le Figaro." Amazement, because Le Figaro has always been a solid newspaper that practices quality journalism. Disgust because I am quoted with things I have never said to Le Figaro or to anyone else. Everyone is free to believe whatever they want about PSD, about the political situation in Romania, about the post-December history, but I cannot accept to be involved in absurd political battles for power, without any stakes for PSD or Romania. The reality presented in the article is a caricature, and the statements attributed to me are part of this political battle. It is not my intention to participate in such a thing. PSD is a mature and responsible party that will solve its problems according to its status and the laws of the country," Ion Iliescu said on his personal blog.

The former president added that, lately, he has chosen to be as little involved as possible in the political life of the PSD and of Romania and says that Le Figaro owes an apology and rectification of his so-called affirmations."And when I have something to say to PSD, I will do it directly without the media, either Romanian or foreign. I do not think we have fake news here, but an act of media war. Which I find equally unacceptable as attributing me allegations that are not mine. I regret press stoops so low. It seems to me that the journal owes me apologies and the correction of those statements," said Ion Iliescu.According to the Romanian press quoting Le Figaro, Ion Iliescu allegedly said that "it is a difficult and confusing period for PSD, which is experiencing its worst political crisis."Healthcare Minister Sorina Pintea stated on Tuesday that regional hospitals would be built on the 20121-2027 financial period with an increase of the co-funding percentage of the European Union from 50 percent to 80 percent.

Sorina Pintea told a press conference that the construction of hospitals was delayed because there are some procedures that must be observed and not because the Government of the Healthcare Ministry didn't want to.

Read also: Minister for Romanians Abroad Intotero meets representatives of Romanian community in Emirates

She also argued that there have been many discussions in the public space, according to which Romania wouldn't be capable to build a new hospital, that Romania isn't accessing European funds.

According to the Healthcare Minister, the value of a hospital, construction and equipment, is worth 400 million euro.

AGERPRES .Minister Natalia-Elena Intotero encouraged Romanians who live in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to submit projects to benefit from non-reimbursable funds offered by the Ministry for Romanians Abroad, informs a press release on Tuesday sent to AGERPRES.

The General Consulate of Romania in Dubai hosted the meeting between the Romanian Minister for Romanians Abroad, Natalia-Elena Intotero, with the representatives of the Romanian associations in the United Arab Emirates.

Romanians who participated in the meeting were interested in the financing opportunities offered by the Ministry for Romanians Abroad, as well as by the approach meant for the recognition of Romanian diplomas in the UAE.In her turn, Natalia-Elena Intotero evoked the willingness of the officials from the Emirates to collaborate with the Romanian association, which willingness was also expressed during the official meetings that the dignitary had on Monday."The Romanian community in the UAE is in the beginning of its road, but I met special people, ready and willing to get involved, to promote the Romanian culture and traditions. Moreover, through the associations and the organisations they make, our co-nationals abroad can be better represented in their relation with the authorities. I encourage them, the Romanians in the Emirates, to submit projects to benefit from non-reimbursable financing offered by the Ministry for Romanians Abroad and I wish to have a permanent communication line with them, for together we can achieve beautiful projects for Romanians here," said Minister.The participant handbook and the endowment with books in Romanian language are also resources that the MRP makes available for the Romanian communities, with the Minister underlying, during the meeting, that education represents an important component of the projects meant for Romanians abroad.Moreover, Intotero encourages the representatives of the Associations to make the necessary steps so that a group of Romanian children in the UAE participate in the 2019 edition of the "ARC" camps.Discussions also focused on one of the important projects of this community, the Romanian Film Festival in Dubai, now in its third edition, with the Minister proposing to everyone present consultancy on behalf of the MRP both in what concerns the financing line and the contact with the Romanian NGOs in other states carrying out similar projects.Estimative data show that approximately 10,000 Romanian citizens live in the United Arab Emirates, most of them, approximately 7,500, living in Dubai.Prime Minister Viorica Dancila sent on Tuesday to President Klaus Iohannis a letter welcoming the fact that he responded to her call for political cooperation and announced that she would fast address him the invitation to attend the meeting of the Government, if she considers his participation necessary.

"I have taken note with satisfaction of your recent statements that you finally admit that we need to cooperate for Romania. I also welcome the fact that you have responded to my call for political cooperation to ensure that Romania has a good EU Council Presidency. With regard to your request invoking the prerogatives conferred by Article 87 of the Constitution of Romania on the reception of the working agenda of each Government sitting, I inform you that the Government of Romania transmits on its own website, each time, the agenda of the Government's sittings together with the drafts of public policy documents, the draft normative acts or other documents, as well as the accompanying documents, documents that can be consulted by any person In case the agenda of the Government meeting includes drafts of normative acts on issues of national interest in the field of foreign policy, defense of the country, ensuring public order, in line with the constitutional text invoked, we will signal this and assure you of our openness in the situation in which you decide to participate in the Government sitting", the prime minister's letter shows.

The prime minister has announced that she will fast address the President the invitation to attend the Government sitting if she considers his participation necessary."In conclusion, I assure you, Mr President, that the Government of Romania is aware of the obligation of constitutional loyalty requiring the Government and the President of Romania, as well as any public authority, to observe constitutional competencies, without assuming prerogatives that go beyond the constitutional and legal framework," the head of the Executive said.President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday he would go to the Government sttings after he found "a desire for collaboration" on the part of Prime Minister Viorica Dancila."I asked for the agenda [of the Government sitting, ed.n]. I think we have to look at things a little in perspective. We are preparing for the presidency [of EU Council], and even if we are ready, things will not be simple at all. On the other hand, I have noticed from the prime minister a willingness to cooperate, so to speak, she has repeatedly invited me to collaborate. Here I am, ready to collaborate. I'm going to attend the Government sittings," Klaus Iohannis said in Vienna, where he is attending the High-Level Forum Africa-Europe.President Klaus Iohannis sent a letter on Tuesday to Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, asking her to include on the agenda of the forthcoming Gov't sitting the topic of the protection of the rights and interests of Romanian citizens living in the United Kingdom.

"As you know, Romania's main objective in the negotiations regarding the UK withdrawal process from the European Union is to protect the rights and interests of over 400,000 Romanians in this country. Following the negotiations between the European Union and the UK, the Withdrawal Agreement was endorsed at a special meeting of the European Council in Brussels on November 25. This agreement, insofar as it will be ratified by the British Parliament and approved by the EU Council and the European Parliament, will ensure a high protection of the rights of European citizens, including Romanians, living in the UK. However, the latest developments in the UK, including Parliament's meaningful vote on the Withdrawal Agreement, significantly increase the uncertainty about its ratification by the UK Parliament. Under these circumstances, the Romanian authorities should be prepared to get the best possible conditions for Romanian citizens in the UK in any scenario," says Iohannis in the letter.



He points out that if the British Parliament does not ratify the Withdrawal Agreement, measures will be needed at European level, and especially at national level, to ensure the rights of European citizens in the UK.



"In this case, at national level, urgent steps should be taken at both the legislative and the diplomatic-consular level to guarantee the rights, at the highest level possible, for the Romanian citizens living in the UK. Given these elements, I ask you to include the topic of the protection of the rights and interests of Romanian citizens living in the UK on the agenda of the next Government sitting," president Iohannis said in a letter to Prime Minister Dancila.



On Monday, the president sent a letter to Prime Minister Dancila asking her to send him the agenda of each Government sitting.President Klaus Iohannis stated on Tuesday evening that he doesn't think Prime Minister Viorica Dancila would refuse him if he were to attend the Government meetings, in order to discuss "matters concerning Romania, which fall under the responsibility of the Government."

Read also: President Iohannis says we must be aware that our future is among the solid, Euro-Atlantic democracies

"Yes, I will go. You can see that Mrs. Prime Minister once every three or four public discourses had peace messages. She invited me to collaborate and now I am willing to collaborate, since this is an extremely important matter. The Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union is a very complicated matter, very hard and I want us to do well and I stated that we are ready, but in order to remain ready, and also have results, we need to discuss these things. For instance, a really urgent matter right now and I asked to be immediately introduced on the agenda is Brexit. There is a real risk that we have a Brexit without an agreement and, in that case, several hundreds of thousands of Romanians will remain with an uncertain status. These are things that we must discuss. We cannot afford to just wait and discuss them after the holidays. There are a lot of arguments and, honestly, I don't believe that she will refuse me, if I were to go to discuss together at the Government matters that are related to Romania and fall under the responsibility of the Government," stated Iohannis.

AGERPRES .President Klaus Iohannis said that filing a criminal complaint against him for high treason, demanded by Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Liviu Dragnea, is "a petty political demarche," "a fantasy of the PSD, which has no support".

"It is a petty political demarche which, in the first place, is doomed to fail. No one can file a criminal complaint against the president, and for high treason there is a very complicated, parliamentary procedure, which, in the first place, has no support. It is a fantasy of the PSD members," Klaus Iohannis said in Vienna on Tuesday, where he is attending the the High-Level Forum Africa-Europe.

On Sunday, PSD leader Liviu Dragnea asked the Social Democrats to file a criminal complaint for high treason against President Klaus Iohannis."Iohannis, who betrays Romania's interests, has been saying for a very long time that the Romanian Government, Romania are not ready to take over the presidency of the EU Council. This is an act of national treason, of the national interests of this country practiced by Klaus Werner Iohannis. (...) Please, after New Year's Eve, file that complaint of high treason against Klaus Werner Iohannis," Dragnea said at the meeting of the National Council of PSD.President Klaus Iohannis stated on Tuesday that he cannot give up the independence of justice and the rule of law, arguing that he won't question these two aspects in a discussion with politicians who "want to question precisely these things."

In a dialogue with the young winners of the Civic Avengers competition part of the Once Upon a Time in Romania project of Initiative Romania, the head of state was asked: "Have you thought about changing the parliamentary republic form into a presidential republic, because, this way, you would have greater power to make changes?"

Read also: President Klaus Iohannis: 'We are at a stage when very many politicians are losing touch with people'

"I thought about it and I am sure that many thought about it. The architecture of our state is given by the Constitution - this is how the group that wrote the Constitution thought. Now, after some amendments were made and I bring to mind that these differences [between the Cotroceni Presidential Palace and the Victoria Palace] emerged after the president's term in office changed, certainly people ask questions - why can't we be on the same page. In practice, it can be seen that, by declaring elections, the Romanian voter prefers to have some balance which, unfortunately, often leads to divergences, as we have now. But if I would be willing to talk without emotion and without a major issue arising about things that fall under the fiscal or economic policy or about what we do with schools, I am not at all willing to compromise when talking about the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law in Romania. Here, I have a very clear opinion - we need an independent justice, it is mandatory and we want a rule of law in Romania. We want to be in Europe, I am not willing at all to question these things in a discussion with politicians who, and you certainly noticed that, want to question precisely these things. This is not possible and then, naturally, we have these divergences of opinions and, in the end, the voter should say which is the version that he/she wants. I am convinced that he/she wants the version described by me, at least a large majority," the head of state mentioned.

He added that the majority of Romanians want to be European, to be able to move, to have a country that has success, where jobs are increasingly good, where investors, both Romanians and foreigners are welcomed with open arms, "not with totally absurd criticisms, where justice is not only legal, but also fair." "These are things that everybody wants, at least all those who I have talked to," the President stated.

AGERPRES .Romania is ready to exercise the presidency of the Council of the European Union, President Klaus Iohannis said Tuesday.

"We are ready and we will demonstrate that we can exercise a good presidency of the EU Council," President Iohannis said, at the High-Level Forum Africa-Europe.

"This forum is extremely important and occurs just in time, when the Austrian presidency of the EU Council comes to an end, basically we are already entering the Romanian presidency of the EU Council. The relationship between Europe and Africa is a growing relationship and we'd like to turn it from a relation where Europe has offered help for development into a relation between equal partners, willing to collaborate, willing to progress together," President Iohannis added.President Klaus Iohannis stated on Tuesday that his wife will show up for the hearings at the General Prosecutor's Office (PG).

"Certainly, we have nothing to hide. These speculations are completely unfounded," the head of state said, when asked if his wife will come to the hearings at the General Prosecutor's Office.

On 10 December, Carmen Iohannis, President Klaus Iohannis's wife, announced the prosecutors with the General Prosecutor's Office that she cannot come to the hearing due to health reasons.

Read also: President Iohannis: 'Under Dragnea, PSD became an anti-European, anti-justice, anti-investment, anti-business party'

The First Lady was subpoenaed before to the General Prosecutor's Office in order to be heard in the case opened following a denouncement related to certain amounts of money obtained from renting a building.

According to some representatives of the PG, Carmen Iohannis's lawyer came before the General Prosecutor's Office and lodged medical documents certifying that the president's wife wasn't able to come for hearings.

The prosecutors are to establish another date for her hearing.

Carmen Iohannis was also subpoenaed before to the General Prosecutor's Office on 15 November, but, at that time, she conveyed to the prosecutors that she cannot come for hearings because she is accompanying President Klaus Iohannis on a visit to UK.

AGERPRES .The European Investment Bank (EIB) grants national gas transmission company Transgaz 50 million euro for the financing of a new pipeline, due to connect Romania's natural gas resources for the Black Sea's shore both to the national gas transmission grid and with the BRUA corridor, thus connecting the transport systems in South-Eastern and Central Europe, the Economy Ministry informs on Monday.

The transaction is supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), the financial pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe, known as "the Juncker Plan".

"The loan secured by Transgaz will contribute to the diversification of gas supply across Europe, allowing for the capitalisation on the off-shore gas resources. The new pipeline will link Romania's natural gas resources from the Black Sea's shore both to the national gas transmission grid and with the BRUA corridor. It is about a project that involves the construction of a 308-km long new transport pipeline, together with the necessary land infrastructure. It represents a firm commitment as regards Romania's energy security and proof of Romania's capacity to develop and implement strategic projects, with a positive impact on the entire European Union," Economy Minister Niculae Badalau stated."The fruitful cooperation between the European Investment Bank and Transgaz aims to ensure the funding for the company's investment projects, namely strategic investment which facilitate the fulfillment of the European Union's objectives of durable and competitive development of the natural gas transmission infrastructure, the diversification of the gas supply sources and the strengthening of energy security and solidarity. Last year, the EIB signed two financing contracts with Transgaz, worth 50 million euro each for the implementation of the first stage of the common interest project (BRUA). It is of strategic importance that the gas produced in the Black Sea be incorporated in the National Gas Transmission System and transported on the Romanian and European markets, so as to enhance the security of the gas supply to Romania and the EU and to guarantee the security of the gas supply to Romanian consumers. The EIB's financial support will significantly contribute to the extension of the national gas transmission infrastructure," mentioned in his turn the Director General of Transgaz, Ion Sterian.The UK needs the European Union to have a huge success after Brexit, British Ambassador in Bucharest Andrew Noble said on Tuesday in the opening of a roundtable meeting on Romanian-British cooperation in the field of science and research.

You will remain our largest market [EU], the largest partner in terms of education, you are the countries we will travel to, you will come to the UK, and the links in the field of education and science will continue. We need you to be successful, we need us to be successful, and guess what? That means we have to cooperate. Now we start the stage where we develop the way the UK-EU bilateral relationship will look like in the future. We know how well it is currently working and I have not heard anyone in the four months since I came in Romania saying they want less of the current connectivity in the field of science and research, the diplomat said.

Noble pointed out that talks on this issue will also take place during the Romanian presidency of the Council of the European Union. It seems to me this is a very important moment for such a dialogue, he said.Among those who participated in the discussion with Romanian experts were Nigel Bellingham, British Council Director, and Andrew Allen, Director of the Royal Society's International Relations Department.Waikato

Are you an experienced store man? Or do you have your Forklift license and would like to get into the stores trade? We want...



View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nzThe nationally threatened Karearea (New Zealand Falcon) is just one of the native species of birds flocking back to Rotoruas Dansey Scenic Reserve following a five-year intensive pest control programme run by Canopy Tours.

Canopy Tours, which operates New Zealands only two native forest ziplines, has completed its bi-annual monitoring and reset of the reserves trapping network with stellar results.

The untouched native forest is located in the Mamaku Plateaus ancient forest on the outskirts of Rotorua.

Little evidence of dead predators  rats and stoats  has been found by the nine-strong conservation team painstakingly checking every one of the 515 number of traps across the reserve this week.

At the same time, the number and variety of birds in the pest-free island is noticeably increasing.

Scott Davis, the Conservation Lead at Canopy Tours says the return of native birds is inspiring, and a fantastic result of the trapping efforts.

Its really exciting to see different species coming back and a greater number of all species in the reserve. The tangible impact of 5 years of conservation blitzes is a win for all Kiwis.

Especially seeing two species of Koekoea returning to lay their eggs here and catching sight of the increasingly rare Karearea.

Recent new arrivals to flock back to the reserve are more sightings of Karearea, our nations only threatened bird of prey with only 3,000-5,000 breeding pairs left in existence, along with two species of cuckoo birds - Pipiwharauroa and the Koekoea.

Canopy Tours has a mix of Goodnature A24 rat and stoat traps and A12 possum traps operating in the Dansey Road Scenic Reserve, along with some DOC 200s.

The combined impact this array of traps has had on the forest has been incredible, with the forest regenerating visibly in the 5 years of trapping.

We love it when our technology supports conservation businesses like Canopy Tours, says Goodnature co-founder Robbie van Dam.

Canopy Tours is a great example of how businesses in the community are helping us to bring back the birds through really sophisticated conservation work.

This predator control work was set up through a unique partnership with the Department of Conservation, where Canopy Tours and DOC operated under an agreement that a percentage of the rent Canopy Tours paid for leasing the land goes back into conservation work in the forest. The two matched each other, dollar for dollar.

The partnership agreement expired in April and Canopy Tours is doing their research and planning the projects before they apply for another 3-year agreement. A percentage of profit from the Canopy Tours business still goes back into the Trusts work in restoring the native reserve.

A conservation driven business, Canopy Tours has been leading by example by working towards the nations predator free goals. Five years in, they have almost achieved their goal of creating an inland island acting as a sanctuary for native birds.

This inland island is home to the adventure experience businesss two Canopy Tours - the Original Canopy Tour and the recently launched Ultimate Canopy Tour, where visitors can handfeed rare native birds, and witness the regeneration of precious native forest.

Paul Button, General Manager of Canopy Tours is proud of the conservation efforts the business is focusing on in the 250-ha reserve.

Conservation is at the heart of our business. Our team culture is centred around it, and this extends to the visitor experience at Canopy Tours. Visitors are increasingly invested in the conservation work, and love being able to contribute at an individual level, interacting with our native birds and experiencing a regenerating forest.

Every native bird, skink, tree, and insect we see thriving in our forest is more reason to keep on providing protection for them.

Across New Zealand, native birds are susceptible to rats, possums and stoats - 70,000 birds are killed every night by pest species, equating to 25 million birds per year according to DOC. Businesses, community groups, DOC and iwi are essential in implementing and maintaining sustainable predator control efforts.

Canopy Tours is one of two places in New Zealand to legally feed Toutouwai (North Island Robin) and Miromiro (Tomtit), meaning visitors have a unique experience and leave feeling positive about conservation.

With the removal of predators, the forest itself is changing. Plants eaten by possums, such as puahou (five fingers), are coming back in force and forest floor plants are changing now that rats arent eating seeds before they can germinate.

Protecting our native bird and plant species is a national goal for all of New Zealand, says Button. Were proud to be working towards these goals as a business and inspiring all of our visitors.Auckland

Does your schedule change each week and need work to fit in to that? We have exciting roles that have come up with rotating...



View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nzIt's been two years since little Vivienne lay under a blanket as her mother Marie Harlick was murdered.

Not once, since that day, had she asked for anything until her Aunt asked what she wanted for Christmas.

The answer, a trampoline.

Stuff.co.nz shared Vivienne's story last month and the community rallied with New Zealand trampoline company JumpFlex, who are based in Hamilton, deciding to grant her Christmas wish.

Vivienne's guardian and Aunt, also called Marie Harlick, almost cried when her niece asked for a trampoline for Christmas.

It was the first thing Vivienne had ever asked for in the two years following the death of her mother and Harlick's sister.

"I almost cried, she's never asked for anything," Harlick said. "Not once, not a single thing."

Harlick became guardian for her three-year-old niece in 2016, after her sister was killed by her former partner Robert Roupere Hohua.

Vivienne, 18-months old at the time, was left beside her mother as she lay dying, hidden under a blanket.

Guardianship of her sister's five children was divided up between family members. Harlick took over guardianship of Vivienne, the youngest of the bunch, moving her to Pukekohe.

After hearing about Vivienne, JumpFlex owner Stephen Tubbs said it instantly tugged at his heart strings.

"What an amazing job you've done with Vivienne," he said to Harlick.

"And what an amazing girl Vivienne is. It's part of our motto to get kids to play outside and enjoy life - so we couldn't turn it down. Vivienne wants a trampoline and we do trampolines."

Tubbs, along with staff members Sovann Tubbs and Chris Ryan, turned up to install the trampoline on Monday in Harlick's backyard.

As the shy three-year-old returned home after daycare she was visibly thrilled by the sight of her new trampoline - climbing straight up to play on it with her cousins.

Harlick said Vivienne had been asking about the trampoline over the last few weeks. "I said Santa might bring you a trampoline, but we didn't let on it was coming. We wanted it to be a total surprise for her."

"JumpFlex asked me if we had any special requirements, so there's a little ladder to get her in and out of the tramp. It's so exciting."

"For Vivienne, this will be a big part of her life - she is high energy and she likes to be outdoors."

Countdown supermarket also came on board to donate grocery vouchers to the family.

Countdown Pukekohe South store manager James Liddell arrived at Vivienne's surprise party to present the vouchers.

"We are all about supporting the community, so on behalf of Countdown we would like to present you with $500 worth of Countdown wish cards," Liddell said.

"That is amazing. Thank you so much. Oh my goodness," Harlick said.

Mad Butcher Manukau then donated $300 worth of store vouchers to help the family over the Christmas period.

Harlick said she was "blown away" by the generosity shown by the business community in Auckland and Waikato.

"Vivienne is going to be on that trampoline right through till dinner time and she will talk about it as she goes to bed. "Thank you doesn't seem to cut it."

Stuff/Natalie Polley

The Commonwealth Organisation and the Government of Canada have welcomed the resolution of the political crisis in Sri Lanka.

In a tweet, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said the resolution of the political crisis in Sri Lanka highlights the resilience of Sri Lankas institutions, the countrys adherence to the rule of law and the peoples strong commitment to democratic processes.

Meanwhile, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has said, Sri Lankas judiciary has upheld the rule of law, bringing an end to the unconstitutional actions which undermined Sri Lankas democracy.

The government must seize this moment and deliver on accountability, constitutional reform and reconciliation for the people of Sri Lanka, she said.A review of the law which governs how DNA is used in criminal investigations has raised the possibility of a databank which would hold every New Zealander's DNA.

The Law Commission has reviewed the Criminal Investigations Bodily Samples Act and is calling for public submissions.

The law was passed in 1995 and regulates DNA collection from people either by consent or by compulsion, which is held by the national DNA databank, overseen by the police and the Institute of Environmental Science and Research.

But the Commision said the science had developed beyond the legislation's scope and it was no longer fit for purpose.

Commissioner Donna Buckingham said DNA was capable of telling a very personal story of a suspect or convicted person and it as also capable of telling the collectors about an individuals relatives and possible physical characteristics.

"Parliament has never had a debate on the amount of information that could be seized as part of a DNA profiling exercise," she said.

Because of the science that has been developed a lot of what happens with DNA now is not in the legislation.

"It may be possible eventually that whole genome sequencing could mean that much more information could be seized than Parliament could ever have envisaged, so we think it's time for a debate," Ms Buckingham said.

The possibility of a universal databank which would contain the DNA profiles of everyone in New Zealand has been raised by the commission because it is being discussed around the world, although no country has one.

However, Ms Buckingham said that this was not an attractive option, but the commission felt it could not ignore the possibility of it.

She said it would not be a proportionate response and it would have enormous implications, potentially breaching individual and collective privacy rights as well as being difficult to establish.

"We felt we needed to talk about it rather than simply say we think it's not perhaps the best way to approach the issues of privacy."

The commission's research showed DNA figures in less than two percent of criminal investigations, although Ms Buckingham said there may be a public perception that this happened a lot more, something which had been informed by television, or the so-called CSI effect.

The research showed the information was being stored and retained but used in only a small proportion of cases and the commission wanted the public to consider that.

"It's a very powerful investigative tool, but it's only used in a small proportion of cases and it really isn't the equivalent of the modern fingerprint anymore," Ms Buckingham said.

The majority of DNA is retained indefinitely and the law governing it is complex.

The commission said transparency was needed around the destruction of profiles and the security of retaining the DNA, and holding onto profiles of criminals raised questions of how that fit with the clean slate law, which aimed to limit the effect of an individual's historical convictions.

The commission raised the idea of that if someone had not committed a crime for a certain period of time, their DNA profile should be removed from the national DNA profile databank.

"Because that means the person is subject to long-term genetic surveillance, and we ask if that is how it should always be," Ms Buckingham said.

Changes to the law in 2009 also meant DNA profiles of more young people were being retained even in situations where the Youth Court discharged charges against them.

The commission also wanted independent oversight by a public agency in relation to the use of DNA in criminal investigations. It said Maori should also have a central role in that oversight.

Ms Buckingham said international best practice suggested New Zealand was one of the few legal systems in the world where there was no oversight body at all.

She said this was partly because the legislation was quite old and had not been reviewed in this way.

"We are suggesting that an oversight mechanism would be useful in a whole variety of situations because there are so many gaps in the legislation."

They also needed to consider how they could incorporate tikanga and Treaty of Waitangi and Bill of Rights considerations into a new framework, she said.

Public submissions close in March and the Law Commission's final report will be out late 2019.In todays weather forecast we are expecting a fine day with clear skies until the evening, then cloud increasing and late showers. Also westerlies.

Its a one-clothing layer day today with a high of 25 and an overnight low of 17 degrees. Humidity is 79 per cent.

Low tide is at 10.30am and high tide at 4.40pm (Tay St). Theres a sea swell of 0.8m and sea temperature is 20 degrees. Sunset tonight is at 8.31pm.

If youre going fishing the next best fish bite time is between 9 and 11am.

On this day in NZ history in 1879 universal male suffrage was introduced. The Qualification of Electors Act extended the right to vote (or electoral franchise) to all European men aged over 21, regardless of whether they owned or rented property.

In 1941 HMS Neptune was lost in a Mediterranean minefield. In New Zealands worst naval tragedy, the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Neptune struck enemy mines and sank off Libya. Of the 764 men who lost their lives, 150 were New Zealanders.

On this day in world history in 1909 American socialist women denounced suffrage as a movement of the middle class.

In 1941 Adolf Hitler assumed the position of commander-in-chief of the German army.

In 1982 four bombs exploded at South Africas only nuclear power station in Johannesburg.

In 1984 British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang signed an agreement that committed Britain to return Hong Kong to China in 1997 in return for terms guaranteeing a 50-year extension of its capitalist system. Hong Kong was leased by China to Great Britain in 1898 for 99 years.

In 1998 President Bill Clinton was impeached. The House of Representatives approved two articles of impeachment against President Clinton, charging him with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice. Clinton was the second president in American history to be impeached.

Today is the birthday of Mary Ashton Livermore, a temperance worker, womens rights activist, lecturer, and writer; she also founded her own suffrage paper. Born in 1820 she once said Above the titles of wife and mother, which, although dear, are transitory and accidental, there is the title human being, which precedes and out-ranks every other.

To get involved in activities around the Bay of Plenty, please check out our Whats on page.

Have a great day!Plans to purchase the Elks concession stand at the Cheyenne County Fairgrounds was greeted with a significant obstacle Monday morning.

In the Dec. 3 meeting of the county commissioners, James Lenzen met with the commissioners to discuss purchasing the building. The agreement would include purchase of the building and a five-year lease of the land it sits on. In the fairboard meeting that night, Lenzen said he does not want to compete with any nonprofit organizations. His intent is to have a place to prep and store food for his catering business, and to offer food during the county fair.

On Monday, Dec. 17, county attorney Paul Schaub said the countys insurance carrier is concerned about liability with a the public having access to the fairgrounds at all hours.

Commissioner Philip Sanders said if NiRMA, the countys insurance carrier, isnt in favor of the lease, neither is he.

The board voted against a lease agreement 3-0.

The board also discussed use of the fairgrounds for the 4-H archery program in 2019. Lynn McKinney of the Cheyenne County Extension Office said they would like to meet on Tuesday evenings. She said 4-H also has a BB gun program, .22 program, and shotgun. She said each class is led by a certified instructor.

Ryan Lembke met with the commissioners regarding moving cattle on County Road 129. He said he wants a way to move cattle from his pasture to a work area across the road. At issue is he wants to construct a fixture in the easement that would allow for safely moving cattle across the road.

If its on county property, you cant do it, Sanders said.

Sanders said it is part of the state statutes and if it is a state law, the commissioners wont decided against it.

The issue is no permanent fixture in the right of way, said commissioner Randal Miller.

Lembke said he only needs the fixture three to four times a year. The commissioners asked Lembke and Road Supervisor Doug Hart about use of a temporary structure.

The commissioners also approved a County Assistance Application for Sherry Cabela. The funding will help her with housing through the rest of December.The Cheyenne County Attorneys office has reported that at about 12 a.m. Monday, Dec. 17 authorities received a report that a trailer home in Lodgepole was on fire.

After the fire was extinguished, responders located a body.

The deceased is 70 year-old Sandra K. Reichman, also known as Sandra K. Grabowski.

The County Attorneys Office reports the cause of death was determined to be heat and smoke inhalation. Nature of death was accidental. The Nebraska State Fire Marshals Office investigated the matter, and their findings are also consistent with the nature of death being accidental. According to the Cheyenne County Attorneys press release, the origin of fire is the living room. Authorities say the cause of fire was a space heater.

Responding agencies included the Cheyenne County Sheriffs Office, Chappell and Lodgepole Volunteer Fire Departments, Region 21 Emergency Management, Regional West Medical Center Ambulance, and the Nebraska State Fire Marshals Office.The Delegation of the European Union (EU) in a statement yesterday welcomed the peaceful and democratic resolution of the political crisis in accordance with Sri Lankas constitution.

In a brief statement, the Delegation of the EU commended the resilience of Sri Lankas democratic institutions and said they would continue to support the island nations efforts towards national reconciliation and prosperity for all.



The statement had been issued in agreement with the EU ambassadors and Norwegian ambassador resident in Colombo.



Meanwhile, the newly appointed US Ambassador in Colombo Alaina Teplitz in a Twitter message welcomed this weekends political developments, which upheld Sri Lankas democratic and constitutional norms.



She said Sri Lanka is a valued partner in the Indo-Pacific and is looking forward to continuing to develop their relationship with the Government of Sri Lanka and its people.



The Australian High Commission also in a brief statement welcomed the resolution to the political uncertainty by constitutional means.

The high commission also applauded the resilience demonstrated by the countrys democratic institutions.



We look forward to working with the Sri Lankan government to take forward its commitment to deliver peace, reconciliation and prosperity and to build a stronger bilateral relationship, the statement said.Syracuse, N.Y. -- Three more eateries will join Blaze Pizza in the ground-floor commercial space at The Marshall, the big new student apartment project that just opened near Syracuse University.

Blaze Pizza, the gourmet-pizza chain partly owned by LeBron James, will take the most prominent retail spot in the building -- the storefront facing South Crouse Avenue, half a block north of Marshall Street. It will be the fast-growing pizza chains first Central New York location.

Taking the storefronts next to it will be:

--The Halal Guys. The halal fast-casual gyro and chicken restaurant is part of a franchise that began as a food cart on he streets of Manhattan in 1990.

Once you have had a taste, you will understand why New Yorkers and tourists alike have stood in the citys longest food cart line (sometimes for hours) to get a hot, steaming platter of chicken or gyro over rice, covered in The Halal Guys famous, proprietary White Sauce, the website promises.

This will be the franchises first restaurant in Upstate New York.

--I Heart Mac & Cheese. The franchises website describes it as a fast-casual concept restaurant specializing in customizable, made-to-order macaroni and cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches.

The menu combines the creativity of award-winning recipes resulting in a grown-up approach to this classic childhood dish, according to the website.

This will be its fourth location in New York but its first in Upstate.

--Kung Fu Tea. It specializes in bubble tea, a Taiwanese drink invented in the 1980s containing tea, flavors of milk and sugar. In addition, Kung Fu Teas menu includes other hot and cold drinks, including coffee and slushies.

By using tea leaves that are handpicked from the mountains of Taiwan, premium natural ingredients and an unique handcrafting process, our drinks are unrivaled in quality, the franchises website says. We make our bubbles every 2 hours, brew our tea every 3 hours, so we are proud to say each drink is made-to-order freshly on the spot.

This will be the second Kung Fu Tea in Syracuse. The other is in the Destiny USA mall.

The Marshall contains 16,800 square feet of first-floor retail space. (Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com)

Jared Hutter, one of The Marshalls principals, said the developers are in talks with other potential tenants for the remaining commercial space, which could be one or more additional tenants depending on how much space they need.

The eateries are expected to open sometime over the next few months, he said.

The Marshall opened this fall at 727 S. Crouse Ave. with 168 apartments (287 beds) and 16,800 square feet of first-floor retail space. The eight-story building towers over Marshall Street and offers views of the Syracuse University Quad, the Carrier Dome and downtown Syracuse.

All of the buildings apartments are leased for this school year, and nearly all are leased for the 2019-2020 academic year as well, Hutter said.Syracuse, N.Y. -- OBG, the Syracuse engineering company formerly known as OBrien & Gere, was doing well on its own and routinely spurned suitors until Denmarks Ramboll Group came along.

On Monday, Ramboll Group, a global engineering firm headquartered in Copenhagen, announced it had agreed to acquire OBG effective Jan. 1.

The deal, the terms of which are not being made public, is a big switch for OBG. Its been doing business as an independent company since it was formed by Earl OBrien, William Gere and Glenn Holmes in 1945, growing its business organically and making several acquisitions of its own in recent years.

The company employs 900 people, including 450 in Onondaga County, and generates $250 million to $275 million a year in revenues. (It does not disclose profits.) It has 26 offices, including its headquarters in Syracuses Armory Square.

OBG was not actively looking to be acquired, said CEO Jim Fox, a 35-year company veteran, after the announcement of the deal. Weve always been very independent. And by the way, weve been doing very, very well with the progress weve been making in our strategy.

When Ramboll, a company with 300 offices and more than 15,000 employees in 35 countries, came calling, things changed. OBG officials saw Rambolls growth and other strategies aligning well with their own.

As we got a deep understanding of this opportunity in terms of strategy, strategic alignment and fit with our own ambitions, with their cultural approach to clients and people, it became very interesting for us, Fox said.

Jim Fox joined O'Brien & Gere as an engineer in 1983 and has served as CEO since Jan. 1, 2011. SYR

Joining Ramboll will open OBGs engineering services in the water and environmental fields and advanced manufacturing to clients across a much bigger national footprint and even globally, he said. OBGs clients are mostly along the East Coast.

We see it as a great opportunity to accelerate our organizations growth, said Fox.

OBG has been an employee-owned company since 1981, so its workforce had to sign off on the deal. About 50 percent of its stock is held directly by about 100 employees who received their shares via a performance-based executive compensation plan. The other 50 percent is held by about 800 employees who received their shares as part of the companys profit-sharing plan.

Employees voted overwhelmingly Nov. 14 to approve the sale to Ramboll, with 91 percent of OBG shares cast in favor of the acquisition, according to the company.

The OBG engineering company operates an advanced manufacturing facility at 7600 Morgan Road in Clay.

Fox said the acquisition will open more career opportunities for OBGs employees because they will be part of a larger company with clients all over the world.

Its not unusual when companies are acquired by bigger corporations for jobs to be lost at the company being acquired, especially support positions. Fox said he does not expect that to happen at OBG.

We have to pursue work in many other regions of the country and we have to bring it back here to execute that growth," he said. And certainly, our support group here supports our execution of all that work around the country. So, we see this as a way to accelerate our growth and provide more opportunities to bring work back here.ROME, N.Y. -- State police Monday evening released surveillance images of a man they say pocketed another customers cash.

Troopers are asking the publics help in identifying the man in the surveillance photos.

The suspect was captured on security video Dec. 6 taking $60 cash from the change dispenser of a self-checkout register at the Walmart in Rome.

The male could be seen on surveillance video pocketing the money only seconds after the owner left the register area, state police said in a news release, and he did not make any attempt to locate or notify the owner.

The person who accidentally left the cash in the change dispenser had requested $60 with the cash back option, state police said.

Troopers ask anyone who recognizes the man in the surveillance images to call them at (315) 366-6000.OSWEGO, N.Y. -- Oswego police arrested three 20-year-old men they say broke off an antler on a month-old, $3,000 elk statue outside the Oswego Elks Lodge.

Michael V. DiNorcia, of Massapequa in Nassau County; Samuel R. Bobbette, of Piseco Hamilton County; and John A. Yonkers, of Albany, were charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, Oswego police announced in a news release Monday evening. The men are accused of carelessly and recklessly damaging the elk statue at 1:43 a.m. Nov. 3 at the Oswego Elks Lodge, 132 W. Fifth St. in the city of Oswego, police said.

The Oswego Elks Lodge had purchased the elk about a month before the vandalism for about $3,000, city police said. The cost to repair the broken antler is $678, police said.

Officers canvassed the neighborhood, interviewed people in the area and spent hours watching video surveillance from neighboring businesses after the vandalism was reported.

When police identified the three suspects earlier this month, the men cooperated with the investigation, officers said.

DiNorcia, Bobbette and Yonkers are students at the State University College at Oswego, according to the college student directory.

Based on the charge, police do not believe the men broke the antler off the elk statue intentionally. Instead, officers said, it appeared the men climbed onto the elk statue to take a photo. The citys mayor called their actions foolish.

Video surveillance showed multiple persons climbing on the statue ultimately breaking the antler and leaving the scene, police said in a news release.

Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow and Oswego Elks Lodge Exalted Ruler Nelson Metz thanked the officers who cracked the case.

"We are certainly grateful for their hard work, Metz said.

I applaud the great work by the Oswego Police Department and the publics assistance with tracking down those responsible for the unnecessary vandalism and damage done to the brand-new elk statue in front of the Oswego Elks Lodge," Barlow said.

We took this case very serious, the mayor said, and I hope our persistence and attention to this incident deters others from committing such foolish acts in the future.SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Joseph Cecile will remain first deputy chief for the Syracuse Police Department, he confirmed today.

Cecile, a 33-year veteran of the force, will serve as second in command to the newly appointed chief, Kenton Buckner.

Cecile, 58, said he doesnt know how long he will stay on the job, but he doesnt have any plan to retire soon.

Im going to stay for as long as Im valuable, he said.

Buckner came to Syracuse from Arkansas earlier this month. Mayor Ben Walsh hired him after a yearlong search for a chief.

Buckner described Cecile as more than qualified for the job.

His institutional knowledge of the Syracuse Police Department and history with this community is certainly something I feel will help me get traction with the department, rather than to have someone like him walk out the door, Buckner said Tuesday.

Cecile was one of three finalists being considered for chief, along with Buckner. He had the backing of former chief Frank Fowler, as well as some rank-and-file hoping for an internal hire to lead the department.

Cecile joined the force in 1985 and has been a deputy chief since 2010. He spent three-and-a-half years as first deputy under Fowler.

In an interview Tuesday, Cecile said hes met multiple times with Buckner. He called the new chief highly intelligent and very innovative.

He has the intuition of a homicide detective, Cecile said. After hearing what he had in mind [for the future of the department], I wanted to stay.

The two men agreed the department needs to improve its recruiting, including establishing a better social media footprint, Cecile said. The department has often struggled to attract qualified candidates, especially among minorities, he added.

Earlier this year, Cecile said he wanted to make organizational changes to increase the number of cops on the street. He proposed holding the line in the patrol division. When a new class of recruits gets hired, fewer existing patrol officers would be reassigned to more coveted jobs inside the Public Safety Building or in investigative units.

Cecile said he and Buckner discussed an organizational shift, including holding the line on patrol.

Syracuse Police Benevolent Association President Jeff Piedmonte said Monday that Buckner hasnt made any sweeping changes in his first few weeks on the job. But Piedmonte is expecting an increase in the percentage of officers who work patrol.

I think the chief is used to a higher percentage [of the department] on patrol, Piedmonte said.Hugh Hewitt hosts a nationally syndicated radio show and is a professor of law at Chapman Universitys Fowler School of Law.

By Hugh Hewitt | Special to the Washington Post

If you were born at the right time, you will get to fully observe three presidential impeachment fights. The first two were high dramas over high crimes and misdemeanors, and the third episode, likely opening in earnest in January, will be as riveting as the first two.

First, the key, long-standing assumption about any president: He or she can be removed for misdeeds only through impeachment by the House and trial and conviction in the Senate -- not by ordinary criminal indictment, trial and conviction. There is a small rump of talkers and professors who want to lay aside this truth, but it is an obvious one, first declared by Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 69: The President of the United States would be liable to be impeached, tried, and, upon conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors, removed from office; and would afterwards be liable to prosecution and punishment in the ordinary course of law.

A sitting president cannot be indicted. Thats the conclusion of the vast weight of scholarly opinion, as well as the plain reading of Hamilton. It was also the opinion of the Justice Department in 1973 and confirmed in 2000: The indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would unconstitutionally undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions.

Many books have been written on impeachment; millions of words in fact. The quick summary: An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House says it is. Thus, the incoming new Democratic majority could impeach President Donald Trump on any single theory or many at once. Certainly, cable news is full of breathless speculation about what special counsel Robert Mueller has or may possibly have, and to what Michael Cohen pleaded guilty, and, of course, there are charges of unconstitutional emoluments received and inaugural committee contributions mislaid. Of the original charge -- that the president and his campaign colluded with the Russian government to bring about his election -- there is still only the thinnest of reeds. We all await -- at least we should await -- the special counsels report on his investigation.

But that the House Democrats are going to drive toward a vote on one or more articles of impeachment seems, to me, predestined. The animal need for House members to be on television combined with the already accelerating race for the Democratic presidential nomination guarantees that one dynamic will feed off the other as surely hurricanes do over warm ocean water. The big blowoff is coming. It will last months and months.

And, in the end, there is this, from Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution: The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present.

So put together in your head a list of the 20 Republican senators likely to vote to convict and remove the president on the basis of what is known right now, for assuming a lockstep Democratic caucus, it would take all 47 Democrats and Independents plus 20 members of the GOP caucus.

It is not an impossible set of circumstances to foresee, only an extremely unlikely one -- not least because of the acquittal of President Bill Clinton, whom very few serious people deny did indeed lie under oath, and whose other misdeeds seem larger, not smaller, from this side of the #MeToo moment. The precedent of Clintons acquittal is Trumps greatest shield. The hard political lessons Republicans learned along the way -- especially during the 1998 midterm elections, which saw the Democrats pick up five House seats after a year of GOP attacks on Clinton (no change occurred in the Senate) -- should also caution the Democrats.

But it wont. The difference now is the militarized industrial news complex that simply must be fed. It will gorge itself on impeachment. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., the incoming chairman of the Judiciary Committee, will be the new Peter Rodino for those old enough to recall the Nixon impeachment drama. Rudy Giuliani will be reprising the role played by James Carville in the Clinton impeachment drama, going after critics and prosecutors of Trump the way the Ragin' Cajun went after independent counsel Kenneth Starr and team.

It will be a ratings bonanza. Who likes ratings bonanzas? Who can command the media -- or any particular outlet -- and appear on 10 minutes notice? Who, in short, might learn to love the process? Trump, of course. It isnt a normal presidency seeking normal historical achievements. He already has some of those in his massive tax cut, his two justices on the Supreme Court, a much-needed military rebuild and a new realism regarding China. This president can look at his markers already down on the table and actually come to relish the battle.

Dont be surprised. Be prepared.A Tompkins County man has been charged with three violations of state Environmental Conservation Law after he shot an adult bald eagle Saturday, using deer carcasses as bait.

The DEC said Donald N. Mix, of Caroline, N.Y. shot the protected bird in the Town of Caroline. Bald eagles are listed as a "threatened species" in New York.

According to the DEC, Environmental Conservation Officer Ozzie Eisenberg responded to a complaint Saturday from a town resident who "who heard a shot and then spotted a large bird round in a nearby field."

The conservation officer found a dead adult bald eagle at the scene, and "a subsequent interview with a neighbor revealed that the man had placed deer carcasses in the field to shoot coyotes and turkey vultures, another protected species." It is legal to shoot coyotes over bait. Read more about hunting coyotes.

According to the complainant, the neighbor found the eagle "still breathing slowly," and was with the bird as it died while she awaited the DEC officer's arrival.

The DEC said Mix "thought the bird was a turkey vulture and was unaware that he had killed a threatened bald eagle."

The man is due to return to Town of Caroline Court on Jan. 22.

According to the DEC, Mix faces the following charges and penalties:

Illegal taking of protected wildlife ECL 11-0107 (1) - "No person shall, at any time of the year, pursue, take, wound or kill in any manner, number or quantity, any fish protected by law, game, protected wildlife, shellfish, harbor seals, crustacea protected by law, or protected insects, except as permitted by the Fish and Wildlife Law."

The fines and punishment can range from up to $250 and up to 15 days in jail or both.

Illegal taking of wild birds ECL 11-0901 (9) - "No protected wild bird for which no open season is established by law or fixed by regulation shall be taken."

The fines and punishment can range from up to $250 and up to 15 days in jail or both.

Illegal taking of a bald eagle ECL 11-0537 - "It shall be unlawful to knowingly or with wanton disregard for the consequences of this act to take, possess, sell, purchase, barter, offer to sell, purchase or barter, transport, export or import, at any time or in any manner, any bald eagle commonly known as the American eagle, or any golden eagle, alive or dead, or any part, nest, or egg thereof of the foregoing eagles without a permit from a lawful authority. "

The fines and punishment can range from, in the case of a first violation, up to $5,000 and up to 90 days in jail or both.

For more Upstate New York outdoors on Facebook, go to Upstate NY Outdoors on NYup.com. We'd appreciate a "like."ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  Whenever Brittany Hawley went to class, her loyal service dog Griffin was there. If she needed her cell phone, Griffin would fetch it. Even when she assisted patients as part of an internship, Griffin was there helping out as well.

So it's only fitting that when Hawley was honored for receiving her master's degree in occupational therapy from Clarkson University over the weekend, Griffin was once again at her side  with an honorary diploma of his own.

"I pushed for him to graduate from Day One," Hawley said Monday. "He did everything I did."

The board of trustees of the Potsdam, New York, school honored the 4-year-old golden retriever at a recognition ceremony Saturday, saying he demonstrated "extraordinary effort, steadfast commitment and diligent dedication to the well-being and student success" of Hawley.

Hawley, 25, of Wilson, North Carolina, uses a wheelchair and has chronic pain. She said Griffin does a wide range of physical tasks for her including opening doors, turning on lights and bringing her items she indicates with a laser pointer. But perhaps more important is the comfort the dog provides amid her relentless, severe pain that causes anxiety and depression.

Hawley got Griffin through "paws4prisons," a program that teaches inmates at West Virginia prisons to train and place high-level assistance dogs.

"The inmates allow many dogs to come up to you and let the dog choose you," Hawley said. "Some dogs were scared of the wheelchair. Griffin jumped right into my lap and licked me across the face."

"Griffin" Hawley, the Golden Retriever service dog, is presented an honorary diploma by Clarkson University President Tony Collins, left, during the Clarkson University "December Recognition Ceremony" in Potsdam, N.Y., Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. Griffin's owner, Brittany Hawley, in wheelchair, also received a graduate degree in Occupational Therapy. Both attended 100% of their classes together. (AP Photo/Steve Jacobs)AP

Hawley and Griffin worked at Fort Bragg in North Carolina during an internship, helping soldiers with mobility impairments as well as psycho-social disorders. Brushing a dog can help improve a patient's range of motion, and stroking him helps ease anxiety, Hawley said.

"My patients would say, 'My therapist today is Brittany and Griffin,'" she said.

When she applies for jobs, she and Griffin will be a package deal, Hawley said.

I couldnt participate in anything without him, she said. Im so used to him being there.Amherst, N.Y.  Amherst looks good for 200 years old, according to Money magazine.

The publication said Erie County's largest suburb is the best place to live in New York state.

Money selected Amherst  which is celebrating its 200th birthday this year  along with one community from each of the other 49 states.

The publication started by narrowing the list to 583 towns, villages or cities by only considering communities with populations of 50,000 or more, low crime rates, high median household incomes and ethnic diversity.

Money finalized the list by scrutinizing education levels, cost of living, the local economy, housing, amenities, commute times and other factors.

The publication said it regularly compiles lists of the 50 best places to live in the United States, but those rankings often double or triple up on some states and leave others unaccounted for.

Money this year decided to curate a list that would include one location from every state. The final version is heavy on small cities and large suburbs because Money does a separate ranking of best large cities to live in.

Money's website calls Amherst a "hub for students" boasting "plenty of history."

The post notes the critical mass of colleges, including the University at Buffalo and Erie Community College's North Campus; the town's proximity to Buffalo and Canada; and historical venues such as the Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village, known for a collection of objects that trace back before the Revolutionary War.

According to Money, Amherst has a population of 126,096, median household income of $74,631 and median list price for a home of $270,000.

Amherst used to tout its ranking at, or near, the top of the list of safest cities in America in the 1990s and 2000s when that ranking was produced by Money and, later, the Morgan Quitno Corp.

In a statement, Supervisor Brian Kulpa said the newest national honor recognizes the town's attractive features.

"We have many cultural, educational, and business components that make Amherst a vibrant, diverse and safe community to live in," he said.

-- Stephen T. Watson, The Buffalo News, N.Y.The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) today moved an adjournment motion to abolish the executive presidency claiming that a majority of the people of the country were in favour of doing so.

JVP MP Nalinda Jayatissa moved the adjournment motion, while JVP MP Vijitha Herath seconded it.

MP Herath said it was the executive presidency which led the country into instability during the last 50 days and added that it provided ample opportunity for the people to realize the danger of the executive presidency.

He said all the presidents in the past had promised to abolish the executive presidency since it was introduced and urged everyone to get together and pass 20A disregarding whoever brought it.

Dont defeat it just because it was brought by the JVP. This is for the benefit of all of us. Let us pass this two-thirds majority and go for a referendum for peoples approval, he said.

He said President Maithripala Sirisena, who promised to abolish executive presidency was now talking about scrapping provisions of the 19th Amendment which removed extreme powers of the presidency.

MP Vijitha Herath, who seconded it, said even former president Mahinda Rajapaksa would be able to become the Prime Minister if he supported the 20A as the present Constitution has no provisions for him to become the President.

Speaking during the debate, UNP MP Malik Samarawickrema said the UNP would support the motion and urged other parliamentarians to join them to do so. |Mr. Samarawickrama said the happenings of last 51 days have made it clear that the concentrating of power in one office is a recipe for disaster. \abolishing Executive Presidency is a cornerstone of the policy of UNF manifesto of 2015. Late Venerable Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera was also of the opinion that the Executive Presidency would be abolished. It is time we kept this promise, he said.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) both expressed their support for the motion. (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)Did you know that Microsoft doesn't back up your 365 data? Avoid data loss. Back up your company's Office 365 mailboxes, Teams, and files stored within OneDrive and Sharepoint. Get your free trial of Altaro Office 365 Backup.

The reasons behind Apples fight against Qualcomm seem as poorly founded as President Trumps reasons for wanting a wall. Pretty much everyone who understands walls  including China, which has the biggest  knows they dont really work. Unless you can afford to man the thing, people will find ways over or under it.

With ever-bigger drones in development, it likely would be a matter of months before someone figured out how to build human-carrying drones to fly over en masse (or they could just buy, or more likely rent, one of these).

So why does Trump really want a wall? It likely is because it would be called Trumps Wall and it could be seen from space. It effectively would be a lasting monument to Trump  you know, the guy who puts his name on all his properties and has to be written into any movie shot on one.

Apple recently was blocked from selling the prior generation of iPhones in China for violating two patents that will be almost impossible to work around. Perhaps taking a page from President Trumps book, the company did argue that it already had done that  but anyone can pick up a new iPhone and see that, ah, no it hadnt.

If you look into the case, youll find the only reason Apples new phones arent blocked too is because they didnt exist when Qualcomm filed its complaint. Apparently you cant file a complaint about a theft before that theft actually occurs, even if it obviously is about to. That seems so last century. Suddenly the movie Minority Report comes to mind Anyway, Qualcomm has moved to fix that. Not that it really matters because, apparently, you cant give an iPhone away in China at the moment.

Ill examine Apple vs. Qualcomm and close with my product of the week: the Fossil Sport Smartwatch.

Why Apple Hates Qualcomm

Building Trumps wall as a solution to unlawful immigration doesnt make sense, given that it wouldnt work. Similarly, Apples stated reason for going after Qualcomm for overcharging makes no sense. If Apple were being impacted adversely by Qualcomm overcharges, it wouldnt have been first to a trillion-dollar valuation (that didnt last long). In a market where the margins are typically 17 percent, it wouldnt have whopping 42 percent margins.

Im reminded of the old joke about the guy being pulled over for speeding saying, Officer, I wasnt speeding  but I passed a guy a few miles back who was! Most companies in the telecom industry are fine with letting Qualcomm develop the infrastructure so they can focus on differentiating to customers.

Qualcomms 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G cadence, plus advances in things like imaging and music, ensures that smartphone users have to upgrade their phones at least every 10 years which ensures revenue (and this is an industry that lives on phone churn). Qualcomm is a good deal of the engine that makes everyone, including Apple, money.

So why would Apple hate Qualcomm so much that it wants to put the firm out of business? Its because Apple uses a lock-in strategy, where once on an Apple platform it is painful to get off. Most of the smart Apple iPhone users I know actually use Google apps and Googles infrastructure and other third-party tools on their iPhones, so if they want to move to an Android phone they can move almost seamlessly. However, this always assumes there is an Android phone to move too.

Since Qualcomm ensures that almost anyone can build a decent smartphone, Apple wants to kill the company. That way, Apples competitors wouldnt benefit from Qualcomms technology. Or, put differently, since Qualcomms technology raises all boats, and Apple wants to be the only boat, it wants Qualcomm gone.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Why It Wont Work

There are two big reasons why Apples strategy is stupid. One is that firms that have gone down this lock-in path typically have tended to abuse their power and mine their users for money. Apple clearly is doing this already, and the proof is that whopping 42 percent margin in a 17 percent margin market.

Apple is milking its users for nearly 3x the profit as any other firm. That, by any measure, is excessive, and the company doesnt even have full lock-in yet. Although you may be willing to pay more for a smartphone than a laptop (which makes no sense to me, by the way) will you be willing to spend for a smartphone than a car? That seems doubtful, particularly when vendors that have this kind of dominance dont spend money to advance their products.

Remember Microsofts Internet Explorer? It had something like 94 percent share, but then stopped developing the product. Today IE is pretty much dead, and the browser is largely owned by Google.

The other reason this wont work is antitrust laws. Standard Oil, RCA and AT&T, all once dominant, are now gone. (Todays AT&T is a different company with the same name.) Governments dont like companies to gain that kind of power, and they appear to be really good at putting those firms out of business.

So, even if Apple got to where it wants to go, it would be screwed. It already faces a challenge in the Supreme Court (the U.S. Department of Justice is the plaintiff) which looks really bad for the company.

Why This Likely Will Get Worse for Apple

The last two companies to get rid of their lock-in strategies were IBM and Microsoft. Lock-in very nearly put IBM out of business while I worked there, and when I wrote the internal paper on why IBM fell, that was one of the primary causes.

IBM had taken its eye off the goal of pleasing customers and instead put it on ever more-creative ways to gouge those customers for money. Those customers eventually revolted, and the trauma to IBM was almost fatal. The firm never wants to make that mistake again and now is a huge open source champion.

Microsofts experience was with governments and regulation. Its lock-in resulted in some historically high fines, running in the billions of dollars, and almost got the firm broken up. It was such a nightmare that the companys iconic CEO, Bill Gates, stepped down. It helped cripple the company for nearly a decade.

Microsoft too is now a huge fan of interoperability and open source, realizing it is better to give customers a choice  and focus on being the best choice  than it is to lock in customers and force them to buy increasingly inferior offerings, while mining them for money.

Ironically, Microsoft passed Apple in valuation with this strategy (and arguably is the better investment), so the company rightfully loves it (and given it is really customer-friendly, we should as well).

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Further on this Microsoft vs. Apple comparison, if you read the article I linked to in the above paragraph, youll see that Apple has a Supreme Court problem in the U.S. for abusing its lock-in power and overcharging in its app store. The Microsoft connection is that this isnt that dissimilar, with regard to exposure, as what Microsoft faced with the DoJ, and it didnt seem to take that risk seriously enough either.

Speaking of not taking governments seriously, apparently Apple is completely ignoring the Chinese ban. This is arguably worse than Microsoft saying the U.S. Attorney General didnt matter, because as a U.S. company Microsoft is protected under the Constitution (First Amendment).

Apple is a U.S. company ignoring Chinese laws, and China isnt exactly known for tolerating open defiance. Basically, Apple appears to be saying though its actions that in China, the Chinese courts arent the boss of them. I really dont think that will end well.

Wrapping Up

I think Apple is out of control, and that its efforts to try to corner the market on smartphones wont work. If they did, the result would be incredibly damaging to the company. Luck isnt with Apple either, with its products being boycotted in China on top of the injunction, and with the Supreme Court trial pitting it against the US DoJ. (If the DoJ should win, it would open the floodgates for state and foreign government cases, much like what happened to Microsoft, with potential damages that collectively could be in the high billions.)

Apple really need to get back to its knitting and stop acting as though it is above the law. Other firms in its place had to learn the hard way, and most of them no longer exist, even though they once owned their collective markets. I dont know about you, but I really get tired of watching highly paid executives behave badly.

I included this product in my buying guide a couple of weeks ago, and Ive now been wearing this Fossil Sport Smartwatch for more than a month. This is really the first smartwatch that deserved to have watch in its name.

Fossil Sport Smartwatches  click image to enlarge 

Watches once were status symbols that provided instant time and were more like jewelry. Most smartwatches (and I maintain the Apple Watch is a wearable computer not a watch at all) have blacked out screens most of the time.

The Fossil Sport Smartwatch uses the new Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform which focused on making a smartwatch a watch. This means you can leave the display active and still get a full days battery life. It will work longer than a day in a pinch, but it will go into low power mode, so it can keep working to go the distance.

Typical feature sets include music control on your phone, vibrate on ring (it automatically turns off the ringer on your phone when it is on your wrist) which has saved me being embarrassed several times, heart rate monitor, steps, Noonlight (kind of like OnStar for people), and the typical hose of Google Wear apps.

Good luck getting one of these things, though, as theyve been sold out for the last several weeks. It prices out at around US$250, which isnt bad given the similar Mont Blanc watch is about 4x that and pretty much does the same stuff. This is the best smartwatch Ive had so far, and it is a natural for my product of the week.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECT News Network.Back in May, Facebook announced it would release a so-called Clear History feature, which are a set of controls that give users more ample control over their privacy. At the time, Facebook said it will arrive in a matter of months. It's been more than half a year, and that feature is still nowhere to be found.

Now, the company confirms Clear History is going to take a longer time in the development stage. David Baser, head of Facebook's newly created privacy product team, says it's going to be available in early 2019  but only for "testing."

"It's taking longer than we initially had thought," Baser admits to Recode. "We did underestimate how long [this] would take," he added, and that Facebook will "deliver the product for testing by spring of 2019."

Facebook And Privacy

Product delays aren't uncommon in the tech industry, of course. In fact, a lot of projects even get canceled altogether while still in the pipeline. In that regard, a delay doesn't seem that severe.

Facebook, however, has been harshly criticized for its stance on privacy, even more so its seemingly lackluster performance when it comes to protecting users' data. The recent Cambridge Analytica scandal comes to mind. The trouble with Russian agents meddling with the U.S. election through fake news, too.

So while product delays aren't a big deal, for Facebook, Clear History not launching on schedule is. For one, it signals that it might not be as serious about data privacy as it's letting on, and that's a huge no-no for a company already rife with accusations of invading on users' privacy.

Why Facebook's Clear History Feature Is Being Delayed

Baser explains that the delay is caused by a couple of technical challenges. Both are related to how Facebook stores user data on its servers.

Firstly, Facebook data is not always stored in the same way it's collected. When Facebook collects browsing data, Baser explains, that data set involves multiple parts, including personal identifying information, the website visited, and the timestamp for the collected data.

Sometimes, that data is stored in separate parts of Facebook's system. Consolidating them all to be cleared has been a challenge, according to Baser.

Secondly, Facebook currently stores browsing data by date and time instead of which user that data belongs to. That means it's hard to see all the browsing data linked to a single user. To remedy this, Facebook had to create a system where browsing data was categorized at the user level.

Simply put, clearing the data isn't the hard part. Finding it  all of it  is proving difficult.

But Facebook faces a bigger challenge ahead. It needs to explain to users that Clear History isn't the same as deleting history. That's right  the data doesn't actually get erased, just disassociated from the user once linked to it. The data is simply "de-identified," says Baser, meaning that while it's not tied to the user anymore, Facebook still has it on their servers.

Will that give rise to a potential scandal? Time will tell. Make sure to check back with Tech Times as we learn more about Clear History.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Although fireworks usually entertain humans, the same can't be said of animals, which have a better sense of hearing. For dog owners, Ford brings a kennel that cancels noise, perfect for New Year's celebrations.

The American car manufacturer recently announced a way to help calm anxious dogs during special events and occasions when loud noises are inevitable, such as parties and gatherings. Called Quiet Kennel, the dog house is equipped with a noise-cancelation technology usually found in the Fusion sedan and Edge crossover.

"Making sure dogs and their owners could enjoy a stress-free New Year's Eve seemed like the perfect application for our Active Noise Control system," Ford Europe brand content manager Lyn West said.

Dog House Features

The dog house poses the possibility that man's best friend can also stay around during events. The high-tech kennel has external microphones that absorb the loud noises and a sound system that technically opposes the noise.

What's more is that the dog house is partly made of cork, which will assist in keeping away loud sounds. A "sound-deadening material" is also embedded within the kennel's layers.

Minimalist Dog House

As for its design, it will not look like the typical kennel but it will sport rather a minimalist, modern, and even classic style that resembles an elegant furniture, which, as others pointed out, is not something usually seen in local pet stores.

It reportedly can house one dog, but two Chihuahuas may be able to squeeze inside. Ford's dog house has an automatic glass door and a hushed ventilation system. As much as the prototype sounds promising, the car company said that pet owners may have to wait for an unknown amount of time before they can get their hands on it.

Although Ford mentioned that one of the primary uses of the high-tech dog house is to appease dogs during fireworks display, it is unclear whether it will release the wonder product in time for New Year's Day. The noise-canceling kennel is part of Interventions, "that applies automotive know-how to help solve everyday problems."

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Time travel is possible, at least according to Caroline Mallary, a doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

In a paper published in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity, Mallary has proposed a new model for a time machine. This model does not need a negative mass exotic material and can be built using a rather simple construction.

Time Travel

For her study, the doctoral student looked into closed time-like curves or CTCs as well as the superluminal travel in a spacetime that is made up of naked line singularities known as "wires." Each of the wires can either be a straight-line or a ring singularity.

Mallary explained that parallel to this wire, "effective" superluminal travel is possible, as the wire could serve as a shortcut between distant regions of spacetime.

"Our purpose in presenting the superluminal aspects of the wire is to dispel the commonly held view that explicit WEC violation is necessary for effective superluminal travel, whereas in truth the strictures against superluminal travel are more complicated," Mallary wrote in her study. "We also demonstrate how the existence of such "wires" could create CTCs."

What Are CTCs

Co-author of the study Gaurav Khanna, professor of physics at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, describes closed time-like curves. Otherwise known as time machines, CTCs are a "byproduct of effective faster-than-light travel schemes."

Citing Einstein's general theory of relativity, Khanna said while traveling along a time loop, which is a result of warping time to a high degree it folds upon itself, one would wind up at a time in the past at some point. Then they would start to feel like being back to the exact moment or having some sort of deja vu,

How To Build The Time Machine Based On Mallary's Model

Mallary suggests that the time machine could come in a simple design. Her new model is made up of two super long cars parked in parallel that have positive mass and not built of exotic materials. She was able to demonstrate that in this setup, there is a time loop in the space between these two cars.

However, here's the catch: to build the time machine based on Mallary's new model, the center of each car must have "infinite density," meaning they should have "singularities" or objects with infinite density, temperature, and pressure.

Khanna pointed out that even physicists such as himself don't think these objects could exist in nature. This means time travel, although possible, is not happening just yet.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.On Monday, Dec. 17, SpaceIL, a nonprofit organization from Israel, suspended the launch of what would be the first private spacecraft to land on the moon.

SpaceIL Suspends December Launch

Officials from the organization, together with its project partner, the Israel Aerospace Industry, announced that "Beresheet" (or Genesis) will instead lift off in Cape Canaveral, Florida in February. SpaceX's Falcon rocket will propel the lander in Florida.

SpaceIL said it has no control over the delay. Officials said that SpaceX moved the launch without explanation. The lunar lander was initially scheduled to lift off later this month.

On Monday, officials also presented a time capsule that will fly onboard the lander. The capsule holds pictures of the Israeli public, drawings by Israeli children, and other national memorabilia. The capsule also has stories from Holocaust survivors.

"We hope that far in the future, when travel to the moon is as common as trans-Atlantic travel, that children will be able to understand the lives of their Israeli ancestors through this archive on the moon," stated SpaceIL cofounder Yonatan Winetraub.

Israel's Lunar Ambition

Aside from becoming the first spacecraft from a private corporation to land on the moon, "Beresheet" will also be Israel's first-time to venture into Earth's natural satellite. With February's launch, Israel will become the fourth country after the United States, Russia, and China to reach the moon.

It would take two months for the $88-million spacecraft before it arrives in its destination.

Upon arrival, SpaceIL said that the first thing that the "Beresheet" will do is to take photos and videos of its landing site. It will also immediately measure the moon's magnetic field and beam back data to ground control within two days.

The mission is part of the Google Lunar XPRIZE, an international competition which challenged private companies to land a spacecraft on the moon. The competition, however, was scrapped when it became clear than none of the contestants will be able to make the March deadline.

However, SpaceIL vowed to continue the mission in the hopes of setting off the "Apollo effect" that will encourage the next generation of Israeli children to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.After saving a woman, 90, from a burning house in North Gyeongsang Province last year, a Sri Lankan migrant worker in South Korea has been awarded Permanent Residency (PR) status.

The Daegu Immigration Office will officially grant the status to Katabilla Ketiye Ge-Dara Nimal Siri at the office on Dec. 18, according to the Ministry of Justice on Sunday.

The decision was made on Dec. 13 when the ministry held a meeting for protection and improvement of human rights of foreigners. The committee decided unanimously to grant the status to the Sri Lankan, 38.

Nimal arrived in Korea on a work visa in 2013. The document expired after three years in September 2016, but he decided to stay. He did not want to go back to Sri Lanka where he could earn the equivalent of about 500,000 won ($440) a month, compared to 1.8 million won in Korea.

In February 2017, Nimal, working at an orchard in Goro-myeon district in Gunwi-gun County in the province, saved the woman from a nearby burning house.

He suffered second degree burns to his neck, wrists and head and a lung injury from inhaling toxic gas while saving the woman. He has been receiving medical treatment for the lung injury.

Nimal received attention not only from people in the neighborhood but also from business industry and the Korean central government.

In March that year, Uiseong Fire Station in the province awarded Nimal the LG Honor, an acknowledgement by major Korean major conglomerate LG Group of his courage and sacrifice, plus a 30 million won reward. He became the first foreigner to receive the award since it was introduced in 2015.

The following June, he was selected by a 15-member committee comprised of officials from the health and welfare, veterans' affairs and justice ministries, as well as lawyers and doctors, to be honored for reflecting the Protection of Persons Killed or Wounded for a Righteous Cause Act.

The committee picked him even though his legal stay status had expired.

In June 2018, the Daegu Immigration Office issued him a G-1 visa, allowing a temporary stay, so he could continue receiving medical treatment for injuries he had suffered during the rescue. The authority also canceled a 10 million won fine imposed for overstaying. (Korea Times)Malaika Favorite's art supplies were running low.

She didn't have canvases and had only a few tubes of paint, but she did have washboards. She'd collected them from her mother and friends' moms who'd trashed the grooved boards for washing machines.

"And I used what I had," Favorite says. "That's what I do as an artist. I started painting the washboards."

That was in the 1980s. Washboards have since become one of her main mediums, and her most recent pieces can be seen in a solo show, "Washboard City," through Jan. 20 at the West Baton Rouge Museum.

Favorite also is showing paintings in her exhibit, "Threads of Kindship," through Dec. 27 at Baton Rouge Gallery.

In West Baton Rouge, each washboard tells a story connected to Favorite, all inspired by the women she now sees as early entrepreneurs.

"People would drop off their laundry in bundles, and they paid my mother and these other women to wash and iron them," Favorite says. "And these women used the extra money they made to help their families."

But Favorite also knows these women didn't see themselves as business people at the time. The work was painful and hard, something even her own mother doesn't like remembering. But Favorite doesn't want to let these memories die, so she tells them through the very instruments that caused their misery.

The washboards represent strength to Favorite, the mainstay that survives through her "Washboard City" series.

Favorite also has found strength in the washboards. They began as a necessity and are now one of her artistic trademarks.

Her work has been featured in several books, as well as a number of notable collections, including the Absolut Vodka collection, The Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, Georgia; The Alexandria Museum of Art; The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta; the Harlsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport's permanent collection; and The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati. She also was honored as the 2018 recipient of the Michael Crespo Fellowship.

Can't see video below? Click here.

The West Baton Rouge Museum's show was a case of Favorite being in the right place at the right time. She stopped by the museum to show some of her latest washboards to Kathe Hambrick, curator of exhibits, who also is founder of the River Road African American Museum.

"When the staff there saw my work, they were interested," she says. "They wanted to show my washboards."

That's when Favorite asked Hambrick if the museum could spare a sheet of roofing tin.

"I like a corrugated surface," she says. "It has a folksy look."

Where To Go, What To Eat Each week we'll highlights the best eats and events in metro Baton Rouge. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

But that piece of tin meant something more to Favorite. It reminded her of the roof that sheltered her childhood home in Geismar, where her family worked in the sugar cane fields. She'd eventually leave that home to earn her bachelor's and master's degrees in fine art from LSU, then marry and move to Augusta after teaching at Alabama State University. She also taught part-time at LSU before moving back to Geismar, where she lives with her mom and works as a full-time artist.

They don't live in her childhood home that once stood on the River Road, but the town conjures memories that show up in her work.

The piece she created from the corrugated tin tells her story of home, incorporating several washboards, showing everyday life in what she calls "Washboard City."

The piece is the show's largest, as well as its namesake. Other pieces commemorate Ernest Gaines' character, Miss Jane Pittman; parents passing down stories to their children; and children helping parents with chores in "Momma's Helpers."

She incorporates her poem, "The River Flows Through Us," into her piece of the same title. The piece tells the story of how the Mississippi River sustained families along the River Road with fish and was an important source of transportation for produce exported from the South.

In "Washing Out Katrina," she tells the story of how, though the clean-up after Hurricane Katrina seemed endless, the storm and its aftermath could never wash away memory.

"It is etched on our souls like the grooves in a washboard," she writes.

And one of the show's most popular pieces is "Jazz Man," where she incorporates an old trumpet surrounded by geese that are flying away.

"I knew that the museum had a blues hall with a jukebox, so I wanted to include a piece about music," Favorite says.

Not all of her stories are joyous, however. Favorite has published three books of poetry, some of which tell tragic tales. And though she doesn't go into extreme detail in the descriptions for this exhibit, some pieces hint at hardship.

One washboard in particular, "Digging Up the South," uses old pottery shards found in the ground, suggesting forgotten people and times.

But Favorite won't let them be forgotten. She's dug up the memory of them and told their story on a washboard, whose grooves are etched on her soul.

'Malaika Favorite: Washboard City'

A solo, storytelling exhibit of the artist's multimedia washboards

WHEN: Through Jan. 20. Hours are 10 a.m.to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Closed Mondays and holidays.

WHERE: West Baton Rouge Museum, 845 N. Jefferson Ave., Port Allen.

ADMISSION: $4, adults; $2; seniors age 62 and older, students, AAA members and active military members. Residents of West Baton Rouge Parish and members of the West Baton Rouge Historical Association are admitted free. State tax is added to all ticket prices.

INFORMATION: Call (225) 336-2422 or visit westbatonrougemuseum.com.BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Louisiana's governor and attorney general are trading criticism and suggesting state legislation in the wake of a Texas federal judge's ruling that, if upheld, will jettison the entire federal health care overhaul.

Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, said the decision could eliminate insurance coverage for 480,000 people enrolled in Louisiana's Medicaid expansion program and 850,000 residents who are estimated to have pre-existing conditions.

He criticized Attorney General Jeff Landry for joining other Republican attorneys general in support of the Texas lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act. Edwards said the lawsuit creates uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana.

Texas judge's ruling to strike down Obama health law puts GOP in a quandary WASHINGTON (AP)  A federal judge's ruling that the Obama health law is unconstitutional has landed like a stink bomb among Republicans, who'v

"Being diagnosed with breast cancer or diabetes should not automatically mean that you are denied coverage to protect an insurance company's profits, and if you put in a full day's work, you should not be priced out of coverage," Edwards said in a statement. "This was a short-sighted lawsuit, to say the least."

Landry defended his decision to join the lawsuit, calling the health law an "unconstitutional federal overreach."

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

"For John Bel Edwards to say the only solution for health care is Obamacare shows he is more interested in playing politics than solving problems," Landry said in a statement Monday. "We can truly lower costs, improve health care access and cover pre-existing conditions if people set aside politics and work together."

Stephanie Grace: Ruling in Jeff Landry-backed health care lawsuit creates a mess Theres a saying for what a group of Republican officials from 20 states, including Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, just did by pursui

Edwards said he intends to seek state law changes to require coverage of people with pre-existing conditions, and Landry said he was talking with state lawmakers about the same idea.

The governor sent a letter Monday to Republican House Speaker Taylor Barras describing the legislation he'll support, which also would allow children to stay on their parents' health insurance until the age of 26 and restrict benefit limits for health coverage. Edwards said Rep. Chad Brown, a Democrat from Plaquemine, will sponsor the measure for consideration in the legislative session that starts in April.

Friday's ruling in the federal court in Texas isn't expected to take effect during the appeals process, with the federal health department saying it will continue administering and enforcing the law.ST. JAMES  For several years now, Brettaiene Celestin and many of her neighbors along River Road in western St. James Parish have been battling the encirclement of their Burton Street neighborhood with tank farms and the closure of their streets rear access to La. 3127.

Celestin said her family once owned some of the land where Burton Street ran and cant understand how the road was allowed to be shut off a few years ago without a plan for many of Burtons elderly and homebound residents to escape should a chemical incident occur.

How (are) you going to get them out, the 68-year-old asked during a recent interview at her home.

+3 Residents living on quaint country roads in St. James Parish pushing for evacuation routes VACHERIE  The St. James Parish Council hired a Gonzales engineering firm Wednesday to evaluate the possible alignments of a future evacuation

That concern and billions of dollars in new industrial projects poised to convert more of this rural area along the Mississippi River into an industrial zone interlaced with small, largely poor, black neighborhoods prompted parish leaders earlier this year to start pursuing a new, inland evacuation route away from the river.

The answer parish leaders recently got back were two routes north of Burton. Neither would be cheap to build.

GSA Consulting Engineers looked at six potential routes, including opening Burton back up, and settled on Park and Pierre streets to the north of the Burton neighborhood.

Extending and widening either one of the narrow, dead-end roads through cane fields and wetlands and over the Union Pacific Railroad line, oil and gas pipelines and the St. James Canal is estimated at more than $12 million, a GSA report says.

The feasibility study had targeted a more than 12-mile stretch of River Road between La. 3219 and La. 70 at the Sunshine Bridge. Both of those highways already reach La. 3127, a major, inland north-south highway parallel to River Road. But no other east-west roads inside the targeted zone offer available, public access to La. 3127.

Park Street passes by a parish park and community center while Pierre Street leads to a small clutch of homes owned by one family or their extended heirs. A representative of some of the family says they will consider selling. Both roads stop before broad expanses of agricultural land and frame the boundaries of the proposed $1.3 billion South Louisiana Methanol complex.

With the feasibility study's conclusions, Parish President Timmy Roussel said the parishs next step is to meet on Jan. 16 with area industry officials who have already committed to help build the road to see what they can offer. Roussel said he will then share those commitments with the Governor's Office and other state officials to see how the state could also help.

So we sit down with those guys, and we define it and we go from there," Roussel said.

He said the parish can't afford to pay for the future road in its entirety, though the parish is setting aside $100,000 in its 2019 budget for engineering of the new road the parish is now calling an "alternate access route."

Gov. John Bel Edwards said in an interview last week he had directed Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson; Jim Waskom, director of the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness; and Chuck Carr Brown, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Quality, to meet with parish officials about the route and to examine the alternatives. Edwards said the state has not made a commitment for funding because the state hasn't been asked for a specific amount yet.

"But it's something we'll be working on with them," the governor said.

The feasibility study's findings also come as community opposition has been stirred over a $9.4 billion industrial complex proposed by Formosa Chemical in the Welcome area, despite support from Edwards and parish leaders like Roussel and Formosa's promises to help with the evacuation route.

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

Some residents and environmentalists have filed an appeal of a key parish land use approval for Formosa. The Parish Council is set to hear the appeal 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Courthouse Annex in Vacherie.

In addition to the major chemical facilities headed to the area, the eastern terminus of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline, a controversial crude oil line that has sparked protest and litigation along its 162-mile route, ends near the Burton Street area.

In April, a state district court judge ordered the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources to require the pipeline owners to develop effective environmental protection and emergency or contingency plans in case of a spill or other disaster in area. The ruling remains on appeal and recently had a rehearing before a five-judge panel of the Louisiana 5th Circuit Court of Appeal.

DNR has allowed construction to continue during the appeal. Roussel has said that the lower court ruling wasn't another motivation for the alternate access route.

+8 Despite challenges in courtrooms and at work sites, construction on Bayou Bridge Pipeline rolls along After months of challenges, some in courtrooms and some at work sites, the Bayou Bridge Pipeline is expected to be completed on time.

Delivered to the Parish Council late last month, the GSA report details how the engineers went through other possible routes and found them less than satisfactory or not in line with the preferences of parish officials.

Although Park and Pierre streets are among the longest, at more than 4 miles, and most expensive options, they are also the most centrally located to the Welcome area, a wish of parish officials.

The shortest and cheapest route with the fewest pipeline and utilities conflicts is Minnie Street. Located between the Welcome community and the proposed Formosa site, that route would cost $6.95 million to build, GSA estimated. But Minnie Street is on the far northern end of the area being studied and is too far from the central location parish officials are seeking, the report found.

Two other centrally located roads, Burton and Freetown streets, would also be somewhat cheaper to build, the report found, but Burton has a major drainage ditch and pipeline running parallel to it that could limit its design.

The Freetown route has more than two dozen land parcels, most of them residential, that the parish would need to buy. Burton and Kingview streets would also require the purchase of a significant number of residential properties, the GSA report says.

In a recent interview, Celestin and a handful of other Burton Street residents were less than enthused about the parishs options, questioning how elderly residents who cant walk would able to reach an evacuation route about a mile away. Some suggested Burton should be extended too, though the cost would be an additional $8.75 million.

For Celestin, the final answer is a buyout of her community, despite the unfairness she sees in having to leave the place where she grew up and has always lived.

I would not leave this place, but this place now is leaving me, Celestin said.A Baton Rouge man who shot his then-girlfriend six times while she bathed, paralyzing her, claims the 45-year prison term he received last week is excessive and amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

Carl Thompson II's attorney, Mark Simmons, filed a motion Monday asking state District Judge Richard Anderson to reconsider the sentence.

+3 After he shot and paralyzed her, Baton Rouge woman forgives dad of her kids; he gets 45 years in prison A Baton Rouge man who left his then-girlfriend paralyzed after shooting her six times as she took a bath last year was sentenced Tuesday to 45

Thompson, 48, was convicted in August of attempted second-degree murder in the February 2017 shooting of Angela Gabriel, 43, at her Lake Lawford Court home.

Thompson, the father of Gabriel's two youngest children, faced a prison term of 10 to 50 years.

Gabriel, who is paralyzed from the chest down, said in court last week that she forgives Thompson and requested that Anderson be lenient on him. The East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office, however, asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence.

District Attorney Hillar Moore II said Tuesday the penalty Thompson received was "totally appropriate."

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

"We believe that Judge Anderson's sentence is sound," he said. "The judge articulated in great detail the reasons for his sentence which was supported by the facts."

Anderson noted that Thompson did render aid to Gabriel immediately after the shooting, which the judge said likely spared Thompson from a life prison term for murder.

Anderson also acknowledged that 45 years is a long time to spend behind bars but reminded Thompson that Gabriel, the mother of four children, is paralyzed for life. Thompson is the father of five children.

+9 'No hate in my heart': BR shooting survivor paralyzed, but seeks to inspire victims of domestic abuse Angela Gabriel recited the name and purpose of each pill as they were handed to her where she lay, slightly elevated, in her hospital bed. One

Thompson testified at his trial that he snapped and shot Gabriel during an argument over the use of a nasal aspirator on one of their children.

Gabriel testified that Thompson, after he stopped firing, said, "Look what you made me do, Angie!"

At the sentencing, Anderson said the crime was "completely senseless."Speaker Karu Jayasuriya is expected to give a ruling on Friday on the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire whether the MPs including Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, who obtained Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna (SLPP) membership, can remain in Parliament.

Speaker told the House that he would give a ruling on this matter when Government MP Rauff Hakeem and TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran requested that this matter be clarified.

This matter came up when House Leader Lakshman Kiriella asked whether those MPs who obtained the membership of the SLPP were entitled to remain as MPs in the House under Article 99(13) of the Constitution. Under Article 99(13) of the Constitution, a member ceases to be an MP when he leaves the party from which he contested and joins another political party. A member is able to seek redress from court only if is expelled from the party he belongs to, he said. There is no party called the UPFA as it is an alliance. The SLFP is a party which belongs to that alliance. Therefore when a member leaves the SLFP and joins another party which does not belong to the UPFA he will lose his seat."

Mr. Hakeem said the validity of the appointment of Mr. Rajapaksa as the Leader of Opposition and the MP posts of those who joined the SLPP must be clarified. We request the Speaker to suspend the appointment of the Opposition Leader and appoint a Select Committee to look into the validity of the parliamentary membership of those who have defected to the SLPP.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) member M.A. Sumanthiran also expressed similar views. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)Fired Baton Rouge Police officer Yuseff Hamadeh, who was found to have been untruthful about an August encounter where he shot at a fleeing motorist, believes he deserves his job back because the internal affairs investigation violated his rights.

Hamadeh's attorney alleges that when Hamadeh was given a polygraph examination during the internal affairs investigation, he was denied counsel and the questions were not recorded  two violations of the rights afforded to all law enforcement officers under investigation. Attorney Tommy Dewey, who represents Hamadeh, filed a motion for summary judgment, asking the civil service board to rule Hamadeh's termination invalid because of the procedural violations.

"As (state law) demands, officer Hamadeh's termination is an absolute nullity, since previously issued indiscipline/termination was rendered in conflict with the minimum standards set forth in the Police Officers Bill of Rights," the motion says. "Officer Hamadeh's termination is therefore improper and should be overturned."

+3 Fired Baton Rouge officer to appeal, stands by disputed claim he was shot at, attorney says Former Baton Rouge police officer Yuseff Hamadeh, who was fired last week after an investigation into an August shooting, will appeal that dec

Hamadeh was terminated after telling investigators that 21-year-old Raheem Howard first shot at him, prompting the officer to return fire after the Aug. 7 traffic stop. Howard was arrested on attempted murder of a police officer, but that case was later dropped when District Attorney Hillar Moore III said there was no evidence to support Hamadeh's account of the shooting.

Howard always contended he never had a gun or fired at the officer.

The Baton Rouge Police internal affairs investigation found evidence that only one shot was fired in the encounter, and it was from Hamadeh's gun. No other gun was recovered from the scene. No one was injured in the shooting.

Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul fired Hamadeh in October.

But Dewey claims the firing should be reversed, in the motion filed Thursday, and hopes the Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board will agree.

(A bill of rights) is important for everyone, whether it be a citizen or a police officer," Dewey said Monday in an interview. "Minimum standards must be adhered to so their rights can be protected.

Hamadeh had already appealed the termination, but Dewey said a ruling on these procedural issues would nix the need for a full appeal hearing. If the board agrees that Hamadeh's rights were violated in the investigation, his termination would be invalid.

Can't see video below? Click here.

The motion claims that on Aug. 28, about three weeks after the shooting, an internal affairs investigator contacted Dewey to have Hamadeh go to Louisiana State Police Headquarters for a polygraph examination. Dewey asked to be present during the polygraph examination, but said he was denied by the trooper administering the exam. The attorney also said that when he requested the documents from the polygraph, there was no recording or transcript of the examination.

"All interrogations must be recorded in full and a law enforcement officer is allowed assistance of counsel," the motion says.

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

+4 One shot or two? Witnesses dispute claim that driver fired gun at BR officer after traffic stop On this there's agreement: Raheem Howard fled from the traffic stop conducted by Baton Rouge police officer Yuseff Hamadeh on Aug. 7 about 6:3

The report of the polygraph was filed along with the motion. According to that report, the polygraph exam had only two questions, both of which asked, in different phrasing, if Hamadeh saw "that man point a gun at you before you shot at him?" Hamadeh answered 'Yes' to both questions, and no deception was indicated, the report says.

While the polygraph was administered by State Police, the motion says the polygraph exam was done "at the direction of Chief Paul."

Baton Rouge Police spokesman Sgt. Don Coppola Jr. declined to comment on pending civil service hearings.

The motion cites a similar case involving a fired City of Gonzales police officer, who was also given a polygraph test and also denied counsel and a recording of the questioning. In Miller v. City of Gonzales, the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2016 that they could not uphold the termination because of the violations of the officer's bill of rights.

Dewey would not say with certainty if Hamadeh would return to work at the capital city's police force if given that opportunity.

"I know he loves police work, so what he decides to do after, if he is given his job back, will be his decision to make at that time," Dewey said.

Ronald Haley Jr., the attorney for Howard, said he is worried about the possibility that Hamadeh returns to police work, an officer he called compromised and unsafe.

In late October, prosecutors started dismissing cases that relied on, or even involved, Hamadeh's testimony, including multiple felony cases. Hamadeh was also the officer in a different June 2017 shooting that followed a traffic stop, this one fatal. In that incident, police said Jordan Frazier, the passenger of the stopped vehicle, pointed a gun at officers while running away, and Hamadeh shot at him, killing him.

+2 District Attorney dismissing cases that hang on word of fired BRPD officer; at least 7 felonies dropped The East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office has started dismissing criminal cases that hang on the word of fired Baton Rouge police

"Im at a loss for words on how something this important, this high-profile, can potentially be undone by a critical error like this," Haley said Monday. "This should have been done under protocol, within the police officers bill of rights."

He said he doesn't understand how these technicalities were ever allowed to happen.

Im utterly disappointed," Haley said. "If they are true, I disagree that the entire disciplinary action should be upended by a mistake such as this, however, if the law says so."

The Municipal Police and Fire Civil Service Board has not set when it will rule on this motion.In a recent opinion article, Patrick Dobard, former superintendent of the Recovery School District and the current CEO of New Schools for New Advocate staff photo by HILARY SCHEINUK -- The Huey P. Long Bridge in North Baton Rouge servicing Highway 190, photographed Friday, Mar. 27, 2015. The Exxon Refinery can be seen at top right.Theres a saying for what a group of Republican officials from 20 states, including Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, just did by pursuing a lawsuit that has now plunged the entire American health care system into uncertainty. Actually, there are several.

You could say that this group is the proverbial dog that caught the car, when really the whole point of the exercise was the chase  in this case, the long-running political crusade against the Affordable Care Act.

You could also echo what Gen. Colin Powell said after the U.S. went into Iraq and took out Saddam Hussein: You break it, you own it.

After federal judge ruled on Affordable Care Act, Louisiana leaders exchange barbs over decision BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Louisiana's governor and attorney general are trading criticism and suggesting state legislation in the wake of a Texa

In a shocking Friday night ruling, a federal judge in Texas went even further than what the sympathetic Trump administration, which took the highly unusual position of refusing to defend a federal law passed under the prior president, had expected. Judge Reed OConnor not only agreed with the plaintiffs that Congresss all-Republican vote to eliminate tax penalties on those who dont carry health insurance invalidates popular provisions such as protections for people with pre-existing conditions. He also said the entire Obamacare law cannot stand.

Technically, the systems not broken yet, and legal experts from across the political spectrum quickly scoffed at the judges expansive argument and predicted an eventual reversal, although you can never be sure. Regardless, the future trip through the New Orleans-based appeals court and ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court could take years.

That doesnt mean whats already happened isnt bad.

Its bad for business, specifically the insurance and medical industries, which cannot plan for the future amid extreme uncertainty.

Its bad for patients who rely upon these protections, obviously. That includes people with pre-existing conditions who now buy their own insurance or might need to in the future, young adults kids who can now stay on their parents policies until theyre 26, people who use essential benefits such as mental health and pregnancy coverage, and anyone on Medicaid expansion, a program so popular that voters in three conservative states just approved referenda to opt in.

And ironically, its terrible for the politics of the people who supported the suit in the first place  even if theyre the last to realize that the tide has turned, that the fear they long sowed has subsided, and that Americans in red states, as well as blue, have come to rely upon the laws consumer protections.

Indeed, the rhetoric from those celebrating the laws possible demise is stuck firmly in 2010.

There was this from Louisiana U.S. Rep. and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise: While Democrats may have won the House by running a fear-mongering campaign, unfortunately their reckless legislating has not proven to be as effective for the American people who have to live under this failed system.

And this from President Donald Trumps Twitter feed: As I predicted all along, Obamacare has been struck down as an UNCONSTITUTIONAL disaster! Now Congress must pass a STRONG law that provides GREAT health care and protects pre-existing conditions.

And that, of course, is where all of this breaks down. Congress had a chance to repeal and replace the law, and it didnt. While Scalise claims that the version of repeal that the House passed took care of people with pre-existing conditions, fact-checkers agreed that the benefits fell far short of the existing protections. And the uprising over the proposed changes not only set the stage for Senate defeat, but made it clear that politicians go after these benefits at their peril. Indeed, the existence of the lawsuit itself became a potent issue for Democrats during the recent midterm elections.

Yet Landry and others are promising that they can work all of this out, that states will come up with policies to somehow make everything OK. Republican Louisiana lawmakers who supported Landrys involvement over the furious objection of Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards have backed him up but offered no specifics on how theyd do it. Congresss failure and the herculean effort it took over the last three years for Louisianas lawmakers to simply keep government funded don't exactly inspire confidence that there's a painless way out of this mess.

They now have to go through the motions of trying, though, and for that, they can thank their own attorney general. Probably through gritted teeth.Dont look now, but Medicaid expansion could be a big issue in the next governors race. Just like last time.

Well, not exactly like last time. In 2015, every major candidate, Democrat and Republican, promised to reverse outgoing Gov. Bobby Jindals refusal to enact this portion of the Affordable Care Act. At stake was health coverage for hundreds of thousands of low-wage Louisiana workers, with a minimum of 90 percent of the cost picked up by the federal government. Democrat John Bel Edwards was the most enthusiastic of the bunch, and set the wheels in motion as soon as he took office. Today, 481,500 Louisianans have insurance under the program.

Stephanie Grace: Ruling in Jeff Landry-backed health care lawsuit creates a mess Theres a saying for what a group of Republican officials from 20 states, including Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, just did by pursui

But this settled matter suddenly became unsettled Friday night, when a Texas federal judge threw out the entire health care law, Medicaid expansion included. Among the plaintiffs in the case was Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry, who joined officials from 19 other states over Edwards strenuous objections.

Medicaid expansion wasnt even the suits real target. The legal action centered on other, equally or even more popular provisions such as guaranteed coverage for people with pre-existing conditions at reasonable rates. But Judge Reed OConnor saw fit to not just rule on that matter but to declare the whole ball of wax unconstitutional.

The status quo will remain until the case works its way through the appeal process, which could take several years. In the meantime, all sorts of health care questions are back in play. And that means theyll likely come up during next years gubernatorial campaign.

After federal judge ruled on Affordable Care Act, Louisiana leaders exchange barbs over decision BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Louisiana's governor and attorney general are trading criticism and suggesting state legislation in the wake of a Texa

We all know where Edwards stands on Medicaid expansion, but opponents Ralph Abraham and Eddie Rispone will now be asked as well. Moreover, all three probably need to come up with some sort of proposal to deal with the programs unlikely but possible loss.

This will be tricky. Nobody knows what Congress would do, and what options states would even have.

But we do know this much: If Landry and his fellow plaintiffs manage to convince the appeals court and even the U.S. Supreme Court theyre right, it will be a big problem for Louisianas governor  whoever that might be.The Berejiklian government has been accused of diverting money from the state's Climate Change Fund to cover projects unrelated to its original mandate.

According to its annual report for 2017-18, the fund drew revenue from customer electricity providers and Sydney Water totalling almost $293 million but spent only $181 million. Since 2012-13, the fund has collected about $456 million more than it has spent.

Hazard-reduction burning in the Blue Mountains in May 2018: Not what typically comes to mind when one things of 'climate change action'. Credit:Wolter Peeters

Although primarily set up to mitigate against climate change through reducing carbon emissions - including cutting demand for water and energy - the government has lately shifted the outlays it has been making towards vaguely climate-related activities, the NSW Nature Conservation Council says.

The council cited this year's annual report showing $33.7 million was allocated during the last fiscal year to the Biodiversity Conservation Trust, $32.2 million for Protected Area Management - such as the National Parks and Wildlife Service - and the $27.6 million spent on "enhanced bushfire management and hazard reduction".Fashion design graduate Amanda Nichols has worked for some of the biggest names in showbusiness, including Baz Luhrmann, George Miller and Hugh Jackman, but she's determined to shed her "costumier" label.

"I've been working in feature films for 10 years and it's been hard for me to transition [from costume to fashion]," Nichols, 35, said. "I've been making fashion garments for characters in film. I came home [to Sydney] from Paris about two years ago and decided it was time to go back to study."

Australian Fashion Foundation scholarship winners Helena Dong (left) and Amanda Nichols (right) with judges Simone (second left) and Nicky Zimmermann. Credit:Wolter Peeters

On Tuesday, Nichols and Helena Dong, both graduates of RMIT in Melbourne, were named winners of the 2018 Australian Fashion Foundation scholarships, which provides them each with $US20,000 ($27,880) to obtain overseas experience.

Nichols, whose scholarship application was based on Dior's "new look", said she hopes to intern at Balenciaga, which has already approached her, but eventually sees herself returning to Australia.Three years after the Paris Agreement was struck, we now finally know the rules  or most of them, at least  for its implementation.

The Paris Rulebook, agreed at the UN climate summit in Katowice, Poland, gives countries a common framework for reporting and reviewing progress towards their climate targets.

A participant in the UN climate summit in Katowice, Poland. Credit:AP

Yet the new rules fall short in one crucial area. While the world will now be able to see how much we are lagging behind on the necessary climate action, the rulebook offers little to compel countries to up their game to the level required.

The national pledges adopted in Paris are still woefully inadequate to meet the 1.5 or 2 global warming goals of the Paris Agreement. In the run-up to the Katowice talks, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a special report detailing the urgent need to accelerate climate policy. Yet the summit ran into trouble in its efforts to formally welcome the report, with delegates eventually agreeing to welcome its timely completion.A woman charged with the murder of her four-month-old niece after the infant died of injuries at a Queensland hospital will bid for her release from jail.

Sandra Leigh Houston, 35, from Logan, appeared in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Tuesday a month after the baby's death.

Her lawyer indicated she would apply for bail at a later date.

The baby girl was taken to Logan Hospital with life-threatening injuries last month before being transferred in a critical condition to Queensland Children's Hospital, where she died on November 20.A woman who escaped a low-security Brisbane women's correctional facility has given herself up days later at a police station 360 kilometres away.

Jade Hucman, 26, and fellow prisoner Chloe Peterson, 27, fled from Helana Jones Community Correctional Centre in Albion on Saturday night.

Jade Hucman (left) handed herself into police on Monday and Chloe Peterson remains on the loose. Credit:Queensland Police Service

Hucman surrendered to officers at Bundaberg Police Station on Monday and was charged with escaping lawful custody. She was due to appear in Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Peterson, who remains on the run, has been described as having an olive complexion, 160cm tall, with a large build, dark brown hair, brown eyes and tattoos on both arms and her right leg.This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 14 years and 30,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.The United National Party (UNP) Working Committee is likely to approve the resolution to form the Democratic National Front (NDF) in alliance with like-minded parties, UNP General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said yesterday.

He said the party would on Friday refer the matter to the Working Committee for approval.

Along with the UNP, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC), the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) and the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) will be parties to this alliance while a group of the SLFP MPs will also be accommodated in it.

On Monday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced he would propose the formation of the NDF. (Kelum Bandara)"It's a time of the year when weve got a lot of social functions and parties going on ... theres alcohol consumption, people are intoxicated and we tend to see a bit of a rise over this period relating back to those type of functions," he said. We know that perpetrators are opportunistic and take advantage of vulnerable victims including those who may be heavily intoxicated and incapacitated by their own actions." Victoria Police are running a week-long social media campaign in a bid to encourage victims to come forward and bystanders to intervene if they see someone being assaulted. Loading The video campaign aims to bust common myths and misconceptions about sexual offences before end-of-year celebrations.

Each video dispels a common misconception including that "people who are alcohol affected are responsible for their own sexual assault" and "they could have prevented the sexual assault by drinking less". "When people are heavily intoxicated they cant ever consent, so the message we want to get out there is that sexual assault is never, ever the victim's fault and that if they report to us, they will be believed and we will take action where we can," Detective Senior Sergeant Bentley said. "Another major misconception around sexual assault is that its this unknown person who comes out of nowhere in a dark alley and while there are those types of offending, a lot of our offences are committed by people the victims know and trust." He said the process of reporting a sexual assault could also be complicated when the victim knows the perpetrator. "They are often fearful of how it will further impact them and the people around them," he said.

"It's a breach of their lives and its really, really difficult for people to build up the courage to come forward." But Detective Senior Sergeant Bentley said the key to preventing sexual assaults lay in changing community perceptions. "We need to generate a culture where it's OK to intervene. When you see vulnerable person at a bar, maybe theyve had a bit too much to drink, go over and ask them if theyre all right," he said. "If you see somebody stumbling out to a taxi or being ushered into a taxi by somebody, go and ask them 'do you know where you are going? Do you know this person?' You could prevent a sexual assault and the harm and devastation that comes with it." Detective Senior Sergeant Bentley said SOCIT had more than 450 dedicated investigators across the state, who were trained to investigate sexual offending and provided support to victims.

Eva now struggles with post traumatic stress disorder and is at times struck down by crippling anxiety attacks. "It's the hyper awareness I struggle with most," she says. "You become afraid of everything. Its like when you get into a car and you dont really think about how dangerous it is ... even though there is always this chance you might have an accident. Your sense of safety is taken from you." But she said reporting her assault to police also allowed her to regain lost power and control. "You didn't choose for that person to commit that crime against you- but you can choose to reach out and get the help that you need to get on with your life," she said. "Getting support, being believed and moving forward actually gave me some of my power back. You didnt choose to become a victim of sexual assault but you can choose not to be a victim alone."Paul Costa was in a designer suit and ready for what his family thought was a date.

"He put on a beautiful suit, new shoes and we thought he had an appointment with a lovely girl because he said 'Mum, do I look good?' And she said 'Yeah'," Paul's father, Alessandro, recalled as he blinked back tears outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

That night could have been anything for Mr Costa.

Paul Costa was killed by strangers who wanted to use his 4WD in a robbery.

Instead, as the 43-year-old father of four sat in his red Nissan Patrol outside a mate's Brunswick West house about 9.45pm after agreeing to give his friend a lift, five youths jumped into his vehicle.That growth was fuelled in part by doctors seeking a safer alternative to opioids; Pfizer initially said Lyrica was not addictive, a claim that now appears to be wrong. An investigation by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald can reveal: In Victoria, there were 164 overdose deaths linked to the drug between 2013 and 2017, according to coronial data

There have been 88 pregabalin-associated deaths in NSW since 2005, increasing at almost 60 per cent a year

Health authorities have records of six suicides of patients taking the drug

86,000 Australians who have been prescribed the drug appear to be abusing it, according to one study. Yet many doctors consider it a safe medicine to replace opiates.

Pregabalins officially-listed side-effects include depression, blurred vision, confusion, and suicidal thoughts. Yet it is often given to people who have depression or a history of self-harm.

Pregabalins use exploded after it was approved as a treatment for nerve pain. But later studies now have some experts fearing it may not work at all for as many as half the conditions it is being prescribed for. Addiction and abuse One of the first things Jacob Williams did after leaving jail was to see his GP for a Lyrica prescription.

Inside, his mother says, Lyrica is kept to low doses to stop prisoners abusing the drug. But within a week of getting out, Mr Williams, 39, had a script for 300mg. Doctors often prescribe it for back pain, which Mr Williams had. Like many addicts, Mr Williams abused pregabalin because of its ecstasy-like high, but also because it significantly increases the power of opiates, when consumed together. On April 8 last year, his partner heard him gurgle, and then stop breathing.

An autopsy later found a cocktail of drugs in his system, including potentially toxic levels of opiates and pregabalin. "The Lyrica was supplied to him by a doctor," his mother Jules Perrett said. Jules Perrett lost a son, Jacob. She blames the back-pain drug Lyrica. Credit:Paul Harris "He would take so much he had no idea as to what day it was let alone what he was doing. It did nothing for his nerve pain. "This drug is dangerous when taken correctly and lethal when given to someone who suffers from substance abuse."

In the emergency department of the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, toxicologist Dr Katherine Isoardi sees pregabalin overdose cases come stumbling in - or wheeled in, comatose. Others are having seizures. More come every day, she says. Its got so much abuse potential. Were seeing people who are taking deliberate overdoses to harm themselves, but also people who are taking recreational doses to try to get high, she says. Many people who come through show clear signs of mental health issues and self-harm, she says. Dr Isoardi cannot understand why they keep being given pregabalin prescriptions. Toxicologist Dr Katherine Isoardi at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. Credit:Paul Harris A lot of people think of it as a safe option. And I dont think they appreciate you get tolerant, you get addicted, and it gets abused.

When Pfizer launched Lyrica in Australia, it said the drug was likely not addictive because it did not bind to known opiate receptors. It is becoming clear that is wrong. Lyrica is addictive - and that addiction can be deadly. Almost half the pregabalin dispensed in Australia  two million scripts  is being used by just 15 per cent of the total group prescribed it, according to a study by the NSW Poisons Information Centre. This group of 86,000 appears to be abusing the drug. Three-quarters of these high-risk users were also prescribed opioids. A Canadian study, published in August, indicated pregabalin users had 1.7 times the risk of dying from an opioid overdose than opioid users alone  and high-dose users had 2.5 times the risk.

Between 2004 and 2016, there were 1158 reports of "intentional poisoning" - overdose - involving pregabalin made to the NSW Poisons Information Centre, increasing at 53.8 per cent a year. And ambulance attendances involving pregabalin jumped more than tenfold in Victoria from 2012, according to a paper published in November. It was initially promoted as having a low abuse potential, says Nicholas Buckley, a Professor of clinical pharmacology at the University of Sydney. "But the warning signs were there almost from the beginning. It was reported to cause euphoria as a side-effect - thats always a warning sign for abuse potential."

A spokesman for Pfizer acknowledged "post-marketing reports of substance misuse and abuse", but said the drug "does not bind to known targets of abuse such as opiate receptors". The drug had been demonstrated to be safe and effective, and was registered for use in more 130 countries, the spokesman said. They pointed to Health Department advice to doctors to vet patients for prior substance abuse before prescribing pregabalin. But this does not seem to be happening. Experts said doctors seemed unaware of how addictive the drug could be, or that it can be abused.

The study by the Poisons Centre, led by Dr Rose Cairns, found that two-thirds of people who overdosed already had a pre-existing history of substance abuse when their doctors prescribed them pregabalin. As early as 2014 the UKs national health service was warning doctors to be wary of pregabalin addiction and misuse. As early as 2005, the US made it a controlled substance. But in Australia Lyrica is a Schedule 4 drug, meaning it can be freely prescribed by doctors. "The TGA is finalising an investigation into the misuse of pregabalin in Australia, and will refer the issue to the Advisory Committee on Medicines, prior to implementing any regulatory action in Australia," a Health Department spokeswoman said. Suicide risk for some

Lyricas listed side-effects note that it doubles a patients risk of suicidal thinking or behaviour versus a placebo, to one case in every 530 people who use the medication. But almost 80 per cent of the overdose victims in Dr Cairnss study had been diagnosed with depression and 68 per cent had a history of suicidal thoughts. The Health Department has recorded seven suicide attempts, and six suicide deaths, suspected to be linked to pregabalin. Of the first 50 people who went on pregabalin at one Gold Coast pain clinic in 2013  just after the medicine had been added to the PBS  three reported the sudden onset of suicidal ideas. Tony Hall, a pharmacist at that clinic, had been giving out Lyrica for years - in much lower doses.

It was either suicidal ideation or extreme anger. The doses Pfizer wanted us to give were completely wrong. We start them on 25mg once a day, or then twice a day. Pfizer were telling us to start on 75mg. Pain specialists have been saying for years we want a dose lower than 25mg - this is a toxic medicine, it has lots of side effects. When a patient complained to their GP about depression or suicidal ideation, the GP would often blame it on the pain and increase the Lyrica dose, Mr Hall says. When Professor Chris Maher was running an independent trial on pregabalin at the University of Sydney, he almost had to stop over concerns for the safety of some of the volunteers. "Some of the people in the trial said to us  'I dont know what this medicine is, but ... I have never had thoughts like that before'," he says. "The GPs were sold the line by Pfizer that this is a safe medicine, get them off opiods and onto this. Its a horrible medicine. The side-effects are confusion, drowsiness, disorientation, falling, suicidal ideation," Professor Maher says.

Leona Solley, 55, describes a "loss of empathy" which she links to the Lyrica her GP gave her for tingling and burning in her feet and fingertips. The drug made her feel foggy, disconnected from her husband and children. It sharply increased her anxiety. "I got to the stage where I was thinking is it worth carrying on, I dont know if I can keep living like this," she says. When she tried to quit, she suffered from what she says were withdrawal symptoms for six weeks. "About five days after my last dosage, it was as though something was crawling under my skin and under my scalp. I had to cut all my fingernails because I was scratching myself so hard I was physically bleeding." Drug's use explodes

More than four million subsidised pregabalin scripts were written in 2017-18, up from 36,242 in 2011-12. Pregabalin went from a drug no one had heard of to one of the most-used medications in Australia, within a few years. During that time, it was listed on the PBS and Pfizer embarked on an expensive effort to educate doctors and specialists about the drug. In 2012-13, subsidised pregabalin prescriptions increased by 788 per cent, then again by 459 per cent the next year. Many of those prescriptions appear to have been written for back pain.

"A lot of people are prescribed pregabalin for chronic low back pain, not neuropathic pain. It wont be effective for them - they are exposed to all the harms with no benefit," says Dr Bridin Murnion, a pain specialist at the University of Sydney. In 2012 Pfizer paid a $US1 billion fine after the Department of Justice alleged it promoted four drugs, including Lyrica, for conditions that they were not medically indicated for  and paying doctors kickbacks for prescribing them. Dr Harry Nespolon, president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, says it is very difficult to directly link Lyrica to addiction or suicide, and the drug was markedly less dangerous than the opioids it often replaced. "These sorts of [overdose] deaths are avoidable in inverted commas. But these are not simple patients. There are lots of things going on in their lives." There is now evidence pregabalin does not help even those people who have nerve pain.An Afghan man from Victoria has been charged with murder after another man's body was discovered in the Nullarbor in South Australia's far west.

The man had been picked up by a farmer about 10.30am on Monday on the Eyre Highway near Nundroo, 160 kilometres west of Ceduna, after his Holden SUV ran out of fuel.

The body was found on the Eyre Highway in South Australia. Credit:David Mariuz

The farmer took the man to Yalata, 60 kilometres further west and when SA police returned with him to his vehicle they noticed blood on the car.

Later, at 3.30pm on Monday, a man's body was found about 100 kilometres east of the Nullarbor Roadhouse on the Eyre Highway.Australia's public service should not be treated as a set of Lego blocks for disorienting and politically-driven restructures, the nation's top bureaucrat says.

Secretary for the prime minister's department Martin Parkinson issued a call-to-arms in an end-of-year speech that also urged the federal bureaucracy to better prepare new MPs, ministers and staffers for their jobs.

Dr Parkinson warned declining public faith in democracy had coincided with a reported crisis in confidence in the bureaucracy's ranks and anxiety among staff about the retreat of liberal democratic values.

Martin Parkinson, secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Credit:Rohan Thomson

He said public faith in government agencies relied on their competence in delivering services, and identified a change that would make the bureaucracy more capable.In the 1600s, Louis XIVs finance minister famously described the art of taxation as being to get the maximum amount of feathers from the goose, with the least amount of hissing. At Londons Fat Duck restaurant, theyve taken a different approach. By using tax havens, Heston Blumenthals restaurants appear to have goosed the tax authorities.

By flying the profits to the tax haven of Nevis, which charges no company tax on the profits of foreign companies, the famous restaurant chain seems to have feathered its own nest at the expense of the rest of us.

Heston Blumenthal at his Melbourne restaurant Dinner. Credit:Justin McManus

Heston Blumenthal, who also operates the Dinner restaurant at Melbournes Southbank, isnt the only one apparently using tax havens. By one estimate, four out of every 10 dollars of multinational profits are now routed through tax havens. Dubbed "Treasure Islands" by one expert, places like Panama and Bermuda have become infamous for their willingness to house companies and their unwillingness to share information about them.

But what we do know is pretty worrying. According to a recent report, the Cayman Islands now has 106,291 active companies, which is almost twice as many companies as people (by comparison, Australia has one company for every 10 residents). The vast majority of these firms have zero staff, zero floor space, and zero local sales. The reason theyre there? They want to pay zero tax.Beijing: A city in northern China has been stripped of Christmas cheer after the authorities banned all festive decorations from its streets.

Santa Claus in Beijing Credit:AAP

Officials in Langfang said the move, which prohibits shops and street vendors from selling anything Christmas-themed, is part of efforts to keep the streets clean to win a National Civilised Cities award.

The award, presented every three years, is the highest honour for a Chinese city, and is judged on social development, economy, infrastructure construction and public services.

However, critics have said that the rules are part of wider curbs on freedom of speech and religion.The New Zealand government will hold a referendum on personal cannabis use at the 2020 general election - and it will be binding.

Justice Minister Andrew Little announced Cabinet had made the decision on Monday on his way into caucus on Tuesday morning.

"It will be held at the 2020 general election. The agreement is that it will be binding. There is a bit of detail to still to work through," Little said.

National Leader Simon Bridges suggested that the government was attempting to distract from the general election itself, but said he didn't have a problem with the referendum being binding.Windshield Centers, a TruRoad Company, Opens New Location







WOBURN, Mass., Dec. 17, 2018; Windshield Centers, a leading provider of in-shop and mobile auto glass repair, replacement and recalibration services, has opened a new location in Madison, WI. The Madison service center represents the third Wisconsin Windshield Centers location and is a part of the companys overall growth strategy, which includes additional expansion in the state over the next 18 months.

Windshield Centers is owned and operated by TruRoad. TruRoad companies provide on-demand, on-site auto glass repair and replacement and ADAS recalibration services. TruRoad operates the industrys most trusted regional brands including Harmon Auto Glass, JN Phillips Auto Glass and Techna Glass.

The welcome reception we have received over the last few years by the businesses and consumers of Wisconsin has been incredible, said Robert Rosenfield, CEO of TruRoad. The opening of our Madison location demonstrates our commitment to providing the most advanced, high-quality auto glass services in each market we serve. Our experienced team is looking forward to offering safe and convenient auto glass services to the Madison community and to providing an exceptional customer experience, a core value of our company.

About TruRoad

Headquartered in Woburn, MA, TruRoad provides national on-demand, on-site auto glass repair, replacement and recalibration of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Trusted TruRoad regional brands include Harmon Auto Glass, JN Phillips Auto Glass, Techna Glass and Windshield Centers, collectively serving customers in their respective markets for more than 70 years. TruRoad also provides services through its national network of certified auto glass service providers. For more information, visit www.windshieldcenters.com and www.truroad.com.Health Minister Cameron Friesen will organize public information sessions in the RM of Piney to clear up lingering confusion over the municipalitys unique cross-border health care agreement, Reeve Wayne Anderson says.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Health Minister Cameron Friesen will organize public information sessions in the RM of Piney to clear up lingering confusion over the municipalitys unique cross-border health care agreement, Reeve Wayne Anderson says.

The commitment emerged out of a meeting last week at the Manitoba legislature between Piney council, Friesen, and La Verendrye MLA Dennis Smook.

No timeline was attached to the ministers promise, and Anderson said he doesnt know if Friesen will personally attend the meetings, or how many there will be.

But the reeve said hes pleased with the outcome, which will foster more direct communication between Manitoba Health and those covered by the agreement.

"The people out here dont know whats going on, and theyre at a loss of what to do," Anderson said.

Coverage for U.S. specialist care was removed from the agreement when it was renewed in August, prompting a months-long push from Piney council to get a meeting with the health minister.

"Our focus was getting clarification for what has changedand what was the same as before," Anderson said.

Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Manitoba Health distributed a one-page mail notice about the agreement this summer, but Anderson has said the "vague" flyer raised as many questions as it answered.

"Seniors are scared to go down there to use the services and then not be paid, so they would rather not even go, which is very sad."

The arrangement allows residents of the RM of Piney and Buffalo Point First Nation to receive primary and emergency health care coverage at two nearby medical centres in Warroad and Roseau, Minn.

At the meeting, Piney council learned only one other such agreement exists in Canada, Anderson said.

Ahead of the public meetings, Piney council is asking residents to submit their questions or concerns about the agreement, so they can be distilled and presented to the province.

"Manitoba Health and the minister has to hear directly from the people whats going on. Thats what were trying to set up," Anderson said.Speaking to OK magazine, Zellner said the papers shell be filing contain all the legal arguments as to why her client, Avery, should win his case.

Zellner added these papers are an astonishing 22,000 pages long, stating:

"In one week, were filing the appellate brief, so were going to file all of this information with the higher court. Weve got a record thats 22,000 pages.

The higher court is going to review all of this new evidence. After we file, the state will file their response, and then the court will have an oral argument, and then theyll make a decision. Whatever decision they make, its going to go to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. So even if we win, the state will still force it to be decided by the highest court in Wisconsin.

You must, if you can, create reasonable doubt by having an alternative theory that matches the evidence. Thats when youre most likely to win a murder case.

My goal is to not just to find the constitutional violation to get Steven Avery a new trial, because many people are convicted again in their second trial. I am trying to get the evidence to what I believe is the truth of what happened, so that there wont BE another trial."

Zellner is of course optimistic about winning the case - as she has been since she took it on. She says she's been given a tip that was just jaw-dropping meaning theyre getting close to convincing the judge how Avery should walk away free.

Zellner has also tweeted new major information:Single-use plastic shopping bags will be phased out over the next year for all retailers, the Government has announced.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced their plans to phase out single use plastic bags to help look after the environment and safeguard New Zealand's clean, green reputation.

"We're listening to New Zealanders who want us to take action on this problem. This year 65,000 Kiwis signed a petition calling for an outright ban." Jacinda said.

Cabinet has since agreed to the mandatory phase out of plastic bags nationwide.

"Plastic shopping bags are a hazard for nature, particularly marine wildlife. They can also introduce harmful microplastics into the food chain," Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage says.

She went on to say:

"These regulations are an important first step to tackle New Zealand's wider waste problem. Importantly, the mandatory phase out of single-use plastic shopping bags signals that we need to do things very differently  manufacturers, retailers and consumers all have a responsibility to reduce waste and prevent plastic pollution."

Another proud moment for NZ!15-Year-Old High School Student Fatally Shot in Florida While Walking to School

A 15-year-old Florida boy was shot while walking to school on Dec. 18, authorities said.

The teenager, who has not been identified, was walking in Orlando around 6:30 a.m. when he was shot.

Orange County Sheriff John Mina told reporters that first responders rushed to the scene but the boy was soon pronounced dead.

Mina said the police have no witnesses so far and urged anyone with information to come forward.

Its very early in the investigation and we dont have a lot of information so were relying on the community to come forward with any information, the sheriff said.

People who live in the area heard the gunshots.

Frank Skinner, who lives near the crime scene, said that when he heard the noises, he initially thought they were fireworks.

I was sitting on the porch at 630 in the morning getting ready for work and I heard some burning out from a vehicle up at the corner. And after that I thought it was a mortar, a firework, he told WFTV. It wasnt a firework, because five more went off after that.

Boone High families, we have some very sad news to share with you. We were made aware by law enforcement that early this  Boone High School  20181218

Boone High School was briefly placed under lockdown.

Principal Dusty Johns informed the school community in a message posted on Facebook about the death.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family as they go through this extremely difficult time. Your child may speak with you and share this sad news. Students will have varied reactions to the death of a peer. Any reaction is normal in the grief process and I encourage you to openly discuss with your child their feelings and reactions, he wrote.

We will have a crisis team on campus to provide counseling assistance for students and staff. In addition, out of an abundance of caution, we will have additional law enforcement presence on campus. The safety and well-being of our students is my top priority. Please do not hesitate to call me if you have any questions or concerns.

Another Student Killed

Its the second death of a Boone student in the past several weeks after Kody Larue, 14, was found dead inside a house in Azalea Park on Nov. 26.

His body and that of his mother, Leslie McKinley, 47, were decomposing.

Investigators said they believe McKinley killed her son before taking her own life.

When firefighters forced their way inside the home after receiving a tip from a neighbor, they found a note warning of toxic chemicals inside the bedroom, where the bodies were, reported the Sentinel.

Deputies believe the chemicals were inhaled by the victims and the toxins may have dissipated before the bodies were found.

The medical examiner was scheduled to issue an official cause of death.

There were more than 1.2 million violent crimes reported to UCR nationwide in 2017. There was a 0.7 percent decrease in murders and a 4 percent decrease in robberies from 2016 to 2017. Aggravated assaults increased 1 percent in 2017. The FBI began collecting data solely on an updated rape definition last year, and 135,755 rapes were reported to law enforcement in 2017, the FBI stated.

The report also showed there were more than 7.7 million property crimes last year. Burglaries decreased 7.6 percent and larceny-thefts decreased 2.2 percent. Motor vehicle thefts increased 0.8 percent from 2016 to 2017.

These figures were compiled from more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies around the United States that submitted their crime data to the FBI.

From NTD News2 Chicago Police Officers Killed by Train Chasing Armed Suspect

Two newly appointed Chicago police officers were killed in pursuit of an armed suspect on Dec. 17, hit not by a stray bullet, but a 60 mile-an-hour commuter train.

Eduardo Marmolejo, 37, and Conrad Gary, 31, were investigating a suspected shooting on the citys Southsidean area once renowned for fearsome violenceafter receiving an automatic alert triggered by gunfire sensors.

They followed a suspect after spotting him scrambling up to the Metra tracks but were hit when a commuter train passed through. According to Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, they both died instantly.

There was no stop at that location so the train was probably going somewhere between 60 and 70 miles per hour, Johnson told a news conference.

By doing the most dangerous thing any police officer can doand that is to chase an individual with a gunthese brave young men were consumed with identifying a potential threat to their community and put the safety of others above their own, he said.

Johnson said the death of a fellow officer is never easy.

Unfortunately, when we swear that oath, put on that uniform, we know thats a possibility. You dont look to it, but you always know that possibility, Johnson said.

Both officers had young children. Gary had been on the force for 18 months, Marmolejo for two and a half years.

Chicago police use ShotSpotter technology, that uses sensors to monitor for the sound of gunfire and alert police. Johnson said the two officers went to the scene Monday after a ShotSpotter alert went out.

Tragedy After Tragedy

An investigation has been launched into the incident.

Their deaths are the latest tragedy to rock officers in the district.

The fifth district has had to deal with tragedy after tragedy this year, including officer suicides, said Johnson.

But the resolve of Chicago police officers always amazes me.  Theyre going to strap up, put on their uniforms, and go out tonight to keep this city safe, he continued.

Last month officer Samuel Jimenez was killed in a shootout after he chased a gunman into a hospital on Chicagos South Side. The shooter eventually turned the gun on himself, but not before killing two other people, including his ex-fiancee.

In February, Cmdr. Paul Bauer was killed while pursuing a suspect in the Loop business district.

Passengers on the Metra reported long delays to their journeys, as the authorities shut down the train line.

Brianna Medina was one of the passengers on board the train.

It kind of felt like rocks, and it sounded like it was hitting rocks, she told the Chicago Tribune.

We were just sitting there in silence, Medina said. About two hours later, someone finally told us what was going on.

They waited another hour before boarding buses, she told the Tribune.

Obviously you feel for the families, Medina said. Before knowing, I was kind of just upset that I couldnt go home, but then after finding out you reallyyou feel sympathetic toward them.

Messages of support flooded into the Facebook page of the Chicago Police Department. One person simply wrote, Rest easy officer Eduardo and Conrad Gary. We value your service. Proud of your brave hearts.2 Female Tourists Found Dead in Morocco, Suspect Arrested for Their Murders

Two female tourists, one from Norway and the other from Denmark were found dead in Morocco with apparent knife wounds to their necks, and a man was arrested on suspicion of murder, said the Moroccan Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation.

Police said theyre looking for possible accomplices, officials said on Facebook on Dec. 18.

A man, who asked to not to be named, said the two were tourists and were allegedly found decapitated, Sky News reported. The man said the women were traveling without a guide and had been camping somewhere near the Federation Francais refuge at the base of Mount Toubkal.

Marokko: Zwei Rucksack-Touristinnen ermordet  Louisas Mutter Helle Jespersen schrieb am Montagabend auf Facebook: Reise nie nach Marokko. Sie haben meine Tochter und ihre Freundin mit scharfen Gegenstanden geschlachtet. https://t.co/wIYGWNKJsF  Aslan Kaplan (@Etrosplanetos) December 18, 2018

The women were found dead in Moroccos High Atlas Mountains. Officials did not say in the Facebook post whether at least one of the women had been decapitated.

Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, a 24-year-old from Denmark, was identified as one of the slain women, The Telegraph reported. Norwegian news outlets identified the other victim as 28-year-old Maren Ueland, according to the AFP news agency.

Both were found with evidence of violence to their necks, the ministry said.

Helle Jespersen, the womans mother, said she urged her daughter not to go to Morocco. We advised her to go down because its such a chaotic place, and youve heard of people who have been killed down there, she was quoted by the paper as saying.

Her mother said her daughters throat had been cut, citing information from Danish police.

Maren vars 23.11.1990  17.12.2018  Irene Ueland  20181217

I broke down, the mother said. She was always happy and positive. All people could with her and she brought out the best in everyone.

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been informed that a Norwegian and a Danish citizen have been found dead in the Atlas Mountains south of Marrakech, Guri Solnerh, communications adviser at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told ABC News. The deaths and victims identities have now been confirmed by local authorities.

The officials added: We are in contact with relatives and are providing consular assistance in accordance with established practices and framework for assistance in connection with deaths of Norwegian citizens abroad. Our embassy is in contact with local authorities and representatives from the embassy are present in Marrakech.

The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the two were killed while hiking in the Atlas Mountains. The Danish Police has notified the relatives of the Danish woman, a representative told ABC.

The relatives have been offered consular assistance by the Consular Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the Danish Embassy in Morocco. The Danish ambassador is currently in Marrakech to ensure the closest possible contact to the local Moroccan authorities, the representative added.

The Telegraph noted that tourism accounts for about 5 percent of Moroccos economy, while Sky noted that the sector is the second largest employer after agriculture. Its very bad for the region. There will undoubtedly be cancellations, a local guide told AFP.

The University of Sorost-Norge wrote that two of their students died in Morocco on Dec. 17, and the university set its flags at half-staff to mourn the pair.Arkansas Couple Adopts 7 Siblings, and They Say Its the Best Christmas Ever

Seven foster children find new, loving home just weeks before Christmas after 3 years in foster care

Terri and Michael Hawthorn didnt think they were ready to adopt a child, let alone seven. That all changed in 2018, however, and on Dec 3, 2018, after a lengthy court battle, a judge finalized all seven smiling siblings adoption papers.

A few years ago, the couple from Arkansas decided to try fostering children in need of homes from the states foster care system, a decision that eventually turned into a much larger commitment.

Our first words were, Ok well do it for a couple of years, but we will not adopt, said Terri Hawthorn, who, with Michael, was already a parent of one daughter, named Micah.

Eventually, though, the Hawthorns had a change of heart, and in April 2018, they decided to adopt two children: sisters Korgen and Haizlee. Yet, this was hardly the end of their mission to give care to needy children; the two girls also had five other siblings who were still in foster care, and the Hawthorns were determined to bring them into their home, too.

Prior to their adoption, the seven brothers and sisters had gone through a lot, shuffling between different houses and schools for three years in the state system. According to their own words, they often went without food to eat or a bed to sleep in.

The only times we got to eat is when our neighbors would sneak us a bag of chips, said one of the five siblings, Kyndal, who finally joined the Hawthorn household in December. We didnt have a can opener, and theyd give us the cans that we didnt know how to open. So sometimes we just didnt eat.

But the process of adoption wasnt all smooth sailing, as Terri and Michael fought for months before the court finally approved the papers. It turned into the best Christmas present the siblings could ask for, though, when at last they found that they had a home with two loving parents who would take care of them.

When I got here I was like, Oh my gosh, we get our own beds, said Layna, one of the sisters who recently joined the Hawthorn family.

This has been the best Christmas I could ever have, actually knowing I have a mom and dad, added Kyndal.

Micah, who is older than her newly adopted brothers and sisters, took several memorable photographs of the big day, when they stood before the bench in the courthouse, and on the front porch of their new home.

They are a blessing, said Terri. Every day these kids wake up, and they are giggling, and they are happy, and you see the smiles on their faces, thats what makes this worth it.

Theres no better story to show us how lucky we are to have our family members who love usfor not everyone is so lucky. What better time is there than the Holiday Season to share time with them and show appreciation toward those dear loved ones? This was most certainly the case in the Hawthorn household during Christmas 2018!

You may also want to watch this video

This Christmas present is the best one ever for these kids, one theyll never forgetBangladeshi Islamists Develop Networks in US

WASHINGTONIn recent years, Bangladesh has become an economic success story in South Asia, but its future may be threatened by the rise of radical groups and political parties, particularly Jamaat-e-Islami, as national elections approach on Dec. 30. The growing prominence of these radical groups is of concern for the United States, which finds an assortment of organizations with ties to Bangladeshi radicals.

These were the concerns discussed at the Hudson Institute in Washington on Dec. 13 by a panel of policy experts and Congressman Jim Banks (R-Ind.).

Banks opened the event describing a booming, democratic country whose population has an overwhelmingly positive view of the United States, citing a Pew survey attributing 76 percent of its population with this view.

However, the political threat represented by Jamaat-e-Islami led him to introduce a resolution in the House of Representatives on Nov. 20 directing USAID and the State Department to refrain from any partnerships or funding arrangements from any organization affiliated with radical Islamic groups in Bangladesh.

Seth Oldmixon, the founder of Liberty South Asia and an expert in the region, explained the history of Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh as an Islamist group that had been co-opted by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in order to broaden its popular appeal. Unfortunately, while being politically expedient to the BNP, its radical theocratic philosophy actually undermines democracy and pluralism in Bangladesh, he argued.

But Jamaat-e-Islami is by no means limited to Bangladesh. Founded in India, there are groups related to Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan, Kashmir, Britain, and Afghanistan.

Oldmixon quoted Jamaat-e-Islamis founder, Abul Ala Maududi, as saying: The truth is  Islam is a revolutionary ideology and program which seeks to alter the social order of the whole world  Islam wishes to destroy all states and governments anywhere  which are opposed to the ideology and program of Islam regardless of the country or the nation which rules it. This captured Maududi and Jamaat-e-Islamis founding objectives, he said, and has provided the basis for its supremacist Islamic agenda since.

Two other panelists, Sam Westrop and Abha Shankar, supported Oldmixons point, describing Jamaat-e-Islamis ties to an assortment of charitable and educational groups that promote its agenda in the United States and internationally.

Westrop, the director of Islamist Watch for the Middle East Forum, compared Jamaat-e-Islami to the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, but whose operations in the United States and globally he found to be much less coordinated with its Central Guidance Bureau in Egypt than those of Jamaat-e-Islami with its counterparts worldwide. There is no separation between the political activities of Jamaat[-e-Islami] internationally and the charitable activities. It is all part of one network.

Shankar, a senior intelligence analyst for the Investigative Project on Terrorism, outlined the specific ties between Jamaat-e-Islami and two U.S. groups: the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the Muslim Umma of North America.

Calling the groups clever at hiding their true Islamist agendas, specifically as civil rights and advocacy groups, she said they employ doublespeak, rather than calling publicly for jihad (holy war), or Islamic supremacy (as called for by ICNAs charter).

Westrop spoke in detail about a charity that emerged from ICNA, Helping Hand for Relief and Development, which he called the overseas arm of the American Jamaat-e-Islami movement. Saying it provides the theological and political justification for violence outside the United States, it is promoting the Jamaat-e-Islami alliance with the Bangladeshi Nationalist Party in the upcoming elections.

But because it does not endorse or foment violence in America, U.S. journalists and policymakers have ignored its openly declared Jamaat-e-Islami leadership, occasionally even winning praise from the State Department.

While Jamaat-e-Islamis Islamist agenda poses a threat to the political and economic progress of Bangladesh, it also represents a serious shortcoming in U.S. policymaking that requires attention. Shankar summarized this concern: Instead of government officials, law enforcement, and interfaith groups engaging with Islamists groups  they need to reach out to mainstream Muslim voices that more accurately represent the interests of the American Muslim community.Experts discuss the Chinese Communist Party's interference in Australia and the freedom to speak about such issues at City Tattersalls Club in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 10, 2018. (J. Zhang/The Epoch Times)

Be Like Bamboo to Stand Up to Communist Chinas Interference

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has exerted its influence around the globe through targeting individuals, and it takes great strength and courage to resist such influences, speakers said at a public panel discussion.

Experts with knowledge on the CCPs infiltration activities discussed on Dec. 10 how the CCP has been able to exert influence in Australian society and how Australians can resist such infiltration. The panel discussion, hosted by the Australian Values Alliance, attracted a full house at the City Tattersalls Club in downtown Sydney.

Experts discuss the Chinese Communist Partys interference in Australia and the freedom to speak about such issues at City Tattersalls Club in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 10, 2018. (J. Zhang/The Epoch Times)

Ethics professor Clive Hamilton, a public intellectual and author of Silent Invasion: Chinas Influence in Australia, said the CCP targets individuals, not groups. In his book published in February, Hamilton identified several individuals in Australia who he alleges are subject to the CCPs influence operations.

Influence operations do not happen through institutions, they happen through individuals, Hamilton said on the panel. It is individuals who are targeted by the CCP through their United Front activities and there are manuals, which cadres are taught from about how to gain the upper hand over an individual and make him or her your friend.

It turns out that people are extremely prone to these influence operations, Hamilton added. One of the things that was such a disappointment to me  is just how easy it is to buy people off.

It is very, very easy to buy people whether they are politicians, academics, [or] business people. You actually do not need much. You do not necessarily need to buy them off with money, it can be flattery.

Associate professor in China Studies Dr. Feng Chongyi at the University of Technology, Sydney said Australian leaders oftentimes underestimate their ability to confront the CCP on a range of issues.

The Australian and New Zealand politicians, in particular, tend to downplay the strength of their countries and exaggerate the strengths of the Chinese regime, [thinking that] they are very powerful, if we confront they will destroy us, we do not have the power to confront them, he said.

The CCP regime rely very much on the resources of Australia for survival and economic development. They rely on support by democracies around the world for their survival, not the other way around.

Kill the Chicken to Scare the Monkey

The Chinese idiom kill the chicken to scare the monkey, which means to punish individuals and make them an example for others, prompted discussions among the panelists about how the CCP stamps out unwanted attention to contentious topics about China by using the same approach.

Hamilton noted the recent harassment incidents targeting New Zealand academic Anne-Marie Brady, whose home and office were burgled. Many, including Brady herself, believe the acts are a form of retaliation from the CCP for her critical research on Chinas politics.

Hamilton mentioned how he himself became a target after the publication of his book.

Uninvited heavy duty security people started to turn up in my office and [gave] me counter surveillance advice, and my building at the university went into lockdown mode, which it is still in because of strange people coming in and out, he told the audience. I was outraged  How dare [they] come and try to intimidate me into silence?

Hamilton also noted how the CCP has repeatedly labelled him as anti-Chinese, xenophobic, and deliberately confusing the CCP with China and the Chinese people as a way to silence public discussion on the CCPs influence in Australia.

The CCP, in a way, has to do that because its the only way it can gain legitimacy it has to keep constantly reiterating the point that the party represents the people, he said. Of course Chinese influence in Australia is welcome. What isnt welcome is Chinese Communist Partys influence in Australia.

What really disturbs me is the way in which many Australian commentators have echoed communist party propaganda  to essentially exploit the history of anti-Chinese racism in Australia, as a way of trying to silence people like me, I think is really extremely dangerous.

What it means is that you cannot talk about this threat to our national sovereignty and this threat to our democratic system because, if you do so, then you are being a racist. And, of course, accusing someone of being a racist is a very very powerful silencing device in countries like Australia, [the] United States, and Canada.

Former head of China analysis for Australias Defence Intelligence Organization, Dr. Paul Monk, said the CCP actively discourages any criticism of it around the world.

If we think theres something strange or objectionable or ominous happening in a Western democracy, we talk about it, write about it, uninhibitedly, he said, noting the same does not apply to a communist regime such as the CCP. The party is intent not only maintaining its governance in China but in trying to discourage criticism of it outside China.

Be Like Bamboo to Resist Communist China

Former Miss World Canada and human rights advocate Anastasia Lin told the panel how she was 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. She also recounted how, on many occasions, debates or talks that had been arranged for her to attend would be cancelled. This included one recent cancellation of a live program The World by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in June this year.

Lin described the incident as disillusioning.

Definitely the Chinese Consulate called them  It happened in Australia, which I often felt like a Western country for the Chinese people is supposed to be safe, and youre supposed to believe in democracy, she said. My voice, my freedom of speech is the only way I have to protect my family in China.

In continuing her work in human rights advocacy, Lin said she draws inspiration from victims of Chinas human rights abuses whom she interviewed for her film.

No matter how much torture they have endured, or how many threats their family have received, they kept the dignity of what I see as a true Chinese personlike bamboo that will not waver in the storm. Its [so] flexible that [it] will never get bent or damaged, she said. Thats what kept me going.

Monk said Australia has largely benefited from its relationship with China over the past 20 years. However, people need to be alert to what he calls the insidious side of Chinas influence operations.

There are large sums of people who think this is an important relationship to Australiaindeed it is. You can see this kind of rising tide and the boats of those who are actually up to no good are only a small number of boats among the whole flotilla that are sailing along quite happily. Thats the context were operating in. The insidious side is therefore largely invisible.

Were now in this curious borderline condition where people are starting to feel uneasy because more and more of what has been happening in the news thats actually rather insidious is starting to filter out, Monk said.

Panel Q&A: Is there Freedom of Speech in the Australia-China Discussion?

From NTD.comMichael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat who has been detained by China, in a file photo during an interview in Hong Kong on March 28, 2018. (AP Photo)

Can China Justify the Arrest of ex-Diplomat Michael Kovrig?

The spokesman of Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not directly answer questions about the arrest of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig at a press conference earlier this month. Spokesman Lu Kangin merely said that Kovrigs employerthe International Crisis Group (ICG)was not registered in China as a non-governmental organization (NGO) and Kovrig could have broken Chinese law.

Kovrig, a senior adviser of the think-tank ICG, was detained after police in Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinas Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, on Dec. 1 at the request of U.S. authorities. According to Reuters, state-run Beijing News reported on Dec. 12: Canadian citizen Michael John Kovrig was on Dec. 10 investigated in accordance with the law by the Beijing State Security Bureau on suspicion of engaging in activities that harm Chinas state security.

Beijing claims the ICG violated foreign NGO lawthe Law of the Peoples Republic of China on the Administration of Activities of Overseas Nongovernmental Organizations in the Mainland of Chinawhich took effect in January 2017, part of new national security measures introduced under Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

It is commonly known that it is very difficult for a NGO to register in China. Those that are already publicly registered are owned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)such as All-China Womens Federation, the China Disabled Persons Federation, the China Society for Human Rights Studies (CSHRS), Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), and the China Anti-Cult Association (CACA) which uses the name Care Association as a cover-up.

The All-China Womens Federation is one of the three peripheral organizations of the CCP, and the other two are trade unions and the Communist Youth League. The main responsibility of the CSHRS is to oppress human rights groupsit joined the United Nations Human Rights Council as a front for the CCP. The CPAFFC is a government agency led by the CCP to engage in civil diplomacy in the name of the non-governmental organization. As for the Care Association, it has another namethe China Anti-Cult Association (CACA)which the CCP is unwilling to use directly. Established in November 2000, the CACA assists in persecuting adherents of the spiritual practice Falun Gong. It is led by the 610 Office, the CCPs secret police force (created in 1999 to carry out the persecution of Falun Gong).

China NGO law requires foreign NGOs to register with the Ministry of Public Security, making it more difficult for them to operate in China. According to the 2017 data, there were about 1,000 international NGOs in China. Adding to short-term projects, there were more than 7,000. But only 139 were registered.

Many foreign NGOs operate without registering, which is regarded as violating the law. The Chinese Communist regime does not usually pay close attention to violating the lawthey disregard rule of law and punish anyone as they see fit. The CCP has used the excuse that the ICG violated Chinas foreign NGO law to justify the detainment of Kovrig and another Canadianbusinessman Michael Spavor.

However, Kovrig and the ICG may not have violated the law. The ICG said it closed its Beijing branch in December 2016 because it could not register. Kovrig was a Canadian diplomat in China from 2014 to 2016. Then in 2017, he joined the ICG in Hong Kong where it was legal.

The ICG is not an isolated case. In 1996, the Falun Gong Research Association of Chinafounded by adherents of Falun Gong practitioners applied for registration with other government organizations but it dissolved because it could not register. However, when the CCP began the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, they claimed the Falun Gong Research Association of China violated the law because it was not registered.

The ICG is not considered a hostile force for the CCP. In addition to being recognized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2007 when it entered China, it has been in contact with the CCPs various sectors at different levels. Kovrig himself has visited Beijing frequently, met with CCP officials, and been invited to speak at meetings. On the official website of the International Liaison Department (of the Communist Party of China), there were photos of Kovrig and its deputy director, Guo Yezhou, during a meeting in August this yearbut the photos were recently taken down from the website.

The International Liaison Department is one of the four agencies under the Central Committee of the CCP in charge of conducting its foreign relations with other political parties. It only has contact with foreign political parties that the CCP considers friendly or similar to it. Four months ago, it considered the ICG and Kovrig as friendsthey were not seen as engaging in any illegal activities in China, let alone endangering state security. And the ICG not being registered (as an NGO in China) has never been a problem until Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada at the request of U.S. authorities.

Another reason for the CCPs arrest of Kovrig is that China does not have an independent judiciary since the establishment of the CCP regime in 1949. Even after the so-called rule of law was established after the end of the Cultural Revolution, almost all of the highly regarded cases that people knew were driven by political factors rather than the rule of law. The persecution of Falun Gong has lasted for more than 19 years and from the very beginning, it was politically motivated. So far, no legal basis has been found.

The persecution of activists and human rights lawyers began in 2015. The methods used by the CCP to persecute dissidents include forcing them to disappear, public confessions (aired over state media), using drugs, torture, and kidnapping of family membersall have non-legal basis.

Peter Humphrey, a British national, was sentenced after his confession which was broadcast by state television. It was not that he violated Chinese law. Instead, he was imprisoned for undermining the interests of a powerful group with ties to the CCP. Humphrey was appointed by the Anglo-American pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline to investigate a corruption case of its Shanghai branch in 2013.

The establishment of the CCPs organizational structure also ensures that Chinas judicial system is not independent. The management of the judicial system, including the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Properatorate, the Ministry of Justice, falls under the Central Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC). The PLAC is led by the Rule of Law Leadership Groupcreated to consolidate the CCPs governance of the judicial system. All parts of the judicial system, including lawyers, are led by the Communist Party, so where will there be independent justice?

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.Artist concept of the SLS Block 1 configuration. For the first time in almost 40 years, a NASA human-rated rocket has completed all steps needed to clear a critical design review. The agencys Space Launch System (SLS) is the first vehicle designed to meet the challenges of the journey to Mars and the first exploration class rocket since the Saturn V. (NASA/MSFC)

China Must Not Beat America Back to the Moon

Commentary

President Donald Trump signed a policy directive on Dec. 11, 2017, committing the United States to a return to the moon. A year later, its becoming increasingly apparent that China is reconfiguring its manned space program in order to beat the United States back to the lunar surface.

For a brief period in the late 1950s, both the United States and the former Soviet Union considered building military bases on the moon. The United States abandoned that idea quickly, while the Soviets continued to invest in moon-base technologies until the collapse of the union. China, however, in the late 1980s, put the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in charge of its revived manned space program, which has consistently produced dual use benefits for the PLA.

This was demonstrated by Chinas first manned Shenzhou-5 space mission in 2003, when the most important payload was two large optical Earth surveillance cameras. In September 2008, the Shenzhou-7 mission included the launch of a microsatellite as it passed about 28 miles from the International Space Station (ISS), basically a mock military interception. Chinas first large space station may be completed by 2022 and can be expected to perform numerous military as well as civil missions.

But the moon may constitute the new high ground for the PLA.

In April this year, the Kanwa Defense Review magazine reported from a U.S. source that the PLA had recently held a large conference on military uses of the moon. In the early and mid-2000s, the former director of Chinas moon research program, Ouyang Ziyuan, repeatedly stressed the strategic value of the moon for China.

Then, in January 2015, writing for the important Chinese Communist Party (CCP) journal Qiushi, the then-president of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), Lei Fanpei, provided the closest official Chinese admission of intentions to militarize the moon. Lei stressed adhering to civil-military integration as China pursued deep space exploration, manned moon landing, [and] heavy launch vehicle programs.

For China, militarizing the moon, or ensuring that it can deny moon access to the United States and others, is consistent with its current vast projection of economic, military, and political power on Earth. The PLA wants to control low Earth orbit in order to dominate warfare on Earth. For the CCP, controlling access to the moon and Mars and a potential new era of economic and scientific progress, is essential to becoming the dominant power on Earth.

But, in contrast to the late 1950s, China, Russia, and the United States today are capable of developing the economical transport and the many systems required to sustain a manned and unmanned presence on the moon.

New Missions

On Dec. 8, China launched its second unmanned lander mission to the dark side of the moon, featuring a new data relay satellite that occupies the Lagrangian point L2a location in space where gravitational forces balance themselves out, meaning a space-craft can hover at that point.

Chinese sources indicate that in 2023 and 2026, they will send unmanned landers to the north and the south poles of the moon, important locations of possible resources like water, and the best locations for omnidirectional detection.

In late 2017, Chinese engineers revealed initial concepts for a manned moon base, which Chinese sources say may be built after 2030.

However, in the past two months, China has begun to reconfigure its manned space program in ways that may enable it to put people on the moon well before 2030, the previously expected launch date of its Long March-9 heavy space launch vehicle (SLV), which can transport 50 tons of crew transport ship and moon lander to the moon.

In October and November, Chinese sources revealed that instead of relying on the 10-meter-diameter Long March-9, a new and much-modified version of the 5-meter-diameter Long March-5 SLV is now being developed, which can transport 25 tons to the moon.

So, instead of one Long March-9 that may not fly until 2030, China may use two of their newest SLVs to separately launch a new moon lander to orbit around the moon, and a new manned spaceship that would carry the crew that would descend to the moon.

During a mid-November briefing in Moscow, the first Chinese astronaut, Yang Liwei, appeared to reveal what may be the first image of Chinas two-stage moon lander. With this architecture, China would be accepting more risk, but may also put its people on the moon by 2025 or earlier.

NASA Plans

In 2019 or 2020, the United States may launch NASAs next heavy-lift SLV, called the Space Launch System (SLS), which may then launch a new Orion manned spaceship in 2023. But Americans may not return to the moon until 2028 or after, following the building of the new Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (known as Gateway), a small, three-person space station to orbit around the moon.

The Gateway is said to allow for the more economical shuttling of astronauts from the ISS to the Gateway, and then to a reusable shuttle-lander to the moon. However, the concept has its critics, who arent sure it will prove economical, especially should the ISS be retired after 2025. There is also the added risk of having to rely on the flawless function of multiple widely separate platforms to reach the moon.

Michael Griffin, NASA director during the George W. Bush administration and now Defense Department undersecretary for research and engineering, has called the Gateway a stupid architecture that shouldnt be built until the United States can manufacture rocket fuel on the moon.

Griffin, who has urged a more direct return to the moon, was in charge of Bushs Constellation program, which had the goal of returning the United States to the moon by 2020. However, President Barack Obama canceled this program in 2010.

While the United States must deny China the ability to control the moon and low Earth orbit, it must also be wary of Chinese stratagems that would have the United States divert its resources while China focuses on terrestrial military goals, such as conquering Taiwan.

A near-term and direct return to the moon would be less expensive than Gateway. While some number of SLS launchers should be purchased as a reserve capability, Washington also has the option of waiting to use Elon Musks reusable Big Falcon Rocket (BFR, now Starship), or Jeff Bezoss Blue Origin, to build a decisive presence on the Moon. Should Musk overcome technology hurdles and meet the goal of launching by 2020, BFR/Starship could potentially transport 100 tons of cargo to the moon with significant cost savings.

As early as 2004, Griffin had warned that China could use its Long March-5 to beat the United States to the moon, resulting in great damage to U.S. prestige, which does matter when considering the deference that nations give to U.S. global leadership.

Even though it leads a humanity-crushing dictatorship, the CCP will use a potential victory in the new moon race to strengthen its credentials as it seeks global military power and to displace U.S. leadership. Beating China back to the moon is crucial for the United States, but it must also prepare to deter global Chinese aggression.

Rick Fisher is a senior fellow with the International Assessment and Strategy Center and the author of Chinas Military Modernization: Building for Regional and Global Reach.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) crews repair power lines that were destroyed by the Camp Fire on November 21, 2018 in Paradise, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Clean-Up Workers Fired After Making Fun of Properties Destroyed by Camp Fire

A series of photos showing clean-up workers joke around on charred properties in Paradise, California, provoked wide criticism on social media, resulting in the company firing three employees over the incident last weekend.

The photos were posted on Facebook by a crane operator named Rob Freestone, who was from the Bigge Crane and Rigging Co., a crane sales and rental company. Freestone was assigned to perform clean-up duties in the burned area due to the Camp Fire, according to the Daily Mail.

The fire, which started on Nov. 8, effectively wiped out the whole town of Paradise with almost all of the 27,000 residences destroyed and at least 38 killed in the town.

One photo posted on Dec. 9 pictures Freestone sitting on a mailbox that looks like a fire truck with burned trees and vegetations in the background. He wrote, I got to ride on a fire truck today.

Another one posted by Freestone shows two people with safety vests sitting in a burned out motorhome. Theyre off on a fun filled vacation to unknown destinations in their new RV, wrote Freestone.

Among all the photos from Freestones Facebook account, the one showing a burned dead animal lying on the ground with a beer bottle placed up to its mouth received the most severe criticism. The picture reads Dude I was just chilling with my homies, having a couple of cold ones, and BAM damn fire breaks out.

Facebook account Town of Paradise reposted Freestones photos and said Freestones behavior is unacceptable and reprehensible.

Town leadership has contacted this subjects employer and he will no longer be working in our Town, wrote Town of Paradise on Dec. 15. The Paradise Police Department is looking into criminal charges.

A spokesperson with the Paradise Police Department told Fox News on Dec. 16 that officials had started a criminal investigation on this incident with consulting from the Butte County District Attorneys Office.

On the same day, the company who employed Freestone said that three workers involved in the incident were fired, including Freestone.

The behavior of these individuals is not consistent with our company values and ethical code, according to a statement from the companys Facebook account. Bigge regrets that the residents of Paradise and Butte County have suffered an egregious insult during an already devasting time at the hands of these three individuals.

In addition, the Bigge Crane and Rigging Co. was subcontracted to remove trees by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), according to a report from KXTV.

PG&E is facing several lawsuits alleging that the mechanical failure of a component on a power transmission tower resulting from the companys poor maintenance was the cause of the Camp Fire.

The company released a report on Dec. 11 confirming that several signs of damage including a broken hook, a flash mark, and bullet holes were found on its equipment in the vicinity of where the fire started.

The Camp Fire charred more than 150,000 acres by the time it was finally extinguished on Dec. 6. The fire consumed nearly 14,000 residences in addition to some 4,800 other buildings, and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate.

The blaze is the deadliest wildfire in the states history. It killed 85 people, mostly the elderly and the disabled, and injured 3 firefighters.L: David Berry Jr. Berry was ordered to watch the Walt Disney movie at least once each month during his one-year jail sentence. (Lawerence County Sheriff via AP) R: Brown deer on grass. (Mathew Schwartz/Unsplash)

Deer Poacher Ordered to Repeatedly Watch Bambi in Jail

A judge has ruled that a poacher must watch the Disney movie Bambi once a month while he serves his jail sentence for his involvement in the illegal killing of several hundred deer over a period of three years, according to reports.

Southwest Missouri man David Berry Jr., 29, is one among several in his family convicted of being involved in killing hundreds of deer. The group was taking the heads of the deer and abandoning the bodies to rot.

The actions amounted to what the Missouri Department of Conservation called the states largest conservation cases involving the illegal taking of deer.

Berry Jr., his father, two brothers, and another man have since had their hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges revoked temporarily or permanently. The group has paid a combined $51,000 in fines and court costs. The judge ordered the special request for Berry Jr. to view Bambi due to the egregious nature of his actions.

Lawrence County Judge Robert George said Berry Jr. is to view the Walt Disney movie Bambi, with the first viewing being on or before December 23, 2018, and at least one such viewing each month thereafter throughout his one-year sentence, court records sighted by the Springfield News-Leader showed.

The Disney Bambi classic, first released in 1942, shows Bambis mother being killed. It has widely been viewed as a distressing experience for generations of children.

It is unknown how many deer the main group of suspects has taken illegally over the past several years, Lawrence County Conservation Agent Andy Barnes said, according to a press release from the Missouri Department of Conservation. It would be safe to say that several hundred deer were taken illegally.

Lawrence County Prosecuting Attorney Don Trotter said the deer were trophy animals and agreed the number of deer killed were in the hundreds.

Conservation investigators estimated that the group was responsible for killing hundreds of deer over a three-year period, he said. The deer were trophy bucks taken illegally, mostly at night, for their heads, leaving the bodies of the deer to waste.

Randy Doman, division chief of Missouri Department of Conservation, told the Springfield News-Leader: Taking just the heads is their version of obtaining a trophy and leaving the carcass behind is merely an afterthought. While there are some cases where poachers go after the antlers for profit, with this bunch it was more about the thrill of the kill itself.

Berry Jr. was sentenced in Lawrence County on Dec. 6 for the offence. He also received a 120-day sentence on Dec. 13 in Barton County for a felony firearms probation violation.

His father, David Berry Sr., and his brother, Kyle Berry, had been arrested in August after a nearly nine-month investigation that also involved cases in Kansas, Nebraska, and Canada. The Missouri Department of Conservation said information from the investigation had led to 14 more Missouri residents facing more than 230 charges across 11 counties.

Investigators say David Berry Sr.s other son, Eric Berry, was later caught with another person spotlighting deer. Spotlighting is a hunting method where poachers use light at night to make deer pause and easier to hunt.

The investigation into the Berrys began in late 2015 when the conservation agency received an anonymous tip about illegal deer poaching in Lawrence County.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

From NTD.com

Watch Next:

Real Life Bambi Rescue: Deer Rescued From Frozen LakeJohn Adrian Esparza, 31, pleaded guilty to felony charges of failure to stop and render aid along with manslaughter, the Dallas Morning News reported. (Dallas Police)

Driver Says Woman He Killed in Hit-and-Run Was Careless Before His Sentencing: Report

A man who received 20 years in prison this week for a 2017 hit-and-run that left a woman dead issued a statement, calling the woman he fatally struck careless.

John Adrian Esparza, 31, pleaded guilty to felony charges of failure to stop and render aid along with manslaughter, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Esparza, who had been drinking earlier, said he wasnt fully to blame in the death of Rachel Lynn Spelman because she wasnt careful.

Im sorry she had to be so careless, he said, according to the Morning News reported. However, Esparza apologized to Spelmans family.

But, he insisted that we are both at fault.

Police said he was going 53 mph in a 30 mph zone on March 18, 2017, when he struck Spelman. Officials said they believe his car was going at a speed that made it hard for the victim to see the black vehicle before the crash, Fox News reported.

At the time, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Esparza allegedly stopped and exited his car before looking at Spelman. Then, he got into his vehicle and drove away. The paper reported that Esparza insisted that he wasnt drunk.

Esparza attempted to explain that he didnt even clean up the glass in the car and wasnt trying to hid the hit-and-run. The blood was still on it, he said.

Police said he fled to Oklahoma after the incident and replaced his windshield, the Dallas News reported.

Spelmans mother, Cheryl, read an impact statement in court that her daughter had written as a teenager about her older self.

.@DallasPD looking for hit&run driver who killed Rachel Spelman,23, 3/18/17 around 2:10am near 2200 blk of Cedar Springs Rd. in Uptown @FOX4 pic.twitter.com/oVwcZuocIH  Lynnanne Nguyen (@LynnanneFOX4) March 19, 2017

Well, I hope all your dreams came true, Spelman said, reading the letter. I hope everything is going good and nothing too horrible is going on or has happened.

In 2017, Tom Spelman, the womans father, said she was a friend to everyone, CBS DFW reported. She was such a good person, he added.

She did everything right her whole life, he also said, according to the Dallas News. You let your daughter go. You release her to the world, he added. And then you get the call.

Kyle Steele, Esparzas lawyer, the court that Spelman was intoxicated and crossed a dimly lit street at the time of the crash, Fox reported. He sought probation for his client.

The prosecutor wanted the maximum sentence, citing Esparzas driving history. He was arrested for drunk driving, but the prosecutor wanted the prison term due to his attitude.

He had just gotten his license reinstated when he went out and killed Rachel Spelman, the prosecutor, Sherre Thomas, said. Thomas stated that anything less than prison time shows that all you have to do if youre in an accident and youve been drinking is you just leave the scene.

US Traffic Deaths Down Overall in 2018

U.S. traffic deaths fell 3.1 percent in the first six months of 2018, according to preliminary figures released in October, Reuters reported. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that in 2017, traffic deaths fell by 1.8 percent to 37,133 after traffic deaths rose sharply in the previous two years, according to final figures.

The U.S. traffic fatality rate fell to 1.08 deaths per 100 million miles traveled for the first half of 2018. The fatality rate in 2017 was 1.16 million deaths per 100 million miles traveledthe second highest rate since 2008.A man wearing a face mask rides an electric bicycle near the financial district of Pudong amid heavy smog in Shanghai, China on Dec. 23, 2015. (Aly Song/Reuters)

EU Backs Duties on Imports of Chinese E-Bikes to Curb Unfair Trade Practices

BRUSSELSEU governments voted on Dec. 18 to impose duties on Chinese electric bicycles to curb cheap imports that European producers say benefit from unfair subsidies and are flooding the market, EU sources familiar with the case said.

The European Commission, which is investigating on behalf of the 28 EU members, has proposed that definitive or final tariffs of between 18.8 and 79.3 percent should apply for all e-bikes coming from China.

The anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties are the latest in a series of EU measures against Chinese exports ranging from solar panels to steel, which have sparked strong words from Beijing.

The electric bicycle imports are already subject to the duties set on a provisional basis in July. Definitive duties typically apply for five years.

Taiwans Giant, one of the worlds largest bicycle makers, which has factories in China as well as in the Netherlands, would be subject to a rate of 24.8 percent.

The Commission found Chinese exports of e-bikes to the European Union more than tripled from 2014 until September 2017. Their market share rose to 35 percent, while their average prices fell by 11 percent.

It has also said Chinese producers benefit from controlled aluminum prices as well as advantageous financing and land rights conditions and tax breaks.

Trade measures, it said, would shield 90,000 EU workers and over 800 small and medium companies against unfair competition.

EU producers include Dutch groups Accell and Gazelle, Romanias Eurosport DHS and Germanys Derby Cycle Holding.

Chinas Unfair Trade Practices

The European Union shares U.S. concerns about Beijings forced technology transfers and state subsidies.

The European Union announced on June 1 that it has launched a complaint against China to the World Trade Organization (WTO), citing Chinese policies that discriminate against foreign firms and force them to transfer proprietary technology.

In a press release, the European Commission explained that European firms operating in Chinawhich are often forced to establish joint ventures with domestic companies in order to gain access to the Chinese markethave been made to transfer technology to their Chinese counterparts.

Technological innovation and know-how is the bedrock of our knowledge-based economy. Its what keeps our companies competitive in the global market and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across Europe. We cannot let any country force our companies to surrender this hard-earned knowledge at its border, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom said in the press release. She noted that such technology transfers are against WTO rules, particularly the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights signed by member nations in 1995.

Earlier in March, the United States filed a similar complaint with the WTO, claiming that China has been denying foreign patent holders, including U.S. companies, basic patent rights to stop a Chinese entity from using the technology after a licensing contract ends, according to a statement by the United States Trade Representative (USTR).

The U.S. complaint was filed following the publication of the USTR findings, as part of a set of trade measures President Donald Trump announced in order to penalize China for its theft of intellectual property, including the much-talked-about $50 billion worth of trade tariffs on Chinese imported tech goods.

By Philip Blenkinsop. The Epoch Times contributed to this report.Families of Children Killed by Illegal Aliens Rally at USMexico Border

Families of people killed by illegal immigrants visited the U.S.Mexico border on Dec. 14 to call for stronger border security.

The Angel Families organization held a rally giving parents whose children were murdered a chance to speak in support of building the border wall, KUSI reported.

We are fighting so that no other American family has to feel the pain and the grief that we do, said Mary Ann Mendoza, whose son was killed by an illegal alien in 2014.

The families and activists gathered near the San Ysidro Port of Entry, which offers a crossing point between San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico.

Angel families call for stronger border security Angel families are holding a press conference to show their support for President Trump after he urged Democrats to fund the border wall.Info: http://bit.ly/2QyBt8c  KUSI News  20181214

Agnes Gibboney immigrated to the United States from Brazil by way of Hungary. In 2002, her son was shot and killed by a gang member who entered the Unites States illegally after previously being deported. She had a message for those in the migrant caravan who are waiting in Mexico, seeking to cross the border illegally.

Go back home, and if youre really serious about coming to this country, start by respecting our laws, Gibboney told KUSI News.

She also gave general advice for anybody seeking to immigrate to the United States legally.

I think anybody that wants to come here: apply, follow the law, go through the background investigation, full medical, and then you come in.

Speakers at the rally expressed their disappointment in Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). The two Democratic leaders met with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in the Oval Office on Dec. 11. They argued against a border wall, while Trump said the wall was crucial to the countrys border security.

Were calling on all Americans to support President Trump whos fighting hard to keep his campaign promise to build the wall, Gibboney said at the rally, via KUSI. We need to build the wall so we can prevent the needless loss of life at the hands of illegal aliens.

Trouble in Tijuana

The United States government temporarily closed the entry port for several hours on Nov. 25 after around 1,000 members of the Central American migrant caravan rushed the border and tried to enter the United States illegally. San Ysidro is one of the worlds busiest border crossings.

This makes the presidents point: That these are people who are willing to not just defy immigration law in an abstract sensecrossing a border where nobody is lookingbut actually rush the border in the full light of day, said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, via the LA Times.

Mexican authorities are struggling to shelter the newly-arrived population of Central Americans. Some of the migrants are living on the street because of conditions in overcrowded shelters, while others want to be as close to the border as possible, according to UNICEF USA, via a Newsweek interview.Federal School Safety Commissions Report Recommends Arming Teachers

WASHINGTONA new school safety report commissioned by President Donald Trump in the wake of the February shooting in Parkland, Fla., throws support behind the use of school resource officers and school safety officers, and arming teachers to neutralize a shooter.

The Federal Commission on School Safety, the issuer of the report, sees the recommendations as a way to cut down on response times to active-shooter situations, especially in rural areas.

The report, released Dec. 18, cites the Lake Hamilton School District in Pearcy, Arkansas, where the superintendent told the commission it would take law enforcement 20 to 30 minutes to respond to an active-shooter situation.

In the six minutes after Nikolas Jacob Cruz, 19, opened fire at Parklands Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, he managed to shoot and kill 17 people.

Headed to Dc today to meet with @realDonaldTrump to roll out the new school safety recommendations . The most comprehensive report done after a school shooting by any https://t.co/msyrmbMBvI agenda just facts make our schools safe #fixit  Andrew Pollack (@AndrewPollackFL) December 18, 2018

Were not willing to take that chance. We need someone to protect our kids, Lake Hamilton Superintendent Steve Anderson told the commission.

School resource officers (SROs) are generally sworn law enforcement officers, while school safety officers (SSO) typically arent.

The commission says it supports training school staff and faculty to carry firearms in schools, saying it could be a cost-effective way of providing the protection that a school safety officer would without having to hire one.

In a conference call with reporters, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said the commission urges schools, districts, and states to seriously consider partnering with local law enforcement in the training and arming of school personnel.

Additionally, this report concludes that students would benefit from more veterans and retired law enforcement officers leveraging their knowledge and experience to serve in a variety of school roles, she said.

The report says several hundred school districts already allow staff access to firearms on school campuses, usually as part of a layered approach to school security.

It also says that 10 states already have laws that allow school staff to possess or have access to firearms at school, including Florida, where a state commission reviewing the Parkland shooting recommended it, but the school board vetoed it.

That position doesnt seem to differ from that of Trump, who has said arming teachers could deter shooters from targeting schools in the first place.

If a potential sicko shooter knows that a school has a large number of very weapons-talented teachers (and others) who will be instantly shooting, the sicko will NEVER attack that school. Cowards wont go thereproblem solved, Trump tweeted in February, about a week after the Parkland attack.

Very strong improvement and strengthening of background checks will be fully backed by White House. Legislation moving forward. Bump Stocks will soon be out. Highly trained expert teachers will be allowed to conceal carry, subject to State Law. Armed guards OK, deterrent!.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2018

Announced the same day as the report, the administration said that starting in 90 days, bump stocksdevices that allow semi-automatic firearms to fire at almost the rate of automatic firearmswill be banned. Bump stocks were used in the October 2017 shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas that killed 58.

The commission report supports limiting access to firearms for people who pose a threat to themselves or others. It suggests states adopt a law that allows for extreme risk protection orders to be used to deny a person the right to buy or possess a firearm if they fall into such a category.

However, it stopped short of recommending age restrictions on firearm purchases, saying it would be ineffective in preventing school shootings because most school shooters obtain their firearms from friends and family.

The Federal School Safety Commision report is now public.

Thank you, @realDonaldTrump for doing what no other President has done by taking school safety seriously. Millions of childrens lives will be safer because you took action. https://t.co/yGAQ7GUjN0  Hunter Pollack (@PollackHunter) December 18, 2018

Funding

The report covers a range of recommendations for state and local governments, but the administration made it clear that implementing them wasnt optional.

We will actually ensure implementation of the recommendations, a senior administration official told reporters in a conference call.

When asked if there would be federal funding to help with implementing the recommendations, the administration said the report provided a range of options that could be tailored to any budget.

Our conclusions in this report do not impose one-size-fits-all solutions for everyone, everywhere, DeVos told reporters.

The commission is made of up the heads of the departments of Justice, Education, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security.

Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said in a statement that the Justice Department is already directing funding for school resource officers and improving the departments background-check systems.

In March, Trump signed into law the Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Act of 2018 that authorized more than $1 billion in grant funding through fiscal year 2028.

The foremost consideration for all members of the commission and the staff who worked on this report was ensuring that those recommendations would have some modicum of funding, whether its existing or novel, or put in collaboration with states, a senior administration official said.Flynn Sentencing Delayed So He Can Further Cooperate With Investigators

Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, will have to wait longer to find out his penalty for lying to the FBI, after a federal judge delayed the sentencing.

U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan agreed with the defense to give Flynn more time to continue in his cooperation with cases against two of his former associates who face charges for concealing that they lobbied in the United States on behalf of Turkey.

Flynn has extensively cooperated with government prosecutors on multiple investigations and further cooperation will give him yet more grounds to ask for a lenient sentence. Even before the delay, the prosecutors were asking for a low sentence, including no prison time, while the defense wanted no more than a year of probation and community service.

Sullivan said Flynns crime was serious because he had lied while a senior official in the White House. On the other hand, Sullivan said he would like to be in a position where he can see that the defendant has done all he can to cooperate. He also said that his purpose wasnt to sandbag anyone and that the parties can still proceed with the sentencing if they want to.

More than a year ago, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to two FBI agents about conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that took place when former President Barack Obama imposed additional sanctions on Russia in December 2016. He also pleaded guilty to lying about asking Russia to vote against or delay the vote on a U.N. Security Council resolution. Finally, he pleaded guilty to lying about his foreign lobbying disclosures regarding the extent to which his work benefiting the Turkish government was overseen by that government. Foreign lobbying paperwork violations are seldom prosecuted. Flynn said the work started in August 2016. He shut down his lobbying firm in November 2016.

Over the past week, both Flynn and the prosecutors with the office of special counsel Robert Mueller filed court documents that raised questions about the circumstances of the FBI interview with Flynn.

The judge gave Flynns lawyers an opportunity to respond to the revelations, including by asking whether they thought Flynn was entrapped by the FBI agents, whether they alleged he was prompted to lie by some misconduct of the agents, or whether he wished to withdraw his plea. The lawyers responded in the negative to the questions.

Sullivan scheduled a status report on the case for March 13, when Flynn will report if he is ready for sentencing yet.

Original 302

In his Dec. 11 sentencing memorandum, Flynns lawyers cited two internal FBI documents that detailed the circumstances of Flynns Jan. 24, 2017, interview with then-FBI counterintelligence deputy head Peter Strzok and another agent, implied by Congress investigators to be Joe Pientka.

One of the documents was a memorandum from Jan. 24, 2017, by then-Deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe, who wrote that he had advised Flynn before the interview that it would be quickest if he did not have anyone, not even a legal counsel present during the questioning, otherwise McCabe would have needed to involve the Department of Justice.

Flynns sentencing memo prompted Sullivan to demand that Flynn submit the documents. Sullivan also asked Mueller to submit any other such documents relevant to the FBI interview.

In response, Mueller released redacted copies of four documents, including the McCabe memo and also the original report, the FBI form FD-302, from the Flynn interview.

The 302 form offers an insight into the basis for the Mueller teams original indictment against Flynn, which was filed on Nov. 30, 2017.

The indictment stated that Flynn falsely stated and represented that he didnt ask Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak on Dec. 29, 2016, to refrain from escalating the situation in response to [the Obamas] sanctions.

The 302 indicates Flynn was fuzzy in his recollection when asked if he might have encouraged Kislyak not to escalate the situation or engage in tit-for-tat.

Not really, Flynn said. I dont remember. It wasnt, Dont do anything. 

A the time of the call with Kislyak, Flynn was on a family vacation in the Dominican Republic and remembered making four to five calls that day about the issue, but kept having connectivity issues.

Flynn further said he did not have a long drawn out discussion with Kislyak where he would have asked him to dont do something,  the 302 said.

Flynns request partially succeeded as Russia delayed retaliation to the sanctions for several months.

It appears Flynn also discussed other matters with Kislyak that day, but those were redacted in the released 302.

The indictment then alleged that Flynn lied by saying he did not recall Kislyak telling him that Russia had chosen to moderate its response to those sanctions as a result of his request.

What the 302 said on the matter was that Flynn stated it was possible that he talked to Kislyak on the issue, but if he did, he did not remember doing so.

As Flynn later acknowledged in his guilty plea (pdf), Kislyak did inform him about Russias decision. But it was in a call two days later, on Dec. 31, and a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin already issued a statement to that effect.

The second point of the indictment alleged that Flynn falsely stated and represented that on Dec. 22, 2016, he did not ask Kislyak to delay vote on or defeat a pending United Nations Security Council resolution and that Kislyak never described to Flynn Russias response to his request.

The 302 stated that Flynn, upon being reminded, explained he called a litany of countries, including maybe Russia that day to get a sense of where countries stood on the UN vote.

The agents inquired whether he asked Kislyak for Russia to vote in a particular way or take any action. Flynn said he didnt, the 302 stated. He repeated that the calls were about asking where countries would stand on a vote, not any request of, hey if you do this. 

Flynn went further to explain the whole endeavor was partly an exercise to see how quickly he could get foreign dignitaries on the phone. He said he did not believe his calls to the various countries would change anything, the 302 stated.

Indeed, the resolution, pertaining to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, was passed nearly unanimously with only the United States abstaining.

Flynn was unguarded and clearly saw the FBI agents as allies during the interview, according to another 302, which a lawyer from the Mueller team created based on a July 19, 2017, interview with Strzok.

Strzok and [the other agent] both had the impression at the time that Flynn was not lying or did not think he was lying, the Strzok 302 stated.Girl, 6, Accidentally Shot and Killed by Brother While Parents Were at Christmas Party

A 6-year-old girl in Missouri died last week after police said she was shot by her 12-year-old brother during a Christmas party, according to local reports.

Maliyah Palmer died at a nearby hospital after she was shot in the head, Fox2 reported. The two were being watched by their 16-year-old sister. Police in Florissant responded to the shooting at 11 p.m. on Dec. 14.

The 12-year-old boy allegedly found the gun in a dresser located in his parents bedroom before firing the gun. His sister was nearby, the report said.

This photo breaks my heart. Her smile is precious.

Maliyah Palmer was 6 years old. She was shot in the head when a sibling found a gun inside their home. pic.twitter.com/w47T5ODJAl  Alexis Zotos (@alexiszotos) December 17, 2018

All of the officers who responded to the scene are mothers and fathers, so you can only imagine how personal it is to see a child shot in the back of the head. We will have counselors here for a debriefing hopefully this week to make sure the mental state of our officers is OK, Timothy Lowery, the Florissant police chief, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Police described the incident as a tragic accident and will hand over evidence to prosecutors. Officials said no charges would be filed, but the Post-Dispatch noted that the parents have been charged in similar cases prior to the shooting.

You couldnt have written a more tragic script, the whole thing is just so tragic and terrible, but we have to put our personal feelings aside and do the law enforcement side of this, Lowery stated, according to the newspaper.

The parents names were not disclosed by police. Nor was the name of the 12-year-old boy.

Investigators have determined that this was a tragic accident and no charges will be filed at this time, police said in the statement.

Other details about the case are not clear.

Florissant, which has a population of about 50,000, is a suburb of St. Louis in Missouri.

The girl was a student at Green Trails Elementary School in Chesterfield, which issued a statement to families.

I am writing to share some tragic news. Friday evening, one of our first-grade students, Maliyah Palmer, died from what the family reports was an accidental gunshot wound. Maliyah was a student in Mrs. Ellingers classroom. It is difficult to find the right words to convey this information, but necessary so that we all work together to support this family, our students, staff, and community, the statement read, reported Fox2.

Staff was made aware yesterday afternoon. The district will be supporting us by sending additional counselors and social workers to school first thing Monday morning. In addition, we are working with Annies HopeThe Center for Grieving Kids. We will meet as a staff before school to process and discuss how we will share this news with students in an age-appropriate way. Our goal will be to keep the day and routine normal. We will share the news honestly and openly so that understanding, processing, grieving and healing can begin, it added.

The school also said not to use euphemisms about the death. Equating death with sleep, passing or going away can cause confusion. It can also cause the child to be anxious about falling asleep or loved ones leaving on trips, the school said.Huawei, ZTE Cant Develop 5G Without Western Technology, Network Security Expert Says

With its faster connectivity speeds, the fifth generation of cellular mobile communications, or 5G, is set to become the foundation for powering internet of things items, such as electronic devices, autonomous vehicles, and home appliances. Such devices can be monitored and controlled remotelyhence, the technology also has surveillance applications.

James Lewis, a senior network security researcher at the U.S.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, recently published a report about the global 5G outlook and the security issues that Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE bring to the world.

In the report, titled How 5G Will Shape Innovation and Security and published Dec. 6, Lewis explained that China has purposely politicized the standards-making process in order to mandate the use of Chinese technologies.

Lewis offered the example of Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo, which voted in favor of a proposed standard from U.S. tech firm Qualcomm at the 3GPP international standards group, instead of one proposed by Huawei. As a result, the firm faced intense criticism in China, the report said.

While warning of the security loopholes that the Chinese companies pose, Lewis also said in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal that Huawei or ZTE cant make products without U.S. technology. On the other hand, he said that, without Chinese telecommunications equipment supplierswhich are among the worlds biggestWestern firms can still pull off a 5G rollout, but it is going to cost a lot more.

Chinese Threat, Reliance on Western Tech

International groups have tentatively set the first phase of 5G specifications to be completed by March 2019, with the second phase to be finished by March 2020. Chinese telecom suppliers such as Huawei wish to influence the development of global technical standards to favor themselves.

The structure of a 5G network has four major parts: User Equipment, Radio Access Network, Core Network, and Select Mobile Network Equipment Components.

In the first three parts, Chinese suppliers play an important role in the market and have competed aggressively with U.S., European, and South Korean competitors. But there are very few Chinese companies that have developed the technology to support the fourth aspect.

Only U.S. companies currently have the technology to manufacture data converter chips, Ethernet switch chips, and FPGAs, a special type of semiconductor chip. In developing small cell antenna arrays and small cell power amplifiers, several European and U.S. companies dominate. So, if Chinese firms want to build a complete 5G network, they must buy from their U.S. and European rivals.

In other words, without U.S. technology, Huawei and ZTE cant finish a 5G project.

So far, Western firms own 10 times the IP (intellectual property) related to 5G, compared to Chinese firms, according to Lewis report. But if Western firms choose to use products manufactured in China to build their 5G system, it can bring security risks.

Lewis said using Huawei or ZTE products is akin to if a person who built your house decides to burgle it.

Continuing the metaphor, Lewis wrote in his report: They know the layout, the power system, the access points, may have kept a key, and perhaps even built in a way to gain surreptitious entry.

Security Risks Around the World

Japanese web portal Livedoor cited an anonymous Japanese government source that confirmed the Japanese government recently found a piece of unnecessary hardware embedded in Huawei equipment.

Following this report, the Japanese government announced Dec. 10 that it banned government purchases of equipment from Huawei and ZTE, to bolster its defense against intelligence leaks and cyber attacks. Several days later, Japans three main telecoms operators, SoftBank Group, NTT Docomo, and KDDI, also announced plans to reject 5G equipment from Huawei and ZTE.

That makes four countries that have an outright ban on Huawei and ZTE gear; the others are the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

Because Huawei and ZTE products and services are 20 to 30 percent cheaper than competitorsand Huawei often offers generous terms for leasing or loans, the African, South American, and Asian markets have more readily welcomed the Chinese firms. It [Huawei] can do this because of its access to government funds. Beijing supports Huawei for both strategic and commercial reasons, Lewis wrote.

He further warned that Chinese firms arent typical in the global market, because China is the most active espionage power when it comes to industrial espionage, theft of IP, and actions against groups or countries that the regime perceives as threatening.

Lewis said that the Chinese regime has stolen other countries technology and other intelligence for almost two decades. In the past year, it has ignored bilateral agreements in which it promised would not engage in commercial espionage.

Efforts to acquire American, European, and Asian technology have reached an unprecedented level, he wrote.

Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei, once made it clear how his company aligns with the Chinese regimes goals.

The war of 5G is related to Huaweis future fate. We must win the competition for 5G networks, and we will not hesitate to pay the full price in order to achieve victory, Chinese media reported Ren as saying during a November internal company meeting.

Lewis suggested that the United States can manage the risks posed by China by continuing to invest in innovation and development of the technology, and by leveraging like-minded nations to develop a common approach to 5G security.Hunt for Lion Air Jets Black Box Delayed by Bad Weather

JAKARTA, IndonesiaA renewed search for the cockpit voice recorder of a Lion Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea on Oct. 29 has been delayed for two days due to bad weather hampering the arrival of a specialized ship, the airline said.

The crash, the worlds first of a Boeing Co 737 MAX jet, killed all 189 people on board and the main wreckage and second black box were not recovered in an initial search.

Lion Air said in a statement that it was funding a 38 billion rupiah ($2.6 million) search effort using the offshore supply ship MPV Everest, which had been expected to arrive in the search area on Dec. 17.

Bad weather and heavy rain at the port of Johor Bahru in Malaysia interfered with the equipment and crew mobilization process, delaying the ships arrival at the crash site until Dec. 19, the airline said late on Dec. 16.

Lion Airs decision to foot the bill for the search is a rare test of global norms regarding search independence, as such costs are typically paid by governments.

A spokesman for the transportation ministry said its obligation was to fund the investigation. The search for the cockpit voice recorder was the airlines responsibility, he said.

Lion Air on Dec. 16 said the search for the cockpit voice recorder was the duty and responsibility of Indonesias transport safety committee. The airline on Dec. 17 issued a revised statement removing that reference.

In 2007, efforts to recover the black boxes from a crashed Adam Air jet were delayed due to disagreements between the Indonesian government and the airline over who should bear the cost.

Indonesian investigators said last week that bureaucratic wrangling and funding problems had hampered the search for the Lion Air recorder and they had turned to the airline for help.

Safety experts say it is unusual for one of the parties to help fund an investigation, required by U.N. rules to be independent to ensure trust in any safety recommendations.

There are also broader concerns about resources available for such investigations worldwide, coupled with the risk of agencies being ensnared in legal disputes.

The clock is ticking in the hunt for acoustic pings coming from the L3 Technologies Inc cockpit voice recorder fitted to the jet. It has a 90-day beacon, the manufacturers online brochure shows.

The flight data recorder was retrieved three days after the crash, providing insight into aircraft systems and crew inputs, although the cause has yet to be determined.Gustavo Garcia, an illegal alien who had been deported, died in Tulare County, Calif., on Dec. 17, 2018, after a criminal rampage. (Tulare County Sheriff's Office)

Illegal Alien Who Re-Entered US After Deportation Dies After Criminal Rampage

An illegal alien who re-entered the United States after being deported died following a criminal rampage that included shooting at his ex-girlfriend and injuring four people while recklessly driving a vehicle.

Gustavo Garcia, 36, spent 24 hours conducting a reign of terror, police officials said, showing a blatant disregard for human life.

He robbed a store, killed a stranger, shot at his ex-girlfriend, stole a truck, engaged in a gun battle with police, and drove the wrong way down streets and crashed into vehicles, leaving four people injured, one critically, before he was flung from a stolen truck in a collision and died on Dec. 17.

The spree started on Sunday when Garcia shot a farm worker in Exeter while the worker was on a ladder picking fruit.

Three minutes later, he committed an armed robbery, taking thousands in cash from a small business. Several hours later, he shot at a woman who was in her car in the parking lot of a Motel 6 in Tulare.

The spree also included homicide and an assault with a deadly weapon early Monday morning. The victim was identified as Rocky Paul Jones, 51, who police believe did not know Garcia before he was shot dead.

Shortly after, Garcia went to the house of his ex-girlfriend in Visalia and fired several gunshots while threatening her.

Around 5 a.m., police officers stopped Garcia after recognizing his vehicle but he fled into an orchard, held three farm workers at gunpoint, stole their truck, and drove quickly away, triggering a high-speed chase that at one point reached speeds around 100 mph.

Garcia was ejected from the truck and died.

This is the area near Exeter where @TulareSheriff says Gustavo Garcia shot a farmworker in the chest before robbing a gas station on Sunday. Farmworker is expected to survive. @ABC30 pic.twitter.com/ZtV99Ac8Ey  Brian Johnson (@BrianABC30) December 17, 2018

These were not chosen targets, which makes it more dangerous, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said at a Monday afternoon press conference, reported the Fresno Bee. This person was targeting anyone that got in the way. He equally was not deterred by the acts of law enforcement. He was a violent person.

Up to 12 crimes involving Garcia are being investigated.

Garcia has a long criminal history, including multiple assaults with a deadly weapon, and was deported in 2014, officials said, according to the Visalia Times-Delta.

(Garcia) lost his life in a traffic accident and cant see the ability of bringing him to justice, but we can say his reign of terror in Tulare County is stopped, said Boudreaux.

Victims Family Speaks Out

Family members of Jones, who was believed to be murdered by Garcia, reacted to the death.

He loved everybody with his own being, and he always made sure everyone knew that, Jones niece Kenedi Baxter-Jones told KFSN. She added on a GoFundMe page that Rocky Jones was a very giving, loving, and unselfish man. He was a dad, son, grandpa, uncle, cousin, and friend to many.

She said the family was upset that Garcia was deported but came back into the country, which is a felony crime.

The fact that he came back and my uncle is dead now is what angers us the most, said Kenedi.

She said the effort by law enforcement was not good enough.

The day before he robs a store, he shoots a guy in Exeter, said Kenedi. It shouldnt have taken my uncle to be murdered at 2:30 a.m. for them to do anything.

From NTD NewsPablo Rangel-Rubio, 49, was one of three illegal aliens charged for allegedly plotting the murder of Eliud Montoya, a naturalized U.S. citizen, who exposed an illegal hiring scheme orchestrated by Rangel-Rubio at a company in Georgia. (Charleston County Jail)

Illegal Aliens Charged for Allegedly Murdering Georgia Whistleblower

Three illegal aliens have been charged for plotting the murder of a whistleblower who was found shot to death on Aug. 19, 2017.

Eliud Montoya, a naturalized U.S. citizen, had alerted authorities stating that Pablo Rangel-Rubio, 49, was running a scheme to employ illegal aliens at a tree service in the Savannah, Georgia, area.

Montoya said in a formal complaint filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that Rangel-Rubio was skimming pay from the illegal workers.

He had reported the scheme to company officials four months prior.

The Department of Justice said that Rangel-Rubio, his brother Juan Rangel-Rubio, 42, and Higinio Perez-Bravo, 49, plotted to murder Montoya and then shot him to death.

According to the indictment, announced on Dec. 13, Pablo Rangel-Rubio paid Perez-Bravo to assist his brother in killing Montoya in retaliation for exposing the hiring scheme.

The scheme is believed to have netted the brothers more than $3.5 million during a decade.

Eliud Montoya was a naturalized citizen of the United States who worked hard and raised a family, said U.S. Attorney Bobby Christine in a statement.

He went to the proper authorities to report a federal crime and for that he was murdered. Our office is committed to ensuring justice for Eliud Montoya, a man killed for doing the right thing, by those intent on protecting their illegal profits.

This case is an extreme, but clear example of how far certain criminals seeking to illegally exploit the U.S. labor market will go to protect their ill-gotten gains and illustrates why worksite enforcement will continue to be a major priority for HSI, said Homeland Security Investigations Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Nick Annan.

Citizens who uphold the law and report criminal activity should never have to be afraid of retaliation from those intent on breaking the law, added Chris Hacker, special agent in charge of FBIs Atlanta division.

Five people were originally arrested as suspects in Montoyas death, including Pablo Rangel-Rubio, reported WSAV. Authorities found a number of firearms inside a house shared by the five men, who were all working and living together.

Court records show that Rangel-Rubio was committed to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons on July 10 for 16 months and that following his release he would be deported.

Illegal Immigration in the United States

Up to 29 million illegal aliens are living in the United States, according to researchers at Yale University.

The researchers noted that previous estimates were all based on one survey, and they were able to figure out the true range of illegal immigrants residing in the country.

The new approach the researchers used was based on operational data, including deportations and visa overstays. They combined that with demographic data, including death rates and immigration rates. The paper examined data from 1990 to 2016.

They said the mean estimate was 22.1 million illegal aliens.

According to a 2018 report from the Center for Immigration Studies, births in 2014 to illegal immigrants accounted for 7.5 births, or some 297,000, in the United States. That figure is larger than the total number of births in any state other than California and Texas.

The center said the estimated 28,000 births to illegal aliens in the Los Angeles metro alone is larger than the total number of births in 14 states and the District of Columbia. About 67 percent of illegal aliens who give birth arent insured, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for the births. The cost for illegal immigrant births was pegged at $2.4 billion.

From NTD NewsIndia's prime Minister Narendra Modi attends a bilateral meeting with Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, at 10 Downing Street in London, April 18, 2018. (Kirsty Wigglesworth/Pool via Reuters)

Indias Modi Gives $1.4 Billion Aid to Maldives Amid Worry Over Its China Debt

NEW DELHIIndia will give financial assistance of $1.4 billion to the Maldives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Dec. 17, the biggest aid yet to the Indian Ocean island nation that is grappling with debt from a Chinese building spree.

Modi made the announcement after talks with Maldives new president, Mohamed Ibrahim Solih, who defeated the pro-China strongman Abdulla Yameen in a surprise election result in October and is trying to reset ties with India.

During a five-year construction boom in the Maldives, China built a sea bridge connecting the capital, Male, to the main airport and is developing the airport itself, as well as building housing on land reclaimed from the sea.

But the fast-paced building activity has stoked fears that the Maldives has loaded up on debt that could be anything from $1.5 billion to more than $3 billion.

Solihs administration has said it is trying to find out just how much the country of 400,000 people owes China.

Modi said India stood ready to help the Maldives as a close friend and neighbor.

For Maldives social and economic development we are providing a financial assistance of $1.4 billion in the form of budgetary support, currency swap agreements and concessional lines of credit, he said during a brief media appearance with Solih.

Both India and China have been trying to build regional influence in the Maldives and other Indian Ocean countries such as Sri Lanka that lie along vital shipping lanes.

Soon after he took over last month, Solih said state coffers had been looted over the past few years and warned that the country was in financial difficulty after racking up debt with Chinese lenders.

Solih said the Maldives and India had signed agreements to cooperate on trade, health, and defense. India would help improve Maldives security through joint patrols as well as aerial surveillance, officials said.

Indias big worry has been that Chinas expansion in the region was aimed at securing an outpost on an island in the Maldives.

Modi said he had discussed regional security with Solih and both had agreed not to allow each others territory to be used against the other.

By Sanjeev MiglaniPolice said Tyrese Lynch shot and killed 24-year old Isis Williams on Dec. 14, 2018, after an argument, CBS Philadelphia reported. (Isis Williams / Facebook selfies)

Isis Williams, Mother of 3, Shot and Killed Five Days After Giving Birth: Reports

A Philadelphia man was arrested in connection with the shooting death of a new mother five days after she gave birth, according to reports.

Police said Tyrese Lynch shot and killed 24-year old Isis Williams on Dec. 14 after an argument, CBS Philadelphia reported.

The 5-day-old newborn was in the same room at the time of the incident, and the girl was unharmed, the report said.

Officials said there was no forced entry, but there appeared to be a struggle prior to the shooting. Furniture was overturned when police arrived.

Lynch, according to police, had prior convictions for a DUI and a domestic dispute with Williams about a year ago. The domestic dispute case was dropped when Williams didnt appear in court, 6ABC reported.

Its terrible. Its still a 5-day-old baby that now has no mother or father. Its terrible all around, said Philadelphia Police Capt. John Ryan, CBS Philadelphia reported.

A family member wrote on GoFundMe that Williams was in an abusive relationship with Lynch.

I dont even know where to start, but for a while now my cousin was in an abusive relationship with her baby father. She tried leaving him multiples times as she slept in her car or at a family member house from time to time, the family member, who identified themselves as a cousin, wrote on the page.

The family member offered more alleged details of the incident.

She had recently went back to him while giving birth to her 3rd daughter on December 9th 2018. She had been discharged from the hospital 2 days later. She could only spend 5 days with her daughter before she was brutally killed by her baby father, the GoFundMe said.

And neighbors said they heard an argument before the shooting, ABC7 reported. He was calling her derogatory names, neighbor Melvina Hall said. It was very loud.

If you hear it, hear the screaming, hear the crying, hear the arguing, say something, said Christine Yarbough, a neighbor, 6ABC reported. Call police, bang on the door, do something so were not standing here holding balloons and candles for another person.

It just sounded like a nail gun, Bruce Thomas told NBC10. Like someone was doing work.

Williams aunt, meanwhile, said she was on the phone with her mother when the gunshots were fired. Her mother heard the shots, said Aspara Agyeman, the aunt.

Even though I may be the one that ends up raising her, shes gonna know that Isis is her mother and that she was loved, the aunt said.

She was funny. Her laugh made everyone laugh, said cousin Amara Thornton, 6ABC reported. Positive about everything.

In another report, 6ABC said the unnamed 5-day-old infant was taken to the 35th police district headquarters while officers waited on Department of Human Services. The baby was then taken to St. Christophers Hospital for Children for care.

Other details are not clear.

The shooting took place in the Germantown area of Philadelphia.The US Navy's Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) is anchored in the northern Israeli port of Haifa on March 15, 2018. (Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel Opens Security Review of China Investment Deal in Strategic Haifa Port

Israel has opened an interagency review into a Chinese business deal to develop part of the strategic port of Haifa, amid U.S. security concerns.

The Port of Haifa, one of Israels three major international seaports, sits in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and serves both commercial and military purposes.

The port provides repair and support facilities for the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet, which consists of about 40 ships and 175 aircraft, and hosts joint U.S.Israeli naval exercises. The port is also home to Israels naval base. Its main fleets, including missile warships and submarines, are stationed there.

In 2015, Chinas state-owned Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) was awarded the contract to operate the ports new terminalcurrently under construction by two Israeli construction firms and expected to be finished in 2021for a total of 25 years. According to a March 2015 article by Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, SIPG will pay a license fee and usage fee for the rights to operate the port, in addition to investing about 1 billion shekels (about $265 million) in equipment and infrastructure upgrades at the port before operation begins.

However, both U.S. and Israeli officials have raised security concerns about the Sino-Israeli agreement at Haifa.

Israels Jerusalem Post daily newspaper, in an article published Dec. 15, announced that the Israeli government has launched a review of the [Haifa] agreement at a high level, specifically among members of the governments inner cabinet, made up of top ministers.

Citing three unnamed sources, the Jerusalem Post reported that the review was started after unidentified U.S. defense officials privately raised concerns with their Israeli counterparts. An unidentified senior officer with the Israel Defense Forces (the countrys military) confirmed that the review is underway, according to the Post.

Citing another unnamed source, the report said several members of the Israeli inner cabinet expressed concerns that the agreement with SIPG wasnt properly vetted by Israels full national security cabinet prior to approval.

According to a Sept. 18, 2018, report by Haaretz, the decision to award the contract to SIPG in 2015 was made by the Transportation Ministry and the Port Authority. However, the countrys National Security Council (NSC), an advisory body on national security to the Israeli prime minister and government, did not take part in the discussion. Nor did the Israeli navy.

Unlike the United States, Israel doesnt have an agency dedicated to reviewing foreign investment deals.

U.S. Navy Commander Kyle Raines, a representative of the Sixth Fleet, told the Jerusalem Post that Navy ships visit Haifa frequently for bilateral military activities and port calls. In response to a question about Chinas presence at Haifa after 2021, Raines stated: For now, there are no changes to our operations in Israel. I cant speculate on what might or might not occur in 2021.

But Gary Roughead, a retired U.S. admiral, expressed concern about the Haifa deal in a Sept. 14 interview with Newsweek magazine.

The Chinese port operators will be able to monitor closely U.S. ship movements, be aware of maintenance activity, and could have access to equipment moving to and from repair sites, and interact freely with our crews over protracted periods, he said.

The Middle East Institute (MEI), a non-profit think tank based in Washington also laid out security risks in an essay on the relationships between Israel, China, and the United States, published Nov. 27.

Chinas presence at Haifa would allow the Chinese regime access to sources of knowledge within the Israeli economy, according to the MEI, which indicated that information about companies that send or receive goods through the port would be exposed to the Chinese port operator.

The MEI warned that, given well-documented cases of Chinese espionage and cyber attacks against U.S. companies, this could be a serious threat.

In another potentially troubling scenario for Israel: Should the Chinese government, for whatever reason and at any time, decide to divert the ships that use this facility to another port, say, in Greece or Cyprus (where the Chinese already operate seaports), the Israeli economy would suffer great damage, according to the MEI essay. Greek and Chinese media have reported that Chinese firms are interested in buying ports in Cyprus, but have yet to announce a deal.

China, through its One Belt, One Road initiative announced in 2013 for establishing Beijing-centered trade routes throughout the world, has invested heavily in European ports. For example, the Greek port of Piraeus is owned by Chinas state-owned China Ocean Shipping (COSCO).

Beijing is also active in another major Israeli port, the Port of Ashdod, which it regards as crucial for Chinese trade with Europe.

Chinas state-run China Harbor Engineering was awarded a contract to build a new terminal at Ashdod in September 2014, according to Israeli news site The Times of Israel. A China Harbor subsidiary, Pan-Mediterranean Engineering (PMEC), has begun construction, which is expected to be completed by 2021.Lawbreaking Florida Elections Official Files Lawsuit in Attempt to Get Job Back

A lawbreaking Florida elections official has sued to try to get her job back after rescinding her resignation.

Brenda Snipes, 75, announced her resignation shortly after the November midterm elections.

Snipes was serving as elections supervisor for Broward County. During her 15-year tenure, she broke the law multiple times, including illegally destroying ballots.

She brazenly ignored laws guiding the election counting process during recounts for three intensely scrutinized races, including for governor.

Governor and U.S. Sen.-elect Rick Scott suspended Snipes in late November, citing Snipes series of blunders, which also included losing some 2,000 ballots and submitting votes two minutes late in one set of recounts, effectively wasting days of work by her staff.

After a series of inexcusable actions, its clear that there needs to be an immediate change in Broward County and taxpayers should no longer be burdened by paying a salary for a supervisor of elections who has already announced resignation, Scott said in a statement.

Following Scotts announcement, Snipes rescinded her resignation and claimed that everyone makes mistakes. She said she wants to be the elections supervisor through the 2020 elections.

Her replacement, though, has already been sworn in.

Peter Antonacci, has served the governor in other capacities including as the executive director of South Florida Water Management and as head of business recruitment agency Enterprise Florida.

That great mission is to see to it that every eligible voter is registered to vote and every vote counts, Antonacci said. He asked voters to watch him as he accepted the role and pledged to clean up the office.

Federal Lawsuit

Snipes filed the federal lawsuit, which asks a federal judge to reinstate her, on Dec. 17.

Snipes seeks to fight for her reputation and stand up against the embarrassment that has been caused by Governor Scotts unnecessary and malicious suspension, states the lawsuit.

There are false allegations contained within the executive order and Snipes has never had a proper forum to state her position  At this point, Governor Scotts allegations have gone unchallenged as he sits high on a throne utilizing state resources to continually humiliate Snipes, it continues.

In her lawsuit, Snipes contends that allegations against her were either untrue or were caused by the governors own interference after his U.S. Senate campaign sued her during the recount.

John Tupps, a spokesman for Scott, criticized the lawsuit. This lawsuit is a desperate move from someone who has already officially submitted her resignation, Tupps said. This is simply an attempt by Ms. Snipes to rewrite the history of her failed leadership.

The lawsuit also targets Senate President Bill Galvano, who said in a memo to senators that there is not enough time to investigate the allegations against Snipes before her resignation was to take effect on Jan. 4. He said a legal review by Senate attorneys had concluded that Snipes had rescinded her unconditional resignation too late.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

From NTD NewsThe Goldman Sachs company logo is seen in the company's space on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, (NYSE) in New York, on April 17, 2018. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

Malaysia Says Goldman Sachs Failed to Disclose Key Facts in 1MDB Bond Sales

KUALA LUMPUR, MalaysiaGoldman Sachs Group Inc. made untrue statements and omitted key facts in offering circulars for the bonds it sold for Malaysian state fund 1MDB, the Malaysian government said in criminal charges against the U.S. bank.

Malaysia on Dec. 17 filed the charges in Kuala Lumpur against three Goldman Sachs units in connection with the banks role as underwriter and arranger of three bond sales that raised $6.5 billion for 1MDB.

The charges were the first criminal action against the bank over its involvement in the scandal, which the U.S. Justice Department has estimated involved the misappropriation of $4.5 billion by high-level 1MDB fund officials and their associates between 2009 and 2014.

Malaysian authorities charged the Goldman units as well as former Goldman partner Tim Leissner, 1MDB employee Jasmine Loo and Jho Low, the Malaysian financier believed to be at the heart of the scandal, as part of their investigation into suspected corruption and money laundering at 1MDB, founded by former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak.

The alleged crimes carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison and fines of at least 1 million ringgit ($240,000), according to the charge sheets, seen by Reuters.

Goldman Sachs has consistently denied wrongdoing and on Dec. 18 maintained that certain members of the former Malaysian government and 1MDB lied to the bank about the proceeds of the bond sales.

In a statement responding to the Dec. 17 news, the bank added: Under the Malaysian legal process, the firm was not afforded an opportunity to be heard prior to the filing of these charges against certain Goldman Sachs entities, which we intend to vigorously contest. These charges do not affect our ability to conduct our current business globally.

Malaysia said on Dec. 17 it would seek from Goldman and the others the $600 million in fees Goldman received for the deal and the allegedly misappropriated $2.7 billion bond proceeds.

The charges name Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC, a key U.S.-registered unit of the bank, as well as London-based Goldman Sachs International and Goldman Sachs (Singapore) PTE. The banks Kuala Lumpur-based unit has not been charged.

The charges claim Goldman omitted key facts on the funds managementincluding the role of Low, who is described as the operator and key intermediary for 1MDB.

The charges also claim Goldman made untrue statements about the planned use of proceeds from a $3 billion bond sold in 2013.

Low maintained his innocence on Dec. 17 following the fresh charges filed by Malaysia. His spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations made in the charge sheet.

A lawyer for Leissner was not available for an immediate comment outside U.S. business hours.

Loo, against whom Malaysia brought other 1MDB-related charges earlier in December, has not commented on the 1MDB case and her whereabouts are not known. She could not be reached for comment.

On Dec. 17, Malaysia said it would also charge Roger Ng, a former Goldman Sachs banker and colleague of Leissner, but the charges were not revealed on Dec. 18.

The U.S. Justice Department announced criminal charges against Leissner and Ng, on Nov. 1.

Leissner pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and has agreed to forfeit $43.7 million.

Ng, detained in Malaysia, is facing extradition to the United States.

By A. AnanthalakshmiRep. Martha McSally at a Make America Great Again rally in Mesa, Arizona, on Oct. 19, 2018. She was appointed to a vacancy in the U.S. Senate on Dec. 18, 2018, effective on Jan. 1, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Martha McSally Appointed to Senate Seat Left by John McCain

U.S. Rep. Martha McSally has been appointed to the U.S. Senate seat left by John McCain, who passed away in August.

McSally ran for the states other Senate seat but conceded on Nov. 12 to opponent Rep. Kyrsten Sinema.

McSally lost by about 32,000 votes.

Gov. Doug Ducey announced the appointment of McSally on Dec. 18.

All her life, Martha has put service firstleading in the toughest of fights and at the toughest of times, said Governor Ducey in a statement.

She served 26 years in the military; deployed six times to the Middle East and Afghanistan; was the first woman to fly in combat and command a fighter squadron in combat; and shes represented Southern Arizona in Congress for the past four years. With her experience and long record of service, Martha is uniquely qualified to step up and fight for Arizonas interests in the U.S. Senate.

McSally in a statement said that she was thankful for the appointment.

I am humbled and grateful to have this opportunity to serve and be a voice for all Arizonans. I look forward to working with Senator-Elect Kyrsten Sinema and getting to work from day one, she said.

Gov. Ducey appointed former Senator Jon Kyl in September to fill the seat vacated by McCain, but Kyl indicated he did not want to serve into 2019 and recently announced his resignation effective Dec. 31. McCains term runs until 2020.

He noted that whoever was appointed to the seat would have the opportunity to enter Washington along with the lawmakers elected in the midterms, making the transition smoother.

Because she currently represents Arizona in the U.S. Congress, Martha McSally certainly has the knowledge and experience to represent our State in the Senate, Kyl said in a statement.

Moreover, she is highly energetic, smart, and committed to finding practical solutions to problems facing our State and Nation. She is an excellent choice.

Final Speech in House

McSally recently delivered her final speech on the House Floor, on Dec. 12.

I am grateful to my dedicated staff in Arizona who were omnipresent in our community and fought for constituents who needed help with federal bureaucracies. They were able to solve nearly 6,000 cases, returning nearly $2.5 million to seniors, veterans, and othersmoney that was rightfully theirs in the first place! This is one of the most meaningful and impactful parts of our job, she said.

She noted what she sees as her biggest achievements, including saving the A-10 Warthog, keeping the Cherrybell postal facility open, and fast-tracking veterans for jobs at the border.

She urged fellow members of Congress to remember that it is a privilege to serve and to not take the opportunity lightly.

The people of our great countrythe people each of us representoften have very different views on how to solve our challenges, the proper role of our government, and the priorities of our limited resources. Reconciling these differences requires rigorous and robust debate, both in this chamber and outside of it, she said.

Disagreements are inevitable, but we can and should set the example to disagree without being disagreeable. Our challenge is then to find the sometimes very tiny sliver of common ground where we can agree and govern. I am particularly proud of the fact that every one of the five bills I introduced that were signed into law had bipartisan support.

From NTD NewsNew California activists wearing yellow vests at the New California town hall meeting in Morgan Hill, Calif., on Dec. 8. (Nathan Su/The Epoch Times)

New California Yellow Vest Movement Joins French Citizens Against Socialism and Globalism

MORGAN HILL, Calif.Activists from the New California state movement wore yellow vests to attend a local town hall meeting on Dec. 8 and claimed they have joined the movement in France against socialism and globalism.

Standing together in a cafe in the small city in Santa Clara County, the crowd of American yellow vests posed with victory signs to express their confidence in the future of the Golden State.

The New California state movement is an effort to split most of the rural areas away from the current state, and to form a new state.

So far, 47 of the 58 counties in California have set up committees to join this movement, and another five counties have partial regions in this movement.

We stand in solidarity with French citizens, said Liz Ritchie, one of the top leaders of the New California movement.

Dane Senser, another activist from San Luis Obispo, wrote a tweet calling on all the activists to start wearing yellow vests to show solidarity to the French revolution anti-globalist freedom fighters.

Our Constitution dictates us to do things peacefully, said Paul Preston, the founder of the New California state movement. While wearing his yellow vest, Preston clearly drew the difference between his movement and some protesters in France who chose to participate in violence.

Anti-Globalism

This is the document responsible for Paris today, Preston said holding a book named Agenda 21, a 1992 United Nations document that has been criticized by many conservatives as the blueprint for globalists to build a worldwide government. Preston called Agenda 21 the totalitarian plan to control the whole world.

Preston said he remembered that years ago he traveled to Europe and witnessed the borders among European countries coming down. But guess what, in France and in Germany all the borders are going to go back up.

Preston praised President Donald Trumps effort to building border walls and criticized Californias sanctuary state policy as in violation of the U.S. Constitution Article IV Section 4, which protects each state in the union against invasion.

Preston pointed out that Agenda 21 was all about a small group of people using their power to control the weather, borders, populations, and the wealth of the world.

Trumps support for the yellow vests was also noted by the American yellow vests during Morgan Hills town hall meeting. We see changes in Europe, and I attribute those changes to our President Trump, said Ron Kirkish, an activist who is a retired drug prevention officer.

Trump wrote in a tweet recently: The Paris Agreement isnt working out so well for Paris, and stated that people did not want to pay large sums of money in order to maybe protect the environment.

Anti-Socialism

The socialist model in Europe is not working, Preston also said, criticizing the socialist government elected by the French democracy.

Preston compared the similarities of heavy tax and big government between France and California in his speech. The activists in the movement believe that California also has a socialist government.

Preston pointed out that America has a republic instead of a democracy and is based on the Constitution.

The activists for New California claim that California state has become a one-party controlled state, and therefore fails to comply with Article 4 Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the republican form of government in every state in the union.

Similar Movements

California in recent years had two other efforts to split the state: the Cal 3 and Jefferson State proposals. Preston said the failure of these initiatives to follow the Constitution has caused extreme difficulties for them.

Cal 3 proposed splitting California into three states, and was launched in August 2017 by American venture capitalist Tim Draper. Draper spent more than $5 million and gathered enough signatures to put Cal 3 as Prop. 9 onto the 2018 ballot. But Prop. 9 was removed from the ballot by the Supreme Court of California.

Jefferson State proposed forming a new state by splitting 21 counties away from California and Oregon. The activists supporting this proposal have met strong resistance from the state legislature, and they recently started taking legal action to move the proposal forward. But the U.S. Supreme Court so far has chosen not to hear the case.

Constitutional Process

We are not just constitutionalist. We are the original constitutionalists, said Preston.

The activists in the New California state movement have so far, step by step, followed the Constitution Article IV Section 3, which West Virginia used to break away from Virginia in 1861.

The movement claimed its independence on Jan. 15, 2018, which was the first step to form a reform government.

Each county and fractions of counties attempting to break away from the current state have formed their own reform governments.

Grievances have been filed on a weekly basis by the counties joining the movement. The grievances publicly announced have highlighted the reasons why the people in the movement believe they have not been represented by the current state government.

So far 47 grievances have been filed and announced. A yellow vest symbol was used for the 47th grievance.

The final split will need to be approved by the current state legislature and Congress.

The activists believe the current California state government will soon face a fiscal crisis. When it happens, the movement will negotiate with the current state legislature and make a financial deal with it, using the rich natural resources of the new state.Randy Hare, with the Alpha Canine Training center, trained the dog and later found out Ringo was at an animal shelter in Madison, Mississippi. (Jackson Police)

Officer Demoted After Dumping Retired K-9 at Local Animal Shelter: Reports

A police agency in Mississippi says its demoting an officer after he dumped his retired K-9 partner at a local animal shelter.

Officer Carl Ellis took ownership of Ringo after the dog retired, WAPT reported. The dog spent nearly 10 years working for the police force as a narcotics dog.

Randy Hare, who had trained the K-9 at the Alpha Canine Traning center, later found out Ringo was at an animal shelter in Madison, Mississippi.

Hare noted that officers are expected to care for K-9 dogs after they retire from the force but he said that what happened to Ringo isnt that uncommon.

The treatment of dogs who are involved in law-enforcement is sometimes really, really good, and sometimes its not so good. A lot of times, theyre treated like equipment and when theyre treated like equipment, sometimes theyre disposed of like equipment, Hare said.

The police department responded to the news that the dog was dropped off at an animal shelter.

The Jackson Police Department respects and holds our canines with high regard just as we do any other officer within our department, the department told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. They are family, and we do not feel they deserve anything less than a loving home in retirement.

According to WLBT, Ellis was reassigned to patrol duty by the department after it found out that he had abandoned the dog.

#JPD welcomes its newest officers to the forcecanines, Angel and Nadia, reporting for duty!! We also congratulate  Jackson Police Department  20181023

They are family, and we do not feel they deserve anything less than a loving home in retirement, Roderick Holmes with the Jackson Police Department told the station.

Holmes said the Chief of Police has since implemented new measures which require quarterly welfare checks for all K-9 dogs. Additionally, policy is currently being drafted that will address specific requirements related to retired canines and their welfare, so that they are provided with the best care possible, an official told the Clarion-Ledger.

During the time of their retirement, Detective Anthony Fox stated: They served the city very well. Hundreds of thousands of dollars, uncountable seizures with narcotics. They can be a dog now, according to the Clarion-Ledger.

Other details about the dumping arent clear.

The news comes after two dogs were found along Interstate 81 near Whitney Point, about 16 miles north of Binghampton. New York State Police are now looking for the suspects.

The Humane Society said that most reported animal cruelty comes in the form of neglect and less is direct violence.

It notes, Neglect, or a failure to provide basic needs for an animal, makes up the vast majority of cruelty cases that animal control officers respond to.

Neglect often includes hoarding, lack of shelter or veterinary care, tethering and abandonment, as well as other forms of abuse, the organization said.

To report abuse, it adds, Call your local animal control agency as soon as possible or dial 9-1-1 if youre unfamiliar with local organizations. If you make a report of alleged animal cruelty, the responding agency is required to investigate.Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on Nov, 2, 2018. (Thomas Peter-Pool/Getty Images)

Xi Champions Chinas Socialist Path on Anniversary of Economic Reforms

Four decades after China first introduced opening up economic policies, the Communist Partys control of the economy remains as aggressive as ever.

In 1978, then-leader Deng Xiaoping ushered in capitalist market forces and allowed foreign investment into the country. Today, China is the worlds second-largest economy.

Current Chinese leader Xi Jinpings 40th-anniversary speech on Dec. 18 is further evidence that Beijing has no intention of initiating true reforms to liberalize its economy. In an almost 90-minute speech, Xi outlined successes achieved under the Chinese Communist Partys leadership, and emphasized the need to remain unmoved in upholding Marxisms guidance.

We must persist in having the party lead all work, and constantly strengthen and improve the partys leadership, he told a gathering of party members at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

There was no mention of concrete policies to open up markets or to respond to recent criticisms from the United States and other Western nations that China had engaged in intellectual-property theft and unfair trade practices that prop up domestic sectors to the disadvantage of Western competitors.

Instead, Xi made a subtle swipe at those who wish for China to change its ways.

What to change, how to change must be fundamentally judged by whether it can refine and develop the socialism with Chinese characteristics system, Xi said. What we should and can change, we will absolutely change. What should not or cannot be changed, we will absolutely not change.

At another point in the speech, Xi claimed that Chinas long history and 1.3 billion population means the country must forge its own unique path, and cannot accept teacherly types who boss the Chinese people around.

There were no explicit mentions of the United States, but to anyone following Chinese state media coverage of the ongoing trade row between the two countries, the refrain will sound very similar. As an Oct. Global Times editorial said, China will only change at its own pace and not at the pace dictated by others. The attempts by some U.S. politicians to employ pressure to coerce Beijing to revise its economic policies will almost certainly fail.

Xi also made it clear that China intends to continue pursuing its ambitions to achieve technological dominance, in a section stressing the importance of innovation to further economic development. We must accelerate the innovation of key core technology for our autonomy, he said, echoing comments earlier this year calling for technology self-reliance. In the wake of the U.S. administrations export ban on Chinese telecom firm ZTE, which crippled the companys operations, Xi urged the domestic tech sector to develop its own advanced chips and cut dependence on foreign imports.

Investors werent excited about Xis speech. The Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Shanghai stock exchanges all fell by the end of trading, by 1.05 percent, 0.81 percent, and 0.82 percent, respectively.

Worrying Trend of State Control

At a time when Chinas private sector is already nervous about recent trends of more state control and Beijing favoring state-owned firms, Xis speech did little to quell concerns that Chinas economy was moving in the opposite direction of liberalization.

Some government officials and economists have hoped that U.S. trade pressures would spur Beijing into embracing more market-oriented reforms.

But some China observers believe the timing for true reform has long passed. China is only opening up its markets for the purpose of making money, Feng Zhongyi, a China studies professor at the University of Technology Sydney, told the Chinese-language Epoch Times. Now that Chinas economy is in a downturn and the Chinese regime is running out of money, it is bringing up reform again.

True, meaningful reform would mean getting rid of the entire party authoritarian rule, Feng added.

Economic Censorship Woes

As all sorts of economic indicators point to slowing economic growth, the Chinese central authorities recently began censoring economic data that could make China look bad to investors.

Guangdong Province, one of the countrys main trading hubs, has stopped releasing a regional purchasing managers index (PMI) for its manufacturing sector, after the National Bureau of Statistics notified Guangdong authorities that all PMI data will now be conducted only by the national bureau. Guangdong has stopped compiling data since Nov. 1.

In August, the Guangdong manufacturing PMI dropped below 50 for the first time since March 2016. Data hinted at hard times ahead.

Chinas customs authorities have stopped releasing export data since April, according to a Radio Free Asia report. The first set of U.S. tariffsand Chinas retaliatory tariffswent into effect in July.

Luo Ya and Zhou Huixin contributed to this report.Rapists Who Survived Knife Attack by Lion Mama Avoid Life Sentence Thanks to Injuries

Known only as Lion Mama, the woman who attacked three men with a kitchen knife when she caught them raping her daughter, says that justice has been done after jail sentences were handed to the two survivors.

The judge in South Africa held back from handing out the maximum possible life sentences, instead sentencing the pair to 30 years in total. The serious knife injuries they received at the hands of the victims mother had already taught them a lesson, he said.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested and charged with murder in September 2017 after admitting to killing one man and injuring two others when she burst in on them gang-raping her 27-year-old daughter.

Zolisa Siyeka, 24, and Mncedisi Vuba, 31, were found guilty of rape on Dec. 10 and sentenced on Dec. 15, reported South Africas News 24.

The case, in the countrys Eastern Province, caught the public attention and whipped up public ire on social media. After a public campaign that raised nearly $12,000 in legal fees, the charges against her were dropped, but not before she had been given a suitable moniker: Lion Mama.

The woman, 57, was preparing a meal at her home in the village of Zwartwater on Sept. 1, 2017 when she received a phone call telling her three men had snatched her 27-year-old daughter and dragged her into a building two miles away.

She tried to contact the police, but in vain. Snatching up the knife she had been using to prepare the vegetables, she started to run the two miles to the house.

I Would Have Thrown Myself at a Lion

About 100 meters from the house I could hear my daughter crying, she later told local radio, reported IOL. She went in to find them raping her daughter.

Flashlight in hand, she challenged them.

The first came running in my direction. I was frightened and I moved out of the way and, while pulling my knife out, I stabbed him. The second one I struggled with. I fell to the ground on my knees, but by Gods grace, he tripped over a chair and fell, and I stabbed him too.

She said that the third man tried to escape through a window. I chased him into another room and stabbed him too. He fell on his face. she said.

One man, Zamile Siyeka, died at the scene and other other two were hospitalized.

Two rapists who were caught in the act and stabbed by the mother of their victim, dubbed Lion Mama, were sentenced to 30 years in prison.  Daily Dispatch  20181214

Speaking after the sentencing of the two surviving rapists, she said, I am happy about the judgement and relieved. All I want is for people who do wrong to be punished.

The truth finally came out and even if it was my own child who had done a serious crime then I would want them to get punished for doing something wrong, she said, according to News 24.

All I wanted to do was protect my daughter and when I answered the call from her friend I didnt want to believe she was being raped and hoped it was a mistake.

I would have thrown myself at a lion to protect my daughter and I am sure many mothers would have done the same. I hope this is a lesson people learn from.

Her identity cannot be revealed in order to safeguard the identity of her daughter.

Last year, South African police recorded over 40,000 rapesan average of 110 per day. With a population of just 49 million, this means South Africa has the highest rate of rapes in the world.Chinese workers stand next to a Kadjar car at the production line of France's Renault and China's Dongfeng Group factory in Wuhan, Hubei province on February 1, 2016. French car giant Renault opened its first car factory in China on February 1, the last major manufacturer to set up a plant in the world's biggest auto market. AFP PHOTO / JOHANNES EISELE / AFP / JOHANNES EISELE (Photo credit should read JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images)

Renault Digs in on Plan to Name Board Member at Partner Nissan

Renault SA is pushing ahead with its plan to name a new director to the board of Nissan Motor Co. and safeguard power within their car-making alliance, signaling mounting tension between the two companies almost a month after the jailing of leader Carlos Ghosn.

Renault wants to exercise the possibility to name its directors and this will be done at a shareholders meeting, Martin Vial, a Renault board member and head of the agency that holds the French governments stake, said in an interview Dec. 18 on BFM Business.

Through complicated cross-shareholdings, Renault owns 43 percent of Nissan and has three board members including Ghosn, who was indicted in Japan for financial crimes.

The comments served to highlight a growing rift between the French and Japanese manufacturers over their respective powers within each others boardrooms. On Dec. 17, Nissan Chief Executive Officer Hiroto Saikawa rebuffed the French carmakers demand for a meeting of all shareholders to discuss Nissans governance, something it would need to do to change its board representation.

Its not a fight, Vial said. Renault has rights over Nissan as a shareholder and will exercise them to replace Ghosn on the board if we have to.

Alliance Meeting

Saikawa traveled to Amsterdam for a meeting starting Dec. 18 of the alliance between Nissan, Renault and the third partner, Mitsubishi Motors Corp., according to a person familiar with the plan, who asked not to be identified as the information isnt public. The last time the carmakers metsoon after car titan Ghosns arrest and ouster as Nissans chairman in NovemberSaikawa, 65, chose to attend the gathering by video.

At the two-day gathering, the CEO will have a chance to personally give a detailed explanation of the events that led to Ghosns indictment by Japanese prosecutors on allegations he understated his income. Renault, Nissans largest shareholder and the company that bailed out the Japanese automaker two decades back, has been pressing for specifics, as has the French government. Vial reiterated the demand Dec. 18.

Ghosns arrest has created a climate of suspicion between the companies, whose alliance has been held together by the high-flying car executive for two decades. While Nissan ousted Ghosn, Renault technically kept him on as chairman and CEO while it seeks more information and evidence about the accusations. Ghosn, 64, also remains head of the alliance.

In preparing for the post-Ghosn era, Vial said Dec.18 that Renault will keep its power to helm the partnership. Our preoccupation is that Renault claim its full rights within the alliance, he said. As a shareholder, we want to preserve and reinforce the alliance over the long term.

Both Nissan and Renault have repeatedly said they are committed to the car alliance, the worlds largest. Nissan, though, has long been unhappy about what it considers an outsized French role in the partnership, and is seeking to redress perceived imbalances, people familiar with the matter have said.

In this situation we have to keep cool heads, Vial said. We have to be very careful not to break up this alliance and thats our guiding principle.

By Tara Patel

From BloombergChina's second aircraft carrier, is transferred from the dry dock into the water during a launch ceremony at Dalian shipyard in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, April 26, 2017. (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Senior Official of Chinese State-Owned Shipbuilding Company Fired for Corruption

The deputy head of the state-owned company thats developing Chinas first home-built aircraft carrier has been fired and expelled from the Communist Party, following a corruption probe that found he had accepted bribes and abused his power.

Sun Bo, who was general manager of China Shipbuilding Industry Corp (CSIS), was accused of abusing his power, harming the interests of CSIC, and causing great damage to the national interest, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), said in a statement on Dec. 17.

The statement from the Chinese regimes anti-corruption body said that Sun used his position to obtain benefits for his family and friends, and accepted bribes. He was uncooperative during the investigation and engaged in feudalistic superstitious activities, according to the statement. The CCDI added that it would seize Suns illegal income and refer his case to the judicial bodies.

CSIC didnt immediately respond to Reuterss requests for comment on Dec. 18; Reuters reported that it wasnt able to contact Sun.

The CCDI had said in June it was investigating Sun, who was suspected of serious disciplinary and legal violations.

The South China Morning Post newspaper, citing two sources close to the Chinese military, said Dec. 17 that Sun was investigated for allegedly passing confidential information about the Liaoning, Chinas first aircraft carrier, to foreign intelligence agents. Sources told the paper that Sun could face the death penalty as a result. That allegation wasnt mentioned in the CCDI statement.

Sun, who made his career within the Dalian shipbuilding industry, rose to the party leadership at CSIC in 2009. He served as chairman for Dalian Shipyard Group, and deputy general manager of CSIC before being promoted to general manager in 2015.

CSIC is one of Chinas largest shipbuilders and is currently developing the first home-grown aircraft carrier, the Type 001A, at its facilities in the port city of Dalian, in Liaoning Province.

The design for the carrier draws on experiences from the Liaoning, which was bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted in China. CSICs subsidiary, Dalian Shipbuilding Industry, worked on the modifications. The Liaoning, which was commissioned into the Peoples Liberation Army Navy in 2012, became combat ready in November 2016.

The Type 001A, launched earlier this year, is undergoing sea trials and is projected to be commissioned in late 2019.

This isnt the first time that CSIC has caught the attention of the Chinese regimes corruption watchdog. In 2015, the CCDI launched a special investigation into the shipbuilder and found that its research institute had prominent violations of party discipline, and criticized the departments poor accounting practices and financial management.

In September 2017, the then-head of discipline inspection at CSIC, Liu Changhong, was fired and expelled from the Communist Party after an investigation by the CCDI. The watchdog accused Liu of taking bribes and referred his case for prosecution.

Chinas powerful graft watchdog has investigated and punished thousands of government and state employees in its campaign against corruption, which has been championed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Reuters contributed to this report.Siblings of Starving Texas Boy Sneaked Him Bread to Keep Him Alive Before Calling Police

The siblings of a Texas boy who was reportedly hours from death before he was rescued revealed to a publication that they had secretly given pieces of food to the child.

In the case, the 5-year-old boys stepmother, Tammi Bleimeyer, was sentenced to 28 years in prison last week for injury to a childserious bodily injury.

The child, named Jordan, weighed just 29 pounds when he was rescued by officials, which is well below the normal weight of a 5-year-old. The boy also wore a diaper and was often given only a slice of bread to eat and that was snatched away from him if he took too long to eat it, prosecutors were quoted by ABC News as saying (Warning: graphic photos in the article).

Cody and Allison Frank, the siblings, testified against Bleimeyer, saying Jordan would go days without food unless they snuck bread to him.

They said that they wished someone would have acted sooner to rescue the boy.

Cody, 21, and Allison, 19, said food, clothing, and a blanket was taken from him and Bleimeyer and father Brad Bleimeyer forced him to stay inside a cupboard, The Sun reported.

In 2014, then-16-year-old Cody rescued Jordan and warned relevant authorities about the situation.

The day I opened up that closet, Jordan was in the worst shape I had ever seen him in, he told the paper. I had been in a huge fight with Brad so I was already in trouble and both adults were outside of the house so I just saw an opportunity and I opened up the closet to let Jordan out.

He added: But what I found was truly shocking; he was in his diaper, he didnt have any clothes on. His face was all caved in, bruises all over, marks on him. His mouth was foaming. I have never in my life seen anything as bad as that.

Cody said that if the child wasnt rescued, he likely would have starved.

The situation, the abuse, was bad beforetheres no doubtbut that day when I opened the door up and saw him I was in complete shock, he added.

I picked Jordan up and gave him to my sister Allison so she could care for him and comfort him and I went outside and just called my mom and Brad out on it, he continued. They both flipped out that I had opened the closet doorthey said I had no business going in there, that it wasnt anything to do with me.

Cody said tensions escalated between him and Bradley, who was convicted after pleading guilty two years ago.

At that point things escalated between me and Brad and we started shoving each other and I was just trying to draw as much attention as I could, he added. I knew at this point there was no turning back. My mom had confiscated my phone but I had a prepaid phone so I called the police but in the meantime my mom was packing all the kids up and getting everyone out.

Allison recalled the boy was in such bad shape that he couldnt speak.

BREAKING: Tammi Bleimeyer, 37, learned her fate Monday night for forcing her then 5-year-old, Jordan Bleimeyer, to live in a filthy closet without food. https://t.co/7UGOnU18nC  Claire Magazine (@ClaireMagazine) December 11, 2018

He didnt know what was going on. Thats what was so upsetting, he didnt even know what day it was, she said. I remember him falling and I picked him up and him just being in my arms was terrible.

She told the publication: I hadnt seen him for about a week before this and he was scared, he didnt know what was happening. I held him and I tried to comfort him and told him that I loved him and that everything will be okay.

The level of malnourishment was akin to that of a Holocaust survivor, Assistant District Attorney Stephen Driver said last week. He was nearly starved to death, he said, reported the Houston Chronicle.

Cody said his stepfather moved into their home two years before that when he was 14 and brought Jordan shortly afterward. The abuse started slowly, he said.

He was pretty aggressive with Jordan, Cody told the paper. It was like he was trying to make Jordan suffer. At first I just thought thats kind of weird but then slowly after time, it started getting worse.

He described progressive starvation and abuse over the months before the rescue.

Jordan, who is now 9, is healthy and is living with his biological mother.State Headquarters of Australian Labor Party Raided by Corruption Watchdog

The NSW Labor Partys headquarters in Sydney were raided on the morning of Dec. 18 by the states corruption watchdog, the Independent Commission Against Corruption, according to reports. The raid is reportedly related to a fundraising dinner for Chinese supporters.

ICAC raided the Sussex Street office in Sydneys central business district.

ICAC is reportedly looking for financial documents as part of an ongoing investigation into party donations. Senior Labor sources have confirmed that the raid relates to a 2015 annual Chinese Friends of Labor fundraising event, which Labor leader Bill Shorten attended, according to The Australian. The event was attended by more than 600 people, including the state opposition leader at the time, Luke Foley, and Federal MP Chris Bowen. The donations for the fundraiser went to the partys campaign account for the state election.

Bill Shorten was present with other senior party leaders at a Chinese Friends of Labor fundraising dinner in Sydney that is believed to be the focus of an ICAC raid on the NSW ALPs headquarters https://t.co/gUvqt0q6NF  The Australian (@australian) December 18, 2018

NSW Labor has released a statement, sighted by Sky News, saying: The donations in question were received in 2015 and have been fully investigated by the NSW Electoral Commission with the full cooperation of NSW Labor, including the provision of all relevant documents.

A Labor party source told AAP that ICAC had accessed the offices computers. The same source said the raid had coincided with the Australian Labor Partys national conference in Adelaide that was being attended by a number of senior Labor officials, including NSW ALP General Secretary Kaila Murnain.

Its clearly intentional, the party source commented regarding the timing of the raid, according to AAP.

The specific details of the investigation remain unclear. However, the NSW Labor Party has been known to have had alleged close ties with wealthy businessmen from the Chinese community in Sydney, according to The Australian.

NSW federal Labor MP Matt Thistlethwaite said that NSW Labor staff were cooperating with ICAC and that the anti-corruption watchdog does great work.

An ICAC spokeswoman said the corruption investigator would not be commenting on operational matters, according to reports.

From NTD.com

Watch Next:

Australian Vietnamese Community Has Warning About Communist China

Yesterday is Tibet, today is Vietnam, and tomorrow is Australia, they say.Christmas stockings are displayed in the showroom at the Festive Productions Ltd. premises in Cwmbran, Wales, on Dec. 10, 2013. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Texas Hospital Sends Babies Home in Christmas Stockings

Two Texas hospitals continued the tradition of sending babies born on or near Christmas home in red and white stockings.

At UT Health East Texas in Tyler, hand-sewn stockings were used, starting on Dec. 1.

We are so pleased our labor and delivery departments can offer these hand-sewn special keepsakes during the holiday season, Moody Chisholm, UT Health East Texas CEO, told the Jacksonville Progress.

These parents already are taking home the best gift possible this season, and we hope this stocking is a fun reminder for years to come of how small their bundle of joy once was.

Lauren and Kyle Nicholson got the first stocking after welcoming their first child, Hannah Alysce, on Dec. 1.

Lauren Nicholson said they plan on hanging the stocking over the mantel beginning this year and keep it so that their daughter can see how small she was when she was born.

The stockings were hand-sewn by the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, with at least 130 sewn and plans to make more.

Methodist Childrens Hospital also gives out handmade stockings for newborns.

The hospital receives the handmade stockings from a volunteer group, Bluebirds of Methodist Hospital, which also supports employees in a myriad of other ways, reported KSAT in 2016.

The Bluebirds said that the days leading up to Christmas are one of their favorite times of year and noted that the tradition at the hospital dates back about 50 years.

The stockings at the hospital are handed out to newborns from Dec. 20 to Dec. 29.

People commenting on a picture of newborns stuffed into stockings on the Bored Panda website shared a few personal stories regarding the stockings.

When I was born I was born 2 months premature and when my family came to visit me I was wrapped up like this! I was 2 lb. and 11oz, wrote Kezia Hatch.

When my youngest daughter was born New Years Day she was wrapped in a white stocking with a red band while the other holiday babies were in red ones. They hung another stocking with the year stenciled on it over the handle, said Nancy Rigato.

When my son was born, he was too big to fit in the stocking, so they put a Santa hat on him, added Dawn Bailey.

Births in the United States

Approximately 3.86 million births took place in 2017 in the United States, according to a report (pdf) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in November 2018. Data was gleaned from birth certificates.

That number was down 2 percent from 2016. Birth rates declined for women 39 or younger but increased for older women.

The birth rate for women in their 20s continued to drop, a trend that started in 2006, and hit a record low for 20- to 24-year-olds, at 71.0 births per 1,000 women.

The rate for women aged 30 to 34 had been increasing in recent years but declined 2 percent from 2016 to 2017, the first decline since 2010. The birth rate for women aged 35 to 39 also declined by 1 percent, the first decline since 2010.

But the birth rate for women aged 40 to 44 was up to 11.6 births per 1,000 women, a 2 percent increase since 2016, and continuing a trend since 1985. Women aged 45 to 49 saw a birth rate of 0.9 births per 1,000 women, a figure unchanged from 2016, but the number of births to women aged 45 and over rose 3 percent from 2016 to 2017.

There were 840 births to women 50 or older, essentially unchanged since the previous year, although the number has been increasing since 1997.

From NTD NewsThe allure of the poppy. Confessions of an English Opium-Eater was the first modern drug memoir and set the tone for opium use for decades. Here, a field of Papaver somniferum (Opium poppy). Opium is extracted from the latex of the unripe seed pods. Ripe seeds are innocuous and widely used in baking. (Javier Canada/Unsplash)

The 19th-Century Book That Spawned the Opioid Crisis

In 1804, a 19-year-old Oxford University undergraduate named Thomas De Quincey swallowed a prescribed dose of opium to relieve excruciating rheumatic pain. He was never the same.

Oh! Heavens! he wrote of the experience in the first modern drug memoir, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, published in 1821. What an upheaving, from its lowest depths, of the inner spirit! What an apocalypse of the world within me!

That the drug took away his physical pain was a trifle, De Quincey asserted, compared to the immensity of those positive effects which had opened before me.

Over the next eight years, De Quincey used opium to heighten his enjoyment of books, music, solitude, and urban wandering. In effect, he invented recreational drug taking.

Yet all the while, opium was tightening its grip on him, and in 1813 he succumbed to an addiction that tormented him until his death in 1859, more than half a century after he had first tampered with the drug.

Who is the man who can take his leave of the realms of opium? demanded the great 19th-century French poet Charles Baudelaire in his Artificial Paradises (1860). Not De Quincey.

And, as todays opioid crisis makes clear, not millions of others who have followed him into addiction, and who have had their lives ravaged by the drug. De Quinceys Confessions transformed perceptions of opium and mapped several crucial areas of drug experience that still provoke intense debate today.

I have conducted research into the life and writings of Thomas De Quincey for 30 years, and my work on him includes a biography, The English Opium-Eater, and a critical edition of his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater and Other Writings. My understanding of his opium addiction has benefited greatly from my consultations with professor Mary Olmstead of the Center for Neuroscience Studies at Queens University.

The Oldest Drug

Opium is probably the oldest drug known to humankind. It is derived from the unripe seedpod of the poppy plant, Papaver somniferum. The ancient Greek poet Homer almost certainly refers to it as a drug to quiet all pain and strife in his epic poem The Odyssey, which was written in the eight or ninth century B.C., and which De Quincey quotes in his Confessions.

For thousands of years, opium was the principal analgesic known to medicine. In the 16th century, the German-Swiss alchemist Paracelsus described it as a secret remedy.

At the end of the 18th century, the great German philosopher Immanuel Kant warned of its dangers: Opium produces a dreamy euphoria that makes one silent, reticent, and withdrawn, he stated in his Metaphysics of Morals (1797), and it is therefore permitted only for medical reasons.

In early 19th-century Britain, opium was everywhere. People of every age and class used it for self-medication like we use aspirin today. It was legal. It was cheap. It was available in a wide range of cure-alls, including Godfreys Cordial, the Kendal Black Drop, and Mother Baileys Quieting Syrup.

It was used to treat all manner of major and minor illness, from cancer and diabetes to traveling sickness, hay fever, headache, and depression. Pharmacists sold it, as did grocers, bakers, tailors, market vendors, and country peddlers. There were no efforts to regulate its sale until the Pharmacy Act of 1868.

Overprescribed

De Quincey consumed opium as laudanum, which is prepared by dissolving opium in alcohol. Morphine, the principal active agent in opium, was isolated in 1803 and delivered with a hypodermic syringe by the 1850s.

At the beginning of the 20th century, opium was better known in the form of one of its chief derivatives: heroin. Today, opioids are sold in powerful prescription medications, including tramadol, methadone, and oxycodone. They are also, of course, widely available in illegal forms such as heroin, or in illicit forms of legal drugslike fentanyl, a synthetic opioid.

Fueled by decades of overprescription, the United States gets 30 times more opioid medication than it needs, and opioid overdoses kill more than 140 people daily.

Meanwhile, in other countries, patients are forced to endure severe or chronic pain because there is a shortage of the drug. Mexico gets only 36 percent of the opioid medication it needs; China 16 percent; India just 4 percent.

De Quinceys descriptions of his opium experience have thoroughly shaped modern perceptions of the drug, and in a variety of ways. He glamorized opium in his Confessions, linking it to spectacular dream sceneries, visionary forms of creativity, and intellectual, moral, and emotional bliss.

In 1824, the authors of the Family Oracle of Health damned Confessions for producing misery in those who had read it and begun to abuse opium.

They were right to worry. Many 19th- and 20th-century addicts have said explicitly that De Quincey led them to the drug.

Typically, ever since I read De Quincey in my early teens Id planned to try opium, Ann Marlowe confessed in 1999 in her How to Stop Time: Heroin from A to Z.

De Quincey was also the first to explore the painful cycles of intoxication, withdrawal, and relapse, and his accounts are deeply consonant with modern descriptions. Once he was habituated to opium, he no longer experienced anything like the euphoria he enjoyed as a recreational user.

When he determined to kick his habit, what he called nervous misery marked the beginning of withdrawal. If he attempted to battle through it, he was hit hard by vomiting, nausea, irritability, and depression. He often fought these miseries, too, but then his resolution faltered, and he went back to opium. His intake levels gradually climbed. He spiraled toward rock bottom. The grim cycle began again.

Like the vast majority of addicts from his day to ours, De Quincey could come off opium. He just could not stay off opium.

Myth Making

In one fundamental respect, however, De Quinceys account of opioid addiction does not tally with todays medical knowledge.

By common consent, the pain of opioid withdrawal usually lasts about a week and is like having a very bad flu. De Quincey tells a different story. Think of me as of one, even when four months had passed, still agitated, writhing, throbbing, palpitating, shattered, he wrote.

Such depictions exaggerated the agonies of withdrawal and established the erroneous conviction that it is a hellishly long process. In Romancing Opiates (2006), Theodore Dalrymple condemned the uncritical acceptance and enduring impact of De Quinceys Confessions. When it comes to drug addiction, Dalrymple stated, literature has trumpedand over-trumpedpharmacology, history, and common-sense.

De Quincey had a deeply paradoxical relationship with opium, and more than 30 years after his addiction had taken hold, he was the first to detail the sickening confusion that so many addicts have found at the crux of their drug experience.

Opium, he asserted, was a con that could convince long-term addicts that they could lay it aside easily and within a week.

Opium was a trade-off that defeated steady exertion, but that gave irregular bursts of energy. Opium was irresistible, like a celestial lover. And opium was a blight that withered life. The collision of these competing impulses made it difficult for De Quincey to see his addiction clearly, and impossible for him to surmount it.

Since leaving off opium, he once noted wryly, I take a great deal too much of it for my health.

De Quincey initiated the story of modern addiction. There were countless users and abusers before him, stretching back to the ancient world, but he was the first to publish a compelling narrative that explored the seductive pleasures and eviscerating pains of the drug.

He has been castigated for celebrating opium and for spreading misinformation about it. But in 1844, he was categorical about his drug abuse, and his harrowing words anticipate the testimonies of so many of the addicts caught up in todays opioid crisis. Not fear or terror, De Quincey wrote, but inexpressible misery, is the last portion of the opium-eater.

Robert Morrison is a professor of English language and literature at Queens University in Ontario, Canada. This article was first published on The Conversation.President Donald Trump answers questions from the press while departing the White House on Dec. 8, 2018. (Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)

Trump Shuns Non-Wall Border Security Proposals as Government Shutdown Pressure Mounts

Congress has just a few days left to send a budget bill to the White House that would prevent a partial government shutdown. President Donald Trump made it clear the bill needs to include $5 billion for building a border wall and, on Dec. 17, he doubled down, dismissing border security proposals that exclude a wall.

Anytime you hear a Democrat saying that you can have good Border Security without a Wall, write them off as just another politician following the party line, Trump wrote on Twitter. Time for us to save billions of dollars a year and have, at the same time, far greater safety and control!

The money Trump wants is a fraction of the roughly $450 billion Congress was poised to approvebefore the latest battle over the wallto fund several agencies which will otherwise run out of money on Dec. 21.

Democratic leaders in Congress, however, refuse to give Trump the money for the wall.

Large swaths of the government are already funded through next September, including the U.S. military and agencies that operate public health care, education, and veterans programs.

Republicans hold a solid majority in the House of Representatives, but only a slim 5149 majority in the Senate, so Democrat support is needed to meet the 60-vote threshold for overcoming a filibuster.

On Dec. 11, Trump sparred on the issue in front of television crews in the White House Oval Office with House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Trump said. People of this country dont want criminals and people that have lots of problems and drugs pouring into our country.

Schumer called the wall wasteful and unnecessary.

While border security experts dont necessarily support a wall from Tijuana all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, many agree that there are plenty of areas that currently lack a physical barrier and could use one.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the federal agency responsible for border security, has a priority plan for 33 segments of wall covering 1,100 miles in total. The cost varies from $5 million to $25 million per mile, depending on the terrain, CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said during Dec. 11 Congress hearing.

In the past two months alone, more than 100,000 people have been apprehended for illegally crossing into the United States.

During the White House meeting, Pelosi and Schumer proposed two ideas for keeping the government fully funded, which included extending current funding levels for border security at $1.3 billion. Aides to both on Dec. 17 said Trump had not yet responded.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opened the Senate on Dec. 17 urging completion of a spending bill. We need to make a substantial investment in the integrity of our border and in the safety of American  families, McConnell said.

Neither he nor his aides would specify whether border security investments must include wall funds. Aides to House Speaker Paul Ryan were not immediately available for comment.

If funds run out, the NASA space program would potentially go unfunded, along with national parks, the U.S. diplomatic corps, and agriculture programs.

Similarly, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security would be vulnerable to shutdowns, although essential employees, such as FBI agents, airport security screeners, and border patrol agents, would still report to work.

Their paychecks, however, would not be issued until the shutdown ends and Congress would have to decide whether to award back pay for them as well as any furloughed workers.

Pelosi has questioned whether Trump has the votes to push the $5 billion funding even through the House. But House Freedom Caucus co-founder Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) remained optimistic the shutdown will be prevented, speaking to Fox News on Dec. 17.

This was a central theme, central promise we made the voters in 2016, he said. Everyone knowsjust good common sensewe should be able to secure our southern border. We need to stand firm and get that done.

Freedom Caucus chairman Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said Dec. 17 he was not very optimistic that Democrats are going to yield in providing $5 billion in Wall funding.

However, he said that he was willing to work through Christmas to get the bill passed, NBC News Alex Moe reported.

Reuters contributed to this report.Two Ex-Officers Charged for Slamming Louisiana Teen Twice in Middle School

Two ex-officers who were recorded using excessive force on a Brusly Middle School student in Louisiana were found guilty on Dec. 14 but the students lawyer has since described the charges as a mere slap on the wrist considering the officers violent actions.

Footage of the confrontation first emerged through an anonymous leak to WAFB on Nov. 14 over one month after the incident took place on Oct. 5. The leak also provided the students grandmother, Doris Snearl, evidence for her case against the officers.

Snearls attorney, Kwame Asante, told The Advocate they were angry when they saw the tape as they were lied to by investigators who led them to believe that the student did something to escalate the confrontation.

The Footage

In the video, the 14-year-old student is seen in the office attempting to make a call to his grandmother when ex-officer Anthony Dupre walks in and they begin to exchange words. About 40 seconds into the video, the student decides to walk away from the phone and toward the exit when Dupre lunges at him, taking the student down onto the floor with his bodyweight.

Because the office camera was positioned in the far corner of the schools office, the fight was narrowly visible as the front desk blocked the two bodies now on the floor. At about a minute and 29 seconds, what looks like Dupre striking the student is seen. Dupre is then seen kicking his gun away towards a school staff member who picks it up and places it on the desk immediately.

The, before ex-officer Dan Ciprianowho was charged with simple batteryenters the room, the student is picked up and slammed onto the floor by Dupre. After Cipriano arrives, he handcuffs the student and picks him up, then slams him onto the desk while Dupre gathers himself.

At the end of the video, the school staff member is seen putting on latex gloves and wiping the areas where the student was slammed.

The student was left with bruises and swelling around the face. He also lost a lot of blood from a cut on the chin, Asante told The Advocate. Snearl said shes more concerned about any psychological damage her grandson may suffer.

Aftermath

Snearls grandson lost his mother five years ago to cancer. Snearl said this incident has only agitated his psychological and behavioral issues. She also told The Advocate that she had called the police on her grandson before but denied that he had a previous encounter with Dupre before the confrontation in the office.

The family is glad that there was enough evidence to charge the ex-officers for their crimes, although they are disappointed that only minor charges were filed against the officers because according to Asante, This young man will still be dealing with this for the rest of his life.

Dupre and Cipriano were initially placed on paid leave. Once Brusly Police Chief Jonathan Lefeau, realized the severity of the incident, he asked them for their resignations and they resigned.

AP contributed to this report.Ultralight Aircraft Drops 130 Pounds of Meth and Getaway Bike Over Mexico Border

Border patrol agents arrested two people as they attempted to pick up 130 pounds of meth that had been dropped over the U.S.-Mexico border by an ultralight aircraft on Dec. 16.

Video footage released by the border control shows a microlight (a powered adaptation of a hang glider) flying with no lights just north of Calexico in California, before turning back toward Mexico after jettisoning its load.

In addition to the $1.4 million worth of methamphetamine, the payload included a getaway vehiclea bicycle.

Two people were arrested in the drop zone, suspected of being the pickup team, said a statement by the CBP.

Agents found two brown zippered bags lying under heavy brush in the middle of an agricultural field, along with a metal cage and the bicycle.

The two suspects and the drugs were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration for further investigation.

Ultralight aircraft not only pose a threat to legitimate air traffic in the vicinity, but also to national security, Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez told the Desert Sun, These aircraft are able to carry small payloads of dangerous cargo or dangerous people.

Smugglers typically dont use ultralights to ferry meth, which can be carried via other methods, but marijuana.

The pilot of an ultralight aircraft died back in 2009 when he crashed into a lettuce field in Arizona, weighed down fatally by 141 pounds of marijuana he was carrying from Mexico.



Drones Used to Identify Border Weakness

In 2013, border agents arrested two men near San Diego after a botched airdrop of 260 pounds of marijuana by an ultralight.

Ultralights have been used on and off since the 1980s by cartels in response to shifting border security tactics.

Ultralights are primarily used to transport marijuana shipments, depositing the drugs in close proximity to the South West Border, according to the 2017 National Drugs Assessment.

Smuggling drugs through border checks, concealed on pedestrians and in cars is the preferred smuggling method for methamphetamine and opiates, according to the report. But the giveaway odor of marijuana is harder to mask, and the drug is far bulkier, so cartels resort to using tunnelsand the occasional air-drop.

Various aerial methods are used to conduct airdrops, including the use of drones (UASs).

Currently, UASs can only convey small multi-kilogram amounts of illicit drugs at a time and are therefore not commonly used, though there is potential for increased growth and use, according to the report.

Drones are also used by cartels to monitor the activity of U.S. law enforcement along the border and to identify cross-border vulnerabilities.

Heroin is still transported by express consignment packages and couriers on commercial aircraft, although there appear to be declines in these methods.

The other major smuggling method is through tunnels.

Just over 230 tunnels have been found on the U.S.-Mexico border since 1990, according to the latest annual report from the DEA.

Nearly 200 of these actually crossed into the United States territory, though the majority of them do not reach the surface on the U.S. side.

Underground tunnels are mainly used to smuggle ton quantities of marijuana, though there are instances of other illicit drugs commingled in shipments, according to the assessment.A United Parcel Service logo is displayed on a delivery truck in San Francisco, Calif., on Oct. 24, 2014. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

UPS Deletes Christmas Shredding Message After Swift Backlash

UPS quickly deleted a tweet, a message posted on the Twitter social media website, after swift backlash to the content of the message.

If your child addresses a letter to the North Pole, you can leave it with us. We do shredding, the message said.

UPS soon deleted the tweet, but not before a number of Twitter users reacted to the sentiment.

Dear UPS this is not a good look. Hello FedEx, wrote one user.

Well with the UPS tweet they deleted I am closing my UPS account, another said. Shredding one dream at a time, another said.

Can I drop off all his crafts, cards to me, school photos, and drawings too? I hate all these precious memories. Thanks, UPS Store! said another.

The store has not apologized for the tweet or addressed any of the criticism through the Twitter account.

A spokesperson told ABC that the tweet was meant to highlight the shipping centers shredding services, and initially was taken in good humor, according to the outlet.

The brand has been working on cultivating a fun personality on social media for the past year, public relations manager Staci Reidinger told the Washington Post.

The brand was trying to find a way to get you looking and paying attention to our brand, she said. The tweet was emphasizing shredding, trying to remind customers that UPS provides the service at stores.

We were trying to be fun, put something out there, she said. We were, like, maybe this isnt in alignment of where we were going to go with our holiday personality and posts.

Did the Grinch hack UPS' twitter?  pic.twitter.com/HN5OKZT70u  TheBlaze (@theblaze) December 17, 2018

Christmas Decorations and Spending

Nine in ten Americans and 95 percent of Christians celebrate Christmas, according to a Pew Research Survey.

Many of them celebrate Christmas by decorating their homes, both inside and outside.

A key part of the decorations? A Christmas tree. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, there are approximately 25 to 30 million real Christmas trees sold in the United States every year. The top Christmas tree producing states are Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Washington.

This year, consumers said they were planning to spend an average of $1,007.24 during the winter holiday season, with $215.04 of that planned for food, decorations, flowers, and greeting cards, according to the National Retail Foundation.

Adults told Gallup that they planned to spend an average of $885 on Christmas gifts in 2018, the highest holiday spending projection since the 2007 to 2009 recession. That included 33 percent of respondents who said they planned to spend at least $1,000 on Christmas gifts.

A 2017 survey from the Lincoln Financial Group found that millennials typically spend more on the holidays versus other age groups, at an average of $1,400. That was $500 more than Boomers and Gen Xers.

Experts said people should save up throughout the year if planning to spend big for the holidays, and plan ahead and make a budget.

Its tempting to splurge at this time of year, but its important to ensure that holiday spending doesnt derail your finances, said Jamie Ohl, president at Lincoln Financial Group, in a statement. As with all financial matters, planning is a good way to stay on track, even when youre tempted by sales and impulse buys.

From NTD NewsActing FBI Director Andrew McCabe waits for the beginning of a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee with the other heads of the U.S. intelligence agencies in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill May 11, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Was Strzoks August Interview Really About McCabes Spygate Role?

A few days ago, on Dec. 13, we pointed out that a footnote contained within a legal filing by the team of former national security adviser Michael Flynn related not to the Jan. 24, 2017, interview of Flynn, but instead referenced an FBI interview of FBI agent Peter Strzok and his partnerlikely Joseph Pientka.

The referenced FD-302a type of FBI form that is a written summation of an interviewwas dated Aug. 22, 2017, almost seven months after Flynns Jan. 24, 2017, interview. It clearly reads as quotes by the FBI agents describing events before, during, and after the Flynn interview to an unknown FBI official.

The following day, a filing from the team of special counsel Robert Mueller confirmed our position. Attached to the Mueller filing were several attachments, including an FD-302 dated Aug. 22, 2017, containing information from an interview of Strzok that occurred on July 19, 2017.

One question was answered from the interview of Strzok. An FD-302 of the Jan. 24, 2017, interview of Flynn does exist:

Strzok conducted the interview and [redacted (probably Pientka)] was primarily responsible for taking notes. Throughout the interview, Flynn had a very sure demeanor and did not give any indicators of deception. He did not parse his words or hesitate in any of his answers. He only hedged once, which they documented in the 302. Strzok and [redacted] both had the impression at the time that Flynn was not lying or did not think he was lying.

On Dec. 17, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan confirmed the existence of the original Flynn 302 and subsequently ordered the Mueller team to publicly file and immediately release a redacted version of the document.

A final item of note was contained in footnote 1 of the latest filing in the Flynn case:

Strzok was interviewed on July 19, 2017, in relation to other matters, not as part of the investigation of the defendant or any investigation of Strzoks conduct.

If Strzok wasnt being interviewed on July 19th in relation to the investigation into Flynn or in relation to Strzoks own conduct, what was the purpose of the interview? Some details from events occurring around the same time frame may provide some answers.

Events From Summer of 2017

On May 9, 2017, Rosenstein wrote a letter recommending then-FBI Director James Comey be fired. The subject of the letter was Restoring Public Confidence in the FBI. Comey would be fired that day.

Unknown to anyone in the Trump administration, that same day, Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe was being interviewed by agents from the FBIs Inspection Division (INSD) regarding apparent leaks that occurred in an Oct. 30, 2016, Wall Street Journal article, FBI in Internal Feud Over Hillary Clinton Probe by Devlin Barrett.

McCabe would lie to the INSD agents regarding his participation in the leaks, as later disclosed in the Justice Department (DOJ) inspector generals report, A Report of Investigation of Certain Allegations Relating to Former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. McCabe would be fired for lying under oath at least three different times and is currently the subject of a grand jury investigation.

McCabe held a pivotal role in what has come to be known as Spygate. He directed the activities of Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page, and was involved in all aspects of the Russia investigation. He was also mentioned in the now-infamous insurance policy text message sent by Strzok to Page referencing an apparent meeting in Andys (McCabes) office:

I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andys officethat theres no way he gets electedbut Im afraid we cant take the risk. Its like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before youre 40.

At the time, nobody, including the INSD agents, knew that McCabe had lied, nor were the darker aspects of McCabes actions fully known. In light of Comeys firing, McCabe was now the acting FBI director and was immediately under consideration for the permanent position.

A week later, on May 16, Mueller was interviewed by President Donald Trump and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and was appointed special counsel by Rosenstein the next day.

On May 19th, Page and Strzok exchanged texts about the Mueller investigation, noting that as far as collusion, theres no big there there. The two continued to text frequently about the special counsels investigation, with Page appearing to join Muellers team sometime in late May or early June 2017 and Strzok a short time later, toward the middle or end of June.

On June 29, 2017, Rosenstein signed the final renewal of the FISA warrant on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Notably, Rosenstein would later discuss the signing of that particular FISA before Congress, stating, Ive reviewed that one in some detail, and I can tell you the information thats public about that doesnt match with my understanding of the one that I signed, but I think its appropriate to let the inspector general complete that investigation.

Its at this point that things began to get interesting. On July 14, 2017, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz suddenly decided to respond to a letter sent by a group of Democratic senators, calling for an investigation into the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions on any Russia-related matters, more than four months previous.

Horowitzs letter appears to indicate that he was evaluating the direction of his investigation:

We are continuing to assess what, if any, additional review would be appropriate for the OIG to undertake and will update you as appropriate.

What makes this somewhat innocuous-sounding response notable is that it likely marks the date when Horowitz first uncovered the incriminating texts between Strzok and Page.

We know this because of a timeline Horowitz laid out in a Dec. 13, 2017, response to a letter from Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Grassley and Johnson were specifically asking for more information regarding the timeline and means of discovery of the texts sent by Strzok and Page. From Horowitzs Dec. 13 letter:

After finding a number of politically-oriented text messages between Page and Strzok, the OIG sought from the FBI all text messages between Strzok and Page from their FBI-issued phones through November 30, 2016, which covered the entire period of the Clinton e-mail server investigation.

The FBI produced these text messages on July 20, 2017. Following our review of those text messages, the OIG expanded our request to the FBI to include all text messages between Strzok and Page from November 30, 2016, through the date of the document request, which was July 28, 2017. The OIG received these additional messages on August 10, 2017.

At some point prior to July 20, 2017, Horowitz had uncovered texts between Strzok and Page that caused him sufficient alarm to request all texts between the two during the Clinton email investigation. Upon receipt and review of these texts, Horowitz then requested all available texts on July 28, 2017, from the pair and received these additional texts 13 days later on Aug.10, 2017.

Horowitz didnt provide the initial discovery date of the Page/Strzok texts but given the subsequent receipt times of seven to 12 days, it would seem reasonable to assume that Horowitz made the initial discovery sometime prior to his July 14, 2017, letter to the Democratic senators regarding the possibility of any additional investigative review.

Discovery of the Text Messages

How Horowitz came to discover the first series of texts is particularly interesting and provides an appropriate backdrop for surrounding events.

Lisa Page served as special counsel to McCabe while he was FBI deputy director. According to the inspector generals February 2018 report on McCabe, sometime in October 2016, McCabe authorized Page to leak information to BarrettPage did so, thinking she had been granted legal/official authorization.

Page, when confronted with McCabes denials of authorization, produced texts refuting the deputy FBI directors assertion. This is what likely led to the inspector general uncovering the thousands of texts between Strzok and Page.

On July 19, 2017, Strzok was interviewed by an unknown senior assistant special counsel member and an unknown FBI supervisory special agent. As noted in the FD-302, the purpose of the interview was to collect certain information regarding Strzoks involvement in various aspects of what has become the Special Counsels investigation.

On July 27, 2017, Inspector General Horowitz notified Mueller of the discovery of thousands of text messages sent between Page and Strzok, which resulted in Strzok being removed from the investigation the following day.

On July 28, 2017, McCabe lied to Horowitz while under oath regarding authorization of the leak to The Wall Street Journal. At this point, Horowitz knew McCabe was lying, although Horowitz didnt yet know of the May 9 INSDs interview with McCabe.

Page 18 of Horowitzs report shows us what happened:

On Friday, July 28, 2017, the OIG interviewed McCabe under oath in connection with its ongoing review of various FBI and Department actions in advance of the 2016 Election. The primary focus of the interview was to determine McCabes awareness of the existence of certain text messages between Special Counsel and DAD [Strzok] that the OIG had recently discovered.

During the course of the interview, the OIG showed McCabe text messages dated October 27, 28, and 30 from Special Counsel to DAD, indicating that Special Counsel had been in contact with WSJ reporter Barrett and appeared to have been a source for the October 30 WSJ article.

Horowitz made his initial discovery of the Strzok/Page texts no later than early July 2017. It would appear at least some of these texts implicated or referenced McCabe. Horowitz would receive the second batch of texts on July 20 but had yet to receive the final batch that was later provided to him on Aug 10which brings us back to that footnote from the Flynn legal filing:

Strzok was interviewed on July 19, 2017, in relation to other matters, not as part of the investigation of the defendant or any investigation of Strzoks conduct.

This disclaimer is somewhat countered by the language contained within the actual FD-302 of the interview with Strzok:

The purpose of the interview was to collect certain information regarding Strzoks involvement in various aspects of what has become the Special Counsels investigation.

Based on surrounding events, it seems a reasonable case to make that the purpose of Strzoks July 19, 2017, interview was multifaceted, but probably centered around the actions of Strzoks boss, Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

Correction: A previous version of this article inaccurately stated the date before which Horowitz uncovered the text messages. The correct date is July 20, 2017. The Epoch Times regrets the error.

Jeff Carlson is a CFA Charterholder. He worked for 20 years as an analyst and portfolio manager in the high-yield bond market. He runs the website TheMarketsWork.comWife Shaves Head to Protest Detention of Rights Lawyer Husband

Li Wenzu has not seen her husband, Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang, for over three years since he was detained and charged with subversion of state power.

Wang, who defended spiritual groups persecuted by Chinas Communist Party including Christians and Falun Gong practitioners, was detained in August 2015 amid a nationwide crackdown on rights activists. Li said he has been held incommunicado and without trial since then.

On Dec. 17, Li and the wives of three other prominent rights lawyers mounted a protest against the communist partys repression of their husbandsby shaving their heads.

They [the authorities] keep on shamelessly breaking the law. So today we are using this hairless act in protest, to show they are persistently and shamelessly breaking the law, Li said in Beijing.

Their symbolic protest plays on the fact that the Chinese word for hair and law are near homonymsbald thus sounds similar to lawlessness.

The four women gathered in the central park of a sleepy Beijing apartment complex and cut off their hair in front of neighbors and a small group of invited foreign journalists. They took turns shaving each others heads, placing the hair in see-through plastic boxes alongside pictures of them with their husbands.

Li said she was protesting against the way her husbands case was being handled. She said judges in Wangs trial had unlawfully delayed proceedings and prevented her from appointing a lawyer of her choosing.

Wang was among the hundreds of lawyers and activists who were detained in a nationwide crackdown against lawyers, legal assistants, and human-rights activists in July 2015. The campaign is widely known as the709 crackdowna reference to July 9 in 2015 when the detentions started.

Yuan Shanshan also took part in the protest. Her husband, rights lawyer Xie Yanyi, was also arrested during the 709 crackdown and detained for 18 months. He was released on bail in January 2017 and is awaiting trial. Since his release, he has detailed the torture suffered by detained lawyers.

In fact, this is a persecution against all lawyers in China. Its not just persecuting against benign lawyers; its more a persecution against ordinary [Chinese] people, against the people who seek to protect us according to the law, Yuan said.

Another wife, Wang Qiaoling, said she was protesting to expose the hypocrisy of the communist party. Her husband, Li Heping, was given a three-year suspended sentence in April 2017 after being detained for two years in the aftermath of the crackdown.

The government has made a special point of promoting the constitution and the [rule of] law in recent years, saying [China] must govern according to the law. That means lawlessness [from them] is against the law. Also during this process, to abuse ordinary peoples rights like this is terrifying. [They] must not ignore the law, Wang said.

After the protest, the woman headed to Chinas Supreme Peoples Court to petition over their husbands treatment. However, they were denied entry into the court by the police.

We can go hairless, but you cannot be lawless, the women chanted the pun outside the court.

Reuters contributed to this article.

Watch Next:

Australian Vietnamese Community Has Warning About Communist China

Yesterday is Tibet, today is Vietnam, and tomorrow is Australia, they say.Woman Who Climbed Statue of Liberty as Act of Resistance Found Guilty

The woman who climbed the Statue of Liberty in New York City in July in protest of President Donald Trumps administration was found guilty on Dec. 17 and faces up to 18 months in prison.

Therese Okoumou pleaded not guilty to trespassing, disorderly conduct, and interfering with governmental administration on July 5, the day after her arrest.

Okoumou, 44, scaled the statues pedestal and engaged in a three-hour standoff with police officers, triggering the evacuation of the landmark on the Independence Day. She was eventually apprehended.

The defendant staged a dangerous stunt that alarmed the public and endangered her own life and the lives of the NYPD officers who responded to the scene, said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman, in a statement announcing the charges.

While we must and do respect the rights of the people to peaceable protest, that right does not extend to breaking the law in ways that put others at risk, Berman said.

Officials noted that Okoumou disrupted one of Americas most popular landmarks on one of the busiest days of the year.

Detective Brian Glacken of the NYPDs elite emergency services unit, who helped apprehend Okoumou, said that reaching her was perilous.

The rescue was difficult due to the fact that there were not a lot of places to hold on to or hang on to, he told the judge, reported the New York Post.

While ropes held him and a colleague, he believes they likely wouldnt have held if they had fallen. With my weight, itd probably snap and slow me down for a second before hitting the ground, he told the judge.

During the trial, Okoumou, an immigrant from Congo, claimed that images showing parents being separated from the children at the southern border gave her nightmares, reported WABC. She said after the conviction that she couldnt live with the sight of children in cages.

She said she didnt regret her actions and claimed to stand on the right side of history.

Okoumou was wearing a blue shirt with a number of statements written on it, among them No human is illegal on stolen land.

Breaking Laws to Get to the Devil

Judge Gabriel Gorenstein said that he couldnt give Okoumou a pass for her crimes just because she claimed to be committing them as an act of protest.

He cited Sir Thomas Mores discussion in A Man for All Seasons about breaking laws to get to the devil, reported the New York Post. And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on youwhere would you hide? the famous Catholic adviser to King Henry VIII said in the film.

I think the defendants lawyers know that if I took them up on that invitation, none of us is protected by the law, the judge said.

He challenged Okoumous defenders to imagine someone with the opposite political stance breaking the same laws and asking for leniency, reported Courthouse News.

I do not doubt the sincerity of her beliefs, Gornstein said.

Attorney Michael Avenatti, who represented porn star Stormy Daniels in her failed lawsuit against President Donald Trump, helped represent the criminal.

He said the verdict wasnt surprising.

Okoumou faces up to 18 months in federal prison. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 5.

From NTD NewsYellow Vest Protests Come to Canada

Protesters voice opposition to carbon tax, Canada's signing of UN migration pact, and pipeline delays

TORONTOThe yellow vest protests that have raged in France for weeks and even expanded to neighboring European countries have now made their way to the other side of the Atlantic, with similar-themed ralliesalbeit much smaller in sizeheld recently in several cities across Canada.

On Dec. 15, protesters in yellow fluorescent vests held events in Toronto; Calgary, Alberta; Edmonton, Alberta; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Regina, Saskatchewan; and other cities to protest issues such as a carbon tax, Canadas signing of the U.N. global migration pact, and delays in pipeline construction.

The protests in France started in mid-November over a planned fuel tax hike introduced as part of President Emmanuel Macrons climate change policies. They soon developed into a large-scale grassroots movement to voice concern about policies and tax reforms the protesters say have increased living expenses. The protests have in many cases turned violent, with a death toll of eight people so far.

According to local reports, the protests in Canada have been peaceful for the most part, with the exception of the event in Edmonton where fights broke out with a group of counter-protesters accusing the other side of being anti-immigration. Its not clear which side started the violence.

Yellow vest protests against Trudeau policies held in many Canadian cities https://t.co/vwgwTwfOG7  CTV News (@CTVNews) December 16, 2018

A Facebook page called Yellow Vests Canada with over 75,000 members says its mission is to protest the CARBON TAX and the Treason of our countrys politicians who have the audacity to sell OUR countrys sovereignty over to the Globalist UN and their Tyrannical policies.

James Hoskins, who joined the protests in Halifax, Nova Scotia, told CTV News, I have never met even one Canadian that understands how a carbon tax is going to reduce carbon emissions.

In the Prairies in Western Canada, Regina resident Rhonda Cwynar told CBC News that Canadians werent consulted adequately before the federal government signed the U.N. migration pact.

Were worried about Canada no longer controlling their own country, about us being controlled by a global government, said Cwynar.

The U.N.-brokered migration agreement, formally known as the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, is a legally non-binding agreement to cover all aspects of international migration.

The pact has a number of controversial objectives, including a direction to manage borders in an integrated, secure and coordinated manner, which critics say would give transnational bodies control over how countries manage their own borders.

Another objective of the pact calls for governments to invest in ethical reporting standards and advertising and cutting public funds to media outlets that systematically promote intolerance, xenophobia, racism and other forms of discrimination towards migrants. Critics, including the leader of Canadas opposition Conservative Party Andrew Scheer, say this is an attempt to influence independent reporting.

In Fort McMurray, Alberta, the capital of Canadas oil-producing region whose once-thriving energy industry has been in turmoil in recent years because of low oil prices, protesters held signs reading cancel Bill C-69 anti-pipeline bill, stop the carbon tax, and sheep no more, asleep no more, Fort McMurray Today reported.

Bill C-69, introduced by the federal government, expands the environmental review process for major energy projects including oil pipelines.

The Yellow Vests Canada Facebook page lists a number of upcoming protests on Dec. 22 in various Canadian cities including Calgary; Regina; Saskatoon; Saskatchewan; Moncton, New Brunswick; and other smaller cities in the provinces of Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia.The state Medical Examining Board today recommended reinstating the medical license of a former Yale School of Medicine department head who served nine months in prison for lying about his travel expenses while at Johns Hopkins University.

In 2017, Dr. Jean-Francois Geschwind of Westport pleaded guilty to four counts of mail fraud arising from his scheme to unlawfully obtain travel expenses from Johns Hopkins, where he was a radiologist, according to the U.S. attorney in Maryland.

Geschwind fraudulently received reimbursement for trips to the United Kingdom, France and Japan when some of the expenses were for family vacations and meals, the U.S. attorney said. He was ordered to pay fine of $75,000 and an assessment of $400 and restitution of $583,484, Connecticut and Maryland records show.

A liver cancer researcher, Geschwind wrote to the Connecticut board that in 2015, he was recruited by Yale to become its new chair of the radiology department. He voluntarily surrendered his Connecticut license after his arrest in 2017, but wrote that he wants to once again treat cancer patients in Connecticut.

The board Tuesday recommended reprimanding him and placing his license on probation for a year and recommended that the state Department of Public Health require him to take a course in ethics.

The board also reprimanded and fined a Glastonbury doctor $7,500 and permanently restricted him from performing surgery, including giving cosmetic injections, under a consent order he agreed to.

In 2015, Dr. Bruce Burnham failed to appropriately treat a patients anxiety and panic disorder and inappropriately prescribed an anti-anxiety drug for the patient, the order said. From 2016 to 2017, he failed to obtain informed consent for procedures on six patients and failed to maintain adequate treatment records, the order said.

During an inspection in 2017, state officials also found improper infection controls in his office, saying he failed to properly sterilize instruments, properly maintain equipment and properly store controlled substances, the order said. Burnham also used expired solutions and medications, the order said.

More News Westport physician gets prison term for travel expenses

Burnham, who was ordered to hire a physician to monitor his practice, paid the fine but admitted no wrongdoing.

The board reprimanded and fined a Bridgeport doctor $3,500 after an investigation found there were lapses in his care for a patient who developed liver cancer and died before the investigation was finished, state records show. The patient had complained to the state about Dr. Anton Chinniahs treatment of her Hepatitis C, state records show.

A consent order that Chinniah agreed to says that between 2010 and 2014, he failed to properly treat the patients Hepatitis C and liver disease, failed to properly refer the patient to specialists and failed to maintain adequate treatment records.

Chinniah has already paid the fine and completed courses in the care of Hepatitis C patients, state records show. By signing the consent order, Chinniah admitted no wrongdoing but chose not to contest the allegations.

The board also suspended the license of Dr. Nami Bayan of Shelton, saying his practice of medicine poses a danger to the public, state records show. The statement of charges against Bayan said that in 2018, he suffered an emotional disorder or mental illness that affects his ability to safely practice medicine.

The board also fined three doctors at Connecticut Addiction Medicine in Rocky Hill $1,000 each for improperly delegating the injection of a drug that helps reduce relapses in drug or alcohol abuse to unlicensed medical assistants, state records show. Patients were injected by the assistants in 2015 and 2016.

While admitting no wrongdoing, Dr. Edith Hergan of Rocky Hill, Dr. Jay Benson of Avon and Dr. Mahboob Aslam of Rocky Hill, chose not to contest the allegations, according to consent orders each of them signed.

Editors note: This story originally reported that Dr. Jean-Francois Gerschwind served a year and a day in prison. He served nine months. The story also incorrectly reported the fine he paid. It was $75,000.

This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to health reporting. ( c-hit.org ).NORWALK  At first, Connor Sovak was terrified about joining the International Baccalaureate diploma program at Brien McMahon High School.

A sophomore at the time, he thought it would be impossible to manage school life and the rigorous two-year program that requires a 4,000-word essay and additional outside classwork. But now, almost two years later, he thinks his teachers prepared the students well, easing them into the curriculum and setting them for future success.

Now were in the midst of assessments and I think they did a great job of preparing us, he said.

In the fall of next year, hell study at New York University. He attributes his acceptance letter to his upcoming IB diploma.

On Wednesday from 6:30 to 8 p.m., Brien McMahon High School will host its first International Baccalaureate diploma program showcase in the Center for Global Studies community room. The event, open to the public, allows the first cohort of IB diploma students to show off their Creativity, Activity, Service experiences and 4,000-word essays. Seniors have worked on these projects since fall 2017 and this is the first school year seniors will receive IB diplomas, teachers said.

The two-year pre-university program is good preparation for higher education and often has an impact on college acceptance rates, said Nicole Stockfisch, IB coordinator.

It gives our students that next level of preparedness so skills theyre learning in the program are making them more suited for the college experience and completing the college experience, Stockfisch said.

The average acceptance rate of IB students into universities is 22 percent higher than the average acceptance rate of the total population, according to the school districts public information officer, Brenda Wilcox Williams.

The IB program asks students to use creativity, critical thinking skills and community service skills, said Julie Parham, Center for Global Studies administrator and former IB co-coordinator.

IB gives them an opportunity to problem solve. They have to work with others and they have to bring with them a global mindset. Even though this is a program that started in 1967, these are 21st century skills, Parham said. These a crucial for our kids in college and in the workplace.

On Wednesday night, students will showcase their poetry, educational projects about the war in Yemen and more, Parham said.

Students interested in the program should come and ask questions, Parham said. If a student is uninterested in an IB diploma but wants to take single IB courses, that is allowed, Stockfisch said.

This week, sophomores will find out if theyve been accepted into the IB diploma program. There are 33 juniors in their first year of the program and 24 seniors in their second and final year.

About 200 other students are enrolled in IB courses but not opting for a diploma, Stockfisch said.

The district is working on an early years IB program. The plan is to locate it at the Columbus School building after that school relocates to the former Nathaniel Ely school property, Wilcox Williams said.

Connor Sovak plans to discuss his Creativity, Activity, Service project Wednesday night, which is focused on what he learned in fine arts and portfolio development classes at Parsons School of Art and Design. The senior developed his own business through the IB diploma program and customizes shoes and clothing for profit as a result.

But thats not all he does.

I leave art in New York City  I do street art like graffiti just to get my name out there and to get the proper recognition, he said.

Senior Kyai Belton did something similar and is showing off her clothing line Wednesday night.

Before IB, she didnt know how to create a business of her own. I plan to continue doing it, she said of her clothing line.

Currently, Im sending a sample to Cardi B actually, she said of the 26-year-old American rapper.

Its definitely a big-time commitment and students need the capacity, said senior Donald Shaffer. They need to want to learn rather than just going through high school not caring about much.

The IB diploma program is for students who want to be successful in life, he said.At first glance, I may not seem like an expert on leadership in the gig economy. Certainly Ive led traditional work teams, as a partner in several private equity real estate investment firms, and for the last nine years I've been the president and CEO of a not-for-profit developer of affordable housing.

Related: This Is How I Manage Freelance Workers and Why It Works

But dont be misled by my seemingly staid, parochial business background: Were all in the gig economy now and there are some smart rules to abide by if we want to succeed.

You may still think of the gig economy as all freelance writers and Uber drivers, but its so much more. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the contingent workforce comprises 16.5 million people, and nimble businesses everywhere are turning to this type of talent. The reasons vary. According to a recent survey from Monster, recruiters say Its harder than ever to attract high-quality job candidates.

Connecting with contingent workers often fills this void, but managing this workforce is something else: Nurturing successful partnerships that produce quality business results takes some simple but often overlooked concepts.

Our business employs contingent talent in capacities ranging from graphic design to tech to asset management, to onsite resident services management at our properties. So I've learned a few things. Drawing on conversations with other leaders as well as freelancers, I can offer the following lessons I've learned about managing in the gig economy.

Dont try to herd cats.

Successful independent workers operate best when free of traditional work rules. This doesnt exclude deadlines and codes of conduct but it does imply that management should accept unconventional work hours, personal styles and even modes of communication.

As one of those managers, you will be a much happier leader of these team members if you stop sweating the small stuff. Instead, concentrate on the quality of the work product and attention to detail. If that is up to snuff, the partnership will be successful. According to independent construction project manager Andrea Syracuse, the worst sin that well-meaning employers commit is failing to develop mutual trust, especially if work styles differ somewhat. If you micro-manage the first project we do, that is understandable, but loosen the reins on the next and we will both be really satisfied with the outcome," Syracuse told me.

Related: 4 Ways to Successfully Blend Gig Workers Into Your Team

Set realistic, as well as reach goals. We have found that our freelancers work best with well-defined goals and timetables. We discuss what is realistic as well as aspirational,

Keep in mind that these talented individuals have chosen to work for several companies, rather than just one. Recently, our team was tasked with finishing three annual reports in a tight time frame. We set the bar high but offered plenty of support. Working together and conquering challenges as they arose, we accomplished the task in record time.

Freelance graphic designer Rita Lascaro told us: Its invaluable to create a shared document with tasks listed, so the independent worker can update the status of many projects, checking off completed ones. Then, instead of multiple emails, the employer can quickly check on what the independent worker is up to.

Go deep on niche.

One of the wonderful truths about hiring a gig economy worker is the number of people specializing in niche work. These aren't people youre going to need every day for every project. However, when a team needs someone to excel at a very specific task, an indy specialist can be your go-to.

Joshua Holtzman is the CEO and co-founder at InterviewJet, a members-only hiring platform for tech companies. For quick, small jobs, he told us, he likes some of the specialized online gig platforms that enable rapid-fire hiring of a particular type of talent, varying from MBA graduates to support research projects to more mundane jobs like picking up office supplies."

Of particular help to Holtzman? Amazon Mechanical Turk, he says, is a crowdsourcing marketplace that makes it easier for individuals and businesses to outsource their processes and jobs to a distributed workforce who can perform these tasks virtually. Holtzman has been very pleased using the service for administrative tasks. I sent a list of 100 data-enrichment tasks that needed to be done and multiple 'turks' (people) followed the instructions and did a handful of the tasks each," he told us.

"Breaking it up into micro tasks made it go quicker than one person could have possibly done it. Like with most gig assignments, the key is spending time to make the instructions very clear.

Particularly for technical skills in rapidly changing fields, like web design, and for creative skills that require a long time to master, like video animation, Tim Parsons, at 5:00 Films & Media, advises that its often a better investment to borrow those skills from gigsters on an as-needed basis.

Its like being an orchestra conductor, said Parsons of hiring freelancers for video production. We dont have the time to learn how to play every instrument; our job is to know when to call on which specialists in what order to create a unified whole."

Create a culture that motivates  and respects.

It's true that gig workers are entrepreneurial by nature and cherish independence, but they also want to share in the team spirit that guides any company to success.

Lead your contingent workers the way you lead full-time staff. Share common goals and trumpet accomplishments with the entire team, regardless of their official employee status. Include your gig workers in staff meetings, social events and other appropriate gatherings.

It comes down to valuing all team members, Bruce Starr, partner at BMF Media, told us. We're constantly seeking specialists who can be flexible to work on an influx of large-scale experiential assignments around the world," he said. "We've had great success by always providing clear expectations of the role on both sides and treating these free agents with all the respect we accord our traditional workforce. We find respect to be a tremendous motivator.

From a freelancer's perspective, designer Lascaro also tied this notion of "respect" to pay. We [independent workers] do not receive a weekly paycheck and would like to be paid in seven to 14 days instead of 30 to 90," she said. "Those clients who pay immediately, upon completion of a job, rise to the top of my want-to-work-with list.

Leverage shared connections.

Networking is one of the great bonuses of dipping into the pool of indy workers. Once your company is on the radar of this talent sector, other qualified contractors will want to work with you. So, take advantage of your workers links and bring people in to chat, even if youre not ready to commit.

Independent contractor Syracuse said: Some of my best jobs came about after a client and I developed a good rapport discussing industry trends and swapping advice. Keep in touch with these shared connections so that when the need arises, youve got some good candidates in the wings.

Transition gig workers to full-time when it makes sense.

Much like the stand-out intern who graduates to full-time employment at a business, the indy worker who proves his or her mettle, melds into your culture and wants to make the switch, can and should be an ideal fit.

After investing in each other for a good amount of time, this should be a low-risk, high-gain proposition for you both. Bonus: This employee can now help your organization hire  and manage -- your next needed freelancer.

Jeremy Driesen, president and CEO of Ray Bloch Productions, hires freelance help for a few different discrete jobs within his productions. Based on their performance, and their fit, he often offers them full-time jobs. Added BMF Medias Starr: While some prefer the flexibility and freedom of being a free agent, the pros -- stability, financial security and desirable benefits -- of a traditional workforce environment just may outweigh the cons."

In the final analysis, Driesen said that when putting together any team, I dont necessarily care what they studied in school or what jobs theyve had. I care about character, work ethic, sense of mission; I need people who cant get to sleep at night if there are any loose ends.

Related: Freelancers Make Up 34 Percent of the U.S. Workforce. Here's How to Find, Hire and Manage Them.

And arent those the characteristics of any good working team? As you formulate your next freelance hire, remember that, today, according to a study by Betterment, more than one in three workers is a freelancer. Company leaders can either ignore or mismanage these people at their peril -- or embrace them and make them part of a successful business plan.

Related:

'Don't Try to Herd Cats' -- and 4 Other Leadership Tips for the Gig Economy

How Stylists, Dog Walkers and More Are Making Six Figures -- and What You Can Learn From Them

The Gig Economy Is Growing -- But Where Is It Headed?



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedNORWALK  Two Democratic vacancies on the Common Council were filled Monday with the appointments of Colin Hosten and Darlene Young.

At its Monday meeting, the Democratic Town Committee (DTC) appointed Hosten, 30 votes to 24, over Manny Langella to finish Doug Sterns at-large term. Stern was elected in November to serve as judge of the Norwalk-Wilton Probate Court. Young was appointed unanimously, 11 to 0, by the District B members of committee to fill the seat vacated by Travis Simms, who beat Hosten out to represent the states 140th district in the state House of Representatives.

Even though I ended up not winning, the experience was personally inspiring and energizing. Thats one of the main reasons I asked to be considered for the at-large Common Council seat, Hosten said. I feel extremely inspired by the impact that somebody like me, who is not necessarily part of the political class, can have on public conversation regarding whats best for our community.

Hosten was born in Trinidad and Tobago, the son of public school teacher, and for the past 10 years, hes lived in Village Creek. Hosten is a member of the citys Human Relation Commission, is a board member of the Triangle Community Center, is a founding partner for the independent, Norwalk-based publishing house Woodhall Press, and is a lecturer at Fairfield University.

He said hes most concerned about education, stable economic growth for Norwalk in the face of the states uncertain financial future, and environmental sustainability.

It means a lot. I feel extremely excited and humbled by the support that the DTC has shown for me, Hosten said on Tuesday. Im eager to join the council and do what I can to serve our public and help improve our community and our city.

Langella is a global strategist from the job-search company indeed.com who had twice run for a District B council seat, once in 2015 and again in 2017. He submitted a letter of intent expressing his interest in the at-large position following Sterns election.

Young is a project coordinator in the Norwalk Fair Rent/Human Relations Department and is a coordinator for the Mayors Summer Youth Employment Program. She previously worked as coordinator for Norwalk Weed & Seed, a federally funded partnership between the Norwalk Police Department and the community to weed out crime and create opportunity for people.

I think theyre going to be constructive council members. I think they were a good choice. Among the three of them, Manny Langella included, it really was tough, we couldnt go wrong with any of them, said DTC Chairman Ed Camacho.

Includes prior reporting from staff writer Robert Koch.

justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586Black women are around 40 times more likely to be diagnosed with HIV than white women, yet many black women said in listening sessions around the state that they arent getting that message.

This is the kind of hurdle that state officials and advocates have worked to pinpoint in the first six months of work by Getting to Zero CT, a campaign to eradicate new HIV diagnoses in the state.

We recognize that there are specific populations of folks that are way more vulnerable to HIV than others so by prioritizing them, that [] helps us to really focus on what their individual needs are, said Latoya Tyson, associate director of prevention at AIDS Connecticut and a member of the Getting to Zero Commission.

On Monday, the commission presented a report to the Department of Public Health containing findings from listening sessions held around the state.

While HIV diagnoses have gone down steadily over many years, the progress is uneven, and has not reduced startling disparities in HIV rates that exist among many different subgroups.

Getting to Zero focuses on reducing these disparities in five cities with the largest number of people living with HIV: Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury and Stamford.

Perhaps overshadowing black women and other subgroups, black men having sex with men are at the highest risk of contracting HIV diagnoses. The CDC projects that for men in this group, the lifetime risk of contracting HIV could rise to 50 percent, or one out of every two. For Hispanic men, the lifetime risk is projected to reach one in four.

For black women, its one in 48. For women who inject drugs its one in 23, and for men who inject drugs, the risk is lower, at one in 36.

By contrast, the risk for the overall population is around 1 for every 99.

Since forming in July, the Getting to Zero Commission  made up of 23 members appointed by Department of Public Health Commissioner Raul Pino  has been busy.

The commission held listening sessions among black women, transgender women, black men having sex with men, and in Hartford among Spanish speakers to better understand those groups perceptions and knowledge about HIV, prevention and treatment.

Getting to Zero also interviewed HIV health providers, created a marketing video for its campaign, and launched a bilingual Spanish-English website  all made public Monday.

I am extremely proud of the work done over the last six months by the G2Z Commission to focus on the population groups and the areas in Connecticut where HIV continues to have a disproportionate impact, Pino said Monday.

Broadly, common themes emerged: lack of access to a highly effective preventive medication, stigma, and lack of education  not just among the general community, but among health care providers.

But within each subgroup, and from city to city, these general kinds of barriers take on different forms.

In addition to not believing that public health messaging was aimed at them, black women in Waterbury and Stamford reported needing more acceptance and support from their churches.

In New Haven, attendees were from a Black sorority and demonstrated high awareness about HIV in general. Much of the discussion focused on Black womens HIV vulnerability and a general attitude of being exempt from HIV. They reported a lack of knowledge among Black women about HIV transmission, fear of testing, lack of funding to support womens health, and young Black womens lack of communication with their partners, which contributed to the prevalence of HIV. Images in commercials were felt to be misleading due to a lack of relatable Black women.

Transgender women in Waterbury reported a need for increased education and sensitivity from medical providers who are gender-affirming and knowledgeable about HIV.

Men having sex with men in Stamford said condom use was not widespread and there needs to be a stronger marketing push around PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis  a drug that can lower the risk of getting HIV through sex by more than 90 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People who inject drugs can cut their risk of HIV infection by at least 70 percent with PrEP.

Five recommendations

The first two recommendations in the Getting to Zero report were administrative  forming statewide and city-level structure to oversee the efforts.

Recommendation three focuses on PrEP education and access  not just educating the population at large, but also health care providers.

Providers lacking knowledge about HIV prevention and care was a common theme Monday.

A primary care doctor in Waterbury who is taking care of African American women may not identify that that person is a candidate for prep or even discuss prep with that person even though they are a candidate for prep, said Dr. A.C. Demidont, a physician whose practice focuses primarily on LGBTQ patients and who is a member of the Getting to Zero Commission.

For transgender women, for instance, they had presented to doctors multiple times and nobody had taken a sexual history, so thats stigma, Demidont said. In these populations of people, providers either dont have the education or dont take the time to actually do this work  what we know is that when they dont do that work, those people will continue to be at risk of HIV infection.

The fourth recommendation centers around increasing understanding and sensitivity of LGBTQ issues among providers.

Recommendation five is to make testing more routine for the overall population ages 15-64.

The final recommendation is standardizing care for HIV testing and treatment to reduce variation from one doctor to another.EDWARDSVILLE  Madison County recently announced it received an additional $600,000 in the Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding to assist low-income residents with home energy costs.

The county obtained the additional funding through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO.) These funds are above what the Energy Assistance program received in its initial budget due to the departments ability to utilize and process the additional funding.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Joannes Ekaprasetya Tandjung (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 18, 2018 13:19 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2d35fe 3 Opinion cultural-heritage,Indonesia,UNESCO,national-heritage Free

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? is the magic phrase of the Disney classic animation, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.With respect to the current situation in Indonesia, it should be: Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, which country has the most priceless cultural heritage?



The question is relevant, as the media have been reporting lately on stolen cultural objects that belong to Indonesia.



In August, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi and Education and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy witnessed the return of five Indonesian cultural heritage objects. The objects consisted of three Asmat skulls and two Dayak that were smuggled and trafficked to Australia.



The two ministers and the Australian ambassador to Indonesia underlined that the cultural objects return demonstrated the commitment of the two countries in protecting priceless cultural heritage objects.



The world has an umbrella international law that covers this issue: the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.



The convention issued under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) grew out of a pressing need to respond to a troubling trend in the late 1960s, which saw cultural artifacts smuggled out of their countries of origin to land in private collections or national museums, either illegally or with their origins obscured.



The convention commits state parties to institute preventative measures to combat the illicit practice, outline provisions for restitution and strengthen international cooperation.



To date, the convention is ratified by 136 states, four ASEAN states and 18 G20 economies.



The 1995 International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects complements the 1970 convention by covering elements of international private law not regulated by the Unesco Convention.



The 1995 convention deals more specifically with the harmonization of legislation in the restitution of cultural objects.



In adopting this convention, states commit to uniform treatment for restitution of stolen or illegally exported cultural objects and allow restitution claims to be processed directly through national courts.



In short, the 1995 convention covers all stolen cultural objects, not just those that have been inventoried and declared, and stipulates that all cultural property must be returned. As of today, 44 states  including ASEANs Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar  have ratified the 1995 convention.



Indonesia is, however, not  or at least not yet  a party to either convention.



Indonesia has its own national legal mechanism: Law No. 11/2010 on cultural property and Law No. 5/2017 on advancement of culture.



The former calls for the establishment of a national registry of cultural heritage objects and their safety, prohibits their illicit trafficking and prohibits their export unless for research, promotional or exhibition purposes.



Meanwhile, the latter law governs registration of cultural property as well as the protection of manuscripts and works of art.



While the focal point of education and culture, including cultural preservation, is the Education and Culture Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and its diplomats are at the vanguard in addressing Indonesias membership to UNESCO in Paris and to UNIDROIT in Rome.



In addition, Indonesian missions overseas are tasked with facilitating the return of the countrys cultural property from abroad.



Taking into account the need for stronger engagement between the Foreign Ministry and the Education and Culture Ministry, the Directorate General for Legal Affairs and International Treaties hosted on Aug. 27 a focus group discussion on the protection of cultural property.



The discussion produced three major outcomes. First, an emphasis that the protection of cultural property must adhere to the prevailing national law while respecting international law, including the 1970 Unesco Convention, in protecting Indonesias cultural heritage. In addition, the 1970 convention will enable Indonesia to foster cooperation to protect and return Indonesian cultural property that has been trafficked abroad.



Second is the pressing need to formulate standard operating procedures in addressing the restitution of stolen or illicitly obtained cultural property.



Third, the discussions participants underlined the undisputed role of the Foreign Ministry and its overseas missions in managing the protection of cultural property, including its assistance in adopting new laws.



Indonesias ratification of the two conventions is not necessarily a panacea. However, it is a step moving forward to a more secure and friendly environment in safeguarding our cultural heritage.



Dubbed a cultural superpower, will Indonesia remain silent and only watch as others steal our priceless and treasured cultural heritage? Or will we ensure that no other party can ever steal from us again through the enactment of binding laws as well as regulations?



We need to think on and act wisely in this matter, as the future of Indonesias cultural objects and heritage depend on our response.

***

The writer is deputy director for education and culture at the Foreign Ministrys Directorate General for Legal Affairs and International Treaties. The views expressed are his own.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Briseida Mema (Agence France-Presse) Vlora, Albania  Tue, November 20, 2018 05:01 1108 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877ce668e 2 Art & Culture albania,treasure,history,culture Free

Albania's long underexplored coastal waters have become a hotspot for treasure hunters scooping up ancient pottery, sunken ship parts and other shell-encrusted relics that have lain on the seabed for centuries.

The 450-kilometer coastline, which is lapped by the Adriatic and Ionian seas, was off-limits under the communist regime which ruled the Balkan state until 1990, with orders to shoot anyone caught diving without authorization.

But today its waters are open, luring archaeologists but also looters eager to plumb the new territory and sell their finds on the art and metals markets.

"Much of this wealth resting at the depth of 20-30 meters is easily accessible without any special equipment and has almost completely disappeared without a trace," said Albanian archaeologist and art historian Neritan Ceka, among those calling for urgent measures to protect the underwater heritage.

While diving at the beginning of the 1980s -- under communism, archaeologists and soldiers were permitted -- he was one of the first to see for himself the seabed treasures, he said.

"I saw extraordinary richness, amphoras (terracotta jugs), pottery, archaeological objects which are no longer there today," he added.

Teams of European and Albanian divers "have started to loot in a barbaric way", he lamented.

Read also: US returns plundered artifacts to Colombia

- 'Big profits' -

Expeditions carried out since 2006 by the US-based RPM Nautical Foundation have found some 40 shipwrecks along Albania's coastline, including vessels dating back to the 7th century BC and naval ships from World War I and II.

Hundreds of Roman-era amphoras -- used to store wine, olive oil and other goods on trade vessels -- are also clustered on the sea floor, covered in marine plants.

Experts say that without a full inventory, it is impossible to know how many of the artifacts have been plucked from the seabed and sold on the international art trafficking market.

The market overall generates a global turnover of more than $4 billion a year, according to Auron Tare, who chairs UNESCO's scientific and technical advisory body on underwater cultural heritage.

"But what is certain: a treasure hunt below the seas can bring in big profits," said Moikom Zeqo, an underwater archaeologist who helped discover a 2nd-century BC Roman ship carrying hundreds of amphoras.

- Art and steel -

The vases can be sold for up to 100 euros in Albania, where they are on display in some high-end restaurants, or auctioned for much greater sums in London and other art capitals.

Other prized discoveries have been ferried home by foreign divers and placed in various private museums around the world, such as the bell of an ill-fated Austro-Hungarian ship, the SS Linz, that sunk off Albania's northwest coast with 1,000 passengers on board after striking a mine in March 1918.

"These objects (from the SS Linz), exhibited in a private museum in Austria, must be returned to Albania," said Tare, who also heads the Albanian Center for Marine Research.

Divers are also going underwater to strip early 20th century warships for their high-quality steel.

Steel produced before any nuclear explosions happened in the world is especially lucrative, as it lacks any trace of radioactivity and can be used for sensitive medical devices and other scientific equipment.

"To skin the hull and remove it from the seabed, the looters use dynamite," said Ilir Capuni, a researcher and professor at the University of New York Tirana.

He has seen the plunder firsthand.

Back in 2013, Capuni helped discover a Hungarian-Croat steamer, the Pozsony, that sunk off the coast of Durres in 1916 after striking a mine.

But four years later, "we found that there was almost nothing left of it," said Capuni.

A similar fate has befallen the Italian medical ship Po, which was struck by a British torpedo in 1941 off the coast of southeastern Vlore. Benito Mussolini's daughter Edda Ciano, who was aboard the ship as a nurse, survived.

Its algae-covered hull was miraculously intact when it was first discovered but has since been dismantled in places and emptied of valuable objects, such as the bell, compass, telegraph, lights and dishes.

Bought firsthand for 5,000 euros, some parts have been resold since to collectors for 20 times that amount, Capuni said.

Read also: Dry Danube reveals hidden treasure in Hungary

- Underwater museum -

In June, authorities passed a law classifying the shipwrecks as cultural monuments and requiring strict licensing for diving teams.

Police are also working with Interpol to trace and return stolen objects, said criminal police director Eduart Merkaj, although so far there have been no concrete results.

One dream shared by Albanian and foreign experts is to create an underwater museum, such as the one that exists in the Turkish city of Bodrum, that would protect the artifacts and draw tourists.

"The time has come to build an underwater museum, laboratories and a specialized center," says Luan Perzhita, director of Albania's Archaeological Institute.

But the high costs of such a project remain a barrier, with only 30,000 euros allotted in the state budget this year for archaeology.

"Albania has never had the luxury or awareness to understand the great importance that this wealth represents for the country's history and for Mediterranean civilization," said Tare.

Even though, he added, the waters still contain "more treasures that have not yet been discovered".Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 18, 2018 09:07 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2c298d 1 Parents Oriental-Circus-Indonesia,circus,Entertainment,Performance Free

The lights dimmed and out onto the stage walked a young man, Noah, pulling behind him makeshift wagons depicting a circus train carrying animals.

Noah circled a pint-sized tent in the middle of the ring, beaming with excitement as his limber body delivered gymnastics moves that grew larger while keeping the beat to the rhythm of the live music's dramatic build-up.

As the tiny tent rose from the ground, the young man took stuffed toy animals from the wagon, dancing first with a tiger before picking up an elephant. He then donned a top hat and fetched a stick, marking the anniversary of the establishment of the circus, an ode to the theme of the night.

The circus has officially arrived in Jakarta as Oriental Circus Indonesia opened its half-century anniversary celebration "The Great 50 Show" on Friday evening inside a multicolored tent propped up in the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex.

The stage came to life with an upbeat song "It's a Celebration", with ringmaster Josh Kunze leading the anthem as the circus performers came out one by one, singing and dancing while giving a glimpse of the acrobatic thrills prepared for the evening.

Multicolored lights added a modern nuance to the 21st century iteration of a classic show that was made popular in Europe and the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries. Unlike circus performances of the past, however, tonight's show is a contemporary one, featuring no animals, save for the puppets and stuffed toys.

The show focuses on acrobatic performances accompanied by live music. (The Jakarta Post/Donny Fernando)

Instead, it showed off dozens of highly-skilled acrobats from Indonesia, China and Mongolia, together delivering nail-biting-inducing stunts that kept audience members on the edge of their seats.

Intricate fire choreography, rhythmic aerial silk dances, exhilarating flying trapeze stunts and a futuristic laser light performance enchanted the crowd.

Meanwhile, teeterboard drills, extreme acrobatics and a wheel-of-death duet visibly pushed the limits of any comfort zone to show just what the human body is capable of.

Gasps, laughter and enthusiastic applause from the audience at the end of each segment were evidence of a good time had by all.

Twenty-three-year-old university student Ishmah Inezsa was among the guests that evening who enjoyed the unique circus performance.

"I had originally thought there would be animals, real elephants and tigers, like the circus shows you hear about shown abroad, which actually had worried me, specifically in terms of animal exploitation, as well as safety reasons for the audience. So, honestly, this is so much better," Ishmah told The Jakarta Post at the end of the show.

Read also: Jakpost guide to Taman Safari Indonesia  Bogor

Director Peter Wilson, who spoke to journalists at the end of the performance, explained that "The Great 50 Show" tells the story of how Oriental Circus Indonesia was established in the 1960s, saying that the young man in the story illustrates founder Hadi Manansang's experience.

Hadi had first seen a circus in Shanghai, China in the 1930s, which inspired a lifelong fascination that was expressed finally when he arrived in Indonesia.

Marking the opening in a ceremony held ahead of the show, which is to run until Jan. 27 at the GBK complex, was a video tribute to Hadi, as well as opening remarks by Frans Manansang and Tony Sumampau, who are now overseeing the circus.

"The show must go on," Frans said.

Show producer Thibault Paquin, who is also executive director of the company behind the production, Ananta Harsa Group, said the concept for the show was proposed in March with the aim of kick-starting a long-term revival of the circus in the face of a dying industry. After it was approved in July, production and rehearsals began in September.

In a bid to attract a new generation of spectators, the company took on a contemporary interpretation and focused on incorporating modern technologies into the performances, while also highlighting music, including the inclusion of a live band with original songs, which was overseen by music director Nikita Dompas.

"We proposed a new concept that was more about using new technologies, live music, things that we thought were more in line with what the millennials and the urban population want," Paquin said over the phone on Friday.

He added that the show is slated to tour five cities in Indonesia, with Bali expected to be the last stop planned for June next year. (wng)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Wening Gitomartoyo (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 18, 2018 19:31 1079 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2e4059 1 Art & Culture Bintang-Ketjil,Misbach-Jusa-Biran,Wim-Umboh,Movie,film,restoration,Render-Digital-Indonesia Free

Bintang Ketjil (Little Star), an Indonesian childrens movie made in 1963, has been restored and was premiered on Tuesday, Dec. 18, by the Education and Culture Ministrys Film Development Center (Pusbangfilm) in Jakarta.

Directed and written by Wim Umboh and Misbach Jusa Biran (both legendary figures in the Indonesian film industry), the movie tells the story of two children, Maria (Maria Umboh) and Suzy (Suzy Mambo), who decide to venture to the zoo on their own after their parents promises to take them were never fulfilled. In their adventures, they meet a shoeshiner boy and an eccentric former teacher who take them to places filled with music and excitement.

Band Koes Bersaudara was also featured in the movie, playing the titular song in their trademark style of harmonies. The band later on became Koes Plus, one of the most well-known acts in the country.

Read also: Classic movie Tiga Dara returns to local cinemas

The restoration was done by Render Digital Indonesia, with the material being two copies of the film positive archived in the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI) and Sinematek Indonesia.

Taufiq Marhaban of Render Digital Indonesia said they found the positives were well preserved, though with scratches.

Previously, Pusbangfilm had led the restoration projects for Darah dan Doa (Blood and Prayer) and Pagar Kawat Berduri (Barbed Wire) in 2013 and 2017, respectively. Bintang Ketjil is planned to be screened publicly in big cities in Indonesia in the next year.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Kim Arin (The Korea Herald/Asia News Network)  Tue, December 18, 2018 12:05 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2cf082 2 People Jonghyun,SHINee,K-pop Free

Dec. 18 marks the first anniversary of Jonghyuns passing.



On this day last year, boy group SHINees lead vocalist was found unresponsive at a studio apartment in Cheongdam-dong, a neighborhood in Seouls Gangnam district. He was rushed to the nearby Konkuk University Medical Center, but did not survive.

The 27-year-old stars untimely passing was reported in major media outlets across the world, including the BBC, CNN, Forbes, the New York Times and the Washington Post.



His three-day funeral service, held at the Asan Medical Center Dec. 19-21, was attended by fans, colleagues and show-business personalities. His four bandmates -- Onew, Key, Minho and Taemin -- served as pallbearers.

Read also: SHINee reiterates members still together as five



With the anniversary just around the corner, Shiny, a foundation for young artists, is holding an arts fair Monday in Jonghyuns memory. Founded by the late artists family in September, Shiny is a nonprofit organization that seeks to support budding artists with financial aid, psychotherapy, among others. Tickets to the fair were distributed in advance through a draw held by an MBC radio program.



The arts fair, held at a theater in S.M. Town Coex Artium in Gangnam, will showcase clips and writings dedicated to Jonghyun. The event will also include a memorial service.



Jonghyun made his debut with SHINee in 2008 and put out his first solo EP, Base, in January 2015, which topped Billboards World Albums chart upon release.

While the SHINee star was already massively popular as a member of the quintet, he managed to repeat that rare success as a soloist, experimenting with new genres and venturing into songwriting and production.



He put on 22 solo shows in 2017 alone and had just wrapped up a solo concert a week prior to his death. Titled Jonghyuns Solo Concert: Inspired, the two-day show took place Dec. 9-10, 2017, at the iconic Olympic Park in Seoul.



SHINee resumed work as a quartet with the 10-year anniversary series The Story of Light, released in succession from May to September. The series consists of three five-track EPs and a full-length album titled Epilogue.

Topics :

This article appeared on The Korea Herald newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta PostShare this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ju-min Park and Hyunjoo Jin (Reuters) Seoul  Wed, December 19, 2018 01:08 1079 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2e7928 2 Lifestyle Luxi,car-sharing-firm,Airbnb,South-Korea Free

When Choi Ba-da pitched his car-sharing firm Luxi to Hyundai Motor officials in 2017, he told them there would be no future for South Korea's top automaker if it failed to embrace emerging technologies.

His pitch worked: Hyundai agreed to buy a 12 percent stake in Luxi for $5 million, its first investment in a car-sharing firm as it joined rivals in the race for new-age transportation.

But about six months later, Hyundai sold its stake after thousands of angry taxi drivers, worried about their jobs, threatened to boycott Hyundai cars, Choi told Reuters. Hyundai officials say they were also wary of laws limiting car sharing in South Korea.

Hyundai's breakup with Luxi illustrates how rigid regulations, strong labour unions and a risk-averse culture among South Korea's giant family run conglomerates, or chaebol, have hindered the growth of start-ups in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

President Moon Jae-in's administration says the country's decades-old growth model, powered by a handful of large exporters such as Hyundai and Samsung, has reached its limit in the face of Chinese competition and rising labour costs.

To offset slowing growth in sectors such as autos, ships and chips, it created a new ministry for start-ups last year and has boosted funding to cultivate new technologies.

But the government has been too slow to remove cumbersome regulations for start-ups, wary of upending the country's economic order or upsetting powerful labour unions, according to interviews with a dozen entrepreneurs, investors and executives.

That has left South Korea surprisingly resistant to disruptive technologies despite its tech-savvy image, they say.

"After agonising, Hyundai officials told me that they had to go slow with the service, before eventually pulling out," Choi told Reuters. "But how on earth can a startup go slow?"

In a statement to Reuters, Hyundai said it sold its stake in Luxi as the investment "did not fit a business model the company pursued", without elaborating.

Hyundai's chief innovation officer Youngcho Chi also said South Korean restrictions on ride-sharing to unspecified "commuting hours" as one reason and said the automaker had concluded that Luxi was not going to work out.

Instead, Hyundai pumped $275 million into Singaporean ride-hailing firm Grab this year.

Most startups illegal

Hyundai and Samsung say they invest in both local and overseas startups.

Close to the company's headquarters, South Korean startups are easier to communicate with, Hyundai said. Samsung told Reuters it has been running a startup support programme for five years to raise local entrepreneurs.

Still, some say chaebol are moving too slowly.

"The Korean success has been built on a fast-follower strategy, but Chinese rivals are catching up very fast," said Hwang Sungjae, a co-founder of Fluenty, a South Korean artificial intelligence startup acquired by Samsung Electronics last year. "Companies now have no choice but to innovate and work with start-ups, but they are not investing quickly enough."

"I think Korean companies are at a great risk of falling behind."

Regulations are another challenge.

South Korean laws would entirely or partially block about 70 percent of the worlds top 100 startups by investment size from bringing their services to the country, according to joint research by Google Campus Seoul and the Asan Nanum Foundation. Those include giants Airbnb, Uber, and China's Ant Financial.

In February, top South Korean mobile messaging operator Kakao Corp bought Luxi for $25 million, but it remains stymied by carpooling regulations, and has yet to launch amid fierce protests from taxi drivers.

One protesting taxi driver set himself on fire and died last week, and unionised drivers say they plan a huge rally this week.

Kakao said it pushed back the launch schedule of its carpool service in the wake of the suicide.

South Korea's transport ministry declined to comment.

Regulations also prohibit venture capital funds from investing in financial, real estate, accommodation and restaurant sectors in South Korea.

The government has proposed a new law to lift those restrictions, but a senior government official acknowledged it would be neither easy nor quick.

"The bottom line is that we have to move toward innovation, but it takes a lot of time and is a difficult process to mediate existing interests, the government official at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups told Reuters.

Realistically, we cant simply ignore existing interests. Theres no clear answer."

He declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

'Are you dreaming?'

Many Korean ventures are focused on applications that would only apply locally, making them a hard sell for global companies, a Samsung Electronics executive told Reuters, asking not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to media.

Since 2016, Samsung Electronics has acquired minority stakes in nine startups, only one based in SouthKorea, according to corporate research firm CEO Score.

Hyundai Motor has invested a total 85 billion won ($75.11 million) worth of minority stakes in 15 foreign startups over the last three years, compared to 28 billion won spent on five local ventures over the same period, CEO Score said.

San Francisco-based venture fund 500 Startups, one of the early investors in Grab, said it had looked atKorean ride-sharing firms for a possible investment, but decided against it because of legal restrictions.

"The regulatory environment hasn't been favourable to the investors like us," Jeffrey Lim, who heads 500 Startups's Korea office, told Reuters.

There were, however, Korean industries offering interesting opportunities, such as pop music, online games, and cosmetics, Lim said.

500 Startups has invested 6.5 billion won in 30 South Korean firms since 2015, including radio app Spoon which is now available in Southeast Asia and Japan.

Other established foreign rivals have also backed South Korean start-ups despite the challenges.

Japan's Softbank has invested in more than 20 tech companies in South Korea since 2012, according to venture capital data provider CB Insights, including a $2 billion stake in online retailer Coupang in November.

South Korean startup Viva Republica, which operates money transfer app Toss, last week raised $80 million from U.S. investors including Kleiner Perkins and Ribbit Fund, valuing it at $1.2 billion.

Korean conglomerates' tendency to avoid risk and shun outside partnerships makes them slower than foreign rivals to adapt to fast changing technologies, said Rhee Moo-weon, a management professor at Seoul-based Yonsei University, who advises Samsung, Hyundai and the South Korean government.

In 2003, Samsung missed the opportunity to acquire the then small maker of the Android smartphone operating system, just two weeks before Google bought it for $50 million plus incentives, according to a 2013 book by Fred Vogelstein "Dogfight: How Apple and Google Went to War and Started a Revolution".

When Android creator Andy Rubin pitched his firm to Samsung, a Samsung executive told him, "Are you dreaming? You and what army are going to go and create this? You have six people. Are you high?," according to the book.

Samsung said it could not confirm the content of the book.

Read also: Grab to operate in 120 Indonesian cities after Uber acquisition

Think outside Korea

As cash-rich conglomerates remain reluctant buyers, only 3 percent of South Korean startups were able to recoup their investments through trade sales in 2017, according to the Korean Venture Capital Association.

That leaves IPOs as one of a few exit options, but it takes about 12 years for South Korean startups to go pubic - "an eternity" compared to Silicon Valley where it typically takes six to seven years, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

Only last year, South Korea introduced the so-called "Tesla listing rule" which allows loss-making startups to list on its junior, tech heavy Kosdaq market. It's named after the U.S. electric carmaker that remains loss-making eight years after going public in 2010, but is worth $63 billion.

So far, only e-commerce platform Cafe24 Corp has used the Tesla rule to go public. Since its February listing, its shares have risen 25 percent.

South Korean entrepreneurs say there is a long way to go.

Government officials are trying to meet every stakeholder's demands in a way that doesnt lead to a solution," said Seo Seung-woo, a professor and entrepreneur who moved his self-driving start-up to Silicon Valley last year.

I say, dont think about doing a startup in South Korea. Think outside Korea."Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Sonia Elks (Reuters) London  Tue, December 18, 2018 23:03 1079 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2e6ba4 2 Science & Tech sex-workers,Tumblr,Tumblr-curbs-on-explicit-images Free

Sex workers said they faced losing work or being forced to risk soliciting on the streets as Tumblr introduced curbs on sharing explicit imagery on Monday.

The U.S.-based microblogging site announced the ban two weeks ago, saying it had a responsibility to consider the impact of such content "across different age groups, demographics, cultures, and mindsets".

It had been an online hub for sex workers to advertise services and make contact with clients before the change in policy was announced this month. They said it had deprived them of one of their last mainstream safe havens.

"Every initiative that makes it harder for sex workers to advertise online and find clients online actually increases danger and the likelihood of attack," said Niki Adams, a spokeswoman for the English Collective of Prostitutes.

"It does push prostitution further and further underground."

Asked for comment, Tumblr pointed to a blog post which said it was "sorry that this has not been an easy transition" and that it did not seek to "silence the vital conversations that take place here every day".

The company said it would continue to represent marginalised communities and stressed some nude content such as images of nudity in a medical setting or breastfeeding would not be affected.

Sex workers said they were already suffering from the bar on sharing adult material on Tumblr.

"I was really sad and really angry," one online sex worker who asked to be named only as Peaches told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"Online is being censored so people ... are starting to work in person, to see clients in person which is just so dangerous."

Tumblr's change of policy over sexual content came after U.S. authorities moved to tighten restrictions on online sex work.

It coincides with the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers on Monday.

The U.S. Congress this year passed two bipartisan anti-trafficking bills aimed at making it easier to prosecute owners and operators of websites that facilitate sex trafficking.

Read also: Tumblr bans porn to clean up the blogging platform

In April, U.S. authorities shut down Backpage.com, an online marketplace used primarily to sell sex, in a move that prompted cheers from some anti-exploitation campaigners but which others said would have little impact.

At least 32 sex workers in the United States have been killed in 2018, according to the Sex WorkersOutreach Project, which said criminalisation helps drive violence.

A major international study this month found sex workers in countries where selling or buying sex is illegal are more likely to face violence, not use condoms and contract HIV.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Tue, December 18, 2018 09:32 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2c3b7c 4 Art & Culture Taring-Padi,human-rights,arts,local-artists,democracy,Soeharto,New-Order,art-exhibition Free

Several members of the Yogyakarta art community, Taring Padi, unveiled a mural on the second-floor wall of the R.J. Katamsi Gallery at the Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI) as part of the groups Bara Lapar Jadikan Palu (Let Hunger be a Hammer) exhibition.



The community band, Dendang Kampungan, sang Mentari (Sun) on the ground floor, in memory of Taring Padi founder member, Yustoni Volunteero, who passed away in June this year.



The event also marked a reunion for some members and those close to the community, including history and photography lecturer from Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland, Alexander Supartono, who came to the event.



The exhibition, with Bambang Toko and Ucup as curators, was recently held to mark the 20th anniversary of Taring Padis founding on Dec. 21, 1998, in Yogyakarta.



In Indonesias art scene, Taring Padi is known as a group of artists who reject the notion of art for arts sake, preferring to utilize art to fight for peoples interests.



Ucup explained that taring padi meant the fur on rice grains. When its blown by the wind and affects the skin, it will make one itch, meaning the communitys works, however small, can cause an itch among those it criticizes, he said.



Taring Padi has often had this itchy effect on those in power. It was once even attacked by an unidentified gang on the former ISI campus, during which some works being exhibited were stolen or damaged.



ISI rector Agus Burhan described Taring Padi as strongly upholding the ideology of populism. Populist visual art is a strong indicator in modern fine art that opposes the art of romanticism, he said in the events opening speech.



Among the themes presented in Taring Padis exhibits were resistance to militarism, opposition to former president Soeharto and his New Order regime, the defense of farmers and workers rights, environmental protection, tolerance, corruption eradication, human rights protection and democracy.



Historically, Taring Padi is reminiscent of the Sanggar Bumi Tarung (Fighting Arena) artist group and the Peoples Cultural Institute (Lekra) of the 1960s, leading many to assume this community is an affiliate to the leftist Democratic Peoples Party (PRD), while in fact it is an independent group.



Hundreds of art objects  such as protest banners, posters, postcards, pins, calendars, stickers, patches, comics, 3-D works and paintings  were on display at the exhibition.



A giant realist painting entitled Peoples Justice, depicting the peoples victory over oppressors, was hung from the second floor to the ground floor.



Large paintings, mostly from the communitys early days, were displayed on the ground floor, alongside realist installations such as Berdiri di Atas Kekuatan Pangan Sendiri (Food Self-Reliance), Pengungsi #2 (Refugees) andMengadili Suharto dan Para Jenderal (Trying Soeharto and the Generals).



The second floor displayed smaller works, with the exception of a large painted banner for the advocacy of Lapindo mudflow disaster victims in Sidoarjo, East Java, and 22 round posters, Terompet Rakyat (Peoples Trumpet), in the woodcutting fashion in response to the 2019 elections.



Visitors examining the collective art pieces were helped to understand the context of the works with documented photographs attached next to the exhibits. The pictures recorded Taring Padis work while they were used as a means of resistance to the authorities.



In the exhibition rooms, visitors felt as if stepping into an Indonesian sociopolitical history book, portraying the times from the fall of Soehartos New Order up to the present. The art objects served as a symbol of popular opposition that made the established order itch.



Curator Lisa Horikawa of the National Gallery Singapore, who specially visited the show, said she felt fortunate to be able to see Taring Padis art pieces, and was impressed by the mural-making process at the gallery. It is a very organic process, there is no fixed pattern, she said.



Alaxander had a different impression, noticing a quality decline in Taring Padis artworks, which were no longer created by fine-art students.



He attributed the decline to the organizational change from a strict and exclusive group to an inclusive one since 2003 in line with the principle of art for ordinary people. It is now open to anybody interested in working out collective creations.



There is also a visual change, in which icons like boars or wolves, representing the oppressive economic and political elite, no longer appear.



Ervan Dwi Putra, a young artist who joined the community in 2018, acknowledged his pop-trending paintings. Only a few of my pieces bear political messages, he said.



Taring Padi activist Fitri DK said the organizational change had also caused the groups activism to decline. Since 2003, many of its activists have moved to other regions and are raising families.



The decline may explain why serious current issues, such as the new airfield construction in Kulon Progo that has seen thousands of farmers evicted, for instance, is absent from the communitys art records.



But when asked whether the decline was a sign of the communitys demise, Alexander disagreed. They still celebrate their anniversary and Taring Padi members continue to develop their new visions in different new places, forming the strength of Taring Padi, he said.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Tue, December 18, 2018 08:57 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2c176c 4 Art & Culture 1965-mass-killing,PKI,human-rights-abuse,UGM,Gadjah-Mada-University,history Free

The Selasar Barat Building inside the Gadjah Mada University (UGM) complex in Yogyakarta was turned into a satay stall on the evening of Nov. 30.

The stall was said to belong to Sumilah, known as Bu Milah, a survivor of the 1965 tragedy when hundreds of thousands of Indonesian people accused of supporting the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) were killed.

Sumilahs stall not only offered lamb satay, with its appetizing aroma, but also a slice of historical truth about the genocide and reconciliation.

The stall, which was once open in Yogyakartas Prambanan Market, was the backdrop of a theater story titled Selamatan Anak Cucu Sumilah (A Banquet for Sumilahs Children and Grandchildren).

Thirteen female genocide survivors, members of the Teater Tamara troupe, and about 30 UGM students, who are part of the Teater Gadjah Mada group, as well as performers from Malya Studio, took part in performing the two-hour play.

The play made no separation between the audience and performers.

Spectators were free to watch the actions of the players, who were divided into four groups, respectively performing the hanging of the lamb, chopping it up, the piercing of the meat with bamboo skewers and the grilling of the skewered meat into satay.

The process of satay making is a subtle metaphor depicting the various forms of torture inflicted on people [charged with supporting the PKI], play director Irfanuddien Ghozali told The Jakarta Post.

Specter rising: Svetlana (front right), one of the daughters of Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) chairman DN Aidit, participates in the Selamatan Anak Cucu Sumilah drama performance. (The Jakarta Post/Bambang Muryanto)

Maria Goretti Sumilah, the real-life persona behind the play, who was falsely arrested, died on March 27 this year. Sumilah was not a political figure, artist or leading intellectual. She was only one of the common people victimized by a haphazard arrest without ever being rehabilitated by the state.

Yohanes Bayu Aji, Sumilahs youngest child, was moved by the show. In his childhood he also had the stigma of being a PKI child.

I want the public to know that my mother wasnt a criminal. She was indeed a political prisoner but she knew nothing about politics, he said, wiping the tears running down his cheeks.

On Nov. 20, 1965, when Sumilah lived in Prambanan and was only 14, she was caught by soldiers. The correct target should have been another woman who also bore the name Sumilah, a primary school teacher who came from Kulon Progo.

Sumilah then endured sexual assaults when she was interrogated.

The state then immediately sentenced Sumilah to 14 years imprisonment without a proper trial.

Throughout the sentencing period, the state transferred Sumilah from Wirogunan Penitentiary in Yogyakarta to Bulu Prison in Semarang, Central Java, and finally to a womens camp, Plantungan, in Kendal, also in Central Java.

Sumilah finally got her freedom in 1979 and later opened a satay stall to support her family.

When some 300 spectators gathered on the stage, making the atmosphere in the Fisipol UGMs western plaza much like the market where Sumilahs stall had once been, the play began. Several female survivors as players distributed snacks and paper hats to the visitors.

Mid-stage loudspeakers relayed the Bersuka Ria (Rejoicing) and Soleram songs in the lenso (handkerchief dance) rhythm to build a vibe of the 1960s.

Performers also sang the childrens song called Mana Dimana Anak Kambing Saya? (Wheres My Baby Goat?) and twisted the lyrics into Mana Dimana Kambing Hitam Saya? (Wheres My Scapegoat?). This illustrated how the PKI and its members were made scapegoats for the failed coup that started with the murder of six army generals on Sept. 30, 1965, in Jakarta, prompting the Army to hunt down whoever it regarded as PKI backers.

The armys manhunt for PKI members and alleged supporters resulted in the death of between 500,000 and 2 million individuals, according to various historians, making it one of the biggest genocides to take place after World War II.

In the lamb-hanging group, a woman wearing a hat walked around while ringing a small clock. She was reading off the number of UGM lecturers, students and administrative officers dismissed by the UGM rector for allegedly being PKI supporters.

Prof. Herman Johannes, January 6, 1966: 112 lecturers, three assistant lecturers, 2,986 students, 1,212 administrative staffers, said the woman in this group.

According to Abdul Wahid in his article titled Campus on Fire: Indonesian Universities During the Political Turmoil of 1950s-1960s published in Archipel, Paris, this year, out of the 11 state universities, UGM discharged the largest numbers of lecturers, students and staff members.

Sri Muhayati, who was then first treasurer of the Student Council Corps of UGMs Medical School, was one of those victims.

Fifty years ago I was a UGM medical student and the letter from UGM rector Prof. Herman Johannes forced me to quit, she told the spectators.

Her student identity card and letter of dismissal as a UGM student were displayed at the exhibition of archives organized along with the theater show. Other objects being exhibited were sneakers owned by a survivor named Bu Endang, while she was confined at Plantungan, bath soap for smuggling love letters, photos of 1965 survivors and four videos with testimonials.

In their performances, some actors also read extracts from the capture of Minke by Jaques Pengemannan in Pramudya Ananta Toers novel Rumah Kaca (The Glass House). The groups read different versions: Tugas Berat untuk Pangemannan (A Tough Job for Pangemannan), Pitung-Pitung Moderen (Modern Pitungs), Pengasingan Minke (Minkes Isolation) and Kematian Minke (The Death of Minke).

Irfanuddien said Minkes story portrayed how the Dutch colonial rulers always put him under surveillance thus arousing the spirit of nationalism and this was suitable for describing the situation of the 1965 survivors.

They [the survivors] are free but they seem to remain in a glass house in which they are always being monitored, he added.

Meanwhile, UGM lecturer Ulya Niami Efrina Jamson said the theater show served as proof that the university, which was one of the sites of conflict and violence in 1965, could now become the site of reconciliation.

Reconciliation cannot happen unless theres recognition of the truth about the past, she said.

Irfanuddien agreed with Ulya and he said that staging the play was also an important part of the reconciliation process because it would inform many members of the younger generation about the past.

At first they were shocked to learn about the incidents that occurred in the past, he said.

Retyan Sekar, a student of the Indonesian Islamic University, was one of the shocked students after she watched the play and said there should be a lot more programs to reveal the truth behind the 1965 genocide.

The voice of survivors should be heard to enlighten young people, she said.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 18, 2018 14:37 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2d5d46 1 Lifestyle Miss-Universe,pageant,beauty-pageant Free

The Miss Universe beauty pageant has been held since 1952 to celebrate the beautiful diversity of women and to celebrate their contributions to society. Every country that participates in the pageant is represented by women who embody their nation in beauty, attitude and passion.

The Philippines, the country currently holding the title of Miss Universe, already reigns in the top five with three previous wins. The pageants most recent victor, 24-year-old Catriona Gray, contributes yet another win for the Southeast Asian archipelago as she was crowned the 67th Miss Universe on Dec. 18 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Read also: Philippines Catriona Gray is Miss Universe 2018

The United States tops the list with eight wins, beginning with Miriam Stevenson in 1954. Their most recent Miss Universe is Olivia Culpo, who held the title in 2012. (acr/kes)

The top five countries that have most often won Miss Universe pageants, according to a recent kompas.com report, are as follows:

United States Venezuela Puerto Rico Philippines SwedenShare this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, December 10, 2018 10:59 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e16591a 1 Business online-shopping,Indonesia,forecast,McKinsey-Company Free

Global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company has forecast fast growth for e-commerce in Indonesia, predicting sales to reach US$65 billion annually by 2022, eight times the $8 billion recorded in 2017.

Our research suggests some 30 percent of online commerce  sales worth US$2.5 billion in 2017  is additional spending that would not have existed if not for online commerce, said Simon Wintels, a partner of McKinsey, in a statement received on Monday.

McKinsey noted that the buzz around year-end online shopping festivals  notably Singles Day, or November 11 (11.11), and December 12 (12.12)  reflected the potential of online commerce in Indonesia.

McKinsey estimated that e-commerce could facilitate up to $26 billion in new exports, or equal to 40 percent of manufacturing exports today. It also identified that jewelry exports in particular had benefited from online commerce.

The interest of major, global consumers reflects the growing demand for Indonesian products from international markets, said Phillia Wibowo, McKinsey Indonesias managing partner.

More sectors need to take notes from the jewelry sector because overall Indonesian exports through online commerce remain low, with many local merchants yet to tap into international markets.

McKinsey also argued e-commerce supported financial inclusion, as to date, e-commerce has indirectly provided some 300,000 micro business owners with access to financial services through online payments systems.

To encourage the growth of mid-sized companies, the public and private sectors need to collaborate to create accelerator programs aimed at boosting the competitiveness of promising mid-size companies, said Phillia. (bbn)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 18, 2018 06:35 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2be350 1 City East-Jakarta,police,parking-attendant,attack,LBH-Jakarta Free

Jakarta Legal Aid institute (LBH Jakarta) director Arif Maulana has called the attack on Ciracas Police station in East Jakarta last week, which reportedly involved personnel from the Indonesian Military (TNI), an insult to a state symbol and demanded a thorough investigation.

We from the civil society groups call on the police to thoroughly investigate the case, he told reporters on Monday.

The attack was allegedly triggered by the mob's disappointment over the police handling of an assault on Navy captain Agus Komaruddin and Presidential Security Detail (Paspampres) member Rivonanda Maulana, allegedly at the hands of parking attendants of the Arundina shop in Cibubur, Ciracas.

The mob reportedly ransacked and burned down parts of Ciracas Police station on the night of Dec. 13, damaging police vehicles and leaving several officers and reporters injured.

Dozens of unidentified men have also ransacked the home of the parents of a parking attendant allegedly involved in the assault.

Arif said that if the police let the mob get away without facing legal consequence, it will be an insult to the law, he said.

The police have arrested five suspects allegedly linked to the assault on Agus and Rivonanda, identified as Agus Pryantara, 32, Herianto Panjaitan, 28, Iwan Hutapea, 31, and his wife, Suci Ramdani, 23, as well as Depi, 35.

In a case reenactment at the Jakarta Police headquarters on Monday, it was demonstrated that the assault began when Agus asked a parking attendant why his motorbike had been moved, after which they began to quarrel. When seeing Agus was attacked, Rivonanda tried to interfere but could not really help because of the large number of parking attendants. (fac)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung, West Java  Tue, December 18, 2018 17:29 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2df817 1 Business Bukalapak,payment,West-Java,regional-government Free

E-commerce platform Bukalapak plans to expand to the public sector by offering digital payment services to the West Java provincial government.

Fajrin Rasyid, co-founder and president of Bukalapak, said the business expansion was [a way to make use of] the platforms experience in managing large payment transactions.

We will begin the cooperation with the annual payment of vehicle taxes next year, Fajrin said after launching Bukalapaks research and development building in Bandung.

He said the platform would not change the current concept of provincial public services, but it would allow users to experience different types of services.

He said 500 of 100,000 warung (small shops) in the province had partnered with Bukalapak. As for those who are not familiar with digital transactions, our partners will help them carry out transactions, he added.

He said Bukalapak had offered the business project to other regional governments, but to date only the West Java government had taken up the offer.

The provinces quick response [is probably down to the fact that] the governor has a great background in technology, he added

West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil appreciated the initiative of Indonesias startup unicorn, expressing the hope that Bukalapak would expand its business in public services.

Its no longer a cool thing that people still have to come and queue up at offices, Ridwan said, adding that Bukalapak needed to participate in tenders for government procurement projects.

Bukalapaks bigger rival, Tokopedia, allows its users to purchase electricity tokens in its online marketplace as one of its digital products. (das/bbn)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 18, 2018 20:18 1079 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2e4664 1 City Kalibata-City-apartment,prostitution,drug-abuse,complaints Free

The South Jakarta municipality inaugurated on Monday a complaint center at Kalibata City apartments, as part of a plan to eradicate prostitution and drug dealing found to be rampant in the complex.

In August, some 32 suspected prostitutes were arrested in 17 apartments, six of whom were underage.

Musdalifah, 63, chairwoman of the Kalibata City trustee board of owners and occupants, said the complaint center was of benefit, as residents would no longer be required to file a complaint directly to the South Jakarta mayor or Jakarta governor.

For any complaints, we usually report it directly to the mayor or governor, back and forth attending meetings. With the complaint center, representatives of the administration, police and military are now available, she said on Monday, as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com.

Residents can report any problems, such as indications of drug dealing, undocumented foreigners and prostitution to the center.

Musdalifah acknowledged there were problems, particularly prostitution, that had given Kalibata City a bad image recently, adding that it was due to there being more rented units than those permanently inhabited by tenants.

From around 1,200 [apartments], only around 20 percent are [permanently] occupied. The rest are rented. Those who make problems are renters, she said.

The 5 by 8 meters complaint center, which was inaugurated by South Jakarta Mayor Marullah Matali, operates during weekdays from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. (sau)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 18, 2018 13:12 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2d2ba1 4 Business consumer-goods,imports,control Free

A government policy to impose higher import tariffs on 1,147 consumer goods has been unable to significantly discourage importers, with imports decreasing by less than 10 percent since the rule was implemented in October.

From January to September, the [monthly] value of imports was US$31.1 million. It only decreased to $28.1 million [after the policy was introduced], the Finance Ministrys customs and excise director general Heru Pambudi, said in Jakarta on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

Heru further explained that for consumer goods whose tariff increased from 2.5 percent to 7.5 percent, the exports value declined from $15.9 million to $13.9 million. For consumer goods whose tariff rose from 2.5 percent to 10 percent, the import value declined from $4.86 million to $4.82 million.

Meanwhile, for consumer goods whose import tariff increased from 7.5 percent to 10 percent, the import value declined from $10.28 million to $9.31 million.

Heru said the government welcomed the figures as a positive result, though he admitted that exports should be increased more significantly.

The policy was introduced to curb imports of consumer goods along with other policies to narrow the trade deficit, including the mandatory use of 20 percent blended biodiesel (B20) in trying to reduce crude oil imports.

Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced on Monday that Indonesias trade deficit reached US$2.05 billion in November, higher than the $2.03 billion recorded in July. The deficit in November brought the year-to-date trade balance to minus $7.52 billion. (bbn)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Prague, Czech Republic  Tue, December 18, 2018 10:24 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2cbc49 2 Business #Czech,#security,Czech,warning,Huawei,ZTE,security Free

A Czech cyber-security agency on Monday warned against using the software and hardware of China's Huawei and ZTE companies, saying they posed a threat to state security.

"The main issue is a legal and political environment of the People's Republic of China, where (the) aforementioned companies primarily operate," the Czech National Cyber and Information Security Agency said in a statement.

"China's laws, among other things, require private companies residing in China to cooperate with intelligence services, therefore introducing them into the key state systems might present a threat," the agency added.

Huawei's Czech branch slammed the report and asked the agency to offer facts instead of tarnishing its reputation, said the Czech News Agency (CTK).

The warning comes on the heels of a Czech intelligence report which warned about increased spying activities of Chinese diplomats in the EU and NATO member state of 10.6 million people.

Huawei has faced increasing scrutiny over its alleged links to Chinese intelligence services, prompting countries including the United States, Australia and Japan to block it from building their next-generation, super-fast 5G internet networks.

But the Czech Republic's western neighbour Germany refused to follow suit earlier this month, saying it had no evidence Huawei could use its equipment to spy for Beijing.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 18, 2018 15:07 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2d7c43 4 Business infrastructure-development,financing,analyst,comments Free

The government's attempt to accelerate infrastructure development is facing a financial shortfall of Rp 187.5 trillion (US$12.92 billion), the Indonesian Infrastructure Society (MII) has said.

MII chairman Harun al-rasyid said on Tuesday that under the 2015-2019 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN), the government's Rp 1.98 quadrillion state budget allocation amounted to only 41.3 percent of the projected infrastructure development budget of Rp 4.79 quadrillion.

Harun, who is also an expert at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), expressed pessimism that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) would be able to fulfill the 22.2 percent (Rp 1.07 quadrillion) they were projected to contribute to the infrastructure budget.

Pushing the SOEs' limit will carry high risks, because they also need [a healthy] cash flow for [project] operations, even after the projects have been completed, Harun was quoted as saying by kontan.co.id.

Because of the difficulty in filling the shortfall, he added, the government often turned to the private sector for infrastructure funding, which was projected to contribute 36.5 percent, or Rp 1.75 quadrillion.

He added that the private sector was also finding it difficult to meet the government target. because the projects were not packaged well. The prospects [for the infrastructure projects] are not good, while the risks are high for the private sector, Harun said.

He thus suggested the government to sort the infrastructure projects according to their capability in meeting financing needs. He said the government also needed to ensure that the projects would not lead to increased capital goods imports, which would only widen the trade deficit. (bbn)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 18 2018

A subsidiary of state-owned port operator Pelindo II, also known as the Indonesia Port Corporation (IPC), plans to acquire more private companies as part of a grand plan to transform its harbors into world-class shipping terminals by 2025.

The subsidiary, PT Pelabuhan Investama Indonesia (PII), planned to acquire 30 percent ownership in five undisclosed private companies next year, said its chief investment officer Jeffry Haryadi in Jakarta recently.

These are big companies, which would cost at least Rp 100 billion [US$6.86 million] to acquire, he said, adding that the companies provided harbor-related services such as logistics and warehousing.

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  Tue, December 18, 2018 13:09 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2d2634 1 National mob-attack,Gowa,South-Sulawesi Free

Police in Gowa, South Sulawesi, have arrested 10 people for allegedly beating a man to death on Dec. 10 in the country's latest case of deadly mob violence.

The victim, identified as 23-year-old student Muhammad Khaidir, was attacked by a mob inside a mosque after he was falsely accused of being a thief.

The Gowa Police confirmed that Muhammad was not suspected of any felony. He was a resident of Selayar regency and a student at Makassars East Indonesia University. He was reportedly in Gowa en route to visit a cousin in Jeneponto, South Sulawesi.

According to the police, the incident began when the victim went to the mosque at around 2 a.m. to observe tahajud, a voluntary night prayer, and found it locked. He then knocked on the door of a nearby resident, identified as YDS, to ask him to open mosque.

YDS reportedly became angry at Muhammad for knocking on his door and reprimanded him. Muhammad, the police said, apparently ignored the admonishment and left.

YDS then rushed to the mosque caretaker, identified as RDN, who announced on the mosque's loudspeaker that a thief was at the mosque, kompas.com reported.

The neighborhood residents started gathering at the mosque in response to the announcement. Muhammad, unaware that he was the accused, also joined the crowd at the mosque, which immediately attacked him.

A video of the mob attack has been circulating on social media.

YDS and RDN are among the 10 people the police have arrested in connection with the incident.

All suspects have been charged with Article 170 of the Criminal Code on mob violence, with a maximum punishment of 12 years in prison, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo said, as quoted by kompas.com on Monday.

The victim's family was shocked by the incident and had asked police to investigate, Gowa Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Shinto Silitonga said, as quoted by ntmcpolri.info on Tuesday.

Sunardy Selayar, a Facebook user who claimed to be a family friend, wrote that the young man [Muhammad] had no criminal record and had recently started observing tahajud.

Sunardy questioned the allegations circulating on social media that Muhammad went berserk at the mosque before he was killed by the mob, and accused the allegations as a "false narrative" that the perpetrators had fabricated to justify their inhumane violence.

If anything, taking the law into our own hands without tabayyun [seeking clarification] is utterly forbidden in our country, let alone in Islam, he posted.

Mob lynching is not uncommon in Indonesia. In August 2017, Muhammad Azahra, 37, was killed by angry residents of Babelan in Bekasi, West Java, after he was accused of stealing an amplifier from a local musholla (small prayer house). The mob chased the electronics repairman as he attempted to flee on his motorcycle, beat him and set fire to him.

The police arrested six people as suspects, who were later tried, found guilty and sentenced to between seven and eight years for the brutal killing.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 18 2018

A coalition of NGOs has demanded the police conduct an objective and transparent investigation into last weeks attack on the Ciracas Police headquarters in East Jakarta and a privately owned house.

The NGOs, grouped under the Civil Coalition for Security Reforms, lambasted the Jakarta Police for not revealing the identities of the suspects involved in the ransacking of the police station and a house that belonged to the parents of a man accused of assaulting Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel.

The investigation into the mob attack must be conducted fully by the police. If there is enough evidence, the perpetrators must be taken to court without prejudice, Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said in a press conference on Monday.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? loginShare this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 18 2018

The government has urged vocational schools and training centers (BLK) to improve the skills and creativity of human resources in the era of the fourth industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, as people remain key to the development of Indonesias economy.

National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) head Bambang Brodjonegoro said in a recent seminar in Jakarta that the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.17 percent in the third quarter of this year was largely contributed by the manufacturing sector.

The sector could increase its contribution if it had human resources who could create competitive products, he said.

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) Bekasi  Tue, December 18, 2018 14:01 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2d42c3 1 City robbery,street-crime,police,criminal-charge Free

Two suspected motorcycle thieves pretending to be police officers from a narcotics unit were arrested last week in the Delta Silicon Industrial Zone of Sukadami village in South Cikarang, Bekasi, West Java.

According to South Cikarang Police crime investigation unit head First Insp. Jefri, MM, 30, and EA, 24, were allegedly posing as narcotics officers last Friday when they ordered a motorcyclist, A, to pull over.

The suspects pretended to be members of the polices drug force and accused the victim of carrying drugs, Jefri said in a written statement on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

After A pulled over as requested, the two suspects allegedly beat him and drove off with his motorcycle.

The victim asked for help from nearby security officers. There was also a police officer on duty in the area, Jefri said.

The police and security officers chased after the suspects and were able to capture MM, while EA managed to escape. He was later arrested in Jakarta.

The two reportedly admitted that it had been their first time targeting victims in Cikarang as they usually worked in North and Central Jakarta.

Their tactics were the same; pretending to be policemen and accusing the victim of having drugs, Jefri said.

The police confiscated the motorcycle and mobile phones as evidence in the case.

MM and EA will be charged under Article 365 of the Criminal Code on robberies. (mai)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Tue, December 18, 2018 16:38 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2dd65d 1 National Yogyakarta,cemetery,grave,cross,Catholic Free

Villagers of Purbayan in Kotagede, Yogyakarta, have cut off the cross on a Christians grave, saying the religious symbol was not welcome in the village.

This is community consensus. He could be buried here, but there should be no Christian symbol, Bejo Mulyono, a local figure, told reporters on Tuesday.

The deceased Christian, identified as Albertus Slamet Sugihardi, was a resident of Purbayan. He worked as a driver for the Red Cross until he died of a heart attack at the age of 63 on Monday. He was buried at the Jambon public cemetery.

Bejo said the majority of Purbayan residents were Muslims, and those buried at the local cemetery were Muslims. Slamet, he said, was allowed to be buried at the cemetery because of an emergency, but the cross on his grave had to be cut down.

Also, Slamet could only be buried in the periphery of the cemetery, he added.

In the future, this will be a Muslim-only cemetery, he declared.

The residents also did not allow Slamets mourning relatives and friends to hold prayers at the deceaseds house, forcing them to hold it at the nearby Pringgolayan Saint Paul Church.

Our village is tolerant, except for religious rituals, Bejo said.

He argued that non-Muslims were prohibited from holding prayers to avoid conflicts with residents who objected to such religious activities.

He claimed that Slamets family had accepted the rule, showing what he says was a statement from Slamets wife, Maria Sutris Winarni, that she accepted the rules and would not make an issue of the matter.

Agustinus Sunarto, the local church official, confirmed the incident on Tuesday, saying the mass had been held at the church.

Winarni declined to comment on the incident.

I am still sad, she said.

Yogyakarta Interfaith Brotherhood Forum secretary-general Timotius Aprianto deplored the incident, saying religious pluralism was only recognized formally but not substantially embraced by society.

We will hold a meeting with the Kotagede community, he said.

The Yogyakarta Police, meanwhile, said they were investigating the incident.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 18, 2018 16:40 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2ddc2f 1 City Fraud,bank,husband,wife,Bekasi Free

The wife of an attorney in Bekasi, West Java, has failed to show up for questioning after police summoned her for an investigation of possible bank fraud. She had been reported to the Bekasi Police on Aug. 29 by her own husband, 46-year-old Novy Hariadi, who accused her of breaching his personal bank account.

I hope she can be summoned again for the investigation, Hariadi said on Monday, tempo.co reported, with reference to his wife. The couple have split up but are not divorced.

He said he had found out about the breach by accident, when he came across a money transfer document on his laptop at his house in Mustikajaya on July 2018. He also found a photo of his wife, identified only as NR, holding the receipt of the money transfer.

He then went to the banks branch office at the Kemang Pratama housing complex in Rawalumbu, claiming he had lost millions of rupiah.

He said the bank should have been more cautious, because the letter of authority to transfer the money that his wife used had been forged.

Bekasi Police special crimes investigation head Adj. Comr. Untung Riswaji said the investigation of the case was ongoing but refused to reveal more details, as it involved banking confidentiality.

There is a specific investigation for this in accordance with the law, Untung said. (ami)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (Bloomberg) Beijing  Tue, December 18, 2018 12:58 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2d005e 2 Business Xi-Jinping,external-pressure,economic-reform Free

President Xi Jinping said China would stick to its policy agenda, despite pressure from the US and others to allow more competition in its economic system and reduce support for state industry.

Xi told an audience of party officials, military leaders and entrepreneurs in a speech Tuesday that no one is in the position to dictate to the Chinese people what should and should not be done. The 80-minute address in Beijing was held to mark the 40th anniversary of the Reform and Opening Up campaign that unleashed the countrys economic boom under then leader Deng Xiaoping.

In remarks that ranged from the economy to the environment to Taiwan and the South China Sea, Xi presented his agenda as the logical outcome of the countrys post-1978 reform era and Chinese history more broadly. He reasserted his contention that the country had entered a new era under his leadership and was poised for a bigger role in world affairs.

Xi announced no new major policies and dedicated long passages of the speech to reiterating the need for the Communist Party to exercise leadership and control over all aspects of the countrys development. He repeated calls to update and promote Marxist ideology.

What and how to reform must be based on the overarching goal of improving and developing the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, Xi said We will resolutely reform what should or can be changed, but will never reform what cannot be changed.

The speech continued the measured, if defiant, tone Xi has struck amid a trade war with the US that has fueled concerns about Chinas slowing economy and battered capital markets. He provided little insight into how his government might assuage US demands in ongoing trade talks, including calls to roll back support for state-owned enterprises and key technological industries.

In fact, Xis speech reaffirmed Chinas pursuit of indigenous innovation in core technologies.

In arguing that China cant be dictated to, Xi followed in the footsteps of previous leaders. Mao Zedong rejected the advice of Soviet leaders in both his strategy for winning the revolution and in his desire to pursue his Great Leap Forward industrialization campaign. Deng refused to entertain Mikhail Gorbachevs ideas for pursuing political reform together with economic opening and rejected 1990s shock therapy as socialist systems were dismantled rapidly across the world.

There is no textbook of golden rules to follow for reform and development in China, a country with over 5,000 years of civilization and more than 1.3 billion people, Xi said.

Despite the expectations of some analysts, Xi delivered no new policy initiatives to address fears that Chinas economic slowdown might worsen as the trade war continues with the US. Instead, he emphasized the continuation of established policies.

Leaders are expected to start their annual economic policy-meeting Wednesday at which more detailed plans may be unveiled. The gathering lays down priorities for economic policy for the coming year and last year laid out a three-year approach to winning three critical battles.

We will resolutely fight an uphill battle to prevent and defuse major risks, lift people out of poverty, and prevent and control pollution, Xi said. China will promote trade convenience and continue to play the role of a responsible major nation. (bbn)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, December 19 2018

Beijing is welcoming ASEANs concept of the Indo-Pacific but is yet to endorse the concept as a result of its skepticism toward the blocs slow drive on regional integration.

A diplomat at the Chinese Mission to ASEAN, requesting to remain anonymous, told The Jakarta Post that the Indo-Pacific concept, initially developed by Indonesia, was more constructive than those of the United States and Japan. It, most importantly, did not seem to contain Beijing, the source said.

Nonetheless, the source said Beijing would unlikely announce its position on the matter in the near future as there was no concrete cooperation yet.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? loginShare this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jombang  Wed, December 19 2018

President Joko Jokowi Widodo called on people to strengthen unity despite political and religious differences during a ceremony to launch the new Indonesian Islamic Museum in Jombang, East Java, on Tuesday.

This museum serves as the new learning platform for the newest generation to learn more about Islamic teachings, as well as to maintain the harmony between people from different cultural backgrounds, Jokowi said in his speech at the Tebuireng Islamic boarding school.

Tebuirengs caretaker, Salahuddin Gus Sholah Wahid, said the community had been waiting for the museum to be officially launched since the construction project was completed in 2011.

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  Tue, December 18, 2018 10:31 1080 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e2cbc59 1 News Google,destination,travel,Europe,tourism,Holiday Free

Googles recent Year in Search report invites us to look back at some of the current years biggest events, news and most searched-for items, including the most searched-for locations.

This year however, Google has added the trip to term to its quantifier for search results, narrowing the list of most searched-for destinations down to the destinations travelers really want to go, as reported by Travel+Leisure.

According to Google data, European destinations seemed to be the favorite kind of location for most of this years holiday destinations. The list of the top-10 most searched-for destinations for this year is as follows:

1. Italy

Known for the leaning Tower of Pisa, the Colosseum, the cathedral in Florence, Venice and many more popular, historical tourist spots, Italy was the most searched-for destination this year.

2. Paris, France

From the Eiffel Tower, to the Sacre Coeur, to the Louvre Museum, the DOrsay Museum, and the extensive network of catacombs, the rich and somewhat mysterious history of Paris has made it the number-two most searched-for travel destinations on this list.

3. Iceland

Known mostly for the aurora borealis, this slightly unconventional destination has earned quite a number of searches. Though not as well-known, destinations like the Lake Myvatn and the Skaftafell nature reserve are still must-visit places.

Read also: France, the top travel destination of 2017

4. Bahamas

Nothing beats sand and surf, with the Bahamas being one of the most iconic destinations, referenced by many fictional works such as movies and TV series, this destination has been searched-for enough to make it to number four on this list.

5. Ireland

From the branded Guinness Storehouse, to the beautiful Cliffs of Moher, there are actually quite a number of tours available for those wanting to visit Ireland, which has seen it land number five on this list.

6. Las Vegas, United States

For those intense party seekers, Las Vegas is the number-one destination for alcohol and casinos, the oasis in the middle of the desert has been searched-for enough to see it rise to number six on this list.

7. Bora Bora

Like the Bahamas, Bora Bora has been cited in many a work of fiction as an idyllic island getaway, making it to number seven on this list.

8. New York City, United States

One of the most, if not the most iconic cities in the world has made it into everything from movies, to video games, to comics, with many places to get lost in the crowd that comprises its colorful array of city-dwellers. The city that never sleeps has also made it to number eight on this list of destinations.

Read also: Indonesia makes Lombok its primary halal tourist destination

9. New Orleans, United States

You can take swamp and bayou rides with a nice cold beer, while exploring the historic plantations of New Orleans, which has seen the destination nab the number-nine spot on this list.

10. Spain

From where they filmed Star Wars at the Plaza de Espana, to the red-walled Alhambra, there are endless amounts of things to do, and many things to learn in Spain, seeing it gain the 10th most-googled travel destination.

Previously, Google only used destination names to determine their data of most searched-for destinations, which can allow for a percentage of error when it comes to travel destinations. However, this refined list has been qualified with only countries and cities searched for with tourism as the number-one priority.

Coming in second on the most searched-for destinations after Europe, was the US, followed by picturesque and idyllic island destinations. (acr/kes)Pongkor Geopark, which is located in the gold-mining area of its namesake, is now a star tourism attraction in Bogor regency.

Covering an area of 135 hectares, its location covers 15 subdistricts, namely Nanggung, Cigudeg, Tenjo, Leuwiliang, Tenjolaya, Leuwisadeng, Ciampea, Ciseeng, Jasinga, Pamijahan, Parung, Rumpin, Sukajaya, Tamansari and Cibungbulang,

Among the natural attractions within the Pongkor site are Mount Peyek, sacred inscriptions on Mt. Munara, Curug Seribu waterfall, Cibalay site complex, Van Motman mausoleum, Urug village and the newly built underground mining museum Pongkor presented by state-owned diversified miner PT Aneka Tambang (Antam).

Bogor Regent Nurhayanti said the 15 subdistricts were developed at Pongkor Geopark because they have outstanding culture and biodiversity potential. They are also strategically located in the conservation area of Mt. Halimun Salak National Park (TNGHS).

The geopark area hosts Pongkor gold mine, so that is why we choose the theme Evolution of Magmatic Arcs, in association with mineralization of Pongkor-type precious metal (gold), added Nurhayanti.

Moreover, the development concept of Pongkor Geopark maintains the existing sites and geosite, therefore it is expected to facilitate education on the history and structure of the earth. With all these potentials, Nurhayanti is confident that Pongkor Geopark would be able to become a desired destination attracting Indonesian and foreign visitors alike.

The development is also set to involve the government, universities and entrepreneurs, aiming for sustainability, a positive impact on local economic growth and improving the welfare of residents in the surrounding area.

Nurhayanti further hopes that Pongkor Geopark would be more accessible within the Jabodetabek (Greater Jakarta) context, apart from its accessibility through the existing Bogor-Jasinga route that requires a longer traveling time from the capital.

A new shortcut from South Tangerang to Pongkor Geopark is needed, whether in the form of a toll road or an arterial road. We also hope that the geopark will be reached by rail through the Bogor-Lebak line, said Nurhayanti.

She added that West Javas governor should consider planning and budgeting for the development of the Ciletuh and Pongkor geoparks as twin geoparks, which is 30 kilometers apart, as the star destination of West Java.

Read also: Banyuwangi regency declared national geopark area

Pongkor gold exploration is coming to an end

The general manager of PT Antam UBPE Pongkor, I Made Astana, said the Pongkor Geopark gold mine museum was one of its post-mining programs, due to the gold-mining license expiring in 2021.

According to the post-mining documents already issued, we would fulfill our obligations regarding previous (gold-mining) activities. There would be reclamations and the restoration of mined areas, said Astana.

In order to sustain local residents welfare post-mining, PT Antam UBPE Pongkor has established underground mining tourism (mining museum), which is a first in Indonesia.

The Pongkor mining museum hasnt been launched yet, but we already have many visitors. There are around 500 to 1,000 of them a month, said Astana. (mut)8 hours ago

From Square to Block: Another tech company changes its name

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Theres a new Silicon Valley corporate name change on the block. A month after Facebook renamed itself Meta, Square Inc., the payments company headed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, is changing its name to Block Inc.

Read ArticleHuntington Woods officials say they will continue to host a Drag Queen Story Time for children at the library despite opposition from a departing city commissioner and an anti-gay group.

City Manager Amy Sullivan said officials have gotten a stream of calls at City Hall about the monthly program since a group called Mass Resistance began an effort against it over a week ago.

The program has been going on for about a year and we havent heard any concerns, Sullivan said. Its been well received by residents.

But members of Mass Resistance, a self-described international pro-family group headquartered in Massachusetts, have been contacting city officials by phone and email.

The calls are homophobic, Sullivan said, adding she had gotten no calls or messages from residents opposing the story time.

Callers are from out of state and some Michigan cities such as Grand Rapids and Trenton, she added.

What were getting from residents in Huntington Woods are calls to continue the program, Sullivan said. We have no intention of bowing to pressure from this out-of-state hate group.

The program was started as a way to teach children about diversity and inclusion. At the first Drag Queen Story Time in January 2018, nearly 100 people registered to bring their children and it had to be moved to the citys recreation center.

Since then, about two to three dozen people have been attending the program, said Anne Hage, library director.

Its been very successful and well supported, she said. Its others, outside the community, that are opposed to it.

However, City Commissioner Allison Iverson, in an email to a library official, opposed the story time shortly before it started.

Iverson did not immediately return calls to the Daily Tribune on Tuesday. In her email to the library official she objected to the Drag Queen Story Time, saying it is not for children and better suited to adults.

Why do we as parents  feel it is wise to expose our young children to such clearly provocative, controversial, unabashedly queer demonstrations of diversity?' she asked in her email. Young children should not be prematurely exposed to topics their little undeveloped brains are not yet ready to process  and certainly not in such a sensationalist way.

Iverson was reportedly going to discuss her objections at the Dec. 18 City Commission meeting. She is moving out of the city and it will be her last meeting.

City Commission Joe Rozell said there was an exchange of emails from members of Mass Resistance and Iverson that were forwarded to him and other city commissioners. Rozell said Iverson agreed with Mass Resistance that the story time program needed to be stopped and people needed to show up at the commissions meeting Tuesday night to oppose it.

She was the only commissioner who engaged with them, Rozell said. I never responded. They are not taxpayers here, they are an outside group and not members of the community  I plan on putting this issue to rest at tonights meeting and moving forward.

Arthur Schaper is an organizational director for Mass Resistance in California.

We are an international pro-family group and we are on the front lines of fighting this culture war, he said. We are getting emails from people in Michigan and we are directing them to go to the Huntington Woods commission meeting.

He denied that Mass Resistance is a hate group.

Michiganders hare horrified to see the LGBT agenda encroaching on so many facets of society at the state and local level, he said.

Iverson reportedly is not a member of Mass Resistance. Rozell said he has heard from more than 100 residents in the past few days and many are upset by Iverson and the activists.

Its extremely disappointing that we have had this target put on us by this outside group, Rozell said. This is a very popular (library) program and we are not going to be bullied by this outside group.Calls mount for foreign poll observers

BANGKOK: The Election Commission (EC) will decide whether to allow foreign organisations to observe the general election, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday (Dec 17) , amidst growing calls to bring in international monitors.

politics

By Bangkok Post

Tuesday 18 December 2018, 09:19AM

While elections always have been open to informal scrutiny, the current issue is over a new wrinkle - whether government should approve or even sponsor foreign election observers. Photo: Bangkok Post /file

It is the business of the EC to consider and its our job to create transparency. Everyone must collaborate to ensure a credible election process" he said.

When asked if this means foreign organisations will be allowed to observe the election process, he declined to comment.

Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai has so far opposed the idea of allowing non-residents or foreign organisations to observe the polls but has welcomed embassy staff involvement.

According to media reports, Mr Don said the EC had sought the ministry's view on election observation by foreigners. In his opinion, non-residents or foreign organisations should not take part since it would be viewed as bringing in outsiders.

Pheu Chart Partys deputy spokesman Rayut Boontan called on Gen Prayut to take a stance on the issue, saying if the government supports the idea, the EC is likely to comply.

He said even though the EC is an independent agency, it seems to lend its ear to what the regime has to say. If the government makes itself clear that it favours local and foreign organisations observing the election, the EC will take its cue, he said.

In his opinion, both domestic and international groups should observe the entire process, adding that the new election laws are viewed with scepticism as they appear to favour certain players.

Mr Rayut also took Mr Don to task for his view against allowing foreign observers to monitor the elections, accusing the foreign minister of being narrow minded.

He said Myanmars elections in Nov 2015 were open to outside observers including the Peoples Alliance for Credible Elections (Pace), and the absence of these international bodies would cast the country in a bad light.

Pheu Charts secretary-general, Linda Cherdchai, said the government should send out invites to show it is serious about ensuring an open and fair election and clear itself of criticism that it is intervening in the ECs work.

Chartthaipattana Party leader Kanchana Silpa-arch said she agrees with calls for the government to allow foreigners to observe the process.

She said the country has everything to gain from allowing international monitors.

According to EC secretary-general Jarungvith Phumma, the ECs Office normally invites foreign counterparts to observe the election process as a standard practice. These observers monitor the management of the election process, the campaign, and related preparations and write up reports for peer review.

He said if other foreign agencies are interested in observing the process, they have to submit their requests to the EC.

Asked about guidelines or criteria that the EC uses when considering these requests, he said he did not have information at hand but admitted allowing foreign observers would bolster confidence in the process.

Also on Monday, Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan, head of the Pheu Thai Party's strategic committee, urged the EC to explain how its draft regulations for election campaign leaflets and posters would help the process.

The veteran politician was reacting to media reports that images that appear on an MP candidate posters may not include anyone else other than the candidate, the party leader or prime ministerial candidate nominated by the respective party.

She said while parties would have to comply with the regulations, the EC owes the public an explanation as to how these prohibitions are in their best interest.

The EC should prove it is not under the thumb of those who want to return to power, she said.

The EC is to hold a meeting with parties tomorrow to gather opinions about the draft regulations, which are expected to include limits on campaign spending and the sizes and contents of campaign posters and leaflets.

The design of the ballot papers is also likely to be raised during the meeting. The EC sparked an outcry when it is suggested that the logos and names of parties may not be included on the papers.

Elsewhere, leaders of parties have taken to the provinces to recruit members and meet potential candidates and voters after the regime last week lifted the ban on political activities.

Thai Raksa Chart key members led by leader Preechapol Pongpanich went to Phitsanulok while the Pheu Thai team led by Khunying Sudarat turned up in Phuket.

Read original story here.Phuket Immigration to close for New Year

PHUKET: Officers at Phuket Immigration are reminding foreigners who need any immigration services over the New Year holiday period to make arrangements to visit the office before the New Year four-day weekend, from Dec 29 through Jan 1.

immigration

By Tanyaluk Sakoot

Tuesday 18 December 2018, 03:25PM

Phuket Immigration officers stand ready to serve vehicles at the new Drive Thru lane, including motorbikes and even bicycles. Photo: Tanyaluk Sakoot

We will be open on Friday, December 28, Phuket Immigration Deputy Chief Lt Col Archeep Jaroensuntisuk told The Phuket News. But we will be closed on Saturday, Dec 29, for the New Year holiday and re-open again on January 2, he added. I would like to tell expats and tourists to complete any business with immigration officials before Dec 28. I dont want any foreigners to be caught out and accidentally overstay. I want them to be happy and legal in Phuket province, he said. Col Archeep noted that the Drive Thru lane launched last month (see story here) was already making life easier for foreigners and officials at the immigration office. Expats and tourists are now being served quicker, and it has reduced the queues inside the immigration police office a lot, he said. Foreigners can now also use the Drive Thru lane by motorbike, he added. People can ride their motorbikes  or even bicycles  through the Drive Thru lane. Thats fine, he said.Phuket tour bus oil leak fells motorcyclists

PHUKET: Police are tracking down the driver of a tour bus that leaked oil onto the coastal road near Nai Yang Beach that caused at least seven motorbike riders and passengers  including tourists  to be injured in accidents after sliding on the dangerously slick road surface.

transporttourismSafetyaccidentspolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Tuesday 18 December 2018, 02:41PM

Rescue workers attend to people injured in falls from motorbikes after sipping on the oil spilled onto the road. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The Song Ya rescue team of Thepkrasattri Municipality was called to the scene, along Route 4031 heading towards the airport (see map below), at about 5pm yesterday (Dec 17). The rescue workers administered first aid to the injured and spread lime over the oil spill to prevent further accidents. At least seven persons, including tourists, were injured, one rescue worker told The Phuket News. One tourist explained that a white bus heading towards Nai Yang Beach was seen leaking oil onto the road. The tourist gave the buss license plate number as 30-8552, which was corroborated later by CCTV footage from the area. Police have yet to confirm whether the bus driver has been tracked down and charged for creating the road hazard. All persons who were also injured from oil spilled onto the road were urged to report it at Thalang Police Station or at Sakoo Police Station for police to include in their report and possible further action.Habitat for Humanity completes houses 30, 31 in Watertown

Two of Watertowns locally owned businesses honored for their support and partnership to Habitat for Humanity Greater Watertown Region.UPPER GWYNEDD  The start of 2019 will bring new leadership for Upper Gwynedd Township, the board of commissioners announced Monday night.

Board President Ken Kroberger announced that Township Manager Mike Lapinski has left that position, and a search for the townships next manager has begun.

He is no longer here. Thats all I can tell you. I can tell you also that theres no separation agreement or anything else like that. Hes no longer here, Kroberger said.

Lapinski could not be reached for comment by press time. Other Upper Gwynedd Township officials did not return requests for comment.

Lapinski was named to be the permanent township manager in June 2018, after taking over on an interim basis following the retirement of prior Manager Len Perrone at the end of 2017. Lapinski was originally hired in May 2013 as assistant manager after working for a dozen years before as an administrator in Princeton, N.J., and previous time spent as a project manager on a portion of the Big Dig highway project in Boston.

Alex Kaker, who had been the townships parks and recreation director since March 2015, was formally named assistant manager in June. He has been filling the role of acting township manager since Lapinskis departure in early December, Kroberger said.

Alex has been outstanding. Hes stepped up to fill the shoes and so has (finance director) Dave Brill, Deanna (Logan, administrative assistant), and a lot of people, he said.

Theyve all formed a very nice, team approach to taking care of everything, Kroberger said.

Adding to that team on a temporary basis is a familiar face, Kroberger announced Monday night; Larry Comunale, former Lower Gwynedd Township Manager until his retirement in April 2016, has joined Upper Gwynedd on a part-time basis.

He understands Upper Gwynedd, he knows Upper Gwynedd, he knows a lot of the people that we know, so it wasnt having someone come in that was totally oblivious to what Upper Gwynedd Township is, said Kroberger.

Hes got a lot of knowledge and understanding, just to help Alex go through everything. Hes assisting Alex because Alex is the acting manager, he said.

Comunale will be working roughly 24 hours per week for probably a two-month period of time as a search for the next full-time manager is done, he said.

To do that search, council unanimously approved a contract with Lafayette Colleges Meyner Center and consultant David Woglom, the consultant used by Lansdale Borough for a similar search last year. Woglom acted as borough manager in Quakertown for 20 years and has worked for over 80 municipalities and other entities, mostly in Pennsylvania, over the past decade.

He is not a headhunter. Hes just assisting us in the search process  that has to do with the advertising process, with reviewing resumes, with conducting interviews with potential candidates, Kroberger said.

Basically, going through the whole process to look for the best candidate to serve Upper Gwynedd, and all of its residents, in the future, he said.

The contract with Woglom was a late addition to the commissioners Dec. 17 meeting agenda, and Kroberger said it includes a price not to exceed $6,000, which I think is pretty good for the work hes going to be doing for us.

Kaker said afterward he is excited to be working with someone as experienced and respected as Larry, and said he thought Comunale and his experience will be a valuable resource for the township.

We also have great staff and a trusted team of consultants that will continue to do their jobs at a high level while the board conducts their search for a new township manager, Kaker said.

I enjoyed working with Mike; he always made time for me when I had questions, and I really appreciated that. I wish him nothing but the best, he said.

Kroberger also announced that the board had met in executive session on Dec. 11 ahead of that nights board workshop to discuss personnel issues and would meet again after the Dec. 18 meeting to discuss personnel and legal issues.

Upper Gwynedds commissioners next meet at 7 p.m. on Jan. 15, 2019, at the township administration building, 1 Parkside Place. For more information or meeting agendas and materials, visit UpperGwynedd.org.The Canadian government announced $1.5 billion in loans for the oil and gas sector, as well as some government funding for unspecified projects, after a supply glut sank heavy crude prices to as low as $13.46 a barrel last month.

The countrys energy and trade ministers announced the aid Tuesday morning in Edmonton. It includes commercial financial support loans of $1 billion from Export Development Canada, and $500 million in commercial financing from the Business Development Bank of Canada. While the funds are available immediately, the package was criticized as insufficient by Albertas premier.

The EDC money will be aimed at exporters, including those who have working capital needs, while the $500 million will be for higher risk but viable oil and gas small business enterprises, and be spread over three years, according to a government statement.

All in all, it has to do with liquidity, Trade Minister Jim Carr said at a press conference. The loan money can augment oil producers relationship with commercial banks and will go a long way in helping them get through this tough spot.

The liquidity injection is aimed at producers pinched when the price of heavy crude plunged in what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a crisis in Alberta. Since then, the province announced a production cut and the amount paid for Western Canadian Select has almost doubled, though global oil prices remain depressed.

Alberta Unimpressed

However, the announcement doesnt offer support for the Alberta governments plan to buy its own rail cars. Another phase of federal measures could also be announced later, according to person familiar with the who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley criticized the move as little more than a good first step. Theres very little money in this, its mostly loans, she told reporters Tuesday afternoon in Calgary. We didnt ask for the opportunity to go further into debt as a means of addressing this problem.

Notley said the liquidity will probably help a few small producers. But she criticized the notion of funds for finding new export markets, since Alberta already has customers that it simply cant reach. The issue is not finding a market for our product, Notley said. This does not reflect the kind of responsiveness that we need to see.

Pipelines, Protests

Trudeau has been criticized in the oil-producing province for inaction on building new pipelines, a shortage that exacerbated the supply glut. His last visit to the province was met by protests.

Were not really seeing anything thats concrete in the short term, Bank of Montreal analyst Randy Ollenberger told BNN in an interview, referring to Tuesdays measures. While $1.5 billion sounds like a big number, the industry spends $50 billion, $60 billion a year in the good times, and thats really what creates jobs.

The federal government also announced $100 million in funding for oil and gas projects related to economic diversification, as well as $50 million in direct funding for clean growth oil and gas projects. We encourage companies to apply for it, Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi said alongside Carr. Those projects havent yet been publicly identified, though Sohi said the government has some proposals already. The total announcement is worth $1.65 billion, mostly in the form of loans.

The Calgary Chamber of Commerce welcomed the news but said the Trudeau government needs to do more, including amending a proposed energy law known as Bill C-69, currently under consideration in the Senate. We are encouraged by the changing tone we are hearing from the federal government about the serious situation plaguing Canadas economy, but these loans do not provide the stability that the market needs, Chamber President Sandip Lalli said in a written statement.

Read more about:HALIFAXA Pictou fisherman of 30 years says Northern Pulp Mills successful injunction against those whove blocked mill survey boats is a blame tactic to hide the companys lack of proper waste plan.

Nearly 100 people from various environmental groups, Pictou Landing First Nation, Pictou area residents and other supporters rallied outside the Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax amid blowing snow on Tuesday afternoon.

The rally members said they were there to both support the fishermen named in the temporary injunction sought by Northern Pulp, and protest the mills plan to pipe 62 million litres of treated waste, or effluent, each day directly into the Northumberland Strait between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

If we allow it, our fisheries die, Pictou fisherman Donald Cheverie said in an interview, his gloved hands resting on a large sign reading No pipe in the strait.

Its poison.

Fishermen have been blocking the mills survey boats from scouting for a potential pipe location since this spring, leading to the mills move to file for a temporary injunction.

That was granted by Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Denise Boudreau on Tuesday, who said the fishermen have the right to lawful protest, but they dont have the legal right to block the survey vessels from doing their work.

Kathy Cloutier, a spokeswoman for Northern Pulps parent company, Paper Excellence Canada, said in an email Tuesday that they are satisfied with the ruling.

Our hope was that the surveying would be allowed to occur without incident or obstruction, however actions indicated that the environmental assessment survey work would not proceed without the company seeking a court injunction, Cloutier wrote.

The proposed pipeline has been loudly contested by environmentalists, local fishermen, Hollywood actor Ellen Page of Halifax, the P.E.I. government and Indigenous residents of Pictou Landing First Nation near the Abercrombie, N.S. plant.

Cheverie said local fishermen are so concerned about the pipe because the N.S. fisheries industry has a lot at stake, while he said Northern Pulp could walk away scot-free since the province is left with any cleanup.

The wider Gulf of St. Lawrence fisheries region is home to lobster and crab fisheries that brought in over $1.2 billion worth of catch in 2016.

Right now, the effluent is treated in a basin system where effluent flows through a pipe from the mill to Boat Harbour and then to Boat Harbour Basin, iPolitics reported in an October piece about the mill. There, it mixes with other rivers and streams that flow in there. It is retained for up to 30 days before being discharged into the saltwater at the Pictou Landing shoreline.

Now that the mill is losing Boat Harbour as an effluent destination  the 2015 Boat Harbour Act set Jan. 31, 2020 as the cut-off date  it has to go somewhere, hence the debate around the possible new pipeline into the strait.

The Nova Scotia government will handle remediation of the Boat Harbour cleanup, which has a budget of about $133 million.

In response to environmental concerns around the proposed effluent pipeline, Cloutier said in an email last week that treated effluent is non-toxic. Since the bleached kraft pulp mill started in 1967, effluent has been flowing into the Northumberland Strait with both our fisheries and forest industries coexisting, Cloutier wrote.

Effluent of today is not the quality of decades past. Significant improvements have been made over the years. The proposed new form of treatment technology will be an Activated Sludge Treatment (AST) system. The new system will see no untreated effluent (wastewater) leave the mill property, Cloutier said Tuesday.

But Cheverie said the mills position is another lie, and any effluent that goes into the strait would be worse than whats currently coming out of Boat Harbour because there it has about 30 to 40 days to settle, and the new system would pump effluent out every day.

The mill has already said it likely wont be able to meet the legislated Boat Harbour deadline, and it hasnt yet submitted an environmental assessment application for a new effluent pipe into the ocean.

For Cheverie, he believes the fishermen have every right to protest the mills actions by blocking the mill boats since the strait has been surveyed many times over the years, adding were not violent.

Theyre trying to use us as a scapegoat. They had five years to do something, and theyve done nothing in five years. So trying to blame it on six fishermen? Its absurd, Cheverie said.

They have no plans on doing anything. Theyre after an extension to keep Boat Harbour open. If they had any intentions of doing anything with the pipe, you think they would have started four years ago?

Cheverie said Northern Pulp should take up a closed loop treatment system for their effluent if they changed their pulp process (which would keep effluent out of the ocean), but Cloutier said such a zero effluent plan is not an option for the mill in the proposed new effluent treatment facility.

Cloutier said a zero effluent bleached kraft mill does not exist at this time, and that concept is not seen as being technically nor economically achievable in the foreseeable future.

Tuesdays rally was largely peaceful, although there were some tense moments between four counter-protestors carrying signs saying support Northern Pulp effluent cleanup and those who were anti-pipeline. They raised signs in each others faces, and threw up middle fingers as they leaned around the handful of Halifax police officers who separated the groups.

One man yelled go back to Pictou Landing in reference to the First Nation, in the direction of a group of men which included some Indigenous protesters.

Ben Chisholm of Antigonish, N.S. is a pipefitter who does business with Northern Pulp and was one of the four counter-protestors. He said they wanted to show support for the mill to remain open, since the company provides a lot of work and income to the construction industry in the area.

Chisholm said he believes Northern Pulp will have a properly engineered plan for their proposed pipeline and effluent, and it will be subject to any rules set out by an environmental assessment.

The government will be checking it all the time, so if its not up to standard then they can step in and do something, Chisholm said.

He also added that while hes glad to see Boat Harbour will be cleaned up, the effluent that has left the basin over the past 50 years didnt hurt the fisheries ever and said there was never a fish killed.

However, Nicole MacKenzie from the Friends of the Northumberland Strait group said she believes the proposed plan to pump effluent into the ocean will not only physically hurt the fisheries industry, but likely create a negative perception that will hurt N.S. exports.

MacKenzie said even if mill effluent meets regulations it can still have harmful effects on aquatic life and habitat, or could also cause the fish and lobster to move away from the areanot to mention create a harmful perception that would damage the reputation of Nova Scotias seafood reputation.

You dont have to have a dead lobster to kill the industry, MacKenzie said.

A court hearing at a later date will consider a longer-term injunction.

With files from The Canadian Press

Read more about:Katanga Mining Ltd. will pay $30 million to the Ontario Securities Commission for misleading statements, its failure to properly disclose risks around operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its reliance on associates of controversial billionaire businessman Dan Gertler.

A panel at the Ontario regulator approved the settlement Tuesday that will see Katanga, majority owned by Swiss mining giant Glencore Plc, pay $28.5 million plus $1.5 million for costs and submit to an independent consultant review of its reporting procedures.

Violations of this magnitude seriously undermine investor confidence in the integrity and reliability of public companies disclosure and financial reporting, said Jeff Kehoe, director of enforcement at the OSC, in a statement.

Katangas failure to disclose the risks related to the nature and extent of its reliance on the Gertler Associates is unacceptable. Investors cannot be given anything short of accurate and truthful disclosure, he said.

Current and former directors and officers of the company, which has copper and cobalt operations in the DRC, will also collectively pay millions of dollars more in penalties and be banned from service as officers of public companies for between two and six years for allowing the conduct and for acting in a manner contrary to the public interest.

Aristotelis Mistakidis, a Katanga director who was also ran Glencores copper department until the parent company publicized the OSC investigation last November, will pay the highest individual penalty at $2.5 million. Tim Henderson, Liam Gallagher, Jeffrey Best, Jacques Lubbe, and Matthew Colwill will pay amounts ranging between $400,000 and $1 million.

Read more:

Canada fines Glencore mining unit for Congo risks, WSJ reports

Glencores Congolese unit agrees to settlement in Canadian probe

Glencore billionaire among directors banned and fined by Canada

Johnny Blizzard, who has served as CEO of Katanga since 2015, has agreed to resign from the post as well as pay $450,000 and not serve as an officer for two years.

In the settlement, the company agreed it overstated copper stores and production and misstated its financial position and the results of its operations. It also failed to maintain adequate disclosure controls and failed to disclose material weaknesses in internal controls between 2012 and 2017.

Katanga also agreed that it failed to describe the heightened public sector corruption risk in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the risks associated with its reliance on associates of Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler, who had close connections with the countrys regime.

Gertler was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department last year after it said he built a fortune on opaque and corrupt mining and oil deals in the country and used his close relation with DRC President Joseph Kabila to act as a middleman for mining assets in the country.

Katanga paid $146 million (U.S.) in royalties and other payments to Gertler associates in recent years, the OSC said.

Human rights group Global Witness, which released the results of its own investigation into Katanga in late 2016, said the settlement confirmed its concerns about the companys dealings.

The details provided by Canadian authorities vindicate our concerns that Glencores Katanga Mining had failed to comply with rules by not disclosing that it was paying millions to Gertler, a known corruption risk, Peter Jones, campaign leader at Global Witness, said in a statement

He said the penalties amount to a slap on the wrist since they are dwarfed by the royalties paid.

If there is to be real change in the way that Glencore and its subsidiaries operate, top management must be held accountable for the way these companies handle risk, said Jones.

Glencore said in a statement that it has acted to implement structural and control changes since the investigation came to light.

Glencore is disappointed by the conduct that has led to todays settlement. Glencore has taken appropriate remedial actions in response to this conduct.RBC Capital Markets has decided to begin doing deals in the cannabis industry.

Royal Bank of Canadas investment-banking division will advise on stock sales and arranging takeovers for companies in the marijuana industry, joining Bank of Montreals BMO Capital Markets and smaller independent firms such as Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. in serving an industry that didnt exist five years ago. RBC also started research coverage of the cannabis industry this month, with Doug Miehm as the main analyst covering the sector out of Toronto.

Under certain circumstances with certain customers, well participate, RBC Capital Markets head Doug McGregor said Tuesday in an interview. Were going to be selective in our approach, frankly, but within the bank weve established a policy that were comfortable with.

The marijuana industry has sparked more than $9.5 billion (U.S.) of takeovers and investments and $3.2 billion (Canadian) in financings involving Canadian-listed companies this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Deal-making picked up in this year as Canada moved toward legalizing marijuana for recreational use on Oct. 17.

RBC Capital Markets had been reluctant to jump into the nascent industry. The Toronto-based firm also has a sizable capital-markets business in the U.S., where marijuana is illegal at the federal level.

We were being careful around cannabis, especially at the start of the year, before some things got clarified with the U.S. authorities, McGregor said. Its safety first here.

Read more about:Tilray Inc. has signed a global partnership with a division of Swiss drug giant Novartis AG to develop and distribute its medical marijuana in legal jurisdictions around the world.

The Canadian pot firm said Tuesday its reached an agreement with Sandoz AG to boost the availability of medical cannabis products globally, building on an existing alliance with Sandoz Canada Inc. The two companies will work together to commercialize Tilrays non-smokable medical marijuana offerings, co-brand certain products, develop new products and educate pharmacists and physicians about pot.

Tilray jumped 12 percent in New York to $73.70 (U.S.). Novartis fell 1.3 percent in Switzerland.

It just made sense for us to reach an agreement with a company like Sandoz, which is known for its focus on patients, its reliable supply chain, a well-established sales force and a global distribution network, Tilray chief executive officer Brendan Kennedy said in a phone interview. If a product comes into a pharmacy with the Sandoz logo co-branded on it, or if a pharmaceutical sales rep is talking to a physician about a product thats branded as Tilray and Sandoz, it lends credibility to that product.

The partnership will also allow Tilray to capture early share in new medical cannabis markets as they come online, Cowen analyst Vivien Azer wrote in a note, adding that it should boost the pot companys top and bottom lines. While we would continue to expect Tilray to have some of its own feet on the ground, the Sandoz expansion allows Tilray to invest more modestly and leverage Sandozs scale.

Nanaimo, British Columbia-based Tilray and Sandoz Canada have been working together since March, when they announced an alliance to develop new medical cannabis products and collaborate on research and education. The companies also co-branded eight oil and capsule medical cannabis products and are joint members of the Common Initiative, a group thats urging Canada to allow distribution of medical pot in pharmacies. Currently its only available via mail.

The partnership with Sandoz Canada has been successful, Kennedy said. Its been a very good experience, their team and their culture matches well with ours, we share similar values and visions for the future of the medical cannabis industry globally.

For a time, Tilray was the largest cannabis company by market value until it was eclipsed by Canopy Growth Corp. The shares have risen almost fourfold since its July IPO but lost 78 per cent from their peak on Sept. 19 through Monday, reducing the market value to $6.1 billion. It has products available in 12 countries and operations in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Portugal and Latin America.PARISAnd the controversy continues.

The Robert Lepage play once known simply as Kanata was officially unveiled on the weekend at Pariss Theatre du Soleil under its new title: Kanata  Episode 1  La Controverse.

The addendumhas a double meaning: it refers to a controversy depicted within the story itself, as well as the heated debate that has followed the production since this summer.

In July, a group of Indigenous Canadians published an open letter in the Montreal newspaper Le Devoir, criticizing Lepage and his partners for creating a production about First Nations issues without any Indigenous representation in the cast and little consultation beforehand.

With cries of cultural appropriation on one side and artistic freedom of expression on the other, tensions rose to the point of the productions American funders pulling their support and forcing Kanatas cancellation. But in early September, Theatre du Soleil and its storied founder, Ariane Mnouchkine, announced the play was back on. Lepage, Canadas foremost export of the stage and the first outside director in the companys 54-year history would forgo his fee and would no longer comment on the work, letting it speak for itself.

After viewing it in its final preview, presented as part of the Festival dAutomne a Paris, its message comes through quite clearly: Lepage remains convinced that artists can heal deep social and economic inequality by building empathy for the other, an honourable intention, but relies on surface-level stories to do so.

Such stories might be well-suited to a European audience but wouldnt work in a Canadian context: Canadian theatrical representations now require a deeper, more nuanced look at the Canadian Indigenous experience. The Indigenous community argued that their presence in the creation process would have resulted in better art and this critic cant help but feel they were right.

Read more:

All Canadians must work toward reconciliation

As in many of Lepages works, which are created in collaboration with his cast (in this case, Theatre du Soleils multicultural ensemble, representing over two dozen countries and languages, yet notably missing Canadian Indigenous actors), the narrative revolves around an outsider engaging with a foreign culture.

This theme of intercultural dialogue is central to both Lepages and Mnouchkines careers  the Festival dAutomne website calls them humanists, above all  with both criticized for cultural appropriation as well as fiercely defended.

In Kanata, theres another twist on this motif of outsider and other. For palpable reasons, Lepage is particularly obsessed with cultural encounters between First Nations and artists. The play begins at the National Art Gallery in Ottawa, as conservator Leyla (Shaghayegh Beheshti) gives a tour to curator Jacques (Vincent Mangado), showing off some early depictions of First Nations people in fine art  in fact, a painting of an Indigenous man greets the audience as they file into Theatre du Soleils historical venue, La Cartoucherie, a former artillery factory on the east side of Paris.

This opening feels like a wink from Lepage: See? This has been happening for centuries without consideration of the highly problematic colonial gaze such paintings inherently portray, nevertheless detailing the genocide happening or about to happen outside of the frame.

A following scene ends with the destruction of a totem pole and a confrontation between two Mounties and a priest stealing a baby from a crying woman (Nirupama Nityanandan), a scene that heavily recalls Cree painter Kent Monkmans devastating portrayal of residential schools, The Scream.

From Ottawa we move to East Vancouver, where French couple Miranda (Dominique Jambert), a painter, and Ferdinand (Sebastien Brottet-Michel), an actor, are renting an expensive loft from a Chinese landlord (Man Wai Fok).

Their new home near Hastings St., where pop-up pharmacies and safe injection sites serve the street population, changes both of their practices. Ferdinand struggles to lose his French accent, which is keeping him from landing a gig, while Miranda finds new inspiration by befriending Tanya (Frederique Voruz), a young Indigenous woman and heroin addict, with feathers accenting her long black hair.

This brings up the other controversy ripped from the headlines in Kanata. Inspired by a real event in Vancouver, Miranda paints portraits of Vancouvers missing and murdered Indigenous women after Tanya gruesomely dies. But her exhibition is cancelled when the public complains that she has not received permission from the womens families.

Mirandas dismay leads her to Hastings St., looking to gain some lived experience that would, apparently, give her work credibility. Indigenous documentarian Tobie (Martial Jacques) instead invites her to participate in a traditional pipe ceremony in his canoe. Suspended in the air and tilting to give the audience a view, this is where Lepages skill in creating moving, memorable images is most effectively seen in a production largely void of Lepages typical visual razzle dazzle.

And it leads to a reckoning: Miranda doesnt get the exhibition she desired, but she turns the walls of her loft into her own personal dedication to her subjects. As characters past and present, alive and dead, enter her apartment, we see the artists power to resurrect stories and people, reunite loved ones and find peace.

The mostly French audience at the preview was moved by Lepages portrayal of the plight of Canadian Indigenous people, caught in drug addictions, family abuse and preyed upon by Robert Pickton (Maurice Durozier).

Thats another plot line ripped from the headlines and, to play into the woke millennial stereotype, Id ask for a trigger warning. Transitioning from the British Columbia police department to a dingy pig farm  with a sour red-haired man cleaning red splatter from his trailer, as actors play his animals, emitting squeals that were a mix of human and animal  was nauseating, in a deeply upsetting way.

Following Pickton from crime to capture does get an emotional reaction, but it does so by leaning into sensationalism.

After that, Lepage swings hard into the argument over artistic expression and Mirandas story takes over. Its unlikely that Lepage means to erase the advocacy work of Indigenous people, but it nevertheless strays into that territory.

Through Miranda, Lepage, well-intentioned as he is, places the outsider in the saviour position. The call to action in Kanata is simply to keep making art, no matter who protests. In terms of change, the kind that will save lives from the likes of Pickton, influence a police force that ignores Indigenous missing women, or challenge long-held colonial attitudes, it feels rather toothless, old-fashioned and one-dimensional.

Its unfortunate that, for a Canadian viewing it in France, Kanata feels like an old-fashioned, simplistic view of Canadian Indigenous inequality and the steps needed to address it.

The question that remains after viewing Lepages aim to spread empathy and understanding is simple: When is empathy useful and when does action need to take over?

Carly Maga is a Toronto-based theatre critic and a freelance contributor for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @RadioMaga

Read more about:OTTAWACanadas battered energy industry will get a $1.6-billion boost from Ottawa on Tuesday to try to slow the political and economic bleeding.

Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi and International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr will be at an Edmonton college campus to unveil a support package for oil and gas companies, which are reeling from record-low oil prices.

The funds will be divided among several different programs, including money to help companies invest in clean growth, loans, and other financial supports to help companies find new markets away from the United States, as well as investments in training and new technology.

It is a package based, in some ways, on those offered to softwood, steel and aluminum producers after the United States dealt them direct blows with new import tariffs.

Canadas oil patch isnt facing that kind of pressure, but it is still the U.S. behind much of its pain.

With pipelines at capacity and some major refineries down for maintenance this fall, the price for Alberta crude plummeted in the fall, hitting a panic-inducing $11 a barrel in late November.

Read more:

Why a provincial crisis in Western Canada is boosting global oil

Opinion | Chantal Hebert: Pipeline politics ensures Ottawa and Alberta will remain divided

Hundreds protest at Calgary pro-oil rally as Nenshi insists this isnt about entitled Albertans

Alberta Premier Rachel Notleys plan to buy more rail cars to help ship additional oil, as well as her decision to force a production cut from the biggest oil producers starting in January, helped push the price back up, trading above $26 a barrel at the end of last week.

But that is still significantly less than the U.S. price and Canadas economy is losing as much as $80 million a day because of the discount.

Canadas almost total reliance on the U.S. as an export market contributes to the problem. Almost every drop of oil that is not refined and used in Canada is exported to the United States. Without more pipelines to the coasts where oil tankers could theoretically then ship oil overseas, Canadas oil producers are at the mercy of the Americans.

The only current proposal to increase pipeline capacity to the coasts is the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which is in limbo following a court ruling overturning its federal approval. Ottawa is trying to get that project back on track with more consultations, but if that does happen, it will be several years before oil actually starts to flow.

The impasse has left a sharp divide between Alberta and Ottawa.

Although Tuesdays announcement comes in the Alberta capital, neither Notley nor anyone from the Alberta government is scheduled to be there for the announcement.

Premier Notley has made no secret in recent weeks of her desire to have Ottawa help the province buy new rail cars to ship two additional trains full of Alberta crude out of the province every day.

Alberta is already negotiating with an as-yet-unnamed third party to buy the rail cars, but Canada has not indicated any willingness to share the cost of the purchase yet, and rail cars are not part of Tuesdays announcement.

Earlier this month, Sohi asked the National Energy Board to do a review of existing pipeline capacity to make sure it is being used in the most efficient way and also to figure out whether there are any short-term steps that could maximize rail capacity to ship more oil.

Days later, the NEB responded to Sohi and said it will provide him with a full report in February.

Read more about:OTTAWAA Canadian Forces member says his commanding officer appeared proud when he revealed last year that military officials had intentionally avoided using Vice-Admiral Mark Normans name in internal correspondence.

The Forces member, whose identity is covered by a publication ban, recounted the conversation in testimony Tuesday as Normans lawyers again accused the government of playing political games with their client, who has been charged with allegedly leaking government secrets.

The service member, who still works for the military, said the conversation in July 2017 occurred after he went to his commander looking for help with an access-to-information request that asked for internal documents about Norman.

The request specifically wanted emails, reports, memos, text messages and other records from a two-week period around when Norman was suspended as the militarys second-in-command in January 2017.

The service member, who testified that he doesnt know Norman and only came forward because it seemed the right thing to do, said his commander smiled as he told him to respond to the request that there were no records.

He gives me a smile and says ... Dont worry, this isnt our first rodeo. We made sure we never used his name. Send back nil return, the service member testified, later adding: He seemed proud to provide that response.

The members testimony came on the last day of a five-day pretrial hearing in which Normans lawyers have been fighting for access to numerous government records that they say will exonerate their client.

Read More:

Crown says no evidence of political interference in Mark Norman case

Justice Heather Perkins-McVey described the members testimony, which has not been cross-examined, as very disturbing before court broke for lunch.

Norman was charged this past March with one count of breach of trust for allegedly leaking government secrets about a $700-million military contract.

The contract, in which a Quebec shipyard was asked to convert a civilian container ship into a support vessel for the navy, was negotiated by Stephen Harpers Conservative government and finalized by the Trudeau Liberals in 2015.

Normans team kicked off the day by reminding the Crown of its duty to the truth after the prosecution on Monday said the defence had not provided any evidence to prove there had been political interference in the case.

Defence lawyer Marie Henein also again accused the government of trying to prevent  or least delay  the production of thousands of government documents that she says are necessary to prove Normans innocence.

Most of the documents relate to the ship contract, though Henein is also seeking records from Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus office and the Privy Council Office, the governments top department, about the case itself.

One of the questions leading up to the pretrial hearing was whether Trudeau and Harper would block the release of government secrets created while they were prime minister, as is allowed under the law.

In fact, Normans team and Perkins-McVey had asked several times over the past few days whether the government had asked Harper for his position on releasing the files after the former prime minister tweeted on the issue.

Justice Canada lawyer Robert MacKinnon had repeatedly sidestepped the question, saying it was irrelevant since the government was leaving it up to the court to decide whether to release them.

But Normans lawyers revealed in court an email Harper sent to the clerk of the Privy Council on Tuesday morning confirming that he would not block the release of any documents deemed relevant by the court.

Henein said the fact that her office had to go out of its way to obtain the confirmation and email  which she suggested should have been the responsibility of the Crown  was further proof of obfuscation.

Read more about:The sooner 2018 is over, the better. For Toronto, it has been an annus horribilis, quite as awful as anything Queen Elizabeth suffered in 1992. It was the year things in the city went from bad to worse. It was disappointing enough that John Tory was voted mayor for a second term, but then Doug Ford led the provincial Conservatives to victory.

The new premier of Ontario, exhibiting the instincts of a Banana Republic strongman, quickly set about settling scores, real and imagined, with Toronto. His first act was to cut city council from 47 members to 25. When they met for the first time last week, the chamber looked hollowed out, gutted, almost abandoned. Was it half full or half empty? It hardly mattered.

Already its clear the new reduced council cant cope with the load. Theres more work than ever and half the number of councillors to do it. At last report, one member, Joe Cressy, will sit on 10 boards and committees. How many places can one person be at one time? At the same time, council barely has enough members to sustain a vigorous debate. Maybe the echo is distracting.

No surprise, suburban politicians  thanks to Tory  will continue to dominate.

That means Torontos chance of fulfilling its big-city potential is off the table for the foreseeable future. The ever passive Tory must be relieved. Lowered expectations and fewer councillors means less pressure to deal meaningfully with the citys most pressing issues  global warming, homelessness, affordability, transit, congestion. He can carry on with his outdated car-centric vision of a city-suburb certain in the knowledge that councils designated rubes are on his side.

Adding insult to injury was the naked contempt of Fords intervention and his sham rationale that amputating council would save money. Even he knows thats nonsense. It was spite, pure and simple.

Read more:

School boards blindsided as Ford government slashes program funding

Land transfer tax shortfall signals trouble ahead  unless Toronto council changes course

Opinion | Christopher Hume: Fords TTC meddling is a step too far

But perhaps calling 2018 our annus horribilis is premature; under Ford, anything could happen. Ford hasnt yet had time to turn Ontario Place into a casino, take over the Port Lands or upload the subway. None of these moves would profit Toronto, but the possibility of the province commandeering transit is truly alarming. It would be a city-wrecker like none weve ever seen before. As mediocre as it may be, the TTC is Torontos best hope. Hobbled by chronic underfunding, poor management and endless political interference, the commission has never really had a chance. Indeed, all things considered, it does brilliantly.

Ford also made quick work of the Hearn Generating Station, an important waterfront asset sold off quickly, quietly and cheaply to long-time Conservative donors. One cant help but wonder what was the motivation behind the move. Was Ford doing another favour for another friend? Was he just kicking Waterfront Toronto when its down? Speaking of Waterfront Toronto, Fords decision to fire the boards three provincial appointees was a shock though not a surprise. Apparently, their sin was to have been appointed by the Liberals.

Lets not forget the Greenbelt. During the campaign, Ford secretly promised a room full of builders he would open it up for development, but after a video of the meeting was released, he promised he wouldnt. Now he has proposed laws that would allow municipalities to do the dirty work for him. Internationally admired, the Greenbelt is Torontos source of drinking water, provider of fresh food and air purifier. It has also slowed suburban sprawl.

Have your say:

Short-sighted and self-destructive doesnt begin to describe the move; Fords demented desire to rid Ontario of the Liberal legacy resembles U.S. President Donald Trumps maniacal need to erase every last vestige of Barack Obama. Also in the spirit of Trump, Ford dismantled much of Ontarios environmental legislation. For future generations, the price will be incalculable.

It didnt take long for Ford to grab the attention of Moodys. Last week, the bond rating agency lowered Ontarios credit rating because of the provinces $14.5-billion deficit and reduced revenues following Fords corporate and carbon tax cuts.

TOP STORIES. IN YOUR INBOX: For the days top news from the Stars award-winning journalists, sign up for our daily headlines newsletter.

Worst of all, however, is how Toronto has been stripped of all control over its destiny. That control always existed at the pleasure of the province, but under Ford, the pretense, let alone the gloves, are off. Queens Park has taken over and anything is possible.

Torontonians will count down the New Year with the usual fanfare. Though welcome, theres no certainty 2019 will be any better. Fords hordes will see to that.

Christopher Hume is a former Star reporter who is a current freelance columnist based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @HumeChristopher

Read more about:A man in his 20s was killed in a workplace accident in Scarborough Monday afternoon, paramedics say.

Emergency services responded to a call just before 3 p.m. at a construction site near the intersection of Kennedy Rd. and Passmore Ave., south of Kennedy and Steeles Ave. E.

Paramedics found the victim, whom they said had been hit by a falling object, without vital signs. He died at the scene.

Toronto police said the Ministry of Labour is investigating.Amid outraged cries from the public gallery, the Toronto police board twice paused its meeting Tuesday then finally opted to move to a private room inside police headquarters  a move the civilian panel said was necessary due to the unfortunate behaviour of a few individuals.

The monthly meetings inside the Toronto police auditorium have become increasingly antagonistic, with board members and members of the public butting heads, often during heated deputations that go over the five-minute time limit. As board chair Andy Pringle opened Tuesdays meeting, he outlined the rules of conduct during the meetings, including respecting the time-limit for deputations.

Then, stating there was a large number of deputations today and a large agenda, Pringle said the board intended to decrease the time for deputations from the usual five minutes to three, a last-minute change that immediately prompted shouts of protest.

More than 30 deputations were scheduled to be held on a variety of agenda items, including a request by Toronto Community Housing Corporation to nearly double the number of special constables approved to patrol its properties.

As cries from the gallery persisted after the board approved the three-minute cap, Pringle reiterated it was within the boards power to make the change.

Its not about whether you have the right to do it, its whether you want to hear us or not, said journalist and activist Desmond Cole. You seem not to want to hear us.

After twice pausing the meeting, the board ultimately moved the meeting to another location within Toronto police headquarters. From there, the meeting was live-streamed online and broadcast into the police auditorium, but no members of the public or media were present and no one could make deputations.

In a statement Tuesday evening, the board said it had been looking forward to hearing from the community but said the meeting could not go forward in the auditorium due to improper conduct that  impacted the ability of the board to proceed with the meeting and to hear what the public had to say.

Moving a public meeting to a closed location with webcast capability is something that has periodically occurred during other City of Toronto meetings, the statement said.

The board regrets that its public meeting was forced to be moved in this way due to the unfortunate behaviour of a few individuals. As always, the board will continue to encourage input from the community, it says.

In a recent court decision that concluded security searches before Toronto police board meetings are unconstitutional, Ontario Superior Court Justice Jill Copeland weighed in on the importance of the public giving submissions before a government body, calling it a right that engages freedom of expression.

After moving locations, the board heard from the its anti-racism advisory panel, which is comprised of community members, experts and police. The update came just over a week after the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) released new data finding Black people are grossly overrepresented in Toronto police use-of-force cases.

Board member Uppala Chandrasekera said the advisory panel and the board are committed to race-based data collection and have given serious consideration to the OHRC report.

We recognize the urgency of these issues and given this, we have prepared a motion to take some immediate action, she said.

The motion recommends the board update its policy on the collection, use and reporting of demographic statistics. The advisory panel has been asked to recommend updates to the policy no later than May 2019.

The board also approved a Toronto Community Housing Corporation request to nearly double the number of special constables approved to work on its grounds, up from the current cap of 160 to 300, though the actual count of officers today is 117.

TCHC has said the increase is necessary because of a rising number of tenants and growing safety concerns.

According to the letter to the board, TCHC properties saw 37.5 per cent of the citys reported shootings during the first eight months of the year, despite housing just 4 per cent of Torontos population. The number is up from last year when 26 per cent of shootings occurred on TCHC grounds, and the previous year, which saw 27 per cent.

The percentage of gun homicides is up too, with 38 per cent of the citys shooting deaths between January and August occurring on TCHC properties, the letter states. Thats up from 9 per cent from last year and 22 per cent in 2016, though lower than 2014, when 40 per cent of Torontos homicide occurred on TCHC grounds.

With files from Jim RankinToronto police are asking for help identifying a man wanted for sexually assaulting a woman in Fairview Mall earlier this month.

Officers responded to a call on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. for a sexual assault in Fairview Mall, near Sheppard Ave. E. and Don Mills Rd.

A 23-year-old woman had just finished shopping when a male stranger grabbed her from behind and sexually assaulted her, police said in a news release Tuesday.

The suspect fled immediately after, police said. Police describe him as five-foot-eight, in his 30s with glasses and a black goatee. He was last seen wearing an orange toque, a black jacket, a light-coloured hoodie, dark pants, a black backpack and black and white running shoes.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-3200 or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).DAVIS, CALIF.Three cows clomped, single-file, through a chute to line up for sonograms  ultrasound preg checks  to reveal if they were expecting calves next summer.

Right now. This is exciting, right this minute, animal geneticist Alison Van Eenennaam said as she waited for a tiny blob of a fetus to materialize on a laptop screen on a recent afternoon at the Beef Barn, part of the University of California at Daviss sprawling agricultural facilities for teaching and research.

The cows had been implanted a month and a half earlier with embryos genetically edited to grow and look like males, regardless of their biological gender.

The research project pits one of the hottest fields in biotechnology against the messy politics of gene modification.

As scientists in labs across the world create virus-resistant pigs, heat-tolerant cattle and fatter, more muscular lambs, a big question looms: Will regulation, safety concerns and public skepticism prevent these advances from becoming anything more than fascinating laboratory experiments, or will the animals transform agriculture and the food supply? So far, gene-editing tools have jump-started research worldwide, creating more than 300 pigs, cattle, sheep and goats. Now, proponents of the field say the United States is at a make-or-break moment, when government action over the next year could determine whether any gene-edited food animals make it to market.

The announcement last month that a Chinese researcher had created genetically edited human babies sparked an international furor and a moral debate. But while such research is effectively outlawed in the United States and was swiftly condemned by a group of leading researchers, Van Eenennaam and her colleagues are pushing similar techniques into the barnyard. There, such applications are far less hypothetical. But the societal consensus about how or whether they should be used  and how to prove the technology is safe for animals and people who eat them  is even less clear.

Read more:

Gene-edited babies experiment raises concerns

Gene-edited food is coming, but will shoppers buy?

Scientists are using CRISPR gene-editing tool to make low-fat pigs, study says

Just down the road from the Beef Barn are five bulls and a heifer, the second generation of cattle that have been gene-edited to lack horns, avoiding a grisly procedure in the dairy industry called disbudding, when calves horns are burned or cut off. The new gene-editing attempt is even more audacious.

For farmers seeking to maximize beef production, all-male cattle could be a win: Males gain weight more efficiently than females. For scientists, successful births would add to a menagerie of gene-edited animals that demonstrate the power of the technology beyond the lab, where their use is mostly routine and uncontroversial.

What do you think?

The technology challenges of producing genetically engineered animals are gone, said Charles Long, a biologist at Texas A&M University who says he works in pretty much any livestock animal except chickens. What we have to do is really start producing the animals that have these traits.

Gene-edited plants will soon be in the grocery store, but similar tinkering with the DNA of animals faces a far more uncertain future. The regulatory process for getting animals approved is more complex and treats the edited DNA as a veterinary drug  a difference that animal scientists argue will effectively kill their field by preventing innovations that could make raising livestock more sustainable, more efficient or more humane. Many advocates and ethicists agree that the current oversight system is a poor fit but think that scientists and industry underestimate potential safety concerns.

I dont want speed limits, either, but they have a role, said Jaydee Hanson, senior policy analyst at the Center for Food Safety.

The Trump administration has signaled its interest in modernizing regulations to foster innovation. The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees animal gene editing, announced in late October that it will issue new guidance next year to calibrate the regulation to the risk posed by the product. Sonny Perdue, the secretary of agriculture, met with food biotechnology leaders in November.

Researchers, after years of fighting public skepticism on genetically modified foods, are hopeful but not optimistic. Advocates are lining up on both sides of the issue.

Were at this inflection point in society, where gene editing is really taking off, and now is the time we could have a more sustained public conversation about how we want it used in our world and how we dont want it to be used, said Jennifer Kuzma, co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University. All the polls indicate that people are less comfortable with animal biotechnology than plant biotechnology. . . . A regulatory system cannot be based 100 per cent on science or scientific risk, and values come into play when setting the standards.

For decades, scientists have been transferring genes between species in the lab  inserting a gene from a microbe into a cows DNA to make it resistant to a painful infection called mastitis, or repurposing a gene found in bacteria to reduce pigs phosphorus pollution. The only genetically modified animal approved for food consumption in the United States is the fast-growing AquAdvantage salmon, but it isnt being sold because of a labeling requirement originally introduced in a spending bill.

To oversee the emerging field of biotechnology, the Reagan administration, rather than passing new laws, created a coordinated framework in which regulatory agencies would use their existing laws for oversight. Genetically engineered animals thus fall under the FDAs process for approving new veterinary drugs.

The regulatory path was complicated, and the research had to contend with the public ick factor.

Van Eenennaam recalls one of her fondest scientific memories  more than two decades ago, she inserted a gene from a roundworm into a mouse and successfully showed that this could generate heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids in the rodents milk. The experiment was conceived as a proof of concept before extending the technology to cows, but the grant proposal was rejected.

While it may be putting the cart before the horse, the proposal has not mentioned the problem with acceptance of transgenic food products, a reviewer wrote. Given the pure and wholesome public perception of milk products, it may be particularly difficult to gain widespread public acceptance for transgenic milk products  despite their benefits.

Many who worked in the field at the time recall feeling discouraged by similar rejections.

Im angry as hell 90 per cent of the time, said Long, who now plans to move some of his work to Brazil, where the regulatory path is more certain. Its been a 20-year fight.

When Van Eenennaam was traveling in China a few years ago, she visited a lab where the omega-3 gene had been inserted into cows.

I kept getting these emails from researchers in China, and then I saw the cow, she said, bringing up a photo on her computer screen. Good on them.

Scientists were re-energized by the invention of new and more precise technologies, the most famous of which is CRISPR, short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.

Using CRISPR, scientists can quickly, easily and cheaply make targeted cuts to the genome and make changes or insert new genes. Instead of introducing the foreign DNA that had triggered public skepticism, they could delete or change a single letter out of billions in an animals genome. Such changes happen routinely in nature  they are the basis for evolution  so scientists were hopeful that regulators and the public would see these animals differently.

But in early 2017, the FDA put out draft guidance indicating that animals with intentionally altered DNA would be regulated just like the genetically modified animals have been  as containing veterinary drugs. Proponents and skeptics alike felt it wasnt the right move.

We need to rethink this  look at the science, look at the potential risk, look at the products that are going to be developed. Is there a need for oversight, and what is the appropriate mechanism for that oversight? said Greg Jaffe, biotechnology project director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Van Eenennaam was in the middle of an experiment at the time. There were two bulls on campus that had been gene-edited to be polled, lacking horns, through a collaboration with the company Recombinetics. Overnight, the animals status changed.

We went from having two bulls that were polled to having two 2,000-pound drugs, Van Eenennaam said. It sounds funny, but all of that becomes a huge liability.

In written responses to questions, the FDA clarified that gene-edited animals arent considered drugs but that they contain new animal drugs.

Researchers and companies argued that it wasnt rational to treat all gene-editing the same, whether it was a single DNA letter change that was also found in nature or a radical rewrite of the genome.

Somebody comes to me and says, Randy, I want to make these genetic modifications and put it in the food chain. What is it going to take? I tell them I dont know how long, and I dont know how much its going to cost, because we dont have any examples, said Randall Prather, a reproductive physiologist who runs the National Swine Resource and Research Center at the University of Missouri. You hear a click when they hang up.

A few days before the scheduled preg checks in Davis, the FDA sent out a new Plant and Animal Biotechnology Innovation Action Plan. The details will be rolled out over the next year, but the goal is to clarify its approach, reduce barriers to innovation and protect public health. The agency said in a statement that it could be more flexible with respect to data if a genetic alteration does not differ in any relevant way from nature. But it also added that genome editing techniques may carry unique risks. Scientists and watchdogs alike are worried that the process will take place behind closed doors.

Kuzma is particularly concerned about unforeseen changes to DNA that occur because tools such as CRISPR arent perfect and may make unintended changes to other genes. She worries that the regulatory process may be too industry-friendly.

Its going to be a very closed process and a very cozy relationship between the technology developers and the federal government, Kuzma said.

Van Eenennaam, wearing an I love science shirt, had a different concern. She worried that the agency wont grapple with the fundamental problem, as she sees it, that edits creating animals with DNA and traits that occur naturally shouldnt be treated as drugs.

But at the moment, her bigger concern was the difficulty of science. CRISPR is often touted a tool so simple that high school students can use it, but experiments in large mammals are far from straightforward. The challenges of in vitro fertilization, the imperfect efficiency of gene-editing and the vagaries of bovine fertility whittle down the odds of success.

Van Eenennaam joked that her shirt should say I hate science, as she headed over to the Beef Barn for the preg checks.

In the late afternoon light, veterinarian Bret McNabb reluctantly declared one cow after another open  meaning no pregnancies today. The last cow, 1201, showed signs that she may have been pregnant but lost the fetus.

A tense silence fell over the group.

I dont know that we can blame the cows. Theres a lot going on here, Van Eenennaam said.

But this was not the end  graduate student Joey Owen had already spent the morning freezing the next round of gene-edited embryos. The next day, he showed up at lab at 2 a.m. to analyze biopsies from those embryos, and hours later, he and Van Eenennaam began to game out the next few months, planning another round of experiments for right before the winter break.ALBANY, N.Y.Whenever Brittany Hawley went to class, her loyal service dog Griffin was there. If she needed her cellphone, Griffin would fetch it. Even when she assisted patients as part of an internship, Griffin was there helping out as well.

So its only fitting that when Hawley receives her masters degree in occupational therapy from Clarkson University next month, Griffin will once again be at her side  with an honorary diploma of his own.

I pushed for him to graduate from Day One, Hawley said Tuesday. He did everything I did.

The board of trustees of the Potsdam, New York, school honoured the 4-year-old golden retriever over the weekend, saying he demonstrated extraordinary effort, steadfast commitment and diligent dedication to the well-being and student success of Hawley.

Hawley, 25, of Wilson, North Carolina, uses a wheelchair and has chronic pain. She said Griffin does a wide range of physical tasks for her including opening doors, turning on lights and bringing her items she indicates with a laser pointer. But perhaps more important is the comfort the dog provides amid her relentless, severe pain that causes anxiety and depression.

Hawley got Griffin through paws4prisons, a program that teaches inmates at West Virginia prisons to train and place high-level assistance dogs.

The inmates allow many dogs to come up to you and let the dog choose you, Hawley said. Some dogs were scared of the wheelchair. Griffin jumped right into my lap and licked me across the face.

Hawley and Griffin worked at Fort Bragg in North Carolina during an internship, helping soldiers with mobility impairments as well as psycho-social disorders. Brushing a dog can help improve a patients range of motion, and stroking him helps ease anxiety, Hawley said.

My patients would say, My therapist today is Brittany and Griffin, she said.

When she applies for jobs, she and Griffin will be a package deal, Hawley said.

I couldnt participate in anything without him, she said. Im so used to him being there.Saudi Arabia lashed out Monday at the U.S. Senate for holding the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, personally responsible for the murder of a Saudi dissident in Istanbul, warning against interference in what it called the kingdoms internal affairs.

The unusually strong statement aimed at a branch of the U.S. government was the kingdoms first response to a Senate resolution passed last week that blames Crown Prince Mohammed for the death and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

It was also the kingdoms latest attempt to manage the damage the killing has done to its decades-old alliance with the United States.

The Oct. 2 murder of Khashoggi by Saudi agents has prompted the most serious crisis in U.S.-Saudi relations in more than a decade, pushing a range of U.S. officials to call for limits on U.S. military co-operation or arms sales to the kingdom.

Last week, the Senate voted to end military assistance for Saudi Arabias war in Yemen and it unanimously passed a separate resolution assigning blame to Crown Prince Mohammed for the killing of Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government who owned property in Virginia and wrote opinion columns for The Washington Post.

Saudi officials have denied that Crown Prince Mohammed, the de facto ruler of the kingdom, ordered or even knew about the operation to kill Khashoggi. But U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that it was highly likely that he was involved, a position also adopted by many U.S. lawmakers.

Read more:

After Khashoggis killing, Saudi prince looks to rebuild image abroad

CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Khashoggis assassination

Saudi Arabia confirms Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside consulate

The Saudi Foreign Ministry criticized the resolution Monday, saying it was based on unsubstantiated claims and allegations and contained blatant interference in the kingdoms internal affairs, undermining the kingdoms regional and international role.

While criticism has grown in Congress, President Donald Trump has stood by Crown Prince Mohammed, seeing him as an essential partner in his plans for the Middle East. The Saudi statement echoed his view, condemning the killing of Khashoggi but saying that it should not stand in the way of the broader alliance.

Saudi Arabia and the United States maintain deep strategic, political, economic and security ties that were built over several decades to serve the interests of both countries and peoples, the statement said. It cited the kingdoms value as an ally prominent in the Arab and Islamic worlds, its role in energy markets, and its work with the United States to fight terrorism and to limit Irans influence in the Middle East.

The kingdom rejects any interference in its internal affairs and accusations that disrespect its leadership, it said.

The Senate resolution assigning blame to Crown Prince Mohammed was largely symbolic and the bill to end U.S. support to the Saudi war in Yemen would require the approval of the House of Representatives to become law. It remains unclear whether that might happen, but members of the incoming Congress have vowed to pursue legislation aimed at punishing Saudi Arabia.

Read more about:Despite opposition from the United States and Hungary, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a non-binding compact Monday that provides more robust support for countries where most of the worlds more than 25 million refugees live.

The Global Compact on Refugees also strengthens shared responsibility to help those who are forced to flee their country because of conflict or persecution.

The vote was 181-2 with the Dominican Republic, Eritrea and Libya abstaining.

UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi called the compact historic in a tweet, adding: It is the biggest effort to broadly share refugee responsibilities that I have witnessed in 34 years of work with refugees.

The agreement is separate from another non-binding compact to ensure safe, orderly and humane migration which was approved on Dec. 10 by nearly 85 per cent of the UNs 193 member states over fierce opposition from the United States.

The Global Compact for Migration is expected to be endorsed by the General Assembly on Wednesday.

The Global Compact on Refugees was adopted at a time when a record-high 68.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes. This includes 25.4 million who have crossed borders to become refugees and 43.1 million who are displaced within their home countries.

According to the UN refugee agency, nine out of 10 refugees live in developing countries, where basic services like health or education are already strained.

The new compact aims to provide more investment from governments and the private sector for infrastructure and services to benefit both refugees and host communities, including access to education.

It also aims to address the environmental impact of hosting refugees, promotes the use of alternative energy, and envisions more resettlement opportunities through family reunification, student scholarships, or humanitarian visas so that refugees can travel safely.

The compact builds on the 1951 Refugee Convention in addition to human rights and humanitarian law and makes way for a follow-up Global Refugee Forum every four years.

Grandi called the refugee compact a powerful expression of how we work together in todays fragmented world and stressed that no country should be left alone to respond to a huge influx of refugees.

Read more about:TIJUANA, MEXICOSeveral asylum seekers, joined by two members of the U.S. Congress, waited on a small patch of U.S. soil for hours demanding that their claims be processed immediately, challenging a U.S. policy to make people wait in Mexico if there are capacity constraints.

The 21 Honduran asylum seekers camped on U.S. soil at San Diegos Otay Mesa port of entry, with the official border separating the U.S. and Mexico to the south and U.S. inspection booths to the north, said Nicole Ramos, an attorney at Al Otro Lado, a legal services organization working on behalf of the migrants. The official border marker generally goes unnoticed by people walking toward inspectors.

By Monday night, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agreed to process eight unaccompanied children, one mother with five children and one man, Ramos said. But a family of five and one man continued to wait on the small piece of U.S. soil, backed by the presence of U.S. Reps. Nanette Barragan and Jimmy Gomez, both California Democrats.

Children are sick, theyre crying, theyve had to use the bathroom, said Ramos. Weve had to get blankets and food for them.

CBP did not comment on the status of the 21 asylum seekers but officials said claims are processed as quickly as possible.

The impasse highlights a U.S. practice to limit entry for asylum seekers at official crossings when they are at full capacity, which it calls metering or queue management. Authorities emphatically deny they are turning away asylum seekers  prohibited under U.S. and international law  and say they are simply asking them to temporarily wait in Mexico.

Read more:

White House says horrific, tragic death of migrant girl is not its responsibility

Immigration, Mueller probe boosted U.S. tensions this year

CBP says a surge in asylum claims has strained resources. The number of people expressing fear of returning to their home countries  the initial step toward asylum  jumped 67 per cent at the U.S. border with Mexico in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 to 92,959 claims from 55,584 the previous year.

Critics contend that CBP is limiting the number of asylum claims to deter people from coming.

In San Diego, U.S. authorities funnel asylum claims through the San Isidro port of entry, the nations busiest crossing. Asylum seekers themselves manage waiting lists in a tattered notebook on the Tijuana side.

The wait at the San Isidro crossing neared 3,000 names even before a caravan of more than 6,000 people reached the border city last month. The San Isidro crossing typically processes 60 to 100 asylum claims a day, meaning many will likely have to wait in Tijuana for months.

People who appear at the citys other crossing, Otay Mesa, are directed to the San Isidro before they reach U.S. soil. But Mondays crowd managed to reach U.S. soil, according to Ramos, which usually means they are transferred to San Isidro to have their claims processed immediately

Ramos said the 21 Hondurans who sought asylum were at heightened risk for staying in Mexico.

Read more about:WASHINGTONA federal judge Tuesday abruptly postponed the sentencing of President Donald Trumps first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, declaring himself disgusted and disdainful of Flynns crime of lying to the FBI and raising the unexpected prospect of sending the retired Army lieutenant-general to prison.

Lawyers for Flynn, who admitted lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts, requested the delay during the stunning hearing in which U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan told the former Trump aide in a blistering rebuke that arguably you sold your country out.

I cant make any guarantees, but Im not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offence, Sullivan said.

The postponement gives Flynn a chance to continue co-operating with the government in hopes of staving off prison and proving his value as a witness, including in a foreign lobbying prosecution unsealed this week. The possibility of prison had seemed remote for Flynn, who was smiling and upbeat as he entered the courtroom, since prosecutors had praised his extensive co-operation and didnt recommend any time behind bars.

But the judges upbraiding suggested otherwise and made clear that even defendants like Flynn who have co-operated in special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation may nonetheless be shadowed by the crimes that brought them into court in the first place. The hearing upset what had been a carefully crafted agreement and pushed months into the future a resolution of one of Muellers signature prosecutions.

This is a very serious offence. A high-ranking senior official of the government making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation while on the physical premises of the White House, Sullivan said.

Read more:

Flynns ex-business associates charged with illegal lobbying

Comey lambastes GOP over Trumps continued attacks on FBI: Stand up and speak the truth

Over my dead body will Mueller interview Trump, presidents lawyer Giuliani says

He later softened his tone, apologizing for suggesting that Flynn had worked as a foreign agent, undermining everything this flag over here stands for while in the White House when that other work had actually already ended. He also backpedaled on an earlier question on whether Flynns transgressions amounted to treason, saying he didnt mean to suggest they did.

Flynn was to have been the first White House official sentenced in Muellers ongoing investigation into possible co-ordination between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia.

The hearing, though incomplete, marked a remarkable fall after a three-decade military career that included Flynns tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and oversight of the Defense Intelligence Agency during the Obama administration. Though he served only briefly in Trumps White House, he campaigned vigorously before the election and attracted attention for memorably leading a Republican National Convention crowd in a Lock Her Up chant about Hillary Clinton.

It all comes amid escalating legal peril for Trump, who was implicated by federal prosecutors in New York this month in hush-money payments involving his former lawyer to cover up extramarital affairs. Nearly a half-dozen former aides and advisers have pleaded guilty or agreed to co-operate with prosecutors. Some, like Flynn, have been tripped up by concealing Russian contacts.

Flynns help in the probes, including 19 meetings with investigators, has been especially notable. Yet hes nonetheless enjoyed Trumps continued sympathy, thanks in part to a sentencing memo last week that tapped into the presidents suspicion of law enforcement and took aim at the FBIs conduct during the investigation.

Trump tweeted good luck to his first national security adviser hours before the sentencing and said: Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!

At the White House afterward, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked if the administration had changed its stance on Flynn or the FBI after his admissions and guilty plea.

Maybe he did do those things, but it doesnt have anything to do with the president, she said. Its perfectly acceptable for the president to make a positive comment about somebody while we wait to see what the courts determination is.

Sanders repeated her allegation that the FBI ambushed Flynn in an interview in which he lied. Of Trumps earlier FBI criticism, she said, We dont have any reason to want to walk that back.

Flynns legal woes stem from transition-period calls with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that raised intelligence community alarms even before Trump took office.

During those conversations, Flynn urged against a strong Russian response to Obama administration sanctions for Russian election interference and also encouraged Russias opposition to a U.N. resolution on Israeli settlements. But when FBI agents approached him in the White House on Jan. 24, 2017, Flynn lied about those conversations, prosecutors said.

Flynn has never said why he lied, but Sullivan nonetheless castigated him for a deception that was then parroted by other senior administration officials.

The tone of Tuesdays hearing startled Flynn supporters who hoped his lawyers arguments about the FBIs conduct  they suggested he was discouraged from having a lawyer present during the interview and wasnt informed it was a crime to lie  to resonate more than it did with Sullivan, who a decade ago tossed out the prosecution of a U.S. senator over government misconduct.

But while Sullivan tested those arguments, he was ultimately unmoved and Flynn mostly walked them back. He acknowledged that he indeed knew that lying to the FBI was a crime. Neither he nor his lawyers disputed that hed lied to agents.

Flynn attorney Robert Kelner asked Sullivan not to penalize Flynn for the sentencing memo arguments, saying they were mostly intended to differentiate Flynn from other defendants in Muellers investigation whod received prison sentences for lying. Though Sullivan said none of the other defendants was a White House official, Kelner suggested none had been as co-operative.

He made the decision publicly and clearly and completely and utterly to co-operate with this investigation, knowing that because of his high rank, that was going to send a signal to every other potential co-operator and witness in this investigation, he added.

After a prosecutor raised the prospect of Flynns continued co-operation with other investigations in the future, Sullivan warned Flynn that he might not get full credit for his assistance to the government if he were sentenced as scheduled.

Sullivan gave a visibly shaken Flynn a chance to discuss a delay of the hearing with his lawyers. The court briefly recessed.

When they returned, Kelner requested a postponement to allow for Flynn to keep co-operating. Kelner said he expected Flynn would have to testify in a related trial in Virginia involving Flynns former business associates, and the defence wanted to eke out the last modicum of co-operation so he could get credit.

Flynns lawyers were instructed to submit a status report by March 13. Flynn left the courthouse hand-in-hand with his wife, climbing into an SUV as protesters heckled and supporters chanted USA!

Read more about:DAVIS, CALIF.Three cows clomped, single-file, through a chute to line up for sonograms  ultrasound preg checks  to reveal if they were expecting calves next summer.

Right now. This is exciting, right this minute, animal geneticist Alison Van Eenennaam said as she waited for a tiny blob of a fetus to materialize on a laptop screen on a recent afternoon at the Beef Barn, part of the University of California at Daviss sprawling agricultural facilities for teaching and research.

The cows had been implanted a month and a half earlier with embryos genetically edited to grow and look like males, regardless of their biological gender.

The research project pits one of the hottest fields in biotechnology against the messy politics of gene modification.

As scientists in labs across the world create virus-resistant pigs, heat-tolerant cattle and fatter, more muscular lambs, a big question looms: Will regulation, safety concerns and public skepticism prevent these advances from becoming anything more than fascinating laboratory experiments, or will the animals transform agriculture and the food supply? So far, gene-editing tools have jump-started research worldwide, creating more than 300 pigs, cattle, sheep and goats. Now, proponents of the field say the United States is at a make-or-break moment, when government action over the next year could determine whether any gene-edited food animals make it to market.

The announcement last month that a Chinese researcher had created genetically edited human babies sparked an international furor and a moral debate. But while such research is effectively outlawed in the United States and was swiftly condemned by a group of leading researchers, Van Eenennaam and her colleagues are pushing similar techniques into the barnyard. There, such applications are far less hypothetical. But the societal consensus about how or whether they should be used  and how to prove the technology is safe for animals and people who eat them  is even less clear.

Read more:

Gene-edited babies experiment raises concerns

Probes of foodborne illness outbreaks multiply as technology improves

Just down the road from the Beef Barn are five bulls and a heifer, the second generation of cattle that have been gene-edited to lack horns, avoiding a grisly procedure in the dairy industry called disbudding, when calves horns are burned or cut off. The new gene-editing attempt is even more audacious.

Have your say:

For farmers seeking to maximize beef production, all-male cattle could be a win: Males gain weight more efficiently than females. For scientists, successful births would add to a menagerie of gene-edited animals that demonstrate the power of the technology beyond the lab, where their use is mostly routine and uncontroversial.

The technology challenges of producing genetically engineered animals are gone, said Charles Long, a biologist at Texas A&M University who says he works in pretty much any livestock animal except chickens. What we have to do is really start producing the animals that have these traits.

Gene-edited plants will soon be in the grocery store, but similar tinkering with the DNA of animals faces a far more uncertain future. The regulatory process for getting animals approved is more complex and treats the edited DNA as a veterinary drug  a difference that animal scientists argue will effectively kill their field by preventing innovations that could make raising livestock more sustainable, more efficient or more humane. Many advocates and ethicists agree that the current oversight system is a poor fit but think that scientists and industry underestimate potential safety concerns.

I dont want speed limits, either, but they have a role, said Jaydee Hanson, senior policy analyst at the Center for Food Safety.

The Trump administration has signalled its interest in modernizing regulations to foster innovation. The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees animal gene editing, announced in late October that it will issue new guidance next year to calibrate the regulation to the risk posed by the product. Sonny Perdue, the secretary of agriculture, met with food biotechnology leaders in November.

Researchers, after years of fighting public skepticism on genetically modified foods, are hopeful but not optimistic. Advocates are lining up on both sides of the issue.

Were at this inflection point in society, where gene editing is really taking off, and now is the time we could have a more sustained public conversation about how we want it used in our world and how we dont want it to be used, said Jennifer Kuzma, co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University. All the polls indicate that people are less comfortable with animal biotechnology than plant biotechnology. . . . A regulatory system cannot be based 100 per cent on science or scientific risk, and values come into play when setting the standards.

For decades, scientists have been transferring genes between species in the lab  inserting a gene from a microbe into a cows DNA to make it resistant to a painful infection called mastitis, or repurposing a gene found in bacteria to reduce pigs phosphorus pollution. The only genetically modified animal approved for food consumption in the United States is the fast-growing AquAdvantage salmon, but it isnt being sold because of a labelling requirement originally introduced in a spending bill.

To oversee the emerging field of biotechnology, the Reagan administration, rather than passing new laws, created a co-ordinated framework in which regulatory agencies would use their existing laws for oversight. Genetically engineered animals thus fall under the FDAs process for approving new veterinary drugs.

The regulatory path was complicated, and the research had to contend with the public ick factor.

Van Eenennaam recalls one of her fondest scientific memories  more than two decades ago, she inserted a gene from a roundworm into a mouse and successfully showed that this could generate heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids in the rodents milk. The experiment was conceived as a proof of concept before extending the technology to cows, but the grant proposal was rejected.

While it may be putting the cart before the horse, the proposal has not mentioned the problem with acceptance of transgenic food products, a reviewer wrote. Given the pure and wholesome public perception of milk products, it may be particularly difficult to gain widespread public acceptance for transgenic milk products  despite their benefits.

Many who worked in the field at the time recall feeling discouraged by similar rejections.

Im angry as hell 90 per cent of the time, said Long, who now plans to move some of his work to Brazil, where the regulatory path is more certain. Its been a 20-year fight.

When Van Eenennaam was travelling in China a few years ago, she visited a lab where the omega-3 gene had been inserted into cows.

I kept getting these emails from researchers in China, and then I saw the cow, she said, bringing up a photo on her computer screen. Good on them.

Scientists were re-energized by the invention of new and more precise technologies, the most famous of which is CRISPR, short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.

Using CRISPR, scientists can quickly, easily and cheaply make targeted cuts to the genome and make changes or insert new genes. Instead of introducing the foreign DNA that had triggered public skepticism, they could delete or change a single letter out of billions in an animals genome. Such changes happen routinely in nature  they are the basis for evolution  so scientists were hopeful that regulators and the public would see these animals differently.

But in early 2017, the FDA put out draft guidance indicating that animals with intentionally altered DNA would be regulated just like the genetically modified animals have been  as containing veterinary drugs. Proponents and skeptics alike felt it wasnt the right move.

We need to rethink this  look at the science, look at the potential risk, look at the products that are going to be developed. Is there a need for oversight, and what is the appropriate mechanism for that oversight? said Greg Jaffe, biotechnology project director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Van Eenennaam was in the middle of an experiment at the time. There were two bulls on campus that had been gene-edited to be polled, lacking horns, through a collaboration with the company Recombinetics. Overnight, the animals status changed.

We went from having two bulls that were polled to having two 2,000-pound drugs, Van Eenennaam said. It sounds funny, but all of that becomes a huge liability.

In written responses to questions, the FDA clarified that gene-edited animals arent considered drugs but that they contain new animal drugs.

Researchers and companies argued that it wasnt rational to treat all gene-editing the same, whether it was a single DNA letter change that was also found in nature or a radical rewrite of the genome.

Somebody comes to me and says, Randy, I want to make these genetic modifications and put it in the food chain. What is it going to take? I tell them I dont know how long, and I dont know how much its going to cost, because we dont have any examples, said Randall Prather, a reproductive physiologist who runs the National Swine Resource and Research Center at the University of Missouri. You hear a click when they hang up.

A few days before the scheduled preg checks in Davis, the FDA sent out a new Plant and Animal Biotechnology Innovation Action Plan. The details will be rolled out over the next year, but the goal is to clarify its approach, reduce barriers to innovation and protect public health. The agency said in a statement that it could be more flexible with respect to data if a genetic alteration does not differ in any relevant way from nature. But it also added that genome editing techniques may carry unique risks. Scientists and watchdogs alike are worried that the process will take place behind closed doors.

Kuzma is particularly concerned about unforeseen changes to DNA that occur because tools such as CRISPR arent perfect and may make unintended changes to other genes. She worries that the regulatory process may be too industry-friendly.

Its going to be a very closed process and a very cosy relationship between the technology developers and the federal government, Kuzma said.

Van Eenennaam, wearing an I love science shirt, had a different concern. She worried that the agency wont grapple with the fundamental problem, as she sees it, that edits creating animals with DNA and traits that occur naturally shouldnt be treated as drugs.

But at the moment, her bigger concern was the difficulty of science. CRISPR is often touted a tool so simple that high school students can use it, but experiments in large mammals are far from straightforward. The challenges of in vitro fertilization, the imperfect efficiency of gene-editing and the vagaries of bovine fertility whittle down the odds of success.

Van Eenennaam joked that her shirt should say I hate science, as she headed over to the Beef Barn for the preg checks.

In the late afternoon light, veterinarian Bret McNabb reluctantly declared one cow after another open  meaning no pregnancies today. The last cow, 1201, showed signs that she may have been pregnant but lost the fetus.

A tense silence fell over the group.

I dont know that we can blame the cows. Theres a lot going on here, Van Eenennaam said.

But this was not the end  graduate student Joey Owen had already spent the morning freezing the next round of gene-edited embryos. The next day, he showed up at lab at 2 a.m. to analyze biopsies from those embryos, and hours later, he and Van Eenennaam began to game out the next few months, planning another round of experiments for right before the winter break.NASAs first moon shot, Apollo 8, was triumphant in every way, and is still considered NASAs boldest and most dangerous undertaking. Its also one of the most significant space missions of all time for some, topping even the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Apollo 8 was an extremely bold mission, invented and carried out in a four-month period to beat the Soviet Union to be first around the moon. And it tested all the systems involved in the lunar landing, except for the landing itself and the lunar module. It was a technical and a political undertaking that was totally successful, says John Logsdon, George Washington University professor emeritus.

It was a huge risk to put three men atop a monstrous new rocket for the first time and send them all the way to the moon.

The mission was organized in just four months in order to reach the moon by years end, before the Soviet Union.

Apollo 8 flight was perhaps the most dangerous because it was new. We werent planning to go to the moon that early with just the command service module. We had better plans, more training to do. But when the opportunity came up to go the moon with just the command service module on Apollo 8 they decided to do that with just four months of training, says Apollo 8 astronauts, Jim Lovell.

The Apollo lunar module wasnt ready for testing in low-Earth orbit in 1968, so top NASA officials decided Borman and his Apollo 9 crew would fly to the moon instead as Apollo 8, in order to beat the Soviets and pave the way for the moon landings to come.

Never mind that on its previous test flight, the Saturn V lost parts and engines failed.

Borman wanted to get to the moon and get back fast, to reduce the risk. In his mind, a single lap around the moon would suffice. His bosses insisted on more.

Everyone eventually agreed: 10 orbits it would be.

Liftoff of the Saturn V occurred on the morning of Saturday, Dec. 21, 1968.

On Christmas Eve, the command and service module successfully slipped into orbit around the moon. Before bedtime, the astronauts took turns reading the first 10 verses of the Book of Genesis.

In the beginning, Anders began, God created the heaven and the Earth ...

Borman ended the broadcast with, And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you  all of you on the good Earth.

An estimated one billion people tuned in  one in nearly every three people on Earth.

Lastly, there was the photo of Earthrise, showing our blue and white ball  humanitys home  rising above the bleak, grey lunar landscape 240,000 miles distant.

Humans had never set eyes on the far side of the moon before, or on our planet as a cosmic oasis, surrounded completely by the black void of space.

A half-century later, only 24 U.S. astronauts have witnessed these wondrous sights in person.

It wasnt until after the astronauts were back that the significance of their Earth pictures sank in.

Now you have to realize that we were the first people to see the far side of the moon at all. Since man was probably here on Earth, so that was a significant thing, at least to me, says Lovell.

Anders snapped the iconic Earthrise photo during the crews fourth orbit of the moon, frantically switching from black-and-white to colour film to capture the planets exquisite, fragile beauty.

Before the flight, no one had thought about photographing Earth, according to Anders. The astronauts were under orders to get moon pictures, period, for potential lunar landing sites.

Before the Earthrise picture, we had never seen the Earth in its whole. And particularly, in contrast to the barren moonscape, lifeless grey and then this beautiful blue and white image of the Earth rising. It was a time of rising environmental consciousness, the environmental movement seized on the image of one planet as a kind of symbol of the necessity of taking care of that planet, says Logsdon.

The Earthrise photo is, in fact, a pillar of todays environmental movement.

Apollo 8 had the thrill and romance of true exploration, and provided an uplifting cap for Americans to a tumultuous year of assassinations, protests and war says Teasel Muir-Harmony, curator at the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum:

Important part of the significance of the Earthrise image, and also the Apollo 8 mission more generally, is that it came at the end of 1968, which was one of the most difficult years in the 20th century, defined by division, and divisiveness, and protests and assassinations. For many people it felt like the world was coming apart, and the Apollo 8 mission and the Earthrise image really brought home the message that we all live on one Earth, thats not divided by political boundaries, and that it was important for us to understand the unity of humankind and that were all living on the Earth together.

On Christmas morning, their spaceship went around the moon for the final time.

Splashdown occurred in the pre-dawn darkness on Dec. 27, bringing the incredible journey to a close. Time magazine named the three astronauts Men of the Year.

Apollo 8 is the only moon mission with the entire crew still alive. Borman and Lovell are 90; Anders is 85. They pride themselves on being friends all these decades later and married to their original wives.

We talk to each other to this day, 50 years later, what were doing. As a matter of fact, during this period, both Bill and Frank and myself are doing various things like going to various museums, talking to various people about the significance of the Christmas mission of Apollo 8, says Lovell.

By July 1969, Apollo 8 was overshadowed by Apollo 11s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin moon landing. Before dying in 2012, Armstrong publicly thanked the Apollo 8 men.

Apollo 8 remains the high point of Lovells career. He went on to command the ill-fated Apollo 13. Borman and Anders never flew in space again.WASHINGTONU. S. President Donald Trump has agreed to shut down his embattled personal charity and to give away its remaining money amid allegations that he used the foundation for his personal and political benefit, New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced Tuesday.

Underwood said that the Donald J. Trump Foundation is dissolving as her office pursues its lawsuit against the charity, Trump and his three eldest children.

The suit, filed in June, alleged persistently illegal conduct at the foundation, which Trump began in 1987. Underwood is continuing to seek more than $2.8 million (U.S.) in restitution and has asked a judge to ban the Trumps temporarily from serving on the boards of other New York non-profit organizations.

Underwood said Tuesday that her investigation found a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation  including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and wilful self-dealing, and much more.

This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone, she added in a statement.

The shuttering comes after The Washington Post documented apparent lapses at the foundation. Trump used the charitys money to pay legal settlements for his private business, to purchase art for one of his clubs and to make a prohibited political donation.

Read more:

Flynn heads to sentencing, with good luck wish from Trump

Comey lambastes GOP over Trumps continued attacks on FBI: Stand up and speak the truth

Trump denied that the organization had done anything wrong. In late 2016, he said he wanted to close the foundation before he became president to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest. But the New York attorney general blocked that move while the investigation continued.

The settlement with Underwoods office represents a concession by Trump to a state inquiry he has decried as a partisan attack. The case is one of numerous legal investigations of Trump organizations that have proliferated during his presidency.

In a court filing in New York, Underwood said the foundations remaining $1.75 million will be distributed to other charities approved by her office and a state judge.

Alan Futerfas, an attorney for the Trump Foundation, issued a statement criticizing Underwood for politicizing the agreement.

The Foundation has been seeking to dissolve and distribute its remaining assets to worthwhile charitable causes since Donald J. Trumps victory in the 2016 Presidential election, Futerfas said. Unfortunately, the NYAG sought to prevent dissolution for almost two years, thereby depriving those most in need of the foundations money, he said.

Futerfas said that, over its life, the foundation had given away about $19 million, including $8.25 million donated by Trump himself. The rest of the money came from other donors, notably pro-wrestling moguls Vince and Linda McMahon, who gave $5 million. Trump later chose Linda McMahon to head the Small Business Administration.

As part of its agreement with the attorney generals office, the foundation will be required to sell its remaining assets and donate the proceeds, said Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for Underwood.

That includes a Denver Broncos football helmet signed by former quarterback Tim Tebow, which Trump bought at a charity auction in 2012 with $12,000 in Trump Foundation money. The charity also owns two large portraits of Trump, for which Trump paid a combined $30,000 in foundation money.

Trump now values the three items  for which he spent $42,000 in charity money  at a combined $975, according to a recent IRS filing.

The attorney generals suit alleges that Trump used his charitys money as his own piggy bank  including to help his presidential campaign by paying for giveaways at Iowa rallies.

The Foundation was little more than a chequebook for payments to not-for-profits from Mr. Trump or the Trump Organization, Underwood wrote in the initial suit.

The Washington Posts reporting showed that, for years, Trump appeared to use the foundation  which was, by law, an independent entity  to make payments that bolstered his interests.

The largest donation in the charitys history  a $264,231 gift to the Central Park Conservancy in 1989  appeared to benefit Trumps business: It paid to restore a fountain outside Trumps Plaza Hotel. The smallest, a $7 foundation gift to the Boy Scouts that same year, appeared to benefit Trumps family. It matched the amount required to enrol a boy in the Scouts the year that his son Donald Trump Jr. was 11.

The attorney generals investigation turned up evidence that Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump  all listed as officers of the charity  had never held a board meeting. The board hadnt met since 1999. The charitys official treasurer, Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg, told investigators that he wasnt aware that he was on the board.

State investigators asked him what the foundations policies were to determine whether its payments were proper.

Theres no policy, just so you understand, Weisselberg said.

At one point, Trump used the charitys money to make a $25,000 political donation to Florida Attorney General Pamela Bondi, a Republican. The charity didnt tell the IRS about that, as required  and instead listed that donation as a gift to an unrelated charity in Kansas with a similar name. Trumps team blamed accounting mistakes.

In 2016, state investigators allege, Trump effectively ceded control of his charity to his political campaign. He raised more than $2 million at a fundraiser in Iowa that flowed into the foundation. Then, the state said, Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski determined when and where it would be given away.

Is there any way we can make some disbursements ... this week while in Iowa? Lewandowski wrote in an email cited in Underwoods lawsuit.

Trump gave away oversize checks from the foundation at campaign events in the key early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, pausing his campaign rallies to donate to local veterans groups.

Federal law prohibits charities from participating in political campaigns. As president, Trump has called repeatedly for that law to be repealed.

Underwood has asked the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether the Trump charity broke tax laws. Both agencies have declined to comment.

In his statement on Tuesday, Futerfas praised the foundation for operating with virtually zero expenses.

Indeed, the Trump Foundation had no paid employees.

It also spent very little on advice from lawyers. From 2001 to 2016, Trumps charity spent a total of $163 on legal fees  and, in many of those years, it spent $0.

The demise of the Trump Foundation still leaves one mystery regarding a large portrait of Trump that he bought for $20,000 in 2007, using money from the charity. What became of it after that is unknown.

In 2017, after The Post wrote about the portrait, Trump listed it as an asset on his charitys IRS forms. He assigned it a value of $700. But he did not say where it was.

On this years tax forms, however, the paintings value was listed at $0. Trumps attorney did not respond to a query from The Washington Post about why.

Read more about:Schools blindsided as province slashes funds, Dec. 15

The Doug Ford PC government continues to spread its special brand of chaos, this time throwing the plans of Ontario school boards, students and parents into disarray.

What a lesson in democracy for Ontario students: the governments own consultation on education still had a day to run and there was no notice to students. Timing the announcement for a Friday afternoon, 10 days before Christmas, is a blatant attempt to avoid public scrutiny of a terrible decision. More than 24 hours later, there is still no information posted on the governments website.

This latest attack is a clear sign of what Ford has in store for Ontarios schools. For those of us who care about public education in this province, its a sobering message for whats ahead for 2019.

Laura Walton, Belleville

The reason given by the Doug Ford government to cut funding for programs that assisted needy teenagers to obtain after-school jobs, provided support for racialized youngsters and gave some assistance with Indigenous issues, is yet another example of the governments couldnt-care-less attitude about the cost-cutting that affects the most needy throughout the province.

The announced wasteful spending explanation can easily be corrected if the provincial government believes the cost  which amounts to just one per cent of school board funding  is helping those needing help. One of the tenets of good governance is to identify areas where assistance is needed and not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Stan Adamson, Etobicoke

The people of Ontario need to understand that Doug Ford does not place any value on education, culture, the environment or programs for the poor. Those are the areas he will continue to cut.

Sadly, each time they make these cuts, they use an identical excuse. You just need to substitute what they are cutting for the word students in this quote from Saturday paper: A spokesperson for Minister of Education Lisa Thompson said Saturday that such funds must be better managed so that they have the greatest impact on students. 

Someone really needs to ask them what that means. My interpretation is that it means its gone and soon you will forget what we did. Kind of like the sex education curriculum, two paid sick days and midwives.

Oh well, at least we have buck a beer and open for business signs.

Michael Yaffe, Toronto

Read more about:Hard lessons for Canada, editorial, Dec. 16

Theres more at play here than law, politics, international trade and security.

Canada has been a favourite trading partner with China for decades. And Canada has welcomed, with open arms, thousands of immigrants from China. They, in turn, have made substantial contributions to the wealth and prosperity of our country.

So why are they kidnapping Canadians, making travel to China uneasy and attacking the weakest link in a three-way dispute? Such bullying is short-sighted and out of character for a nation that places credence on long-term relationships.

Then theres U.S. President Donald Trump, who has turned this dispute into a bargaining chip. They do it because they know they can get away with it. We are being taken advantage of by China and manipulated by the U.S.

Sunny ways is not the way to negotiate.

Donald Cangiano, Oakville

Canada could have satisfied the rule of law by arresting Meng Wanzhou and releasing her on her pledge to attend a set court date. This treatment is not about rule of law in my view, but about fear of the U.S.

Peter Crosby, Toronto

Read more about:OTTAWAFederal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer believes he will be prime minister by this time next year, after defeating Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to lead his party to a majority government.

If he only holds Trudeau to a minority government, Scheer believes Conservatives will be happy for him to stick around as leader and try again in 2023, if not sooner.

And if he loses the 2019 federal election outright?

Scheer insists he hasnt thought about that prospect. At all.

In a wide-ranging conversation with the Star at a holiday reception he hosted at Stornoway, the official residence of the Opposition leader, Scheer did allow that one factor hed weigh if he does lose is the toll of public life on his family.

The 39-year-old father of five will have been in office for 15 years by then, with all of his kids born since he became MP for Regina-QuAppelle in 2004.

Read more:

Opinion | Susan Delacourt: With his focus on stability, Justin Trudeau has at least one thing in common with his predecessor

Growth in federal spending should be tied to economic growth, Scheer says

Opinion | Chantal Hebert: Singh, Scheer and Trudeau are facing tough times heading into an election year

So he has thought about it.

Yet Scheer insists hes not planning to lose. Not to Trudeau, nor to Jagmeet Singh, the embattled NDP leader.

Scheer openly wishes Singh was doing better, and frequently encourages New Democrats to focus their political fire on the Trudeau Liberals  their common enemy  rather than take shots at his party.

Left-wing vote splits are important in ridings where strong Conservative candidates can come up the middle to win.

At the reception where he invited journalists to mingle with his shadow ministers (as he calls them), senior staff and Conservative commentators, Scheer also said he wont lose ground to Maxime Bernier, the high-profile party defector and rival for Conservative voters.

Bernier went out in August with a bang, declaring the Scheer-led Conservatives were driven solely by polls and too intellectually and morally corrupt to be reformed.

Bernier created his own political vehicle: the Peoples Party of Canada.

Max is not going to win one seat, including his own, Scheer predicted.

Scheer won the support of social conservatives and dairy farmers during the leadership race in which he beat Bernier, and now hes nominated a popular local mayor and a former president of an association of Quebec municipalities to run against Bernier in 2019 in his home riding of Beauce.

The only irritant, Scheer says, is Bernier could pull away some bedrock libertarian conservative support in Western ridings where the traditional Conservative vote might splinter, but theres nothing I can do about that.

And if Scheer is worried after a couple of internal critics were granted anonymity to subtly undermine him recently in the National Post, the Conservative leader does not show it.

Still, the politician who should be the centre of attention in a room is not a person around whom a crowd naturally gathers, even at a party in his own house.

According to the most recent poll from Nanos Research, Scheer lags Trudeau by about 10 percentage points as the preferred choice for prime minister.

Charisma is not his strong point. Scheer himself jokes about his dad jokes, his dad body, and his dimpled smile.

On the upside, the NDP leader is in a much worse place, with Singh trailing Green Leader Elizabeth May, both languishing in the single digits, and Bernier barely registering, at 2 per cent. A full 25 per cent of Canadians were unsure of whom they preferred.

Bob Plamondon, an author who has written extensively about Canadian conservative politics, says if you look at the polls, most people havent formed an impression of Andrew Scheer one way or the other.

Plamondon, who wrote a chronicle of successful Conservative party leaders in his book Blue Thunder, says Scheer ought to take note of the lessons of history: there is not a great track record of party leaders losing an election and coming back to fight another one, unless the results are really close or another election seems around the corner.

Although Scheer says he is looking forward to a holiday break with his wife Jill and the kids in Regina, where they still keep a home near her parents place, he says hes ready for the 10 months of hard campaigning that lie ahead.

In many ways, that campaign has already begun.

The Liberals  who only hold a 12-seat majority at the moment  say theyll tout a record that includes more benefits for children and low-income workers, a new North American free trade deal, business tax measures to boost competitiveness, a carbon pricing plan, and spending for training for jobs of the future.

But despite buying a $4.5-billion pipeline, Trudeau missed an early opportunity in the fall economic update to address concerns about workers in Albertas struggling oilpatch, and faces new opposition among Conservative leaders in provincial legislatures who vow to fight his carbon pricing plan.

Yet on many days, it is not Scheer who seizes the spotlight. Some days its a Conservative premier like Doug Ford, or a former Trudeau ally like Albertas Rachel Notley. Other days its one of his own caucus members.

Often in Parliament, finance critic Pierre Poilievre is the master of the zinger, delivering pointed critiques of Trudeau or Finance Minister Bill Morneau on the fly, with gusto and without notes. It was Poilievre who delivered the Conservative response to the governments fall economic update.

Scheer was wiped out after a red-eye journey from Vancouver that day, which is why Pierre was tapped, he said.

Scheer says hes happy to have a strong parliamentary team to take the lead on files, and hes in no rush to roll out platform details this far ahead of the election.

He said the Conservative party will release its climate policy well enough in advance of the 2019 vote that the public will be able to fully evaluate it.

I believe, he added, that Justin Trudeau released his climate plan two months before the October 2015 election.

In fact, Trudeau announced his carbon pricing plan in a February 2015 speech to Calgarys Petroleum Club  eight months before the vote  and released the Liberals entire environmental platform in June, four months before the vote.

Scheer has been travelling more in the past few months, Instagramming his meetings with party supporters. He is also seeking out stakeholders who he doesnt count as supporters including, he points out, the Toronto Star, and the countrys largest private sector union, Unifor.

The Conservative leader is pondering how to address concerns of media organizations that he says are worried about the CBCs government-subsidized news website sucking commercial ad revenue away, and about the flow of Canadian advertising revenue to Google and Facebook.

Scheer flatly opposes what he calls Trudeaus private sector media bailout, a package of taxation and other changes that he says potentially could corrupt professional political journalists into providing more favourable coverage to the Liberals than he believes they already do.

He says there is definitely a difference in how media cover the Conservatives versus the Liberals, pulling up a year-old-tweet by a CBC News account that was a promo for its coverage of a government announcement on the carbon taxation plan. It cited the governments boast it would be effective and affordable for all.

Instead, Scheer is looking for possible solutions to the media revenue dilemma in Europe, where copyright agreements are aimed at ensuring a greater sharing of revenue between content creators and those who aggregate or simply repost original reporting.

Scheer asked to meet with Unifor president Jerry Dias, who represents many media workers and journalists. Some Conservatives were angered when Unifor Canada tweeted a photo of its national executive board that Dias says was a parody of Scheers pose with Conservative premiers and Alberta party leader Jason Kenney on the cover of Macleans magazine, dubbed the Resistance.

Unifor tweeted a similar pose of its leaders, saying they were planning for the federal election: Welcome to Andrew Scheers worst nightmare.

Neither Scheer nor Dias will discuss what they said in private, but Dias said it was a respectful conversation.

In retrospect, said Dias, his own retweet should not have contained the hashtag #stopscheerstupidity.

It frankly wasnt fair, and it was disrespectful when I didnt need to be. I should have said #scheernonsense, because the position they were taking was sheer nonsense, the union leader said.

While Dias says he wont be voting for Scheer, neither he nor the Conservative leader are going anywhere, and need to deal with each other in a respectful way.

In fact, Dias said, they agree on the need to advance construction of oil pipelines, on the need to keep GMs Oshawa plant open and to ensure U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs against Canada are lifted.

But Dias believes the Conservative Party lost a lot of support among unionized workers after the Stephen Harper government legislated restrictions on organized labour.

Scheer agrees those moves hurt the Conservatives he now leads, saying he got push back when he went door-to-door. But now he thinks the issues hes raising  the job-killing carbon tax, among others  are resonating with workers including manual labourers.

Im not going to win big labour,  said Scheer, but he is convinced he can win back what Conservative party strategists have often called the bread-and-butter labour vote.

Hell certainly need that, and more besides.

Read more about:Ron Taverners career path remains cloudy as he resumed the Toronto police job he quit days ago and the government said his controversial appointment as OPP commissioner  which was postponed over the weekend  depends on where the chips fall in an independent review.

The latest twist in the turbulent saga, which has prompted widespread concerns about potential conflicts of interest given that Taverner is a family friend of Premier Doug Ford, came Monday when Toronto police confirmed the 72-year-old rescinded the resignation he tendered Friday.

Hell be back in his role as unit commander, Toronto police spokeswoman Caroline de Kloet told the Star.

Chief Mark Saunders gave the go-ahead for that on Sunday night. No one had been tapped to replace Taverner in leading three west-end divisions that include the Ford family turf in Etobicoke.

Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones, who along with the premier has repeatedly defended Taverners appointment to the $275,000-a-year job heading Canadas second-largest police force, ducked reporters questions on the situation Monday.

But Government House Leader Todd Smith indicated the Ford administrations next move awaits the results of a probe  which could go on for months  by provincial integrity commissioner J. David Wake.

Read more:

Opinion | Martin Regg Cohn: The hidden danger for Ontario when a premier meddles in the OPP

Concern over conflicts of interest would hurt Taverner in OPP job, policing experts say

Taverner was considered for other top jobs with province, sources say

Were going to let the integrity commissioner carry on with his investigation and then well see where the chips fall after that and move on appropriately, Smith said.

Taverner has not returned a telephone call and an email from the Star seeking comment.

The veteran Toronto police officer said Saturday he was temporarily stepping aside out of the greatest respect for the brave men and women of the Ontario Provincial Police. The government agreed to the request and noted it retains full confidence in him.

The hiring process raised eyebrows because it included a lowering of qualifications that cleared the way for Taverner, who as a superintendent was below the rank specified in the job posting, to apply.

His appointment has fuelled a political firestorm.

A chorus of critics  including opposition parties, former RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson and former OPP commissioner Chris Lewis  said it is dangerous to have a friend of the premier as Ontarios top cop. They say it sets the stage for conflicts of interest should the government become the subject of any police investigations, as happened so prominently in the gas plants scandal under a previous Liberal regime.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Taverner appears worried his OPP appointment will be scuttled.

This entire situation should never have started in the first place. And its because Mr. Ford needs to understand he cant just get away with doing whatever he wants to do, added Horwath, whose party called for the integrity commissioner to investigate.

Hopefully Mr. Fords learned something in this process. Mr. Taverner, hopefully, has learned something as well.

Career police officers with a higher rank than Taverner were rejected in favour of him, including a former Ontario head of the RCMP with more experience in managing a large staff, confirmed one OPP source.

The government rejected a New Democrat motion to appoint a select committee of MPPs, with equal numbers of government and opposition members, to investigate the Taverner hiring process with powers to subpoena witnesses and compel documents in full view of the public, unlike the behind-closed-doors review by Wake.

Ford will be the likely target of the Wake probe, which would investigate whether the premier violated the Members Integrity Act when qualifications for the OPP post were lowered, says former integrity commissioner Coulter Osborne.

The issue would be whether there is any impropriety, said Osborne, who is also a former associate chief justice of Ontario.

The time frame for such an investigation varies, said another former integrity commissioner.

We always try to do it as quickly as possible because peoples reputations are at stake and its very contentious, said Lynn Morrison. It could be a month, it could be two or three months. It just depends on the nature of the complaint.

Liberal MPP Nathalie Des Rosiers, a former dean of law at the University of Ottawa, urged Attorney General Caroline Mulroney to appoint an independent investigator to examine any links between the premiers office and Taverners hiring, and the qualifications of all applicants.

The credibility and public confidence in the police and the justice system are at stake, she wrote in a letter to Mulroney.

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner called on Taverner to walk away from the OPP appointment permanently, saying there is too much controversy around this.

The bottom line is this is the Ontario Provincial Police, not the premiers police, added Schreiner.

Im shocked that nobody in the caucus, in the cabinet, in the (Ontario public service), nobody said its wrong to appoint one of your family friends police commissioner. It should be obvious.

With files from Sandro Contenta

Wendy Gillis is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and policing. Reach her by email at wgillis@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @wendygillis

Read more about:Premier Doug Ford is accusing Ontario Provincial Police Deputy Commissioner Brad Blair of violating the Police Services Act for complaining about Ron Taverners controversial appointment as the next OPP commissioner.

Rallying behind his embattled chum Taverner, Ford lashed out at Blair, who served as interim OPP head until Saturday, for suggesting in a letter there was political interference in elevating a 72-year-old Toronto police superintendent to run the provincial force.

Ford would not say how specifically Blair had violated the Police Services Act.

Theres a lot of misinformation going out there, the premier said Tuesday of Blairs formal complaint to the Ontario ombudsman.

It was Fords first news conference since the Taverner debacle erupted again last week over concerns about potential conflicts of interest for an OPP boss who is a pal of the premier.

The appointment is in limbo while Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake investigates whether Ford personally played a role in the hiring of Taverner, who has attended family barbecues and Ford Fest events.

I could sit here and give you all the items that werent accurate in that letter and theres endless ones. I could give you a list of all the Police (Services) Act that was broken throughout that whole letter, but none of you want to report on that, Ford said, accusing the media of being a little slanted in its coverage.

The Police Services Act lists the duties of police officers and governs how police services operate in Ontario.

Its unclear what the premier was referring to when he accused Blair of violating the Act. If Ford was accusing Blair of revealing secret information, the Act is largely silent about such matters.

The only confidentiality clause in the Act is in a section called complaints and disciplinary proceedings, which deals with how internal or public complaints  usually about a police officer  must be dealt with.

Blairs lawyer warned his client will not be cowed in his court quest for an ombudsmans investigation. As for personal shots by the premier, no amount of intimidation or insult will deter the deputy commissioner from seeking a full airing of these issues, Julian Falconer said.

Blairs letter alleged the premiers chief of staff, Dean French, asked the OPP to purchase a large camper-type vehicle ... modified to specifications the premiers office would provide us and keep the costs off the books.

The premier called that a baseless claim without merit during an event at Amazons new Toronto offices.

Thats just not accurate whatsoever. I asked if they had a used one, Ford said.

Ford did not say why he needed the van or why his office allegedly wanted the costs of customizing the vehicle kept hidden.

Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser said the evasions and the remark about wanting a used van ring hollow.

It sounds like something my teenage kids used to say to me when I asked them a serious question. They had some lame story, Fraser said.

Ford is making a mistake by doubling down on support of Taverner, said Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, who called the appointment an error in judgment.

Its obvious to everyone, Schreiner said. You dont hire a family friend to be police chief of the province.

Ford also insisted Blairs allegation that French sat in on the job interview with Taverner was not true.

He never sat on the board, the premier said

Ford also suggested Blair is a disgruntled also-ran for the commissioners post. I get it that hes upset he didnt win a fair process. I understand. Did he step over the line on a lot of things? Im going to let the media decide that and I wish you would look into that, he said.

So what Im going to do is take the high road and Im going to let the review go through.

In the meantime, Ford said, Were looking forward to Ron Taverner becoming the OPP commissioner. Lets get through the (integrity commissioners) review and see what happens.

He also praised Taverner as a cops cop and insisted OPP officers have been ringing his phone off the hook.

At Queens Park, New Democrats ratcheted up the pressure over the Taverner appointment, calling for Wake to use rarely invoked power to convene a full public inquiry.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said in a statement. The investigation into Doug Fords interference in Ontarios police force, and the attempt to install an insider as commissioner, cant only happen behind closed doors.

Wakes review prompted Taverner to request on Saturday that the OPP appointment be postponed until a final report is completed.

Questions were raised after qualification requirements were lowered two days into the application period, clearing the way for Taverner to submit his resume. On Monday, Taverner returned to his job at Toronto police heading divisions in northwest Toronto, an area that includes the Ford family stomping ground of Etobicoke.

Former commissioners of the RCMP and OPP, among others, have sounded the alarm over potential conflicts of interest if a friend of the premier heads the police force, particularly if the force has to investigate anything related to the government  as occurred several years ago in the scandal over a previous Liberal regimes cancellation of two gas plants. Criminal charges and a conviction resulted.

Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones rejected the NDP calls for a full public inquiry, saying Wakes probe will suffice.

The investigation has begun ... I look forward to the report, she told MPPs in the legislatures daily question period.

There was nothing wrong with the process and Ron Taverner is an excellent choice for OPP commissioner.

Among others, Taverner was chosen over Blair and a former senior Mountie who headed the RCMPs Ontario operations.

The NDP move came a day after Fords Progressive Conservative government rejected a motion to establish a select committee of MPPs to investigate the hiring.

Taverner has not replied to interview requests from the Star.

With files from Sandro Contenta

Read more about:VANCOUVERUnlicensed Vancouver cannabis dispensary owners say the city may be moving in to close their businesses by the end of the month.

While some Vancouver dispensaries made an early bid to fall into line, paying the tens of thousands of dollars in licensing and development permit fees required to operate legally under municipal regulations, others refused to do so. And some of those businesses  such as Cannabis Culture, which has operated in the city for nearly a quarter-century  are now facing a shutdown following a B.C. Supreme Court decision last week.

Jeremiah Vandermeer, CEO of the Cannabis Culture chain of dispensaries, said he received word through his lawyer late Sunday the city is talking tough about ramped up fines and jail time if his shops continue to operate without a licence.

Theyre threatening immediate enforcement against the medical marijuana dispensaries who are serving a vital purpose in town, and its right before Christmas, Vandermeer said in a Monday phone interview, adding a closure would mean hed have to let dozens of employees go on top of the medical cannabis customers they serve who would be left in the lurch.

We serve a heck of a lot of patients who are very scared and nervous right now because they will not have anywhere to get their quality medicine ... and for many people this is potentially dangerous or even deadly.

Dana Larsen, owner of The Medical Cannabis Dispensary in East Vancouver confirmed Sunday hed received the same notice from his own lawyer. Larsens lawyer declined to comment on the issue, citing professional obligations.

Read more:

No Day 1 police crackdown on cannabis dispensaries, Vancouver police chief says

Budtending: How cannabis legalization may stamp out the west coast culture

Vancouvers medical cannabis patients left without fair access following B.C. Supreme Court decision, say experts

A B.C. Supreme Court decision last week affirmed the citys right to assert its land use and municipal licensing authority in relation to injunctions sought against Vancouver dispensaries for operating outside city regulations.

The city introduced its medical marijuana-related use (MMRU) model in April 2016 and gave existing dispensaries until the months end to close down or face enforcement. The city subsequently filed 53 injunctions against illegal marijuana-related businesses for refusing to comply with its new regulatory regime.

While nearly half of those businesses eventually closed, 28 participated in a test case before the B.C. Supreme Court, including both Larsen and Vandermeers dispensaries. Last weeks court decision signalled the city is within its rights to take enforcement action against those businesses that continue to operate without licences.

The Vancouver Police Department declined to comment on whether it would participate in such enforcement, referring questions related to the courts decision to the city. The province likewise declined to comment, referring StarMetro to the City of Vancouver regarding approvals of local licence applications.

The City of Vancouver also declined to comment on whether enforcement was imminent, saying only it was negotiating with dispensary lawyers regarding the outcome of the court decision.

The citys law department is in the process of contacting counsel for these dispensaries to resolve the issue of court costs and to ensure that the courts order is complied with, the city said in a Monday statement submitted to StarMetro. Should there be non-compliance with the court order, it is open to the city to commence contempt of court proceedings to obtain compliance with the courts order.

The citys statement also noted the courts decision does not apply to the 56 Vancouver cannabis retail stores which have obtained an appropriate development permit and are located in zoning-compliant locations.

To date, the city has issued 3,713 tickets totalling close to $3 million against dispensaries operating outside of city regulations in Vancouver. The city has historically been seen as more tolerant to dispensaries operating in a legal grey area than many other municipalities around the province and country.

Cannabis advocates, however, long feared that legalization would put a squeeze on the space medical retailers had carved out for themselves in spite of governmental efforts to rein them in  a regulatory effort many view as unconstitutional because of its implicit restriction of patient access to brick-and-mortar medical cannabis suppliers.

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart likewise declined to give a firm date on when enforcement would begin, saying Monday the city wanted to give dispensaries a chance to adjust.

I dont want to be heavy-handed, here, he said. Im really looking at these businesses like theyre any other business now that cannabis is legal, but I think they need to show  that theyre willing to move ahead.

Cannabis stores that want to operate in Vancouver need to either get with the program and work on getting licensed or face enforcement action, Stewart said.

But Vandermeer said he found this suggestion galling. Onerous city regulations preclude 90 per cent of Vancouvers current dispensaries from any kind of path to legalization, he said. The proximity rules in particular  which dictate dispensaries may not be within 300 metres of a school, community centre or another dispensary  mean few of the citys current cannabis shops can apply for a license, he said.

The truth, quite frankly, is the dispensaries do not have a path to (become) legal stores, because the city has not let them, Vandermeer said.

Were begging the mayor and begging the city councillors to allow us to get licensed. Thats all we want. Tell us how to do it. Show us how to get licensed and we will.

But Stewart said dispensary owners have had more than enough time to adjust to city regulations.

Its not like these bylaws were sprung on people, he said. Theyve known for quite some time, for many months, that this is what is coming.

And while there are concerns some patients may be left without access to retail cannabis, 14 Vancouver-based cannabis stores are currently awaiting final licensing approval from the province, Stewart said. These stores should be up and running by early 2019 to serve the needs of the citys cannabis consumers, he said.

In the meantime, Vandermeer said hes been working with his lawyers to decide on a course of action. Larsen said Sunday hes in the same process.

Neither man was sure what enforcement action would entail  it could be anything from further tickets and fines to a chain on the door to prevent entry, they speculated. Both said they would continue to work on finding a way to keep their doors open legally in the hopes a solution could be found.

But Larsen said Sunday that regardless of the consequences, he would continue to work the store  by himself if necessary.

If its a choice between following the bureaucratic rules and serving a patient that desperately needs cannabis medicine, the patient is going to win out for me every time, he said.

Read more about:EDWARDSVILLE  A judge Monday denied a request by a man who killed a Maryville pastor to roam free on the Alton Mental Health Center.

The judge also ordered the killers family to stop contacting his victims family.

Circuit Judge Richard Tognarelli denied the motion by Terry J. Sedlacek requesting added privileges, but Assistant States Attorney Jennifer Mudge pointed out that Sedlaceks grandmother, Norma L. Abram of Glen Carbon, had contacted the daughter of the victim, Rev. Fred Winters, in an apparent attempt to influence the outcome of the hearing.

Cindy Winters, the pastors surviving widow, testified that the incident caused her daughter and the rest of the family distress. It causes all that pain to return, she said.

One of the hardest things is it is something we have to live with every day, she said. When something like this comes up it is scary. The nightmares return.

Sedlaceks mother, Ruth Abernathy, testified that her son is, indeed, psychotic, but he has been making progress and is able to communicate cogently. She said he was a fine man until he contracted Lyme disease and encephalitis, which made him psychotic. He still receives treatment for Lyme disease, she testified. After the hearing, her only comment was, Where is the forgiveness?

Mudge argued that Sedlacek should remain confined and under scrutiny because he remains psychotic, even though his caregivers have reported that he is making progress.

He needs to stay exactly where he is, Mudge told the judge. I believe his grandmothers insistence is the reason the Department of Human Services is recommending added privileges. Until May 17, he was hearing voices and growling.

She claimed his grandmother nagged the caregivers.

He committed a cold-blooded murder, Mudge said.

Abernathy testified that her son does not remember the killing.

Sedlacek made national headlines in 2009 when he walked into the First Baptist Church of Maryville on a Sunday morning and shot and killed the pastor with a .45 caliber handgun during his sermon. He stabbed two men trying to subdue him, and he also stabbed himself.

He was found not guilty by reason of insanity in July 2015.

He has been in the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services since shortly after the incident. He has been repeatedly found unfit to stand trial, and Tognarelli said in an order issued in July 2015 that experts agree that he is unlikely to ever be fit to stand trial.

He will remain under the authority of the court system, likely for the rest of his life.

Public Defender John Rekowski argued that his clients mother, as well as his caregivers, have said he has made progress. He said he and his client are not asking for permission for him to roam free in the community but to be free to walk the grounds of the mental health facilities as part of his treatment. He called Mudges comments about nagging rank speculation.

Sedlacek was charged the day following the killing with first-degree murder and aggravated battery charges.

He has remained hospitalized in state-run mental health facilities since that time. The subsequent investigation into the shooting determined that Sedlacek did not know Pastor Winters nor was he a member of the First Baptist Church.

There are no winners here, Rekowski said after the hearing.

States Attorney Tom Gibbons said he and his staff appreciate the judges consideration for the sake of the victims family and the safety of the community.

Reach reporter Sanford Schmidt at 618-208-6449.EDWARDSVILLE  A judge Monday denied a request by a man who killed a Maryville pastor to roam free on the Alton Mental Health Center.

The judge also ordered the killers family to stop contacting his victims family.

Circuit Judge Richard Tognarelli denied the motion by Terry J. Sedlacek requesting added privileges, but Assistant States Attorney Jennifer Mudge pointed out that Sedlaceks grandmother, Norma L. Abram of Glen Carbon, had contacted the daughter of the victim, Rev. Fred Winters in an apparent attempt to influence the outcome of the hearing.

Cindy Winters, the pastors surviving widow, testified that the incident caused her daughter and the rest of the family distress. It causes all that pain to return, she said.

One of the hardest things is it is something we have to live with every day, she said. When something like this comes up it is scary. The nightmares return.

Sedlaceks mother, Ruth Abernathy, testified that her son is, indeed, psychotic, but he has been making progress and can communicate cogently. She said he was a fine man until he contracted Lyme disease and encephalitis, which made him psychotic. He still receives treatment for Lyme disease, she testified. After the hearing, her only comment was, Where is the forgiveness?

Mudge argued that Sedlacek should remain confined and under scrutiny because he remains psychotic, even though his caregivers have reported that he is making progress.

He needs to stay exactly where he is, Mudge told the judge. I believe his grandmothers insistence is the reason the Department of Human Services is recommending added privileges. Until May 17, he was hearing voices and growling.

She claimed his grandmother, nagged the caregivers.

He committed a cold-blooded murder, Mudge said.

Abernathy testified that her son does not remember the killing.

Sedlacek made national headlines in 2009 when he walked into the First Baptist Church of Maryville on a Sunday morning and shot the pastor dead with a .45 caliber handgun during his sermon. He stabbed two men trying to subdue him, and he also stabbed himself.

He was found not guilty by reason of insanity in July 2015.

He has been in the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services since shortly after the incident. He has been repeatedly found unfit to stand trial, and Tognarelli said in an order issued in July 2015 that experts agree that he is unlikely to ever be fit to stand trial.

He will remain under the authority of the court system, likely for the rest of his life.

Public Defender John Rekowski argued that his clients mother, as well as his caregivers, have said he has made progress. He said he and his client are not asking for permission for him to roam free in the community but to be free to walk the grounds of the mental health facilities as part of his treatment. He called Mudges comments about nagging, rank speculation.

Sedlacek was charged the day following the killing with first-degree murder and aggravated battery charges.

He has remained hospitalized in state-run mental health facilities since that time. The subsequent investigation into the shooting determined that Sedlacek did not know Pastor Winters nor was he a member of the First Baptist Church.

There are no winners here, Rekowski said after the hearing.

States Attorney Tom Gibbons said he and his staff appreciate the judges for the sake of the victims family and the safety of the community.

Reach reporter Sanford Schmidt at 618-208-6449.ALTON  In the Gospels, the good news of Jesus birth is entrusted only to angels. On Sunday, Dec. 10, four local angels shared a message of inspiration and hope with patients at OSF Saint Anthonys and at Saint Clares Villa.

The youngsters, Lilia Springman, Anna Crews, Emma Crews and Senica McGee donned angel robes and visited the campuses during the patients Christmas parties.Perhaps two of the most influential experiences a college student can have along their academic journey are to conduct research and attend professional conferences. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville senior speech-language pathology and audiology student Alyssa Groene had the opportunity to do both last semester, calling her attendance at the American Speech, Language and Hearing Associations (ASHA) annual convention one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Groene, of Wentzville, attended the ASHAs annual event held Nov. 14-17 in Boston. She joined international conference attendees alongside SIUEs James Panico, PhD, CCC-SLP, associate professor, and speech-language pathology and audiology undergraduate program director in the School of Education, Health and Human Behaviors Department of Applied Health.

The ASHA convention provides professionals with the opportunity to learn about the latest research and gain new clinical skills, Panico said. There was record attendance this year with 18,500 people.

At the conference, Panico and Groene shared their research insight regarding the level of exposure students in general education courses have to content in the area of speech-language pathology and audiology.

Research shows that communication disorders are highly prevalent among school-age children, Panico explained. Furthermore, classroom teachers are typically the main referral source of therapy for children with communication disorders. However, research suggests classroom teachers may have limited knowledge about communication disorders. Therefore, it is critical that school teachers be knowledgeable about important signs of communication disorders and ways to make the classroom more comfortable for those students.

Panico and Groene noted that significant barriers to covering speech-language pathology and audiology content exist, including limited time and space within general education program curriculum.

Overall, the results underscored the need for increased interprofessional collaboration including co-teaching, as well as increased experiential learning activities for general education students, Panico noted. I strongly believe that this particular research with Alyssa highlights the importance of using research findings to inform classroom practices. This ensures that future educators, as well as speech-language pathologists, are best prepared to work with children who exhibit communication disorders.

SIUEs Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (URCA) program provided Groene with the opportunity to support this important scholarship alongside Panico.

I know my attendance at ASHA will be a deciding factor for getting into graduate school, Groene said. Additionally, URCA has taught me an incredible amount. Dr. Panico is phenomenal. Most undergraduates do not get the opportunity to conduct high-quality research. I am forever grateful for the URCA program and Dr. Panico.A central Illinois congressman is confident cooler heads will prevail before Fridays deadline to fund parts of the federal government.

During a televised meeting last week with Democratic leaders U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, President Donald Trump said hed shut down the government if he doesnt get $5 billion for a southern border wall.

I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck, Trump said. Because the people of this country dont want criminals and people that have lots of problems, and drugs pouring into our country.

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, said most of the federal government, like the Departments of Defense, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, have been funded.

You wont see a change if we cant come to an agreement, but thats no excuse, Davis said. That shouldnt be an excuse for people in Washington in the House on both sides of the aisle to get to Friday without an agreement.

The Pentagon, Health and Human Services, Education and energy and water programs have also been funded through most of next year.

Elements of the federal government that have not been funded yet include the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior, Davis said.

Its expected that most of the federal employees under those agencies performing essential duties will continue to work, though paychecks would be suspended.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, told ABC on Sunday that theres more than $1.3 billion on the table for a border wall.

And we define them in a way so we arent building some medieval wall, but using them in a smart fashion, Durbin said. Its up to the president to accept this.

Durbin said he wants funds used for border patrol technology like equipment to scan more vehicles coming in for drugs, weapons or victims of human trafficking.

Others have said Trump is just pushing a southern border wall to show supporters hes keeping a campaign promise.

Davis said opponents just dont want to give the president a win.

Lets quit playing politics with it, Davis said. Lets make sure that we come up with a good bipartisan agreement that will fund the border structure and also fund the government.

Davis said he believes cooler heads will prevail. But if they dont, he expects to be working through the holidays until a deal is reached.The International Trade Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (ITC at SIUE) is celebrating the success of its clients Sev-Rend High-Performance Packaging and Smart Controls LLC, both of which were honored as successful exporters during the inaugural Mid-America Trade Summit held Nov. 14-15 at the University of Missouri.

The event drew approximately 90 exporters, trade assistance providers, trade professionals, educators and students from six states. It was hosted by the MU International Trade Center, in conjunction with the Trulaske College of Business and the Illinois SBDC/ITC network.

The trade summit provided an outstanding opportunity for small businesses, service providers, consultants, faculty and students from across Mid-America to network with business leaders and successful exporters, as well as expand their knowledge of topics related to international trade, said ITC at SIUE Director Silvia Torres Bowman.

A focal point of the event was the recognition of 12 successful exporters from across the Mid-America states. Among the honorees were Collinsville-based Sev-Rend High-Performance Packing and Fairview Heights-based Smart Controls LLC representing Illinois and the Southwestern region. Both were nominated by the ITC at SIUE.

Sev-Rend has taken great steps as a company in the past several years to emphasize and improve our business exposure within Mexico and Central America, said Sev-Rend Vice President of Sales and Marketing Tony ODriscoll. Almost everyone in our organization has had some hand in our success at exporting. To have that recognized by the state of Illinois is a real credit to our team and validation of our efforts.

ODriscoll emphasizes the positive impact the ITC at SIUE and the state have had on Sev-Rends success, including offering support surrounding newly imposed tariffs that helped the company leverage its resources for competitive advantages.

None of our export success would have been possible without the vision of our owner, Robert Williams, and general manager, Greg Petermeyer, ODriscoll noted. They have put Sev-Rend on a path to accelerate growth by recognizing the need to expand beyond the U.S.

The state of Illinois and the ITC have also been key to our success, he added. Their support has introduced us to ongoing business partners and helped Sev-Rend gain brand recognition beyond our Mexican growth target. With their support, weve gained business relationships in Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica.

According to President and CEO of Smart Controls LLC David Kniepkamp, attending the Mid-America Trade Summit was a game-changing experience.

As a small business, Smart Controls uses the expertise of many to conduct international marketing, sales and trade, Kniepkamp said. Having focused attention on our efforts in the presence of so many prestigious companies was humbling. The summit allowed insight, and sharing of efforts and experiences with others directly involved with international trade.

Kniepkamp notes perseverance has been key to Smart Controls success.

The ITC at SIUE has been a flagship for Smart Controls, with support and direction of best practices to understand and work in the global market, he said. The knowledge obtained has served to improve Smart Controls ability to efficiently conduct international trade.

Both Tony and David delivered insightful presentations, sharing best practices and lessons learned from years of experience in selling products around the world, Torres Bowman said. Their inspiring stories kept the audience engaged. It was a great pleasure to have them participate and contribute to the summit.

The Mid-America Trade Summit also featured keynote presenter Shawn Askinosie, founder of Askinosie Chocolate in Springfield, Mo. His topic was Finding Meaningful Work in Todays Global Economy.

Additionally, representatives from Boeing HorizonX, Black & Veatch and the Trulaske College of Business shared insights and discussed emerging topics linked to Global Technology and Innovation Trends.

The SIUE School of Businesss Internship Coordinator Amanda Russell attended the events networking reception.

Attending the trade summit networking reception provided a great advantage to increase the School of Businesss profile amongst our small businesses and service providers in the region, said Russell. Connecting with these business partners allows us to develop more internship and full-time employment opportunities for our students.

By partnering with the ITC, School of Business students have opportunities to cultivate professional development relationships with global companies right here in southern Illinois, Russell added.ALTON  If you are ready quit smoking, help is available through an upcoming American Cancer Society smoking cessation support program hosted by OSF Saint Anthonys Health Center.

A free, four-week Freshstart program begins on Tuesday, Jan. 8, from 6 to 7 p.m. in Auditorium B of OSF Saint Clares Medical Office Building, 815 East Fifth St.

Freshstart is designed to help any tobacco user, including those who may be unsure about wanting to quit, and specifically addresses indecision about quitting.

According to Karen Boyd, RN, one of four trained smoking cessation facilitators at OSF Saint Anthonys, We follow the American Cancer Societys program that teaches participants effective ways to overcome nicotine dependence, including essential information to plan a successful quit attempt, skills for coping with cravings and group support.

The evidence-based approach is geared to help participants increase their motivation to quit.

Participants learn effective approaches for quitting, said Boyd. They make an informed choice about the quitting techniques they will use such as cold turkey, scheduled smoking, medication, or tapering to guide them in making a successful quit attempt.

Benefits of smoking cessation, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, include:

* 20 minutes after quitting: heart rate, blood pressure drop.

* 12 hours after quitting: carbon monoxide in blood stream drops to normal.

* Two weeks to three months after quitting: circulation, lung function improve; heart attack risk begins to drop.

* One to nine months after quitting: cough less, breathe easier.

* One year after quitting: risk of coronary heart disease cut in half.

* Two to five years after quitting: risk of cancer of mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder cut in half; stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker.

* 10 years after quitting: half as likely to die from lung cancer; risk of kidney or pancreatic cancer decreases.

* 15 years after quitting: risk of coronary heart disease same as a nonsmoker.

To register or learn more about the four-week Freshstart program, please visit www.osfsaintanthonys.org.BETHALTO  Six people from outside the area were charged Monday with forgery after they allegedly presented fraudulent documents at the Illinois Secretary of State Drivers License Examination Station.

Charged were Martin Vargas-Avalos, 29; Jose M. Barrados-Geron, 48; Cristobal Vargas-Avalos, 27; Sandy F. Hernandez-Potillo, 39; Juan M. Vargas-Avalos, 30; and Omar F. Ortiz-Grandados, 24. Each was charged with felony forgery, a Class 3 felony, and bond was set at $30,000 on each.ALTON  Alton Memorial Hospital now has real-time access to some of the nations top stroke experts  even when theyre not on-site.

AMH has begun using stroke telemedicine to receive direct care consults for complicated stroke patients. Phone, Internet and video conferencing allows Stroke Network neurologists and radiologists to be remotely present at distant hospitals. Together with the partner hospital, physicians can diagnose stroke patients, begin timely treatment with the clot-dissolving drug tPA, and arrange for transport, if needed.

For acute stroke care, telemedicine means faster, more accurate on-site treatment of patients, said Kyle Ogle, the AMH Stroke Center coordinator. For patients, it means receiving local care while still benefiting from the expertise of a certified Comprehensive Stroke Center.

Using wireless Internet, a Washington University physician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital is able to participate in a remote consult which consists of a two-way audio/video feed. This technology allows the expert and patient to see and hear each other. The stroke specialist can then conduct his or her own neurological exam and interact directly with the patient, family and local medical staff. At the same time, the Washington University stroke expert has immediate access to current vital signs, test results and imaging.

The remote consult is an effective tool in getting patients diagnosed and appropriate treatment started as quickly as possible.

There is precious little time to waste when treating a stroke patient. Doctors and nurses at Alton Memorial Hospital are now able to save valuable seconds through stroke telemedicine with the Washington University Acute Neurological Emergency Consulting Service.

Benefits include:

* Immediate 24/7 access to Washington University stroke specialists, vascular neurosurgeons, endovascular interventionalists, neuro-intensivists, general neurologists and neuroradiologists.

* Real-time, face-to-face video examination of acute stroke patients and neuroimaging by stroke specialists.

* Assistance of Washington University stroke team in acute management decisions (tPA), and consultation on rapid transfer for more advanced care needs (thrombectomy, craniectomy).

* Consulting specialists familiarity with local resources provides more efficient transfers.

* Access to innovative treatments through Washington University School of Medicine clinical trials.

* Development of stronger relationship with Washington University stroke team for enhanced patient care.

* Facilitation of return to local community for primary care or neurological follow-up or rehabilitation.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells recent announcement to bring federal criminal justice reform legislation for a vote surprised many proponents accustomed to disappointment.

McConnell had teased supporters of the First Step Act with promises of action on the bill after last Novembers elections if a Senate vote count found 60 supporters, but he quickly backtracked when supporters of the legislation, including President Trump, wished to call in his pledge.

For months the White House and senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Dick Durbin of Illinois negotiated a bill that incorporated curbs to certain drug mandatory minimum sentences, increased good-time credits and expanded rehabilitative programming for people in federal prisons.

The intense objections of Senate hardliners like Tom Cotton of Arkansas and John Kennedy of Louisiana  who made false claims that the bill would lead to early releases of people convicted of violent offenses  helped deprioritize the bill by Senate leadership. But changes designed to weaken the bills impact, and strong support from the White House, Republican colleagues and conservative advocacy groups persuaded McConnell to move ahead.

Outdated thinking about crime and punishment, and political fear mongering are typically to blame for legislative inaction and the incremental nature of reforms when they do happen.

President Trumps work on criminal justice is a case in point. Last week as he urged McConnell to Go for it Mitch regarding a vote on the First Step Act, he also applauded Chinas use of the death penalty in cases involving drug distribution and announced an attorney general nominee, William Barr, well known for his promotion of prison expansion. This inconsistency is troubling and dims the prospects of more ambitious justice reform in Congress under Trump.

That is a shame because the federal justice system is facing a crisis and, while significant, the First Step Act is true to its name. People who live and work in federal prisons, which increased its population from 24,000 in 1980 to 181,000 today, find them too often overcrowded and unsafe. Waiting lists for basic rehabilitative programming for literacy and high school equivalency degrees stretch into the thousands. Correctional officer shortages have regularly forced programming and medical staff  like teachers and nurses  to guard prison units despite limited experience in those security positions and the desperate need for their skills elsewhere in a facility.

Moreover, federal mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses are among the harshest in the country. Fifty-four percent of individuals subject to a federal drug mandatory minimum in 2016 were at or below the level of street-level dealers, which is defined as selling less than one ounce of drugs. Among people serving life without parole sentences in federal prisons, half are there because of drugs.

The First Step Act is a result of many years of negotiation and advocacy for criminal justice reform. It incorporates critical sentencing reforms that return more discretion to federal judges allowing them to sentence below a harsh mandatory minimum in the lowest level cases. Moreover, it adds proportionality by reducing some of the most extreme penalties, including life without parole for multiple drug offenses.

Previous bipartisan proposals also accounted for people in prison already serving these draconian penalties by providing an opportunity to petition a judge for early release consistent with the bills reforms. In the First Step Act life sentences for people with a third drug felony are shortened but only prospectively, and the nearly 2,000 people currently serving those same sentences will die in federal prison unless they receive presidential clemency.

In 2010, Congress reduced the severity of penalties for crack cocaine offenses, overwhelmingly affecting African-Americans. A study by the U.S. Sentencing Commission on the effect five years later found the law, known as the Fair Sentencing Act, reduced the prison population and prosecutions for crack offenses all while consumption of crack cocaine continued to decline.

These reforms worked, and the First Step Act will build upon the progress. Congress should support it, and McConnell should be applauded for finally allowing a vote on these long-awaited adjustments.

The bill, however, does not go far enough and waiting an additional eight years to address some of the most extreme sentencing policies, including for people currently in prison, would be cruel. Prisons must be transformed, racial disparity in the system must be eradicated and people who present little threat to public safety deserve to be home. We all need to act with urgency to dismantle these persistent injustices.

Kara Gotsch is director of strategic initiatives for The Sentencing Project, where she leads federal advocacy efforts to reduce mandatory minimum sentences, end collateral consequences of a criminal conviction and expand reentry opportunities.Nancy Pelosi has been praying for Donald Trump.

Upon first learning this, I was tempted to dismiss it as an example of the fake news that The Donald is always complaining about. As unlikely as it seems, however, the incoming Democratic Speaker of the House indeed remembers our Republican president in her prayers.

When Pelosi and Chuck Schumer recently met with Trump and Pence at the White House, she told the president that she prayed for him. Trump replied, Thats news! Go tell the press. Pelosi promptly informed the media at a press conference.

We also learned that she gave Trump, who has become the darling of many evangelicals, a Bible lesson. Pelosi told the president that when Solomon was to become King of the Jews, he prayed to God and said, How can I ever follow King DavidI need you to give me great understanding and wisdom, Lord. According to Pelosi, a guy came to him and said Solomon, because you did not ask for longevity, great wealth or vengeance against you enemy, I will give you more wisdom than anyone has ever had  the wisdom of Solomon.

If Pelosi was attempting to build a bridge to evangelicals by demonstrating that Democrats share their respect for and knowledge of the Bible, her effort fell short. According to I Kings 3: 1-15, the guy to whom she referred was God, who appeared to Solomon in a dream. Rather than promising to give Solomon the wisdom of Solomon, as Pelosi stated, God promised to give him a wise and discerning heart.

This isnt the first time Pelosi has stated that she prays for Trump. According to NBC News, After his election in 2016, Pelosi said she prayed for his success and she said again last year that she prays for the president and his family.

Personally, I find it curious that Pelosi would pray for Trumps success at implementing an agenda that she and so many other Americans deplore. Why would she pray for Trumps tax reform bill that served only to make the wealthiest Americans even wealthier, while causing the deficit to skyrocket? And does Pelosi really to want Trump to succeed at building a multi-billion dollar border wall that will make our nation the laughing stock of the world?

Pray for Trump to succeed? I should think that those Americans who possess some measure of intelligence as well as a working conscience would pray for Trump to fail.

Pray that children will no longer be separated from their parents to gratify the xenophobia of Trumps followers.

Pray that our nation wont be devastated by climate change because Trump and the Republicans support the continued use of fossil fuels.

And, above all, pray that Trumps hate-mongering will fall on deaf ears. His demonization of entire segments of the American public encourages neo-Nazi predators to seek out victims.

Christians are indeed commanded to pray for their leaders. Paul in I Timothy 2: 1-2 wrote, I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

I leave it to you to decide whether prayers for Trump have made the American people  particularly Trumps supporters  godly and holy. As for Trumps presidency enabling us to enjoy peaceful and quiet lives  well, lets not even go there.

Hermant Mehta, a former Jain who is now an atheist activist, in an essay for the New York Times wrote that prayer lets people think that they have some control over a situation that may be out of their hands. If thats true, then the presidency of Donald Trump has surely been responsible for an unprecedented amount of prayer.

John J. Dunphys latest book, Unsung Heroes of the Dachau Trials, includes interviews with veterans of the U.S. Army 7708 War Crimes Group, who apprehended and prosecuted Nazi war criminals after World War II.Touched by the compassion of the nurses who tended to her...By abstaining from the swearing-in of Congress governments in three states, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) have made it clear that forming an anti-BJP mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) for the coming Lok Sabha polls won't be an easy task.

The absence of both the BSP and SP has delivered a major jolt to efforts by the Congress and other opposition parties to form an anti-BJP alliance.

For the coming Lok Sabha polls, opposition parties have been making hectic efforts to unite various nonBJP outfits. The Congress had been wanting the various constituents of the grand alliance to fight the polls under its aegis to counter the BJP.

Recently, a meeting of key opposition leaders was held in Delhi, but the BSP and the SP had skipped that event too.

The anti-BJP grand alliance, if formed, has great significance in Uttar Pradesh because the state sends the largest number of MPs to the Lok Sabha. Contesting in Uttar Pradesh will be an uphill task for the Congress as the BSP and SP have already made up their minds to fight the polls together. Now the main stumbling block for the Congress is whether the SP and BSP will go with the anti-BJP grand alliance.

Though in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the BSP and SP had announced support for the Congress governments, the two parties have remained non-committal on a larger, national alliance.

A few months back, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav had met BSP chief Mayawati and both discussed the possibility of an alliance between their parties.

At the swearing-in in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, leaders of various key opposition parties were present, except those from the BSP and SP. While West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee did not attend, she sent Dinesh Trivedi as a party representative.

Though spokespersons from both BSP and SP refrained from commenting on the issue of the anti-BJP grand alliance, the two parties skipping the swearing-in has caused heartburn to those looking forward to the smooth formation of such a front.K.M. Ashokan, father of Hadiya, the Kerala woman who converted to Islam and married a Muslim youth in 2015, has joined the BJP.

Ashokan has extended support to the BJP's ongoing stir against the Supreme Court verdict on the Sabarimala temple. Ashokan said the BJP was the only political party that protected the beliefs of Hindus.

Saying that he was a Communist earlier, Ashokan alleged the CPI(M) was lately indulged in dirty vote-bank politics. He added that he had joined the BJP three years ago, but received the official membership on Sunday. Notably, the BJP is spearheading the protest against the Supreme Court's decision allowing the entry of young women to the Sabarimala temple.

The Hadiya case had come into prominence when Ashokan approached the judiciary and police alleging his daughter was a victim of 'love jihad'.

Ashokan had initially filed a police case and then a habeas corpus petition in the Kerala High Court to trace her. Hadiya said she had left her home as she was forbidden from practising Islam by her father. She had converted to Islam and married Shafin Jehan, an active member of the PFI-affiliated Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).

Ashokan and the rest of the family had alleged that Hadiya, formerly Akhila Ashokan, was brainwashed and that her marriage was forced. But Hadiya informed the court that she had married and converted to Islam on her own volition.

In May 2017, Hadiya's marriage was annulled by the Kerala High Court on the grounds of a report submitted by the NIA saying that Hadiya was a victim of indoctrination and psychological kidnapping. Hadiya's custody was then handed over to Ashokan under the argument that As per Indian tradition, the custody of an unmarried daughter is with the parents, until she is properly married.

Shafin Jahan appealed the Kerala High Court and move the Supreme Court, which then directed Hadiya to resume her internship as she was a homeopathic medical student. She was also told that she was free to meet whomever she wanted. In March 2018, the Supreme court restored Hadiya's marriage, 10 months after the Kerala High Court annulled it.

Interestingly, earlier when the case was going on in the Supreme Court, Ashokan had said in an affidavit to the court that he was an atheist. He had said that he was not against Hadiya practising Islam as he was an atheist. Vaikom constituency BJP president P.G. Bijukumar said that apart from Ashokan, more than 50 people joined BJP at TV Puram.The death toll in the massive fire at a state-run hospital in the Andheri East area of Mumbai on Monday rose to eight as reports emerged the institution had not complied with safety norms.

Eight people have died and 141 have been injured in the fire at the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital. Nearly 150 people, including visitors and patients, were rescued after the fire broke out at the ESIC Hospital, an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

Media reports claimed ESIC Hospital had not obtained a formal no-objection certificate from the fire department. The fire department had not issued a formal NOC on the grounds ESIC Hospital had not met compliance requirements, Deputy Fire Officer of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) M.V. Ogale told mediapersons.

The Union labour ministry claimed initial investigations showed building material used for renovation work in the hospital had caught fire.

Meanwhile, Union Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar announced Rs 10 lakh each as compensation for next of kin of the fatalities in the ESIC Hospital fire. Additionally, Rs 2 lakh would be given to those who sustained serious injuries and Rs 1 lakh each for those with minor injuries. A team of doctors from ESIC, Delhi, has been rushed to Mumbai for assisting in treatment.Activities of domestic, ethno-nationalist and religious militant groups pose a significant challenge to peace and stability of several countries across the South Asia region. And the countries are worried about how to deal with this emerging challenge.

"Myanmar-based ARSA (Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army) are the sympathizers of the extremist groups in South East Asia region. And the Jemaah Islamiyah has been involved in terrorist activities within Myanmar, creating a sense of insecurity within the region," Dr Naing Swe Oo, founder and executive director, ThayNinGa Institute of Strategic Studies, Myanmar said. Talking at the 11the South Asia Conference in New Delhi, Naing Swe Oo also said that terrorism has a hybrid nature, and is not new to South and South East Asia.

The two-day long event is organised by defence think tank, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), and the theme of this year's years conference is Non-Traditional Security Challenges in South Asia: Agenda for Cooperation.

Dr. K.R. Srinivas, senior consultant in Delhi-based Research and Information System for Developing Countries, said, "SAARC will have to play a more significant role in tackling or bringing the NTS (non-traditional security) issues to a point of dialogue." He also said that science diplomacy (science-based negotiations) has gained significance in recent times as it has the potential to resolve many ecological issues in the South Asia Region.

"In the current scenario, security has become all encompassingincluding economics, water, food and energy, health, environment, climate change, as also the issues of cyber, space, technology, demography, and security of information, in addition to the sub-traditional issues of terrorism, radicalism, proliferation of small arms and WMD(weapons of mass destruction) technology," Dr Ashok Behra, Senior Fellow and South Asia Centre Coordinator, IDSA, said.

Terming these issues as transnational in naturenot restricted by boundarieshe suggested that all states in the region collectively ward off these threats.

Summing up the geo-political significance of the region, Behuria said that South Asia is at a critical juncture of history, displaying enormous capacity for economic growth.

"Regional cooperation would offer an opportunity for further accelerating such growth through cooperation," he said while adding that the impulses of change that initiatives like the South Asia Conference generates would reinforce the efforts of states to deliver greater public goods to the people.

"Border security is important to preserve National Security. South and South East Asia Should have an integrated strategy to tackle the threat of terrorism," Dr Naing Swe Oo said.

Giving Sri Lankan perspective to the non-traditional security, Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, director general of Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka (INSSSL) under the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence, said, "Post conflict Sri Lanka could play a crucial role in the process of bringing the issue of NTS challenges to the forefront." He also said a holistic security architecture is needed to fight the NTS challenge in South Asia.

In his address, deputy director general, IDSA, Maj Gen Alok Deb (Retd), while referring to the World Bank Report on Realising the Promise of Trade in South Asia, which states that South Asia remains the worlds least integrated region, observed that despite conflicting security interests, states can still be persuaded to work togetherthrough collective action on non-traditional security issues, which affect both parties equally, and where mutual understanding exists.

Suggesting that non-traditional security issues, which have been calculated to account for more casualties than during wars in the post-cold war era, are receiving greater attention by policymakers, Maj Gen Deb said, "the way forward should be towards engaging each other on issues which are mutually advantageous and on which a common understanding can exist. This would enhance trust, to prepare the right setting and look at more complex issues later, he concluded.The government of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday approved a radical five-year defence spending programme worth $240 billion that will see the country get its first aircraft carriers since the Second World War. The decision to induct aircraft carriers and over a 100 new F-35 stealth fighters comes in the wake of Japan's worries about China's rise in the Pacific.

The Medium Term Defence Programme, approved by the Abe government, will require 27 trillion yen ($240 billion) from 2019; the allocation is nearly $17 billion more than the previous five-year programme.

The guidelines for the programme, which were revealed to the media, show the Abe government has decided to purchase up to 105 new US F-35A and F-35B stealth fighters. Japan already operates the F-35A, which its Air Self-Defense Force ordered in 2011. However, the new order includes up to 42 F-35B variants, which are capable of vertical take-off and landing and are suited for the small aircraft carriers that Japan is planning.

In addition to the stealth fighters, Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force will modify two existing helicopter carriersthe Izumo and Kagato enable them to embark and deploy the F-35B.

The Izumo and Kagawhich, at a length of 248m, are as long as the aircraft carriers Japan operated during the Second World Warwill require reinforcement of their flight decks to handle the heat of the F-35B's engines, in addition to other modifications.

The new guidelines also specify Japan will induct cruise missiles to hit enemy targets at greater distances than is possible now. While critics have opposed plans to induct offensive weapon systems such as aircraft carriers and cruise missiles, the proposals are in line with Abe's desire to revise Japan's US-drafted pacifist constitution, especially with the growing military heft of China and threats from North Korea. Japan's military spending has steadily risen since Abe assumed office in 2012.

(With agency inputs)A mother who left her two toddlers in a hot car to die while she partied has been jailed for 40 years. Amanda Kristene Hawkins, 20, pleaded guilty to two counts of child abandonment child endangerment and injury to a child.

The Texas mother left her two toddlers, two-year-old Addyson Overgard-Eddy and one-year-old Brynn Hawkins, strapped in their car seats inside a hot car on June 6, 2017 around 9pm. They had no food or water while their mom smoked marijuana and partied in a shed.

The babies sat helpless in their car seats for more than 15 hours until noon the next day. According to reports, when a friend asked Hawkins whether the kids should be brought in as they were crying, she allegedly said, "No, they'll cry themselves to sleep".

On June 7, the toddlers were discovered to be in a serious condition and close to death as the temperature in the car rose to 33 degree celsius.

Reports said that instead of taking the children directly to the hospital, Hawkins gave them a bath and dressed them in a different set of clothes. The sheriff's office said, Hawkins was afraid she will get into trouble and hence did not directly take them to the hospital. They were eventually taken to the hospital on June 8, but died later that day.

Hawkins initially tried to cover up her neglect by claiming that the babies had passed out after smelling flowers at a local park. But it was later found that the mum had left the girls in her vehicle while she partied.

In September, Hawkins pleaded guilty to two counts of reckless injury to a child and two counts of abandoning or endangering a child. Last week, a judge sentenced her to 40 years in prison. According to reports, the two babies had different fathers and either of them were not present at the time of the incident.

Another person Kevin Franke was also arrested in connection to the case. Franke, who was 16 at the time, said he slept in the car. But he claimed he was unaware the kids were present in the car. Franke, now 18, was later arrested. He pleaded not guilty in April to two counts of manslaughter, two counts of injury to a child and two counts of child endangerment. His trial is scheduled for January.New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) The government is aware of depletion of fish habitats and coral reefs in coastal regions, Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala informed Parliament on Tuesday.

"Research analysis has clearly identified the decline in the coral reefs due to the anthropogenic and climatic stressors. The latter factor is increasingly causing bleaching events in recent years," Rupala said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Decline in fish habitats due to lack of proper solid waste management, especially non-degradable waste, has been brought to the notice of the local governments through frequent awareness programmes in different states, he said.

Apart from this, the national conference on 'Marine Debris' in April 2018 has highlighted the need for policy development which has been widely circulated, he added.

Further, the minister said Cochin-based Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) is extending technical consultancy to state fisheries departments of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Gujarat for installation of artificial fish habitats. PTI LUX ANUNew Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) The Karnataka government has requested the Centre to waive 50 per cent of the agricultural loans of farmers from banks, Parliament was told Tuesday.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said the government receives requests related to agriculture credit from various state government.

"The state government of Karnataka has requested the Union government to waive 50 per cent of the agricultural loans availed by the farmers from commercial banks/RRBs/cooperative banks," he said.

However, there is no proposal under consideration of the Union government to waive the loans, the minister added.

In another reply, Shukla said the Union government has not implemented any farm loan waiver scheme during the last three years.

However, some state governments have announced their own schemes for such waivers.

Recently, the newly elected governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have announced farm loan waivers. Besides, Punjab and Karnataka governments have also waived loans of farmers.

The Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme (ADWDRS) was announced in the Union Budget 2008-09 and detailed guidelines were issued in May 2008.

The debt waiver portion of the ADWDRS 2008 was closed by its due date (June 30, 2008), while the debt relief portion of the scheme was extended till December 2009 and after further extension, closed in June 2010.

The scheme benefitted 3.73 crore farmers to the extent of Rs 52,259.86 crore. PTI NKD HRSWashington, Dec 18 (AFP) US President Donald Trump took a swipe Tuesday at tech giants Facebook, Twitter and Google, accusing them of being biased in favor of opposition Democrats.

"Facebook, Twitter and Google are so biased toward the Dems it is ridiculous!" Trump tweeted. "Twitter, in fact, has made it much more difficult for people to join @realDonaldTrump.

They have removed many names & greatly slowed the level and speed of increase. They have acknowledged-done NOTHING!" Trump's tirade follows a detailed US Senate report on Russian troll farms that disrupted the 2016 US presidential election via social media. (AFP) CPSNew Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said its stay on sale of drugs and prescription medicines by online pharmacies will continue till rules are framed to regulate such entities.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao said that "once the rules come into play, you (online pharmacies) can start selling it (medicines). Problem is that today there are no rules regulating it".

The observations by the bench were made while hearing the applications moved by some online pharmacies seeking to be impleaded in the matter.

The pharmacies urged the court to remove the prohibition on online sale of drugs, saying they held licences and no medicines were sold illegally.

They also contended that even prescription drugs were sold only if there was a valid prescription from a doctor.

The applications for impleadment were filed in a PIL by Zaheer Ahmed seeking a ban on "illegal" sale of drugs and medicines online.

During the hearing, the petitioner informed the bench that the Madras High Court on Monday had banned online sale of medicines till the Union Health Ministry and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) notified the proposed Drugs and Cosmetics Amendment Rules, 2018 in the gazette at the earliest by January 31.

The Madras High Court, however, kept the operation of its order in abeyance till December 20, to enable the online pharmacies to challenge the decision.

On being informed of the development, the Delhi High Court listed the matter for hearing on December 20.

In his petition, Ahmed has said that the online illegal sale of medicines would lead to a drug epidemic, drug abuse and mis-utilisation of habit forming and addictive drugs.

It has claimed that the Ministry of Health, CDSCO and an expert committee appointed by the drug consultative committee have already concluded that the online sale of medicines was in contravention of the provisions of Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the other allied laws.

Still lakhs of drugs are being sold on the Internet every day, it has said, adding that some of the drugs/ medicines contain narcotic and psychotropic substance and some can cause antibiotic resistant-bacteria which is a threat not only to the patient but to the humanity at large.

"It is a matter of public knowledge that e-commerce websites have been caught on numerous occasions of selling fake products. Unlike consumer items, drugs are extremely potent substances and consuming wrong dose or fake medicine can have fatal consequences on the patient," it said.

The petition said that as of now there is no mechanism to control the sale of medicines on the Internet and this puts health and lives of people at a high risk and affects their right to a safe and healthy life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

"Online pharmacies are operating without a drug licence and cannot be regulated in the present regime. Unregulated and unlicensed sale of medicines will increase risk of spurious, misbranded and sub-standard drugs being sold," the plea has said.

The plea has sought direction to the authorities to take action against the entities distributing, selling or exhibiting drugs on the internet.

It has also sought direction for constitution of an expert committee to find out the total number of websites which are distributing and selling the drugs in the country and to impose a ban on the online sale and purchase of medicines. PTI HMP SKV SA(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 18, 2018/PRNewswire/ --

A unique initiative to promote entrepreneurial and innovative ideas aimed at solving national challenges using data and innovation



Western Digital, a leading data infrastructure provider, today announced that it hosted the Data Innovation Bazaar in collaboration with Startup India and Invest India. The initiative offered a unique platform to recognize the best innovative minds from across India, and showcase their ideas and concepts to leverage the power of data. The Data Innovation Bazaar was launched with a focus on identifying data-driven solutions to priority challenges in the five identified sectors: education, renewable energy, healthcare, transportation and mobility, and Cleantech.



Western Digital teamed up with Startup India, a flagship initiative of the government of India and Invest India, to support development of an ecosystem for emerging entrepreneurs and startups. Data Innovation Bazaar acts as an aggregator that brings together government alliances, businesses and innovators on a unique platform.



"From the world's first helium-filled hard drive to the latest advancements in 3D NAND technology, we at Western Digital continue to drive innovation to shape the future of data. Data Innovation Bazaar is a way of harnessing technology to inspire the next generation of game-changing and innovative thinking, by realizing the possibilities of data. This is a significant milestone in our partnership with the government of India and its strategic initiatives, including Invest India and Startup India, and is a testament to our commitment of fuelling innovation for a better and a newer India. I congratulate the teams for their enthusiastic response to the Data Innovation Bazaar challenge and wish them the very best," said Dr. Siva Sivaram, Executive Vice President of Silicon Technology and Manufacturing, Western Digital.



"We are excited to host this unique, nationwide Innovation Challenge in collaboration with 'Invest India' and 'Startup India'. Through Data Innovation Bazaar, we showcase how data-driven innovations are having a profound impact on India and the world. This initiative is aligned to Western Digital India's strategic imperatives of Investing in India as a market, social transformation, academic collaboration and inspiring innovation in the startup community. Congratulations to the winners of the Data Innovation Bazaar," said Supria Dhanda, Vice President and India country manager, Western Digital.



Deepak Bagla, Managing Director and CEO, Invest India, said, "I am delighted that Invest India and Startup India are partnering with Western Digital on Data Innovation Bazaar, an innovation challenge aimed at providing a platform for young entrepreneurs and the youth of India to innovate and provide solutions to transform and build a New India."



The challenge, which commenced on September 19th, encouraged the creation of solutions and products that use the power of data to address the issues identified by the following problem statements:



Create initiatives that seek to provide affordable, sustainable enrolment and access to educational programs at scale

Develop new models of improving air quality in urban areas

Establish affordable, effective systems of access to scalable, quality healthcare and healthcare records

Create solutions that seek to provide safe and smart mobility in the transportation sector

Develop effective and affordable uses of clean and renewable energy in everyday use and applications

Winners were unveiled on 12th December 2018 at Data Innovation Bazaar event, which was held at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi. Members of Western Digital India executive leadership, academia, and government, including Ramesh Abhishek, IAS and Secretary of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, attended the event.



Approximately 520 applications were received, with 40 outstanding teams shortlisted for final judging. A2P Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd., whose submission focused on the Renewable Energy sector, was awarded first place and earned a prize of INR 10 lakhs. The second-place prize of INR 7 lakhs was awarded to SM Learning Skills Academy for Special Needs Pvt. Ltd. and their innovative healthcare-related idea. Third-place prize of INR 5 lakhs, was awarded to BlinkEYELABS Electronics Pvt. Ltd. for their submission focused on the transportation and mobility SECTOR.



Other outstanding submissions in the top 10 included Castle Advanced Technologies and Systems Pvt. Ltd., Gigacure Healthcare Analytics Pvt. Ltd., mBreath Technologies, Monosha Biotech, Phase Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., Skincurate Research Pvt. Ltd., and YuTu Electronics Pvt. Ltd.



The top 10 recognized teams are invited to be a part of Western Digital's Innovation Boot Camp to be held at the company's Data Innovation Centre in Bangalore in February 2019. The boot camp will serve as a platform for the winning teams to network with investors and industry leaders to further develop and refine their ideas. The teams will also have the opportunity to engage with the company's leaders for three days of learning, development and concept refinement.



Learn more about Data Innovation Bazaar here.



Stay connected to Western Digital: Twitter, LinkedIn, Blog, Facebook, YouTube



About Western Digital



Western Digital creates environments for data to thrive. The company is driving the innovation needed to help customers capture, preserve, access and transform an ever-increasing diversity of data. Everywhere data lives, from advanced data centers to mobile sensors to personal devices, our industry-leading solutions deliver the possibilities of data. Western Digital data-centric solutions are marketed under the G-Technology, HGST, SanDisk, Tegile, Upthere, and WD brands.



FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to expectations for storage products, the market for storage products, product development efforts, and investment and programs in the India market by Western Digital. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements, including development challenges or delays, supply chain and logistics issues, changes in markets, demand, global economic conditions and other risks and uncertainties listed in Western Digital Corporation's most recent quarterly and annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, to which your attention is directed. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and we undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.



Western Digital, the Western Digital logo, G-Technology, SanDisk, Tegile, Upthere and WD are registered trademarks or trademarks of Western Digital Corporation or its affiliates in the US and/or other countries. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.



 2018 Western Digital Corporation or its affiliates. All rights reserved.







Source: Western Digital Corporation 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.)

Award-winning Smart World Pro solution selected for Amaravati, a $6.5 billion greenfield smart city designed by Foster + Partners and Surbana Jurong



CHICAGO, Dec. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cityzenith's Smart World Pro (SWP), the world's most advanced Digital Twin solution for buildings and cities, has been selected by the Government of Andhra Pradesh as the 3D City Information Model of choice for the development of Amaravati, a new $6.5 billion world-class smart city capital for the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.





On completion, Amaravati will rank among the top three digitally advanced cities in the world. As a greenfield new city development, Amaravati will incorporate best-in-class innovative technologies that will revolutionize development, planning, operations and citizen engagement at all levels across the new state capital. Smart World Pro will be customized to allow government agencies, commercial businesses, and citizens to use a single platform for a wide range of purposes. Ground-breaking new digital services and functions planned include:



 real-time construction progress monitoring, environmental and wellness monitoring, et al via ubiquitous, multi-nodal IoT sensors

 advanced mobility and traffic monitoring and simulations

 advanced microclimate and climate change monitoring and simulations

 digital "drag and drop" building permit submissions

 digital zoning, setback, environmental, traffic, and other statutory compliance-related preliminary analysis

 a proposed Digital Twin user ID scheme for every Amaravati citizen that will serve as a single citizen portal for all government information, notifications, forms, and applications



The initial prototype will be unveiled at Davos in January 2019. The first phase of the engagement will run through the end of 2019. Cityzenith will collaborate with its local JV partner in India, AEC Digital Studio, to deliver the project.



"We're honored to have been chosen for one of the most exciting greenfield smart city projects in the world, and one that will set an example for Andhra Pradesh and the whole of India," explained Michael Jansen, Cityzenith CEO. "Our open, non-proprietary, format-agnostic approach positions us well at the heart of the AEC, CRE, and smart city tech ecosystems. As a design, real estate, and smart city project all-in-one, Amaravati will give us the opportunity to show off many new advanced features."



"Amaravati will be born as a Digital Twin, the first entire city that I know of to do that in the world. Everything that happens in Amaravati will be scenarioized in advance to optimize outcomes, and adjusted on the fly to keep pace with change. This represents a giant leap forward for cities, how they're designed, built, and managed, and how they optimize their relationships with the private sector and their own citizens."



"Amaravati is a greenfield city being built with the happiness of its citizens at the core of its vision," says Dr. Sreedhar Cherukuri I.A.S., Commissioner, APCRDA (Andhra Pradesh Capital Regional Development Authority). "A digital platform that enables the entire ecosystem of the city's stakeholders to utilize and contribute to achieve this common goal is vital to have from Day 0. Amaravati will have an open platform to access data and tools across sectors in an integrated 3D city model, the pilot being powered by Cityzenith's Smart World Pro."



Smart World Pro's unique SimCity-like Digital Twin software platform provides an extraordinarily visually rich "single pane of glass" view of urban, project, and property data, above and below ground, public and private, at a massive scale. A Digital Twin is a digital model of a physical asset, which continuously collects information (via sensors, drones or other IoT and IIoT data collection tools) and applies advanced analytics, machine-learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to gain valuable real-time insights about the physical asset's performance, operation or profitability. Digital Twin users include large building owners, building design professionals, property managers, REITS, and governments.



Riding the crest of the IoT wave in the building industry, Cityzenith's Digital Twin platform is uniquely tailored to accommodate IoT sensor data/BMS, leveraging a robust backend to interpret sensor data into actionable information that helps predict outcomes across maintenance, development, leasing, and financial functions. Users point and click their way into over a billion data records, import any type of file format from BIM to GIS to IoT, ask questions using voice-enabled natural language capabilities, and generate a full range of AI- and ML-driven analytics on the fly. To learn more about Cityzenith and its Smart World Pro solution, please visit cityzenith.com or email info@cityzenith.com.



About Cityzenith



Cityzenith is based in Chicago and London. The company's flagship Smart World Pro platform was created for the people responsible for designing, constructing, and managing complex, large-scale building projects, properties, real estate portfolios or cities, anywhere in the world. Visit www.cityzenith.com to learn more.







Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/799027/CityzenithAmaravati.jpg



Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/284997/cityzenithlogo.jpg PWR

PWRCOLWYN  The shooting death of a borough man is currently under investigation by county officials.

Business owner Frank Powell was killed Sunday night in the alley-like 200 block of Francis Street between Second and Third streets.

Delaware County District Attorney spokeswoman Emily Harris said the D.A.s Criminal Investigation Division is assisting with the investigation, but had no other information available Monday afternoon.

Colwyn Police Chief Bryan Hills could not be reached via telephone or in person at the Colwyn Police Department Monday. An officer at the department said the county is handling the investigation. He could not say if Pennsylvania State Police  which provides part-time coverage to the borough  was involved in the investigation.

State Police Media Barracks Public Information Officer Trp. Jessica Tobin could not be reached for comment Monday.Mumbai, Dec 18 (PTI) Actor Kangana Ranaut, who is making a controversial directorial debut with "Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi" after its director Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi left the project, says she loved sweating it out like a technician on the film.

At the trailer launch of the film, Kangana said she loved being out in the sun and would swap the luxuries of a star for a seat behind the camera without any hesitation.

"I don't know what is it about me but I really love working as a technician. No actor wants to be out in the sun as opposed to being in the AC van. No actor wants to be among 80 sweaty people who are asking you 100 questions.

"I dont know what is it about me that I am so comfortable in this job. There is nothing I love more than directing. Even though I dont get to wear make-up or look like my star self or get any special treatment. It is absolutely a workers life to be honest, but theres something so amazing about this job that I dont know why people even consider this a job. It is so much fun. I think acting is more like a job but directing is a lot of fun. I hope I get more chances to do this. This seems like my first love," she told reporters.

Kangana has been credited as the co-director on the film, which was in the headlines after Jagarlamudi left the project abruptly reportedly due to creative differences with Kangana, who plays the title role.

Jagarlamudi has not commented on his departure but the producers said he left the film midway as the dates were clashing with his forthcoming project, a biopic on NTR.

Kangana, who dressed up as her character of Rani Laxmibai at the trailer launch of the film, said it was Prasoon Joshi, dialogue writer of the film, who suggested she helm the film.

"Prasoon Joshi first showed confidence in me and said I would be the right person (to direct the film). I was not ready. When I started shooting for the film, we had action and horse riding and all of that. I felt I was a duck paddling beneath the surface.

"It was all too much for me from action to costumes to drama. But the whole team was warm to me. I was conscious as there were a lot of things in the media, gossip and opposition as they don't know what has happened and at this time we could go and clarify things. But everyone was warm to me and I felt confident," she said.

The film is set to be released on January 25, 2019 and will clash with Hrithik Roshan's "Super 30" and Emraan Hashmi's "Cheat India".

She did not directly comment on the clash but said choosing January 25 was important for them, keeping the patriotic theme of the film in mind.

"Nobody pressured me for this release date but I felt this film should have this sentiment as far as the release date is concerned like Republic Day or Independence Day."

Though the actor or producers did not directly comment on what was the reason behind Jagarlamudi's departure from the film, Kangana admitted that the subject is "jinxed".

"This subject is jinxed, a lot of people tried to make it. When we started this film I got hurt, I got 20 stitches. We faced obstacles like people falling from horse, this was ok but has it ever happened that a director has left the film?"

The director's departure is not the only controversy that has come Kangana's way as director Ketan Mehta had accused her and producer Kaman Jain of "breach of trust" as the actor reportedly had said 'yes' to his project but later moved ahead with another director.

Kangana said she was overjoyed when writer KV Vijayendra Prasad of "Baahubali" and "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" fame narrated the script to her.

"When Vijendra sir came to me I was clapping and absolutely exhilarated when he narrated. I have taken their vision ahead. I could interpret because I have shot 60-70 per cent of the film. As far as creative aspect is concerned I would like to give to the writers. The script was never changed," she said.

"It is not that I had to taken someone's vision ahead with the material I was given. I had my own vision. It is a definitely much more difficult to step into someone else shoes," she added. PTI KKP BK RDS

RDSMumbai, Dec 18 (PTI) Actor Andy Von Eich, who features in "Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi", on Tuesday alleged that he is yet to be paid in full for his performance in the period drama by the production house.

The film, fronted by Kangana Ranaut, has been produced by Zee Studios in association with Kamal Jain and Nishant Pitti.

Von Eich, who plays one of the British officers in the film whose trailer was launched on Tuesday, took to Twitter to express his disappointment.

"Today #Manikarnika trailer released. I still haven't received full payment for my acting in this movie by the production house. I can't imagine that this is in the sense of #KanganaRanaut if she would know about that. Please help. #ManikarnikaTrailerLaunch #zee #karios," the actor, who hails from Germany, tweeted.

Last month, Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) claimed that the makers of the film are yet to clear dues of approximately Rs 1.5 crore to workers and junior artists.

The allegations were later refuted by Jain who said that all the legitimate and due payments have been made, except of one vendor, who is arm-twisting them.

The producer in a statement had said they have filed a complaint with the Film & TV Producers Guild of India against Film and Allied Union over the disputed vendor.

According to Jain, the shoot got over on October 13, and "all legitimate and due payments were made."

"As a production house we are absolutely clear on not holding back any ones payment which is legitimate and due, as we immensely respect everyone's hard work that has gone into this film. We are thankful to each vendor/individual who has helped us on making this film," he said in a statement.

The producers are yet to comment on Von Eich's allegations.

"Manikarnika" is due to be released on January 25 next year. PTI RDS BK RDS

RDSColombo, Dec 18 (PTI) The US, the EU, Australia and Norway have welcomed the peaceful resolution of the political crisis in Sri Lanka after President Maithripala Sirisena reinstated Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister.

Sirisena, whose controversial actions plunged the island nation into an unprecedented political turmoil for nearly two months, reinstated Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister on Sunday, after sacking him on October 26 and appointing ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place and also dissolving Parliament, some 20 months early.

Reacting to the latest political developments, the American Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina Teplitz said the US welcomes the weekend's political developments, which upheld the country's democratic and constitutional norms.

"Sri Lanka is a valued partner in the Indo Pacific and we look forward to continuing to develop our relationship with the government and people of this country," she said.

Australia welcomed the resolution of the political uncertainty in Sri Lanka by constitutional means, and the demonstrated resilience of Sri Lanka's democratic institutions.

The High Commission of Australia, in a statement said as a longstanding friend and Indian Ocean neighbour, Australia look forward to working with the Sri Lankan Government to build a stronger bilateral relationship.

"As a longstanding friend and Indian Ocean neighbour, Australia welcomes resolution of the political uncertainty in Sri Lanka by constitutional means, and the demonstrated resilience of Sri Lanka's democratic institutions.

"We look forward to working with the Sri Lankan Government to take forward its commitments to deliver peace, reconciliation and prosperity, and to build a stronger bilateral relationship," the statement said.

Following the reinstatement of ousted Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, the European Union along with Norway commended the resilience of Sri Lanka's democratic institutions and welcomed the peaceful resolution of the political crisis.

Issuing a statement in agreement with the EU Ambassadors and the Norwegian Ambassador resident in Colombo, the Delegation of the European Union offered to continue to support Sri Lanka's efforts to achieve reconciliation and prosperity.

"As steady friends of Sri Lanka, we welcome the peaceful and democratic resolution of the political crisis in accordance with the constitution.

"We commend the resilience of Sri Lanka's democratic institutions and will continue to support its efforts towards national reconciliation and prosperity for all," the statement said.

India too welcomed the resolution of the political crisis in Sri Lanka and exuded confidence that relations between the two countries will continue to move on in an upward trajectory.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the resolution of the political issues was a reflection of the maturity demonstrated by all political forces.

"As a close neighbour and true friend, India welcomes the resolution of the political situation in Sri Lanka. This is a reflection of the maturity demonstrated by all political forces, and also of the resilience of Sri Lankan democracy and its institutions," MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

He said India remains committed to taking forward its people oriented development projects in Sri Lanka.

"We are confident that India-Sri Lanka relations will continue to move on an upward trajectory," he said. PTI AKJ AKJLahore, Dec 18 (PTI) Pakistan's Punjab province government on Tuesday lifted a 12-year-old ban imposed on celebrating Basant, a seasonal festival celebrated by Punjabis of all faiths to mark the commencement of the spring season.

Punjab Information and Culture Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan said the traditional festival will be celebrated in the second week of February 2019, Dawn reported.

Addressing a press conference here, Chohan said a committee comprising the Punjab law minister, the provincial chief secretary, and other administrative officials, will be formed to deliberate on the modalities about how the negative aspects of the festival can be avoided and overcome.

The minister said the committee would give its recommendations within a week. "This time Lahoris will surely celebrate Basant," he added.

The festival was banned in Punjab in 2007 owing to deaths caused by sharply polished threads used to fly kites.

However, many analysts say the festival was banned due to pressure from hardline religious and extremist groups like the Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud Dawah, which claimed the festival had "Hindu origins" and was "un-Islamic".

Chohan said that the citizens and the civil society have been demanding permission to hold Basant festival for quite some time following which Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had sought recommendations about holding the Spring festival.

The Supreme Court in its order had clarified that there was no restriction on holding the Basant festival and that it should be celebrated while staying within the ambit of law, as well as the rules and regulations defined by the government, Chohan added.

The chief minister has said that Basant was a cultural festival, "it has no relation to religion. It is for enjoyment," the minister added. PTI ZH

ZH(Eds: Updating with fresh inputs and background )

Islamabad, Dec 18 (PTI) Indian national Hamid Nihal Ansari was released from a Pakistani jail on Tuesday to be repatriated to India, six years after he was detained by intelligence agencies for entering the country illegally reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.

Ansari was detained by Pakistan's intelligence agencies in 2012 after he entered the country from Afghanistan and subsequently sentenced to three years' imprisonment by a military court in 2015 for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card.

The 33-year-old Mumbai resident was lodged in the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by the military court on December 15, 2015. His three-year jail term ended on December 15, 2018 but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.

On Thursday, the Peshawar High Court gave the federal government a month deadline to complete his repatriation process.

The Indian national was released from Mardan jail on Tuesday and was shifted to Islamabad for his onward journey to India, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

Ansari, a software engineer, went missing after he was taken into custody by Pakistani intelligence agencies and local police in Kohat in 2012 and finally in reply to a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother, Fauzia Ansari, the high court was informed that he was in custody of the Pakistan Army and was being tried by a military court.

He entered Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.

Pakistan claims that Ansari was an "Indian spy who had illegally entered Pakistan and was involved in anti-state crimes and forging documents."

A two-judge Peshawar High Court bench, comprising Justice Roohul Amin and Justice Qalandar Ali Khan, on Thursday heard an appeal filed by Ansari through his lawyer Qazi Muhammad Anwar.

Anwar informed the bench that both the Ministry of Interior and authorities of prison, where he was lodged, were completely silent about his release and deportation to India.

After hearing this, Justice Khan asked the Additional Attorney General to explain how would they keep the prisoner in jail after completion of his term.

An officer, representing the interior ministry, informed the court that a prisoner could be kept for one month while the legal documents were being prepared.

After knowing the legal position, the court directed the ministry to make all the arrangements within a month for releasing and deportation of the prisoner. PTI NSA AKJ NSA

NSAColombo, Dec 18 (PTI) Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday became Sri Lanka's main opposition leader in Parliament, days after he resigned as prime minister after clinging on to power for nearly two months, amidst the unprecedented political turmoil in the country.

Rajapaksa, 73, replaced veteran Tamil leader of the main Tamil party R Sampanthan who held the position from 2015.

His appointment was announced by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya in Parliament which met for the first time after the reinstatement of Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister that ended the 51-day political standoff in the country.

M A Sumanthiran of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Rauff Hakeem of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress raised objections against Rajapaksa's appointment.

They claimed that Rajapaksa has ceased to be a member of Parliament because he had joined another political party recently.

Rajapaksa, by obtaining the membership of the Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP), left the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) from which he was elected to Parliament in 2015.

Speaker Jayasuriya asked Sumanthiran to make a written submission on his complaint against Rajapaksa so that a select committee could go into details.

On Sunday, President Maithripala Sirisena, whose controversial actions plunged the island nation into an unprecedented political turmoil for nearly two months, reinstated Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister, after sacking him on October 26 and appointing former president Rajapaksa in his place and also dissolving Parliament, some 20 months early.

Sirisena was left with no other option following two separate decisions by the Supreme Court, which nullified his illegal moves.

The president said he offered to reappoint Wickremesinghe as the prime minister as he respects parliamentary traditions and democracy.

Ex-strongman Rajapaksa resigned from the post of prime minister on Saturday, a day after the apex court refused to stay another court order restraining him from acting as the prime minister. PTI CORR CPS AKJ CPSNew York, Dec 18 (AFP) President Donald Trump has agreed to shut down his personal charity, the Trump Foundation, the New York attorney general said Tuesday, accusing it of engaging in a "shocking pattern of illegality" to advance his political and business interests.

State Attorney General Barbara Underwood said the family foundation would be dissolved and its remaining assets distributed to other charities under her supervision.

Underwood accused the Foundation of a "shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation - including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more."

"This amounted to the Trump Foundation functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr Trump's business and political interests," she said in a statement.

"This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone," Underwood added.

The state attorney general filed a lawsuit against the Trump Foundation in June, accusing it of "persistently illegal conduct." The suit, which will move ahead despite the agreement dissolving the charity, seeks millions of dollars in restitution and penalties.

It also seeks to bar Trump, his sons Eric and Don Jr and daughter Ivanka from serving on the boards of other New York charities. (AFP) MRJ

MRJColombo, Dec 18 (PTI) Sri Lanka's Parliament is set to convene on Tuesday for the first time after the reinstatement of Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister that ended the 51-day political standoff in the country, but he and President Maithripala Sirisena are yet to agree on Cabinet positions.

Sirisena, whose controversial actions plunged the island nation into an unprecedented political turmoil for nearly two months, reinstated Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister on Sunday, after sacking him on October 26 and appointing ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place and also dissolving Parliament, some 20 months early.

Sirisena was left with no other option following two separate decisions by the Supreme Court, which nullified his illegal moves.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya is scheduled to chair a meeting on Tuesday to decide on the business of Parliament this week.

As Cabinet ministers are yet to take oaths, only the Prime Minister will be assigned a seat in the Chamber, Parliament Deputy Secretary General Neil Iddawela said.

"We are hopeful that the list can be finalised soon. We are also looking at some of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (Sirisena's party) members to join," Nalin Bandara, a parliamentarian from Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP), said.

The UNP sources said Sirisena is demanding the ministries of law and order and mass media.

It has been reported that the UNP has been assigned seats in the government side and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MPs have been assigned seats of the Opposition.

A final decision has not been taken on the opposition leader's position. State newspaper Daily News reported that about 10 UPFA MPs are expected to join the UNP side.

"The SLFP members decided last night that none would join the government," Nishantha Muthuhettigama, a Sirisena loyalist said.

The Sirisena camp now is divided between the SLFP and Rajapaksa's SLPP. They are to join together to form a united alliance at the next election.

Parliamentary officials said that seats would be allocated based on the seniority this afternoon when parliament meets for the first time since the crisis ended. Sirisena and Rajapaksa loyalista, who have been boycotting parliament since mid last month, are set to return to Parliament on Tuesday. PTI Corr

NSA

NSANo clarity on whether Gujarat will get AIIMS or not

Ahmedabad, Dec 18 (PTI) Although some political

leaders in Gujarat claimed that the Centre has cleared a

proposal to set up AIIMS in Rajkot city, an official release

by the central government did not mention name of any city in

the state that will get this facility.

Senior BJP leaders, including the party's state unit

chief Jitu Vaghani and Energy Minister Saurabh Patel

congratulated people of Rajkot saying the Centre has given a

clearance to establish All India Institute of Medical Sciences

(AIIMS) in the city.

"In Ahmedabad, the state government has provided

various medical facilities. In Surat also world-class medical

facilities are available. In such circumstances it is good

that an institute like AIIMS is being established in Rajkot,"

Vaghani told reporters in Jasdan in Rajkot district.

Talking to reporters in Gandhinagar, Saurabh Patel

said, "I would like to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for

giving AIIMS to Rajkot."

However, a Press Information Bureau (PIB) release

issued on Monday said establishment of AIIMS at Tamil Nadu and

Telangana have been approved by the Union cabinet chaired by

the prime minister.

Meanwhile, leaders from Rajkot and Vadodara regions

are gunning for the premier medical facility to be set up in

their respective regions.

Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel had earlier

warned the leaders from both the regions that if they

continued to fight, the state might lose establishment of such

a premier medical facility.

"The chief minister of the state is from Saurashtra

and the party president is also from that region. Therefore,

they are flexing their political muscles and trying to bring

AIIMS in their area. Actually Vadodara is the right place for

this facility," BJP MLA Yogesh Patel, representing Manjalpur

constituency in Vadodara district said.

City Congress chief Narendra Rawat said, "Vadodara is

the right place to establish AIIMS as it will serve the

population of entire state from here."

Congress leader from Rajkot Hemang Vasavda, however,

said that AIIMS should come up in Rajkot as the entire

Saurashtra region lacks this kind of medical facility.

State Congress president Amit Chavda, who hails from

central Gujarat said both- Vadodara and Rajkot- should get one

AIIMS each.

"As the PM is from Gujarat, we want to know why is he

not giving AIIMS to both Rajkot and Vadodara. We will welcome

his decision, if he does so," Chavda said. PTI PD

NP NPAmit Shah holds meeting with select party leaders in Mumbai

Mumbai, Dec 18 (PTI) In the wake of the BJP's defeat

in the three Hindi heartland states, party chief Amit Shah

held a closed-door meeting with select leaders from

Maharashtra on Tuesday night, party sources said.

Shah, who arrived in Mumbai late in the evening is

scheduled to stay at Sahyadri guest house in south Mumbai and

discuss about the situation in the state.

Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats. In the 2014 Lok

Sabha polls, the BJP had won 23 seats, while the Shiv Sena had

bagged 18 constituencies.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has already announced

that his party would contest the elections solo, which has

left the BJP all the more anxious as it does not want division

of votes.

"It is not the Shiv Sena alone that has indicated to

stay away from the BJP, but other alliance partner such as

Raju Shetti, an influential farmer leader from Maharashtra,

has already snapped the ties," a BJP leader said.

"BJP's loss in Bhandara Gondia Lok Sabha bypoll also

dented the party's image and appeal as well as that of the

state leadership. The loss has added to the party's woes," the

leader said.

"We have to come up with some better strategy to stay

ahead. We are hopeful that Shah would show us the path," the

leader said. PTI ND

NP NPBhubaneswar, Dec 18 (PTI) The Odisha CPI-M unit Tuesday took a a dig at both the BJP-led NDA government at the centre and the BJD government in the state for the debt woes of farmers and asked Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to announce bonus over the MSP on paddy for them.

The Left, Congress and other parties have been targeting the BJP-led government at the Centre over farm distress, which has snowballed into a major issue ahead of the Lok Sabha election next year.

Communist Party of India(Marxist) state secretary Ali Kishore Patnaik said in a statement that it is a "betrayal" by the Central government to raise the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of a quintal of paddy by only Rs 200 to Rs 1750.

We demand that the MSP of paddy be raised to Rs 3,000 per quintal, Patnaik said adding that the CPI(M) had decided to stage a dharna near Raj Bhavan here on January 5 to press for its demand.

The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in Odisha, he said, cannot escape its responsibility by blaming the Centre on the MSP for paddy.

"Odisha chief minister should give bonus to farmers over the MSP as is being done by other states if the Odisha government is sympathetic towards farmers," he said.

Patnaik cited the instance of Kerala where the government has been giving Rs 500 as bonus per quintal of paddy.

The farmers in the southern state sell their paddy at Rs 2250 per quintal while the price is Rs 1750 in Odisha, he said.

Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattishgarh and Telengana have also announced bonus over the MSP, he said, adding Odisha too should do the same instead of "shifting responsibility".

The CPI(M) also criticised the chief minister's visit to Surat, Gujarat and announcing development work in the state.

"The Odisha government has failed to check migration of people. Now it is holding meeting at the place (Surat) where the people have shifted in search of job. Is it not cheating?" Patnaik said.

The CPI(M) also blamed the BJD government for not being able to set up labour intensive industries though it has been in power for about 19 years.

Patnaik also sought the people's support to make the two day country-wide general strike from January 8 called by central trade unions against the "anti-worker policies of the Centre" a success. PTI AAM KK RHLPatna, Dec 18 (PTI) Ruling NDA constituents JD(U) and BJP on Tuesday flayed the Congress over Madhya Pradesh's newly-appointed Chief Minister Kamal Nath's comments that locals in his state remain deprived of jobs due to migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh getting jobs there.

Kamal Nath's statement also met with disapproval from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), an ally of the Congress in Bihar, which said such remarks should be avoided.

However, the state unit of the Congress hit back, saying the Madhya Pradesh chief minister was talking about providing employment to the people of his own state and it should be a priority of those ruling Bihar as well.

Soon after being sworn in on Monday, Nath had said in Bhopal, "Lot of industries are set up in which people from other states, like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, come to work. I do not want to criticise them, but the youth of Madhya Pradesh remain deprived."

The Congress leader had said his government would provide incentives to industries that provide 70 per cent of their jobs to people of Madhya Pradesh.

Terming Nath's statement "deplorable", Bihar BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) president Nityanand Rai alleged the Congress has started spewing the venom of parochialism no sooner than it won power in Madhya Pradesh.

"It should apologise to the people of UP and Bihar, though this may be expecting too much from a party which is yet to express regret over the role of its Gujarat MLA Alpesh Thakore in attacks on Biharis in the western state," he said.

Neeraj Kumar, MLC and spokesman of the Janata Dal (United) which is headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, said it is ironical that Congress president Rahul Gandhi goes on ranting about the Constitution being under threat by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre but a senior leader of his own party takes a stand that is nothing short of an assault on the federal structure of the country.

RJD MLA and spokesman Bhai Virendra said such comments should be avoided as every citizen of the country is free to live and work anywhere.

Responding to the controversy, Bihar Congress working president Kaukab Qadri said Nath was not spreading hatred against the people of UP and Bihar, or threatening to drive them out, something which was witnessed in the BJP-ruled Gujarat and which has been a pet theme of Shiv Sena, the BJP's ally in Maharashtra.

He said the thrust of Kamal Nath was on giving incentives to employment-generating industries in the state he will be governing.

"Herein lies a lesson for UP and Bihar where the political leadership seems to have abdicated its responsibility towards its talented and hard-working youths who have to fend for themselves outside their home states," Qadri alleged. PTI NAC SNS BJ

BJNew Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) Congress leader Sajjan Kumar has written to party president Rahul Gandhi submitting his resignation from the primary membership of the party, sources in the party said on Tuesday.

On Monday, the Delhi High Court convicted Kumar for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and sentenced him to imprisonment for life.

"I tender my resignation with immediate effect from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress in the wake of the judgement of the hon'be high court of Delhi against me," he said in the letter to Gandhi. PTI MPB

MIN

MIN\R New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) Around 1,800 non-combat personnel of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), which guards the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan border, will be moved to the Intelligence Bureau in a month, officials said on Tuesday.

The move is part of the Centre's plan to bolster the Intelligence Bureau's presence at the borders, the officials said.

Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Director General S S Deswal said the proposal to use trained men and women in the central intelligence set up has seen the light of the day after many years and these personnel of the "civil wing" will be deployed to "gather intelligence" under the command of the IB.

"The civil wing (of the SSB) is professionally-competent in intelligence-gathering, and their task and capability was matching with the IB and the government has decided to transfer them to the IB. The process has already started and, in next one month, a total of 1,800 people will be transferred to the IB," Deswal said, while talking to reporters on the occasion of the paramilitary force's 55th raising day.

A senior official later told PTI that it was expected that these personnel would be tasked to look after the intelligence duties along the China and Nepal fronts.

PTI has first reported in October that an order had been issued in this context by the Union home ministry, which had directed that a total of 2,104 posts of the SSB's civilian component, often dubbed as the "dying" cadre, would be transferred to the IB "immediately". Few of these posts are not occupied at present.

This manpower of the civil wing of the SSB is termed as "dying" as it does not have any substantial promotional and work avenues after the SSB was declared an armed force in 2001. Last year, the SSB was sanctioned a full-fledged intelligence wing which is manned by combat personnel.

The move was in the making for the past few years after National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval had, in June 2016, written to the then home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, underlining the need to effectively utilise this manpower for "enhancing" border security gathering better intelligence.

The ministry had ordered that out of the total 24 cadre of these personnel in the SSB, 19 would be sent to the IB.

"These cadres will get integrated with relevant and comparable cadres of (the) IB. They will be governed by service conditions of (the) IB after transfer from (the) SSB," the ministry order had said.

A blueprint prepared in this context had said that this cadre, which is trained, experienced and well-acquainted with the border areas, could be effectively used to upgrade country's intelligence generation-and-gathering capability along the 15,000-km border.

In addition, the blueprint said the personnel could undertake tasks aimed at generating "nationalist sentiments" among the border population, as in the past.

Officials had earlier said that the plan of the security establishment was to use the services of these personnel to strengthen the IB's presence, especially on the eastern border front along China, Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan, where these officials have worked for long.

The men and women of this cadre were seen as fast losing their sheen as they were not getting timely promotions. They could not opt for combat posts as their physical fitness did not allow them to perform arduous tasks and their recruitment rules were different from those of the uniformed staffers. The average age of the personnel in this cadre is 50 years.

Their task was to help the border population in integrating with the mainstream, and also act as the "eyes and ears" of the SSB, the designated lead intelligence agency along open Indian frontiers with Nepal and Bhutan.

The cadre was first raised in 1963, in the aftermath of the Chinese aggression of the previous year, to work in the border areas and promote a sense of national belonging and pro-India feelings among the local population and till 2001, they were called as the Special Service Bureau.

The name of the force was changed to Sashastra Seema Bal in 2003, following the 1999 Kargil conflict. It was then tasked with guarding the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders on the country's eastern flank.

The SSB, with a strength of about 99,000 personnel, has been guarding the 1,751-km Indo-Nepal border since 2001 and the 699-km Indo-Bhutan border since 2004. PTI NES

HMB\R Attari (Amritsar), Dec 18 (PTI) A software engineer from Mumbai, who had spent around six years in a Pakistan jail, was reunited with his family after he returned to India through the Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday evening.

Hamid Ansari, 33, was earlier released from a jail in Peshawar on Tuesday for repatriation. He was arrested in 2012 for illegally entering Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online

The software engineer was subsequently sentenced to three years' imprisonment by a military court in 2015 for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card. The Mumbai resident's term ended on December 15, but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.

It was an emotional moment for the Ansari family when his parents hugged their son soon after he entered the Indian territory through the Attari-Wagah land route.

The 33-year-old, who was sporting a beard and wearing a cap, could be seen consoling his mother, Fauzia, and wiping her tears as she repeatedly hugged and kissed him.

The bespectacled Hamid Ansari and his family members kissed the Indian soil after his return and thanked the Almighty for answering their prayers.

Shortly before his arrival, Hamid Ansari's mother had told reporters that the prayers of the family and of all those who wished for his safe return had been answered. "I am immensely happy today. I don't have words to describe my feelings."

His father, Nihal Ansari, said, "It is a new dawn for us".

Hamid Ansari was received by Indian officials at the Attari-Wagah route and crossed over into Indian territory after the conclusion of the beating-retreat ceremony.

Immediately after his return, his medical checkup was conducted by doctors. He crossed over to India on the basis of emergency travel certificate issued by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

Last Thursday, the Peshawar High Court had given the Pakistan government a month's deadline to complete his repatriation process. PTI JMS CHS SUN

HMBNew Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) Amid the ongoing commotion in the Lok Sabha over several issues, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan Tuesday said she often receives messages that schools function better than Parliament and wondered whether these disruptions go on to indicate that the behaviour of the members are worse than school kids.

As the House re-convened at noon for the second time, members of the AIADMK, the TDP and the Congress started protesting again.

The Congress, demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), continued sloganeering on the Rafale issue. The BJP members demanded an apology from Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

The TDP members were demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh while the AIADMK MPs were protesting against a dam on the Cauvery river.

Amid the din, the National Institute of Design (Amendment) Bill, 2018 was introduced in the House.

Upset with the disruption of proceedings, Mahajan said the members were well aware that this was an important session as elections will follow.

She said the government was ready for discussion, but the ruckus continued.

"I receive messages several times saying, madam our schools run better. Please understand, what message are we trying to give: that are we worse than school kids," she said addressing the members.

Mahajan lamented that people from other countries were questioning as to "what was happening in our country".

She said she will talk to the government to ensure that issues demanded by the opposition are discussed.

"But please, I request you with hands folded. Please maintain a standard in the House. I am sorry, but I am saying this openly. Many a time, people from other countries say, what is happening in India," she said.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said his party was ready for discussion, but demanded formation of a JPC to probe the Rafale deal so that every file related to the matter can be scrutinised.

To this Mahajan said that constitution of JPC was not under her purview.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the Supreme Court verdict has made things clear, indicating that there was no need for a JPC on the controversial issue.

Unhappy with the response, Congress members again started raising slogans, following which the House was adjourned for the day.

The lower house has been witnessing daily disruptions since the winter session began last week. It had passed a bill on transgender rights on Monday. PTI PR ZMNNew Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) A parliamentary standing committee report has recommended that the Culture Ministry rent out ceratin areas of well known heritage sites for social events at premium rates to generate revenue.

The Lok Sabha Public Accounts Committee on "Preservation and Conservation of Monuments and Antiquities' headed by Mallikarjun Kharge said they could be rented out with proper guidelines in place.

"The recommendation for the ministry to explore enhancing revenue generation through premium renting of well known sites for social and family events with proper guidelines has not been brooded upon with seriousness.

"The committee had deliberated the issue in-depth and considered and opined that certain areas of some well-known monuments like the Red Fort, Taj Mahal, Victoria Memorial hall could very well be earmarked and rented out for events like marriages, plays and musicals at premium rates without hurting the monuments by developing strict guidelines and close supervision," it said.

Earlier, in its reply, the ministry had rejected the idea, which was proposed by the committee in its earlier report, and said it would hurt the monuments. However, the committee has now reiterated its suggestion.

"If ASI is not in favour of renting heritage monuments for social and family events, then possibilities be explored if such events can be held in the backdrop of those monuments.

"For instance, in the 1990s, the music concert of one Greek composer was held in the backdrop of Taj Mahal on the river bed between river Yamuna and Taj precincts which brought international fame to the monument," the report stated.

The Tourism Ministry had faced severe criticism earlier this year for its 'Adopt a Heritage' scheme in which one of the monuments that were 'adopted' by a private player was the Red Fort.

Critics alleged that the government was handing over the country's heritage to private parties after which the ministry had to clarify that they will only be in charge of maintenance of the heritage site. PTI ASG



ASG ANB

ANBNew Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) A man in his 30s allegedly suffering from depression has been detained for lurking suspiciously near the residence of Finance Minister Arun Jaitely in south Delhi's Greater Kailash, police said Tuesday.

The person has been identified as Ganesh Nayak, a resident of Prakash Mohalla in Garhi, they said.

Last night, Greater Kailash police station was informed about a man near the residence of the Jaitely, police said.

On reaching the spot, which was a park, nearly 100 yards from Jaitley's house, police learnt that the staff of RAC (Rajasthan Armed Constabulary) deployed at the residence of the minister had put up porta cabins there as resting place and the person had entered there, a senior police officer said.

Investigations revealed that Nayak seemed to be under the phobia of being attacked by unknown persons, he said.

On Monday, when he was returning home around 9 pm, two-three persons were crossing his path and he feared that they were going to beat him up following which he starting running. He finally ended up at the spot and hid himself behind the porta cabins of RAC, he added

Subsequently, he was caught by the staff who then informed police about it, the officer said.

The statement of Nayak to the police are being verified. However, Nayak's version that he was working as a security guard has been verified from his employer and nothing suspicious has been found, the officer added.

Police said that Nayak seems mentally disturbed due to some family trouble. He is staying at Prakash Mohalla in Garhi with his friends and colleagues. His family is in West Bengal.

Further investigation is underway. PTI AMP UZM SOM

SOMLucknow, Dec 18 (PTI) The proceedings on the first day of the winter session of Uttar Pradesh Assembly were adjourned for the day Tuesday after condoling deaths of former Chief Minister Narain Dutt Tiwari and BJP legislator Patel Ram Kumar Verma.

As soon as the House met for the day, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath read the condolence messages. Leaders of the SP, the BSP, the Congress and other parties also condoled the deaths.

After observing silence, the House was adjourned for the day by Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit.

Tiwari died in New Delhi on October 18 at the age of 93 after prolonged illness. The veteran leader has served as a Union minister in several Congress governments and as the Andhra Pradesh governor. He also served as Uttarakhand chief minister.

BJP MLA from Nighasan, Patel Ram Kumar Verma, died at a hospital in Lucknow on September 30 due to ailments. He was 64 and was the PWD minister in 1991 and cooperative minister in 1997 in UP.

During the brief winter session, spread over four sittings, the government will table bills to replace ordinances promulgated during the inter-session period.

Legislations and private members' bills will be taken up on December 21 before the House adjourns sine die.

The government will also introduce the second supplementary budget in the House tomorrow and get it passed the next day.

Opposition leaders have been demanding a longer winter session.

During discussion on the budget, the opposition parties are looking to corner the government on issues like law and order and farmers' woes.

Congress lawmakers said issues like Bulandshahr violence in which an inspector was shot dead, besides "delay in payment of cane arrears of farmers and corruption in recruitment drive" will be raised by the opposition during the session.

At an all-party meeting yesterday, the chief minister appealed to the opposition parties for smooth conduct of the House. "The government is ready to discuss all issues that the opposition feels are important for the development of the state."

Leader of the Opposition and Samajwadi Party member Ram Govind Choudhury would not be present in this session due to health problems and the party has nominated another leader in his place. PTI ABN SMI SOM

SOMNoida, Dec 18 (PTI) The principal of a private school in which two children were killed and three injured in a wall collapse was arrested here Tuesday, police said.

Two kids, aged 10 and 7, were killed when a wall of the school in Salarpur village collapsed Monday, prompting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to order a magisterial-level inquiry.

KM Public School principal Sanjeev Kumar Jha was held on Tuesday near his house in Sector 107 by officials of the Sector 49 police station, they said.

This is the first arrest in the case in which six people have been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, endangering life of others under the Indian Penal Code and for cruelty against children under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

"Working on a tip-off, Jha was held by the team from the gate of Arogya Dham Maharishi Ashram in Sector 107," Station House Officer Girija Shankar Tripathi, who led the police team, said, adding that searches were underway to nab the other accused.

The wall of the private primary school collapsed at around 9.30 am Monday allegedly due to the impact of some construction activity, involving use of a heavy machine (JCB), in the adjoining plot in Salarpur village, the police had said.

The FIR in the case named school's principal Sanjeev Jha, its manager Raghvendra Solanki, owner Amit Bhati, his relative Deshraj Bhati and Sumit Bhati (Deshraj's son) and an unidentified JCB operator.

According to the FIR, the school building was "too old and deteriorated" while the construction work in the plot adjoining it was being done "without any official approval from the authorities concerned". PTI KIS IJT(Eds: Correcting name of Shiv Sena in para 3)

\R New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) The Communist Party of India (CPI) asked newly-elected Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath to not "follow the ideals" of the Shiv Sena, as moving from one state to another for employment was a common phenomenon.

Nath had told reporters after taking office on Monday that his government would provide incentives to industries that give 70 per cent of their jobs to those from his state and indicated that migrants from Uttar Pradesh get employment at the cost of the local population.

"Kamal Nath should not follow the ideals of Shiv Sena of Maharashtra. He is a leader of (the) Congress. He must understand tradition of (the) Congress. (The) Congress can't go for parochial ideals," said CPI general secretary Atul Anjaan, who originally hails from Uttar Pradesh.

Anjaan said despite the fact that the most number of prime ministers were elected from Uttar Pradesh, it remained one of the poorest states in the country.

"(Congress chief) Rahul Gandhi is also elected to the Lok Sabha from UP. Rahul Gandhi must think such type of comments by the MP CM will be taken by the people of the state with a pinch of salt," Anjaan added. PTI DMB

HMBNew Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) To evaluate its own 'Rapid Airlift Capability' and to enhance crew currency in the role, the Western Air Command of the IAF Tuesday in a single wave airlifted a record 463 tonnes of load from its airbase at Chandigarh to airfields and drop zones in Ladakh, a statement said.

The effort was accomplished with the aid of a fleet of 16 fixed wing transport aircraft comprising of C-17 Globemaster, the Ilyushin-76 Gajraj and the Medium lift Tactical aircraft, Antonov-32.

All aircraft were loaded and took off from Chandigarh airbase early in the morning. The entire wave was accomplished in little less than six hours, the statement said.

"Airlift of approximately 500 tonnes, in the achieved time frame, in a single wave, happens to be a record which enhances the assessment of the Command's capability towards rapid and heavy airlift.

"The command is entrusted with the air maintenance of the entire northern region of the country and under normal operating circumstances airlifts close to 3000 tonnes of load per month," the statement said.

Air Marshall NJS Dhillon, the Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) of the Western Air Command, said the rapid air mobility is a key component of modern warfare and this assumes greater significance in short and intense wars.

"This is very true in India's context, especially when related to air mobility to airfields in the Ladakh region. With a wide spectrum of military transport aircraft in its inventory, the IAF today has a credible airlift capability which has provided succour on numerous occasions when the nation was struck with natural calamities," the statement quoting Dhillion said.

In 2013, in a subtle show of strength to China, the IAF landed its C-130J Super Hercules transport plane at the world's highest Daulat Beg Oldie airstrip in Ladakh near the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The achievement enabled the armed forces to use the heavy-lift aircraft to induct troops, supplies, improve communication network and also served as a morale booster for maintenance of troops positioned there, said the statement. PTI PR PR AQS

AQSNew Delhi,Dec 18 (PTI) To motivate students to become entrepreneurs, the Delhi government will launch a special curriculum for city schools from next session, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said Tuesday.

Sisodia said students need to become job providers and this curriculum will train them before they begin college.

"We had launched the 'happiness curriculum' in government schools. Now we will launch the entrepreneurship curriculum from the next session onwards for secondary and senior secondary students," he said at the first convocation of Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women.

"At such events (convocation) we should also celebrate those students who did not take up jobs and instead chose to provide jobs to others. The definition of patriotism should be extended to those who provide jobs," he said.

Around 1,100 students were awarded degrees at the convocation.

Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, who is the chancellor of the varsity, congratulated the students and also suggested that entrepreneurs should be supported by the government when they start out.

'Metro man' E Sreedharan was the chief guest at the event. He said the future of the country lies in the hands of engineers and technocrats and not politicians. PTI SLB GJS SOM

SOMJammu, Dec 18 (PTI) Pakistani troops Tuesday violated ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir by resorting to unprovoked firing on forward posts, officials said.

The firing by Pakistani troops from across the LoC attracted strong and effective retaliation by the Indian Army, they said.

The officials said there was no immediate report of any casualty.

The ceasefire violation was first reported in Digwar sector late this evening and later spread to Kerni sector, they said.

The exchange of firing between the two sides was still going on when last reports were received, they added. PTI TAS AQS

AQSRegional science and technology meet begins at city college

Kolkata, Dec 18 (PTI) Aiming to popularise scientific

thinking among the youth, a two-day science and technology

meet began at a city college here on Tuesday.

The primary objective of the 3rd Regional Science and

Technology Congress is to provide a forum for dissemination of

information on scientific research, especially among young

scientists, a state minister told reporters.

The meet was organised by West Bengal's Department of

Science and Technology, and Biotechnology, at the Bidhannagar

College campus.

Another basic objective of the science meet is to

synergise new ideas with societal needs, Science, Technology

and Biotechnology Minister Bratya Basu said.

The number of abstracts received across 12 broad

disciplines were 676 with 504 of them chosen for the

technical session, the organisers said. PTI SUS

RBT RBTPROSPECT PARK  The drizzling rain did little to determine a dedicated group at Prospect Hill Baptist Church Saturday as they plodded through a muddy cemetery so they could place wreaths at 10 graves of those whove served the country.

Were here today to say thank you, said the Rev. Chris Heisey-Terrell, the churchs pastor, from the pulpit before they made their trek. Today, we show united fronts, gratitude and respect across the United States of America as we remember the fallen, honor those who serve and teach our children the value of freedom.

The churchs cemetery was one of 1,640 locations throughout the country in which people were honoring more than 1.7 million veterans through Wreaths Across America.

The commemoration was initially started by Morrill Worcester of Harrington, Maine, who was deeply moved by a childhood visit to Arlington National Cemetery. When he became an adult, he became a wreath maker and in 1992, decided to send the surplus he had to Arlington to honor veterans.

In Prospect Park, all branches of the service were honored, as were prisoners of war and those missing in action. A Civil War soldier was among those recognized.

Joyce Foresman-Capuzzi was a coordinator of the Prospect Park event. When she found out it wasnt on the national list in October, she sprung into action to make it so.

I couldnt think that there was such a historic little cemetery that wasnt participating, she said, adding that the venue may not be as large as others but still held deep meaning. Ten may seem small compared to Arlington or Fort Indiantown Gap but the premise of Wreaths Across America is that no one never has their name said again.

And, that included George W. Wood, who died July 2, 1863, during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Foresman-Capuzzi said she was moved to tears to know he would be honored Saturday.

I would guess that hes probably not had his name uttered in over 100 years, she said.

Gabe Mangano, one of two students selected from Prospect Park School , laid a wreath at Woods grave.

I think its just great, the future Valley Forge Military Academy student said. Hopefully, 100 years later when I die, theyll come back to remember me.

The other student, Tabitha Lenhart, laid the first wreath of the event.

Thank you Alexander McAllister, she said, for serving as a U.S. Merchant Marine.

Before placing a wreath at the grave of Stephen Sleeper in honor of POWs and MIAs, U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-7, of Swarthmore, said she liked this years theme of Remember, Honor, Teach.

Thats important -just making sure that kids know the value of public service and military service, she said.

For Mike Fagan of Dover, ,Del., the day also held some sadness.

Its a little upsetting because Im it, he said after laying a wreath for his father, Robert W. Fagan of the U.S. Marine Corps. Ive buried my whole family. I just put my father down, he was the last one.

Fagan died May 14, 2017 and hes buried next to his wife, Norma F. Fagan, also a U.S. Marine, and their son, Robert W. Fagan, who served in the U.S. Army.

My mother and father were in the 50s, Mike Fagan said of when his parents served the country. My father stayed in for 21 years, he was in Vietnam three times.

He decided to participate as a way to show respect for his parents and his brother as serving in the military was a part of his family. Fagan himself served in the U.S. Army from 1977 through 1997.

Its our country, the 1977 Ridley High School graduate said. (Its) the way I was brought up.

Debbie Daniels of Prospect Park lives across the street from the church and the cemetery.

A woman involved in her community from town watch to fire police, she does a similar commemoration at Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon in the spring.

(You) look at the dates and what they are and oh my God!, she said. This is right in your own backyard. You know what? These guys are just forgotten. You have to do something for them.One held for molesting woman in auto-rickshaw

Kolkata, Dec 18 (PTI) One person was arrested Tuesday

for allegedly molesting a woman co-passenger while travelling

in an auto-rickshaw in southern part of the city's Ballygunge

Phari, police said.

The woman raised an alarm when the accused was fleeing

after getting down from the vehicle and local people captured

him. He was later handed over to the police.

She was going from Ballygunge Phari to Hazra in the

auto-rickshaw, police said.

A case has been registered against him. PTI SCH

NN NNAhmedabad, Dec 18 (PTI) The Gujarat High Court Tuesday issued notices to the charity commissioner and members of the trust that runs the city-based V S Hospital over a petition challenging the decision to demolish the medical facility.

The members of the donor family of Sheth Vadilal Sarabhai Hospital challenged the decision of the trust governing the hospital to demolish it.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) also has a say in the management of the over 80-year-old hospital.

The members said the composition of the nine-member trust was tweaked to gain majority and pass a resolution to raze the healthcare facility.

Justice V M Pancholi issued notices, returnable on December 27, to the charity commissioner and trust members.

Petitioners Brijesh Chinai and Rupa Chinai also challenged the January 25, 2018 order of the charity commissioner asking the parties involved to "sort out the differences amicably".

The AMC is constructing a multi-speciality hospital near the V S Hospital and its adjoining Chinai Prasuti Gruh (maternity centre).

According to the AMC plan, the two hospitals are to be demolished to construct a parking lot for the new hospital which is being built.

Both old facilities are governed by a common trust with heirs of donor Sarabhai and Chinai families among its nine members apart from AMC corporators and a civil surgeon.

The petitioners said the AMC took the decision to demolish the existing hospitals and construct the new one by first changing the composition of the trust by replacing the leader of the opposition of the civic body (of the Congress) by a corproator of the ruling party (the Bharatiya Janata Party).

The AMC also decided to transfer the management of the new hospital to a new trust, "Medical Education Trust" (MET), formed by the civic body, they said.

This decision has also been challenged in the HC.

The petitioners said the composition of the trust was changed in 2012 to gain majority after which the resolution was passed to demolish the two hospitals.

The resolution is "contrary to the trust deed and on the face of it erroneous, illegal and unlawful", they said.

In 2012, the petitioners received invitation for attending the foundation stone laying ceremony of the 1,600 bed multi-speciality hospital.

"It is stated and submitted that at no stage have the petitioners consented or concurred to this plan of demolishing these two hospital buildings," the petitioners said.

"The entire purpose of this new trust is to divest the petitioners from the management of the two hospitals and enable AMC corporators, bureaucrats and politicians who are the trustees of the MET to take complete control," said the petitioners.

When the petitioners moved the charity commissioner challenging the demolition decision and also the formation of the new trust, the latter asked the parties involved "to sit together and sort out everything amicably".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate the new hospital on January 17. PTI KA PD RSY RHLDehradun, Dec 18 (PTI) AICC General Secretary and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat Tuesday accused the BJP government in the state of stopping all development work in Gairsain.

"Eight road construction projects for Gairsain were cleared by the previous government on which work has been stopped. A development corporation had also been created by us which has been closed by the present government," Rawat alleged at a press conference here.

Rawat said an amount of Rs 57 crore was sanctioned by his government for establishing a secretariat at Gairsain but work on the project has also been halted. Construction of 500 residential houses in Gairsain started during his tenure which has also been stopped, he alleged.

"Gairsain has fallen a victim to infighting within the BJP which is condemnable," he said.

Accusing the state government of committing a sin by making an amendment to the Uttarakhand Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, Rawat said with the amendment to sections 143 and 154 of the act anyone can buy a piece of land anywhere in Uttarakhand which goes against the concept of a Himalayan state.

"I appeal to MLAs of all political parties to work for another amendment to the act to stop indiscriminate selling and buying of land in the Himalayan state," he said.

Criticising the state government for not giving reservation to statehood agitators in jobs, he claimed his government had made an act to ensure that they got quota in jobs but the Governor did not give his assent to it.

Alleging that the arbitration system in Udham Singh Nagar district had been abolished after the NH-74 land compensation scam, he said, " We want the state government to appoint arbitrators so that land owners get compensation for their land on time."

Rawat said despite rising unemployment in the state, the government does not seem inclined to fill the vacancies. He also accused the government of not being able to announce the MSP for sugarcane causing widespread discontent among farmers. He said dues worth Rs 360 crore were yet to be paid to sugarcane growers forcing them to take extreme steps like committing suicide. PTI ALM RCJNew Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) The Jawaharlal Nehru University administration Tuesday said "disciplinary proceedings" are in the pipeline against teachers who participated in a hunger strike last month and defied High Court orders.

The JNU Teachers' Association (JNUTA), however, said their protests are within the constitutional and legal framework.

JNUTA office bearers appear to have learnt nothing from their last experience when they called for a 24-hour-long protest in front of the Administration Block, despite repeated cautionary notes sent to them to remind that there is a designated place for holding any such protests, the varsity said.

"Disciplinary proceeding, in fact, is in the pipeline against a few teacher protesters who defied the Delhi High Court order as well as the university rules. As per the decision of the High Court, protest of any kind is prohibited within 100 meters of the Administration Building," it said.

The varsity said the JNU rule also prohibits all kinds of protests in an area within 100 metres of the academic complexes, including the Dr BR Ambedkar Library.

It expressed concern about the JNUTA "inciting the students to indulge in illegal activities of the kind" they have indulged in.

"Such activities, particularly staging protests in prohibited areas of the campus in clear violation of university rules and court rulings, have adversely affected peace and stability in a campus that is known for its intellectual works," varsity's registrar Pramod Kumar said.

On Monday, the students' association held a public meeting outside the Dr BR Ambedkar Library over library fund cuts.

"A large number of students, faculty and even other stakeholders of the university seem to have been fed up with a handful of teacher and student activists who take up even trivial issues and twisted facts to disrupt peace just for their narrow political games," Kumar said.

The JNU administration is always prepared to hold dialogue on any issue in a peaceful atmosphere at all appropriate levels of the administrative structure, he added.

The JNUTA said all its protests are within the constitutional and legal framework.

"No academic activities of JNU have been hindered as a result of teacher protests. The number of teachers supporting and participating in the activities of JNUTA is overwhelming," it said.

The JNUTA said 89 per cent of JNU teachers have voted asking for removal of the vice-chancellor in a referendum in August 2018.

"The continued protest and resistance by the JNU community is compelled by continuous destruction of teaching and learning in JNU in the recent years and proves the point that the current leadership of JNU is the most damaging academic leadership in the history of JNU," it said. PTI SLB AQSCALEB MAGGS, Chariho, Football, Junior; Maggs caught 11 passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns in the Chargers loss to East Greenwich on Thanksgiving eve. He had scoring receptions of 1 and 29 yards.

LUKE LOWRY, Stonington, Football, Junior; Lowry caught a pair of TD passes in the Bears Thanksgiving Day loss to Westerly. The two scoring receptions matched a record for the holiday game held by five others. Lowry had touchdown catches of 36 and 67 yards. He was named Stoningtons top offensive player in the game.

ZACK TUCK, Westerly, Football, Junior; Tuck rushed for 241 yards and scored three touchdowns in the Bulldogs Thanksgiving Day victory over Stonington. Tuck was named the games MVP and was also selected as Westerlys top offensive player.

Vote

View ResultsBy Emily Holden

16 December 2018

WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Guardian)  Ryan Zinkes exit as interior secretary elevates a former lobbyist to the job, meaning the top two US environmental agencies will now be run by people previously paid by industry.The deputy secretary, David Bernhardt, will take over at least temporarily when Zinke steps down at the end of the year. He also could be in the running to head the department permanently. And at the Environmental Protection Agency, the acting administrator, Andrew Wheeler, who was a coal lobbyist, will be nominated to keep the post.Bernhardt was a fossil fuels and water industry lobbyist at the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck before he joined the Trump administration. He was previously the chief lawyer at the interior department under the George W Bush administration.In an ethics pledge, Bernhardt said he would wait until August 2019 to have certain interactions with his former firm and some major oil and gas companies he represented. But many of the industry-friendly changes he has ushered in as the No 2 official were on the wishlists of the companies who employed him.Its not so much who has he helped. Its who hasnt he helped in industry so far, said Bobby McEnaney, who works on western US energy issues for the Natural Resources Defense Council.The notion that he could extricate himself from benefiting his former clients is impossible. []Bernhardt has led efforts to weaken endangered species protections, writing an op-ed in the Washington Post claiming that the way the law is implemented makes for an unnecessary regulatory burden.Bernhardt also represented Taylor Energy, the oil company that has been leaking hundreds of barrels per oil per day into the Gulf of Mexico for 14 years, nearly overtaking the BP Deepwater Horizon spill. [more]CAR PLANS Tesla designer Andrew Kim is the latest employee of the electric car maker to switch over to Apple, fuelling speculation it is building an electric car.

FLOAT DELAY Oil and gas company Greenfields Petroleum has postponed its plans to list on AIM until the new year. A source close to the transaction said the delay was down to current market conditions both on the London Stock Exchange and in the oil market.

FLAWED PAY-OUTS A barrister representing small business owners who were victims of a major fraud has accused Lloyds of running a flawed compensation scheme with insufficient pay-outs.

Tesla designer Andrew Kim is the latest employee of the electric car maker to switch over to Apple, fuelling speculation it is building an electric car

Jonathan Laidlaw QC said Lloyds 100 million scheme was not enough to undo the damage caused by rogue bankers at the Reading branch of HBOS, which Lloyds bought in 2008. The lender insisted its scheme had taken the right approach.

HEATING UP Climate changes effect on the financial system is to be tested by the Bank of England next year as it examines how prepared big lenders are for warmer global temperatures and their impact.

TRADING BOOST Banks and brokers in the European Union will be able to carry on trading over the Swiss Stock Exchange until June next year, Brussels chiefs have said.

BONUS BLOW Bankers on Wall Street are braced for lacklustre bonuses after a tough end to 2018.

OIL TIE-UP Oil giant BP has signed an agreement with Angolas state oil company Sonangol to move forward with a deepwater development off the countrys coastline.

SWISS STAKE Japans Hitachi has bought an 80 per cent stake in Swiss technology company ABBs power grids division for 5 billion.

CAPITAL FIT Fitness firm The Gym Group is opening another two sites in London.

PARK LIFE London Stansted owner Manchester Airport Group has bought online parking comparison firm Sky Park Secure for an undisclosed sum.

NEW PLANES Budget airline Wizz Air has added two planes and six routes at its Luton base.

PHONE DEAL Online electricals retailer AO World has completed its 38 million acquisition of online firm Mobile Phones Direct.CARBO Ceramics Inc., a technology company, provides products and services to the oil and gas, industrial, and environmental markets worldwide. It operates through two segments, Oilfield and Industrial Technologies and Services, and Environmental Technologies and Services. The Oilfield and Industrial Technologies and Services segment manufactures and sells oilfield ceramic technology products, base ceramic proppants, and frac sand proppants to pressure pumping companies, and oil and gas operators for use in the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas and oil wells. It also provides technology to design, build, and optimize the Frac; sells fracture stimulation software under the FracPro brand; and offers fracture design and consulting services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies under the StrataGen brand name. The Environmental Technologies and Services segment provides spill prevention, containment, and countermeasure systems for the oil and gas industry. CARBO Ceramics Inc. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Read MoreTravelport Worldwide Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates a travel commerce platform that offers distribution, technology, payment, mobile, and other solutions for the travel and tourism industry in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It facilitates travel commerce by connecting travel providers, such as airlines, hotel chains, and car rental companies with online and offline travel buyers in a business-to-business travel platform. The company provides distribution and merchandising solutions for hotel, car rental, rail, cruise-line, and tour operators; Virtual Account Number payment solutions that automatically generate unique MasterCard numbers that are used to process payments; advertising solutions; and other platform services, such as subscription, processing, and business intelligence data services, as well as marketing-oriented analytical tools to travel agencies, travel providers, and other travel data users. It also offers critical IT solutions and other services to airlines, such as shopping, ticketing, departure control, business intelligence, and other solutions. Travelport Worldwide Limited was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Langley, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreAlbany

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is pushing for energy giant ExxonMobil to set and reveal goals for reducing climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions from both its operations and overall global use of its petroleum.

On Monday, DiNapoli and the Church of England both backed a climate change resolution as shareholders of company stock. New York currently holds about $841.5 million in Exxon stock in its public pension fund, which is controlled by DiNapoli.

The resolution, which asks the company to adopt emissions goals aimed at keeping global temperature increases at no more than 2 degrees Celsius, is expected to be voted on by shareholders at Exxon's annual meeting this spring.

DiNapoli said other petroleum companies, like Shell and Total, have crafted greenhouse gas emission reduction plans, and it is time for Exxon to do the same.

"The world is transitioning to a lower carbon future and Exxon needs to demonstrate its ability to adapt or risk its bottom line along with investors' confidence," he said.

However, some climate activists want the state to completely remove fossil fuel stocks from the pension fund to pressure the industry.

"As long as he invests New Yorkers' money into rogue oil corporations like ExxonMobil, Comptroller DiNapoli dangerously remains inertia's avatar on climate," said Betamia Coronel, an organizer with the climate group 350.org.

DiNapoli's office has resisted such calls for divestment, saying that holding stock in fossil fuel companies gives the state a platform for seeking change.

This is the second time that DiNapoli has worked with the Church of England (also known as the Episcopal Church) on climate policy regarding Exxon.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

"We want to see ExxonMobil develop a clear strategy for long-term sustainability, in line with international commitments for a safer climate," said Edward Mason, the investment chief for the church.

In 2017, the comptroller and church officials backed a successful shareholder resolution that required Exxon to forecast the potential impacts of climate change and climate change policies on its business prospects.

Exxon later produced such a report, which some climate activists said downplayed the issue.

The $207 billion retirement fund, the nation's third largest, is not the only battle line drawn between New York and ExxonMobil.

State Attorney General Barbara Underwood has engaged in a protracted legal battle with the company in a fraud investigation aimed at uncovering whether ExxonMobil covered up what it knew about climate change and fossil fuels in order to safeguard its business.SEFCU announced on Monday that it is purchasing an additional Freight Farm for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Capital Area. The Freight Farm will help to feed fresh vegetables to children in the club, it will teach them about technology and farming and is will generate additional revenue for the club. At left, Michael Castellana, president and CEO of SEFCU, announces that SEFCU is donating more than $300,000 to non-profit organizations that help serve the hungry and homeless.Two businesses long expected to open on Albanys Madison Avenue  a coffee shop run by Tierra Farm and a moviehouse-plus-eatery being planned by Cosmic Cinemas for the shuttered Madison Theater  are now on track to open in January, according to Tierra president Gunther Fishgold.

Two separate issues have held up the openings. For the coffee shop, the issue is a demand from the city of Albany to install a grease trap, which has led to kind of a little standoff right now, Fishgold said. He added that the Albany County Health Department has already said absolutely not, 100 percent we dont need it. ... Why would you need a grease trap, first of all, for a place where you dont cook?

Richard LaJoy, director of the citys buildings and regulatory compliance division, said officials at the county health department really have nothing to do with it. Its not their law. Its not their code. Its a city code, and the health department has no control over our infrastructure.

He said the grease trap  or grease interceptor  is mandated by the city water department and enforced by buildings compliance. Water department commissioner Joseph E. Coffey could not be reached immediately for comment Monday afternoon.

LaJoy said attorneys on both sides are in discussion. We look forward to having this place open  we want it to open. Its just a matter of his contract installing it. Were good to go.

Tierra has already spent $145,000 on the interior, Fishgold said, noting that he plans to meet with Mayor Kathy Sheehan after vacation next week. I keep telling em this is crazy. ... Its just been a battle.

Regarding the delay in the theater-eatery, Fishgold said Cosmic told him on Sunday that the delay occurred because the company turned its focus to completing and opening its new movie house in Hudson, which was a pain in the neck. That is now open on Fairview Avenue.

Fishgold said that Trinity Realty Group, which owns the spaces being leased by Tierra and Cosmic, anticipates a January opening. TRG purchased the building in April for $525,000 from Tierra, the Columbia County fruit-and-nut wholesaler that had owned the Madison and its adjoining coffee shop and store since 2013.

When the deal was first announced in March, Cosmic CEO Terrell Braly, the former head of Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, told the Times Union that he was shooting for a summer 2018 opening after a renovation and upgrades including digital projectors and rocker seats. Fishgold was told the film stuff is all done, including the new projectors.

Braly did not reply to three separate voicemails.

The Cosmic cinema-eatery on Madison is one of several in the works for the Carolinas and New York State, all planning to offer high-quality food and alcohol in theaters designed for mature moviegoers -- with no talking, no cell use, no unaccompanied minors, no babies and no children under 3 (except at special screenings).

I think their timing was a little ambitious for what they wanted to do, Fishgold said of the Cosmic Cinemas timeline for Albany. Just a little more patience is required. I think were good, he said. Im confident.Jordan Strauss

That second Golden Globe is really going to tie the room together for Jeff Bridges.

The "Big Lebowski" actor will be feted at next month's 76th Golden Globes ceremony with the Cecil B. DeMille Award, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced Monday.Bethlehem native and the first ever male CoverGirl cover model James Charles is asking his fans to stop showing up on his doorstep unannounced.

The 19-year-old tweeted on Sunday, "please stop showing up at my house. i will not hug you, i will not take a photo with you, and i absolutely will not sign your palette. it is extremely disrespectful & makes me feel very unsafe in my own home. respect people's privacy, it's really not that hard."What's coming down the pike in for restaurants, bars, and consumers this new year?

According to international restaurant consultants Baum+Whiteman, who publish an annual report predicting the top food and beverage trends for the year ahead, there are a lot of big changes (and challenges) on the way.There are lots of moving parts under the chassis of "Mortal Engines," a sci-fi fantasy in which a young woman seeks revenge in a world of predator cities that roam the barren landscape in search of smaller communities to devour. The film is a reasonably entertaining trifle, though it's overstuffed with battle sequences and peripheral characters that often consume the main storyline.

The main urban menace on wheels is London, and though the tale takes place 1,000 years from now, the former city on the Thames has a decidedly non-futuristic look. Most things tech have been tossed on the junk heap of history, with smashed iPhones serving as museum relics.

It's an absurd yet original premise, and the opening sequence is satisfying, as London  literally hungry for resources on a ravaged Earth  chases down its prey: a small cluster of buildings that futilely tries to escape before becoming fodder for the big-city engine. In short order, we meet Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar, beguiling), who sneaks aboard the London contraption and attempts to kill greedy leader Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving, solid), who murdered Hester's mother for his own nefarious purposes.

Hester is unsuccessful in her scheme, and she soon falls down a chute and into the outlands, a wasteland where danger lurks everywhere. Accompanying her is the nerdish adventurer Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan, engaging), who has been banished from London because he knows the truth about what Thaddeus did to Hester's mother.

The looming showdown between Hester and Thaddeus is at the crux of "Mortal Engines," but director Christian Rivers throws a monkey wrench into things by adding too many battles, chases, subplots, and exposition. Key characters disappear for long stretches, and even the conceit of predator cities gets lost in all the traffic.

But Rivers still makes his movie watchable  the set design is always interesting, and the battles are deftly executed. When Tom chases Hester through the mechanical innards of London, "Mortal Engines" is in a high gear. Perhaps the biggest thing in Rivers' favor is Hilmar, a talented actress who creates an interesting screen presence out of almost nothing. Indeed, there seems to have been much more focus on the storyboards than the characters, but the entire cast is game and does fine with the little they have been given to work with.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

That's the thing with "Mortal Engines": There is fine craftsmanship on the screen, and the acting is competent, but the movie never quite reaches magical heights. Indeed, some of the set-pieces in the final half turn into an endurance test in which the narrative gets less and less cohesive. A pruned-down plotline would have done wonders.

There are unmistakable allusions to modern technology, which has become one of the biggest bogeymen in the movies. That's one of the most clever touches of this film: The future world has a disdain for technology  it's a curse from the ancient past  and the villain here tries to bring it back. We can all guess what his fate will be.An Amsterdam man was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his role in the 2017 theft of dozens of guns from a Glenville store.

Omar DeJesus, 32, admitted in May that he let two other men store the stolen rifles and handguns at his home in exchange for a Sig Sauger 9mm pistol, which he then sold for $700.ALBANY - A Ballston Spa man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for downloading and distributing child pornography.

Jason Novoa, 38, pleaded guilty in July that over at least five years, he used his laptop to search and download videos and images depicting child pornography, according to U.S. Attorney Grant C. Jaquith of the Northern District of New York.

Attorneys said Novoa possessed about 30 videos and 310 pictures on June 29, 2017, when his laptop was seized.

Novoa also admitted that between June 9 and June 13, 2017, he made available over 800 child pornography images available for download.

A judge also sentenced Novoa to 20 years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $5,000 in restitution to one of the victims portrayed in the child pornography he possessed. He will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the State Police, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emmet OHanlon.TROY  Luna, the mixed-breed dog that faced euthanasia for biting another dog and a man in October, will not be put down and will be home for Christmas under a deal reached between her owner and the city Tuesday in Rensselaer County Court.

"I'm so excited. It's been a long couple of weeks," Luna's owner, Cade Saba, said after the court proceedings concluded.

County Court Judge Jennifer Sober vacated an earlier conviction sentencing the dog to death that was appealed from Troy City Court. That set in motion the agreement establishing requirements for Saba to meet and removing the dangerous dog designation from Luna.

Saba agreed to accept a ruling of adjourned in contemplation of dismissal to last two years without any additional problems with Luna. She also has to pay a $1,500 fine. As part of the agreement, Luna will also be spayed, microchipped and leashed with a muzzle when outside. The Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, represented by attorney Jonathan Schopf, which fought to save the dog's life with Margaret Donnelly, Saba's attorney, will pay the fine and carry out the medical procedures.

Mayor Patrick Madden's office issued a statement saying the city was glad to resolve the case, which Corporation Counsel James Caruso handled. "Today's resolution spares the dog's life and mandates the owner take additional steps to protect the public and other dogs."

Luna is expected to head home Wednesday from the humane society in Menands after the procedures are performed.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

The humane society has taken care of Luna since the appeal was filed after a Troy City Court court judge's order in November to put down Luna.

The two sides hammered out their agreement regarding the 6-year-old dog's fate with Sober Tuesday morning in the judge's chambers before going into court. The decision Tuesday completed the negotiations that started last week.

Luna was originally ordered to be euthanized after a hearing in city court following an Oct. 26 incident in which she bit another dog and that animal's owner.

The bites Luna inflicted on an American Eskimo dog, and his owner, were described in court documents as minor injuries. When Luna bit the other dog it left bruises and cuts to his pelvis and abdomen area. The owner was bitten while trying to break up the dog fight, according to court records.David R. Smith, the former president of SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, was sentenced on Monday to probation for three years and restitution payments and fines of more $250,000.

Smith, who was president of the embattled university from 2006 to 2013, agreed to a plea deal in Syracuse City Court in September, which included three misdemeanor charges but no automatic jail time. The charges revolved around Smith abusing his position as president in using several methods to illegally increase his compensation.

Smith was sentenced Monday by City Court Judge Rory McMahon. If Smith fails to adhere to the terms of his probation, he could face up to three years in jail.

State Attorney General Barbara Underwood and Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott conducted the lengthy investigation into Smith.

The board of trustee and chancellor of the State University of New York had set Smith's compensation at more than $360,000 a year. But in 2007, Smith directed a subordinate to approve his unauthorized raise through the SUNY Research Foundation worth $28,450 a year.

In his guilty plea, Smith admitted submitting expense receipts for reimbursements he was not entitled to in order to augment his monthly housing allowance. In addition, he illegally set up a deferred compensation plan for himself and others from MedBest Medical Management Inc., which provided billing services for Upstate Medical University's hospital and its physicians.

"We have zero tolerance for those who shamelessly abuse their positions and violate the public trust in order to line their own pockets," Attorney General Barbara Underwood said in a statement. "That's exactly what David Smith did  and now he's paying the price."

Also in September, the embattled president of SUNY Upstate, Danielle Laraque-Arena,announced that she would step down at the end of the semester on Dec. 22.

The Times Union had just reported that Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick had launched an unrelated, broad grand jury investigation of SUNY Upstate, including hiring decisions, severance packages and construction projects.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

Two sources with knowledge of the investigation said Leahy Scott's office was involved in the probe, which was examining the inner workings of the sprawling university.

Last May, a top official at the university, Sergio A. Garcia, resigned in the wake of a Times Union report revealing apparent fabrications in his professional biography.

The grand jury investigation was also examining a severance package awarded to former SUNY Upstate Medical University Hospital CEO Dr. John McCabe. The Syracuse Post-Standard reported in June that McCabe had been paid $660,500 for a 14-month "off-campus assignment."ALBANY  Brooklyn state Sen. Kevin Parker, a Democrat known for his volatile temper, has landed in hot water again.

The new controversy arose after a Senate Republican press aide, Candice Giove, tweeted critically about Parker on Tuesday morning.

Parker's official state Senate Twitter feed then responded, "Kill yourself!"

Giove had tweeted critically about an apparent misuse of a state Senate-issued parking placard, which apparently belongs to Parker.

The placard had initially been spotted on a car that was blocking a bike lane in Manhattan.

"The placard is assigned to @SenatorParker," Giove wrote. "However, the license plate # on the placard does not match the vehicle. So he either used it in another car or gave it to someone else, both of which are not permitted."

That brought the reply from Parker's account.

Parker's tweet has since been deleted.

After several reporters tweeted about the exchange, Parker apologized to Giove  again on Twitter.

After issuing the apology, however, Parker returned the Times Union's request for comment and slammed Giove even further.

"This is a tempest in a teapot," Parker said. "The fact is, the person we're talking about here is a 'Twitter troll' who represents a conference that on every issue has been on the wrong side of history  a women's right to choose, the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, voting rights."

Parker disputed that his comment showed insensitivity on the subject of suicide, arguing that the conduct of Giove, who previously was a communications staffer for the Senate's now-defunct Independent Democratic Conference, was the real issue.

"I'm sure people in my district don't care," Parker said. "Come on, people don't care about that. What Republican legislation has there been for suicide prevention? When (Giove) was with the IDC, where was the anti-suicide legislation she was putting forth?"

"Candice is the one coming after me," Parker added. "Where's Candice record been on suicide?"

Still, Parker said he wasn't rescinding his apology.

"I am standing by it, absolutely: I should not have said (the original tweet)," Parker said. "But as communications director for the IDC, she was on the wrong side of history on every issue, pitting people against each other."

The initial comment brought immediate criticism on Tuesday.

"I was disappointed in Senator Parker's tweet," state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the Yonkers Democrat who is set to become the chamber's majority leader in January, said in a statement. "Suicide is a serious issue and should not be joked about in this manner. I am glad that he has apologized."

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

"It sounds wildly inappropriate," Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul told the Times Union.

"I am angry and disappointed that Senator Parker would go after one of my employees, or any employee of the New York State Senate, in this way," said Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, a Republican. "Suicide is a serious issue, and his cavalier and harmful language shouldn't be dismissed as just a poor choice of words...Actions have consequences, and as a member of the incoming Democrat Majority in the Senate, Kevin Parker should be reprimanded by his leadership immediately.

Earlier this month, Parker introduced a bill that would require police to scrutinize the social media activity of handgun license applicants.

With Senate Democrats set to assume the majority next year, Parker's temper could be a headache.

His episodes of bad behavior seemed to escalate when the Senate Democrats last held the majority in 2009-2010. In May 2009, Parker was charged with attacking a New York Post photographer and was eventually stripped of a leadership position. He was convicted on a misdemeanor charge.

Also in 2009, Parker memorably called then-Gov. David Paterson a "coke-snorting, staff-banging governor" during the Senate coup crisis, not long after the executive suspended paychecks for senators during the multi-week impasse.

Parker's temper has caused him other problems, including a 2005 incident when he punched a traffic agent after being given a ticket (the charges were dropped when he agreed to take an anger management class), and a profane 2010 dispute with Democratic state Sen. Diane Savino during a closed-door conference meeting.

While those kinds of antics have dropped off in recent years, Parker raised eyebrows earlier this month at a state Business Council session, where he advised that in lobbying the ethnically diverse new Democratic majority, interest groups shouldn't "show up to a meeting with four white guys."

Giove joined the Senate GOP staff after the IDC dissolved earlier this year. Known for her own sharp elbows on social media, Giove in May tweeted critically about her former boss, Bronx state senator and ex-IDC leader Jeff Klein.

Parker declined to answer a question about the parking placard issue.

Parker did argue, however, that the media focuses too much on his controversies, and not enough on the highlights of his 16 years as a lawmaker. Parker, for instance, said he has passed more bills than anyone the past several years, and held 18 community events in his district this past year.While contract discussions between Mohawk Ambulance Service, EMTs and paramedics have come to a standstill, the company says it will implement the terms of its final proposal and give employees a raise.

The EMTs and paramedics have been without a contract at Mohawk since April 1.

In October, the Times Union interviewed multiple Mohawk EMTs, who are a part of the UPSEU Local 1222, to discuss their concerns: long hours and poor pay.

At the time, the starting hourly pay for EMTs at Mohawk Ambulance was $12.51, just 76 cents more than area fast-food workers making minimum wage.

Locally, other area contracts show that W.F. Bruen Rescue Squad, which serves the town of East Greenbush, pays its EMTs $13 an hour. At $11.73 an hour, the starting wage for EMTs for the town of Coxsackie is even less than at Mohawk or W.F. Bruen.

Mohawk announced Monday in a press release that its final wage proposal is $14.75 for full-time EMTs and dispatchers, $13.50 for part time EMTs and dispatchers, $14 for full-time drivers and $13.50 for part-time drivers.

The proposal provides for 3 percent annual increases to each employee's hourly rate during the term of the agreement.

"After diligently negotiating with UPSEU Local 1222 without reaching an agreement, we have reached an impasse. However, we believe employees should receive the significant benefits we have offered in our final proposal," Mohawk Ambulance President James P. McPartlon III said in the press release. "We recognize that they deserve a raise, especially during the holiday season. This is a good-faith effort from our management team and we remain hopeful the union will reconsider and approve this final proposal."

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

Daniel Schuttig, the labor relations representative for UPSEU, said the company has come to an impasse but not the union. A strike has been authorized by the union but it remains unclear at the time if they will strike or accept Mohawk's proposal.

But the problem goes beyond just money, EMTs said.

EMTs told the Times Union that it was not uncommon for them to work more than 70 hours a week. They also said a major reason for the overtime is because of low wages. To make a "living wage," EMTs said they need to pick up extra shifts or work a second job. As a result, EMTs were suffering from fatigue during work hours, creating a dangerous situation while responding to calls, he has said.

Schuttig said they want a starting wage of $15 an hour for their EMTs.

Mohawk Ambulance, which handles 70,000 calls a year, is the largest privately owned ambulance service in upstate New York, serving Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer and Saratoga counties. The company employs about 300 EMTs and is staffed 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week.COHOES  The family of an 18-year-old Troy man who has accused Cohoes Mayor Shawn M. Morse of choking him during an unprovoked attack provided photos to the Times Union on Tuesday that showed injuries to his neck.

Justin Rodriguez said the photos were taken by his sister on Saturday, following the incident that had taken place on the front porch of Morse's city residence.

The photos, which the family also provided to State Police, indicate Rodriguez sustained scrapes and abrasions to his neck and call into question the mayor's statements that he never choked the young man.

Rodriguez said the mayor grabbed his neck, choked him and pushed him backwards off the front porch. Rodriguez was scheduled to meet with State Police investigators for the second time on Tuesday afternoon. He also met with them on Sunday.

Morse and Rodriguez have both filed complaints against one another with the State Police.

Trooper Kerra M. Burns, a spokeswoman for State Police, said Tuesday that no charges had been filed and the investigation is ongoing.

Morse, according to a police report, said Rodriguez threatened to kill him if the mayor didn't allow the young man to retrieve clothing from Morse's Grandview Avenue residence. Rodriguez had previously dated Morse's youngest daughter and had lived at the residence for a couple months, he said.

Morse and his attorney, Joseph Ahearn, have given inconsistent accounts of what unfolded. Ahearn on Tuesday said that neither he nor Morse would answer questions about the apparently conflicting statements they have given to police and news agencies.

In an interview on Saturday, Ahearn said that Morse told him he had grabbed Rodriguez by the neck and pushed him off the porch.

In an interview with WNYT on Monday, Morse said that he never grabbed Rodriguez and retreated into his residence and called 911 after the 18-year-old started throwing punches at him without provocation.

A report taken by Cohoes police on Saturday said that Morse told the officers he "grabbed Justin to get him off of his porch and Rodriguez started throwing punches at his head," which is slightly different than the account Morse gave to WNYT. The police report was filed by two patrol officers and approved by their supervisor, Sgt. Anthony Pucci, who is Morse's close friend.

In an interview with Talk 1300 radio on Tuesday morning, Morse, about an hour after he had been contacted by the Times Union, defended the inconsistencies in his statements: "Well, when you're standing outside and all this is happening, I gave the best recollection that I know," he said.

Cohoes assistant police Chief Tom Ross said the State Police are handling the investigation because Morse also serves as the public safety commissioner overseeing the police force.

The State Police have overseen an unrelated investigation into allegations that Morse choked his wife and daughter during separate incidents last year. But that case is not expected to result in any criminal charges, according to people briefed on the investigation.

Saturday's altercation began when Rodriguez went to the mayor's residence with his mother and sister. According to police accounts, Rodriguez's mother waited in a vehicle as he and his sister went to the front door, where he asked Morse for access to the clothing items that he believed were in the residence.

When the mayor refused Rodriguez's request, he allegedly told the mayor "I'll kill you right now," according to the account Morse gave to police.

Rodriguez's mother, Ivette Arroyo, also called police and told a dispatcher her son had injuries to his neck, and that her daughter had video of the incident.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

"I was sitting in my car when I seen him choking my son really bad," Arroyo told the Times Union late Monday. "My son never threaten him."

In an interview with the Times Union on Sunday, Rodriguez also disputed Morse's account. He said he and his sister were pleading with the mayor to retrieve his clothing from the residence when Morse suddenly "snapped" and grabbed his throat, squeezing so hard that Rodriguez said he couldn't breathe. He said he pushed the mayor to break his grip, but did not throw any punches.

"He just grabbed me out of nowhere," Rodriguez said. "He just grabbed me and just started choking me. I did not threaten him, not once; I did not threaten his family."

Ross said that following the incident on Saturday, Rodriguez and his sister went to the Cohoes police station to file a complaint. Rodriguez was transported to Samaritan Hospital in an ambulance with what appeared to be minor injuries to his neck.

The State Police declined to file charges against Morse for a November 2017 incident in which his wife, Brenda, called 911 and said her husband had grabbed her by the neck and thrown her to the ground, briefly choking her. She told investigators she had used her daughter's phone to call 911 after Morse smashed her own phone against a wall when she initially tried to call for help.

Citing multiple interviews and Family Court records, the Times Union has reported over the past year on allegations of violence by Morse, including some that reach back decades. Multiple women, including his wife and youngest daughter, have accused him of choking them in addition to other acts of physical violence.

Colleen Keller, a former girlfriend, went public last year and said that Morse had repeatedly abused her in the 1990s, including an incident in which he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the ground. She said Cohoes police refused to arrest Morse when she called them for help.

Morse has previously denied ever striking or choking the women, and would not comment on the allegations filed by his daughter with child protective services investigators.

Morse was elected Cohoes mayor in 2015 and faces re-election next year.

Morse is also the subject of an FBI investigation examining his use of political campaign accounts. The federal investigation also has probed Morse's time and attendance at a part-time security job he had held since February at the Glenmont Job Corps.Green Island police charged a Schenectady man with multiple felonies after they said he led them on a short chase through the village in a stolen vehicle.

Police tried to pull over a vehicle driven by Christopher T. LaPrade, 43. LaPrade refused to stop, police said, and continued to drive before he crashed into a light pole. He then tried to run from police but was arrested, police said.A Vietnam War Air Force pilot who's remains were recovered more than 50 years after he went missing will be laid to rest on March 29 in Arlington National Cemetery.

Richard Kibbey, a Delmar native and Bethlehem Central High School graduate, was shot down over the Vietnam-Laos border on Feb. 6, 1967 while on a rescue mission just two weeks after he arrived in Vietnam.

Kibbey, then age 32, was declared Missing in Action. The Air Force captain was promoted to colonel while MIA.

His son, Richard Kibbey, Jr., said the family was notified in June that investigators had matched the DNA of Kibbey's brothers with remains uncovered in Vietnam several years ago.

Kibbey, Jr. said the family has been planning his father's internment since they received the news, trying to ensure as many family members as possible could attend. Kibbey has three surviving brothers and four children.

"We wanted to revel in the moment and enjoy the bittersweet nature of it," he said. "And in late March, early April, the cherry blossoms bloom."

A-great-nephew, Nick Kibbey, will be the military escort for the remains from Honolulu, Hawaii to Washington D.C. and then to Arlington.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

Kibbey, Jr. said the family considered moving his mother's remains to Arlington to rest alongside her husband but instead the family will exchange dirt between the two plots.

He praised the work of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which positively identified Kibbey's remains.

"They don't stop, they are fabulous," he said.A man suspected of taking part in an execution-style murder in Ticonderoga was arrested near the Canadian border on Monday after several days on the run, the Post-Star reports.

Michael E. LaRock was found in a home in Norfolk, St. Lawrence County, after police received a tip, according to the report.

LaRock, 38, is a convicted felon with previous arrests for possession of weapons, narcotics, stolen property, burglary, assault, and DWI, State Police said.

He was charged with felony counts of second-degree murder, aggravated criminal possession of a weapon, tampering with physical evidence and concealment of a human corpse, according the Post-Star.

Police were searching for him after William T. Brown, 37, of Ticonderoga was found floating face down in the LaChute River last week.

An autopsy conducted at Albany Medical Center revealed he was shot in the head. Authorities haven't said what led to the killing. Brown was a retired U.S. Army veteran.

It couldn't be learned from prosecutors if Larock has a lawyer.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

Two other suspects were arrested after the victim's body was discovered: Joshua W. Smith, 35, and Donald C. LaRock, 63.

Ticonderoga police would not confirm Sunday if Donald and Michael LaRock are related. But public records show they have lived at the same addresses together.

Smith and Donald LaRock have been charged with hindering prosecution, tampering with physical evidence and concealment of a human corpse. Smith and Donald LaRock have been arraigned in Ticonderoga Town Court and were sent to the Essex County Jail in lieu of $25,000 cash bail, or $50,000 bond.

State police are assisting Ticonderoga Police as the lead agency in the ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Ticonderoga Police Department at (518) 585-3204.President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday that he will review the case of a former Special Forces officer and Afghanistan war veteran who was notified last week that he will face a murder charge in the death of a detainee suspected of being a Taliban bombmaker.

Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn was notified Thursday by the Army that he will face one charge of murder, his attorney and the Army said. The military has been investigating him since 2011, when Army officials said he confessed during a polygraph test as part of a CIA job interview to killing the suspected bombmaker in February 2010.

"At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a 'U.S. Military hero,' Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder," Trump tweeted. "He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a Terrorist bomb maker while overseas."

More for you Army secretary defends stripping awards from former Green Beret

It wasn't clear Sunday what Trump's "review" could comprise or whether he is considering pardoning Golsteyn if the Army convicts him of murder.

The White House did not respond to questions seeking clarity on the president's Twitter post. The case remains under investigation, with an Article 32 hearing expected next year to review evidence. An Army spokesman, Lt. Col. Loren Bymer, said that Golsteyn was recalled to active duty last week to face the charge.

A Pentagon spokesman, Army Col. Rob Manning, said Sunday that the allegations against Golsteyn are a "law enforcement matter," and that the Defense Department will "respect the integrity of this process and provide updates when appropriate."

Trump's statement alone could complicate the military's prosecution of Golsteyn. The president, as commander in chief, is expected in the military justice system to not make statements that could influence open cases. Doing so is considered unlawful command influence and can result in cases being thrown out.

Golsteyn's attorney, Phillip Stackhouse, has disputed that Golsteyn's statement to the CIA was characterized accurately by the Army.

The service launched an investigation into Golsteyn after the CIA alerted them to his job interview, but closed it without charging him. But the case was reopened in 2016, after Golsteyn said during a Fox News interview that he had killed a bombmaker, who had been held as a detainee, out of fear that the bombmaker would target Afghans helping U.S. troops if he were let go.

Golsteyn, a 2002 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., was lauded for his performance in Afghanistan as the commander of a team from 3rd Special Forces Group in the Battle of Marja. About 15,000 coalition troops fought to take back a poppy-laden section of Helmand province that was controlled by the Taliban and laced with explosives.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

On Feb. 20, 2010, Golsteyn coordinated numerous airstrikes and repeatedly braved enemy fire after launching a mission to kill a Taliban sniper who nearly hit a nearby Marine, according to a military summary of his actions. He was later awarded the Silver Star for valor, and the Army was considering upgrading the award to the Distinguished Service Cross - one step down from the Medal of Honor - when the allegations against Golsteyn emerged.

The accusations center on actions that occurred two days earlier. Two Marines - Sgt. Jeremy McQueary, 27, and Lance Cpl. Larry Johnson, 19 - were killed and others were wounded by a garage door that was booby trapped with explosives, prompting a search of nearby homes in which Golsteyn's unit found bombmaking materials and a suspected bombmaker, according to the results of an investigation released to The Washington Post through the Freedom of Information Act in 2015.

Golsteyn later recounted during his CIA job interview that the U.S. troops detained the man and brought him back to their base. While detained, the suspected bombmaker unexpectedly crossed paths with an Afghan tribal leader with whom Golsteyn's team was working. When the leader expressed fear for his life, Golsteyn said, he grew concerned about the consequences of letting the suspected bombmaker go, according to Army documents.

"CPT Golsteyn related there had been countless times when he detained someone and sent that person to a detention facility only to see that same person shooting at his unit weeks later," an Army investigator's summary of Golsteyn's polygraph test said. "CPT Golsteyn stated he had no qualms about what he did because he couldn't have lived with himself if [the suspected bombmaker] killed another Soldier or Marine."

The Army dropped Golsteyn from the Special Forces and stripped him of the Silver Star. The service accused him in a June 2015 administrative hearing of violating the law of armed conflict, but a panel of officers determined that was unsubstantiated. It instead recommended separating him from the military for conduct unbecoming an officer with a general discharge under honorable conditions.ALBANY  The University at Albany and Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs will join a growing list of smoke-free campuses in January.

Both will ban smoking and vaping, indoors or out.

While vaping has been described as a smoke-free alternative to cigarette smoking, users can nonetheless become addicted to the nicotine that is dispensed with the devices, also known as e-cigarettes.

The UAlbany ban was announced back in April and finalized last fall.

Our tobacco and smoke-free policy prohibits the use of tobacco products including cigars, cigarettes, pipes, hookahs, all forms of smokeless tobacco, and other smoking devices, such as vapor and electronic cigarettes, stated a Nov. 29 letter to students from Vice President for Student Affairs Michael Christakis.

In addition, all events hosted by UAlbany, and by outside groups in our facilities, will be tobacco-free. In the simplest terms, this means that as of Jan. 1 there will be no location on any of UAlbanys campuses where anyone will be permitted to use tobacco products of any kind, according to the letter.

Skidmore College emphasized its concern for fostering a healthy environment in making its decision.

The smoke-free and tobacco-free policy promotes a culture of wellness and provides the community with a healthy, respectful working and learning environment by limiting the potential exposure of students, faculty, staff and visitors to the effects of secondhand smoke and by reducing the risk of fires, Skidmore Dean of Students Cerri Banks said in a statement.

Both schools will offer assistance to those who want to quit.

At UAlbany just under 10 percent of the undergraduates smoked cigarettes according to a survey conducted on the campus last spring. Almost 20 percent used e-cigarettes and nearly 5 percent smoked cigars, little cigars or clove cigarettes.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

The non-smoking trend has been heating up on college campuses for years now.

Union College as well as Siena College, the College of Saint Rose, Maria College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and The Sage Colleges are already smoke free.

According to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation, there at least 2,164 campuses that are 100 percent smoke free as of April. That included 1,741 that also prohibited e-cigarettes.

rkarlin@timesunion.com  518-454-5758  @RickKarlinTU[December 18, 2018] DHL eCommerce Partners with Easyship to Offer Same-Day Delivery in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City

DHL eCommerce, a division of the world's leading logistics company Deutsche Post DHL Group, announced today a strategic partnership with Easyship, enabling e-commerce merchants using the Easyship software platform to offer same-day and next-day shipping to their customers via the DHL Parcel Metro service. This partnership uses best-in-class technology to provide enhanced, affordable shipping solutions to small- and medium-sized merchants. This new capability went live December 17 in Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago for e-commerce merchants, offering affordable on-demand delivery for same-day and next-day shipping. "By partnering with innovative shipping technologies like Easyship, we can make our services widely available and help businesses meet increasing consumer demands for same-day and next-day delivery. It's not only about speed; it's also about bringing quality and accessibility," says Jorge Lopera, Senior Director, Delivery Concepts, DHL eCommerce Americas. Historically, it would be cost prohibitive for small- and medium-sized online merchants to offer same-day or next-day shipping delivery options to their shoppers. But the partnership with DHL Parcel Metro connects directly into Easyship's online platform partners, including BigCommerce, Shopify, and eBay (News - Alert), allowing online merchants o offer best-in-class shipping solutions in a more cost-effective way.



"Our new solution arrives just in time for the holidays, now allowing merchants to extend their holiday shopping season," says Augustin Ceyrac, Easyship Co-Founder. "We're excited about this offering, as DHL eCommerce is empowering Easyship's mission of enabling growth for all businesses!" The partnership with Easyship is a further enhancement that supports Deutsche Post DHL Group's objective to be the leading global provider in e-commerce logistics. DHL eCommerce was established in 2014 as part of the Group's growing focus on e-commerce logistics solutions. Along with its sister divisions DHL Express, DHL Supply Chain and DHL Global Forwarding, the Group offers end-to-end solutions for e-commerce retailers.

DHL - The logistics company for the world DHL is the leading global brand in the logistics industry. Our DHL family of divisions offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfillment solutions, international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management. DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group. The Group generated revenues of more than 60 billion euros in 2017. About Easyship Easyship, the #1 global cloud-based shipping software, is a technology platform that helps eCommerce merchants ship worldwide. Their platform plugin and integrations enable stores to print labels, automate international paperwork, display real-time courier rates, and offer their customers dynamic tax and duties at check out. Easyship makes shipping globally so simple, that anyone can get started in a couple clicks. Online sellers can leverage over 250+ shipping solutions and 50+ couriers, while saving up to 70% on shipping rates. Growing businesses can also join their network of 20+ 3PL partners worldwide, giving them the opportunity to provide faster delivery to overseas customers. In less than 3 years, Easyship's team has grown to over 50 people, with offices in New York, Singapore, Netherlands, Australia, and Hong Kong. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005176/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 17, 2018] Private LTE - 2018 Global Market Study with Forecasts to 2023: The Convergence of 5G & Private LTE is Driving Growth

DUBLIN, Dec 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Private LTE Market by Technology (FDD and TDD), Service (Managed Services, Integration & Deployment), Application (Public Safety, Logistics & Supply Chain Management), Industry (Energy & Utilities, Mining), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The private LTE market size is expected to grow from USD 2.4 billion in 2018 to USD 4.5 billion by 2023, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13% during the forecast period. The need for unique and defined network qualities and the convergence of 5G and private LTE are the major factors driving the growth of the private LTE market. However, the challenge of spectrum fragmentation could restrain the market growth. Managed services segment to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period The managed service providers connect people across all business functions and regions, and provide them with relevant information related to intelligent design, operations, and maintenance, as well as, offer a higher quality of services. Managed services in the private LTE market outsource a complete network or a part of it on a proactive management basis to improve the network operations and reduce the organizational expenses. As the private LTE market is in its initial phase, most of the vendors are not capable of providing a standalone solution and its associated services to the customers. This enforces them to manage few of the services from vendors who are expert in providing those to deliver the required services to the customers. Americas to hold the largest market size, and APAC to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period Americas is expected to have the highest share of the overall private LTE market. Americas holds a major portion in the adoption of private LTE in this region. Americas leads the LTE technology usage with around 94% penetration of 4G LTE connection. US and Canada are at the forefront as these countries have sustainable and well-established economies, which empower them to strongly invest in R&D activities, thereby contributing to the development of new technologies. Network operators in this region consistently invest in expanding and upgrading their LTE and LTE-advanced networks. Latin America primarily comprises countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina. These countries have witnessed an extensive use of internet and mobile-based applications, and are expected to harness private LTE into their industrial and enterprise operations. In the Americas, the US is said to be leading the next generation of wireless technologies. The US is the global leader of LTE and is expected to grow aggressively in this technology due to recent government initiatives. The US government has announced the availability of the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band or Band 48 for commercial usage. Canada is another key country in this region which has been positive about the usage of private LTE technology in its business operations. Canada is rich in natural resources, which has prompted the growth of several large-scale mining and energy organizations. These business entities have been inclined toward implementing private LTE as a solution to establish critical communication for M2M and machine-to-human communications. APAC constitutes of major economies, such as Singapore, South Korea, Japan, China, India, and Australia. Japan, China, and Australia are essential for the growth of the private LTE market in this region. Japan and China are one of the largest manufacturing economies that produce automobiles, information technology products, and electronic products. Manufacturing paradigm has changed considerably with industry-seeking advanced technologies, such as robotics and big data analytics. The major vendors in the private LTE market are Nokia (Finland), Ericsson (Sweden), Huawei (China), NEC (Japan), Verizon (US), Csco (US), Samsung (South Korea), Comba (China), Arris International (US), Sierra Wireless (Canada), NetNumber (US), Lemko (US), General Dynamics (US), Future Technologies (US), pdvWireless (US), Quortus (UK), Ambra Solutions (Canada), Zinwave (US), Redline Communications (Canada), Athonet (Italy), Mavenir (US), Star Solutions (Canada), Druid Software (Italy), Ursys (Australia), and Luminate Wireless (US).





Key Topics Covered



1 Introduction

1.1 Objectives of the Study

1.2 Market Definition

1.3 Market Scope

1.4 Regions Covered

1.5 Years Considered for the Study

1.6 Currency Considered

1.7 Stakeholders



2 Research Methodology

2.1 Research Data

2.1.1 Secondary Data

2.1.2 Primary Data

2.1.2.1 Breakup of Primaries

2.1.2.2 Key Industry Insights

2.2 Market Breakup and Data Triangulation

2.3 Market Size Estimation

2.3.1 Bottom-Up Approach

2.3.2 Top-Down Approach

2.4 Assumptions for the Study

2.5 Limitations of the Study



3 Executive Summary



4 Premium Insights

4.1 Attractive Opportunities in the Private LTE Market

4.2 Market: Top 3 Industries and Regions

4.3 Market, By Region

4.4 Market: Investment Scenario



5 Market Overview

5.1 Introduction

5.1.1 Drivers

5.1.1.1 Need for Unique and Defined Network Qualities

5.1.1.2 Convergence of 5G and Private LTE

5.1.2 Restraints

5.1.2.1 Challenge of Spectrum Fragmentation

5.1.3 Opportunities

5.1.3.1 Opportunities in Industrial and Commercial IoT

5.1.3.2 Rise in Adoption of Mobile Robotics and Machine Learning

5.1.4 Challenges

5.1.4.1 High Initial Cost of Deployment

5.2 Use Cases

5.2.1 Energy and Utilities

5.2.1.1 Nokia

5.2.1.2 Cisco

5.2.2 Mining

5.2.2.1 Challenge Network

5.2.2.2 Ericsson

5.2.3 Smart Ports

5.2.3.1 Nokia

5.3 Cbrs Spectrum Enablement for Private LTE

5.4 LTE Networks Launched Globally



6 Private LTE Market, By Technology

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Frequency Division Duplex

6.2.1 Need for Better Network Over Greater Distances to Lead to the Growth of Frequency Division Duplex Technology

6.3 Time Division Duplex

6.3.1 Increasing Demand for High-Speed Mobile Broadband Access to Drive the Growth of Time Division Duplex Technology



7 Market, By Service

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Consulting

7.2.1 Need for Awareness of Private LTE to Fuel the Growth of Consulting Services

7.3 Integration and Deployment

7.3.1 Need for Managing Multiple Applications on Common Network to Drive the Growth of Integration and Deployment Services

7.4 Support and Maintenance

7.4.1 Network Testing

7.4.1.1 Need for Maintaining Quality and Functionality of Network to Drive the Growth of Network Testing Services

7.4.2 LTE Device Testing

7.4.2.1 Critical Need for Seamless and High-Quality Voice and Data Network to Drive the Growth of LTE Device Testing Services

7.5 Managed Services

7.5.1 Network Planning

7.5.1.1 Need for High-Quality and Cost-Efficient Private LTE Network to Fuel the Growth of Network Planning Services

7.5.2 Network Orchestration

7.5.2.1 Need for Managing Network Behavior to Drive the Growth of Network Orchestration Services



8 Market, By Application

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Public Safety

8.2.1 Real-Time Streaming

8.2.1.1 Growing Use of Smart Applications and Devices in Industries to Increase the Critical Need for Private LTE Network in the Real-Time Streaming Application

8.2.2 Smart Devices Network Monitoring

8.2.2.1 Critical Need for Managing the Smart Devices to Drive the Growth of Smart Devices Network Monitoring Services

8.2.3 Multimedia

8.2.3.1 Rising Demand for Enhanced Bandwidth and High Speed to Fuel the Growth of Multimedia Services

8.3 Logistics and Supply Chain Management

8.3.1 Rising Demand for Robotics and Smart Machines in the Manufacturing Industry to Drive the Growth of Private LTE Market

8.4 Asset Management

8.4.1 Critical Need of Managing Network for Seamless Asset Management to Drive the Growth of Market



9 Market, By Industry

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Mining

9.2.1 Critical Need of Dedicated Network for Automation, Remote Monitoring, and Real-Time Asset Management to Drive the Growth of Private LTE in the Mining Industry

9.3 Energy and Utilities

9.3.1 Need for Critical Connectivity to Fuel the Growth of Private LTE in the Energy and Utilities Industry

9.4 Manufacturing

9.4.1 Increasing Use of Smart Machines and Robotics to Drive the Growth of Private LTE in the Manufacturing Industry

9.5 Transportation

9.5.1 Need for Communication Connectivity to Drive the Growth of Private LTE in the Transportation Industry

9.6 Defense

9.6.1 Critical Need for High-Speed Voice and Data Communication to Drive the Growth of Private LTE in the Defense Industry

9.7 Healthcare

9.7.1 Need of Managing Network for Medical Equipment to Drive the Growth of Private LTE in the Healthcare Industry



10 Market, By Region

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Americas

10.2.1 United States

10.2.1.1 Technical Initiatives and Strong R&D in the Telecom Industry to Fuel the Growth of Private LTE in the United States

10.2.2 Canada

10.2.2.1 Adoption of High-End Technology in Various Industries to Drive the Growth of Private LTE in Canada

10.3 Asia Pacific

10.3.1 Japan

10.3.1.1 Strong Investment Initiatives in the Telecom Industry to Drive the Growth of Private LTE in Japan

10.3.2 China

10.3.2.1 Adoption of M2m and IoT Technologies in Different Industries to Fuel the Growth of Private LTE in China

10.3.3 Australia

10.3.3.1 Adoption of Technologies in the Mining Industry to Drive the Demand for Private LTE in Australia

10.4 Europe

10.4.1 United Kingdom

10.4.1.1 Early Adoption of Technology in Various Industries to Drive the Growth of Private LTE in the United Kingdom

10.4.2 Germany

10.4.2.1 Heavy Adoption of Technologies in the Manufacturing Industry to Increase the Demand for Private LTE in Germany

10.5 Middle East and Africa

10.5.1 United Arab Emirates

10.5.1.1 Critical Need of Communication Connectivity in the Oil and Gas Industry to Increase the Demand for Private LTE in the United Arab Emirates

10.5.2 Saudi Arabia

10.5.2.1 Rise in the Adoption of Technology in the Oil and Gas Industry to Fuel the Growth of Private LTE in Saudi Arabia



11 Competitive Landscape

11.1 Overview

11.2 Market Ranking

11.3 Competitive Scenario

11.3.1 New Product Launches and Enhancements

11.3.2 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements

11.3.3 Mergers and Acquisitions



12 Company Profiles

12.1 Nokia

12.2 Ericsson

12.3 Huawei

12.4 NEC

12.5 Verizon

12.6 Cisco

12.7 Samsung

12.8 Comba

12.9 Arris International

12.1 Sierra Wireless

12.11 Netnumber

12.12 Lemko

12.13 General Dynamics

12.14 Future Technologies

12.15 Pdvwireless

12.16 Quortus

12.17 Ambra Solutions

12.18 Zinwave

12.19 Redline Communications

12.2 Athonet

12.21 Mavenir

12.22 Star Solutions

12.23 Druid Software

12.24 Ursys

12.25 Luminate Wireless

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rlfpj6/private_lte?w=5 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact:

Research and Markets

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 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/private-lte---2018-global-market-study-with-forecasts-to-2023-the-convergence-of-5g--private-lte-is-driving-growth-300767470.html SOURCE Research and Markets

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 17, 2018] Dealer Market Exchange Announces Launch of Hyperledger Puerto Rico Meetup Group

Dealer Market Exchange officially announced the launch of the Hyperledger Puerto Rico Meetup group on December 6, 2018, in conjunction with Hyperledger hosted by The Linux Foundation (News - Alert). Together, DMX aims to provide the local Puerto Rico developer community access and information to all the tools Hyperledger has to offer. This collaborative initiative was originated from DMX Foundry, the business blockchain and AI innovation lab created within DMX, as a think-tank to innovate mobility solutions for the global automotive industry. The event was kicked off by Karen Ottoni, the Ecosystem Manager from Hyperledger, who was streamed live from New York. She provided a full overview of Hyperledger and all it brings through the world's largest open source business blockchain development community. Jim Mason, DMX Foundry Director, directly followed with a more in-depth showcase of the Hyperledger frameworks, showing how numerous open source collaborative projects could be implemented on an enterprise level, with a core focus on the Hyperledger Fabric framework and its key components. The audience also caught a glimpse into the first DMX Foundry project using Fabric -- VINblock: a business blockchain solution for the automotive community. Reportedly designed to track the lifetime activity of any vehicle by its unique Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), a new industry ecosystem is envisioned to be created by participating users. Jason Bennick, CEO and Co-Founder of DMX, staed "Our VINblock permanent, shared ledger, based on Hyperledger Fabric blockchain technology, provides a critical value-add for building a foundation of connected mobility for OEMs, dealers and consumers to conduct business well into the 21st century. As we innovate next-generation solutions across automotive, we're striving to create new channels that can operate faster and more efficiently than most everything out there, and in a new, low-cost, and fully trusted, secure environment."



Jim Mason further stated "Our partnership with Hyperledger helped us drive faster on our blockchain work. We are leveraging key Fabric platform features in VINblock: the new smart contract program model, private data, operations management features, and more." The new Meetup group is open to any resident of Puerto Rico actively interested in becoming a Hyperledger developer, learning more about Hyperledger, and how Hyperledger can be architected into practical daily use cases.

Those interested can access the sign-up page for the Hyperledger Puerto Rico Meetup Group for more information at the following link: https://www.meetup.com/Hyperledger-Puerto-Rico/ DMX Dealer Market Exchange is an enterprise business mobility solutions platform for the automotive industry. From the ground up, DMX is planned with scalability, performance, mobility, and flexibility in leveraging advanced engineering best practices to create a suite of services to fill the need of a technologically shifting automotive community. DMX provides an intuitive, seamless mobile-web ecosystem of application services to quickly, accurately and economically manage the movement of vehicle assets. DMX is one of the fastest-growing, well-funded startups today with a unique technology patented and over a dozen federally registered trademarks - and growing. Organized and domiciled in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, DMX exports services through the cloud to North America and is expanding worldwide. DMX Consumer Solutions becomes available in 2019. DMX is a member of MOBI, General Member of Hyperledger, and Silver Member of The Linux Foundation, with DMX Foundry as their blockchain and AI innovation lab. For more information, visit dmx.io or connect on Facebook (News - Alert) (@dmx.io) and Twitter (@dmxio). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181217005875/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 17, 2018] CAMPING WORLD 24 HOUR DEADLINE ALERT: Approximately 24 Hours Remain; ClaimsFiler Reminds Investors with Losses in Excess of $100,000 of Deadline in Class Action Lawsuit Against Camping World Holdings, Inc. - CWH

ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have only until December 18, 2018 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Camping World Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CWH). Investor losses must relate to purchases of the Company's Class A shares between March 8, 2017 and August 7, 2018. This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Get Help Camping World investors should visit us at https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-camping-world-holdings-inc-ecurities-litigation or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options.



About the Lawsuit On August 7, 2018, the Company disclosed a wide range of disappointing results for the quarter ended June 30, 2018 including a decline in same-store revenue, adjusted EBITDA 9% below guidance, a continuing decline in its adjusted EBITDA margin of 250 basis points year-over-year, and additional complications with its Gander Mountain operations. On this news, the price of Camping World's shares plummeted.

About ClaimsFiler ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations. To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181217005861/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Graphcore Secures Lead in Global AI Chip Race With $200 Million in New Capital From BMW, Microsoft and Leading Financial Investors

BRISTOL, England, December 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Graphcore reaches $1.7Bn valuation with new funding from leading venture capital, financial and strategic investors including Atomico, BMW i Ventures, Merian Chrysalis Investment Company Limited, Microsoft, Sequoia and Sofina. Graphcore, a world-leading AI chipmaker, has today announced a new $200 million funding round which values the company at $1.7 billion. BMW i Ventures and Microsoft have joined the round alongside new and existing investors. This new funding brings the total capital raised by Graphcore to date to over $300M from the world's leading venture capital, financial and strategic investors that also include Robert Bosch, Dell Technologies and Samsung Electronics. Graphcore has built a completely new kind of processor and software for AI and machine intelligence. It has been shipping first products to early access customers and generated first revenues this year, just two years after the company was founded. High volume production is now ramping up to meet customer demand for its Intelligence Processor Unit (IPU) PCIe processor cards. Graphcore's IPU is the first processor to be designed specifically for machine intelligence training and inference and dlivers an increase in speed of 10x to 100x compared to today's hardware.



The company is currently in a stage of rapid global growth, tripling the size of the team and opening new offices in London, Palo Alto and Beijing in 2018. This latest round of funding will allow Graphcore to execute on its product roadmap, accelerate scaling and expand the company's global footprint. It is a further step towards fulfilling the company's ambition to build a global technology company, focused on this new and fast-growing machine intelligence market. Nigel Toon, CEO and co-founder of Graphcore, said: "Machine intelligence marks the start of a new age of computing which needs a radically different type of processor and software tools. This new, fast growing market creates the opportunity for Graphcore to build a major global technology company that can help innovators in AI achieve important breakthroughs."

This Series D round was led by existing investor Atomico, one of Europe's leading venture capital firms and by new investor, Sofina, a large European investment firm. Merian Global Investors has also joined the round as a major new investor across a number of its managed funds, including Merian Chrysalis Investment Company Limited, in addition to BMW iVentures and Microsoft. The funding was fully supported with follow on investments from existing investors including: Amadeus Capital Partners, Atomico, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, C4 Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital, Draper Esprit, Foundation Capital, Pitango and Sequoia Capital. Graphcore has already attracted investments from many of the biggest names in machine intelligence including Demis Hassabis, co-founder of DeepMind, Zoubin Ghahramani of Cambridge University and Chief Scientist at Uber, Pieter Abbeel from UC Berkeley, and Greg Brockman, Scott Grey and Ilya Sutskever, from OpenAI. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as placement agent for Graphcore for this financing round and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP provided legal advice. About Graphcore Graphcore's Intelligence Processing Unit (IPU) hardware and software lets innovators create next generation machine intelligence solutions. The IPU is the first processor to be designed specifically for Machine Intelligence and delivers between 10x to 100x speed up compared to today's hardware. Graphcore has raised over $300m in funding from leading financial and strategic investors and is headquartered in Bristol UK, with offices in London UK, Oslo Norway, Palo Alto USA and Beijing China. More information can be found at https://www.graphcore.ai.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank Choses Assurance Software to Help Ensure Resiliency

Assurance Software, a leading provider of comprehensive business continuity management and disaster recovery software and services, today announced that Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank has selected the company's suite of business continuity applications to help ensure the resiliency for the newly formed banking enterprise. Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank was established as the world's first digitally-enabled trade bank. The new bank will utilize leading-edge technologies to offer client-centric trade banking services to a broad range of corporate clients to dramatically reduce costs, risks and improve efficiencies in the financing of trade. Headquartered in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) financial center with additional offices to follow, Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank will facilitate trade between the Middle East, Asia and the UK. "We are honored to support Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank in their multi-national, industry-disruptive mission to simplify and improve the accessibility of trade banking services through collaborative technology, data and a growing ecosystem," said Craig Potts, CEO of Assurance Software. "Ensuring business resiliency will be a key component of their success as they define a new model for global trade banking and we will serve as their go-to partner for all their business continuity needs." "Advanced technologies are the foundation for our ground-breaking approach to global trade banking," said Bill Ashlock, Chief Technology Officer of Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank. "For anyone who has been through a business continuity event, technology plays a critical role in managing and mitigating the potential impact for our clients. With Assurance Software we found an innovative suite of software applications which provides the foundation for our business resiliency initiatives. We also found a partner that brings significant industry expertise and a demonstrated commitment to their customers' success. This partnership will be one of the key contributors to the attainment of our goals as we launch in early 2019."



About Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank was founded as a joint venture between AGTB Holdings Limited and Mubadala Investment Company. It offers the world's first digital-only trade finance bank to encourage greater trade by companies, particularly in the Middle East, the United Kingdom and Asia. The company uses blockchain technology to offer clients full control over simple, streamlined and highly transparent processes, while analyzing data to mitigate risk effectively. Its approach will be to encourage collaboration across the trade ecosystem. For more information, visit www.agtb.com.

About Assurance Software, Inc. With 700 customers worldwide, Assurance Software is the leading provider of comprehensive business continuity and disaster recovery software and services. Assurance is known for its easily configured SaaS (News - Alert) applications that ensure a fit to the unique needs of each customer. The company is also recognized for exemplary services provided from the industry's only HDI-certified customer support center, as well as the industry's only 100% up-time guarantee. With Assurance as their go-to partner for continuity and resilience, businesses confidently mitigate risk, manage recovery, and safeguard their employees, customers, operations and brands. For more information, visit www.assurancesoftware.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005238/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] ZT Acquires Both Mobile & IoT Messaging and Interact Business Units From NewNet

ZephyrTel, a division of ESW Capital focused exclusively on global telecommunications operators, is pleased to announce it has acquired the Interact and Mobile Messaging business units of NewNet (News - Alert) Communication Technologies with immediate effect. The acquisition will integrate the Mobile Messaging, Invigorate Rating and Charging Platform and the Nimblevox Cloud IVR technology into the ZephyrTel rapidly growing Telecoms Cloud Portfolio. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005330/en/ ZephyrTel's CEO, Mike Shinya (Photo: Business Wire) ZephyrTel has built a world-class telecommunication Cloud software company to provide software solutions and services to the global telco industry. The company's primary objective is to provide carrier-grade Cloud applications and Cloud enablement products. The goal being to deliver industry-leading throughput, robustness, scale and value to its customers at the pace they need. ZephyrTel is currently serving the telecommunications industry worldwide with software products for retail, infrastructure, mobile, cloud enablement, and customer experience. The acquisition of NewNet's Mobile Messaging and Interact business units follows ZephyrTel's plan to provide value and enhanced throughput to telecom businesses worldwide through strategies that surround the Business Support Systems (BSS) and the rapid deployment of Cloud native solutions. NewNet products will be marketed by their current name under the ZephyrTel corporate brand in the same manner as Mobilogy, PeerApp, VoltDelta (News - Alert) and Vasona, its existing portfolio of telecom software products. In brief, the new products in the familyare:



The NewNet Lithium and messaging products allow for the transmission of video, sound and text between mobile devices to both people and systems together with Machine to Machine (M2M) communications, a key component for Internet of Things (IoT) platforms.

Nimblevox, the Cloud and On-Premise Interactive Voice Response (IVR) platform which provides customers with enhanced customer experience through inbound and outbound voice services.

Invigorate, the real-time Rating and Charging system is currently used across the globe to provide services to over 20 million subscribers. Invigorate allows operators to rapidly package, promote and discount services based on customer unique preferences, whilst promoting the use of additional revenue-generating applications. ZephyrTel will be utilising ESW's state of the art software development and performance improvement processes to offer the industry's highest levels of installation stability and throughput to NewNet's customers. Additionally, the company will provide 24/7 support and high-quality global services coverage to deliver enhanced levels of business value for technology investment. ZephyrTel CEO, Mike Shinya, commented: "We have made multiple acquisitions this year and now NewNet continues to add to our growing and extensive solutions portfolio. Now we are very well placed to serve the global telecommunications software market, from the smallest to the largest of companies. The acquisition of NewNet will significantly strengthen our portfolio in the area of innovative mobile communications and customer service, and we are delighted to bring both NewNet and its customers into the ZephyrTel family."

For more information about ZephryTel, please visit www.zephyrtel.com. - ENDS - About NewNet Communication Technologies NewNet is one of the premier global providers of next-generation mobile technology solutions offering over 25 years of expertise across four businesses: mobile messaging, payment security, interactive voice communications and broadband wireless. Dedicated to innovation, NewNet provides operators and enterprises with a broad range of solutions that are designed to optimize global communication opportunities. NewNet solutions are available in a variety of applications including on-site, hosted, cloud and managed solutions. NewNet is a portfolio company of Skyview Capital. More information is available at www.newnet.com. About ZephyrTel Launched at the start of 2018, ZephyrTel has rapidly scaled up to reach $70M in revenue in a very short space of time. With more than 5,000 installations and 4,000 engineers in over 50 countries around the world, the firm is today installed in 75% of the leading telco carrier brands and continuously extending its telco product range. ZephyrTel is currently serving the telecommunications industry worldwide with software products for retail, infrastructure, mobile, cloud, and customer experience. More information is available at www.zephyrtel.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005330/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] CipherCloud Named 2019 SC Awards Finalist

CipherCloud, a leader in cloud security, today announced it has been named a finalist in the 2019 SC Awards for Best Cloud Computing Security Solution and Best Emerging Technology categories. Winners will be announced at the SC Awards ceremony on March 5, 2019 in San Francisco. "We're honored to be recognized as a Finalist for two important categories in the prestigious SC Awards," said Pravin Kothari, CipherCloud CEO. "Enterprises around the world face critical challenges to govern the use of cloud and protect their data as they migrate to the cloud. CipherCloud's innovative CASB+ platform helps companies adopt a successful cloud-first initiative with full visibility and cloud control, protect their sensitive data through consistent cloud policies, and fully meet today's increasingly complex security and regulatory requirements." "As a finalist, CipherCloud demonstrated unique innovation in its approach to protecting companies from the onslaught of malicious attacks and other threats," said Illena Armstrong, VP, Editorial, SC Media. "CipherCloud's solution represents some of the most effective security technology on the market today." CipherCloud's breakthrough CASB+ platform allows enterprises to accelerate cloud adoption with comprehensive visibility, complete cloud control, real-time threat protection, and powerful Zero Trust end-to-end encryption. CipherCloud CASB+ completely protects users, devices and data in any cloud, meets global data protection standards and ensures their sensitive data is always secured. CipherCloud CASB+ can protect any SaaS, PaaS or IaaS services, such as Office 365, Salesforce.com (News - Alert), ServiceNow, SAP, SuccessFactors, Box, Slack, Dropbox, Google Suite, AWS, as well as any custom application, all via a single set of policies and management console.



Now in its 22nd year, SC Awards is recognized as the industry gold standard of accomplishment for cybersecurity professionals, products and services. Winners in the Trust (Best Cloud Computing Security Solution) and Excellence (Best Emerging Technology) categories are determined by an expert panel of judges with extensive knowledge and experience in the cybersecurity industry. These awards honor the professionals, products and services that have proven to be the best in the industry for protecting today's corporate world from an array of risks and threats. About SC Media

SC Media is cybersecurity. For 30 years, they've armed information security professionals with in-depth and unbiased information through timely news, comprehensive analysis, cutting-edge features, contributions from thought leaders, and independent product reviews in partnership with and for top-level information security executives and their technical teams. About CipherCloud, Inc. CipherCloud, a leader in CASB and cloud security, provides powerful end-to-end protection for data resident in the cloud. Our award-winning CASB+ platform delivers comprehensive visibility, data security, threat protection, and compliance for cloud-based assets. CipherCloud provides the deepest levels of data protection and real-time data access control to provide an immediate solution for challenging cloud security and compliance problems. The world's largest global enterprises and government institutions in over 25 countries protect and secure their cloud information with CipherCloud. For more information go to www.ciphercloud.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005253/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Navigant Announces Managing Director Promotions

Navigant (NYSE: NCI) today announced the promotion of seven professionals to the role of managing director. "Congratulations to my colleagues for earning this significant promotion," said Julie Howard, Navigant chairman and CEO. "These individuals have consistently demonstrated leadership in their work with clients, industry organizations, and in building great teams at Navigant. They lead by example and will continue to be an important part of Navigant's future success." Healthcare: Bryan Chamberlin, Chicago Part of Navigant's revenue cycle management (RCM) practice, Chamberlin has more than 18 years of experience advising healthcare providers on electronic health record (EHR) platforms and implementing best practice RCM methodologies specializing in net revenue improvement and business process transformation. Chamberlin has led numerous projects for large academic medical centers, integrated health systems, community hospitals, government providers, multi-specialty provider groups, and home-health agencies. He has helped evolve Navigant's consulting and business process management delivery model to include strategic outsourcing. Andrew Hancock, Detroit A leader within Navigant's RCM practice, Hancock has more than a decade of consulting experience, helping providers improve revenue cycle performance. He has worked with dozens of health systems of varying sizes, including academic medical centers, regional health systems, and community hospitals. Hancock's expertise spans the revenue cycle to include patient access, back-end billing and collections, mitigating risk during EHR implementations and conversions, and net revenue improvement and optimization. Andrea Pederson, Seattle Pederson has more than 18 years of healthcare consulting experience, focusing on government healthcare, supporting policy analysis, program assessment, and reimbursement solutions for state Medicaid programs. Pederson is a nationally recognized expert in the design and development of home- and community-based services reimbursement methodologies affecting vulnerable populations. She is also experienced in hospital, physician, and clinic reimbursement methodologies; solutions for integration of behavioraland physical health; and strategic planning.



Geno Preskitt, Birmingham, Ala. Preskitt has more than 20 years of broad healthcare experience in such areas as revenue cycle business process management (BPM), hospital and health system performance improvement, change and risk management, and market development. He has successfully served in several roles during his decade at Navigant, ranging from business/practice development to account executive. He's also a member of Navigant BPM's senior leadership team and co-leads Navigant BPM's account executive infrastructure, working diligently to create a world-class customer experience for clients.

Julie Walker, Dallas Walker has more than 25 years of experience as a sales leader, relationship and team builder, and skilled strategist. At Navigant, she leads the healthcare consulting business development team, assisting in driving rigor, discipline, and accountability around the firm's sales processes and strengthening its go-to-market strategy. She establishes strong business relationships through identifying critical business needs and delivering value to organizations. Prior to joining Navigant, Walker worked at Accenture, IBM (News - Alert), and Dell/Perot Systems. Energy: Chris J. Luras, Salt Lake City Luras joined Navigant in 2015 with over 15 years of energy industry experience and is a nationally recognized North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC (News - Alert)) Reliability and Security compliance expert. He serves as the solution leader for Navigant's risk, compliance, and security service offering within the Energy segment. Luras works with utilities on all aspects of NERC Reliability and Security compliance. Specifically, he leads the development, management, and execution of tools and services aimed at cybersecurity and reliability compliance, risk management, internal controls, and process and program improvement within the energy sector. Before joining Navigant, Luras was the director of compliance risk analysis and enforcement at the Western Electricity Coordinating Council. Financial Services Advisory and Compliance: Brad Schaltenbrand, Washington, D.C. Schaltenbrand has over 16 years of financial services industry and consulting experience. Since joining Navigant in 2006, Schaltenbrand has leveraged his industry experience, outsider perspective, analytical mindset, and forward thinking to help some of the world's largest financial services companies assess and manage risk, deal with regulatory change and scrutiny, improve performance, reduce expenses, and establish a vision. He has a successful history of selling and leading complex consulting engagements of over 200 people internationally. Prior to Navigant, Schaltenbrand managed financial and operational audits for GE and Genworth Financial businesses in the U.S., Europe, and Australia. He also contributed to projects facilitating the Genworth Financial IPO and applied GE's Six Sigma methodology to improve processes, productivity, and customer retention. About Navigant Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: NCI) is a specialized, global professional services firm that helps clients take control of their future. Navigant's professionals apply deep industry knowledge, substantive technical expertise, and an enterprising approach to help clients build, manage, and/or protect their business interests. With a focus on markets and clients facing transformational change and significant regulatory or legal pressures, the firm primarily serves clients in the healthcare, energy, and financial services industries. Across a range of advisory, consulting, outsourcing, and technology/analytics services, Navigant's practitioners bring sharp insight that pinpoints opportunities and delivers powerful results. More information about Navigant can be found at navigant.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005096/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Cryptojacking shows no signs of slowing down in 2019, says ESET

SINGAPORE, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cases of cryptocurrency mining and cryptojacking will continue to grow in 2019, as attackers target smart devices and home assistants to build cryptomining farms, according to ESET's latest trends report. Along with cryptomining, Cybersecurity Trends 2019: Privacy and intrusion in the global village details the predictions of top experts from the global cybersecurity firm, revealing the cybersecurity trends set to impact businesses in 2019. Trend #1: Cryptomining continues to rise Cryptocurrency mining beat ransomware in terms of media attention in the past year and cryptojacking - the process by which a device is hi-jacked illegitimately - "shows no signs of slowing down", according to ESET Senior Security Researcher David Harley. Commenting on this trend, Harley said that, "We can also expect to see more coin-mining software attempting to remove competing coinminers on compromised systems in order to get a higher-calorie slice of the processing pie." An increase in the adoption of cryptocurrencies, as well as a rise in the number of devices connected to the internet, could also mean that smart devices and homes assistants become the entry point for attackers to build cryptomining farms in 2019. Cyberattacks specifically designed to attack IoT devices, such as automated scripts that exploit vulnerabilities in connected devices or processes that are designed to take control of them, will become more frequent. Trend #2: Data privacy will make or break companies In 2018, issues around data privacy and protection came sharply into focus following a number of high-profile cyberattack, data leaks and privacy missteps, as well as the implementation of GDPR. ESET Senior Security Researchers Stephen Cobb and Lysa Myers commented that in light of incidents such as Cambridge Analytica, we are likely to see people searching for alternatives to the platforms such as Facebook that currently dominate. Given the importance of customer data to companies, individuals, and to cybercriminals, ESET argues that the ability to properly manage data privacy could decide which companies stay in business in 2019.



Trend #3: Attackers use automation to advance social engineering campaigns ESET asserts that 2019 will see an increase in cybercriminals' use of automation in attempts to collect more data so that they can launch more personalized and sophisticated social engineering campaigns.

Lysa Myers, ESET Senior Security Researcher, writes that, "While some phishing and other fraud attacks have certainly improved their ability to mimic legitimate sources, many are still painfully obvious fakes. Machine learning could help increase effectiveness in this area." Trend #4: A move towards a global privacy law? Following the implementation of GDPR, ESET questions whether the EU legislation is the first step towards a global privacy law, particularly as similar models start to appear in California, Brazil, and Japan. Considering this, ESET warns against dismissing privacy rights and data protection as an EU anomaly. The pressure to protect customers' data and ensure the privacy of sensitive information is a global issue and will certainly encourage a move towards GDPR-style privacy around the world. For more on the trends set to impact the industry in 2019, read ESET's Cybersecurity Trends 2019: The Cost of our Connected World. About ESET For 30 years, ESET has been developing industry-leading IT security software and services for businesses and consumers worldwide. With solutions ranging from endpoint and mobile security, to encryption and two-factor authentication, ESET's high-performing, easy-to-use products give consumers and businesses the peace of mind to enjoy the full potential of their technology. ESET unobtrusively protects and monitors 24/7, updating defenses in real-time to keep users safe and businesses running without interruption. Evolving threats require an evolving IT security company. Backed by R&D centers worldwide, ESET becomes the first IT security company to earn 100 Virus Bulletin VB100 awards, identifying every single "in-the-wild" malware without interruption since 2003. For more information visit www.eset.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. SOURCE ESET

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Arundo Analytics Initiates Numerous Strategic Partnerships in 2018, Powers Advanced Analytics Across Asset-Heavy Industries

Arundo Analytics, a software company enabling advanced analytics in heavy industry, today announced significant achievements in 2018 including initiating numerous strategic partnerships, adding prominent board members and expanding its international presence. "Asset-heavy companies can no longer afford to make business decisions based on an incomplete view of their organization," said Tor Jakob Ramsy, CEO and founder of Arundo Analytics. "By combining deep data and AI knowledge with decades of cumulative experience in enterprise consulting, Arundo is ushering in a new era in IIoT. We're starting 2019 with a strong foundation of growth, and look forward to empowering our clients with our proprietary technology and experienced team." The practical application of advanced analytics delivers proven results in asset-heavy industries where powerful analytics reduce risk, improve efficiency and allow for faster, clearer business responses based on data, both in the cloud and at the edge. Arundo is a critical component, automating the end-to-end challenges to rapidly applying machine learning and advanced analytics, integrating it into daily business operations, and scaling these applications across assets and throughout the enterprise. This year, the company raised approximately $28 million (in aggregate) in Series A funding that closed in the first half of 2018, in addition to expanding its global presence to include new offices in Houston, Stockholm, Calgary and London.



In 2018, Arundo also established several strategic partnerships that dramatically advanced the adoption of its software among asset-heavy categories, including oil and gas, manufacturing, shipping and maritime. Notable partnerships formed in 2018 include a collaboration with Dell Technologies to power an IoT solutions bundle for companies in maritime and oil and gas, a joint venture with DNV GL's Veracity platform to stream data analytics for maritime companies and a partnership with WorleyParsons to power advanced machine learning applications in engineering, procurement, construction and ongoing operations in oil & gas, mining, chemicals, and other heavy industries. Furthermore, Arundo also announced several new members to its board of directors this year, adding another layer of business, technology and domain expertise to help power the company's next major phase of growth.

About Arundo Analytics With offices in Oslo, Houston and Silicon Valley, Arundo Analytics provides cloud-based and edge-enabled software for the deployment and management of enterprise-scale industrial data science solutions. Arundo's software allows industrial companies and other organizations to increase revenue, reduce costs and mitigate risks through machine learning and other analytical solutions that connect industrial data to advanced models and connect model insights to business decisions. In 2016, Arundo graduated from Stanford University's StartX accelerator program, and subsequently received investment from the Stanford-StartX Fund. In 2017, Arundo was named to the MIT (News - Alert) STEX25 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Startup Exchange (MIT STEX). MIT STEX25 recognizes select companies from a pool of more than 1,000 MIT-connected startups as being particularly well-suited for industry collaboration based on technical and commercial success. For more information, please visit www.arundo.com, or follow Arundo Analytics on Twitter (News - Alert) @arundoanalytics. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005193/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Plasan Selects RTI's Connectivity Technology for First-of-Its-Kind Smart Armored Vehicles

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Real-Time Innovations (RTI) , the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) connectivity company, today announced that Plasan , a leading manufacturer of defense-ready vehicles, has selected RTI Connext  DDS as the connectivity framework for its smart armored vehicles. Plasan is currently expanding its fleet of over 32,000 vehicles around the world. The company is leveraging RTIs technology as they make the shift into the military and paramilitary space, becoming the first company to offer NATO Generic Vehicle Architecture (NGVA) capabilities in Israel, and one of the first companies in Europe, alongside a full range of connectivity solutions to their existing smart armored vehicle systems.

Plasans armored vehicles offer high-end protection and mission readiness in the defense and security fields while reducing operational costs. In the last six years, the company has been developing the technology and integration capabilities that enable their armored vehicles to be mission-ready, smart armored vehicles. These vehicles are built for secure, rapid vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) transactions, and can communicate with each other in the field  an industry-first enabling communality between these military vehicles systems. In developing this technology, Plasan was the first company to offer NGVA capabilities and create NGVA-compliant intelligent armored vehicles for various use cases. NGVA is a standard for integrating subsystems on a military vehicle. It uses an open architecture approach to vehicle interfaces and protocol design based on the Data Distribution Service (DDS) connectivity standard for software interoperability. RTIs experience and global recognition in the connectivity space played an integral role with the companys implementation, aiding in the development of the intelligent integration platform that the company needed to provide commonality and interoperability between the various systems in each vehicle. Plasan relies on RTI to manage the full sope of connectivity in the core framework of the companys smart systems, creating a unique infrastructure that can seamlessly integrate with various systems using the NGVA specifications. It also has the capability to integrate any type of system or subsystem into a vehicle to make each component  as well as the vehicle  more intelligent. Connext DDS gives Plasan the ability to break out the different composition of the vehicles without being tied down to one operating system or a single hardware. It enables rapid and reliable information exchange, resulting in safer operations and functionality.



RTIs software enables the company to improve vehicle reliability, reduce training time and quickly reconfigure systems for different roles in the NGVA-compliant systems. With RTIs Connext Databus architecture, Plasan has the ability to faultlessly integrate the NGVA standard into their vehicles without downtime. This is due in part to the simplicity of integrating the DDS library into Plasans existing system libraries. Additionally, the company is able to implement NGVA compliance into older Plasan vehicles, which werent originally equipped to be interoperable, due to the ease of use and flexibility that Connext DDS provides. The seamless connectivity provided by RTI Connext DDS allows us to successfully enable interoperable communications in our smart vehicle solutions, which is crucial in a mission-critical defense environment, said Baruch Dilion, Head of the Vetronics and Integration Department at Plasan. By ensuring that our vehicles are NGVA compatible, we are now able to open the company up to new market opportunities across both the military and paramilitary sectors. As we pave the way for the industry, we are confident that Connext DDS will allow us to expand the global reach of our groundbreaking, industry-leading NGVA-compatible solutions.

In any type of defense environment, maintaining the highest levels of performance and reliability when sharing data between systems is of the utmost importance. RTI has proven experience in intelligent transportation, autonomous systems and in meeting the demanding requirements of mission-critical systems in real-time, all while ensuring that security remains at the forefront, said Chip Downing, Senior Director, Aerospace & Defense at RTI. We are thrilled to work with global companies like Plasan who are leading the way for mission-critical innovation and producing first-of-its-kind technology solutions that are changing the face of the defense market. We look forward to continuing our work together to further advance these vehicles and increase interoperability across sectors. Looking forward, Plasan predicts autonomous systems will play a leading role in armored vehicles. The company has started working on vehicle power systems, using Connext DDS Micro for its smart power management solution to protect the vehicles. Read more about RTIs work with Plasan in the customer snapshot . About RTI Real-Time Innovations (RTI) is the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) connectivity company. The RTI Connext Databus is a software framework that shares information in real time, making applications work together as one, integrated system. It connects across field, fog and cloud. Its reliability, security, performance and scalability are proven in the most demanding industrial systems. Deployed systems include medical devices and imaging; wind, hydro and solar power; autonomous planes, trains and cars; traffic control; Oil and Gas; robotics, ships, and defense. RTI lives at the intersection of functional artificial intelligence and pervasive networkingSM. RTI is the largest vendor of products based on the Object Management Group (OMG) Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard. RTI is privately held and headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif. Download a free 30-day trial of the latest, fully-functional Connext DDS software today: https://www.rti.com/downloads . Media Contacts:

Rachel Shatz

Karbo Communications for RTI

[email protected] Cameron Emery

Public Relations Senior Manager at RTI

[email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Brands Are Hard Of Hearing In Europe When It Comes To Customer Listening Through Social Media Channels

SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Social media have become valuable sources of real-time insight into consumer sentiment and brand experience, but many marketers across Europe are still not tapping these "self expression channels" to listen more effectively to the voice of the customer. Some 40 percent of European marketers surveyed by the new CMO Council in new research released today admit they are unable to actually collect timely intelligence directly from social media data. The study, conducted in partnership with SAP Customer Experience and Hootsuite, revealed that 39 percent of respondents were also unable to translate social media content and commentary into greater learning about diverse, cross-cultural behaviors, needs, preferences, or intentions. According to the new CMO Council report, entitled "Turn Up The Volume: Rethinking Where and How Customer Voice Enhances Experience," marketing leaders across Europe believe current listening initiatives are only "fairly good." They believe brands have perfected listening through corporate owned and operated channels but still struggle to source customer insight across largely unstructured digital domains including social media. This lack of hearing has led 52 percent of marketers surveyed to admit their ability to deliver contextual and personalized engagement across an omnichannel journey is either not great or simply terrible. Most importantly, European marketers admit they are missing key indicators, feedback and relevant insights for improved customer acquisition and relationship development. "Customers are actively leaving their thoughts and telegraphing their demands to brands who are willing to take the next step in customer listening and shift stratgies from a more passive and reactionary stance  listening and reacting within known, owned and controlled channels  to rethinking what tools like social and service can deliver by way of intelligence to reshape everything from products and services to campaigns and content," noted Mark de Bruijn, VP, Head of Marketing EMEA/MEE of SAP Customer Experience.



How tools are leveraged and utilized is a central issue. Some 64 percent of marketing leaders admit that their organization views social as a PR channel to amplify news and 55 percent believe it is a free engagement network to push marketing messaging. "It is sobering to see that even in this age of omnichannel real-time engagement, so many organizations choose to view social as a free push tool and not a megaphone leveraged by customers who fully believe brands are already listening," noted Liz Miller, SVP of Marketing with the CMO Council.

In fact, nearly one in four brands that felt social was important to marketing as an engagement channel, but far less important to the customer, indicating a misunderstanding of where the most valuable deposits of customer voice are being made. European brands are looking to shift how success is measured, focused less on clicks, likes and mentions (38 percent) and instead defining success in the language of the business, namely revenue boosts and bottom line increases (62 percent). Key insights shared in this report include: Technology buying intentions to bolster customer listening in the year ahead

KPIs that measure the success of omnichannel engagement and experience (hint: clicks and likes are not the king of the hill any more!)

Assessments of current listening and engagement strategies and deployments

Points of customer voice intelligence application

Gaps and deficiencies impacting experience development and deployment The report, now available for download from the CMO Council via visiting https://cmocouncil.org/thought-leadership/reports/turn-up-the-volume, includes detailed findings noted in 18 detailed charts, outlining the peer-powered insights of 160 marketing leaders across Europe. Some 42 percent oversee marketing for organizations with revenues in excess of $500 million USD across B2B (39 percent), B2C (16 percent) and Hybrid (BtoBtoC) enterprises (44 percent). About the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council The CMO Council is the only global network of executives specifically dedicated to high-level knowledge exchange, thought leadership and personal relationship building among senior corporate marketing leaders and brand decision-makers across a wide range of global industries. The CMO Council's 15,000-plus members control approximately $500 billion in aggregated annual marketing expenditures and run complex, distributed marketing and sales operations worldwide. In total, the CMO Council and its strategic interest communities include more than 65,000 global executives in more than 110 countries covering multiple industries, segments and markets. Regional chapters and advisory boards are active in the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, India and Africa. The council's strategic interest groups include the Coalition to Leverage and Optimize Sales Effectiveness (CLOSE), Brand Inspiration Center, Marketing Supply Chain Institute, Customer Experience Board, Digital Marketing Performance Center, and the GeoBranding Center. More information on the CMO Council is available at www.cmocouncil.org. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/brands-are-hard-of-hearing-in-europe-when-it-comes-to-customer-listening-through-social-media-channels-300767923.html SOURCE CMO Council

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] HealthSpace Announces New Members to its Advisory Board

VANCOUVER, Dec. 18, 2018 /CNW/ - HealthSpace Data Systems Ltd. ("HealthSpace") (CSE:HS) (Frankfurt:38H) (OTC:HDSLF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Nicholas Jeffery and Matthew Eierman to its Advisory Board. Mr. Jeffery, a former Director of the Data Centre Solutions group at CBRE (the world's largest commercial real estate services firm), has a depth of experience spanning a multi-decade career across numerous business verticals. Most recently, Mr. Jeffery served as CEO of Uniserve Communications Corporation where he significantly increased revenue and saw a 271% increase in market capitalization and was awarded TSX top 50 performing company last year. With over 25 years of telecommunications, media and technology experience, Mr. Jeffery was previously the European Managing Director of PSINet Europe. He was part of the executive team that acquired PSINet for $15m and was sold two years later for $150m to Telstra and Interroute, having taken the business from a $30m loss to $15m profit in two years. Mr. Jeffery has also been a C-Level executive at data center and Internet service companies such as Hostmark, Worldport, and Digital Realty. Mr. Jeffery also has with a vast professional network in the IOT space which aids the company's reach as it continues to grow. Mr. Jeffery said about the appointment. "HealthSpace is in a fascinating space where big data analytics and artificial intelligence will dramatically improve the work environment for the people working in the various industries HealthSpace serves. For the clients that HealthSpace serves, this will translate to profound productivity improvements in the audit, certification and compliance process - a win for both side of the equation".



Mr. Eierman, a chef-turned-entrepreneur, has had a long history in the food service industry both inside the kitchen and out, having served for a time as general manager over numerous locations of a large national chain. Mr. Eierman used his experience in the industry to start HDScores, a company that aggregates restaurant inspection data and puts it into a consumable format. While serving as CEO of HDScores, Mr. Eierman designed the concept, led the development of the platform and built-out the management team. Prior to successfully exiting the company, Mr. Eierman oversaw HDScores' partnership with Yelp, a crowd-sourced review forum, to bring restaurant inspection data to consumers. Mr. Eierman commented "I'm excited to work with HealthSpace in this advisor role, helping to share my knowledge about food safety and data with Healthspace. Healthspace is one of the leading companies in this space in my opinion. "

HealthSpace CEO, Silas Garrison noted "I am thrilled to have both of these individuals join our Advisory Board. Each of them brings an immense amount of value and insight. Nicholas is a great source of sage advice and insightful guidance. As we expand inside of existing verticals, as well as delving into new ones, having Nicholas as an advisor helps highlight those areas that only come from experience. Matthew is one of the few people who not only understands our unique client-base, but has spent a large portion of his career working with the type of data and information our software manages. As we build out the My Health Department platform, there is a lot of overlap in his expertise and our desire to help businesses keep up with compliance." The Company further announces that it has granted to certain advisors of the Company stock options to acquire up to a total of 500,000 common shares under the Company's Stock Option Plan (the "Options"). The Options are exercisable for a period of five years at a price of CAD$0.08 per share. HealthSpace Data Systems Ltd. HealthSpace is an industry leading technology company currently providing inspection, information, communication and data management systems for federal, state, county and municipal governments. Over the last decade, HealthSpace has successfully developed both enterprise and mobile internet-based applications currently serving over 300 state and local government organizations across North America. HealthSpace currently offers the only integrated inspection, administration and analytics product suite across all platforms in North America. Further, HealthSpace now delivers its government grade technologies to private businesses enabling them to gain visibility and predictability into their own organizations and move from a reactive to a proactive operational status. HealthSpace continues to deliver focused service and innovative solutions to government organizations, while expanding into commercial enterprise verticals to enable new customers with proactive environmental health best practices and policies. Forward-Looking Statements This release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although HealthSpace believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. HealthSpace 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. SOURCE HealthSpace Data

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Panoply Customers Get Need for Speed With 100x Faster Queries

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Panoply , the smart cloud data warehouse built for business intelligence, today unveils greater availability of its Automated Query Materialization feature, which means queries will run up to 100x quicker making your reporting dashboards lightning fast. With Automated Query Materialization, Panoply is solving the issue of slow or hanging queries that cause delay and frustration for data analysts who need insights in near real-time. Even if a query spans millions of rows and vast amounts of data, Automated Query Materialization will result in no hung queries, endless repetition of the same queries and faster access to actionable insights. Automatic Query Materialization debuted to a few Panoply customers in late summer in "stealth" mode and, a of now, is widely available in Beta to Panoply's customer base. Currently, the feature is being used by 25 percent of Panoply's customers.



Panoply's Automated Query Materialization uses a proprietary "smart caching" feature. Unlike simple caching, smart caching is not based on just the last query you've made but rather based on Panoply's unique algorithm that learns how you actually query your data based on the query you need at the time you need it. "We're able to make record-breaking fast query materialization because unlike our competitors, Panoply's smart data warehouse has built-in ETL", says Panoply CEO Yaniv Leven. He continues, "Automated Query Materialization means that because we are the ones that ingest and transform all your data sources, our algorithm can trigger the materialization while also keeping the data up-to-date."

To learn more about Automated Query Materialization, see more on Panoply's blog . About Panoply

Panoply is a smart data stack that automates all three key aspects of the data stack: data collection and transformation (ETL), database storage management, and query performance optimization. Panoply empowers anyone working with data analytics to quickly gain actionable insights on their own - without the need of IT and Engineering. Panoply is based in San Francisco and Tel Aviv, is privately held and funded by investors such as Intel Capital, 500 Startups, Blumberg Capital and C5 Capital. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/panoply-customers-get-need-for-speed-with-100x-faster-queries-300767929.html SOURCE Panoply

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions Receives Preliminary Order With Multi-Billion Dollar Client

RENO, NV, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE  Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions (OTCPK: AITX) is pleased to announce that Robotic Assistance Devices (RAD), its wholly owned subsidiary, recently received a preliminary order of one SCOT unit and two Wally SCOT units at a multi-billion dollar company with over 1,000 locations and more than 100,000 employees. The first Scot unit was recently deployed and immediately succeeding in eliminating targeted criminal behaviors as desired by the end user. The total potential value from this order assuming the client uses the units for the full 4 year life is roughly $100,000. This deployment is for an initial 3 of the clients locations. Assuming the client is satisfied, RAD is discussing future deployments which over the next 3 years could have a combined total potential value over the life of the deployment units of approximately $8,000,000. This is notable as it is the first RAD deployment in an environment that typically could not afford a responsive security solution, said Steve Reinharz, President and CEO of RAD. I believe there are well over 500,000 applications that exactly mirror this situation. Note that RAD will be releasing details on its newest hardware addition by the end of January 2019. RAD is successfully winning large multi-billion dollar clients who enjoy cost savings of 75% to 80% by using RAD products and technology as compared to their existing legacy security costs. RADs product sales life cycle for large clients follows several steps; first clients test out a small number of units usually one or two in a single or so location, then deploy to several more locations and if satisfied start to plan for larger deployments with the objective of capturing company wide savings by maximizing unit deploymentsacross numerous sites and thus benefiting from significant cost savings company wide. At this point in RADs growth cycle, several large clients have already successfully ordered units and have also successfully reordered units as they are working to increase the number of sites that are equipped with RADs products. RAD is already discussing company wide deployment with a number of clients and management believe it is only a matter of time before clients start to place significantly larger unit orders as they enter into the company wide deployment phase.



The company may post important information about its subsidiary RAD on its website at www.Robotic AssistanceDevices.com and through tweets from RAD President and CEO Steve Reinharz ( https://twitter.com/SteveReinharz ) CAUTIONARY DISCLOSURE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this news release other than statements of historical fact are "forward-looking statements" that are based on current expectations and assumptions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements, including, but not limited to, the following: the ability of Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions to provide for its obligations, to provide working capital needs from operating revenues, to obtain additional financing needed for any future acquisitions, to meet competitive challenges and technological changes, and other risks. Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement(s) and/or to confirm the statement(s) to actual results or changes in Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions expectations. About RAD Robotic Assistance Devices (RAD) is an innovator in the delivery of artificial intelligence-based solutions that empower organizations to gain new insight, solve complex challenges and fuel new business ideas. Through its next-generation robotic product offerings, RAD can help organizations streamline operations, increase ROI and strengthen business. RAD robotics technology improves the simplicity and economics of patrolling and guard services, and allows experienced personnel to focus on more strategic tasks. Customers augment the capabilities of existing staffs and gain higher levels of situational awareness, all at drastically reduced cost. RAD robotic solutions are well suited for use in multiple industries such as enterprises, government, transportation, critical infrastructure, education and healthcare. To learn more, visit www.roboticassistancedevices.com or follow us on Twitter @RADbotsecurity. Everest Corporate Advisors Inc. 702-902-2361 www.everestcorp.net

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Algolia Announces Enhanced Personalization Features

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Algolia, a leading Search and Discovery API for websites and mobile apps, today launched Personalization  its latest solution to enable businesses to build and automate highly customized, engaging search experiences. This announcement marks the next step in Algolias vision to leverage user behavior and analytics to make the search experience smarter and more relevant to users. Building a meaningful search experience is about more than queries and results  it is a starting point to discovery. However, making that moment of discovery personalized, relevant and natural to the user is a complex technological and mathematical challenge. Many businesses often forego personalizing search experiences due to a lack of resources and skills to build, forcing them to adopt a one-size-fits-all search strategy. Algolias new Personalization features aim to address the complexities of search relevancy and eliminate the one-size-fits-all approach with a tool to easily build, customize and automate the search experience. Every use case  whether its products, digital content, help articles or more  requires unique ranking formulas and parameters in order to be relevant to the intended audiences.

Through the Algolia dashboard, businesses can easily fine-tune relevancy and personalization formulas to meet their specific use case  improving the customer experience and increasing engagement and conversions in an instant. Businesses that fall behind in modernizing their digital search strategy risk turning away consumers accustomed to experiences that are seamless and tailored to their preferences, said Stephen Hendrick, research director at Enterprise Management Associates. Algolia is addressing the challenge of personalization and relevancy head on with its new Personalization, which empowers organizations toleverage their on-site search technology to build and automate a highly relevant experience for their customers.



With Algolias new Personalization solution, businesses can: Utilize behavior to influence search: Identify a wide range of individual online behaviors and preferences, and optimize the search ranking strategy accordingly to show more relevant results.

Identify a wide range of individual online behaviors and preferences, and optimize the search ranking strategy accordingly to show more relevant results. Increase relevance with custom rankings: Dynamically display content and products a user is more likely to be interested in  helping to increase engagement while minimizing bounce rates or empty shopping carts.

Dynamically display content and products a user is more likely to be interested in  helping to increase engagement while minimizing bounce rates or empty shopping carts. Control and automate formulas: Control how rankings will be impacted, using a mathematical approach based on key criteria such as views, clicks and conversions to determine the content most relevant for a given user.

Control how rankings will be impacted, using a mathematical approach based on key criteria such as views, clicks and conversions to determine the content most relevant for a given user. Easily refine strategy: Adjust and refine personalization strategy to capitalize on changing consumer preferences or new insights with a ranking strategy that is quick and easy to set up. The ability to personalize a user experience across platforms from a mobile experience to a web app provides huge potential for our business, said David Piry, product manager at Videdressing. "Our fashion marketplace caters to diverse tastes, budgets, levels of fashion expertise and search behaviors, so the more we are able to simplify the user search experience by showing personalized results, the increased likelihood they will end up purchasing products. Were excited to bring Personalization to life with Algolia.

Your users are not clones. While they all expect quick and relevant search results, if three people search the same keyword, they may have different expectations for results based on their unique background, interests or taste, said Julien Lemoine, co-founder and CTO of Algolia. Personalization is significant to any natural search experience as it adds a personal layer and increases relevancy in results. By integrating analytics-based user preferences into the query experience, you expand the possibilities of search and discovery. For more information about Algolias Personalization solutions, read more on our blog and website. About Algolia

Our mission is to make every search interaction meaningful and rewarding through developer-friendly and enterprise-grade APIs. Algolia helps the most innovative companies create powerful, relevant and scalable discovery experiences for their users. Unlike other solutions, Algolia's hosted platform reduces the complexities of building and scaling a fast, relevant digital experience and helps teams accelerate development time. More than 6,500 companies like Twitch, Quicksilver, Discovery Communications, Medium, WeWork, Zendesk and Stripe rely on Algolia to manage 41 billion search queries a month. Founded in 2012, Algolia is backed by $74M in funding from Accel Partners, Alven Capital, Point Nine Capital and Storm Ventures. The team is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Paris, London, New York and Atlanta. To learn more, visit www.algolia.com. Contact

Laura Perez

Algolia

[email protected] Danielle Salvato-Earl

Offleash for Algolia

[email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Glen D. Smith & Associates Launch New Website

FLOWER MOUND, Texas, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Glen D. Smith & Associates, a financial planning firm partnered with Raymond James, today announces the launch of a redesigned website with interactive features and educational resources to enhance the online experience. The new site, designed with the user in mind, makes it easier for clients and visitors to navigate and connect with the friendly team at Glen D. Smith & Associates. "All of our website changes were made with careful consideration to provide access to financial planning and investment resources with one easy click," said Glen D. Smith, managing partner and certified financial planner. "Our focus is on building close-knit individual relationships, and the new website launch is symbolic of how we work to offer superior services to our clients." Glen D. Smith has worked in the financial servces industry since 2004, and his firm offers a breadth of financial and investing services to help a variety needs. Glen D. Smith & Associates specialize in financial planning, risk management, retirement planning and more.



"Our team is always looking ahead on behalf of our clients' financial well-being," said Smith. "The launch of the new Glen D. Smith & Associates website is another step in serving our clientele with the best resources to benefit them." For media inquiries, please contact Isabella Abiuso of Flackable at (866) 225-0920 ext. 107 or [email protected] .

About Glen D. Smith & Associates

Glen D. Smith & Associates is a leader in providing financial and retirement planning services to individuals and families across the Flower Mound, Lantana, Argyle and Lewisville communities. The firm offers a comprehensive approach to address all aspects of clients' financial life. To learn more about Glen D. Smith & Associates, visit glendsmithandassociates.com. Any opinions are those of Glen D. Smith and not necessarily those of RJFS or Raymond James. Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA / SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc. Glen D. Smith and Associates is not a registered broker/dealer and is independent of Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Isabella Abiuso

Flackable

(866) 225-0920 ext. 107

[email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/glen-d-smith--associates-launch-new-website-300768106.html SOURCE Glen D. Smith & Associates

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] StoreForce and Moz Partner to Enable Specialty Retailers to Thrive in the Era of the Mobile-Connected Consumer

TORONTO, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StoreForce , the leader in Performance Based Scheduling for Specialty Retail today announced a new partnership with Moz, the global leader in search engine optimization (SEO) and local listing technology. The partnership will combine the expertise of Mozs local SEO with StoreForces industry-leading retail workforce and performance management platform to ensure store information, such as hours of operation, are up-to-date across the web.



The current process for collecting changes to store information and updating the details online is manual and time-consuming, often resulting in inaccurate information presented to the consumer when planning their shopping visits. As consumers increasingly look to websites and search engines for information, it is critical that a retailers store details are accurate.



StoreForce partnered with Moz Local to develop an integration to ensure that the latest online store information is up-to-date without the need for manual intervention. Store hours maintained in StoreForce are automatically synced with Moz Local and pushed to each locations respective listing in search engines, GPS maps and busines directories.



As an end-to-end scheduling and store management solution, StoreForce clients require their managers to maintain accurate store details, like hours and events, in StoreForce for the purpose of scheduling staff. As such, StoreForce is often the most accurate repository for store details within an entire retail organization, making the feed to Moz Local a natural fit.



The integration between StoreForce and Moz is yet another step taken by both companies to help businesses increase their online visibility and prevent manual, repeated processes.

About StoreForce

StoreForce provides Specialty Retailers with an integrated, flexible SaaS Solution that helps maximize the return on labor investment, drive in-store customer experience, and manage day-to-day operations. Incorporating workforce management, store target management and store execution tools into one toolkit designed specifically for Store Managers and field leaders, StoreForce delivers retail programs that drive sales, customer experience, and brand. Specialty Retailers on 5 continents, in more than 39 countries consider StoreForce the Essential Operators Toolkit. To learn more, please visit www.storeforcesolutions.com or call +1 (416) 642-7438.



For more information:

StoreForce

[email protected]

(416) 642-7438

About Moz

Moz is the leader in search engine optimization (SEO) technology and local search management. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Seattle, Moz was the first company to bring together SEO experts to help marketers learn how to reach their customers in a more efficient way by improving their visibility in search results. For more information, please visit www.moz.com and follow us at https://twitter.com/moz . Press Contact

BLASTmedia for Moz

[email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Seismic Raises $100 Million in Series E Funding

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Seismic, a recognized leader in sales and marketing enablement, today announced that it has closed a $100 million Series E round of funding. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. Existing investors General Atlantic, JMI Equity, and Jackson Square Ventures also participated in the round. The round brings the total amount raised by Seismic to date to $179 million. Seismic today also announced that John W. Thompson, Venture Partner at Lightspeed and Chairman at Microsoft, will join Seismic's Board of Directors. Thompson brings with him more than 40 years' executive leadership experience at companies such as IBM, Virtual Instruments, and Symantec, where he served as CEO for ten years and oversaw 10x revenue growth from $600 million to $6 billion. Thompson currently also sits on the boards of cloud data management company Rubrik and gene sequencing company Illumina. "Sales enablement has quickly grown into a cornerstone practice in sales and marketing across a wide array of industries and businesses sizes. With the addition of John and new investor partners Lightspeed and T. Rowe Price, we look forward to further leading the way in making it a foundational business practice across the globe," said Doug Winter, co-founder and CEO of Seismic. "John's amazing career leading some of the world's most well-known and respected technology companies will be invaluable as we continue our march towards becoming the next world-class enterprise software firm." John W. Thompson commented, "To continue to drive sales in today's age of the informed buyer, sellers need to have the full resources of their organization behind them. Few technology providers if any enable that kind of support better and more effectively than Seismic. Considering the incredible market opportunity still available to Seismic and the very strong leadership team they have put in place to take advantage of it, I am incredibly excited to help play some small part in their future success." Seismic's sales enablement platform helps sales and marketing teams better engage customers by automatically equipping sellers with the right content, information and training for every customer interaction. Sales enablement has exploded in recent years: CSO Insights recently found that the percent of organizations with a dedicated sales enablement person, program or function nearly doubled between 2016 and 2018 (from 32.7 percent to 61 percent)1. In September Forrester Research also noted that 54 percent of companies have or are in the process of implementing a sales enablement technology with an additional 19 percent planning or considering doing so in the next 12 to 18 months2. With at least 97 percent revenue growth in each of the past five years, Seismic has taken advantage of the market momentum to become the largest sales enablement provider. The company now serves more than 500 customers across the globe, including Capital One, Glassdoor, Illumina, and Qualtrics. "Seismic has demonstrated that it has the requisite devotion to product innovation and their customers to become a much larger company," said Henry Ellenbogen, portfolio manager of T. Rowe Price New Horizons Fund. "We are looking forward to working with the Seismic leadership team in the next phase of the company's growth." Seismic plans to use the new round of funding to accelerate growth in global markets and product innovation. Having launched offices in Sydney, Australia and London in 2017, the company plans to accelerate investment in markets outside the United States from both a go-to-market and global customer implementation and support perspective. Additionally, Seismic will continue to ensure that the company's platform remains well ahead of competitive offerings. Seismic was recently named a Leader in The Forrester Wave: Sales Enablement Automation Platforms, Q3 2018, receiving top scores in both the Current Offering and Strategy categories3. According to the Wave report, which was authored by Forrester Principal Analyst Mary Shea, "[Sales enablement automation] is becoming a core platform in the 21st century sales and marketing tech stack." For more information about Seismic's sales and marketing enablement solutions, visit https://seismic.com/product/. About Seismic Seismic is the recognized leader in sales and marketing enablement, equipping global sales teams with the knowledge, messaging, and automatically personalized content proven to be the most effective for any buyer interaction. Powerful content intelligence and analytics enable marketers to prove and improve their impact on the bottom line, revealing what is really driving revenue and what needs to be adjusted. The result for more than 500 global enterprises including IBM, American Express, PayPal, and Quest Diagnostics is better win rates, larger deals, and higher customer retention. Seismic is headquartered in San Diego with additional offices in North America, Europe, and Australia. To see how Seismic is being used by companies in your industry, visit https://www.seismic.com. Media Contact Jason Fidler

Director of PR and Communications, Seismic

[email protected] Justin Ordman

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry for Seismic

[email protected]













1 CSO Insights: Sales Enablement Grows Up: The 2018 Sales Enablement Report 2 The Forrester Wave: Sales Enablement Automation Platforms, Q3 2018 3 Forrester uses a 33-criteria evaluation of sales enablement automation platform providers to score them and show how each provider measures up and helps B2B marketing and sales professionals make the right choice.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/seismic-raises-100-million-in-series-e-funding-300767692.html SOURCE Seismic

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Seoul Semiconductor Obtained Permanent Injunction against Everlight's LED Products and Recall of Such Products from German Court

Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:046890) ("Seoul"), a leading global innovator of LED products and technology, announced that Seoul won a patent infringement lawsuit against a global distributor of Everlight LED products in Germany. The German court issued a permanent injunction against the sales of the accused Everlight products and ordered the distributor to recall such products from commercial customers. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005262/en/ The Patented Technology Improving Light Intensity and Brightness (Graphic: Business Wire) In March 2017, Seoul filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Germany at the District Court of Dusseldorf against Mouser Electronic Inc, accusing the distribution of certain Everlight LED products to infrine a patent that Seoul was enforcing. After 20 months of litigation proceedings, the Court rendered judgments in favor of SSC's infringement claims, including ordering an injunction against sales of the accused Everlight products. The Court also ordered to recall the accused Everlight products sold after July 13, 2012 from the distributor's commercial customers. The decision issued in the first instance.



The patented technology involved in this litigation serves to efficiently extract light emitted from the internal LED structure by treating LED chip surfaces, thereby significantly improving light intensity and brightness. This patented technology has been registered in major 12 countries including the US., Europe and Asia. It has been widely used for automobile headlamps, UV lighting, horticultural lighting, outdoor lighting, and cell phone flashlights. Therefore, this court judgment would enable Seoul to exercise its patent rights in the global LED market which is worth about $5 billion. "We do our best to encourage a fair-competition environment, in which young entrepreneurs and small entities can succeed in the business world, relying on fair competition in the market and respecting hard-earned patented technology" said Sam Ryu, Seoul's vice president of IT Business.

About Seoul Semiconductor

Seoul Semiconductor develops and commercializes light emitting diodes (LEDs) for automotive, general illumination, specialty lighting, and backlighting markets. As the fourth-largest LED manufacturer globally, Seoul Semiconductor holds more than 12,000 patents, offers a wide range of technologies, and mass produces innovative LED products such as SunLike - delivering the world's best light quality in a next-generation LED enabling human-centric lighting optimized for circadian rhythms; WICOP - a simpler structured package-free LED which provides market leading color uniformity and cost savings at the fixture level, providing high lumen density and design flexibility; NanoDriver Series - the world's smallest 24W DC LED drivers; Acrich, the world's first high-voltage AC-driven LED technology developed in 2005, including all AC LED-related technologies from chip to module and circuit fabrication, as well as multi-junction technology (MJT); and nPola, a new LED product based on GaN-substrate technology that achieves more than ten times the output of conventional LEDs. UCD constitutes a high color gamut display which delivers more than 90% NTSC. To learn more, visit www.seoulsemicon.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005262/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] AWS Products and Services Now Available Through Carahsoft's Authorized Reseller and Managed Services Provider Partners as Part of AWS Public Sector Distribution Program

RESTON, Va., Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Carahsoft Technology Corp. , The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider, today announced that Amazon Web Services has authorized Carahsoft as a distributor in its AWS Public Sector Distribution Program, enabling Carahsofts reseller network to provide the complete range of AWS solutions to government customers. This agreement expands on Carahsofts existing reseller agreement with AWS and opens new opportunities for Carahsoft and its partner network.

Carahsoft began working with AWS in 2015, facilitating the process to make its vendors products available on AWS Marketplace . In June of 2018, Carahsoft announced that it had been named an Amazon Web Services Public Sector Solution Provider , making VMware Cloud on AWS and AWS services available through Carahsoft and its reseller and managed services provider partners on a variety of contract vehicles. With its long history as a distributor of VMware to federal, state and local government agencies, Carahsoft will now be able to help resellers and managed services provider partners deliver both Amazon Web Services and VMwares recently announced VMware Cloud on AWS GovCloud (US) solution offering. This cloud service enables United States public sector agencies to leverage a common cloud infrastructre on premises and in the public cloud to further increase agility and security, while maximizing the usage of existing IT investments.



This new agreement also represents a significant expansion by making AWSs entire suite of cloud service solutions available to government customers via Carahsoft and authorized partners in the AWS Public Sector Distribution Program. In addition, agencies that purchased AWS solutions through Carahsoft as part of its previous reseller agreement can now purchase additional complementary products and services through Carahsofts authorized partners to address additional requirements. Government agencies at all levels recognize the value of flexible and scalable cloud services to enable their missions, said Craig P. Abod, Carahsoft President. We look forward to expanding our AWS distribution capabilities, partner ecosystem and cloud consumption expertise to support this growing demand.

As part of the agreement, Carahsoft will provide dedicated program managers to facilitate the companys role as a distributor between AWS and its authorized reseller partners; cloud consumption specialists trained in AWSs products and services; and sales expertise to help partners pursue opportunities. Carahsoft is also authorized to support partners interested in expanding business opportunities by meeting AWSs public sector authorization criteria. AWSs entire suite of products and services are now available to authorized reseller partners to sell to public sector customers through Carahsofts NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V, NASPO ValuePoint, National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance (NCPA), National Intergovernmental Purchasing Alliance (National IPA) and The Quilt contracts. Select Carahsoft technology vendors are also featured on AWS Marketplace . For more information, contact the Carahsoft AWS team at 888-662-2724 or [email protected] . About Carahsoft Carahsoft Technology Corp. is The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider. As a top-performing GSA Schedule and SEWP contract holder, Carahsoft serves as the master government aggregator for many of its best-of-breed technology vendors, supporting an extensive ecosystem of manufacturers, value-added resellers, system integrators, and consulting partners committed to helping government agencies select and implement the best solution at the best possible value. The company's dedicated Solutions Divisions proactively market, sell and deliver AWS, VMware, Palo Alto Networks, Symantec, Veritas, Dell, Adobe, F5 Networks, Google Cloud, ServiceNow, Open Source, Micro Focus Government Solutions, SAP, Salesforce, and Innovative and Intelligence products and services, among others. Carahsoft is consistently recognized by its partners as a top revenue producer, and is listed annually among the industry's fastest growing and largest firms by CRN, Inc., Forbes, Washington Technology, The Washington Post, Washington Business Journal, and SmartCEO. Visit us at www.carahsoft.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook . Contact Mary Lange

703-230-7434

[email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Announces Investigation on Behalf of XPO Logistics, Inc. Investors (XPO)

Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") announces an investigation on behalf of XPO Logistics, Inc. investors ("XPO" or the "Company") (NYSE: XPO) 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 12, 2018, Spruce Point Capital Management ("Spruce Point") published a rport asserting that a "forensic investigation" into XPO had revealed "financial irregularities that conveniently cover [the Company's] growing financial strain and inability to complete additional acquisitions despite repeated promises." Specifically, Spruce Point reported that it had discovered, among other issues, "concrete evidence to suggest dubious tax accounting, under-reporting of bad debts, phantom income through unaccountable M&A earn-out labilities, and aggressive amortization assumptions: all designed to portray glowing 'Non-GAAP' results." On this news, XPO's share price fell $15.77 per share, or more than 26%, to close at $44.50 on December 13, 2018, thereby injuring investors.







Follow us for updates on Twitter (News - Alert): twitter.com/GPM_LLP.

If you purchased XPO 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/20181218005440/en/[December 18, 2018] Catalyst Health Network and UnitedHealthcare's Accountable Care Organization Relationship Fostering Quality Care at Lower Cost

Catalyst Health Network (Catalyst) and UnitedHealthcare's accountable care organization (ACO) has improved the number of annual preventive screenings year over year for cervical cancer, breast cancer and colorectal cancer, and lowered health care costs in North Texas by more than $28 million in the last two years. Cervical, breast and colorectal cancers rank among the Top 10 leading causes of cancer death in the United States, but can be prevented if detected early. UnitedHealthcare shares data with Catalyst to inform doctors of patients' underlying medical conditions, past treatments, gaps in care, medications prescribed and future care needs. This ACO relationship has touched the lives of thousands of UnitedHealthcare plan participants through preventive screenings in the last year: 6,300 patients annually have received colorectal cancer screenings, compared to 5,800 before the ACO, an increase of more than 8 percent;

3,400 patients annually have received breast cancer screenings, compared to 3,100, an increase of nearly 8 percent; and

8,800 patients have received cervical cancer screenings, compared to 8,500, an increase of 3 percent. In the last two years, Catalyst care providers reduced health care spend by more than $28 million for over 78,000 UnitedHealthcare plan participants. On top of quality improvements, savings were also driven by an 11 percent increase in specialist referrals to in-network providers and a 4 percent reduction in emergency-room visits for patients participating in the ACO. The accountable care relationship was established in 2015 for people enrolled in UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored and individual health plans, and has grown to include more than 500 care providers across North Texas. More than 80,000 people enrolled in UnitedHealthcare's employer and individual health plans are eligible to benefit from this collaboration. "Our relationship with UnitedHealthcare is making a positive impact on our patients' health and the care they receive from Catalyst physicians' practices and our extended Care Team," said Christopher Crow, M.D., president of Catalyst Health Network. "We are gratified by the engagement from our care providers and practices, and the potential to put dollars back into the communities and employers we serve. We appreciate the opportunity to work with UnitedHealthcare to provide highly coordinated and quality health care."



"Our relationship with Catalyst affirms that ongoing collaboration results in better health outcomes for patients and lower health care costs," said Scott Flannery, CEO of UnitedHealthcare of North Texas. "Catalyst continues to be a leader in addressing the care needs of its patients and diligently working to lower costs." Accountable care programs offer a care delivery model that shifts care provider reimbursement away from the traditional fee-for-service delivery model to a value-based approach in which physicians are eligible to receive payment incentives based on patient satisfaction and achieving certain clinical measures. This collaboration also improves the ability to identify patients who are at high risk, and helps them reduce emergency-room visits and readmissions to the hospital, manage their chronic health conditions and take their needed medications.

More than 15 million people enrolled in UnitedHealthcare plans across the country have access to accountable care programs, delivered in part through more than 1,000 accountable care arrangements nationwide as the organization engages in deeper, more collaborative relationships with physicians and hospitals. Care providers nationwide are showing strong interest in a shift to value-based care. UnitedHealthcare's payments to physicians and hospitals that are tied to value-based arrangements now total $72 billion. For more information about UnitedHealthcare's changing relationships with care providers and how value-based programs are helping to improve quality and people's health, visit www.UHC.com/valuebasedcare and download the Value-based Care Report. About Catalyst Health Network

Catalyst Health Network is a URAC accredited clinically integrated network of primary care physicians who have come together to provide high-quality care, helping communities thrive. With 515 primary care providers, 160 office locations, 800,000 patients, and 70 care team members, Catalyst Health Network operates as a non-profit organization improving health, coordinating care, and lowering cost - creating sustainable and predictable value. The network is comprised solely of physician members and managed by StratiFi Health, a physician services and population health organization. For more information, visit catalysthealthnetwork.com or follow @CatalystHN on Twitter (News - Alert). About UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making the health system work better for everyone by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1.2 million physicians and care professionals, and 6,500 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. The company also provides health benefits and delivers care to people through owned and operated health care facilities in South America. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified health care company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @UHC on Twitter. Click here to subscribe to Mobile Alerts for UnitedHealth Group. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005053/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Expands Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice

PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide, announced today that Allison J. Bender has joined the firm's privacy and cybersecurity practice as Of Counsel in the Washington, D.C., office. From 2006 to 2015, Bender was an attorney at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the Office of the General Counsel, where she advised on cybersecurity laws, regulations, and policies. While at DHS, she also advised on technology programs related to international law, compliance and policy, export controls, and the SAFETY Act. Prior to joining WSGR, she was an attorney at ZwillGen in Washington, D.C., where she provided legal guidance to technology-focused clients on privacy and cybersecurity issues. "We are delighted to have Allison join our team. Companies in all sectors face real challenges ensuring their compliance with increasingly complicated privacy and data protection standards, both in the U.S. and around the world," said Lydia Parnes, a partner in WSGR's Washington, D.C., office and co-chair of the firm's privacy and cybersecurity practice. "Our team provides comprehensive representation to companiesseeking guidance on how to operate and grow their businesses in the face of these complex global standards. We're pleased Allison has joined the firm and expands our expertise in these important areas."



Bender earned an LL.M., in National Security Law with distinction, from Georgetown University in 2012, and her J.D. at Washington and Lee University in 2006. She received her B.A. degree in foreign affairs at the University of Virginia in 2003. She is admitted to practice in California and Washington, D.C., and is CIPP/US and CISSP certified. In addition to private law practice, Bender is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Maryland Baltimore County, teaching courses concerning national security regulation and cyber law.

Bender is the second senior-level attorney to join the firm's privacy and data protection practice in recent months. In October 2018, WSGR announced that Lore Leitner had joined WSGR's London office as Of Counsel. About Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

For more than 50 years, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offered a broad range of services and legal disciplines focused on serving the principal challenges faced by the management and boards of directors of business enterprises. The firm is nationally recognized as a leader in the fields of corporate governance and finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, securities litigation, employment law, intellectual property, and antitrust, among many other areas of law. With deep roots in Silicon Valley, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offices in Austin; Beijing; Boston; Brussels; Hong Kong; London; Los Angeles; New York; Palo Alto; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Shanghai; Washington, D.C.; and Wilmington, DE. For more information, please visit www.wsgr.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wilson-sonsini-goodrich--rosati-expands-privacy-and-cybersecurity-practice-300767995.html SOURCE Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]CES 2019 Pre-show Exhibitor News Recap

CES (News - Alert), the world's largest gathering for the consumer technology industry, returns to Las Vegas January 8 - 11, 2019. Please note the following important information:

CES Unveiled Las Vegas takes place January 6, 2019 at Mandalay Bay.

Media Days run January 6 - 7, 2019.

Exhibits open January 8 - 11, 2019.

Breaking news and multimedia are available on the official CES Exhibitor News page.

An RSS feed of exhibitor news is also available.

The official hashtag for the show is #CES2019.

Business Wire is the official news wire and online press kit service partner for CES. Listed below is the pre-show exhibitor news recap through December 17, 2018.

12/17/2018 - 10:03 AM

Continental Showcases Innovations for Smarter and Safer Cities at CES 2019

12/17/2018 - 08:40 AM

Tivic Health to Demonstrate ClearUP Sinus Pain Relief Device At CES 2019

12/17/2018 - 08:19 AM

IHS Markit to Judge Innovation Awards at ShowStoppers at CES 2019

12/17/2018 - 07:20 AM

Gary's Book Club at CES 2019 Highlights Notable Authors

12/17/2018 - 06:00 AM

Ayla Networks Shows How to Achieve 'Fast Time to IoT Value' at CES 2019

12/17/2018 - 05:00 AM

Ambarella Introduces CV22AQ Automotive Camera SoC for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)

12/17/2018 - 03:00 AM

Cepton Technologies to Showcase its LiDAR Solutions Supporting All Levels of Autonomy at CES 2019

12/13/2018 - 11:58 PM

Alps Electric to Exhibit at CES 2019 as Alps Alpine for the First Time

12/13/2018 - 10:00 AM

Molex Demonstrates Strength in Autonomous Vehicle Design with Enhanced Automotive Ethernet Network Platform

12/13/2018 - 07:39 AM

Cinemo to Showcase Next Generation Android Automotive Based Infotainment Systems at CES 2019 in Las Vegas

12/13/2018 - 06:09 AM

IHS Markit Analyst Availability for Media Requests: CES 2019

12/13/2018 - 06:00 AM

YouCam Showcases 'Beauty 3.0' AI & AR Tech Innovations for Next-gen Personalized Experiences at CES 2019

12/13/2018 - 06:00 AM

CES 2019: The smart solutions Bosch will be presenting in Las Vegas

12/13/2018 - 06:00 AM

GAEMS Introduces the Sentinel Pro XP 1080P Personal Gaming Environment

12/13/2018 - 05:00 AM

Osram LEDs and laser solutions increase safety, enable customizable interiors in Rinspeed microSNAP vehicle

12/12/2018 - 06:00 AM

Bosch presents tomorrow's mobility today

12/12/2018 - 06:00 AM

Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) to Display GaN-Enabled Wirelessly Powered Systems for the Home and High-Resolution LiDAR for Autonomous Cars at 2019 CES

12/12/2018 - 05:00 AM

Cognitive, Plume and Qualcomm Partner With Stanley Black & Decker for Home Security Product Omni

12/12/2018 - 05:00 AM

WiTricity Wireless Charging Featured in Honda's Vehicle-to-Grid Energy Management System

12/12/2018 - 05:00 AM

TDK Showcases Solutions for Automotive, AR/VR, IoT, Mobile and Wearables at CES 2019

12/11/2018 - 09:28 AM

Molex Recognized by Autonomous Vehicle Technology Magazine for Groundbreaking Automotive Ethernet Platform

12/11/2018 - 09:00 AM

Media Alert: Intel to Showcase Technology Innovation for the Next Era of Computing at CES 2019







12/11/2018 - 07:00 AM

Photonics for a Smarter Life: OSRAM Will Showcase Latest Technologies That Improve Mobility; Connectivity; Safety and Security; Well-Being and Health at CES 2019

12/11/2018 - 06:00 AM

The Future is Smart: Taiwan's Most Innovative Companies to Unveil Transformative AIoT Products at CES 2019

12/11/2018 - 05:00 AM

Atmosic Technologies Brings Forever Battery and Battery Free IOT to CES 2019 With M2 and M3 Series of Lowest-Power Wireless Solutions

12/11/2018 - 04:00 AM

Summit Wireless Announces Global Collaboration with LG Electronics; Delivers Immersive, Wireless Sound Experiences For Home Entertainment Via LG's 2019 Line-Up of OLED and Flagship UHD/LCD WiSA Ready TVs

12/11/2018 - 03:00 AM

Dassault Systemes at CES to Reveal Consumer Experiences of 2030

12/10/2018 - 05:25 PM

Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) to Exhibit at CES 2019

12/10/2018 - 04:57 PM

Japanese Innovative Startups to be Showcased at CES 2019

12/10/2018 - 07:30 AM

Karamba Security to Demonstrate Live and Autonomously-Prevented Cyber Attacks on Vehicles at CES 2019, Showcasing Top Industry Players Supporting This Safety-Critical Technology

12/10/2018 - 06:30 AM

Vayyar Launches Groundbreaking New mmWave 3D Imaging System on a Chip (SoC) Evaluation Kit

12/10/2018 - 05:05 AM

Zyxel to Debut LTE CBRS Outdoor Router for Fixed Wireless Access at CES 2019

12/10/2018 - 05:00 AM

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao to Deliver CES 2019 Keynote

12/06/2018 - 10:00 AM

Artificial Intelligence in Vegas: Audiogum set to make an exceptional entrance at CES 2019

12/06/2018 - 09:30 AM

Sigma Cells at CES: Smart Battery for Electric Cars, Bikes, Robots & Smartphones Powers on Even When Cell Fails

12/06/2018 - 08:35 AM

Pixcurve at CES: New Curved Image Sensor Technology Reduces Size, Weight & Cost of Digital Cameras - and Improves Image Quality

12/05/2018 - 07:07 PM

Bot3, Inc. to Exhibit at CES 2019

12/05/2018 - 08:10 AM

CEA Will Demonstrate Five Innovations for the E-mobility, Green Energy, Connected Health, Digital Camera and Agri-food Markets at CES 2019

12/05/2018 - 08:05 AM

LG Electronics and Audioburst Collaborate to Build the Next Generation of In-Car Infotainment Systems

12/05/2018 - 06:00 AM

Bosch and Veniam ensure seamless vehicle-to-everything connectivity

12/04/2018 - 01:20 PM

Preview Kinetic Technologies' Industry-Leading Power Management and Wireless Charging Solutions at CES 2019

12/04/2018 - 06:00 AM

CyberLink to Showcase the Future of AI and Facial Recognition Technology at CES 2019

12/03/2018 - 07:12 PM

Industrial Technology Research Institute to Exhibit at CES 2019

12/02/2018 - 11:00 PM

Foresight Vision System Installed in Leading Automotive OEM's Vehicle

11/26/2018 - 09:03 PM

DisplayLink Quad-Display Docking Station from Targus Wins CES 2019 Innovation Award

11/19/2018 - 07:02 AM

Mercku Named as CES 2019 Innovation Awards Honoree for M2 Hive

11/16/2018 - 03:15 AM

HyperX and Allied Esports Announce HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas

11/15/2018 - 11:00 AM

Waymo CEO to Keynote CES 2019 Leaders in Technology Dinner

11/15/2018 - 03:00 AM

AdaSky Adds $20M from Lead Investor, South Korean Automotive Components Manufacturer Sungwoo Hitech

11/13/2018 - 05:30 AM

Bowflex Launches AI-Driven Coaching and Personalized In-Home Workouts

11/09/2018 - 06:00 AM

Oticon Kaizn, World's First Personal AI Assistant for Your Ears, Wins Two 2019 CES Innovation Awards

11/09/2018 - 06:00 AM

Foresight's QuadSight Vision System Wins Prestigious 2019 CES Innovation Award

11/08/2018 - 03:00 PM

CTA Announces Media Days Schedule for CES 2019

11/08/2018 - 03:00 PM

CTA Announces CES 2019 Innovation Awards Honorees

11/08/2018 - 02:35 PM

Cinemo Named as CES 2019 Innovation Awards Honoree

11/08/2018 - 02:05 PM

Phonak Honored for 'Accessibility' and '3D Printing' with Two CES 2019 Innovation Awards

11/08/2018 - 02:00 PM

Samsung Wins 30 CES 2019 Innovation Awards for Outstanding Design and Engineering

11/08/2018 - 01:05 PM

Universal Electronics Reports Third Quarter 2018 Financial Results

11/01/2018 - 05:00 AM

Verizon CEO to Keynote at CES 2019

10/15/2018 - 04:00 PM

LG Electronics President and CTO Dr. I.P. Park to Keynote at CES 2019

10/15/2018 - 01:21 AM

Smart Shopping Will Launch the Full-Fledged Service of IoT Device "SmartMat" in Japan from October 15, 2018

10/03/2018 - 07:00 AM

AMD President and CEO Dr. Lisa Su to Keynote at CES 2019

09/24/2018 - 05:00 AM

CES Tech Talk Podcast Highlights Top Trends at CES 2019

09/04/2018 - 06:00 AM

Welcome Home to Wellness: Delos Launches World's First Residential Wellness Technology Platform

08/01/2018 - 05:00 AM

IBM CEO Ginni Rometty to Open CES 2019 with Keynote Address

07/11/2018 - 07:00 AM

CTA to Send the Next Generation of Tech Media to CES - the Global Stage for Innovation

About Business Wire:

Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure. Investor relations, public relations, public policy and marketing professionals rely on Business Wire to accurately distribute market-moving news and multimedia, host online newsrooms and IR websites, build content marketing platforms, generate social engagements and provide audience analysis that improves interaction with specified target markets. Founded in 1961, Business Wire is a trusted source for news organizations, journalists, investment professionals and regulatory authorities, delivering news directly into editorial systems and leading online news sources via its multi-patented NX Network. Business Wire has 29 offices worldwide to securely meet the varying needs of communications professionals and news consumers.

Learn more at services.BusinessWire.com and Tempo, the Business Wire resource for industry trends; follow updates on Twitter (News - Alert): @businesswire or on Facebook.

Click here to subscribe to Mobile Alerts for Business Wire.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005182/en/[December 18, 2018] TransPerfect Donates Services to Support Hu-manity.co's Efforts to Establish 31st Human Right

TransPerfect, the world's largest provider of language and technology solutions for global business, announced that it has donated services in support of Hu-manity.co's work to establish a new fundamental human right: the right to ownership of one's personal data. There are currently 30 human rights adopted and recognized by the United Nations that are bestowed to every human at birth. Hu-manity.co is using proprietary technology and legal innovations on blockchains to make what they propose as Human Right #31-the first decentralized human right. Earlier this year, Hu-manity.co launched its #My31 app on Android (News - Alert) and iOS devices, allowing people to claim legal ownership of their inherent human data and receive a title for it. As part of the effort to promote Human Right #31, TransPerfect has provided language and marketing services to globalize this campaign, starting with the localization of text and video content into 15 of the most commonly spoken languages worldwide. Richie Etwaru, Hu-manity.co CEO and Founder, said, "The language someone speaks should not prevent that person from claiming their 31st Human Right. This is the power of our partnership with TransPerfect. The partnership enables individuals across borders to learn about, understand, and claim the 31st Human Right-which will drive the movement globally to classify our human data as human property." About Hu-manity.co Hu-manity.co isthe world's first and only organization developing human rights and corollary sovereign laws in a decentralized manner on blockchains. The company has headquarters in New Jersey, USA and operates in multiple countries. The leadership team includes over two dozen senior executives from Fortune 500 companies, academic scholars, and senior policy advisors from North America, Europe, Australia, and Africa. The vision of Hu-manity.co is a world where the next generation of human rights and policies emerge from a balance of centralized power and decentralized technologically empowered communities. For more information please visit Hu-manity.co.



About TransPerfect TransPerfect is the world's largest provider of language services and technology solutions for global business. From offices in over 90 cities on six continents, TransPerfect offers a full range of services in 170+ languages to clients worldwide. More than 4,000 global organizations employ TransPerfect's GlobalLink Product Suite to simplify management of multilingual content. With an unparalleled commitment to quality and client service, TransPerfect is fully ISO 9001 and ISO 17100 certified. TransPerfect has global headquarters in New York, with regional headquarters in London and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit our website at www.transperfect.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005571/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Ellen Ochoa Joins the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Board of Trustees

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation today announced the election of a new trustee, Ellen Ochoa, astronaut, former director of the Johnson Space Center and vice chair of the National Science Board. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005093/en/ Ellen Ochoa, veteran astronaut, former director of the Johnson Space Center and vice chair of the National Science Board, on a space mission. (Photo: Business Wire) "The mission and the people of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation drew me to accept this opportunity," said Ochoa. "My life has been devoted to science and as someoe who has the rare opportunity to see the Earth from space, I look forward to working with experts dedicated to conserving the critical ecosystems on this planet."



Ochoa was the 11th director of NASA's Johnson Space Center, leading the human space flight enterprise for the nation. She became the first Hispanic woman to go to space when she served on a nine-day mission aboard the shuttle Discovery in 1993. She has flown in space four times, logging nearly 1,000 hours, leading onboard scientific activities, operating the robotic arm, and serving as flight engineer during the launch, rendezvous, and entry phases of the mission. Prior to her astronaut and management career, Dr. Ochoa was a research engineer and holds three patents for optical systems. She earned a Ph.D. and M.S. in electrical engineering from Stanford University, and a B.S. in physics from San Diego State University.

She is the recipient of many awards including NASA's highest award, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Presidential Distinguished Rank of the Senior Executive Service, and honorary doctorates from The University of Pennsylvania, The Johns Hopkins University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She is in the Astronaut Hall of Fame, the California Hall of Fame and the International Air & Space Hall of Fame. "We are fortunate to have Ellen join our board of trustees," said Harvey V. Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D., president of the foundation. "She is an exceptional scientist and proven leader. Her counsel will greatly benefit the foundation, and I look forward with pleasure to working with her." The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation fosters path-breaking scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements and the preservation of the special character of the Bay Area. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005093/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Canada Invests in New Brunswick's Indigenous Forestry Initiative

TOBIQUE FIRST NATION, NB, Dec. 18, 2018 /CNW/ - Canada's forests continue to be important sources of good jobs in communities across the country, especially rural, remote and Indigenous communities. To ensure a direct benefit to Indigenous communities, our government is supporting Indigenous peoples' participation in natural resources projects. Member of Parliament for TobiqueMactaquac, T.J. Harvey, on behalf of Canada's Minister of Natural Resources (NRCan), the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, today announced $295,000 in funding for two Indigenous forest sector projects in New Brunswick that will create jobs and boost the local economy. The first project is a multi-year investment of $255,000 to the Tobique First Nation that will establish a forest-based community business to create long-term employment opportunities and increase revenues in the community. Part of this funding has so far supported a detailed analysis of Tobiqu's manufacturing options, which led to the purchase of a sawmill in Perth-Andover. The next phase of this funding will create standard operating procedures, training in grading and stamping lumber and management succession planning for the mill that will lead to more local jobs.



The second investment of $40,000 will help Mi'gmawe'I Tplu'taqnn Incorporated launch a sustainable forestry strategy for its nine member communities. The strategies will assess and identify manufacturing options and opportunities in the local forest sector. Both projects are funded by NRCan's Indigenous Forestry Initiative, part of the Canada's Softwood Lumber Action Plan, which offers opportunities to Indigenous communities that rely on forest sustainability by increasing Indigenous participation in forestry-related opportunities, businesses, careers and governance.

Quotes

"Our government is committed to growing an efficient and resilient forest sector in Canada. These projects will directly benefit Indigenous communities by helping individuals acquire the skills and knowledge needed to participate more fully in the forest sector and contribute to the overall competitiveness of the economy." Amarjeet Sohi

Minister of Natural Resources Canada Associated Links: Indigenous Forestry Initiative

Simply Science Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan (http://twitter.com/nrcan) SOURCE Natural Resources Canada

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Gateway Mortgage Group Supports Nonprofits with Charity Challenge

Gateway (News - Alert) Mortgage Group, a full-service mortgage company licensed in 40 states and the District of Columbia, donated to various nonprofit organizations through the company's Charity Challenge. The program rewards the highest-ranking branches in several key performance metrics by giving donations to nonprofits of their choice. Over the past three years, Gateway donated $90,000 through the challenge helping support families and communities. The mortgage company focuses on nonprofits, which helps fulfill its mission of strengthening families. "We are happy to honor our hardworking team members by giving them recognition for their dedication and empowering them to share that success with people in need," said Hobie Higgins, Gateway's chief community engagement officer. "The holidays can leave families strapped for cash, so we hope our donations will let them focus on their loved ones rather than a lack of resources." This year, four branches received the honor: Ada, Oklahoma; Stillwater, Oklahoma; McPherson, Kansas; and Matagorda, Texas. The branches support multiple nonprofits, including homeless sheltes, food pantries, organizations dedicated to ending poverty and after-school programs.



Teri Treadway, branch manager of Gateway's Matagorda location, said her employees work as a team to achieve their goals so they can protect their community's most vulnerable citizens. "We want everyone in our community to feel cared for and safe," Treadway said. "The nonprofits we selected will bless many people and achieve Gateway's goal of strengthening communities and families."

The Ada branch selected Mama T's B&B, a new homeless shelter that provides emergency services to an average of 25 people per night. The shelter hopes to eventually be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "We are immensely thankful to Gateway Mortgage Group for helping us progress toward our goal," said Nancy Young, a Mama T's B&B board member. "Without community support from companies like Gateway, we wouldn't be able to help as many people as we do." Gateway Mortgage Group will continue its charitable giving in coming years to make a positive impact in the communities it serves. About Gateway Mortgage Group, LLC. Gateway is one of the largest privately held mortgage origination and servicing companies in the United States. Established in 2000 and headquartered in Jenks, Oklahoma, the company employs more than 1,200 team members in over 160 offices nationwide and currently services $17 billion in residential mortgages. For more information about Gateway, visit www.GatewayLoan.com. Gateway Mortgage Group, LLC (NMLS 7233). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005653/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Blockchain Speed Barrier Broken by Cryptic Labs and Bitconch to Deliver Enterprise-Ready Solution

PALO ALTO, Calif. and SHANGHAI, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Bitconch, a new high-performance blockchain based on an innovative Proof of Reputation (PoR) consensus algorithm, and Cryptic Labs , the leading commercial research lab focused on solving fundamental security problems to advance the growth of blockchain technology, today announced a partnership to develop Bitconch's secure and highly scalable public blockchain. Slow transaction speeds are one of the key issues preventing large scale blockchain adoption. Bitconch boasts MVP processing speeds of 120,000 transactions per second (TPS), which is more than double the theoretical speed of the fastest blockchains today. In fact, Bitconch's TPS more than quadruples the average TPS of Visa, the most advanced commercial payment platform today. Security and scalability are the cornerstones of blockchain technology. Building upon these lightning fast speeds, the strategic partnership enhances the scalability of the Bitconch blockchain to advance it as the leading global public blockchain. The Cryptic Labs team will also provide deep security expertise to bolster the Bitconch platform, assuring protection of its blockchain at scale. "Blockchain technology is reinventing the systems we know today," said Joseph Sadove, CEO of Bitconch. "Together with some of the brightest minds in the blockchain space at Cryptic Labs, we will redefine the architecture of society." "Similar to how the full potential of the internet was not understood in the nineties, blockchain is still in its infancy," said Qiang Liu, CTO of Bitconch. "Blockchain signals a sea change that will revolutionize society as we know it. We are building the internet of value through reputation." Bitconch's innovative PoR consensus algorithm is capable of processing 120,000 transactions per second (TPS) in MVP testing, far faster than any public blockchain in existence today. In addition to its unparalleled speed, PoR effectively resists centralization, a major pain point of proof of stake (PoS) consensus algorithms, while consuming far less electric power and time than proof of work (PoW) consensus algorithms. Bitconch uses social graphs to build a decentralized reputation system, or "Bit-R" value, to develop the next generation of consesus, motivation and community management systems for blockchain.



"The team at Bitconch has developed groundbreaking innovations to make possible the mass adoption of blockchain technology," said Humphrey Polanen, co-founder and managing director of Cryptic Labs. "We are very selective about which companies we partner with and we are proud to collaborate with Bitconch, while providing them with access to some of the brightest minds in cryptography, cybersecurity, economics, distributed computing and game theory." "The team at Bitconch has developed groundbreaking innovations, including the achievement of highest transactions per second," said Stewart Raphael, Cryptic Labs' Chief Technologist. "Their algorithm shows unique advances for blockchain technology. They are building a highly scalable, secure and public blockchain that will create the underlying platform for sidechains, smart contracts and leading applications of tomorrow."

Cryptic Labs has a unique approach to blockchain compared to other accelerators, providing partners with world-class advisers and research-based insights to guide their innovations. The advisory team includes Turing-award winning cryptographer Dr. Whitfield Diffie, and two Nobel Laureates in Economics, Dr. Eric S. Maskin and Sir Christopher Pissarides. About Cryptic Labs

Cryptic Labs is an innovative commercial research lab primarily focused on solving fundamental problems in security and economics to advance the viability and growth of Blockchains. They function as a unique research advisory with expertise in security, privacy and economics, offering collaboration on research, talent acquisition and mentorship for companies. For more information, visit crypticlabs.org. About Bitconch

Bitconch is the world's only high-performance blockchain with speeds up to 120,000 transactions per second (TPS). Built upon an innovative proof of reputation (PoR) consensus algorithm designed to maintain both high throughput and decentralization, Bitconch is the most advanced blockchain solution for millions of social applications. The Bitconch developer team hails from the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles in California, as well as Beijing and Shanghai in China, with previous positions at IBM, Google, T-Mobile and GE. To learn more, visit bitconch.io and follow Bitconch on Facebook , Twitter , Reddit , Github and Telegram . All trademarks and product names are the property of their respective companies. Cryptic Labs Media Contacts

FortyThree PR, Inc. for Cryptic Labs

[email protected]

831.401.3175 Herman Collins

Chief of Human Capital, Cryptic Labs

[email protected] Bitconch Media Contact

Lilly Mu

COO, Bitconch

[email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blockchain-speed-barrier-broken-by-cryptic-labs-and-bitconch-to-deliver-enterprise-ready-solution-300768032.html SOURCE Cryptic Labs

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] IntegriShield Honored with Thinking Bigger Business 25 Under 25 Small Business Award

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- IntegriShield is honored to be a recipient of Thinking Bigger Business' 2019 25 Under 25 Small Business Awards recognizing 25 outstanding Kansas City businesses with 25 or fewer employees. Founded in 2012, IntegriShield is an award-winning RegTech company supporting industries and brands internationally. Thinking Bigger Business recognized IntegriShield for its demonstrated financial strength, ability to overcome adversity and challenges, a commitment to the community and a powerful company vision. The company's success was founded in their ability to develop and implement proprietary technology that monitors content across the web and other marketing channels to ensure brands and their consumers are protected from misrepresentation and fraud. IntegriShield is an industry leader delivering actionable intelligence and services saving brands time, money, and reducing risk. "The IntegriShield team is thrilled and honored to be the recipient of a 2018 25 Under 25 Small Business Award," said IntegriShield President Gayla Huber. "We are grateful to be woven into the rich, diverse fabric of Kansas City's small business community while having the opportunity to serve clients across the country and abroad. IntegriShield, and other small businesses, is the lifeblood of our thriving City and his award highlights the large contribution we can make with a smaller number of employees."



Established in 1992, the 25 Under 25 Awards was the first in the Kansas City area designed to honor businesses with fewer than 25 employees. Yet this segment of business comprises the largest number of companies both locally and nationally, with roughly 83 percent of Kansas City area and 86 percent of businesses nationwide employing 19 or fewer employees. The Award recognizes the critical role small businesses plays in Kansas City and selects the winners based on: Financial stability; Ability to overcome obstacles/adversity/challenges; Community involvement/philanthropy; Distinguishing or defining characteristics/qualities; and Company vision. Click here for more information about the 25 Under 25 Small Business Awards. "IntegriShield developed technology based on the needs of both brands and consumers. Our initial intent was to protect clients from federal regulations. Over time, the IntegriShield team developed what was once a single industry technology and expanded it to be enterprise software for all companies and industries," commented Gregory Gragg, CEO of IntegriSheild. "I couldn't be prouder of Gayla and her team."

About IntegriShield

IntegriShield is one of three companies developed by Blue Chair, LLC to win the 25 Under 25 award. IntegriShield is a software and service company offering custom compliance and remediation solutions to solve online monitoring, call center, and salesforce challenges. Designed to protect companies and their consumers, IntegriShield monitors, tracks and enforces all applicable regulations to assure that our clients engage in consistent and compliant marketing activities. Click here for more information about IntegriShield or Blue Chair, LLC. Press Contact

Name: Suzanne Palmer

Mobile: 571-332-9778

Email: [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/integrishield-honored-with-thinking-bigger-business-25-under-25-small-business-award-300768288.html SOURCE IntegriShield

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018]

Riverside Research Welcomes New Trustee, Cynthia Downes

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Riverside Research is honored to announce the election of Ms. Cynthia Downes to its Board of Trustees.

Ms. Downes is a senior executive with over 35 years of experience leading technology-based and professional service businesses. She currently owns and operates Downes Consulting, a financial consultancy firm providing highly sophisticated revenue recognition, contract compliance, and other financial operations support. She is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Versar Inc., a $170 million engineering and construction management company.

"Ms. Downes' leadership and wealth of knowledge adds great value to our board," said Mr. John Giering, Chairman of the no-for-profit's Board of Trustees. In the past year, Riverside Research has been awarded several large contracts to support customers in the Department of Defense and intelligence community. "Her extensive financial experience will help ensure Riverside Research's strong growth continues in a sustainable direction."







Ms. Downes began her Riverside Research Board of Trustee duties effective November 13, 2018.

About Riverside Research

Riverside Research is a not-for-profit organization chartered to advance scientific research for the benefit of the US government and in the public interest. Through the company's open innovation concept, they invest in multi-disciplinary research and development and encourage collaboration to accelerate innovation and advance science. Riverside Research conducts independent research in machine learning, trusted and resilient systems, optics and photonics, and plasma physics. Learn more at www.riversideresearch.org .

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/riverside-research-welcomes-new-trustee-cynthia-downes-300768285.html

SOURCE Riverside Research[December 18, 2018]

10 New Literature and Primary Source Study Guides Available on Course Hero

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Course Hero, an online learning platform where members can access over 20 million course-specific study resources contributed by a community of students and educators, today announced the publication of 10 new Literature and Primary Source Study Guides .

"At Course Hero, our mission is to help students graduate confident and prepared," said Andrew Grauer, cofounder and CEO of Course Hero. "Our Literature and Primary Source Study Guides are an effective way for students to gain a deeper understanding of the work, beyond mere plot progression and vocabulary, fostering a more confident comprehension of the material."

The Course Hero Literature and Primary Source Study Guides are available for students and educators to browse, download, and share with classmates, friends, and colleagues. They feature detailed chapter summaries that analyze key events, themes, and symbolism, as well as insights on the meaning of key quotations, plot devices, and historical context.

This week's newly released guides are:

Mapp v. Ohio

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

Leaves of Grass

o Build a Fire





Dred Scott v. Sanford

McCulloch v. Maryland

Civil Rights Act of 1964

I Will Fight No More Forever

Freakonomics

The Tragedy of the Commons

These titles join Course Hero's growing library, which now includes 658 in-depth Literature and Primary Source Study Guides covering a wide range of literature, from classic novels to primary source documents and more, as well as a growing video collection.

About Course Hero

Course Hero is an online learning platform where members can access over 20 million course-specific study resources contributed by a community of students and educators. The platform includes Practice Problems, study guides, videos, class notes, and step-by-step explanations to help with every college classfrom economics to literature, biology to history, accounting to psychology, and everything in between. Course Hero has been recognized as one of the 2018 Technology Fast 500 by Deloitte and named a 2018 Best Place to Work in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal.

Connect with Course Hero at www.coursehero.com or on LinkedIn , Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , or Pinterest .

For more information, contact:

Grayling PR for Course Hero

[email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/10-new-literature-and-primary-source-study-guides-available-on-course-hero-300768308.html

SOURCE Course HeroSHAREHOLDER ALERT: Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. Announces Investigation of Owens Realty Mortgage, Inc. Merger

Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. announces that it is investigating potential legal claims against the board of directors (the "Board") of Owens Realty Mortgage, Inc. ("Owens Realty Mortgage" or the "Company") (NYSE AMERICAN: ORM) related to the Company's entry into an agreement to merge with Ready Capital Corporation ("Ready Capital") (NYSE: RC) in a transaction announced on November 7, 2018 (the "Proposed Transaction").

On November 7, 2018, the Board caused Owens Realty Mortgage to enter into an agreement and plan of merger (the "Merger Agreement") with Ready Capital. Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, shareholders of Owens Realty Mortgage will receive 1.441 shares of Ready Capital common stock for each share of Owens Ralty Mortgage common stock.







On December 13, 2018, Ready Capital filed a Form S-4 Registration Statement ("Registration Statement") with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC (News - Alert)") in connection with the Proposed Transaction, which recommends that Owens Realty Mortgage's shareholders vote in favor of the Proposed Transaction. Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. is investigating possible violations of law related to the Registration Statement, including whether the Registration Statement omits material information with respect to the Proposed Transaction.

If you own common stock of Owens Realty Mortgage and purchased any shares before November 7, 2018, if you would like to learn more about this investigation, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests, please contact Seth D. Rigrodsky or Gina M. Serra toll-free at (888) 969-4242, by e-mail at [email protected], or at https://www.rigrodskylong.com/offices-contact.

Rigrodsky & Long, P.A., with offices in Delaware, New York, and California, has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of investors and achieved substantial corporate governance reforms in numerous cases nationwide, including federal securities fraud actions, shareholder class actions, and shareholder derivative actions.

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005707/en/[December 18, 2018] Yun Family Foundation sponsors an incentive prize on incentives -- a $10,000 research paper prize on the research topic "Inclusive Stakeholding: Reimagining Incentives to Promote the Greater Good" in the new journal 'Frontiers in Blockchain'

MENLO PARK, Calif., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Yun Family Foundation announces the sponsorship of a $10,000 research paper prize on the research topic "Inclusive Stakeholding: Reimagining Incentives to Promote the Greater Good" in the new journal Frontiers in Blockchain. The prize will be awarded to the most outstanding research published in the Blockchain for Good section of Frontiers in Blockchain. In 2018, Frontiers in Blockchain was launched as the first peer-reviewed journal dedicated to blockchain from a scientific publisher. Blockchain is an emerging technology that enables new modes of communication, synchronisation, and transfer of value with broad impact for society, industry, commerce and government. Among the world's 20 largest publishers in 2017, Frontiers ranks 4th most-cited. In July, the Yun Family Foundation launched the Inclusive Stakeholding Initiative to nurture social innovations that institute vested interest in the success of others as a way to promote the greater good. In his March speech " Inclusive Stakeholding " to 10,000 people at a San Francisco rally, Jeremy Yun, a principal at the Yun Family Foundation, asked the crowd to take on responsibility for the success of others, as a way to succeed. Conra Yun, president of the Yun Family Foundation, commented, "Harvard evolutionary biologist Joseph Henrich noted that all prosocial institutions over time collapse at the hands of self-interest. We are sponsoring the Inclusive Stakeholding research topic to help society reimagine new types of social, political, and economic institutions based on establishing vested interest in the success of others, goal congruence and aligning the interests among stakeholders."



Natalie Geld, Associate Editor of the Frontiers in Blockchain's specialty section Blockchain for Good, explained, "Evolving integrative systems of influenceneurobiological to technologicalare interdependent to open access and unbiased discovery, analysis, and communication across disciplines. The Blockchain for Good movement empowers nascent developers to spur innovation, to reimagine systems and business models that demonstrate revolutionary ways for adding value." Jeremy Yun, who hosted a blockchain conference in Atherton, California last year, noted in his TEDx talk that society has shifted from the aligned solidarity of kin villages to the non-aligned solitarity of a global village. "Family values didn't scale well as we globalized," he added. "Blockchain algorithms can be designed to mimic vested interest among stakeholders the way bioalgorithms do among kin hives. We hope our sponsorship of this research topic will inspire Frontiers in Blockchain readers and the public to pursue such designs."

Research Topic editor, Ms. Geld, added, "Along with exploring true potential for blockchain to address difficult issues, authors should fully consider efforts toward overcoming barriers to adoption, mitigating risk, and unintended negative impact. We expect to receive submissions from the growing community of pioneers and leaders involved in Blockchain for Good projects." Joon Yun, a principal at the Yun Family Foundation and president of Palo Alto Investors, stated, "The status quo is being questioned everywhere today. We aim to highlight and reward papers in Blockchain for Good which describe blockchain-based solutions that can solve the problem of aligning the interests among all stakeholders as a way to drive total value to the community. We also hope to spread the values of inclusive stakeholding among the readership of Frontiers in Blockchain as well as the broader public." All Article Processing Charges will be fully funded and a "Frontiers in Blockchain Yun Family Foundation Best Inclusive Stakeholding Research Prize" of $10,000 will be awarded to the most outstanding paper. For questions about Frontiers in Blockchain, the Research Topic, or the prize, please visit the journal website https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/blockchain. For questions about the Yun Family Foundation or the Inclusive Stakeholding Initiative, or for interview requests, please contact Paula Page at [email protected] or (650) 279-3881 or www.paulapagepr.com. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/yun-family-foundation-sponsors-an-incentive-prize-on-incentives----a-10-000-research-paper-prize-on-the-research-topic-inclusive-stakeholding-reimagining-incentives-to-promote-the-greater-good-in-the-new-journal-frontiers-in--300768275.html SOURCE Yun Family Foundation

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Robbins Arroyo LLP: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (NSANY) Misled Shareholders According to Class Action

Shareholder rights law firm Robbins Arroyo LLP announces that purchasers of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (OTC: NSANY) filed a class action complaint against the company's officers and directors for alleged violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 between December 10, 2013 and November 16, 2018. Nissan is an automobile manufacturer. View this information on the law firm's Shareholder Rights Blog:

https://www.robbinsarroyo.com/nissan-motor/ Nissan Accused of Understating Executive Compensation to Avoid Shareholder Scrutiny According to the complaint, Nissan understated its exenses and overstated its profits by concealing half of the annual executive compensation it was obligated to pay to its former Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of its Board of Directors, Carlos Ghosn. Over the last ten years, while emphasizing the company's "strong ethics" and "high transparency", Nissan underreported Ghosn's true pay by an estimated 10 billion. In fact, Nissan disregarded the express direction of its outside auditors dating back to at least 2013, to accurately report its executive compensation, and ignored the cap Nissan's shareholders placed on CEO pay at Nissan. On November 19, 2018, investors learned that Ghosn and Greg Kelly, former Senior Vice President and alleged mastermind behind Ghosn's exorbitant compensation, had been arrested and jailed for violating a Japanese law that prohibits false financial filings. On this news, Nissan's shares fell nearly 5.5% on November 19, 2018.



Nissan Motor Co. Shareholders Have Legal Options Concerned shareholders who would like more information about their rights and potential remedies can contact attorney Leonid Kandinov at (800) 350-6003, [email protected], or via the shareholder information form on the firm's website.

Robbins Arroyo LLP is a nationally recognized leader in shareholder rights law. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits, and has helped its clients realize more than $1 billion of value for themselves and the companies in which they have invested. Attorney Advertising. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005792/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] BPM Expands R&D Credit and Sales Tax Consulting Services

BPM LLP, one of the 50 largest public accounting and advisory firms in the country, has expanded its R&D Tax Credit and Sales Tax consulting services, company leaders announced today. To oversee the expanded service offerings, the firm has hired Andre Shevchuck, formerly a tax director at PwC, and John Hayashi, former co-owner of Thompson Tax & Associates LLC. Andre and John will spearhead BPM's services in R&D credits and State/Local taxes, respectively, both of which are highly relevant in an innovative state like California. Andre Shevchuck brings to the firm more than 15 years of public accounting experience - over a decade of that focused on R&D tax credit services. Before joining BPM, he served in various tax credit groups at PwC, Moss Adams and BDO. As co-leader of BPM's R&D Tax Credit practce, Shevchuck helps his clients to identify, document and defend their R&D tax credit claims.



John Hayashi joins BPM as Managing Director, Tax, leading the firm's SALT (State and Local Tax) Group. With more than 25 years of SALT experience, Hayashi helps clients respond to state and local tax issues with a specialization in sales and use taxes. Prior to BPM, he co-founded and grew his firm for more than 15 years after working at PwC, Wells Fargo and Deloitte (News - Alert). "While U.S. tax policy makes it clear that R&D credits and sales taxes are important priorities, determining what kind of spending is eligible for credits and what sales and use taxes to charge and collect remains complex," said Bob Houston, Corporate Tax Partner at BPM. "That's why more and more companies are coming to BPM - we help them compute the proper tax to charge and make sure they get everything that they're entitled to. This expansion of our services reflects that demand, and with the addition of our distinguished new managing directors, Andre and John, we are better positioned than ever to guide companies, public and private, through this complex process."

The R&D Credit and Sales Tax consulting services are administered by BPM's Corporate Tax Group, which offers a full suite of consulting services to businesses of all sizes and kinds. The group's practice areas include Mergers & Acquisitions due diligence, Section 382 studies, International Tax Restructuring, Transfer Pricing, Sales Tax Nexus and Registration R&D tax credits. Following a results-driven approach tailored to clients' individual needs, the Corporate Tax Group offers direct access to senior partners, fast response times and well-thought-out solutions to complex tax scenarios. Learn more at https://www.bpmcpa.com/Services/Corporate-Tax-Services About BPM BPM LLP is one of the 50 largest public accounting and advisory firms in the country. With six offices across the San Francisco Bay Area - as well as offices in India, Oregon, Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands and Orange (News - Alert) County - we help clients succeed around the world. We offer a cross-functional team approach that gives clients direct access to the best and most qualified resources. To learn more, visit us at http://bpmcpa.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005759/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018]

U.S. Army awards General Dynamics contract for Mobile Protected Firepower

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Army has awarded a $335 million Section 804 Middle Tier Acquisition (MTA) Rapid Prototyping contract to General Dynamics Land Systems to deliver 12 prototype vehicles for the Mobile Protected Firepower program.

The medium-weight, large-caliber MPF combat vehicle will support infantry brigades. The vehicles are required to be highly lethal, survivable and mobile.

"We are excited about this opportunity to provide the U.S. Army a large-caliber, highly mobile combat vehicle to upport the infantry brigade combat teams," says Don Kotchman, Vice President and General Manager of General Dynamics Land Systems U.S. Market. "We are especially proud of this new opportunity to serve in the Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) formation, which we have not done until now."







The contract has Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) options for a total of up to $968 million.

Work on this contract will be performed at Land Systems locations in Sterling Heights, Mich.; Scranton, Pa., and Tallahassee, Fla., and at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio -- the only operational tank plant in the country.

General Dynamics Land Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD). General Dynamics Land Systems provides innovative design, engineering, technology, production and full life-cycle support for land combat vehicles around the globe.

More information about General Dynamics Land Systems is available at www.gdls.com.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-army-awards-general-dynamics-contract-for-mobile-protected-firepower-300768433.html

SOURCE General Dynamics Land Systems[December 18, 2018] Vantage Data Centers Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Canadian-Based 4Degrees Colocation

Vantage Data Centers, a leading provider of data centers in support of business and mission-critical applications, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Canadian-based 4Degrees Colocation from Videotron (News - Alert) Ltd., a Quebecor Media Inc. (QMI) subsidiary, for approximately US$200 million (approximately C$260), subject to certain post-closing adjustments. This transaction will expand Vantage's coast-to-coast presence in North America to five markets, up from two markets 12 months ago. The acquisition will add existing data centers in Montreal and Quebec City, which will bring Vantage's total number of operational facilities to nine and total number of data centers under development to four. 4Degrees operates two facilities in Montreal and Quebec City. The two data centers are Tier III Design and Construction certified, which highlights the facilities' exceptional quality and reliability, by the Uptime Institute, an independent organization. Upon transaction closing, Vantage will immediately initiate significant expansion projects in both markets to accelerate 4Degrees' original plans to bring total capacity up to 31MW. "Based on extensive dialog with our customers, Vantage identified Monteal and Quebec City as highly attractive markets due to low power costs, tax incentives and excellent fiber connectivity," said Sureel Choksi, president and CEO, Vantage Data Centers. "The 4Degrees acquisition will accelerate our expansion into these markets, enabling Vantage to better serve hyperscale, cloud and enterprise customers across five strategic geographies. We are thrilled to welcome the 4Degrees team, which shares our commitment to operational excellence, high-quality facilities and sustainable building practices."



Maxime Guevin, an experienced leader in the construction, sales and management of data centers, will become vice president and general manager of Vantage Canada. Guevin is currently the general manager of 4Degrees Colocation, where he has served for the last four years. "The 4Degrees team is incredibly excited to join Vantage in providing superior data center facilities across North America," agreed Guevin. "This deal will marry Vantage's expertise in the hyperscale business with our extensive knowledge of the rapidly growing Canadian market."

The transaction is expected to close in the coming weeks. About Vantage Data Centers Vantage Data Centers is a leading North American wholesale data center provider in three strategic markets: Silicon Valley, Northern Virginia, and Quincy, Washington. Vantage has seven operational facilities totaling 81MW of capacity and two additional facilities currently under development totaling 51MW. The company provides highly scalable, flexible and efficient data center solutions to hyperscale, cloud and enterprise customers, offering unique value through its commitment to exceptional customer service and sustainability. For more information, visit www.vantagedatacenters.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005861/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] L3 Awarded Comprehensive F-16 Pilot Training Contract Valued at $350 Million

L3 Technologies (NYSE:LLL) has been selected as the prime contractor for the F-16 Simulators Training Program (STP) by the U.S. Air Force. Valued at $350 million, the F-16 STP contract consolidates the previous F-16 Mission Training Center (MTC), F-16 Weapons and Tactics Trainer (WTT) Advanced Sustainment, and F-16 Training System (TS) programs into a single, unified program. "For more than four decades L3 has proudly developed pilots and expert technicians in support of U.S. Air Force F-16 weapons system operations," said Christopher E. Kubasik, L3's Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President. "This award demonstrates our ability to deliver comprehensive, world-class training solutions that support total air readiness." Now in a prime contractor role, L3 was the incumbent on two of the three predecessor programs to the F-16 STP, including the F-16 MTC and F-16 TS. The company was awarded the F-16 MTC in 2008 through a competitive procurement. "By combining three different programs, F-16 STP will enable the U.S. Air Force to provide a more cost-effective approach to maintaining concurrency for the warfighter," said Mike Swanger, Program Manager, F-16 Simulators, U.S. Air Force. "Our international allies will have the opportunity to benefit from our expertise in their own countries," added Lenny Genna, President of L3 Link Training & Simulation. "We are proud to build on our long-standing partnership with the Air Force and look forwad to being a key provider of F-16 training systems and services for many years to come."



Since 1986, L3 has provided the U.S. Air Force with state-of-the-art, high-fidelity F-16 training systems at both domestic and overseas locations. The company simultaneously ensures that the training systems remain concurrent with the fielded aircraft configurations to ensure the highest-quality training. L3's training systems support maintainers and aircrews across the globe. L3 Technologies is an agile innovator and leading provider of global ISR, communications and networked systems, and electronic systems for military, homeland security and commercial aviation customers. With headquarters in New York City and approximately 31,000 employees worldwide, L3 develops advanced defense technologies and commercial solutions in pilot training, aviation security, night vision and EO/IR, weapons, maritime systems and space. The company reported 2017 sales of $9.6 billion.

To learn more about L3, please visit the company's website at www.L3T.com. L3 uses its website as a channel of distribution of material company information. Financial and other material information regarding L3 is routinely posted on the company's website and is readily accessible. Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release are forward-looking statements. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to events or conditions or that include words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "will," "could" and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements set forth above involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any such statement, including the risks and uncertainties discussed in the company's Safe Harbor Compliance Statement for Forward-Looking Statements included in the company's recent filings, including Forms 10-K and 10-Q, with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005778/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Kindred Healthcare and Netsmart Partner to Create Next Generation Post-Acute Platform

Kindred Healthcare, LLC ("Kindred") and Netsmart today announced a partnership to create a unique, technology-driven clinical platform that surpasses the traditional boundaries of electronic medical records ("EMRs") and aligns with the needs of the evolving value-based care environment. Through this partnership, the companies expect to build and support integrated post-acute solutions, improve care outcomes and address gaps in patient care. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005797/en/ Kindred and Netsmart will combine teams from both organizations and utilize the Netsmart portfolio of enterprise solutions. Leveraging these solutions and Kindred's longstanding experience in long-term acute care ("LTAC") hospitals, rehabilitation and care management, the partnership will create a clinical platform that meets the distinct requirements of aging services and post-acute care. Together, Kindred and Netsmart expect to rapidly expand the functionality of Kindred's existing proprietary medical records solutions to address needs in information exchange and care coordination at Kindred's LTAC hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and Lacuna Health, a leading nationwide provider of registered nurse-led care engagement solutions. The combination of teams will begin immediately and expect to start deploying the solutions over the next several months. "As a leader in the use of EMRs in LTAC hospitals, we recognize the need to adapt as the healthcare industry quickly moves to a value-based care model," said Benjamin A. Breier, Kindred's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Netsmart has a proven track record of innovation, experience connecting major acute care hospitals with post-acute services and a shared vision of future healthcare needs. Together, we will have more than 2,500 years of post-acute and software development experience and be well positioned to create a next generation, fully integrated post-acute platform." Charlie Wardrip, Kindred's Chief Information Officer, said, "Kindred is committed to developing clinical, rehabilitation and care management innovations and solutions for the most medically-complex patients. As we combine the resources and expertise of our two organizations, our collaboration with Netsmart will strengthen our ability to provide coordinated, quality-driven patient care across the continuum. We look forward to working with Netsmart to capitalize on this unique opportunity." "This partnership advances our objective of developing a clinical platform for providers that are integrated with post-acute care," said Netsmart CEO Mike Valentine. "These provider organizations require comprehensive platforms built to meet their unique needs, and we look forward to addressing that market opportunity by collaborating with Kindred. This partnership has the potential to advance the entire market and we couldn't be more excited about the opportunity to work with Kindred in this effort." About Kindred Healthcare Kindred Healthcare, LLC is a healthcare services company based in Louisville, Kentucky with annual revenues of approximately $3.3 billion(1). At September 30, 2018, Kindred through its subsidiaries had approximately 37,400 employees providing healthcare services in 1,894 locations in 45 states, including 74 long-term acute care hospitals, 22 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, 11 sub-acute units, 98 inpatient rehabilitation units (hospital-based) and contract rehabilitation service businesses which served 1,689 non-affiliated sites of service. Ranked as one of Fortune magazine's Most Admired Healthcare Companies for nine years, Kindred's mission is to promote healing, provide hope, preserve dignity and produce value for each patient, resident, family member, customer and employee we serve. For more information, go to www.kindredhealthcare.com. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.







____________ (1) Revenues for the last twelve months ended September 30, 2018.

About Netsmart Netsmart designs, builds and delivers electronic health records (EHRs), solutions and services that are powerful, intuitive and easy-to-use. Our platform provides accurate, up-to-date information that is easily accessible to care team members in behavioral health, care at home, senior living and social services. We make the complex simple and personalized so our clients can concentrate on what they do best: provide services and treatment that support whole-person care. By leveraging the powerful Netsmart network, care providers can seamlessly and securely integrate information across communities, collaborate on the most effective treatments and improve outcomes for those in their care. Our streamlined systems and personalized workflows put relevant information at the fingertips of users when and where they need it. For 50 years, Netsmart has been committed to providing a common platform to integrate care. SIMPLE. PERSONAL. POWERFUL. Our more than 1,700 associates work hand-in-hand with our 600,000+ users in more than 25,000 organizations across the U.S. to develop and deploy technology that automates and coordinates everything from clinical to financial to administrative. Learn more about how Netsmart is changing the face of healthcare today. Visit www.ntst.com, call 1-800-472-5509, follow us on our CareThreads Blog, LinkedIn and Twitter, like us on Facebook or visit us on YouTube. Netsmart is pleased to support the EveryDayMatters Foundation, which was established for behavioral health, care at home, senior living and social services organizations to learn from each other and share their causes and stories. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005797/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 18, 2018] Photo App Lets Parents 'Catch Santa' In-the-Act

NORTH POLE, Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- iCaughtSanta is celebrating its 10th anniversary by giving away free photos of Santa "caught in the act." Parents can download the app for iPhone or Android here and start creating their very own keepsake memories right now. A unique photo of Santa in your home is sure to be shared and treasured by kids and parents alike for many years to come! A new free feature lets mom and dad personalize letters from Santa, adding to the Christmas morning surprise. iCaughtSanta apps have been downloaded more than half a million times; bringing smiles to children all over the world. Every year, parents craft stories and leave "evidence" to add to the excitement. A photo of Santa caught in-the-act doing what he does best is the ultimate proof! It all began ten years ago when Steven and Heather Lockhardt forgot about the milk and cookies. Thankfully Steven jumped out of bed at 5 in the morning for a quick snack before his kids awoke. It was at that moment that he turned to his wife and said, "How cool would it be if we could give them a picture of Santa caught in the act in our very own living room!" She loved the idea (first time ever), and iCaughtSanta was born! Don't delay, catch Santa today! <>Download the app to add a little extra magic to your Christmas this year!



Merry Christmas! Media Contact:

Steven Lockhardt

Phone: (832) 533-7008

Email: [email protected]

https://mysanta.pics/anniversary Related Images santa-and-child.jpg

Santa and Child

Santa with surprised child surprised-santa.jpg

Surprised Santa

Santa captured by fireplace image3.jpg

image4.jpeg Related Links Download the App View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/photo-app-lets-parents-catch-santa-in-the-act-300768428.html SOURCE iCaughtSanta

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]The AT&T 5G network has grown in the past year, with testing firms hailing its speeds. But with rivals T-Mobile and Verizon both making splashy 5G moves at the start of 2021, the question is whether AT&T can keep up as the year goes on.

For now, AT&T's focus appears to be on continuing the progress it made throughout 2020  efforts that included launching a nationwide 5G service to augment its high-speed deployments in three dozen cities and adding more 5G devices to its phone lineup.

The best 5G phones you can get right now

5G vs 4G: Speeds compared

Speed up your connection with a fast VPN

While AT&T's 5G network currently reaches more than 230 million people in 14,000 cities and towns across the U.S., it still trails T-Mobile, which covers 287 million people with its 5G setup. Verizon also covers 230 million people, even though its nationwide network launched after AT&T's.

In other words, AT&T still has a long way to go in building out 5G coverage. Here's where the network stands as we approach the halfway mark of 2021.

AT&T 5G bands

First off, its critical to explain how AT&T splits its 5G service up. Theres the nationwide sub-6GHz service mentioned above, which offers speeds about as fast, if not slightly better than 4G LTE. In spite of AT&Ts nationwide banner, this isnt available everywhere yet, though its much more common to find than AT&Ts 5G Plus network, which involves a completely different kind of technology.

5G Plus is AT&Ts name for its millimeter-wave (mmWave) 5G infrastructure. When you hear carriers advertise data speeds in excess of 1 Gbps or downloading entire movies or seasons of TV shows in a minute, this is the kind of 5G theyre referring to. But while millimeter-wave 5G offers exponentially faster speeds than sub-6GHz 5G or 4G LTE, it is exponentially more limited in terms of range, which is why its only available in cities or high-traffic indoor spaces.

AT&T 5G cities and coverage map

(Image credit: AT&T)

AT&Ts 5G Plus can only be found in 38 cities in 19 states at the time of this writing. (A 20th state  Colorado  boasts an AT&T 5G Plus installment in its sports arena.) California has the most 5G Plus-supported cities by far, claiming nine of the total 38. You can find a comprehensive list on AT&Ts website.

AT&T is also focusing on getting 5G Plus into arenas, stadiums and convention centers. It currently reaches 20 of those venues, with plans to reach 35 or so by year's end.

AT&Ts long-range 5G service now reaches 230 million Americans, according to the latest figures from the carrier. That's short of what T-Mobile's 5G covers, though both networks are actively growing all the time.

AT&T 5G speeds

AT&Ts 5G infrastructure has made significant strides over the past two years. Initially, the carriers 5G Plus service topped out at 400 Mbps. In February 2019, AT&T reported that had improved to a peak throughput of 2 Gbps on its commercial network in Atlanta. That is fast enough to download a 2-hour HD film in 10 seconds.

Unfortunately, we didnt quite see that kind of performance when we conducted hands-on testing of AT&Ts 5G Plus service in Las Vegas in the summer of 2019. At that time, we recorded peak speeds just shy of 1 Gbps  far better than LTE, of course, but a good sight off the 1.5 Gbps average speed claims the carrier had made at the time. Additionally, it was very difficult to track down a signal in our experience, owing to 5G Plus limited range.

AT&Ts standard 5G service, built on sub-6GHz infrastructure, is far easier to locate, in exchange for speeds a fraction as fast. As a point of comparison, T-Mobile's 5G network is built on the same low-band spectrum AT&T uses for its nationwide network (that is, not 5G Plus), and the speeds we've seen there are at best only slightly faster than what we get from LTE.

To be fair, speeds have improved since our initial testing, and AT&T can point to some good recent results from third party network testing. Ookla declared AT&T 5G to be the fastest of the major carriers as of the end of last year, overtaking previous speed champ Verizon. (That may have been the result of Verizon launching its nationwide network and seeing those slower speeds drop its average from the lofty heights achieved by millimeter wave-based 5G.) A report from RootMetrics gives AT&T the nod for the fastest 5G speeds, and while Opensignal thinks T-Mobile has the faster 5G, it noted that AT&T's 5G footprint had grown considerably through the latter half of 2020.

AT&T 5G phones and devices

You'll find both the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and the iPhone 12 Pro Max among AT&T's 5G phones. (Image credit: Future)

Most new 2020 flagship phones supported AT&Ts 5G network, though the type of 5G they work with differed on a case-by-case basis. Some handsets, like last year's Samsung Galaxy S20, only offered sub-6GHz connectivity and skip out on millimeter-wave signals. Other phones, like the Galaxy S20 Plus and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, supported both 5G configurations, for the fastest possible speeds in any condition.

You may have noticed a theme there. Indeed, the vast majority of 5G handsets available last year through AT&T were Samsung devices. But that finally changed with October's iPhone 12 launch.

All four iPhone 12 models work on the full range of AT&T's 5G deployment, across sub-6GHz and mmWave. They are even said to support a new type of 5G infrastructure called C-band, which will provide AT&T users with the sort of mid-band service that offers higher speeds than LTE with a slight hit to coverage, like T-Mobile currently has.

Currently, AT&T offers a pretty compelling range of 5G phones at various price points. Here's an updated list of what's available through AT&T:

AT&T 5G hotspots

AT&T's first 5G-compatible product was actually the Netgear Nighthawk, a hotspot that could pull in a 5G signal and blast it to your supported devices over Wi-Fi. This device was ultimately discontinued, but now AT&T has replaced that with a successor, called the Netgear Nighthawk 5G Mobile Hotspot Pro. You'll find it among the best mobile hotspots currently available.

The new Nighthawk model, available for $509, supports Wi-Fi 6, meaning you'll lose as little speed as possible from that 5G connection when tethering. It also can service up to 32 devices.

AT&Ts Unlimited Extra and Unlimited Elite plans include hotspot data. But the allotment of hotspot data  30GB for Elite and 15GB for Extra  runs at 4G speeds.

AT&T 5G plans: What youll pay

Heres the good news: AT&T doesnt charge extra for 5G service across its three unlimited plans. However, depending on how much you spend and what tier you select, youll get more or less full-speed data before AT&T starts throttling you or deprioritizing your service behind that of other users.

The base $65/month Unlimited Starter plan slows your service at any time when AT&Ts network is stressed. That means that although it includes 5G service, the consistency of that service may be in flux from moment to moment. To get the best possible data speeds, youll want to at least choose the $75/month Unlimited Extra plan, which allots 50GB of full-speed data, whether youre on 4G or 5G. The $85/month Unlimited Elite plan doubles that allotment to 100GB before you run the risk of being slowed. See how AT&T's pricing compares in our look at the best unlimited data plan for each wireless carrier.

More customers are now able to access AT&T 5G. In addition to the current unlimited plans, AT&T said in March that it would access to both 5G and 5G Plus to customers with older unlimited plans. Prepaid customers can get 5G coverage through AT&T's $75-a-month unlimited data plan. (Auto-pay enrollment drops that cost down to $60.)

AT&T 5G outlook

More than two years since AT&T launched its first 5G Plus market, the carriers 5G deployment has finally reaching a point where many of its customers can take advantage of it. Thats thanks to the launch of the carriers nationwide sub-6GHz network as well as the rash of 5G-capable phones that have been dropping throughout the past year.

AT&T customers living in an urban area covered by both the carriers regular and 5G Plus services have the unique opportunity to take advantage of both faster speeds and more extensive coverage. And that will only continue in the coming months, as AT&T expands the reach of both types of 5G infrastructure.

AT&T hopes to add 5G Plus coverage in 17 more venues by year's end. After adding 5G Plus to the airport in Tampa, Fla., the carrier wants to bring high-speed 5G to seven additional airports.

As for its nationwide network, AT&T plans to begin rolling out its C-band spectrum by the end of 2021, with more deployment for the year after that. Such a move would complement the existing low-band network, bringing faster mid-band speeds similar to what T-Mobile is doing with its own 5G efforts.

Of course, more than 100 million people already have access to that mid-band coverage in T-Mobile's network. Once again, AT&T finds itself with plenty of 5G ground to make up in the year ahead.FAIRWAY, KS (KCTV) -- Vaping is becoming the new dangerous trend among teens. Right now it isn't showing any signs of slowing down. Vaping is now the second most-used substance used by teens, second to only alcohol. Tuesday, the U.S. Surgeon General is expected to address the problem and the negative health consequences associated with the products.Kansas City chamber endorses Sly James' pre-K proposal | The Kansas City Star The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce on Monday endorsed Mayor Sly James' proposed sales tax increase to fund early childhood education. Kansas City Public Schools and other districts oppose the plan.

A not so surprising revelation from the newspaper . . . A local biz association comprised mostly of wealthy denizens of JoCo are encouraging the Mayor to continue to wage an economic war upon the lower income residents of Kansas City's urban core . . . This time disguised as an education effort that will only duplicate services already provided.Read more propaganda here:







Peeps: Kim Kardashian -- From High on Ecstasy at Her First Wedding to Basically Sober

Kansas City Internets Winning

Local Turkey Surprise

Wild turkey smashes into Kansas City home Kansas City Police say a turkey died over the weekend in an unusual accident. Police tweeted out a photo of a home with its window broken and features inside. They say officers called to a home after a report of a prowler, possible burglary in progress over the weekend.

Kansas City Tax & Spend Newspaper Picks Up TKC Leftovers From Last Month

Should KC raise property taxes to boost affordable housing? | The Kansas City Star Kansas City Councilman Scott Wagner has proposed a property tax increase for affordable housing programs. It may not be the perfect approach, but it's a start toward an important decision for the city.

Local Doggie Biz Booming

Woof's dog spa wags into new markets with startup mindset, owner says It's a classic startup tail: Disillusionment with corporate life sends a would-be founder fetching for fresh ideas and more innovative inspiration. Woof's Play & Stay provided Andy Wiltz the opportunity to scratch that itch, the dog spa owner said.

Happy Rock Helping Hand

Neighbors look to help fire victims in Gladstone GLADSTONE, MO (KCTV) -- Most people walking or driving by a home in Gladstone are slowing down and stopping to take it all in. "Just to come down and kind of reflect on what happened last night," said Kaci Groves. Groves and her roommate Sarah Little Sun live down the street.

Kansas City Welcomes Mumble Rapper

Will Kansas City Chiefs Overcome Injuries Amid Playoff Fight?!?!?

Chiefs injury updates: Kendall Fuller likely to play against Seattle after successful surgery Reports that Kansas City Chiefs starting cornerback Kendall Fuller would have hand surgery surfaced Friday morning, and although Chiefs head coach Andy Reid confirmed those reports Monday, it does not appear Fuller will miss much time, if any at all. " Kendall Fuller did have surgery on his hand, he's doing well," Reid told the local media on Monday.

A quick survey of "news" regarding the greatest cultural force of this generation . . .Closer to home, here are the local news links we're checking tonight . . .And this is thefor tonight . . ."There have been at least 12 other (suicide) attempts on VA property in the past five years. Six of those attempts took place on Kansas Citys campus. The other six took place on the eastern campuses which include Topeka and Leavenworth."

Suicide among veterans: Their silent protest over broken VA system KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- Mike Douglas shot and killed himself inside his truck at the VA parking lot on June 13. He suffered from PTSD and, most recently, cancer. Douglas served in the Navy during Vietnam. He loved guns, knives and swords. "He said I don't care where you bury me don't bury me at Leavenworth.

Possibly one of the most disturbing trends touted by local media . . . Americanamongst the troops after little help from the VA.A horrific local stat:And so, here's a reality check about military life as returning soldiers need more help as. . . Read more:"Hey TKC, just wanted you to know it's amazing how much crime stays OUT of the news. This afternoon at a BOX STORE parking lot off Linwood & Main and I heard the very distinct sounds of semi-automatic gunfire in the parking lot along with sirens following soon after. A few people around me ducked. Those who knew the sound of gunfire got out of there in a hurry and some of the commuters either ignored it or were unaware. Just thought you might want to run a cross check because I looked for it on the news and there was NOTHING. I guess there's a lot of gunfire and shooting incidents we don't here about in KCMO because it's so commonplace."

Golden Ghetto Rage Against KCPD After Brazen Kansas City Car Theft

Crosstown Homicide Case

Man charged in with attempted murder in Shawnee shooting | The Kansas City Star A Kansas City man is charged with attempted murder in connection with an incident in Shawnee on Dec. 11., according to Johnson County court records.

JoCo Creeper Charges

Man charged with sexual exploitation of a child JOHNSON COUNTY, KS (KCTV) -- A 27-year-old man has been charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Jacob Potter is currently in the Johnson County jail on a $25,000 bond. The criminal complaint indicates the offense happened on May 30, but that he was charged and arrested on Thursday.

KCK Gangland Update

KCK Indecent Exposure Killing

Kansas City, Kansas, Police Shot And Killed Suspect At His Apartment Kansas City, Kansas, police are investigating after an officer shot and killed a man Sunday night. Officers were responding to a call about indecent exposure near Donnelly College on North 18th Street, when they made contact with 46-year-old Richard Johnson at his apartment.

More Deets On Golden Ghetto Triple Shooting At Otherwise Peaceful Park

JOCO Sheriff's investigate shooting at Antioch Park MERRIAM, KS (KCTV) - The Johnson County Sheriff's Office is investigating a shooting at Antioch Park. Sunday evening at 7:45, the Johnson County Park Police were called to Antioch Park for a disturbance with a weapon. Three victims, who had gunshot wounds, were transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Show-Me Weed Take Down

Missouri couple indicted on $2M marijuana conspiracy Two people from Missouri and two from Colorado have been indicted in a conspiracy to distribute nearly $2 million in marijuana. The newspaper reported that the indictment alleges that Christopher Buckingham, 42, of Versaille, Missouri, Natalie McNeil, 33, of Lee's Summit, Missouri, participated in a ploy to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana from August 2015 to July 2018.

Urban Core Crime Fight Progress

KCPD says Northeast community involvement led to remarkable crime reduction A neighborhood's willingness to step up appears to have brought about a drastic reduction in crime Northeast Kansas City. The Old Historic Northeast neighborhood had seen better days. Crime was steadily increasing in 2017, with 11 homocides and 170 reported assaults. Neighbors got together and decided something needed to be done.

Quick quote sent our way from one of ourthat deserves just a bit of attention this morning . . .And so this quick slice of life inspires a quick collection of news links concerning metro crime . . .Developing . . .Weve been digging for info on the supposed Apple iCar for years, and like clockwork, were now getting another new rumor that goes to support claims that the tech giant has its own proprietary automobile in the works. The latest points to Apples poaching of Andrew Kim, a designer from Tesla, which reinforces the idea that we may see an Apple-branded EV in the near future.

Apple Takes A Bite Out Of Tesla

Andrew Kim just joined ranks with Apple this month. His previous occupations include a design role with Microsoft where he worked on the Xbox One S and the UI for the Windows 10 operating system.

After Microsoft, Kim went to work as a senior designer at Tesla, where he provided a hand in creating pretty much the entire stable outside of the first-gen Roadster, including the Model S, the Model X, the Model 3, the Tesla Semi truck, and the second-generation Roadster.

Now, according to his social media accounts, hes with Apple.

This isnt the first time weve heard about Tesla employees leaving to work for Apple. Back in 2015, Business Insider reported it had received an anonymous email from an Apple employee that claimed the company was working on a product that would give Tesla a run for its money, and that Tesla employees were jumping ship to work on a secret Apple project that was too exciting to pass up.

Speculative reports dubbed the secret new product Project Titan,  and that Apple had devoted an entire top-secret research lab to the cause.

The poaching was so pervasive, Elon Musk was compelled to remark on it in an interview with the BBC saying, Its pretty hard to hide something if you hire over a thousand engineers to do it.

They have hired people weve fired. We always jokingly call Apple the Tesla Graveyard. If you dont make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple, Musk said in a separate interview with the German publication Handelsblatt. Musk later retracted the statement.

Further rumors outlined how Apple was stealing additional employees from the likes of General Motors, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Google, and others.

However, in 2016, follow-up reports indicated that Apple was shifting towards the creation of a self-driving vehicle platform, rather than a full-blown standalone automobile.

Either way, all signs seem to point to Apple working on something related to cars, electric propulsion, and advanced autonomous drive systems.

Personally, Id love to see Apple join the fray with its own car.

As I see it, more competition in this space is a good thing, and with Apples vast resources coming to bear, plus a history of market-changing products, theres a very good chance such a thing would leave us impressed. A streamlined design, loads of range, oodles of screens inside, and a self-driving mode that beats out even Teslas best is what were imagining.

Would such a product tempt you? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments section below.

Further Reading

Read our full speculative review on the 2021 Apple iCar.

Apple Wants to Link the Batteries of Self-Driving Electric Cars In the Name of Range and Efficiency.Trade for Peace through WTO Accessions

Introduction

The Second Regional Dialogue on WTO Accessions for the Greater Horn of Africa took place in Djibouti from 3 to 6 December 2018. The event was organized by the WTO Secretariat in partnership with the Government of Djibouti and the International Trade Centre (ITC). The Dialogue was opened by H.E. Mr. Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed, Prime Minister of Djibouti; H.E. Mr. Hassan Houmed Ibrahim, Minister for Trade, SMEs, Crafts, Tourism and Formalization (Djibouti); Ambassador Alan Wm. Wolff, WTO Deputy Director-General; and Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal, Chief, Trade Facilitation and Policy for Business, ITC.

The opening statements acknowledged the timely nature of the Dialogues Trade for Peace theme at a time when the Greater Horn of Africa is experiencing positive social, political and economic developments. Additionally, the opening remarks highlighted the significance of the Greater Horn of Africa as the region with the largest concentration of Acceding Governments in Africa and in the world, with Comoros (located south to the region), Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan engaged in the process of WTO accession.

Participants and speakers from the Acceding Governments expressed their appreciation for the new Trade for Peace initiative. They emphasized that the WTO accession process was an important component of the post-conflict recovery plans of fragile states, since the WTO Accession process enabled states to establish credible economic and trade policy frameworks, and to promote transparency and good governance as part of accession related reforms. The participants also expressed their appreciation for the continuous efforts of the Government of Djibouti towards peacebuilding and stability in the Greater Horn of Africa, highlighted through hosting the Second Regional Dialogue.

Participants engaged in a rich, informative and interactive dialogue over several sessions that spanned four days. The engagements were based on presentations made by representatives of the major stakeholders, followed by open discussions.

Recent Developments in the Greater Horn of Africa

Session 1 was moderated by Ambassador Kadra Ahmed Hassan, Permanent Representative of Djibouti to the WTO. The session provided a platform to discuss recent developments in the Greater Horn of Africa with a presentation by Mr. Joseph Rwanshote, Program Manager Trade, Industry and Tourism, IGAD, and reports by the representatives of the five Acceding Governments on recent developments in their respective accession processes.

Mr. Rwanshotes presentation highlighted that the region was one of the fastest growing in Africa, experiencing large inflows of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The region also witnessed significant infrastructural developments that have strengthened deeper regional integration, such as the establishment of the Djibouti Free Trade Zone and the liberalisation of the services sectors in Ethiopia. He further emphasized that regional integration complemented domestic reforms by fostering synergies in trade relations. Recalling the correlation between trade and peace, he noted that this significantly reduced the likelihood of inter-state armed conflicts.

Ambassador Assoumani Youssouf Mondoha, Permanent Representative of the Union of the Comoros to the African Union, conveyed Comoros objective to conclude its accession negotiations in 2019. Since the last Regional Dialogue in Nairobi, Kenya, Comoros had held a Working Party meeting in March 2018. Regionally, Comoros signed the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), in March 2018 and officially joined the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in August 2018.

Mr. Geremew Ayalew Haile, Minister Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Ethiopia to the WTO, stated that although the Working Party on the accession of Ethiopia had not met since 2012, the Government had been implementing significant reforms aimed at aligning its domestic practices and policies with WTO requirements. Further, he revealed that Mr. Mamo Mihretu had been appointed as the Chief Negotiator for Ethiopias accession and that the National Steering Committee had been re-organized with the specific objective of resuming the accession process as soon as possible.

H.E. Mr. Dahir Adan Abdullahi, State Minister for Commerce and Industry of Somalia, expressed the Governments strong commitment to its accession process. He stated that since the establishment of its accession Working Party in 2016, Somalia had appointed a Chief Negotiator and was finalizing its Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime (MFTR). He further added that Somalia had been undertaking reforms focused on the extraction of natural resources with a view to increasing state revenues; and had been enacting laws on trade licensing, intellectual property rights, investment, and government procurement. Regionally, Somalia had joined the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in July 2018 and was acceding to the East African Community (EAC).

H.E. Mr. Agak Achuil Lual Manok, Undersecretary of Trade of South Sudan, noted that the Working Party on the accession of South Sudan had been established in Buenos Aires as a direct outcome of the first Regional Dialogue. Since then, the Government has signed the AfCFTA in March 2018, and a revitalized peace agreement in September 2018. He added that South Sudan was in the process of implementing its EAC obligations, which complements the requisite reforms being undertaken for the WTO accession process. South Sudan was finalizing its MFTR, and had commenced the process of forming a national steering committee and appointing a Chief Negotiator.

H.E. Mr. Musa Mohamed Karama, Minister of Industry and Trade of Sudan, stated that trade played a key role in fostering peace and stability, and that, in particular, the accession to the rule-based multilateral trading system was considered as a catalyst for the Governments efforts to undertake the necessary economic reform and to promote the rule of law and good governance. He added that Sudan was establishing a National Committee to ensure that all domestic laws and regulations in the country were WTO-compliant.

Peace-building through WTO accession and regional integration

Session 2, entitled From Fragility to Resilience: WTO Accession as a Pathway to Peace, was moderated by Ambassador Alan Wm. Wolff, WTO Deputy Director-General. The session began with presentations by Mr. Michael Ferrantino (World Bank) and Mr. Caiphas Chekwoti (TRAPCA) that provided empirical evidence on the relationship between trade and peace. This was followed by a discussion regarding the impact of WTO membership on peace-building. The discussion was led by Ambassador Mohammad Qurban Haqjo (Afghanistan); Ambassador Zorica Maric-Djordjevic (Montenegro); Mr. Nagib Hamim (Yemen); and Ms. Emilia Malavoloneque (Grupo Neosol).

The panellists acknowledged that mutual economic interdependence could be a mechanism for peace. A trade-dependent state was less likely to go to war with a trade partner because of the larger opportunity cost associated with the loss of trade. Internally, changes in real incomes affected incentives to participate in conflict. Empirical evidence shows that the likelihood of conflict tends to be reduced when prices of exportable goods go up and/or prices of consumer goods go down. However, the same theory does not apply to point source resources such as oil and minerals. Increases in the prices of exported oil and minerals substantially raise the risk of conflict.

Additionally, the panellists recognized that while trade and economic integration played a crucial role in fostering peace, this possibility was only enhanced when the pre-requisites for peace were in place. These include (i) good infrastructure that facilitates trade; (ii) good governance underpinned by the involvement of all stakeholders in decision making and effective enforcement of laws and regulations; and (iii) mechanisms that integrate the informal sector into the formal economy. Other accompanying policies that can support the role of trade in fostering peace included: (i) promoting labor-intensive exports; (ii) promoting transparency about the revenues from pointsource commodities; (iii) protecting the incomes of the poorest from changes in trade flows; and (iv) paying special attention to trade with neighbors and addressing the underlying sources of conflict, i.e. ethnic conflicts, religious conflicts. etc.

Lastly, the panellists provided their perspectives on the linkages between trade, WTO membership and conflicts. They emphasised that while WTO accession provided an important vehicle to drive domestic reforms, reform efforts did not end with WTO membership. Continuous reforms would need to be made in the post-accession phase to realize the benefits of WTO membership. It was noted that although the WTO had traditionally not been a player in peace-building, serious consideration ought to be given to greater engagement of the Organisation in peace-building. The Trade for Peace Initiative was cited as a way in which the WTO could contribute to on-going peacebuilding efforts in the Greater Horn of Africa.

WTO accession and the AfCFTA

Session 3, entitled WTO Accession and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), was moderated by Mr. Micheal Ferrantino (World Bank). The panellists included Ambassador Chiedu Osakwe, former Chairperson of the Negotiating Forum of the AfCFTA; Dr. Mag-Teerey (Djibouti); Ms. Maika Oshikawa (WTO); and Ms. Mariam Soumare (WTO). They provided insights on the current architecture, challenges and benefits of the AfCFTA. For the nine African Acceding Governments,6 the panellists recognized that synergies could be built around their respective regional, continental and multilateral interests.

The panellists recognized that the AfCFTA was an agreement which could modernize African economies through its unique institutional framework which had been adapted to accommodate African realities. At the same time, the AfCFTA contained several provisions that mirrored WTO provisions. The WTO accession process, through its rigorous reform processes could support the Acceding African Governments in creating the enabling environment to effectively implement provisions under the AfCFTA in relation to core trade issues like: customs co-operation, technical barriers to trade (TBT), sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, trade facilitation etc. The binding commitments undertaken by the Acceding Governments during their accession processes, for which they bear accountability at the multilateral level  through Trade Policy Reviews, the Dispute Settlement System and transparency mechanisms  are also fundamental in creating the enabling environment for implementing the AfCFTA provisions.

While the WTO accession process could complement the reforms envisaged for AfCFTA purposes, African Acceding Governments were advised to pay special attention to the sequencing of their respective regional and multilateral negotiations. It was acknowledged that the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) played an important role in the AfCFTA and the WTO accession process since they could act as benchmarks or building-blocks towards further trade liberalization.

Finally, Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal (ITC) provided insights into the business implications of the AfCFTA, highlighting the need for private sector involvement in the negotiations by: (i) using existing national and regional business organizational structures to engage with national trade negotiators; (ii) collaborating with other stakeholders involved on trade and integration issues; (iii) fostering business level consensus by sharing data on challenges and successes of implementation. Commentators of this session included private sector representatives from Comoros, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan.

Conclusions and recommendations

Participants welcomed the Djibouti Regional Dialogue and its focus on the contributions of trade and WTO Accessions to peace-building in the Greater Horn of Africa, as well as the exchange of experiences, views and perspectives. Various aspects of the WTO accession process were discussed, including its interface with the AfCFTA, emerging best-practices in the preparatory and the negotiating phases of the process, the role of the Accession Chief Negotiator, and the participation of the private sector and other stakeholders.

Participants appreciated experience sharing as one of the most effective ways to build accession knowledge and negotiating capacity. In this regard, they welcomed the continuation of the Regional Dialogue until all accessions in the Greater Horn of Africa are completed. It was also suggested that Eritrea may consider joining its neighbors efforts to pursue WTO accession, as this would support the regions on-going efforts for deeper economic integration and would help consolidate the recent peace initiatives.

In this regard, the WTO was invited to explore greater co-operation and engagement with the peace community, building on the recent Trade for Peace Initiative, and to define its role in how trade and the WTO could contribute to on-going peace-building efforts around the world. There was a clear recognition that economic and trade aspects should be given a greater role in peacebuilding.

Participants welcomed the recent progress registered in the accessions of Comoros, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. In particular, they pledged their collective support for the conclusion of the accession of Comoros in 2019, the resumption of the work of the Working Parties for the accessions of Ethiopia and Sudan in early 2019, and the holding of the first Working Party meetings of the accessions of Somalia and South Sudan in 2019 following the submission of their respective MFTRs.

Dialogue participants reiterated strong appreciation to Djibouti, as the only WTO Member in the Horn of Africa, for supporting the accession efforts of its neighboring countries, and requested Djibouti to use its position to actively participate in the work of the WTO to promote the interests of the Region.

Acknowledging the importance of stakeholder inclusiveness in the accession process, participants expressed appreciation to the ITC for ensuring the participation of private sector representatives in the Second Regional Dialogue, and requested their continuing participation in future Dialogues. They also acknowledged the importance of gender considerations in both capacity-building and the composition of the accession negotiation team.

Participants acknowledged the ongoing support provided by development partners for technical assistance, training, capacity building, and trade infrastructure, in order to enable African countries realize the full benefits of the AfCFTA and the WTO. They also agreed on the urgent need to enhance trade policy knowledge and capacity, including for analysis, strategies and negotiations, covering both the legal and economic aspects, especially for countries which are emerging from conflicts. In this regard, they appealed to development partners, especially AfDB, IGAD, IMF, ITC, TRAPCA, UNECA, WBG and the WTO, to increase support for the accession process and subsequent implementation.

Participants recommended that consideration be given to the establishment of the Office of Trade Negotiations by each African country, in order to promote coherence and effectiveness in policy making and strategic planning in trade, at the national, regional and multilateral levels.

Participants also pledged their strong support for the fundamental values and principles of the Multilateral Trading System and expressed their concerns about recent protectionism and unilateralism. In this context, they acknowledged the ongoing discussions on WTO reform, which provided an opportunity for the WTO to update its rules and modernize its function, in order to respond to the requirements of the 21st Century.

Participants expressed their appreciation to the Government of Djibouti for hosting the Second Regional Dialogue and the warm hospitality provided to the participants, as well as the invitation to participate in the Second International Trade Fair of Djibouti, opened by H.E. Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of the Republic of Djibouti. They also expressed their appreciation to the WTO Secretariat and the ITC for the excellent arrangements.

Dialogue participants requested Djibouti to report on the outcome of the Second Regional Dialogue to the WTO membership at the upcoming General Council meeting on 12 December, and to the AU Trade Ministers at the upcoming meeting on 12 to 13 December in Cairo, Egypt. The Participants also requested that this Report of the Djibouti Dialogue be circulated as a WTO document of the Sub-Committee for Least Developed Countries and the General Council.The two chief negotiators met on Friday, 14 December 2018 in Brussels to take stock of the progress achieved and discuss next steps.

The first series of talks between the EU and 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) led to broad convergence on the structure of the future agreement and the strategic priorities.

On Friday, at the ACP house in Brussels, the EUs Chief Negotiator, Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, said: We welcome the progress made so far. There is still a great deal of work ahead, given our ambitions and the scope of what we want to achieve together. We are looking forward to stepping up the pace to embark on a new path with the negotiation of tailor-made EU-Africa, EU-Caribbean and EU-Pacific pillars early next year.

The ACP Council of Ministers met on Wednesday, 12 December 2018 to take stock of the negotiation process. The Ministers appreciated the substantive progress made in the talks and observed that the coming stage in the process is demanding and would require flexibility and convergence from both sides.

The ACP Chief Negotiator and Chair of the Ministerial Central Negotiating Group who is also the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Africa integration of Togo Professor Robert Dussey, said: I take pride in the achievements recorded in a short span of time since the start of the negotiations. The positive spirit exhibited by the two sides is greatly encouraging and extremely useful in reaching a meaningful outcome in the next round.

Next steps

As of January, talks will intensify. The second round of technical negotiations is expected to take place over a three-month period. Throughout that time, EU and ACP countries will start drafting the agreement around agreed priorities.

Background

The Cotonou Agreement currently governing EU-ACP relations is due to expire in 2020. Political negotiations on a new ACP-EU Partnership were launched in New York on 28 September, although the renewal process started in the course of summer 2018.

Since mid-October, the technical work, organised in five specific sessions, mainly focused on the so-called common foundation at EU-ACP level. This contains the values and principles that bring the EU and ACP countries together. It also indicates the strategic priority areas that the two sides intend to prospectively work on together.

In the future agreement, on top of the foundation there will be three action-oriented regional pillars to focus on each regions specific needs. Through the future partnership, EU and ACP countries will seek closer political cooperation on the world stage. Together, they represent more than half of all UN member countries and unite over 1.5 billion people.

Declaration of the Co-Presidents on Post-Cotonou Negotiations on the occasion of the meeting of the 36th Joint Parliamentary Assembly

The Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) welcome the adoption of the negotiating directives by the EU and the negotiating mandate of the ACP Parties, and the launch of negotiations intended to conclude a successor Agreement to the ACP-EU Cotonou Partnership Agreement.

The Co-Presidents draw attention to the resolution adopted at the 35th session of the JPA on a strong parliamentary dimension, and to the resolution adopted by the European Parliament on 14 June 2018 on Negotiations for a new ACP-EU Partnership Agreement. The Co-Presidents echo the desire expressed by both negotiating parties in their respective mandates to conclude a successor Agreement at ACP-EU level, recognising the desire of the ACP Group of States to maintain its deep and unique partnership.

An ambitious and comprehensive Agreement is needed between the two parties to reflect the new geopolitical reality and tackle common challenges including climate change, poverty, terrorism, migration, illicit financial flows and achieving the SDGs. Globalisation can only be effectively harnessed and regulated at multilateral level, in which the ACP and EU can emerge as a powerful joint force.

The Co-Presidents reiterate that the new institutional and financial architecture must reflect these ambitions that continue to be based on the principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. In addition to the regional pillars, the common foundation must remain a strong element of the Partnership, with regular meetings at all levels to monitor the implementation of the Partnership Agreement and build momentum for ACP-EU cooperation at the global level.

The post-2020 Partnership must be one of equal partners and better serve the needs of its citizens in ACP countries and the EU. In this regard, the Co-Presidents emphasise that a strong parliamentary dimension is essential for democratic legitimacy. This must include an autonomous Joint Parliamentary Assembly, meeting independently of the ACP-EU Council meetings, in order to assess the impact of the Agreement, hold the executives to account and provide a genuinely pluralistic parliamentary forum for citizen representation. Adequate resources are needed in order to support the Partnership including JPA at secretariat level.

Democratic legitimacy goes beyond parliamentary representation, and requires a formalised participation of non-state actors as provided for in the current Cotonou Agreement.Today in Vienna: The High-Level Forum Africa-Europe

President Kagame and Chancellor Kurz decided to call for a High-Level Forum to provide a space for European and African leaders, together with CEOs of major global companies, innovation champions, start-ups and other stakeholders, to reflect and act on what needs to be done to secure prosperity and competitiveness on both continents as well as to deepen the relationship in all its aspects with a specific focus on taking our cooperation to the digital age.

Highlights from the pdf Co-Chairs Summary (118 KB) :

The Forum underlined the critical need to step up European privatesector investments in Africa and highlighted the changes to the policy and legal framework that are needed for that to happen. The High-Level Forum Africa-Europe contributed to achieving the development goals of both the African Unions Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by encouraging and promoting effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, especially those which mobilise and share cross-regional expertise in challenging policy areas. The Forum focused on innovation and digitalisation and the need to realise the full potential of the digital transformation of our societies and our economies. In our endeavour to promote innovation and digitalisation as important enablers of future development we will work together to ensure that everyone can benefit from the ongoing digital transformation. It is our common aim to improve the cooperation between our two continents based on a fair and equal partnership. [Twitter: #africaeurope2018]

EU and ACP countries conclude first round of negotiations to modernise their relations

The two chief negotiators  the EUs Chief Negotiator, Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, and ACP Chief Negotiator and Chair of the Ministerial Central Negotiating Group, Professor Robert Dussey  met on Friday, 14 December 2018 in Brussels to take stock of the progress achieved and discuss next steps. The first series of talks between the EU and 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) led to broad convergence on the structure of the future agreement and the strategic priorities.

Seventh Meeting of the African Union Ministers of Trade

Some deadlines for further work on AfCFTA policy issues:

AfCFTA Adjustment Facility: AMOT was informed that a study on the Adjustment Facility had been carried out, based on requests from member states, and that the findings of the study would be disseminated in a dedicated session of the Negotiating Forum (NF). AMOT took note of this update and directed the AUC to organise a dedicated session of the NF to discuss this by April 2019.

Rules of Origin: AMOT took note of the progress towards the development of Appendix IV to the Annex 2 on Rules of Origin and directed the Senior Trade Officials (STOs) to finalize outstanding work on rules of origin by end of June 2019.

Trade remedies: AMOT was informed of some inconsistencies in Annex 9 on Trade Remedies and the need to align these with the Draft Guidelines. AMOT took note of the recommendation of STO on this matter and agreed that the TWG on Trade Remedies considers the inconsistencies and report back to the next session of the NF.

Development of regulations benefiting Special Economic Zones: AMOT noted that the AUC was in the process of developing a technical note which would inform the drafting of the Regulations on Special Economic Zones. Amongst others, the technical note would examine the contributions of the SEZ to industrialization, exports and economic development in Africa. AMOT directed the AUC to present the technical note on this matter to the NF at its next meeting.

Roadmap for finalization of outstanding work on AfCFTA negotiations: Negotiations on Trade in Services be concluded by January 2020; [convene] a meeting of the TWG on Trade Remedies and schedule it for March 2019.

AU-ECA Joint Press Release: African Union Ministers of Trade conclusively reach consensus on all outstanding issues on AfCFTA modalities for tariff liberalization] With regard to Phase II issues, AMOT agreed to establish three separate technical working groups for Investment, Competition Policy and Intellectual Property Rights and requested the AfCFTA NF to complete negotiations by June 2020. AMOT further directed the AUC to: (a) develop draft terms of reference for each TWG for consideration by the AfCFTA NF by April 2019; (b) carry out the Situation Analysis studies on Phase 2 issues by April 2019. [

WTO outcomes must support Africas trade priorities: AU trade ministers (New Times)

A confidential report shared to the trade ministers by the coordinating member of the African Group last week and accessed by Business Times says that the proposed reforms do not appear balanced. It appears that the ideas for WTO modernisation are essentially designed to advance a set of proposals that reflect the particular interests of some members, the document reads. The document highlights that the proposals are likely to further polarise the WTO membership. It recommends that, Africas defining trade policy objective is the AfCFTA and WTO outcomes must support, not undermine, our integration and industrialisation objectives.

At the backdrop of these developments, ministers adopted a joint declaration, urging African countries to prepare a common vision to activate the role of the WTO in supporting African countries to ensure that they affirm their entitlement to integration into the international trading system. The declaration has not yet been made public, but ministers made a number of recommendations including, among others, encouraging members to cease from unilateral trade agreements which they say might undermine the principles of global trade.

The Second Regional Dialogue on WTO Accessions for the Greater Horn of Africa: pdf The Djibouti Outcome (508 KB) (WTO)

The discussions (3-6 December 2018) enabled participants to engage in informative and interactive discussions on the contributions of trade and WTO Accessions to peace-building. The Dialogue also discussed various aspects of the WTO accession process, including its interface with the AfCFTA, emerging best-practices in the preparatory and the negotiating phases of the process, the role of the Accession Chief Negotiator, the inclusiveness of the private sector and other stakeholders in the process. Participants welcomed the recent progress registered in the accessions of Comoros, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. They pledged their collective support for the conclusion of the accession of Comoros in 2019, the resumption of the accession Working Parties of Ethiopia and Sudan in early 2019, and the holding of the first Working Party meetings of the accessions of Somalia and South Sudan in 2019 following the submission of their respective MFTRs.

Explaining the WAEMU growth spurt: the role of financial deepening and macro policy (World Bank)

Most countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union experienced a growth acceleration in 2011-17. This paper identifies the determinants of this growth by combining country-specific information with the results of a cross-country regression model. Growth was characterized by capital accumulation and driven by structural factors, including financial deepening and infrastructure development. What sets WAEMU countries apart from other African countries is the very sharp increase in private sector credit supporting private investment. This was facilitated by a prudent and accommodative regional monetary policy and improved financial regulation. Pro-cyclical fiscal policies supported public infrastructure investment but led to a buildup of public debt. Going forward, growth may lose some steam, given the renewed policy emphasis on fiscal consolidation and monetary tightening.

Madagascar and the Indian Ocean: Appraisal report for project to develop corridors and facilitate trade (AfDB)

Inadequate development and ageing transport infrastructure are among the main obstacles to Madagascars capacity to expand its trade with other member countries of COMESA, SADC and the IOC, and, consequently, to promote regional integration. The countrys road network has hardly received any major interventions in the last ten years, due in part to the impact of the 2009-2013 political crisis. Only 24.6% of the paved road network is in good condition. Consequently, improving transport systems connectivity between production areas and export points (ports and airports) to countries in the sub-region is still a key element for increasing trade and investment within the framework of regional integration. This project aims to lay the groundwork for road network development in Southern Madagascar (currently the most isolated part of the Big Island), which is connected to potentially important ports on two maritime fronts: the South-West with Tulear Port and the South-East with the Ehoala Mineral Port. Both ports provide the country access to the Mozambique Channel and Indian Ocean countries, respectively. The project will be implemented over 5 years, from 2019 to 2023.

The political economy of regional industrialisation strategies (ECDPM)

This paper summarises the political economy analyses of the regional industrialisation strategies in the COMESA, EAC, ECOWAS, and SADC regions, looking at these in terms of the three main market failures that national industrial policies seek to address. At the regional level, targeted coordination and self-discovery approaches appear to have had most traction, while public inputs seem best provided at the national level. Establishing regional industrialisation as an overarching objective of regional cooperation and integration processes can also help to ensure that regional approaches to, for example, infrastructure development and trade facilitation, contribute more directly to economic transformation ambitions. Regional strategies make sense at one level, given the potential for regional market integration to promote value chain development and support other industrial objectives. However, they largely ignore the competition dynamics between states in specific sectors. Moreover, their implementation is complicated by the fact that mechanisms used to pursue national industrial objectives often contradict regional commitments. The findings suggest that regional industrialisation strategies should be used to complement national industrial policies rather than to replicate or guide them. [The authors: Bruce Byiers, Karim Karaki, Sean Woolfrey]

Yesterday the ECA commemorated the 60th anniversary of the UNECA: ECA Knowledge Management Digest compilations

Volume 1, October 2018: A review on statistical development in Africa  resolutions adopted by the Conferences of Ministers (1958- 2018); Volume 2, November 2018: Establishment and programmatic review of the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning. Explore resources contained in the ECA Knowledge Repository.

In a first, Vibrant Gujarat Summit to observe Africa Day (Indian Express)

To tap the resource-rich and rapidly developing African continent, the Gujarat government in consultation with the Union Ministry of External Affairs is for the first time organising Africa Day at the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Summit where the heads of states, including Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, and Abiy Ahmed Ali, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, will be present. Africa Day is being organised in consultation with the Ministry of External Affairs, said S J Haider, Principal Secretary Tourism, Government of Gujarat, while speaking about the event that will be held as part of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit scheduled from 18-20 January. The Africa Day event will be organised on 19 January at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar. Currently, South Africa and Morocco are the two African countries who are among the 15 partner countries for the summit. At least 12-15 MoUs are expected to be signed during the event.

Russians need to strategise trade with Africa (Modern Diplomacy)

The Deputy Director of the Department of Asia, Africa and Latin America of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Alexander Dianov, spoke about the non-financial support measures for Russian companies operating within the department: Currently, there are 10 intergovernmental commissions between the Russian Federation and African countries. He added: There are trade missions only in four African countries, and if you take sub-Saharan African countries, the trade mission operates effectively only in South Africa. It is obvious that there is something to work on in terms of developing the infrastructure to support Russian businesses. If there is a serious request from the business community, we are ready to expand the geography of our presence.

John Stremlau: Trumps Africa strategy should have cast China as a regional partner, not a global adversary (Times Live)

But does it need to be this way? I would argue not. Africa offers China and America an opportunity to demonstrate to the world  and to each other  that their competition can be constructive with Africa playing a moderating influence by brokering an agreed trilateral agenda. We need to explore ways to advance cooperation between Africa, China and the US as a confidence building measure in relations between the US and China. This would obviously need to be designed for the primary benefit of African partners. Collaborative projects that involve the US and China, with Africa in the forefront, have been the focus of a Carter Centre project since 2014. The centres many successful programs in Africa, especially public health, have generated high-level trilateral policy interest. Since the Trump administration took over, these conversations have excluded his senior advisors. Nevertheless, work has continued. This has included recent developments which suggest headway is being made. In early December the South African Institute of International Affairs hosted the troika that leads this project: [Related: Yinka Adegoke: Trumps focus on Africa might be about China but that could be a good thing; The importance of improving Americas investment policies in Africa: an interview with Yuri Vanetik]

Trade Policy Review: United States of America (WTO)

The 14th review of the trade policies and practices of the United States of America began yesterday at the WTO and resumes tomorrow. The basis for the review is a report by the WTO Secretariat and a report by the Government of the United States of America.Boeing and joint venture partner Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd (COMAC) today celebrated the delivery of the first airplane from the new 737 Completion and Delivery Center in Zhoushan, China. Air China received the first plane, marking a new era in Boeing's partnership with the Chinese aviation industry.

Boeing and joint venture partner Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd (COMAC) today celebrated the delivery of the first airplane from the new 737 Completion and Delivery Center in Zhoushan, China. Air China received the first plane, marking a new era in Boeing's partnership with the Chinese aviation industry.

Delivery of the first MAX 8, assembled in Renton, Wash. and completed in China, comes 20 months after construction began at the 100-acre site. The 737 Completion and Delivery Center is the first such Boeing facility outside of the United States. The facility has been built in partnership with the Zhejiang Provincial and Zhoushan Municipal Governments and will become fully operational in phases as capacity is expanded over time.

"This moment signifies our growing partnership with China that stretches back over nearly half a century," said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Kevin McAllister. "We're proud of our long relationship with the Chinese government, airlines and industry partners and the trust they place in Boeing."

Boeing 737 MAXs for Chinese airlines will be flown from Seattle to Zhoushan, where the joint Boeing-COMAC Completion Center will complete interior work on the airplanes. The statement of work will gradually expand to include painting with the addition of three paint hangers. Once completed, airplanes will move to the adjacent Boeing-operated delivery center for customer acceptance activities and delivery formalities.

"Congratulations to Boeing for delivering the first 737 MAX from Zhoushan," said Zhao Yuerang, president of COMAC. "This is a significant milestone of Boeing's efforts to deepen its footprint in China, as well as to support the growth of China's airline industry, opening an era of the collaboration between the two airplane manufacturers of us."

The facility, which covers 666,000 sq ft in total, is designed to support the entire 737 MAX family of airplanes, from the long-range MAX 7 to the high-capacity MAX 10. With about one third of all 737 deliveries going to Chinese customers, the Zhoushan facility will enable Chinese airline customers to update and expand their fleets with the most technologically-advanced Boeing single-aisle airplanes available. In addition, the business and the partnerships Boeing is developing in China are integral to adding capacity and aerospace jobs in the U.S

China is on course to become the largest commercial aviation market in the world. Boeing's latest Commercial Market Outlook forecasts that China will need 7,680 new airplanes worth $1.2 trillion USD over the next 20 year and another $1.5 trillion USD in commercial services to support the country's growing fleet of airplanes.

Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Travel industry news and trends. Subscribe

 2021 Travel Industry WireThe 9-mile long archipelago has more Adelie penguins than the entire rest of the Antarctic peninsula combined.

As has been the plight of all too many species lately, over the past 40 years the number of Adelie penguins has been in steady decline. With the fragile state of the climate and animals of all stripes being threatened, it seemed that the Adelies were no different. If only there were a chain of secret seabird islands somewhere, a penguin paradise where crowds of the creatures were living their best lives.

Which of course, as it turns out, there is. In a paper published earlier this year, a group of scientists announced that they had found a yet unknown "supercolony" of more than 1.5 million Adelie penguins in the awesomely named Danger Islands, off of the Antarctic Peninsulas northern tip.

"Until recently, the Danger Islands werent known to be an important penguin habitat," says Heather Lynch, Associate Professor of Ecology & Evolution at Stony Brook University.

"We thought that we knew where all the penguin colonies were, she adds. But in fact, this small archipelago, that measures only 15 kilometers from one end to the other, [is home to] more Adelie penguins than the entire rest of the Antarctic peninsula combined.

 Michael Polito / Louisiana State University

She says that the treacherous nature of the remote islands had helped to keep the seabird hotspot a secret; even in the austral summer, the surrounding ocean is filled with thick sea ice, making access challenging at best. Smart penguins!

But rocky archipelagos and a fortress of sea ice are rendered useless when NASA is upstairs taking satellite pictures of everything. And in 2014, Lynch and her colleague Mathew Schwaller from NASA saw an abundance of the signature pink guano stains in NASA satellite imagery of the islands, suggesting a mysteriously large number of penguins. And thus, an expedition was arranged to go count the birds.

The team arrived in December 2015 and found hundreds of thousands of birds nesting in the rocky soil. And then they started counting  by hand at first, and then by drone and specially designed software  to arrive at an accurate count.

To the casual observer, the question might be, why? Why go there and invade their unspoiled habitat just to count them? To scientists, the answer is easy. They can log data not just on penguin population dynamics, but also on the effects of changing temperature and sea ice on the regions ecology. It provides an essential benchmark to monitor future change, as well.

"The population of Adelies on the east side of the Antarctic Peninsula is different from what we see on the west side, for example. We want to understand why. Is it linked to the extended sea ice condition over there? Food availability? Thats something we dont know," says Stephanie Jenouvrier, a seabird ecologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

And perhaps more urgently, it will be an important addition to the evidence for supporting proposed Marine Protected Areas near the Antarctic Peninsula, says Mercedes Santos from the Instituto Antartico Argentino, and one of the authors of the protected area proposal. "Given that MPA proposals are based in the best available science," she says, "this publication helps to highlight the importance of this area for protection."

You can see the whole paper in the journal in the journal Scientific Reports.

Via Vice





Singapore-based startup gets funding to improve aquaculture production in Peru



A US$2 million funding directed towards improving aquaculture productivity in Lake Titicaca, Peru, had been approved for Umitron, a Singapore-based aquaculture tech start-up.

The project - which will also involve the company's partner Abaco and its subsidiary Piscis - is financed by IDB Lab, the Inter-American Development Bank Group's (IDB) innovation laboratory. It will seek to improve the local trout farming industry's economic and environmental sustainability.



Piscis is one of Peru's biggest trout farmers.



According to The Straits Times, Umitron was founded in 2016 in Singapore and Japan. The start-up develops data platforms which employ Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite remote sensing.



With its AI-driven feeding technology, Unitron could help improve safety at Piscis' farms, as well as cutting down overfeeding and controlling the growth of harmful algae. This application will be tested and calibrated by the company using IDB Lab's resources.



In addition, the funds will be used to train local producers and expand Umitron's solution in the Lake Titicaca region. The objective of the company's project is to implement data-based aquaculture feeding technology in Peru and eventually, all of Latin America.



The Peru project marks the start of Umitron's long term plans to create technology for Latin American aquaculture producers. The company is currently looking for other public-private partnerships to help aquaculture producers improve environmental sustainability through impact investment.



"Through our daily operation, we see many challenges facing the aquaculture industry such as economic and environmental sustainability. Finding solutions requires borderless collaboration between the public and private sector," said Masahiko Yamada, managing director of Umitron.



- The Straits Timeseditorial@tribune.com

Chandigarh, December 18

In yet another case of cheating, two fraudsters allegedly duped a man of Rs 37,000 outside a bank in Sector 37 after befooling him by handing over a bundle of papers.

According to the police, the complainant, Manoj Kumar, a resident of Behlolpur village in Mohali district, reported that he went to deposit the money in his fathers bank account at the Central Bank of India in Sector 37 yesterday.

The victim stated that while he was depositing the money, two persons approached him and asked him to come outside the bank. The suspects claimed that they had stolen Rs 2 lakh from Ludhiana and wanted the victims help in depositing the money. The suspects claimed that they would deposit the money of the victim and took the cash from him and in return handed over a bundle wrapped in a cloth to him. The suspects asked the victim to wait till they deposited his money.

The victim kept waiting outside the bank. However, the suspects did not return after which he opened the packet and found that it contained papers. The victim informed the police after which a case was registered against unknown persons at the Sector 39 police station.  TNS

Recent incident

On December 11, two fraudsters allegedly duped an 18-year-old youth of Rs 31,500 after fooling him on the pretext of exchanging his money with Rs 500 currency notes at Sector 17.editorial@tribune.com

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 17

Taking a note of the PGIs admission that teaching posts were not filled through promotions, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has impressed upon its governing body to ensure the same were made in accordance with the regulations. Setting a three-week deadline for the purpose, a Division Bench of the High Court made it clear that the direction was for improving efficiency in the teaching faculties.

The developments took place during the hearing of a petition filed against the Central Administrative Tribunal and other respondents by Dr Virendra Singh through senior advocate Puneet Bali, Rubai J Singh and Vibhav Jain.

Fixing the case for further consideration in the second week of January, the Bench of Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Harinder Singh Sidhu asserted that appointment/placement through the Assessment Promotion Scheme (APS) was almost as a matter of right. The suitability of only one candidate was required to be seen under the scheme. The merit in relation to other candidates was not determined.

In sequel to the directions issued by the Bench on the previous date of hearing, PGI Deputy Director (Administration) Amitab Awasthi fairly admitted during a long interaction with the court that the posts were not filled up by way of promotions.

The Bench added that the teachers were to be appointed by way of direct recruitment and promotion, according to the regulations. Promotion was to be made on the basis of criteria to be adopted in accordance with law. The candidate must be eligible, qualified and fulfilling the qualifying service to be considered for promotion. His suitability was adjudged by the duly constituted committee. There was an element of merit while making promotions.

Speaking for the Bench, Justice Sharma asserted that Awasthi did not dispute that the teaching faculty was to be appointed in accordance with the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, Regulations, by way of direct recruitment; promotion; and appointment/placement as per the APS to remove stagnation.

The seniority between the direct recruits and the promotees was also governed under a regulation. Since the APS had come later in time, the governing body had taken a conscious decision to regulate the seniority of all three categories. However, the decision had not been notified/published till date.

Justice Sharma added that Awasthi fairly submitted that a reference had already been made to the governing body to notify/publish the decision in order to determine the seniority of all three categories of the teaching faculty.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 18

Manoj Parida, a 1986-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre, will be the new Adviser to the UT Administrator as the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued the transfer order of present Adviser Parimal Rai. Rai has been posted as the Chief Secretary of Goa.

Parida is at present serving as the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Delhi Financial Corporation. Parida is the seniormost IAS officer in the Government of Delhi, even senior to the new Chief Secretary of Delhi, Vijay Dev, a 1987-batch IAS officer. Parida is likely to join next week. Parida was also in

the news after he was suddenly transferred in November 2017 from Puducherry as Chief Secretary after having some differences with Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi.

Bedi had been at loggerheads with Parida over several administrative issues during his tenure. Parida, who hails from Odisha, has served on many important positions in his career.

Parida has remained the Home Secretary, Principal Secretary (PWD) and the Principal Secretary (Urban Development) among others in the Government of Delhi.

Parimal Rai joined the UT Administration in March 2016 after the Centre suddenly removed former Adviser Vijay Kumar Dev in less than 15 months of his joining. The three-year tenure of Adviser Parimal Rai ended without any controversy. Working behind the scenes, he managed to get many projects of the city approved from the Centre.

Rai said he was fully satisfied with his tenure in the city.editorial@tribune.com

Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Mohali, December 17

For 58-year-old Narinder Kaur and 76-year-old Ajit Singh, both 1984 riot victims, the life term to former MP Sajjan Kumar by the Delhi High Court is not of much consequence as the decision has come 34 years after the riots.

Many people might be hailing the decision, but what will we get out of it now. The riots destroyed us completely. We lost our kin, houses, businesses and properties. Our life, which was shattered, is yet to come on track, said Narinder Kaur along with some other riot victims, who have been putting up in small houses in the Danga Peerit Colony at Phase 11 here.

Narinder Kaur said she had seen a person being killed in their locality, Trilokpuri, in Delhi. My husband had gone missing for around five days. Our two cabs were charred by the rioters. I was pregnant then and we only know how we managed to reach Chandigarh, where we were put up in camps. We are still to come to terms with the tragedy, said Narinder Kaur with tears in her eyes.

Narrating his trauma, septuagenarian Ajit Singh said his brother, who was clean-shaven, saved his and some other persons lives by making them sit in his truck. I was doing good business of bus body parts in Delhi, but we had to run from Delhi, leaving everything behind, he said.

Parkash Kaur (60), whose family also lost its house, business and properties in the riots, said even 34 years after the riots, the life of most of the riot victim families had not yet come back on track.

We are least bothered about convictions and jail terms to the accused in the case now. Is it meaningful to us after 34 years of the riots? Most of us (victims) are doing menial jobs to make both ends meet, said the victims in unison while demanding government jobs for their wards.Capt Amarinder Singh

Capt Amarinder Singh

Chief Minister, Punjab

IT is strange that two weeks after the ceremony of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor at Dera Baba Nanak, it dawns on five-time Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to insinuate that I am attempting to sabotage its opening. Had he read reports of my speech that day, or my letter to the Pakistan Foreign Minister, declining his PMs invitation to their ceremony on November 28, it would have been crystal clear to him why I did so.

At Dera Baba Nanak on November 26, I made it clear that it was part of every Sikhs ardas each morning that we should be united with our gurdwaras which remained in Pakistan after 1947. I welcomed this initiative between the governments of India and Pakistan, and said Punjab would do everything to hasten its construction. We have since set up Dera Baba Nanak Development Authority and will start acquiring land once the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways gives us its requirement.

To Mr Badal goes the credit for the 35,000 deaths in Punjab during the 80s-90s, and the destruction of our economy. Using gurdwaras for his politics, demolishing every vestige of constitutional propriety, creating massive unemployment, and putting himself before Punjab and our people has been his sole contribution  history is witness to it.

For me, to be CM at a time that this corridor has come about, to open access to pilgrims from India to visit one of our holiest shrines, is a singular honour. My grandfather Maharaja Bhupindra Singh rebuilt Kartarpur Sahib from 1920 to 1929, after floods in the Ravi destroyed it. My father Maharaja Yadvindra Singh, in 1932, did sewa at Punja Sahib. In 2004, the then CM of Pakistan Punjab, Parvez Elahi, and I laid the foundation stone for a road linking Nankana Sahib to Wagah, for easy access to pilgrims from India.

However, I cannot forget that it is my duty as head of Punjab Government to secure my State against any agency or individuals who attempt, yet again, to create disturbed conditions. Punjab has been through terrible times from the 70s through the 90s. It was our security forces and the people who finally ensured an end to the prevailing madness. Having lived through that period, I was determined that I would never allow such a situation to again engulf my State. I therefore decided not to visit Pakistan, regardless of my personal loss in not visiting Kartarpur Sahib, till that country stopped its nefarious activity in my State and country.

Do we see light on the horizon? I think not. If the Pakistan government and its army want better relations with India, why not start by stopping cross-border fire, killing or wounding Indian soldiers every day? Why not rein in the ISI, which continues to weaponise and train terror outfits in Kashmir? Why attempt to start terror activities again in Punjab? Referendum 2020 is ISIs new game. The frontman is a decrepit US-based lawyer called Pannu, who professes a peaceful referendum for Khalistan, which finds contradiction in a recently neutralised terror modules confession to owing allegiance to this organisation.

The question arises: why did Pakistan army agree to the corridor now, after rejecting consistent attempts made over the years? For any student of ISI functioning, the reason is obvious: create a universal euphoria among the Sikh community and gain as much sympathy by any disgruntled youth or citizen, and thus widen its terror base with the objective of gaining support for the referendum.

Do not for once believe that the Pakistan army has any love lost for India. The army calls the shots in all spheres of government. Behind the figurehead civilian rule is the gun, and the gun today in Pakistan has a warped strategy. Its army today is engaged, in the north and west, in a war with the tribals, in what used to be the NWFP; in the south the Balochis keep it engaged; in the northeast it is Kashmir; and to the east it wishes to engage Punjab. Arrogance in the extreme  a four-front war!

In Pakistan, the army is the largest corporate body built from the post-war reconstruction fund, running virtually everything. The corps commanders, PSOs and the COAS, who call the shots, are more interested in furthering their monetary interests as retirement approaches. The COAS gets a million dollars as bonus on retirement, apart from land and housing on his way up the ladder. And all this while the core of the country is on the verge of collapse.

In our Punjab, each village is linked by a hard-top road, is electrified and has drinking water. Each village is connected by buses, and now each village is being provided piped gas, and CNG stations for gas-operated vehicles. Pakistan has none of the above. Karachi has become a slum, gas pipes were recently removed as gas could not be provided, and Lahore is close behind. The country be damned, the generals must survive, therefore divert public opinion away from these miseries. What better way than to rope in Punjab as well!

General Bajwa should understand that the Punjab he sees in India today is not the Punjab of the 70s. The Pannus of the so-called pacifist movement, or Happy PhD advisers to terror outfits are of no consequence. Do not underestimate the Punjab of today. When trouble started in 1978, our police force was a fledgling one with a strength of 20,000, employed mostly in routine policing duties. Today, we have a 81,000-strong, highly professional and motivated force, prepared for any eventuality. In addition, we are backed by our paramilitary and defence services.

My suggestion to you, General, is that you should consider a hand in friendship, which would pay greater dividends, rather than continue with the current belligerence your ISI is executing. We have, since my government took charge in 2017, neutralised 20 ISI modules, arrested 95 operatives and seized caches of arms and explosives.Lt-Gen SR Ghosh (Retd)

Lt-Gen SR Ghosh (Retd)

Former GOC-in -C, Western Command

RECENTLY, I visited India Gate in New Delhi to show the Amar Jawan Jyoti to an American visitor on his first trip to our country. India Gate, an architectural masterpiece, was constructed in honour of our gallant soldiers who had laid down their lives during World War I and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. The names of 13,218 of these soldiers are inscribed on India Gate. Designed by Edwin Lutyens, the 42-metre tall memorial was inaugurated on February 12, 1931 by the then Viceroy of India, Lord Irwin, who said in his inaugural speech, The stirring tales of individual heroism, will live forever in the annals of this country. This tribute to the memory of heroes, known and unknown, will inspire future generations to endure hardships with similar fortitude and no less valour.

Four decades later, and after many more deaths of Indian soldiers, the Amar Jawan Jyoti was created under India Gate to commemorate the memory of those who had lost their lives during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war. Since then, the Eternal Flame and the reversed rifle with a helmet on top, stand in mute remembrance of the immortal souls of all Indian soldiers who gave their today for the nations tomorrow.

Almost every country that has lost soldiers in a military campaign has created war memorials, many of them constructed and maintained through private funding by residents of that area and who look after these with care and pride. In the UK, France, Canada and Australia, war memorials have been constructed in hundreds of villages and towns by residents in honour of their fallen. In Russia, newly married couples traditionally pay homage at a war memorial immediately after their wedding in remembrance of the great sacrifices made by the soldiers of the Soviet Union in previous wars.

Washington DC memorials

The US has some of the finest war memorials in Washington DC which are visited by almost five million people every year.

The famous Vietnam Memorial is a place of sorrow and memories, where the names of over 58,000 dead are etched on the highly polished, black granite Wall.

The Korean War Memorial comprising 19 statues of US soldiers on a patrol represents more than 36,000 American military personnel killed in that war.

The World War II Memorial, constructed in 2004, honours the spirit and sacrifice of the over 4,00,000 dead.

Just across the Potomac river lies the National Arlington Cemetery, cradling over 4,00,000 graves, including that of President John Kennedy, and the Tomb of the Unknown.

War memorials are silent symbols of heroism, sacrifice and patriotism and are looked upon with utmost reverence across the world. When a soldier stands in homage at a memorial, a sea of silent emotions flows through his body and mind, as he remembers battles fought and fallen comrades. Citizens come here to remember and honour the sacrifices made by the soldiers, or to grieve for a father, a brother, a husband or a son who has laid down his life for the country.

These memorials are also historical touchstones which link generations of families and remind them of their forefathers who fought and died for their country.

Interestingly, each year, more than 300 Honour Flights are organised by non-profit American organisations to bring World War II, Korean and Vietnam War veterans, many of them on wheelchairs, to these Washington DC memorials, at no cost to the retired soldiers.

An aura of sombreness and serenity, therefore, generally prevails around these monuments. There is an unwritten code of conduct for the visitors. It is sacrilege to even talk loudly, let alone shout and laugh or have picnics at these monuments.

Shocking scene at India Gate

I had not visited India Gate for many years and it was with these sombre thoughts that I stepped on to Rajpath and walked up to the Eternal Flame. But what greeted me was something that shook my sensibilities. While the enclosed segment of the Amar Jawan Jyoti was immaculate, the entire area around it was a huge tamasha, with hordes of men, women and children shouting, laughing and making merry. Children were having rides on mini cars behind the memorial, while vendors and hawkers sold ice creams, bhelpuri and other eatables. Dirty paper plates, water bottles and plastic packets littered the area and the stench of food and waste hung around like a shroud. Stray dogs roamed around or basked in the afternoon sun. It was shocking that this national monument of sacrifice, valour and patriotism had been reduced to such levels..a sacrilege to the memory of the fallen soldier.

Who was responsible for this? Was it the fault of the government agency tasked for the upkeep and sanctity of the area, or was it the general apathy of the citizens?

Take steps to restore dignity

It is imperative that we take steps to restore the dignity of the immortal soldier and the sanctity of the memorial.

At the outset, there must be strict enforcement of the rules or code of conduct in and around the memorial.

This could be done through education, monitoring, levying of fines and infrastructural changes.

We need to make the circular road around India Gate into a no-horn/no-parking zone.

Hawkers, vendors and all other commercial activities must be banned in the road and no food items allowed to be carried by visitors.

Strict enforcement should be put in place against littering, defacing or urinating.

Visitors must also be educated by official guards and through notice boards to maintain silence and decorum within the memorial area.

And finally, we need a dedicated organisation to manage and take care of the National War Memorial area. Nobody can do this better than the military itself as can be seen in the manner that they maintain the upkeep and sanctity of war memorials within cantonments.

It would, therefore, be in the fitness of things to hand over the responsibility of the National War Memorial to the Territorial Infantry Battalion located just across India Gate. This unit, with a little reorientation, training and reorganisation will be ideal for this vital job.

As we wait for the Prime Minister to inaugurate the National War Memorial in the coming months, let us start now and put in place some urgently needed rules, regulations and codes of conduct so that the spirit and dignity of the soldiers who have laid down their lives in the defence of our nation is honoured for all times to come.Shyam Saran

Shyam Saran

former foreign secretary & senior fellow, centre for policy research

The recent state elections and the outcomes they have thrown up are justly being celebrated as the revalidation of political democracy in India. The powerful have been humbled, the arrogant have been chastened and those whom the people have now elected must endeavour to deliver on their promises. They might not, as we have witnessed so often in the past. It will then be time again to send them packing. This ability to change, through the ballot box, those who govern is a powerful instrument to enforce accountability of the state to its people. It is an indispensable component of democracy. Equally important are adherence to the rule of law and strong, independent and credible institutions because they ensure that electoral majority is not used to abridge the constitutional rights of any citizen or groups of citizens, irrespective of their political, religious or ideological persuasion. When the rule of law is consistently undermined and institutions are weakened and bent to partisan ends, elections may well open the door to the demise of democracy.

There is a wave of populism sweeping across the world; India has also been caught up in its wake. Populism has a number of common features. Populists regard parliamentary majority as a unique source of legitimacy and reject institutional restraints. Populism equates the electoral majority as the people, defined in homogenous terms, while the rest are alien and therefore not worthy of enjoying the rights available to the majority. Populists simplify complexity and will claim that the will of the people is sufficient to overcome all challenges; institutions and laws are considered obstacles that must be swept away or harnessed to deliver on the peoples will. Populism is anti-elitist and rejects authority based on knowledge and experience. These result in populism displaying strong ethics of conviction but weak ethics of responsibility.

The bitter fruit of populism is evident in Brexit, as it is in the Trump brand of politics. It is practised with success by Erdogan in Turkey and has delivered power in the hands of a right-wing demagogue in Brazil. All these tendencies are visible in India, to a lesser or greater degree. When populism fails to deliver, as it inevitably does, non-fulfilment is blamed on the negative legacy of previous governments or conspiracy by alien or anti-people elements. This, too, is evident in our current political discourse. The health of Indian democracy is being threatened by this wave of populism and needs to be acknowledged and confronted.

Populism often comes clothed in nationalist colours. Nationalism is a powerful force and may reinforce democracy by creating a sense of community and solidarity vis-a-vis the external world. This more inclusive notion of nationalism, encompassing all those residing within a defined territory, enjoying rights as equal citizens and sharing a set of collective values and aspirations, is being shrunk by populism into a narrower and more exclusive category in which the label of anti-national is patched on to the charge of being anti-people or belonging to an alien category. It is the fusion of populism with narrow nationalism which poses particular danger to a plural and inclusive democracy. It complicates foreign policy by injecting a domestic dimension into relations with states. This is evident in Indias Pakistan policy. The label of pro-Pakistan is used to discredit political adversaries so it helps to keep projecting it as enemy.

There is pervasive reaction today against globalisation, which has spawned economic inequalities, created winners and losers between and within countries, threatened a loss of identity and cultural moorings and fostered psychological uncertainty. Globalisation and economic interdependence demand international governance structures but the fragmentation of the world into independent sovereign states makes this difficult to achieve. Governments are unable to deliver national solutions to such cross-border challenges and this lies at the root of resentment and frustration which are engendering populist-nationalist movements in country after country, mostly in the West but also in other regions. The inability of elected governments to find solutions in democracies is breeding growing dissatisfaction with democracy itself. The success of authoritarian China in delivering economic success is reinforcing what one may describe as dictator envy in democracies, enhancing the appeal of authoritarian leaders. Societies become polarised and ethnic, sectarian and religious fault lines resurface, sometimes in virulent form. These feed into both populism and intransigent nationalism. These trends are evident in many parts of the world and are emerging in India as well. They need to be tamed before they shatter the vision of an inclusive plural democracy enshrined in our Constitution.

In the recent state elections, a substantial number of voters appear not to have been swayed by appeals to communal and sectarian sentiments. Their concerns were more local and economic. But one should not underestimate the power of the populist-nationalist narrative in the country and the spread of the communal virus. We have seen the increasingly aggressive assertion of group identities. Violations of the rule of law and the undermining of the integrity of institutions are becoming endemic. The killing of a police officer in Bulandshahr by cow vigilantes is only the latest in a string of such incidents. Instead of enforcing law, parties across the spectrum often seek political gains through acquiescing in or even encouraging populist tendencies. Digital communication and social media are amplifying populist messaging. Communication specialists are becoming more important than party cadres. These are the real sources of concern about Indian democracy and it is unlikely that the recent elections or the forthcoming general election will resolve them. That would require enlightened political leadership which remains in short supply.amansharma@tribunemail.com

Varinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 18

Senior Congress leader Kamal Naths taking over as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister has sparked a deep indignation of the members of the global Punjabi diaspora who have sought stern action against powerful people and Congress leaders---Kamal Nath, Jagdish Tytler and Amitabh Bachchanfor allegedly having instigating genocidal violence against Sikhs in November 1984.

After staging its victory in recent assembly elections in three states, the Congress has crowned former Union minister Kamal Nath as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

Hailing the Delhi High Court conviction of senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the Sikh Coordination Committee East Coast (SCCEC) and the World Sikh Organisation (WSO) have said Kamal Nath was accused of leading a violent mob that that burned a number of Sikhs in Delhi during the 1984 genocide.

Not only this, he (Kamal Nath) was identified by numerous witnesses including, a journalist for having led a mob of over 4,000 people which had mounted attack on gurdwara Raqab Ganj on November 1, 1984, alleged the World Sikh Organisation (WSO) of Canada. The WSO also said a prominent English daily had also reported criticism of role of certain politicians and had indicated that several councilors had interceded on behalf of mobs when policemen had tried to stop the arson.

It took a long 34 years to get conviction of one of the ring leaders of the 1984 Sikh massacre while many more like Jagdish Tytler, Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Nath are still enjoying privileged positions in the corrupt Indian system, alleged the New York-based SCCEC Coordinator Himmat Singh.

He said Kamal Nath was charged by Nanavati Commission three decades back with killing of Sikhs by burning them alive near Raqab Ganj gurdwara in Delhi but, no FIR or a case has ever been registered against him due to his privileged position in the Indian establishment.

Kamal Nath and Amitabh Bachchan who had incided the mobs to kill the Sikhs by shouting slogans like Khoon Ka Badla Khoon should be prosecuted alongwith the members of the Gandhi family for their heinous crimes, demanded Himmat Singh.

The SCCEC said though Sajjan Kumar was finally convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, he is still walking free rather than being in a jail. The likely appeal in Indian Supreme Court can take long time while he may remain free on bail, said SCCEC representative Harjinder Singh.

We salute the tenacity of 77-year-old widow and witness Jagdish Kaur whose five family members were killed by a mob led by Sajjan Kumar and who fought the case fearlessly for over 34 years despite having faced threats to her life, said Mississagua (Toronto) based para-legal adviser Deepinder Loomba. Deepak Punj, a Brampton-based radio station owner, said though the justice was delayed but, the good part was that it was finally delivered to the victims.gspannu7@gmail.com

Hyderabad, December 18

A software engineer and another man from Telangana drowned off a beach in Australia while trying to rescue three teenagers trapped in strong tides, family members said on Tuesday.

Syed Rahat (35), a software engineer from Hyderabad and working in Sydney, along with Ghouse (45) drowned, while 28-year-old Junaid is missing, Ali, a relative of Rahat said here.

He said they received information about the incident on Monday.

Ali said their relatives in Australia informed them that a group of three families went for a picnic at Moonee beach on Monday evening.

The teenagers among the group went for a swim, but were trapped in the waters by strong tides.

On hearing their cries for help, three adults jumped into the sea to rescue them, but two drowned and another went missing, he said.

We are planning to go to Australia, he said.

Other rescuers saved the three teenagers and they have been admitted to hospital there, he said, adding that a search operation to locate Junaid was continuing as per information given by other relatives from Australia.

Ghouse and Junaid hail from Nalgonda district.

He (Junaid) is still missing... we are unable to comprehend what happened. The Telangana and Central governments should help us trace him, family members said in Nalgonda.  PTIharinder@tribunemail.com

Congress leader Sajjan Kumar engaged in a criminal conspiracy, promoted enmity, and acted against communal harmony in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and has been sentenced to life by the Delhi High Court. The conviction of a senior politician marks a watershed in the quest for justice for the victims of the 1984 violence, even as it vindicates the stand of those who pursued justice relentlessly for 34 years to bring the guilty to book. The high court took the evidence of two eyewitnesses, and based on their testimony, reversed the earlier trial court verdict acquitting Sajjan Kumar, even as it upheld the conviction of the others accused in the case and enhanced their sentence.

The tide seems to have turned in favour of those seeking justice for the carnage that followed the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. There was a conviction last month too. The sentencing of Sajjan Kumar  who was a Member of Parliament in 1984 and remained politically active for long thereafter  will surely send a chilling message to politicians who feel a sense of impunity even as they tear apart the countrys social fabric by instigating various groups of people against one another. Riot after riot has roiled India, often with the blessing of the party in power at the time, with little consequence for the individuals who perpetuated the violence.

The latest conviction has been widely welcomed among Punjabis, including Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar. However, it has obviously provided fodder to the BJPs propaganda machine, more so since the verdict coincides with the swearing-in of Congress leader Kamal Nath as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minster. Nath, too, has been under a cloud for his role in the 84 riots, but nothing has stuck so far. There will, no doubt, be fresh calls for justice by victims energised 34 years after the killings. The nation owes it to itself to let justice take its course, and demonstrate that those who had conviction in the system were not wrong.laxmi@tribune.com

NO stranger to controversy, Kamal Nath has struck a discordant note soon after taking charge as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. Promising more jobs for local residents, he has observed that they are being deprived of employment by outsiders from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. On his first day in office, he made it official that industries would get incentives only if they hired 70 per cent of their staff from the central Indian state. At the outset, the Congress CM has sent out the message that he wont exactly be welcoming migrants with open arms, while at the same time restricting the recruitment leeway for industrial houses. The nine-time MPs political rivals have predictably gone for the jugular, accusing him of taking the divisive route.

Already under fire from the Sikh community over his alleged role in the 1984 riots, Nath has made even more foes overnight. Born in UP, he is an alumnus of The Doon School as well as Kanpurs DAV College. The cosmopolitan values he must have learnt at the elite institution in Dehradun  where his friends included none other than Sanjay Gandhi  seem to have no place in his scheme of things for MP.

With his outsider outburst, Nath has joined the ranks of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, who has repeatedly shown his displeasure for job-grabbing North Indians. No state can afford to ignore local talent, but shooing away skilled/unskilled migrants is a regressive step. Providing a level playing field is what counts to ensure that merit takes precedence over mere domicile. According to the ease of doing business rankings, MP figures among the top-10 performers. Naths populist stand could have a bearing on the quantity and quality of investment into the state, which was under BJP rule for 15 years. As a resurgent Congress strives to re-establish its footprint across the country, it needs to rein in the likes of Nath, whom Indira Gandhi had fondly described as her third son. These stalwarts can prove to be quite a handful for the party if given a free hand, notwithstanding their long-standing loyalty to the Gandhi family.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Rewari, December 17

The Directorate of Higher Education (DHE) has told principals of government colleges across the state to adjust displaced extension lecturers in vacation/exam period too if sufficient workload is available.

The DHE has also asked the principals to adjust 28 extension lecturers of various districts who got displaced either due to the shortage of workload or appointment/transfer of regular lecturers in place of them. A list having details of such lecturers has also been dispatched to the principals.

Sources said the DHE issued the directive acting on the complaints lodged by displaced extension lecturers, stating that principals of some colleges were not adjusting them in the name of vacation/exam period while they were, as per rules, duty bound to adjust them.

It is a violation of guidelines if any principal does not adjust displaced extension lecturers even in vacation and exam time. As the state government has approved the guidelines, hence the violation can make the concerned liable of departmental proceedings. Furthermore, persons having bonafide experience certificate from any government college and not having displaced proforma will also be considered, states a communique sent to the principals from the DHE.

Rampal Badhwar, a leader of the All Haryana Extension lectures Association (AHELA), said around 2,000 extension lecturers had been working in government colleges across the state at the salary of Rs 25,000 per month.

Displaced lecturers have to face a lot of problems in getting adjustment as principals of other colleges avoid adjusting them immediately despite having sufficient workload for him/her. Following the reason, they have to approach the DHE to get the adjustment, said Badhwar, adding that since the DHE had a record of every extension lecturer, hence it should issue the order of adjustment of displaced lecturer on its own to curb any violation on part of principals.

He also said extension lecturers had not been paid salary for four months, while its a standing instruction from the DHE that the salary should be released by the seventh of every month.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 17

The Haryana Government has told the High Court that unrecognised schools will not be allowed to carry on with admissions from the 2019-20 academic session. The HC was also told that a decision had been taken not to grant extension beyond the present academic session to those existing schools, the recognition of which had not been finalised by the department concerned.

In an affidavit submitted in the High Court, it was stated that a meeting was held on July 20 under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister regarding unrecognised schools in the state. It was decided to collect the database of each school related to land and building.

There are lakhs of students in these schools and it will not be appropriate to close down the schools mid-session in the interest of students. The state authorities will take appropriate action and coercive measures against these schools during the current academic session and no such school will be allowed to make admissions in the next academic session, the affidavit read.

The HC was also told that that the respondent department would initiate the action of closing down such schools by sending a list of unauthorised schools to field officers and Deputy Commissioners. Such schools would be given a common notice to invite objections.editorial@tribune.com

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 17

The Supreme Court has set aside a Punjab and Haryana High Court order in a decades-old land dispute in Sonepat district of Haryana after it found that the order was passed without hearing the parties to the case.

Principles of natural justice demanded that the party to the proceedings must be heard by the court before passing any order in relation to the subject matter of such proceedings, a Bench of Justice AM Sapre and Justice Indu Malhotra said, directing the high court to hear the matter afresh.

We may reiterate the basic fundamental principle of law that no order can be passed by any Court in any judicial proceedings against any party to such proceedings without hearing and giving such party an opportunity of hearing, the Bench said, allowing the appeals filed by 43 families which were ordered to be evicted from a land claimed by local panchayat.

The petitioners had challenged the High Courts May 16, 2016, order directing the Deputy Commissioner concerned to seek a report regarding the alleged unauthorised encroachment over the land owned by the gram panchayat, by constituting a fact-finding inquiry of a team of officers.

If the eviction order against the petitioners had attained finality and there was no legal impediment, the Deputy Commissioner was directed to ensure time-bound action and restore the land to the gram panchayat with the police help, if needed.

Petitioners counsel Vikram Punia said, It was this order of the HC which 43 petitioners had challenged before the Honble Supreme Court. The dispute is over 2130 kanals of land in Sarsadh village of Sonepat district and they were initially granted status quo regarding possession by the Honble Supreme Court. Due to the Honble Supreme Courts order, they could not be forcibly dispossessed from their land by the District administration.

Punia said its a serious question of title of the land, but till today it has not been adjudicated under Section 13A of the Punjab Village Common Lands (PVCL) Act, 1961.

The HC had said it was not necessary to issue any notice to any of the private respondents except to the State and its Authorities considering the nature of the order it intended to pass for the disposal of the writ petition.

But the Supreme Court said, The fact that a person is made a party to the judicial proceedings in relation to a certain dispute has a legitimate right to raise an objection that before passing any order in such proceedings, he should be at least heard and his views/stand in relation to the subject matter of the proceedings be taken into consideration. The Court is duty-bound to hear all such person(s) by giving them an opportunity to place their stand.

The land in question has been described as Shamlat Deh Hasab Rasad Araji Khewat in official records and in the column of possession it was in the name of the petitioners as gair marusi meaning thereby that prior to Consolidation, the land in question was in the possession of proprietors and never vested in the gram panchayat. Copies of the Jamabandies for the years 1939-40, 1943-44 and 1962-63, the petitioners claimed.

In 1956, without any basis, by way of mutation no.1108 the entry in the column of ownership which earlier contained the words Shamlat Deh Hasab Rasad Araji Khewat were replaced by the words Panchayat Deh. The Consolidation proceedings started in the year 1958 and the Consolidation Authorities also described the land as Shamlat Deh and omitted the terms Hasab Rasad Araji Khewat, they contended.

The problem started in 1998 when an application was filed under Section 7 (2) of the PVCL Act before the Assistant Collector for ejecting the petitioners from the land in dispute.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 17

A court in Sirsa on Monday issued bailable warrants to a plastic surgeon and an operation theatre technician and summons to three others, including a doctor, of Dera Sacha Saudas multi-specialty hospital, in connection with an illegal skin bank.

Judicial Magistrate Navjeet Klair observed that Dr Swapnil Garg, plastic surgeon, and Balbir Singh, operation theatre technician, had not appeared in court though summons issued on October 20 had been served.

The judge issued fresh summons for appearance on January 24, 2019, to Abhijit Bhagat, chairperson of the deras hospital, Dr MP Singh, chief medical officer, and Col OP Kashnia, chief operating officer, as summons issued earlier had been received back un-served.

Dr Garg had earlier moved a plea for anticipatory bail in the Sirsa court after summons were served on him, but his plea was rejected on November 29.

After Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singhs conviction, a team of doctors from the Health Department carried out inspection of the deras multi-specialty hospital on September 9 and recovered 29 plastic containers containing preserved skin pieces.

The dera hospital could not produce any certificate of registration or licence to run the skin bank, though they produced an application purportedly submitted to the Sirsa DC and Civil Surgeon, stating that a skin bank had been opened in the hospital.editorial@tribune.com

Dinesh Kanwar

Hamirpur, December 17

Onion seeds, supplied to farmers by the Agriculture Department, have reportedly failed to germinate, leaving thousands of farmers worried.

It was learnt from reliable sources that the seeds, supplied by the department to the farmers in early October to produce a nursery of onion, had not sprouted. Farmers set up nursery either to plant these in their own fields or for commercial sale but the non-germination of seeds had left farmers in the doldrums.

It was learnt that the problem had been reported by the farmers from across the state. Sources revealed that the department had constituted a team to check the fields. The department had also summoned the company that had supplied the seeds which were provided at Rs 730 per kg to the farmers. Onion is produced in lower reaches of Hamirpur, Kangra, Solan, Mandi, Bilaspur, part of Kullu and Chamba districts.

Archana Devi, the officer dealing in the purchase of the seeds, said the reports of non-germination of seeds were received and inquiry had been initiated.

Yudhbir Singh Pathania, Deputy Director, Agriculture, said a team had come from headquarters to investigate the issue and matter was still under investigation.

Deshraj, Director, Agriculture said the matter was under investigation hence the department was waiting for the reports of experts.

Surprisingly, no one was able to comment on how the loss to thousands of farmers would be compensated.

Supplier firm summonededitorial@tribune.com

Our Correspondent

UNA, December 18

The Una district administration today handed over an additional 10 kanals of land for the PGI Chandigarh satellite centre at Malahat village in Una district, which will be used for constructing an approach road to the proposed hospital.

Revenue record of the land, measuring about 171 m long and 24 m wide, was formally handed over by Additional Deputy Commissioner Arindham Chaudhary to Dr Arun Alok Chakravarty, head of the team from the PGI, Chandigarh. The team inspected the site and took possession of the land.

The ADC said the PGI authorities have already been handed over the possession of 402 kanal of land in Malahat village near Una city for construction of the satellite hospital here.

He said the authorities had demanded a direct road approach from the Una-Chandigarh highway. It is learned that the administration had approached some private land owners, who obliged for the sake of development.

The satellite hospital of the PGI was announced by Union Health Minister JP Nadda during his Una visit more than two years ago.editorial@tribune.com

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, December 17

With no check on the illegal dumping of solid waste near Sukhna nullah adjoining the HPMC at Parwanoo, which is threatening the water quality of the Ghaggar, officials of the pollution control board today demanded deployment of police force to check the activity.

The nullah is a tributary of the Ghaggar and the dumping is adversely affecting the quality of water. The water has a high coliform bacteria count, which is an indication of the contamination of water. Even fish could not thrive in the contaminated water.

With most septic tanks in Parwanoo being under-capacity, the sewage overflows and ends up into the nullah. MC officials as well as Himuda have been directed to take remedial steps but little has, however, been done to bring about any improvement, rued board officials.

Since the National Green Tribunal has taken a strict note of the issue, an executive committee is monitoring the water quality on a regular basis. The board is conducting water sampling on a fortnightly basis but due to inaction by the civic bodies, the water quality has not improved.

A district-level special task force under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner, Solan, has also been set up to improve the water quality of the river and checking dumping is a key step towards this initiative.

Apart from the contamination of water from septic tanks, illegal dumping of muck has become a regular feature, said boards Regional Officer Atul Parmar.

He added that a recommendation to prosecute the executive officer of the local MC had also been made to the Member Secretary as at least 30 notices had failed to yield any result. With the NGT committee also fixing accountability of officials for failing to take remedial steps in this case, this extreme step had been recommended. He added that solid waste was also surreptitiously burnt at night in the area and tractors carrying waste without any registration number were also reported to dump waste at this site.

Parwanoo MC to blameeditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 17

National vice-president of the BJP and state in charge Avinash Rai Khanna said on Monday that civilian killings were unfortunate, but people should stop interfering in anti-terror operations.

Civilian killings are unfortunate, but when people interfere in operations and try to divert the attention of the forces, mishaps are bound to happen. We can only appeal to people to let the forces do their job in eliminating terrorists and not indulge in activities like stone-throwing or cause obstruction in operations, said Khanna.

He also said Operation All-out would continue till the last terrorist was eliminated.

We had come to power in the state with an agenda of peace and development, but had to back out when things started going haywire. The NC, PDP and Congress have different agendas, which are against national interests, said Khanna.

He said under the present dispensation, the security forces were doing a great job in eliminating terrorists. We want J&K terrorism-free. Operation All-out will reach its logical end, said Khanna.

Earlier, addressing a press conference, Khanna charged the Congress with spreading lies over the Rafale deal.

He said the purchase was in the interest of national security, to which the Supreme Court had given clean verdict.

The Congress has a history of betraying the nation by compromising security-related issues. The Rafale deal was stuck in 2001 under the Congress rule, but it was delayed. The BJP took up the matter of supreme security concern and purchased the plane to give a befitting reply to Pakistan and China, said Khanna.

Besides, he said since the Supreme Court had given its verdict on all aspects of its purchase, price and partnership alliances, Congress leaders false and frivolous statements indicated that they did not respect the law of the country.

The BJP leader also charged Congress president Rahul Gandhi with releasing statement against national interest. He sought his apology and resignation as a parliamentarian.editorial@tribune.com

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 18

Giving an indication that the civilians have not been deterred from marching towards the gunfight sites despite security forces having adopted new strategies, as many as 42 civilians have been killed near the encounter sites this year.

Of the 42 civilian casualties, mostly protesters, seven youths were killed in a blast at the encounter site at Kulgam in October this year.

The highest number of civilian killings this year took place on Saturday when seven civilians were killed in alleged firing by security forces at Pulwama following a gunfight that also left three local militants and a soldier dead. Most of those killed in Pulwama had bullet wounds on head and chest.

Almost all the civilian killings at encounter sites have taken place in south Kashmir districts. Such incidents have been frequent this year as protesters have often marched towards the gunfight sites to help militants escape. However, in the past few months barring a few, most of the anti-militancy operations were concluded without civilian casualties.

The forces in past two months had deployed a strategy to avoid confrontation with the civilian population which also included carrying out anti-militancy operations before dawn or during night hours.

While the police have been repeatedly issuing advisories asking people to stay indoors during encounters between militants and security forces, these seem to have made no impact on the ground.

We have been pleading constantly to people not to move towards the encounter sites, J&K Additional Director General Police, Law and Order, Munir Khan, said.

After the high number of civilian casualties  78 last year, the forces have carved out a procedure during anti militancy operations. As per it, while the Army is mainly involved in carrying out the operation, the police and CRPF remain involved in keeping the protesters at bay.

However, observers say people thronging encounter sites show their support for the militants.

When people throng encounter sites or throw stones at the security personnel risking their lives to help militants break the security cordon, it shows there is a large support for the militants, said a political observer, Khursheed Ahmed. It is like a war. People are fighting with whatever they have stones, slogans or anger, he said.

In the aftermath of Pulwama killings, Adviser to Governor K Vijay Kumar on Sunday asked security officials to exercise restraint, so as to avoid civilian casualties.

Seven killed in blast

Of the 42 civilian casualties, mostly protesters, seven youths were killed in a blast at the encounter site at Kulgam in October this year

The highest number of civilian killings this year took place on Saturday when seven civilians were killed in alleged firing by security forces at Pulwama

Casualty count

2016 : 48

2017 : 78

2018 : 42editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 17

Days after civilian killings in south Kashmirs Pulwama, the Army on Monday asked the troops to maintain a safe, secure and peaceful environment for the people of Kashmir.

The directions were issued by Northern Command chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh during his interaction with field commanders in Kashmir.

Lauding the excellent synergy among all security forces, he asked all ranks to maintain a safe, secure and peaceful environment for the awaam of Kashmir, said an Army spokesman quoting the Northern Command chief.

Earlier, General Ranbir arrived here to review security. He was briefed by Chinar Corps GOC Lt Gen AK Bhatt at Badami Bagh cantonment on the overall situation and major operational, informational, logistic and administrative aspects pertaining to the Corps.

They also visited the forward areas in the frontier districts of Kupwara and Baramulla, where the Northern Command chief was briefed by the commanders on ground on operational preparedness.

During his interaction with the troops, General Ranbir lauded their professionalism, sharp vigil along the Line of Control and high morale and exhorted them to remain alert for any eventuality, said the spokesman.

Later in the day, the Northern Command chief visited hinterland formations in south Kashmir and was briefed about the current situation and recent counter-terrorist operations. General Ranbir complimented the troops for eliminating the terrorist leadership from south Kashmir and dedication to duty.

Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader held in Kishtwar

Doda: After a crackdown on terror activities, the police arrested an overground worker (OGW) in Kishtwar on Monday. Noor Mohammed, alias Fayaz Malik, of the Fiqsoo area in Doda was wanted in a militancy case in Kishtwar. He is a self-styled leader of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, Doda. Kishtwar SSP Rajinder Kumar Gupta said, The OGW was active in the process of radicalising youth to join militancy. He had close links with Qamar-ul-Zaan, a terrorist recently arrested in UP, and local militant Usama-bin-Javed. OCeditorial@tribune.com

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 17

The J&K Police on Monday foiled the separatists march towards the Armys 15 Corps Headquarters in the Badami Bagh cantonment in the summer capital.

While the authorities had imposed restrictions in many parts of Srinagar, including the area around the 15 Corps Headquarters, all the roads leading to the Badami Bagh cantonment were blocked by the forces to prevent any protest march. The Army on Sunday had appealed to people to stay away from the march.

Restrictions were imposed as a precautionary measure to avoid any untoward incident, an official said. The situation remained peaceful baring a few minor incidents.

The joint resistance leadership of the separatists had called a three-day shutdown till December 17 and a protest march to the Badami Bagh cantonment against the killing of seven civilians in Pulwama, following a gunfight that left three militants and a soldier dead.

On Monday, two key separatist leaders Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik were detained and taken into preventive custody by the police when they tried to defy the restrictions and march towards the Army Headquarters.

Malik, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman, tried to march towards the Badami Bagh cantonment along with his supporters, which included women, but was detained near Lal Chowk. Brief clashes erupted after Malik was taken into custody, eyewitnesses said.

Meanwhile, Mirwaiz was detained when he came out of his Nigeen residence and tried to take part in the march.

Kashmir has been tense since Saturday after civilians were killed allegedly in the forces firing.

Day 3: Net restored, trains suspendededitorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 17

Taking cognisance of a petition alleging that the standard operating procedure was not followed during the encounter at Sirnoo village of Pulwama district, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Monday directed the government authorities to furnish a factual report about the incident.

Seven civilians were killed and over 36 persons were injured in the firing by security forces on the protesters at Sirnoo village on December 15. The protesters had thronged a site of encounter between the security forces and militants. In the gun battle, three ultras and a soldier were killed.

A notice, along with a copy of complaint, (is being issued) to the Commissioner-Secretary, home department; J&K DGP; Pulwama DC and Pulwama SSP for submitting a factual, detailed report in the matter by or before the next date of hearing, the SHRC said in its order on Monday.

In the petition filed by human rights activist M Ahsan Untoo, it has been alleged that the standard operating procedure was not followed during the encounter, adding that the perpetrators behind the civilian killings be brought to the book.

The petitioner has further alleged that the government forces, comprising Army, J&K Police and the CRPF, opened fire on protesters in Pulwama with an intention to kill as the doctors in Pulwama told the reporters that most of the civilians had died of bullet injuries in head, neck and chest.

The police and security personnel fired above the waist and all the civilians killed got firearm injuries above their waist. Four civilians, who are presently battling for life (in a hospital), are having firearm injuries on different parts of their body that too above the waist, the petition said, adding this clearly indicates the intention of the forces to kill the protesters.

Amnesty India for independent probe

Srinagar: Stating that a worrying pattern of excessive use of force against civilians by security forces is emerging in Kashmir, the human rights watchdog, Amnesty India, has called for a full and independent probe into the Pulwama incident. The Pulwama killings is an unfortunate addition to a series of alleged human rights violations by security forces in J&K. The authorities must conduct a full and independent probe into the incident and those responsible must be prosecuted in a civilian court of law, Asmita Basu, programmes director, Amnesty India, said in a statement.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 18

In a desperate move to save an ailing lake in Srinagar, Army men have joined efforts to clean up the Dal Lake, which is at the heart of Kashmirs tourism industry.

An official of the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) said 100 soldiers were working for the past two days to clean up the lake, which is facing an existential crisis due to the outgrowth of lilies and weeds.

The soldiers start the exercise of removing lily patches from the lake early morning when the temperatures are still sub-zero. The uprooted lilies are collected in boats and dumped on the banks.

On social media, a Netizen described the Armys intervention to clean up the lake as the proof of the failure of politicians, bureaucracy and the administration.

The LAWDA official said the soldiers come with 20 boats to perform the operation clean-up. The soldiers are not trained to this and they asked for 20 skilled labourers, who are now guiding them, the official said.

The lake, which receives perennial high-altitude glacial melt and run-off from a catchment spread over more than 350 sqkm, has a total area of 25.76 sqkm and is the focus of continued conservation efforts.

The increased human interference over the decades and the slow and unscientific conservation efforts in the past have resulted in continuous degradation of the lake with entry of sewage and high-nutrient load posing a major challenge to its eco-system.

The water expanse of the lake covered by lilies is estimated to be 6 sqkm. The LAWDA launched a major clean-up drive of the lake in July and pressed into service nearly 1,000 skilled and unskilled labourers to uproot lilies and another 500 for deweeding. The official said 1.5 sqkm of lily patches have so far been uprooted in the past six months.

Rs 759 crore spent, but little to showeditorial@tribune.com

Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 17

CPM chief Sitaram Yechury on Monday expressed concern over the deteriorating condition in the Kashmir valley, and attributed it to the faulty policy of the Centre regarding the state.

He pitched for the government engaging all stakeholders in Kashmir to reach a durable peace.

It is unfortunate that seven civilians were killed in the firing by security forces on unarmed protesters. This is unacceptable, Yechury said referring to the civilian deaths at the site of an encounter between security forces and terrorists in Pulwama on Saturday.

Large crowds had reportedly descended at the encounter site in support of the terrorists during the operations by the security forces.

The situation in Kashmir was discussed by CPMs central committee during it two-day meeting here, which concluded on Sunday.

Killing terrorists is understandable, but killing of civilians in unacceptable, he said.

Over 300 civilians have died in the past three years. Unfortunately, no inquiry has been conducted into these deaths and no one responsible has been held accountable. This situation will only lead to further alienation of the people, he added.

He claimed the BJP was interested in the continuation of such situation to aid its larger political agenda of communal polarisation in view of the general election.

He said Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had led an all-party delegation to the state to talk to a cross-section of the people to explore measures to bring normalcy in the state.

After the delegations visit, it was decided to engage local populace as part of confidence-building measures. The government did not take the matter to the logical conclusion, Yechury added.shalender@tribune.com

The Ministry of Finance has come up with this scholarship to assist young citizens and help their family from the clutches of poverty by excelling in academics.

Eligibility: Class XII pass or appearing candidates between 2014 and 2019 session, who are appearing for engineering and medical examination, with minimum 55 per cent score in AIYSEE 2019, can apply for this call.

Details: Varying scholarship award to medical and engineering students with varying time duration, depending on the course of the program. Laptops, kindle and tablets will be given to the ones meeting the cut-offs.

Deadline: December 21, 2018

How to apply: Online only.

Short Source URL: http://www.b4s.in/JC/AIY8

College Board India Scholars Programme

Students who take the SAT for university admission in India, post Class XII, are given an opportunity to avail the benefits under this invite. The call offers a free SAT test in December 2018 and full tuition scholarship at leading Indian universities.

Eligibility: For a free SAT in December 2018, the applicant must be an Indian resident with annual family income less than INR 6L and must be in class 12. To be considered eligible for full college tuition scholarship, the applicant's family income should be below INR 4L p.a. and is in class 12 in the current academic session. The student must have performed good in SAT to secure admission in the partnered Indian universities.

Details: Free SAT examination worth Rs 7,000 and full tuition scholarship for any of the partnered Indian universities.

Deadline: February 8, 2019

How to apply: Online only.

Short Source URL: http://www.b4s.in/JC/CBI1

JN Tata Endowment

Graduate candidates, who aspire to study abroad with post-graduation, doctoral or post-doctoral programmes from any stream from a recognized university or institution, can apply for this scholarship.

Eligibility: The applicant must have secured at least 60 per cent in the last academic examination. Mid-career professionals are also welcomed under this call, of age not older than 45 years, with a good academic record and experience in their fields.

Details: This one-time loan scholarship ranges between Rs 1,00,000 and Rs 10,00,000. The selected scholars may also be recommended for a gift scholarship up to Rs 7,50,000 and partial travel assistance up to Rs 50,000 from allied Trusts, as decided.

Deadliney: March 11, 2019 till 12.00 noon

How to apply: Online only.

Short Source URL: http://www.b4s.in/JC/JNT5

 Inputs courtesy: www.buddy4study.comROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Women engineering graduates, who are interested in pursuing their career in cyber security, are invited by Microsoft & Data Security Council of India (DSCI) to apply for this scholarship, and be a part of their four-month free training programme. The programme shall also provide placement assistance. The scholarship opportunity is applicable for the Cyber Shikshaa centers located at Noida, UP and Mohali, Punjab.

Eligibility: Applicants, who have done graduation in Engineering (any stream), or MCA, or MSc (IT or CS) or

MTech and are aged between 21 and 26 years with annual family income not exceeding Rs 7 lakh, are eligible to

apply for this scholarship.

Details: Financial aid for training, through Microsoft CSR Programme; placement assistance and an opportunity to learn and get mentored through course designed by industry experts in cyber security.

Deadline: December 25, 2018

How to apply: Online.

Short Source URL: http://www.b4s.in/jc/CSS22

Education scheme for SC students

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, is inviting applications from students belonging to SC category pursuing full-time degree course from recognised institute.

Eligibility: Applicants, whose annual family income is not more than Rs 6 lakh, will be considered eligible for this scholarship.

Details: Full tuition fee and non-refundable charges of Rs 2 lakh p.a. for studying in private sector institution, Rs 3.72 lakh p.a. for the private sector flying clubs for commercial pilot training, Rs 2,220 p.m. for lodging, Rs 3,000 p.a. for stationery expenses and Rs 45,000 for computer and accessories.

Deadline: December 15, 2018

How to apply: Online.

Short Source URL: http://www.b4s.in/jc/TCE1

National means-cum-merit scholarship

The Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development, is offering scholarship to meritorious students of Class IX, who are impoverished.

Eligibility: Students, who have scored at least 55 per cent or equivalent in Class VII and VIII with annual family income not exceeding Rs 1.50 lakh, are eligible for this scholarship. 5 per cent relaxation is given to SC/ST students.

Details: Selected students will be awarded Rs 6000 per annum by the Central Government

Deadline: December 15, 2018

How to apply: Online.

Short Source URL: http://www.b4s.in/jc/NMC5

INSPIRE scholarship

The Department of Science and Technology (DST), is inviting meritorious students, who are undertaking BSc,

BS, Int.MSc or MS degree course in Basic and Natural Science to apply for this scholarship.

Eligibility: Class XII 12 with aggregate marks within the top 1 per cent of the class and among 1000 rank holders in JEE of IIT or AIPMT.

Details: Monthly scholarship of Rs 5,000, for a year and mentorship fee of Rs 20,000 per annum.

Deadline: December 15, 2018

How to apply: Online.

Short Source URL: http://www.b4s.in/jc/ISF18

 Inputs courtesy: www.buddy4study.comshalender@tribune.com

Immigrant-friendly and business-friendly policies, high quality of life, and a low crime rate are just the tip of the iceberg of advantages that New Zealand offers to entrepreneurs, start-ups and job seekers moving here.

New Zealand has a GDP of $179 billion and is a relatively smaller country with a population of 4.7 billion. A leader in the export of honey, the prime industries in New Zealand include agriculture, horticulture, fishing, and mining.

What is in store for start-up job seekers?

New Zealand has set a brilliant example by creating a big start-up scene with a population of less than 5 million people. The countrys ecosystem stands at an average valuation of $4.7 million and comprises of close to 600 start-ups.

The country is one of the top ranked ones on the happiness index and has a lower cost of living compared to countries like Canada and Australia. With not much of a difference in the average salaries of workers in the two countries, New Zealand still manages to take the lead as a preferred country to migrate. The country has lower rents, grocery prices, restaurant prices, and consumer prices. There is a difference of minimum 3 per cent in these categories with the maximum difference in rents.

Happening sectors

Technology-based start-ups in New Zealand have found more luck than others. These sectors have also created a considerable number of jobs.

Agtech and new food: A strong agricultural sector and the increased funds to the industry have created a fertile business environment for agtech and new food start-ups in New Zealand. These start-ups have grown by leveraging the strong foundation the country has laid as a leading agro exporter.

Health and life sciences: New Zealand is a wellspring of biotech talent and is rightly enough one of the top five countries in terms of biotech potential. The country boasts of the highest concentration of graduates and doctorate holders in life sciences in the world.

Government support

The government has met the entrepreneurial community halfway in creating a high-impact ecosystem by offering a special visa for entrepreneurs. With sufficient funds and the right eligibility criteria, entrepreneurs wanting to set up their start-ups in New Zealand can enter the country with this visa. The visa permits entry for one year for setting up of the business and extends the validity to an additional 24 months if the business has been set up in the first year.

New Zealand has topped the charts in the areas of bureaucratic transparency, minimal red tape for entering the country, and business-friendly characteristics. Moving to New Zealand can be a rewarding deal for start-ups and start-up job seekers.

According to the official website of the immigration department of New Zealand, Indian job seekers can apply for any of the following visas if they have a job offer:

Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa

Essential Skills Work Visa

Specific Purpose Work Visa

Long Term Skill Shortage List Work Visa

Long Term Skill Shortage List Resident Visa

Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa

Those without a job offer in hand can apply for any of the following category of visas:

Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa

Partner of a Student Work Visa

Business Visitor Visa

Partner of a worker work visa

Silver Fern Job Search Work Visa

 Yostartups, a global pre-accelerator for startups & entrepreneurs.

twitter @yostartupsSudhirendar Sharma

Sudhirendar Sharma

NOTHING could be more unreasonable to imagine than blood in blue colour, and yet it evokes collective embarrassment for the entire family on seeing a sanitary napkin advertisement on TV. As soon as the visuals pop on the screen, the channel is quickly changed. This is how society tackles head on the self-inflicted shame imposed on menstruation. Despite half of the worlds population menstruating for large periods of their lives, a culture of shame and taboo has been allowed to persist.

I find it hard to agree that part of the blame must rest with women who have hidden their perfectly natural bodily function, punishing themselves for being women. Breanne Fahs, a menstrual activist, writer, and a professor of gender studies at Arizona University, argues that the lack of a culture of menstruation could be the cause. She questions why this biological activity is viewed as a disgusting aspect of a womans life, and why it remains a subject less worthy of social and psychological enquiry. Isnt the missing public discourse on the subject a reason for it being a taboo, and somewhat silly?

Had it not been for the recent movie Padman, the subject would have continued to be under wraps. The film presented the idea of feminine hygiene, but the script did not stretch beyond the idea of fixing womens troublesome bodies.

Why is menstruation not viewed as an event of joyous rhythm? It may sound radical, but we should undermine institutions that deplete and eradicate the natural cycle of human life in favour of sexism and profit. In the West, coming-of-age narratives are beginning to challenge the entrenched notions of silence and shame. These stories on defiance are rewriting the long history of panic surrounding menstruation. The core argument is that if women dont defy taboos themselves, they will remain trapped within the boundaries of patriarchy.

The emphasis of the culturally-defying narratives, wherein women have come out in the public to share their monthly experiences is that the body, after all, absorbs, reflects, and mirrors the fundamental social forces of our times. This new genre has begun to challenge the gendered notion and demonstrates the potential for menstruation as a radical form of feminist resistance. From menstrual art to menstrual stunts, from menstrual e-magazines to menstrual graffiti, there are provocative initiatives that view menstrual activism as a game-changer to make the inevitable monthly event playful.

From women being ostracised during that time of the month to young girls shying away from school to avoid any embarrassment, restricting the function to just a case of hygiene serves limited purpose. Unless it disrupts the boundaries of patriarchy, and underscores the reality of misogyny, the case for writing a new story to destroy conventional narratives will remain an open invitation.uttara@tribuneindia.com

New Delhi, December 18

Aadhaar-issuing authority UIDAI is proposed to assume a regulatory role with enhanced power to take enforcement actions on misuse of the national biometric ID and impose stiff penalties for violations such as failure to obtain consent for authentication and in case of data breaches, a top source said.

In the backdrop of the landmark Supreme Court verdict that imposed restrictions on use of Aadhaar by private companies, the Cabinet on Monday evening approved amending the Aadhaar Act to enhance powers of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), and ensure stringent safeguards against any violation of norms. The amendments proposed are in compliance of the recent order of the apex court, the source pointed out.

Also, the Telegraph Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) rules will be amended to provide for voluntary use of Aadhaar for obtaining SIMs and opening bank accounts.

The amendments will go to Parliament for approval. The proposed amendments in Aadhaar Act are also in sync with the Srikrishna panel recommendations that had asserted that UIDAI should not only be autonomous in its decision-making, but also be vested with powers akin to traditional regulators for enforcement actions.

The suggested amendments, which will be placed before Parliament, will give UIDAI more powers to crackdown on violation, the source said adding that the Section 57 of Aadhaar Act -- that previously allowed sharing of data with private entities and was subsequently struck down by the apex court -- is proposed to be removed altogether as part of the proposed changes.

"Against the UIDAI orders, there will be provision to file appeal before TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal), and against the orders of TDSAT an appeal can be made in the SC," the source said citing the planned changes.

The amendments talk about enhanced powers to UIDAI to issue directions, and also impose penalty if the directions are not followed.

Entities that can request for authentication will primarily belong to two categories, those mandated by law made by Parliament, and those entities "working in the interest of the State", for which the rules will be framed by the Centre in consultation with the UIDAI. Such authentication will be on a voluntary basis.

Other proposed amendments include specific provision for allowing use of Virtual IDs, QR (Quick response) code, and offline verification modes, as well as giving option for opt out of Aadhaar database after a person attains the age of 18 years.

The Aadhaar Act amendments suggested by the Srikrishna panel included penalty for failure to obtain consent for authentication or offline verification (up to three year imprisonment or fine of upto Rs 10,000); penalty for unauthorised use of core biometric information (imprisonment between 3-10 years and fine of up to Rs 10,000) amongst others. PTImonicakchauhan@gmail.com

New Delhi, December 18

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought police's response on a bail plea of the husband of a flight attendant, who allegedly committed suicide in July.

Justice Mukta Gupta issued a notice to the Delhi Police and asked it to file a status report in the matter.

The court listed the matter for further hearing on January 14.

Anissia (39), who was married to Mayank Singhvi for two years, worked with a German airline. She allegedly jumped from the terrace of her house in Panchsheel Park in south Delhi on July 13.

Mayank rushed her to a nearby hospital, where she was declared dead. He was arrested on July 16.

He sought bail saying he has been in custody since July.

The court also took on record a portion of transcript of WhatsApp conversations between Mayank and his mother-in-law, which was placed before it by the man's counsel.

The high court had on November 20 granted bail to the parents of Mayank, saying the elderly couple were primarily accused of instigating their son against her and not of demanding dowry.

Anissia's family alleged that her husband physically abused her and often demanded money. The family claimed before the trial court that her death was not suicide but murder.

Before jumping off the terrace, Anissia sent a message to her husband that she would kill herself, the police had said earlier.

Mayank, a software engineer in Gurgaon, told the police that they had regular fights due to "compatibility issues". They had an argument on the day of the incident as well following which she jumped from the terrace, police said.

The victim's family had also given a complaint to police on June 27, saying Mayank would be responsible if anything happens to their daughter, police said. PTIamansharma@tribunemail.com

Guwahati, December 18

The BJP government in Assam has approved Rs 600-crore farm loan waiver which it said will benefit around eight lakh farmers of the state, a move that comes in the backdrop of debt woes of farmers becoming a major issue in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting held on Monday night. Assam is the third state to waive farm loans in the last few days after the newly formed Congress governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh announced it on Monday.

States which have earlier waived farm loans are Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

According to the Assam government scheme, it will write off 25 per cent loan of farmers up to a maximum of Rs 25,000 of all farm debts, state government spokesperson and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said.

The waiver will be for all the loans taken through Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and from PSU banks, he said.

The government has also sanctioned an interest relief scheme which will enable around 19 lakh farmers to take loans at zero interest from the next financial year, he said.

"The debt relief scheme for farmers will waive 25 per cent of all loans taken till now. The benefit will be up to a maximum of Rs 25,000. This scheme will immediately benefit around eight lakh farmers," he said.

Due to these schemes there will be an additional burden of Rs 600 crore on the state exchequer this fiscal. "For the next fiscal, we will have to do budgetary provision for the schemes," Patowary said.

The cabinet also approved subsidy up to Rs 10,000 to incentivise farmers if they take loan from KCC.

"There will be interest relief scheme of up to four per cent for farmers. There will be interest relief from the state government so that farmers get crop loan at zero interest from next financial year," Patowary said, adding that around 19 lakh farmers across the state are expected to take the benefit of it.

The Congress, Left and other parties have been targeting the BJP-led central government over the issue of farm distress. The principal opposition made farm loan waiver a major electoral issue in the recent Assembly polls in which it wrested power from the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday that he will not let Prime Minister Narendra Modi sleep until all farms loans have been waived, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Sunday blamed the Congress for the agrarian crisis in the country.

The newly-formed Congress governments in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh had waived farm loans within hours of being sworn in.

In other decisions, the Assam cabinet enhanced the state Freedom Fighters' pension from Rs 20,000 to Rs 21,000.

The meeting also approved the formation of a Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council to help the growth of MSME sector in the state, the minister said.

The government also sanctioned Rs 32.72 crore loan from National Cooperative Development Corporation for revival of a jute mill at Nagaon, he added. - PTIeditorial@tribune.com

New Delhi, December 17

The average of students getting campus placements from management, technical and engineering institutions is less than 60 per cent, Parliament was informed on Monday.

The information was shared by Union Minister of State for HRD Satya Pal Singh in response to a written question in the Lok Sabha.

As per the placement data of students available with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), average campus placement of the graduates from management, technical and engineering institutions has not reached up to 60 per cent, Singh said.

To encourage 100 per cent placements to graduates, AICTE has launched outcome-based model curriculum for UG and PG-level courses in engineering and management programmes to make it industry oriented. Institutions have now been made responsible for arranging internships of students so as to enhance their employability, he added.  PTIamansharma@tribunemail.com

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 18

As Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce loan waiver for farmers and newly-anointed chief ministers of his party went on a waiver spree, the BJP called it all a "publicity stunt for vote bank politics".

But it seems the Modi government is looking for ways to counter the Congress' populist move and its aftereffects. Expectations now are that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley may announce some big sops or budgetary provision for the agrarian community around or in the interim Budget/ Vote on Account before ethe Lok Sabha elections. Interestingly, while BJP leaders here have derided Congress chief ministers on the issue, its BJP's Odisha unit has promised to waive-off farm loans in the state if the voted to power in the 2019 Assembly elections. The announcement was made by BJP state president Basant Panda at a press conference today.

Odisha polls along with the Lok Sabha elections.

Though Finance Minister Jaitley continues to hold on his earlier stance that a loan waiver is not a viable or permanent solution to the problem, losses in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Telangana have put pressure on the BJP. Farmer distress has been singled out as a major problem, giving rise to speculations that the Centre may dole out some major sops between now and elections which the FM can highlight it in his Budget speech

The customary Vote on Account, or the interim Budget, in February will be the last chance for the BJP-led government to woo back rural/agriculture communities, say sources.

Ram Temple echoes in Parliamentary party meeting

In the BJP's parliamentary party meeting, the Ram temple echoed with some MPs asking when it will be constructed to which Home Minister Rajnath Singh said everyone wanted it and asked them to be patient. BJP sources said Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Ravindra Kushwaha and Hari Narayan Rajbhar raised the issue, drawing support from several others.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief Amit Shah were not present in the meeting.

Right wing organisations, including the Sangh parivaar, have been demanding early construction of the temple, pitching for a law to enable it. Though the BJP agrees with their sentiments, it has so far not come out in support of an enabling legislation.

A section within the party, however, believes paving way for construction of a temple at Ayodhya will boost their prospects in coming general elections.

Meanwhile, Singh asserted the opposition has no leader to match Modi's popularity and asked party MPs to work for the re-election in 2019. "We are far ahead of the opposition, circumstances are very good for us," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said, quoting him.

He also said the passage of the triple talaq bill was a top priority for the government. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad briefed party MPs on the Supreme Court judgement on the Rafale issue and the conviction of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in an anti-Sikh riot case-issues that reverberated in both Houses of Parliament today.rchopra@tribunemail.com

Raipur, December 18

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has said his government will waive short-term agricultural loans of farmers and hike the MSP for paddy to Rs 2,500, fulfilling promises made by the Congress ahead of the state Assembly polls.

The state government would also set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the biggest Naxal attack in the country on political leaders in Jhiram valley, he said.

Soon after taking oath, Baghel on Monday evening chaired his maiden cabinet meeting at the new secretariat office in Atal Nagar (Naya Raipur) where the decisions were taken.

The short-term crop loans of over Rs 6,100 crore of around 16.65 lakh farmers drawn from cooperative banks and Chhattisgarh Gramin Bank as on November 30, 2018, would be completely waived, Baghel told a press conference at Samvad Bhawan on Monday evening.

He was accompanied by his two newly-inducted ministers--TS Singh Deo and Tamradhawaj Sahu--and Chief Secretary Ajay Singh.

The cabinet also decided to examine the short-term agriculture loans taken by farmers from notified commercial banks and accordingly, the loans of eligible farmers would be waived, the chief minister said.

The step of loan waiver would help in the uplift and economic and social empowerment of farmers, he said.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi had promised that if elected, the party government in the state would waive loans of farmers and hike the MSP of paddy.

Baghel said within hours of his governments formation, these two promises were implemented.

On the MSP for paddy, he said it is being procured through primary cooperative societies at Rs 1,750 per quintal, a rate fixed by the central government. The remaining Rs 750 per quintal would be borne by the state government, he said.

If the amount of Rs 300 per quintal, which is currently being given as a bonus, is merged with it (Rs 750), only a burden of Rs 450 per quintal remains, he said.

Therefore, the state government would bear the burden of Rs 750 per quintal and procure paddy at Rs 2,500 per quintal, he said.

He also said a SIT would be formed to probe the Naxal attack on May 25, 2013 in Bastar districts Jhiram valley in which 29 people, including senior Congress leaders, were killed.

After the incident, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had conducted a probe and submitted its report to court.

But it did not cover the conspiracy angle into the incident, which had wiped out the state Congress leadership, he said.

Asked about his governments strategy to tackle Naxalism, Baghel said the government would hold talks with people and tribals who were most affected by it and then formulated a policy to deal with it.

The previous government had tried to solve the problem through guns, which is not a proper way, he said.

This is a socio-economic-political problem and should be dealt with accordingly. We would have to first talk to these people and take them into confidence and accordingly, draw a policy to tackle the menace, he said.

To a query on Congresss poll promise of complete liquor ban, Baghel said he is committed towards it but first he had to take the opinion of people from different communities and study the similar step taken by other states.

The state also has scheduled areas where gram sabhas have to take decisions. We have to talk to various people and then study the bans imposed on liquor in other states following which the decision will be taken, he added.

The chief minister said issues raised by the media would be addressed effectively by his government.

He said corruption and irregularities would not be tolerated at any cost in the state, and asked government officials and employees to discharge their duties towards people with honesty. PTIharinder@tribunemail.com

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 17

Partially relieved by the conviction of Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Kaur, the prime complainant in the case against the Congress leader, today said her fight for justice was far from over and she would struggle till the last breath of her life.

I want Sajjan Kumar to hang. I have seen my son burn to death in front of my eyes. And this was done at the behest of Sajjan Kumar. I will go to the Supreme Court but I must say for the first time today I feel this is my own country. Till now I felt Indian laws were not for the 1984 riot survivors, said Jagdish Kaur, flanked by cousin Jagsher Singh, both witnesses in the case the HC decided today.

She still remembers the afternoon of November 1, 1984, when communally charged mobs incited by Sajjan Kumar attacked her house in Delhi Cantonments Raj Nagar from all sides. They had sariyas, other lethal weapons and pounced upon my son Gurpreet. My husband was dragged and his head crushed till he dropped dead. Gurpreet ran some distance before he was set on fire, remembers Jagdish Kaur, wiping her tears.

She said after shifting her sons body back into the house, she went to the police post to get help for cremation. I still remember what the ASI said. He said bhag yahan se, abhi to aur marenge, recalls Kaur, who used furniture in the house to perform the last rites.

Even today Jagdish Kaur thanks her stars for sending her three small daughters and a son to a Hindu neighbours house for shelter.

Not all Hindus wanted to kill Sikhs. These were only a few politically motivated crowds that wanted to earn brownie points in the eyes of their masters. I was saved by a Hindu, so were my cousin Jagdish Kaurs four children, remembers Jagsher, who lost three brothers to the carnage on November 2, 1984.

It was November 2, a day after Jagdish Kaur lost her husband and 18-year-old son Gurpreet, a gold medallist in BSc. I had gone out of the house to park my bike when the crowds attacked. I ran and hid in a Hindu neighbours house. My brothers  Narinderpal Singh, Raghuvinder Singh and Kuldip Singh  were killed. The fight for justice has taken unbelievably long and its not yet over, Jagsher Singh, now based in Gurdaspur, said.

For her part, Jagdish Kaur, who moved to Amritsar after riots, withstood threats and inducements to see this day. She slammed the Congress for appointing Kamal Nath, allegedly involved in the riots, as CM of Madhya Pradesh, saying, I am not surprised. Sajjan Kumar also got top positions. This is their character. They have no value for human lives.gspannu7@gmail.com

Lahore, December 18

Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed has donned the hat of a column writer for a leading Urdu newspaper, stirring a debate among journalists as to how the media house allowed the head of a banned terror group to write on the Kashmir issue and the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.

Saeed was declared a global terrorist by the US and the UN after the 2008 Mumbai attack and was put under house arrest in November 2008 but freed by a court some months later.

He carries a USD 10 million American bounty on his head for his role in terror activities.

Illegal aggression of India on East Pakistan... Why Pakistan is avoiding advocating for Kashmiri people written by Professor Hafiz Mohammad Saeed appeared in Daily Dunya (an Urdu publication of Dunya media group of Mian Amer Mahmood) on Sunday.

The article carries a picture of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and some young men holding guns in Dhaka.

Allowing the head of a banned terror group to contribute for a known media house has stirred a debate with journalists questioning whether the company in question allowed Saeed to write due to some direct links with the owner or under someones pressure.

A court has ordered the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to ensure that the Pakistani media does not display Saeeds pictures.

In his article, Saeed said Indira hatched a conspiracy to dismember Pakistan lamenting the then Pakistani rulers for their failure.

Saeed has extensively explained the role of India in the creation of Bangladesh and expressed his opinion as to why Kashmir is important for Pakistan.

He said Pakistan should support the Kashmiri people.

India has been demanding Pakistan not only to arrest the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder and try him in the Mumbai attack case but also punish all those involved in this carnage.

Saeed launched the Milli Muslim League (MML) party in August 2017 with a so-called mission to implement the ideology of Pakistan in accordance with the 1973 Constitution.

In April this year, the US placed the MML on its list of foreign terror organisations for its links with the LeT.

The government has said that the MML is an off-shoot of Saeeds Jamat-ud Dawah (JuD), which has been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including some Americans.  PTIgspannu7@gmail.com

Bhopal, December 17

Hours after taking oath of office on Monday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath cleared the proposal of waiving farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh as promised by Congress president Rahul Gandhi ahead of assembly polls.

After Nath signed the relevant file, Rajesh Rajora, Principal Secretary, Farmers Welfare and Agriculture Development Department, issued an order in this regard.

The order stated, Madhya Pradesh Government has taken a decision to write off short-term crop loan of eligible farmers up to the limit of Rs two lakh, as on March 31, 2018, from nationalised and cooperative banks.

Addressing a public rally on June 7 at Pipliya Mandi in Mandsaur district, Gandhi had announced his party would waive farm loans within 10 days of coming to power in the state.

Here Kamal Nath (MP Congress president) and Jyotiraditya Scindia (the state Congress poll campaign committee chairman) are sitting. The day the Congress comes to power in MP, count 10 days, I say with guarantee that farmer loans will be waived within 10 days. It wont take even the eleventh day, Gandhi had said at the rally.

Later, this announcement was included in the Congress manifesto, titled Vachan Patra.

The Congress president had reiterated the farm loan waiver promise repeatedly during the campaigning for the November 28 assembly elections.

Soon after Nath signed the file, Gandhi tweeted: CM, Madhya Pradesh, waives farm loans. 1 done. 2 to go.

Six farmers were killed in police firing at Pipliya Mandi during an agitation in June last year.

The Congress won 114 assembly seats and secured the support of seven more MLAs  SP (1) and BSP (2) and four independents  to cross the majority mark of 116 in the 230-member Assembly.

Nath was sworn in as the 18th chief minister of Madhya Pradesh this afternoon.

Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office to the 72-year-old Congress veteran who was at the forefront in steering the party to a win in the assembly polls.  PTIharinder@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, December 17

The Indian Air Force created history today as it flew an AN-32 using a bio-fuel blended with normal aviation turbine fuel (ATF). The transport plane, which routinely drops supplies, men and equipment to Leh, Siachen-base camp, Kargil and Srinagar, took a 45-minute sortie from Chandigarh using green fuel.

The plane was flown by experimental test pilots and a test engineer from IAFs aircraft and systems testing establishment (ASTE).

The project is a combined effort of the IAF, DRDO, Directorate General Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) and Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum.

This opens the possibility of having a continued use of bio-fuel in military aircraft. The IAF may decide to test other aircraft like helicopter and fighter jets, significantly reducing the oil import bill and also encouraging framers in arid area to grow more plants that yield tree-based oil.

The IAF Chief, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, had in July announced their intention to promote bio-fuels.

Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (retd), Additional Director General of the Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS)  a think-tank  said: It is the first step. It can help reduce crude imports. However, many more steps are needed to have an efficient logistics trail.  TNSamansharma@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, December 17

The Air Force flew its first military flight, an AN-32 transporter aircraft, using blended bio-jet fuel in Bengaluru Monday, a statement said.

The Experimental Test Pilots and Test Engineer from Air Force's testing establishment ASTE, flew the aircraft in a combined effort with DRDO, Directorate General Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) and CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum.

On July 27, Air Force Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa had announced intention to promote bio-jet fuel. Addressing a seminar on promoting indigenous technologies, Dhanoa had stated that Air Force intended to fly the AN-32 with 10 per cent bio-jet fuel during next year's Republic Day celebrations.

Indian Air Force carried out extensive engine tests on the ground. This is now followed by flight trials using 10 per cent bio-jet blended ATF.

"This fuel is made from Jatropha oil sourced from Chhattisgarh Biodiesel Development Authority (CBDA) and then processed at CSIR-IIP, Dehradun," the statement said.

In August, commercial airline Spicejet flew country's first ever bio-jet fuel-powered flight between Dehradun and Delhi. - PTIharinder@tribunemail.com

KV Prasad

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 17

India on Monday announced $1.4-billion financial assistance to the Maldives. Both countries agreed on the importance of maintaining peace and security in the Indian Ocean Region and not allowing territories of respective countries to be used for activities that can be harmful to each others interests.

The financial assistance will be in the form of budgetary support, currency swap and concessional line of credit to fulfil the socio-economic development programme of the Maldives. The announcement came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who arrived here on Sunday on his first overseas visit since assuming office on November 17, this year.

We held successful talks in a cordial atmosphere. We vowed to strengthen ties...We will not allow our countries to be used for activities which can be harmful to each others interests, PM Modi said in a media statement along with President Solih at the conclusion of the talks.

Both India and the Maldives agreed to strengthen cooperation to enhance maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region through coordinated patrolling and aerial surveillance, exchange of information and capacity building. On the commitment to combat terror, the two leaders agreed to increase bilateral cooperation on issues such as piracy, terrorism, organised crime, drugs and human trafficking while intensifying cooperation in training and capacity building of the Maldives Police Service and the National Defence Force.

Four pacts, including one on visa facilitation and cooperation in the Information and Communications Technology and Electronics, were signed on Monday while both sides also agreed to create institutional linkages and establish a framework for cooperation in health, especially cancer treatment, mutual legal assistance on criminal matters, investment promotion, human resource development and tourism.

During his swearing-in ceremony attended by PM Modi, President Solih listed, among his 100-day priority, to fortify historically strong relations with India that came under strain during his predecessors tenure. On Monday, he reaffirmed his governments India-First policy and commitment of working together with India. New Delhi was critical of the February 5 decision of then President Abdulla Yameen to declare Emergency and asked the government to restore credibility of the electoral and political process by releasing political prisoners.

In a special gesture, President Solih and his wife Fazna Ahmed were staying in Rashtrapati Bhawan as the guest of President Ramnath Kovind who also hosted a banquet in his honour. Earlier, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also called on President Solih.amansharma@tribunemail.com

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, December 17

Six persons, including a two-month old baby, were killed after a major fire broke out in the state-owned Employees' State Insurance Corporation Hospital at Andheri in suburban Mumbai on Monday this afternoon.

More than 100 others have been injured. While most of them were suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation, a few had jumped out of the building's windows in panic, according to officials.

While one of the victims from the hospital were declared brought dead, three died while undergoing treatment at the Seven Hills Hospital and two at the civic-run Cooper Hospital later in the evening, police said.

The other victims of the fire have been sent to public and private hospitals across the city, Mumbai's mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar told reporters outside the hospital.

Fire officials said the hospital building only had a provisional no-objection certificate from the fire department. A new of the wing of the hospital was being constructed nearby and both buildings were to be connected on all floors.

Officials said the fire may have been caused by the construction equipment used for the building the new wing of the hospital.

According to the police and fire brigade, the fire was reported at around 4.20 pm from the fourth floor of the hospital. "By 5 pm we fire was treated as Level Four and we rushed in 10 fire engines and water tankers," a fire brigade spokesman said.

Police officials said they were still in the process of identifying the victims.

Patients and relatives who throng the hospital rushed to get out and crowded the passages. "There were 166 patients admitted to the hospital and there were many relatives visiting them," a police official said. There are more than 326 beds in the hospital.

By late evening, all the people in the ground-plus-five hospital were rescued and cooling operations of the building was on, fire officials said.

Chief of Fire Brigade P S Rahangdale told reporters that the fire had broken out in the third floor of the structure. The fire brigade managed to confine the fire to the third floor though smoke had spread throughout the building, he added.editorial@tribune.com

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, December 18

Four years ago, nobody thought Congress leaders would get convicted for the massacre of Sikhs in 1984 (following the assassination of Indira Gandhi). No one believed that people would get justice, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at an event in Mumbai today.

Insisting that his was a government with a difference, Modi went on to say that the Rafale aircraft deal was done transparently. For the first time, Indias biggest court had ... given a verdict that work has been done honestly. No one thought this would take place four years ago, the PM said.

He further hit out at the Congress by dwelling on the AugustaWestland defence deal. Nobody thought four years ago that Christian Michel, the main man in the helicopter scam, would be brought to India, Modi said.

He went on to hit out at those accusing the government of corruption. We have a tendency to believe all corruption allegations against the government. Whether it is malpractice or corruption charges, the psychology has remained the same, Modi said. The PM also said the government was committed to eradicate corruption. Corruption was taken for granted in India. Chalta hai This is how things work in India, people used to say. Why should it be like this? Modi asked rhetorically.

He further said in the past nothing used to happen to companies who did not repay loans. They have always been given protection by some special people, Modi said. The PM went on to say that the government was in the process of simplifying the goods and services tax (GST). This government was trying to bring 99 per cent of things below the 18 per cent GST slab, Modi said. He claimed that the GST regime has added another 55 lakh registered enterprises to existing 65 lakh.

Modi went on to say that India had improved technologically under his government. Four years ago no one thought India would be able to launch a hundred satellite in one go. Now we are working towards Gaganyaan, he said. The PM went on to say that his government had managed to provide gas connections to all households.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 17

Not ceding any political space on the contentious issue related to the Rafale deal, the Congress and the BJP moved privilege motions in the two Houses, accusing each other of providing wrong information to the Supreme Court and Parliament on the issue.

In the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Sunil Jakhar moved a notice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for deliberately misleading the Supreme Court and Parliament in connection with the recent SC judgment on the Rafale deal.

Now, it has become clear that to defend its controversial stand on the pricing details and guidelines of the defence deal, the government was presenting wrong facts to the apex court. The basis of the Supreme Court order on Rafale deal was a report by the Comptroller and Audits General (CAG), which is non-existent and not shared with Parliaments Public Accounts Committee, alleged Jakhar.

Meanwhile, BJP MPs Anurag Thakur, Nishikant Dubey and Sanjay Jaiswal, in their privilege motion against Congress president Rahul Gandhi, sought action against him for his speech during a debate on a no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government during the Monsoon Session.

Accusing Gandhi of falsehood and misleading the House during the debate, they quoted him as saying that the UPA government had agreed to buy the aircraft at Rs 520 crore per unit, but when the BJP-led NDA government signed the deal it cost Rs 1,600 crore by magic.

The above statement is entirely untrue. We categorically assert that the price comparison given by Rahul Gandhi is a figment of imagination, incorrect and utter falsehood. It was an attempt to mislead the House, the BJP members alleged.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said he had given a breach of privilege notice against the government and, in particular, against Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad as it was the Law Ministry that gave a go-ahead for presenting the affidavit in the Supreme Court.

For the first time, a government had provided wrong information to the Supreme Court, he alleged Though the SC last week dismissed all petitions on the issue, Gandhi has stuck to his stance of corruption in the purchase of fighter jets, demanding a probe by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC).

Now it is up to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, how she chooses to take it forward. In case she admits the motions, she will be sending them to the Privileges Committee, likewise the Rajya Sabha. When Azad sought to know the status of his privilege motion against the government, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said the matter was in the court and that he was yet to examine the notice.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 18

Proceedings of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha remained disrupted for the fifth day today amid sloganeering and protests by Treasury and Opposition Benches over a range of issues, including the Rafale deal.

In the Lok Sabha, members of the Treasury Benches added to the melee while Speaker Sumitra Mahajan chided them for behaving as schoolchildren. Expected scenes played out with BJP and Congress members trading charges, displaying placards and calling each other liar and thief. While the Congress demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the jet deal, the BJP dared it to a discussion on all issues. Many BJP members raised slogans and displayed placards, demanding an apology from Congress president Rahul Gandhi on the Rafale deal. While Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh struggled to give an answer related to production of garlic in the din, BJP MPs could be seen rushing up to him and others who participated in the question to make the most of television cameras.

The House was adjourned for the day after the Speaker failed to buy peace. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who continued to press for a JPC probe into the jet deal, said all had been said on the issue during the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar again reiterated that the government was ready on all issues, virtually striking down the demand for JPC.

Mahajan, who reminded the members of their duties as Parliamentarians, said Parliament was a place for discussion and debate. The country is going to polls soon and who has done what scam will be decided by people, she added. Often I am asked how the school (Parliament) is functioning, she said, referring to the behaviour of MPs as schoolchildren. I got a message that school kids are better than us. Are we worse than school kids?

Mahajan said the members were well aware that this was an important session as everyone will face elections after this. This does not send a good message and we have to face the public, she said.

The Speaker said, The JPC is not in my hands but I can assure that the government is ready for discussion on all issues. But the ruckus prevailed with the AIADMK, the TDP and the Congress thronging the Well. The TDP members were demanding a special status for Andhra Pradesh while the AIADMK MPs were protesting against a dam on the Cauvery. In the melee, the National Institute of Design (Amendment) Bill, 2018, was introduced in the House.

In the Rajya Sabha too, Chairman Venkaiah Naidu urged the members to allow the House to function as various notices on urgent matters have been admitted for discussion. But as the protests continued, the Chairman adjourned the House for the day. (With agency inputs)

Worse than schoolchildren

"Often I am asked how the school (Parliament) is functioningI got a message that school kids are better than us. Are we (parliamentarians) worse than school kids?" Sumitra Mahajan, Lok Sabha Speakereditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 18

In the BJPs parliamentary party meeting today, the Ram temple echoed with some MPs wanting to know when it would be constructed to which Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked them to be patient.

BJP sources said Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Ravindra Kushwaha and Hari Narayan Rajbhar raised the issue, drawing support from several others. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief Amit Shah were not present at the meeting.

Right wing organisations, including the Sangh Parivar, have been demanding early construction of the temple, pitching for a law to enable it. Though the BJP agrees with their sentiments, it has so far not come out in support of an enabling legislation. A section within the party, however, believes paving way for construction of a temple at Ayodhya will boost their prospects in coming general elections.

Meanwhile, Singh asserted the opposition has no leader to match Modis popularity and asked party MPs to work for the re-election in 2019. We are far ahead of the Opposition, circumstances are very good for us, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said, quoting him.

He said the passage of the triple talaq Bill was a top priority for the government. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad briefed party MPs on the Supreme Court judgment on the Rafale issue and the conviction of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in an anti-Sikh riot case  issues that reverberated in both Houses of Parliament today.

For mutual Consent

"There are three ways for it (Ram temple)  matter is in court, it can be through mutual consent or by any decision in Parliament through 2/3rd majority. But I believe it should happen through mutual consent." Nitin Gadkari, Union MinisterROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 17

Nirpreet Kaur was only 16 when she witnessed the horrific murder of her father in Delhi Cantonments Raj Nagar area on November 1, 1984.

We were a very happy family. My father Nirmal Singh and mother Sampuran Kaur loved me a lot. Our house was located next to Raj Nagar Gurdwara that was defiled and torched by the communally charged mobs on November 1, 1984, recalls Nirpreet Kaur, one of the three witnesses against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar.

Settled in Mohali now, Nirpreet says her mother had sent her to Punjab long ago fearing for her life.

I remember every detail of that day. Then Congress MLA Mahendra Yadav and Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, who were known to my father, came to our house pretending to offer us security. But after my father let them in, they dragged him out. Two persons accompanying them tied my father up and Khokhar and Yadav beat him with iron rods before torching him to death, says Nirpreet Kaur. Happy that Sajjan Kumar and other Congress leaders had been convicted for the murder of five Sikhs, besides defiling the gurdwara in Delhi Cantonment, Nirpreet says her fight for the resettlement of anti-Sikh riot survivors will continue.

Asked which part of her journey to justice was the toughest, she says the toughest part was when those who perpetrated the crime against her family began to torture her near and dear ones to intimidate her.

They wanted me to withdraw the case. My close friend was killed and his death was shown as an accident. Then my mother was picked up and jailed. A false case under TADA was slapped against me. I spent nine years in jail, but did not go back on my word, she says, pledging to keep helping the victims of 1984 carnage.

The HC today placed on record its appreciation for the fearlessness of witnesses Nirpreet Kaur, Jagdish Kaur and Jagsher Singh, saying it was due to their testimonials that Sajjan Kumar had been brought to justice

They wanted me to withdraw the case. My close friend was killed and his death was shown as an accident. Then my mother was picked up and jailed. A false TADA case was slapped against me. I spent nine years in jail, but did not go back on my word.  Nirpreet Kaur, Witness

Police post in charge asked the mobsters: Kitne murge bhun diye

According to HC judgment: Around 9 am on November 2, 1984, when Jagdish Kaur went to lodge a report at the police post, she saw that a public meeting was taking place which was attended by local MP Sajjan Kumar. She heard him declare Sikh sala ek nahin bachna chahiye, jo Hindu bhai unko sharan deta hai, uska ghar bhi jala do aur unko bhi maro. She claimed she heard officer-in-charge of the police post ask mobsters kitne murge bhun diye.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

New Delhi, December 17

The BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal today launched a broadside against the Congress after the conviction of Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 riots case and questioned the party for picking Kamal Nath as the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, saying that Sikhs considered him culpable in the violence.

BJP national president Amit Shah alleged that there was no doubt of the complicity of the Congress and claimed that its leaders and workers went on the rampage, raising provocative slogans and murdering men in cold blood.

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley welcomed the conviction and hit out at the opposition party for choosing Nath. He dubbed Sajjan Kumar a symbol of the anti-Sikh genocide and said the country had never seen murders on a bigger scale than this.

His Cabinet colleague, Prakash Javadekar, said the conviction was a jolt for the Congress. He demanded action against Nath for his alleged involvement in the riots.  PTIROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 17

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday welcomed the conviction of Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, terming it a case of justice finally delivered to the victims of one of the worst instances of communal violence in independent India.

He reiterated his stand that neither the Congress party nor the Gandhi family had any role to play in the rioting and lashed out at the Badals for continuing to drag their names into the case at the behest of their political masters  the BJP, which was clearly shaken by the clear mandate given by the people to Rahul Gandhis leadership in the recent Assembly elections in three states.

The High Court judgment against Sajjan had once again proved that the judiciary in India continued to stand tall as a pillar of the nations democratic system, the CM said.

He said he had been naming Sajjan Kumar along with a few other former Congress leaders, including Dharam Das Shastri, HKL Bhagat and Arjun Das, for the past 34 years, based on the information he had personally received from victims in refugee camps in Delhi during the riots.

Incidentally, Sajjan Kumar was the only surviving former Congress leaders implicated in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, as the others had since passed away. His had repeatedly cropped up in his interactions with the victims in the refugee camps, said Capt Amarinder.

There was no Congress conspiracy behind the violence and the names of the Gandhis did not come up even once during his visits to the refugee camps, the CM said, adding that it was vested political interests that had been trying to draw the Gandhi family into the controversy and the conspiracy for their personal motivations.

All involved should be brought to justice: Jakhar

Punjab Congress president Sunil Kumar Jakhar said the partys stand was clear that whoever was involved in the riots should be brought to justice. Yes, justice has been delayed, but delivered finally. No one is above law. Anyone who is involved in such a heinous crime should be brought to justice, the Congress MP told reporters outside Parliament. He stated that Congress leader Kamal Naths name had never figured among those involved in the riots. Meanwhile, Partap Singh Bajwa, Rajya Sabha MP, said: I have always advocated a sense of closure for the victims of this tragedy. This verdict is a reminder for the country that those who inflict mindless violence on the weak, destitute and minorities will not be spared by the long arm of justice. However, I urge one and all not to politicise the moment. TNS

The Cong repeatedly indulged in cover-up exercises, which have now been exposed. Sajjan was a symbol of the anti-Sikh riots. The legacy of riots hangs around the neck of the Congress and the Gandhi family. They will continue to pay for the sins of 1984 riots.  Arun Jaitley, Union Finance Minister

Timely verdict in the 1984 riots cases could have prevented the mass killings in Mumbai (1993), Gujarat (2002), Odishas Kandhamal district (2008) and Uttar Pradeshs Muzaffarnagar (2013) Jarnail Singh, Ex-AAP MLA

People had to wait for 34 years to get justice. The Cong tried for a long time to save its leaders involved in the carnage. But we finally hope to give closure to the people by bringing the guilty to bookVijay Sampla, Union Minister

Sajjan got political patronage and went on to become an MP. We demand capital punishment for him. Making Kamal Nath CM of Madhya Pradesh shows that the Cong is still patronising those involved in the riots.Manjeet Singh GK, SAD leader

Justice has been delayed but not denied.Omar Obdullah, Ex-J&K CMROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 18

A day after the Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA) was formed, differences emerged between its leaders. Eight rebel AAP MLAs led by Sukhpal Khaira have decided not to resign from their party as of now.

Khaira, along with Lok Insaaf Party MLA Simarjit Singh Bains and AAP MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, had announced the alliance in Patiala yesterday. They had declared that the Jamhoori Gathjorh could contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with the support of the Bahujan Samaj Party. They had also announced several resolutions for saving Punjab from decades of misrule.

However, Dr Gandhi has taken exception to the resolutions on the withdrawal of Panth Rattan Faqr-e-Quam title given to former CM Parkash Singh Badal and ending political interference in the functioning of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).

Gandhi told The Tribune today that the resolutions were declared without prior consultation with him. I am fighting a battle for the benefit of Punjab and to cleanse the system. The honour of Faqr-e-Quam was bestowed on the then CM by Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs. I dont think politicians should interfere in this matter. I may have reservations over the title given to Badal, but it is for Akal Takht to decide.

The AAP MP also opposed the resolution on ending the alleged control of the Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal over the SGPC. By saying that we will end political interference in a religious body also amounts to interference. I am opposed to meddling in Panthic matters.

When contacted, Khaira played down the difference of opinion. I have already clarified the issue with Dr Gandhi. We had not put forth a resolution as such. We had asked the public about their opinion on the matter.

Meanwhile, Nazar Singh Mansahia, one of the eight rebel AAP MLAs, said: We will not resign from AAP as it will necessitate a bypoll and thus burden the public exchequer.

He said the legislators agreed that they would continue to question the wrongdoings in AAP while staying within the party. Khaira also said he did not want to impose a bypoll on the state by immediately resigning from the membership of the Assembly.

AAP is the principal opposition party in the state with 20 MLAs, of which eight have formed a splinter rebel group. The party will lose this status if the rebel MLAs resign.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

While it is undeniable that it has taken over three decades to bring the accused in this case to justice, and that our criminal justice system stands severely tested in that process, it is essential in a democracy governed by the rule of law to be able to call out those responsible for such mass crimes  Delhi High Court

Manoj Mitta

Though communal violence has been a serious and recurring problem for decades, it was not until 2012 thatany political leader got convicted in this connection. But then, former BJP minister Maya Kodnanis conviction in a Gujarat 2002 case was overturned eight months ago by the Gujarat High Court. So the conviction now by the Delhi High Court of former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar for his complicity in 1984 is the only precedent left and, given the quality of the reasoning displayed in the 207-page judgment, likely to be an enduring one.

Calling such mass killings crimes against humanity, the verdict provided a comparative perspective on the follow-up to Delhi 1984 and Gujarat 2002. The systems had evolved in the intervening period: the National Human Rights

Commission (NHRC) came into existence in 1993 and the Supreme Court proved receptive to NHRCs pleas to intervene in Gujarat cases. In fact, the HC might well have recalled that when NHRC first approached the Supreme Court in 2003 after the collapse of the trial in the Best Bakery case, Justice S Muralidhar himself was the advocate-on-record for NHRC.

What the HC verdict did point out, though, was that while in the Gujarat cases the Supreme Court had set up a special investigation team (SIT) within five years, a similar mechanism meant to reduce local influences was constituted for Delhi cases only last year, after a lapse of 33 years. The HC also bemoaned the absence in Delhi cases of the witness protection measures that had been adopted in the Gujarat context. There was also a reference to the Bilkis Bano judgment of 2017 for thwarting Sajjan Kumars attempt to take undue advantage of the delay in the registration of the FIR.

After all, the FIR was filed only toward the end of 2005 following the findings of the Justice Nanavati Commission earlier that year. And even that might not have happened had the action taken report (ATR) tabled by the Manmohan Singh government in August 2005 not been vehemently opposed in Parliament and outside. Despite all the evidence, the UPA government in the first instance rejected its findings against Sajjan Kumar and its minister Jagdish Tytler. The conviction came after another 13 years as the case had to cross yet another hurdle in the form of Sajjan Kumars acquittal.

The main ground for his 2013 acquittal was the alleged unreliability of the complainant Jagdish Kaur. Her testimony against Sajjan Kumar was discarded by the trial court merely because her 1985 affidavit before the Ranganath Misra Commission did not name him. The HC, however, accepted her assertion that she had very much talked about him in her Punjabi testimony and that the name went missing when translated into English. Besides, the HC rightly stressed that the judiciary was in any event bound to go only by the evidence recorded during the trial and the manner in which it withstood cross-examination. It upheld Jagdish Kaurs testimony on the basis of a rigorous cross-examination running into 78 pages.

In the big picture, this belated conviction of the first Congress leader exposes the Rajiv Gandhi governments culpability for not only the carnage that took place on its watch, but also the systematic attempts to shield the culprits. Even the first judicial inquiry conducted by the Misra Commission, which otherwise earned the odium of doing a whitewash in its 1986 report, recommended a further probe to identify the many cases that had either not been registered or not been properly investigated. That is how, in 1987, the Jain-Banerjee committee for the first time recommended a case against Sajjan Kumar. And when that case was actually registered in 1990 and a CBI team sought to arrest him, they ended up being besieged by Sajjan Kumars supporters till his lawyers obtained an anticipatory bail, making a mockery of the rule of law.

Such contrived delays, disruptions and cover-ups ensured that other Congress leaders allegedly complicit like Rajiv Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao (who was the home minister) and HKL Bhagat (whose East Delhi constituency saw more killings than even Sajjan Kumars Outer Delhi constituency) escaped accountability during their lifetime. The most prominent among those who are left is Kamal Nath, who, in a historic irony, became CM of Madhya Pradesh the very day Sajjan Kumar was convicted. Kamal Nath was actually given a clean chit by the Nanavati panel, but the allegations continue to haunt him. For all the embarrassment to the Congress, the ruling has also put the Modi government in a fix because of its call for a law on genocide and crimes against humanity.

(The writer has penned When a Tree Shook Delhi: The 1984 Carnage)ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

New Delhi, December 17

Neither crimes against humanity nor genocide is part of the domestic law on crime and this loophole needs to be addressed urgently, the Delhi High Court said on Monday.

While calling for strengthening of the legal system to ensure that perpetrators of mass crimes are made answerable, a Bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel convicted and sentenced Sajjan Kumar.

The Bench said the riots answer the description of crimes against humanity as in the aftermath of Indira Gandhis assassination, there was mass killing of Sikhs in Delhi and the rest of the country, engineered by political actors with the assistance of the law enforcement agencies. It said that criminals responsible for the mass crimes have enjoyed political patronage and managed to evade prosecution and punishment.

Bringing such criminals to justice poses a serious challenge to our legal system. As these appeals themselves demonstrate, decades pass by before they can be made answerable.

This calls for strengthening the legal system. Neither crimes against humanity nor genocide is part of our domestic law of crime. This loophole needs to be addressed urgently, the High Court said.

In India, the riots in early-November 1984, in which in Delhi alone 2,733 Sikhs and nearly 3,350 all over the country, were brutally murdered was neither the first instance of a mass crime nor, tragically, the last, the court said, adding that such cases require a different approach to be adopted.

It also said that India has been no stranger to such mass killings since the time of Partition and the common feature of each has been the targeting of minorities in attacks spearheaded by the dominant political actors being facilitated by the law enforcement agencies.

The mass killings in Punjab, Delhi and elsewhere during the countrys Partition remain a collective painful memory as is the killings of innocent Sikhs in November 1984. There has been a familiar pattern of mass killings in Mumbai in 1993, in Gujarat in 2002, in Kandhamal (Odisha) in 2008, in Muzaffarnagar in UP in 2013 to name a few.

Common to these mass crimes were the targeting of minorities and the attacks spearheaded by the dominant political actors being facilitated by the law enforcement agencies, the Bench said.  PTI

Bringing such criminals to justice poses a serious challenge to our legal system. As these appeals themselves demonstrate, decades pass by before they can be made answerable. This calls for strengthening the legal system.  Delhi High CourtROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

New Delhi, December 17

The killing of over 2,700 Sikhs in Delhi during the 1984 riots was a carnage of unbelievable proportions and the way the Delhi Police acted at that time established their apathy and active connivance in the brutal murders, the Delhi High Court said today.

The HC, which convicted and sentenced Congress leader Sajjan Kumar to life term for remainder of his natural life in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, blasted the Delhi Police for its abject failure in probing the violence following the assassination of then PM Indira Gandhi. It said the police had indeed turned a blind eye and blatantly abetted the crimes committed by the rioting mob and the probe conducted by them in those cases was a farce.

A Bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel noted it was extraordinary that despite there being 341 deaths in the Delhi Cantonment area alone in four days beginning November 1, 1984, only 21 FIRs were lodged, of which only 15 pertained to death or murder.

Ultimately, only five bodies were recovered and that too after the intervention of the Army, the HC said, adding, it is trite that for each incident involving offence of murder, a separate FIR had to be registered. The Bench said, What happened in the aftermath of the assassination of Indira Gandhi was indeed carnage of unbelievable proportions in which over 2,700 Sikhs were murdered in Delhi alone. Referring to the case on killing of five Sikhs, the Bench said, The law and order machinery had clearly broken down and it was literally a free for all situation which persisted.

It said there was no question of clubbing many complaints pertaining to several deaths in one FIR and it was strange that despite widespread killings and bedlam in the area, no mention of that was found in the daily diary register (DDR) maintained by the police.

It is clear, therefore, that in those chaotic conditions, the local police force was inadequate for the task at hand, the Bench said.

Circumstances establish the apathy of the Delhi Police and their active connivance in the brutal murders being perpetrated, the Bench said. As pointed out by the trial court, the state machinery came to a complete standstill in those two or three days when the rioting mobs took to the streets and indulged in acts of violence and killings, and setting properties on fire, the HC said.

There was a two-pronged strategy adopted by the attackers. The first was to liquidate all Sikh males and the other was to destroy their residential houses leaving the women and children utterly destitute. The attack on the Raj Nagar Gurdwara was clearly a part of the communal agenda of the perpetrators, it said.  PTIROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

1984: Ved Marwah Committee: Inquired into the role of police during the riots

1985: Justice Ranganath Misra Commission: Inquired into allegations of organised violence against Sikhs

1987: Justice Dalip Kapoor Committee: Went into conduct of police officers during the riots

1987: Justice ML Jail-EN Renison Committee: Looked into charges against Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler and recommended that they should be proceeded against

1987: RK Ahuja Committee: It said the number of those killed was 2,733

1993: DK Jain Committee: Said police did not try many of the culprits and closed more than 300 of the 700 cases

1993: Justice RS Narula Committee: Recommended that Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar, HKL Bhagat and Jagdish Tytler be proceeded against

2000: Justice GT Nanavati Commission: It said systematic killings showed that these were organised killings; indicted police for inaction and recommended compensation for victims

2015: Pramod Asthana Committee: Expressed concern over closure of 199 cases and asked the Centre to place all cases before a panel of Justice KM Panchal and Justice KSP Radhakrishnan

2017: Justice KM Panchal and Justice KSP Radhakrishnan said 186 cases were closed without investigation

2018: Justice S Dhingra Committee: Appointed by the SC, its looking into the 186 cases wrongly closed by the policevermaajay1968@gmail.com

New York: Racial justice. Obstruction of justice. Social justice. The Justice Department. Merriam-Webster has chosen justice as its 2018 word of the year, driven by the churning news cycle over months and months. The word follows toxic, picked by Oxford Dictionaries, and misinformation, plucked by Dictonary.com. Searches for justice throughout the year, when compared to 2017, were up 74% on the site that has more than 100 million page views a month. To be word of the year worthy, an entry has to show both a high volume of traffic and a significant year-over-year increase in lookups. AP

New Zealand leader excited for holiday break

Wellington: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says that six months after giving birth, shes looking forward to spending more time with daughter Neve over the Christmas break. Ardern on Monday carried around a box to hand-deliver holiday treats of coffee and peanut brittle to reporters at Parliament. She was keeping alive a tradition that would be hard to imagine in some countries due to the sometimes acrimonious relationships between journalists and politicians. AP

Stone accuses Geoffrey Rush of sexual harassment

New York: Orange Is The New Black star Yael Stone has alleged that Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush sexually harassed her on multiple occasions while they worked on a theatre production of The Diary of a Madman in 2010. In an interview with The New York Times, Stone said Rush sent her sexually suggestive messages, spied on her while she was taking a shower and exposed himself to her. The Australian actor said it was conflicting for her to come out against Rush, whom she considered a mentor but said things were weird from the beginning. Rush has denied the allegations. PTI

Kim Jong Il remembered

North Koreans bow at the bronze statues of their late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il at Mansu Hill Grand Monument in Pyongyang on Monday. North Koreans are marking the seventh anniversary of the death of leader Kim Jong Il with visits to the statues and vows of loyalty to his son, Kim Jong Un. AP/PTIvermaajay1968@gmail.com

Berlin, December 17

Germany has agreed to one-time payments for survivors, primarily Jews, who were evacuated from Nazi Germany as children, many of whom never saw their parents again, the organisation that negotiates compensation with the German government said Monday.

The New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany said the government had agreed to payments of 2,500 euros ($2,800) to those still alive from among the 10,000 people who fled on the so-called Kindertransport. This year is the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the transport of the children to Britain from Nazi Germany and elsewhere in Europe.

About 1,000 survivors are thought to be alive today, with about half living in Britain, and the payment is seen as a symbolic recognition of their suffering, conference negotiator Greg Schneider said.

In almost all the cases, the parents who remained were killed in concentration camps in the Holocaust and they have tremendous psychological issues, Schneider told The Associated Press.

Following the Nazis anti-Jewish pogrom in November 1938 known as Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, the British government agreed to allow an unspecified number of Jewish children as refugees from Nazi Germany or territories it had annexed.

Jewish groups inside Nazi Germany planned the transports, and the first arrived in Harwich on December 2, 1938, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The last transport from Germany left September 1, 1939 - the day World War II broke out with the Nazi invasion of Poland - and the final transport from continental Europe left the Netherlands on May 14, 1940, the same day Dutch forces surrendered to the Nazis.

In all, about 10,000 children from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland were taken to Britain, about 7,500 of whom were Jewish, according to the museum. About half were placed with foster families, while the others stayed in hostels, schools or farms.

In addition to those who remained in Britain, many resettled in the US, Israel, Canada, Australia and elsewhere, Schneider said. This money is acknowledgement that this was a traumatic, horrible thing that happened to them, Schneider said.

Some survivors already received small payments in the 1950s but that will not bar them from receiving the new benefit, the Claims Conference said.

The Claims Conference carries out continuous negotiations with Germany to expand the number of people eligible for compensation.

Since 1952, the German government has paid more than $80 billion to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis.  APgspannu7@gmail.com

Islamabad, December 18

British Airways said on Tuesday that it will resume flights to Pakistan from June next year, a decade after suspending operations due to security fears.

All of us at British Airways could not be more pleased to be coming back to Pakistan and we very much look forward to June next year, when our first flight will touch down at your spectacular new airport, the British carriers head of sales for Asia Pacific and the Middle East, Robert Williams, said at a press conference here.

The British airline had suspended its flights to Pakistan in September 2008 after the deadly bombing on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, which killed more than 50 people and triggered a major drawdown by embassies and international organisations over safety concerns.

We only fly somewhere when we know its safe to do so, Williams said.

Separately, British High Commissioner Thomas Drew in a video posted on Twitter said the direct flight will start between London and Islamabad.

Direct flights from Heathrow to Islamabads new airport to start in JuneA further boost to links between the UK and Pakistan, especially on trade and investment, he said.

A statement issued by the airline said that initially three-per-week service will be launched, operated on a three-class Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with return fares starting from 499 pounds.

Prime Ministers special assistant Zulfi Bukhari and Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile, and Industries, Abdul Razzak Dawood, were also present during the press conference.

British Airways coming back after a decade shows you where we were and how far weve come, Bukhari said, adding that it was a big achievement of his government.

The announcement to resume flights will boost effort of Prime Minister Imran Khan to bring in more investments as it showed the confidence of international community.  PTIROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Tokyo, December 18

Japan will get its first aircraft carriers since World War II and buy dozens of fighter jets under a new defence plan approved on Tuesday that is intended to counter Chinas growing military power.

The new five-year defence plan calls for the upgrade of two existing helicopter carriers so that they can launch fighters, and is the latest in a series of steps under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to boost Japans military.

Abes government argues the efforts are necessary given growing defence challenges in the region, including tensions with North Korea, and particularly strong concerns about the expansion of Chinas military footprint.

But the move is controversial, with critics arguing it shifts Tokyo further away from its commitment to strictly defensive capabilities under Japans post-World War II pacifist constitution.

We will secure both the quantity and quality of defence capability that is necessary... to meet the rapidly changing security environment, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular press briefing on Tuesday.

We believe this is within... what is allowed under the constitution. The five-year plan approved today assumes record defence spending of $244 billion through March 2024.

It calls for the defence ministry to upgrade two flat-top Izumo-class destroyers to enable them to launch fighters with short take-off and vertical landing abilities, like the F-35B stealth fighter.

Abe has campaigned for years to amend Japans pacifist constitution, arguing that it ties the hands of the countrys Self-Defence Forces even in protecting the countrys allies from attack.

Government officials were at pains to make clear the policy did not represent a shift away from the countrys long-standing focus on defence.

The remodelled ships and new fighter jets will increase operational flexibility for Japan as China boosts its naval footprint in southern waters that are home to several remote Japanese islands, a defence official said.  AFP

Expanding defensive capacityThe US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Embassy in Trinidad and TThis undated photo provided by in Lawerence County Sheriff in Mt. Vernon, Mo., shows David Berry Jr. Berry was ordered to watch the Walt Disney movie at least once each month during his one-year jail sentence in what conservation agents are calling one of the largest deer poaching cases in state history. Lawrence County Prosecuting Attorney Don Trotter says the deer were killed for their heads and their bodies were left to rot. (Lawerence County Sheriff via AP)Re: Returning from Bali to Australia while 155 visa is still pen

1. Re: Returning from Bali to Australia while 155 visa is still pen

"Will I be able to board the plane in Bali and be able to sort it out when I get back in to Australia?"

The answer is a big NO.-:- Message from Tripadvisor staff -:-

This post has been removed at the author's request. The author may repost if desired.



Posts on the Tripadvisor forums may be edited for a short period of time. Once the edit period has expired, authors may update their posts by removing and reposting them.

To read more about editing your posts, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/help/how_to_edit_your_postsAs long as you're prepared for the weather, February can be a good time to go as hotel rates are low & there aren't as many visitors so lines are shorter.

As for hotels, we need your exact dates of travel (hotel rates vary daily), budget in US$ including 15% tax & desired bedding size.

As for how much to take, that is entirely up to your travel style. People can travel on a tight budget or go extravagant. Only you can figure that out.

As for what to see, get ahold of a guidebook either by purchasing one or taking one out of the library, make a list of your attractions, group them by location using the maps in the guidebook & then divide by day. Post the resultant list here & we can help you tweak it.Self proclaimed leader of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), Miguna Miguna, seems to have attracted more enemies following his recent attacks on President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Despite the court's ruling that the lawyer was unlawfully deported and Interior CS ordered to pay him KSh 7.2 Million, Miguna is not backing down on his attacks on the two leaders.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Police raid Tana River village, arrests hundreds of locals over the kidnapping of Italian lady

Despite the court's ruling that the lawyer was unlawfully deported and Interior CS ordered to pay him KSh 7.2 Million, Miguna is not backing down on his attacks on the two leaders.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Police boss Joseph Boinnet defends shooting dead of civilians who confronted officers in Trans Nzoia

Miguna's supporters turned against him expressing disappointment after he shared a tweet cautioning the president, Raila Odinga and former President Daniel arap Moi over the ownership of the country.

"A warning to Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga: Kenya is not a private estate, Kenya does not belong to Kenyatta, Odinga and Moi. We will never allow you to destroy our constitution and democracy the way you did in 1964. We will reclaim our freedoms and rights through a revolution," wrote Miguna.

The tweet however did not go well with his supporters who turned the heat on him questioning his allegiance to the two leaders and his reasons behind the constant attacks.

READ ALSO: DCI orders probe into tragic car accident that killed third Nyeri governor in 2017

"Why were you supporting Raila Odinga to the extent of swearing him in if you knew Kenya doesn't belong to them?," posed Bonface Oginga

While some of the supports backed his agenda of revolution and vowed to join him, others asked whether he had any other policy to sell to Kenyans other than the frequent attacks.

READ ALSO: Scare as Marsabit chief is burnt to death at public meeting

Others simply asked the author to give up his calls for a revolution and instead give the two leaders time to carryout their development projects as opposed to his online noise.

READ ALSO: New currency look faces opposition in court for breaching the constitution

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news

KENYA'S FORGOTTEN HERO| Tuko TV

Source: TukoThe following is a release issued by the US State Department on November 30, 2021.Ukraine has already carried out a number of reforms that must be fulfilled as part of the implementation of the action plan for introducing the visa-free regime with the European Union. However, the reforms do not stop and the changes continue.

President Petro Poroshenko said this during a meeting with the lecturers and students of the city of Dnipro, the press service of the head of state reported.

"Ukraine fulfills all the tasks planned. We have now received EUR 500 million in macro-financial assistance from the European Union at very low rates. This is the financial support for the reforms by the European Union," the president stressed.

According to him, Ukraine will also receive the first tranche of the World Bank by the end of the year, and this is also a support for the reforms.

The head of state expressed hope that the IMFs Board of Governors would decide on the allocation of the next tranche to Ukraine. "And when this happens, our gold and currency reserves will approach 20 billion," the president added, stressing that this meant stability of the national currency and stability of the economy and the banking system.

According to him, in the first half of this year, Ukraine exported goods and services worth USD 11.2 billion to the EU. "And we will further deepen this cooperation," the president said, adding that "the EU's share in trade turnover is increasing and now it exceeds 42% and approaches 50%".

ishDuring a meeting of the EU-Ukraine Association Council, the parties signed eight financial agreements for a total amount of over EUR 400 million.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman announced this on Monday while summing up the visit to Brussels, the Government portal reported.

The prime minister informed about the signing of eight agreements covering various spheres, including education, strengthening of contacts between people, implementation of energy efficiency technologies totaling EUR 400 million.

"We received full-fledged support from the European Union and we are committed to further cooperation," Groysman stressed.

On December 17, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman paid a working visit to Brussels. He held talks with the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, during which the parties stressed the necessity to consolidate international pressure on the aggressor state and strengthen the sanctions policy, first and foremost, in order to liberate Ukrainian sailors and military vessels, as well as to restore freedom of navigation in the Sea of Azov.

The head of government also held the fifth meeting of UkraineEuropean Union Association Council during which the results of the implementation of the Association Agreement were summed up and the work on shaping the sectoral blueprint for cooperation in economic, energy, digital and security spheres was kicked off.

During a meeting with President of the European Council Donald Tusk, the prime minister proposed the leadership of the EU to launch programs of targeted support for the Azov regions in the framework of sanctions policy against the aggressor country and to introduce measures aimed to restore freedom of navigation in the region and development of Berdyansk and Mariupol ports.

The prime minister also met with President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and Vice-Presidents of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis and Maros Sefcovic. The parties discussed the provision of a second tranche under the fourth macro-financial programme in the amount of EUR 500 million in early 2019, possibility of application of the European Unions internal gas market principles in Ukraine in order to preserve gas transit through the territory of Ukraine, joint management of the GTS and active implementation of sectoral support projects.Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has extended restrictions on imports of a number of goods and products from Russia until December 31, 2019, with the possibility of their extension in the future, according to the government portal.

"The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has extended the effect of two resolutions of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade dated December 30, 2015, which provide for restrictions on imports of products from Russia. The resolutions envisage a total ban on imports of a number of goods from the Russian Federation, as well as the extension of customs duties on certain goods from Russia that were imported duty-free before 2015. The validity of the decisions was prolonged until December 31, 2019, with the possibility of their extension in the future," the report says.

It notes that the measures envisaged by the government were used to counteract Russia's trade restrictions on imports and transit of Ukrainian products in order to ensure the protection of national interests and Ukrainian business.

The Cabinet of Ministers also extended the effect of the resolution that introduced a ban on imports of goods from Russia, in particular, food (dairy products, tea, coffee, beer, and alcoholic drinks), cosmetic products for personal hygiene (shampoos, shower gels, soap), products of the chemical industry for agriculture (herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, rodenticides), potassium chloride, as well as railway equipment (locomotives, wagons and track equipment), etc.Natural gas production in Ukraine should be as open as possible in order to attract the best technologies from the USA, Germany and the Czech Republic.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman said this during a government meeting on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"It is very important for us to fully provide the state with gas. This will systematically change the situation, the formation of pricing in the country. We should be as open as possible so that the best technologies of the Czech Republic, the USA and Germany come to Ukraine," Groysman said.

According to him, the Governments strategic task is to attract investments in the gas production and to increase production volumes.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Ihor Nasalyk stated that Ukraines natural gas production reduced by 1% in the first half of 2018. UkrGasVydobuvannya JSC revised the target plan and decreased the planned volume by 500 million cubic meters

According to the minister, one of the sources of increasing the domestic production output is the attraction of private and foreign investments in the oil and gas sector.

As reported, the Ukrainian government has announced 12 tenders for the conclusion of production sharing agreements in the oil and gas production sector.

ishPresident Petro Poroshenko has said he intends to visit Israel in January 2019 to sign the Free Trade Area (FTA) Agreement.

In January, most likely, I will travel to Israel and we will sign the Free Trade Area Agreement, he said at a meeting with students and academic staff of the city of Dnipro, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

He also recalled that the process of concluding a free trade agreement with Turkey is at its final stage.

iyUkraine insists on the presence of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in the area of the Sea of Azov.

First Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Iryna Gerashchenko informed this on Facebook on the results of a meeting with the Chair of the OSCE PA General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, Margareta Nellen.

"On Monday, I met with the Chair of the OSCE PA General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, Margareta Nellen, and colleagues from the Assembly... We insist on the presence of the OSCE SMM in the area of the Sea of Azov. The OSCEs mandate extends to the whole territory of Ukraine. Therefore, it is important to begin enhanced monitoring of the Azov Sea area and adjacent territories, where there should be no heavy weapons and equipment in accordance with the Minsk agreements. Russia is the only country that blocks this," she noted.

Gerashchenko called on the OSCE PA to pay special attention to this issue and hold a special debate at the next OSCE session regarding militarization of the Azov area and the captured Ukrainian prisoners of war.

During the meeting, the sides discussed the escalation of Russian aggression in the Sea of Azov, a peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas in accordance with the principles and commitments of the OSCE, the first vice speaker stressed.

As reported, on November 25, Russian border ships committed aggressive actions against Ukrainian vessels that set sail from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol. Russian special forces fired on and captured three Ukrainian vessels and 24 sailors in the Kerch Strait.

On November 26, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a law approving the decree of the President of Ukraine on the imposition of the martial law for 30 days in 10 regions of Ukraine in connection with the aggression of Russia.

ishWashington has congratulated the Ukrainian people on the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the election of Metropolitan Epifaniy (Epiphanius) as its head.

This is stated in an official statement released by the U.S. Department of State on Monday, December 17, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"The United States congratulates Metropolitan Epifaniy on his election as head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The establishment of the Church was a historic moment for Ukraine," reads the statement.

It notes that the United States maintains unwavering support for Ukraine and respects the freedom to worship unhindered by outside interference.

"The right to religious freedom extends to all Ukrainians, including those choosing to join  or not to join  the new Orthodox Church," the U.S. Department of State said.

The unification council of the local Orthodox Church of Ukraine took place at Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv on December 15. The clergy elected Metropolitan Epifaniy as the head of the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine, who will receive a tomos (decree) of autocephaly.More than half of the worlds refugee populations live in urban areas today, making city administrations and mayors some of the most important stakeholders in the delivery of protection and assistance in urban spaces.

The Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), which was affirmed by the UN General Assembly on 17 December 2018, provides mechanisms for the engagement of a wide range of stakeholders in refugee response, including cities and local authorities.

The 2018 Dialogue was organised around the key areas of focus of the GCR: reception and admission; meeting needs and supporting communities; solutions for refugees, internally displaced people and stateless people in urban areas; future challenges and opportunities. In line with the comprehensive refugee responses promoted by the GCR, the Dialogue sought to broaden the focus of discussions to encompass both humanitarian and development perspectives on displacement in urban areas. In the spirit of a whole-of-society approach, the Dialogue also provided an opportunity for different segments of society to showcase their unique contributions to comprehensive refugee responses in urban settings.Students at Nyumanzi Integrated Primary School for Ugandan nationals and refugees from South Sudan, Nyumanzi, Uganda.  UNHCR/Jordi Matas

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and partners are today launching an appeal for US$2.7 billion for 2019 and 2020 to address the life-saving humanitarian needs of South Sudanese refugees.

Five years on since the civil war started, over 2.2 million South Sudanese refugees have sought safety in six neighbouring countries: Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Central African Republic (CAR). Another 1.9 million are internally displaced inside South Sudan.

UNHCR welcomes the reduction in violence in parts of the country since the signing of a revitalized peace agreement in September. And we appeal to all parties to continue to respect and implement the agreement. UNHCR does not yet view the environment in South Sudan as being conducive for safe returns of refugees.

We also commend the continued generosity of host countries in maintaining open borders for South Sudanese refugees seeking safety, especially given the immense pressures on asylum countries. The scale of displacement means that funding has struggled to keep pace with needs. Hugely more international support and solidarity is urgently needed.

Schools are lacking teachers, classrooms, and educational materials, leaving half of South Sudans refugee children out of school. Health clinics have insufficient doctors, nurses and medications. Low funding has led to food rations being cut in Ethiopia. In Sudan, some refugees and their host communities are having to survive on merely five litres of water per person per day, inevitably leading to tensions. Opportunities for refugees to earn a living remain limited.

A key priority for UNHCR is the promotion of social cohesion programmes for refugees and their hosts to help the two communities in living together peacefully and harmoniously. In any refugee situation, it is vital that both communities are helped.

Sexual and gender-based violence and child protection remain primary concerns, as 83% of refugees are women and children. Many women have reported rape and other sexual or gender-based violence, along with the killings of their husbands and the abduction of children during flight.

Children too have in many cases experienced extreme violence and trauma, including the deaths of one or both parents. Many have become primary caregivers to younger siblings. Thousands of children have been forcibly recruited as child soldiers by armed groups. In 2018, UNHCR and partners received just 38% of the $1.4 billion requested to support South Sudanese refugees.

For more information on this topic, please contact:Members of the Pihcintu Choir performing at event to mark the affirmation of the Global Compact on Refugees at the UN Headquarters in New York City.  UNHCR/Andrew Kelly

NEW YORK, 17 December 2018  In a historic decision, the member states of the UN General Assembly today agreed on a new international framework, known as the Global Compact on Refugees, that will transform the way the world responds to mass displacement and refugee crises, benefiting both refugees and the communities that host them.

No country should be left alone to respond to a huge influx of refugees, said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. Refugee crises call for a global sharing of responsibility, and the compact is a powerful expression of how we work together in todays fragmented world.

The Global Compact on Refugees was agreed as part of this years annual resolution on UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. It builds on the existing international legal system for refugees, notably the 1951 Refugee Convention, and on human rights and humanitarian law. It is a non-binding operational tool to bolster cooperation.

The compact is a powerful expression of how we work together in todays fragmented world.

After two years of extensive consultations led by UNHCR with member states, international organizations, refugees, civil society, the private business sector and experts, this new global deal will provide more robust support for the countries where most refugees live. It will also strengthen the shared responsibility to aid those who are forced to flee by conflict or persecution.

"In this world of ours, which often turns its back to people in need, that has shamefully politicized the pain of exile, that has demonized refugees and migrants, this compact, in sinergy with the compact on migration, can really represent a new commitment to international cooperation," Grandi said.

See also: A new deal for refugees

This deal comes at a time of urgent need to address record-high displacement figures  over 68.5 million people have been forced to flee worldwide, including more than 25.4 million people who have crossed borders to become refugees.

Nine out of 10 refugees live in developing countries, where basic services like health or education are already strained. The compact aims to address this issue by providing more investment  from both governments and the private sector  to further strengthen infrastructure and the provision of services for the benefit of both refugees and host communities.

Bertine Bahige, former refugee and principal of an elementary school in Gillette, Wyoming, speaking at the event to mark the Global Compact on Refugees at the UN Headquarters in New York City.  UNHCR/Andrew Kelly

It also calls for policies and measures that will enable refugees to access education and to lead productive lives during the time they are in exile. The compact aims to address the environmental impact of hosting refugee populations and includes promotion of the use of alternative energy.

The agreement also envisions more resettlement and other opportunities  such as through family reunification, student scholarships, or humanitarian visas  so that refugees can travel safely. It notes that the voluntary return of refugees in conditions of safety and dignity remains the preferred solution in the majority of refugee situations.

The new agreement will monitor progress through the creation of follow-up systems, including a Global Refugee Forum every four years at which governments will report and pledge on a range of measures  funding, policy, legal changes, resettlement quotas, etc.

Resettlement gave me hope.

The refugee compacts adoption by the UNGA comes days after an intergovernmental conference adopted a separate Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in Marrakech, which will be presented to the UN General Assembly later this week.

Today marks beginning, not end of our work to respond comprehensively to the challenges that refugees and their hosts face, said the president of the UN General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa during an event marking the historic adoption of the Global Compact on Refugees at the UN Secretariat in New York.

As of tomorrow, all member states, together with the society and the UN family, are called to step up our efforts and deliver. The 25 million refugees in the world today expect this of us.

We are here to educate people about what weve been through.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed stressed the importance of addressing the root causes of conflicts and other circumstances forcing people to leave their home countries.

While we must respond to the immediate needs of refugees, this is merely treating the symptoms, unless we also deal with the root causes of the record numbers of people displaced by conflict and persecution around the world, Mohammed said.

Bertine Bahige, a former refugee who fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and spent five years in a refugee camp in Maputo, Mozambique, moved the event attendees with his inspiring story of resilience and integration in the United States, where he was resettled in 2004.

See also: New clinic and schools save lives and build futures in Zambia

Resettlement gave me hope, Bertine said. I was given a second chance in life, and I wanted to do something purposeful with that life.

Bertine is now a cornerstone in the community of Gillette, in the US state of Wyoming, where he is an elementary school principal. Because of what he went through as a child, Bertine especially enjoys working with at-risk children and ensuring they receive the support they need to succeed.

I knew the pain they were feeling, the pain of not having enough, Bertine added. But I also knew that if I can place that hope that was given to me, it can make a difference.

Today marks beginning, not end of our work to respond comprehensively to the challenges that refugees and their hosts face.

Thirty-four members of the Pihcintu choir, refugee and immigrant youth from 19 different countries, closed the event on a high note with two uplifting songs.

I think music is education, said Fatima LamLum, 14, from Iraq. We are here to educate people about what weve been through.

The choir members, girls and young women ranging from nine to 23 years old, came all the way from Portland, Maine to perform at the UN headquarters to show their support for the adoption of the Global Compact.

Nyawal Lia, a 24-year-old former refugee from South Sudan, stressed the importance of raising their voices in the communities they belong to: It is critically important for refugees to step up in our representation, and for the receiving countries to recognize our contributions.

Bertine and the members of Pihcintu choir are examples of the kinds of solutions the global compact aims to strengthen and build on to ensure refugees and their host communities can thrive. Its historic adoption today makes its ambition a reality.Josphat Koli Nanok, Governor of Turkana County, Kenya (left), UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and Fatma Sahin, Mayor of the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality and President of the Union of Municipalities, Turkey, during 11th High Commissioner's Dialogue on Protection Challenges in Geneva.  UNHCR/Jean Marc Ferre

GENEVA  Cities around the world have shown vital leadership by welcoming refugees and giving them a chance to thrive outside of traditional camp settings, the UN refugee chief said today.

Opening a key meeting in Geneva attended by mayors from cities as widespread as Bristol, Gaziantep, Quito and Mogadishu, Filippo Grandi said cities were playing a leading role in the push towards a new approach to hosting refugees, based on openness and inclusion.

We think that an inclusive approach, based on investment in education and employment, is a much better and more sustainable, more dignified, model that really gives refugees opportunities for the future, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said. It is cities that are at the forefront in implementing these policies.

Grandi praised the work of the assembled mayors and other local authority representatives from around the world in offering a fresh start to the forcibly displaced.

"We look to you to continue to uphold these values."

These are all cities that have been really pioneering new approaches in terms of receiving, including and offering opportunities to people on the move, he said. I have the greatest admiration for those mayors, for those local authorities  that have taken a stance in favour of solidarity. We look to you to continue to uphold these values.

Grandi was speaking at the plenary session of the High Commissioners 11th Dialogue on Protection Challenges, which is taking place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on 18-19 December.

Cities of Light: Protecting the urban displaced - High Commissioner's Dialogue 2018 (Edith Champagne, producer / Alex St-Denis, editor)

Discussions are this year focused on the protection and assistance of refugees, internally displaced and stateless people in urban settings, particularly cities.

Cities are playing a growing role in supporting the displaced today, when around 60 per cent of the worlds 25.4 million refugees live not in camps but in cities and urban areas across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

"Refugees and migrants represent an opportunity for cities."

Mayors, local authorities, social enterprises and citizen groups are on the frontlines of the global refugee response, fostering social cohesion and protecting and assisting the forcibly displaced men, women and children in their midst.

Refugees and migrants represent an opportunity for cities, said Mauricio Rodas Espinel, the Mayor of Quito, Ecuador, which hosts thousands of refugees, many from Colombia and Venezuela. They bring different visions, perspectives and experiences that can serve as a tool for economic development, for social inclusion and innovation at the urban level.

Marvin Rees, the Mayor of Bristol, a port city in the west of England, also sees refugees and migrants as an asset for the local community.

Weve got people working for the council at the moment who came to the country seeking asylum or as refugees, and they are making a phenomenal contribution to life in Bristol. And we want to unleash that potential, he said.

"I feel surrounded by opportunities."

The emphasis on giving the forcibly displaced a chance to live, study and make their lives in cities and urban areas around the world was also welcomed by young refugees on the sidelines of the forum  among them Foni Joyce Vuni.

Born in Kenya 26 years ago to Sudanese refugee parents, she said the chance to live in the capital Nairobi has allowed her to co-found an organization linking unemployed youths to mentors, and opened up a world of possibilities.

When you are in the camp, the name refugee defines you. But in an urban area, you just live like a normal person  it makes a big difference, she said, breaking into a smile. It enabled me to ask  what can I do next? What else can I do? I feel surrounded by opportunities.

Global Youth Advisory Council delegates Foni Joyce Vuni and Arash Bordbar at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.  UNHCR/Susan Hopper

Since resettling to Sydney, Australia, in 2015, 25-year-old Iranian refugee Arash Bordbar has studied for a degree in engineering, and is also a youth worker helping newly arrived refugees to find their feet in his adoptive city.

Its given me the opportunity to contribute to society as well. Im working, I am paying tax, Im studying, and soon I will be an engineer building the country itself, he said. If you are allowed to be in the city you can actually contribute and really showcase your potential.

The Dialogue began a day after the member states of the UN General Assembly agreed on a new international framework  known as the Global Compact on Refugees  that will transform the way the world responds to mass displacement and refugee crises, benefiting both refugees and the communities that host them.

The new global deal seeks to provide more robust support for the countries where most refugees live, and strengthen the shared responsibility to aid those who are forced to flee by conflict or persecution

The agreement also envisions more resettlement opportunities  such as through family reunification, student scholarships, or humanitarian visas  so that refugees can travel safely. It also notes that the voluntary return of refugees in conditions of safety and dignity remains the preferred solution in the majority of refugee situations.

It also calls for policies and measures that will enable refugees to access education and to lead productive lives during the time they are in exile. In addition, it aims to address the environmental impact of hosting refugee populations.

Read more in the Cities of Light seriesA mere 5% of Kyiv residents choose the country's Russia-oriented foreign policy.

Nearly two thirds of Kyiv residents (63%) support Ukraine's accession to the European Union.

The number of Kyiv residents who support Ukraine's accession to the European Union (63%) and NATO (56%) has almost not changed over the past year. Another 18% oppose the country's accession to the EU, while 23% are against joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, according to a survey conducted by the Rating sociological group and presented by its Head Oleksiy Antypovych and Deputy Head Liubomyr Mysiv at a press conference on Tuesday, an UNIAN correspondent reports.

Read alsoSome 45% of Ukrainians support Ukraine's accession to NATO  poll

"Almost two thirds supported joining the European Union, almost one in five did not, but 18% who are against joining the EU are not for Russia," Antypovych said.

In this regard, he noted that a mere 5% of Kyiv residents choose the country's Russia-oriented foreign policy and advocate for the state's entry into the Eurasian Customs Union (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus).

At the same time, according to the survey, the pro-European direction is the leading one among various areas of foreign economic integration in future. At the same time, against the background of a decrease in the number of those who choose the EU out of possible integration options (from 59% to 56%), the number of supporters of Ukraine's equidistance from Russia and the West is growing (from 23% to 25%).

The poll was conducted from November 16 to December 2 through personal formalized (face-to-face) interviews. The study involved 1,600 respondents. The margin of error does not exceed 2.4%.The establishment of the Church was a historic moment for Ukraine.

The United States congratulates Metropolitan Epifaniy on his election as head of the newly created local Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

"The United States congratulates Metropolitan Epifaniy on his election as head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The establishment of the Church was a historic moment for Ukraine. The United States maintains unwavering support for Ukraine and respects the freedom to worship unhindered by outside interference," the U.S. Department of State said on its website on December 17.

Read alsoMetropolitan Epifaniy: We must win back occupied Crimea

The right to religious freedom extends to all Ukrainians, including those choosing to join  or not to join  the new Orthodox Church, it said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the unification council of representatives of Ukrainian Orthodox churches on December 15 elected Epifaniy (Serhiy Dumenko) head of the united local Orthodox Church of Ukraine. It will be Epifaniy who will on January 6, 2019, receive from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in Constantinople (Istanbul) a tomos (a decree), granting autocephaly (independence) to the newly created church.Election of Metropolitan of Pereyaslav and Bila Tserkva Epifaniy (Dumenko) to the post of head of the unified Orthodox Church of Ukraine - Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine, as well as the future of receiving Tomos on autocephaly  all of this will have a minimal effect on political ratings of Petro Poroshenko.

The church issue is a card that has already been played. The very receipt of the tomos by Metropolitan Epiphanius, scheduled for January 6, 2019, might be the last "Christmas Joker" Poroshenko could use. But that will be it. And in general, this will, to a greater extent, result in some media noise for a while, rather than the growth of the president's ratings.

I'll explain why. The experience of my trips across Ukraine allows me to judge that Ukrainians don't care too much about church matters - people, especially in villages, mostly don't understand the tomos thing and its significance. Instead, people are much more concerned about economic and social issues.

For Poroshenko, this is more about a political loss, because his protege, the Metropolitan of Vinnytsia and Bar, Simeon, lost the competition for the throne in the new church

Of course, for the state to get a local church and to receive the tomos is a fateful event that restores historical justice. Although here, everything was not quite as hoped: it was supposed to be a patriarchate, but in the end, all Ukraine got was the metropolis. Thus, from a political point of view, Patriarch Bartholomew has now not only become "the first among equal", he has gained control over the largest Orthodox community on the planet and due to this became a "heavyweight" in the Orthodox world.

Personally, for Poroshenko, this is more about a political loss, because his protege, the Metropolitan of Vinnytsia and Bar, Simeon, lost the competition for the throne in the new church. Also, the president failed to mobilize the hierarchs of the Moscow Patriarchate  as is known, only two representatives of the UOC-MP  Simeon and Drabynko  attended the Unification Council. So Poroshenko failed to outrun Filaret in this struggle. And eventually the Ukrainian church is now headed by Epifaniy  Filaret's "right hand". Therefore, politically, in the end, we rather see the defeat of the head of state. After all, he probably sought to have the newly formed church under his control, but did not work out.

In 10-20 years, we will look at this event differently and rethink its significance

Consequently, the "church card" has already been played, because building a campaign around the tomos and the church will not succeed. Besides, according to polls, the move did not gain much electoral support. People who are eager to vote are worried about more practical issues: gas prices, pensions, medical care, high prices, etc. The ideology and the tomos in particular are things that voters can cheer only when their fridge is full and when they're fed.

Although I totally assume that in 10-20 years we will look at this event differently and re-think its significance. But for now, the main thing for the Ukrainians is the economy.

Will other presidential candidates exploit the church issue? It's unlikely. In general, there's no need to touch upon the issue and spin it in the media. Now it is better to leave the case at the discretion of church hierarchs: let them negotiate and form new bodies. Meanwhile, politicians should not interfere in the religious sphere.

Although in fact we see that the issue is being actively politicized not only by Poroshenko, but also by the pro-Russian opposition forces. Boyko, Novinsky, Vilkul and others are actively spinning propaganda aimed at creating a schism in society around religion.

It is unlikely that the new Metropolitan Epifaniy will actively promote the agenda of political authorities

So, in order to avoid deepening the split, it is necessary to leave the matter to the church hierarchs. That's it. We'll get the tomos, and it's good. Then the authorities need to implement reforms, fight corruption, and seek out resources that can improve the financial situation of citizens.

Of course, many in Ukraine would very much like the church to become an annex of the state, promote a certain ideology and political values, and contribute to the cementing the authorities' power, as in Russia. But this will not happen in Ukraine, because it is not Russia, where there has been a long tradition of autocracy. We don't have Anglican Church and neither do we have a monarch who is the head of the church. Everything is different in Ukraine. And although Ukrainians are deeply religious people, they distinguish between politics and religion.

In addition, it is unlikely that the new Metropolitan Epifaniy will actively promote the agenda of political authorities. There have already been statements on Poroshenko's contribution to this matter - which is really important and great, since Poroshenko had been negotiating with both Erdogan and Bartholomew. But there should be a limit, to what point one can do PR and when it's better to stop, step aside and do other things. It seems to me that Poroshenko hasn't yet made this step aside.

Will Poroshenko now go for other populist issues like language in order to raise his own ratings? So far, the church is the only ideological issue on which he tries to build his campaign. Unfortunately, he was unable to achieve certain economic and market transformations, progress in reforms. Political technologists on Bankova say that this is not a sphere of Poroshenko's authority. Formally, they are right, but in reality Poroshenko controls everything: the government, the security structures, all the authorities, regulators, and state monopolies. He himself has chosen this path of concentration of power, so he is de facto responsible for everything.

Most of the Western diplomats, donors and partners are worried about the change in the agenda in Ukraine: attention has been shifted from the issues of combating corruption and the implementation of reforms to some purely ideological ones - church, language, etc. So, again, the authorities must deal with more practical things.

Anatoliy Oktysiuk is a political analyst at DemocracyHouseSome 66 countries voted for the document.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has voted in favor of a draft resolution initiated by Ukraine to call for an end to Russia's occupation and militarization of Crimea.

The resolution titled "Problem of the Militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol, Ukraine, as well as Parts of the Black and Azov" was supported by 66 countries, 19 countries voted against it and 72 abstained, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said on its website.

The voting took place in New York City, the United States, late on December 17.

The resolution urgently calls on the Russian Federation to withdraw its armed forces from Crimea and stop the occupation of the Ukrainian territories.

It also calls on Russia to "refrain from impeding the lawful exercise of navigational rights and freedoms in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the Kerch Strait."

According to the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN, the resolution stresses "the presence of Russian troops in Crimea is contrary to the national sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine and undermines the security and stability of neighboring countries and the European region."

Read alsoMetropolitan Epifaniy: We must win back occupied Crimea

It also expresses serious concern over the progressive militarization of Crimea by the Russian Federation as the occupying power.

The document expresses concern over "the Russian Federation's ongoing actions in parts of the Black Sea surrounding Crimea and the Sea of Azov, including their militarization, which pose further threats to Ukraine and undermine the stability of the broader region."

What is more, it expresses its "utmost concern about the dangerous increase in tensions and the unjustified use of force by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, including against three vessels of the naval forces of Ukraine on November 25, 2018 in the Black Sea," calls upon the Russian Federation to release the vessels and their crews, and equipment unconditionally and without delay.

It also condemns Russia's construction and opening of the Kerch Strait bridge between the Russian Federation and temporarily occupied Crimea, and condemns the increasing military presence of the Russian Federation in parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Serhiy Kyslytsya said in his speech that the draft resolution had jointly been presented to the UN General Assembly by the co-authors of the resolution, namely Ukraine, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Also later, those countries were joined by Belgium, Greece, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Malta, New Zealand, Slovakia, and Spain. At the same time, representatives of Iran and Syria proposed amending the wording of the resolution to support Russian interests, but these proposals did not receive the necessary support. Some 64 countries voted against these proposals, 25 countries supported them, and 60 abstained.The president noted the civilized world is extremely concerned about the danger posed by Russia, both on land and at sea.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said the UN General Assembly resolution initiated by Ukraine against the militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the waters of the Black and Azov Seas is another important step toward the end of the Russian occupation of the peninsula.

Read alsoUNGA votes for resolution calling for end to Russia's occupation, militarization of Crimea

"I welcome the adoption by the UN General Assembly of the resolution on the militarization of Crimea and the waters of the Black and Azov Seas. Today, another important step has been taken toward the end of the occupation of Crimea. The resolution showed an unequivocal assessment by the international community of the Kremlin's ongoing unlawful behavior," he wrote on Facebook.

The president noted the civilized world is extremely concerned about the danger posed by Russia, both on land and at sea.

"Thanks to the joint support of allies and partners, the Kremlin's another international crime has been documented from the world's highest rostrum, which will become part of Ukraine's consolidated claim to the Russian state. By aggressively militarizing the region, the Kremlin continues to destabilize world stability and order. At first, having occupied Ukraine's Crimea, it trampled on the principle of inviolability of borders. And now, it wants to turn the Black Sea-Azov region into a gray zone of its exclusive control. Now, the Kremlin's target is not only freedom of navigation, but also the regime of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons," the president said.

According to Poroshenko, the recent open act of aggression against Ukraine in the Kerch Strait area has reaffirmed Russia's true intentions and reiterated that the Kremlin campaign against European security is gaining momentum. This is a real challenge for all Euro-Atlantic security, the president said.

"The world community is united in its position  the Kremlin should immediately and unconditionally release the Ukrainian sailors and return the artillery boats to Ukraine. The current resolution also stresses the need for further consolidation of international efforts to restore sovereignty and territorial integrity, including in Crimea, as the only way to restore security and stability in Europe," he said.The president noted that the relevant mobilization decrees have already been drafted.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says he will announce mobilization only in the case of open large-scale ground aggression against Ukraine on the part of Russia.

Today, the situation in the country is fully under control," the president said at the meeting with university professors and students in Ternopil region, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

"Our Armed Forces and security agencies are able to ensure citizens' safety, he said.

Read alsoRussia pulls over 300 tanks to military base near Ukraine border  Poroshenko

We will not announce mobilization, unless Russia goes for a large-scale ground aggression against Ukraine. Then, I have all the mobilization decrees already drafted, and we will not be running around, searching for anything or asking permission, added the president.

As UNIAN reported earlier, after the Russian attack on Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait area, martial law was imposed on Nov 26 for a period of 30 days. It was introduced in 10 regions located along the Russian border and the Transnistrian segment of the Ukraine-Moldova border, as well as along the Black and Azov seas' coastlines.The move is made in the wake of Russia's latest aggressive actions.

The Ukrainian Cabinet has approved the National Maritime Doctrine for the period until 2035, intended to strengthen Ukraine's positions in the Azov and Black seas and the Kerch Strait linking them.

This is an extremely important decision for Ukraine, especially considering Russia's aggression in the Sea of Azov," Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan wrote on Facebook.

The Doctrine was developed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and supported by the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Emergencies Service, and the entire government.

"The new doctrine should strengthen Ukraine's positions in the Azov and Black seas and the Kerch Strait, taking into account the actions of the Russian Federation as an aggressor state, he wrote.

Omelyan has noted that Ukraine will not weaken its position at sea, and neither will Ukrainian ports shut down.

Read alsoPoroshenko: UN resolution on Crimea important step toward end of its occupation

The updated Maritime Doctrine of Ukraine is a comprehensive strategic document that defines long-term priorities of Ukraines consistent maritime policy. The new Doctrine is in line with a Decree of President Petro Poroshenko and decisions of the National Security and Defense Council on the protection of national interests in the south and east of Ukraine, in the Black and Azov seas, and the Kerch Strait. The situation at sea is changing  Ukraine is also changing its policy. The stronger the pressure, the stronger the resistance. Just like the Third Newton Law, wrote the minister.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on December 10, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign and Security Policy Federica Mogherini stated that practical support for the affected regions of Ukraine due to the blockade of shipping in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait by Russia is more important than new sanctions over the blockade.

Read alsoClaims of Ukraine "preparing offensive" in Donbas deflect attention from Russia's actions - Volker

Before the start of the EU summit, Mogherini said that the EU was ready to expand substantial assistance for Ukraine.

UNIAN memo. On the morning of November 25, Russia blocked the passage through the Kerch Strait of the Ukrainian Navy's Yany Kapu tugboat and two small artillery boats, Berdyansk and Nikopol. The boats were on a scheduled redeployment from the Black Sea port of Odesa to the Azov Sea port of Mariupol. As Ukrainian vessels were leaving the Kerch Strait area to return to Odesa, Russian ships opened aimed fire on them. Russia captured 24 Ukrainian sailors, including three injured in the attack, and seized the vessels.

The detained sailors, who Ukraine firmly insists must be treated as POWs, given Russia's armed attack on Ukrainian Navy boats, were accused of "illegally crossing the Russian border" and are now facing up to six years in prison.

Russia-controlled "court" in the occupied Crimea ruled to remand all sailors in custody. The Ukrainians were subsequently transferred to Moscow-based detention facilities.According to the decree, sanctions shall be applied to a number of individuals and legal entities creating real or potential threats to Ukraine's national interests.

The Cabinet of Ministers is proposing that the National Security and Defense Council apply a set of sanctions to Russian and European legal entities and individuals who by their activities in the temporarily occupied territories have inflicted damage to Ukraine's interests, that's according to the press service of the Ministry for temporarily occupied territories and internally displaced persons.

"On December 18, the government, at the submission of the MinTOT, made a decision to submit to the NSDC proposals on applying sanctions to legal entities and individuals," the report said.

According to the decree, restrictive measures (sanctions) shall be applied to a number of individuals and legal entities creating real or potential threats to Ukraine's national interests, violate public and state interests, lead to property losses, create obstacles for citizens of Ukraine to fully realize their rights and freedoms.

Read alsoUkraine updates Maritime Doctrine to strengthen positions in Azov, Black seas

The targets are:

- Twenty-three individuals involved in the illegal archaeological prospecting at cultural heritage sites, or who have taken part in actions aimed at legitimizing the illegal occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol;

- Certain Russian enterprises and those from European countries supporting operations LLC Titanovie Investitsii in the city of Armyansk on the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea;

- Fourteen legal entities attracted to the supply of material, equipment and services for the plants of the Russian military-industrial complex in the temporarily occupied territories;

- Certain legal entities involved in organizing transportation through the ports of Temryuk, Kavkaz and the Kerch ferry; and

- Individuals who are heads/founders of legal entities involved in the illegal construction of a transport crossing across the Kerch Strait.

The imposition of sanctions on all legal entities and individuals involved will make economic relations with Ukraine impossible, limit or terminate economic relations with the EU and the U.S., which will further contribute to the return of the occupied territories to Ukraine's legal field, the Ministry noted.Klykh wrote a letter from Russia.

Acting Health Minister Ulana Suprun says the condition of Ukrainian political prisoner Stanyslav Klykh in Russia has significantly worsened over suspected cancer.

Read alsoECHR obliges Russia to inform about state of four Ukrainian political prisoners' health

"Ukrainian political prisoner Stanyslav Klykh wrote a letter from Russian prison. He feels ill and there is a suspicion of cancer. He hopes a prisoner exchange will bring him home soon and plans to start a hunger strike. He asks to continue to write to him," she wrote on Twitter on December 17, 2018.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the Supreme Court of Chechnya in May 2016 sentenced Ukrainian citizens Klykh and Mykola Karpiuk to 20 and 22.5 years in prison, respectively, for alleged gang-related activities, murder and attempted murder of Russian military servicemen. The Russian investigation alleged that Klykh and Karpiuk set up groups in Ukraine to participate in fighting against the Russian army for independent Chechnya during the first Chechen war. Klykh's relatives claim he has never been to Chechnya. The Ukrainians were reportedly tortured into "confessing" during the so-called "investigation," which had a negative impact on Klykh's mental health. Ukraine's Justice Ministry has sent several requests to the Russian authorities for the extradition of Karpiuk and Klykh.This is a very painful piece of news for the Moscow Patriarchate and very weighty one for the Catholic and the whole Christian world.

Press secretary of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), Archbishop Yevstratiy (Zorya) has said the Holy See has recognized agency of the united local Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

"The official Vatican news portal on December 17 reported about the election of Metropolitan Epifaniy as head of the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine," he wrote on Facebook on December 18.

Read alsoMetropolitan Epifaniy: No seizure of ex-UOC-MP's temples by force (Video)

By doing this, the Holy See demonstrates it has recognized the newly created Ukrainian church's capacity to act due to canonical recognition by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and its metropolitan, the archbishop said.

"[This is] a very painful piece of news for the Moscow Patriarchate. And very weighty one for the Catholic and the whole Christian world," Yevstratiy said.

The archbishop noted that the lack of Eucharistic unity between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church determines that the first one does not officially carry out any ecclesiastical act of recognizing autocephaly, but in fact the dissemination of this official news is a signal to all who still doubt, including local churches: diplomacy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has defeated Moscow's attempts.

According to Yevstratiy, this means that those Orthodox churches that have not yet decided on the recognition of autocephaly received a weighty argument to do that immediately after a tomos is handed over to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the unification council of representatives of Ukrainian Orthodox churches on December 15 elected Epifaniy (Serhiy Dumenko) head of the united local Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

It will be Epifaniy who will on January 6, 2019, receive from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in Constantinople (Istanbul) a tomos (a decree), granting autocephaly (independence) to the newly created church.Besides fining those responsible for the wrongdoing, the new legislation will punish school principals for their failure to report bullying-related incidents to police.

The Verkhovna Rada adopted the law On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Counteracting Bullying (Harassment) (No. 8584), according to an UNIAN correspondent.

The Code of Administrative Offenses is supplemented by Article 173-4, which provides that bullying (harassment), that is, acts of participants in the educational process, which include psychological, physical, economic, and sexual violence, including using electronic communication devices, against a minor or underage person or by such person in relation to other participants in the educational process, as a result of which mental or physical harm could be or was inflicted to the victim's health, entails the imposition of a fine of 50 to 100 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens or community service for a period of 20 to 40 hours.

If a group of persons is involved in the act or if it was being done repeatedly within a year after the imposition of an administrative penalty, the penalty will range from 100 to 200 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens or those responsible shall perform community service for a period of from 40 to 60 hours.

Read alsoSome 109,000 instances of school bullying reported in Ukraine in 2017

If the act of bullying has been carried out by a minor, the law says their parents or persons replacing them shall be fined from 50 to one 100 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens or obliged to perform community service for a period of 20 to 40 hours.

The law also provides that failure of the head of an educational institution to report the authorized units of the National Police the cases of bullying (harassment) entails a penalty of 50 to 100 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens or correctional work for up to one month with deduction of up to 20% of earnings.

The law identifies typical signs of bullying, as well as "social teachers" are responsible for prevention of bullying (harrassment), providing advice to parents, psychological support for students who have suffered from bullying (harassment), have witnessed it, or were wrongdoers, themselves.

The law comes into force from the day following the day of its publication.

As noted in the explanatory note to the bill, according to surveys, almost a quarter of Ukrainian school students consider themselves victims of bullying, while nearly 40% of the children who have been victims of bullying never tell their parents. At the same time, 44% of those who observed how other bullied their peers did not react to such facts for fear of being subjected to a similar harassment.The military are working out landing of an airborne assault force, an airstrike on naval targets, engaging a conditional enemy by artillery forces, and de-blocking along the coastline.

The Ukrainian Navy have launched tactical exercises involving Marines and first-stage operational reserves.

"The Ukrainian Navy started company tactical exercises of the Marine Corps and the operational reserve of the first stage," the Navy Command press service wrote on Facebook.

According to the Navy Command, the military are working out landing of an airborne assault force, an airstrike on naval targets, engaging a conditional enemy by artillery forces, and de-blocking along the coastline.

Read alsoRussia might use Ka-52 helicopters to destroy Ukrainian SAM sites - media

In turn, exercise chief, Colonel Andriy Hnatov, noted that the personnel had completely coped with the tasks set before them and is ready to protect the country's territorial integrity.

The next stage of coordination will be the battalion-tactical exercises of the operational reserve and the Marine brigade.

As UNIAN reported earlier, after the Russian attack on Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait area, from November 26, martial law was imposed for 30 days in 10 regions of Ukraine located along the Russian border and the Transnistrian segment of the Ukraine-Moldova border, as well as along the Black and Azov coastlines.There were no Ukrainian army casualties in the past day.

Russian-led forces mounted seven attacks on Ukrainian troops in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, in the last 24 hours.

Read alsoUkrainian Marines start exercises amid martial law

"No casualties among Ukrainian troops have been reported in the past day. According to intelligence reports, one occupier was killed and another four were wounded," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said in an update on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on December 18, 2018.

Russian occupation forces opened aimed fire from grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns and small arms as they attacked the defenders of the town of Maryinka, and the villages of Krymske, Luhanske, Taramchuk, Slavne, and Hnutove.

"Since Tuesday midnight, Russian-led forces have attacked the Ukrainian positions near the villages of Slavne and Chermalyk. No casualties among Ukrainian troops have been reported since the start of the day," the report said.Afghanistan was the deadliest country, with 15 reporters killed, followed by Syria, Mexico and Yemen.

More journalists were killed, abused and subjected to violence in 2018 than in any other year on record, with those in the profession facing an "unprecedented level of hostility," a new report has found.

Murder, imprisonment, hostage-taking and enforced disappearances of journalists all increased compared to last year, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), who criticized politicians and public figures for encouraging disdain for the news media, CNN wrote.

Read alsoCIA has concluded Saudi crown prince ordered journalist's killing: Washington Post

A total of 80 journalists were killed  61% were murdered or deliberately targeted for their reporting, while 39% were killed while reporting. The report also found that 348 reporters were being detained and 60 were being held hostage.

The findings further highlight the volatility faced by journalists across the world over the past twelve months, a period which has seen high-profile murders and imprisonments as well as verbal attacks on the news media by key global figures, including U.S. President Donald Trump.

"Violence against journalists has reached unprecedented levels this year, and the situation is now critical," RSF secretary general Christophe Deloire said in a news release accompanying the report.

"The hatred of journalists that is voiced, and sometimes very openly proclaimed, by unscrupulous politicians, religious leaders and businessmen has tragic consequences on the ground, and has been reflected in this disturbing increase in violations against journalists," he added.

The "shocking" murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in October, which led to an international outcry, demonstrated "the appalling nature of the Saudi regime and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's oppressive methods," the organization said. Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has previously said that Khashoggi's murder "does not reflect the Kingdom's policy nor its institutions."

The RSF report added that the high-profile killing of Slovakian journalist Jan Kuciak and the arrests of Reuters journalists Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone in Myanmar demonstrated "how far some people will go to silence 'troublesome' journalists."

For the first time, the U.S. joined the list of deadliest countries for journalists in the annual report, with six reporters killed in 2018. Four journalists were murdered in a shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland in June, while two journalists were killed in May while covering hazardous weather in North Carolina.

Afghanistan was the deadliest country, with 15 reporters killed, followed by Syria, Mexico and Yemen.Rethink, reinvent and adapt, WAHED tells higher education Higher education can lead the way to recovery from the pandemic, but first it has to rethink, reinvent and adapt to better serve its citizens, communities and economy, an international conference held to mark the 2021 World Access to Higher Education Day, or WAHED, was told. Higher education can lead the way to recovery from the pandemic, but first it has to rethink, reinvent and adapt to better serve its citizens, communities and economy, an international conference held to mark the 2021 World Access to Higher Education Day, or WAHED, was told.

Cheating at university is boomtime for some students The pandemic-induced switch to online education  in a digital environment that thrives on anonymity  has witnessed a growth in online cheating that often outpaces existing anti-cheating software. This has consequences and brings into question how we conduct assessments in the future. The pandemic-induced switch to online education  in a digital environment that thrives on anonymity  has witnessed a growth in online cheating that often outpaces existing anti-cheating software. This has consequences and brings into question how we conduct assessments in the future.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

The Croatian government is to determine the annual quota of foreign workers for 2019 by the end of this month, and according to the Vecernji List daily of Monday, the quota is proposed at as many as 63,600 workers.

ZAGREB, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Dec, 2018 ) :The Croatian government is to determine the annual quota of foreign workers for 2019 by the end of this month, and according to the Vecernji List daily of Monday, the quota is proposed at as many as 63,600 workers.

Vecernji List says that Croatia will for the first time import 200 nurses, of whom 50 would work in the healthcare system and 150 in homes for elderly people.

Until now, the social care system has not been affected by a labour shortage, and only five foreign nationals were hired this year as guide dog trainers.

As of next year, as many as 460 foreigners may be hired in this sector.

In addition to nurses and carers, homes for elderly people and for children need cooks, assistant cooks and cleaners. There is also demand for 10 physiotherapists, occupational therapists and social workers, five psychologists and five speech therapists.

The newspaper says that 1,800 nurses have left Croatia this year, mostly for Germany where they earn between 1,800 and 2,000 Euros a month.

"The quota for 2019 is broken down into 41,810 permits for new hiring, 6,540 permits for seasonal work in tourism, agriculture and forestry, 250 permits for transfers within companies, and 15,000 renewed permits," Vecernji List said.

Trade unions are dissatisfied with the government proposal. They say that the competitiveness of the Croatian economy cannot be built on a poorly paid labour force, and that the government is increasing the quota just as wages are starting to increase.

The greatest demand for foreign labour has been registered in the construction industry, which needs as many as 18,500 workers, tourism and hospitality (15,400), agriculture and forestry (3,530), transport (2,314) and the metal industry (2,200), Vecernji List said.H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, has discussed ways of broadening the scope of cooperation with Kyrgyzstan at a meeting with Chingiz Aidarbekov, the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Central Asian state, at the ministry's premises in Abu Dhabi.

ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 18th Dec, 2018) H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, has discussed ways of broadening the scope of cooperation with Kyrgyzstan at a meeting with Chingiz Aidarbekov, the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Central Asian state, at the ministry's premises in Abu Dhabi.

H.H.

Sheikh Abdullah underlined the UAE's keenness to advance bilateral relations across various domains to the higher good of both nations.

The top diplomat of Kyrgyzstan hailed the privileged relations between the two countries, and praised the distinctive status boasted by the UAE at the global scene.

He affirmed his country's determination to propel bilateral ties across all fields.

Attending the meeting was the UAE Non-resident Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Mohammad Hareb Al Muhairbi.The guarantor states of the Astana format settlement talks have agreed on the list of the Syrian constitutional committee members from the civil society, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th December, 2018) The guarantor states of the Astana format settlement talks have agreed on the list of the Syrian constitutional committee members from the civil society, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

According to the statement, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal and Hossein Jaberi Ansari, a senior adviser to the Iranian foreign minister, agreed on the list on Monday, ahead of Tuesday's meeting of the three countries' foreign ministers in Geneva.

The draft list was handed over to the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura ahead of the meeting, the ministry added.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

DAMASCUS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th December, 2018) Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem on Monday accused Turkey and Western countries of the delay in the formation of the Syrian constitutional committee.

"It is too early to talk about the start of the constitutional committee's work ... The delay in the formation of the commission is caused by the attempts of a number of Western countries to intervene in this process, as well as by obstacles created by Turkey," Muallem said, speaking at Damascus University, as quoted by the Syrian national agency (SANA).

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura will report to the UN Security Council on the results achieved on the formation of the constitutional committee on December 20.

On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed hope that the Syrian constitutional committee would be able to meet in early 2019.

The creation of the committee, which is expected to draft Syria's new constitution, was agreed upon during the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in the Russian resort city of Sochi in late January. The committee is aimed to develop recommendations and adjustments to the Syrian constitution. The constitutional committee should consist of 150 people, but so far it is formed only by two-thirds.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with the government forces fighting against numerous opposition groups and terrorist organizations.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic met representatives of the Croatian minority in Austria on Monday and told them Croatia would continue to support their activities.

CROATIA, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Dec, 2018 ) : Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic met representatives of the Croatian minority in Austria on Monday and told them Croatia would continue to support their activities.

Plenkovic arrived in Vienna to attend the EU-Africa summit the central event of which will be held Tuesday.

"Here are the representatives of all Croatian organisations in Austria, at least in Vienna and the area," said Petar Tyran, head of the Croatian Centre in Vienna where the meeting was held.

He also informed the prime minister Croat organisations in Austria needed financial support to be able to keep the media for the Croat minority in Austria.

Plenkovic said it is a priority for his government to provide for Croats around the world, notably in countries in which they are an autochthonous minority, as it is the case in Austria.

"Austria is one of the main countries for Croatia's foreign trade, investments, a country that helped Croatia during the Homeland War in which you played a great role of support and understanding for everything that was happening in the homeland," Plenkovic told Austrian Croats.

He also mentioned the new law on citizenship which the government had forwarded to parliament and which is expected to facilitate the process of obtaining citizenship to Croats living abroad.The Russian embassy has contacted the captain of Russian ship the Kuzma Minin, which is aground near the UK coast, UK services are currently conducting a rescue operation, a spokesman for the Russian diplomatic mission in London told reporters Tuesday.

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th December, 2018) The Russian embassy has contacted the captain of Russian ship the Kuzma Minin, which is aground near the UK coast, UK services are currently conducting a rescue operation, a spokesman for the Russian diplomatic mission in London told reporters Tuesday.

The Kuzma Minin has been stranded off the coast of the UK county of Cornwall since morning.

"The embassy established contact with the captain of the Kuzma Minin ship. A rescue operation is currently underway jointly with the British competent services. The embassy thanked the British side for assistance to the ship and sailors," the spokesman said.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon vowed on Sunday that his country will further expand trade and exchanges with Algeria on the basis of a 12-year-old bilateral strategic partnership.

ALGIERS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Dec, 2018 ) : South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon vowed on Sunday that his country will further expand trade and exchanges with Algeria on the basis of a 12-year-old bilateral strategic partnership.

Lee made the remarks after arriving in this northwestern African country on the first leg of his three-nation trip that will also take him to Tunisia and Morocco.

"I'm the first South Korean prime minister to visit Algeria, the sole African country that has a strategic partnership with our country. It's time to further strengthen the bilateral relationship," Lee said in a meeting with South Korean residents here.

"Twelve years have passed since the two countries formed strategic partnership during the presidency of Roh Moo-hyun.

Human exchanges and trade have not been sufficient for that period, as Roh's diplomatic policy was not inherited by his successors," said Lee.

He then stressed that South Korea's government is now clearly determined to diversify its diplomacy and solidify relations with Algeria, particularly in human exchanges and trade.

The prime minister also visited a war memorial and an independence hall in Algiers together with his Algerian counterpart, Ahmed Ouyahia.

Lee's trip is aimed at promoting economic ties with the three African nations, especially for Korean companies operating there, according to his office.

Lee and his delegation flew on the presidential jet as President Moon Jae-in has encouraged him to use it for overseas trips.Nigerias Catholic Bishops have directed priests and people of consecrated life not to be involved in active partisan politics nor publicly support any politician or political party, as this is against the Churchs teaching, Canon Law, and policy.

Paul Samasumo  Vatican City

The directive was made, recently, on behalf of the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria by Fr. Ralph Madu, the Secretary General at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN). Fr. Madu addressed the media in his office at Durumi, Abuja.

The stance of the Bishops comes in the wake of a public altercation between Fr. Ejike Mbaka, a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Enugu and Peter Obi, the Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Fr. Mbaka is the Spiritual Director of Enugu Adoration Ministry.

During a fundraising event, Fr. Mbaka suggested that presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Obi might not win next year's election if Obi did not make a specific pledge or donation to the ministry's project. Generally, at such fundraising events, politicians make public their contribution or pledge for projects being undertaken by the Church.

The Church must always be neutral

Fr. Madu has offered guidelines to pastoral agents given next years elections. The CSN Secretary-General stated that the Catholic Church in consonance with the directives of the universal Church remains neutral and has no support or special relationship with any politician or political party in the country.

Church wants a free and fair 2019 election

Fr. Madu said the Church advocates for a 2019 election that would not only be free and fair but one which would also be free of rancour and violence.

The Adoration Ministry Spiritual Director, Fr. Mbaka, has since publicly apologised to Peter Obi saying he will henceforth focus on Christ whom we worship. He faced widespread backlash for the altercation.

Fr. Mbaka is often courted by Nigerian politicians because of the large number of people that attend his crusades.Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC), released a message on Dec. 18 on the countrys offshore detention crisis

Australias Catholic Church is calling on the government to put an end to the 5-year saga of refugees and asylum seekers detained offshore on Nauru and Manus Island, saying, Enough is enough. Lets find them a home.

In a statement released on December 18, on the United Nations International Migrants Day, Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC), regretted that the countrys offshore detention crisis has not been resolved.

Australia maintains a policy of mandatory detention and offshore processing of asylum seekers who arrive without a valid visa. One such offshore processing centre is on the Pacific island nation of Nauru. Another is on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.

Serious concerns regarding the human rights situation of those detained in the two islands have been expressed by rights groups.



Below is the statement of Arch. Coleridge:

Our elected representatives have returned home for Christmas without resolving the offshore detention crisis that confronts our country. It would seem that a majority in both houses of our Parliament favour laws and policies that will bring to an end the five-year saga of refugees and asylum-seekers who have had to put their lives on hold on Nauru and Manus Island.

A wealthy country with a robust rule of law and multicultural tolerance, Australia is an attractive place to live and to find peace and security. It is no surprise that courageous and resourceful people fleeing persecution anywhere in the world would be happy to make a home here  just as they did after the wars in Europe and in southeast Asia.

Our politicians are rightly committed to maintaining secure borders and an orderly migration program. We always need to be asking if we Australians could be more generous in the number of people in humanitarian need we receive each year as part of our orderly migration program.

Both sides of Parliament are committed to police, military and diplomatic measures aimed at stopping unauthorised boats coming, especially from Indonesia. We should only turn back boats by means that are legal, transparent, and safe. We should always ensure that anyone on such a boat is not directly fleeing persecution in Indonesia.

Both sides of Parliament remain committed to offshore processing and third-country resettlement for asylum-seekers arriving in Australia by boat without authorisation. But even if such arrangements are left in place, it has always been accepted that there is a need for prompt resettlement of those proven to be refugees.

After five years, we have to ask: If our Government is unable to find a home for these people in another country, should we not provide them with a home in Australia or New Zealand (which has generously offered places) while at the same time strengthening the police, military and diplomatic measures to ensure that boats remain stopped? Then should we not do more to co-operate with our regional neighbours to care for those seeking processing and security in our region, and to provide a permanent home for more of these persons who are fleeing inhumane conditions in their home countries?

This Christmas, we ask our politicians to consider a fresh return to Canberra in the new year, intent on putting an end to the intolerable situation on Nauru and Manus Island endured by asylum-seekers whose plight continues to be our responsibility. We cannot afford to have the plight of these people made even worse by making their futures the subject of bitter electoral disputation in the year ahead.

Enough is enough. Lets find them a home.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge

Archbishop of Brisbane

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference President (Source: ACBC)Colombia's National Liberation Army, better known as the ELN, requests a resumption of peace talks with the government in neutral Havana, but a significant sticking point is creating a stalemate.

By James Blears

The ELN, which has been waging an armed conflict since 1964, has announced a twelve days ceasefire, during this Festive Season, starting on December 23rd and lasting until January 3rd. It's also requesting a resumption of peace talks in Havana Cuba. But Colombia's President Ivan Duque says this can't happen until the ELN frees all hostages and desists from all criminal activity. The previous Government lead by President Juan Manuel Santos signed a peace agreement with the larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, in 2016, and were negotiating with the ELN. This began in 2017.

The ELN insists it's committed to a political solution, ending the armed struggle and participating in a true democracy. The required next move appears to be up to its Command structure.

Luxor Hotel and Casino spices up the resorts food and beverage program with the addition of Diablos Cantina, opening December 20. At Diablos, guests will be invited to ignite their taste buds with tantalizing appetizers, wickedly tasty entrees, delicious desserts and tangy cocktails (Pictured: Diablos Cantina Ceviche  Photo credit: MGM Resorts International)

Photo credit: MGM Resorts International

The robust menu, created by Executive Chef Saul Ortiz, will boast vibrant Mexican fare deeply rooted in the culture and traditions of Mexico City, the countrys capital. From starters to sides, each dish balances rich flavors with modern cooking techniques and detailed presentations to provide guests time-honored, south of the border favorites in an approachable way.

Photo credit: MGM Resorts International

My cooking style is heavily inspired by the produce and street food of Mexico City, my hometown, said Ortiz. The menu features a collection of the citys popular dishes and showcases a modern approach to authentic Mexican cuisine by preparing traditional ingredients using contemporary methods.

Menu highlights will include: Spicy Starters

Agua Chile Shrimp Ceviche: Citrus-cured shrimp mixed with cucumber, pickled onions, orange, cilantro and Fresno Chili peppers; served with tortilla chips Diablos Salsa Tasting: A tasting of three increasingly spicy house-made salsas including a mild tomatillo and jalapeno mix; medium tomato and chipotle blend; and a tingling combination of roasted tomatoes and Carolina Reaper, the worlds hottest pepper Savory Staples

Enchilada Trio: Platter of three enchiladas with mouth-watering fillings and sauces including slow-roasted beef brisket topped with a zesty pasilla sauce; chicken tinga and cheese coated with a chipotle tomato sauce; and shrimp sauteed in a garlic butter sauce, finished with a tomatillo crema and cabbage slaw Combination Fajitas: Sizzling skillet of Achiote-marinated steak, Adobo chicken and citrus shrimp with bell peppers, red onions and yellow squash Sinful Sweets

Fried Platano Split: Fried, hand-pressed plantain coated with sugar, topped with cinnamon ice cream and berry compote and drizzled with condensed milk, chocolate and cajeta Churro Funnel Cake a la Mode: Churro funnel cake complete with cinnamon ice cream, strawberry marmalade and Nutella Satisfying Sips

To complement the flavorful bites, guests can choose from a collection of premium tequilas and handcrafted margaritas such as The Vixen, made with blanco tequila, fresh-squeezed lime juice, hibiscus and mint; or El Gordo, a classic margarita served frozen in a souvenir cup. Additional specialty drinks include the Bubbly Citrus Mojito, a citrus rum with elderflower and lime muddled with mint and topped with prosecco; and the Forever Summer Sangria, red wine with orange liqueur, lemon-lime soda and seasonal fruit.

Fans of Diablos will recognize the abstract sombrero sculpture which remains the focal point of the venue, while a color palette of red, purple and green, along with colorful sugar skull murals and updated fixtures, transforms the room into a vibrant dining space. Large parties can be hosted in the private dining room, which seats up to 60 guests.

Gold Spike, Downtown Las Vegas premier adult playground, and Inspire offer guests double the party, double the celebration during the 4th annual Escape Masquerade New Years Eve Ball, while DTLVs favorite watering hole, Corduroy, celebrates with a Black Tee Affair.

On Monday, December 31st, come as you are or come as you arent, disguised by your flashiest celebratory mask of course, and saunter into the New Year at Gold Spike & Inspire. For $65, the downtown hotspots will offer two open-bar parties with one ticket! Partygoers will be transported into a glittering soiree decked out in true New Years Eve style at each venue. At Gold Spike, dance to the sounds of DJ Valid in the Living Room while DJ Teenwolf leads guests into 2019 in the Backyard. At Inspire, toast to the tunes of DJ Dilemma on the rooftop while DJ Absynt Minded spices things up on the 2nd floor. Guests will enjoy a complimentary champagne toast as the clock strikes midnight at both locations.

Down East Fremont, Corduroys Black Tee Affair offers guests the chance to ditch the glitz and glam for the ultimate anti-New Years Eve, New Years Eve party. Revel in the revolt and enjoy a complimentary Moscow Mule toast to enter 2019 in true class and style! Party starts at 8 p.m.

The following New Years Eve celebratory packages are available at Gold Spike and Inspire:

General Admission (Early bird price)  $10.00 at Gold Spike, $15.00 at Inspire

Guaranteed access and complimentary champagne toast at midnight. Limited tickets are available at the early bird price.

Guaranteed access and complimentary champagne toast at midnight. Limited tickets are available at the early bird price. Premium Select Open Bar with Admission  $65.00 (tax and gratuity not included)

Guaranteed access, express entry, and complimentary champagne toast at midnight. Guests will also enjoy a premium three-hour open bar from 8  11 p.m. at both Gold Spike and Inspire. Limited tickets available.

Guaranteed access, express entry, and complimentary champagne toast at midnight. Guests will also enjoy a premium three-hour open bar from 8  11 p.m. at both Gold Spike and Inspire. Limited tickets available. Reserved Table with Bottle Service  $500.00 (tax and gratuity not included)

Guaranteed access, express entry for up to five people with complimentary champagne toast at midnight, plus a reserved table inside with waitress service and one (1) bottle of premium liquor and one (1) bottle of champagne. Reserved table service is extremely limited.Irans foreign ministry spokesman said the country will adopt policy on Umrah (minor Hajj) pilgrimage based on the outcome of upcoming negotiations with Saudi officials.



AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Irans foreign ministry spokesman said the country will adopt policy on Umrah (minor Hajj) pilgrimage based on the outcome of upcoming negotiations with Saudi officials.



Asked by IQNA at his weekly press conference in Tehran on Monday about the possibility of Iranians participation in Umrah pilgrimage this year, Bahram Qassemi said Hajj affairs are the responsibility of the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization.



Like previous years, the head of the organization and his counterparts in other Muslim countries have been invited to Saudi Arabia for talks on next years Hajj, he noted.



We should now wait and see in what areas there will be agreements (between Iran and Saudi Arabia) and what policies should be adopted (according to the outcome of the talks), Qassemi added.



Umrah is an Islamic pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, performed by Muslims that can be undertaken at any time of the year, in contrast to Hajj which has specific dates according to the Islamic lunar calendar.



Head of Irans Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Ali Reza Rashidian on Sunday left for Saudi Arabia for talks on Hajj.



Iran sent 86,000 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for Hajj this year. In 2017 some 85,000 Iranians made the pilgrimage.



A year earlier, more than 1.8 million pilgrims attended Hajj but Iranians stayed at home after tensions between Riyadh and Tehran boiled over following a deadly crush of people during the 2015 pilgrimage.



Iran has not sent pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for Umrah since 2015.



On September 24, 2015, thousands of people lost their lives in the deadly crush after Saudi authorities blocked a road in Mina during a ritual, forcing large crowds of pilgrims to collide.



The crush was the deadliest incident in the history of the pilgrimage. According to an Associated Press count based on official statements from the 36 countries that lost citizens in the disaster, more than 2,400 pilgrims were killed in the incident.



Saudi Arabia claims nearly 770 people were killed, but officials at Irans Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization say about 4,700 people, including over 460 Iranian pilgrims, lost their lives.





/257Representatives from GE Healthcare, UMP, and TD Medical join PACS's launching ceremony

Ho Chi Minh City Medicine and Pharmacy University (UMP) in collaboration with GE Healthcare and privately-held TD Medical have just launched the PACs Education Unit.

The impact of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 on the medical industry is becoming increasingly apparent; as one of the key human resource training centres in Vietnam, UMP has been striving to update scientific and technological achievements to effectively contribute to healthcare services for people.

With PACs Education Unit, more than 200 clinicians will be trained annually to use digital healthcare tools in practice; the curriculum is also opened to working clinicians across the country to upgrade their skills.

Visiting the new training unit PACS

Almost any industry globally, including healthcare, has started to leverage technology and digital solutions to work smarter and faster. As educators, we recognise the importance of starting early on this digital mindset early to ensure that our student skills will still be relevant upon graduation.

To that end, we value this partnership with GE Healthcare and TD Medical. Their experience across implementation and industry best practices will ensure that our students get access to the latest solutions and technology to hone their skills, said Chau Ngoc Hoa, head of PACs unit.

This move of UMP is aligned to the priorities of the Ministry of Health.

In recent years, the government has been promoting policies on applying digital tools into management and operations in general, and specifically in the healthcare sector.

In recent years, the government has been promoting policies on applying digital tools into management and operations in general, and specifically in the healthcare sector.

Digital tools are expected to be the foundation for a complete digitalisation in the next few years, with an expected high adoption of Hospital Information System (HIS) as well as Laboratory Information System (LIS), integrated Radiology Information System (RIS) and Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS), and Electronic Medical Record (EMR), from which to complete governments goals.

We are heartened to note that the Vietnamese government is keen to drive more digital solutions across the country. In the context of healthcare, digital solutions have the potential to improve hospital operational and clinical excellence all of which, ultimately impacts patient outcome.

Son Pham, GE Healthcare Vietnam country manager

GE Healthcare is privileged for the opportunity to partner a prestigious local institution such as UMP and make a long-term contribution in enhancing the healthcare standards of Vietnam, said Son Pham, country manager for GE Healthcare Vietnam.

At the education centre in UMP, students will be able to undergo technical and hands-on training in GEs Enterprise Imaging Solutions such as CentricityTM Universal Viewer and Advanced Visualisation.

It delivers comprehensive reading across hospitals, reporting and collaboration across care pathways to help improve clinical efficiency and drive enhanced patient outcomes.

One of the features of Centricity Universal Viewer is Zero Footprint Viewer (ZFP), which can be used to review images with a team, patient or family member. For example, surgeons can use Centricity Universal Viewer ZFP to review images and surgery plans, then also reference images during intricate surgeries to locate key anatomy.

Cardiologists, pediatricians and orthopedic surgeons can bring up images on portable devices at the bedside or in their office to share with patients and families as they discuss care plans.

Referring physicians can educate and comfort patients by explaining procedures and sharing knowledge. It all adds up to swifter decision making and more timely and efficient care for the patient.

Studies have shown that with mobile access capabilities, there is a 32 per cent reduction in duplicated tests with anytime access to data.The Airport Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) hit a milestone last weekend as it welcomed the 100 millionth passenger arriving at its network of airport across the country this year. (Photo: nld.com.vn)

Bui Ngoc Giang, the 100 millionth passenger and a Vietnamese national, arrived at Phu Quoc International Airport on Phu Quoc Island, the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang, last weekend after flying with Vietnam Airlines from Hanoi.

Giang was welcomed with flowers in a ceremony held by the ACV to also celebrate the completion of the expansion of the airport.

In 2016, the ACV began the expansion of Phu Quoc International Airport, which is among 22 airports the State-run firm operates nationwide. The project costed about one trillion VND (43 million USD).

The project expanded the area of the airport from about 24,300 sqm to more than 36,000 sqm and increased the number of boarding gates from four to 12, including eight for domestic flights and four for international flights. The airport is now also equipped with four new passenger boarding bridges.

The expansion allows the airport to raise its capacity from 2.65 million passengers to 4 million passengers per year and provide higher quality services and facilities.

Phu Quoc International Airport was put into operation in 2012. Currently, about 80 flights take off or land at the airport a day. During high travel season in summer and national holidays, the number can reach 100 as it connects visitors with one of Vietnams most popular destination  Phu Quoc Island.

Dubbed as the pearl island, Phu Quoc is endowed with beautiful beaches with white and golden sand and crystal-clear water, alongside pristine forests.

Since the island was connected to the national electrical grid and a visa waiver policy which gives foreigners a 30-day visa-free stay was adopted in 2014, foreigners have been flocking to the island.

According to figures from the local administration, last year the island received 1.96 million visitors, a 35 percent year-on-year increase, including more than 360,000 foreign visitors, up 72 percent.

In the first quarter of this year the number of visitors hit 760,000, a 37 percent rise over the same period last year. Foreign arrivals doubled to 286,000.Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell's post-meeting comments will be pored closely watched for an idea about the bank's plans for 2019. (Photo: AFP/Mark Wilson)

However, there is still caution on trading floors after Friday's sharp sell-off fuelled by concerns over China's economy, and despite a tweet from Donald Trump suggesting a trade deal could be hammered out between Washington and Beijing.

While there are signs the world's top two economies are beginning to move towards a resolution in their bitter tariffs spat, there are increasing concerns about the global outlook following another dour set of indicators out of China.

A string of below-par readings this year have highlighted a slowdown in the Asian giant and observers are forecasting leaders will unveil fresh measures to pep up the economy, which is on course for another year of relatively weak growth.

A speech from President Xi Jinping on Tuesday to mark 40 years since China's economy began opening up will be closely watched, and that is expected to be followed by the start of a conference setting out the country's 2019 economic plan.

"We should expect a raft of stimulus measures from China policymakers in an attempt to stabilise the domestic economy," said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trade at OANDA.

The Fed will conclude its rate-setting policy meeting Wednesday and while expectations are for another hike in borrowing costs, comments from chairman Jerome Powell will be closely watched for an idea of its plans for 2019.

'A LOT VOLATILITY'

In light of the China-US trade row and signs of weakness in the global economy, the bank has sounded a little more dovish in recent weeks, fuelling speculation it will slow down its pace of rate hikes - which has provided some much-needed support to equities.

"The upcoming (Fed) meeting and China's policy-setting meeting have been the most actively discussed topics around the markets," Innes added. "And both events have a smoothing effect on risk sentiment."

Shanghai climbed 0.2 per cent and Tokyo finished 0.6 per cent higher, while Sydney put on one per cent and Singapore jumped 1.2 per cent.

Seoul and Taipei each gained 0.1 per cent while Wellington added 0.3 per cent. There were also gains in Mumbai and Manila, though Hong Kong inched down marginally.

In early European trade London dipped 0.1 per cent, Paris dropped 0.3 per cent and Frankfurt eased 0.2 per cent.

Steve Goldman, fund manager at Kapstream Capital, told Bloomberg TV in Sydney that "we're going to see a lot of volatility" in the new year because of global uncertainty.

Hopes that China and the US can reach a deal to end their trade war were given a boost by Trump Friday, when he tweeted: "China wants to make a big and very comprehensive deal. It could happen, and rather soon!"

That came after China earlier in the day backed off fresh levies imposed this summer on US-made cars and auto parts.

While a full-blown deal is some way off, the developments have provided some hope to dealers.

On currency markets the pound remains bogged down around 20-month lows as Prime Minister Theresa May struggles to win concessions from EU leaders over her Brexit agreement, which a majority of lawmakers in Westminster oppose.

Facing growing calls for another referendum to break the deadlock, May is expected to tell MPs that such a move will do "irreparable damage" to British politics.

However, with her agreement all but dead in the water, there is a growing expectation Britain will leave the EU without a deal, which commentators warn could hammer the British economy.

- Key figures around 0820 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 per cent at 21,506.88 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: FLAT at 26,087.98 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 per cent at 2,597.97 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 per cent at 6,839.45

Pound/dollar: UP at US$1.2584 from US$1.2582

Euro/dollar: UP at US$1.1319 from US$1.1303

Dollar/yen: UP at 113.42 from 113.39

Oil - West Texas Intermediate UP 12 cents at US$51.32 per barrel

Oil - Brent Crude: UP 12 cents at US$60.40 per barrel

New York - Dow: DOWN 1.7 per cent at 24,168.96 (close)In a bid to improve his sagging fortunes as Christmas approaches, Australia Prime Minister Morrison looks almost certain to dole out the goodies to sceptical voters. (AFP/ALEJANDRO PAGNI)

"We support lower taxes," said treasurer and deputy prime minister Josh Frydenberg, touting "important" tax decisions ahead.

A mid-year budget released on Monday showed the government running a smaller deficit than expected and possible surplus next year.

That amounts to a much-needed AUS$9.25 billion (US$6.7 billion) election war chest for Morrison.

His conservative coalition is ten points back in the polls and facing a thumping loss to centre-left Labor, according to a recent Newspoll survey.

Hoping for a little Christmas cheer to improve his sagging fortunes, Morrison looks almost certain to dole out the goodies to sceptical voters.

The government did not spell out what the tax cuts could be, but they were budgeted for in the fine print of the plan under "decisions taken but not yet announced."

"This is tax cuts (or possibly spending measures) due to be announced between now and next year's election," said Andrew Hanlan, an economist with Westpac.

Experts said the smaller deficit was thanks to higher tax revenues stemming from stronger growth and higher commodity prices.

Australia's economy has been growing steadily for decades, but has started to slow amid trade disputes between China and the United States and domestic pressures.

An election date has not yet been set, but it is widely expected by May next year.Poland plans to boost meat export to Asia, include Vietnam

Poland and Vietnam enhance connections

Poland considers Vietnam as one of six priority markets, however, Polish businesses have limited information about Vietnam. Meanwhile, Vietnamese businesses know even less about Poland as a market. To remedy this, Polish enterprises recently visited Vietnam to learn about the market and seek co-operation opportunities.

A dozen Polish enterprises arrived to Ho Chi Minh City to find partnerships with Vietnamese businesses to enhance economic co-operation and research the market.

Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong said that the city invited Polish enterprises to seek for opportunities for investment co-operation.

The city is willing to play a role as a bridge to help Poland approach the Asia-Pacific, and Ho Chi Minh City hopes that Polish enterprises will give priority to investment in food processing, consumer goods, information technology (IT), education, and culture.

Meanwhile, Piotr Harasimowicz, chief representative officer of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency in Ho Chi Minh City (PAIH), said that there are many commodities such as rice, fruit, agricultural products, and cooking oil, for which the Polish market has great demand and Vietnam could but has not exported to Poland.

The solution for promoting co-operation between the two countries is to strengthen information exchange to capture market trends and draw in future partners, said Piotr Harasimowicz.

Strengthening co-operation in food sector

Harasimowicz said at the seminar on import-export opportunities for Vietnamese and Polish businesses held in Ho Chi Minh City that Poland considers Vietnam a priority market to co-operate in the upcoming time in some potential sectors, especially in processed food products.

To actualise this goal, Poland plans to boost meat exports to Asia, including Vietnam. Poland's 1,300 meat factories and 200,000 livestock breeders who follow the closed cycle manufacturing, ensuring food hygiene and safe processing, will have great opportunities to increase market share in Vietnam.

Nguyen Quoc Dien, marketing director of Ben Nghe Trade Production Co., Ltd. said that the geographical distance has been reduced by the opening of the first Vietnam-Poland direct flight. In addition, freight transport by sea and air between Vietnam and Europe (particularly Poland) are quite diversified and could facilitate increased trade between the two countries.

According to Lam Tien Dat, representative of An Phat Foods Co., Ltd., the consumption of poultry meat in Vietnam is quite large, which makes poultry from the EU a potential import item in Vietnam.

We have started to study the process of breeding and slaughtering poultry from Poland, Dat said, adding that An Phat is importing poultry products from across the world, in quite modest quantities.At the event (Source: VNA)

Jointly organised by the Vietnamese Alumni Association in Aichi prefecture Association in Aichi prefecture (VARONET), the Vietnamese Students and Youth Union in Central Japan (VYSA Tokai) and relevant organisations, the event attracted over 50 Japanese companies and organisations such as Denso, Marubushi, Kanefusa, and around 200 foreign students, including those from Vietnam.

The event aimed to promote connection between foreign students in Japan with local firms which have demand for international human resources.

It also offered a good chance for students to pick necessary information related to the Japanese labour market, and learn experience from those who had studied and worked in Japan for many years.

Representatives from Japanese firms and Aichis international cooperation department expressed their high hope of students, especially Vietnamese ones. They also set criteria for recruiting staff in the near future.

Nguyen Ba Quang from VARONET highlighted the significance of the event, saying that it marks progress in labour cooperation between Vietnam and Japan in general and Aichi prefecture in particular.

Located in the central south of Japan, Aichi is considered an industrial hub of the country where international groups such Toyota Motor and Denso place their headquarters. The locality is very attractive to foreign labourers, including Vietnamese.Activists from Greenpeace, one of the NGOs who accuse France of not respecting its short-term climate objectives, take part in a march for climate in Paris. (Photo: AFP)

It comes after similar action was launched by farmers in Germany, and the Dutch government lost a landmark case brought by an environmental rights group on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

"The failure of the state in the fight against climate change reflects a lack of respect in its obligation to protect the environment and the health and security of the population," the NGOs said in a joint statement on Monday (Dec 17).

The French government will have two months to respond to the legal action.

"We are seeking redress for damages and asking the state to act straight away at all levels," Greenpeace campaigner Laura Monnier said.

The NGOs allege that France, where greenhouse gas emissions rose again in 2015, has not met its short-term climate objectives.

President Emmanuel Macron, who has attempted to paint himself as a leader in fighting climate change since his election last year, recently backed down on anti-pollution fuel tax hikes in the face of country-wide "yellow vest" protests.

In October, the Dutch government lost an appeal against a ruling which ordered it to slash greenhouse gases by at least 25 per cent by 2020.

Environmental rights group Urgenda fought the successful case on behalf of some 900 Dutch citizens who accused the Netherlands of doing too little to prevent dangerous climate change.

In Germany, dismayed farmers who have suffered damage to their crops and dairy farms as a result of record drought have also filed a lawsuit, with the aid of Greenpeace, against Berlin to force action.

Last month the United Nation's (UN) Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) said in a report that warming is on track toward an unliveable 3 degrees Celcius or 4 degrees Celcius rise, and avoiding global chaos will require a major transformation.

A deal reached at the UN's COP24 climate summit earlier this month was criticised for not matching the ambition of the world's most vulnerable countries.MoU signing ceremony between Marina Hotel JSC and HTMi

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the country will welcome the 15th million foreign visitor this month.

The non-smoke industry has achieved anannual growth rate of more than 30 per cent with the total of nearly 600,000 rooms that created three million jobs.

Despite of this great potential the hospitability industry always tops the list of sectors lacking of high quality human resources, particularly the luxury hotel segment.

The Swiss partner will support the Vietnamese developer in training quality human resources in hotel services to later work at Marina Hotel JSC projects.

With respect to real estate complex, many developers have found it hard to sort out qualified and professional human resources. As this is a fresh real estate model in Vietnam, the relevant human resources need to be well-trained before taking on jobs at five-star hotel and resort venues.

Amidst these challenges, the developer of Swisstouches La Luna Resort, Marina Hotel JSC, has not only oriented themselves as property developers but also has taken a bold step to embrace training professional human resources to work in the tourism and hotel management industry. This is the first developer in Vietnam that has made this move.

Accordingly, Marina Hotel .JSC has recently joined hands with HTMi Hotel and Tourism Management Institute from Switzerland. The two sides will jointly build and develop the HTMi Hotel Management School in Vietnam.

The Swiss partner will support the Vietnamese developer in training quality human resources in hotel services to later work at Marina Hotel JSC projects.

HTMi Hotel and Tourism Management Institute in Switzerland was ranked 14th among the worlds top universities by QS World University Rankings for its training quality

In the speed, the representative of Marina Hotel.JSC expressed their wish to appoint Vietnamese personnel to take on management positions after this project comes into operation. The Swisstouches La Luna Resort chain of Marina Hotel JSC in Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, and Can Tho is expected to provide jobs to more than 4,000 people once these resorts are open.

Our company offers a policy of 20 percent scholarship to any training course at HTMi Hotel and Tourism Management Institute in Switzerland or Singapore to any investors whose total purchase value surpasses VND5 billion ($217,400). The scholarship will increase to 50 per cent for customers whose investment value exceeds VND10 billion ($434,800) and those with investment value surpassing VND15 billion ($652,000) will benefit the exemption from paying tuition, said La Quang Binh, chairman of Marina Hotel JSC.

Binh also pledged that after completion at the HTMi institution, the offsprings of investors will have a place to work at their resort system in Vietnam. This means that besides receiving a commitment profit ratio of 9 per cent on an annual basis, plus several other incentives that the investors buying apartments at the resort real estate system could also secure the future of their offspring.

The top target in developing a resort project is to boost room occupancy, and this factor is heavily reliant on how the project will be operated and managed in the future.

Hence, investing in a pipeline of quality human resources is a wise move and long-term vision by developer Marina Hotel JSC for a guarantee of high and stable growth in occupancy throughout their resort real estate system of about 20,000 hotel rooms in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

Swisstouches La Luna Resort had a plan for high quality human resources even before operation

Co-operating with the HTMi Hotel and Tourism Management Institute lay in our strategy to develop a chain of five-star resort venues as this brand is ranked in top 14 in terms of training quality on the globe. They are on the way of expanding its brand name into the Middle East besides Switzerland, Singapore, and Australia. Binh added.

According to Bernie Quinn, Academic Dean at HTMi Singapore, the graduates of the HTMi Institute have been employed by five-star hotels worldwide and they are themselves ambassadors of Swisstouches around the world.

We are on plan of building the HTMi School in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City aiming to provide professional and high-quality hotel management training, he said.

Bernie said he expects the co-operation on training will contribute to the successive generations with sufficient skill and quality to carve a name for the Vietnamese hotel and service industry on the world map.

The HTMiHotel and Tourism Management Institute in Switzerland was placed 14th among the worlds top universities by QS World University Rankings. In Switzerland, the HTMi system consists of the School of International Hotel and Tourism Management, the International Hospitality Research Centre Switzerland, the Centre for Culinary Management, the Centre for Career Management, the Centre for Events Management Training, and more. Beside Switzerland, HTMi has branches in Singapore, Australia, and the Middle East. The international HTMi system receives 30-40 students from Vietnam annually.

Contact for information:

Website: www.swisstoucheslaluna.com; www.diamond.swisstoucheslaluna.com

Hotline: 024 2222 6789VIB CEO Han Ngoc Vu

Previously, VIBs headquarters relocation plan from Corner Stone Building at 16 Phan Chu Trinh Street in Hanois Hoan Kiem district to Ho Chi Minh City was approved by shareholders and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Governor.

VIBs new headquarters in the heart of District 1 is considered very convenient for traffic, so that it is expected to serve and better meet customers requirements in the area.

Ho Chi Minh City is the southern economic centre, having the role to connect and support other cities to develop. This is also the regional and national centre of international trade, culture, creative knowledge, scientific research, high technology transfer, creative industry, besides acting as international tourism, finance-commerce and logistics hub.

Therefore, VIBs headquarters relocation from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City is in the strategy to promote business development and enhance the banks brand in the area, said Han Ngoc Vu, VIBs CEO.

Lately, VIB has become the first private commercial joint stock bank in Vietnam to be approved by the SBV to apply Basel II.

VIB has recently received positive appreciation from local and international organisations. The Banker Magazine (UK) has awarded VIB as Bank of the Year in two consecutive years; and international rating agency Moodys has continuously taken rating actions on VIB in recent years.

Lately, VIB has become the first private commercial joint stock bank in Vietnam to be approved by the SBV to apply Basel II.

This is the result of the effort and determination of nearly 5,300 staffs to serve more than 2.3 million corporate and retail customers with the nation-wide network of 163 branches in 27 core cities and provinces all over the country.North Korea voices opposition to new sanctions. Myanmar women are being trafficked to China. Australia sharpens Its Middle East policy. Saffron is suffering in Kashmir. Cats learning from people, holidays at the White House.All the candidates running for president in the Democratic Republic of Congo are promising to fix the nation's ailing economy and spread this country's vast natural wealth to its people. But after years of corruption, a crumbling infrastructure and failing services, voters doubt that Sunday's poll will bring the change they seek. VOA's Anita Powell reports from Kinshasa.U.S. and Taliban officials have discussed proposals for a six-month cease-fire in Afghanistan and a future withdrawal of foreign troops as talks aimed at setting up peace negotiations went into a second day, Taliban sources said.

The three-day meeting in Abu Dhabi is at least the third time that U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has met Taliban representatives as diplomatic efforts to end the 17-year war have intensified this year.

An Afghan government delegation traveled to the city and met Khalilzad. However, despite U.S. insistence that any peace settlement must be agreed between Afghans, the Taliban have refused to talk directly with officials from the Kabul government, which they consider an illegitimate, foreign-appointed regime.

"Discussions are taking place with the representatives of the United States about ending the occupation, a matter that does not concern the Kabul administration whatsoever," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.



"The entire agenda is focused on issues concerning the occupiers and talks will exclusively be held with them."

The Taliban delegation was led by Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, head of the movement's political office in Qatar and included members of the leadership group based in Quetta, Pakistan and the chief of staff of Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada.

"It's a well coordinated meeting where members from the political commissions and Quetta shura are both participating for the first time," said one peace activist in close contact with the Taliban side at the meeting.

The presence in the delegation of senior officials close to the Taliban leader underscored the importance of the talks, which are shaping up as the most serious attempt to open negotiations since at least 2015.

On Monday, the delegation met officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates ahead of their meeting with Khalilzad, who was appointed to oversee Washington's peace effort in September.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

Cease-fire

Taliban officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. delegation was pressing for a six-month cease-fire as well as an agreement to name Taliban representatives to a future caretaker government.

For their part, Taliban priorities included the release of Taliban prisoners and a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces.

However Taliban officials were resisting the cease-fire proposal as they felt it would damage their cause and help U.S. and Afghan forces.

The latest round of diplomacy comes about a year after the United States sent thousands of extra troops to Afghanistan and stepped up air strikes to record levels, with the aim of pushing the Taliban to accept talks.

An Afghan government team traveled to Abu Dhabi "to begin proximity dialogue with the Taliban delegation and to prepare for a face-to-face meeting between the two sides", government spokesman Haroon Chakansuri said in a statement.

But there was no sign from the Taliban they were ready to accept talks with the government and the Kabul delegation were based in an Abu Dhabi hotel away from the location of the talks.

The United States says the aim of the talks is to facilitate an Afghan-led process and the inclusion of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Pakistan in the talks reflects a U.S. desire to bring in countries with an interest in Afghanistan.

Previous meetings were held in Qatar, where the Taliban maintains a political office, but a push to include Saudi Arabia, which is hostile to the gas-rich Gulf state, prompted a change of venue to Abu Dhabi.When a private museum in Benin displayed artifacts from the ancient Dahomey kingdom a decade ago, roughly a quarter-of-a-million Beninese flocked to see the exhibit  a stunning turnout for the tiny West African country.

There was only one hitch: although the pieces were part of its heritage, they didn't belong to Benin, but rather were on loan from former colonial power France.

The next time Benin exhibits Dahomey art may be under very different circumstances. France has promised to return 26 royal artifacts taken by the French army in 1892a move that may prove a watershed for other African restitution claims.

"If Benin succeeds in showing its heritage I think everything will change," says Marie-Cecile Zinsou, a French-Beninese who counts among Africa's most vocal restitution advocates and whose Zinsou Foundation hosted the Dahomey exhibit in 2006. "Then you'll have a real example of how African countries are getting their heritage back and showing it to the public. Then people will believe."

Macron report recommends return

After years of rebuffing restitution arguments, France is now catalyzing new hope  and concern  that tens of thousands of artifacts taken from former African colonies might head back to their places of origin. The first signs of a turnaround came in Burkina Faso last year, when French President Emmanuel Macron promised to temporarily or permanently return Africa's patrimony to the continent within five years.

The latest breakthrough came in November, when a pair of academics delivered a groundbreaking report, commissioned by Marcon, which recommended France permanently return objects acquired through "theft, looting, despoilment, trickery and forced consent."

In a continent where 60 percent of the population is under 20, young people should have "access to their own culture, creativity and spirituality from other eras," Senegalese economist Felwine Sarr and French historian Benedicte Savoy wrote. "The youth of Africa as much as the youth of France and Europe in general, have a right to their artistic and cultural heritage."

Today, the report is sparking cascading restitution claims in Africa, although most are not yet official. Benin, which for years demanded its plundered artifacts be restored, is the first beneficiary.

But others include Ivory Coast and Senegal, where Senegalese Culture Minister Abdou Latif Coulibaly said "if we have 10,000 (objects in France), we want the 10,000."

Museum directors in Mali and Chad have announced their countries were ready and able to house artifacts currently located in France and elsewhere. And in Democratic Republic of Congo, President Joseph Kabila said he would officially request former colonial power Belgium to return objects acquired during years of brutal rule.

The French report is also sparking some action in other western countries.

Last week, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution supporting returning objects to their countries of origin, calling on member states to create databases and step up the fight against art trafficking. The British museum has promised to return priceless bronzes to Nigeria. And Germany is helping Kenya track its valuable stolen artifacts that ended up in western museums, including German ones.

Powering restitution arguments is a sobering statistic: up to 90 percent of African antiquities are located outside the continent. That includes in France, where an estimated 90,000 African artifacts are housed in French museums, mostly the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac museum in Paris.

Where to house returned artifacts?

Meanwhile, new museums are sprouting or in the works across Africa, which  according to proponents  counters arguments the region cannot properly house its heritage. Senegal's Museum of Black Civilizations opened its doors in Dakar earlier this month, while last year Ivory Coast reopened its national museum that had been shuttered during a protracted civil war. Gabon, DRC and Benin are also in the process of building or revamping art spaces.

"African countries will obviously deal with their heritage, that's not a question," says Zinsou, who notes Benin has announced it would open three museums and renovate six others.

Some are not so sure. "We know the shortage in African museums" of proper conservation, art expert Alexandre Guigello told Agence France-Presse news agency, reflecting concerns echoed in other European capitals.

France's culture minister supports loaning artifacts to Africa rather than permanent returns, while Quai Branly museum head Stephane Martin described the restitution report as a bad answer," telling Le Figaro newspaper there were "other ways to engage in cultural cooperation with Africa."

Former French culture minister Jean-Jacques Aillagon offered a more dramatic response, predicting in a Le Figaro op-ed that returning the artifacts would "empty the museums," leaving only copies.

Indeed, the report raises a slew of questions about the fine print of restituting African heritage and suggests French law, enshrining the inalienability of public collections, must be changed to do so.

"It is also not clear what exactly Macron's temporary or definitive restitution' entails," adds Charline Kopf, a doctoral researcher at the University of Oslo who has examined the debate.

Returning art to places whose borders have shifted over the years poses still other headaches. While current restitution claims are being made by African nations, "sometimes such claims are also made by indigenous communities  and do not neatly correspond to boundaries on a map," Kopf adds.

Robert Jonard, who sells African artifacts in Paris, says smaller dealers like himself aren't worried they may lose ownership of their most valued pieces. "It's mostly a discussion at a higher level, among leading experts and museum heads," he says.

Like other skeptics, Jonard is worried about returning precious artifacts to places where they risk being looted or badly cared for. He claims many were originally crafted for purely practical purposes, and their original owners had few qualms about destroying or selling them when their use ran out.

"Consider what might happen to French museums if all the art Napoleon plundered in Italy was sent home?" Jonard adds. "What will remain in the world's museums if each country asks for its art back?"A few thousand demonstrators gathered in freezing temperatures outside Hungary's state broadcaster Monday night in a fifth day of protests against the right-wing government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Lawmakers from all opposition parties took to a temporary podium to declare they would continue protests until they are allowed to read out their demands on state television.

The protests were sparked by a new labor law that in essence enables the return of a six-day work week, if an employee agrees, with overtime payments potentially unpaid for up to three years.

Demands expand

But the demands of protesters have expanded to include cleaning up state corruption, creating an independent judiciary and ensuring neutral state media.

We will continue with protests all the while our demands are not read out over state media. We are not going anywhere,'' Timea Szabo, a Parliament member for the small, centrist Dialogue party, told the crowd.

The law has not been trampled on in such a way here for 30 years,'' she said, apparently referring to the roughing up of some legislators by security guards at the MTVA building early Monday.

Protesters chant slogans

Demonstrators repeatedly chanted slogans like We won't leave and They are lying day and night!

Legislators charged that police took orders from private security guards in forcing them out of the MTVA building, rather than protect their right to enter a public building.

Agnes Vadai of the Democratic Coalition, a center-left party, told The Associated Press that she had been manhandled by security guards,

This is nonsense, she said of the lack of help from police officers. It's their obligation to protect all Hungarian citizens, regardless of their position.

defendsThe group of 10 lawmakers had entered the building insisting on the right to read their five demands live on air, including the revocation of the labor law.

Government defends law

The government has defended the law, saying it will ease the shortage of workers, most especially in the booming auto and manufacturing sectors, and enable employees to earn more money as they wish.

Orban's allies have denounced the protests as the work of liberal groups financed by Hungarian-American financier George Soros. The Open Society Foundations, an organization founded by Soros, again denied that Monday.

The Hungarian people are protesting against their government because they have legitimate grievances. Nobody believes Viktor Orban's false assertion that George Soros is behind these protests, the group said in a statement.Arizona Congresswoman Martha McSally was named Tuesday to fill a vacant Senate seat representing the southwestern U.S. state.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey appointed his fellow Republican to fill the next two years of the seat once held by late Sen. John McCain until his death in August.

McSally will face a special election in 2020 for the last two years of the term, with the seat being contested again for a full six-year Senate term in2022. Republican Sen. Jon Kyl has briefly filled the seat since McCain's death but is resigning soon.

McSally came close to winning the state's other Senate seat in November, losing to Democratic Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema.

In a statement, Ducey said, "With her experience and long record of service, Martha is uniquely qualified to step up and fight for Arizona's interests in the U.S. Senate. I thank her for taking on this significant responsibility."

McSally, a one-time critic of President Donald Trump, nonetheless cast herself as a staunch supporter of the president during her campaign against Sinema. McSally largely avoided mentioning McCain, who often sparred with Trump over his foreign and domestic policies and in turn often drew the president's ire.

McSally, a former Air Force pilot, was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2014. She becomes the 25th woman in the 100-member Senate, an all-time high.The U.N. refugee agency is appealing for $2.7 billion to assist more than two million refugees from South Sudan. The refugees are living in bare-bones conditions in six neighboring countries, and funds to provide for their basic needs are running short.

South Sudan is Africas largest refugee crisis and one of its most seriously under-funded. The U.N. refugee agency reports its last appeal for $1.4 billion was only 38 percent funded.

It is urging donors to be more generous in supporting the current two-year appeal. It says the money will provide desperately needed assistance to the refugees and the largely impoverished communities hosting them.

The UNHCR notes the level of violence in South Sudan has gone down since the peace deal was signed in September after five years of brutal civil war. Agency spokesman Charlie Yaxley tells VOA since then, there has been a significant decrease in the number of refugees fleeing South Sudan.

Currently, the numbers are around three to four thousand per month. But when we compare that to last year, that is less than half of what we were seeing before," Yaxley said. "So, we have seen areas where people are fleeing from stabilizing to an extent. There is still a long way to go with that. UNHCR does not yet consider the situation in South Sudan to be conducive for people to start returning.

Yaxley says lack of funds has forced aid agencies to make severe cuts in their humanitarian operations. For instance, he says half of South Sudans refugee children are unable to go to school because of a shortage of teachers, classrooms, and educational material.

He says there are not enough doctors, nurses, and medication to treat the ill. He says lack of money has led to cuts in food rations for refugees in Ethiopia.

One of his agencys primary concerns, he says, is to provide psycho-social counseling to women and children who have been raped and victimized by other forms of sexual and gender-based violence. Because of the stigma attached to sexual assault, he says the extent of this abuse is hugely under-reported.Four jailed Catalan separatist leaders currently on hunger strike sent letters to more than 40 European heads on Monday to protest what they see as mistreatment by the Spanish courts.

The dispute between Catalonia's independence-seeking regional government and Madrid has worsened in recent weeks as negotiations have reached an impasse. Pro-independence protests are planned across Catalonia on Friday.

"We suffer from a judicial process that severely violates our fundamental rights, including the right to the presumption of innocence," the Catalan leaders wrote in the letter, which was sent to more than 40 European heads of state and government.

Spain's courts are unduly delaying their appeal demands to prevent the separatists appealing at the European level, the Catalan leaders said.

The four signatories went on hunger strike earlier this month to protest their treatment by the Spanish judiciary, though they have no intention of starving themselves to death, one told Reuters last week.

A total of nine Catalan leaders are in jail awaiting trial for their role in the region's failed bid to split from Spain last year. If convicted, they face decades in prison on charges including misappropriation of funds and rebellion.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his cabinet will travel to Barcelona on Friday for a meeting to be held amid high security as pro-independence groups have announced plans to hold protests and block transport in the region.A cease-fire went into force early Tuesday in Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeida after intense fighting between government-allied forces and Shiite rebels erupted shortly before the U.N.-brokered truce took hold in the contested city, Yemeni officials said.

They said artillery shelling and heavy machine gun fire shook districts in the south and east of the strategic city late Monday in the final hour before the cease-fire took effect at midnight.

The fighting took place as the two sides were declaring their intention to observe the cease-fire agreed to last week during U.N.-sponsored talks in Sweden between the internationally recognized government and the rebels known as Houthis.

Cease-fire quiets port city

Fighting subsided as the cease-fire took effect, with only the sporadic sound of machine guns heard in the city, which handles about 70 percent of Yemen's imports.

Under the agreement, a joint committee led by U.N. officers will oversee the cease-fire and the redeployment of the warring parties' forces out of Hodeida, which is currently controlled by the Houthis. Local authorities and police will run the city and its three ports under U.N. supervision, and the two sides are barred from bringing in reinforcements.

A cessation of hostilities in Hodeida would spare Yemen a significant spike in civilian casualties since the rebels have shown battlefield resilience as much larger government-allied forces backed by airpower tried for months to retake the city. The two sides fought to a stalemate after weeks of ruinous street-to-street fighting in densely populated districts on the city's outskirts.

Brink of famine

Yemen's civil war, in which a Saudi-led coalition is fighting on the government's side against the rebels, has pushed much of the country to the brink of famine. U.N. officials say 22 million of its 29 million people are in need of aid.

Speaking Sunday at Doha, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that if Yemen's humanitarian situation does not improve, 14 million people there will be in need of food aid in 2019, 6 million more than this year.

There is a high level of hunger in Yemen, he said. The fact that famine was not yet declared does not in any way diminish our huge concern with the very high level of hunger that exists in Yemen with a number of people dying in very dramatic circumstances.

Updated number of deaths

Last week, an international group tracking Yemen's civil war reported that the conflict has killed more than 60,000 people, both combatants and civilians, since 2016. That figure is much higher than the U.N. figure of 10,000 civilian deaths, and has added to the urgency to find a political resolution for the four-year bloodletting.

The report from the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project said more than 28,000 people  both civilians and combatants were killed in the first 11 months of 2018, an increase of 68 percent from 2017. More than 3,000 were killed in November, the deadliest month since the group started collecting data. It said 37 percent of civilians killed in Yemen in 2018 died in Hodeida.

The figures do not include the last few months of 2014, when the Houthi rebels captured the Yemeni capital of Sanaa and much of the country's north, nor the casualties in 2015, when the Saudi-led coalition joined the war on the side of the government.

The group said it based its figures on news reports of each incident of violence in the war.French "yellow vest" protesters occupied highway toll booths, setting a number on fire and causing transport chaos in parts of the country just days before the Christmas holidays getaway.

France's biggest toll road operator, Vinci Autoroutes, said there were demonstrations at about 40 sites along its network and that some highway intersections had been damaged, notably in tourist towns such as Avignon, Orange, Perpignan and Agde.

Protesters set fire overnight to the Bandol toll station, forcing the closure of the A50 highway between Marseille and Toulon, said Vinci, whose network is mainly in southern and western France. The Manosque station was also torched.

Some 20 people were arrested on Tuesday following the blazes, while four others remain in custody following fires on Saturday.

"Motorists should take utmost care as they approach toll gates and motorway access ramps due to the presence of numerous pedestrians," Vinci said in a statement.

Several people have died in roadside accidents at yellow vest roadblocks in recent weeks, mostly at the many roundabouts blocked by groups of demonstrators.

The "yellow vests" protesters  named after the fluorescent jackets French motorists must have in their cars  have blocked roads and roundabouts across France since mid-November. The demonstrations began as a protest against fuel tax increases, but have morphed into a wider backlash against the liberal economic policies of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Protesters took to the streets of Paris and other cities on Saturday in a fifth weekend of demonstrations, though they were noticeably smaller than in previous weeks after Macron announced tax and salary concessions.

Costly damage

Protesters angry about high fuel costs and new speed limits have also damaged or torched hundreds of traffic radars.

Radars-auto.com estimated that by the middle of last week some 1,600 - about half of all French traffic radars  had been damaged. More than 250 have been entirely destroyed, it said.

The French state will also lose several tens of millions of euros in revenues, it said, adding that in 2017 the radars had yielded on average 84 million euros ($96 million) per month.

The interior ministry declined comment on the number of radars damaged, but said that minor damage cost on average 500 euros per radar to repair, with major damage costing up to 200,000 euros.

Fines for damaging radars can run as high as 75,000 euros. "Even wrapping a radar in plastic or a yellow vest ... without destroying it is an offense," a ministry official said. Vinci estimates the damages since the start of the protests will cost it "several tens of millions" of euros, not including lost revenue, as the protesters have allowed thousands of motorists onto the highways for free.

It dropped a plan to send invoices to motorists who drove through toll booths without paying and whose license plates were captured on cameras following government criticism.

($1 = 0.8792 euros)In the pitch black of the moonless Chilean desert night, the Cuban man is hard to spot until he is within yards of the border.

Placing a small backpack of clothes on the ground, Yoniel Torres, 31, a father of two, puts his hands up as police approach with flashlights and take him into custody.

"A coyote (people trafficker) left me near (the Peruvian border town of) Tacna and told me to follow the old railway line," he tells Reuters as he is led away. "This is all horrible. The journey was so hard. I just came in search of a better life."

Scenes like this are replicated every day along Chile's long land border. The country is hardening its stance towards immigration, and refused to sign a United Nations migration pact last week aimed at improving migrant integration and protection.

Migrants leaving Haiti, Venezuela

Global attention largely falls on perilous Mediterranean Sea crossings and the uncertain fate of the Central American caravan at the U.S.-Mexico border. But Chile and other comparatively wealthy Latin American nations are absorbing another wave of mass migration from destitute nations in the region such as Haiti and Venezuela.

Some migrants, like Torres, travel up to 5,600 miles (9,000 km) by air and land to get as far as Chile. The country has the highest GDP per capita in South America, low levels of corruption and the lowest murder rate, according to figures from the World Bank and InSight Crime, a foundation that analyzes organized crime.

They endure Amazonian humidity then extreme temperatures and high altitude in the deserts between Peru, Bolivia and Chile.

Immigration into Chile has increased sixfold in less than 30 years, from 114,500 in the 1992 census, to 746,465 last year.

There has also been a spike in illegal migration. In the dusty Arica region at Peru's southern border, Chilean police say they caught more than 2,200 foreigners attempting to enter the country illegally between January and November, up 80 percent from the previous year.

Landmines are real

Guided in many cases by traffickers paid as much as $3,000, police say, the migrants cross in remote areas to avoid border guards, risking a fatal encounter with landmines planted on the frontier decades ago on the orders of former dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Javiera Lopez, Arica's chief prosecutor, says migrants often suffer sexual assault and robberies on the journey.

"There are scars that might never heal, not only from the journey but also once in Chile because they find the situation is totally different to the one they thought they would find," he says.

Precarious existence

Those who make it to Chile often live a precarious existence. Haitians, Dominicans and Bolivians live cheek by jowl in tumbledown neighborhoods such as Arica's Cerro Chuno, scraping together a living working in restaurants and mines.

Racism and job discrimination is common.

The 29 countries who refused to sign the U.N. Migration Pact argue that it undermines their sovereignty.

"People have a right to leave their country when they feel it is right," Chilean Foreign Minister Roberto Ampuero told a Senate committee last week. "But ... they cannot go to any country they want to."Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for the implementation of reforms but offered no new specific measures in a highly anticipated speech that marked the 40th anniversary of China's move towards market liberalization.

In a speech lasting nearly an hour-and-a-half, Xi called for support of the state economy while also guiding the development of the private sector, and said China will expand efforts at opening up and ensure the implementation of major reforms.

"We must, unswervingly, reinforce the development of the state economy while, unswervingly, encouraging, supporting and guiding the development of the non-state economy," Xi said during a speech at Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

Xi was speaking on the day China marked as the 40th anniversary of the start of late leader Deng Xiaoping's campaign of "reform and opening up," which led to explosive industrial growth that made China's economy the world's second-largest.

"Opening brings progress while closure leads to backwardness," he added.

"Every step of reform and opening up is not easy. In the future, we will be inevitably faced with all sorts of risks and challenges, and even unimaginable tempestuous storms," said Xi, stressing the role the ruling Communist Party.

Xi was speaking amid mounting pressure to accelerate reforms and improve market access for foreign companies as a bitter trade war with the United States weighs on the Chinese economy.

China's heavy support of its sprawling state sector has been a point of contention with the United States.

The trade war has spurred some Chinese entrepreneurs, government advisers and think tanks to call for faster economic reforms and the freeing up of a private sector stifled by state controls and struggling to gain access to credit.

Xi and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed early this month to a 90-day truce in the trade dispute, which halted the threatened escalation of punitive tariffs while the two sides continue negotiations.

In his speech, Xi enumerated the accomplishments of China's development.

"Grain coupons, cloth coupons, meat coupons, fish coupons, oil coupons, tofu coupons, food ticket books, product coups and other documents people once could not be without have now been consigned to the museum of history," he said. "The torments of hunger, lack of food and clothing, and the hardships which have plagued our people for thousands of years have generally gone and won't come back."

Numerous luminaries in attendance were cited for their contributions to China's economic reforms including the heads of online giants Alibaba, Tencent Holdings and Baidu and car maker Geely Automobile Holdings.Country band Alabama will mark their 50th year together with a new tour in 2019, more than a year after founding member Jeff Cook announced that he has Parkinson's disease.



The Grammy-winning trio of Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry and Cook formed in 1969 in Fort Payne, Alabama, and went on to dominate the sound of country music in the 1980s, scoring dozens of No. 1 hits, including classics like "Mountain Music" and "Dixieland Delight."



Guitarist and fiddle player Cook announced in 2017 that he had been diagnosed with the chronic neurological disorder years ago and he would limit his touring with the band. Cook will perform on their new tour, which begins Jan. 10 in Detroit, as much as he's physically able.Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Monday he would step down from a government council dealing with European Union subsidies to avert any suspicion of conflict of interest over funds for his former business group.

The Agrofert group receives EU subsidies in a combination of non-discretionary direct payments for farming and for business, environmental and other projects. Babis put the group into trusts in 2017.

However, his critics say he is still in control as the trusts are managed by his wife and lawyers.

The European Parliament called on the European Commission on Thursday to suspend EU funding to Agrofert until a full investigation into the suspected conflict of interest had been carried out.

Gunther Oettinger, the EU commissioner for budget and human resources, sent a letter setting out options for Babis to avoid conflict of interests, one of which was to exclude himself from decisions affecting his business interests.

Babis, the second-richest Czech, said on Monday he would choose this option. The others were either for him to cut all ties to Agrofert or for subsidies to the group to be halted.

"We have agreed at the government today that I will resign from the Council for Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) ... effective immediately," Babis said after a regular government meeting.

He added he would also take no part in government decisions on EU funds.

"We are acting according to the points which the commissioner states as possibilities," Babis told reporters. "Although we don't agree (that there is a conflict of

interest)."

Agrofert, the biggest private employer in the country, earned 4.8 billion crowns ($211 million) in profit in 2017. It said last week its Czech-based operations had received 10.24 billion crowns in subsidies in the period 2006-2017.

($1 = 22.7220 Czech crowns)The URL has been copied to your clipboard

The code has been copied to your clipboard.

Hundreds of ethnic Uzbek residents were forced to flee their homes in northern Faryab province due to the recent expansion of Taliban in border areas with Turkmenistan. VOAs Abdulbasir Ilg'or reports.Former FBI Director James Comey on Monday accused U.S. President Donald Trump of undermining the rule of law in the United States by lying about the FBI, and he urged Republican lawmakers to "stand up and speak the truth" about Trump's behavior.

Comey, who was fired by Trump in May 2017 while he was leading an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and possible Trump campaign collusion, made his remarks after his second appearance this month before two House of Representatives committees.

Comey said lawmakers had again asked about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails and a dossier that Republicans claim was used to justify a warrant to conduct secret surveillance of a Trump presidential campaign aide.

"This while the president of the United States is lying about the FBI, attacking the FBI and attacking the rule of law in this country. How does that make any sense at all?" Comey told reporters after spending more than five hours being interviewed behind closed doors by the House Judiciary and House Oversight committees.

"Republicans used to understand that the actions of a president matter, the words of a president matter, the rule of law matters and the truth matters. Where are those Republicans today?" Comey asked.

Republican Trump has called the Russia investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller a "witch hunt" and on Sunday on Twitter labeled his own former personal lawyer Michael Cohen a "rat" for cooperating with prosecutors. Trump also accused Federal Bureau of Investigation agents of breaking into Cohen's office when they were in fact acting with a search warrant.

Cohen was sentenced to three years' prison last Wednesday for crimes including orchestrating hush payments to women in violation of campaign laws before the 2016 election. Cohen said he was directed by Trump.

"The FBI's reputation has taken a big hit because the president of the United States, with his acolytes, has lied about it constantly," Comey said when asked whether he bore any responsibility for damaging the FBI's reputation.

Comey said "at some point someone has to ... stand up for the values of this country and not slink away in retirement, but stand up and speak the truth."

Asked about the president calling Cohen a "rat," Comey said it undermined the rule of law.Bijan Rafiekian, the ex-business partner of former U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges he covertly lobbied for Turkey to discredit and extradite a Muslim cleric living in the United States.

Rafiekian, a former director at the U.S. Export-Import Bank who worked on U.S. President Donald Trump's transition, was indicted on Monday along with a Turkish-Dutch businessman for undisclosed lobbying and for allegedly lying about their work.

Trial set to start Feb. 11

Rafiekian, 66, entered the plea at an arraignment in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, and is set to fight the charges at a trial starting on Feb. 11, court records show.

The indictment alleges that Rafiekian and the businessman, Ekim Alptekin, worked with Turkish government officials on a secret plan to return Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is living in exile in Pennsylvania, to Turkey.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has blamed Gulen for stoking a failed coup against him in 2016, and has been pushing for his extradition for more than two years. The United States has rejected the plea, citing a lack of evidence.

Rafiekian, a co-founder of the Flynn Intel Group, the consultancy at the heart of the lobbying case, has become one of the few people prosecuted for a rarely enforced law requiring that lobbyists disclose their work for a foreign power.

Prosecutors contend that Rafiekian provided false statements to the Justice Department about his work, citing emails with Alptekin that appeared to show Alptekin was coordinating the $600,000 project with two Turkish government ministers.

The case against Rafiekian and Alptekin was built in part on information provided by Flynn, who has admitted to lying about his role in the lobbying effort and has been cooperating with the investigation of Rafiekian and Alptekin.

Flynn was to be sentenced on Tuesday for lying to the FBI related to his contacts with the then Russian ambassador to the United States. But the judge in his case gave him the option of a delay so he could cooperate with any pending investigations and bolster his case for leniency.

Flynn accepted the offer, and his lawyer said he was expecting to testify at Rafiekian's trial.

Where is Alptekin?

U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga, who will oversee Rafiekian's trial, asked prosecutors about the whereabouts of Alptekin, who through a spokesman denied the charges against him on Monday.

Alptekin was believed to be in Turkey and was not expected to appear in court, a prosecutor told the judge, said a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern District of Virginia, which is prosecuting the case.France agreed Monday to a new military framework with Burkina Faso that would speed engagement of its forces to fight Islamist militants in a northern border region of Burkina where there has been a spike in violence.

The arid Sahel region is suffering violence from militant groups linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State, highlighting the difficulty international partners face in restoring regional stability.

The northern region of Burkina Faso, bordering Mali and Niger, has been especially hard hit, leaving the fragile West African state struggling to assert its authority since ex-Burkinabe president Blaise Compaore was ousted in 2014 at the hands of a popular uprising.

"There will be no extra [troop] involvement on the French side," President Emmanuel Macron said at a news conference with Burkinabe counterpart Roch Marc Christian Kabore in Paris.

However, he said Paris was ready to send more trainers and military advisers as well as extra equipment.

French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said the two sides had signed an agreement defining the legal framework for security cooperation, suggesting that French troops could provide help more quickly and easily to Burkinabe forces.

Paris will provide the local army with 34 pickup trucks.

France, the former colonial power in the region, intervened in Mali in 2013 to drive out Islamist militants who had occupied the north, and has since kept about 4,500 troops in the region as part of Barkhane counterterrorism operations. It has between 250 and 400 special forces based in Burkina. Led by France, Western powers have provided funding to a regional force made up of soldiers from Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania to combat jihadists.

But the so-called G5 force has been hobbled by delays in disbursing the money and poor coordination between the five countries while insecurity has escalated.The fight over President Donald Trump's $5 billion wall funds deepened Monday, threatening a partial government shutdown in a standoff that has become increasingly common in Washington.

It wasn't always like this, with Congress and the White House at a crisis over government funding. The House and Senate used to pass annual appropriation bills, and the president signed them into law. But in recent years the shutdown scenario has become so routine that it raises the question: Have shutdowns as a negotiating tool lost their punch?

Monday brought few signs of progress. A partial shutdown that could occur at midnight Friday risks disrupting government operations and leaving hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed or working without pay over the holiday season. Costs would be likely in the billions of dollars.

Trump was meeting with his team and getting regular updates, said White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Trump was also tweeting Monday to keep up the pressure.

Exiting a Senate Republican leadership meeting late Monday, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota said, "It looks like it probably is going to have to build for a few days here before there's a solution.''

The president is insisting on $5 billion for the wall along the southern border with Mexico, but he does not have the votes from the Republican-led Congress to support it. Democrats are offering to continue funding at current levels, $1.3 billion, not for the wall but for fencing and other border security.

It's unclear how many House Republicans, with just a few weeks left in the majority before relinquishing power to House Democrats, will even show up mid-week for possible votes. Speaker Paul Ryan's office had no update. Many Republicans say it's up to Trump and Democrats to cut a deal.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Trump talk most days, but the senator's spokesman would not confirm if they spoke Monday about a plan. McConnell opened the chamber hoping for a "bipartisan collaborative spirit'' that would enable Congress to finish its work.

"We need to make a substantial investment in the integrity of our border,'' McConnell said. "And we need to close out the year's appropriation process.''

Meanwhile more than 800,000 government workers are preparing for the uncertainty ahead.

The dispute could affect nine of 15 Cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Interior, Agriculture, State and Justice, as well as national parks and forests.

About half the workers would be forced to continue working without immediate pay. Others would be sent home. Congress often approves their pay retroactively, even if they were ordered to stay home.

"Our members are asking how they are supposed to pay for rent, food, and gas if they are required to work without a paycheck,'' said a statement from J. David Cox, Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the large federal worker union. "The holiday season makes these inquiries especially heart-wrenching.''

Many agencies, including the Pentagon and the departments of Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services, are already funded for the year and will continue to operate as usual, regardless of whether Congress and the president reach agreement this week.

Congress already approved funding this year for about 75 percent of the government's discretionary account for the budget year that began Oct. 1.

The U.S. Postal Service, busy delivering packages for the holiday season, wouldn't be affected by any government shutdown because it's an independent agency.

Trump said last week he would be "proud'' to have a shutdown to get Congress to approve a $5 billion down payment to fulfill his campaign promise to build a border wall.

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump promised that Mexico would pay for the wall. Mexico has refused.

Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, in a meeting last week at the White House, suggested keeping funding at its current level, $1.3 billion, for improved fencing. Trump had neither accepted nor rejected the Democrats' offer, telling them he would take a look.

Schumer said Monday he had yet to hear from Trump. Speaking on the Senate floor, Schumer warned that "going along with the Trump shutdown is a futile act'' because House Democrats would quickly approve government funding in January.

"President Trump still doesn't have a plan to keep the government open,'' Schumer said Monday. "No treat or temper tantrum will get the president his wall.''

One option for lawmakers would be to provide stopgap funding for a few weeks, until the new Congress convenes Jan. 3, when Pelosi is poised to become House speaker.

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, who is in line to become the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, suggested a stopgap bill could be one way to resolve the issue or a longer-term bill that includes money for border security.

GOP leaders, though, were frustrated as the clock ticked away. Leaving the weekly leadership meeting, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said any planning was a "very closely held thing. That's why we should never let this happen. We should pass the bills the way we're supposed to pass them.''Outgoing U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is urging the Palestinians to accept a peace deal, saying they have more to gain than Israel.



It is time we faced a hard truth: both sides would benefit greatly from a peace agreement, but the Palestinians would benefit more, and the Israelis would risk more, Haley said Tuesday at her final appearance at the monthly Security Council meeting on the Middle East issue.



Israel is a thriving, strong, prosperous country, Haley told fellow ambassadors. It has always wanted peace with its neighbors. It has clearly demonstrated its willingness to make big sacrifices for peace, including giving up large areas of land, but Israel will not make a peace agreement at any price, and it shouldnt, she said.

Haley, an outspoken advocate for Israel said of the Palestinians: Given my record, some may mistakenly conclude that I am unsympathetic to the Palestinian people  nothing could be further from the truth.



The U.S. envoy described the Palestinians as a proud people, and like the Israelis, do not need to accept a peace agreement at any price.

But the condition of the Palestinian people is very different, she added.



Haley noted the poor state of the Palestinian economy, the lack of basic services, including health care and electricity, and the de facto rule of Hamas over the Gaza Strip.

Terrorists rule much of the territory, undermining the safety of all civilians, Haley said. The Palestinian people are suffering terribly, while their leadership clings to 50-year old demands that have only become less and less realistic.



A peace agreement, she said, would offer the Palestinians the possibility of a massive improvement in their living conditions and greater control over their political future.



US plan

The Trump administration has repeatedly delayed unveiling its much anticipated plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace and in the meantime has taken unilateral steps, including moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and dramatically cutting its funding to the U.N. agency that assists Palestinian refugees. Both moves have infuriated the Palestinian leadership and severely strained their relationship with Washington as an impartial peace broker.

President Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, and his Special Envoy on the peace process, Jason Greenblatt, are tasked with putting a plan together to end one of the worlds most intractable conflicts.



Haley, who is also a member of President Donald Trumps Cabinet, told council members she has seen the proposed plan and that it is not just a few pages, containing unspecific and unimaginative guidelines, but is longer with much more thoughtful detail. But she did not elaborate on any of those details, only saying it would be different from all previous proposals.

There are things in the plan that every party will like, and there are things that every party will not like, she added. She urged both sides to focus on what they do like and push negotiations forward. Ultimately, as always, the final decisions can only be made by the parties themselves, she said, noting it will be up to the Israelis and Palestinians to decide their own futures and what sacrifices they are willing to make.

International effort



Tensions have been high in recent days, with an increase in terrorist attacks, clashes and violence in the West Bank, and security measures and search operations in response from the Israeli side. There have been casualties on both sides.

The U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, lamented to the council in his briefing that the international community is nowhere closer to reviving efforts for a negotiated solution.



Without a political horizon, all our collective and individual efforts merely contribute to managing the conflict rather than resolving it, he said.



Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with Jordans King Abdullah Tuesday in Amman. The Jordanian news agency Petra reported the king stressed the need to break the stalemate in the peace process and launch serious and effective talks between the two sides.The new leader of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh is to waive up to $5.3 billion of farm loans, becoming the latest area to offer relief ahead of a national election next year as farmers reel from losses caused by falling crop prices.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party lost the central state to Congress last week dealing Modi his biggest defeat since he took office in 2014 and boosting the opposition ahead of the vote next year.

Congress leader Kamal Nath, who became chief minister of the state on Monday, decided to write off farmers' loans up to 200,000 rupees, according to a notification.

Protests on the rise

Farmers' protests have been rising in past months due to the fall in crop prices and a rise in the cost of diesel and fertilizer.

Nearly 3.4 million farmers will benefit from the loan waiver, which is likely to cost between 350 billion rupees ($4.9 billion) to 380 billion rupees ($5.3 billion), Rajesh Rajora, the state's principal secretary for agriculture, told Reuters.

The western state of Maharashtra and northern state of Uttar Pradesh, both ruled by the BJP, announced similar loan waivers last year.Japan will accelerate spending on advanced stealth fighters, long-range missiles and other equipment over the next five years to support U.S. forces facing China's military in the Western Pacific, two new government defense papers said.

The plans are the clearest indication yet of Japan's ambition to become a regional power as a military build-up by China and a resurgent Russia puts pressure on its U.S. ally.

"The United States remains the world's most powerful nation, but national rivalries are surfacing and we recognize the importance of the strategic competition with both China and Russia as they challenge the regional order," said a 10-year defense program outline approved by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government on Tuesday.

The United States, followed by China, North Korea and Russia, are the countries that most influenced Japan's latest military thinking, the paper said.

China, the world's second biggest economy, is deploying more ships and aircraft to patrol waters near Japan, while North Korea has yet to fulfill a pledge to dismantle its nuclear and missile programs.

Russia, which continues to probe Japanese air defenses, said on Monday it had built new barracks for troops on a northern island it captured from Japan at the end of World War II.

More stealth fighters

Japan plans to buy 45 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighters, worth about $4 billion, in addition to the 42 jets already on order, according to a separate five-year procurement plan approved on Tuesday.

The new planes will include 18 short take off and vertical landing (STOVL) B variants of the F-35 that planners want to deploy on Japanese islands along the edge of the East China Sea.

The islands are part of a chain stretching past Taiwan and down to the Philippines that has marked the limit of Chinese military dominance east of the disputed South China Sea.

The navy's two large helicopter carriers, the Izumo and Kaga, will be modified to accommodate F-35B operations, the paper said.

The 248-meter- (814-ft.)long Izumo-class ships are as big as any of Japan's aircraft carriers in World War II.

The ships will need reinforced decks to withstand the heat blast from F-35 engines and could be fitted with ramps to aid short take-offs, two defense ministry officials told Reuters.

Trade war threat

The new F-35 order may also help Japan avert a trade war with the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened to impose tariffs on Japanese car imports, thanked Abe for buying the F-35s when the two met at a summit in Argentina this month.

Other U.S.-made equipment on Japan's shopping list includes two land-based Aegis Ashore air defense radars to defend against North Korean missiles, four Boeing Co KC-46 Pegasus refueling planes to extend the range of Japanese aircraft, and nine Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye early-warning planes.

Japan plans to spend 25.5 trillion yen ($224.7 billion) on military equipment over the next five years, 6.4 percent higher than the previous five-year plan. Cost-cutting will free up another 2 trillion yen for purchases, the procurement paper said.

Japan only spends about 1 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, but the size of its economy means it already has one of the world's largest militaries.

"The budget is increasing and there has been an acceleration to deploy capability as soon as possible," Robert Morrissey, head of Raytheon's unit in Japan, said this month.

Wary of North Korean promises to abandon ballistic missile development, Japan's military is buying longer-range Raytheon SM-3 interceptor missiles to strike enemy warheads in space.

The defense papers assessed non-traditional military threats as well. A new joint-forces cyber unit will bolster Japan's defenses against cyber attacks. More electronic warfare capabilities are planned.

Japan's air force will also get its first space unit to help keep tabs on potential adversaries high above the Earth's atmosphere.A U.S. judge in Washington on Tuesday sternly rebuked President Donald Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, for lying to investigators about his contacts with Russia in the weeks before Trump assumed power in early 2017, but delayed his sentencing.

"I can't hide my disgust, my disdain," U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said of Flynn's behavior, before later acceding to a request by Flynn's lawyers to postpone his sentencing.

Flynn acknowledged to Sullivan, "I was aware," that it was a crime to lie to interrogators when they asked him about his discussions with Russia's then-ambassador to Washington, Sergey Kislyak.

In recent weeks Flynn's lawyers and the White House had suggested that the longtime U.S. general was "entrapped" by the FBI, because he was not formally notified before speaking with federal investigators that it was illegal to lie to them.

Flynn rejected that characterization in his court hearing, saying he was aware that lying to the investigators was wrong.

The judge told Flynn that his offense was "very serious" and that "arguably, you sold your country out."

Special counsel Robert Mueller had recommended the 60-year-old Flynn, a retired Army general and once head of the country's Defense Intelligence Agency, not be sentenced to any prison time because he had provided "substantial" cooperation with prosecutors in their ongoing 19-month investigation of Trump 2016 campaign links with Russia and whether, as president, Trump obstructed justice by trying to thwart the probe.

But Sullivan said he could not guarantee that Flynn will avoid a prison term when he is eventually sentenced, sometime in the months to come.

Flynn was set to be the first Trump administration official to be sentenced in the Mueller probe.

Last week, Trump's former attorney, New York lawyer Michael Cohen, was sentenced to three years in prison, in part for his role, in what he said was at Trump's direction, of making $280,000 in payments shortly before the election to buy the silence of two women who allegedly had affairs with the future president a decade before he entered politics.

Others in Trump's orbit are awaiting sentencing for various other offenses.

Hours before Flynn headed to court, Trump, in a Twitter remark, wished his former aide "good luck."

Later, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said, "We wish General Flynn well."

Flynn served as Trump's national security adviser at the outset of his administration, but was fired after less than a month on the job. Evidence surfaced that Flynn had lied to Vice President Mike Pence and others about his contacts with Kislyak in the period between Trump's election in November 2016 and becoming president on January 20, 2017.

Flynn was a fixture at Trump's political rallies during the 2016 campaign, often mocking the Democratic challenger, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. At the Republican national convention that formally nominated Trump as the party's 2016 candidate, Flynn led thousands of Trump supporters in chanting against Clinton, "Lock her up! Lock her up!" for her usage of a private email server during her tenure as the country's top diplomat.

Flynn met 19 times with Mueller's investigators since pleading guilty a year ago, talks that drew the interest of Trump just ahead of the sentencing as to what he might reveal about the inner workings of the 2016 campaign. A Mueller prosecutor told Judge Sullivan it was possible Flynn would continue to cooperate with investigators.

Jimmy Gurule, a former federal prosecutor now a law professor at Notre Dame University, told VOA that Flynns continued cooperation with the special counsel and other prosecutors may help him avoid a prison sentence.

WATCH: Russia probe case



If he hasnt provided all that he knows now to assist the special counsel, this is the time to do it if he wants to avoid spending any time in jail, Gurule said.



But Gurule added that after the numerous interviews with Flynn over the past year, Mueller may already have elicited from him all of the relevant information that they think would be helpful to their criminal investigations.

Flynn had drawn investigators' scrutiny before he ran afoul of the FBI investigation 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.

On Monday, the United States charged two of Flynn's former business associates with illegally carrying out a Turkish lobbying campaign. The government said the scheme was an effort to push American officials to expel a Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, alleged by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to have orchestrated the failed 2016 coup against Erdogan's government.

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.

Trump has for months derided Mueller's probe, tweeting several more broadsides against it after wishing Flynn well.Fifty years ago on Christmas Eve, a tumultuous year of assassinations, riots and war drew to a close in heroic and hopeful fashion with the three Apollo 8 astronauts reading from the Book of Genesis on live TV as they orbited the moon.

To this day, that 1968 mission is considered to be NASA's boldest and perhaps most dangerous undertaking. That first voyage by humans to another world set the stage for the still grander Apollo 11 moon landing seven months later.

There was unprecedented and unfathomable risk to putting three men atop a monstrous new rocket for the first time and sending them all the way to the moon. The mission was whipped together in just four months in order to reach the moon by year's end, before the Soviet Union.

There was the Old Testament reading by commander Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders.

Lastly, there was the photo named "Earthrise," showing our blue and white ball  humanity's home  rising above the bleak, gray lunar landscape and 240,000 miles (386 million kilometers) in the distance.

Humans had never set eyes on the far side of the moon, or on our planet as a cosmic oasis, surrounded completely by the black void of space. A half-century later, only 24 U.S. astronauts who flew to the moon have witnessed these wondrous sights in person.

The Apollo 8 crew is still around: Borman and Lovell are 90, Anders is 85.

To Lovell, the journey had the thrill and romance of true exploration, and provided an uplifting cap for Americans to a painful, contentious year marked by the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, nationwide riots and protests of the Vietnam War.

The mission's impact was perhaps best summed up in a four-word telegram received by Borman. "Thanks, you saved 1968."

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine  who at age 43 missed Apollo  marvels over the gutsy decision in August that year to launch astronauts to the moon in four months' time. He's pushing for a return to the moon, but with real sustainability this next go-around.

50-50 chances

The space agency flipped missions and decided that instead of orbiting Earth, Borman and his crew would fly to the moon to beat the Soviets and pave the way for the lunar landings to come. And that was despite on its previous test flight, the Saturn V rocket lost parts and engines failed.

"Even more worrisome than all of this," Bridenstine noted earlier this month, Apollo 8 would be in orbit around the moon on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. "In other words, if there was a failure here, it would wreck Christmas not only for everybody in the United States, but for everybody in the world."



As that first moon shot neared, Borman's wife, Susan, demanded to know the crew's chances. A NASA director answered: 50-50.

Borman wanted to get to the moon and get back fast. In his mind, a single lap around the moon would suffice. His bosses insisted on more.

"My main concern in this whole flight was to get there ahead of the Russians and get home. That was a significant achievement in my eyes," Borman explained at the Chicago launch of the book Rocket Men last spring.

Everyone eventually agreed: Ten orbits it would be.

Liftoff of the Saturn V occurred on the morning of Saturday, Dec. 21, 1968.

On Christmas Eve, the spaceship successfully slipped into orbit around the moon. Before bedtime, the first envoys to another world took turns reading the first 10 verses from Genesis. It had been left to Borman, before the flight, to find "something appropriate" to say for what was expected to be the biggest broadcast audience to date.

"We all tried for quite a while to figure out something, and it all came up trite or foolish," Borman recalled. Finally, the wife of a friend of a friend came up with the idea of Genesis.

"In the beginning," Anders read, "God created the heaven and the Earth ..."

Borman ended the broadcast with, "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you  all of you on the good Earth."

On Christmas morning, their spacecraft went around the moon for the final time. The engine firing needed to shoot them back to Earth occurred while the capsule was out of communication with Mission Control in Houston. Lovell broke the nervous silence as the ship reappeared: "Please be informed there is a Santa Claus."

Back in Houston, meanwhile, a limousine driver knocked on Marilyn Lovell's door and handed her a gift-wrapped mink stole with a card that read: "To Marilyn, Merry Christmas from the man in the moon." Lovell bought the coat for his wife and arranged its fancy delivery before liftoff.

Splashdown occurred in the pre-dawn darkness on Dec. 27, bringing the incredible six-day journey to a close. Time magazine named the three astronauts "Men of the Year."

Earthrise

It wasn't until after the astronauts were back that the significance of their Earth pictures sank in.

Anders snapped the iconic Earthrise photo during the crew's fourth orbit of the moon, frantically switching from black-and-white to color film to capture the planet's exquisite, fragile beauty.

"Oh my God, look at that picture over there!" Anders said. "There's the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty!"

Before the flight, no one had thought about photographing Earth, according to Anders. The astronauts were under orders to get pictures for potential lunar landing sites while orbiting 70 miles (112 kilometers) above the moon.

"We came to explore the moon and what we discovered was the Earth," Anders is fond of saying.

His Earthrise photo is a pillar of today's environmental movement. It remains a legacy of Apollo and humanity's achievement, said professor emeritus John Logsdon of George Washington University's Space Policy Institute, forever underscoring the absence of political borders as seen from space.

Anders wondered then  and now  "This is not a very big place, why can't we get along?"

Lovell remains awestruck by the fact he could hide all of Earth behind his thumb.

"Over 3 billion people, mountains, oceans, deserts, everything I ever knew was behind my thumb," he recalled at a recent anniversary celebration at Washington's National Cathedral.

Astronaut-artist Nicole Stott said the golden anniversary provides an opportunity to reintroduce the world to Earthrise. She and three other former space travelers are holding a celebration Friday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, 50 years to the day Apollo 8 launched.

"That one image, I think, it just gives us the who and where we are in the universe so beautifully," she said.

By July 1969, Apollo 8 was overshadowed by Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin moon landing. But without Apollo 8, noted George Washington's Logsdon, NASA likely would not have met President John F. Kennedy's deadline of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

Borman and Anders never flew in space again, and Soviet cosmonauts never made it to the moon.

Lovell went on to command the ill-fated Apollo 13  "but that's another story." That flight was the most demanding, he said, "But Apollo 8 was the one of exploration, the one of repeating the Lewis and Clark expedition ... finding the new Earth."Every Brazilian, including current and former members of the armed forces, will have to compromise under the next administration's pension reform plan, a former general set to become government minister said in an interview.

Retired General Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz told Reuters in Brasilia last week that it was "inadmissible" in today's world for some Brazilians employed in the public sector to retire in their 40s or 50s.

On December 4, right-wing President-elect Jair Bolsonaro said he planned to tackle the overhaul of Brazil's fiscally burdensome pension system with piecemeal reforms that can pass Congress, starting with an increase in the minimum age of retirement.

Many economists say cuts to Brazil's social security system are essential to controlling a huge federal deficit and regaining Brazil's investment-grade rating.

"There are some professions that will need to cede some things, as is the case with the justice system workers, the prosecutor's office, and all public sector employment," Santos Cruz said. "The military is in the same situation. The idea of retirement, for example, is going to have to be tweaked."

One of a group of former army generals who have become close advisers to Bolsonaro, Santos Cruz will be Bolsonaro's main liaison with Congress, state and local governments, when he takes office on January 1.

Brazil would have to take a long hard look at the age people stop working in order to protect public finances, said Santos Cruz, who is 66.

Bolsonaro, a former army captain and staunch defender of Brazil's 1964-1985 military dictatorship, had pledged to protect military pensions and retirement rights, but the realization that they are responsible for nearly half of the pensions deficit led his economic advisers to push him to rethink that stance. In recent comments, Bolsonaro has said he is willing to countenance a minimum age for military retirement.

Santos Cruz also said any austerity measures should be leveled against top-earning public workers, for whom the pain is relatively less, rather than lower paid employees.Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders are huddling on Capitol Hill seeking compromise, as President Donald Trump appears to back away from his threat to force a government shutdown.

After saying last week he would be "proud" to partially close down the government over his demands for a border wall, Trump told reporters Tuesday, "We'll see what happens. It's too early to say. We need border security."

The federal government will start winding down nonessential operations Friday if Congress and the White House cannot agree on a long- or short-term spending bill.

More than 800,000 federal workers would be furloughed or work for no pay  something nobody wants to see a week before Christmas.

Trump wants $5 billion in funding for the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, but House and Senate Democratic leaders have refused.

On Tuesday, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell proposed $1.6 billion for border fencing  money already agreed on in a bipartisan Homeland Security bill  and an additional $1 billion Trump could spend on the border.

McConnell called the offer "reasonable." Democratic leaders say no.

"[Senate Democratic leader Chuck] Schumer and I have said we cannot support the offer they made of a billion-dollar slush fund for the president to implement his very wrong immigration policies," House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said.

Meanwhile, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said there were "other ways" to get the money for a southern border wall.

"There's certainly a number of different funding sources that we've identified that we can use that we can couple with the money that would be given through Congressional appropriations that would help us get to that $5 billion that the president needs in order to protect our borders."

But some Democrats reminded the White House that under the Constitution, Congress would still have to appropriate that money. Democrats will control the House in the new Congress.

Congress has already approved funding for three-fourths of the federal government until the end of September 2019. The remaining one-fourth includes funding to run the Departments of Homeland Security, State, Justice, and the Interior.Democratic Republic of Congo will hold a presidential election Sunday that could lead to the country's first democratic transfer of power, following decades marked by authoritarian rule, coups and deadly conflict.

The outcome of the long-delayed vote to choose President Joseph Kabila's successor is far from certain, after a campaign marred by violent crackdowns on opposition rallies and the destruction of thousands of the capital's voting machines in a fire last week.

Kabila's preferred successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, is facing a credible challenge from two opposition leaders: Felix Tshisekedi, president of Congo's largest opposition party, and Martin Fayulu, a former Exxon Mobil manager and businessman.

One poll conducted by New York University's Congo Research Group (CRG) in October showed opposition leaders were favored by about 70 percent of voters. Tshisekedi came first with 36 percent support, ahead of his now coalition ally Vital Kamerhe (17 percent) and Shadary (16 percent). Fayulu ranked fourth with eight percent support.

In all, 21 candidates will be running, including several other prominent Kabila critics, which risks diluting the opposition vote and boosting Shadary's chances.

The results could also be compromised by accusations of fraud similar to those that tarnished the 2011 presidential election. The opposition has already cried foul over the use of untested electronic voting machines that they say will make it easier to rig the results.

Below are profiles of the main candidates.

The Insider: Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary

The 58-year-old former governor of the eastern province of Maniema served as interior minister from late 2016 until this February, when he was named permanent secretary of Kabila's PPRD party.

He is a combative defender of the president and oversaw repeated crackdowns on protesters and pro-democracy groups as interior minister, especially in the aftermath of Kabila's refusal to quit power when his mandate expired in 2016.

In May 2017, the European Union slapped a travel ban and asset freeze on him for his involvement in "planning, directing or committing acts that constitute serious human rights violations."

Kabila's choice of a die-hard loyalist suggests that the president intends to remain closely involved in national politics. He will be eligible to run again in 2023.

A Shadary victory is likely to lead to a continuation of Kabila's policies, including a tough line on the mining sector, where foreign investors hope the government will rescind steep tax hikes approved earlier this year.

Shadary and his team did not respond to requests for comment.

The Opposition Scion: Felix Tshisekedi

Felix Tshisekedi is the 55-year-old president of Congo's largest opposition party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS).

He draws much of his political legitimacy from being the son of late veteran opposition leader, Etienne Tshisekedi, who died in Brussels last year at age 84.

In November, his decision alongside ally Kamerhe to pull out of an opposition agreement to back Martin Fayulu as a common candidate scuppered the opposition's hope of presenting a broadly united front in the race.

Tshisekedi has said he would select Kamerhe as his prime minister if he wins the vote. In return, he will back a candidate from Kamerhe's Union for the Congolese Nation (UNC) party in the 2023 presidential election.

"If I am elected president my priority will be to restore peace and security across the country," Tshisekedi told Reuters.

The Businessman: Martin Fayulu

Fayulu, 61, trailed both Shadary and Tshishekedi in the most recent October vote, but his nomination as a common opposition candidate in November may have since won him more public support.

As the common candidate he has the backing of popular opposition heavyweights such as Jean-Pierre Bemba and Moise Katumbi, who have been barred by the authorities from running.

Fayulu has the most extensive business background of the election front-runners, having spent almost two decades as a manager at U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil. He has promised, without elaborating, to revise mining and oil contracts as president.

"The people need leaders who will bring them development, who will bring them prosperity," Fayulu told reporters in Geneva after his candidacy was announced. "We are committed to achieving this work so that Congo ceases being the laughing stock of the world."

Fayulu is the president of the Engagement for Citizenship and Development (ECIDE) party.A woman who climbed the State of Liberty to protest the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant families has been found guilty of three misdemeanor counts.

Therese Okoumou faces up to 18 months in federal prison after being found guilty of trespassing, interference with government agency functions and disorderly conduct.

The Congo-born naturalized U.S. citizen climbed the base of the iconic statue on the Fourth of July.

Okoumou choked up as she testified Monday, saying images of children being torn from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border gave her nightmares.



Okoumou had testified that she couldn't live with the sight of "children in cages'' and thought climbing the statue was the only way to bring attention to the issue.

But the judge noted that her actions had endangered not only herself but visitors at the busy tourist site and police officers who had to climb ladders to safely bring her down. He said a person's viewpoint can't be a factor in whether laws are enforced.

Okoumou told reporters after the hearing that she does not regret her action and believes she is on the right side of history.

Our laws sometimes lack morality, and this is the perfect example of that, she said.

She is set to be sentenced in March.U.S. immigration officials deported about 256,000 people in the first full fiscal year of the Trump administration, a slight increase over the previous year but well below the peaks of the Obama era when that number approached 500,000, official data shows.

Interior removals climbed from 65,332 to 95,360, following a policy shift in 2017 under President Donald Trump that deprioritized who is detained and opened up a broader number of immigrants to the risk of deportation.

The remaining 160,725 deportations are removals at the border, which has made up the bulk of ICE removals since 2012.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released the latest statistics for fiscal year 2018 on Friday.

Despite a focus in speeches by Trump and his cabinet on the crimes committed by immigrants, the number of convicted criminals arrested by ICE in fiscal 2018 remained almost flat  105,736 in fiscal 2017 to 105,140 in fiscal 2018.

According to Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., a better measure of what interior enforcement is changing is how much of the undocumented population is affected.

For example, ICE removed about 0.89 percent of the undocumented immigrant population through interior enforcement in 2018, an increase from 0.76 percent in 2017, Nowrasteh said.

The ICE report includes country-by-country data that can reveal the results of specific policy changes, or of more nebulous variables.

More difficult to pin down, however, is the mixed bag of changes in Northern Triangle countries. The number of Salvadorans deported decreased (15,445, 18 percent drop), while those for Honduras (28,894; 29 percent increase) and Guatemala (50,390; 50 percent increase) jumped.Women must wait 202 years before they can earn the same as men and have equal job opportunities, according to a global report released Tuesday, which said the rise in robots and the lack of child care were keeping many women out of work.

Women earn about half as much as men, said the World Economic Forum (WEF), reporting a gender pay gap of 51 percent in 2018.

"It's still a long way from parity, and it's still a long way from reaching a point where women and men are being paid the same for the same job," said report co-author Saadia Zahidi, head of WEF's Center for the New Economy and Society.

There were fewer women working this year than men, mostly due to the lack of child care which kept women from jobs or from progressing to senior roles, according to the annual index ranking 149 countries on their progress to close the gender gap.

"Most economies still have not made much progress in providing better infrastructure for child care," said Zahidi in a phone interview.

"This continues to be a major source of why women don't enter the labor market at all or aren't able to progress as much as they should given the talent that they have," she added.

Women were missing at the top, the report found, with only a third of all managerial roles taken by women.

There were also just 17 female heads of state this year, with women occupying 18 percent of ministerial positions and 24 percent of parliamentary roles globally, it added.

Robot takeover

Zahidi warned that emerging technology like robots and artificial intelligence (AI) were also taking jobs traditionally occupied by women, including administration, customer service and telemarketing.

"While a lot of the narrative in the past tended to focus on men in blue collar work in factories, there are a lot of women in blue collar or service work that are also being displaced  and that trend is starting to become more marked," she said.

The WEF report found that only 22 percent of people working in AI worldwide were female.

According to a 2017 study by the Brookings Institution, a U.S. think tank, the use of digital tools has increased in 517 of 545 occupations since 2002 in the United States alone, with a striking uptick in many lower-skilled occupations.

As technology advances, experts say women and girls with poor digital skills will be the hardest hit and will struggle to find jobs.

Although the number of women in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) has increased in recent years, they still only account for about 30 percent of the world's researchers, the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO says.

"More than ever, societies cannot afford to lose out on the skills, ideas and perspectives of half of humanity," said Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the WEF.

No country has closed the pay gap yet, WEF said, using data from institutions such as the International Labour Organization, United Nations Development Programme and World Health Organization.

Top spots

Iceland, for the tenth year in a row, held the top spot across all indicators that measured gender equality including social, economic and health, according to the WEF report.

Nordic countries Norway, Sweden and Finland were among the top scoring countries, followed by Nicaragua, which ranked fifth.

Meanwhile Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq and Syria were the worst performing countries.

Last year, WEF said women would achieve economic equality in 217 years, the widest gap in almost a decade.The size and scope of Russia's efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election was far more extensive and thorough than previously understood, according to two newly released reports.

The reports that emerged this week support conclusions by the U.S. intelligence community  and published in an unclassified January 2017 report  that the goal of all of Russias meddling in the months leading up to the 2016 elections was to get their preferred candidate elected president of the United States.

"What is clear is that all of the messaging clearly sought to benefit the Republican Party and specifically Donald Trump," according to the report by Oxford Universitys Computational Propaganda Project and network analysis firm Graphika.

Russia on Tuesday rejected the allegations in the two reports. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the accusations baseless.

The findings, as first reported by The Washington Post, said Russians working for a group called the Internet Research Agency (IRA) began experimenting with social media to influence local elections in 2009 and expanded its operations to U.S. elections in 2013 using Twitter.

It gradually added other popular social media sites to its campaign, including YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, using race and social issues such as gun rights, immigration and police brutality, to sow division and discontent.

"Conservative and right-wing voters were actively encouraged to get behind Trumps campaign," according to the report by Oxford and Graphika. "Other voters were encouraged to boycott the election, abstain from voting for Clinton, or to spread cynicism about participating in the election in general."

Russia's IRA activity also sought out African-American voters in particular with advertising on Facebook and Instagram and with video content on YouTube.

"Most of the interest-based targeting focused on African-American communities and interests," the second report by the cybersecurity firm New Knowledge showed.

"Messaging to African-Americans sought to divert their political energy away from established political institutions by preying on anger with structural inequalities faced by African-Americans, including police violence, poverty and disproportionate levels of incarceration," the Oxford University-Graphika report added. "These campaigns pushed a message that the best way to advance the cause of the African-American community was to boycott the election and focus on other issues instead."

Other groups such as liberals, women, Muslims, Latinos and veterans were also targeted with similar messages either appealing to their politics or trying to discourage them from voting.

This newly released data demonstrates how aggressively Russia sought to divide Americans by race, religion and ideology, and how the IRA actively worked to erode trust in our democratic institutions," Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, a Republican, said in a statement Monday. "Most troublingly, it shows that these activities have not stopped."

"This should stand as a wake-up call," added Senate Intelligence Committee vice chair, Democrat Mark Warner, who has been critical of social media companies and the way they have handled Russias online influence campaigns.

"It is time to get serious in addressing this challenge," Warner said. "That is going to require some much-needed and long-overdue guardrails when it comes to social media."

The Oxford-Graphika report said it is clear the response by social media companies has been lacking.

"We clearly observe a belated and uncoordinated response from the platforms that provided the data," the report said. "In some cases, activity on one platform was detected and suspended months before similar action was taken against related activity on another platform."

In a statement Monday, Facebook said it continues to "fully cooperate with officials investigating the IRA's activity on Facebook and Instagram around the 2016 election."

"We've made progress in helping prevent interference on our platforms during elections, strengthened our policies against voter suppression ahead of the 2018 midterms, and funded independent research on the impact of social media on democracy," the statement said, adding the company believes Congress and intelligence officials "are best placed to use the information we and others provide."

"Our singular focus is to improve the health of the public conversation on our platform," Twitter said in a statement of its own. "We've made significant strides since 2016 to counter manipulation of our service, including our release of additional data in October related to previously disclosed activities to enable further independent academic research and investigation."

Google reactions

The reports, though, indicate the measures that have been taken may not be enough, as Russia and others continue to make use of social media platforms.

The Oxford-Graphika report said Russias use of social media did not peak until after the election, with the IRA buying the most ad volume on Facebook in April 2017, shortly after the U.S. airstrikes against chemical weapon sites in Syria.

And U.S. intelligence and military officials have told VOA that Russia continued to target segments of U.S. society, including ongoing efforts to influence U.S. military personnel and their families in the run-up to the 2018 midterm elections.

The United States has already leveled criminal charges against IRA for interfering in the 2016 campaign.

Current and former intelligence officials also warn that it would be a mistake to focus only on Russias use of social media, pointing to last weeks guilty plea by Russian spy Maria Butina, who admitted to using the National Rifle Association to get close to key conservative politicians.

"It illustrates  the astute understanding the Russians have of our political ecosystem," James Clapper, former director of National Intelligence, told VOA.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election and whether the president has tried to obstruct justice by trying to undermine the probe.

Trump denies there was any collusion and calls the Mueller probe a "witch hunt."Astronomers have spotted the farthest known object in our solar system  and they've nicknamed the pink cosmic body "Farout."



The International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center announced the discovery Monday.



"Farout" is about 120 astronomical units away  that's 120 times the distance between Earth and the sun, or 11 billion miles. The previous record-holder was the dwarf planet Eris at 96 astronomical units. Pluto, by comparison, is 34 astronomical units away.



The Carnegie Institution's Scott Sheppard said the object is so far away and moving so slowly it will take a few years to determine its orbit. At that distance, it could take more than 1,000 years to orbit the sun.

Sheppard and his team spied the dwarf planet in November using a telescope in Hawaii. Their finding was confirmed by a telescope in Chile.



"I actually uttered "farout" when I first found this object, because I immediately noticed from its slow movement that it must be far out there," Sheppard wrote in an email. "It is the slowest moving object I have ever seen and is really out there."



It is an estimated 310 miles (500 kilometers) across and believed to be round. Its pink shade indicates an ice-rich object. Little else is known.



The discovery came about as the astronomers were searching for the hypothetical Planet X, a massive planet believed by some to be orbiting the sun from vast distances, well beyond Pluto.Three lawmakers from Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena's party defected to the government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday after a dispute between the two leaders.

The island nation was plunged into crisis in October after Sirisena replaced Wickremesinghe with ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa, without the backing of parliament, leading to protests and downgrades of Sri Lanka's debt.

Rajapaksa, best known for crushing a long-running insurgency in the north of the country and drawing Sri Lanka closer to China, failed to win a parliamentary majority and resigned Saturday as a government shutdown loomed.

Wickremesinghe was then sworn in as prime minister for the fifth time in a remarkable comeback.

"We joined the government ... as the party and the country have been dragged into a difficult position," Vijith Wijayamuni Soysa, one of the three lawmakers, told parliament.

With the latest defections, Wickremesinghe has the backing of 120 legislators in the 225-member parliament.

Sirisena told a party gathering later Tuesday that he would not allow any defector to be sworn in as a minister in Wickremesinghe's cabinet, which is yet to be appointed.

On Thursday, Sri Lanka's Supreme Court ruled that Sirisena's decision to dissolve parliament before the end of its term was unconstitutional, a judgment that eventually led to the return of Wickremesinghe as prime minister.

Members of his ruling United National Party and at least six opposition MPs want to oust Sirisena through an impeachment, though that needs a two-thirds majority in parliament.The Trump administration moved Tuesday to officially ban bump stocks, which allow semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like automatic firearms, and has made them illegal to possess beginning in late March.

The devices will be banned under a federal law that prohibits machine guns, according to a senior Justice Department official.

Bump stocks became a focal point of the national gun control debate after they were used in October 2017 when a man opened fired from his Las Vegas hotel suite into a crowd at a country music concert below, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds more in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

WATCH: From October 2017: Washington Mulls Bump Stock Ban

The regulation, which was signed by Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker on Tuesday morning, will go into effect 90 days after it is formally published in the Federal Register, which is expected to happen on Friday, the Justice Department official said.

The official wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly ahead of the regulation's formal publication and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

In March, President Donald Trump said his administration would "ban" the devices, which he said "turn legal weapons into illegal machines."

Shortly after the president's comments, the Justice Department announced that it had started the process to amend federal firearms regulations to define bump stocks as machine guns. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sought public comment on the proposal, drawing more than 35,000 comments.

The amended regulations reverse a 2010 ATF decision that found bump stocks did not amount to machine guns and could not be regulated unless Congress changed existing firearms law or passed a new one. In the aftermath of the Las Vegas shooting, there was a growing push by some members of Congress to ban bump stocks, but no legislation was passed. At least 10 states have sought their own restrictions on the devices.

People who own bump stocks will be required to either surrender them to the ATF or destroy them by late March, the official said. The change has undergone a legal review and the Justice Department and ATF are ready to fight any legal challenge that may be brought, the official added.

Police said the gunman in the Las Vegas massacre, Stephen Paddock, fired for more than 10 minutes using multiple weapons outfitted with target scopes and bump stocks. Paddock fatally shot himself after the shooting and there were 23 assault-style weapons, including 14 fitted with rapid-fire "bump stock" devices, strewn about the room near his body on the floor of his 32nd-floor hotel suite at the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel.

The largest manufacturer of bump stocks, Slide Fire Solutions, announced in April that it was going to stop taking orders and shutting down its website. The remaining stock of the devices is now being sold by another company, RW Arms, based in Fort Worth, Texas.President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order before the end of the year creating a U.S. Space Command as a major military command.

Vice President Mike Pence will make the announcement Tuesday at the Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, two U.S. officials said, and Trump could sign the order as soon as Tuesday.

The move is separate from Trump's goal of creating a Space Force as an independent armed service branch, but could be a step in that direction.

The U.S. Air Force's existing Space Command would be a key component of the new joint entity, raising space to the same status as U.S. Cyber Command.

Pence to meet with Joint Chiefs

According to U.S. officials, Pence will be at the Pentagon on Tuesday and will meet with the Joint Chiefs. Space Command is expected to be among the issues discussed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.

The move would actually recreate a U.S. Space Command, which existed from 1985 to 2002. It was disbanded in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks so that U.S. Northern Command could be established, focusing on defense of the homeland.

Although Space Command went away, its functions did not. They were absorbed by U.S. Strategic Command, and the Air Force retained its lead role in space through Air Force Space Command.U.S. President Donald Trump has sent a letter to Kosovo counterpart Hashim Thaci urging him to do everything to reach a longstanding deal with Serbia two decades after their war ended, according to Thaci's official website.

Serbia and its former province of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, committed in 2013 to a European Union-sponsored dialogue meant to resolve all unsolved issues but little progress has been made.

"Failure to capitalize on this unique opportunity would be a tragic setback, as another chance for a comprehensive peace is unlikely to occur again soon," says the text of the letter posted Tuesday on Thaci's website.

"The United States has invested heavily in the success of Kosovo as an independent, sovereign state," it said.

In Washington, the White House had no comment. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy in Kosovo's capital Pristina.

Serbian-Kosovar tensions rose anew last week when Kosovo's parliament voted to approve the creation of a 5,000-strong standing army  only a week after Serbia's premier suggested such a move could provoke military intervention by Belgrade.

In June this year, Thaci said he would seek a solution with Serbia by "correcting borders," but politicians and analysts in Kosovo said that means land swaps.

But his plan rang alarm bells among Balkan neighbors and some Western governments who saw it as a move to take three Serbian municipalities inhabited mainly by ethnic Albanians, who make up more than 90 percent of Kosovo's population.

If there would be a land swap, then Serbia would get part of northern Kosovo populated mainly by minority Serbs who refuse to recognize the authority of the Pristina government.

Britain and Germany have said they do not favor border changes, but the United States said if these were agreed by Serbia and Kosovo, it would respect such a deal.

The United Nations Security Council publicly discussed the issues between the two countries and recent tensions on Monday at a meeting attended by the presidents of Serbia and Kosovo.

The letter posted by Thaci's website said Trump would welcome hosting the Kosovo and Serbian presidents at the White House as part of such an "historic accord."

Kosovo is recognized by more than 110 countries, including the United States, but not by Serbia, Russia or China.

Washington remains the biggest supporter of Kosovo both politically and financially.

It was under U.S. command that NATO bombed Serbian forces in 1999 to halt killings and expulsions of Kosovo Albanians during a counter-insurgency operation.Diplomatic efforts are continuing to avert a crisis between Ankara and Washington over a threatened Turkish offensive against U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces. But analysts warn mixed messages between the two NATO allies is complicating de-escalation efforts.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking to supporters Monday, declared U.S. President Donald Trump had responded positively to the launch of an offensive against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia.

Ankara accuses the YPG of being affiliated with the Kurdish rebel group PKK that has been waging a decades-long insurgency in Turkey.

On Monday, U.S. Ambassador on Syrian Affairs Jim Jeffrey appeared to contradict Erdogan.

We think that any offensive into northeast Syria by anyone is a bad idea, and that was a position that I conveyed when I was in Ankara, that everybody from the president on down has conveyed, said Jeffrey.

The YPG is a crucial ally in Washingtons war against the Islamic State. Around 2,000 U.S. soldiers are deployed with the militia in the region that is targeted by Ankara. Erdogan said the Kurdish militia would be ousted from the Euphrates River to the Iraqi frontier.

Stoking tensions, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu dismissed U.S. warnings.

The United States tried to hamper us in northern Iraq, and in Afrin and Syria," Soylu said Monday while visiting Pakistan. "And now, they will try to hamper us in the east of the Euphrates. Turkey did not let it happen back then, and we will not let it happen this time, Soylu said.

I cannot say whether its blackmail or a bluff, said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankaras Middle East Technical University, Turkey could undertake the military operation, the capability is there, and the fighting morale is there. The question is when and how it will carry out this military operation.

Probably the Kurdish forces they will be withdrawn from the area, he added, probably the Americans will negotiate till the last minute to satisfy Turkish expectations, or we will see for the first time a clash between two NATO countries, two strategic allies, everything is open.

In an initiative backed by Washington a delegation of Iraqi-Kurdish supported Rojava peshmerga forces met Sunday with representatives of the YPG and its political wing the PYD.

Washington is touting the peshmerga force as a potential buffer between the YPG and the Turkish frontier. One somewhat related thing is the Rojava Peshmerga deployment across the (Syrian) border. That was done with our understanding, said Ambassador Jeffrey.

But the PYD and YPG reportedly rejected the offer. Observers say deep mistrust exists between the Iraqi and Syrian Kurdish forces.

Such a move would also have been likely to be rejected by Ankara. Why should Turkey trust the peshmergas of northern Iraq? said Bagci, No more Kurds would be allowed to be part of this game.

"The peshmerga Kurds if they tried to be a buffer zone, would be treated equally (by Ankara) as terrorists as the YPG, he added.

Turkish domestic politics could also be a complicating factor in de-escalation efforts, with critical local elections due in March. Turkey is facing economic recession, and opinion polls indicate Erdogans ruling AKP Party is hemorrhaging votes.

The timing of this military campaign in Syria, smacks of populism, said analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners. Do we need to do this in the middle of winter and when relations with America are shaky. The timing suggests the AKP may be back to its old methods of garnering votes by appealing to nationalists and Turkish ethnic sentiments, and it's a dangerous game.

Turkish-U.S. relations are still recovering from a crisis earlier this year when the Trump administration hit Ankara with financial sanctions that resulted in a collapse in the Turkish currency.

Washington has lifted its sanctions, but the Turkish economy remains fragile. The repercussions of a Turkish military operation into Syria could be severe.

That would be a very significant threat, said economist Inan Demir of Nomura Securities.

If we see an accidental clash in Northern Syria (between U.S. and Turkish forces), he added, if that leads to the U.S. again considering sanctions on Turkey, which might be due to various issues, and there is no shortage of outstanding issues between the two countries. I would think the markets then again go back to price in a very negative situation for Turkey and lira.

Given the high stakes, analysts predict bilateral diplomatic efforts are likely to intensify.

Until the last minute both sides will try to avoid any confrontation and reduce the risk at the moment, said Bagci, the tension is getting high at least from the Turkish side, and we will see how the Americans will respond.U.S. legislation funding $867 billion in food and agriculture programs scheduled to be signed by U.S. President Donald Trump this week includes Department of Agriculture funds to help American farmers promote their products in Communist-run Cuba.

The measure is the first approved by Congress related to heavily sanctioned Cuba in nearly two decades and represents a symbolic victory for the lobby favoring normalization of ties whose fortunes rose under former president Barack Obama and have crashed under Trump.

Congress first authorized agricultural sales to Cuba for cash in 2000.



The farm bill approved by both houses of Congress last week goes a step further by including Cuba for the first time in the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development program which help U.S. farmers offset the costs of overseas marketing, although it still does not provide credit for such sales.

"Now, we can interact with more levels of Cuban society including cooperatives, farmers, and end-users to do research and market our products," Paul Johnson, Chair of the U.S Agricultural Coalition for Cuba, said.

The coalition is made up of more than 100 soy-to-wheat farm and industry groups.

With close to $6 billion in sales to Cuba since 2000, U.S. agribusiness and farmers have pushed to normalize trade and win permission to sell food on credit in hopes of capturing more of Cubas nearly $2 billion annual purchases of food abroad.



Trump, in alliance with hardline Cuban exiles, has promised to undo the fragile detente begun by his predecessor. The administration has tightened travel regulations,

forbidden doing business with or patronizing military-controlled Cuban entities and cut back on the negotiations begun by the Obama administration.



Under Trump, the State Department last year slashed staff at the newly opened U.S. Embassy in Havana and expelled 17 diplomats from Cubas Embassy in Washington after a series of still unexplained health incidents that affected 25 U.S. diplomats.

James Williams, President of Engage Cuba, an organization working to normalize relations with Cuba, said the measure was significant as it passed a Republican Congress, adding that he is hoping for progress on credit for food sales this year.



Before passage, Senator Marco Rubio tweaked the farm bill to ensure it would not benefit the Cuban military which operates a broad swath of businesses on the Caribbean island.

"Should it be found that taxpayer dollars are being used to benefit the military, appropriate action must be taken," Rubios spokesperson Olivia Peres-Cubas said, responding to an e-mail query.



Despite the deteriorating political climate between the old Cold War foes, much of the economic thaw begun under Obama, from food sales to travel and communications, remains in place. That is in large part due to the political clout of agricultural groups whose membership often support the Republican Party.

"Agriculture does have an advantage despite the current political environment," Johnson said. "The agriculture issue has bipartisan support, and the fact that food touches everyone's life in Cuba rather than one sector or group of people."Tuesday is International Migrants Day, and the head of the U.N. Migration Agency is urging nations to drop their negative perceptions of migrants and to treat them with dignity, respect and as a benefit to their societies.

When the United Nations proclaimed December 18 as International Migrants Day in 2000, around 150 million people were on the move. Now, 18 years later, that number has grown to an estimated 258 million.

Many people migrate to other nations for economic reasons, because they are desperately poor, are running from violence or are imbued with a sense of adventure and entrepreneurship. The United Nations reports another 40 million people are internally displaced by conflict.

International Organization for Migration Director General Antonio Vitorino says many people do not wish to leave their homes, but are compelled to do so by circumstances out of their control. For example, he says every year millions of people are forced to leave by climate-related disasters and natural hazards.

His spokesman, Joel Millman, says IOM chief Vitorino notes the mere act of migration exposes many people to great dangers.

IOMs data show that close to 3,400 migrants and refugees have already lost their lives worldwide in 2018. Most died trying to reach Europe by sea; many others perished attempting to cross deserts or pass through dense forests seeking safety far from official border crossings. These numbers, compiled daily by IOM staff, shame us, he said.

This years observance of International Migrants Day comes one day ahead of the formal endorsement at the U.N. General Assembly of the Global Compact for Migration. The compact was overwhelmingly adopted by most nations in the world earlier this month in Marrakech, Morocco. Major holdouts include Australia, the United States, Hungary, Italy, Austria and Poland.

Vitorino sees the agreement as an important step toward providing the dignity owed to migrants. He says it also creates a space wherein a more balanced discourse and widespread cooperation on migration can take place.

He says the compact stresses the need for all states to have well-managed migration. He adds no one state alone can achieve this. He says cooperation at all levels is fundamental to addressing migration.The U.N. General Assembly voted nearly unanimously Monday to adopt a framework to strengthen the international response to the global refugee crisis.

The United States and Hungary were the only two nations that voted against the Global Compact on Refugees, while 181 countries voted in favor. The Dominican Republic, Eritrea and Libya abstained.

"It is a global commitment to step up and shoulder our responsibilities toward refugees, to find solutions that respect their human rights, to provide them with hope, and to recognize the legal responsibility to protect and support them," said U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed in welcoming the vote.

She urged all member states to begin implementing the framework as soon as possible.

Over the past 18 months, states in conjunction with the U.N. Refugee Agency negotiated the non-binding document, which aims to ease the pressure on refugee host countries and support conditions in countries for displaced citizens to return home.

There are more than 25 million refugees worldwide, and just 10 countries host 60 percent of them. Most host countries are middle- or low-income ones and the compact seeks to more equitably distribute burden-sharing and help make refugees more self-reliant.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi welcomed the adoption, saying it is the first time he has seen countries take such a comprehensive and broad approach to cooperating on the issue. But he had strong words for countries which have taken a hard line on migration and refugees.

"In this world of ours which often turns its back to people in need  that has shamefully politicized even the pain of exile, that has demonized and continues to demonize refugees and migrants, and sometimes even just foreigners  this compact, in synergy with the other compact on migration, can really represent tangibly a new commitment to international cooperation," Grandi said.

United States

In November, the United States said it would vote against the compact over sovereignty concerns. It also quit negotiations on the global compact on migration.

The Trump administration has come in for harsh criticism for its treatment of migrants at the U.S. border with Mexico, its travel ban on persons from certain Muslim countries, and its decision to sharply cut the number of refugees it resettles. But it has remained the U.N. Refugee Agency's largest single donor, contributing more than $1.45 billion in 2017.

"I think that there is a fundamental commitment of the U.S.," Commissioner Grandi told reporters. "I would have hoped that they would support it [the compact] institutionally, but in substance, I think that support will continue to be there."

'Protection, compassion, solidarity'

He urged countries to keep their borders open and said both refugees and migrants deserve "protection and compassion and solidarity." He noted that when given opportunities, refugees "can make a formidable contribution" to the societies hosting them.

"The compact aims at providing states and communities with the tools to maximize, to create those opportunities," Grandi said.

On Wednesday, the General Assembly will vote to endorse the Global Compact on Migration, which was adopted at an international conference in Marrakesh last week.A U.S. envoy on North Korea is to visit South Korea, officials said on Wednesday, as Washington and Pyongyang struggle to find a breakthrough in their stalled talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear program.

Stephen Biegun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, is scheduled to arrive in the South Korean capital, Seoul, on Wednesday afternoon for a four-day stay, a diplomatic source told Reuters.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to work towards denuclearization at his landmark summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore in June but the two sides have since made little progress.

They have yet to reschedule talks between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol after abruptly canceling a meeting in November.

North Korean state media has credited Trump for his "willingness" to continue dialog but has also slammed Washington for stepping up sanctions, accusing the State Department of being "bent on bringing the DPRK-U.S. relations back to the status of last year which was marked by exchanges of fire."

The report referred to the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The State Department said communication between both sides was "ongoing" but sanctions relief would come after they achieved the goal of a "final, fully verified denuclearization."

"The sooner North Korea denuclearises, the sooner sanctions can be lifted," deputy spokesman Robert Palladino told a news briefing on Tuesday.

The stalled negotiations also had an impact on inter-Korean ties, with the North remaining aloof towards the South's plan to host Kim Jong Un in Seoul this month as agreed at his summit with President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang in September. Kim's trip was unlikely to take place this year, Moon's secretary said last week.

Biegun is expected to explore ways to maintain the momentum for nuclear talks during his stay, officials in Seoul said.

He was scheduled to hold talks on Thursday with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Do-hoon, ahead of their session on Friday of a working group launched last month to boost coordination on North Korean policy.

Biegun will also meet Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon on Friday amid U.S. concerns that Seoul may be moving too quickly with Pyongyang relative to the lackluster progress on denuclearization.

The two Koreas plan to hold a ground-breaking ceremony next Wednesday for their project to reconnect rail and road links, which would need U.S. sanctions exemptions.The U.S. Senate advanced a bipartisan bill Monday that would decrease America's large prison population by lowering some mandatory federal sentences and giving prisoners added opportunities to earn reductions in jail time.

With the 82-12 procedural vote, the Senate formally took up the First Step Act, which is backed by President Donald Trump but has fewer than two weeks to reach his desk before the end of the current Congress.

"This landmark legislation restores fairness in sentencing by ensuring that penalties fit their crimes, gives low-level, non-violent offenders a better chance to turn over a new leaf upon release from prison, and ultimately reduces crime and makes our streets and neighborhoods safer," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said in a statement.

"These historic changes will make communities SAFER and SAVE tremendous taxpayers dollars," Trump tweeted. "It brings much needed hope to many families during the Holiday Season."

The First Step Act would retroactively end the discrepancy in federal sentences for drug offenses involving crack and the powder form of cocaine, reducing jail time for thousands of prisoners already serving time for crack offenses.

The bill also would reduce some mandatory sentences, give federal judges more flexibility to make exceptions to mandatory prison terms, and allow prisoners to earn greater sentence reductions through good behavior and vocational training.

"The vast majority of prison inmates will one day be released back into our communities after serving their sentence," Grassley said. "It is in everyone's best interest to equip inmates with the skills and training needed to be become productive citizens, rather than returning to a life of crime."

Proponents say the bill aims to correct a failed 1980s-era attempt to deter illegal drug use that established long mandatory prison sentences for drug convictions.

"Since 1980, the federal prison population has grown by over 700 percent," Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin said. "Today, the United States of America holds more prisoners by far than any country in the world, more than Russia or China."

Durbin added that existing law has unfairly targeted people of color, saying, "The majority of illegal drug users and dealers in America are white. But three-quarters of the people serving time in prison for drug offenses are African-American or Latino."

The House of Representatives passed a similar version of the bill earlier this year. Now, the Senate is racing to complete work on the legislation before the chamber adjourns for the Christmas holiday.

Criticism of bill

The First Step Act has robust but not universal Senate support in its current form. Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton is demanding the bill stipulate that some prisoners will be barred from early release.

"Unfortunately, the bill still has major problems & allows early release for many categories of serious, violent criminals," Cotton tweeted. "This includes felons who commit violent bank robberies with dangerous weapons, who assault children, & who commit carjacking with the intent to cause death."

Cotton and several other Republicans are pressing an amendment that would specify which offenders are ineligible for sentence reductions, something that proponents of the First Step Act say the bill already sets forth.

"This bill will not allow dangerous, violent criminals to be released early  that [assertion] is pure fiction," said the Senate's No. 2 Republican, John Cornyn of Texas. "It's important that we look at people who are low risk of recidivism [committing more crimes] and low risk to public safety, because what we can do is use the resources  not to keep people like that behind bars unnecessarily  but to focus on the truly violent criminals."

America's prison population exceeds 2 million people, and incarceration consumes vast resources within the nation's justice system. Even if it becomes law, the First Step Act would have a modest impact on incarceration numbers, as the bill only applies to federal inmates, who account for less than 10 percent of the national total. Other initiatives seek to achieve similar results at the state level.

Support for bill

A wide array of law enforcement organizations support the bill, as do both right-leaning and left-leaning advocacy groups.

Durbin hailed "the most extraordinary political coalition I've ever witnessed in the time I've been in Washington" joining forces to back the legislation.

"Every once in a while, the stars line up, and the Democrats and the Republicans, and the conservatives and the progressives, and the president and the Congress agree on something," the Illinois Democrat said.Members of the U.S. Senate are brushing off Saudi Arabias anger over resolutions the chamber approved pertaining to the war in Yemen and the killing of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Earlier this week, the Saudi Foreign Ministry criticized the resolutions as undermining the kingdoms regional and international role and "based on unsubstantiated claims and allegations." Speaking with VOA, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut indicated he is focused on Saudi actions, not words.

I care that Saudi Arabia change its vicious and brutal policies toward Yemen and killing innocent civilians and murdering children there," Blumenthal said. "



Alabama Republican Richard Shelby said the Senate could not remain silent after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey in October.



That was reprehensible conduct," Shelby said. "Thats something we spoke as a body on. They [Saudis] have been good allies, but sometimes you cant look the other way on something like that.

Last week, the Senate voted to end U.S. backing for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemens civil war and unanimously named Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for Khashoggis death.



The kingdom said it rejects any interference in its internal affairs and is working to achieve a political solution in Yemen.Vietnam repeatedly calls itself one of the countries that would be most devastated if climate change worsens, but it is also preparing to import liquefied natural gas (LNG), which emits the greenhouse gases that accelerate climate change.

Rather than drastically boost renewable energy, Vietnam plans to start using LNG for the first time in 2020, a decision that highlights how hard it is for countries to balance energy costs with environmental protection.

While emissions resulting from LNG extraction, production and use are low compared to other fossil fuels, its increasing usage means it will be the biggest source of carbon emission growth by 2025 according to the energy consultancy Woods Mackenzie.

Le Van Luc at the Ministry of Industry and Trade explains that, as the economy grows quickly, domestic energy supplies can not keep up with the need for more electricity.

You could see that for Vietnam, our country used to produce and export energy for many years, said Luc, deputy director of electricity and renewable energy at the ministry. However, in 2015, we became a net energy importer, especially of coal and natural gas.

The communist country of 100 million people is not alone.

Other United Nations members gathering for climate talks in Poland this week face similar challenges, from the yellow vest protesters in France angered by fuel price hikes, to the U.S. officials trying to convince U.N. colleagues in side events that coal can be clean.

Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, as well, peers like Indonesia and Thailand intend to burn ever more coal, despite also fearing the threat of climate change.

For Vietnam, LNG is making its debut in part because policymakers believe there are limits to renewable energy. Luc said that the country is reaching the upper limit of the hydro power it can get from dams, and that natural gas is a bit more affordable than wind or solar power.

LNG is also being discussed because the United States wants to promote it here, which would allow American companies to export more of the fossil fuel. The U.S. government organized a natural gas conference last week, when Mary Tarnowka, the U.S. consul general in Ho Chi Minh City, warned of energy shortages to come in southern Vietnam. She noted the city she currently calls home has annual economic growth of 10 percent.

All of this is creating a growing middle class, and a society and culture that is growing as quickly as their energy demands, she said in a speech. With the rising demand for energy approaching a growth rate of 8 percent in 2018, Vietnam is currently facing significant challenges in the southern provinces in order to keep pace.

Natural gas is typically transported through pipelines, but for longer distances, it must be cooled down to a liquid state, so that it can be shipped in containers. That would allow it to travel from the United States, across the Pacific to Vietnam.

Once it arrives, though, there has to be infrastructure to receive the LNG and warm it back into a gaseous state that can be used for fuel. That is where U.S. companies and agencies are coming in to advise on construction.

The difficulty and challenge for Vietnam is that we have yet to have any experience in constructing or operating LNG infrastructure, Luc said.

He added that the country is still investing in electricity generated from the wind and the sun. But fossil fuels are needed as a buffer, Luc said, for when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining.

Some investors say Vietnam pays too low a tariff to make renewables viable, but others are already making a profit from solar power and say firms need to accept the price rather than hope for it to change.

Environmental economist Le Viet Phu said Vietnam needs a diverse energy mix. The country is not going to abandon coal, but using more natural gas will be less polluting than coal, and alternative energy is on the rise, he said.

Renewables are good for shedding peak loads, but renewables are not cheap, said Phu, of Fulbright University Vietnam. We have seen renewables picking up speed recently, but it will be years until we see some significant impact on the system.

And activists are not giving up on alternative energy, including biomass, which refers to plants that can be burned as fuel.

Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta are the areas with the largest potential in the country for renewable energy development projects, environmental group CHANGE wrote on its blog, especially solar and biomass, with many hours of sunshine, a long sunny season, and abundant agricultural by-products, such as straw, rice bran, and rice husks.U.S. President Donald Trump told his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan that Washington "would take a look at" the possibility of extraditing a U.S.-based Muslim cleric who Ankara suspects of being behind a 2016 coup attempt, but he made no commitment, the White House said on Tuesday.

"The only thing he said is that we would take a look at it," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters. "Nothing further at this point beyond that ... nothing committal at all in that process."

Turkey's foreign minister said on Sunday that Trump told Erdogan that Washington was working on extraditing the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, a former Erdogan ally who has lived in self-imposed U.S. exile for nearly two decades.

No commitment

Asked about the comment on Monday, another White House official said only that Trump did not commit to extraditing Gulen when he spoke to Erdogan at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires last month. The official offered no further detail on the conversation.

Turkish officials blame Gulen for a failed coup in Turkey in which rogue soldiers attacked parliament and shot unarmed civilians. Gulen denies any involvement.

The United States and Turkey, NATO allies, have gone through a rough patch in 2018, exacerbated by the Turkish detention of a U.S. pastor. Turkey's release of the pastor, Andrew Brunson, was a "tremendous step" toward improved relations, Trump said in October, while denying he made a deal with Ankara for the move.

Tension builds ... again

But tensions flared again last week over the two countries' positions on Syria. The Pentagon warned that unilateral military action into northeast Syria by any party would be "unacceptable," after Turkey said it would launch a new military operation in the region.

Trump said last month he was not considering extraditing Gulen as part of efforts to ease Turkish pressure on Saudi

Arabia over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.A microscopic examination of fossils from China has revealed that the fur-like body covering of pterosaurs, the remarkable flying reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs, was actually made up of rudimentary feathers.

The surprising discovery described by scientists on Monday means that dinosaurs and their bird descendants were not the only creatures to boast feathers and that feathers likely appeared much longer ago than previously known. Pterosaurs were only distantly related to dinosaurs and birds.

Birds need feathers to fly. That was not the case with pterosaurs. Short, hair-like feathers covered their bodies and wings but lacked the strong central shaft of avian flight feathers, the researchers said. They may have provided insulation and other benefits, as hair does for mammals.

"They were not flight feathers," said paleontologist Baoyu Jiang of Nanjing University, who led the research published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. "They looked fuzzy, and they didn't have complicated feathers."

The researchers examined beautifully preserved Jurassic Period fossils roughly 160 to 165 million years old of two small pterosaurs called anurognathids from northeastern China.

Apparently forest dwellers and insect eaters, they possessed 18-inch (45 cm) wingspans, short tails and superficially frog-like faces.

Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to master flight, followed much later by birds and bats. Scientists have known since the 19th century that pterosaurs had a fur-like body covering and there has been a long-running scientific debate about how to classify it.

Many of the filaments, under the microscope, showed branching like in feathers but not hair.

University of Bristol paleontologist and study co-author Mike Benton said four types of pterosaur feathers were observed: downy feathers; single filaments; bundles of filaments; and filaments with tufts at the end. Tiny pigment-related structures indicated these feathers were ginger-brown in color.

Birds, many meat-eating dinosaurs and some plant-eating dinosaurs are known to have had feathers, though these looked different from those seen on the pterosaurs.

"We feel the simplest thing for the present is to call them all feathers because they show branching, the fundamental distinguishing character of a feather," Benton said.

Pterosaurs and dinosaurs both appeared roughly 230 million years ago during the Triassic Period. The researchers said the appearance of feathers in both groups suggests feathers first evolved perhaps 250 million years ago in a common ancestor of pterosaurs and dinosaurs.

Pterosaurs, the biggest of which had 35-foot (10.7-meter)wingspans, went extinct along with the dinosaurs after an asteroid impact 66 million years ago.President Emmerson Mnangagwas ruling Zanu PF party has resolved to resume the feared national youth service, establish its own radio and television stations and lead a process to thank ancestral spirits for liberating the nation from white settler rule.

In a communique released on Sunday, a day after holding its 17th Annual National Peoples Conference in Matabeleland South province, Zanu PF said the youth service should be revived in 2019.

National Youth Service program must be resumed in the first quarter of 2019, read part of the statement, which also indicated that the party wants to have media entities.

The Party must establish its own radio and television service to publish its own programs.

The ruling partys business empire appears to have collapsed amid reports that Zanu PF is in the process of reviving some of its companies, which once received a cash injection from Manharlal Chiunilal and Jayant Chiunilal Joshi. The funds were allegedly abused by some people in the ruling party.

Zanu PFs secretary for administration, Obert Mpofu, told the Daily News that plans are underway to restructure some of the companies that were under M&S Syndicate (Pvt) Ltd which had substantial stakes in Treger Holdings, Mike Appeal, Catercraft, Fribrolite and Zidlee.

Mpofu was quoted as saying, We will be addressing issues affecting the operation of our companies. They are not dead, they are there but you know they were also affected by the economic environment that was prevailing before.

The ruling party had stakes in Southern African Re-Insurance Company, Zidco Holdings and First Bank, Nationa Blankets, Woolworths, Jongwe Printing and Publishing Company and Jongwe and Nyadzonya Farms.

Apart from establishing media entities and revising collapsed companies, the ruling party wants to also thank ancestral spirits for the countrys independence from British rule.

In the communique issues Sunday, Zanu PF said it wants to lead the process to thank ancestral spirits for Independence - repatriation of body parts belonging to first and second Chimurenga heroes and heroines such as Chief Chingaira.

It is seeking the establishment of a liberation war museum and promotion of productions to document liberation heritage (sic).

Over 5,000 people attended the partys annual peoples conference in Esigodini with critics saying Zanu PF wont be able to implement most of its resolutions due to the current harsh economic situation in the country.Stephan James, KiKi Layne, and Brian Tyree Henry in If Beale Street Could Talk. Photo: Tatum Mangus/Annapurna Pictures

When If Beale Street Could Talks Fonny (Stephan James) and Tish (KiKi Layne) run into Fonnys old friend Daniel Carty (Brian Tyree Henry) on the streets of Harlem, Tish isnt exactly pleased. Daniel is grinning and gregarious, and Tish already knows her day with her boyfriend has turned into a boys night. Fonny smiles wide when he sees his friend, cajoles the three of them into a cab to go downtown and have dinner together at his apartment. Tish exits the scene to prepare dinner, and one of the best scenes of If Beale Street Could Talk begins.

When they get to Fonnys, Daniel surveys his friends sculptures  his apartment, his life  and the two of them sit down, talking in circles, in loose, relaxed loops, about Fonny and Tishs apartment search. But after a few minutes, theyre talking about racism; after a few more minutes, theyre talking plainly about the fear and trauma of being black and living in a country thats hostile toward them every day. Its a powerful, deeply felt scene, scored by Miles Daviss Blue in Green. In film-speak, its like theyre spending an entire day together, director Barry Jenkins told me about the scene. And over the course of that day, they can truly reveal who they actually are, they can truly reveal their full humanity.

The way Jenkinss deceptively plain filmmaking gives Fonny and Daniel the space to meander through a conversation about their gifts and traumas is sublime to watch. In a sense, the scene feels like Beale Streets thesis: The plot is driven by the romance between Fonny and Tish, but Beale Street is sustained by the love between families, between friends, by the way Baldwins text shows black people taking care of one another.

Daniel and Fonny start the scene talking about everything but Daniels time in prison. Later, it becomes the only thing they can talk about  and theyre both shuddering. Theres this thing that black men do when we see each other where we put on a good face, as white folks say. What I loved about the opportunity we had with this scene was, yeah, we put on a good face, but when you spend more time we say, Hey, how you doing? Im good. We keep talking and it becomes Oh, Im good and  Jenkins said. We keep talking, have a few drinks, have a few smokes, and its Im good, but  We continue talking and its Im not really good  With all the traumas that these young men face, we see that Daniels out and assume hes not dealing with that trauma anymore. No! Its still a part of him. Its in his body; its in his DNA.

Henry flew up from the set of Atlanta to film the scene, on the movies last day of production in New York. Much of Beale Street was filmed with two cameras, but Jenkins felt this was one of the scenes that only needed one. I started to realize that the power in the scene was in the energy between Stephan and Bryan. When youre filming with two cameras, its like my energy is going into one camera; your energy is being captured by another camera, he explained. Cutting between the shots didnt feel authentic to the moment. The trauma that Brian has experienced as the character Daniel, Fonny can feel that. Thats why hes invited him into his home. Thats why hes treating himself to open himself, to share. Instead of cutting between that energy, were passing it back and forth. The scene feels different visually, but almost imperceptibly: There are a few cuts, but the conversation doesnt feel jagged. The men move from one subject to the next, getting more and more intimate with every sentence. Fonny doesnt know exactly what Daniel has seen, and he doesnt ask him to explain, but eventually theyre talking about living with the same fear, every day. Its tender filmmaking, to a devastating end.

For me, that moment was a moment of true black love, of black brotherly love, James told Vulture. Thats something that we dont really get to see too often. It was a moment that Daniel could be vulnerable with his brother, to tell him the truth, that hes been scared, that hes petrified of his experiences while incarcerated.

Watching this scene, I was reminded of one of my favorite moments in the third act of Moonlight. Childhood friends Black (Trevante Rhodes) and Kevin (Andre Holland) stand in the kitchen of Kevins small apartment. Their conversation is more loaded than Fonny and Daniels, with the awkwardness that comes from being onetime lovers; both are feeling out how their reunion will turn out. Kevin says he has a son now, and 18 months left on his probation. Black sighs and shakes his head, mumbling a curse. Kevin gives him a satisfied smile: Yeah, but its a life, he says. I aint never had that before. The moment doesnt build to the same sort of terror that Henry lays bare in his performance, but it carries the same gentle build. These scenes are quiet, but revelatory in both instances: In both movies, theyre opportunities for two black men to talk about their feelings.

Its a scene that makes my eyes sting with tears every time I watch it, both because of the emphasis Kevin puts on life, and because of the way hes so proud of everything he has, no matter how humble. The first half of the Beale Street conversation between Daniel and Fonny gets at the same essential idea: Fonny, like Kevin, is building a life for himself, as an artist and as a husband.

Colman Domingo, who plays Tishs father, Joseph, drew yet another parallel: He saw a deep similarity between the Daniel Carty scene and a scene he shares with Michael Beach (who plays Fonnys father, Frank). In Beale Street, he and Frank are putting their heads together at a bar, trying to figure out how to scrape enough money together to pay for Fonnys legal defense. I know some hustles, and you know some hustles  These are our children. Weve got to set them free, Domingo, as Joseph, says.

Theres so much depth of love there. Im able to say that I love him so deeply that his child is my child, that my familys plight is for his child. Thats not even my blood relative, Domingo told Vulture. Were used to seeing antagonistic relationships between black men. [Fonny] is not even my blood relative. But I love him because thats my best friends son. It shows the love of black men and what we do for each other, especially when one cant do for himself. Ill take over for you  and Ill empower you to do that.Photo: Netflix

In 2015, Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demoss Emmy-winning true-crime docuseries Making a Murderer introduced the world to Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey, a Wisconsin uncle and nephew found guilty of the 2005 murder of photographer Teresa Halbach. The Netflix show critiqued the pairs conviction from myriad angles, calling into question the validity of the police investigation that landed them in prison. Now, according to Variety, a retired Manitowoc County sheriffs-office lieutenant has filed a lawsuit against both the streaming platform and its creators for defamation, claiming his depiction in the series opened him up to worldwide ridicule, contempt and disdain.

According to court documents, Andrew Colborn, who retired in March of this year, accuses Making a Murderer of being false and defamatory toward himself and others, specifically by suggesting that Manitowoc County police planted evidence to frame Stephen Avery for murder. He also asserts the shows editing and other narrative elements created a distorted presentation of events that biased viewers toward the filmmakers misleading and false account of the facts. You can read the full filing here.

His reputation and that of Manitowoc County, itself, has been severely and unjustly defamed, Colborns attorney Michael Griesbach said in a statement. He is filing this lawsuit to set the record straight and to restore his good name. In addition to Netflix, Ricciardi, and Demos, the suit also names Netflix executives Lisa Nishimura and Adam Del Deo, and editor Mary Manhardt.Les Moonves. Photo: Antoine Antoniol/Getty Images

CBS has completed its investigation into former CEO Les Moonves, and has found that he will be fired with cause, and wont receive a $120 million payout. In a statement released Monday evening, the company announced the details of the inquiry and Moonvess exit: With regard to Mr. Moonves, we have determined that there are grounds to terminate for cause, including his willful and material misfeasance, violation of Company policies and breach of his employment contract, as well as his willful failure to cooperate fully with the Companys investigation, it read. Mr. Moonves will not receive any severance payment from the Company.

Moonves stepped down in September, following reporting in The New Yorker and the New York Times that outlined multiple sexual-harassment and assault allegations against Moonves, and an extended secret campaign to silence his accusers. As Moonvess conduct has been reported, other high-profile men at CBS have been accused of harassment, including former CBS This Morning host Charlie Rose. In CBSs statement about Moonves, the company said investigators found that harassment and retaliation were not the norm at the company. However, the statement read, the investigators learned of past incidents of improper and unprofessional conduct, and concluded that the Companys historical policies, practices and structures have not reflected a high institutional priority on preventing harassment and retaliation. Read the full statement below:

The Board of Directors of CBS has completed its investigation of former Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves, CBS News, and cultural issues at CBS. With regard to Mr. Moonves, we have determined that there are grounds to terminate for cause, including his willful and material misfeasance, violation of Company policies and breach of his employment contract, as well as his willful failure to cooperate fully with the Companys investigation. Mr. Moonves will not receive any severance payment from the Company. As a result of their work, the investigators also concluded that harassment and retaliation are not pervasive at CBS. However, the investigators learned of past incidents of improper and unprofessional conduct, and concluded that the Companys historical policies, practices and structures have not reflected a high institutional priority on preventing harassment and retaliation. The investigation determined that the resources devoted to the Companys Human Resources function, to training and development, and to diversity and inclusion initiatives have been inadequate, given the size and complexity of CBS businesses. Employees also cited past incidents in which HR and the Company did not hold high performers accountable for their conduct and protect employees from retaliation. The Board, which includes six new members, and the Companys new management have already begun to take robust steps to improve the working environment for all employees. Among other things, the Company appointed a new Chief People Officer, is actively engaged in ways to enhance and reimagine the Human Resources function, and has retained outside expert advisors to develop other initiatives for promoting a workplace culture of dignity, transparency, respect and inclusion. These efforts will continue to be a high priority for the Board and the Companys management, and we will continue to work together to communicate with our workforce in that regard. We would like to thank everyone who cooperated with the investigation and applaud CBS employees for remaining focused on their jobs during this very difficult time. We look forward to the people of CBS returning their full attention to the outstanding work that they do every single day.

Moonves has denied the most serious allegations against him, and has said that he is retired.

Update: In a statement made Monday evening, Moonves lawyer Andrew Levander claimed the conclusions of the CBS board were foreordained and are without merit.

Consistent with the pattern of leaks that have permeated this process, the press was informed of these baseless conclusions before Mr. Moonves, further damaging his name, reputation, career and legacy, he continued. Mr. Moonves vehemently denies any non-consensual sexual relations and cooperated extensively and fully with investigators.Photo: Netflix

A young woman is killed violently. A man is charged with her murder, even though he insists he is innocent. Attempts to exonerate him reveal complicated realities about police corruption and the degree to which evidence can be manipulated for the sake of wrapping up a case.

What true crime series have I just described? Is it The Staircase? Making a Murderer? The first season of Serial?

Technically, Im talking about The Innocent Man, the latest addition to the Netflix true-crime library thats based on the first nonfiction book by John Grisham. But the fact that the same basic description could easily apply to several other shows suggests the media landscape could be hitting its limit on a particular type of true crime, if it hasnt already.

Pop culture has had a long, continuing fixation with stories about dead girls, as both true and fictional crime stories have proven. But the dead girl/wrongly accused man trope is a specific twist on that familiar construct and one that has become the most recognizable type of true crime. Satires like American Vandal and Trial & Error have already highlighted the cliches of this subgenre. And the plodding, less buzzy second season of Making a Murderer suggests that every series of this type wont necessarily capture the publics attention. But that doesnt seem to be stopping networks and platforms like Netflix from making more of these kinds of shows, because, generally speaking, audiences gravitate toward them. Also, in Netflixs case, the more you can serve up something that seems very similar to the thing that a person just binge-watched, the better.

Which brings us to The Innocent Man, which focuses on a pair of murders that took place in the early 1980s in the small town of Ada, Oklahoma. First, in December of 1982, a local bar waitress named Debbie Carter was savagely raped and killed in her walk-up apartment. Two years later, in August of 1984, a convenience-store clerk named Denice Haraway went missing and was eventually found dead. Each crime led to a pair of men  Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz in the Debbie Carter case, Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot in the Denice Haraway case  being implicated and charged with murder. But all four of those alleged killers contended they were not responsible for the womens deaths.

Like Making a Murderer, The Innocent Man digs into the shoddy police and prosecutorial work associated with both investigations as well as the appeals pursued by all four of the accused. Even though the circumstances involving the convictions of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey differ from those surrounding the convicted quartet in The Innocent Man, the parallels between the two stories are tough to ignore. Like Dassey, Ward and Fontenot say they were coerced in to recording in false confessions. Various figures, including attorneys and locals, speak on-camera as dramatic flourishes in the musical score add dramatic heft to their words. Even the opening titles, with their imagery of rural America set to the tune of Zwans emo-style cover of Number of the Beast, is so evocative of this subgenre it comes across as comical.

Thats the problem with The Innocent Man and, frankly, any series that tries to cover similar narrative ground: Weve seen this type of story told so many times in recent years, and with such aesthetic similarities, that we recognize its rhythms before the series can even hit a first note. Even though Ross M. Dinerstein and Clay Tweel developed the series from a Grisham book that came out back in 2006, the fact that its arriving on the TV scene at this point in 2018 makes it look like a knockoff instead of a pioneer. It also doesnt help that its plagued by cheesy staged reenactments and a slow pace that never fully draws in the audience.

At a certain point, I even found myself laughing at some of the details. One of the initial suspects is named Odell Titsworth? Two of the men who pop up as potential suspects in the Haraway case are named Billy Charley and Jim Bob Howard? Jim Bob?! Its so stereotypical of a series like this that you find yourself chuckling, even though thats the opposite of what The Innocent Man wants you to do.

Then you remember that these murdered women were real people, and the men who had their lives ruined by serving time for crimes they didnt commit are real people, too. True crime is called true because the details in it are real. We should feel the weight of that every time we watch a show like this. But because so many shows of this type exist, its become easier and easier to feel desensitized to the injustices they are trying to highlight.

The Innocent Man is not as well done as other shows of its type, and thats its biggest problem. But its shortcomings are a reminder that if youre going to make a true-crime series, you need to make sure that theres something really unusual and compelling about the material or your approach to it. It is an American tragedy that so many women are killed, and that some men have been unfairly railroaded by a system thirsty to hold someone accountable. But unless an especially unique case fits in that category, or the filmmakers take a groundbreaking approach to dissecting a narrative like the one that plays out in The Innocent Man, Im not sure we need to see many more shows like this. They may be good for Netflix algorithms, but Im not sure theyre ultimately increasing our capacity to empathize with victims in all aspects of our deeply flawed criminal-justice system.The SEC reminded foreign issuers on December 10 that accounting misdeeds not only constitute securities fraud, they can violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

In an enforcement action that did not involve bribery of any kind, the SEC charged Agria Corporation, a Cayman Islands company headquartered in Hong Kong, with securities fraud for failure to properly value gains and losses in a transaction with an affiliated company in mainland China.

The SEC also charged Agria with running afoul of the FCPAs books and records and internal controls provisions. The SEC fined Agria $3 million. In addition, the SEC imposed a fine of $400,000 on Agrias chairman, Guanglin Lai, and banned him from acting as an officer or director of any public company for five years. Though the problematic transaction took place entirely in China, the SEC had jurisdiction over Agria for one simple reason  the company had American Depositary Shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Agrias story is one of old-fashioned accounting fraud to conceal losses, boost revenues and inflate the companys share price. Agria sold its interest in a wholly-owned subsidiary in China known as Taiyuan Primalights III Modernized Agriculture Development Co., Ltd. (Primalights) to Primalights chairman. In return, the chairman transferred outstanding Agria shares that he held to Agria. As part of the deal, Primalights also transferred land use rights to nine parcels in Shanxi Province to Agria. However, Primalights rights to use the parcels suffered from significant legal defects, which in turn severely impaired Agrias ability to do anything with the land.

In particular, Primalights had originally leased the Shanxi parcels from local village collectives, but it had failed to obtain the consent of the original owners when it transferred its use rights to Agria. In addition, several of the leases were not registered with the local government, while others exceeded the duration for leases contained in Chinese law. Indeed, because of the numerous defects with the transaction, Agrias outside counsel concluded that the transfers of the use rights from Primalights to Agria were neither legal nor effective. Ultimately, because of these problems, Agrias ability to use, and generate income from, the Shanxi parcels was severely limited.

Without getting too far into the accounting weeds, Agria ignored Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) when calculating the value of the Primalights divestiture. First, GAAP would have required Agria to consider its limited ability to use and derive profits from the Shanxi parcels when recording their value on its financial statements.

However, Agria failed to do so, and ascribed the parcels an inflated value on its financial statements. In addition, when recording the value of the shares it obtained from Primalights chairman, under GAAP Agria should have considered the market value of its American Depositary Shares. Instead, Agria ascribed a higher value to the shares. By ignoring GAAP, Agria concealed losses in the Primalights divestiture of more than $17 million, which improved the companys balance sheet and helped to inflate its share price on the NYSE. Thus, the SEC charged Agria with securities fraud.

It also charged Agria for failing to adhere to the FCPAs accounting provisions. In particular, the SEC claimed that the entries in Agrias books related to the Primalights transaction were false and misleading, resulting in a violation of the FCPAs books and records provision. And, all of this showed that Agria failed to devise and maintain a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP.

As we noted in an earlier post, roughly 2,000 foreign companies have American Depositary Shares traded on U.S. exchanges, including almost 300 Chinese companies. Agrias woes, as well as those of its former chairman, underscore to foreign issuers that access to U.S. capital markets comes at a price.

Creative accounting on foreign transactions can land a foreign issuer in hot water in the United States.

____

Bill Steinman, pictured above left, is a Contributing Editor of the FCPA Blog. Hes the senior partner at Steinman & Rodgers LLP, a boutique law firm in Washington DC focused exclusively on international anti-corruption law.

Nan Wang, above right, is an associate at Steinman & Rodgers. She earned her LL.B. from China University of Political Science and Law, and her J.D. at George Washington University Law School. Shes fluent in both Mandarin and English. Among other things, she specializes in assisting Chinese issuers develop and implement anti-corruption compliance programs.Dozens of kids in Huntsville got an early taste of Christmas Tuesday morning.

HEMSI employees partnered with the YMCA to deliver more than 100 gifts to dozens of kids at the YMCA Downtown Early Childhood Education Center.

The paramedic company has delivered toys for children for more than a decade. Community Relations Officer Don Webster said for some of these children, this may be the only present they receive this holiday season.

"We want to do everything we can to make sure they have a great Christmas and it touches our hearts to give to children and small kids like this," Webster said.

He added that opportunities like this are also good because they help remind kids that paramedics are good people in their community who don't only show up when something goes wrong.We now know the identities of the 2 people who were killed in a train collision this weekend. The Jefferson County coroner identified the victims as 45-year-old Lloyd Orr Junior and 35-year-old Kristi Cook. The two were in a vehicle and were trying to go around the barriers in place before they were hit by an Amtrak train and ejected from the car. No passangers on the train were injured.

Alabama ranks as number 9 in the nation for train collisions and number 8 when it comes to fatalities. Waay 31 reached out to local law enforcement about why these numbers are so high, and what's being done to bring them down.

A train safety advocacy group in Birmingham, Operation Lifesaver, said a lot of times people cross those tracks because they're in a hurry but they said people don't understand how long it takes to get around those gates and just how quickly the train will get to them.

"People are impatient and will go around them. Those usually result in a wreck when the train is coming that they haven't heard," said Officer David Broom.

Huntsville Traffic Investigator David Broom agreed with the advocacy group. He said often times people think they can beat the train but they misjudge just how fast the train is traveling.

"When a train is coming and the arms are coming down and they think they have enough time they probably don't."

Broom said drivers are legally required to stop any time those arms come down and if the stop doesn't have arms they are required to stop 15 feet from the tracks. Broom said he's worked many train related crashes and the outcome is never pretty.

"We usually don't know what kind of car it is until we look a little deeper because once a train hits a car it's mangled. And it's a terrible sight to see."

Officer Broom said it's possible for the gates to malfunction. That means the gates will come down but there is no train coming. He said if you find yourself in that situation you can call the number that is posted at each railroad crossing. That number will call the train station and alert them of the situation or you can call police. He also told us it is illegal to stop on railroad tracks and if you are caught doing so you will get a ticket.By early 2019, law enforcement and other first responders will have new guidelines on how to deal with drones being used by criminals.

The rules, which will be dubbed the INTERPOL Drone Response and Forensic Guidelines, are being compiled following a two-week long workshop in November.

The INTERPOL Drone Response and Forensic Guidelines will be available in the following formats: First responder guidelines (basic and advanced)

Summary of guidelines for responders to carry in the field

Incident Record Forms for non-technical first responders

Digital forensic examiners flowcharts and notes templates

Core c ompetencies for first responders and technical first responders

The INTERPOL Drone Response and Forensic Guidelines, due to be issued in early 2019, will offer police and other first responders procedures for handling cases where drones are part of the criminal investigation, from tracing the use of the devices to ext The INTERPOL Drone Response and Forensic Guidelines, due to be issued in early 2019, will offer police and other first responders procedures for handling cases where drones are part of the criminal investigation, from tracing the use of the devices to ext

Drone experts from six countries (Bulgaria, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States) did a series of tests on more than 10 different drones known to be used by criminals to better understand their characteristics and limitations.

INTERPOL said they walked through the process by which first responders would react when encountering a drone. They also disassembled and diagnosed the drones hardware and software, which can oftentimes hold critical data for law enforcement investigations."

Back in August, former director of counterterrorism at the CIA, Bernard Hudson, penned an op-ed in the Washington Post, in which he points to the growing need to be able to counter drone-based attacks.

In it he cites the failed assassination attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as well as claims that an armed drone was used to attack the international airport in Abu Dhabi.

No one was killed in either case, and the circumstances of both remain murky. But a new and dangerous era in non-state-sponsored terrorism clearly has begun, and no one is adequately prepared to counter it, Hudson wrote.

INTERPOL held a Drone Expert Forum in late August as part of their Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI) in Singapore. The event, which was supported by the FBI and the Netherlands Police was deemed a first step towards developing the global capacity to deal with the emerging threat posed by unmanned aerial systems known as drones.

A specific date for the publishing and distribution of the INTERPOL Drone Response and Forensic Guidelines was not stated.The Lawrence County, Tennessee Sheriff's Department is seeking a suspect, George Bennett, in connection to the weekend burglary of a north Lawrence County property.

Deputies responded to a residence at Henryville Road at 6:20 a.m. on Saturday and found that someone had entered the garage and home taking with them multiple items including three Kawasaki off-road vehicles, a Honda all-terrain vehicle, a John Deer Tractor, a Remington shotgun, a weed-eater, a utility trailer and tools. The total estimated cost of these items is $71,750.

While searching the area of Barnesville Road after receiving a tip, deputies were able to locate a firearm, tools and a coat that are believed to have been taken from the burglarized property at Henryville Road.

Later that evening, authorities searched a residence at Mount Joy Road where they found a John Deer Tractor, two off-road vehicles, a Honda side-by-side that had been reported stolen in Maury County, Tennessee and several tools.

The suspect, George Bennett, was already sought by the Lawrence County, Tennessee Sheriff's Department for an "unrelated matter" and was found at the property, but fled on foot when authorities approached. Deputies chased him into the woods but were not able to locate him.

During an investigation, it was found that tire tracks at the Mount Joy residence matched those found near Barnesville Road and at the Henryville Road home. According to the sheriff's office, barbed wire was found wrapped around the axle of the tractor that was recovered from Mount Joy Road, indicating that it had been driven through multiple properties.

The sheriff's office asks that anyone with information about Bennett's location call 931-762-3626 or 911. Authorities warn the public to not approach the suspect.Italian government allocates 240 million to fix Rome's potholed streets.

The army will be drafted in to repair Rome's potholed roads as part of a 240 million funding package allocated by the Italian government.Rome's mayor Virginia Raggi has hailed the agreement as "a great deal for Rome and the Romans."The plan will involve soldiers fixing up to 200 kms of Roman roads, according to media reports.See related articleErasca, a San Diego, CA-based company dedicated to advancing scientific approaches to erase cancer, completed a $42m Series A financing.

The round was co-led by City Hill Ventures and Cormorant Asset Management, with participation from institutional and individual investors.

The company intends to use the funds to develop a new generation of oncology drugs intended to treat and cure cancer.

Founded in 2018 by Jonathan E. Lim, M.D., executive chairman and co-founder, and also led by Gary Yeung, CFA, Chief Business Officer, and Robert Shoemaker, Ph.D., Vice President of Biology, Erasca has multiple discovery programs underway for undisclosed targets that are biological drivers of cancer.

The company anticipates it will disclose more about these programs as it moves into human clinical studies. It is also pursuing additional opportunities for pipeline expansion through academic and biopharmaceutical collaborations.

FinSMEs

18/12/2018On Tuesday, as it became clear Democrats would not approve even half that amount, Sanders said the White House would be satisfied with $1.6 billion in new appropriations from Congress and then find other ways to cover the remaining $3.4 billion. But a few hours later, Democrats said they had never agreed to spending even $1.6 billion for the construction of a new wall. Democrats have long said that money is for replacing existing walls and barriers, though the White House has said the money would be for new barriers.The president has said hes willing to do what he has to do to get that border security, including a government shutdown, Conway said. Now well see what the Senate and the House, what they come together and present to the president. We dont know whats going to make it to his desk.Tumblr pointed to a November blog post, which said the company took down Russian-related disinformation ahead of this years election. PayPal said it works to combat and prevent the illicit use of our services. Twitter said it has made significant strides since 2016 to counter manipulation of our service. Reddit said it is always evaluating and evolving our approaches to detecting malicious activity and have grown our team significantly since 2016. Medium did not immediately respond to requests for comment.



According to the article, Vietnam attracted USD17 billion in FDI commitments last year, arguably the largest for an emerging market relative to its 250-USD-billion GDP, the magazine said.

In the first quarter of 2018, it became the fourth largest Initial Public Offering market in the region, surpassing the Republic of Korea (RoK), Singapore and Australia. The realty market in Ho Chi Minh city is booming and GDP is growing at about 7 percent per annum.

It said the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) are expected to be ratified in the coming months, helping Vietnam further integrate in the global economy. Meanwhile, in 2020, the capital Hanoi will host the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Explaining the reason behind such progresses, the article pointed to the fact that the countrys leadership has agreed on an economic development vision that focuses on offering highly productive, cost effective labor for labor-intensive export manufacturing. This has driven record FDI inflows, largely from more mature Asian economies such as Japan, the RoK, and Taiwan (China), of which over 90 percent are going into manufacturing. It said Vietnam has become integral to the global supply of many goods, from smartphones and electronics to catfish and cashews. The country is also poised to be a major beneficiary of the ongoing US-China trade tension, as foreign companies seek to restructure their supply chains.

The article noted the governments plan to equitise hundreds of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has been critical to Vietnams growth story. It said the equitisation is attracting a flood of portfolio investment across several sectors, most notably consumer and healthcare. According to the writer, such investment interest is likely to accelerate, following recent legislation drafted by the local Ministry of Finance, which stipulates that foreign ownership caps on listed companies - currently at 49 percent - will be lifted in 2019.

In addition, it mentioned the countrys young, educated entrepreneurial population of 95 million, which is rapidly urbanising and experiencing real spending power for the first time.

The article said it is easy to understand why international brands like Apple, Starbucks and McDonalds are betting big on Vietnam, adding that the countrys tech scene is also thriving./.ZRG Partners, a Rochelle Park, NJ-based global executive search firm, completed a recapitalization with RFE Investment Partners, a lower middle market private equity firm.

The amount of the deal, which saw ZRGs current capital partner, Northcreek Mezzanine, exiting the investment after four years, was not disclosed.

Led by CEO Larry Hartmann, ZRG is a progressive mid-sized global executive search firm that uses a proven, data-driven approach to allow to recruit top talent around the world.

THE PRESS RELEASE

ZRG Partners Secures New Capital to Accelerate Growth and Expansion

December 17, 2018 04:00 PM Eastern Standard Time

ROCHELLE PARK, N.J.(BUSINESS WIRE)ZRG Partners, one of the fastest growing global executive search firms, announced today that it has completed a recapitalization with RFE Investment Partners, a lower middle market private equity firm with a 38 year history of investing in growth companies. ZRGs current capital partner, Northcreek Mezzanine, is successfully exiting the investment after four years. During this period, ZRG has experienced a compound annual growth rate exceeding 38%.

ZRG CEO Larry Hartmann related, We are excited about the next chapters of growth for ZRG as we continue our ascent to becoming an even more significant player in the global executive search market and broadening our offering to other areas of human capital services. Our data driven approach and our commitment to delivering seamless services around the globe with our highly collaborative team have been pillars in our growth strategy. We are looking forward to continuing our expansion with an investor that has significant capital to support our proven core growth strategy in tandem with looking at strategic acquisitions to broaden our talent offerings.

Michael Rubel, Managing Director at RFE Investment Partners said, We believe the human capital services market is ripe for disruption and fresh thinking. We are convinced that ZRG Partners is approaching the market with the right blend of experience, leadership and technology which clearly is resonating with clients who want to acquire top talent globally. We also believe that our firm is uniquely positioned to assist Larry and the ZRG team in expanding ZRGs service offerings and helping fulfill their vision as a significant provider of human capital services through continued hiring, key acquisitions and add-on investments.

New York City based investment bank JEGI represented ZRG Partners in this transaction. Berkowitz, Trager & Trager, LLC provided legal counsel to ZRG. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About ZRG Partners

ZRG Partners is a progressive mid-sized global executive search firm that uses a proven, data-driven approach. For 19 years, clients have trusted ZRG Partners to recruit top talent around the world. ZRG Partners is recognized as one of the fastest growing executive search firms in the world driven by the firms client focused, results driven approach grounded in technology and innovation. Information on ZRG can be found at www.zrgpartners.com.

About RFE Investment Partners

With more than 35 years of experience successfully investing in growth companies and partnering with strong management teams in the lower middle market, RFE Investment Partners makes investments in businesses with initial enterprise values of $20 million to $100 million. Information on RFE can be found at www.rfeip.com.

About The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI)

JEGI, New York, NY is the leading provider of independent investment banking services for media, information, marketing services and related technologies. Since 1987, JEGI has completed nearly 650 highprofile M&A transactions for global and emerging companies; entrepreneurial owners; and private equity and venture capital funds. For more information, visit www.jegi.com.Israel and Lebanon are technically at war, and Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war that ended in stalemate in 2006. The cease-fire called on Israel to withdraw from the south and Hezbollah to keep away from the border. It also stipulated that only UNIFIL and the Lebanese armed forces would be deployed south of the Litani River.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Yet Kings, on the sly, is awfully funny. Burgesss style is fast and dry, and director Marti Lyons wisely avoids the trap of asking for laughs. This a vipers den, and the cool actors coil and strike as they say things like What can I do to get you in a room with . . .  and, when the talk gets down to actual legislation and public benefits, Oh-my-God-I-dont-care. The pace is snappy and the intellect is sophisticated  were talking carried interest loopholes here  so if theres little time to laugh as you process the information, thats okay.Dessert is a big bowl of rice and almond pudding, enhanced with a generous amount of sherry and a lot of whipped cream folded in. Hidden somewhere in it is a whole blanched almond, and whoever finds that nut in their bowl is supposed to have a fine and fortunate year ahead. Everyone is entreated to announce as soon as the almond is discovered, and the young boys at the table have been known to help themselves to a second or third bowl to increase their chances. A bowl of lingonberry sauce is passed to top the pudding. Cherry or raspberry sauce may be used instead of lingonberry on the pudding because the color combination stays red and white, the colors of the Danish flag.For the past few Christmas dinners, lifestyle blogger Julie Blanner has set her white plates directly onto her dining table, which is made of salvaged wood, and added natural elements such as garlands, cinnamon sticks and berry sprigs. I find that for me, tablecloths require extra effort and time  things that I dont have a lot of during the holidays, says Blanner, who has written her blog, JulieBlanner.com, since 2008. Ill use them other times of the year, but now Im busy prepping for the holidays with my children.I said, "Look, you're going to be very nervous. But just keep pushing." In Vermont, we have mayoral elections in March. So that means you got to campaign in January and February. Pretty cold. I would literally knock on doors and be sweating. Because it's scary. You know, Who is this guy knocking on the door? But it becomes easier. And it often turns out to be a good experience. You get blown away by the intelligence of people. Where you would least expect it. Like, many years ago, I was at a county fair. People come in from the sticks  very, very rural. And this guy, who hadn't shaved in a week, came up to me  very rednecky-type guy. He says, "You one of those guys that supports gay marriage?" I thought, Oh, God, here we go. I said, "Yeah, I do." And he said, "Good! My sister's gay."One female, the zoo said, was the largest member of the colony. But that is not saying much. Mole-rats are usually about three inches long, and weigh no more than two ounces, although a queen can weigh a little more.On Sunday, Baltimore County police said they arrested and charged Man Bahadur Gurung, 36, of Towson with four counts related to the crash, including failing to remain at the scene. He is being held at a Baltimore County jail and was denied bail, according to police.Lawyer Steven VanGrack became mayor of Rockville in 1985 with what he once described to The Post as Mr. Hallers take-charge manner. In a difficult three-way race, VanGrack proposed jogging along congested Rockville Pike during rush hour to draw attention to what he saw as the citys unlivable traffic. Much of his campaign staff thought it amounted to a silly stunt, VanGrack recalled to the newspaper, but Mr. Haller signed off and VanGrack parlayed the extensive TV coverage of his jog into a win.One reason the federal overhaul could result in a state windfall is the limiting of federal deductions on mortgage interest and property taxes. Congress doubled the standard deduction to make up for those changes, but the state has not. That will probably prompt more federal taxpayers to take the standard deduction instead of itemizing, and under current law, they must do the same with their Virginia tax returns  leading to higher state tax bills.Bodine, 41, was convicted in October of first-degree murder, child abuse and other charges in the torture and killing of Evan Brewer. Prosecutors say Bodine and Evans mother, Miranda Miller, chained the boy in the basement and forced him to stand in a corner for hours in the months before his May 2017 death at their rental home in Wichita.1 suspect in court, 2 more held in France attack: Two people were arrested and one appeared before a judge as part of an investigation of the attack that left five people dead last week in Strasbourg, the Paris prosecutor's office said. An official close to the investigation said the man who was in court is suspected of involvement in supplying the weapon that alleged gunman Cherif Chekatt used in the attack. Chekatt, 29, died in a shootout with police. The two people detained were suspected of "playing a role in supplying the firearm," the official said.Theres more to do to bring down high drug prices. Medicare should aggressively negotiate with drug companies. We should crack down on rampant abuse of the patent and regulatory system. We should import drugs from countries that sell the same medicines, with the same safety standards, but that charge their citizens a fraction of our costs. And Ive already introduced legislation to make sure that no family will ever pay out of pocket more than a modest amount per month to fill its prescriptions. But in the battle for sustainable, affordable medicines, public manufacturing of generic drugs can be a critical tool.In public remarks, Republicans have tried to reassure the public by saying that Nothing changes tomorrow. This case may or may not make its way up to the Supreme Court, they note; the high court may or may not reverse the ruling; and Congress may or may not pass new legislation ultimately preserving the many popular provisions of Obamacare, which, by the way, turn out to be almost every major provision of Obamacare.Mr. Chief Justice, tell that to the family of little Abdullah Hassan. Two-year-old Abdullah lies dying in an Oakland, Calif., hospital from a rare brain disease. He and his father are both U.S. citizens. But under the travel ban, his Yemeni mother has been blocked from coming to see her son, her requests for a waiver so far ignored  and it appears the child, now on life support, may die before she has a chance to say goodbye.Its not just people who have failed Trump, but even his lies. He had always used lies for their wonderful utility. Sometimes the truth worked and sometimes lies worked, and you just chose the one that worked best. He should have said nothing back in April when he was asked on Air Force One if he knew anything about the $130,000 payment to Daniels. No, no, he said. Youll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney. The camera was on him, close. Did you see the tell of a liar? No. Did he blink, look away, drop his voice? No. No. No. The man is not merely an accomplished liar, it doesnt even look as if he knows when he is lying.A Green New Deal might even make a climate ally out of Joe Manchin III, the West Virginia Democrat slated to become the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. It would enable Democrats to help the coal miners whom candidate Donald Trump promised to protect but betrayed as president. Like oil and gas workers and others whose jobs make climate change worse, coal miners under a Green New Deal would receive paid retraining and placement in climate-friendly, well-paying alternative jobs, such as constructing zero-energy buildings or retrofitting water systems for climate resiliency. All members of Congress should take note: Retrofitting our buildings to make them super energy efficient is a labor-intensive task that needs doing in every district in the United States, and it cannot be outsourced. These jobs will stimulate additional local economic activity by keeping workers employed and spending paychecks.Still, legal experts cautioned against dismissing U.S. District Judge Reed OConnors decision as an implausible flight of judicial activism that is sure to be quickly struck down, as analysts have done with past ACA challenges. The cases are usually taken far more seriously by the judges who review them than the lawyers who analyze them, and they have resulted in close votes at the Supreme Court.Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) will get a vote on an amendment that would bar people convicted of various offenses, including certain sex crimes, from being able to qualify for reduced sentences. The legislation has a number of exclusions, but Cotton and Kennedy want to add more crimes, such as coercing a minor for sexual activity, to the list. GOP Sens. Patrick J. Toomey (Pa.), Jon Kyl (Ariz.) and John Barrasso (Wyo.) have endorsed Cotton and Kennedys effort, suggesting that they, too, are uncomfortable with the underlying bill.In the last year, the Trump administration has taken actions to distance itself from the Palestinians. It cut off $200 million in U.S. aid for Palestinians in several Middle East countries, ended more than $300 million that paid a third of the budget for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency and redirected $25 million for Palestinians hospitalized in East Jerusalem. It also ordered the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington to close and shuttered a U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem that served Palestinians.Ive talked to a few House members who are really upset about the fact that they dont think there is any introspection, and the senators view is just hold on with white knuckles, said a second Republican strategist who is preparing a 2020 messaging plan by polling Midwestern counties won by both Trump and Obama. But the reality is that there is no finer political operative than Bill Stepien. He is studying this up and down, slicing the data and also the big picture.At the White House, Trump has remained disinclined to support even stopgap measures that would keep federal government operations running for a week or two, told by his closest advisers that he would have even less leverage when Democrats take control of the House next month. Trump is also bolstered by support of rank-and-file Border Patrol agents, whose union leader told the president in a recent Oval Office conversation that they would back a wall-induced shutdown if the dispute came to that point.In 2016, state investigators allege, Trump effectively ceded control of his charity to his political campaign. He raised more than $2 million at a fundraiser in Iowa that flowed into the foundation. Then, the state said, Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski determined when and where it would be given away.Moving forward, McSally faces a challenging balancing act in a demographically changing state where the opposing forces of Trump and the McCain family both wield influence. She experienced the consequences of snubbing McCain; but there is also risk in straying too far from Trump, who has helped defeat Republicans who defy him and probably will be on the ballot in 2020.There wasnt a lot at all on policy, but Paul did the best he could under the circumstances he faced, said veteran anti-poverty organizer Robert Woodson, who has worked closely with Ryan and traveled with him to many urban churches. You cant blame him for Washington. He did what he could to elevate the profile of this issue. I just dont think this is a priority for Washington like it should be.Initially, the talks between the Taliban emissaries and a team led by U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, as well as officials from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, were expected to last one day, but Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid confirmed that the meetings would continue through Tuesday.CBP officials and the Department of Homeland Security said last week that Nery Caal told U.S. agents his daughter had not consumed food or water for several days before entering the United States, then received both once in U.S. custody. On Saturday, though, he disputed the CBP account in a statement read by representatives, insisting his daughter had been in normal health before crossing the border.Justice Department officials said Tuesday that any weapons modified with a bump stock  a type of device that attaches to the butt of a rifle and uses the energy of the guns recoil to automatically fire another round  will be classified as machine guns, meaning that only law enforcement agencies can use them.The documents showed Flynn claimed he was unaware of Obama-era sanctions announced as punishment for Russias interference in the 2016 election because he had been on vacation in the Dominican Republic and did not have access to television news. In fact, Flynn had called a senior transition official at Trumps Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, to discuss what he should say to Russias ambassador about the sanctions, and he followed up later to report the upshot of the conversation with the ambassador, according to his plea agreement.Turkeys demands have posed a conundrum for the administration, which has said that it is close to defeating the militants but that its campaign against them would suffer without the Kurdish forces who have done most of the fighting on the ground. At the same time, U.S. officials have said they value Turkey as a NATO ally and are trying to address its complaints.Psychologically speaking, its had a huge impact, said Raed al-Saleh, the groups leader. Our teams keep asking why were not protected, why what we are doing bothers people. But we also know that the very thing that is causing us to be targeted  the fact that we save lives  is also the most important thing we can be doing.The Trump administration has been conducting a review of U.S. aid to Central America, aiming to eliminate or sharply cut many of the programs launched by the Obama administration. Those programs involved an overall commitment of approximately $2.6 billion in foreign assistance to Central American countries in during fiscal years 2015 to 2018. Those nations also promised to spend billions of dollars of their own money to tackle violence, joblessness, poor governance and other factors driving people to flee.Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) infected populations are at particular risk for HPV-related cancers. Indeed, the immunodeficiency resulting from HIV-1 infection automatically sensitizes this population to persistent infection by HPV and may facilitate tumor escape from immune surveillance. The development and spread of Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) reduces the risk for HPV-associated malignancies, but the incidence is still greater in HIV-1 infected populations. In Africa, where most of HIV-1 infected children reside, a whole generation of infected children is reaching sexual maturity thanks to HAART, and thus will be highly exposed to HPV-infection and related diseases. These children would likely benefit from the HPV vaccine if the vaccine strategy was efficient despite HIV-1 infection. The work of Nelly Mugo (University of Washington), Dr. Anna Wald (Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division) and Dr. Denise Galloway (Human Biology Division), in collaboration with Dr. Dalton Wamalwa (University of Nairobi, Kenya), shows the efficacy of quadrivalent HPV vaccine, in HIV-1 infected girls and boys in Africa. The results of the clinical trial were published in the journal Vaccine in October.

Pre-adolescent (age 9-14) girls and boys, infected with HIV-1, were enrolled in the study. Patients received a first dose of quadrivalent HPV vaccine (qHPV, against types 6, 11, 16, 18) at enrollment, a second dose at month 2, a third and last dose at month 6. The assessment of qHPV vaccine efficacy was performed at month 7 and 12. Overall, 99 girls and 79 boys completed the twelve months of follow up.

In their study, Nelly Mugo and colleagues reported no serious adverse events related to vaccination, which confirmed the absence of toxicity of the vaccination strategy in HIV-1 infected patients after 12 months. Most importantly, at 7 months, the seroconversion rate (in this case the proportion of vaccinated patients who developed antibodies against a specific type of the virus) was superior to 93% for all four HPV types targeted by the vaccine, similarly to what was observed for HIV-1 infected US girls, or for HIV-1 negative adolescents from Kenya and Ghana. At month 12, the seropositivity rates were still superior to 90% for type 6, 11 ,16, and 72.5% for type 18, meaning that the qHPV vaccine is highly immunogenic. This is the first report demonstrating that qHPV vaccine is as efficient in HIV-1 infected adolescents in Africa compared to infected adolescents from developed countries (with higher standards of care) or HIV-1 uninfected adolescents (not immunosuppressed).

The authors also sought to assess the effect of HIV-1 infection stage on vaccine efficacy. Seven months after the first dose of vaccine was administered, HPV antibody titer was correlated to CD4 cell count (the fewer CD4 T cells the fewer HPV antibodies in circulation) and inversely correlated to plasma HIV-1 RNA. Even though HIV-1 related immunosuppression reduces the titer of HPV antibody, the seroconversion rate is so high that the authors do not expect that to be a limitation to the vaccine efficacy.

The authors point out that the World Health Organization and American Cancer Society recently approved a new schedule for HPV vaccine reducing the vaccination protocol from three to two doses, which may not be as efficient as the three-dose protocol in HIV-infected adolescents. Further studies are needed to confidently adopt the new recommended schedule in this particularly fragile population.

This work was supported by the Merck Investigators Study Program.

Fred Hutch/UW Cancer Consortium faculty members Drs Denise Galloway, Anna Wald, Jared Baeten, Connie Celum, Kenneth Ngure, Amalia Margaret, Linda Eckert and Nelly Mugo contributed to this research.

Mugo NR, Eckert L, Magaret AS, Cheng A, Mwaniki L, Ngure K, Celum C, Baeten JM, Galloway DA, Wamalwa D,Wald A. 2018. Quadrivalent HPV vaccine in HIV-1-infected early adolescent girls and boys in Kenya: Month 7 and 12 post vaccine immunogenicity and correlation with immune status. Vaccine. 36 (2018) 70257032. DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.09.059.A man from Wollongong's south will spend at least nine months in jail for impersonating a police officer and extorting money from a man who he lured into a compromising position using a fake profile on the gay meet-up app, Grindr.

Jayson Hastie, 25, attracted the attention of an older man using an account under the name of 'Alex'.

He spent two weeks wooing his victim, exchanging several sexually explicit messages and phone calls.

Hastie, from Albion Park, was a no-show at a planned meet-up on March 21, but made it to the rescheduled rendezvous at Bass Point two days later.

The victim was greeted by one of Hasties friends, before Hastie arrived a short time later, climbed into the backseat of the victims vehicle and introduced himself as 'Alex'.When Jerome Catallo received his VCE results on Friday morning, he wept for 10 minutes at his desk.

These were not tears of sadness, but joy.

The 18-year-old, who attends a state school in Broadmeadows that services some of Melbournes most disadvantaged households, had achieved an ATAR of 99.15.

Jerome Catallo is celebrating an ATAR of 99.15, a record result for his Broadmeadows school. Credit:Justin McManus

The teenager had made history by achieving Hume Central Secondary Colleges highest ever ATAR, placing him in the top 0.8 per cent of the state.The Labor Partys Sydney headquarters has been raided by the Independent Commission Against Corruption over a fundraising dinner for Chinese supporters.

More than 600 people attended the dinner at The Eight restaurant in Sydneys Chinatown on March 13, 2015, two weeks before the NSW election.

The NSW Labor Party headquarters in Sussex Street, Sydney. Credit:James Brickwood

Among those at the dinner were then state opposition leader Luke Foley, federal Labor leader Bill Shorten, federal MP Chris Bowen and state MPs Nick Lalich and Ron Hoenig.

Senior Labor sources have confirmed that Tuesdays raid was in relation to the Chinese Friends of Labor fundraising dinner. The funds from the dinner went into the partys campaign account for the state election, which the Liberals won.Hu, who appears at industry events but rarely gives interviews, talked for two hours and 20 minutes with American, European and Asian reporters. Loading "If you have proof or evidence, it should be made known," said Hu. "Maybe not to Huawei and maybe not to the public, but to telecom operators, because they are the ones that buy Huawei." Huawei, founded in 1987 by a former military engineer, rejects accusations that it is controlled by the ruling Communist Party or designs equipment to facilitate eavesdropping. But foreign officials cite a Chinese law that requires companies to cooperate with intelligence agencies and express concern telecom equipment suppliers might be required to modify products.

The emergence of 5G has heightened those fears. The technology is meant to support a vast expansion of telecoms networks to connect self-driving cars, factory robots, medical devices and power plants. Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou talks with a member of her private security detail after they went into a wrong building while arriving at a parole office in Vancouver, British Columbia. Credit:AP That has prompted governments increasingly to view telecoms networks as strategic national assets. "There has never been any evidence that our equipment poses a security threat," said Hu. He added later, "We have never accepted requests from any government to damage the networks or business of any of our customers." Hu's comments echoed previous denials by company spokespeople. But they marked the first time such a senior figure has directly addressed foreign security complaints, underscoring the company's sensitivity to them.

Hu noted a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said December 10 that no law requires companies to modify equipment to permit secret access. "We haven't received any request to provide improper information," he said. "In the future, we will also act in strict accordance with the law in dealing with similar situations." The lack of public evidence to support accusations against Huawei has prompted industry analysts to suggest they are an excuse to shield US or European competitors against the rise of a Chinese challenger. Asked about that, Hu said reducing competition would hamper innovation and raise costs for consumers. Hu cited what he said was a forecast by a research firm, Frontier Economics, that the cost of installing 5G wireless base stations in Australia would be 15 to 40 per cent higher without competition from Huawei. He said the total cost could be several billion dollars higher.

"You can't make yourself more excellent by blocking competitors from the playing field," he said. Despite "efforts to use politics to interfere with industry growth," Huawei has signed contracts with 25 telecom carriers for commercial or test use of 5G, according to Hu. He said the company has shipped more than 10,000 5G base stations. "We are proud to say that our customers continue to trust us," he said. Huawei suffered another setback when its chief financial officer was arrested December 1 in Canada in connection with US accusations that the company violated restrictions on sales of American technology to Iran. Hu said he couldn't discuss the Iran accusations because the executive, Meng Wanzhou, is in the midst of court proceedings in Vancouver. Meng, the daughter of Huawei's founder, Ren Zhengfei, faces possible US charges of lying to a bank to conceal Huawei's dealings with Iran.

However, Hu said Huawei is "very confident in our trade compliance management." Echoing earlier company statements, he expressed "confidence in the fairness and independence" of courts involved in Meng's case. Asked whether Meng's arrest made Huawei executives reluctant to leave China, Hu laughed and said, "There is no impact on our travel plans. At this time yesterday, I was on a plane" returning from Europe. Another Chinese company, ZTE Corp., was nearly forced out of business this year after Washington blocked it from buying US components and technology over its exports to Iran and North Korea. President Donald Trump restored access after ZTE paid a $1 billion fine, replaced its executives and hired US-selected compliance managers. Asked whether Huawei would be hurt if it faced similar curbs, Hu said he couldn't talk about something that hadn't happened. But he said the company has a global network of 13,000 suppliers and a "diversified supply strategy" that allowed it cope with Japan's 2011 tsunami and other disruptions. Huawei is China's first global tech competitor, making it politically important to a ruling Communist Party that wants to transform the country from a low-wage factory into a leader in fields from robotics to clean energy to biotech.

The company has a workforce of 180,000 and China's biggest corporate research and development budget. It operates in 170 countries and dominates developing markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Analysts have warned Huawei's political importance to Beijing would make any US attempt to impose ZTE-style controls an explosive issue. Relations already are strained over Trump's tariff hikes on billions of dollars of Chinese imports in a fight over complaints Beijing steals or pressures companies to hand over technology. Hu promised repeatedly to expand efforts to respond to "legitimate concerns" from regulators, telecom carriers or the public. "We will step up our efforts in communicating and collaborating with governments around the world," he said. Huawei has opened centres in Britain, Germany and Canada for governments to test its equipment and software. Its newest "security transparency centre" is due to open in Belgium in the first quarter of 2019.Kamal Malhotra, UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam and National Assembly Standing Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong (R) (Photo: VNA)







He made the statement at a meeting with National Assembly Standing Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong in Da Nang on December 17th, on the sidelines of a two-day conference titled The National Assembly (NA) and sustainable development goals (SDGs), which opened in the city on the same day.

Lauding Malhotras participation in the event, Phong informed her guest that the NAs recent sixth session had discussed investment and growth contents that closely followed the countrys commitments to the UN SDGs.

She stressed that activities held by the NA always receive assistance from UNs associated agencies and organisations in Vietnam.

She said Vietnam is facing challenges in mobilising funds for climate change adaptation and difficulties in carrying out its investment policies on infrastructure, electricity, water, and transport development in areas populated by ethnic minorities, particularly mountainous, border, and island locations.

The NA Vice Chairwoman hoped that the UN and UN Development Program (UNDP) in particular would support Vietnam in assessing the impacts of climate change and putting forth urgent measures to handle the issue along coastal areas from Ho Chi Minh city to Ca Mau.

Phong said she hoped the UNDP will work with Vietnam in organising capacity-building programs to help NA deputies boost their skills and knowledge on international laws.

For his part, Malhotra highlighted that the UN is committed to assisting and sharing experience with Vietnam.

He said he hoped that both sides will soon establish a working group to run field trips in the northwestern region, particularly Son La province, to study local ethnic minority communities.

Underscoring climate change response as a top priority, Malhotra said the UN has built short-term action plans for it and will collaborate with the Vietnamese Government in tackling the challenge. The UNs Green Climate Fund is willing to support related short-term solutions, including the building of houses for Vietnamese people in flood-hit locations./.Naughty Dog is known for shipping games that are both engaging and highly cinematic, and at next year's Game Developers Conference in March you'll get an inside look at how the magic is made.

Specifically, you'll get to see Naughty Dog story animator Marianne Hayden pull back the curtain on the design of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy's charming, cinematic elephant ride in her Game Narrative Summit session on "Design vs. Story: How 'Uncharted: The Lost Legacy' Addressed the Elephant in the Room."

This promises to be a fun, informative talk that will give you an inside look at the story and design process at Naughty Dog. You'll learn -- from both a design and production standpoint -- how an animal originally intended as background became a vital part of the narrative, and a useful vehicle for bonding two characters together.

For more details on this talk (and many more!) check out the online GDC 2019 Session Scheduler. There you can begin to lay out your GDC 2019, which takes place March 18th through the 22nd at the (newly renovated!) Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Bring your team to GDC! Register a group of 10 or more and save 10 percent on conference passes. Learn more here.

For more details on GDC 2019 visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.



Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent company InformaHe's the second LBPD chief to run for sheriff in the last decade.Incident at Bonn police headquarters : Nationwide minute of silence for dead policeman

BONN Police officers throughout Germany will hold a short remembrance on Friday at noon to commemorate the 23-year-old man from Bonn who was killed by a gunshot from a colleagues service weapon.

Teilen

Teilen Weiterleiten

Weiterleiten Tweeten

Tweeten Weiterleiten

Weiterleiten Drucken

A nationwide minute of silence will take place on Friday 21 December to honour the 23-year-old policeman who was shot in the neck by a 22-year-old colleague in the Bonn police headquarters and who died from his serious wounds. At noon, patrol cars that are not involved an operation are to pull over onto the right side of the road with their blue lights flashing. The officers may get out and pause for a minute and salute next to their vehicle.

Citizens are also invited to halt on the right with their hazard warning lights on, to get out and to salute next to their car  provided the traffic conditions allow and there is no danger to anyone. If possible, a high visibility vest should be worn. The minutes silence was initiated by the police memorial page on the Facebook social media network.

The funeral service for the police officer will also be held at noon in the parish church of Saint Mary Magdalene in Endenich, after which the burial will take place.The replacement for NAFTA has addressed the top concern of Canadian exporters but there are plenty of other trade concerns.

The trilateral deal between Canada, the US, and Mexico  CUSMA  has reduced some fears and led to a notable impact on investment intentions according to a new survey of 1,000 exporters by Export Development Canada.

But the Trade Confidence Index has lost the buzz of mid-year when it reached 76.5; it has slipped back to 73.8 at year-end.

"There was a lot of excitement going into the last TCI survey," said Peter Hall, Chief Economist, EDC. "Business was good and the tide of global economic growth was lifting Canadian exporters, despite the uncertainty surrounding NAFTA renegotiations at the time."

The latest TCI reading is in line with historic norms but all five major elements - domestic sales, domestic economic conditions, export sales, world economic conditions, and international business opportunities  saw weaker confidence.

Trade turbulence

EDC's latest survey shows that trade confidence lost this early-year lift. Even with the CUSMA deal in the works, trade turbulence elsewhere seems to have undercut the overall feel-good factor. It's unfortunate because the global economy remains strong, and this is exactly the time when Canadian companies should be out there taking advantage," added Hall.

Outside of transportation which saw a modest increase, the TCI has dropped in all major Canadian sectors.

Businesses in provinces east of Ontario are feeling more confident than those to the West. The TCI is lowest in Western Canada, at 72.9, compared with 74.9 in Quebec and 74.3 in Atlantic Canada. At 73.5, Ontario is close to the national average.

Protectionism affecting global strategy

One-third of respondents said that increased protectionism was affecting their global strategy. Of those respondents, the main concerns cited were higher tariffs, the 'buy American' attitude south of the border, and reduced competitiveness.

Foreign tariffs or trade barriers were cited by respondents as the top challenge facing Canadian exporters (14%). Obtaining financing and finding skilled talent tied for the second biggest challenge (11%).

Meanwhile, the share of companies looking to increase investment more than doubled from 18% at mid-year to 41% at year-end.Once offices for Waldenbooks then General Electric, this vacant office building just north of Bulls Head will soon be partially razed and replaced with a four-story senior living home.

Plans unanimously approved by the Zoning Board this week make way for the demolition of nearly 120,000 square feet of commercial space  roughly the northern half of the building  for 150 units for the elderly.OTTAWA - The restoration of delivery service guarantees by Canada Post  three weeks after striking postal workers were forced back to work  proves the shipment backlogs Ottawa used to justify legislating an end to rotating walkouts were "fiction," says the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canada Post rural suburban mail carrier Anita Baric, right, rallies outside Canada Post headquarters prior to Canada Post hosting its Annual Public Meeting in Ottawa on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA - The restoration of delivery service guarantees by Canada Post  three weeks after striking postal workers were forced back to work  proves the shipment backlogs Ottawa used to justify legislating an end to rotating walkouts were "fiction," says the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

The Crown agency announced Tuesday it had caught up on most parcel delivery backlogs that had been created by the sporadic labour disruptions that began Oct. 22.

As a result, the corporation said its normal holiday service commitments were being restored across most of Canada, except the West Coast.

"With continued progress, we are now in a position to restore our normal holiday delivery service guarantees for much of the country," Canada Post said in a statement.

"This means Canadians can expect normal holiday delivery timelines for parcels. The exception remains items headed to or departing Vancouver as backlogs there continue to cause additional delays."

The announcement came as the mediation process aimed at bridging the impasse between the post office and its unionized employees came to an abrupt end.

The federal government legislated an end to job action by postal workers on Nov. 27 after Canada Post complained that a backlog of parcels had reached historic levels ahead of the crucial holiday shopping period.

At the time, Canada Post warned the backlog could take until the end of January to clear up.

The fact that service delivery guarantees are being restored just three weeks after back-to-work legislation was passed proves the parcel backlogs being claimed by Canada Post were an illusion, said CUPW national president Mike Palecek.

"The reports that we've been getting, and are still getting, is that our plants are not even operating at capacity," Palecek said in an interview.

"We have places where (Canada Post) is offering members leave without pay to go home because they don't have work. So I wouldn't just question the backlog, I would say it was total fiction."

Canada Post said it delivered about four million packages between last Friday and Monday of this week, and will likely be able to deliver items ordered online in time for Christmas.

It credited a lack of incoming packages  rather than a non-existent backlog  for the faster-than-expected pace of deliveries.

"Incoming holiday parcel volumes continue to be down over 2017, and significantly below projections for this year," the agency said.

"As a result, our fully-enacted holiday delivery plans, which were built to deliver the projected double-digit parcel growth from online shopping this holiday season, continue to help our operations catch up."

Still, the corporation warned, whether packages arrive before Christmas will also depend on where the parcels are coming from. Some shipments from outside Canada might only be delivered in early January.

During the walkouts, Canada Post requested that its foreign partners halt deliveries to Canada while job action was underway. That request was lifted after postal workers were legislated back to their jobs.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Under the back-to-work bill, a mediator-arbitrator was appointed to attempt reaching new collective agreements at Canada Post.

But a week of talks aided by former Canada Industrial Relations Board chair Elizabeth MacPherson were halted Tuesday with both sides too far apart to extend the negotiations for another seven days, as was an option under the legislation.

Palecek said there was no movement on the union's key demands, which include health and safety concerns and calls for equality measures, during the talks.

A spokeswoman for Labour Minister Patty Hajdu said the government was "disappointed" the two sides were unable to reach negotiated agreements, but noted the bill sets out a path to bring the dispute to an end.

"The legislation outlines guiding principles for a new collective agreement, which will ensure that a fair and balanced deal is arbitrated for the parties," Veronique Simard said in a statement.

MacPherson is now expected to begin a process in January that will result in arbitrated settlements being imposed on Canada Post and its 42,000 urban carriers and 8,000 rural and suburban employees.TORONTO - Canada has the globe's fifth largest artificial intelligence workforce, but is still far from closing the gender gap in the sector, according to new rankings from the World Economic Forum.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Siemens R& D centre in Princeton, N.J. is shown on Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, in Princeton, N.J. Canada has the globe's fifth largest artificial intelligence workforce, but is still far from closing the gender gap in the sector, according to new rankings from the World Economic Forum. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Charles Sykes/AP Images for Siemens

TORONTO - Canada has the globe's fifth largest artificial intelligence workforce, but is still far from closing the gender gap in the sector, according to new rankings from the World Economic Forum.

The international organization used LinkedIn data to find the size of Canada's AI workforce is lagging behind the U.S., India, Germany and Switzerland, but beating dozens of countries including France, Spain, Singapore and Sweden.

However, the Forum found as part of its annual rankings on gender disparities that women only make up 24 per cent of Canada's AI workforce, and 22 per cent of the world's AI workforce.

The Forum said the lack of women in Canada's and the global AI pool is troubling because it implies that technology is being developed without diverse talent, thus "limiting its innovation and inclusive capacity."

Low integration of women in AI talent pools, it said, is a "significant missed opportunity in a professional domain where there is already insufficient supply of adequately qualified labour." If not addressed soon, the Forum warned the gap could widen further.

Sarah Kaplan, the director of the University of Toronto's Institute for Gender and the Economy, said Canada needs to do more to develop the diversity of the AI workforce because the technology has the potential to replace lots of human processes and decisions.

"If we don't have a diverse workforce working in AI, we risk not only perpetuating existing biases, but actually amplifying them and leading to really negative outcomes for the most vulnerable people in our society," she said.

"We need to make a really huge deal out of the fact that we are not bringing a diverse workforce to work on this technology, which may shape all of our lives."

Diversity, she added, is important because whoever designs AI technologies will decide how the systems act. A wider talent pool can help mitigate situations society has already encountered, such as where some facial recognition systems were developed without the availability to recognize black faces.

"No one ever thought 'does this work on someone other than a Caucasian person?'" Kaplan said. "The fact that we have an AI technology developed by a non-diverse workforce is hugely problematic."

Kaplan said she has grown tired of seeing AI firms treat diversity as a "afterthought" and wishes it was being taken more seriously, so Canada's gender gap would be much better than the global average's.

However, the Forum did find at least one positive when it comes to Canada's AI sector: the country's AI sector employs more women than the four countries  the U.S., India, Germany and Switzerland  that rank above Canada in terms of AI workforce size.

Jodie Wallis, the managing director for consulting firm Accenture's AI department in Canada, said she felt encouraged by the size of the country's AI sector and the handful of women she sees in the country in high-profile AI jobs.

It is women, she pointed out, that are running Facebook's AI research lab in Montreal and Uber's self-driving car efforts in Toronto and contributing to Google's DeepMind unit.

"Women don't have to look up and think 'gee, I don't think I am going to go into this field because we don't have any winners,'" said Wallis. "That is one thing we have going for us."

Despite the country's successes in AI, Wallis said Canada still needs to get better at scaling its technology and focusing on the enrolment of women in technology-related courses.

Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Aside from its announcements about the AI workforce, the Forum also revealed Monday that Canada ranked 16th in its annual gender gap ranking.

It marked the second year Canada placed 16th in the international organization's list, which measures economic, educational, health and political disparities experienced between men and women in more than 100 countries around the world.

Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland took the top spots, but Canada ranked above Latvia, Bulgaria, South Africa, Switzerland and dozens of other countries.

When it comes to wage equality, Canada ranked 50th, behind the U.S., Germany, Thailand, Uganda and Ukraine.

The World Economic Forum said this year the global gender gap closed slightly, after widening for the first time in a decade last year.

The organization calculates that it will take 108 years to close the gender gap across politics, work, health and education, but 202 years to close the workplace gender gap.WINNIPEGGERS can escape the cold this winter for as little as $99 each way, thanks to five new non-stop flights operated by Flair Airlines.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEGGERS can escape the cold this winter for as little as $99 each way, thanks to five new non-stop flights operated by Flair Airlines.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Flair is the first airline this season at the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport to fly non-stop to Miami and St. Pete-Clearwater, which serves the Tampa Bay area. Flair announced Monday non-stop service to sunnier southern cities that now include Orlando, Phoenix-Mesa and Las Vegas, which began in November.

Barry Rempel, president and CEO of Winnipeg Airports Authority, said the new routes show Flairs commitment to the city.

"Our mission is to connect Winnipeg and the surrounding region to the world. As a result of our partnership with Flair, travellers now have more options to more sunny destinations this winter and beyond," Rempel said.

David Tait, executive chairman for Flair Airlines, said the company has been overwhelmed by the support of the Winnipeg community.

The airline operates 10 aircraft and has flown more than 1.3 million passengers throughout Canada since it transitioned to a scheduled service in 2017. To accommodate the airlines rapid growth, Flair recruited almost 100 new staff members in June.

nadya.pankiw@freepress.mb.caOTTAWA - More than one-third of Canadian exporters say they have been negatively impacted by steel and aluminum tariffs that are affecting Canada-U.S. trade, according to a survey by Export Development Canada.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A worker straightens Canadian flags in front of rolls of coated steel before a visit by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, in Hamilton, Ont. on Friday, June 29, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power

OTTAWA - More than one-third of Canadian exporters say they have been negatively impacted by steel and aluminum tariffs that are affecting Canada-U.S. trade, according to a survey by Export Development Canada.

The Ottawa-based Crown corporation said Tuesday that among companies claiming to having been hit by these tariffs, 19 per cent have in turn raised prices and 18 per cent have found alternate markets and suppliers.

And while the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, has eased uncertainty, the results of the federal agency's latest poll show that exporters' confidence has eroded amid broader global trade tensions such as those between the U.S. and China, said Peter Hall, chief economist at EDC.

Exporters' expectations have now "come back down to earth," said Hall.

"Now we're faced with arguably much more serious global protectionist measures... A battle between China and the United States where there are some very tangible tariffs in place that are global trade inhibitors," he said in an interview.

The federal agency's semi-annual survey showed that overall trade confidence slipped to 73.8 per cent, marking a drop from 76.5 per cent on the previous questionnaire six months earlier when exporters' spirits were buoyed by strong economic activity despite North American trade concerns.

In September, Canada, the U.S. and Mexico finally reached a deal to replace the North American Free Trade agreement, ending months of uncertainty. However, punitive U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs slapped on Canada and Mexico during the strained negotiations remain in place.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and China's trade war had been escalating until the two economic superpowers reached a truce earlier this month. But, the arrest of a top Chinese technology executive in Vancouver at the request of U.S. authorities may imperil that reprieve.

The federal agency, which supports export-oriented companies, conducted a telephone survey of 1,000 small-, medium- and large-sized Canadian exporters from Oct. 23 to Nov. 13, and found that the signing of the USMCA had a notable impact on their investment plans.

With a deal reached, roughly 41 per cent of companies surveyed now say they have increased or are considering increasing investment  more than double the number of firms from six months prior when a continental trade agreement was still in limbo.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

As well, the percentage of companies saying they were delaying plans due to trade deal negotiations has shrunk to 35 per cent, down from 57 per cent of those surveyed six months earlier.

However, 34 per cent of the exporters surveyed said they were negatively impacted by the steel and aluminum tariffs, more than EDC expected, said Hall.

EDC said foreign tariffs or trade barriers were cited by respondents as the top challenge facing Canadian exporters, at 14 per cent. That was followed by obtaining financing and finding skilled talent, both at 11 per cent.

Of the five components included as part of EDC's confidence measure, it was exporters' belief in world economic conditions that slipped the most.

One-third of the companies surveyed said increased protectionism was affecting their global strategy.

"It's not just something that's a fear, it's actually impacting their strategy... They're asking themselves, 'What is my next move?' And they're really unclear about that at the moment," Hall said.NEW YORK - President Donald Trump's charitable foundation reached a deal Tuesday to go out of business, even as Trump continues to fight allegations he misused its assets to resolve business disputes and boost his run for the White House.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump listens during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington. Trump's charitable foundation has reached a deal to dissolve amid a legal battle with New York's Attorney General Barbara Underwood. Underwood and the foundation filed a joint stipulation with the court Tuesday, Dec. 18, laying out a process for shutting down the charity and distributing its remaining assets to other nonprofit groups. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

NEW YORK - President Donald Trump's charitable foundation reached a deal Tuesday to go out of business, even as Trump continues to fight allegations he misused its assets to resolve business disputes and boost his run for the White House.

New York's attorney general and lawyers for the Trump Foundation agreed on a court-supervised process for shutting down the charity and distributing about $1.7 million in remaining funds to other non-profit groups.

The agreement resolved one part of the legal drama surrounding Trump, whose campaign, transition, inauguration and real estate empire are all under investigation.

Attorney General Barbara Underwood's lawsuit alleging Trump and his family illegally operated the foundation as an extension of his businesses and his presidential campaign will continue.

The lawsuit, filed last spring, seeks $2.8 million in restitution and a 10-year ban on Trump and his three eldest children  Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka  from running any charities in New York.

FILE - In this May 15, 2018, file photo, Barbara Underwood speaks to legislative leaders in Albany, N.Y., interviewing her for the office of New York Attorney General to replace Attorney General Eric Schneiderman who resigned amid domestic abuse allegations. President Donald Trump's charitable foundation has reached a deal to dissolve amid a legal battle with New York's attorney general Underwood. Underwood and the foundation filed a joint stipulation with the court Tuesday, Dec. 18, laying out a process for shutting down the charity and distributing its remaining assets to other nonprofit groups. (AP Photo/Hans Pennick, File)

In a statement Tuesday, Underwood cited "a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation  including unlawful co-ordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and wilful self-dealing, and much more."

The foundation operated as "little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump's business and political interests," she said.

Lawyers for the foundation have said any infractions were minor.

Trump pledged to dissolve the three-decade-old foundation and donate its funds to charity after his 2016 election, but that was only after it found itself under investigation in New York state. The attorney general's office said it would have been "unacceptable" to let the foundation fold without close supervision from a judge.

Trump Foundation lawyer Alan Futerfas said the non-profit has distributed approximately $19 million over the past decade, including $8.25 million of the president's own money, to hundreds of charitable organizations.

The agreement was reached after a New York judge last month rejected arguments from the foundation's lawyers that the lawsuit was politically motivated and should be thrown out.

Once the judge approves the deal to dissolve the charity, the two sides will have 30 days to provide her with a list of non-profit organizations that should get the remaining funds. Each charity will get the same amount, and the attorney general's office will have the right to reject ones it deems unfit to receive funds.

In her lawsuit, Underwood alleged that Trump used the foundation to help bolster his campaign by giving out big grants of other's people money to veterans organizations during the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, the first presidential nominating contest of 2016.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Trump was also accused of directing that $100,000 in foundation money be used to settle legal claims over an 80-foot flagpole he had built at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, instead of paying the expense out of his own pocket.

In addition, the foundation paid $158,000 to resolve a lawsuit over a prize for a hole-in-one contest at a Trump-owned golf course; $10,000 to buy a 6-foot (1.8-meter) portrait of Trump at a charity auction; and $5,000 for ads promoting Trump's hotels in the programs for charitable events.

Underwood sued the Trump Foundation after taking over for fellow Democrat Eric Schneiderman, who resigned in May amid allegations he abused women. Schneiderman started investigating the foundation in 2016 and ordered it to stop fundraising in New York after The Washington Post reported that some of its spending personally benefited the presidential candidate.

Underwood has referred her office's findings to the IRS and the Federal Election Commission. Those agencies have not commented on the matter.

___

Follow Sisak at twitter.com/mikesisakMEXICO CITY - The United States pledged $5.8 billion in aid and investment Tuesday for strengthening government and economic development in Central America, and another $4.8 billion in development aid for southern Mexico.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MEXICO CITY - The United States pledged $5.8 billion in aid and investment Tuesday for strengthening government and economic development in Central America, and another $4.8 billion in development aid for southern Mexico.

The U.S aid aims to promote better security conditions and job opportunities as part of a regional plan to allow Central Americans and Mexicans to remain in their countries and not have to emigrate.

The plan was announced in a joint U.S.-Mexican statement released by the State Department and read aloud by Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard in the Mexican capital.

"In sum I think this is good news, very good news for Mexico," Ebrard said.

Newly inaugurated President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador waxed poetic about the plan to provide jobs so people won't have to emigrate.

"I have a dream that I want to see become a reality ... that nobody will want to go work in the United States anymore," Lopez Obrador said at a morning news conference before the announcement.

The combination of public and private investment for the stay-at-home effort doesn't require congressional approval, unlike Trump's signature project to stem illegal immigration  a border wall.

The U.S. State Department issued a simultaneous statement saying "The United States is committing $5.8 billion through public and private investment to promote institutional reforms and development in the Northern Triangle," a term that refers to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Lopez Obrador's administration has said it is also interested in agricultural, forestry and tourism projects in southern Mexico, and the U.S. said it will contribute to those efforts.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

The U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation "is prepared to invest and mobilize $2 billion in additional funds for projects in southern Mexico that are viable and attract private sector investment," according to the statement. "This amount is in addition to the $2.8 billion in projects for Mexico through OPIC's current investment pipeline."

Ebrard said "The commitments established here signify more than doubling foreign investment in southern Mexico starting in 2019."

Southern states like Chiapas and Oaxaca are home to many of Mexico's poorest communities. Lopez Obrador, who took office Dec. 1, has sought to make development in that region a priority, including plans for a "Mayan train" stretching from touristy parts of the Yucatan Peninsula down to Chiapas.

It was unclear if Mexico would give anything in return. A planned announcement about Mexico's migration policy was postponed until Wednesday.

The United States has reportedly wanted Mexico to allow migrants seeking asylum in the United States to remain in Mexico while their applications are processed.

Ebrard had previously suggested that about $25 billion in U.S. investment would be an appropriate figure for what Mexicans and Central Americans have dubbed "The Alliance for Prosperity" in the region.Plain cannabis packaging with prominent health warnings effectively makes marijuana less appealing to young consumers, suggests new research from the University of Calgary.

This article was published 17/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Plain cannabis packaging with prominent health warnings effectively makes marijuana less appealing to young consumers, suggests new research from the University of Calgary.

The experimental findings, published last week in the journal BMC Public Health, support the Canadian government's decision to make legal cannabis packaging mostly plain with limited branding, said University of Calgary psychology professor and paper co-author David Hodgins.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES <p /> Government-regulated cannabis packaging in Canada must include a prominent health warning label.

"It really does support the notion that good decisions have been made, and that the use of health warnings, at a population level, has an impact," said Hodgins.

"And that doesn't mean that each individual user is going to react in a specific way, and at the individual level, that people are going to make decisions based on health warnings," Hodgins added.

"But overall, it has an influence, and moves people in a positive direction of not smoking too much."

The experiment was conducted in late 2017, almost a year ahead of recreational marijuana legalization this past October and well before Ottawa released the initial regulations that showed what cannabis packaging would look like  mostly uniform in colour, with a large, bright yellow health message, a government-mandated warning symbol, and limited room for a "brand element" like a logo.

'It really does support the notion that good decisions have been made, and that the use of health warnings, at a population level, has an impact'  University of Calgary professor and study coauthor David Hodgins

Participants were recruited from the University of Calgary student body, and the 656 students whose responses made it into the final analysis were about 20 years old on average.

The subjects were shown one of four mockup images of cannabis packaging. One was a branded package that looks much different than legal cannabis packaging looks today: it included a large, dominant logo, some splashes of colour, and no health warning. Other subjects were shown a plain package with no branding and no health warning, branded packages with five different health warnings, or plain packages with those same health warnings.

JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Cannabis sits in a sample display in Winnipeg. How cannabis is marketed is heavily regulated.

After viewing one of the four package types, the participants rated the degree to which they found the package appealing. Unsurprisingly, the most enticing packages were the branded ones with no warning.

"It's reassuring, in the sense that people don't particularly like the warning messages, and the presumed effect of messages is, in part, that they do have this negative emotional reaction," said Hodgins.

Unexpectedly, plain packages with a health warning label were more appealing than plain packages without one. Hodgins said his team isn't entirely sure how to explain that, although they wrote that it might have been because the health warning "increased attention and interest in the (otherwise plain) packages."

Subjects who were shown cannabis packages with five different health warnings  including messages about risks related to brain development, impaired driving, nonlethal overdose, mental health issues and addiction  were asked to rate whether the warnings were effective, believable, and evoked fear. (Not all those warnings reflect the actual health warnings on real cannabis packaging.)

The warnings about impaired driving and brain development scored highest on all three measurements, in line with what participants already believed about cannabis. The warning about cannabis being addictive, however, "received among the lowest ratings of effectiveness, believability, and evoked fear," the study found.

"Basically, it points out areas that we need to increase public awareness on," said Hodgins.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Product information cards displayed at the Tokyo Smoke in Winnipeg.

The study also found that reading the health warnings on cannabis packages made subjects more likely to believe those warnings, Hodgins added.

"In the cigarette world, that has been associated with people having a larger desire to quit smoking," he said.

"So the apparent impact of the warnings in this small study paralleled what we know happens with cigarette warnings, so that really supports the notion that Health Canada has mandated these warnings."

The experiment supports the notion that plain cannabis packaging "seems to operate just like it does on tobacco packages," said David Hammond, a professor with the University of Waterloo's school of public health and a leading expert in tobacco packaging. (Hammond wasn't involved in the University of Calgary study, although one of his former students was a co-author.)

"The bottom line is, when you remove brand imagery, it reduces the appeal, and some would say, inducement to use the product," said Hammond.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Delta 9 Cannabis store customer Matthew Paul talks to sales person about product in store on opening day Oct. 17.

Government-regulated cannabis packaging in Canada is slightly more permissive than tobacco packaging, Hammond added.

Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"In tobacco you cannot have any colour or brand imagery, other than the one uniform colour... (With) cannabis, they allow them one colour of their choice, and secondly, they allow a certain size of brand imagery."

Hammond thinks future research should address whether that limited branding affects how consumers perceive the actual cannabis packages in stores today.

"If I'm a cannabis company, I'm going to do everything I can with that little, loonie-sized bit of brand imagery," he said.

"Is that an appropriate amount of allowance, given that you're trying to say, 'Well, these things aren't quite as bad as cigarettes'? Or is it a huge loophole that they can drive a truck through?"

solomon.israel@theleafnews.com

@sol_israelAS the legal community celebrates the end of mandatory victim surcharges in Canada, a Manitoba advocate is calling for the justice system to look beyond court fees to find ways to support crime victims.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AS the legal community celebrates the end of mandatory victim surcharges in Canada, a Manitoba advocate is calling for the justice system to look beyond court fees to find ways to support crime victims.

Before the Supreme Court declared mandatory court costs "cruel and unusual punishment" in a sharply worded decision last week, many Manitoba judges had for years been finding ways around them. The 7-2 majority decision struck down victim surcharges as unconstitutional Dec. 14, after impoverished offenders in Quebec and Ontario challenged hundreds of dollars in surcharges they couldnt afford to pay.

"Courts can support victims in a lot more ways besides money," said Karen Wiebe, executive director of the Manitoba Organization for Victim Assistance, a non-profit that supports families of homicide victims. Her son, T.J. Wiebe, was murdered in 2003.

"Im certainly never going to say that we couldnt use money, because thats not true, but theres so much revictimization that happens in our justice system, that revictimizes people through inhumane measures over and over again."

The end of the surcharges means those fees will no longer be funnelled into provincial victim-support funds.

Its unclear how much money Manitoba was collecting from the court surcharges. A Manitoba Justice spokesperson didnt provide more information Monday. The fees were going into the Victims Assistance Trust Fund, which would then be used toward expenses such as victims compensation.

While she said the surcharges shouldnt be eliminated for offenders who can afford to pay, Wiebe suggested justice officials could do more to accommodate victims and their families directly. By making physical space for them in rural Manitoba courts, for example, or devoting a portion of funds to cover families unpaid time off work while theyre attending court.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

The Supreme Courts decision, known as R. v. Boudreault, compared ordering fines to imposing "indefinite" sentences on impoverished offenders, who are then subjected to debt collection processes that can be "more like public shaming," Justice Sheilah Martin wrote. The decision means judges across Canada will no longer be able to order any surcharges.

A federal bill that proposes to bring back discretionary fines is before the Senate.

Its been common for some judges in Manitoba to give convicted criminals no time to pay the mandatory fines, which were ordered under federal legislation five years ago as an attempt to support crime victims.

Judges would immediately find the offender was in default of payment and sentence them, on paper, to one day in jail, which they would typically note as having been served by their appearance in court that day. In other cases, judges would allow several months or years for offenders to either pay the fees or register for community service to work them off.

"It was always something that was difficult to stomach because the sentence didnt always fit the offender and the crime for which they were being sentenced," said defence lawyer Chris Gamby, spokesman for the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association.

katie.may@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @thatkatiemayTHE transit advisory committee is recommending all Winnipeg Transit operators participate in an highly-praised training program designed and delivered by the Main Street Project for new drivers.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE transit advisory committee is recommending all Winnipeg Transit operators participate in an highly-praised training program designed and delivered by the Main Street Project for new drivers.

Coun. Matt Allard, chairman of the advisory committee which makes recommendations to councils public works committee, said the advisory committee was pleased with the work of the training program for new drivers and wants to see it expanded.

"We would like to see the training provided to all drivers," Allard (St. Boniface) said of the consensus recommendation of the committee.

The program helps transit operators to respond and deal with individuals suffering from homelessness and addictions, and various ways to de-escalate potentially conflicting situations and how to avoid reaching those points with some riders.

The program was praised by John DiNino, Canadian president of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), who told the Free Press last week that all front-line workers, not just transit drivers, should take the course.

The four-hour session has been provided to about 100 new drivers since it was offered in August. Officials from ATU Local 1505, which represents all drivers and other transit staff, want the program offered to all drivers.

Randy Tonnellier, transits manager of operations, told the Free Press last week the training was offered to new drivers only as a pilot, which is about to end and whether its extended or expanded to include all drivers depended in part on the recommendation from the advisory committee.

Allard, who is also chairman of the public works committee, said the advisory committee was told that transit management will make recommendations to the public works committee in January.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

He said the advisory committee also endorsed the installation of operator safety shields on transit buses but Allard said a decision on whether the shields should be installed on all buses will be left to transit management and council in its 2019 budget review process.

A proposal to have members of the Bear Clan Patrol ride transit buses was referred back to a subcommittee, Allard said, for more discussion with the organization.

Allard said clarification is needed on what would be expected from Bear Clan Patrol members and issues of liability had to be sorted out.

The transit advisory committee was established in the fall of 2017, as of one the recommendations that emerged following the brutal killing of transit operator Irvine Jubal Fraser by a passenger on Feb. 14, 2017.

The committee includes representation from transit management, Winnipeg Police, and the advocacy group Functional Transit Winnipeg. Also on the committee are representatives from the transit union (ATU) and the union that represents the citys middle-management and supervisory staff.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.caThree-and-a-half months after acknowledging he owed luxury taxes on his Costa Rican vacation home, Brian Pallister now admits that the bill remains unpaid.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Three-and-a-half months after acknowledging he owed luxury taxes on his Costa Rican vacation home, Brian Pallister now admits that the bill remains unpaid.

In a year-end interview, the premier expressed frustration at being unable to make the payment, citing unspecified problems in navigating the Costa Rican bureaucracy.

While he told the Canadian Press in late August that he had paid what he owed  roughly C$8,000, including penalties  it turns out that he had, in fact, transferred the money to his Costa Rican lawyer, Paul Oporta, to carry out the transaction.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS "I've been assured by the lawyer that he is endeavouring his very best to get it done," Pallister said regarding unpaid taxes on his Costa Rica property.

"I've been assured by the lawyer that he is endeavouring his very best to get it done," Pallister said of the tax payment.

Asked what was causing the delay, the premier said: "I've got all I can do to sort out the things that Manitobans want me to focus on. I'm not going to solve the bureaucracy in Costa Rica. I've done everything I can to address the issue."

Pallister said it's not the first time he's been frustrated in his dealings with the Costa Rican administration. He said it once took his family "14 trips to get a licence plate" for one of his vehicles. "I'll just leave it there," he said.

Take a look inside Brian Pallister's home in Costa Rica Facebook / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion Facebook / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion - FACEBOOK / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion Facebook / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion - FACEBOOK / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion Facebook / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion - FACEBOOK / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion Facebook / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion - FACEBOOK / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion Facebook / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion - FACEBOOK / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion Facebook / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion - FACEBOOK / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion Facebook / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion - FACEBOOK / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion Facebook / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion - FACEBOOK / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion Facebook / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion - FACEBOOK / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion Facebook / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion - FACEBOOK / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion Facebook / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion - FACEBOOK / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion Facebook / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion - FACEBOOK / Tierra del Sol Arquitectura y Construccion

The Free Press first raised questions in early April about whether the premier and his wife, through their holding company, owed the national "Impuesto Solidario" (solidarity tax), commonly referred to as the luxury home tax.

The tax must be paid on properties that exceed a set value, which is adjusted annually. For 2018, the value is 129 million colones (C$284,730). The tax was instituted in 2009. Its stated purpose is to tax the wealthy to improve housing for the poor.

At first, Pallister denied owing any taxes in Costa Rica, although he promised to look into the matter. Ten days after the initial story ran, the premier served the Free Press with a legal notice of a possible defamation suit. His lawyer, Robert Tapper, made a number of demands on the newspaper, including a front-page apology, in order to avoid legal action. The Free Press refused.

On the Friday before the Labour Day long weekend, he told a Canadian Press reporter that he had had his property appraised and had found that he indeed owed the luxury tax.

In October, the Free Press, with the help of a translator, called a Treasury Department official in Costa Rica, who said the country had no record that the holding company through which the premier and his wife Esther own the vacation home, Finca Deneter Doce SA, had paid the tax.

When the newspaper confronted the premier with that information, he showed evidence that he had transferred US$7,052 US (more than C$9,000) to his lawyer. He said the amount included the tax owed, penalties for non-payment and the cost of the property appraisal.

NDP MLA Andrew Swan said Pallister "needs to get his act together" and stop blaming others for his failure to pay the tax.

In his own words: What Pallister said April 3, 2018  The Free Press reports Manitoba Premier Brian Pallisters holding company has been flagged for nonpayment of a luxury tax owed on his Costa Rican vacation home for almost a decade. click to read more April 3, 2018  The Free Press reports Manitoba Premier Brian Pallisters holding company has been flagged for nonpayment of a luxury tax owed on his Costa Rican vacation home for almost a decade. "We have never received any legal or accounting advice that our house in Costa Rica was subject to this luxury tax. If we are, then we would be happy to pay it I have always paid all of my taxes in Canada and Costa Rica." Brian Pallister, in a statement to the Free Press. Read the story April 4, 2018  After the Free Press story runs, the premier pledges to determine whether he owes luxury taxes in Costa Rica. We were given advice that (the luxury tax) didnt apply to us, that it didnt apply to our property. Im disappointed to see it spelled out so clearly that it may. But that being said, (its) not impossible to revert to doing the right thing now, even though I wasnt aware I was doing the wrong thing before I think, in hindsight, we probably should have dug deeper on the issue, and I regret that we didnt.  Pallister, speaking to reporters at the Manitoba Legislature Read the story April 13, 2018  The premier refuses to answer more questions about taxation on his vacation home and serves the Free Press with legal notice that he may launch a defamation suit over reporting of the story if the paper doesnt apologize. "The article was designed by the Winnipeg Free Press to impugn the integrity of Premier Pallister and to bring his reputation into disregard, odium and hatred.  Robert Tapper, Pallisters lawyer, in a formal notice sent to the Free Press under the Defamation Act Read the story April 16, 2018  The premier refuses to discuss a possible lawsuit against the Free Press, but reiterates hes looking into whether he owes taxes in Costa Rica. "Were making that determination as we speak. Theres a process to do that, and that involves a number of things. So, weve embarked on that.  Pallister, speaking to reporters after a meeting in St. Laurent, Man. Read the story June 20, 2018  CBC reports Pallisters holding company failed to reassess the value of his Costa Rican home for the past decade, in contravention of local laws. The premier tells media he is still looking into whether money is owed. "I've already taken all the necessary steps to get the information, and I'm waiting for a report back I talked to the people down there that are working on it last week, and they said it's going to take some time."  Pallister, speaking to reporters at the Manitoba legislature. Read the story Aug. 31, 2018  The premier admits he owed and paid approximately $8,000 in back taxes and penalties on his Costa Rican home. "Ignorance is no defence, I should have probably looked into it further (earlier.)"  Pallister, in an interview with The Canadian Press Dec. 13, 2018 - In a year-end interview with the Free Press, Pallister admits the bill remains unpaid. Close

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"The premier is the one who's had the ability to take care of this, to deal with this and he hasn't done it. And I don't think anybody can understand why," he said.

"I practised law for 14 years. If I was given money by a client to do something, I would go and do it. It'll be no different with a lawyer in Costa Rica. There is no reason why the premier hasn't taken care of this."

Pallister said he is not blaming his Costa Rican lawyer, who specializes in property and development law, for the delay. "I know (Oporta) pretty well. And he's not trying to screw me over," he said with a laugh. "He's not. When he says he's doing his best I know he's doing his best."

Oporta did not return requests for comment from the Free Press.

The Pallisters have owned property in Costa Rica for a decade.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.caOTTAWA  Military police are investigating how bullying at a Winnipeg armoury contributed to a soldiers suicide at CFB Shilo a year ago.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  Military police are investigating how bullying at a Winnipeg armoury contributed to a soldiers suicide at CFB Shilo a year ago.

"It is essential that we accept responsibility for our role in the death of this soldier," Brig.-Gen. Trevor Cadieu wrote in a statement Monday, regarding the death of Winnipeg reservist Cpl. Nolan Caribou.

INSTAGRAM Cpl. Nolan Caribou died by suicide at CFB Shilo last year.

"I believe that the harassment (Caribou) faced and the failure of unit leaders to intervene contributed to his death."

The military has publicly acknowledged Caribou died by suicide, only after media obtained court records showing hed endured bullying and harassment at Minto Armoury in Winnipeg.

Caribou was found dead on Nov. 18, 2017 at CFB Shilo.

The military issued a press release the next day, writing that "the death took place during an exercise focused on basic defensive routines, patrolling and raids," and that "the death occurred on DND property." It did not mention a suicide, nor the fact Caribou had left that exercise.

Military police first investigated Caribous death, but opened a second, broader probe at Cadieus request in February, about issues at the West End armoury.

INSTAGRAM Caribou had reported to his superiors that fellow soldiers had harassed him at the Minto Armoury

Cadieu, an army commander based in Edmonton, also ordered a board-of-inquiry, which, he wrote Monday, had found "deep administrative deficiencies and troubling recurring activities in the Minto Armoury" which "include bullying, unsanctioned fighting, inappropriate use of alcohol resulting in violence and initiation activities."

The board report was completed in May, and is not publicly available. Cadieu said the report also found Caribou had reported to his superiors that fellow soldiers had harassed him at the Minto Armoury, and that they did not provide an appropriate response.

On Tuesday morning, the Canadian Armed Forces wrote to the Free Press that it withheld details it would have otherwise made public at the request of Caribous relatives:

"The family has been extremely private throughout the entire process and have asked the CAF to respect that privacy. They did not wish for the suicide to be made public at any time," wrote Maj. Lena Angell.

In a statement to the Free Press, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan wrote Monday he was "deeply saddened" by Caribous passing and is "monitoring" the second, ongoing investigation.

The actual details of Caribous harassment, as well as issues at the Winnipeg armory, are described in the records surrounding an October search warrant  dating some 11 months after the soldiers death  which only became public when obtained by CBC News.

The network reported that the search warrant, and affidavits, included a reference to a reservist writing over social media that Caribou should kill himself, and that the day of his death, Caribou had asked to be dismissed and never returned.

The court documents describing "ongoing ritual hazing" at the Minto Armoury and a "fight club" atmosphere.

While the second military police investigation into the Winnipeg facility is ongoing, Cadieu said the army has already taken "remedial action" against five soldiers  one of whom they kicked out of the military, and another who lost a promotion.

"I have met with and personally committed to Cpl. Caribous family that his death will not be in vain," Cadieu wrote.

The military has now separated units of the Winnipeg Infantry Tactical Group into smaller groupings, which do exercises on separate nights to "develop their own positive identities and esprit-de-corps."

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Caribou had never been deployed abroad; soldiers based at Minto will have a chance to do so in the spring, just months after the Canadian Forces reorganized the Winnipeg armoury.

Cadieu also hinted that "our leaders must model the behaviour we expect of our soldiers."

Sajjan wrote that "any kind of harmful behaviour and harassment is completely unacceptable" in the military.

"I want to assure Canadians that I am seized of this matter and am committed to ensuring that our leadership takes appropriate action to prevent future tragedies from occurring," Sajjan wrote.

Tory MP James Bezan had expressed his condolences for the soldier, but his office declined to speak about the case Monday, citing the ongoing investigation.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.caSome of the provinces most beautiful and historically significant buildings are located on the University of Manitoba's campuses, but its administration is opposed to having three of them designated for protection under the citys heritage bylaw.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some of the provinces most beautiful and historically significant buildings are located on the University of Manitoba's campuses, but its administration is opposed to having three of them designated for protection under the citys heritage bylaw.

The U of M has filed a formal objection to a proposal from the citys historical buildings and resources committee to place three buildings on its list: the main Administration Building and the John A. Russell Building, which houses the architecture faculty, both at the Fort Garry campus; and its medical services building at 750 Bannatyne Ave., which opened in 1906 as the Manitoba Medical College.

The university claims it recognizes the architectural and heritage significance of the buildings and is committed to protecting them without the need to be formally included on the citys list.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Administration Building

 Opened in 1913

 Proposed Character Defining Elements section of the report here

Exterior

 Symmetrical east and west facade.

 The words Agricultural College carved in the frieze and pediments on west facade.

 Brick and stone octagonal cupola, finished with round finials, scrolled bracketing balustrades, metal cornice and windows in oval stone openings.

Interior

 Central staircase with stained-glass dome.



"(The administration's) letter of objection makes no sense," said Cindy Tugwell, executive director of Heritage Winnipeg, adding the U of Ms description of the buildings "is stunning," and goes into greater detail than the report to the historical buildings committee.

Tugwell said the U of M appears to be an ideal owner and she doesnt understand what's behind the opposition.

"They say in their own materials that any work they do would be sensitive to the character-defining heritage and architectural elements so why would they oppose the designation? If I had to cut to the chase, Id think the university just doesnt want their hands tied," she said.

In a written response to the committee, the university said earlier this year it had developed its own historical significance documentation, which details the character-defining elements of the buildings.

"These documents were developed and are now followed by (U of M) Architectural & Engineering Services and Operations and Maintenance Departments, within Physical Plant to ensure the exterior and interior to historic character of these buildings are considered, protected and preserved during any alterations," states Jaret Klymchuk, the U of M architect and director of the universitys architectural and engineering services division.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS John A. Russell Building

 Opened in 1959

 Proposed Character Defining Elements section of the report here

Exterior

 Two-storey building, with an open interior courtyard, exterior walls cantilevered over its foundation, clad in a repetitive curtain wall glazing system with concrete spandrels on all exterior walls.

 North and south facades with an expressed structural system of projecting concrete piers, the north landing with a sculpture and integrated sign.

Interior

 Arrangement of the main-floor office wing and open studios on the second floor.  Volume of space and original finishes of the central staircase from the basement to the second floor.

A university spokesman did not respond when asked by the Free Press why it opposes the designation when its committed to preserving the buildings.

The historical buildings and resources committee is an advisory group whose membership includes several local architects, landscape architects and engineers. It regularly reviews buildings across Winnipeg for inclusion on the historic list, which prevents the structures from demolition and requires permits for alterations to any of the identified character-defining elements.

The committee meets Thursday to consider the U of M properties.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

While the committee meetings are public, no presentations from owners are allowed to be considered. Owners who object to a listing must attend meetings of the property and development committee, which reviews the recommendations from the historical buildings committee.

If the building owner disputes inclusion of the building on the list of historical resources, a vote of council is required to determine the buildings status. With the owners support, the decision of the property and development committee is final.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Manitoba Medical College Building

 Opened in 1911

 Proposed Character Defining Elements section of the report here

Exterior

 Front (north) facade with three-storey central tower with stone detailed arched entrance.

 Front portion of the west facade with grooved brick wall on the ground floor, windows in arched openings with stone keystones and continuous stone heads on the main floor.

Interior

 Examples of the original ornamental tin ceiling.

The next meeting of the property and development committee is Jan. 7.

Tugwell said owners of historical buildings are eligible for heritage grants to cover additional costs of repairing or renovating the heritage elements. In severe situations, she added, the building owners can apply to have the structures delisted if structural damage of a catastrophic nature occurs.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.caIn the next few months  or even weeks  the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) is going to announce a formal investigation into the role of the U.S. government during the debilitating Afghan War. For the years 2003-2004, ICC prosecutors and investigators will be examining the conduct of CIA officials and U.S. soldiers in the alleged torture and death of suspected Taliban detainees at Bagram Air Base in Parwan Province.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

In the next few months  or even weeks  the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) is going to announce a formal investigation into the role of the U.S. government during the debilitating Afghan War. For the years 2003-2004, ICC prosecutors and investigators will be examining the conduct of CIA officials and U.S. soldiers in the alleged torture and death of suspected Taliban detainees at Bagram Air Base in Parwan Province.

As you can well imagine, U.S. President Donald Trump is not likely to take this in stride. Brace yourself, then, for those itchy Twitter fingers and an inevitable tweetstorm against the ICC.

Remember, the 123-member ICC is the worlds only permanent court for trying the worst of the worst  namely, those accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It has sought to create, in the 20 years since it was conceived in the Rome Statute, an international criminal justice norm and to hold national governments and state leaders accountable.

The central idea is to prevent the Rwandas and Darfurs of the world from happening again and to deter top political actors from even contemplating such unspeakable genocides. Put another way, it is intended to make presidents and prime ministers afraid of being hauled before a court in The Hague to answer for their egregious atrocities.

It is also worth recalling that Canada was a leading force behind the creation of the court. In fact, it was a Canadian lawyer, Philippe Kirsch, who was named the first president of the ICC in 2002.

As for the courts U.S. target today, the ICC was inundated  over the course of a three-month period ending in early 2018  with an eye-popping 1.7 million allegations of war crimes committed in Afghanistan. According to a preliminary ICC prosecution document, there is "a reasonable basis to believe that members of United States of America armed forces and members of the Central Intelligence Agency committed acts of torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, rape and sexual violence against conflict-related detainees in Afghanistan and other locations, principally in the 2003-2004 period."

Not surprisingly, the Trump White House sent out its main attack dog to excoriate the court  U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton. He has been an outspoken critic of the ICC since its beginnings and was instrumental in pushing former U.S. president George W. Bush to unceremoniously "unsign" the founding Rome Statute in 2002 (though Afghanistan is a signatory). The irascible Bolton has always believed, wrongly, that the very basis of the ICC was to go after the United States.

So, in a searing attack on the court in September, Bolton labelled the international human-rights tribunal "unacceptable," "outright dangerous" and a threat to "U.S. sovereignty." And he made it very clear any probe of U.S. military and intelligence members would be "utterly unfounded" and "unjustifiable." He went on to add bluntly, "If the court comes after us, Israel or other allies, we will not sit quietly."

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Moreover, Bolton actually threatened to arrest ICC judges and officials if they move to indict any Americans for war crimes and also said the U.S. is prepared to impose financial sanctions on them. "We will ban its judges and prosecutors from entering the United States. We will sanction their funds in the U.S. financial system, and we will prosecute them in the U.S. criminal system," he said angrily.

As an early signatory of the Rome Statute and a founding member of the ICC, Canada is thus obligated to enforce the courts arrest warrants. What will Canada do if those named in the ICC indictment  perhaps even former U.S. vice-president Dick Cheney and former U.S. secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld  visit this country in the coming months? What if indicted CIA officials try to enter Canada?

That will surely be the day when Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus constant rhetoric (or see the frequent comments by Global Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland) about defending human rights internationally will be seriously tested. Will he back up his words with meaningful actions by detaining the likes of Cheney and Rumsfeld? Or is all this rights talk just meaningless words for domestic political consumption?

If, in fact, Canada does nothing  or does not even back the ICCs actions at all  it would surely undermine our credibility and voice within the court and even globally. And, more importantly, it would clearly expose the hypocrisy of the Trudeau governments human-rights advocacy.

Both of these unwelcome developments would hinder any efforts by Canada to secure that coveted UN Security Council seat in 2021-2022. But thats the price you pay sometimes when your words dont match your deeds in the human-rights arena.

Peter McKenna is professor and chairman of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown.As reported in the Free Press, Premier Brian Pallister is fixing the provinces finances with what he calls small, gradual funding cuts. Two questions arise from his claim: do our finances really need fixing, and what happens when these cuts accumulate?

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

As reported in the Free Press, Premier Brian Pallister is "fixing the provinces finances" with what he calls small, gradual funding cuts. Two questions arise from his claim: do our finances really need fixing, and what happens when these cuts accumulate?

In our view, theres no fiscal mess in Manitoba that requires immediate action. Drastic action is required, however, if we are to avoid massive future spending to deal with climate change, our infrastructure deficit and income inequality, and to help Manitobas northern communities. To ignore these problems in the name of exaggerated concerns about government debt is irresponsible.

The combination of cuts to the public sector and obsession with debt reduction are hallmarks of an austerity agenda, regardless of how much the premier resents that reference. Take, for example, his explanation as to why his government will not share cannabis revenue and why it is cutting funding to municipalities: "That billion-plus, for the first time, is going to go to happy money lenders in New York and Toronto."

The billion he is referring to is the amount the province has to pay to service its debt. Left dangling, with no context, $1 billion delivers the shock effect Pallister is aiming at. But context makes all the difference.

With data from Finance Canada and Manitoba Finance, we can compare Manitobas performance with the rest of the provinces. In 1990-91 (Progressive Conservatives in power), Manitobas debt-servicing charges as a per cent of GDP were 2.1 per cent, compared to 1.9 per cent for the other provinces. From 2000 to 2011 (NDP in power), charges were below those of other provinces, where they have remained until the present day (ranging from 1.5 to 1.3 per cent vs. 2.4 to 1.4 per cent for the other provinces). Debt management was, and is, on an even keel.

The premier also frequently uses bond-rating agencies ratings as proof that there is a crisis at hand. Manitobas Standard and Poors (S&P) credit rating was reduced from AA- to A+ in July, 2017.

Governments need to be careful not to be held hostage to these fluctuations, because the agencies ignore the long-term value of government investments. Furthermore, the fluctuations dont make a big difference in how much we pay. According to economists Trevor Tombe and Blake Shaffer, "On average, each notch on the S&P ratings scale is associated with a 0.04 per cent higher yield on a 25-year bond." Of course, governments must be responsible about deficit financing. The test should be whether there is a net gain from the investment of borrowed money.

If a household borrowed money to buy a home and send a family member to university, it would build its assets and the student would have a better chance of getting a job that pays higher earnings over her lifetime. That strategy works for governments as well.

Take, for example, Manitoba Hydros investment in Keeyask and Bipole III  a sore point the premier is constantly rubbing. But it is perfectly reasonable to spread the debt for this infrastructure over the generations which will reap the rewards of the affordable and reliable energy it will provide. Done properly, these investments should compensate Manitobas First Nations communities and include agreements that make them active and prosperous partners. This sort of reconciliation would never be part of a bond-rating agencys calculus.

Other benefits of this sort of infrastructure investment cannot be ignored, especially in light of our urgent need to deal with climate change. It is curious that the premier wants the federal government to acknowledge our investment in Hydro at the same time as he bemoans the cost of investing in it.

Furthermore, Manitobas $11-billion provincial infrastructure deficit will only worsen. Even the business community plainly sees the folly in pulling back infrastructure investment by $230 million in order to reduce the provincial sales tax by one per cent, thereby taking a further $300 million from provincial revenues.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Rather than fretting so much over manageable debt and debt-servicing charges, the premier should be worrying about real problems, like the loss of up to 1,500 jobs in Manitobas north. With projected declines in regional economic activity of $300 million and income of $100 million, its hard to imagine how communities like Thompson and Flin Flon are going to manage, and theres no immediate relief in the new economic growth action plan.

Both municipalities could face significant revenue shortages as businesses shrink, and provincial coffers will take a hit as laid-off workers quit paying income tax and reduce consumption. This will lead to more business closures, loss of population and falling real estate prices, all culminating in a downward economic spiral.

In fact, the province overall could soon see an economic slowdown when the loss of these decent-paying unionized jobs is combined with others, including the loss of 900 jobs at Manitoba Hydro, reductions at various provincial health-care agencies and other provincial crown corporations. By eliminating so many public-sector jobs, freezing wages and cutting back on infrastructure spending, the phantom crisis the government keeps referring to may materialize. And with unemployment so low in B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, laid-off workers may be lured away from Manitoba.

As Manitobans face all these challenges, hopefully the approximately $299-million increase in federal transfer payments for Manitoba will stem any more job losses from the education and health-care sectors.

This government needs to recognize the damage it is inflicting by imposing austerity measures on a healthy economy that is facing some significant challenges. If it doesnt adjust its course, we might really have to deal with a financial crisis.

Lynne Fernandez holds the Errol Black Chair in Labour Issues at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives  Manitoba.Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Its feast time.

For most of us, food is associated with family.

Food is where we centre ourselves. Whether it be preparing it, cooking it, or eating it  food is what we use to ground ourselves, connect, and grow.

Food is culture.

Food is one of the first things Indigenous peoples shared with newcomers, setting the stage for a relationship.

Sixteenth-century French explorer Jacques Cartier was given evergreen bark and winter leaf tea  a medicine that cured his scurvy and saved his life.

The Wampanoag people not only shared turkey with the Pilgrims in 1621  setting the stage for what we now call Thanksgiving  but deer, fish, and corn, too.

Pemmican  made from mixing dried bison, moose or caribou and berries  was the most important trading good in 19th century Manitoba and the entire foundation for the fur trade.

You get the point: food is a way of life for all peoples.

Indigenous foods, however, have been historically the most controlled foods in Canada.

TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Geese are another traditional Indigenous food, but are regulated federally.

Hunting and fishing rights, for example, were guaranteed under treaties, but then made impossible by controlling where and how you could hunt or fish... not to mention it was illegal to leave the reserve. Ceremonies were banned, including the sharing of food.

With this restriction on movement and food dependence came the rise of bannock, a staple that came with food rations, processed flour, and a whole lot of health challenges. One of the primary goals of residential school was essentially turning Indigenous peoples into farmers and changing how people fed themselves and interacted with the land.

"Food is still a large part of how Indigenous peoples form our culture," says Indigenous food activist Glenda Abbott, "but the legislation is confusing and hampers many of us to do so."

Most medicines now grow on "private land" and require permission to harvest. Laws surrounding traditional hunting and fishing practices  such as the recent "night hunting" conflict in Manitoba  continue to bring conservation officers and Indigenous peoples in conflict. Then, theres consumption.

"If you want to serve caribou, moose and deer, its provincially legislated. If you want to eat fowl, such as duck or geese, its federally legislated. You could spend all day trying to get approval speaking to government departments just to try and follow the law," Abbott says.

Yet, traditional meat in Indigenous communities is one of the most important tools used to fight diabetes and ensure independence, what is called "food sovereignty."

Private consumption of traditionally hunted and fished meat is fine, but sharing it with the public  including via sale  is where the law enters.

Restaurants, for example, can sell only farmed or approved "wild game," except in rare circumstances and under strict conditions. Indigenous chefs such as Rich Francis in Toronto have called such controls a contravention to reconciliation and instead offers "dinner parties," where foods such as seal, muktuk, and moose can be served.

In New Brunswick, authorities charged Michael Reynolds, a Maliseet hunter from Woodstock First Nation, for "illegally" selling moose meat. Reynolds claimed it was a part of his livelihood and a treaty right. The courts eventually chose to toss out the charges, and refused to define whether or not selling traditional meat is a violation of a law.

The situation surrounding Indigenous food (in particular, meat) is in legal limbo  and ripe for a march to the Supreme Court.

For example: Indigenous hunters bag a moose. As is traditional and cultural practice in northern communities, the moose is skinned and cut into pieces that are gifted throughout the community. Some is used to feed staff at the local band office at their holiday feast. The rest is used in the potluck for students at a local school doing an "on the land" educational program.

DAN JOLING / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES >In traditional Indigenous communities, a moose when harvested is shared widely, but should government regulate that sharing?

Is this commercial use? Is this a treaty right? Should governments intervene?

Meat caught by a "treaty Indian" comes under a whole new set of rules  even meat caught in the same space and on the same day by a non-Indigenous person.

Welcome to limbo.

The worry is wild meat is tainted and carries pathogens and diseases.

"That problem is real, but most times occurs with farmed meat and how it infects meat in the natural world," Abbott says, pointing to recent studies showing infectious sicknesses in farmed salmon and elk.

This has all led to a situation where Indigenous individuals, families, and organizations cannot have a full relationship with their traditional foods, identities, and the land and water due to laws, red tape, and health concerns.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Food is related to our identity but, like most things Indigenous in Canada, our identities are legislated, controlled, and limited.

The solution, Abbott proposes, is to formulate Indigenous laws. She is on a national campaign with the organization Indigenous Food in the City to try to bring awareness regarding the complexities and confusions, and try to lift some of the limitations communities are facing.

She says food is crucial for connecting Indigenous peoples in urban environments to their home territories and cultures, and the organization intends to release a report in the new year on the importance of all Canadians in understanding the value of Indigenous food.

"We need to not wait for provinces and federal governments to come up with laws that govern our foods, but work with Indigenous governments to make laws that govern ourselves," she says.

It may be feast time, but its also truth time. Indigenous food continues to be controlled and legislated and, with this, reconciliation is off the menu.

niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.caThe people who run Canadas businesses support carbon pricing. The provincial governments that oppose it are running low on fuel. The way the wind is blowing currently, carbon pricing is coming soon to a gas station near you.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/12/2018 (1080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The people who run Canadas businesses support carbon pricing. The provincial governments that oppose it are running low on fuel. The way the wind is blowing currently, carbon pricing is coming soon to a gas station near you.

Carbon pricing gained important business support in October when the Business Council of Canada, representing 150 chief executives of the largest companies, endorsed the federal governments plan.

This week, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, representing 200,000 companies across the country, supported the proposed national carbon pricing scheme and urged governments to quit using it as a political bargaining chip.

This week, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, representing 200,000 companies across the country, supported the proposed national carbon pricing scheme and urged governments to quit using it as a political bargaining chip.

The business lobby groups have heard the objections to the federal scheme from the Conservative governments of Saskatchewan and Ontario, echoed by the federal Conservative party. They were clearly not impressed.

Those two provincial governments want to argue in court that Ottawa has no authority to impose such a scheme. Ontario, having scrapped the previous governments cap-and-trade scheme (a form of carbon pricing), announced a plan to subsidize selected corporate pollution reduction efforts instead of putting a price on carbon. The business communitys verdict is unequivocal: go with carbon pricing.

The Canadian public is of two minds about carbon pricing. People dont want to pay more for gasoline. Nor do they want to pollute the air, melt the polar ice caps and bequeath an uninhabitable planet to their grandchildren.

The Angus Reid polling organization found in November that national support for carbon pricing, which had fallen to 44 per cent in July, recovered to 54 per cent after the government announced that the proceeds of the federal carbon tax would be returned to the households that pay it.

The Canadian public is of two minds about carbon pricing. People dont want to pay more for gasoline. Nor do they want to pollute the air, melt the polar ice caps and bequeath an uninhabitable planet to their grandchildren.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford had been railing against the federal scheme all summer, but public support for the federal program rose in Ontario  as it did in every province except Alberta.

The idea behind the carbon tax is that consumers of carbon products  which means oil, coal, wood, anything that produces carbon dioxide when it burns  will find their own most efficient ways of cutting carbon consumption. Schemes such as Ontarios put the government in charge of selecting emission reduction methods.

The Saskatchewan appeal court will hear arguments against the federal scheme on Feb. 13 and 14. The Saskatchewan government contends that the federal tax is unconstitutional because it will apply unequally in different provinces, depending on federal assessment of the local emission reduction plans.

Want more great journalism? Get our best news and features delivered in your inbox every weekday evening. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Canadian business leaders, who are in the same boat with the rest of us and have studied the matter closely, have concluded that Canada should take that risk and be part of the solution, not keep adding to the problem.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and his lawyers, however, have to talk their way around Section 91 of the Canadian Constitution, which gives Parliament power over "the raising of money by any mode or system of taxation."

The greatest weakness of the federal scheme is international inertia.

Canadians might submit to a carbon tax, clean up their countrys emissions and still bequeath a dying planet to their grandchildren because U.S. President Donald Trump loves coal and Russian President Vladimir Putin cares nothing about the planet.

Canadian business leaders, who are in the same boat with the rest of us and have studied the matter closely, have concluded that Canada should take that risk and be part of the solution, not keep adding to the problem.

Premiers Ford and Moe are left claiming to know whats good for the economy better than the business leaders who are the economy. Ottawa may well feel free to ignore them.Politburo member Chinh, who is also Chairman of the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Parliamentarians Group, said the visit is of significance to strengthening the traditional friendship between the two Parties, contributing to enriching the Vietnam-Japan extensive strategic partnership.

According to him, traditional ties between the CPV and CPJ have been further deepened in the new situation via the regular exchange of visits and cooperation at multilateral forums.

He expressed his belief that the CPJ will continue supporting exchange between the two legislatures, thereby making contributions to the development of bilateral links.

Kazuo believed that under the leadership of the CPV, the Vietnamese people will continue reaping greater achievements in the renewal process and successfully realise the 12th National Party Congress resolution towards turning Vietnam into a modern-oriented industrialised nation.

Expressing his delight at the growing ties between the two parties over the past five decades, the guest affirmed that the CPJ highly values the development of ties between the two nations and people via information and ideological sharing for the sake of peace and stability in Asia and the world.

Earlier, head of the CPV Central Committees Commission for External Relations Hoang Binh Quan also hosted a reception for Kazuo.

Both sides spoke highly of the close and effective cooperation between the Commission for External Relations and the CPJs Department of International Affairs and agreed to increase exchanges, maintain an ideology-sharing mechanism, work closely together at international forums, an make active contributions to communist and international labour movements.Horizonte Minerals Plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the identification, acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral projects in Brazil. The company primarily explores for nickel deposits, as well as cobalt deposits. It holds 100% interest in the Araguaia ferronickel project and the Vermelho Nickel-Cobalt project located in the south of the CarajAs mineral district in northern Brazil. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreiShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF's stock was trading at $37.69 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 (Coronavirus) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, ECNS stock has increased by 34.6% and is now trading at $50.7311.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.The following companies are subsidiares of Crown: Adularia Inversiones 2010 S.L., Angleboard Sweden AB, Bates Cargo-Pak ApS, Butimove, CMB Machinery and Technology (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CROWN AP (Thailand) Company Limited, CROWN Aerosols & Promotional Nederland, CROWN Aerosols Italia Srl, CROWN Aerosols Nederland BV, CROWN Aerosols UK Limited, CROWN Americas LLC, CROWN Arabia Can Company Ltd, CROWN Asia Pacific Holdings Pte. Ltd., CROWN Asia Pacific Investments (T) Limited, CROWN Bevcan Espana S.L., CROWN Bevcan France SAS, CROWN Bevcan Slovakia s.r.o., CROWN Bevcan Turkiye Ambalaj Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, CROWN Bevcan and Closures (Thailand) Company Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans (Cambodia) Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans (Dong Nai) Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Beijing Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Changchun Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Danang Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Hangzhou Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Hanoi Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Heshan Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Hong Kong Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Huizhou Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Malaysia Sdn Bhd, CROWN Beverage Cans Nanning Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Putian Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Saigon Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Shanghai Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Sihanoukville Limited, CROWN Beverage Cans Singapore Pte. Ltd., CROWN Beverage Cans Ziyang Limited, CROWN Beverage Packaging LLC, CROWN Beverage Packaging Puerto Rico Inc., CROWN Cans Ghana Limited, CROWN China Holdings (Hong Kong) Limited, CROWN Commercial Belgium BVBA, CROWN Commercial France SAS, CROWN Commercial Germany GmbH & Co. KG, CROWN Commercial Hungary Kft, CROWN Commercial Netherlands B.V., CROWN Commercial Vermogensverwaltung GmbH, CROWN Cork & Seal USA Inc., CROWN Embalagens Metalicas da Amazonia S.A., CROWN Emballage France SAS, CROWN Emirates Company Limited, CROWN Envases Mexico S.A. de C.V., CROWN Famosa S.A. de C.V., CROWN Food Packaging (Thailand) Public Company Limited, CROWN Foodcan (Hat Yai) Company Limited, CROWN Foodcan (Nakhon Pathom) Company Limited, CROWN Foodcan Germany GmbH, CROWN Foodcan GmbH, CROWN Imballaggi Italia Srl, CROWN Imgallaggi Italia Srl, CROWN Italy Finance srl, CROWN Khmer Beverage Cans Limited, CROWN Maghreb Can, CROWN Magyarorszag Csomagoloipari KFT, CROWN Metal Packaging Canada Inc., CROWN Metal Packaging Canada LP, CROWN Middle East Can Co. Ltd., CROWN Packaging (Barbados) Limited, CROWN Packaging Holdings LLC, CROWN Packaging Investment (H.K.) Limited, CROWN Packaging Ireland Ltd, CROWN Packaging Jamaica Limited, CROWN Packaging Polska Sp.z.o.o., CROWN Packaging Technology Inc., CROWN Packaging Trinidad Limited, CROWN Packaging UK Limited, CROWN Promotional Packaging UK Ltd, CROWN SIEM, CROWN Senegal, CROWN Societe Malgache d'Emballages Metalliques, CROWN Speciality Packaging BV, CROWN Speciality Packaging Investment Pte. Ltd., CROWN Specialty Packaging UK Ltd, CROWN TCP Beverage Cans Company Limited, CROWN Verpakking Belgie NV, CROWN Verpakking Nederland B.V., Caretex Asia Ltd., CarnaudMetalbox Engineering Ltd, CarnaudMetalbox Food South Africa (Pty) Limited, CarnaudMetalbox Group UK Limited, CarnaudMetalbox Overeseas Limited, CarnaudMetalbox Overseas Limited, Cierres Hermeticos S.A. DE C.V., Constar International, Crown Americas Capital Corp., Crown Americas Capital Corp. II, Crown Americas Capital Corp. III, Crown Americas Capital Corp. IV, Crown Americas Capital Corp. V, Crown Americas Capital Corp. VI, Crown Brasil Holdings Ltda., Crown Canadian Holdings ULC, Crown Closures Spain S.L., Crown Colombiana S.A., Crown Comercial de Envases S.L., Crown Commercial Italy Srl, Crown Commercial Polska Sp. z.o.o., Crown Consultants Inc., Crown Cork & Seal Company (DE) LLC, Crown Cork & Seal Company Inc., Crown Cork & Seal Deutschland Holdings GmbH, Crown Cork & Seal Receivables (DE) Corporation, Crown Cork & Seal de Portugal Embalagens S.A., Crown Cork Kuban, Crown Cork and Seal Receivables II LLC, Crown Developpement SAS, Crown European Holdings, Crown Food Espana S.A.U., Crown Foodcan Turkey Ambalaj Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Crown Hellas Can Packaging SA, Crown Heshan Trading Company Limited, Crown Holdings Italia Srl, Crown Holdings Spain S.L., Crown International Holdings B.V., Crown International Holdings Inc., Crown Luxembourg Holdings, Crown Mexican Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., Crown Overseas Investments B.V., Crown Packaging Commercial UK Limited, Crown Packaging Distribution UK Limited, Crown Packaging European Division GmbH, Crown Packaging European Division Services SAS, Crown Packaging European Holdings GmbH, Crown Packaging Lux I S.a.r.l., Crown Packaging Lux II S.a.r.l., Crown Packaging Lux III S.a.r.l., Crown Packaging Manufacturing UK Limited, Crown Packaging Maroc, Crown Receivables III, Crown Services Iberia, Crown UK Holdings Limited, Crownway Insurance Company, Dacro B.V., EMPAQUE, Fabricas Monterrey S.A. de C.V., Form Koruyucu Ambalaj Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Foshan Continental Can Co. Limited, Foshan Crown Easy-Opening End Co. Limited, Glass & Silice S.A. DE C.V., Globoplastt s.r.o., Gunther S.A.S., Haloila Bulgaria EOOD, Interstrap B.V., Josef Kihlberg AB, Kiwiplan GmbH, Kiwiplan Inc, Lachenmeier ApS, Liljendals Bruk AB, Litec France S.A.S., Mezger Heftsysteme GmbH, Mima Films S.a.r.l., Mima Films Sprl, Mima Packaging Systems S.A.S., Mivisa, Nordic S.A.S., Norsk Signode AS, Oy M. Haloila AB, PT CROWN Beverage Cans Indonesia, Package Design and Manufacturing, Prolatamex S.A. DE C.V., Quandel Verpackungs- und Foerdertechnik GmbH, SMB Schwede Maschinenbau GmbH, SMP Schwede Maschinenbau Weischlitz GmbH, SPG Denmark, SPG France Holdings SAS, SPG Germany Service Management GmbH, SPG Industrial Packaging S.a.r.l, SPG Netherlands B.V., SPG Packaging Ireland Limited, SPG Packaging Systems GmbH, SPG Packaging UK Ltd, Scybele S.A.S., Shippers Europe S.p.r.l., Signode BVBA, Signode Brasileira Ltda, Signode Hong Kong Limited, Signode Industrial Group, Signode Industrial Group AB, Signode Industrial Group Colombia S.A.S., Signode Industrial Group GmbH, Signode Industrial Group Holdings Lux S.a.r.l., Signode Industrial Group Holdings US Inc, Signode Industrial Group Lux S.A., Signode Industrial Group Mexico, Signode Industrial Group Sweden AB, Signode International Holdings LLC, Signode International IP Holdings LLC, Signode International Investment LLC, Signode Kabushiki Kaisha, Signode Korea Inc, Signode NZ Limited, Signode Netherlands B.V., Signode Packaging (Qingdao) Co., Signode Packaging (Shanghai) Co., Signode Packaging Espana S.L., Signode Packaging Group (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Signode Packaging Group Australia Pty Ltd, Signode Packaging Group Canada ULC, Signode Packaging Group NZ, Signode Packaging Systems Limited, Signode Pickling Holding LLC, Signode Polska sp. Z.o.o., Signode Singapore Pte. Ltd., Signode Sweden Holdings AB, Signode System GmbH, Signode System Packaging GmbH & Co. KG, Signode Systems (Thailand) Ltd., Signode US IP Holdings LLC, Silice De Veracruz S.A. DE C. V., Silice Del Istmo S.A. DE C.V., Silices De Veracruz, Societe Civile Immobiliere Rousseau-Ivry, Societe Civile Immobiliere des Baquets, Societe de Participations CarnaudMetalbox, Stopak India Pvt. Ltd, Strapex Austria GmbH, Strapex Embalagem L.d.a., Strapex Holdings Limited, Strapex S.A.S., Strapex Srl, Superior Investments Holdings Pte. Ltd., Superior Multi-Packaging Limited, TopFrame LLC, V.A.C. B.V., Vichisa S.A. de C.V., and Warehouse Automation Iberia S.L..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.The following companies are subsidiares of Accenture: 2nd Road, 2nd Road Pty Ltd., ?What If!, ?What If! China Holdings Ltd, ?What If! Holdings Limited, ?What If! Innovation Singapore Holdings Pte, ?What If! Limited, ?What If! Shanghai Co. Ltd, ?What If! USA LLC, ACN Consulting Co Ltd, AD Dialeto Agencia de Publicidade SA, AD.Dialeto (Digital Agency acquired by Accenture), AGS Business and Technology Services Limited, ASM Research Inc., ASM Research LLC, ATAN, Accenture (Beijing) Mobile Technology Co Ltd, Accenture (Botswana) (Proprietary) Limited, Accenture (China) Co Ltd, Accenture (Shenzhen) Technology Co. Ltd., Accenture (South Africa) (Proprietary) Limited, Accenture (South Africa) Pty Limited, Accenture (UK) Ltd, Accenture 2 Business Process Services S.A., Accenture 2 LLC, Accenture A/S, Accenture AB, Accenture AG, Accenture AS, Accenture Africa Pty Ltd, Accenture Australia Holding B.V., Accenture Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Accenture Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture Azerbaijan Ltd, Accenture BPM Operations Support Services S.A., Accenture BPM S.C.R.L., Accenture BV, Accenture Branch Holdings B.V., Accenture Bulgaria EOOD, Accenture Business Services for Utilities Inc, Accenture Business Services of British Columbia Limited Partnership, Accenture Business and Technology Services LLC, Accenture C.A, Accenture CAS GmbH, Accenture Canada Holdings Inc., Accenture Capital DAC, Accenture Capital Inc, Accenture Central Europe B.V., Accenture Chile Asesorias y Servicios Ltda, Accenture Cloud Services GmbH, Accenture Cloud Software Solutions Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions LLC, Accenture Cloud Solutions Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Co Ltd, Accenture Co Ltd., Accenture Communications Infrastructure Solutions Ltd, Accenture Company Ltd, Accenture Consulting Services Ltd Tanzania, Accenture Consultores de Gestao S.A., Accenture Consultoria de Industria e Consumo Ltda, Accenture Consultoria de Recursos Naturais Ltda, Accenture Credit Services LLC, Accenture Customer Services Distribution SAS, Accenture Customer Services Limited, Accenture Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, Accenture Defined Benefit Pension Plan Trustees Ltd, Accenture Defined Contribution Pension Plan Trustees Ltd, Accenture Delivery Poland sp. z o.o., Accenture Dienstleistungen GmbH, Accenture Digital France Holdings SA, Accenture Digital Holdings GmbH, Accenture East Africa Limited, Accenture Ecuador S.A., Accenture Egypt LLC, Accenture Enterprise Development (Shanghai) Co Ltd., Accenture Federal Services LLC, Accenture Finance (Gibraltar) III Ltd, Accenture Finance GmbH, Accenture Finance GmbH in liquidation, Accenture Finance II GmbH, Accenture Finance II GmbH in liquidation, Accenture Finance II Ltd, Accenture Finance Limited, Accenture Finance and Accounting BPO Services S.p.A., Accenture Finance and Accounting Services Srl, Accenture Flex LLC, Accenture GP LLC, Accenture Ghana Limited, Accenture Global Holdings Ltd., Accenture Global Services Ltd, Accenture Global Solutions Ltd, Accenture GmbH, Accenture HR Services Ltd, Accenture HR Services S.p.A., Accenture Healthcare Processing Inc., Accenture Holding GmbH, Accenture Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Accenture Holding GmbH in liquidation, Accenture Holdings (Iberia) S.L., Accenture Holdings B.V., Accenture Holdings France SAS, Accenture Holdings plc, Accenture Hungary Holdings Kft, Accenture Inc, Accenture Industrial Software Limited Liability Company (Accenture Endustriyel Yazylym Cozumleri Limited irketi), Accenture Industrial Software Limited Liability Company (Accenture Endustriyel Yazlm Cozumleri Limited Sirketi), Accenture Industrial Software Solutions Kft, Accenture Industrial Software Solutions SA, Accenture Insurance Services LLC, Accenture Insurance Services SAS, Accenture Insurance Services SpA, Accenture International BV, Accenture International Capital SCA, Accenture International LLC, Accenture International Limited, Accenture International Sarl, Accenture Japan Ltd, Accenture Korea BV, Accenture LLC, Accenture LLP, Accenture Lanka (Private) Ltd, Accenture Limited, Accenture Ltd, Accenture Ltda, Accenture Maghreb S.a.r.l., Accenture Managed Services SRL, Accenture Managed Services SpA, Accenture Management GmbH, Accenture Middle East B.V, Accenture Middle East BV, Accenture Minority I BV, Accenture Minority III Ltd, Accenture Mozambique Limitada, Accenture Mzansi (Pty) Ltd, Accenture NV/SA, Accenture NZ Limited, Accenture Newco LLC, Accenture Nova Scotia Unlimited Liability Co., Accenture OOO, Accenture Operations Sp. z o.o., Accenture Outsourcing SRL, Accenture Outsourcing Services, Accenture Outsourcing Services S.A., Accenture Oy, Accenture Panama Inc, Accenture Participations BV, Accenture Participations II Limited, Accenture Peru S.R.L, Accenture Peru S.R.L., Accenture Post Trade Processing SAS, Accenture Post-Trade Processing Limited, Accenture Process Ltd, Accenture Product Lifecycle Services, Accenture Properties, Accenture Pte Ltd, Accenture Puerto Rico LLC, Accenture S.A., Accenture S.C., Accenture S.L., Accenture S.R.L., Accenture SAS, Accenture SG Services Pte Ltd, Accenture SRL, Accenture Saudi Arabia Limited, Accenture Sendirian Berhad, Accenture Service Center SRL, Accenture Services (Mauritius) Ltd, Accenture Services AB, Accenture Services AG, Accenture Services AS, Accenture Services GmbH, Accenture Services Ltd, Accenture Services Morocco SA, Accenture Services Oy, Accenture Services Pty Ltd, Accenture Services S.r.l., Accenture Services SRL, Accenture Services Sp. z o.o., Accenture Services Sp. z.o.o., Accenture Services and Technology Srl, Accenture Services fur Kreditinstitute GmbH, Accenture Services s.r.o., Accenture Servicos Administrativos Ltda, Accenture Servicos de Suporte de Negocios Ltda, Accenture Solutions Co Ltd, Accenture Solutions Private Limited, Accenture Solutions Pte Ltd, Accenture Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Solutions Sdn Bhd, Accenture Sp. z o.o., Accenture Sp. z.o.o., Accenture SpA, Accenture State Healthcare Services LLC, Accenture Sub II Inc., Accenture Sub Inc, Accenture Sub LLC, Accenture Systems Integration Limited, Accenture Sarl, Accenture Tanacsado Kolatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Accenture Tanacsado Kolatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag KFT, Accenture Technologia, Accenture Technologia Consultoria e Outsourcing S.A., Accenture Technology Infrastructure Services Pty Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions (Dalian) Co Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions (HK) Co. Ltd., Accenture Technology Solutions (Thailand) Co. Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions - Solucoes Informaticas Integradas, Accenture Technology Solutions - Solucoes Informaticas Integradas S.A., Accenture Technology Solutions GmbH, Accenture Technology Solutions Oy, Accenture Technology Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions S.A. de C.V., Accenture Technology Solutions SAS, Accenture Technology Solutions SRL, Accenture Technology Solutions Sdn. Bhd., Accenture Technology Solutions Slovakia s.r.o., Accenture Technology Ventures BV, Accenture Technology Ventures S.P.R.L., Accenture Uruguay SRL, Accenture Vietnam Co., Accenture Vietnam Co. LTD, Accenture Zambia Limited, Accenture do Brasil Limitada, Accenture plc, Accenture s.r.o., Acceria, Acquity Customer Insight Limited, Acquity Group, Adaptly LLC, Adaptly UK Limited, AddVal Technology, Adqptly, Advantium Inc., Agave Consultants Limited, Agilex Technologies Inc., Allen International, Allen International Consulting Group Ltd, Alnova Technologies Corporation S.L., AlphaBeta Advisors, Altima, Altima Asia Ltd., Altima SAS, Altitude, Altitude LLC, Analytics 8 LP, Analytics 8 Pty Ltd, Analytics8, Aorui Advertising (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Apis, Appaloosa Technology SAS, Arca, Ariba - BPO, Arismore, Aspiro Solutions (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Avanade, Avanade (Guangzhou) Computer Technology Development Co. Ltd., Avanade (Thailand) Co Ltd, Avanade Asia Pte Ltd, Avanade Australia Pty Ltd, Avanade Belgium SPRL, Avanade Canada Inc., Avanade Denmark A/S, Avanade Denmark ApS, Avanade Deutschland GmbH, Avanade Europe Holdings Ltd, Avanade Europe Services Ltd, Avanade Federal Services LLC, Avanade Finland Oy, Avanade France SAS, Avanade GZ Computer Technology Development Co. Ltd. (SH), Avanade Guangzhou, Avanade Holdings LLC, Avanade Hong Kong Ltd, Avanade International Corporation, Avanade Ireland Limited, Avanade Italy SRL, Avanade KK, Avanade Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avanade Netherlands BV, Avanade Norway AS, Avanade Poland Sp. z o.o., Avanade Poland Sp. z.o.o., Avanade Schweiz GmbH, Avanade South Africa, Avanade South Africa Pty Ltd, Avanade Spain SL, Avanade Sweden AB, Avanade UK Ltd, Avanade do Brasil Limitada, Avanade Osterreich GmbH, AvantBiz Consulting Limited, Avenai, Axia Ltd., BABCN LLC, BCT Solutions, BCT Solutions Pty Ltd, BPO Servicos Administrativos Ltda, BRIDGE Energy Group, Beacon Consulting Group Inc., Beijing Genesis Interactive Technology Co. Ltd., Benext, Bionic, Blue Horseshoe, Boomerang Pharmaceutical Communications, Boomerang Pharmaceuticals Communications Ireland Limited, Bow & Arrow, Brand Learning, Brand Learning Group Limited, Brand Learning LLC, Brand Learning Ltd, Brand Learning Partners Limited, Brand Learning Pte Limited, Bridge Energy Group LLC, Brightstep AB, Byte Prophecy, CAS, CRMWaypoint, CadenceQuest Inc., Capable Marketer Limited, Capgemini - North American health practice, Capital Consultancy Services Inc., Certus Solutions Consulting Services Ltd, Certus Solutions Ltd, ChangeTrack Research Pty Ltd., Chaotic Moon Studios, Chengdu Mensa Advertising Co. Ltd., Cimation, Cimation UK Limited, Cirruseo, Cirruseo SAS, Clarity Insights, Clearhead, Clearhead Group, Clearhead Group LLC, ClientHouse GmbH, Cloud Sherpas, Cloud Sherpas (GA) LLC, Cloud Sherpas (SN) (PTE.) Limited, Cloud Sherpas New Zealand Ltd., Cloud Talent Limited, Cloudsherpas, Cloudsherpas Inc., Cloudworks, Codagenic Pty. Ltd., Computer Research and Telecommunications LLC, Concrete Desenvolvimento de Sistemas Ltda., Concrete Solutions, Concrete Solutions Ltda., Context Information Security, Coritel S.A., Corliant Inc., CreativeDrive, CustomerWorks Europe SL, Cutting Edge Solutions Ltd, D5 Global Holdings LLC, DAZ Systems Inc, DAZ Systems LLC, DAZSI Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd., DMA Solutions Limited, Davies Consulting, DayNine Consulting, DayNine Consulting (Australia) PTY LTD, DayNine Consulting (Deutschland) GmbH, DayNine Consulting (New Zealand) Limited, DayNine Consulting France SAS, DayNine Consulting Japan K.K., DayNine Consulting LLC, Declarative Holdings, Declarative Holdings LLC, Defense Point Security, Deja vu Security, Design Strategy and Research de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Designaffairs LLC, Digiplug S.A.S., Digiplug SAS, Digital Consulting & Software Services LLC, Droga5, Droga5 LLC, Droga5 Studios LLC, Droga5 UK Ltd., Duck Creek Technologies, Duck Creek Technologies LLC, Deja Vu Security LLC, ESR Labs, Elcurator SAS, Enaxis Consulting, Enaxis Consulting L.P., End-to-End Analytics, Energuia Web, Energuia Web S.A., Energy Management Brokers Ltd., Energy Quote Private Ltd., EnergyQuote JHA, EnergyQuote JHA Ltd., EnergyQuote Trading Ltd., Enimbos, Enkitec, Enterprise System Partners, Enterprise System Partners B.V. , Enterprise System Partners Bilisim Danismanlik Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Enterprise System Partners Global Corporation, Enterprise System Partners Limited, Enterprise System Partners PR LLC, Enterprise System Partners S.A.S., Entropia, Epylon, Ethica Consulting Group, Evopro Group, Exactside Limited, Exton Consulting, Fairway Technologies Inc, Fairway Technologies LLC, Filmproduction ApS, First Annapolis Consulting, First Annapolis Consulting Inc., First Annapolis Consulting LLC, First Annapolis International, Fjord, Focus Group Europe, Focus Group Europe Limited, Formicary, Formicary Holdings Limited, Formicary Limited, FusionX, FutureMove Automotive, Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Genfour, Genfour Limited, George Group Consulting L.P., Gestalt LLC, Gestion Altima Canada Inc., Gevity, Global Public Firm S.L., GlobalView SAS, GoodFilm GmbH Filmproduktion Stuttgart, H.B. Maynard and Co. Inc., HRC Retail Advisory, Hagberg Consulting Group, Hangzhou Aiyunzhe Technology Co. Ltd., Happen, Hjaltelin Stahl, Hjaltelin Stahl K/S, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Hytracc Consulting UK Limited, Hytracc Holding AS, I-Faber S.p.A., IBB Consulting, IMJ Corp, IMJ Corporation, INCAD, INSITUM, IT One Company Limited, ITBS Servicios Bancarios de Tecnologia de la Informacion SL, Icon Integration, Imagine Broadband (USA) Ltd, Imagine Broadband USA LLC, Imaginea Inc, Industrie&Co, Infoman AG, Infoman Schweiz AG, Informatica de Euskadi S.L., Infusion Development Inc., Infusion Development UK Limited, InfusionDev LLC, Innoveer Solutions India Pvt Ltd, Insitum Consultoria Argentina SRL, Insitum Consultoria Brasil LTDA, Insitum Consultoria Colombia SAS, Insitum Consultoria Europa SL, Insitum Consultoria Peru SAC, Insitum Consultoria S.A. de C.V., Intrepid, Intrigo Systems Inc, Intrigo Systems India Pvt. Limited, Intrigo Systems LLC, Inventor Advertisement (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inventor Technology Limited, InvestTech, Investtech Systems Consulting LLC, Javelin Group, Javelin Group (Bulgaria) EOOD, Javelin Group Limited (UK), Javelin Group SASU, K Comms Group Limited, KCS.net AG, KCS.net AG West, KCS.net Deutschland GmbH, KCS.net Holding AG, KCS.net Osterreich GmbH, Kaper Communications Limited, Karma Communications Debtco Limited, Karma Communications Group Limited, Karma Communications Holdings Limited, Karmarama, Karmarama Comms Limited, Karmarama Limited, Knowledge Rules Inc., Knowledgent, Knowledgent Group LLC, Kogentix, Kogentix LLC, Kogentix Ltd, Kogentix Singapore Pte. Ltd, Kogentix Technologies Private Limited, Kolle Rebbe, Kolle Rebbe GmbH, Kream Comms Limited, Kunstmaan, Kunstmaan NV, Kurt Salmon, Kurt Salmon Canada LTD, Kurt Salmon UKI, Kurt Salmon UKI Ltd., Kurt Salmon US LLC, LEXTA, LINKBYNET, LabAnswer, LabAnswer Government, LemonXL Limited, Logistics Market Place Limited (UK), Loud & Clear Creative Pty Ltd, MAXIM Systems Inc., MCG US Holdings LLC, Mackevision CG Technology and Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Mackevision Corporation, Mackevision Japan Co. Ltd., Mackevision Korea Ltd, Mackevision Medien Design, Mackevision Medien Design GmbH, Mackevision Singapore Pte. Ltd., Mackevision UK Ltd, Maglan, Maglan Information Defense Technologies Research Ltd., Maihiro, Matter, Matter Llc, Maud Corp Pty Limited, Maxamine International, Media Audits Ltd., Media Hive, Mediasenz Pty Ltd., Meredith Specialty LLC, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing Corporation, Meridian Informed Purchasing Ltd., Mindtribe, Mindtribe Product Engineering LLC, MobGen, MobGen Technology S.L, Moonrise NV, Mortgage Cadence, Mortgage Cadence an Accenture Company, Most Champion Ltd, Mudano, N3 LLC, NBS Marketing Inc., NYTEC, Nanjing Demeng Advertising Co. Ltd., Nashco Consulting, NaviSys Inc., NellArmonia, Neo Metrics Analytics S.L., Neo Metrics Chile, Neo Metrics Chile S.A., New Content, New Content Chile SpA, New Content Editora e Produtora Ltda., New Energy Aborda, New Energy Associates Ltd, New Energy Group, New Energy S.r.l., NewsPage, NewsPage (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, NewsPage China Ltd., NewsPage Pte Ltd, Nice Agency Limited, Northstream, Northstream AB, Northstream Holding AB, OCTO Technology, OPS Rules Management Consultants, Octagon Research Solutions Inc., Octo Technology LTDA, Octo Technology Pty Ltd, Octo Technology SA, Octo Technology SPRL, Octoman SAS, Odgaard ApS, Olikka, Openmind, Openminded, Operaciones Accenture S.A. de C.V., OpusLine, Orbium, Orbium Consulting Ltd, Orbium GmbH, Orbium Holding AG, Orbium Inc., Orbium International AG, Orbium International sp. z o.o., Orbium Licences AG, Orbium Limited, Orbium Pte. Ltd., Orbium Pty Ltd, Orbium Services sp. z o.o., Orbium Sarl, Origin Digital, PCO Innovation, PCO Innovation Canada Inc., PCO Innovation EURL, PIXO PUNCH Limited, PLM Systems S.r.l, POC Holdings, PRION GmbH, PT Accenture, PT Asta Catur Indra, PT Kogentix Teknologi Indonesia, Pach Invest SARL, Pach Invest SAS, PacificLink Group, PacificLink iMedia Ltd., Paja Finanssipalvelut Oy, Parker Fitzgerald Inc, Parker Fitzgerald Inc., Parker Fitzgerald International Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Limited, Parker Fitzgerald PTY Ltd, Parker Fitzgerald Services Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Solutions Limited, Partners Technology Mexico Holdings BV, Pecaso Ltd., Pegasus Production K/S, Perseroan Terbatas. Accenture, Phase One Consulting Group, Pillar Technology, Pollux, Pragsis Bidoop, Pragsis Bidoop UK Ltd, Pragsis Technologies S.L, PrimeQ, PrimeQ Australia Pty Ltd, PrimeQ Ltd, PrimeQ NZ Pty Ltd, Procurian Germany GmbH, Procurian Inc., Procurian International I LLC, Procurian International II LLC, Procurian LLC, Procurian Singapore Pte. Ltd., Procurian Switzerland GmbH, Procurian USA LLC, Proquire LLC, PureApps Ltd., Qi Jie Beijing Information Technologies Co Ltd, Radiant Services, Radiant Services LLC, Random Walk Computing Inc., Reactive Media Limited, Reactive Media Pty Ltd., Real Protect, Realworld OO Systems Ltd., Redcore, Redcore (Asia) Pte Ltd, Redcore (India) Private Limited (India), Redcore (New Zealand) Limited, Redcore Group Holdings Pty Ltd, Redcore Pty Ltd, Renacentis IT Services, Revolutionary Security, RiskControl, Rothco, Rothco Holdings Designated Activity Company, Rothco Unlimited Company, S.C. EnergyQuote S.r.l., S3 TV Technology Limited, S3 TV Technology Ltd., SEC Servizi, SEC Servizi S.p.A., SOPIA Corp., Sagacious Consultants, Sagacious Consultants LLC, Salt Solutions, Sanchez Capital Services Pvt Ltd, Schlumberger Business Consulting, Seabury Airline Planning Group, Seabury Aviation & Aerospace (UK) Limited, Seabury Aviation & Aerospace Asia (Hong Kong) Limited, Seabury Aviation Consulting LLC, Seabury Cargo Advisory B.V., Seabury Consulting, Seabury Corporate Advisors LLC, Seabury Human Capital LLC, Seabury Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Seabury Structured Finance LLC, Search Technologies BPO, Search Technologies BPO Inc., Search Technologies GmbH, Search Technologies International LLC, Search Technologies LATAM, Search Technologies LATAM S.A., Search Technologies LLC, Search Technologies Limited, Sente Partners LLC, Sentelis, Servicios Tecnicos de Programacion Accenture S.C., Shackleton, Shackleton Barcelona S.L., Shackleton Chile S.A., Shackleton Madrid S.L., Shackleton S.A., Shanghai Baiyue Advertising Co. Ltd., Shun Zhe Technology Development Co. Ltd., Silveo, Simian Pty Limited, SinnerSchrader, SinnerSchrader AG, SinnerSchrader Commerce GmbH, SinnerSchrader Content GmbH, SinnerSchrader Deutschland GmbH, SinnerSchrader Praha s.r.o., SinnerSchrader Swipe GmbH, Sistemes Consulting S.L., Solutions IQ, Solutions IQ LLC, SolutionsIQ, SolutionsIQ India Consulting Services Private Limited, Storm Digital, Storm Digital B.V., Structure Consulting Group, Structure Consulting Group LLC, Sutter Mills, Systor AG, TQuila Limited (UK), Tadata Creative Unlimited Company, Tara Insurance DAC, Tara Risk DAC, TargetST8, TargetST8 Consulting LLC, Tech - Avanade Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Tecnilogica Ecosistemas S.A., Tecnilogica Ltd., Tecnilogica, The Brand Learning Partners Limited, The Callisto Integration Corporation, The Monkeys, The Monkeys Pty Limited, The Myrtle Group, Total Logistics, Total Logistics Supply Chain Consultants Limited, Tquila, Trivadis AG, Troop Studios Pty Ltd, VanBerlo, Verax Solutions, Verax Solutions Corporation, Vertical Retail Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd., Vertical Retail Consulting Hong Kong, Vertical Retail Consulting Hong Kong Ltd., Vertical Retail Consulting Ltd., Vivere Brasil Servicos e Solucoes SA, Vivere Brasil Solucoes De Credito Ltda., Wabion GmbH, Weblinc Pty Ltd, Wire Stone, Wire Stone LLC, Wire Stone Sarl, Wolox, Workforce Insight, Yesler, Zag, Zenta, Zenta Global Philippines, Zenta Global Philippines Inc., Zenta Mortgage Services LLC, Zenta Recoveries Inc, Zenta US Holdings Inc., Zielpuls, Zielpuls (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zielpuls GmbH, avVenta, designaffairs, designaffairs Business Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., designaffairs GmbH, designaffairs group China Co. Ltd., dgroup, i4C Analytics, iDefense, and solid-serVision.com GmbH.CMC Markets plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides online retail financial services to retail, professional, stockbroking, and institutional clients in Australia, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company provides its clients with the ability to trade contracts for difference and financial spread betting on a range of underlying shares, indices, foreign currencies, commodities, and treasuries through its trading platform. It also offers Australian clients the opportunity to trade Australian and selected international instruments, including shares, options, managed funds, warrants, and exchange traded funds. In addition, the company provides its clients a range of education opportunities through weekly and monthly webinars and seminars, as well as Trader Development programme, which provides a range of in-platform, on-demand education, and tailored market commentary. CMC Markets plc was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read More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..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The following companies are subsidiares of Boston Scientific: 34 Biomedical Merger Corp., 9357-1867 Quebec Inc., Acurate Industria e Comercio Ltda., Advanced Bionics, Advanced Stent Technologies, American Medical Systems, American Medical Systems Europe B.V., Apama Medical, Apama Medical Inc., Asthmatx, Atritech, Augmenix, Augmenix Inc., Augmenix K.K., BSC International Medical Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BSC Medical Device Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BTG, BTG Australasia Pty Ltd, BTG Europe B.V., BTG IM Holdings Ltd., BTG International (Holdings) Limited, BTG International Asia Limited, BTG International Canada Inc., BTG International Germany GmbH, BTG International Healthcare Inc., BTG International Healthcare LLC, BTG International Healthcare Limited, BTG International Inc., BTG International Limited, BTG Limited, BTG Management Services Limited, BTG Medikal Limited Sirketi, Bard Electrophysiology, Barosense, Biocompatibles Inc., Biocompatibles International Limited, Biocompatibles UK Limited, Boston Scientific (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Boston Scientific (South Africa) Proprietary Limited, Boston Scientific (Thailand) Ltd., Boston Scientific (UK) Limited, Boston Scientific AG, Boston Scientific Argentina S.A., Boston Scientific Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Boston Scientific Benelux NV, Boston Scientific Canada Limited, Boston Scientific Ceska republika s.r.o., Boston Scientific Chile SpA, Boston Scientific Colombia Limitada, Boston Scientific Comercial de Costa Rica BSCR S.R.L., Boston Scientific Far East B.V., Boston Scientific Gesellschaft m.b.H., Boston Scientific Group plc, Boston Scientific Hellas S.A., Boston Scientific Hong Kong Limited, Boston Scientific Iberica S.A., Boston Scientific India Private Limited, Boston Scientific International B.V., Boston Scientific International Finance Limited, Boston Scientific International S.A., Boston Scientific Israel Ltd., Boston Scientific Japan K.K., Boston Scientific Korea Co. Ltd., Boston Scientific Lebanon SAL, Boston Scientific Limited, Boston Scientific Ltd., Boston Scientific Medical Device, Boston Scientific Medical Device Limited, Boston Scientific Medizintechnik GmbH, Boston Scientific Middle East FZ-LLC, Boston Scientific Middle East SAL, Boston Scientific Nederland B.V., Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corporation, Boston Scientific New Zealand Limited, Boston Scientific Nordic AB, Boston Scientific Peru S.A.C., Boston Scientific Philippines Inc., Boston Scientific Polska Sp. z o.o., Boston Scientific Portugal - Dispositivos Medicos Lda, Boston Scientific Pty Ltd, Boston Scientific Romania S.R.L., Boston Scientific S.A.S., Boston Scientific S.p.A., Boston Scientific Scimed, Boston Scientific Scimed Inc., Boston Scientific Services Private Limited, Boston Scientific TIP Gerecleri Limited Sirketi, Boston Scientific Technology & Engineering Services Private Limited, Boston Scientific Uruguay S.A., Boston Scientific Vietnam Company Limited, Boston Scientific de Costa Rica S.R.L., Boston Scientific de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Boston Scientific del Caribe Inc., Boston Scientific do Brasil Ltda., Bravo Bidco Limited, BridgePoint Medical, Cameron Health, Cardiac Pacemakers Inc., Cardiac Pathways Corp, Catheter Innovations, Claret Medical, Claret Medical Inc., Cosman Medical, Cosman Medical LLC, CryoCor, Cryterion Medical, Cryterion Medical Inc., Cryterion Medical Ireland Limited, EKOS LLC, EMcision, EMcision International Inc., EP Technologies, EP Technologies Inc., Electron Acquisition Corporation, EndoChoice, EndoChoice Holdings Inc., EndoChoice Inc., EndoChoice Innovation Center Ltd., EndoChoice Israel Ltd., Endotex, Enteric Medical Technologies, Galil Medical Inc., Galil Medical Ltd., Galil Medical UK Limited, Guidant, Guidant Delaware Holding Corporation, Guidant Europe NV, Guidant Puerto Rico B.V., Hong Kong Medtech Trading Limited, Intelect Medical, Millipede, Millipede Inc., NXT Merger Corp., Notebook Merger Sub Ltd., Novate Medical Limited, NxThera, NxThera Inc., PT Boston Scientific Indonesia, PneumRx GmbH, PneumRx LLC, PneumRx Liimited, Protherics Medicines Development B.V., Protherics Medicines Development Limited, Protherics UK Limited, Provensis Limited, RMI Acquisition Corp., Remon Medical Technologies, Rhythmia Medical, Robert S. Smith M.D. Inc., Roxwood Medical Inc., SNS Merger Corp, Sadra Medical, Sadra Medical Inc., Securus Medical Group, Securus Medical Group Inc., Special K Merger Corp., StarMedTec, Stream Enterprises LLC, Symetis, Symetis SA, Target Therapeutics, Target Therapeutics Inc., The LumenR Tissue Retractor System, Veniti, Veniti Inc., VertiFlex, Vertiflex Inc., Vessix Vascular, Xlumena, Zuma Investment Pty Ltd, iogyn, nVision Medical, and nVision Medical Corporation.Stantec Inc. provides professional consulting services in the area of infrastructure and facilities in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company provides consulting services in engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics. It also offers water, transportation, and public works; transportation planning and traffic engineering; and resource assessment, mine development, reclamation, hydrology, and geotechnical and infrastructure engineering services, as well as urban planning, traffic assessments and optimization, environmental impact assessments, and public consultation services. In addition, the company provides structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and hydraulics engineering services. It serves urban regeneration, infrastructure, education, public and private sector, tourism and leisure, and waste and water sectors, as well as office and commercial, residential, and retail and town centers. The company was formerly known as Stanley Technology Group Inc. and changed its name to Stantec Inc. in October 1998. Stantec Inc. was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada.

Read MoreMr. Amazing Loans Corporation, a consumer finance company, provides unsecured online consumer loans to individuals in the United States. It offers loans for debt consolidation, medical expenses, home improvements, auto repairs, purchases, and discretionary spending. The company provides its loans to residents under the Mr. Amazing Loans brand name through its mramazingloans.com Website in 20 states, including Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The company was formerly known as IEG Holdings Corporation. Mr. Amazing Loans Corporation was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Read MoreWells Fargo & Co. is a diversified, community-based financial services company. It is engaged in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance. It firm operates through the following segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Wealth & Investment Management, and Other. The Community Banking segment offers complete line of diversified financial products and services for consumers and small businesses including checking and savings accounts, credit and debit cards, and automobile, student, and small business lending. The Wholesale Banking segment provides financial solutions to businesses across the United States and globally. The Wealth and Investment Management segment includes personalized wealth management, investment and retirement products and services to clients across U.S. based businesses. The Other segment refers to the products of WIM customers served through community banking distribution channels. The company was founded by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo on March 18, 1852 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

Read MoreCartier Resources Inc. engages in the acquisition and exploration of mining properties in Canada. The company explores for gold deposits. Its flagship project is the Chimo mine property located to the east of Val-d'Or, Quebec. The company also holds interest in Benoist, Fenton, Wilson, Cadillac Extension, Dollier, and MacCormack metal deposit projects, which are located in Quebec. Cartier Resources Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Val-d'Or, Canada.

Read MoreElringKlinger AG develops, manufactures, and distributes technical and chemical products for the automotive sector and the general manufacturing industry in Germany and internationally. It operates through four segments: Original Equipment, Aftermarket, Engineered Plastics, and Other. The Original Equipment segment is involved in the development, manufacture, and sale of products and assemblies, such as metal sealing systems and drive train components; thermoplastics for drivetrains, body, and underbody applications; hybrid technologies; thermal, acoustic, and aerodynamic shielding systems; cylinder-head and specialty gaskets; battery and fuel cell components and systems; electric drive units; and exhaust gas purification. This segment serves passenger car and commercial vehicle sectors. The Aftermarket segment offers a range of gaskets, gasket sets, and service parts for the repair of engines, transmissions, exhaust systems, and auxiliary units in cars and commercial vehicles under the Elring A- Das Original brand. This segment serves a network of wholesalers and purchasing organizations. The Engineered Plastics segment develops, manufactures, and markets customized products made from various plastics for the mechanical engineering sector, as well as in medical, chemical, energy, and vehicle industries. The Other segment operates engine test benches and measuring equipment for testing engines, transmissions, and exhaust systems for vehicle manufacturers and automotive suppliers; and offers logistics and catering services. The company was founded in 1879 and is headquartered in Dettingen an der Erms, Germany.

Read MoreGlanbia plc operates as a nutrition company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Glanbia Performance Nutrition, Glanbia Nutritionals, and Glanbia Ireland. The Glanbia Performance Nutrition segment manufactures and sells sports nutrition and lifestyle nutrition products in various formats, including powders, ready-to-eat bars and snacking foods, and ready-to-drink beverages through various channels, such as specialty retail, e-Commerce, and gyms, as well the food, drug, mass, and club channels. The Glanbia Nutritionals segment engages in the manufacture and sale of cheese, dairy and non-dairy nutritional and functional ingredients, and vitamin and mineral premixes. The Glanbia Ireland segment produces and sells a range of value added dairy ingredients and consumer products. This segment also sells animal nutrition and fertilizer products; and operates a chain of agricultural retail outlets in Ireland. The company also engages in the financing, research and development, property and land dealing, receivables management, management, property leasing, business service, and weight management solutions businesses. It operates a portfolio of brands, including OPTIMUM NUTRITION, SlimFast, BSN, ISOPURE, NUTRAMINO, ABB, think!, Amazing Grass, and BODY&FIT brands. Glanbia plc was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in Kilkenny, Ireland.

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.Invesco Asia Trust plc is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Invesco Fund Managers Limited. It is co-managed by INVESCO Asset Management Limited. The fund invests in the public equity markets of Asia and Australia. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. The fund primarily invests in value stocks of companies. It employs fundamental analysis with both bottom-up and top-down stock picking approaches, focusing on such factors as pricing power, market share trends, cash flow, competitive position, future business drivers, and management strategy to create its portfolio. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against MSCI AC Asia Pacific (ex Japan) Index. Invesco Asia Trust plc was formed on July 11, 1995 and is domiciled in the United Kingdom.

Read MoreiShares MSCI Thailand ETF's stock was trading at $63.83 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, THD stock has increased by 14.9% and is now trading at $73.33.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.Ellie Mae, Inc. provides cloud-based platform for the mortgage finance industry in the United States. It provides Encompass, an enterprise solution that engages in running the business of originating mortgages, including marketing and lead management; loan origination and processing; underwriting; preparation of mortgage applications, disclosure agreements, and closing documents; loan funding and closing; compliance with regulatory and investor requirements; and enterprise management. The company's Encompass Digital Lending Platform helps lenders and investors across their workflow from the prospective customers to the point of loan delivery. In addition, the company provides education and training services; professional and technical support services; and loan product, policy, and guideline data and analytics services. Ellie Mae, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.

Read MoreThere is not enough analysis data for Kayne Anderson Energy Infrastructure Fund.

4.1 Community Rank

Outperform Votes Kayne Anderson Energy Infrastructure Fund has received 179 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes Kayne Anderson Energy Infrastructure Fund has received 111 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment Kayne Anderson Energy Infrastructure Fund has received 61.72% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Kayne Anderson Energy Infrastructure Fund and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe KYN will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe KYN will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

Previous

NextLuxoft Holding, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides software development services and IT solutions to multinational corporations. The company offers application software development, software architecture design, performance engineering, optimization and testing, process consulting, and software quality assurance services; functional specification and mock-up, product design, engineering, automated testing, maintenance, support, and performance engineering services; and IT strategy, software engineering process, and data security consulting services. Its products and platforms include Populus, a tool chain for human machine interface (HMI) design and development, and the deployment of automotive user interfaces for distributed embedded systems; Qt Automotive Suite, which enables developers to create stunning user experience and ease the integration toward the system backend; AllView, an user-experience demonstrator; software tools and consulting services focused on scheduling analysis, architecture optimization, and timing verification; Pelux, a base development platform; and ARP, an automotive hardware reference platform. It serves financial services, automotive and transport, healthcare and life sciences, travel and aviation, technology, telecom, energy, and other industries. The company operates in North America, Europe, Russia, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. Luxoft Holding, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland. Luxoft Holding, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of IBS Group Holding Limited.

Read MoreSEATTLE, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pike Street Capital (Pike Street) announced today the acquisition of US BioTek Laboratories, Inc. (US BioTek), a world-wide leader in specialty testing services for food-related allergies and intolerances. The investment is targeted towards expanding and improving the specialty testing services US BioTek provides its core customer base of health and wellness professionals.

US BioTek is an impressive company and, as awareness of food allergies and intolerances continues to grow, one well-positioned to help clinicians assist patients to make better decisions about their health, said Dave Dandel, partner at Pike Street Capital. US BioTeks commitment to quality and customer service is an excellent foundation for future growth in the burgeoning health and wellness industry.

Headquartered in Shoreline, Washington, US BioTek is a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) accredited testing facility that provides a variety of immunology and chemistry profiles to clinicians worldwide. The company was founded and is currently led by Raymond and Margaret Suen, who will remain as investors in US BioTek as they transition to advisory roles.

US BioTek has been looking for a strategic partner that shared our vision for future growth, and thats exactly what we found in Pike Street Capital, said Raymond Suen, US BioTeks president. Pike Streets strategy-to-execution operating model gave us confidence they were bringing operational excellence to the table along with their financial investment, which benefits our customers and employees alike.

Pike Street Capitals investment will help US BioTek improve the quality, efficiency and speed of its testing and reporting capabilities; expand sales and marketing capacity to reach a growing customer base; and bring in new executive leadership to help scale the business.

This investment in US BioTek is all about growing and expanding an exciting and successful company, said Paul Caragher, partner at Pike Street Capital. Since day one, weve been completely impressed by the quality of US BioTeks team and lab, and were excited about the opportunities ahead of us as we extend the reach and capabilities of the business.

About US BioTek Laboratories

Headquartered in Shoreline, Washington, US BioTek Laboratories, Inc. is a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) accredited testing facility that provides a variety of immunology and chemistry profiles to clinicians worldwide. With over 30 years experience in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technology, our dedicated team of experienced scientists and technicians utilize the latest research and technologies. More information is available at www.usbiotek.com

About Pike Street Capital

Seattle-based Pike Street Capital manages a private equity fund focused on growth buyouts in industrial technology in the lower middle market. With over 75+ years of investing and operating experience, Pike Street partners with management teams to build and execute a strategy for future growth. Pike Street Capital was co-founded by Paul Caragher, Dave Dandel and Ed Whatley. More information is available at www.pikestreetcapital.com .

Contact:

John Williams

Scoville PR for Pike Street Capital

206-660-5503, jwilliams@scovillepr.comThe following companies are subsidiares of Thermo Fisher Scientific: 236 Perinton Parkway LLC, 27 Forge Parkway LLC, ABR--Affinity BioReagents, ACI Holdings Inc., ARG Services LLC, ASPEX Corporation, Abgene Inc., Abgene Limited, Acoustic Cytometry Systems Inc., AcroMetrix LLC, Acros Organics B.V.B.A., Advanced Biotechnologies Limited, Advanced Scientifics (ASI), Advanced Scientifics Inc., Advanced Scientifics International Inc., Affymetrix Biotech Participacoes Ltda., Affymetrix Biotech Shanghai Ltd, Affymetrix Inc, Affymetrix Japan K.K., Affymetrix Pte Ltd, Affymetrix UK Ltd, Afora S.A.U., Ahura Scientific, Alchematrix Inc., Alchematrix LLC, Alfa Aesar, Alfa Aesar (China) Chemical Co. Ltd., Alfa Aesar (Hong Kong) Limited, Allergon AB, Alphine Mountain Limited, Ambion Inc., Apogent Denmark ApS, Apogent Finance Company, Apogent Holding Company, Apogent Technologies Inc., Apogent Transition Corp., Apogent U.K. Limited, App-Tek International Pty Ltd, Applied Biosystems B.V., Applied Biosystems Finance B.V., Applied Biosystems International Inc., Applied Biosystems LLC, Applied Biosystems Taiwan LLC, Applied Biosystems Trading (Shanghai) Company Ltd., Applied Biosystems de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Applied Scientific Corporation, Avances Cientificos de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Avocado Research Chemicals Limited, B.R.A.H.M.S. Biotech GmbH, B.R.A.H.M.S. GmbH, B.R.A.H.M.S. UK Ltd, BAC BV, BAC IP BV, Barnstead Thermolyne LLC, Beijing Phadia Diagnostics Co Ltd, Bender MedSystems GmbH, BioTrove Corporation, BioTrove International Inc., Bioanalysis Labsystems S.A., Biochemical Sciences LLC, Biolab, BmT GmbH Laborprodukte, Bonsai Tecnologies - Sistemas para Biotecnologia e Industria Unipessoal Lda, Brammer Bio, Bumi-Sans Sendirian Berhad, CAC Limited, CB Diagnostics AB, CB Diagnostics Holding AB, CEPH International Corporation, CHK Holdings Inc., CRS Robotics, CTPS LLC, Capitol Scientific Products Inc., Capitol Vial Inc., Cellomics Inc., CellzDirect Inc., Cenduit GmbH, Cenduit LLC, Cezanne S.A.S., Chase Scientific Glass Inc., Chromacol Limited, Clintrak, Clintrak Clinical Labeling Services LLC, Clintrak Pharmaceutical Services LLC, Cohesive Technologies (UK) Limited, Cohesive Technologies Inc., Columbia Diagnostics Inc., Compendia Bioscience Inc., Comtest Limited, Consolidated Technologies Inc., Consultores Fisher Scientific Chile Ltd, Core Informatics, Core Informatics LLC, Core Informatics UK Ltd., D-finitive Technologies Inc., DCG Systems B.V., DCG Systems C.V., DCG Systems G.K., DCG Systems GmbH, DCG Systems Korea Ltd., DCG Systems LLC, DPI Newco LLC, DSM Pharmaceutical Products Inc., Dharmacon, Diagnostix Ltd., Dionex (China) Analytical Ltd, Dionex (Switzerland) AG, Dionex (UK) Limited, Dionex Austria GmbH, Dionex Benelux B.V., Dionex Brasil Instrumentos Cientificos Ltda, Dionex Canada Ltd., Dionex China Limited, Dionex Corporation, Dionex Denmark A/S, Dionex Holding GmbH, Dionex I LLC, Dionex Pty Ltd., Dionex S.A., Dionex S.p.A., Dionex Singapore Pte Ltd., Dionex Softron GmbH, Dionex Sweden AB, Distribution Solutions International Inc., Doe & Ingalls Investors Inc., Doe & Ingalls Limited, Doe & Ingalls Management LLC, Doe & Ingalls Properties II LLC, Doe & Ingalls Properties LLC, Doe & Ingalls of California Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Florida Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Maryland Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Massachusetts Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of North Carolina Operating LLC, Doublecape Holding Limited, Doublecape Limited, Drakeside Real Estate Holding Company LLC, Duke Scientific Corporation, Dynal Biotech Beijing Limited, EGS Gauging Ltd., EGS Gauging Technical Services Company, EP Scientific Products LLC, Ecochem N.V., EnviroEquip Pty Ltd, Epsom Glass Industries Limited, Equibio Limited, Erie Electroverre S.A., Erie Finance Limited, Erie LP Holding LLC, Erie Scientific Company of Puerto Rico, Erie Scientific Hungary Kft, Erie Scientific LLC, Erie U.K. Limited, Erie UK 1 Limited, Erie UK 2 Limited, Erie UK Holding Company, Erie UK Senior Holding Limited, European Laboratory Holdings Limited, Eutech Instruments Europe B.V., Eutech Instruments Pte Ltd., Eutech Instruments Sdn Bhd, Ever Ready Thermometer Co. Inc., FEI Asia Pacific Co. Ltd., FEI Australia Pty Ltd, FEI CPD B.V., FEI Company, FEI Company Japan Ltd., FEI Company of USA (S.E.A.) Pte Ltd., FEI Czech Republic s.r.o., FEI Deutschland GmbH, FEI EFA Inc., FEI EFA International Pte. Ltd., FEI Electron Optics B.V., FEI Electron Optics International B.V., FEI Europe B.V., FEI France SAS, FEI Global Holdings C.V., FEI Hong Kong Company Limited, FEI Houston Inc., FEI Italia Srl, FEI Korea Ltd., FEI Melbourne Pty Ltd., FEI Microscopy Solutions Ltd, FEI Munich GmbH, FEI Norway Holding AS, FEI SAS, FEI Saudi Arabia LLC, FEI Servicos de Nanotecnologia Ltda., FEI Technologies Inc., FEI Technology de Mexico S.A. de C.V., FEI Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., FEI Trondheim AS, FEI UK Ltd., FHP LLC, FRC Holding Inc. V, FS (Barbados) Capital Holdings Ltd., FS Casa Rocas Holdings LLC, FS Mexicana Holdings LLC, FSI Receivables Company LLC, FSII Sweden Holdings AB, FSII Sweden Holdings I AB, FSIR Holdings (UK) Limited, FSIR Holdings (US) Inc., FSUK Holdings Limited, FSWH Company LLC, FSWH II C.V., FSWH International Holdings LLC, Fermentas China Co. Ltd, Fermentas Inc., Fermentas International, Fermentas Sweden AB, Fermentas UK Limited, Fiberlite Centrifuge LLC, Finesse Scientific Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Finesse Solutions AG, Finesse Solutions Inc., Finnzymes Oy, Fisher Alder S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Asia Manufacturing Ventures Inc., Fisher Bermuda Holdings Limited, Fisher BioImage ApS, Fisher BioPharma Services (India) Private Limited, Fisher BioSciences Japan G.K., Fisher BioServices Inc., Fisher Bioblock Holding II SNC, Fisher CLP Holding Limited Partnership, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 1, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 2, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 3, Fisher Canada Limited Partnership, Fisher Chimica BVBA, Fisher Clinical Logistics LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services (Bristol) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Colombia) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Korea) Co. Ltd, Fisher Clinical Services (Mexico) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Peru) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services Colombia S.A.S., Fisher Clinical Services GmbH, Fisher Clinical Services Inc., Fisher Clinical Services Japan K.K., Fisher Clinical Services Latin America S.R.L., Fisher Clinical Services Limited Liability Company, Fisher Clinical Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Clinical Services Peru S.R.L, Fisher Clinical Services Pte Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services U.K. Limited, Fisher Emergo B.V., Fisher Germany Holdings GmbH, Fisher Hamilton China Inc., Fisher Hamilton Mexico LLC, Fisher Holdings ApS, Fisher Internet Minority Holdings L.L.C., Fisher Laboratory Products Manufacturing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Fisher Luxembourg Danish Holdings SARL, Fisher Manufacturing (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Maybridge Holdings Limited, Fisher Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Scientific (Austria) GmbH, Fisher Scientific (Hong Kong) Limited, Fisher Scientific (M) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Scientific (SEA) Pte. Ltd., Fisher Scientific A/S, Fisher Scientific AG, Fisher Scientific Australia Pty Limited, Fisher Scientific Biotech Line ApS, Fisher Scientific Brazil Inc., Fisher Scientific Central America Inc., Fisher Scientific Chile Inc., Fisher Scientific Colombia Inc., Fisher Scientific Company, Fisher Scientific Company L.L.C., Fisher Scientific Costa Rica Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Fisher Scientific Europe Holdings B.V., Fisher Scientific GTF AB, Fisher Scientific Germany Beteiligungs GmbH, Fisher Scientific GmbH, Fisher Scientific Holding Company LLC, Fisher Scientific Holding HK Limited, Fisher Scientific Holding U.K. Limited, Fisher Scientific Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Scientific Holdings (S) Pte Ltd, Fisher Scientific International LLC, Fisher Scientific Investments (Cayman) Ltd., Fisher Scientific Ireland Investments Unlimited, Fisher Scientific Ireland Limited, Fisher Scientific Japan Ltd., Fisher Scientific Jersey Island Limited, Fisher Scientific Korea Ltd, Fisher Scientific Latin America Inc., Fisher Scientific Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Fisher Scientific Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Scientific Mexico Inc., Fisher Scientific Middle East and Africa Inc., Fisher Scientific Norway AS, Fisher Scientific Operating Company, Fisher Scientific Oxoid Holdings Ltd., Fisher Scientific Oy, Fisher Scientific Pte. Ltd., Fisher Scientific S.A.S., Fisher Scientific S.L., Fisher Scientific SPRL, Fisher Scientific The Hague I B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague II B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague III B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague IV B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague V B.V., Fisher Scientific U.K. Limited, Fisher Scientific UK Holding Company 2, Fisher Scientific UK Holding Company Limited, Fisher Scientific Unipessoal Lda., Fisher Scientific Venezuela Inc., Fisher Scientific Worldwide (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Fisher Scientific Worldwide Holdings I C.V., Fisher Scientific Worldwide Inc., Fisher Scientific de Mexico S.A., Fisher Scientific of the Netherlands B.V., Fisher Scientific spol. S.r.o, Fisher Servicios Clinicos (Chile) LLC, Fisher Servicios Clinicos Chile Ltda, Fisher WWD Holding L.L.C., Fisher Worldwide Distribution SPV, Fisher Worldwide Gene Distribution SPV, Flux Instruments, Fuji Partnership, G & M Procter Limited, G V Instruments Limited, GV Instruments Canada Ltd., GV Instruments Inc, Gatan Inc, General Scientific Company Sdn Bhd (M), Genomed molekularbiologische und diagnostische Produkte GmbH, Gerhard Menzel B.V. & Co. KG, Gold Cattle Standard Testing Labs Inc., Golden West Indemnity Company Limited, Goring Kerr Detection Limited, Greenville Service Company Inc., HENO GmbH i.L., Hangar 215 Inc., Helmet Securities Limited, Henogen, HighChem, HyClone International Trade (Tianjin) Co. Ltd, Hybaid Limited, I.Q. (BIO) Limited, IDnostics AG, ILS Laboratories Scandinavia AB, Inel Inc., Inel SAS, InnaPhase Inc., InnaPhase Limited, IntegenX, Intrinsic BioProbes Inc., Intrinsic Bioprobes Inc., Invitrogen (Shanghai) Investment Co. Ltd., Invitrogen Argentina SA, Invitrogen BioServices India Private Limited, Invitrogen Europe Limited, Invitrogen Finance Corp., Invitrogen Holdings LLC, Invitrogen Holdings Ltd., Invitrogen Hong Kong Limited, Invitrogen IP Holdings Inc., Invitrogen Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ion Torrent Systems Inc., Ionalytics Corporation, JSC Thermo Fisher Scientific, Jouan LLC, Jouan Limited, Jouan SA, Kendro Containment & Services Limited, Kendro Laboratory Products Ltd, Kettlebrook Insurance Co. ltd., Keystone Scientific, KonTEM GmbH, Kyle Jordan Investments LLC, LIFE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, LTC Tech South Africa PTY Ltd., La-Pha-Pack GmbH, Lab Vision (UK) Limited, Lab Vision Corporation, Lab-Chrom-Pack LLC, Lab-Line Instruments Inc., Labomex MBP S. de R. L. De C.V., Laboratoire Service International - L.S.I, Laboratory Management Systems Inc., Laboratory Specialties Proprietary Ltd., LambTrack Limited, Laser Analytical Systems Inc., Liberty Lane Investment LLC, Liberty Lane Real Estate Holding Company LLC, Life Sciences International (Poland) SP z O.O, Life Sciences International Holdings BV, Life Sciences International LLC, Life Sciences International Limited, Life Technologies AS, Life Technologies Australia PTY Ltd., Life Technologies BPD AB, Life Technologies BPD UK Limited, Life Technologies Brasil Comercio e Industria de Produtos para Biotecnologia Ltda, Life Technologies Chile SpA, Life Technologies Clinical Services Lab Inc., Life Technologies Co. Ltd., Life Technologies Czech Republic s.r.o., Life Technologies DaAn Diagnostic (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Life Technologies Europe B.V., Life Technologies Finance Ltd., Life Technologies Finland Oy, Life Technologies GmbH, Life Technologies Holdings PTE Ltd., Life Technologies Inc., Life Technologies International B.V., Life Technologies Japan Ltd., Life Technologies Korea LLC, Life Technologies Limited, Life Technologies Magyarorszag Kft, Life Technologies New Zealand Ltd., Life Technologies Norway Investments US LLC, Life Technologies Polska Sp z.o.o., Life Technologies SA, Life Technologies SAS, Life Technologies s.r.o, Linkage Biosciences Inc., Linkage Biosciences S.a.r.l., Loftus Furnace Company, Lomb Scientific, Lomb Scientific (Aust) Pty Limited, MTI-GlobalStem, Marketbase International Limited, Matrix MicroScience Inc., Matrix MicroScience Ltd., Matrix Technologies Corporation Limited, Matrix Technologies LLC, Maybridge Chemical Company Limited, Maybridge Chemical Holdings Limited, Maybridge Limited, Medical Analysis Systems Inc., Medical Analysis Systems International Inc., Medical Diagnostics Systems Inc., Metavac LLC, Microgenics Corporation, Microgenics Diagnostics Pty Limited, Microgenics GmbH, Microm International GmbH, Microm Laborgerate S.L.U, Molecular BioProducts Inc., Molecular Probes Inc., Molecular Transfer Inc., NAPCO Inc., NERL Diagnostics LLC, NOVODIRECT GmbH Labor- und Industrie- Megerate, Nalge (Europe) Limited, Nalge Nunc International (Monterrey) LLC, Nalge Nunc International Corporation, Nanjing WeiKangLe Trading Industrial Co Ltd, NanoDrop Technologies LLC, National Scientific Company, Navaho Acquisition Corp., Neomarkers Inc., New FS Holdings Inc., NewcoGen PE LLC, Nihon Dynal K.K., Niton Asia Limited, NovaWave Technologies Inc., Nunc A/S, ONIX Systems Inc., OXOID CZ s.r.o., Odyssey Holdings Corporation, Odyssey Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Odyssey Luxembourg IP Holdings 1 S.a r.l., Odyssey Luxembourg IP Holdings 2 S.a r.l., Odyssey Venture Corporation, Omega Data Systems, One Lambda Inc, Onix Holdings Limited, Orme Scientific Limited, Owl Separation Systems LLC, Oxoid (ELY) Limited, Oxoid 2000 Limited, Oxoid AS, Oxoid Australia Pty. Limited, Oxoid Company, Oxoid Deutschland GmbH, Oxoid Holding SAS, Oxoid Holdings Limited, Oxoid Inc., Oxoid International Limited, Oxoid Investments GmbH, Oxoid Limited, Oxoid N.V., Oxoid New Zealand Limited, Oxoid Pension Trustees Limited, Oxoid Senior Holdings Limited, Oxoid UKH LLC, PAX - DSI Acquisition LLC, PE AG, Pacific Rim Far East Industries LLC, Pacific Rim Investment LLC, Panomics L.L.C., Panomics S.R.L., Patheon, Patheon API Inc., Patheon API Manufacturing Inc., Patheon API Services Inc., Patheon Austria GmbH & Co KG, Patheon B.V., Patheon Banner U.S. Holdings Inc., Patheon Biologics (NJ) LLC, Patheon Biologics Australia Pty Ltd, Patheon Biologics B.V., Patheon Biologics LLC, Patheon Calculus Merger LLC, Patheon Cooperatief U.A., Patheon Development Services Inc., Patheon Finance LLC, Patheon France SAS, Patheon Holdings B.V., Patheon Holdings I B.V., Patheon Holdings II B.V., Patheon Holdings SAS, Patheon I B.V., Patheon I Holding GmbH, Patheon Inc., Patheon International AG, Patheon Italia S.p.A., Patheon KK, Patheon Life Science Products International GmbH, Patheon Manufacturing Services LLC, Patheon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Patheon Pharmaceuticals Services Inc., Patheon Puerto Rico Acquisitions Corporation, Patheon Puerto Rico Inc., Patheon Regensburg GmbH, Patheon Softgels B.V., Patheon Softgels Inc., Patheon U.S. Holdings Inc., Patheon U.S. Holdings LLC, Patheon UK Limited, Patheon UK Pension Trustees Limited, Pelican Acquisition Corporation, Perbio Science (Canada) Company, Perbio Science AB, Perbio Science BVBA, Perbio Science France SAS, Perbio Science Inc., Perbio Science International Netherlands B.V., Perbio Science Invest AB, Perbio Science Nederland B.V., Perbio Science Projekt AB, Perbio Science Sweden Holdings AB, Perbio Science Switzerland SA, Perbio Science UK Limited, Phadia AB, Phadia Diagnosticos Ltda, Phadia GmbH, Phadia Holding AB, Phadia International Holdings C.V., Phadia Korea Co. Ltd, Phadia Luxembourg Holdings S.a.r.l., Phadia Malta Holdings Limited, Phadia Oy, Phadia Real Property AB, Phadia Sweden AB, Phadia Taiwan Inc., Phadia US Inc., Phadia s.r.o., Pharmacaps Mexicana SA de CV, Phenom-World B.V., Phenom-World Holding B.V, Phenom-World Innovations B.V., Phinotex, Pierce Biotechnology Inc., Pierce Milwaukee Holding Corp., Pierce Milwaukee Inc., Polychromix, Power Sweden Holdings I AB, Power Sweden Holdings II AB, Power Sweden Holdings III Aktiebolag, Princeton Gamma-Tech Instruments LLC, Princeton Security Technologies, Prionics AG, Prionics Asia Ltd., Prionics Deutschland GmbH, Prionics France SAS, Prionics Italia S.r.l., Prionics Lelystad B.V., Prionics USA Inc., Priority Air Express LLC, Priority Air Express Pte. Ltd., Priority Air Express UK Limited, Priority Air Holdings Corp, Priority Solutions International, Promedica Pty Limited, Proxeon, Proxeon Biosystems ApS, Qiagen, REP GBP I-B Blocker Inc., Raymond A Lamb Limited, Remel Europe Limited, Remel Inc., Richard-Allan Scientific Company, Robbins Scientific LLC, Robocon Labor- und Industrieroboter Gesellschaft m.b.H, Rupprecht and Patashnick, Rupprecht and Patashnick (R&P), Russell pH Limited, S.C.I. du 10 rue Dugay Trouin, SCI Inno 92, STC Bio Manufacturing Inc., Samco Scientific (Monterrey) LLC, Samco Scientific LLC, Saroph Sweden AB, Schantz Road LLC, Seradyn Inc., Shanghai Life Technologies Biotechnology Co. Limited, Shanghai Thermo Fisher (C-I) Trading Co. Ltd, Shanghai Thermo Fisher (S) Trading Co. Ltd, Southern Trials (Pty) Ltd., Specialty (SMI) Inc., Spectra-Physics AB, Spectra-Physics Holdings Limited, Spectra-Physics Holdings USA LLC, Spectronex, Staten Island Cogeneration Corporation, Sterilin Limited, Stokes Bio Ltd., Sweden DIA (Sweden) AB, SwissAnalytic Group GmbH, Systems Manufacturing Corporation, TFLP LLC, TFS Breda B.V., TFS LLC, TFS Singapore HK Limited, TFSL Financing GP LLC, TFSL Senior GP Holdings 2 LLC, TK Partnership, TKA Wasseraufbereitungssysteme, TMOI Inc., TPI Real Estate Holdings LLC, TSP Holdings I LLC, TWX LLC, Technology Design Solutions Pty Ltd, Thermedics Detection de Argentina S.R.L, Thermo Allen Coding Limited, Thermo Asset Management Services Inc., Thermo BioAnalysis LLC, Thermo BioAnalysis Limited, Thermo BioSciences Holdings LLC, Thermo CIDTEC, Thermo CRS Holdings Ltd., Thermo CRS Ltd., Thermo Cambridge Limited, Thermo Cayman Holdings Ltd., Thermo Corporation, Thermo DMA Inc., Thermo Detection de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Thermo Dutch Holdings Limited Partnership, Thermo EGS Gauging LLC, Thermo Eberline Holdings I LLC, Thermo Eberline Holdings II LLC, Thermo Eberline LLC, Thermo Electron (Calgary) Limited, Thermo Electron (Chile) S.p.A., Thermo Electron (Karlsruhe) GmbH, Thermo Electron (Management Services) Limited, Thermo Electron (Proprietary) Limited, Thermo Electron A/S, Thermo Electron Australia Pty Limited, Thermo Electron Export Inc., Thermo Electron Holdings SAS, Thermo Electron Industries, Thermo Electron LED GmbH, Thermo Electron LED S.A.S., Thermo Electron Limited, Thermo Electron Manufacturing Limited, Thermo Electron Metallurgical Services Inc., Thermo Electron North America LLC, Thermo Electron Pension Trust GmbH, Thermo Electron Puerto Rico Inc., Thermo Electron SAS, Thermo Electron Scientific Instruments LLC, Thermo Electron Sweden AB, Thermo Electron Sweden Forvaltning AB, Thermo Electron Weighing & Inspection Limited, Thermo Elemental Limited, Thermo Environmental Instruments LLC, Thermo Fast U.K. Limited, Thermo Finland Holdings LLC, Thermo Finland Holdings MT1 B.V., Thermo Finland Holdings MT2 B.V., Thermo Finnigan LLC, Thermo Finnigan Limited, Thermo Fisher (CN) Luxembourg Holding S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher (CN) Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher (CN) Malta Holdings Limited, Thermo Fisher (CN-I) Luxembourg LLC, Thermo Fisher (CN-II) Luxembourg LLC, Thermo Fisher (Cayman) Holdings I Ltd., Thermo Fisher (Cayman) Holdings II Ltd., Thermo Fisher (Finland Holdings 2) LLC, Thermo Fisher (Finland Holdings) Limited Partnership, Thermo Fisher (Gibraltar) II Limited, Thermo Fisher (Gibraltar) Limited, Thermo Fisher (Heysham) Limited, Thermo Fisher (Kandel) GmbH, Thermo Fisher CHK Holding LLC, Thermo Fisher China Business Trust, Thermo Fisher China Business Trust II, Thermo Fisher Costa Rica Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Thermo Fisher Cyprus Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Detection Mexico LLC, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics (Ireland) Limited, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics AB, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics AG, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics AS, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Aps, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Austria GmbH, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics B.V., Thermo Fisher Diagnostics GmbH, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics K.K., Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Limited, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics NV, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics S.L.U., Thermo Fisher Diagnostics S.p.A. , Thermo Fisher Diagnostics SAS, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Thermo Fisher Eurobonds Ltd., Thermo Fisher Financial Services Inc., Thermo Fisher GP LLC, Thermo Fisher German Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Germany B.V., Thermo Fisher India Divestco Private Limited, Thermo Fisher India Holding B.V., Thermo Fisher Insurance Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Insurance Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Investments (Cayman) Ltd., Thermo Fisher Israel Ltd., Thermo Fisher Production et Services SAS, Thermo Fisher Project Cyprus LLC, Thermo Fisher Re Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Asheville) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Australia) C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Barbados) Holdings Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Breda) Holding BV, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Bremen) GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific (CN) Limited Partnership, Thermo Fisher Scientific (China) Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (China) Holding Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (China-HK) Holding Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (DE) Holding S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Ecublens) SARL, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance I) B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance I) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance II) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance III) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance III) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Fuji) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Holding II) B.V. & Co. KG, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Hong Kong) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (IVGN) B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (IVGN) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Johannesburg) (Proprietary) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Mexico City) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Milwaukee) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Mississauga) Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Monterrey) S. De R.L. De C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (NK) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN) Austria Holding GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN) UK LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN) UK Limited Partnership, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN-I) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN-II) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN1) UK Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Panama) B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Panama) Dutch LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Praha) s.r.o., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Real Estate 1) GmbH & Co. KG, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Real Estate 1) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Schweiz) AG, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Shanghai) Instruments Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Suzhou) Instruments Co. Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific AL-1 LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific AU C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific AU II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific AU LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific AU Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Africa Proprietary Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Aquasensors LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Australia Pty Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific B.V.B.A., Thermo Fisher Scientific BHK (I) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific BHK (II) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Baltics UAB, Thermo Fisher Scientific Beteiligungsverwaltungs GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Biosciences Corp., Thermo Fisher Scientific Brahms LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Brasil Instrumentos de Processo Ltda., Thermo Fisher Scientific Brasil Servicos de Logistica Ltda, Thermo Fisher Scientific C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cayman Investments LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Chemicals Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific China (C-I) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific China (S) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings I B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings II B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings III B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings IV B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Chromatography Holdings Aps, Thermo Fisher Scientific Chromatography Holdings S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus I C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus I Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus II Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus III C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus III Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus IV C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus V C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Denmark Senior Holdings ApS, Thermo Fisher Scientific Erie 1 Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Erie Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Erie Financing S.a r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Europe GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC Finance C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC II B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific FSIR Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific FSIR Financing S.a.r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific FSUKHCO Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Falcon Senior Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Finance Company BV, Thermo Fisher Scientific GENEART GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Germany BV & Co. KG, Thermo Fisher Scientific GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific HR Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Holdings (Cayman) I, Thermo Fisher Scientific Holdings (Cayman) II , Thermo Fisher Scientific Holdings Europe Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific IT Services GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific India Holding LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific India Pvt Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Malta) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Sweden) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Sweden) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments Malta (Sweden Financing) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Invitrogen Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Japan Holdings I B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Japan Holdings II B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Japan Holdings III B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific K.K., Thermo Fisher Scientific Korea Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific LSI Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life CV GP Holdings II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life CV GP Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Enterprises C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Enterprises GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing (Cayman), Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings I C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings III C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life International GP Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life International Holdings I C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life International Holdings II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments I S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments II S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments III S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments IV S.a.r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta Holding I LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta Holding II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta I Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments US Financing I LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments US Financing II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life NL Holdings GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Netherlands Holding C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior GP Holdings II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior GP Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior Holdings C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior Holdings II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Switzerland Holdings GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Tech Korea Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Enterprise Holding Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment I LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment UK I Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment UK II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investments Holding LP, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Israel Investment I Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Israel Investment II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Luxembourg Holding LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Enterprise Holdings S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg German Holdings S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Life Technologies UK Holding S.a r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Sweden Holdings I S.a r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Sweden Holdings II S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Venture Holdings I S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Venture Holdings II S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Malta Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Messtechnik GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Mexico City S. de R.L. de C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Middle East Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Milano Srl, Thermo Fisher Scientific NHK Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific New Zealand Holdings, Thermo Fisher Scientific New Zealand Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Norway Holdings AS, Thermo Fisher Scientific Norway US Investments LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Odyssey Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Odyssey Holdings Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Operating Company LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Oy, Thermo Fisher Scientific PN2 C.V, Thermo Fisher Scientific PN2 LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific PRB LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific PRB Malta Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific PRB S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Panama I Cayman Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Peru S.R.L., Thermo Fisher Scientific Pte. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Re Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific SL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Senior Financing LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Senior Holdings Australia LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific South Africa Proprietary Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific SpA, Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra Malta Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra-Physics Holdings Luxembourg I S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra-Physics Holdings Luxembourg II S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra-Physics Investments Malta Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Switzerland Holdings C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific TR Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Taiwan Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific West Palm Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Wissenschaftliche Gerate GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Worldwide Investments (Cayman), Thermo Fisher Scientific eCommerce Solutions LLC , Thermo Fisher Senior Canada Holdings LLC, Thermo Foundation Inc., Thermo Gamma-Metrics Holdings Pty Ltd., Thermo Gamma-Metrics LLC, Thermo Gamma-Metrics Pty Ltd, Thermo Holding European Operations LLC, Thermo Hypersil Ltd, Thermo Hypersil-Keystone LLC, Thermo Informatics Asia Pacific Pty Ltd., Thermo Instrument Controls de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Thermo Kevex X-Ray LLC, Thermo Keytek LLC, Thermo LabSystems Inc., Thermo LabSystems S.A., Thermo Life Science International Trading (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Thermo Life Sciences AB, Thermo Luxembourg Holding S.a.r.l., Thermo Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Thermo MF Physics LLC, Thermo Measurement Ltd, Thermo Measuretech Canada Inc., Thermo Neslab LLC, Thermo Nicolet Limited, Thermo Onix Limited, Thermo Optek (Australia) Pty Ltd., Thermo Optek Limited, Thermo Optek S.A., Thermo Orion Inc., Thermo Portable Holdings LLC, Thermo Power Corporation, Thermo Process Instruments GP LLC, Thermo Process Instruments L.P., Thermo Projects Limited, Thermo Quest S.A., Thermo Radiometrie Limited, Thermo Ramsey Italia S.r.l., Thermo Ramsey LLC, Thermo Ramsey S.A., Thermo Re Ltd., Thermo Scientific Microbiology Pte Ltd., Thermo Scientific Microbiology Sdn Bhd, Thermo Scientific Portable Analytical Instruments Inc., Thermo Scientific Services Inc., Thermo Securities Corporation, Thermo Sentron Canada Inc., Thermo Sentron Limited, Thermo Shandon Inc., Thermo Shandon Limited, Thermo Suomi Holding B.V., Thermo TLH (UK) Limited, Thermo TLH L.P., Thermo Trace Pty Ltd., Thermo-Fisher Biochemical Product (Beijing) Co. Ltd., ThermoLase LLC, ThermoSpectra Limited, Trek Diagnostic Systems LLC, Trek Diagnostic Systems Ltd., Trek Holding Company II Ltd., Trek Holding Company Ltd., Trex Medical Corporation, USB Corporation, Union Lab Supplies Limited, United Diagnostics Inc., VG Systems Limited, Westover Scientific Inc., ZAO PE Biosystems, eBioscience GmbH, eBioscience Ltd, eBioscience SAS, and picoSpin LLC.The state of Missouri is locked in debate on the future of the long-ailing Kansas City Public Schools, mulling over a number of different proposals to improve schools. But to read local media reports and talk to close observers in the states largest city, theres really only one plan: a proposal that would wrest direct control of all 34 Kansas City Schools from the district and hand over management to charter operators and nonprofits.Its a plan that radically shifts control of per-pupil dollars to the people running schools, leaving the central office with a few basic functions and the role of monitoring the progress of independent schools and holding them accountable for their performance. Proponents call it a long-overdue attempt to change a failing district by injecting tougher standards, real enforcement mechanisms and greater freedom into the district. Critics say a decentralized system isnt the answer in a district where 36 percent of its 26,000 students already attend charter schools, which operate under their own boards but receive public money.In Missouri, school districts have to meet nine of 14 performance standards on annual reports to maintain accreditation and six for provisional status. An unaccredited district has to pay tuition costs for students who are then free to transfer to accredited districts. Kansas City lost accreditation in 2011 and is fighting for provisional status through the courts and in the classroom, hoping to show enough improvement this year to beat back a state takeover.Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro wants to recommend one of several plans to the state board in mid-February to allow time for a vote and implementation, but ther has hinted that consulting firm Cities for Education Entrepreneurship Trust has been the clear favorite , based on communications between officials and CEE-Trust leadership underway well before the firm received $385,000 to deliver a proposal.CEE-Trust is a pro-charter advocacy organization with 33 affiliates in 23 cities. The Missouri plans major initiatives mirror those of a December 2011 proposal from an Indianapolis affiliate that failed to win the approval of the Indiana state school board. If Missouris state school board adopted the plan, the state would dissolve the local school board and create a smaller district office headed by an appointee of the commissioner of education. The new state office would still handle transportation and some administrative functions, but its chief role would be evaluating and managing contracts from independent school operators, whether national charter lines, community groups or local educators who form a nonprofit. That decentralization would mean principals would control about $10,000 per pupil compared with about $800 today, the report concludes, and on top of that the system could afford to fund city-wide pre-kindergarten. When educators are controlling $10,000 per student theres an enormous opportunity in those schools, said Ethan Gray, the CEO and founder of CEE-Trust. In the final draft of our report in the next two or three weeks we are actually going to do a model school budget to show whats possible. You can lower class sizes, increase pay and extend the school day with this budget.Every school in the district would have to reapply to whats called the Community Schools Office as a nonprofit with a full educational plan and standards to meet. Those that couldnt find independent operators would remain under the authority of a separate transitional office that has total power over staffing and acts more like a traditional district but with the goal of making a school more attractive to an independent operator.Grays report points to a number of nationally known charter school organizations, such as Uncommon Schools, and city initiatives in New Orleans and New York City as examples of successful reform that Kansas Citys new model could foster. The problem with Missouris charter-school policy now, Gray says, is the challenge of actually revoking a charter for bad performance or actively monitoring schools. Such challenges have kept many ineffective charters open in Kansas City, he argues.But critics find fault with the examples, arguing the link between New Orleans revival and its rapid transition to greater individual autonomy is shaky at best and charter schools unfairly inflate achievement by covering up high student turnover and serving less demanding populations. Newarks North Star Academy, for example, which is run by Uncommon Schools, may beat city-wide averages, but it loses half of its students between grades five through 12, it serves half the percentage of students with disabilities and 15 percent fewer of its students are in poverty, notes Bruce Baker, a professor of education finance at Rutgers University.We dont have evidence that chartering--that this kind of quasi-independent structure--in and of itself leads to improved productivity or efficiency, he said in an interview. Thats not to mention concerns about due process rights of students and access to public records in a district thats entirely run by private entities, he added.For Jan Parks of Kansas Citys Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity, the problem with CEE-Trusts plan is that its essentially irreversible, and turnover among school operators will lead to chaotic churning of student populations. As they transition to these nonprofit groups, if theyre not good and theyre disbanded we have a question of what happens to the kids in the meantime? she said.But others in Kansas City see the plan as its only chance for substantive changeeven if they still harbor reservations about how it will play out. Ajamu Webster is a civil engineer who has long served on various advisory committees and chaired the governing board of an African-centered school. He said the concept works, but the state needs to ensure that contracts with independent operators allow enough time to show progress and the Community Schools Office takes steps to ensure locals arent pushed out of contention by large charter-school lines.Its substantially better than the alternative, calling (the district) provisional and seeing what happens in the next two or three years, because I dont have any faith well make any substantial change, based on the history of the district, he said. Given the political pressure on Nicastro to back off the plan, though, its adoption is far from certain, Webster said. Theyll be off the hook, but the students and the parents will be left hanging, he said.PetroChina Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in a range of petroleum related products, services, and activities in Mainland China and internationally. It operates through Exploration and Production, Refining and Chemicals, Marketing, and Natural Gas and Pipeline segments. The Exploration and Production segment engages in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil and natural gas. The Refining and Chemicals segment refines crude oil and petroleum products; and produces and markets primary petrochemical products, derivative petrochemical products, and other chemical products. The Marketing segment is involved in marketing of refined products and trading business. The Natural Gas and Pipeline segment engages in the transmission of natural gas, crude oil, and refined products; and sale of natural gas. As of December 31, 2020, the company had a total length of 31,151 km, including 22,555 km of natural gas pipelines, 7,190 km of crude oil pipelines, and 1,406 km of refined product pipelines. The company is also involved in the exploration, development, and production of oil sands and coalbed methane; trading of crude oil and petrochemical products; storage, chemical engineering, storage facilities, service station, and transportation facilities and related businesses; and production and sales of basic and derivative chemical, and other chemical products. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. PetroChina Company Limited is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of BP: 200 PS Overseas Holdings Inc., 563916 Alberta Ltd., ACP (Malaysia) Inc., AE Cedar Creek Holdings LLC, AE Goshen II Holdings LLC, AE Goshen II Wind Farm LLC, AE Power Services LLC, AE Wind PartsCo LLC, AM/PM International Inc., ARCO, ARCO British International, ARCO British Limited, ARCO Coal Australia Inc., ARCO El-Djazair Holdings Inc., ARCO Environmental Remediation L.L.C., ARCO Exploration Inc., ARCO Gaviota Company, ARCO International Investments Inc., ARCO International Services Inc., ARCO Midcon LLC, ARCO Oil Company Nigeria Unlimited, ARCO Oman Inc, ARCO Resources Limited, ARCO Trinidad Exploration and Production Company Limited, ARCO Unimar Holdings LLC, Actomat B.V., Advance Petroleum Holdings Pty Ltd, Advance Petroleum Pty Ltd, Air BP Albania SHA, Air BP Brasil Ltda., Air BP Canada LLC, Air BP Croatia d.o.o., Air BP Finland Oy, Air BP Iceland, Air BP Limited, Air BP Norway AS, Air BP Sales Romania S.R.L., Air BP Sweden AB, Air Refuel Pty Ltd, Allgreen Pty Ltd, AmProp Finance Company, American Oil Company, Amoco (Fiddich) Limited, Amoco (U.K.) Exploration Company LLC., Amoco Bolivia Petroleum Company, Amoco Bolivia Services Company Inc., Amoco Canada International Holdings B.V., Amoco Capline Pipeline Company, Amoco Chemical (Europe) S.A., Amoco Chemicals (FSC) B.V., Amoco Cypress Pipeline Company, Amoco Destin Pipeline Company, Amoco Environmental Services Company, Amoco Exploration Holdings B.V., Amoco Guatemala Petroleum Company, Amoco International Finance Corporation, Amoco International Petroleum Company, Amoco Leasing Corporation, Amoco Louisiana Fractionator Company, Amoco MB Fractionation Company, Amoco MBF Company, Amoco Main Pass Gathering Company, Amoco Marketing Environmental Services Company, Amoco Netherlands Petroleum Company, Amoco Nigeria Exploration Company Limited, Amoco Nigeria Oil Company Limited, Amoco Nigeria Petroleum Company, Amoco Nigeria Petroleum Company Limited, Amoco Norway Oil Company, Amoco Oil Holding Company, Amoco Olefins Corporation, Amoco Overseas Exploration Company, Amoco Pipeline Asset Company, Amoco Pipeline Holding Company, Amoco Properties Incorporated, Amoco Remediation Management Services Corporation, Amoco Research Operating Company, Amoco Rio Grande Pipeline Company, Amoco Somalia Petroleum Company, Amoco Sulfur Recovery Company, Amoco Tri-States NGL Pipeline Company, Amoco Trinidad Gas B.V., Amoco U.K. Petroleum Limited, Amprop Illinois I Limited, Amprop Inc., Anaconda Arizona Inc., Arabian Production And Marketing Lubricants, Aral Aktiengesellschaft, Aral Luxembourg S.A., Aral Services Luxembourg Sarl, Aral Tankstellen Services Sarl, Arco Mediterraneo Inversiones S.L., Areas Noriega S.L., Areas Singulares Reyes S.L., Aspac Lubricants (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Atlantic 2/3 UK Holdings Limited, Atlantic Richfield Company, Atlantic Richfield Companyd, Autino Holdings Limited, Autino Limited, Auwahi Wind Energy Holdings LLC, B2Mobility GmbH, BASS Management Pty Ltd, BP (Abu Dhabi) Limited, BP (Barbados) Holding SRL, BP (Barbican) Limited, BP (China) Holdings Limited, BP (China) Industrial Lubricants Limited, BP (GTA Mauritania) Finance Limited, BP (GTA Senegal) Finance Limited, BP (Gibraltar) Limited, BP (Guangzhou) Advanced Mobility Limited, BP (Hunan) Petroleum Company Limited, BP (Indian Agencies) Limited, BP (Shandong) Petroleum Co. Ltd, BP (Shanghai) Trading Limited, BP - Castrol (Thailand) Limited, BP AMI Leasing Inc., BP Absheron Limited, BP Advanced Mobility Limited, BP Africa Limited, BP Africa Oil Limited, BP Akaryakit Ortakligi, BP Alaska LNG LLC, BP Alternative Energy Holdings Limited, BP Alternative Energy Investments Limited, BP Alternative Energy North America Inc., BP Alternative Energy Trinidad and Tobago Limited, BP America Chembel Holding LLC, BP America Chemicals Company, BP America Foreign Investments Inc., BP America Inc, BP America Inc., BP America Limited, BP America Production Company, BP Amoco Chemical Company, BP Amoco Chemical Holding Company, BP Amoco Chemical Indonesia Limited, BP Amoco Chemical Malaysia Holding Company, BP Amoco Exploration (Faroes) Limited, BP Amoco Exploration (In Amenas) Limited, BP Andaman II Ltd, BP Angola (Block 18) B.V., BP Argentina Exploration Company, BP Argentina Holdings LLC, BP Aromatics Holdings Limited, BP Aromatics Limited, BP Asia Limited, BP Asia Pacific (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., BP Asia Pacific Holdings Limited, BP Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, BP Australia Capital Markets Limited, BP Australia Employee Share Plan Proprietary Limited, BP Australia Group Pty Ltde, BP Australia Investments Pty Ltd, BP Australia Nominees Proprietary Limited, BP Australia Pty Ltd, BP Australia Shipping Pty Ltd, BP Australia Swaps Management Limited, BP Aviation A/S, BP Benevolent Fund Trustees Limited, BP Berau Ltd., BP Biocombustiveis S.A., BP Bioenergia Campina Verde Ltda., BP Bioenergia Ituiutaba Ltda., BP Bioenergia Itumbiara S.A., BP Bioenergia Tropical S.A., BP Biofuels Advanced Technology Inc., BP Biofuels Brazil Investments Limited, BP Biofuels Louisiana LLC, BP Biofuels North America LLC, BP Biofuels Trading Comercio Exportacao Ltda., BP Bomberai Ltd., BP Brasil Ltda., BP Brazil Tracking L.L.C., BP Bulwer Island Pty Ltd, BP Business Service Centre Asia Sdn Bhd, BP Business Service Centre KFT, BP CIV Pty Ltd, BP Canada Energy Development Company, BP Canada Energy Group ULC, BP Canada Energy Marketing Corp., BP Canada International Holdings B.V., BP Canada Investments Inc., BP Capellen Sarl, BP Capital Markets, BP Capital Markets America, BP Capital Markets America Inc., BP Capital Markets p.l.c., BP Car Fleet Limited, BP Caribbean Company, BP Castrol KK, BP Castrol Lubricants (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., BP Central Pipelines LLC, BP Chembel, BP Chemicals (Korea) Limited, BP Chemicals East China Investments Limited, BP Chemicals Investments Limited, BP Chemicals Limited, BP China Exploration and Production Company, BP Comercializadora de Energia Ltda., BP Commodities Trading Limited, BP Commodity Supply B.V., BP Company North America, BP Company North America Inc., BP Containment Response Limited, BP Containment Response System Holdings LLC, BP Continental Holdings Limited, BP Corporate Holdings, BP Corporate Holdings Limited, BP Corporation North America, BP Corporation North America Inc., BP D-B Pipeline Company LLC, BP D230 Limited, BP Danmark A/S, BP Developments Australia Pty. Ltd., BP Dogal Gaz Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, BP East Kalimantan CBM Limited, BP Eastern Mediterranean Limited, BP Egypt Company, BP Egypt East Delta Marine Corporation, BP Egypt East Tanka B.V., BP Egypt Production B.V., BP Egypt Ras El Barr B.V., BP Egypt West Mediterranean (Block B) B.V., BP Energy Asia Pte. Limited, BP Energy Colombia Limited, BP Energy Company, BP Energy Europe Limited, BP Energy Solutions B.V., BP Energy do Brasil Ltda., BP Energia Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., BP Espana S.A. Unipersonal, BP Estaciones y Servicios Energeticos Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, BP Europa SE, BP Exploracion de Venezuela S.A., BP Exploration & Production Inc., BP Exploration (Absheron) Limited, BP Exploration (Alaska), BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., BP Exploration (Algeria) Limited, BP Exploration (Alpha), BP Exploration (Alpha) Limited, BP Exploration (Angola), BP Exploration (Angola) Limited, BP Exploration (Azerbaijan), BP Exploration (Azerbaijan) Limited, BP Exploration (Canada) Limited, BP Exploration (Caspian Sea), BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Limited, BP Exploration (D230) Limited, BP Exploration (Delta), BP Exploration (Delta) Limited, BP Exploration (El Djazair) Limited, BP Exploration (Epsilon) Limited, BP Exploration (Gambia) Limited, BP Exploration (Greenland) Limited, BP Exploration (Madagascar) Limited, BP Exploration (Morocco) Limited, BP Exploration (Namibia) Limited, BP Exploration (Nigeria Finance) Limited, BP Exploration (Nigeria) Limited, BP Exploration (Psi) Limited, BP Exploration (STP) Limited, BP Exploration (Shafag-Asiman) Limited, BP Exploration (Shah Deniz) Limited, BP Exploration (South Atlantic) Limited, BP Exploration (Xazar) Pte. Ltd., BP Exploration Angola (Kwanza Benguela) Limited, BP Exploration Argentina Limited, BP Exploration Australia Pty Ltd Level 15, BP Exploration Beta Limited, BP Exploration China Limited, BP Exploration Company (Middle East) Limited, BP Exploration Company Limited, BP Exploration Indonesia Limited, BP Exploration Libya Limited, BP Exploration Mexico Limited, BP Exploration Mexico S.A. De C.V., BP Exploration North Africa Limited, BP Exploration Operating Company, BP Exploration Operating Company Limited, BP Exploration Orinoco Limited, BP Exploration Personnel Company Limited, BP Exploration Peru Limited, BP Express Shopping Limited, BP Finance Australia Pty Ltd, BP Finance p.l.c., BP Foundation Incorporated, BP France, BP Fuels & Lubricants AS, BP Fuels Deutschland GmbH, BP GOM Logistics LLC, BP Gas & Power Investments Limited, BP Gas Europe S.A.U., BP Gas Marketing Limited, BP Gas Supply (Angola) LLC, BP Ghana Limited, BP Global Investments, BP Global Investments Limited, BP Global Investments Salalah & Co LLC, BP Global West Africa Limited, BP Greece Limited, BP Guangdong Limited, BP High Density Polyethylene - France, BP Holdings (Thailand) Limited, BP Holdings B.V., BP Holdings Canada, BP Holdings Canada Limited, BP Holdings International B.V., BP Holdings North America, BP Holdings North America Limited, BP Hong Kong Limited, BP India Private Limited, BP Indonesia Investment Limited, BP International, BP International Limited, BP International Services Company, BP Investment Management Limited, BP Investments Asia Limited, BP Iran Limited, BP Iraq N.V., BP Italia SpA, BP Japan K.K., BP Korea Limited, BP Kuwait Limited, BP LNG Shipping Limited, BP Latin America LLC, BP Latin America Upstream Services Inc., BP Lubricants KK, BP Lubricants USA Inc., BP Luxembourg S.A., BP Malaysia Holdings Sdn. Bhd., BP Management International B.V., BP Management Netherlands B.V., BP Marine Limited, BP Mariner Holding Company LLC, BP Maritime Services (Singapore) Pte. Limited, BP Marketing Egypt LLC, BP Mauritania Investments Limited, BP Mauritius Limited (in liquidation), BP Middle East Enterprises Corporation, BP Middle East LLC, BP Middle East Limited, BP Midstream Partners GP LLC, BP Midstream Partners Holdings LLC, BP Midstream Partners LP, BP Midwest Product Pipelines Holdings LLC, BP Mocambique Limitada, BP Mocambique Limited, BP Muturi Holdings B.V., BP Nederland Holdings BV, BP Netherlands Upstream B.V., BP New Ventures Middle East Limited, BP New Zealand Holdings Limited, BP New Zealand Share Scheme Limited, BP Nutrition Inc., BP Offshore Gathering Systems Inc., BP Offshore Pipelines Company LLC, BP Offshore Response Company LLC, BP Oil (Thailand) Limited, BP Oil Australia Pty Ltd, BP Oil Espana S.A., BP Oil Hellenic S.A., BP Oil International, BP Oil International Limited, BP Oil Kent Refinery Limited (in liquidation), BP Oil Llandarcy Refinery Limited, BP Oil Logistics UK Limited, BP Oil New Zealand Limited, BP Oil Pipeline Company, BP Oil Senegal S.A., BP Oil Shipping Company, BP Oil UK Limited, BP Oil Venezuela Limited, BP Oil Vietnam Limited, BP Oil Yemen Limited, BP Olex Fanal Mineralol GmbH, BP One Pipeline Company LLC, BP Pacific Investments Ltd, BP Pakistan (Badin) Inc., BP Pakistan Exploration and Production Inc., BP Pension Escrow Limited, BP Pension Trustees Limited, BP Pensions (Overseas) Limited, BP Pensions Limited, BP Petrochemicals India Investments Limited, BP Petroleo y Gas S.A., BP Petrolleri Anonim Sirketi, BP Pipelines (Alaska) Inc., BP Pipelines (BTC) Limited, BP Pipelines (North America) Inc., BP Pipelines (SCP) Limited, BP Pipelines (TANAP) Limited, BP Pipelines TAP Limited, BP Polska Services Sp. z o.o. Ul., BP Portugal -Comercio de Combustiveis e Lubrificantes SA, BP Poseidon Limited, BP Products North America, BP Products North America Inc., BP Properties Limited, BP Raffinaderij Rotterdam B.V., BP Refinery (Kwinana) Proprietary Limited, BP Regional Australasia Holdings Pty Ltd, BP River Rouge Pipeline Company LLC, BP Russian Investments Limited, BP Russian Ventures Limited, BP SC Holdings LLC, BP Scale Up Factory Limited, BP Senegal Investments Limited, BP Services International Limited, BP Servicios de Combustibles S.A. de C.V., BP Servicios territoriales S.A., BP Shafag-Asiman Limited, BP Shipping Limited, BP Singapore Pte. Limited, BP Solar Energy North America LLC, BP Solar Espana S.A., BP Solar International Inc., BP Solar Pty Ltd, BP South America Holdings Ltd, BP Southern Africa Proprietary Limited, BP Southern Cone Company, BP Subsea Well Response (Brazil) Limited, BP Subsea Well Response Limited, BP Taiwan Marketing Limited, BP Technology Ventures Inc., BP Technology Ventures Limited, BP Train 2/3 Holding SRL, BP Transportation (Alaska) Inc., BP Trinidad Processing Limited, BP Trinidad and Tobago, BP Trinidad and Tobago LLC, BP Turkey Refining Limited, BP Two Pipeline Company LLC, BP UK Retained Holdings Limited, BP Venezuela Investments B.V., BP West Aru I Limited, BP West Aru II Limited, BP West Papua I Limited, BP West Papua III Limited, BP Wind Energy North America Inc., BP Wiriagar Ltd., BP World-Wide Technical Services Limited, BP Zhuhai Chemical Company Limited, BP+Amoco International Limited, BP-AIOC Exploration (TISA) LLC, BPA Investment Holding Company, BPNE International B.V., BPRY Caribbean Ventures LLC, BPX (Eagle Ford) Gathering LLC, BPX (KCS Resources) LLC, BPX (Karnes) Gathering LLC, BPX (Permian) Gathering LLC, BPX (WSF Operating) Inc., BPX Energy Inc., BPX Midstream LLC, BPX Operating Company, BPX Production Company, BPX Properties (GP) LLC, BPX Properties (LP) LLC, BPX Properties (NA) LP, BTC Pipeline Holding Company Limited, BXL Plastics Limitedv, Bahia de Bizkaia Electridad S.L., Baltimore Ennis Land Company Inc., Black Lake Pipe Line Company, Blueprint Power, Brian Jasper Nominees Pty Ltd, Britannic Energy Trading Limited, Britannic Investments Iraq Limited, Britannic Marketing Limited, Britannic Strategies Limited, Britannic Trading Limited, Britoil Limited, Burmah Castrol, Burmah Castrol Australia Pty Ltd, Burmah Castrol Holdings Inc., Burmah Castrol PLC, Burmah Castrol South Africa (Pty) Limited, Burmah Chile SpA, Butamax Advanced Biofuels, CASTROL Austria GmbHb, CH-Twenty Inc., CNAA, Cadman DBP Limited, Casitas Pipeline Company, Castrol (China) Limited, Castrol (Ireland) Limited, Castrol (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., Castrol (Shenzhen) Company Limited, Castrol (Tianjin) Lubricants Co. Ltd., Castrol (U.K.) Limited, Castrol Australia Pty. Limited, Castrol B.V., Castrol BP Petco Limited Liability Company, Castrol Brasil Ltda., Castrol Caribbean & Central America Inc., Castrol Colombia Ltda., Castrol Del Peru S.A., Castrol Egypt Lubricants S.A.E., Castrol India Limited, Castrol Industrie und Service GmbH, Castrol KK, Castrol Limited, Castrol Lubricants RO S.R.L, Castrol Mexico S.A., Castrol Namibia (Pty) Limited, Castrol Offshore Limited, Castrol Pakistan (Private) Limited, Castrol Philippines Inc., Castrol Servicos Ltda., Castrol Ukraine LLC, Castrol Zimbabwe (Private) Limited, Centrel Pty Ltd, Charge Your Car Limitedc, Chargemaster, Chargemaster (Europe) GmbH, Chargemaster Limited, Charging Solutions Limited, Clarisse Holdings Pty Ltd, Coastwise Trading Company Inc., Consolidada de Energia y Lubricantes (CENERLUB) C.A., Conti Cross Keys Inn Inc., Coro Trading NZ Limited, Cuyama Pipeline Company, DHC Solvent Chemie GmbH, Dermody Developments Pty Ltd, Dermody Holdings Pty Ltd, Dermody Investments Pty Ltd, Dermody Petroleum Pty. Ltd., Dome Beaufort Petroleum Limited, Dome Wallis (1980) Limited Partnership, ECM Markets SA (Pty) Ltd, Elektromotive Limited, Elite Customer Solutions Pty Ltd, Elm Holdings Inc., Energy Global Investments (USA) Inc., Enstar LLC, Estacion de Servicio Alto Campoo S.L., Estacion de Servicio Ganzo 10 S.L., Estacion de Servicio Reocin 9 S.L., Estacion de Servicio Santillana II S.L., Estacion de Servicio Sardinero S.L., Estonian Aviation Fuelling Services, Europa Oil NZ Limited, Exomet Inc., Expandite Contract Services Limited, Exploration (Luderitz Basin) Limited, Exploration Service Company Limited, FWK (2017) Limited, FWK Holdings (2017) LTD, Finite Carbon, Flat Ridge 2 Holdings LLC, Flat Ridge Wind Energy LLC, Foseco Holding Inc., Foseco Holding International B.V., Foseco Inc., Fosroc Expandite Limited, Fotech Solutions Ltd, Fowler Ridge Holdings LLC, Fowler Ridge I Land Investments LLC, Fowler Ridge II Holdings LLC, Fowler Ridge III Wind Farm LLC, FreeBees B.V., Fuel & Retail Aviat ion Sweden AB, Fuelplane- Sociedade Abastecedora De Aeronaves Unipessoal Lda, GOAM 1 C.I S. A .S, Gardena Holdings Inc., Gelsenkirchen Raffinerie Netz GmbH, Grampian Aviation Fuelling Services Limited, Guangdong Investments Limited, Highlands Ethanol LLC, Hosteleria Noriega S.L., IGI Resources Inc., Insight Analytics Solutions Holdings Limited, Insight Analytics Solutions Limited, Insight Analytics Solutions USA Inc., International Bunker Supplies Pty Ltd, Iraq Petroleum Company Limited, Jupiter Insurance Limited, Ken-Chas Reserve Company, Kenilworth Oil Company Limited, Kingbook Inversiones Socimi S.A., Latin Energy Argentina S.A., Lebanese Aviation Technical Services S.A.L., Limited Liability Company BP Toplivnaya Kompania, Limited liability company Setra Lubricants, Lubricants UK Limited, Lytt Limited, Manormaker (Nominee No. 1) Limited, Manormaker (Nominee No. 2) Limited, Manormaker GP Limited (99.90%) 11 Black Horse Lane, Mardi Gras Transportation System Company LLC, Markoil S.A., Masana Petroleum Solutions (Pty) Ltd, Mayaro Initiative for Private Enterprise Development, Mehoopany Holdings LLC, Mes Tecnologia En Servicios Y Energia S.A., Minza Pty. Ltd., Mountain City Remediation LLC, No. 1 Riverside Quay Proprietary Limited, Nordic Lubricants A/S, Nordic Lubricants AB, North America Funding Company, OMD87 Inc., OOO BP STL, Omega Oil Company, OnSight Analytics Solutions India Private Ltd., Open Energi, Orion Delaware Mountain Wind Farm LP, Orion Energy Holdings LLC, Orion Energy L.L.C.b, Orion Post Land Investments LLC, Oyambre 1 S.L., PRODUITS METALLURGIE DOITTAU, PT BP Petrochemicals, PT Castrol Indonesia, PT Castrol Manufacturing Indonesia, PT Jasatama Petroindo, Pacroy (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Peaks America Inc., Pearl River Delta Investments Limited, Petrocorner Retail S.L.U., Phoenix Petroleum Services Limited, Pozuelo 4 S.L., Prospect International C.A. (In liquidation), Puente Arce 4 S.L., Remediation Management Services Company, Richfield Oil Corporation, Rio Corvo 2 S.L., Rolling Thunder I Power Partners LLC, Romax Insight Korea Ltd., Ropemaker Deansgate Limited, Ropemaker Properties Limited, Ruhr Oel GmbH, Rusdene GSS Limited, SOFAST Limited, SRHP, Saturn Insurance Inc., Sherbino I Holdings LLC, Sherbino Mesa I Land Investments LLC, Sociedade de Promocao Imobiliaria Quinta do Loureiro SA, Societe de Gestion de Depots d'Hydrocarbures - GDH, South Texas Shale LLC, Southeast Texas Biofuels LLC, Southern Ridge Pipeline Holding Company, Southern Ridge Pipeline LP LLC, Sp/f Decision3 (GreenSteam) Company, Standard Oil Company, Standard Oil Company Inc., Standard Oil of Ohio, Stryde Limited, Sunrise Oil Sands Partnership, TISA Education Complex LLC, TJKK, Taradadis Pty. Ltd., Telcom General Corporation, Terre de Grace Partnership, The Anaconda Company, The BP Share Plans Trustees Limited, The Burmah Oil Company (Pakistan Trading) Limited, The Standard Oil Company, Thorntons, Toledo Refinery Holding Company LLC, Torrelavega 7 S.L., Union Texas International Corporation, Vastar Pipeline LLC, Veba Oel AG Veba Oel, Verenium, Viceroy Investments Limited, Villacarriedo 8 S.L., Warrenville Development Limited, Water Way Trading and Petroleum Services LLC, Welchem Inc., West Kimberley Fuels Pty Ltd, Westlake Houston Development LLC, Whiting Clean Energy Inc., Windpark Energy Nederland B.V., and Winwell Resources L.L.C.The Vietnamese official spoke highly of the active developments in the bilateral relations over the recent past, and suggested that the two sides join hands to effectively implement the common high-level agreements and perceptions, as well as to maintain the trend of the fine development in the bilateral relations. He asked the Chinese side to continue applying effective measures to further improve Vietnams trade deficit and take steps so that more and more Vietnamese staples are consumed by Chinese customers such as fruits, aquatic products, pork and milk products.

As for the sea issue, Deputy PM Minh highly valued the positive outcomes of the negotiation and cooperation mechanisms in the less sensitive fields on the sea between the two countries, as well as the initial progress in the recent negotiations on the code of conducts on the East Sea between ASEAN and China. The two sides should continue to seriously implement the common perceptions of high-ranking leaders of the two Parties and States, he said, adding they should also persist the solution of disputes and differences by peaceful measures on the basis of respect to the international law, the 1982 UN convention on the law of the sea and the legitimate interests of each other, thus controlling differences and maintaining peace and stability on the sea.

For his part, the Chinese official affirmed that his Party and Government attach great importance to the unceasing consolidation and development of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries. China is ready to join in strengthening the strategic exchanges, consolidating the political trust, deepening the mutually beneficial cooperation, rationally setting the differences, and accelerating the healthy and stable bilateral relations, he affirmed.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi also said active collaboration will be made with the Vietnamese side to prepare for and realize the visits by leaders of the two countries, as well as the 12th session of the steering committee on the Vietnam  China bilateral cooperation in China next year. He stressed that China advocates opening the door for imports from other countries, with priority given to its neighbours, including Vietnam.

On the Mekong  Lancang cooperation, the two sides affirmed they attach importance to it and agreed to continue their participation and active contributions to the mechanism, pushing up the cooperation for the mutual, inclusive and fair benefits for all the participating countries.When schools started back up this fall, many across the country witnessed something thats become as common on the first day as new backpacks and freshly sharpened pencils: another surge of homeless and housing-insecure schoolchildren.Its a problem thats been growing in the years since the Great Recession, exacerbated by shortages of affordable housing. Across Washington state, for example, more than 40,000 schoolchildren experienced homelessness at some point during the 2016-2017 school year, a 33 percent increase from four years earlier. And for some individual school districts in the state, the problem has been particularly acute: The Seattle Public Schools has seen an 81 percent increase in the number of homeless students in the past five years. For the Peninsula School District on the outskirts of Tacoma, the number rose by an eye-popping 381 percent.Statistics are similarly grim in New York City, where its estimated that 1 in 10 schoolchildren lacks stable housing. This school year is the fourth in a row in which that number has topped 100,000. New York City now has more housing-insecure students than the entire population of Albany.In the San Francisco Bay Area, families may be able to find housing further inland, but theyre certainly bouncing from one place to another, says Christine Stoner-Mertz, president of Lincoln, a nonprofit serving the region. Across California, more than 300,000 schoolchildren experienced homelessness in 2016.When children dont have stable housing, its well documented that they are much more likely to fall behind in school, score lower on standardized tests, miss classes and drop out altogether. Its a problem that isnt going away. No community is untouched by this, and teachers are being called to address really complex issues, says Jennifer Pringle, project director at Advocates for Children of New York, which has been critical of the citys efforts to help homeless schoolchildren. In 2017, there were only 110 family assistance caseworkers assigned to children in city homeless shelters, leaving each worker with a caseload of 293 children. For licensed social workers, that number was even more dire: one for every 1,660 homeless students. The city has promised to hire more in the coming year.Washington state now requires every school district with more than 10 homeless youths to provide a homeless liaison at every secondary school to help connect these students to district and community resources. In 2016, lawmakers created a grant program that offers in-need school districts resources for housing-insecure students such as after-school tutoring, clothing and books. The state also has allocated $10 million for efforts around transportation, aiming to ensure that students who are bouncing from address to address dont have to change schools every time they move.Nathan Olson, communications and community liaison for Washingtons school superintendent, doesnt expect the numbers of homeless and housing-insecure students to decrease anytime soon. I do think at least in the near future, this is something that school districts are just going to have to plan for, he says.School districts and statehouses are going to have to start looking to outside partnerships. Working with local nonprofits is critical because schools cant do it all by themselves, says Stoner-Mertz. How do we find ways to make sure they get lesson plans when theyre missing school? Are there alternative ways they could get this education? Weve got to start thinking outside of the box.Zurich Insurance Group AG is a holding company. The Company and its subsidiaries provide insurance products and related services. Its segments include General Insurance, Global Life, Farmers, Other Operating Businesses and Non-Core Businesses. The General Insurance segment provides a range of motor, home and commercial products and services for individuals, as well as small and large businesses. The Global Life segment is engaged in providing unit-linked, protection and corporate propositions through global distribution and proposition pillars. The Farmers segment, through Farmers Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, provides certain non-claims administrative and management services to the Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange, Truck Insurance Exchange, and their subsidiaries and affiliates. The Other Operating Businesses segment includes the Company's Holding and Financing activities. The Non-Core Businesses segment includes its insurance and reinsurance businesses.

Read MorePresident Donald Trump said on Sunday that he will review the case of Army Major Matt Golsteyn, a Special Forces soldier and Afghanistan veteran charged with pre-meditated murder.

"At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a 'U.S. Military hero,' Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder. He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a Terrorist bomb maker while overseas. @PeteHegseth @FoxNews" Trump tweeted.

Golsteyn has been charged in a 2010 killing of a suspected bomb maker in Afghanistan as part of a battle in Helmand Province. His lawyer, Philip Stackhouse, has maintained the death occurred during a mission ordered by his superiors.

The Army has been investigating the killing intermittently since 2011.

The incident came up during a polygraph for a 2011 CIA job interview, The Washington Post reported, saying Golsteyn admitted to killing the bombmaker. However Stackhouse has disputed how the admission was characterized by Army officials.

Golsteyn was on "excess leave" from the Army until last Monday, when he was called up for active duty and then charged on Tuesday, according to Stackhouse.

After several news stories about the charges, Trump then weighed in on Sunday.

Trump's tweet could also cause problems for the military prosecution of Golsteyn since the commander in chief does not usually weigh in on ongoing cases to avoid undue influence on the process.

"The allegations against Major Matt Golsteyn are a law enforcement matter," Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning told CNN. "The Department of Defense will respect the integrity of this process and provide updates when appropriate."

Gary Solis, a retired Marine Corps judge advocate who teaches the law of war at West Point and Georgetown University Law Center, said that for Trump, as commander in chief, "to express his view, publicly, that the individual is guilty or not guilty may tend to prejudice a jury one way or the other or the court itself, for that matter."

Solis went on to say that past court cases have indicated the President is far removed from the actual chain of command, perhaps too far to have any actual influence on jurors or courts.

CNN has reached out to other military officials for additional comment.Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Monday that it was "gratifying" to read two Senate Intelligence Committee reports on the scope of Russian misinformation campaigns, because they reiterated the intelligence community's 2017 findings.

The two reports, both commissioned by the committee, were based on troves of data -- much of it not disclosed publicly -- about the Russian campaign to influence the 2016 US presidential election that Facebook, Twitter and Google gave lawmakers. One concluded that trolls made over 40 phony Twitter accounts and websites purporting to represent news outlets or political groups, and the other found that the Internet Research Agency, a Russian government-linked troll group, was active on many social media platforms working to help Trump win.

When asked by CNN's John Berman on "Anderson Cooper 360" if he was surprised by the continued attacks on American elections, Clapper replied, "Absolutely not."

"It was very gratifying for me to read about these reports, because they simply reinforce or buttress what we said in our intelligence community assessment in January of 2017," he added.

The 2017 report found that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an "influence campaign" designed to hurt then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and help then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 election.

"The first objective of the Russians was to sow doubt, discord and discontent in this country, and they've succeeded to it fairly well -- capitalizing and exploiting the polarization and divisiveness in this country," Clapper said.

"Secondarily, of course, was to do all they could to damage Hillary Clinton's candidacy and to help, when he became serious as the nominee, Donald Trump," he added.

Clapper added that Russian cyberattacks had continued since the 2016 election because of the "opportunity to drive a wedge among" Americans on a variety of hot-button issues, including racial tensions and gun rights.

"They had messages for everybody in the campaign, whether it was Black Lives Matter, white supremacists, gun control advocates, Second Amendment advocates," he said. "The Russians are always looking for issues to exploit to their advantage."Evolutionary K9 Academy in Herkimer County is defending itself against accusations of animal neglect in response to a Facebook post made by Superheroes in Ripped Jeans in Oneonta.

In a Facebook post, the founders of Superheroes in Ripped Jeans posted pictures of their dog, Dooley, after picking it up from an extended stay at Evolutionary K9 Academy.

"[Evolutionary K9 Academy] had seen [Dooleys] story and volunteered to do a free board and train, which was like heaven-sent because he's a tough dog, said Superheroes in ripped Jeans founder Terra Butler. He needs some training."

Butler says upon picking the Dooley up from Evolutionary K9 Academy, they noticed he looked thinner than usual and had a parasite.

"He had lost 12 pounds, Butler said. He had also came back with explosive diarrhea. So, we made sure to get that checked out and see what was going on, cause he did not have that before he left, and he tested positive for Giardia."

The owner of Evolutionary K9 Academy, Victoria Porter, denies accusations of neglect.

I love all the dogs and they're treated like big babies when they're here, Porter said. We use all positive methods to train the dogs so that they love training, and we want them to love training, and want to work with their owners."

Butler says she contacted law enforcement to look into possible neglect charges. The Herkimer County humane investigator says she visited the K9 academy but found no signs of neglect. State police say after conducting an investigation, there were no obvious signs of abuse to the dog. Herkimer County District Attorneys office doesnt feel there is enough evidence to file charges.

"I just hope people can understand that there's two sides to every story, and just because something is seen in a certain way doesn't always, absolutely make it true, Porter said. I would never neglect or abuse a dog, ever.

Butler says she could be pursuing the investigation further.

"I can't really talk at length about how we'll be moving forward but we're not just letting this fade away. We are still pursuing other options so that this doesn't happen to other dogs in the future."Google will invest more than $1 billion to develop a new campus and hire thousands of people in New York City, the company announced Monday morning.The Google expansion will ripple through the Long Island economy, tech and economic development, experts said.Called Google Hudson Square, the planned 1.7 million-square-foot campus in lower Manhattan involves leased properties at 315 and 345 Hudson St. plus a property at 550 Washington St. for which the company said it has a signed letter of intent. Google plans to move into the two Hudson Street buildings by 2020 and the Washington Street location by 2022.Google Hudson Square will be the main location for the company's New York-based Global Business Organization, which represents its sales and partnerships teams, the company said.Google employs more than 7,000 people in the city now at offices in Chelsea and at Pier 57 after first coming to the city in 2000. Google said this year it would buy the Manhattan Chelsea Market building for $2.4 billion and planned to lease more space at Pier 57, both about a mile north of the new campus along the Hudson River."With these most recent investments in Google Chelsea and Google Hudson Square, we will have the capacity to more than double the number of Googlers in New York over the next 10 years," chief financial officer Ruth Porat wrote in a blog post.The plan is the third in a string of major announcements by large tech companies looking to invest in New York City, building out a tech infrastructure to rival Silicon Valley. Long Island officials have said they hope the region's economy, real estate and job market will benefit from a spillover effect."Big picture, a win for New York City is a win for Long Island, because our economies are linked," said Kevin Law, president of the Long Island Association business group. "About 30 percent of Nassau County residents commute to New York City, primarily Manhattan, and they bring in 40 percent of disposable income for the county, which then supports real estate, downtowns and other businesses."Long Island will reap more of the benefits if its mass transit system is improved and more multifamily housing is built near train stations, said Chris Jones, senior vice president and chief planner for the Regional Plan Association."The transit system, particularly the LIRR, has to perform and go to the places these jobs are located," Jones said. "The good news for Long Island is there are a lot of big investments in the LIRR, including East Side Access and the third track, which will expand capacity of the system."Last month, Amazon announced plans to split its second headquarters between Long Island City, Queens, and Virginia. The Queens portion of that new headquarters would be home to 25,000 new workers, carrying an average annual salary of $150,000.Amazon had a nationwide search for its second headquarters for more than a year, pushing municipalities to offer significant tax benefits to the online giant. New York City and the state together have offered Amazon about $2.8 billion in grants and tax breaks. Some elected officials have pushed back on that benefits package, arguing it's too friendly to the company and would displace middle-class New Yorkers.Google "did not pursue any subsidies and thus none were provided" for the expansion project, according to Empire State Development, the state's primary business-aid agency.The New York City Economic Development Corp. "doesn't have a role in the Google expansion," its spokeswoman Stephanie Baez said Monday. "If they received any incentives," she said, they would be of a type that is "administered by the NYC Department of Finance, not EDC."Finance Department officials didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.Civic groups representing areas near the Google project said they were concerned the campus would cause further crowding on the subways, and may further clog traffic in the nearby Holland Tunnel. But none expressed grave reservations or the inclination to organize against the offices, as has occurred in Long Island City, where Amazon's plan has stirred controversy."Google has been a good corporate neighbor in Chelsea, so I am optimistic this is a good plan," said New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who represents Chelsea and parts of Hudson Square. "Comparing this Google deal to Amazon's deal really highlights the fact that our . . . tax breaks are overdue for a real in-depth review. New York City is potentially on the hook for over $2 billion with Amazon, and Google is adding thousands of workers without billions in subsidies."A third tech giant, Apple, last week announced it would be expanding its presence in several cities across the country, including New York City, where it would add hundreds of new jobs.Facebook has more than 2,000 employees in New York City. According to government statistics, tech sector employment in the city grew by 65 percent from 2010 to 2017 to reach an estimated 134,700. The Northeast is proving to be a good match for tech, with a strong base of higher education and a concentration of younger, educated workers from Boston to Manhattan."Eventually, as employees get older, they want to start a family, and their own company, so they end up in suburbs like Long Island," said Peter Goldsmith, chairman of LISTnet, which advocates on behalf of area tech companies. "They end up creating companies here."Jones, at the Regional Plan Association, added, "You're going to see businesses pop up that are designed to serve these big tech companies. Some of those businesses will end up in the suburbs."California and 15 other states asked a federal judge on Monday to protect current health care coverage for millions of Americans while courts sort out the implications of his ruling that the Affordable Care Act was invalid in its entirety.The states, which support the health care law, said the ruling on Friday, by Judge Reed OConnor of the Federal District Court in Fort Worth, had caused immense confusion about whether the law was still in effect, and whether consumers were still entitled to its benefits and protections.The states asked Judge OConnor to clarify whether he meant his decision to have any immediate legal effect.In his sweeping decision, Judge OConnor held that a provision at the heart of the Affordable Care Act  a requirement for most Americans to have health insurance known as the individual mandate  was unconstitutional and that other provisions of the law could not survive because they were inextricably linked to the coverage mandate. The sprawling law includes not only health insurance exchanges and an expansion of Medicaid, but also protections for people with pre-existing conditions, requirements for what insurance must cover and much more.Bolivia is a South American nation that is located on the western edge of the continent where it spans an area of 424,164 square miles. Bolivia is considered one of the top 100 economies globally with the World Bank classifying it as a lower middle-income country. Historical data indicates that the Bolivian economy has been extremely reliant on its natural resources such as cocoa, silver, and tin. In 2017, the Bolivian gross domestic product was approximately $37.51 billion which was the 92nd highest in the world according to World Bank estimates. In the same year, the Bolivian per capita gross domestic product was approximately $3,394 which was the 118th highest globally at the time. There are several natural resources which have supported the modern day Bolivian economy such as oil, natural gas, the beautiful scenery, and the arable land.

Arable Land

One of Bolivia's most important natural resources is its arable land. In 2014, according to data from the Bolivian government, the country's arable land was roughly 4.13%. Bolivia had its highest amount of arable land in 2009 when it constituted about 4.15% of the country's total area. The Bolivian agricultural sector gained prominence in the 1980s due to the country's need to diversify its economy. In 1987, according to the Bolivian government, the agrarian sector contributed 23% to the nation's gross domestic product. The contribution was a significant decline from its output in 1960 which was roughly 30% of the gross domestic product at the time. During the 1980s, the Bolivian farming industry faced some challenges with the main ones being floods and droughts. In the present day, some of Bolivia's essential crops include coffee, soybeans, and sugar. Several of Bolivia's crops are sold to other nations such as Brazil and Peru.

Soybean

Since the 1980s, soybeans have been among one of Bolivia's most vital crops. Bolivian farmers invested heavily in the soybean during the 1970s after the global demand for soybeans increased dramatically. To take advantage of the high soybean demand, the Bolivian farmers increased the amount of land under soybean cultivation. During the late 1980s, soybeans were grown on more than 250 square miles of Bolivian land while in the 1970s they grew on 75 square miles. Most of the soybeans, close to two thirds according to some estimates, were sold to other nations particularly in Europe.

Livestock

The Bolivian livestock industry is one of the country's most well-developed sectors. Bolivian livestock farmers keep a wide range of livestock such as cattle, pigs, goats, and sheep. According to statistics from the Bolivian governments, in the late 1980s, there were close to 6 million beef cattle in the country. Most of the beef cattle were reared in the eastern section of the country particularly in the Beni and Santa Cruz regions. Cattle from Bolivia were sold to other nations such as Chile, Peru, and Brazil. Bolivia also has a dairy sector that is mainly centered in two of the country's departments, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba. The Bolivian daily sector does not supply enough dairy products to meet the needs of the Bolivian people.

Forests

According to the Bolivian government, close to 54% of Bolivia's total land area is covered with forests. Timber exports are some of the most critical exports from Bolivia particularly during the 1980s when the exports were valued at more than $30 million. The biggest challenge facing the Bolivian forestry sector is smuggling.

Minerals

Minerals have been vital to the Bolivian economy for a long time. Before the 1980s, the essential mineral in Bolivia was tin, but due to the falling prices of tin in the international markets, its value decreased significantly. Bolivia also had significant deposits of silver which were of great economic importance during the colonial era. For a while, Bolivia produced more silver than any other nation in the world. In 1988, Bolivia's silver production was roughly 225 tons. The San Cristobal mining complex is the most critical mine in Bolivia.

Lithium

Presently, one of Bolivia's most essential minerals is lithium. Geological research indicates that the Bolivian lithium reserves are approximately 5.5 million tons. Data indicates that Bolivia has the largest concentration of lithium in the word. The lithium in Bolivia is mainly located in the deserts within the salt flats. Because the salt flats attract vast numbers of tourists, the government was unwilling to develop the deposits and ruin the salt flats. The Bolivian government has partnered with other nations, particularly those in Asia, to develop and exploit the lithium reserves.

Oil

In South America, Bolivia is one of the countries with oil reserves. Geological data indicated that Bolivia's total oil reserves are approximately 2,475,558,137 cubic feet and they are primarily located in the eastern and southern edges of Bolivia. For a significant portion of Bolivia's history, the government controlled much of the oil industry. To make the Bolivian oil sector more profitable the government made efforts to privatize it in the 1990s. The government also ensured that the oil reserves moved from government control to private control. However, oil production in the country has been falling.

Natural Gas

According to geological surveys, Bolivia had more than 187 cubic miles of natural gas. Bolivia's natural gas reserves are some of the largest on the South American continent. Bolivia's gas industry grew significantly during the 1990s after the government privatized the sector.

Challenges Facing the Bolivian Economy

The Bolivian economy faces some challenges with the most significant ones being the volatility in the global prices of oil and natural gas. Bolivia is also significantly impacted by natural disasters that mainly affect its agriculture sector.The three red states  Idaho, Nebraska and Utah  that bucked their own Republican legislatures last month and approved Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act are likely to proceed, despite Fridays ruling by a federal judge in Texas that the entire federal health care law is unconstitutional.Even in Montana, where voters last month defeated an extension of the temporary Medicaid expansion approved in 2015, legislative leaders predict that lawmakers will make the expansion permanent, since it is politically unpopular to take coverage away from people once it has been extended.Voter-approved Medicaid expansion would extend health care benefits to 91,000 low-income people in Idaho, nearly 90,000 in Nebraska and 150,000 in Utah.Its in statute, so theres no turning back on it, Nebraska state Sen. Adam Morfeld, a Democrat who has championed the plan, said in an interview Monday. The only way we turn back on this is because its repealed at the federal level. He said hes confident that wont happen.If we didnt enact policy in our state because of pending court cases elsewhere, wed never enact policy, Morfeld said. There are lawsuits on just about every federal program.Similarly, Utahs voter-approved Medicaid expansion is on track for swift implementation, according to Matt Slonaker, executive director of the Utah Health Policy Project, which supports the initiative. The states Medicaid director is days away from submitting a so-called state plan amendment implementing the expansion. And the federal government is expected to approve it well in advance of its April effective date.We see no reason to think the court decision will slow down the process in any way, Slonaker said. This is a district court way down in Texas that is trying to be disruptive with very weak legal reasoning. Here in Utah, were all systems go.In Idaho, a Medicaid expansion referendum passed with over 60 percent of the vote, and had the support of the Republican governor, Butch Otter. In Nebraska and Utah, Republican governors opposed the expansion. (In Montana, Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock supported the ballot measure that would have extended the states temporary Medicaid expansion rather than rolling back coverage.)With the three states added to the list, 36 states plus Washington, D.C., have now approved Medicaid expansion, likely adding pressure on the remaining states to do so.Late Friday, U.S. District Judge Reed OConnor overturned the entire ACA, ruling that when congressional Republicans eliminated the penalty for Americans who do not carry health insurance as part of their broader tax overhaul, they invalidated the health law. In his 55-page opinion, OConnor pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 upheld the ACA based on the idea that Congress has the power to impose a tax on those without health insurance.Without the penalty, OConnor argued, there is no tax, and therefore the law is unconstitutional. Legal analysts from both sides of the political spectrum have cast doubt on that logic, predicting the decision will be appealed. In the meantime, the ACA stays in place.We remain optimistic that Americans have made it clear that they want to expand access to care, not shrink it, said Colin Diersing, a spokesman for the Fairness Project, which helped bankroll the four state ballot initiatives.Montana voters defeated the Medicaid expansion ballot question this fall, but polls showed many were turned off by the idea of funding it with a tobacco tax; the tobacco industry spent mightily in opposition.Nevertheless, Montanas Republican-controlled legislature will be taking up expansion bills in January, and every bill is expected to get a chance at a hearing and a vote."The legislature is very divided on this issue, said Montana Senate President Scott Sales, a Republican. Although hes trying to learn more about what Fridays court ruling might mean, he said, Democrats and the moderate wing of his party together likely have the votes to pass an expansion, though conservatives will work to impose cost-control measures.Len Nichols of George Mason Universitys Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics cautioned that Fridays ruling gives ammunition to expansion opponents who have raised concerns about the cost of expansion and whether the federal government will fulfill its pledge to cover 90 percent of the expense.At a minimum, it sows confusion, which may have been part of the goal, said Nichols, who served as a health care adviser to President Bill Clinton. It does cast doubt on whether the law will survive.Between the hard core opponents of the Affordable Care Act, the presidents own ability to stir up opposition to it, and the fact that a number of people in the states are still opposed, it gives ammunition to those who want to delay.In non-expansion states such as Kansas, where the Democratic governor-elect wants Medicaid expansion but the Republican majority legislature opposes it, the ruling could thwart or postpone any legislative plans to extend the low-income health care plan.In Washington, Nina Owcharenko Schaefer, senior health policy research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said in an interview that the Texas decision highlights for states  particularly the ballot initiative states  that things are still uncertain and they should proceed with caution as they look at the financial viability of this moving forward.Wayne Hoffman, president of the conservative Idaho Freedom Foundation think tank, counseled legislators to move cautiously in crafting the details of an expansion plan. Should the U.S. Supreme Court eventually strike down Obamacare and its federal match for states Medicaid expansion, he warned, the costs would increase substantially.State legislators and the governor certainly need to be mindful of the fact there is a pretty big moving target when it comes to costs, Hoffman said in an interview Monday. His group also has a lawsuit pending in the Idaho Supreme Court that would declare Novembers ballot initiative unconstitutional. Arguments in that case are scheduled for Jan. 29.Were suggesting that legislators do nothing, Hoffman said, that they bide their time and that we wait at least for a state Supreme Court to make the ruling before we get into actual implementation of anything.He figures lawmakers in other states are paying attention too. Should states have to fund Medicaid expansion entirely on their own, he said, exponential cost increases would eat into state needs such as public safety and education.I think most legislatures are in session in 2019, and so this is going to have to be something top of mind, and whatever you implement is going to potentially be implemented forever, Hoffman said. The price is going to be going up and up.  Its going to be one of the larger [decisions] that legislators would make.Montana state Rep. Greg Hertz, a Republican and the incoming House speaker, agreed that states will have to adjust their Medicaid expansions should the U.S. Supreme Court eventually strike down the Affordable Care Act.If the federal government changes the match, the 90-10 match, Montana and most states cant afford it, Hertz said in an interview. If that happens, then Medicaid expansion will no longer exist, at least, I believe, in Montana.Burkina Faso is an African nation that is situated on the western edge of the continent where it spans an area of roughly 106,000 square miles. The modern-day economy of Burkina Faso was developed during the colonial era when the natural resources were exploited in earnest. In 2017, the Burkinabe gross domestic product was roughly $12.9 billion which was the 124th highest in the world according to data collected by the World Bank. In 2017, the International Monetary Fund ranked Burkina Faso as the 171st largest economy in the world by its per capita gross domestic product which was roughly $1,884. The economy of Burkina Faso, like most of the economies in Africa, is hugely dependent on its natural resources. Arable land for growing crops such as cotton and sorghum and mineral deposits such as gold are the major natural resources of Burkina Faso.

Arable Land

The World Bank estimated that in 2007, roughly 20% of Burkina Faso's total land area was considered arable. Despite the vast amount of arable land in Burkina Faso, the country is not considered self-sufficient in agriculture. According to the Burkinabe labor department, the most significant section of the state's workforce is employed in the agricultural sector. In 2004, the agriculture sector contributed roughly 30% of the country's gross domestic product. Some of the crops grown in Burkina Faso are considered perennial crops and they cover approximately 13% of the country's total agricultural area. Over Burkina Faso's history, some measures have been taken to improve the country's agricultural industry. One of the measures that the Burkinabe government put in place was to grow the agricultural sector and to construct a canal roughly 711 miles long for irrigation. The canal would link 154 square miles of farms to the Black Volta River. Small-scale farmers owned most of the farms that were linked to the canal with the rest of the farms being owned by the government. Another measure that the Burkinabe government has put in place to grow the farming sector is the introduction of modern farming methods. Some of Burkina Faso's most important crops include cotton, maize, sorghum, and millet. Recently, Burkinabe farmers have also begun growing sugarcane on a large scale.

Cotton

One of Burkina Faso's most important crops is cotton which is primarily grown for the export market. In 2004, according to official statistics from the Burkinabe government, the nation produced roughly 315,000 tons of cottonseed as well as 210,000 tons of cotton fibers. According to research by the Food and Agricultural Organization cotton in Burkina Faso was likely introduced from two areas either the eastern section of Africa or from India. Before the colonial period, cotton was not a significant crop among the Burkinabe people. Cotton in Burkina Faso gained prominence during the colonial period since the French colonial government realized the benefits that cotton could have to Burkina Faso's growing economy. The French colonial government urged Burkinabe farmers to grow cotton so that they could take advantage of the massive global demand for cotton during the early 20th century. During the colonial times, most of the Burkinabe cotton farmers were exploited. After Burkina Faso gained independence, the government focused on growing the country's cotton industry. During the mid-20thcentury, the Burkinabe cotton sector grew dramatically. Due to the close historical ties between Burkina Faso and France, the French government contributed vast sums of money to develop the Burkinabe cotton sector. During the 1980s, cotton growing in Burkina Faso declined sharply due to several factors with the main one being the decline in global cotton prices. Burkina Faso's cotton sector was too rigidly structured to cope with the volatility in the global cotton industry.

Sorghum

Sorghum is one of Burkina Faso's most important subsistence crops since it is the nation's staple food. From 1960 to 2016, sorghum production in Burkina Faso fluctuated greatly. Burkina Faso achieved peak sorghum production in 2010 when the country produced nearly 2,000,000 tons of sorghum. According to estimates from the Burkinabe agriculture ministry, close to 5,800 square miles of land in the nation was dedicated to sorghum growing. Due to the importance of sorghum to the Burkinabe economy, the government has dedicated vast sums of money to develop the industry. One of the significant steps that the government has taken to increase sorghum growing in the country is to fund research into new varieties of cotton.

Minerals

Minerals are some of Burkina Faso's most critical natural resources since they contribute significantly to the country's gross domestic product. Several experts believe that the mining industry has the potential to be one of Burkina Faso's most essential industries. The Burkinabe government has invested heavily in the exploration of minerals in the country particularly in the search for copper and zinc. In 2012, the Burkinabe mineral sector was expected to generate $2 billion which would be an increase from the amount of money it generated in 2011 which was roughly $1.4 billion.

Gold

The most important mineral in Burkina Faso is gold with the nation being the fourth largest gold producer on the African continent. Data indicates that Burkina Faso's gold reserves are some of the most explored on the African continent. According to the Burkinabe government, the nation may have deposits of gold in its northern edge. Burkina Faso's gold reserves have attracted investments from various countries such as Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Some of the Canadian companies that mine gold in Burkina Faso include the High River Gold Mines Limited and Riverstone Resources Incorporated. Some of the Australian companies that mine for gold in Burkina Faso include Middle Island Resources Limited and the Carbine Resources Limited. The Burkinabe government has granted the Volta Resources company the right to prospect for gold in several regions of the country. Gold mining in Burkina Faso faces several challenges with the most significant one being its impact on the environment. Many environmental activists have claimed that gold mining has affected the environment of Seguenega which is located in the northern edge of the country.

Economic Challenges That Face Burkina Faso

The Burkinabe economy faces numerous challenges with the most significant one being the lack of sufficient infrastructure. Another major challenge that faces the Burkinabe economy is the country's low literacy rate.The Republic of Haiti is one of the Caribbean countries that occupy the western three-eighths of Hispaniola Island. The country is positioned between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Haiti covers a total area of 10,714 square miles; 10,641 square miles is land and 73 square miles is water. It also has a large coastline, making it prone to hurricanes. Haiti shares a land border with the Dominican Republic, which occupies the rest of Hispaniola in the east. To the west and the south, it is surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and to the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Haiti also shares maritime borders with the Caribbean countries of Cuba, Jamaica, and the Bahamas. Cuba lies 50 miles to the west of Haitis across the Windward Passage in the northern peninsula, a strait that connects the Atlantic to the Caribbean. Jamaica is located across the Jamaica Channel 120 miles west of the southern peninsula. The Great Inagua Island comprising of the Bahamas lies 70 miles north of Haiti. It also claims sovereignty over Navassa Island, a deserted offshore islet 35 miles west of the Jamaican tunnel.

Land Border: Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is the only country sharing a land border with Haiti. The countries share the Hispaniola Island of the Caribbean. Despite sharing a land border, the two countries are worlds apart. Diplomatic relationships between the two nations have been complex following their colonial history and cultural differences. The tumultuous history began during the colonial days when conflict erupted between Spain and France in regards to who would control the island. The conflict was resolved in 1691 when the island was split into two countries. Until the mid-20th century, the economies of the two countries were comparable, but since then, the Dominican economy has been growing while that of Haiti diminishes.

Cross-border relationships exist between the two countries in the areas of health, infrastructure, and business. Many Haitians travel to the Dominican Republic in search of employment opportunities as laborers. Political conflicts between the two governments have led to a lack of legal framework to address migration patterns between the two countries. Racial discrimination is high in the Dominican Republic and most immigrants of Haiti descent residing in the country face discrimination in the healthcare system in the country. After the 2010 earthquake, a large number of Haitians migrated to the Dominican Republic to escape the devastating effects of the earthquake. However, most did not return to their country and live in Dominican albeit lacking the legal papers. They are widely blamed for increasing unemployment and crime rates in the country.

Maritime Borders

Jamaica

Haiti shares a maritime border with Jamaica, which lies 190 miles west of the southern peninsula. Since independence, Jamaica has always been a popular destination and safe haven for Haitian leaders and politicians. While Haiti established diplomatic relations with Jamaica through an embassy in Kingston in 1981, Jamaica only established an honorary consulate with no corresponding mission in Haiti. In 2012, the Haitian Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited a strained relationship between the two countries. Haiti further went ahead to close its embassy and withdrew agents from in Jamaica stating non-reciprocity from the Jamaican counterparts. While Haiti has always opened its doors to Jamaica by allowing its citizens to travel to the country without Visas, Haitians are not allowed to travel to Jamaica without valid consent.

What is left is a mutually beneficial relationship between the two nations established by the Caricom nations. Nonetheless, Jamaica promises to support Haiti in its endeavors to gain socioeconomic stability, peace, and prosperity even without resident missions. Strangely, Jamaica believes that the establishment of a resident mission in Haiti would greatly facilitate the deepening and strengthening of relations between the two nations.

Cuba

Cuba is located 50 miles west of Haitis northern peninsula across the windward strait. The two countries had diplomatic ties until 1959 when the relationship broke during the dictatorship of Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier. Duvalier made the move after Organization of American States ordered all its member states to break all ties with the government of Fidel Castro. The ties we restored in 1998 during the Hurricane George that struck Haiti. The Cuban government moved in with a multifaceted agreement to help the country in the medical field.

Cuba has adopted a two-way approach to help Haiti in healthcare. They arranged to maintain doctors in the country to operate under the guidelines Haiti. Cuba also offered to train Haiti doctors with the promise of returning to their country to take the place of the Cuban doctors. This immensely improved the healthcare system in the country, which was the worst in the Americas. Cuba also liberalized its immigration laws allowing Haitians to travel into the country and establish trading relationships. It is estimated that there are over one million Haitians living in Cuba.

Great Inagua Island (Bahamas)

Since independence, the Bahamas has always had special diplomatic and economic relationships with Haiti. The strong diplomatic relationship was established upon the arrival of the first Counsel from Haiti to the Bahamas. The relationship was strengthened because of its close proximity to the southern islands of the Bahamas. Prior to 1800, the French referred to Haiti as the pearl of the Antilles as it supplied food items to the Bahamas. After the Revolution, many Haitians migrated to the Bahamas for economic and education reasons. Today, the Bahamas have an enormous opportunity to benefit economically from Haiti.This month, Wisconsin Republicans pushed through legislation that weakens executive branch authority in certain ways while giving the legislature more power. The legislature remains controlled 63-36 by Republicans after the election, but GOP Gov. Scott Walker was defeated by Democrat Tony Evers.A similar package was passed in Michigan, where the same partisan dynamics apply. These efforts have been criticized by Democrats as partisan "power grabs." spoke with Robin Vos, the speaker of the Wisconsin General Assembly and the architect of the power-shifting package, which Walker signed on Friday.This interview has been edited for length and clarity.Over the course of the past 30 years, under both Republicans and Democrats, both sides have naturally ceded power to the executive. I have tried since I became speaker in 2013 not to allow that to happen.Luckily, I had a really good relationship with Gov. Walker, where he did not do things unilaterally. He would always consult with the legislature and seek our input and usually, in almost every case, our support. Gov. Walker had the ability to unilaterally apply for waivers to impose work requirements on able-bodied Medicaid recipients. I thought -- and he agreed -- that we should have legislation.We are doing the same thing we've done for eight years. We are simply codifying what we have done, as opposed to the last 30 years, where there was an executive with too much authority making too many decisions unilaterally.The only opportunity the legislature has to hit the reset button is usually when a governor is going out and usually when it's the same party.Exactly. When I say we're going to operate as we have for the last eight years, that's the fact.My fear is that Gov. Evers, very liberal, is going to try to end-run the legislature. My goal was to prevent that and utilize the tool that has worked successfully for compromise and collaboration.Unfortunately, I think this is much ado about nothing, much more about partisanship than actual outrage. It's ironic, for those who are concerned about the legislature getting stronger, I'm sure they are the exact same subset who think Donald Trump shouldn't issue executive orders and instead pass laws through Congress.It's sad that liberal groups focused on the timing. Everyone knows in our system today the executive is the most powerful branch of the three. If you look at where the legislative branch was intended to be by the framers of our republic, they always intended the legislative branch to be the check on the executive. We're the place that has the power of the purse.If you read the bills, and I know most people won't do this, the vast majority are checks on spending and requiring the legislature to be part of important decisions for the state.If you take the names out, most people would say these are good, positive reforms. All of these probably would have gotten unanimous votes if Gov. Walker was reelected. The fact that they did not proves to me that some of my colleagues are not serious about the coequal branches of government.Yeah, I certainly understand they wish they had the ability to unilaterally make decisions.Once again, it's feigned outrage. I don't remember the media outrage when Massachusetts Democrats changed the rules when Mitt Romney came into office and then changed the rules again when he left office. [I don't know what's happening in Michigan or North Carolina except what happens in the media, which I distrust.Well, because we both have a job to do. I did not vote for Tony Evers. I think he's the wrong choice for Wisconsin. It was basically a tied election with a small margin for Tony Evers.We're going to work with him where we can, but we'll compromise where we have to. I would hope he would say the same thing. If he wants to carry a chip on his shoulder, that's to his own detriment. But he has to decide that for himself.What you asked me is about working with him. He did not get a mandate to turn Wisconsin into Madison. He got a mandate to govern, but that means he's going to do it with us -- not in spite of us.No. The difference is that Wisconsin, Madison and Milwaukee are hyper-liberal, and the rest of the state is moderate conservative. They have the chance to show they can govern for the entire state and not just hyper-liberals in our two biggest cities.That's what Gov. Evers has to choose. Will he propose initiatives that make liberals in the two biggest cities happy, or will he propose things that work for the rest of Wisconsin?He did not run on an agenda. Go back and read the comments in the first few stories after he won. He didn't really have an economic agenda. He didn't have a farm agenda.He ran on an agenda that targeted Gov. Walker with blistering attacks. If you asked voters on the street, name me five things that Tony Evers is for, they'd have a hard time answering that question.First of all, I am incredibly proud that NCSL is strong, it's bipartisan and it's one of the leading voices in the country for what I think is one of the most important parts of government, which is state government. Bill Pound has done something great in taking something that was small when he began and made it into a powerhouse. I don't think there's a lot that needs fixing.What we need in society is more talking [with each other], not less. I hope NCSL will use its power to bring people together, even if they disagree. Bill Pound has left us in an amazing spot, and we need to continue.I'm already doing that. It's ironic. If you look at the way NCSL operates, you're going to have [Sen. Toi Hutchinson, the current president], a liberal Democrat from Illinois, where they're probably doing a lot of things conservatives don't want, and then a conservative speaker from Wisconsin probably doing a lot of things liberals don't want. That's the power of NCSL: to bring people together and not always agree but at the same time come together for discussion and different perspectives.That's what we need more of. We have a C-SPAN-type channel in Wisconsin. [Democratic U.S. Rep.] Mark Pocan and I agreed to discuss the issues in greater depth. That's what NCSL can provide. There are different perspectives. They're not always right, but you can provide that forum and recognize that good ideas come from everywhere -- not just half the nation.Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a bill that would require voters to show a form of photo identification before voting in person, calling it "a solution in search of a problem."The bill passed this month largely along party lines. A handful of Democrats voted for it, and the bill passed with veto-proof margins in both the state House and Senate. House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger said in separate statements that the legislature will override Cooper's veto."We are disappointed that Gov. Cooper chose to ignore the will of the people and reject a commonsense election integrity measure that is common in most states, but the North Carolina House will override his veto as soon as possible," Moore's statement said.Voter ID has been a years-long goal for Republicans. A 2013 law that included a photo ID requirement to vote was overturned by federal courts in 2016. The GOP moved to add photo ID to the state constitution this year, and the amendment passed with 55 percent of the vote.In late November, Cooper said voter ID was "wrong for our state."A state elections board audit of votes in the 2016 general election found one case of in-person voter impersonation in the 4.8 million votes cast.During debate on the bill, Republican legislators argued that suspected voter impersonation is under reported.In his veto message, Cooper said the problem was not with voter impersonation, but "votes harvested illegally through absentee ballots, which this proposal fails to fix."The State Board of Elections is investigating mishandling of ballots in Bladen and Robeson counties and have twice refused to certify the results of the 9th Congressional District race where Republican Mark Harris received 905 more votes than Democrat Dan McCready. Leslie McCrae Dowless, a political operative who worked for Harris' campaign consultant, is a person of interest in the investigation into ballot harvesting. Ballot harvesting, or collecting absentee ballots from non-relatives, is illegal.An affidavit from a Bladen County Republican recounted a conversation with Dowless about 800 ballots in his possession, the Charlotte Observer reported.Dowless has denied any wrongdoing.Moore, in his statement, said the legislature addressed absentee ballot fraud in the bill. The bill makes the State Board of Elections responsible for coming up with absentee ballot photo ID rules.Voters without acceptable IDs would be able to cast ballots by asserting a "reasonable impediment," Moore wrote.In his veto message, Cooper said, "the proposed law puts up barriers to voting that will trap honest voters in confusion and discourage them with new rules, some of which haven't even been written yet."Finally the fundamental flaw in the bill is its sinister and cynical origins: It was designed to suppress the rights of minority, poor and elderly voters. The cost of disenfranchising those voters or any citizens is too high, and the risk of taking away the fundamental right to vote is too great, for this law to take effect."Several groups, including the ACLU, Common Cause NC, and Equality NC, encouraged Cooper to veto the voter ID bill.The Campus Vote Project of the Fair Elections Center, a voting rights group in Washington, D.C., asked Cooper this week to veto the bill because of the "absurd hurdles created" for colleges and universities that would want to provide students with IDs they could use at the polls."It is unlikely that any student IDs would be accepted for voting in the 2020 election," the project's national director wrote in a letter to Cooper.Democracy NC, which opposes voter ID, praised Cooper for the veto.In a statement, Democracy NC executive director Tomas Lopez said the bill appears to have biases that "could be used to discriminate against voters based on their race, income, age, gender and mobility."Acceptable IDs would include driver licenses, passports, university and community college IDs that meet state standards, military and veteran IDs, tribal enrollment cards, state ID cards issued to non-drivers, state and municipal employee IDs, and a new form of ID to be issued county elections boards.UPDATE 12/18/18 @ 5:52 p.m.

We can now tell you the 10-year-old boy poisoned to death in his own home was named Cory Carper. As we first reported Monday night, the cause is believed to be carbon monoxide poisoning.

Investigators tell WSAZ that Corys entire family stayed home Monday because they thought they had a bad case of the flu.

But, it turns out it was something much more deadly.

"I just felt the world stopped. It went silent," said Annette Claypool, principal of Geary Elementary Middle School.

Claypool returned to the school as principal in January. Still, in less than 12 months, Corey made an impression.

"He was a smart young man, very vivacious. He had these great big dimples. When he would see you he would smile and it would make you smile."

That smile she was a thousand-watt one. Claypool adds he had a playful orneriness to go along with it.

Now that smile is missing from the hallways. There are just 276 students in grades pre-K to 8. Its a tight-knit community where everyone's hands are even on an art project in the hall.

"These kids are like yours, Claypool said. You don't leave it at school when you go. It's not like another thing. When you leave school, it is still with you. It's not a job, it's a passion. Here, these teachers, they feel that. It's been a hard thing today."

She said the staff is determined to help the students, too.

"We'll love them a little harder now. We'll love them through it."

Every school counselor in Roane County was on hand Tuesday, meeting with the two fifth grade classes and anyone else who wanted to talk.

A letter is heading home to all the parents to inform them and remind them to be on the lookout for anxiety and depression in young hearts with questions on the mind.

"I would answer the questions. But if you don't know how, just listen. Open your ears to them and let them talk to you. Ask them what they feel. Let them tell you."

Tuesday afternoon, no one came to the door at the Carper home on Natural Bridge Road. Corys parents, as well as one of his friends, were also home throughout the day Monday. They thought they just had the flu until they called 911 around 5 p.m.

Investigators said there was no carbon monoxide detector inside the home.

"Remember them. Remember their family, Claypool said. Remember our little community and school. Say some prayers because they need them. That's all I can ask for."

She adds the school will be doing things to remember Cory, but wasn't quite ready to reveal what those plans are.

Cory's parents and friend were all rushed to Pittsburgh for treatment. As of Tuesday afternoon, they are all showing signs of improvement.

UPDATE 12/18/18 @ 11:10 a.m.

The Roane County sheriff says there was not a carbon monoxide detector inside a home where a 10-year-old boy died Monday.

It happened around 5 p.m. Monday in Looneyville. The child died from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning.

The boy's parents and another child, a friend of the boy who died, were taken to the hospital, the Roane County Sheriffs Department says. Those three are expected to be OK.

Firefighters believe an old furnace not working properly is to blame for the leak.

The sheriff tells WSAZ the boy who died was a student at Geary Elementary School.

"Check your equipment and check it often to make sure it functions properly," said Chris Underwood, a Newton firefighter who was one of the first people on the scene. "CO (carbon monoxide) is a thief in the night. You can go to bed feeling fine and not wake up the next morning."

Keep checking the WSAZ App and WSAZ.com for the latest information.

ORIGINAL STORY 12/17/18

A 10-year-old boy died Monday evening from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning, and three other people were taken to the hospital, the Roane County Sheriffs Department says.

It happened around 5 Monday evening in Looneyville.

They say three victims were taken to the hospital, explaining that all indications point to a carbon monoxide leak in the home. Firefighters believe an old furnace not working properly is to blame. The victim's parents, along with another child, appear to be doing OK. The child who survived was a friend of the 10-year-old who died.

The child who died was pronounced dead at the home.

"Check your equipment and check it often to make sure it functions properly," said Chris Underwood, a Newton firefighter who was one of the first people on the scene. "CO (carbon monoxide) is a thief in the night. You can go to bed feeling fine and not wake up the next morning."

Firefighters say they started ventilating the home as soon as they arrived.

West Virginia State Police also responded to the scene and are investigating the incident.

Keep checking the WSAZ App and WSAZ.com for the latest information.In an interview with the Palm Beach Post's George Bennett, Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis said that Amendment 4, which was approved by 64.6 percent (or 5.2 million) of Florida voters, shouldn't go into effect as intended by the people who wrote the ballot measure.Instead, DeSantis said the amendment, which would restore voting rights for most ex-felons who have served their sentences, should take effect after state lawmakers pass "implementing language" in a bill that is then sent to him for his signature.That means at least a two month delay in restoring felon rights. Advocates of Amendment 4, like the American Civil Liberties Union, say the measure should go into effect on Jan. 8, but session doesn't start until March 5. This could deny voting rights for many in Tampa hoping to cast a ballot in the mayor's race.DeSantis sounded blase about the delay, framing it as a mere formality."They're going to be able to do that in March," DeSantis told Bennett, referring to the 60-day legislative session. "There's no way you can go through this session without implementing it."Howard Simon, the ACLU's former executive director who helped draft Amendment 4, said that's a misreading of the measure's intent.DeSantis' job "is to facilitate the wishes of the voters, not frustrate and delay what the voters overwhelmingly called for," Simon told the Times/Herald. "The new language of our Constitution goes into effect on Jan. 8 -- and that becomes the highest law of the land. The governor doesn't have the right to set aside the Constitution."Another one of the measure's authors, the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, weighed in, advising DeSantis that no legislation is required."People from all walks of life overwhelmingly voted to support Amendment 4, and the simple premise that when a debt is paid it is paid," said the group's executive director, Desmond Meade. "Amendment 4 was and remains about people, not politics. It is about people like the veteran in Tampa who is ready to vote this March in the mayor's race, or the pastor in Jacksonville who has been waiting for years to do the same in her hometown. We are confident that the language is clear and that this Amendment does not require enabling legislation."DeSantis' assumption that a bill could be written, passed and signed in early March also seems a bit hopeful.Though Florida's Department of State says that a person who completes their sentence should be able to register to vote, it doesn't sound like lawmakers have reached anything close to a consensus. Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, chairs a key committee that any implementing bill would need to clear, and he sounded confused about what do next."How do you evaluate eligibility?" Baxley told the Times/Herald last week. "I still have some questions ... What were the terms of their sentence? Do they have to meet probation? Did they complete their debt to society or not?"The fear among supporters of Amendment 4 is that Republicans who opposed the measure, including DeSantis and Senate President Bill Galvano, will make it harder for felons to regain the right to vote.Senate Democratic Leader Audrey Gibson of Jacksonville issued a news release criticizing DeSantis for his comments."Once again, disenfranchisement and voter suppression rear their ugly heads from within the governor's office," Gibson is quoted as saying in the statement. "It appears Governor-elect DeSantis is following the lead of (Rick Scott), whose efforts to purge legitimate voters yielded little more than embarrassing results."Liza McClenaghan, Florida state chair of Common Cause, a voter advocacy group, questioned why the state would seemingly impose new road blocks after voters have spoken."Why did we have a constitutional amendment in the first place?" she told the Times/Herald last week. "Because the Legislature wouldn't deal with the issue. The people took care of that by creating a self-implementing amendment. It's a curious situation."Some took to Twitter to lodge their complaints.There seems to be some confusion from lawmakers as to the complex nature of #Amendment4 "implementation"In anticipation of this, we spent MONTHS creating this VERY intricate flowchart. It's not rocket science, but we can ping @NASA if necessary! #flapol #sayfie pic.twitter.com/XijIEbMHZY-- LWV of Florida (@LWVFlorida) December 13, 2018UNREAL! The amendment is clear @RonDeSantisFL and so are our Florida voters who voted for Amendment 4! We must restore the rights of 1.4M Floridians; stop dragging your feet! #sayfie #flapol https://t.co/DjtGwnuChp-- Rep. Anna V. Eskamani (@AnnaForFlorida) December 13, 2018OH HELL NO: Florida's Ron DeSantis says Amendment 4 should be delayed until he signs bill from lawmakers https://t.co/drOOHA2WaQ-- Juan Escalante (@JuanSaaa) December 13, 2018Restoration of Rights Amendment is self-executing and should automatically go into effect. Like with medical marijuana, state lawmakers will only screw it up, or worse stifle will of voters. ?@ACLU? ?@HispanicFed?? ??@latinojustice? https://t.co/R1H1rQ5i97-- Darren Soto (@DarrenSoto) December 13, 2018A former employee at Amazons BWI-5 facility in Baltimore, Maryland contacted the International Amazon Workers Voice to describe what can only be called a nightmare of corporate red tape.

Hired in 2016, the 25-year old workerDwas a permanent warehouse employee, meaning he had surpassed the standards of the internet giant and had survived the corporations onerous and indefinite probationary period without an infraction, allowing them to receive minor benefits granted to permanent workers.

Unfortunately, job protection and the right to a fair hearing were not among the benefits that were listed. In August 2017, D was terminated from his position as a warehouse associate for allegedly stealing an item of food from the in-house food vending systema Twix ice cream bar. I had been in a conversation with friends before my shift started and forgot to pay for it at the Canteen [vending company] kiosk, he said.

As I began my shift, I was approached by one of the managers and was told that I had been called to the Human Resources office. Waiting in HR, D struggled hard to figure out why the manager had requested his presence. I finally realized that I had forgotten to pay [for the ice cream]. The worker noted that he had a tendency to be forgetful but had never stolen anything in his life or had any previous infractions at the company.

D was about to enter a bureaucratic system from which he would not emerge unscathed. I met a person from loss prevention as well as a HR representative named Brandy. I was taken back to the office and the guy from loss prevention talked with me, trying to get a sense of my personality. He chatted with me about video games and things like that, D said.

The gentleman from loss prevention then explained the real purpose for the meeting. He asked me if I had anything I wanted to say to him, D told the IAWV, after which the young worker willingly confessed to forgetting to pay for the ice cream treat. It shook me, D stated, I had never been in a situation like that before and only wished to come clean.

D was forced to sign a statement explaining the reasons for the failure to pay at the automated kiosk before being informed that he was being suspended and could expect a phone call Sunday which would determine the companys final judgement. I was then escorted out, the worker said.

This is when things start to get bad on Amazons part, D explained.

Sunday came, but Amazon did not call.

Im thinking, no problem, theyre probably just busy. So on Monday, I went back to Amazon and spoke to security. D was informed that the company was still in the process of investigating his theft and would promptly call back the next day.

Tuesday came, but nobody called.

Giving the company the whole day to follow through on its promises before returning to inquire about his job status Wednesday, this time D was confronted by a hostile company representative. On Wednesday, I was not greeted nicely, he said. An unknown representative from HR approached D, aggressively telling him off. She said to me: You know what you did. I dont know why youre back. At that point, loss prevention representatives approached the startled worker, informing him that he had been officially terminated.

Despite this inconsiderate treatment, the young worker was determined to appeal the company's decision and keep his job. I really like Amazon, I didnt want to have to do this, he said, referring to his decision to speak out about his experiences.

D continued, explaining the runaround the company was giving him:

I called Amazons Employee Resource Center [ERC], which is basically a hotline for associates to appeal decisions made by management. There, the confused worker was informed that he was amazingly still employed at the company: The system said that I was on UPT [Unpaid Time Off], even though they said they had terminated me. D was told he would need to be legitimately terminated before appealing his firing.

D was forced into the undignified predicament of having to beg the company to fire him, so he could then file an appeal. This situation went on for two weeks.

Finally, an HR rep, Charles, called D to inform him that he had been fired, again. Seizing the opportunity to file an appeal, D was informed that the charge of theft could not be appealed. I was told that my profile had been flagged and I could never work for Amazon ever again.

At this point, Ds determination began to falter. There was no legitimacy to any of it, I wasnt shown any footage of the theft taking place so I could verify it was me. For all I know they had seen some other guy stealing. I took his [the HR managers] word for it. I shouldnt have. I shouldnt have given up. I feel like I was lied to, D declared.

It feels good just to have someone to talk about this with its been my struggle for the past year. I was a permanent worker. Youve got to have a clean record to become a permanent worker, I think they could have worked with me, he said.

Im just an average 25-year-old guy, I live with my family. As bad as it sounds, I dont feel like Im the same as those other workers [who relay their experiences of abuse to the IAWV]. I actually liked working for the company, I wanted to stay there and move up, even become a manager myself, he said. I like the people, the problem is the people in charge, he said. Amazon treats people like theyre expendable. At some point, everyone in the city will know how bad they are, their reputation as an employer will suffer.

Ds facility, located in east Baltimore, was opened in 2015 on the former site of a General Motors auto plant, which had previously employed thousands of workers at significantly higher wages until its final shuttering in 2005. Amazon, whose average associate makes little more than the minimum wage, has sought to expand its presence into deindustrialized regions such as Baltimore. Last year the corporation announced that it would open another distribution center at the former location of the now-shuttered Bethlehem Steel, once the largest steel mill on the US east coast.

Last month, several contractors working at the east Baltimore facility were killed under unclear circumstances when a minor tornado touched down in the vicinity of the distribution hub.

Commenting on the weather-related tragedy, D stated that he and fellow workers had doubts about the structural integrity of the Amazon building the workers were housed in, suggesting that there was likely cost cutting involved in their deaths.

Currently, D is employed at United Parcel Service (UPS). Asked about the conditions there, he said: The building Im in has no break system [in place]. Its illegal. They dont like us to work 8 hours, but there is no set system. For us, we have break if a [delivery] truck is late. I think the whole shipping business is a little corrupt. They think people are robots. They really dont care.

Asked about his opinion of the Teamsters trade union, D explained I never liked them; I think the management pays them, they know all about [the companys break system], they dont care. You could tell them about it and, even if they sent someone to investigate, theyd just end up becoming part of the problem, too.

Ds experience, first at Amazon and then at UPS, is indicative of an entire generation of young working-class people who are becoming radicalized by growing levels of inequality and exploitation and corporations that treat their employees with disdain and contempt. From autoworkers, to UPS and Amazon workers, to the millions employed in low-paying service work, the conclusions he and many, many others are beginning to draw about the capitalist system terrify the ruling class more than anything.

Eventually, when packages start showing up late [due to work stoppages], people will notice, the young worker added.

I work for UPS now, but I still handle packages for Amazon, as well as the US Postal Service, he continued, suggesting the irrationality of forcing UPS and Amazon workers, as well as other workers in the industry, to struggle against one another for jobs.

Some drivers [at UPS] had their hours cut yesterday, because Amazon is now delivering packages with its Air system. Overnight delivery, in the middle of Christmas season!

The workers are the ones that make this company its money, he concluded.

The author also recommends:

Jeff Bezos $100 billion: The case for expropriation

[27 Nov 2017]The Socialist Equality Party announced at a public meeting last Sunday that it will organise demonstrations in defence of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange next March in Sydney and Melbourne.

Delivering the main report at the Sydney meeting, which was livestreamed internationally on Facebook, SEP national secretary James Cogan stated that the protests, on March 3 in Sydney and March 10 in Melbourne, would be aimed at mobilising the widespread support for Assange among workers and young people.

The rallies would expose the role of the entire Australian political establishment in the persecution of the WikiLeaks founder, Cogan said. They would reiterate the demand that the Australian government take immediate action to secure Assanges return to Australia, with a guarantee against extradition to the United States, which is seeking to prosecute the journalist and publisher for his role in the exposure of war crimes, illegal diplomatic intrigues and mass spying.

James Cogan's report to the meeting

Cogan stated: It is legitimate to ask why we have selected those dates, given the possibility that Julian may be forced from the embassy well before March. We believe it provides sufficient time to build the widest support for the demonstrations, in workplaces and among students, under conditions in which we anticipate that the political establishment, media and the trade unions will maintain a wall of silence or actively oppose them.

He stressed that the social force that had to be independently mobilised in the fight for the freedom of Assange was the working class.

Addressing a diverse audience of workers, students, young people and retirees, Cogan also announced that the SEP would stand Senate and House of Representatives candidates in the upcoming federal election, which is expected to take place in May. The SEP campaign would centrally raise the defence of Assange, as part of the fight for a socialist program directed against the turn to war and authoritarianism.

Cogan began his report by pointing to an image of Assange taken from the video-link testimony he gave against the Ecuadorian governments repressive special protocol, which is aimed at creating additional pressure to force him out of its London embassy and into British and US custody.

Assange warned that the protocol, which prohibits him from making any political comments and mandates intrusive medical examinations, would create a health crisis for him or be used to furnish the pretext for his expulsion from the embassy.

Assanges appearance, Cogan said, testified to the deterioration of his physical and psychological health.

It is no longer sufficient to condemn the Liberal-National Coalition, the Labor Party, the Greens, the so-called independents in parliament such as Andrew Wilkie, the trade unions and the establishment media for collaborating in the persecution of Julian Assange, Cogan declared.

They are collaborating, frankly, in what others have described as the slow-motion murder of an Australian citizen, a journalist and a publisher.

Part of the meeting

The SEP national secretary outlined the relationship between the vicious persecution of Assange, by the most powerful governments in the world, and their intense fear over the reemergence of mass social and political opposition from the working class.

WikiLeaks 2010 publication of leaked US diplomatic cables, Cogan explained, had exposed sordid diplomatic conspiracies against the worlds population. The exposure of government corruption played a direct role in triggering revolutionary upheavals in Tunisia, which ousted the countrys decades-long regime in January 2011. The American journal, Foreign Policy, nervously warned that it was the first WikiLeaks revolution.

Within weeks, Cogan stated, the Egyptian working class launched mass strikes against the US-backed Mubarak regime and millions of people poured into the streets demanding political change.

It was in this context, Cogan explained, that the US administration of Barack Obama, and its allies around the world, including Australia, pursued WikiLeaks and Assange.

It was necessary, he said, for defenders of democratic rights to be able to address the slanders that had been developed by the major powers and endlessly repeated by the corporate media to justify the persecution.

Chief among these was the claim that Assange had been wanted for rape and had evaded sexual assault charges in Sweden. In reality, no charges were ever laid. Cogan said the Swedish investigation, which was finally abandoned in 2017, had all the hallmarks of a sordid political frame-up. It had been continued, at the behest of the British authorities, to provide a pretext for Assanges arrest and eventual extradition to the US to face prosecution for WikiLeaks publications.

James Cogan

Cogan also refuted the lies that Assange was a Russian agent, purportedly responsible for the election of US President Donald Trump.

In reality, WikiLeaks had, in the interests of the truth, published leaked emails demonstrating that the Democratic National Committee had worked to sabotage the campaign of self-styled left candidate Bernie Sanders and ensure that Hillary Clinton won the partys nomination. It then published secret speeches given by Clinton exposing how she vowed her support for the billionaire oligarchs who run the US and boasted of her militarist credentials, such as the 2011 US-led war on Libya.

The attacks on WikiLeaks, he continued, had been a central component of a broader attempt to suppress freedom of speech and censor oppositional views from the Internet. In 2017, Google had introduced a new algorithm, in collaboration with the US and other governments, that dramatically reduced traffic to socialist, left-wing and anti-war publications, including the WSWS and WikiLeaks.

Similar measures were being imposed by Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. This was motivated, Cogan explained, by the fear in the ruling elite over the emerging mass struggles by the working class around the world, exemplified most recently by the yellow vests demonstrations in France.

The ruling class, Cogan said, wants to prevent ordinary people accessing critical information and an alternative perspective, in the belief that if it can keep the working class ignorant, it will not fight for its social and democratic rights.

The SEP speaker stressed that this was an international phenomenon. The Australian ruling elite had played a central role in the persecution of Julian Assange. It was the Greens-backed federal Labor government of Julia Gillard that had branded WikiLeaks a criminal organisation and pledged its support for US attempts to railroad Assange to prison. Every government since had backed the attempts to destroy WikiLeaks.

This was inextricably linked to the Australian political establishments support for the US pivot to Asia, a vast US military build-up directed against China.

The abandonment of Assange by a whole layer of the upper middle-class, and by organisations such as the unions, was bound up with their support for these preparations for war.

Cogan stated: The immense struggles that will be developing in Australia and the world, over wages, working conditions and housing, over health and education, over the environment, and against the danger of war must take up the demand for the unconditional right of Julian Assange to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

The SEP, the speaker said, would insist in this emerging movement on the necessity for the socialist reorganisation of society, as the only means of halting the turn towards dictatorship and averting the threat of catastrophic war.

The report was followed by a lively question and answer period. Audience members in Sydney and online asked Cogan to elaborate on technical aspects of internet censorship, on the Swedish allegations against Assange and on the SEPs attitude to Labor, the unions and the deepening social crisis confronting the working class.

Nick Beams

In a contribution during the discussion period, longstanding SEP leader Nick Beams explained that the hostility towards Assange among pseudo-left organisations, some journalists, and organisations such as the Greens and the unions, was part of a broad, social process that has developed around the world over the past decade.

Beams noted that the most affluent layers of the upper middle-class had responded with intense class fear and hostility to the emergence of working-class struggle expressed in Tunisia and Egypt, which they viewed as a threat to their own privileges and wealth. They had dispensed with their previous nominal opposition to imperialist war and had aligned themselves with US-led military interventions, and the campaign to censor the internet.

Attendees at the meeting expressed their enthusiasm for the upcoming rallies in defence of Assange and interest in participating in the SEP election campaign.

The authors also recommend:

SEP meeting attendees speak out in defence of Julian Assange

[18 December 2018]Braving freezing temperatures, several thousand workers have taken to the streets of Budapest on a daily basis since last Wednesday to protest against the tightening up of labour law by the Hungarian government. One week ago, 10,000 people protested against the new Slave Law. Police used tear gas and water cannon to brutally repel the demonstrators.

On Wednesday, parliament passed the new bill proposed by the right-wing Fidesz party led by Prime Minister Victor Orban. On Friday and Saturday, riots took place with more than 50 participants arrested and many wounded in clashes with police. According to media reports, 14 police officers were injured. The media described the protests as the most violent protests in more than ten years. The initial protests were limited to the capital city, but protests also took place on Friday in Pecs in southern Hungary.

The law reform is designed to increase the annual overtime employers are allowed to demand from their workers from 250 to 400 hours. At the same time, companies no longer have to compensate or pay overtime within one year, but only within three years.

The protests not only included calls for the repeal of the new labour code, but also for the resignation of Premier Orban and for basic political changes. In the 10 years Orban has been in power, he has led Hungary towards dictatorship and strengthened the most right-wing elements in the country.

The protests are also directed against another law passed Wednesday, which subordinates the judiciary to even more control by the government. The law places new administrative courts directly under the justice minister, Laszlo Trocsanyi, a close ally of Orban.

The tightening of the Labour Code serves the interests of international corporations operating in the country, especially the auto industry, which accounts for about one third of all Hungarian exports. Nearly all international carmakers, such as Audi, BMW and Opel, produce in Hungary. They are attracted in particular by wages that are around one third of what the auto companies pay in countries like Germany. Hungary is considered a location with low labour costs, well-trained workers and weak unions, the Wiener Zeitung notes.

As in other eastern European countries, massive emigration and the decline of the education system is beginning to affect the labour market. That is why companies are having increasing difficulty finding skilled workers. Orbans law means that such skilled workers can in future be compelled to work much longer hours.

Union representatives rightly refer to the law as a backdoor to the introduction of a six-day working week. Foreign Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto recently stated that investors have welcomed the proposals of the Hungarian government, because they will increase competitiveness.

In all of the protests, many participants wore yellow vests. They were expressing their solidarity with the protests in France, where the opposition to President Emmanuel Macron has assumed the dimensions of a mass movement of the working class against the capitalist system. The latest protests in Hungary have been supported by students and school pupils, as is the case in France.

Although the unions have increasingly adapted to the government line in recent years, they felt obliged to respond to workers pressure for the protests. The MASZSZ trade union group even threatened a general strike if the government did not withdraw the law. Other unions, such as the teachers union, also joined the protests. The Internet portal nepszava.hu published a survey by the polling institute Pulzus according to which 81 percent of respondents agreed with the protests.

The majority of protesters are expressing genuine anger at the right-wing government, but far-right forces are trying to exploit the protests for their own ends. The neo-fascist Jobbik party has called for rejection of the new labour law, and far-right-wing forces are using social media to mobilise against it. The Jobbik leadership called upon its regional organisations to travel to Budapest on Friday to participate in the protests.

A particularly vile role is being played by the so-called left-wing opposition parties. They are using the current situation to ally themselves with the ultra-right. When in power, the Socialist Party (MSZP) had also implemented policies attacking the working class and its rights. Now it is calling for collaboration with Jobbik.

MSZP MP Agnes Kunhalmi said that this was necessary to fight the Orban government. She raised the possibility of an alliance for the European elections in the coming year, arguing that otherwise Orban would ban all opposition parties.

A similar position is held by the right-wing neo-liberal Momentum movement, which supports the European Union. Its deputy, Anna Donath, called for solidarity with all parties and groups opposed to the new the law.

The Orban government is responding to the protests with an extremely aggressive, right-wing campaign. As was the case when the government took a fierce stance against refugees, Orban raises the cudgel of anti-Semitism. According to Balazs Hidveghi, the communications director of the governing party, the Jewish US billionaire George Soros organised the violence in Budapest. Soros and his network were only interested in riots, and provocation and protests had been deliberately planned, as was the violence against policemen, Hidveghi explained, according to the Hungarian news agency MTI.

Recently, Hungarys head of government initiated the bundling of media outlets favourable to the government in a new consortium. In early December, he signed a decree stating that this measure was of strategic importance and in the public interest. The measure permits Orban to increase his influence over the press in Hungary and neutralise any media opposition. This explains why many of the Hungarian media outlets refuse to report on the protest or do so only to portray the protesters as rabble.Workers, students and young people responded with enthusiasm to announcements at a Socialist Equality Party meeting last Sunday that the SEP will hold rallies next March in defence of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Those in attendance expressed their hostility to the role of the Australian political establishment in the persecution of the publisher, and their admiration for WikiLeaks exposure of US-led war crimes and illegal diplomatic intrigues.

James

James, a mature-aged history student, said he attended the meeting, because he felt a responsibility to support a hero who is under fire, someone who is a very important figure, a world-wide figure. Someone who is telling the truth and exposing corruption.

The photo of Assanges current condition outraged me. It made me realise how much he has been suffering especially in the last couple of years in the embassy. He has committed no crime, he has exposed the truth.

Assange is being victimised because the American war machine has to go on. They cant stop it. Its their main source of income. They need wars. Weve got business people dictating to governments. Assange is a very dangerous figure because hes making these things transparent.

Were living through a stage of history with mass rumblings and opposition from below. Weve had things like 40 million people go on general strike in Brazil last year and now the emergence of the Yellow Vest movement in France. Under these conditions, workers need people like Julian Assange exposing the truth more than ever.

Gus

Gus, a construction worker, came to the meeting after attending a lecture by WSWS international editorial board chairman David North on the 80th anniversary of the Fourth International earlier this month.

He said: Assange is a journalist. He should be released. His detention is obviously a result of geo-politics. I believe in freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Its not in the interests in the mainstream media, of the capitalist class, to have this campaign to free Julian Assange in the open. Their agenda is to keep the working class ignorant.

Assange is an ongoing threat to the elites, because he reveals the behind-the-scenes of corporate and political corruption. Theyre afraid of him because they know an informed working class would be a force against capitalism. I dont see anything that compares to WikiLeaks in its capacity to actually bring down those in power, given that the information that it has revealed is both vast in its implications and in its content.

Anwar

Anwar, a Western Sydney University student and part-time electrician, said: I came to the meeting because Ive been reading through the US diplomatic cables and the war logs on the WikiLeaks website. They show that these wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East have been about oil, resources and money, not human rights.

I used to think that Australia was a decent country, but after the meeting today, I see there are dirty things going on behind the scenes everywhere. More young people need to get involved and come to these sort of things.

Mia, a retired cleaner, came to the meeting after seeing a poster in the working class suburb of Bankstown. I wanted to see what kind of movement was defending Julian Assange, she said. I want to help Julian Assange get free.

Mia

I follow up information on him whenever I can. He is the person fighting for the right to knowledge. This is the most important thing in life, to know the truth.

I saw at the meeting today that there is an interest in Assange. Its not going to be swept under the carpet. Its going to come up, definitely. Im getting older, but everyone has to fight until the last minute of their life.

We are all connected now. People here are looking at the Yellow Vest movement. It touches on our way of living. We never know when the yellow vest is going to be on our street here. The bourgeois Macron wants to give everything to the big banks, thats where he gets all his money from. Its the same here.

The demonstrations in defence of Assange that are going to be held in March are wonderful. Everyone should come and join. If you believe in rights, participate. You never know how the attacks are going to strike you or your family or anyone else around you. This is a fight for the truth.

This has to go around the whole world. This can be a wonderful thing for society and the young generation because they dont have anything to lose. They finish university and then face unemployment. Whats the point of that?On Sunday, the Parti de legalite socialiste (PES) held a public meeting in Paris on the ongoing yellow vest protests in France. Titled What revolutionary perspective for the yellow vests, the meeting featured speakers from the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) of Britain, the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP) of Germany and the PES itself. It was rebroadcast live to Berlin and Montreal.

Several dozen people attended the meeting, including several yellow vest protesters as well as members of the Tamil community in Paris. There was a lively discussion, with questions and contributions from the floor following each speakers remarks.

Alex Lantier spoke for the PES and reviewed the yellow vest protests. In just a few weeks, a protest against French President Emmanuel Macrons regressive fuel taxes grew into a movement of the working class against social inequality and the existing order, and for Macrons ouster. Lantier explained that the yellow vest protests are part of an international upsurge of the class struggle, in which workers are entering into struggle independently of and against the entire political establishment, including the national trade union bureaucracies.

He stressed that this confirmed the International Committee of the Fourth Internationals insistence that the Stalinist bureaucracys dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 did not spell the end of history and the demise of the struggle for socialism. Rather, the period when workers struggles were held in check by middle-class left parties was ending.

Lantier reviewed how the yellow vest protest erupted outside of the unions and the political establishment as it has existed in the last half-century since the May 1968 general strike. These organizations were either indifferent or openly hostile to the protests.

He highlighted the PESs call for the formation of committees of action in the working class, as a way for workers to organize themselves for struggle on an international basis, independently of the outmoded and hostile national union bureaucracies. In the context of such struggles and the building of such organizations, the PES and the other European sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) would intervene to explain the necessity of transferring power to the working class.

Christoph Vandreier, the assistant national secretary of the SGP and author of the book Why are they back again? on the return of German fascism, spoke next. Bringing greetings from the SGP, whose list he is heading in next years European elections, Vandreier said workers in Germany and beyond were following the yellow vest protests with sympathy and solidarity, amid growing opposition among German workers to wage cuts and plant closures.

Vandreier reviewed the SGPs campaign to oppose the legitimization of German militarism and ensuing attempts by right-wing extremists in German academia to whitewash the crimes of Nazism. He explained how German imperialisms attempt to overcome popular opposition to war and fascism led it to try to rehabilitate Hitlerisma process now unfolding in every European country, notably with Macrons favorable references to French fascist dictator Philippe Petain.

As with the yellow vest protest, while the governments policy was wildly unpopular, the SGP was the only political party that sought to rally the vast, untapped opposition among workers and youth and arm it with a socialist and anti-war program. Vandreier also explained the powerful support that the SGPs campaign has elicited among concerned students at university campuses across Germany.

Finally, Chris Marsden, the national secretary of the SEP of Britain, spoke to underscore that the eruption of the yellow vest protests after a decade of deep capitalist crisis and war confirmed the fundamental conceptions of Leon Trotsky on the nature of capitalism and the capitalist crisis. As he wrote in the Transitional Program for the founding of the Fourth International 80 years ago in Paris, capitalism is in mortal crisis. The decisive question is that of revolutionary leadership in the international working class.

Marsden noted that for many yellow vest protesters, the term socialist might initially conjure up images of cynical careerists like President Francois Hollande of the Socialist Party. However, as they enter into struggle against the French and international financial aristocracy, the workers will be compelled to expropriate the wealth of the super-rich and build a workers state pursuing socialist policies.

Outlining the history of Trotskyism, Marsden stressed that it was based on its struggle against Stalinism, Pabloism and middle-class radicalism that the ICFI approached the working class and fought to rally it to a struggle for socialism. The ICFIs history, he explained, was the demonstration that the record of social democracy, Stalinism and petty-bourgeois pseudo-left politics could not be attributed to Marxism, but rather to their hostility towards Marxism, socialism and the working class. The task now was to build the ICFI as the genuine Marxist vanguard in the working class.

Speakers took questions on the role committees of action could play in workers struggles, the attitude of workers in Germany towards the shift of official politics towards the far-right, and the development and political character of the yellow vest movement.

Audience members stayed after the formal end of the meeting to discuss political issues and buy literature from the PES.

One person attending the meeting, Andrea, said that while she lived in the Paris area and was not initially as concerned with fuel taxes because of the availability of mass transit, she still considered herself a yellow vest. She explained: Im of the same class, I have the same problems they do. I want a profound change for the working class. We must live and work in a better way. We are the ones who work and create the wealth, but we live on nothing.

She said that the PES meeting was unique in that it tried to give a political and historical explanation of where the yellow vest protest movement came from and what it represented. She said: It was a very constructive meeting, it allowed you to understand the movement and foresee what can happen later on. The yellow vests need more solid organization. We do not want this to be another protest that is carried out in a just cause, but then ultimately is doomed by an absence of organization and political will.Amid new exposures of Wall Street criminality, the White Houses mass imprisonment of immigrant children, and growing demands by US workers for decent wages, the US media was preoccupied Monday with the supposed efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin to make people believe that life in America is not a paradise.

Throughout the day, the New York Times, the Washington Post and Google News all led with breathless stories about Russian efforts to sway American opinion and divide the country (in the words of the Times). The propaganda barrage was based on a set of reports submitted to the Senate Intelligence Committee by organizations with close ties to the US state and intelligence apparatus.

Like countless other stories about alleged Russian disinformation, Mondays media blast followed a script. Reports and testimony from nominally independent organizations, which are, in reality, mouthpieces for the intelligence agencies, are commissioned by Congress. They are leaked to the New York Times, which publishes a front-page article promoting them as independent, scientific and authoritative, without, however, presenting any serious analysis of the actual evidence or the social and political forces behind the studies. The reports in the Times (or the Washington Post) are then cited by countless media outlets and politicians as new and irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling and fake news.

The new proof of Russian subversion is then used to demand even more sweeping measures to censor the internet, in the name of securing our democracy. With each successive wave of stories, foreign disinformation is more directly identified with opposition to social inequality, police brutality and the capitalist system.

The first of two reports submitted to the Senate Intelligence Committee, The Tactics & Tropes of the Internet Research Agency, was published by an organization known as New Knowledge, which purports to be a cybersecurity company, but whose primary public presence consists in advocacy for internet censorship.

Ryan Fox, the co-founder of New Knowledge and a co-author of the report, worked for the National Security Agency (NSA) for 15 years. New Knowledges website notes that prior to his civilian roles as a Counter Terrorism Fellow and NSA Representative European SIGINT partners, he served under US Joint Special Operation Command (JSOC) as a CNO Analyst for the US Army. His partner, the companys CEO, is Jonathon Morgan, who has published for the state-connected Brookings Institution and worked as a special advisor to the State Department.

New Knowledge was established with a $1.9 million grant from Moonshots Capital. Moonshots founders are Kelly Perdew, who, according to the biography on the companys website, served in the US Army as a military intelligence officer, and Craig Cummings, who spent 17 years in the Army, most of that time as an intelligence officer serving in support of the National Security Agency.

The second report, The IRA and Political Polarization in the United States, published under the imprimatur of Oxford Universitys Computational Propaganda Project, in collaboration with the social media analysis firm Graphika, was likewise authored by figures with deep connections to the state and the military. Graphika staffer Camille Francois, a co-author, served as chief technical officer to the French prime minister and worked at the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

In line with the by now well-established playbook, Democratic Senator Mark Warner, the leading advocate of internet censorship in the US Senate, took to the airwaves to proclaim that these independent reports were a wake up call. He continued: These attacks against our country were much more comprehensive, calculating and widespread than previously revealed. He added that addressing this challenge was going to require some much-needed and long-overdue guardrails when it comes to social media.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, like Warner a member of the Intelligence Committee, appeared on the Public Broadcasting evening news program to chastise Facebook and demand that it be more aggressive in shutting down disinformation.

In regard to their content, both reports are highly dubious and clearly politically motivated. The raw data is based on information turned over to the Senate Intelligence Committee last year by Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. After initially rejecting as crazy claims that Russian meddling helped swing the election to Trump, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, together with the leaders of other major technology companies, provided a list of accounts that they assertedwithout providing any details on how this conclusion was reachedwere controlled by Russian operatives.

Even if one were to assume that this data and the content of the reports were accurate, whatever Russia may or may not have done pales in comparison to the operations of US intelligence agencies all over the world, including within the United States itself, not to mention the billions of dollars spent by the corporate and financial elite to manipulate US elections and determine their outcome.

The claim, moreover, that Russian Twitter and Facebook posts are responsible for social discontent in the United Statesthe most unequal country in the worldis beyond ludicrous.

It is highly significant that the posts cited by the reports as responsible for manipulating public opinion and undermining American democracy are predominantly left-wing in character.

The New Knowledge report attempts to muddle this reality by categorizing content opposing police brutality as neither left-wing or right-wing, but Black. It states that of 62 Facebook pages allegedly tied to Russia, Overall, 30 targeted Black audiences and amassed 1,187,810 followers; 25 targeted the Right and amassed 1,446,588 followers, and 7 targeted the Left and amassed 689,045 followers.

The content of the accounts labeled by New Knowledge as targeting Black audiences is made clear in a subsequent section dealing with the video streaming service YouTube. Of 1,063 videos turned over to the committee, the majority related to the police and focused on police abuses.

Commenting on the New Knowledge report, the New York Times declared that the Russian governments tactics echo Soviet propaganda efforts from decades ago that often highlighted racism and racial conflict in the United States.

Here, the Timesdemonstrates the utterly reactionary pedigree of the campaign against Russian meddling. During the American civil rights movement, Southern segregationists claimed that African American workers were being stirred up by communists and outside agitators. The strivings of African Americans for equal rights were denounced as a Soviet plot.

Now, too, the deeply-felt hatred by American workers and youth of all races for police brutality and the epidemic of police murders is presented as a Russian plot to sow division among Black audiences.

Left-leaning [Russian-inspired] pages, the report states, criticized mainstream, established Democratic leaders as corporatists or too close to neo-cons, and promoted Green Party and Democratic Socialist themes. These left-wing pages expressed antiwar opposition and objections to US involvement in another countrys affairs.

The clear intent of the campaign by Warner and his co-thinkers is to de-legitimize such views as the product of foreign meddling, and to effectively criminalize them. Their concern is not with Russia, but with the American working class.

As the year 2018 concludes, the intensification of the global economic crisis and heightening of war preparations are accompanied by a renewed upsurge of the class struggle throughout the world.

The American ruling elite has made clear its intention to respond to this growing movement of the working class with censorship and repression. Writing about the recent yellow vest protests in France, the New York Times warned that the power of social media to quickly mobilize mass anger, without any mechanism for dialogue or restraint, is a danger to which a liberal democracy cannot succumb. The implication of such statements is clear: the campaign to censor the internet must be intensified.

The orchestrated hysteria over disinformation is itself a gigantic disinformation campaign, and the narrative about the sinister spread of fake news is an example of real fake news.

The ruling class and the corporate media are frustrated that their claims have had little impact on popular consciousness, and very few people really believe that Russia is responsible for social discontent in the United States. But this only intensifies their efforts to uphold and strengthen the grip of the guardians of informationthat is, themselves.

The growth of working class opposition provides the means to counter these efforts to censor the internet. As workers enter into struggle, they must take up the fight to defend freedom of expression on the internet as inseparable from the fight for social equality.(TNS) - Fresh details emerged Monday about another of the key blunders in the response to the Parkland massacre  miscommunication about video footage that led police to think the shooter was still in the three-story building when he wasnt.The mistake meant that officers proceeded with more extreme caution and most paramedics, for their own safety, were not permitted to enter the school.Had we known the shooter wasnt there, we probably could have flooded that building a lot faster knowing that were just going to go in there and just start trying to recover victims and wounded people, George Schmidt, a member of Coral Springs Police Departments SWAT operations team, told investigators, according to transcripts of interviews with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.Prosecutors in Broward also revealed additional testimony that touched on the delayed video footage and how it affected the rescue efforts at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people died on Valentines Day. A former student, Nikolas Cruz, entered the 1200 Building on campus and strode through the hallways, shooting into classrooms with an AR-15 assault-style rifle. Hes in jail, awaiting trial.The video delay was first reported by the South Florida Sun Sentinel a week after the shooting, but it was not clear how the misunderstanding occurred in the desperate, chaotic scene, made worse by radio communication failures. The newly released records reveal that school officials were the ones who rewound the video and that critical act was not clearly articulated, leading police to believe they were getting live information on the gunmans whereabouts.Hearing a fire alarm, Jeff Morford, assistant principal, raced outside his office to help with an evacuation and encountered a sheriffs deputy, Scot Peterson, in a breezeway. The deputy, who is assigned to the school, yelled: Code Red, meaning a lockdown and possible active shooter, and told Moford to get back to the schools camera room to pull up the security video.By the time Morford arrived, school Security Specialist Kelvin Greenleaf was already there, but the pair didnt see any trouble on the live feed video. So they rewound it. We ran the  it back so we could see what was going on, Morford told investigators.Mr. Greenleaf was running the camera. I was sitting beside him as we were watching, Morford said. Then I got on my my radio and was telling Deputy Peterson what  I saw.Peterson was standing outside the 1200 Building and heard the gunfire but never ran in to accost the attacker. Hes been vilified for his cowardice and is being sued for negligence by parents.Morford said he could not remember whether he told Peterson that the video was rewound.2018 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)Visit the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at www.sun-sentinel.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.A stage-managed debate conducted yesterday on refugee policy at this weeks Australian Labor Party national conference in Adelaide pointed to an underlying feature of the preparations being made for a Labor government.

For electoral purposes, claims are repeatedly being made throughout the three-day conference that a Labor government would deliver fairness and even compassion, in contrast to the current Liberal-National government.

In reality, the partys program is one of maintaining, and deepening, the decades-long bipartisan attack on the basic rights and conditions of the working class, including those of the most vulnerable layers, such as refugees and the unemployed.

At the same time, Labor is proposing to continue expanding the police-military-intelligence apparatus, whose central purpose is to suppress social and political unrest.

Media reports that dissent over refugee policy could be a flashpoint at the conference proved misleading. Labors factional leaders came together to agree to keep a Labor government committed to militarily turning back all refugee boats and detaining asylum seekers in appalling conditions in camps on remote Pacific islands.

This factional deal permitted Labor leader Bill Shorten to pre-empt the afternoons debate on refugees by announcing the partys policies during a speech that morning. While he looked forward to a constructive debate, Shorten said he wanted to make clear what a Labor government would implement.

Shortens most revealing pledge was to triple the number of Australian Federal Police officers deployed to Indonesia and other countries to block or disrupt the departure of refugee boats to Australia.

The Labor leader further announced that one of his first acts as prime minister would be to consult with the chiefs of the Australian Defence Force, the Home Affairs Department and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) on measures to strengthen the current border protection regime of repelling refugee boats.

Innocent asylum seekers fleeing war, persecution, poverty and oppression will continue to be the targets of these police, military and spy agencies. But this repressive stance is also a warning of the brutal methods that a Labor government will use to enforce its pro-business program on the working class as a whole.

Shorten unequivocally restated Labors intent to keep using the navy to intercept and push back refugee boats and retain the offshore processing regime of detaining asylum seekers in Australias camps on Nauru and Papua New Guineas Manus Island.

To further stop refugees fleeing to Australia, Shorten promised to commit $500 million over five years to support the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in screening asylum applications in Asian and closer to source countries.

This means foisting more of the burden of the global refugee crisispredominantly caused by US-led and Australian-backed wars in the Middle East and northern Africaonto impoverished countries least able to cope with the scale of the human suffering.

Shorten said a Labor government would take up a token offer from the Labour Party-led coalition government in New Zealand to annually resettle up to 150 Nauru and Manus detainees.

But this deal would be on the same terms and conditions as an agreement that the Coalition government struck with the Obama administration, designed to bar the refugees from ever being permitted to live in Australia.

Shorten claimed that when the last Labor government, in which he was a senior minister, reopened the Nauru and Manus camps in 2012, it never meant to keep people indefinitely incarcerated in conditions that would destroy their mental health.

That is rewriting history. When Labor reintroduced the Pacific solution of the previous Howard Coalition government, Prime Minister Julia Gillard emphasised that, in order to deter refugees, they could be detained for many years.

Shorten foreshadowed a small gradual rise in the annual official refugee intake from the current level of 18,750 to 32,000, with a community-sponsored program increasing over time from 1,000 to 5,000 a year. Based on a Canadian model, this scheme shifts the costs of refugee settlement onto charities or employers that sponsor humanitarian entrants.

Ged Kearney

Former Australian Council of Trade Unions president Ged Kearney, who has postured as a defender of refugee rights, was assigned the task of moving the agreed resolution. It vaguely urges a Labor government to prioritise resettlement of all eligible refugees on Manus and Nauru in third countries, but sets no time limit.

Kearney described the motion as not perfect, but claimed it gets us closer. She shamelessly declared it to be the partys most progressive policy ever and praised Labor for Refugees, an internal cross-factional group, which agreed not to pursue an amendment calling for an end to boat turnbacks and offshore imprisonment.

Left faction leaders ensured that a negotiated amendment was passed without any opposition. A small number of delegates voiced a barely audible no vote, and made no call for a vote count.

The only disagreement arose on a subsequent amendment to give appeal rights to about 6,000 asylum seekers already living in Australia whose refugee applications had been rejected by a fast track assessment process introduced by the Coalition government.

Shadow immigration minister Shayne Neumann flatly opposed the proposal on the grounds that it had budgetary implications. After this display of open contempt for the basic legal rights of thousands of refugees, the amendment was defeated, again without a vote count.

Just before the refugee policy session, a dozen young people held a sit-down protest in the foyer, urging delegates to close the camps. After about half an hour, police and security guards escorted them out of the conference venue, the Adelaide Convention Centre.

The demonstrators anger at Labors bipartisan unity with the Coalition gave some idea of the deepening popular disgust with the barbaric treatment of refugees by successive governments.

Protesters being confronted by police

Despite the anti-refugee consensus already being stitched up, the protest spokeswoman made a futile appeal for the Labor Party to find its conscience and for the Left faction to consider its humanitarian values.

This only serves to sow illusions in the same party, and Left faction, that pioneered the mandatory detention of refugees under the Keating Labor government in 1992. Moreover, the prime minister who reopened the Nauru and Manus camps, Julia Gillard, was a Labor Left.

Labors supposed progressive policy is in line with that foul record. It also mirrors the promotion of anti-refugee and anti-immigrant xenophobia by the Trump administration in the US, and governments across Europeall of which are militarising their borders and shutting out refugees.

Labor and the unions are seeking to divert the mounting discontent in the working class over escalating inequality and deteriorating social conditions in reactionary nationalist directions, pitting them against workers, including vulnerable refugees, in other countries.

This poisonous nationalism should be rejected. Workers must have the right to live and work in whichever country they choose, with full civil and political rights, instead of being treated like criminals.The Abbotsleigh Estate Workers Action Committee, formed by plantation workers with the political assistance of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP), held its official inauguration meeting on Sunday evening.

The main objective of the gathering, held in a hall near the Abbotsleigh tea factory, was to discuss the objectives of the committee, the difference between an action committee and a trade union and to draw lessons from the recent concerted strike by tens of thousands of plantation workers for higher wages. The Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) called off the strike last Wednesday but protests continued for two days.

B. Munnusamy, a local leader of the National Union of Workers (NUW), attempted to sabotage the meeting by threatening to tip off the plantation management and the police about the gathering and its attendees. The NUW, along with the Democratic Peoples Front (DPF) and the Upcountry Peoples Front (UPF), opposed the strike outright, but many of their members stopped work anyway. All of the unions, including the CWC, are fearful of the rebelliousness of plantation workers who are currently paid a poverty-level daily wage of just 500 rupees or $US2.80.

The strike greatly exacerbated the political crisis in Colombo, following President Maithripala Sirisenas unconstitutional sacking of Ranil Wickremesinghe and installation of former president Mahinda Rajapakse as prime minister on October 26. All the plantation unions, which also function as political parties, are aligned with one or other of the rival bourgeois factions and are deeply hostile to any independent movement of the working class. The CWC only called the strike to pre-empt a rebellion by workers over pay and conditions.

SEP members at Sundays meeting countered the NUW provocateur by exposing the pro-company role of the NUW, forcing him to retreat. Despite the threats, a number of workers from the Abbotsleigh division participated along with SEP members and supporters.

Sundaralingam

Sundaralingam, a worker from the Abbotsleigh estate, chaired the meeting. SEP Political Committee member Pani Wijesiriwardena delivered the main report, which was unanimously approved. His speech was translated into Tamil by M. Thevarajah.

Wijesiriwardena conveyed the warmest revolutionary greetings from the SEP and WSWS to the plantation workers and the Abbotsleigh action committee and praised their determined struggle. He pledged the SEPs continuing political support for their fight against the companies and the government for decent wages and better working and living conditions.

The speaker explained that the wages struggle by Sri Lankan plantation workers was part of a growing rebellion by the working class internationally against the trade unions, the capitalist state, the corporations and the whole capitalist establishment.

Last Sunday, in a public meeting held in Detroit in the United States, a resolution was passed to build rank-and-file committees to fight against GM plant closures. The yellow vest movement, which started in France, is now spreading over Europe and to the Middle East. Workers in India are engaged in class struggles, he said.

Wijesiriwardena pointed to the role of the WSWS in unifying these class struggles globally. He quoted some of the comments by WSWS readers, in response to the coverage of the plantation workers strike, that warmly welcomed the initiative taken by the Abbotsleigh workers to form an action committee in opposition to the trade unions.

When you, a little group of workers, were picketing in Fruit Hill junction in Hatton, you might not have thought that you were going to make an impact on the world, but you have made such an impression.

It is not a matter of numbers, the speaker continued, referring to concerns expressed at the limited numbers at the meeting. What was significant, he said, was the striving of workers to organize independently and class consciously. He stressed the necessity of workers to draw lessons from their own struggles and reviewed how the strike movement emerged in opposition to the attempts of the unions to suppress it.

Pani Wijesiriwardena addressing the meeting

Wijesiriwardena pointed out that workers have no say in the trade unions. All the decisions are made behind closed doors with the plantation association, and then they are imposed upon you by the unions. He explained that, under conditions of globalized production, the unions around the world have been transformed into an instrument of the employers and governments.

When you are striking for a higher wage in Sri Lanka you are in a fight not only with the plantation companies but also with the huge corporations that own this global production chain. That is why we need to be organized as an international class. The unions oppose this unity, he said.

Wijesiriwardena concluded his speech by saying: In contrast to the unions, an action committee arrives at its decisions through democratic discussions. Most importantly it must recognize that the irresolvable crisis of capitalism means it must be based on the perspective of international socialism.

The meeting adopted two resolutions unanimously.

The first resolution, entitled Defeat the attacks of capitalist governments and employers, called for the organization of a unified movement of the working class to defend jobs and for decent wages and living conditions. Recognising that the rights of workers can no longer be defended by the unions, it called for the building of independent action committees, democratically elected by workers in all plantations, factories and worksites. These committees have to take the initiative to organize the struggle for the social and democratic rights of the working class against the onslaught of capitalist governments and employers.

The second resolution declared the solidarity of the Abbotsleigh Estate Workers Action Committee with the French workers engaged in the yellow vest movement, and pledged to support the US SEPs campaign to defend the jobs of 15,000 General Motors workers in North America. It called for the industrial might of the international working class to be mobilized to free the framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers in India.

In the discussion, Sivapakyam, a female worker who helped initiate the action committee, spoke about the revenue sharing scheme that the unions and the plantation companies are attempting to foist onto workers, transforming them and their families into share croppers.

The union has told us that they are discussing the wages issue, and if a settlement cannot be reached the plantation will be divided among workers. Now the plantations are maintained by outside workers, but when this [revenue sharing] method is introduced we will have to do that labour also. We do not buy their claims that we could earn 80,000 rupees [a month] when this new method is introduced, she said.

Sivapakyam said that there were a number of factors that should be considered when deciding what wage was necessary for a decent living. At present, workers have to compromise their daily meals in order to send their children on an annual school trip. She also stressed that women workers should participate in the action committee.

Sundaralingam told the WSWS after the meeting: I have been working in trade union affairs for 20 or 25 years. But I have never participated in a gathering such as this one, which takes decisions democratically and educates workers politically. I learned what capitalist exploitation is. The capitalist decides our wages considering his profits concerns and not considering what we need for a better living. That is what he calls a just settlement. Workers of the world must be united, without that unity we cannot win our demands.The US militarys Africa Command (AFRICOM) claimed on Monday to have killed 62 members of the al-Shabab Islamist militia in a series of six airstrikes over the weekend in a coastal region south of Somalias capital of Mogadishu.

The bombings were only the latest in a steadily escalating US air war in Somalia. They follow a pair of air strikes last month that the Pentagon claimed killed 37 al-Shabab members, a strike in October that it said claimed the lives of 60 fighters and another in November of last year that supposedly killed around 100.

In the latest bombing, as in all those that have preceded it, the Pentagon insisted that there were no collateral civilian casualties, following a longstanding ground rule that anyone killed by American bombs and missiles is by definition a targeted militant.

Somalia is one of the shadow wars that Washington is waging in Africa, with little or no information provided to the public, much less even a shred of popular approval.

In the latest attacks, AFRICOM reported that US warplanes carried out four strikes on December 15, leaving 34 people dead, and another two strikes on December 16 that killed 28.

The latest strikes bring the total for this year to 46, a significant rise over the 31 carried out last year, which was itself double the number conducted in 2016.

The Trump administration introduced sweeping changes to the rules of engagement in Somalia, casting aside previous restraints on bombing and other operations.

In addition to the air war, AFRICOM maintains a force of 500 US special operations troops on the ground in Somalia, its largest combat deployment on the continent. These troops participate in search-and-kill operations together with Somali government forces.

In addition, some 20,000 troops from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Burundi operate in Somalia under the auspices of the African Union and in conjunction with the US military operation.

Despite this array of military power, al-Shabab continues to hold sway over vast swathes of the countrys rural areas and is able to make frequent attacks throughout Somalia.

The government that the US is attempting to prop up in Mogadishu is riddled with corruption and crises, pretending to preside over a society that has been left shattered by a quarter of a century of US imperialist intervention.

In the week before the latest US airstrikes, the town of Baidoa, the capital of the southwestern Bay region of Somalia, was the scene of bloody clashes between protesters on the one side and Ethiopian troops and Somali security forces on the other that have left at least eight people dead, including one local legislator and a 10-year-old child.

The protests broke out after Ethiopian troops arrested Muhktar Robow, the former second-in-command of al-Shabab, who quit the group and became the leading candidate for the presidency of the southwestern state in what is the first of a series of regional elections. According to reports, he was tortured, flown to Mogadishu and imprisoned there.

Ethiopian troops are reported to have occupied Baidoa, driving tanks through residential neighborhoods.

The clashes are only the sharpest expression of the breakdown of relations between the central government in Mogadishu and the regional administrations, which have largely cut off cooperation with the capital as a result of multiple conflicts.

Meanwhile, in Mogadishu itself, legislators earlier this month initiated impeachment proceedings against President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo charging him with signing secret deals with Ethiopia and Eritrea and acting unilaterally in the appointment of military commanders and judges. The lawmakers also accused the president of abusing his powers by authorizing the unlawful rendition of a leader of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), Muse Qalbi Dhagah, a Somali national, from Somalia to Ethiopia.

The intensive US air strikes in Somalia came on the heels of Washingtons unveiling of a new policy in which the operations of AFRICOM, whose ranks have swelled to 7,500compared to about 6,000 in 2017are being overtly developed from the standpoint of Africa as an arena of great power conflict.

Until now, AFRICOMs operations, which involve deployments of US forces in virtually every country of the continent, have been cast as part of the global war on terrorism. The strategy outlined last Thursday by US National Security Adviser John Bolton, however, placed counter-terrorism as Washingtons second priority, eclipsed by the imperative of confronting great power competitors, namely China and Russia.

Boltons rabid address, delivered before the right-wing think tank, the Heritage Foundation, indicted both Beijing and Moscow for pursuing predatory practices that threaten the financial independence of African nations; inhibit opportunities for US investment; interfere with US military operations; and pose a significant threat to US national security interests.

The thrust of Boltons speech was that China and Russia have been poachingwith considerable successon territory that Washington views as its own semi-colonial preserve.

In particular, the national security adviser laid stress on the Horn of Africa and its strategic location on the shores of the route for much of the worlds seaborne oil traffic from the Middle East to Asia. He called attention to the building of a Chinese military base in Djibouti, just miles from where AFRICOM has its own main base on the continent, and on a proposed deal that would place Djiboutis main Red Sea port facility under the management of a Chinese company, saying that this would shift the balance of power in the Horn of Africa in Chinas favor.

In what was undoubtedly the most laughable segment of Boltons speech, he vowed that Washington would carefully review and substantially reduce its aid programs to African countries, vowing that it would not fund corrupt autocrats, who use the money to fill their coffers at the expense of their people or commit gross human rights violations.

This from a government that has provided unconditional defense of the Saudi monarchy, supporting its genocidal war in Yemen and covering up for its brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside its Istanbul consulate. One would never guess from Boltons sanctimonious speech that Washington has been the principal prop for African dictatorships, from that of Mobutu Sese Seko in the Congo onward.

Boltons speech, and the savage intensification of the US assault on Somalia constitute a warning: US imperialism views Africa as a battlefield in its global bid to employ military aggression as a means of defending its hegemony over every region of the planet. To the extent it faces challenges in terms of trade and investment from Russia and China, it will respond with intensified militarism, with the peoples of Africa suffering the consequences.Sri Lankas Supreme Court refused in early December to hear a fundamental rights case filed by the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) against the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), for cancelling the partys hall booking for a May Day meeting this year. The courts bench, consisting of Chief Justice Nalin Perera and Justice Sisira de Abrew, gave no reason for its refusal.

The party had booked and paid for the rental of the councils New Town Hall in March. On April 23, one week before May Day, the SEP received an undated letter from the acting municipal commissioner stating that the booking had been cancelled.

In May, the SEP filed a petition in the Supreme Court accusing the council of violating the partys right to hold a May Day rally, on May 1, at the hall. The SEP petition stated that the revocation of the booking violated its constitutional rights and asked for a declaration to that effect.

The council used a decision by the government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to postpone the long-standing May 1 public holiday on the spurious grounds that the international workers day fell within the Wesak Week of Buddhist religious celebrations.

The governments intention was to sabotage planned May Day demonstrations and rallies, a tradition that the islands workers established before the end of British colonial rule in 1948. The SEP immediately condemned, and vigorously campaigned against, the governments anti-democratic move.

While notices of the SEP fundamental rights case were duly served on the respondents, the official response was contemptuous. The CMC did not appear at the first mention of the SEPs petition on July 4. A state counsel appearing for the attorney-general informed the court that she had received no instructions to participate in the hearing.

The Supreme Courts attitude was no better. Although it was not a mandatory requirement under the courts rules for the court to hear the respondents before granting leave to proceed, the judges directed the SEP to issue fresh notices. The SEP did so promptly.

The matter was listed again for September 13. A lawyer appearing for the CMC and its mayor, Rosy Senanayake, said they had limited objections over the SEPs case. Dates were fixed to file the objections and the partys counter-objections.

The matter was last taken up in the Supreme Court on November 30. During oral submissions, the CMCs counsel raised several objections, to which the SEPs counsel Saliya Pieris forcefully replied.

The CMC first claimed that the SEP had failed to file the petition within the prescribed one-month period. The SEP, however, established that it had complied with the time limit as its fundamental rights had been breached by CMC on May 1, not at the time of the booking cancellation.

The SEPs counsel also pointed out that the CMC had permitted the Sri Lanka Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya (SLNSS), a trade union, to hold its meeting on the same day at the councils Colombo Public Library Auditorium.

In another technical objection, the CMC claimed that SEP had not made the SLNSS and the cabinet, which issued the gazette notification to change the May Day holiday, parties to the petition.

The SEPs counsel pointed out that, in line with judicial precedents, it is not necessary for a petitioner to make another respondent, such as the SLNSS, who has been differently treated than the petitioner, a party to the case.

The CMC also claimed there was no breach of fundamental rights, just a contractual dispute. This was countered by citing judicial precedents that state institutions have constitutional obligations to safeguard fundamental human rights, over and above any contractual obligations.

In another petty objection, the CMCs counsel argued there was no case because the SEP held its May Day rally outside the New Town Hall on May 1. SEP counsel pointed out that the party had obtained approval to hold the May Day rally inside the theatre, but was not permitted to do so.

The CMC claimed that the SLNSS was permitted to hold its event because it was only a meeting of branch union heads to discuss a joint May Day Rally of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and affiliated trade unions on July 7. No evidence, however, was presented to substantiate this claim.

SEP counsel lodged evidence demonstrating that the SLNSS held its May Day rally on May 1 at the Colombo Public Library Auditorium. Despite the refutations of all the CMCs claims, the Supreme Court refused to proceed.

This ruling by Sri Lankas highest court is another exposure of the ruling elites continuing violation of basic civil and political rights nominally guaranteed by countrys constitution.

For weeks, the entire bourgeois establishment has been embroiled in an acute crisis over which political factionSirisena and former President Mahinda Rajapakse or Wickremesinghe, the former prime minister and his allieswill form government. Wickremesinghe was only finally reinstated as prime minister on Sunday.

The ruling elites, including the courts, could not allow any judicial recognition of the SEPs fundamental rights. Any full hearing of the case would have further exposed the anti-democratic character and political purpose of the government and the CMC in sabotaging May Day events.

The summary dismissal of the SEPs legal action confirms the partys warnings that basic democratic rights can be defended only through the independent political intervention of the working class, as part of the struggle for a workers and peasants government committed to socialist policies.

The author also recommends:

Sri Lanka SEP files fundamental rights case against Colombo Municipal Council

[6 June 2018]The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.

Latin America

Mexican teachers strike to demand year-end bonus, differential to retirees

Thousands of preschool, elementary and secondary teachers of the Education Workers National Syndicate (SNTE) Section 37 in the northwestern Mexican state of Baja California were joined in their weeklong strike last week by their colleagues in SNTE Section 2 on December 13 and 14 to demand the payment of their end-of-year bonus, or aguinaldo. They also demanded the payment of pensions for retired educators.

The strike followed a December 12 march by thousands of teachers and administrative staff to demand the delayed payments. Section 2, which consists of federalized professors, added the demand that the 2019 budget include a retirement differential and humanitarian aid to its retirees.

Although the federal government announced a commitment to advance the resources, it has not established a specific date. About 8,000 retirees and 17,000 active teachers have not received their payments.

State workers in other branches, including judicial, legal, electoral, human rights and public security, have already held strikes and protests in Baja California, with protesters carrying signs denouncing the governor, Francisco Vega, and demanding his resignation. Protesters claim that after receiving 1,702,000,000 pesos (US$84,100,000) in October, that there are enough funds to resolve the crisis.

Meanwhile, in the southern state of Tabasco, over 7,500 members of Section 48 of the National Health Secretariat Workers Syndicate (SNTSSA) in the Mexican state of Tabasco went on strike at 12:01 pm December 14, the deadline for promised payments of bonuses and part of their aguinaldo that were not delivered.

Jamaican medical technologists strike over mistreatment by director

Members of Jamaicas Union of Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Personnel (UTASP) in Kingston, Jamaica walked off the job on December 10. The medical technologists, employed at Kingston public hospitals, have complained to the health and labor ministries for four years regarding mistreatment by their director, Michelle Hamilton, to no avail. Hamilton was recently appointed to the post of National Laboratory Services director.

The UTASP issued a statement saying, The appointment of Dr Hamilton to the post of director of laboratory services without the resolution of one of the several complaints has prompted the medical technologists to embark on protest action The medical technologists are demanding that the MOH resolve the plethora of issues involving Dr Hamilton before consideration be given to her installation to the post of director of laboratory services.

On December 11, medical technologists in three other citiesSt. Mary, St. Catherine and St. Jamesjoined their Kingston colleagues. They included workers at the National Public Health Library, the Victoria Jubilee Hospital and the Blood Bank.

The same day, however, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security called a meeting with the UTASP, in which none of the issues concerning the director were resolved, but according to the Jamaica Observer, it was agreed that continued discussion will take place at the local level and normality will be restored.

Paraguayan taxi drivers protest against Uber

Taxi drivers in cities across Paraguay held protest actions against the planned introduction of app-driven ride companies like Uber and MUV on December 14. In the capital Asuncion, several hundred cabbies converged to demonstrate in front of the Palace of Justice, blocking traffic. Municipal bus drivers joined them there and in some other cities. They then marched several times around the Palace and chanted, Uber out, MUV out!

Leaders of taxi drivers unions claim that the arrival of the businesses will eliminate tens of thousands of jobs. They are demanding an injunction against them and demanding that both the Paraguayan government and the Asuncion municipality sit down at a table to debate the conditions that the new transport companies must submit to, according to an EFE report.

The president of the APTA taxi drivers union, Aristides Morales, accused Uber of deceptive propaganda, and claimed that it is illegal since it is not an application to transport persons, its an application of communication, and it doesnt meet the requirements that taxi drivers must fulfill.

Uruguayan surgical anesthesiologists union calls 48-hour strike for separate recognition

The Surgical Anesthetic Syndicate (SAQ) in Uruguay decided December 12 to carry out a nationwide strike on December 18 and 19 to press their demand for separate recognition and negotiation rights. A SAQ communique stated, This union measure, just like the previous ones, is adopted in the framework of our struggle for representation of our union, which is systematically unrecognized by the Executive Power.

The SAQ has held a number of protest actions and short strikes over the issue, most recently on November 5, 6 and 7 and December 6 and 7.

The United States

Strike by California county workers ends without contract resolution

The union representing some 1,700 county workers in San Louis Obispo, California, ended a four-day strike December 14 with no resolution of the demands by workers for better wages and health care benefits. The members of the San Louis Obispo County Employees Association (SLOCEA) found the countys offer of a mere 1/2 percent raise deeply insulting.

At a County Board of Supervisors meeting December 12, workers told of how they have to rely on low-cost state insurance and section 8 housing, if they can get it, because of the high cost of living in San Louis Obispo County. If my wages were fair living wages, said Cassandra DeSpain, there is absolutely no reason I should qualify for those programs. I should be able to afford those things with the pay that you guys give me. It is absolutely not enough.

In response, Chief Administrative Officer Wade Horton told the media, We have to provide services in a manner thats fiscally sustainable.

When the union and the county met in November 2017, it was revealed that San Louis Obispo County workers make an average 17.9 percent less than workers in surrounding counties. When the union brought back a contract that offered a 1/2 percent raise in the first year followed by a 2 percent raises in year two, workers soundly defeated it. The county then unilaterally implemented the 1/2 percent first-year raise along with a 1.9 percent increase in health benefits.

Canada

Ontario Tories to block power workers strike

In an extraordinary attack on workers rights, the Ontario Tory government last week announced the recall of the Ontario legislature to outlaw a possible strike at the Ontario Power Generation (OPG) after workers twice rejected the Crown corporations final offer that had been recommended by their union.

The vote obliged the Power Workers Union to issue a 21-day strike notice which would have meant that a strike by 6,000 workers would begin in the new year, but the government has promised to pass legislation outlawing any such action before then. The last contract expired at the end of March and a main obstacle to a new deal is OPGs insistence on maintaining a two-tiered system whereby over 300 term workers receive reduced pensions and benefits.

A bill to outlaw strike action at OPG, which provides over half of the provinces electricity, could be passed by the end of the week.ALCORN COUNTY, Miss. (WTVA) - A Corinth man is accused of having sex with a teenage girl.

On Wednesday, Dec. 12, at approximately 11:30 p.m., an Alcorn County deputy checked a parked vehicle at Clear Creek Church on County Road 301.

The vehicle was occupied by a male and a female.

The male was identified as Justin Huffman, 29.

The female is under the age of 14.

According to the investigation, Huffman had met the girl and they had sexual intercourse.

Huffman was charged with sexual battery.(TNS)  When an accidentally damaged fiber optic cable cut out Internet, landline and cell service  including 911 service  in the Bitterroot Valley last week , it exposed a longstanding and widespread problem in Montana. Because of vast distances and a sparse population density, the states telecommunications infrastructure often lacks redundancy and there is often no back-up when an errant excavator hits a crucial line.The CenturyLink cable that serves the Bitterroot Valley has been cut before, in 2011, causing the same outages. There hasnt been much improvement to the problem since then. In 2017, a damaged CenturyLink fiber optic line in Kalispell cut out Internet in the Flathead Valley and 911 calls had to be rerouted to Missoula.In October, according to the Havre Daily News , a "large swath of north-central Montana lost telephone, Internet and television service" when a Spectrum fiber optic cable was damaged.In 2013, a big chunk of central Montana served by Triangle Communications lost phone service when a fiber optic cable was cut.Geoff Feiss, the general manager of the Montana Telecommunications Association, said Montanas geography has made it financially unfeasible for companies to dig expensive trenches and acquire right-of-way for backup lines.Its much easier to be triply or quadruply backed up in a place like New York City, he said. When you have a state like Montana, it costs twice as much.Feiss compared the CenturyLink line in the Bitterroot to a backbone.Its the only one in and out of the valley, and thats a shame, he said.His 10 member organizations wouldnt be opposed to a state or federal law requiring backup lines, he said.But somebodys gonna have to pay for it, he explained. Especially in rural states like Montana, the more resources we can bring together, the more likely it is we can overcome the continuing barriers were facing. Rural providers are doing as much as they can as fast as they can.Feiss said hes supportive of the new $600 million ReConnect Program that will be administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The initiative is meant to expand high-speed Internet access to rural communities around the country through both grants and loans.Communities with fewer than 20,000 residents will be eligible for the new funding to expand high-speed Internet access. That means a whole lot of Montana communities will qualify. The first round of grant applications will be due to USDA by the end of April 2019.I think its got a lot of potential, Feiss said. I dont know how many members [of the MTTA] are going to be able to take advantage of it. To the extent they have the hardest-to-serve, the most expensive-to-serve areas, the grants could come in handy. Probably not so much the loans. When you have fewer than three customers per square mile, theres not a whole lot of payback.Feiss said the new Farm Bill that just passed the U.S. Senate also includes another $325 million for rural broadband deployment.So combined, thats almost a new billion bucks in the last two years for rural broadband, he said. The rules (for the money in the Farm Bill) are a little tighter in terms of overbuilding existing providers where you can use the money. But its for the most remote and least-served areas.U.S. Senator Jon Tester, D-Mont., voted for the ReConnect funding in a budget bill in March.Schools, families, and businesses all need reliable access to high-speed Internet to thrive, Tester said in an emailed statement. This funding will specifically help the countrys most rural areas close the communication gap and bring new opportunities to folks across our state.U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., introduced the bipartisan Reprioritizing Unserved Rural Areas and Locations for Broadband (RURAL) Act of 2018 in May. The act prioritized unserved areas for broadband access over using federal funding to upgrade areas with existing service.We must work to close the rural-digital divide so our rural communities can be part of the 21st century economy, Daines said in a statement. My bill ensures that these critical funds be used for the communities who need them most.The rules for applying for the ReConnect Program funding will be published in February.Montana companies and consumers can access assistance from USDA during the grant application process by visiting the ReConnect Programs resource portal at https://reconnect.usda.gov/(TNS)  The long-standing prohibition on taking cellphones into area courthouses possibly could be lifted soon, as the state Supreme Court has issued a "model policy" for allowing mobile devices into these buildings.The policy released by the state high court last week is not binding. Instead, it is only a blueprint for local judges and court officials to follow in creating their own standards on either permitting or restricting cellphones, laptops and other devices. It points to the daily reliance people have on their mobile devices to do business, sometimes with the court, but at the same time acknowledges the safety threat they could impose."Appropriate use at the courthouse will allow people to access information for presentation to the court, and it will aloow people to transact other necessary business," the policy states. "Inappropriate use can be a danger, cause distractions and demean the oeser and processes of the court."The policy's purpose, it states, is to set a standard "that respects the interests and needs of the people" in the courthouses. It cites an example where a defendant in a proceeding is acting as their own attorney may be prevented "from effectively presenting evidence in their cases, successfully accessing court resources or information, or communicating with others" within the courthouse.In a memo to chief judges of district and circuit courts, across Virginia, Chief Justice Donald W. Lemons stressed the importance of clearly communicating the local policies to the public."When making decisions on what policy to adopt, judges and sheriffs should keep in mind the competing interests of promoting access to justice and maintaining security, safety and order in courthouses and courtrooms," Lemons wrote. "[The Supreme Court has] determined that this model policy provides a proper balance between those various interests, and the court recommends this policy for consideration by the district courts and circuit courts of the commonwealth."Signs touting the no-device policy are a staple in front of area courthouses. These signs advise citizens that phones and mobile devices should be left in a vehicle before entering the building.The policy defines portable devices as personal computers, tablets, mobile phones, electronic calendars, e-book readers and so-called "snart watches."The policy suggests use of the devices in lobbies and hallways, as long as they are placed in silent mode. Audio and viceo recording and streaming would be prohibited without written authorization from a judge.Use of the devices in a courtroom would be left to the discretion of the presiding judge and be limited specifically to the judge's limits.Any courthouse that prohibits or restricts mibile devices would have to provide storage space, such as lockers."Storage of devices may be limited to persons who represent to security personnel that they have no other means of storage available to them, such as a vehicle parked on or near the courthouse premises," the policy states.Hopewell Sheriff Stephen Kephart admitted he is not a fan of allowing cellphones and mobile devices into the courthouse, not because of convenience but because of the logistics for providing storage for the devices. "They don't want us to just throw them in a pickle barrel and then let the people come get them," he said.Ideal locker systems can cost around $7,000 to install, and Kephart said that does not include any necessary training his staff would need in storage policies."But of course, it's going to be up to what my chief judge tells me, and if he tells me to let it, then I will let it," Kephart said.Colonial Heights Sheriff Todd B. Wilson said it is "inevitable" that courthouses will eventually adopt their own policies for allowing the devices, since people picking up their phones and putting them in their pocket now "is no different than me putting a Chap Stick into my pocket" -- it is part of the daily routine. He said he and Chesterfield Sheriff Karl Leonard will be working with their judges to adopt a policy that "meshes the need for security with practicality for the public."Speaking at the event, Deputy PM Minh appreciated efforts made by MLC nations to carry out the Sanya Declaration and the five-year Plan of Action for 2018-2022 approved at the second Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Leaders Meeting in January 2018.

Cooperation between Mekong-Lancang countries should ensure projects are inclusive and bring about equal benefits for all member states, while paying attention to boosting coordination between MLC and other Mekong and regional cooperative mechanisms such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Mekong River Commission (MRC).

It is necessary to concentrate resources on implementing the five prioritized fields which are water resource connection, production capacity, cross-border economic collaboration, agriculture and poverty reduction, he stated, suggesting the parties address bottlenecks in commodity circulation, work to open up the Chinese market for farm produce from Mekong countries, help enterprises understand more about import-export regulations, step up technology transfer to help Mekong countries develop rice and food crop varieties adaptive to climate change, and intensify management over cross-border labour.

The Vietnamese representative also underlined the need for the six MLC nations to reform the way of thinking and working methods in their cooperation in the management and sustainable use of Mekong River water source so as to successfully respond to common challenges in the region.

The fourth MLC Foreign Ministers Meeting, themed Enhancing Partnership for Shared Prosperity, acknowledged the positive outcomes in MLC cooperation in 2018.

The ministers agreed to step up the implementation of the five-year Plan of Action, and consider initiatives to boost cooperation in production capacity, regional connectivity, trade, energy, customs, health, education and the building of a MLC economic corridor.

They also reached a consensus on strengthening MCLs connectivity with national development strategies and relevant regional and sub-regional cooperative mechanisms such as ASEAN, MRC, the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS).

For Mekong River water cooperation, the delegates welcomed the agreement reached by the six countries experts on an Action Plan on Water Resource Cooperation for 2018-2022, while urging the countries to proactively carry out the plan.

Concluding the event, the ministers approved a joint press communique and agreed that the next MLC Foreign Ministers Meeting will be held in China in 2019.Cyber chase

IT talk

Burgum's background

(TNS)  With his software background, Gov. Doug Burgum's technology proposals may be one of the more interesting areas of his budget plan  especially given what's facing North Dakota's cybersecurity.As part of his $1.5 billion plan for road, water and other infrastructure for 2019-21, the former Microsoft executive has proposed $174 million in 24 information technology projects for 19 state agencies, ranging from voter security to health care to a new driver's license system."It's as important of infrastructure as anything we're doing. It's just what you need for this 21st century infrastructure," Burgum said.But also in the budget: improving cybersecurity  which could be key in the coming session as the state faces 5.6 million cyberattacks a month, such as ransomware and even malware from North Korea.State Chief Information Officer Shawn Riley said the IT proposals have three goals: lowering costs, improving cybersecurity and streamlining online services for an "Amazon experience."Burgum's budget asks for $16.4 million to undertake a "centralized" approach to cybersecurity, recommending 145 full-time employees from 17 cabinet agencies form one IT service.Riley said the proposal would better defend the statewide network, which sees about 252,000 daily users.IT "unification" and cybersecurity stand as the top two tech priorities, according to Riley. His department has led a "unification" project to group state websites on one platform  so far serving 26 state agencies, saving more than $500,000, he said. Burgum has said North Dakota agencies have more than 160 websites."Unification helps us bring systems together, helps us inventory systems, helps us do work processes together  tons and tons of things that really are necessary from a strategy standpoint," Riley said.Rep. Corey Mock, D-Grand Forks, who chaired the interim IT Committee, said legislators may emphasize priority IT projects and ones that will leverage federal or special funds.A "big picture" approach to IT proposals will help develop the ultimate plan, he added  but it's more than adding staff. What's the vision?"If we measure all FTEs and requested changes together  and adopt at least some unification practices  I believe fully funding our cyber security needs is completely possible this legislative session," Mock said in an email.State Sen. Larry Robinson, D-Valley City, has served on the interim IT Committee since it organized and said IT issues "have increased significantly" over the years.Part of the solution is the recruiting and retention of full-time IT staff, he added, which can prove difficult, given turnover.Riley said his team has been meeting with lawmakers to discuss the state's cyber situation: "People can react better once they know the scope of the problem."But some IT issues will likely remain on the sidelines this session. Given uncertain state revenues, North Dakota's judiciary didn't ask for a $2.1 million update to its juvenile case management system from 1999.State Court Administrator Sally Holewa said the system remains "on our to-do list."Before he was governor, Burgum chartered a business career, starting with Great Plains Software in 1983, which Microsoft acquired in 2001 for $1.1 billion.He left Microsoft in 2007 after six years and went on to campaign for governor in 2016 on a message of technological innovation and "reinventing" government."I think where the governor's background, in this sense, comes in is that his technology background gives him a different view of how we can take technology and really mobilize it and use it as an innovator to create efficiency," Riley said.Mock and Robinson each said Burgum's expertise could be an "asset" to state government."I hope we extend him and his team a certain level of trust as we work to develop a shared vision for state government," Mock said."I think his insight into the needs here are important," Robinson said. "And yet, the governor's budget is a blueprint. It's a beginning, it's not the end."Airbus Helicopters To Set Up Parts Factory In Hungary. The investment coming on line in 2021 will create hundreds of jobs thanks to a cooperation agreement between the Hungarian government and the company, Peter Szijjarto said at a press conference.

Two eastern Hungarian cities are competing to host the factory, and the choice will be made early next year before being finalised after a decision on non-refundable government support for the project, he said.

Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters, said the signing the MoU opened a new chapter in cooperation between Airbus and Hungary. Parts manufacture involves precision work for which Airbus will rely on Hungarian expertise. In two years time, every hundredth helicopter manufactured by Airbus will contain Hungarian components, he said.

Szijjarto said Hungary had won the investment against regional competition. Among the worlds leading companies in the production of civil and military aircraft and helicopters, Airbus as the largest aircraft and military company in Europe, is putting trust in the Hungarian peoples expertise and hard work.

Besides the factory, the deal also covers Hungarys purchase of 36 new military helicopters which will contribute to meeting the countrys NATO commitments. The Airbus deal will also contribute to the share of development spending within the defence budget rising above 20%.

Airbus will also contribute to the relevant training of Hungarys armed forces. Szijjarto noted that Airbus has maintained an engineering office in Hungary employing around 40 engineers since 2014.

He said cooperation with Germany and France would be closer thanks to the deal. Airbuss investment demonstrates true European commitment, he added.

The minister noted that several aviation projects had been made in Hungary over the past few years.

Accordingly, the production value of aircraft production in Hungary has increased by 144 percent in the first ten months of the year.



MTI Photo: Kovacs AttilaSpain is an important partner for Hungary, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said after talks with Josep Borrell, his Spanish counterpart, in Budapest, noting that both countries are members of the European Union and NATO.

After the talks, Szijjarto said Hungary has supported and will continue to support Spains territorial integrity given that Hungary itself is sensitive to such issues in light of its history.

Borrell extended an invitation to Szijjarto for talks on infrastructure development in Hungary, particularly regarding Hungarian plans to introduce high-speed rail services.

Szijjarto noted that Spanish is taught in more than a hundred Hungarian schools and there are Spanish courses at four universities. In recent years, foreign ministry officials from each country have participated in a diplomatic exchange programme.

Spanish and Hungarian responses to the historical challenges faced by the EU are the same in some areas while Hungary thinks differently as regards others. But divergent views can be managed through dialogue and mutual respect rather than conflict, he said.

Hungary does not want to host illegal migrants and instead emphasises the importance of protecting the external borders and the nations sovereign rights in this area, but both countries attach great importance to African development programmes, he said, adding that Hungary is offering its water management resources accordingly.

Szijjarto also said Hungarys expenditure of more than 1 billion euros on protecting the EUs external borders was a form a solidarity.

Meanwhile, he said the role of Spanish companies in enhancing the performance of the Hungarian economy was growing, especially when it came to Spanish automotive suppliers and participants in the hotel sector.

Further, another 26 Spanish trams will arrive in Budapest in February, he noted. Spain is Hungarys 14th most important trading partner, with trade turnover of 4.5 billion euros.

Fully 250 Spanish companies employ more than 4,500 Hungarians, he added. Hungarian investments have also begun to appear in Spain, Szijjarto said, noting developments in the natural gas and the pharmaceutical markets. Spanish tourists are 11th on Hungarys list of most frequent visitors and their number rose by 9% in the first ten months of the year, exceeding 160,000.

Borrell said discussions would focus on how Spain can contribute towards the development of Hungarian infrastructure such as the rail network. Borrell said Spaniards and Hungarians should strive to understand each other and bridge the gap between East and West.

Asked by a journalist about demonstrations currently taking place in Budapest, Szijjarto said freedom of expression was a singularly important democratic right, but at the same time he condemned violence in the strongest terms. He added that foreign press coverage of the situation in Hungary was pathetic lies.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban also received Borrell.



MTI Photo: Balogh ZoltanThe police must rein in unnecessary and excessive force, including the use of tear gas, against peaceful protesters, Amnesty International said today ahead of further demonstrations planned tonight in Budapest.

Demonstrators are expected to descend onto Budapests streets tonight for a sixth night of anti-government protests. Last night we witnessed displays of unnecessary and excessive force against peaceful protesters that included the use of tear gas. This must not be repeated again.

The police must use force only when strictly necessary and only when all other means to contain the violence have failed," said Massimo Moratti, Deputy Director for Europe at Amnesty International.

This morning's forcible removal of two opposition MPs from the Hungarian public broadcasters (MTVA) building reveals the determination of Hungarian authorities to continue their crackdown on any form of dissent.

This is in violation of Hungarian law, which gives MPs parliamentary immunity and access to all public institutions and contravenes Hungarys international obligations to respect the right to freedom of expression.

The Hungarian governments crackdown on dissenting voices received further international condemnation today when the Venice Commission, one of Europes most prominent advisory bodies on constitutional law, issued an opinion criticizing Hungarys migration tax law. The law forces civil society organizations considered to be supporting migration to pay a 25% tax on any foreign funding.



Background

Thousands of people have taken to streets since Wednesday 12 December when the Hungarian parliament adopted what protesters are calling a Slave law, which allows employers to request workers to work up to 400 hours of overtime a year. Employers could delay these overtime payments for up to three years.

On the same day, the parliament adopted a new piece of legislation which created a new administrative court system that would be under control of the Minister of Justice, rather than operate as an independent judicial institution, as is the norm elsewhere in Europe.

In addition to their call to repeal the Slave Law, protesters issued a series of other demands including an independent judiciary and independent public media.



MTI Photo: Szigetvary Zsolt

Source: Amnesty InternationalNew York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who won reelection in November against Republican challenger Marc Molinaro, outlined his plans for the start of his third term in a speech at the New York Bar Association on Monday. His agenda includes legalizing recreational marijuana use for adults in the state, joining 10 other states and Washington D.C., including New York State neighbors Massachusetts and Vermont. New Jersey also could be legalizing marijuana in 2019 as well.

Lets legalize the adult use of recreational marijuana once and for all, he said, urging the legislature to act in the first 100 days of his next term, which begins on January 1st. With a Democrat-led state house and senate, theres a good chance of recreational use getting the legislative support it would need.

Other states have used taxes and licensing fees from legal weed to fund infrastructure projects, schools, affordable housing, and food and housing for the homeless  all of which are in need of funding in New York, and could greatly benefit from the estimated $1.7 billion in revenue legalization could bring.

In 2017, Cuomo told reporters he was against recreational marijuana.

Its a gateway drug, and marijuana leads to other drugs and theres a lot of proof that thats true, he said. Theres two sides to the argument. But I, as of this date, I am unconvinced on recreational marijuana. But hes come around  with some help from his Democratic primary challenger Cynthia Nixon, who pushed the political conversation in New York to the left.

Nixon tweeted on Monday that her failed campaign for governor was worth it after seeing several of her main priorities listed in Cuomos 2019 agenda, including ending cash bail, codifying abortion rights protections, and voting reform (like allowing vote-by-mail and early voting, making election day a state holiday, and banning corporate donations to candidates)  in addition to legalizing recreational marijuana.

Cuomo framed his speech around references to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was a New York governor before he became the 32nd president of the United States  a possible nod to Cuomos own rumored presidential ambitions for 2020 (although he has publicly stated that hes not going to run).

Story continues

In addition to his agenda for New York State, Cuomo spoke more broadly about the responsibility of the Democratic party to stand up to President Trump.

Today while Democrats bemoan our current federal government, let us remember F.D.R.s example: that it is not enough for Democrats to criticize, he said. The Democratic leadership has to prove that it has the knowledge to govern, the skill to accomplish and the understanding to unite.(TNS)  Maine joined the still limited number of U.S. states that offer texting-to-911 service on Friday, the Maine Public Utilities Commission said.The text-to-911 service is now available at all 911 Public Safety Answering Points throughout Maine. The commission's Emergency Services Communications Bureau has been working with major wireless telecommunications carriers during the past several months to complete and test the technology.Most states still do not offer the service because of limited funds, piecemeal adoption or old technology at call centers, according to the Associated Press.The commission said texting 911 should only be used when making a voice call is not an option.Citizens and visitors throughout Maine can send a short text message to 911 in an emergency.Text-to-911 is intended primarily for use in specific emergency scenarios: for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired, and for those unable to make a voice call, for example, during a medical emergency that renders the person incapable of speech, or in the instance of a home invasion or abduction."Text to 911 technology could be a life-saver, especially for people who might otherwise not be able to make a voice call," commission Chairman Mark Vannoy said in a statement. "This is a major technology advancement, and Maine is among the first in the nation to successfully implement this important technology which takes advantage of our advanced Next Generation 9-1-1 system."The commission said using a phone to call 911 is still the most efficient way to summon emergency help.But those who need to text should provide location information and the nature of the emergency in the first text message. That's because the 911 Public Safety Answering Points will not receive the location of the cellphone.The commission advises against ever using text abbreviations or slang so the dialogue can be as clear as possible.To use the service, cellphone users need to be in the range of a cell tower in Maine. Otherwise their message might not get through.Texts sent to 911 have the same 160-character limit as other text messages.No pictures, video or other attachments can be sent with the emergency communications.The commission's Emergency Services Communications Bureau manages the statewide 911 system.The commission said Maine's 911 system and public safety dispatchers handled more than 559,000 calls in 2017 at one of Maine's 24 public safety answering points. More than 69 percent of the calls came from wireless phones.Russian trolls targeted black Americans on social media with conspiracy theories and salacious headlines, aiming to sow dissension and drive them away from voting in the 2016 U.S. election, according to a report released by the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday.

The Kremlin-funded Internet Research Agency (IRA) leveraged Facebook and Instagram accounts  some with tens of thousands of followers  to sway black voters away from voting for Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump win the presidency. Some IRA accounts recruited oblivious activists to spread and create content, as well as host rallies, according to the report, which was spearheaded by Austin-based cybersecurity firm New Knowledge, in conjunction with Columbia University and Canfield Research Group.

The most prolific IRA efforts on Facebook and Instagram specifically targeted black American communities and appear to have been focused on developing black audiences and recruiting black Americans as assets, the report said.

Also Read: Facebook Fact-Checking Effort on the Rocks After Journalists Speak Out (Report)

While the IRA trolls made accounts to influence several different ethnic and religious groups, its most ambitious plans were focused on black voters, with dozens of social media accounts dedicated to the community. The biggest Russian troll account on Instagram was @Blackstagram, with more than 300,000 followers. The account shared memes and potentially made money off e-commerce, the report said.

IRA accounts attempted to dissuade black voters with memes and conspiracy theories (via Senate Intelligence Committee)

In addition, the IRA advocated black voters stay home, or vote for Jill Stein. The accounts shared content with inflammatory titles like HILLARY RECEIVED $20,000 DONATION FROM KKK TOWARDS HER CAMPAIGN, according to the report.

The IRA exploited the trust of their audiences to develop human assets, at least some of whom were not aware of the role they played. This tactic was substantially more pronounced on Black-targeted accounts, the report said.

Story continues

Also Read: Sheryl Sandberg Asked Facebook Staff to Investigate George Soros in January

The IRA also covertly launched a network of websites, appearing to be led by black Americans, to spread misinformation. Black Matters, one of the IRA-created sites, focused on building community  and sowing division  in real life as well as online, according to the report. The site posted job ads for American writers to contribute to blackmattersus.com  content that would routinely be recycled on its Facebook account, which boasted more than 100,000 followers, and several other social platforms.

Some of the black-targeted groups were hit with bizarre historical conspiracies intended to reinforce cultural identity as well as create discord. Three regularly shared memes were: that William Shakespeares plays had actually been written by a black woman; that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was black; and that the U.S. government had rejected the likeness of a black woman in return for a more white-looking Statue of Liberty from France.

Two of the strange memes circulated by Black Matters

Also Read: Facebook Documents, Emails Seized by British Parliament in Cambridge Analytica Probe

Aside from Russias emphasis on black citizens, the report shines a light on the Kremlins broad effort to meddle in American society, touching on a myriad of issues, from gun control to immigration to the publics trust in the mainstream media.

Since the 2016 election, Facebook has faced the brunt of criticism for its inability to thwart Russian meddling, but Instagram  which is owned by the social network  turned out to be an even bigger asset. The report found 187 million interactions with IRA content on Instagram between 2015 and 2018, compared to 77 million interactions on Facebook and 73 million on Twitter.

As American journalists increasingly investigated how Russian trolls used Facebook, the IRA deliberately shifted its efforts away from the social network and towards Instagram, according to the report.

Instagram was a significant front in the IRAs influence operation, something that Facebook executives appear to have avoided mentioning in Congressional testimony, the report said. Facebook executives, testifying to Congress last year, said about 146 million Americans had been exposed to Russian propaganda on Facebook and Instagram.

This issue hasnt been curbed, according to the report, which added: Our assessment is that Instagram is likely to be a key battleground on an ongoing basis.

Read original story Russian Trolls Targeted Black Voters With Conspiracy Theories on Instagram, Facebook At TheWrapGood Morning America

Amy Schneider, the reigning "Jeopardy!" champion and a trans woman, shared an important message about what representation means to her and how tough the holiday season can be for the trans community. Schneider, a 10-day winner who has amassed $380,200 in prize money thus far, shared a Twitter thread on Friday about why she chose to wear a trans flag pin on the quiz show's Thanksgiving episode. Schneider said her reason for featuring the pin on that particular episode was because of how family-centric Thanksgiving is, acknowledging how the day -- and overall holiday season -- "can be hard for anybody who has been ostracized or otherwise cut off from their family."I assumed there would be silence in the desert; I was wrong. I thought that little of interest could survive in such a hostile place, but I was wrong again. Although I was born and raised in Africa, Namibia has changed the way I see the continent, and how I connect with it. It has rekindled the awe for Africa in me.

The Namib is the oldest desert in the world, an almighty sea of sand running for almost a thousand miles along Namibias Atlantic coastline. With few roads running to it or through it, the desert is largely inaccessible, and almost entirely uninhabited by humans. Yet somehow life thrives there  in astonishing shapes and forms.

In the Namib I was serenaded by duetting bokmakierie birds and entertained by prancing ostriches in black tutus. There were wild melons growing in the sand, some tiny enough to furnish a dollhouse, some as big as beach balls. I learned to recognize the shepherds tree, which gives off a smell like a sewer but can sustain everything from insects to human beings with its roots, berries, leaves, and bark. I watched Hartmanns mountain zebras strut and snort on vast, open plains, and I tracked desert-adapted elephants across dry riverbeds.

My adventure began  as virtually all safaris in Namibia do  in the capital, Windhoek. There I was joined by James Kydd, one of Africas finest private safari guides and a man with a profound love for wild, open spaces. Together, Kydd and I flew to Sossusvlei, a part of the Namib famous for its immense red sand dunes  some of the tallest in the world. As we flew over them, the supremely well-traveled Kydd told me Namibia is one of his all-time favorite places. Looking out of the aircraft window, it was obvious why.

An aerial view of Sossusvlei, a region of the Namib Desert known for its towering sand dunes, which are among the highest in the world. The iconic, 280-foot-high Dune 45 is visible at the bottom of the image.

We began by flying high above the pleats and folds of the Khomas Hochland mountains, before leveling out over a highland plateau punctuated with thorn trees, isolated settlements, and rocky inselbergs. Next, we swooped south over the great escarpment that separates the highlands from the desert  the magnificent, flat-topped Gamsberg Mountain to the east, the spectacular gorges and ravines of the Naukluft mountain range to the west. Then we crossed the low gravel plains of the Namib Desert and, finally, the colossal sand pyramids of Sossusvlei.

Story continues

We were booked into the newest camp in the region, Sossus Under Canvas, which stands on the Namib Tsaris Conservancy  a private wildlife sanctuary carved from 60,000 acres of former farmland. The majority owner, a Namibian property developer named Swen Bachran, bought the land eight years ago and has worked hard to improve roads, take down fences, and install water holes for the animals he has reintroduced, which include zebras, cheetahs, and giraffes. Since Bachran established the park, leopards and hyenas have returned to the area, and herds of antelope  Namibias iconic oryx and ubiquitous springbok among them  have begun proliferating.

In addition to being a keen conservationist, Bachran has a strong eye for property. The conservancy is a wonderfully handsome tract of land with both immense plains and a high plateau, from which there are breathtaking views of Sossusvlei. Rain had come to the area a couple of months before we arrived, ending a five-year drought. As a result, the lowlands were coated in feathery grass that shimmered in the cool east wind, as iridescent as the flicker on a silver screen.

The camp itself sits easy in the landscape, tucked into a natural amphitheater at the bottom of a cliff with the prairie stretching out before it. Its eight guest tents have floors and furniture built with reclaimed wood and roofs tiled with panels made from recycled oil drums. The effect is surprising, elemental, and beautiful. As the only camp on the reserve, Sossus feels completely private and imparts an extraordinary sense of exclusivity and freedom to its guests.

Franco Morao, a young Namibian with a keen mind and a gentle manner, was our host and local guide. Accompanied by Morao and Kydd, I spent my days exploring the reserve on foot, meeting the cast of astonishing characters that thrives in this arid environment. First up was the quiver tree, the grande dame of the Namib Desert. A succulent with a crown of bulbous branches covered in a thick white powder, this species grows on even the most unforgiving rocky ridges of the escarpment. The nomadic San people used to hollow out branches to use as containers for their arrows  hence the name. In times of drought, the trees are known to self-amputate, sacrificing a branch for the survival of the whole. In the evenings at Sossus, as color drained from the China-blue skies, the quiver trees stood out like luminous sentinels around the desert prairies, guardians of all they surveyed.

The Namib Desert is also home to some of the biggest birds nests in the world, which are built by colonies of sociable weaverbirds in the style of thatched apartment buildings. Cool during the day and warm at night, they provide year-round dwellings for up to 500 birds at a time, and the excited chatter of these weaverbird colonies returning after a day out hunting created a cheerful soundtrack for our evenings at the lodge.

Related: 6 Gorgeous Desert Destinations for Soaking Up the Sun This Winter

Morao showed me how to set fire to a bushmans candle, an inconsequential shrub that, when ignited, crackles into flames to emit a pure, white light. That night, Kydd put a black husk hed found while walking in a jar of water; by morning it was fat and green, a miracle expressed by its colloquial name: the resurrection plant.

Within a day, I could make out the unmistakable tap of a tok-tokkie beetle as it serenaded a potential mate. Tok-tokkies have adapted to the desert by becoming earthbound, their wings fused into a hard shell with ridges that have evolved to collect moisture from fog drifting in from the ocean. By raising their long back legs and performing a headstand on the sand, they let the accumulated droplets run down their shells and trickle into their mouths. Once seen, never forgotten.

Such interesting new friends  and potential foes such as scorpions and snakes, a particular interest of Kydds  were introduced to me daily, and in their presence I have never felt so ordinary or domesticated. A tiny indentation in the sand revealed itself to be an insect trap dug by an ant lion larva, a creature just a fraction of an inch long but with formidable pincers that eventually metamorphoses into an ethereal flying insect, seen mainly at night. As a child growing up in Zimbabwe, I would torment ant lion larvae, jabbing at them with grass until their pincers gripped; out in the Namib Desert I finally learned about their worth in the world.

On my penultimate day at the lodge, we set off to visit Sossusvlei. Vlei is Afrikaans for salt pan, while sossus translates from the Namib language as dead end. The name refers both to a part of Namib-Naukluft Park and to a specific dry claypan within it  formed when the Tsauchab river became blocked by sand, coming to a halt before reaching the Atlantic Ocean.

There is only one road to Sossusvlei in the park. It runs for about 40 miles along the dry floodplain of the Tsauchab, soaring red sand dunes rising on either side like the parting of the Red Sea. In the early morning, the road was swathed in a gauze of fog coming in from the Atlantic. As the first rays of sunlight hit the tops of the symmetrical dunes with astonishing precision, their ridges were lit up like a row of smoke signals.

Sossusvlei is the biggest of four claypans in the area, and the only one ever to flood. The most striking, however, is undoubtedly Deadvlei. In this parched, arid place stand the skeletons of camel thorn trees, dead since the 11th century. In their branches, flocks of Cape crows stand watch, just as they have for hundreds of years.

Mowe Bay Stands on the edge of one of southern Africas last great wildernesses: the Namib Deserts Skeleton Coast National Park and, beyond it, the remote region of Kaokoland. The desolate town was named after the German cruiser Moewe, which put a landing party ashore in 1884 with instructions from their leader, Otto von Bismarck, to seize the coastline, beginning a German occupation that lasted until the end of World War I. A succession of expeditions followed, each intent on uncovering the secret wealth of minerals and diamonds thought to be hidden in this forbidding landscape, but most of it came to nothing.

Fittingly for an entry point to such a stark, empty place, there is little more to this outpost than a solitary national park office and a dusty, single-room museum stuffed with skulls and rusty relics of the sea. But for anyone intrigued by the strange and the beautiful, Mowe Bay is a study in mournful longing, imparting as it does a sense of having reached the very edge of the known world.

The air here is heavy with the smell of the Cape seals that have colonized the rocky seafront. As the morning mist rolled in, Kydd and I stood and watched as the seals happily honked and flapped and slithered in and out of the churning sea. A pair of black-backed jackals skulked behind them, circling for vulnerable pups as their mothers basked, oblivious to any danger, heads tilted toward the warming sun.

After an hour or so in Mowe Bay, it was time to head up the Skeleton Coast: an unbroken stretch of deserted shoreline pounded by the Atlantic and littered with the shattered remains of ships and whales, for which the region is named.

Interior and exterior views of the guest cabins at Shipwreck Lodge.

Shipwreck Lodge, the only camp in Skeleton Coast National Park, lies 28 miles up the coast from Mowe Bay, at the mouth of the Hoarusib River. There are no roads; access to the property is via four-wheel-drive, along limitless shingle beaches and over a formidable roller coaster of sand dunes. The logistics of building a camp somewhere this remote are mind-boggling; erecting one on shifting sand makes things more challenging still. Shipwreck Lodge is no ordinary camp, either: a jaunty row of wooden cabins, seemingly marooned in undulating waves of white sand like upended shipwrecks, each as wistfully romantic as a childs doodle.

The next morning, Kydd and I climbed the highest dune we could find to watch the sun rise over the whirls of apricot-colored sand below. Later, we were joined by a local guide, Niclas Rungondo, for a drive up to the lip of a dune. We paused at the top before coasting down the other side; as we did so, the dune emitted a loud groan, as if voicing its discomfort. I was told the sound occurs when sand moves down crescent-shaped dunes in very precise conditions  though what these are, nobody can quite agree. Many years ago, Marco Polo wrote of the singing dunes of the Gobi Desert in northern China, which produce an otherworldly sound he had no hesitation in attributing to desert spirits. For one brief moment, as that eerie sound echoed out over the Namib Desert, I was moved to agree with him.

When rain does come to this desert, the Hoarusib River floods and flows into the Atlantic Ocean. But even in times of drought, residual moisture in the ground sustains a surprising amount of greenery. The next morning we drove slowly along the Hoarusibs wide floodplains, which were surrounded by steep canyons of black and red volcanic rock topped with tall Makalani palms. Desert-adapted elephants are known to follow dry riverbeds, digging wells from which to drink, but we could find no trace of any. Instead, we followed the tracks of a brown hyena and stopped to examine the slithery indentations a blind golden mole had left as it burrowed along in the sand.

As the sun reached its zenith, we stopped at one of the clay castles that line the river valley  fantastical formations created by centuries of erosion. We explored their echoing, khaki canyons, where the bleached bones of antelope lay scattered. Kydd found a bat, stunned by heat exhaustion, lying at the entrance to a cave. He slowly dripped water into its mouth. Revived, it flew off, circling above us in a triumphant salute.

On our way back to camp, we joined little wagtails and sleek Egyptian geese at a miniature oasis, an apparition of glittering water and bright green reeds. I realized the day had passed without our encountering another person or hearing another human sound. For 10 precious hours wed had the ancient Hoarusib River valley completely to ourselves, a rare and exquisite privilege.

Inland from the Skeleton Coast lies Kaokoland, another of Namibias remote wildernesses, which is inhabited only by a smattering of indigenous Herero and Himba communities. Our base in this far-flung corner of the Namib Desert was Hoanib Valley Camp, managed by Natural Selection  the same safari company behind Shipwreck Lodge. The two camps are linked by a full days drive, with Mowe Bay as a staging post in between. The long journey turned out to be an unforgettable safari through the changing northern Namib Desert landscapes, from the high, windswept dunes of the coast to low floodplains and then the wide expanse of the Hoanib River valley, shaded with tall ana trees.

The camp itself is sheltered beneath an imposing granite outcropping that overlooks the river valley. With only six tents set on raised wooden platforms, it is an intimate and wonderfully peaceful retreat, staffed with the kindest people. Our guide, Frank Ndataiziro Kasoana, spent his childhood herding goats and cattle in a village not far away, so he knew the land and how to read it better than anyone.

From left: At Hoanib Valley Camp, near Skeleton Coast National Park, guests can spot multiple species, including the endangered desert-adapted giraffe.a family of desert-adapted elephants crosses a dry riverbed near Hoanib Valley Camp, a new safari lodge in northwestern Namibia.

The valley is famous for its wildlife, and we encountered a herd of elephants before even reaching camp. Led by a wise-looking matriarch, the family group appeared from behind a thick grove of thorn trees to amble along the sandy valley floor, a near-silent caravan of swaying trunks and fly-swatting tails. Continuing on our way, we came across a herd of handsome oryx, then a pair of graceful giraffes grazing in a shady glade.

Kydd had heard there were lions in the area, and it didnt take long before we spotted fresh tracks in the milk-chocolate mud of the riverbed, heading upstream toward the nearest village. Not long ago, a group of five lions, a band of brothers known as the Five Musketeers, had begun killing cattle in the villages. Despite being collared and monitored by Philip Stander, a respected lion expert and conservationist, all five were eventually shot or poisoned by frustrated herdsmen. With fewer than 150 lions left in the Namib Desert, human-wildlife conflict is a big issue, and a difficult one to manage. It is a very old, frustrating problem, said Kasoana, who, as a former cattle herder, knows both sides of the argument only too well.

Hoanib Valley Camp was built in partnership with local communities like Kasoanas and the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, which often conducts research in the area. After dinner one night, the foundations codirector, Stephanie Fennessy, shocked me with the fact there are fewer than 100,000 giraffes left in the wild today, with numbers down 40 percent over the past three decades. Her husband, Julian Fennessy, is codirector of the foundation, and earned his Ph.D. studying the desert-adapted giraffe in the Hoanib River valley. Fennessy can read the patterns on the coats of the giraffes like fingerprints. He told me that he fears a silent extinction of the elegant creatures is under way  something he is fighting to reverse, in part by raising awareness of their plight. Certainly the opportunity to get to know these rare creatures as individuals is unique to Hoanib Valley Camp, where they luxuriate in near-celebrity status and happily oblige their fans with frequent sightings.

Before we left the Namib Desert, Kasoana took us to see the Herero village where he grew up, a huddle of tin-roofed shacks where the women wear cheerful cotton headdresses and long dresses which, remarkably, are still modeled on those worn by their colonial mistresses. Along the way, we stopped at a nearby settlement of seminomadic Himba people and were shown around their cattle and goat pens. We also saw the immaculate interiors of their domed huts made from mud and cow dung.

So far the Himba have managed to resist change and are determined to preserve their traditional way of life. The women were naked except for animal skins and layer upon layer of jangling jewelry. They color their skin red by mixing butter with ocher pigment, and daub their braided hair with more thick ocher. Kasoana explained that the government has introduced mobile schools in an attempt to corral the Himba into the education system, but herding goats and cattle still takes precedence and is taught from an early age.

I had been anxious about visiting the Herero and Himba villages, concerned that the experience might feel inauthentic or uncomfortable. I neednt have worried. Seldom have I met a more beautiful, proud, or courteous group of people. I felt welcomed and left enlightened, relieved to know that beyond the reach of most peoples ideas of civilization, there remain communities that seem so at one with the world as they know it.

An Unforgettable Adventure in Namibia

Give yourself plenty of time to explore this country, as the distances are vast. Visiting the Namib Desert is all about taking in the epic landscapes and unique flora and fauna. For more traditional wildlife viewing, consider a stop at Etosha National Park, with its famous salt pans, or the Okavango Delta in neighboring Botswana.

Getting There and Around

The easiest flight connections to Windhoek, the capital, are through Frankfurt or Johannesburg. Upscale lodgings are typically accessed via light aircraft transfers, which are efficiently operated and offer fantastic views.

Windhoek

Most visitors spend a night in Windhoek before or after a safari, and the new lodge Omaanda (doubles and savannah excursion from $900, all-inclusive), just outside of town, is the place to stay. Its French owner, Arnaud Zannier, was introduced to Namibia by Angelina Jolie, whose friends, Marlice and Rudie van Vuuren, own the wildlife sanctuary Naankuse outside Windhoek. A little later, Zannier bought 22,000 acres adjacent to the van Vuurens land. His new 10-bedroom lodge there is an upscale take on traditional dwellings with conical thatched roofs. The interior design is impeccable, the breakfast is the best in town, the swimming pool is heated, and there is a small spa.

Sossusvlei

The Namib Desert is protected by a number of national parks. The area generally referred to as Sossusvlei is in the Namib-Naukluft Park, in the west of the country. With only one lodge and a basic campsite in the park itself, a number of private reserves have opened on its border, including the well-established NamibRand Nature Reserve and the relatively new Namib Tsaris Conservancy, where I stayed at Sossus Under Canvas (doubles from $800, all-inclusive). Also on the property is Nest at Sossus (from $1,300 per person, all-inclusive), a remarkable private house conceived by South African artist Porky Hefer. The park entrance to Sossusvlei is about a 40-minute drive from the conservancy. Most visitors arrive to take photographs of the dunes and the claypans at dawn. Quieter excursions include exploring the open plains and the Tsaris Mountains.

A colony of Cape fur seals near Mowe Bay, on the Skeleton Coast.

Skeleton Coast

This stretch of coast north of Swakopmund, named after the shipwrecks and whale carcasses strewn along its shores, is about as wild and remote as it gets. Just inland, the Kaokoland region is similarly untouched and underpopulated. I stayed at two new camps in the area managed by Natural Selection, a collective run by some of the best-known names in southern Africas safari industry. Shipwreck Lodge (doubles from $1,379, all-inclusive) is the only camp in Skeleton Coast National Park. Its a great base for climbing dunes and exploring the Hoarusib River valley. The six-tent Hoanib Valley Camp (doubles from $1,216, all-inclusive) is built on community-owned land just outside the park, where youll likely spot desert-adapted elephants and giraffes.

Tour Operator

My trip was organized by Michael Lorentz (ml@passagetoafrica.com; 27-21-447-0053), a member of the A-List, Travel + Leisures collection of the worlds top travel advisors. I was accompanied by James Kydd, a private guide who proved invaluable both for his knowledge and for his companionship. A similar 10-day itinerary with Lorentzs company, Passage to Africa, including a private guide and all internal flights and transfers, starts at $46,240 for two people.Vladimir Putin is demanding the Russian government "take charge" of rap music after authorities cracked down on a number of concerts across the country. "Rap and other modern [forms of art] are rested upon three pillars - sex, drugs and protest," Putin said at a meeting of the presidential Council for Culture and Art in St Petersburg. "I am most worried about drugs. This is the way towards the degradation of a nation." His comments come after Huskyone of Russia's most popular rapperswas arrested after the cancellation of his concerts. This weekend, Husky attempted to perform an impromptu gig on the roof of a car after his concert at a local venue was shut down for containing what authorities called "extremism." The rapper was sentenced to 12 days in jail, but was released early following outcry from fans. The rapper has long been critical of both the Russian government and Putin. Rappers Gone.Fludd and IC3PEAK have also had recent concerts canceled following pressure from authorities. As artists have pointed out, the recent crackdown shows the Russian government's fear of art and activism. A new generation of musicians and artists who speak freely about various topics has appeared, and it seems that some people dont like this because they view it as a threat, IC3PEAK's vocalist Anastasia Kreslina told Politico. It seems they are afraid of some kind of cultural revolution. As The Guardian points out, this crackdown is reminiscent of the Soviet-era censorship of the arts when popular Western music was banned and rock musicians faced persecution. Putin has long had an antagonistic relationship with musicians. Throughout the 2010s, punk group Pussy Riot has become internationally famous for clashes with the government that resulted in two members getting harsh prison sentences.By Juliette Jabkhiro DAKAR (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo will vote on Dec. 23 in a long-delayed election that could enable the vast Central African country's first democratic transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960. President Joseph Kabila is due to step down after 18 years in the office he inherited from his assassinated father, and two years after his constitutional mandate officially expired. Here's what is at stake: WHY DOES IT MATTER? Congolese hope the election can help turn the page on a violent history - or at least head off an even darker turn. Starting with the Belgian- and American-backed overthrow of independence leader Patrice Lumumba in 1960, every transfer of power has come at the barrel of a gun. That included autocrat Mobutu Sese Seko's overthrow in 1997 after 32 years in power and his successor Laurent-Desire Kabila's assassination in 2001. Two regional wars between 1996 and 2003, triggered in part by the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda, sucked in a half-dozen regional armies and resulted in millions of deaths. Since then, Congo has remained a violent place and fighting between the government and rebel militia has sent hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing across its borders. Regional powers such as Angola and Rwanda pushed for Kabila to step down after his refusal to do so when his mandate expired in 2016 caused violent protests and worsened militia violence. WHAT ABOUT FOR INVESTORS? Congo is the world's biggest producer of cobalt, a key component in batteries for electric cars and mobile phones. It is also Africa's top copper miner and a significant producer of gold. That makes the election of keen interest to mining companies such as Glencore, Randgold and China Molybdenum, which are in dispute with the government over a new mining code passed this year that hikes taxes and royalties. Kabila's preferred candidate, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, would be likely to continue the recent hard line with foreign investors. His main challengers have said little on the subject. WHO'S GOING TO WIN? Twenty-one candidates will appear on the presidential ballot, but only three are considered serious contenders. Shadary, a former interior minister, was little known before Kabila named him in August to run. But he has strong support from government institutions and a sizeable campaign war chest. He faces a divided opposition, which agreed last month to back former ExxonMobil manager Martin Fayulu as its candidate, only for Felix Tshisekedi, the president of Congo's largest opposition party, to back out of the deal. A rare national opinion poll in October showed Tshisekedi on 36 percent, with 16 percent for Shadary and 8 percent for Fayulu. Besides the presidential race, voters will also elect representatives for provincial and national assemblies. WHAT COULD GO WRONG? A lot. Violence last week in which security forces killed at least seven opposition supporters and a fire that destroyed thousands of voting machines were timely reminders of how quickly things can turn sour. The disputed results of prior elections in 2006 and 2011 sparked violent protests, and there is every indication that losing candidates will again cry foul. Congo is sub-Saharan Africa's largest country and has a population somewhere around 80 million (the last official census was in 1984). The lack of roads across vast expanses of its forested interior, attacks by dozens of eastern militia groups and a worsening Ebola outbreak there mean the underfunded electoral commission (CENI) faces a Herculean task. The government's decision to turn down international help, saying it would undermine national sovereignty, has not helped. CENI is rolling out tablet-like voting machines for the first time and they could be a source of controversy. Opposition candidates say they are vulnerable to rigging and could be compromised by unreliable power supplies. WHAT CHALLENGES WILL THE NEW PRESIDENT FACE? The new president will have his hands full. Nearly 13 million Congolese don't have enough to eat, militia continue to massacre civilians in the east, and the Ebola outbreak, already the second deadliest in history, isn't expected to be brought under control until at least mid-2019. There is also the question of what Kabila will do after leaving the presidency. If Shadary wins, analysts say Kabila could try to pull the strings from behind the scenes. If an opposition candidate wins, he will have to contend with institutions stacked with Kabila loyalists. (Editing by Aaron Ross and Giles Elgood)In the days leading up to Georgia's hotly contested 2018 gubernatorial election, Brian Kempwho, you may recall, is both the winner of that election and also the state official who was in charge of administering itmade a shocking accusation about the Democratic Party of Georgia and, by extension, his opponent, Stacey Abrams. They had, he said, attempted to hack into the state's voter-registration database, and his office planned to launch an investigation into this serious case of misconduct.

According to a bombshell investigation published last week by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, there is still absolutely no evidence that any such partisan election meddling took place. Meanwhile, there is a good deal of compelling evidence that Kempwho at the time was slipping in the polls, putting him in real danger of suffering an embarrassing loss for the Republican Partymight have just made the whole thing up.

The problem, as the AJC explains it, is that Kemp had learned that the state's voter information systems were laughably vulnerable to hackers, which opened him up to charges of rank incompetence. Earlier this year, while checking his registration status online, a Georgia voter named Richard Wright discovered that nefarious actors could use the web site to download any file on the system, and to access any voter's personally identifiable information. Experts told the AJC that hackers could, in theory, exploit these flaws to do things like delete people from the rolls, render them ineligible to cast ballots, or even "systematically target" political and/or minority groups.

Wright reached out to an election law attorney in Washington, and on Friday, November 2, four days before election day, he also summarized his findings in an email to Rachel Small, a volunteer with the Georgia Democrats' voter protection hotline. Small forwarded that email to her supervisor, who asked their own cybersecurity experts to take a look. "That," says the AJC, "appears to have been the extent of the Democrats' involvement."

Story continues

From there, Wright's emails made their way to law enforcement agencies, and then to reporters. On Sunday, when Kemp learned that a media outlet planned to publish a story on the subject, he did what all self-respecting Republicans do when confronted with evidence of their failures: panic, and blame someone else. Minutes before it posted, the secretary of state's web site posted an all-caps headline announcing a forthcoming investigation into a "FAILED HACKING ATTEMPT" by Democrats. Kemp's spokesperson began talking about Rachel Small, who is part of this narrative because she forwarded an email, as if she should be considered armed and extremely dangerous by anyone who approaches her.

The FBI is looking for information on Rachel Small, Broce wrote [to reporters]. We welcome any information about this persons identity or motives to provide to federal authorities.

Who is Rachel Small? Broce continued. Is that her real name, and for whom does she work? Why was she talking about trying to hack the secretary of states system?

A few days later, Kemp won the election with 50.2 percent of the vote, narrowly avoiding the prospect of a runoff with Abrams. Strangely, since the result became official, Kemp's office seems to have forgotten all about the investigation it had vowed to conduct, back when breaking the news of said investigation was politically expedient.

More than a month later, state Democratic officials say no law enforcement agency has been in touch about the alleged crime. Lawyers and others involved in the episode say theyve heard nothing, either. The agencies wont comment on their investigations.

In other words, when a floundering candidate learned about a last-minute story that would reflect poorly on him, he seized on the thinnest imaginable shred of evidence to concoct an elaborate conspiracy theory that implicated his political opponents, and then used his official position to make it seem credible to the credulous. Throughout the campaign, Kemp endured persistent criticism for scoffing at the notion that supervising an election in which he was a candidate gave rise to any problematic conflicts of interest. It was a calculated bit of shamelessness all along, and apparently, it was worth it.NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge knocked down a New York state law banning nunchucks that dated to the 1970s, when martial arts star Bruce Lee popularized them in his movies by whipping around the twin sticks linked by a chain.

U.S. District Court Judge Pamela Chen sided with an amateur martial artist who opposed the ban, reasoning that the right to bear arms protected by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution applies not just to firearms but also to nunchucks.

The 44-year-old law that makes possession of "chuka sticks" a crime is "an unconstitutional restriction on the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment and are, therefore, void," Chen wrote in a judgment rendered on Friday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.

The law was challenged by James Maloney, who claimed the ban prevented him from teaching his twin sons a martial arts form that used nunchucks.

Nunchucks are a traditional martial arts weapon developed in Okinawa and made famous in Lee's 1970s martial arts movies. The connected sticks, made of heavy wood, plastic or metal, can be whipped around or, held in each hand, used to choke an opponent.

Evidence introduced during the trial showed that at least 64,890 wood or metal nunchucks were sold in the United States in the past 23 years.

In her 27-page ruling, Chen said Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas, the defendant in Maloney's lawsuit, had failed to provide sufficient evidence that possession of nunchucks, also known as nunchakus, should not be protected by the Second Amendment.

"Simply put, Defendant does not contradict the contention that the nunchaku's primary use, which Defendant concedes is as 'a tool from the sphere of martial arts' ... is a lawful one," the judge wrote.

Chen's ruling, however, left open the possibility that the state could at some point present further evidence that might lead to a ban or restriction of nunchucks.

(Reporting by Peter Szekely; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)Geneva (AFP) - Russia, Turkey, Iran and the United Nations voiced hope Tuesday that a committee charged with writing a new Syrian constitution will start work early next year.

The Damascus government, which is backed by Moscow and Tehran, has not yet agreed to the committee, saying it will only support a process that alters Syria's existing constitution.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov -- flanked by his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif and Turkey's Mevlut Cavusoglu -- read a joint declaration after talks with UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura.

Russia, Iran and opposition backer Turkey "agreed to take efforts aimed at convening the first session of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva early next year," Lavrov said.

The committee has become the centrepiece of UN peace efforts in Syria and aims to set up elections that can turn the page on seven years of devastating war.

De Mistura, who will be replaced as UN envoy on January 7, praised the "significant joint input" from the three powers.

But the United States, which has tense relations with Russia and Iran, recalled that the initial goal had been to set up the body within 2018.

"The establishment and convening by the end of the year of a credible and balanced constitutional committee in Geneva is an important step to lasting de-escalation and a political solution to this conflict," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said in Washington.

- Positive spin? -

The meeting marked a final moment in de Mistura's four-year tenure, which did not produce a breakthrough for peace.

An op-ed in Syria's pro-government Al-Watan newspaper on Tuesday underscored de Mistura's tense relationship with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

"In Damascus, we will never be sorry for Staffan de Mistura's departure," Al-Watan said.

De Mistura is "leaving with regret that he couldn't destroy the Syrian state and couldn't impose the West's agenda on Syrians," it continued, while chastising efforts to "impose a new constitution on Syrians."

Story continues

The veteran UN diplomat tried to put a positive spin on his fraught peace push by suggesting that protracted rounds of diplomacy helped limit bloodshed in Syria.

De Mistura said he had been contacted by an individual, whom he did not identify, who had conducted "various extrapolations" which indicated that UN-backed talks had saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

"The fact that you have been coming up constantly with your team with new meetings, preparatory meetings, inter-discussions, ceasefires that didn't work and then worked and didn't work again... we have been calculating that instead of 540,000 people (dead) there would have been 1.3 million," de Mistura told reporters, quoting the unnamed individual.

A UN spokesperson later told AFP that de Mistura was citing an estimated death toll of 540,000 people for Syria that includes combatants.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor group, has said that an estimated 360,000 people have been killed in the conflict.(TNS)  A think tank and a senator both just released draft legislation aimed at strengthening consumer data and privacy protections, but experts already fear they are too limited in scope or too vague.The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) announced a privacy bill draft that preempts state privacy laws (like the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA), grants consumers the right to data portability and deletion (similar to the European Unions GDPR), and restricts tech companies from collecting personal data that is unnecessary to complete the transaction or provide the service.The privacy bill advocates for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce any potential privacy law and advises adding 100 additional personnel to undertake privacy enforcement and consumer data protection issues. It would also grant the FTC civil penalty authority to crack down on tech companies that violate the law.During a press briefing announcing the legislation, the CDTs Director of the Privacy and Data Project Michelle Richardson said CDT considers the draft to be a work in progress, and said she wants to get it out there to inspire conversation, debate and, she hopes, improvements to the proposed legislation.Richardsons apparently getting her wish. The proposal is already drawing criticism.Allie Bohm, policy counsel at Public Knowledge, told InsideSources that while the CDTs draft is very specific in some areas, there are serious gaps.According to Bohm, the draft assumes that consumers agree to a companys Terms of Service in order to receive the service or product from the company. But by adjusting language in the Terms of Service, tech companies could find ways around some of the privacy protections the bill highlights, like restrictions on sharing personal data with third parties.For example, she said, if you have HIV and dont want tech companies to know that but have to reveal that information to comply with the Terms of Service, youre basically being forced to give up your data. This is predicated on the argument that there is so little competition in the tech industry right now  as Apple, Facebook and Google own and administer most of the apps and services consumers use  that consumers dont have a legitimate way to opt out of certain services.I dont want you to be able to sell my HIV status to third parties, so lack of a consent mechanism is a problem, she said. There are very large carve outs in the bill  so even when it has good ideas and protections, it has some serious gaps.The American Enterprise Institutes Roslyn Layton, a visiting fellow specializing in tech policy issues, told InsideSources the drafts focus on the FTC and defining its role as primary enforcer with civil penalty authority is good, as well as the state law preemption clause.But she worries about the lack of a safe harbor for small to medium-sized companies to provide assurance for [those] that abide by the law, and notes that government entities are not covered in the bill even though they are leading processors of [consumer] data.Meanwhile, Hawaii Democrat Sen. Brian Schatzs (D-Hawaii) has released the Data Care Act , which mimics the CDTs privacy bill in terms of consumer data protection. It highlights rights to portability and deletion, but it also strictly prohibits companies from sharing or selling consumer data to third parties (unlike the CDTs privacy bill, which allows sharing or licensing under certain conditions).Bohm said Schatzs bill could also be more specific, especially with regard to how companies should respond to a data breach.Schatzs bill only requires companies to notify consumers of a data breach depending on the size of the company and the sensitivity of the data.This list is too limited to be effective, Bohm said. In fact, under the bill, Facebook would not have had to notify end users about Cambridge Analytica. Furthermore, the bill does not address how to handle conflicts between companies duties to their end users and their duties to their shareholders.Daniel Castro, vice president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), told InsideSources in an email that the narrower scope of the CDTs privacy bill doubles its impact, which is a credit to the draft proposal.By getting drafts are on the table, these consumer-focused privacy bills are already ahead of the tech companies in setting the terms for a final privacy bill  even though experts say theres room for much improvement.Putting together legislation is hard, Bohm said. I think [the CDTs] bill falls short in some really critical ways  I just think they have too many exceptions.Colombo (AFP) - Sri Lanka's president on Sunday reappointed as prime minister the same man he sacked from the job nearly two months ago, ending a power struggle and immediately setting off an uneasy cohabitation government.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, whose shock dismissal in late October threw Sri Lanka into an unprecedented constitutional crisis, was sworn in at a closed-door ceremony in the president's office in Colombo.

In a scathing attack on Wickremesinghe and his United National Party (UNP), President Maithripala Sirisena said he grudgingly gave the job back and intends to check his premier every step of the way.

"I still believe that I should not have made Ranil Wickremesinghe the prime minister, but I bow to the wishes of the majority in parliament," Sirisena said. "But, I don't know how far we will succeed in fulfilling the wishes of our people."

Sirisena came to power in January 2015 with the help of Wickremesinghe's UNP, but in the past three years they have drifted apart with clashes coming to a head when he was sacked in October.

The 69-year-old Wickremesinghe refused to step aside since being dumped and replaced by controversial strongman Mahinda Rajapakse -- leaving the country with two men claiming the premiership and no functioning government.

The ousted premier had long asserted his dismissal was illegal, a view supported by Sri Lanka's parliament which six times voted against Rajapakses claim to rule during tumultuous sessions that erupted into brawls.

The acrimony between the two leaders was underlined on Sunday when Sirisena berated Wickremesinghe and his supporters at length following the swearing-in, according to a 45-minute video released by the presidential secretariat.

- Shutdown fears -

After the frosty reception, which Sirisena closed to the press, the reinstated premier thanked parliament and "all those who campaigned to restore democracy".

"The first priority is to restore normality," he said in a brief address to the nation.

Story continues

"The work we initiated had been brought to a standstill."

There was no immediate reaction from Rajapakse, who stood down Saturday. But Namal Rajapakse, his son and also a legislator, publicly extended his congratulations to Wickremesinghe.

India, which like the United States and others in the global community urged the warring factions to resolve their differences and refused to recognise Rajapakse's government, welcomed an end to the power struggle.

"This is a reflection of the maturity demonstrated by all political forces, and also of the resilience of Sri Lankan democracy and its institutions," India's foreign ministry spokesman said Sunday.

Wickremesinghe said he will form a cabinet in the coming days.

The country has been heading for a government shutdown as parliament failed to approve spending for 2019, and credit rating agencies downgraded its debt amid fears of a sovereign default.

- Bitter end -

Sirisena's resistance became untenable after the country's highest court last week ruled that he acted outside the constitution when he dissolved parliament on November 9 and called early elections.

Some factions within Sri Lanka's parliament have pushed for Sirisena to be investigated -- and possibly impeached -- for orchestrating what they say was a coup.

Rajapakse, who Sirisena appointed in a sudden, late-night oath-taking ceremony, pressed ahead forming a purported government and naming a cabinet even as parliament cut off state funds to his office.

The Supreme Court confirmed Rajapakse could not exercise the powers of a prime minister until he proved his legitimacy -- which without enough support in parliament was impossible.

On Saturday Rajapakse -- who presided over the bloody end to Sri Lanka's civil war in 2009 -- backed down, signalling the standoff had come to a bitter close.

However, the strongman, whose past administrations were accused of gross rights abuses and whose family still holds considerable sway in Sri Lanka, promised to make a comeback at local elections next year.



A lower court judge in Texas has issued a ruling that could lead to all of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA)  the main part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) statutory package being tossed out.



U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor said last Friday that the PPACA provision requiring many individuals to own health coverage is now an unconstitutional requirement for people to buy health coverage, not a tax that complies with the U.S. Constitution.



Related: CMS has contingency plans if ACA is overturned



Because PPACA contains no "severability clause," or provision that lets the rest of PPACA survive if one part of PPACA is nullified, all of PPACA is invalid, O'Connor writes in an opinion explaining his ruling on the case, Texas et al. v. USA (Case Number 4:18-cv-00167-O).



"All told, Congress stated three separate times that the individual mandate is essential to



the ACA," O'Connor writes. "That is once, twice, three times and plainly. It also stated the absence of the individual mandate would 'undercut its regulation of the health insurance market.



The ACA package is made up of PPACA and a second law, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (HCERA). O'Connor does not mention HCERA in his opinion.



O'Connor refers to the "900-plus pages" of the ACA legislative text, but, in his opinion, he appears to write only about the ACA provisions relating directly to health insurance, not, for example, about the sections that relate to funding for efforts to fight flu pandemics and subsidize training for health care providers who work with older patients. He refers to the non-major medical insurance provisions, collectively, as "hundreds of minor provisions."



O'Connor was appointed to be a judge by President George W. Bush.



The U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier that the ACA individual mandate was integral to the ACA, and that it was constitutional, because it was a tax that was protected by the federal Anti-Injunction Act.



Congress included a provision in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that set the individual mandate penalty at $0. Texas and other states sued, arguing that the elimination of the penalty had converted the individual mandate provision into a bare requirement to buy coverage. Texas and the other plaintiffs asked the court to throw out all of the ACA.



The administration of President Donald Trump has asked the court to throw out only the ACA provisions that the administration Sees as being closely related to the purpose of the individual mandate, such as the ACA ban on the use of personal health information other than age in insurer decisions about whether to sell coverage, and the ACA ban on use of personal health information other than age, location, tobacco use and wellness program participation in health coverage pricing decisions.





Story continues

Timing





O'Connor issued the ruling at a time when health insurers have already locked in benefits and prices for 2019 health coverage and are almost done with ordinary applicant enrollment for 2019 coverage.



The ACA individual major medical open enrollment period started Nov. 1 in most of the country and is set to end tomorrow in most of the country.





Will this really take effect now?





Probably not.



Bloomberg is reporting that White House officials told it they expect the effects of the ruling to be put on hold while the ruling is appealed.



Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, emphasized in a tweet that the decision is still moving through the courts.



"The exchanges are still open for business and we will continue with open enrollment," Verma said in the tweet. "There is no impact to current coverage or coverage in a 2019 plan."



Congress might be able to reverse the broad effects of the ruling by setting the individual mandate penalty at $10, or some other value other zero, or by adding a severability clause to PPACA.





Reactions





Matt Eyles, president of Americas Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), said in a statement that he believes the district court ruling is misguided and wrong.



"This decision denies coverage to more than 100 million Americans, including seniors, veterans, children, people with disabilities, hardworking Americans with low incomes, young adults on their parents plans until age 26, and millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions," Eyles said in the statement.



Eyles said he expects the new ruling to be just the first step in a lengthy legal process.



"AHIP will continue to engage as this decision is appealed," Eyles said. "Putting aside this decision, health insurance providers will continue to work hard to ensure the people they serve have confidence that their coverage remains a strong and stable resource to improve their well-being and security.





Resources





Josh Blackman, a law professor, has posted a public copy of the opinion here.



 With information from Tom Korosec and Kartikay Mehrotra of Bloomberg.Goma (DR Congo) (AFP) - Two Congolese soldiers were killed in clashes with Rwandan pro-Hutu rebels after two of their leaders were arrested in an eastern frontier region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a military spokesman said Monday.

The Congolese army has battled militants from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) since Sunday at the foot of the Mikeno volcano near the Rwandan border, according to Guillaume Djike, the army spokesman for Goma in the troubled region of North Kivu.

"We deplore the deaths of two soldiers," he said.

"On Saturday, two important FLDR individuals were arrested by military intelligence services some 100 kilometres (60 miles) northeast of Goma," he said. "Every member of the FDLR must be repatriated to Rwanda and they will be."

The arrest had been announced on Twitter by the Rwandan state minister for foreign affairs, Olivier Nduhungirehe, who described the FLDR as a "genocidal and subversive movement operating in the east of the DRC".

The FDLR includes several leaders who took part in the 1994 Rwanda genocide, in which hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsis were slaughtered by the Hutu majority government. The group was a group set up in 2000 to oppose Rwanda's post-genocide leader, Paul Kagame.

Kagame on Friday said that at least two Rwandan soldiers had been killed in a December 9 attack blamed on FLDR fighters who had crossed the border from the DR Congo.

Eastern DRC has been a theatre of ethnic violence for 20 years, fuelled in part by the desire to control valuable mineral resources and farmland.

In a separate incident the World Food Programme said that one of its drivers had been shot and killed in the same area of North Kivu.By Alison Bevege

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Rocket Lab, a rocket propulsion company backed by investors in Silicon Valley, has launched a batch of 13 tiny probes from New Zealand to study space.

The Electron rocket lifted off on Sunday evening from the world's only private orbital launch pad on the Mahia Peninsula, carrying a payload of 10-cm (3.9-inch) cube-shaped research satellites.

The tiny satellites are called "CubeSats", and will collect data on phenomena such as radiation belts or on autonomous movement in space for a group of universities and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The NASA mission has been named the Educational Launch of Nanosatellites or "ELaNa-19".

Rocket Lab's successful launch of a rocket that deployed satellites in January after years of preparation was an important step in the global commercial race to bring down financial and logistical barriers to space.

Sunday's launch was the second commercial launch for the New Zealand firm after it sent up a commercial payload of seven satellites on Nov. 11.

If this mission is a success then Rocket Lab expects to increase its activity 2019, with a goal of 16 missions.

(Reporting by Alison Bevege; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)(TNS)  Montgomery County commissioners awarded a $5.8 million contract to Dominion Voting Systems of Denver, Colo., to provide a voter-marked paper balloting system with a verifiable paper trail.Berks County officials are in the process of reviewing proposals for a new voting system, and Chester County has always used paper ballots.The voting systems are being replaced in response to an order from acting Secretary of State Robert Torres in February that voting systems produce a paper trail to track the ballots cast in the voting booth. He set a deadline of Dec. 31, 2019.Montgomery County hosted an open house in February at Montgomery County Community College's Blue Bell campus, where more than 300 residents were given an opportunity to test and provide feedback on voting systems and machines.The new system will replace the current electronic push-button voting machines the county purchased in 1996, which were nearing the end of their useful life. The county plans to have the new system in place for the May primary election.Voters will still be able to privately cast their ballot, just like the current system, and the simple paper ballot will give them the highest confidence that their votes will be accurately recorded and counted, said Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, commissioners chairwoman. I'm so pleased that we approved this new voting system today, which incorporates the suggestions we heard from voters.Voters will fill out a ballot in pen and have an opportunity to check it for accuracy before submitting it to a scanner that tabulates the votes, and keeps the ballot in a secure container for audits or recounts.Each polling place also will have a touchscreen machine in compliance with the 1990 federal disabilities act.When the voter is done filling out the ballot, the touchscreen machine will print out a paper ballot that the voter can verify before submitting it for tabulation.Dominion CEO John Poulos said the election technology will suit the diverse needs of the county and its voters, particularly in an age where quality and security are paramount.Commissioners plan to host an open house in the spring before the primary to allow the public to test the new machines.The county also plans to provide training to poll workers to ensure the election runs smoothly, according to Commissioner Ken Lawrence Jr., who is also the chairman of the county Election Board.Videos and other voter education materials will be available online at www.montcopa.org/voterservices and will be made available at the offices of state legislators, municipal buildings and libraries as soon as they become available.US President Donald Trump's envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt issued a condemnation of revenge attacks by Israeli settlers in response to the recent wave of Palestinian violence in the West Bank.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



On Thursday, video footage of settlers attacking a Palestinian truck near the settlement of Yitzhar was posted online, and on Friday, Greenblatt tweeted: "The recent Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israelis are unconscionable. But throwing rocks at vehicles that have nothing to do with these attacks is NOT a legitimate response. Innocent people could be killed."

Jason Greenblatt (Photo: EPA)

In the video documenting the attack on the Palestinian truck driver, published Thursday by the left-wing NGO B'Tselem, a masked protester can be seen hurling stones at a truck driven by Palestinian Nabil Abdallah. The organization said that, "throughout the day settlers attacked Palestinian cars along (central West Bank artery) Route 60 in various locations." In addition, the NGO said, settlers attacked Palestinian homes in the town of Asira al-Qibliya, near Nablus.

Greenblatt also tweeted in Arabic condemnation of posters hung throughout the West Bank calling for the assassination of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"As I denounced incitement on the Palestinian side, I deplore the incitement to assassinate President Abbas. That's totally unacceptable! All peace-loving people should denounce such acts as well," he wrote.

Posters calling for Abbas' assassination (Photo: AFP)

The banners, hung in various places throughout the West Bank, feature an image of a target drawn over Mahmoud Abbas alongside the caption "Assassinate the funders of the murder."

(Photo: Amit Shabi)

two soldiers were killed , another critically wounded and a Beit El resident seriously hurt.

Scene of Givat Assaf attack (Photo: EPA)

Greenblatt tweeted: "Those countries that financially support the PA but ignore the fact that the terrorists and their families will now be rewarded for their vicious actions of murdering Israelis should speak out and consider enacting a law similar to the Taylor Force Act."

The act is named for a US Army veteran who was stabbed to death in a March 2016 terror attack on Jaffa boardwalk. Force's wife was also seriously hurt in the attack.

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman condemned the attacks on Twitter: "In the past week Palestinian terrorists have killed or wounded 14 Israelis in multiple attacks. The Pal. Authority maintains laws that will compensate these terrorists and their families for their heinous acts. The PA can be a political body OR a sponsor of terror, not both."

Greenblatt also criticized Fatah for a tweet in which the organization led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hailed the perpetrators of two deadly terror attacks as "Martyrs of the motherland" and "heroes." The tweet also shows images of the two terrorists, one who killed two co-workers at a factory in the Barkan industrial zone, and the other whose shooting of a pregnant woman led to the death of her baby son when he was born prematurely as a result.

"Shame on Fatah! What part of killing a baby or shooting your co-workers is heroic?" he wrote. "This is disgraceful, vile and contemptable."

Fatah tweet praising the two terrorists

The IDF Spokesperson's Office said that over the weekend, the IDF, Shin Bet and police forces arrested 40 wanted Palestinians suspected of involvement in terror activities and violent disturbances against civilians and security forces, including 37 known Hamas operatives.

Concerns are growing of a new wave of terror attacks as tensions increase following the two successful shooting attacks last week. Hundreds of troop reinforcements were deployed in the regional divisions of the West Bank.

Freedom of movement for Palestinians was also maintained on roads throughout the West Bank, although sporadic pop-up checkpoints were in use, mainly in the Ramallah area, as forces continued their hunt for the perpetrators.A new poll released this week in Israel makes one thing very clear: domestic politics are more fluid than they appear. For if elections were held today, a hitherto unknown party led by former IDF chief Benny Gantz would receive 16 seats in the Knesset, making it the second largest entity in parliament.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



But we still have no idea where Gantz stands. To this very day, he has yet to express any position. Is he in favor of the two-state solution? How about concessions to the Palestinians? What is his policy vis-a-vis Gaza? Is he for or against settlement expansion? And what about a unilateral separation from the Palestinians while maintaining security control, as suggested by many of his friends from the "Commanders for Israel's Security" movement? What is his socioeconomic policy? At present, we have no idea of any of it.

Is he even running? He's tight-lipped, but the signs (such as rumors of high-level meetings, vague comments abroad) point to definitely maybe.

Former IDF chief Benny Gantz (Photo: Anat Mosberg)

The centrists are the future, as evidenced by Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid's upswing in the polls as he moves closer to the middle. Indeed both the left and the right have centrists looking for a political home. The left has seen a split in recent years, between the center and those of a more ideological bent, and  more importantly  one-third of Likud voters don't support the positions of most of the party's MKs as they drift steadily to the right.

This one-third is the key to political change in Israel. The Zionist left has entirely failed to reach them and this is one of main reasons that voters are abandoning them for the Likud. It's not for love of Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu  it's a refuge, to put it mildly, from the defenders of those who campaign against Israel.

Netanyahu has clear successes in the international arena under his belt, but is losing American Jews. On the Palestinian frontboth the southern and easternthe diplomatic freeze is not improving Israel's situation on the world stage. The supporters of settlement expansion are showing that Netanyahu is susceptible to pressure, which belies his hardman image. This malleability won't win him much sympathy from this significant part of Likud voters, and the expected spike in the cost of living is only adding fuel to the fires of disappointment in the prime minister.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

These circumstances create an opportunity for change. And while we haven't heard even a word from Gantz, it's clear those who would give him 16 seats in the Knesset are eager to hear what he has to say. They are waiting for winds of change. They want out-of-the-box thinking and the man whose towering stoic form led Israel's army through war and peace might deliver the goods. When Gantz finally does open his mouth, it's safe to assume some of his supporters in the polls will abandon him, but if he conducts himself properly, others will flock to his side.

The political center will decide the 2019 elections; it may get a lot of flak, but it's the most important spot on the political map.

There's a normal distribution of opinions in Israela little on the margins, a lot more on the right and the left, and even more in the center bloc, which has voters from both sides. After all, in the gap between Likud and Labor is a public with willing to compromise as long as it leads to peace. There is a majority that is sick of surrendering to the demands of the ultra-Orthodox. There is a majority that seeks fair budget allocations across society. There is a majority that wants equal allocation of the burden of national service. But thanks to our coalition system, we get a dominant minority instead of true democracy. And we are fed up.

Does Gantz have a way to escape the trap of the radical minority winning and the sane majority losing? Does he bring new ideas that differ from those of Yair Lapid or Zionist Union's Avi Gabbay?

Does the list of those supporting him herald a change? The public doesn't have the faintest clue. The support Gantz receives in the polls is a form of credit, and he has been given the chance to present his plan.

Sitting on the fence can work only up to a certain point, and we have reached that point. Now it is the time to present something organized. Sixteen seats represents a lot of Israelis and they are entitled to seek answers.Israel has asked the United States to pressure the Lebanese army to assist the IDF in uncovering Hezbollah tunnels, the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar reported Tuesday.

According to the report, Lebanon rejected all Israeli requests, which also included the request to give more authority to United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), as well as criticism over Hezbollah's violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.An umbrella group of religious organizations in Israel has launched a campaign condemning LGBT relationships and decrying same sex parenthood. The campaign also includes the dissemination of fliers advocating conversion therapy and social media posts.

Choosing Family  the Movement for Strengthening Family Values in Israel, has launched a campaign in December declaring that Homosexual relationships are like poison, sexual tendencies can change, and single parenting is immorale.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



The new aggressive campaign was created by religious organizations who reject the LGBTQ community, and has been launched across the country and on social media, protesting the new families right to have children

The height of this campaign was an awareness week and a Tel Aviv rally, that presented the struggles agenda as pro-traditional family structure. The campaign included brochures slamming the LGBTQ community, that were handed out in synagogues, outside schools and in youth movement venues.

LGBTQ protests

Advertising stands were posted throughout the country, but special efforts focused on the center region and on Tel Aviv.

The Movement for the Strengthening of Family Values in Israel phrased a questions and answers page regarding same-sex attraction in preparation for their campaign.

According to the organization, Israeli society is loyal to traditional Jewish values, but is under fierce attack and victim to brainwashing from the LGBTQ community, who, it was added, engages in media terror against those who dont walk the pride way, and labels them as dark enemies of progress.

Those who only several years ago were outcasts, came together and created massive changes regarding their community, the pamphlet said. Their struggle is aggressive, and they force their whole world of values, language and behaviour on all of society.

Campaign leaders said they are not going against peoples right to live their lives, but rather against those who made their sexual preferences their central identity theme.

The pamphlet further said that Lesbian women and Gay men can overcome their sexual preferences and change it: when a man is really hungry and is shown something tasty, he has a strong passion to eat. But, once this man is made clear that theres poison in this food, that will cause his immediate death, the passion and hunger goes away and is replaced with repolse and rejections, said reading materials.

There was also mention of conversion therapy: from a therapeutic point of view, its clear that in many cases, a persons tendencies can be influenced. Unfortunately, because of the gay struggle, conversion therapy has been labeled as wrong, and therapists who perform these treatments feel threatened. There is an atmosphere of silencing, and only research portraying one side is addressed.

Brochures also stated that sex-change operations are in fact conversion therapy, and are more dangerous than therapy meant to change sexual tendencies.

The questions and answers pamphlet determined that the LGBTQ demand to have a family, under the slogan a right for parenthood is immoral, supports human trafficking and detaches men and women from their responsibilities as parents.

A poster that was put up outside home of men who have a Rainbow Flag on their balcony

We detach children from their parents and make them orphans from the moment of birth. We deny their basic right to know their parents and grow up with them, it said.

Rabbi Azriel Ariel, head of Choosing Family the Movement, said that, ever since the Creator of the World determine that It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make the woman to be an authority corresponding to him, family has been the most ancient and sacred of social institutions. The values of family are holy, and upon them lie all values needed for a healthy, morale human environment: fellowship, acceptance, devotion, loyalty and responsibility for others.

Meanwhile, as the campaign set off, two young men living in a Tel Aviv apartment were verbally attacked and threatened, after they put up a Rainbow Flag on their balcony. The two flatmates, one of whom gay and the other straight, said neighbors started harassing them in the past week. We got threatening letters, saying take down that flag or youll experience inquisition, the two told Ynet.

Youre inside the apartment, you cant see the flag you put up. But for us its like a muleta, wrote the neighbors.

In response to the inciting campaign, the gay community had begun fighting back, with representatives saying they have zero tolerance for campaigns hurting their community.

Like thousands of gay people, I chose parenthood, said Itay Pinkas Arad, Tel Aviv city councilor member who serves as chairman of the gay center in Tel Aviv. Arad is married and has three children with his partner Yoav. Togather they lead the LGBTQ protests and high court of justice motion calling for surrogacy rights in the past year.

Life is stronger than hate-instigators, most of whom live on our expense and spread their venom. Our families are beautiful families that dont need a permission to exist from anyone he said.

Roi Neumann, an LGBTQ activist and participant in the recent protest, resents the institutional support of religious bodies that lead such campaigns. The Israeli government continues to fund organizations that incite to violence with millions of Shekels worth of support. In recent years there have been a significant rise in attacks on members of the LGBTQ community. Theres been severe physical violence and verbal terror. Its time to investigate those who instigate these events.

Theres neither ideology nor Judaism in this campaign. Its an ugly, disgusting provocation. Whoever tries to build his political power on the basis of LGBTQ phobia is to discover we have zero tolerance for this, said Hen Arieli, chairman of the LGBTQ Association.Malicious graffiti was spayed and tires were punctured in the Palestinian village of Yasuf in the West Bank.

Writings saying "Jews wake up" and "I can't sleep when blood is spilled here" were sprayed.

The police have launched an investigation into the matter.Just like we didnt know we'd need a supertanker until Mount Carmel burned down and we didn't know we'd need a special parliamentary committee until 25 women were murdered in the space of year, we forgot about the Arab community until their neighborhoods were drenched in blood.

The recent onslaught of criminal attacks is not surprising, they are just the tip of the iceberg in a community which has been neglected for nearly 70 years. Now, no state official can ever claim: "I did not know."

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



Ironically, the only person to rise to the challenge and establish one of the most advanced and generous programs (to the tune of hundreds of millions of shekels) to help fight crime in Israel's Arab communities was outgoing police commissioner Roni Alsheikh. Now, on his way out, he faces a barrage of unjustified criticism.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and outgoing Police commissioner Roni Alsheikh (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

But speaking to senior police officers in Tel Aviv last month, Alsheikh devoted his final address in office to this program. He described it in words that expressed deep solidarity with the Arab community, and explained why the state is morally obliged to implement this plan.

He outlined the program's objectives and presented a human perspective that seeks to bridge the divide between Arab and Jewish communities and lend a hand to the needy.

For a few minutes, we saw in Alsheikh a prime minister we have not had for a long time: compassionate, merciful, open-minded, and empathic.

The aftermath of an explosion in a car in the Arab neighborhood of Ajami in Jaffa (Photo: Yaron Brenner)

Alsheikh elicited enduring applause from his audience of officers. You cannot suspect them of being against a program aimed at strengthening the police situation on the ground, reducing the crazy amount of weapons, invoking a quiet sense of control, and creating a safe environment for the battered and bloody community in our midst.

They, too, understood that Alsheikh's last message as a commissioner was carefully chosen. It is no coincidence that out of all the investigations and police cases that make headlines, Alsheikh chose to focus on our obligation to what is happening in our own backyard.

His words reflected the deep and clear insight of a man who saw firsthand a community's distress  a wound that runs so deep, he had never seen the likes of it before.

Asheikh was shocked by the long-standing neglect the Israeli Arab community has been subjected to, but above all, he showed a remarkable willingness to take action.

CCTV footage showing an attempted assassination in the Arab town of Umm al-Fahm, June 2018

The commissioner, like most senior IDF officials, knows that field work is not enough. The police can set up 20 stations in Umm al-Fahm, but as long as there is no educational program in place to teach the young generation about the law and order, this reality will not changeinstead it will become a promo for the next violent attack.

The alienation, the averted gaze, the neglect and segregation are the forebears of violence and crime. Israeli society, busy with its Jewish purification ceremonies, is moving away from its mission to serve as an example of goodness. The Jewish state prefers catchy slogans over complicated stories, turns down encounters between young Arabs and Jews, and condemns those who dare form an alliance.

But for all Alsheikh's words and plans, salvation will not come from the police. It has done its partnow it's the turn of Israel's political leaders. Are they up to the task?

















The Rona I knew, knew the skies well. At first through Ilan, and later through Assaf. There are times, like today, when I look to the skies and I don't understand. There are no words and no explanation of why Rona is also gone.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



I felt the same when my son Uriel fell in battle, when my husband Eliezer passed away, when my second son Eliraz also fell in battle, and when German Rozhkov, an only child whom I adopted as a son, fell in battle as well. I felt the same when I heard about Rona's son Assaf, and today I felt it again when we learned Rona is gone. I face these skies that Rona knew well, and I have no words.

I met her many times, but three encounters stood out the most.

Rona Ramon, on the far left, with Culture Minister Miri Regev, center, and Miriam Peretz, second from the right, at a meeting for Independence Day torchlighters in 2016 (Photo: Shaul Golan)

We walked into the room and the children, like magnets, were all drawn to Rona. They walked up to her, started hugging and embracing heras if she was their favorite person in the world. I asked her, "Rona, why is everyone running to you like this?" And she said, "The children feel love, and they immediately connect with that love." That was Rona, she knew how to give of herself to everyone.

Rona Ramon with her husband Ilan Ramon ahead of his space mission. (Photo: Jonathan Torgovnik)

I was reading some of Ilan's journal entries, which Rona published in 2013, from the days he was preparing for his fateful 2003 space mission. He wrote to her: "Rona'leh, I think you have a good soul, you take such good care of everyone, except yourself. I want us all to have the best. You are my heart and soul. I want to take care of you a little, to give you only a bit of what you give us all the time."

Rona gave of her great love to the children of Israel as well, in projects she initiated in memory of Ilan and Assaf.

Our second encounter, which I will never forget, was at a meeting for torchbearers ahead of Israel's 68th Independence Day in 2016, when Rona got to light a torch. Since I had had the honor of lighting a torch two years prior, she turned to me and asked: "How, on this immense occasion, can we get through the switch from Memorial Day to Independence Day?" (In Israel, Independence Day begins as nightfalls on Memorial Day  turning sadness into joy.)

Rona Ramon talks to children from the Assaf pre-military academy, named after her son. (Photo: Ramon Foundation)

We fell into each other's arms. We wept at the fact our loved ones were not here with us at this powerful and emotional moment. But then she laughed and said: "I have the advantage: Yours were ground troops. Mine were always looking down from the skies." We could then cry in each other's arms and laugh at our fate.

Our third encounter was when she invited me to attend one of her lectures. Afterwards she walked up to me and asked: "How long can we go on talking about them?" We stopped for a moment, looked at each other, and we knew  it would be until our dying days. Rona carried Ilan and Assaf's legacy with her until her final moment. When she published Ilan and Assaf's journals, she wrote to me in a dedication: "May we continue creating and influencing." Despite everything she went through, what Rona cared about most was to keep creating and making a difference.

Rona Ramon and her son Assaf at her husband Ilan Ramon's funeral in 2003

The story of the Ramon family is the story of the people of Israel. Of people who soar, who don't give up and who keep on going, people who reach for the stars.

I have an image in my mind that must be in the minds of many bereaved families: the day when we will all be united once more with our loved ones. I imagine Rona, who is being reunited with her loved ones at this very moment, see Ilan and Assaf again and ask: "Did you hear me? Did you hear me trying to ensure your voice is heard? I tried. I did my best."

And now Rona's voice is no more. But her spiritthe spirit of a mother, of a brave warrior, of sticking to life, of love and endless giving, of hard work and creationremains with us. This spirit, Rona, we will preservefor Ilan, for Assaf, for you and for us.Julian Niccolini. Photo: Chris Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Julian Niccolini is no longer involved in the Four Seasons, the highly influential restaurant he has famously been a face of since 1973. The New York Post first reported that he was ousted this morning by his partner Alex von Bidder, four months after the restaurant reopened in its new location. An insider wouldnt give the paper the exact reasons for the firing, but says Niccolini failed to live up to an agreement with other owners to obtain counseling for his past behavior. In a statement shared by a representative, the Four Seasons confirmed that ownership told Niccolini to resign because it had become clear that he had not honored that commitment. It is still to be determined how this will affect Niccolinis financial stake in the restaurant.

That past behavior includes pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault in 2016 and the circumstances behind a $4 million sexual-harassment lawsuit filed by a Four Seasons waitress and resolved in 1992. In 2014, a former assistant manager sued Niccolini, von Bidder, and the Four Seasons, alleging that she was fired after returning from maternity leave. The statement also reads that creating a warm and respectful environment for staff and patrons alike is central to the exceptional fine dining experience the restaurant is known for.

Over its 57-year history, the Four Seasons has been this countrys most important restaurant; its also synonymous with the power lunch. This month, both New Yorks Adam Platt and New York Times critic Pete Wells gave the restaurant one-star reviews. Both reviews mentioned Niccolinis past behavior. The restaurants popularity hasnt appeared to wane, however.

This post has been updated with new information from the Four Seasons.A day before the United Nations Security Council convenes to discuss Hezbollah's tunnels dug into Israel from Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday released new footage from inside one of the captured passageways, showing its advanced construction.

Alsdo Tuesday, a former Lebanese minister claimed that as the tunnels were hidden underground, they could not be seen as a violation of a key UN resolution on Hezbollah and Israel.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



The footage released by the IDF shows a tunnel with concrete reinforced walls, something that differs in construction to the other tunnels uncovered so far on the Israel-Lebanon border, which were dug through the rock.

The IDF believes Hezbollah fighters tried to block the tunnel after the launch of Operation Northern Shield on December 4.

Hezbollah tunnel (:  ")

X

IDF soldiers have located at least four cross-border Hezbollah attack tunnels over the course of the operation. According to the IDF, none of the tunnels that have been found, as well as others the military is trying to locate, poses a threat to the citizens of Israel.

"Since the attack tunnels were first exposed, IDF soldiers have been analyzing them using a variety of means, including photography and research capabilities. The efforts to expose and neutralize the Hezbollah attack tunnels continue as planned," the army said in a statement.

The concrete-reinforced tunnel (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)

The IDF has yet to release the location of the concrete-reinforced tunnel. According to Lebanese reports, the IDF has been digging not only near the Israeli border town of Metula, but also close to Moshav Zar'it on the western part of the Israel-Lebanon border and in the Rafeket enclave in the Galilee.

A former senior Lebanese government official claimed Tuesday that Hezbollah's tunnels and the weapons they keep underground do not constitute a violation of UN Resolution 1701.

"The tunnels, which have been present for a long time, dont constitute any evidence of violation of Resolution 1701," former minister Tarek Mitri told the London-based, pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. He was involved in the negotiations over Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War between Israel and Hezbollah, and later served as then-UN chief Ban Ki-moon's personal envoy to Lebanon.

An image taken from the Lebanese side of the border showing IDF troops destroying a Hezbollah tunnel

Mitri said that, "the article in the resolution that defines there would be no weapons south of the Litani River, with the exception of the Lebanon army and UNIFIL, does not directly address this matter. If there is nothing visible over ground, and if this weapon is underground, then it is not visible and therefore it does not exist."

The Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Akhbar newspaper reported Tuesday that Lebanon rejected Israeli requests, passed through the US, to aid in the search for the tunnels.

The report said that Israel had asked the Americans to put pressure on the Lebanese army to uncover tunnels and destroy them along with UNIFIL. A diplomatic source told the paper Beirut rejected the request and refused to discuss it further.

Al-Akhbar further noted that "in the information Israel provides the international forces, it notes it is having a difficult time carrying out the digging works in the way it would've liked in light of the conduct of the Lebanese army in the area."

The report also claimed that Israel told international forces in the area that, "it is experiencing difficulties in carrying out the digging work as it would like due to the conduct of the Lebanese army."

Meanwhile, a source involved in the IDF activity on the Lebanese border told Asharq Al-Awsat that the resolution was violated both by Israel and Lebanon a day after it was approved by the Security Council.

"Hezbollah and its media outlets said the resolution was a conspiracy against the organization. Iran's Revolutionary Guards were deployed in southern Lebanon, refusing to cooperate with Beirut after it asked Tehran to inform it of their activities," the source added.

UNIFIL confirmed Monday the existence of four tunnels on the Lebanese border, saying at least two cross the Blue Line from Lebanon into Israel. According to the UN force, this is a violation of Resolution 1701.MOSCOWRussian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia could easily make and deploy land-based intermediate-range missiles if the United States made good on a threat to quit a landmark nuclear arms control treaty.

The United States has accused Russia of flouting the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed by Washington and Moscow during the Cold War and has said it will quit it unless Russia comes back into compliance.

Putin on Tuesday denied his country was in violation of the agreement, but said it had developed powerful airborne and sea-based cruise missiles and could easily roll out land-based missiles if Washington walked away from the pact.Russia, Iran and Turkey are nearing agreement on the composition of a Syria committee that could pave the way for the drafting of a new constitution and for elections after a devastating civil war, diplomats said on Tuesday.

The foreign ministers of the three nations, who support opposing sides in Syria's nearly eight-year-old conflict, began talks in Geneva to seal their joint proposal and seek the United Nations' blessing for it, they added.A small city in Israel's Lower Galilee is transforming itself into a major alternative high-tech hub for medical and pharmaceutical companies, with astounding developments.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



Overlooking the scenic Jezreel Valley some 50 miles from Tel Aviv, Yokneam stands at the crossroads of two major highways in northern Israel. Although not a major urban area, the city is transforming into one of the countrys fastest-growing tech hubs thanks to generous government tax breaks, special grants and a high overall quality of life.

Yokneam (:   )

While Tel Aviv is widely considered the heart of Israels high-tech industryoften ranked near the top of various world listings for its dynamic start-up sceneYokneams reputation as a center for innovation is rapidly growing. Among the roughly 160 tech companies based there, several have recently nabbed prestigious international grants and awards.

Yokneam has a very high percentage of companies involved in long-term research, says Tzvi Ben Elya, Coordinator of Startup Village Yokneam, adding that the medical and pharmaceutical industries have especially benefited from the tax structure in place. Part of it has to do with the fact that this is a family-oriented area and so people come and they choose to stay. The city has a high quality of life and the school systems are among the best in the country.

According to Ben Elya, some 8,000 people are currently employed by tech companies in the city.

Initially, many American companies were investing in the area, he said, but in the last few years, there has been a lot of Chinese investment. When (Chinese investors) come in, they usually take the production (back with them), but the research and development here grows.

Among those developments is a revolutionary Israeli device that allows quadriplegics to navigate all kinds of indoor and outdoor terrain, either seated or upright.

Developed by UPnRIDE Robotics Ltd., the specialized wheelchair is designed for people who have lost mobility in all four limbs. Dr. Amit Gofferhimself a quadriplegicis the creator the device, having come up with the idea after inventing ReWalk, a bionic exoskeleton designed to enable paraplegics to stand, walk, and climb stairs. Dr. Goffer could not, however, use ReWalk because his hands are partially paralyzed and so, in 2014, he founded a company to develop a next-generation mobility enhancer: UPnRIDE.

These (devices) are fantastic for quadriplegics, especially to be able to communicate at eye level because it is very difficult and awkward as an adult to be at the height of a child, said Dr. Goffer, President of UPnRIDE. I think that when in a wheelchair, theres an issue with (maintaining ones) self-esteem and dignity. Its perhaps even the number one problem.

Dr. Goffer highlighted that the product is beneficial for people suffering from multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and other mobility-limiting diseases. The machine also reduces the number of health issues associated with remaining seated for long periods of time in a standard wheelchair, such as pressure sores.

UPnRIDE is in the process of manufacturing its first batch of commercial products. Concurrently, the technology is undergoing clinical trials in Israel and the United States and has already obtained clearance to be sold across Europe.

And it is not the only groundbreaking product to emerge from Yokneam. HemoScreendeveloped by PixCell Medical Technologies Ltd.is a portable medical device that could revolutionize the way that medicine is practiced.

It performs the worlds most common blood test, which is the complete blood count (CBC) within five minutes, said Dr. Avishay Bransky, CEO and Director of PixCell Medical. So imagine that when you go to the doctor youll get your blood work done and when you go into the physicians office hell be able to diagnose and treat you in a single visit.

A HemoScreen unitwhich is roughly the size of a lunchboxcan also be used to detect allergies, anemia and even cancer, among other afflictions, and has already undergone several clinical studies in the U.S. It also has received clearance to be sold throughout Europe. Founded almost nine years ago, PixCell Medical recently won a $3 million award from the European Unions prestigious Horizon 2020 research program. The corporation is now focused on increasing production to commercially-viable levels.

We just finished the clinical trials towards FDA clearance so it was a very long period of research and development, Dr. Bransky affirmed, noting the device could be particularly helpful in intensive care units.

For PixCell, Yokneam was a natural fit because the city offers companies ample space and funding needed for the long-term development of medical devices like HemoScreen. Most of the employees here live in the northern part of Israel so its very convenient for them to come work in Yokneam, rather than getting stuck in the traffic jams towards Tel Aviv and central Israel, Dr. Bransky expounded.

Altogether, the city exports roughly $6 billion worth of technology products annually, according to the Yokneam Start-up Village website, demonstrating how a once-small town with big dreams has transformed into Israels leading alternative hi-tech hub.Prime Minister Netanyahu visits scene of deadly attack in West Bank (:   )

X

Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday its only a matter of time until the score is settled with the gunman responsible for killing two IDF soldiers in the West Bank outpost of Givat Asaf last week.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter

The prime minister visited the scene of the attack where Sergeant Yosef Cohen, aged 19 from Beit Shemesh, and 20-year-old Staff Sergeant Yovel Moryosef from Ashkelon, were shot dead when a gunman leapt out of his car and opened fire as the two soldiers stood at a bus stop close to the Jewish outpost. Another IDF soldier was critically wounded in the attack, while two civilians had also been hurt.

Netanyahu received a briefing from GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Nadav Padan and said the security forces are in the midst of a manhunt, adding that so far 100 suspects have been detained on suspicion of being involved in the incident.

Prime Minister Netanyahu during West Bank visit (Photo: Tomer Appelbaum)

"The Palestinian terrorists think the attacks will uproot us, but they wont. It is the heart of our homeland, and we will strengthen the settlement enterprise even more. We will take all the necessary steps to combat terror, not only from Gaza, but from the West Bank as well, the prime minister stressed during the visit.

Netanyahu also praised the residents of Israeli settlements in the West Bank for showing resilience and strength in the face of terror," adding that he wishes to commend the IDF officers and soldiers who work around the clock to protect the citizens of our country.

The Commanding Officer of the Judea and Samaria Division, Brig. Gen. Eran Niv, told the prime minister during the visit the shooting is most likely connected to the terror attack near the settlement of Ofra last week, which resulted in the death of an infant who was born prematurely after his mother was wounded in the incident.

"A terrorist, who is connected to the Ofra attack, drove from Ramallah in a vehicle with a yellow registration plate (official color of Israeli registration plates) so when his car stopped at the bus stop, the three soldiers who had been standing there didnt suspect him, Niv explained.

Prime Minister Netanyahu during West Bank visit (Photo: Tomer Appelbaum)

The officer added once the attacker shot the soldiers, he took the M-16 rifle from one of them as they were bleeding on the ground, entered the vehicle and took off.

We were in pursuit, said Niv. In the end we couldn't catch up with him  but both weapons, the one used in the shooting and the one he stole, had been recovered.

In the meantime, President Reuven Rivlin said during his condolence visit to the families of the two soldiers whod been killed, that their sons are real heroes, who understood that only we can protect our homeland.Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel submitted his resignation Tuesday amid pressure on his government after the biggest party in his coalition quit over his support for a United Nations compact on international migration.

"I am taking the decision to offer my resignation. I am now going to see the king" to inform him," Michel told Belgian lawmakers.HURLEY SCHOOL District metals teacher Jake Hostetler, left, discusses benefits of a planned building expansion project Monday with the school board. Mike Fontecchio, second from left, Rick Swartz and district business manager Bree Lombardo listen.

By RALPH ANSAMI

[email protected]

Hurley - The Hurley School Board Monday agreed to seek bids for expanding the K-12 school.

The school board could act on accepting bids at its February meeting. District administrator Chris Patritto was instructed to get the ball rolling to solicit bids.

"This could be a catalyst for people wanting to stay here," school board president Joe Simonich, of Kimball, said of the potential of the expansion area.

"This gets my support 100 percent," he said.

The board did not talk numbers or size of the project Monday, but it originally discussed a 4,300-square-foot addition to the technology (wood and metal shops) area at the K-12 school that would cost around $1.1 million and a wellness center costing around $1 million.

Shop instructors Roger Peterson and Jake Hostetler discussed how the added space would not only help students in the school district, but possibly those from other Wisconsin and Michigan schools and adults, as well.

"It's a chance to increase opportunities for students and get the community to use the school," Hostetler said.

Peterson said expanded curriculum could result, as well as bigger class sizes.

Hosteler discussed the possibility of an open Wednesday for the community to use the shop area, or adult learning classes through the Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in Ashland. Gogebic Community College in Ironwood presently has two classes at Hurley.

Simonich said trades occupations such as carpenters and plumbers are busy in the area and the expansion could open up more job training for students. He cited the effectiveness of the Northwoods Manufacturing program in which students make products to sell.

Patritto said Hurley students are prepared well. "Our kids know their options," he said.

Simonich said he's amazed at the quality of products that come from the student-run Northwoods Manufacturing program.

Other benefits of the program include learning marketing skills and accounting, Patritto said. "There's more to it than people see," he said.

It was estimated Monday there are about 100 students in middle-high school enrolled in the shop classes.

The Hurley Education Foundation has pledged $50,000 toward the expansion.We think theres a better way. Photo: Jed Egan

Back in 2008, when New York first began attaching stars to our restaurant reviews, we called a former critic friend for advice. Boy, are you screwed, she said, before ticking off the usual complaints working critics tend to mutter (under their breaths and after a cocktail or two) when it comes to the thankless task of pinning an objective judgement on that most subjective of pastimes, dining in restaurants: There were already too many types of star systems in the crowded firmament; everyone knew that the most venerable, influential star systems skewed in favor of a certain snooty category of continental gourmet (and expensive) style, at the expense of other more inclusive, equally worthy genres of dining (hello, Michelin); readers would fixate on the stars instead of on the carefully crafted reviews (who knew?); you become a prisoner of your stars, and everyone hates you no matter what kind of system you devise (sigh).

What our friend didnt bargain for, and what we didnt bargain for, either, was the great, tectonic leveling of the New York dining world, which was already underway, and which our colleagues at the Underground Gourmet would soon begin to quantify with their own star system, designed to espouse the glories of the perfect bowl of ramen, say, or the perfect frankfurter. For the traditional, star-centric critic, however, in this changed landscape, excellent, or special-trip destinations were no longer grand French dining palaces; they were raucous downtown noodle bars and ramshackle pizza destinations out in the wilds of Bushwick, places that snooty Manhattan gourmets would never have dreamed of visiting just a few years earlier.

Anyone whos been paying attention to the dining scene in the last decade knows that this great leveling created a similar effect in the increasingly creaky, anachronistic star systems. Suddenly, we critics who were used to doling our stars to the kind of grandiose, white-tablecloth establishments that rarely opened around the city anymore, were forced to grapple with a whole new set of knotty questions and criteria. Is there such a thing as over-attentive service? Should a popular restaurant be docked a star if, God forbid, it doesnt take reservations? Whats more star-worthy in this comfort-obsessed age: a lavish (though rarely seen) plated serving of Dover sole, or the worlds finest taco?

This is why, after much deliberation, a little hand-wringing, and a tiny tinge of nostalgic sadness, we have decided to say farewell to the stars altogether in favor of a new, non-star-based numerical system that we hope will be broader and more ecumenical in scope, simpler to navigate, and more closely aligned with the way New Yorkers eat now, in this sprawling, democratic, post-gourmet dining era.

Our rating scale, from 1 (unfortunate) to 100 (nirvana), is designed take into account not just styles of dining, or categories of restaurants, but all of the hundreds of tangible and intangible factors that add up to an excellent (or terrible) dining experience. Price is important, of course, but high cost is not a mandate for the highest marks. A world-class deli can sit alongside a top-flight tasting room; astonishing pizza will be given the same weight as life-changing pho, superlative khao soi, or the most elaborate flight of caviar at the most pretentious restaurant in midtown.

Will our new ratings be any less subjective, or prone to the cranky whims of personal taste than the lofty, self-serious stars? Maybe not. But this new canvas will be larger, more descriptive, more adaptable, and, we hope, much easier to understand.

Youll see our new system in place on reviews that appear on this site and in our magazine, as well as on a brand-new restaurant hunter were calling the Thousand Best (which you can read all about right here). Attentive readers will notice that numbers and listings will be updated over time, as our merry band of tasting elves revisit restaurants and bars for the stream of neighborhood roundups and lists that, more and more, are the currency of restaurant criticism in this fast-paced mobile era.

So scroll around our new master list of the finest places to eat and drink yourself silly in this greatest of all eating and drinking cities. Look for your favorite delis or neighborhood bars, or type in the name of the place youre dying for your rich uncle to take you the next time he comes to town, and then let the inevitable debates begin.Dec. 27 meeting set to finish budget

By RICHARD JENKINS

[email protected]

IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP  As the minutes ticked past the scheduled 5:30 p.m. start time for the regular board meeting, it became clear the Ironwood Township Board of Trustees was going to need more than a one-hour special meeting Monday to decide what next years budget should look like.

While the board called another special meeting  scheduled for 9 a.m., Thursday Dec. 27  to complete the budget process, progress did seem to have been made during the discussion prior to Mondays regular meeting.

While no final decisions were made, the bo...SAVANNAH, Ga. - Robert Lee 'Tolly' Tollefson, 65, died Dec. 9, 2018.

Bob was born Dec. 1, 1953, in Ironwood, Mich., son of the late Harold and Jessica (Lee) Tollefson. He attended L.L. Wright High School, graduating in 1972, and attended Gogebic Community College, where he received an Associate Degree in Business in 1974.

In 1976-77, he attended Brown Institute in Minneapolis, Minn., and worked at KDAN Radio in 1977-78. He moved to Denver, Colo., in August of 1978, where he lived for many years. He attended Metropolitan State University of Denver, graduating in 1992 with a Bachelor's Degree, majoring in technical communications with a minor in journalism. During this time, he also worked in the library/media center at the Emily Griffith Opportunity School (now the Emily Griffith Technical College), the first adult education school in the United States, founded in 1916.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, he was a member of the Rocky Mountaineers Motorcycle Club. Formed in 1968, it is Colorado's oldest gay organization. He served as road captain, planning poker runs, mountain rides and other events, as well as putting on several amateur comedy shows during the club's annual Fourth of July three-day motorcycle camp-out in the Rocky Mountains.

In the early 1990s, Bob traveled to Europe and fell in love with Amsterdam and the Dutch culture and people. After a few years of planning, he finally took the plunge, living there part-time at first, then full-time. He landed a job with a nonprofit organization that restored vintage canal boats, and giving canal tours to visitors of Amsterdam. People would often joke that Bob knew the canals better than most Amsterdammers.

He was also employed by Boom Chicago, an improv comedy club in Amsterdam, as a sound and video technician. While in Amsterdam, he was fortunate to make lots of wonderful friends from Holland, as well as from all over the world. In 2005, he moved back to the U.S., residing in Savannah, Georgia.

Bob married his longtime companion, Richard Snyder, on March 20, 2014, their 25th anniversary together. His is also survived by a first cousin, Gordon Johnson, and his wife, Linda, of Land O'Lakes, Wis., as well as many, many dear friends.

Cremation will take place, and burial will be at the Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, Neb., after a brief service. Since Bob's friends are spread all over the world, no other services are planned.News

Kennedy Space Center, Florida - Remarks by Vice President Pence at Kennedy Space Center:

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Madam Secretary. (Applause.) Yeah, great words. Great words. Well, thank you, Secretary Wilson. Thank you for that introduction and thank you for your great leadership of the United States Air Force.

And I want to thank our host today, the Kennedy Space Center, Bob Cabana, and the entire team. To General Selva, who joins us here today; to all of our distinguished guests; to General Shess; but especially to the airmen of the 45th Space Wing and your families, it is great to be here at the Kennedy Space Center, the Worlds Premier Gateway to Space. (Applause.) Thank you all.

And I want to bring greetings this morning, first and foremost, to a great champion of American leadership in space and a great champion of Americas military personnel and your families. I want to bring greetings from the 45th President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump. (Applause.)

Well, nobody said space is easy, right? General Shess walked up to me a few minutes ago and I think he was worried I was going to be disappointed. But I told him, This isnt my first rodeo. I attended my first launch here at the Kennedy Space Center about 15 years ago. And the most important thing  most important thing is that we get that rocket up safely and securely, and achieves its mission.

You know, the truth of the matter is that the progress that weve made and the leadership America has provided in space is a result of careful, methodical, cutting-edge work of the people that are gathered here and the decisions that were even made here today.

And so, let me just take a moment to congratulate in advance, not only our host here at the Kennedy Space Center, but NASA; the Air Force; our great industry partners, SpaceX, Lockheed Martin. I know this bird is going to fly and when it flies its going to make a difference for the security and prosperity of the American people. Job well done. (Applause.)

So thank you all for being here today. Despite this delay, I wanted to take the opportunity, nonetheless, to make a very important announcement about American leadership in space, and the opportunity to do that among the airmen here of the 45th is a great honor for me. And its a fitting place to do just that, and Im grateful for your attendance and your participation here today.

Since the  even before this administration began, I can assure you that space was a priority of this President and of his Vice President. You know, I grew up  I was a little boy in the 1960s and I remember going down in our basement watching on our black-and-white television as America marveled the world with our leadership in space.

Nearly a half a century has passed since those days and America continues to lead in space. But Im here to tell you today, from the first days of this administration, when President Trump restarted the National Space Council, to the investments that weve made in NASA, to the leadership on national security in space, a new era of American leadership in space has begun. (Applause.)

And so much of it will take place here on the Space Coast, where all three sectors of Americas space enterprise take flight: civil, commercial, and national security. And the National Space Council, I want to assure you, is working to bring together all elements of American leadership in space. And Im grateful to have members of our User Advisory Committee and members of the National Space Council present with us today.

And Im pleased to report to my fellow Americans that under President Trumps leadership weve given renewed resources and strategic focus to trailblazers here at NASA. Weve forged new partnerships with pioneering companies like those involved in the rocket that sits on the launchpad today. Were investing in tools and capabilities that our armed forces need to protect our nation from the commanding heights of space. And that of course is what the 45th Space Wing has always done.

You know, the Space Coast is best known for the Apollo and space shuttles from the Kennedy Space Center. But you all know well that, for more than seven decades, the 45th Space Wing and your predecessors have made America the dominant power in the depths of space and we are proud of each and every one of the airmen gathered here today. Thank you for your service. (Applause.)

I know your motto is that Control of the Battlefield Begins Here. And I want to assure you that your Commander-in-Chief understands that, his number two understands that, and were going to continue to provide the 45th with the resources to accomplish your mission in the days ahead.

I want you to know you have no greater champion than President Donald Trump. Im proud to say that, from the outset of this administration, this President has actually worked with leaders in both parties in the Congress, and hes signed into law the largest increase in our national defense since the days of Ronald Reagan. We are rebuilding our military and restoring the arsenal of democracy. (Applause.)

And it has been a bipartisan effort. And the President and I are grateful of leaders in both parties that have supported his efforts in providing our warfighters with the resources, the training that you and your families need and deserve.

I do want to acknowledge one member of Congress who is with us today from the great state of Illinois, Congressman Randy Hultgren. Thanks for your great support of our military and your great support of this administrations agenda. Its an honor to have you here today. (Applause.)

But theres perhaps no greater sign of this Presidents commitment to all of you gathered here today, and your mission, than the Presidents vision to stand up the United States Space Force. As the President said, and as you all well know, space is, in his words, a warfighting domain. And the truth is, for years, foreign nations have been developing electronic weapons to jam, blind, and disable satellites just like the one that waits on that launchpad today.

China has tested missiles designed to destroy satellites. China and Russia are working to station new weapons directly in space and, frankly, these new challenges demand new and innovative responses. And thats precisely what weve been providing under President Trumps leadership. Under his leadership, the United States is taking steps to ensure that American national security is as dominant in space as it is here on Earth.

And to that end, it is my privilege to announce that today, President Trump will direct the Department of Defense to establish a combatant command that will oversee all our military activities in space. (Applause.)

This Space Command will be the 11th Combatant Command in the U.S. military joining the Indo-Pacific Command, the European Command, but also it will serve alongside other  what are known as functional commands, like Strategic Command, and Special Operations Command. And it will be led by a four-star flag officer.

It will establish unified control over all our military space operations. The American people will be glad to know that today, there are more than 18,000 military and civilian personnel working in space operations for our national security all across the Department of Defense. And at President Trumps direction, the U.S. Space Command will integrate space capabilities across all branches of the military. It will develop the space doctrine, tactics, techniques, and procedures that will enable our warfighters to defend our nation in this new era.

And I say with great pride, its an honor for me to announce the establishment of the U.S. Space Command here at the Kennedy Space Center, among all of these great airmen. A new era of American national security in space begins today. (Applause.)

But it wont end there. In the days ahead, President Trump will also sign a new space policy directive that will lay out our plans and our timeline to create the new sixth branch of the armed forces, the U.S. Space Force. (Applause.)

Were working as we speak with leaders in both parties in Congress to stand up the United States Space Force before the end of 2020.

You know, the Air Force has been a magnificent steward of our military space capabilities, and they prove that every single day. Each and every one of you do. And I want to promise you that were going to build on that foundation. Were going to build on that foundation together with space professionals from every branch.

And while were taking these actions to ensure our nations security and our future, well be following the very best traditions of the past. Well be building on a foundation of American innovation, of the courage of our armed forces, and well also be building on the timeless foundation of faith of the American people  faith in the capacity of our people to accomplish anything in the defense of and the advance of freedom. And well also do it with that other kind of faith as well.

You know, its remarkable to think 50 years ago this month, two Air Force pilots and a naval aviator blasted off from this very cape, with a rendezvous with history.

On that fateful mission, Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, Frank Borman, went further than any human being had ever gone before. They rounded our lunar surface, and on Christmas Eve 1968  you might remember the story  those of you with hair the same color as mine. It was an amazing moment.

The men of Apollo 8 gazed across the gray surface of the moon and they watched that glorious blue and green orb rise on the horizon of the moon. The first time anyone in the human family had ever seen an Earthrise before. And they were inspired.

And as they saw that Earthrise, the astronauts of Apollo 8 spoke back to the world timeless words that are cherished in the faith tradition of tens of millions of Americans and people around the world. And I looked at that transcript when I was visiting NASA just a few short days ago.

And as this special season of the year approaches for the American people, its a joy for me to recall those words. They said from Apollo 11[8], quote, Now approaching the lunar sunrise for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you. That In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth. And the Earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the Earth. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light. And there was light.

As each one of you in this space enterprise in America  military and civilian  do your work, as you continue to renew American leadership in space, I urge you to do so on behalf of your Commander-in-Chief, with your very best efforts, with renewed energy, with ingenuity, with professionalism, and with innovation.

But I also urge you to do your work with faith, if youre of a mind. That as your keep our country safe, know that you also carry the faith and aspirations of the American people, tens of millions of which every day look to the heavens and see His hand and long to understand it better.

In this season of giving, this team has worked hard to give the American people a great gift. And I have every confidence that it will be aloft very soon. Because of all of your efforts, very soon, America will be more secure, and the American people will be more inspired.

So thank you for your service. Thank you to all the members of our military that worked to make this possible  all the members of the 45th Space Wing. And thanks to the leadership of the Air Force gathered here today. Thanks to our great industry partners who have worked with us to bring us to this point.

And on behalf of President Trump, let me just say thank you all for this great collaboration for the American people. And I say in advance, of what I know will be a great and successful launch, congratulations and Merry Christmas. Thank you all. (Applause.)Latest News

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - Naif Abdulaziz M. Alfallaj, 35, a citizen of Saudi Arabia and a former resident of Weatherford, Oklahoma, has pleaded guilty to visa fraud and making a false statement to the FBI by, among other things, concealing his application to and attendance at an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in late 2000.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester of the Western District of Oklahoma, and Special Agent in Charge Kathryn Peterson of the FBIs Oklahoma City Division made the announcement.

On Feb. 5, Alfallaj was taken into custody by the FBI without incident, based on a criminal complaint signed in the Western District of Oklahoma. According to the complaint, the FBI found 15 of Alfallajs fingerprints on an application to an al Qaeda training camp, known as al Farooq, which was one of al Qaedas key training sites in Afghanistan. The document was recovered by the U.S. military from an al Qaeda safe house in Afghanistan. The document is also alleged to include an emergency contact number associated with Alfallajs father in Saudi Arabia. Alfallaj is alleged to have first entered the U.S. in late 2011 on a nonimmigrant visa based on his wifes status as a foreign student. According to the complaint, he answered several questions on his visa application falsely, including whether he had ever supported terrorists or terrorist organizations. Alfallaj has been detained in federal custody since his arrest on Feb. 5.

On Feb. 6, a grand jury returned a three-count indictment against Alfallaj. The indictment charged two counts of visa fraud. Count One alleged that from March 2012 to the present, Alfallaj possessed a visa obtained by fraud. Count Two alleged he used that visa in October 2016 to apply for lessons at a private flight school in Oklahoma. The third count charged him with making a false statement to the FBI involving an offense of international terrorism, when he denied ever having associated with anyone from a foreign terrorist group.

At todays hearing, Alfallaj pleaded guilty to one count of visa fraud and one count of making a false statement to the FBI relating to international terrorism. In particular, he admitted he possessed a nonimmigrant visa from March 2012 to early 2018 that he obtained by fraud. He also admitted he falsely told agents during the December 2017 interview that he had never visited Afghanistan or participated in religious, tactical, or military training outside Saudi Arabia, and otherwise affirmed falsely that all of the answers on his nonimmigrant visa application were true and correct.

Alfallaj faces up to ten years in prison on the visa-fraud offense. He faces up to eight years in prison for making a false statement involving international terrorism. He could also be fined up to $250,000 on each count. As part of his plea agreement, Alfallaj consented to the entry of a stipulated judicial order of removal from the United States at the end of his prison term. The Court will set a sentencing date in approximately 90 days. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes. Any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes members from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Secret Service, the Transportation Security Administration, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the University of Oklahoma Police Department, the Oklahoma City Police Department, and the Edmond Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Dillon of the Western District of Oklahoma and Trial Attorney David C. Smith of the National Security Divisions Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business.Engineering is a very competitive field that demands dedication and passion in studies. Once you have set your eyes on a career in engineering, you will realize that you can major in one of many fields. Telecommunication Engineering is concerned with electrical and computer engineering. Those are the main branches that support telecommunication systems. Those with the passion to pursue a career in this field must understand what it means, the various Telecommunication Engineering courses, job opportunities, and the salary ranges in Ghana.

SOURCE: unsplash.com

Source: UGC

Working as a telecommunication engineer is no walk in the park for shallow-minded people. It is a very dynamic field with a lot of work ranging from something as simple as circuit design to more complex tasks that may involve strategic mass developments. Basically, a telecommunication engineers job involves designing and overseeing the installation of various equipment and facilities in telecommunication. Some of the tasks done by telecommunications engineers include designing complex electronic switching systems, optical fiber cabling, and designing microwave transmission systems and IP networks.

What is Telecommunication Engineering?

It is a field of study that deals with the devices and mediums necessary for the transmission of communication information either in form of words, sounds or even images over long distances. The mediums for which telecommunication engineers develop systems and solutions include radio, television, telephone, and the internet.

READ ALSO: Top 10 cheapest universities in Ghana

Telecommunication Engineering courses

How can I become a telecommunications engineer? Enroll in a certified school that offers the course. Some of the schools offering Telecommunication Engineering courses in Ghana include:

1. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

The Department of Engineering offers degree and postgraduate certificates in Telecommunication Engineering. Feel free to get in touch with them in case of any inquiries about admission using the contacts below:

Official website: coe.knust.edu.gh

Telephone number: 233-3220-60317

Physical location: Provost Office, College of Engineering, KNUST-Kumasi

Email address: provost.coe@knust.edu.gh

Fax number: +233-3220-60317

2. Ghana Technology University College

Telecommunication Engineering course is offered in the Faculty of Engineering which takes four years to complete. For more information about the minimum admission requirements as well as the fee structure, you can get in touch with the school by using the following contacts:

Official website: gtuc.edu.gh

Postal address: PMB 100, Tesano, Accra  Ghana

Telephone number: +233(0) 302 221446/302 21412/302 221479

Physical location: Tesano, Accra

Email address: info@gtuc.edu.gh

Skype: gtuconline

3. Regent University College of Science and Technology

Telecommunication Engineering is offered in the School of Informatics Engineering and Technology. The course takes four years with a minimum credit of 140 hours for completion. You can get in touch with the school through the following contacts:

Official website: siet.regent.edu.gh

Postal address: P. O. Box DS 1636, Dansoman, Accra, Ghana.

Telephone number: +233- 0503030999/ +233-0266839961

Physical location: Dansoman, Accra

Email address: Email: info@regent.edu.gh

READ ALSO: Short online courses in Ghana

SOURCE: unsplash.com

Source: Getty Images

Telecommunication Engineering careers

At the heart of Telecommunication Engineering careers is the installation of high-speed broadband computer networks and other forms of communication such as optical and wireless/ satellite. Some of the popular opportunities in telecommunication engineering include:

Computer communications and networking;

Mobile communications;

Voice and data networks;

TV and radio broadcasting;

Optical networking;

Remote sensing, measurement and control; and

Next-generation networks.

Based on the above careers, a Telecommunication Engineer may have a number of roles. Typical roles of professionals in this field include but are not limited to:

Designing: Involves coming up with concepts for electronic components, software, new products or systems that can be used commercially in industries and corporations.

Involves coming up with concepts for electronic components, software, new products or systems that can be used commercially in industries and corporations. Developing: Constantly maintaining and testing new procedures for the applications they design and other equipment.

Constantly maintaining and testing new procedures for the applications they design and other equipment. Testing: Involves the evaluation of already designed systems and at the same time recommending any necessary modifications. It may also mean the repair of faulty equipment.

Involves the evaluation of already designed systems and at the same time recommending any necessary modifications. It may also mean the repair of faulty equipment. Debugging: In this role, telecommunication engineers ensure all electronic equipment is safe by regular inspection.

READ ALSO: Short professional courses in Ghana

Telecommunication Engineering jobs

The following are some of the companies that one can apply for employment as a telecommunication engineer in Ghana:

West African Power Pool

National Communication Backbone Limited

Chirano Gold Mine Limited

Ghana Police Service

CDM Smith Limited

West African Power Pool

Telecommunication engineer salary in Ghana

How much does a telecommunications engineer make? The salary varies from one company to another in relation to work experience, location, and the project being done. According to discussions on glassdoor.com, a salary of 11,576-12,402 is paid to the engineers.

Just when we think we have seen it all, something new comes up and reminds us that Telecommunication Engineering will always be important. It is the discipline that will spearhead next-generation networks capable of producing data speeds we can only dream of.

READ ALSO:

5 most rewarding short courses in Ghana in 2018

Fashion design  courses, jobs and salaries in Ghana

Free online courses in Ghana

All public universities in Ghana and courses offered

LUCAS College Ghana courses and admission requirements

Source: YenThe US Senate on December 13 voted to recommend ending US military assistance to the Saudi-led operation in Yemen, and accused Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of involvement in the death of Saudi journalist Khashoggi.

The positions of the US Senate were based on "unsubstantiated claims and allegations, and contained blatant interferences in the Kingdom's internal affairs, undermining the Kingdom's regional and international role,"the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement said that the murder of Khashoggi is a deplorable crime which does not reflect the Kingdom's policy.

Meanwhile, it also reaffirmed its commitment to continue to further develop relations with the United States.

Khashoggi has been missing since he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. The Saudi authorities said he died in a "brawl" in the consulate, and denied that the Saudi crown prince had ordered the killing. The US Congress has urged a thorough investigation into his death, and threatened to take more actions against Saudi Arabia, such as sanctions and suspension of military support for the Saudi-led attack in Yemen, if those responsible were not held accountable. However, the Trump administration has been reluctant to further punish the Saudi government.Ministers

Learn about the ministers of the Health portfolio, including who they are, what they are responsible for and what they do.(HedgeCo.Net) Bank of New York Mellon will pay more than $54 million to settle charges of improper handling of pre-released American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).

ADRs  U.S. securities that represent foreign shares of a foreign company  require a corresponding number of foreign shares to be held in custody at a depositary bank. The practice of pre-release allows ADRs to be issued without the deposit of foreign shares provided brokers receiving them have an agreement with a depositary bank and the broker or its customer owns the number of foreign shares that corresponds to the number of shares the ADR represents.

The SECs order found that BNY Mellon improperly provided ADRs to brokers in thousands of pre-release transactions when neither the broker nor its customers had the foreign shares needed to support those new ADRs. Such practices resulted in inflating the total number of a foreign issuers tradeable securities, which resulted in abusive practices like inappropriate short selling and dividend arbitrage that should not have been occurring.

This is the seventh action against a bank or broker and third action against a depositary bank resulting from the SECs ongoing investigation into abusive ADR pre-release practices. Information about ADRs is available in an SEC Investor Bulletin.

Our ongoing industry-wide investigation into Wall Street misconduct marches on, said Sanjay Wadhwa, Senior Associate Director of the SECs New York Regional Office. BNY Mellon is the seventh bank or broker being held accountable for improper practices that allowed banks and brokerage firms to profit handsomely while market participants were unaware of how the market was being abused.

Without admitting or denying the SECs findings, BNY Mellon agreed to disgorge more than $29.3 million in alleged ill-gotten gains plus pay $4.2 million in prejudgment interest and a $20.5 million penalty for total monetary relief of more than $54 million. The SECs order acknowledges BNY Mellons cooperation in the investigation and remedial acts.At approximately 9 a.m. on Feb. 23, 1967, soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigades 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, parachuted from their C-130A troop transports and seized Katum in southern South Vietnam, just 7 miles from the Cambodian border. They were followed by 10 C-130Bs carrying cargo and 105 mm howitzers.

The Katum landing was the largest U.S. airborne operation since the Korean War and the only major one to take place in Vietnam. Although other transport aircraft were involved, the C-130 Hercules did the heavy lifting, carrying the bulk and heaviest components of the brigades requirements.

The C-130 was born from a 1950 Air Force requirement for a medium-transport aircraft that could operate from an unimproved airstrip and carry a 30,000-pound load of cargo up to 1,500 miles. Other requirements were added later, as Korean War lessons rolled in. Lockheed Aircraft Corp. won a contract in 1951 to build the new cargo plane.

The first prototype flew on Aug. 24, 1954. The first mass-production version of the C-130A left the factory on April 7, 1955. Many improved models followed over the years, but the A and B models were the Vietnam Wars dominant tactical lift aircraft until 1970.

The C-130 was one of the most innovative aircraft designs of the 20th century. It has become the platform for a wide range of tactical roles that include gunship, electronic surveillance, maritime rescue, drone control, aerial refueling, and command and control operations. More important, its high wing design has become a key feature in all but one of the worlds major transport designs.

Upgraded variants of the C-130 are still in production and are expected to remain in service for decades. By all manner of measurement, the C-130 can claim to be best medium-lift cargo aircraft developed so far, surpassing even the Douglas DC-3/C-47s 60-year service span.

Lockheed C-130B Hercules Crew: 6 or 7 Engine: Four T56-A-7 turboprops, 4,050 horsepower each Wingspan: 132 ft., 7 in. Length: 97 ft., 8 in. Load: 35,000 lbs. Max. takeoff weight: 135,000 lbs. Max speed: 383 mph Cruising speed: 356 mph Max. range (loaded): 1,830 miles

This feature originally appeared in the February 2019 issue of Vietnam Magazine. To subscribe, click here!Louisa was 15 when the revolution began and her enthusiasm was undimmed when she wrote her memoirs 60 years later. She recalled the spectacle: houses illuminated with candles, bells ringing, tar barrels burning, flags waving. Most of all, she remembered the people. I can never forget how those men used to look standing on some impromptu platform, she wrote, with the wild light of the bonfires on their faces, and their hair which men wore longer in those days, blown back from their faces by the wind, or the energy of their own movements. Their vitality still thrilled her: Such light in their eyes! So much hope and so much courage.

These stirring scenes might evoke a campus protest in 1968, but they took place in South Carolina in December 1860, during the revolution for Southern independence. Louisa McCord Smythe was the daughter of writer and lawyer David J. McCord and Louisa McCord, an accomplished author, fierce proslavery theorist, and ardent secessionist. Smythes recollection reminds us that secession was especially popular among younger Southern whites. It demonstrates that although it was a defensive, reactionary move, it also inspired hope among those who saw the Confederacy as what historian Michael T. Bernath has called a moment of possibilityan opportunity to effect a strikingly diverse variety of changes, from improving womens education to rolling back democracy by imposing property requirements for suffrage.

It also exemplifies a neglected visual emblem of secessionist sentiments: long hair. Trimmed, wavy hair was fashionable for white men in late antebellum America, so those with longer locks stood out. Not all were fire-eating disunionists, of course, but during and after the 1860-61 secession crisis, particularly in cities along the troubled UnionConfederate border, long hair marked the class, section, and ideology associated with secession. From Virginia to Arkansas, secessionistsmany in their 20s and 30ssent a political message just as powerful as that of a century later. In the 1960s, long hair signaled a provocative, bodily challenge to behavioral norms and political elites. In the 1860s, secessionists long hair made a comparably defiant statement, albeit on behalf of preserving, not subverting, the Souths peculiar social and political hierarchies. Unionists and secessionists alike identified long-haired men as members of the chivalry: the vehemently proslavery Southern elite. The image became a stereotype familiar to reporters, law enforcement officers, and anyone parsing regional differences.

Northerners regularly associated long hair with Southerners, especially those of elevated rank and extreme politics. In his autobiography, Bostonian Charles Francis Adams Jr. recalled that Lucius Q.C. Lamar, a fierce secessionist congressman from Mississippi, looked the Southern college professorlank, tall, bearded, long-haired, and large-featured. A newspaper correspondent covering Abraham Lincolns March 1861 inauguration described the audience as a massive crowd of old and young, of male and female, with but few Southerners, judging from the lack of long haired men in the crowd. A wartime passenger on an Ohio River steamboat looked askance at a very Southern looking young man with long hair, and an extensive display of very suspicious looking jewelry, who was denouncing Lincoln as a racial egalitarian. To a Union prisoner of war, Confederates in Charleston were long haired secession devils. Perhaps no one epitomized the secessionist image better than Virginian politician and newspaper editor Roger A. Pryor, who traveled to South Carolina to press for an attack on Fort Sumter in hopes that this would propel his own state out of the Union. Contemporaries regarded the long-haired and heavily armed firebrand as the very embodiment of Southern chivalry.

Authors used the long-haired secessionist image to spice their narratives or vent their anger, but for Union spies on the border, identifying friends and foes was deadly serious. Albert D. Richardson, a New York Tribune correspondent who was captured and then escaped from a Confederate prison camp, read Kentuckians loyalties in their appearance. The sinewy, long-limbed mountaineers passing through Louisville were likely traveling to Indiana to enlist in the Union Army, while the pale, long-haired young men heading the other direction were Confederate recruits.

Hairstyles even offered vital clues to Allan Pinkerton, the famous detective who uncovered a plot to assassinate President-elect Lincoln as he passed through Baltimore en route to Washington in early 1861. Pinkerton recalled that Barnums Hotel was the favorite resort of Baltimores Southern sympathizers, and he identified them by their hair. During the evenings, the corridors and parlors would be thronged by the tall, lank forms of the long-haired gentlemen who represented the aristocracy of the slaveholding interests.

Pinkerton believed that the plots mastermind was hotel barber Cypriano Ferrandini, who allegedly had said that the hireling Lincoln shall never, never be President, and declared his readiness to die for the rights of the South Pinkerton depicted Ferrandini as a fitting representative of so desperate a cause, complete with his sallow faceand his long hair brushed fiercely back from his low forehead.

From flappers bobbed hair to the forced haircuts inflicted at Indian boarding schools, hairstyles are closely tied to our identities and our ideals. After the Civil War, secessionists hairstyles were largely forgotten, though they are echoed in the Southern outlaw image which, like other recent long-haired figures, emerged in the 1960s. Ironically, the style of the chivalry was reborn among the rural working class.

Michael E. Woods is associate professor of history at Marshall University. He is the author of Bleeding Kansas: Slavery, Sectionalism, and Civil War on the MissouriKansas Border (Routledge, 2016) and Emotional and Sectional Conflict in the Antebellum United States (Cambridge University Press, 2014). This post originally appeared on July 31, 2018, in Muster, the blog of the Journal of the Civil War Era.* A powerful quake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale rocked Papua province in eastern Indonesia on December 16, but did not trigger potential for tsunami, the meteorology and geophysics agency of Indonesia disclosed in Jakarta.

* British business minister Greg Clark said that a second Brexit referendum would increase uncertainty for the country and his preference would be for parliament to back Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal.

* The Republic of Korea (RoK)'s military on December 17 confirmed the disablement of 11 guard posts of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) after the on-site verification works last week.

* Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Union Minister for International Cooperation of Myanmar U Kyaw Tin in Luang Prabang, Laos, on December 16, with both sides agreeing to strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation at all sectors.

* At the foreign ministers' meeting on December 16 at the sidelines of the 4th Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) in Luang Prabang, senior officals of China and Thailand pledged to deepen bilateral cooperation and move forward the construction of the China-Thailand railway.

* Protesters gathered in Brussels at the European Union (EU) headquarters against a United Nations migration pact on December 16, some clashing with police violently.

* A research institute under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) issued a statement on December 16 night criticizing the United States for imposing sanctions against DPRK officials.

* The Russian military has distributed food packages and warm clothes to the local population in Tall Daman, a settlement in Syria's war-torn Aleppo, Sputnik news agency reported on December 16, quoting the Russian Defense Ministry's center for Syrian reconciliation.

* India will provide a financial assistance of US$1.4 billion to the Maldives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on December 17 during a press conference with the visiting president of the South Asian archipelago.

* The US military said on December 17 it had killed 62 militants in six air strikes on December 15-18 in the vicinity of Gandarsh in Somalia's south-central Banaadir province.

* Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on December 16 met with a visiting Iranian official over the formation of the Syrian constitutional committee, said the presidential media office.

* President Cyril Ramaphosa vowed on December 16 to foster true reconciliation in South Africa by decisively bringing an end to the era of arrogance, entitlement and privilege.

* President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan on December 16 ordered a reshuffle of the central bank's board of directors, state-run WAM news agency reported.

* Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on December 16 arrived in Syria's capital Damascus, the first Arab leader to do so since the Syrian crisis erupted in 2011, state news agency SANA reported. The visit will give a strong push toward restoring the bilateral relations to what they were before the war.

* The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Somali security forces plan to hold joint military operations in the Middle Jubba region, southern region to flush out al-Shabab remnants.A s Harriett Griffith strolled around the Stine Farm on Winchesters northern outskirts in the summer of 1861, the sight of an earthwork fortification under construction awed her. While troops labored on Fort Collier, named in honor of the Confederate lieutenant who supervised its construction, Griffith investigated every nook with her father and brother. I have this day visited the breastworks or fortifications out on the Martinsburg Pike Was exceedingly interested. First work of the kind Id ever seen, Griffith penned excitedly in her journal on August 21. She continued: It seems real strong and well built.They have completely surrounded Stines House. Near the end of her lengthy diary entry Griffiths excitement about the visit transformed into a reflection about Fort Colliers ultimate purpose. Confronted with the reality that this earthwork fortification could at some point be attacked, that men could be killed and the families of those slain left to deal with wars tragic consequences, Griffith wrote wishfully: Surely it is something to be remembered, but I hope it will never be used.

Throughout the conflicts first three years it seemed that Griffiths hope might be fulfilled. In a community that had already endured two battles, numerous skirmishes, and incessant occupations during that period, Fort Collier was never the scene of any major action. Troops camped in and around it at various points and Confederates from Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseurs Division sought its protection on July 20, 1864, after defeat at the Battle of Rutherfords Farm, but it had up to that point avoided being the scene of any significant combat. By the wars fourth summer it seemed that Griffiths hope that Fort Collier would never be used might be realized.



Little Phil:In this 1864 photo, Maj. Gen. Phil Sheridan poses with Union cavalry commanders including Third Winchester participants Brig. Gen. Wesley Merritt, far left, and Brig. Gens. James Wilson and Alfred Torbert seated at right. (Library of Congress)

But the naive wish of the young Valley resident ended on the afternoon of September 19, 1864, as the Stine Farmand environs to its east and westbecame part of one of the most dramatic scenes to ever unfold on any of the Shenandoah Valleys battlefields when the largest cavalry charge of the war swept down the Martinsburg, or Valley, Pike and over the walls of Fort Collier. The charge not only changed the tenor of the Third Battle of Winchester and secured a major victory for the North, it also inspired great postwar works of art, as veteran troopers and infantrymen waged new battles over the memory of the engagement.

Sheridan saw an opportunity to use his cavalry in a grand charge

On that bloody September day, while infantry from Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridans Army of the Shenandoah battled against Lt. Gen. Jubal Earlys Confederates east of Winchester along the Berryville Pike, over the Dinkle Farm, Hackwood Farm, and the bloody Middle Field in the Third Battle of Winchesters opening stages, two of Sheridans cavalry divisionsBrig. Gen. Wesley Merritts and Brig. Gen. William Averellstried to secure various crossings on the Opequon Creek north of Winchester, Merritt in Frederick County and Averell in Berkeley. Throughout the morning, Federal cavalry confronted varying levels of resistance from Confederates under Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridges command and elements of Maj. Gen. Lunsford Lomaxs cavalry division. That morning, as Confederates defended the Opequon crossings, Early ordered Breckinridge to pull his command closer to Winchester. When Breckinridge failed to appear by about noon, Early sent Lt. Col. Alexander Sandie Pendleton to find him and immediately pull Breckinridges troops closer to the city.

When Pendleton found Breckinridge and relayed Earlys order, Breckinridge initially expressed his reluctance to obey. He believed that a complete withdrawal would only encourage the Union cavalry to be more aggressive. Although Pendleton may have sympathized with the Kentuckian, the order had to be obeyed immediately as Early needed Breckinridge to bolster the armys weak right flank. Early desperately wanted Breckinridges regiments to move toward the right, where our forces were weakest and the enemy was making demonstrations in force. Time was of the essence not only to aid in supporting Earlys right flank, but to prevent Breckinridge from being cut off by Averells cavalry, which was thundering south toward Winchester along the Martinsburg Pike.

While moving Breckinridge might, in Earlys estimation, have solved the dilemma on his right flank, Old Jube still understood the importance of checking Averells and Merritts divisions north of Winchester. Early turned to the chief of his cavalry corps, Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, and told him to take charge of all the cavalry north of Winchester and check the enemys cavalry. Now, on the ground where the Second Battle of Winchester ended in 1863 and where Ramseur met defeat at Rutherfords Farm, Fitzhugh Lee, with support from Colonel George S. Pattons brigade, had to do the unimaginable.

As Lee formed his four cavalry brigades, about 2,000 troopers, north of Winchester across the Martinsburg Pike and concealed by an open pine forest, Lee plainly understood that success was unlikely. Although the Confederate horsemen might have appeared somewhat protected in the pine forest, the trees were so widely separated that they offered virtually no impediment to an attacking force. One Union cavalry officer who spied Lee moving into position noted that, the forests were so open as to offer little or no hindrance to a charging column. Lee knew the ground invited a cavalry charge. The pending disaster, Lee explained, was from the very open nature of the country clearly perceptible, and he searched for a way to counter such an attack.

That afternoon, as Lee observed Merritts and Averells cavalry brigades, he simultaneously felt awe and fear. With retreat not an option and staying put undesirable, Lee believed that his only alternative was to attack the Federal cavalry to shock the Union horsemen and cause disarray. Some of the Federals he attacked, however, were not surprised. Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer, who commanded a brigade in Merritts division, believed Lee did precisely the right thing. The enemy wisely chose not to receive our attack at a halt, but advanced from the wood and charged our line of skirmishers.

Lieutenant Colonel Caspar Crowninshield of the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry recalled that as Lees regiments galloped toward Merritts and Averells skirmishers, the whole line of the enemys cavalry was just in front of us Soon the Rebel Cavalry charged and drove back our skirmishers on the right and left of the road [Martinsburg Pike]. Custer admitted our skirmishers were forced backa short but closely contested struggle ensued. It mattered nil, however, as the Union cavalry regrouped, repulsed Lees advance and ultimately compelled him to pull his command closer to Winchester. As Lees regiments withdrew south toward Winchester, Earlys entire force contracted to Winchesters eastern and northern edges. Confederate artillerist Milton Humphreys wrote of Earlys final defensive position, which assumed the shape of an inverted L: Our army was now two sides of a rectangle of artillery, with the main body of infantry scattered over the space within the angle there was nothing but cavalry and very little artillery placed across the Martinsburg road to protect our left.

With Earlys army hugging that thin line near Winchesters boundaries Sheridan saw an opportunity to use his cavalry in a grand, traditional charge, something that had never occurred before in the conflict. The ground was open, and offered an opportunity such as seldom had been presented during the war for a mounted attack, Sheridan observed. Although Sheridan believed the flat, open terrain north of Winchester and the broken condition of Earlys army invited a massive cavalry assault, Averell did not concur. Averells men had been in the saddle for already 15 hours that day, fighting and chasing Confederates from Berkeley County, W.Va., south to Winchester. Through one of his aides Averell explained to Sheridan that his division had been chasing the rebels in from Martinsburg and Bunker Hill [our] horses couldnt move faster than a walk.

Sheridan cared little for that complaint, however, and ordered the attack. Tell [Averell] to charge, Sheridan snapped, I dont carefor horse flesh today. Additionally, Averell believed that Maj. Gen. George Crooks corps had already secured victory with its attack, therefore making the cavalry assault needless. It became at once visible, Averell wrote, to both armies that we had gained the day. Averell, who wrote his report of Winchester after Sheridan removed him from command following the Union victory at Fishers Hill several days later, harbored significant animosity against Little Phil and used the report to try and diminish Sheridans reputation, which rose significantly in Winchesters wake. An irate Averell believed that the broken ground, intersected by deep ditches and high embankments gave the enemy a chance to save his left flank. Opposed by stubborn infantry and well-handled artillery our cavalry on such ground could make but slow progress.

If Wesley Merritt harbored similar concerns he didnt share them with Sheridan. At about 3 p.m., as Merritt peered across the open ground to his front and gazed at the Confederate line facing north, he too believed the setting perfect for a massed cavalry charge. At this time (3 p.m.) the field was open for cavalry operations such as the war has not seen, Merritt wrote, such as all good cavalry officers long to engage in.

As Averells and Merritts cavalrymen readied themselves for this hammer blow, some troopers reflected on the joy they felt that for the first time in the conflict, cavalry was being used for its proper purpose. Colonel James H. Kidd was ecstatic that he would be involved in the first proper use of this armin a great battle. Other troopers, too, were impressed with the advances martial air. The scene of regimental bands playing, flags flapping in the breeze, and sabers glistening in the late afternoon sun inspired Custer.



Slash Deficit: Tactical and firearm changes often forced Civil War troopers to keep their sharp blades in their scabbards. The saber-driven Union attack at Third Winchester that overran Fort Collier and its supporting earthworks, depicted by artist James Taylor, was a rarity. (The Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio)

Gazing at the line of troopers Kidd estimated extended more than half a mile from Averells right to Merritts left Custer wrote, This furnished one of the most inspiring as well as imposing scenes of martial grandeur ever witnessed on a battlefield. No encouragement was needed to inspirit either man or horse.

As the cavalry advanced one could not clearly discern where one regiment or brigade ended and another began. In Custers estimation the men were so closely connected that a separate account of the operations of a single brigade or regiment is almost impossible. Although moving as one mass, each brigade had a particular point of the Confederate line facing north to assault. While Averells two brigades aimed at Confederate positions west of the Martinsburg Pike, Merritts brigades focused on points in the Confederate line on or to the east of that important transportation route.

The sabers glistening in the late afternoon sun inspired Custer

For three years Fort Collier had stood silently on the eastern edge of the Martinsburg Pike. Now on the afternoon of September 19, 1864, Fitzhugh Lees command, elements of Breckinridges infantry, and Captain George Chapmans artillery sought its protection as Union cavalry descended like a besom of destruction from the north. As troopers from Colonel Charles Russell Lowells brigade advanced toward Fort Collier the fire from Chapmans artillery initially stymied them. A withering fire staggered the head of his column, Merritt remembered. Soon, however, the 3rd U.S. Artillery unleashed a furious barrageone that wounded both Lee and Chapman (Chapmans wound proved mortal). Now, Lowells brigade, as Merritt explained, dashed down, broke through the enemys lines, and swept it away in confusionit was a noble work well done.

Once the Confederate line began to crack under the weight of the assault some Confederates fled as fast as possible from the field, while others determined to stay and fight regardless of how desperate the situation. Merritt observed: Many of them threw down their arms and cried for mercy; others hung tenaciously to their muskets, using them with their muzzles against our soldiers breasts. Merritt even observed some Confederates taking refuge in a house and shooting through the doors and windows. Whether or not this was Stines home located in Fort Colliers interior is unknown.



While Maj. Gen. Phil Sheridans infantry attacked the right flank of Lt. Gen. Jubal Earlys army, 8,000 Union troopers thundered down the Martinsburg Pike and overwhelmed the Confederates holding Fort Collier and the Star Fort. (Map Graphics  DFL Group 2018)

Two days after the battle a correspondent for the New York Daily Herald recognized that the cavalry assault proved the battles significant moment. Above the roar of artillery, musketry and cheers, and the fierce yells of the contending armies, the Herald observed, could be distinctly heard the shrill notes of the cavalry bugle, sounding the charge which was the death knell of Earlys army. Put simply, the Herald unequivocally concluded that the cavalry assault secured us the victory.

But not all the Federal veterans of Winchester agreed. William Haroff, a private in the 126th Ohio Infantry, part of Maj. Gen. Horatio G. Wrights Sixth Corps, may have thought the three infantry corps that fought with Sheridan were overlooked when he penned a postwar poem simply titled, The Battle of Winchester, September 19th, 1864, which ignored the cavalrys critical role. The poem, published weeks after the battle, heaped all credit for Sheridans victory on Crooks, Wrights, and William Emorys corps. We charged the Rebs position and nobly won the day/Crooks boys, with Wrights and Emorys, were also in the fray. Fifty-one years after the battle Thomas H. MCann a veteran of the 90th New York, part of Emorys Nineteenth corps, simply excluded the cavalrys important role in a chapter he penned about Sheridans 1864 Shenandoah Campaign in his The Campaigns of the Civil War. In describing the final advance at Winchester, MCann wrote that at 4 p.m. the final attack was made the 6th and 19th Corps rushed and in a short time Early saw his whole left wing giving away in disorderthus the battle was won for the Blues.

Not all infantry veterans sought to minimize the cavalrys role during the battle. The 8th Vermont Infantrys George Carpenter was among those who was amazed at the scene of five brigades of Union cavalry charging. In solid columns, Carpenter penned in the regimental history published in 1886, with drawn sabers flashing in the sun [the] troopers burst at a gallop upon the surprised enemy. It was like a thunder-clap out of a clear sky, and the bolt struck home.

Merritts and Averells veterans seemed to monitor much of what was published about the fight. Whenever an infantry veteran failed to properly credit the cavalry, the former horse soldiers possessed no qualms about using articles in The National Tribune, like A Blast From a Cavalrymans Bugle, to note that excluding cavalry from any discussion of the Third Battle of Winchester, or any of Sheridans victories in the Valley for that matter, was like giving the play of Hamlet, with the character of Hamlet left out.

Childrens textbooks used the cavalry attack as an exemplar of courage

Although some of Sheridans veterans might have downplayed or ignored the significant role cavalry played in the battle, Merritts and Averells troopers had little to fear as their late afternoon assault emerged as one the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaigns two most iconic momentsSheridans ride at Cedar Creek being the other. Childrens textbooks and popular histories of the conflict penned in the half-century after the war used the cavalry attack at Winchester as an exemplar of courage and patriotism. Authors such as Charles Carleton Coffin, a correspondent whose wartime musings offer great insight into the Army of the Potomacs campaigns, wrote of the charge in his Freedom Triumphant published in 1890, thousands of horsemen were now riding across the fields.The sun, descending the western sky, glints from the gleaming sabres of the cavalrymen. The earth trembles beneath the hoofs of the horses the Union cavalry was in good condition. Five years earlier, poet Henry Horton mused in his Sheridans Battles in the Shenandoah that the Cavalry with movements deft/And swift and strong, smote Earlys dazed men so/That they recoiled dismayed beneath the blow.

The cavalry assaults romanticism proved too strong to resist for the chromolithograph publishing firm of Louis Prang & Co. In the mid-1880s Prang published a series of 18 images depicting battles scenes. Six portrayed naval actions, six illustrated battles in the Western Theater, and the remainder provided snapshots of significant moments in the east. Among the six scenes chosen to represent the war in the east was Sheridans Final Charge at Winchester painted by Swedish-born Thur de Thulstrup. Captain Theodore F. Rodenbough, wounded in the assault and depicted in the painting astride a brown horse next to Lowell mounted on a white steed, believed it an excellent depiction. I heartily congratulate you upon the fidelity with which you have reproduced the scene as I remember it, Rodenbough wrote in a letter to Thulstrup after the paintings release in 1886. He continued in admiration, you have attained an exceptional degree of realism in the composition of your picture.

Even Sheridan, who cared little for Thulstrups depiction of his famed Cedar Creek ride released the same year, admired the depiction of the cavalry assault. Amid all of the items proudly displayed in Sheridans office in the War Department was Thulstrups portrayal of the charge. A journalist who visited Sheridan in Washington, D.C., in the spring of 1888 noted the painting seemed to hold prominence among all of the large cases filled with curious pottery, Indian blankets, bows, arrows, clubs and other things as Sheridan displayed Thulstrups work on a small easel just beyond [his] desk.

Twenty-four years later, Thulstrup completed another depiction of the cavalry assault for the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Pittsburgh, Pa. The painting, which a correspondent for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette described as a decorative canvas of unusual power and beauty, focused on Col. James N. Schoonmaker leading a cavalry charge against Star Fort.

The cavalry charge also took center stage in a 1913 film adaptation of Bronson Howards play The Greater Shenandoah, which first hit the stage three years after Thulstrups initial painting. Advertisements for the film, which ran about 30 minutes, touted as one of its main features the awe-inspiring Battle of Winchester with charging cavalry.

While at times Merritts and Lowells veterans might have felt their efforts at Winchester slighted, authors, artists, and playwrights solidified it as one of the conflicts most iconic moments. In the end then Wesley Merritts official report of the battle proved not only informative, but prophetic when he wrote that the assault was indeed a theme for the poet and a scene for the painter.

Jonathan A. Noyalas is director of Shenandoah Universitys McCormick Civil War Institute. Prof. Noyalas, author or editor of 11 books, is also editor of Journal of the Shenandoah Valley During the Civil War Era.The Walther P-38 arguably supplants even the infamous Luger P.08 as the definitive German pistol of the 20th century. Its development began in the early 1930s, when a cash-strapped German army looked to replace the elegant but expensive Luger. The Carl Walther firm responded with a larger version of its PP (Polizei Pistole), but the guns blowback system was deemed unsuitable for 9mm rounds. Walther worked through several design variants that ultimately led to the short-recoil HP (Heeres Pistole). It was this version that the German army adopted in 1938 and two years later put into mass production as the Walther P-38.

The P-38 broke new ground in the design of semiautomatic handguns. It was the first locked-breech pistol with a double-action trigger mechanism plus a hammer decocker. Together, these features meant that the pistol could be holstered safe but ready with a round in the chamber; to fire, the user had only to draw the pistol, flick off the safety, and pull the trigger. A loaded chamber indicator at the rear signaled that the weapon was hot. The P-38 was smooth shooting, accurate, and reliableeverything a soldier could want from a sidearmand Walther produced some 1.2 million of them from 1940 to 1945.

The P-38 wasnt again produced for the German military until after 1957. In the 1960s a modular, modified P-38 starred as a pistol carbine on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. television series. Often called the godfather of the modern combat handgun, the P-38 is revered today by collectors as much for the grace of its lines as for its history. MHQ

Chris McNab is a military historian based in the United Kingdom. His most recent book is The Falklands War Operations Manual (Haynes Publishing, 2018).

This article appears in the Winter 2019 issue (Vol. 31, No. 2) of MHQThe Quarterly Journal of Military History with the headline: Weapons Check | Walther P-38

Want to have the lavishly illustrated, premium-quality print edition of MHQ delivered directly to you four times a year? Subscribe now at special savings!A fire burned Monday afternoon at the Manguinhos refinery, located in the northern section of Rio de Janeiro and one of the few private oil refineries in Brazil, destroying part of the complex and several parked tanker trucks, but no one was injured, the facilitys management said.

The fire, whose cause has not been determined, started around 1:30 pm and was not brought under control for about two hours, forcing city officials to close roads around the refinery.

The refinerys management said no one was injured or burned because workers evacuated quickly.

Firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading beyond the area where tanker trucks unload crude, preventing damage to the giant storage tanks, pipelines and refining equipment.

The blaze, according to the fire department, started in one of the tanker trucks that was unloading its cargo, destroying six trucks parked nearby.

Firefighters sprayed water on storage tanks to keep flames from reaching the areas where fuel is stored.

A towering plume of black smoke rose above the refinery, prompting some residents of neighboring residential districts and favelas, or shantytowns, to heed firefighters recommendations and evacuate.

The fire department has already given residents authorization to return home.

The Manguinhos refinery, which is owned by the Grupo Andrade Margo, is one of just two private oil refineries operating in Brazil, where state-controlled oil giant Petrobras has a near monopoly on refining crude oil.

The refinery, which has operated for nearly 60 years, specializes in producing gasoline.

The Manguinhos refinery is a small facility that has a production capacity of about 45 million liters of gasoline per month.

Two years ago, the refinery filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors.

A restructuring plan was approved by the bankruptcy court, opening the way for new investment to modernize the refinery.

Grupo Andrade Margo, which employs about 300 people, was involved in a dispute from 2012 to 2015 with the Rio de Janeiro state government, which wanted to take the property on which the complex is located.

The Supreme Court ruled against the state government in the case.

In 1998, when Congress ended Petrobrass monopoly in the fuel industry, Argentinas YPF acquired a 50 percent stake in the Manguinhos refinery.

Spains Repsol ended up with the ownership interest when it acquired YPF.

Repsol and the other partners were unable to reach an agreement on the refinerys business model and Brazils Grupo Andrade Margo ended up acquiring 100 percent of the complex in December 2008.Lenox sixth-grader Savannah Reber's drawing was chosen for Sen. Adam Hinds' greeting card this year.

Berkshires Beat: Lenox Sixth-Grader Wins Hinds' Holiday Card Contest



Hinds poses with the winner (front right), two of the runners-up and local Marines collecting toys for their Toys for Tots program.

She's a winner

State Sen. Adam G. Hinds introduced Savannah Reber, the student artist whose drawing was chosen for his greeting card this year, during a holiday open house in his downtown Pittsfield office on Dec. 13. His office was decorated with hundreds of drawings submitted by local third- through sixth-grade students to his Holiday Greeting Card Design Contest. In total, 348 students from a dozen schools located across western Massachusetts submitted entries to the contest.



Savannah, 12, is a resident of Lenox and is in sixth grade at Lenox Memorial Middle & High School. Hinds said he had a "difficult decision to make, choosing only one photo for my holiday card. Savannahs snowman scene was so cheery and reminded me of happy childhood memories playing outside in the snow. She did a great job."



Annually, Hinds mails almost 1,000 greeting cards by mail to friends, family, colleagues and constituents during the holiday season. Hinds also chose three Honorable Mention winners: Graci Garrison, a third-grader at Brayton Elementary in North Adams; Sadie Livak, a fourth-grader at Berkshire County Day School in Stockbridge; and Aida Potter, a fifth-grader at Buckland-Shelburne Elementary.

Just a drill

Berkshire Medical Center, in partnership with first responders from throughout Northern Berkshire, will hold an emergency preparedness exercise on Tuesday, Dec. 18, in North Adams. The drill will simulate a mass casualty incident and will take place in the vicinity of the North Adams Campus of BMC in the evening hours.



Participants in the drill include Berkshire Medical Center, North Adams Police and Fire Departments and Northern Berkshire EMS. The exercise will not have any impact on transportation routes in the area.



Local residents may notice increased activity in the area around the drill and radio communications if listening using a scanner. The exercise will not prevent rapid response to any actual emergencies. The mass casualty drill is designed to enhance training and cooperation among multiple agencies and disciplines working together, and to improve actual response to such emergencies in the community.

Meritorious Conduct

Two Great Barrington firefighters from the Western Massachusetts Technical Rescue Team earned a citation for Meritorious Conduct from Gov. Baker during the Firefighter of the Year Awards ceremony in November. Firefighters Justina Bona and Robert Gaughran were two of the 26 members on the Western Massachusetts Technical Rescue Team to receive an award during a ceremony on Nov. 20. Gov. Baker recognized the team for their outstanding rescue and recovery attempt at Bash Bish Falls State Park over the summer. "I am very proud of my firefighters for their well-deserved recognition," Chief Charles Burger said. "They worked a long, hard and dangerous weekend to try to minimize and bring closure to a tragedy. Their technical knowledge, skill, and dedication are an asset to the community."



The Western Massachusetts Technical Rescue Team, which is run by the Western Massachusetts Fire Chiefs Association, is comprised of firefighters from the four western Massachusetts counties. Member firefighters are specially trained in rope, confined space, trench and collapse rescue, and are regularly called to assist at some of the most difficult and dangerous incidents. To make the team, members first receive extensive training and complete drills each month to remain active. Great Barrington has three firefighters on the team -- Gaughran, Bona and George Houghtli.



In July, a New York man fell into Bash Bish Falls and died. Recovery efforts brought rescuers from 13 local and state entities, including firefighters Bona and Gaughran. The multi-day effort included rigging multiple rope systems and rappelling down and under multiple falls to locate where the victim was lodged. However, efforts were eventually called off due to the dangerous terrain and location of the body.

BArT deadlines

The Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School is currently accepting enrollment applications for students in grades six through 10 for the 2019-20 school year. Applications are available online or you can request one be mailed to you.

Auxiliary turns 99

The Southwestern Vermont Health Care Auxiliary held its 99th annual meeting on Wednesday, Nove. 14, at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center. One year after the Putnam Memorial Hospital, now Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, opened its doors, the first Ladies League was formed. Composed of 44 women, the first committee was the Sewing Committee. Its members mended and sewed items for use in the hospital, including bandages, curtains, baby blankets, pajamas and more.



Since then, the League has grown to more than 60 members, including men, and is now referred to as the SVHC Auxiliary. In addition to growing in numbers, the group has expanded its reach to impact virtually every department of the hospital and numerous non-profits in the community. With a mission to "raise and disburse funds and maintain services and programs that enhance the quality care and comfort for the communities we serve," the Auxiliary generates income through a variety of means, including the Corridor Art Gallery, independent vendor sales, membership, and donations. In the past 20 years alone, their volunteer efforts have raised more than $1 million.



That income has been used to fund scholarships, an infant car seat program, imaging equipment, cancer support, telemedicine, the Lifeline Personal Emergency program, renal services, the Safe Arms program, Meals on Wheels, the Bennington Free Clinic, and Emergency Food and Heat.

Good Girls Inc. news

Girls Inc. of the Berkshires has successfully completed the Quality Assurance Review Process by the national Girls Inc. organization and exceeded the minimum requirement of 84 percent  meeting 99 percent of all standards. The Girls Inc. Quality Assurance Process is an objective approach to evaluating the organization by measuring 104 standards every six years. The standards are distributed across ten categories: Governance, Mission and Strategic Position, Communications, Programs and service delivery, Advocacy, Information Technology, Human Resources, Financial Management, Fund Development, and Risk Management. The process involved collaboration between the organizations staff and Board of Directors.



Developed in partnership between the national Girls Inc. organization and local affiliates, the national Quality Assurance Process distinguishes Girls Inc. affiliates as dedicated to strong governance and staff leadership, efficient fiscal management, and responsible stewardship of fundraising support. By creating strong, sustainable organizations, the Girls Inc. network is able to ensure continual delivery of services that empower girls to grow up healthy, educated, and independent.

United Way grant

Berkshire United Way has received a $10,000 Avangrid Foundation grant to support early childhood literacy efforts throughout Berkshire County, in partnership with Berkshire Gas Company. Reacting to the grant, Berkshire United Way President and CEO Kristine Hazzard said, "By investing in programs and services that expose children to language rich learning experiences, we help prepare those children, so they enter kindergarten ready to learn and have the best chance of being proficient readers by third grade."



We are excited to partner with the Avangrid Foundation in support of such vital programs meeting such a critical need in our area," said Chris Farrell, manager of corporate communications and government relations at Berkshire Gas. "Effective childhood development programs establish the very foundation upon which a child needs to build in order to grow, to learn and to thrive. Without instilling these fundamentals, a child is at a grave disadvantage, as they try to navigate their way in todays world. We are so thankful the Berkshire United Way has recognized this need and is supporting these efforts in Berkshire County and we are thrilled to offer our support."The Licensing Board will impose the suspension but agreed to have it be served after the holidays.

A-Mart's Liquor License Suspended After The Holidays

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  A-Mart won't be selling alcohol for three days ... after the holidays.

The Licensing Board sanctioned the North Street package store with the suspension relating back to an incident in May. In July, the board had punished A-Mart with a three-day suspension for the incident in which an intoxicated person was sold more alcohol at the store.

That suspension, however, was held in abeyance and would only be required to be served if there was another incident.

Two days after the hearing on the May case, an A-Mart employee was caught by the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission selling alcohol to a minor.

"It was literally two days and they sold to an underage person," board member Thomas Campoli said.

Police said that on May 25, officers responded to the area because of a heavily intoxicated man was reported stumbling in the street. That individual blew a .32 -- four times the legal limit -- on a breathalyzer and he had just purchased more alcohol at A-mart moments before.

A-Mart owner Bhumi Karia had a hearing before the board on July 30 and promised that she was taking the incident seriously and gave her word that it wouldn't happen again.

On Aug. 1, the ABCC ran a compliance check and an A-Mart clerk sold a can of beer to an underage individual. The ABCC in September issued a two-day license suspension on that violation -- but also chose to hold that in abeyance for two years.

The second violation led A-Mart back to the board on Monday for consideration of the previously imposed local suspension.

Karia's attorney Matthew Porter said the company brought in the Massachusetts Package Stores Association to retrain all of the employees, implemented a rule that all employees must be TIPS-certified before they can work there, and created an incentive program to keep employees motivated and focused.

"We are trying to find all possible ways for employees to not only be trained but motivated," Porter said.

A-Mart asked for another chance now that those aspects have been implemented in the business. Porter said that while having the second incident right after the hearing looks bad, the store also didn't have the new policies and training in place.

"Since they've been able to implement that, have all of their training, there haven't been any issues," Porter said.

Campoli countered saying there was plenty of time between the May incident and the August incident to implement those changes.

"If the board says we are going to do one thing, then we can't do something else," said board member Dina Guiel.

The board agreed to have the suspension served from Monday, Jan. 7, 2019, through Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019.

The board recognized that it is a busy time for package stores and agreed to push off the suspension until a slower time, lessening the financial impact of the punishment.

"I understand the board's need to come down but this is their livelihood," Porter said after it was clear the board wasn't going to let A-Mart off the hook and he pitched to delay the suspension.

Board member Richard Stockwell attempted to sway the board into having A-Mart serve a one-day suspension effective on Tuesday and have the remaining two days remain in abeyance but he received little support.(Photo/Cri.cn)

It's easy to go cashless in China by simply scanning a QR code, a payment tool used by everyone from shopping centers to street side vendors. In the latest technological step, you dont even need to get your mobile phone out of your pocket, as a single snap of your face can pay for everything in your shopping basket. However, is it safe to pay using facial recognition?

Alipay, Chinas mobile payment giant, recently released its latest facial scanning payment product, Dragonfly, which directly reduced access and installation costs for merchants by 80 percent, Beijing Business Daily reported last Friday.

Seeing the huge potential in facial recognition payment, WeChat Pay and UnionPay, the other dominant players in the Chinese market, are also gearing up to seize their share of the market.

Xue Hongyan, director of the internet financial center under the Suning Financial Research Center, told Beijing Business Daily that facial payment could free users from their mobile phones and upgrade their consumption experience.

Some industry insiders predict that facial payment will see explosive growth in the next three years, as the industry threshold is continuously lowered.

While the facial payment market booms, the industry has also noticed rising user concerns over the safety of their bank accounts as well as their privacy.

Xue noted that compared with a QR code, facial recognition has higher hardware requirements and is affected by factors such as lighting, while privacy protection will also create difficulties for the promotion of the new payment method.

In general, different payment methods, having their respective advantages in convenience, safety, cost and user acceptability, are not likely to replace each other, Xue added.

Though widely applied in the lending industry, facial recognition is still at a preliminary stage when it comes to general consumption. While offering convenience, it also raises concerns that users name, gender, and age are all noted during the process. This type of information is easily leaked if not managed correctly.

Su Xiaorui, a researcher for the internet finance think tank Madai Institute, stressed that though a lot has already been done for facial recognition payment, there are still errors in the process which can lead to financial security issues. For this reason, the technology has mainly been implemented in low-risk fields, she added.

She stressed that Payment tycoons need to establish a strict internal control system, encrypt users privacy, and comply with professional ethics."

Additionally, users should be given the right to choose. For those who are willing to pay via facial recognition but have doubts, combined verification is recommended to beef up the security of their bank accounts, she suggested.Stamford-Clarksburg School Merger Effort Selects Consultant



The Interstate School Committee meets Monday night at Stamford School with Clarksburg Select Board member Karin Robert and Town Administrator Carl McKinney. STAMFORD, Vt.  Stamford and Clarksburg, Mass., hope to have options available by May for a combined school district.

The Interstate School District Committee on Monday voted unanimously to recommend Public Consulting Group of Boston to do the legwork on plans to create the groundbreaking interstate school district.

The committee hopes to have a contract signed by next week with work to begin as soon as Jan. 2.

"We have to keep the ball rolling ... we have to continue with the positivity and go full steam ahead," said committee member Katelyn Millard, a Stamford teacher who lives in Clarksburg.

The merger is being largely driven by Vermont's Act 46, which seeks to combine school districts to streamline governance and purchasing power. Stamford, however, is geographically and culturally isolated and rejected the state's push for it to partner with a school 25 miles away.

Instead, it looked south at the invitation of Clarksburg officials two years ago with the idea of creating a single school district.

"The two towns embody the sense of a single community despite the invisible state line," states the request for proposals for a consultant to conduct a feasibility study.

Public Consulting Group was one of two responses to the committee's request for proposals earlier this fall with the other being the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools. Both gave presentations and interviews.

MARS is a known entity in the region, having worked with both Adams-Cheshire Regional Schools and the newly expanded Mount Greylock Regional School District. However, the committee members scored PCG higher in their reviews largely based on the consulting group's familiarity with Vermont education laws, the interstate Rivendell School District and its deep bench of support resources, including legal counsel.

PCG had been submitted a bid of $50,000, including legal fees; MARS bid $51,000, not including legal fees.

Several committee members felt that MARS' presentation had been "redundant" in that the group would be covering ground that the committee had already done on its own. What is needed is a roadmap through the legislative pitfalls, a guide to how the governance of such a district would work, and the educational and structural benefits and challenges of such a merger.

"They did not have enough background with Vermont legislation and that was really going to put all of us behind the eight-ball," said Cynthia Lamore, chairman of the Stamford Board of School Directors. "MARS was closing that by saying our timeline was unrealistic and I think that was a large factor of why ... they were going to have to do a lot of research on their own."

That would push receipt of the report out to next fall, which would hamper Stamford's ability to get a proposal in front of Vermont's part-time Legislature.

PCG, said Kelly Holland of Stamford, had "a clear line forward of how meetings would go with the towns and keeping everyone apprised ... us knowing where we're going is key."

John Franzoni, superintendent for Clarksburg through the Northern Berkshire School Union, had scored both groups about even. While noting PCG's broader experience and the inclusion of legal fees, he felt MARS has greater depth with how local school systems function. The schools will likely be working with MARS in the future, as well.

"Sometimes the presentation doesn't match the work," he said, feeling sure that the smaller organization would "give its all."

The other committee members felt that both groups offered strong leadership and educational experience and either would do well by the towns. But it came down to deadlines, budget and interstate legislative background, and, said Millard, "the brass" to take the effort to the next level.

"To me, the bottom line was the timeline and the legal fees," Lamore said. "We do have a budget and we have to be respectful of what we can do with what we have."

The work is being funded by matching grants of $25,000 from each state and a $30,000 grant to Clarksburg through Massachusetts' Community Compact program. Some of the funds have already been expended on legal fees.

The two communities are looking for a report that will provide options on using both their elementary school buildings configured for their current grades or combined grades; models looking at educational benefits, purchasing, transportation, financing, retirement and other benefits, contracts and special education.

The report would also look at how a merged school district would affect the Northern Berkshire School Union, high school tuition, school choice and the long- and short-term impacts on the communities and related agencies for maintenance and sustainability of the two school buildings, both of which need upgrades.

PCG plans on holding two to four community meetings for updates and input, with the earliest expected in January, should an agreement be signed. The Interstate School Committee hopes to meet next week to have a contract signed by Dec. 28.

"It will make both of us stronger if it's shown to be the right deal for our students and our towns," said Franzoni.December 17, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - The Justice Departments criminal prosecution of 30-year-old Russian Maria Butina, along with the mainstream medias reporting on the case, gets more comedic with each passing day. Yesterday, Butina pled guilty to the grave federal criminal offense of befriending the United States.

What could be more evil and nefarious than that? Imagine the audacity of a Russian trying to make friends with the United States! What could possibly have been going through her mind? Lock her up!

Okay, its true that that wasnt the actual charge to which Butina pled guilty. Technically, she pled guilty to conspiring to fail to register as an agent of the Russian government. But it is clear that that crime is just a sham. Her real offense is befriending the United States on behalf of the Russian government, which is a grave crime in the eyes of the U.S. national-national establishment (i.e., the Pentagon, CIA, and NSA), whose existence has depended on a hostile relationship with Russia since the time the U.S. government was converted from a limited-government republic to a national-security state after World War II.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

Take a look at these excerpts from the Washington Posts reporting on Butinas guilty plea:

As part of the deal, Ms. Butina admitted to being involved in an organized effort, backed by Russian officials, to open up unofficial lines of communication with influential Americans in the N.R.A. and in the Republican Party, and to win them over to the idea of Russia as a friend, not a foe. (Italics added.)

She openly advocated Russia-friendly policies and closer connections between her homeland and the United States in speeches and during her time at American University in Washington, where she earned a masters degree. (Italics added.)

Beginning in 2015, prosecutors said in the plea deal, Ms. Butina agreed and conspired with Mr. Torshin and Mr. Erickson  to infiltrate the Republican Party and the N.R.A. and to promote Russia-friendly policies on behalf of the Kremlin. (Italics added.)

Thus, befriending the United States on behalf of Russia is Butinas real crime and, indeed, Russias real crime. Russia isnt supposed to do that. Russia is supposed to continue playing its role as an official enemy of the United States. How else can the Pentagon, the CIA, the NSA, and the entire military-industrial complex justify their existence and their ever-increasing taxpayer-funded largess?

One of the funniest aspects of all this is that during the Cold War, the spiel that the Pentagon, the CIA, and the NSA were using to propagandize and indoctrinate the American people was that Russia and the rest of the Soviet Union were trying to infiltrate the United States from the left.

Thats why the the entire military-intelligence establishment, including the FBI, was obsessed with spying on, exposing, and destroying the U.S. Communist Party, the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, leftist Hollywood writers, and everyone else who had any taint of communism or socialism in his background. (Well, except for Lee Harvey Oswald, a openly and publicly self-avowed U.S. Marine communist who sauntered across the Cold War stage of history without being adversely affected, no doubt because he was actually a U.S. intelligence operative who was trained to be a communist infiltrator.)

Its also why the Pentagon and the CIA got the United States embroiled in the Korean War and the Vietnam War, where more than 100,000 American citizens, some of whom had been conscripted (i.e., forced to serve in the military), were killed.

The commies, we were told, were everywhere, possibly even in the military itself. They were coming to get us, Americans were told. It was all because of a worldwide communist conspiracy to take over the United States and the world, a conspiracy supposedly based in Moscow, Russia.

Yes, that Russia! The Russia that is now committing the heinous crime of trying to befriend us!

But heres the thing: The Russians have now apparently converted from leftist Reds to rightwing conservatives! This radical change in ideological direction is reflected by Butinas nefarious scheme to infiltrate right-wing organizations like the NRA, the Heritage Foundation, and CPAC.

Those crafty Russkies! Theyll do anything to make friends with the United States, even becoming rightwing conservatives!

Another comical part of all this ridiculous brouhaha is the Justice Departments accusation that Butina was using sex as a way to infiltrate herself into the conservative movement, an allegation that they embarrassingly renounced later on. As the Washington Post put it,

Yet even as prosecutors secured Ms. Butinas conviction and cooperation, they faced questions about their initial portrayal of Ms. Butina as something like a character out of Red Sparrow, the spy thriller about a Russian femme fatale.

Prosecutors had already been forced to back off the most salacious accusations against Ms. Butina  that she used sex as spycraft  and acknowledged in court filings this week that she genuinely wanted a graduate degree, and was not simply posing as a student to live in the United States. They also dropped accusations of her being in contact with Russian intelligence agencies, and that she was only using Mr. Erickson to gain access to other influential Americans.

Darn! This whole brouhaha would have been so much better if Butina had turned out to be the Red Sparrow after all.

Meanwhile, conservatives, many of whom reveled in the Cold War animus against the Russian Reds, now find themselves befuddled about the NRA and the conservative movement being accused of being part of a Russian conspiracy to befriend the Untied States.

According to the Washington Post, 73-year-old longtime conservative David Keene, for example, former opinion editor at the conservative Washington Times and a former president of the NRA, exclaimed, Im just amazed that in todays world, if you shake hands with a Russian, you must be an agent of the Kremlin.

Hes not the only one who is befuddled by the anti-Russia brouhaha. Former communist KGB officer and current president of Russia Vladimir Putin exclaimed about Maria Butina, I asked all the heads of our intelligence services what is happening, Who is she? No one knows a thing about her. But hey, everyone knows that you cant trust a former communist, especially one who has become a born-again, gun-toting rightwing conservative who is hell-bent on befriending the United States.

Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. He was born and raised in Laredo, Texas, and received his B.A. in economics from Virginia Military Institute and his law degree from the University of Texas. He was a trial attorney for twelve years in Texas. He also was an adjunct professor at the University of Dallas, where he taught law and economics. In 1987, Mr. Hornberger left the practice of law to become director of programs at the Foundation for Economic Education.

This article was originally published by " FFF " -

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here

==See Also==

Months of torture-like conditions made Butina plead guilty to get home sooner  Lavrov

Maria Butina Claimed to Have a Signed Cooperation Agreement With the National Rifle Association

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.Home Search ICH An Historical Journey Into Crimea



Washington insists sanctions will remain until Russia returns the peninsula to Ukraine, but this will never happen. For Moscow, Crimea is back to where it belongs, and this is a region that has seen conquerors come and go for centuries



By Pepe Escobar December 17, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - We are at the remains of Panticapaeum, the capital of the Kingdom of Bosphorus, founded in the second quarter of the 6th century BC on both sides of the Kerch Strait. We start our walk on the hilltop of Mithridates, in the heart of modern Kerch, where terrible king Mithridates of Pontus (134  64 BC) was killed. Greek geographer Strabo (63 BC  23 AD) said Panticapaeum was the mother country of all the Milesian cities of Bosphorus. It was a big city that boasted a convenient harbor and a shipyard. As we climb higher, we come across an obelisk celebrating victory in the Great Patriotic War. This is one of the last ridges in eastern Crimea. To the left is Kerch harbor with no warships, only coastguard patrol boats. To the right, the dark blue Sea of Azov, the Kerch strait  now one of the geopolitical hot spots of the young 21st century  and far in the distance is Krimsky Most, the Crimea bridge. Crossing the bridge  a 19km-long engineering marvel, built in only two years  is as smooth as it gets and takes less than 15 minutes. On the right, work proceeds on the rail bridge, which will be ready next year. I cross in the direction of Novorossiysk, then turn back from the Russian mainland. Theres a passport control and customs check, even though Crimea is now Russian territory. Cars and buses are carefully examined; a terror attack is always a concern. The guards are polite: Welcome to Krym. I say I was already in Krym. They smile. Bridge over troubled water Washington officially insists all Crimea-related sanctions will remain until Moscow returns the peninsula to Ukraine. This will never happen. For Moscow, Crimea is already back to where it belongs. After all, Nikita Khrushchev, a sentimental Ukrainian, had transferred Crimea to Ukraine in 1954 in a fit of proletarian brotherhood, while blatantly violating the Constitution of the USSR. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter US neocons and assorted Russophobes insist that Washington should further weaponize Kievs land, sea and air forces to counter Russian aggression, but Crimeans treat this as a bad joke. Everyone knows Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko needs a diversion from his dismal, corrupt government. Thus the illegal  according to the Minsk agreements  bombing of cities in Donbass and the recent Kerch incident. Poroshenko is polling at a meager 8%. He used the Kerch incident to declare martial law. He wanted three months, but Kievs legislature gave him just one. He is bound to lose the next elections. Meanwhile, over two million Ukrainians have already voted with their feet and sought refuge in Russia. Poroshenko cant afford to launch a full-scale war on Donbass with no weapons, funds and little support from the EU. For four years, Poroshenko has used a propaganda tsunami to manipulate the Ukrainian far right, which always abhorred Russians, Poles and Jews, to direct their blind hate towards Russians, the countrys largest minority. But that was not enough to solve any of the myriad problems of a de facto failed state. After Washington destroyed any possible detente with Moscow, President Putins position remains very clear, as expressed during the 15th anniversary of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi last October: Crimea is our land. We are still not going anywhere. Why is it our land? Not because we went there and took it People came to a referendum in Crimea and voted for independence, first, and then for being part of Russia. Let me remind you for the hundredth time that there was no referendum in Kosovo, only the parliament voted for independence, that was all. Everyone who wanted to support and destroy the former Yugoslavia said: well, thank God, we are fine with that. Here, however, they disagree. Ok then, lets have a discussion, go over the UN documents, see what the UN Charter is all about, and where it talks about the right of nations to self-determination. This will be an endless discussion. However, we proceed based on the will expressed by the people who live on that territory. Traveling from Simferopol to Kerch via Sevastopol, everyone I talked to confirmed they voted to re-join Russia, with no regrets. For Russia-loving Crimeans, and Russians as a whole, Crimea back with the Motherland is a geopolitical, national security and national pride fait accompli. It also helps that Russia has done more for Crimea in four years than Ukraine did in six decades. Airport making waves My first impression, arriving at the brand new Simferopol International Airport, with its elegant design featuring 146 waves, is that any mid-sized city across the West would kill for it. Marina Borodina, very well educated at the University of Crimea, and a producer at Rossiya Segodnya, shows me around the capital, thriving in a real estate boom, including the area around the airport. Crimea is under sanctions, but businesses adapt. No Visa or Mastercard? Everyone uses the Mir payment system, or rubles. Smartphones with SIMs by Russian providers are only good for local calls. So, there is no 4G network and no international roaming. Theres a road-building boom as well. The coastal road from Sevastopol to Kerch is being upgraded, but the jewel in the crown is the 240km-long east-to-west Taurida highway, to be completed next year, linking to the Crimea bridge. Sevastopol  where Christianity, according to a complex mix of legend and fact, entered Russia  was built entirely by Russia along beautiful blue creeks always jammed with ships. Its indelible in the Russian national psyche especially because of its spirited two-year defense during the Crimean war, as well as repelling the 10-month siege by the Nazis during World War II. The delicious old-world Hotel Sevastopol still reigns supreme, complete with an attached French brasserie and faint echoes of 19th century Paris that influenced Tsarist times. Military officers parading their families by the famous promenade embellished with Christmas decorations dismiss the potential for more confrontation in the Sea of Azov. It and the Black Sea are de facto Russian lakes. When the Mongol Tatars of the Golden Horde first arrived in Crimea, they saw a tower and called it Kerim (fort), thus Crimea. Then the Tatars moved inland, to Bakhchisaray, where they built the gracious palace of the independent khanate in a green valley protected by stone hills. That was the apex of the Crimean Tatar khanate; Krym Tartary. I had time to explore a virtually deserted Bakhchisaray when a bride and groom celebrating their Tatar marriage arrived to pose for the obligatory photos, escorted by a fleet of black Mercedes sporting the light blue Tatar flag with its yellow seal. They were well off and spoke of good business opportunities, saying there were no problems whatsoever with the Russian administration. There are roughly 300,000 Tatars in Crimea out of a population of 2 million. The civilized and the barbarians At the Kerch museum, a stones throw from Mithridates hill, I was privileged to engage with one of the caretakers, Anna Naumenko  also finely educated at the University of Crimea  on a thrilling historical ride. The museum has a small collection of precious Greek and Byzantine artifacts even though most of the archeological treasures are at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Crimea was the site of a groundbreaking historical encounter. Imagine Greek colonists, essentially urban, who had reached Crimea after navigating at least one month from the Bosphorus to southern Russia, finding themselves face to face with nomads from Central Asia who had crossed a sea of grass; the Scythians  an Indo-Iranian speaking confederation who were already deploying their nomadic skills around the Crimean steppes when the Greeks arrived in the 8th century BC. Then came Sarmatians, Goths, Huns, Khazars  Turkic-speaking pastoral nomads from Central Asia, the Cuman (other Turkic-speaking nomads), Mongol-Tatars of the Golden Horde, before Byzantium, and the Ottoman empire. Crimean Tatars converted to Islam in the 14th century. The khanate went on until Catherine the Great conquered Crimea in 1783. This shows how Crimea has always been an unparalleled crossroads intertwining civilization with what Athenian Greeks might describe as barbarism. The clashes forever permeate the Western self-perception of superiority in relation to an alleged inferior, usually nomad, Other. The fabled Golden Horde  actually the western arm of the Tatar-Mongol empire  controlled the steppes north of the Black Sea as well as Crimea from the mid-13th Century until at least the mid-15th Century. This is crucial because they were actually the first unifiers of Eurasia, assuring stability across the steppes from China to Hungary. And that led to trade connectivity; the Ancient Silk Roads, stretching from China all the way to the Black Sea, then sailing towards the Mediterranean. This is impregnated in the collective memory of all Eurasian peoples. Byzantium was what Russian scholar Mikhail Rostovtzeff, in his fabulous book Iranians and Greeks in South Russia, described as a very interesting mixed civilization. So was the Black Sea, and Crimea. The Ancient Silk Road brought silk, spices, porcelain, bronze and gold from China, Persia and India, while the Greeks exported wine, pottery, jewelry and ornaments first made in Greece and then in the Bosphorus kingdom in Kerch. Peace in the steppes translated into free passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The Mongol Tatars arrived in the Black Sea when the Byzantine empire was nearly dead. Behind the land armies of the Crusaders were the powerhouses of Venice and Genoa, eager to enhance trade connectivity with the markets of the Black Sea. After the Crusaders had stormed Constantinople in 1204, they slipped through the Bosphorus to finally reach Crimea. For a while merchants in Tana, an important Venetian colony in the Sea of Azov, were able to monopolize through Venice virtually all the trade with China. The Europeans could not help but see an opening. Sudak, in southeast Crimea, was a Greek, Byzantine and then Genoese colony. Yet as we know, this all ended when the Turks captured Constantinople in 1453  and there was no more Byzantine empire around the Black Sea. Empires falling The Nazis had designs on Crimea. Two months before Germany invaded the USSR, it was decided that Crimea would be separated from Russia and handed to a puppet Ukraine; that was the Gotland project. Most of the Nazi collaborators in Crimea during WWII were not Tatars. Still, under Stalin, the Tatars were the first ethnic minority to be entirely deported. When Soviet power was back in Crimea, those who remained were expelled en masse to Central Asia because of treason to the Fatherland. Now their sons and grandsons are coming back in droves. When the USSR dissolved, the 19th-Century Tsarist Russian empire, plus Catherine the Greats 18th century Novorossiya, across the northern shore of the Black Sea, also dissolved. Crossing parts of the Crimean steppe, its easy to be reminded of Chekhov, who grew up in Taganrog on the Sea of Azov and loved the scent of herbs in the summer steppe. Its also fitting terrain to reflect on the collapse of empires. The Russian drive to reach the warm waters of the Mediterranean always clashed with the Turkish drive to hold on to the Ottoman conquests around the Black Sea. This history reverberated through the Crimean War in the 1850s and also through WWI, with Turkey allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary and Russia invading Anatolia. Yet even before WWI was over, both the Tsarist and Ottoman empires were gone. Now Crimea is back to Russia, virtually for good, the union sealed by Krimsky Most. It is a sobering reality graphically visible from the ruins of Panticapaeum. Pepe Escobar is correspondent-at-large at Asia Times. His latest book is 2030. Follow him on Facebook. This article was originally published by " Asia Times " - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House.December 17, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - You do have to wonder about the political savvy of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government. The furious fallout from China over the arrest of a senior telecoms executive is going to do severe damage to Canadian national interests.

Trudeaus fawning over American demands is already rebounding very badly for Canadas economy and its international image.

The Canadian arrest  on behalf of Washington  of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei, seems a blatant case of the Americans acting politically and vindictively. If the Americans are seen to be acting like bandits, then the Canadians are their flunkies.

Wanzhou was detained on December 1 by Canadian federal police as she was boarding a commercial airliner in Vancouver. She was reportedly handcuffed and led away in a humiliating manner which has shocked the Chinese government, media and public.

The business executive has since been released on a $7.4 million bail bond, pending further legal proceedings. She is effectively being kept under house arrest in Canada with electronic ankle tagging.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

To add insult to injury, it is not even clear what Wanzhou is being prosecuted for. The US authorities have claimed that she is guilty of breaching American sanctions against Iran by conducting telecoms business with Tehran. It is presumed that the Canadians arrested Wanzhou at the request of the Americans. But so far a US extradition warrant has not been filed. That could take months. In the meantime, the Chinese businesswoman will be living under curfew, her freedom denied.

Canadian legal expert Christopher Black says there is no juridical case for Wanzhous detention. The issue of US sanctions on Iran is irrelevant and has no grounds in international law. It is simply the Americans applying their questionable national laws on a third party. Black contends that Canada has therefore no obligation whatsoever to impose those US laws regarding Iran in its territory, especially given that Ottawa and Beijing have their own separate bilateral diplomatic relations.

In any case, what the real issue is about is the Americans using legal mechanisms to intimidate and beat up commercial rivals. For months now, Washington has made it clear that it is targeting Chinese telecoms rivals as commercial competitors in a strategic sector. US claims about China using telecoms for spying and infiltrating American national security are bogus propaganda ruses to undermine these commercial rivals through foul means.

It also seems clear from US President Donald Trumps unsubtle comments this week to Reuters, saying he would personally intervene in the Meng case if it helped trade talks with China, that the Huawei executive is being dangled like a bargaining chip. It was a tacit admission by Trump that the Americans really dont have a legal case against her.

Canadas foreign minister Chrystia Freeland bounced into damage limitation mode following Trumps thuggish comments. She said that the case should not be politicized and that the legal proceedings should not be tampered with. How ironic is that?

The whole affair has been politicized from the very beginning. Mengs arrest, or as Christopher Black calls it hostage-taking, is driven by Washingtons agenda of harassment against China for commercial reasons, under a legal pretext purportedly about Iranian sanctions.

When Trump revealed the cynical expediency of him helping to free Wanzhou, then the Canadians realized they were also being exposed for the flunkies that they are for American banditry. Thats why Freeland was obliged to quickly adopt the fastidious pretense of legal probity.

Canadian premier Justin Trudeau has claimed that he wasnt aware of the American request for Wanzhous detention. Trudeau is being pseudo. For such a high-profile infringement against a senior Chinese business leader, Ottawa must have been fully briefed by the Americans. Christopher Black, the legal expert, believes that Trudeau would had to have known about the impending plot to snatch Wanzhou and moreover that he personally signed off on it.

What Trudeau and his government intended to get out of performing this sordid role for American thuggery is far from clear. Maybe after being verbally mauled by Trump as weak and dishonest at the G7 summit earlier this year, in June, Trudeau decided it was best to roll over and be a good little puppy for the Americans in their dirty deed against China.

But already it has since emerged that Canada is going to pay a very heavy price indeed for such dubious service to Washington. Beijing has warned that it will take retaliation against both Washington and Ottawa. And it is Ottawa that is more vulnerable to severe repercussions.

This week saw two Canadian citizens, one a former diplomat, detained in China on spying charges.

Canadian business analysts are also warning that Beijing can inflict harsh economic penalties on Ottawa. An incensed Chinese public have begun boycotting Canadian exports and sensitive Canadian investments in China are now at risk from being blocked by Beijing. A proposed free trade deal that was being negotiated between Ottawa and Beijing now looks dead in the water.

And if Trudeaus government caves in to the excruciating economic pressure brought to bear by Beijing and then abides by Chinas demand to immediately release Meng Wanzhou, Ottawa will look like a pathetic, gutless lackey to Washington. Canadas reputation of being a liberal, independent state will be shredded. Even then the Chinese are unlikely to forget Trudeaus treachery.

With comic irony, theres a cringemaking personal dimension to this unseemly saga.

During the 197os when Trudeaus mother Margaret was a thirty-something socialite heading for divorce from his father, then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, she was often in the gossip media for indiscretions at nightclubs. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards claims in his autobiography that Margaret Trudeau was a groupie for the band, having flings with Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood. Her racy escapades and louche lifestyle brought shame to many Canadians.

Poor Margaret Trudeau later wound up divorced, disgraced, financially broke and scraping a living from scribbling tell-all books.

Justin, her eldest son, is finding out that being a groupie for Washingtons banditry is also bringing disrepute for him and his country.

Finian Cunningham has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Masters graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent.

This article was originally published by " Strategic Culture Foundation " -

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.Texas School Speech Pathologist Refused to Sign a Pro-Israel Oath, Now Mandatory in Many States  so She Lost Her Job

By Glenn Greenwald

December 17, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - A childrens speech pathologist who has worked for the last nine years with developmentally disabled, autistic, and speech-impaired elementary school students in Austin, Texas, has been told that she can no longer work with the public school district, after she refused to sign an oath vowing that she does not and will not engage in a boycott of Israel or otherwise tak[e] any action that is intended to inflict economic harm on that foreign nation. A lawsuit on her behalf was filed early Monday morning in a federal court in the Western District of Texas, alleging a violation of her First Amendment right of free speech.

The child language specialist, Bahia Amawi, is a U.S. citizen who received a masters degree in speech pathology in 1999 and, since then, has specialized in evaluations for young children with language difficulties (see video below). Amawi was born in Austria and has lived in the U.S. for the last 30 years, fluently speaks three languages (English, German, and Arabic), and has four U.S.-born American children of her own.

Amawi began working in 2009 on a contract basis with the Pflugerville Independent School District, which includes Austin, to provide assessments and support for school children from the countys growing Arabic-speaking immigrant community. The children with whom she has worked span the ages of 3 to 11. Ever since her work for the school district began in 2009, her contract was renewed each year with no controversy or problem.

But this year, all of that changed. On August 13, the school district once again offered to extend her contract for another year by sending her essentially the same contract and set of certifications she has received and signed at the end of each year since 2009.

She was prepared to sign her contract renewal until she noticed one new, and extremely significant, addition: a certification she was required to sign pledging that she does not currently boycott Israel, that she will not boycott Israel during the term of the contract, and that she shall refrain from any action that is intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations with Israel, or with a person or entity doing business in Israeli or in an Israel-controlled territory.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

The language of the affirmation Amawi was told she must sign reads like Orwellian  or McCarthyite  self-parody, the classic political loyalty oath that every American should instinctively shudder upon reading:

That language would bar Amawi not only from refraining from buying goods from companies located within Israel, but also from any Israeli companies operating in the occupied West Bank (an Israeli-controlled territory). The oath given to Amawi would also likely prohibit her even from advocating such a boycott given that such speech could be seen as intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations with Israel.

Whatever ones own views are, boycotting Israel to stop its occupation is a global political movement modeled on the 1980s boycott aimed at South Africa that helped end that countrys system of racial apartheid. It has become so mainstream that two newly elected members of the U.S. Congress explicitly support it, while boycotting Israeli companies in the occupied territories has long been advocated in mainstream venues by Jewish Zionist groups such as Peace Now and the Jewish-American Zionist writer Peter Beinart.

This required certification about Israel was the only one in the contract sent to Amawi that pertained to political opinions and activism. There were no similar clauses relating to children (such as a vow not to advocate for pedophiles or child abusers), nor were there any required political oaths that pertained to the country of which she is a citizen and where she lives and works: the United States.

In order to obtain contracts in Texas, then, a citizen is free to denounce and work against the United States, to advocate for causes that directly harm American children, and even to support a boycott of particular U.S. states, such as was done in 2017 to North Carolina in protest of its anti-LGBT law. In order to continue to work, Amawi would be perfectly free to engage in any political activism against her own country, participate in an economic boycott of any state or city within the U.S., or work against the policies of any other government in the world  except Israel.

Thats one extraordinary aspect of this story: The sole political affirmation Texans like Amawi are required to sign in order to work with the school districts children is one designed to protect not the United States or the children of Texas, but the economic interests of Israel. As Amawi put it to The Intercept: Its baffling that they can throw this down our throats and decide to protect another countrys economy versus protecting our constitutional rights.

Amawi concluded that she could not truthfully or in good faith sign the oath because, in conjunction with her family, she has made the household decision to refrain from purchasing goods from Israeli companies in support of the global boycott to end Israels decadeslong occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

Amawi, as the mother of four young children and a professional speech pathologist, is not a leader of any political movements: She has simply made the consumer choice to support the boycott by avoiding the purchase of products from Israeli companies in Israel or the occupied West Bank. She also occasionally participates in peaceful activism in defense of Palestinian self-determination that includes advocacy of the global boycott to end the Israeli occupation.

Watch The Intercepts three-minute video of Amawi, as she tells her story, here:

When asked if she considered signing the pledge to preserve her ability to work, Amawi told The Intercept: Absolutely not. I couldnt in good conscience do that. If I did, I would not only be betraying Palestinians suffering under an occupation that I believe is unjust and thus, become complicit in their repression, but Id also be betraying my fellow Americans by enabling violations of our constitutional rights to free speech and to protest peacefully.

As a result, Amawi informed her school district supervisor that she could not sign the oath. As her complaint against the school district explains, she ask[ed] why her personal political stances [about Israel and Palestine] impacted her work as a speech language pathologist.

In response, Amawis supervisor promised that she would investigate whether there were any ways around this barrier. But the supervisor ultimately told Amawi that there were no alternatives: Either she would have to sign the oath, or the district would be legally barred from paying her under any type of contract.

Because Amawi, to her knowledge, is the only certified Arabic-speaking childs speech pathologist in the district, it is quite possible that the refusal to renew her contract will leave dozens of young children with speech pathologies without any competent expert to evaluate their conditions and treatment needs.

I got my masters in this field and devoted myself to this work because I always wanted to do service for children, Amawi said. Its vital that early-age assessments of possible speech impairments or psychological conditions be administered by those who understand the childs first language.

In other words, Texass Israel loyalty oath requirement victimizes not just Amawi, an American who is barred from working in the professional field to which she has devoted her adult life, but also the young children in need of her expertise and experience that she has spent years developing.

The anti-BDS Israel oath was included in Amawis contract papers due to an Israel-specific state law enacted on May 2, 2017, by the Texas State Legislature and signed into law two days later by GOP Gov. Greg Abbott. The bill unanimously passed the lower House by a vote of 131-0, and then the Senate by a vote of 25-4.

When Abbott signed the bill in a ceremony held at the Austin Jewish Community Center, he proclaimed: Any anti-Israel policy is an anti-Texas policy.

The bills language is so sweeping that some victims of Hurricane Harvey, which devastated Southwest Texas in late 2017, were told that they could only receive state disaster relief if they first signed a pledge never to boycott Israel. That demand was deeply confusing to those hurricane victims in desperate need of help but who could not understand what their views of Israel and Palestine had to do with their ability to receive assistance from their state government.

The evangelical author of the Israel bill, Republican Texas state Rep. Phil King, said at the time that its application to hurricane relief was a misunderstanding, but nonetheless emphasized that the bills purpose was indeed to ensure that no public funds ever go to anyone who supports a boycott of Israel.

At the time that Texas enacted the law barring contractors from supporting a boycott of Israel, it was the 17th state in the country to do so. As of now, 26 states have enacted such laws  including blue states run by Democrats such as New York, California, and New Jersey  while similar bills are pending in another 13 states.

This map compiled by Palestine Legal shows how pervasive various forms of Israel loyalty oath requirements have become in the U.S.; the states in red are ones where such laws are already enacted, while the states in the darker shade are ones where such bills are pending:

The vast majority of American citizens are therefore now officially barred from supporting a boycott of Israel without incurring some form of sanction or limitation imposed by their state. And the relatively few Americans who are still free to form views on this hotly contested political debate without being officially punished are in danger of losing that freedom, as more and more states are poised to enact similar censorship schemes.

One of the first states to impose such repressive restrictions on free expression was New York. In 2016, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order directing all agencies under his control to terminate any and all business with companies or organizations that support a boycott of Israel. If you boycott Israel, New York State will boycott you, Cuomo proudly tweeted, referring to a Washington Post op-ed he wrote that touted that threat in its headline.

As The Intercept reported at the time, Cuomos order requires that one of his commissioners compile a list of institutions and companies that  either directly or through a parent or subsidiary  support a boycott. That government list is then posted publicly, and the burden falls on [the accused boycotters] to prove to the state that they do not, in fact, support such a boycott.

Like the Texas law, Cuomos Israel order reads like a parody of the McCarthy era:

What made Cuomos censorship directive particularly stunning was that, just two months prior to issuing this decree, he ordered New York state agencies to boycott North Carolina in protest of that states anti-LGBT law. Two years earlier, Cuomo banned New York state employees from all nonessential travel to Indiana to boycott that states enactment of an anti-LGBT law.

So Cuomo mandated that his own state employees boycott two other states within his own country, a boycott that by design would harm U.S. businesses, while prohibiting New Yorks private citizens from supporting a similar boycott of a foreign nation upon pain of being barred from receiving contracts from the state of New York. That such a priority scheme is so pervasive  whereby boycotts aimed at U.S. businesses are permitted or even encouraged, but boycotts aimed at Israeli businesses are outlawed  speaks volumes about the state of U.S. politics and free expression, none of it good.

good.

Following Cuomo, Texass GOP-dominated state legislature, and numerous other state governments controlled by both parties, the U.S. Congress, prodded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, began planning its own national bills to use the force of law to punish Americans for the crime of supporting a boycott of Israel. In July of last year, a group of 43 senators  29 Republicans and 14 Democrats  supported a law, called the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (S. 720), introduced by Democratic Sen. Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, that would criminalize participation in any international boycott of Israel.

After the American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement vehemently condemning Cardins bill as an attack on core free speech rights, one which would punish individuals for no reason other than their political beliefs, numerous senators announced that they were re-considering their support.

But now, as The Intercept reported last week, a modified version of the bill is back and pending in the lame-duck session: 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.

The ACLU has also condemned this latest bill because its intent and the intent of the underlying state laws it purports to uphold are contrary to the spirit and letter of the First Amendment guarantee of freedoms of speech and association. As the ACLU warned in a recent action advisory:

While that new version clarifies that people cannot face jail time for participating in a boycott, the ACLU insists that it still leaves the door open for criminal financial penalties for anyone found to be participating in or even advocating for a boycott of Israel.

More dangerous attacks on free expression are difficult to imagine. Nobody who claims to be a defender of free speech or free expression  on the right, the left, or anything in between  can possibly justify silence in the face of such a coordinated and pure assault on these most basic rights of free speech and association.

One common misconception is that the First Amendments guarantee of free speech only bars the state from imprisoning or otherwise punishing people for speaking, but does not bar the state from conditioning the receipt of discretionary benefits (such as state benefits or jobs) on refraining from expressing particular opinions. Aside from the fact that, with some rare and narrow exceptions, courts have repeatedly held that the government is constitutionally barred under the First Amendment from conditioning government benefits on speech requirements  such as, say, enacting a bill that states that only liberals, or only conservatives, shall be eligible for unemployment benefits  the unconstitutional nature of Texass actions toward Bahia Amawi should be self-evident.

Imagine if, instead of being forced by the state to vow never to boycott Israel as a condition for continuing to work as a speech pathologist, Amawi was instead forced to pledge that she would never advocate for LGBT equality or engage in activism in support of or opposition to gun rights or abortion restrictions (by joining the National Rifle Association or Planned Parenthood), or never subscribe to Vox or the Daily Caller, or never participate in a boycott of Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, or Russia due to vehement disagreement with those governments policies.

The tyrannical free speech denial would be self-evident and, in many of those comparable cases, the trans-ideological uproar would be instantaneous. As Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, warned: [T]his template could be re-purposed to bar contracts with individuals or groups affiliated with or supportive of any political cause or organization  from the political Left or Right  that the majority in a legislature or the occupant of a governors office deemed undesirable.

Recall that in 2012, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel tried to block zoning permits allowing Chick-fil-A to expand, due to his personal disagreement with the anti-LGBT activism of that companys top executive. As I wrote at the time in condemning the unconstitutional nature of the mayors actions: If you support what Emanuel is doing here, then you should be equally supportive of a Mayor in Texas or a Governor in Idaho who blocks businesses from opening if they are run by those who support same-sex marriage  or who oppose American wars, or who support reproductive rights, or who favor single-payer health care, or which donates to LGBT groups and Planned Parenthood, on the ground that such views are offensive to Christian or conservative residents.

Those official efforts in Chicago (followed by mayors of other liberal cities) to punish Chick-fil-A due to its executives negative views on LGBT equality were widely condemned even by liberal commentators, who were horrified that mayors would abuse their power to condition zoning rights based on a private citizens political viewpoints on a controversial issue. Obviously, if a company discriminated against LGBT employees in violation of the law, it would be legitimate to act against them, but as Mother Joness Kevin Drum correctly noted, this was a case of pure censorship: Theres really no excuse for Emanuels and [Boston Mayor Thomas] Meninos actions.  You dont hand out business licenses based on whether you agree with the political views of the executives. Not in America, anyway.

The ACLU of Illinois also denounced the effort by Chicago against Chick-fil-A as wrong and dangerous, adding: We oppose using the power and authority of government to retaliate against those who express messages that are controversial or averse to the views of current office holders. That, by definition, is the only position that a genuine free speech defender can hold  regardless of agreement or disagreement with the specific political viewpoint being punished.

Last week, the ACLUs Senior Legislative Counsel Kate Ruane explained why even the modified, watered-down, fully bipartisan version of the Israel oath bill pending in the U.S. Congress, and especially the already enacted bills in 26 states of the kind that just resulted in Amawis termination, are a direct violation of the most fundamental free speech rights:

This is a full-scale attack on Americans First Amendment freedoms. Political boycotts, including boycotts of foreign countries, have played a pivotal role in this nations history  from the boycotts of British goods during the American Revolution to the Montgomery Bus Boycott to the campaign to divest from apartheid South Africa. And in NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware, the Supreme Court made clear that the First Amendment protects the right to participate in political boycotts.

The lawsuit which Amawi filed similarly explains that economic boycotts for the purposes of bringing about political change are entrenched in American history, beginning with colonial boycotts on British tea. Later, the Civil Rights Movement relied heavily on boycotts to combat racism and spur societal change. The Supreme Court has recognized [in Claiborne] that non-violent boycotts intended to advance civil rights constitute form[s] of speech or conduct that [are] ordinarily entitled to protection under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.'

Who can justify that  as a condition for working with speech-impaired and developmentally disabled children  Amawi is forced by the state to violate her conscience and renounce her political beliefs by buying products from a country that she believes (in accordance with the U.N.) is illegally and brutally occupying land that does not belong to it? Whether or not you agree with her political view about Israel and Palestine, every American with an even minimal belief in the value of free speech should be vocally denouncing the attack on Amawis free speech rights and other Americans who are being similarly oppressed by these Israel-protecting censorship laws in the U.S.

As these Israel oath laws have proliferated, some commentators from across the ideological spectrum have noted what a profound threat to free speech they pose. The Foundation for Middle East Peaces Friedman, for instance, explained that it requires little imagination to see how criminalizing Americans participation in political boycotts of Israel could pave the way for further infringements to Americans right to support or join internationally-backed protests on other issues. She correctly described such laws as a free speech exception for Israel.

The libertarian lawyer Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Cato Institutes Center for Constitutional Studies, similarly warned: It is not a proper function of law to force Americans into carrying on foreign commerce they personally find politically objectionable, whether their reasons for reluctance be good, bad, or arbitrary.

This article was originally published by " The Intercept " -

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here

==See Also==

Schumer presses Rand Paul to remove a hold on the U.S.-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act

Increasing number of Americans prefer one-state solution to Israel-Palestinian conflict, U.S. study finds

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.December 17, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - 1. I write a lot about the plight of Julian Assange for the same reason I write a lot about the Iraq invasion: his persecution, when sincerely examined, exposes undeniable proof that we are ruled by a transnational power establishment which is immoral and dishonest to its core.

2. Assange started a leak outlet on the premise that corrupt and unaccountable power is a problem in our world, and that the problem can be fought with the light of truth. Corrupt and unaccountable power has responded by detaining, silencing and smearing him. The persecution of Assange has proved his thesis about the world absolutely correct.

3. Anyone who offends the US-centralized empire will find themselves subject to a trial by media, and the media are owned by the same plutocratic class which owns the empire. To believe what mass media news outlets tell you about those who stand up to imperial power is to ignore reality.

4. Corrupt and unaccountable power uses its political and media influence to smear Assange because, as far as the interests of corrupt and unaccountable power are concerned, killing his reputation is as good as killing him. If everyone can be paced into viewing him with hatred and revulsion, theyll be far less likely to take WikiLeaks publications seriously, and theyll be far more likely to consent to Assanges silencing and imprisonment. Someone can be speaking 100 percent truth to you, but if youre suspicious of him you wont believe anything hes saying. If they can manufacture that suspicion with total or near-total credence, then as far as our rulers are concerned its as good as putting a bullet in his head.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

5. The fact that the mass media can keep saying day after day Hey, you know that bloke at the embassy who shares embarrassing truths about very powerful people? Hes a stinky Nazi rapist Russian spy who mistreats his cat without raising suspicion shows you how propagandized the public already is. A normal worldview unmolested by corrupt narrative control would see someone who circulates inconvenient facts about the powerful being called pretty much all the worst things in the world and know immediately that that person is being lied about by those in power.

6. Relentless smear campaigns against Assange have given the unelected power establishment the ability to publicly make an example of a journalist who published uncomfortable truths without provoking the wrath of the masses. Its a town square flogging that the crowd has been manipulated into cheering for. Narrative control has enabled them to have their cake and eat it too: they get to act like medieval lords and inflict draconian punishment against a speaker of undeniable facts and leave his head on a spike in the town square as a warning to other would-be truth tellers, and have the public believe that such a bizarre violation of modern human rights is perfectly fine and acceptable.

7. There are people who worked really hard to get journalism degrees, toiled long hours to earn the esteemed privilege of appearing on the front pages of a major publication, only to find themselves writing articles with headlines like Julian Assange is a stinky, stinky stink man.

8. Ordinary citizens often find themselves eager to believe the smear campaigns against Assange because it is easier than believing that their government would participate in the deliberate silencing and imprisoning of a journalist for publishing facts.

9. And yes, Julian Assange is most certainly a journalist. Publishing important information about whats going on in the world so the public can inform themselves is precisely the thing that journalism is. There is no conventional definition of journalism which differs from this. Anyone who says Assange is not a journalist is telling a lie that they may or may not actually believe in order to justify his persecution and their support for it.

10. Another reason people can find themselves eager to believe smears about Assange is that the raw facts revealed by WikiLeaks publications punch giant holes in the stories about the kind of world, nation and society that most people have been taught to believe they live in since school age. These kinds of beliefs are interwoven with peoples entire egoic structures, with their sense of self and who they are as a person, so narratives which threaten to tear them apart can feel the same as a personal attack. This is why youll hear ordinary citizens talking about Assange as though he attacked them personally; all he did was publish facts about the powerful, but since those facts conflict with tightly held identity constructs, the cognitive dissonance that was caused to them can be interpreted as feeling like hed slapped them in the face.

11. We live in a reality where unfathomably powerful world-dominating government agencies are scrutinized and criticized far, far less than a guy trapped in an embassy who published inconvenient facts about those agencies.

12. Assange disrupts establishment narratives even in his persecution. Liberal establishment loyalists in America still havent found a rational answer to criticisms that in supporting Assanges criminal prosecution they are supporting a Trump administration agenda. You now have the same people whove been screaming that Trump is Hitler and that hes attacking the free press cheering for the possibility of that same administration imprisoning a journalist for publishing facts.

13. The precedent that would be set by the US prosecuting a foreign journalist for merely publishing factual information would constitute a greater leap in the direction of Orwellian dystopia than the Patriot Act, for America and for the entire world.

14. The billionaire media has invalidated itself with its refusal to defend Assange. They know the precedent set by his prosecution for WikiLeaks publications would kill the ability of the press to hold power to account, but they dont care because they know they never do that. For all their crying about Jamal Khashoggi and Jim Acostas hurt feelings, they do not actually care about journalism or the free press in any meaningful way.

15. Whenever I see a blue checkmark account on Twitter bashing Assange I mentally translate whatever theyre saying into There is nothing I wont do to advance my career in corporate media. If youre in a position to promote me I will literally get down on my knees right this very second and let you do whatever you want to my body.

16. I sometimes feel like I respect professional propagandists who smear Assange more than I respect ordinary citizens who go around smearing him for free. What do these people think theyll get as a reward for their work as pro bono CIA propagandists? A gold star from Big Brother? Theyre like slaves who beat and betray other slaves that fall out of line in order to win favor with the master, except theyre not even achieving that. The professional manipulators are at least cheering for their own class to continue to have its leaderships interests advanced; ordinary people who do it are cheering for their own oppression.

17. Even lower in my view are the self-proclaimed leftists and anarchists who view themselves as oppositional to the establishment but still help advance this smear campaign. It is impossible to attack Assange without supporting the Orwellian empire which is persecuting him. I dont care what mental gymnastics youre doing to justify your pathetic cronyism; what you are doing benefits the most powerful and depraved people on this planet.

18. Anyone who participates in the ongoing smear campaign against Assange and Wikileaks is basically just saying Extremely powerful people should be able to lie to us without any difficulty or opposition at all.

19. Everyone should always be extremely suspicious of anyone who defends the powerful from the less powerful. Its amazing that this isnt more obvious to more people.

20. Contrary to the narratives promoted by establishment smear merchants, Julian Assange is not hiding from justice in the Ecuadorian embassy. He is hiding from injustice. Everyone who knows anything about the US governments prosecution of leakers and whistleblowers knows he has no shot at a fair trial, and would face brutal mistreatment at the hands of the same regime which tortured Chelsea Manning.

21. The persecution of Assange is essentially a question that mankind is asking itself: do we want to (A) continue down the path of omnicidal, ecocidal Orwellian dystopia, or do we want to (B) pull up and away from that trajectory and shrug off the oppressive power establishment which is driving us toward either total extinction or total enslavement? So far, A is the answer weve been giving ourselves to that question. But, as long as we switch before its too late, we can always change our answer.

Caitlin's articles are entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking her on Facebook, following her antics on Twitter, checking out her podcast, throwing some money into her hat on Patreon or Paypal, or buying her book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers.

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.Violence against women and children is on the rise in South Africa, with Statistics SA reporting that the number of women murdered between 2015 and 2016/17 increased by an alarming 117 percent. Furthermore, Statistics SA revealed that the number of women who experienced sexual harassment surged from 31,665 reported cases in 2015/16 to 70,813 in 2016/17 - an increase of 53 percent.

Having a deeper understanding of challenges that many women and children across the country face, the MTN SA Foundation and ZTE Corporation South Africa, a telecommunications infrastructure vendor, made a joint commitment to assist however possible.

In their drive to be a force for positive change, these two organizations partnered up to build a 20-seat multimedia centre at the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children in Athlone, Cape Town, which was unveiled on Dec. 12.

The contribution forms part of the annual commemoration of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign, which runs from Nov. 25 to Dec. 10.

ZTE built and furnished the multimedia centre, fully kitting it out with computers and a smart board. The MTN SA Foundation pledged to provide free internet connectivity for two years and to provide ICT training to the facilitators. Additionally, MTN employees handed over non-perishable food.

"Gender-based violence is a stain on our society. It is a crime that knows no geography, social standing or religion. At MTN, we have always supported initiatives that aim to lift women and children out of difficult and often devastating situations. We believe that the advancement of any society should be evaluated by the manner in which it treats its most vulnerable members," said Jacqui OSullivan, Executive for Corporate Affairs at MTN SA.

She continued, "We believe that access to information and ICT skills can open up a whole new world of opportunities and empower women and children to escape violence. We hope that this contribution will give survivors the tools and skills needed to advance in todays digital world."

Nikky Cheng Dong, Operations Director of ZTE South Africa, agrees with O'Sullivan. We at ZTE take gender-based violence very seriously, and we believe our partnership with MTN on this project will bring about a positive change needed in the lives of the women and children who are victims of such crimes. ZTE, being a leading global ICT company, believes that living in the information age, ICT is the foundation of our world today. By providing access and training, we feel that our contribution will give women and children in South Africa the confidence to move forward on their journey to empowerment, armed with knowledge and skills.

Established in 1999, the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children is a one-stop centre for survivors of gender-based violence. It houses 120 women and children who benefit from the Residential Programme, which provides a safe place to stay for up to four months.

The centre also offers free legal advice, medical services, economic empowerment programmes, child care services, counseling and mental health support. Moreover, the institution conducts research on gender-based violence and provides job skills training.December 17, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - I do not sympathize with people who profiteer from tragedy. I have no sympathy for robbers. I have no sympathy for the settlers. I have no sympathy for the settlers not even when they are hit by tragedy. A pregnant woman was wounded and her newborn baby died of its wounds  what can be worse than that? Driving on their roads is frightening, the violent opposition to their presence is growing  and I feel no sympathy for their tragedy, nor do I feel any compassion or solidarity.

They are to blame, not I, for the fact that I cannot feel the most humane sense of solidarity and pain. Its not just that theyre settlers, violators of international law and universal justice; its not just because of the violence of some of them and the settling of all of them  its also the blackmail with which they respond to every tragedy, which prevents me from grieving with them. But beneath the veil of sanctimonious and hypocritical unity, and the medias fake show of national grief to advance its own commercial goals, the truth must be told: Their tragedy isnt ours.

Their tragedy isnt ours because theyve brought the tragedy upon themselves and the entire country. Its true that the main blame goes to the governments that gave into them, either eagerly or out of weakness, but the settlers cannot be absolved of blame, either. The extorter  and not just those who have given into extortion  is also to blame. But they are there, generations born on stolen land, children raised in an apartheid existence and trained to think it is biblical justice, and with government support. Perhaps we cannot blame those who are sitting on land usurped by their parents. But their tragedy is not ours because they exploit every tragedy to advance their aims in the most cynical of ways.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

When a baby dies they install trailer homes, when soldiers are killed defending them  they do not seek forgiveness from the families of these soldiers, despite their blame for the lives that have been cut short  they only present demands so as to whitewash their crimes. And with these demands the appetite for revenge grows: to imprison even more of their neighbors, to destroy their homes, to kill, to arrest, block roads and exact more revenge. And if that, too, is not enough, their own wild militias raid the Palestinians, throw stones at their vehicles, set their fields on fire and wreak terror on their villages. They are not satisfied with the collective punishment imposed by the army and the Shin Bet security service, exercised with cruelty and sometimes criminality. The settlers lust for revenge is never satisfied. How is it possible to identify with the grief of people who behave like that?

Its impossible to identify with their bereavement, because Israel has decided to avoid looking at all that is done there in the land of Judea. When you are capable of being indifferent to the execution of a psychologically impaired young man by soldiers, you can also be indifferent to the shooting of a pregnant woman by Palestinians. When you ignore the goings on at the Tulkarm refugee camp, you can also ignore what takes place at the Givat Assaf junction. Its moral blindness to everything. Yesha isnt here, thats the price being paid for the lack of interest in what is going on in the territories and for ignoring the occupation, under whose sponsorship the settlements are based. Giant budgets are poured out there without any public opposition  so there is also indifference to the fate of the settlers and their tragedies. The piece of land they have taken over doesnt interest most Israelis living in the land of denial, and thats the price.

We have no reason to apologize for the lack of interest and identification. The settlers have brought it on themselves. Those who have never shown any interest in the suffering of their Palestinian neighbors, which they have caused, those who preach all the time that the iron fist must always be tightened, to torture them even more  dont deserve to be identified with, not even in the hour of their grief. I take no joy in their suffering but I have no sympathy for their pain. The real pain is borne by their victims, those who moan submissively and those who take their fate in their hands and try to resist a violent reality violently and sometimes also murderously. The Palestinians are the victims deserving of pity and solidarity.

This article was originally published by " Haaretz" -

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here

==See Also==

Airbnb renages on settlement ban, following a meeting with Israeli tourism minister

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.December 17, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - British ex-spy Christopher Steele, who wrote the Democrat-financed anti-Trump dossier, said in a court case that he was hired by a Democratic law firm in preparation for Hillary Clinton challenging the results of the 2016 presidential election.

He said the law firm Perkins Coie wanted to be in a position to contest the results based on evidence he unearthed on the Trump campaign conspiring with Moscow on election interference.

His scenario is contained in a sealed Aug. 2 declaration in a defamation law suit brought by three Russian bankers in London. The trios American attorneys filed his answers Tuesday in a libel lawsuit in Washington against the investigative firm Fusion GPS, which handled the former British intelligence officer.

In an answer to interrogatories, Mr. Steele wrote: Fusions immediate client was law firm Perkins Coie. It engaged Fusion to obtain information necessary for Perkins Coie LLP to provide legal advice on the potential impact of Russian involvement on the legal validity of the outcome of the 2016 US Presidential election.

Based on that advice, parties such as the Democratic National Committee and HFACC Inc. (also known as Hillary for America) could consider steps they would be legally entitled to take to challenge the validity of the outcome of that election.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

The Democrats never filed a challenge, but Mr. Steeles answer suggested that was one option inside the Clinton camp, which funded Mr. Steeles research along with the Democratic National Committee.

The U.S. intelligence community concluded that Moscow interfered in the election by hacking Democratic Party computers and stealing emails that it released via WikiLeaks.

No Trump associate has been charged with collusion.

In a previous court filing in a second case in April-May 2017, Mr. Steele said his job was to find links between Trump associates and Moscow.

Hired by Fusion in June 2016, he wrote a 17-memo dossier alleging a extensive conspiracy between the two, which two years later hasnt been proven publicly by special counsel Robert Mueller or Congress.

In his most recent London court filing, Mr. Steele is defending against a libel lawsuit by citing a discredited story about a computer server, Trump Tower and a Russian bank.

The suit was brought by three Russian oligarchs who control Moscows Alfa Bank. Mr. Steele, under the dossier heading of election interference, accused them of paying cash bribes to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The bankers  Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and German Khan  also sued Fusion GPS.

The case was dismissed by a D.C. Superior Court judge. Lawyers filed an appeal in U.S. District Court and attached Mr. Steeles August declarations given in the London court.

Internet traffic data suggested that a computer server of an entity in which the Claimants have an interest, Alfa Bank, had been communicating with a computer server linked to the Trump Organization, Mr. Steele stated.

His goal was to show that his unverified dossier was correct when he wrote of an extensive conspiracy.

But the server story has fallen into the fake news category by most accounts.

When it began appearing on social media in 2016, some online sleuths looked at the servers IP address and other data. They traced the server to a location outside Philadelphia that spewed marketing spam.

A Trump Organization official told The Washington Times last year that some of the spam went to Alfa Bank employees who perhaps stayed in Trump hotels. Thats how Alfa turned up in some emails.

The New York Times investigated and said the FBI basically came to the same conclusion.

Mr. Steele didnt mention the server theory in the dossier itself.

Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn R. Simpson did try to sell the idea to the Justice Department, despite The New York Times finding. He met with then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr.

Trying to prompt an investigation, Mr. Simpson told him the Times story was wrong and the server was used for direct communication, according to Mr. Ohrs notes turned over to Congress.

In his court filing, Mr. Steele sought to show cronyism between Trump and the bank by noting that Alfa hired then-private attorney Brian Benczkowski to investigate the server allegation.

Mr. Benczkowski is now assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, having won Senate confirmation in a near-party line vote.

Fusion GPS, in defending against the Russians libel lawsuit, depicts the three men as corrupt Putin cronies.

Mr. Steele faces a second defamation suit in London, this one from Russian entrepreneur Aleksej Gubarev, owner of XBT Holdings and provider of computer servers to thousands of clients.

In his final December 2016 dossier memo, Mr. Steele accused Mr. Gubarev of actually performing the hacking on Democratic computers under duress from Russian intelligence. He said in a court filing that the allegation came from unsolicited call-ins.

Mr. Gubarev said the allegations are made up. In Florida, he also is suing BuzzFeed, the news website that published the entire dossier in January 2017.

This article was originally published by " Washington Times " -

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.Financial Bounty Hunters Testify: Clinton Foundation Operated As Foreign Agent

By Sara Carter







December 17, 2018 "

Information Clearing House

"

-

The Clinton Foundation operated as a foreign agent early in its life and throughout its existence and did not operate as a 501c3 charitable foundation as required by its and is not entitled to its status as a nonprofit, alleged two highly qualified forensic investigators, accompanied by three other investigators, said in explosive testimony Thursday to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.



John Moynihan and Lawerence W. Doyle, both graduates of the Catholic Jesuit College of the Holy Cross and former expert forensic government investigators, gave their shocking testimony before congress based on a nearly two-year investigation into the foundations work both nationally and internationally. They were assisted by three other highly trained experts in taxation law and financial forensic investigations. The forensic investigators stressed that they obtained all the documentation on the foundation legally and through Freedom of Information Request Acts from the IRS and other agencies.

The investigation clearly demonstrates that the foundation was not a charitable organization per se, but in point of fact was a closely held family partnership

Former Utah U.S. Attorney General John Huber, who resigned when he was appointed by former Department of Justice Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate the Clinton Foundation and the issues surrounding the approval to sell 20 percent of U.S. Uranium assets to Russia, declined to attend the hearing. Chairman Mark Meadows, R-NC, who oversaw the hearing stated that it was disappointing that Huber declined, leaving Congress in the dark regarding the DOJs investigation.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

Investigations into the Clinton Foundation have always been plagued by politics but Moynihan wanted to make clear in his opening statement that this investigation was one of many his firm has conducted on nonprofits and had nothing to do with politics.

Doyle and Moynihan have amassed 6,000 documents in their nearly two-year investigation through their private firm MDA Analytics LLC. The documents were turned over more than a year and a half ago to the IRS, according to John Solomon, who first published the report last week in The Hill.

The investigation clearly demonstrates that the foundation was not a charitable organization per se, but in point of fact was a closely held family partnership, said Doyle, who formerly worked on Wall Street and has been involved with finance for the last ten years conducting investigations. As such, it was governed in a fashion in which it sought in large measure to advance the personal interests of its principles as detailed within the financial analysis of this submission and further confirmed within the supporting documentation and evidence section.

At the onset of the hearing, Moynihan wanted to make perfectly clear that the intention to look into the Clinton Foundation was not political but based on their work with the firm.

At this point, Id like to answer two questions, who are we? We are apolitical, Moynihan told the committee. We have no party affiliation to this whatsoever, No one has financed us we are forensic investigators that approached this effort in a nonpartisan profession, objective, and independent waywe follow facts, thats all.

We have never been partisan, he added, speaking on behalf of all five members of his group testifying to Congress. We come from law enforcement and wall street where each of us has dedicated our entire lives and praised the rule of law doing the right thing pursuing facts. we follow facts. thats all.



None of this is our opinion, he went on state: I emphasize none of this is our opinion. These are not our facts. They are not your facts. They are the facts of the Clinton Foundation.

He disclosed the reason his firm decided to take on the Clinton Foundation and the fact that they paid for the investigation out of their own pockets.

Are you doing this for money, said Moynihan to the committee. Yes, this is how we make a living.

Moynihan and Doyle swapped back and forth between there testimony and opening statement, making it clear they were working as a team. But the most shocking statements came from Moynihans statement as he read the laundry list of violations by the Clinton Foundation.

Moynihan stated Foreign agent, as he began to read from a long list of violations discovered during the course of their investigation.

"Whos minding the store, looking out for the donors and minding the rule of law?"

The Clinton Foundation began acting as an agent of foreign governments early in its life and throughout its existence. As such, the foundation shouldve registered under FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act), he said. Ultimately, the Foundation and its auditors conceded in formal submissions that it did operate as a (foreign) agent, therefore the foundation is not entitled to its 501c3 tax-exempt privileges as outlined in IRS 170 (c)2.



Doyle, who was also outlining a litany of violations by the foundation, noted that currently there are approximately 1.75 million nonprofits in the United States that annually generate nearly 2 trillion dollars, which is 9 percent of the U.S. GDP.



Whos minding the store, looking out for the donors and minding the rule of law, said Doyle.

On that note, we followed the money so we made extensive spreadsheets of their revenues and expenses, we analyzed their income statements and we did a macro-review of all the donors, which is a very (jumbled) sort of foundation, said Doyle. Less than 1/10th of one percent of the donors gave 80 percent of the money. So we follow the money.

Moynihan added that the foundation  did pursue programs and activities for which it had neither sought nor achieved permission to undertake.

Particularly, he noted the case of the Clinton Presidential Library in 2004. He noted that the foundations role before and after the library was built was a misrepresentation to donors of the approval organizational tax status to raise funds for the presidential library programs therein. In these pursuits, the foundation failed the organizational and operational task 501c3 internal revenue code 7.25.3.

Additionally, Doyle stated that the foundations intentional misuse of donated public funds. He stated that the foundation falsely attested that it received funds and used them for charitable purposes which were in fact not the case. Rather the foundation pursued in an array of activities both domestically and abroad.

Some may be deemed philanthropic, albeit unimproved, while other much larger in scope are properly characterized as profit-oriented and taxable undertakings of private enterprise again failing the operational tests philanthropy referenced above, Doyle said.

Philip Hackney, a tax law professor at Louisiana State University, who is a former Exempt Organizations lawyer at the IRS, and Tom Fitton, president of the conservative government watchdog group Judicial Watch also testified at the hearing. Judicial Watch has been at the forefront of fighting the Clinton Foundation in court to access documents requested by FOIA. Hackney and Fitton testified during the first panel of the hearing.

Testimony suggests FBI open criminal investigation into Clinton Foundation.  Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) December 13, 2018

Sara A. Carter is a national and international award winning investigative reporter whose stories have ranged from national security, terrorism, immigration and front line coverage of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. https://saraacarter.com

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.Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara has asked Nigerians to vote out President Muhammadu Buhari because he is a bad leader.

The Speaker said this on Tuesday, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, rally in Gombe Township Stadium, Venue of the partys Presidential North East Zonal Rally. The PDP Gombe rally saw a Mammoth crowd of supporters and members.

Speaking at the event, Dogara said four years is to long for a bad leader, while the period is too short for a good leader, as he urged Nigerians to correct their errors of electing Buhari by voting Atiku Abubakar, his partys presidential candidate.

Democracy always offers us the opportunity to correct ourselves and four years is two long forfor a bad leader and four years is also too small for a good leader. Buhari is a bad and incompetent leader and Atiku is a good leader. Vote for Atiku vote.Manchester City striker, Gabriel Jesus, has reacted to his goal drought that ended over the weekend when they visited Everton. The Brazilian didnt only end end his goal drought over the weekend, he also scored his first brace for the defending champions after 36 league games since he last achieved the feat against Stoke in October 2017.

The 25 years old who joined the English champions two seasons ago has been the only striker available to the defending champions after their first choice striker, Sergio Aguero, got injured.

Gabriel then took to his twitter handle at the end of the match to react by revealing how happy he is to help his team get the much needed maximum points.

What he said:Vanguard



ADO-EKITIGOVERNOR Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, yesterday, accused his predecessor, Mr Ayodele Fayose of plundering the N18 billion Paris Club refund to the state.

The Nation



Lagos All Progressives Congress (APC) members got a challenge yesterday to target three million votes in next years elections.Party stalwart Asiwaju Bola Tinubu said this is to reinforce its relevance in the Centre of Excellence.We have six million votes in Lagos. Your target should be half; three million or the entire six million. We must deliver over three million votes in Lagos, he said.However, to succeed in the exercise, the former governor urged members

This Day



Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo Justice Maurine Onyetenu of a Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, yesterday sentenced a former Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) lecturer, Prof. Richard Iyiola Akindele, to six years imprisonment for demanding sex to pass his student, Monica Osagie.

Daily Sun

2019: My youths ministerll be less than 30 years  Atiku If elected as president, the Youths Minister will be less than 30 years. 40 percent of my cabinet appointments will be occupied by youths, he said. Emma Njoku Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has promised that, if elected in 2019, his Youths Minister would be

If elected as president, the Youths Minister will be less than 30 years. 40 percent of my cabinet appointments will be occupied by youths, he said. Emma Njoku Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has promised that, if elected in 2019, his Youths Minister would be

Daily Times



The National Council of Elders has called on security agencies to closely watch the lawmaker for Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Senator Shehu Sani, who

Daily Trust



Loyalists of Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, yesterday, dominated the campaign committee of the governorship candidate of Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Adekunle Akinlade, ahead of the 2019 election in the state. A former minister of Mines and Steel Development, Sarafa Tunji Ishola, was named as the director general, while the deputy DG is the

Leadership



President Muhammadu Buhari has once again promised a level playing ground for all candidates vying for political offices in next years elections. Receiving a delegation at State House, Abuja, yesterday from International Republican and National Democratic Institute, United States of America, the President in a statement by his special adviser media, Femi Adesina said

Tribune



The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Mr Ade Adetimehin, on Monday, called on the supporters and leaders of the party in the state to ignore speculation that President Muhammadu Buhari will be voted against in the state during the forthcoming presidential election in the country. Adetimehin who stated thisVice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar joined millions of Nigerians on Monday to felicitate with president Muhammadu Buhari on the occasion of his 76th birthday.

The former vice president in his birthday message to the president, wished Buhari well, in behalf of himself and his family.

The PDP Presidential candidate said although they will meet at the polls for the 2019 presidential elections, they are brothers born of one womb of Nigeria.

He wrote;

I wish President Muhammadu Buhari a happy birthday even as my family and I pray for long life for him. Despite the fact that we will meet at the polls soon, I very much affirm that we are brothers born from the womb of One Nigeria. Happy birthday. -AABlueFinity International Signs Distributor Deal with Axiz to Expand into South Africa

BlueFinity International has signed a strategic distribution partnership with leading South African technology distributor, Axiz, for the supply of Evoke, BlueFinity's innovative rapid business app development platform, to South Africa and other African markets.

Evoke is a low-code/no-code RAD platform that allows a company's existing staff to cost effectively design, develop and deploy business apps across multiple mobile and desktop devices, allowing for the creation of web, hybrid and native apps and the full integration and synchronization with back-end systems and databases. The solution is completely flexible and scalable and will allow businesses to future proof their apps, so they can evolve in line with their own development and growth.

The partnership will enable Axiz to distribute Evoke to customers across the continent as well as providing for the support, development and implementation services associated with the development of business apps. Axiz will also employ Evoke to design and develop its own apps for the benefit of its customers. For BlueFinity, the partnership brings with it the support of Axiz' experienced technology, development and sales teams which will allow it to expand the, already rapidly growing, Evoke customer base in to new markets.

The market demand for mobile apps globally is growing rapidly. Analyst firm App Annie[i] estimates the global app economy will be worth $6.3 trillion by 2021, a 380 per cent jump from the $1.3 trillion app market in 2016. This is in part fueled by increased smart phone usage. Evoke is helping companies meet that demand.

Both companies see huge potential for growth in South Africa. According to Google's 2017 Connected Consumer Survey[ii] 60 percent of South Africans now use a smartphone, an increase of 13 percent since 2014. It is estimated that the number of smartphone users in South Africa will expand to over 25 million by 2022.

Also Evoke's ability to generate solutions that can integrate both SQL and MultiValue databases in to the same desktop and mobile app offers great possibilities to Axiz' clients. The MultiValue market in South Africa in particular, has been asking for a full function mobile business app development system for some time. Evoke is currently viewed as the one of the most significant additions to this market for many years as it offers a truly mainline product for MultiValue. Malcolm Carroll, Director at BlueFinity International, said, "Axiz is a dynamic company and a major player in the technology market in South and East Africa, with an excellent reputation. We're delighted that Evoke will become their flagship App Development solution.

"Demand for mobile business apps is growing fast in the region and Evoke is the perfect, low code solution that will enable companies to effectively realize their app development ambitions.The partnership with Axiz will also ensure that the product is supported by excellent levels of local support, training and implementation and development services.

About Axiz:

Axis is an African company invested in the future of the African Information and Technology Age. Our focus is to build ecosystems in order to simplify the way customers interact with technology, solutions and each other. Founded in 1989 as an ICT distribution company solely based n South Africa, Axiz has today evolved into a continental business with a physical footprint in 8 countries including Kenya, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozanmique, Botswana and Mauritius and sale presence in many more.

As a solutions aggregator dedicate to offering ground breaking value-added solutions to our registered partner channel, we currently house over 50 ICT brands, each working in tandem with our vendors and partners to deliver a holistic ecosystem tailored to the needs of the channel whilst delivering shared value to all our stakeholders. Axiz retains a level 2 BBBEE status under the group subsidiaries DCT Holdings (Pty) Ltd as part of the JSE listed Alviva Holdings Group.Last week after Qualcomm managed to get the Chinese patent court to ban the sales and import of iPhones in China, Apple announced that it would roll out a software update this week to circumvent the two software-related patents it was found to be violating.

The two patents related to the way applications are managed on a smartphone and how photos are resized. The violation of these two patents was good enough for the Chinese patent court to hand out a sales and import ban on iPhone 6s through iPhone X.

To avoid any major loss to its business, Apple was quick to address this issue with the iOS 12.1.2 update released today. However, Qualcomm still believes that Apple continues to violate the two patents in question and the court ruling. The chip maker says that Apple is downplaying the ruling and flouting the legal system by violating the injunction.

Despite Apples efforts to downplay the significance of the order and its claims of various ways it will address the infringement, Apple apparently continues to flout the legal system by violating the injunctions, Don Rosenberg, Qualcomms general counsel, told Reuters in a statement on Monday.

Soon after the ruling, Apple said the ban was only on devices running iOS 11. However, as per court documents provided by Qualcomm, theres no word of any specific iOS release in the injunction. This ideally means that the ban also applies to 2018 iPhones which launched with iOS 12 out of the box.

Despite the sales ban, Apple continues to sell iPhones in China since it has not received any explicit order from the Chinese court to not do otherwise. Don Rosenberg, Qualcomms general counsel, says that this is a violation of the court order since Apple is legally obligated to stop selling iPhone 6s through iPhone X in China for compliance purposes.

They are legally obligated to immediately cease sales, offers for sale and importation of the devices identified in the orders and to prove compliance in court, Rosenberg told Reuters in Dec. 14 in a statement.

Our Take

Getting a sales ban on the iPhone 6s through iPhone X is a major win for Qualcomm in its ongoing tussle with Apple and the company is trying to ensure Apple complies with the court order as it would lead to some serious business loss. Apple has even said in its court filing that the sales ban will force it to settle matters with Qualcomm which will not be good for the entire smartphone industry.

Since this is a major win for Qualcomm, the chip maker is likely to try its best to ensure the ban is put into effect as it would give it an upper hand in settlement talks with Apple.

[Via ReutersIn Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, elderly people are enjoying their retirement thanks to a special "school" made up of 22 clubs, according to an article by thepaper.cn, We media RAYFOTO reported on Dec. 12.

The school for the aged, Yile Xueyuan, which translates to "fun for the elderly," was established over two years ago when a property developer offered a two-story building in a housing estate in Hangzhou's Yuhang District as a venue for recreational activities. Zheng Ping, head of the "school", immediately began to organize activities with the help of volunteers.

With the help of volunteers from charitable organizations, activities at Yile Xueyuan have continued to run smoothly and have attracted the attention of more and more people. After two years, almost all seniors from local communities with special talents have joined Yile Xueyuan.

The community center now has 22 clubs in total, including an opera club, chorus club, and dance club. Every time someone with a new specialty joins Yile Xueyuan, Zheng helps them create a new club to teach others their skill, bringing a sense of vitality to the school.

Many of the seniors are in several clubs, which often means they are more active than they were before retirement. However, life here helps these seniors from becoming lonely. Through this kind of community, they can enjoy a colorful life even though their families may be more than a thousand miles away.

Yang Qi is the head of the waist drum club, and she is also a member of four other clubs. Yang is never bored, and says she feels "busy but happy."

The school is expanding quickly as more people continue to join. By sharing homemade food and working together, all seniors can use their strengths and make new friendships at the same time. Though members are free to leave at any time, they only do so due to personal reasons. So far, everyone has become a "permanent member" for long-lasting and straightforward fun.

According to Zheng, the regulations and the organizational structure of the school have already been established, and they are now planning to register Yile Xueyuan with the relevant civil administration department.

Zheng noted that she hopes that groups like this will continue to develop and be promoted throughout the whole country.Peshawar Institute of Cardiology MTI KPK Jobs 2019

Latest Peshawar Institute of Cardiology PIC Management Posts Peshawar 2021 The Peshawar Institute of Cardiology Medical Teaching Institution Khyber Pakhtunkhwa KPK Pakistan required medical and well educated individuals for the posts of Nursing Director & Finance Director.

How to Apply on Peshawar Institute of Cardiology PIC 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.Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Chui Sai On, who is on a duty visit, in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

BEIJING, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping on Monday met with Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Chui Sai On, who is on a duty visit to Beijing.

During the meeting, Xi heard a report by Chui on Macao's current situation and the Macao SAR government's work.

Xi said that over the past year, the Macao SAR government, under Chui's leadership, had faithfully fulfilled its duties, been prudent and steady in its work style, and implemented the "one country, two systems" policy and the Macao SAR Basic Law.

The Macao SAR government had improved the institutions and mechanisms for safeguarding national security, proactively taken part in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and in the Belt and Road Initiative, promoted the proper diversification of the economy, improved the livelihood of the people, and strengthened the disaster prevention and reduction system, winning the praise of the Macao society, Xi said.

"The central government fully endorses the work by Chui and the Macao SAR government," he said.

In the process of reform and opening up of the new era, Hong Kong and Macao still have a special status and unique advantages, and can still play an irreplaceable role, Xi said.

Xi said he believed the compatriots of Macao would seize the opportunities, expand the space of development and foster new drivers of growth by integrating the SAR's own development into the development of the country, and greet the 20th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland with new achievements.Actor Song Kang-ho poses prior to an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Seoul, Monday. /Courtesy of Show Box



By Park Jin-hai



Award-winning actor Song Kang-ho, who has been acclaimed for his subtle portrayal of ordinary citizens in various films, has bagged the strongest character ever in his career _ a lesser-known Korean drug king.



In his latest crime drama "The Drug King," directed by Woo Min-ho of crime action "Inside Men" (2015), Korea's top grossing R-rated movie of all-time, Song portrays Lee Doo-sam, an ordinary small-time narcotics dealer who becomes an infamous drug lord in Korea during the 1970s.



The R-rated film is based on the real life story of a drug smuggler named Lee Hwang-soon who built his empire in Busan's crime underworld in the '70s. Although drugs are prevalent in many Hollywood films, it is rare for Korean movies to center on the country's drug cartels.



"Although local audiences might find themselves unfamiliar with the story material, it will leave a strong impression on viewers," said the 51-year-old actor during an interview with the Korea Times in Seoul, Monday. "But it is more than the strong feelings its poster emanates. It is about a person's obsession with money that leads him to his doom. It portrays human desire, obsession and destruction through the dramatic life of Lee. It is not intended to put the country's underground drug trafficking world under the microscope."



In the 139-minute film, Song shows the dramatic rise and fall of petty smuggler, Lee. After being involved unwittingly in drug deals, Lee was quick to learn about the business and rose to the position of drug lord going between Korea and Japan. Under the authoritarian government of Park Chung-hee, when the country ran the nation-wide Saemaeul campaign to modernize the rural Korean economy and promote exports, the government turns a blind eye to the drug trade. Using connections within the government and bribing officials, Lee manufactures drugs and accrues enormous wealth by exporting them with the "Made in Korea" brand to Japan. But, in the end, he becomes an addict and his insatiable obsession for money leads him to a tragic end.



He said there were technical difficulties when depicting Lee under the influence of drugs. "There was a lack of Korean films that I could use as references when trying to show Lee's hardcore addiction. The references available for the local drug rings were all written texts, while the film's script just says Lee suffers from a addiction. So I had to work hard, using my imagination to portray Lee's addicted state realistically," said Song.



"Acting is a lonely job, because after all it is left to the actor to shape the scripted character and bring them to life. But I felt even lonelier shooting this film, with nobody to advise me how to act like a drug addict."



Song returns to the big screen, one and a half years since "A Taxi Driver," where he took on the role of an ordinary taxi driver who came to be involved in the events of the Gwangju Democratization Movement in 1980. With his many projects including "The Host" (2006), "The Attorney" (2013) "A Taxi Driver" (2017), Song appeared as an ordinary father, a good-willed lawyer and a taxi driver who stands up for what's right.



"Over the past ten years I've happened to bag roles playing many seemingly ordinary characters who stand for justice. But in my new film, audiences might be reminded of my earlier acting seen in, say, 'Memories of Murder.' Viewers might find it amusing I think," he added.



Song tried hard to show his character's inner turmoil, "Since the film doesn't lean on the confrontation between good and evil characters carrying the story, I thought the depth of acting performance matters. So I tried hard to depict Lee's internal pains and skewed obsession entangled within and to show how they change the person," he said.



Song said he particularly likes the film's unconventional ending. "The film doesn't follow the familiar structure of giving catharsis to viewers. Instead, it ends by questioning viewers if the evil seed for one's destruction has gone for good. It doesn't have the typical closing the box ending. I hope movie fans will also find the director's unconventional ending fresh."



(Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam, who is on a duty visit, in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

BEIJING, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping on Monday met with Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam who is on a duty visit to Beijing.

During the meeting, Xi heard a report from Lam on Hong Kong's current situation and the HKSAR government's work.

Xi said that over the past year, Lam had led the HKSAR government to firmly defend the policy of "one country, two systems" and the HKSAR Basic Law and made plans for Hong Kong's long-term development.

Xi also praised HKSAR government's active participation in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as its efforts to solve the problems concerning the interests of local residents and create conditions for the growth and development of young people.

"The central government fully endorses the work of Chief Executive Lam and the work of the HKSAR government," Xi said.

Xi noted that compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao, like the people in the mainland, are the creators of the "great miracle" delivered by the nation's reform and opening-up.

Xi said, "we will unswervingly adhere to the policy of 'one country, two systems' and support Hong Kong and Macao to integrate their development into the development of the country, to cultivate new advantages, play a new role, realize new development and make new contribution."This captured image shows YouTube channel TV Hongka Cola featuring former Liberty Korea Party leader Hong Joon-pyo. / Courtesy of TV Hongka Cola



By Park Ji-won



More South Korean politicians have been embracing YouTube as a means of communicating their "message" amid a quickly diversifying media landscape.



Hong Joon-pyo, former leader of the country's largest right-wing Liberty Korea Party (LKP), announced that he will open a YouTube account named "TV Hongka Cola" this month. It aims to release "opinionated content to balance" the media environment which he claims is favorable to the ruling party, he said on Facebook. He will release two news-related videos a week every Tuesday and Thursday from Dec. 18, that will possibly include livestreaming.



His return to the political scene has been largely anticipated among critics since his resignation after the opposition party's crushing defeat in the June local elections. He was a vocal politician who vehemently stood against the ruling government. Some conservatives call him "cider" or "sprite" as a euphemism for his tart remarks that give them a feeling of relief, as those beverages help relieve indigestion.



But not many expected he would open a YouTube channel as his next political step. Even before officially operating it, he has already attracted more than 2,000 subscribers.



His online video platform venture is in line with the change in people's news consumption.



YouTube, most used app in Korea



YouTube became a popular tool for people of all generations to get information.



As of August, YouTube was the most used mobile application by people of all ages, according to online marketing company Wiseapp.



Another internet marketing company MezzoMedia released a survey in November that showed the majority of respondents said they watch less television than last year as they use other devices to watch video content. About 1,000 respondents aged between 15 and 59 participated in the survey from Sept. 20 to Oct. 1. Surprisingly, more people in their 40s use mobile devices to watch videos than TV, from this year.



Those in their teens, or 35.7 percent, used YouTube for internet searches, while 33.7 percent used online search engines.



Lawmakers are actively creating YouTube videos to promote their activities.



Rep. Lee Un-ju of the Bareunmirae Party launched her YouTube account three months ago. She is known for her recent controversial remarks calling former President Park Chung-hee a genius, emerging as a popular conservative icon. She has about 47,000 subscribers. On the channel, Lee releases commentary videos over recent issues as well as videos of public broadcasting appearances or her political activities.





Lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea celebrate the launch of its broadcast studio "SSM" at its headquarters in this Nov. 11, file photo. / Korea Times filePresident Moon Jae-in, right, walks toward an airplane to return home after ending his three-day trip to North Korea for a summit with his northern counterpart Kim Jong-un, at Samjiyon Airport on Sept. 20. / Joint Press Corps



By Lee Min-hyung



North Korea will continue seeking sanctions exemptions in exchange for its phased steps for denuclearization by bringing the issue to the table during any future inter-Korean summit, according to experts.



Such a scenario comes at a critical time when Washington and Pyongyang have reached a deadlock in their denuclearization talks, with both sides refusing to make any concessions on the timeline and methods for the North's nuclear disarmament



To make a breakthrough, calls have grown for South Korea to play a bigger role as a mediator between the U.S. and the North.



"What North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wants is sanctions relief from the international community and will likely use the promise of step-by-step denuclearization as a bargaining chip," Cho Han-bum, a senior researcher of the policy unit at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said.



Denuclearization will, therefore, stand at the center of the dialogue agenda during any future meeting between Moon and Moon, the expert on inter-Korean affairs said.



"As is shown from their previous summit in September, they would likely continue their talks on denuclearization during the meeting," he said. The chances are that Kim will provide a specific timeline for the shutdown of its Yongbyon nuclear facility on the condition that the U.S. takes reciprocal steps, possibly the lifting of some sanctions, according to Cho.





A cooling tower for North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear reactor is demolished on June 27, 2008. The North took the measure to display its willingness for denuclearization. / YonhapJun Joo-hye, a member of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party's special committee on organization reform under the party's reform committee, briefs the committee's activities at the National Assembly, Friday. / Yonhap



By Park Ji-won



The largest opposition, Liberty Korea Party (LKP)'s interim leadership has evicted 21 incumbent lawmakers, including some loyalists of former President Park Geun-hye, from key party posts as part of reform measures.



The LKP's reform committee announced Saturday a list of 112 party members who are considered disqualified from the positions of branch chiefs who can influence nominations of candidates for local councils. The list includes 21 incumbent lawmakers including Kim Moo-sung, and Choi Kyung-whan and Hong Moon-jong, loyalists of launched former President Park Geun-hye. The LKP will replace 79 chiefs out of 253 at local branches by the middle of January.



Jun Joo-hye, an organization reform committee member outlined on Friday the criteria for deciding which members will be disqualified. "The first criteria is to ask for the accountability of the collapse of the LKP,"



"The second is whether or not they are capable of fighting and being competent as an opposition lawmaker."



The decisions came after Rep. Na Kyung-won was elected as the party's new floor leader last week. The reform committee was launched four months ago to find the means for the party to recover from failures such as the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye and large defeats in general and local elections.





By Lee Min-hyung





U.S. President Donald Trump North Korean leader Kim Jong-unSohn Hak-kyu, the leader of the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party, participates in a party meeting at the National Assembly, Monday. / Yonhap



By Park Ji-won



The leadership of the Bareunmirae Party (BMP), Chairman Sohn Hak-kyu, is being challenged by an anticipated defection of his party members to the largest opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP).



Rep. Lee Hak-jae of the BMP said he will announce his departure to join the LKP on Tuesday. Lee left the Saenuri Party, the predecessor of the LKP, in 2016.



"I have put my efforts into the Bareun Party and Bareunmirae Party outside the LKP for two years when the conservatives were struggling with the Choi Soon-sil scandal. But they failed to get support from the people and become united," Lee was quoted as telling Yonhap Sunday.



The move came after the LKP's interim leadership removed 21 incumbent lawmakers, including some loyalists of former President Park Geun-hye, from key party posts with the influence on nomination for local councils as part of reform measures.



Lee, who has belonged to several conservative parties such as the Bareun Party, the predecessor to the Bareunmirae Party following its merger with the People's Party, has been allegedly looking for the opportunity to defect to another conservative party.



Since the LKP has been working to unify conservatives, expectations are high many lawmakers of the Bareunmirae Party will join the LKP.



Critics say there is a possibility of other BMP members following Lee's defection.



Sohn, however, criticized Lee for taking away the chair of the Assembly's intelligence committee. He earlier warned the LKP's interim leader Kim Byoung-joon not to take away the BMP's lawmakers.



Since Park Geun-hye abused her power as president with her confidant Choi Soon-sil, the former ruling conservative Saenuri Party was criticized for its role in the scandal. Such criticism urged many to withdraw their support for the conservative party, yielding ruling party status to the Democratic Party of Korea.



Regardless of the looming cloud over the BMP, the LKP is openly welcoming the possible defections.



Lee Jin-gon, a member of the LKP's reform committee who joined the recent eviction, said Monday "if the LKP decides to recruit BMP members, they can get better chances in the party."

Officials of the South and North inspect a railway track of the North's Donghae Line in this photo. / Courtesy of Unification Ministry



Joint Press Corps



A team of South Korean officials who examined North Korea's railway line along its east coast, sometimes referred to as the Donghae Line in the South, returned home Monday after completing their inspection of the west and east coast networks that began Nov. 30. This was the first time a South Korean train has traveled the 800-kilometer line from Mount Geumgang to the Tumen River.



Im Jong-il, a land ministry director who led the 28-member team, said the condition of the east coast line was similar to the one on the west coast (called the Gyeongui Line in South Korea).



"The section starting from Mount Geumgang Station began construction in 1997 and 20 years have passed so it has deteriorated," he told reporters at the Inter-Korean Transit Office in Goseong, Gangwon Province.



"The train had to run at 30 kilometers per hour because of the condition of the tracks."



He said additional examinations were necessary, and that the South and North would seek to hold further discussions early next year.



The train that carried the inspection team will return to the South today.



The team conducted inspections of the 400-kilometer west coast railway from Nov. 30 through Dec. 5. The team returned to the South on that day and departed Dec. 8 to examine the east coast line through Dec. 17.



A train with two North Korean locomotives and three carriages, and six South Korean carriages traveled a total of 2,600 kilometers for the inspection.



Meanwhile, a ceremony marking the launch of inter-Korean railway and road projects will be held Dec. 26 at Panmun Station in Gaeseong in the North.



South Korea will send officials there this week to prepare for the ceremony, unification ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said.



The spokesman said the government is discussing with the U.S. possible violations of sanctions on Pyongyang in holding the ceremony.



U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun will visit Seoul this week for a working group meeting with his counterpart Lee Do-hoon.



This is the second meeting between Biegun and Lee since the working group was launched last month for closer consultations on inter-Korean relations and North Korea's denuclearization process.



The officials are expected to discuss matters related to the ceremony.





Ko Yong-hui, the birth mother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was born in the southwestern city of Mokpo, a local report claimed Tuesday.







Ko, who passed away in 2004, was believed to have been born in Osaka, Japan.







The report by "The Fact" was based on testimonies from relatives of Ko, including a woman surnamed Hyeon. However, the report did not disclose the full name or photo of the relative.







Ko's father was born in 1913 and moved to Japan at age 16 in 1929. He died in 1999 according to his tombstone.







Ko is widely believed to have been born in Osaka in 1952 and her family moved to North Korea in 1961 or 1962.







However, Hyeon said Ko's father moved to Mokpo and lived with his older brother there. She said he ran a milk factory there and Ko was born in Mokpo.







Hyeon said Ko's parents took their daughter with them to Japan between 1957 and 1960. She said he sold milk to Korea from Japan.







Another unnamed relative also said Ko's mother gave birth to her in Mokpo and then went to Japan.





By Jhoo Dong-chan







KB Securities co-CEOs Yoon Kyung-eun and Chun Byoung-jo tendered their resignations Tuesday.







Their departure came ahead of a possible management reshuffle at KB Financial Group's subsidiaries. Of the group's 19 CEOs, 14 will complete their terms at the end of the year.







KB's brokerage unit was established following a merger between KB Investment & Securities and Hyundai Securities in January 2017. The merger gave birth to the mammoth brokerage worth 4.1 trillion won ($3.6 billion) in net capital.







KB Securities immediately appointed Yoon, who had led Hyundai Securities before the merger, as its new co-CEO in charge of the brokerage's wealth management and governance. Chun, who used to be an administrative officer, was appointed as Yoon's partner CEO responsible for KB Securities' investment bank business.







They both led KB Securities for two consecutive terms of two years.







"The merger between KB Investment & Securities and Hyundai Securities was successful," an industry insider who is familiar with the issue was quoted as saying.







"I understand the two CEOs have decided to leave in a bid to help prepare for a new leap forward by the brokerage."







Local media reported that former KB Koomin Bank Credit Group Vice President Park Jeong-rim will be appointed as the brokerage's new CEO, but he denied this.







"I do not know where this rumor came from. It is completely false," she told The Korea Times.







A KB Securities official said the brokerage has yet to decide on its new CEO.







"There is nothing to comment on at this point. Nothing has been decided about who will fill the CEO post," the official said.







The brokerage added it will decide Yoon and Chun's successor during an in-house recommendation committee meeting scheduled for Dec. 19.









UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution Monday condemning the "systematic, widespread and gross" human rights violations in North Korea.







The non-binding resolution, which was passed by consensus without a vote, welcomes diplomatic efforts to end the crisis on the Korean peninsula. But it emphasizes that members are "deeply concerned at the grave human rights situation, the pervasive culture of impunity and the lack of accountability for human rights violations in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."







It also denounces the use of torture as well as "inhumane conditions of detention, rape, public executions, extrajudicial and arbitrary detention" and "the existence of an extensive system of political prison camps."







Pyongyang's mission to the U.N. attacked the U.S.'s willingness to organize a Security Council meeting on human rights in North Korea.







In early December, Washington had given up asking for the meeting, which had been held every year since 2014, because it was unsure of the support it would get from partners.







But the U.S. hopes to hold the meeting in January with the arrival of new non-permanent council members that could be more favorable to doing so.







"The U.N. Security Council is neither a place for discussion on any human rights issue nor a platform where a human rights issue is politicized to flare up confrontation," North Korea's U.N. mission said in a statement.







"The UN Security Council should not be misused as a platform again where U.S.'s high-handedness and arbitrary practice would prevail, and should remain true to its mission and duties as enshrined in the U.N. Charter," it said.





Otto Frederick Warmbier. The Korea Times file



By Lee Min-young



The parents of Otto Warmbier, who died in a coma after being sent home from a North Korean labor prison, have demanded about $1.1 billion in compensation from Pyongyang.



According to a Voice of America (VOA) report on Tuesday, the legal team for the Warmbiers has submitted a document to a court that specified the amount they were going to claim against the North Korean regime for their son's death. The calculation was based on a similar captivity case that led to the death of a missionary.



The largest portion was made up of punitive damages  $1.05 billion  with $350 million each for Warmbier and his parents, Cindy and Fred.



They also demanded compensation for financial losses and another $10 million for the psychological pain Warmbier had to go through and $15 million for each of his parents, which is based on the pain inflicted on the Warmbiers whenever they saw their son on North Korean television and when they had to make the heartbreaking decision to turn off his life support.



The Warmbiers will attend their first hearing in the Washington, D.C., Federal Court on Dec. 19. They filed the suit in April, accusing the North of violating international law by killing their son.



Lee Sung-yoon, assistant professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and David Hawk, a member of the National Committee on North Korea, will also testify.



North Korea has not taken any legal steps in response to the lawsuit and also did not show up for the pre-trial hearing on Dec. 14.



Warmbier, 22, a Virginia University student from Ohio, was held in custody in North Korea after attempting to take home a propaganda poster from his hotel in 2016. He had been sentenced to 15 years in prison.



He was released in a coma in June 2017 after 17 months. He died in a Cincinnati hospital six days after his return.